Author's note: Geez… I haven't updated the story for like one month… Sorry about that… but looks like not much people wanted to read anyway… that's so hurtful (T.T) I guess I update more and see how it become of it… I hope I don't have to delete it… I would hate to do that… After all, I did work hard for it…
The Obscure Truth
Chapter 4
Hidden Feelings
The morning sun dyed the land and the castle into orange color. Birds were chirping and flying happily in the clear blue sky. Trees were green, air was fresh, and the scents of the flowers were pleasant. However, such a peaceful atmosphere could not change the darkness in the castle of Lord Sesshoumaru.
Sesshoumaru woke up in his own bed room. No sun light was able to penetrate through the window. Everything, the wall, the ceiling, the floor, and even the bed, were the color of ebony. It was ironic that Sesshoumaru's hair was pure white, and he wore a white outfit.
An excruciating headache seized Sesshoumaru. He frowned and used his hands to massage his forehead. 'What the hell happened to me?' Sesshoumaru thought. The last thing he remembered was on the dinner, it was Rin's eighteenth birthday. Everything was going smoothly until that idiotic dog demon and the other fat demon interrupted the dinner with the discussions of mating Rin. 'But what exactly happened after the dinner? The last thing I remembered was…' Sesshoumaru thought…
(flashback)
Rin's tears finally fall down her cheeks, which now became colorless and very pale. Every bits of happiness and cheerfulness vanished from her black eyes. She slammed the table lightly and suddenly stood up. "I'm not going to accept that!" She yelled, and than she ran down the steps towards the entrance of the lobby.
"Stop, Rin! Where do you think you are going? You are not allowed to leave until the end of the dinner." Sesshoumaru ordered. Although his voice may be emotionless, his golden eyes became worried. He saw Rin's tears and the disappointment in her eyes. "I need to talk to you after the dinner."
But Rin shook her head as she ran towards the entrance. "Jaken, go look after Rin." Sesshoumaru ordered. He couldn't leave the dinner right now. He must at least escort all these demons out of his castle. He didn't want any incident similar to this morning's incident happening in his castle because of the demon guests.
"Yes, my lord." Jaken said. He quickly stood up and then grabbed his staff. Then, he trotted after Rin out of the lobby.
"This will be the last dish. After you finish, the dinner is over. Everyone shall leave my castle at once after the dinner." Sesshoumaru said coldly, still staring at the two trouble-making demons. He took up the cup of wine and drank it swiftly. He didn't have the mood for anything right now; hence he didn't notice a pair of white eyes staring at him with a large, evil grin on his face after the white eyes saw Sesshoumaru drank the cup of wine…
(end of flashback)
'Rin was crying, she ran out… I drank the cup of wine, and the other demons left… then… what happened?' Sesshoumaru tried very hard to think of what happened next, but to his surprise, his memory was as blank as a white paper! Sesshoumaru got off of his black bed with frustration. "How can my memory be blank? I don't even remember how I got back to my bedroom! I have never been like this before!" Sesshoumaru's veins started popping on his forehead. It was bad enough that he let Rin ran away crying, now he was losing his memory?
"Jaken!" Sesshoumaru shouted. His face returned stoically the moment Jaken came running into the room. No emotion was shown so others could never guess what he was thinking. It was necessary to become dominant in a society of power-hungry demon after all, so that no one could guess what his next move might be.
"Yes, my lord." The green toad-looking demon bowed in front of Sesshoumaru. Jaken knew Sesshoumaru probably had some questions he wanted to ask, especially those that concerned Rin. "What is it, lord Sesshoumaru?" Jaken asked politely.
"What happened to Rin? Did you bring her back as I've ordered you to?" Sesshoumaru said with a cold eyes. His honey-colored eyes staring coldly at Jaken. 'Rin better be back in the castle' he thought. However, from Jaken's scared expression and slightly shaken body, Rin was probably lost somewhere. Jaken was quiet, he just bowed there, without saying a word. A small fire sparkled in Sesshoumaru's honey eyes, turning them into the color of crimson.
