Disclaimer: InuYasha is written by Rumiko Takahashi. I do not own anything mentioned in this fanfic besides the idea of the fanfic.

To Love A Human

Chapter Six

"Areh? A human village you say, Sesshoumaru-sama?" Jaken asked in astonishment.

"Is there a need for me to repeat myself?" came the deep and calm voice from ahead.

"D-d-demo Sesshoumaru-sama, why are we going to a human village?" Jaken pressed on. "Sesshoumaru-sama?" he tried again when Sesshoumaru showed no interest in answering. [demo: but]

Rin listened in surprise. It was rare that Sesshoumaru ever took her to a human village, and her curiosity about them was never quite satisfied. Although she did have a number of bad memories from the time she was abused as a child by the villages where she used to stay, those memories had faded with time, to be replaced by happy memories of travelling with Sesshoumaru. As the years passed, even if she was sure her life would always be pledged to following Sesshoumaru, she would still wonder sometimes what life would be like for her if she had never lost her family. Some of the residents in the villages they dropped by were very kind, and Rin had enjoyed herself immensely.

Didn't we stop by a village just a few days ago? Now Rin was getting puzzled. Sesshoumaru had never let her go to villages on such short intervals before. She then remembered the mess she made of herself the day before.

"Sesshoumaru-sama, are we going to get a new kimono for Rin?" she asked, already feeling bad for troubling him even before he gave any answers.

As usual, Sesshoumaru remained silent, leaving Rin to conclude on her own misconceptions. He didn't mean to, but he wasn't about to let Jaken in on his motives either. He saw no reason why he should be obliged to share his thoughts with a youkai of a much lower status than him. That and, he wasn't ready to face all the questions Jaken would surely sprout if he explained to him.

Rin was definitely sick. It was written all over her, even with her effort to hide it from him, or that perhaps she wasn't aware of it herself.

Instead of idling away the rest of the early morning, waiting for her to rouse, Sesshoumaru had ventured further down to gauge how far away the next village was, in case Rin was not better by morning. And as it turned out, she wasn't.

He had to spend a few minutes staring at her earlier on before they left just to analyse her condition. It wasn't easy seeing through someone who always acted perfectly fine and happy, even when they weren't. He could tell from her flushed face that she was probably still burning up with something, and her eyes appeared to be a little heavier than usual. Reluctant as he was, he would have to take her to the next village.

Behind him, Sesshoumaru could hear Rin chirpily trying to fill the empty silence that existed whenever they were travelling by talking to the grumpy-as-always Jaken. He liked listening to the sound of her voice, Sesshoumaru realised. It would seem weird now if Rin never spoke a word while they walked.

As the hours passed, Rin gradually grew quieter. At first, it was just her voice that toned down a bit. Then, she spoke less. A while later, she stopped talking completely. Sesshoumaru found this odd, but he decided that it was caused by her ill health. He was about to turn round to check if everything was all right when he caught the foul scent of a youkai close by. He scowled and stopped.

"Sesshoumaru-sama, is something wrong?" asked Jaken.

"It seems we have a visitor." No sooner had he spoke when in a flash there was a grotesque-looking ogre standing a few feet in front of him, a sinister grin stretched across his face.

"Hand over that female youkai you have with you," he snarled, arrogance evident in his voice, "or you will all die by my hand."

With an attitude of absolute boredom, Sesshoumaru remarked nonchalantly, "You shouldn't waste my time with such empty threats."

"Oh but I will," sneered the ogre, apparently not taking the hint. "I want that female," he growled while his licked his lips, "and it seems she wants me too. Her scent was calling out to me, and I've come to claim her."

"Wanting you," Sesshoumaru said, his tone fast degenerating to disgust, "would be the last thing she desires," he continued as he drew out Toukijin, "considering how low and filthy you are."

"Low and filthy?" the ogre yelled in offence. "I'll make sure you never dare to call me that again!" he growled before arching back and tilting his head upwards, issuing a huge bellow that rang for miles in the forest.

"Jaken."

"Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama?"

"Get Rin away from here."

"Hai! Right this instant!" Jaken responded, taking the reins of Ah-Un and hastily leading the dragon away. Speed was against them though, as being in the heart of the forest, there were far too many trees for Ah-Un to fly safely, and they had to run instead.

Sesshoumaru wasn't just trying to make sure Rin was safe; he also didn't want her to witness the gore of the fight that was about to take place, nor did he want her to know that it was taking place because of her.

There was already a swarm of ogre youkai gathering behind their leader, and even if it was a piece of cake to exterminate them for him, Sesshoumaru knew the trees would prove to be a hindrance. He couldn't kill them all in one slash and make it nice and clean. No, things were going to get a little messy. Nothing that he couldn't handle though, Sesshoumaru thought to himself as he looked upon the loathsome crowd that gathered before him, challenging him with guttural snarls and swipes at the unoffending air, just for the sake of letting their disgusting leader mate with Rin. The idea alone was so repulsive that Sesshoumaru had to restrain the urge to transform and take care of them in a brutal but effective way.

