Soft morning light illuminated the surrounding forest, as a small fire was started for cooking. Nazoki had just set up a new arrangement of dry leaves and sticks. The vixen easily sparked a flame, and glanced at Rin and Shippo's sleeping forms. Internally musing of how cute they looked, she noted A-Un was awake, and gnawing on the bits of grass beside them. Sesshomaru was standing beside the tree with his back to her, still staring at the sky. Only moments earlier had Jaken awoken, and he was standing beside Sesshomaru.

After changing back into her regular outfit, the vixen folded Kagome's robe. She placed it by the girl's backpack, and left to gather vegetation for breakfast. Wild carrots and mushrooms seemed to be the most frequent finds in this area. Soon she returned with an armful of Rin's gathered meal.

Peering into the forest, Nazoki caught sight of a deer. She slowly rose to her feet, gazing past the large numerous large tree trunks. With a glance towards Inuyasha's sleeping group, she noted that the human's and half-breed would probably be hungry as well as Rin. Large game was not her usual hunt, but it would take a large amount to feed everybody. Nodding to herself she picked up a single leaf which had been beside her foot. Placing it under a bit of her hair, the woman shifted into a deer. When she looked back, she found Sesshomaru frowning in confusion, yet ignored his stare.

Naturally, deception would be necessary to catch such an animal. The vixen ambled over towards the deer, which halted at the sight of her. Being as non-threatening as possible, she slowed her pace, and pretended to graze a meter away from the animal. When it's attention shifted back to feeding, she wasted no time in pouncing towards it and shifting into a more fitting animal for the kill. Sesshomaru watched the odd display of huntsman ship as a tiger tackled the deer in question. Seconds later, the vixen shifted back to herself and dragged the deer towards the small campsite. Jaken was staring at her with an obvious startled expression. The lord maintained his calm demeanor, and turned back towards the open sky.

Needless to say, there would be a meal soon. In less than half an hour the deer had been cleaned and disassembled to speed cooking time. Nazoki had formed a makeshift rack to suspend the meat over and set all of the useless bits aside. As everything was cooking, she approached Sesshomaru.
"Uh, M'lord..."

Peering at the woman over his shoulder, he found her holding one of the deer's hind legs.
"If you hunger, I ask that you accept this..." Slightly bowing, she offered the cut to him. Of course it was raw, as, when did an animal take time to cook their meal? It made more sense to enjoy the fresh meat, at least to a demon. Humans were more fragile, they could not do such a thing. But knowing the lord preferred his meals undercooked, Nazoki assumed he preferred his hunt raw. An immediate sense of absurdity fell over the vixen as Jaken started to speak.
"The lord does not need to eat as often as those humans. I would be surprised if he even touched that poorly hunted-"
"Jaken..." Silencing the toad, Sesshomaru peered down at him. Surprise seemed to cross Jaken, as he was interrupted.
Nodding at Nazoki, Sesshomaru accepted the leg, and the vixen shifted her gaze. The meat over the fire started to sizzle, and she immediately turned back to it. Without a word, Nazoki started to roast the mushrooms and carrots with her foxfire. Standing up, Nazoki took a few minutes to rush to the springs to wash the deer blood off herself. The last thing she wanted was for Rin to awaken to her looking like a crazed killer.

When she returned, she shifted to a fox and curled up beside Shippo and Rin. From where she laid, she could easily watch the food.

"Mmm... Something..." Kagome's tired voice sounded, only to have Sango's complete her sentence.
"Smells delicious..."
Almost as soon as she had laid down, Inuyasha's group started to stir. Rin and Shippo also stretched, and buried their heads into Nazoki's fur. Sango and Kagome lazily walked to the cooking food, and studied it.
"This is going to be soo good. I think I have some seasoning in my bag." The miko revealed, turning to search through her oversized backpack. Jaken sat down beside Rin and Shippo, who were just starting to sit up. Apparently, Sesshomaru had taken his meal elsewhere, opting not to eat near his half brother, or anybody else for that matter.

"Nazoki, you got all of this for us?" Peering at the fox beside her, Rin smiled as she spoke. The vixen silently lowered and raised her slender snout in a nod.
"Thank you!" Rin exclaimed happily petting the woman as Kagome sprinkled salt and pepper over the cooking meat.

While the group ate, Nazoki sat off to the side, observing them.
"This meat is so tender! Nazoki, you should open a restaurant!" Kagome gushed, after finishing her second piece of the deer.
"Restaurant?"Nazoki asked, and Kagome stared at her for a moment.
"Oh, yeah, no- forget it. There are just these things like that where I come from." The girl dismissively waved her hand as she spoke, only furthering Nazoki's confusion.
"She's from the future." Sango added, and the vixen frowned.
"Future?"
"Yes, they have very interesting things in her time. A cream that makes injuries stop hurting, an all sorts of healing items." Miroku nodded, taking a small bite of a carrot.
"Yeah! And they have this sweet stuff called candy! Kagome always brings me some!" Shippo grinned, gazing up at Nazoki. The young kitsune had opted to sit beside her while everybody ate, and even enjoyed some of the food himself.

