It's been awhile guys and for that, I am sorry. I alm also sorry that this chapter isn't as long :( Work has been busy and I've been trying really hard to focus on my work too. I mean, I am at a computer all day and I was getting too wrapped up in the internet... so I made myself take a break. Plus, the more breaks from writing that I take, the more passionate I get about it later. It's all for a healthy cycle I promise! :P

If you follow me on Instagram or on DeviantART, then you know that I made a picture for Memoirs during my two week disappearance.
It's from the scene when Rin happens upon Sesshoumaru hurt from his fight with Naraku. ^.^

Check it out, my username is the same as the one on here.

Anywayyyy, Chapter 16: The Intruder


"No no, I couldn't, really!" A reluctant Rin waved her thin hands in front of her mechanically, trying to cease the Western Ruler's attempts at convincing her. For the past five minutes InuTaishou had been relentlessly insisting that Rin dance with Kagome and Izayoi during the performance hour. Though Rin knew deep down that she had enough knowledge of the choreography from her self-studies, she also knew that she was far too inexperienced to actually perform them… fairly sober, that is.

"Oh there is no need to be shy. I merely wish to see your potential so there is no harm if you make a mistake," InuTaishou insisted.

"B-but…," Rin tried to find some way of buying time before the younger dog lord to her left decided to interject,

"Quit grousing and do as you are told."

Rin slowly looked towards her assigned patron, Sesshoumaru, who reluctantly sipped his sake with an averted gaze of supreme distaste, "Isn't it within Kodachi's noble and high-ranking code that Geisha are not to deny any permissible requests made by its clients?"

At that moment Rin's inner feistiness threatened to break free from the heavy confines of her mind. He was one to talk right now, given his rather thoughtless actions from earlier that same evening. It was also within Kodachi's noble and high-ranking code to punish any who lay lustful hands on the service women. Or, in this case, any teasing actions that could be labeled as such.

Someone like him could not possibly lust after her…

Reverting her thoughts back to the matter at hand, Rin highly considered the usage of her blackmail. Though, to the dismay of her pride, she bit her tongue and refused herself the pleasure.

"Ah, I suppose that is true, Sesshoumaru-sama. Forgive me for my banter."

Izayoi rose from InuTaishou's side, "Come Rin. The three of us will dance while Cesaria plays. The dance we have prepared shouldn't be too hard for you to pick up."

Rin nodded her head nervously as she stood, pulling her fans from her obi with shaking hands.

Inuyasha, being the bone-headed hanyou that he was, called out as the girls stood at the ready, "Hey kid, don't be intimidated! Just pretend that you're dancing for a man without a stick up his ass!"

Sesshoumaru glowered as his half-brother nonchalantly and indignantly pointed in his direction.

And knowing what he had come to know by sheer happenstance, Sesshoumaru averted his eyes for a brief moment to analyze his assigned Maiko and her reaction to the choice phrase.

Indeed, Rin's mind had considered Inuyasha's distraction. The thought of dancing for someone worthy of her attention covered her senses like a veil. Her mind had flown to him. Mindlessly, Rin allowed herself the pleasure of the image, and the emotion, to wash over her.

Kohaku.

She smiled bitter-sweetly as Cesaria sat and began to fan the strings. Rin quickly, though sub-consciously, recognized the structure of the dance pattern and started off without flaw. She found her nerves quieting the more she permitted herself to picture such a tranquil day dream of past days laced with present fantasies... She got lost in the concept of dancing for him, catering to him, serving him. His name reverberated through her limbs, motivating them to not fail her amidst this unquenchable desire of free and beautifully calculated movements.

Kohaku, Kohaku, Kohaku.

Oh how she wished that circumstances had been different.

She lifted her chin to the ceiling with eyes closed, reveling the sight that her mind musically played for her.

Oh how she wished that he was in this room.

Rin lowered her face in synchrony with the others as she spun.

She pictured him blushing innocently, sweetly, adoring her as she moved.

Her eyebrows only slightly furrowed out of emotional pain as she twisted her hips in line with the final turn.

He had been the only man that she considered worthy of her absolute affection and submission.

His smile illuminated her heart even when her fan lowered in harmony with the fade-out of the shamisen.

And when she finally opened her eyes in recognition of the real world, her gaze instantly met with that of her benefactor, Sesshoumaru-sama.

Rin's eyes narrowed quizzically as she caught a strange expression seeping from the golden pools.

Annoyance… Well wait, was it actually…

Pity?

That's when she realized that the majority of her vision had been clouded over. Tears must have unexpectedly come to her eyes throughout the later-half of her performance.

Swiftly, though she knew it was too late, she reached to brush them away. Before she could manage to do so, however, Sesshoumaru shot forth his penetrating voice,

"Rin. Go fetch me four peeled halves of the dragonfruit. This sake' is displeasing alone."

Caught off guard in the midst of her embarrassment, the young woman struggled in her reply, "Y-yes of course, I will send for a servant immedia-"

"I requested you to fetch them. Pawning off your work is very unbecoming," he breathed, retreating his gaze icily as he half-heartedly explained his demand, "The scent of even one human hand upon my fare is sickening… Two is unacceptable."

