InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Eien Ni Nakunatta Shunkan: A Moment Lost Forever ❯ Chapter 3 Wakare ( Chapter 4 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: wickedoni 
Originally Posted 2/04
Eien Ni Nakunatta Shunkan...A Moment Last Forever
by Wicked-Oni
Characters So NOT Mine! They belong to a certain lady, named...Rumiko, I think? Just kidding. I know who owns these guys and I hope they're kind enough not to ever serve me with a lawsuit.
Rating: NC-17 (Warning, Danger, Danger, Danger to Innocent Eyes!)
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Suspense / Romance / Hentai / Drama / Action | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 02.27.2004 | Updated On: 03.06.2006 | Pages: 3 | Words: 4.2K | Visits: 3.5K | Status: Completed
Originally Posted 2/04
Eien Ni Nakunatta Shunkan...A Moment Last Forever
by Wicked-Oni
Characters So NOT Mine! They belong to a certain lady, named...Rumiko, I think? Just kidding. I know who owns these guys and I hope they're kind enough not to ever serve me with a lawsuit.
Rating: NC-17 (Warning, Danger, Danger, Danger to Innocent Eyes!)
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Suspense / Romance / Hentai / Drama / Action | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 02.27.2004 | Updated On: 03.06.2006 | Pages: 3 | Words: 4.2K | Visits: 3.5K | Status: Completed
Chapter 3: Wakare
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Rin was awoken for the second time that evening when an ominous shadow crossed over her form. Staring up at the source, she was surprised to find Sesshoumaru-sama looming over her. He glowered down upon her, as if she were some kind of vile parasite, his eyes filled with icy malice. He had never seemed more otherworldly and detached than at that very moment. In fact, he appeared more feral now than upon the day she had first inadvertently stumbled across him in the forest…
She took a deep breath to calm herself.
"Sesshoumaru-sama, Rin can explain. Rin didn't mean…" she began sweetly, reverting to the submissive speech pattern of her childhood in attempt to pacify him.
She was abruptly interrupted by a rumbling growl, and found herself seized fast in her master's rough grip before her mind even had time to register his movement. He dragged her up against the length of his unyielding body, and she cried out in pain as her already bruised form collided with the cold, broken armor on his shoulder.
"You actually seek to patronize this Sesshoumaru?! So, it is true then?! You really believe you HAVE `tamed' me?" he murmured incredulously.
"Master?" she moaned in confusion, writhing in an attempt to ease the needle-sharp points of his claws from her skin. "Gomen nasai! I don't understand..."
"Why did you interfere?!" he shouted, silencing her soft query. Rin blanched, he so rarely made any exclamation with emotion...now his voice was raw with it.
Despite her apprehension, her fingers instinctively reached to touch his arm in a soothing gesture meant to placate and calm him. “Please, my lord...”
"NO!" Sesshoumaru barked out, batting her small, cool hands away. His razor-edge talons bit further into her shoulders and he shook her with such ferocity that Rin feared her neck would break.
"Ningen!" he raged, spitting out the word as if it were poison. "Do you think I am as weak and feeble as that damn hanyou? Do you think I require anything from you or your filthy, piteous race?!" The taiyoukai 's deep voice lowered to a dangerous whisper. "Little girl, do you even KNOW what I am?"
He flung her away, and through the haze of spinning stars that swam amidst her vision, she realized suddenly that his eyes were no longer the color of gold, but a lurid crimson, richer than blood.
Rin's breath, which had until now been coming out in irregular little gasps, seemed to stop altogether as her eyes tracked his entire transformation, rising skyward to look upon his full, towering height. She had known of this power all along. Jaken's incessant pride in his master had caused him to repeat countless gory tales of Sesshoumaru's violent exploits while in his `true' form...
But, until now, she had never witnessed the metamorphosis for herself.
Her idealized notions about what this change would be like vanished in the face of the menacing beast looming before her. Acid dripped from its maw to sizzle in the grass, and its eyes rolled in animalistic fury. It was snarling, hackles raised, ears pinned flat...
Without warning, the massive paws suddenly snapped forward to brace twenty feet on either side of her, effectively cutting off any escape route. Crouching as if ready to spring, the great demon merely lowered its head and bayed wildly. Its jaws snapped mere inches from her face, revealing fangs that were very nearly twice her size...
Rin tumbled backward blindly, both from the force of the hot breath rushing past her and the sheer volume of that great bark. Her mind was so numb that she didn't even raise her arm to break her fall. The jarring collision with the ground was followed by a second, unexpected impact to her chest...an impact that completely knocked all breath from her lungs.
Sesshoumaru had smoothly reverted back to his beautiful, customary state, and was pinning her roughly to the ground, grinding her into the dirt as if trying to let the very earth swallow her up. His flawless face was no less enraged then it had been while twisted into that horrible canine form, and his sharp fangs were still bared at her throat. Held immobile beneath his heavy weight, her hands trapped at her sides, Rin could do nothing but turn her face to avoid his murderous gaze.
As the girl lay whimpering beneath him, her body wracked with deep tremors, something in the back of Sesshoumaru's mind began to protest against this brutality. Even though the scent of fear hung heavily in the air, calling to his predatory instincts, something else... something stronger...made him want to reach out and offer comfort, to ask her for forgiveness...
