InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ His Brother's Girl ❯ Come round at last ( Chapter 7 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Chapter 7 - Come round at last

"What rough beast, its hour come round at last, slouches toward Bethlehem to be born?" -W.B. Yeats

After a few all to brief moments of soul searching, during which time his life did in fact flash before his eyes, Jaken came to the conclusion that it was better to be a man and own up to his horrendous mistake, than to betray the man to whom he owed his very life. In fact, it was infinitely better to tell the truth and hope for a mercifully swift, albeit violent, end rather than be spared for the time being and caught later in a lie. In his mind's eye, he could see with frightening clarity the horrors that would befall him if that were to happen. It was with this in mind that he bowed his head before the youkai lord, fixing his eyes on a bare patch of ground near Sesshoumaru's feet while he silently prepared himself for the inevitable, steeling himself for his immanent demise. A low, mournful sigh escaped his beak as he opened it to speak honestly and seal his fate.

It was at that moment, that split second between confusion and clarity where his life was hanging in the balance between what had been said and what was about to come forth, that the gods finally smiled upon Jaken. After all of the fruitless searching, the hours spent scrambling about in the freezing rain, shouting her name until he was hoarse, plodding through the mud and muck in abject misery, it finally dawned on him where Rin must have run off to.

"The Cave!" he shouted out joyfully. "Sesshoumaru-sama, there is a small cave no more than a mile from here, probably less. We passed it on the way to this forest! Rin is hiding- er, ahem, waiting there!" Jaken had never been so positive of anything in his entire life. After spending countless afternoons in her company, then later having to search for her as she ran off, following whatever whimsy she'd taken it into her head to follow, he'd learned her habits quite well. Rin had to be there, why hadn't he seen it before? She had to be there, for if she wasn't…

"Good. Then that is where I shall be waiting as well. Be quick about it, Jaken." Sesshoumaru turned away without another word, heading in the direction that the toad had pointed. His gait was slow but purposefully so, and he breathed deeply, searching for her scent as he walked. He wasn't about to alarm Jaken, the toad seemed to be wound up enough as it was, but he was slightly troubled by the pervasive scent of the hanyou that seemed to be all over the wood; that had, in fact, lead him into the clearing in the first place.

"So by the time it was all over, Kagome was hugging the life out of them both and Shippou realized that his rival was actually a little girl, the sister of those lightning beasts I killed!"

"Nande? A little girl youkai?!" Rin squealed with delight. "I bet she was really Kawaii!"

Inuyasha shrugged. "When you've seen one brat, you've-"

"Well, Rin-chan would really like to see a little girl youkai!" she interrupted before he could sully the moment with his customary grumpiness. "That story was a lot better than your other ones, Inuyasha-san. Much better!"

"Good, because I'm done. I don't know anymore."

"That's alright. Rin-chan is warm and her eyes are starting to get fuzzy anyway."

"It is getting pretty late…" Inuyasha looked out toward the mouth of the cave, noting how difficult it was steadily becoming to see the grove of trees across the clearing from them. Though it hadn't made an appearance once that day, he knew that the sun had disappeared beneath the horizon maybe half an hour ago. Already, the sky hidden behind the clouds was fading from deep blue to black.

"Why don't you get some sleep kid?" he suggested when her usually tiny mouth stretched forth into a wide, cavernous yawn that could have rivaled the small opening of the cave itself.

"Noooo…" she whined softly. "Rin-chan has to wait for Sesshoumaru-sama to come rescue her."

"Rescue? From what? You don't mean me?"

Rin giggled happily at the slightly shocked expression on his face.

"Well, you did tell Rin-chan that you were a monster. Isn't Sesshoumaru-sama supposed to rescue Rin-chan from monsters?"

"You know, just for that, I should eat you. I really should."

"If you try it, Rin-chan will run right into a thorn patch, and this time there will be no one left to pull out the thorns."

"I'll wear my shirt this time."

"No you won't" she yawned again, wrapping herself up tightly in his haori to hold in the warmth. "It's still raining and you'd get it all wet."

"So what? After I eat you, I can just wear my coat."

"Inuyasha-san…" she murmured softly, stretching out on the warm bed of what was left of the straw she'd gathered earlier that day. "…please shut up…" Within three minutes, she was snoring softly. Inuyasha kept watch, thoroughly enjoying the silent company of this sleeping Rin. It gave him a chance to think, a luxury he hadn't been allotted since meeting her.

'She's asleep…what should I do now? I can't just leave her here…but then I can't wait around on my ass until that bastard Sesshouamru shows up, either. Kagome would make me stay… Sango would remind me of how dangerous staying is… Miroku…? He probably would have waited until she was sleeping then grabbed the kid's ass, the goddamn lech…

'Aw, who am I kidding?' he thought, watching as she rolled onto her side and curled herself into a little ball. 'I can't go anywhere…'

But as he was thinking this, Inuyasha was slowly becoming aware of a feeling of growing urgency. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, trying to relieve some of the building pressure on his bladder.

'Except to take a piss…' he mentally amended, rising silently to his feet. 'I can go do that…'

"But I won't go far." he whispered to the girl, despite the fact that she was now senseless to his promise.

Inuyasha walked out into the damp night, and was surprised to find that it had actually stopped raining. He was further pleased to find that the thick canopy of cloud that the sky had been hiding behind all day had started to break up, creating a startling pattern of midnight blue on black, shot through with the occasional dazzling white of a star.

'If he doesn't come for her tonight, then at least it looks like tomorrow will be a fine day for traveling.'

Best of all was the fat, ice-blue moon that almost seemed to pop out of the dappled sky, throwing some much needed light down onto the small clearing, as if illuminating the nearby bushes specifically for his needs. With a one last quick, appreciative glance up at the moon, Inuyasha strolled over to the bushes to relieve himself. He sighed contentedly a few minutes later, shaking himself off and tucking everything, including his kimono, back into his hakama, all the while thinking 'It's the simple things…'

It was in the middle of this thought that he began to sense something ominous, but it wasn't until he heard the faint noise just behind his left shoulder that he took the feeling as anything more than slight paranoia at having to leave his back exposed to the dark forest, and by that point, it was already too late. As he spun around, a clawed hand with god-like strength latched onto his throat, cutting off his breath and any noises of alarm or protest that he might have been tempted to make. His hands flew up to claw at the arm that lifted him off the ground, and yet, even as he drew blood, his back was slammed into the jagged, rocky outcropping of the outer cave wall with blinding force.

Inside the cave, Rin awoke with a start, as if sensing the silent struggle just outside the mouth of the cave. Finding herself completely alone in the darkness, she called out softly,

"Inuyasha-san?" When he didn't answer, she screwed up her courage and headed for the entrance, determined to find him and give him a piece of her mind for leaving her alone like that after he'd as much as promised not to.