InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ War's Shadow ❯ Dysfunction ( Chapter 6 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Chapter 6 - Dysfunction

"Did you have to strangle her, Father? Honestly, that was an overreaction," Sashe said with a somber shake of her head as she finished wrapping up one of his broken hands. "But then you've never known when to rein yourself in."

"Why is it here?" Kanaye complained sullenly. He had been absolutely certain in those moments when he had been wringing the life out of the girl that she had been the audacious bitch that had somehow managed to leave him in this condition. He was having trouble remembering details, but he could still recall the woman and her voice. He unconsciously displayed his anger by balling his hand into a fist, receiving a reproach from Sashe.

"Stop that, you're going to make it worse," she told him. "And she is not an it. Her name is Rin and she's with Sesshoumaru," Sashe explained slowly, as though to a child. She finished her work and sat back to study him. He did look terrible and it was a disconcerting sight. Her father consistently managed to get himself into all manner of bloody fights, but he always came out the victor. Whomever he had encountered this time must have been immensely strong.

"'With Sesshoumaru' in what way?" he asked, clipping the words in suspicious irritation as he turned darkly-circled eyes on her.

"I don't know. That's none of my business," Sashe said primly.

"Why are you here?" he then questioned of her.

She sighed and shook her head at him, long hair swaying with the movement. "You know why I'm here ... and stop sulking."

"I do not sulk," he said lifting his head in an intimidating glare, as though daring her to argue that point.

"He couldn't just let you throttle the poor girl to death, and you were completely demented," she informed him sternly. He had certainly been that. Kanaye was known for his quick temper, but Sashe had never seen him so taken over by the desire to kill someone. Sesshoumaru had warned him to release Rin, but it was as though Kanaye hadn’t even been aware that anyone else was in the room. The look on his face had been chilling.

"So your jailer set you free," Kanaye said stiffly, changing the subject back to something that made him look less foolish.

Feeling the beginnings of the usual headache that came from being around him, Sashe absently rubbed her forehead as she calmly explained, "He’s not like that. I am free to come and go as I choose."

"For now. And I prefer to believe that you are held against your will."

Standing then, Sashe moved to pull back the heavy window coverings, letting in a blast of late afternoon sunlight. "This place is a tomb," she complained. "Without mother around, you live like a vagrant." Despite the fact of that, Sashe could not at all blame her mother for having fled from Kanaye's venomous disposition. She had done the same herself.

"It suits me," he replied, blinking his eyes against the sudden onslaught of light. "Shut that, dammit."

She did as he requested, plunging the room back into darkness. She clutched at the material with loosely clenched fists, not at all wanting to talk to him about Eizan, especially given his current state. Provoking him into another of his rages would probably cause some vital organ to implode. Sighing, she finally turned back to him, feeling a little more secure in her height advantage, since he was the one that normally held that. "I need to tell you that Eizan and I are ...."

"How stupid do you think I am?" he scowled. "I know precisely what sort of relationship you have. I also know why Eizan has involved himself with you." The scowl morphed into what looked to be a painful attempt at a wicked smile. "And I also know that very soon I am going to separate his filthy soul from the rest of him."

"Please don't say such things," she said in a pleading voice. She found herself wishing that he had not returned from China. Things had been so much simpler with him gone. She had been free to enjoy being around Eizan and his family without the looming shadow of Kanaye hanging over her head.

"Come back, Sashe. You don't belong with him," he said in an uncharacteristically subdued voice. He exhaled a weary breath and, for a moment, Sashe thought her eternally youthful father looked impossibly old. "You are on the wrong side in this," he said.

"You may be right about that," she conceded quietly, revealing a fear that had been plaguing the back of her mind for a while. "I owe much more to you and Sesshoumaru than I do to Eizan. But you have to understand, Father. I can't involve myself because ... I wouldn't be able to bring myself to fight him."

"Take a closer look at him, Sashe. Examine his motives. He is the root of all of these problems. If you keep your eyes open you will see that."

She walked a few steps closer to him, not certain of what to say in reply to that warning. "Heal quickly, Father," she said simply, and then turned to leave.

As she exited the room, she brushed past Sesshoumaru, who had been lurking in the hallway. He regarded her with a frigid stare as she stopped, trying desperately to think of something that could possibly help the situation.

