InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Mother For Rin ❯ Tears for a broken window ( Chapter 4 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Rin yawned once more in Sesshoumaru’s arms as she sat up in bed and scooted to the edge to slip off. Waving happily once her feet hit the hardwood floor, she skipped out of his room and back into her own. If she had looked up at her window perhaps she would have noticed that it was no longer in its frame and instead scattered along the floor in broken bits. But she didn’t look up as she ran to her wardrobe and gasped in pain as the glass that was scattered cut her feet and nearly shredded her soles.

Rin whimpered as the glass shards drove themselves deeper with every step she took. She knew she couldn’t stop and sit down, not here in the middle of all the broken glass. There were water spots on the floor around the glass, proof that it had broken under the pressure of last night’s hail. Standing in the center of the nearly six foot wide and ten foot long half circle of broken glass, but to a young child with bloodied feet the shards seemed to stretch on for miles.

Tears of pain welled up in her eyes as she stood still. Each step caused more pain, but standing still was torture. How was she going to move? How would she get the glass out? It hurt, it hurt so badly. Gingerly she lifted her left foot, it took all she had in her not to scream when the movement itself caused burning pain to engulf her ankle and shoot up her leg. She had just barely set it back down on the broken glass, not more than an infant’s step away from her other stationary foot when she found herself swept up into Sesshoumaru’s strong arms.

The glass where she had been standing was soaked red with her blood, and Sesshoumaru cursed himself for not coming to her aide sooner. Her tiny arms wrapped themselves around his neck in a strong grip as she cried her pain in his embrace. Sesshoumaru held her ever so close, whispering words that made no sense to her but brought her comfort all the same.

Upon exiting his pup’s room, Sesshoumaru quietly instructed a servant to have her room cleaned well and to make certain that the broken glass was thoroughly cleaned up. The squirrel youkai nodded and left to gather another to help him in his task as his lord carried his young charge to the healer.

“Oh you poor dear,” Minako, the palace healer a deer youkai and Rin’s best friend, cooed to her softly. “Don’t worry sweetheart, we’ll get this all cleaned up and out of your feet.”

Rin nodded and sniffled, trying desperately to be brave and not admit how much it hurt. If Sesshoumaru, was brave enough to say that the deep wounds he had received didn’t hurt than she could be brave about this right? It was just a little glass anyway.

Try as she might though, Rin couldn’t stop the flow of tears that cascaded down her cheeks as Minako carefully pulled each sliver of glass from her torn skin. Though the pain was unbearable and made her dizzy at times, Rin sat quietly, never moaning nor whimpering. She promised herself that she would be brave, that she wouldn’t show how much it hurt.

Rin bit her bottom lip hard and jerked as Minako began the slow extraction of a rather large piece of glass. The glass was embedded so deeply in her foot that it had nearly sliced itself through and back out of her foot. Her breathing became harsh and she clenched her eyes shut as she struggled not to cry out though she couldn’t stop her tears, silent though they were. Her tiny hands were clutching the bed beneath her tightly, so tightly that her knuckles had long ago turned white and she could feel her own nails against her skin through the cloth covering the futon mattress.

The healing room was the only place besides the servants’ quarters that had futons; Sesshoumaru’s father long ago discovering the pleasantries of the western world’s raised beds. From the healer and the army generals to Rin and Sesshoumaru’s bedrooms and the guest rooms, all contained the western style wooden sleigh and four poster bed frames with double futon mattresses. It was a welcome comfort after traveling and sleeping on the hard ground.

Rin opened her tear blurred mocha eyes as the last bit of the torturously large piece of glass came out. The healer looked up at Rin with an apologetic look in her hazel eyes.

“I’m sorry sweetie, part of it broke off.”

Minako’s words didn’t make much sense to Rin until she felt the tool used for extracting the glass delve back into the wound they had just pulled the glass from. Rin’s eyes snapped open wide and even if she had let herself cry out, she couldn’t. All sound stuck in her throat, choking her with pain as the tool quested around and finally grasped the tiny piece of glass still lodged in the wound.

It took nearly an hour for the healer to extract all the glass from Rin’s small feet and when the task was completed she brought over a bowl of hot water and a cloth so that she could clean the cuts. Rin jerked her foot back slightly, though it didn’t escape her friend’s tight grip, when the hot wet cloth touched her tender feet.

“I know this hurts Rin, but it must be done.”

Rin nodded shakily and tried her very best to sit still and let the woman do her work. She felt sick with the pain and was glad that she had not eaten yet; she didn’t think she would’ve been able to stop herself from regurgitating her food if she had. So tightly was she clenching the tender flesh between her teeth, that she split her lip when the pain became too much to handle. The taste and warmth of her own blood flooded Rin’s mouth and she closed her eyes tight as her breathing turned harsh.

Rin never felt the rubbing of the cloth stop or the gentle wrapping that was tied around her feet. She never felt the woman leave her, only the burning pain that encompassed her feet and legs. She didn’t feel it when Sesshoumaru entered the room and lifted her into his arms, holding her on his lap. Nor did she hear his softly spoken words of comfort.

