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The Diary	By : Tomosaho Category: InuYasha > Het - Male/Female > Sessh?maru/Kagome > Sessh?maru/Kagome Views: 15843 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, nor make money from this story.

Chapter List
- 9
- 10
- 11
I was able to squeeze in some time to work on the next
chapter� because really, who needs to study for LSATs
anyway?

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Introductions

Sesshoumaru continued his patrols for another week, keeping
his ears tuned for any anomaly.� When he
passed by a village, one of the spies working for Yoin
would join him to report what they had heard on the rumor mill, which
unfortunately was very little.� It was
the same news over and over again, some nameless and faceless demon that
searched for a priestess.� Most of the
rumors surrounding him didn�t even mention an amulet or talisman, and those
that did were not aware of the Shikon no Tama.� Sesshoumaru wondered if he was the first one
to put the clues together and figure out what this demon�s goals really were.� Sesshoumaru hoped so, for he did not want to
admit that he had been jumping to conclusions.�

The new moon passed as he continued to trek and the world
entered the Third Month, or Yayoi,
when the cherry blossoms should have been blooming.� They were long dead now, and instead the
wisteria flowers were beginning to fill the air with the elegant perfume that
Sesshoumaru�s poison so resembled.� The
air was much warmer, and already high noon was becoming unbearable by human
standards.� Sesshoumaru once more gave a
thought for the strange weather, wondering when the world would right itself
into a proper alignment. *

But the thought was fleeting and he was once more thinking
of the matters at hand.� He had a week to
go before Yoin would report to him what she
knew.� The demon lord had no doubt that
her information would be much more detailed, and a sort of desperation had
begun to fill him at what she would tell him.�
He hated this waiting, which was something that puzzled him for he had
always been a patient man.� He had never
let anger and nervousness hinder him before on a quest, whether it be for prey, foes, or knowledge.� Yet now each passing day felt like a slight
against him, and his temper was much closer to the surface.

If only he had some sort of clue, about anything really, he
was sure he would feel much better.� No
one wanted to feel their efforts had been wasted, and certainly not their
money.� If he could just learn something
about this demon, or learn of his familiar, then Sesshoumaru could feel as if
he was getting somewhere instead of just running in circles.�

And where was that familiar anyway?� Sesshoumaru was only willing to be bait for
so long before he died from boredom.� He
detested this situation, he would much rather hunt down the minion, but he had
no clues as to the thing�s location.� It
all just led back to Sesshoumaru�s biggest problem, his lack of
information.� A tree fell nearby and Rin
jumped the sight of Sesshoumaru�s irritation. �

She looked about her world with a sad gaze, and Sesshoumaru
sighed for having startled her.� Rin�s usual freedom had been severely constrained by this
turn of events and she wasn�t happy.� The
twelve-year-old girl didn�t complain to him, for she knew how useless that
would be, but like all women she had subtle but effective ways of making her
displeasure known.� That too grated on
Sesshoumaru�s nerves.�

They began to trek through foothills and the air grew
blessedly cooler.� Sesshoumaru knew there
were a few shrines in this area, and he wondered if news of the searching demon
could be found there.� The demon lord
felt the air cool even more as a breeze rustled through the leaves.� Rin sighed happily over it, but Sesshoumaru
stopped in his tracks.� It felt strange
to him.� They may be in foothills, but it
was high noon.� The air shouldn�t be that cool.� He listened to the sounds around him,
searching for something amiss.�
Everything seemed in order, and he wondered if he had just been
imagining things.� Then Sesshoumaru heard
it, the pulling of a string and the slight creak of bent wood.

A bow, he thought vaguely as he turned to Rin.� He could hear the rush of the arrow through
the air as the bowstring snapped and Sesshoumaru pulled the girl off of Ah-Un
and onto the ground as an arrow passed through the air she had just been
occupying.� The sudden and quick
movements, faster than what any human could comprehend, had disoriented the
girl and she was too dizzy to pull herself up onto her feet.� Ah-Un and Jaken moved to protect her as
Sesshoumaru followed the arrow�s trajectory and when he saw the one who had
fired it, he knew he had finally found the familiar.

It had been just as that lowly demon had said, it was a boy
dressed in the style of centuries past.�
He was decked in many shades of faint blue, including his hair, eyes,
and skin.� He gave off no scent at all,
something that was alarming to a demon that relied heavily upon the olfactory
sense.� The familiar was even upwind of
him, meaning that his scent should be impossible to hide.� Sesshoumaru took another deep breath and
analyzed the air.� It all smelled normal,
but on a closer inspection Sesshoumaru was able to detect the faintest scent of
ice.� They were nowhere near an ice field,
he should not smell it.� As he analyzed
it further he was able to detect it more and more and finally he broke the
spell of the familiar and Sesshoumaru could sense the creature for what it
really was.

�Ice�� He stated, and the boy glared at him as he knocked
another arrow.� This familiar was an
object that had a magic spell cast upon it, and more than likely had bits and
pieces of souls placed within it as well.�
Most familiars of this type were made from something the creator had
made themselves, like a piece of paper, a sculpture, or a doll.� This familiar instead seemed to have been
made from a piece of ice.� The distance
between its original state and what it had become had been diminished, and so
it did not smell or feel like a normal familiar.� It could blend quite easily into its natural
surroundings, and Sesshoumaru thought the boy to be quite the clever
creation.� ��

�Give the priestess to me.� It
said, in a voice that was pathetically juvenile in pitch.� It carried no weight and Jaken laughed.� Sesshoumaru instead rushed the boy.� The familiar was quick and agile and was able
to dodge Sesshoumaru with some skill, but Sesshoumaru was faster.� What a pity, he thought as he wrapped his
fingers around the boy�s neck, to waste such a skillful creation by giving it
such youth.� An older warrior with such
potential would not have been captured so easily if at all.� It was almost disappointing.

�Tell me your name.� The boy
resisted, and Sesshoumaru squeezed his neck harder.� He thought he heard a faint cracking, but not
at all like the sound of a broken bone.� The
boy screamed his name in pain.

