InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Like My Master ❯ Ch. 5: History ( Chapter 5 )

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

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters.
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Like My Master
By: Miyukyshan

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Chapter Five: History

Sesshomaru sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He was tired of looking over the scrolls scattered across his desk and longed for the freedom of open land. The demon lord had every intention of leaving for his routine patrol, but he heard nothing about Rin or the new addition to his castle being ready to set out.

Sesshomaru sat back and frowned at the thought of his newly acquired servant. The woman baffled him to no end. She fought better than most of his warriors, but spoke and held herself like a lady of the court. And her behavior the other night regarding Eri was troublesome. Rin's safety was the main reason he purchased the human, but she reacted to physical contact in a disturbing and violent way. Sesshomaru smiled inwardly when he thought of Rin’s overly physical ways of expressing her emotions.

Meeting Rin for the first time will be… shocking. Sesshomaru thought with a grin. He decided he wanted to be present the first time the two females met, just in case Rin overwhelmed the human and made her react the same way she did the other night.

He sighed and leaned back over his scrolls, determined to look over the treaty before he left. He was nearly done when the door to his library slammed open. The demon lord growled and stood, not used to being disturbed in such a manner.

Jaken stood huffing just inside the room with a wild look in his eyes.

"This had better be good, Jaken."

"My Lord, Rin is not in her room. We can't find her anywhere," the toad demon wheezed before he was knocked to the side by the very man he came to see.

Sesshomaru did not hesitate and hurried quickly to his young ward's room. The door was already open and he saw her futon disheveled and empty. He was about to call for a search party when he noticed the door leading into the human's room cracked open. A maid stood cowering in the corner of Rin's room and he turned his attention to her.

"Did anyone look in this room?" he asked, gesturing toward the partially opened screen.

The demon woman shook her head and Sesshomaru growled in frustration. He walked to the door and slid it completely open, surprised by the sight before him.

Cramped on a small futon in the corner lay his young ward curled up to the human woman he was thinking about earlier. Sesshomaru almost smiled at the sight.

It seems Rin wasn't able to wait. He thought as he approached the pair. When he came within a few feet the human opened her eyes and glared at him while pulling Rin closer to her body. The little girl groaned and nuzzled into Sayu's neck, still fast asleep and unaware of the mayhem she caused. When Sayu saw it was her master she relaxed and released her death grip on Rin.

Sesshomaru watched, pleased by the small movement. They had obviously already formed an attachment. He reminded himself to beat Jaken later for his stupidity and then wondered how long the woman had been awake and if she was aware of the chaos Rin's disappearance caused.

"Woman, have you been awake the entire time?" he asked.

Sayu nodded at him and he frowned.

"Why did you not speak up and let them know Rin was with you?"

Sayu glanced down at the child in question before leveling her gaze on Sesshomaru. "The child was up late, Master. I knew we would be traveling today and I wanted her to be properly rested before we set out."

Sesshomaru grunted and turned to leave, but not before looking over his shoulder and saying, "See that she wakes up. There are a lot of preparations that need to be tended to."

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Sayu breathed a sigh of relief when her master closed the door behind him. She looked back down at Rin and smiled. The girl had latched her arms around her torso and was drooling on her shoulder. Sayu patted her on the back and cooed in her ear, waking Rin gently from her deep slumber.

Rin rubbed her eyes and stretched while Sayu rubbed her belly. She smiled up at her protector and wrapped her arms back around her waist.

"Onee-san, I'm so happy Lord Sesshomaru found you," she whispered into her robe.

Sayu smiled and kissed the top of her head before standing up, dragging the girl up with her. "As am I, but you need to get ready now. You've caused all sorts of trouble and need to console your maids. I'm sure Master gave them quite a scare this morning."

Rin looked at her toes guiltily and rushed to her room. Sayu smiled when she heard the girl apologize to the frantic women. A soft knock sounded on her door and she called for the demon to enter.

Eri walked in with a small smile and held out a bundle of clothes. "I managed to get most of the stains out and mended all the tears and rips. It's still disgusting, though."

Sayu chuckled at Eri's forwardness and thanked her but the woman remained in her room.

"Is there something else?" Sayu asked.

"You are requested in the dining hall. Your breakfast will be there," Eri said before leaving.

