Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.
Thanks to icegirljenni, DivineRose91, Shessy's lil's girl, sfdmoment, Lynn, Drama Kagome, Taraah36, RubyJeweler
After Sesshomaru left Rin with Kaede, he came upon a hill top not far from the village. He took a station on a big boulder looking down toward where Kaede's residence would be - albeit, while sitting on a rock, he still managed to look regal. His golden gaze was unreadable; though, it clearly showed that he was thinking about Rin.
Rin was resilient and very adaptable. The chance that Rin might fall comfortably into the human way of life was greater than he was willing to admit. In a way, he seethed at the thought that Rin wouldn't need him anymore, and that Rin would find herself a cozier home with just as much happiness as what he had given her.
The possibility that Rin wouldn't choose to travel with him when she would be ready to make that choice seeped into his heart and almost singed it into a pile of ash, unusable for living - even for a powerful demon such as himself.
It was hopeless! Sesshomaru loved Rin.
And he had stopped all effort to deny it after the time when he held her dead body in the underworld.
In whatever way that love might be, he did not know. In fact, he probably didn't even know that particular emotion regarding Rin was love. At the moment, it was just a nameless emotion, a pleasant emotion that wielded him to do things that he never imagined himself do even when he was in one of his more whimsical moods.
Sesshomaru never cringed at anyone's death before. He didn't even cringe at the prospect of his own demise when fighting the deadly Sounga. But in the underworld when he lost Rin, he cringed with disgust at his own greed for power; his face got distorted into such an unsightly frown that he had buried his face into her cheeks to hide it - and hid all whatever else expression that may have accompanied that frown.
Whatever that nameless emotion was, he just knew that he wanted Rin to be with him forever, and hoped that Rin felt the same way, not knowing that she already felt that same way with all her heart. Funny it was, as a chirpy cheerful thing that Rin was, she held her secret feelings rather well.
As it was, Sesshomaru really didn't need that rest that he was taking at the moment. He just refused to move away that far from Rin. So, he lingered there just thinking - thinking about what Kaede had said, and thinking about Rin.
In a way, he was proud at the droppings of jaws from Inuyasha and them people at Rin's faith in his words. Rin trusted him, and he was glad.
Though, Rin had not always trusted him in the past. After the shoes incident, Rin became so fearful of him that had made their travel not as easy and smooth as it seemed.
After then, Sesshomaru had to think twice about what he was doing to make sure that he was handling the little fragile human girl with care. He knew that he was in too deep with his attraction toward her. In that past, sometimes, he thought he might have to dispose of her, once and for all, to exterminate that weird feeling which had narrowed his options in carrying out his daily killing routines.
It was really ruining the image of his killing perfection.
When Naraku kidnapped Rin, Sesshomaru was going to kill Naraku, and - who cared about that human girl. But in the end, his eyes flared red in anger - not at Naraku's trick, because he already knew that Naraku was tricky - but anger with his own confusing mind which had decided that he should go and rescue the human girl instead - falling nicely into Naraku's stupid trick!
To keep his words that he wouldn't kill again, Sesshomaru had refrained from killing things unnecessarily. Many times, he stood seething inside thinking of the worse ways possible to kill things like Kohaku, Sango, the monks who tried to purify him. But in front of Rin, he struggled to stop himself from doing it. He remembered that killing these insignificant things - insignificant to him anyway- wouldn't make his world any easier; it would only make it harder because Rin would pout for another 100 days plus some more.
But it wasn't the pouting that he dreaded most, even though it was bad enough; but rather, it was the horrid thought about how the happiness would drain from her angelic eyes if he killed mindlessly.
So, he had day-dreamed about killing instead, boiling inside trying to retrace the steps of how his little human had gotten his tall self wrapped into several loops around her finger. It appeased him much when that riddle surfaced because he couldn't retrace anything; his little human didn't do anything. She was neither manipulative nor deceptive, and never oppressive toward him - she had no power to oppress him, nor did she possess the sly art to deceive.
She was just smiling, loving, and believing- just doing what the innocent cute Rin did best.
It was his own voluntary self that got him all wrapped around her. It was unbelievable that he somehow got tangled in that kind of emotional mess with any other living thing; but as the case was, he trod too deep into an alien territory, hopelessly deep, and couldn't find his way out. Curiously for him, even if he didn't know what alien land he had stumbled upon, he had found it extremely comfortable there - with Rin by his side.
He had taken great care to leave Rin behind when he knew that the journey might include some inevitable bloody scenes.
He used to shudder at Rin's determination in her fashion of pouting when he did something wrong, not wrong according to him, but wrong according to her. Why did he ever care that Rin got hurt, physically or emotionally, was beyond his comprehension.
