Disclaimer: Inuyasha is Copyright of Takahashi Rumiko

Nothing Without The Other

Chapter 6

For three days, she avoided him like the plauge. Sesshoumaru did not mind the first day, since he himself needed some time to contemplate what had unfolded between them. The second day he was annoyed, but once he recalled how shamelessly Rin had come on to him, he understood she was still too embarassed to speak to him. A third day, however, made him quite angry. Embarassed or not, she had no right to treat him, Lord of the Western Lands, as though he were some unwanted suitor.

If she would only learn to show him more respect by obeying his orders, the entire situation could have been avoided. When he told her to come inside, a respectful lady would have listened and urgently carried out the order. Instead, he had been forced to retrieve her himself, especially when she ran into the forest.

"Sesshoumaru-sama!"

He took a deep breath as the door to his study opened and Jaken rushed in. "Nani?"

"Your humble servant has followed your orders and kept an eye on Rin. She and two of her toki serverants are in the garden."

Sesshoumaru rose to his feet. "Did she see you?"

"No, my Lord. Even if she had, I was already on my way to speak with you as scheduled. She had nothing to suspect."

"Good. Organize these letters and note anything that needs to be addressed right away," he said as he stepped around the table.

"Hai, my Lord."

Sesshoumaru kept his steps light and deteremined. There was no way he was letting Rin off the hook this time. They would settle this mess today.

Upon his approach, the three women bowed respectfully. He acknowledged the toki youkai with a nod and dismissed them, leaving he and Rin alone.

"You have been avoiding me," he said evenly.

"As have you." She looked over the garden, already feeling he was staring at her again.

"I stopped avoiding you two days ago. The matter will not be solved until we speak of it."

"There is nothing to talk about. It was a mistake. We were both driven by instinct and did things we both regret. There is no changing that."

Sesshoumaru stared at her for some time, weighing what she said in his mind. Though he had considered that night more than once, regret was not the term he used to describe it. He may have lost himself to his desires that night, but he had always been in control. For that reason, there was nothing to regret. Had he blindly taken her without considering the consequences, then he would have regretted both he and Rin's actions.

Truth be told, the ordeal had given him the opportunity to fully explore is ever changing attitude toward Rin. From the moment he had come face to face with Rin, he found himself attracted to her. Before they had parted ways, he spent quite some time trying to decide if he wished to continue without her by his side. He had come to learn that she was a friendly companion, one he could not live with out. But the moment their lips touched, his heart, wretched organ that it was, desired much more than a friend.

Rin shifted under his intense gaze. "Would you stop looking at me that way?"

"What way is that?" He asked.

She spared him a glance. "As if you don't regret what happened that night, as if you've wanted something like that to happen, as if it wouldn't bother you if it happened again."

He smiled slightly, enjoying where the conversation was going. "It is in my nature to want things like that to happen."

Rin blushed profusely and took a small step back. "It is not in my nature."

"Of course it is, since you are becoming more and more like a youkai each day. It is typical for many youkai to rut with a prospective mate before finally taking one."

She paled. "What are you saying, Sesshoumaru-sama?"

"This Sesshoumaru is merely saying that you should not be embarassed or regretful of what transpired. We did not rut and that is all that matters. To prevent it from happening again, you need only to learn to control your youki."

She set her jaw. "Do not place all the blame upon me. You would not go away when I told you to and you followed after me. You're just as much at fault."

"If I had not come after you, someone would have," he said as he took a step forward and leaned down. "Someone who would have done much more than kiss you."

Rin shuddered at the thought, though she was not exactly sure what "much more" meant. But when she reflected on what happened, she was confident that instinct would have guided her along without a hitch.

"Damn this youki! Damn you!" She shouted in his face.

He smiled again. "Your training commenses again tomorrow. Do not be late."


Three months went by as smoothly as possible. The changing seasons, however, were determined to stir as much trouble as possible. Though spring was to arrive very soon, winter was determined to hold out until the bitter end. So close inland, the Western Lands saw little snow but plenty of rain. Construction on Sesshoumaru's private quarters was often put on hold, but Rin's training was never stalled. The storms only provided more difficult situations to train in.

Rin found that her relationship with the youkai lord had taken a turn for the better. She still found him staring at her strangely, but she had grown to live with it. They spent much more time talking of his duties and stresses that came along with being a youkai lord. And to her great surprise, he had become more receptive to her attempts to rile him up. In fact, it had become more like a game to see who could annoy whom first.

Since he had opened up so much, she found that she was much happier being around him than she expected to be. There were times when she felt like the happy child she had been long ago, but then she had only to look in a mirror or meet Sesshoumaru's eyes to remember just how grown up she was. Things were not the same and she realized they were going to continue to change. She could only hope that luck would hold out and they would not change for the worse.

"How are your shakuhachi lessons coming?" Sesshoumaru asked as they walked around his grounds.

"Very well. Kimiko says I am progressing rather quickly," she added with a smile.

"You have always been a fast learner. You will have to play for me one night."

Rin thought of the flute and the times she had played a note to high, even for her own ears. "If you wish to have bleeding ears."

"If you play anything like you scream, this Sesshoumaru may pass."

