Tomadoi

III.

The older woman looked up at the young girl who now stood in front of her. She quickly scanned her over, starting from her face, down to her feet, then back up again. The girl looked familiar in a way…the way her hair flowed, the slight slant at the corner of her eyes, the curiosity in those brown orbs. Yes, Kagome knew she definitely saw her before.

"Umm…hello," Kagome replied, tilting her head slightly to the side, "have we met?"

Rin nodded, a little down that Kagome didn't remember her, "I'm the one that was always with Sesshoumaru-sama."

That explained everything perfectly. Rin watched as Kagome's eyes immediately brightened, a big smile spreading over her full lips, "Rin-chan…is that you?" Kagome observed the vigorous nod she was given, "Wow, you grew up a lot!" The miko stood to her feet, now looking at the girl that was only slightly shorter than herself.

"Arigatou," Rin thanked, giving a small bow for the priestess, "you changed, too."

Kagome spread her arms out to look down at herself quickly. Since she got out of high school and no longer needed to wear her school outfit, she began experimenting with other clothing. Today, she happened to be wearing a casual blue dress that stopped at a little above her knees, the sleeves being spaghetti straps. Looking as though it had been stretched a bit, the one strap fell a little over Kagome's shoulder, causing her to lift it back up to it's normal spot. She wasn't wearing any shoes at the moment, figuring she didn't need any to pick flowers.

"I guess I did a little, but you…" Kagome looked back up at Rin, "the last time I saw you, you were what? Seven-years-old? That was a long time ago, ne?"

Rin merely nodded, clasping her hands in front of her to look down at the flowers that Kagome already picked. Her eyes were quite attracted to them, as she couldn't seem to avert her gaze anywhere else.

Kagome saw this, following her eyes down to the patch of flowers, "Would you like to join me? I would love the company."

It was Rin's turn to have her eyes light up, so much child wonderment still dancing through them, "Rin would be honored!" After stating this politely, she slowly lowered herself to the ground, straightening her kimono out so it would be more comfortable as she sat down in the grass.

The miko sat back down with her, gently picking out a few more selected flowers to add to her bouquet, "I tried to get Inuyasha to come with me, but he refused," Kagome started, figuring she would begin a conversation. She shook her head, setting the groomed flowers down in her pile, "I don't even know why I'm still picking flowers for him."

Rin looked up at her with a certain glint in her eyes, not even paying attention to the flowers she ripped out from its roots, "You like Inuyasha?"

Kagome saw this look and had to laugh a bit. She got more situated on her knees, her hands resting in her lap, "Yes, I love him. We've been together for quite awhile now." She paused, "And what about you?"

Knowing what she was talking about yet not letting it on, Rin couldn't help but hold back the smile that invaded her whole face, "What about Rin?"

"Do you have your eyes set on anyone?"

"Of course not!" Rin exclaimed, though still smiling. However, it didn't even take her a moment's time before she leaned in closer to Kagome, putting her hand to the side of her mouth. In return, Kagome came closer also, seeing as how it was supposed to be a secret.

"Actually…Rin really loves her Sesshoumaru-sama," Rin admitted, a small blush lighting up her already rosy cheeks. She couldn't help but let a giggle out when she saw how wide Kagome's eyes had gotten.

"Sesshoumaru…?! D-demo…" Kagome couldn't find the right words to speak. Rin…in love…with Sesshoumaru? Well, that's what she assumed. After all, the girl was seventeen now, she had to know what she liked somewhat. Kagome had to almost subconsciously wonder why she never pictured Rin and Sesshoumaru together when she ran into them before. She mentally smacked herself. Duh! She was only a child and Sesshoumaru despised humans. That was reason enough.

"Nani?" Rin asked pryingly. She reached her hand up to put her still wet hair behind one ear, staring at Kagome questioningly.

Kagome snapped out of her shock, only gazing at Rin once before letting a small smile linger, "Nothing at all. I think it's great that you love Sesshoumaru, Rin. You're good for him." And that was the blunt truth. Rin had seemed to soften Sesshoumaru right from the beginning, and even from the couple times her and Inuyasha happened to run into the youkai, he wasn't as cold as he used to be.

