A/N: So I didn't have internet or even a working phone for a couple of days, and I wound up writing this here chapter. However, I know how to fix it now, so don't get your hopes up too much ^^

This chapter introduces words from languages other than Japanese, which will be highlighted in italic - just as emphasised words. I briefly considered using bold instead, but that wouldn't look as good and tends to slow the reader down.

Anyway, here's the next chapter. Have fun!

Much Ado About a Hairpin

During the next couple of days, they somehow managed to – well, not exactly to live with each other – it was more like living alongside each other. Communication on both sides was kept to a minimum, they were mostly content to be silent. It wasn't like they had much to talk about, anyway.

However, there had been trouble – Sesshomaru had continued to bring big animals back from his hunting trips, despite Lillia having explained very clearly what it was she wanted. As a result, she had refused to eat whatever it was he presented her with, as it didn't meet her requirements. She had no idea why he did this – was it to spite her? To prove how awesome he was, because he could wrestle a bear and win? Or was he still obsessing over the notion of her not eating enough? Lillia didn't know, and she didn't care, either.

She had refused to further discuss this matter, and hadn't been impressed by his glares and growls, either.

She could tell that it got to him – she wasn't sure if it was because she was refusing to eat, or because her disapproval meant something to him, but after a few days, he'd brought her a rabbit. Lillia had thanked him brightly before preparing her meal, and eating almost the entire rabbit. She had been amazed at herself.

Sesshomaru seemed to have gotten the message, for he stuck to the smaller animals. Lillia had often observed that rewarding positive behaviour yielded better results than punishing negative behaviour – especially if you offered no alternative. Apparently, things were no different with the Lord of the Western Lands.

After that, they had established some kind of routine, and nothing interesting happened for several days, until, one evening, Sesshomaru returned early from his hunting trip, and Lillia was still practising kyudo. She chose to ignore him in favour of finishing her practice, slowly, calmly and precisely, and focused solely on the tree she was using as a target – she obviously couldn't carry a makiwara around to practise on.

"You are rather careless", Sesshomaru observed. "I could have easily killed you."

"Pray tell, how would me paying more attention to my surroundings protect me against that? I highly doubt I could do anything about it."

Lillia still refused to look at him, determined not to let him distract her any more than he already had.

Sesshomaru let out his signature "hn" in response and was silent for a while. Then...

"How do you intend to ever hit a moving target, if you take this long to aim? I have seen archers in combat. Speed is their greatest forte."

"I know that. And, for your information, I don't intend to hit or kill a moving target. I'm not a warrior, I don't practise archery for that purpose."

"There is another purpose for practising combat techniques, other than using them in combat?", he asked, sounding somewhat incredulous.

"Sure. Some people study martial arts out of interest or curiosity, others as a method to stay fit. However, there are things such as kyudo that are a meditative way of practising what would normally be a deathly art. I am doing this to relax, to unwind. It helps me focus. There is no competition, no enemy. I am the target. And nothing else matters."

Lillia released her arrow and wasn't too terribly upset that she missed the tree by a bit. Though it did bother her somewhat that Sesshomaru was here to witness it.

She then went to retrieve her arrow before deciding she had practised enough. She bowed to the tree before returning to her blanket. After depositing the arrow in the quiver, she sat down and began to unwrap her gloves. Not all practitioners of kyudo wore gloves on both hands, but Lillia had found that she didn't like it when the welts of her bamboo arrows ended up chafing away the skin on her left hand. So, she had bought herself a glove for the left hand, too.

Dinner was, again, a silent affair. After her first failed attempt, Lillia had never again offered Sesshomaru food, believing he would ask, should he actually be hungry for once. Though Lillia was sure he ate – maybe he didn't want to eat in front of her as not to appear weak – trying instead to make her believe he could go without food for a long period of time.

Lillia didn't really care. If he didn't want any of the food, fine. It did seem wrong to her, though, that he wouldn't eat any of his kills – unless, of course, he had already eaten his share before he returned.

Sesshomaru had never spent much time with humans before Rin had come into his life, so he didn't really know all that much about them, but he had already figured out that his new companion was strange. She would sometimes speak of things Sesshomaru had never heard of, but he had not once caught her lying. She had also become quite skilled at not telling lies and skirting around questions, so, whenever Sesshomaru realised she wasn't going to tell him what he wanted to know, he usually let the matter rest.

She also had some strange habits – for example, Sesshomaru caught her time and again gazing at the silvery bracelet she wore on her left wrist with an intensity as if she expected it to give her some kind of information. He had no idea why she was doing that, and eventually, curiosity got the better of him.

The human looked up, rather surprised, when he asked her about it, before answering his question.

