InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Patchwork Family ❯ Demon on Aisle Five ( Chapter 17 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: Allannarose22 
Sesshomaru and Rosalind make the much needed run for groceries. Who knew the freezer aisle was a place for story telling? It's also the best place to fill a prescription for ice cream.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Supernatural / Romance / Psychological / Drama / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 10.01.2014 | Updated On: 02.14.2015 | Pages: 11 | Words: 7.4K | Visits: 561 | Status: Completed
Sesshomaru and Rosalind make the much needed run for groceries. Who knew the freezer aisle was a place for story telling? It's also the best place to fill a prescription for ice cream.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Supernatural / Romance / Psychological / Drama / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 10.01.2014 | Updated On: 02.14.2015 | Pages: 11 | Words: 7.4K | Visits: 561 | Status: Completed
A/N: All Inuyasha
characters and references belong to the creator of Inuyasha, Rumiko
Takahashi and published by Shogakukan. Any other characters are
more than likely my own creation. If I borrow directly from another
story I will do my best to make sure I give credit where credit is
due. I will also be pulling some material (ideas and inspirations)
from Burn Notice, Scorpion, Supernatural, and Lockwood &
Co.
****
Inuyasha set the tool bag on the coffee table and sunk back into the couch with a groan. He rubbed a hand over his face and Rosalind frowned. “You look exhausted.”
Inuyasha grumbled in mild annoyance, “yeah, I’ve been told. I just hope this isn’t a bad idea.”
Sesshomaru frowned slightly as well. “The girl still limps.”
Inuyasha sat up again and braced his elbows on his knees. “I think the leg’s mostly healed. I’m hoping by tomorrow the limp goes away. Her voice is working better but I think her throat is still pretty raw. It hurts her to talk, but at least she can talk now.”
After a pause Sesshomaru asked, “do you expect trouble? We could send a stringer to watch the location, or I could follow you.”
Inuyasha shook his head. “We don’t know if we can trust any of the stringers. It’ll take time for her to go through all the photos and I don’t even know if we have pictures of all the stringers. We need to get those cameras in as soon as possible. We don’t have enough information right now. This might give us more to work with. And the more people I have with me, the more we’ll be noticed- Nah…” He sighed again and said, “it’s best we just get in and out as fast as we can. And when we get back, I’m taking a nap.”
Sesshomaru raised his eyebrows and gave him a mocking grin. Inuyasha threw a couch pillow at him, muttering, “shut up. I’m tired… Later tonight I’m gonna take her to Walmart to pick up a few things.”
Rosalind spoke up then. “Is there anything I can pick up for her while we’re out?”
Inuyasha just shrugged. “Every time anyone asks her if she needs anything she says no or gives a non-answer. I think it’ll be easier just to put some money in her hand and refuse to leave until she has what she needs.”
He paused before he went on, looking at Rosalind for a moment, then at Sesshomaru. “We’ll need to sit down and talk logistics soon. Kagome’s getting antsy. She’s determined to go back in after the jewel, and she has a lot of information I think she might be willing to share with us. She told me Naraku has a network of stringers all the way down to ”
was one of the most famous places this side of the continent for human trafficking operations. had a long history in the trade, but made look safe as houses in comparison. Sesshomaru’s eyes sharpened a little and he nodded, looking at Rosalind, who’d dropped her gaze to stare at the floor. “Are you ready?” he asked. “My work is done.”
Rosalind looked up and nodded. “Sure, let me go run a bush through my hair and we can go.” She tossed a piece of plastic from the table at Inuyasha, smiling playfully as she got to her feet. “Someone who shall remain nameless thought it was funny to swing me around and try and dump me in the ocean, so, now my hair is sticking up all over.”
He tossed the plastic back at her and she laughed, dancing away into the hallway.
Inuyasha was a little surprised by the degree of disapproval in the look Sesshomaru gave him. “Oh relax. We were goofing around. It was nice outside and I think it helped Kagome loosen up a little to see that Rosie trusted me not to hurt her.”
Sesshomaru thought on this before he said quietly, “keep an eye on her. She could have broken her head open this-morning.”
Inuyasha frowned. “What do you mean?”
Sesshomaru explained, “when I came into the kitchen around six she was standing up on the counter digging in the top cupboard. I could strangle Vaughn for putting the pans up like that. If I hadn’t been there to catch her she could have been seriously hurt.”
Inuyasha nodded and said, “I’ll keep an eye out.”
Kagome walked in, still wearing the over-large black flip flops and the same green t-shirt. She had changed into a pair of jeans that were much looser on her than they should have been. A zippered, black hooded sweater covered her bruised arms. Her long hair was freshly brushed out and, now that the bruises on her face were a beginning to fade, she almost looked normal, if too skinny. She was shoving the little notebook and pen he’d given her before into the pocket of her sweater.
He just looked at her for a moment, frowning again slightly. Something about the sight of her was familiar and he just couldn’t place it. It felt as if she touched a string of memory, but only just enough for him to notice, not enough for him to connect it with anything specific. She raised an eyebrow and he shook himself, standing up and grabbing the tool bag. “Let’s go. Sess, we’ll see you guys later.”
Inuyasha made a quick run back to his rooms and pulled his camo bag back out from under the coffee table. He loaded and holstered his P-07 and one of his smaller knives. After a moment of consideration, he went ahead and pulled out his smallest knife and handed it to Kagome. She blinked at him for a moment in surprise, but took it, carefully sliding it open to take a look. He watched her and said, “it’ll fit in your pocket. I don’t intend for you to be in a position where you need to use it, but just in case.”
She nodded and slid it into her pocket, knowing that if she found herself in a situation where she would want to use it on someone, it would already be too late for it to do her any good. Still, the thought was nice, and the weight of it in her pocket felt comforting none-the-less. Inuyasha moved the hardware bag into the bedroom and locked the door. When they got out to the garage he opened a cabinet on the wall and grabbed a set of keys for the Highlander. Within a few moments, they were on the road back to Arcata.
***
Rosalind let out a little sigh as she looked through her meager belongings. Now that it was almost two in the afternoon, it was too warm for her turtleneck. She went hardly anywhere but home, the bakery (where she worked in the back, was covered in flour and sugar anyway, and rarely saw anyone), and occasionally Sango and Miroku’s little house.
She hadn’t realized how threadbare her clothing had become. But when Sesshomaru had walked into the kitchen for lunch, looking like a million bucks- even in stocking feet, she’d felt a little shabby in comparison. She never usually gave her clothing much thought. She worked in a hot kitchen, so she only really needed things that were durable and that could be stained without worry.
Finally she plucked a short sleeved t-shirt from a drawer and tugged it over her head. It was a plain, worn, gray t-shirt with a pocket on the left side. It was old and there was a small hole on one side near the hem, but it was serviceable. She took a minute to brush her red hair out and pull it into a short braid that hung down over one shoulder.
After she touched up her little bit of makeup and slid her feet into her scuffed brown boots, she grabbed her leather satchel. Like most everything else she owned, it was scuffed and well worn, but at least in this instance, she preferred it that way. The old bag had been a find in a thrift store and the clerk had given it to her for ten dollars. The leather was beginning to crack and dry but she’d gotten some saddle soap and spent an evening working on it. Now it was beautiful.
When she came out of the hallway Sesshomaru was waiting for her in the front hall and he raised a brow in inquiry. She nodded once and said, “sorry, I’m ready.”
She saw the living room was empty, and when they made it to the garage, the only vehicles still parked there were the black truck and Sesshomaru’s silver Ducati. While Sesshomaru fished the keys out of the cabinet, Rosalind stood for a moment, admiring the mix of angles and smooth lines on the BMW motorcycle. It really was a glorious machine; almost elegant, if in a growling, powerful sort of way. She smiled a little to herself at the thought. It fit Sesshomaru perfectly.
Said demon paused next to her on his way to the truck, asking smoothly, “do you ride?”
