InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A new beginning, a new hope ❯ A Test of Love ( Part 1) ( Chapter 35 )

These two chapters are specially written for all the gals out there, Angellips, christal, sad soul, teardrop, DPM, hope you'll like reading as much I was dying to write it

 

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The demon lord's return journey was overflowing with a definite portion of anxiety to make haste mixed with he'd say, self appraised satisfaction. Sesshoumaru rhythmically dipped his hand into the pocket of his sleeves to check that its contents were secure and undamaged by the mere velocity he was traveling at presently.

 

Undoubtedly, not mentioning that the Taiyoukai Oji-san had, out of immense humbled gratitude, tugged into their hands at least two weeks worth of supplies for the girl (which was all they could carry), the elderly demon had also declared a solemn promise that fresh tributes would be delivered without fail or delay to the toad demon on a fortnightly basis.

 

In addition to what they had originally come for, the queen youkai, who was still in bewildered elation of her newly bestowed life, had presented to the demon lord their clan's most regarded and her most treasured piece of jewelry--- a crisp golden sting of their once great demon knight, crafted with exquisite details into an ornamental hair pin.

 

Sesshoumaru's lips bent into a dreamy smile, just imagining how Rin's hazel irises would light up upon seeing this unexpected and rather eye-catching gift. This would no doubt help to cheer the girl up too, knowing that she might be still having trouble sustaining a normal appetite.

 

The demon lord couldn't help but to divert his thoughts to wondering if Rin had succeeded in taking her regular meals or even slight proportions of liquefied food without feeling sick. It had been coming to a day since his departure and judging from the angle of the sun setting in the horizon, he'd make it back in time to have dinner with her as he had promised.

 

Several differed concerns too had popped up in his mind from the ones with more urgency including whether Rin's fever had subsided to the other trivial ones like whether she'd thought of him, if she had missed him in his absence like he did.

 

Yes, Sesshoumaru let off a sigh of helpless contentment, as silly as it may sound, even for that one short negligible day, he had missed the girl terribly. Everything he passed by brought him images and memories of her. An oncoming breeze would remind him of her wind blown tresses, a sighting of the blossoming flowery patch would seem to carry to him her scent.

 

Inuyasha, on the hand, had tagged his concerns elsewhere. Not the least in the mood to engage in any more of his usual little cynical spites on his half brother, the hanyou was channeling all his analytical skills to figuring out the cause of that mysteriously dissipating evil aura he had sensed on the outskirts of the bee cave.

 

While observing that Sesshoumaru was too pre-occupied with organizing and packaging the honey combs, Inuyasha himself had brought forth some of his own queries to the Taiyoukai chef. Apparently, the bee demon himself was equally baffled by this strange occurrence, merely stating that it was rumored by various youkais dwelling in the western lands that a cloud of foreign ominous jyaki had been swirling and hovering round the region, its intentions unknown and unshown.

 

On his part, the Taiyoukai chef had dictated to all in the lair to restrict their activities underground so as to avoid close and head-on confrontation with this unholy aura. Still, the hanyou knew that there were simply too little clues to work on, even if he wanted to. The most prioritized task at hand was still the one pertaining to his new sister-in-law, and not to forget, to make his best effort to draw away his daughter's seemingly undivided crush on his elder brother.

 

Inuyasha spat on that disgusted thought. Man!

 

What the hell does Keiko see in Sesshoumaru anyway? What does she mean by `he's so romantic'? The hanyou sneered internally while he made an attempt to mimic her daughter's speech. I can be romantic anytime I wish to be. He decided that he'll seek a second opinion on that when he gets back--- from Kagome.

 

Sesshoumaru only rematerialized into his human form barely two seconds before he pushed open the front door of the Higurashi residence. As the screen swung ajar, an oncoming breeze brought him the strong scent of home cooking from the kitchen area.

 

He had made it back just in time for dinner--- with Rin.

 

Sesshoumaru paced swiftly toward the direction where the smell of food congregated most intensely, expecting with full confidence to see the girl seated together with all the rest of the members having her meal, a decent nutritious meal. Actually, he merely hoped that it would be so. Then, he could finally set some of that uncomfortable, accumulated unrest of his at ease.

