InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Because you asked me to ❯ Your new home ( Chapter 7 )

 

 

“Good evening Lord Sesshoumaru,” she heard a woman's voice say as she moved behind her new protector, afraid of who this new person might be.

 

“It is alright,” Sesshoumaru soothed softly as he tugged on her hand until she came around to stand next to him. “Kari, this is…she is with us now,” he said still not having found a suitable name for the blind woman. “Take her to the baths and wash her. Then I want you to instruct her on what to do about her...”

 

“I understand,” Kari said as she too smelt the scent of the woman's blood cycle. “Come with me miss,” she said and heard the woman gasp as she took her arm.

 

“She is blind Kari,” Sesshoumaru said as he watched the woman stumble as she walked next to the kitsune servant.

 

“Ah,” Kari said and slowed her pace. “That can be troublesome can't it,” she said to the woman next to her who simply nodded silently.

 

Sesshoumaru watched as Kari led the woman off and then began his own trek down the halls toward his office where there was sure to be plenty of paperwork for him to attend to. Oh joy.

 

“Sesshoumaru-sama,” Rin said and the taiyoukai stopped and looked back at the girl. “Rin is tired,” she said softly having felt far more tired than usual in the past week but not wanting to upset Sesshoumaru with the knowledge. “May Rin sleep?”

 

“Yes Rin,” he said to her and watched as she made her way down the hall in the opposite direction to her own chambers that were only two doors down from his own.

 

His brow furrowed for a moment as he watched her walk away. He knew she had been pretending for him this past week that she was just as bright and energetic as any other time, but he knew her not to be. He wasn't sure if she was in fact ill, but did know that there had to be some reason for her lack of normal energy. Twice since before they had come across the blind woman he had had to lift her up from where she had fallen over asleep in the grass as they traveled. It was unusual for Rin to be so tired and he wondered at the reason for it.

 

Turning away once the child moved out of sight, he continued on his way to his office and moved silently inside, not bothering to close the door behind him as Jaken followed at his heels. The little toad was annoying, but did serve his purposes.

 

“Jaken,” Sesshoumaru said as he sat down at his desk. “Bring the palace healer to me.”

 

“Yes Lord Sesshoumaru,” Jaken said before scurrying off to find the quiet dove youkai.

 

 

 

 

“What is this?” the blind woman asked as she felt a somewhat stretchy cloth placed in her hands. It had no end, just seemed to be one big circle of cloth.

 

“It is a breast binder,” the kitsune woman said as she gathered a pair of feminine undergarments for the human woman to wear as well as cloths to use during her time of blood. “Sweetie haven't you ever had clothes before?” Kari asked as she helped the woman don the panties and placed a folded cloth inside them as she brought them up and into place on the woman's hips.

 

“…no,” the woman answered quietly as she turned her face away as she blushed.

 

Kari looked on in sadness at the woman. She could tell that her life had not been a grand one from the way her hips and ribs jutted out though she did look to be gaining a bit of weight. Not much but enough that she wasn't looking quite so sickly. Taking the breast binder from the woman, she instructed her to hold her arms up and then dressed her breasts with the stretchy wide band of dark blue cloth.

 

“So, where did you once call home?” Kari asked pleasantly.

 

Sesshoumaru had chosen Kari for the woman the instant she had greeted them, knowing that the kitsune and the unnamed woman would get along well. Kari had never once cared what anyone was and seemed to get along with any and everyone. She was kind and her fiery temper only came out when someone she cared for was in danger.

 

“Trees…grasses,” the woman said hesitantly her voice not above a whisper. New people frightened her, especially new women. The women she had met in her past had always treated her worse then the men did, no matter what it was the men did to her.

 

“A forest?” Kari asked the quiet woman.

 

“Yes,” the woman answered and jumped away trembling like a frightened rabbit when she heard something being pulled open near her, the wardrobe doors she couldn't see sounded frightening as the tight wood popped open.

 

“It's alright,” Kari soothed as she stepped closer and hugged the woman for a moment then led her back to the wardrobe and lifted the woman's hands to the wooden cabinet. “This is your wardrobe. It only has a few kimonos in it right now and I'm not sure how well they'll fit you, but after the seamstress measures you, you'll get more.”

 

“Can't I…can't I just wear the one I had on earlier?” she asked needing the comforting scent of Sesshoumaru near her. Everything felt so out of place and frightening without at least something that smelled like him.

 

“Which one sweetie?” Kari asked the frightened woman.

 

“The one I was wearing when we came here,” she said and moved away from the woman a bit. The last time she had asked a woman for anything she had been laughed at and hit with something that had been thrown at her.

 

“It had to be washed sweetie. Some of your blood got on it.”

 

“But can't I just-” where was he, she was so scared.

 

“Once you're dressed I'll take you to him, ok?” Kari said soothingly as she took a kimono similar in pattern to Sesshoumaru's from the wardrobe and closed the doors as she hung an obi nearly identical to Sesshoumaru's own over her shoulder.