"Where is she?" Sesshoumaru said through gritted teeth. Jaken was still not answering. Sesshoumaru cracked his knuckles and with a swift move, picked Jaken up by his collar. 'I should have gone after her myself! Useless Jaken!' He thought furiously.
"I'm sorry, lord Sesshoumaru! Please don't hurt me! Rin has grown up now and she runs so much faster than me now! I'm sorry!" Jaken was trembling, afraid that Sesshoumaru might kill him out of rage. Who knows what Sesshoumaru might do? After all, he did tested his Tensaiga on Jaken! That was something Jaken could never forget!
Finally able to control his rage, Sesshoumaru put Jaken down. 'What is wrong with me, losing my temper like this? This wasn't like me at all!' Sesshoumaru frowned at himself for showing off a little too much emotion, anger, in front of Jaken. He used to be able to control his emotion at all time, and he was proud of it. But when it comes to Rin, he was very likely to lose control of himself.
"So Rin is no longer in the castle? Hmm… Jaken, go find Rin. Take Ah and Un with you." Sesshoumaru returned to his calm voice, ordering Jaken like it was only a small mission. "And one more thing. Do you remember what happened after the dinner for Rin's birthday?" Sesshoumaru asked. He must find out what happened that night.
"Come to think of it… no… all I remember was that the dog demon guests left. And I just woke up like two minutes ago…" Jaken answered. He started pondering on what exactly happened, but nothing came to him. He doesn't seemed to have any memory of that night…
"I see. Now go. Find Rin as soon as possible." Sesshoumaru re-stated his order, emotionless of course. Jaken took the order, but mumbled something on his way out. "Why do I have to do all the hard work? I don't have a good sense of smell like lord Sesshoumaru… why don't he go find her himself? Why do I have to go?" Jaken mumbled and whined on his way out.
"Did I hear complaints?" Sesshoumaru asked coldly. His sense of hearing was very keen. Jaken didn't response, he just ran quickly out of the bedroom, as if some scary monsters were behind him, about to devour him completely. Sesshoumaru smirked.
'I better go find her. Jaken couldn't complete one simple mission. Hmph. But it was good to keep him busy for a while.' Sesshoumaru thought. He jumped out of his window and landed on the garden of the castle. It was the fastest way out of the complicated castle anyway. He had no mood of going through that dark and twisted hallway to leave the castle right now. Rin was more important. There could be demons everywhere in the forests waiting to devour Rin.
Sesshoumaru jumped swiftly to the top of the trees and hopped to the next trees speedily. He started sniffing for the scent of Rin…
Two wolf demons were pulling and pushing in the forest; they seemed to be arguing about something. One wolf demon had black long hair tied in the back of his head into a pony tail. His cerulean eyes looked very astute and keen. He had an annoy expression on his face and tried to push the other wolf demon away from him. His fur was the color of dark brown, and the fur seemed very soft.
"Kouga! You can't go! You promised that you are going to be my mate!" Ayame shouted. She had a pair of emerald eyes and auburn hair tied into two pony tail on each side of her head. She was very cute and energetic, but her expression showed her anger. She was pulling Kouga's right hand, refused to let him go no matter how hard he tried to lose her hands.
"Ayame!" Kouga shouted angrily. "Let go of me! I'm going to see Kagome now! I haven't seen her in ages!" Kouga tried to get rid of Ayame, but she kept on following him no matter where he went. It was true though, Kouga haven't seen Kagome since Naraku was beaten, which was at least seven or eight years ago… 'I shouldn't let her go that time. She's probably with Inuyasha after all these years without me!' Kouga thought a bitangrily, yet was he really that serious about Kagome? Perhaps. Perhaps not.
"But you promised me to marry me! You are mine! I don't allow you to see that Kagome girl!" Ayame yelled angrily. 'After all these years, he still likes Kagome? Why? What is so good about her? I'm pretty too, why doesn't he take me seriously?' Ayame was furious, but some tears swelled up her eyes because of anger and a little bit of sorrow. The world around her became blurry as her eyes were full of tears. She didn't want to cry. She promised herself that she would never let go of Kouga, and would keep on trying until one day, he realizes how good she is. But he never seemed to going to open up to her. Pain started stabbing Ayame's heart, but she still held on tightly of Kouga's arm, refusing to let go.
