InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Teaching Rin ❯ Chapter 10 ( Chapter 10 )

Disclaimer - It's not mine. Never was. The only characters I own are the ones who have never appeared in the Inuyasha series. I'm not making any money off of this, and advise you not to sue me because all you get is a bunch of college text books.

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Teaching Rin

Chapter 10

Is She Worth This?

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Lord Sesshomaru was perhaps the most revered and respected taiyoukai in all of Japan. He had been through many battles, slain countless enemies, and kept his homelands in tact since his ascension to the lordship nearly a century before. His icy demeanor and stoic expressions were as well known as his reputation as a merciless killer.

And at the moment, he was sitting on a mat in his quarters, sulking like a child.

His meeting with the generals of his armies had went well enough. Haruto's soldiers that had broken through the Northern borders had been isolated and killed, along with the traitorous few of his own that had been responsible for allowing the breech to begin with. He had then readied his men to invade the Northern territories, and put Haruto in his grave for the blatant disrespect and obvious challenge to his power. The call of war had put him in a better mood, just knowing that he would be able to rip the cat's throat out had made his day a little brighter.

But, as Fate would have it, a letter had arrived a mere hour before Sesshomaru was to depart from his homelands along with the troops. The letter had been from Haruto himself, apologizing profusely for the traitorous actions of his men. It went on to say that he'd had no idea of what had happened until he'd been informed the day before, and how he severely intended on reprimanding the guilty parties himself. He'd asked for forgiveness, and swore it would not happen again. Suffice to say that the cat had not found out that Sesshomaru had already killed, maimed, and decimated all guilty parties involved.

Sesshomaru, now with an apology in hand, had no justifiable reason to continue the invasion.

That alone had put him in a sour mood for the next two days. Blood and gore he could deal with, but the dissention that was in his own home was killing him.

He'd been hoping to get away from the Western fortress for a few days, and get to take his frustrations out on some random fool who tried to get in his way, most preferably by ripping the offending creature's entrails out and hanging them from a tree. Needless to say, the situation with Rin had gotten no better, and it was really grating on his nerves. Sesshomaru never did take very well to very drastic changes concerning things, especially the people around him. It threw him off balance and made him more paranoid that normal. And the change in his ward's behavior had been the most drastic of all.

Rin had remained as cold and emotionless to him as ever during the past few days as the generals came and went. She had performed her duties beautifully, seeing to the comfort of the soldiers and being as discreet as a mouse. With Kaida at her side, helping her along the way, he'd watched her lose her initial shyness and begin to assume the position he'd wanted her to take, that of a true Lady.

The change had been not only apparent to him, but to many of his underlings as well. A number of his own soldiers had commented on her behavior, which was so different from what they'd heard of her. She was no longer rambunctious and loud, but quite and discreet. Of course, Sesshomaru had only glared at them for taking such an interest in Rin at a time when their land was about to invade and take over the North. Now was not the time to be worried with a woman, especially if it was Rin. Of course, within the circles of men, the thought of having such a lovely woman like Rin to come home to just made to homecoming more enjoyable after being gone to war...at least as far as they were concerned. It was quickly seen that their Commander seemed to have different thoughts on that.

But a nagging feeling in his gut warned him to make sure Rin was accompanied by Kaida at all times while the soldiers were coming and going from the fortress. The dragon woman had proved quite useful in that particular manner, easily deflecting the more risqué comments about herself and Rin with a few well placed verbal spars of her own towards the males. And for the select few that still insisted on leering at the human teenager like a piece of fresh meat, Kaida's daggers had them pinned to the wall in a split second. And his own claws had taken their heads off when the two women had gone.

It had seemed that the dragon-woman's initial reluctance with her position had waned, and she was finally accepting it. Sesshomaru had seen the anger in her eyes quite apparent when one particularly bold bear youkai had made a pass at Rin, and the fierce protectiveness she'd exhibited towards the girl had come on full force. But that bear had never seen it coming the minute Rin's back had been turned. One flick of her wrist, and Kaida had sent one of her throwing daggers right through the bear's forehead, killing him instantly. It had surprised Sesshomaru to see her react so violently towards someone she perceived as a threat to Rin, especially when Kaida was absolutely calm when others interacted with Rin, such as Ronin's son Kentaro.

