InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Teaching Rin ❯ Chapter 28

Disclaimer - It’s not mine. Never was. The only thing I own is Kaida, and her family/friends. No money is being made, so don’t sue me.

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Teaching Rin

Chapter

Aftermath

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Sesshomaru watched as Ryu angrily left the room he had deposited Kaida’s dead body in. The taiyoukai was oddly cold as he handed out orders to his servants, or at least to the ones who were not in some form of catatonic shock at seeing their Lady’s dead, decimated body. Keiji only shook his head, the utter sadness of losing his twin taking its toll on him.

“She should not have had to die.” the demon said, pulling Sesshomaru out of his internal monologue. “I hope you realize that she did this for you, Sesshomaru.”

“I never asked her for such a sacrifice.” he answered coldly, glaring at the younger demon. Keiji just shook his head and turned towards the doorway.

“You didn’t have to.” he muttered.

“You have single handedly caused me more trouble than I ever thought you possibly could.” he said, pulling back the thin sheet that Keiji had covered her body with. He took note of the cuts and abrasions adorning her unresponsive body, but his eyes were drawn to a set of scars on her shoulder that he had never noticed before. They were four small crescent shapes that formed a half circle, and were scarred white.

‘This must have been what she was referring to when we were sparring. The so called brand.’ he thought.

“I should let you stay dead.” he muttered, more to himself as he examined the remnants of her fight with Northern soldiers. “A female… Someone who, according to our customs, should not even exist. A strange anomaly, and the epitome of what a woman should never do, or be. A female of your status should not exhibit such confidence, such a strong will and such fire. It is simply not done.”

‘But without that will, Rin would have died. My daughter would have been tortured and killed at the hands of those neko’s, and you gave your life for hers; for that alone should you be commended.’

He continued his perusal of the damage done to her body. The stale smell of a multitude of cats hung in the air, and Sesshomaru lifted her hand, noticing the bloody knuckles. There were half-moon imprints in her palm where her claws had cut through the skin from her clenched fists. He looked a little closer, and could see a number of short, blonde hairs under her elongated nails. Her charred wrists from the iron shackles were blood red, and still blistering. Her hair, which had been as long as his own only a few days ago, was now touching her shoulders. The ragged, uneven diagonal endings showed that one of her pursuers had hacked it off at some point in time.

“It disturbs me to know that Rin was correct, and I had a hand in your demise, however indirect it may have been.”

‘Rin…the one who has benefited the most from your tutelage. An unsure girl who has blossomed into a graceful young woman. Rin...the one I could not protect, but you gave your life for.’

Sesshomaru dropped her hand to her side and continued his observation. Her wings were in shreds, a mangled mass of cartilage and muscle that hung limply off the table. He pulled the sheet further down her body, down to her lower stomach. Her skin was covered in angry claw marks, and there were countless bite imprints around her upper chest. Her tail had been wrapped around her waist during the flight south, and he could now see that the spade shaped tip had been completely severed off during the struggle.

“You call yourself a soldier, yet you could not prevent this desecration of your own body. You are not worthy of the life that you had if you cannot defend yourself.” he condemned coldly, even though he knew that the situation she had been in would have been tough for even him to get out of.

‘She refused to let the transformation finish while I was there. She told me that I needed the energy to keep the shields up until someone got there…’

“Rin knows what you did, and undoubtedly will soon be thinking it is because of her that you are now dead.”

‘It disturbs me, knowing what she will be like after witnessing such an attack. She begged me to give you your life back, then left when I refused to do so. Have I lost her for good this time?’

Sesshomaru was about to pull the sheet down further when he saw the hand shaped bruises on her hips. There were five distinct, circular bruises with small punctures above each where claws had dug into her flesh. He felt his stomach lurch when he realized how they had more than likely gotten there.

‘An innocence saved…an innocence lost.’

The stoic Lord could not force himself to check for further abrasions; he’d seen enough. He gently pulled the sheet back over her body, but left her expressionless face uncovered. He unintentionally superimposed the cocky grin she always wore when they sparred, along with the flushed color of her cheeks and wide green eyes. Sesshomaru found that it was not all that hard to do, and surprised himself when he realized that he remembered such details that he would normally consider so trivial.

“Rin is devastated, and has left, going to my idiotic half brother’s side, another ridiculous mix blooded fool. And the thought that she has turned her back on me angers me worse than the thought of her joining with that joke of an Eastern fox she is so fond of.”

‘I don’t want you to be left alone. I won’t be here forever. You should not have to be by yourself….I don’t want you to be.’

‘Alone. I was alone for so long before she came into my life, even before Jaken was appointed as my underling. Then she came…a human girl who was also alone. She’s been with me ever since. Could I really go back to the way things were? Before?’

