InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Teaching Rin ❯ Chapter 36

Disclaimer - It’s not mine. Never was. I’m not the owner, nor am I making any money off of the characters originally created for the Inuyasha anime/manga.

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Teaching Rin

Chapter 36

Brotherly Interference

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Sesshomaru was more than just thoroughly pissed at the events of the day before. He could deal with the slipping security along the borderland checkpoints without killing any of his soldiers. He could deal with Kaida getting hurt and passing out on him from iron poisoning without wanting to kill the soldier that had shot her. He could even deal with the unexpected and unwelcome presence of Kaida’s brother and friend without maiming them beyond recognition.

What he couldn’t deal with was the persistent, accusing line of questioning that said brother was hell bent on getting through.

He had remained impassive after the pair of clowns had touched down in the clearing where Kaida had passed out the night before. He had refused to say anything else beyond explaining what had happened to her, and what he had done to try and alleviate her discomfort. Keiji had finally taken the hint and shut up, taking up a spot underneath one of the trees to wait until morning. The other demon had said very little, if anything else after cleaning Kaida’s wound more thoroughly and stitching it up.

He had left the small group in the forest, going on ahead to the last checkpoint to secure it while Kaida remained asleep. Sesshomaru was seriously on the verge of mutilating Keiji as it was, but sincerely thought that Kaida would appreciate it if he left her overbearing sibling in one piece. It had not taken long to get to the checkpoint and find all was secure. He had headed back then, hoping that Kaida was awake and lucent so they could head back to the fortress.

Unfortunately, fate was once again being a pain to him, and Kaida was still out cold when he returned a few hours before the dawning of the new morning. What he found upon his return though, had caused him to let a feral growl of pure annoyance lose.

It seemed as though Kaze had then reverted to his full demonic state and laid down next to Kaida, curling his massive tail around the demoness. The only part of Kaida he could actually see was her injured shoulder peeking out around the bushy tail of Kaze.

Kaze had laid down and arranged her so that she was lying on her side, facing him. One of his massive paws was being used as a pillow for Kaida’s head, and his tail was lying half on her, and half behind her, effectively cocooning her in his warmth. He could see her hands were clenched in the thick fur of the dog’s side, and she seemed utterly at peace. She slept on peacefully, only moving every now and then to find a more comfortable position or reassure her grip on the brown fur that was surrounding her.

Sesshomaru seethed silently, watching the way Kaida responded to the other dog’s attention, even when she was soundly asleep. His annoyance had seeped away, slowly being replaced with utter contempt for the half-breed demon who was wrapped around her.

She trusted him unconditionally. And anytime she would mutter something in her sleep or make some sort of movement that even possibly suggested she was in pain, the big brown head of the beast would bend towards her and a low reassuring growl was heard emanating from the dog’s throat. Sesshomaru had figured that would wake the sleeping Kaida up and put her on high alert. But all she did was give an unconscious half smile and burrow deeper into the dog’s side, utterly content to stray from her dreaming world and see where she was.

Sesshomaru was suddenly, forcefully reminded of one time when he had seen Izayoi sick in the palace. His father had done the same thing as Kaze had, reverting to his demonic form and pulled her shaking form to his side. The low growls that he had issued had placated the feverish woman and allowed her to fall asleep after nights of sleeplessness. When asked why, InuTaisho had simply said that it was a form of reassurance for her to hear him so nearby. At the time, Sesshomaru had doubted the sanity of his warrior father.

But now he wasn’t so sure.

Sesshomaru had found Kaze’s attempt to comfort Kaida to be not only invasive of Kaida’s personal space, but completely mind boggling in the respect that it had worked.

Up until the time he had left to go check on the last checkpoint, Kaida had muttered and tossed and turned in her sleep. But with the appearance of her brother and Kaze, she had calmed down. Her struggling had ceased the moment Kaze had picked her up off the ground and began cleaning the wound. It was almost as if she knew he was there, even though she was out cold.

