InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Sympathy for the Devil ❯ Chapter 15 ( Chapter 15 )

Sympathy for the Devil

Chapter Fifteen

By Devon Masterson-Bond

Aoi37@hotmail

 

 

Amber eyes tore open as the afternoon sun brushed across them. Sleep was something he still was not used to in large doses. Already he had slept three nights the most since he had been weaned. Normally he would enjoy the pleasure once a year on his birthday. A day with no Jaken, no Inu Yasha, no meaningless battles or whatever else usually took up his time. It was the only day he ever took off and he slept the entire time. Of course no one knew that detail. He didn't want them to know that the Lord of the Westernlands needed a vacation after 364 days with his nose to the grindstone.

 

Sesshomaru pulled Rin closer to him. He suspected his life would be different. The fact that his schedule had loss some of its predictability made him sigh in relief. Or a sigh of contentment, not sure. Whatever it was, he felt good about it.

 

“I need sleep,” Rin mumbled swatting him lightly across the chest before snuggling closer.

 

A surprising chuckle emanated from him. He did put her through the paces on their honeymoon. It was a shame the weekend was over. He was half tempted to steal another day away, but his discipline would not allow it. Already it was simpering at the fact he pleased his carnal desires the entire time. His responsible side would have to deal with it as far as he was concerned. “Rin,” he said lowly caressing her face. He felt freeier now and he felt….well that part confused him. Consulting Kaede would normally be his course of action, but seeing the gloating declaration of victory on the vixen's face was not an option, besides he had business to run.

 

Looking at the time piece on the wall, Sesshomaru smirked. Rin would be waking up soon for the operations meeting and just like always he would greet her there. No change. He would make her eat those words. A mischievous glint formed in his eyes as he got up and prepared for tonight. “Jaken,” he said into his cell phone as he dripped wet from the shower sometime later.

 

“How may I serve you, Lord Sesshomaru?”

 

“I would like for you to awaken Lady Rin promptly at six.” He grabbed a towel and began drying off his body.

 

“Lady Rin? Milord…have you taken a mate?” Jaken stammered. He knew what an explosive relationship the two had and did not want to insult his liege.

 

“Yes, Lady Rin is my mate,” he answered simply. “See that my instructions are carried out. If she is late, you will be held responsible.”

 

“Yes, Lord Sesshomaru to the letter…:

“See that it is,” he replied hanging up the phone. He quickly got dressed then left. Her face would be priceless he was sure.

 

15-15-15

 

Pater stood looking out of the window of his ready room. Outside his hunters were gearing up for the attack. Most of the traitors had been caught, all except for one actually. “Genjuro,” Pater sighed in annoyance. He had not expected his fellow elder to be so elusive. Genjuro managed to escape into the mountains near Tokyo. He was entirely too close to Rin. Because of this he would have to move things faster than he planned. Shortening his plans was something he never liked to do. Striking quickly out of desperation allowed for errors. It was moving ahead of schedule that caused him to order the execution of the exterminator clan. He had hoped that they would remain neutral as they had in the past. Their death was eminent anyway too many times did they consort with “friendly” demons as they called them. Vermin was vermin.

 

Genjuro's little split up plan cost him 1/3 of his force. One third he has not planned on losing until after joining up with O-Rin and finding out what she had learned. Nearly six months of espionage down the drain and the death of his precious, if Genjuro was not quickly found and killed.

 

Pater turned hearing footsteps at the door. “Enter.”

 

Eiji walked into the room and saluted. “You asked me?”

 

“Take four of my best and deal Genjuro the true death of a traitor. Do it quickly for each moment he is at large, O-Rin's safety is compromised.”

 

The young man's eyes widened then narrowed. “We will not fail you.” He saluted and turned to leave.

 

“Eiji.” Eiji paused in his movements. “If you come across O-Rin while dealing with Genjuro, bring her to me… by force if necessary.”

