InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Hurtful Words: Past & Present ❯ The Present: Chapter 8 ( Chapter 8 )

Disclaimer: Inuyasha is Copyright of Takahashi Rumiko

Hurtful Words: The Present
Chapter 8

Inuyasha raced quickly through the forest, rushing to return home. It was the morning of the third day after he had received the letter from Rin, the day he was supposed to meet her and get Tetsusaiga back. He could feel Tenseiga's power at his side and longed for its familiar presence. His hands itched to hold it again, itched to destroy something. He was reminded of time when he had been over zealous when he was finally able to handle Tetsusaiga again. Full of excitement, he picked up his pace only to skid to a halt when he caught a strange scent.

After sniffing it out, he found a kimono hanging from a tree. The kimono Rin had been wearing when she stole Tetsusaiga. Folded into one of the sleeves was a letter advising him to go to the mountain south of his current position. Taking the kimono as ordered, he turned and quickly headed in that direction.

And there at the base of the mountain was Rin. He wouldn't have known it to be her if he hadn't been expecting her to be there. The last time they met she looked like a common villager. But this time she looked like a high ranking general. She wore a kimono with long flowing sleeves and skirt. The skirt was orange, the left sleeve was white, and her right sleeve yellow. She wore a yellow and white obi that she tied at her left side instead of in front or behind her, and it wasn't until he got closer did he realize that she was using the obi to hide the sword at her side. The black chest armor she wore seemed to be tailored to fit only her body. She left her hair down this time and it trailed down to the back of her knees. Her hair was black and much like her armor, provided a dark contrast to her kimono. It was a statement that said she wasn't as sweet and nice as she looked.

He felt sorry for Sesshoumaru for about a half a second before he got over it.

"Rin." He nodded to her.

"Inuyasha." She walked towards him slowly and held out her hand. "I see you've brought a sword...I would like to make sure it is truly Tenseiga."

Inuyasha handed it and her kimono over slowly, still not sure if he could trust her. "What is with the armor and sword?" It bothered him that it wasn't Tetsusaiga.

Rin unsheathed the sword slowly, already convinced by the handle that it was indeed Tenseiga. "There are many youkai looking for a snack to have during hibernation." She placed Tenseiga back in its sheath and placed it at her side with the other sword. "Follow me."

"Right." Startled, Inuyasha quickly followed after Rin when she turned to walk up the mountain path. "Tetsusaiga is up there?"

"It was the safest place to hide it."

"I'm grateful that you at least thought to keep it safe."

"I would not disrespect you further by letting harm come to what is rightfully yours."

Inuyasha stared at Rin's back feeling completely uncomfortable. In that armor, with two swords at her side, the long flowing hair: she was the female version of Sesshoumaru. And she was nicer. She spoke quietly but there was self-pride and confidence beneath her voice as in Sesshoumaru's. She carried herself in the same manner as well. There was no emotion in her voice, on her face, or in her eyes. It was obvious she inherited these traits from being around Sesshoumaru so much and it made Inuyasha wonder if Sesshoumaru had inherited his traits from their father.

They were halfway up the mountain when Rin stopped abruptly. She turned slowly and stared over Inuyasha's shoulder. At the base of the mountain stood a figure that appeared to be dressed in all white. It was all she could see but in her minds eye, she knew its every detail from head to toe. He hasn't changed, was all she could think, he hasn't changed at all. She told herself that if he hadn't changed physically, then he hadn't changed his personality. He would still be the same hateful creature who had no caring bone in his body. The idea angered her until she was filled with hate...hate that would not allow her to forgive him.

Sesshoumaru stared up at his brother and the girl behind him. With his youkai vision he was able too see the empty expression on the girls face. It was Rin, but it was not Rin. It was not the little girl he had unconsciously thought she would still be. She was no longer a girl but an independent woman who had grown up without his knowledge. She had tossed him out of her life like an old kimono that would never have the privilege of seeing her grow up. He had given her life and this was her thanks. Now she had his sword. His anger quickly boiled into hate...hate that would not allow him to forgive her.

