Brief Moments
By Mishi
Chapter 16
The Calm
Gomenne- another way of saying sorry.
I have added a family tree, with notes, to the end of this chapter. I hope you like it.
SERIES SPOILER: DON'T READ THIS NOTE IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW.
It is only a short line in the chapter, but what I am referring to it this: In one episode of the anime, we learn that Sesshoumaru gets sucked into a battle that was originally his father's responsibility. His father had protected a group of youkai from a group of cat youkai. Well, since Inu Dai(papa) has died and is not there to protect these youkai, they go to Sesshoumaru for help. Sesshoumaru agrees because he is assured that these same youkai, who need his aid, will be fighting beside him. Well, they back out on him. He basically ends up fighting on his own. He tells Jaken to get Inu Yasha for back up. Jaken returns to tell him that Inu Yasha has been pinned to Goshinboku by a human. It would figure that the one time Sesshoumaru turns to his brother for help, Inu Yasha is not there. Sesshoumaru suffers a terrible defeat as a result. It is one in which his pride cannot recover, so he blames it on Inu Yasha. So begins Sesshoumaru's anger toward Inu Yasha and his hatred for humans. Jaken is actually the one who explains all this to Inu Yasha in the episode.
Now to the story…..
The large group had been split into three distinct groups of individuals. Kagome, Sango and Nishi were gathered at one side of the field, while the men, with the exception of Sesshoumaru and Jaken, were lumped together in the opposite direction. Rin was the only one who curiously lingered outside of her assigned group. Eager to learn why everyone had split up in this way, she cautiously wandered closer to the girls. It took a major amount of effort to accomplish, but she was able to hear bits of the conversation without being noticed. However, all of her hard work had quickly gone to naught as her hand came upon a rock, which caused her to tumble over onto her side. A tiny peep came out of Rin when she noticed herself falling. By the time Kagome and Sango could turn to look in her direction, Rin was busy acting as if she was picking the itsy bitsy flowers that covered the ground.
"Come on, Rin. You might have some questions too," Kagome said rolling her eyes.
Sango said nothing, but gave Kagome a look that asked her if she was sure that Rin should be involved. It was hard enough for Sango to have the conversation with Nishi, but Rin's presence had just added a new level of discomfort. She was sure that she would either die of embarrassment, or die laughing. She was hoping for laughing.
"I think that Karen has plans for…," Kagome stopped to think of a less than obvious way to put it. She tried to lead Sango to look in Sesshoumaru's direction by darting her eyes back and forth.
"No," Sango whispered, placing her closed hand next to her lips.
Kagome nodded and mumbled, "Tall, dark, and fluffy."
Sango nearly died laughing as Rin watched in confusion.
"Rin-chan, come over and sit next to Nishi-chan," Kagome said, pushing at Sango's arm in an attempt to maker her stop laughing.
"Konnichiwa," Rin said warmly as she set down next to Nishi.
"Konnichiwa," she answered.
"Rin-chan, is there anything you want to ask? Or do you just want to listen to the conversation?" Sango asked, finally getting herself to stop laughing.
Rin thought for a moment. There had only been one part of their talk that she had heard, and she had no clue as to what any of it meant. Tilting her head sideways, she asked, "What's sex?"
A Sango looked at Kagome and waited for her to answer Rin's question.
Meeting Sango's embarrassed grin, Kagome, awkwardly began to giggle. "I guess I wasn't ready for that."
"You weren't ready for it? It was your idea to let her join us, and you weren't ready to tell her about sex?" Sango was twitching, with her eyes narrowed.
"Ok, I'll do it," Nishi announced, blushing slightly. She was growing impatient with the situation. She didn't want to talk; she wanted to be with Shippo. She put her hand up to Rin's ear and began to whisper.
Seconds slipped by as Rin listened. Finally, Rin's eyes went wide as they looked downward at the lower half of her body. In a meek voice, Rin asked, "What does that accomplish?"
"Well…um...it's supposed to be really nice. A lot of people like doing it. Oh, and it's how babies are born," Nishi said with a shrug as she pulled away from Rin.
Rin looked at Kagome and Sango. Then she looked over at the group of men, and back at Kagome and Sango. She quickly put together that at least Sango and Kagome must be having sex, because they were the ones explaining it to Nishi. With a very serious look in her eyes, Rin asked, "Is she right? Does it feel good?"
Both girls smiled, and looked at each other, before turning their back and huddling together.
Kagome giggled hysterically, "Why is this so difficult with Rin-chan? It wasn't a big deal with Nishi-chan."