�Hiyoru!� Sesshoumaru nearly sighed, it was much too
easy.� This creature had so much
potential but not the skill to use it.�
The demon lord was reminded of some of Naraku�s
creations and how each of them had been lacking in some way, although his
creations had been the opposite with skill but no natural talent.� That foul being only truly got it right once
with Kanna, and even she was had been inferior as she
hardly possessed any physical strength at all.�
But none of that abominable half-breed�s creations had the potential of
this one.� Not a one of them had been
capable of actually sneaking up on Sesshoumaru unawares despite the fact that
they had been much more skillful than this boy, and that sent a chill down his
spine.� The demon that had created this
familiar had the ability to make very formidable opponents.�

��Tell me the name and location of your
master.� The boy once again resisted, but he had already given in before and
Sesshoumaru knew that his will was weak.�
He once again squeezed the boy�s neck and that strange cracking sound
once more filled the air.

�I don�t know!�

�Liar.�
Another crack sounded and the boy visibly paled as he screamed and cried.� He made for quite the pitiable sight, but
Sesshoumaru had no sympathy.� The boy had
tried to harm Rin.

�It is the truth!� He has never told me his name, and he is
always on the move.�

�Then how would you have given
your quarry to him?� Your stories are
weak.� Another crack.

�I can contact him, and he can
come to me.� I cannot go to my
master!� It is the truth!�� Sesshoumaru relented and the boy coughed up
water.� It struck Sesshoumaru as strange
that even that water, which presumably acted in the place of Hiyoru�s blood, did not smell strange at all.� It smelled just as river water would.� What a clever creation this boy was, his
master had to be found soon before he perfected his technique.�

�How stupid of your master then,
a trap can be so easily set.�

�No, it cannot, because my master
can see into my mind and soul and tell if I�m lying or not.� I can never betray him that way.� Sesshoumaru
could scratch that idea off the list then.�

�Then what is it that your master
seeks, and how many of his servants are after it?�� Once more Hiyoru
resisted and the cycle started once again.�
Sesshoumaru was able to get out of him that the Shikon
no Tama really was his goal, but nothing more had been told to the boy.� It seemed he was not very high in the pecking
order, something that troubled Sesshoumaru.�
If he was not important enough to know this sort of information, then he
wasn�t a very important tool to his master.�
Did that imply that this demon had already made better and more powerful
familiars?� This was a bad
situation.�

Soon he couldn�t get any more
information out of the familiar, so all that was left to do was kill it.� It could serve no more function.� He released his poison into the familiar�s
neck, and a split second later Sesshoumaru regretted the action.� A pressure seemed to fill the air and
Sesshoumaru thought the he could hear something, a buzz or a hum.� Suddenly all of the energy that had been
contained within the boy flew out of him in a great explosion and sent
Sesshoumaru flying.� The energy wave that
went through him was incredibly painful and thanks to it and the several trees
he felled Sesshoumaru was sure some of his ribs had been broken.�

�Spiteful
creature.� Sesshoumaru scoffed as he stood painfully moments later.� It couldn�t have had the decency to die
peacefully after he tortured it?� The
demon lord hated this sort of thing, it was so juvenile.� He went back to the scene and examined the
creature�s remains.� Mixed with his
poison was river water along many splinters of ice.� That must have been what was cracking when he
interrogated Hiyoru.�
There weren�t any sutras or spells, nothing to indicate that this puddle
had ever been a living creature.�
Interesting, now that he could see that the method of its creation was
so unique, Sesshoumaru regretted killing it.�
His ribs agreed.

He made his way back to his group
and began heading down the hills.� Jaken
was prattling and Rin was all questions, so he was sure they were fine.� His thoughts turned away from them and headed
instead towards the East.� Sesshoumaru
now knew how much danger Kagome was in at this moment, and he needed to make
sure her safety was assured as quickly as possible.� Sesshoumaru briefly wondered on the wisdom of
that move.� Hiyoru
probably had told his master of his clue, and if there were more, potentially
better, familiars out there, wouldn�t he be leading them towards their true
quarry?� It didn�t matter, Sesshoumaru
decided.� He couldn�t keep this charade
up forever, he needed to make sure Kagome was safe.

After his exchange with Yoin, the demon lord was sure one of her scouts had been
sent to Edo, but that would not suffice at
all.� Neither would Inuyasha.� Sesshoumaru knew he had a tendency to leave
every now and then as a demon exterminator for hire.� It was noble of him, as the profits
undoubtedly went towards Kagome, but it left her vulnerable.� Sesshoumaru didn�t know if her other
companions stayed with her in that little village, but even if they did they
could only do so much.� The monk�s kazaana was gone, so his abilities were limited to his
sutras, barriers, and incantations.� Not
good in the long run or with large numbers.�
With the female exterminator, they might be able to take out large
numbers since her weapon was good with a long and wide range, but she could
only handle demons of a certain level.�
Sesshoumaru also knew that Kagome herself could put up a decent defense,
but they would be dealing with something that was beyond human capabilities.� If this demon�s other creations had the
proper skills, then they would be quite difficult to defeat even for
Sesshoumaru.� A human wouldn�t stand a
chance.�

It was troubling, to not know if
Kagome and Shikon no Tama were secure or not.� What if another of that demon�s creations was
already upon them?� His nerves were
unusually jittery over the matter, but he couldn�t do anything about it as he
was over a month away by foot from Edo.� While he briefly considered just flying
there, for by air he was only a few days away, he couldn�t abandon Rin when
other minions of this demon could still be after her.� He would have to walk, so he would just have
to put the thought of Kagome�s safety out of his mind.� Besides, Inuyasha was probably there.� Sesshoumaru had inflicted some rather nasty
injuries upon him, so the half-breed had probably crawled home to lick his
wounds.�

�Which was another thing, how mad
was Kagome going to be when he showed up?�
Sesshoumaru remembered the temper that girl had and nearly cringed at
the thought of confronting her when she was angry.� She�d probably scream so loudly that his
eardrums ruptured.� Not at all a pleasant
thought�

�As Sesshoumaru thought on it
further, the injuries he inflicted probably weren�t that bad� probably� So
what, he only impaled the boy�s chest once.�
He missed the heart completely and only punctured one lung.� It�s not that bad.� And that spinal injury� kid�s stuff.� If Inuyasha couldn�t handle having someone
wrap their fingers around his spinal chord then he was just being a wimp.� Besides, it had obviously been a brotherly
gesture� It�s not that bad!�

Sesshoumaru sighed,
if it had been anyone else he would have said that such excuses were pathetic.� Really, his best bet was that the girl�s
temper cooled during the time it would take Sesshoumaru to make his way over
the mountain ranges and towards that village near the marshes. **��
�
During the nights when he would
stop to let Rin sleep, he would open the diary and read the passages once
again.� He often gravitated towards his
favorites, such as her battle with the dark priestess, but there was one that
he always refused to read again.� It was
far too personal, and really, there was no need to open doors that were best
left closed.�

�He couldn�t help but wonder what
she was like now.� She couldn�t possibly
be the same girl she had been when she wrote the diary.� Sesshoumaru could see her changing even in
the short span of time she had documented with her writing, and he could
remember the strong woman who had fought beside him against Naraku.� She was certainly a different person, but he
didn�t know who that was.� He didn�t even
fully understand who the fifteen-year-old Kagome had been.� He turned his eyes back to the diary,
wondering what could be discovered as he read the pages once again.

