AN: Hey! This is my first fanfic ever, but If anyone will find any interest in it, I will try to update as often as possible. The storyline itself should be pretty long too. Hope you like it! And a disclaimer - I do not own the characters or settings of Inuyasha at all and I am only creating this story for entertainment purposes.

Five years have passed since Sesshomaru left Rin in Kaede's care. Although he would occasionally drop off a gift once every six or seven months, there wasn't much talking. It was the old priestess who originally thought of this idea. After Naraku was defeated and everything calmed down, Kaede thought that it would be for the better if young Rin would cease travelling with her beloved lord and start adapting to a life amongst humans. And although at first Sesshomaru was persistent on keeping the girl with him, he did eventually decide on making the girl stay. It was for her own good, and maybe after a few years, once she learned the way of humans, and if still wanted to travel with the great demon lord, he would not go against it. He did, after all, grow close to the girl during their journeys.

Her life in the village was not as uneventful as one might think. Throughout those years in Edo, Rin picked up quite a few skills not only from Kaede, but also Kagome, Sango, other villagers and even Inuyasha. And although Rin was in Kaede's care, she often wandered into some sort of trouble – when she was younger, she would pick up fights with other village girls, wander into the dense, scary forest beyond Edo's territory while picking herbs for the old miko or occasionally stumble upon lowly yokai. But such experiences made her more open-minded and lighted a spark in her heart for seeking adventures.

It was one of those days when Rin and Sango were training in a field near the Bone Eater's well. "Rin, don't forget to keep your stance in check at all times or you might get caught off guard." The demon slayer instructed.

It's been for over a year now since the girl started training with the yokai taijiya . Whilst her skills still needed some perfecting, Rin got the hang of it rather quickly. It was because of Sesshomaru that she caught interest in fighting skills - watching her lord move graciously while in a battlefield made her want to achieve the same finesse while in combat.

"Maybe let's call it quits for the day? We still have enough time to have a quick dip in the river before the sun sets and Hoshi-sama must be already cursing me for leaving him with the kids for too long."

"Damn it I messed up again! I will never get this move right!" The girl sighed with frustration. "Can we try this one last time, Sango? Then we can go." I can do this.

I hope Miroku doesn't go crazy with Hitomi and Chiyo on his head, Sango thought and simply nodded. Taking in her surroundings, the woman breathed in, positioned and aligned her body so it would be easier to deliver a throw and released the oversized boomerang. Once again the training has started.

Sesshomaru had just arrived to Edo and was waiting in Kaede's hut patiently. He had been thinking for quite a while now that it was time for Rin to make the decision which he and the old healer wanted Rin to have a choice on. She was of age to think fully for herself and was about to be of marrying age as well. Soon, Sesshomaru heard heavy footsteps approaching the small hut, placed on the top of a hill. The old miko, he thought.

When Kaede walked in through the threshold, she was caught off-guard by the tall, towering figure in her dimly lighted home. "Aye, Sesshomaru, what brought ye today into the village? Rin must come in shortly, she is out with Sango". The old healer told him while placing her baskets full of herbs on the ground. It's very unusual for him to stay and wait for that girl, the old woman thought worriedly.

After a short pause, the silence was brought down by his deep monotone voice "I have decided that it is time for Rin to make a choice. I believe she is of age now."

Kaede's eyes slightly widened. She was not expecting the demon lord to return for Rin for at least two more years. "Aye, yer not wrong, Rin is old enough, but don't forget that this girl has lived here for a while now, she might want to stay" Kaede stated. She couldn't admit that she wasn't ready to give the girl up. Throughout the years the old miko grew quite close to her, she even felt as if Rin was her own child now.

Sesshomaru only blankly stared at the priestess and responded with his usual "Hn." He did know that there's a possibility that the girl might choose the village over him. However it didn't necessarily occur to him that his lack of visits and interaction would not aid in this dilemma. After a few minutes his train of thought was broken when he heard faint steps approaching the modest cabin and just after a few moments a rather tall, young looking woman appeared.

