Sorry for the lack of updating. haha This is the last chapter probably for a while. lotta stuff going on in life right now^^'

Rin didn't notice Sesshoumaru had been standing there listening to her, so she kept on singing. Chihiko sat by their fire smiling. She had always loved to hear Rin sing, since the first time she heard it when they were young. Her eyes drooped shut as she was swayed by her friend's melodic tune…

'Hmmm…I wonder where she ran off to?' Chihiko ran into the woods to search for Rin. Her grandmother had told her to search for her, but she got thrown off track when she heard a voice. She started running towards where the voice was coming from. She found it drove her to the river. She balanced on a rock, while trying to get a better look on who it was. When she saw who, it threw her off balance and she fell into the freezing cold water.

"Rin?" Chihiko looked up to Rin, who was standing right in the way of the sun. It was as if she had a golden halo. Rin extended her arm, like the angel she looked like, Chihiko grabbed hold of it, almost pulling Rin in. When Chihiko got out of the water, she shook herself down.

"Are you okay?" Rin stood there as if she owned the forest. Chihiko smiled and grabbed Rin's hand.

"Yeah! Come on! Let's go back and play!" Chihiko was the only girl in the village who looked at Rin as normal. Everyone else thought that Rin was some kind of demon controller, and that she could kill them at any minute. Everyone that is, except Chihiko.

I was her only friend…Chihiko sat recalling her fondest memories. Rin's song ended. Chihiko clapped.

"Your voice has improved since then!" Chihiko laughed. Her skin glowed orange from the light of the fire. Rin sat back down. She tried brushing the dirt off from her arms and legs, but it didn't really work.

"You need a bath!" Chihiko snickered. Rin agreed. They put more wood in the fire so it wouldn't burn out. They were near a warm river, so they decided to wash up.

The water was warm because there was a hot spring near by. They felt lucky that it wasn't a cold one. They undressed in the dark and got in. They washed their clothes, then hung them on a branch to dry.

"Ahhh…nothing like a warm bath after fighting demons…" Chihiko relaxed, but Rin couldn't. She felt as though she was being watched.

Out of nowhere a sudden wave hit Rin. She looked at Chihiko who was bursting with laughter. Her sword was in her right hand. It was dripping with water.

"You brought your sword in?" Rin blared. Chihiko's laughter quieted.

"Well if I didn't, how else would I have gotten you to pop out of your befuddlement?" She set her sword directly above the water, slowly drew her arm back, then thrashed it forward.

"Oh no." Rin said as she ducked underwater. The pressure of Chihiko's 'metal wave' was still felt underwater as much as over it. Rin came back up laughing.

Sesshoumaru smiled at Rin's laughter. He stood behind a tree just listening to her voice. He wouldn't disturb her, no, he just wanted to hear her voice.

"Oh yeah? Well take this!" Rin spun in the water, creating a whirlpool. Chihiko started moving round and round at extremely high speeds. Chihiko's sides were splitting with laughter. She hollered out, "Don't try this at home kids!" and with that she was swallowed underwater. Rin stood victorious, or so she thought… Chihiko jumped out of the water and splashed Rin with a regular splash. Rin cracked with laughter.

"What was that? The 'atomic mouse shower'?" Rin sneered. Chihiko chuckled. Sesshoumaru was busy eavesdropping, when he sensed someone else. Demons… He took off through the forest. He saw two youkai.

"I hear laughter brother. Isn't it said that 'the cold one' has no emotion?" The female demon inquired. The male snorted.

"Yes it is said that 'the cold one' bears no emotion. Maybe this will be easier than we thought sis-" The demon stopped. Sesshoumaru stood before them.

The demon was about to ask 'who are you?', when Sesshoumaru used his poison claws and knocked them both out.

"You're not getting near her." He murmured, licking his bloodied nails. He decided he would stand patrol until dawn. He defeated any demon's whose intentions were towards Rin.

He held no mercy. but then again…was he really expected to?

Rin got out of the water before Chihiko did. She had been in the water for a long time so her clothes were just about dry. Usually her and Chihiko would wear kimonos, but they are way too hard to fight in. Every time Rin would jump into the air, someone could see up what she was wearing. It bothered her… I mean who wouldn't it bother? But that wasn't the complete reason of why Rin wore guys clothes. She never really gave a care of what she wore, she couldn't care less of what the humans or the demons would think.

Chihiko was raised to be petite and poised, basically everything Rin isn't. She would always complain when Minami would try and force her to do things, she would always go, 'it's not that I can't do it…I just choose not to.'