Chapter 1: Hints of Spring
Troublesome. He knew it from the start. Under the deceptively normal human features, Sesshoumaru had detected something different, something dormant. When she had first approached him wounded in the woods all those years ago, her fearlessness towards him apparent in her guileless face, Sesshoumaru had pondered over the reason for her boldness. It was uncharacteristic of any human to cross paths with a youkai, let alone confront one. He had looked at her scrawny features and large, dark eyes and decided that it was due to stupidity. He had refused the "food" she had offered him, almost confident that yes, she was a fool, and accordingly cast her from his mind. But when she had returned bearing marks of the consequences she had suffered for the food she had stolen, bearing yet another meal for him, he had begun to have his doubts. His hasty dismissal of the child had indirectly brought her death, a thought that still put his put his teeth on edge. If Tenseiga had not "called" him to heal the girl, he would probably have left the corpse, unfazed and certainly none the wiser. But he had taken the chance and healed the mortal, an action he still held in surprised regard. When he had healed the human, she lay still for a few moments, her eyes closed, breathing deep and level, and her tangled body repaired.
Then it happened. At first he thought it was a trick the sunlight played on his eyes, but he swore that he could see her… glow. Pushing aside the phenomenon with a mental shrug, Sesshoumaru told himself that it was probably some side effect of the sword and went on with his business. But when he had revived Jaken months later, he noted that none of the glowing he had seen in Rin followed. A hint, a clue whispered in his mind, nagging his thoughts as he considered what thrust his small protégé apart from the rest. Her fearlessness, and that glowing—there must be a reason for her peculiarity. As it was, he had carried his revived companion with him for the last seven years, counting on the intuitive pull he had towards the girl to prove itself with some advantageous power, some unknown revelation. And when it finally revealed itself, he had not been surprised—no, he had almost been relieved. Her past actions were now deciphered. Her fearlessness? An attribute given due to the presence of the formidable power she unknowingly hosted in her small body. The glowing? It could be possible that with the life he had forced unto her made her spirit erupt; after all, she had undergone the shock of death, only to be jostled back into life. Her soul had probably roared into flame at the Tenseiga's revival, like the way a roasting fire explodes suddenly when oil drips into the hearth.
He shifted comfortably as he watched the girl sleep, spent up with her last effort to control her paranormal abilities. Her wispy features were illuminated by the soft, powdery moonlight, giving her an otherworldly sheen as she slept in weary silence. And he—he stood over her and stood guard, an ephemeral, ethereal figure of mythical proportions, his pale beauty shining like a beacon in the midnight depths. Then, as sudden as a shaft of light amidst the dark, the tall demon smirked coolly, his mouth curved marginally upwards as his eyes gleamed an amber sheen in the dark. Not only was she explained to him now, but he also could use her to answer for his own instinctive yet uncharacteristically impulsive behavior. His decision to take up the young human was not unfounded; she was not like other mortals, and therefore he was not demeaning himself when he chose to keep her company. He was justified in carrying her around with him, and now no one could dare question the youkai lord, since he had a miko in the making under his claw. The protectiveness he demonstrated towards little Rin was what any youkai would portray towards any of his possessions. Nothing more.
What Sesshoumaru didn't take into consideration was that any explanation he concocted for Rin would never truly sum up the parts that made her what she truly was. He still had to learn that a soul could not ever be fully accounted for.
*
She had gone through all the silverware by now. Some bore scars of the battle she had engaged them in, notably the ones she had utilized at the beginning of the great combat, but as the end grew near, fewer and fewer of them were blemished in any way. Yoshi! She cheered herself on, clapping her hands with bubbling glee: Sesshoumaru-sama will be pleased! She had been testing her powers that whole afternoon in a secluded corner of the demon lord's kitchen, going onto the next stage of unleashing her powers. Levitation had been fairly easy to master—with small objects, at least. She had shown Sesshoumaru-sama how much she could lift, and at his curt nod, had asked him if there would be a time in which she could lift herself or other people. The Lord of the Western Lands merely peered down at her through glacial amber eyes and said, "I don't see why not."
