Overcoming Adversity

Chapter 18

---

By Youko Starr

A/N #1: Quite sorry fo the long delay and for not giving author’s
responses this time around. I’m so behind, that I’ll have to do them
next chapter.

yes, I am aware that there was no detail on the football scandal
THIS chapter, but it is coming, along with plenty of action I think. I
couldn’t get it all In this chapter because I wanted to keep to my
promise of updating this over the weekend. I got so many reviews this
weekend that I I kept working on it.

I got caught up in my Sess/Rin story, and then I had writers block,
but those are my only excuses for the delay I'm afraid.  That and
a portrait I made of Kagome and Sango that will come out with chapter
19 or 20.. Not certain which.  Depends on how far I get. 
This chapter is mostly Sess/Rin but the next one should be evenly split
between most of the cast.

I'm also sad to regret I will no longer be posting stories on FF.net
after this one and Breaking Point  finish.  The changes here
are less then desirable, and the formatting is messing up my
stories.  I lose all scene markers, italics, and bolds when I
upload here for some reason.  Plus, I dont like many of the
rules.

I'm also going to be changing my penname... It's so
totally...fangirlish, and it feels a little lame now.  Plus recent
stories added to teh YYH domain have made me lose my fire for it. 
I'll be changing names shortly, so be careful not to search for 'Youko
Starr' or you may not find it.  Sorry for the trouble.

REUPLOADED due to a formatting error, an odd one at that.

***

It was safe to say that Sesshoumaru was not pleased. In fact, far
from it, even if not even an ounce of his agitation slipped through the
cold and emotionless shield he erected for those surrounding him. No
one would have ever guessed, that the tall, immaculately dressed
white-haired man pushing his way through the crowd, eyes never shifting
from their destination and the path ahead of him, was filled to the
brim with anger.

He could strangle that wench Takai for suggesting he make his guest
more comfortable by making empty promises that he would never,
or so she had claimed, have to make good on.

It all began when a curious and old family friend had stopped in to
visit, a woman who had known his father and mother for several
centuries. She had always looked at Sesshoumaru as a pup, and still
did, even if he was in his adulthood as a demon, and far from being the
little two foot tall blur of pale flesh and snow white hair that had
run zigzags about Lord Inutaisho’s castle, occasionally darting over to
hug her leg and whine for attention.

He had grown, and he had grown well, something she remarked upon
with a sly smile while asking how his stay in Tokyo had been so far.
Then, she had the nerve to ask if he was enjoying himself.

Sesshoumaru had scoffed at her, and replied that he imagined
stuffing his own poison claws into his eyes would be far more enjoyable
and a much better way to spend his time.

“A joke? My, my, my. You have changed a little, or so it appears.
The young demon I remember never had a sense of humor.”

“This Sesshoumaru does not joke.”

His serious expression supported his statement, but something
told the hawk demoness that the male in front of her was
exaggerating the situation and his dislike of Tokyo. “It couldn’t be
that bad, Sesshoumaru. Your father would never have asked anything of
you that would cause you to truly suffer, and you know that.”

Sesshoumaru gave no response, and she sighed, running her fingers
through her hair. Stubborn as always, apparently some things never
changed. Takai was just about to slip from her chair, when her
supernatural hawk demon sight picked up the shape of a single, long,
brunette strand of hair glistening in silken radiance against the soft
velvet of the chair. Curiously, she lifted it between her thumb and
forefinger, and then shifted her hazel eyes towards Sesshoumaru. “I
always took you for a lover of blondes and redheads.”

“It is not a lover.”

Takai lifted a single brow. “Still alone then? Really,
Sesshoumaru, your mother would be disappointed to know you are
still brushing the ladies away. She would have wanted grandchildren by
now, and plenty of them! And your father…” The demoness shook her head,
examining the strand. There wasn’t a single trace of youki in it… “Toga
must be rolling in his tomb by now. He sets all of this up for you, out
of the kindness of his heart and love for his firstborn, and you behave
this way, turning your nose up at everything that you deem substandard.
If I didn‘t know better, I would think this was a human‘s hair,
Sesshoumaru.”

