Chapter 5; Break your legs.

One more… if she does it one more time…

From her place on the floor, Rin coughed and moaned under her breath and the demon huffed, getting up and running over to her, kicking her in the back once. "Human, stop that annoying sound."

For a moment, Rin moaned and curled into a ball then coughed into her hand. The demon behind her blinked slowly and looked at her hand. Blood… He knelt slowly, and put a hand on her head. She has a fever… and she's coughing blood. "You're sick."

She rolled away from him and pushed herself up but she shook at the action. "I… I'm fine. I have to…" Her hand slipped on the floor and she grabbed her shoulder, shaking and coughing. "I have to…"

More blood covered her hand as she coughed and her breathing was short and painful. She tried to stand up again but fell once more, gasping in pain.

Beside her, the demon touched her shoulder. "You are really sick."

"I… I'm fine." She gasped then stood up quickly, finding her way to her feet but she swayed and grabbed the table for support. She kept coughing and shaking, her right leg lifted off the floor.

Still knelt on the floor, the demon watched her movements and judged her condition. "You're sick human, you need to rest."

"I… I have to get on with the lady's… breakfast." She took a step and almost fell to her knees but grabbed the wall. "I… have to…. I have to… get on with my… work."

She tried to move again but this time did fall to her knees but the demon shot over to her, wrapping his arm around her back but she yelped in pain, cowering away from him.

Then he realised.

Her leg, her back and shoulder… that was where she was beaten. He frowned and stood, stepping to be behind her, knocking her feet from under. Rin gasped in pain and shock as she was carried across the kitchen. "What are you doing?"

"You are sick, human." He nearly dropped her onto the bed and stared down at her. "You need to rest."

From the old wooden cot, Rin looked up at him in confusion then began coughing and spitting blood up again while the demon pulled a blanket over her. When she'd finished, she was dizzy and only able to watch as he went over to the stove and opened the cover, throwing in some wood.

She coughed and sat up a little. "What… what are you doing?"

"I have watched you do this many times before, I'm certain I can copy it."

Blinking, Rin sat up a little more. "You… trying to make breakfast?" Quickly she moved to climb out of the bed, her feet touching the floor as she shook. "Wait… no, that's… that's my job." The blanket fell off her back as she stood up but her body couldn't take it and she tumbled forward, tripping towards the floor.

But something grabbed her arm and pushed her backwards onto the bed, a face leaning over to stare in her eyes. The gold of his shone as he leant almost nose to nose with her. "I will put this in a way even you can understand." His face came a little closer. "If you get out of this bed again before I allow it, I will break your legs."

Rin blinked a few times as he left her, returning to the stove. She lay where she was for a moment then pulled her feet up and tucked herself up in the covers. The smell that had been on her blanket, that smell of spice, was thick and rich on these sheets. She coughed a little then pulled them close to her nose, taking in the deep smell until it made her dizzy.

She could hear muttering and pots being moved but she just closed her eyes and moved herself to a position that didn't hurt. It took a while to find such a position but once she had, she almost instantly fell asleep.

"What is going on here?"

The shrill voice of the Lady made Rin bolt up but grab her stomach from the pain. "My lady…." She choked for a moment then coughed into her hands, blood covering them.

The lady Butena looked over at her with narrow eyes. "Where is my breakfast girl?"

"She is too weak."

The woman turned to who was speaking. "What did you say demon?"

"She is too weak to work." He looked back at the table before him. "Perhaps if you didn't beat her so hard, she would be in a better state."

Quickly, Rin sat up and shook her head. "Don't… say things like that."

"She's right, demon, you should not speak to me like that."

"I don't care how I speak to you. I said the truth. If you did not beat the girl then she would be well enough to work."

"If you did as told, I wouldn't have to beat her." She stared at the demon for a moment… then took a deep breath and looked at Rin who was looking at them both with pain in her eyes. "Well then, girl… it appears your demon friend has finally agreed to take responsibility for his actions. You better recover quickly. I would hate to replace you so soon." She gave a cold grin and turned around, leaving the kitchen.

Rin lowered her head as the demon came closer to her. "You shouldn't have… spoken to her like that. You'll get in trouble."

He lowered his head a little. "You have never showed fear before. Why now?"

The human turned away from him, looking at her hand as it closed on the sheets. "I… I don't want you to get in trouble."

His eyes flickered to her then away. "You need to rest."

"Yes my lord." She sighed and put her head back on the covers, inhaling the smell again until she went to sleep. She woke up when she coughed but would just lie in bed and watch the demon walk around, the red ribbon tight around his neck.

She drifted in and out of sleep all day while Sesshomaru worked, grunting and moaning when he couldn't get things to work. Towards the end of the day, he brought over a bowl of food, putting beside her and walking away to eat his own meal by the fire.

She smiled as she sat and ate then held out her bowl as he came over to her. "That was really nice, thank you."

He gave a small grunt as he walked away but Rin had a feeling he'd never cooked a meal in his life before. She took a deep breath as he stood washing the pots and put her head down on the bed, drifting off into a new peaceful sleep.

Half way into the night, Rin stirred, coughing but then set back down as something graced its way in her hair. Her hands tightening around the sheets and smiled.

The next morning she coughed herself awake, sighed and stretching, her legs dangling over the side of the bed.

"Did I say you could get up?"

She looked to the speaker and tried not to smile as it was quite a sight, the demon stood by the fire with his long silver hair tied back and his elegant outfit on but his face and clothes were covered in flour. She covered her mouth to hide it. "I… I… I feel much better."

"You might feel better but you are not. Your face is black with bruises and you reek of fever. If you get out of that bed, I will break your legs. Understood?"

Quickly, Rin tucked her feet back onto the bed. "Understood, my lord."

"Lie down and sleep."

With a nod, Rin put her head back down and watched him. She grinned a little then closed her eyes. "Lord… Sesshomaru?"

"What is it?"

"I need the bathroom."

A/N: Well, I hope you are enjoying this new one. Life is throwing curveball after curveball and my stories are taking time I really don't have. But then I have the fact my mind is giving me new stories to right... ba, this one is half written so I'll conentrate on this one for a while now. Oh and thanks Taraah, you've been a star!