Ice and Snow, Mind and Heart

Chapter 17: Jaken's Plan

"You don't eat as much as Rin."

Yuki looked up in surprise at Sesshomaru's comment, and though he hadn't looked away from the moon she could tell he was genuinely curious. She grinned, though her heart fluttered strangely as she stared up at Sesshomaru.

Ignoring that, she answered him lightly: "No – Rin's a growing girl, and she'll soon be eating even more. Though I will say I used to eat through bucket-loads of food when I was going through puberty – half-demon and all that."

She paused, and then added a little more seriously: "And I don't really eat a lot when I'm human. The food tastes blander and the smells less sharp with my dulled senses, so it's not even enjoyable."

And it was too dangerous to look for food in the first place.

The rest of her sentence remained unspoken, but both felt it in the air. Sesshomaru simply nodded once, and Yuki returned to moon gazing as they enjoyed the silent companionship for the night.

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It had been a few hours later that Yuki finally frowned, and she looked back to the spot where Jaken, Rin, and A-Un had disappeared earlier.

"They should've been back by now." Yuki noted, but Sesshomaru seemed unconcerned. "You don't think we should look for them?"

"I do not sense any danger." He answered flatly, but Yuki pointed out dryly: "From other demons, maybe, but Jaken does have a propensity to do something incredibly stupid."

Sesshomaru didn't reply, and Yuki sighed as she looked up at the blood moon again.

"If they aren't back by then, I'm going to go look for them once the sun rises." She informed him, acting casual but he detected genuine concern in her tone.

Sesshomaru sighed internally, but outwardly he simply nodded, once. He was too busy trying to pick up Naraku's scent in the wind, and he was certain that neither Jaken nor Rin were in any danger. Therefore, they were not on his immediate list of priorities, just as Yuki was not for the moment despite her weakened state.

Yuki meanwhile lay on her back, staring up at the stars by Sesshomaru's feet as she splayed up a hand towards the moon.

"Sesshomaru." She said and he glanced down at her briefly. "Do you miss your home in the West?"

The question caught him off guard, and Sesshomaru blinked at her unexpected curiosity. However, the question was simple enough for him to answer, and he replied: "No."

She almost smirked, a faint trace of a smile still lingering on her face as she prodded: "Why not?"

"I set out with a purpose that I have yet to accomplish." He answered flatly, and Yuki glanced at him in surprise.

"Hm." She noted. "Now that I think about it, I didn't even ask. What were you doing here before you started searching for Naraku?"

"I was on a quest." He replied with all his usual verbosity, and Yuki said dryly: "So am I – I'm on a quest to live as long and as contently as possible."

A shadow of amusement crossed Sesshomaru's face but otherwise he showed no further emotion as he elaborated for her: "I was searching for the Tetsusaiga."

"Ah." Yuki nodded in understanding, her face becoming thoughtful. "But you no longer really desire the Tetsusaiga do you?"

Sesshomaru glanced at her sharply, his voice lifting slightly in irritation as he asked: "Why would you say that?"