 

The wardrobe door made an awful creaking sound as wood scraped against wood, the wardrobe in need of repair, it had gone unused for so long. Sesshoumaru had sent word to Kari that this was to be the woman's room, and she was quite surprised, considering the room had once belonged to the lord's mother. The blind woman skittered quickly away when she felt Kari put something over her shoulders, the cloth falling away as she moved.

 

“It's alright, shh,” Kari tried to calm her as she once again tried to dress her in the kimono, this time succeeding. “I need you to stand still,” Kari said as she carefully tied the obi around the woman's waist. “There we go. Oh aren't you a beauty,” she said as she looked at the woman.

 

Her hair was an unusual shade for humans, a dark honey golden brown where most were black or black brown. Her face was golden from the sun and her eyes a silvery grey. She was fine boned and Kari was surprised by the fact that the woman had the fine bone structure and delicate facial features of most royalty. She was beautiful, absolutely beautiful. But she was also as frightened as a rabbit.

 

“Come on,” Kari said as she led the woman to the door of the room and slid it open as she led the woman out. “I'll take you to Sesshoumaru-sama now.”

 

“Thank you,” the woman said her voice barely audible.

 

“So, who's the new girl Kari?” a passing male servant asked as they were walking down the hall and the blind woman jumped away at the closeness of his voice.

 

“Giyta leave her alone,” Kari said as the woman skittered behind her.

 

“Oh come on Kari, it's been a while since there's been a human servant here. You're far too soft to be a youkai,” the ferret youkai known for his lechery and unkindness to human servants said as he moved to stand behind the blind woman, not knowing of her sightlessness. “You'll be working hard now won't you?” he said as he slapped the woman's bottom hard, the human jumping away frightenedly, her back hitting the wall behind her before she took off down the hall in a burst of frightened speed.

 

“No wait!” Kari called after her, before turning and growling at the ferret youkai. “Damn you Giyta, I hope Sesshoumaru spares no expense with you,” she said cryptically before running after the girl.

 

She didn't know where she was going; she couldn't see nor was anything familiar to her yet as her only thought was to flee from that frightening male. No one had ever done that before, nor frightened her so. Her bottom still stung from the force of the blow he had landed upon her. As she ran down the hall she felt herself collide with a wall as the hall ended going straight and formed a t-junction. Feeling her way along the stone wall she pushed her self off and continued her hurried steps hoping to find Sesshoumaru before she completely lost her senses.

 

“Watch where you're going you filthy human!” she heard someone shout to her just seconds after she collided with him and fell to the floor. “What are you sitting there for? Get up!” he commanded her and she visibly shook with fright.

 

“Leave her alone Kenji,” she heard Kari's voice call out and felt the woman gently help her to her feet.

 

“She should watch where she's going,” the arrogant soldier said as he looked upon the frightened woman.

 

“Don't worry about him sweetie, his bark is worse than his bite,” she said to the woman and then turned to face the black inuyoukai. “She's blind Kenji, she couldn't see you,” Kari explained to him. “She's also Sesshoumaru-sama's guest, so be nice to her. This is to be her new home.”

 

“I'm sorry little one,” Kenji apologized as he stepped closer to the woman and gently took both her hands and lifted them to his face. “I'm Kenji, General of Lord Sesshoumaru's fourth squadron,” he said and placed her hands on his cheeks, having one blind warrior in his ranks and knowing how he saw new faces.

 

The blind woman's hands fluttered over his smooth face frightenedly at first and then began to become steady as she bit her bottom lip between her teeth as she became more comfortable with him. She worried her lip silently as she felt the contours of his face and neck and felt his broad armored shoulders.

 

“Are all youkai so pretty?” she asked Kari innocently, having seen Kari's face and Sesshoumaru's like this before.

 

Kenji laughed heartily and said his goodbyes as Kari led her down the hall with a giggle.

 

“Did I say something wrong?” she asked as she walked alongside the kitsune.

 

“No, not at all. Now let's get you to Sesshoumaru,” Kari said kindly as she led the woman back down the hall she had fled through and guided her to Sesshoumaru's office.

 

 

 

 

“Lord Sesshoumaru,” Jaken squeaked as he came into the taiyoukai's office without the healer. “Akina was called away two days ago to the inu village beyond the hill. Her apprentice does not know enough yet to do more than bandage wounds.”

 

“When is she expected to return?” Sesshoumaru asked his voice disinterested as he studied the land reports in his hands.

 

“Two weeks my lord,” Jaken said as he bowed repeatedly.

 

“Very well. Leave.”

 

“Yes Lord Sesshoumaru,” Jaken said and left quickly, scurrying past the blind woman and Kari as they came down the hall.

 

“Sesshoumaru-sama,” Kari said softly as she came into the open doorway of the office Jaken having left it open when he left.

 

“Yes Kari?” he said as he looked up and set the papers aside.

 

Kari looked to her side and then rolled her eyes with a chuckle as she raised a hand holding up one finger before slipping out of the doorway.

 

“Come on sweetie, you know him, you trust him,” Sesshoumaru heard her say gently though she was out of sight and he had not moved from his seat behind his desk.

 

“I feel stupid,” the blind woman said as she fingered the silk kimono though the action would go unseen by the taiyoukai.