“Everything is substandard.” The dog demon’s scowl deepened.
“That is a human’s hair.” Any other noble demon may have
dropped it as if it were hot, or turned their nose up in disgust to
even have sat in the same chair as a filthy human. Takai did
leap from her chair, but it was for an entirely different reason.
“Well, who is she? Is she still here?” she asked, looking around
quickly then shifting her gaze to the open door. “Oh, your father would
be overjoyed to know you’ve finally got a love interest…and it’s a human--”

“She is not a love interest, nor is she anyone you would like to
meet, Takai. She is nothing more than a young human girl that Tenseiga
spared.”

“And so you bring her to your home?” Takai rested both hands on
her hips, being one of the few that could speak honestly to Sesshoumaru
without fear of her lungs being filled with poison. After the death of
his mother, she had been the only feminine figure in his life, and
because she had gained the respect of his parents, and been their close
friend, she had his respect.

That, and he was fairly certain she had enough strength to stand
up to him, being that she had more than two centuries over his own age.

“She was killed by a demon…within city limits.”

If Takai had another comment, that silenced it, because the hawk
demoness’s eyes grew as wide as marbles. “Demon’s aren’t supposed to
kill humans where they may be seen by others. It’s part of our law, if
humans were to find out about us…”

“After I found her, Tenseiga revived her. My concealment spells
weakened and she saw my natural form.”

Takai sighed, and then rubbed her temples. “You should have
killed her again and disposed of her as soon as possible if she proved
to be risky with the secret. Instead, you brought her to live
with you? Sesshoumaru…the other nobles would--”

“I will do as I please. The thoughts of the other nobles do not
concern me.”

Takai folded her arms and stared at him, gold eyes narrowed.
“You’re full of it. You either like this human, or you’re waiting for
the demon that killed her to make another attempt on her life. And if
she’s been here nearly as long as I believe she has, you’ve got no
reason to watch her for another attack.”

“It’s no concern of yours, woman.” Sesshoumaru’s eyes glimmered,
a touch of red tinting the white surrounding his golden irises. He had
always been as patient as he could with his dead mother’s best friend,
but there was only so much he could withstand.

“The hell it isn’t! Have you told Bokuseno about this human and
asked his advice about the attack?”

Sesshoumaru scoffed. “I will not journey to the west for the
advice of a senile tree demon. The situation is under control, Godmother.“

Takai sighed. He only called her godmother when his patience with
her had almost run out. “Alright. We’re only concerned about you,
Sesshoumaru. You and Inuyasha are all that’s left of the family line.
Your mother’s dying wish was that I watch over you, always, and
your growing up won’t change my promise.” Takai lingered by his chair,
her fingers twitching. He was too old for her to muss his hair, and she
would retract a nub if she tested the limits of his patience.

She certainly didn’t feel like spending the next three days
fusing her wrist back onto her hand. “You have your work cut out for
you then. She‘s not only gorgeous, but also human. Pleasing her won’t
be like pleasing a demoness.“

Sesshoumaru said nothing.

“You can’t hunt down a big animal and throw its carcass on her
doorstep. You can’t groom her and shower her with expensive weaponry.
You certainly can’t kill anyone who looks at her cross-eyed. So, what
shall you do to get her attention?“

Again, Sesshoumaru said nothing.

“Judging from your silence, you’ve already tried material gifts,
and they were not enough.“ Takai looked smug. “Items and goods aren’t
enough to win over that kind of girl. It’s words, and that’s where
you’ll fail. You need to make her a promise--“

Finally, Sesshoumaru lost his temper. “I refuse to beg for the
attentions of any woman.“

“That’s not what I’m talking about, Sess. It would never need to
be something you’ll actually make good on. Just…something that will
make her smile. Offer her the world, only if you know she won’t accept
it.“

His cold eyes stared out the window, as if he were contemplating
what had been said.

“Fair enough, I know when I‘ve wore out my welcome. You‘ll have
me by the throat in a moment if I don‘t go on my own.” Takai made her
way for the door, pausing to speak from the doorway. “I work at a salon
downtown called Great Designs. I’ll leave the number with Jaken so you
can stop by sometime, or bring your pretty human girl for a makeover.”

