The Companion

Chapter I

Disclaimer: Sadly, Rumiko Takahashi owns Inuyasha; not me… what is even more depressing, is that I don't own Sesshoumaru-sama. I do, however, own all of the plot contained in this story that is not a flashback from the manga/anime series, and all of the original characters (don't worry, I don't have any Mary Sues!). Thank you, Takahashi-sama, for creating such wonderful characters :coughSesshoumarucough: for me to manipulate and wreak havoc on. Also, a huge thanks to my wonderful beta, Yestreen, who, in the form of demands for more of this story, gave me the encouragement to finish and post "The Companion."

Also, I don't usually use what my beta has termed "fangirl Japanese" in my stories, but I think that some Japanese words make the story flow much more easily than their English counterparts. For those of you who are new to the fanfiction world, I will provide you with definitions for any foreign words that I may use.

Japanese Vocabulary:

Youkai - in English this is translated to mean "demon," but it is actually more like a "spirit." Think of the animal sprits in many Native American cultures.

Taiyoukai - high youkai lord or ruler

Sama - "lord," or a title of respect. My Japanese friend said that it roughly translates to "master" or "mistress."

Hanyou - the offspring of a human and a youkai, as in Inuyasha's case.

Mokomoko-sama - the name Rumiko Takahashi has given to Sesshoumaru's "fluffy." No, I do not believe that it is his tail; more like a pelt or something, since it is detachable…

And now, for our featured presentation…

"Life without a friend is like death without a witness."
- Spanish Proverb

Sesshoumaru, tai-youkai of the Western lands, son and heir of the great Dog General, and wielder of the heavenly sword Tenseiga, was not amused.

His minion, Jakken, had been placed in charge of caring for Rin while Sesshoumaru was battling with another youkai, yet the little green atrocity had somehow managed to lose his charge. Jaken had been making a habit of losing his young female recently, and Sesshoumaru was forced, yet again, to search for the girl. If Jaken had been capable of carrying out his simple task, Sesshoumaru would not be wasting his time now correcting the idiot toad's mistake. The inconvenience sorely tested Sesshoumaru's patience.

Jaken would not make such a foolish mistake again.

Sesshoumaru sniffed the air and finally caught the young girl's scent. At once, he was off; he knew after hours of separation, Rin would be feeling lost and alone, and the sooner that was rectified, the better. She was essentially helpless by herself, and he knew that if another youkai ever came upon her while she lacked his protection, the outcome for her would be less than pleasant. Even more so for the foolish youkai, after Sesshoumaru had finished with him.

With visions of violence parading across his vision, Sesshoumaru broke through a last bit of foliage and abruptly found himself in a field flooded with flowers. The scent of so many different species was almost overpowering, but amongst them the rare scent that he had been pursuing also drifted across his nose; Rin was here. His gaze swept across the meadow, but he didn't see his small companion in the sea of blossoms. He began trekking across, trying to hone in on the scent that he had been trying to define and remember since their first meeting.

Eventually, he saw a small gap in the mass of blooms, and approached it. Rin was lying flat on her back, arms and legs flung in every direction. Endlessly chattering while awake, she was no different in sleep; Sesshoumaru's sensitive ears easily picked up what seemed to be mutterings about Rin exacting revenge on Jaken for his negligence. If Rin carried out the actions in her dream, perhaps he would not have to discipline Jaken, after all…

Suddenly, as if Sesshoumaru's presence had disturbed her slumber, Rin's eyes opened to stare directly into his. For one small moment, Sesshoumaru thought that her eyes seemed far too old for the small face that they resided in. A second later, however, Rin jumped up and smiled at him, telling him how glad she was that her Sesshoumaru-sama had found her. Sesshoumaru simply turned and began walking, knowing that she would follow as she always did. He could hear her first few light footsteps and the sound of flowers being crushed beneath her tiny feet, and it struck him suddenly that he had grown accustomed to his human shadow. Much like the swords at his side or his

Mokomoko-sama on his shoulder, she was now a part of his daily life.

He would have worried about the fact that a human was allowed such an important role, if not for the fact that he knew it would not last; with all of the disease and other perils to the frail human body, most humans in this era did not live beyond a scant fifty years or so. To a youkai, such a small span of time was scarcely long enough to dwell upon. She would soon fade, and he would continue on his travels as he always had. Sesshoumaru frowned. The thought unsettled him more than it should have, so he decided not to dwell on it any longer.

They were nearing the edge of the meadow when another hint of a scent drifted under Sesshoumaru's nose. The flowers were so overpowering, that he almost missed it in time for him step in front of Rin. The feral dog that had been lying hidden, though hungry, was no fool. It quickly realized that to try and approach the small human and her protector would mean death. Tail tucked between its legs, it quickly scampered off to try its luck elsewhere.