As he looked over Kagome�s
mention of her studies in the future, Sesshoumaru looked over at Rin as he
remembered what he had first thought of Kagome�s education.� He still believed a woman had no need for the
mathematics and sciences, but a woman still needed some sort of education.� Rin really was rather lacking.� He had been neglecting it, for he would have
needed to take the time to educate her and that would have looked suspicious
among the members of his court.� But he
couldn�t keep her ignorant for much longer. �He would have to teach her how to read and
write at least.� He should have done it
years ago, despite any rumors of his future plans for her.� But more than that, he had to stop treating
her like a child.� She was practically a
woman now, and while young she was already of a marriageable age.� Yet she still dressed as a child.� As sad as it was for him, that would have to
change.� He sighed before calling for
Jaken.

�Go to the closest village and buy
paper and writing implements for Rin�s
education.�� Jaken nodded in response,
thinking it was high time the girl learned something useful, and began making
his way out but stopped when Sesshoumaru continued his command. �Also, retrieve
longer kosode for Rin, along with a kazuki, a longer obi, and proper footwear.� Get her a fan and a sedge hat in a style
befitting a young woman.� I need not
remind you that it must all be of an acceptable quality.� He stated, letting
Jaken know that no scrimping was allowed. ***

��But my lord, those are a
woman�s clothes.� He replied in confusion.�
Rin�s clothing at the moment was just fine,
she didn�t need anything else.� He didn�t
understand.� Sesshoumaru in turn glared
at the toad who had dared to second guess him.�
Jaken, admirably, did not wet himself in fear and instead bowed in apology
before scampering off to complete his mission.�
Once the toad was gone, Sesshoumaru looked over at the sleeping Rin and
sighed.� It was always sad to bear
witness to these changes.� He would have
liked for nothing more than for Rin to have always remained the little girl he
had met five years previously.�

But time moved so quickly for
humans and at the end of every year they were suddenly a different
creature.� Soon she would be a fully
grown woman ready to have her own children and there would soon be other little
human girls that bore their mother�s lovely features.� Time would move too quickly for them as well,
and they would all soon decay into old age.�
In a span of time that meant nothing to him, she would bloom like a
morning glory and fade away on the vine.�
Sesshoumaru once again wondered why he had bothered to take Rin under
his protection.� The small amount of time
she would live in was just enough time for him to become attached to her.� It would be a painful lesson for him, he had
known it from the start yet he still had chosen to let her stay at his side.� He stared at the diary and wondered why he
was doing this all again.

By the time the morning sun had
risen, Jaken had returned with his quarry.�
Rin looked at everything with childish curiosity, and Sesshoumaru felt
uncomfortable once again.� He told her to
go bath herself and change, and when she returned he had to help her adjust her
garments.� Really, how could he have let
stay a child for so long, to the point that she did not even know how a woman�s
clothing looked best?� Collars had to be
aligned, for Rin was not used to the concept of wearing more than one layer
fashionably.� She had hiked her hem up
childishly, and it had to be re-arranged so as to fall elegantly over her feet,
her obi had to be tied differently in a more feminine bow, and the kazuki then placed over her lovely hair.� When he was done, she looked like a rather
fashionable young lady, and Sesshoumaru was mildly impressed at Jaken�s choice in clothing.�
Suddenly she hardly looked like a child at all, despite her youth, and
Sesshoumaru wished once again the she had stayed a little girl.� When the time came to head out, Sesshoumaru
picked her up and placed her on Ah-Un�s back before
giving her the sedge hat to wear.

�But why, I�m not hurt and I can
walk.� I could have climbed up if I
wanted to.� I don�t think I need this
either.� She said, staring at the hat and wondering why her lord was doing all
of these different things.

�Because a lady should not be seen
working, and so that you do not burn your skin.�
A lady�s skin must be fair.� He replied blandly, and Rin blushed head to toe at being called a lady for the first
time.� During the slow progress East,
Jaken was put in charge of her education and Rin made quick work on learning
how to handle a brush and write in flowing, feminine hiragana.� Suddenly her whole demeanor was up for
criticism as too childlike, too blunt, and not feminine and Rin didn�t quite
know what to make of it at times.�
Everything had to be changed, from the way she liked to speak to the way
she walked.�

�No Rin,� Jaken squawked as Rin
made her way across camp one night. �Your feet must point slightly inwards and
slide in front of one another.� That is
how a lady walks.� No Rin, don�t point
them in that much!�

�But why?�
Rin asked sadly, but she regretted asking soon after for she received the same
reply she always got.�

�Rin,� Sesshoumaru stated.
�Ladies should do as they are told.�

�Yes,
Sesshoumaru-sama.� He hated to hear that dejected
tone in her voice.� About half of her new
studies she liked, and he enjoyed watching her learn how write in a beautiful
hand and learning all of the poetry that Jaken could recall from his own
studies along with history and art.� She
enjoyed learning, but changing seemed to be something she detested.� Sesshoumaru hated it too, but he could no
longer deny that she would change whether he liked it or not, so she would have
to change whether she liked it or
not.� It was in her best interests to do
so, and perhaps it was in his best interests as well that she took herself as
far away as possible from the little girl he had taken in years ago.� ��

As Jaken demonstrated to Rin just
the right way to move in a feminine manner, Sesshoumaru turned his eyes away
from the disturbing scene and looked once again upon the diary.� If he had not read it, he probably would not
have thought about Rin�s education, at least not for
a few more years.� Sesshoumaru knew he
would have gotten to it eventually, but it would have been a disservice to
Rin.� He had already been doing one by
letting her education slip, but when he had been confronted with the image of
Kagome�s extraordinary education he couldn�t help but look at what he let Rin
become and feel ashamed.�

After some time had passed and
his ward was happily asleep near the fire, Sesshoumaru left his group in the
safety of a cave they had found in the Kiso Valley
they were attempting to traverse.� He
looked out at panoramic view before him, taking in the stark beauty of the
mountains and the raging river below in the darkness before making his way a
little further out where he found his spy waiting for him. ****

�You are late.� He stated with a
glare as Yoin made perfunctory bows of apology.

