The hacking could be heard just on the other side of the door. Kagome winced; the illness was progressed worse than she had thought. Closing her eyes for a moment she let out a silent prayer that she could save this child before it was too late. Obviously, she had the work cut out for her and so she also silently thanked her mother for her advice. In her mind she could still hear her. "Kagome, the best medicine for a sick child is love. From what you say, this girl has love in abundance, but it is from people who do not know how to express that emotion. She needs to feel it and hear it and see it in your actions. When you enter that room you should let yourself go and allow your maternal instinct to take over. For once you do, you will find, medicine or no, the girl will get better by leaps and bounds." Her mother smiled that misty little way she always did and then handed a small teddy bear to her. "And give her this. It was yours when you were a little girl and you always clung to it so when you were ill. He was your comfort and rock when nobody else was around." Kagome couldn't help the tears that entered her eyes at the thought of not seeing her family for weeks on end. Shaking her head she told herself to pull it together and then, with determination, entered the room.
A little head, covered in black hair, could be seen popping out from a mass of blankets and pillows on the bed. Another series of coughs escaped the child. Kagome immediately ran over to the little girl and lifted her into her arms, holding her close but not too tightly until the coughing spell went away. Rin's foggy eyes turned to Kagome in question. "Mommy? Is that you?" Her voice sounded horrible, torn and distorted from the inability in her lungs and the mutilated flesh of her throat. Kagome closed her eyes for a moment again, afraid that the girl's voice my never be the same again. Instead of being worried, though, she merely smiled at the child. "No, Rin. I am not your mother. I am here to help you get better." At this, the little girl smiled and hugged Kagome before another coughing spell took her. While she held the child, Kagome looked around the room to see what there was to work with. Apparently, from the look of the bed, the youkai believed that they could use the treatment for fevers to break the pneumonia away. She would have to remove all the linens and have them boiled. Looking up to the doorway she saw Jaken, standing to the side of the open door. "Jaken? Please go and request that somebody start a large pot of boiling water. All of these linens, including what Rin is wearing, will have to be washed." The retainer nodded once and then left the hall for a moment to delegate the task.
While he was gone she laid the now sleeping Rin on the bed and set to removing the blankets and pillows. Bed might not be an appropriate name.. it was more or less three futons piled upon themselves with tons of blankets and pillows. They probably hadn't been properly washed in months. No wonder the child was sick! Jaken entered the room again and Kagome turned to him with a slightly defeated look on her face. "Don't you people ever clean?" He was shocked and a little confused. She shook her head and threw a pile of musty blankets at him before tackling the huge number of pillows. Soon, pillows, blankets, and clothes could be seen flying out of the child's room. If you looked carefully, you could see the toad squirming about trying to swim his way out of the mess only to be assaulted by flying linen. Once the last of them had been removed and there remained only one futon, the cleanest in Kagome's opinion, she turned to Jaken and watched with an amused grin as he extracted himself. "Have those all boiled and hung to dry outside. There's a nice breeze out so they should dry well. Then bring me a bucket of hot water, a bar of soap, and some kind of cloths that I can clean this room with." Jaken grumbled something about bossy women as he hefted a few pillows and ran off to find some help.
Kagome opened her pack and pulled out some baby wipes. Taking one in her hand she carefully stripped Rin of her clothes and then wiped the child down. By the time Kagome had found the slightly green hue of Rin's skin she had used nearly half the package. Shaking her head in amazement she now had to ask if they ever bathed, either. Rin moaned a little and shivered due to the cold air. Kagome quickly pulled out a little nightgown and a pair of socks from her pack, dressing the girl. It was a good thing her mom thought of everything. She covered Rin with another blanket and then pulled out her digital thermometer, turning it on and sticking it in Rin's mouth. While waiting she looked around the now rather sparse room. Once the piles of clothes and masses of blankets were gone the room seemed so much larger and emptier. A beep startled Kagome out of her musings and she looked at the numbers. 99.2, not deadly but not wonderful for a sick child either. Turning the thermometer off she saw Jaken return with a bucket of hot water, a bar of soap, and a handful of strips of cotton cloth. He set them down before her and then waited for her next order. She smiled at him and pointed to the pile of baby wipes. "Have those burned, please. Then wash your hands thoroughly." He nodded, a little confused, but did as she said.
Turning to look around at what she should start with Kagome noticed a small window in the side of the room. It had not been opened in some time, probably because the room's occupant was too short to reach the sill. With a determined nod Kagome pulled her sleeves up and went to cleaning the window, all the while humming a tune to keep her mind off the dirty work. Rin slept somewhat peacefully and Jaken had yet to return so the hall was full of the sounds of the bustling of Staff removing the pile of linens and Kagome's song.
He could hear her from the floor below. Her voice was very melodious and soothing but far too distracting.
