InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Worth Waiting For ❯ No More "-sama" ( Chapter 21 )

Disclaimer: No, they’re not mine, but I can dream, can’t I?

21. No More ‘-sama’  

After a brief search, Kagome found Rin pulling weeds in the vegetable patch. Although it was only just past noon, she relieved the younger woman of the chore. “Inuyasha just came form the forest. Sesshoumaru will be coming at sunset to check on your progress. If you want to go back home with him, you’ll start getting ready now.”

With a brief nod and a brilliant smile, Rin leaped to her feet. “What should I do?”

Kagome thought briefly. “Go inside and get some towels and anything else we’ll need--the first order of business is a hot bath.”

The two soaked in the steaming water, making plans for the evening. It was decided that Rin would cook the family’s dinner this night, in order to demonstrate the skills she had learned to Sesshoumaru. As they discussed the matter in greater detail, they decided that Rin would wear the pale green kimono she had made and decorated with uncannily accurate wildflowers. In addition, she would wear her hair up, in a style that would make her appear even more mature.

Although she would not dress in her kimono until just before they expected the youkai lord to arrive, the two worked on getting her hairstyle set to their satisfaction before they started the preparations for the meal. Once her long hair was dry and free of tangles it was a simple matter to twist the thick mass up into a sleek knot at the back of her head. Two elaborately carved sticks thrust through the hair would hold it securely in place.

The meal itself would not be an especially complicated matter, although it would show off her competence nicely: a lightly-flavored broth made from fowl caught that very afternoon, grilled fish stuffed with mushrooms and herbs, rice, a light vegetable stir fry, and small pastries filled with spiced apples, the last of the dried fruit they had stored.

Once Miroku, Sango, and Shippou learned that Sesshoumaru was expected, they decided to head out for the village. They had no liking for the youkai lord, and had even less desire to sabotage Rin’s chances of returning to the youkai’s palace by some inadvertent word or gesture. They would, they said, return in the morning, after the others had left.

Among other preparations that were made before the youkai lord arrived was the relocation of Rin’s trunks and chests to the main room so that he could inspect both her carpentry skills and their contents--the things she had been making to take with her to her new home when she was mated.

Barely an hour before sunset, Rin returned to her room to dress. She emerged shortly before nightfall looking nothing at all like the willful, wild child she had been on her arrival. With a brief reminder of how court ladies were expected to behave according to the books she had read, she awaited the youkai lord’s arrival.

In a move that was very nearly unprecedented, Sesshoumaru had come there without his personal servant in attendance. Upon entering the residence, he was greeted by an attractive young woman who was not only naturally beautiful but impeccably groomed as well. The woman bowed politely, showing him to a seat at the massive table that dominated the rear part of the large room. Sesshoumaru very nearly asked Kagome where Rin was, until he caught the vaguely flowery scent of the woman who had met him at the door. With a nod in her direction, he said only, “You have grown, Rin.”

She inclined her head slightly in agreement, not speaking. As the others arrived for dinner, Rin served the meal, taking care to serve their guest first. Although Sesshoumaru had little desire for human foods, he was a guest in his brother’s home, and would behave accordingly, especially as they had worked what seemed to him to be a miracle, turning a disagreeable, spoiled child into a woman who would be a fit consort for a lord of his own rank. “These are,” he said, “The finest examples of food of this kind I have encountered in a very long time.”

Kagome smiled broadly: everything was going perfectly. “Actually, Rin prepared the entire meal. We wanted to show you exactly what she’s been learning while she’s been with us.”

Surprisingly, the meal was a pleasant one. After a time, the two brothers sat relaxing on the fur pelt covering the floor while Rin served tea and Kagome sat in her chair feeding Nozomi. Despite the fact that the child was obviously of mixed parentage, Sesshoumaru asked for the details of her birth date and similar information so that he could enter them into the official family records.

At a suggestion from Kagome, the youkai carefully examined the results of Rin’s hard work while she had been there. Although she was careful to give full credit for the decorative touches on her trunks and chests to Inuyasha, it was clear that both the actual construction and the designs for the decorative work had originated with the girl. He nodded slowly as he examined the things that she had made, including both the household items and the clothing she had made and decorated to fit her new, more mature, form.

