InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Teaching Rin ❯ Chapter 40

Disclaimer - The characters of Inuyasha do not belong to me. I am making no money off of this story…..you guys know this stuff by now.

A/N- I realize that the last chapter seemed a bit…disappointing to many people. So, this is the other half of the last chapter. Hope you enjoy.

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Teaching Rin

Chapter 40

Truth Revealed

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Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

That was the extent of what had come out of the conversation he had pulled a rather annoyed Kaida into the evening before. She had evaded his questioning, argued every point the tried to bring up, and flat out ignored the rest of what he had tried to tell her.

The only thing they had managed to come to an unspoken agreement on was the occurrence in the dojo the evening before. Her mention of it in the initial question she had posed had been the only mention of it. It seemed to go without saying that she did not want to speak of it anymore than absolutely necessary.

And they had apparently agreed, somewhere in the middle of the argument about the new shipment of training tools and the argument about continuing Rin’s training now that she was formally promised, that it had been nothing more than a fluke. At least she had seemingly come to that conclusion somehow. He was still as doubtful as before, and seriously entertaining the thought of just grabbing the hot headed demoness and kissing her again to see what would happen. Consequences be damned!

All in all, absolutely nothing had been accomplished, and they had parted just as annoyed with each other and themselves as they had been when he had pulled her away from checking the inventory.

Sesshomaru had spent a restless night scouring the grounds and debating various points within his mind, and finally coming to painful terms with himself.

Yes, he was being possessive of Kaida’s attention. Yes, he was jealous of her friendly interaction with Sakaki. And, yes, he was physically attracted to the fiery demoness.

Said realizations then led him to another wrung in the inconsistence ladder he was climbing. What was he going to do about it?

If she was surely infatuated with Sakaki, he refused to make a fool out of himself by monopolizing her attention. And everything he had seen up to that point, bar the kiss, had pointed to the head guard being the recipient of her attention.

Killing the other dog was out of the question. He had no viable reason to do so, and it would look mighty suspicious if one of his best trained soldiers was suddenly found floating in a hot spring somewhere nearby.

Reassigning him to the borderland patrol seemed the most reasonable excuse to get rid of him, but then Sesshomaru would undoubtedly be faced with a never ending barrage of angry questions from Kaida as to why Sakaki had suddenly been transferred to a post outside the fortress walls.

And he couldn’t just remove Sakaki of his position without causing even more suspicion. Like he’d realized earlier, the head guard had done nothing to warrant any type of reprimand, let along a stripping of his rank and removal from the fortress.

So Sesshomaru was stuck.

Stuck watching the next morning when Kaida and Rin had entered into the courtyard and began practicing archery and chatting amicably to each other, undoubtedly about Rin’s upcoming marriage.

Stuck watching as Sakaki wound up meandering over and joining the two of them, alternately teasing Rin about Kentaro and Kaida about the bite mark on her neck that he had spotted upon arrival.

Stuck watching as Kaida parried the teasing comments from Rin and slightly suspicious looks from Sakaki. Sesshomaru quickly realized that Sakaki showed no signs of anger at the mark he himself had left on Kaida, only a teasing interest as he prodded her on the identity of her ‘attacker‘.

This telling reaction had all of Sesshomaru’s previous thoughts falling flat. Any demon male who had taken an interest in a female would have been furious of such a telling mark on their body, would have blown up and demanded to know who the guilty party was. But Sakaki had done nothing, only laughed and patted her on the back, grinning at her obvious internal dissention.

Had Sesshomaru’s assumption been wrong all this time? Or did Sakaki not realize that the bruise left on her neck was no mere resultant of a spar?

Unfortunately, the Western Lord was not given the time necessary to ponder the new turn of events because a knock on the shoji screen pulled his attention away. He called out for the servant to enter, and was quickly informed that the quarterly trading caravan from the Southern Lands was to arrive within minutes. Sesshomaru dismissed the servant, telling the hawk demoness to direct the head trader to Keisha so she could see to the unloading of the goods.

The arrival of the trading caravan had been expected for at least a week, so it was no big deal. It was just when Sesshomaru felt the presence of one half breed dog-demon merchant named Kaze that he left his council room, headed for the courtyard.

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“…not going to tell on you, General. I just want to know who had the audacity to mark you like that.” Sakaki said, covering a snicker as Kaida continued to glower at him.

“I think you need to find out whether the poor soul is still alive, first.” Rin added, cutting her eyes up at her tutor.

“Good point, Lady. So, General, is he still alive?”

“He is, but you’re about to not be.” she hissed. Kaida tried to control the fierce redness in her face, tried to stop their teasing from getting to her. The two of them had been relentless since Sakaki had noticed Sesshomaru’s blasted mark nearly half an hour ago. “Don’t you have somewhere else to be, Sakaki? Patrol duty?”

“Not until this evening, General.” he said with a grin. “Plenty of time left for me to find out who….”

“You’re not going to find out anything if I cut your tongue out.”

