"Sesshoumaru, Sesshoumaru!" Rayne was frantic, she could feel her mind peeling as the world raced around her and the beautiful creature before her allowed his eyes to fall closed as his body went limp. She could see the wounds getting worse on his chest, the burns deepening into third degree territory before her eyes.

"…it's fire…" The realization hit her like a slap, and before she knew what she was doing she was on her feet and dragging Sesshoumaru awkwardly into her bathroom. His body was surprisingly heavy, and she was forced to get into the tub first and pull him into her lap, careful to keep her own flesh from touching any of the spreading wounds on his. She wasn't sure what would have happened, if this invisible fire was even capable of spreading, but the way it acted reminded her of a spreading virus and the last thing she could risk was dying before she could save him.

She struggled under Sesshoumaru's weight to turn the water on, the shower beating against their bodies and splashing off of his body to wet the rest of the bathroom. She noticed, relieved, that as the water washed away the blackened flesh on his chest and right shoulder his wounds finally began to heal and stay healed and despite the shocking cold of the water she found herself relaxing immensely against him. She sat with her own shoulders pressed against the tub spout, Sesshoumaru's back pressed awkwardly against her chest with her feet hanging out of the tub and his legs strewn about hers over the edge. There was no way to put anything besides his upper body into the tub in this position, and as she watched the fur of his tail become saturated and the dye of his black pants begin to bleed into the water she found herself thankful that even this had worked. She had no reason to assume that this kind of fire was just as weak against water as its more human cousin, and yet as Sesshoumaru's flesh healed and became near flawless before her again she found herself thankful that it was.

Carefully she turned the water off once again, sitting there underneath the dead weight of his body for long moments. Hoping naively that this would be enough to bring him back to consciousness, and if it weren't for the steady rise and fall of his bare chest… now moist with cold water that brought his nipples to firm attention, she would have assumed him to be dead.

"Sesshoumaru…please wake up now…" She murmured to him, her own body beginning to protest against the painful position. No movement, nothing besides his steady breathing… and slowly she allowed herself to rest her head against his freshly healed shoulder. The scent of him washed through her awareness, and she found herself tangling the fingers of her left hand into his soaked silver hair while her right palm rested against his right side.

"Sesshoumaru… come on… this isn't fun anymore…" She whispered, her eyes staring off into the emptiness of the bathroom beyond the shower, and as she closed her lips she noticed a shift in his breathing that sent shivers down her spine. He sucked in air slowly, held it as if tasting the various scents locked within, and released it just as slowly before continuing to breathe normally. She stayed as still as possible, painfully aware that her heart had begun to beat faster. Sesshoumaru could hear the harder pounding, but stayed still within her embrace as well. He was only mildly aware of a deep cold that had settled around him, a coldness that shied away at every part of his body she was touching. He was aware of every inch of her against him, but made no motion to expose this truth to her.

"…Rin…" He murmured the name before thinking, mentally cursing himself as it slipped from his lips, and he could feel her body tense against him.

"…I'm sorry… I'm not Rin…" Her voice was softer still, filled with a tone he comprehended as true regret. She was actually apologizing for not being who he had originally assumed she was.

"I know." His baritone was sharp again, and he could feel her sigh softly. Whether in reaction to his words or the very sound of him he was unsure.

"I mean… I'm sorry… I don't know who this 'Rin' was, but every time I catch you looking at me you have this look in your eyes that tell me you should know who I am… but you don't… or you do, but don't know it. I'm not sure. I just know that I've seen yours, for a solid year that I am aware of but I'm sure I've seen them before…" She trailed off, her long winded confession hanging heavily between them. She wasn't sure why she was talking, why she wasn't just forcing him up so the two of them could move on to wherever moving on would bring them.

"My younger brother was in this situation." His baritone voice was expressionless, bored even, and yet Rayne found herself holding her breathe as he spoke. Part of her had gotten used to his endless silence, and she felt as if she had just gotten unnaturally close to a skittish animal… any sudden movements and he would once again return to silence, "His mate was the reincarnation of his previous lover."

He fell into silence again, and Rayne shifted uncomfortably. His words had been loaded, and she was sure that that was the end of that conversation. He was nothing if not intelligent, and as he felt her struggle to get comfortable again under him he pulled himself from the tub. His movements were unnervingly swift again, and he turned back towards her with his left hand stretched out towards her. She stopped attempting to struggle to her own feet as he reached out for her, bending slightly to come within her reach, and she could feel his golden eyes staring at her intensely. Water beaded and slipped down his bare chest, droplets falling from his long hair as it began to air dry, and she suddenly felt breathless at the sight of him.

"Name?" His voice sunk deeply into her as she reached out to accept his hand, and he pulled her to her feet with an efficiency that left her shivering.

