It's obvious that he doesn't want me here, yet he still let's me lie though I know if he really wanted to, he could kill me easily. I don't know why he doesn't. These thoughts and ones similar have been running through my mind for as long as I've been with these three. I don't even know how long it's been now, I stopped counting after a week. No, that's not right, I stopped caring after a week. He knows Kagome and he knows where she is. It makes me so angry that he won't just tell me so I can be on my way.

I looked down at the small sleeping girl in my arms. She had taken to sleeping near me, but tonight she fell asleep while asking me about where I came from. It seems as though she never runs out of new questions to ask. I was thankful for her -in all honesty, I probably will always be. If she hadn't been there that day, I probably wouldn't still be alive today. I had to smile at her, she just had that effect on me.

I turned my head to the sight behind me. Jaken and Sesshomaru were talking about something. Occasionally I would catch something that Jaken shouted, but other than that I was completely clueless. I was sick of it. I don't care if they always put me down for being human, I am with them and I think I deserve to know what's going on. I stood up, careful not to jostle Rin to much. I placed her on the ground close to Ah-Un, and lightly brushed the hair out of her face. I turned away from them and headed toward the demon and the imp.

They stopped talking and Jaken looked at me. Every time he looked at me, it was really more of a glare. "Rin's fast asleep," I said to them, completely ignoring Jaken's look. That really wasn't hard to do though.

"Then go back to her," Jaken said rudely. I wanted to kick him, but I restrained myself.

I nodded. "I will. I was just wondering what you two were discussing…" Sesshomaru looked over his shoulder at me. He always looked at me strangely when I wasn't rude. His expression never really changed, but the look in his eyes did.

"It's none of your concern," he said.

"It is!" I accidentally shouted. I looked back at Rin to make sure she was still sleeping, thankfully she hadn't moved. "It is though," I tried in a hushed tone.

"How so?" He asked. I was thrown off by his question. He had a point that it really wasn't my concern, I was just nosey. How could I say that though? I couldn't.

I crossed my arms and sighed. "Fine, it's not, but when are we going to see my cousin? I do have to go home eventually."

A knowing smirk crossed his lips and he simply made a thoughtful sound. I practically growled at him as I started to turn away. He pulled me back by my wrist before I had fully turned and I didn't understand why. Then I looked over my shoulder. There were at least three demons and they were looking at Rin. Ah-Un would protect her, but even that knowledge wasn't good enough for me. I wriggled my wrist out of Sesshomaru's grip and went to the still sleeping child.

I wasn't thinking. Kagome, Grandpa, and Aunt Maki would always joke about that being both my best and worst attribute. In this instance however, all I could think about was protecting Rin. Ah-Un was awake and shielding her as best he could, it wasn't good enough. I wrapped my arms around her and lifted her up off the ground just as Ah-Un fell. He would have landed on her had I not been there.

Then I became fully aware of the advancing demons, two of the three were coming toward me. I pulled Rin closer to me and covered as much of her as I could. I was scared, terrified really, but I tried to act brave. Mostly because Rin had woken up, I couldn't let her know how scared I was. One of the Demons lashed out and hit my arm. I wasn't sure who it was going after anymore, but I wouldn't let them get her.

I closed my eyes as I saw the other rear back in an attack. It never came. I opened my eye slightly and saw that Sesshomaru had taken care of all of them. I wanted to thank him, but only one thought was able to get out in the open. "What took so long? Were just going to let them kill me?"

He looked at me over his shoulder. He always seemed to do that. "You're bleeding," he said. I looked at my arm and sure enough I was, a lot.

I shrugged as best I could while still holding onto Rin. "So, it's just a scratch, it'll heal." I knelt down and placed Rin on the ground. She didn't let go of me though.

"That's not just a scratch," she said in a low voice. I took her face between my hands and gave her a smile. She didn't smile back, she looked concerned.

"Rin, I'm fine." She still didn't look assured. I brushed her hair back and tucked it behind her ear. "More importantly, are you alright?" She nodded slowly. "What's wrong?"

She looked up at me, her brown eyes were full understanding. I however, was very confused. "You saved me!" She said excitedly with a laugh.

"Not really, I would have just prolonged the inevitable. Lord Fluffy here saved us," I said as my eyes rose to meet his threatening gaze. I just smiled. Then I looked back down at Rin. "You should try and get some more sleep, Rin." She nodded and skipped over to Ah-Un. He watched her approach. I watched as she settled herself down on to the grass next to him, much how she had been only mere moments ago.

