Chapter 7

Seishi spent a few days in bed, being cared for and weighted on by servants. Most of the servants seemed to be lesser dog demons… The only human in the whole place was Rin… Who spent almost the entire time Seishi was in bed, by her bedside.

Seishi had slept much of the first two days, but the later ones she was awake and only stayed in bed because the healers asked her to. During this time Seishi and Rin talked. Seishi told Rin stories about her travels and her home… which she rarely told anyone about… and Rin told her about her adventures with her Lord Sesshoumaru and Jaken. When they ran out of stories for the moment, Seishi started teaching Rin some games, which in turn Rin ran off and annoyed Jaken with, trying to get him to play them with her.

About the fifth day Seishi was allowed out of bed, only a red scare like patch on her chest and a line on her back being a sign that she had been injured, but that too would fade away to nothing in time. Rin wasted no time in giving her the grand tour of the palace. Though Seishi had a hard time enjoying it, as she was often distracted with fighting with the blue silk robe they have given her to wear while her clothes were being washed and mended. She didn't know about these kimonos… Seemed ever time she made a too sudden movement, the top would pop open on her. Rin tried to explain to her how to tie it properly, but she had yet to master the skill.

Five days after the incident with Craven, Sesshoumaru finally returned to his palace. It had taken him a while to finish of his business and now he looked forward to taking a hot bath and relaxing for a few days. As he stood to his courtyard walking towards the bathhouse, many of his servants stopped what they were doing and bowed as Sesshoumaru passed out of respect. He sent one of the servants to go tell Jaken to report to him immediately. As he neared to his bathhouse he heard childish yells coming from his backyard. He decided to go investigate before bathing.

Seishi could most around fine but she was still a bit sore, so she let Rin do most of running around and she watched and laughed with her. She had found a length of rope and cut it down and showed Rin how to jump rope, and taught her a skipping game. At the moment she had just finished teaching Rin a rhyme to sing while jumping rope, Seishi herself sitting down on a bench watching.

Sesshoumaru watched for a few minutes as Rin skipped rope and sang he rhyme. If there was one thing Rin had it was a beautiful voice. It was very melodious and she seemed to be born with a natural sense of pitch.

As soon as she was done Rin, looked over and saw Sesshoumaru had returned. "Sesshoumaru-sama!" Rin ran over and hugged the leg of one of her favorite persons in the world. Then she started talking a mile a minute. "Welcome home Sesshoumaru-sama. Rin and Seishi-sama were just playing jumping rope. Seishi-sama showed Rin all kinds of fun games!"

Sesshoumaru patted Rin's head in greeting and then looked over at Seishi who was sitting on a bench.

Seishi drew herself to her feet and moved over… another thing she didn't like about the kimono was that it didn't let you walk very widely… She moved like she had never been injured in the first place, smooth, fluid, gracefully… though that was probably partly because she didn't want to show any weakness while Sesshoumaru was around. "So you finally came home… Then I suppose now that I don't have to worry about Rin being left in the care of the blundering toad I should be on my way…"

Rin glanced over at Seishi then ran over to her, "No, no Seishi-sama don't leave. Rin likes having you here. You so much more fun to play with then Jaken-sama. Please stay." Sesshoumaru merely stared at Seishi. Either way he really didn't care if she stayed or not. He turned and started walking towards the baths.

Seishi frowned and knelled down, "Rin-chan…" she knew the girl wasn't trying to guilt trip her on purpose… but she was sure good at it… "I don't belong here, and some don't exactly make me feel welcomed…" meaning Sesshoumaru and Jaken, "I know you want me to stay, but I don't think that is a mutual feeling all around, so it's best I be on my way."

Tears began to well up in Rin's eyes at the prospect of losing the first willing playmate she'd had in ages, "but... Rin wants you to stay…" she sniffed.

Seishi groaned inward, "Don't cry Rin-chan…" sighed and pulled her over and hugged her, "I'm sorry… How about this, I'll stay a little longer, then when you leave with your Lord Sesshoumaru, I'll leave then, ok?"

Rin nodded vigorously, as long as it meant Seishi would be staying longer, "Hai, thank you Seishi-sama," she said giving Seishi one of her biggest smiles.

Seishi sighed, 'curse her for being so damned cute...', "Yeah, yeah... Just no more tears."

Rin nodded and wiped her eyes. Jaken snorted from a distance, "What is it with these dogs anyway? Going all mushy over one little human, hmph!"

Seishi narrowed her eyes, over hearing Jaken, "You have something to say, toad?"

Jaken's eyes went a little wide, "Oh uhh nothing at all... excuse me..." he scurried off to go give his report to Sesshoumaru.

Seishi just rolled her eyes and stood up, "How about I teach you another rhyme, Rin-chan?"

That night Sesshoumaru walked through his palace's halls heading towards Rin's room. It was part of his nightly ritual to check upon the little girl just for his own peace of mind. As he walked down the hall, Seishi slipped out of Rin's room, quietly sliding the door shut. The she dog glanced down at him as she stepped away from the door, "She's already asleep… I think she wore herself out playing jump rope… Surprisingly since I have never met a pup with as much energy as she has…"

Sesshoumaru's ears could pick up the sound of Rin's breathing. It was steady and told him that she was indeed sleeping peacefully. He then turned his attention to Seishi, a former enemy turned houseguest, "Rin is quite attached to you. Right after the first time she meet you, she brings you up repeatedly."

Seishi actually gave a genuine smile, "She's a sweet girl. Maybe you should adopt another so she has a playmate… From what I understand, the toad doesn't like to join her games… An parish the thought of Great Lord Sesshoumaru playing with a child…" that last part was a bit teasing but it wasn't full of the sauciness from before… truth be told, Seishi was exhausted from trying to keep up with Rin, and she was still healing after all, so she didn't have the extra energy to annoying Sesshoumaru tonight.

Sesshoumaru overlooked Seishi's sass, as he really didn't feel like fighting with her yet again, not to mention it would mean damaging his home. "I do not readily allow humans to enter my home. Rin is a special case. She seems very happy to have you here, you may stay for as long as you wish, provided you do not cause any trouble."

"Me? Cause trouble? Now really Lord Sesshoumaru…" she gave a slightly weaker smile… she was feeling very drained… she must have over did it her first day out of bed. "Anyway… I think I shell retire for the night as well…" she started past him… but she didn't get two steps before her sense of balance went off, dizziness hitting her, and she ended up going off course and falling.

Sesshoumaru could tell from the awkwardness to her step that she was going to fall. His demonic reflexes aided him reaching out and catching her before she hit the ground.

For a few seconds she didn't know what happened, but then her regained her focus and blinked at finding herself with Sesshoumaru holding her up. Now this was awkward… She glanced up at him then away, moving to stand on her own. "Sorry… I must have overexerted myself today…" She didn't know why she felt she had to explain herself. It was rather embarrassing to have to be caught by someone because you couldn't stand on your own feet… and she hated showing weakness, especially in front of Sesshoumaru.

Sesshoumaru nodded and let her stand under her own power, "Get some rest." With that he went on his way to tend to his other errands. With a sigh, Seishi continued down the hall to the room she was being allowed to use. How did things go from her and Sesshoumaru butting heads to her staying in his palace? Rin, that's what… it if wasn't for the little girl… sigh…

To Be Continued...