Chapter Twelve
A young woman around the age of sixteen smiled happily as she picked flowers in a field, waiting for her traveling companions to return. One had gone off to take care of important business that she could not know about. The other had taken their steed to go to a nearby village and restock on supplies. The young woman was left alone to enjoy the field of late spring flowers.
The young woman gathered enough flowers to braid into a necklace. Then she sat in the shade of a tree and got to work, humming happily. Braiding flowers was a hobby she had enjoyed since childhood, though she rarely got the opportunity to do it now that she was a young woman waiting for a suitor to come and marry her. Or so that was the excuse her guardian gave her to keep her from doing such childish things. He did, however, enjoy her childish nature when they traveled, so he would allow her to braid flowers while he took care of business.
A breeze blew the young woman's chocolate brown hair in her beautiful face. She was slightly startled when a gentle hand that was not hers pushed her hair away from her face and then tied it behind her head with a white ribbon. She looked up at the man that had appeared out of nowhere with her large hazel eyes. Her full lips turned into a happy smile as she stared at the tall inu taiyokai with golden eyes, a constant stoic expression, and long silver hair. He wore an elegant white kimono with red and gold honeycomb accents. Armor could be seen over his kimono, along with a white fluffy mokomoko over his shoulder and two swords strapped to his hip.
"Sesshoumaru-sama, you've returned." The young woman smiled happily, hurrying to her feet to greet her guardian. She desperately wanted to hug him as she had done when she was a child, but she settled for a small bow.
"Rin." Sesshoumaru greeted in return, keeping his voice even and his face expressionless. Then he turned and began walking. "We are leaving now." he told her.
"What about Jaken-sama?" The young woman, Rin, asked as she followed her guardian, leaving the flowers behind in favor of being near her beloved taiyokai.
"He will have to catch up." Sesshoumaru responded. Then they continued walking through the forest in silence, Rin following a few paces behind her guardian. Suddenly Sesshoumaru stopped in his tracks, making Rin run into his back.
"I-I'm sorry, Sesshoumaru-sama. I didn't stop soon enough." Rin apologized for running into him as he turned around to face her. For once his stoic expression faded a little as he raised an eyebrow in question.
"Are you bleeding, Rin?" he asked the young woman, who blushed violently at his question. He had stopped because he smelled her beginning to bleed suddenly. Rin checked her mental calendar and realized that her time of the month was this week, although she was a day early.
"I-I believe so, my lord." Rin answered quietly as her face became red enough to put a tomato to shame. "I-I forgot that it was this week…"
"Tell me if you begin to feel pain." Sesshoumaru said simply as he turned around and began walking again. "We shall arrive at Inuyasha's village within two hours. You should not bleed too much before then." He told her. Rin slowly nodded and began to follow him again, still blushing with embarrassment about being discovered like that. It was times like this that she really hated her guardian's sense of smell.
-break-
"Look, Sesshoumaru and Rin are back!" Sango pointed in the distance. Kagome looked up from playing with Yuusuke and smiled happily as she saw the traveling pair. She was so happy that Rin was finally back. She hadn't seen the girl since last summer.
Sango took Yuusuke inside her hut so Miroku would watch him. Then she and Kagome hurried to meet Rin. Kagome stopped at the edge of the village and turned to the tree where Inuyasha was sitting, watching his brother from a distance. She looked up at him, silently asking his permission to go near his brother to see Rin. When he smiled lightly and nodded she smiled her thanks at him and then hurried after Sango.
"It's been so long, Rin! Oh, you've gotten so much taller now!" Sango was already hugging Rin when Kagome started to approach. Rin glanced up from Sango and gasped in surprise.
"Kagome-chan?" Rin questioned, stepping back from Sango. She stared at her now-hanyou friend for a long time. Kagome stood still, letting Rin take everything in. She noticed Sesshoumaru glance curiously at her as well. "You're a hanyou… but how?"
"I-I mated with Inuyasha." Kagome answered quietly, blushing at how strangely that sounded. "He gave me his yoki and turned me into a hanyou."
