AN: Enjoy this super early chapter! I had planned to update every two weeks but this one came fast and *cough* I have something planned for the next chapter *cough*

I'll admit it, I enjoy annoying Jaken.

**Updated/Fixed: 23/06/21**

oOo

Jaken slowly woke up with a loud yawn, stretching his arms. He had fallen asleep with his back against a rock and the pain was letting itself known.

Seeing the girl curled next to the boy, he stared and took a deep breath. It was going to be such a long day.

He was about to poke his staff on the girl's back to wake her but then decided against it. It was too damn early to deal with the human, he thought and then his eye twitched in annoyance. Correction, humans.

Oh, how he dreaded the moment that they would wake up.

He still couldn't believe that stupid girl had just named that boy as if he were a pet!

He scoffed at the thought, maybe that was it, maybe his Lord just bought this scrawny boy for some kind of entertainment, he pondered for a while but then shook his head. This boy, 'Haru' as Rin decided to name him, wasn't anything special in his eyes. He was scrawny, his clothes were old and dirty and yeah, he admitted that his eyes were an interesting shade of green but he had his eyes covered for most of the time, but he just couldn't forget the worst of it all! He had the gall to insult his Lord in his face!

Thinking back about his comment, he was surprised that his master hadn't killed him at that moment. When his Lord Sesshoumaru had dragged the boy to the woods he had thought that maybe he was about to kill him but hadn't done it right there so Rin won't be able to see. He was shocked though when his Lord came back minutes later completely serene, as usual. Maybe it was a clean kill, he pondered but then he almost choked when the boy appeared looking as chastised as a little child.

His astonishment increased and he almost spat his heart out when the foolish girl took the boy's hand pulling him towards the campfire. He had stared at his Lord with a look of consternation but he had remained impassive even as his eyes never drifted from their interactions.

Looking back on last night he felt cold sweat forming as he remembered the constant chattering coming from the girl while the boy just remained calm, a bemused expression on his face as Rin asked questions one after another.

Glancing back at his Lord Sesshomaru he saw him disappearing amongst the trees in his usual fashion but he couldn't help but have the feeling that he kept watching over them on his perch.

Jaken shivered.

He really hoped that it wasn't what he thought. God, he had even prayed that it wasn't so. Probably he was just keeping an eye on his charge, nothing more!

His Lord had never expressed any kind of interest to anyone!

Which could mean that this is the first, added the annoying little voice on his head and he gulped heavily.

Those kinds of demeanors couldn't possibly be-

Please, Kami-sama…

oOo

"Haru…Haru!" A voice called as little fingers prodded into his side. Shifting with a grunt, he turned to lie on his back and rubbed his eyes, slowly regaining consciousness.

Blinking as his eyes tried to adjust to the light, he noticed the little girl from last night -Rin, his mind supplied- and he smiled when the brown eyes lightened in happiness.

It seemed he had forgotten to replace his blindfold before falling asleep, he thought as he picked on the cloth that he had tied to his wrist in order to keep it near him and slowly sat up. The daylight was too much for his sight, even to the point of being painful.

He was surprised at how easily he had fallen asleep. In the village Kanan made him drink a special herbal tea every night stating that it was to 'help him sleep' but if that wasn't the case… he dreaded what it was for. Every day that passed he seemed to find new reasons to loathe the people in that place.

What were they trying so hard to hide from him?

His mood soured.

The last day he took the tea was before they came to his house-

"Is Haru okay?"

Blinking, he turned to the worried expression on Rin's face. "Ah, I'm alright, just thinking." He said with a reassuring smile and chuckled a little at the messy black hair, it seemed she woke up just a few seconds before him.

"What?" Rin asked curiously and startled as Haru detached her ponytail and carefully combed his fingers through her locks attempting to fix it. The action was so gentle that it shocked her and looking at Haru's face so full of love and care for her she felt like crying.

She briefly remembered how her mother would comb her fingers on her hair when she had trouble sleeping and she felt her eyes prickle with tears.

"There, do you think it's good?" Haru asked but his voice appeared to be far away. "Rin? What happened, did I hurt you?" He asked, voice full of concern as he started to panic.

Just then Jaken appeared, staff on hand, "Have you two stopped chattering now? R-Rin-?" He questioned as he noticed her state, and glared at the boy. "What did you do?!" He accused, pointing his staff at him.

Haru became agitated as next to him, Rin began sniffing and tears started to fall down her cheeks.

"I-I don't know wh-" He spoke agitatedly, noticing as the Lord approached slowly but with purpose. Yeah, he was going to die in a slow and painful way, he blanched.

"Rin wants Haru to do it again!" She suddenly cried out as she crashed against his chest, pressing her face against his kosode as she trembled.

Confused, he slowly enveloped her into his arms as the tears drenched his clothing. "Rin?" He inquired, rubbing his hand against her back trying to comfort her.

Lifting his gaze, he saw that the Lord was just a few feet away as expressionless as always, the day that he'd show some emotion apart from annoyance would be an interesting one for sure, and Haru narrowed his eyes at him daring him to do something that would hurt the child on his arms.

The Lord, he believed he had heard the small imp call him Sesshoumaru, didn't seem to have done anything to harm the girl but he felt protective of her. Maybe overly so, he thought as he had only known her for a few hours but he wasn't going to let anything happen to the little girl who was showing some light on his world for the first time in his life.

He gently caressed her head as more tears came flowing. He didn't know what had triggered her to break down like that, he could only hold her in his arms trying to bring her the comfort that she seemed to seek.

oOo

"S-sir?" Jaken quietly asked as he stood next to his Lord. "What should I do?

Sesshoumaru stared at the scene before him. The boy, who Rin has dubbed 'Haru', was holding her as Rin burrowed further into his arms as she sobbed.

Without the bandages covering his eyes, Sesshoumaru could perfectly see the green eyes and inspected them trying to figure out this person but he could only see concern and care for his ward.

Ignoring Jaken, he turned around and quietly walked away from them.

His emotions were clearly displayed not only in his eyes, but in his entire body. For someone who always had his eyes covered, this was clearly a disadvantage and anyone could try and manipulate him.

His eyes were highly expressive, it was easy to lose oneself looking at them and looking back at Rin, she seemed to already be enamored with the boy.

But then why, why couldn't he see any traces of fear that time?

He scowled at the thought.

oOo

AN: The New Moon is nearing…