Rin knew it would take some time before she could reach that level of prowess, so she decided to bide her time by expanding the flexibility of her abilities. Mainly, finding other outlets for them. Sure enough, they started to reveal themselves: she had stumbled across another peculiar trick the other day when she was drinking soup. It had turned lukewarm already from the lack of attention she had given it—she was way too absorbed with the spoon to notice. This particular spoon was made of silver, like all the rest, but the slender handle had a mother-of-pearl incasing that shone iridescently, catching the young woman's fancy instantly. She supposed that it was the severity of her concentration that had first made the spoon bend, but when it did, she was so surprised by the change that she nearly fell out of her chair. After spending an hour of forced focus, the spoon wouldn't move, which made her frustrated enough to kick the table's leg angrily, ignoring the mumbling of the kitchen women or the guarded stares of the servants. She finally figured that the spoon would only bend if she focused on its nature in mind, bending it when her will decided its structure could be transformed. Once she had bent the spoon, she grinned with glee, ignoring the sharp gasps of her onlookers, immediately setting her mind to bending the spoon back into shape. That took much more effort than initially bending it out of shape. After going through all of the available spoons, she then turned on to the chopsticks, striving to learn how to alter and mend the small silver figures. After most of the afternoon had passed, she came to this conclusion: it was definitely much easier to distort or destroy things than it was to repair them. Out of all forty spoons and eighty chopsticks, only a handful of them survived her test. Nevertheless, she was pleased with herself and cleaned up her mess with cheerful whistling—she had certainly made good progress this afternoon if she had learned how to more or less control a new branch of her power. She would show Sesshoumaru-sama after dinner.
He had heard that the idiot girl had gone and destroyed all the silverware in the cabinet. Shaking his head ruefully, the diminutive toad steward exhaled sharply, rolling his eyes effectively as he hobbled down the halls. He ignored the coquettish twittering of the youkai ladies-in-waiting as he scampered determinedly towards the gardens, the staff of heads in his webbed grip. Throwing open the garden doors with impatience, he stepped outwards, calling out in a raspy voice, "Girl! Get over here!"
His ears were met with the light pattering of soft feet against the patio floor and a swirl of pale lavender and ebony tresses as he heard a light, clear timbre, "Coming, Jaken-sama!"
He looked
up at the girl with a practiced look of exasperation and held up a distorted
spoon, "Did you do this?"
Rin blinked owlishly before
she registered the spoon's fine, mother-of-pearl interior and nodded with a
bright smile, "Hai!"
The toad demon let out a sigh and rubbed his temples before cocking his head to the side and squinting at her, "What are you so pleased about? Sesshoumaru-sama will be most displeased with the way you wrecked his silverware!"
Rin suddenly seemed to be most interested with her nails, inspecting them in the light as she said with a nonchalant tone and barely noticeable smile, "Oh, really? Well, I think he would be more likely to overlook the loss if he found how much I've improved over the last day." With that, she gave the marshy manservant a cheeky wink and a swift grin before plucking the spoon out of his green grasp and said in a hushed tone, "Look." All signs of exasperation and nettled nerves vanished completely as the toad youkai stepped in closer, his eyes large as he waited for the girl's latest trick. He was not to be disappointed. Rin let out a whoosh of breath before glancing at the spoon. Glancing, not gazing. Glancing, not staring. In fact, her eyes settled on the utensil with a perfectly normal expression, almost as if she had happened to look upon it, but within a few seconds, the spoon began to inevitably shift. Jaken let out an undignified squeak, nearly falling over as he saw the spoon reshape itself. That was the last time he ever complained about the oddities she left behind.
**
It was the summer of her sixteenth birthday in which he first thrust a weapon into her hands. He had seen with peculiar distaste the way the mortal men near the palace had looked at his ward, and decided that it was time for a long-due change to occur. Rin had been an awkward girl but a few years before, her rapidly growing body shooting up before the rest of her limbs could follow, making her every move seem more restricted as she tangled and untangled herself slowly whenever she moved. It had disarmed him to think that such a free, romping child could suddenly appear so clumsy, but she herself didn't seem to notice much. For a mortal, she spent surprisingly little time pondering over her appearance. There were only a few mirrors situated around the house, and they were fitted in his room, a separate room near the bathing houses and the vast gala room, which she rarely frequented, making her less vain out of habit. Which, he reasoned with himself, is a good thing. If she had become vain, she would also in turn become more insipid and wily. Neither of which qualities she would ever need or possess, if he could help it. Yet, he couldn't keep her ignorant, either. It was a general fact that his young protégée was filling out and growing more pleasing to the eye as time passed. He found that she had a certain prettiness attuned to the best bred of mortals, which he noted with certain irony, considering her less than pleasing past, and the mortal males certainly hadn't passed by her without noticing this as well. In fact, some of the looks they cast at her were inappropriate, and the demon lord found that he would have to find means to… discourage them. He himself would not deign to waste his time on mortals, so he found it in favor to initiate Rin into the art of self-defense.