Sayu frowned once the door closed and quickly changed into her old clothes. She admired Eri's work and smelled the once soiled fabric. The scent of lavender was strong and the holes were patched so well she could barely tell there ever were any. Sayu was happy to see Eri waiting for her outside her room and was escorted to the dining table where she was left alone so the demoness could tend to her other duties.

Sayu looked around uncomfortably, waiting for someone to show up and instruct her on what she needed to do. When Kaito walked in she relaxed somewhat and sat across from him at the table.

"I trust you slept well, despite Lady Rin's intrusion," he said pleasantly.

Sayu awkwardly sipped at her tea and tried not to look like a fool. "I would hardly call it an intrusion. The child is as sweet and innocent as a newborn. I was happy to indulge her."

Kaito grinned at the unassuming human. "So is everything to your liking?"

His question startled Sayu and she wondered if he was trying to test her in some way to see if she was ungrateful. Seeing no ill will in his happy eyes, she placed her tea back on the table and picked at her food. "Of course. I've never had a room of my own, so this is quite… extravagant."

"What do you mean you've never had your own room? Where did you sleep?" Kaito asked.

"Outside my master's chambers, of course. I was hired as a protector and I can't protect if I'm away in some other room."

She didn't see Kaito's smile slip as he looked sadly at her. He put his head down and chewed his rice mechanically. "What other duties did you have?"

"I was often used as an entertainer," she replied, scooping some food in her mouth and chewing slowly.

"Ah, so you were a sex slave?"

Sayu choked on her food at his boldness and beat her chest a few times to dislodge the stubborn lump. Once she could breathe again she washed it down with tea and stared incredulously at the smirking demon. "Absolutely not! My honor remains intact. I was taught to dance and sing. Besides, I couldn't lay with a man even if I wanted to," she said absentmindedly.

"What do you mean by that?"

Sayu looked at the handsome demon through thick lashes and turned back to her food. "Forget I mentioned it."

Kaito sat back and crossed his arms, glaring at the seemingly young woman in front of him. When Sesshomaru had first told him to dine with her and figure out her history, he had been reluctant. But the human was turning out to be a bigger puzzle than he anticipated and he was more and more determined to figure her out.

Sayu felt his glare and scowled. If he really wanted to know, she wasn't at liberty to deny him the information. She sighed and pushed her plate back, losing her appetite at the sensitive subject she was about to reveal. "It's not like my previous masters did not try to force themselves on me," she began slowly, "but the magic in my shackles… prevented them." Sayu ignored the weird look from Kaito and tried to explain something she hardly understood herself. "Before they were able to actually do anything my shackles sent out a rather nasty shock."

"A shock?" Kaito asked.

Sayu nodded her head and squirmed under his intense scrutiny. Her former masters' attempted rapes were not something she enjoyed remembering, or sharing, with strangers.

"You're lucky then. It prevented them from hurting you in that way," Kaito said with a smile. He didn't expect the look of anguish that crossed her features. The emotion was gone so quickly he wondered if he imagined it.

"I guess in that sense, you're right. But, there was a man." Sayu looked away from Kaito and clenched her fists. "There was a man once. I was in love, and I thought he was, too. We wanted to marry. Even though I was a slave there were ways around it. But I told him about my predicament and he left me."

"Then he was scum," Kaito yelled, angry at the man for abandoning the human fidgeting in front of him.

"Perhaps, but would you want a mate you could never really be with? Someone who could never give you children?" Sayu smiled sadly when Kaito sobered and looked away from her. "Precisely. It is the worst aspect of my imprisonment. All I want in life is a mate who loves me and a house full of children."

Kaito suddenly felt he had done something very wrong in asking her to talk about her past. He knew Sesshomaru was nearby and wondered if the proud demon lord felt sorry for her. Probably not in the least. He thought with a wry chuckle. At least he won't try to force himself on her. "So how do the shackles work?"

Sayu was happy to let Kaito change the topic and went back to eating her breakfast. "My master probably hasn't realized it yet, but we are linked both physically and emotionally. The bond between master and slave is an intrusive but necessary one. We can sense one another's emotions. I will be punished if I deliberately disobey an order, or if I do something wrong and he becomes angry enough with me the magic will pick up on it and punish me accordingly."