 

Sesshoumaru did not even require a brief scanning to conclude that Rin was not where he'd hope she would be. In fact, everyone else was there… except the girl.

 

“Sesshoumaru, you're back. That's great. You're just in time for dinner.” Kagome greeted with that ever courteous and earnest tone as she arranged some plates and cutleries on the table.

 

“Rin, where is she?” The demon lord wasn't keen on anything else.

 

“Oh, Rin-chan is practicing upstairs. She asks us to have dinner first. She wanted to…” Kagome gulped and smacked her lips shut as she noticed how the demon's expression had blackened significantly.

 

Rin is what? Practicing when she's so feeble and unwell? And she is skipping dinner? AGAIN? Sesshoumaru could feel his youkai blood boiling and stirring up with impending rage.

 

How could she be so irresponsible with her own health, with their unborn child or even with her promise to him to get well?

 

There he was rushing in near madness like a complete fool, lowering his dignity almost to the point of begging like a pauper to obtain what now sustains her very life. And what was she doing here? Flinging and testing her luck missing meals, maybe even losing sleep, and being overly obsessed with that, that silly insignificant little piece of musical instrument. He had put in mental record too many instances where the girl had refused to sleep or rest if she had problems with her practices.

 

Sesshoumaru stormed up the steps, almost stomping an unmendable hole into the wooden platforms on his way, then, pushing and slamming the door wide open letting its wooden edges hit ruthlessly against the cemented wall. Startled by that deafening crash, Rin turned from her seated position on a stool and innocently, her lips rainbowed a carefully saved smile for her husband's return.

 

“Sesshoumaru, you're back. I was waiting…” The girl's sentence was put harshly to a halt by a thunderous insertion.

 

“What do you think you're doing? Rin, I cannot believe you can be so insensible.” He arrived beside her, looming and breathing down on her authoritatively.

 

“But, Sessho, I was just doing some practice while I…” Rin had started to sense the tension arising from the youkai though she hadn't the slightest idea why Sesshoumaru was acting so frustrated about.

 

“Practice, practice, practice, is that all you're concern about? Is playing this, this instrument so important to you that you can forfeit and neglect your health?” Without even noting it himself, the volume of his accusations had become such a booming roar it even shook up the room, sending all the little stationeries on the table jumping and vibrating to the frequency.

 

“Sesshoumaru, please, you're being unreasonable,” Rin for once felt almost indignant and hurt. “You know how important this concert means to me.” Well, he didn't really know just HOW exactly the level of importance was. But still, she had indicated to him that she treasured every single opportunity to perform and that was the truth.

 

“That was before you were in this state. You should know where your priorities lie now, unless…” Sesshoumaru's eyes drifted shut, pausing and hesitating whether to limit the vindictiveness of his statements. Still, his anger overpowered his restrains. “Unless, you possess absolutely no motherly instincts to care for our child--- even for me.”

 

His words stabbed and jabbed into her heart like a double edged blade.

 

What does he mean by saying that I do not care for the baby and for him? Is he implying I'm not a good mother? Rin held back her tears, letting it flow into the wounds inflicted within her instead.

 

“Sesshoumaru, I… was resting the entire day. I only started doing some warming up a while ago…” Rin couldn't help but to continue to defend herself. Honestly, the girl had much trouble coping with his absence and she was awaiting his return so eagerly. Still, little was she prepared for what was to happen next.

 

Till now, the demon lord had no intention of putting out any of those overblown temper and every single attempt by the girl to explain herself just made it all the more worse. She had tried to use her wittily formed debates to get her way for too long.

 

Without a word of warning, Sesshoumaru snatched the violin from Rin's hands, his claws accidentally grazed across the steely strings, instantly snapping two of the four, creating a sort of discordant cadence ringing in the air.

