Disclaimer: I think we've established the fact that I DON'T OWN INUYASHA. GET IT THROUGH YOUR THICK HEAD. DON'T MIND THE CAPSLOCK. ONE TIME I WAS ON MSN AND THE CAPSLOCK WAS STILL ON AND I KEPT TALKING TO MY FRIEND LIKE THIS AND SHE THOUGHT I WAS YELLING AT HER. NEXT DAY AT SCHOOL SHE IGNORED ME, QUITE STUPID IF YOU ASK ME. I MEAN HONESTLY, IT'S NOT LIKE AS IF I HAD… anyway, I'll stop this pointless and false rant. Read on :)

A Cool Kind Of Punishment

- Chapter Six : Hunting

Sesshoumaru walked into his room, having just had dinner with that ignoramus of a brother. His 'mother' and father out of Sydney for the while, he had freely thrown insults at Inuyasha.

Sesshoumaru leaned back against his closed bedroom door. He began to pace, before taking a book from his shelf and settling onto his king-size to start enjoying it. Barely reading past the first sentence, Sesshoumaru threw the book onto the floor and put his hands behind his head.

Rin.

What an enigma. Why exactly did he think of her so much? Why did he enjoy taunting her so much? Why did he insist on pointing out that she should wear Victoria's Secret lingerie? After all, it would do justice to those lovely proportionate curves of hers…

A scowl came over the attractive teenagers face. More like non-existent curves. He had seen – and been with – much better…

But that cute pout did make up for it…

Sighing in annoyance, Sesshoumaru stood up and took off his black singlet to ready himself for sleep. As his hands slipped towards the zipper of his jeans –

THUMP.

What was that?

A frown gracing his beautiful facial features, he walked to his window, opened it and looked out.

Immediately Sesshoumaru ran for the front door.

Dear Diary,

I remember when I was a little girl, whenever I was hurt, someone would always pick me up and tell me I would be all right. Even after I was orphaned. Especially after I was orphaned because all the other children felt that me having no parents gave them grounds to tease me. Kick me. Push me to the ground.

And every single time, an adult would pick me up, put a band-aid on my cuts and say that I'd be all right.

It was either "ignore the child" or "pay attention to the child's needs… and ignore the child". All I needed was for someone to tell me the truth. Is that so bad of me? To expect just the truth?

Eventually, I got just that.

In the hospital where my mother was dying. I was outside waiting for my dad to come out. While I waited (and waited and waited…) I walked to and fro, finally tripping over. One of the deeper cuts on my legs opened up and the blood ran down the rest of my thigh, my knee and my shins.

I cried. I didn't cry because it hurt. I cried because I thought this was how it was going to be. Me going to the hospital everyday before coming home in the late after noon, only to be picked on by other kids. Then me going to sleep under the covers before whatever liquid poison my father had decided to drink that night causes him to cry out in the middle of the night before morning comes, and the cycle repeats itself. I cried because I was scared. I cried because all I wanted was truth, and all I needed was love.

Somebody pulled me up, cleaned the cut and put a large band-aid on it. All the way through, I did not pause in my silent crying to look at my carer.

"I just wanted to test my skills 1 as a doctor. Whatever hand you are dealt in life, you must make do with"

My crying stopped as my eyes widened at the truth of his words. The TRUTH of it all.

I looked up, and I instantly fell in love with his golden eyes…

I have not seen that boy ever since. The boy who had given me the one thing I had wanted in life. The truth.

As I stepped out, my eyes narrowed in the brilliance of Sun's dying rays. I stopped for a few minutes just to stare, before I went on my way. In less than a few minutes, the dark had settled all around and goose bumps had begun to appear on my upper forearms. Rubbing my arms, I cursed myself for wearing something sleeveless, although I knew I had worn it so that I could get around a lot better.

Was I getting second thoughts about this? Was I trying to make up an excuse to go back to my home?

I increased my pace. Better to get this over and done with.

Finally, after what seemed like forever arguing with my conscience, I turned into the road that had the Izuki Estate.