 

“But Elder…”

 

“You will have to trust my judgment,” Pater interrupted. He turned around. “Do as you are told.” Eiji nodded then left the room. He was worried about O-Rin's safety. Was it possible that Genjuro had some kind of hold over his former captain that his elder could not see through until now? There was clearly more going on here. Killing his comrades was starting take its toll on him, so many faces and questions. But he knew in the end that was doing what was right. Pater was a just man and had saved his life on many occasions. He was dedicated and did whatever he had to protect the clan. Eiji wished that he had that kind of strength. “O-Rin, I will find away to save you from Genjuro's hold.” He vowed. Perhaps once he proved his worth to her she would be his.

 

“Bankotsu, Jankotsu, Rinkotsu, and Suikotsu,” Eiji called out. These four were the most vicious and all were trained by O-Rin. It was only fitting that her special ops squad take out the man who pushed the hardest for her exile/execution and now endangered her life. He could see why O-Rin hated humans that consorted with demons, they caused nothing but trouble. Already the demon exterminator clan was put down and quite a few people died for the cause. He would not lose her, not when he still had to tell her….

 

“Men,” Eiji began, “were going on a mission.”

 

“What kind of mission?” Bankotsu asked. He declared himself the unofficial leader in O-Rin's stead.

 

“You'll find out when you get there,” Eiji replied.

 

“You don't command us,” Jankotsu said casually. “Although if you're…”

 

“Now is not the time, Jankotsu,” Bankotsu interrupted. He had been observing Eiji the last few months. The man had been tense almost brooding and now he just seemed focused. Everyone in the clan knew that Eiji was in love with O-Rin, she had quite a few suitors. Of course no one dared to come up to her, she made it clear that she was only interested in demon slaying. Naturally, that made the challenge even greater. Eiji obviously knew where O-Rin was and that she was alive. This mission might just be some fun after all.

 

Bankotsu watched Eiji walk away then motioned for the others to follow. Rinkotsu opened his mouth to protest. “He knows something and I want to know it too,” he answered simply. The others grinned and followed after their leader.

 

15-15-15

 

Rin sat to Sesshomaru's right with a slight smug look on her face while a black eyed and swollen Jaken finished his report. As usual he was boring everyone to tears. Those who weren't bored were focusing on her and the mark that peaked out from under the fabric of her sleeveless shirt when she shifted. The good part was none would question her except maybe Inu Yasha who was itching to say something crass and tactless.

 

“…and that is my report, Lord Sesshomaru.” Jaken sat down.

 

Sesshomaru nodded. “Meeting is adjourned.” Everyone got up to leave.

 

Inu Yasha grinned smugly then turned to Sesshomaru. “I'm going to pick up Kagome and our guest.” He turned to Rin. “Just make sure you leave him with enough strength to make it to the meeting on time.” He laughed seeing Sesshomaru's annoyed expression. For once he would dish out everything Sesshomaru had coming to him. “I'll show him a lunatic.”

 

Rin's cheeks flushed slightly at least Inu Yasha waited until everyone was gone. She had a feeling that he would not always be so merciful. “I will have the board room prepared for the meeting. What time does it start?”

 

“Eleven thirty. It will require your presence as Lady of the Westernlands. As my mate and the bearer of my heir it is prudent that you remain privy to matters concerning me.”

 

Rin set her jaw. This was the moment she had been waiting for…why did it feel so wrong?

 

“Is there something wrong?” He caressed her cheek with his finger.

 

“What happened to no change?” she asked pulling away.

 

Sesshomaru pulled her to him. “Conformity breeds in weakness,” he replied before kissing her. After a few moments he pulled away. Her scent was calling to him again, but they had business to run; besides there would be other times.

 

“I have to finish the inventory,” she said as though reading his mind.

 

Sesshomaru nodded in agreement distance would be beneficial and so would the buddy system. “Have Shippo assist you.”

 

“I don't need…” Rin began to bristle.

 

He put two fingers to her lips and clamped them shut. “But I do, unless you want to take a chance that I will feel the need to oversee your progress, rip your clothes off and take you up against the wall?”

 

An ebony eyebrow rose and pulled away. “Promises, promises.” She kissed him on the nose then left the room. She had work to do.

 

“Shippo,” She said into her headset after flipping the power switch, “do you have a copy?”