"Sesshoumaru, I ---"

"There's nothing more to say," he quickly cut her off. "You have made your decision."

"There has to be some way around this."

"He's going to die soon, Sashe," Sesshoumaru said very matter-of-factly. "My advice to you is to detach yourself from him as quickly as possible."

"I'm not going to do that."

"Then I have no more time to waste on you. You are a child who has no idea of what is going on around you, and since that is the case, allow me to give you a few warnings,” Sesshoumaru went on. "If I meet you in battle, I will treat you as any other. If you come to me again, I will consider you a spy and deal with you accordingly."

"You're serious," Sashe said incredulously, watching his face, a lead feeling settling in her stomach.

"I am always serious,” he reminded her.

Sesshoumaru watched Sashe leave, amazed as always at the abhorrent situations women put themselves in for the sake of what they perceived as "love". It was as though when that side of their brains was switched on, the parts that contained reason, logic, and common sense went into hibernation.

He moved toward the doorway and stared appraisingly at Kanaye, who turned a less-than-pleased look on him.

"Stop sulking, Kanaye,” Sesshoumaru ordered.

"You brat. Was this really necessary?" he asked with a scowl, raising his hands and giving Sesshoumaru the idea that Kanaye's biggest regret was that he was unable to form an appropriately rude gesture.

"Considering the alternative, yes."

"All because of some human wench? If you had given me a few more minutes, I would have done you a huge favor. You've become just like your father," Kanaye shook his head, looking vastly disappointed. "Sashe is with Eizan ... you're with a human ... the west is going to hell."

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It all started when Sesshoumaru made the comment that Rin's clothes would have to go; they were torn and bloody from her scuffle with Kanaye, and he was quick to let her know that he didn't approve of her smelling like his uncle. Rin did not disagree with that, but found it interesting that dirt and grime from traveling were okay, but the scent of another youkai was completely unacceptable. She supposed she was seeing his territorial canine side in this matter.

Another surprise came to her when he decided to accompany her to the human town nearby. Rin was accustomed to entering such places on her own, since Sesshoumaru had an obvious aversion to going anywhere that was inhabited by the species he so thoroughly disdained. When she had been little, it had always fallen to Jaken to go with her into the human villages. But, then again, judging from Sesshoumaru's lack of patience with humans, Rin felt it was probably for the best that he steered clear of them.

Now, though, she couldn't help but try to figure out why there was a sudden change in tactics. "Are you sure you want to come with me?" she asked as she walked beside him down the hoof-trodden road that led to the gated town.

"Do you have a means of paying for any of this?" he inquired, and she immediately recognized his attempt at evading a question with another question.

"No," she admitted.

"Then it is best that I come with you."

She nodded and then asked mischievously, "You're not nervous, are you?"

She was rewarded with a slow turn of the head and the Sesshoumaru-equivalent of an affronted expression. "Are you insinuating that humans affect my nerves?"

"You seem edgy is all."

"Humans bore me."

"Is that so?" Rin asked with a delicately raised eyebrow.

"Yes, it is. Though there is one human who inexplicably gets away with all manner of appalling behaviors; she has the odd tendency of attempting to groom me or food me. I often wonder when I will begin to be subjected to daily walks."

Rin grinned. "You're just trying to be the tough guy. I think you actually love all of it."

“It has its moments.”

Amused, Rin looked back at the sound of an approaching wagon and the voice of a man urging his mule to go faster. The wagon itself seemed loaded down by whatever it was carrying and the poor animal obviously needed a partner to help it pull the burden. Two other men with wide-brimmed hats, likely worn in advance of the rain that looked to be headed their way, were perched behind the driver.

"Move out of the way!" one of the men called gruffly and Rin moved to do as he asked, but was halted in her attempt when Sesshoumaru's hand reached for her arm and held her firmly in place. She glanced up at him, wondering what his purpose was in not letting them pass ... and then got a sinking feeling.

"Hey, are you two deaf or just stupid? Move! I don't have time for this."

