Title: And the Walls Came Tumbling Down
Author: landofthekwt
Rating: M
Prompt "I hate you, you bitch" un_love_you #11
Word Count 5651
Genre: Breakups
Warning: Language
Summary: Inuyasha faces the wrath of everyone for what he did to Kohaku and Rin
Left Behind Chapter 9
Inuyasha sat in his tree alone. The time at Sesshoumaru's castle had completely exhausted him. He was disgusted with what he had done to Rin and Kohaku, but he was just carrying out Sesshoumaru's orders after all so if was all OK.
Goshinboku gave him sanctuary, but it did not stop him from being lonely. Lately,he seemed to be isolated. The cloak he wore in Sesshoumaru's service had isolated him from Miroku. He could on youkai exterminations with the monk because he had vowed to protect Rin.
Rin had become an object of protection instead of a person in whom he could confide. Yet he had failed her utterly. She had been in arms of a man she cared for. On Sesshoumaru's orders he had purposefully done everything possible to wreck their relationship.
Rin had been heart broken. If she ever discovered his involvement, she would be angry. Not with Sesshoumaru, but with him for what he had done to her and Kohaku. The worse part was that he would deserve everything she had to say about would be true.
Why should he care about Rin's opinion? Why should her approbation bother him? He was not sure. In many ways she had become like Kikyou had when they stopped fighting each other. The familiarity had grown just as it had with Kagome as they searched for the Jewel in the early days.
The truth is that Rin had grown on him. She was his friend and sometime companion. Miroku had Sango. Kagome had Sesshoumaru. He had gravitated toward Rin because they seemed to have something in common. They both had been left behind.
The protectorate had changed things. No longer was he Rin's friend. He was her protector. The cloak marked him as Sesshoumaru 's man. He had become another Sesshoumaru flunky just like Jaken and Ah-Un. All his independence had been stripped from him.
At the moment he was just tired of being alone. A visit to see Miroku and Sango was in order. The children would climb all over him, Sango would feed him and Miroku would tell him stories and all would be well with the world again.
They had passed so much time together. He and Miroku had practically lived together on the road. The children regarded him as their uncle. Sango had been a warrior. Surely, she would understand.
When he reached the hut, they were eating. His timing had been impeccable. Sango looked up at him and glared. She motioned for Miroku to take the children and leave. Inuyasha became uneasy.
When they were gone, she turned. Her expression reminded him of the days when she was facing Naraku. Sango surely did not hate him. He approached her warily. She was not armed. Hiraikotsu was still leaning against the side of her hut.
"Get the hell out of here. You are no longer welcome in my house."
Inuyasha stared at her stunned. He could never have imagined this happening. After all they had been through she was putting him aside for some silly pranks that he played on Kohaku at Sesshoumaru's behest.
"Can I ask why?"
"Kohaku is my flesh and blood. I care for him more than anyone in the world after my family. Anyone who hurts him, hurts me. Kohaku told me what happened while he was courting he did not tell me who interfered with his courting of Rin, it could only have been you. Do you deny it?"
How could deny the truth of her accusation? All the pranks which had ruined their dates were his doing. He could not even blame Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru had not told him to do any of the things that he did. He could have told Sesshoumaru no and simply escorted the pair as they courted.
"I take your silence to mean that you are guilty. How could you do that? Rin might have been Kohaku's only chance for happiness. Now he has left and will never return to try again with Rin because of what you have done Why did you do it? Do you hate Kohaku so much?"
Finally, Inuyasha could take it no more " Before I accompanied them as they courted. Sesshoumaru came to me and asked me to do anything. I could to interfere with relations between Kohaku and Rin. He did not tell me what to do. He simply told me to do it. It was my duty as his man to do so since I had sworn an oath to serve him."
"You cannot weasel out that way. I know that you wear that uniform as the protector of Rin and the champion of Toga. You are not Sesshoumaru's man. If anything you had a duty to protect Rin. If that is the case, you failed in that duty. She is already past the age where girls ordinarily marry. She liked Kohaku and would have accepted him as her husband. Instead, your actions caused Kohaku to withdraw his suit of Rin. Can you live with their unhappiness on your conscience? "
Inuyasha looked downcast "How can I make up for this? Tell me what to do. You and Miroku are my friends I do not want to be alone again."