WHY?!
With a snarl, he quickly pushed those thoughts aside as further evidence as to how greatly she had weakened him. It suddenly struck him that though he had seen her afraid from time to time over the years, HE had never actually been the cause...
Her eyes always shone with trust, warmth, and a near sycophantic devotion when they fell upon him.
Little bitch, his mind roared. She SHOULD cringe!
Certainly, he had indulged her too much. Did she truly believe she was above her lowly station simply because he tolerated her miserable presence?!
Sesshoumaru felt defeated...even more so, in fact, than when facing Naraku. With her face turned into the dust and her eyes squeezed shut as if to seal out the truth, Rin was daring to deny him the chance to savor her terror. She was cheating him, robbing him of the opportunity to witness her final acceptance of the truth...
That she was nothing to him.
Rin cried out in pain as his hand tangled in her hair, forcing her head back. "Look at ME! Kono ore wo miro!!!" he cried out in a hoarse voice that he himself did not recognize. "Open your eyes, girl!"
Rin released a choking sob, years of obeying her lord's commands without question causing her to comply instantly, eyelids fluttering from the sting of the acrid vapor still lingering in the air. Slowly, she turned her head, and beheld the changes etched onto Sesshoumaru's usually stoic and emotionless face.
He was a stranger to her.
The crimson stripes that angled across his high cheekbones had grown larger, more ragged, and his eyes still blazed scarlet. She watched helplessly as those glowing red pools suddenly narrowed, and slowly he extended a long finger to capture one of the tears clinging to her sooty lashes.
Sesshoumaru stared at his damp fingers, bringing those salty droplets up for closer examination. His tongue flicked out, eager to taste the evidence of Rin's misery.
He found it...delicious. And he wanted more.
His lips suddenly twisted into a sardonic smile, and he ran his sharp claws across the smooth column of her exposed throat, watching as her pulse twitched spasmodically. Unable to stop himself, he drew closer, and felt Rin automatically stiffen in response.
"Human," he hissed, hot breath tickling her neck with each spoken word. "Did you think you meant something to me? Did you think I needed you?"
Sesshoumaru's fist twisted, winding deeper into her hair. The pain of his actions dragged another involuntary gasp from the shaking girl and forced a few more of those luscious tears to leak from the corners of her eyes. "You were merely a test,” he breathed. “A test to prove Tenseiga's power. You remained in my presence simply because killing so pathetic a creature was totally beneath my time and dignity."
Upon hearing that damning declaration, Rin's whole body became wracked with choking sobs, his words seeming to have a more profound and damaging effect on her psyche then the current threat of physical violence.
Perfect, Sesshoumaru mused, gazing down at her ashen face. After all, wasn't the ability to cause her grief so effortlessly proof that he was not bound to her? He tried to press on, but found himself unable to contrive any other cruel words. He frowned. His throat was suddenly too tight and something was stinging at the corner of his eyes. Strange, he thought. His own poison had never affected him before... why did his eyes burn so?
Rin's cries and gasps for air brought his attention back to her slender throat, where her blood rushed in waves beneath the thin skin, crashing along with every beat of her pounding heart. He had never held her this close before, and found himself staring at her dark scars with a kind of fascination. His youkai blood insured he would never bare such markings. Even the deep gaping wound that Naraku had inflicted to his chest only yesterday was already nearly healed...
But Rin's flesh was marred, still damaged after all these years. It was yet another tell-tale sign of human frailty. That, coupled with her sentimental human emotions that over-shadowed all common sense and reason, causing her to blind herself to that fact that he was so similar to the beasts that inflicted those wounds so long ago.
Sesshoumaru smiled at that sudden inspiration. He had already tasted her tears and found them good, but there was so, so much more to savor here. How much more enjoyable could this be if he pressed on?
Deliberately, as if to remind her of her tortured past and the agony of her own death, he slowly drew one elongated fang across her collarbone. Rin's eyes glazed over and she shrieked, lost in a memory perhaps, as she beat a small fist against his chest. She broke from his grasp, rising to tear at his face with those ridiculous things humans had in place of claws. She had never raised her voice, struck him, or resisted him in any way before, and he watched with impassive disinterest as she continued to lash out at him as savagely as her fragile form would allow. The tears and dust had formed grimy tracks on her lovely cheeks, and her eyes narrowed in pain...
A pain, he suddenly realized, that was echoing in his own eyes. This wasn't delicious, this wasn't enjoyable...this was sickening! Groaning, he nuzzled his face in the crook of her neck to hide his confusion.
Why?!
Why did she make him feel this humiliation and doubt?
The fine, silky strands of her long hair teased against his parted lips and every breath he took in flooded him with more of her scent. Flower fields, and tall grass, and nights under the stars, and storm showers, and mountain streams, and his own demand...and Inuyasha.
Inuyasha?!
The taiyoukai's brow creased in confusion and he inhaled again. Yes, Inuyasha. The trace was amazingly faint, but it proved the hanyou was still alive. And very close. Somewhere, somehow, the girl had briefly crossed over his path again within the past few hours.
After last night's rescue the half-breed was truly in his debt, and Sesshoumaru had suddenly found the most befitting way to settle all claims of obligation. A way to put an end to whatever strange emotion was currently clamoring inside him...
