UnSpoken Love By: OtakuSailorV

Chapter 20:: Danger On The Horizon

Rin followed the golden gaze of the youkai next to her and watched with just as much interest as him when she spotted the moving clouds. Straining her hearing above the noise of the highway, Rin would have sworn she heard the flapping of many great, bug wings. She shuddered at the thought of giant insects. She was ok around bugs regularly; it was only if they were bees or wasps that she became frightened.

Forcing herself to remain brave, her eyes studied the cloud further. And indeed, the closer it got, the less it looked like a bundle of clouds, for it moved at an irregular speed and seemed to be alive in a way.

Sesshoumaru suddenly turned his head away, appearing to study something else that Rin could not see without looking past him. She blinked, catching the barely noticeable move of his head and followed the slant of his golden eyes to a pair of flashing lights coming their way.

Sesshoumaru immediately turned away again as if he had seen nothing at all, or cared very little for what he did see. Rin however was stunned and became slightly flustered with his aloof carelessness.

The air was rent with the wail of sirens, and blue and red lights flashed brightly against the darkening sky. A white and black car was headed there way, and Rin knew what it contained just from the sound of the screaming sirens. "The police?" She asked no one in particular. She was puzzled as to where they were going for a moment before it struck her.

The car was headed their way!

She blinked and her mind gave out a shock warning to her body, sending a jolt of energy through her. Rin's first instinct was to run, but she knew that was no good, running from the cops was never good. Overriding the instinct to flee, she stayed firmly planted in spot, feeling like a deer caught in the headlights as the beams of light that shot from the car flashed in her eyes.

As the car approached, Sesshoumaru turned back toward it again, watching it through narrowed eyes.

It came to a halt and immediately the screeching stopped, but the lights did not stop whirling. Rin was glad that the loud screaming sirens had halted and thought that she saw some tension in Sesshoumaru's face fall away and knew that he was too. In the dim light of the fading sun, the flashing lights made Sesshoumaru's sharp eyes glow eerily.

This effect seemed to startle and shake the two policemen as they came out of their car and started to proceed toward them.

When they got close, Sesshoumaru took two steps, placing himself between Rin and the oncoming males that - to his inu youkai instincts – were threatening both him and what he claimed as his. He had been acting merely out of instinct when he stepped in front of the girl, and by his actions gave off a threatening air to the humans. His teeth barred behind his lips and a growl formed in his chest, though he did not utter it.

He was warning them not to come any closer, and they received the message but still advanced. Rin, from behind Sesshoumaru, peeked out at them shyly, blushing with embarrassment at his actions.

"Uhm, youkai-san," She started nervously, tugging on the end of his shirt. He sent looked to her out of the corner of one eye briefly before turning it away again when she made no sound. Under the intense gaze, Rin had lost the will to protest against him. Though in the back of her mind she was still worried, she trusted that he knew what he was doing. After all, who knew how many centuries that this youkai had lived?

"Excuse me, Sir, ma'am." One of the policemen started in an official sounding, authoritative voice. He nodded tot hem both as he came up the mini-slope and finally stopped not five feet from Sesshoumaru. Both men were shorter than him, taller than Rin, but much shorter than Sesshoumaru.

The youkai looked down on them like they were insects. His face stayed forward, but his eyes had traveled down to peer at them below. A smug look, and one that the officers did not appreciate but said nothing about. The man's mannerisms were not what was the major problem at the moment.

"You two can't stand here in the middle of the highway, it's dangerous. We received reports that you 'fell from the sky,' are you two ok?" The man did not seem to believe his second words and they sounded sarcastic in a way, though there was evident concern laced in.

"Humans – be gone before you dabble in matters too large for your impudent minds to comprehend." Sesshoumaru ordered in an icy tone that seemed to freeze the air.

The bugs grew louder.

Rin grimaced to herself at his tone. No, no, he was making things worse! Praying that the police would take this threat rather as a joke, she placed one hand to her lips in thought.

The speaking officer's face contorted in outrage and frustration while his companion – who was considerably younger – only stared at Sesshoumaru with eyes large and filled with disbelief.

"Now you listen here, whoever you are." The man started, jabbing a finger at Sesshoumaru's chest, a threatening motion to the youkai. "You seem like an upright enough fellow, but I can't have people standin' in the middle of freeways and- and fallin' from the skies! Now you and your little girlfriend there," And here he jabbed his offending finger at Rin behind Sesshoumaru, "Get out of here before I have to use force."

