𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘮 犬夜叉 ♡ ; 𝚜𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚞 𝚡 𝚘𝚌

nimble hands hovering the fire

A few days had passed since Sesshomaru and Chiho had their "initial' encounter. She kept her distance, nonetheless, but it made her all the more curious as to what, or who, Sesshomaru really was.

He didn't eat, and from what she could guess he barely slept. She would attempt to steal peeks of him before she fell asleep atop A-Un but his expression would remain the same - stoned and unimpressed.

Jaken, on the other hand, she grew to realize he was full of expressions. So expressive, in fact, that she felt he was compensating for Sesshomaru's lack thereof. It was an interesting spectacle if one were to ask her, there were even a few times she had to stifle her laughter when she watched the two engage.

Nonetheless, she still had a mission to achieve - to go back home.

She decided upon herself to care for A-Un to earn her keep traveling amongst the two. It wasn't that hard of a feat - take A-Un to graze, keep its hair groomed, and not be too heavy when the night fell.

She was still fairly weak from her fall despite cheating death. Sleeping on the ground was too hard for her and A-Un seemed to have grown accustomed to the extra company. Sesshomaru didn't complain, so she tried her best to stay out of the way.

From time to time, however, she would think about her old friends back at the palace. Were they okay? Were they alive? Did they manage to escape successfully?

Then she thought of the old woman who sacrificed her own life for her. Her heart would ache at the thought of her sullen expression as she hit the ground. How she had to let her hand go. . . She could still feel her warmth-

"Girl! You're burning the fish!"

"H-huh? A-ah! Ouch ouch ouch ouch! Here, Jaken catch!"

"Waah! What do you mean catch!" without a second thought, Chiho tossed the large scaldened trout to Jaken with the spear in tact. Jaken dropped his staff upon instinct, catching the fish in his hands but not a second too soon to feel the rising temperatures in his impish palms.

"Aaaaah! Foolish girl, why would you throw this burning fish into my palms! Lord Sesshomaruuuu! It burns!"

Jaken tossed the the fish up in the air followed by a whimpering groan. Chiho ran past Jaken to catch the fish, only to bump into the cold breastplate Sesshomaru wore effortlessly. The fish was caught in the palm of Sesshomaru's bare hand. Chiho could see the steam escaping through the space in-between his fingers, but he didn't flinch for a second.

Are you even human?

Of course not, he's a demon, she thought.

Chiho and Sesshomaru shared glances for moments too long as she could hear A-Un and Jaken make their presence known behind them.

Coming out of her entranced exchange with him, she jumped up one good time to grab the fish with success. She pulled it down from his hand, smiled triumphantly, and scurried back to the fire. As she leaned over to focus on her task, her thick silverish-blue locks fell over the side of her face. She refused to move the hair from her face as it aided in blocking his stare from her sight. She worried if she would be in trouble by him, or worse even struck, but she continued her task.

She split the fish into three portions, the head for Jaken, the body for A-Un, and the tail for her. Before she divided the portions, she turned back to Sesshomaru.

"Sesshomaru-Sama, did you wan- huh? Where did he go?"

Jaken looked around with Chiho, his golden eyes blinking absentmindedly.

"Not sure. But seeing as you almost throttled the lord with your womanly crevices over a piece of fish, I would be grateful he didn't seek the utmost punishment."

"Well, I guess you're- what in the world do you mean Womanly crevices? YOU threw the fish in the air, Jaken!"

"Because you threw it right off the fire!"

A-Un let out a groan of anticipation. She signaled for the two to cease quarreling over cold dinner with a slam of her tail and a whip of her necks from side to side.

"Ah! Okay, A-Un, i'm coming. I got the best part for you, too!"

Chiho puffed her face and lips at Jaken behind his back before walking over to A-Un. She took one last glance around the campfire to make sure he was really gone, but upon confirmation her worry only grew more steady than it was before.