InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Teaching Rin ❯ Chapter 16 ( Chapter 16 )

Disclaimer - It’s not mine. Never was. The only thing I own is Kaida, and the plotline to this story. So don’t sue me. You won’t get anything anyhow, just some college textbooks.

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Teaching Rin

Chapter 16

Recovering Reminiscence

-

Rin was not sure what made her leave her spot in the kitchens with Keisha and head towards the dojo, but the pulsating feel of the energy stone around her neck was starting to make her worry. She knew Kaida usually went to the dojo to train at this time of the evening, but Rin was starting to wonder if Kaida was once again in some sort of trouble since she could feel the energy stone siphoning off a little of her own energy.

Before she could get to the dojo, however, she ran into Jaken, who also seemed to be heading that way.

“Master Jaken? Is everything okay?” she asked, easily catching up with the little toad. “Have you seen Lady Kaida? I think something is wrong with her.”

“No, everything is not okay, Rin!” he exclaimed, running towards the dojo. “And that blasted woman is the cause of it, no doubt!”

Rin did not question the retainer anymore, but when they rounded the corner of a small building and ran into the entrance of the dojo, it did not take long for them to see exactly what had Jaken so upset.

Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands, was pinned to the wall of the dojo. And his attacker was none other that Kaida, of the Southern Lands. Or at least, Rin thought it was Kaida.

“My Lord!” Jaken screamed, immediately running to Sesshomaru’s side, only to be thrown back when a huge surge of energy left Sesshomaru’s body, and his head snapped up.

Rin watched as the transformed Kaida stumbled back from the invisible blow, then regained her composure and snarled at Sesshomaru as if she was ready to take his head off.

This was really starting to scare her, and she ran over to where Jaken was lying on the ground, apparently unconscious. She shook the little toad, but got no response. A feral growling sound filled her ears, and she looked up in time to see her Lord’s eyes go blood red.

The Western Lord pulled the sword out of his stomach as if it were nothing more than a splinter in his hand, and Kaida once again hissed at him, almost as if defying his chances of fighting her after that.

“You have dishonored me for the last time.” he said angrily, turning to the angered demoness.

“You asked for this.” she hissed. Sesshomaru said nothing, but slowly began gathering his energy around him. Rin gulped and hauled Jaken’s body against her own in an attempt to get away from the two battling nobles. She had seen her Lord this angry only once before, and the results had not been pretty.

Rin managed to get the unconscious Jaken out of the dojo and into the hands of Sakaki right about the same time the roof of the dojo exploded off it’s rafters, and Kaida sailed into the air, wings batting furiously as Sesshomaru took after her.

“My Lady?” Sakaki asked, looking down at Rin as if she could answer his confusion.

“They’re fighting again.” she said with a frown, clutching the energy stone at her throat. “Get Jaken inside and to Keisha.” The guard nodded in assent and hauled Jaken’s unconscious body onto his shoulder before taking out towards the living quarters of the fortress.

Above her, Rin could see the two battling nobles still going at each other’s throats. Kaida, although much smaller and less powerful than the full blooded Sesshomaru had the litheness to dodge his attacks. But if the energy she was pulling off of Rin was any indication, the demoness would be running out of power shortly.

Sesshomaru looked like he was about to fall over any second. The white fur of the proud demon was practically dyed crimson from the blood he was losing. The wound in his stomach had not healed over, and Rin could see the huge drops of blood dripping down.

They continued to fight, but Rin could see that Kaida was losing the edge in the fight. Sesshomaru had already landed half a dozen painful blows to her body, and she was staggering in the air. The huge dog caught her off guard once again, and with one mighty swipe of his acidic paws, Sesshomaru sent Kaida flying into a grove of trees just outside the highest wall of the fortress. He followed her down to the ground, disappearing from sight. But the occupants of the fortress could still hear the thunderous growls coming from their Lord.

Rin immediately called a number of the soldiers to her side and took out to get to Kaida before Sesshomaru could do any more damage to her. A few moments later, they to the spot where Kaida had fallen. It appeared that Sesshomaru had meant to do more damage to the woman, only to have passed out himself. The huge dog had one paw clamped over Kaida, holding her to the ground, the acidic poison slowly melting away her clothing.

