Disclaimer: Don't own Inuyasha.
Second Impressions Go Long Ways
Struggles
Sango sat with Rin while the girl told her stories about her 'Lord Sesshomaru.' Sango could tell by her tone that she greatly admired her lord. Although there was sadness in her voice when she told her about how she met Sesshomaru. Everyone in her village was killed by wolves and she was the only one left when she found Sesshomaru. It pained Sango to hear what Rin told her about that. It reminded her of how her village was slaughtered by Naraku. Immediately she pushed back those thoughts and tried concentrating on Rin. The little girl was fond of what life she's taken up now, and Sango didn't want to see her sad. She went through too much. It wasn't anything she deserved.
"Miss Sango, are you going to stay here?"
The question surprised her. She hadn't thought about what she was going to do with herself while she was here. It was a great frustration she felt whenever Sesshomaru extends her time here and insists that the fight would be delayed.
Sango patted Rin on the head in a comforting manner. "I don't know, Rin," she sighed, then regretted it. What the hell am I saying? I have to kill Naraku and after that I have to rebuild my village! I can't stay here… not when there's so much. Gah! NO! I cannot even consider staying here! His 'royal highness' wouldn't want me here anyway.
Rin looked down in disappointment. "Okay, miss Sango."
The demon exterminator looked at Rin. She didn't want her being disappointed. "Say, Rin..."
"Yes?"
"How about we go find Jaken and annoy him?"
The little girl brightened immediately. "Yeah!"
They both got up from their position and walked towards Jaken's location, murmuring evil plans to each other on how to infuriate the toad.
Sesshomaru almost had to smile when he saw Rin and Sango laughing uncontrollably at the very pissed off, dirtied toad demon. Normally he would tell Rin to stop, something he knows he should do now. But he couldn't bring himself to do it. The girl looked like she was having fun and he didn't want to ruin it this time. He glanced towards Sango, who was still laughing, but looking at him. She must have sensed his return. She nodded towards him, and he returned the gesture.
Jaken stormed over to him and started telling him to punish the two 'impudent, filthy' humans. Sesshomaru ignored him, tried of hearing his whining and complaining. It was highly amusing. And to see Rin in a state like this... it made him happy for her. But he'd rather cut out his tongue rather then tell anyone that, especially Inuyasha. He could picture it in his mind now.
"AAAAAHAHAHAHAHA! Sesshomaru! Hey, Sesshomaru! I saw some villagers before that are in need of babysitting! Their friends are too busy and they have to work! How 'bout lending them a hand, eh?"
He definitely wouldn't let his emotions known to that half breed.
The lord stalked over to where Sango and Rin were, hearing their laughter die down. "Rin, it's time for you to go to bed."
The said girl nodded with a smile, but her eyes held a bit of disappointment. She hugged the semi-embarrassed Sesshomaru and then hugged Sango, who wished her a goodnight. The two adults watched as Rin skipped to her nightly quarters. Sango turned back to Sesshomaru. He glanced at her from the side.
"So... mind me asking where you went?"
"Yes."
Sango clicked her tongue. "Alright, then I'm sure you wouldn't mind me asking about our fight. I'm starting to get a bit impatient with the interruptions and all that."
"Whether you're impatient or not is no concern to me. Our fight will continue when I say it will continue."
"Aren't we grumpy..." Sango looked away when Sesshomaru glared at her, biting her lip to hide her smile. She saw from the corner of her eye that he was staring at her... automatically, she blushed.
Something struck Sesshomaru when he saw her blush a delicate pink. His eyes scrutinized her face, trying to find the reason of her sudden change. He noticed she changed into her kimono, but her hair wasn't in any of the styles she usually put it in. Instead she had it flowing freely down her back.
"Hey, Sesshomaru," Sango snapped him out of his thoughts. "If you don't mind me asking... why do you have a human girl staying with you? I thought you hated humans."
Sesshomaru gazed at the moon in thought. Why did he keep Rin with him? Whoa, wait, why was he even considering answering her question?
She isn't like any other human I've seen...
"Slayer, I suggest you go get your rest. Our fight will continue again once I am certain you have enough energy."
