Chapter 12: What now?
Kagome sat in the hot springs. Her back ached, her eyes hurt, and her head spun. In the past two weeks, Kagome had been teaching Rin nonstop while the group traveled around searching for jewel shards. They'd returned to the village after several successful battles and collecting a few more shards. Rin's schooling was progressing, but the little girl distracted easily, which meant that Kagome had to explain things several times before Rin learned them. Aside from this, the teenager still hadn't understood the letter Sesshoumaru had thrown at her before leaving.
"I shall be close by in case something happens. Rin has her instructions. You shall be rewarded when I return for the child."
On the other hand, the official explanation he gave for Rin's sudden appearance was, for lack of better words, creative. Kagome smiled as she remembered the letter Rin handed Miroku after Sesshoumaru left.
"I, Sesshoumaru, the Lord of the Western Lands, have found something that belongs with you. This is your half-sister Rin. She was found years ago inside the remains of a demon that dared to challenge me. I, Sesshoumaru, have been taking care of the human brat. Eventually word came to me about who she was. I, Sesshoumaru, have brought her to you. My obligation is to take care of those living within my borders, be they human, hanyou, or demon. The child was found within my borders. You should be thankful I did not kill her right off, monk. I was being generous to a worthless human orphan. I should not have to waste my time taking care of someone else's human brats. She is now your responsibility."
After Miroku read the letter, Inuyasha had grunted and bounded off in the opposite direction of his half-brother. Sango welcomed Rin and went back to her business. Shippou and Hoonomei stared at Rin, then asked her to play with them. After two weeks, the three were inseparable, with the two boys frequently joining Kagome and Rin for lessons.
And Miroku? Well, he had taken his responsibilities as older brother seriously. He regularly sat next to Rin during lessons, offering encouragement and helping her study. He also had taken the little girl under his wing, often carrying her around while they searched for shards and telling her stories about everything. He'll make a great dad someday—Eep! Evil thoughts! Evil!
A large splash startled Kagome out of her musings. Shippou and Hoonomei splashed around close by. Rin sat close to her at the water's edge, dipping her toes and watching the two boys.
The bushes behind her rustled. She turned to find Miroku coming through them. She looked to see if Shippou was distracted, and then beckoned him closer. He sat on a rock next to her. "What's up? Everything okay?"
"We have to talk."
Kagome nodded. "Shippou! I need a favor."
Miroku frowned and muttered, "You really should stop using the children, Kagome-sama…"
Shippou stopped chasing Hoonomei and swam closer. The cat demon followed. The kitsune saw Miroku and frowned. "What's he doing here? Aren't you going to yell at him?"
"I am being a perfect gentleman, Shippou."
Kagome laughed. "I have my swimsuit on, Shippou, remember?" Shippou looked at Miroku, who looked back with a bland expression. "Shippou, I need to talk to Miroku. Go back to Kaede's. You know what to do."
Shippou scowled. "Again? Kagome, he won't believe me anymore!"
Kagome frowned. She sneaked a look at Miroku, who nodded slightly. "Okay, plan B. You guys stay here." Kagome got out of the water and grabbed her towel. She looked at Miroku, who grabbed Rin and hid behind some bushes. He motioned to the little girl to be quiet and then covered his ears. Rin looked at him, grinned and followed his lead. Shippou and Hoonomei backed away from Kagome and ran off into the night. Kagome stared into the woods and nodded. Kagome suddenly screamed.
Inuyasha bounded into the riverbank with Tetsusaiga unsheathed. He looked around. "Why are you screaming, wench? What's the matter?"
"A demon! A huge—Oh, it was scary!" She dropped to the ground breathing hard. She pointed downriver. "It went that way! Hurry! It was fast!"
Inuyasha sniffed the air. "Feh. I don't see anything. Besides, whatever it was, it's gone. Why go after it?"
"Because it tried to eat me! Why else?" Kagome jumped up and stamped her foot. "Go, Inuyasha! Or are you afraid it's too fast for you?" Okay… Now for the final step… "What if it comes back and eats your shard detector?" She drew out the last two words.
Inuyasha growled, sheathed his sword, and went off in the direction Kagome had pointed out to him, muttering.
Kagome chuckled and shook her head. She sat back on the riverbank and motioned to Miroku and Rin. "Well, that should leave us a good five minutes. What's going on?"
Miroku sat next to Kagome. He saw that Rin hung back. "You have a visitor, Rin." The trio looked towards Sesshoumaru, who had glided over to them on his cloud.
Rin squealed, jumped up and ran towards the demon lord. He put his hand on her head when she grabbed his leg. "How are your studies?"
"Rin can count and write my name and do simple sums and knows manimals and trees and flo—flo—"
"Flowers." Sesshoumaru whispered and looked down at the child. "She… She speaks."
Kagome murmured, "This is what you wanted to talk about, huh?"