"Rin." Sesshomaru's voice once again broke the silence. His eyes seared into her figure. It's been quite a while since he had last seen her. Even during his visits he would only drop off the presents he brought to the girl. It was agreed with Kaede that he would not intervene into her adaptation to a normal life, which namely meant he won't see her. And although he could catch a glimpse of her helping Kagome with herb picking or working in a field, he would avoid running into her. But then again, Rin stumbling upon him was almost inevitable. She knew nothing of this agreement between the demon lord and Kaede so it's only obvious she would seek his company.

The girl felt as if her heart would burst through her chest. It's him. It's really him, she thought. Rin hasn't heard from Sesshomaru-sama for over a year. He was just as she remembered him. The girl felt as if his amber colored eyes pierced through her. She did, all in all, change quite a bit – she was a lot taller, even in her fourteenth year Rin was almost as tall as Kagome. Although her frame was still rather small, it only made her appear more feminine. The light pink kimono she received from her lord two years ago now fitted her perfectly, hugging every inch, dip and small curve of her body. The girl's skin was also more freckly because of all the sun exposure she got from helping Kaede and other villagers. Rin in general looked different from the people living in that part of Japan – her eyes were the color of hazelnuts or honey, brighter than the ones you could see other villagers possess, her facial features sharp and pronounced and her hair longer and more tamed. Yes, the girl did, in fact, grow out to be quite charming, which caught the great dog yokai off guard. "Sessh-.. Sesshomaru – sama?" She uttered.

All of a sudden, Sesshomaru felt the girl wrap her arms around his torso and snuggle her head into his chest. Fortunately, the dog demon wasn't as clad in armor as he would usually be. "I've missed you" was all that the girl said. He couldn't help but wrap one of his arms around her back suggestively. Yes, it has been quite a while indeed. "Rin, I've come to retrieve you" His monotone voice may have sounded emotionless but to Rin it was all she wanted to hear.

2 days later

"Kagome what is THAT bastard doin' here?!" Inuyasha's irritation was clear as day. He just returned from a village which needed some help with exterminating tanuki yokai, and was not so pleased to find his older brother.

"Inuyasha, please shut UP." Kagome huffed.

"I thought he dropped off Rin and ran off like some scum?"

Kagome inhaled loudly. "That's it! Osuwa-"

"Okay okay! Sorry! " The hanyou spoke up. Sheesh, will she ever stop sittin' me?

"Now come with me, we need to say goodbye to her and wish her a happy journey" The miko said excitingly. She felt as if Rin was her younger sister, caring and kind, always lending a helping hand when in need. God, how she'll miss her. But there's no time to sulk, she told herself. Rin has been waiting for this moment for a really long time. I should feel happy for her.

Today was the day and Rin was ready to departure. Sesshomaru gave her two days to think over her options- to stay here in this village or leave with him. This village, Edo, was her home. She found a new life here where she was accepted, found new friends, grew close to the people around her and most importantly, she felt loved. But in the end, she wished to stay with her lord. He saved her life, showed her mercy and kindness. In a way, she was indebted to him with all her being. She knew that her place was by his side.

"Rin, are you prepared?" He wouldn't admit it to himself, but he was eager to have her back in his care. He had missed her. He missed her laughter, her bright eyes, all of her. Now, when the demon lord looked at her, he couldn't help but notice that she did grew up quite a bit. She herself was a lot taller, her hair a bit longer and her face looked more mature. He noticed many things about her that were different, but failed to acknowledge that Rin, his little Rin, was not a girl anymore.

"Yes, Sesshomaru- sama." Rin exclaimed cheerfully while sitting comfortably on the two-headed dragon Ah-Un. After everyone bid her a farewell, she felt rather saddened by the fact that she might not see her friends for a while. But Sesshomaru's voice reminded her that now she will once again be in her lord's care. Knowing this, the girl felt less anxious.

