Chapter 4: The Test of Compassion

"What do you mean you must test my mate?" Sesshomaru growled at his father.

"It's the Council's duty to make sure your mate is suitable for the role." He replied. "After all, you are to become the head of the company and they can't just let any human become your mate." Every demon that chooses a human as his mate must be tested. He sighed knowing full well what his son was going through. He could just imagine the torment that was going through his mind.

It was common for an InuYokai to want to protect their mate. It was in their very nature for them to want to be there by their side in times of need and stress. Dog Demons have the need to mark theme as their mate and protect them with their life and her being human makes this instinct stronger.

"If they put one scratch on her, I'll-."

"I assure you, no harm will fall upon your mate." His father reassured him knowing that his son was very capable of threatening people. And he didn't put it past him… "It's only a simple test."

-:-:-

Rin stalked down the hallways towards her best friend in fury. Why wasn't she telling her anything? She had her up all night thinking about it for Kami's sakes. Kagome saw her walking towards her and sighed but she knew she deserved it. After all she knew exactly what it felt like to be left in the dark.

"I know you're mad at me," she sighed when Rin got up to her.

"Mad doesn't even cover it. I have been up all night thinking about how you're lying to me. I'd rather you lie some more and tell me you knew nothing than tell me you know something and say nothing."

"Rin it's way too early in the morning for this, you're making no sense! I know….I seem like an awful friend but-."

"Don't you dare say "you'll know eventually"." Rin said angrily using her finger as quote marks. "What the fuck does that even mean?"

Kagome gasped when she heard Rin cuss. Never does Rin lower herself to use profanity unless she is super angry. It immediately said 'I'm pissed, I dare you to piss me off further'. Kagome just let Rin rant a little longer knowing that her friend needed to vent.

"You call yourself a good friend. And don't say it's not my place to tell you, don't you think I have a right to know considering it's about me? I feel incredibly betrayed. What happened to the pact we made in Year 7-which we have kept till now might I add?" Rin stopped her rant abruptly and Kagome looked over her shoulder to see her staring at a certain yokia. She giggled reverting Rin's angry attention back to her.

"Hey girls, what's the heated discussion about?" Inuyasha grinned strolling towards them. Kagome let out a breath of relief at the slight distraction and went to go hug her boyfriend. He wrapped his arm loosely around her waist and gave her a quick chaste kiss.

"Nothing…we just have a slight difference in opinion." Rin chuckled at the expression on Inuyasha's expression. It was obvious to anyone else that it wasn't just a difference of opinion.

The bell rang pausing the argument for now to Kagome's relief. They separated to go into their different classrooms and Rin rolled her eyes. She's got to get it out of Kagome somehow. Now that Kagome had let her rant, she felt a lot better.

-:-:-

The day went quickly and Sango had somehow managed to do the impossible job of keeping Rin and Kagome from biting each other's heads off. She too was a little curious as to what Kagome knew but she trusted her friend's judgement.

Rin hurried to her hip hop class and quickly got changed excited to get her mind off certain things. She smiled at her teacher when he walked in and they began class. Throughout the lesson, her teacher had noticed the obvious change in her dancing. She was a lot slacker and had missed a few steps; it was evident that her mind was elsewhere.

Once the class ended, he walked over to her as she pulled out her drink bottle.

"Is there something that we need to talk about Rin?" He asked.

"No sir, I'm sorry I'm not at my best today." She apologized. She blushed when she heard the sneers coming from her classmates.

"If there is anything you need to talk about, feel free to talk to me." He said before walking away. Rin watched her teacher's retreating form and shrugged as she made her way out the door.

Instead of rushing for the bus to get home early she decided to walk home and take her time. She plugged in her earphones and decided to take another way home for a change of scenery. A cold breeze swept through reminding her that winter was soon approaching and she grimaced.

Winter wasn't her favourite season but she still loved it. She loved getting hot chocolate, snuggling up in loads of blankets while watching her favourite TV shows and the snow. The minuses were the school uniform, getting sick and just the cold in general. Although she did like watching all the Sakura trees bloom as they added vibrant colours to the streets.