 

“You don't look stupid, and I doubt he'll think you do,” Kari said and moments later Sesshoumaru watched as Kari led the fidgeting woman into his office. “Isn't she beautiful?” Kari said as she stood behind the woman.

 

“Yes,” Sesshoumaru agreed as he stood and moved toward them as he looked over the so far unnamed woman.

 

She had been washed and dressed in a kimono nearly identical to his own, one he had remembered his mother wearing. It must have still been in the nearly empty wardrobe, the room having been cleaned out long ago, not too long after her death as her family had come to reclaim her possessions. The woman's hair had been washed thoroughly and brushed until the multi toned deep golden brown and in some places slightly red hair shined like polished wood. The nearly knee length hair had been trimmed somewhat until it was just past mid thigh and had been swept up on the sides so that it was out of her face and braided, the rest being left to hang down her back freely. Her golden face glowed softly with its fresh washing and her silvery eyes only added to her unique beauty.

 

“I feel stupid,” the woman whispered as she ducked her head and fingered the silk she wore. “I shouldn't be wearing this it's too much, I don't deserve it.”

 

“You look beautiful,” he said softly to her disregarding her words, his face still stoic considering that Kari was still in the room as he came to stand directly in front of the woman.

 

Kari watched silently as the woman put her hands up and out in front of her and once she found Sesshoumaru, moved close enough to curl up against his chest, his tail wrapping around her without conscious thought.

 

“Do you want me to stay?” Kari asked low enough so that only Sesshoumaru heard her words.

 

“No you may go,” he said his voice equally as soft.

 

She smiled softly upon the sight they made before turning and leaving, closing the door behind her as she left. Once the door had closed, Sesshoumaru lifted the woman in his arm and tail and carried her over to where a clustering of floor pillows sat and held her on his lap as he sat down with her in his arms. He drew in a deep breath as he took in her scent as she yawned and rested her head against his shoulder, his armor leaning against his desk where he had left it when he had first entered his office. She would tire easily now that her body was gaining new strength that it was unaccustomed to having and also because it was her woman's time. Once her time had passed and she grew healthy and well fed she would not tire as easily, but for now he was content to sit with her and let her nap in his embrace.

 

He knew that because this place was new to her and because of how many different people, youkai or otherwise, she would be meeting here that she would be frightened and needing his presence almost constantly. That alone made it that much harder for him to tell her what needed to be said. His healer was gone and he needed to go see her, to question Akina about this woman's eyes. He also had been requested to come out to one of his holdings and solve a land dispute between one of his far too arrogant sentries and the headman of the human village that he watched over. There were times that he would gladly take a confrontation with his brother over dealing with the arrogant weasel youkai, but alas, work was work and things had to be done. All in all he hoped not to be gone longer than a week, if he were gone that long at all.

 

“Woman,” he called to her softly as he toyed with a bit of her hair that had fallen over her shoulder and lay curled in her lap.

 

“Hmm?” she asked sleepily as she rested against his chest, she always felt so peaceful when she was in his arms, like nothing could ever hurt her.

 

“I wish not to leave you alone here so soon, but this Sesshoumaru has been called away,” he said to her and watched as she yawned and looked up at him with her sightless eyes.

 

“Can't I go with you?” she asked quietly and he dropped a kiss to her brow.

 

“No, you cannot. It would not be safe for you to be with me, especially not with you being in heat as you are. Your scent will call to other youkai and they could bring danger to you.”

 

“But you'd keep me safe, right?” she asked as she nestled in his arm and began to run her fingers through the soft fluffy fur of his tail as it was wrapped around her, the end of it twitching in her lap contentedly.

 

“It is too dangerous for you to come; I will not be taking Rin or Jaken either.”

 

“Oh,” she said her hands rose to cover her face as she yawned widely her eyes squeezing shut as he felt her rib cage expand and then contract within the gentle hold of his tail.

 

“Kari will be here with you. She is your personal servant.”

 

“Are you sure I can't go?” she asked dejectedly and he was hard pressed not to chuckle at her attempt to sway his choice of leaving her behind.

 

“Yes, I'm certain.”

 

Alright,” she finally agreed and turned her face into his chest as she snuggled against him. “How long until you return?”

 

“One week,” he said and at the furrowing of her brow said, “Kari will wake you seven times.”

 

“Ok.”

 

“What?” he asked as he noticed her worrying her bottom lip a few moments later. She shook her head as a blush rose to her cheeks. “Tell me,” he commanded gently.

 

“Could I…if…if you are to leave tomorrow,” she said slowly as she grew her courage to pose her request. “Could I…sleep with you tonight as I did when we traveled?” she asked slowly and his eyes smiled down upon her softly.

 

“Yes,” he said softly to her after a moment and watched as a small smile tugged at her lips.

 

He wasn't sure how long he sat there with her, an hour maybe two or three, but as the sky darkened and the sunlight that lit his office during the day fell away and the shadows increased and grew larger he stood up and placed the woman on her feet next to him.

 

“It is getting late and you need to eat before you sleep tonight,” he said at her questioning face.

 

“Ok,” she said as he guided her to the door and moved with her down the hall. “Rabbit?”