Sesshomaru knew that the demon merchant was full blooded, the offspring of a dog demon and a dragon demoness. But the creature that lay beside Kaida was intriguing to say the least. He was smaller than Sesshomaru’s own demonic form by a considerable amount, but still large enough to pose a threat should a fight ever erupt between the two of them. Kaze was covered in shaggy, reddish-brown fur. The mutt’s eyes were still the violent purple of his humanoid form, but the center of them were stark white, something that surprised Sesshomaru.

He rationalized that it must be the influence of his dragon mother that had caused the change, along with a few other minor discrepancies in his demonic form. Kaze’s claws were more talon like than claw like, the nails being longer than normal and black as the night sky. It was just little things, but it was enough for anyone to see that the demon was not of a pure lineage.

‘I wonder if that is what Kaida’s children would look like? I would assume so, but only if the father is of the dog demon heritage.’ he contemplated, seeing in his mind’s eye a smiling Kaida holding onto a baby that was wrapped in white cloths.

In his mind, he walked over and looked down into the cloth, seeing a small male baby that had green eyes and two sets of twin lines running down the side of his chubby face. Kaida seemed to be ignoring his presence, even in his little daydream, but that was nothing unusual. She cooed and reached a finger out to the child, smiling when the little boy reached out and grabbed a hold of it with a steady hand.

“Kaida, where are you?” called out an utterly familiar voice that Sesshomaru was sincerely beginning to loathe. A split second later, he saw Kaze walk over to the seated mother and put his arm around Kaida, grinning down at the little baby boy, who had started laughing when he saw Kaze.

“Yes, your daddy’s here. Calm down.” she said soothingly, bouncing the baby up and down.

‘Well at least the kid knows a joke when he sees one.’ Sesshomaru thought wryly.

“Is his temperature down yet?” Kaze asked.

“Yes. It broke about an hour ago.” Kaida’s voice said as she reached up and pushed the baby’s hair off of his forehead. Sesshomaru felt his whole body go stiff when he watched the cooing baby.

There was no way in the seven circles of hell that little boy was Kaze’s son!

He had the exact crescent moon on his forehead that Sesshomaru had…..

The Western Lord startled himself awake, his eyes popping open automatically and a growl escaping his throat as he instantly took in his surroundings.

Keiji was on the other side of the clearing, and the still demonic Kaze was off to the side, looking down at his charge as she slowly started to finally waken from her unconscious state.

‘It was a dream.’ he thought, feeling much better. ‘I fell asleep. It was all a dream.’

A groan from the other side of the clearing brought him back to reality as he saw Kaida sit up from her spot and look around, obviously confused as to where she was considering the only thing she could see directly in front of her was a mound of brown fur. She looked around slowly, and Sesshomaru saw a faint smile of happiness cross her face when Kaze’s big head nudged her in her good shoulder and look pointedly to where Keiji was walking towards them.

“My little puppy.” she said, smiling as she reached up and scratched the dog between the inhumane purple eyes that were whirling in satisfaction. The mutt let out a happy yelp and uncurled himself from around Kaida as she slipped her arm into the training gi she had on, effectively covering the wound up. Sesshomaru could feel the merchant drawing his energy into himself to revert to his more human like appearance.

“Kaida?” Keiji asked, helping his sister to her feet. “Feeling better?”

“I’m fine...now. What’re you doin’ here?” she asked groggily. “And where’s Sesshomaru?”

“We came to deliver a letter to you from father.” Keiji said. “When we were told you had left on patrol, we came to find you.”

“Your news could not have waited?” Sesshomaru asked coldly. What was so important that they had tracked them down this far north of the fortress grounds.

“Actually it probably could have waited, but I’m glad we decided to track you down.” Keiji countered, giving Sesshomaru a look that clearly stated he was more than just a little angry. “You mind explaining what happened to that shoulder, Kaida?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?” Kaze said, whistling low as his body finally settled into it‘s common form. “That’s a pretty powerful nothing, love.”

“I’m fine.” Kaida said adamantly. “It was a training maneuver that got out of hand, that’s all. I should have been able to dodge quicker.” Sesshomaru watched as she turned her gaze down at the ground. She was lying to them. It was more his fault that she had been wounded, not her own. Why was she telling them this?