"Stop being so unreasonable! I'm warning you, Ayame, don't make me hit you!" Kouga's eyes were turning red as rage almost submerged his conscience. Ayame didn't seem to hear Kouga, she just hugged onto his arms even tighter. "Don't push me!" Kouga yelled with annoyance. Not that he really hated Ayame, but he just found her to be annoying, always following him around.
"If you dare hit me, Kouga, I'll…" Ayame shouted, she was also angry that Kouga treated her badly over all these years. Suddenly, she was pushed with such a force that she was being thrown onto the ground. Ayame sat there, eyes widened with disbelief. Even though Kouga may yell at her very often, never had he pushed her so that she fell onto the ground with a light thud. Pushing her this way was as bad as hitting her!
"I'm going to see Kagome. No one is stopping me. Not even you." Kouga said coldly. He emphasized the word 'you,' referring to Ayame. Ayame was still sitting on the grass, unable to move. Tears were threatening to drop out of her emerald eyes, but she held the tears in. She didn't want to show how weak her heart really was.
"But… you promised me…" Ayame whispered, but was cut off by Kouga harshly. "I told you before, that was only a joke when I saved you in your childhood. Don't be so naïve. Do you know how annoying it was to deal with you day after day? Can't you tell I was only teasing you when I saved you?" He said cruelly, trying to get her to give up on him. "I'm leaving." With that sentence, he left Ayame alone in the forest. He ran into the distant like wind blowing past, disappearing into the forest very soon.
Ayame sat there, emerald eyes following him until she could no longer see him. Tears started dropping down her face. "That was so… hurtful, Kouga." She whispered. "Am I that annoying to you? To the point that you can no longer stand me being around you? This is the first time you left me alone in the forest…" Ayame choked on her tears. She felt so weak, as if all her energy was drained from her body. "Kagome's heart belonged to Inuyasha from the very beginning. That's not going to change. Why do you still insist on going after her?" Ayame wondered.
The birds were singing in the forests; squirrels were playing hide-and-seek on the trees; flowers were beautiful and colorful; the sky was clear and blue, with white clouds the shape of flowers and whatever people imagined them to be; and the fresh morning air was soothing. But, the peaceful mood could not affect Ayame. Everything wonderful around her seemed to be teasing her, teasing that Kouga left her alone. Ayame just sat on the green grass, letting the tears wash her face…
Sesshoumaru was sitting under a tree in the forest. This was the place where he sat after the battle with Inuyasha over the sword Tetsusaiga. He was almost killed during that battle, but Tensaiga saved him despite how much he hated that useless sword. He was wounded badly and lay under this tree, resting. It was also under this tree that little Rin tried to bring him food. Rin, she was only seven years old during that time. He even tried to scare Rin away, as he still despised humans at that time, perhaps he still despise human today, but not Rin.
Sesshoumaru was frustrated because he couldn't find even the slightest scent of Rin. He had been searching for her around the forest near the castle. Without any result, he went further. He was now pretty close to the forest near the village his half-brother Inuyasha lived. But to no avail, there was no sign and scent of Rin. It was as if some barriers were blocking the scent of her, trying to conceal her from him. But it didn't make sense at all. Who would do such a thing? Who would want to hide Rin from him? And who could have such a power to do so?
There seemed to be nothing he could do, so he decided to take a rest. His feet seemed to have a mind of its own, taking him under this tree. As Sesshoumaru sat there, memories began to sweep into his mind like waves…
Even though he refused the food Rin brought to him that day, but he still used his Tensaiga to save her from the wolf demons that killed her. He even allowed her to follow him anywhere. He protected her, such as the time he left her near the river and went to the Panther demon castle alone with Jaken. He left her there to keep her save, since he knew a big battle was waiting for him at the Panther demon castle. Then, after Rin was abducted by Naraku, he went and saved her. It was Rin who softened his heart, whichused to befull of hatred.
