InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Birth Marks ❯ rin ( Chapter 25 )

New story out and I want you all to give your opinions, even if you don't like fruits basket! Yeah, inu no mine, but the rest of the world is!

 

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Chapter 25: Rin

 

Last time: Inuyasha couldn't help but smile slightly, you'd think that she'd never seen a high ceiling before. He stopped at the end of one hallway to open the shoji screen, but was nearly knocked over by a distracted Kagome. Inuyasha grabbed her shoulders to bring her back to earth and opened the door…

 

This time: to a marvelous room that could have easily held the Higurashi house with room. Kagome walked in, in a stupor and spun around with her arms held out wide, giggling. The room was done in mostly reds and blacks, definitely Inuyasha's. Kagome stopped after a few minutes of careless blissful spinning and looked Inuyasha in the eye, “there's only one bed, where are you going to sleep?”

 

The serious look only lasted a moment before she laughed at her own seriousness and flopped down backward onto the red spread, resulting in a cloud of dust to rise and cut off her vision. “when Jaken said that this room was untouched, they weren't kidding,” Inuyasha grumbled with his eyes watering, crossing the room to the closed red printed curtains and opened them to let some light in.

 

In the brighter light, the couple could easily see the thick layer of dust that had accumulated over the years, graying the entire room. Kagome carefully sat up from the bed, trying in vain not to kick up more dust, and looked around more carefully. There were footprints showing where Inuyasha and herself had walked, as well as a third, smaller, set that seemed almost everywhere. The smaller prints seemed mostly focused in one area of the room though, and that part of the room had a few toys on shelves and dust-free spaces where there should have been others.

 

“yeah, this was my room for a while,” Inuyasha answered the unspoken question, “after mom died, Sesshomaru took me in until I could fend for myself. He found me fatally injured by some lower youkai once, and he took me in to protect his status. `no prince of the western lands is going to be killed by any simple youkai' was his reason, the bastard,” Inuyasha ground out, the dust in the air hiding the arrival of `the bastard.'

 

“so glad that you are grateful for me taking you in. and you left on your own, little brother,” Sesshomaru announced coldly from the door of the room, not wanting to step into the filthy room. His eyes scanned the room until they rested on the being on the bed, “miko,” he spoke, stepping into the room and closer to the girl, `my boots!' “the rumors are true I see,” he brought his hand up to tilt her chin to look him in the eye. After a startled moment of looking into his molten eyes, she looked off to the side. `modest, I see, good' he thought, “I will speak with you after dinner. I will send Jaken to get you.” With that he turned and left.

 

It took a full minute, maybe more, for Kagome to snap out of her shock of the lord Sesshomaru touching her. “hai,” she whispered to herself quietly before standing up from the bed (leaving a nice heart-shaped butt print) and sighing, she never liked to clean. “I guess if this is where we're going to be staying, we have to clean up, ne? do those windows open?” she asked, ripping up the comforter and walking to the now-open window (for not being opened in over 100 years, it only took half of a sailor's vocabulary). She shook it out and hung it on the balcony's rails to air.

 

Inuyasha decided to attempt to dust the shelves, which revealed a pissed spider and turned his bright red outfit a dull gray. This resulted in some giggles that emitted from the other side of the door and four ears turning to the sound. They hadn't smelled anyone coming over the dust, but there she was, half hiding behind the shoji screen. Kagome smiled gently and walked over to the child, “hello, I've seen you before following Sesshomaru, what's your name?”

 

The girl blushed and hid behind the screen more, “Rin's name is Rin, pretty lady.” Kagome smiled gently and shrugged off her third-person referral, opting to hold out her hand to the girl instead.

 

“do you want to help us Rin? This seems like a lot of work for just two people, don't you think?” Rin nodded and walked in the room shyly. Kagome watched her footprints in the dust and compared them to the ones leading to the toys. They matched perfectly. Kagome and Inuyasha exchanged glances and Kagome decided to speak up, “Rin, have you been in here before?”

 

The girl nodded and found a broom to sweep the floor, incidentally starting over by the toys to `cover her tracks.' “yes, Rin found all those pretty toys and they were all lonely, so Rin decided to play with them!” Rin smiled upward, showing a missing tooth.