“Out of hand? You were burning up with a fever and half delusional when we found you!” Keiji growled angrily, clearly not believing her half-truth. “What happened?”

“I was shot with an arrow, an iron tipped arrow that flaked off into the wound.” Kaida said impassively.

“And why?” Kaze asked.

“Practice infiltration of borderland checkpoints.” he answered, drawing the two demon’s attention to himself.

“You’re sending her in to do your dirty work?” Kaze demanded.

“You didn’t clean it?” Keiji asked, looking down at his twin and not waiting for Sesshomaru to answer Kaze’s question.

“The soldier’s healer looked at it.”

“And left the flakes in there? Bastard isn’t much of a healer if he can’t do his job to standard.” Keiji barked.

“Keiji, don’t start….” Kaida started, only to be intercepted by Kaze’s hand on her elbow.

“I cleaned it out and stitched you up last night.” the mutt said. “But it needs to be checked again. There’s a hot spring not far from here. Let’s go get you cleaned up and looked at.”

“We don’t have time…” Sesshomaru began, only to feel Keiji’s energy flare out at him.

“You’re gonna make time.” Keiji growled. “You secured your final checkpoint last night. So if you’re in that much of a hurry to leave, then go. We’ll take Kaida with us back home, where she belongs and where she won’t get hurt.”

The threat of taking Kaida back with them was real enough, and Sesshomaru had anticipated that the demon would say something like that. He said nothing, but watched as Kaida and Kaze walked away from them towards the small spring that he’d found last night while wandering around. He waited until the two were out of hearing range before turning to the still glowering Keiji.

“What was your true reason for finding us?” he demanded. “If the news you carry was so important, Ryu would not have simply wrote it down on a letter.”

“We came to relay the message that Haruto had been overthrown and that Saburo has taken his place as temporary Northern ruler.” Keiji answered. Well, this verified the information the messenger had told him and Kaida the day before, so it was reassuring to know that the cat was indeed dead.

“And Koto?” he asked, pretending that it was indeed news to him.

“Fled to the mainland, back to her family.”

“How did you find this out so suddenly?” he asked.

“Spies.” Keiji shrugged. “We keep a number of them in the northern lands to keep an eye on what’s going on up there. Better to be safe than sorry, after all. And prevention’s easier than clean-up.”

“Indeed.” he nodded. “What of Atsuko?”

“She stayed at her brother’s side and is currently tied up with only the heaven’s knows what.” Keiji said. “Rumor has it that she’s the one who knocked the old cat off to begin with.”

“Atsuko is well versed in poisons and other ingestible herbs that could kill.” Sesshomaru said, knowing well of the demoness’ knowledge. “And she has the constitution of her mother to do it.”

“So I’ve been told.” he said. “Now you know why we’re here. You mind telling me exactly what you did to Kaida that had her in the shape she was in last night?”

“I se no reason to repeat myself.” Sesshomaru said coldly. “She explained what happened. There is nothing else I can add. Your paranoia over her well being is preposterous.”

“What’s preposterous is you almost getting her killed.” Keiji barked. “Be thankful I don’t make her come back home with us.”

“She wouldn’t leave. Her duty is not completed.” Sesshomaru answered coldly. This demon was starting to overstep his bounds and forget his manners, something Sesshomaru would not have. He’d killed creatures for speaking to him in such a tone, without the respect due to him.

“Her duty is applicable only when Rin is present. And I don’t see the young lady anywhere nearby.” Keiji retorted.

“She will not leave these lands until her job is completed. I will see to that.” Sesshomaru said icily. “She knows her place in my domain, and will remain at my side until it is completed.”

“You’re an idiot if you think she will walk away from us for you. If I can’t make her see reason, Kaze will. Her family won’t put her in unnecessary danger.”

“I find that slightly hypocritical considering your father’s attempted alliance with the Northern family.”

Sesshomaru covered a snicker. That was a low blow, and he knew it. But the impudent demon’s threats of removing Kaida from her position was not welcomed by him…not in the least.

