Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not the characters, not even a blade of grass--nor a single sakura blossom. Hell, I don't even own a Sesshoumaru plushie. All characters are from the inspired mind of R. Takahashi and everything else is my poor attempt.

Chapter 6: Home

"Sesshoumaru-sama?"

"Hn?"

"Will you always be with Rin?"

"Always, Rin."

"Rin baka! Wake up!"

Rin awoke with a groan. Just when her dream was getting interesting that stupid toad had to wake her up.

"Rin is awake, Jaken-sama."

"Well it's about time you lazy ningen. Lord Sesshoumaru was looking forward to returning home—but you! You make things difficult with your incessant need for rest. Pathetic!"

Rin sighed inwardly. At 14 years of age she was now much, much taller than the toad, and it took a large amount of self-control to restrain herself from throwing a rock at his head—or beating him with the Nintoujou.

"Rin."

The girl turned around and grinned happily. "Ohayou gozaimasu Sesshoumaru-sama!" she sang.

"Eat. This Sesshoumaru would like to be at the castle before sundown."

"Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama."

"Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama….ohayou gozaimasu Sesshoumaru-sama…" Jaken muttered under his breath. Surely ningen must grow in annoyance along with their size!

"Hai, Jaken-sama?" Rin asked sweetly. "Did Jaken-sama say something that needed to be heard?"

"Does he ever?" a smooth tenor interrupted.

Rin looked at the inuyoukai in shock. Did Sesshoumaru-sama just make a joke? The dog demon looked as impassive as ever—but surely there was a hint of playfulness in his tone.

Jaken stared at his lord bug-eyed and mouth agape.

He squawked.

"My Lord! My Lord Sesshoumaru! You cannot mean that. Jaken has served you faithfully!"

Inwardly smirking, Sesshoumaru said nothing and continued walking. "Well," he said turning, "are you two coming?"

-----------------------------

What a long and utterly strange day, Rin thought.

First, the toad's squawking woke her from an interesting dream, then Sesshoumaru-sama has decided to make a joke, and to top it all off he almost smiled! The long, tiring walk to the Western Castle and shock of seeing the magnificent thing first hand was a distant second.

A very distant second.

Though, she wished Sesshoumaru-sama hadn't ordered her to a bedroom right away.

With a sigh Rin pondered disobeying the inuyoukai. Well, it technically wasn't disobeying, after all, she had entered the bedroom. With a small, mischievous grin the teenager peeked out her door. Seeing the hallway empty she tiptoed out and gingerly closed the door, half expecting to be scolded by the ever-squawking Jaken. When that didn't happen, Rin set about exploring her Sesshoumaru-sama's castle.

"…Sesshoumaru-sama, I humbly beg your forgiveness, it was not my place."

Rin paused at the sound of the voice. It was smooth and deep—and clearly not as contrite as the words they conveyed.

"No, Chiko. It was not your place. This Sesshoumaru does not expect such indolence in his retainers. Your orders were clear. Are you, Chiko son of Kano, so dim-witted that you thought you could escape punishment?"

"My Lord Sesshoumaru, I was merely attempting…"

"Silence! Your orders were clear Chiko. You were told to collect the human women, nothing more. Do you care to explain why several of reek of your disgusting wolf stench? Those women were meant to be my ward's retainers. They are now too scared to be of any use. And what do you propose we do with them, Chiko? They are not fit for work any longer…"

Rin crept a little closer to the door. The voices were slightly distorted now that Sesshoumaru-sama was speaking very quietly. If only she could open the door just a little further…

Sesshoumaru turned suddenly as his sharp ears detected a sound at the door. He sighed internally—Rin.

The wolf youkai being chastised sprung into action so quickly that Rin had no time to react. Chiko bared his teeth at the door and sprang, dragging the girl into the room roughly, and ignoring her panicked screams.

Sesshoumaru did not pause to think, and instantly sent a thin white-green whip toward Chiko's neck.

"Release the girl immediately."

"H—hai, Sesshoumaru-sama."

Chiko gingerly released the girl who promptly ran sobbing hysterically to Sesshoumaru. The thin whip around the wolf's neck was beginning to tighten even more and burn into his flesh, and he gritted his teeth at the pain.