Before she could pass through the open doorway of his study,
Sesshoumaru spoke up. “How do you know her appearance if you’ve never
seen her?”

Takai turned, and then flashed a bright, tooth-filled grin. “Your
window, Sess. It has a great view of the pool, where I imagine you’ve
been watching her since she went out there.” Takai gestured to the
window, then turned and walked down the hall, her voice just loud
enough to be heard. “These eyes see everything…”

Like a fool, at the mention of her family troubles he had suggested
inviting them, or, not so much as suggested, simply mentioning that if
they saw how she lived, they would feel no concern for her safety, as
long as they stayed clear of his wing of the house. He had just
known she would never have the nerve to take him up on the
offer, thus freeing him automatically from the obligation of allowing
more humans to be in his presence any longer than necessary during the
usual school day.

And then, when more than few weeks had gone by, he was certain she
had forgotten the offer, although she truly seemed much happier, and
went out of her way to ensure he was pleased. She teased Jaken whenever
the toad displeased his master, practiced with a variety of instruments
in the music room, especially the ones she found he enjoyed more than
others, and offered to grade more than a fair share of test papers and
homework from his own students.

She was far from invaluable, but she made his life easy, she made
his life enjoyable while the city and school displeased him
greatly.

So now, here he was, walking ahead of her and her older sibling, a
man who had done no actual wrong against Sesshoumaru, excluding taking
up the demon’s offer. According to the conversation his youkai hearing
picked up, her brother would be staying for close to a week in Tokyo,
an entire week in Sesshoumaru’s house.

An entire week that Jaken would have to be extremely careful to not
allow his concealment spells to vanish. An entire week Sesshoumaru
would be sure not to eat at home. An entire week Rin would be
in the company of another that was not him…

He didn’t expect her to pay him the time of day when a brother she
hadn’t seen in months was here to see her. Sesshoumaru glowered on
ahead, walking out into traffic, rather than waiting for the pedestrian
signal to flash. Horns honked, tires squealed, and angry shouts
screaming a few choice words were directed to him.

“Is he crazy?” Kouten’s voice drifted across the street to him, the
man obviously finding difficulty in believing that he had just seen a
man walk directly into traffic, and avoid every single car as if he had
control of the street himself. On the other side of the street,
Sesshoumaru had not yet stopped, and walked on as if the two humans
were not trying to keep up with him. “Is he always this way?”

Rin seemed to think, gazing across the street and over the movement
of the resumed traffic. “Yes…pretty much,” she replied to her brother.

The siblings never did catch up to Sesshoumaru, but when they
arrived, the manor house was empty save for their silver-haired host.
He’d immediately sent Jaken away upon his arrival, since the toad’s
inhumanity was revealed in a few key places. It hadn’t been much but
there had been enough of it to ruin any attempt at appearing human.

As the week passed by, the inconvenience of having another human in
the house took its toll on Sesshoumaru who all but disappeared. If he
was not simply ‘gone’, he was locked within his study, daring
anyone to bother him. Rin’s brother found this behavior peculiar, but
his host had the right to do as he pleased in his own home without
being questioned.

That didn’t mean Kouten couldn’t question his little sister, and he
was plenty curious about the rich man that had taken his sister in. He
didn’t seem to be playing the part of the wealthy sugar daddy and
spoiled playboy, in fact, he had his own sleeping quarters, in an
’off-limits’ area of the house no one else was allowed in. That was a
comfort to Kouten, who feared for several seconds that baby sister was
ruining her life.

And there was the little butler, who was undeniably short in stature
and equally short in temper. He could have sworn one afternoon that the
little bald man called him ‘human.’

He and Rin ate alone during meals. Rin tried to explain that it
wasn’t because Sesshoumaru was unsociable (which Kouten had decided the
man was from the first day) but because Sesshoumaru didn’t have an
appetite for Japanese cuisine.

“Isn’t he Japanese?”

“Well…yes, but he wasn’t raised here. I’m told his mother was
Chinese.” Good save, Rin! she cheered herself mentally. Of
course, she had com to realize over the past months that Sesshoumaru
did not have a human’s appetite, nor did he have their taste in food,
simply because he wasn’t human. Whatever he ate when he went
out on those excursions, or closed the doors of the study, obviously
wasn’t something she wanted to see. He had told her once, that most
demons, ate other demons…or humans, and that his eating habits were far
from graceful.

