Hope I didn't make ya'll wait too long ;)

LOVE ALL OF THE REVIEWS! Your antsy-ness made me antsy in return so I DESPERATELY scrounged for a good place to start and work on.

As you guys know, I write in my spare time at work. And so if there are too many interruptions or not enough spare time, I can't dish them out!

But thankfully, today I was wide awake and rarin' to write!

So calm your horses! Here is the next, much awaited chapter...

Chapter 8: The Night's Events - Part 2


The once hissing pain of strong alcohol upon her tongue had since dissipated since her first gulp well over two hours before. The more the world began to spin, the less discomfort Rin could physically feel. She was actually beginning to enjoy herself.

Magnificently she stood, slightly dizzily, in front of her audience of demons, demonstrating her natural ability to dance like a Geisha. Rin had never experienced such a nauseating feeling of released inhibitions before. Her hidden qualms, fears, and insecurities had been replaced by headache, confusion, and laughter.

And she liked it.

For the first time she felt freed of all the haunting memories that beckoned her into sleepless nights and rivers of regret. It all merged together as she spun, the tatami mats twisting into swirls of sand beneath her feet. How she managed to stay upon them, even she could not answer.

Koga, Byakuya, and Naraku, all had ordered more absinthe since Rin's intoxication and had begun displaying less self-control over their actions. Currently, they were belligerently cheering the young ningen on. Sesshoumaru, however, though having kept up with his friends in the drinking department, had no tell-tale signs upon his being. Perhaps only his father himself could have noticed the slight drop in malice within the molten pools that were the daiyoukai's crisp and golden eyes. Perhaps the softening of his demeanor was the only true display of drunkenness that Sesshoumaru held within him. Beside his person, a passed out Kagura lay sprawled out from her failed effort to keep up with the boys.

The silver-haired daiyoukai turned his eyes to the young maiko that had been able to, rather impressively, control her dual fans and movements despite the influence of the almost intolerable drink. In this moment, Sesshoumaru analyzed her actual existence. Now that he was free from the judgment of sober counterparts, he was able to freely assess the situation that his father had set him in for his eventual inheritance.

The girl wasn't an eyesore. Though it was obvious that she hadn't fully grown into her femininity, she was well above average for a human woman. Her hair and her make-up, a requirement of her field, had been carelessly tugged and wiped away as a side effect of her drinking throughout the evening. Her small, yet evident, screw-ups in her performance indicated her lack of experience with absinthe. Unlike sake', absinthe held almost twice the alcohol content along with another mind-altering drug. She drank without any clue of such differences. And while this would put off any client seeking Kodachi's finest entertainment, Sesshoumaru found that her naiveté rather enticed him. As much as his preferences in females were kept within the confines of his own knowledge, it didn't take much to assume that he grew heated for those that had the ability to be broken. Those that could be stripped and taken from the majestic world of innocence and security... Those that he could bend to his will and force upon the realization of true bitterness and resentment. He smirked as he now took the fresh maiden in under a whole new light. His eyes filled with diabolical thoughts and temptations…

…but only for a moment.

For when she looked his way curiously, he realized that the absinthe had really done a number to his own inhibitions. Usually, the stoic Sesshoumaru had enough self-control to even maintain his train of thought. But just like humans, youkai had similar difficulties in monitored decision-making while under the influence. He cursed himself as he looked away, regaining composure. But what she did next, he would never have expected. She tip-tapped with her small feet over to him before sitting down directly in front of him, a strong look of concentration upon her face.

He leaned away from her as he gave her the most quizzical and disgusted look that he could muster; which, evidently, wasn't much because she showed no signs of taking the hint. Instead, she merely, casually said while swaying upon her knees,

"Hey you."

Taken aback by her too-casual regard, Sesshoumaru furrowed his eyebrows. Apparently, her body was still processing the alcohol. The opium mixture didn't help either as he whiffed the prevalent stench of both in her bloodstream.

The other three demons paused in surprise for a moment before they all broke out in a fit of laughter at her openly drunk display.

"Oh?! What's this!?" Naraku bellowed, "Looks like she's aching for a death wish doesn't it?"