The look in her eyes had nearly halted him in his action when he had handed a slender blade over to the young girl, and he felt himself grimace slightly, trying to dispel the impact those cinnamon eyes had wrought upon him. He acknowledged that she was not a creature of war, nor should she ever face combat, but that didn't hide the fact that she probably would, given the fact that she was under his protection. He was sure that there would be at least one attempt at abduction or murder—he was not a favorite of many men or youkai alike. And it certainly wasn't fair to leave her vulnerable and unable to defend herself, should the situation arise when he would not be able to defend her. With that, Sesshoumaru decided his reasoning was solid and firmly pressed the handle into her yielding, open hand.
His unfathomable golden gaze reached out to her as he said simply, "This may come into use at some time. Learn to wield it well."
With that, he gave her one last searing look before nodding to a figure hidden in the shadows. Rin looked over at who he had nodded to with wide, curious eyes, only to blink harder, her interest captivated to such a great extent that she didn't even register the silent departure of her lord. The youkai that had slipped away from the wall was one of the most beautiful and captivating of all demons she had ever had the chance to meet. Her cold, gleaming turquoise scales caught light, casting an aquatic sheen over her as she sauntered over. Her eyes were a chilling violet, her skin tinged a faint green-blue that intensified into turquoise as it expanded over her body. She had the limbs of a mortal, but her hair was an unearthly indigo and she had webbed hands and feet. The ethereal creature gave Rin a curt nod before murmuring in a smooth, fluid voice that hinted of the trickling of streams and brooks: "I am called Mizuko, and I will be your instructor from now on."
Rin could only nod, flabbergasted as she met her instructor's cold scrutiny with an open perusal of her own. The reptile youkai made a distinct sound with her tongue that sounded like the cracking of stones on a river bend as she gave the young woman a dry grin, "Well, at least I can see that you're not as feebleminded or weak willed as many other mortals are. I guess you'll have to do." With that, the exotic female gave a quick jerk of her chin and gestured for Rin to come closer, "We will start with your posture, girl."
Using her power would be like a crutch—she would become to reliant on her abilities, thus making her all the more vulnerable if she were to be robbed of them. Rin knew the wisdom behind her lord's choice when he first handed her the dagger. The only thing she could do was look up at him and wonder what had taken him so long to come to that decision. Whatever the case was, she wasn't bothered. In fact, she was exhilarated. Mizuko was a dexterous, awe-inspiring instructor, her stance graceful in the true sense of the word and her movements like smooth, teal liquid. She was swift, accurate—deadly. Rin knew with the ample common sense she had inherited that she would never reach the acuity the lizard youkai had, but she could aspire to create an imitation of her deadly art. With focused concentration, Rin pushed aside her internal, paranormal powers as she focused on tuning her body. She would reach equilibrium.
The girl had improved a lot. That was a given. As he watched her perform an intricate formation for him, he saw just how much her lessons had made her learn, but what had caught his eye was not the accuracy of her moves, nor the strength with which she dealt them. No, it was the fire that simmered like liquid heat in her russet gaze. It was passion, in its most unbridled and unkempt of stages. Not the kind of passion that filled a person with lust, nor the temperamental gust of feeling that the hot-blooded emitted—no, it was a disciplined yet raw fervor, one that stood akin to determination and spirit. She was not to be underestimated. Slowly, he felt the corners of his mouth shift as his lips curved. It was a slight smirk, but it was enough to wind the young woman when she stopped her routine to find her lord watching her with a peculiar expression.
That expression. Instead of making her drop her gaze or say something, it only made her stare harder. It sucked her in, tossing her into the depths that made up Sesshoumaru-sama. It was rapacious, to say the least. Almost as if he had been looking at something with sharp recognition and kindled anticipation… watching, waiting. She would not ask him what he meant by that look. She was sure it would only serve to confuse her further. Rin let the small sword slip from her hands—the exhibition was over. Sesshoumaru's gaze flickered from her face as he saw the flawless blade float gently to the floor, fluttering as if it were a feather that had drifted to the floor.
