After driving for more than two hours, they repeated the steps from the days before. Arriving at a small minshuku, checking in and being shown the guestrooms, the silence had grown even more oppressive than it had been at breakfast. As their host left them to their own devices, this time, it was Sesshoumaru to break it.

'I apologize for my indiscretion this afternoon,' he said stiffly, turning his back to her. 'You do not need to accompany me to today's memorial. I will see you at dinner.'

He made to leave the room, but she quickly grabbed his wrist.

'What do you mean, I don't have to come? I thought the whole point of this trip was me visiting graves, why wouldn't I join you now? Whose grave is here?'

He refused to meet her eyes. 'She was of no consequence to you.'

Kagome was quick to put two and two together. 'You had better not be talking about Rin,' she said hotly, 'I may not have spent much time with her, but she was dear to me just the same, and I am going to pay my respects to her. And as for your 'indescretion',' she lowered her voice in a mocking imitation of his own,' let's just say we're even and be done with it, ok?' She held out her hand for him to shake in agreement.

He stared at the proffered appendage and briefly deliberated melting it off for her mockery, but concluded that hers was a fair proposition and shook her hand. Kagome nodded sharply before clapping her hands.

'So, is there a flower shop near here?' she asked.

Sesshoumaru shook his head and made his way outside. 'She liked wildflowers best. You can pick some on our way.'

Kagome smiled at his understanding and her smile tugged at his heart. He led her into the woods once more, this time at a more leisurely pace to allow her to gather her arms full of flowers. They made their way up a small incline, waving through the trees without a path to guide them. Kagome noted a lot of the trees were plum-trees, and realized the whole mountain would erupt in pink blossoms come spring.

They came upon a small pond, again with two markers beside it. Kagome understood that Kohaku had been laid to rest besides his wife. The whole area was already blanketed in late bloomers. She spied chrysanthemums, cornflowers, cosmos and even some sunflowers still in bloom. It made her wonder how often he visited this little grove in remembrance of the girl that started thawing his heart. She silently placed her offering of blooms at the base of the markers and said a small prayer before stepping back. Sesshoumaru was staring at the stones, eyes glazed over. Kagome gently took his hand and removed the beads from his wrist.

'She should see you as you are,' she said softly as she released him.

'She always did,' he answered.

'I can find my way back by myself,' she volunteered, offering him some time alone, as he had her.

He lightly shook his head. 'I shall not linger long.'

A few moments passed, and Kagome took a little stroll along the side of the pond, enjoying the tranquility of this little patch of forest.

'Will you tell me about her?' she asked as she rejoined his side.

'Some other time,' he said, before starting the short trek back to civilization, 'come.'

Silent as ever, they trudged back down the mountain. Sesshoumaru slipped the bracelet back onto his arm just before they were clear of the trees. They walked back to the hotel where it was announced that they had some time before dinner was served. Kagome offered Seshoumaru the bath first, knowing the healing properties of a good soak, and settled down near the kitchen to make small talk with the proprietor.

After dinner, their host offered them a glass of homemade umeshu, made from the local plums. Kagome nervously glanced at Sesshoumaru, but he graciously took the proffered glass and imperceptibly nodded for her to do the same. They enjoyed the drink as a nice digestive and before long, their host bade them goodnight, leaving them alone once more.

As soon as the sliding door was shut, Sesshoumaru divested himself of the bracelet and ran his hand through his hair, silver again. Kagome looked at him from across the table. He was sitting with one knee pulled up, his arm resting atop it. His other hand lay on the table, restlessly turning the glass in circles. He had a far away look in his eyes as he appeared to study a corner of the ceiling intently.

Kagome couldn't bear the silence for long, and cleared her throat. 'So, that 'no more drinking´ promise didn't hold up long,' she remarked, before mentally slapping her forehead.

'Hn. Do not hope for a repeat of yesterday. Or this afternoon. I was not myself. Coming here always has me…' he seemed to ponder his words as he said them.

'Out of sorts?' she supplied with a wry smile of understanding.

He nodded and they lapsed back into silence. Briefly.

'So… why here?' she prodded.

She saw rather than heard him sigh and was just about to tell him not to bother, she was sorry for prying, when he answered.

'She found me here, on this mountain. It was after my brother had hit me with the wind scar.'

Kagome remembered the battle well. 'When tenseiga saved you?'

He nodded. 'Rin came upon me when I was completely immobilized. She tried to feed me. The villagers punished her for it, but she continued. Then, the village was attacked by wolves when I had just recovered.'

'Oh! They must've been Kouga's pack. We fought them as well.'

Another nod. 'They killed Rin. And then I saved her in turn. She followed me from then on.'

Kagome had so many more questions, she wanted to know so much more about the little girl that had faithfully followed him all over Japan. She knew that he was done sharing for today, however, and thanked him for telling her. She then excused herself to go to bed and walked over to where the owner had told them they had made up their futons. She discovered with a shock that she'd been wrong to assume there would be two futons in two separate rooms.

Kagome stood in the doorway and stared at the single big bed, in the middle of the single, big room. It wasn't long before Sesshoumaru came up behind her, raised eyebrow silently asking what she was doing in the hallway.

'There's only one futon,' she said lamely. He looked over her shoulder.

'Hn. So there is.'

'What are we going to do?'

'Sleep, miko, what else? You've already proven you're not adverse to sharing a bed.' He gently pushed her into the room by placing his hand on the small of her back.

Before she could sputter a retort, she heard him chuckle lightly. It did weird things to her stomach, and with a lurch she wondered when that had started.

'Sleep,' he repeated, before stepping back into the hallway, 'I'll be back before dawn.'

He disappeared onto the veranda and into the night, moving at inhuman speeds under the cover of darkness. Kagome made to go after him, but knew there was no way she could catch up. Besides, she wanted to offer him the same seclusion with his grief that he had offered her. So she turned back into the room and got comfortable on the futon. Her sleep was fitful, however, and she often found herself staring at the empty spot beside her.