Byakuya beamed from ear to ear as he said sarcastically in a girly voice, "Please, oh great 'Hey-you-sama', go easy on me would you? I'm just a little druuuuunk girl."

Though Koga also joined in with the jokes, he seemed a bit concerned as Sesshoumaru's gaze narrowed, full of displeasure rather than humor.

But Rin apparently still didn't get the hint… For she turned to the other demons to put them in their place.

"Hey… I'm trying to talk here, don't be rude!"

At that moment, with their asses handed to them, the three of them shut up; utterly shocked by her regarding them lowly. And though this would cause uproar amongst demons, or even humans, normally, there was a consensus that Rin had provided too much of a good time for them to rightfully complain. Especially when her current state was a result of Koga's rash idea.

Rin smiled and, flirtatiously, she cooed a simple, "Thank you."

She turned back to Sesshoumaru and, surprisingly, since the last time she had looked at him, his eyes had grown slightly red from immense irritation. Any other human would have sensed complete and total danger, but thanks to everything her body was on currently, it didn't faze her.

Her eyes grew sad and she spoke softly, "I'm sorry that I offended you that time before... Will you pleeeease forgive me?"

The intimacy of her voice struck his ears like a siren.

What was this all of a sudden?

Sesshoumaru couldn't hide the widening of his eyes as surprise cooled off the red that had been threatening to pool.

The others whispered their own bull-headed responses to each other, pretending they were the great and terrible Sesshoumaru who would issue no forgiveness while the situation took place.

The dog lord's eyes reverted back to that of contempt, though now, they stayed magnificent golden-bronze. Expectedly, however, he remained quiet, waiting for her to drop this endeavor from her short-drunken-attention span and to move on to something more entertaining for the demons who had forced him to visit Kodachi.

Alas, she remained resilient. And he finally hissed,

"Leave me be, girl. I have no interest in alleviating your pitiful sense of guilt."

Rin then straightened; the look of complete dejection upon her face became replaced with a false sense of empowerment.

"I see…," she said vindictively with a smirk, "Well… then I suppose I have no interest in telling your father that you've been tolerant of me."

The room fell silent as Sesshoumaru's claws twitched at her words.

"Oooh! Sesshoumaru, now I am jealous…," Naraku said, smoothing the situation, "…She's so feisty and vengeful!"

But Rin turned and waved a hand in his direction, laughing at her own jest, "I'm only joking! This is the best I have ever felt in my life! I am sorry Sesshoumaru-sama. I was only trying to lighten the mood."

Growling out of annoyance for the obnoxious and disrespectful behavior of not just the maiko, but of his comrades too, Sesshoumaru leaned his weight on his left arm and simply continued to drink.

Byakuya and Koga were back to joking amongst themselves as Naraku motioned with a finger for Rin to join him.

"Come here, Rin-chan. Sesshoumaru is always like this… I am sorry that you have to deal with such sour company."

As Rin stumbled over to him, Sesshoumaru simply scoffed in mild protest and stared out of the window.

Naraku put a hand on the maiden's waist and pulled her down forcefully to sit next to him.

"Now, that's better. You can rest comfortably and keep me company this way. Pretty easy, huh?" Naraku whispered into her ear.

Rin, unaware of how inappropriate the demon was acting in this moment, had brought a hand to her forehead, finally realizing just how dizzy and out of it she truly was.

One of Naraku's hands snaked its way to the back of her neck, while the other found her kimono-covered thigh.

"You are quite lovely, Rin-chan. Tell me, have you ever felt the pleasure of a man's company before?"

Missing the sexual innuendo completely, Rin simply thought of her youthful, innocent past.

Her expression grew rigid and cold as she muttered,

"Kohaku…"

Suddenly, a wave of depression hit her as she was reminded of him. Of his blood. The same deep scarlet of her parents' … and the pulsating wounds they endured that matched those upon her heart.

A lone tear slipped down her cheek; the suddenly salty scent catching the attention of the dog demon who had, up until this moment, stuck to his own business. He turned an attentive eye to Naraku and the girl.

"I'm sure I can make you scream louder than he ever could. Won't you let me?" Naraku purred in role-play, the influence of his alcohol-intake beginning to take a turn.