And that particular kitsune was another cause for never-ending aggravation lately.

The young fox had returned four days after Ronin's departure, right before the letter that had stopped the invasion all together, relaying messages from his father, and volunteering to help anyway he could. Sesshomaru had actually wanted nothing more than to send the kit back to the Eastern Lands. But when Rin had spied him in the courtyard, Sesshomaru had seen her smile for the first time in nearly a week. Of course, once she'd realized that he was also standing there, the smile had vanished and she'd turned and fled into the inner sanctum of the living quarters. Leaving the fox more than just a little surprised at her behavior.

After seeing her run from him, Sesshomaru had allowed Kentaro to stay, if only to have Rin back to herself. Over the next few days, when he was outside, Sesshomaru would hear the familiar tinkle of Rin's laughter floating on the breeze, and mingling with Kentaro's own whimsical voice. But anytime he confronted her, or seen her at dinner, she was cold and solemn, even with Kentaro seated next to her. It was like she had taken on an alternate personality all together. And it was eerily familiar to the personality he seemed to have adopted as a permanent fixture of his own.

Sesshomaru had confronted Kaida with Rin's odd behavior once again, wanting to know why she was acting as she was, only to receive the same answer from the frustrating woman.

'I already told you what is wrong with her, Sesshomaru. She's trying to prove you wrong about humans not being fit to be in demon court.'

'I was not referring to her when I said that.'

"Then tell her that, because she won't believe me.'

'I am not required to explain myself to her.'

'Well, I hope you're ready to see her like this everyday then. You caused the problem...you fix it.'

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Granted, Kaida's already short temper with him had only gotten worse after that, as she never liked to repeat herself unless it was absolutely necessary. Now, she glared at him and pulled Rin away from him at any opportunity she had. Had it not been for his word to Ryu that she would remain unharmed while in his care, he'd have already killed her and shipped her body back south to her family.

She was interfering and meddling where she shouldn't. She'd sent so many letters to her father that his messengers were exhausted. It was a small wonder that Ryu had not already called the girl home.

Sesshomaru rose from his position on the mat and looked out towards the East where Kaida, Rin, and Kentaro were standing in the largest courtyard, and apparently trying to communicate with Kaida's monstrous dragon companion Ishika. He also spotted Ah-Uh at Rin's side.

He had seen them with the two beasts on may occasions. Kaida was teaching Rin the set of hand signals she used to communicate with Ishika. The great reptile seemed to take a shy to the human girl quickly enough, and would listen to the commands most of the time. Rin had later suggested teaching Ah-Uh a few of the more basic commands. Unfortunately, the two headed dragon was a bit more stubborn that Ishika, and refused to respond to the signals and commands, despite Kaida's interference. Rin, undeterred by the set-back, simply let the beast go graze while she and Kaida watched as Kentaro took a hold of his demonic power and caused the nearby plants to torture the ever squabbling Jaken, until Rin apparently asked him to stop.

The kitsune looked none to happy, but complied, and was rewarded with one of Rin's dazzling smiles once again. Kaida just grinned at the two youngsters and sent Ishika off towards the outlining forests, then melded into the background and left the kitsune and human to their business.

The taiyoukai that looked on from the tower window simply growled in aggravation.

Things were getting out of hand. He usually had control over everything that went on within his home. But things were slowly starting to fall apart, and he blamed it all on Kaida simply because he believed himself to not be at fault. Rin was not speaking to him, and had taken to keeping company with a kitsune whom he did not approve of. Kaida was not stopping her, and was actually encouraging the relationship to some extent. Add that to the fact that Haruto was more than likely planning another move to try and kidnap Rin or Kaida, and Sesshomaru was not a happy dog.

And what was worse, his hands were tied. He could not send the kitsune or Kaida away, because it would upset Rin even more. And despite what he kept telling himself, he did not want to see her any more distraught than she already was. Besides, Kaida had proved herself a competent guard for Rin at least. And Haruto...well, he could make preparations for that neko at least. If that cat stepped out of line one more time, Sesshomaru would not hesitate to make sure that the last of his nine lives were exhausted.

The only bright side to it all was the fact that it was time for the monthly patrols along the borders of his territories. Perhaps there was some stupid creature with whom he could engage in some fighting, and work the edge off his frustrations that had been building for the past few weeks.

