My eyes cracked open and the almost full moon was above me. There was a fire to my left and from the scent, someone was cooking. I looked over and realized I was with a group of people I had never met before. There was a black haired girl in strange clothes, another black haired girl with a kimono on who had a toddler sitting between her legs, a monk, a small fox demon, a nekomata demon, and a half demon with white hair and white ears that smelled like father.
"Inuyasha!" The girl in strange clothes said to the half demon before pointing at me.
Inuyasha. Inuyasha! I suddenly remembered Sesshomaru's words. That is the name of my other brother.
"So, you're awake." He said as he walked over to me and the girl in strange clothes looked at the wound now healing on my side.
"Where I am?" I asked.
"Right where we found ya." Inuyasha said and I nodded.
"You're Inuyasha, correct?" I asked as I sat up smiling at the strange girl for checking my wound.
"Yeah, but how do you know that?"
"I heard her say it." I said, "And I've heard your name before."
He folded his arms, "Oh yeah, from who?"
"Inuyasha," The strange girl scolded him, "be nice, the poor guy just woke up from being unconscious all night."
I shook my head, "No, it's okay. Thank you. I have heard your name from my brother and soon to be mate, Sesshomaru."
"Sesshomaru?" Inuyasha asked with surprise.
"You're mating Sesshomaru? And wait, he's your brother. That means Inuyasha is your brother too!" The girl said.
"I believe so." I replied.
"Kagome is right, Inuyasha!" The little fox demon suddenly joined in, "If he is Sesshomaru's brother, he must be your brother too."
"It's nice to meet you." I smiled as I stood and held out my hand. "I'm Jin."
Inuyasha didn't shake my hand, he just turned away slightly, "No way. I've never heard of you, so there's no way you're my brother."
"Don't be so stubborn, brother. You can smell that we are kin. My father is Inu no Taisho just as yours. Sometime before he died he mated with my mother, but they never had anything serious and weren't expecting my mother to get pregnant, but she did. He left me alone with my mother until she died recently." I paused for a moment before shaking away the painful memory, "Now, that he is revived, he brought me back to the western palace to be Sesshomaru's mate. I can bare children because my mother was part cat demon. She was a half demon like you, Inuyasha." I explained and suddenly wondered if I should be telling him all this. I didn't know him at all. He could try to take advantage of me, but then I remembered Sesshomaru telling me he was in love with a Priestess, who I assumed was this Kagome woman.
"Sounds like father, always thinking of women." Inuyasha suddenly said. "But be clear, Jin, you should run from Sesshomaru and father if they're trying to make you that heartless bastards mate."
"That's not completely fair." The monk cut into the conversation, "Hello, Jin. I'm Miroku." He said before looking back to Inuyasha, "Sesshomaru has changed and grown a lot over the recent years. I don't think you can call him completely heartless. Look how he cares for Rin."
Inuyasha scoffed, "Sure he's nice to her, but he sure ain't to anyone else. He's only after power and continuing his gene pool. I'm surprised he'd even consider someone with blood that wasn't completely pure."
The words stung, but I shook my head, "I think you are wrong."
Inuyasha laughed, "Believe me, I've known the guy longer than you have. If he's sweet talked you into some kind words, they are all lies. Sesshomaru doesn't love or care. Don't forget that."
I wanted to punch Inuyasha. Meeting my other brother really wasn't going well. He was wrong. Sesshomaru wasn't like that. He had his complicated ways, but he was heartless. He does care about me. Right?
I felt a tug on my sleeve and looked down to see the toddler that had been between the other girl's legs. "Hi!" She smiled up at me and I smiled back, suddenly forgetting Inuyasha and his words. I was lost in her cute short black hair and dark eyes.
"Hello Sweetie." I said and suddenly the girl in the Kimono was picking the child up.
"Chihiro! Sorry about that, she's just very friendly. I'm Sango, by the way. I'm Miroku's wife."
"It's nice to meet you." I smiled.
"Oh, and I'm Kagome, this is shippo, and that's Kilala." The Priestess introduced the rest of the group.
"Well, thank you all for helping me. I got attacked by a woman sent from Sesshomaru's mother." As soon as I said it, I felt like I shouldn't have. Inuyasha turned to me.
"What?"
I sighed, "It's complicated."
"Why the hell would she been sending someone to attack you if you're going to mate with Sesshomaru?" Inuyasha was now too close for comfort.
"She doesn't want him to mate me. She is against my blood, so she send me on a mission to get mating rings for Sesshomaru and I at a ring shop over the mountain, but on the way she had someone attack me. I'm sure she was hoping I would die, but I didn't. So I need to get the rings and bring them back to prove I am good enough to be Sesshomaru's mate."
"Are you kidding me?" Inuyasha was shaking his head, "You have to be completely mental to go back to that. Why would you want to prove anything to a mad woman like that? What? So you can actually mate with one of the cruelest demons alive?"
"Sesshomaru is not that cruel!" I yelled back and Inuyasha started to laugh.
"You clearly don't know what you're getting yourself into kid. Sesshomaru tried to kill me, his own brother, many times because my blood is a disgrace to the family name, and because he wanted my sword. You don't know Sesshomaru. Trust me."
Then he was walking away from me and I stood clenching my fists.
"Forgive him." Miroku said. "He is blinded still by the anger of the past. He and Sesshomaru made some amends when defeating Naroku, but with time the hatred has reclaimed Inuyasha."
I didn't know what to think or say. If Inuyasha hated Sesshomaru this much even after so much time, he must have done some real damage to their relationship, but the Sesshomaru I knew was not like the one Inuyasha spoke of. He had he temper, but he kept it in check. He didn't hate me for my blood, and he said he liked me. That I was the only one he would mate with.
"I have to go." I said and began to leave. They frowned as the watched me head towards the ring shop, but only Kagome spoke up after before I was too far away to hear her.
"I'm sorry, Jin! He can be a big idiot sometimes, but I hope you are okay! Sesshomaru has changed since those times, so don't listen to Inuyasha!" She called and I simply waved.
Maybe she was right, but maybe she was just trying to make me feel better. I didn't know how to feel about the kinds words Sesshomaru had said to me. Did he just make them up? Was father simply forcing him to be nice? Maybe he hoped that I would be killed by his mother's assassin as well… Maybe he just was nice so when I died he would look innocent? No, he trained me. He wouldn't have trained me if he was trying to have me killed. That makes no sense.
I growled in frustration, wishing I had never met Inuyasha. He had just confused me and made me doubt Sesshomaru and the happy future I thought was possible for him and I. Now I didn't know what to believe. Clearly Sesshomaru has done something to anger Inuyasha to that level, but what and when? And why? If he treated Inuyasha horrible and they were brothers, what is stopping him from doing the same to me?
All these questions clouded my mind as I got closer and closer to the ring shop.
'But be clear, Jin, you should run from Sesshomaru and father if they're trying to make you that heartless bastards mate.'
Inuyasha's words kept playing in my mind. Maybe he was right. Maybe I should just run away. Although I doubted that they wouldn't find me. What was I to do? A demon out in the world without his mother for the first time. I couldn't fight that well and I didn't know anyone.
I curled up by a tree outside the ring shop when a waved of tears settled over me. I wanted my mom. Not the witch Sesshomaru called a mother who was heartless. I wanted my sweet and caring mother who would've known what to do. Who to believe. But she was gone.
I don't know how long I sat there, but soon the day had completely passed. I got a few strange looks out of the window in the shop, but no one tried to come near me. I cried myself into sleep at last as the moon was overhead and the sun long gone.