That meant he didn’t eat with chopsticks or utensils and that any
noble refinement and good manners ended right there when it came to
feeding himself. Rin learned that when Sesshoumaru closed his door, the
study was barred for good reason, and that she should not knock or
disturb him unless it was life or death emergency.

During the day, when she and Sesshoumaru were away at school, Kouten
busied himself around Tokyo, looking for old and familiar faces of
friends he hadn’t seen since he moved.

The day before his departure, he treated his sister to dinner, even
extending the kind offer to his host, who politely declined the
invitation (“I will remain here.“) and left the room.

After Kouten left, promising he would make Suzuka and Tai eat their
words and tell them that their sister’s virtue was intact and quite
safe, Rin seemed to gradually return to her depression.

So, Rin was quite startled one afternoon when a knock at the bedroom
door, the rap of knuckles touching three times, and then silence,
indicated Sesshoumaru was patiently waiting on the other side.

Startled, Rin hurriedly tugged her t-shirt over her head, taking the
pair of jeans she had been changing into, and tugging them up quickly.
He had caught her in the middle of changing out of her skirt and
blouse, and into her casual afternoon wear. “One moment!”

Sesshoumaru had a distinctively different knock from his retainer.
Jaken tended to be impatient and rude, banging rapidly on it with his
small fist. She had learned to tell the difference from Sesshoumaru’s
three, even and timed taps and Jaken’s quick multiple rapping quickly
within the first few days of her stay.

Rin fastened the buttons in place at the front of her jeans, then
sprinted to the door and opened it, pasting the usual cheerful smile to
her face that Sesshoumaru had come to expect whenever he saw her. She
was always a happy young woman…or so she had been until recently…

“Are you leaving?” he asked.

Rin shook her head, looking confused. “No. I was planning on staying
to read a book and write out a test.”

“Then come.” Without another word or any explanation of where she
was expected to go, Sesshoumaru turned and walked down the hall, Rin
following behind him.

He wasn’t dressed too differently from her. There were those rare
instances that Sesshoumaru dressed like any other human male of his
age…at least, the age he he appeared to be. Appearances were
deceiving, however, and Rin still found difficulty in believing he was
over four centuries old. He looked to be no more than nineteen, barely
older than the students they taught.

Usually he wore crisp business suits, expensive silk shirts and ties
that cost more than the total amount Rin had in her savings account.
Jaken had told her the young lord had his father’s taste in human
clothing, and that human eyes never saw Inutaisho in anything else.

Rin gazed appreciatively at the noble demon from behind, trying to
visualize how he must appear without the blue jeans that were
practically tight enough for her to see the muscular line of his thigh.
He wasn’t a bodybuilder, and lacked the under-the-shirt landmarks that
made some women swoon, but the toned flex of muscle was enough to keep
her attention. His silver hair hung freely to the center of his back,
silken strands that shifted in a curtain of lustrous white and
shimmering pale threads.

Sesshoumaru stopped and looked back at her. Rin’s heart leapt to her
throat, and she stumbled, reaching out to touch the wall and steady
herself. A moment sooner, and he would have caught her staring
lustfully at his ass, entranced with the fluid and graceful way that he
moved.

Without saying anything, he resumed his walk, leading the curious
human away from the manor.

***

Rin had never in her life been pampered in such a way before. When
Sesshoumaru had led her through Tokyo, walking, always walking to
wherever their destination may be, she was surprised two hours later
when they arrived to a popular and well known salon in the downtown
area.

A place Rin also knew she could never afford.

Inside, they were promptly met by a woman with gorgeous tawny and
golden curls that reminded Rin of the down that covered a bird’s chest.
Her piercing yellow eyes, greatly resembled Sesshoumaru’s. Her freshly
painted and well-manicured fingernails were long and sharp, talon like
claws that Rin strongly suspected were every bit as sharp as those of
the dog demon she admired. Yes, Rin was positive this woman was not
human.

“I was wondering if you would ever get here. Oh, its simply
wonderful to see you again, my dear,” she greeted them both with a
friendly smile. Sesshoumaru declined to respond, and the woman took Rin
by the hands, leading her further inside.