Rosalind looked up and he recognized that moment of unfocused eyes an artist always had after they’d been examining something with their creative mind. “Hmm? Oh… no, I’ve never been on a motorcycle; I don’t know if I could. I don’t even drive a car that often. Downtown I had everything I needed in walking distance.”
Sesshomaru nodded his understanding and looked at the bike one more time, a little regretfully. The weather was perfect today for a ride and he’d been working so constantly of late that there was a fine layer of dust forming on the silky silver finish. He stepped forward to run a clawed finger through the dirt and said, “I need to wipe it down and take it out. It’s been too long.”
Rosalind smiled a little at the almost longing look in Sesshomaru’s eyes. It was small moments like this where you could really see that, despite his formal and sometimes cool demeanor, he felt the same things everyone else did; he just didn’t process them in quite the same way. Sesshomaru looked up and his eyes caught hers studying him. She flushed a little and gave him a smile. “You should. It’s a beautiful machine. It looks like it’s been bored in here.”
His lips twitched in amusement at the thought. “Perhaps I will.”
As he looked at the bike again, he almost frowned as the thought occurred to him that she might enjoy such an experience. The image of her riding behind him through the redwoods flashed through his mind and he dismissed it immediately. He’d always firmly believed that humans were too fragile to be riding such creations in the first place. They were too easily maimed in the horrific accidents that were possible on a motorcycle. On his Ducati, at nearly 200 miles per hour… if anything were to happen she would be nothing but a fine paste on the road. Still- the trailing thought prodded his better judgment, that if he were the one driving, it might be safe enough.
Sesshomaru shook himself from the train of thought, and held forth an arm, gesturing for her to walk past him to the truck. She ducked her head and did so, making her way around to the passenger side as he unlocked the vehicle and opened her door. She slid in, holding her bag on her lap and bringing her seat belt around to buckle it as he got in as well.
After the big engine roared to life, he backed out into the driveway, rolling down his window to take a look into the burn barrel as he backed past it. It was burning low, and now mostly just housed glowing embers. Rosalind sat quietly, hugging her satchel and looking out the windshield at the bay as they drove into After a few minutes of silence Sesshomaru asked her, “how did you know about the rocks?”
Rosalind looked over at him, clearly confused at the question. He clarified his query. “When you told Kagome this afternoon, about when we get…” He stopped, searching for the right word. When he couldn’t find a ‘right’ word, he said lamely, “upset.”
She tucked an errant strand of deep red hair behind her ear and he saw her blush again, the dusting of light freckles standing out on her cheeks. After a long moment she admitted, “I’ve seen it.”
In response to his frown she hugged her bag tighter and said, “only once or twice. It’s not a big deal. Everyone has to let loose sometimes.”
Sesshomaru continued to frown, searching his memory for the rare occasions he or one of the Warden demons had been upset enough that some senseless violence had been the only way to stay sane. It had only happened to him a few times in his life, and only one of those instances had been while Rosalind had been alive, much less living in California with them. This meant she’d seen someone else lose their control, and he wanted to know who and how. Looking back through the time they’d been here, it could have been a few different occasions.
“When?” he asked, simply.
Rosalind bit her lip for a moment, looking at him nervously. He forced his expression to even out a little, looking over at her. “I’m not angry with you. But I wish to know this.”
She pulled in a breath and said, “when I was thirteen, when Shore House was almost done. It was exactly a year after…” her voice trailed off, as if she couldn’t make herself say the words aloud in his presence.
Sesshomaru finished the sentence for her, his grip tightening enough on the steering wheel to make it creak. “A year after Rhiannon died.”
Rosalind nodded, looking apologetic. He let out a measured sigh. “I didn’t realize you knew about this. It’s not something any of us would advertise.” After a pause he continued, “it’s not how I would have wished you to see me.”
She pondered this for a minute and shrugged her shoulders. “It was pretty intense, I won’t lie. But I understood then… and now. Sometimes things happen, and you have so much feeling inside that you just have to wear yourself out to feel like you won’t explode.”
Sesshomaru looked at her again for a moment and she gave him a small smile. He returned his gaze to the road, thoughtful again. That had been exactly what it had felt like. He’d rammed and crushed and shattered the rocks on the other side of the ridge one night until he was bruised, bloody, and covered in sweat. He’d shattered 18 of the bones in his right hand to tiny pieces and fractured his own shoulder that night. His grief and anger had still been so great that he didn’t dare to show it in front of anyone, especially Rosalind, who’d only been a teenager then, and Rin, whose first birthday had just been celebrated that afternoon.
For the first couple years, Rin’s birthdays had brought him more pain than joy, as much as he loved the little girl. The loss of a mate was often enough to kill a demon of his kind, or cause enough madness in them that another killed them out of either mercy or necessity.
“Did it not frighten you?” he asked, very quietly.
Rosalind thought about this for so long, he almost didn’t think she would answer, and then she said, “It did… a little, but I understood the reason behind it. And you weren’t hurting anyone but yourself… and I knew you would heal.”
“Why have you never mentioned it?” he asked, trying to understand her silence on the matter for all this time.
She turned to look at him again and said, “I couldn’t think of anything that needed to be said. Those kinds of experiences are private things. I knew you wouldn’t hurt me, or Rin, and everyone else around at the time was demon and able to defend themselves if it came down to it. If you had become dangerous to Rin, then I would have taken her and left.”
Sesshomaru stiffened a little in surprise. “You would never have gotten away with Rin.”
She just shrugged. “Koga, Inuyasha and Ayame would have kept you in check.”
Sesshomaru thought about this for a long minute as they sat idle at a red light. The idea that she might have taken his pup and run had never occurred to him, and now that he was thinking about it, the steering wheel creaked again in his grip. The sheer nerve that would have required from a human female, not yet much more than a child herself was unimaginable.
When she looked over at him with a raised brow he said in a low voice, “it’s good that you didn’t run. Had you taken Rin, nothing would have stopped me.”
She gave him a long, assessing look and he said, grudgingly, “Inuyasha would have slowed me down, but in the end, I’m the stronger, unless it’s the full moon, in which case we are almost evenly matched.”
“Would you have killed me?” she asked. He looked over at her again, noted with some surprise that there was no fear in her scent, only a very little of that faint metallic discomfort. He thought carefully before he answered her, turning into the parking lot of Sam’s Club. As he braked in a parking space he said, “I don’t believe so.”
She raised a brow again. “But you can’t be sure?”
He thought back to the rage and grief that had torn his insides to shreds nearly a decade past and shook his head. “No. I cannot be certain.”
She surprised him then, reaching over to lay her slim hand on his arm, giving it a small squeeze. “Well I am, so don’t worry about it. It’s irrelevant… because I knew, no matter how much you were angry, and hurting, you wouldn’t harm your own pack. It’s not in you.”
He continued to frown for a moment. “That’s a big assumption.” He studied her face, but saw no doubt, only complete and total faith. Somehow it made something inside him feel like a fake, a bare imitation. He felt compelled to voice a simple, but important fact. “It was not always so.”
She gave him a smile and pulled the strap of her bag across her shoulders. She could tell he was uncomfortable with where he was in his head. English being not his first language, she’d noticed that he tended to drop his contractions when he got upset or distressed. Inuyasha, Koga and Ayame all did it too sometimes. “But it is the case now,” she said with certainty. “And it was then, and it will be for the foreseeable future. And that’s what matters.”
He shook his head at her optimism, but opened the driver’s side door. He thought back, and realized he’d run a pack, at least of sorts, for nearly the past 300 years, maybe longer. It was strange, as he’d never meant to gather a pack this way. It was something that had just sort of happened. As he came around the truck to walk next to her in the direction of the store entrance, he was forced to admit she might be right. As they walked in the sunshine he asked, “you saw such behavior from another?”
Rosalind nodded and sighed, a little sad at the memory. “Yes. It was Gabriel once, about three months after he joined the wardens permanently. I think it was when I was about 15… What was he upset about?”