Sesshoumaru followed his movements with careful, considering eyes. His gaze locked on the finger that protruded from the man's balled-up fist and jabbed at him repeatedly as the man spoke for emphasis. This he took in with slight regard and only slight irritation at the male's nerve to threaten him so. But when the finger suddenly jabbed towards Rin, his youkai senses flew into a small rage. His eyes tinged red for a minute, involuntarily, and he felt the hair on the back of his neck rise as his teeth locked together inside of his mouth again.

Not only was the man daring to act disrespectful toward a youkai and Lord of the Western Lands, but he also had the gall to outright seem to threaten what was his as well! Not to mention that whole thing about having to use force against them. What force could this man possibly muster enough of to waylay he, Sesshoumaru, Taiyoukai?

Standing straighter at the visible threat to his personage, Sesshoumaru finally turned his icy glare back on the man, this time looking down on the human completely and bending his neck. The youkai eyes danced with the foretelling of painful death, sending an eerie aura all around him. His hair caught what moon and starlight that had started to appear and seemed ethereal and glowing along with his sharp eyes.

The men back down, the younger bringing one forearm up to block his chest in a protective motion as he cowered. Sesshoumaru looked on with a feeling of dominance and pleasure flickering inside of him. Yes, humans should cower before his might; none should dare insult or command him.

"Do not order me, human." Sesshoumaru growled out in a freezing tone that made the very bones in them shiver. "You would do well to leave yourself before you loose your precious life."

When he had finished, the elder officer straightened, angry with Sesshoumaru for trying – and succeeding – to intimidate him. Glaring daggers, his anger hardly reviled the youkai's and Sesshoumaru found himself both annoyed and bemused at the human's continued assault. My, he sure was persistent. . .

He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when he saw that Sesshoumaru had turned his head away as if he had lost interest in the feud. Blinking, he grumbled briefly before puffing up. "You, hey, look at me, you. I'll clap you in irons for threatening and disobeying an officer! Look at me when I'm talking to you!!"

Rin almost giggled at the policeman, he must be foreign with his heavy accent and strange speaking ways, and now his face was red as a beat in anger at being further ignored by the tall youkai male. Turning on Rin as she peeped her head out, he bespoke her in Sesshoumaru's stead. "Miss – you talk to your boyfriend here. I don't know what you kids think you're doing here, but-"

That tore it.

Rin frowned at him as she listened to his tone and followed his gestures. But most of all, it was his words she was frowning at. She didn't see, but more as felt Sesshoumaru stiffen ever-so-slightly. Not enough for anyone to really notice, and perhaps she had imagined it, but she did know that if he had caught the words – and she was sure he hadn't missed a syllable – then he was going to be raging angry.

He was very proud, she had been able to tell from the beginning, and assumed as she listened to the policeman drag on that some fire was being stoked in the mind of the youkai.

"Sir," She began, looking at him sternly. "He's not my boy-"

Sesshoumaru's eyes had turned back on the man now though, narrowed further than Rin had yet seen. They glowed brilliantly, pointing and sharpening, they're light increased by the pure-white background of his eyes. A growl rumbled in his chest but did not escape as he spoke.

"Leave." He hissed, his claws and fangs growing out. "NOW."

His youkai instincts had long been screaming to kill. To tear, to rend the human in half and drive the younger away with a howling threat that his fate would be the same. But he kept a rein on such instincts, for it would not do to kill in front of the girl or to soil his hands with human blood at such a time. If his nose and senses were right – and he did not doubt they were – then he would need his precious energy for much more important things soon, and wasting any on some impudent human was not satisfactory. Though it was quite troublesome trying to argue with the stupid beast instead of just killing him on the spot. . .

Both humans backed down, the distant mournful cry of a dog to the moon was heard echoing in their minds, though they knew they had summoned no such sound to play and that it was not from the outside of their minds either. Something had penetrated into the farthest reaches of their minds and implanted a sound sorrowful and frightening. Their eyes widened in terror and both men watched Sesshoumaru with glistening eyes for a moment before another foreign noise filled their ears.

The droning of bugs' wings sounded almost directly overhead now, and Rin jumped visibly as the sound broke in on her as well. It was as if they had snuck up on the group while Sesshoumaru and Rin were idly arguing with the policemen.

The frightened faces of the police turned skyward and paled at the sight set before them. Sesshoumaru's eyes glistened with fiery anger as they too turned skyward and stared at the bugs.

Letting out a petrified cry, the younger policeman charged back to the police car, and, though his senior stayed a little longer than he did, he too eventually fled as well.