When Rin turned around, Sesshoumaru was gone.

“Don’t worry about him, he’ll turn up again when we’re finished with
you,” the woman with the peculiar eyes told her. “Now, what would like
to have done, dear?”

Rin fidgeted. A quick glance at the sign with prices over the shop
counter told her that even a manicure would run her pockets a little
low. “I really can’t afford much more than a manicure, I’m afraid. Just
that will do.”

Takai stared at her. “A manicure? Only a manicure? My dear, didn’t
Sesshoumaru tell you: all services are free of charge for you. Now,
when you’ve decided what you’ll have, let me know.

Rin’s jaw nearly touched the floor. A few months ago, she had been a
nobody school teacher, a young woman that would have been found dead in
a dark ally, battered with broken ribs and crushed internal organs.
Now, she was living a supermodel’s dream.

This can’t be happening. I don’t have the luck. Maybe I really am
laying in that alley dying, and this is my final dream before I slip
away.

Once the shock wore off, Rin began to select her choice of
treatments for the day, unable to shake the feeling that she was in
some wondrous dream she hadn’t yet awakened from.

***

Sesshoumaru needed time to think. The four hours that Takai had
requested to completely make over Rin wasn’t enough, but it was good
for a start.

The little human’s determination to be his friend had won him over
before he even realized he was falling hard for her. Her advances had
been anything but noticeable, the occasional compliment on his good
looks and hair, the insistence to treat him to lunch, to get him to
open up and speak. It was her lack of fear when he had revealed what he
was, his natural body exposed for her, markings, fangs, claws and all.
It was her genuine concern for him that she showed whenever his mood
visibly changed from indifferent to displeased.

He wanted to do something for her. He wanted to do more than send
her out for a hair cut and a change of clothing. Were she a demoness of
some kind the entire matter would have been settled with a fine sword,
or weapon of her choice. Maybe even the dismembered body of her
favorite meal, fresh and still bloody on her doorstep. Maybe even a
live human, ready for the slaughter.

Rin disliked violence, and he doubted she would appreciate a
shining, well-made katana, and he was certain she wouldn’t want a dead
cow at her bedroom door. So what were the equivalents a human would
find pleasing?
Then, the idea struck him, and the tall, white-haired man that had
captured the attention of many women with his flowing and radiant pale
locks, and graceful stride, turned and headed the opposite direction.
His wallet containing his credit card was in his back pocket, and if
that wasn’t enough, Jaken would bring all of the cash he needed. Yes,
Rin would be pleased with her gift, that he was certain.

***

She felt like a supermodel newly introduced to the runway. The
reflection of the woman in the mirror was not her. It simply couldn’t
be. That woman was too beautiful, her hair was too sleek, her nails too
manicured, her skin too soft and pampered for it to belong to Rin. The
clothing was far too expensive, well out of Rin’s spending range, only
seeming to serve as actual proof and additional confirmation that this
was some extended dream, the last hallucinations of a dying mind as its
owner lay crumpled and broken in the alley.

Rin smiled uncertainly at her reflection, and the woman in the
mirror with the glossy brown hair and shimmering highlights smiled
back. Rin shifted position to place most of her weight on her opposite
leg, and the woman in mirror did the same, her long skirt shifting, the
hem rustling at her ankles. Each intake of breath caused her bosom to
lightly rise, the curve of her breasts accentuated by the design of the
blouse that clung pleasantly to her shoulders and narrow waist.

“Darling, you’re simply breath-taking.”

Rin turned to Takai, and saw the hawk demoness smiling sweetly to
her. “Thank you…I… I couldn’t put into words how much I appreciate
this.”

TherThere’s no need to, honey. So you put all of that worrying out
of your head right now about the price.”

Rin couldn’t help herself. She hugged the demoness tightly,
feeling tears slowly begin to glisten at the corners of her eyes. No
one had ever done such a kind thing for her before, and were she not
certain Sesshoumaru would scoff and push her away, she would have saved
that hug for his arrival. “Just the same, thank you.”

“Your welcome, sweetie. Now stop all that crying before you mess
up your face. Not that it took much makeup for you anyway, yours is a
natural beauty.”

