All That I'm Living For

Disclaimer: Inuyasha is not mine, so these characters are not mine.

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Chapter Four

"So, Shippo, you proposed to Rin yesterday?" Inuyasha said, walking ahead of the group with Shippo.

Shippo nodded.

"As did Kohaku," Inuyasha said, his hands in his sleeves.

"What?" Shippo said, stopping and looking at his surrogate father.

"You didn't know?" he replied, not stopping. "Keep walking or they'll know something's wrong."

Shippo fell back into step with him. "How do you know, Toochan?"

"I have ears," he said, flicking his ears.

Shippo said nothing for awhile, looking at the ground. "Did she say yes?"

Inuyasha shook his head: no. "She is—as she said—Sesshomaru's creature. I had thought you would have known better than to even ask her."

Shippo grimaced and looked up at the sky. "I don't know what came over me. I saw her, and, it was like the sun had come out of the clouds."

"She is beautiful, but you barely know her."

Shippo shrugged. "It just felt right."

"You are at that age."

"What age?"

"To find your mate."

Shippo's eyes grew wide. "You think it was instinct?"

He shrugged. "Probably hormones."

"How could you say that? You've seen her; she's like a goddess!" Shippo exclaimed, using his hands to emphasize his feelings.

Inuyasha thumped him on the head. "Kagome is a goddess; Rin is more like a celestial maiden."

Shippo rubbed his head. "Kaachan is entirely different; I don't think of her as-" he trailed off.

"Well, you should start thinking about someone else, because my brother would have your hide if you ever laid a finger on her," Inuyasha said seriously.

"What about Kohaku?" Shippo said, defensive.

Inuyasha snorted. "You are my concern; let Sango and Miroku deal with Kohaku. Besides, that boy has been harboring feelings for Rin since he stayed with Sesshomaru that short time, after-" pause "-she died."

Shippo said nothing. It was still hard for his father to talk about Priestess Kikyo, even after all these years, after everything she had done to him. Kikyo had parted from the earth on relatively good terms with his parents, but he knew his father sometimes grew wistful around the sacred tree, no doubt thinking about Kikyo, his first love.

"Whatever happened to that girl, Satsuki, your first love?"

Shippo blushed. "I was only a child."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "As if you aren't now," he muttered. "So, go talk to her, or go see Souten."

"Souten! What makes you think I'd want to be with her?"

He shrugged. "She didn't seem to be at all opposed to the idea when we left her."

Shippo stared at him, his jaw dropped. "How would you know? That was years ago."

"Hey, I don't see you coming up with ideas, or bringing girls around so we can choose one."

"What gives you the idea that you can choose one for me?" Shippo said.

"You obviously can't pick one yourself; you chose Rin: she practically has a 'do not disturb' sign written on her head," Inuyasha replied, knocking Shippo on his head with his knuckles.

"What's a 'do not disturb' sign?"

"Well, when Kagome and I are in her time and we . . . ."

"What?! I did not need to know that, Toochan!" Shippo said, running back to walk with Miroku and Kohaku.

Rin giggled at Shippo's discomfort as she watched the scene unfold before her. She didn't know what they were talking about, but it was funny to watch their expressions. She yawned and stretched her arms, a little tired; she hadn't slept well last night. In fact, she hadn't been sleeping well at all during the night; it had been a long time since she hadn't been under the protection of her Lord. Inuyasha was strong, but he wasn't her Lord.

She sighed. "Lord Sesshomaru," she whispered.

She hadn't expected him to come last night, but she had hoped. The longer he waited the longer she would be without him. Now that she had drawn the line in the sand, it was his turn, and while she hoped he would acquiesce to her desires, she knew that his pride would get in the way, would muddy things up until he didn't know which way was up and which way was down.

She stumbled a little and caught Kohaku's attention; he slipped back a little and walked next to her. "I'm sorry," he said.

"For what?" she said.

"For crossing the line; for asking you to give me something you had no right to give to me."

"I can give my heart to whomever I please," she said, lifting her nose a little.

He smiled. "But only Lord Sesshomaru has captured it."

Rin's face dropped. "Yes," she whispered.

"And yet you deny him your presence," he said, placing his hands behind his back.

How could she explain how her Lord made her go weak at the knees every time he was in the same room with her? Or how she would peek at her Lord as he bathed, watching his long silver hair as it pooled around his pale body? Or how she could feel his warm breath on her neck those nights—long ago—when she had crawled into his bed at night out of fright and loneliness? The gentle pressure of his body as he unconsciously leaned against her; these things she could not explain, and she could not give Kohaku a good reason why she denied him—just that she could no longer keep herself at bay anymore, could no longer torture herself willingly. She needed to put up a fight at some point, and now was her time.

She said nothing.

"He is a good Lord to have someone so faithfully follow him," Kohaku said, and then caught up with the others.

