Disclaimer:…don't own very muchly so.

Dealing With the Devil

Sesshomaru (domo, to laughingstockstables for correcting me) sat down next to the girl and wrapped the blanket around her tightly…save he was still cold. Many people believe that yokai are immune to the cold but their not. They are far more stable but, judging by the way his skin was tinted a little blue, you could deduce that he was pretty cold. Knowing that her clothes would soak the blanket reached forward and placed his claw by her collar, sliding it down until he felt no resistance, not opening the covering just pulling off the strange yukata.

Next thing he did, he reached down with both hands to steady her odd leather spiked obi and cut through it with is claw, managing to slide off her odd rough hakama. He discarded the clothing and tightened the blanket around the shivering discolored form of the creature. Sighing softly he pulled her into his lap, not wanting her to wake up and find a way to escape without waking him…he couldn't decide whether or not she was capable of that, but assumed the worst.

He stared off at the mouth of the cave, noticing Jaken waddling back with a large net of fish tied to his staff. After doing so, the dumb toad demon got to work building a fire, and managed to do so, setting up the fish to cook, mumbling about how stupid humans were. Sesshomaru stared at the blazing flames, moving forward slightly to gain the warmth they provided. Something caught his eye, and he stared down at the glittering red, silver, and copper pendant, having seen the sign before. In was different from a kagome (he's not thinking about the girl but a hexagonal star, which is called a kagome) lacking one side, and circled.

"Sesshomaru-sama, who is that…what is that…thing?" Jaken asked with disgust.

"An acquaintance." Sesshomaru sighed, not in the mood to deal with the fool.

"Tell me she is not M'Lord's mate to-be!" The demon squawked.

The great demon lord of the west almost snarled at his idiotic servant, until Rin piped up, "She is just going to help Sesshomaru-sama and then she's going to leave."

"Help M'Lord with what! You're being ridiculous stupid child!" Jaken yelled.

"Silence." The lord seethed and all fell silent, no one said a word more on the topic.

Sesshomaru set his normal stoic expression on his face and inspected the girl in his lap. He wasn't 'inexperienced', he'd held a woman before, but there was something different about this one…other than her being a lot taller. What was it about her form that made her seem to almost float in his arms? She seemed so strangely streamline, like she possessed something other women that he'd been around for the most part of his life didn't.

Muscles.

Sesshomaru's lips turned into a slightly amused smirk, looking down on her body, reaching into the blanket and pulling out her hand and arm. He stared at the long appendage and looked for signs of a certain fighting style…but all too quickly the image of her punching him in the chin and then elbowing him in the nose came back. It was so unorthodox, and, he realized, it wasn't even correct. No, this girl didn't know very much about fighting…well, judging by a scar he saw on her thumb and knuckle he could guess she was pretty good in a brawl between humans but nothing else.

If she didn't fight though, how did she gain muscle? She was fast, very fast…more so than any human he'd met. Then again he wasn't certain that she was human…in fact he was almost positive that she wasn't. But than what was she? She sure as hell wasn't a demon. He looked back at her arm drew a claw down her bicep, not cutting the skin but just to feel for anything that could give him a clue as to what it came from. Despite his puzzling he couldn't figure it out.

"Sesshomaru-sama, what are you doing?" Rin asked, she was cuddled up next to A-un, but stared at her master questioningly.

"Nanemo. Go to sleep Rin." He commanded.

The little girl just nodded and almost instantly went to sleep, having worn herself out chasing Jaken around earlier today.

The taiyokai looked down and tried to figure out what the pendent was, or symbolized. Slowly and carefully he reached down and touched the necklace. He almost yelped in surprise when the girl's extremely long fingered hand clamped down on his and her reptilian green eyes shot open from beneath the strange object on her face. She looked down at the hand she was holding, turned the palm up to look at the wrist with its two magenta stripes, and paled considerably.

"Let go of the necklace." She said, facing her lap.

"Why onna?"

No answer.

"I asked you a question." He growled.

"No, you asked 'onna' a question. I ain't her." She growled back.

"You need to learn your place." Sesshomaru snarled below his breath so as not to wake Rin.

"I'm in your lap, doesn't get more explanatory than that." She hissed back at him, before she grumbled, "But not for long."

Trying to scramble free, the Demon Lord held on tightly, stopping the girl from moving even an inch as he commanded, "Be still."