I checked my digital camera, tape recorder and made sure that my keys were secure in my pocket. Time check: 7pm.

Taking a deep breath I set one foot then snatched it back. My breath hitched in my throat, I cursed myself. Why the hell was I wearing a whiteE top? I might as well wear something fluoro and stick a sign on my back saying 'feel free to shoot me'. Why the hell was I even doing this? Was it worth it?

My mind resolved itself. Of course it was! Only less than a week ago I had said that he was an asshole and that I wanted to teach him a lesson.

With a determination unmatched (don't you think that sounds so poetic? I'm sure Ms. Ruskit will appreciate my efforts at language) I silently ran behind the closest tree with a good viewpoint and peeked out. From here, I could see that the bottom story lights were on.

From the stories of girls that have supposedly been in the Ice Prince's arms, heart and home, his room is on the top floor. These stories aren't exactly credible considering that a lot of other girls have claimed to be in his arms, heart and home. I mean, come on, we're talking about the Ice Prince here, does he even have a heart?

Well there was only one way to find out. Find out about his room being on the top floor, that is. Not about him having a heart.

Peeking around the trunk of the tree once more for anyone wondering about, I climbed it to get over the closed gate and let go of the branch, landing on the ground softly. I silently ran to the biggest tree, which coincidentally also happened to be the closest tree. Climbing my way over the chunky roots, I looked into the light of the bottom floor, holding onto the large trunk so I wouldn't fall over.

I saw Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru, on either end of a long table. Although the Ice Prince was neatly cutting up his steak, his eyes held mirth. I looked to the other end of the table where Inuyasha was glaring at Sesshoumaru, quickly turning red in the face. The Ice Prince spoke once again before throwing his napkin onto the table and walking out of the room. As the door closed, the Ice Prince's little brother bared his teeth and muttered something to his plate of food. A short, old man, his wrinkly skin almost green, scuttled to clean up Sesshoumaru's end of the table before disappearing.

Realizing that I ought to follow Sesshoumaru, I guessed that he must have gone upstairs. Looking up, I spotted a low, thick branch, and other thick ones above it.

My Guardian Angel may mock me, but he or she definitely makes up for it.

I climbed up quite a few branches, the smaller twigs snagging on my clothes. Settling myself onto a thick branch at the top story, I blinked as a light came on. Careful to hide myself behind the leaves of the tree, I leaned out to see from where the light was coming from.

Sesshoumaru was leaning against his door. When he opened his eyes, I quickly ducked behind more leaves, hoping he didn't hear the rustling but he didn't even look out the window. He started walking from one side of the room to the other, unconsciously pulling his long fingers through his strange, white, long hair…

Judging from the way he familiarly took a book out from a bookcase and slammed himself onto the king-size bed (damn, rich bi-! I mean, I'm a serial toss-turner and I only get a queen-size! Of course, that may have something to do with the fact my room isn't big enough for a king-size…), I'd say this was definitely his room. Either that or he was planning to muss up his brother's bed or something.

I looked on as he threw the book down. I glanced at the cover – 'Sinner'. Oh wow, that was a really good book. At least we know he didn't buy his way into Advanced English. He stood up and took off his black singlet… revealing a toned body. Every movement he made was like as if he were posing for a camera, like as if he were a model… argh! It would do me no good to drool over a good specimen of the male body. Especially if it belongs to the Ice Prince. Not that I even wanted to drool over his body.

Just clearing up misapprehensions, is all. I am not trying to convince myself that the Ice Prince is just that, an Ice Prince. Oh Guardian Angel, please deliver me from my over-active hormones!

My mouth dropped open as Sesshoumaru's hands dropped towards the opening of his jeans.

Oh. My. God.

THIS IS LIKE A PRIVATE HENS NIGHT! Err… sorry about that.

Originally, all I had planned to do was steal a pair of his undies and either a- sell it to Kagura, making a profit and listening to the school talk about how she and him were now an 'item' or b- say that Sesshoumaru gave me a one-on-one show.