Rin nodded and gently dabbed at her eyes, sniffling back her
happy tears. “Will Sesshoumaru-sama be returning soon?”

“At any moment, I’m sure.”

Any moment became now, as the door swung open to frame the form
of the handsome object of Rin’s affection. His eyes shifted over the
occupants of the salon, women under hair dryers, woman being led to the
tanning booths, women waiting their turns for their appointments…and
finally, Rin.

His Rin, whose beauty somehow exceeded its previous limits. His
jaw stiffened, and the ability to speak left him quickly. It was
probably better that he couldn’t speak, but he found that he had to, or
else he would be forced to stand there and stare at her until that
meddling feather duster Takai spoke.

“Come.” And Rin came. When the young woman reached him, a single
key, attached to a silver ring was held out to her, causing her to
raise both brows in confusion.

“Sesshoumaru-sama?”

He said nothing, but his glower was enough for her to take the
offered key, con confusion only growing when she saw the symbol on the
small tag that joined the key on the chain. The young nobleman walked
outside, and Rin followed to find a brand new, still gleaming and
without an official license plate just yeterryerry red, Mitsubishi
Eclipse sitting in front of the salon.

Rin did the only thing that her malfunctioning brain would allow
under the circumstances: she stared at it.

It’s not for me. It couldn’t be for me. He just doesn’t have a
driver’s license, and he wants me to drive us home. That’s all. You’re
jumping to conclusions that will embarrass you to death if you spoke up
about them, Rin, she told herself, turning to hold the keys out to
Sesshoumaru.

He refused them, gently pushing them aside with one clawed hand.
“It is yours. Is the color acceptable?”

WAS THE COLOR ACCEPTABLE? The damned color was perfectly fine as
far as she was concerned…what the hell had possessed him to buy her a
car, a car of all things?! She knew that he had a healthy sum of his
inheritance, and was about to come into much, much more, but for him to
spend so much on a worthless little human like her (as Jaken never
hesitated to point out) it was just outrageous.

“I…It’s fine.”

Rin walked up to the car, almost frightened to touch it and risk
marring its perfect, shining red surface with the oily prints of her
fingertips. Her hand wavered, floating an inch from the driver side
door, tears not only glistening at the corners of her eyes, but also
running in streams down her cheeks.

No one had ever bought her anything this extraordinary.

“Great. There goes the work on her makeup,” Takai murmured from
inside of the store, peering out the windows curiously. She didn’t need
to see Rin’s face to know it.

Outside, Rin was just building the courage to open the door and
slide into the seat, Sesshoumaru standing on the sidewalk behind her,
patiently watching.

Get a hold of yourself, Rin. If you freak out and shriek and
sob yourself into a mess, he’ll only be disgusted. Wipe your face, chin
up, thank him, and act like a lady should, she told
herself, gently dabbing her cheeks with one wrist until the tracks of
her tears were gone, only hoping her makeup hadn’t suffered too much
because of it.

All the while, the giver of her wonderful gift had watched in his
usual impassive silence.

“Thank you, Sesshoumaru-sama. Thank you for the car…it’s lovely.”
Lovely was an understatement. His gift was gorgeous, and she was
positive no other would ever outdo this. No day would ever leave as
deep an impression upon her heart as this one.

***

[Elsee]
e]

Kagome and Inuyasha rushed through the forest, the young girl
clinging to the back of her boyfriend, her legs wrapped securely about
his waist, arms slipped tightly around him. “Faster, Inuyasha, the
shard is fading!”

“I can’t run any faster!” he retorted, springing to a treetop and
kicking off of it to soar through the air so that Kagome could clearly
see their surroundings from above.

“I still don’t see anything! Whatever has the shard must be
small, Inuyasha!”

I’ll tear this whole damned forest apart if I have to, the
hanyou thought, growling as he began to slash at nearby trees,
obliterating everything in his path in search of the single, yet far
from insignificant shard that Kagome had sensed.

For the past two hours they had been searching, after she had
felt only the slightest flicker of it being near. She had been
uncertain at first, but Inuyasha’s assurance that they could catch it,
whatever had it, had led them out to the hunt.