Sesshoumaru turned then and Rin saw his hand come up out of the corner of her eye. She instantly reached out and grasped onto his wrist, watching in horrified fascination as the fingertips went to that lethal green. "Please don't," she requested quietly, but as expected, he ignored her, removed her hand, and began walking toward the wagon.

For their part, the human men in the wagon suddenly became aware of what was coming toward them. "Youkai," one of the ones in the back hissed loudly to the driver.

The driver paled visibly and held his hands up in a placating gesture as Sesshoumaru loomed closer. "Go-gomen, ah---"

Rin flinched and averted her eyes when the whip attack lashed in the direction of the humans. There were fearful cries, what sounded to be a heavy weight collapsing, and the screeching bray of a panicked mule. When she looked again, Sesshoumaru was walking back toward her. The wagon was tilting forward awkwardly toward the ground, its front wheels having been sliced cleanly off their axis. The men were running for their lives and the sound of retreating hooves caused her to look to her left to find that the mule was fleeing, its leather reins dragging behind it as it disappeared into the forest.

Rin heaved a sigh and shook her head as he returned to her. "Wouldn't it have just been easier to let them pass?"

But, as expected, there was no answer.

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The day only served to get more uncomfortable from that point on. As they walked past the town's gate, the gawking began and Rin became acutely aware of how strange a pair they must have looked: a human girl in torn, bloody clothes and an armed youkai lurking behind her like a guard dog.

People stopped their tasks or their haggling over a purchase in order to stare openly as they passed. She heard whispers of "youkai" and "get the children" and prayed to whoever was listening that the word "exterminator" had not just reached her ears. Imaginings of a simple shopping trip for replacement clothing turning into a bloody massacre made her walk even faster, looking frantically for a merchant that might possibly sell what she needed. Sesshoumaru was already in a poor enough mood after the entire affair with Kanaye and Sashe, and then the humans on the road who had so unwisely chosen to be rude. She wanted to get him out of here as soon as was possible.

Sesshoumaru, for his part, was focusing most of his attention on not inhaling. The stench of the place was unbearable, and it was crawling with all manner of vermin, rats and humans alike. He could not help but wonder what there was about this sort of existence that engendered their desire to continue procreation of their own species. It was appalling ... though there was some entertainment to be found in the slack-jawed, idiotic expressions that were crossing the faces of those they passed in the marketplace.

He, too, heard the murmurs of "exterminator" and "monk", and felt suddenly certain that reviving Rin from the dead all of those years earlier had not been the kindest thing he had done ... it had been allowing her the opportunity to remove herself from the company of such creatures. It had saved Rin from turning into one of these, he thought, eyeing an ancient woman who was muttering to herself and clutching at some sort of protective amulet as he passed. Pathetic.

He had been trying to ignore the feet that were following close behind him, but his senses told him that the child was soon going to make the poor decision of trying to touch his hair ... and, yes, there it was. At the first brush of tiny fingers, he turned and pulled the girl up by the offending arm to glare menacingly at her. Brown eyes went as wide as plates.

"Don't do that," he warned slowly, as though not entirely certain that the child was of sound enough mind to understand Japanese.

Still dangling the awkwardly hanging little girl, his head turned, scouring the sea of humans for a face that looked appropriately terrified ... and located it on a woman who seemed frozen in place, helplessly watching the scene.

"Leash it," he advised the woman, extending the brat back to its apparent mother.

"Youkai!" a voice called, this one belonging to a man, and obviously one who thought himself an authority judging from the manner in which he pushed himself past the crowd. He was middle-aged, quickly on his way to elderly, and attired in relatively expensive-looking robes. All of this was quite ordinary, but what served to amuse Sesshoumaru were the sutras he held extended in one hand.

"Sesshoumaru, maybe ---" Rin began, but was cut off when the monk began to chant.

Sesshoumaru reached out and grasped onto the sutras, melting them to ashes within the blink of an eye. The monk stopped speaking as he eyed with utter horror the fistful of powder that now lay in his open palm. Sesshoumaru moved to walk on, pulling Rin with him.

"Wait!" the monk called resolutely, prompting Sesshoumaru to turn with an eternally bored expression.

"Do you truly intend to exterminate me?" he inquired in a tone that matched the expression.

"Of course. I cannot allow for you to wander this town and do as you please.”

