Demons kept being sent after Sesshomaru and Kirai, but each time Sesshomaru handled them himself. Kirai made no attempts to move and protect herself. She was becoming dead weight to Sesshomaru, but he refused to allow her to become hurt in any way, despite her hurting emotionally.

Sesshomaru wasn't sure how to help the girl emotionally though, so he just left her alone and to herself. He knew it wasn't the best way to go about it, but he couldn't help it. Deep inside, he felt bad about it, but outwardly he didn't show any emotions towards her. He wasn't sure if showing her any emotions would do her any good in the first place, so he remained his usual self.

Getting Kirai to take care of herself was even harder to do. The girl had no apatite and no will to exist. It was beginning to bother Sesshomaru to no end. He just wanted the girl to do something or emote in some way. However, she didn't. All she did was follow him like a lost puppy. She didn't even look like she was going to cry or anything. She was just blank.

"Kirai. This is the third day you haven't eaten anything. You need to find food." Sesshomaru tried once more to convince the girl to eat, however, she just looked up at him with a blank stare. He could see nothingness in her eyes.

"No..." It was quiet, most likely due to her lack of any energy, but with Sesshomaru's ears, he heard her.

"Very well..." With that Sesshomaru turned and began to walk off the path they were on. "Stay here, and do not die." As he spoke those words Kirai froze in place. She just stared off at where Sesshomaru disappeared until the man returned. In his hands, once he returned, were some berries that a human could consume.

"I thought you didn't eat human food?"

"These are for you."

"No." Well, the demon wasn't taking no for an answer this time. He forcefully grabbed Kirai's face and shoved the berries into her mouth.

"Chew them." She refused so he moved her mouth for her. He forced the girl to chew and then let go of her head. "Swallow them, or choke." The girl decided to chose the best option and so she swallowed the food. Choking would have not only made a mess, but it would be too much of an effort on her part. However, the force from it did cause her to cough slightly, not that Sesshomaru cared at the moment. "Good."

"Why did you do that? Why couldn't you have just left me to die?" Kirai was clearly angry now. Sesshomaru just smirked to himself in response though. That anger was more than she'd done in a while, so he was proud of himself for forcing the girl to not only eat something but to emote as well.

"I can't let you die."

"If it's for Rin's sake, then-"

"It's for my sake."

"What, why?" The girl was thoroughly confused now. Sesshomaru confused her even further by putting his hands on her shoulders. He then shook the girl, shocking her more than anything. "Wha-What are you doing, Sesshomaru?"

"Get it through your head girl. You say you have all your memories, but you don't seem to know me at all. I've been showing you how I care. Have you forgotten?"

"Sesshomaru..." Kirai was hesitant to speak, but something inside her began to snap and she shoved the demon away from her. "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! I don't believe you! Every word that comes out of your mouth is a lie! You don't care about me at all!"

"When have I ever lied to you, or anyone?" Sesshomaru grabbed the girl again and bent down to face her, face to face. "I may not be able to show it, but..."

"But what?" Sesshomaru then answered the girl by kissing her, right on the mouth. Within that kiss, Kirai was able to feel the love that they once shared between them, causing her to begin to cry.

"I still feel the same about you, as I once did. That has not changed. It just... merely took some time for me to feel that way once more. It could not have been immediate for I was unsure about you."

"Why were you unsure about me?" Kirai was now full-blown crying but was able to choke that out finally.

"When I first saw you that day with Rin, I was in shock. I thought you were dead since it'd been so many years since I'd seen you. Then I felt anger that you were off living another life without me, seemingly happy. Then once the anger faded, I felt hurt. Hurt that you didn't recognize me and didn't remember all we'd shared together." Kirai processed everything Sesshomaru said carefully. She was still a little hesitant, but she believed him. With believing him, came the guilt.

"I'm so sorry I forgot you. I never meant to. If I could go back I'd do everything differently. I'd never have left your side that day I fell into the well..."

"I should have been there to protect you. It's my fault." Kirai couldn't help it now, she had to throw herself at the demon. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

"I still love you Sesshomaru. I'm so sorry I had a breakdown. I know you hate it when I cry and get obnoxious like that."

"Hush now, Kirai." Sesshomaru wrapped his arms around the girl in return and just held her for a moment before he spoke up once more. "And I... still love you as well."

