InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Lady Orange Blossom ❯ Lady Orange Blossom Part 3 ( Chapter 3 )

Lady Orange Blossom

Part 3

InuYasha Fanfiction

By Kittyonnails

A thin veil of clouds swept swiftly across the moon. It was nearly full and the light filtered through easily. Rin watched it play across her lord's features. His face gave no hint of emotion, he simply looked at her. She saw a glint of curiosity in his golden eyes as tears began to pour down her cheeks. She couldn't help it. It was obvious that he wasn't coming back any time soon, if ever. Rin wasn't sure she could live without Sesshomaru. What little life she had before him had been miserable, and at fourteen the best part of her life had been at Sesshomaru's side. "Rin does not want to stay with the humans." she pleaded miserably. There was no changing Sesshomaru's mind, and she knew it. She just couldn't help herself, couldn't force her lips to keep quite while he abandoned her to her own kind. Sesshomaru was love and humans were hate to her. She wanted to die.

His hand reached down and lifted her chin. It was such a graceful gesture, she wondered if it were real. Rin felt her eyes drawn into his, and saw her own pain reflected there. A wave of confusion swept over her as she watched his eyelids slip lower on her lord's ever-closer eyes. Soft as silk, his lips touched hers. A bliss so powerful she wondered if it would ever leave her, even as she watched him disappear into the night.

That briefest of moments had sustained her through four years of misery in the ball of humanity that was Edo. Now, as she watched the Yoshiwara gates receding, she wondered if it would carry her on into her new life. How many incarnations could one lifetime bring? She had ceremoniously shut the door on her life in Yoshiwara. Sano had paid her debts, few as they were, and financed gifts for all her acquaintances and friends. Her goodbyes had been said and Lady Orange Blossom had been laid to rest.

It was all for show, a way to flaunt her fortune in front of those still enslaved. Rin found it doubly distasteful. She needed no goodbyes or ceremonies to put Lady Orange Blossom away. That had never been her, just as she would never truly be a concubine of Sano Shutaro. She had no control over what became of her body, being only a human and a woman at that, but her heart and soul would forever be in the possession of her lord and master. Rin watched Sano bobbing on his horse through a gap in the curtain of her palanquin. Life with Sano would undoubtedly be easier than life at the House of Flowers. She belonged to no man, but she could not have refused his offer. Rin puzzled at the glint in his eyes as he looked westward. He didn't seem to be looking at a place along the Tokkaido, but somewhere in the distant mountains. She wanted to follow his gaze, but that would have been unseemly.

***

Sesshomaru stood at the rail of his balcony, watching his son playing ball with himself. On the far side of the courtyard, several other children were spinning a top and playing other games. The little youkai kicked at his ball, missing the center and watched it fly over to the group. The boy snarled as another young youkai tried to hand the ball back to him.

So like his mother. Sesshomaru had named the boy Kishiwada, after her. Sesshomaru truly regretted her death. It had been expected though. Like his own mother, Kishiwada's mother had died giving birth. It seemed youkai females were simply not built for it. Few survived. Kishiwada looked nothing like his father, the boy had his mother's looks all around. He always saw Mitsuharu when he looked at that sandy hair.

That was the thing that stood between them, he was sure of it. Mitsuharu had been such a strong demoness. Everyone had expected someone like her to survive. Sesshomaru's memory drifted back to a private moment. Mitsuharu, shining in the firelight, pulled her kimono open, revealing her swollen belly and breasts. She smiled at him, "I am enjoying this, my lord. Perhaps we can have two pups together." The promise in her eyes said that she'd never let a simple thing like birth kill her. It had though. Birthing his son, birthing Kishiwada, had ended her life. It wasn't that he loved her. Mitsuharu hadn't loved him either. Theirs was a relationship of respect and lust, but never of love. The loss he felt was more akin to that of having been robbed of a favored possession. Kishiwada would age, and the feeling would fade. Then he would be able to raise his son properly.

"Kishiwada would do well with a lesson from his father in patience." Standing behind his lord, Hoshina dared offer advice he knew Sesshomaru would not welcome.

"He will learn." Sesshomaru replied coolly, turning to face his captain of the guard. "why are you here?"

Hoshina followed his lord into the inner office, seating himself in front of Sesshomaru's desk. "I wanted to report that a new human settlement is being built, dangerously close to the fortress."

Sesshomaru sneered. "Dangerously close? What possible threat could a human village pose to this place?"

Hoshina's cheeks reddened slightly, and he averted his eyes. Sesshomaru's interest began to pique, it was not at all like Hoshina to behave this way. "Well, you see…" He raised his eyes and gave his lord a humorless, apologetic look, "I think Sano plans to keep Rin there." Sesshomaru's eyes widened, almost imperceptibly. Then he gestured to the door. "you may leave."