“Get her out from under there!” Rin ordered, pointing to Kaida. The guards seemed reluctant to comply considering Sesshomaru was right there as well, and still in full demon form. “He’s passed out. He’s not capable of hurting anyone right now! Just do it!” she ordered again. This time, the guards complied and jointly lifted their Lord off of Kaida. When she was safely in the arms of the guards, Rin sent them to the fortress with orders to get her to Keisha immediately.

“What should we do with Lord Sesshomaru, Lady Rin?” one of the remaining guards asked. “We cannot bring him to the castle like this.” Rin sighed and looked out, realizing that the demon was right, and there was no way they could pull Sesshomaru back within the confines of the fortress. Fortunately, before she could say anything, the unconscious form of Sesshomaru began to shimmer lightly and shrink.

When he was back to normal, the guards picked him up and brought him back to the castle, taking him straight to Keisha, just as Rin had ordered. The Western Lord did not even move, and Rin could tell he was worse now than he was when she had first found him in the woods outside the human village all those years ago. The human girl followed behind the guards, shaking her head at the actions of the two nobles.

She knew they didn’t get along all that well. Kaida was stubborn and would not listen, and Sesshomaru was the type that demanded complete obedience to his every word. It was disastrous to even think they could get along together given their opposite personalities. But this was taking it to a whole other level.

The two of them had not only destroyed the dojo, but had nearly killed each other! It was like they took some kind of morbid pride in being able to beat each other within an inch of life, and then come back and prove they were stronger than the other.

As soon as they were back in the fortress, Rin headed straight to the infirmary, knowing that Keisha would need some assistance.

‘This is getting ridiculously out of hand.’ she thought. ‘Someone has got to put a stop to this before they really do kill each other!’

-

When Kaida came around, the sun was rising in the eastern window. She winced and tried to get off of her futon, only to find that she was so sore she could barely move. A soft chuckle over to the side alerted her to someone else’s presence, and she looked over to find Rin standing at the entrance to her room with a tray of food and a small pot of tea.

“Finally awake, I see.” the human girl said, coming to sit the tray on a small table. “How’re you feeling?”

“Like I’ve been beaten to a pulp by all three of my brothers.” she said dryly, grimacing when she tried to sit up.

“Close enough description.” Rin said, shaking her head. “Beaten to a pulp by an angry Sesshomaru would be more accurate.”

“Figures.” she mumbled. Rin handed her a small cup of tea, and Kaida managed to get some of it down before Rin handed her a bowl of rice and some kind of meat. Kaida noticed the large amount of bandages that was adorning her arms and legs, but said nothing about it.

“What was that all about, anyway?” Rin asked. “You two destroyed the dojo, you know.”

“We did?” Kaida asked, looking at the girl like she was crazy. “How’d we do that?”

“I’m not sure. But Lord Sesshomaru turned full demon, and next thing I know, there’s no roof on the dojo.” Rin said scoldingly.

“Bet he’s not happy about that.” Kaida muttered, wincing when the set of the scabbed over claw marks on her face pulled tightly.

“He’s not so much mad about that as he is about you pinning him to the wall with Toukijin.” Rin pointed out.

“Good point.” Kaida said. “I didn’t hurt anyone else of importance, did I?”

“No. But Jaken wound up unconscious for the past day.” she said.

“No loss there.” she said with a huff.

“Why do you always wind up fighting to the point that it’s nearly fatal for one of you?” Rin asked, her voice hard as steel. “It’s utterly ridiculous!”

“It’s not like I asked him to try and kill me.” Kaida said crossly, trying to defend herself against the accusation in Rin‘s tone. She was tired and hurting, and did not feel like arguing with Rin at the moment. “He wanted me to turn on him. He asked for it.”

“And you rose to the bait?” she asked. “Haven’t you realized by now that he does this to get a rise out of you, Kaida? Good heavens, what did he say to you?”