�Oh, but you gave me such an
interesting puzzle, it was so hard to leave it alone.�

�If you wish to go back to it,
then I suggest you tell me what you have learned.� He stated.� The implication that he wanted details was
not missed at all.

�He is indeed searching for the Shikon no Tama.� She teased, giving a long pause as if to
say that was all she had discovered.

�I gathered.� He replied as he
cracked his knuckles threateningly.

�His name is Suhoki,
made with a lovely combination of kanji that has something to do with preserving
his future rule.� I�m sure it�s made
up.� He seems to have a flair for the
poetic, which I�m sure you noticed when you encountered that lovely Hiyoru of his.� Such
a shame you had to destroy it, he was such a pretty little thing.� It would
figure she knew about that.

�What can you tell me of his familiar.� Sesshoumaru demanded.

�Familiars, you mean.� He has several, and each one is better than
the last.�

�Wonderful.�

�Yes, indeed.� I�m sure you�ll have lots of fun playing with
them.� Whatever method Suhoki found or created for his minions is not something
I�ve ever encountered before� which I do believe is quite the statement to make.�
She laughed as she pulled on one of her wrinkles. �It�s really quite ingenious
though, and their latent talents are incredible.� The first ones he made weren�t all that
skilled though, weren�t good warriors and didn�t have good heads on their
shoulders.� Like that Hiyoru
you met, he seems to have been the first success.� It�s because Suhoki
wanted some beauty to be there too, from the looks of things.� Ah, artists�� She sighed as she rolled her
eyes.� It seemed she had met the type
many times before. �He eventually got the formula down though, and his later
creations are really quite fearsome.� All
jokes aside, you�ll have your work cut out for you defeating them.� I wouldn�t suggest taking two of them on at
the same time.�

�Noted.� Are they all based on natural phenomena?� He
inquired, a furrow making its way onto his brow as he acknowledged the
difficulties awaiting him.

�It seems so.� He has a particular liking for water and
plant bases since those can be found in both forests and settlements, so it
doesn�t matter where you are they�re going to be in or near their element.� I can barely sense them at all, it�s rather
frustrating.�

�Indeed.� He growled. �How many
are there?�

�I don�t know.� While I haven�t discovered the full formula
for making them yet, it seems to be rather simple.� As soon as one of them dies he can just make
another.� Oh, and about their dying, they
like to-�

�-Explode.� This Sesshoumaru is aware.�

�Oh, poor baby.� Do you want me to kiss your booboos?� She
joked.

�Would you like your mother to do
the same for you in Heaven?� He retorted as he let his poison fill the air.

�No thank you.� She replied
politely. �Anyway, next time you kill one, make sure you have some distance
between you.� I�m betting the stronger
they are, the bigger the explosion.�

�Do you know why he wants the Shikon no Tama?�

�On that, I haven�t heard
anything.� You know what they say, �the
more important it is the less likely it will be mentioned�.� Everyone already knows, so there�s no point
in discussing it.�

�I�ve never heard that saying
before.�

�Now you have.� Anyway, I�m figuring it�s the standard
take-over-the-world thing.� You know,
like a demon Oda Nobunaga.� The Shikon no Tama
certainly could help him out, although he�s not half bad already.� It actually took effort to hide myself from
him, so he�s pretty strong already.�

�Then he should fight his own
battles.�

�Did I say he was brave?�

�What kind of demon is he?�
Sesshoumaru retorted.

�A coward.�
She replied matter-of-factly.� His poison
filled the air once again and Yoin laughed.� �Honestly, I don�t think he�s just one kind
of demon.��

�An amalgamation?�

�Probably, but it�s hard to
tell.� He�s not like that Naraku you
fought, like he was stitched together in the dark, nor
is he a naturally occurring half-breed like your dear brother.�

�Half-brother.�

�Oh, of course.� She replied as she
rolled her eyes. �Does that mean half the ego, too?�

�If you truly desire to see
Heaven so badly��

�No thank you, but so kind of you
to offer.� She smiled. �Back to the topic at hand, this Suhoki
is a very well put-together demon.� No
apparent weaknesses, just the gains from demons he�s consumed.� I haven�t yet been able to find out how he
absorbs other demons into his body in such a fluid manner, so be careful of
him.� Sesshoumaru nodded as he filed that information away for further
consideration.� His brows were continuing
to furrow, and he was extremely displeased with what he had heard so far.

�Does he know of Kagome yet?�

�No, and my cohorts have been
doing their best to deflect rumors of her location, along with rumors of Suhoki and the Shikon no
Tama.� Although I have to say, it hasn�t
been that hard to keep her location a secret.�
Who the hell is going to look for her in that godforsaken marsh?� She
scoffed, reminding Sesshoumaru of the woman�s hatred for water and all things
reflective.� �Don�t worry, she�s safe for
now.� But it won�t last forever and the
protection she has at the moment isn�t adequate for one of Suhoki�s
stronger familiars.� I saw what you did
to your half-brother, and he�s still
a little worse for wear.� She scolded.

�How long do you think she will
be safe in Edo?� He questioned, ignoring her
reprimand.

�Hmmm� hard to say, but I�d guess
another two months� four at the most.� Suhoki�s forces have mostly been searching major
populations, which is why he hit the Western Lands first.� You did a pretty decent job of routing out
his hired help, I was impressed at your speed
considering the size of your lands.� It had been an impressive feat to get rid
of most of Suhoki�s spies in a few weeks, considering
Sesshoumaru�s lands stretched from Niigata in
the north to Kyoto
in the South.� It had only been due to
his extensive communication systems that it had even been possible.� �But those familiars are nearly impossible to
find and they�re blazing their way through all of the cities looking for
her.� It won�t take long before they switch
from the �back� to the �face� and start looking Eastward.� You�re going to need to get her out of there
soon and get her better protection.� I�m
not sure if it would be better to fortify her in a strong location or to keep
her on the move, either decision has its risks.� Think carefully on that one.� Either way, she definitely needs a protector
that isn�t recovering from a collapsed lung at the moment.� Yoin
then gave Sesshoumaru a side-long glance as she eyed him wryly.� �And I�m sure you have the perfect man for
the job.�

�Perfect in
every way.� He replied, to which she snorted.� The sky was lightening to a cool grey and Yoin looked at it with contempt.� She would have to leave soon. �What of his
location.�

�Sorry my dear, but that�s a
tricky matter.� His fortress isn�t on
this plane of existence.�

�Care to elaborate?� He stated
dryly when she ended her explanation at that.

