Playful passtime - Chapter 3
Thanks again for all the praises ^_^ It's getting really fun to write this, but I'm not sure if there will be many chapters after this one.
It all depends if I get enough suggestions, feedback and ideas.
Disclaimer: Sesshoumaru, Rin and Jaken are copyrighted to the wonderful Rumiko Takahashi, they don't even live under my bed, but a chibi
Sesshoumaru lives in my purse (keychain). I don't earn any profit from this story, I'm just writing it for fun.
---------------------------------------------
Studying wasn't much fun. Especially not when Jaken was teaching her. With a heavy sigh Rin gazed out of the window, bored.
Who had decided that rainy days like these were meant for studying anyway? The last week had been rather dull: rain, lots of
studying, plus she barely had been able to see Sesshoumaru-sama. When she had asked where the youkai lord was, he only grumbled
something about important matters that a little brat like her couldn't understand. By that answer Rin quickly understood that
Jaken didn't know either. Most likely he was busy training with his swords or stuck in the library, reading in those big dusty tomes
that made her sneeze.
"Are you even listening?!" Jaken interrupted her in her thoughts, waving his arms in annoyance to get the child's attention again.
"Ah, gomen, Jaken-sama!" excused Rin, then sighed and straightened up where she sat. The toad servant glared at her, inwardly
wanting to smack her for daydreaming again. What was wrong with this human whelp anyway? If Sesshoumaru-sama himself hadn't
insisted that she was going to be educated, he, the faithful Jaken, wouldn't have to sit here and waste his time. The pup
was impossible to teach to, especially the last week.
"Now repeat all I've told you," Jaken grumbled, standing as tall as he could to glare down at her, an attempt of gaining
some more authority. That was the only thing he could do to feel better.
********************************
It was quiet. Almost too quiet. Once Sesshoumaru had been used to it, and cherished the silence. Then why couldn't he do that any longer?
He found it harder and harder to concentrate on the scripts, then finally with a loud sigh and put them down, closing his eyes.
Then he got to his feet and left the studies, deciding he couldn't get anything done. Why was his concentration this horrible today?
Strangely enough, he had found it had been decreasing the last week.
He wasn't feeling guilty for avoiding Rin, was he? After all, he had serious business to do, being the lord of the western lands
after all. And in addition, Rin needed to study herself if she was going to grow up to become a lady. She needed to learn proper
etiquette, some languages, history, grammar and all those things.
Sesshoumaru sighed heavily. Who was he trying to fool? Ever since the accident while playing jumprope, he had made sure to keep
the pup busy with chores and studying. But something else had been bothering him the last week. Whenever he was trying to concentrate
and work, he felt this rather agitating feeling in the pit of his stomach, a nagging feeling that he should be doing something else.
And when he walked past the room where Jaken was either busy scolding or babbling to the pup, he felt his composure sink a little.
What was that feeling? Was it... what his father, the great Inu-Taisho had described as... guilt? He wasn't sure, he had never
experienced it before. And of course someone like him, the lord of the western lands, never felt guilt! So how come he
felt it, and because of a human pup?
"Stupid brat!!"
Sesshoumaru's head jerked up and his usual expressionless face replaced his contemplative one at a sound he was quite used to:
Jaken and Rin's usual bickering. With a barely audible groan, even for youkai ears, Sesshoumaru entered the hallway to where his
servant and the pup usually were when he was tutoring her. As he slid the doors open, no emotion crossed his face as he spotted
Rin standing, arms crossed and tongue stuck out at the sputtering toad youkai, who was full with dark ink which ran in small streams
down his body.
"What is going on here?" he demanded, his eyes first looking at Jaken, then glanced slightly at Rin who quickly pulled her tongue back
into her mouth and stood straight, before returning his attention back to his servant who was trying to wipe the offending ink off
himself.
"Jaken-sama is dumb!"
"It's YOU who's stupid, whelp! If you only listened for once and..."
"Silence."
No harshness nor raise of voice was needed as both shut up at once hearing the word from Sesshoumaru, both knew better than to
question his authority.
The lord sighed a little, then he turned to walk out.
"Take the rest of the day off, Rin. Jaken, go tend in the kitchen."
"H-hai Sesshoumaru-sama!" Jaken affirmed before scuttling off, still wiping ink off himself.
Rin blinkblinked, then beamed and halfran after her guardian out into the hallway, looking up at him as he stared right infront of
himself as he walked on, not making any sign to acknowledge her presence.
"Sesshoumaru-sama?"
"Yes, Rin?"
"Do you have time to play today?"
He should have expected, he really should. Though inwardly he smiled, it didn't show on his face as he looked down at her.
"We're not playing 'jumprope' again, Rin."