There was silence for long enough, that she thought he wasn’t going to answer her, then he said, “Gabriel’s situation shared some similarities with my own at the time. I’m afraid that is a matter that I don’t have the right to discuss.” He looked over at her and continued, “though I expect he would be willing to share the information with you if you asked.”
Rosalind had to bite down on her lip to keep from laughing at the look on the face of the old lady who was working as a greeter. The white haired woman was stationed in a high bar chair by the front entrance. When she and Sesshomaru came into the store the woman had begun to wish them a good afternoon, but stopped in her tracks. Her words had dried up in her surprise at the sight of the tall, silver haired demon, with golden eyes and magenta markings on jaw, and on wrists where his shirt sleeves were rolled back. Sesshomaru gave her a blank look before saying somewhat stiffly, “good afternoon.”
Without giving her a chance to recover and return the greeting… or not, he continued on his way to retrieve one of the large shopping carts, leaving her in little doubt about what he cared for her assessment of him. Demons were not uncommon and had, to some degree, integrated into human society, but many of them could resemble a human in passing if they wanted to.
Sesshomaru was not one of those demons; and she imagined even if he had been, he wouldn’t be inclined in the slightest to pretend he was anything other than what he was. It was one of the qualities she admired in him. Indeed, as a kid, she’d taken some of her cues on self-assurance from him as she grew up and figured out who she was. She knew many of the older demons tended to be something impressive to look at, it was part of the reason they’d lived so long. They didn’t survive many hundreds of years without being something remarkable
Rosalind took the cart from him, having trouble imagining Sesshomaru pushing a shopping cart. She realized all of a sudden, and with some amusement, that this was the first time she’d ever seen him in a grocery store of any kind. Glancing at the plastic safety picture attached to the cart where a child would sit, she let loose a small, mostly internal sigh. She settled the satchel into the seat, fleetingly wondering if she would ever be in a position to have a child to put in a shopping cart someday. She’d known, shortly after she began taking care of the newborn Rin, that she wanted children of her own someday. The discovery about herself had surprised her at the time, as her own family history had been so troubled. The thought was brushed aside as quickly as it had come and she pushed the cart forward.
She pulled over next to a stand of sale items, out of the lanes of foot traffic, and pulled out her list. Sesshomaru watched, with some amusement, as she pondered the piece of paper. Her pale pink lips were tugged to one side in what he thought of as her ‘plotting’ look. He was in no rush, and waited for her to indicate what she wanted to do, intense gold eyes moving to study the small crowd in the store. As it was a Thursday afternoon, the building was not as busy as it might have been, and his ears and nose appreciated that.
Finally she said, “I just realized I don’t know if you need anything for the house that isn’t grocery. Should we run through the back section for toilet paper or paper plates or anything?”
Sesshomaru thought about this, then nodded, saying simply, “that would be wise.”
As they made their way to the back of the store, they walked through the section of books, laid out in stacks on long, low tables. Rosalind’s determined pace slowed without her realizing it as she looked over the titles, until she finally paused, running her fingers over the brightly colored artwork on a children’s book. She picked it up and read the back of it, a smile settling on her face.
Sesshomaru paused too just behind her, looking over her shoulder at the book titled, Because of Winn Dixie. After a moment he asked, “this interests you?”
She looked up, as if pulling her mind back from somewhere far away. “Actually, I was thinking Rin would like it. It might be a challenge for her now, but she’s a strong reader. I’ve read this story and it’s beautiful. What do you think?”
Rosalind held the book out to him and he stepped forward to stand at her side, flipping through the pages. His lips twitched into an amused smile. “It’s about a dog?”
Rosalind nodded, smiling back. “Yes, a wonderful dog. See how there are half a dozen blank pages in the front and back? It’s a nice hardcover so it should last a long time. I thought I could mount some water color illustrations on those blank pages and give it to her for her birthday.”
Sesshomaru nodded and handed the book back to her. “She would enjoy that a great deal I think. Buy it.” She took the book and set it up-right next to her satchel, doing her best not to stop and look at any of the other books as she passed them by. She went straight to the back corner shelves and looked at the prices over the paper plates, napkins, and other paper and household items. Finally she held up two huge packs of paper plates. “Will these do? They’re the cheapest I think, once you do the math.”
Sesshomaru nodded and took the heavy packages from her, sliding them into the shelf under the cart. Next she carefully selected toilet paper, napkins, and both dishwasher and hand soap. He watched as she painstakingly considered each item before holding it out for approval. She seemed very hyper-conscious of the fact that it was not her money she was spending and as a result, sought his confirmation at every turn.
He had to watch her closely to make sure she didn’t attempt to lift anything that was too heavy for her. He stepped in to pick up the 50 lb. bucket of baking soda, set it in the bottom of the cart, and braced his hands on his hips. She was writing the price next to each thing on the list and it took her a moment to realize he was looking at her. Her mouth twisted to the side a little as she looked up at him, nervously, sensing he had an issue to address with her.
Once he was sure he had her attention, he explained, “this is paid for with assets that have been specifically allocated for house expenses incurred by any Wardens’ needs at headquarters. Not only does this include you, but I trust, and currently choose to rely on your judgment on such matters, without reservation. It’s not necessary to ask permission when you need something for the house… or for you.”
When she continued to look unsure, he pulled out his wallet and handed her two plastic debit cards. One was from a small local bank in , and the other sported the golden eagle logo of First Republic Bank. She took the cards hesitantly, and saw that the one from had the letter H on the back in permanent marker, and the other card… She frowned and looked back up at him. “Why does this one have my name on it? Did Inuyasha ask you to do this?”
Sesshomaru’s expression remained flat as he said, “I did this based, in part, on information from him, yes, but not solely on that information. The income gained by any Warden contributions, be they cash or otherwise, is invested to grow more capitol, or to support our interests. A percentage of any returning income belongs to each member. It’s inconvenient to ask for money that already belongs to you. I should have given you your own card a long time ago but the matter somehow escaped my attention.”
Rosalind opened her mouth to protest, but closed it again, not knowing what to say. He watched her struggle for a minute before he said, “if it helps, Sango and Miroku have their own card with which they can access these assets, as do Koga and Ayame, Gabriel and Inuyasha. I ask that they discuss any large expenditure with me before making the transaction so that I can plan accordingly, and to keep a register whenever they use the card, submitting a copy to myself or Miroku at the end of every month for book keeping.”
Rosalind frowned a little in thought, remembering the registers he spoke of from the occasions when she’d helped Miroku reconcile the accounting work for the gang. She’d also seen the monthly balance to this account and knew the number to be staggeringly high. Slowly, she nodded and held up the card. “What’s the budget for the house shopping then?” He adopted a slightly rueful smile. “We don’t really have one at the moment. Current circumstances are abnormal and somewhat fluid, so I shall leave it to your discretion.”
When she still looked uncomfortable he met her eyes and told her, “I trust this in your hands. It’s a rare individual that goes to the extent you do to be frugal.” His brows lowered a little in a frown as he continued. “I expect this is partly a result of our lack of attention on your well-being in recent years.”
Rosalind shook her head firmly and frowned right back up at him. “I’m an adult Sesshomaru. I can take care of myself.” Sesshomaru nodded his agreement. “Yes, I have no doubt. But you are rarely caring only for yourself. I’m not giving you anything that isn’t already your rightful property, and well earned. I’m not, and never have been in the habit of charity. I don’t believe in it.”
She pursed her lips and sighed, opening the satchel to shove the cards into her bill fold, knowing there was no point in arguing. She’d never seen anyone argue with Sesshomaru and win. Privately she thought he was likely to be the most stubborn creature on the face of the planet, and muttered as she turned the cart down the first freezer isle, “that’s basically what Inuyasha said, only you use prettier words.”
Sesshomaru let out a low slung laugh of amusement roll from his chest and commented, “in this at least, my half-brother is correct.”
