BOY TROUBLES.
Rin was happy to have finally stopped traveling for the day.
The place was a pretty field filled with many colored flowers.
The minute after Papa had announced that they were done for the day, Rin had went right out into the tall grass to make flower rings.
It was something Mama had showed her how to do. Rin did not know how to tie the knots right before then.
It had been a decent day.
Warm and sunny.
The type of weather that made a girl want to go swimming somewhere.
ANYWHERE.
But they had been far from any swimming places for a while now.
The mountain that was the place of stay for who knows how many days had no ponds or rivers near by.
Only a small stream that was more a tease then anything.
Rin was tired of this mountain already.
It was huge, and she swore that by now they must have walked all the way around it at least once.
But she knew that when Papa wanted something he never gave up.
And he thought that Naraku person was inside this mountain.
But if Papa DID get in the mountain...
Something had been on Rin's mind lately, a new something that she had not really thought of much before.
And the worst part was she didn't know how to ask about it...
Papa was after that Naraku person because he had tried to hurt him.
And he seemed to be using the scent of Kohaku he could sometimes catch to follow after Naraku.
Troublemaker, Papa had called the boy the last time he had caught the scent.
Was Papa also after Kohaku because of what had happened with her?
Rin was so worried about this that a few times when she had seen him, she didn't call out to him.
A part of her afraid what would happen when Papa crossed paths with the boy.
All because of that one time...
Rin shuddered as that night played in her minds eye.
At first, he had been fine, keeping watch over her while inside a small building in the woods.
They had talked.
He seemed almost shy, but then eventually spoke more to her.
She hadn't been afraid, even though Kagura had kidnapped her.
But things changed when they had left the building, going who knew where...
The empty look in the boys normally warm brown eyes was frightening.
How quickly he had seemed to lose himself, to act like there was no soul in him as he chased her.
Rin violently shook her head when she recalled how close he had come to hitting her with his blade.
He wasn't himself back then, that she was sure of. Kohaku had to have been under Naraku's spell at the time.
He had been so nice to her before that had happened, and every other time since then the boy had been sweet.
Why, just the other day she had gotten a bit lost at the big mountain place that they were staying at, and he had showed her the way back.
All she seemed to do was cause him trouble, but he was always nice.
She didn't know why he had been on her mind so much...
Maybe because they were so close to that Naraku guys place. Both he and Kohaku were somewhere in this mountain, but it had a spell that hurt Papa every time he tried to go in.
Rin looked over from where she was playing in the grass, she was looking for clovers now, and seen that both Papa and Mama were talking in that language that she didn't understand.
But by the looks on their faces what they were talking about was somewhat important.
Papa had that concerned look while he frowned at his mate.
The girl let out a sigh.
Now was not the time to ask.
Watching them, she seen the mood change as both began to smile.
Mama is pretty when she smiles, Rin thought as she watched them.
Rin liked her hair better now too, it had these pretty curls at the ends.
Papa always looked at her with such a tender expression...
Rin couldn't help but wonder what they talked about with such smiles.
It would be fun to have a secret language to use when talking to Kohaku, she smiled to herself.
She felt a heat fill her cheeks at the very thought of sitting that close to the boy, talking of secret things in a language just for them...
"What has you all blushy?" Jaken asked as he came up beside her.
"Eeeeep!"
Rin jumped five feet.
So deep in her fantasy that she did not see the imp approach at all.
"Ack! Nothing! I'm not blushing!"
The green imp looked at her very skepticaly and squinted at her.
"Mhmm. So then why are you RED."
"I don't know. And I am NOT blushing okay!" Rin yelled out in annoyance.
Why did Jaken-sama have to show up at the most annoying of times?!
Her raised volume caused the other two to look over, and for some reason this made her face heat even more.
"It's worse now." Jaken stated smugly.
As if she couldn't feel it?
"Oh hush up!" She whined and hid her face inside her robes.
"I still don't get it, but okay." The imp gave up and walked off.
Daring to peek out, not even knowing WHY she was blushing, Rin found that Sesshomaru was watching her with pure curiosity in his eyes.
She could tell by his face he found her actions both amusing and perplexing.
Meanwhile, Akane was on her way over with the same look of amusement glinting in her blue eyes.