"You really think so?" Rin catechized, intertwining her fingers together. She held her hands in front of her, a hopeful and dreamy look overcoming her features.

Picking another flower out of enjoyment, Kagome sniffed it deeply, "How do you think Sesshoumaru feels?"

The look quickly disappeared from the teenager's eyes as they seemed to become slightly confused. She dropped her hands on her lap, giving her head a small shake, "Rin doesn't know how Sesshoumaru feels. I like to think he feels the same way I do."

Kagome simply nodded, her grin growing more as she began to remember back when she was still a young teenager who was head over heels for Inuyasha. She was always so confused on his feeling about their relationship, mostly because of Kikyou. Rin seemed to be almost in the same situation, except there wasn't another that had Sesshoumaru's eye. That is, she didn't think so. The only thing that would stop Sesshoumaru from feeling the same way about Rin is his hatred for inferior beings. But Kagome optimistically agreed in her mind that Sesshoumaru did love Rin if he still let her travel with him, even if he didn't admit it.

"Mm…Kagome?"

Kagome happened to notice the shyness in her voice suddenly and couldn't help but automatically become inquisitorial, "Hai, Rin-chan?"

"There is…someone else that I really like," Rin confessed, her hands now busy wringing around each other. To try to occupy herself, she slowly began to pick more flowers to give to Sesshoumaru when she saw him again.

That reminded her…Sesshoumaru-sama! She had suddenly walked away from the hot springs without even acknowledging him or Jaken. Oh…she hoped that they still thought she was taking a bath and didn't bother to check on her. She didn't want her Sesshoumaru-sama mad or worried about her.

Standing up quickly, she gathered her group of flowers up in her right hand, "Gomen ne, I have to go now!" Rin said in a hurry, already walking backwards to retrace her steps down to the hot springs, "Sesshoumaru-sama is probably worried about me."

Kagome stood up also, a little disappointed that she had to go already, but she understood. She gave a high wave above her head and watched as Rin turned around and began doing the same. "Bai-bai, Rin-chan! Good luck! Hopefully we'll see each other again real soon!"

"Hai!" Rin called over her shoulder happily, her quick walking soon turning into a fast jog, "Ja ne!" And as she made her way back to her rightful spot, she couldn't help but grin a little, now noticing that Kagome was the first person she ever told that she liked Sesshoumaru. And she even wanted to tell her more! Rin had to admit, it felt pretty good to finally let the feelings out. She couldn't wait to see her again.

When Rin came back to the hot springs, the first thing she noticed was Jaken pacing back and forth where her towels were. She blinked, watching as he yelled insults at himself and at her, complaining about how upset Sesshoumaru would be with him because he lost her again.

She slowly walked closer, just waiting for the toad to begin flipping out on her, "Jaken-sama, what are you doing?"

Jaken screamed annoyingly, throwing his arms up in the air and turning around to look at whoever called him. Of course, it was none other than Rin…who else would call him "Jaken-sama?"

"Anata…!" He began, pointing an accused finger at her as though he just caught her in a murder, "Where were you hiding this time?! Sesshoumaru-sama and I told you to stay right here!" He pointed to the ground he stood on, his eyes lowered down with frustration, "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Taking his words all in vain, she showed him one of her cute smiles and handed him one of the many flowers she picked, "This is for you, Jaken-sama, from Rin."

And that was that. Rin walked past him and into the forest where she knew Sesshoumaru was bound to be. Because he didn't have both his followers, Rin knew that Sesshoumaru wouldn't have gone more than a mile ahead of them. Her smile never ceased as she took a big whiff of the garland she held in her hands. She was positive Sesshoumaru would love them.

Jaken-sama, who stood in the same spot, looked down at the flower in disbelief. What, was it some kind of sorry gift?! Well, if it was, he wasn't about to accept her apology just yet! He threw the flower down to the ground, stomping on it once with his slimy feet. Satisfied with what he'd done, he put on a smog face, only then happy enough to turn around and catch up with Sesshoumaru.

**********

In no time, Rin and Jaken were able to catch up to him, spotting him beside an unusually large tree. The inu-youkai was looking around the area with slight curiosity as though he sensed something nearby.

