Disclaimer: Inuyasha is Copyright of Takahashi Rumiko

Nothing Without The Other

Chapter 9

Rin sat high in a tree, staring up at the sky as the clouds rolled by. Birds occasionally streaked by, proving that spring was finally on its way. She felt a sense of calm and misery wash over her at the same time as she longed to be like those birds. They had no care in the world, as if their only purpose in life was to enjoy spring and sing.

She dropped her head to her knees and fought back another onslaught of tears. It had hurt so deep to hear Sesshoumaru speak of his brother in such a way. She knew what it was like to grow up without the love of a family. And if hanyou's were as hated as Sesshoumaru made them out to be, she knew what it was like to be beat for simply trying to survive. Sesshoumaru hated them both for being two weak to do anything about it.

Kami, it hurt so much. At least now she knew how he felt about her being a hanyou, or something like it anyway. He would never consider her family. How foolish she had been to want to be apart of his so desperately. There seemed to be only room for full youkai in Sesshoumaru's heart. Jaken and Ah Un were probably closest to family to him than she could ever hope for!

She felt so betrayed. This was nothing compared to pain she felt when she believed he was just using her. To know what he really thought of her despite all that they shared...it was just too much. Maybe she was only fooling herself again. He had said he would never wish her harm and he had never intentionally done anything to harm her, physically or emotionally. That did not explain why he had such a low opinion of humans and hanyous.

Rin pushed the thoughts away, feeling they were only making things worse. She was hungry and she had left her rice in the pouch with Ah Un. The sun was also beginning to set and sleep would do her well. Hopefully seeing Saori-sama and the girls would cheer her up. Determined to be stronger than her emotions, she jumped from the tree, only to be completely caught off guard as she was punched in the face.

The force was so incredible that she flew back a few feet. She quickly caught her balance and slowed to a stop with one knee on the ground. Wiping the blood from her mouth, she looked up at the bear youkai and glared.

"You are going to regret that," she growled fiercely.

The bear growled in return and charged toward her, more interested in a meal than anything else. Rin unsheathed her sword and took one step before she froze. Some thing flashed in front of her and tackled the bear youkai to the ground. There was a struggle as a smaller figure attacked it. Within moments the movement stopped and the new youkai glanced at her. She took a fearful step back as it stepped out to completely reveal itself to her.

Rin stared at the strange youkai, caught by the fierceness in his pale yellow eyes. His arms were orange and dotted with many black spots. He had an incredibly round head and smaller round ears that framed his face. A black trail began at the corner of his eyes and ended at the corners of his mouth, as if he had just cried black tears. His black hair, caught in a simple ponytail at the base of his neck, looked as though it was bone straight. He wore blue hakama pants and black do-maru chest armor. There was some sort of weapon slung across his back, but she could not tell if it was a sword or something else.

"Who-" she started to ask, but he dashed off as quickly as he came. "Wait!" She called as she followed after him. "Wait! I mean you no harm. Onegai, wait!"

He jumped in front of her and growled at her lightly. "What do you want?"

His voice was surprisingly light and unthreatening. "I wanted to thank you," she said. "And you're hurt," she noted now that she was closer to him. "Please, allow me to repay you some how."

He was staring at her, as if considering her request, when Sesshoumaru made his appearance. He wasted no time in attacking the strange youkai and was surprised when it was dodged so easily.

"Sesshoumaru-sama! Stop!" Rin demanded and quickly put herself between both youkai. "Don't trouble yourself trying to protect me, we wouldn't want you do die. Besides, he's already saved me from a bear youkai."

Sesshoumaru stared at the cheetah youkai, ignoring his disrespectful hiss. "Get away from him, Rin. Youkai from China are not meant to be trusted."

"China?" The admission only sparked her curiosity and she turned to face him. "Are you really from China?"

He stared at the strange woman in confusion, caught off guard by her friendly smile. "I am."

"I would love to hear about it if you don't mind. Are you hungry? I have some rice and I was just going to cook it."

"Sure.." He cast Sesshoumaru a wary glance.

"Don't worry about him," she smiled. "My name is Rin by the way, what's yours?"

"Eiji."

Sesshoumaru watched as they disappeared, fighting the urge to rip the cheetah youkai apart. How dare he save his Rin and walk off as if they had known each other for centuries? He followed after them, ignoring their senseless chatter about China, ignoring their silly attempts to catch fish, ignoring the way Rin seemed to act so care free around him.