All through the evening, Rin sat quietly, eyes down, waiting or some indication of her fate. After a number of long, speculative looks, Sesshoumaru stood before the young woman, extending a hand to her. As she rose gracefully to her feet, he took her chin between the thumb and forefinger of his hand and turned her this way and that, nodding thoughtfully. “You have done well. Remain here for tonight--I will return in the morning with a wagon to carry your things. It is time you returned home.”

The young woman simply nodded and retired to her room. The sooner she went to sleep, the sooner the morning would come. The youkai lord rose, inclining his head to the others, and said, “I never would have believed that such a change could be accomplished. Should you ever require any help within my power to grant, simply send word.”

Kagome wasn’t quite ready to let the matter go. “What will happen to Rin now?”

He looked at her coolly. “As I indicated, I am in the process of finding her a suitable mate. I now find that I must reassess my criteria somewhat--what I have seen here tonight makes most of the options I have so far considered unrealistic. I will not pressure her to accept a mate that is beneath her.”

He turned to leave, but was halted by the woman grabbing his empty left sleeve. “Please,” she said, “Try to make her happy.”

With a brisk nod, he turned back to the door. “That has always been my intention.”

The taiyoukai arrived shortly after daybreak, a wagon that he had procured from a nearby village and driven by his servant waiting in the clearing outside the cave home. Not surprisingly, Rin was as impeccably groomed as she had been the previous night. Sesshoumaru paused, thinking that he would have to see about providing her with a more extensive wardrobe, including a selection of jewels and other purely ornamental items.

Once the wagon was loaded, the youkai lord sent it on ahead, explaining to his retainer that he and the woman would follow on foot. They would, he declared, arrive back at the palace in four days’ time. He did, however, permit the woman with him to carry a small bundle with three changes of clothing, but nothing else. They would, he said, find everything else they needed on the way.

In the meantime, she would explain exactly what else she had learned from the family with whom she had stayed.

After they had vanished into the forest, Kagome turned to her mate. “What are you grinning like that about?”

He smirked at the idea that he knew something his clever mate didn’t. “I was just wondering if she was going to show him everything she learned here.”

She was momentarily puzzled. “Why wouldn’t she?”

He chuckled softly. “Remember that last time we mated by the stream? The time I made you scream so many times?”

Her smile softened. “How could I forget? It was wonderful. But,” she asked, her eyes narrowing slightly, “What does that have to do with anything?”

“We had an audience.”

“NANI?!?”

“Rin was hiding in the bushes. I never found out why, but I think she stumbled across us by accident and stayed around to watch.”

“Oh, gods--”

He nodded. “I think it’s safe to say that her education in what it takes to be a good mate is now complete.”

She shook her head in something like shock. “I wish you’d told me. I could have talked to her, told her that it’s not always like that, that it hurts the first time.”

“It’s always like that for us, isn’t it, love? Why shouldn’t it be the same way for her?”

“Baka! What if the mate Sesshoumaru picks for her doesn’t have your patience? What if he doesn’t care whether he hurts her of not? Even worse, what if he likes causing her pain?”

The hanyou shrugged. “Then Sesshoumaru will come for me and we’ll kill the bastard. Besides,” he added with an undeniably smug expression, “I don’t think it’ll ever come to that. I have a hunch that she’ll never be leaving his palace to take a mate.”

She shook her head. “You could be right. Did you see his face when he recognized her?”

He grinned like an idiot. “It was priceless! He looked like he bit into a piece of rancid meat--I thought he was going to keel over on the spot.”

They had been walking for hours, and it was now early afternoon. Although she tried to keep up with his much longer strides, Rin found herself constantly falling behind because the traditional kimono did not permit her the same freedom of movement to which she had been accustomed. After the third time he had to pause and wait for her to catch up, Sesshoumaru realized the source of the problem and adjusted his speed to take her restrictive clothing into account.

In a marked change from her earlier pattern, she spoke little, although she would answer any question he asked of her honestly and completely. She herself asked no questions.

