Chapter 26: The Four Souls

"Really now, dear, be more…reasonable." Izayoi chastised her stepson as she flitted around him.

"I am fine. Let me be." He said exasperatedly as he tried to leave.

"You got stabbed in the ribs! You could've been grievously injured." She exclaimed as she pushed him back into the bed.

"Not likely. Have you looked at the wound? It's gone already. The knife even dissolved. I hardly consider that deathly peril." He said patronizingly.

"Fine. If you need to see Rin that much, then by all means go tend to her." Izayoi said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. When Sesshoumaru got up anyway she seceded. "She's in the best guest room. Though she's probably be napping because she knows what is good for her."

Rin

Rin awoke to that feeling you get when you have accomplished something you knew you had to do, or like when you finally reach that unreachable next level in a video game. Her mouth formed a muscle-stretching smile. She was back in the same room she had spent her very first night in this house.

Perhaps she had accomplished it in a roundabout way, being stabbed and all, but all said and done she was in the same house as Sesshoumaru. She pulled back her arms and cracked her back. That's when she realized the only thing she was wearing was her bandage that extended just far enough to preserve her decency, though not quite enough to cover most of her chest.

She let the sun warm her white flesh and felt around her gut. It still hurt quite a bit. That's when she saw him. Sesshoumaru was keeping quiet vigil beside her bed in a shaded corner. She realized he had been watching her stretch out. She rolled slightly on her side and gave him a lazy smile. He was watching her with inherent interest.

"Thank you for saving me." She said softly.

"How did you figure it out?" He asked.

"Who else could have scared that thing off?" She replied hazily. He simply smirked in reply. "Also, thank you for allowing me to stay here for awhile."

"Izayoi wouldn't have it any other way." He said as he stood up. "I'll tell her you're up." Sesshoumaru said as he went for the door.

"Wait." She said. Sesshoumaru stopped. "Izayoi said you got hurt. Are you okay?" He looked at her for a long minute before answering.

"I'm fine, just a prick." He said, ever prideful, before striding out.

Inuyasha

Inuyasha was lounging on the sofa in the living room. His mother had just brought Rin home from the hospital. She had been hurt bad. She was lucky to be alive. He was beginning to think this thing was more serious than he had thought. And now she would be living with them for an extended period, just as she had before, history was repeating itself.

He stood up and straightened his shirt up. He was going to take care of this, like it or not. The hallways seemed to fly by as he strided through the lengths of carpet. Finally he reached her room, only to be greeted by Sesshoumaru, who was leaving.

"What are you doing?" Sesshoumaru barked.

"Just checking on our guest, if that's okay with you." Inuyasha hissed.

"Don't upset her." Sesshoumaru warned before taking leave. Inuyasha smirked at the how suspicious Sesshoumaru was.

Inuyasha turned the knob and entered the balmy room. Rin was lying on the bed, soaking up sunlight. She looked particularly pleased with herself. But Inuyasha also noticed that she did look paler than normal.

"How are you?" She asked as she turned her beaming face to him.

"How am I? More like how the fuck are you?" Inuyasha spit. Rin would have been upset, but she knew this was his way of caring. If only the obscenities weren't necessary…

"I'm doing okay. But I imagine that's not the only reason you came." She replied.

"Why the hell can no one believe that I just want to come up here to see if you're alright?" He exclaimed while pumping his fists.

"I'm right? Aren't I?" She sassed.

"Fine, fine." He said as he opened the door to make sure no one was there and scooted a chair up right next to her. "So, what attacked you? The Ice Prince wouldn't tell me."

"Well, it was a large creature in a trench coat. It was vaguely man-like but it had purple skin and red eyes." She explained.

"Oh damn." Inuyasha said as he flopped back in his chair.

"What?" Rin asked.

"That is one of Naraku's henchmen. This is bad." Inuyasha sighed as he rubbed his temples.

Naraku

"Come Goshinki." Naraku called into the shadows. A faint lurking sound came from the shadows and two glowing red eyes appeared before Naraku.

"Yes…Father." The seething beast answered in his gurgling voice.

"You have failed me." Naraku said domineeringly.

"I'm sorry Father. He was just so angry. When I read his thoughts…they were nothing but to kill. I didn't know how to react…" Goshinki said as he trembled.

"You have just encountered the thoughts of a fully enraged Dog Demon. You should have been prepared for this kind of thing. You were taught about their rages in training? Were you not? Oh forget it, it's too late now. I am angry, but you won't die yet. Just tell me what you got from the girl." Naraku spat.