"Good journey, child, I hope ye won't forget that you can come back anytime ye wish. After all, it's yer home now as well" Kaede stated warmly. She will truly miss Rin.

"Yeah, and if my jackass of a brother gets on your nerves, you know where you can find me" Inuyasha huffed and crossed his arms on his chest, which earned him a death glare from Kagome. Will he ever get rid of that foul tongue of his? She speculated.

"Okay, thank you, everyone, for your hospitality, I will miss all of you greatly!" The girl chimed.
And with those words, the two-headed dragon left the ground. Rin turned back to look at her friends and her home for the last time, seeing them wave goodbye. Hopefully I'll see you all soon enough.

2 months later

"Lady Rin , don't run down the halls of the castle! You might get hurt!" One servant lady screamed as the young girl sped through the dark, marble-floored corridors.

"You insolent child! How dare you disobey my lord's orders! If you don't stop n-" Jaken was trying to catch up to the girl when suddenly he bumped into Lord Sesshomaru. This got just enough time for Rin to get to her destination.

"M-my lord!" Jaken screeched. "Please forgive your humble servant for runni-" He was cut off once again.

"Jaken." Lord Sesshomaru's voice was as cold as ever. "What is the meaning of this, where is Rin?"

"My lord I- I was trying to catch Rin! That insolent stupid girl is once again late for her calligraphy lessons!" Jaken flared with frustration. How dare she defy his lordship's requests?!

"Hn." was all Jaken heard when he was kicked away like some trash.

Stupid girl, it's all your fault, the green imp cursed.

Calligraphy was definitely not one of Rin's talents. She already knew how to read, but her handwriting looked like it belonged to a five year old.

"Lady Rin, please focus. Our lord would definitely not be too pleased to find out that you are lacking in some sort of way." A snobby noblewoman directed her remark at Rin. The demon woman was assigned by Lord Sesshomaru himself to teach the teenage girl how to write properly, and as of right now, the lessons were barely helping her.

"My handwriting is not that bad! Look, it's perfectly legible" Rin whined. She has been going to these 'studies' for about a month now, and all she does here is listen to criticism from this serpent-like yokai woman. Her outside perfectly matches her inside, Rin snickered to herself.

"I can barely read a word! Are you even right-handed?!" The snake yokai was losing her patience. What did I ever do to deserve this, My Lord? To tutor a lowly human, nonetheless!

A few hours had passed when Rin was finally released from those utterly boring lectures. Now, she was free to do whatever she wanted, but this time she had something particular in her mind. I need to find Sesshomaru-sama, the girl told herself. While roaming the long halls of this oversized mansion she barely got the time to explore, Rin searched for Sesshomaru's chambers. Usually, when the yokai lord wasn't out on some important quest or patrolling the Western borders, he could be found in his study. And it seemed like today was Rin's lucky day.

She slowly sneaked to the japanese styled Shoji door, which supposedly belonged to Sesshomaru's study and bed chambers, and before she even had the chance to knock on the frame, the girl heard a monotone "Come in, Rin". Ah, he and those senses of his, she thought.

Once Rin stepped over the threshold of her lord's huge, beautifully furnished chambers clad in red and gold, she was met with a pair of curious amber-colored eyes staring back at her.

"What is it that you seek from this Sesshomaru?" he said with a slighty different tone than Rin was used to. It was almost as if it was playful, which caught her off guard.

"I- um – I just wanted to ask something. While I was back in Edo, I started training how to combat. And now I came here wanting to ask you for a permission to continue. My lord, may I?" She uttered hopefully.

After a short pause, Rin heard a single "No." It seemed like he had just lost his good mood.

"But… Why?" She pleaded in a hurt voice. Why the hell wouldn't he let me fight?