Sesshoumaru appeared thoughtful for a moment. “Very well,” he agreed, before turning to Rin. "Go locate what you need. I've found a way to entertain myself."

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As they left the town less than an hour later, Rin was clutching a bundle in her arms, and Sesshoumaru's mood seemed greatly improved. She had not stayed around to watch the fate of the monk. Something told her it was not something she would have wanted to see. On the way out it had been impossible not to notice the absence of a crowd and the utter devastation that had been done to three market stalls.

While Sesshoumaru had been dealing with the monk, Rin had found a merchant who was selling what she needed, and just as he was informing her of the price of her purchase, Sesshoumaru had appeared out of thin air and nearly given the elderly man a heart attack. He had sent Rin away to wait for him at the gate, but she had carefully watched the brief words that were spoken to the old man, the nodding and bowing.

Now as they walked steadily down the meandering road, storm clouds darkly threatening in the distance, Rin finally spoke her fear, "We just stole these, didn't we?"

That characteristic pause of silence, and then, "Consider it ... taxation."

"Sesshoumaru!" Rin's face formed a guilty frown as she looked up at his impassive profile. "How could you do that to that poor old man? Did you threaten him?"

"It didn't take much."

Rin shook her head in defeat, regretting having left the old man to “negotiate” with Sesshoumaru. "He was just trying to support his family."

Sesshoumaru replied in a tone of complete entitlement, "I have been inadvertently situated between that old man and a youkai who will exterminate him if he manages to take control of the west. Because of my efforts, he will have many more years in which to support his family. My price was a set of boy's farm clothing. He got the better end of the deal."

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"I'm telling you, that kid's coming soon. You believe what you want,” Inuyasha argued from where he was lazily leaning back on a set of steps.

Sango turned a narrowed, evil gaze on Inuyasha, and Miroku, recognizing what that look often brought these days, quickly intervened. "Inuyasha, she's miserable," he warned. "Besides, it's still a little early. She could use the distraction."

Inuyasha shrugged and held his hands up in an I-Know-What-I'm-Talking-About gesture. "Fine, go see Kohaku then. Just remember what I told you when you drop that kid somewhere out on a road in the middle of nowhere with no one around but Kirara, Kenji, and the perverted houshi."

"And just how do you know this?" Sango asked dangerously, as though daring him to get her hopes up just to be proven wrong. Miroku was right ... she was absolutely miserable. But from her calculations, she was set for at least another three weeks of aches and mood swings. Still, there was absolutely no internal sign that anything was going to start progressing, and she wondered if the hanyou was just teasing her. If so, he was going to pay ….

Inuyasha stared back at her. "I just know. Demon senses. Scary, ain't they?" He recognized the look on Sango's face, though, and realized he was arguing with a brick wall. Hell, they could do what they wanted. He still remembered the shrieking from Kenji. It'd be best for his ears if she was at a distance when she had this kid.

"You'd better be serious, Inuyasha."

"Believe me, the sooner we get that kid out of you, the better off we'll all be," he answered snidely.

"Osuwari," Sango breathed contemptuously, knowing that the word would have no effect except to express her deep annoyance.

"Keh!"

"Osuwari!" this time Inuyasha was dismayed to feel himself being sucked toward the ground with an unimaginable force, ending in a painful collision between his nose and the lowest step. He pried himself back up out of the dirt in time to see Kagome's shoes come into view. "Kagome, dammit..."

"Really, Inuyasha, you have absolutely no sensitivity!" Kagome scolded, but then her voice rose an octave with obvious excitement as she spoke to Sango. "I brought back books from Houjou-kun. I'll read them and then I'll actually be able to help out with this one!"

"Houjou, eh?" Inuyasha asked with a jealously raised eyebrow, rising the rest of the way to his feet and folding his arms.

"Yeah, he thought it was odd that I was suddenly interested in how a baby is delivered. I sort of led him to believe I was considering becoming an obstetrics nurse," Kagome admitted guiltily, dropping the books on the table. Miroku instantly picked one up and began flipping through it, eyes widening more and more with each turning page.

"This is...."

Inuyasha moved to peer at the book, frowning instantly. "That's disgusting."