“Lady Rin will find out for me.” he said cheekily. “She’ll tell me, won’t you, Lady?”

“Of course.” Rin said, knocking another arrow and sighting a target that had been set up at the end of the courtyard, letting it fly. The arrow hit the outer ring of the target with a ping, and Kaida noticed that her aim was off a bit. Whether it was from not training for almost two weeks, she didn’t know. It could just be from not fully concentrating due to the girl’s part in teasing her shamelessly. “After all, I’m just as curious as you are to find out who managed to lock her down long enough to do that.”

“You have been around Kentaro too long. You’re starting to talk like him.” Kaida said sourly at her pupil. Rin just gave her a grin and let another arrow fly.

“I’ll bet that’s not all he taught her.” Sakaki smirked.

“Well…..” Rin started, only to be interrupted by Kaida’s strident voice.

“It better be all he taught her.” she growled.

“I don’t know, General. Lady Rin’s sporting a nice little mark of her own. Something tells me that Lord Sesshomaru wouldn‘t be too pleased to know that both the ladies under his watch have been marked without his knowledge.”

“That’s enough! I don’t want to know. As long as she keeps it covered up where his royal pain in my ass can’t see it, I don’t want to hear about it.” Kaida said, not wanting to hear anymore about what may have or have not transpired during her pupil’s trip Eastward. “And he has no say so over what I do!”

Sakaki was about to retort with another comment, but the calling out of a soldier stationed along the top of the wall interrupted him. Apparently the trading caravan from her homelands had arrived. Sakaki gave the orders to open the gates, then stood back and smiled at her knowingly.

‘Of all the times for them to wind up here.’ she thought glumly, quickly reaching up to pull her practice haoiri over the small, rapidly healing bruise near her neck. ‘If Kaze sees this, I’ll never hear the end of it. Maybe if I‘m lucky he won‘t be the one heading this shipment and I won‘t have to explain exactly why….’

“Kaida! Love! How are you?!”

‘Shit.’ she cursed, looking up as her friend came striding through the gates and into the courtyard, a huge grin on his face. She smiled and tried to act as normally as possible. No such luck with both Rin and Sakaki grinning at her like a pair of guilty cats.

“It’s good to see you, Kaze. How was the trip?” she asked, receiving his friendly hug and stepping back quickly, causing the auburn haired demon to frown at her. Violet eyes narrowed at her, but she acted as though she hadn’t noticed.

“It was well enough. The roads are getting a bit soggy from the spring rains, but that can’t be helped.” he said. “And how have you been, Lady Rin? Last I had heard you were off in the East, charming your way into Ronin and Koto‘s family.”

“I just returned yesterday.” she said, smiling at the friendly demon.

“Should I be referring to you as the newest Eastern Lady?” he asked.

“Not until after the ceremony.” Rin said with a smile. “But soon.”

“Young Kentaro should be proud, being allowed to take pluck such a beautiful, fragile blossom of the Western lands and take it with him.” Kaze said sagely. “I envy his luck.”

“Don’t start. I don’t feel like cleaning your entrails up off the courtyard steps if Sesshomaru hears you.” Kaida growled, noticing the slight blush on Rin’s cheeks. Leave it to Kaze to try charming an already promised Lady. He was absolutely impossible! Kaze simply grinned and turned his attention to Sakaki, nodding in greeting.

“How are you, Sakaki?”

“Fine. Keeping busy. Aggravating the General when I can.” he answered easily.

“Ah, yes. Someone must do just that.” Kaze said. “So what is the topic of discussion now? What Kaida’s been making you elites train through? Or perhaps it is who her newest suitor would happen to be?

“Kaze, don’t you have a caravan to supervise?” Kaida asked coldly. Yep, she was ready to beat heads in.

“No, it’s who put that mark on her neck.” Rin added, grinning. Kaida simply closed her eyes and stilled herself for more merciless teasing to begin.

“Mark?” Kaze asked, reaching over and attempting to move the neck of her haoiri, only to have her reach up and slap his hand away. She wasn’t quick enough, though, and was soon faced with a grinning, knowing look from her long time friend. “Well, well…it seems as though you took my advice, love. Well done. I didn’t think you had it in you.”

“Kaze…”

“Is it who I think it is?” Kaze asked, his grin apparently firmly attached to his face now. Kaida glared at him, balling her fists at her side. “Oh…it is! See, I told you my advice was fool proof!”

“Your advice is flawed, desperately.” she ground out. ‘Dear kami, he’s worse that Koto ever thought about being!!’

“You know who did that?” Rin asked, peering up at Kaze.

“Ah…yes, I do.”

“Who?” Sakaki questioned. “I’ve been trying to get it out of her all morning, but she won’t say anything.” Kaida growled at him, a fair warning that if he continued on with this conversation he was going to regret it later…painfully.

“Well, I shouldn’t spoil the surprise if Kaida hasn’t told you yet. Suffice to say it is someone within the confines of the fortress, the lucky old….Lord Sesshomaru! How are you?”

