InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Pinkie Swear ❯ Bound ( Chapter 5 )

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# Bound #

 

Unfettered and free, he has always done as he pleased. The only direction in his life has been one of his choosing. The only purpose he's ever embraced has been his own.

 

Now, one handed and humbled by his hanyou brother, he is more aware of his own mortality. He has learned that more than his own will exists within the sphere of his world.

 

He has realized, belatedly, what it is to be alone. He has come to understand that others exist beyond his self, others that do not fit into his tidy little compartmentalization of those who interest him and those who do not.

 

Rin.

 

With the lingering warmth brought by the remembrance of a smile, he found the motivation to act for a reason other than his own selfish gains. Tensaiga's selfless preservation of his life begot mercy for an orphan human girl. One who did not have the good sense to flee from him in terror when she could. One who looked to him for affirmation, for protection, for companionship. One who looked to him with trust, affection, joy.

 

One little girl; who with her unshakable belief in him restored his confidence in himself.

 

He accepted the service of the little green imp, not caring whether the creature lived or died. From those lips he heard the most outlandish praise, the most absurd boasts…and once he believed them true. That no matter the exaggeration, he resembled them more closely than not.

 

It wasn't until the humility of having his half blood brother maim him that he understood the bitter, sharp folly of pride. And it wasn't until an orphan; a starving, gaunt faced little girl thought to offer him a meal when her own stomach was empty that he stopped railing at the unfairness of his fate.

 

If she, poor unfortunate mortal, could smile despite her fate, then far be it for him, a powerful inu taiyoukai, to bear his own misfortune with less grace. With one less hand, he was still himself in all his glory.

 

He still had one hand to draw his swords. One hand to strike out and kill his enemies.

 

One hand to reach out and grasp the little fingers that reached for his.