Kagome snatched the book out of the monk's hand. "It's unbelievable how immature you both still are," Kagome said archly. She then turned to Sango, who seemed wilted and suddenly tired. "Don't worry, Sango-chan. Between me and Kaede, this delivery will be a snap!"

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There was something going on here, but Elif couldn't place exactly what it was. It was just an undercurrent, as though others at the dinner table knew something she did not and it was beginning to make her cross. Few things annoyed her more than being left out of whatever was going on.

The first clue was that Kawahira had come home. He had stormed into the castle like he was personally besieging the place, prompting the servants that had been in the main foyer to either immediately grovel to the floor or flee the room entirely. Elif had tried to question him then, as he had been busy taking care of a nuisance toward the east for the past several months. Her inquiry had met with an enigmatic smile and a return question as to Eizan's current location. Then he had disappeared.

Now as she stood next to her seat at the table, Elif eyed the conversing duo that was her father and eldest brother, each seeming intent and serious on whatever it was they were discussing. This clearly had something to do with Eizan's advances against Sesshoumaru, but Kawahira's presence unnerved her because, as by far the most competent fighter under her father's command, he was generally given the job of assassinating difficult opponents.

As she seated herself at the table, the conversation between the two men ended and Kawahira moved to sit down next to her. Elif eyed him with high suspicion, noticing that he had recently hacked off his long hair and that he looked inordinately relaxed for someone who spent so much of his time killing and defending against his own death.

Kawahira turned to her with a smile of such sincerity that it made her even more wary of him. "You look bothered, little sister. Aren't you pleased to see me?"

"That depends on why you're here," she replied haughtily, casting a furtive glance at Eizan out of the corner of her eye. Noticing that he was distracted while issuing a stern lecture to Keito over something, Elif leaned forward. "Are you going to tell me why that is?"

He leaned in conspiratorially, as though preparing to divulge the reason, but then voiced a simple, "No," and returned to his dinner. Elif sat back in her seat, a petulant expression marring her features. She was growing tired of lurking in the shadows, trying to figure out exactly what was going on in all of this. She didn't like being left out of these matters, but had decided that her father was leaving her out as punishment for refusing to fight.

But how was she to fight Sesshoumaru? No, she could not do that. Eizan well knew of her strong affections for his enemy, and she wondered, a little nervously, if he believed that she would betray him if the moment called for her to be able to up her status in Sesshoumaru's eyes.

She could not fight him. She could never fight him. Her mother and his had been close friends, tied together from childhood themselves. It had been to Inutaisho that Elif's mother had fled to escape Eizan's wrath over an affair, one that, until recently, Elif had decided had been a figment of her father's very active imagination. But, as she thought back to those earliest memories, of a time after the death of Sesshoumaru's mother, she found it interesting that her mother had continued to visit their home, sometimes with her, sometimes without her. Those absences became more and more pronounced, so perhaps Eizan had been on to something after all.

As Elif sat and watched her dinner through distanced eyes, the low hum of voices circling about her ears, she recalled the events so many years earlier when she had decided that Sesshoumaru was her future mate and no one else would do. When she and her mother had arrived at the Western Lord’s home, it had been to find Inutaisho gone and only the young Sesshoumaru there at the house.

The entire situation had ended on Eizan's terms, with the death of his mate at his own behest, but Elif could still remember how impressed she had been by Sesshoumaru's fierceness. Despite his youth, he had gone out to meet Eizan with the confidence of someone much older and more experienced, and though he had lost that fight, he had acquitted himself well enough to let Eizan know that a future battle between himself and an older Sesshoumaru would likely be fatal. Elif was not naive enough to believe for even a moment that Sesshoumaru’s efforts had been meant to protect her mother, but instead to show Eizan who was in control. Still, the image never left her mind.

Before that time, he had been just an occasional childhood playmate, after that she had decided they would eventually be together. Sadly, things had deteriorated between them since then, but Elif remained hopeful.

Her mind was pulled out of lingering over these memories when she heard her name being mentioned alongside Sesshoumaru’s. She looked up and across the table to find Keito smirking at her.

“She’s really been coming off as desperate lately, Kawahira. I certainly wouldn’t trust her to fight against him alongside me. You might just find a knife in your back, if Elif thinks she can ingratiate herself with that mutt.”