But somehow I feel taking a picture of The Ice Prince in his Calvin Klein (I'm only guessing…) boxers (it COULD be briefs!) sounds oh-so-much-more-humiliating for him. I could a- make copies of the pictures and stick 'em all over the school walls, b- make copies of the picture and sell them to whomever wants them or c- blackmail him. Ooh blackmail… drool, drool.

I took my hands off the branch, fussing with my camera, better be quick – no flash. The band that held my camera around my neck caught in a twig and I tugged at it, desperately. I finally pulled it free, much to my relief, but the force I used set me off balance and I slipped off the branch…

I can't breathe.

I opened my eyes.

Why couldn't I breathe?

I moved my head… and found that I had been sleeping with my face down in the pillow. Very smart, Rin-Poo. Yawning, I turned over and noticed that I… wasn't in my room. I sniffed. The pillow smelled distinctly… man-like. Was I in my dad's room? Wait, why would I be in my dad's room? Last thing I remember was being in a tree with my camera…

Shit!

Was I in the hospital? I tried turning around but my back killed. My eyes widened. Did I rupture my spleen or anything? Of course, I had trained myself never to panic when I started to panic. I took in a deep breath and flexed my fingers. OK, at least I wasn't paralyzed or anything. Twisting my arm, my fingers pushed away my hair – it must have come out in the fall – I strained to touch my back when a hand clamped around my wrist.

"Don't touch, it's still bleeding" I looked up and saw Sesshoumaru. I groaned and buried my face into his pillow. What had I gotten myself into? I should have charged Kagura more than $250! I closed my eyes and bit my lip. How would dad react when the police called him to say his daughter had trespassed onto Izuki grounds?

"Is it soaking through my top?" I whispered.

"Check for yourself" Once again, I reached my fingers towards my back… and felt only skin. Eyes wide, I tapped my fingers along various points on my back, only skin meeting my fingers. I breathed in sharply, and pulled my fingers back towards me. Blood marked them.

"I can see you're still wearing your Berlei bra" Sesshoumaru said, smirking.

"Where's my skivvi?" Instead of answering me, he threw a white towel at me.

"Sit up and cover your chest with that. I'm going to get some antiseptic and bandages" He strode out of the room.

After glaring at the closed door for some time, I sat up, careful not to have my back touch the sheets. Pulling the towel over my chest and my hair over my shoulder, I stood up and walked over to the full-length mirror. I turned my back to it and twisted my head around and gasped.

It looked as if little faeries had taken the whip to me. I know it doesn't sound all that bad, but the lines were varying from ten centimetres (four inches) to a particularly long one, probably about 17 centimetres (almost 7 inches). The longest one was on the lower half of my back, on the right, from the side inwards. All the cuts were relatively deep and in between were many smaller scratches. My shoulders and lower back were already turning purple. I could see that the bruise on my lower back stretch to beneath my pants, but I didn't not pull the elastic down to see how far it stretched – the pain on my arse kinda explained how far it went.

The door clicked and I turned to face him just as he closed it. I blushed as I felt his gaze on me. Walking around clutching a towel to my chest in a black bra (which I'm sure the Ice Prince would delight in telling you was Berlei), pants and my back bleeding its life out after watching him almost take off his jeans isn't exactly a favorite pastime. Did I even make sense just then? Just having him stare at me without a shirt on is enough to make me shiver.

"Sit down" he said abruptly. I moved away from the mirror and sat down in the middle of the floor, my knees to my chest. My breath hitched as my skin stretched and something warm dripped down my back. Perhaps blood.

His hand hung in front of my face, my white hair tie dangling from his fingers. Taking it, I swiftly twisted my hair into a loose bun. I could feel the wispy strands rest on my heavily bruised shoulders.

"This will sting a bit" I buried my head in my knees as he dabbed the cloth soaked with antiseptic on my cuts. Only a bit!

"Can you please explain to me what happened?" I rasped out, as he changed cloth.

"You should know well enough what happened," he said nonchalantly. Annoyed, I asked him again.

