InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Lady Orange Blossom ❯ Lady Orange Blossom Part 4 ( Chapter 4 )

Lady Orange Blossom

Part 4

InuYasha Fanfiction

By Kittyonnails

The house was palpably empty, and Rin was completely alone. Sano had left her in this place early in the morning, promising to return soon. Whenever soon might be, Rin sensed that it would be more than just a few days. It was strange to be without company. In the city, there had been no aloneness. Humans liked to pack themselves together tightly, like flocking birds or ants. They hungered for company and living with them had left Rin acutely aware of her solitude. That did not mean she wasn't enjoying it though. To have no one watching or listening to her was an incomparable comfort. She happily recalled her childhood spent traveling about the country. Privacy and company had been at her command. If she so chose, there would be Jakken, Ah-Un, or even her lord to drive away the loneliness. Simultaneously, she had only to wander a short distance and all the privacy of the wilderness was upon her. By nature, she was a solitary girl. It was not often that she hungered for the company of anyone, excepting Sesshomaru.

Rin knew that she was very near to her lord's home now. The mountains where he lived were unmistakable. She wondered if he were aware that she was so near to him now. Sitting alone in this small house. Sano had indeed surprised her with it, among other things. She wondered how it had happened that she had become entangled in yet another demon's life. Not that it mattered what Sano was. That was probably why she liked him so much. Though she was a human woman, her upbringing had led her to feel more secure among youkai than human men.

Sano had initially claimed to be taking her to his summer home in the mountains, but upon arrival he insisted that he was simply giving the house to her. Rin had expected to be taken to a busy manor full of other humans, but instead she had been given a newly built three room house. She sat in the main room, prodding heat from the coals burning in the open hearth. The house brought her an unusual bit of nostalgia. It was very like the one where she had lived with her family before they were all slaughtered.

Rin tugged at the delicate fabric of her sleeve, trying to keep the heat from damaging her kimono. It just figured that she would be left to fend for herself, since she had brought little with her aside from her extensive kimono collection. She didn't mind doing her own chores, in fact she much preferred her new circumstances, but she would have given away most any one of the expensive garments for want of a simple yukata. It seemed she would have to start wearing her sleeping clothes, unless Sano was planning something else.

***

Sesshomaru glared at the young youkai who sat in front of him. He let nothing but his displeasure show, though he was deeply conflicted. It was undoubtedly his own fault that Sano had upset him. The guard had done nothing that he had forbidden, and yet he had managed to bring that woman back here. Luckily not inside the fortress, but easily too close. Sesshomaru hated himself for being so deeply and inexplicably tied to her. All of what had happened to Rin was his own fault, a product of his own shortcomings. And now he wanted to rip this guard's throat out for touching her, and for bringing her back into his sphere of influence. Didn't Sano realize how dangerous it was for her to be around demons? It stood without question that the guard was aware of how powerfully seductive she was, didn't he understand that she could get hurt being so close to other demons?

"Sano." Sesshomaru watched the smaller youkai shrink a bit, "You are not to go anywhere near Rin, from this time onward, I forbid it." The guard bowed and accepted the memorandum gracefully before excusing himself and exiting. Sesshomaru wondered at the disappointment he sensed. It seemed that Sano had enjoyed his encounters with Rin. That angered Sesshomaru further. How could he have let things get this out of hand? He paced the room, fuming at his own mistakes. Sano had left Rin in an empty house all alone, and now he was forbidden from caring for her. Someone would have to be sent, someone who was trustworthy and who wouldn't frighten Rin. Sesshomaru slid the door open a crack.

"Go fetch Jakken." he commanded the imp.

***

Despite it's dramatic location, the house was modest. Jakken was faced with several panels of thin, crisscrossed cypress slats. Though they towered over his own head, they would be about chest height on a human. They were then extended upward to the roof by half-panel shutters that swung out horizontally. In the midday heat, the shutters were all opened and he could see pale blinds swaying softly in the breeze. So this was the home where that fool had left Rin. He had to admit to himself a bit of anxiety at seeing the human girl again, having always despised his position as babysitter. At the same time, he felt a swell of pride. Certainly his master would never have trusted this duty to anyone else. That just proved that his services were indispensable even now.

There was no gate and no door, just a bamboo curtain swinging slightly in the doorway. Jakken gathered his courage and tapped his staff on the doorframe, announcing his presence. He heard the pleasant sound of rustling silks and soft footsteps on tatami, and then the form of a woman began to take shape behind the curtain. He watched curiously as one small hand curled the curtain aside and she peered at him from the shadows inside.

"Jakken? Is that you?" She sounded hopeful but unsure. She sounded nothing like the girl he remembered.

"Rin, I have a message for you." The curtain tapped against the doorframe as she released it. He heard the sounds of her garments again, and then she pulled the curtain aside and stepped out onto the veranda.

Surely this lovely woman was not Rin. Jakken's experience with humans centered mostly around a small girl and a handful of samurai and bandits. This was neither a warrior or a child. She was easily as lovely as many demonesses. Her hair flowed long and loose behind her, except for two forelocks. She was dressed in a gauzy robe, covered by a kimono vibrant with the colors of sunset. She bowed gracefully to him.

"Forgive me, but I am alone here. I can offer you nothing but my hospitality." Jakken managed a stiff bow. It was difficult to let his gaze drift elsewhere. He was instantly glad for her. It seemed that Rin had come upon some kind of fortune, since she seemed much more than a common peasant woman. Smiling, he followed her inside.