Rosalind looked up, raising an eyebrow. “Inuyasha’s only your half-brother? You’d never know, looking at you two together.”
Sesshomaru adopted a wry smile as Rosalind considered shelves of frozen chicken. “Yes.” He said simply. She set five bags of chicken in the cart and looked back up at him, seemingly waiting for more to his statement. After a moment he explained. “My mother was a Tai Yokai, and the first consort of my father, who was a Dai Yokai, directly descended from an original Inugami.”
He paused for a moment, searching for the English translation of the term, then went on. “From an original Dog God, which in and of itself is a complex matter. When I was an adolescent, my sire chose to leave my mother. He had fallen in love with a human woman named Izayoi.”
Rosalind leaned against freezer door, crossing her arms over her chest and breathing out the words, “oh… Inuyasha’s mother… I see.”
Sesshomaru looked at her intently. “Do you?”
She pondered this for a moment, frowning. “Well- I can see how that would cause some problems between you. Inuyasha mentioned you didn’t get along in earlier years.”
Sesshomaru’s lips twitched into a bitter smile. “That is understating the matter by gargantuan proportions, I’m afraid.”
She raised a curious eyebrow, and he reached for the cuff of his left sleeve. She watched as he unbuttoned the cuff, and carefully rolled the sleeve up his smoothly muscled arm until she saw the discoloration of the scar she’d noticed that morning. It looked as if it went all the way around his arm above the elbow. When her green eyes finally moved back from the scar to meet his own gaze, he rolled the sleeve back down again.
Rosalind’s frown had deepened. “Inuyasha did that?”
Sesshomaru let out a bark of harsh laughter with a bitter smile he glanced around to be sure no one was listening, then he said, “he removed my arm; severed the limb completely, and while I was in my fullest physical form; when he has no form other than what he is now, small, and human-like.” Sesshomaru finished his statement sounding thoughtful. “He was a rather impetuous whelp.”
Rosalind looked floored and a little outraged as she hissed, “he cut OFF your arm? This is the Inuyasha I know? That was playing in the water this morning? And you were able to grow it back?” She knew Inuyasha was capable of a great many things, but she couldn’t imagine him committing such violence against his own brother.
Sesshomaru’s expression flattened and he admitted, “to give an objective account, I’ll allow that I did attack him first- in that instance.”
The young woman looked thoroughly confused and almost exasperated. He almost forgot sometimes how different things had been back then. Rosalind took a moment to process everything he’d just said and asked, “you have another form? What does that mean? Different than what you look like now?”
Sesshomaru considered her question carefully and said, “much different, yes. It’s complicated… and takes a great deal of energy. Perhaps sometime you’ll see, though ideally we will never have reason for it, beyond the possible satiation of curiosity.” He was a little disgusted with the small, vain part of himself that actually wanted to show her, as if it would satisfy him for her to know what he was on that level.
He promptly ignored the feeling and continued to explain. “The human and demon cultures of the world were very different then. Compounded upon the issue was the fact that Inuyasha’s mother was human. It’s only very recently that it’s become more acceptable, and only in some circles, for demons to become attached to a human as anything other than a meal, or tool. And it’s both unlikely and generally considered distasteful for a demon of any real stature to take one as mate.”
Rosalind licked her lips, her eyes dropping for a moment to his fanged canines, just barely visible in his limited smile, before she met his gaze again and swallowed almost audibly. He flashed her a grin only a born predator could give, and let out a low rolling chuckle of dark amusement. She realized she sometimes forgot that demons were very different from humans when it came to the reptilian part of the brain. She wondered if Sesshomaru had ever eaten a human, then… wrinkled her nose and decided she didn’t want to know. ‘Besides,’ she thought a little morbidly, ‘there are some humans that might deserve it.’
She marked a few more things from her list as she said, “I’ve known for a long time that Inuyasha was a half demon, and I’ve always known you were a full demon, but I guess I never really thought about it before- I mean, that you would have had to have a parent different from each other.”
Sesshomaru only nodded. He wasn’t used to discussing such personal matters, let alone doing so in the middle of a frozen foods isle at a wholesale grocery market. He looked around the store as he thought. He wondered briefly why he was explaining these things to her, and if he ever would have, had Inuyasha not made such an indiscreet comment earlier.
Rosalind put a hand on the front grill of the cart and tugged it behind her, loading it with bags of shredded cheese and vegetables before she asked hesitantly, “so… are your parents still around? I don’t know how long you guys tend to live, beyond that it’s longer than I ever will,” she said, letting out a soft laugh.
Sesshomaru looked at her, standing in her worn out t-shirt and jeans, thick red hair in a messy braid, bright green eyes flashing with curiosity, and he knew a moment of discontent that this was indeed so. Humans lived such short lives. It was one of the things that he’d discovered difficulty in when he’d begun to associate with them, beyond the level of master and servant. They were so vibrant and alive, and then gone in a short 65 or 80 years, often less. Looking at the woman before him, he had a hard time imagining her growing old and bitter, or fading away to ash as if she’d never been.
When she raised one auburn brow he shook free of these thoughts and slid his hands in the pockets of his slacks. “My mother is still alive, as far as I know. If she survives yet, she is something like 900 years of age. I don’t see her often. Between one thing and another…” he paused, reflecting on the memories he had of the woman who had brought him into this world. He pursed his lips and finished simply, “we were not close in the way human parents are to their young.”
Rosalind’s lip curled in a wry smile of her own as she turned away, busying herself with pulling the cart around to the next isle. As she lifted four gallons of milk into the cart she sighed and said, “yeah… well… not all humans work that way.”
Sesshomaru realized belatedly that his statement had been a careless, generalized comment, considering what he knew of her own experiences. “This I know. I am sorry.”
Rosalind’s cheeks stained red and he was puzzled. He breathed deeply through his nose, pulling in her scent inconspicuously, trying to understand. His head turned just slightly to one side as he asked, “this makes you feel shame. Why?”
She looked up at him for a moment, then her eyes slid away, her blush deepening as she pulled out three flats of eggs, checked the dates, and stacked them gently over her satchel at the top of the cart. The constant fact that those around her would know exactly how she felt was something she’d forgotten in the time she’d lived on her own. She knew there was no point in denying his observation, and decided that as he had shared so much, it was the least she could do to answer his question. She gripped the side of the cart and said in a measured voice, “honestly, until you asked, I never actually put a name to it, but I suppose, it does make me feel some shame… and anger, even now that it doesn’t matter anymore.”
Sesshomaru frowned. “It affects your present state of being; therefore it matters still.” She smiled and shrugged. “I guess… I feel shame because…” and she paused for a moment to examine the feeling better before she admitted, “because a part of me will always wonder- what I could have done differently so that my parents would have wanted me for more than a sales commodity and free labor.”
When she pulled in a deep breath and turned away, he noticed she was careful not to meet his eyes as she walked at the front of the cart, pulling it along behind her towards the back of the produce section. As she scrutinized a large bag of apples for bruises, he said quietly. “I’ve made you unhappy again. For this also, I’m sorry.” Privately he thought this was likely the first time in over 700 years he’d apologized to someone twice in one day, but found that the feeling was sincere. This made him remember Rin’s prescription for the treatment of sadness. Rosalind looked up and saw him stride around the corner to the big freezers and come back with a bucket of chocolate ice cream.
When he set the plastic container down next to her bag of apples she raised an eyebrow, giving him an inquiring smile. “I didn’t know you liked ice cream.”
Sesshomaru brushed the frost of the container from his hands and said, “I don’t. Rin informed me this-morning that ice cream helps one not to feel sad.” Rosalind was a little incredulous when she saw the corners of his lips twitch into a teasing smile. He was teasing her? She tried to remember if he’d ever teased her before, and couldn’t come up with an answer. Then his words hit her and she realized their full implications.
Rosalind covered her face with her hands for a moment and groaned. “Oh Sesshomaru, I’m so sorry. Rin walked in on me this morning after we talked at breakfast, before…” she dropped her hands and clasped them together anxiously against her chest. “She came in before I’d quite pulled myself together… and she thought I was sad.”