 

“Go ahead, Lady Rin,” Shippo teased.

 

“Say that again, I'll gut you like a fish and send you to Kenji in an envelope.”

 

“You wouldn't,” Shippo gasped.

 

“Try me.”

 

“Okay. Okay, go ahead.”

“What's your twenty?”

 

“I'm in the cellar finishing up the inventory. I thought you might be too busy to get back to it.”

 

Rin sucked in her cheeks at the hidden implication. “I'm coming down there.”

 

“Roger,” he replied. He looked down at the PDA and made a note with the stylus.

 

“You're as bad as your brother, you know that?” Rin grumbled sometime later.

 

“I'll never be as bad as Ken.” Shippo wrinkled his nose in annoyance. “We have nothing in common.”

 

“It's been my experience that the more two people have in common, the more they think they are different,” Rin replied. She snickered at the skeptical expression on his face and snatched the PDA. “Please you're both handsome as sin, nosey as hell, and pretend to be perfect angels. The only real difference other than the little word I call subtly is that you're straight.”

 

“Until Kai came along so was he.” Shippo tuned towards the rack he had been counting. “We're almost out of Dom. I'll order an entire pallet since it's so popular in VIP.”

 

Rin nodded and sent an e-mail to their supplier. “So tell me about this Kai.”

 

Shippo turned and looked at Rin thoughtfully. She was genuinely curious and concerned. It kind of surprised him. He knew that she was warming up to everyone, but he expected her to be more forceful. “You really have changed since we first met.”

 

Rin frowned. Not that again! She sighed. “Shippo, did I ever tell you that I am allergic to strawberries.” The red head shook his head and noted it for future reference. “I break out in hives and they give me an extreme case of diarrhea.”

 

Shippo frowned and scrunched his face in disgust. “I did not need to hear that.”

 

“And I did not need to hear about how I have changed either, but you still managed to bring it up so drop it and tell me about Kai.”

 

“If it weren't for Sesshomaru, she'd be perfect for Kenji,” he mused while brown eyes stared into teal ones awaiting answers. “Kai was Ken's mate. Papa and Mama arranged it before he was born, but Ken had other ideas. I don't remember Mama much, but Papa said Ken had her stubbornness and temper so of course he hated the idea of an arranged marriage.” Rin tilted her head thoughtfully she had witnessed Kenji's temper once when it was directed towards Kagura….that reminded her…

 

Shippo moved over to the next row. “We are good on the Zinfandel 1890, but we need more Sutter Home.”

 

“Both the Sutter Home and the Sake will be here for 8:30AM delivery.” Shippo opened his mouth in admiration. He had been given the run around with the supplier for days. “I performed a logistical miracle now continue on with the story.”

 

“Kai was a half demon. Her mother and Mama were best friends. It was Mama's wish that Ken go through with it.”

 

“I can imagine how that must have went over,” Rin sighed. She pitied the poor girl even if she was a half-demon.

 

“Ken is not husband material, even I know that. He made his running around no secret. Kai spent a lot of time with me, and I thought she was the greatest since she was the closest thing to a mother I had after Mama died. She always said that she wished I had a little cousin to play with so I wouldn't be so lonely.” Shippo frowned; it was harder than he thought it would be to tell this story. “Something happened between them one day and Ken started to act like a mate, he even marked her. For awhile everything was fine and then on my 50th year, Papa took me out to hunt and we were attacked. Papa was killed and I roamed on my own for a century until I met Inu Yasha. I was about two hundred when Ken and I met up again. He told me Kai died. She was killed by Hiten and Manten, Souten's brothers, along with Papa.”

 

“I see,” Rin made a note with the stylus. Apparently she was not the only one with baggage. “We're done here.” She saved her changes and turned to leave. “You wanted my advice before…go with your instincts. Kenji will just have to get over it.” She left the cellar. “Hopefully, I'll live to follow my own advice.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued…

 

 

© 2005 Devon Masterson-Bond

I think we know who belongs to whom in this fan fiction. The characters of Inu Yasha belong to their creator, Rumiko Takahashi and everyone she leased them out to, me not being one of them.