"He kissed her, and she let him. How dare she!" Sesshomaru was having an internal battle with himself; it had been the same battle for the past two days since meeting Ginta, but all of these arguments ending in the same way. He has no right to her. He can't tell her what to do.
"Uh, Lord Sesshomaru?"
"What is it, Kagome?" he answered boredly.
"Do you know what's wrong with Inuyasha? He won't talk to me. I told him I was sorry for Hakkaku, but he still ignored me. Did I do something wrong?" she asked almost frantically.
"No, you didn't do anything, but leave him be for a while. He doesn't want the company," Sesshomaru offered.
"Are you mad at me, milord?" she asked sadly.
"No," he looked her in the eyes, "should I be?"
"I don't know, milord," she replied looking at the ground. "It's all my fault Ginta wants to marry Miss Rin."
"How do you figure?" he asked, curious as to how the five year old could blame herself for everything wrong with their situation.
"Jaken told me so. He said if I hadn't said Miss Rin's name, everyone would be in a better mood," she revealed.
"Of course," Sesshomaru muttered, deciding to punish the imp the next time he saw him. "Even if you hadn't said Rin's name, everyone's mood would still be like this."
"So it's not really my fault?" she asked, hope tinting her eyes.
"No, it's not," he reassured her.
"Thank you, milord!" she said as she flashed a smile and ran off.
"Speaking of Inuyasha, where is he?" Sesshomaru glanced around the campsite, and noticed Inuyasha wasn't there. "Jaken."
"Yes, milord?" Jaken answered looking up from the roasting fish.
"Where is Inuyasha?" he asked.
"I'm not sure, milord. I will go look for him right now," as Jaken spoke, he ran into the surrounding forest.
"I guess, I'll look after lunch," Rin said walking over to the fire. After a moment, she spoke, calling his name. "Sesshomaru?"
"What?" he asked, glancing over at her.
"Are you alright?" her voice was full of worry.
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"You just seem, um, I don't know; nevermind," she said shaking her head.
"If you have something to say, say it," he said plainly.
"You seem like something is troubling you ever since we ran into Ginta, and-"
"His father did kill my father," he snapped.
"I know, I'm sorry; it's none of my business," she said inhaling sharply. "Uh, Kagome? Can you come help me?"
"Of course, Miss Rin, with what?" she asked cheerfully; completely oblivious to the awkward situation.
"Uh, we need more firewood," she said quickly. "Now. Let's go."
"But look! Inuyasha's coming!" she said running over to him. "Hey Inuyasha, maybe playing will make you feel better?" she suggested innocently.
"Get away from me, you stupid servant!" he said as he pushed her to the ground.
"Inuyasha! What's wrong with you!" Rin exclaimed as she rushed to Kagome's side.
"It's all you and that stupid servant's fault my mother is dead!" Rin stopped moving. "If it weren't for your parents and her masters, I would be with my mother right now, but no, everyone has to save you."
"Inuyasha, enough," Sesshomaru said warningly.
"No! It's all their fault, and yours. We would have left together had you not-"
"I said enough, shut your mouth," his tone was no longer warning, but was threatening, causing Inuyasha to run back into the nearby trees.
Rin watched as he ran, bit her lip, and looked down at the child on the ground."Kagome, are you okay?" she asked cautiously.
"Yes, milady, I'm fine," she replied as she stood up. "I'm going to get some more firewood."
"Do you want me to help you?"
"No, thank you," she replied as she walked in the opposite direction of Inuyasha.
"Sesshomaru?" she called, turning to face him. "Had you not what?" Sesshomaru stood up and began to walk in the direction Jaken originally took to find Inuyasha. "Hey! I'm talking to you!" she yelled as she chased after him.
"I don't have to explain anything to you," he said coldly.
Rin looked as though he slapped her. After she recovered, she said, "You're right. You don't." With nothing left to say, she went back to the fire.
He stopped walking, and quickly glanced at her. "What's wrong with her? Normally she would have pressed on. Why did she stop?"