"He can do that?" Rin questioned, coming closer. Kagome nodded, and then she caught Rin's scent… and the scent of her blood. Human blood… delicious-smelling human blood. She took a step back, surprising both Rin and Sango, as she felt her new yokai-self filling her head with thoughts of murder and destruction. Her golden eyes flashed red for an instant, startling Sesshoumaru the most, as she fought to keep control. His hand went to his sword as he realized that Kagome was still unable to control her beast. He might have to subdue her if she loses control.
Before Sesshoumaru got that chance Inuyasha arrived. He had seen Kagome take a step back from Rin, and then he noticed Sesshoumaru's hand go down to his sword. When the scent of Rin's blood reached his nose he realized what was going on. He ran to his mate's side instantly, surprising Rin and his brother with his new appearance.
Inuyasha didn't waste time trying to calm Kagome with words. He quickly pulled her to him and bit her neck, hard. Kagome whimpered loudly in pain as Inuyasha forced her beast to submit. Her yokai blood retreated and she regained control. Inuyasha released her as she turned her neck to him, showing him that she'd calmed down. Then she collapsed against him, starting to cry. She'd been so terrified! She'd never lost control like that before…
"K-Kagome-chan…? Inuyasha-sama…?" Rin's voice came. Inuyasha looked up to see the young woman staring at them with concern. Sango, too, looked extremely worried, and Sesshoumaru even seemed to be relieved.
"She's okay." Inuyasha assured the worried women. "The scent of Rin's blood made her nearly lose control. She's never done that before so it scared her."
"Should I take her back to the village?" Sango asked now. Inuyasha nodded and Sango gently pried Kagome from her mate. Kagome turned to Sango and cried into her shoulder as Sango managed to lead her back to the village. Inuyasha watched them go before sighing and turning to Rin and his brother.
"It's not your fault, Rin." He assured the young woman, who had a guilty expression on her face. Then he turned to Sesshoumaru, who was staring intently at his brother.
"You've… matured." Sesshoumaru said. Indeed, his hanyou half-brother had matured both physically and mentally since he last saw him. Now he looked and acted very much like an adult, and he resembled their father even more than before, especially with his hair pulled back.
"I have." Inuyasha grinned. "And I would really like to spar with you to test out how much stronger I've gotten since taking a mate."
"Why me?" Sesshoumaru frowned.
"Because I know I won't kill you within five seconds." Inuyasha told him. Though he didn't show it on his face, inwardly Sesshoumaru was amazed that Inuyasha hadn't simply started a fight with him already. He wanted to spar, did he not? For once it was Sesshoumaru that actually wanted to start the fight… although he wouldn't do such a thing without a proper reason.
"Very well. But not now and not here." Sesshoumaru told him. "I have only come here to drop Rin off, and I have important matters to attend to at home." He turned to Rin now. "Rin, behave and do not get into danger. I shall return for you at the end of summer." With that said he turned and left, half expecting Inuyasha to stop him and call him out to fight. He was somewhat disappointed when that didn't happen. Where did that child of a brother go? Since when was he actually mature like an adult?!
-break-
Kagome stayed close to Inuyasha as they approached Rin. She clung tightly to his arm as the scent of Rin's blood reached her nose. She was afraid she would lose control again, even though Inuyasha had assured her that he had forced her inner beast into submission for a while.
Finally realizing that she wasn't going to lose control, Kagome sighed in relief and then ran to hug Rin. Rin also seemed relieved that Kagome was better. She smiled and hugged the older woman happily. "I missed you, Kagome-chan." Rin smiled as she hugged her friend. Then she stepped back and looked her over again. "You've changed so much. I can't believe you're actually a hanyou now…"
"You've changed, too." Kagome smiled at her adopted little sister. "You're taller now… and you've actually got curves now."
"Your hair is so pretty with the silver in it." Rin smiled.
"Your hair has gotten so long and it's so silky…" Kagome smiled back. They continued talking about each other's looks for a while and Inuyasha tuned them out, turning to Kaede, who was letting Rin live in her hut for the summer.
"I need you to make something for me, granny." Inuyasha told her as he handed the older woman a slip of paper with a list of ingredients for a certain medicine on it. Kaede looked over the list and realized that it was a pregnancy vitamin that he wanted her to make.
