InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Leaving the Past ❯ Chapter Three ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter Three

Rin woke up next to the smoldering ashes of their campfire. It was early, and the sky was still grey in the morning light. She stretched her arms out first, then her fingers and toes and then sat up to look around for Sesshoumaru and Jaken. To her surprise, they were both standing a few feet away, already prepared to leave. Ah-un was saddled and packed. Rin smiled. Sesshoumaru had let her sleep in and Jaken would be sure to grumble about it all morning.

"Good morning, Sesshoumaru-sama! Good morning, Jaken-sama!"

"Rin, we're leaving." Sesshoumaru turned and began to walk in the direction in which he had flown the night before.

"Before breakfast?" Rin asked, more out of curiosity than hunger. She still felt queasy.

"Hurry up," added Jaken. She looked at him. He seemed dejected this morning, and Rin wondered if Sesshoumaru had lost his temper with him sometime before she woke.

"Coming!"

The little dagger Sesshoumaru had given her the night before was next to her on the ground. She picked it up, still unsure what to do with it.

"Rin!" Jaken yelled again. He was already hurrying to catch up with his master.

"Coming!" She stuck the sheath in her belt and ran ahead.

"We're getting an early start this morning," she commented to Jaken.

"Err, why yes, Rin."

Boring. Jaken was clearly not in the mood to talk. She skipped ahead to Sesshoumaru.

"Sesshoumaru-sama, where are we going?"

"To a human village."

"A village?"

"We are going to the home of my brother Inuyasha." Sesshoumaru did not look happy.

Rin's mouth fell open and she turned around to see how Jaken was reacting to the news. Amazingly, he did not seem surprised. Sesshoumaru must have already told him. She knew better than to ask Sesshoumaru questions about his half-youkai younger brother. She'd have to wait and try to wring the details out of Jaken.

"I think that I will ride on Ah-un for a while."

Sesshoumaru did not answer.

~~~~~~~~~

They arrived at the village shortly before noon. Although it was autumn, the mid-day sun was warm and made Rin thirsty. Sesshoumaru stopped within view of the furthest outlying homes.

"Jaken, take Rin to the village. I will wait here."

"Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama." The little demon kept his eyes down. "Come, Rin."

She was burning with curiosity. As soon as she thought she was out of Sesshoumaru's hearing she pulled on Jaken's sleeve and whispered.

"Hey, what's going on? Why are we here?"

"That's Lord Sesshoumaru's business."

"What's with you today, Jaken?"

Inuyasha and Kagome were waiting for them. Rin remembered both of them, vaguely. She'd liked the older girl Kagome and Inuyasha looked a lot like Sesshoumaru. She smiled and bowed.

"Welcome, Rin-chan. You've grown so much since the last time I saw you." Kagome seemed abit nervous. Inuyasha scowled.

"You must be starving. Have you eaten yet today?"

"I am a little thirsty," she admitted.

"Well, come in," Inuyasha said impatiently.

Rin looked at Jaken. "Stay here," he muttered.

~~~~~~~~~~

The meal was, for the most part, silent and uncomfortable. Kagome smiled at her at every opportunity and Inuyasha, after a few minutes of mumbling something about "smelling like him", had asked her if she wanted extra dumplings at least four times. Clearly something was afoot. Rin wanted to appear dignified and unconcerned, as she thought befitted the ward of the Lord Sesshoumaru in the home of his rather inferior younger brother, but her resistance was dissolving quickly and a tiny, nagging feeling was beginning to creep down her spine.

"You want more dumplings?" asked Inuyasha for the fifth time.

Kagome passed her a dish.

"Thank you, Kagome-chan." She gave up. "Um… Do either of you know how much longer I will be staying here? Will Sesshoumaru-sama return before nightfall?"

"What?" Kagome stared at her with a dawning look of shock and concern.

Inuyasha's mouth dropped open. "You mean that bastard didn't tell you?"

"Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled.

Rin didn't hear anything else. She jumped up from the floor, knocking over the meal things and throwing herself against the door amid surprised shouts and clatter of pottery.

"Rin, wait!"

She ran back through the village and across the fields in the direction from which they'd come. Her heart was pounding. Panic pushed her limbs to move faster.

"Sesshoumaru-sama! Sesshoumaru-sama! Jaken, stop!"

There! Just ahead! Relief washed over her. She had caught up, she had found them.

"Sesshoumaru-sama!"

He turned around.

"Sesshoumaru-sama," she panted and grinned. She had found them.

Ah-un groaned and stepped towards her. Jaken yanked on the reins and pulled him forward and away.

"Sesshoumaru-sama?" Her skin was beginning to feel clammy once more.

He knelt down on one knee beside her, placing his hand on her shoulder.

"Rin." His eyes were so beautiful - golden, flecked with gold. She peered into them, desperate to connect.

"It is no longer fitting for you to remain with me." His voice was gentle.

"No."

"Stay here, Rin."

He stood up, and turned away.

NO! she thought, and began to cry. He was leaving her. He couldn't leave her. She set her chin in determination and continued moving forward. She had followed him once before like this, as a child after he had used Tenseiga to revive her, and he had taken her in. She would show them! She would keep following until he relented. He would take her back. He would have to.

Sesshoumaru whipped his head around.

"RIN!"

His pupils had narrowed to black slits in glowing red sockets and the stripes along his face had grown longer and more prominent. A halo of purple energy crackled around his body. He bared his fangs and growled.

She dropped to the ground in shock.

He turned away.

She sat in the stubble of the fields and wept. When Kagome finally caught up with her, she placed both arms around her neck and rocked back and forth as she wept and wept.

~~~~~~~~~

That evening, Rin woke up shivering on her mat on the floor of the house. There was blood between her thighs.