Kaida looked over her shoulder to where an impassive faced Sesshomaru was walking over. Silently she thanked the gods for his arrival before Kaze could blather anymore. She straightened up, and forced the red tinge off of her face.

“I take it your presence here is indicative of the trading caravan’s arrival?” he asked coldly.

“But of course, Lord Sesshomaru. I was on my way to find out where you would like the goods unloaded, but needed to drop off a letter to Lady Kaida from her father first.” he added smoothly, pulling a letter from the folds of his haoiri and handing it over to Kaida. She took it wordlessly and nodded her thanks, breaking the seal and scanning over the contents.

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Sesshomaru watched as Kaida’s outward demeanor subtly changed by the time she finished reading the letter. He had felt the waves of annoyance and embarrassment rolling off her when he’d arrived. Now all he could feel was anger. It seemed he was not the only one who had noticed the small change, either.

“Is everything okay, love? Your father sends good news, I hope?” Kaze asked.

“Well enough.” she said, folding it back and tucking it into her haoiri. “Just some small matters that need to be taken care of. Lord Seiti is requesting a private meeting with me after Leiko’s and Kei’s union ceremony is over.”

“Did he say what he wanted?” Kaze asked.

“No. Although I already have a decent enough idea as to what it is.” she growled. “Anyways, don’t you have a caravan to supervise, Kaze?”

“Indeed, I do, love.” he said, turning to Sesshomaru. “Where would you like the goods put, Lord Sesshomaru?”

“Take them around back and look for the headwoman Keisha. She will direct you to the storerooms.” he answered.

“I’ll go with you.” Rin said suddenly, picking up her quiver of arrows and sliding them over her shoulder. “It’s this way, Kaze.” The dog merchant nodded and dutifully followed behind Rin, motioning for the extensive caravan of goods that was coming through the gates to come with him.

“I guess I should go as well.” Kaida said quietly, quickly retrieving the few arrows from the target that Rin had been practicing on. “With that many goods, Keisha is going to need all the help she can get.”

“I’ll help you if you’d like.” Sakaki offered. Sesshomaru tamped down a growl as the two of them bowed to him and walked off. Sesshomaru waited for a few moments, watching as wagon after wagon of the trade goods pulled into the courtyard.

He decided to walk to the back of the fortress and make sure things were going smoothly. The wagons would have to be unloaded, and then reloaded with the previously agreed upon goods that would then be exported back into the Southern Lands.

He rounded the corner and could hear Rin and Keisha’s voices telling Kaze where the storerooms where and where the goods were to be placed. Kaze, in turn, would then direct the human and demon traders where they should go while another group stood by, ready to reload the wagons.

“..not that bad of an offer, General. He is one of the ruling lords in the mainland. Powerful too, from what I’ve heard.” Sakaki’s voice wafted over the din of the activity around him. Sesshomaru paused and saw his head guard hand Kaida’s letter back to her, a grave expression on his face. They were standing off to the side of the first wagon in the caravan, and he couldn’t hear exactly what was being said, but he had a decent idea. The look on Kaida’s face was telling when she glanced back down at the letter, shaking her head, a frown on her face.

“…a jerk. Even worse than the others. I don’t want to get tied up with Seiti, no matter how powerful he is. He’s got nothing I want.”

‘What was this? What did Seiti want with Kaida?’ Sesshomaru wondered, quickly distancing himself from those around him and taking up a space along the wall of his fortress.

“….don’t know what to do, Sakaki. What do you think?”

The free space between the two wagons he was watching them through shifted, and he missed out on what Sakaki’s answer was to her question.

“She wouldn’t appreciate knowing that you trust her so little as to eavesdrop on her conversations with Sakaki.” Kaze said simply, causing Sesshomaru to turn around and face the other dog demon. The Western Lord actually frowned, not liking that he had been caught eavesdropping on Kaida’s conversation.

“Their interactions are causing a drop in overall efficiency that I will not tolerate.” he said gruffly. “They can keep their ridiculous liaisons to themselves when neither are busy doing what they need to accomplish.”

“Liaisons?” Kaze asked, confusion apparent in his voice as he looked back to where Kaida and Sakaki were now helping to load the wagons. “I didn’t realize speaking with another person constituted a liaison.”

“He is the only reason she’s stayed here for this long, is it not?” Sesshomaru asked pointedly.

“Sakaki?” Kaze asked, laughing out right at the Western Lord standing before him. “You think she’s still here because of your head guard?”

“Is it not the truth I speak?” he asked, forcibly reigning his temper in. He really did not want to talk to the merchant about something like this, but he was perversely curious as to why the other demon suddenly found his position humorous. “She is infatuated with him.”

“I see where this is going. This is priceless.” Kaze said, shaking his head. The Western Lord had had enough, and proceeded to walk away, hoping to leave the still chuckling merchant where he stood. However, said merchant apparently assumed his walking away was an invitation to follow and continue the conversation Sesshomaru sincerely wanted to drop. “Sakaki? Of all the demons in this fortress, you think it’s him? Have you even been paying attention to her lately? Well obviously you have if you think…..”