His hand absently went to the hilt of Tenseiga when the sword’s aura pulsed, as if answering his un-verbalized questions. Without thinking, he unsheathed the fang, and sliced it over Kaida’s form. The ugly little Netherworld demons were swarming all over her body, pulling at her soul.

‘Rin has taught me that being alone…is not the way to be. Even your father, a strong Lord in his own right, has told me that his strength comes from the need to protect the ones important to him…the ones he loves.’

“Is that why you died, Lady Kaida? Because you loved Rin enough to sacrifice your only chance at fighting your attackers, just to keep her safe?” he mumbled, watching as Kaida’s soul was slowly being pulled out of her body.

‘Many will mourn your passing. You have the love and respect of your family and Rin, as well as many of the beings in my own lands. They are saddened greatly by your current condition. You…an uncouth, hot tempered, ill fated, foolish woman.’

“But who have I to mourn my own eventual passing? Surely not Inuyasha, brother though he is to me. Rin, perhaps? Unlikely since she now thinks me a ruthless killer.” He frowned, seeing the Netherworld guides pulling the last of Kaida’s soul from her body, despite its attempts to get free of their otherworldly grasp. The silvery-gray specter continued to struggle, fighting as hard as she could in the grasps of the little demons.

“What about you, Lady Kaida? Would you mourn my eventual passing?” he asked. “Unlikely, I believe. Highly unlikely.”

A few moments passed, and he continued to watch in some sort of morbid fascination as Kaida’s struggling soul continued to fight her manhandling by the Netherworld guides, despite the futility of it all. The ugly beings began to loop chains around her struggling body, and Sesshomaru could see something in her ghostly face that he’d never seen before.

Fear.

The proud demoness that had told him off countless times, the one who had never flinched during their near fatal fights…the one Rin loved so much, and the one he had grudgingly learned to respect even though he’d never admit it to another soul, was scared.

“Even in death, you fight.” he said, shaking his head. “Are you scared of death, my proud warrior? Is it the thought of going down death’s road, forced to face the rest of eternity in the isolation of hell, spur on your actions?”

A chain wrapped around her hands, stopping their flailing…

‘You are lying at death’s door, and I am hesitant to bring you back, simply because I still do not understand you.’

A chain around her legs, stopping her kicking….

‘Or is it my own attachment to you that stops me?’

A chain around her shoulders, stilling them…

‘An attachment that I never asked for, nor wanted.’

A gag in her mouth…

‘Yet I somehow acquired during your tenure as Rin’s teacher, unbidden or not.’

More loops around her body…

Sesshomaru gripped the hilt of the Tenseiga while Toukijin pulsed slightly at his side, his own internal battle raging on while Kaida’s soul was slowly forced into submission right before his eyes.

A blindfold around her eyes…

“Rin is my own.” he muttered, almost angrily. “And if this was her soul being drawn into the beyond, I would not hesitate to being her back. To give her life.”

Kaida’s struggling spirit had finally stilled as the last chain was secured into place. Sesshomaru looked at the still form, and froze when he saw a single silver droplet slide down her face.

A tear.

Her soul was…crying.

He growled as he watched the Netherworld imps laugh and point at her, almost as if taunting her. They slowly started sinking down towards the floor, dragging Kaida’s still soul with them. He was not sure why he suddenly felt a twinge of fear, and he was even more confused as he gripped Tenseiga’s hilt out of pure reflex when Toukijin’s pulsating aura almost brought him to his knees. Before he could realize what had prompted him to do it, he pulled the Tenseiga up and slashed at the imps, causing them to cry out in alarm before disappearing.

He watched as Kaida’s soul hovered for a few seconds, almost as if it were unsure of where it was supposed to go now that the Netherworld guides were gone.

“I will not lose my own.” he said calmly. But the reference to Rin seemed a bit ambiguous, even to his own ears.

The chains surrounding Kaida’s spirit began to glow slightly, then disappear as her soul lifted back into her body. Sesshomaru sheathed the Tenseiga, the implications of what he had just done pounding in his head, right along with a sudden urge to justify his actions towards her as only a reason to reassure Rin and get her back as soon as possible.

But even as he thought about it, that excuse was somewhat weak, and he knew it.

He watched as the specter slowly settled back into her body, and then waited for any sign of returning life. A full minute passed before he could sense any change in her, but the first sign of life came when he heard a faint heartbeat. Her breathing was raspy, and he could see her wings slowly retracting back into her body.

He turned and headed towards the shoji screen, knowing it would be a few more minutes before she would fully awaken. A small groan was heard and he turned his head over his shoulder to look at her one final time.

Kaida’s eyes were half lidded, and glazed over in absolute pain; but he could see the spark of life that had returned to them.

‘It hurts like hell when you suddenly sprout wings and a tail. But it’s even worse afterwards, when they come back.’

