Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.
Author's Note: Sorry about the delay guys I've been having a little trouble deciding where I wanted the story to go but I think I'm good now. Thank you as always for all of the reviews and adds.
Sesshomaru
Sesshomaru was so angry he could have bitten something. Who did Kaori think she was just introducing herself to Rin like that? Who knew what else she'd said to the poor girl who now looked extremely terrified. Sesshomaru's heightened senses easily picked up the signs of physical distress as well. Once again he was left wondering the cause. Was it because she was uncomfortable around so many demons? Around so many people in general? Or had that woman said something to make her miserable when he had gone through so much effort to do the exact opposite? Of course the other reason behind this party was his own comfort and having her away from him yet he seemed to be unable to let her out of his sight let alone his grasp.
Rin had turned into a rather beautiful female, for a human, but tonight she was just plain beautiful. She'd chosen a dress in the same colors he himself wore. That made his chest swell with pride and reinforced whose property she was to all of those onlookers gathered around. Whether or not she had done so intentionally was irrelevant. He carted his beautiful ward around the gathering making sure to introduce to her to everyone assembled. He only stopped when a stolen glance in her direction showed her eyes had that slightly unfocused look to them and he could tell she was overwhelmed. He ushered her to a seat at the low tables not immediately next to him but only a few away so she was still within easy reach, if he needed to get to her. He then took his own seat at the head of the assembly and stiffened when Kaori sat right next to him. His mother's intentions for them were well known throughout the demonic world but he had yet to agree to the arrangement. At this rate he was not likely too.
The rest of the assembly followed suit as soon as he'd sat. Moments later the large amounts of various food were served by his household servants all looking immaculate if slightly terrified. He inspected them all covertly just to make sure. He waited until he watched Rin take some food before truly relaxing. Barukan had chosen to sit next to her and seemed particularly enthralled with watching her eat. Sesshomaru had no feelings towards Barukan one way or the other. But he observed him very closely as he engaged Rin in a quiet conversation that she seemed to enjoy. She smiled at him graciously and even laughed slightly at whatever he'd just said. Sesshomaru felt muscles tense that shouldn't and had to suppress a growl he had no business making. "He's a good choice for her." The slippery voice of the water demon trailed in his ear. No matter what she did she would always remind him of an eel. Graceful, mysterious, and covered in slime.
"This Sesshomaru does not recall giving you permission to introduce yourself to his ward." He said in his normal bored tone. Of course, underneath it he was seething. This party had been a bad idea after all. He had unwittingly placed himself in a position where his focus was split. Half of him was trying to watch Rin without appearing obvious in doing so while the other was trying to avoid any further interaction with Kaori.
"He's intelligent, powerful, and master of his own territory. Yes he's quite a good match. Not to mention he's deviously handsome." The laughter that followed was like a cascade of water over rocks. He gritted his teeth and turned back to face Rin and her companion. She was laughing again, the expression changing her face into a breathtaking spectacle. Barukan was all of things Kaori had mentioned, except perhaps handsome. Sesshomaru wasn't particularly aware of what Rin considered attractive however as he thought about it. He certainly wasn't anything like Sesshomaru. His hair was short and black. His eyes were the deep blue of the sky at twilight and his body didn't seem particularly fearsome to Sesshomaru's gaze. As the current alpha of the shadow demon clan he was in fact master of a large territory. The only allegiance he owed was to Sesshomaru himself.
"If I could have everyone's attention please." A familiar, grating old voice spoke from the center of the room. Sesshomaru allowed his gaze to migrate to the owner of the voice slowly. Totosai stood in the center of his hall looking very much like the unwelcome old geezer he was. Sesshomaru didn't recall inviting him and made a mental note to pummel the imp later. "As most of you are well aware I was a great personal friend to the late father of our gracious host." Sesshomaru managed not to snort at the exaggeration, barely. "It would have pleased Inutaisho to no end to see his eldest son finally learn some temperance when it comes to lesser species." Sesshomaru felt his fist clench and bit down on the inside of his cheek. Insulting him and Rin in one breath, the man was truly gifted. He produced an ornately gilded box from somewhere and held it out towards Rin. She looked at him with wide confused eyes. "A gift for this momentous occasion." He smiled at her and Sesshomaru felt more than saw Kaori's power begin to hum as it increased around her.