He simply entertained the idea of watching Eiji melt in a pool of his poison.


They were up at dawn. Rin yawned lazily, immediately regretting staying up so late. Eiji had been so much fun to talk to and even more interesting to look at. But after talking well into the night, he left her with promises to try to see her again. Content with that, she curled up and fell asleep almost immediately. The thought of seeing him again excited her until she saw Sesshoumaru staring at her intently. Yesterday came flooding back into her mind.

She turned away from him and quickly rose to her feet to send Ah Un off to snack before they left. She built a fire to warm what was left of the rice she had brought with her and ate in silence.

"Rin, we need to talk about yesterday," his voice interrupted her bliss.

She tensed up. "There is nothing to talk about."

"You misinterpreted what I said."

"No, you made yourself very clear, Sesshoumaru-sama."

He crossed to her and pulled her to her feet. He saw the hurt was still in her eyes, tasted a small sample of her fear upon the air. "This Sesshoumaru will not apologize for what I said about Inuyasha and his mother, I meant every word. But it was never my intention to make you think I equated you to them. You are different."

She tried to push his hands from her shoulders but found herself firmly caught in his hold. "I am not different! You hate them, you hate me!"

"I will hate everyone responsible for Chichi-ue's death, whether he willingly gave his life or not!"

Rin froze and stared up at him in disbelief. There was pain in his voice and in his eyes for the briefest of moments. But he must have realized his mistake and quickly masked it before he continued.

"Be reasonable Rin. Surely you know what I mean. This fear and distrust you have for your own kind is a result of your own family's death. Do not tell me you no longer hate bandits and expect me to believe it."

She trembled and paled at the thought. "It...its no the same! They are not my flesh and blood!"

"Then why are you so afraid to live among humans? Tell me!" He shook her slightly, but got no response. "Because you hate them, you fear them, and you'd rather die than live anywhere near them for the rest of your life."

She closed her eyes in shame because it was true after all. Though she had come to trust Ichigo and his family, Sango and her family, and Kagome, she would never willingly spend the rest of her days in a village.

"It angers me to think my father would be alive if not for Inuyasha. I am grateful for the memories we shared, but not for the loss I feel knowing there will be no more. Chichi-ue was indeed a great youkai, but I have never understood his desire to die for someone so weak. Until I understand, I will not forgive."

"Gomen ne, Sesshoumaru-sama. I didn't realize how much it hurt to lose your father," she started crying again.

"Enough," he released her so she could dry her face. "This Sesshoumaru did not mean to make you feel unworthy."

She shook her head. "Don't be a hypocrite, Sesshoumaru-sama. I am human, a fake hanyou. There is no doubt that I am weak."

"You have far exceeding my expectations on how a human or a hanyou conducts herself. You are the exception. Why do you doubt this Sesshoumaru's word?"

"Gomen -"

He placed his finger on her lips to silence her. She looked so beautiful with tears sparkling in her eyes, so tempting. But he resisted the urge to kiss her, sensing that it was too soon. "We should get going."

"Hai," she said and quickly leaned on her does to give him a small kiss. "Arigatou, Sesshoumaru-sama."

As he watched her run off to find Ah Un, he wondered why the force holding his heart seemed to loosen so much.


What? An update so early you say? That's right! I told you I would make up for last week. Hehe. So maybe this wasn't the chapter everyone was expecting, but it's leading up to a lot of complicated juicy drama. Thank you for the reviews everyone! Hope this chapter is as pleasing as the others.

D-Chan3 - Rin is much more mature than she used to be and so running isn't an option. And Sesshoumaru worrying to the point of not being able to think straight...I'd like to see that, but maybe later. Hehe.

goddess123452003 - Collabo, huh. Hmmm, I don't know. I'm not sure how many more fics I'm going to be writing. hides from any angry people

sesshomaruhasafluffytail - There will be plenty of time for all that lovey dovey nonsense later, but I'm glad you're enjoying the kind of slow pace I am taking.

Shampoo-chan - I'm glad you think I've improved my dialogues. This was something important to me since the relationship between Sess and Rin have to be based upon something. Whether they know it or not, dialogue really brings them together or pushes them apart...mwhahaha cough ermm..yeah. College sucks, by the way. Nah, jk.

Rabid Anime Gurl