Not managing to stiffle her giggle, Rin smiled widely up at him, shaking her head.
"It's still raining outside, and it's not easy to jump when the grass is wet!"
Silently adding that the game wasn't easy to begin with, Sesshoumaru nodded.
"What do you want to play then?"
*******************************
There's a saying that time flies when you're having fun. So the contrary should be true too: time barely seems to move when you're
experiencing a living hell. Strange, he had envisioned something... with more physical pain, the imps he saw whenever he used the
tenseiga chaining him up, fire, darkness. Thereby Sesshoumaru thought it was rather strange that he instead was seated on the floor
in Rin's room, where it was rather light even though it was raining outside. And this pain felt more like embarrassment. Not that
he thought they were so different, at least in his opinion. For which mighty youkai lord did ever degrade himself to do this?
"Then little Yui has to go to bed!" Rin beamed, finally done dressing one of her dolls, handing it over to Sesshoumaru, who had his
entire lap full of the little dolls he had given Rin over the few years he had been caring for her.
Sesshoumaru swore that his father had NEVER degraded himself to play with dolls just to entertain a human whelp. Not that his father had
sired any daughters, but even that had been a fact, he would have ordered the mother or servants to do that kind of undignified things.
Then why on Earth did he do it?!
With an unaudible sigh Sesshoumaru accepted the small doll and placed her into one of the small carved beds, tucking her into a napkin while
Rin hummed a little tune while picking up some of the other dolls. During the last hour the little dolls had served tea, had a little
party and made food. To his great embarrassment he, the great Sesshoumaru, had to play with silly human dolls. He didn't know
how many times the urge to simply drop the dolls and walk out had crossed his mind, but just as he was about to carry the plan out,
he had caught the glance of Rin's happy look as she beamed up at him, her eyes big and doe like as she handed him another doll he had
to tend to. To deny the girl anything was harder than he had thought it to be in the first place.
At least nobody else was there, and his horrible secret was safe.
"Oh, this doll is dirty!" Rin suddenly said, blinking at one of the dolls who obviously had been treated rather roughly, "Rin's going to the
kitchen to get some water!"
Quickly the human whelp got to her feet and left the room, her footsteps growing distant as she made her way down the hallway.
Sesshoumaru sighed, brushing himself off to at least gain some of his dignity back. After Rin was finished cleaning the doll he would
order her to go to bed, she needed her sleep after all.
Then all of a sudden a sound reached his ears, and his head jerked up. Footsteps, but those didn't belong to Rin... they were the scuttering
feet of Jaken! On pure reflex the youkai grabbed the dolls in his lap and tossed them over to where the other dolls where, but in his hurry
the move proved to be rather clumsy, sending the small dolls flying everywhere. And just to torment him even more, fate decided to lead one of
the dolls, Rin's favourite if Sesshoumaru wasn't mistaken, towards the window.
He didn't have time to worry about that however as the doors slid open.
"Sesshoumaru-sama?" Jaken asked, looking up at his lord who stood in the middle of the room, arms crossed in front of his chest and resting in
opposite youkata sleeves.
"Yes, Jaken?"
"One of the vassals has reported that he will not be able to make it to the meeting tomorrow, one of his messengers just came by."
With a slight frown Sesshoumaru nodded, then turned around, signaling for Jaken that he was to leave.
In the same moment as the doors closed, Sesshoumaru quickly ran over to the window, looking down. Of course there had to be thorn bushes right
under Rin's window. Gritting his teeth and one eyebrow twitching, he felt rather tempted to simply ignore the stupid doll. But then the image
of a sobbing Rin came to mind as she ran around, looking hight and low for her favourite doll, the first one he had given her.
It ended with his conscience gaining the upper hand, and he crawled out the window, dropping the few feet down to the ground and right
into the thorn bushes.
*****************************
When Rin came back into her room with a bowl of water, she blinked when she saw her lord. He was still seated on the floor, but his once
regal clothes seemed slightly torned up, and his silvery hair was a little tangled.
"Sesshoumaru-sama?" she asked, blinking innocently as she put down the bowl of water.
"It's nothing Rin, you go to bed after you finish clean the doll," he instructed, getting to his feet.
"Hai!" nodded Rin, smiling sweetly back as she quickly undressed the dirty doll with small and nimble fingers. Nodding in aproval Sesshoumaru
brushed himself off and headed for the door.
"Sesshoumaru-sama?"
"Hm?"
Upon hearing her voice he looked over shoulder, glancing curiously back at her as she rose and walked over to him.
"Nightie hug!" Rin beamed, holding out her arms, standing on her toes. Blinking in surprise the youkai simply stared at her for a moment,
then allowed himself a slight smile before crouching down and wrapping the human pup in a gentle embrace.
