Warmth

12

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Since Sesshōmaru was not the type to wait around for something as time-wasting as breakfast, by noon the following day Kenkō found himself famished. As he walked beside Hirōmu and her cart, he kept a hand across his stomach as it churned and growled like an angry beast.

Ishimaru had been walking beside him with her hands clasped behind her back after she finished braiding the two large locks of hair that draped down the front of her shoulders. The redheaded half-demon had several hairstyles, the braids in particular being one she used less often than the others. (Most of the time it was brushed from front to back and in a half-ponytail at the nape of her neck, to keep it out of the way of her forge work.)

When Kenkō's stomach moaned again, Ishimaru's large eyes shifted in his direction before she bent at the waist to be at eye-level with the howling organ. "Are you hungry?"

Kenkō's face turned into an offended scowl and he turned to bark at her, "No, there's just a *shamisen number going on in my stomach. Of course, I'm hungry!" He crossed his arms and huffed. "What gave it away, the symphony or the way I'm eyeing those wild berries like they're a feast fit for a daimyo?"

Ishimaru straightened her back as she continued to walk beside him. She had noticed the berries he mentioned; little clusters of reddish-purple fruit bulbs that dangled almost like grapes from its short, fat bushes. She raised one pointed finger into the air. "I think those are the *coriaria fruit. If I remember correctly, they are awfully p-"

Not listening to a word the woman was saying, Kenkō had already swooped up an armful of the berries into the crook of his arm. He was tossing back handful after handful.

Ishimaru reacted in a panic of flailing arms. "Kenkō!" she yelled. "I said those are poisonous!"

But it was too late, Kenkō had already consumed so many, and within seconds he was doubled over in the bushes vomiting. Lurch after lurch, the man might as well have been throwing up his entire stomach. Ishimaru stopped to approach, only to wince at his barking between retching. "Why didn't you tell me that before I ate so many!?"

"I did! I mean... I was! I thought warriors were trained to identify poisonous plants!"

Their bickering continued until a long shadow crept over top of Ishimaru, causing her to snap her mouth shut and look over her shoulder. Her eyes met with the armor of Sesshōmaru's chest plate. She flinched with clenched teeth and gazed up at him.

"Is there a problem?" His eyes could have cut through mountains.

"N-No, no problems here!" the smith laughed sheepishly, waving her hands in front of her.

With a quirk of his brow, shifted to Kenkō, who was still heaving into the bushes. "You fell behind again. This seems to be a problem."

"We will catch up, just go on ahead." Ishimaru sighed, scratched the back of her head.

After a moment of silence, Sesshōmaru's eyes flicked back to the redheaded half-demon. "Is he going to die?"

"Ah," Ishimaru paused, pulling her hand down to look toward the poor human now wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "Well, he spit them out rather fast. I think he will be okay."

Up ahead, Rin's excited voice carried through the forest. She had her nose up in the air and her little fists pumped up and down. "Mmmm! I smell something good!"

"Something good?" Jaken echoed, turning his own nose up to sniff the air. His body jerked sideways. "Ahhh! It does smell good! I think someone is cooking nearby; it must be a feast!"