InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Getting to know you ❯ Chapter Twenty-One ( Chapter 22 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Disclaimer: Nope, don’t own anything here besides the plot….


WOW! I'm surprised no one's thrown bags of fire at me yet. Well here's the next chapter, please enjoy!


Getting to know you


By Miztikal-Dragon


Chapter Twenty-one:


If she hadn’t had her hand against the wall across her, Rin would have plummeted to the ground and effectively given herself away without even trying. She could barely breathe heaving that Kenichi was going to have her killed and if things hadn’t been as bad as they were she would have denied it until she lay bleeding waiting to die.


His words were shocking yet with his recent behavior she shouldn’t have been surprised, she should have been more observant and she could have kept herself safer. It was funny that once again she was fleeing the Western Lands, there was always a reason to leave; however, this time it wasn’t over hurt feelings, over anything irrational and stupid, no-- this time she was leaving in an attempt to protect herself.


Now the thought of finding someone she could trust had surfaced; although, hearing Kagura’s voice inside Sesshomaru’s kingdom told her that trust wasn’t something she could afford to give at the moment. No doubt there were others like Kenichi inside the castle walls, Rin was willing to bet on it, but she wasn’t going to stay around long enough to figure out who they all were.


The first thing Rin knew she had to do was make it look like she was still fast asleep in her bed. That itself wasn’t hard, she’d done it a few times in her life, though none of those times had been like this. Kirara sat on the floor behind Rin as she scrambled around her room searching for things she could use. There would be no point in taking anything with her, not when she had to be light on her feet. She couldn’t risk her life over clothes or supplies, not when time wasn’t on her side.


Once the proper amount of pillows were stuffed underneath her blankets, Rin scooped up Kirara and dashed back into the walls, letting her memory guide her. She had to try making it to the next kingdom before the sun rose and that wasn’t a lot of time. It was dark, almost too dark for her to see; however, Rin kept going forward, she had to if she wanted to live.


Her heart hammered in her chest overdramatically like music and Rin held her breath as her exit slowly came closer. The hard part wasn’t escaping, that actually would be easy, the tricky part was leaving the safety of the secret passageways and not being spotted. She had to hope--to pray that none of Kenichi’s followers were the guards at their posts or else she would undoubtedly be screwed royally.


Time ticked away in her head, her paranoid eyes searching every corner, every dark shadow and she knew it was sucking away all her energy like a ravenous tick. She turned corners, her hand resting against the cold brick giving her a little reassurance that everything would be okay. It was a hopeless figment though, Rin knew now that she would never be safe. As long as she loved and stayed with Sesshomaru there would always be pain, sadness and misery in company with love. Others would hunt her down hoping to hurt Sesshomaru, to get the best of him and they wouldn’t stop. The choice was no longer Sesshomaru’s, Rin was going to take her life into her own hands. The king couldn’t protect her the way she needed, couldn’t love her like she desperately wanted him too and selfish as it was, this time Rin knew she had to put her foot down.


She was kidding herself thinking she could make it out of his kingdom alive and silently she cursed her parents. They had handed her off to this fate of hers and went off to die. They destroyed whatever happy ending she could have had all because they wanted to travel away. Death was stuck to Rin like a disease, she couldn’t run away from it and there was no escape. And even though she doubted she would be living to see the morning sun, she wasn’t going to wait around for it. If death wanted her, it had to catch up to her first, nothing was easy and she wasn’t going to hand over her life. She was going to put up the best fight she could to keep it just for a little while longer.


“Go find help,” she whispered to Kirara putting the small cat demon on the ground. “Go find help.”


Kirara looked at Rin as though she had grown another head and for a moment she felt almost foolish, but it wasn’t the time to stand around and debate one’s sanity. Rin didn’t have time. Puffing out her chest in mock confidence, Rin towered over the tiny cat and in the most stern voice she could muster, she ordered the small creature away. This time there was no second guessing, no protests, Kirara mewed softly, her red eyes glowing in the darkness and then she was gone.