Shortly before nightfall, he paused in the forest just outside an inn on the edge of a small village. He handed the woman a small pouch. “Go to the inn and procure a room for us. We will stay here for tonight.”

With a silent nod, she left the cover of the forest and approached the inn. Once she had secured a room, she returned to the forest to lead the youkai to their accommodations. She had done as requested, and returned the pouch to Sesshoumaru, who was surprised to find that it was still half full. He returned it to her, saying, “Keep this. You can use it to purchase a meal for yourself.”

As he had expected, the room was small and not nearly appropriate for a lord of his station. Still, it was the only accommodation available: after all, he could hardly have her sleeping out on the forest floor looking like that. Once she set her small bundle of possessions on the floor near the single futon, she sat silently, waiting for him to speak. Finally, he gestured that she join him sitting on the futon. “Go down to the kitchen and purchase a meal, then return. I have several questions for you.”

With a slight inclination of her head, she rose gracefully and took the pouch of money to the door leading to the narrow staircase.

Once the woman returned to the room, carrying a tray laden with cold roast meat, rice, fruit, and tea, she set the food on the small table near the door and waited for the youkai to take what he would of the meal. As she had half expected, he refused the food, settling for a cup of the tea. After serving him the tea, she ate lightly, her scent reeking of nervousness and confusion and something else, some less disagreeable fragrance that he couldn’t quite identify.

Sesshoumaru waited until she had finished eating before beginning to question her about what she had learned while she had lived in his brother’s household. Although he would be the first to concede that her accomplishments were great, it was painfully obvious to him that the exact nature of those accomplishments would make her unsuitable as a mate for nearly all of the candidates he had so far considered. While a high-ranking youkai lord might be persuaded to accept a human who could hunt for herself and her family and fight as well as a youkai taijiya, it was not likely that any potential mate--youkai or human--would want a woman as strong-willed as he knew her to be. Granted, she had been behaving with perfectly submissive decorum ever since he had returned to retrieve her, but he knew her spirit as well as he knew himself, and realized that she was only behaving in this manner because she thought that he might wish it.

Perhaps, he thought, he had done her a disservice when he had tried to distance himself from her touch a couple of years ago. He could, he realized, at least have explained why he would no longer allow her the same freedom to touch him that he had permitted in the past. In a moment of brutal self-honesty, he admitted to himself that he had stopped allowing that kind of contact because he feared what he might do if it continued.

They discussed her experiences in helping the village healer, hunting for and preparing food, and her attempts at carpentry. He spoke of the obviously high quality of the things she had sewn for herself and her future mate’s home, not dwelling on the small blankets and other items she had made for the sons and daughters she hoped to bear that mate one day. They also talked briefly about what she had learned of growing and preserving food, especially a few techniques she had learned that were from Kagome’s world and unknown in this time.

He stood by the door, motioning at the futon. “Sleep here tonight. I do not require sleep at this time.” As she lay down on the futon, he stopped her with a gesture. “No. Remove your kimono. Your yukata will be sufficient, and you do not wish to damage all the hard work you put into the decorations on the kimono.”

She did as he requested, and he immediately wished that she had not. She had, he decided, matured greatly in the months since he had seen her last. She lay on her side on the futon, watching him carefully, alert for any hint that there was something that he wished of her, heedless of the way her undergarment fell open to expose what would one day soon be a magnificent cleavage.

When the youkai next spoke, she realized that he was not looking directly at her. “Did you learn any other skills from my brother’s family?”

“Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama. I learned everything I need to know to become a good mate.” She looked up at him, head still lowered, surprised when he looked momentarily thoughtful. “Would you like me to show you?”

Glancing around the room, he said, “I see no cooking facilities or other equipment that you might need for a demonstration.”

The young woman sighed. Well, she thought, she was committed--there was no turning back now. “That is true, Sesshoumaru-sama, but a mate must know other things besides cooking, sewing, and caring for her children. She must be able to care for her mate’s needs as well.”