"Say please." The girl grunted sarcastically as she persisted to break from his grasp, cautiously keeping her face averted from his gaze.

Her hair spilled in front of her only serving to decrease the visibility of her features, which didn't help Sesshomaru. "Stop Himawari." He commanded.

She seemed to cringe at the sound of his voice, and he could tell she was in physical pain with a large headache, "Why should I?"

"Because I am not going to hurt you." Sesshomaru murmured quietly.

"You will listen to M'Lord!" Jaken shouted.

"…is that a frog?" Himawari asked dumbly.

Sesshomaru coughed to suppress a laugh that had been caused by the girl's clueless expression, in gawking awe with his servant. He still couldn't see her very well and reached forward, with a surprisingly gentle touch, tucking her hair behind her ear, watching her shiver as he did so, obviously not liking anyone touching the thick black-red-purple tresses, feeling like strands of silk, softer than that of the silk worm duchess, sliding through his fingers.

"We have much to discuss." He spoke stoically.

"I'll bet." She snorted before asking, "Well, wha'tis it?"

"I must find a mate by the end of the week."

"Then go down to the bay, there's gotta be thousands of unemployed sailors." She groaned, rubbing the side of her head.

"This Sesshomaru is not speaking of boat staff, he is speaking of a woman to bare him an heir." He hissed at her.

The girl seemed to have a giant headache as she put her face in her hands and grumbled, "Uck, whose makin' you do this?"

"The Lords of the Compass council, of which decides every demonic law within the land of the gods, has decreed this due to a guideline my father put into order before his death." He explained.

"Can I get outta your lap please? Its nothing personal or anything it's just I have this personal space issue." She asked quietly.

"No."

"You're too kind." She spat cynically, lowering her head.

Why does she not want me too look at her?

"I will when you tell me what I need to know."

The girl sighed and put her fingers to her sinuses, having caught a touch of hypothermia she wasn't feeling her best and her headache only seemed to increase when she thought of stressful topics such as getting out of this predicament. Thinking for a while she answered, "Whatever law has to be passed needs to be put in writing. Find the original copy of it and look through for any technicality you could use that your council didn't inform you of. I take it all have to sign the agreement before it is set into motion. Considering your father is deceased than if the majority of the other members of the previous council that signed the paper are the same, the document is invalid."

"True, but considering this council could renew the document by their own means because it was of a previous ruler, I doubt they would allow it to go." Sesshomaru replied.

"None the less such a bill would take time to pass, three weeks on an estimate…that at least stalls your time." She yawned before demanding, "Now let me go."

"No, the problem is not resolved."

"Your point being?" She asked dully.

Sesshomaru gripped her chin firmly and wrenched in upward to look at her face, gazing into her strangely shaped eyes, growling, "You are not to speak that way to me onna."

Taking out the grass she'd actually tucked into her bra before fainting, the girl snarled, "Call me woman again and I'll make sure you never have to hear me speak to you that way again."

Touché.

"You need to learn how to obey." He seethed.

"Who?" She snapped back, eyes like fire, flashing her defiance by baring her teeth.

"Me."

"Why should I?"

"Because this Sesshomaru will kill you."

"You said you didn't lie."

"You haven't done everything I need you to do."

"And what else do you need?" She laughed mockingly.

"Come up with a way to postpone this. I need to come back with a mate you fool, the council is still there awaiting me at the fief, can you not solve this before I have to meet with them?"

"Don't you have a friend that's a girl or something?" She hissed at him.

"What for?"

"To pretend to be your mate so you can get into your own damn house." She growled trying to bite his hand while holding onto his wrist but not succeeding.

"Stop, and number one, if I pretended to have a mate than why would I need the paper, And number two, any woman that happened to even feign being my mate would try to manipulate me into keeping such a position."

"Well I certainly can't fathom why." The girl scoffed, smirking at him.

"Shut…" Sesshomaru stopped.

Perfect.

"Lose your train of thought, moron." She grinned.

She's trying to get me to throw her out of my lap…clever snake.

"Iie. And do not try to influence me into letting you go. I'll kill you before I do that. I just realized I do have someone that could be a fake, mate to-be."

"Great, then you don't need me so let go." She smiled happily, as though she'd finally won, trying to lean out of his grasp.

He tightened his arms around her and smiled a smile that was meant to be an imitation of warmth, but hidden beneath it was ice, "You'll make a good mate considering you are a conniving bitch."