After checking behind him to make sure Rin was at bay before he attacked, Sesshoumaru returned his attention to the ugly ogre leader, who was currently looking very smug about having his comrades with him. The ogre leader had initially assumed that he could take care of Sesshoumaru himself, but had decided to call on his gang just to put up an impressive front. They were also there to make sure that his opponent was torn to shreds for the crime of opposing him.

"There's no use trying to hide her, you fool," the ogre leader laughed. "I will be getting her after I finish you. There is nowhere she can hide."

"Are you as stupid as you are ugly?" Sesshoumaru mocked with dull concern. "I can assure you that not one of your pathetic little regiment will be left after I'm done with you."

"Hah! We'll just see about that!" said the lead ogre as he, along with the rest of his group, charged forward at Sesshoumaru.

Leaping above them with seemingly effortless grace, and with a dangerously glowing Toukijin in hand, Sesshoumaru slashed down at the charging youkai with such force that their bodies disintegrated in a blinding flash. The bases of the trees in the area were also affected, rotting away like the youkai bodies into nothingness and sending the towering timbers crashing down deafeningly. Only the birds were left circling overhead in the aftermath, squawking with the lost of their homes.

Sesshoumaru landed soundlessly, looking at what remained of the foliage that grew there and thinking about what had just happened. A group of youkai had come together in order to claim right to one human girl, who, unfortunately for her, smelt like a female youkai in heat to them.

A group. It wasn't just one perverted youkai. It was a group.

It seemed as though Rin was getting more attention as she matured, and Sesshoumaru was far from pleased with that realisation. Turning around, he walked back, following in the direction of Rin's lingering scent.

"Rin!" he heard Jaken calling in the distance. "Meh ga samase!" [translation: wake up]

Sesshoumaru tensed. Was something wrong? Did he unknowingly let one of the ogres slip pass him? More importantly, was Rin all right? He would never forgive himself if he let even one of those disgusting creatures lay a single finger on her.

He leapt into the air again, intending to reach Rin as soon as possible, in case she was being attacked by one of the ogres. He descended in the area where her scent was the strongest, half expecting to see Rin being assaulted. However there were no ogres to be seen, nor could he pick of the scent of them for miles.

"Sesshoumaru-sama!" Jaken exclaimed after noticing his master's return. "Rin won't wake up!"

Walking calmly over to the trio where Rin lay unconscious on the ground with Jaken and Ah-Un standing over her, Sesshoumaru asked Jaken if Rin was attacked.

"Iie, Sesshoumaru-sama. While we were walking here, Rin suddenly fell off Ah-Un, and she won't wake up," Jaken explained, after which he tried to shake Rin's shoulder as if to confirm what he said. Rin showed no sign of response.

Sesshoumaru's expression hardened as he looked at Rin. He knew that her condition had most probably worsened, and it would be foolish to continue their slow pace towards the village. Besides, she wouldn't be able to keep her balance on Ah-Un while unconscious. His list of options was slim, and Sesshoumaru knew that there was only one way out.

He knelt beside Rin and slipped his hand under her back to wrap his arm around her waist, and then hoisted her up on his right shoulder, holding onto her legs. It was a crude way of carrying her, he supposed, with her slung over his shoulder like some captive, but it would have to do for now as it was the best way he could hold her while travelling at a high speed.

There was only one thing he could do now; he had to take her to the village himself. He couldn't follow his original idea of letting her and Jaken go together anymore, since she was incapable, and probably too weak and sick to move herself. He frowned as he rose into the sky and sped off in a ball of light, with Jaken calling behind him to wait. Sesshoumaru didn't like the way things had turned out at all, but like it or not, he would have to enter the human village with Rin.

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Author's Notes: Ahhh! I absolutely HATE this chapter! It's so darn crappy. Action is not my forte ¬_¬ and it shows. It's all choppy and crappy and... blah! I hate this chapter!

*sigh* Anyway, if you didn't manage to figure out exactly what was going on, my intention was for Rin to have fainted long before they were attacked, which was why she became silent, so to speak. I assume that Ah-Un most probably was aware of this and as such, was in no hurry to fly because that would result in Rin falling off. Well, that is for those of you who have seen Ah-Un and who might argue that 'he can fly!' cuz Ah-Un is pretty slow on foot.

For those of you who might question about Sesshoumaru's fur pelt getting in the way if he were to carry Rin on his right shoulder, lets just say she's on the fur pelt XD comfy!

That's about all I have to say. Arigatou once again for the reviews, minna-san! They're greatly appreciated ^_^