 

Rin shrieked, her already colorless cheeks got paler, as she was spun round by the sheer force of his feat as well as the horror of the close destruction of her ten thousand dollars possession. She scrambled up from her seat hurriedly, wanting to prevent further dents or scratches done to the delicate two hundred year old instrument but the moment she stood up, she was immediately reminded why Kagome had assisted her to the stool in the first place.

 

Rin blinked hard but everything before her was greying and blacking out at the most scary rapidity.

 

“Sess…sho…”

 

The girl's knees gave way like jelly causing the youkai to drop the item in his hand to instead divert and rush up to cushion her descent. Actually, it was totally an unintentional mistake on the demon's part. He didn't at all wish to damage Rin's violin, knowing that it was of great importance to her. His antagonism had gotten the better of him, blinding him for that mere moment.

 

Unfortunately, as much as he hated it, due to the drop, the pegs of the violin broke upon the impact of hitting the ground. What's worse was Rin's present condition. The minute he set his arms on her, he had realized how burning hot she was. Her fever had not subsided. In fact, it had shot up considerably. A surge of irritation returned to consume him.

 

This was exactly why he was mad in the first place. It was damn obvious her condition hadn't improved. Why didn't she take care of herself more?

 

Sesshoumaru placed the girl back among her soft sheets as she slowly regained her consciousness. However, Rin was looking away from him purposefully, directing her stares rhythmically at what was now lying unattended and in dislocated pieces on the floor. When she did turn to face him, the demon had chosen to avoid eye contact as well.

 

He exhaled an audible rumbling sigh, retrieving a bottle tugged within his sleeve. Rin saw what was in his palm---her sugared prescription. She hadn't even had the chance to formally announce the confirmation of her pregnancy. Now, there was no need to. More accurately, neither had the mood to do so.

 

Without a word spoken, he assisted her to a sitting position, sending small spoonfuls of the sweetened fluid into her mouth, intermittently pausing and waiting to observe her reactions to it.

 

The girl was apparently taking it quite well, though her facial expression showed nothing but a prolonged suppressed brood. She would have stubbornly refused to entertain his feeding efforts but wasn't prepared or thrilled to be framed as `the irresponsible mom' again. Also, overlooking the cold war existing between them right now, Rin was nonetheless worried for the tiny newly formed baby in her. She wanted it to grow healthily, it being hers and Sesshoumaru's first.

 

When the youkai lord was done with the whole portioned bottle, he rested the girl's head in the pillows, making triply sure she was warmly and securely covered. Still keeping his silence as well as his dispassionate and firm stance, he felt her forehead.

 

Feverish, still feverish. Three consecutive dosages, the miko had said, before it'll get better, Sesshoumaru debated inwardly. She only had two.

 

Yes, he admitted that he was worried sick but he sure wasn't going to so freely made it known this time, granting her the idea that he could be easily persuaded into letting her childish displays rule over him.

 

Not this time, he restated to himself in his mind with more self assurance.

 

Blandly, he fished out the wet towel in the basin just beside the bed, twisting away the excess moisture. Settling at the edge of her bed, he bent down and placed the damp skillfully folded cloth on the girl's temple.

 

Rin was momentarily touched by these gentle and heart melting gestures, so utterly and vastly different from all the unsympathetic phrases he had spoken just mere minutes ago.

Was she truly in the wrong like he had said? By doing her routine runs, was she being irresponsible as a mother? Was she neglecting his feelings?

 

The girl dwelled deeper in the perspective of the demon lord as she inspected his form from one corner of her eye. If anything, she'd say he looked weary and seemed a little out of sorts. His clothes were of a muddy dusty cream, probably from enduring long strenuous hours in desert conditions. The dark shades under his crimson highlighted eyes were an obvious indication of the lack of sleep. Even his hair was kind of in a mess.

 

Did he have a tough time getting this rare honey stuff that Kagome had mentioned? Knowing Sesshoumaru, could he have obstinately tried to make good time by neither stopping for rest nor for food, just so that he would arrive home on time?

 

Sesshoumaru too made little peeks at the recumbent girl. He had managed to calm himself down and was desperately searching out the logics behind his emotional outburst a while back. Why had he flared up like that? It was most unlike himself to act so irrationally.