******************************
Author's note: I just HAD to add the last part
Thanks again for all the praises ^_^ It's getting really fun to write this, but I'm not sure if there will be many chapters after this one.
It all depends if I get enough suggestions, feedback and ideas.
Disclaimer: Sesshoumaru, Rin and Jaken are copyrighted to the wonderful Rumiko Takahashi, they don't even live under my bed, but a chibi
Sesshoumaru lives in my purse (keychain). I don't earn any profit from this story, I'm just writing it for fun.
---------------------------------------------
Studying wasn't much fun. Especially not when Jaken was teaching her. With a heavy sigh Rin gazed out of the window, bored.
Who had decided that rainy days like these were meant for studying anyway? The last week had been rather dull: rain, lots of
studying, plus she barely had been able to see Sesshoumaru-sama. When she had asked where the youkai lord was, he only grumbled
something about important matters that a little brat like her couldn't understand. By that answer Rin quickly understood that
Jaken didn't know either. Most likely he was busy training with his swords or stuck in the library, reading in those big dusty tomes
that made her sneeze.
"Are you even listening?!" Jaken interrupted her in her thoughts, waving his arms in annoyance to get the child's attention again.
"Ah, gomen, Jaken-sama!" excused Rin, then sighed and straightened up where she sat. The toad servant glared at her, inwardly
wanting to smack her for daydreaming again. What was wrong with this human whelp anyway? If Sesshoumaru-sama himself hadn't
insisted that she was going to be educated, he, the faithful Jaken, wouldn't have to sit here and waste his time. The pup
was impossible to teach to, especially the last week.
"Now repeat all I've told you," Jaken grumbled, standing as tall as he could to glare down at her, an attempt of gaining
some more authority. That was the only thing he could do to feel better.
********************************
It was quiet. Almost too quiet. Once Sesshoumaru had been used to it, and cherished the silence. Then why couldn't he do that any longer?
He found it harder and harder to concentrate on the scripts, then finally with a loud sigh and put them down, closing his eyes.
Then he got to his feet and left the studies, deciding he couldn't get anything done. Why was his concentration this horrible today?
Strangely enough, he had found it had been decreasing the last week.
He wasn't feeling guilty for avoiding Rin, was he? After all, he had serious business to do, being the lord of the western lands
after all. And in addition, Rin needed to study herself if she was going to grow up to become a lady. She needed to learn proper
etiquette, some languages, history, grammar and all those things.
Sesshoumaru sighed heavily. Who was he trying to fool? Ever since the accident while playing jumprope, he had made sure to keep
the pup busy with chores and studying. But something else had been bothering him the last week. Whenever he was trying to concentrate
and work, he felt this rather agitating feeling in the pit of his stomach, a nagging feeling that he should be doing something else.
And when he walked past the room where Jaken was either busy scolding or babbling to the pup, he felt his composure sink a little.
What was that feeling? Was it... what his father, the great Inu-Taisho had described as... guilt? He wasn't sure, he had never
experienced it before. And of course someone like him, the lord of the western lands, never felt guilt! So how come he
felt it, and because of a human pup?
"Stupid brat!!"
Sesshoumaru's head jerked up and his usual expressionless face replaced his contemplative one at a sound he was quite used to:
Jaken and Rin's usual bickering. With a barely audible groan, even for youkai ears, Sesshoumaru entered the hallway to where his
servant and the pup usually were when he was tutoring her. As he slid the doors open, no emotion crossed his face as he spotted
Rin standing, arms crossed and tongue stuck out at the sputtering toad youkai, who was full with dark ink which ran in small streams
down his body.
"What is going on here?" he demanded, his eyes first looking at Jaken, then glanced slightly at Rin who quickly pulled her tongue back
into her mouth and stood straight, before returning his attention back to his servant who was trying to wipe the offending ink off
himself.
"Jaken-sama is dumb!"
"It's YOU who's stupid, whelp! If you only listened for once and..."
"Silence."
No harshness nor raise of voice was needed as both shut up at once hearing the word from Sesshoumaru, both knew better than to
question his authority.
The lord sighed a little, then he turned to walk out.
"Take the rest of the day off, Rin. Jaken, go tend in the kitchen."
"H-hai Sesshoumaru-sama!" Jaken affirmed before scuttling off, still wiping ink off himself.
Rin blinkblinked, then beamed and halfran after her guardian out into the hallway, looking up at him as he stared right infront of
himself as he walked on, not making any sign to acknowledge her presence.
"Sesshoumaru-sama?"
"Yes, Rin?"
"Do you have time to play today?"
He should have expected, he really should. Though inwardly he smiled, it didn't show on his face as he looked down at her.
"We're not playing 'jumprope' again, Rin."
Not managing to stiffle her giggle, Rin smiled widely up at him, shaking her head.