"Sesshoumaru-sama!" Rin shouted abruptly from excitement as soon as she saw him. She broke out into a run, feeling her stomach do a small flip when he turned around and looked at her. Reaching him in record time, she only took a couple seconds to catch her breath. Rin looked up at him with a big smile, seeing as how his golden eyes stared at her with his attention.

Rin held out the flowers for him, the purple, pink, and yellow petals mixing and gathering together to make the batch almost look like the early evening sky, "I picked these for you."

Sesshoumaru looked down at the flowers but quickly looked back at her. She felt her heart skip a beat at the way he looked at her but didn't have quite enough time to comprehend it before she saw him look above her in slight alarm. He pushed her to the side with enough force to send her to the ground, though not hurting herself. Rin felt the air leave her lungs for a moment, her eyes staring directly at the flowers that now lay in front of her.

A loud screech echoed throughout the area, making her head snap up in bewilderment. Above her, she saw a large washi-youkai swoop through the air, Sesshoumaru swiping at it once before it ascended into the air again. The bird circled their area a few more times before heading towards the ground again at a quick speed, hoping to catch Sesshoumaru off guard.

She screamed at the horrific sight, rolling to her stomach to put her hands over her head. Rin clenched her eyes shut tightly as she held her breath, closely listening to any sounds the fighters happened to make.

Jaken was making loud noises of panic, his feet heard running this and that way over the leaves below him. Sesshoumaru was keeping calm as the washi made sudden, unexpected dives at him, only swinging his claws when he found necessary.

Rin was sure Sesshoumaru had gotten the youkai when everything went quiet and she heard some kind of limb make a loud thump as it fell to the ground. She was just about to lift her head when she heard another loud squawk, followed by about five other shrieks. Continuing to be pressed against the ground, Rin knew that it was better that she stays that way. She was out of Sesshoumaru's way and hopefully none the of the evil youkai spotted her.

Her hopes on that reason were thrown out the window as she felt two sharp claws dig into each of her shoulders, lifting her off the ground with extreme force. She couldn't bring herself to let out a scream just yet as she reached her arms downward as though trying to grab something that would prevent her from going into the air.

Another washi flew past her quickly, making her head snap back from surprise. Finally finding her voice, she let out a blood-curdling scream. Her legs kicked back and forth, her hands coming up to grip the claws that had a hold on her. It was only then that she realized how many there actually were. The washi were flying everywhere, either around the one that held her or down around Sesshoumaru. The part of the forest they were in must have been their home and they felt Sesshoumaru, Rin, and Jaken were invading it.

"Please…let me go! We promise we won't come back here again!" Rin screamed over the ear-piercing screeches, trying to reason with the washi. Of course, it wasn't even listening to her as it began to carry her further and further away from Sesshoumaru and Jaken.

"Sesshoumaru-sama!"

Sesshoumaru, quite frankly, was getting tired with all this nonsense. He had just heard how desperate Rin's voice had become when he decided to end it once and for all. His hands began glowing a sickly green color as he was planning on using Dokkasou. He lashed forward, bringing his claws down with enough dynamism that he cut half the washi in half, leaving the rest that didn't die to be poisoned.

Hardly paying attention to all the dead youkais that dropped around him like flies (nor the persistent yelling of Jaken), he looked up into the sky to spot the one that still held Rin, a couple others still flying around it. Sesshoumaru pushed himself off the ground hard enough to go into the air easily. He realized that the birds were not flying at a high altitude, for he was airborne above the washi.

His eyes showed no emotion as he focused on his target, his feet landing perfectly in the middle of the washi's back. The washi noticed this, letting out a boisterous call to warn the other two that there was trouble. This proved to be fruitless, however, for as soon as they came too close, they were shred in half.

Not wasting any more time, Sesshoumaru bared his claws while on one knee, bringing his hand down to pierce through the skin, reaching to the insides of the bird. He let the toxin flow into the washi, listening to its pitiful squeaks of pain.

Hearing Rin suddenly scream again, he looked over the side of the washi to see that it had lost its grip on Rin's shoulders. She was plummeting to the ground at a accelerating pace, the trees and ground coming dangerously closer.

Without another thought, Sesshoumaru jumped off the back of the dying washi, determined to catch Rin before the ground beat him to it.