Rin walked down the inner corridors, trying to get to Kaida's room quickly. The demoness had seemingly disappeared a few hours ago, and Rin had begun to wonder where she had gotten to. When she came to the desired room, she knocked softly on the screen, but received no answer.

"Kaida" she called, pushing the shoji open and peering into the room. "Are you in here" Still, no answer. Rin walked further into the room, her eyes taking in the neatness of the entire room. She had only been in Kaida's quarters a few times since she'd arrived in the Western lands, and it all looked the same, save for a large pile of papers that were sitting on the edge of a small table.

Rin's curiosity got the better of her, and she shuffled through the top few, finding that they were letters to Kaida from her father Ryu. She knew that Kaida wrote to her father often, but she had never realized exactly the extent of their communication. She scanned through the letters, feeling somewhat guilty for invading her teacher's privacy, but unable to put them down

'..I can not break the engagement to him, Kaida. I know of your concerns for Rin, and your wish to pull any unnecessary attention away from the girl, but you are safest right where you are. Kiyoshi and his father are just stirring up trouble, and will calm down soon enough. As long as you are in the West, I know you will be in good hands. I know Sesshomaru is hard to get along with, Kami knows his father was just as bad, but you are safe with him.'

Rin pulled another letter out and scanned over it, wondering why Kaida thought that she was bringing any unnecessary attention to her.

'Your brothers received word that there is a spy amongst the palace staff, apparently placed there by Haruto or one of his sons, although we are not sure yet. You are to remain right where you are...'

"Nice little letter, isn't it?" came Kaida's voice from behind her. Rin whirled around, her face red at being caught by her teacher.

"Kaida...I..." she stuttered, trying to formulate a plausible excuse for her behavior, but coming up empty handed.

"It's okay, Rin." Kaida said. "There's nothing in those letters that you don't already know."

"I didn't mean to." she said solemnly.

"Don't worry about it." Kaida said, waving it off. "So, what are you doing in here? I thought I left you with the fox?"

"Well, you just disappeared and I was wondering if something was wrong." she said.

"Nothing more than my father telling me that I am being unreasonable for wanting to come home." she said, taking a seat beside Rin. "He seems to think I'm better off here."

"Do you really want to leave that badly?" Rin asked, somewhat hurt by the admission. "I didn't realize you were so unhappy here."

"It's not that I want to leave because I don't like you, Rin. I just need to leave so Haruto and Kiyoshi won't drag you and Sesshomaru into this ridiculous family conflict anymore than they already have." she said. "It's not safe for you, having me around. And if things keep on going, all of Japan is going to be tied up in this fight."

"Lord Sesshomaru will protect us." Rin said with absolute finality, despite the fact that she was supposed to be angry with the white-haired demon at the time.

"Oh, yes. He'll keep you safe because he cares about you, despite what he believes to the contrary." Kaida said. "The only reason he will keep me safe is because I'm the daughter of a political ally. If it came down to it, I hardly doubt he would care too much if I lived or not."

"That's not true." Rin said, shaking her head.

"I don't want to be in Sesshomaru's debt. And I'm not some little damsel who needs saving from the damn psycho cats! I don't want to be a burden, and that's why I want to leave." she explained. "If I could go home, then I could fight my own battles on my terms, and not drag people into it."

"But while you're sequestered here, with me, you can't do anything. You can't fight." Rin said softly. "You're caged. But you are safe, none the less."

"Exactly." Kaida confirmed.

"But you can't take on Haruto's whole army, though." Rin said. "It's suicide to even try."

"I'd rather die a thousand times that be joined to Kiyoshi." she spat. "I will not be bound to someone who expects me to alter everything about me just so he'll be happy. I'm not the lady you are, Rin. I never will be, and I won't be caged forever. I refuse to be."

"If you don't want Kiyoshi, then why not accept someone else's offer, Kaida." Rin asked. "Surely there are demons who would be proud to have you at their side."

"I'd have already done that if I could." the dragon woman said fretfully. "But the only way I'm getting out of the arranged joining is if someone of a higher status than Kiyoshi asks for me...or the bastard dies."