Rin ground her teeth.

"How annoying," Inuyasha said, "everyone bothering you about Sesshomaru."

Rin jumped, unaware that Inuyasha was now walking with her.

"What's so fascinating about that dog?" Inuyasha said, grinning.

Rin laughed. "Have you come now to bug me about 'that dog'?"

Inuyasha humphed. "As if I need to talk to you about it—I know Sesshomaru. He has a plan—or had a plan—and it may be twisted and demented, but he'll see some sort of plan through. You can always count on him for that."

Rin smirked. "I was under the impression that he just let things slide by until they piled up and he was left with a whole pile of crap to deal with."

Inuyasha looked at her, shocked. His eyes narrowed, and he put his fingers on his chin. "I suppose, that could be true—but only on the account of you. Everything else is neat and orderly."

She laughed again, stopping and doubling over with the effort. Everyone stared at her, perplexed. She could see it all in her mind, Lord Sesshomaru's affairs all squared away, and the only mess in front of him was her, the one thing he had to deal with everyday; she could see his face as he tried to 'fix' the problem, and his frustration as he failed.

"Lady Rin, are you okay?" Miroku said, bending over so he could look her in the face.

She slapped him.

He jumped back, rubbing his face.

"Sorry," she muttered, "reflex."

Everyone laughed.

"She must've been channeling Sango," Kohaku said, laughing, tears coming to his eyes.

Miroku muttered darkly to himself, and continued walking towards his village. "It's just around the bend."

Rin felt lighter as she walked to the village. She looked up at the trees, watching the birds as they twittered among the branches. Everything was alive and happy, and so was she. Now that she was out and about, she realized how much she had missed traveling; she didn't travel nearly as much as she used to now that she got her monthly courses; Lord Sesshomaru didn't want her to be exposed during those periods and made sure to keep her close to home.

She noticed as they got closer to the village that the appearance of wildlife was beginning to grow less, but she attributed it—at first—to the close vicinity of the village. She sniffed the air. "Is that smoke?"

"Yeah," Inuyasha said, grabbing the hilt of the Tetsaiga. He glanced up at the sky. "Let's make this quick." He jumped ahead.

Rin's brows furrowed. "Oh, my god; it's the new moon tonight," she whispered and ran after him.

"Hey you!" Inuyasha said to the humanoid demon. "What the hell are you doing?"

The demon stood up, licking the last traces of blood off its lips. It was tall—at least 7 feet—and its clothes were matted in blood. Clutched in one hand was the remains of a man, and the other was the man's heart. "Who are you?" the demon rasped.

"It doesn't matter," Inuyasha said, unsheathing the Tetsaiga. "You're dead." He swung the sword, "Wind scar!"

The demon tossed the corpse away, and let the attack hit him, saying nothing. As the dust cleared the demon's silhouette could still be seen. "Interesting little trick," the demon said. It waved it hand, reflecting a wind scar-like attack at them.

Inuyasha thrust his sword down into the ground and deflected the attack from the others, taking the brunt of it himself; he was forced to one knee.

Kohaku jumped, thrusting his blade at the demon and unsheathing his sword. The demon easily deflected it and threw Kohaku back into a tree.

"Your fight is with me," Inuyasha said, advancing again.

"Sacred sutras!" Miroku said, throwing pieces of paper at the demon.

"Fox fire!" Shippo said, green fire emanating from his fingers and swirling around the demon.

Rin pulled back the bow string and let loose an arrow.

Inuyasha jumped, bringing the Tetsaiga down on the demon's head.

The demon looked up, its eyes glowing red. "You're going to have to do better than that."

The Tetsaiga encountered a barrier, and Inuyasha was thrown back into a tree. Everyone's attack was reflected back at them, Miroku's sacred sutras binding him, Shippo's fire engulfing him, and Rin's arrow grazing her shoulder. Rin yelped and grabbed her arm, surprised that the arrow hadn't killed her. The demon's aim was pretty good; everyone lay on the ground, hurt. Inuyasha tried to stand again, but as he got up, the sun went down and he changed, silver to black, and he collapsed against the ground. The demon advanced on him.

"No!" she said, and she released a volley of arrows at him.

The demon shrugged them off. He picked up Inuyasha. "A hanyou." He thrust his hand in Inuyasha's chest.

Rin's gut clenched as she heard Inuyasha's scream pierce the night air.

The demon pulled out Inuyasha's heart and the screaming stopped immediately. He grinned as the blood dripped down his hands. He threw Inuyasha's body away.

"Inuyasha!" she screamed, running to the hanyou's body.

The demon picked her up by her collar. He sniffed her and his grin widened. "Sesshomaru's ward. Never thought I would have the pleasure." The last thing she saw was his grin.

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R & R.

(sniff sniff)

Fishing, fishing, fishing.