Sesshoumaru turned to reassure himself that Rin was unharmed, and she glanced up with a smile on her face. "Thank you for saving Rin, Sesshoumaru-sama!" Sesshoumaru simply nodded, and proceeded to walk as though nothing had occurred. Rin soon followed after, but after only a few minutes of silence (which had somehow seemed eerie to the taiyoukai), she called out to him. When this gained no response from her guardian, Rin tugged at his empty sleeve, which had only filled up by a finger-width or so over the years; Sesshoumaru's arm was growing back much more slowly than he would have liked. He mentally sighed and glanced down at his little urchin. Expecting a request to return and pick more flowers, a comment on the wild dog, or any other number of inane things that the child could ask for, Sesshoumaru was taken completely off-guard with her next words.

"Sesshoumaru-sama, Rin wants to learn to fight."

Sesshoumaru halted, and turned to more fully face her. "That is not necessary."

"But Rin wants to!"

"What need have you to fight when this Sesshoumaru protects you?"

Rin glanced at the ground, and dug the toe of one of her shoes into the dirt. She then mumbled something that even his superior ears could not decipher.

"Speak clearly, Rin."

"Rin said that Sesshoumaru-sama is not always with her, so he can't always protect Rin."

Sesshoumaru blinked. Since Rin had begun to follow him after her resurrection, he had never, not once, failed to protect her when she needed aid. When he had not been present, he had always left her in the company of Jaken and/or Ah-Un. While Jaken might be less than reliable, Ah-Un would protect the girl with its very life. How was it that the girl was now feeling unsafe in his company?

"Rin, you are a human, and a female one at that. There is no chance that you would ever be able to fight a youkai and escape unscathed."

"The pretty lady does!"

"…Whom do you speak of?"

"The pretty lady that is friends with the bastard!"

Sesshoumaru almost choked. "Rin, 'bastard' is not a word fit for a lady to use."

Rin tilted her head and stared at him with big eyes. "But that's what you call him, Sesshoumaru-sama!"

"I am not a lady."

Rin giggled, the sound spilling forth and ricocheting of off the trees to pass through his ears multiple times. Sesshoumaru was also amused, until he saw her eyes suddenly turn from amused to mischievous; he knew that her next words were going to be trouble. Her eyes deliberately swept over his long hair, and her grin widened. "Sesshoumaru-sama's hair sure is pretty, though."

"What, exactly, are you implying?"

Rin dissolved into such a fit of giggles that had her to doubling-over, her small hands crossing over her stomach.

"It is not nearly as amusing as you make it out to be, Rin."

Since Rin was no longer capable of walking, he picked her up and began carrying her back to Jaken. Still slightly out of breath, Rin wiped away a bit of moisture from her eyes and glanced up at Sesshoumaru again.

"What about the pretty lady, Sesshoumaru-sama? Why can she fight?"

"The ba-," Sesshoumaru glanced down at Rin and sighed. "Inuyasha's companion is a miko. She possesses a great natural power that you do not."

"Oh. Well, Rin could still learn to protect herself from bag doggies. Right, Sesshoumaru-sama?"

Rin looked up at him with an expression that, if he hadn't known any better, would have seemed completely guileless. For some reason, her lack of candor served to persuade him more than if he had not seen the mischievous glint in her brown eyes. He had always found her impishness amusing, and he suspected that she knew it. He also suspected that he was being manipulated, but it changed nothing. He mentally sighed, knowing that training Rin would be extremely dangerous for her, no matter who he chose to tutor her. He would not do so himself because he had no patience for such things. Rin may be able to learn as quickly as any little youkai, but the frailties of her body would greatly hinder his instruction. He knew that the child viewed humans as untrustworthy, and since he quite agreed with her assessment, a human trainer was also out of the question. That left youkai, but he knew of few other youkai that possessed any more tolerance for human weakness than he did. He would have to look into it. Noticing that the child could finally walk again, he set Rin down, thinking that to endeavor in such a task would be to use up even more of his valuable time. Unless, of course, he delegated. Hmmm…

"Rin, let us go; we must return to Jaken."

Rin smiled up at him. "Okay, Sesshoumaru-sama!"

With that, he began leading the way back to his green minion, still thinking of the many ways that he would reprehend the little fiend. His musings improved his mood somewhat.

For what seemed to be like the millionth time that day, Sesshoumaru wondered if he was making the right decision. The fact that he did so further frustrated him, because the taiyoukai of the West should not doubt himself. What in the world had ever possessed him to care for a human child? With every day, raising Rin seemed to become more and more troublesome.

He supposed that it had something to do with his dog-like nature and a the sense that he had to return the kindness that the girl had shown him. After all, canines were nothing but honorable, and her actions more definitely deserved his loyalty; even though he had told her not to bother with him, he was still in her debt. By bringing him food and trying to care for him at their initial meeting, Rin had inadvertently discovered his and every other canine youkai's Achilles heel; his instincts now demanded that he return her kindness by providing for and protecting her, essentially returning the favor. The thought of being in anyone's debt made him want to growl… but even had he been able to fight his instincts, he still considered the thought of acting dishonorably far worse than protecting one small, human girl.

Sesshoumaru silently eyed Jaken, wondering if the toad had recently failed to do anything that would allow him to vent his frustrations on him with any justification. Sadly, everything seemed to be in place. Sesshoumaru mentally sighed in disappointment, and turned his attention back to Rin.