Miroku nodded. "He wanted to see her. I asked him to wait until you came back from home." He turned to her. "How was your test?"
"Which one? The history one," she grinned at him, "or the science one?"
Miroku chuckled. "I take it both went well."
"Of course. But tomorrow's the evil algebra one, and I want to go back home and cram."
"Cram? Is that some sort of food?" Her figure's so perfect… Ack! Bad Miroku! Bad!
Kagome grinned and shook her head. "I'll basically stuff my head with things that'll vanish during the actual test." She stood. Tugging her towel closer, she went over to Sesshoumaru and Rin. "—And Rin can play tag and skip rope and—"
She motioned to Sesshoumaru. "Rin." The little girl stopped rambling. "Yes?"
"She's doing great, but I have to go home and study for a test. Sort of like yesterday when I asked Rin questions and she answered them for me."
"I know what a test is."
Kagome stuck out her tongue. "Well, excuse me for explaining. Anyways. I have to go before Inuyasha comes back. Miroku, can you take Rin back to Kaede's when she's done with Sesshie-sama? Thanks!" Kagome sped off into the woods without a backwards glance.
Rin giggled while Sesshoumaru stared after the miko, bewildered. " 'Sesshie-sama'?"
"Kagome-neechan say Sesshie-sama is easier for Rin to remember. But Rin can remember Sesshoumaru-sama too." The little girl's face fell. "Is Sesshoumaru-sama taking Rin home now?" Before he could reply, she continued, "Rin doesn't want to go home yet. Kagome-neechan tell Rin she teach Rin more new things. Can Rin stay longer?"
Sesshoumaru looked down at the small figure holding his leg in a death grip. How can I tell her no? Another thought came to him, paralyzing him with fear. What happens when she decides to stay permanently? What will we do?
Rin stared at him expectantly. He nodded. She squealed and danced around the demon lord. "Yay! Rin can stay!"
"Rin."
The little girl stopped dancing and watched him expectantly.
"I have to go now. I shall be back soon." Rin nodded. Sesshoumaru turned to leave, then turned back and knelt before the little girl. He stuck his hand inside his sleeve and pulled out a small package. He handed it to the little girl, who squealed and threw her arms around him in a tight hug. "Thank you, Sesshoumaru-sama!"
The demon lord blushed. "It's from Jaken."
"Tell Jaken-sama Rin say thank you!" Rin released the demon lord and raced off towards Kaede's.
Miroku scrambled to his feet. "Rin, wait! Kagome-sama said to walk you back to… Lady Kaede's." He shook his head and bowed to Sesshoumaru. "Forgive me. I should have walked back with her."
"Do not worry. She is safe." Sesshoumaru's cloud appeared below his feet, and he floated away into the night.
Miroku stared after the demon lord, then turned to go to Kaede's. A crash in the woods somewhere close to him had his hand automatically grasp the prayer beads and looking around.
Inuyasha came out from the woods. Miroku relaxed slightly. Until the
moon came out from behind a cloud and he saw the look on the hanyou's face.
The grip on the beads tightened until his knuckles turned white. He
knows… Kami-sama, he knows…
© 9/8/03, M.A.R.
Aphiopsyduck: *bows* Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! *deep frown* Sorry?
I know, I know... I've been gone for so long that you guys might have given up on me. Well, it's easy to explain. Remember the Inuyasha-Harry Potter crossover I mentioned? Well, after moving this story along to chapter 21, I stopped again to give it a rest. And wrote a prologue and 6 chapters--which is longer than THIS story is--for the crossover. I also wrote another one-shot, but I don't think either of those will see your choosy tastes.
Unless someone actually WANTS to see that drivel. *grin*
Anyhoo. This chapter was supposed to have a LONGER internal dialogue by our favorite Demon Lord, but this was the chapter that died on me before it would be properly saved, and when I had it almost recovered, the computer crashed. Which means that I lost it.
Which sets up the next chapter's dialogue and violence. *EG*
Enjoy this chapter and the next two, since I want to make up for being gone so long. Enjoy the brief cliffie, beware the language in the next, and see what happens when charactes unconsciously open up to the world. *smile*
One last quick comment... I finally saw the episode where Sesshoumaru orders his other sword. Since I hadn't seen that chapter before writing this story, I couldn't have predicted that Rin actually talked normally in earlier episodes. I was under the impression that she didn't show up at all until MUCH later, and that she didn't tak until that point. So take my story lightly, since it's now obviously not a realistic reflection of the Inuyasha story arc like I thought it was. *sheepish grin*
(More or less) Permanent A/N: *sweatdrops…* Ehehe…
First fanfic… If nothing else, it's a test run, since this will be my first
real fanfic posted anywhere. I don' really know where it's going though,
so please bear with me. Reviews are welcome, and flames will be used on
undead mikos who refuse to leave our heroes alone. :o)