�Like I said, it�s tricky.� Suhoki definitely
seems to be a demon from this world, but he probably absorbed a demon from
another world at some point in time and learned how to access their world.� He set up his fortress there, and he�s at a
great advantage.� He doesn�t have to
enter his world or our world at any set place, he just does his spell-work and
he�s where he wants to be.�� Sesshoumaru
remembered what the familiar Hiyoru had said about
how he could not reach his master and nodded in understanding.� �At the same time, it�s very difficult for a
demon like you that isn�t from that world to get there.� Like I said, it took effort on my part to
make the trip.� To be honest, I don�t
know if it�s even possible to get you there.�
Your best bet is drawing him out.�
�I don�t think I need to elaborate on just how difficult that�s going to
be.� She sighed.� She wished for the days
gone by when she was young and capable of putting up a fight.� Then she could make the trip for her lord and
defeat his foe, but in her old age she just didn�t have that kind of power.

�Any
suggestions?�

�At the moment,
no.� I�m still trying to figure
out the logistics of it the passageways between the two worlds.� When I know more, I�ll tell you.�

�In another two weeks you will
report again.� Do not be late.� He
threatened.

�Oh stop fussing.� I�ll be there, so stop being so colicky.� She
chided as she began to merge back into the deep shadows of the valley.� It soon became impossible to see her.� But as he turned to leave, he heard her voice
echo out. �Oh, and when you do make your way into Edo to meet the woman you�re crossing three mountain
ranges just to see, do try and keep your composure.� Love-sick puppies may be cute, but the look
just doesn�t suit you.� He released his acid whip into the shadows as she
cackled but it was to no avail.�
Sesshoumaru growled as she slinked away, wondering why he put up with
her at all.� She was far too mouthy.� Why were all the useful women always so
presumptuous?� Probably because they knew
they were too important to kill� And he was not
love-sick!

He soon put Yoin�s
cheek behind him though as he reviewed everything she had told him.� Just as expected, she went far beyond what
any other spy could do.� To think, she traversed
different worlds just to get him his information.� Definitely too important to
kill� unfortunately.�

Getting this Suhoki
out of his lair seemed like it was going to be a difficult task, and
Sesshoumaru grimaced as he wondered how he would do so.� And the idea of having all of those servants
crawling over his land without the demon lord�s knowledge was disturbing.� He would have to see if he could devise
methods of tracking them, but he would need more information about their
composition to do that.� Despite the boon
he had just received with Yoin�s report, he still
knew far too little and it aggravated him.�
Suhoki seemed to have all the cards in his
favor, and the one thing Sesshoumaru had against him was temporary.� They couldn�t hide the Shikon
no Tama from him forever, he would eventually figure out where it was.� They could keep him off the trail for a
little while with Sesshoumaru�s ruse with Rin, but it wouldn�t last.� He could only hope that time was on his side,
which irritated him more than anything else.�
Sesshoumaru was not a gambling man, and he did not like relying on hope,
faith, and prayers.�

As the sun rose over the looming Kiso-Komagatake Mountain and Hoken Mountain peaks to his
east, he turned his eyes away from the sudden brilliance and towards the west
where the Ontake Mountain, second only to Mount Fuji
in height, towered over him.� The land
around him was wild and dangerous, but it soothed him. �This was his land, and it was where he
belonged.� But soon he would have to
leave it to fight once again, and all for that stupid cursed jewel.� He sighed at everything that awaited
him.� It was slow now, but things were
starting again.� This Suhoki
was biding him time and keeping a low profile, but it wouldn�t last for
long.� Naraku hadn�t been able to keep
himself safe and hidden, and this one wouldn�t either.��
��
He made his way back to his group
and began leading them north through the Kiso Valley
towards Nagano.� He was not happy with the path he would have
to take to get them into Edo.� He was trying to make it as easy on Rin as
possible by choosing valleys and rivers, but it would still be an extremely
difficult journey as they were navigating through the biggest ranges on the
main island of Japan.�
At the moment they were between the rugged Hida Mountains
and the Kiso
Mountains, but once they reached Nagano they could follow some gentler valleys down the Chikuma River as they skirted the southern Akaishi Mountains
towards the eastern borders of Sesshoumaru�s land.� They would then be able to slide into the Kanto Region, but they would have to traverse the width of the region to make their way towards Edo Bay.� The trip promised to be slow and grueling,
and it would only be because of their demonic speed that the trip was shortened
into a month as opposed to the full season it would take humans.� It would be physically exhausting on Rin and
mentally exhausting for Sesshoumaru as he had to pass by numerous large human
cities.� He hated going close to
cities.� And even when he wasn�t close to
the cities, he was going to have to skirt large trade routes as those roads
were often the only safe way to get a human through the mountains.� He once again wished he could just fly
there.� As he grumbled, he heard a gasp
of surprise behind him and turned to see Rin admiring the view.� He turned to eye it again and saw that the
light had grown stronger and revealed the hundreds of mountain cherry blossoms
that his nose had been dismissed the night before.