Sango replied in an awkwardly serious tone, "Maybe that's because you've already seen Nishi-chan's body hanging all over Shippo. Rin-chan just looks so innocent. I can't imagine her having sex." She looked over at Sesshoumaru, who was to busy watching the guys to notice her, and said, "I know I can't see her having sex with tall, dark, and fluffy."
"Sango-chan! I'm being serious."
"You said it. And am I. I can't imagine them having sex. It seems too impossible."
"Kagome-sama?" Rin said, trying to get an answer.
Kagome and Sango had to face Rin's question. There was no escaping it. Sango set perfectly still, trying to hold back her need to laugh until she cried.
Meanwhile, Kagome sat forward and nervously tried to answer. "It does feel really…nice."
Sango made a small sound that inspired an evil eye from Kagome. "Gomenne," she said though her hand.
Maintaining her determination to give Rin a good answer, Kagome continued, "It can…bring two people together and make them closer. And, yes, it is how children are…made." All the while, Kagome looked as if she was going to pass out.
Sango was now holding both hands over her mouth to keep herself under control. Kagome smacked her on the arm and said, "I don't see you explaining it any better."
"You're doing great," Sango blurted through her hands.
"I know that kissing feels really nice and it's supposed to feel better than kissing," Nishi explained dreamily as she looked over towards Shippo.
"What's kissing?" Rin panicked.
"Oh god," Sango snickered as Kagome's jaw fell open.
"You have never kissed anyone?" Nishi gasped as if she had a great deal more experience with the matter than she actually had. "You haven't even seen someone do it before?"
"I don't know. How do you do it? Do you use the same part of your body that you use for sex?"
Kagome's mind replayed the image of Inu Yasha's head between her legs, and her face suddenly looked like it had been smeared with red paint. She looked at Sango for help, only to discover that Sango's face was just as red. Again Kagome reached out and hit Sango on the arm. "You're becoming just as perverted as Miroku!"
"Me? Look at you. You know exactly what I'm thinking."
Rin was hopelessly confused.
Nishi moved in close to Rin's ear again, "It's done with the mouth. You kiss by touching your lips together."
"Oh," Rin sighed. Her shoulders lost the tension they had been holding. "You've tried kissing, but not sex? Does that mean I should try to kissing Sesshoumaru-sama before I try…" she paused and looked down, "sex?"
Nishi nodded her head proudly.
Kagome and Sango had stopped bickering just in time to hear the end of the question. Kagome could take no more; she fell onto her side as a result of mental overload. Sango, who was also at her limit, couldn't hold in the laughter any longer.
"Is there something wrong with them? They're really weird." Rin said.
Nishi was to preoccupied with looking at Shippo to hear Rin's words. The moment that she had been waiting for had finally arrived. The men were finished talking, and Shippo was moving away from the group. Nishi took it as her cue to make a quick getaway. "Sorry, Rin-chan, I have to go. If you have more questions, you can ask me. I'll be wherever Shippo is."
Rin watched Nishi walk away. Taking a big swallow, she looked at her two remaining companions, who were still falling apart at the seams. "Should I leave too?"
"We really don't mean to laugh, Rin-chan," Sango apologized. "It's just that you have the most unimaginable relationship of all of us. It is difficult to imagine Sesshoumaru with anyone."
"Sango-chan!" Kagome gasped, looking upwards.
"I'm sorry, I can't dance around this. If Karen does have plans for her and Sesshoumaru, then there is no reason not to face it."
"But why is it so difficult to see me and Sesshoumaru-sama together?"
Kagome finally forced herself to sit up. "You are so innocent and cheerful. He's so cold and distant."
"He hurts." She said looking past them to see Sesshoumaru. He was sitting next to Jaken in the grass. His eyes were fixed on Inu Yasha and Miroku. Anxiously tracing her lower lip with a thumb that extended from her closed fist, Rin tried to explain her reasons. "I feel the hurt in his chest. It's like he can't breathe. But I…I can feel him breathe…when he holds me."
"Rin-chan," Sango whispered.
"Sesshoumaru actually holds you?" Kagome asked.
"He always holds me when I need him too. I can't sleep most nights unless he does. He doesn't like that my dreams scare me. I think he started holding me because he wanted to stop the dreams…but he feels different now."
Kagome thought about what she had seen in the energy that surrounded them. She didn't doubt what Rin was saying, but she was having trouble understanding how Rin was able to feel Sesshoumaru's emotions. As far as she knew, she was the only miko who could do anything like this. She had to know that she wasn't misinterpreting Rin, so she asked, "What do you mean by 'he feels different'?"