“Shut up, Keito,” she muttered, poking disinterestedly at her food, but she could feel Eizan’s eyes lingering on her speculatively.

"You're getting a little old for hero worship, aren't you, Elif?" Kawahira inquired smoothly.

"If you could see in him what I see, Kawahira, you would have to look into changing your orientation," she replied in a poisonous tone. Keito dropped his eating utensils and leaned forward, hands folded, prepared now for some mid-dinner entertainment.

"Considering that there has been barely a rumor of Sesshoumaru being involved with a woman over the past few centuries, perhaps it is his orientation you should be watching more closely, sister."

"He's private!" Elif instantly defended, angered at the insinuation. “He doesn’t run about, flaunting whatever female thing happens to be infatuated with him at the moment, unlike some I could name.”

"He's very selective, Kawahira-san," came another voice and everyone at the table turned to watch as Sashe walked into the dimly-lit room to take a seat close to Eizan. "His father's indiscretions have bred him to be that way. He does not want to repeat Inutaisho's mistakes."

"Ah, and speaking of Inutaisho's mistakes, I believe I will be correcting one of them tonight," Kawahira claimed, ignoring the instant, stabbing glare of warning from Eizan.

"Pardon me?" Sashe asked.

"We are forging a preemptive strike against Inuyasha. He has already shown hostility through his attack on Keito and his army," Eizan quickly explained in an attempt at damage control, looking as though a vein in his head was about to burst because of Kawahira's big mouth.

"Inuyasha?" Sashe murmured. "Is that really necessary? He and Sesshoumaru aren't close...."

"That may be so, but Inuyasha's got Sesshoumaru's attitude problem. He completely obliterated one of my guys just because we took a wrong turn," Keito complained around a mouthful of food. "Take my word for it … he'll stick his nose in this before it's over. Better to deal with him now."

A spark of alarm ignited in Sashe, who went quiet as she studied her plate. She did not know Inuyasha well. In fact, she had not seen him since he was a very small child, but something about all of this did not sit well. Perhaps because this was truly the first instance she had come across when her loyalties were truly being tested. She could easily go inform Sesshoumaru of what was going to happen tonight. Not doing so would clearly be choosing Eizan's side. Sesshoumaru was right. There could be no neutrality in this....

Feeling slightly ill now, she looked up and across the table at Elif, whose expression was also caught in a frown of consternation. There is one that Eizan should watch, she thought. Elif was caught as she was and Sashe got the feeling that turning on her own family was not something that Elif was above.

Yes, she's just like me, Sashe thought glumly. Elif would give her complete loyalty to Sesshoumaru if she could just be certain he would not reject it. What strange events I have been caught in, Sashe thought, watching Eizan out of the corner of her eye as he quietly went about eating his dinner. I wonder if I am choosing honestly....

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Cautiously eyeing the pitch black hallway behind her, Rin walked swiftly down the corridor, acutely aware of the fact that a demon could see in the darkness that her own sight could not penetrate. Whenever she would pass a window and encounter the shaft of bright moonlight that shone through to highlight the dusty, ancient floorboards, Rin would take another opportunity to glance behind her.

She was aware she was being paranoid ... but she was even more certain that she was sharing a house with a psycho. That was why she had almost hugged Jaken in a fit of immense relief when the retainer had come to summon her to see Sesshoumaru. She had not been pleased, however, when Jaken had decided to amble off in a completely different direction, leaving her to make her way to Sesshoumaru in a dark, likely creature-infested house.

Feeling like a child fleeing from an imaginary monster, Rin found the door to Sesshoumaru's room and made a half-hearted attempt at announcing her arrival before sliding it open and stepping inside. She saw him standing out in the moonlit night, still as a statue, the doors to the outside flung wide open. He turned to look at her when she entered.

"Jaken said you asked for me."

He nodded, long hair blowing softly in the night’s gentle breeze. "You'll be staying with me tonight."

Rin's head came up so quickly she could swear it almost snapped off of her neck. "What?"

Sesshoumaru could not suppress a slight smile at her expression. "You have nothing to worry about. My manners will be impeccable."