Her pallid expression was enough to tell him that she was less than happy about her new job description speaking in a panicked hum, "Oh, hell no."

Her back was arched forward like a cat and she was clawing at the dirt floor hoping to maneuver a way out of his grasp, but the great demon lord would not allow such, pulling her forward with a small grunt, holding tightly to stop her frantic wiggling, chuckling cruelly, "You're not going anywhere."

"Oh yeah, well how do you know I'm not 'manipulating' you? How do you know that I haven't tricked you? I've done it before Maru-dono." She gave him one of her strained nervous smiles.

Sesshomaru didn't even comment on the name, knowing she was just trying to annoy him.

"Why would you tell me that; if it were your intent to be so controlling?" He asked her with a light tone of mock innocence.

"How do you know it isn't just part of my plan?" Himawari's eyes narrowed at him and she smirked.

"Is it?" Sesshomaru asked with a grin.

"I…plead the fifth?" She swallowed, her smile nearly falling off.

"Nani?"

"It's an amendment from where I come from. It means I have freedom of speech, religion, and assembly." She muttered before adding, "Which is just another way of telling you I refuse to answer that."

"You will answer M'Lord!" Jaken squawked.

"Oh, ho, and what are you going to do if I don't? Give me a wart?" She sneered at the toad.

"You brazen creature! I'll burn you to a crisp!" The stout demon toddled forward, staff in hand.

"Go ahead, I'm sure your master'll find that hilarious considering I'm sitting on him." She grinned back.

"Shut up." Sesshomaru growled at Jaken, causing the toad to go silent.

"Do not taunt him…that is my privilege." The demon lord added glaring down at the girl.

"Whatever, now let me up." She commanded.

"Iie."

"I really don't like you." Himawari laughed seething.

"The feeling is more than mutual onna." Sesshomaru sneered back.

"Oh, you can feel? By your vacant expression I thought you weren't capable." She laughed.

Sesshomaru backhanded her across the face, cutting her cheek, awaiting her shriek…but she didn't make a sound as he yanked her back by the neck, watching her glare at him challengingly. He knew that she realized, without her answer, he was free to hurt her. He had told her when he gained the information he wanted, the demon lord wouldn't hurt her.

"Now, answer the question, are you, or are you not, planning something?" He interrogated.

"Yeah." She smirked haughtily, thrusting her chin upward defiantly despite her cut cheek.

"You are lying onna."

"How do you know?" She grinned childishly.

"By your heinous stench." He sneered.

Liar, she doesn't smell bad…at least not as bad as a human…she is in fact very clean.

"Shit." She grumbled.

"Do not talk with such foul language to this Sesshomaru!" He snarled.

She leaned forward covering her eyes with one hand, continuing softly, "I'll just zip it now."

"'Zip it'?" The demon lord asked.

"Uh…yeah, like 'shut up'."

"…"

Sesshomaru frowned at this, before demanding, "I know you are not human. Tell me what you are."

"What do you mean? Of course I'm human…right?" Her shoulders sank even further, allowing him to sense the doubt and worry within.

She does not know?

He sighed softly before asking off handedly, "You do not fight do you?"

"Nope, not really. Just bar fights n' stuff."

"Then where do you get your muscle and speed?"

"Swim practice, track, and water polo, that is a sport, like a game." She explained, still not facing him.

"Why will you not look at me?" He questioned.

"…Your face has haunted my mind for nearly a week now, always apprehensive to let down my guard, to take more than an hour of sleep, and I do not feel very comfortable staring into the eyes of my tormentor."

"So you are afraid." Sesshomaru was amused.

"Afraid? No, you have misconstrued my adversity to see the person who has promised me death, with fear. I am not scared of you, I've dealt with bullies before, though I must say, you are the most intelligent one so far, which proves quite the challenge."

So the accent is a comfortable façade. This wench is capable of correct speech. That could be useful, a woman good with the assignment of deception. But she is also not giving me the whole truth.

"You have a different reason."

"My, my, perceptive aren't you?" The girl hissed, "Perhaps it might be the fact that I am located within your grasp, and indecent. Sumimasen, I wasn't aware my introverted state was trying your patients."

"…and"

"Look, yer a guy okay!" She spun around shooting him a hating look before turning back and hiding her face, continuing, "It's just makin' me a little self conscious."

She's distressed, and slurring her words.

"W-"

"G'damn it! Just leave it alone." She shouted at him.

