InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Gift of a Curse ❯ Chapter 11

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Recap from Chapter 10:
Rin took a step back, her foot landing on Shippou's tail and he whimpered leaping away. Humans were trouble. Especially Rins. They brought death to kitsunes. "Shouldn't have ever been dragged along!" He murmured in remorse."Go." Sesshoumaru growled turning away from her. Rin nodded quickly, grabbed Shippou, and took off toward the castle. He waited until the sound of her quick footsteps faded into the distance before following at a slow walk completely unaware of his blood soaked sleeve as he tried his best to ignore the fear tainting the young woman's scent.

Gift of a Curse

Chapter 11: Realization

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Kagome leaned up against a tree on the edge of her village. She gazed worriedly in the direction of the castle chewing her bottom lip nervously. She jumped, slightly startled by the loud rustle of leaves overhead before the familiar hanyou appeared. For a moment she smiled, but it faded when she saw the blood running from his wounds. "Inuyasha! Are you alright?" Kagome cried rushing to his side.

Inuyasha gave a faint smile. "Keh, I'm fine. What about you? I told you to stay in the hut Kagome."

"You knew when you told me I wouldn't listen!" She protested as she lifted his right arm up gently to inspect a nasty cut. Looking at it closely the miko could make out where his flesh had been burned by poison, no doubt, Sesshoumaru's poison. "Come on, let's find a place to rest so I can tend to your wounds."

"I don't need any help! It'll heal soon enough." Inuyasha grumbled.

"You couldn't convince him then?" Kagome questioned ignoring his complaints as she began to examine his other wounds. "I knew he wouldn't..."

"Keh. It's strange though."

"What's strange?" She asked absently stepping away from the hanyou to stand before him.

Inuyasha paused a moment before answering, his brow furrowed for a few seconds of thought. "A human girl there at the castle... about as old as you. Her scent is always on him and once I came in and he was sitting on the end of her bed..."

"And she's human? Do you know her name?"

He shrugged. "Think it's Rin. Wonder what that bastard is doing with a human woman... She didn't seem harmed in any way and when she interrupted our fight he didn't kill her." Inuyasha paused again. "I didn't smell any blood after I left-" The hanyou pivoted quickly, turning to face the opposite direction as his golden hues feverently searched the forest foliage.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked stepping up behind him. "What's wrong?" Inuyasha didn't answer, instead he leapt into the air and slashed at a tree trunk. With a loud crash it fell over as something blue darted from it's cover. No. It was a woman. A youkai woman.

"Interested in what we were saying?" The hanyou growled. The youkai looked at him nervously. Atop her head two cat-like ears twitched, a long blue tail flicking back and forth behind her slender frame. The youkai woman had long blue hair and wore only a simple hue-less yukata with a blue sash tied loosely around her waist.

Her crimson eyes closed for a moment. "You see... I came because I could... well I was curious because... " Finally she sighed. "I came because you smell like Lord- eh... someone I knew."

Inuyasha smirked and Kagome gave a small smile. It was obvious she was referring to the sameness of Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru's scent due to them being half-brothers. "Keh. Yea, so I smell a bit like the bastard. What's your name?"

"Inuaysha don't be rude!" Kagome reprimanded quickly.

"Koari..." The youkai answered softly.

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Rin flashed him an apologetic look as she allowed Shippou to slide from her arms upon reaching the castle. "I'm so sorry Shippou-chan... I don't know what came over me." The kitsune looked up at her bitterly determined never to forgive her for putting him in that life-or-death situation, (which he was still trying to figure out how he escaped from), but soon smiled in forgivement.

"It's alright." He chirped happily. "But I have got to go now, Papa will be worried that I haven't come back yet."

She nodded. "Alright Shippou-chan, sayonara."

"Sayonara!" Shippou repeated as he hurried off. "Maybe we can go to the castle gardens soon!" He called over his shoulder before disappearing.

Rin stood silent for a while, listening to the fading echo of the kitsune's voice before her mind wandered to different matters. 'I'll just crl up with a good book and forget everything for a bit.' She thought and, deciding it was a wonderous solution, raced off to the library to find herself that "good book" to curl up with.

Upon reaching her destination she scanned a few shelves pulling out a random book. It's cover was worn and at one time it may have been a brilliant crimson color, but that was now faded to a maroon with a layer of dust on top. The young woman flipped through a few pages and smiled. It seemed to have been someone's journal, or something of the sort, at one time. Seemingly no time recently due to it's condition.

Plopping herself down in a chair Rin opened the cover and began to read, studying it closely to decipher the almost sloppy handwriting. After a few pages it became apparent it was once the diary of a servant here at the castle who must have hidden it away among the other books and one day simply not returned to fetch it. Turing another page, she closed out all absent thoughts from her mind and focused entirely on the diary.

I was busy scrubbing away at the floor in the entrance hall. That damned imp said they were dirty and needed cleaning. I'd say they couldn't have been cleaner. Then there was a knock on the main doors and that toad answered. I shivered as the cold winter wind came in blowing snow everywhere! I was in just the right position to see the one who had knocked.

It was a human! A frail looking human and and a very skinny child who couldn't have been over four. Even most demons have sense enough not to bother the lord! He can be such a cold demon!