Sesshomaru cocked his head again a little in inquiry. “Were you?”
She chewed her lip for a moment before shrugging. “I don’t know, maybe a little. I’m fine though; it’s not a big deal.”
Sesshomaru nodded to the frozen dessert. “Does ice cream help?”
Rosalind smiled and let out a genuine laugh, before she nodded. “Yes- I suppose it does. Ice cream sounds great.” She met his eyes and said, “thank you Sesshomaru.”
****
Inuyasha set the tool bag on the coffee table and sunk back into the couch with a groan. He rubbed a hand over his face and Rosalind frowned. “You look exhausted.”
Inuyasha grumbled in mild annoyance, “yeah, I’ve been told. I just hope this isn’t a bad idea.”
Sesshomaru frowned slightly as well. “The girl still limps.”
Inuyasha sat up again and braced his elbows on his knees. “I think the leg’s mostly healed. I’m hoping by tomorrow the limp goes away. Her voice is working better but I think her throat is still pretty raw. It hurts her to talk, but at least she can talk now.”
After a pause Sesshomaru asked, “do you expect trouble? We could send a stringer to watch the location, or I could follow you.”
Inuyasha shook his head. “We don’t know if we can trust any of the stringers. It’ll take time for her to go through all the photos and I don’t even know if we have pictures of all the stringers. We need to get those cameras in as soon as possible. We don’t have enough information right now. This might give us more to work with. And the more people I have with me, the more we’ll be noticed- Nah…” He sighed again and said, “it’s best we just get in and out as fast as we can. And when we get back, I’m taking a nap.”
Sesshomaru raised his eyebrows and gave him a mocking grin. Inuyasha threw a couch pillow at him, muttering, “shut up. I’m tired… Later tonight I’m gonna take her to Walmart to pick up a few things.”
Rosalind spoke up then. “Is there anything I can pick up for her while we’re out?”
Inuyasha just shrugged. “Every time anyone asks her if she needs anything she says no or gives a non-answer. I think it’ll be easier just to put some money in her hand and refuse to leave until she has what she needs.”
He paused before he went on, looking at Rosalind for a moment, then at Sesshomaru. “We’ll need to sit down and talk logistics soon. Kagome’s getting antsy. She’s determined to go back in after the jewel, and she has a lot of information I think she might be willing to share with us. She told me Naraku has a network of stringers all the way down to ”
was one of the most famous places this side of the continent for human trafficking operations. had a long history in the trade, but made look safe as houses in comparison. Sesshomaru’s eyes sharpened a little and he nodded, looking at Rosalind, who’d dropped her gaze to stare at the floor. “Are you ready?” he asked. “My work is done.”
Rosalind looked up and nodded. “Sure, let me go run a bush through my hair and we can go.” She tossed a piece of plastic from the table at Inuyasha, smiling playfully as she got to her feet. “Someone who shall remain nameless thought it was funny to swing me around and try and dump me in the ocean, so, now my hair is sticking up all over.”
He tossed the plastic back at her and she laughed, dancing away into the hallway.
Inuyasha was a little surprised by the degree of disapproval in the look Sesshomaru gave him. “Oh relax. We were goofing around. It was nice outside and I think it helped Kagome loosen up a little to see that Rosie trusted me not to hurt her.”
Sesshomaru thought on this before he said quietly, “keep an eye on her. She could have broken her head open this-morning.”
Inuyasha frowned. “What do you mean?”
Sesshomaru explained, “when I came into the kitchen around six she was standing up on the counter digging in the top cupboard. I could strangle Vaughn for putting the pans up like that. If I hadn’t been there to catch her she could have been seriously hurt.”
Inuyasha nodded and said, “I’ll keep an eye out.”
Kagome walked in, still wearing the over-large black flip flops and the same green t-shirt. She had changed into a pair of jeans that were much looser on her than they should have been. A zippered, black hooded sweater covered her bruised arms. Her long hair was freshly brushed out and, now that the bruises on her face were a beginning to fade, she almost looked normal, if too skinny. She was shoving the little notebook and pen he’d given her before into the pocket of her sweater.
He just looked at her for a moment, frowning again slightly. Something about the sight of her was familiar and he just couldn’t place it. It felt as if she touched a string of memory, but only just enough for him to notice, not enough for him to connect it with anything specific. She raised an eyebrow and he shook himself, standing up and grabbing the tool bag. “Let’s go. Sess, we’ll see you guys later.”
Inuyasha made a quick run back to his rooms and pulled his camo bag back out from under the coffee table. He loaded and holstered his P-07 and one of his smaller knives. After a moment of consideration, he went ahead and pulled out his smallest knife and handed it to Kagome. She blinked at him for a moment in surprise, but took it, carefully sliding it open to take a look. He watched her and said, “it’ll fit in your pocket. I don’t intend for you to be in a position where you need to use it, but just in case.”
She nodded and slid it into her pocket, knowing that if she found herself in a situation where she would want to use it on someone, it would already be too late for it to do her any good. Still, the thought was nice, and the weight of it in her pocket felt comforting none-the-less. Inuyasha moved the hardware bag into the bedroom and locked the door. When they got out to the garage he opened a cabinet on the wall and grabbed a set of keys for the Highlander. Within a few moments, they were on the road back to Arcata.
***
Rosalind let out a little sigh as she looked through her meager belongings. Now that it was almost two in the afternoon, it was too warm for her turtleneck. She went hardly anywhere but home, the bakery (where she worked in the back, was covered in flour and sugar anyway, and rarely saw anyone), and occasionally Sango and Miroku’s little house.
She hadn’t realized how threadbare her clothing had become. But when Sesshomaru had walked into the kitchen for lunch, looking like a million bucks- even in stocking feet, she’d felt a little shabby in comparison. She never usually gave her clothing much thought. She worked in a hot kitchen, so she only really needed things that were durable and that could be stained without worry.
Finally she plucked a short sleeved t-shirt from a drawer and tugged it over her head. It was a plain, worn, gray t-shirt with a pocket on the left side. It was old and there was a small hole on one side near the hem, but it was serviceable. She took a minute to brush her red hair out and pull it into a short braid that hung down over one shoulder.
After she touched up her little bit of makeup and slid her feet into her scuffed brown boots, she grabbed her leather satchel. Like most everything else she owned, it was scuffed and well worn, but at least in this instance, she preferred it that way. The old bag had been a find in a thrift store and the clerk had given it to her for ten dollars. The leather was beginning to crack and dry but she’d gotten some saddle soap and spent an evening working on it. Now it was beautiful.
When she came out of the hallway Sesshomaru was waiting for her in the front hall and he raised a brow in inquiry. She nodded once and said, “sorry, I’m ready.”
She saw the living room was empty, and when they made it to the garage, the only vehicles still parked there were the black truck and Sesshomaru’s silver Ducati. While Sesshomaru fished the keys out of the cabinet, Rosalind stood for a moment, admiring the mix of angles and smooth lines on the BMW motorcycle. It really was a glorious machine; almost elegant, if in a growling, powerful sort of way. She smiled a little to herself at the thought. It fit Sesshomaru perfectly.
Said demon paused next to her on his way to the truck, asking smoothly, “do you ride?”
Rosalind looked up and he recognized that moment of unfocused eyes an artist always had after they’d been examining something with their creative mind. “Hmm? Oh… no, I’ve never been on a motorcycle; I don’t know if I could. I don’t even drive a car that often. Downtown I had everything I needed in walking distance.”
Sesshomaru nodded his understanding and looked at the bike one more time, a little regretfully. The weather was perfect today for a ride and he’d been working so constantly of late that there was a fine layer of dust forming on the silky silver finish. He stepped forward to run a clawed finger through the dirt and said, “I need to wipe it down and take it out. It’s been too long.”