“That was a long time ago, and I had nothing to do with it. Neither did Kaze.” the irate dragon said through gritted teeth.

“And since when did you and he receive the positions as her personal protectors?” Sesshomaru countered. “What I request of her during her tenure in my lands has nothing to do with you, or that irritating half-breed mutt.”

“It is my business when I find her half dead from iron poisoning!”

“She can not be coddled.”

“Who’s coddling her? It sure isn’t me!” Keiji said, his temper apparently finding it’s end. “And it sure as all hell isn’t you! If what I saw last night was how you treat my sister any other time, you’re no better than Kiyoshi!”

Oh boy, was that the wrong thing to say…

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Kaida was just slipping the gi off her shoulder and dipping a clean cloth into the warmed waters when she felt a sudden rise in Sesshomaru’s and Keiji’s respective energies.

“Is that proof I’m going to find Keiji in shreds when we get back?” she asked, looking over at Kaze, who had turned a worried look back towards the clearing they had recently vacated.

“Why would you think that, love?” he asked, taking the cloth from her hands and wiping it over the almost healed wound on her shoulder. She hissed, and he apologized, knowing good and well the area was still tender.

“Call it a hunch.” she mumbled.

“He’s got enough sense not to give Sesshomaru a reason to kill him.” Kaze said reassuringly to her, although he knew exactly how angry Keiji had been to see Kaida hurting the night before. He had been just as angry, but had kept his mouth shut in order to take care of Kaida in her feverish state. ’At least I hope he does.’

“So what possessed you to track us down all the way out here?” she asked. Kaze finished checking over the wound and then dug into his shirt, removing a letter from the folds.

“Your father wanted us to deliver this to you.” he said, handing her the letter. “And we wanted to pass on word that Haruto’s been overthrown. Saburo’s taken his place.”

“Really? Sesshomaru and I ran into some messengers yesterday that had the same story, but I wasn’t ready to believe it until I found out the facts for myself.” she said while unfolding the paper and glancing over it.

“He was poisoned. And many think Atsuko is the perpetrator behind it. But there is no evidence she’s the one who did it.” he shrugged, watching as Kaida’s attention slipped from himself to the words on the paper. “Something wrong, Kaida?”

“Well…yes. You could say there is.” she said, her forehead creased in thought. “And then you could say there isn’t as well.”

“Explain, if you would.”

“Lord Seiti wishes to meet with me.” she said, shaking her head. “He’s coming to the union festivities in the Southern Lands when Leiko and Kei join with their mates.”

“What’s he want?” Kaze asked, placing the name to a very surly falcon demon that hoarded over a large section of land north of China.

“Father doesn’t say. Just that Seiti requested permission to meet privately with me to discuss some impending matters.” she said. “Wonder what he wants?”

“Another potential suitor, perhaps?” Kaze asked, not liking that idea at all. Seiti was a conniving, power hungry bastard who was rumored to have killed both his father and elder brother to inherit the right to rule over the territories he called home. He was cruel, and not exactly someone he wanted Kaida associating with.

“I hope the hell not.” she hissed, folding up the letter and stuffing it in the folds of her gi.

“Oh, speaking of potential suitors…” Kaze said, slinging his arm over her shoulders. “I’ve got news for you about one of yours.”

“Who is it now?” Kaida growled, her annoyance coming through loud and clear with the news of another unwanted suitor.

“Me.”

“What?!” she demanded, looking at him like he’d grown an extra head or something easily as horrendous. “What are you talking about?” Kaze grinned and sat back, watching the sun’s morning rays dance across the water of the spring.

“I convinced the ruling council to throw my name into the next barrage of demons looking to court you.” he chuckled. “Figured I might as well try since you are going to be tossing them on their asses left and right once you get back home.”

“You didn’t?” Kaida asked.