“Something about a half-breed bitch who didn’t deserve to walk the face of the Earth because she was an utter disgrace to females everywhere.” Kaida said stoically, watching as the anger on Rin’s face rose a few more notches.

“And what did you call him?” she queried.

“Arrogant bastard, I think.” she said sleepily. “But don’t quote me on that.” She finished a few more bites of the rice, then handed the bowl back to Rin, who placed it aside.

“You got a letter.” Rin said, pulling the envelope from the folds of her obi and handing it to Kaida. The demoness took the letter and broke the seal, then scanned over the note inside before folding it back and replacing it inside the envelope.

“Everything okay?” Rin asked.

“Yeah. My father caught the spy that Haruto planted in the Southern Lands.” she said, rubbing her eyes, only to have her fingertips ghost over another set of claw prints on her forehead.

“What’d they do to him?” Rin asked.

“Probably killed him after they questioned him.” Kaida said with a shrug. “Of course, if they questioned him, I’d be surprised. Father tends to get a little carried away when someone is trying to undermine him.”

“That’s cruel!” Rin exclaimed.

“That’s life.” Kaida said, shrugging. “And father wanted to know if I was planning on coming back home for the Harvest Festivals in a few weeks.”

“Are you?” Rin asked. “I thought you weren’t supposed to leave the Western Lands?”

“Maybe.” she said. “I usually have to participate in one of the ritual dances each year to bless the crops and thank the gods and ancestors for the harvest. And since Leiko and Kei can’t do it, it usually falls to me.”

“Why can’t they do it?” Rin asked.

“Let’s just say their morals have been compromised too many times.” Kaida said vaguely. When Rin gave her an utterly confused look, she shook her head to clarify. “They’ve shared the bed of a male who is not their mate.” Rin’s face blushed scarlet, and Kaida had a distinct feeling the human had wished she’d left the questioned unasked. “Father said that you and Sesshomaru are welcome to come as well. Maybe if he’ll let me, I’ll take you with me. How’s that sound?”

“Sounds like fun.” Rin said, her face slowly going back to it’s normal color. Kaida gave a huge yawn and stretched her arms out. “Either Keisha or I will come back and change those bandages in a few hours. Go back to sleep and try to recover some more. I’ve got to go check on Sesshomaru.”

“He’s unconscious?” she asked, almost hopefully as the power of sleep began to call to her again.

“Hardly.” Rin said. “He’s cranky, cocky and growling at everyone who enters into his quarters.”

“What are you worried about then?” Kaida asked, snuggling down into the futon and yawning again. “There’s nothing wrong with him. That‘s normal, isn‘t it?”

“Impossible..” Rin muttered, picking up the tray and watching as Kaida fell back asleep. “I honestly can’t believe the two of you. Two grown adults, fighting like a pair of egotistical children to see who’s the strongest.”

-

Sesshomaru was not a happy puppy, and that was putting it lightly. After he had woken from the impromptu fight with Kaida, he’d found himself in the middle of the infirmary, resting on a futon. Keisha had quickly explained what had happened, and the damages wrought on Jaken, Kaida and the dojo, all thanks to him.

‘Poor thing doesn’t need Kiyoshi and the northern soldiers to attack her, you’re going to kill her before he ever gets a chance to put his hands on her!’ Keisha had admonished. Sesshomaru had demanded that he be brought to his quarters, and that was exactly where he had been now for nearly two days.

There was a knock at the shoji screen to his room, and he didn’t even have time to tell them to go away before it was being slid aside. He saw a grim faced Rin come through carrying a tray with what appeared to be a small pot of tea, if his nose was correct. Whatever it was that Kaida had blown into his face to tamp down his senses was finally wearing off, and he was glad for it.

“My Lord?” Rin asked, coming to his side to kneel beside the futon. “How are you feeling?”

“I am fine.” he answered shortly, wishing she would just go away. He was not in any kind of mood to deal with his ward today. The proud demon was still more than just a little sore from the battle, and his pride had been utterly lost when he realized that Kaida had pinned him with his own sword.