Rosalind smiled a little at the almost longing look in Sesshomaru’s eyes. It was small moments like this where you could really see that, despite his formal and sometimes cool demeanor, he felt the same things everyone else did; he just didn’t process them in quite the same way. Sesshomaru looked up and his eyes caught hers studying him. She flushed a little and gave him a smile. “You should. It’s a beautiful machine. It looks like it’s been bored in here.”
His lips twitched in amusement at the thought. “Perhaps I will.”
As he looked at the bike again, he almost frowned as the thought occurred to him that she might enjoy such an experience. The image of her riding behind him through the redwoods flashed through his mind and he dismissed it immediately. He’d always firmly believed that humans were too fragile to be riding such creations in the first place. They were too easily maimed in the horrific accidents that were possible on a motorcycle. On his Ducati, at nearly 200 miles per hour… if anything were to happen she would be nothing but a fine paste on the road. Still- the trailing thought prodded his better judgment, that if he were the one driving, it might be safe enough.
Sesshomaru shook himself from the train of thought, and held forth an arm, gesturing for her to walk past him to the truck. She ducked her head and did so, making her way around to the passenger side as he unlocked the vehicle and opened her door. She slid in, holding her bag on her lap and bringing her seat belt around to buckle it as he got in as well.
After the big engine roared to life, he backed out into the driveway, rolling down his window to take a look into the burn barrel as he backed past it. It was burning low, and now mostly just housed glowing embers. Rosalind sat quietly, hugging her satchel and looking out the windshield at the bay as they drove into After a few minutes of silence Sesshomaru asked her, “how did you know about the rocks?”
Rosalind looked over at him, clearly confused at the question. He clarified his query. “When you told Kagome this afternoon, about when we get…” He stopped, searching for the right word. When he couldn’t find a ‘right’ word, he said lamely, “upset.”
She tucked an errant strand of deep red hair behind her ear and he saw her blush again, the dusting of light freckles standing out on her cheeks. After a long moment she admitted, “I’ve seen it.”
In response to his frown she hugged her bag tighter and said, “only once or twice. It’s not a big deal. Everyone has to let loose sometimes.”
Sesshomaru continued to frown, searching his memory for the rare occasions he or one of the Warden demons had been upset enough that some senseless violence had been the only way to stay sane. It had only happened to him a few times in his life, and only one of those instances had been while Rosalind had been alive, much less living in California with them. This meant she’d seen someone else lose their control, and he wanted to know who and how. Looking back through the time they’d been here, it could have been a few different occasions.
“When?” he asked, simply.
Rosalind bit her lip for a moment, looking at him nervously. He forced his expression to even out a little, looking over at her. “I’m not angry with you. But I wish to know this.”
She pulled in a breath and said, “when I was thirteen, when Shore House was almost done. It was exactly a year after…” her voice trailed off, as if she couldn’t make herself say the words aloud in his presence.
Sesshomaru finished the sentence for her, his grip tightening enough on the steering wheel to make it creak. “A year after Rhiannon died.”
Rosalind nodded, looking apologetic. He let out a measured sigh. “I didn’t realize you knew about this. It’s not something any of us would advertise.” After a pause he continued, “it’s not how I would have wished you to see me.”
She pondered this for a minute and shrugged her shoulders. “It was pretty intense, I won’t lie. But I understood then… and now. Sometimes things happen, and you have so much feeling inside that you just have to wear yourself out to feel like you won’t explode.”
Sesshomaru looked at her again for a moment and she gave him a small smile. He returned his gaze to the road, thoughtful again. That had been exactly what it had felt like. He’d rammed and crushed and shattered the rocks on the other side of the ridge one night until he was bruised, bloody, and covered in sweat. He’d shattered 18 of the bones in his right hand to tiny pieces and fractured his own shoulder that night. His grief and anger had still been so great that he didn’t dare to show it in front of anyone, especially Rosalind, who’d only been a teenager then, and Rin, whose first birthday had just been celebrated that afternoon.
For the first couple years, Rin’s birthdays had brought him more pain than joy, as much as he loved the little girl. The loss of a mate was often enough to kill a demon of his kind, or cause enough madness in them that another killed them out of either mercy or necessity.
“Did it not frighten you?” he asked, very quietly.
Rosalind thought about this for so long, he almost didn’t think she would answer, and then she said, “It did… a little, but I understood the reason behind it. And you weren’t hurting anyone but yourself… and I knew you would heal.”
“Why have you never mentioned it?” he asked, trying to understand her silence on the matter for all this time.
She turned to look at him again and said, “I couldn’t think of anything that needed to be said. Those kinds of experiences are private things. I knew you wouldn’t hurt me, or Rin, and everyone else around at the time was demon and able to defend themselves if it came down to it. If you had become dangerous to Rin, then I would have taken her and left.”
Sesshomaru stiffened a little in surprise. “You would never have gotten away with Rin.”
She just shrugged. “Koga, Inuyasha and Ayame would have kept you in check.”
Sesshomaru thought about this for a long minute as they sat idle at a red light. The idea that she might have taken his pup and run had never occurred to him, and now that he was thinking about it, the steering wheel creaked again in his grip. The sheer nerve that would have required from a human female, not yet much more than a child herself was unimaginable.
When she looked over at him with a raised brow he said in a low voice, “it’s good that you didn’t run. Had you taken Rin, nothing would have stopped me.”
She gave him a long, assessing look and he said, grudgingly, “Inuyasha would have slowed me down, but in the end, I’m the stronger, unless it’s the full moon, in which case we are almost evenly matched.”
“Would you have killed me?” she asked. He looked over at her again, noted with some surprise that there was no fear in her scent, only a very little of that faint metallic discomfort. He thought carefully before he answered her, turning into the parking lot of Sam’s Club. As he braked in a parking space he said, “I don’t believe so.”
She raised a brow again. “But you can’t be sure?”
He thought back to the rage and grief that had torn his insides to shreds nearly a decade past and shook his head. “No. I cannot be certain.”
She surprised him then, reaching over to lay her slim hand on his arm, giving it a small squeeze. “Well I am, so don’t worry about it. It’s irrelevant… because I knew, no matter how much you were angry, and hurting, you wouldn’t harm your own pack. It’s not in you.”
He continued to frown for a moment. “That’s a big assumption.” He studied her face, but saw no doubt, only complete and total faith. Somehow it made something inside him feel like a fake, a bare imitation. He felt compelled to voice a simple, but important fact. “It was not always so.”
She gave him a smile and pulled the strap of her bag across her shoulders. She could tell he was uncomfortable with where he was in his head. English being not his first language, she’d noticed that he tended to drop his contractions when he got upset or distressed. Inuyasha, Koga and Ayame all did it too sometimes. “But it is the case now,” she said with certainty. “And it was then, and it will be for the foreseeable future. And that’s what matters.”
He shook his head at her optimism, but opened the driver’s side door. He thought back, and realized he’d run a pack, at least of sorts, for nearly the past 300 years, maybe longer. It was strange, as he’d never meant to gather a pack this way. It was something that had just sort of happened. As he came around the truck to walk next to her in the direction of the store entrance, he was forced to admit she might be right. As they walked in the sunshine he asked, “you saw such behavior from another?”
Rosalind nodded and sighed, a little sad at the memory. “Yes. It was Gabriel once, about three months after he joined the wardens permanently. I think it was when I was about 15… What was he upset about?”
There was silence for long enough, that she thought he wasn’t going to answer her, then he said, “Gabriel’s situation shared some similarities with my own at the time. I’m afraid that is a matter that I don’t have the right to discuss.” He looked over at her and continued, “though I expect he would be willing to share the information with you if you asked.”
Rosalind had to bite down on her lip to keep from laughing at the look on the face of the old lady who was working as a greeter. The white haired woman was stationed in a high bar chair by the front entrance. When she and Sesshomaru came into the store the woman had begun to wish them a good afternoon, but stopped in her tracks. Her words had dried up in her surprise at the sight of the tall, silver haired demon, with golden eyes and magenta markings on jaw, and on wrists where his shirt sleeves were rolled back. Sesshomaru gave her a blank look before saying somewhat stiffly, “good afternoon.”