Finding herself along yet again, Rin let out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding and turned her back on the Western Land’s castle. She had to put enough distance between it in order to get a chance at survival and though she had the will power, her last fiasco left her muscles a little more sore and unused than she would have liked. Then again, what she did and didn’t like no longer had any baring on anything for Rin. No, now it was all about what needed to be done to stay alive, what had to be done and nothing else, and tonight she had to put Sesshomaru out of her heart for good.


The very thought made parts of her ache she forgot even existed, hurt almost to the point she wasn’t sure if she could trek deeper into the darkness completely defenseless, yet she continued forward. The only thing lighting her way was the soft light illuminating from the moon, dark clouds sometimes stealing it from her and showering her with a temporary blanket of blackness.


She wasn’t getting far that was for certain, the lights of the Western castle far enough away not to be spotted by normal guards, though not far enough to be overlooked by an airborne check by flying youkai. Sure there weren’t many that she knew of , but youkai were special like that, not all of them were as honest about their abilities and with the long arm of Kenichi there weren’t many left that she could trust. If she had more time and energy Rin could have easily been further out, away from the tall grass that the rogues watched over and well on her way to a bordering kingdom that could offer her safety and possibly, though highly unlikely, a place to work in return for lodging.


Getting away was the only important thing, everything else were more pebbles in comparison and her tense muscles relaxed a bit spotting trees not too far in the distance. It meant that she was getting closer, slowly reaching her safety zone, if there was such a place; however, it was a place to start since at least trees could protect her from any airborne assault. It gave her hope and even the littlest bit of such was more then she could ask for.


Rin was exhausted, she’d been up for more than a day, all the added stress was overwhelming, and any adrenaline she might have had was leaking out with every step she took. How much longer she could go was a mystery, and it was one she was refusing existed. There would be no stopping unless she collapsed and couldn’t find the strength to get back p and if that was the case it would have to be because she was dead since nothing else would be acceptable.


Her mind was drawing blanks, her breathing slightly labored and if she wasn’t mistaken her movements were getting sluggish. A thick cloud of fog was beginning to settle itself around the otter corners of her mind, undoubtedly trying to play tricks on her, yet Rin wasn’t allowing herself to fall for them. It would be morning soon, she could tell by the way her surroundings appeared less dark, the moon having disappeared all together from her tired gaze long ago.


As far away as Rin was from any other kingdom and safety, she could feel it just beyond her reach, the branches of trees merely yards away reaching out to her. They were teasing her senses, taunting her but what had her stopping in her tracks wasn’t mother nature at all. An icy wind blew through her, pulling long tendrils of her hair and enticing them into a hypnotic slow dance. It didn’t smell like earth of something fresh like it normally would have, it was different somehow and the delayed rustling caught her attention and the silent alarms that had been going off were now screaming at her.


Dark silver flashed and immediately Rin knew it was the reflection of a sword. She didn’t have any more time, death had caught up with her and she was trapped. The wind, it whistled in her ears and in an attempt to turn away from its harshness, her bare foot slipped and she tumbled to her knees, her heart thundering in her chest trying desperately to get a second breath of adrenaline.


“You should have stayed at the castle Rin,” his voice called out jovially, the sound of metal dragging on the ground surrounding her like an echo. “At least then you wouldn’t have made things so easy for me.”


She tried forcing her eyes to focus on the shapes moving in front of her, tried picturing the figure hiding in the shadows, yet being able to see him wouldn’t make it any less unbelievable. Kenichi’s eyes glowing unblinking at her with such blatant hatred and amusement was enough of a clue. He had come to finish her off himself and this time she was completely powerless to stop him, she’d walked right into his trap and she was a fool.


“I wanted to get rid of you as quickly as possible,” Kenichi wasn’t speaking ominously, in fact, it was more lighthearted and casual, as though he was simply having a conversation about the weather. “I wanted to spare you pain, but now I want to feel you suffer.”


