InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Leaving the Past ❯ Chapter Seven ( Chapter 7 )

Chapter Seven

"Sesshoumaru?"

"-sama." She almost forgot to add.

He hadn't changed in five years. It was as if he had stepped out of her childhood memories, living and breathing. His movements were deadly and elegant, just as she remembered. He finished dispatching the demons, then turned to her. His face was the same - the same pale glow on his skin, the same strange markings on his cheeks and forehead, the same golden, non-human eyes. She couldn't speak.

"Show me," he said sternly.

"It's not bad," stammered Rin. "It's stopped bleeding."

Sesshoumaru bent down and studied her leg for a moment.

"Get up."

Rin obeyed. He caught her around her waist and hoisted her over his shoulder. Without another word or introduction he lifted into the air and Rin felt the cold shock of wind streaming across her face and hair. She had forgotten the sensation of flying.

A few minutes earlier she had imagined herself as a demon dressed in silk, smiling coyly as she gracefully bowed before a speechless Sesshoumaru. Now she was slung over his shoulder, feet and head dangling in the air, covered in dirt, reeking of blood and sweat. Feeling very stupid and very childish.

It was humiliating. At least she wouldn't allow herself to be hauled about like a sack of rice.

"Let me down. Don't carry me like this!"

"I cannot carry you any other way!" He was furious.

His missing arm. How could she have forgotten? How could she have said something so foolish? She stopped struggling.

They landed in the village, a few yards from Inuyasha's house. Ichiro was waiting there, his eyes wide.

"Rin! Are you okay?"

"Where is Inuyasha?" demanded the youkai.

"Put her down!" ordered Ichiro in a trembling voice, his face turning pale.

Inuyasha appeared, his face full of confusion. Rin noticed that he was still wearing the strange cap Kagome had given him to cover his ears when they visited her era. They must have only just returned.

"Inuyasha, you failure!"

Sesshoumaru dropped Rin on the ground, none too gently, and lunged towards his younger brother.

"What the-Sesshoumaru?" Inuyasha's expression went from concern to anger in an instant as his arm flew up to defend himself.

This was horrible. A horrible horrible mess. And it was all her fault. Rin miserably wished that she could faint. She heard Kagome yelling.

Ichiro was standing beside her, raising his chained sickle.

"Don't!" she cried, reaching up to grab his arm. Caught off guard, he froze and Rin's head crashed into the blunt side of the weapon, knocking her into darkness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When she came to she was lying on a mattress on the floor.

"Rin?" Kagome's voice.

She blinked a few times. Her leg had been re-bandaged. She was clean too, in a fresh dress, her hair damp and combed.

Kagome helped her to sit up against the wall.

"Ichiro feels terrible," she said with a smile.

Rin looked around and realized that they were not alone.

Inuyasha was visibly fuming and sporting a swollen black eye. Sesshoumaru was standing a few paces away. His hair was disheveled and his blouse slightly dirtied and ripped at the sleeve. Although his demeanor was cool, Rin could tell by the way that he was standing that he was none too pleased either. She gulped.

"What were you THINKING going there on your own?" demanded Inuyasha.

Kagome removed the cool rag from her forehead.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

Rin looked at her gratefully.

Sesshoumaru looked at Inuyasha.

"Leave. I wish to speak with Rin."

"This is MY house."

"Get out."

"Inuyasha," said Kagome, quietly. "Let's go see Kaede. I want to tell her the good news."

Sesshoumaru looked slightly surprised. Inuyasha moved towards Kagome protectively.

Kagome stretched up and whispered to him, taking his hand and moving toward the door. Reluctantly, he allowed himself to be led out of the room.

Rin suddenly felt very nervous. She looked at Sesshoumaru.

"I did not tell Inuyasha what happened in the forest."

She felt a little rush of relief and gratitude. At least that embarrassment would be a private one. Almost private. He knew. Rin's stomach dropped again. Maybe he hadn't heard everything.

"I know what you were attempting to do. Tell me why."

"I thought that I could become a demon…" she answered miserably, staring down at the covers.

"I see," he answered coolly. "And why did you want to become a demon?"

"I thought that if I became a demon, that you-might allow me to stay with you," she finished. She couldn't resist chancing a glimpse at his face.

He was expressionless.

"You would not have become a demon and remained yourself. You would have become a cursed and hybrid thing, your soul trapped within the body the youkai had given you."

He stared directly at her, his voice low as if he were trying to contain his fury.

"I would have had to kill you."

Rin was shaking.

Neither of them said anything for a long moment.

His anger seemed to abate a little. When he spoke his voice was softer.

"Rin, the time during which our lives intersected is over. It is not good for youkai and humans to mingle for long. It is not good for the human, and it is not good for the youkai."

Rin noticed that as he finished he was no longer looking directly at her.

"You've thought about this?"

"Yes," he answered.

His answer surprised her.

"Please, Sesshoumaru. I'm not a little girl anymore. I want to stay with you. Please. I won't be a burden. I'll do anything."

"You're being childish Rin," he said quietly.

Rin opened the front of her robe, and slowly pushed down the material from either shoulder.

She could not bear to look at him.

Sesshoumaru grabbed the hem of her dress and yanked it back over her shoulders.

"I did not raise you to be any man's mistress!" His eyes were burning.

"I will love and do as I please!" Rin's cheeks flushed with shame as she hugged the material against her chest.

Sesshoumaru regarded her.

"And what would please you? You and your bastard children? To be kept or passed away on whim? It would please you to have no status, security or legitimacy? Would you bring forth bastard sons like Inuyasha, sons with no standing or inheritance, except what their father may choose to give them?"

"Your father loved and protected Inuyasha's mother!" she cried.

"And when he died I drove her from his house," he answered coldly.

He paused a moment.

"I am leaving. You are an adult human now. Do what you like."

"Sesshoumaru-sama…"

"I will not interfere in your life again. You will have to depend on Inuyasha to protect you." His voice became ever so slightly mocking. "Or perhaps now you are grown you will find some mighty human warrior to take care of you."

Shame had turned to anger. "You see no value in humans, do you?"

He faced the door.

"No. I do not."

This is it she realized with a shock. He's leaving again, for good this time. Sesshoumaru will not change. She closed her eyes.

I love him she thought. She repeated it to herself. I love him. Through her misery she felt calmer, peaceful. If this was to be their final parting, she would not allow it to be bitter. She was not a little girl crying in the fields anymore. She was a young woman now, and she must be strong. Out of love.

Rin opened her eyes.

He was at the door.

"Sesshoumaru."

He paused and turned his head slightly in her direction.

"Thank you for restoring me to life." She lowered her eyes in respect. "I wish you prosperity and victory in every battle." She swallowed. "Jaken told me that you will be married soon. I hope that the bride that you select will love and honor you as much as you deserve!"

"May you have every happiness," she added fervently.

He turned around fully and looked at her.

"Oh, and--" she said, feeling suddenly far less grand. "And please tell Jaken goodbye for me, and that I'm sorry Inuyasha hit him." She blushed.

He continued staring - an expression Rin found impossible to interpret. She thought he might be angry. And possibly perplexed? His eyes finally narrowed and he scoffed. He stood in the doorway, a scornful high youkai, Lord of the Western Lands.

He turned and left the room.

Good bye she whispered.

To be continued.