"Of course I am!"

"Okay, but they're really nice," Rin said. She glanced at Lord Jaken, who was sitting on a log a short distance away. Ahun was lying down behind him. Rin shrugged to herself and turned her attention back to the flowers. The whole field was practically full of them, and she had chosen the spot with the most to sit down in. She had already made a wreath of large white flowers for her head, and a necklace of purple ones. Now she was working on a bracelet of small yellow flowers, which were somewhat difficult to string together.

Rin sighed and set the flowers in her lap. Her hands were tired, she realized. She had been making things out of flowers since before lunch, and it was now afternoon. It was fun, but mainly it was a way to pass the time. There wasn't much else to do. Lord Sesshoumaru had left late that morning, leaving her and Lord Jaken behind.

Rin picked up the flowers, but then dropped them again. She decided to talk to Lord Jaken.

"Hey, Lord Jaken, where'd Lord Sesshoumaru go?"

"I don't know."

"Yes, you do!" Rin persisted.

"No, I don't," he said, turning around. "But if I guessed, he went looking for things about Naraku."

"Oh." Naraku again. "What does Naraku have to do with anything, Lord Jaken?"

"Stupid girl! Naraku was the one that kidnapped you."

"But I was kidnapped by that demon lady."

"She works for Naraku."

"Oh. But why'd they kidnap me at all?"

"To make Lord Sesshoumaru do what Naraku wanted, which made him angry. Which is why he intends to hunt down Naraku now."

"Because he was angry that they took me?" she asked.

"No! That they tried to manipulate him. Hmph. Lord Sesshoumaru wouldn't take the trouble of killing Naraku just for you."

Rin decided not to point out to Lord Jaken that Lord Sesshoumaru had come to get her.

"Lord Sesshoumaru probably went somewhere where there are lots of demons," he continued, "which is why he didn't take you."

"But why didn't you go too?"

Lord Jaken stiffened. "Lord Sesshoumaru was probably in a hurry." But Rin thought she heard him mutter something under his breath.

"What?"

"I said, I have to stay here and watch you," he snapped. "Though little good it did last time..." he trailed off, talking to himself. Rin heard something about 'babysitter,' and that he was sure to get it if it happened again.

"What?"

"Nothing!"

"Hey Lord Jaken, who was that person?"

"What person?"

"That person that I saw. The one that looked like Lord Sesshoumaru?"

Lord Jaken looked confused.

"He had the same hair," Rin prompted.

"Inuyasha?!" he exclaimed. "You saw him?"

She nodded. "After I woke up. That was Inuyasha?"

Lord Jaken frowned. "Lord Sesshoumaru never mentioned Inuyasha being there. Then again, he wouldn't have."

"So that was Inuyasha?"

He nodded.

So that was Lord Sesshoumaru's brother. Rin didn't really think that Inuyasha looked like all the things Lord Jaken said about him. If he was Lord Sesshoumaru's brother, he couldn't be all bad. She wondered why Lord Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha didn't get along. They fought sometimes, she remembered.

"Lord Jaken, tell me about Inuyasha?"

"I already told you about Inuyasha. It's not my fault you forgot since then." he looked away and didn't look back, and Rin guessed that he was done talking. She picked the flowers back up.

So Lord Sesshoumaru had gone to find out about Naraku. The lady that worked for Naraku had been the one that had taken her away. Rin suddenly wondered if Kohaku also worked for Naraku. Kohaku had been nice to talk to, but he had also said that he was her guard. He was really quiet, and he had acted kind of strange, too.

And although she wasn't going to discuss it with Lord Jaken, Rin wondered if Lord Sesshoumaru was just angry at Naraku in general, or angry because she had been kidnapped. Rin wasn't sure what 'manipulate' meant, all she knew was that the lady had taken her and Lord Sesshoumaru had come to get her. That was all that mattered to her.

Rin started again on making her bracelet, and noticed that where she was sitting was now in the long shade from the woods behind them. The sun almost couldn't be seen. Rin wondered how much longer Lord Sesshoumaru was going to be.

She turned and looked at Lord Jaken again.

"Are you sure you don't want some flowers, Lord Jaken?"