Rising Sun

Chapter Seven

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

A/N: Due to popular demand from many of my readers, I promised the next story I would update would be Rising Sun. I honestly never believed this story would ever gain a following, but I'm incredibly flattered nonetheless. I hope you all will find the length of this chapter a bit more satisfying then the last several. It is entirely from Sesshomaru's perspective, which I know many people enjoy. ^_^

~oOo~

Sesshomaru was not known for his patience.

Really, he disliked people altogether for their ignorance and their slowness, their selfishness and stupidity. It was enough to make him rip the roots of his hair from his skull. He would not tolerate the company of classmates, and he did everything alone. The teachers he must bear, if he were to fit in with the rest of human society, but with any homework assignments or projects, Sesshomaru insisted on solitude.

And no one complained. The girls thought he was gross and the guys liked to steal his lunch money; then toss his books into the dumpster. They would snicker and crack jokes, making fun of his hair, his clothes, his glasses. Who was ever going to want someone as unsightly as he? And every one of those bullies had beautiful females hanging on their arms; cooing, batting their eyelashes all the while revealing such an amount of skin they might as well have worn nothing at all…

Sesshomaru had no patience for them.

He was an inuyoukai; he could easily have overpowered the largest of them. With both hands tied behind his back. Blindfolded. If he wanted, just the lightest ounce of poison from his claws could end their miserable ningen lives in a matter of minutes.

But he couldn't. Then his father would have to go to great lengths (again) to cover up the murders and make them come across as freak accidents with absolutely no connection with the Taisho Family.

Sesshomaru knew he wasn't ugly, which made it all the more aggravating to put up with the crude remarks about his appearance. As if he didn't already know his hair looked greasy, his pants were too short, and the voice that came from his mouth sounded as lovely as nails on a chalkboard. Everything he did was on purpose, not that he needed reminding.

High school graduation was on the horizon and she had still failed to show.

He was beginning to believe that this whole search for his mate was pointless. Obviously, the human females were instinctively drawn to the tall, dark, and handsome types, and a little bit of money on the side was definitely a plus. None of them cared for Sesshomaru, and ignored his existence whenever possible. This suited him fine. He would never fall for such shallow, self-centered bitches. He was better off dying alone in some deep, dark ditch.

Often, he debated dropping the chase, but Toga would have none of that. The Taishos were once famous for the satisfaction brought to their mates in all aspects of life. He would not tolerate any son of his living a lonely life. And, damn it, he wanted grandchildren someday.

So Sesshomaru was stuck there, staring down at his tray of cafeteria food – an arrangement of vegetables and some sort of unidentifiable meat – utterly alone in a mass of people who swarmed around him, laughing and talking with their friends. Nearly all the round tables were full aside from the one he occupied. They believed, perhaps, that if they shared the same four foot radius of airspace they would catch some incurable disease.

Usually, such moments of tranquility did not last very long. Sesshomaru leaned back in his chair, secretly enjoying his time alone, where he was not forced to work with stupid classmates or answer a teacher's nosy questions about his personal life. Here, he could think undisturbed. It was the best part of any day.

The cafeteria doors opening, sending in a scent on a gust of wind that hooked Sesshomaru's nose, turning his head in that respective direction. Through the sea of bodies, a slim girl with two long braids had just joined the fray, clutching a laptop case tightly to her front. She surveyed the room, probably looking for an empty seat. Sesshomaru continued to stare at her, even when their eyes clashed. She held contact too long to simply pretend she had not noticed him.

Rin took one step toward him. Then another, and then another. The inuyoukai mused over this. Why would she want to sit with him? Her displeasure with his recent behavior had been made quite clear. He was not expecting to have to talk to her again until the dance, assuming that Rin still wanted him to go with her. He wondered if she had told anyone that she had seen him in his prime… probably not. It was not a terribly important secret anyway. If somehow she found out he was a demon, that would be an entirely different matter altogether.

What should he do? She was getting closer by the passing second…

But Sesshomaru needed not to have done anything. For at that moment, the bubble in which only he and Rin existed popped.

Three human boys – as Sesshomaru commonly referred to them in his mind – plopped down at the table on either side of him. Rin halted about halfway across the room, concern suddenly etched across her face.

The boys each took their share of his lunch (as if he really cared). He made no effort to thwart them. Acknowledging their presence would imply that they were worth his notice. No, instead he kept his eyes trained on the onna, who looked as if she were warring with herself over an internal conflict.

The leader of this trio (Sesshomaru did not care to remember his name, but we'll just call him Sato), leaned across the table on both elbows. The ningen considered himself to be very intimidating, almost twice as broad as Sesshomaru but only half as tall. He was fairly built; being on the school's weightlifting team. The two that accompanied him were less impressive, possibly only there to soak up the popularity that Sato wore like body armor. All three of them were complete dumb asses. Honestly, if Sesshomaru ever cared to speak with them, every word would pass straight through the dark, empty masses that they called a brain.

Sato sat there in silence for almost a minute, studying the nerd in front of him.

Finally: "What are you lookin' at?"

Classic. He would receive no reply, of course.

The boy crossed his thick arms, turning in his seat. When he saw Rin standing there, like a deer in headlights, a deep chuckle rumbled through his chest. On cue, his minions chortled their own, though knew nothing of what was so amusing.

Sato wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes. "Are you kiddin' me?" he snorted, giving the inuyoukai a large, lopsided grin. "She's totally outta your league, Einstein!"

Sesshomaru raked his eyes over Rin's figure. In his opinion, she was not all that mouthwatering. Her breasts were small, concealed by a thin white blouse, and she wore a pair of modest black skinny jeans. Her braids made her look about five years younger, very childish and innocent.