"What happens when you get… punished?" The word didn't sit well with Kaito.

Sayu shifted uncomfortably and looked down at the metal coiled around her wrists. "I would rather not say, but it isn't pretty. Thankfully I learned early on to do what I was told. Punishment has not been necessary for a long time."

Kaito nodded and decided he'd heard enough. Whoever cursed Sayu must have been powerful, and angry. And Sayu must have done something beyond forgiveness, but she didn't seem to remember anything from before the curse. He sighed and threw his chopsticks down. "Well, I think that's enough for one day. Prepare yourself to leave. Lord Sesshomaru is anxious to be free of these walls."

Sayu nodded and waited for Kaito to rise before getting up and bowing to him. He bowed back awkwardly and took his leave, trying to ignore the pity that knotted up in his stomach. Once he was out of sight, Sayu pressed a hand to her empty stomach and frowned. No, she would be alone and childless until the day she was killed. Sighing, she turned to head back toward her room and wait for orders.

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Kaito turned down the hallway leading to Sesshomaru's study and nearly jumped out of his skin when the dog demon appeared around the corner.

"My Lord," he started, bowing quickly, "I knew you would be close, but not just outside the room. You're lucky she didn't hear you."

Sesshomaru frowned. "Do not be stupid, Kaito. She's just a human." Sesshomaru was disappointed. His best soldier was developing an attachment to the human and that was a relationship that couldn't be formed. But he couldn't deny Kaito's skill when it came to extracting information from people. His charming personality certainly helped, but he also knew which questions to ask and how to ask them.

"You did well. Prepare Ah-Un. We leave immediately." Sesshomaru said before going to collect Jaken.

Kaito scowled and went to get the two-headed dragon ready. He knew Sesshomaru would never admit to it, but they had formed a close friendship despite the demon lord's cold exterior. And sometimes Kaito thought his old friend went a little too far with the uncaring façade. Rin had been able to warm his heart, and his constant devotion to the human child was a testament to that, but he had a long way to go before he would be considered a friendly man.

Kaito shook his head and grinned. The thought of someone referring to Sesshomaru as friendly helped bring him out of his gloomy mood. He smiled flirtatiously at some maids before running to find Ah-Un.

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"Rin?" Sayu called through her door. She smiled when she heard the child's hurried footsteps and stepped back in time for the child to fling the door open and fall into her arms. "Are you ready yet?"

The little girl smiled up at her and grabbed her hand. Sayu let Rin drag her through her room and toward the castle's entrance. Sesshomaru was already waiting outside with a two-headed beast grazing nearby. Sayu glanced at the dragon warily until Rin ran up to it and nuzzled into its neck. She walked up to Sesshomaru and bowed low.

"Are you ready?" she heard him ask.

Sayu chewed her lip and lifted her head slowly. "Master, my sword was not returned to me."

"It is being repaired. It will be ready when we get back," he said.

He turned and walked away from her without another word. Sayu sighed and followed obediently, glad when Rin showed up next to her on top of the dragon.

"Onee-san! Do you want to ride on Ah-Un? He's very friendly," Rin said from her perch.

Sayu smiled at her and looked back at Ah-Un. The dragon snorted at her before turning back to the road, uninterested in their new companion. Rin was still beaming at her so she gave in and climbed up on the dragon.

"I'm so happy you're here, Onee-san. I love traveling with Lord Sesshomaru, but Jaken is no fun and there are no other girls."

Sayu patted the girl on the head and adjusted herself in the saddle. Jaken slowed his pace and started squawking at the pair.

"Listen here, Slave! You are to protect Rin with your life! If you fail to do so Lord Sesshomaru will kill you without a second thought!" the little toad yelled.

"Master Jaken! Her name is Sayu, not slave," Rin scolded.

Sesshomaru looked over his shoulder at the bickering duo and frowned. "Rin," he said.

Rin immediately turned her attention to Sesshomaru and smiled, happy to be addressed by her lord.

"The human was bought to protect you. She is a slave, not a toy for you to play with."

Rin's smile faltered and she knotted her tiny fingers in Ah-Un's mane. The dragon whined at her sadness and snorted at Jaken, effectively shooing away the little toad demon.

Sayu sighed and hopped down from the saddle. This is going to be a long trip.