Sleep in a house, in the comfort of a futon, was exactly what I needed. After stretching and letting out a yawn, I felt like a completely new person. I pulled myself out of the cocoon like bedding and stood up. My eyes were still blurred from the sleep that littered them. After smacking me cheeks lightly a couple of times, I shook my head before looking into the mirror siting on my desk. My hair was stuck together, flying in any which direction it could come up with, a sign that I'd slept superbly. It sparked a memory, one that brought a chuckle to my heart. I woke up looking like a Super Saiyan from Dragon Ball Z once and my brother didn't hesitate to point it out. I walked around the house screaming "IT'S OVER 9,000!" for a good ten minutes.

"It's over 9,000."

"What's over 9,000?"

I jumped back, staring at the little girl as though she was a dragon. I hadn't heard her enter, and her voice was the last I had expected. Sesshomaru, maybe, but not Rin. She would make a marvelous ninja. Could she through shurikens though?

"Did I do something wrong?" She asked after a couple of minutes.

"Oh no, I'm sorry, I just wasn't expecting to see you so early." I explained before grabbing a brush off the desk and sitting down to tame my hair.

Rin laughed at my random wandering in the room. "The maids will come to get us soon."

"For what?"

"To bathe of course."

"I could really use one. And I need to brush my teeth."

"Brush your teeth?"

"Yeah, to get all the gunk out my mouth." I told her. "That's what we do where I'm from."

"Do you have too?"

"No, but it's good for you."

After explaining a little more on oral hygiene, the maids came. Rin ran ahead of us, knowing the drill while I followed silently behind the maids, taking in the path we were on to reach the bathing house. To my surprise, it was right behind the building, hiding in some bushes. I watched as Rin opened the door and ran in. I followed not long after. I watched as the maids pulled off the top layer of my kimono before leaving me to explore the smaller house. The floors were wooden, and the walls that closed off the front of the room were made of the same, opaque material as the floor. I slid open the door to the next room, and was assaulted by steam. There, Rin hurriedly pulled off the remainder of my clothes and held my hand as she opened the last door between us and the bath. My eyes widened after seeing that a smaller hot spring existed in the house, surrounded by larger boulders. Hallowed bamboo shoots stood on the far left, slowly pouring steaming water into the pool as water flowed out at the other, shallower end. After washing our bodies of clean of the evidence of travel, Rin jumped into the water. I was a bit less eager to get into the water, knowing it would be hot since it was steaming.

After that was said and done, we received new yukatas. Why did Sesshomaru have such a great variety of clothes? Maybe they were supposed to be his mate(s) and kid(s), but since he doesn't have any, we get a certain privilege. That made enough sense for me, so I accepted it as truth. Part of the reason I accepted the thought so quickly was because another thought waltzed into my mind as we returned to Rin's room.

I haven't seen a single squirrel since I got here, like to this world, not a single squirrel. Are there even squirrels in Japan? I'm pretty sure there are. I just had to look closer. There had to be squirrels here. There were too many trees for there not to be squirrels. I would have to keep an eye out for the little tree rodents. They would surely run away the second they deemed I was getting to close.

My mind was taken away from the furry creatures once I was informed that Rin was skipping lessons to be with me from an indifferent lord of the west. Even though she's adorable, knowledge is power. And once you have the power, you get the money, and then (wo)men. Though I was glad she was getting some type of education, his excuse for giving it to her was pretty lame. "No one in my manor shall be uneducated." Tsk, he couldn't fool me. I know good and well he is educating her because he wants her to have a strong step when she leaves, like the both of us are certain she will do. She'll want to stay, but when Mr. Right knocks at the door, he won't leave alone. She'll never forget Sesshomaru and probably bring back her children.

But he'll be alone again, 'cause I'll be gone by then.

I stopped, realizing that the thought of Sesshomaru being alone didn't sit well with me. It didn't sit well at all. I couldn't imagine the man being in a three party company at most. He'd close right back up and return to that complete block of ice that I've slowly chipped away at. He'd go straight back to his old self, becoming a flat character again. A horrible image.

"Is there something wrong Kazumi-san?" Rin asked, stopping to face me since I'd fallen behind her and Sesshomaru.

"I'm fine." I told Rin with a soft smile. "I think I'll go for a walk. I have a bit on my mind."