"Rayne, my name is Rayne." She stepped from the tub, and found herself staring up into his golden eyes, his bare chest mere inches away from her. She could feel the heat radiating off of him, and found herself quite willing to believe that he had been a great lord once. "Sesshoumaru, what are you?" Her voice was breathless, and she found she could taste the beat of her heart in her throat.

"I am an inu youkai." He waited for comprehension that never came to her face before he continued, "Your kind has taken to calling me a demon." He took a step back from her, easily moving in the tiny space without having to watch where he walked.

Sesshoumaru let her pass first, following her down the stairs in silence. He was almost uncomfortably aware of her fresh clothes, which were now damp and clinging to her body provocatively, and her fresh scent. She smelled clean, and he followed her into the living room where she paused to dig around in a much smaller room she didn't even fit in. She pulled out two towels, and with a slight grin he wasn't even aware she knew was on her face she tossed one to him and proceeded to rub the towel on her hair.

"What were those creatures that attacked?" She asked as she turned her back to him, peeling her wet shirt off her body along with her bra. She had hoped she wasn't so soaked that she would need to change, and she did her best to ignore his golden eyes on her. She had to focus right now.

"Demons. I've never encountered their kind before." He mimicked her motions with the towel on his own hair, watching her with a bored intensity. He could make out scars crisscrossing on the skin of her back, faded and perhaps as old as her body but still painfully noticeable, and once again he found himself thinking about the reaction he had brought out of her when she had forbidden him from touching her again.

"I'm guessing they have something to do with those demons that freed you from the golden box then." She wrapped the towel around her chest and turned back to face him, her dark brown hair a pleasant shade of black with the dampness, curled and resting gently against her shoulders. Her dark brown eyes stared at him, lost in thought before she walked past him and back up the stairs.

He watched her ascend the stairs, working the towel on his own chest and finally comfortable enough to begin examining his large mokomoko-sama. The poor fur of his body had been compressed by whoever had sealed him away and forcibly wrapped around his waist like some kind of bonsai project. Gently he works his fingers through the fur, fluffing the fur until it was restored to its previous glory and pinching out the parts of it which had been burnt in the previous fight. He only glanced up from his job as Rayne began to descend the stairs once again, dressed in a flowery dark blue blouse that highlighted the curves of her body… the plunging neckline drawing his attention almost playfully.

"Here, I occasionally wear large men's shirts as night gowns and this one looks like it might fit you." She held up the long sleeved dark black shirt, covered in very faint vertical lines.

Sesshoumaru watched her as she walked towards him, obeying her motions carefully as she helped his hands through the long sleeves which were then uncomfortably buttoned at the wrist. She smiled up at him, a gentle look that pained him with a deep sense of loss, as she buttoned the rest of the buttons on his chest. Her delicate fingers moved swiftly, and when the job was done she took a step back from his to admire her handiwork. He felt uncomfortable, and she must have seen the expression on his expressionless face for he heard her chuckle.

"You look handsome Sesshoumaru, I'm sorry it feels so uncomfortable." That voice again, too damn nice for her own good. He simply nodded and returned to working on his mokomoko-sama, finally wrapping it twice around his right shoulder when he was satisfied with the restoration. He looked at Rayne now, her eyes following the large mass of fur that was as high as his eyebrows at his shoulders and fell down to just below his knees behind him.

"It's bearable." His baritone voice sank into her once again, and she smiled at him when the burning tore into her face again. His eyes narrowed, he had noticed the burn earlier but she hadn't made any mention of it still hurting her after the shower. Swiftly he closed the distance between them, his left hand finding her chin gently. Her smile dropped, any sense of pain slipping away from her mind as her body buzzed at his soft and unexpected touch. For a brief moment he braced himself to be slapped again, and when the hit never came he brushed his index finger across her lips. He felt her body shiver under his touch, but his face gave away no knowledge of it.

"You will want to be careful. The skin may peel." He spoke calmly, and felt her nod before he released her chin again. He never took his golden eyes off her, and she found herself purposely avoiding his gaze as her mind spun around her.

"Thank you…" She muttered before finally collecting herself again, a struggle he could visualize her fighting before she looked up at him with a new determination in her dark brown eyes. The kind of eyes that knew too much. "They seem to be searching for you by following me, we need to get out of this damn town."

She only grimaced in pain slightly as she smiled up at him again, a strange twinkle in her eyes he instinctually didn't trust, "Ever been in a car before, Sesshoumaru?"

xXx

AN: Woo, trucking right along now. Next chapter finally reveals the plot of this story, and we'll be moving steadily from there. Hope ya'll are still enjoying this! I know it sure is getting difficult to write lol but it's fun, and I'm excited about going back and publishing a final cut on my person blog (Chey Chats, link found in my profile).

Also: If you read Chapter 11 before today, be sure to go back and make sure you had read the finished/completed version. There isn't too much that you missed, but enough to make this chapter seem random.

Please read, enjoy, share, and review!

~Chey