"It's called a 'watch', but I also like to call it 'chronometer'."

"What does that mean?"

"'Chronos' means time, and 'meter' is related to measuring and tools involved – in other words, this is a device that measures time."

Sesshomaru was baffled for a moment – not that he would ever admit that.

"How does it work? It seems pretty outlandish – is magic involved?"

"No, no magic. I don't really understand the specifics, because I didn't study the art of making watches, but the hands are moved by tiny cogwheels that are, in turn, moved by a power source. We decided that one day has 24 hours, and one hour has 60 minutes. The small hand indicates the hours, the longer one the minutes. Which is why it moves faster. The symbols here are numbers, they indicate the amount of hours that have passed."

"There are only twelve of those 'numbers' on here", Sesshomaru observed after taking a closer look.

"Correct. The small hand has to complete two turns before a day is over. When it reaches 12 for the first time, it's midday. When it reaches 12 again, it's midnight, and a new day begins. So we have, for example, eight in the morning and eight in the evening. It's important to make this distinction when making an appointment – or someone might show up at the wrong time."

"Hn. Sounds troublesome."

"Oh, it works just fine most of the time. Problems in communication happen, whether or not tools like this are being used. The worst thing that could happen is actually that the watch stops working... we are so used to those tools we can't get by without them. Which is why I am trying to teach myself to guess what time it is by using shadows as indicators – for my watch will stop working eventually."

"Can you not simply procure a new power source?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"It's complicated."

Sesshomaru instantly knew they'd reached another instance in which she wouldn't say any more. Well, seeing as how he had just obtained some rather peculiar information, he decided she might just as well keep her secrets.

Lillia was busy braiding her hair one morning when Sesshomaru walked over to where she was sitting in order to watch.

"You seem to like wearing your head in many different styles."

"Indeed I do."

"Why?"

"I don't like looking the same every day", Lillia replied, shrugging one shoulder. "And, since I can't change my outfit, my hair has to do."

"I haven't seen this kind of plaid before."

"It's called 'Fischgrätenzopf', that means 'fish bone-plaid'. I think it's something that's typical for my homeland, though I can't say that for sure."

"Hn. I have never seen you wear your hair up, though."

"That's because I don't have anything to keep my hair in place with", Lillia replied while tying the end of the plaid with a piece of string.

Getting to her feet, she brushed twigs and branches off her hakama and motioned for Sesshomaru to lead the way.

It was sometime after midday – and their "lunch break", when Sesshomaru suddenly stopped before telling her to stay put. After releasing his youki the usual way, he vanished into the woods, leaving Lillia behind to wonder what the hell was going on. Agitated, she kept pacing, not liking the fact that they had abandoned their routine at all. It confused her, and she didn't like being confused.

Thankfully, it didn't take him long to return. Lillia cocked a brow as she waited for him to tell her what was going on.

He'd better have a good explanation for this, too.

However, Sesshomaru apparently had no intentions of explaining himself – instead, he held out his hand, revealing the object he had had clasped within.

It was a hairpin. Decorated with little gems, mostly blue ones, and carvings that had been inlaid with gold. It was beautiful.

Lillia stared at the pin, then at Sesshomaru. She still couldn't make sense of this. Had he really just abandoned her in the middle of nowhere to bring her a hairpin? She could only assume it was for her, as she was pretty certain he wouldn't wear it. Though he certainly had enough hair.

Still, she had to know...

"Is this – for me?"

He nodded curtly.

Lillia's gaze returned to the pin. She was no expert, but it seemed very valuable to her, and Sesshomaru surely had enough money to buy whatever he wanted – though she wasn't sure how much money he could carry on his person – paper money hadn't been invented yet, after all.

"This is – I can't accept this", she said, still trying to wrap her mind around what was going on.

Why on earth was Sesshomaru suddenly bringing her gifts? What the hell was happening here?

"You don't want it."

There was a strange edge to his voice, and, before Lillia had time to react, he had snapped the pin in two, dropped the remains and disappeared into the forest.

Stunned, Lillia stared at the spot he had occupied a moment ago, her mind reeling. She dropped to her knees, reaching for the broken pieces. She had no idea what had just happened – one didn't just accept an expensive gift – one that came out of nowhere – just like that. Though she would have accepted it with a little more persuasion on his part – it had been a very beautiful hairpin, after all.

However, now it was a very beautiful, but broken hairpin. And Sesshomaru was nowhere in sight.

It was then that she realised he had left without flaring his youki – and, since she hadn't paid attention to how long he'd been gone earlier, she had no idea whether or not she was still save from any hungry predator that might be lurking nearby. Feeling a sudden sense of dread overcome her, she put the pieces into her purse before getting to her feet and retreating to the base of a tree. She would give Sesshomaru two hours – if he wasn't back by then, she would have to come up with a plan.

