Disclaimer: I'm not Rumiko Takahashi.
That was most interesting. He came in, explained what he was doing, told me what to do, and then left. I heaved a heavy sigh and went to work on spending some time with Rin. I walked into her room and saw she was playing with Kirara. I smiled as I watched the adorable scene unfold in front of me. An idea hit me like a ton of rocks.
"Hey, Rin-san, would you like to learn how to get a good ride out of Kirara?", I asked.
"Yeah! That would be cool!", she exclaimed and ran up to me, hugging my legs tightly.
A content smile formed on my face. I hugged her back and laughed along with her. Rin reminded me so much of Kohaku. We stopped hugging and looked at each other and then at Kirara. I gathered my companion in my arms and asked Rin to follow me to the court yard.
Once there, Kirara hopped out of my arms and onto the ground. She transformed into her large form and hissed happily.
"Okay, Rin... The trick to riding Kirara is not to be afraid of her...", I told and walked along-side Rin over to Kirara.
I showed her the safest way to get on Kirara's back. I showed her all the ways to hold onto to her and to stay on without falling off. After we went over the safety rules, I gave Rin tips on how to ride Kirara overall. After we were done talking, I let Rin soar through the air on Kirara's back. I could tell she was having a hell of a time riding on my large demon cat's back. I smiled widely and watched...
OOO
I leaped and ran as fast as I could through the western lands. I would've been there by now if the cave wasn't so fucking far. I growled and slowed down, stopping at the entrance of the cave I grew up in. I huffed and puffed for air before standing up straight and looking inside the cave. Slowly, I stepped forward and into the cave, slipping easily through the barrier. My eyes adjusted to the darkness of the place as I looked around.
"Who goes there?", came a ragged voice from the dark.
I faced the direction from which I heard the voice.
"I'm here to inspect this cave. I heard there was a disturbance here...", I responded.
Out of the darkness came an old inu-youkai. His face was wrinkly and his hair was more of a gray than silver. He slumped over slightly in his walk, but needed no assistance when moving around.
"And who might this inspector be?", he asked, then looked up at me.
His dark, golden eyes grew wide with astonishment.
"Sesshoumaru...? Is that you...?", he asked.
I smirked. So this old man knew who I was?
"Yes.", I simply answered.
"Oh, it's been how long? Decades, perhaps even a century or so since I've seen you! My, have you grown... What's this? Komigouchi gave you her pelt! Oh, that's wonderful! Too bad there's no more inu-youkai clan to rule over..."
"Old man, you sure do like to ramble...", I pointed out in a cold tone.
I couldn't believe he would even dare to mention my mother's name...even after what happened to her...
"You may call me 'Elder', Sesshoumaru. I hate it when people call me 'old man'. It's quite insulting...", the elder then turned around and used his ancient youkai power to make the cave light up. "Come, join me at the table for a drink."
I sat with my legs crossed at the small table. The elder sat across from me and made us both some tea.
"Tell me Elder, what are you doing here?", I asked.
"Ah, well... Being a hermit in the southern mountains wasn't helping my life at all... I mean, if you're a hermit, you want to be left alone, right? No one would leave me alone. So, I simply came here and knew I was under the protection of our powerful barrier that only let members of the inu-youkai clan through...", he explained.
"I see. You came here so no one could bother you..."
There was a long silence after that. The elder stared long and hard at me before asking,
"Where's your armor and left arm, dearest Sesshoumaru?"
I looked down at my chest. I had completely forgotten about my armor...
"My arm was cut off by Inu-yasha..."
"Inu-yasha? Who the hell is that?"
"My worthless half brother..."
"Aye... The offspring of the great Inutaishou and his human whore?"
"Yes, Elder. Him... Thankfully, he is dead now."
Another long silence...
"...And your armor...?"
"A human... She cut it off while saving me...", I explained, avoiding the elder's gaze.
"A human girl...Saved you? From what?"
