InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A new beginning, a new hope ❯ one step closer ( Chapter 10 )

It was almost midnight but Rin persisted in her task meticulously transcribing what she needed the week ahead. Her head followed to where a tiny knock was heard.

 

Who could that be, so late in the night? She mused.

 

As the bedroom door peeled open, she found the hanyou kid gleaming with excitement, her hands concealed behind her as though hiding something secretive.

 

Rin's eyes narrowed.

 

“Why are you still up? It's late. You should be in bed,” she chided gently, poking her index finger to the child's temple.

 

“Rin, I have something for you.” An air of mystery surrounded her.

 

“What's that?” The girl scratched her head, brushing her long silken hair to the front.

 

“Ta-da!” The kid swung the object right before Rin with a little curtsy.

 

Rin scrutinized the petal stalk with immense wonder.

 

“What's this? A flower? I've never seen one of these before.” Her eyes grew wider by the second.

 

“It's called the mooooooon's flower,” the little hanyou emphasized on the first syllable deliberately to catch attention.

 

“A what?” The girl thought she heard wrongly.

 

“A moon's flower.” The kid repeated affirmatively. “And it's from your secret admirer.” She then passed the older girl a wink.

 

“My secret admirer?” Rin's jaws dropped slightly as she received the gift. “How did you….?”

 

“Well,” the hanyou child beckoned Rin to close in, “that's a secret.”

 

The girl examined the tiny flower in her hands with amazement. It was a small but tingled with a sort of shimmering purple under the moon light and at the same time, letting off an exotic fragrance. All of a sudden, a strange wave cruised through her.

 

Why do I have this feeling that I've seen this before? She pondered rubbing her forehead and attempting to sooth an oncoming headache.

 

“Keiko, who is this secret admirer?” Rin was now really curious about this unexpected intrusion.

 

“I can't tell you.” The hanyou kid was not spilling anything. “But, he has something to say though.”

 

“Oh, and what does he have to say, this secret admirer, not daring to show himself?” Rin was getting impatient with where this was going.

 

“He asks you to wear it on your hair. He says it suits you,” The kid finished coolly.

 

Rin's breath hitched instantly. Amidst the tenderness within the short message, she distinctly felt a surge of familiarity arise from within her. She had heard this before, she was sure, somewhere. She stretched out her arm against the door in order to keep balance as an acute migraine struck her. Before she knew it, her face had turned a ghastly pale and she was heaving heavy pants as echoing voices began to splash onto her in great ripples.

 

It suits you… its suits you… Rin, Ikuzo, let's go… are you ready for me, my love…

 

Rin tried to cover her ears in order to shield herself from these haunting voices but to no avail.

 

Watching anxiously from a corner, Sesshoumaru became intensely worried for the girl and her present agitation. He clawed on the wall beside him, not knowing whether he should rush up to her in case she collapses.

 

“Rin, Rin, Are you alright?” Keiko was also concerned. She meant it as a pleasant surprise for the girl but definitely not this!

 

Rin brushed her dark tresses back and stood up again. She felt better and the voices had gradually faded off. She blinked a couple of times and took another look at the flower in her hand.

 

“Thank you. It's very pretty. I love it.” She finally managed to choke out. “And help me thank that secret admirer too. What he said, it's very sweet. I'll remember that.”

 

Round the corner, Sesshoumaru was actually elated and a grin danced across his usually sunken cheeks. His heart skipped a beat at Rin's last statement and even he was astounded by this bodily reaction. Having seen four hundred years come and go before his eyes, he had never once felt like this. And this feeling, he could almost confirm, it was love, the feeling of being in love.

 

******************

 

Through the wee hours of the night, the demon lord stood guarding the girl fervently as she went about her work, yawning profusely and nodded off to sleep.

 

Rin found herself surrounded by darkness again and there was a white figure situated a distance away. She gulped. It was that dream again. Instinctively she dashed toward him but he had inched further the moment she did so.

 

“Please don't go. Come back.” She cried out determinedly.

 

She spotted something in his hand, something small and purple.

 

It's the moon flower, she let out a soft shriek. Why is he holding that?

 

The figure began to drift away and Rin was not about to let the opportunity slip by once again. She rushed after him, as fast as her feet could carry her, only to find that she was being bogged down by a strange compelling intensity, pulling her back.

 

“Wait, don't go, please,” she begged while sobbing continually.

 

“Wear it on your hair. It suits you,” a muted tone sounded from the direction of the pale figure.

 

“What? Who are you? Stop! Wait.”