Sango gauged Inuyasha's reaction. He seemed sincere in his regret. However he was not sorry for what he had done to Rin and Kohaku only sorry that it cost him the friendship of Miroku and herself. She shook her head
"Only time can heal this wound. Miroku has some exterminations to handle. Go with him, protect him and give him any share of the proceeds that you receive. I just don't want to see your face for some time. The least you can do is to earn some extra money for us. When you return I will decide what you need to do repay us and Kohaku for what you have done."
Inuyasha nodded. He could feel Sango's anger and had no desire to feel Hiraiksotsu's wrath. Having seen Miroku suffer before their marriage he knew just how much damage the demonslayer could inflict. He had not doubt that she had not lost her touch.
After Sango Miroku was actually a joy to be with Inuyasha figured that the more money, he could squeeze out of the customers. The work was relatively easy and painless. The trouble was that the downtown left him too much with Miroku. Inuyasha decided he should seek advice on how to deal with Sango and Kohaku from Miroku.
"Bozou. I need some advice on dealing with your wife."
Miroku looked at the hanyou. The question was whether to play straight with the boy or get him into further difficulty. After a moments hesitation he decided that having Sango angry at Inuyasha was not good for his health. Her anger tended to be worked out on the person closest to her when usually happened to be him. They both needed him to do whatever was necessary to make Sango happy again.
"I think I have a plan. Kohaku is operating out of the old slayer's village. Although it means taking several days away from our exterminations, but if we help him rebuild it his sister may be grateful. You owe me too. Since the fiasco at the Western Shiro she has struck against everyone including her beloved husband. Unless we do something one of us is going to lose his head."
"And this helps me how?"
"We have been your friends for a long time. At the moment you can use all the friends in the world. Everyone has turned on you because of what happened between Rin and Kohaku. It is in your best interest to try to save some of those friendships. Have you forgot what it was like to be alone? We were there for you on the quest, while you were waiting for Kagome and after Kagome left you. I think we have earned the right to demand something back from you."
Inuyasha agreed and they set off for the slayer's village. Kohaku seemed genuinely surprised to see them. Inuyasha approached him tentatively not sure if he would react like his sister or not.
"We are here to help you. Kohaku. Just tell us what to do and we will do it."
Kohaku was not sure. He had not forgiven Inuyasha for what he had done, but he could not afford to turn down help. The village still looked much as it had after Naraku's demons hit it. Inuyasha's strength would is valuable in rebuilding the wall and the buildings.
He set Inuyasha to work on cutting timbers for the wall while he and Miroku mapped out a strategy for rebuilding the houses. What they were lacking was a carpenter Inuyasha could cut the wood and place the wood, but he could not place it. Kohaku had no skills in this area. He had been young enough that he had only absorbed the training necessary to a taijiya. In no way was he prepared to run a village the size of his home much less rebuild it.
Kohaku approached Miroku. "What do you think I should do about Lord Inuyasha, brother-in-law? He was a hero of mine because he bowed to no one. Now I find him playing childish tricks for his brother that are not even worthy of Jaken."
" Be firm with him. Tell him bluntly why you are unhappy with him. Yet set reasonable requirements for repairing the friendship. You will need Inuyasha to rebuild your fort. Someday he may settle here after Kaede dies. We would like to come here someday and tend the graves when we are older. Our children should start to view this village as their home . None of this will occur unless Inuyasha stays our friend. We can use the incident to obtain what we want in rebuilding the village. On the other hand if we alienate him completely, he may feel that he has no place to go and run off. We need him and our children will need him. Naraku did not kill the slayer's village. All he had to do is tell them where it was and they did his dirty work for him. What do you think will happen once the demons learn the slayer's village is being rebuilt? They will come for you thinking that you are weak. You will want someone like Inuyasha to be at your side at a time like that. I know that I would"
Kohaku nodded. He needs to get a hold of Inuyasha now that he had an idea of what to say to him.
When the hanyou had completed his task of gathering logs for the walls and the finally approached Inuyasha. Once he would have been in awe of Inuyasha, but he was now a veteran demon exterminator. All the respect he had for Inuyasha had been lost in the crude stunts which he had endured while on his dates with Rin. It would take all his patience to be tactful.
