Sessh Rin fic chap 60
A/N: another milestone: our 60th chapter! I'm honestly very shocked it's gotten this long, and I promise it wasn't my intention…anyway, we're very close to the biggest part (I was hoping to be closer but it didn't actually fit in the last chapter so I cut it off).
Chapter bomb part 2!
Rather than returning immediately to the palace, Rin begged, though she didn't really have to convince, Sesshomaru to take her to the nearby town to look through the market. She hadn't been in ages and wanted to see the new spring wares, especially cloth for the pup's first clothes. On the way, her stomach growled a bit, and he steered her away from the market to get food from a tea shop, checking it over himself before offering her the food. Rin munched happily, enjoying the warm sun, spring breeze, and happy chatter of the humans going about their day to day lives. They made life seem so simple, even when Rin knew it wasn't.
In a lull in the chatter, Rin took a sip of her tea, then asked, "Have you thought of any names?"
Sesshomaru did not have to ask what his mate was referring to, simply looking down from her face to her wrapped stomach with a pensive expression. "If the pup is a girl, Chiyoko, and if it is a boy, Tarō."
Rin blinked at him, chewing another gyoza. "I suppose you must have thought about it a lot," She noted. "Hmm…Well, I was thinking of Akihiko for a boy…and I haven't thought of any good girl names." Well, she had several ideas, but she didn't think her beloved would approve of naming his firstborn daughter after a human. She tapped her chin with a finger. "And what about the other one?"
"Other one?!" That made his head snap up sharply from gazing into his tea. His eyes immediately fell back to her stomach in concern. Had she been hiding something from him?!
"The one we're adopting? Chieko and Kaito's son? We have to name him, even if we don't take him in." He let out a soft sigh of relief in realization. "Perhaps Eiji would suit him, as he will be our second child…" She suggested hesitantly, concerned about Sesshomaru's outburst. She didn't understand what it had been about. Well, these past weeks had been trying for him, she supposed, and she knew he wasn't sleeping well, though not why. She would feel very guilty indeed to learn that it was her constant movement from the pup's kicking that was keeping her beloved awake, depriving him of necessary rest.
"I like those names," Sesshomaru reassured her with a soft, tiny smile. "They both fit a royal status."
"Are you sure? I've never named anything before, and this is so important…" Rin fretted, and Sesshomaru laid a hand reassuringly over hers. "Your mother said we would have a few months to decide, after they're born." Much like in the human world, InuYōkai, at least, weren't concerned in giving the baby a permanent name until their marks grew in completely, at between 3 and 4 months of age, or about 100 days. They were considered at that point to have 'survived childhood' and were no longer at risk of being stolen away by the reaper in the night. Sesshomaru would not properly ascend to taishōgun until their child, boy or girl, was 100 days old.
Rin took another sip of her tea, then gasped in pain as the pup seemed to wake and stretch, making themselves comfortable in the ever more limited space of her stomach. "Rin, are you all right?" Sesshomaru asked in immediate concern, but she waved him back down, taking a deep breath. "Fine, fine. They're just stretching. They do that a lot." She rubbed at the last spot she had felt feet and got a few gentle kicks as a reward. She finished her tea and stood up, tugging on his sleeve in sudden excitement. "Come on, let's go to the market! We need to hurry, the best things sell first!"
Sesshomaru smiled indulgently, finishing his own tea and leaving some coins for the payment on the table. Then he allowed his eager mate to lead him back onto the market street, which was bustling with shoppers going every direction. Rin spotted a cloth merchant and eagerly dragged him over to the elderly woman's stall, admiring all the vibrant colors and patterns. As she picked up a small bolt to admire it, her face abruptly went white and she dropped it back on the table, catching herself on Sesshomaru. He held her upright in concern—she looked as though she were in terrible pain—but it passed in another few seconds with seemingly no lasting effects. It must have been one of the false pains Aki had informed him of before. "That hurt!" Rin exclaimed, also quite worried and not quite sure what had happened. "…Do we have to go home now?"
He shook his head, then conceded, "Not yet. But if it happens again or lasts longer, then yes, I'm afraid we do." Rin nodded, accepting that answer, and straightened up, getting him to let go of the gentle but firm grip he had taken on her upper arms. She turned back to the table, where the old woman was watching the young couple with a knowing smile.
"First child, Milady?" She asked, offering a bolt to look at. Rin nodded, admiring the bright color. "The first is always the hardest, because everything is new. But don't worry, I'm certain everything will come out fine." Rin turned to Sesshomaru and held the bolt of fabric up to her cheek to show the pattern and colors against her skin. "What do you think?"
"Hmm…I'm not sure that one suits you well."
"It's not for me, silly—it's for the pup!" She looked closer at it and put it down. "You're right…how about this one?" It was a pleasant pale yellow with sakura painted on. A discount now, because nobody wanted the cloth until next year, but the delicate blossoms were very fitting for a newborn. "This seems perfect with summer coming. And I am due in June—just in time for the rainy season!"
As he reached into his sleeve to fetch his coin purse, Rin's ditzy mind returned to his odd reaction to her asking about what they should name the orphan. "Why did you act so strangely when I was asking about names?" She queried, making him glance at her out of the corner of his eye and turn very faintly pink.
"Well…I mistook your asking about the orphan as a statement that your bore twins," He explained, turning a bit toward her. She gasped sharply and smacked his arm. "Don't curse me! One's enough!" She scolded. "Besides, the midwife would know if I was, and she would tell me."