"Is my protection not enough for you Rin? And why was I not informed of your so called training? Fighting is dangerous and you are merely human. Even while in training you can easily lose your life. " Sesshomaru stood up from his desk and got closer to where the girl was standing, towering over her slight frame. I shouldn't have left her there, he flared.

"I am perfectly capable of handling myself! As you can see, I am just fine! I want to be stronger, because there will be a time where you won't be able to run to my aid. I need to learn how to protect myself." Rin declared while getting one step closer to Sesshomaru as if challenging his authority.

This remark slightly widened the yokai lord's eyes. Such Rin's noncompliant actions unknowingly made Sesshomaru realize that Rin may not be such a small girl after all. Her faint womanly scent took him by surprise. Is she trying to defy me? The demon reckoned. "Rin , I shall not accept such behavior and disobedience. Remember your place, you insolent girl." Sesshomaru seethed with anger.

The young, still childish woman simply stared at the dog demon with utter surprise in her eyes and a slight ache in her heart. He had never spoken to her so harshly, but yet again, she had never acted so rebelliously against him either. With that being said, the girl just turned around and left her lord's chambers in a rather discourteous way. Fine, Rin thought.

Sesshomaru unaffectedly glared at the ignorant girl as she left, and sat down at his old, intricately carved wooden desk stacked with all kinds of manuscripts. There, the yokai lord took his head into his hands with a frustrated groan. Where did she get that impudent attitude from? He thought.

Later that day

Rin's room was located not too far from her lord's room. They both resided on the same floor in the northern wing of the castle. The room itself was rather big, enough space for even a brawl. But of course, Rin wouldn't want to ruin the antique wooden flooring, or destroy any of the crème coloured furniture placed throughout the chambers. The walls were decorated with traditional Japanese styled paintings of flowers, and on the left of the area there was a small balcony with a beautiful view to the vast mountain range which extended far into the horizon. And Rin was exactly there, leaning over the balustrade of the tiny balcony and staring hazily into the distance. That was until she heard someone enter her room

"Rin." She heard a monotone voice call her name. The girl turned around and her eyes met an emotionless look on Sesshomaru's face.

"Yes, my lord?" she said flatly. Rin felt extremely upset since their last interaction. Ever since she was little, she wanted to combat with the same grace and preciseness like the dog demon, and yet he completely discarded her wants and wishes.

"I have decided something. I cannot rule over you with no regard to your ambitions or whims. Therefore if you want to fight, you may, under my supervision. You will be assigned to my second commander Hino Ryu. Your training starts tomorrow." Sesshomaru said emphatically, "But do not forget that you are below me and must respect whatever decisions I make."

Rin was unprepared for such a response. "I u-understand, that won't happen again. Thank you, Sesshomaru-sama." The girl muttered while keeping her eyes on the fancy wooden flooring beneath her feet. After that, she just quickly bowed her head and Sesshomaru left the room. At least I'll get to fight, she thought.

The next morning Rin was woken up by another snake-looking demon, this time a maid. "Lady Rin, Lord Sesshomaru has informed me that today you start your training with our second commander Hino Ryu- sama, please wake up! He will be enraged if you don't show up before the sun rises."

After a quiet pause a loud 'WHAT' was heard on the whole floor of Rin's chambers. "Before sunrise!? He is kidding, right?" Rin said groggily.

"I'm afraid not. If you disobey the commander's orders you might as well forget about learning to fight at all." The scaly-skinned maid informed.

Shit, was all that the young woman managed to murmur before being pulled out of the bed.

The training was held high up in an empty field on a tall hill behind the northern wing of the castle. There, Rin was met by the second commander of lord Sesshomaru's army, Hino Ryu, who was supposed to be the girl's instructor.

"Good morning, commander Hino Ryu, I am Rin." She said as she bowed her head in front of the tall, threatening –looking man. He, just like Sesshomaru, had golden eyes and long hair. But this man was no dog demon. His hair was as black as the moonless night and his orbs looked slightly snake-like. Turns out, Rin's master was a Fire Dragon, the last of its kind – something she knew from those boring history lessons.