Sesshomaru sat in his study, unsure what he was going to do about the miko. He realized that he had told her that she could stay to help Rin. He also realized that it was probably in his best interest to allow her to help Rin. But.. He also had realized just who she was. He couldn't believe that he hadn't noticed it before! She had changed, agreed, grown up and was more mature in her features. She also wasn't wearing that indecent strip of green cloth that she called clothing and had taken to wearing miko garb. Somehow he felt that she probably had only done that for her presence in his home and he was a little surprised that he would grant her, a silly human, with such forethought. Though, he couldn't help the slight smile that graced his face at the idea that she would think of such things. It wasn't beyond her capabilities from what he had seen so far. Putting up with his stupid half-brother showed an immense patience and understanding that went beyond her years, especially considering her mortality. Unfortunately it was because she was InuYasha's companion that he would have to send her away. He knew the boy all too well. A day or two might pass and Rin would become dependent on the miko to cure her. Then, seemingly for no reason to anyone but himself, the boy would come running in with his sword drawn and his fangs bared. Sesshomaru couldn't help a slight pang of irritation towards his brother. He was such an idiot! Such potential but that stupid brain could never get past himself to see it. Rediculous. A waste of good blood, in his opinion.
With a raise of his hand he called an attendant to him and requested Jaken to send the Miko to him immediately. There could be no delay or it would crush Rin completely. He waited until the girl came before him, dirty and dusty with her sleeves rolled up past her elbows and her hair mussed. She looked very unclean and quite unladylike. It was rather amusing, she was an extremely clean human as far as he knew of them and to see her in such a state was rather different. Almost charming.
Almost.
She bowed low again, not looking away from him but showing proper respect. He nodded and she rose to stand before him. "You called for me, Lord Sesshomaru?" He looked away from her, not wanting to see her face as she would break out in anger as he knew she would. With a wave he motioned for her to sit on a cushion before the desk. She did as requested and once settled he began.
"You must leave here. Now. I am most bothered by the idea that my half-brother may come running in here to disrupt my home even more. Instead of waiting for the inevitable I will simply allow you to leave before he gets that notion in his head." He said this with an air of finality and, as an afterthought said: "And stop that noise you were making earlier. It is bothersome."
Her confused gaze met his. "Noise? What noise?" Her voice was harsh but contained; she was trying her best to control her temper. He and InuYasha were so alike! They had to make everything difficult and thought they knew it all! Amazing! Annoying! She had to press into her hand with her other to keep herself from screaming at him. What an assuming ass! "Whatever. InuYasha won't come here. I already told him to stay away. I won't leave for a reason like that; it's not worth Rin's health. If InuYasha does happen to come I will deal with him, you do not have to worry."
Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow at her and pursed his lips in thought. "That noise you make when you open your mouth and sound comes out." He watched, sideways, as her face flew into a fury and her eyes grew large. Utterly hilarious. She was so obvious and readable. It had been so long since he had some company that wasn't afraid to be themselves that he had almost forgotten what teasing was like.
Kagome closed her eyes and grit her teeth, pushing harder on her hand and feeling herself cut the flesh. Jackass! He didn't even bother to discuss the real subject. He was more concerned with her simple humming! She bowed low and looked up at him again. "Forgive me, Lord Sesshomaru. I will refrain from making noise until you deem it worthy of your ears." She said this in a quiet but firm and angry tone, traced with a bit of sarcasam and loaded with contempt. How could a child love this monster so much! He was insufferable! Sesshomaru turned to her quickly and glared.
"Do not address me so harshly. Remember whose home you are in, Kagome." He expected her reaction to be anger or rage but as he watched her body language he was shocked to find her surprised and a little happy. What had he done? Where had he gone wrong? He didn't want her to like him! He wanted her to go away! "Leave."
With a small smile the girl stood and exited the room. "Thank you, Lord Sesshomaru." Was the last thing he heard from her before she left his sight. What an odd creature.
Slowly, as she grew further away from him, he heard a sound in the distance. Lulling and sweet. He closed his eyes for the briefest of moments before he opened them wide with realization. She was humming again!
Kagome entered Rin's room and looked around in a pleased manner. It was much cleaner than before and Rin was now awake, sitting in her bed looking bored. When the child saw her she grinned. "Kagome! Was that you singing? It was so pretty! Is Kagome here to make Rin better now?" As the child continued her constant questions Kagome smiled at her and began to dig through her pack. Finding a bottle of pink liquid she shook it furiously before measuring a dose in a dropper and coming over to Rin. The child stared at the substance curiously. "What is that?"
She motioned the dropper towards Rin's mouth and then squirted it all in. Rin's face fell into shock. "Eww! That's gross!" Kagome couldn't help but laugh. "Kagome please don't make me take any more of that!" With a shake of her head she set the bottle down and picked up a can and a can opener, setting to the task of opening the food. "I'm sorry, Rin. It's horrible tasting, I know, but you have to have it. It's medicine that will help you get better." She finished opening the can and placed it in a small cooking pot. Turning towards the doorway she called out for Jaken and then handed him the pot when he arrived. "Have the cook add a little water to it and then warm it up a little, not too hot so it doesn't burn the tounge. Then bring it back here for Rin." The toad nodded and ran off to the kitchens wondering what sort of medicine this was. Kagome turned to Rin and smiled. "I hope you like chicken noodle soup!"
The girls talked while they waited for Jaken to return and when he did with the warmed liquid and a slice of bread Kagome couldn't help but comment on his thoughtfulness. While Rin ate Kagome told her stories, jokes, and sang songs to keep the child entertained. Their giggles could be heard through the halls and, in one resounding sigh, the members of the household felt a giant weight lift off their souls. Rin would be all right.
Meanwhile... a certain lord sat in his study, eyes closed and head turned to the side as he listened. Somehow the little miko had not heard a word he had said to her and yet had understood completely what he meant.