 

“that's okay, Rin, I just wanted to know where they were, that's all. now lets get this cleaned up so Inuyasha and I don't have to sleep in dust!” Kagome winked and Rin giggled, sweeping as hard as she could.

 

It was nearing sunset before anyone came and bothered them. “you two are late for… Rin there you are! You are in trouble young lady!” Jaken came in, squawking in annoyance.

 

Rin rolled her eyes and held up the broom, which looked like it was dropped into a vat of gray cotton candy from all of the dust, “I've been here all day, master Jaken, helping lady Kagome and master Inuyasha clean their room. You sure gave them a dirty room, that was rude!”

 

Jaken puffed up, “you were supposed to be in your room Rin! Now come with me for your evening meal. Why lord Sesshomaru would bother with a human like you is beyond my understanding, he should have left you for the wolves!” he muttered under his breath, grabbing for Rin's arm to drag her back to her room.

 

“bye! I'll see you later lady Kagome!” Rin waved, letting Jaken pull her along even though she could have easily gotten out of his grip.

 

“at least you're wearing something decent,” Jaken stopped in the doorway, “now hurry up to dinner before lord Sesshomaru decides not to feed you!” he sneered toward Inuyasha. He just growled back and Kagome just stood there in mild shock at the prospect of not being fed, she was starved!

 

Inuyasha shook his head and walked out the door, leaving Kagome by herself with a dust rag still in her hand before jogging after the hanyou. She found him outside of a shoji door waiting for her to catch up, as soon as she did, he shook his head and opened the door for her and entered into a cozy dining area that was cushions and a low table with no real walking room around it. Sesshomaru was already there and against the opposite wall, sipping some tea while waiting for them to arrive.

 

He gestured for Kagome to sit on his left, while Inuyasha grudgingly took his right. It was a minute before the food was served, but Kagome didn't mind because she was studying the intricate designs on the table, Inuyasha grumping, and Sesshomaru waiting patiently. When the food did come, it was on one central plate and each of the three got a clean, empty one with a set of carved chopsticks.

 

“miko, serve me,” Sesshomaru commanded simply, moving his chopsticks off his tile-like plate.

 

Kagome nodded gently and gently placed a porcelain bowl of rice in front of him. “its Kagome, please, not miko. I never really was a miko, just Kikyo's reincarnation.” Sesshomaru nodded slightly and scornfully watched his brother serve himself and not even wait for Kagome and himself to dig in. He gave a silent signal and they both started eating in silence, Kagome not wanting to embarrass herself, and Sesshomaru not wanting to bother with his brother's atrocious manners.

 

After the meal was finished and the servants had taken the plates away, Sesshomaru turned to Kagome and looked at her through the steam of his green tea. “Kagome, I request that you come to my chambers in half of an hour so we can speak about pressing matters.”

 

Kagome started to nod, but Inuyasha slammed his hands down on the table, nearly knocking over the tea pot. “no she won't, you bastard! I'm not going to take you like a castle concubine!”

 

“inuya-”

 

“that's enough! Do not insult me in my own home, hanyou. I raised you and I can just as easily cut you down. Besides, why would this Sesshomaru take a hanyou to my chambers if not only for business?” Kagome didn't know whether to be mad or embarrassed at the lord's choice of words. She just decided the safe route:

 

“umm… lord Sesshomaru, I will go see you, but may I please go back to the room until then?” he nodded and waved his hand in a dismissive gesture.

 

“I will send Rin to collect you when I feel like it,” with that, Kagome bowed and left the room, following her scent (confusing in a palace full of servants, err, demons) back to the room to have some thinking time before meeting her fate.

 

She laid down on the bed and looked up at the ceiling, which had been painted realistically like the nighttime sky. She picked out the different constellations, like the Big Dipper and Orion, and soon found herself in a light sleep. Inuyasha came in five minutes later muttering something profane about his brother and spotted Kagome on the bed, he shook his head and went out to see the real stars on the balcony.