"She was hard to read as well. There was so little fear and greed…so much love and joy…" Goshinki rambled.

"Does she remember the future?" Naraku interjected.

"Yes…yes she remembers it all. Of that, I am sure."

"As I thought. Anything else?" Naraku asked.

"Yes…The youngest son of the Inutaisho, Inuyasha, he remembers. Rin seemed very clear about that." Goshinki said softly.

"No. This can't be true; he is to blinded to know this!" Naraku bellowed harshly. "Damn it all!"

"I told you so." Kikyo said incandescently from the windowsill.

Rin

Rin was lying in bed as she had been for some time after Inuyasha left. It was quite boring. She was just used to moving about constantly. Rin looked around her lush quarters one more time for something interesting. It was immaculate, as always. Rin expected the Takashi family rarely entered this room, if ever, and it was apparent by the lack of life in the room. Even the air seemed stagnant.

She stood up slowly, careful of her stitches. It actually hurt a lot. She was surprised that she could move at this time. She let the covers fall around her feet and she examined her wound for the first time. To her horror, it actually looked a lot less like a stab wound and a lot more like a horrendous claw slashed her belly. But after remembering her attacker she realized it probably was a horrendous claw…

She found a light airy dress on the chair. It looked like it rather like a muumuu because of its translucent fabric and loose fit but considering how she was feeling, it would serve her well. She let it drop onto her over her head and delicately walked down the hall. She was surprised at how long the halls could feel. Luckily she remembered how to get everywhere. It definitely came in handy in the mansion.

Her head was beginning to feel lighter and she thought she could feel wetness coming from her wound. She hoped she didn't rip it open. She turned another corner and stopped to take a breath. She was surprised at how dramatically this was affecting her. She leaned up against the wall.

"Rin." Sesshoumaru said louder than normal and more quickly, which Rin knew meant he was concerned. She looked up and saw him dashing down the hall to her aide.

"Hey." She said weakly.

"You should not be out here." He said as he bent down to pick her up.

"Ah!" She exclaimed as he picked her up. She could see his face become twisted with something. "I'm ok, it's just sore…" She told him.

"That's why you shouldn't be up." He chastised surprisingly gently.

"Wait." She said as he headed back towards the room. "Please take me into the living room, that room is so boring and I'm losing my mind." She pleaded. He stopped and appeared to be mulling this over.

"Fine. But you'll be laying down and relaxing." He conceded and headed in the right direction.

Rin felt incredibly comforted, as she was carried bridal style against the chest of the man she loved. She just couldn't ignore the piercing feeling in her gut. She winced about every other step. She could see Sesshoumaru's face tighten. They finally reached the couch and he delicately laid her out as she squirmed. He stood there and looked her over for a minute.

"I'm going to go get father." He said suddenly.

Rin knew something was up. Sesshoumaru was to full of pride to just casually say that. She looked around and sighed, why couldn't anything be simple? A few moments later they both showed back up.

"Hello, do you remember me? I'm Inutaisho." The older man said in his friendly manner. Rin smiled.

"Of course, I could never forget you." She said weaker than normal, but the irony still hit her.

"Quite a charmer." He said to Sesshoumaru. "So I hear you aren't healing as well as Sesshoumaru would like you to." Inutaisho said curiously, much like a doctor or a dentist to a young patient.

"I'm not?" She asked. Panic struck soundly in her heart.

"I licked the wound. It should be healing." Sesshoumaru said to his father. Rin smiled at this suggestion. Did he really lick her? "Dog demon saliva has healing properties." He explained to Rin.

"Hm. Rin, may we take a look?" Inutaisho asked her as he bent down.

Rin nodded and they lifted her billowy dress to reveal her pink undies. Rin felt a flush pass across her face. She felt Sesshoumaru's cool hand pass over her belly and delicately remove the bandaging. She winced as the cotton was pried up.

"That's a lot of blood." Inutaisho commented, apparently unaware of her presence.

"I could smell it as soon as I saw her in the hall." Sesshoumaru told his father.

"You licked the whole thing?" Inutaisho inquired.

"As far as I know."

"I can sort of smell something else too." Inutaisho said as he sniffed the air.

"Like a toxin." Sesshoumaru said with cold fury.

"Indeed. I'm afraid the wound has been poisoned…" Inutaisho said solemnly, a hint of similar rage filling his voice.

