A/N: Today is a great day for writing! But unfortunately, the site seems to be glitching for me, so I can't upload anything. Here's hoping that's fixed soon…
Update: the outage only lasted a day! If you haven't seen it yet, check out the new InuYasha Shorts collection!
Rin woke shortly after dawn with something small and warm nestled into her arms and snuggled into her thin band of fluff. She supposed at first she was still dreaming…whatever her dream had been about, it had been a good one. The thing in her arms squirmed a little, yawning softly, and she sat up and shifted her arms to get a better look at it. A little two-year-old human boy was snoozing softly in her embrace.
"…good morning?" she mumbled softly in confusion, sniffing the tot to be sure it was her nephew. Just like his father had last night, he seemed to have turned human. While he had looked just like his father last night, he now looked remarkably like kagome. Well, maybe it was just the hair that caused the effect, Rin supposed. She glanced to Sesshomaru as he stirred, opening his eyes at the sound of her voice and sitting up.
"what is that?" he asked, unable to see what she had in her arms.
"have a look," Rin hummed, turning toward her mate and showing the sleeping toddler. "he must have sleepwalked in sometime last night, or something. I only noticed him when I woke."
Sesshomaru blinked somewhat blankly at the little human boy, who yawned and stirred, finally waking and looking up at him. The next instant, the toddler's face broke into a wide smile.
"morning!" he piped, sitting up as Rin set him in her lap. She supposed the boy was a little older than two and wasn't surprised to find he talked. "auntie! Uncle!" he cheered, hugging Rin, mostly because she was closer, and nuzzling her soft black fluff. "soft…"
"perhaps he returned merely for your moko," Sesshomaru joked, sitting upright beside her at last, watching the little boy nuzzle her happily. Rin giggled and detached him again, sitting him in her lap.
"where's your mama, little one?" she asked, concerned that Kagome might not know where her child was. In fact, maybe he had a bit of a penchant for running away, since he had certainly been far from his parents when she met him last night. The boy had gotten distracted already by Sesshomaru's mass of fluff and climbed into his lap to hug it. She asked again and he looked back at her.
"at grandma's, with papa and little brother," he informed her. He nuzzled the mass of white fur and added, "little brother cries a lot. So I go."
"how old is he? Can he walk, like you?" Sesshomaru asked, honestly a little curious about his nephews. After all, he hadn't known of their existence until just last night. The boy shook his head quickly.
"he's little. No walk. He cries a lot. And stinks. He's two moons. But I'm 2 YEARS!" he said, proudly holding up two stubby little fingers at the end, smiling.
"two moons, you say?" he said, watching the tot continue to pet and nuzzle his mokomoko. "of course he cries a lot; it's the only way he can communicate, to get food or clean garments."
"he needs to talk less." Rin let out a giggle at the tot's matter-of-fact statement. "mama says his ears hurt."
Sesshomaru nodded thoughtfully and carefully pet the child on the head. "I can see why you would want to avoid that and come here instead."
"yeah…" the boy mumbled, looking up at his uncle. "I don't like being a big brother."
Sesshomaru let out a grunt, looking away a little. "Believe me, young one, neither do I."
"Don't encourage him!" Rin scolded her mate as the boys shared their moment of commiseration. "I'm sure things will get better, and you'll get along better with him in no time, little one." The boy pouted a little at her words, shaking his head firmly. Rin growled and the tot suddenly dove out of Sesshomaru's lap as fast as he could, then looked up after a couple seconds, seeming confused.
"no sit?" he mumbled, sitting back up again, head slightly tilted to one side in curiosity. "why no sit?"
Rin started to laugh and Sesshomaru had to hide a smirk as both realized that the poor toddler had been conditioned to jump out of his father's lap to avoid being squished when his mother 'sat' his father. The boy blushed a little and cautiously climbed back into his uncle's lap, once more reaching for the fluff.
"your father and I aren't the best example of what siblings should be like," the yōkai told the tot, removing the thick band of fur and placing it on the futon, watching him squeal with delight and burrow into it. Rin sighed, looking up from the happy child to her mate.
"I have a question for you."
"yes?" the child popped up between them with a happy giggle, then disappeared again.