A very unsuccessful hunt. No matter how fast he ran, it was ahead
of them, teasing, luring them to continue onward.

Kagome sighed. It was clear now that they wouldn’t find the shard
today. “Let’s just go back to the shrine. Maybe a bird had it, or I’m
imagining things. I don’t feel it anymore.”

“No!” he protested. “If you felt it, then its here, and I’ll rip
this entire forest apart looking for it.”

“That’s what I’m worried about, Inuyasha. You can’t rip
everything up. I’ll feel it again, so we’ll go searching again when I
do.”

“Fine.”

And that routine was repeated many times over the course of the
next month. Several times a week, Kagome would feel the flicker,
sensing that one shard nearby. And each time, she would run out with
Inuyasha to hunt for it, waiting for the creature hiding it to reveal
itself.

It never did.

Sometimes, Miroku went on these excursions with them. Rarely did
Sango leave the house, and all of her friends noticed a change in her.
Gone were the chipper attitude and smiles, replaced by a serious and
lingg deg desire for revenge that occasionally surfaced to reveal
itself as anger. She had only told one thing to her friends, and that
had been enough to justify her behavior. She knew that someone had
caused Kohaku’s death, and she wanted to kill whoever was at the cause
of it with her own hands.

And that was also why she told none of them about her own
dangerous excursions out into the wilderness near Kagome’s family
shrine. That during the days she skipped school or called in sick, she
was really camping out in the forest, with no more than a dagger and a
canteen or water, and minimal supplies. That she was hunting for weak
demons, and following the word of the book passed on to her by her
grandmother as if it were a bible.

The first kill had been exciting, and so exhilarating that she
found herself unable to return to her home until she had tracked down
another demon. They were rare finds, and almost impossible to discern
from actual wild life and forest animals, but they were there.
Crossing the path of one was rare, and required iron will and a steel
patience to wait, watching for those subtle signs as named in her book.

She had skipped school for two straight days the first time,
contacting Miroku by her cell phone to tell him she was fine, not
missing, and to not worry. Shd nod not come across a demon that day,
and went home empty-handed finally, not wanting to press her luck if
the neighbors noticed she did not return or the school called her home.

Sango returned during the weekend, with a newly sharpened sword
she had purchased after pawning her television set and a few other
belongings. It wasn’t the best quality, and she feared it would break
if she did come across a dangerous beast. It would have to do,
however, and she trudged on for hours that day, stopping for the
occasional break to rest her legs.

he rhe raccoon demon saw her before she saw it, but when she did
take notice of it she saw that it was significantly larger than the
average animal, and its fangs curled over its lower lip, poking
dangerously out of its mouth.

A normal raccoon did not have a mouth like that. Before
Sango knew what she was doing, she had removed her homemade gas bomb, a
combination of natural herbs, spices, plants and flowers found in
nature during her previous ucesscessful trip, made by following careful
instructions scribed by her demon slayer ancestor.

Sango shattered the vial by whipping it as hard as she could at a
nearby tree. The vial combusted upon impact, emitting thick smoke when
it made contact with the air and nearby plant life. As promised by the
her ancestor, the demon was unable to take the smell and tried to flee,
coughing and gagging violently on the smell that was thick in the air.

She gave chase, and the enraged beast changed before her eyes
once it was in the clear and away from the smoke, becoming thrice its
former size, snarling and showing teeth that looked as if they could
easily rend her flesh from her bones.

Sango fought for her life, and somehow, she emerged victorious,
collapsing weakly to her knees beside the corpse of the dead raccoon
demon half an hour later. In the end, she had frightened it, and it had
tried to turn tail and run from the fearless human. Her sword had slid
cleanly through its back, and she heard the blood gurgling in its
throat when it gave its final pain-filled howl.

“Die!”

And it did. Her own thigh was bleeding, and her shoulder oozed
with sticky blood, but she was damned happy all the same. She had
hunted and found her first demon. She had killed it, and she knew that
if she picked her fights carefully, and trained, closely following the
details in writing by the long dead slayer, she would one day be ready
for the one that took her family from her.

She would avenge them and make the person responsible pay, no
matter what the cost to her own body was.

No matter what the cost.