InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ My Devotion ❯ Calling In Backup ( Chapter 7 )

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

’s Note: I don’t have a map of InuYasha’s Feudal Japan so I’m not really sure where these places are in relation to one another so I’m winging it to make the time frames fit. I’d say not bad for my first fanfic.

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A night in an actual house had been wonderful. Usually they slept in the wilderness and Kagome was thankful for a warm room to spend the night in. She just wished that InuYasha had stayed too. But, oh well. She decided to do a little exploring close by her room for any clues to the final shard, but had come up empty-handed. Now they were contemplating whether or not they should continue west or wait for the jewel to pop up again.

“So, any ideas on what to do?” asked Kagome.

“Maybe we should go to Laimei Valley?” Shippo suggested.

“Why do you think we should go there?” the rest of the group asked in unison.

He blushed lightly. How did he say this without making it sound like he had a crush on her?

“Souten left from here just recently. I think it would be in our best interest to see if she knows anything about it.”

“Really? You sure you just don’t wanna see her?” teased InuYasha.

“Oh InuYasha, stop teasing him. Besides, I think it’s cute!”

“It’s not like that at all! Are you guys even listening to me?” Shippo pleaded.

“Well, I’m up for it if you guys are,” interrupted Miroku.

“Why not?” they all agreed.

“If we hurry, we should be able to make it in a couple of hours.”

Not very smooth, but it produced the desired effect.

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It was morning now and she hadn’t come back. Sesshoumaru had sat up all night with his ears waiting for any sound of her. Unfortunately, too many sounds in the night were misleading and he had to rely on his nose. Since Rin had decided not to come back and his efforts were in vain, he was in an especially bad mood at having acted like a puppy waiting for his master to come home.

His muscles were tense and for the first time in a long time Sesshoumaru felt the overwhelming urge to kill anyone for testing his patience. Before he was even able to gain control over these impulses again he had to patrol the Western Lands, slaking his bloodlust on the lower demons. Eventually he was able to dismiss these feelings as anxiety over having unwanted houseguests. Or he would have if on of his more annoying servants hadn’t approached him about it later in the day.

“Me Lord, have you seen Rin? She hasn’t shown up for her lessons,” said Jaken. The lessons weren’t of major importance since Rin spent most of her time traveling with them, but Jaken had taken a liking to the girl despite how much he chastised her. Apparently he had also noticed her absence and was unsettled about it.

“Isn’t it your job to watch her? Find her.” It felt good to vent his anger on Jaken.

“Well, Miss Souten also left last night. I had assumed you allowed Rin to accompany her for a time,” stuttered the groveling toad.

So that pestering friend of hers was also gone. He had a feeling that if they were both gone, then Rin had gone with her back to Laimei Valley. In that case he didn’t have cause to worry over why she hadn’t come back. “If you are so worried Jaken, head out for Laimei Valley tomorrow morning.”

“Yes me Lord, but won’t you be coming?”

“No.” He had been feeling too restless lately. He got his energy through two methods: hunting and sleeping. It had been far too long since he’d had some of the latter. Perhaps that was the reason for his present state. “I’ll be in my room. Make sure I’m not bothered.”

“Yes me lord.”

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“Are you alright Rin? Your eyes are bloodshot.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I was just so excited last night I couldn’t sleep.”

Souten knew well enough to know that her eyes weren’t red from a lack of sleep. They were red because she had been crying. To a human, the puffiness of her eyes wouldn’t be noticeable. But the crimson-eyed girl smelled salt. “You were crying weren’t you.”

“I had a bad dream. Look, I really don’t feel like talking about it. Can we just drop it?”

“Whatever. So how do ya think we should build my empire?”

“The land is scarred with all of the lightning that strikes around here. I think it would be wisest to cut back on your ‘security system’ and then allow humans to work and inhabit the land. If they are reluctant we can think up a different method.”

Wow, Rin really sounded like a great ruler. She could have been a Lady if she wasn’t Sesshoumaru’s…well, she wasn’t really sure what Rin was to Sesshoumaru. “Unlike some people, I have no problem with humans. Not since I met you, at least. Maybe–,” she was cut off by the sounds of someone entering penetrating her fortress. She motioned for Rin to have her dagger ready and follow her to the front gates.

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“This place looks worse than I remembered,” sighed Kagome.

“Tell me about it,” said InuYasha.

“There it is! There’s the Thunder Demon’s domain.” Upon closer inspection, something seemed off about it. Sesshoumaru’s castle had had a certain liveliness about it. This one seemed desolate. Like he had left it all those years ago.

“Do you think anyone’s here?”

Shippo kept walking, barely hearing Sango’s question. It was exactly the same. Nothing had changed with the exception of an actual gate being put in place. He had just walked past the front gate when a lightning bolt struck right in front of him, making him stumble backwards. Someone leapt out from beside of the gate, knocked him the rest of the way down and pressed a dagger to his throat.

Shippo squeezed his eyes shut as his head collided with ground. “Ow!” When he opened his eyes, he was staring up into some fiery-red ones. A girl had taken him by surprise? He could feel her perfect curves through both of their clothes. Her hair was let down, covering her back and framing her face. Her lips were full and naturally red. She was gorgeous. He felt a blush rising to his cheeks.

“Shippo?” she asked, withdrawing her dagger and slipping it into the holster on her waist. How did she know his name? “Sorry, but you really shouldn’t sneak up on people like that.”

“Do I know you?” he asked after she had helped him up.

“Oh, that’s right,” she said as she quickly braided her hair. “I forgot to braid it this morning. Look familiar now?”

Vaguely. That braid with that face. She looked eerily similar to Hiten. “Souten?”

“Is it really her? Oh, she’s so cute!” said Kagome as she went to wrap her arms around the struggling Thunder Demon. Shippo thought that ‘cute’ was a major understatement.

“Don’t touch the hair!”

They were all cut short by a faint giggling coming from the other side of the gate. “So, are we going to invite our guests inside or not?”

“You could have helped me out earlier, Rin.”

“Rin?” everyone else questioned. The last time they had seen Rin was a couple of years ago.

She had always been such an energetic girl, a smile never far from her face. This girl was disshelved, her eyes were red, and it seemed as if she was struggling to keep the smile she was wearing, (which didn’t quite reach her eyes) on her face.

“It’s nice to see you all again. Especially you, Kagome-chan.”

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Author& #8217;s Note: So that’s the chapter. I know some of yall wanted some sibling rivalry, so I’ll try to work it in following chapters. When you review, tell me how you like the Souten/Shippo scene and how to make them progress in their relationship. And for all yall that fave me and crave me, that alert me to reassert me and don't review: tsk! tsk! tsk!This is SakuraAnkh- signing off for the night!