 

“What?” he asked as he guided her down the hall to Rin's room so that he could wake her for the evening meal.

 

“Will we be eating rabbit again?” she clarified her question as they walked.

 

“No. Tonight you will have what you may very well consider a feast but what is only a normal meal. Sushi, rice, and quite possibly stew.”

 

“What are those?” she asked never having heard of any of them before and he smiled softly with his eyes, his face stoic.

 

“You will learn,” he said and stopped walking as they stood outside Rin's door. “Wait here for me,” he said and opened the door to Rin's room moving inside quietly.

 

He found the tiny human child curled up on her bed asleep, a stuffed doll that Kari had made for her wrapped in her arms. He smiled down at the child as he moved to her bedside and sat down next to her and bent over her to kiss her temple.

 

“Rin,” he called to her softly. “It is time to awaken.”

 

A soft moan followed by a yawn came from the sleepy child and she turned onto her back and stretched her legs and arms as she woke slowly.

 

“Pappa,” she said whisper soft as she woke.

 

“Yes Rin,” he said and accepted her hug as she sat up and moved onto his lap. “It is time for the evening meal.”

 

“Ok,” the sleepy child said and hugged him as she nuzzled her face into his chest before moving off his lap and slipping off the side of her bed, her feet thumping on the floor as she dropped down.

 

It was then as he watched her kimono ride up as she slipped off the bed that he noticed a rather dark bruise on the side of her thigh. Lifting her back up onto his lap, his silver brows furrowed, he gently lifted the kimono up to reveal the bruise once more and noticed the disturbingly large size of it. He kept lifting the kimono until the entirety of the bruise was revealed to his eyes. It stretched from her hip to mid thigh and was as wide as his hand and as dark as summer plums.

 

“Rin what happened?” he asked her as she too looked at the bruise.

 

“Rin is not to say,” she said quietly and bit her lip as she drew in a sharp breath when he felt around the edge of the bruise.

 

“Who told you this Rin?” Sesshoumaru said as he smoothed her kimono back down over her legs until it was lowered completely, though she still sat on his lap.

 

“Master Jaken,” she answered simply as she yawned softly, her mind still sleep heavy.

 

“Rin, who caused your injury?” he asked and was upset when the child remained silent. “Rin answer me,” he said when she failed to.

 

“Master Jaken,” she said her voice low as she looked down at her hands.

 

“Why did he do this Rin?” he asked her as he lowered his head to kiss her hair mussed from sleep.

 

“He didn't say,” she said and it was the truth, for the toad hadn't told her why he'd hit her but she'd know the reason all the same.

 

Sesshoumaru sighed as he stood and carried the sleepy child in his arm as he walked out of the dark room, gathering the woman to his side with his tail wrapped around her arm, her free hand stroking the soft fur. He carried his pup and led the woman down the hall to the dining hall, knowing that until she was able to memorize the layout of the castle she would need a guide wherever she went.

 

 

 

“Here you are,” a kind servant said as she set down a plate of food and two bowls in front of the woman. “Would you like sake?”

 

“I don't know what that is,” she said softly feeling even more stupid for not knowing something that seemed so basic to those around her.

 

“Water then?”

 

“Yes please,” she said quietly and even though she couldn't see she felt as though every eye was on her as she began to reach for her plate, feeling it out with her hands.

 

Sesshoumaru could feel and see her upset, her intense nervousness and moved from his cushioned seat at the table over to where she sat. He took the empty cushion next to hers and set it behind the woman as he sat down, his bent knees on either side of her as his legs straddled the outsides of hers.

 

“Shh,” he whispered to her when she startled nervously as his hand joined hers from behind. “Here,” he said and placed the pair of chopsticks in her hand, each of the two sticks positioned where it needed to be for her to use them. “Like this,” he said as he placed his hand over hers, his fingers showing her how to manipulate the sticks in order to use them to eat.

 

Even though he guided her hand, her first tries with the sticks were clumsy and she couldn't grip the bit of food well enough to lift it, let alone eat it and her feeling of stupidity grew.

 

“Would you like a pair of child's chopsticks?” the servant asked after she had set down the cup of water by the woman's food.

 

It proved to be the wrong thing to say as tears gathered and fell from the woman's eyes. What was she doing here, she asked herself. She was embarrassing him, that's all she was doing she thought harshly. This was a stupid idea, dressing her in silk and feeding her at a table, she thought to herself. Better to just place the food on the floor and let her eat it like an animal.

 

“I'm sorry,” the servant said to Sesshoumaru. “I didn't mean to upset her.”

 

He gave a single nod, dismissing the servant and acknowledging her apology. He took the wooden sticks from her hand and wrapped his arm around her, holding her back against him.

 

“You need to calm down,” he said softly to her. “I do not expect you to be able to do everything perfectly the first time,” he tried to comfort her.

 

The words she heard though did not hold the meaning he had said them with. Instead her mind, that inner voice that constantly ridiculed and recriminated her took the kind words and twisted them in her mind.