In a very soft voice, Rin looked at the ground and answered, "I can feel his pain. It's like having someone's hand on your chest, and they're holding you down. Only, it's his hand that's holding him down. I think he was trying to protect me by letting me sleep on his chest, but now…I think he holds me because he can't breathe until he does. And I can't breathe until he can."
Sango and Kagome both looked back at the tall youkai who silently sat brooding behind them.
"That is Sesshoumaru? I can't believe it," Sango said.
"I can only believe it, because I've seen it for myself. It's there in his youki. He wants to be near her, but he's fighting to keep her at a distance," Kagome commented.
"But why?" Rin asked. "Why is he fighting, Kagome-sama? I want to know why he does this. What made him this way?"
"I don't know, Rin-chan. I don't know him well enough to answer that question."
"Would Inu Yasha-sama know?"
Kagome shook her head and replied, "I doubt it. You should know how much Sesshoumaru hates Inu Yasha."
"But Sesshoumaru-sama doesn't hate him. It makes him sad when he's around Inu Yasha-sama, but Sesshoumaru-sama doesn't hate him."
"Kagome-chan, how does she know all of this? Aren't you the only miko who can bond with a youkai this way? She doesn't even know what sex is, but she sounds like you. You had to have sex with Inu Yasha before you could do this."
"Well, we had to be really close and touching. It was always sexual in some way, but maybe touching was enough. I don't understand parts of it now that I think about it. Maybe the fact that Sesshoumaru used the Tenseiga on Rin has something to do with it. I guess we'll have to see if Karen can explain it, when she explains everything else."
"Do you think he will listen to anything we just said?" Miroku asked as his eyes followed Shippo and Nishi into the woods.
"I don't know. If he wants to survive…he'll have to do something," Inu Yasha sighed. "Is Sesshoumaru still watching me with the eyes of death? I feel like a hole is being burned through my soul."
Miroku tilted his body slightly to see around Inu Yasha, and answered, "He hasn't changed since the last time you asked me."
"Feh, it figures. Man, what did I do to that guy? Come on…I'm not the one who picked a fight and lost." He grumbled and glanced over in Kagome's direction. He watched them for a moment before thinking aloud, "They look like they're having a deep discussion with Rin. I wonder what's up."
"My guess is that they are starting from the beginning," Miroku commented off handedly.
"Huh?"
"I doubt that Rin has any knowledge about sex. They are more than likely starting with the basics."
"Sex? Her?" Inu Yasha pointed in Rin's direction but kept his disbelieving eyes on Miroku. "Who would she be having sex with?"
"You are telling me that you can't see it in the way they act? Inu Yasha, you can't be that unobservant." Miroku sat in awe of the cluelessness as Inu Yasha blinked in at him. Rubbing at his forehead, he continued, "Alright, that hasn't changed. She would be having sex with the angry youkai that has been burning a hole 'through your soul' with his eyes."
Inu Yasha was suddenly picking at his ears and shaking his head. "I know I didn't just here you say that." He leaned his ear towards Miroku and asked, "Now tell me again, who's she going to have sex with?"
"Ses…shou…ma…ru," he said slowly, stressing each syllable.
Shippo paced as Nishi watched him. She had hoped that he would join her on the soft patch of grass. Instead he walked back and forth, biting his fingernails as he walked. She had opened her mouth to tell him to sit down, but he was suddenly lying on the ground in front of her.
"Shippo, are you alright?"
"Hehe," he said jokingly. Remaining on his stomach, he propped his head up with his hand. "I fell over my own foot. I feel so stupid."
"But you look really cute." She teased as she crawled towards him.
"Nishi," he said in a worried voice. He rolled over onto his back and started to push himself away from her. It was no use; she had his shoulders pinned to the ground. "Nishi, what are you doing?"
"What do you think I'm doing?" She giggled and lowered her face closer to his.
"Stop flirting with me. It always gets us in trouble."
"But they just told us that we had to. How can we get in trouble when everyone is telling us that it's ok?"
"That's not what they mean," he protested.
She threw her leg over his hip and straddled him. Shippo closed his eyes and began to squirm. "This isn't fair, Nishi!"
She smiled. "We were told that you need to feed. Denying yourself might hurt you. Now, didn't both Inu Yasha and Miroku just tell you to make up your mind?"
"Yes, but this is not going to help me make up my mind. Please, Nishi, get off!"
She stopped flirting and let go of his shoulders. The pain showed plainly on her face as she sat back on his hips. "Why don't you want me? Is it that difficult to pick me?"
"Why are you so willing, Nishi? I don't understand why you want me so much."