"Get up!" he growled, pulling Rin to her unsteady feet before she had a chance to comply on her own. He rather doubted she could follow his command anyway; her eyes were dumb, dazed and unfocused, and her every limb trembled.
Not wishing to waste any more time, Sesshoumaru gathered the shaking, exhausted girl tightly in his arms, and glided into the dense forest on a cloud of youki.
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Inuy asha scowled. His plans to spend the day curled up with Kagome had been rudely interrupted by Shippou's sudden arrival. Not that he wasn't relieved to know that the obnoxious young fox was alright, but he could have used a few more tender hours alone at the riverbank with the woman he had come to love. After all, there were plenty of years of pent up frustration to make up for.
As if reading the wicked direction of his thoughts, Kagome laid her head on his shoulder and murmured one word softly into his ear before giving it a gentle tweak.
Tonight, she whispered seductively.
He grinned.
Damn, waiting WAS probably for the best really...he still had yet to learn the fate of Miroku and Sango. If the couple was alright, they doubtlessly would have headed back to the village immediately. Though Kaede was a powerful and skilled priestess, he knew Sango could not bear to leave her child in anyone's care for too long...no matter how capable they demonstrated themselves to be.
Inuyasha sat back on his haunches, remembering his initial concern at Sango's pregnancy and the delay it caused in the hunt for Shikon no Kakera. But he could never resent the couple's reasoning and had understood their desire to start their family. After all, as the fight with Naraku continued to drag on, the Kazaana had begun expand, steadily creeping up Miroku's wrist.
And their child, Kaisei, was adorable too, he admitted as the toddler's chubby little face flashing through his mind. He stole a quick glance at Kagome and tried to imagine what their children would be like. At those thoughts a strange feeling of contentedness spread through him, stilling his breath and spreading a sleeping kind of languor through his every limb. Suddenly, he also found himself imagining how much he would enjoy making those children with her...again and again and again and again. And then some more. Definitely something to look forward to.
Seeming to sense his intense gaze, Kagome suddenly looked up from the fire, her cheeks tinged with a soft dusting of pink...
A sudden shift in the wind caused the half-demon to leap to his feet. He was quickly followed by the kitsune. In that instant, they both knew something was wrong. Something was coming: something formidable, dark and commanding. Something cold, bitter and angry. Inuyasha recognized it at once.
Sesshoumaru.
He barely had time to knock the confused Kagome to the ground behind him before the tree-line splintered open in a blast of power.
Sesshoumaru drifted forward, bracing the limp form of Rin in his arms.
"Hello, otouto," he began in a light, condescending tone, bristling down at the hanyou and the miko that was rising defiantly behind him.
The scent of recent mating hung all around the woman, and Sesshoumaru scowled in revulsion --- a demon and a human. Disgusting. All the more reason to proceed with his decision regarding Rin's fate.
With a sneer, he threw the trembling Rin unceremoniously to the forest floor. Kagome gasped in shock and rushed forward to cradle the girl close, drawing a noise of reprimand from Inuyasha as he was forced to race forward belatedly to shield the pair.
"Temee..." the hanyou began, locking angry eyes with his brother.
"What?!” Sesshoumaru queried sarcastically. “No gratitude to your aniki for saving your worthless hide last night? Ohh, you wound me deeply, Inuyasha."
"Keh, I'm sure,” Inuyasha snorted. “Now...what the fuck do you want?"
"Inuyasha, I realize your powers of retention have their limits. But if you recall, you will remember you now owe me a great debt. One I have simply come to collect."
Startled and confused, Inuyasha looked back and forth from the whimpering girl in Kagome's arms to his brother, still not exactly sure of what was happening...
"Debt? What the hell?!” he cried, raising the Tetsusaiga higher. “You're not still whining about MY damn sword?! Grow up!"
"Innnu...yasha!" Sesshoumaru exploded, his patience ending, his nerves screaming, and his demon instincts still clamoring for...something, anything that would make him feel normal once again! "Damare!" Gods, his half-brother was so exhausting and dense. "I am not interested in the Tetsusaiga, but --- THAT," he clarified, flourishing a pale hand over Rin in a dismissive wave. "YOU will take this creature. You appear to have a certain...fondness...for them." He wrinkled his nose and smirked rather offensively at Kagome. The gesture was offered mostly just to see Inuyasha blush which, of course, the he promptly DID...and then some, actually fuming to bright scarlet with rage. Feeling only mildly better, Sesshoumaru turned to leave.
"Bastard!" Inuyasha gritted at the taiyoukai's retreating back. “What the hell is going on!? Where do you think...” He was interrupted by a high, piercing shout from behind him.
"Iyada - NO!' Rin screamed, snapping out of her stupor, and fighting her way from Kagome's grasp. "Don't leave me, Sesshoumaru-sama! Onegai?"
Sesshoumaru paused at the mournful plea; he had never heard Rin's voice so raw and needy. That strange, unidentifiable pain was rising in his chest again. He knew he had to escape before any trace of it became manifest on his face.
"Farewell, Rin," he answered slowly. The strange breeze that always accompanied the rise of his power began to build, lifting him into the air. His long hair shifted in the wind, his youki pulling him steadily away. Though he refused to turn around, the taiyoukai allowed himself one last surreptitious glance at the girl, stealing a peek over his shoulder before rapidly fading back into the forest.
