DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fanfiction produced for entertainment purposes only. Inu-Yasha - A Feudal Fairytale and all related characters are the creations of Rumiko Takahashi.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is my Christmas present to everyone who's still reading my stories after so long without hearing a word from me. I promise I'll be updating my other fics again very soon, too!

The Trouble with Snow and Fire
By Shadow's Mirror

One moment, Rin was happily running around the snow-covered field, her arms stretched out as she laughed and played in the snow. The next moment she cried out as she tripped and fell.

Jaken gasped and hurried over to her. "Oh you clumsy girl! If you are hurt, Sesshoumaru-sama will have my head!"

Rin blinked up at the worried minion. "Rin is not hurt at all, Jaken-sama. The snow is soft."

Jaken blinked back at her, then looked at the snow. His eyes widened. "Snow… cold… wet…" He began to run around in circles, obviously in a panic, as Rin calmly picked herself up and brushed the damp snow off her clothes. "Oh no! Oh no! You are wet through! You will catch a cold and then... and then... Oh Sesshoumaru-sama is going to kill me for sure."

Rin shivered, looking damp and rather uncomfortable for a moment before she suddenly smiled. "Jaken-sama! Your staff!"

Her exclamation made the startled minion forget his panic for a moment as he blinked at her. "Eh? What are you... Oh! Of course! Clever child!" Jaken struck a pose and then slammed his staff down on the ground, angling it up. The male head on the staff opened his mouth and a stream of fire burst out, blazing into the sky.

Rin smiled happily as she warmed herself, the heat of the fire quickly drying her clothes. "Thank you, Jaken-sama!"

"It was no problem at all for someone as incredibly talented as I am." Jaken smiled at Rin and hugged the wonderful staff his even more wonderful Sesshoumaru-sama had entrusted into his care. "Do not stand too close, Rin. You might burn yourself. Mmm... something smells delicious." Jaken sniffed the air appreciatively.

Rin looked at him and her eyes went wide. "Jaken-sama... you are on fire."

Jaken nodded. "Oh, so that is what that roasting smell is. Wait... Ahhhh! Fire!" Jaken dropped his staff and ran around in circles for a moment, flapping his hand at the back of his smouldering tunic before throwing himself down in a nearby mound of snow. He sighed with relief. "Oh that's better…"

Rin clapped her hands and ran over to him. "Is Jaken-sama all right?"

Jaken scowled at her. "Jaken... oh, now you are making me do it… I am fine. Perhaps now you will listen to me. I told you not to run in this snow. It is dangerous." He stood up and dusted himself off, then picked up his staff again and inspected it for damage.

Rin nodded and smiled. "Yes, Jaken-sama!" She tilted her head as she heard something and looked over to the edge of the nearby forest. A bright smile spread over her face. "Jaken-sama! Look! Sesshoumaru-sama is back!" She began to run through the snow again, towards the silently waiting youkai lord that had appeared from among the trees.

Jaken gasped and then hurried after her. "Rin! Hey! Not so fast! Your legs are longer than mine!"

As he ran, the large, still slightly smouldering, hole in the back of Jaken's tunic revealed a not exactly tantalising, and rather worrying, glimpse of Jaken's underpants.

So the mystery of what Jaken did with the fluff he got out of his master's comb every night after the routine grooming of Sesshoumaru's furry thing… was solved.

The End