Rin rose from her seat after a moment's hesitation and then made her slow graceful way around the tables. She bowed before Totosai and Sesshomaru chose to ignore it. Kaori was watching the box with a greedy anticipation that was beginning to make him uncomfortable. "Thank you, Master Totosai. You are very generous." Rin's clear musical voice wafted up from her subservient position. That was almost enough to make Sesshomaru put a stop to this whole charade but just as he had decided to move a cool damp hand landed on his sleeve. He growled low to make sure Kaori knew if she didn't withdraw her hand she was forfeiting it. She smiled at him in what he would have described as a lewd manner and then withdrew her hand slowly, keeping her eyes downcast. Yes, every way an alpha demon would expect his mate to behave. Except Sesshomaru did not think of her in that manner. At all.
Rin stood to her full height, now easily seeing over Totosai's small frame and accepted the box. She opened it slowly revealing a pair of bracers, now doubt perfectly fitted to Rin's wrists. They had a small amount of power in them that emitted a pulse as soon as Rin's hesitant fingers touched the metal. She seemed surprised by this and looked to their creator questioningly. Sesshomaru was now completely still, curiosity winning out over his other emotions for the moment. "These bracers will protect you from harm, little lady." She nodded once and then removed them from their case and clasped them to her arms. The pulse that followed was more intense and encompassed Rin's entire body before fading away to a distant hum. She turned fear widened eyes back to Totosai. "They will not come free unless your heart no longer beats." Sesshomaru felt his face frown before several shocked glances his way informed him it was time to mask it.
"Thank you Master Totosai. You honor me with this." Rin bowed again now accompanied by her gift. Totosai was practically hopping with happiness until he caught Sesshomaru's gaze and the latter motioned him forward with an imperial crook of his clawed finger. Kaori giggled softly, though not soft enough to escape his notice. Why his anger excited her wasn't as perplexing as it should have been. He was beginning to understand the confusing workings of the female mind and he had much better things to be occupied with. Totosai approached him and knelt down low.
"You should have informed this Sesshomaru that you intended to bring a gift." He glared down at the master sword maker. Totosai mumbled something offensive to which Sesshomaru decided not to comment.
"You have now created a problem Totosai and I wonder how you plan to fix it?" Sesshomaru turned his angry glare toward Kaori who had just decided to speak. He knew his eyes were wider than normal but he was shocked. She was speaking as if she were already mistress of this house and as if he himself was unable to do so. "No one else thought to bring a gift." She hissed down at the craftsmen.
"My most humble apologies. I was merely possessed by the urge to create these for young Rin once I'd heard what happened. It was truly coincidence I ended up here this night." Coincidence, hah. More like the smell of fresh food moved the old man's stomach to create a reason to come here.
"I still haven't heard how you plan to rectify the situation." Kaori said with clear displeasure. Sesshomaru waved Totosai away imperially as soon as the old man's head rose and turned angry eyes to Kaori. He was on his feet a second later looking down at her until she realized he meant for her to follow him. Lust glittered plainly in her eyes and he turned before she could see the disgust he felt. He walked away from the party ignoring questions posed by the braver demons among them. He walked through the hallway until he was sure he would not be overheard. Then in a blur of speed he grabbed Kaori's elbow and pushed her hard into the wall.
"I do not know why you feel the need to push me this evening Kaori but you are doing quite well at it." She gave a look of confused innocence which he didn't buy for a second. "I am the Master of this house, not you or anyone else. I decide who does and does not speak to my ward and I will certainly decide when and to whom I am mated. Not you, not my mother, nor any other creature in existence besides me will command my fate. Is that in anyway unclear?" He growled the last bit out feeling weeks of frustration finally find a target. She slithered out of his grasp and pressed close to him.
"I didn't realize I was infuriating you so much. I merely wanted to stake my claim. With all of those females present it's hard to reign in the jealousy." She boldly encircled her arms around his waist and placed her head on his shoulder, creating the ability to whisper in his ear. He decided that not moving would be the best response. "Half of them believe you in love with that human anyway." She spit out the word human like it was foul tasting fish. He froze in place and stared at the wall behind her. "Come now Sesshomaru, it isn't really that much of a stretch is it?" He slowly looked down at the water demon that was trying her hardest to seduce him. "You're father loved a human, you're brother loves a human, I mean it's easy to see how they would assume the pattern here." He stiffened at the reference to Inuyasha. She at least had the brain power to know never to mention the half breed's name in Sesshomaru's presence.