"What the hell!!!" Inuyasha snapped as his half-brother disappeared into the trees. "Oi! You fucking bastard!" he called out, exchanging a quick glance with the equally baffled Shippou.
"Sesshoumaru...you...y-you get b-back here!" the fox shouted, looking to Inuyasha for some support. The kitsune's chin lifted and he waved a tight fist high in the air at the hanyou's fierce, approving smirk. “Get back here, you evil --- e-evil ---”
Shippou couldn't really decide just how to end his insult, not accustomed to cursing at anyone save Inuyasha. It didn't really matter anyway, for with a nod, both the he and the hanyou had shot forward in pursuit.
"Inuyasha - matte!" Kagome cried, stumbling a few steps behind them. She had nearly lost the hanyou last night and she wasn't sure her heart could handle watching him head into another bloody confrontation so soon, especially in light of the new level in their relationship. She waited, knowing precisely how important this moment really was, anxiously running her fingers along the prayer beads contained in her pocket. Besides offering her body to the hanyou last night, she had granted him his freedom from the subduing spell. Now it was time to see if her trust would be repaid. "What are you going to do?" she asked quickly, half afraid of the answer.
"What do you think I'm going to do? I'm going after that son of a bitch and dragging him back here!" Despite his raised voice, the tightness around Inuyasha's eyes softened when he turned back to the miko.
"No," came a strange, sad reply, and the hanyou looked down in surprise, having been addressed by Rin for the first time. It appeared that his proposed course of action had quieted the girl's sobs where all of Kagome's gentle crooning and soft words could not.
"Please...just don't," Rin whimpered, her fingers gouging deeply into the damp earth beneath her. "Sesshoumaru-sama...Sesshoumaru-sama never changes his mind."
Inuyasha was baffled...this had to be the WORST couple of days he'd experienced in a long, long time. Kikyou's betrayal, Naraku's near victory, the anxiety that came from wondering if all of his companions were safe, Kagome...well, when it came to Kagome, at least ONE event was admittedly wonderful, he corrected. But now this?
He stared down at the girl, examined her carefully, trying to reconcile the memory of that frenetic, chattering little creature whose hands had always been full of bright flowers to this distraught and pale young woman before him now.
Rin was really quite beautiful, the hanyou mused. Obviously, Shippou thought so as well. He couldn't help but notice that the fox was being uncharacteristically quiet, sneaking shy, quick glances in her direction and shifting his paws in the dust uncomfortably.
The girl had presently risen to stare blankly in the direction Sesshoumaru had taken, as Kagome continued to rub small circles on her back. Despite the passage of many years, he realized she was still rather small...in fact, he had never been more aware of just how tiny and vulnerable she was until he had seen his brother holding her close a few moments before. Sesshoumaru absolutely towered over her petite form!
A closer inspection of her sad face revealed wide, timorous eyes and, much like Kagome, a tiny stubborn jaw. Her dark hair flowed down to the small of her back where it fell and curled in unruly, windblown waves that were full of strange auburn highlights from long days spent in the sun. What had she seen on this day? Inuyasha wondered, taking in the scent of her fear and horror. What the hell had happened? He returned to focusing on the girl's eyes. They were widely shaped, exotic eyes that held a strange orange-hazel glow, a glow that was made even more brilliant now with the glistening of falling tears.
Why had Sesshoumaru abandoned her? Obviously, his older brother could NOT have been thinking too clearly! Why bring her to HIM of all people?! the hanyou seethed to himself in his anger, moving to pace back and forth. His own life was far from peaceful, and he was still being ruthlessly hunted and toyed with by Naraku. Hell, he didn't even know if he could ensure his own personal safety or protect his `regular' companions, let alone the unexpected addition of this weeping young woman!
Sesshoumaru's decision, he concluded, had obviously been made in desperation, without much thought. It was completely rash and impulsive...not like the calculating taiyoukai at all. Something was very, VERY, VERY wrong
Inuyasha stopped pacing to spare a confused glance at Kagome. She looked back at him helplessly, shrugging her shoulders. But before he could speak to the priestess or question the young girl in her arms, a second resounding crash echoed through the camp...
“Now what?” he growled, claws crackling with youki, ready to take on any anything. He reached to his waist to draw Tetsusaiga again, feeling a hot rush of adrenaline as the blade transformed. He spun to confront this latest intruder, coming face to face with a massive bull with a trio of ridiculous, over-sized blinking eyes. Wait a second...
"Easy there, ya mongrel!" called a familiar, scratchy old voice from high atop the beast's back.
"Totosai???"
"Stop waving that thing around! Poor Momo...he's not as young as he used to be, you know!" the ancient demon piped out as leapt to the ground. He offered the bull a fond pat on one fat shoulder before quietly adding, "Hmphh! Me too, for that matter!"
"What do you want, old man?!" Inuyasha questioned with a huff, not knowing if he had the energy to deal with this scatter-brained old rascal right now.
Totosai, as usual, simply ignored his question. "Where is she? Where is she?" he asked. He clapped his chapped hands together excitedly as he spied the two young human girls who were staring back at him in wide-eyed surprise. "Ah - here we are!" he exclaimed happily, his gaze focusing exclusively on Rin.