"Worry?" Rin repeated, fully aware that her face was quickly burning to a fiery red from the insinuation. Why can’t I be more like … her mind rebelled as the image of Elif came to mind. But annoying though she was, Elif would have probably thought of a more charming reply than just standing stupidly and stammering out a denial. "I'm not worried,” she reiterated, willing her face to go back to a normal shade of color.

"You look terrified," he commented, sounding humored.

"Surprised," she instantly corrected, clasping her hands in front of her. "Why the sudden decision...?"

"Kanaye is in a frame of mind I do not trust. Until he becomes aware of how off-limits your death is, you'll be staying near me."

"You think he'll kill me?" Rin asked, the memory of her near-strangling coming easily to mind. Really, that was a stupid question, since he had already shown that he would gleefully pursue such an endeavor.

"You're a human and you're in his house,” Sesshoumaru explained, as though this should be obvious.

Frustration dissipated the awkwardness and Rin seated herself on the untouched bed, folding her legs underneath her. She was sick of constantly being reminded of their differences. "You know, you could probably avoid a lot of problems if you'd just find yourself a demon woman. Don't you ever get tired of how difficult things have to be? Everything is quiet, secret, denied. It's exhausting."

“A demon woman," Sesshoumaru murmured thoughtfully, eyeing her, looking like a ghostly apparition in his white attire, surrounded by black night and yellow moonlight. "You mean like Elif?"

"Why not? She's obsessed with you. Every time she shows up to stalk you, she makes it disgustingly obvious," Rin complained, fully aware that she sounded like a petulant child.

"You have no reason to be jealous." Sesshoumaru reminded her, stepping back inside the candle-lit room, casting a towering shadow on the wall behind Rin.

"Jealous?! Of her?" Rin repeated defensively, though the truth of that was undeniable, and she suddenly wilted in a moment of honesty. "Maybe a little. She's gorgeous and she'd sell her soul for you."

"Her soul wouldn't be enough to buy Jaken," Sesshoumaru replied sincerely. “She's intolerable, which is why I can only endure a short amount of time around her. If you wish to settle this with comparisons, then know that I clearly favor you over her."

Pacified by that and feeling foolish for needing to be consoled, Rin went quiet for a few moments. He took that to mean that the conversation was finished and turned to look outside once more. Something in her, whether it was that faint ghost of jealousy or the need for a clarification she would not get without directly posing the question, made her mouth open of its own accord and ask, "What are we?"

Another of his long, perpetual, seemingly-endless silences, a quiet that was long enough for Rin to berate herself for asking the question at all. She didn’t need an answer, because an answer would change nothing. Or so she thought.

"I don't know," Sesshoumaru answered slowly, using words that she rarely ever heard him put into a single sentence. "We are ... together."

We are? Rin’s mind instantly questioned, as she had never heard him explain their relationship in literal terms. "We are?" she allowed her mouth to repeat after her mind, hoping for more clarification as to what his meaning of “together” entailed.

"Far more than is healthy, and not nearly as much as I'd prefer."

That statement stopped Rin cold. Cursing his tendency toward the most enigmatic of responses, Rin tried to reply, "I'm... I'm fine with how things are. I understand, it's just ...."

Sesshoumaru’s face turned back to her, eyebrows upraised as he told her, "Restraint is losing its charm, Rin.”

Rin waited for her heart to start beating again. “Ah … pardon?”

"Sesshoumaru-sama!" came a high-pitched call and both Rin and Sesshoumaru snapped out of their discussion to look toward the sliding doors. Zeshu opened them without invitation and scurried inside as quickly as his stubby legs could carry him.

“Zeshu, for the sake of your life, this had better be of earth-shattering importance,” Sesshoumaru all but hissed at the creature.

"There is a message for you, my lord. She gave this to me,” the youkai huffed as he extended a letter to Sesshoumaru, furred hand shaking.

Sesshoumaru reached for the letter and opened it. He frowned lightly at what he was reading, but that quickly dissolved back into emotionless interest. Zeshu fled the room, but Rin’s eyes stayed locked on Sesshoumaru, who finally lowered the letter.

“Eizan’s next target is Inuyasha’s village,” Sesshoumaru explained, a strange gleam in his eyes. “He is preparing to attack there tonight.”