Chapter 6 – Separated

"Lord Sesshomaru, where are Rin and the others?!" Kirai questioned as she looked at the giant hole in the ground. Rin, Ah-Un, and Jaken were all nowhere to be seen.

"I am not sure. I cannot smell them." Sesshomaru was outwardly calm, but Kirai could see that he was concerned on the inside. Kirai made her way to the hole and looked down it. The rocks near the edge tumbled down, nearly causing her to fall. Thankfully though, Sesshomaru grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "Do not be an idiot. They aren't down there so don't bother looking."

"I guess you're right. Ah-Un can fly so they'd never fall down a hole. I'm just worried about them. Where could they have gone?" Kirai looked up to Sesshomaru only to see him turn away from her.

"I do not know, but I intend to find out." Sesshomaru was sniffing at the air, trying to pick up on their scent, but it clearly wasn't working. He couldn't smell them at all. It began to bother him outwardly now. Kirai could clearly see the annoyance on his face.

"Is everything alright, other than the obvious? Can you find them?"

"No." With that word, Sesshomaru turned around to glare at Kirai before walking away. That little glare was enough for Kirai to understand. He wants to make sure she follows him, but that she doesn't speak to him whatsoever.

So that's exactly what she did. Kirai followed Sesshomaru closely and didn't say a word. Meaning their new journey was going to be a silent and boring one.

"Girl."

"My name is Kirai, Lord Sesshomaru."

"Kirai." Hearing her name from the demon's mouth sent chills down her spine. Good chills that confused the girl. It almost gave her a sense of nostalgia.

"What is it, Lord Sesshomaru?"

"This is your fault. They were after you, however, in my arms they could not get to you. I do not know what they want with Rin, Jaken, and Ah-Un, but I believe it is not good." That was the most words Kirai had heard out of Sesshomaru's mouth. It took her a moment to get over her shock before she could respond.

"Um, what?"

"Do not make me repeat myself."

"So you think it's all my fault that they probably got taken?"

"That is what I said, is it not?"

"Yeah... You know I'm really sorry. If I could go back I'd let myself be taken in Rin's place."

"Hmm."

~

Kirai did not enjoy all the walking she just had to do. She ended up being slow meaning Sesshomaru had to slow his pace for her to keep up, meaning she knew that the demon was angry with her once again. She felt bad that she has just been a nuisance this entire journey, but she didn't know what to do about it. All she could think to do was keep her mouth shut and to not bother Sesshomaru with anything.

"We will stop here for the night." Sesshomaru suddenly declared as they reached the middle of a clearing. It was a nice little clearing with many flowers. It was a place Rin would have loved to be in.

"Thank you, Lord Sesshomaru."

"Rest now so you don't slow me down even further tomorrow."

"Oh... I'm sorry about that..." Kirai frowned and began to look around for a nice tree to lean against. She apparently wandered too far away, because Sesshomaru suddenly spoke up again.

"Remain close to me. I do not want to be bothered by another demon coming for you. If they sense me near you they will stay away."

"I see... I'm sorry you have to protect me, but hey, I do have my sword. I can fend off a demon or two myself."

"Do you really believe that?" With that, Sesshomaru stood up and began to leave the clearing. "We shall see."

Moments after he disappeared, leaving a confused Kirai, a demon came charging into the clearing. Kirai instantly unsheathed her sword and pointed it at the demon. Thankfully, it worked and the demon was hit by a ball of her power. It quickly was eaten away by her acid power, but another demon had arrived and was faster. It knocked the sword right out of her hand and threw her to the ground.

"I will devour you!" It yelled in her face, making Kirai scream out in fear.

"Alright fine, I can't protect myself!" Kirai screamed out loudly enough for everyone around to hear it, but most importantly, for Sesshomaru to hear it. He apparently heard it, for he appeared moments later and killed the demon with Bakusaiga.

Kirai remained laying there on the ground even after the demon was completely gone. She was partially in shock but also felt horrible. She didn't like needing to be saved by Sesshomaru, but she was also thankful for Sesshomaru for saving her.

"Kirai, get up." Sesshomaru was leaning against a tree, glaring over at the girl. She followed his orders and got up from the ground, dusting herself off in the process.

"Why do you keep saving me? I'm just some stupid human girl Rin got attached to. I've caused enough problems already. Wouldn't it be best to let a demon kill me?"

"We knew each other once, many years ago," Sesshomaru responded calmly. Kirai froze and stared at him with her jaw open.

"Excuse me, what?"

"As I said. We knew each other."