"Midwives can't always tell," The merchant woman noted, wrapping the bolt in some garbage cloth for transport, "At least, not with humans." This statement seemed to trouble Rin, and she took the bolt herself, cradling it to her chest as she frowned.
Sesshomaru found a sunny place in plain sight that Rin could sit down while he continued shopping, and within a few minutes she had dozed off in the warm spring sun. when he came to fetch her, she refused to wake, pawing lightly at him in an effort to fend him off. He just chuckled softly and gently scooped her up, letting her continue to doze as they returned home.
"And what sort of time do you call this?" Aki demanded as they entered the manor a couple of hours later. The Royal Midwife had her hands on her hips and a pouting expression, ready to tell them off for whatever they may have been up to against her orders.
"Relaxation time," Sesshomaru replied smoothly, stepping past the small angry woman to lay Rin in bed to finish what little was left of her midday nap.
"Rela-h-have I really been that bad to you?" She asked, deflating like a puffer fish with a puncture.
"You have been stressing her out quite a bit of late. And me as well."
"My apologies," She said with a small bow, "I have only been doing my job to protect you and your heirs." She peeked in as Sesshomaru slid the door shut and stepped back into the hallway. "Did she eat well today?"
"Three plates of gyoza and some tea for lunch. Her appetite is fine."
Aki nodded, looking relieved. "A bit of meat when she wakes, then. Easy enough." Noting his slightly preoccupied expression as he moved to put away the few items he had purchased, she followed. "You seem troubled. What is it?"
The man offered a slightly chagrined sigh and admitted that he had mistaken Rin's query about the orphan as a statement of carrying twins. "Her stomach does seem to be a bit larger than it ought to be…doesn't it?"
Aki offered a reassuring smile and gently patted the concerned father-to-be's arm. "That's because it is. But it's nothing to worry over, I think." At his incredulous look, she nearly giggled. "Milord," She said slowly, "Do you not realize what big-boned blood you carry? Your pup is a quarter Nami, from your father's side. Even chieko was several inches taller than me—as tall as you are. Do you really think your pup would not also be large?" Sesshomaru gave a noncommittal grunt. "I have noticed no signs of twins, Sesshomaru-sama. But, to be honest, I haven't been looking. It is, after all, fairly rare among us."
Sesshomaru offered another concerned look and turned to the royal midwife. "Would you be willing to check more closely? My mind will not let the idea go, and it concerns Rin also." She nodded, instructing him to tell her when Rin woke so she could do so.
It didn't take long for Rin to wake from her nap and go in search of food. And it wasn't long after that when Rin returned, being gently pushed along by Aki. "You already checked me this morning! Nothing's changed!" Rin insisted as the midwife gently pushed her sliding feet up to the edge of the futon and pointed commandingly for Rin to lie down. "No! I don't want to." Rin turned to her beloved, who was reading over a small missive a little too intently, as if trying to ignore the women. "What, do you think I'm sleeping too much or something?" She demanded of him, but he didn't reply.
"Come now, Milady, I'll be quick."
Pouting, Rin finally complied, laying down and allowing the midwife to help her out of her robes so she could be thoroughly checked. She poked and prodded everywhere, counted heartbeats and breaths, checked fingers and toes and gums and all over her growing belly, and Rin didn't even know why. When the midwife finally sat back, she blurted "Well?! What is it?"
Aki sighed and turned to Sesshomaru, who finally put down the scroll he'd already read through four times during the proceedings. "I still see no definite signs, but…"
"Signs of what? What do you mean, 'but'?!" Rin asked, starting to become alarmed.
"It's all right, Rin-sama. Your mate was concerned that you have some signs of carrying twins. And, well, you do, but they are all explained by something else." Aki sat up straighter as she explained. "Your stomach is bigger than it should be by now, but your pup is a quarter Nami, so I expected it. And you are far more moody than normal, but you were human just months ago and unused to Yōki. So I don't know. I can't tell you that it isn't, for sure."
Rin frowned, going from alarmed to worried, putting her rather small hands on either side of her growing stomach. "You really can't tell?" She fretted, looking down at her baby bump.
"I would be able to if I could feel kicking in more than one place, but I haven't noticed any of that, have you?"
Rin shook her head and sighed in concern. The pup seemed to be shy and refused to kick now at all, or perhaps it was sleeping. "Nothing has really changed, Milady, I promise. Just continue to eat well, take walks, and get plenty of sleep, just as you have been. Everything will turn out all right, especially now that you have the kami's blessing as well." She helped Rin get dressed properly again and showed her how to put the blessed wrap on by herself, since she still disliked having a handmaid to help her dress.
The following morning, the scroll delivery came just after dawn, and Rin did not want to get up so early. Rubbing one eye, she yawned and stretched, climbing out of bed with her hair all tousled to help her mate sort the scrolls so they could have breakfast. "More treaties?" She complained, seeing the seals of several clans in the pile. "Now, of all times?"
"The Dō, no less," Sesshomaru noted, taking one off the stack and handing another to her to open, since she seemed so keen on helping him. He cracked the seal as she opened the small missive from the palace, which, as usual, bore his mother's scent.
"What do they want?" She mused disinterestedly as she opened the missive, then gasped in horror as Sesshomaru read the first characters on his own scroll.
"WAR."
"This…this is your mother's…" Rin murmured in a tiny, horrified tone, just as the scent of blood hit Sesshomaru's nose.