I left the party without asking for Sesshomaru's permission. I quickly disappeared from their sight as I went outside for a breath of fresh air. Maybe it was just the heat from the bath messing with me. I took a deep breath of the warm Japanese air and let it out slowly.

"As if you know any more than the child." A rather irritating voice stated.

"You found it necessary to tell me this for what reason?" I asked as I turned to face the girl.

It seemed to me that she didn't think I would give a question in response.

"It is rather bold of you to make such a comment, not having any idea as to who I am or where I come from."

"You are human. That is all I need to know."

"Pathetic." I stated, unaffected by her words. "I was hoping for a well-founded claim instead of unadulterated bias."

"Humans simply lack the abilities that we demons poses, making them hopelessly below us." She stated, following me as I tried to leave her.

"Do humans not live in a society that matches the ones demons live in? And have humans not found a way to overcome the physical barriers that try to limit their progress? Our lack of strength does not translate to a lack of mental development. My species tells nothing of that which my mind holds."

"It is easy to mimic that which you see."

"You are a fool," I stated bluntly with a sigh. "A stubborn and bigoted one at that. The worst type of people."

I ignored her angered insults, realizing that I should have asked when Rin finished classes. She was the only entertaining person here outside of myself and Sesshomaru at times. I also had no idea as to where she was or where Sesshomaru was. I guess I would have to make the best out of being alone. This wouldn't be my first time doing so. I could always map out the land, but that requires effort. It would be better for me to find a nice spot to sit in and take a nap.

"and an ungrateful beast!"

"You're still here?" I asked, genuinely surprised.

Her shoulders scrunched up as her face flushed red. She turned around in a huff and stomped off as my gaze turned to the koi pond behind her. It was a first for me, so I didn't hesitate to satiate my curiosity by stepping closer to it and crouching, ignoring the maid that turned around to face me again. The fish swam peacefully, coloring the clear water with red and white. Their lazy movements gave me a clear shot of them, allowing me to see the shine in their black beady eyes and see their flapping fins and gills. It wasn't until their pace quickened that those drop like colors blur as my eyes failed to focus on their detail. I'm not sure which sight I liked better, I let out a silent "aw" after seeing that the fish had swam to the edges of the pond in hope of distancing themselves from me.

"I don't want to eat you, you silly fish." I remarked under my breath.

Then the palm of a hand landed on my back before pushing me. Much force wasn't necessary to tip me over the edge of the pond and into it. I landed chest down in the pond with my arms attempting to push me upward. My feet had been spared, but gravity would have its way with that soon. I pulled my arms and sleeves out of the water and switched to my hands to push me out of the water completely. When I looked to find the perpetrator, I found that I was alone.

A stream of curses flowed through my mouth as I observed the damage. Did she think she could just push me in and get away with it? Oh, she would regret it. As my temper rose, I found that my nose had switched to its more sensitive form. The scent was fresh, and my nails were sharp. If whoever did this didn't manage to change their scent, they were in for a great deal of revenge. To make my day better, a cool breeze stuck to my skin. Great, just great! Being drenched in a koi pond after having taken a bath wasn't enough for nature.

I wrung out as much water from my clothes as I could before going back inside. Thankfully, no one was in sight or earshot to hear my foul mouth for the first thirty seconds of entrance. I quickly became silent as I walked back to my room, but of course complete silence wasn't enough to keep Sesshomaru unaware. Maybe he'd heard my string of curses and came to find the reason behind it.

"You are wet" He noted.

The desire to roll my eyes and thank Captain Obvious was great, but I managed to refrain from doing so.

"There was an accident by the koi pond, but I'm fine." I said, avoiding his gaze and walking past him into my room.

Sesshomaru followed me, and I honestly didn't care. I had to focus on not hunting the woman down while drenched and strangling her. To restrain myself, I would usually kick, throw, or break something, or let out a scream of anger, but all of those options were unavailable at the time. So I simply bit my lip and let it bleed. If I stumbled across the bitch now, I would ruin her life.

I looked through the closet and found a towel and another set of clothing. I dried myself off as I thought to myself. I turned my obi to face the front and untied it before letting it fall. I pulled the towel under the yukata from my feet up to my chest and tied it just above my bust.

Right before I could slip on the dry yukata, Sesshomaru had me on my back with my hands pinned above me.

"What the-?"

"You continued to tempt me."

"Sesshomaru, get off of me."

"You are upset."