"Sesshoumaru-sama!"

"Hai, Rin?"

"Rin is sorry, Sesshoumaru-sama! She should never have left her room like Sesshoumaru-sama ordered."

The inuyoukai looked down and the gangly girl who had attached herself to him and sighed.

"My—my Lord?" Chiko coughed. The agony was intense, but no son of Kano would sink to his knees in pain. No living wolf would bow willingly to a dog.

Sesshoumaru tightened the whip's hold momentarily, strangely pleased as Chiko's face grimaced in pain as he pondered the wolf's fate. Chiko was clever and much too devious for his own good, but he was a good leader and kept his men in check. I have use for him yet, and besides, Rin should not have to witness bloodshed, the inuyoukai mused.

Almost grudgingly, Sesshoumaru released the wolf.

"Chiko, fetch the women and bring them here," he commanded. Once the wolf left, he turned to the sobbing teenager.

"Rin, cease this—this outburst. It is unfit for a ward of this Sesshoumaru. You have shown weakness to a mere retainer, a wolf. This reflects poorly on this Sesshoumaru," he said sternly, "from now on Rin, you must show strength."

No sooner had he finished speaking, when a small green and brown blur came running into the room, landing awkwardly at the inuyoukai's feet.

"Rin! Rin! Sesshoumaru-sama, Rin is in danger!"

The youkai lord did his best not to throttle the little toad. "Baka," he muttered under his breath. "Jaken, get up. Rin is fine."

The toad looked at Sesshoumaru puzzled, until he saw the now giggling Rin hidden behind his master. "Oh. This Jaken was just making sure. The baka-child gets into so much mischief she could have destroyed the castle…"

"You mean you heard her cry, thought she was hurt and ran to her rescue," Sesshoumaru cut in smoothly.

Jaken gulped, and glowered at the ningen girl. "Hai Sesshoumaru-sama, Jaken was—worried."

Rin giggled again. "Go, Jaken. Take Rin back to her rooms. Stay there until I meet you. I have much to deal with."

-----------------------------

"Oh Jaken-sama was worried about little Rin!" Rin sang merrily. "But didn't you know Jaken-sama that Sesshoumaru-sama will always rescue me?"

"There will be a day ningen, when even Sesshoumaru-sama cannot save you," he replied haughtily.

Rin rolled her eyes. It had been almost two hours since Sesshoumaru had sent them to her rooms. They waited, they feasted and then they waited some more. Sesshoumaru had promised to meet them, but he was taking far too long for the teenager's tastes.

Just then, a quick rap on the door signaled Sesshoumaru's arrival. He was not alone. Walking in behind him were three of the finest dressed hime's that Rin had ever seen. The ningen's eyes widened, surely she was far too underdressed to meet such nobility!

"Rin."

"Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama."

"These are to be your ladies in waiting. They will aid you with whatever you wish. Do as you please with them." With that, Sesshoumaru left again, this time with a relieved Jaken scurrying after him.

Rin looked at the three women in surprise. They were dressed like princesses, yet they were to wait on her? The women relaxed with the departure of the youkai and stood, staring at the young girl appraisingly.

"Konnichiwa," Rin said with a small bow, "this Rin is pleased to meet you."

"Konnichiwa," the women replied. The first stepped forward to introduce herself. She was a homely woman, with a kind smile, and Rin took a liking to her immediately. "Rin-sama, I am Manami."

The second was much younger, maybe only two or three years older than Rin herself, "And I am Ayaka," she said with a grin. Rin smiled back, she could tell that they would be good friends.

Ayaka bowed slightly, and gestured to the third woman. She was dressed the most extravagantly, and was staring at Rin haughtily. "This sour-face is Ami." Ami scowled, and Rin smiled at her tentatively—to her surprise, Ami merely glared.

"I don't see what's so special about the child, she's barely a woman and an ugly one at that," Ami spat.

Rin looked at the woman in shock, she hadn't been ill treated since Sesshoumaru-sama had rescued her.

"Be quiet Ami," Manami cut in. "Rin is very special, and equally lovely. Ami, I suggest you go to your sleeping mat and stay there."