"Why did you do that?" I tore my gaze from the resting girl to look at Sesshomaru. He wasn't looking over his shoulder at me which was strange.

"Do what?" I turned my arm and examined my wound. It wasn't too bad, just very bloody. Definitely not fatal in the least. "If you're talking about that Lord Fluffy thing, it's just a joke." I didn't wait for him to answer and I turned away from him toward the stream that we had stopped by. I was thankful for the running water and that it wasn't a lake or a pond. I sat down on my knees at the bank and leaned over to dip my arm into the cool water. I watched as the now semi-dry blood washed away.

"You protected Rin," I heard him say.

I nodded and laughed slightly. "Of course. Why wouldn't I?" I pulled my arm out of the water and tried to dry it by wiping the water off on my pant leg. I turned my head to look at him fully. He didn't seem to have an answer for me because he didn't say anything. "She's only a child, she hasn't had a chance to live yet, I'm older. Her life is more important than mine." To me that seemed like the simplest idea in the world, but that wasn't the case with him.

He said nothing more as he turned and walked off somewhere. For once, I didn't really care where he was going. I had an actually conversation -sort of- with him. That was good enough for me. I stood up and went to Rin. I sat on the grass next to her and she put her head in my lap. She smiled at me. "I think you're important."

I smiled back at her. "Shouldn't you be sleeping?" She abruptly closed her eyes and I ran my fingers through her hair as I softly hummed a random tune.

Inuyasha held onto Tetsusaiga as he faced the demon. He had told us to run, but I needed to help. I held onto my bow and aimed an arrow for the jewel shard that was implanted in the demons chest. I released the arrow. I couldn't help but wonder if Suri has run into a demon that possessed a shard of the Shikon jewel. I didn't pay attention as Inuyasha killed the demon and retrieved the shard.

Suri has been on my mind too often lately. It's been nearly three weeks and no matter how many times Inuyasha would say that she is probably dead, something in me told me she wasn't. I wouldn't accept that she was dead until I saw her myself. "Are you thinking about her again?"

I turned my head to see Sango approaching me. I nodded and let out a sigh. "I can't help it." Shippo and Miroku came up to us next and looked at me. "What?"

"What's she like?" Shippo asked curiously. I smiled as I thought about how annoying my cousin could be, but how caring she was at the same time.

"We don't have time for story time," Inuyasha said as he finally joined our group. In his hand he held the shard. I took it from him and placed it in the vial with the others. Now that I think about it, Suri's a lot like Inuyasha.

I didn't feel like arguing with him, mostly because he had a point. "Fine, I'll walk and talk." He grunted in response and started walking. Shippo jumped onto my shoulder.

"Her name is Suri right?" He asked. I nodded. "Is she nice?"

I laughed and had to think of how to word my answer. "Mostly. She has her bad days, but yeah, I would say she's nice."

"What else is she like?" He asked again.

I smiled. "Well, she's a little pushy and she doesn't always think. She always put other people before herself, even if she hates the person. Like her brother, she hates him more than anything, but she still does everything she can to help him out."

"Help him with what?" Sango asked.

"Seven years ago her parents left her and her older brother behind all alone. She was ten and even then she realized that she needed to do something so they could afford to live in their apartment. She found ways to make money by helping other people in her building with odd jobs. Mom and Gramps offered to have them move in or to help with their rent, but Suri refused even then. She's too proud to ever ask for help."

"That doesn't seem like a reason to hate him," Miroku stated.

I nodded in agreement. "That's not the reason, not really. He was fifteen when they left and he had already had a job. He quit and started just laying around the house not helping with anything anymore. He relied on his little sister for everything. She brought home money and went shopping. Suri never showed that any of it affected her though. She went on as though everything was exactly the same."

"Why?" Shippo asked. "Why would he do that? Why would she let him?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I've accepted that I'll never fully understand how my cousins think, but I know Suri always has good intentions. When she's being serious. She likes to joke around a lot."

"What does she look like?" Shippo asked once again.

I closed my eyes as I pictured her. "She has light brown hair that is just a little shorter than mine, her eyes are a darker brown. She's about," I put my hand up a few inches over my head, "that tall." I opened my eyes and looked at the young fox demon on my shoulder. It looked as if he was trying to picture her in his mind.

"We'll find her Kagome," he said reassuringly.

I hope everyone likes this chapter. I was a little stuck, but then one of my best friends inspired me with only one little part... who knew that was all it took? xD So I really want to thank her (again :D)

Please review and tell me what you think!