InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Worth Fighting For ❯ Never Before; Never Again ( Chapter 7 )

We continued onward slower than usual the following morning. This was because I had sent Jaken and Ah-Un ahead to see if there were any villages nearby where we could stop and get Rin something to eat; he hadn't returned yet. I would've left without him but Rin pleaded that we not move on until he and Ah-Un got back. I was beginning to get impatient when I heard Jaken calling down at us from Ah-Un's back up above us.

“Sesshomaru-sama, Rin-chan, I found a village! It's about a mile or two away from here!” he called, grinning.

I looked up at him skeptically, saying a bit irritably, “If that's how short a distance away it is, why has it taken you so long to get back?”

“Well… uh… you see…”

“Nevermind… Let's go…” I started walking off into the direction Jaken had come from. Rin, Jaken, and Ah-Un followed close behind.

It took us a few hours to arrive at the village and just as I suspected, as soon as the mortals saw Jaken and I there was a riot. I heard women calling to their children to “get in the house” and babies were crying. I was used to it, of course; but apparently, Rin wasn't…

She looked around in confusion and even called to the other humans, “What's wrong, everyone? Sesshomaru-sama is a good demon, he wouldn't hurt you!”

“We're only here to get this young woman something to eat,” I added, keeping my eyes looking straight ahead and not at the handful of humans that had suddenly stopped scrambling around mindlessly for their pathetic lives.

“Arigatou!” said Rin with a smile. “So please, can one of you please help?”

It was about five more minutes before a young girl ran off to get Rin something to eat. She came back not long afterward with a couple oranges in her arms. Rin bowed politely to the girl and thanked her, looking at me with a smile.

“Can we stay here for a little while, Sesshomaru-sama?” she inquired hopefully.

I considered it for a few minutes before nodding slightly. “Alright… but only for a little while… when I call you from outside the village, that will be the signal that we're leaving…” As I started walking off, I heard her agree with me. It wasn't until later on that I'd regret allowing her to stay in the village by herself…

When it came time to leave, I decided it was time to call Rin back.

“Rin, it's time to go!” I called. I waited ten minutes for her to get back, but when the ten minutes had passed, she still hadn't come. I tried again… still nothing.

“Where is that silly woman?” inquired Jaken impatiently. It wasn't long after he said this that I walked back into the village to look for Rin. Something was wrong… I could feel it… and I wouldn't stop walking until I found out what it was.

When I had found Rin's scent, I followed it at a brisk walk; I suddenly found myself feeling a bit troubled… There was another scent mixed with Rin's in the wind and it was unfamiliar. I broke into a run. The two scents led me to a run-down hut in an almost-abandoned part of the village. I heard a feminine scream and recognized it immediately as Rin's. I heard a male voice say, “Be quiet, wench!” and then Rin's screams became muffled. Eyes narrowing, I burst into the hut and pulled the Tokijin out of my sash, glaring at the scene before me. Rin was pinned down on a dirty futon with some middle-aged human man on top of her, one of his hands covering her mouth to muffle her screams and the other hand trying to rip open her kimono. Rin had tears streaming down her cheeks and she looked up at me pleadingly, trying desperately to throw the man off of her.

“Get away from the girl, human…” I growled, glaring at the man coldly.

The man looked up at me with a laugh, grinning maliciously.

“Why should I, demon?” he asked. The arrogance in his voice made me sick…

“Because I said so…” I warned. “And I will cut you down here and now if you harm but one hair on the girl's head…” Finally, I saw a touch of fear enter the man's eyes and he cowered for a moment. In his distraction, he removed his hand from covering Rin's mouth.

“Help me, Sesshomaru-sama!!!!” cried Rin fearfully, tears trickling down her cheeks.

My patience running out completely, I lunged at the human man with my blade, eyes narrowed dangerously. The man yelped and got off of Rin hastily, running away as fast as he could.

“You won't escape…” I hissed, sticking the tip of the Tokijin's blade into the ground and sending my whip of light at the man. I heard him cry out in pain as it pierced right through him from behind and came out his chest. Almost as soon as I withdrew the whip, he fell to the ground dead. I picked up the Tokijin and put it back at my waist, looking over at Rin. She was sitting up now and hurriedly and shakily trying to close the front of her kimono. The man had managed to open the part of the kimono that was covering her chest. I walked over to her and knelt down beside her, asking her if she was okay. It wasn't until I knelt down that I noticed she was shaking.

“I'm f-fine…” she stuttered tearfully, closing her kimono over her chest so she was once again covered. Immediately after she did this, she threw her arms around me and buried her face into my chest, sobbing heavily. “Sesshomaru-sama… I was s-so scared…!”

I frowned and wrapped my arm around her, holding her close. “It's alright… he's gone… he will not harm you ever again…”

“A-Are you s-sure…? A-Are you sure he's d-dead…?” she asked uncertainly, looking up at me with wide, teary eyes. The look in her eyes—the look of fear—shot into my heart like a white-hot arrowhead. He held her tighter, closing my eyes.

“I'm sure, Rin…”