InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ My Devotion ❯ The Tides of Change ( Chapter 10 )

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

’s Note: If you are unfamiliar with the story of the Shikon no Tama, go to and type in “Shikon no Tama’s Origins”. Watch this before you start reading the second part or you’ll get completely lost.

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InuYasha had finally made it to the Western Lands…again. His hand clutched at the hilt of the Tetsusaiga instinctively. Coming in contact with his brother usually meant a fight. But, he supposed that getting into a skirmish with Sesshoumaru was better than being sat repeatedly. His face hurt just thinking about it, or maybe that was just the sting from the sit command Kagome had used earlier.
Sesshoumaru smelled the foul scent of his half-breed half-brother coming from a mile away. His nose wrinkled in disgust. He was already irritable as hell considering that Jaken was still not back with Rin. He thought he would kill him when next they met. The silence consuming his castle without Rin was unbearable. He noticed that his servants were acting uncommonly strange despite their expressed contempt for the girl when she was around.
He decided to meet his brother in front of the castle to keep the bored eyes of his servants from wandering from their work. He was outside in an instant and just far enough away so that InuYasha could slow down without tripping over himself.
“InuYasha,” he said in his emotionless voice.
“Sesshoumaru.”
Assuming that this was the usual reason for InuYasha being near him at all, he rested his right hand on Toukijin, ready to strike if need be.

“Lucky for you, I didn’t come to fight. I only came to talk.”
His hand slipped slipped from the Toukijin as he turned to walk away. He could not believe that he had come all the way out here for nothing.

“It’s about Rin.” Sesshoumaru’s heart involuntarily lifted into his throat. Had something happened? Was she all right? Too many questions filled his mind at her name until he forced them to the back of his mind. Then he felt rage bubble up in place of the concern and worry. She had left and he had not followed her and something was wrong.

“What?” he asked, questioning the situation. Ice filling his voice.

“Kagome seems to think Rin is going to do something excessive. She said something about women doing stupid things.”

InuYasha continued to say more things after that, but the Lord of the Western Lands had no desire to hear them. Rin had left without bothering to consult him first, that was abnormal enough. But when InuYasha’s wench was able sense instability in his Rin, he knew something was terribly wrong.

Wait. His Rin? …yes, she was his. But, she was a little bit more than that. She was fresh flowers and songs and smiles and laughter. And she was in trouble. After brief contemplation, he ran with a speed that even InuYasha couldn’t match.

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Rin closed the door slowly behind her. She tried thinking of another way, but none came to mind. Instead, her thoughts always ended up with being consumed by a demon. She let out a shuddering sigh before straightening up and lifting her chin proudly into the air.

“Make yourself known. I know you have been watching me.” Silence spanned out through the room Just when she thought she had made a mistake, the voice appeared.

“I have, haven’t I?” It taunted her.

“You said that…that you could help me.”

“Did I?”

“Does the offer still hold?”

“I don’t know. You were so rude earlier.”

“DOES THE OFFER STILL HOLD!” she roared. She wasn’t in the mood for games. She was heart sore and already thoroughly irritated.

“It would always hold for someone as beautiful as you, yes.”

“I want to be a demon like my lord, but I want to know what it is that you want in return first.”

“I was just going to do this out of the kindness of my heart,” he said sarcastically.

“NO GAMES!” Her hand was clenched tightly around Hinotsume, her knuckles turning white. She urged to lash out at something, but she didn’t know where it was.

“You’re no fun. What do all demons seek? What is attained by your priestess friend and her half-demon protector?”

“I can’t take that from her! It’s not even complete yet!”

“Would you rather be without your lord? Besides, I have been watching you and you and I both know where the last shard is. The Jewel is your birthright.”

“The Sacred Jewel was entrusted to the Priestess Kikyo years before my birth! Kagome is the protector of it now.”

“Do you remember nothing of your life before the Tenseiga awakened you?”

“Should I?” she wondered where this was going.

“You were born of Midoriko’s death centuries before Kikyo’s birth. You are the rightful protector of the Jewel, born with the task of protecting it. Unfortunately, a demon devoured it. When it came to you, the Jewel put up a sacred barrier around you, making you immune to its futile attempts to kill you. You were too young to protect it then.”

Memories flashed through her mind. Being found and discussed. Then it was decided that she was too dangerous to stay in a village. She had to be taken to a shrine. Her head began to throb.

“Do you remember now? Do you remember the impoverished family that died trying to transport you to the shrine with only the reward in mind?” There was more to the story that he knew she wouldn’t be able to grasp on her own; parts that could make her refuse his offer so he left them out.

“So you want my powers?”

“Just the Jewel in exchange for demonic power. As a sign of good trust, I’ll even transform you before I get the Jewel.”

She knew she couldn’t trust him, but what he was saying she knew in her heart to be true. She had no other options. She wanted to be with Sesshoumaru forever. It hurt so badly to think about him leaving that, assuming something went wrong, she would gladly die to have the pain release it’s grip from her strong heart. She nodded and felt hundreds of demons bombard her petite body in an attempt to take it over. The last thing Rin remembered was darkness consuming her.