Rin gulped as the others on stage left to entertain their assigned guests, doing their best to shrug off the chilling atmosphere that Sesshoumaru managed to bring to the end of a brilliant performance.

InuTaishou, surprisingly, wasn't glowering at his son per the usual, but instead was giving him a look of acute interest. He turned his head back towards the Maiko before commenting softly,

"I have invested wisely, it would seem. Rin is more than capable of being one of the most adorned Geisha in the district one day."

"Yes," Izayoi smiled, "I am quite proud of her already."

Rin bowed in quick thanks, tears still threatening flow from the previous reverie, before shuffling out of the room.

After closing the door with extreme control, she maneuvered slowly down the hallway, taking deep breaths and trying to get a grasp on her senses. Her heart thudded in her chest from the realization. Sesshoumaru had sent her away for reasons other than the sake'. She had openly shown emotion and instability upon that stage. And she was certain, as was he apparently, that all the demons in the room had noticed. She shook her head violently. It seemed that she was unable to go through with anything lately without embarrassing herself. Sure, everyone else saw her as the prodigy, but in her eyes she was a domino-effect of screw-ups.

She tried to avert her attention back to her purpose for leaving the room as she passed both Izayoi's and her quarters en route to Kodachi's kitchen. It was then that she got an idea. For the trouble caused, and to gain a little extra points on the scale, she decided to bring a plate full of different fruits and treats for Sesshoumaru to choose from. It couldn't hurt. And if he didn't want them, then the other dog demons would be most grateful. Rin smiled at the thought and then, after a quick realization, she turned on her heel back towards Izayoi's room. If she were to attempt to bring Sesshoumaru a plate full of food, it was probably best for her to know what kinds he preferred.

With the scrolls of client preferences as her destination, Rin stepped up to the door. And just as she was about to slide it open, she heard unusual stirring and fumbling coming from within…


Sesshoumaru refused to follow the maiko with his sight, but instead paid extra mind with his other senses. When he heard the door finally close, so did his eyes… and then came the commentary.

"That was unusually generous of you, son," InuTaishou whispered so that only they could hear, taking a steamed bun simultaneously from the bowl that Izayoi held out happily towards him.

The young lord scoffed, "Any woman serving this Sesshoumaru should never display such weakness. Her folly was a direct disgrace to me."

He glared at his father peripherally. But to his surprise, InuTaishou only smirked his typical victorious smirk.

"Would it not have benefited you more in your quest to inherit the throne to have agreed with me just then?" His father asked, teasingly.

Sesshoumaru's brow simply twitched; his hand only hesitating for a brief moment before bringing the dish back to his lips. InuTaishou gave him a wry look that only an all-knowing father could give.

"You must be torn, my son. At least somewhat…," he explained his assessment, "…Or else you would not have been so quick to protect your pride without first considering your position."

Sesshoumaru glowered as his father shared his final statement on the matter.

"It makes me wonder if your inheritance has truly been the most prevalent thing on your mind lately…?"


Rin gasped. However, before giving it a second thought, she slammed the door open in an attempt to catch the sly house resident that had dared intrude upon her mentor's privacy. Though she had no room to talk, for she had done it herself, she was fully prepared to engage in order to keep Izayoi's plans a secret.

She opened her mouth in protest to whatever she might find, but found herself strictly speechless upon her entrance. In fact, she was shocked beyond all reason.

A young woman that wore strange clothing from head to toe, sporting a sleek black ponytail, turned abruptly from the scroll keepers to look at Rin with utter surprise. She had been caught… and she knew it.

Rin managed to grasp the pieces of her brain that were in charge of formulating sentences despite the anxiety reeling through her core, "W-wh-who are you?! And where did you get-"

But before she could finish, the woman snatched all of the scrolls into one arm under the 犬category before throwing three black beads to the ground that, on impact, burst into a mixture of heavy noxious gasses. Rin flinched and covered her mouth as the woman disappeared behind the thick cloud, towards the window no doubt.

"Wait, please! Who are you?! I must know!" Rin struggled to run through the smoke but found herself on the ground writhing in a coughing fit. Retreating bitterly, she turned and crawled into the hallway in her failing effort to breathe.

"Help! Somebody! It's an emergency!" She coughed in between her warnings, "Someone has broken into Kodachi! Inform the godmothers!"

A couple of servants who had heard her pleas and who had come to her aid, now scattered in different directions to inform the other women and the mothers of the house. Rin laid upon her back in wait, still cough-ridden, star-struck, and confused by the individual that she had just encountered.

She couldn't believe it.

That woman…

She was wearing a slick, black bodysuit with minimal armor and weapons. Of which was complete with a mask eerily identical to the one that Rin had kept hidden, and on her person, for all of these years.

That woman had been from the same demon slaying village as Kohaku.


BUM BUM BUUUUUM. I bet you can't guess who it is. ;)

Well, actually, I bet you can.

But why would she be interested in dog demons?

Stay tuned to find out! I has it all planned. :P