“Spit it out.” Sesshomaru hissed, leveling the green and black clad merchant with an acidic glare that had more intelligent beings running for cover. He couldn’t kill the pest, not now. That was liable to cause an uproar with Ryu, and he didn’t really feel like dealing with a pissed of Kaida and a fuming Southern Lord Ryu.

He doubted anyone else would miss the annoying bastard.

“It’s not Sakaki.” Kaze said suddenly, his gaze hardening as all traces of his previous humor disappeared. “You really don’t know, do you? Why she’s stayed here for so long?”

“It is of no concern of mine.” he said, turning to leave. He’d seen enough of Kaida and heard enough of the mutt’s ramblings. He had better things to do that be angry over…

“It’s you, Sesshomaru.” Kaze said quietly, almost defensively.

That stopped him in his tracks.

‘What did he say?’ Sesshomaru thought, whirling around to face the passive faced demon. ‘Surely he’s not insinuating that…’

“That’s right. You’re the reason she’s still here.” he said, shaking his head.

Sesshomaru was stunned, and that was saying something. Of course, when the words finally sunk in, a wave of absolute rage filled him, and he rushed the other demon, pinning him to the stone wall with his claws.

“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t take your head off for saying such a thing.” Sesshomaru growled. He could feel his demonic side starting to claw it’s way out, calling for this itinerant demon’s blood.

“Cause you’re not….supposed to…..execute someone who’s telling the……truth!” Kaze gasped out, pulling at the hand that was currently holding him a good six inches off the ground and emitting green acid that was burning his skin.

“Explain yourself before I remove your pathetic existence from this world.” he demanded, letting Kaze fall into a heap on the stone of the courtyard.

“It’s you.” Kaze muttered, rubbing his neck where the poison had started to eat away at his skin. “You’re the reason she’s stayed here for so damned long.”

“Impossible.”

“Really?” Kaze asked. “Why?”

“I do not believe you.” Sesshomaru said coldly.

“Is it that you don‘t believe me, or that you don’t want to?” Sesshomaru cracked his knuckles and forced himself to refrain from killing the creature in front of him. He wasn’t sure of the answer to that question himself. But if what Kaze was saying was true, he should be happy that…. No, it was completely impossible.

“Ridiculous.”

“I seen the bruise on her neck, you know. That wasn’t put there by a weapon, or a claws for that matter.”

“The spar got out of hand.” Sesshomaru said coldly, not willing to admit to anything. He turned his back to the dog demon and started to walk away, figuring that Kaze would get the point and leave him alone.

“Whether it got out of hand or not is irrelevant. Do you think she would have let you do that if she didn’t have some feelings for you? And don’t even try to tell me that you caught her by surprise. She still could have thrown your ass off of her if she’d wanted to, caught of guard or not. She would have killed anyone else without a second thought for being so forward with her. But it seems you got away unscathed.” Kaze called out.

“Your skills of observation are annoying me.” he answered, turning back to face the merchant. “What is your purpose for following me. I have nothing to explain to you.” Kaze walked forward and offered him a small scroll.

“Keisha asked me to hand those over to you. It’s a duplicate copy of the previously agreed upon exchanges for the goods. She already has a copy.” Kaze said. Sesshomaru took the scroll and once again turned to leave.

“You really didn’t realize it, did you?” he asked quietly. “You have no idea what I had to do in order to get her to own up to what she was feeling. Kaida finally cracked and told me what was bothering her when she left here those few days with me. It’s you, Sesshomaru.”

“I have no reason to believe your ridiculous words.” he snapped.

“It‘s the truth.”

“Even if it is, why is she acting like all she wants to do is bite my head off?“ he asked, giving the demon his full attention. He wasn’t ready to think that he’d been wrong about the southern demoness and his head guard, not yet. But having as much insight on her might prove useful, even if thought the merchant was lying to him.

“She doesn’t think she’s worthy.”

“Of what?”

“Of having feelings for you.” Kaze said.

“And Seiti?” Sesshomaru asked pointedly. He’d been curious as to why one of the ruling Lords on the mainland had decided to contact her so suddenly.

“He is an old friend of her father’s. When he heard what had happened with Kiyoshi, and that she was currently in your lands on your request, he suggested that Ryu send her to him.”

“Why?”

“Hell, I don’t know.” Kaze admitted, shrugging. “Seiti might want to take her as a mate, or he might just take her in as a mercenary to keep her away from anymore potential suitors as a favor for Ryu. There’s no telling with him. He‘s a conniving old bastard with an interest in Kaida that I don‘t understand, or like for that matter.”

The silence that befell the two antagonists was deafening. One was contemplating the repercussions of what he was about to divulge, and the other was trying to calm his frenzied mind long enough to process exactly what was and wasn’t being said by the other.

“I do not understand her.” Sesshomaru admitted candidly.