However, during that time, Rin was like a little sister to him. Even though he didn't talk much to her, but having her around lightened his mood. She was so innocent and so cheerful, no one could have the determination to hurt such a cute little girl, not even him, the heartless Sesshoumaru. He took her back to his castle after Naraku was defeated, and kept her there, protecting her from the dangerous world. He didn't even allow humans to go near her, for humans had treacherous and greedy hearts, and he didn't want them to take Rin away from him.
But when exactly did his feelings started to change about Rin? Sesshoumaru didn't remember. On their journey, he also met two other women who claimed to love him, Sara and Kagura. Sara was the girl that saw him in the forest after his left arm was cut off by Inuyasha in their father's tomb. He had absolutely no feelings for her, perhaps a bit of pity that she would even like him. Kagura was more like a not-so-close friend. It was very obvious that she had feelings for him, but it was only one-sided. She dropped by sometimes and told her some information, and that was all. Even when her life-less body flow down the river when she attacked the castle where Naraku's baby, or his heart, was, he never really intended to save her. He only picked her up from the river because Rin and Jaken also got washed away trying to help Kagura. When Kagura was about to die, he only went and tried to save her as a way to pay her for what she had done for him. But of course, hedidn't love her.
As Rin became more and more beautiful each time he went back to the castle, his feelings began to change. He no longer saw her as just a little girl, a little sister. However, he never admitted that to her. He even tried to stay away from her as much as possible. It was forbidden for a demon to mate a lowly human. He became more and more distant from Rin, but he still cared for her.
The disappointed and heart-broken face that Rin had that night on the dinner greatly stung his heart, but he refused to show her or the guests his feelings. He knew Rin probably misunderstood the things he said that night. There was no way he was going to give her away to some demons, never. But at the same time, Sesshoumaru was still a bit indecisive about what he was going to do with Rin. He cared for her, and perhaps liked her, that he could no longer deny after all these years, but that was irrelevant. The most important thing was that he's the lord of the demons, and Rin was merely a human. Another problem was that he could live a long life, but Rin would age and then die. He still remembered the shock when Rin asked him, "will you remember me after I die?". He told her not to be stupid, but the truth was, he didn't want to answer her question. He didn't want to face that question. He also didn't want to be weak, since every man who had love in the heart was bound to suffer and become weak. His enemy would even target Rin if they knew he had this tiny feeling for her.
Sesshoumaru's golden eyes were fixed on the pink flower near him. Rin's smile was as soft as that pink flower. "Rin…" Sesshoumaru mumbled her name without realizing it. He was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't realize someone was getting near him…
Ayame had finally found the strength and got up from the ground. She had been wondering around in the forest, and she seemed to be lost. That was also when she spotted something white and fluffy behind a tree. She got a little closer, and heard that 'thing' mumbled something about 'Rin'… 'Who is that behind the tree? And what is a 'Rin'? A person or an object?' Ayame wondered. She seemed to felt a little better from the bickering with Kouga earlier, and she desperately needed to focus on something to forget those hurtful words blurted out of Kouga's mouth.
Just when she was about to take a look at the person or demon behind the tree, that person also sensed her. Sesshoumaru's eyes immediately became alert, and narrowed his eyes. He moved swiftly and pressed on the 'enemy,' well he considered every human or demon as his enemy, to the ground. The long and sharp poisonous nails were right on top of the 'enemy's' neck, about to pierce through it.
Ayame didn't even know what happened, and the next thing she knew was a white fluffy thing on top of her, and a pair of icy golden eyes staring at her, and of course the scary nails threatening to take her life away from her! "Ah" Ayame cried. She almost had a heart attack. When she finally focused her vision and saw that white fluffy stuff was the famous Sesshoumaru, she just stared at him stupidly with mouth opened.
"Who are you and why are you here?" Sesshoumaru asked coldly. He was too careless to allow someone to go so near him. He hated her for seeing the weak side he never showed anyone, probably not even Rin. This wolf demon had seen his faltering self, and she probably heard he was mumbling about Rin.
