InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ My Devotion ❯ Decisions ( Chapter 9 )

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

’s Note: I decided to name the sword Hinotsume. I don’t really know Japanese, but I used an online dictionary so I think it means Claw of Fire. Hi-fire, no-possessive term, and tsume-claw. If anyone is good with this sort of thing and it’s wrong (it might be hi no tsume or tsume no hi) tell me how to correct in your reviews!

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The tarp was up. She saw the blood, the dead look in her family’s eyes as steel tore through flesh. She heard the screams and knew that they would plague her until the day that she died. Somehow she got away from the bandits unnoticed. As the reality of the situation sunk in she began to run. The sound of wolves, a tree root, and then only darkness.

“Aaaah!” Rin screamed as she was scared awake. The dreams were becoming more graphic. She rubbed her right shoulder and also noted how real they were starting to seem. Rin heard quiet, but fast, footsteps approaching her room. Shaken by the dream she picked up Hinotsume.

“Master Jaken!” the girl screamed, jumping out of bed to squeeze the viciously protesting toad demon. “Where’s Lord Sesshoumaru? Didn’t he come with you?”

“Um, no Rin.”

“Oh.” She turned away from him to hide her tears. She had hoped…

“Rin, it is time to return.”

“How is he?” she asked detachedly.

“Your Lord is very angry.”

“Do you think that he could love me?”

The toad’s eyes almost doubled in size at the inquiry. “You stupid human! Lord Se–,”he was cut off by the sight of her tears overflowing. He thought that this time he should try to be a little bit easier with her. “Rin, humans and demons are just too different. Even if he was in love with you,” though the thought was laughable, “he is a great demon Lord. It’s time to go. Pack your things.”

That couldn’t be true. Why had he kept…allowed her to stay with him for eleven years? His pride was important to him, she knew that. The only way that he would be able to keep his pride and love her was if she was a demon herself. But, perhaps if she proved herself worthy in some other way…

“No.”

“What did you just say!”

“I said no. Not yet. When you return to the Western Lands, tell him that I’ll come back soon.”

Jaken shuddered to think what fate would befall him if he dared to go back without Rin.

“You will come back immediately!”

“I have other things to do first.” And with that she went in search of Kagome with a very loud toad in tow.

Rin had no idea where she was going to start. Her mind went back to the moment Souten had opened the Thunder Pike’s casing. She remembered how odd it felt that she had felt the Shikon jewel shard instead of seeing it. She didn’t remember being able to sense the jewel before Sesshoumaru had revived her. There had been so many around that it had been easy to tune them out considering how uninterested her Lord was in the Shikon Jewel. The only way which she used this ability, as a child, was to seek out Kagome. So she decided to try and feel the almost whole jewel in Kagome’s possession.

It was surprisingly easy to find her because of the size of the jewel and how close she was. She was just in one of the rooms in the next hall over. She knocked lightly on the door. When Kagome opened it she was pleased to see that they were settling in.

“Rin!” Kagome said excitedly.

“Kagome, can we talk?”

“Sure, what’s wrong?”

Rin cleared her throat signaling that she wasn’t intent on InuYasha hearing what she had to say. Not yet anyway.

“InuYasha would you excuse us please?” she asked even as she pushed him out the door.

“Hey! Whadduya think you’re doin’?” She shut the door to his back and luckily managed to push out Jaken along with him.

“Sit, boy!” There was a crash and a muffled ‘Get off of me you filthy half-demon’ and ‘Why you’ before Kagome said, “They won’t be bothering us for some time. So what did you want to talk about?”

“I, uh…How did you know you were a priestess?”

“That’ s easy: because I looked so much like Kikyo. Why?”

“I think I might be one too. When Lord Sesshoumaru allowed me to hold Tokijin, the demonic aura surrounding it didn’t do anything. It’s the same with my sword, Hinotsume.”

“As odd as that is, I don’t think that it make you a priestess.”

“There’s more…” She paused trying to decide on how much she should tell Kagome. “…I can sense the Sacred Jewel shards too.”

“Do you have the last shard? Can you sense it now?” Kagome asked almost desperately. Rin, on the other hand, was just glad that she didn’t ask if she knew where it was. She would have to force a blatant lie, not that this was much better.

“No, I’m sorry. But I’ll keep any eye out for it.”

“Don’t be sorry. And as for being a priestess, I think maybe you are. When did you first know that you could sense the jewel shards?”

“Well, I can’t remember being able to before I was revived. Maybe it was a side effect of the Tenseiga. I don’t know.”

“Maybe…” Kagome said in deep thought.

“Anyway, I came to ask a favor.”

“Anything for you, Rin. What did you need?”

Rin doubted Kagome would feel that way after she asked her question. “I need to get into the tomb of the father of Sesshoumaru and InuYasha.”