“That just makes you part of the majority of people who know her.” Kaze said, suddenly looking out along the courtyard where Kaida and Sakaki were each carrying a barrel of rice to load into one of the wagons. She was smiling and laughing at the merchants who she recognized, calling out to them in welcome. “I’ve known her my whole life, and I still don’t understand her sometimes.” They fell into silence, but Kaze finally broke it with a sigh. “I don’t know what it is the two of you have, how you’ve managed to get along this long, but it works. She’s happy with you, the heaven’s above only knows why, cause I sure don’t.”

“You love her.”

“I love her as a sister.” Kaze corrected him. “There was a time when I would have killed thousands to hold the same place in her heart that you do, a place you keep taking advantage of….but that was a long time ago. Many things have changed since then.”

“Why are you telling me all of this?” he asked. There had to be some kind of mistake. Kaida had never given him any reason to believe that he was the only reason she was still in his lands. She’d never given the slightest hint of attraction to him, except for that kiss in the dojo.

“Because you’ve got the emotional capacity of a spoon as far as she’s concerned.” Kaze said huffily. “But it is mostly because she’s too scared to say it herself.”

“She is scared of me?” he asked, his disbelief plainly evident. Kaida had bested him in their spars, both verbal and physical, many times before. There wasn’t much he could do to her that he hadn’t already done that he could think would scare her. They had almost killed each other on numerous occasions! And even then she hadn’t been scared of him. A little wary perhaps, but never scared.

“Terrified, if you really want to know the truth. But it’s not because you could defeat her in a battle, it’s because you could reject her. She told me what was said during your fight in the courtyard when you came to get Rin from the South.” Kaze said. “Why did you bring her back? Rin’s training was practically finished by then. You’re not one to help anyone else unless it’s going to benefit you in the long run. So why?”

“I…do not know.” Sesshomaru admitted. He had wondered that very thing many times since he’d done it. At the time he had told himself that Rin would be unhappy if Kaida had been allowed to die. He had convinced himself that since Kaida had died protecting Rin, that bringing her back was justified as repayment for her selfless act.

But now, he wasn’t so sure that was the only reason.

“You’re not as uninvolved in this as you’d like to think.” Kaze muttered. “There was something that made you bring her back, something besides Rin. You might not love Kaida. In fact I’m pretty damned sure you don’t, but you liked her enough to give her life back.”

Kaze fell into silence again, an Sesshomaru could tell by the tense look on the other demon’s face that there was more he wished to say, but had to collect his thoughts in order to proceed. Sesshomaru didn’t have anything to say because…well, there was nothing he could say.

“This is no silly infatuation from a confused demoness who doesn’t know herself well enough to truly know what she wants. Kaida knows what she wants. She‘s just not sure of herself to go after it.” Kaze said, shaking his head as he started his lecture again.

“My perception is not hindered.” Sesshomaru growled.

“So what are you going to do about this?” Kaze asked pointedly.

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?” Kaze asked, outrage apparent as his aura flickered dangerously, only to immediately calm down. “You know, I can see I’m not getting anywhere’s with this. So I’ll keep it simple. She’s in love with you, has been since you brought her back to life, or shortly there after. Which, I might add, she thinks you did simply because of Rin, not because you cared a rip about her. She thinks you see her as only a soldier.”

“I was under the impression that is what she wanted to be known as.” he countered icily.

“Have you been listening to anything since this conversation started?” Kaze demanded hotly. Sesshomaru refused to dignify that question with an answer, and simply said nothing. Kaze apparently realized that he was not going to answer, and quickly switched tactics. “Here’s a question for you, Lord Sesshomaru. If she had to leave right now, and you were never going to see her again, what would you do?”

“I…do not know.” he answered, not liking that this was the second time he had uttered those words in the past ten minutes.

“Well, you need to figure it out. Because in a couple more weeks, she’s going to be gone, gone far enough away where even you can‘t reach her.” The merchant frowned and turned to walk away, but not before throwing another small scroll at Sesshomaru’s feet.

“What is this?” the brooding demon barked.

“A list of all the possible candidates who are petitioning for a chance to present for her. Honestly, half of them don‘t have a chance, but there are more of the mainland lords on there than just Seiti.” he said. “I’ve told you what she couldn’t. For my sake and hers, don’t let her walk away from these lands again, Sesshomaru. If you do, it’ll be last time you ever see her again as a free woman.”

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Kaida wiped the few beads of sweat from her brow that had managed to accumulate during the reloading of the caravan wagons. The last one had just been filled to the brim, and she stepped back, taking pride in the fact that the wagons had been unloaded, the contents tallied and put in the store rooms per Keisha and Rin‘s instructions, and then the wagons reloaded within a matter of a little over six hours. The physical labor had given her the opportunity to work out her raging frustrations at being teased by Kaze and the others. And now that darkness was starting to fall, she felt much calmer than before.

