Time Traveler Katsumi

The Other Woman Who Loved Sesshoumaru (Part 1)

"Ne, ne! Jaken-sama, let's play tongue twisters," Rin said. Their little group had been walking through a damp and foggy valley for a while now, and Rin's eight-year-old attention span had finally given out. She wanted to play.

"What?" Jaken said, bored.

"Here I go! Red Jaken, blue Jaken, Gold Jaken!" Rin said quickly.

"Red Jaken, blue Jaken, Gold Jaken," Jaken said quickly.

"Jaken-sama, you're pretty good!" Rin said, sounding slightly surprised.

"Yeah," Jaken said.

"One more time!" Rin said excitedly. "Red Jaken, blue Jaken, Gold Jaken."

"Forget it," Jaken said, already tired of the game.

"Why!? Come on, say it!" Rin said in disbelief. She couldn't understand why Jaken didn't want to play such a fun game.

"I'll play with you Rin," Katsumi said.

"Okay!" Rin said excitedly. 'Rin should have asked Katsumi-nee from the start!' Rin thought, happy she could still play her game. In truth, Katsumi was just as bored as Rin, and desperate to find something to keep herself from dying of boredom.

'Ah... Sesshoumaru-sama continues his search for Naraku, but we have yet to find him. How long must we continue like this!?' Jaken thought wearily as the girls continued the game.

Katsumi sniffed the air. There was a strange new scent approaching them. Sesshoumaru, who had been silently leading them, like always, stopped and stared ahead at whatever was approaching them. Jaken was too deep in thought to notice, and bumped into Sesshoumaru, causing the imp to fall backwards and onto the ground.

"Huh?" Jaken said, confused.

"What's the matter, Sesshoumaru-sama?" Rin asked curiously.

"Does it have something to do with whatever's approaching us?" Katsumi asked. Sesshoumaru looked kind of... annoyed...? The sound of a hauntingly beautiful wooden flute was heard as the woman playing it emerged from the fog. She looked human, but she was the source of the mysterious scent that Sesshoumaru and Katsumi had picked up on.

'Why do I get the feeling there's something off about her...' Katsumi wondered. The woman stopped playing and knelt before Sesshoumaru.

"It has been quite some time, Sesshoumaru-sama," the woman said. She was quite beautiful, and dressed in high quality silk kimonos.

'Eh...? Who is  she? I didn't know Sesshoumaru had such a pretty acquaintance...' Katsumi thought. '... At least, I hope she's just an acquaintance...'

"Who are you? An acquaintance of Sesshoumaru-sama?" Jaken asked, sounding a little rude.

"I am Sara," the woman said, gazing up at Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru's expression remained unchanged.

"Huh? W-Who?" Jaken said.

"Have you forgotten about that time at Asano Castle?" Sara asked, a little upset. Katsumi's eye twitched.

'That time...?' Katsumi thought. She was starting to feel a little jealous. Katsumi could tell that the woman was in love with Sesshoumaru because of the longing gaze she was giving him, and though Sesshoumaru hadn't looked particularly pleased to see her, it still irritated Katsumi since he also hadn't turned her away yet.

"Asano Castle...?" Sesshoumaru said.

"Huh?" Jaken said, his eyes lighting up in recognition. 'That was the place I found Sesshoumaru-sama resting at after he fought Inuyasha at his father's grave...' Jaken thought.