"What do we do?" Sesshoumaru asked.

"I don't know. Supposing it doesn't get worse anytime soon I'm sure she'll get over it…until then I guess you should lick it again. That might help. Otherwise…we'll just have to see. I'm pretty sure it's demonic poison, doctors couldn't do much." Inutaisho said as he stood up. Seeing Sesshoumaru's hesitation he continued. "Go on; give it the old Demonic defense."

Rin saw Sesshoumaru bend down and felt his hair brush her side. She held her breath in anticipation. After a minute of contemplation she felt his tongue trace up and down her wound. Inutaisho was right, immediately she felt a numbing effect. But what was more she couldn't resist his warm wet tongue's fluttering. She giggled and sighed.

"I hope that helps." Sesshoumaru said. Rin could only sigh in ecstasy again in response.

Inuyasha

Inuyasha was, again, lounging on a sofa. This time it was in the den and he was on the phone. He was trying to figure out what to do about Naraku's latest attempt on Rin's life. But in reality, all he ended up doing was ordering three pizzas from three different companies to see which got there first.

Inuyasha had just hung up when he saw Sesshoumaru stomp in and pace around the room, not once, but twice. Inuyasha knew this was a very unusual display of emotion for the Ice Prince. Before his half-brother left the room Inuyasha managed to interrupt his revelry.

"What's up? You seem…upset." Inuyasha said from his prostrate position.

"You'd know if you weren't so lazy." Sesshoumaru snapped. Inuyasha knew something must be up.

"Well, why don't you inform me since I'm otherwise too lazy?"

"Fine, if you must know, Rin is poisoned with demonic toxin." Sesshoumaru snapped.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Is there anything do?" Inuyasha asked with a sudden will to leap into action.

"I doubt it." Sesshoumaru snapped it.

Naraku

"Well, at least Goshinki didn't utterly fail." Kikyo said.

"How can that be? She's still alive isn't she?" Naraku said wickedly.

"True, well for now at least. I was talking to Goshinki and he informed me that he was able to infect her with plenty poison." Kikyo said as her voice broke into a cackle.

"Is there anything they can do about it?" Naraku asked.

"I doubt it." Kikyo said in a satisfied tone.

Rin

Rin awoke again. She had been drifting in and out of sleep for some time. She was still in the living room and so was Sesshoumaru. Rin had a severe case of tunnel vision, but she still could tell that Sesshoumaru was carefully watching her. She felt nauseous and achy.

"Sesshoumaru-sama, am I going to be okay?" She asked. She noticed she sounded more pitifully than she thought she would.

"Yes." He said quickly. Rin saw a flash of emotion cross his eyes.

Something told her that Naraku had definitely done this on purpose. This was his way of putting their dirty secret to bed. Rin was so furious that he could stoop so low as to poison her. Why did he have to do this? What did he have against their happiness?

"I think I have to go to the bathroom." She commented. She made a feeble move to swing her legs down but failed.

"I've got you." Sesshoumaru said as he crossed the distance between them in a blink of an eye.

"Thanks." She said. It was shaming that he had to carry her there, though Rin had to admit it that he was her favorite person to be doctored by.

They were there before Rin got done thinking and he twisted the knob. It was a very nice aqua-colored bathroom. He set her down on the porcelain throne. Rin quickly excused him before he pulled down her underwear or something, but to her chagrin he didn't even leave the bathroom, he just moved over to the other end of it to look at something.

With a heave of effort she managed to slide her undies down and remain on the seat. The next problem was relaxing enough to pee. With the love of your life in the room, it can pose a challenge. She grated her teeth and began reading the back of the hand soap container. Finally golden streams of relief filled her mind. She hoped she peed daintily enough for Sesshoumaru. Yes, it was a silly thought, but she was sick and lovesick, that could do things to you.

She managed to get her underwear up, though not situated, and flush. At the cue Sesshoumaru walked back over and helped her stand up. She leaned on the sink as she washed her hands carefully. As she did this she felt a cool hand run over her forehead.

"You're hot." He said.

"Thank you very much." She said with a giggle, though she doubted he got the joke. Sesshoumaru gave her a lighter-hearted look though.

Inutaisho

Inutaisho had been worrying about Rin. She needed help and he had a good idea how to get it. He sat at the kitchen table and picked up the phone's receiver. Carefully dialing a familiar number, he held it to his head.

"Myoga? It's Inutaisho." He said clearly over the line.

