InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Handprint ❯ Chapter 8

Disclaimer: The characters of InuYasha are not mine, they are property of Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise, and Viz. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

# Handprint part 8 #

Sesshoumaru was alone, following the scent trail of a youkai he'd never smelled before, when the siren song of Rin's scream reached his ears. Without conscious direction, his body was already in motion, blurring through the forest as he pushed the limits of his strength and speed to get to her. Had he truly time to contemplate the way he jumped to her rescue every time, he might have become disgusted with himself for rushing so quickly to the aid of a mere human.

But at the sound of her scream, his mind went blank and his body moved and his entire focus became the task of preserving her life through whatever means necessary.

How dare anything threaten her!

His scent mingled with hers, marking her as his companion. Only the truly desperate or the truly foolish ignored such a sign as that.

His fingers sought and found Toukijin's hilt, his hand closing around the grip. In one smooth motion, Sesshoumaru drew the sword as his target came into sight. A single slice was enough to split Rin's attacker in two messy halves. Flicking the blood from his blade, he tucked Toukijin back into his sash. He turned, his eyes finding Rin as he assessed for himself that she was alright.

The sound of her soft, distressed cry unnerved him; so much so that for the briefest of moments his face betrayed his surprise. Drawing closer to her, he scented the air again, reassured when he found no trace of her blood.

“Rin! Rin!” Jaken shouted as he shook the sobbing girl. “What is wrong? Are you hurt? Speak up girl!!”

With a couple more loud sniffles, Rin uncurled enough that they could both see what she cradled in her arms.

Her little puppy, covered with gore.

Not drop of blood stained Rin's person except where the toy touched her kimono. Sensing that her attacker was nothing more than a lowlife youkai, Sesshoumaru had had the luxury of extra seconds before he dealt the death blow to make sure the shower of blood did not touch either himself or Rin.

He'd forgotten to take such care with the toy.

He watched with an impassive face as Rin rocked the puppy and cried over it. He missed, with sudden acute regret, the time before the toy when Rin's tears had been next to non existent. The bright smile and happy praise he might have received for saving her life was forgotten as Rin's puppy completely preoccupied her attention.

“Rin! Stupid girl, making me worry like that just because of a toy!” Jaken growled grumpily. “Dry your tears! Have you even thanked Sesshoumaru-sama properly yet for saving your worthless life?!”

Sesshoumaru waited quietly to the side, watching the two interact. Upon Jaken's mention of his name, Rin spared him a tearful glance, her dark eyes distracted and anxious.

“Thank you,” she said as she continued to worry over her puppy.

“That's `Thank you, Sesshoumaru-sama!' to you!” Jaken corrected angrily, working himself into a proper tirade. “Stupid! It's just a toy, so stop crying! We'll probably have to get rid of it now anyways since it's so disgusting—”

“No!” Rin interrupted; her tone tinged with panic. “We're not getting rid of it! It's mine!”

“You can't keep it!” Jaken shot back. “You can't carry around something smelling of blood! Every hungry youkai for miles will come and try to eat you—not that they don't already, stupid human—but imagine how much worse it will be! Sooner or later Sesshoumaru-sama will grow tired of saving you and then they'll get you! You and your little dog too!”

“No!” Rin shot back, stubbornly refusing to listen to reason. “Sesshoumaru is mine! I won't give him up!”

Jaken sputtered, his face turning interesting shades of green as his temper rose. “It! It! It's just a toy! A thing! You'll have to give it up—”

“Jaken,” Sesshoumaru cut in. “Enough. Rin, dry your tears.”

Biting back his protests, Jaken shot Rin a baleful look as she turned beseeching eyes towards Sesshoumaru.

“I can keep it, right?” she asked hopefully.

Sesshoumaru studied her for a moment, the silence stretching out between them as his mind raced for an acceptable solution. One quickly occurred to him, but he was reluctant to voice it out loud, hating the fact that it was the only way that offered any hope of salvaging the toy.

“The girl Kagome may know how to remove the stains. If she can do so, then you may keep the toy, Rin,” he replied at last.