“Sure did.” he grinned. “After all, someone needs to warn the poor suckers about you. And who knows you any better than me? I need to weed out the ones that aren‘t worth your time anyhow. And if I‘m one of the potential suitors, then no one can accuse me of foul play since anything I do will be considered perfectly legal in an attempt to garner your wonderful favor.” Kaze stopped for a moment, and put his hand to his chin in an attempt to seem like he was thinking over something else. “Of course, the council did say that I couldn’t kill them, you know. Something about plunging the country in a mess of civil war and unrest. So you should feel a little better about that, right?”

“You’ve thought this through, haven’t you?” she asked, eyeing him critically. It was just like Kaze to weasel his way into the list of possible suitors…if there really were any after what she had caused with Kiyoshi’s death. She somehow doubted any other demon would want to risk their necks on her, especially now. But she wasn’t complaining at all. She had no intention of settling down anytime soon, and Kaze knew that. Not that she’d ever actually consider the handsome merchant as a possible candidate for a union.

They had both come to the conclusion long ago that they would never make it as a joined couple. After that epiphany, they had given their words to remain as nothing more than friends for the rest of their lives. And she knew he had no intention of going back on his word, neither did she. This latest move on his part was purely for the fun of harassing any other possible matches that would come along, and she knew it. He could fend them off until the last possible moment, and then she could kick them out onto their respective rear ends.

“You are absolutely impossible, Kaze.” she said with a shake of her head.

“Yeah, but you love me anyways.” he said with a grin as she stood up and they headed back to the clearing where Keiji and Sesshomaru had been left.

“Yes, I do.” she said. “What would I do without you, Kaze?”

“Your day would be much less brighter than it is now.” he pointed out. “And you would have dozens of demons on their knees, ready to pledge their undying love and devotion only to you. After all, I know how much you hate it when nitwit demons bow at your feet, so I run interference and keep them out of your way.” Kaida couldn’t help but laugh at her longtime friend’s antics.

It never mattered where or when, but Kaze could always get her to laugh, despite any situation they found themselves in. He had been her savior on many days and nights when she had fought with herself of what she should and shouldn’t do. They continued on their way up the path, Kaze acting a fool and Kaida laughing.

Then they felt it.

A sudden surge in energy that almost knocked them both down onto their rear ends.

“What the hell…” Kaze demanded, looking around. “That wasn’t…”

“Keiji!” Kaida shouted, sprinting towards her brother’s familiar energy as it battled with Sesshomaru’s overpowering presence. Kaida and Kaze cleared the small hill seconds later, only to see Sesshomaru on one side of the clearing with a deadly glare on his face, and Keiji lying on the other side, blood dripping from his shoulder.

“Sesshomaru! What the hell is going on here?!”

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̶ 0;I’m not an invalid, Kaze.” Kaida muttered grumpily from her position on the half-breed’s back. “And why do you have to carry me? My shoulder was injured, not my legs.”

Sesshomaru watched as Kaze simply grinned and readjusted Kaida on his back. It was a few hours later, and they had returned to the Western fortress via dragon back.

Kaida had refused to speak with either himself of Keiji as they traveled, calling them childish for fighting over something that basically boiled down to name calling. She had bandaged Keiji’s arm where he had slashed it during their disagreement, and rounded on him like he was an errant child. Keiji, who had been so gung ho about protecting her, simply took the berating without a word. That had been a surprising turn of events, even more so when Kaida had said nothing to him.

‘She will start harping soon enough.’ he thought grumpily as they entered into the main courtyard of the fortress. ‘She’s smart enough to not start something until her brother and that mutt are out of the way.’

“You’ve been injured, love.” he said simply, as if it was the most common reason in the world. “No need for you to expound energy on walking when you need to heal yourself.”

“Why don’t you go scoop up my brother instead?” she muttered sourly, looking back at Keiji. The dragon demon was still doing his form of adult sulking and only glared at her. Kaze just shook his head at her tactics and frowned. She had been acting odd since their return to the clearing. Apparently seeing Keiji and Sesshomaru fighting had been something she didn’t want to see.

She separated them, and he saw her hesitate between which one to go to first. Sesshomaru had simply went to the other side of the clearing while she bandaged up Keiji while scolding him about keeping his temper in check. It was only after she crossed the clearing to the Western Lord’s side that Kaze had started noticing a slight difference.