"This Sesshomaru is not his father." He snapped and moved swiftly back toward the party breaking her embrace. He stalked back towards the party before he stopped and turned just enough to be heard over his shoulder. "You have pushed me quite far enough this evening. I want you gone from my territory before the sun rises." With that he made his way back to the main hall. The throng of demons had made their way around the feast and were now tapering off into small groups our bidding Rin farewell. Barukan was still seated beside her and conversing whenever she was able to. He sat down in his seat once more feeling no particular need to be hospitable. His gaze passed over the food and he found Totosai gorging himself. Just as he'd thought though the gift he had given Rin was quite a gift.
He'd returned just in time it seemed as he watched Barukan hold his hand in front of Rin's eyes. "I brought you a gift as well, though I wasn't sure if it would be appropriate." Sesshomaru heard the low voice speak softly so only Rin would hear. Of course, he was in a room full of demons, most of whom possessed the ability to hear him no matter the volume of his voice. He released his grip and a silver chain dropped from his grasp ending in an elegant pendant. Rin's eyes brightened and she smiled genuinely at the demon offering the gift.
"Thank you Master Barukan, it's beautiful." Barukan liked that response very much. Sesshomaru repressed the immediate urge to walk over and pulverize the trinket in his grasp. Damn it she needed to get away from him before his stupid infatuation got out of control and he did something stupid. She seemed to like Barukan enough. He wasn't enough in Sesshomaru's mind but she liked him and that outweighed his concerns. He could always keep a distant watch on her anyways. He watched the shadow demon unfasten the necklace and then Rin flushed and moved her hair to the side, revealing the long smooth line of her pale neck. The demon refastened the chain around her throat and smiled possessively as she fingered the charm. The color still tinged her cheeks that lovely shade of pink.
Fine. If she wanted that lowly shadow demon than she could have him. Whatever got her out of his house and away from his sight faster the better. He decided to stop watching her so intently and turned his gaze to the rest of the party. "Pity that you don't in fact understand humans though you seem to have developed a tolerance for them." Totosai's voice came out of nowhere; disrupting Sesshomaru's discreet checking of Rin's mood.
"This Sesshomaru has no need to tolerate inferior life forms." He said angrily.
"And yet you went to so much trouble for the young human girl?"
"Hn."
"True she would still be the young girl she was before if it wasn't for you and I understand if you acted out of guilt." Sesshomaru ground his teeth together harder and seriously considered hitting the old man. "Perhaps you should let her go and live a human life as she was always meant to. I'm sure Inuyasha and Kagome would be more than happy to take her in." Okay that did it. Old man or not, no one mentioned the cur in Sesshomaru's house. Totosai looked up at Sesshomaru and saw the angry glare then cowered away. "Such a pity you aren't more like your father. He would have like Rin a lot." Sesshomaru actually took a swipe at the old man but it was halfhearted and Totosai was far more agile than his appearance gave him credit for. He was far out of reach and bowing before summoning that dreadful cow of his and riding off. Sesshomaru turned back to the party to be caught up in a pair of deep brown eyes regarding him with a worried expression. She was worried about him? He nodded to her which only seemed to increase her worry. She excused herself from the table and made her way over to him.
He tried not to watch her walk towards him he really did. But the soft fabric dancing around the curves of her body was mesmerizing. He really, really wanted to touch that dress but he knew full well just how bad of an idea that was. Then she was suddenly kneeling beside him and smiling softly. "Thank you milord. This party was very beautiful." He tried to breathe through his mouth so less of her scent would overwhelm him. She didn't usually sit this close. In fact she hadn't been within touching reach of him since that unfortunate incident in his office. The party was beautiful she said. Did she like it? Was she pleased or merely being polite? Why did it matter? "I enjoyed meeting everyone. Really, Lord Sesshomaru, thank you." She leaned in even closer to him, steadying herself with a hand on his arm, and then she reached up and placed a feather light kiss on his cheek. "I believe I'll retire for the evening." She gave him a little bow before rising to her feet and leaving the room. His eyes trailed after her still blinking in shock. She'd actually kissed him. No one had ever been brave enough to kiss him, save for Kaori. Kaori who was now fuming in the corner of the hall, her malice directed at Rin's receding form.