" Inuyasha, I need to talk to you."
Inuyasha ducked his head. He had some idea about what was coming. Sango and Miroku had told him that he would have make reparations to Kohaku if he wanted to get back in their good graces. How bad could it be? Although he loved lounging around his forest there was much to be said for fighting demons. The ones' Miroku exterminated were ordinary demons who were almost domesticated. Miroku robbed these people since any miko or priest would have killed them on general principal.
" I am still angry about what you do to Rin and me. We were might have married, but for your little escapades"
" But I was just doing what Sesshoumaru ordered me to do. He was the one who did not want you to marry Rin. If you have any complaint, you should take it up with him. I was merely caring out his orders."
"That is why I left. When I determined that Lord Sesshoumaru would not allow me to court Rin I gave up my suit. I respect Lord Sesshoumaru and abide by his word. You I lost all respect for. Once you would have fought Lord Sesshoumaru rather than humiliate Rin like you did. She is after all your best friend in the village. How could you do this to her?"
"What would you require of me to repay you for what I have done to you and Rin?"
"I will need someone to guard the fort once it is rebuilt to prevent a recurrence of the destruction of the taijiya village. If you were willing to do this, I might put in a good word with my sister."
"I will have to think about it Kohaku. I am still in Sesshoumaru's service and am required to guard Rin. Sesshoumaru would not like it if I suddenly took off leaving Rin unprotected."
"I will leave it up to up to you then. Until you pay me the reparations I require you will not be able to get back in my sister's good graces. When you go back to the village, given my regards to Rin. You have embarrassed me too greatly to face her"
With that Kohaku strode away leaving Inuyasha to return home with Miroku. He was no better off than when he had arrived although he had spent days working for Kohaku. Rin. He was not looking forward to talking to her, but she was next on the list of people not talking to him whom he had to approach hat in hand. At least he could come bearing Kohaku's greetings. That would get him through the door.
When he arrived back at the village, he found Kaede in the garden weeding. For some reason her appearance was older than he remembered. She was kneeling on the ground. Every time she pulled a weed she would throw it out of the garden and crawl on her hands and knees to the next weed.
She had always been old to Inuyasha. The younger Kaede was another person from another time. She had seemed timeless until now. Now the age had begun to show. Her hair was now white. She made noises that indicated that her joints bothered her. Without Rin to assist her, she would not be able to perform the duties of the village. He continued to observe her until finally she took note of him. With a might heave she lifted herself to her feet and met Inuyasha's gaze.
"Inuyasha. You have been absent for some time. What brings you here now?"
After a brief staring contest Inuyasha decided to broach his question. " I am looking for Rin."
Kaede gave him a look that made him wonder whether he had been mistaken in coming here.
" Are you sure that you ready to face her? She came back very angry. I have heard from everyone but you what happened at Sesshoumaru's castle. Unless you have a death wish, I would stay away from her for now.
Inuyasha looked at her with surprise "I do not understand. Everyone seems to think that I did something wrong. I was just doing what Sesshoumaru asked me to do. No one was injured. It was no worse than any Shippou's trick. Why is everything my fault?"
Kaede looked at him with a baleful eye. " Young girls dream of marriage. Any marriage. Rin is already three years older than most of the girls in the village when they married. Kikyou, and I were not allowed to marry because we were mikos. You were Kikyou's last chance. Is it any wonder she was willing to give up here vocation and wish on the sacred jewel for you? Kagome is from another time when they do not marry after Mogi like we do."
Inuyasha hesitated before speaking. "What are you saying? That it is my fault that Rin and Kohaku did not get married."
"That Rin saw Kohaku as her last chance for marriage. He is the boy that Rin has known the longest. She has idolized him since she came here. He has not stuck around long enough to court her before or even shown any romantic interest. She loves Lord Sesshoumaru, but that love is like that of a father. No matter what he did in leaving her behind, she would never criticize him. Kohaku was there at the right place at the right time. Now he is gone because of what occurred and she sees you as responsible. You may say that you were just following Sesshoumaru's orders, but Rin will not allow you to escape responsibility for what occurred. She will never blame Sesshoumaru for what happened. It is you that she blames. Knowing that do you still want to see her?"