He watched for a few seconds, until the wings disappeared into her back, and turned once again to leave, relatively sure that she had not seen him. He pulled the screen open and stepped out into the hall, then turned to shut it. It was then that his eyes looked over to Kaida once again, and he saw the flash of recognition in her face right before the pain overcame her, and she passed out from the strain on her body.

He just pulled the shoji screen closed and walked away without a sound. He headed down the hallway, headed for the entrance, and already making up his mind to go and get Rin away from Inuyasha now that Kaida was alive.

Unfortunately, he met up with Ryu and his other two daughters, Leiko and Kei. The dragon lord was still more than upset, that much was obvious; but the two demoness’ at his side seemed almost unperturbed by the news.

“Sesshomaru.” Ryu said, nodding in recognition.

“Ryu.” he answered, paying no attention to the two females. “I will return in three days to discuss the alterations to our agreement concerning my ward.”

“So be it.” the dragon lord said, waving his hand carelessly as he walked off.

“Kaida’s dead.” Leiko spoke up, causing Sesshomaru to turn his attention to the eldest daughter.

“She is as she should be.” he said simply, glancing at Ryu’s back.

“I’ll say.” Kei muttered. The two sisters shared a conspiratory look, and Sesshomaru suddenly felt like taking off their heads for the way they were acting. He knew that there was no love between the sisters, but had always thought that Kaida’s view on the whole strained relationship had been a little skewed.

Apparently they were not.

Instead, he merely nodded and swept out of the hallway. When he exited the castle and walked into the courtyard, he gathered his energy at his feet, and the familiar white cloud formed.

He was half-way across the grounds when he felt Ryu’s aura spike uncontrollably in a mixture of surprise, relief, and unconditional love. But the Western Lord continued on his way to his own home. His mind now set on just how to set Rin back where she belonged, as opposed to the life he had just saved.

Or more importantly, his reason for saving her.

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It was a few hours and many miles later when Sesshomaru touched down on the outskirts of the village he knew his half brother resided in.

“Well, look at what the cat dragged in.” Inuyasha said coldly, dropping down out of the treetops and causing Sesshomaru to come up short, mostly because he had been so immersed in his thoughts that he had not sensed Inuyasha’s presence. “I figured your sorry ass would be coming around here soon.”

“I see the years have yet to give you any manners towards your superiors.” Sesshomaru said coldly, glaring at the hanyou that was blocking his path.

“Yeah, well, you’re not angel yourself.” Inuyasha commented with a frown. “What are you doing here? The squirt doesn’t want to see you.” he said firmly, his hand absently falling to Tetsusaiga’s hilt. “Said something about her teacher dying, and you not wanting to bring her back. Sound familiar?”

“Vaguely.” he assented. “Move aside, half breed. This does not concern you.”

“I said she doesn’t want to see you.” Inuyasha growled, pulling Tetsusaiga from its sheath. The dull blade quickly transformed into the heirloom fang that Sesshomaru had once sought. “You’re best move here would be to go away and let her calm down. Human females are not exactly creatures you want to fuck with when they’re angry.”

“Something I am sure you learned first hand.” he said dismissively.

“One of my more painful experiences.” he said with a grin, like it was nothing in the world to be slammed into the ground repeatedly by a teenage miko.

“From what I’ve heard, this Kaida woman is a mix breed. What’d you do? Slice her throat in her sleep?” Inuyasha asked dully. “No wonder Rin’s pissed. You killed off the only person who’s ever actually show any interest in her.”

“Speak not of which you have no knowledge!” Sesshomaru barked, his rage barely controlled. Inuyasha looked somewhat surprised by the vehemence in his voice.

The brother’s faced off for a few more moments, and Sesshomaru quickly came to the conclusion that it would be absolutely pointless to try and fight his way through Inuyasha and into the village, especially considering Rin was more than likely with the miko Kagome, Inuyasha’s mate. He knew the woman would keep Rin safe, had done so before.

‘And that idiot kitsune is with her.’ he thought. ‘Both of them in fact. Her safety is no concern at the moment.’

“I want you to relay a message to Rin.” he said coldly, turning to walk away.

“What am I now, your personal carrier pigeon?” Inuyasha demanded. “And since when do I do what you ask me to?”

“Tell her that Lady Kaida is alive and well, and that I expect her to be back at the fortress within the next day.”

“You mean you actually brought her back to life?” Inuyasha asked dumbly, apparently not believing what Sesshomaru had said.

“You heard what I said.” Sesshomaru reiterated. “I will not repeat myself again.”

Sesshomaru just left his half brother standing in the small clearing, not wanting to hear his ridiculous sputters of complete surprise.

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A/N - Hey, hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. Please remember to review, and tell me what you think.

Later,

A.A.