InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A new beginning, a new hope ❯ Missing you ( Chapter 7 )

After dinner, Rin purposefully retreated to her room, intending to get back to her practices through the rest of the evening. She had encountered some co-ordination problems with her accompanist that afternoon during rehearsal and she was determined to fix it. Her performance was in two days' time. But for some strange reasons, she just could not concentrate on the task at hand. She had an uneasy feeling, as though something or someone was watching her. She subconsciously peered outside the window from the corners of her eyes but saw nothing.

 

It's all my imagination, probably, she concluded, not knowing that the demon had backed off so quickly that she had missed spotting him by a fraction of a second.

 

Sota was listening attentively from the room next door as the girl scrambled through her pieces and he could tell that she was frustrated. Everything about her music was in a mess, the intonation, the rhythm and even the notes were all hay wire.

 

That's so unlike her, he wondered. She sounded like her mind was somewhere else.

 

In her little bedroom, Rin almost wanted to fling her violin and smash it brutally against the wall. Holding the instrument high up in the air, she took a deep breath calming down substantially and lowered the violin to lay it on the bed instead.

 

Today's practice was getting nowhere and time was not a luxury she could afford. What will she do? Maybe some fresh air would be good.

 

Hearing the distinct sound of a door opening and slamming, Sota pondered for a moment, then, stood up from his study chair and went after the girl.

 

Damn, no stars tonight, the girl mused as she strolled towards the Goshinboko.

 

Stars always bring a sense of serenity to her and they were her source of strength especially after an evening of bad practice. A mixture of fear, pressure and exasperation spiraled though her body, making it extremely difficult to breathe. She swung her fist into the trunk of the sacred tree with an unrestrained petulance, instantly regretting her emotional outburst as she felt a surging pain throbbing from the knuckles.

 

A white figure was observing her every gesture, his fingers now clawing deep grits into the stone wall beside him. Though Kagome had mentioned that Rin is now learning that odd shaped musical instrument, he could not understand why she was so flustered over it. Isn't music suppose to sooth oneself? Sesshoumaru was took a step forward and swallowed hard. He yearned to go to her so much but he had given his word to the miko.

 

“Rin, why did you do that?” A male voice put the demon lord's indecision to an abrupt end. He didn't have to break his promise after all. Sota had rushed up to the girl, on the demon lord's behalf, holding her hands up for a closer examination. Seeing that Rin's knuckles were slightly bruised due to the impact, the young man's heart was hurting more than the girl's wounds.

 

“Doing this isn't going to help matters.” He finished with his brows twisted into a concerned frown.

 

His tender words crashed the strong front the girl was putting up and she sobbed uncontinually, succumbing to all the pressures she was facing.

 

Taken aback by all this, Sota embraced Rin in a comforting hug allowing the girl to let out all the stress she had accumulated. Several minutes passed and the girl had calmed down significantly. Sota lifted her chin setting her eyes to meet his.

 

“Rin, you must know this. Being a performer, it's never easy. Most musicians, they slog, shutting themselves in a room for more than six hours a day to practise for something that only lasts three minutes on stage. That's the norm,” he explained patiently.

 

“Sometimes, most times actually, even after all this hard work, on the day of the performance, you still have to be prepared for mistakes. You have to be prepared for imperfections. Only then, you'll be level-headed enough to react to little mishaps when you're on stage.” Sota was relating his own experiences, hoping that it would be of some help to the girl's current vexation.

 

Rin tried to force a smile.

 

Sota's eyes lit up as he was struck with a wonderful way to cheer the girl up.

 

“Hey, do you know that dancing helps to release stress?” he pulled the girl to the centre of the yard encouragingly.

 

“What? No, I don't know a single thing about dancing,” the girl was afraid to embarrass herself.

 

“It's easy, you'll see,” Without waiting for a reply, he held Rin by her slender waist and proceeded to guide her round the yard. “See, you just go like this. One, two, three. One, two, three.”

 

Rin discovered that Sota was a fluent dancer and an excellent instructor. As she tried to follow his guidance, the steps became easier and easier to grasp. Soon, her mood lightened substantially and she began to grin gleefully as he led her to waltz round and round the yard under the moonlit night sky.

 

“Can we go faster?” Rin pleaded mischievously.

 

“Are you sure? Don't step on my feet. You've put on weight recently,” Sota chuckled immediately noticing an obvious pout on the girl's lips.

 

Rin made a monkey face at him and Sota's heart softened with a hint of regret.