Inuyasha pondered the question. He could not imagine Rin angry. Kagome had always made him shiver when she raised her voice. There was always the implied threat that she would sit him. Rin had been his friend since Kagome left. Was he actually afraid of a little girl? He fehhed and indicated that he still wanted to see Rin. Kaede sighed and pointed out where she was gathering herbs. Inuyasha had no clue what he was in for.
He found her gathering flowers in a meadow. Her black hair was pulled back in giant bow which trailed down the back of her kimono. She was wearing a light red kimono with a white flower pattern. It was one of her recent gifts from Sesshoumaru. The kimono clearly shouted to the world " I belong to Sesshoumaru." Sesshoumaru had impressed him with that fact in their last conversation. Kohaku never stood a chance.
The longer he lingered. The more he stared. The more enchanted he became by her. When she finally looked up at him, he was completely ensorcelled by her. He was not sure what it was. She certainly was not the most beautiful woman he had ever seen or the brightest. Something about her seemed to draw him to her like a magnet. For the first time in his life he was actually jealous of Sesshoumaru because she was his body and soul.
In the middle of his reverie she looked up at him. The expression on her face changed. For the first time he saw anger in those eyes and knew true fear. He had seen anger before from Kikyou when she killed him and from Kagome when she sat him. Their anger however was eased somewhat by the deeper feelings they held for him. Rin's anger was just that. Unmitigated hate. He was surprised. What had he done to her to deserve such a look?
"You have a lot of nerve coming here after what you did" She screamed.
Inuyasha looked at her like she was crazy. " Keh. What did I do?"
She walked up and thumped him on the chest. " Kohaku was my only chance for happiness. My only chance for love. Now no man will ever want me. I am too old. All the village girls of my age are married with children. Already I was an object of derision. The women would point me out as the youkai's girl. No family wanted a youkai in their family. Only Kohaku was willing to give me a chance. Now that opportunity is gone.I will end up old, wrinkled and alone like Grandma Kaede."
He gawked at her. Finally he stuttered " Kohaku sends his regards."
Rin flushed at the mention of Kohaku's name. After a minute she was back in Inuyasha's face even more angry " You are now Kohaku's messenger boy. Have you sunk so low that you are merely a courier. Why couldn't he come himself?"
When Inuyasha fumbled with his words Rin caught his meaning and poked at the hanyou " Now he is too embarrassed by what happened to even face me. You have lost me not only a husband and a family but even my friend. Why would you do this to me? You were supposed to be my friend. That uniform says that you are my protector. Instead you inflict the most pain that I have felt since the wolves killed me. I hate you. I never want to see you again."
Inuyasha was astonished. When he came here, he had never expected this tirade. He and Rin had kept each other company after Kagome left. The thought of losing her was terrifying. "But Rin I was just doing what Sesshoumaru asked me to do?"
Rin scoffed "What a feeble excuse. Since when have you ever done what Lord Seshoumaru asked you to do. Even if I believed you, I would never blame Lord Sesshoumaru. He is the one truly kind and decent person in this world. To think I actually liked you because you were his brother. You are nothing like him. I heard that you never did anything he asked to do. Why now? Why do this to me and Kohaku when our future and our happiness was on the line? I thought we were friends. I thought we were alike because we were left behind. Instead, I find that you are spineless fraud. Kagome is lucky that she found Lord Sesshoumaru."
"You take that back." growled Inuyasha.
"I will not. Kagome was lucky that she escaped from you when she did. I was jealous of her because I wanted to marry Lord Sesshoumaru and she had taken him away from me. Part of me still wishes that he had waited for me and not left me behind. Now I just wish that he would take me away from this place. I will never fit into humanity. I will always be the woman of the youkai. Even now they refuse treatment from me. When Lady Kaede dies I will be totally alone. My only friends will be Miroku and Sango and their children. Kohaku was my way out of this place and now I am ruined. Just go."