The conversation Sesshomaru had pulled her into the day before had amounted to less than a hill of beans, and she honestly didn’t know what the point had been. She was still angry and embarrassed at him for leaving her standing in the middle of the dojo, but was not going to be the one to bring it up. He had instigated the kiss, she was going to wait for him to fess up to it, even if it did drive her mad in the process! But by the time it was over with, nothing had been said, and she was still stuck wondering if she had imagined the whole damned thing. Her common sense said no, but she heartily wished she could convince it otherwise. It would make things so much easier.

“You know staring off into space isn’t going to help you get anything else done.” a friendly voice cut into her musings. She turned around and grinned at Kaze, who was leaning up against the defensive wall of the fortress.

“Where have you been? Everything is done. Just like you to squirm your way out of the hard stuff.” she quipped, walking over to him.

“Physical labor isn’t my thing.” he shrugged. “I just get to supervise and bark out orders.”

“Obviously.” she laughed, knowing good and well he had unloaded just as much stuff as the others had. Kaze wasn’t the type to just stand by and watch while there was work to be done. He’d jump right in and help when he could. The dog demon smiled and slung his arm around her shoulders, pulling her with him as he walked towards the entrance of the courtyard where the wagons were leaving out of.

“I didn’t get to talk to you earlier, love. But you didn’t seem to happy with that letter your father sent you. Everything okay?” he asked.

“Seiti wants to talk to me.” she said with a grimace. “The letter mentioned something about him needing some assistance with a few rebel groups along his borderlands, but I don’t believe that’s what he’s concerned about. Why would he contact me about rebels? What does he want me to do? Go in there and kill’em all?”

“I don’t know, love. Sounds to me like he just wants to get you away from Japan.”

“That’s what’s got me wondering. Too many questions I can’t answer. I don’t like it.” she pointed out.

“You could always ask around? Maybe get your father or Sesshomaru to dig a little and find out what’s going on. Kami knows they’ve got the contacts to do it.”

“Father’s already got his contacts on the mainland sniffing around, no need to bring anyone else into it.” she said. There was no way she was telling Sesshomaru anything about Seiti, at least not anymore than he already knew. And she most definitely was not going to ask him to try and find out why the mainland Lord had suddenly taken an interest in her.

Hell would have to freeze over first!

“Something tells me you and the Lord of these lands are not exactly on speaking terms with each other.” Kaze said gently. “What’s wrong, Kaida? What happened?”

“Nothing.”

“Really? And I suppose ‘nothing’ is what left that mark on you?” he asked gently, tapping her shoulder with his finger. Kaida looked up at her friend and sighed.

Kaze hadn’t judged her when she’d broken down and told him about what was brewing in her heart about Sesshomaru. He hadn’t laughed or thought she was crazy, and for that she had been eternally grateful.

“Kaze, I don’t think I can do this. He’s…Sesshomaru’s not….I don’t know what to do.” she said finally, aggravation so thick in her voice that she could even hear it.

“Yes, you can. You can do this.” he said calmly, obviously trying to boost her spirits up. “But there is one thing you need to do first.”

“What?” she asked, wondering what other wonderful piece of advice he was about to spout of to her.

“I don’t know why, but Sesshomaru seems to think you are a bit infatuated with Sakaki.” he said, shrugging.

“Sakaki? Why would I….” she started, only to stop suddenly. If Sesshomaru thought she had something going with Sakaki, that would explain…

‘Wait a minute.’ she thought blindly. ‘Even if Sesshomaru does think I’m running around with Sakaki, how did Kaze find out? If that mutt opened his mouth I swear I’ll personally remove…’

“I don’t know, but that’s….”

“Kaze, what did you tell him?” she asked, her voice deathly quiet.

“I didn’t tell him anything, love. It’s obvious enough the way he was glaring at the two of you, especially since I’m pretty sure that pretty little mark is our dear Western Lord’s handiwork. Am I right?”

“Well it’s not anyone else’s. That’s for damned sure!” she said hotly, absently rubbing the mark. The bruise was fading quickly enough, and would more than likely be completely gone within another few days. Kaze shook his head, a sad smile on his face.

“The two of you need to sit down and talk, soon.” he said. “Bitching at each other isn’t going to help. And I know my breed well enough to know that mark on you was no accident, Kaida. I told you before, and I’ll tell you again, this is a risk you’ve got to take if you ever hope to be happy.”

“I don’t like risks.” she answered flatly.

“I don’t like them either, but it‘s never stopped me from taking them before.” he said with a grin, enveloping her in a quick hug. “It’ll be fine. Talk to him. Trust me.”

“I don’t guess I have much of a choice, do I?” she asked, stepping back from him when the last wagon pulled up beside them.

“Ready to go, Kaze?” the demoness asked. “That’s the last of them.”

“Yeah.” he answered. The tanuki demoness nodded and popped the reigns on the wagon, guiding the team of horses a little further away to give them some more privacy. Kaida was about to say something when Sesshomaru’s aura touched off her senses. She looked up in time to see the Western Lord come striding out of the main building of the fortress, headed towards them. Kaze seemed to have noticed as well, because he stepped back, putting a little more space between the two of them.