He towered over her like her predator, his turquoise eyes staring at her and Rin felt the hairs on her neck stand on end. He was her predator and she his prey and before the sun could rise her blood would stain his sword. Rin closed her eyes and sighed heavily, this was it, he was going to run her through , chop off her head and she would feel his cold sword just until it stole away her final heartbeat and there was nothing she could to but accept her fate.


“Look at me when I’m talking to you!” He growled, and before she could comply or refuse an explosion of light and pain assaulted her. Hard metal met with flesh and bone and it was de ja vu for Rin as her neck whipped around and with the force of it, her body following like a ripple of water.


The blades of grass scratched and cut her and fighting the dizziness, Rin gingerly touched the aching, painful spot feeling the wetness coating her fingertips. It made her think of InuYasha, about Sesshomaru and their family before Kagura and it made her laugh as she focused her gaze upon Kenichi and his bloodied sword hilt. She’d been hit that way before, years before when InuTashio was alive and Sesshomaru wasn’t so cold and it was fitting for it to be delivered again before she died.


“This won’t be quick Rin,” he kicked her stomach, his heavy boot meeting the soft part of her flesh and Rin bit back a cry of pain; she would not allow him to have the satisfaction of hearing her voice.


She didn’t tense up, didn’t try protecting her head or neck with her arms, Rin let him kick her; bruising flesh and rolling her body with the force of his blows. Each time his boot connected hard enough to break her just a little more, Kenichi’s laughter near hysterics and when no more new blinding pain rained down on her Rin thought it was over. That he was going to leave her to die; but much to her surprise that wasn’t so.


“No, it won’t be quick for you at all,” the tip of his sword dug into her shoulder and instead of impaling her, his booted foot followed it shoving her onto the flat of her back.


The night sky was a lighter gray, not quite dawn, maybe another hour or two away, yet it was dark enough that she could see the stars twinkling dully, mocking her. Her entire body hurt, from her toes to her head and silently she was welcoming death. At least after Kenichi ended her life there would no longer be anything left to hurt her and all the pain she endured could no longer touch her and it sounded so promising.


Instead of heavy steel biting into her flesh again, it was the odd feel of cold hands on her throat. It jolted her back to her senses and she flinched against his touch. Long fingers wrapped around her and Rin watched Kenichi with blank eyes as his weight settled on her. So this was the way he planned on killing her? He was going to squeeze the very life out of her and that thought unnerved her more than the rapid beating of her heart.


His hands tightened, cutting off her air supply, choking her and smiling as though he was holding a new born baby. Her hands clawed at his arms as her body betrayed her and fought for life. Her arms were too short to reach for his face and he was too crazy in bloodlust to let anything deter him now.


Her vision was darkening, her lungs screaming and though Rin knew she was dying and wanted some dignity, she couldn’t help but waste her last moments wishing Sesshomaru was there with her. Kenichi’s body was nothing but darkened shapes and her muscles were relaxing and despite the loud roar that ripped through her ears, she didn’t fight it and was swallowed by the emptiness of knowing she was dying completely alone.





E/N: Been battling writer's block forever and a day now, and with everything going on in my life of make believe it's not real, I'm surprised this much got finished. I'm now officially moved into my house, seen my sister get married, and was in a car accident. Don't worry though, nothing broken, I es be fine, but I think getting hit knocked my writer's block unconscious for a while.


Currently I don't have internet so I don't know when the next time I'll be able to update any of my stories, but once I get a new tower and some internet service, I'll post something new. I finally know how I want to word things with this story so the next chapter shouldn't take me six or some odd months to write out. I'm guessing only about 3 chapters left max... no epilogue because well, this was a prologue to Will You Be Mine? but yeah, that's all. Thank YOU to everyone who has read and review this, you guys are my life blood.


Until next time, Love me.