"Has it happened yet, Inuyasha?" she asked him quietly.
"Not yet, but very soon." He smiled lightly. "I just want to be prepared."
"I see." Kaede smiled. "I, however, do not have the necessary ingredients for this. You should see Jinenji."
"Would you watch Kagome for me, then?" he asked her. "If I take her it will take me three days, but I can go there and be back in only a day if I go alone."
"I believe she should stay with Sango and Miroku." Kaede told him as she handed back the list. "She might lose control if she constantly smells Rin's blood."
"Then I'll ask them and I'll leave tomorrow." He told her. He put the list of ingredients back into his haori and then returned to Kagome's side. Rin smiled at him now.
"You've changed a lot too, Inuyasha-sama. You don't look like a teen anymore."
"How old do I look, then?" Inuyasha smiled at the girl.
"You look like you're about twenty-five. It's so strange seeing you like this." Rin giggled. "Is this what happens when you take a mate?"
"That's right." Inuyasha smiled. "The female takes on the male's features while the male becomes wiser and stronger to protect his mate."
"I wonder how Sesshoumaru-sama would change when he finds his mate." Rin said now. "He's already incredibly strong, after all."
"I'm a little scared to think that Sesshoumaru could get any stronger." Kagome said quietly. "He's already scary enough…"
"You think Sesshoumaru-sama is scary?" Rin questioned, surprised. Normally her friend wasn't afraid of anything, with the exception of snakes and spiders.
"She thinks that because Sesshoumaru is my rival. She's my mate now, so her instincts are telling her to be afraid of my rivals." Inuyasha explained to the girl. "The same thing happened when Kouga came across us after we mated."
"You were scared of Kouga-sama?!" Rin exclaimed at Kagome. "Even though you had a crush on him?!"
"Crush?" Inuyasha frowned now, turning to his mate who was already starting to panic. "You had a crush on him?"
"J-just for a short time while we were fighting Naraku…" Kagome admitted quietly, praying that Inuyasha wouldn't get mad. "Y-you were being really mean to me at the time so I thought Kouga-kun might be better than you… b-but I don't think that anymore!" She tried to assure him, but failed miserably. Inuyasha's anger was rising as he thought about Kagome actually liking Kouga more than him, even for a little while. Kagome didn't know what to do to calm him down, and she didn't expect it when his beast came out.
"Granny." Inuyasha suddenly turned to Kaede, even as his eyes began to bleed red and his fangs elongated. He surprisingly kept in control as he turned to the old woman and handed her the list. "Have a villager take that to Jinenji, and tell him to hurry. I'm going to need it real soon." He told Kaede, his voice much rougher than before. Then he suddenly turned back to Kagome and hoisted her over his shoulder.
"W-where are you taking her?" Rin whimpered in fear as she saw the purple marks on his face beginning to appear.
"I'm going to punish my mate for thinking that another male is better than me." Inuyasha responded roughly, making Rin worry. Kagome, although slightly startled by Inuyasha's beast coming out, managed to smile lightly at Rin.
"He won't hurt me, so don't worry. But we might not be back for a few days." She told the younger woman quietly as Inuyasha carried her out of Kaede's hut.
"Why aren't you getting upset?" Rin asked. "You didn't do anything wrong…"
"She's challenged Inuyasha's dominance by thinking favorably toward another male." Kaede told Rin. "They both know that doing such a thing is the same as verbally insulting Inuyasha. Besides, even though it may be a punishment, Kagome is going to have fun very soon." Kaede smiled teasingly at Kagome, who blushed deeply as Inuyasha continued to carry her away from the hut. Rin also blushed, realizing how Inuyasha was going to punish her adopted big sister. Inuyasha merely ignored them, still somehow in control of his emerged beast as he took his mate to the edge of the village and, with a flash of speed, disappeared with her.
-Hi! Aozora12 here! this is my very first fanfic ever, even though I do a lot of writing as a hobby. I would really appreciate reviews, and maybe some constructive criticism, but don't be too harsh on me. Still new to this ;) Anyways, thanks for reading and enjoy!