"Machiyagare, jiji!” Inuyasha persisted. “What do want with her?!"
Totosai rolled his dark eyes, eyes that were as wide and beady as those of his pet bull's. "Will you quit your shouting, kozo!” he snapped. “I just want to talk to the girl...it's not everyday I get to meet a human who's been resurrected by Tenseiga, you know! Afterall, it's only happened once before..."
"Nani?!?"
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Kono ore wo miro: "Look at me!"
Damare: "Silence!"
Otouto: little brother
Chichiue: Honored Father
Aneue: honored older sister
Matte: wait!
Machiyagare: insulting form of "wait a minute!"
Temee: very derogatory form of you
Iyada: No!
Onegai: please
Kozo: derogatory form of a bratty boy
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Rin was awoken for the second time that evening when an ominous shadow crossed over her form. Staring up at the source, she was surprised to find Sesshoumaru-sama looming over her. He glowered down upon her, as if she were some kind of vile parasite, his eyes filled with icy malice. He had never seemed more otherworldly and detached than at that very moment. In fact, he appeared more feral now than upon the day she had first inadvertently stumbled across him in the forest…
She took a deep breath to calm herself.
"Sesshoumaru-sama, Rin can explain. Rin didn't mean…" she began sweetly, reverting to the submissive speech pattern of her childhood in attempt to pacify him.
She was abruptly interrupted by a rumbling growl, and found herself seized fast in her master's rough grip before her mind even had time to register his movement. He dragged her up against the length of his unyielding body, and she cried out in pain as her already bruised form collided with the cold, broken armor on his shoulder.
"You actually seek to patronize this Sesshoumaru?! So, it is true then?! You really believe you HAVE `tamed' me?" he murmured incredulously.
"Master?" she moaned in confusion, writhing in an attempt to ease the needle-sharp points of his claws from her skin. "Gomen nasai! I don't understand..."
"Why did you interfere?!" he shouted, silencing her soft query. Rin blanched, he so rarely made any exclamation with emotion...now his voice was raw with it.
Despite her apprehension, her fingers instinctively reached to touch his arm in a soothing gesture meant to placate and calm him. “Please, my lord...”
"NO!" Sesshoumaru barked out, batting her small, cool hands away. His razor-edge talons bit further into her shoulders and he shook her with such ferocity that Rin feared her neck would break.
"Ningen!" he raged, spitting out the word as if it were poison. "Do you think I am as weak and feeble as that damn hanyou? Do you think I require anything from you or your filthy, piteous race?!" The taiyoukai 's deep voice lowered to a dangerous whisper. "Little girl, do you even KNOW what I am?"
He flung her away, and through the haze of spinning stars that swam amidst her vision, she realized suddenly that his eyes were no longer the color of gold, but a lurid crimson, richer than blood.
Rin's breath, which had until now been coming out in irregular little gasps, seemed to stop altogether as her eyes tracked his entire transformation, rising skyward to look upon his full, towering height. She had known of this power all along. Jaken's incessant pride in his master had caused him to repeat countless gory tales of Sesshoumaru's violent exploits while in his `true' form...
But, until now, she had never witnessed the metamorphosis for herself.
Her idealized notions about what this change would be like vanished in the face of the menacing beast looming before her. Acid dripped from its maw to sizzle in the grass, and its eyes rolled in animalistic fury. It was snarling, hackles raised, ears pinned flat...
Without warning, the massive paws suddenly snapped forward to brace twenty feet on either side of her, effectively cutting off any escape route. Crouching as if ready to spring, the great demon merely lowered its head and bayed wildly. Its jaws snapped mere inches from her face, revealing fangs that were very nearly twice her size...
Rin tumbled backward blindly, both from the force of the hot breath rushing past her and the sheer volume of that great bark. Her mind was so numb that she didn't even raise her arm to break her fall. The jarring collision with the ground was followed by a second, unexpected impact to her chest...an impact that completely knocked all breath from her lungs.
Sesshoumaru had smoothly reverted back to his beautiful, customary state, and was pinning her roughly to the ground, grinding her into the dirt as if trying to let the very earth swallow her up. His flawless face was no less enraged then it had been while twisted into that horrible canine form, and his sharp fangs were still bared at her throat. Held immobile beneath his heavy weight, her hands trapped at her sides, Rin could do nothing but turn her face to avoid his murderous gaze.
As the girl lay whimpering beneath him, her body wracked with deep tremors, something in the back of Sesshoumaru's mind began to protest against this brutality. Even though the scent of fear hung heavily in the air, calling to his predatory instincts, something else... something stronger...made him want to reach out and offer comfort, to ask her for forgiveness...
WHY?!
With a snarl, he quickly pushed those thoughts aside as further evidence as to how greatly she had weakened him. It suddenly struck him that though he had seen her afraid from time to time over the years, HE had never actually been the cause...
Her eyes always shone with trust, warmth, and a near sycophantic devotion when they fell upon him.
Little bitch, his mind roared. She SHOULD cringe!
Certainly, he had indulged her too much. Did she truly believe she was above her lowly station simply because he tolerated her miserable presence?!
Sesshoumaru felt defeated...even more so, in fact, than when facing Naraku. With her face turned into the dust and her eyes squeezed shut as if to seal out the truth, Rin was daring to deny him the chance to savor her terror. She was cheating him, robbing him of the opportunity to witness her final acceptance of the truth...