They were on the other side of the clearing, so he couldn’t hear what was being said, but he got the gist of it. Kaida tried to get him to let her see where Keiji’s claws had slashed his arm, but Sesshomaru refused. Kaida threw her hands up and stalked off after hissing at him.

But that wasn’t the end of it. When the group had left the clearing, Kaze noticed that Sesshomaru seemed to unconsciously gravitate to Ishika’s side. He and Kaida shared a few words, but he once again couldn’t tell what it was due to the winds rushing past them. The Western Lord had remained on her left side while Keiji was on her right, glaring disapprovingly the whole time.

“General, what happened to you?” Sakaki asked, whistling low at the sight of her being carried by Kaze while Keiji and Sesshomaru continued to glare daggers at each other. Sesshomaru noticed that the elites had moved their training into the main courtyard today, and also that Bano was somewhat perturbed to have his practice time interrupted by their arrival back.

“Training maneuver gone wrong.” she answered, trying to get down from Kaze’s back. But it seemed like the merchant had other ideas, and simply held onto her thighs a little tighter, keeping her in place. “Put me down, Kaze.”

“Where are your manners, Lady General Kaida?” Sakaki tsked disdainfully, teasing her.

“Sorry. Put me down now, Kaze.” she reiterated, causing Sakaki and some of the other surrounding soldiers to snicker.

“You better listen to her, sir.” Reisho commented idly. “She gets pissy when people ignore her.”

“You would be the expert on that since it’s usually you and Yukio who act like you’re deaf and dumb when I’m around.” she hissed at him.

“Well, it’s good to see your attitude is still intact, even if your morale is in shreds.” Kaze commented, grinning when Kaida brought her fist down on his shoulder none to lightly in a friendly reminder of his vulnerable position. He winced and started walking towards the castle infirmary ward. “Let’s go get that shoulder looked at again, shall we, love? I wouldn’t want anything else to happen to such a delicate flower of a Lady as yourself.”

A resounding thunk and a painful moan later signified that Kaze’s comment had resulted in the desired release of the Southern noblewoman from her perch on his back. Sesshomaru looked over at Keiji, then turned to his soldiers.

“Sakaki! Report!” he said coldly, pining the head soldier with a withering gaze. Sakaki came to attention and bowed at his lord.

“Everything is in order, sir.” he answered crisply. “No problems at all since yours and Lady Kaida’s departure for patrols. We also received word from an Eastern messenger that Lady Rin and Keisha safely arrived in the Eastern Lands the day after they left here.”

“And Jaken?”

“He was working on some paperwork the last time I heard, sir.” Sakaki said.

“That’s all.” Sesshomaru said. “You are dismissed.”

“Sir!”

Sakaki returned to his training and Keiji eyed the group with an unreadable expression on his face.

“So this is who you’ve got her training?” he asked. Sesshomaru didn’t even dignify that with an answer since it was obviously a rhetorical question. A few minutes later, Kaida and Kaze returned to the courtyard.

“Bid your brother and…friend…farewell.” he said crisply, leveling a cold stare at Kaida. “We have work to finish.”

“Fine.” she said evenly, matching his angry gaze with one of her own. He nodded coldly and watched as she forcibly pulled the two demons out of the courtyard and towards their waiting steeds outside the walls. It was about time those two left. As far as he was concerned, they had overstayed their welcome in his lands two seconds after they got there.

“It is time for them to go.” he muttered darkly.

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“You know you don’t have to stay here, Kaida.” Keiji said sourly as they walked the short distance to the dragons. “That bastard has no say over you as long as Rin isn’t here.”

“It’s not that bad.” she said quietly. “He’s just grumpy when other people are around. And you and Kaze are not his most favorite people at the present moment because you interrupted his patrols.”

“Don’t defend him.” Keiji said coldly. “Look what he let happen to you!”

“I’m not defending him.” she answered, although she knew instinctively that she was to an extent. “Nor am I justifying what happened to me. But it was an accident, nothing more. I’m fine now. Besides, I’ve had worse when you and I trained together.” She had to get them out of the Western Lands before Sesshomaru decided to finish the job he’d started this morning and lash out a Keiji again.