"Can you please explained to me what happened after you reached for the zipper of your jeans?" Realizing how I finished my question, once again I slammed my head into my knees. Of course, being the Ice Prince he didn't really care.

"Isn't it obvious? Once you saw the beauty that is my body, your body paralyzed. When you realized I would taking off my jeans, you obviously lost balanced and fell. I assume that those few moments you saw of me getting naked will fill your dreams until the end of time" He continued to clean my wounds. I struggled with my anger, about to tell him why I really came, but my logical half argued for me not to give him more of an excuse to call the police, so I restrained myself. I said the one word I thought I would never say to him.

"Please" The dabbing paused. After a few seconds, it continued.

"I heard a thump outside my window. Looking out, I saw you, in a white skivvy, hair splayed out everywhere. I ran out to get you" Sesshoumaru gave a short laugh. "Jakken was much displeased"

"Jakken?"

"The butler. He was adamant that we call the police, or leave you to the lizards (2) to eat"

"Lizards?" No offence to this Jakken guy, but lizards weren't exactly scary. Unless you mutated them to Godzilla proportions…

"There are these two lizards who tend to annoy him, stealing bits of food and nibbling on his ear in the morning"

"Oh…" I paused for a while to think. He continued to clean my back up "So what happened after you ran out?"

"I carried you up here. Of course, that idiot half-brother of mine just had to be involved. Asking what I'd done to you and trying to take you off me"

"So what did you do?"

"I punched him in the stomach"

OK, now I was slightly disturbed. He punched his brother? Isn't that, like, abuse or something?

"I came in here and laid you onto my bed. Then I tore off your shirt and took most of the leaves out of your hair" Gee, it's appreciated. "You slept for about an hour"

He dabbed at the cut on my side and I winced. I would not cry. I would not cry. Not again…

"You do realize that it was incredibly foolish of you to climb that high in the dark" No duh, Ice Prince.

"Yea well, I'm a teenager, foolish is our middle name"

"I'm not foolish"

"I didn't say you were a teenager. In fact, you're probably a perverse old man who knows how to spot a Berlei and who most likely had a facelift"

He dressed the last cut on my side and threw his black singlet at me.

"Well at least I know my skills as a doctor haven't diminished" I froze in the middle of flipping the singlet right side out "Whatever hand we are dealt in life, we must make do with"

No. No, it can't be. No, no, no.

I have not seen that boy ever since.

I slowly turned around, distraught.

… all I wanted was the truth, and all I needed was love…

No, this was all wrong. Surely lots of people joked about being a doctor, said the same phrase…

I looked up, and I instantly fell in love with his golden eyes…

I made the connection. The eyes, which amazingly, I had never paid any attention to, were the exact shape and color. His words… his hair… The Ice Prince was…

… the boy who had given me the one thing I had wanted in life. The truth.

The boy who I had fallen in love with. The boy who I had dreamed I would find again. Who would give me all I wanted and needed - and more. Who would love me back. Whose golden eyes would light up when they saw me.

All my childish dreams of love and hope… where would they go? What would I do, knowing that the one thing I had so fervently believed in, the dream that I would live in the arms of my golden-eyed lover, what would I do, knowing it was all false?

I stared into the eyes of my supposed true love, desperately searching for what I saw nine years ago.

Empty. Completely empty.

I stood up, still staring at Sesshoumaru. Tearing my eyes away, I dropped the towel onto the floor, grabbed my digital camera off his bedside table and ran out of the room, tugging his singlet over my bare shoulders and stomach.

I distantly heard Inuyasha's bedroom door open and him step out.

"Rin? Are you OK? That idiot didn't do anything to you did he?"

I heard footsteps behind me.

"Rin! I left your father a message in his voicemail, he should be coming to pick you up soon!" Sesshoumaru's voice calling after me.

I ran down the stairs, past Jakken, fumbled with the door handle and burst out into the cold night.

My cheeks burning from inner turmoil and humiliation, I ran all the way home. Digging in my pockets for my keys, I panicked. Sesshoumaru had said that dad was coming to pick me up. What would dad say? At last, my keys in my hands I tried jamming my key in the lock but my shaking hands would not permit me to do so.

