I do not own Inuyasha.

The girl frown slightly, her eyebrows knitted together, thinking hard. She had been staring at a small flower in her hands as if it was the most difficult problem to be solved.

It was just another sunny and peaceful day where Sesshomaru did not have to tolerate with Jaken's annoying babbling because he was sent away on business.

Sesshomaru had been sitting quietly against a big willow tree in his elegant yet comfortable gesture. One of his knees bended up while a hand rested on it and looking far into space and distance, enjoying the calm day and the cool breeze.

His ward, Rin, had been stuck with self-debated for a while now, and from her appearance he could tell she wanted to ask him something, but wasn't sure if it would be appropriated.

"Rin," he called to the girl without looking from his direction.

"Yes, Lord Sesshomaru," Rin, the eight year-old girl looked up from his right side with her big brown eyes in anticipation. Her small side ponytail swayed as her head snapped toward her lord. Her little orange and white checker pattern kimono wrestled in her moves.

"What is bothering you?" his deep, smooth, emotionless voice asked her.

The girl hesitated only for a brief moment before she answered, "Rin has been wondering about Master Inuyasha," she told him.

Sesshomaru remained silence wondering why she would be interested in his half-breed brother.

Taken his silence as a cue, she continued, "Do you hate Master Inuyasha?" she went straight to the point.

Sesshomaru was taken aback, eyes widened just slightly on his emotionless face, his eyes traveled toward her without turning his head her way. Did he hate Inuyasha?

"What make you think so?" his voice gave nothing of his thought away.

"Because Lord Sesshomaru always treated him so harshly," she reasoned matter-of-factly.

Was that how it looked like? Him, hating Inuyasha? Disliked, yes. But hated? Even so, he would never correct it to anyone. (I don't recall Sesshomaru saying he hates Inuyasha. If I'm wrong, sorry.)

Rin waited for the answer he would never gave for a long while and decided to venture for more information instead of waiting.

"Why is Lord Sesshomaru always treating Master Inuyasha so badly?" she wanted to know.

"Because he deserved it," answered Sesshomaru coldly. But he knew that the answer would not satisfy the girl's curiosity so he added, "He is the son of the late great Lord of the Western Land, he has to be strong to deserve respects. He has to earn it. If he cannot tolerates with such treatments and cannot even defenses himself, than he doesn't worthy of being the son of the greatest dog demon lord."

To be honest, he did not know why he bothered to tell the girl. He did not have to tell her. He could just dismiss her question like nothing. Rin did not need to know. But somehow he felt like he had to justify it.

Inuyasha had to be strong, to be his equal, to be able to wear their father's name proudly. And as far as he had seen so far, Inuyasha was just a weak pathetic half-breed who couldn't even hold himself against Sesshomaru. If his insults were not enough to motivate the half breed to become stronger then he was really a weakling.

But he would not deny that Inuyasha had become better and more powerful, still weaker than Sesshomaru and might forever be, but definitely became stronger.

"Then," Rin's eyebrows once again knitted into a frown, looked down to her bare feet, "Will Rin need to become strong, too?" she wondered anxiously. If she were weak then she would not be worthy of her lord's kindness.

Rin's words had once again taken him by surprise. He had never thought of her as weak. Yes, she was fragile, human, but brave and strong. Not physically strong, but mentally and he had come to respect her for that. Yes, he did respect her even though he would never voice it out loud.

"No. Just being yourself is enough," he answered coldly.

But Rin smiled her happiest smile. Rin did not have to be strong because Sesshomaru wanted her just the way she was.

StoriedFabric, thank you so much for the theme. I wrote it out but don't know how much it makes sense. :)

Sorry about the grammars. I have gone over it many times that my eyes are blurry now. Everyone, thank you so much for the read. Review please.

Feb 27, 2013