There was something undeniably attractive about her, though. Sesshomaru had spent the weekend thinking about it, and had come to the conclusion that it must be her eyes. They were a very dark doe brown, and wide, displaying every emotion for his viewing.

Kagome Higurashi, who must have caught sight of her friend without a seat, came skipping out from her group to tug on Rin's arm. Rin, having no choice, followed Higurashi back to her table, but not without shooting Sesshomaru another quizzical glance.

Sato blew her a kiss. Rin glared at him, turning her back. "She wants me," he told the other boys. Sesshomaru mentally rolled his eyes.

"What's got you so interested, Taisho?" he continued, raising a pair of thick eyebrows. "Think you can score a chick like Rin Kato?"

"Fat chance!" another said, stuffing his mouth with food. "She's already asked you to the dance, right Boss?"

Sato's chest swelled with pride. "Got that right, Toshi! I had her on her knees, beggin' me!" He ran a hand through the coarse black hair on his head. "I like seeing a woman so submissive…"

Against his will, Sesshomaru found that Sato's words were really starting to irk him. First of all, because he knew Sato to be lying, and second, it was a fact that Rin was not the type of girl to get on her knees for anybody. If so, she would've been groveling at Sesshomaru's feet when he'd shown her his natural appearance, and that was totally grovel worthy.

He liked to imagine that Rin knew she could do better than a piece of scum like Sato.

"Hey you!" said piece of scum snapped his fingers in the demon's face. "I'm talking! At least respond when a superior addresses you!"

It couldn't be helped. Sesshomaru smirked. He did not just call himself a superior! The entire concept was amusing. Sesshomaru was the Heir to the Western Lands, destined to fulfill his father's role as the most powerful youkai in the world, and this little boy sincerely believed he should bow to him?

"You think I'm being funny?" Sato sneered. "Here, have some water!" He uncapped a water bottle, dumping its contents over the youkai's head. The cold liquid ran down his face, soaking into his shirt. With as much dignity as he could muster, Sesshomaru took off his glasses and dried them with a napkin.

"Ja, he needs a bath!" one minion cackled, "You did him a favor, Boss!"

Sato shook his head. "It's gonna take a lot more than a bath to fix his ugly face." He snatched away the glasses, placing them on himself. "I wanted to be a Taisho for Halloween this year. I was thinking about just copying you, then decided to do one better. I'm going to dress up as the ugly bitch that gave birth to you."

Time froze.

Sesshomaru inhaled sharply through his nose, subconsciously flexing long claws. Even as he told himself to remain calm, just to ignore the boy, his eyes rose on their own accord – the corners of his vision tinted red – to pierce Sato.

He didn't give a rat's ass if they made jabs at him. He wasn't there to fit in with everyone else. Nor would he ever try. The way he chose to present himself was no one's business but his. If the ningens preferred to waste away the few remaining seconds of their pathetic lives on his expense, then he'd let them wallow in their stupidity.

But to insult his mother…

Inukimi, a demoness that had deemed worthy enough to bear the heir of the Inu No Taisho, she had been as widely known for her heart throbbing beauty as well as the power she brought that literally struck fear into all those who were foolish enough to stand against her…

… to be spoken so lowly of by a mere mortal made his blood boil!

Sesshomaru could not remember how he had come to the conclusion in his mind to reach out and grasp Sato by the fat neck, dragging the ningen back across the table. His little friends paled and promptly ducked beneath the table in fear. Sato was horrified, for the eyes that enraptured his were not golden, but a devil's evil crimson.

The rest of the lunchroom faded away. It was only the two of them and Sesshomaru's calling for blood. A toxic poison began to seep from his claws, burning holes into Sato's shirt.

"What are you? !" he choked, horror echoing in his eyes.

The fact the boy believed he had the decency to ask such a question pissed him off all the more. His suffocating hold tightened, closing his windpipe.

There were people now, standing around them. Obviously the show would've drawn a crowd, but Sesshomaru's only concern now was to kill the rodent in his grasp. Such pests didn't deserve to live.

They were chanting… chanting what?

"Taisho! Taisho! Taisho!"

His name?

"C'mon, kick his ass!"

"I'm betting a thousand yen on you!"

"It's always the quiet ones you have to worry about…"

The imbeciles, they were convinced this was all a game. Sesshomaru Taisho was not one to play around.

Sato couldn't speak anymore from lack of oxygen, but continued to struggle anyway. Good, it would increase the satisfaction of killing him. Yet, he still managed to mouth a single word, 'please.'

"Sesshomaru!"

The voice was loud, shrill, piercing his sensitive hearing like a dagger. He cringed, glaring up from his intended prey.

Rin was suddenly on his arm, pounding him with her small fists.

"Sesshomaru, stop! Stop it, right now!"

Who did she think she was, ordering him to do something? He moved to swat her away, but she only came back.

"Listen to me, please, stop hurting him!" Rin grabbed Sesshomaru's chin, forcing him to look at her. The tears that were streaming down her face caught his breath.

It was surreal, the way he suddenly wanted to take her in his arms, to comfort her, to beg for forgiveness. He never wanted to make Rin cry!

Without further deliberation, he released Sato. The big lug wheezed, gasping for air.

A teacher pushed and shoved students out of his way, finally breaking through the circle of people to make it to the center. "What is going on here? !" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Taisho!" the crowd roared back.

Sesshomaru, with one arm around Rin's waist, walked out the door.

~oOo~

A/N: I hope to be able to end this story soon in the next couple of chapters. Thanks for the encouragement, and please review if you feel up to it today!