Day 1:

Sesshoumaru was not one to take things on blind faith. If he was to follow through with anything he wanted evidence, proof, that what decision he made would be the right one. He would not suffer any foolish consequences.

So, before he could leave his ward in the hands of his half-brother and his ragtag group - as the little girl so desperately wanted for some reason unknown to him - he needed to make sure she would be safe. He would not let any harm come upon those he claimed to be his. And so, for the sake of Rin, he began to observe them.

His half-brother he spared little time, he knew the hanyou was brash, unreasonable, a terrible fighter, but loyal. So while Sesshoumaru wouldn't trust Inuyasha's sword skill…well, he would reserve his comments to himself.

The monk was surprisingly canny and rather observant. His spiritual powers didn't seem very great but he was an adequate fighter, in his own right. This made the great dog demon feel marginally better. He didn't really care much for the monk's lecherous side, though he knew it was mostly aimed at the demon slayer.

The taijiya was probably the most skilled fighter of the group. Calculating, strong, and rather attracted to the monk – as much as the monk was to her it would seem. Her sense of loyalty though was lower than the others. After further examination it was not a sense of loyalty she lacked, but rather she feared emotional pain. He snorted, even he knew those around her who she called friends would not betray her. But she would protect her friends with her life.

The young fox demon was too young to be considered a protector and he knew the little one would do well with Rin as a playmate. Truly the fox demon was the main reason his ward even wanted to come over to his half-brother's group for a visit. And Sesshoumaru knew it would be good for her to play with another child.

Then there was the miko, a rather untrained but surprisingly powerful miko. How she had such great power but never been trained was a mystery. She seemed to be full of mysteries. She was undeniably loyal, somewhat hotheaded but also unreasonably forgiving. She coddled the fox demon in an oddly motherly fashion, argued with the hanyou yet still cared for him, and chatted amiably with the taijiya and the monk. Why a miko, someone born hating demons, would consort so easily with them was confusing. Sometimes he would come back to observe the group he would find the miko gone.

After tracing her scent one of those times, he followed it – a surprisingly refreshing smell like that of rain – to the wooden structure dubbed the "Bone Eaters Well" to find her scent had just…disappeared. She seemed to be an odd creature, but suitable for taking care of his ward.

And so, the first day he came up to the group.

"Lord Sesshoumaru," greeted the monk, a smile on his face even though he was wary, "Can we be of help to you?"

His brother was impressively silent, though that was mostly like due to the warning glare the miko had sent before hand.

He noted carefully that it seemed she was the alpha female of his brother's pack; all the others seemed to wait for her to take the lead. For some reason he was not surprised.

Sesshoumaru then looked over his shoulder and Ah-Un, who gracefully took his cue, brought out his ward. The young girl was clearly anxious and also excited, as could be told by his unfailing nose and her wiggling on the saddle.

The miko then stepped forward, eyes bright, despite his half-brother's low growl and looked up at Rin with a beaming smile.

"Hello there, my name's Kagome. What's your name?"

Rin looked up shyly and then, after glancing at her protector for reassurance, announced, "Rin is Rin."

The miko's smile softened, "It's nice to meet you Rin. Sesshoumaru?" Kagome turned to bow in his direction as she asked, "Would you please allow Rin to stay? I know Shippo would love to play with her. Wouldn't you Shippo?"

Shippo leapt forward eagerly, the idea of having a playmate extremely appealing to the young fox demon, "Yes!"

Sesshoumaru nodded regally, pleased with how the miko made the offer before he had to explain. He looked closer at her and saw a knowing smile grace her lips, his eyebrow quirked up in her direction. Did she offer…for his sake? If anything her smile just grew.

His eyes glanced over at his ward and her beaming face, a glance was spared again at the human, still wearing that smile and not at all afraid to meet his gaze. A victorious glint shone in her eyes, this offer had clearly not been made just for Rin's sake.

Her intuitiveness was pleasant, yet it irked him how this human would do something to make it "easy" for him. He was killing perfection; he would back down from no challenge.

But at the moment he let it slide. For Rin's sake.

Though, he would have to correct the miko on her lack of formality. He was no mere demon to be addressed without proper recognition of his lordly status.

Rin had scrambled off Ah-Un and rushed over to bow, properly showing her manners so as to not disgrace her lord and offered her thanks.

Kagome took the little girl's hand, Shippo took the other and – after thanking Sesshoumaru they rushed off to play. The rest of her pack stood around awkwardly, unsure of what to do now that their alpha had left.

The great dog demon turned to walk off, his ward had gotten her wish and he had things to do. Ah-Uh plopped down contently to stay with Rin. Sesshoumaru knew no harm would come to Rin when in the care of such a pack and under the eye of the two-headed dragon. He scoffed silently, unlike Jaken who, though the imp cared for the girl, seemed to "misplace" her quite frequently.

The Ice Prince had a feeling he would be seeing this ragtag group quite a bit more if Rin was happy when he returned. And knowing his ward, she would be very happy.

He refrained from giving a sigh. He really didn't feel like putting up with the hanyou that he had the unfortunate burden of calling his half-brother, but the miko flashed across his mind and he found that perhaps it wouldn't be so bad it the miko proved to be as interesting as she appeared to be.