***
The passing of her seventeenth summer solstice had just started out like any ordinary day. Rin had been idly making flower petals levitate to amuse her friends Sanami and Mitsuri. They had at first retreated from their idle days of childhood banter at the hooded fear of their parents, but when they discovered that Rin had a good grip on her "gift" and tended to use it for more or less non-destructive matters, they felt less menaced by the lord's girl and allowed their children to flock to her again, even greeting her with timid smiles or greetings when the occasion came along. Sesshoumaru did not note upon these changes, simply allowing Rin to handle her own matters. Within months, she had regained her friends' confidence, weaving their friendship closer so that they passed adolescence in a tight-knit circle of comfort. None of her friends begrudged her status or her powers, accepting their limitations with surprising wisdom that went beyond their age. But Sesshoumaru supposed that Rin would only surround herself with those worthy of her companionship—in both mind and spirit. He had figured out a month ago that Rin was privately educating four of her mortal friends, giving them lessons on the sly. Sesshoumaru's expression became one of marginally dry amusement: it was very like Rin do do such a thing. Just like how very like Rin it was to use her gift for such trifles as her friends' entertainment.
The aforementioned young lady reclined lazily against the vivid grass, nearly drowned in flower petals as she smiled rosily at her friends who giggled at the petal bashing they were receiving.
"Mou, Rin-san! That tickles!"
"T-that's not fair! You've got the upper hand!"
Despite all her efforts to persuade them otherwise, her two friends would not ever refer to her as anything more informal than Rin-san. After years of trying, Rin simply settled for that term of address, knowing that they were much more fond of her than the title formality would ever betray. Indeed, the joy they expressed in their voices whenever they talked to her made her think that even –san had an affectionate ring to her ears. After all, even she had her distinctions. She never seemed to be able to call her guardian anything other than Sesshoumaru-sama. She grinned at the thought of calling the impassive Lord of the Western Lands anything other than what was due to him, especially when she took her situation into mind. By the way the youkai ladies-in-waiting took to simpering whenever she was around, she knew that they were at a loss as to how they should treat her. In fact, nearly all but a handful of people were sure on what she really was to the great dog demon. Her grin grew into a full-fledged smirk—she must be a sore spot to many. The smirk dropped immediately when she pondered the next question in her mind: was she a sore spot for Sesshoumaru-sama as well? She tended to think not—even if she caused more work than she was worth, she knew that her lord had reasons for keeping her by his side for so long. Her expression took on a reflective, mildly grave expression: if the time came when he asked her to depart, she would. She owed him this much respect. If he tired of her company or desired her removal, she would swallow her pride and love and leave him be.
"Rin-san…"
"Hmm?" The young woman cocked her head to her right lazily, looking at her two friends with an easy smile on her face.
"I've never seen you change your expression so many times in such little time. What are you thinking of?"
"That," Rin said with an uncharacteristic frown flitting across her features, "is I'm going to keep to myself."
Mitsuri flushed, but Sanami tossed her head and said with a devilish grin: "So, I hear that Aeijin-kun's been acting pretty aggressive, eh Rin?"
Rin narrowed her eyes, her cheeks still tinted at the memory. Aejin-kun had been a little… too forward the other day. He was the only mortal Lord's son that resided at the castle currently. It was under the general impression of Sesshoumaru's court that the lord was to pair the two of them together in matrimony. Or, as the dog youkai knew it, mating. Why else would he keep an entire mortal family in his courts without condemning them to servitude like he had done to the others? She had definitely not liked the way the young lordling had stroked her when he had passed by in the hallway, almost as if she were a pet or a possession. She would try not to think about it, and she would most definitely not tell Sesshoumaru-sama about it. Sure, he was an idiot for a lord's son, but he didn't deserve death at the hands of Sesshoumaru-sama; it would be too cruel. But, considering the incident with another blooming flush, she couldn't help but think he deserved it… sort of.
Rin suddenly turned on her friend with a wink before she lifted her hand up abruptly, causing a gust of petals to flush up under the girl's working kimono and lift her skirts.
"Rin!" Sanami turned red with dismay as battled to keep her skirts down and turned to glare at the lord's ward who was presently rolling on the ground with laughter. A faint gleam settled in the servant girl's eye as she turned on the laughing girl and said, "So that's how it is, eh?" Rin stopped laughing abruptly, looking up at her friend with a most sober look. Sanami dropped to her knees rapidly and fell on her friend, tickling her frantically, "Here's a dose of your own medicine!"
Rin fell into a violent fit of laughter under her friend's oh-so-careful ministrations, and both of them were so wrapped up in the act that they didn't hear Mitsuri stammer a warning. It was only when Mitsuri prodded Sanami deliberately in the gut that they noticed who was standing over them in the afternoon sunlight.