"Hey sweety, everything okay over here or what?"
Rin blinked up at her.
What to say when she didn't even know what was going on with her own darn face?
All she did was picture her and Kohaku sitting and talking together and she got all...
Yup.
There it was again.
She felt the heat coming.
Rin let out a small yelp and looked at the ground to hide it.
Akane just sat beside her with a laugh.
"Honey, what has you all flustered?"
Is that what this was?
Had she ever felt THIS flustered?
"Rin just starts thinking of something and my face goes all hot. It happens every time." She admitted.
Akane tilted her head to the side and a half smile came to her face.
"Just WHAT do you think about when this little problem happens?"
Rin blushed again at the reminder.
She began to pull at the grass without thinking and mumbled her answer.
"Kohaku and me...talking."
She was so NOT gonna tell Mama that she wanted a secret language with him or any of that other stuff!
However, the older girl got a knowing look as her smile got wider.
Like she knew ALL Rin's secrets.
That did not help with the blush problem one bit.
"I see. You must like him very much then, even if you've only met a few short times." Akane said.
"I like him lots. It would be great if he could travel with us."
Ooops, she hadn't meant to say that last bit. It was a fantasy of hers.
However, Mama just blinked.
"I'm not sure if that's a good idea sweety, he might still be under some spell from Naraku. I know he has his memory back and all, but he could turn without meaning to..."
"But if we got him away, he'd be free right? He's a sweet boy, you would like him too Mama, I know it."
"You really do like him." She teased.
The blush returned.
"He's always so nice to me! Only that one time was there trouble, and it was all Naraku's fault! I'm sure if we could help him get away..."
The girl paused to see that her Papa had moved behind them and was listening with interest.
"Yes?" He asked. "Go on."
This made it harder. Much, much, harder to talk about.
"W-well, it's just-you might-what I mean to ask is, your not going to kill Kohaku too are you?" She managed to blurt out at last.
His eyebrows shot up, but that was the only reaction given.
Clearly shocked by her words.
"Sweety, I don't think Sesshy ever had plans of that. He knew the boy wasn't himself at the time." Akane cut in.
"Rin was hoping not. But Kohaku is still following that Naraku guy, so I was thinking Papa might kill him..."
"If you wish the boy unharmed then he shall remain so by this one." Sesshomaru said firmly.
Rin looked to see him staring at her, a look on his face she didn't get.
Like maybe he was hurt that she had assumed he would kill Kohaku.
"I'm sorry. It's just, you fight Naraku's people whenever you see them, so Rin thought that maybe..."
He waved it away. "It's fine."
She let out a sigh.
It was odd how she could hurt the feelings of someone like him.
"So, you like this boy?" He asked all of a sudden, making her gulp.
Those golden eyes told her that he was VERY interested in her answer.
Of course she like Kohaku.
Rin very much liked him actually.
But she had the feeling the type of like that Papa was asking about was the OTHER kind...
She frowned. Pulled up even more grass then before as she thought.
Rin liked him...
Was it that kind of like?
Was THAT why she kept blushing like Mama did and still does?
Just when she thought her head was gonna pop from trying to figure it out, a chuckle made her look back up.
Papa was was trying not to smile, she could tell by the way his lips twitched.
"Do you wish him unharmed?" He asked in a nearly teasing tone.
She blinked.
Is he playing with me?
"Well, yes. Very much so. Please." She said, still a bit nervous.
He gave a nod, then surprised her a bit by reaching down to pet her hair.
"Then this Sesshomaru will protect him if able to do so, alright?"
Her eyes lit up, without thinking, she got to her feet and hugged him.
Rin always felt tiny when she did this.
She barely hit his waist, and he froze in surprise, but she couldn't help it.
After getting over his shock, he continued to toy with her hair.
"I shall take that as a yes."
And THAT was most definitely a teasing tone he had.
"What's going on?" She heard Jaken ask as he came up to them.
"We've decided to add saving Kohaku to our list of things." Akane said.
"Whaaaat? Why on earth? And WHAT are you talking about a list?"
Rin felt Sesshomaru's chest vibrate as he let out a small laugh before turning to answer the imp.
"Kagura is on the list, but I'm not sure what else my Akane has on there to be honest..." He said.
"Why on earth would you want to help THAT woman?" Jaken sputtered.