"And the only ones with higher status than Kiyoshi is the ruling Lords and their eldest sons. But, all them are mated, except your father and Lord Sesshomaru." Rin said, her brow furrowed in concentration as she pondered over the situation.

"Well, I can't mate my own father. And besides, he's got someone to take his mind of things, if you know what I mean. And doggy-boy can't stand me, so it looks like Kiyoshi's got to die." she said cryptically, a morbid smile on her face. "Kami knows I'd love to take his head off his shoulders myself."

"If you are going to dispatch that annoying whelp, then take his father out as well." came Sesshomaru's cold voice. the two woman turned and frowned, wondering how long he'd been standing there.

"Lord Sesshomaru." Kaida said, nodding in welcome, although her voice remained impassive. "To what do we owe this visit?"

"I will be leaving tomorrow for border patrols along the north." he said. "My absence will occur over a few days, and I leave it to you two to manage things here."

"We'll take care of it." Kaida said firmly. "Will Jaken be accompanying you?"

"He will."

"And Lord Kentaro?"

"He will remain here at the fortress as extra security." Sesshomaru said, eyeing Rin for a reaction of some sort, only to be disappointed when she made no move. "Sakaki will also be posted within the fortress as protection. Should any problems arise, you are to follow his instructions. Is that understood?"

"Perfectly." Kaida said coldly, remembering the head guard from their first initial meeting the day after she'd arrived there.

"Rin?"

"I understand, my Lord." she said meekly, her eyes trained on the floor in front of her, and not on him. Sesshomaru simply nodded and left the room. When Kaida was sure he was sufficiently out of hearing range, she turned to Rin and frowned.

"You really need to let what he said go, Rin." she said. "He wasn't talking about you. And the way you're acting is making him mad."

"I don't believe it." she said. "If he thinks that you won't fit in because of your trace human blood, and he condemns you like that, then what does he really think about me? And besides, isn't this the way he wanted me to act? The correct way to be a lady?"

"I don't know what is going on through his head, and to be perfectly frank, I don't want to." she said matter of factly. "All I do know is that ever since you started doing this, he keeps on asking me what's wrong with you."

"When he tells me himself that it wasn't me he was referring to, then I'll let it go." she said stoically. "Until then, he's getting what he asked for. Besides, if he's that worried, he should just come out and ask me himself." Kaida just shook her head, knowing that the human girl had set her mind to this ridiculous task and was not going to change it for anything.

"Whatever." Kaida said. "I'm warning you, though. You're pushing him."

"Fine." Rin said. "Maybe next time he'll think before he opens his mouth and starts degrading humanity. Now, I'm going to find Kentaro." The girl stood up and walked towards the door, her head held high. She meant what she said, and Kaida knew it. The dragon demoness just stood and followed behind her, obviously going to look for the kitsune as well.

Kaida was seriously worried about getting out of the West, no matter how Rin seemed to want to justify it. If things kept going the way they were, Haruto would undoubtedly attempt to get to her again while she was in the West. Consequently, that was going to drag Sesshomaru into it, and put more emphasis on Rin, which was what she did not want to happen.

Not to mention if anything happened to Rin, Kaida highly doubted that Kentaro was going to stand by and let it go without having a say about it. With the way those two were getting along, Kaida was seriously wondering if the things she was teaching Rin would eventually be put to use in the Eastern ruling family. Kitsunes males were notorious for attaching themselves to one woman, and eventually taking them as a mate if they had enough interest in the woman. Currently, the only time the kitsune was NOT around Rin was when she was either bathing or sleeping, and that was only because Kaida was there to keep him out of the way.

Of course, Rin didn't seem to mind all that much, at least not anymore. Kaida just smiled and shook her head. If Rin was eventually taken in by the Eastern Lord's family, she would be well taken care of. Ronin was a good ruler, and his family was one of the more amicable, and not so stuck on the prejudices of pure-blood. Even Kentaro's older brother Hoshi had taken a hanyou as a mate, so she was relatively sure should it ever come around, that Rin would be accepted with open arms.

'At least you have a choice, Rin.' she thought as they exited the living quarters and Kentaro came bounding over to them, saying something about strangling Jaken with a rose bush. 'That's more than I can say for myself.'

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A/N - I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. The next one should be coming up quickly.

Remember to review, now.