Rin stood at the headlights waiting for a break in the traffic. She glanced to the side to see an old man with long silver hair carrying a lot of shopping bags and she wondered why he didn't use a trolley. He looked familiar but she had never seen him in her life. He had one purple stripe on his cheek and a nagging voice in her head told her to pay more attention.

Jeez she really was going crazy

As she crossed the street, she stopped sharply when she heard a loud crash. She looked behind her and saw that the shopping bags that the old man had been holding had broken and all its contents had fallen out. Poor guy, he was probably trying to get back to his family.

"Oh, let me help you." She gasped. She rushed forward picking up all his groceries and shoved them in her own bag. He gave her a questioning look with bright golden eyes that reminded her of someone but she thought no further of it. "I'll help you take them to your home."

"Oh you don't need to help an old man like me." He said in a croaky voice.

She gave him a warm smile and shook her head. "Don't worry; I have nowhere else to be." This was a lie, in fact she needed to get home before her parents but at the moment she couldn't care less.

The old man hobbled along with her as she followed him towards his home. When he pushed open his front gate she gaped in surprise. What she saw had her completely amazed. She had expected an old run down house but the front garden was pristine with a fountain. Who owns a fountain? As they walked up the path she observed her surroundings just waiting for a limo to appear.

A guard standing at the door gave him a bow before opening the door allowing the unknown man and Rin to step in. The interior was just as amazing; a large hallway went along with a number of doors and one archway connected to it.

"Here ya go." Rin announced bringing out all his groceries from her bag. "Where would you like me to put them?"

"No need for that." He replied and she looked down at him in confusion. He smiled at her and a sudden gust of wind encircled him creating a small tornado. When it cleared there stood an extremely tall man that looked almost identical to the Taisho brothers. Rin's eyes widened in fear and she took a large step back.

Now realised realised how stupid she was. She just followed a stranger into his home. She might as well have a neon billboard sign saying "please feel free to kidnap me, I'm an easy target". Was he going to kill her? She was no match for a male let alone a yokai!

He sensed her distress and put his hand out in a reassuring gesture. "Let me introduce myself. I am Kenta Taisho, father of Inuyasha and Sesshomaru."

Rin nodded her head slowly, trying to comprehend the situation. "U-umm, please to meet you." She had to admit that over the years she had wondered what Inuyasha's dad looked like. Inuyasha always managed to evade questions about his family.

"And I you."

She noticed he spoke very formally but it seemed like he had a very fatherly personality. Rin heard the click of high heels and she looked over Kenta's shoulders to find a slender woman hurrying towards them. Things were becoming very weird.

In a few seconds Rin was crushed in a giant bear hug. "Oh my gosh, it's so great to finally meet you Rin." The strange woman gushed.

"Izayoi don't suffocate the girl." Kenta sighed with a roll of his eyes. Izayoi stuck her tongue out at her husband and Rin smiled at the humorous display.

The couple continued to banter back and forth and Rin blushed feeling as if she were intervening on a private conversation. What on earth is happening? A couple of words stuck out to Rin though that left a weird feeling in her stomach. Words like mate, Sesshomaru, test, doesn't know, etc. None of these made any sense to her and she caught her name a couple of times. She glanced between them and it seemed like they were completely oblivious to her presence. She knew they were talking about her and she started to giggle. They turned to her curiously and she laughed harder.

Izayoi's eyes soften and she formally introduced herself. "Hello, my name is Izayoi, Sesshomaru's and Inuyasha's mother. I'm sorry if I scared you I was just excited to finally meet you."

"Finally meet me?"

Kenta gave her a warning glance and she said, "Yes, Inuyasha has said a lot about you but I have never met you before."

"Oh that's typical of Inuyasha. I hate to be rude but I must be on my way now, I was meant to be home…" she glanced at her watch and gasped. "20 minutes ago. Sorry I gotta run." She bowed quickly and ran out the door past the guards.

"She's a cute little thing." Izayoi finally said a note of acceptance clear in her voice.

"Yes, Sesshomaru will be happy that she passed her first test. Test of Compassion…"

-:-:-