"Thank you for saying that, I really needed to hear it right now." The two just held each other for a few minutes, before Kirai's stomach began to growl, loudly. With that noise, the two split apart and Kirai's face went completely red. "I'm so sorry, I guess now that I'm out of my funk I feel how hungry I've been."

Even though Kirai was better, she still felt a little of her depression, but she knew she would be okay. That dark piece of her would never go away fully, but now that she knew the love of her life still loved her, she knew she would be just fine, even with that little piece of darkness that remained.

"Let's go find food, together." Sesshomaru suggested as he held out his hand to her.

"Alright." Kirai smiled up at her demon as she took his hand. They both knew that there would still be things to work out to get them back to how they once were fully, but now they were both willing to work on it, together. They both had a feeling that they would be just fine now, one day.

~

With the emotional issues of Kirai out of the way, and Sesshomaru and her repairing their relationship, they could now focus on saving their friends. They still had no actual idea where they were, all they knew was that it was south. So that's where the pair headed. They continued their journey south, all the while getting attacked by demons. It seemed the further they got, the more demons attacked them and the stronger they were.

"Damn, there is no end to them!" Kirai yelled out as she fought off a horde of demons. She kept slicing away at them and dissolving them, but there really was no end to them. Every demon she cut down brought another two demons.

"Just remain calm," Sesshomaru responded as he swung Bakusaiga. He was able to take out a lot more demons than Kirai was able to, making him a lot calmer on the outside. However, he was thoroughly worried on the inside. He saw how Kirai was struggling with fighting the demons. So, he swung Bakusaiga and made a dash for his lover. He made it to her and continued to swing his sword around, eliminating all the demons around them. However, as soon as he turned his back on his girl, he heard her shriek in pain.

"Ouch, fuck that hurt!" Sesshomaru swung around to see Kirai clutching her arm in pain. It was clear she'd been bitten by a demon.

"How dare you touch her!" Sesshomaru's eyes went fully red and he went after the demons more forcefully and angrily than before. While he was taking care of all the demons, Kirai began to heal herself. It was one of the powers she had that she'd forgotten she could do. It came quite in handy for a moment such as this. She wondered if Sesshomaru remembered as well, but judging by how furious he got, he didn't remember. Though he probably would have gotten angry about her being hurt no matter what, even if he did remember she could heal herself.

After a few minutes of intense fighting and growling, Sesshomaru finally returned to Kirai. All the demons were fully dead and gone, however, Sesshomaru was covered in blood and guts, and was disgusting. Even so, Kirai still smiled up at him like he was the most beautiful thing on the planet.

"Hey there Maru." She was sitting on the ground now. She'd gotten tired of standing and waiting for him to return.

"Are you alright?"

"I am. I healed myself... Are you alright?"

"I am disgusting but just fine."

"I guess we need to find a river or lake to wash off in. We both could use a bath."

"I agree." Sesshomaru sniffed at the air for a moment and then turned around and began to walk away. "I have located a hot springs."

"Really? That's amazing!" Kirai quickly got up and moved to catch up with him and followed him happily. They were silent as they traveled, but this time it was a comfortable silence.

It didn't take them too long to get to the hot springs so Kirai was thankful. She was tired of walking around that day and just wanted to relax. Once they were there, they began to remove their clothing. Neither of them was bothered by the other seeing them naked. They'd been naked together enough times anyway, so it wasn't a big deal.

During their peaceful bath time, they began to realize something. Well more specifically, Sesshomaru began to realize it. He could now smell Safaia's scent along with Rin's, Jaken's and Ah-Un's.

"Kirai, after this we should prepare for a battle." Sesshomaru suddenly spoke up to the girl. She was a little ways away from him with her back turned on him. He was sitting down on a rock currently just relaxing his body.

"Huh? Why?" The girl turned around, hiding her breasts and then turned red at the sight of Sesshomaru. It'd been a while since she'd seen him naked so she was a little flustered over it.

"Now is not the time to be getting aroused by

me. Do you not sense them now?" Kirai turned back around and focused her senses on her friends. Sure enough, she was able to sense their presences once more.

"Oh, I understand now. Hakai is allowing us to know their location to draw us into a trap."

"Exactly."

"Well, I guess we should get going then, huh? It was nice to relax here while it lasted. I just hope we get the opportunity once again to relax like this. Who knows what's going to happen in his battle."

"Do not think negatively. I am strong enough to protect you, not that you need the protecting, Kirai." The girl, in turn, smiled at the demon. He was right after all. She was powerful too and it was her time to show it.