"So Sesshomaru assigned me to teach a lowly human? How pathetic." He spoke with venom in his voice.

At that point, Rin knew that learning how to combat will be just as tormenting as going to those terrible calligraphy lectures.

"Dodge. Jump. Turn. Go left. I said LEFT! Are you that stupid you cannot differentiate between right and left?" Ryu burst with frustration. They have been doing these simple exercises for about a week now and Rin still lacked dexterity in her movements. The fact that her instructor was a yokai didn't help. He used his inhuman powers to his own advantage, trying to get at Rin in any way possible. Even after the first day of her training, she could barely walk because of the intolerable pain she felt in her muscles. Bruises covered her whole body from the cruel regimen of the dragon demon.

"Please, let me catch my breath," the girl wheezed. "It would really help if you stopped using your yokai powers. I can't keep up!"

"It is none of my concern that you are weak. Just give up, you won't achieve anything from this anyway." He smirked. This man, or better say, demon, perfectly knew all of the girl's weak spots. She will always rise up to the challenge no matter how hard it can be.
Rin, still kneeling on the ground from the hit she received just a few moments ago, eyed her instructor wearily. Even she could admit that this man was extremely attractive. His chiseled bare chest, long dark hair, held high in a ponytail, and golden armbands around his biceps made him look almost divine. But this didn't change the fact that he was a total asshole. Not only was he exceptionally rude and cruel, it seemed like he rather enjoyed making her suffer.

"I will not." And with those words, she rose from the ground to meet his golden eyes.

Hino Ryu simply sneered at her remark, knowing that Rin will regret this immensely.

While watching this exchange from one of the castle's windows, Sesshomaru frowned. He was fully aware of the fact that Ryu was not someone to mess around with. He specifically asked the commander to train Rin in an attempt to make her forget about fighting at all but he was not too happy that Rin would end up hurt in the process. Turns out, she was very determined to achieve her goal.

3 months later

Rin was now finally fourteen. During those few months Rin had found out why Sesshomaru assigned categorically Hino Ryu, which only made her slightly despise her lord. She got better and better in her new combat skills from training almost every day and in an effort to prove both the dog demon and the dragon demon wrong – the girl was, in fact, capable of protecting herself.

As of right now, Rin was sitting in the enormous dining room, full of elaborate paintings, tatami mats scattered all over the black marble floor and with Sesshomaru in front, who was blatantly staring at her while she was eating her deliciously prepared miso soup.
"What?" she mumbled with the spoon still in her mouth.

"You've been avoiding me" he said after a short pause.

Once more, the room was left quiet with the only sounds of Rin's clinking utensils and chewing being left. As soon as the food was swallowed, she announced, "No I'm not. It's just that I've been busy with all those lessons I have to attend."

"Hn."

"I'd say you're the one who's trying to avoid me, My lord. After all, it was you who assigned me to all these lectures." Rin suggested in an attempt to make it all seem like it was the dog demons fault while in fact she did actually try to avoid him.

Being quite familiar with what Rin was attempting to do and knowing fully that she was indeed evading him, Sesshomaru decided to play along. "Well then, if you feel so, why don't you come to my chambers every evening after the sun sets? I'm certain you and I both can find the time for such an arrangement" He smirked.

"Um… Fine, I suppose..." She said anxiously. Rin didn't expect this at all. Her plan completely backfired.

"Good. I'll see you this evening then." The dog demon clarified and stood up from the table. He made one last glance at Rin at saw that she was absolutely at loss. With that in mind, he grinned and left the oversized dining room.

What. The. Fuck, the girl thought as she stared at her bowl of soup. Did he just play me?

AN: First chapter done. Stay tuned for more and please review. Any kind of criticism is welcome!