"why do you really hate InuYasha?" she asked softly. "it isn't just because he's not a Yōkai, or you'd hate him, too," she gestured to the happy tot, "and you don't."
Sesshomaru looked away from Rin again, letting out a soft but very deep sigh and reaching to gently pet the child's head as he popped up again. "it is because…he caused our father to die…" he admitted softly, his voice barely above an ashamed murmur.
Rin didn't respond immediately, and he looked back at her to see her face set in a mask of shock and some horror at his words. "you can't…you don't mean he…killed him…do you?" she asked, barely above a whisper, becoming painfully aware of the innocent child between them.
The white-haired man gently shook his head. "no, of course not. He was but a newborn pup. But, had father never met that human woman, and never conceived InuYasha, I do not doubt he may still be alive to this day."
Rin looked at her mate, not knowing this part of the history at all. "Wait… how?"
He gave an exasperated sigh, knowing the child between them may somewhat understand the story. "Well, it's sort of difficult to explain without context." He sat up straighter, a small frown on his serious face. As he opened his mouth to try and explain, the door curtain was shoved aside and InuYasha himself stepped in.
"there you are! Go on, get; your mother's looking for you too." He shooed the tot out to go find kagome, then sat down beside Rin, facing his older brother.
"Is there something you wish of me?" Sesshomaru asked, raising his eyebrows at his frowning little brother.
"Yeah. I wanna know what's so scary out there that it sent my big scary older brother running to me with his tail between his legs."
Sesshomaru gave his insolent younger brother a glare, but otherwise let the comment pass. "fear of losing the one he cares for," he admitted softly. "the situation in which we found ourselves called for Rin to be safe, but not comfortable. I wished her to have both, and I know she is comfortable here, and no one would expect me to come here for aid."
"all right…but why not just deal with the threat yourself? You've never been one to hide when you could fight." None of this made much sense to the hanyō man.
"it wasn't a matter of fighting—at least, not yet. There could be hundreds of them, and there are only two in my pack. A war is the last thing we need now."
"a WAR?!" InuYasha blurted in alarm, sitting straighter. "What've you done, Sesshomaru?!"
"And why do you always assume I did something?" the white-haired man asked in a calm tone. "I was to present a mate to the clans, and I did so. They doubted her at the ceremony, and she proved beyond doubt she was indeed from a full demon bloodline."
InuYasha's nose twitched curiously in Rin's direction, who had remained silent, listening to the men bicker in case she needed to step in and separate them. "how'd you do it?" he asked curiously. "oh, and congrats, I guess. When's the little brat due?"
It was Rin's turn to bristle at the hanyō's coarse speech. "a spell," Sesshomaru replied coldly, also affronted. "and, as I have not insulted your offspring, I suggest you not insult mine."
"whatever," he shrugged. "my kid's a brat. You'll see once they start crawling."
"are we done here?" Sesshomaru asked, narrowing his eyes at his little brother.
"No. I want your word my family is safe. You aren't dragging me or any of us into this."
"you have my word, InuYasha. You have no part in this at all, save the location we hide in until we know it is safe for us again, and the assassins are caught." InuYasha nodded seriously, accepting the words and standing.
"oh, Rin, kagome wants to see you once you're free. I think she just wanted to catch up." Rin nodded and he quickly left.
Rin turned to her beloved. "you know, I'll never understand how kagome-sama fell for a man like him. They're so different…"
Sesshomaru offered a faint smile. "much as we are. I am sure there are many who don't understand how we are together also." Rin nodded and offered him a kiss, then got to her feet along with him. "I think I'll go for a walk around the village first, to see what's changed, then I'll go see Kagome. Do you want to join me?" the man shook his head, looking out and saying he would scout the perimeter of the village, to make certain they had not been followed or tracked.
Rin walked into the center of town, not surprised to see hardly anything had changed but the age of the people. She looked around for Sango's twin girls and little boy, not sure how big they would be now. People were much more wary of them than they had been, but a few soon recognized her and were more friendly.
Suddenly, Rin was covered in a cloud of colorful chalk powder and squealed in fright, unable to see.
"Ha! We got you, Yōkai lady! Surrender!" called a loud voice through the thick cloud. Rin lashed out blindly in fright, managing to grab her two attackers, snarling.