"Oh really? I didn't notice." I huffed as I turned away from him. "I can only take so much in one day."

"Who steals your attention from me, even as I hold you?" He asked.

My brows creased even more as I found who I would vent my frustration to.

"Why don't you ask the koi pond?" I muttered as I attempted to wiggle my hands free. "And I'm not some toy for you to play with or some accessory for you to wear as you choose and please. And I sure as hell aren't going to feed you my attention when I'm upset."

He said nothing as he laid his head on my shoulder anyway.

"Stop it!" I whined.

"Impossible."

He let go of my hands to hold my cheek.

"If you want me to squirm, you'll have to try again later."

"Perhaps I prefer this obstinate version of you."

"It's a two sided package."

"I will gladly accept this package should it be offered."

"Let me get dressed!" I demanded as he removed himself from me.

I sat up, holding the towel in between my legs as he waited for me to get up. I sat there, looking away from him with a small frown as my anger started to disappear. He latched onto my arm and pulled me up before picking up the kimono and holding it up for me to slip in. I knew there was something more to his attempt, but knew he wouldn't let me take the cloth to put on myself.

I silently turned my back to him, and slipped my arms through the silk's sleeves before pulling my hair to fall over my shoulder. Sesshomaru pulled me closer. I my head slightly to show him that I was not amused, before snapping my attention back forward to stop him from pulling my towel off.

"I believe that is for my husband to do." I stated as I wrapped the cloth shut and pulled his hand away.

"Should you not be mine, you will never mate."

"You have no say in that."

"I have the only say."

"You infuriate me." I stated as I adjusted my clothes and before tying it down and fetching my obi.

He said nothing as I continued to mutter to myself on how vulgar and inconsiderate the man could be while I tied the obi to have a bow. After adjusting it and retying it until I felt it was as good as I could get it, I started the burden of turning it onto my back. Sesshomaru didn't hesitate to turn the belt for me. He was all for me signaling to others that I was not promiscuous and would not fool around with any random man.

With a dry yukata on and Sesshomaru off my waist, I left for Rin's room. It would be much easier to blow off steam with the little girl. Being with Sesshomaru would be the death of me. He doesn't seem to understand when it is appropriate to hit on girls, if I can even call it that. That's usually what's in a guy's mind when they hit on girls, right? I wouldn't know.

When I got to the girl's room, I knocked at the door. After realizing that the girl was not going to run to the door and grab me as she did before, I opened it and poked my head in, looking to see if she was even there. Sure enough, she was. She sat by her table, looking at it with bored eyes.

"Rin, you okay?" I asked as I let myself in, shutting the door behind me.

She looked at me, giving me a clear view of her transforming face. What initially seemed to be bored grew into a frown as tears fell from her eyes. She attempted to wipe them away and stop her crying only to give up and dig her hands into her lap. I was quick to go to the girl's side and sit by her. The first question I had for her was if she was okay.

She nodded her head before explaining, "Chika-san said hurtful things to Rin!"

My eyes narrowed. Was she that upset that I didn't care to give her insults mind? Pathetic wasn't the word to use.

"What did she say?" I sighed as I crossed my arms.

"She called Rin filthy, and a waste of space. Is Rin-Chan dirty and a waste of space?" Rin asked me.

I gave her a much needed hug. "Of course not. Don't listen to Chika, she's just jealous. She knows your too nice and wants to take advantage of that. C'mon, it's about time to sleep. We have to wake up early tomorrow."

She took my words to heart, and wiped her tears away. I helped her set up her futon, seeing that we were getting ready to sleep much earlier than usual. I watched as she shed her yukata for a lighter fabric. She hid under the covers soon after before staring at me. I stared back at her for a minute before giving in and pulling out another futon for myself. I placed it next to Rin's before laying down next to the radiant girl.

"Kazumi-san, thank you." She whispered to me.

"There's no need to thank me." I replied once she was asleep.

I never was good with these types of things, but I was good enough to comfort Rin. I let out a deep breath before staring at Rin as she slept. She clings on to every word others say, Sesshomaru's above everyone else. I guess there has to be a weak spot in her personality left from the trauma of losing both her parents. I'll assume she learned how to be so strong from Sesshomaru, just like how she learned how to smile from him.

He's quite the paradox, being able to teach her those types of things, yet being the indifferent and somewhat self-centered person he is. Then again, nothing's truly impossible.