“Lord Sesshomaru.” Kaze said respectfully, bowing slightly. “I believe my work here is done. Would you like me to send word to Lord Ryu for anything when I report back to him.”

“No.” he said calmly. “I believe what I requested has been sufficiently brought.”

“Well, then I’ll take my leave, sir.” Kaze said politely. The dog merchant turned to Kaida and grinned. “Remember what I told you, love. It’ll fix itself.” he said, winking at her before jumping into the wagon and giving the demoness the signal to leave out.

“You’re so full of shit, you stink, Kaze.” she grumbled, shaking her head as he nodded when he passed Sakaki at the gates. Kaida would be the first to admit that hearing the merchant’s pep talk had helped. Of course, now that she was once again alone with Sesshomaru, she suddenly had the urge to bolt into the nearest building and not come out until he was gone.

“Do you have something else to see to right now?” he asked suddenly, startling her.

“Not at the moment.” she answered evenly. “Why?”

“There are some things that I need to go over with you concerning Rin’s union with the Eastern family. The sooner it gets done, the sooner a date can be set.” he said simply. “And since our conversation yesterday yielded no viable information I could use, now would be a good time.”

“I see. Did you want to go over them now?” she asked, tamping down the flush that she could feel coming on as she thought back to that last conversation. The only information she had supplied to him was exactly how mad she was at him.

Not very helpful when trying to plan a mating ceremony.

“Yes.”

“Well, we should get to work then. No point in holding up something Rin’s looking forward to so much.” she said calmly. Sesshomaru nodded and turned to walk away. She followed without a word, silently congratulating herself on not turning into a stuttering idiot.

“Since the unions traditionally happen in the homelands of the male, most of the preparations will fall to the Eastern family. However, there are a few major details that must be handled by us.” he explained, leading her into the fortress.

‘Us? Since when did he refer to us as that?’ she wondered, but quickly threw the thought away as she focused back on what he was saying.

“What exactly does that entail?”

“I have a list.” he answered.

“Shouldn’t Rin have a say in this? It is her ceremony after all.” Kaida pointed out.

“Rin has already retired for the night.” he said. “So your opinion will be substituted in her place.”

“I hadn’t realized it was already so late.” she muttered. She still thought that whatever he wanted to talk to her about could wait until the next day when Rin would be awake. But she wasn’t going to argue with him, not now anyway. They were back on speaking terms again at least. The tension between them was still there, but there wasn’t really anything she could do about it.

The least she could do was attempt to not let the discussion degenerate back into them attempting to bite each other’s heads off, right?

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Rin was just on her way back up to her room when she picked up the voices of Kaida and Sesshomaru heading down the hallway towards the council rooms. She peeked around the corner, more than a bit shocked to find that the two nobles were apparently getting along a little better, despite the tension that still hung in the air between them. Earlier that morning, when she had been practicing and Sakaki had brought up the bruise that was on Kaida’s neck, Rin thought she was going to die from laughing at her cherry faced tutor.

‘I’ll bet that’s why she didn’t reprimand me when she saw the mark Kentaro left on me.’ she thought with a grin. Rin watched as they continued down the hallway, stopping at the smaller council room that Sesshomaru used as a private study. He pushed open the shoji screen and followed Kaida in, shutting it behind them.

Rin still wasn’t sure exactly what had happened during her absence from the Western Lands. Sakaki had told her that her Lord and Kaida had left out on a borderland patrol almost immediately after she had left, only to come back a week later in the company of Kaze and Kaida’s twin brother Keiji. Apparently Kaida had been injured during the last day, and from what she could tell, her Lord had been the main one at fault for her getting hurt. Keiji and Kaze had left, only to have the dog merchant return a few days later and take Kaida away from the fortress for a few days. Sakaki had related that Sesshomaru had not been pleased with the sudden departure.

Rin had asked how he knew Sesshomaru was displeased.

Sakaki had simply rubbed his side and grinned, saying she just needed to trust him on that one.

The young woman had suspected that more had happened, and her suspicions had been confirmed when Sakaki had said that he’d seen Sesshomaru leave the dojo the night before she had arrived, only to have a very flustered looking Kaida come out as well a few minutes later, only to scale the wall and disappear into the thick forest surrounding the fortress. And now that Rin had seen the bite mark on Kaida’s neck, she was almost positive that her Sesshomaru had been the one to put it on her.

That had to be it. It was the only legitimate reason for why they had been snapping at each other and almost smothering everyone around them with the tension in the air. Even Kentaro had picked up on it the day she had arrived back, saying that it would be better if Kaida and Sesshomaru would just do everyone a favor and lock themselves in a closet and do what the needed to in order to get back to normal.

Rin hadn’t understood what locking the two of them in a closet had to do with getting them to get along again, at least not at that moment. But she seriously doubted there was a closet anywhere that could house the two bickering nobles once they got within swinging range of each other, and she told her soon to be mate just that.