The feeling was just undeniable.
And there was no point in analyzing it; before long, he had run out of reasons to justify.
Sesshomaru would walk into any trap or lunge to his death to preserve her sweet smile. And when confronted about that whim of his by Jaken, or his brother, or whoever, he would just imagine himself shrugging his shoulders and cared not to answer.
From that traumatizing incidence, he could never obtain another kimono for her because he could never afford one by the human method; but his demon method would cause Rin's tears. That was why Rin always had on the same kimono.
As for the subject of footwear, he never dared mentioning it to Rin, ever again!
He smirked at the memory of Kaede's observation about Rin's footwear habit, a keen observation indeed. Did Kaede think that he had provided for Rin improperly? And what about the "Rin should have the best from both worlds, a mixture of the human gentility expressed through the demonic grace"?
What was all that about? What was so good about human? Was his demonic grace not good enough for one very fragile human girl? Of course, it was good enough; more than enough!
Yes!
But Rin would still have no shoes!
Sesshomaru stood up from the boulder that he had been resting on while thinking about his journey with Rin. Rin was with him for a whole long year. And he had to admit that Rin didn't really have the most comfortable nights of sleep, nor the most delicious foods, nor the best looking clothes; not that Rin, herself, wanted the best, but what she had was really substandard.
She deserved much better than that!
And all of his love for her, why did he never think of providing for her better? Protecting her wasn't enough. Besides, most of the times when she was plagued with danger, it was all his fault anyway. Evil things were going after him, not her! She just happened to be a convenient hostage.
Rin was not a tough demon like him who could manhandle things the manly way. Rin was a little fragile human girl - in a literal sense of speaking; and in a figurative sense of speaking, Rin had become - what was it? Well, at the moment, he couldn't exactly define her. But whatever she had become, he would be a very unhappy and angry dog-demon without her.
Kaede was right - no more perhaps or maybe - she was absolutely right!
Being the only person who the Lord of the Western Land ever felt such a strong attraction to - counting both human and demon - Rin should have the best.
Rin would require human stuffs. She couldn't possibly tag along with him for another 60 years living his nomadic lifestyle, a rough uncomfortable lifestyle. She shouldn't be foraging through human villages stealing melons for food when she had become an adult; nor should she spread her beautiful feminine graceful body across the forest floor to rest at night.
Rin would grow up to be a respectful lady, a dignified lady as her name implied. And what respect would it be if Rin was stealing foods (and had no shoes on).
Just imagine Sango stealing melons! The world could certainly move on without that image.
If Rin was a demoness, food was no problem with the demonic way of life. But as tough as she had made herself out to be, Rin was a human requiring the comfort of her human world.
Despite being the Lord of The Western Land and all, Sesshomaru did not have a castle to shelter Rin. The castle of the Kings of the West had burned down with his father some 200 years ago. But even if that castle was still there, the demon servants were only trained to serve to the needs of demons Kings and their demoness Ladies. Providing that his father's mistress, Izayoi, was a human Lady, but she had her own group of servants whom she brought along to tend to her during her stay.
As the only object of his affection, if Rin should choose to tag along with him once again when she had become an adult - which Sesshomaru really hoped that she would choose him - Rin should have a huge castle to rest her feet if she needed. Rin would have lavish dinners consisting of human foods if she wished so. Rin would have the most elegant kimonos, and jewelries of the finest kind if she desired. Rin would have it all, the finestest of whatever the human world possessed.
He imagined that all the finestest human stuffs that he wanted for Rin would be costly. Where would he obtain them? And how? Fangs, claws, swords were out of the question; that would make him a bandit. Rin would not approve of it; well, she already didn't.
He would have to earn it - the human way.
That was the one with moral, NOT the bandits!
No more thought was needed. What Sesshomaru had to do was simple. Sesshomaru had determined. If Rin could learn the human way, he could very well learn it, too. How difficult could it possibly be living like those worthless creatures?
His worthless little brother could do it. But then again, since the humans and his brother were both worthless, that could be the reason why they got along so well.
How hard could it be?
Sesshomaru almost spat out a "Feh," but remembering that was the demeanor of Inuyasha, he refrained from copying it exactly. So, instead, as the stoicism of a high lord called for, he sounded out a graceful, "Hm" - even if there was nobody there listening to it.
Sesshomaru had surpassed his father in power with the attainment of his Bakusaiga. The land was at peace again with the destruction of very bad demons and hanyous - Naraku and his minions.
What else was left to do?
So, taking on the mock challenge, all for Rin and her sweet smile, Sesshomaru had decided to carry his demonic grace into an adventure of the human pursuit!