That she was nothing to him.
Rin cried out in pain as his hand tangled in her hair, forcing her head back. "Look at ME! Kono ore wo miro!!!" he cried out in a hoarse voice that he himself did not recognize. "Open your eyes, girl!"
Rin released a choking sob, years of obeying her lord's commands without question causing her to comply instantly, eyelids fluttering from the sting of the acrid vapor still lingering in the air. Slowly, she turned her head, and beheld the changes etched onto Sesshoumaru's usually stoic and emotionless face.
He was a stranger to her.
The crimson stripes that angled across his high cheekbones had grown larger, more ragged, and his eyes still blazed scarlet. She watched helplessly as those glowing red pools suddenly narrowed, and slowly he extended a long finger to capture one of the tears clinging to her sooty lashes.
Sesshoumaru stared at his damp fingers, bringing those salty droplets up for closer examination. His tongue flicked out, eager to taste the evidence of Rin's misery.
He found it...delicious. And he wanted more.
His lips suddenly twisted into a sardonic smile, and he ran his sharp claws across the smooth column of her exposed throat, watching as her pulse twitched spasmodically. Unable to stop himself, he drew closer, and felt Rin automatically stiffen in response.
"Human," he hissed, hot breath tickling her neck with each spoken word. "Did you think you meant something to me? Did you think I needed you?"
Sesshoumaru's fist twisted, winding deeper into her hair. The pain of his actions dragged another involuntary gasp from the shaking girl and forced a few more of those luscious tears to leak from the corners of her eyes. "You were merely a test,” he breathed. “A test to prove Tenseiga's power. You remained in my presence simply because killing so pathetic a creature was totally beneath my time and dignity."
Upon hearing that damning declaration, Rin's whole body became wracked with choking sobs, his words seeming to have a more profound and damaging effect on her psyche then the current threat of physical violence.
Perfect, Sesshoumaru mused, gazing down at her ashen face. After all, wasn't the ability to cause her grief so effortlessly proof that he was not bound to her? He tried to press on, but found himself unable to contrive any other cruel words. He frowned. His throat was suddenly too tight and something was stinging at the corner of his eyes. Strange, he thought. His own poison had never affected him before... why did his eyes burn so?
Rin's cries and gasps for air brought his attention back to her slender throat, where her blood rushed in waves beneath the thin skin, crashing along with every beat of her pounding heart. He had never held her this close before, and found himself staring at her dark scars with a kind of fascination. His youkai blood insured he would never bare such markings. Even the deep gaping wound that Naraku had inflicted to his chest only yesterday was already nearly healed...
But Rin's flesh was marred, still damaged after all these years. It was yet another tell-tale sign of human frailty. That, coupled with her sentimental human emotions that over-shadowed all common sense and reason, causing her to blind herself to that fact that he was so similar to the beasts that inflicted those wounds so long ago.
Sesshoumaru smiled at that sudden inspiration. He had already tasted her tears and found them good, but there was so, so much more to savor here. How much more enjoyable could this be if he pressed on?
Deliberately, as if to remind her of her tortured past and the agony of her own death, he slowly drew one elongated fang across her collarbone. Rin's eyes glazed over and she shrieked, lost in a memory perhaps, as she beat a small fist against his chest. She broke from his grasp, rising to tear at his face with those ridiculous things humans had in place of claws. She had never raised her voice, struck him, or resisted him in any way before, and he watched with impassive disinterest as she continued to lash out at him as savagely as her fragile form would allow. The tears and dust had formed grimy tracks on her lovely cheeks, and her eyes narrowed in pain...
A pain, he suddenly realized, that was echoing in his own eyes. This wasn't delicious, this wasn't enjoyable...this was sickening! Groaning, he nuzzled his face in the crook of her neck to hide his confusion.
Why?!
Why did she make him feel this humiliation and doubt?
The fine, silky strands of her long hair teased against his parted lips and every breath he took in flooded him with more of her scent. Flower fields, and tall grass, and nights under the stars, and storm showers, and mountain streams, and his own demand...and Inuyasha.
Inuyasha?!
The taiyoukai's brow creased in confusion and he inhaled again. Yes, Inuyasha. The trace was amazingly faint, but it proved the hanyou was still alive. And very close. Somewhere, somehow, the girl had briefly crossed over his path again within the past few hours.
After last night's rescue the half-breed was truly in his debt, and Sesshoumaru had suddenly found the most befitting way to settle all claims of obligation. A way to put an end to whatever strange emotion was currently clamoring inside him...
"Get up!" he growled, pulling Rin to her unsteady feet before she had a chance to comply on her own. He rather doubted she could follow his command anyway; her eyes were dumb, dazed and unfocused, and her every limb trembled.
Not wishing to waste any more time, Sesshoumaru gathered the shaking, exhausted girl tightly in his arms, and glided into the dense forest on a cloud of youki.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Inuy asha scowled. His plans to spend the day curled up with Kagome had been rudely interrupted by Shippou's sudden arrival. Not that he wasn't relieved to know that the obnoxious young fox was alright, but he could have used a few more tender hours alone at the riverbank with the woman he had come to love. After all, there were plenty of years of pent up frustration to make up for.
