hardly ask him! <, thought Kimie, squinting at the youkai. The thought of the conversation at the beginning and what followed made her sick. Actually, she hadn't planned to bless the temporal already at the age of 17 and could only hope that Kagome, Inuyasha and the others would find her as soon as possible.
> Otherwise I will really end up as canned food à la Pedigree Pal ... <
Meanwhile, Sesshoumaru wasted only a brief thought on Kimie. He just wondered how long she would be traveling with the small group, although he didn't really care. The most interesting thing for him was to know when Kimie would run away from him. But surely it would soon go away on its own. His little demonstration just now had made the desired impression."Sango! Miroku! Did you find Kimie?"
Kagome stepped out of Kaede's hut and ran excitedly towards the two of them, while Kirara started the landing approach and now gently came back to the ground. But both Sango and Miroku only shook their heads back.
"No, unfortunately not.", Sango answered disappointed and got off Kirara. Miroku did the same and went on to say: "We followed the river for a long time. We thought maybe it would be somewhere on the bank, but there was nothing and nobody to be seen. At some point the river got narrower and narrower and until then it could not possibly drift away have been."
"And she was really not on the bank or still nearby?", Kagome asked worried and again the question was answered in the negative.
"However, we did find something.", Sango said suddenly and showed the others an elongated bag. Kagome recognized her immediately. "That belongs to Kimie! That's where she kept her sword!"
"Yes, but the bag is empty.", Miroku explained and he was right.The bag was open and there was nothing in it.
Shippo let his gaze wander uncertainly. "Is that a good sign or a bad sign?"
"It doesn't have to mean something bad," said Inuyasha. "At least Kimie probably didn't lie dead on the bank. That can be seen as positive. And if her sword wasn't in her pocket, then it could be that she took it somewhere."
"Maybe she went into the forest, or something," said Shippo.
"That could be.", Kagome agreed, although she found it very strange that Kimie should take her sword with her but leave the bag behind.
Kaede now also stepped out of the hut. "Let's hope she didn't."
Everyone turned to face her. "And why not?" Shippo asked uncertainly.
“Well, how should I put it?” Kaede wasn't sure if she should really come out with the truth. After a short wait, however, she continued: "This area is teeming with demons.I don't want to worry anyone, especially you, Kagome, but unfortunately that's the reality. One can only hope that she makes good use of her weapon if necessary. "
"For heaven's sake!" Kagome was shocked and turned to the others for help: "We have to find her before it is perhaps too late! Kimie has never fought against demons!" Inuyasha put a hand on her shoulder soothingly . "Calm down, Kagome. We will now follow the river on foot and I'll try to take her trail. I'm sure she'll be fine."

Well, Kimie hadn't been eaten by a demon yet, but it is questionable whether that would have calmed the others if they had known what kind of situation Kimie was in instead. She was still allowed to poke around after Sesshoumaru and a few hours must have passed by now. She still didn't know where he was going and that was why Rin had no idea. Jaken didn't want to ask Kimie.She really didn't feel like having any more stress now. Her gaze fell on Sesshoumaru, who continued to lead the small group, closely followed by Jaken. The nearby forest still ran alongside the group.
Rin watched from Ah-Us back on Kimie, as she walked thoughtfully next to the dragon. "Is something wrong?"
Kimie looked up and shook her head, smiling slightly. “No, it's okay.” She didn't want to bother Rin with her problems.
They were on the road all day long, occasionally only taking short breaks of no more than five minutes. Rin ate some berries and other fruits that she carried with her during her ride on Ah-Un, and kept giving Kimie some. She was very grateful for that, otherwise she would have collapsed long ago. Still, she couldn't avoid yawning once. She was still dead tired.
"And our newcomer is already exhausted. People are just weak creatures after all.", one heard Jaken say mockingly. Kimie glared at him." Thanks for the compliment! ", she replied sarcastically." Don't overdo it with your friendliness, otherwise I'll be embarrassed, you broken-off dwarf! "
“What an insolence!” Jaken turned to Sesshoumaru: “Sir! Did you just hear that too? This human woman is a pure impertinence!” Then he added in a whisper: “Can't we get rid of her presence, Sesshoumaru-sama? "
The youkai kept walking and didn't turn around, but answered anyway, "If I see fit, I'll take care of it."