Kentaro had laughed, then given her one of his salacious grins and finished putting the bridles on the horses, telling her to think back to when they had been back in his homelands and the two of them had been in the gardens one night after dinner….

She got it then. Even if she had vehemently denied such a thing to be possible.

Now, she was starting to see the truth in Kentaro’s words. And in her mind, something had to be done about it, quickly.

Rin had wondered what would happen to her Lord after she had been joined into the Eastern family and Kaida had returned to her own homelands. Her Sesshomaru would be all alone in the fortress, with only Jaken and the servants for company. She didn’t like the thought of that.

Sesshomaru was her father as far as she was concerned, had been for years. She had been with him for so long, always with him or near him, that she had come to realize he enjoyed her company, would even seek her out at times. Granted, no one else would realize the truth, but she knew her white headed savior better than anyone else walking planet.

She didn’t want him alone after she left the Western Lands! And should the truth be told, she didn’t think he wanted to go back to the same isolated existence he had been in when he’d resurrected her all those years ago.

“I’ve got to do something. Something to keep Kaida here after I leave.” she thought, picking her way through the familiar halls and into her quarters. Rin had realized before she’d ever left for the East that Kaida was a logical compliment to her Lord, had even mentioned it to her tutor in passing once or twice in passing. Sure they fought, and argued, and bickered, and sent death glares at each other at times. And sure, their fights could turn physical, their arguments bloody, and their bickering deadly.

But there was just something about seeing them together that made Rin’s heart content.

She had never known her lord to dally with the female courtiers that hung onto his every word when court was held. That is, not to say he didn’t, but she had never known of him doing anything with them. In fact, until Kaida had come along, she had hardly ever seen him interact with any of the demoness that somehow managed to squirm their way near him. The only exception was the head woman Keisha.

Rin had always known, on some instinctive level, that Sesshomaru was a killer, a demon who had little quarrel with decapitating an opponent for the smallest slight. And she had often wondered why some of the more daring demoness’ trying to garner his attention never showed their faces again when court was called again. Rumor had it that Sesshomaru had killed the itinerant creatures, and Rin had honestly believed it for a long time. She had even wondered at one time if her Sesshomaru would one day kill her as well, simply because of her being who she was, a human female. But he had never raised his claws to her, had never needed to.

As far as Rin knew, she was the only female creature to ever hold a conversation with Sesshomaru, call him on some little matter, and still be seen the next morning fully intact. She had even went to Keisha one day when she was younger, asking why there were no other demoness’ around the fortress other than the handful of servants who were hardly ever seen, and the select few who held scouting positions within the army ranks. Keisha had explained that Sesshomaru’s tolerance of flighty females was almost nonexistent. That he considered them useless unless they had some kind of direction, something to focus on other than snagging a well-off mate who would provide for them. That simple explanation had been what bolstered Rin to do well in her studies with Jaken in the coming years. She had loved her Sesshomaru, and did not want to lose him just because he thought her like those he could not stand.

And then, when he had told her that she was to be taught the mannerisms of the demon court, she had flinched, knowing that some unfortunate demoness was going to be dragged into the Western lands and forced to deal with it’s overlord. Of course, when she had met Kaida, she had instantly taken a liking to the fiery demoness.

Should the truth be told, Rin had asked for Kaida as her instructor because she realized that the spitfire demoness was opposite of what Sesshomaru couldn’t stand. Kaida hadn’t needed a mate to bolster her status. She was already a well respected General of the Southern army, someone who could hold her own against her father’s adversaries as well as her own. She was strong, powerful, and commanded respect of those around her.

Rin had chosen Kaida not only because she had taken a liking to her, but because Keisha’s words had stuck with her through the years, and Kaida seemed the most logical choice as far as dealing with Sesshomaru was concerned.

And right now, Rin was patting herself on the back for having the foresight to chose Kaida as her tutor. The young woman had never actually expected something like this to happen, but on some private level she had hoped it would. Sesshomaru and Kaida were as complementary to one another as she and Kentaro were. They fit together perfectly…at least when they weren’t fighting tooth and nail for some unholy reason.

No, something had to be done, all right.

And she knew just the two demons who could give her the advice she needed. Rin pulled a brush, a bottle of ink, and some paper onto the table, already formulating her query to the letters’ recipients.

The first to was her soon to be mate.

And the second to the first kitsune she had ever met during her childhood….and the one that Kentaro had almost fought during her last, impromptu trip to visit Inuyasha.

She might not know exactly what to do.

But put two kitsunes on the job and she was sure something was bound to happen.

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A/N - Alright. I hope that cleared up a little more for some people. Next chapter should be coming soon. So hang in there.

Next chapter: We see the confusion Kaida and Sesshomaru start to wane as things settle down and even out a little more as the countdown to Rin’s marriage continues. Who is going to make the next move, though? Kaida? Sesshomaru? Or is Kaze going to stick his nose in it again and stir it up worse than a hornet’s nest? Hang in there and find out. ;)

P.S. - Oh, and please remember to review. I’d like to know what you are thinking.

A.A.