"I'm… I'm… Ayame." Ayame stuttered. Her emerald eyes were now staring at the poisonous claws Sesshoumaru put near her throat. "Can you please… remove your claws… please?" Ayame said. She didn't want to get kill in the forest. She still had to go find Kouga. Today must be her unlucky day, being dumped by Kouga and almost being killed by the famous cruel Sesshoumaru, who could kill without even blinking his eyes.
Sesshoumaru observed her for a while, and decided to let her go. "You better not say a word about seeing me here in the forest. Otherwise I'll have to hunt you down." Sesshoumaru warned. Then, he got off her and let her go.
Ayame stood up, anger started to climb up her face. 'Sesshoumaru was so rude!' she thought silently. Just to be save, she didn't start a fight with Sesshoumaru, for she knew how powerful the Lord of the Western Land was. It would be stupid to make him angry. Thus, Ayame just walked away from Sesshoumaru, on her quest to find Kouga again…
Sesshoumaru didn't really pay attention to where Ayame went. He looked up at the sky, and saw that the sun was about to set. The sky was the color of orange and yellow, very beautiful. He should also go back to the castle now. He was a little tired for looking for Rin all day. 'Rin, where are you?' Sesshoumaru thought. He wasn't about to give up hopes of finding her, not yet…
In the village, kids were playing near the river. Adults were home cooking dinner. The sun was setting, and the view was fantastically beautiful. But, Inuyasha was pissed off now. Kagome didn't talk to him since yesterday. For the whole day today, she just ignored him, even when he tried to talk to her and ask her what exactly was she so mad at him for. But there was something else in her eyes besides anger. There seemed to be disappointment and pain in her eyes, but why? Inuyasha had been thinking about that ever since yesterday when he got home, but still couldn't figure it out. He had no idea that Kagome saw Kikyou and him in the forest several days ago. He also wasn't planning on telling her, since that would probably upset her.
Just when he was pissed off this afternoon, that troublesome Kouga dropped by. 'Kouga was so annoying! Couldn't he tell that Kagome's heart belonged to me?' Inuyasha thought irritated. Even more frustrating to Inuyasha was that Kagome talked to Kouga happily, while ignoring him for two days! How could she do such a thing? But luckily, Kouga left when the sun was about to set. He seemed to be worried about Ayame, since she didn't come with him. Kouga mumbled something like "Where the hell is Ayame?" and then he ran off, after saying goodbye to Kagome of course.
Anyway, Kagome was still not talking to him. She chatted happily with everyone, Sango, Miroku, Shippou, and Kaede. That definitely pissed Inuyasha off even more. Just when Inuyasha was sitting on top of the roof whining about Kagome's bad attitude, he heard Sango yelled out to the others from the room they put Rin in. Kagome and Miroku rushed into the room, and Inuyasha jumped off the roof, wondering what happened to that girl Rin.
In the room, Rin had opened her eyes. She saw several figures towering around her, but her vision was still blurry. She tried to focus on her views, and finally able to see clearly who were around her. 'They seemed so familiar…' Rin thought, a bit confuse of where she was. She tried to move, but her whole body started to hurt, like someone had beaten her up badly or something. "Hmm…" Rin whimpered as more pain started to sting her shoulder. She frowned at the excruciating pain she felt.
"Don't move! You're wounded badly!" Kagome immediately stabled her shoulders, preventing Rin to move. "We found you in the forest, do you remember what happened?" Sango asked. Rin didn't answer them. She looked at them confusedly, trying to remember where had she seen them before.
"Have I… had I seen y-you before?" Rin asked, her voice sounded a bit coarse. Sango immediately poured a cup of water and gave it to Rin. Kagome looked really worried about Rin. Before she could say anything, Rin exclaimed, "Kagome, right? You're Inu-" Just when she was about to say Inuyasha's name, the horrible memory of that dark room in that moonless night rushed into her mind… Those memories were horrifying…
(flashback)
She realized that she awoke in a dark room. There was only one window. She tried to make out what was in the room, but it was too dark. There was no moon in the sky, and hence no moonlight to illuminate the room. She was a little afraid of the darkness. She didn't like the darkness because she couldn't see anything. She fumbled around the room for a few seconds, then stopped immediately out of fear. She heard panting!