 

It was surprising how little things had changed since he had lived here last when he was little. It was right after his mother had died and Inuyasha guessed that Sesshomaru felt pity for the pup, much like he was for Rin now, and took him in. In a lot of ways, he was a softie for children and their innocence, maybe because he was forced to grow up too fast when his father was alive to help in the wars. Inuyasha forced himself to grow up fast, but he actually didn't need to at the time. He was accepted for what, or maybe who, he was and was respected for being the brother of the young lord.

 

Inuyasha saw that that was one of the only reasons that he was respected after a few years of living with his brother: his prince-hood. But he wanted to be more than a prince, more than a spoiled child. He wanted to be in the world, because you can't really find out too much behind palace walls. So, he left, never to look back, and with a `good riddance.'

 

Unbeknownst to Inuyasha, Sesshomaru was staring at the stars thinking along the same lines. He had wanted to train the whelp when he was old enough to hold a katana, but he left before then. Sesshomaru promised to himself that if he could not train his brother properly, he would at least check up on Inuyasha to see how he was doing. And sadly, he was disappointed in what he saw.

 

No matter how many battles he won with that behemoth of a fang, it was pure luck and not an ounce of skill. It shamed him really, almost to the point of dragging him back and taking the sward away until he learned to wield one properly. But no, daddy-dearest had to put a spell on it `for Inuyasha's safety.' All that meant was that he couldn't train him properly even if he wanted.

 

What made this whole situation worse, was that he was coming to age and now had his own pack, no matter how rag-tag it may be. Then there was his future mate, Kagome was her name, to protect above anything else. If he couldn't get in good graces with her. Even an inkling of a chance would fade into oblivion for their chance to survive. Somehow, Sesshomaru had inherited a unique and secret power from his father, and it showed him two possibilities, neither of them good but one better than the other if only slightly.

 

Sighing silently, he turned away from the balcony's breeze and called out the door to the nearest servant. “summon Rin for me and tell her to get the miko.” The lizard nodded and left, snorting in disgust once he was sure that he was out of his `noble lord's' hearing. It was bad enough that he had brought a human into the castle, but then he had to turn her into even more of an abomination giving her a youkai life span. And now a human miko of all things! What next, freely inviting the hanyou prince back?! The servant passed Inuyasha's room and lo-and-behold, there was the abomination on the deck! He slumped his posture and turned a lime-green in defeat. How come nobody told him these things?

 

He soon came to the abomination's room and opened the door, not even having the courtesy to knock. “You,” he sneered, pointing at the girl, “lord Sesshomaru has summoned you to bring the miko to his quarters,” with that he left, in desperate need of a bath for being near so many abominations at once.

 

Rin stood up smiling from her bed, happy for having such an important thing to do for her lord. She chirped a `hai' to empty space before running to the door down the hall and knocking. A minute later, after some shifting of cloth and then some whispering. The door opened to reveal a peeved Inuyasha, “what do you want?”

 

Rin wasn't phased by the harsh behavior and just peeked her head past his waist and looked at the door. She then looked back at Inuyasha with a grin, “lord Fluffy wants to see pretty lady now! Can Rin wake her up?” Inuyasha hid a smirk at `lord fluffy's' name and moved to the side. With a yay, Rin ran up to Kagome's side and jumped on the bed, and somewhat on Kagome's stomach.

 

“Souta, tell mom five more minutes. I don't wanna go to school!” Kagome mumbled, sleepily trying to brush Rin off and turning to her side away from the distraction.

 

Rin giggled a little before grabbing Kagome's shoulder, wanting to shake her awake. Inuyasha's eyes widened and he stepped forward before she was electrocuted, but surprisingly nothing happened as the girl shook Kagome awake. Kagome, after a good minute, rolled back and opened her eyes. And it was such a good dream too: Inuyasha was holding her and nothing else was happening. “yeah?” she asked blearily, not wanting to get up any time soon.

 

A smile nearly split Rin's face in half before she bounced on the bed a little. “lord Fluffy wants to see you now!” she grabbed Kagome's hand and started dragging her to the door before she was fully awake. Kagome nodded and covered up a yawn. Inuyasha gave her a worried glance and she smiled sweetly in return, as if to say that she could handle herself.