Without giving her a chance to recover and return the greeting… or not, he continued on his way to retrieve one of the large shopping carts, leaving her in little doubt about what he cared for her assessment of him. Demons were not uncommon and had, to some degree, integrated into human society, but many of them could resemble a human in passing if they wanted to.
Sesshomaru was not one of those demons; and she imagined even if he had been, he wouldn’t be inclined in the slightest to pretend he was anything other than what he was. It was one of the qualities she admired in him. Indeed, as a kid, she’d taken some of her cues on self-assurance from him as she grew up and figured out who she was. She knew many of the older demons tended to be something impressive to look at, it was part of the reason they’d lived so long. They didn’t survive many hundreds of years without being something remarkable
Rosalind took the cart from him, having trouble imagining Sesshomaru pushing a shopping cart. She realized all of a sudden, and with some amusement, that this was the first time she’d ever seen him in a grocery store of any kind. Glancing at the plastic safety picture attached to the cart where a child would sit, she let loose a small, mostly internal sigh. She settled the satchel into the seat, fleetingly wondering if she would ever be in a position to have a child to put in a shopping cart someday. She’d known, shortly after she began taking care of the newborn Rin, that she wanted children of her own someday. The discovery about herself had surprised her at the time, as her own family history had been so troubled. The thought was brushed aside as quickly as it had come and she pushed the cart forward.
She pulled over next to a stand of sale items, out of the lanes of foot traffic, and pulled out her list. Sesshomaru watched, with some amusement, as she pondered the piece of paper. Her pale pink lips were tugged to one side in what he thought of as her ‘plotting’ look. He was in no rush, and waited for her to indicate what she wanted to do, intense gold eyes moving to study the small crowd in the store. As it was a Thursday afternoon, the building was not as busy as it might have been, and his ears and nose appreciated that.
Finally she said, “I just realized I don’t know if you need anything for the house that isn’t grocery. Should we run through the back section for toilet paper or paper plates or anything?”
Sesshomaru thought about this, then nodded, saying simply, “that would be wise.”
As they made their way to the back of the store, they walked through the section of books, laid out in stacks on long, low tables. Rosalind’s determined pace slowed without her realizing it as she looked over the titles, until she finally paused, running her fingers over the brightly colored artwork on a children’s book. She picked it up and read the back of it, a smile settling on her face.
Sesshomaru paused too just behind her, looking over her shoulder at the book titled, Because of Winn Dixie. After a moment he asked, “this interests you?”
She looked up, as if pulling her mind back from somewhere far away. “Actually, I was thinking Rin would like it. It might be a challenge for her now, but she’s a strong reader. I’ve read this story and it’s beautiful. What do you think?”
Rosalind held the book out to him and he stepped forward to stand at her side, flipping through the pages. His lips twitched into an amused smile. “It’s about a dog?”
Rosalind nodded, smiling back. “Yes, a wonderful dog. See how there are half a dozen blank pages in the front and back? It’s a nice hardcover so it should last a long time. I thought I could mount some water color illustrations on those blank pages and give it to her for her birthday.”
Sesshomaru nodded and handed the book back to her. “She would enjoy that a great deal I think. Buy it.” She took the book and set it up-right next to her satchel, doing her best not to stop and look at any of the other books as she passed them by. She went straight to the back corner shelves and looked at the prices over the paper plates, napkins, and other paper and household items. Finally she held up two huge packs of paper plates. “Will these do? They’re the cheapest I think, once you do the math.”
Sesshomaru nodded and took the heavy packages from her, sliding them into the shelf under the cart. Next she carefully selected toilet paper, napkins, and both dishwasher and hand soap. He watched as she painstakingly considered each item before holding it out for approval. She seemed very hyper-conscious of the fact that it was not her money she was spending and as a result, sought his confirmation at every turn.
He had to watch her closely to make sure she didn’t attempt to lift anything that was too heavy for her. He stepped in to pick up the 50 lb. bucket of baking soda, set it in the bottom of the cart, and braced his hands on his hips. She was writing the price next to each thing on the list and it took her a moment to realize he was looking at her. Her mouth twisted to the side a little as she looked up at him, nervously, sensing he had an issue to address with her.
Once he was sure he had her attention, he explained, “this is paid for with assets that have been specifically allocated for house expenses incurred by any Wardens’ needs at headquarters. Not only does this include you, but I trust, and currently choose to rely on your judgment on such matters, without reservation. It’s not necessary to ask permission when you need something for the house… or for you.”
When she continued to look unsure, he pulled out his wallet and handed her two plastic debit cards. One was from a small local bank in , and the other sported the golden eagle logo of First Republic Bank. She took the cards hesitantly, and saw that the one from had the letter H on the back in permanent marker, and the other card… She frowned and looked back up at him. “Why does this one have my name on it? Did Inuyasha ask you to do this?”
Sesshomaru’s expression remained flat as he said, “I did this based, in part, on information from him, yes, but not solely on that information. The income gained by any Warden contributions, be they cash or otherwise, is invested to grow more capitol, or to support our interests. A percentage of any returning income belongs to each member. It’s inconvenient to ask for money that already belongs to you. I should have given you your own card a long time ago but the matter somehow escaped my attention.”
Rosalind opened her mouth to protest, but closed it again, not knowing what to say. He watched her struggle for a minute before he said, “if it helps, Sango and Miroku have their own card with which they can access these assets, as do Koga and Ayame, Gabriel and Inuyasha. I ask that they discuss any large expenditure with me before making the transaction so that I can plan accordingly, and to keep a register whenever they use the card, submitting a copy to myself or Miroku at the end of every month for book keeping.”
Rosalind frowned a little in thought, remembering the registers he spoke of from the occasions when she’d helped Miroku reconcile the accounting work for the gang. She’d also seen the monthly balance to this account and knew the number to be staggeringly high. Slowly, she nodded and held up the card. “What’s the budget for the house shopping then?” He adopted a slightly rueful smile. “We don’t really have one at the moment. Current circumstances are abnormal and somewhat fluid, so I shall leave it to your discretion.”
When she still looked uncomfortable he met her eyes and told her, “I trust this in your hands. It’s a rare individual that goes to the extent you do to be frugal.” His brows lowered a little in a frown as he continued. “I expect this is partly a result of our lack of attention on your well-being in recent years.”
Rosalind shook her head firmly and frowned right back up at him. “I’m an adult Sesshomaru. I can take care of myself.” Sesshomaru nodded his agreement. “Yes, I have no doubt. But you are rarely caring only for yourself. I’m not giving you anything that isn’t already your rightful property, and well earned. I’m not, and never have been in the habit of charity. I don’t believe in it.”
She pursed her lips and sighed, opening the satchel to shove the cards into her bill fold, knowing there was no point in arguing. She’d never seen anyone argue with Sesshomaru and win. Privately she thought he was likely to be the most stubborn creature on the face of the planet, and muttered as she turned the cart down the first freezer isle, “that’s basically what Inuyasha said, only you use prettier words.”
Sesshomaru let out a low slung laugh of amusement roll from his chest and commented, “in this at least, my half-brother is correct.”
Rosalind looked up, raising an eyebrow. “Inuyasha’s only your half-brother? You’d never know, looking at you two together.”
Sesshomaru adopted a wry smile as Rosalind considered shelves of frozen chicken. “Yes.” He said simply. She set five bags of chicken in the cart and looked back up at him, seemingly waiting for more to his statement. After a moment he explained. “My mother was a Tai Yokai, and the first consort of my father, who was a Dai Yokai, directly descended from an original Inugami.”
He paused for a moment, searching for the English translation of the term, then went on. “From an original Dog God, which in and of itself is a complex matter. When I was an adolescent, my sire chose to leave my mother. He had fallen in love with a human woman named Izayoi.”