He knew that he should go but his feet refused to move. Somehow he had become glued to the spot. Rin was pounding against his chest and screaming at him, but he could not feel or hear anything. What was wrong with him? Rin did not mean anything to him. She was just another human girl to whom he had become attached after Kagome left. He had always thought of her as a little girl. Her marrying Kohaku did not matter to him one way or another. Following Sesshoumaru's orders had seemed so easy at the time. If Sesshoumaru wanted to prevent Rin from marrying Kohaku he should have just done so himself. When had he starting blindly following Sesshoumaru's commands without thought to the consequences. He deserved everything that Rin did to him for what he had done.
The sound of Rin's screaming brought everyone to the meadow. The entire village was treated to the sight of Rin pummeling the hanyou. It did not stop until Kaede finally pulled Rin away with Sango's help kicking and crying and led her back to her house. Miroku took Inuyasha away by the hand as if he were a naughty little boy who was shocked that his mother had hit him. They had all warned Inuyasha what to expect from Rin, but he had not listened to them. Now they were all reaping the consequences of his rash action.
After Kaede finally was able to calm Rin, she summoned Jaken. Sesshoumaru needed to come to take charge of Rin. In her present condition she was of no use to her. Better that she went to a place as far away from Kohaku or Inuyasha at the moment. A place where she felt save from the world. Since she had always idolized Sesshoumaru, Kaede thought of him first. She would need to talk to the daiyoukai about keeping her at the castle till she was ready to deal with what had happened to her.
Sesshoumaru looked at the letter from the monk. Just what he needed. He had left Rin in the village to learn human ways. The castle with all its youkai was not a safe place for her. She would have to be guarded from harm just like Toga and Kagome. He had thought Kagome's suggestion of making Inuyasha her protector a good choice since the hanyou was already present in the village and could handle problems which might arise when he was not there and which were beyond Jaken's skills.
He summoned Kagome. Her help would be invaluable with dealing with Rin. He did not want her talking with Inuyasha. Inuyasha would no doubt tell her about his part in scuttling the courtship of Rin and Kohaku Better to say nothing than face her wrath. He would confront Inuyasha. The boy should realize what a mess he had made of a simple task. Who better than himself to point that out to Inuyasha?
Sesshoumaru and Kagome rushed to Kaede's village. Rin was still sedated when they arrived. Sesshoumaru decided to find Inuyasha. Miroku directed him to the house which he had built for Kagome. Sesshoumaru remembered it well. He had probably spent more time in it than Inuyasha. It was ironic that he should confront Inuyasha about Rin in the place where both he and his brother had consummated their relationship with Kagome.
When Sesshoumaru arrived Inuyasha was leaning against the wall outside the door of his house staring at nothing. The daiyoukai stood staring at him wondering how to approach him. Finally he simply walked up to him and confronted him. Inuyasha did not seem to notice him until he was on him. He stood in front of him until the boy finally looked and recognized his presence.
"What the fuck do you want,bastard?"
"What did you do to Rin, Inuyasha?"
"Apparently, I ruined her life."
Sesshoumaru fumed " What did you do to her?"
"I followed your orders. You told me to do whatever was necessary to stop Kohaku's courtship of Rin. She feels that I ruined her life since she will never be able to marry a human while she lives in this village"
Sesshoumaru pondered Inuyasha's words. "And how did that hurt her?"
"She believes that her life is ruined and that I ruined her one chance at happiness."
"Why would she blame you?"
"Because I was the one playing dirty tricks on Kohaku. She refuses to believe that you did any wrong since you did not ruin her dates thought I told her I was just following your orders."
Sesshoumaru contemplated what Inuyasha had said. So like Rin. She had always worshiped the ground he walked on. Once the quest was over, he had wanted to return her to humanity. Apparently, returning to humanity was harder than he envisioned.
"I will take Rin to the Western Shiro until she recovers. It may be sometime until she is willing to accept you as her protector"
Inuyasha was enraged. "Rin told me that she does not want to see me anymore. I do not blame her. She told that I was spineless and should not have done things that harmed her. I agree with her. This haori has placed me on par with Jaken. I cannot wear it anymore or serve you anymore.
I will continue to protect Rin, but not as your toadie. You can keep your ceremonial crap. My fire rat works just fine and it is not tarnished by the dirty tricks that I had to pull for you."
With that Inuyasha tossed the haori at Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru stared at the haori. " I do not release you from my service. You will do as I say."