Rin looked at the woman leave, still stupefied at the harsh reaction she had received. Ayaka grinned and ran over to Rin, "don't worry about Ami, she just thinks that she's special because the wolf youkai took a liking to her, if you know what I mean," she said with a wink.

"Ayaka! No fulling Rin's head with such nonsense. Ami will work as hard as the two of us, the wolf means nothing. It is a disgrace for a human woman to give herself to a youkai so shamelessly," Manami finished with a motherly sniff.

Rin looked at the two women still slightly puzzled. Clearly Ami and the wolf—Chiko maybe? Had been up to no good.

Do you care to explain why several of reek of your disgusting wolf stench?

Sesshoumaru's words filled her head once again and Rin's eyes widened. Ayaka grinned, "now she understands," she said satisfied.

Manami merely glared at the girl. "Now Rin-sama…"

Rin looked up startled at this, "please, Rin's name is Rin," she cut in.

The woman ignored Rin and continued, "…we have to unpack your clothing, and jewelry and all of the other things that Sesshoumaru-sama bought for you. There are several more trunks coming, and I think that toad-thing has your new lute somewhere."

Rin blinked at her, overwhelmed by the vast amount of work they had to do.

"And Rin-sama, I'll assume you'd want to redecorate this room as well. Do you have any particular preference in mind?"

Rin looked and her blankly and blinked again. "Oh Manami," Ayaka said laughing, "I think you've scared the poor girl."

"Nonsense Aya. Now Rin, how would you like to decorate your room?"

"Flowers," Rin said abruptly.

"Rin loves flowers, especially sakura blossoms" added a smooth tenor. The two women quickly bowed as Sesshoumaru walked into the room.

"Sesshoumaru-sama!" Rin exclaimed. "Sakura blossoms would be lovely."

"This Sesshoumaru will order several tapestries of sakura blossoms if it is your wish," he said.

"Arigatou gozaimasu Sesshoumaru-sama. Sakura blossoms would be lovely," she repeated.

"Manami, Ayaka, please leave us," he commanded. The two women scurried to obey, and Rin looked at her inuyoukai puzzled.

"This Sesshoumaru must leave for several days, Rin. A week, in fact."

"Demo, we just arrived! This Rin will get ready right aw…"

"No Rin," Sesshoumaru interrupted softly. "You will remain here with your servants. Only Jaken and Sesshoumaru will be going."

With that, the inuyoukai left, leaving Rin to ponder his words. Only Jaken-sama is going with Sesshoumaru-sama! That could not be fair, Jaken-sama was likely to get lost or get Sesshoumaru-sama killed! Why wasn't Sesshoumaru-sama letting Rin go too?

Rin sat heavily on her bed as teardrops began to form.

Didn't Sesshoumaru-sama want his Rin with him anymore?

Reviewers:

Rainbows of Death/Siren: Hey, thanks so much for reviewing and yes, you're still the queen of "special" comebacks in my book!

RanDOMaZnWRIteR: Sorry for taking so long to update! Danica be cowering now. Thank you for your review and I wish you the best with editing Cherry Blossom's Call. Hope you update it soon!

Ember Heir to the Flame/Chi: As always Chi, thanks you so much for constantly reviewing! Even when I update so bloody sporadically. Thanks!

Cring White Wolf: Thank you! As a (still) newish writer that means a lot!

Jenny: Thank you for your compliments and I'm definitely going slow with the relationship—a little too slowly I think. Meh, we'll see how it turns out.

IYGU: Thank you and sorry I made you wait so long!

Sphinx: Thanks for reviewing and once again, I'm sooooo sorry for taking so long.

Angels Heart 1622: Thanks for reviewing!

Raven2120: I'm glad you liked the Kag/Rin encounter. Thank you for reviewing.

A/N: If I could, I would get down on my knees and scream gomen nasai at you guys. Thank you so much for your support and I apologize profusely for taking so long to update. I haven't been in the writing mood for a while, and when I have been, I've taken to writing original fiction. You can find the only attempt I think decent at my fictionpress account (the link is on my profile page, just delete the spaces), as always, thank you, thank you, thank you, and please, please, please review!

Much love,

Danica