The Rin Who Broke Her Arm

By Fiorae

Author Notes: I've been alerted to that I've been calling Sesshomaru "onee-chan" the last few chapters, lol. My bad, won't happen again. The last chapter was kinda sad, I know, but I'll make up for it, don't worry. I'm disappointed it didn't get as many reviews as the previous chapters...perhaps this one will do better. Woot woot, five pages!

Chapter Five: The Only One He Hugged

A few weeks passed without the two brothers talking. Inuyasha avoided Sesshomaru as much as he could and had become unusually quiet. And Sesshomaru sunk back into his silent persona, which wasn't that unusual at all. None the less, the others had noticed.

"I wonder what's with those two .." Kagome mumbled to Sango one afternoon. Sango shrugged.

"They are acting weird. Maybe it was a bad idea to get them to bond, Kagome-chan."

"Maybe. Inuyasha is being the most weird though. Yesterday, he actually turned down a bag of potato chips I brought back for him!" Kagome cried. Sango gasped.

"Inuyasha turned down food! Something is definitely wrong!"

Rin, who was hiding behind a tree, listened to the two girls talk more about Inuyasha's uncharacteristic refusal of food. She sighed softly, rubbing her wrapped up arm. 'Inuyasha-sama isn't the only one acting strange ...' the small girl thought sadly. She walked through the forest, thinking about Sesshomaru. "He hasn't said a single word in so long ..." she said sadly. "I miss his voice ..."

Suddenly, Rin felt she wasn't alone. She looked around and saw Sesshomaru leaning against a tree. His eyes were open, but he didn't look awake.

"Sesshomaru-sama .." Rin said softly. Sesshomaru slowly raised his head to look at her. She ran over to him, helping herself to the shaded spot next to him under the tree.

"What are you doing out here by yourself?" he asked softly. His voice sounded distant and it made Rin sad.

"I was looking for you ..I wanted to make sure you were okay. You've been acting differently.." Sesshomaru slouched more, closing his eyes.

"How so?" he asked slowly. Rin fiddled with her hair while she formulated her answer.

"Well ... I can't really tell you what's different ... I just ...feel it." Rin whispered. She crossed her legs and looked down at her toes. "I mean, I've traveled with you for a long time now ... I can tell when something is bothering you ..."

Sesshomaru opened his eyes. Rin really was always watching him ...

"I did something bad, Rin. And it's too late for me to change it. It's nothing of concern." he mumbled. Rin looked up at him.

"Was it something that made Inuyasha-sama sad?" she asked softly. Sesshomaru looked away. Rin sighed sadly. "Inuyasha-sama has been very quiet. He doesn't sit with the rest of us anymore. I always see him sitting in a tree, looking really sad. But also ..." she paused and watched Sesshomaru for a moment. "I hear him cry at night. For his mom, but you too ..."

Sesshomaru looked back at Rin. She caught the quick flicker of surprise before that emotionless expression fell back into place. Rin smiled at the demon lord.

"I don't know what happened between the two of you ... but you guys have to make up. Me and my big brother, we use to always fight. But we always made up at the end. You can't stay mad at each other because ... one day he may not be around to say sorry to. Then it will really be too late ..."

Sesshomaru thought about her words for a moment. She was right. But it was more complicated than that. Much bigger than a little kids' fight ...He felt so vulnerable. All the emotions he'd left exposed ...

Rin saw the look of deep frustration on his face. She crawled to her knees and snaked her uninjured arm around his neck. Sesshomaru's eyes widened and his muscles tightened, but he did not push her away. It was unusual for him, such close contact with another being. But also on some level ... it was calming.

"You're not a bad person, Sesshomaru-sama ..." she whispered in his ear. "He'll forgive you for what ever you did because you're his big brother ..."

His muscles relaxed and he let his had rest on Rin's back as he embraced her. It'd been a long time since he hugged another person.

Yes, that was right ...

the last ...

and only person he'd ever hugged was ...

Inuyasha.

Elsewhere, in a tree just outside the cabin Kagome and the others were residing in, Inuyasha sneezed. He growled softly.

"Dammit ... someone's talking bout me ..." he mumbled, ears flickering. After a few moments of glaring at random areas in the hopes of finding who was talking of him, Inuyasha went back to thinking. He leaned against the tree with his hands behind his head.