 

Rin's body jerked up as she woke from the dream, breathless and in a state of panic. Unyieldingly, she cleaned off the remaining tears in her eyes, opened the drawer and pulled out a huge stack of paper.

 

Peering at one end of the glass window, Sesshoumaru was almost going to rush to tend to the girl's sleeping form when she suddenly awoke. He was that close to being discovered. Retreated a little further from the glass than usual self consciously, the demon lord regarded the girl as he contemplated on his next move.

 

What is she doing? He squinted his eyes for a close up on the stack of paper and what he saw shocked him dead to the ground.

 

She was drawing…. Sesshoumaru saw that all-too-familiar crescent symbol. She was drawing HIM, or rather, the girl was trying to match her dream with what she thought he looked like.

 

Rin flipped through all her past attempts and slapped her temple with renewed annoyance.

 

This one does not look like it. So is that, and that one.

 

Rising to her feet and with unrestrained frustration, she swept the entire pile onto the floor. Bits and pieces of the sheets fluttered as they sprawled all over. Rin smashed her own two palms on the wooden table, infuriated with herself.

 

Her thoughts were traced back to the day she first awoke in this house, not remembering anything from the past. At that time, she had no connection, not a trace of belonging, nothing that associated her with what she had lost. Nothing but a rugged piece of half drawn picture, one which she held on to tightly.

 

It must be something of great importance, a link with my past, she decided inwardly also having a hunch that she should keep this private discovery solely to herself.

 

She could not make out much from the sketches, just that it was a face without features on it, just a crescent moon. Since then, she had made like hundreds of copy of it, trying to complete it with all sorts of combinations, all by her own imagination and creativity.

 

Still, it did not seem right and she had almost given up on it, until tonight.

 

She shook her head in bewilderment as she recalled something unique about this most recent dream.

 

Why is he holding the moon flower? She could not see the link. Why is he saying all those things that the so-called secret admirer had recited?

 

Rin's mind felt as though it was about to explode due to information overload. She collapsed weakly on her bed, telling herself to quieten her own wild musings. As her pulse rate gradually resumed normality, she dozed off, surrendering to this long and eventful day.

 

Sesshoumaru stepped forward and carefully arranged the sheets round the girl, making sure she was warmly tugged in. As he stroked her silken hair, he noted in dismay Rin was still unable to slumber in serenity. She broke out in cold sweat and chanted to herself with a deep sense of urgency.

 

“No, please don't go. Come back.” Though hushed, the demon lord could pick out these distinct words.

 

He wished he knew some way to ease her suffering in this chain of recurring nightmares, not knowing that he was the source. Taking her with benignity into his arm, he settled beside her. He brought her close to his heart, letting her use the softer section of his chest as a pillow to rest her head.

 

Rin was perturbed, swiping her arms feverishly in the air, grabbing him and calling out helplessly.

 

“Wait, don't leave. Wait.” Her weary cries pricked the demon lord so painfully that he could not hold his resistance any more. He landed his soft kisses on her temple with an unfathomable sense of craving and circling her ears, praying desperately that his actions would not to jostle her too much.

 

Now the girl did something that totally took the demon by surprise. She tilted her head and caught his kisses with her mouth and their lips sealed for a moment.

 

She had kissed him.

 

Sesshoumaru blinked in shock. He could not believe that it actually happened but he knew one thing for sure. He had missed this feeling so tremendously that his heart pinched in rebellion. But it was just too short, too sudden. He wanted more. He took her lips once again, tasting her more thoroughly as their kiss deepened.

 

To his delight, the girl was responding positively to him even in her sleep. It was as if she had chosen not to wake, preferring to indulge herself in the aching tenderness of this dream state. The youkai was no different. As their lips tangled and joined, he could no longer care if it was real or just a reverie. He just didn't want it to end, not this time, not ever again.

 

Several minutes later, a reflexive panic struck him. He had to stop. Her heart rate had risen significantly and the demon lord feared that she might just rouse and stare at him straight in the eye. He pulled away with great reluctance simultaneously feeling the same reaction from the girl. He swiftly laced his clawed fingers along her supple seams and caressed her hair and cheeks, soothing her down to a peaceful slumber. He watched stoically as she eased into him in deep repose.

 

Sesshoumaru's eyes closed as he took a moment to revel in that last kiss they had just shared, still able to taste the reminiscence of her sweetness in his mouth. Deep within his heart he held on to a faint hope, that she still yearned for him sub-consciously. If that was so, then perhaps, perhaps he would still have a chance with her.

 

He detached a tiny glowing object from his sleeves, frolicking and swinging it in the dark.

 

Perhaps then, I can return this to her, she'll surely be overjoyed.