�Look Sesshoumaru-sama, how beautiful!� She called out �They must be the very
last ones!�� Suddenly thinking that it
wasn�t very lady-like, she then composed herself and moved to stand beside him
serenely to enjoy the view.� It seemed
Jaken had succeeded in teaching her how to walk femininely, and she looked
quite lovely gazing down on the pink mists below her.�

Rin then gave a side-long glance
to her lord as he once more seemed to lose himself in thought.� She had been mad at him for the last few
weeks as he made so many new demands of her.�
He had never asked anything of her before, and when he did it had always
been very simple.� Suddenly everything
had to change, and she had been mad.� But
as she learned more from Jaken, she had started to realize that what he was
doing wasn�t changing her per se, but instead opening her up to the world
around her.� She would no longer be
shielded behind her protectors as a little girl but given the chance to enter
the world and interact in it the way a woman would.� Jaken had told her, as he made her memorize poetry, that men and women used to mostly interact with one
another by recalling famous verses and creating poetry on the fly that was
seasonally appropriate and that it was still a popular game for many people.� If she was to be a woman now, then could she
interact with Sesshoumaru that way, too, not just taking orders but actually�
conversing on an equal level?� Well,
there was only one way to figure that out. *****

�As I sleep somewhere near a
mountain away from home, spring is fragrant in reality and in dreams.� She
quoted from the twelfth century princess Shikishi.� She kept her eyes on the scene before her,
thinking that if she failed to make a good reference than at least she could
say that she had said it for her own enjoyment instead of trying to make witty
banter.� Seconds passed and Rin was sure
she had failed and made a fool of herself.�
Who was she to think that she could suddenly start acting that way with
Sesshoumaru, anyway?� It had been stupid-

�Flowers have blossomed in my
mind while I awaited them, at last to Yoshino I have
transplanted them.� He replied, quoting the same poetess.� Rin gasped, wondering if that had been praise
she had heard.� She thought it was, he
had been hoping she could learn these things and he was now proud that she
could� she wasn�t looking into it too much was she?� She looked up at him to see that he was
gazing down at her, and she blushed even more before looking out at the flowers
again.

Staring at Rin, Sesshoumaru
wondered how reciting such a simple verse to her could make her so deliriously
happy.� She was still a little too easy
to please, especially considering his response hadn�t even been that good.� He had never liked that game,
he was never good at going through the vast repertoire of verses that he knew
and picking the right one in a snap decision.�
It always took him time to think of a decent reply, something that had
always been embarrassing to his father.�
The former Western Lord had been a master of the game, particularly when
he was playing it with the ladies, and his son�s dry humor and lack of social
skills had always been depressing.� Sesshoumaru
had eventually stopped trying, seeing as how it was obvious he only ever
succeeded in letters when he time to think.

As they walked further north in the
valley surrounded by the blooming cherries, his mind turned from letters to
diaries and then thoughts to Kagome.� He
wondered if she was any good at that game.�
Did they still do that in the future?�
He couldn�t imagine why not, it was such a popular diversion.� What could replace it?� She certainly seemed well read, so he
supposed she could probably exchange verses just as well as any other lady.� Besides, if the other participant was feeling
charitable, then playing that game with someone who wasn�t as skilled was still
enjoyable.� His father had always been easy
and gentle with the ladies, he probably would have
been gentle with Kagome as well�

� ...That was a terrible
thought!� Why was Sesshoumaru suddenly
thinking of that sort of thing, and
between those two people?� He didn�t want
to be thinking of his father being gentle
with Kagome at all!

He needed to banish that
thought.� Think of something else.� Thinking� Well, what would he have said if he
had been trading verses with Kagome earlier?�
He obviously would have had to have given something different,
he wouldn�t have had reason to praise her that way.� Going through all of the verses he could
recall would be a great way to keep his mind diverted, he was happy he had
thought of it.� Now which one would be
the right response� well, she mentioned dreams so what about- In this hamlet
I�ll spend the night, the cherry blossoms falling thick have made me stray from
my homeward path-

Wait, no!� That was a terrible allusion, he was not
going to �stray with Kagome.� This diversion wasn�t working at all, he was
better off thinking of his father and Kagome.�
Dammmit, that thought was supposed to be
banished!� That woman�s insanity was
tainting him.�

Sesshoumaru sighed, knowing what
was wrong with him. �He had seen far too
many people, his own father included, go through these pains before.� Yoin was right, he
was� love-sick.� It was scandalous, how could he be thinking
this way about a human woman?� Just
because he was willing to admit that love in itself wasn�t a terrible thing
didn�t mean he was in a position to pursue it.�
He really couldn�t afford to fall in love, and especially not over such
an unsuitable woman.�

But he was sure this was
temporary.� His father had made a habit
of becoming besotted with lovely ladies, and while he had been quick to fall in
love with them he had been just as quick to fall out of love with them� Izayoi being the
one exception.� Sesshoumaru was
sure it was just the same� as with the ladies, not Izayoi.� He�d stop thinking of her, and these
disgraceful thoughts would go away.� Except it was hard to stop thinking of her when she was his
destination and the center of all of his recent planning.� He needed to let his thoughts stray.� Dammit, he wasn�t
supposed to be thinking of straying with her!�
Mountain cherry trees fell in abundance and Rin sighed at their
destruction.

�Why is Sesshoumaru-sama killing all of those beautiful trees?� She asked
Jaken.

�Our lord is plagued with many
worries.�

The group made their way forward
in silence and by noon they had reached the opening of the valley where they
could catch their first glimpses of Nagano.� The city made for quite the sight, sheltered
in the meeting of three large mountain ranges.�
The terraced fields gave the land an illusion of safety and domesticity,
but the hints of danger in the steep mountains puncturing the sky could not be
ignored.� The first third of their trip
was over, and they needed to turn eastward now before they could head north
into the Kanto region.� Sesshoumaru
turned his gaze in that direction, eyeing the Akaishi Mountains
to his Southeast.� They were deceptively
gentle in appearance when compared to the northern Hida Mountains,
but it would still be a hard trek.� He
sighed at what awaited him.� All he could
think was that Kagome damn well better be grateful for everything he was doing
for her!

As it turned out, it actually
took nearly two months to make the trip, and by the time he was passing Saitama the world had
entered the Fifth month, Satsuki.� The air was thick enough to drink and Rin was
suffering from the unrelenting heat.� If
they had stayed in his territory, they would be sheltered from the heat in the
foothills and mountains, but now their only respite was the sea breeze coming
off of the Pacific.� Sesshoumaru looked
to the skies, wondering why the rainy season had yet to begin.� He could not feel the telltale signs of
storms, and he thought it quite strange.�
Everything else had been early, why were the rains late?� Perhaps he could ask Kagome, she knew how
rains formed after all.

But of course, he could only ask
her as long as she wasn�t angry.� She
couldn�t possibly still be angry, could she?�
It had been two months, that seemed like more
than enough time for her to get over Inuyasha�s beating.� �Right?

By the next day he was closing in
on Edo and suddenly he wondered what on earth
he would say to her when he finally found Kagome.� What does a person say in this sort of
situation, especially when their less than friendly history was taken into consideration.� He
would somehow have to convince her that the fact that she was in danger was
actually important to him, and that her safety couldn�t be trusted to
Inuyasha.� How the hell was he going to
convince her to leave Inuyasha�s protection?�
�Maybe he should just kidnap her.�
That sounded simple enough, and simple was good.� Sesshoumaru liked simple.