 

He spat spitefully. He wasn't being irrational. He had good and solid reasons to be mad.

 

Thankfully, a sweet voice echoed from the doorway, breaking this all too loud silence.

 

“Rin-chan, I brought your dinner up. I thought the two of you may like to have it alone.” Kagome picked up the bad vibes instantly when her vision fell on the wooden casualty on the ground. “What happened? Sesshoumaru, did you….?”

 

The miko did not make it to the last word of that question before the demon unceremoniously treaded past her and out of the room, shocking both herself as well as the girl who was wilfully fighting back her tears.

 

“Rin-chan, what happened? Why was the violin like this? Sesshoumaru, he….” Kagome implored while setting the tray on the bedside table.

 

“Kagome…” The girl could not hold it any further. She wrapped her arms round her new found confidante and wept aloud, coughing simultaneously as the moisture flowed drenching her whiten cheeks, her throat and even her hair.

 

“Did you two have a fight?” Kagome pulled some pieces of tissue, coaxing the girl to use them but to no avail. The girl just couldn't care less about how she appeared at this moment.

 

“He was mad that I skipped dinner to practise.” Rin choked out in between her sobs while trying to fill her lungs with sufficient air. “He said I was… I was… insensible… no motherly instincts…”

 

“He said what?” A hint of annoyance arched between Kagome's brows. “How could he? Rin, did you tell him you were waiting to have dinner together with him?”

 

The girl shook her head. She obviously didn't get the chance to.

 

Kagome was trying hard to restrain her own fury with the demon lord. It had taken her the whole of last night and this morning to help Rin regain part of her strength and appetite. Just a few thoughtless words from this chauvinistic youkai lord and all her efforts had gone into the dumps. The girl was back to that temperamental state as the night before, extremely agitated and by the looks of the redden swell in her cheeks, Sesshoumaru had not helped much with her persistent fever as well. As much as she wished to pursue after the demon and give him a piece of her mind, she decided that the girl's well being was of utmost urgency.

 

“Shh… Rin-chan, it's okay, he'll get over it soon… hush now dear…” Kagome stroked the girl's back, hoping fervently that it would sooth her both physically and emotionally.

 

To the miko's dismay, Rin was shutting her off, merely burying her head on her comforter's shoulders, wailing her heart out. As if things were not bad enough, the girl's recurring chokes had made her increasingly queasy. She instantly became silent as her face turned to a greenish purple. Kagome grabbed the bag nearest to her once she detected that Rin was going to be sick again. She made it just in time as the girl emptied everything the demon had conscientiously feed into her just now. The miko handed the girl some water to clear the after coarseness in her throat.

 

Shit! This is not good, not good at all. Kagome examined the situation before her with great caution. Rin had just thrown up her medication, all of it. She had better get her a second dosage and fast.

 

“Rin-chan, are you alright?” Kagome patted the girl's shoulder and gently kneaded it at the same time.

 

Rin nodded gingerly though she was starting to feel those dizzy spells creeping in and enveloping her once again.

 

“Do you want something to eat?” The miko already knew what the girl's reply would be but she just had to make an attempt, no matter how futile.

 

“I'm not hungry,” Rin's voice was hushed and strangled. How could she be in the mood to eat, after all that's happened? “I would like to be alone for a while.”

 

Kagome watched as the girl turned to stick her head into the pillows, seemingly about to start soaking it through all over again. Her fists clenched as she paced out of the room.

 

Sesshoumaru, that…that no good… the miko was all ready to scream down the youkai's thick skull if that was what it takes to give him a good awakening!

 

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Hey, you know, if any of you have requests for artwork on this fic, let me know cos I'm kinda stuck what to draw next. I may not be able to come up with exactly what you have in mind, but I can try. School holidays now. Yipee

 

By the way, if I've not mistaken myself, did any of you realize that I'm from the other part of the continent? We're twelve hours apart…Actually, I'm twelve hours ahead. I thought you might notice because of the different times we log on to read and update…

 

Anyway, cheers mate

R&R