Chapter 10- Kenshin and Rin

"C'mon, Kenshin, the sun was up an hour ago!" Kagome said, shaking the boy awake. Her giggle signaled to the boy her bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, genki temperament. Kenshin groaned and rolled over on the cold ground, covering his head with his arms against the bright morning sun.

"C'mon, Kenshin, we don't have time for this! We have to make good time heading for Mount Hakurei!" he heard Inuyasha call to him.

"I'm tired!" the golden child complained, lifting his head and looking the elder half-dog in the eye. For some reason, even his manner had become lightened. It was… slightly unnerving, but he had to continue. His eyes went wide and glassy, and he smiled softly, amplifying the sleep still in his eyes. "Couldn't you just carry me Inuyasha-otōsan? Huh? Please?"

The elder boy shook his head playfully.

"Nope. We're gonna start at a run, and I have to carry Kagome."

"Meaning," he finished with a sigh, "that I have to ride on Kirara with Sango, Shippou and Miroku, right?"

Inuyasha nodded, a pitying smile gracing his lips for a moment. He knew that the child was still a little discomfited when around the others, as he was not with Kagome and himself, but it would put a dent in his own endurance if he had to carry them both. It wouldn't be quite as hard on Kirara, either, if she wasn't carrying three full-grown people. Besides, Kagome really hadn't gotten much sleep the night before; the two of them had stayed up for hours, first watching the fire go down and then watching the stars. He had stayed awake all night, as he did most times, but Kagome had fallen asleep only a short time before dawn. "At least you're not as scared of them as you used to be."

"I was not scared!"

"Sure you were. Why else would you have buried your face in Kagome's side when Shippou came over, asking if you wanted to go to the hot-spring with him to bathe?"

Sango entered the camp a moment later; she had been off taking a bath in the river that was nearby that morning, since she hadn't had one in a few days. She glanced at the two, and a smile played over her lips gracefully.

"Are you two arguing again?" she asked, a spark twinkling in her dark brown, magenta-tainted eyes. Kenshin stuck his tongue out at her. But Inuyasha noticed; he reached and gripped the back of the pup's neck in a reproving manner. The surprised child yipped, jumping away from the correcting hand. The action seemed funny to Sango, and she let herself giggle lightly.

Miroku walked into camp, and he too chuckled at the action. It seemed that Inuyasha was in high spirits this morning; why, he did not understand, but he was. It also appeared that he was becoming closer to Kenshin as the days passed; this show was of a youkai father correcting his son. It was comical and cute at the same time.

"We need to get moving, Inuyasha!" Kagome called, stuffing the last of her things into the bottomless pit known as her backpack. He nodded at her. Everything was set and ready to go. Kirara took the hint and transformed.

"Alright, let's go!" called Sango as she vaulted onto the neko-demon's back. She pulled Kenshin up in front of her, and Shippou took up residence on Miroku's shoulder as he climbed on behind the taijiya. With a whirl of wind and flame, the youkai took flight, and Inuyasha wasn't too far behind her.

"Sesshoumaru-sama! Look!" Rin called, holding up a bouquet of exotic orange flowers. "What are they, Sesshoumaru-sama? What kind of flower?"

"They're tiger lilies, foolish girl!" she heard Jaken call from behind her. His insult fell on deaf ears, though, as the small group traveled through the thicket that surrounded the base of Mount Hakurei. "Stop bothering Lord Sesshoumaru with such trivialities as flowers."

Rin skipped ahead, unfazed and with complete disregard for the toad. She really couldn't care less what Jaken said about her; it was Lord Sesshoumaru's opinion that mattered. A shiny object caught her eye in the bushes, and it drew her attention.

It was a tiny, pink shard.

The child picked the object up in slight reverence. The object called to her… seemed like… it knew her… the feeling was odd, and the chill of gooseflesh traveled up her skin. For a moment, the shard seemed dull in the dappled shade of the trees, but the longer she looked at it, the brighter it seemed to glow. A pure, pink light, an inviting light, a soft light. It illuminated her face gently, and it's soft, pale hue reflected in her dark gaze. She vaguely heard a crash behind her, and a pained called from Jaken after something that sounded… almost like lightening. Rin shook herself from her trance and threw a glance over her shoulder at a rather fried-looking toad-youkai.

"Master Jaken! Are you ok?" she asked worriedly as she got up and ran to him. The creature shook himself out of his stupor and looked up at her with fear in his eyes.

"Rin! We must go now!" he said hurriedly, jumping to his feet. "Inuyasha and his band have attacked! Lord Sesshoumaru instructed me to take you elsewhere!"

Before he could drag her away, though, the raven-haired miko appeared through the bushes, and as always, she made the small child feel a connection with her mere presence. The woman smiled softly.

"Hi," she said softly, walking forward to crouch in front of her. "What's your name?"

"Rin," the girl answered readily. Maybe this was her chance to get some answers! The teen smiled at her again lightly.

"I'm Kagome! Say, Rin? Did you by any chance pick up a small, pink object somewhere around here?"

Rin nodded quickly, sticking out her hand. In her palm was the tiny shard she'd retrieved. An even brighter smile lit the woman's face as she took the shard. A battle cry was heard in the background, and someone crashing through the brush. The little girl's surprised gaze shot up, and clashed with garnet hues in surprise.

"Kenshin?"

The boy continued to stare at her in shocked silence, and she took a few steps forward, passing Kagome. A tentative hand reached toward him, and his own met hers. Their fingers intertwined, and his murmur of her name seemed to echo through the forest as did the battle cries of their protectors.

Renne: Hey ya'll! It's been a while, hasn't it? (glances at calendar) You're probably about ready to strangle me... But here it is! Eheheh... Well, FF kept being mean and having internal errors, so I couldn't get things uploaded; you'll just have to forgive me. (nervous grin) Anywho, I'm BACK INTO FANFICTION. Other ppl's fiction gives me inspiration, and I haven't been reading that much lately. But I'm FINALLY making progress! SEE YOU SOON!

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