Reality slowly came back to Rin when she felt herself being rocked gently and someone stroking her hair. Soft words were being whispered to her, words of comfort, of safety, words that she didn’t totally understand, but words that brought her comfort all the same. She opened her eyes and blinked tiredly at the white silk that was in front of her face.

Rin yawned and tilted her head, looking up she caught sight of Sesshoumaru’s face and kept her eyes locked on his as she began to drift into a paralyzing state between sleep and wake. Sesshoumaru lifted her closer and kissed her forehead as he stood and carried her out of the room.

Sesshoumaru stared down at the girl in his arms, the only hint of emotion shown was the tightening of his jaw. He was worried yes, but more so angry. He was angry at none other than himself. Even though the rational part of his mind knew that the foresight of the window being broken was impossible without having been in the room, he still felt as though he should have known. He shouldn’t have let her go alone, but there had been no way of knowing of the danger before hand and now she was injured and in pain.

A tiny warm hand touched his cheek and drew his eyes back to the groggy girl in his arms.

“It’s ok pappa,” Rin said softly, her eyes bleary with the effort it took to stay awake. “Rin…Rin is alright,” she said upon a yawn.

His eyes softened and the tightening of his jaw released. He lifted her higher to kiss her forehead and nuzzle her cheek, he needed to reassure himself that she was alright. It was his duty to protect her and here she was comforting him.

Sesshoumaru entered his chambers and laid her down on his bed, tucking her under the blankets and wrapped his Mokomoko-sama around her and watched as she nuzzled her face into the downy soft white fur.

“Sleep now Rin,” he said as he smoothed her bangs out her eyes. “I shall wake you to feed later.”

Rin nodded and yawned tiredly as she curled herself into and around the fur and blankets. Sesshoumaru stayed and watched over her until she slipped back into sleep, her breathing soft and even. He left her side moments, perhaps even hours later to attend to the duties that were his per his status as taiyoukai of the western lands.

He sat at his desk, a scroll in his hands. He didn’t know what it said, he had tried to read it but his mind remained on his pup. She was hurt and he wished to be nowhere else than at her side. His father’s words came back to him once more and he sighed mentally as he turned his head to look out the window at the grey skies that still showered a calm rain down upon the lands.

Is this what you meant father? Is this the worry and unrest you felt when I was injured? It took me only three days to fully recover, but Rin is human. She has not the healing powers of youkai. It will take so much longer for her to heal.

A sudden thought came to him. Once the rain stopped he would take Rin out into the garden along with the book he’d been reading to her. He would take her up into the blooming Magnolia tree and sit with her and read to her. If she could not run through the flowers than he would take her up to sit among them in a world of flowers. He smiled inwardly at the thought. Yes, Rin would like that.

Giving up on ever being able to concentrate on the work in front of him he set the scroll aside and stood. Sesshoumaru sighed softly and made his way to the kitchen and petitioned the cooks to prepare a tray of fruits, breads, cheeses, and vegetable for him. He took three plump giant plums and split each in half removing the cores and then placing them in leather pouch.

He had made the pouch during his travels with Rin. It was smooth leather brushed clean of fur and had several small holes in the bottom made by his claws. He held the punctured end of the pouch over a large cup and twisted the pouch until the plums’ juice dripped through the bottom and filled the cup. He emptied the crushed plums into a basin of food trash that would be ground together and used for fertilizer in the gardens.

Rinsing out the pouch he hung it on a wall hook to dry and carried the filled cup back to the tray of food that was prepared and carried the food and drink back to his chambers. He smiled softly when he entered his room and set the tray down on a bedside table.

Rin was sleeping peacefully, his Mokomoko-sama wrapped around her and tangled around her. The lengthy fur nearly completely engulfed her, making her look like a newborn infant wrapped in swaddling cloths. He sat next to her on the bed and stroked her hair until she woke, her eyelids fluttering softly as she woke.

She yawned and looked up at him and smiled.

“Hi pappa,” she whispered as she yawned again and smiled when she saw him let his unfeeling mask drop for her.

Rin felt undeniably privileged that he let his true face, his true feelings show in her presence. It was a gift she would always treasure. Sesshoumaru helped her sit up and lean back against the headboard as he moved the tray o food to rest on the bed. He lifted the cup of sweet plum juice and handed it to her.

Rin lifted the cup to her lips and drank the sweet nectar her eyes brightening and smiling widely at him.

“Thank you,” she said happily as she drank more of the juice and then placed the heavy cup carefully back on the tray.

Sesshoumaru watched as she ate of all four plates, at times putting a wedge of cheese with a piece of apple and delighting in the combined flavors. She offered him a second set of the combination and even though he told her often that he did not eat nor need human food, he took it anyway and ate it. She smiled as he ate it and giggled when he commented on the taste.

Sesshoumaru stayed with Rin until she had eaten her fill and read to her until she had once again returned to sleep. Tomorrow, if it was nice, he thought to himself, he would take her into the magnolia tree and let her awaken in a world of blossoms.