"Nngg." Both turned in the direction of a waking Rin, who rubbed her eyes and stared at the strange lady in Sesshomaru-sama's lap.

Instantly the girl turned around and seethed, "You didn't tell me there was a kid in here." Then she spun back to Rin and smiled sweetly, "Hello, Hime-chan, don't repeat that word okay."

Rin blushed, and giggled at the fact that she was being called little princess, saying, "Hi, my name is Rin. What's yours?"

"Himawari. It's a pleasure to meet you Rin-hime-chan."

More giggling, "It's nice to meet you too."

"Rin, sleep." Sesshomaru commanded tonelessly.

"But Sesshomaru-sama, I can't." Rin yawned, "I'm hungry."

The demon lord grabbed the charred fish from the fire and flung one at her. Himawari looked at it hungrily, before her stomach started to grumble and she blushed furiously, looking back down at her lap. Sesshomaru picked the other fish in the fire out and placed it in front of her…on her lap. She picked it up and began to devour it ravenously, eating it as fast as she could. He watched her, slightly amused by her habits. After finishing she tossed the bones and the stick in the fire, Rin following suit. The taiyokai then gave his ward a 'Sleep now' look, but she reacted with an 'I can't' expression that didn't go missed by the 'prisoner' in his lap.

He sighed slightly, not knowing what to do…until he started to hear a soft hum from his lap. He looked down and saw that the girl was humming a soft lullaby. Rin scuttled forward to listen more carefully. Indeed the sound was beautiful but the girl ruined it by squirming and hiding her face. Rin leaned her head on Sesshomaru's knee and fell asleep to the sound, the demon lord calling A-un over to pick the child up and move her to the other side of the fire, setting her down and laying next to her to keep her warm.

"It worked." The girl whispered happily.

"What spell did you cast on her?" He hissed, ready to tear her head off.

"It's not a spell man; it's a lullaby I sing to get my friend's little cousins to go to sleep." She said, looking down into her lap further.

It is not pain that she is afraid of, but criticism. What a stupid creature.

Just to test his theory he sighed, "You're right onna; you are unfeminine, scrawny, freakish, and ugly. You could not pretend to be of interest to me."

Just as I thought.

The girl was bright red with embarrassment and staring down at her blanket covered legs. He could feel her discomfort and horror with his words, as if something were physically scaring her. Her hair was now a complete curtain and she coughed, "Well, why do you insist on keeping me in your hold?"

"Because it gives me all the more reason to find the document." He smirked.

"Glad I can be of some use." She sighed before bending her knees up and laying her head on them.

"O-"

"Look. I know, I'm a freak, I'm stupid, I'm ugly, I'm inferior. Is that what you wanna hear? Trust me; I've heard it all before multiple times, repetitively, it doesn't get any better unless you're creative with it." She muttered continuing, "Just let me sleep on this ridiculous idea of yours-"

"It was yours."

"Whatever, this ridiculous idea of mine and I'll give you my answer and guidelines in the morning ok?"

"Fair enough."

"Now let me up."

"…"

"Onegai shimasu?"

"No."

"I hate you."

"You say that as if I should be hurt."

She cursed under her breath and smirked at him, leaning back into him in a relaxed manner, cracking her joints before complaining in a whiny tone to piss the demon lord off, "You're really uncomfortable."

"You've got a bony ass."

She turned around and stuck her tongue out at him childishly, making a mocking sound in the back of her throat.

How can she be so smart yet so…idiotic?

"Put that back in your mouth unless you intend to use it."

Choking the girl made a 'humph' noise and spun around.

This was going to be a looooooong week…and if totally out of luck- a month.

Review onegai! Domo for reviewing all and thank you to Alatril Carnesr! I thank you for telling me the answer to my question that was on my mind and thank you for the constructive criticism. But for you to know she is not a demon…and as for the fangs...you'll find out (Nor a vampire if that was your other conclusion). And saying 'dude', even though unintelligent, is part of her environment growing up, old habits die hard. She obviously isn't perfect, as she is childish and distrusting, not to mention a bit unstable as to standing up to Sesshomaru. She's also, as you can see, extremely insecure, even though she tries to hide it with a strained smile and sarcastic comments. Oh, and right up above you can see that the two personalities of these 'protagonists' don't get along…even though that is a major understatement lets just keep it at that. I hoped this cleared some things up and please keep reviewing to tell me what else I can do to make this a good fic. Domo!