Inuyasha followed Rin's eyes and couldn't hide his surprise. "What the hell is he doing here!?"

"Inuyasha...you betray me? You would take Tetsusaiga and he would have Tenseiga once again. This I cannot allow."

"No! Rin, listen to me, I didn't know he was coming here." Inuyasha took a pleading step forward only to be met with an explosion of gas. He quickly covered his noise but it was already to late. His enhanced sense of smell was bombarded with the most horrible scent imaginable. It burned both his eyes and throat. Only when he stumbled backwards and lost his sense of reality was he able to escape the torture.

Rin did not waste a single second after the gas bomb exploded. She ran up the mountain, stopping only to grab the ropes she had hidden beneath a stone. One lead to a pile of gunpowder and kerosene, which she quickly lit. The other was tied to a second pile of the same substances. But this rope she tossed over the side of the mountain. As the first pile exploded, she slid her way down the rope and off the mountain.

The gas began to clear. Inuyasha coughed, slowly gaining hold of himself. He was so out of it that he barely heard the explosion in the distance. When the boulders came tumbling towards him, he quickly got to his feet and ran down the mountain. With his lungs clogged with gas and smoke, he knew he would not be able to deal with the simplest obstacle. Through half closed eyelids he saw his brother walking towards him, saw the sword in his hands. And he dropped to the ground just as Sesshoumaru was in mid-swing.

There was a second explosion and another avalanche of boulders. Sesshoumaru destroyed those as well. He didn't wait for the smoke to clear as he walked forward. The groan Inuyasha made when he stepped on him was very pleasing at the moment. He knew Rin was probably gone by now. The three distractions, though easily taken care of, would give her enough time to escape. And with her scent so hard to trace, she definitely had the advantage.

"Thanks a lot Sesshoumaru. Now neither of us our swords."

Sesshoumaru stared over the mountain, standing where Rin had been before she disappeared. "Fool. She was planning this even if I hadn't come. She never intended to give Tetsusaiga to you."

"Yeah yeah yeah." Inuyasha knew it was true. "But what could she possibly want with both swords? I understand why she hates Tetsusaiga. So why this fuss over Tenseiga?"

He considered why for a brief moment. "Tenseiga returned her life when she would have been lost it to the underworld. She was the first to witness its powers." He jumped over the mountain.

"And then her life became nothing more than a tool to help you get Tetsusaiga. I don't know if I've said it before, but you've done a great job ruining Rin's life." Inuyasha followed his brother, feeling he was going to lose his sanity soon.

The inu-youkai brothers reluctantly agreed to work together to find Rin. After all, one and a half powerful youkai noses would be better than one. They also agreed, despite Inuyasha's protests, to wait until winter was over before they began their search. Rin had successfully escaped them and seemed to disappear. And during the winter months she would be less likely to move around and offer them any type of hint to her whereabouts. It was best to wait until she was active enough to lead them to her.

And so the months went by and both brothers made good use of the time. Sesshoumaru deployed small demons to learn what they could about Rin. He was convinced that she hadn't been able to get by completely alone. She had to have some kind of help from villagers. He need only to flesh out those people. Inuyasha spent his every waking moment with his sons, Kazuo and Ito. Though he hated to admit it, he believed that it would take them some time to find Rin. She was too clever and resourceful to be easily found. She would give them as much hell as she could.

And for two months into spring, she did just that.

Sesshoumaru watched his brother play with his children, his patience dissipating with each second that went by. It was bad enough that he was engaged in a failing search for one single human girl. But to make matters worse, he had to deal with his hanyou brother and his disgusting love for his family. His brother insisted on stopping to see them once a month for the entire day. And Sesshoumaru was forced to allow it for fear that he would kill Inuyasha if he kept talking about them. And so, for an entire day, he had to be in a smelly human village and watch his brother's smelly human family. He despised Rin even more with every passing second.