 

He doesn't expect much from a wild girl. Good thing too. You knew this was a stupid idea, damn but you're stupid. Look at this, oh wait you can't, the voice mocked her. You can't see what's going on so let me tell you. You're embarrassing him, shaming him with your stupidity. It would've been better for him to have left you out in the wild where he found you. Take your food to the corner girl; you have no business sitting at a table or being dressed in silk. You should be eating like the animal you are. I can't believe you're actually doing this and thinking you have any reason for it. Playing dress up and trying to act like a lady, you may be a woman but you'll never be a lady. Wearing silk and being fed at a table like an actual person, what in the hell ever made you think you deserved any of this? It's far too obvious that you don't.

 

 

What was she thinking, Sesshoumaru wondered as the woman's tears grew from falling silently into the whispered and nearly soundless sobs he had heard from her when he had bathed her. There were no words this time, no silent voice telling him her fears or her thoughts. He looked down next him when he felt Rin settle against his side, his golden eyes meeting wide and worried golden brown orbs of the child.

 

“Pappa,” she whispered to him. “What happened? What made her cry?” she asked with a sad voice full of worry.

 

“I don't know Rin,” he said and petted the child's hair as he wrapped his tail around the woman in an attempt to comfort her. “You need to eat,” he said as he took up the wooden sticks and lifted a small piece of kale wrapped sushi with them.

 

The woman felt the food touch her lips and silently opened her mouth allowing him to feed her, her inner voice laughing and yelling at her the entire time.

 

Oh now he has to feed you like a child. Even Rin can feed herself by now. Damn but you're stupid!

 

Where others might have thrown a fit, she simply sat quietly, the tears flowing down her face and let him feed her bite after bite of the food until it was gone. He knew he should've let her feed herself, even if she would have just used her hands, but her hands were shaking far too much, and the taiyoukai had a feeling that if he were to relinquish his hold on her she would simply flee the room. He could smell the shame she felt and wondered why she felt so. He wished to know what it was she was thinking, whatever it was it was causing more tears to cascade faster down her cheeks.

 

He sighed silently as he brought the cup of water up to her, holding it steady in his hand as her trembling hands wrapped around his own and guided it to her mouth. Once she had drunken to her fill, he moved and helped her up, guiding her to where Kari was waiting outside the dining hall and telling her to take the woman and dress her for the night and then take her to his chambers, keeping his voice low enough that the human couldn't hear the words. Kari nodded and guided the woman down the hall, her own concern showing for the crying female in her arms.

 

“Pappa why was she crying?” Rin asked as Sesshoumaru returned to his own seat to eat his own food.

 

“I do not know Rin. One's thoughts can be destructive, especially to one's self.”

 

“You'll make her better right?” the child asked softly as she too returned to her own food, her mood somber as she worried for her new friend. “Like you made Rin better?”

 

“I hope so Rin.”

 

 

 

It was late when he entered his chambers after bathing and then dressing for the night. He sighed sadly at the thick scent of her tears and knew that she had cried herself to sleep. What was wrong, he wondered as he hung up his kimono in the closet and walked to the bed dressed only in his pale blue sleeping hakama. What thoughts had tormented her to make her so upset?

 

Lifting the covers, he slipped beneath them and took the sleeping woman into his arm, wrapping her up and holding her close to his chest as his tail wrapped around her. He wasn't sure if she would be awake when he left but he hoped she would be so that he could ask her about what had happened. If she were sleeping though he would simply talk to her when he got back as he had no wish to disturb her sleep, something her body needed far more now that she was gaining her strength back and gaining more strength then her body had been used to having.

 

He wondered if she would be hyper like Rin had proven to be and remained. That child seemed to have endless energy, though it still troubled him that he didn't know why she had received such a bruise as he had found on her. His brow furrowed in thought as he frowned. He hadn't been able to find Jaken before retiring for the evening and had planned to leave the little imp here to protect Rin and the woman, though he had to wonder if the damn toad was actually protecting the pup or not.

 

Sesshoumaru yawned, his fangs glinting in the moonlight as he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, his face nuzzled in her hair.

 

 

It was just a few hours after sunrise when Sesshoumaru awoke. The woman in his embrace was still asleep and he had to smile at her. Sometime during the night they had moved, shifted and now she lay against him, her head pillowed on his chest, one arm thrown across his stomach and a leg thrown over his. She seemed to determined not to let him go even in her sleep.

 

He was loathe to wake her, to move her, to release her from his embrace and he wondered just when it was that this tiny slip of a woman had come to mean so much to him. What was it about her that drew him in and held him tight? What power did she hold over him and how was it that she wielded it without his knowledge?

 

With that singular thought he was again brought back to their encounter with Naraku and what the filthy hanyou had said. Naraku had said that she wasn't important to him, just her power, but then what power did she hold? He could not smell any power in her blood and in fact this woman seemed quite harmless, so what was it that she had that the hanyou could call power?

 

Sighing, Sesshoumaru released the thought as it only served to bring about a headache that would only grow if he continued to ponder the subject. He had to start out for the day, he could wait no longer he sighed. Maneuvering the sleeping woman carefully so as not to wake her, he gently rolled her out of his embrace and laid her carefully on the cotton and feather stuffed pillows. Kissing her parted lips softly, he rose from the bed and tucked the covers around her sleeping form. He would speak with her upon his return.