Jaken was satisfied with this answer and was already looking forward to it when his master would make short work of this human woman. He would definitely not miss it when the time came. He glanced back at Kimie, but shortly afterwards he hit Sesshouamru's leg. "Ah! Forgive me, sir!I just didn't ... "Jaken paused and looked up." Sesshoumaru-sama, what have you got? "
The youkai had suddenly stopped for some reason. Rin and Kimie also noticed and Kimie made Ah-Un come to a standstill as well.
> What kind of strange thought has come back to him now? <, thought Kimie suspiciously.
"Something's coming towards us.", Sesshoumaru said calmly. Immediately everyone listened, but at first no noises could be suspected. Only after a while did you hear a rustling in the nearby bushes and then you could see some branches of the bushes moving.
> Is that ... a demon? Kimie asked worriedly and looked at the undergrowth, from behind which the white tips of two ears suddenly peeked out.
Kimie paused. "But that is..."
Shortly afterwards a black dog jumped out from behind the bush. At first Rin was quite shocked, as this dog reminded her very strongly of the wolves that had attacked her and the village in which she lived.Fearfully, she dismounted from Ah-Un and hid behind one of his legs. Kimie, on the other hand, ran straight to the dog. "Inuki! It's you!"
Barking happily, Inuki ran towards her and she immediately took him into her arms. "I'm glad you found me! I've missed you! Fortunately, you're fine!"
Jaken looked quite confused. Sesshoumaru, on the other hand, watched the reunion in silence. He recognized Inuki immediately. That was the same dog that had eyed him so suspiciously at the river. So he had found his human again.
While Kimie stroked Inuki happily, Rin carefully peered out from behind Ah-Un. "Kimie-san? Aren't you afraid at all?"
"No! Not! That's my dog ​​Inuki.", Kimie replied with a smile. Rin looked surprised. "Your dog?"
"Yes, and he's really very nice."
Suddenly Inuki ran back into the bushes and shortly afterwards came out again with Kimie's sword, which he held in his mouth.“You have my sword with you?” Kimie was amazed. Inuki must have found it somewhere by the river. The bag was missing now, but that wasn't important anyway.
Sesshoumaru then approached Kimie and Inuki. Without asking, he took the sword Inuki had placed on the grass in front of the girl.
"Look! A sword. So you can wield a sword?" The youkai asked as he pulled the sword out of its scabbard, although the question sounded a bit scrutinizing, with a slightly amused undertone. It was like saying, "You and a sword? That I don't laugh!"
Whereby Kimie couldn't really imagine that this guy would laugh at all and if so, it was surely just out of glee, or something like that.
"I practice kendo, if you want to know exactly.", Kimie answered the question, slightly annoyed. Excellent! He was probably making fun of her now!
"Even a weapon doesn't make a weak person stronger.", Sesshoumaru continued.Kimie rolled her eyes and slowly got up because she had been crouching on the floor until just a moment. As if she knew it!
"Lovely ... Can I have it back?" She held out her hand to him, but Jaken immediately jumped up and began to moan: "If you should plan to try to insidiously attack my master with your sword at a favorable opportunity, then you can forget it right away! An ordinary person like you would never be able to defeat him anyway! Especially not a human woman! "
"Is that what I said I was going to do?" Kimie replied angrily. Did that toad demon think she was completely stupid? As if she were really attacking Sesshoumaru, then she could put her sword in her own chest or tell Sesshoumaru himself that he could make sure that she looked at the radishes from below from now on! Although she had not been in this world long and knew next to nothing about it, she already knew that eating cherries with sesshoumaru was not good.All she had to do was remember his nice manner from earlier. And even if he was getting on her nerves, she still wanted to stay alive a little longer.
"And besides, my name is Kimie, not human!" Kimie continued and crossed her arms over her chest. Meanwhile, Sesshoumaru put the sword back into its sheath and held it out to her. "At least you don't seem as stupid as many other people," he said, since he could read it in her eyes that she didn't even dream of attacking him. In contrast, many other people and demons had already tried to attack him, Sesshoumaru, but they all paid for this attempt with their life.
With a slight growl, Kimie took her sword back. "What a compliment! May I feel flattered now?"
Immediately there was that piercing look from Sesshoumaru again.
"Come back down! I'm already calm."Kimie wanted to turn away when his voice came back into her ear:" I told you earlier that you have to call me 'Sesshoumaru-sama' when you talk to me! Or do I have to express myself more clearly so that even you can understand it? "
The girl stopped. Didn't this