He missed his mother. Oh, how he missed his mother. He missed the moments when he didn't have anything to worry about. Nobody to protect, nobody to fight. He didn't worry about falling in love. Back then, there were only two people he loved.

His mother ... and his big brother.

His heart ached when he thought back to what Sesshomaru told him. He didn't want to believe it, but he suddenly remembered it to be true. But no matter how horrible and painful that memory was, he couldn't bring himself to hate his brother for it.

"I don't get it ... I was all fired up about it before ...but now I ..."

"Now you what?"

Inuyasha looked down from his tree to see Kagome looking up at him. She was dangling a bag of potato chips in her hand, baiting him to come down. Inuyasha jumped down from the tree and snatched the chips, ripping them open and eating them hungrily. Kagome laughed.

"I knew you were hungry! What were you doing, trying to fast to loose weight?"

"I'm not fat like you, so I don't need to loose weight." Inuyasha said through a mouthful of chips. Kagome's eye twitched, but she made no response.

"What's been up with you lately anyway? You've been acting pretty strange." she asked, her voice soft. Inuyasha froze in his massive food intake. His eyes glazed over.

"Sesshomaru ... told me something bad." he said, looking down at the ground. Kagome's brow furrowed with worry.

"Something bad like what?" she asked. Inuyasha looked up at Kagome.

"He had something to do with my mother's death." he replied softly. Kagome gasped and Inuyasha chuckled softly. "Yeah, that was my reaction too. But you know ... I've had some time to really think about it, and I can't really blame him for what happed to my mother. I mean, it's not as if he meant for my mother to be killed or anything ..."

Kagome watched Inuyasha as he talked. His face was soft and he seemed pretty calm, very different from how she would have expected him to be.

"Does that mean that you're not mad at him?" she asked. Inuyasha nodded.

"I was at first ... but after reflecting, I can see the good memories I have with him weigh out the bad ones. So ... I'm not that mad." he said, grinning at Kagome.

"Ehhh, how unlike you to be so happy when talking of your biggest rival! Looks like my bonding idea did work after all." Kagome cheered, a triumphant look on her face. Inuyasha picked up a handful of chips out of the bag and chucked it in his mouth.

"Just cause I'm not mad at him doesn't mean we bonded." he said, crumbs flying everywhere. Kagome grimaced.

"Don't talk with food in your mouth...baka."

Rin slowly released Sesshomaru. Her cheeks were a soft pink and a shy smile was on her face. She took a step back.

"Gomen ne ... you seemed like you could use a hug.." she said softly. Sesshomaru's eyes softened. He stood up and patted Rin on her head (Rin started to blush more) then headed out of the forest.

FlashBack

"Big brother?"

"Hai. From your father's side. His name is Sesshomaru."

"Se..sesho..ma..roo?" Izayoi laughed at her son's attempt to pronounce the name. She ran a brush through Inuyasha's silky silver hair.

"He's coming to see you today, so we must make you presentable. Your hair doesn't like to be combed very much, does it?" she sighed as she looked at the messy hair. Inuyasha looked up at his mother.

"What's he like?" Izayoi smiled down at him.

"He looks a lot like your father. And like you too."

"Like me!"

"Yes."

Inuyasha smiled. "I can't wait to see him! Maybe he'll come to live with us! Then we can play together everyday! He'll be my bestfriend!" he cheered, hoping around. Izayoi looked over to the door way. She caught a glimpse of silver hair pull back from view. She chuckled softly.

"I believe he's here, Inuyasha."

"Where?" Inuyasha looked around. Izayoi pointed to the door and Inuyasha went charging toward it. He peaked out and grinned. A pair of golden eyes stared back into his own.

"You look like him ..." Sesshomaru whispered, his eyes wide. Inuyasha ran over to him and jumped into his arms. Sesshomaru almost fell from the unexpected collision.

"Like who? Dad right?" Inuyasha asked happily. Sesshomaru nodded slowly, still surprised by the sudden contact. The smaller boy smiled brightly and wrapped his arms around the other's neck. Sesshomaru flinched.

"What are you doing ..?" Inuyasha closed his eyes, still smiling.

"Giving you a hug."

"I know that ... but why?" Inuyasha looked at the elder boy, grinning bigger than ever.

"Cause you're my onii-chan!"

Chapter End