"Ja-Jaken-sama," Rin managed to breath out as she gasped and wheezed, "Koni-konichi wa."
The exasperated toad only gazed down at the three girls who were all tangled together, a mess of limbs and dark spilling hair, "Meet Sesshoumaru-sama upstairs in ten minutes."
Rin nodded and got up in an effort to disentangle herself, only to trip over Mitsuri's heel and fall back into the heap with a yelp. Jaken only rolled his eyes before he turned huffily and walked towards the fortress office, ignoring the noise and mess the stupid mortal had gotten herself into.
His office was cool and polished in every degree, spaciously set and wonderfully designed, truly befitting for a demon lord of his high caliber and sense. Rin liked this part of the manor best, and had always felt the itching urge to go and unravel the place, to unearth all the secrets her protector held inside. She knew that he would like nothing of the sort; however, so she always was at her best behavior whenever he summoned for her from there. Well, nearly always.
"Did you call for me, Sesshoumaru-sama?"
Her voice… he had grown to memorize that clear, windswept voice throughout the years. It had grown considerably deeper, molding with her ever-changing mortal body. Seriously, did these mortals ever stay still for a moment? Just when he thought he had her figured out, she would shift on him, changing his perspective on her with every little sneaky inch she gained or any little new whim she acquired. It was just as well—she was the only person who never bored him.
"Rin, I will be out for the next three days." She merely cocked her head to the side, asking with those brown eyes of hers for a reason. Sesshoumaru pretended that he didn't see her silent inquiry. With a sigh, she settled down—she wasn't one to press her lord for answers; if he was unwilling to share his business, she would leave it at that.
"Very well, my lord."
The silver-maned youkai merely arched a brow at this unnecessary formality and noticed that she was fidgeting quite uneasily with her hair as she sat, refusing to meet his eyes. Sighing, the dog demon brought a hand to rest against the nape of his neck and asked, "What is the matter, Rin?"
Rin winced—how was it that he sniffed her out every single time? She honestly couldn't ever keep secrets from him, which both comforted and peeved her to no end: "It's nothing much, really; nothing that I can't solve, anyway." It wasn't like she was going to tell him about Aejin-kun—she could already imagine her guardian's reaction. And she needed no complications as it was.
Sesshoumaru-sama only blinked languidly at her, which made Rin nearly exhale in relief as she stood up to leave—whew. He bought it. But in a flash, he was out of his chair and standing before her, his amber orbs burning into her petrified gaze: "You're not telling the truth."
Rin hastily leaned back in an attempt to gain more ground before she could come up with a legitimate fib, forgetting that there was a chair behind her. She accidentally bumped against it clumsily and lost her balance, her arms flailing as she reached over and grabbed the closest thing to her—Sesshoumaru-sama's hair. She heard a low growl of sorts as she clung onto him; unaware that her grip was weakening as whatever she had latched onto slipped downwards. The slight adolescent looked over her shoulder in an attempt to regain her footing. Out of instinct, the demon lord had wrapped an arm around Rin's waist, cinching it easily within his grasp as he effectively pulled her to him. When she was sure she had both of her feet firmly planted on the ground, she turned around to face the white-haired demon with an apologetic smile: "Er, gomen ne… I'm so clums—!" She was inches away from his hovering face. Rin was sure that she had violated his sense of private space, and attempted to retract, blushing furiously as she stammered, "I-I'm so… Se-Sesshoumaru-sama. Agh, no, that's not what I mean. I-I…"
The dog demon, who had been peering quite intently into the young woman's face, interrupted smoothly, "Now, if you would let go of my hair…" as he gestured meaningfully at the fistful of glossy hair she held as she attempted to withdraw. Rin dropped her death-grip on his silver mane automatically as if it had burned her and stepped back with alarming alacrity, leaning hastily back against his hold on her. Sesshoumaru suddenly seemed to realize something as he let go of his young protégée, his grim expression contrasting greatly with Rin's skittish one. He turned so that his back faced her and said in a low, steady voice, "Just be careful next time."
Rin swallowed rather noisily as she attempted to scoot out of the office: "H-hai!" Once she was out of the office, she lost all restraint and bolted for her room, her head spinning at the last incident, only to realize later on that she hadn't even said goodbye properly before he left for his trip.
And that was the last time she saw him intact.