"She's not a girl... She's a woman...and she saved me from a water dragon that caught me off guard...", I explained in a low voice, barely a whisper.
The elder chuckled lowly.
"Don't get too excited Sesshoumaru..."
I looked at him, confused.
"I can smell you're in a desperate heat. Before too long, you'll get so bad that you will hump anything to relieve of the stress..."
I growled. I hated it when people teased me about my hormones... The elder smiled kindly and looked me in the eye.
"Even the coldest and meanest of demons soften when it comes to heat and mating season...", he whispered to me before getting some what serious again. "So, is she pretty?"
"Well, she's got to be beautiful to be traveling with you, Sesshoumaru. What's her name?"
"... Her name is Sango..."
"Is she pretty?"
"I'll take that as a yes."
"Shut up."
"You want to mate with her, don't you, Sesshoumaru?"
"I said 'shut up'."
"Come now, Sesshoumaru. There's nothing to be ashamed of. It's only natural to want a woman when you're in heat..."
"Shut up, Elder, or I'll silence you myself...", I threatened, popping my knuckles.
"Hmm... This 'Sango' woman must be strong to have been able to save you..."
"She's a taiji-ya.", I told him, looking away from his gaze.
"Aye... I'd be cautious if I were you Sesshoumaru..."
"Oh?"
"Yes, taiji-ya women are strong. And like other taiji-ya, they can turn their back on you in a second."
"She won't; we made a deal... Plus, she has Tetsusaiga."
The elder reacted to this.
"You mean the sword that was made from Inutaishou's own fang?"
"Yes... Tetsusaiga..."
The elder thought a moment then there was a long silence again.
"Elder, I wish to do something for Sango.", that suddenly left my lips.
He smirked.
"Sounds like you really are in love Sesshoumaru..."
"You don't understand. Sango has done so much for me, I just want to repay her."
"I see. From what I've heard over my long life, human females love receiving gifts, especially hand-made one-of-a-kind gifts."
"Are you suggesting I make Sango a gift?", I asked curiously.
"If you believe you can, then be my guest..."
OOO
I sighed slightly when I finished bandaging Rin up. She had fallen off of Kirara's back because she didn't hold on tight enough. Good thing she was only a few feet above the ground.
"There you go! All better! Now, let's try not to hurt ourselves..."
I patted Rin on the head and let her run out of the room with Kirara. I smiled and started putting the bandages away when I noticed something strange: a faint pinkish glow comming from underneath some of the bandages inside the box Kagome-chan had given me. I lifted the bandages and gasped. The Shikon shards we had collected before the last battle were inside the box. I picked up the little bottle with disbelief. How the hell could I have missed this bottle when I open and closed this box for its use many times before. Kagome-chan must've put them in there for safe keepings.
I reached over to the rest of my stuff and picked up Kohaku's shard. I examined it for the longest time and sighed. I never put that single shard with the rest. Instead, I put both the bottle and the shard back into the medical box and put the box away with my stuff. I yawned and looked outside the window. It was about dusk and Sesshoumaru still hasn't returned from his 'meeting' or whatever yet. I frowned slightly and walked out of the room.
Walking into the hall and into the main entry way, I saw a glimpse of Sesshoumaru. He was walking outside with Jaken by his side. I sighed and walked back into my room, grabbing my sleeping robe and a few things Kagome-chan had given me just for the bath. I walked into the bathing room and shut the door, placing everything in its place.
"Ahhh...", I sighed as I slipped into the hot water.
A hot bath felt nice, especially in the winter time such as this. I yawned and let my mind wonder back to the thought of the imp who could regenerate body parts. Maybe if I discussed it with Sesshoumaru we could go to her and she could give Sesshoumaru his left arm. I sighed again and sunk into the water until only my nose and up was exposed. After washing myself with the soaps from another world, I got out of the tub and went to bed, hoping for a good night's sleep. I clutched to Kohaku's shard during my sleep, never letting go of the happy memories I had shared with him before that horrible night...
OOO
To be continued...
