I Do Not Own Inuyasha

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New Beginnings and Old Comings

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Rin walked up behind Sesshomaru, she was tempted to ask him, to pry into what scared him on the rare occasions he would actually sleep. But as she stood there staring at his silver profile she internally sighed before walking up beside him with her hands hidden in her sleeves.

For as long as she could remember, her lord only ever slept when he was exhausted, and even then it wasn't for long. But when he slept, she knew he was vulnerable and he had his demons, she had felt the nightmares. Emotionally, and physically; one time she had tried to wake him when she had been about ten, and he had nearly strangled her as she clawed at his wrist when he realized it was she and not that 'Sara' girl who's name he cried out for. Of course her lord had kept a distance between them after that, but she; of course; had ignored it vehemently and stood closer to him to prove she wasn't afraid of him or his nightmares. Sesshomaru was the least of her fears.

"Morning my lord, and where shall we be traveling to today?" she inquired with a smile. She noted the way his amber eyes assessed her quietly prodding her for answers. Well, she wasn't going to let him think her so weak as to be scared of him because of his nightmare. So she defiantly stepped into his personal space, she reached up and let her fingers lightly trace his jaw before she stood on the tip of her toes and kissed his pulse; which was what she could reach even on her toes she could not kiss him on the lips. It wasn't that she didn't want to kiss him, it was more of…

Too. Damn. Short!

"Rin," he growled her name lightly but she just smiled as she hugged him.

"I love you Sesshomaru-sama, and you don't scare me," she informed him promptly. It was important he know so he would stop worrying about their relationship and their standing. She was his, always had been and always would be, and not even he could drive her away from him. Kami knew he had tried a time or two, but she was just as obstinate as he, and she was clinging to him like he was her life raft in the middle of the raging seas.

"Shishinki and Koga, as promised for when I mark you," he explained.

"Oh, good, I haven't seen them in a while," she smiled as she stepped away from him quietly and began following him as he led the way to where he wanted to go. Yes, she was brave enough to walk beside him when others walked a respectable distance behind him. And no, she was not thrilled about seeing Koga or Shishinki again, that was code for 'more tests' and she hated their tests. But she would endure them because she was the yōkai human pup who was something of an unknown to them.

Sesshomaru hated sleeping, he understood it was necessary for his health that he sleep but he still hated it. There was nothing good of it, and it was most annoying to have the continuous nightmare of what he couldn't do replay in his mind's eye, over and over and over again until he was lashing out to stop the images.

The human girl beside him though had always been there for the past sixteen years when he'd awake from those nightmares. She would hug him, hold him, lend him her hand or just simply be there with him. And there were times, not to pleasant of times when he'd violently wake and find himself attacking her as if she were the woman in his nightmares, Rin had never been scared of him though. Not even when he had nearly strangled her that night so long ago, and not from last night's reaction either.

It made him wonder if humans were truly stronger than daiyōkai in some ways. Every yōkai or daiyōkai female he had dared to trust; which he was pretty certain was only two in grand total; had all run when he lashed out at them in his sleep because of that reoccurring nightmare. And then there was the human girl, a fragile, breakable, little, human girl who he could kill with a mere flick of his wrist, a wrong touch, an unintentional movement and had nearly killed before, who showed him no fear.

It was strange to him, none had ever been compassionate to him; not before the death of Asano Sara and certainly not after.

And then there was the one he had claimed as his walking beside him. She had never bothered to learn to fear him and for that… well he was grateful and concerned.

Concerned because Rin did not seem to know or care with how fragile she was and how careless he could be with her. And grateful because if this foolish human found out just how dangerous he was he was certain she'd run for the mountains and would try to hide from him like all the others had in his life.

"My lord, what tests will I have to pass this time?" Rin asked.

"Hn," he shrugged. He honestly didn't know what tests she was speaking of. He did not believe Shishinki or Koga had intentions of testing her again, merely making certain he had not killed her by accident when bonding with her or mating with her. Once they were satisfied with her live status she'd more than likely be told to do as she pleased and have free run of both realms. Not that she didn't have a free run of both realms as their arrangement stood now, but this would make her officially one of the yōkai and she would have to sever all ties with her human roots. Not that she had ever had any ties to humans as it was, he had seen to it that his human had never been near them long enough to be corrupted by them.

"Don't think I do not know you are hiding something from me my lord, I know there's some test coming up. Shishinki and Koga always have tests for me to do!" she snapped.

He shrugged, for this time he honestly had no idea what she was talking about.

Inuyasha was startled waking in a strange room until he remembered the fact that the young miko had let him stay with her in her hut. Which was a small hut, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth when his hostess had been kind enough to let him stay and not kick him into mud like her Taijiya friend seemed to want to do. Sighing he got up, and started getting ready for his day. Perhaps, he could charm the miko into telling him more about his brother so he could 'charm' Sesshomaru into coming home with him.

After all, their father wanted to reconcile and rename Sesshomaru as the rightful heir to his lands. Not that Inuyasha was thrilled about this, but in the past centuries he had learned many things; and one of the main things he had learned was he was a leader in battle but a useless politian and country ruler. With this in mind he dressed in his armor, Tetsusagia, secure on his hip when he walked out into the garden of the country side the miko had brought him too.

She was sitting out there making tea, from what he could smell, with an older looking miko, another beautiful young miko, and a monk. Cautiously he approached them, he could feel all of their spiritual power and it was a little disconcerting to him as he moved to be behind Kagome and looking down on the other three.

"Good morning Inuyasha, this is Kaede," Kagome introduced an old hag to him with an eye patch on one eye and gray hair. "Ungai," she introduced the monk. "And Kikyo," Kagome introduced the older woman who looked a lot like Kagome shockingly.

"Good morning," he greeted them.

"Have a seat, and some tea, my mentors have much to ask you about your brother," Kagome informed him cheerfully, he scowled but sat beside her. She offered him the tea and he took the warm beverage with glee. Kami was he ever hungry and thirsty from his journey.

"Now, Inuyasha-sama, what is this about you being the brother of the Inu Daiyōkai of our lands?" the monk asked him. He didn't say anything as his mind worked faster than his mouth to think of a reasonable answer for this older man. He wasn't about to outright lie to the monk; he was superstitious, but he wasn't going to tell the monk everything about Sesshomaru when he, himself, knew next to nothing about his brother. This was a precarious situation he found himself in as he sipped his tea and thought of a careful answer.

That's all for now folks!

Enjoy Cast Adrift! =)