I banged my head against the door and tried once again. The key slipped in smoothly and jarred my wrist in trying to open the door. Bursting through, I ran all the way upstairs to my room, slamming the door. I violently tore the shirt from my chest and sank down beside my bed, finally giving into my tears.

That night I cried. I cried for all the things I had done. How much I had thought of myself, never thinking of the consequences. I cried for being foolish enough to believe in a dream. For being foolish enough to climb the tree up that high…

Eventually, I had cried all my tears because I'd heard somewhere that each eye can only cry, like 32 tears or something, and THAT just came out of nowhere. I laughed. It's strange how your mind tries to distract you with the strangest, but relevant, things. I glanced at my Pucca clock. It was almost ten.

Rubbing my hands over my face, I stood. I grimaced as pain shot up my back. As the pain abated, I noticed goose bumps growing along my sides. I grabbed a pair of pants and a singlet and made my way to the bathroom.

After having sufficiently cleaned myself, I took a roll of bandages from a cabinet and began to roll it around my chest and stomach. I slipped my singlet over it and walked back into my room. Grabbing a few of my textbooks from under my bed, I used them to elevate me high enough to grab an extra thick blanket at the top of my built-in wardrobe. I threw it onto my bed, before kicking my textbooks back under my bed. I bit my lip as my big toe made the connection with the edge of the book.

Shaking my head, I lifted the blankets and covers and hid buried myself in their warmth. After I had warmed up, I seized my giant, stuffed polar bear and pulled it under the blankets with me. I buried my head in its fur and closed my eyes, listening to myself breathe.

I slept very well that night.

A/N: You know what? I could have done a lot of very kinky, bad things with the scene where Fluffy was cleaning Rin's back and there was nothing between them… arghhhhhh… anyways, this chapter took me AGES to write. Probably because it has enough words for two chapters. Should I make you wait? Or shouldn't I? Review me and let me know!

Raya The Review Queen - : Girl Talkie? Maybe… but I can't see Rin saying 'Girl Talkie' lol! No, Sesshie's 16, in Australia, if you're born after June you have to go to school the year after, do you get what I mean? It's a pretty funky system hehe.

San San As Herself: So it's lil' Maestro now? blushes Gee, what did I do to deserve these wonderful names? (Sarcasm not intended)

Anee: Thanks! Um, it's basically just like a tape recorder only it's really tiny so you can slip it into your pocket in case you ever want to record something down. Whatever. I don't mention it after next chapter so yea hehe. Here, voting is compulsory after you turn 18. Whatever happened to freedom of… whatever? Lol

IYWritergirl: Thank you! I was just a little confused by that because my friend said it was called something like a note taker.

IceSugarHigh: Thank you for reminding me! When I first wrote a chapter, I didn't mention ANYTHING without a gate! Lol, well now I do phew! Nah, I think this will be a normal fic, where we think demons don't exist! When you said Muffins were your best friend that song by Marilyn Munroe popped into my head. I need more sleep. What about jelly cups? Surely you haven't forgotten the jelly cups!

Lynn-Minmay: If you DO kill Sesshy, please do it nicely – no ruining the face or body! Lol thanks, I really didn't know if it was that hilarious or not…

LuneTigre: waves hi LT! Hi Emma! Study Hall? Tsk tsk. But I forgive you since I figure my story is a lot better than Study Hall. I'm really glad you like it! Yes, he is a pervert but then again, he is a male… sigh lol!

Thanks, more hugs, kisses and blessings to these:
Cometschaos
Swimchick1614

Next Chapter: A worried father, comfort food, anime, 'best friends', a bath with minor profanity (that isn't typed up btw) and golden eyes…

(1) this was a very shoddy attempt on my part to replicate how the two met in the anime. Sincerest apologies.

(2) Can you guess who these two lizards are? If you can, well I'm telling you that they're gonna have a bigger part, not so much as a bigger role, in this story.