As if reading the wicked direction of his thoughts, Kagome laid her head on his shoulder and murmured one word softly into his ear before giving it a gentle tweak.
Tonight, she whispered seductively.
He grinned.
Damn, waiting WAS probably for the best really...he still had yet to learn the fate of Miroku and Sango. If the couple was alright, they doubtlessly would have headed back to the village immediately. Though Kaede was a powerful and skilled priestess, he knew Sango could not bear to leave her child in anyone's care for too long...no matter how capable they demonstrated themselves to be.
Inuyasha sat back on his haunches, remembering his initial concern at Sango's pregnancy and the delay it caused in the hunt for Shikon no Kakera. But he could never resent the couple's reasoning and had understood their desire to start their family. After all, as the fight with Naraku continued to drag on, the Kazaana had begun expand, steadily creeping up Miroku's wrist.
And their child, Kaisei, was adorable too, he admitted as the toddler's chubby little face flashing through his mind. He stole a quick glance at Kagome and tried to imagine what their children would be like. At those thoughts a strange feeling of contentedness spread through him, stilling his breath and spreading a sleeping kind of languor through his every limb. Suddenly, he also found himself imagining how much he would enjoy making those children with her...again and again and again and again. And then some more. Definitely something to look forward to.
Seeming to sense his intense gaze, Kagome suddenly looked up from the fire, her cheeks tinged with a soft dusting of pink...
A sudden shift in the wind caused the half-demon to leap to his feet. He was quickly followed by the kitsune. In that instant, they both knew something was wrong. Something was coming: something formidable, dark and commanding. Something cold, bitter and angry. Inuyasha recognized it at once.
Sesshoumaru.
He barely had time to knock the confused Kagome to the ground behind him before the tree-line splintered open in a blast of power.
Sesshoumaru drifted forward, bracing the limp form of Rin in his arms.
"Hello, otouto," he began in a light, condescending tone, bristling down at the hanyou and the miko that was rising defiantly behind him.
The scent of recent mating hung all around the woman, and Sesshoumaru scowled in revulsion --- a demon and a human. Disgusting. All the more reason to proceed with his decision regarding Rin's fate.
With a sneer, he threw the trembling Rin unceremoniously to the forest floor. Kagome gasped in shock and rushed forward to cradle the girl close, drawing a noise of reprimand from Inuyasha as he was forced to race forward belatedly to shield the pair.
"Temee..." the hanyou began, locking angry eyes with his brother.
"What?!” Sesshoumaru queried sarcastically. “No gratitude to your aniki for saving your worthless hide last night? Ohh, you wound me deeply, Inuyasha."
"Keh, I'm sure,” Inuyasha snorted. “Now...what the fuck do you want?"
"Inuyasha, I realize your powers of retention have their limits. But if you recall, you will remember you now owe me a great debt. One I have simply come to collect."
Startled and confused, Inuyasha looked back and forth from the whimpering girl in Kagome's arms to his brother, still not exactly sure of what was happening...
"Debt? What the hell?!” he cried, raising the Tetsusaiga higher. “You're not still whining about MY damn sword?! Grow up!"
"Innnu...yasha!" Sesshoumaru exploded, his patience ending, his nerves screaming, and his demon instincts still clamoring for...something, anything that would make him feel normal once again! "Damare!" Gods, his half-brother was so exhausting and dense. "I am not interested in the Tetsusaiga, but --- THAT," he clarified, flourishing a pale hand over Rin in a dismissive wave. "YOU will take this creature. You appear to have a certain...fondness...for them." He wrinkled his nose and smirked rather offensively at Kagome. The gesture was offered mostly just to see Inuyasha blush which, of course, the he promptly DID...and then some, actually fuming to bright scarlet with rage. Feeling only mildly better, Sesshoumaru turned to leave.
"Bastard!" Inuyasha gritted at the taiyoukai's retreating back. “What the hell is going on!? Where do you think...” He was interrupted by a high, piercing shout from behind him.
"Iyada - NO!' Rin screamed, snapping out of her stupor, and fighting her way from Kagome's grasp. "Don't leave me, Sesshoumaru-sama! Onegai?"
Sesshoumaru paused at the mournful plea; he had never heard Rin's voice so raw and needy. That strange, unidentifiable pain was rising in his chest again. He knew he had to escape before any trace of it became manifest on his face.
"Farewell, Rin," he answered slowly. The strange breeze that always accompanied the rise of his power began to build, lifting him into the air. His long hair shifted in the wind, his youki pulling him steadily away. Though he refused to turn around, the taiyoukai allowed himself one last surreptitious glance at the girl, stealing a peek over his shoulder before rapidly fading back into the forest.
"What the hell!!!" Inuyasha snapped as his half-brother disappeared into the trees. "Oi! You fucking bastard!" he called out, exchanging a quick glance with the equally baffled Shippou.
"Sesshoumaru...you...y-you get b-back here!" the fox shouted, looking to Inuyasha for some support. The kitsune's chin lifted and he waved a tight fist high in the air at the hanyou's fierce, approving smirk. “Get back here, you evil --- e-evil ---”
Shippou couldn't really decide just how to end his insult, not accustomed to cursing at anyone save Inuyasha. It didn't really matter anyway, for with a nod, both the he and the hanyou had shot forward in pursuit.
