Disclaimer: copyright goes to Rumiko Takahashi.

Obsession

--Sesshoumaru P.O.V--

Sesshoumaru, to those who didn't know him, appeared to be emotionless and bored as he watched from his balcony as Rin prepared to leave. But inside he was very conflicted.

He watched as she carried heavy packs to Ah-Un, even though the servants practically begged her to let them help. She had always been that way, especially around servants. Unless she absolutely needed help, she would attempt everything herself. One of the many traits that he respected about her. Even though she was practically raised as a noble, she never took advantage of it. Another trait he liked was her undying devotion and trust in him even though he won't admit it. That certain trait stirred feelings in him he wasn't quite sure about. Every time he heard her scream his name in fear, his chest hurt in a way he couldn't quite describe, he wouldn't dare to call it fear.

He continued to watch as she struggled to tie the heavy packs onto Ah-Un. He resisted the urge to go and help. He practically grimaced as he realized he was no better than the servants. His thoughts wandered to the night before. ' Why did I tell her that? Why did I hint that she is fine as she is? That she is more beautiful than any rose.' At the last thought, if it hadn't been for his great composure, he would have smacked himself. He watched as she bowed greatly to the servants who had helped her. ' Why am I not going with her? She needs protection, she is my property.' he thought.

Yet another voice of reason spoke,' It will be ok, she knows how to defend herself. You knew this day was going to come, when she would finally decide to leave.'

'But then why does my chest ache so?'

There was no answer.

He realized that she had noticed him in the balcony watching her. He swiftly turned around," She is only my property!" he gritted his teeth and said to no one in particular.

' But what will happen if she succeeds in her mission?'

Rin's P.O.V

I had finally finished packing Ah-Un, when I glanced up towards the balcony looked out onto the courtyard to notice Sesshoumaru staring at me with those cold saffron

eyes. My heart seemed to skip a beat for a moment as we held each other's gaze. He quickly turned around and disappeared into the room. I let out a long sigh. I hope he's not angry with me. I must succeed in finding a cure. A cure for mortality. I want to be with Sesshoumaru forever. And the only way I know how is to somehow become immortal or youkai. My problem is that humans have looked for that cure for a long time, and I am just like all the other foolish humans before me. Why do I bother? Because I do believe what I am feeling towards him is love. Whether to say I am in love with him or not is hard to say since I have yet to know exactly what that feels like. But I do know I am doing this out of love. Under all those emotionless, cold, uncaring masks is a Sesshoumaru that exudes loneliness. I don't blame him either, having traveled with Jaken for a couple hundred years would make me lonely too.

"Rin."

I turned around quickly realizing that Sesshoumaru was behind me. I blushed profusely and dropped my eyes to the ground. He took a step forward and I felt his hand go under my chin and gently lift my face upward. "Where is the fearless Rin, that I know?" he said softly as he gazed into my eyes. My heart started beating erratically and my face flushed even more, if that was possible. Why does my heart betray me like this? As he stared into my eyes for what seemed like an eternity, I started to see puzzlement in his eyes and something else I could not read. What is this emotion that I cannot read in his eyes? While to almost everyone else, he might have looked like he was bored and very passive. But I knew better, I knew what to look for in his face. As he could read me like a book, I could do the likewise.

"Be...careful, Rin." He said slowly and unsure sounding. My stomach did a flip-flop at his words. I yearned to reach out and touch him, to embrace him. But there is this unspoken rule, that I should not touch him. There have been very few occasions were there was contact between us, and usually it was him who touched me. These instances were more like I fell off a cliff and he caught me. Physical contact for practical reasons.

I always assumed that since I was human, he wouldn't want me touching him. Seemed logical to me, but as of late he has been throwing my logic to the wind.

As he gazed at me, I felt the need to tell him that I would be back. That I was not leaving for good. Did he think that? That I would abandon him? Is that the unreadable emotion that I see in him? As I stared back at him, a thought occurred to me. What if I die trying to find immortality? What if I don't come back? My heart clenched horribly, and I choked back the growing lump in my throat. Against all rational thought, I stepped closer to him, causing his hand to slide to the back of my neck and I got dangerously close to him. We were so close that I had to tilt my head all the way back and he looked directly down at me in shock. I then slowly slid my arms around him and laid my head on his armored chest, trying to avoid the spikes. "I promise I will be back, Sesshoumaru-sama." I whispered, knowing he could hear me. Tears started to flood my vision; it would be the first time that it was I that went away and not him. I was voluntarily going without him. I quickly pulled away from him and tried to avoid letting my tears fall in front of him. I refused to let him think that I was weak. He turned his head to the right and up towards the sky as to avoid looking at me. "Tell Bokuseno hello for me." and with that he turned and walked back towards the castle. I quickly wiped my eyes. I suppose I better head out. Even though I don't know how to get to the ancient forest that Bokuseno resides in, but Ah-Un does. I turned to Ah-Uh and he kneeled down so I could easily get on his back. I climbed on and doubled checked my packs. I had my armor on and sword, yes I was ready to go. I grabbed the reigns and tugged. "Let's go Ah-Uh, I want to make it to Bokuseno's by tomorrow morning." And with that we leaped into the air.

Author's note: I'm so sorry that it's a short chapter again. But I was truly working toward getting it longer. The problem is that I have no time to write, not nearly as much as I would love to do. So I could have written a much longer chapter, but it would have taken 2 weeks. I want to be able to update quick. I (as a huge fanfic reader) hate to have to wait a very long time to read the next chapter. So which would you prefer, a longer chapter but have to wait a long time for it, or a short chapter every couple days? Man I can't till thanksgiving break! Once again THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS! It encourages me so much!