Rin's eyes widened as fear suddenly flushed through her system.

"No…," she barely managed a whisper.

Naraku's eyes lit up with amusement, "Your fear is more intoxicating than this absinthe, Rin-chan. I don't know if I can deny myself such a wondrous aroma."

Rin, slightly sobered from the trauma, pushed at him with as much force as possible, as tears began to flow.

"Stop, please, don't-," she pleaded for her sanity as Naraku covered her loud mouth and pushed her body to the ground.

"Don't worry, I only wish to play a bit… I won't hurt you," he growled with a smirk down at her as his hand found the opening to the lower half of her kimono.

Sobbing under forced silence, Rin flailed beneath him. Memories of her mother, of those men, of the atrocities that took place upon them and her village… all of it under her witness… flooded her mind as she was forced to relive it. Despair fell over her like a veil as Naraku's hand closed in on the heat between her thighs before she heard an imperative, snarling voice.

"Remove yourself."

When Rin opened her eyes, she saw a bright green light flowing up and down in powerful waves along the blade of an intricately carved sword. Her eyes widened when she realized that the expressionless Sesshoumaru was the bearer, and his target was the trespasser upon her.

Naraku smirked as he ceased his conquest.

"Now I am quite sure…," the dastardly demon hissed up at Sesshoumaru, "…that you are jealous."

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes before parting his lips.

"Now."

The humor left Naraku's dark red eyes as he turned to face his friend.

"And say that I don't?" He tested maliciously.

Sesshoumaru cocked his head, "If you cost me the Western Lands because of your aching loins, I will kill you, Naraku…,"

Rin's captor widened his eyes as the dog demon finished, "…You would do well to reassemble your priorities."

Quiet now rested upon the room, all except the heavy breathing of the other youkai. Byakuya and Koga who had been joking and wrestling on the floor, fighting over the last of the absinthe moments prior, now lay in a snore.

The stare-down was interrupted by Naraku's bitter issuance of defeat. He removed himself from a trembling Rin, who had succumbed to quiet tears, and walked, dignified towards Kagura. Sesshoumaru lowered his sword, though energy still flowed throughout it with warning. He watched as Naraku picked up the passed out woman and turned to meet his gaze again.

"When was it that you became so obedient to that sad excuse of a demon, anyway?" Naraku asked bitterly, waiting on a response that never came.

Finally, with a grunt, Naraku spat, "How dull…," before disappearing from the room with Kagura in arms under the haze of an engulfing purple wind.

After a moment of silent thought, Sesshoumaru sheathed Bakusaiga and turned in a single fluid motion to exit the room in a more dignified manner. However, he was stopped by a tug on the leg of his hakama.

He turned to look down upon Rin, who had a hold of his fabric within a single shaking hand.

"What do you want?" He growled, no longer in any mood to put up with more annoyances.

"S-Sesshoumaru-sama…," her voice quivered as she stared down into her lap, "I-I don't really know how to express it in line with how relieved I am, but…"

She looked up into his eyes as she trembled.

"Thank you… So much… I don't know what was… I-"

"Hmph, you misunderstand my intentions…," Sesshoumaru scowled down upon her pathetic form, "…I care for nothing other than power over my lands. Your well-being just happens to be an unfortunate requirement for me to achieve such."

He pulled his leg from her grip so that he could continue his stride towards the doorway. Rin sighed as despair welled up again within her chest.

Suddenly, she heard his voice once more.

"Know this, human. From here, our casual relation within Kodachi is an act. Nothing more…," he turned to glare at her as she sat, still dazed from the alcohol, "… And pray that my father doesn't see through your façade if you wish to continue such a respectable life."

Rin nodded fearfully at the obvious threat before the dog demon took his noble leave.

She backed up and leaned against the far wall, still dizzy, before taking notice of the two passed out demons that still occupied the room.

"And what am I supposed to do with them…?" She asked herself passively, not truly caring about such indifferent matters as a rush of women and servants burst through the door; concern worn shamelessly upon all of their faces.


Until next time my lovelies. ;)

What were your thoughts on the results of this chapter? I love reading them!