“The only safe way there is through pearl in InuYasha’s right eye. And that could only be opened once.”

“But can’t we call it out? Can’t two priestesses call it out of his eye?”

“First of all, we’re not even sure if you are a priestess yet. Second, I wouldn’t know how to go about spiritually pulling the black pearl out of his eye. And finally, it’s not like InuYasha would actually keep still and let us.”

“I guess you’re right. I’m sorry to have bothered you, Kagome.” She felt the air coming out of her sails and her plan flopping horribly. That left only one other option.

“You love him?” Kagome asked able to figure out Rin’s reasons so easily.

“Yeah.”

“But, he’ll never tell you his feelings? He only hints at it in his actions and then denies it?”

“Yeah.”

“I understand how that feels.”

She knew that Kagome never could because it was different with Sesshoumaru. He was so prideful, he never faltered. And as for the way she loved Sesshoumaru: it was hopeless and unconditional. She would rather die trying to love him than love anyone else…ever.

“Thank you Kagome. I’m going to go now.” She walked passed the quarreling Jaken and InuYasha, not seeing them. She didn’t even notice when they stopped to stare at her. There was only one thing on her mind. The choice she was about to make had her bawling audibly by the time she turned the corner.

InuYasha walked back into the room he shared with Kagome a little bit confused. “What was that all about?”

“InuYasha, I think you need to talk to your brother.”

“Why would I want to talk to him?”

“You need to talk to him about Rin.”

“Why?”

“She’s in love with him.”

“So? I honestly don’t see how someone could love him in the first place. It’ll blow over.”

“You obviously don’t know what lengths a woman in love would go to in order to be with the one she loves.”

“So what if I don’t.” The hidden meaning behind what Kagome had said obviously didn’t sink in.

She couldn’t believe he just said that. And after all they’d been through together! “Go talk to Sesshoumaru or I’ll say the S-word so many times that you won’t be able to find your head once it pops off!”

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After his tail had cooled down, Shippo decided that he probably owed Souten an apology. She was right, he should have known. He knew that she had just returned fro the Western Lands. In the least that should have told him that there was some type of financial problem. He doubted that her home would look so Spartan if she had the resources to fix it. And when he thought about it, what she did in the village could have been worse. I mean, at least she didn’t injure anyone.

He meekly knocked on her door and sighed. The second apology in a day. Today just wasn’t his day.

“Come in.”

When he entered Souten’s room, the sight of her left him breathless. She was faced towards him with her hair down again and rippling in the breeze coming from the window she was standing in front of. She had probably been gazing at her birthright before he had interrupted. He almost forgot why he was there in the first place.

“Shippo? Did you come here for anything in particular?”

He was captivated by her beauty. “Uhh, I wanted to say I was sorry.”

She could see him practically drooling over her. She was going to make him suffer for a little while. “Sorry for what?”

The way her lips were moving was so…sexy. “For…for, uh…” Why couldn’t he form coherent sentences around her?

“Did you even hear what I said?” she asked, approaching him. She saw how he was struggling and a smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

Her lips were just begging to be kissed. Without really thinking about what he was saying he shook his head. Her eyes flared and she instinctively moved closer in rage.

“You are infuriating. Can’t you even pay atte–“ Her rant was cut short by Shippo closing the distance between them and brushing his lips across hers.

He saw the surprise in her eyes and wondered what exactly he wanted on his tombstone. It was his turn to be surprised when he saw desire in her eyes instead of rage. Feeling slightly encouraged, he kissed her again. He deepened the kiss by wrapping his arms around her slim waist and pulling her closer.

The fiery-eyed Thunder Demon tilted her head to the side and slid her hands into his hair. She was moaning from the intensity of the kiss. She wondered how such a weakling could become such a great kisser. Then she realized that she barely knew anything about the man kissing her with such passion. She wanted to be with him, but she couldn’t yet. If she was to be with him, she wanted all of him, she wanted his heart too. And…despite what he was responsible for, she wanted to give him her heart in return.

She reluctantly slid her hands down to his chest and pushed gently, forcing them to break the kiss. The confused look in Shippo’s eyes was a bit saddening. “Did I do something wrong?”
“No, I just…I can’t.”

Shippo reached out to wipe a tear off of the demon-girl’s face. She hadn’t even noticed she was crying. She was no longer blinded by the attraction to him. If she had gone any farther with him, she would have felt like she was betraying her brothers. As the reality of the situation stung her, more tears began to fall.

He couldn’t stand to see tears tarnish such a beautiful face. He picked her up and sat on the bed, letting her cry against his neck. Eventually, she stopped and fell asleep in his arms. He leaned back slowly and fell asleep too.

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Author ’s Note: The Souten/Shippo scene was edited between my head and the paper so that this would still be a teen story. They don't really do anything because I believe in sex after marriage, but it's a bit more than just a kiss.