 

“Okay, my fault. I shouldn't have said that. I should have listened to Mom. She said never to commend on two things about girls.” The girl looked suspiciously at the seemingly apologizing young man before her.

 

“And what are they?” She couldn't hide her curiosity.

 

Keeping a straight posture and putting a finger in the air, Sota closed his eyes. “First, never say they're old. Second, never say they're fat.”

 

“Are you hinting that I'm old and fat?”

 

Rin let off an indignant squeal and attempted to bestow upon him her deathly tickles. Sota ran with the girl hot on his heels and both giggled so hard that their jaws ached.

 

Suddenly, Rin tripped on something protruding from the ground and she instantly lost balance. Sota reacted quickly and caught her in mid air. He tried to break her fall by shielding her from the impact with his elbows. The two then collapsed on the ground rolling and tumbling on each other. When they eventually come to a halt, Rin opened her eyes only to find Sota lying on top of her. For a moment, both blushed and neither spoke nor moved.

 

“Err.. I'm sorry,” Sota let go of the girl and rolled to his side gingerly. He got up, pulling her with him. “Are you hurt?”

 

The young man assisted the girl to brush off some dirt from her sweater while doing a brief scan for any signs of injury.

 

“I'm fine,” Rin replied bashfully. “It's getting late. Let's go back in.”

 

“Sure. Let's.”

 

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From the side of the glass window, Sesshoumaru watched Rin as she showered, changed and got into bed. He waited rather impatiently till he sensed that the girl's heart beat were slow and steady, indicating that she was fast asleep. Sliding open the bedroom window as he had seen how Kagome had done it, he glided into her bedroom and inched toward the girl. He had been waiting for this the whole day, every passing second felt painfully like a month long.

 

Silently, he settled next to her bed and kneeled on the matted floor so that he could examine the girl's face at a closer proximity.

 

She looked tired, he decided internally that it could be due to that little exercise just now in the yard. He still harbored mixed emotions about the presence of his new rival. In the past, he would have simply raised his sword and finished him off in half a swipe. Now, he no longer knew if he could actually have the heart to do so. The young human, though always irritatingly buzzing about the girl, was actually quite noble and sweet.

 

The demon lord had hoped with all his heart that the young man would turn out to be some perverted lecher, just lusting over the girl's beauty and youth. But he was none of those. Instead, he was caring and not overbearing. Though he had the opportunity, he did not behave inappropriately.

 

Sesshoumaru stroked the girl's ever flowing tresses gently so as not to jostle her, drinking in her fragrance, the one he had missed terribly. He let his fingers run down the outlines of her cheeks as he observed her slumbering form. A frown spread across his brows. The girl appeared to be having a nightmare. She was fidgeting under her sheets, her hands were frantically flinging in the air as if trying to grab something.

 

“Don't go, please. Come back.” She whispered dreamily.

 

Before Sesshoumaru could react, Rin had grabbed onto his clawed hands tautly while continuing her soft chants. She proceeded to place it close to her heart and to his astonishment, she mellowed and quietened down. The demon lord wanted to sooth her further with consoling words but he knew he could not. The spell would be broken at his first word to her. He had to resist no matter what. Instead, Sesshoumaru bent over and placed several tender kisses on the girl's temple, astounded to see the girl smiled warmly at his loving gestures even in her sleep.

 

My dearest, my love… the demon lord spoke in his heart. I missed you so much.

 

The girl had returned to her peaceful slumber, completely unaware of the existence of her silent protector and guardian. For this night, Sesshoumaru was contented just by resting beside Rin's sleeping form, reveling in the warmth of her hand against his and saturating himself in her alluring scent.

 

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Rin awoke at the usual calling of the alarm clock. She stretched her hands, let out a soft yawn and sat up on her bed. She closed her eyes momentarily as she recalled in bewilderment her strange dream the night before. It was that dream again, that same man with the crescent moon. She gasped. Something about the dream had changed. Last night, she actually managed to catch up with his fleeting form and grab hold of his hand.

 

The girl shot a glance at her own tiny palm. The touch. It felt so real, so real that she thought she could still feel the heat emitting from his palm.

 

But it was all just a dream, isn't it? She was puzzled.

 

Even when there were many unanswered queries in her mind, she found herself feeling rather excited about this new change. How she wish she could stay in that dream a little longer. She wanted to see where it would lead her, hoping secretly that she would have a close up view of his face soon in the next few nights.

 

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Hey, everyone,

 

I really hope to hear your reviews of the story so far. Love it, hate it? Want more of comedy, romance?

 

Desperately needing some ideas to carry on…