“Of course you are.” Rin said briskly, pouring him a cup of the herbal tea and handing it to him. Sesshomaru grudgingly took the small container and drank the concoction in one gulp. The dog lord scented the air carefully, picking up the smell of Jaken and Kaida on her clothing.

“Where is Jaken?” he asked suddenly.

“He’s still unconscious in the infirmary.” Rin said simply. “I just came from checking on him, as well as Kaida.”

“The demoness?”

“She’s recovering still, and in much worse shape than you, I can assure you.” Rin said hotly.

“Do not take that tone with me.” he demanded, glaring up at Rin. “It was her own fault she was injured so severely.”

“Not what I heard.” Rin mumbled. Sesshomaru growled in annoyance and Rin moved to stand, shaking her head. “You two are no better than a couple of arrogant children trying to prove who the strongest is.” Sesshomaru was somewhat stunned to hear her speak ill of his actions, and was more than just a little angry to hear her chastising him. “It’s utterly disgraceful for two grown demons to try and kill each other, not to mention destroy the dojo, just because they can’t get along!”

Rin picked the tray up before he could say anything else and left him where he was. Sesshomaru could feel the aggravation rolling off of her in waves, and caught himself wondering what had gotten her so upset. He pushed the thought from his mind and settled back down onto the futon, glowering at the ceiling.

The spar with Kaida had not gone as planned, and the results were him being injured and forced to recuperate inside the fortress.

He had meant to test out her power against his own. He’d never meant to turn full demon and lash out at her with his own power, but he had. And they had apparently destroyed his dojo in their joint attempts to end the other’s existence on Earth.

Sesshomaru was no fool. He knew that had it not been for the fact that Kaida had exhausted her energy supply so quickly, then he probably would have fallen at her feet.

She had made him lose control, something no other foe had ever been able to do in his entire lifetime.

And that realization hurt his ego more than anything else.

The temporary power boost had given her the chance she needed to get one up on him, and then pin him to the wall with his own sword. But by the boost of energy had started to wane, he was too far gone from blood loss to do much of anything.

Sesshomaru had to admit, the demoness fought with brains, and not blindly. She had realized long ago during their spars that it was pointless to try and overpower him. So she reverted to outsmarting him, and second guessing his attacks. That tactic proved fruitful, at least for a while.

Now, the stoic Western Lord was suffering the consequences of pushing someone with unstable blood too far. The gaping hole in his stomach where she had tried to carve his intestines out was closed and healed over. The minor cuts and scratches were gone as well. But he was still sore, and hurting all over his body. He’d never been this injured before, even in his fights with Inuyasha.

His only consolation was knowing that Kaida was in more pain than himself. And in his mind, she deserved every bit of it and then some.

Sesshomaru readjusted himself on the futon, and closed his eyes, allowing himself to relax slightly. He could feel the burning sensation all over his body that marked the healing of his flesh and bone. An involuntary growl surfaced when he took inventory of the damage that his ward’s instructor had managed to cause.

‘She’s more trouble than she’s worth.’ he thought grimly as he let sleep take over his weary body. ‘It would be easier if I just got rid of her and brought someone else in, despite Rin’s protests to the contrary.’

-

By the time Kaida had recovered enough to get out of bed and get back to her normal routine with Rin and her studies, Sesshomaru had long been out and about doing his normal everyday duties. Kaida figured she had another fight coming from the dog lord sometime soon. So it shocked her when she didn’t even see Sesshomaru for nearly three days after Keisha had pronounced her fit to walk about again.

He had walked in on one of Rin’s lessons while they were in the library and called the human girl out. It was a few minutes later before Rin came back in, a frown pasted on her face.

“Something wrong?” she asked.

“Lord Sesshomaru said that the time for the inspection of the guard is coming up.” Rin said. “And he wants me to do it this year instead of him.”

“That’s not odd.” Kaida said. “Most Lords have their mates at their sides when they inspect the guards. Since Sesshomaru doesn’t have a mate, and you’re his ward, the responsibility falls to you.”

“What do I have to do?” she asked. “I’ve seen Lord Sesshomaru inspect the guard before. All he does is walk down the ranks.”