Rin started to come out to watch them run, wanting to make sure that they made it back to their car ok, but Sesshoumaru placed himself in front of her again. Rin looked up to him curiously to see that one of his golden eyes was watching her intensely, sparkling with brilliance.

She bit her lower lip and braced herself as she turned her eyes back to the bugs above. A dark aura reached out to her from somewhere inside, sending a shiver up her spine and chilling her to the bone. Her hair stood on end and something deep within her pulsed curiously with power unknown as the aura tried to reach further into her. To dive through her skin and destroy her soul and then her skin.

"Y-Youkai-san," Rin quivered again, unused to such strong dark auras. She felt weak and helpless as it reached out to her, laughing at her as she shied away from it. Unlike Kagome and Kikyou, she hadn't had any training yet on how to resist or battle such things, so she had to rely on what instinct took over. And it did indeed feel like something was trying to take over, to grasp hold on her mind and force her to will the darkness away, but she was lost as to how to correctly summon it or use it for that matter.

Sesshoumaru's head cocked to one side at her call, not at all bothered with the new name and title he had received, though he would have preferred she call him by 'Lord' instead of 'Mister.'

"There's something dark inside of those bugs, hiding." Rin said, her voice still shaky.

Sesshoumaru nodded. He had guessed as much, but if the little human-child could also feel the darkness swirling around inside of the wasp demons, then it must be powerful enough for him to bother with. Besides that, he would have sworn that he had felt a tinge of purifying energy seep toward him tentatively and shyly when the girl had spoken. He checked, trying to make himself aware of any pure energy flows – even small ones – riddling through the still air.

Yes, he could feel it now; faint but growing steadily as the darkness came closer to her. The source was the girl, he knew this from the beginning, but still it made him start for a minute, to pause in his thoughts briefly at this new information. So, the girl had a bit of miko in her, did she?

"Girl," Sesshoumaru asked, not inclining his head toward her or even turning to look to her as he spoke. "Are you of miko blood?"

He sensed her shock at the question. "Yes, my cousin is a miko, but I'm still in-training. . ." She sounded embarrassed and a thread of shame flickered out from her.

"Why are you ashamed of this?" He asked, curious as to why any human would be ashamed for possessing such power. Though today, in this new world that was more terrified of magic and the unexplained than it had ever been before, she might very well be ashamed of such mystical powers. . .

Rin blinked, starting at his question. 'Ashamed?'

She was puzzled; he could tell and wondered if he had asked something too complicated of the girl.

"I'm not ashamed, it's a privilege. I'm just embarrassed that I haven't finished training." Rin said after a moment of thought. "You see – my cousin had finished her training by the time she was my age. . ." Rin dropped off again, watching the bugs that had started to descend on them.

Sesshoumaru refused to move backward away from the descending bugs, their droning becoming ever more powerful in his ears. Still – his next words were heard clearly, though he had not raised his voice at all. "You will never be just like someone else." His tone was not harsh, but somehow it felt harsh to Rin as the words entered her mind. Dropping her eyes to the ground, she mulled that over thoughtfully.

The bugs had descended fully on the ground now. They stayed in place, buzzing loudly, droning and on and on ceaselessly. Rin covered her ears with her hands and knew that her youkai companions must be hurting worse than hers must. Just as she was cupping her ears, a dark laugh intruded and the bugs started to disperse back into the air, revealing a figure underneath. "I didn't expect to see you here, Sesshoumaru-sama. . ." A sinister voice cooed as the figure started to appear from behind it's blockade.

Sesshoumaru's ears perked and his eyes widened a touch. He knew that voice!

I'm sorry if the new chapter feels lacking in any way. After my last update, we moved the computer upstairs and now it's right in the middle of the kitchen; in the middle of all this hustle and bustle day in and day out. sigh It's quite frustrating, cuz I'm finding it hard to concentrate with my two-year old brother constantly pulling on my sleeve and trying to show me something. Or with my mom constantly standing next to me, talking on the phone. . .growl

Ah, at any rate, thank you for all the reviews minna-san!! Over a hundred reviews! That's just so awesome to me since I've never written one with so many reviews before. And its all thanks to you're support. Thank you so much everyone, I really appreciate it.

I left out everyone else so that Rin and Sesshoumaru could have more time together, I hope no one is too terribly upset by that. They will all come into play later again, but for now, Rin and Sesshoumaru are taking center stage, as they should.

Thanks again minna-san. And everyone enjoy the Holidays!! Ja'ne!

Review Please.