Time was a very peculiar thing – whenever you needed to do something urgently, you never seemed to have enough of it, and when you desperately wanted time to pass quickly so that an event would finally take place, it seemed to move at a sluggish pace. It was no different for Lillia as she sat under the tree, waiting. Minutes seemed to stretch forever, making her briefly entertain the idea that she might have fallen into a black hole, and that the flow of time had been slowed down.

Finally, the two hours were up – and Sesshomaru was nowhere in sight. Her mouth twisting into a grim smile, Lillia figured he must have finally grown tired of her, and abandoned her. Well, sitting around moping wouldn't do her any good – unless Sesshomaru had chanced upon a caravan, there had to be a village somewhere in the vicinity – though she couldn't really say how "near" it would actually be in human terms. Lillia got to her feet, determined to travel as far as she could while she still had daylight.

Anger fuelled her steps – what on earth was Sesshomaru thinking?! First, he dragged her along onto this crazy hike to nowhere, and then he just up and left? The nerve of that jerk!

Lillia had no idea how long she had been walking when she started feeling a bit calmer – only to jump backwards with a shriek when she found herself suddenly face-to-face with a rather angry Sesshomaru.

There was a strange fire in those normally cold eyes, and his fangs were bared. Lillia had no idea where he had suddenly come from, either...

"Why did you leave?", he all but growled, stalking closer to her while she kept backing away.

"Because I didn't think you were going to come back!", she snapped at him, her fury returning with a vengeance.

That brought him up short.

"What did you expect me to do, wait for something to come along and eat me?!"

"This Sesshomaru would have never abandoned you. It would have tarnished his honour", he replied haughtily.

His reply only served to make her angrier.

"Your honour? I don't give a damn about your honour! You were gone for two hours when I decided to leave! How was I supposed to know you felt honour-bound to come looking for me eventually? It's not like you ever tell me any of those things! For all I knew, you had finally gotten fed up with me and decided you'd be better off without me. Again, how was I supposed to know you would return? Besides, something could have already killed me while you were off doing – whatever it is you do when you leave. Not that I care what that is."

Sesshomaru kept staring at her, but apparently didn't feel the need to reply – let alone apologise. Letting out a sound of frustration, Lillia turned on her heel and started off in a different direction.

"Where are you going?", Sesshomaru demanded to know.

"Somewhere. Doesn't really matter, now does it?"

"Wait."

He was suddenly there, grabbing her arm. Lillia glared up at him.

"Unhand me."

Sesshomaru refused to comply, and Lillia tried to jerk her arm from his grip – and winced when a jolt of pain shop up her arm. Seeing her discomfort, the dai-youkai immediately released her, and Lillia carefully rubbed her arm.

"What the hell!", she spat. "Haven't you done enough for one day?! Just leave me alone!"

"You do not know the way."

"No. But I wasn't under the impression that we were going anywhere specific, so any direction should do."

"Indeed. However, there are some directions that are better than others – therefore, it would behove you to follow my lead."

"Huh. Well, seeing as how you're back now to actually do the leading, I suppose I might. Well then, lead on", she said sarcastically.

Sesshomaru fixed her with a penetrating stare which she returned with just as much force. Eventually, he gave up and took the lead again. Lillia followed, still simmering with anger.

Sesshomaru couldn't understand how things could have gone so terribly wrong. He was pretty certain he wasn't at fault, though.

After their conversation this morning, he had left on a whim to see if he could find her a hairpin in the settlement he had sensed. It was a youkai village, so bringing the human along would have been too risky. Sesshomaru had left her behind at a safe distance before leaving on his errand – he had even found a hairpin he liked, and he felt she might like as well.

But she had refused his gift. Just like that. Sesshomaru had been angered beyond belief, and left in a hurry to find something to vent his anger on. It had taken him quite a while – he would, after all, never lowering himself to the point where he might accidentally harm his intended. So, he had to make sure he was in control before he returned.

When Sesshomaru had made it back to the spot he had left her in, she had been gone. He had panicked for a moment, believing she might have been killed – however, he had been unable to detect any traces of a fight or blood, or anything that indicated that anyone besides the human had been here. After he had calmed down somewhat, he noticed that her scent was strongest near a tree – she must have been sitting there for a while. And from that spot, a fresher trail had led into the forest.

It had taken him quite a while to find her – she must have been walking much faster than Sesshomaru normally did. Eventually, he had managed to catch up to her – and had found himself having to fight a nasty little fight. L- the human – had been angry with him, and her assumption that he wouldn't come back for her had shocked and enraged him. However, he could hardly hold that against her – she had not been lying, she really had felt abandoned by him.