***

It was the night of the new moon, so Rin could see his face only by starlight. His features seemed unnaturally smooth, especially tonight. They had been traveling for three days, uneventfully. Tonight he had led their party to a desolate spot high in the western mountains. When the incline and thick forest had become too much for the porters, he had dismissed them. Rin had been more than a little surprised when he began to pull the hand-carriage alone. It was loaded down with her trunks and their provisions, not to mention her own person. Where five porters had pulled and pushed, Sano alone picked up. It had become clear to Rin that Sano Shutaro was no ordinary man.

"Would the lady care to join me for a simple supper?" He smiled as if it were the end to another mundane day of travel. She returned his smile coyly and allowed herself to be led out of the carriage. They were parked on a sheer cliff side. Even in the dark night, the natural beauty that surrounded her was like a medicine, curing an ailment she had been unaware of. She felt energized and overwhelmed by it. It had been so long since Rin had felt the freedom and wonder of such natural beauty. She turned a grateful and happy face to Sano.

"It would be my pleasure." He led her a few feet to a primitive campfire. Rin knew any ordinary lady would have found it uncivilized, but again he charmed her with reminders of her old life. She watched him scoop a rice-porridge out of an iron pot hanging precariously over the open hearth. He passed her a bowel of the stuff. "I apologize for the food. I understand that a lady like yourself is accustomed to a much better meal, even when traveling."

Rin bowed low as she accepted the bowel. "My lord, I am charmed by all this, it reminds me of my childhood." That was not even a lie. She had lived very much like this during her frequent travels with her lord Sesshomaru. She watched the firelight play across her new master's fine body and wondered that anyone so lean as he could have hauled her heavy carriage so high, and so fast. She was no navigator, but she could tell just looking at the sky that they were very far from Edo now. Such distance in only four days? She moved to sit next to him on a large stone.

"My lord, how is it that you have such amazing strength?" Rin had known many others who could have done what Sano had, but none who were more than half human. She was beginning to wonder about her new master.

"You will find much about me to be amazing, my lovely girl." He smiled into the fire, not looking at her. Rin nervously sipped at her porridge, hoping that he would continue. She was almost finished with her supper when he finally spoke again.

"Tell me about your childhood. How is it that a campsite like this provokes such nostalgia?" Rin's heart leapt. Should she tell him about Sesshomaru? Surely that would be a mistake. Even if there were something unusual about him, mentioning her former service to the demon lord of this very territory was most certainly a bad move. She swallowed the rest of her porridge and gazed into the fire, not wanting him to see her face as she lied.

"I was an orphan, and not a lucky one. For a while I followed a couple of ronin around the countryside, cooking for them and caring for their horses. When that ended, I was in Edo. It's just that the ronin were the only people who ever noticed me, they cared what happened to me." Sano grunted, stood up and stretched.

"Better get some sleep. Another day of travel before we get to the house." He said, crawling into his tent. Sano listened to the sounds of her footsteps as she crawled into the carriage. How could she lie to him like that? He knew she had been Sesshomaru's pet, and if his display to day hadn't given him away what would? He briefly considered revealing his demon form to her. That wouldn't help though. He really was hurt that she would lie to him. The little human was beginning to grow on him. It certainly was generous of Sesshomaru to allow him to keep her all to himself. He preferred a grown woman to a little girl as a pet anyway.

***

Hoshina sat in his own office, trying to decide what to do. Soon enough, his lord's order would come. What that would be was anyone's guess. He was always so unpredictable when it came to that little human. Even Hoshina had to admit the girl had great charms for a human, but why was Sesshomaru still toying with her? She had to be a grown woman by now. He had been well aware of how Sano was sent to check on the girl, and of Sesshomaru's refusal to actually hear Sano's reports. It all seemed like a lot of trouble for a human girl, especially once Mitsuharu had entered the picture. Although, with her death, Hoshina was a bit more sympathetic of his lord's dalliances.

What was that girl's hold on his master? He was almost sure that Sesshomaru hadn't even known that she was a prostitute until the other day, and now that fool Sano was bringing her to a newly erected house just miles from the valley. It was rare for Sesshomaru to behave like this. Even his father had been more level. Hoshina wondered if Sano would survive his stupidity, or if his lord would be in the mood for a reunion with his old pet. Perhaps this girl was more than the darling companion animal of an aristocrat. After all, Sesshomaru was far more than a simple lord, he was the lord of all the western tribes.

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"Snow upon the hills, ice along the frozen rivers; these for you I trod,

yet for all that ever lost the way to be lost in you,

though there was a horse at Hohata village"

-Shuishu 1243 by Hiromaro

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