 

He watched her sleep the entire time he dressed and smiled softly when she hugged his pillow in her arms and buried her face in the soft silk covered depths. Even in her sleep she reached out for him. A sudden thought came to him and he growled softly at himself. He couldn't keep calling her `woman' all the time; he needed to find a proper name for her. But what? She was so nervous all the time that he was tempted to call her rabbit, but he knew it wouldn't suit her. The nervousness she held was not normally what she was like, there was no proof to him that it wasn't but it was just a feeling and he learned to trust his feelings no matter how inconsequential they may seem.

 

“I will see you in one week,” he whispered to her as he sat by her side after strapping his swords to his hip.

 

Leaning down he kissed her cheek. He hated to leave her so soon, but he needed to talk to his healer and see if in fact she could return earlier than the two week estimation from her apprentice. He also had to go beat some sense into that damn weasel youkai. He had read what the youkai had stated the trouble was and knew the information to be at least partly falsified. It wasn't the first time that baka had tried to tell the humans that they couldn't farm on the land that was rightly their own. His holding over the land only offered them protection from other lords and during wars, but the stupid weasel was always trying to take the land for himself.

 

He had known of the problem for over a month now but had delayed in sending a new sentry to the village. He would rectify that this week he thought. He had a well trained and rather kind, but gravely protective inuyoukai that would do the job and take pride in it. Leaving his chambers, Sesshoumaru made his way down the hall to Rin's room and as he entered he found the child yawning and stretching as she woke to greet the new day.

 

He shook his head in silent wonder as he stepped into the room and shut the door behind him. This tiny child had wound herself around his heart and refused to let go even for a second. He came up to her bedside and watched as she sat up, her golden brown eyes blinking up at him as she yawned once more and then smiled at him lovingly.

 

“Hi pappa,” Rin greeted happily and he smiled at hearing her call him that.

 

“Hello Rin. Did you sleep well?” he asked as he gracefully sat beside her on her bed.

 

“Oh yes,” she said happily and crawled over to sit in his lap. “You're going away aren't you pappa?” Rin asked after a few moments.

 

“Yes,” he said simply as the tiny child curled up against his chest, her cheek pillowed against his silk haori, her little hand playing with the loose ends of his obi as she examined the colors and pattern of it, something that was quite common for her to do when he held her like this.

 

“Will you be gone long?” she asked as she peered up at him with wide eyes.

 

“A week,” he answered her as he combed his claws gently through her unruly hair.

 

“Pappa…when you come back…could Pappa and Rin have a day together?” she asked and watched as a soft smile lit his face.

 

“I think that could be arranged,” he said as he smiled upon the gleeful child.

 

“Yay!” Rin said and rose up to kiss his striped cheek.

 

 

 

 

It was late, midmorning, though she didn't know that, when the blind woman was pulled harshly from the bed she had been sleeping in. She started and cried out with the pinching pain of three strong but small fingers biting into her arm tipped with three knife sharp claws that cut into her skin. She was brought fully awake when she fell harshly to the wooden floor and was dragged across the room, her attacker never speaking.

 

“Stop! Please stop!” she cried out and was met with something hard striking her hip.

 

“Be quiet you worthless girl!” hissed a squeaky voice and she thought she might recognize it but wasn't certain.

 

She was dragged to her feet when two other, larger hands with five fingers and longer claws yanked her up from the floor.

 

“Make sure she is trained properly before you put her with the others. I don't want them having to take away from their duties to coddle her!” she heard the squeaky voice growl out.

 

“As you wish,” said a male voice and she gasped as she recognized it instantly as belonging to the man that had struck her the night before.

 

“Please let me go,” she asked with a trembling voice and cried out when she was delivered a stinging slap to her bottom as she was dragged down a long hall.

 

“Servants do not speak and you would be wise to remember that,” Giyta hissed at her as he slapped her bottom again harder than before.

 

He dragged her through the castle using the servant's corridors until he reached an old ballroom that hadn't been used since the days of the previous taiyoukai, Sesshoumaru not holding as many gatherings as his father did as he found no purpose in the superfluous affairs. She cried out once more when she was thrown hard to the floor, her knees and side aching from the impact. She heard a loud thump and the sloshing of water, the harsh scents of hot water and cleaning soaps burned her nose and made her cough.

 

“You will clean this room until I am satisfied with it,” Giyta said as he stood over the fallen woman. “You will not have food until it is cleaned and while we're at it, you won't be needing this,” he said and striped her of the sleeping kimono the woman's arms flying up to cover her unbound breasts. “Servants do not wear silk,” he said and then sneered at the nearly naked woman. “Get to work.”

 

“Clothing?” she asked frightenedly and received a kick to her side.

 

“Earn it.”

 

 

 

 

“Rin.”

 

“Yes Master Jaken?” the child said as she finished eating her breakfast.

 

“Go put on the other kimono. You will be helping the kitchen staff today,” he said and the girl nodded.