"Yeah I got that, can you explain further?" Kirai then made her way towards Sesshomaru and once she got to be in front of him, she sat down. Sesshomaru just stared ahead at the girl. He said nothing else, which infuriated the girl. "Come on Sesshomaru, how did we know each other?!" Much to the girl's surprise, Sesshomaru smirked at the girl. He said nothing and it was clear he didn't plan on saying anything either. That just caused the girl to pout and glare at the man.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" That was all Sesshomaru finally said, much to the girl's annoyance.

"I guess I should..." With that, Kirai moved away from the demon and leaned against a tree nearby. She snuggled up against the tree and held her sword in her arms. It was difficult, but she eventually fell asleep. She had dreams of the past that night, but nothing that would give any explanation to how she knew Sesshomaru.

~

"Get up girl. It's time to train." Sesshomaru's voice brought Kirai out of her dreams and back to reality. She wasn't too thrilled about waking up though, so she just glared up at him. Her glaring was ended by Sesshomaru pointing his sword at her. That caused the girl to quickly and carefully get up and pull out her sword.

"I thought we were going to travel?"

"First, a lesson on how to use your sword." Sesshomaru began his lesson with how to properly hold her sword. Once she understood how to hold it properly, he showed her how to swing it the correct way without just flailing around and risking injury to herself.

He almost seemed irritated to have to teach her the correct ways of doing things, but still, he was mostly a kind teacher. Which that in itself surprised Kirai. He seemed to have a lot of patience with her when she didn't get things right away.

"So... Like this, right?" Kirai gripped her sword correctly and swung it the right way finally. Sesshomaru nodded his head, causing Kirai to smile. "Thank you for teaching me."

"I had to. You were going to kill yourself with your own sword if I hadn't."

"That's not true!" Kirai then paused and thought about it. "No, you're right. That's totally true." To her swords, Kirai could have sworn that Sesshomaru smirked again, but this time she wasn't sure due to him turning away too quickly.

"It's those mountains over there, correct?" Sesshomaru's sudden question surprised Kirai and confused her.

"Huh? Oh, yeah."

"Hold onto me, we'll fly." He gave her only a moment to understand and to jump onto his fluff, Mokomoko before he took off flying. Kirai held on for dear life as she flew with Sesshomaru. She didn't want to fall and was close to having a panic attack. That meant she could not enjoy the fluffiness of Sesshomaru's Mokomoko.

Flying didn't take nearly as much time as walking would have, which Kirai was thankful for. Even so, she wanted to land immediately, however, it took a few minutes before they were at the foot of the mountains. That was where Sesshomaru landed, making a human run off screaming about a demon.

"We walk from here." Sesshomaru demanded and began to walk. However, Kirai had fallen off Mokomoko and was currently dizzy and sitting on the ground.

"Hold on a moment, please. I can't feel my legs." She'd been so scared her legs fell asleep. Sesshomaru merely turned around to glare at the girl, but he did indeed wait for her. Eventually, she regained feeling in her legs and stood up. Then Sesshomaru began to walk again with Kirai right at his side. His pace was slow to ensure the human kept up with him.

Within minutes of walking up the path, they reached the home of the crystal witch, Safaia. There were even more crystals this time and most of them were purple, but a few were a milky white color that reflected yellows and oranges in it when it hit the light. Kirai wasn't sure she'd ever seen a crystal like that one before.

"It's moonstone." Came a sudden voice, startling Kirai out of her thoughts.

"Oh, hello Safaia. It's been a little while." Kirai smiled nervously at the girl.

"You brought a demon with you...?" She looked over to Sesshomaru almost like she'd met him before. There was a hint of recognition in her eyes.

"I did. His name is Lord Sesshomaru. He brought me here because we need to talk. It's a long story."

"I see. Well, come on in." With those words, Kirai and Sesshomaru entered the crystal witch's home. They were sat down at a table in the kitchen where she served them some tea. Sesshomaru didn't deny it and decided to drink it as Kirai just glared at it a little bit. "Is something wrong with it?" Safaia questioned with a bit of laughter in her voice. "Let me guess, you don't like tea, do you?"

"Not really. Sorry. I'll still drink it though." Kirai did end up sipping at the tea, but she made a face of disgust when she had to swallow it.

"So, what was it you came here for and where is that girl you were with last time?"

"We

got separated from them, but that is only partly why I came here today."

"Oh?" Kirai wasn't sure if she was ready to go through such a long explanation of everything, but she knew it was for the best that she did. Safaia needed to know her truth.