The look he gave Akane made it clear he thought her a bit nuts.
It took all Rin had not to copy that look, seeing as how her very thoughts matched Jaken-sama's completely.
Rin pulled back once Papa stopped running his claws thru her hair, something he seemed to like to do once he got the nerve to do it the first time.
And she loved it.
"So we're saving Kagura too?" She asked with wide eyes.
"It would seem." He smiled.
Rin blinked in shock.
Why would Mama want to save a lady who so obviously likes Papa?
Kagura had never been a very friendly person when she was around.
"Why?!" She blurted.
This caused Sesshomaru to burst out laughing.
"Why indeed." He shrugged and looked to his woman with a half smile.
Rin also looked at her, not hiding the fact she thought it a crazy idea.
Akane looked at them all and crossed her arms with a huff.
"Well, why not? The woman needs a taste of freedom. Might help with that attitude of hers ya know?"
"Not likely." Sesshomaru scoffed before walking toward Ah-Uhn.
Rin simply nodded her agreement and Jaken-sama did the same.
This caused Akane to stick her tongue out at them and roll her eyes.
Rin giggled at her, and the imp let out an exagerated sigh.
"Anyway, do you feel better now, knowing that Kohaku isn't on your Papa's kill list?" Akane asked.
"Mhmm!" Rin smiled wide and went back to searching for clovers.
And she did too.
Her whole body felt lighter at the thought of Papa making sure that Kohaku stayed OUT of his kill zone.
Even more so, was the knowledge that he would try and save Kohaku.
The smile could not stay off her face at the idea of him traveling with them.
"Your totally crushing on the boy."
Rin looked up.
Akane had this eerie smile again.
"Rin is what?" She blinked.
"Your too young to be dealing with boy troubles, don't you think?" Akane said with a dramatic sigh.
Rin had no clue what she was talking about at all.
She had none of the problems with Kohaku that Mama sometimes had with Papa...
Those were 'Boy troubles' right?
All she could do was blink up at the older girl who just laughed and patted her head before following her mate.
Jaken was already gone, off reading somewhere most likely.
Which was fine.
It left Rin to her thoughts.
Like what Mama had meant by the phrase 'Crushing on him'.
Akane found her mate staring up at the sky with a worried expression in his eyes, and she knew why.
"So, how are you gonna deal with the boy, knowing he's the first crush of our little girl?" She teased him.
Still looking to the sky, a deep frown came to his face.
"This one has no idea... Kill him?"
Akane snorted at the calm way he said it, like he was talking of the weather.
"That kinda goes back on you just now promising to NOT kill him." She stated.
"It could look like an accident."
Akane playfully smacked his shoulder.
"Sesshomaru!" She said thru a laugh.
Glancing her way, a dramatic sigh escaped his lips.
"Well, what can I do? It is clear as day that the child likes the boy."
Akane smiled at how he sounded just like a protective dad at the moment.
She leaned against him and watched the white clouds change shape in the afternoon sky.
"Let what happens happen. She is a girl after all, your just gonna hafta deal with boys and stuff like that. Just wait until she hits her teens..."
"All males in the area shall die."
Again, so serious.
She just laughed and placed a hand on the side of his face to soothe him.
"Can't let you do that Sesshy-baby."
"Why ever not? It would solve so many problems all at once."
"And what if she WANTS a boy later?"
"This Sesshomaru will go find one."
It took all she had not to burst out laughing at how he could say such things in a way that made it hard to know if he meant it or not.
"Your adorable and crazy." She stated.
He looked down at her with wide eyes.
"This one is being serious." He said with fake innocence.
Akane leaned up and kissed his chin.
"That's why your crazy."
"This coming from you?" He teased before capturing her mouth with his.
The kiss lasted only a little bit, but it held the promise of the night in it.
All her bones melted.
However, when he pulled back, what he said next ruined the sexy mood.
"So I truly can't kill the males?"
"Eee gads man! So bloodthirsty." She said before laughing her head off.
And he just stared at her the entire time with a look of amusement.
hi hi hi!
life has been crazy. sorry for long gaps of silence from me. this story is far from over, just literally have had no time to myself.
but I shall go on! this is my therapy after all.
best wishes to all who stick around for more to come!