 

Whenever Sesshoumaru left the castle and didn't take anyone along, Jaken turned Rin into a servant and made her help a different group every time. She liked the kitchen staff the best, they were always kind to her and whenever she worked with them the cook would make sweets for her to munch on while they worked, letting the girl simply sit back and talk with them or help out when she didn't have the chance of getting hurt by sharp knives or hot pans or scalding water.

 

Several moments later Rin appeared in the kitchen wearing a scratchy wool kimono reminiscent of the one she had been wearing when Sesshoumaru had met her nearly a year ago. The lead cook, a kind rabbit youkai looked at her and shook his head.

 

“Jaken is getting far too big for his kimono I think,” he said to his mate who was the one who made the sweet cookies and hard candies for Rin.

 

“Hi Kawahoshi,” Rin greeted the cook's mate happily. She loved the woman named `river star'.

 

“Hello little Rin,” she greeted with a smile and swung the child up onto her hip. “How's my little helper this day?”

 

“Rin is good,” she said happily and hugged the rabbit youkai as the woman returned her hug only to happy to hold the tiny child, she always brightened every room she entered.

 

“I'm glad, Moriwa, look who's helping us today,” she said happily as she turned to her mate giving him a look that said for him to hold his tongue concerning Jaken.

 

“Hi Moriwa,” Rin greeted him, `forest rock' that always made her giggle, but if Sesshoumaru wasn't around and she was frightened he was the first one she ran to for safety. “Where is the pretty lady?” she asked her friends. “Rin hasn't seen her today.”

 

“The pretty lady?” Moriwa asked in confusion as he chopped up some vegetables.

 

“Mmhmm, Rin and Sesshoumaru-sama met a pretty lady and she lives with us now. Kari is her helper.”

 

“She has a helper, munchkin?” Kawahoshi asked the child held on her hip as she gave her a bit of sweet bread to munch on.

 

“Yup, the pretty lady is blind.”

 

“Oh?” Moriwa asked in rapt interest as he looked up at the human child. “What is her name Rin?”

 

“She doesn't have one,” Rin said as she munched on the sweet bread. “She was cast out of her village cause she couldn't see and lived in a little forest. That's how pappa and Rin found her.”

 

“Pappa?” Moriwa and his mate asked together with amusement and watched as the child blushed and hid her face in the woman's shoulder.

 

She was such an adorable little child and they both loved her dearly. Kawahoshi had been unable to have children of her own for whatever reason and when they both met Rin, oh the tiny child was a blessing in disguise and would often spend time with them even when Jaken hadn't told her to help them. The woman could still remember the first time Rin brought her a fistful of flowers with a bright smile and hugged the girl on her hip closer as she dropped a kiss to her head.

 

 

 

 

“Please stop, it hurts!” the blind woman cried out as Giyta held her over his lap and brought his open hand down on her upturned bottom again and again.

 

“Be quiet woman!” he snarled at her as he continued to spank her. “This is how human servants are trained and disciplined. Deal with it!”

 

The woman cried harshly as he continued to punish her for her misdeed though she didn't know what she'd done wrong and he refused to tell her. Her bottom was glowing a bright red through the covering of her undergarment and the flesh was already swollen with the several other previous punishments he had delivered to her, but he didn't stop. He continued to spank her until she had become limp and stopped fighting his hold, stopping only a few long and painful moments later.

 

“Now, if you don't want a repeat of that, clean where I show you to.”

 

“I can't see!” she finally shouted angered and frustrated that she was being punished for something she had no control over. “I can't see where you point, I'm blind! Please just take me to where it is you want cleaned and I will clean it,” she sobbed her hands already stinging and wrinkled from the long exposure to the scalding hot water made foul smelling and irritating to her skin by the amount of cleansing soaps in it.

 

The women cried out as she was again thrown over his lap and felt his hand on her bottom again as he punished her harshly.

 

“Do not talk back to me!” he growled and once more spanked the sobbing woman. “My hand is getting rather sore, clean while I go retrieve a paddle.”

 

She was thrown unceremoniously to the floor as he stood and left the room. The woman curling up on her side as she sobbed her pain and fear.

 

“Oh my!” she heard someone cry out and curled even tighter in on herself when she heard someone come running towards her. “Oh you poor dear,” she heard a female say as she touched her shoulder, the woman pulling back and shaking hard in fright. “Shh, shh, it's me, it's Kari, it's alright,” the kitsune soothed as she covered the nearly naked girl with her outer kimono, not caring that she only wore her pale pink under kimono as she lifted the underweight woman easily into her arms and carried her out of the ballroom. “I've been looking for you all day,” she said as she carried her down the halls as she headed to Sesshoumaru's chambers. “It's time for the evening meal, have you eaten anything at all today?” she asked as she carefully laid the woman on Sesshoumaru's bed, the taiyoukai having instructed that she was to sleep in his chambers until he returned.

 

“N-no,” she stammered as she felt the kitsune woman wrap her up in her arms and rock her back and forth as she petted her hair.

 

“Oh sweetheart,” Kari soothed and felt tears prick her eyes as she looked down at the woman, her thighs covered in her woman's blood as she wasn't allowed to leave the ballroom until it was cleaned for any reason.