The imp asked what the human wanted and she held out her basket and took off a blanket that had been covering it. I almost gasped when I saw the silver roses! The human asked that he might buy one, but then The Master came up and told her he'd kill her for intruding on his lands, or something of that sort.

The Master made the obvious observasion the human was near-death and decided to take the child's life instead. What surprised me was the human just took one of those silver roses and murmured something. Then Ronin and Shuichi came and dragged the little human girl away and closed the doors. I bet that human is dead already. Pitiful sight it was.

Rin set the book down slowly as she suddenly recalled her dreams. The dreams she ahd before so easily forgotten upon each awakening. The silver roses... the human! 'I'm the little human girl! I was taken away... but I wasn't killed! Something about the roses are important... like the rose I saw! The rose I tried to touch when Sesshoumaru attacked me!'

Her mind was racing as she snapped the book shut and let it fall carelessly to the floor. Who was there that day? Sesshoumaru and Jaken for sure. She had to find Jaken! She had to find that miserable toad imp and demand he tell her exactly what happened today! Rin rushed from the library and began running through the halls as she became overwhelmed with thoughts. So many were sliding through her head so fast she could hardly grasp them before they were gone only to be replaced by more!

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The demon lord neared the castle, but he kenw he couldn't enter. Not with her scent lingering on everything. Instead Sesshoumaru took to the forest venting his anger on the tree, that fell easily, with one simple swipe of his claws. They crashed into each other with thundering crashes with the occasional sound of a hiss, his energy whip lashing out.

And underneat hall that anger was shame. He had allowed someone to infuriate him, a human woman no less. She was his prisoner! How dare she show such defiance. Sesshouamru stopped, the noise dying away almost instantaneously. His face was set in a light grimace. That human would know her place, even if he had to force himself to show it to her.

The inu-youkai stood, his stoic mask returning. He could feel it. The weakening of his powers as the deadline of that curse drew closer with each passing day.

No. He would find a way, he would never allow himself to be reduced to a weak human... a human. He growled. Of all things, why had fate given his heart to a human?

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"Master Jaken!" Rin all but screamed as she finally spotted him. He was standing at the bottom of a flight of winding stairs about to make his way upwards. "Master Jaken!"

The toad scowled turning to lookat her, his face full or nothing but pure annoyance. "What is it you filthy human?"

"You killed my mother! And I was locked away in this castle! And why?! Because my mother tried to sell you a rose!" Rin yelled and began more yelling. Jaken satred up at her in horror. "I can't believe you! You said it-"

"Who told you?" He interrupted. Hot tears began to stream down her cheeks. Rin could feel herself trembling, fighting the urge to kill the imp before her.

"So it is true! You- you- you damned toad!"

"Now you listen here you ungrateful wrech! Your scum mother placed a curse on Milord! You call that nothing!"

"A curse? What curse?" She asked, trying to calm her rage.

Jaken 'hmph'ed. "One as lowly as you has no need to know!"

"Why you filthy little..." Rin launched herself forward grabbing the imp and shoving him against the floor. He gasped, struggling to lift his staff.

"I'll roast you!" He screeched. The mouth of the man's head on the staff opened. Rin's eyes widened, everything happened so quickly. Searing heat engulfed her suddenly and then just as suddenly, it was gone. She was whipped away just as a scorching blaze filled the air she occupied only half a second before.

Coming out of a short daze she furiously ripped herself from her savior's hold, recognizing the magenta strpes adorning his arms instantly. Rin whirled around to face Sesshoumaru, ignoring the drid blood his arm was covered with. "You!" She yelled loud enough to make the taiyoukai internally wince. He sent an icy glare to Jaken, deciding to blame him for her sudden flare in temper. Not to mention Jaken had just tried to toast her... "I hate you!"

'She hates me?' Those three words made something inside him hurt, something that he had forgotten was there a long time ago.

"You locked me up here! You took me from my mother! The mother I can't even remember all because of you! And she died out in the snow didn't she!?"

"...."

"That's right! Don't say anything!" She screamed, tears flowing freely from her eyes. "A rose! All of this because she wanted to sell you a damn rose! And as I've seen before you are quite protective of that rose! What? Did you steal that after you had me dragged-"

"Don't talk to my master that way!" Jaken roared jumping up. He was ignored as Rin continued to scream, enraged at the demon lord.

"And then you didn't even kill me! You kept me locked up for twenty something years! What the hell is your problem you arrogant bastard?! I-" Rin screamed in fury as she was abruptly picked up. Sesshoumaru held her tightly, almost painfully so, as he sped off ignoring the stares of various servants.

He entered her room and threw her on to the bed. Rin jumped up as soon as she hit, but he was already halfway out the door. "Wait!" The young woman cried. "Don't leave!"

The inu-youkai turned to look ather, doing his best to keep up the emotionless facade. "And why, should I stay?" He bit out, hating himself for actually be mad at himself for all of this. Wasn't it bad enough he'd made her cry?

"I don't know!" She cried in despair. She fell down face first, her head in her pillow as her small frame shook violently from her sobs.

Sesshoumaru turned to stand in the doorway for a few moments, torn between what he should do and what he wanted to do. Eventually 'want' won and he moved silently to sit on the edge of her bed, looking down at her rather uncomfortably and, for once in his life, at a loss for words.

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Notes: Hey! Forgive the typos please, sorry this chapter was rushed and a bit lacking in the detal department.

Sorry, not time for notes! Bye!

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