:"I will never work for you again. Why did you want me to work for you in the first place? At the time I was honored that you entrusted me with Rin, but I will not do it if Rin is hurt by my actions on your behalf."
" I did not want you to place you in that position. It was Kagome's idea. If it were up to me, you would not be anywhere near Rin. I certainly would not have made you Toga's champion either."
Inuyasha was stunned into silence. It had never occurred to him that Kagome had asked Sesshoumaru to make him Rin's protector or Toga's champion. It was Kagome that had tied him to Sesshoumaru and Rin. Sesshoumaru had merely been currying his mate's favor by agreeing to name him as champion and protector. Inuyasha had obeyed Sesshoumaru's orders blindly and hurt Rin.
Kagome was sobered by what Rin had told her. She knew that each of the dates had been ruined. It had never occurred to her that Inuyasha was responsible for ruining Rin's chances at marriage. A righteous fury boiled inside of her. How could he do such things to such an innocent like Rin who had never harmed anyone? Rin had befriended Inuyasha and this was how he rewarded dog would have to be put in his place. Thanks to the kotodama, she still had the means to punish him.
Sesshoumaru has just left Inuyasha's house when Kagome arrived. Inuyasha was standing staring into the place where he had vanished when Kagome came storming up to his door.
"How dare you treat Rin in such a fashion? To think that the person who was made the protector of Rin should be the one who caused the most damage to her heart?"
Inuyasha was incredulous " Me. I was just following your mate's orders. He was the one who did not want Kohaku married to told me to do whatever was necessary to break them up. "
Kagome was fuming now. She sat him ten times. " So you admit that you were the one playing tricks on them. It was because of you that Kohaku gave up his courtship of Rin. I refuse to believe that Sesshoumaru had any part any in this affair. He cares for Rin more than anyone in the world. I cannot believe that he would ever harm her."
Inuyasha finally dug himself out of the crater and spat " How dare you use the kotodama on me. It was the bond between the two of us. The bond that was shattered when you left me. You are the one who wanted Rin to marry Kohaku not Sessshoumaru. He could not tell you himself because he was afraid that you would be angry if you knew. Instead he told me to do so. As for being Rin's protector, I never wanted the job. Sesshoumaru told me that it was you that placed in that position where I had to obey Sesshoumaru's orders "
Kagome was not deterred and continued to sit him. "The kotodama is for your own good. I was given your leash to control you when you could not control yourself. It is not my fault or Sesshoumaru's fault that Kohaku left. It is your fault. You are responsible for what happened. No one forced you to play those dirty tricks on them. Kohaku and Rin were both humiliated. It is a feeling I know too well. You ruined her first love."
When Kagome was finally exhausted from sitting Inuyasha. She stared into the crater " I thought we were still best friends. I put Rin into your hands because I thought I could depend on you to protect her as you had always protected me. This is how you repay me for my kindness."
She backed off as Inuyasha emerged from underground. He gave her a look of utter disdain as she finished her tirade.
"Kagome Once you were the woman I loved. The woman I waited for three years. I went after you in the Meidou because I thought that we were born for each other. I offered my life for you countless times Imagine my surprise when I discovered that you had cheated on me with my brother in the very house that I built for you. We are not friends anymore. We are only brother and sister by marriage. I have the same feeling for you that I once had for Sesshoumaru. This beads represent my slavery. I am in still in chains even though you deserted me. This house represents the family that we should have had. The place where we should have lived together. I would ask you to remove the beads since they no longer represent any bond between us. Since you will not free me, I will remove the one thing that represents our life together. Our house"
With that Inuyasha gave a mighty tug on the support posts of the house. The house shook and collapsed inward on top of Inuyasha. A great dust cloud arose from the site where the house had stood. Kagome gaped in shock at the sight of the destruction. She had not intended this result at all.
Her intention was merely to give Inuyasha a piece of her mind and to point him in the right direction. It had always worked to keep him in line when they were on the quest. At the moment she did not know if he was alive or dead. What was she going to do now?
Instinctively, she began to scream his name. The tower bell rang out its clarion call. Everyone in the village stopped what they were doing and rushed to the rubble which once served as the home for the hanyou and the miko.