She had managed to separate them by bodily getting in between them before they killed each other. Or more appropriately, before Sesshomaru killed her brother.

“We just don’t like knowing he’s letting you get hurt while you’re here.” Kaze said, breaking into her concentration.

“If father finds out he’s putting you in danger for his own selfish gain, he is not going to be happy one bit.” Keiji said, hugging his sister warmly.

“Just don’t tell him.” she remarked, hoping he would keep a lid on her state. She really didn’t want her father storming down here. Talk about a disaster!

“And have another Ryuukotsusei on our hands, when he does find out?” Kaze asked, embracing her gently before mounting the waiting dragon. “That’s not wise, Kaida. Sesshomaru is strong, yes. But Ryuukotsusei was a member of your family at one time, don‘t forget. Ryu would be just as powerful and just as hard to defeat if something happened to you and he decided to take revenge on Sesshomaru for your death.”

“He knows what he’s doing.” Kaida said quietly. “And so do I.”

“You trust him that much?” Keiji asked, looking down at her from his own reptilian steed. “You trust your life in his hands?”

“I…yes.” she said, not looking at her brother for fear that he could see right through her half-lies. She trusted the Western Lord with her life, yes. There wasn’t much else she trusted him with, other than Rin, but she did trust him with her life. Of course, that answer seemed to be the one her brother was not expecting, and she could see him gearing up for another round of arguing. She didn’t feel like fighting with him anymore about Sesshomaru, so she slid the conversation down another path. “It is growing late. If you want to make it back home before nightfall, you need to get going.”

“She’s right.” Kaze said, nodding. “We need to report back to your father, Keiji.”

“Fine.” her brother said. “But if he asks, I’m telling him what I saw, Kaida.”

“Fine.” she said. “Tell him if you must.” Keiji just huffed and gave his steed the signal to lift off. Kaida closed her eyes against the dust cloud that the beast’s take off created, and then turned to walk away, only to be stopped by Kaze’s hardened voice. She cringed, knowing that her friend had picked up on her unease, hesitation and defensiveness when Keiji had started bad mouthing Sesshomaru.

“Kaida.”

“Yes?”

“What 217;s going on here?” he demanded. Kaida struggled to think of something to say that was close enough to the truth, but necessarily wasn’t the truth. She couldn’t come up with something quickly enough though, so she decided to play dumb…not something she had ever been good at.

“What are you talking about?” she countered.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

“You don’t understand…I….” she started only to take a deep breath and let it out slowly in and attempt to get her thoughts together, before she said something she would later regret. “It’s complicated.”

“Something’s not right with you.” he said finally. “You’re fighting with Keiji over Sesshomaru, knowing good and well that iron could have killed you if it had stayed in you any longer. You’re defending him, and you know he was wrong for sending you into those checkpoints unarmed. And now you’re telling me I don’t understand? Whatever it is that’s going on between you and Sesshomaru…”

“There’s…nothing going on between us.” she spit out. What was she supposed to say? That she had gotten attached to Sesshomaru? That her feelings had gotten in the way, and now she didn’t know what was wrong and right as far as he was concerned? Yeah, she could just imagine how he would react to that little gem of information.

“So you say, but what I’ve seen tells another story entirely, my dear.” he said carefully, watching her reaction to his words. “I’ve got to go report back to your father, but expect me back here in a few days.”

“What? Why?” she demanded.

“Because I am determined to find out exactly what’s going on in that pretty head of yours.” he said, giving the dragon the signal to lift. Kaida blinked back against the dust and turned to leave without another word.

---

“You may trust your life in his hands.” Kaze said sadly, watching over his shoulder as she walked back towards the safety of the walls, and then to Sesshomaru‘s side. “Your heart, however, is an entirely different matter. And that’s what I’m worried about right now.”

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A/N - I do so hope everyone has enjoyed this chapter. The next one is already halfway written, so it shouldn’t be too much longer before it’s out and ready for your reading pleasure.

Until next time,

A.A.