"You guys are probably just confusing her more. The future ain't as great as it seems, it's dangerous, ya know!" Adding in his own two cents, Inuyasha proceeded to consume more food than any other.
"Dangerous?" Kagome asked, peering at the half-breed with blank confusion.
"Yeah! With all those box things speeding around and your weird sports." He nodded, and Kagome simply sighed in response.

"That was really good Nazoki, thank you!"
Gazing down at Rin the vixen mirrored her wide smile.
"Are you not gonna eat too?" Shippo asked.
Realizing that Nazoki had simply sat with everybody while they ate, all seemed to fix their attention on her. She tried to waved them off, and tell them she didn't need to eat as often as they did, but with Kagome's insistence, Nazoki found herself being ushered to at least taste the food. The moment she took a bite, she almost spit it out. Once again all stared at her curiously, as she tried to be polite. Immediately lowering her head, Nazoki shifted her gaze.
"Huh? What is it?" Kagome asked, as Nazoki stared at the remaining meat in her hands. Forcing herself to swallow the food, the vixen shook her head. The taste of the meat was completely overwhelmed by whatever the human had put on it. Though Nazoki's entire body could burst into flames and be fine, she was not a dragon; she did not breath fire. That is exactly what she seemed to be doing at this very moment. Her sensitive senses where pushed to the edge with the over abundance of pepper, and she was not fond of it.

"N-Nothing..." She managed to choke out as she set the meat on a rock near the fire and pushed herself to her feet. Jaken burst into a fit of snickers at the sight of her morose expression. Even he could smell the issue. The toad's humor soon increased, and he fell onto his side; doubled over with laughter.
"Nazoki?" Rin asked, only to receive an odd 'It's fine' wave in response. Without a word, the vixen started away in search of water, or anything else that may help her.
"You idiot, she's not human! It was probably all those spices you used!" Inuyasha declared, turning to Kagome. Nobody knew just how right he was at the moment.
"You think?" The miko asked, completely oblivious to the fact that a human's taste palate was much less sensitive; refined.

As Nazoki entered the forest, she found Sesshomaru seated next to the bones of what was the leg of a deer. He silently gazed up at her donning his usual expression, or lack thereof. Yet, it was one which Nazoki was positive to be amusement. An invisible smile seemed to be present and the way his eyes were narrowed only furthered her speculation. The lord was most definitely internally chuckling at her naivety. Sesshomaru could smell the pepper, and already knew the effect it would have on her. Though Nazoki would humor Rin and often time eat with her, she never used anything on the food; simply cooked. It became apparent that the vixen was not as accustomed to humans as she seemed. The vixen ignored him in her search of water. She had to wash the pepper taste away.

As the groups were parting ways, Nazoki spent a bit of extra time talking to Kagome and Sango. Of course, she attempted to keep her distance from Miroku, as she was not in the mood to be groped. Shippo was sitting on Inuyasha's shoulder, and the two groups had already started their separate ways, only stopping to wait for the women.
"So- Nazoki, about last night.. Erm-"
"Nothing happened!" Immediately blushing Nazoki cut Kagome off. The girl slowly nodded, and exchanged curious glances with Sango.
"Well, he's a really dense guy... I hope you can find a way to... Well, you know... Not what we thought-! Just, to get along!" Kagome finally managed, and Nazoki slowly nodded.
"It was fun. I wish you two the best." Sango chimed in, grinning.

"Eh, the lord and I, we are not- Like that."
The words cause Kagome and Sango to gaze at one another again, obviously not believing Nazoki. They both slowly (Awkwardly) nodded, and smiled. Though the talk had started with regular goodbyes, and the women telling Nazoki they were happy she was alive, now it seemed they just wanted to talk about Sesshomaru. Needless to say, it put everybody in an uncomfortable mood.
"Well... Just in case anything does ever happen, you should have this..." Reaching into one of the side pockets of the large bag on her back, Kagome pulled out a small red square and handed it to Nazoki. The vixen eyed the suspicious package, and started to smell it.
"What is this? What do I do with it?" She asked, and Kagome shifted her gaze.
"It's uhh... Well..."
Sango stared at Kagome, just as curious as Nazoki.
"My grampa gave it to me, saying it was a joke... But I don't need it! It uh..." Leaning towards Nazoki, Kagome cupped her mouth.
"It's called a condom... It's to keep you safe when you-"
Eyes immediately widening, Nazoki froze in place holding the strange plastic as Kagome explained the use of the item. When Kagome leaned away, she was awkwardly grinning. As if this entire scene was necessary.

Unable to help herself Nazoki combusted. Sango and Kagome jumped back, startled, but soon Kagome snatched the condom from Nazoki's hands.
"It'll melt!" She exclaimed. The demon slayer was curiously watching her friend, and trying to understand what was happening.

Meters away, in opposite directions, Inuyasha, and Sesshomaru's group were watching; just as curious.
"Lord Sesshomaru, Rin thinks Nazoki almost burned Kagome." Rin noted. The man gazed down at the girl, offering a slight nod.
"Hn."

A/N: Thank you for your reviews!
I appreciate the feedback, and hope everybody s having a good day thus far. :)