The youkai lord breathed a sigh of relief. Obviously, she was talking about something like caring for a mate’s hair or possibly massaging weary muscles. For a moment, he had thought--

He was startled out of his thoughts by the sensation of his armor and the upper part of his clothing being removed. “Please, Sesshoumaru-sama, come and sit. This will be much easier if you do.” As he moved to take her place on the futon, she removed the sticks holding her hair in place, letting the ebony waves cascade down her body. The youkai fought down the impulse to touch the shining mass despite his growing wariness about what the woman was planning.

He was surprised when she moved to kneel before him, opening the front of his inner clothing after removing the sash around his waist. She ran her hands lightly over his shoulders, searching out any tightness in the muscles that could indicate undue stress. When she found none, she moved closer, dropping her head to nip lightly at one of the nipples exposed on his lean chest. He stiffened at the attention, a low moan almost escaping him. At his slight movement she looked up expectantly, clearly worried about his reactions to this boldness on her part. “Do you wish me to stop, Sesshoumaru-sama?”

It took a moment before he was able to answer. When he did, his voice was strained. “That is not necessary, Rin. You may continue.” What on earth was she doing?

She returned her attention to the nipple she had tasted earlier, swirling her tongue around the tight, hardened peak as he shifted slightly, biting back a gasp of pleasure at the attention. She continued, bringing her hand to the other nipple, running her fingertips lightly across the erect nub, causing him to shiver with the unexpected sensations. She dropped her free hand lower, lightly tracing the lean muscles of his stomach.

He could stand it no more. He pulled away from her, grabbing her wrists in his single hand. The scent in the tiny room was more than intoxicating--it was nearly irresistible, and he realized that if he didn’t stop things right now he might not be able to stop them at all. “What are you doing?” He could not believe that it was his own voice--it sounded strange, rough with something he couldn’t name.

She looked hurt. “I don’t understand, Sesshoumaru-sama. I thought you wanted me to show you what I learned about caring for a mate.”

A slow rage burned in the youkai’s eyes. “Exactly who taught you to do this?”

“Nobody, Sesshoumaru-sama. I was in the forest one day, and I found Inuyasha-sama and Kagome-sama in a clearing, and…I stayed to watch them.” Suddenly realizing what he thought had happened, she sat back, opening her yukata to expose herself fully. “I have never been touched by a man. See for yourself.”

Moving closer, he inhaled deeply, suddenly aware that she had not been lying. There was no hint of a male scent on her aside from the faint traces that would exist simply by living in relatively close proximity to males in daily life. He nodded slowly. “I see. Still,” he said, looking away from the provocative sight before him, “You do not wish to do this. Continuing would make you unsuitable as a mate for whatever youkai lord I might find for you.”

“Sesshoumaru-sama?”

“What is it, Rin?”

“I don’t want you to find me a mate--not if it means that I’ll have to leave you.” He looked at her in surprise, not entirely believing what he heard.

He moved to sit next to her, stroking her hair absently. It felt every bit as good as he had expected. “What are you saying, Rin? Tell me.” His voice had regained that strange rough tone that he had never before heard coming from himself.

“I want a mate, Sesshoumaru-sama, and I want a family, like Kagome-sama. But I don’t want any mate you might find for me. There’s only one mate that I want, and I can’t have him.” She stared at the futon beneath her, oblivious to her near nakedness.

“He’s not already mated, is he?”

“No, Sesshoumaru-sama.”

This, he decided, would be a simple enough matter to resolve. “Then tell me who it is, and I will see to it that he becomes your mate.”

“I can’t, Sesshoumaru-sama.”

He didn’t think he could stand any more complications, but he had to know. “Why not?”

“He doesn’t want me. He won’t even let me touch him. I don’t want to force him into mating with me if it would make him unhappy. I don’t ever want him to be unhappy--I love him too much.”

He wrapped her in his arm, trying to quiet the thundering of her heart that he could hear as clearly as he could hear her words. “How could being your mate make him unhappy? You are beautiful, and skilled, and you obviously care greatly for this fool. Any great lord would be honored to have a mate like you. Now,” he continued, “Who is this imbecile, and where can I find him?”

“Sesshoumaru-sama….”

“Nani?” ;

“You just asked me a question, and I just answered it.” She focused her eyes on the futon as though it had suddenly become the most interesting thing in the entire universe.