"Who could be sending me a message here in this place, that would send my old friend Jakken as the messenger?" She asked, leading the imp into the large center room of the house. Some ashes were smoldering in the hearth, but the hook above it was empty. They sat on the tatami directly, since there were no cushions.

"Surely you know how near you now reside to Master Sesshomaru." She nodded shakily, tears building in her eyes. Then bursting over her lashed, spilling down her cheeks as the words poured out of her in a whisper.

"Oh, Jakken I could never forget this place. I could never forget Lord Sesshomaru or you. Those were the happiest times of my life. I would give anything to travel with you both again. It is all I have been waiting for." His little heart went out to her. It had been so sudden, Master Sesshomaru had simply decided to leave her among the humans. He probably thought it would be best for her.

"Rin, we do not travel any more. Master Sesshomaru is now in permanent residence, because of the wars." It had been two years of battling now, and no end seemed near. Jakken longed to travel as they had in freer times as well. He watched her face droop slightly before settling into a more stoic expression, her brown eyes fixed on the floor.

"What message do you bring me, old friend?" she asked, raising her eyes to his hopefully.

"Only this. I am to inform you that you are not obligated to respond." He slipped a bit of paper out of the pocket of his jacket. On it there was a poem written in the loveliest calligraphy Rin had ever seen. It read:

'Let me now draw near and see whether you are she, whom glimmering dawn

gave me faintly to discern in moonlit budding flowers.'

Truly, the paring of both lovely writing and poetry brought her to tears. Jakken moved to her side and patted her shoulder for comfort.

"Give me a moment to grind ink, and you shall have a reply to accompany your return." she told him, wiping the tears away with her sleeve. He nodded and sat back as she hurried to a trunk on the far wall, pulling out a portable writing desk. Furiously, she worked the stone, then drew a thin slip of lavendar paper out and began her composition.

"Thank you so much for coming to see me Jakken, do return soon, my old friend!" She called after him as he left with her note tucked safely away. He waved back at her, smiling at the sight of her happy face. It was truly amazing what a lovely woman that unruly child had grown into. Perhaps Master Sesshomaru had known what he was doing leaving her among humans for such a time. It had, apparently, improved her character substantially. He could still hardly compare that woman to the impudent girl who had so annoyed him.

"What brings you to her?" Jakken cowered before the taller youkai, as Sano stepped out of hiding. He smiled slightly at Jakken.

"Sano, this is a private message from Rin to Lord Sesshomaru. It is none of your concern." The guard ignored the imp and pulled the slip of colored paper out of Jakken's pocket. He frowned as he read the lines.

"What is she to you? Neither you or Lord Sesshomaru have known her as Lady Orange Blossom. You cannot comprehend, as I do, how truly amazing this human is. Why does he forbid me from seeing her?"

Jakken took the paper back from Sano's hand, shaking his olive-like head as he tucked it into his pocket once again. "Sano, for longer than you have known her, Lord Sesshomaru had appreciated that particular human. I believe it is your manner of appreciating her that offends him, and suggest that you refrain from reading his private correspondences in the future." He patted the pocket where the note had been stashed again and walked on, leaving Sano where he stood.

***

'Fearful to have it known that the flower bud seen previously has long since bloomed,

I anticipate the shimmer of the moonlight nonetheless.'

It was done, he had requested and she had accepted. The finality of her poem did nothing to ease Sesshomaru's troubled heart. He wondered at how he had courted her like a lady of class with his poem. Certainly it was well above her to be sought out in such a manner, and distinctly uncomfortable for him. Once, the human had been a great comfort to him. Now it seemed she was a large problem that he could neither ignore nor tend to easily. Clearly she wanted him to visit her, and from Jakken's description it seemed she would starve without help. That was just like the girl he knew. Rin surely had been aware even before Jakken's arrival of her nearness to him. As always, it seemed, she was relying on him to help her.

Perhaps it was as his father had eluded the night of his death. Rin was his to protect, and he could do little else when she was near or far. Like Sano, Jakken had told him what a fiercely beautiful woman she had become. He had no doubt about that. Even as a budding child she had been lovely to behold. Fully grown and wrapped in silks, how could she be anything but ravishing? Sesshomaru strode onto the balcony and leapt from it, out into the night. He cold not refuse her invitation, even by a single night.

***

Her heart beat faster and harder as she watched the little spider climbing anxiously about on it's web. Never would Rin have hoped that he would visit her so soon, but with so clear a sign she had dressed herself for the occasion. It was one of her favorite summer kimono, light blue with a stream embroidered along it in silver and deep blue threads. Brightly colored fish swam along the water and she wore a gauzy thin robe in the color of each fish beneath her kimono so that a rainbow peeked out at her neck and sleeves. Stylishly, she had swept up only part of her hair, leaving the forelocks down while leaving the back of her neck bare.

She prodded the coals of her small fire anxiously, watching the steam rise out of the kettle hanging over it. Would he receive her as a lover or as an old friend? It had been such a long time, and there were no guarantees that he would regard her so fondly knowing what he must about her time in Yoshiwara. As excited as she was to see her lord, Rin wondered if it would be all she hoped for. Sesshomaru's displeasure was a dangerous thing, she hoped that she could avoid it .