"Jaken-sama should learn to knock before entering my room," she told him, reminding herself to beat the toad youkai the next chance she got.

"You will not have to worry about that very soon," he said with a small gesture toward his private quarters. "It has finally been completed."

"And here I thought the rain would set them back at least another week," she smiled.

"Your things are being moved as we speak."

Rin turned to him warily. "But Sesshoumaru-sama, I don't understand. Guests-"

"You are not a guest Rin," he interrupted. "Real guest are visting next month. I will not allow you to sleep among people I myself would not."

"Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama."

"You will play for us."

"Out for revenge against some of your guests?"

"Just a few."

Rin smiled and continued walking. The sun filtered through the naked trees and onto the ground before her. She imprinted the image in her mind to draw later. Despite the cold weather and the gloomy scenery, it was actually a nice day. She tucked her hands in her sleeves and looked up at the sky, wishing spring would come sooner.

"I will go on border patrol tomorrow."

"I see. When will my Lord return?"

"By the end of the week." Though she masked her disappointment well, he knew it was there. "Haha-ue always hated when Chichi-ue left for patrol. He seemed to keep her in the best of moods."

Rin looked at him, trying to imagine his mother. "Sounds like someone I know."

"Hai, but this Sesshoumaru only has those who seek to annoy him."

She grinned. "What ever it takes," she said, tapping her lips. She gave into curiousity. "Was she every bit as beautiful as I imagine her to be?"

"More so. Her eyes were a dark gold and she had a purple moon on her forehead. She had a face that some thought to be carved by the Gods themselves since it was so finely shapped. Her hair trailed down to her ankles and was white as a full moon on its most brilliant night. She was tall for her sex, but it only added to her elegance and made her stand out more."

"You are very much like her, aren't you?" She asked with only a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Why do you think that?"

She shrugged. "You sound...genuine..when you speak of her. When it comes to your father, you sound very formal and business like. I assume you are like him in those matters."

He nodded at her intuition. "You are correct on both accounts."

She stopped and stared up at him, searching for answers in his eyes. "What was she like?"

"Proud and stubburn. She was a daughter of my grandfather's most powerful vassals and as such, the attitude came with the position. She learned to fight like most demonesses, but she practiced with her brothers and became just as ruthless, just as powerful as they were. Her spirit was restless. When she was old enough, she traveled the countryside until she grew tired of that life. Once she returned, she was offered to my father as a mate."

Just like her son, Rin thought. "And how did her restless spirit handle that?"

"With some protest, but she knew her duty."

"May I.." she hesitated for a moment. "May I ask how she died?"

Sesshoumaru looked up at the sky. "There was a war with the ever growing power in the Southern Lands. Villages closest to the borders began causing trouble and some vassals took the matters into their own hands until it escalated. Haha-ue fought bravely and honorably until her dying breath. There were many loses on both sides, but Chichi-ue seemed to feel it the hardest. He won, but the loss was still too great. Since then, there has never been another war, at least in the Western Lands."

To cry would have been foolish, so Rin saved her tears for later. There was such loyalty in his voice, such love. Her heart reached out for him, wishing to ease the pain of such a loss. She wanted desperately to ask how old he had been, but as there was a sharp difference in their ages, the number seemed not to matter.

Sesshoumaru looked down and met Rin's eyes. "This Sesshoumaru has made you sad."

"Nonsense," she forced a smile on her face.

"You always were a poor liar," he reminded her.

"It hurts, thats all." She presed her right hand over her heart, her left over his. She knew all to well what it felt like to lose a mother. "Some how, the hurt is always still there."

Sesshoumaru stepped forward, closing the space between them, and lifted her face with his fingers. "It's not so strong anymore."

"No," she let out a shakey breath. "It isn't. Sesshoumaru-sama -"

He silenced her with his lips before either of them could fully contemplate the consequences. His hand slowly slipped down to cup the back of her neck and she trembled at his touch. He kept the kiss slow and gentle, not wanting to frighten her by his boldness. The sadness she tried so hard to mask had called out to him, and he wanted nothing more at that moment than to make it go away. He could think of no other method.

Rin remained frozen in place, not sure how she should react to Sesshoumaru's surprising advance. Her heart pounded in her chest as his lips caressed her own. She found them demanding but giving, hard but soft, gentle but firm. Each opposing sensation threatened to make her knees buckle. She tried to search for reasons why this was wrong, but found that her head was too foggy. Only when he allowed her to breathe could she really understand why heart felt so heavy.

As if reading her thoughts, Sesshoumaru slowly pulled away, his hand still cupping her neck. There was a painful constriction on his heart when he saw her flushed cheeks and lips. There was something in her that held her back, something that caused him pain. He could not figure out what or why, and was not sure he wanted to. He took a large step back, giving her the space he needed, and tried to forget about it.

"We should return quickly. It is going to rain."

"Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama."


I'm afraid there are going to be more and more cliffhangers. I just can't help it. Anyway, I'm glad everyone enoyed the last chapter and I hope this one is good also! Please review and let me know what you think! Any improvements? Ideas and what not? I'm listening! Thanks everyone.

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