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Shippo was the first to wake up. Souten had shifted in her sleep and was now lying contentedly beside him. His right arm was draped across her shoulder. Unlike most people who suck on their thumbs, Souten had her right index finger in her mouth. A smile crept across his face. She was too cute. He ran his hand through her soft jet-black hair, shining in the light cast by the sunset. Shippo thought if he wouldn’t mind just holding with her like this every day for the rest of his life. Despite how tough she acted, he knew that she was delicate. He was instantly happy that they hadn’t gone any farther than they had earlier. He was content with just this.

Shippo’s smile slowly faded as he remembered his companions and how he hadn’t seen them all day. They would start wondering with their overactive imaginations and then he would have to listen to the teasing remarks. He slowly and reluctantly untangled his hand from her hair and lifted his arm away from her. Then he slowly eased his way out of the bed and kissed her on the forehead tenderly. He was about to leave when something caught his eye. It was a key reflecting the sun’s rays into his eyes. He walked over and picked it up, turning it over in his hand. It looked like a master key. He remembered his brief conversation with Kagome earlier that day. He had gone to see how she was doing before going to apologize to Souten.

“Hey Kagome.”
“Hi. Where were you.?”
“I, uh, went to get some food with Souten.”
“Is she okay? She was acting rather strange earlier.”
“How so?”
“Well I was looking for a room, and she seemed kind of nervous. She pushed me away from the room I was about to look through, I think it was the one across from hers, and locked it. Then she told me she already had rooms ready for us.”

Though he knew he probably shouldn’t have, he took the key. Curiosity got the better of him and he wondered what was worth hiding in that room. He crossed the hall and unlocked the door to the room and stepped inside. He barely had time to look around before he heard a slightly drowsy, yet alert and definitely angry voice utter his name.

“Shippo, what the hell do you think you’re doing!”

She was angry, but he could tell that she was more embarrassed than anything. “I, uh–” he stammered.

“Get out!” she screamed. But she was too late. Shippo had turned his head to the side and seen the drawing.

“Is that…” he asked picking it up from the floor. There were crayon stubs scattered over and around it. He turned to look at her and saw that she was turning a color that rivaled her eyes. Not wanting to embarrass her further he stated, “You are very artistic.”

“Thank you.” This seemed to work. Half of the color drained from her face and Shippo breathed a sigh of relief. Then he began to study the drawing. It couldn’t have been that recent. It looked exactly like him, but she hadn’t seen him until today.

“When did you draw this?” She immediately blushed again. Perhaps he shouldn’t have asked.

Amazingly, she answered his question. The damage was already done. What harm would it do to answer his questions? “After you gave me the crayons.”

He wasn’t sure what effect the other questions or comments running through his mind would have on her, so he decided to change the subject. Looking around the room his eyes landed on a tall black box. “What’s that?”

He saw her flinch out of the corner of his eye. Souten wasn’t expecting that. “Nothing. Nothing, let’s just go.”

She was hiding something from him. Something crucial. It made him angry that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her and yet she was keeping secrets from him. “Souten, what is that?”

She heard the anger seeping into his voice. Why couldn’t he just let it be? If she didn’t tell him, there was a chance he could get over it. But, if she did tell him, she knew he would get angrier. No, she was Souten, the last and proudest of the Thunder Demon Tribes. What did she care? If he got angry after she told him, then she didn’t need him. Not even if she wanted to be with him.

“It’s the Thunder Pike.”

“I thought InuYasha broke it. Didn’t he?”

“Yes.”

“How did you fix it?” And there it was: the tell all question! She sighed and shot the electricity at the lock. Once again the sound of locks sliding out of place filled the air before the door cracked open. She picked it up out of its case and took it over to Shippo.

“There’s a jewel shard imbedded right there,” she said, pointing to the spot where InuYasha had broken it years ago. There wasn’t the smallest hint that it had ever been broken.

“But, we’ve been looking for this for so long. How did you–”

“I had the case made long ago. I found the shard in these last couple months. It was in a demon I killed. The case traps the demonic aura emanating from the Thunder Pike and from the Jewel shard too.” She couldn’t bear to look at the hurt look on his face so she turned to put the Thunder Pike away. She heard him scream behind her and turned to see him lying on the floor…dead. She barely had time to register who had done it before sharp claws tore through both her and the Thunder Pike, forcing her to suffer the same fate as her brother.

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Au thor’s note: I got the sibling thing in there, and hey, whaddya know, Sesshoumaru pulled his head outof his ass! Good job with the reviews, glad to see new names. Keep up on thems reviews!
So I guess the next chapter might be the last. Honestly, I’m kind of sad that my first fanfic is coming to an end, but at least then my readers won’t have to deal with the suspense anymore. Anyway, the next chapter might take a bit longer than usual. Sorry! Sayonara!