 

Standing up from the bed Kari moved to Sesshoumaru's wardrobe and took one of his under kimonos out, throwing it over her shoulder as she returned to the sobbing woman's side. Quietly Kari lifted the woman up and carried her into the taiyoukai's private bath.

 

“Let's get you cleaned up,” she said as she gently stripped the woman of her blood soaked undergarment and cringed as she saw the woman's abused bottom. “You poor thing,” she said mournfully as she helped the woman into the water before stripping herself and getting into the water with her, the clean clothing resting on a shelf along the wall.

 

“Who did this to you?” she asked the woman gently as she carefully bathed her, the warm water of the enclosed hot spring soothing her abused flesh.

 

“The man from yesterday,” she said as she yawned as her tears dried.

 

“Which one sweetheart?” Kari asked as she hugged the woman and stroked her hair.

 

“The one who hit me,” she said as she began nearing sleep, the frightened woman beyond exhausted.

 

“Giyta.”

 

 

 

 

It was almost an hour later that Kari laid the sleeping woman in Sesshoumaru's bed and tucked her under the covers, her damp hair wetting the pillow and bed. Gently the kitsune kissed the sleeping woman's brow and then quietly left the room intent on finding and tearing apart Giyta.

 

“Oh Kenji,” Kari said as she bumped into the general. “Are you not on duty today?” she asked seeing him in a regular silk kimono with no armaments.

 

“Nope,” he said cheerfully. “I'm free as a bird today little fox,” he said as he greeted one of his favorite people.

 

“Good, then do me a favor?” she asked as she looked up at him and he nodded, his black hair moving like waves with the motion. “Go to Sesshoumaru-sama's chambers and keep watch over the woman you met last night. I've got to go deal with Giyta and then with Jaken.”

 

“Toad try and turn her into a servant too?” he asked disgusted with what the toad had done to Rin.

 

“Yes and it seems he handed her right over to Giyta to instruct her,” she fairly growled.

 

“That damn bastard would destroy her!” the inuyoukai growled.

 

“He nearly did. When I found her she was lying on the floor of the ballroom sobbing. The one Toga-sama used to hold all the gatherings in,” she clarified since there were four different ballrooms of varying sizes. “Go watch over her for me?” she asked again and he nodded to her.

 

“She'll be under my care this night little fox,” he said and kissed her cheek, the kitsune youkai blushing at her friend's gesture, having held feelings for him for quite a while.

 

“Thank you Kenji,” she said as she began to move away. “And if she wakes up, see if you can get her to eat anything. Giyta refused her food.”

 

The inu growled and nodded as he made his way down the hall to the lord's chambers. He was always more bark on the first meeting with people, having to let them know that he wasn't to be messed with, but when Kenji decided he liked someone he was as kind as a puppy and as fiercely protective as a wolf.

 

“Kenji-sama!” he heard an excited child's voice call out as he rounded the corner.

 

“Rin!” he greeted happily and swung the tiny girl up in his arms as she came running at him happy to see her friend. “What are you doing in that drab thing?” he asked referring to the charcoal grey wool kimono she was wearing.

 

“Rin was in the kitchen today,” she said as she cuddled up against his chest as he walked with her, holding the tiny human in his arms.

 

“Really?” he said as he carried her into Sesshoumaru's chambers motioning for her to quiet her voice since the woman in the bed was sleeping and moved to a chair near the window as he held her in his lap. “Where will you be tomorrow?”

 

“Master Jaken said Rin has to work with the maids to clean rooms. Rin hopes Giyta isn't there tomorrow.”

 

“Why not?” he asked softly as he hugged her with one arm around her back, the other hand petting her dark raven locks.

 

“Giyta punished Rin many times, the last time she worked with him. It was hard to sit down for a few days after,” she said as she yawned, his soft growling soothing her to sleep.

 

“Giyta will deal with me little Rin should he ever harm you again,” he whispered to the sleeping child as he looked to the sleeping woman.

 

The inuyoukai sighed, turning his head to look out the window at the star laden night. This was disgraceful; this deceit had gone on long enough as far as he was concerned. Come morning he was going to take his leave, he was going to follow Sesshoumaru's scent until he found the taiyoukai and then he was going to tell him all of what was and had been going on. He didn't like it one bit that Rin had been made into a servant by that damned toad every time that the lord left the castle without her, and he certainly didn't like the fact that this woman, this frightened blind woman had undergone the same treatment. Tomorrow, he thought as he laid Rin in the bed next to the woman and waited for Kari to return.

 

“It's weird,” Kari said after she entered the darkened room, the stars and moon it's only light. “I couldn't find Giyta or Jaken; the two just seemed to have disappeared.”

 

“That doesn't bode well. I'm leaving in the morning Kari,” he said as he pulled her down to sit in his lap and cuddled her into his chest as he continued to watch the stars. “I'm going to find Sesshoumaru…and while I'm at it, hopefully get rid of Giyta once and for all.”

 

 

 

 

A.N: Giyta does not have a meaning that I know of, but is pronounced G-eye-tah

 

A.N.2: Alrighty, I did a little editing and added this in. Jaken's `strange behavior' and the blind woman's unknown power will be revealed in the following chapter. Be sure to tune in, same bat time, same bat place! ^_~