He crested a small hill and told
his group to stop.� Edo
lay below him, looking quite serene with its carefully laid-out rice fields
waiting dry for the first rains.� Soon
they would be flooded and seedlings would be planted by young maidens as they
sang rustic songs.� Set aside from the
village was a little shrine upon a hill and Sesshoumaru could make out the
garish red of his brother�s kariginu.� It stuck out like a sore thumb against all of
the greens and browns of the village, but he could not make out the sacred red
and white of a priestess� raiment.� The
breeze coming off the sea blew the village�s aroma towards him and he could
faintly detect Kagome�s scent.� She was
not in the village, but lay to the north of it within the forest.� He changed direction to follow her, wondering
what she was doing there.� Soon they had
made their way under the high canopy of the forest and Sesshoumaru understood.� It was several degrees cooler, and he could
hear the sound of a creek nearby.�
Children could be heard laughing and splashing, and he supposed this was
a popular place to cool off.� �She wasn�t
bathing was she?� Sesshoumaru suddenly
had a hard time keeping his mind focused on serious matters.�

A faint rustling of wind sounded
as he heard the sound of a thump.� A
muffled sound could be heard from Rin, and he turned to see what
was the matter only to find that Jaken and Ah-Un were unconscious on the ground
as Rin was held in the hands of an unknown man.� He looked for all the
world like an ordinary human warrior, save for the fact that no human could
have ever snuck upon Sesshoumaru unawares.�

�A servant of Suhoki,
I presume?� He asked, assessing the situation and looking for the best
solution.�

�You have no right to speak my
lord�s name so boldly.� The man snarled.�
He looked at Rin for a moment and then grimaced. �Hiyoru
was a fool.� This girl isn�t a prieste-� Sesshouamru rushed him
at that moment, catching him unawares and pulling Rin away from him.� The familiar was quick though and was able to
get his previously hidden claws into Sesshoumaru�s shoulder.� While painful, it was not the kind of wound
that would hinder the demon lord, especially since it was the shoulder of his
missing arm, but it was disheartening to know how much faster this opponent was
going to be.�

�Rin, run to
the river nearby.� He commanded and Rin did as she was bid.� The familiar had no more interest in her and
ran for Sesshoumaru instead.� Swords were
unsheathed and fierce battle commenced.� This
one, while not as skilled as Sesshoumaru in swordsmanship, was still an
excellent fighter and faster than the demon lord as well.� He was finding it difficult to block the servant�s
strikes.� His opponent also liked to
disorient Sesshoumaru by quickly maneuvering out of his range of vision, and
without his nose to guide him it was difficult to predict where he was going.� The servant did so once again and Sesshoumaru
barely managed to bring his sword Tokijin up in time
to block his opponent�s downward sweep.� Their
swords locked at their hand-guards and Sesshoumaru kicked his opponent in the
solar plexus.� The warrior coughed up a
viscous substance and made a swipe at Sesshoumaru, but he was markedly slower
now.� Sesshoumaru knew it was temporary
and took full advantage of this opportunity while he could.� He rushed in close to the familiar and ran
his sword into the warrior, but he met far more resistance than he should have
and he could not pull his sword out.� The
familiar smiled and punched Sesshoumaru�s chest, and the demon lord had to pull
away to safety without his sword.� That
same odd substance was seeping out from around the wound he had inflicted with Tokijin, and Sesshoumaru could faintly smell tree sap in
the air.� Strange, he thought vaguely,
that something made from a tree could move so quickly.

The familiar came at him once
again and Sesshoumaru dodged him and made a slice into the wound he had
inflicted previously.� The resistance of
the tree creature�s body made it hard to inflict a proper wound and he still
could not loosen Tokijin.� Sesshoumaru also didn�t feel comfortable
using his poison to try and free his sword, as he did not think the sword could
take it.� He had to dodge much more now
as well so as to avoid his opponent�s sword, and the process of retrieving his weapon
was becoming tedious.� He needed to think
of something else.� The air around him
suddenly began to burn as a whistling filled the air and Sesshoumaru looked to
his left to see a holy arrow flying through the air.� He only had time to brace himself and when
the arrow hit the familiar a great explosion filled the air that sent
Sesshoumaru flying once again.� He was
able to control his flight this time and was able to land on his feet farther
away, although the shockwave had still ripped through him painfully.� When the dust settled and he looked for the
source of the arrow, he saw another pointed in his direction and an angry pair
of brown eyes glaring at him.

�You�re a far way from home.�
Kagome stated as she aimed her arrow for his heart. �And
fighting too.� Was this another unprovoked attack?� Going to puncture one of his lungs too?�

Dammit,
Sesshoumaru thought, I knew it.� She�s
still angry!

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
��

Ah, it�s done.� That turned out longer than I thought it
would.

Author�s notes� lots of author�s
notes�.