"You know Sesshoumaru, you have no right to be angry." Inuyasha rushed after Sesshoumaru who was moving entirely to fast now that they had finally departed. "This entire situation is your fault."

"Your logic is misplaced, brother."

"Keh, you like to believe that so you can pretend you're not wrong. This all started when you chased Rin off with your hurtful words."

"This Sesshoumaru did no wrong when he spoke his mind. Furthermore, the feelings of a lowly creature such as a human are not my concern."

"If Rin could use Tetsusaiga, she'd run you through with it for saying that." Inuyasha dodged a tree and ran next to Sesshoumaru. "Why is it that you hate humans so much? Is it because father fell in love with a human? You would punish the entire human race because you didn't like father's actions. I'm sure father would say that your feelings towards his actions 'are not my concern'," he mimicked Sesshoumaru as best he could.

Sesshoumaru pushed forward, ignoring his brother.

Inuyasha kept up and spoke more seriously this time, keeping his eyes trained ahead of him. "I know you don't mean the things you say about Rin, you just say them so no one knows that you actually care about her. For someone who is so high and mighty and doesn't seem to care about what anyone thinks, you sure are really worried about what may be said if word gets out that you cared for a little harmless girl."

Sesshoumaru said nothing once again and with the subject dropped, they continued on their search.

They traveled into the night with sleep out of the question. Their eyes were ever alert, their noses were searching for their target, and their legs moved at an incredible speed. All of their frustrations pushed them on past villages that would have taken humans at least a week to journey to. And perhaps it was excitement that pushed them as well. They were on a hunt and both brothers secretly believed they were quickly closing in on their prey. Triumph was in the air, victory was upon their lips; both fed and replenished them like no amount of sleep or food ever could. Even now there was something familiar up ahead. They had tasted this scent upon the air before. It was there, just beyond the trees to their right. A village was near by. What if they lost the trail in the village? The taste of bitter failure eroded their tongues, quickly replacing victory.

Inuyasha came to a screeching halt, nearly stumbling over his own feet. Sesshoumaru stopped with the grace of a swan.

"You're wasting time Inuyasha. It isn't Rin."

Inuyasha stared in the distance where the familiar scent was coming from. "I know but...This scent is always either behind or ahead of us, but its always on the same path as Rin. It’s been that way for a month. Don't you find that odd."

Sesshoumaru said nothing. Though it was true, he had no interest in dealing with any more humans.

Understanding Sesshoumaru's silence as a sign he agreed, Inuyasha dashed off quickly towards the group of humans. They were traveling with a carriage large enough to hold only one person. Two horses were drawing it with men of some army leading them. There were two soldiers following from the rear and two more leading the front. Each soldier had a sword and a set of bow and arrows. What they were transporting that was so important was unclear, but Inuyasha was determined to find out.

The village was closer than Inuyasha had originally believed and upon arriving, the soldiers quickly began gathering the young women in the village. Some families were prepared, others were unwilling. But each family who had a daughter between the ages of fourteen and eighteen were ordered to bring them forward by order of "the Emperor". A girl was chosen; mother and daughter cried out. The father detained his wife and one soldier entered the house with the girl. Suspecting something fowl was about to occur, Inuyasha made his way closer to village, intent on putting an end to it. But just as he was about to appear from behind the house, they came out. The girl quietly explained that she was honored to go and that her mother shouldn't worry and though she would be a concubine, they would still receive a bride wealth.

Inuyasha had heard enough.

Sesshoumaru looked up as Inuyasha returned. "I am to assume by your dumbfounded expression that you didn't learn anything and only wasted precious time."

"I'm not sure what to make of the complete situation but I think with a little more information, we'll be able to understand why we have had so much luck tracking Rin's scent. Hell, it might even make our search a little easier. But first, we need to pay a visit to a friend of mine. I'm sure Miroku will have the answers to my questions."

Before Sesshoumaru could protest, Inuyasha quickly took off in the direction of the exterminator's village.

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