“That’s all you’ll have to do.” Kaida answered. “It’s more of a traditional duty than a necessary one. There’s nothing to it. You just follow behind him and look like you’re searching for something wrong with the soldiers.”

“The western Council members are going to be there.” Rin said glumly. Kaida groaned and shook her head. If the Council members were going to be in attendance then she had better make sure that Rin followed the protocol to the last letter. “And Lord Sesshomaru said that he wants to see you in the council room after dinner tonight.”

“He couldn’t tell me this himself?” Kaida muttered grumpily. “I was standing right here when he came in.”

“I, uh… I think he’s still mad at you.” Rin said carefully, watching Kaida for some sort of reaction.

“Mad at me?” she asked. “What’s he mad at me about?”

“The dojo?”

“That was his fault!” she exclaimed vehemently. “He’s the one that grew to the size of a mountain and tried to turn me into dog food!”

“Well…I think that’s what’s wrong, at any rate.” Rin said, settling down to her scrolls and paper again. “He’s been grumpy lately.”

“You mean more so than normal?” Kaida asked, the contempt in her voice think and condescending. “He’s always grumpy when I’m around.”

“I really wish you two would at least be civil to one another.” Rin said. “You’re honestly acting like some little children.”

“We’re not children.” Kaida said, glaring at her. “At least I’m not.”

“You’d never be able to tell it the way you two are constantly slinging insults at each other.” Rin pointed out.

“Slinging insults? I haven’t talked to him since we fought!” Kaida said defensively.

“That doesn’t mean you haven’t been calling him every foul name you can think of.” Rin pointed out sullenly. “And Sesshomaru is no better. He now refers to you as the ‘disgraceful half-breed’.

“So he’s venting to you?” Kaida asked, a slight grin on her face. “Imagine that. I figured he had to let some of that steam off eventually.” Rin just groaned and shook her head in an attempt to block out the demoness across the table from her. The human girl had had enough of the bickering nobles, and was bound and determined to do something about it.

-

Luckily, her chance came sooner than she had expected. That evening, she was outside with Kaida, practicing the shielding techniques once again when Sesshomaru appeared at the edge of the courtyard.

Rin knew Kaida had sensed him, and her suspicion was confirmed when she saw the thin line that Kaida’s mouth was drawn down into.

“Try it again, Rin.” the demoness instructed calmly. “Concentrate on searching out any weak spots within the shields before trying to adjust the size of it.”

Rin closed her eyes and concentrated as hard as she could, and quickly felt the initial warmth of the energy shield that formed around her. When she felt the energy stabilize around her body, she peeked her eyes open, looking towards Kaida. The demoness nodded and motioned for her to go on. Rin closed her eyes again and used her own energy to search out the weaker spots on the shield, adding some of her energy to strengthen it more.

“Are you ready?” came Kaida’s patient voice. Rin’s eyes shot open once again, and quickly nodded to the demoness. Kaida pulled her scimitars out from their scabbards and sliced repeatedly at the shield, only to have it stay up. After a few more swipes, Kaida sheathed her blades and called for Rin to let the shielding down.

“Better. Much better.” Kaida said as Rin wiped her face off with a small piece of cloth. “You’ll have this mastered before long, Rin. Now that you’re used to manipulating the demonic energy, you’re progressing much faster than before.”

“It’s getting easier.” the human girl admitted.

“Well, that’s enough for today.” Kaida said. “I think Sesshomaru wants you for something.” She nodded in the Western Lord’s direction, frowning. Rin nodded and headed towards Sesshomaru, wondering what her Lord wanted with her this time.

She got about halfway across the courtyard before she realized that the two nobles were glaring daggers at each other, but still refusing to speak. Rin sighed and finally lost her patience with the two of them. She stalked back over to Kaida and grabbed her sleeve, bodily dragging the demoness towards a silently fuming Sesshomaru.

When they were finally facing each other, Rin put her hands on her hips and frowned.

“I just want you two to know that you’re the biggest hypocrites to ever live in the Western Lands.” she said calmly, waiting for the reaction she knew that would get from the two arrogant nobles.