Rosalind leaned against freezer door, crossing her arms over her chest and breathing out the words, “oh… Inuyasha’s mother… I see.”
Sesshomaru looked at her intently. “Do you?”
She pondered this for a moment, frowning. “Well- I can see how that would cause some problems between you. Inuyasha mentioned you didn’t get along in earlier years.”
Sesshomaru’s lips twitched into a bitter smile. “That is understating the matter by gargantuan proportions, I’m afraid.”
She raised a curious eyebrow, and he reached for the cuff of his left sleeve. She watched as he unbuttoned the cuff, and carefully rolled the sleeve up his smoothly muscled arm until she saw the discoloration of the scar she’d noticed that morning. It looked as if it went all the way around his arm above the elbow. When her green eyes finally moved back from the scar to meet his own gaze, he rolled the sleeve back down again.
Rosalind’s frown had deepened. “Inuyasha did that?”
Sesshomaru let out a bark of harsh laughter with a bitter smile he glanced around to be sure no one was listening, then he said, “he removed my arm; severed the limb completely, and while I was in my fullest physical form; when he has no form other than what he is now, small, and human-like.” Sesshomaru finished his statement sounding thoughtful. “He was a rather impetuous whelp.”
Rosalind looked floored and a little outraged as she hissed, “he cut OFF your arm? This is the Inuyasha I know? That was playing in the water this morning? And you were able to grow it back?” She knew Inuyasha was capable of a great many things, but she couldn’t imagine him committing such violence against his own brother.
Sesshomaru’s expression flattened and he admitted, “to give an objective account, I’ll allow that I did attack him first- in that instance.”
The young woman looked thoroughly confused and almost exasperated. He almost forgot sometimes how different things had been back then. Rosalind took a moment to process everything he’d just said and asked, “you have another form? What does that mean? Different than what you look like now?”
Sesshomaru considered her question carefully and said, “much different, yes. It’s complicated… and takes a great deal of energy. Perhaps sometime you’ll see, though ideally we will never have reason for it, beyond the possible satiation of curiosity.” He was a little disgusted with the small, vain part of himself that actually wanted to show her, as if it would satisfy him for her to know what he was on that level.
He promptly ignored the feeling and continued to explain. “The human and demon cultures of the world were very different then. Compounded upon the issue was the fact that Inuyasha’s mother was human. It’s only very recently that it’s become more acceptable, and only in some circles, for demons to become attached to a human as anything other than a meal, or tool. And it’s both unlikely and generally considered distasteful for a demon of any real stature to take one as mate.”
Rosalind licked her lips, her eyes dropping for a moment to his fanged canines, just barely visible in his limited smile, before she met his gaze again and swallowed almost audibly. He flashed her a grin only a born predator could give, and let out a low rolling chuckle of dark amusement. She realized she sometimes forgot that demons were very different from humans when it came to the reptilian part of the brain. She wondered if Sesshomaru had ever eaten a human, then… wrinkled her nose and decided she didn’t want to know. ‘Besides,’ she thought a little morbidly, ‘there are some humans that might deserve it.’
She marked a few more things from her list as she said, “I’ve known for a long time that Inuyasha was a half demon, and I’ve always known you were a full demon, but I guess I never really thought about it before- I mean, that you would have had to have a parent different from each other.”
Sesshomaru only nodded. He wasn’t used to discussing such personal matters, let alone doing so in the middle of a frozen foods isle at a wholesale grocery market. He looked around the store as he thought. He wondered briefly why he was explaining these things to her, and if he ever would have, had Inuyasha not made such an indiscreet comment earlier.
Rosalind put a hand on the front grill of the cart and tugged it behind her, loading it with bags of shredded cheese and vegetables before she asked hesitantly, “so… are your parents still around? I don’t know how long you guys tend to live, beyond that it’s longer than I ever will,” she said, letting out a soft laugh.
Sesshomaru looked at her, standing in her worn out t-shirt and jeans, thick red hair in a messy braid, bright green eyes flashing with curiosity, and he knew a moment of discontent that this was indeed so. Humans lived such short lives. It was one of the things that he’d discovered difficulty in when he’d begun to associate with them, beyond the level of master and servant. They were so vibrant and alive, and then gone in a short 65 or 80 years, often less. Looking at the woman before him, he had a hard time imagining her growing old and bitter, or fading away to ash as if she’d never been.
When she raised one auburn brow he shook free of these thoughts and slid his hands in the pockets of his slacks. “My mother is still alive, as far as I know. If she survives yet, she is something like 900 years of age. I don’t see her often. Between one thing and another…” he paused, reflecting on the memories he had of the woman who had brought him into this world. He pursed his lips and finished simply, “we were not close in the way human parents are to their young.”
Rosalind’s lip curled in a wry smile of her own as she turned away, busying herself with pulling the cart around to the next isle. As she lifted four gallons of milk into the cart she sighed and said, “yeah… well… not all humans work that way.”
Sesshomaru realized belatedly that his statement had been a careless, generalized comment, considering what he knew of her own experiences. “This I know. I am sorry.”
Rosalind’s cheeks stained red and he was puzzled. He breathed deeply through his nose, pulling in her scent inconspicuously, trying to understand. His head turned just slightly to one side as he asked, “this makes you feel shame. Why?”
She looked up at him for a moment, then her eyes slid away, her blush deepening as she pulled out three flats of eggs, checked the dates, and stacked them gently over her satchel at the top of the cart. The constant fact that those around her would know exactly how she felt was something she’d forgotten in the time she’d lived on her own. She knew there was no point in denying his observation, and decided that as he had shared so much, it was the least she could do to answer his question. She gripped the side of the cart and said in a measured voice, “honestly, until you asked, I never actually put a name to it, but I suppose, it does make me feel some shame… and anger, even now that it doesn’t matter anymore.”
Sesshomaru frowned. “It affects your present state of being; therefore it matters still.” She smiled and shrugged. “I guess… I feel shame because…” and she paused for a moment to examine the feeling better before she admitted, “because a part of me will always wonder- what I could have done differently so that my parents would have wanted me for more than a sales commodity and free labor.”
When she pulled in a deep breath and turned away, he noticed she was careful not to meet his eyes as she walked at the front of the cart, pulling it along behind her towards the back of the produce section. As she scrutinized a large bag of apples for bruises, he said quietly. “I’ve made you unhappy again. For this also, I’m sorry.” Privately he thought this was likely the first time in over 700 years he’d apologized to someone twice in one day, but found that the feeling was sincere. This made him remember Rin’s prescription for the treatment of sadness. Rosalind looked up and saw him stride around the corner to the big freezers and come back with a bucket of chocolate ice cream.
When he set the plastic container down next to her bag of apples she raised an eyebrow, giving him an inquiring smile. “I didn’t know you liked ice cream.”
Sesshomaru brushed the frost of the container from his hands and said, “I don’t. Rin informed me this-morning that ice cream helps one not to feel sad.” Rosalind was a little incredulous when she saw the corners of his lips twitch into a teasing smile. He was teasing her? She tried to remember if he’d ever teased her before, and couldn’t come up with an answer. Then his words hit her and she realized their full implications.
Rosalind covered her face with her hands for a moment and groaned. “Oh Sesshomaru, I’m so sorry. Rin walked in on me this morning after we talked at breakfast, before…” she dropped her hands and clasped them together anxiously against her chest. “She came in before I’d quite pulled myself together… and she thought I was sad.”
Sesshomaru cocked his head again a little in inquiry. “Were you?”
She chewed her lip for a moment before shrugging. “I don’t know, maybe a little. I’m fine though; it’s not a big deal.”
Sesshomaru nodded to the frozen dessert. “Does ice cream help?”
Rosalind smiled and let out a genuine laugh, before she nodded. “Yes- I suppose it does. Ice cream sounds great.” She met his eyes and said, “thank you Sesshomaru.”