Quite a hard blow.

The remainder of the day was not pleasant – somehow, she managed to maintain the same level of anger towards him, and occasionally, her temper flared – and Sesshomaru had a nagging suspicion she was doing it on purpose. She was trying to punish him, and Sesshomaru still felt like he didn't deserve it – he hadn't done anything wrong, after all. It wasn't his fault that she didn't "give a damn" about his honour. He sure did.

Sesshomaru decided it would be better not to hunt tonight, but stay with her, to reinforce his opinion that she was his to protect. Leaving now would have been counterproductive. Thankfully, she still had some food on her.

The human ignored him pointedly for the rest of the evening, and went to sleep soon. Letting out a sigh, Sesshomaru reclined against a tree and tried to forget the events of this day.

Sometime during the night, he was suddenly woken from his slumber when the human showed signs of distress. She shot up from her blanket, eyes wide and her heartbeat accelerated. Sesshomaru quickly scanned their surroundings for any kind of threat he might have missed, but there was nothing out there...

Soon enough, the human had calmed down, and, with a soft groan, dropped face-first into her bedding, trying her utmost to fall asleep quickly.

Sesshomaru frowned slightly as he considered that she might have had a bad dream – he didn't know how prone grown humans were to nightmares, but Rin had suffered them quite frequently after her first death. Sesshomaru had been at a loss as what to do about it at first – he had never dealt with pups having nightmares before, after all, and Rin had never sought his help, either – she had just stayed where she was, trembling and shaking...

Eventually, Sesshomaru had managed to figure out a way to offer comfort using a method that was also acceptable to Rin, which hadn't been that easy, as Sesshomaru had stopped expressing any kind of emotion a long time ago.

Which was another reason he found it difficult to deal with this human, as she had just proven how emotional she could be.

The next morning was cloudy and slightly more windy than the day before. The human woke early, as was her habit, and prepared breakfast silently. Her mood still seemed sour, and Sesshomaru decided that something had to be done about this – one, she needed to understand his view of things, and two – it was horribly unpleasant that his intended was angry with him. His beast was terribly upset by that and would like nothing better than beg her forgiveness until she stopped glaring at them.

However, Sesshomaru wasn't going to lower himself to that level. His beast was simply being an idiot. Again.

As soon as she was done eating, Sesshomaru rose and crossed over to where she sat while she was still busy packing away her stuff – he didn't want her to think they were leaving, yet.

"We need to talk", he announced as he lowered himself gracefully to the ground so he could face her.

She halted her movements for a moment and looked at him, a brow cocked. Sesshomaru sighed inwardly, suddenly getting a very distinctive feeling that this wasn't going to be easy.

"Since you are human, you might not know those things, but to inu, nothing is more important than their pack. And it is the alpha's duty to protect his or her pack. Not carrying out that duty for whatever reason would be utterly dishonourable – people say many things about me, but no-one ever said I was dishonourable."

"I just said I didn't care about your honour - ", she began, instantly defensive, but Sesshomaru cut her off.

"That was not aimed at you. I am trying to make you understand – by taking you along, removing you from your former pack, I made you a member of my pack. Currently a pack of two, but still a pack. I would have never abandoned you – like I said, it is simply not done – especially if the pack-member in question was young, or weak."

"Well excuse me for being weaker than you", she grumbled. "Can't help it."

Sesshomaru winced inwardly – that had not worked as planned.

"That was not at all meant in a condescending way – there are always those in a pack that will require protection."

"It sounded pretty condescending to me."

"Could you try to be a bit less difficult?", Sesshomaru snapped, suddenly realising she was doing this on purpose.

"I am a woman. We define as 'difficult'. Did you honestly expect this to be easy? Your good intentions non-withstanding, you still left me alone for over two hours! And all because of a stupid hairpin! I still can't believe this. You're a grown man, act like it."

Sesshomaru glared at her, not at all pleased that she would insinuate that he was acting like a foolish pup.

The human let out a sigh of frustration.

"Look, I know hell would freeze over before you ever apologised, so – just don't do this again. Ever. Or so help me..."

Sesshomaru nodded curtly, finding this a perfectly acceptable solution.

A/N: Well, this is it. I'm already working on the next chapter, though I can't say how long it'll take for me to finish it. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this - at least more than my two unfortunate protagonists ^^

Glossary:

makiwara - a target used for combat practise. There are different kinds of makiwara; archers use a cylinder-shaped bundle of straw sitting on four legs. Each archer fires two shots with the same arrow from a bowlength away before queueing behind the other archers. They bow to both the target and the other archers.