“Excuse me?” Kaida demanded. “What was that supposed to mean?” Sesshomaru simply glared down at her, apparently in an attempt to intimidate her into being quiet.

“It’s the truth.” Rin continued. “You both keep telling me to learn court manner, learn court etiquette, learn this, learn that. Isn’t one part of these manners learning how to deal with the ones you don’t like?”

“Rin.” Sesshomaru said warningly.

“Well, it’s the truth.” she said, her confidence wavering slightly with her guardian’s hardening gaze. “How am I supposed to learn how to deal with someone I don’t like, when the only answer I see to it is to attack them, and hope I can kill them?”

“Rin?” Kaida started, only to be stopped by the fuming teenage girl. “What are you…”

“It’s the truth! You two can’t stand each other, and I know that.” she pointed out hotly. “But you could at least practice what you preach and put up with each other‘s presence! You don’t have to attack every time you come within swinging distance of each other. How am I supposed to learn what to do when the only example I see is you two trying to maim, kill, or decimate each other?”

Neither one of the nobles had anything to say to counter that, and Rin knew it. She shook her head and faced the two of them. Sesshomaru looked far from pleased, and Kaida simply looked a bit surprised.

“Quit acting like two little children who have to prove to the other who’s the strongest, the fastest, or whatever.” she said calmly. “I hate it when you two fight to the point where you’re both bloody and laid up for a few days. Spar if you have to. But quit trying to kill each other.”

The human girl gave them a glare that Kaida attributed solely to the very pissed off demon Lord standing in front of her, and watched as Rin stalked into the fortress without so much as a backwards glance. She blinked a few more times before saying anything.

“Well, that was…unexpected.” Kaida said lightly.

“Indeed.” Sesshomaru ground out, still glaring daggers at her. “Your influence is starting to rub off on her. That is not acceptable.”

“How is this my fault?” Kaida asked, turning to him and glaring right back. “I didn’t tell her to say that.”

“She is acting as uncouth as you are.” he clarified coldly. “Such disrespect to her superiors.”

“You mean to you.” Kaida said.

“Yes.”

“You ever thought that she just might be fed up with you blaming everything that goes wrong on me?”

“You?”

“Yes, me.” Kaida said firmly. “Why are you mad at me anyways? Is it because of what happened in the dojo? Because I don’t think I need to remind you that you wanted me to go full demon. You even told me to. So you can’t blame that on me! It‘s not my fault you lost control.”

“My memory is functioning satisfactorily.” he snarled.

“Then why are you mad?” she asked, prodding him further, despite the fact that her self preservation instincts were screaming at her to run. “Is it because I pinned you to the wall?”

“No.”

“Yes it is, isn’t it?” she asked, her lips pursed in thought. “I’ve already told you, I get a power boost when I change. When it wears off, I’m as good as demon fodder. That’s the only reason I was able to do that.”

“I am well aware of that.” Sesshomaru said, his hand falling to Toukijinn in aggravation.

“Apparently you’re not.” she continued on, defying him and daring him to draw the sword. “That power is sporadic, Sesshomaru. It’s not reliable. And if it’s not reliable, then it’s no good to me!” She stopped herself for a few seconds, just long enough to calm down before turning back to him with a wry smile on her face. “You have power you can access at anytime, and that makes you strong than me. Is that what you wanted to hear? Yes, you‘re stronger than I am at any given point and time.”

“That is no excuse.” he said, unsheathing the sword, and brushing off her question. “Your conduct is inexcusable.”

“Really?” she asked, her voice deadly serious. “How about you look in the mirror, Western Lord. You’re not perfect either, despite what you may think.”

Sesshomaru remained utterly still as the demoness who had all but just submitted to his power over her stalked towards the gates of the fortress. She disappeared a few seconds later, jumping into the branches of a tall tree and vaulting over the wall, out of his sight and range of sense.

-

A/N - Rin’s on another emotional temper tantrum…watch out! Anyhow, don’t you just love it when teenagers back their parents/guardians into a corner they can’t get out of by calling them a hypocrite?

Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I eagerly await to hear what you think.

Until next time,

A.A.