Sesshomaru, having heard the shriek of fright, arrived just seconds later to find Rin covered in chalk dust and holding two little girls by the obi of their kimono, one in each hand. "Rin. It's all right. Put them down."
"Help!" "she's gonna eat us!" squealed the twins before Rin set them back on their feet, calming down.
"Do you think it wise," he asked the girls, "to sneak up to an unfamiliar yōkai and attack them, even in training?" they quickly shook their heads and hurried off, apologizing as they went.
Sesshomaru gave Rin a gentle, brief hug, to calm her slight trembling. "I thought they were going to kill me…" she murmured, ashamed. "I'm so afraid someone else is going to try to take my life."
"it is all right. Go and see Kagome. I will be nearby. No one will harm you, I swear it." He stepped away and went back to his patrol as she stepped into kaede's hut, smiling to see Kagome with both her little sons, a sleeping infant and a squirming toddler trying to escape his mother's arms.
"you know better than to run away today!" she was scolding him.
"I safe! No one will hurt me."
"you're my baby. It's my job to worry about you, hajime."
"you have baby! I big." He finally managed to squirm out of her arms and jumped in Rin's lap as she sat down, snuggling her fur again.
"I had no idea I had nephews, Kagome. Your sons are adorable!" Rin said, gently hugging the tot before he decided to go somewhere else. He stopped and turned back as a thought occurred to him.
"auntie smell like mama," he observed, tilting his head to one side. "…cousin? Baby?"
Rin broke into a wide grin and nodded. "that's right. I will have a baby, but not for a little while. June, they said." The tot went from overjoyed to pouting. He wanted new friends to play with now! Both women giggled at his face before he sat down to play with a toy on the nearby futon.
"a lot's changed since we saw each other last, hasn't it, Rin?" Kagome noted, picking up her baby as he woke and started to fuss.
"oh, yes, I suppose a lot has." Rin bit her lip, unsure where to begin or how much to tell the miko who had helped to raise her for the few years she had lived in the village.
"well…I notice you aren't a hanyō anymore. How did that happen?" she prompted, letting her cranky son nurse as she listened to the yōkai woman.
"oh…well, when I left you that day, I was trying to get back to him, but I couldn't find my way. I wound up wandering for a few days until I turned human, like InuYasha does." Kagome nodded, listening closely. "when I turned back the next morning, I ran away from him in shame, even though he wanted me to stay. I met a man who seemed nice and took me in, but really he was the one who cursed me." Kagome gasped at Rin's words in dismay. "it's okay, though—Sesshomaru found me, like always, and he saved me. When he killed the man, the curse broke. He admitted how he really felt about me, and we became mates pretty soon after."
Kagome nodded again and smiled. "so how did you become a yōkai, then? That can't have been easy. In fact, I didn't think it was really possible, not for someone like you." Naraku had been a human, but he had also been extremely evil, and Rin was nothing of the sort.
"well, first, Sesshomaru's mother invited us to her palace after we became mates. She wanted to meet me. We didn't know then that I was pregnant yet. She got really upset, because since he's the heir, he has to have a child that can become the heir for him, and a hanyō can't inherit by their law, I guess." She sighed and looked down, remembering how stressful that had been. "she was so angry, but he didn't care. He was willing to give up the throne for me."
Kagome looked shocked at that. As far as she had known the stoic InuYōkai, he had only ever been interested in power, and being the ruler of his people would surely be something he would have quite an interest in.
The women looked up as the door curtain was pushed aside and Sesshomaru himself stepped in. "Rin, come. We need to leave."
"now?" she said, frowning in worry. "but why?"
"there is a yōkai on the main road who is asking for us. Though they don't know we are here, it is too much risk. There is one more place we may go for refuge, but we cannot risk staying here another moment." He took Rin's hand to help her to her feet, frowning to hear her stomach growl. They hadn't adequately eaten yesterday, and there was no time now. At a glance, the miko quickly packed up some leftover stew and rice from last night's dinner as well as some of the leftover breakfast food, bundling it up for Rin.
"it was good to see you, Rin. Be safe, and visit again soon when you can, okay?"
A/N: finally finished 29/03. If I can get 45 and 46 done within a week, they will be published together.