* Up until the late 1800s in the
Meiji Period, Japan
followed a Lunar-Solar calendar and months were arranged and configured far
differently than they are in the modern Gregorian calendar.� The Gregorian calendar is designed to cut the
months into orderly amounts that do not change based on natural phenomena such
as the equinoxes, solstices, and lunation.�
It is largely completely independent of the natural world, save the
earth�s revolution.� A Lunar-Solar calendar
in response changes every year based on natural phenomena.� The months are based on lunation, in which
the new month starts at the new moon and ends at the next new moon.� Natural events such as the solstices and
equinoxes often determine other events, like the New Year being exactly halfway
between the Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox� meaning that the New Year is usually
around February 3^rd or 4^th.� So, the Third Month isn�t March, it�s April,
and the month of Yayoi is usually defined by the blooming of the Cherry
Blossoms.� The month following, Uzuki, is known
for Wisteria.� The flowers in Japan
bloom in an orderly fashion (April is Cherry, May is Wisteria, June is
hydrangea, etc.) one species right after the other, and as such one or two
flowers have come to define their given month.�
I think it�s important to mention this because this is how Sesshoumaru
views the world around him and how he makes sense of it.� Many Japanese people even now like to look at
the world in this way, even though they now follow the Gregorian calendar.
�
** I don�t think a lot of people
know what the topography of Edo and modern Tokyo is like� So, first off, Edo means
Bay-Door (江戸) because it is right on a large bay
(Tokyo Bay
is a very important port in Japan)
and this area was basically an estuary before the shogunate
moved in and drained everything.� The
famous pleasure quarter of Edo (Yoshiwara) that will emerge many years after this was
originally called �field of reeds� because of where it had been placed near the
city (it was later changed to �field of fortune� because that sounded
glitzier).� So, the area is sea-level,
full of many little rivers along with the huge Sumida River,
and is generally as uncomfortable as any other marshy place is (�mosquitoes�).� Even when the shogunate
moved in and drained everything, the general topography didn�t change all that
much.� The city was still largely defined
by its rivers, which is why the streets (that all followed the rivers) were
very confusing and rather maze-like.� It
isn�t until closer to the 20^th Century that modern construction
starts changing everything, diverting rivers or covering them up, tearing down
old wooden structures to build skyscrapers, etc.� Local mountainsides are constantly being
blown away to make room for suburbs, so it�s safe to say that the neither the
Edo of the shogunate nor the marshy little village of
the Inuyasha series looks remotely like modern Tokyo even geographically.� So� try to keep a marshy dump in mind when
you think of the Edo of the Inuyasha
world.� Also, because of its location,
there aren�t any naturally occurring hot springs
near Edo, so sorry there won�t be any sexy hot
spring scenes anywhere near the village.��
��
*** The term kimono won�t be
coined until the late 1800s.� It was
created so as to give foreigners a word for native Japanese clothing.� Why would they not have one beforehand?� Because for 200 years they
isolated themselves from the rest of the world and had nothing with which to
compare their clothing.� The
analogy that�s often used to describe this is likening Japanese clothing to
fish in a lake.� All of the creatures in
the lake are fish, so it�s inadequate and redundant to just call them fish,
they must be long fish, short fish, striped fish, etc.� It is just the same with kimono, there are
lined kimono (awase), summer kimono (natsumono), over robes (uchikake),
etc.� But when Western fashions were
introduced, it was like introducing birds into the lake.� They suddenly needed a whole new word to
describe what Japanese clothing was.� So
a word combining the kanji for clothing and thing was created, kimono.� Any Japanese person before this time period
can understand what the term kimono means, but it would never have occurred to
them to use this term.� As such, what Rin
wears is not a kimono, it�s a kosode.�

Kosode
combines the kanji for small and sleeve, defining not the length of the sleeve
(for furisode, swinging sleeves, have not been
invented yet), but the fact that the sleeve end is sewn up save for a small
hole through which the hand and wrist emerges (differentiating it from the
robes of the nobility, in which the entire sleeve end was left open).� A kosode that Rin
would wear is very similar to a modern kimono, save for a few changes such as
the body of the garment being wider and making for stubby sleeves, sleeves that
are on average shorter than modern kimono, sleeves that are sewn to the body of
the kimono completely (something that isn�t done on modern women�s kimono due
to sleeve length and obi width), and the body of the garment being long enough
to fall to the feet but not drag.� On his
off hours, Sesshoumaru probably wears kosode as well.� The obi worn at this time isn�t the torso
consuming sash it is now, but a practical thin sash.� Kagura�s ensemble
is a good example of fashion of this time, save for the fact
that her obi should be lower (http://www.freewebs.com/mangaluva/Kagura.gif
).� The Kazuki
he mentioned is another type of Kosode that is worn
over a woman�s head, and it is usually constructed with the collar much farther
forward so that it will stay on the head more easily.� When a woman of the samurai class went out
and about, she would put a kazuki over her head in a
modest (yet stylish) gesture.� It was
used a couple times in the manga like in this scene, http://www.onemanga.com/Inuyasha/101/05/
and here�s The Costume Museum�s example, http://www.iz2.or.jp/english/fukusyoku/busou/index.htm
.��

**** I decided that I should have
a good idea of what Sesshoumaru�s �Western Lands� entails, so I�ve picked which
part of Honshu (the main island) he owns.�
His lands range from modern Niigata
prefecture in the Northwest, Kyoto Prefecture in the Southwest, and Yamanashi Prefecture
in the Mid-East, or essentially most of the Chubu Region and some of the Kansai
Region.� Here�s a map, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Regions_and_Prefectures_of_Japan.svg
.� This part of Japan is characterized by
its rugged mountains, including the Japanese Alps, or three large mountain
ranges (the Northern Hida, Central Kiso, and Southern Akaishi) that divide the main island
into the �front� of Japan facing the Pacific (which is sunny in Winter) and the
�back� facing the Sea of Japan (which is snowy in Winter).� Dead center of this area (and Japan) is the Nagano
Prefecture, Honshu�s premiere sky
resort and home to nine of the twelve highest mountains in Japan.� Kiso
Valley lies to the SSW of Nagano City
and houses the Kiso
River, which used to be one of the
most powerful rivers in Japan
before it was dammed in the late 19^th Century.� This whole area is rugged, wild, and
dangerous, and it takes a lot to get through it on foot.� �.so, good luck
Sesshoumaru�

***** Within the Heian Period, the practice of conversing via poetry became
very popular.� Both men and women of the
nobility needed to have a vast repertoire of famous poems memorized so that
when one person quoted or referenced a poem the other could quickly retort by either quoting, referencing, or simply composing on the
spot.� Poems needed not only to be
seasonally appropriate when used, but when referencing or quoting the original
context of the poem�s creation was also taken into
consideration to add further depth.� Even
more, if this was done in a letter, the type of paper, it�s color, it�s
perfume, the style of handwriting, and a flower or plant that the letter is
attached to were also judged along with the poem itself.� That�s why sheer originality and creativity
was second to referencing, for when a quote or reference was made perfectly,
the sheer number of layers in which a poem could be understood and appreciated
was titillating to the delicate sensibilities of the time.� This practice diminished somewhat after the Heian period, but considering it is still appreciated even
now, it�s easy to assume that a lady of Rin�s time
would have been quite popular if she could exchange verses with ease.� I know it seems like a very feminine thing to
do, but this was popular pastime with both men and women (it was actually more
of an aristocratic thing than a feminine thing).� In a time before movie theaters, TV, video
games, and the internet, witty repartee and exchanging poetic verses was
incredibly entertaining.� A person who
wasn�t good at it (like Sesshoumaru [�and myself]) would not have been a very
popular person.� ��
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The Diary