"Lunch will be ready soon. I hope everyone will be back by then." Poking at the fire, she sighed. "Or maybe I don't. I never really liked Jaken, Inuyasha pissed at everyone, Kagome is sad, and then there's Sesshomaru. I don't get what's wrong with him. I know I shouldn't question him, and I'm extremely grateful he saved me, I just wish he would open up a little. Tell me what we're doing."
"Rin, don't burn the fish," Jaken yelled. Rin looked up to Jaken and Sesshomaru watching her.
"Milord, should I go find Inuyasha and Kagome?" Jaken asked.
"Yes."
"Here, I'll go find them," Rin offered, stepping away from the fire.
"Inuyasha hates you right now; Jaken can go find them," he said calmly, realizing that she's trying to not be left alone with him.
"I'll be back, milord," Jaken smiled smugly, toward Rin, as he left.
"Are you trying to avoid me now?" Sesshomaru asked as he sat under a nearby tree, although he was already sure of the answer.
Rin shook her head. "Why would I do that?"
"Why don't you tell me?" he retorted.
"I'm not," she answered confidently, unsure of why she was lying to him. She sighed inwardly. "Okay, fine. I'm avoiding, but you aren't exactly making it easy on me."
"And why are you avoiding me?" he asked for further clarification.
Rin raised an eyebrow. "I don't think you want to hear the answer to that."
"If I didn't want the answer I would not have asked," Sesshomaru pointed out.
"Alright, fine. You're driving me crazy. You are, clearly, upset with me, but you won't tell me why. You knew the night we left what was going to happen, but now you're trying to make it sound like you had no idea, and that's why you're upset, but you were practically fine until we ran into Ginta," she explained. "It doesn't make any sense."
Sesshomaru frowned as he took in her words. However, before he could respond, Jaken came running forward.
"Milord, milord, come quick," Jaken yelled. Sesshomaru quickly stood up, grabbed Rin's hand, and followed Jaken. When they arrived, they saw the horrible scene that had awaited them.
Rin turned into Sesshomaru's chest for comfort, not wanting to look anymore, as she began to cry. A small body laid on the ground not breathing; a stab wound to the heart appeared to be the culprit, but with all the other cuts, no one could be sure. Bright red tinted the grass with a trickle of blood flowing from the small mouth.
Jaken mournfully handed Sesshomaru a white piece of paper. "I found this with the body, milord, but I don't know what it means."
"What's going on here?" Inuyasha asked as he wandered upon the group no longer at their campsite. His eyes quickly answered his own question as he fell beside Kagome's lifeless body. "What happened? Kagome, please wake up, please. I didn't mean anything I said earlier, I promise, I didn't," he cried as he clung to her figure, covering himself in her blood.
Rin buried herself deeper into Sesshomaru's chest as she cried harder. He lifted the note, and began to silently read to himself.
Dear Sesshomaru and my lovely future wife,
You really should keep a better eye on you travel companions. She was just sitting here crying, and playing with the grass. You'd be proud, though, Sesshomaru, she never once shed a tear because of the pain I was inflicting on her. It was almost a disappointment. I kept expecting her to call for one of you, but she just stared blankly at me. Gave me the creeps. Oh well, she won't being staring at anything anymore.
Until next time,
Ginta.
Sesshomaru crumpled the paper, and threw it on the ground as he placed a hand on Rin's head.
Sorry about the delay, but it's here now. : )
I promise as the story continues, the plot holes will be filled. I can't decide how I like this chapter, but you can go ahead and let me know how you like by reviewing. Not much to say, really. I thought about the cliffhanger being who died, Inuyasha or Kagome, but I changed my mind. I figured it's still a cliffhanger, so I'm still telling the truth from my last author's note, which is the important thing.
Hints for next time:
Sesshomaru and Rin will be at odds again over a plan, and there will be another cliffhanger. A real one. A huge one. It's already written in my notebook waiting to be typed, so I know it's gonna shock the hell out of some of you.
