Time Traveler Katsumi

Dangerous Liaisons

"Hey! Get back here, you—" Jaken started to yell after her.

"Jaken!" Sesshoumaru said sternly, stopping the imp cold. "Leave them be."

'Ugh... I can't believe this...' Jaken thought, sighing. How did those two always manage to get away with stunts like this when he, Sesshoumaru-sama's most faithful servant, who had been serving him since long before either of those two brats were even born, could not?

"Ah~!" Rin gasped in delight when she spotted some mushrooms growing on a tree. "Ne, Katsumi-nee! Do you think these are edible?" she asked excitedly, eager to fill her empty stomach and stop her hunger pains.

"Hmm, let's see..." Katsumi said thoughtfully as she squatted down beside Rin to inspect them. "I don't think they're deadly, but they don't exactly look too safe to eat either..." In fact, they kind of looked and smelled like they might have some kind of psychotropic chemicals in them, and the last thing any of them wanted was for the adorable eight-year-old to be tripping out of her mind on 'shrooms.

"!" Katsumi gasped when she felt something start to shift in the ground and the smell of a youkai suddenly hit her nose. "Rin, get back!" Katsumi said urgently, pushing Rin behind her as she spun around to face a huge and scaly green hand as it burst forth from the ground behind them.

"Kyaa!" Rin screamed, startled. It tried to grab them, but Katsumi had already drawn her sword. It was over in flash. With one clean strike, Katsumi cleaved the large youkai's hand in half, slicing through its thick skin, muscles, and bones like butter.

"Wow~! So cool, Katsumi-nee!" Rin cheered as Katsumi sheathed her sword.

"Haha, thanks Rin," Katsumi said, blushing a little as she rubbed the back of her neck, a little shy to be praised so enthusiastically for something so simple. "Come on. Let's see if we can find something edible before Sesshoumaru-sama gets tired of wait—!?" Katsumi whipped her head around, alarmed to hear the familiar buzzing of saimyōshō. Her eyes widened when she realized the swarm was forming out of the remains of the hand she had just cut. "What the...!? Sesshoumaru!!"

Sesshoumaru instantly snapped to attention when he heard Katsumi shout for him. He had assumed she could handle the weak youkai he smelled on her own, but clearly something had gone wrong.

"Ah, Sesshoumaru-sama!" Jaken gasped, startled when Sesshoumaru suddenly took off like a shot. "Wait for me!"

"!" Sesshoumaru said when he saw the swarm for himself, surprised to see so many of them. No wonder Katsumi had called for him. There were far too many for her to handle on her own while trying to protect Rin. (Their sting was dangerous enough for youkais; for a small human like Rin, a single sting would kill almost instantly.) Fortunately, she had somehow managed to erect a small kekkai around herself and Rin, similar to the one that had saved them from being absorbed by Naraku, to shield them from the swarm of saimyōshō. It seemed training her had paid off... However, Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes slightly when he realized she had been stung on her left arm. Fortunately, it appeared she was able to remove the stingers in time, because although she had a thin sheen of sweat glistening on her forehead and had paled slightly, she still had enough strength to stand and fight.

"Hah! Those are poisonous saimyōshō!" Jaken exclaimed, sweating nervously, when he realized the mess he had just followed them into.

"No. Really?" Katsumi asked sarcastically, feigning a look of exaggerated surprise. She wasn't really in the best of moods at the moment since saimyōshō stings hurt like a mother.

"Don't lower your kekkai," Sesshoumaru told her calmly as he drew Tokijin. "That Naraku... He left behind some annoying vermin." He raised his sword as the saimyōshō solidified back into the form of a youkai hand. "Jaken. There should be a hive nearby."