"Lord Sesshoumaru! Help me! Don't leave me in the dark!" More tears flowed out of her eyes again. She could hear the panting getting louder and louder, indicating that the 'thing', whatever it is, a human, a demon, or a ghost, was coming closer and closer to her.
Suddenly, a creature grabbed her wrists and threw her onto the floor. "Ouch…" Rin mumbled. She was now a bit tired from all those pounding and screaming. "Let me go… please…" Rin was pleading the creature, even though she couldn't see who or what that creature was. The creature toppled on top of Rin. Now she was really trapped. Rin pounded on the creature's chest hard and she kicked the creature. But her struggle was only futile. All she heard was the heavy panting of the creature, and all she could do now was sob.
Zizz… Rin's kimono was being torn into pieces. Rin struggled harder and screamed harder. "Lord Sesshoumaru! H-help me… Please…" Her voice was mixed with her sobbing. Tears of fear and hopeless ran down her pale cheeks.
(end of flashback)
Rin's eyes widened in fear. She stopped herself from remembering the rest of the thing. Tears began streaming down her pale cheeks. She used her hands to cover her ears, as the panting sound of 'him' was replaying again and again in her ears. "Rin! What's wrong?" Kagome and Sango asked. They were frightened by Rin's sudden reaction. "Don't touch me! Let go of me!" Rin started yelling and crying. She didn't hear or see the worried faces of Kagome, Sango, and Miroku. She just kept on repeating the same thing, "Help me, Lord Sesshoumaru! Don't leave me!"
In the middle of the chaos, Inuyasha came in. "What's going on here?" He heard the noises even outside of the house! Rin spotted Inuyasha, she immediately freaked out. When Inuyasha was walking closer to the bed, Rin started yelling again, "Don't come close! Get away from me!" More tears were rolling down her face. "What's her problem?" Inuyasha asked, raising his eyebrows.
"Inuyasha, I think you should go out for now. She seemed to be afraid of you." Miroku told Inuyasha calmly after his observation. Inuyasha frowned at his statement.
"Why do I have to go out? She seemed like she's losing her mind!" Inuyasha said.
"Inuyasha, please, just go out for now." Sango said, while trying to calm Rin down with Kagome. Inuyasha looked at the obviously frightened Rin, and decided perhaps he should go out for now.
"Fine. But I say the fastest way to calm her down would be to knock her out first." After the suggestion, Inuyasha looked at Kagome, and then went out of the room.
"Inuyasha is right. There is not way to calm her down now." Miroku said.
"Miroku! How could you say that?" Kagome glared at Miroku, but it was too late. Miroku had already knocked Rin out. All the shouting and crying stopped instantly after Rin fell into unconsciousness. Sango pulled the sheets up to Rin's chin, and used the handkerchief to wipe the cold sweats on Rin's forehead.
"Poor Rin… What happened to her to make her act so hysterically?" Kagome asked. Her eyes full of pity for Rin. She was so cute and cheerful years ago when they saw her. What could have happened to change her?
"We don't know… Perhaps after she recovered from her wounds, and could face the horrors she had been through, then she might be able to tell us what happened." Miroku said. He was also frowning and worried about Rin. Such an innocent little girl they saw was changed, but why?
As the puzzling questions revolved in everyone's mind, they silently went out the room, to let Rin rest some more…
Author's note: Okay, this chapter took me long enough to finish! More puzzling questions, I know, I'm evil, tee hee. What happened to Rin that night she ran away? Why was she so terrified at Inuyasha? And who exactly was that 'person' in the dark room? And will Kouga end up with Ayame? Hee hee… more questions that must be answer throughout the story. Please, I need more reviews to give me some energy to write the story! Please look at readers with anime puppy-dog eyes…
P.S. Hate school! School is starting tomorrow (T.T) …