It took him a fraction of a second to understand exactly what she was saying. He crushed her to him with his good arm, whispering, “You will have the mate you desire, Rin. Right now.”

“Sesshoumaru-sama….”

He lowered her gently to the futon, opening her yukata so that she was completely exposed to him. He worried briefly about taking her while she was still so young--it would hurt the first time, and he was considered well-endowed, even by youkai standards. Of course, she was at an age when she would have been forced to marry in any case, and had physically matured. Still, the intoxicating scent of her desire was rapidly stealing his control from him. Lowering his head, he licked lightly at her breasts, amazed at how the nipples came instantly erect at the slightest touch. Running his claws lightly down her body, he watched in surprise as she trembled beneath his touch, moaning softly. He moved slowly down her body, tasting her skin as he went, learning the nuances of her scent and flavor. The youkai lord nipped lightly at the skin of her flat stomach, listening to her small cries of pleasure at his hands. Continuing his downward travels, he found himself facing the source of the scent that had been driving him nearly insane with desire for much of the day, although he had not recognized it for what it was until just now.

Dipping his head, he tasted her deeply as she cried out again, pushing herself tighter against him in an effort to increase the pleasure she received from his tongue. Flicking his tongue rapidly against the bundle of nerve fibers he found just above her entrance, he inserted a single clawed finger into her opening, moving it slowly in and out, amazed at the quantity of the juices flowing over his hand. He continued his assault on her sensitive nub, listening carefully. As she stiffened against him and cried out in ecstasy, he forced his finger deeper into her body, tearing through her membrane. Although the ripping of her barrier must have hurt, the pain was lost in the pleasure she received from him.

He moved his finger slowly in and out of her, then added a second, carefully stretching her opening. It would be a tight fit for his throbbing member, but he didn’t doubt that they would be able to manage it. He rose to his knees, turning her over so that she was looking down at the futon and raising her hips to him with his hand around her waist . Moving slowly, he eased the tip of his arousal into her opening, gasping at the intense heat that surrounded his member, squeezing him softly. Moving carefully, he eased his arousal slowly deeper and deeper into the woman until he was completely buried in her warmth. He slowly pulled nearly all the way out before pushing back in again as she moaned beneath him. With a firm grip on her to keep her from moving wrong and losing the sensations he provided, he drove his member in and out of her, listening to her moans becoming higher in pitch until she was nearly screaming with pleasure. He began to move faster and harder, driving himself--and his new mate--closer and closer to the edge of a shattering climax. He pulled her hips back to meet him as he drove forward, allowing him to penetrate her even deeper than before, and she stiffened in his grasp, her inner muscles clamping down on his member as she cried out in passion and he howled through his own release. Still he continued to plunge in and out of her body, bringing her to yet another climax. As she stiffened and cried out beneath him, he sank his fangs into her shoulder. As he licked up the blood from the wound, he cried out as the sensations forced yet another spurt of seed from his spent member into the body of his mate.

Still, he was a youkai lord, and would not leave this halfway done. Pulling his softening member from the body of his new mate, he lay her back down on the futon, watching the soft expression of satiation on her face. “We’re not finished yet, Rin. I have taken some of your blood--now it is time for you to take some of mine.” Reaching down her body, he found the sensitive nub of tissue he had used to mask the pain of tearing her membrane and massaged it rapidly, listening to her moan with renewed passion. He dropped his lips to her breasts, covering them with kisses and light nips. Her juices were already flowing freely, so there was no need to delay. Positioning himself above her body, he slid his almost painfully erect length into her with a single powerful thrust, smirking slightly as she cried out beneath him. He pounded in and out

of her slender body, rapidly bringing them both to yet another massive orgasm. As they continued, he flipped them over so that he was lying on his back, the woman sliding up and down his shaft above him. She ground her hips down on him, feeling him fill her completely, stretching her small form to fit his size. Again and again she forced herself down onto his arousal, swiveling her hips as he yelped in surprise at the new sensation. Still she continued, reaching her hands up his chest to lightly stroke his tightly erect nipples while pounding herself to yet another climax. Her inner muscles began to clench around his member, signaling that she was beginning to reach her peak, and he began to move his hips, matching her stroke for stroke until she cried out yet again in release. As she continued to ride his arousal, he brought his wrist to his lips, tearing the flesh with a fang, and raised it to her. “Drink, Rin. If we are to be mates, you must.”