"My Lord." The tiny muffled voice replied.

"So I have a favor to ask of you." Inutaisho said decisively.

"Of course," The flea knew better than to say no. Besides, with Inutaisho it was bound to be interesting.

"You know Rin?"

"Of course, such a nice girl and the only person to have found a spot in your eldest son's heart in a long while."

"Yep, well it seems she has been poisoned by an unknown demon and I'm afraid she may die if I don't figure out something." Inutaisho said with particular emotion.

"Ah, most unfortunate. I will be most happy to help. When should I come over?" Myoga said honorably.

"As soon as possible." Inutaisho snapped. "Thank you, see you?"

"As soon as possible." Myoga replied.

Inutaisho hung up and scratched his head. The old flea was good, but perhaps not good enough. Inutaisho picked the phone up again and began dialing again. This time he dialed slowly and deliberately. The phone began to ring. One ring, two, three, four and five, then a scratchy voice answered.

"Hello!" The gnarled voice echoed. The recipient obviously didn't quite know how phones functioned.

"Totosai?" Inutaisho asked fervently.

"The one and only." He replied.

"This is Inutaisho Takashi, do you remember me?" He asked.

"Of course, hardly could with all that propaganda bout that company of yours running about." The old coot hollered.

"Good. Well I have a favor to ask you." Inutaisho said hesitantly. His old Dojo master could be hard to deal with.

"Spit it out boy!"

"Well my eldest son, Sesshoumaru's personal assistant and what I'm figuring will be his future wife, is deathly ill with demonic poison. I know you know all kinds of herbal remedies and I was hoping you could come down…"

"What's the girl's name?" He asked.

"Rin."

"Oh, Why I'm quite fond of the lass. I'll be over in a jiff. Make sure you have a room ready for an ox though." Totosai said.

"An ox?" Inutaisho asked.

"Of course, he's my transportation. I can hardly leave him out in this weather." Totosai explained.

"Okay…we'll be ready." Inutaisho replied before dropping the receiver.

Inutaisho harrumphed and leant up against his desk. Had old Totosai said that he knew Rin? How could that be possible? Inutaisho knew that Totosai's old Dojo had burnt down nearly twenty-five years ago so she couldn't be a student. Inutaisho had thought that the old coot had been living on the streets… But that was hardly the place for such a nice girl…

Naraku

"Explain this to me now." Naraku barked from the foremost seat of a long table.

"Explain what?" Kikyo asked from a seat farther down the table.

"Why this god damned jewel isn't working!" Naraku said harshly.

"Fine fine. Let's see, where to begin. Well, you know how the jewel is powerful right?" Kikyo said bluntly.

"Yes." Naraku snapped.

"Well, it gets it's power from the four souls." She explained.

"The four souls?" he asked incredulously.

"Courage, Love, Friendship, and Wisdom."

"Do you have a point?" he asked.

"Well every human soul has a little bit of each in it. However, everyone has a foremost quality, and that quality governs the strength their soul can have over the jewel."

"So?"

"Take Rin for example, her foremost quality is love, so the bonds she forges with others are that much stronger for it, so much so that she broke right through our spell." Kikyo said softly.

"Damn it." He replied. "And Inuyasha?"

"I believe his quality is courage."

"So why did he escape the spell?" Naraku asked.

"Well, I'm not sure, but I believe it is because of Kagome." She said sadly.

"Huh?"

"She cares for him deeply. I don't think he is used to that kind of devotion. I think he is highly inclined to remember her and, by association, everything else." Kikyo said as she turned away from the table.

"What about the other qualities?" he snapped at her before she could leave. "Wouldn't a wise person be able to figure it out?"

"Actually it's quite the opposite. People guided by logic such as Sesshoumaru or Miroku and even myself are less inclined to form strong bonds and often are blinded by the facts. And courageousness is good, but not much help in breaking through this spell. Friendship is the only other one we have to look out for." Kikyo said bitterly.

"Whose is friendship?" he asked.

"I'm not sure about everyone, obviously, but some are Sango and Shippo." She said as she stalked towards the door.

"So is there any way to stop it from reverting?" he asked reverently.

"Well, I don't know any other ways but death. It seems to be working pretty well." She declared.

"So that means?" he asked her with a special interest.

"Yes, we'll have to kill Inuyasha as well." She said with a hint of sadness.

Next Chapter: Healing and Dreaming

Thank You

KitKat