The small human stood facing off one of the female members in his court, another dog youkai named Gella. She was one of the few remaining un-mated, full-blooded dog youkai, and Sesshoumaru had actually pursued her as a potential mate for a time. She came from a very strong family line, and the connection between the families would have been a great asset. Gella, however, believed that her life-mate should be someone that she could have a strong relationship with. She found Sesshoumaru's disciplined and stoic ways too much of a barrier to form any kind of bond, and so declined his offer. Sesshoumaru held nothing against her since he had no desire to have a reluctant female on his hands, but he knew that he had few other choices. If he wished to continue his great line, he would have to find a worthy mate soon and breed strong sons. Gella's courtship and refusal had set him back a bit, and he knew that he would have to begin his search again.

Still, the golden youkai possessed incredible patience and was very adept at hand-to-hand combat and weapon handling, so logically Sesshoumaru had chosen her to begin Rin's training. At first, Gella had believed that Sesshoumaru had a hidden agenda, but she soon learned how foolish such thoughts were. She should have known better than to suspect that the taiyoukai would stoop to such underhanded tactics, for he thought them well beneath him. He simply stated that he knew that he could find no teacher with more skill for his charge (other than himself, of course), and so Gella agreed to train the mortal girl.

Thinking of Gella's fighting prowess again gave Sesshoumaru the unattractive desire to fidget. Even though Sesshoumaru knew that Gella would never do anything to intentionally harm the girl (it was far more likely that she would go soft on her due to her gentle nature), he still remained in an agitated state as he watched Rin begin to work through the basics. The pup was sparring with a full-blooded youkai, and she was but a small human child. Sesshoumaru knew that accidents and death could easily occur even during the simplest training exercises, and so he felt duty-bound to be on-hand with the Tenseiga at all times. He had warned Gella to use extra caution around the girl's frail body, but he refused to be unprepared to counter anything that could go wrong.

After months of searching for a tutor with no success, Sesshoumaru had again considered schooling the girl himself, but the idea was quickly negated when he realized that he would not have the patience nor the ability to work around her weaknesses. Not only was there the risk that he would harm or insult her in his impatience, there was also the daunting possibility that he could cause her to cry; he certainly had no patience for her tears, and he greatly disliked the ability they had to make him feel awkward. He decided that it would be best for everyone if he simply supervised during her lessons. As of yet, he could find no fault with Gella's teachings.

At the end of the session, Rin seemed none the worse for wear other than the fact that she was quite exhausted. Gella had begun to teach her the basic moves to fend something off without a weapon, which required quite a bit of both strength and stamina. While Rin might be used to following him around and walking for days, she was usually allowed to ride Ah-Un when she became too tired. Walking also did little to improve her upper-body strength, which was what was required for most of the moves that Gella was showing her. While teaching the young girl to use a bow or throwing knives may have been easier on her frail body, Sesshoumaru feared that with her weak, human senses, Rin would not be able to draw a weapon in time to defend herself if an enemy attacked her suddenly. While Rin had shown only a little advancement after her first lesson, she did not seem disheartened by her lack of progress; she merely requested to be allowed to take a bath after thanking and bowing to her new instructor. Sesshoumaru made one last perusal before he was satisfied with her health, then turned and silently led the way to the bathing chamber with a smiling Rin following close behind him.

Gella watched the Western lord's retreat, and again wondered how such a stoic youkai could keep the company of such an exuberant human girl. While Gella herself had no qualms with the weak bipeds (after having become accustomed to them during Sesshoumaru's father's rule), she knew that Sesshoumaru despised his hanyou half-brother and his father's late human mate, Izaiyoi. Sesshoumaru believed that the youkai bloodline should remain untainted, but his father had mated with and died for a member of the inferior species. Sesshoumaru had also attacked his half-sibling numerous times, and Gella wondered again how the hanyou had escaped death for all these years. Not only had Inuyasha battled Naraku and various other youkai, but the taiyoukai wished to see him dead as well. Either Sesshoumaru was going easy on him (which was a ridiculous notion unless Sesshoumaru had an ulterior motive), or Inuyasha was much stronger than Sesshoumaru would ever give a hanyou credit for.

Gella sighed. She still wasn't sure if the Western Lord had forgiven her for refusing his suit, but Gella just hadn't been able to adjust to the idea of binding herself to someone such as Sesshoumaru. He was incredibly strong and an exceptional ruler, but he had obtained his level of power by being ruthless, disciplined, and completely without emotion. Having to look upon his cold face everyday and knowing that he would turn that same coldness on their "perfect inu-youkai heirs" turned her stomach. Just now, however, when the lord had looked at Rin… he had seemed softer somehow. At the very least, he showed extreme tolerance for the pup's antics. Could he have changed? If that were possible, then perhaps he would be more accepting of Gella's choice of another for a mate when the time came. Maybe… I should see to the young girl's contentment. After all, if she is happy, should not my lord be satisfied as well? She does seem to have that effect on him. Yes, indeed - this may very well work to my advantage.