The feel of her lips against his wrist sucking the blood from the wound was too much. He howled through his own release as she ground down on him a final time. He rolled them over so that they were lying on their sides, making a few more lazy thrusts into his mate to be certain that he had deposited all of his seed within her body before pulling himself from her and covering them both with a blanket.

Sesshoumaru stood on a mountain peak overlooking his entire domain. At the feeling of a presence beside him, he turned to see a great youkai lord of even higher standing than himself. He bowed his head slightly, then asked, “Why have you come to me now?”

The older youkai shrugged, his long silver-white hair flowing around him in the light breeze. “You have finally learned the last lesson I left for you. I knew that it would be a difficult one for you--that’s why I left you the Tenseiga: to lead you to the lesson that needed to be learned. They are really not very different from us after all, you know. Granted that many of the humans are nothing more than sheep, but there are some with the same fire in them that stirs us--those are the ones worth saving, worth protecting, worth loving.”

Sesshoumaru had never had such a rueful expression since he was a small pup. “Inuyasha is going to have a lot of fun with this.”

“Live with it. If he does, remember that it’s all your own doing--this whole ‘I hate these worthless humans’ image was bound to get you into trouble eventually. The fact of the matter is that he learned the last lesson a lot faster than you did. In any case,” the youkai lord continued, “My work here is done. Now that you have learned the lesson I set for you, I will unseal the power that has been hidden from you. Not only can your sword revive others, but you have always had the power to heal yourself--and others--as well, although it has been blocked until you gained the wisdom to use it correctly.”

“What do you wish of me now?”

The old youkai lord paused briefly. “You and your brother are heirs to a full quarter of the land. In time, I expect that you two will make peace with each other and rule it with justice and wisdom, forming an example for the other lands to follow. In time, you two will be able to lead the four lands into an age of peace and prosperity.”  

“You said that you unsealed a power in me. Does my brother have a similar power that I can expect to see manifested?”

“He does. It has already been unsealed, although he isn’t fully aware of it yet. He has grown to the point that he no longer needs to have his youkai self sealed by the Tetsusaiga. He is learning to control his transformations, and to retain his mind while transformed. This will allow him to better protect his family. Now,” the youkai lord said, fading into the rising mist, “Return to your mate. She will need you in the morning.”

Sesshoumaru stared out over his domain for a long moment, then whispered, “Chichi-ue….” before allowing himself to sink into the darkness waiting for him.

He was awakened by a frantic human woman shaking him. “Sesshoumaru-sama!”

“What is it, Rin?”

She stared at him with wide eyes. “Look at yourself, Sesshoumaru-sama!”

He blinked in surprise as he looked down to see two normal arms and hands. “This must be what he meant about a healing power,” he muttered.

“Who do you mean, Sesshoumaru-sama?”

He stretched luxuriously before rising from the futon and gathering the clothing that had gotten scattered around the small room the previous evening. “My father appeared to me in a dream. He told me that I had finally learned the last lesson that he had left for me, and that because of that he would unseal the healing power that had always been in me but hidden until I grew wise enough to know what to do with it.” He looked at her, still mussed from sleep, and asked, “Would you mind if we returned to my brother’s home? I have some things to discuss with him.”

“Of course, Sesshoumaru-sama. I can be ready to leave soon.”

Seeing the unspoken question on the woman’s face, he continued, “Rin, what is it you wish to ask of me?”

She blushed fiercely. “Did it really happen? Am I…your mate now?”

He nodded slowly. “You are. Now and always.”

“Thank you, Sesshoumaru-sama.”

“Rin, one more thing.”

“Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama.”

He smiled slowly, his eyes wandering over the body that he had taken just a few hours

earlier and was considering visiting yet again. “No more ‘-sama.’ You are my mate, not a servant.”

“Yes, Sesshoumaru.”