"Inuyasha - matte!" Kagome cried, stumbling a few steps behind them. She had nearly lost the hanyou last night and she wasn't sure her heart could handle watching him head into another bloody confrontation so soon, especially in light of the new level in their relationship. She waited, knowing precisely how important this moment really was, anxiously running her fingers along the prayer beads contained in her pocket. Besides offering her body to the hanyou last night, she had granted him his freedom from the subduing spell. Now it was time to see if her trust would be repaid. "What are you going to do?" she asked quickly, half afraid of the answer.
"What do you think I'm going to do? I'm going after that son of a bitch and dragging him back here!" Despite his raised voice, the tightness around Inuyasha's eyes softened when he turned back to the miko.
"No," came a strange, sad reply, and the hanyou looked down in surprise, having been addressed by Rin for the first time. It appeared that his proposed course of action had quieted the girl's sobs where all of Kagome's gentle crooning and soft words could not.
"Please...just don't," Rin whimpered, her fingers gouging deeply into the damp earth beneath her. "Sesshoumaru-sama...Sesshoumaru-sama never changes his mind."
Inuyasha was baffled...this had to be the WORST couple of days he'd experienced in a long, long time. Kikyou's betrayal, Naraku's near victory, the anxiety that came from wondering if all of his companions were safe, Kagome...well, when it came to Kagome, at least ONE event was admittedly wonderful, he corrected. But now this?
He stared down at the girl, examined her carefully, trying to reconcile the memory of that frenetic, chattering little creature whose hands had always been full of bright flowers to this distraught and pale young woman before him now.
Rin was really quite beautiful, the hanyou mused. Obviously, Shippou thought so as well. He couldn't help but notice that the fox was being uncharacteristically quiet, sneaking shy, quick glances in her direction and shifting his paws in the dust uncomfortably.
The girl had presently risen to stare blankly in the direction Sesshoumaru had taken, as Kagome continued to rub small circles on her back. Despite the passage of many years, he realized she was still rather small...in fact, he had never been more aware of just how tiny and vulnerable she was until he had seen his brother holding her close a few moments before. Sesshoumaru absolutely towered over her petite form!
A closer inspection of her sad face revealed wide, timorous eyes and, much like Kagome, a tiny stubborn jaw. Her dark hair flowed down to the small of her back where it fell and curled in unruly, windblown waves that were full of strange auburn highlights from long days spent in the sun. What had she seen on this day? Inuyasha wondered, taking in the scent of her fear and horror. What the hell had happened? He returned to focusing on the girl's eyes. They were widely shaped, exotic eyes that held a strange orange-hazel glow, a glow that was made even more brilliant now with the glistening of falling tears.
Why had Sesshoumaru abandoned her? Obviously, his older brother could NOT have been thinking too clearly! Why bring her to HIM of all people?! the hanyou seethed to himself in his anger, moving to pace back and forth. His own life was far from peaceful, and he was still being ruthlessly hunted and toyed with by Naraku. Hell, he didn't even know if he could ensure his own personal safety or protect his `regular' companions, let alone the unexpected addition of this weeping young woman!
Sesshoumaru's decision, he concluded, had obviously been made in desperation, without much thought. It was completely rash and impulsive...not like the calculating taiyoukai at all. Something was very, VERY, VERY wrong
Inuyasha stopped pacing to spare a confused glance at Kagome. She looked back at him helplessly, shrugging her shoulders. But before he could speak to the priestess or question the young girl in her arms, a second resounding crash echoed through the camp...
“Now what?” he growled, claws crackling with youki, ready to take on any anything. He reached to his waist to draw Tetsusaiga again, feeling a hot rush of adrenaline as the blade transformed. He spun to confront this latest intruder, coming face to face with a massive bull with a trio of ridiculous, over-sized blinking eyes. Wait a second...
"Easy there, ya mongrel!" called a familiar, scratchy old voice from high atop the beast's back.
"Totosai???"
"Stop waving that thing around! Poor Momo...he's not as young as he used to be, you know!" the ancient demon piped out as leapt to the ground. He offered the bull a fond pat on one fat shoulder before quietly adding, "Hmphh! Me too, for that matter!"
"What do you want, old man?!" Inuyasha questioned with a huff, not knowing if he had the energy to deal with this scatter-brained old rascal right now.
Totosai, as usual, simply ignored his question. "Where is she? Where is she?" he asked. He clapped his chapped hands together excitedly as he spied the two young human girls who were staring back at him in wide-eyed surprise. "Ah - here we are!" he exclaimed happily, his gaze focusing exclusively on Rin.
"Machiyagare, jiji!” Inuyasha persisted. “What do want with her?!"
Totosai rolled his dark eyes, eyes that were as wide and beady as those of his pet bull's. "Will you quit your shouting, kozo!” he snapped. “I just want to talk to the girl...it's not everyday I get to meet a human who's been resurrected by Tenseiga, you know! Afterall, it's only happened once before..."
"Nani?!?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~
Kono ore wo miro: "Look at me!"
Damare: "Silence!"
Otouto: little brother
Chichiue: Honored Father
Aneue: honored older sister
Matte: wait!
Machiyagare: insulting form of "wait a minute!"
Temee: very derogatory form of you
Iyada: No!
Onegai: please
Kozo: derogatory form of a bratty boy