"It's still raining outside, and it's not easy to jump when the grass is wet!"
Silently adding that the game wasn't easy to begin with, Sesshoumaru nodded.
"What do you want to play then?"
*******************************
There's a saying that time flies when you're having fun. So the contrary should be true too: time barely seems to move when you're
experiencing a living hell. Strange, he had envisioned something... with more physical pain, the imps he saw whenever he used the
tenseiga chaining him up, fire, darkness. Thereby Sesshoumaru thought it was rather strange that he instead was seated on the floor
in Rin's room, where it was rather light even though it was raining outside. And this pain felt more like embarrassment. Not that
he thought they were so different, at least in his opinion. For which mighty youkai lord did ever degrade himself to do this?
"Then little Yui has to go to bed!" Rin beamed, finally done dressing one of her dolls, handing it over to Sesshoumaru, who had his
entire lap full of the little dolls he had given Rin over the few years he had been caring for her.
Sesshoumaru swore that his father had NEVER degraded himself to play with dolls just to entertain a human whelp. Not that his father had
sired any daughters, but even that had been a fact, he would have ordered the mother or servants to do that kind of undignified things.
Then why on Earth did he do it?!
With an unaudible sigh Sesshoumaru accepted the small doll and placed her into one of the small carved beds, tucking her into a napkin while
Rin hummed a little tune while picking up some of the other dolls. During the last hour the little dolls had served tea, had a little
party and made food. To his great embarrassment he, the great Sesshoumaru, had to play with silly human dolls. He didn't know
how many times the urge to simply drop the dolls and walk out had crossed his mind, but just as he was about to carry the plan out,
he had caught the glance of Rin's happy look as she beamed up at him, her eyes big and doe like as she handed him another doll he had
to tend to. To deny the girl anything was harder than he had thought it to be in the first place.
At least nobody else was there, and his horrible secret was safe.
"Oh, this doll is dirty!" Rin suddenly said, blinking at one of the dolls who obviously had been treated rather roughly, "Rin's going to the
kitchen to get some water!"
Quickly the human whelp got to her feet and left the room, her footsteps growing distant as she made her way down the hallway.
Sesshoumaru sighed, brushing himself off to at least gain some of his dignity back. After Rin was finished cleaning the doll he would
order her to go to bed, she needed her sleep after all.
Then all of a sudden a sound reached his ears, and his head jerked up. Footsteps, but those didn't belong to Rin... they were the scuttering
feet of Jaken! On pure reflex the youkai grabbed the dolls in his lap and tossed them over to where the other dolls where, but in his hurry
the move proved to be rather clumsy, sending the small dolls flying everywhere. And just to torment him even more, fate decided to lead one of
the dolls, Rin's favourite if Sesshoumaru wasn't mistaken, towards the window.
He didn't have time to worry about that however as the doors slid open.
"Sesshoumaru-sama?" Jaken asked, looking up at his lord who stood in the middle of the room, arms crossed in front of his chest and resting in
opposite youkata sleeves.
"Yes, Jaken?"
"One of the vassals has reported that he will not be able to make it to the meeting tomorrow, one of his messengers just came by."
With a slight frown Sesshoumaru nodded, then turned around, signaling for Jaken that he was to leave.
In the same moment as the doors closed, Sesshoumaru quickly ran over to the window, looking down. Of course there had to be thorn bushes right
under Rin's window. Gritting his teeth and one eyebrow twitching, he felt rather tempted to simply ignore the stupid doll. But then the image
of a sobbing Rin came to mind as she ran around, looking hight and low for her favourite doll, the first one he had given her.
It ended with his conscience gaining the upper hand, and he crawled out the window, dropping the few feet down to the ground and right
into the thorn bushes.
*****************************
When Rin came back into her room with a bowl of water, she blinked when she saw her lord. He was still seated on the floor, but his once
regal clothes seemed slightly torned up, and his silvery hair was a little tangled.
"Sesshoumaru-sama?" she asked, blinking innocently as she put down the bowl of water.
"It's nothing Rin, you go to bed after you finish clean the doll," he instructed, getting to his feet.
"Hai!" nodded Rin, smiling sweetly back as she quickly undressed the dirty doll with small and nimble fingers. Nodding in aproval Sesshoumaru
brushed himself off and headed for the door.
"Sesshoumaru-sama?"
"Hm?"
Upon hearing her voice he looked over shoulder, glancing curiously back at her as she rose and walked over to him.
"Nightie hug!" Rin beamed, holding out her arms, standing on her toes. Blinking in surprise the youkai simply stared at her for a moment,
then allowed himself a slight smile before crouching down and wrapping the human pup in a gentle embrace.
******************************
Author's note: I just HAD to add the last part