 

()

 

“come in,” Sesshomaru called before Rin even had the chance to knock on the doorframe. Before opening the door to let them both in, Rin gave Kagome a winning smile. She smiled back, albeit a little nervously, and they both entered. He was sitting at a low table, going over a scroll that was open in front of him, and a pot of tea was sitting in the center with a pair of unused cups on either side. It was the first time that she had ever seen the lord without his armor, and it seemed to make him not so frightening. Without looking up, Sesshomaru dismissed Rin and summoned Kagome to come and sit opposite him.

 

“you intrigue me,” he said as soon as the shoji closed, looking up from the scroll and rolling it up, “ever since that brother of mine brought you to our father's grave. I have been wondering what was so special about you. And to see you now, a year later, I would pass you as a normal hanyou for this time. Last time I checked, you were a human miko, care to explain?”

 

“well…”Kagome looked down to her lap and blushed, not sure what to say to her soon-to-be brother-in-law. “I don't really know what to tell you, so I'll just give you what I know myself: I know that I am only 16 and the in the future I will be the south-western lady, if what I know of the future doesn't change…” She continued to tell of how she discovered her past and what little she could tell of her future.

 

Sesshomaru was interested in the fact that in her time, girls were practically equal to men and went to school, and was saddened that there were not many youkai left where she lived. He had seen in the wars that his species was disappearing as the humans increased. It saddened him to admit to himself that hanyou were the only way for the dying breeds to continue, like the inu and bat. “if you wish, you can have some tea now,” he gestured to the pot while taking his own cup from the tray and serving himself. Kagome gladly took some, but sniffed it lightly before setting it down in front of herself.

 

“its not poisoned,” he gestured to his own full cup, “I may use poison, but it is not my strong suit.” He smiled at the joke and looked at his talons. Kagome shifted uncomfortably in her sitting position, looking away and hoping that he was not warning her to an attack.

 

“yeah,” Kagome laughed nervously, “I have a friend of mine that does specialize in poison and they taught me to easily detect it. and if you were to use your poison, the tea cups wouldn't be here!” she held up hers and downed half of it, mentally knowing that a little sake had been mixed in for taste, but not enough for the alcohol to take affect.

 

Sesshomaru chuckled lightly and took a sip of his before setting it down. “now, let's get down to business. Since I have yet to get a mate, and Rin's too young, I have to ask your opinion for tomorrow.” He moved the tea pot and took out the scroll that he was looking at earlier when she came in. “here are the details of the ball tomorrow night. What I was thinking is that you could watch Rin while the guests are arriving and I am watching over them. About half way through, I will send my brother to come retrieve you two. You will be introduced as Inuyasha's future mate, while Rin waits at the door. After you go down and start mingling, I will summon Rin and introduce her to the guests via mass. You will watch her the rest of the night when I am not able to. What do you think?” Sesshomaru looked up, his ice-like mask taken off in hope of her honest opinion.

 

Kagome read over the plans written on the scroll again and nodded, “I think that this will work, but do you think Inuyasha will co-operate with this?”

 

Sesshomaru gave a wink, “I think somehow you can make him behave. Now, tomorrow morning you will have to be fitted with a decent kimono, about four layers I think. And you look like you need some sleep, go ahead and you're dismissed, Kagome-hime.” Kagome flinched at the `hime' but stood up with Sesshomaru, revealing that the white boa thingy was, in fact, a tail and bowed to each other before she turned to the door.

 

“one more thing,” Sesshomaru held up one of his fingers, “what is your title? Because it reflects on me if my brother were to bring some random riff-raff.”

 

Kagome smirked, “lady Kagome of Tokyo.” She laughed at her own pun, because no one would know where that was except for the inu brothers. “just say I'm foreign if they ask. Good night Sesshomaru-sama, or could I say San?” he rolled his eyes at Kagome's leaving, praying to the gods that she would stick with Sama in front of others.

 

Well, next time will be the 500 review special: the ball! I never thought that I would get this many people that love me so much, thank you, thank you, and thank you. I know that Sesshomaru is always portrayed as cold and `the ice prince' but I asked myself, what was he like away from the public's eye? That was just my opinion. Later, dark

 

Ps. Mom restricted my computer usage to 2 hours a day, so until she forgets, I don't know if I will be able to keep up the `update every other week' schedule, but I'll try.