The exterminator looked insulted. "Who said I don't have enough energy now?"
"I did. And besides," he looked her over, "the way you're standing is giving it away." He saw that she immediately tried ridding herself of the slouch her shoulders were in.
"I do t-too have enough energy!" Just as she said it though, she yawned. Damn it.
Sesshomaru couldn't help it, he chuckled. Anything to get this thing over with, he thought, amused. "Sango, do you always act this childish?"
Sango was taken back. Now that she thought about it, she hasn't acted like this. She was usually quiet and kind, and here she was trying to fool the great lord of the western lands, Sesshomaru, as if she was a child. Hanging out with Rin really did something to her... "No... Not really. Just that Rin brought some of that side out, I guess."
"..."
"What?"
"Why are you traveling with Inuyasha?"
That question came out of nowhere. Her face turned hard. "I have my reasons, just like anyone else tracking down Naraku."
Sesshomaru was curious. That kind of scared him. "What are your reasons?"
"Why are you so curious?"
"Answer my question, slayer, and I'll answer yours."
"It's Sango."
Sesshomaru let out a small growl and Sango leaned against the castle wall, looking at the ground with hard eyes. She couldn't believe that she was about to tell her life to some demon who tries killing her friend.
"Naraku slaughtered my family, along with my whole village," her voice cracked a little and she cleared her throat. "See... he sent my family to his castle, saying that there was a demon plaguing it. When we were there, I didn't know what was going to happen... I thought that we could just exterminate, get our pay, and leave. But after we exterminated the spider demon, my little brother, Kohaku, became possessed... H-he killed everyone th-there, including our father."
Sesshomaru could smell the faint scent of her tears, and he cursed under his breath. Her brother... Sango continued with her story.
"After that, I was the only one who survived my brother's attack. Naraku decided I was worth keeping alive until Inuyasha was killed. So when I dug myself out of the grave they buried me in, he took me in and he said that my village was destroyed by Inuyasha... I was furious, I don't think words could describe how I felt. I was also too blind to see that Naraku was the one who massacred the village. So he gave me a jewel shard and led me towards Inuyasha. When I saw Inuyasha, I started fighting him, driven by the rage. I failed to notice I was also badly wounded and that I lost a lot of blood. I passed out before I could kill Inuyasha," Sango whipped her eyes and laughed without humor. "After that I found out that it was all a lie, and Inuyasha only killed a puppet of Naraku. I began traveling with them when I knew they forgave me for the attempt."
Sesshomaru nodded, sniffing the air to smell her tears again. He gazed at her face, trying to understand her expression. She was both sad and angry, he knew that, but there was something else...
"Sango, is your brother still alive?" He asked and saw her nod. That would explain the boy he almost killed... his outfit was similar to the slayer's own, they looked similar enough for him to guess right.
But his eyes... they were lifeless, as if he didn't give a damn whether the lord killed him or not. Sesshomaru didn't like that and he knew it was the work of Naraku. The bastard, he thought with disgust. He couldn't describe with words how revolting Naraku was. The lord looked back at Sango to find her staring at him, questions swimming around in her deep orbs. Sesshomaru didn't like when women cry, especially Sango. He stepped closer to her until he was in front of her.
Sango's eyes widened when he brushed his fingers over her cheek and she blushed scarlet. Was he possessed? She stood still like a statue, not having anywhere to move since he was right in front of her. He stood like that for a few moments until he pulled away, surprised.
What the hell was he thinking? He turned his back towards her. He couldn't let her see the emotions playing in his eyes. "Sango, I suggest you get sleep. Our duel will finish tomorrow. If it doesn't, then I will see to it that you are with your friends once again."
He didn't give her time to respond, he dashed off into the woods, leaving Sango confused and shocked. She furiously shook her head. She had to talk to Sesshomaru tomorrow... she just had to. Her own thoughts were spinning, her head started to ache. She started to steadily walk towards the castle doors, too dazed to realize who was watching her. Once she reached the doors, she was about to open them, but something pulled her back and put a cloth to her mouth. Worthless struggling was all she did. Slowly she faded into the darkness, tentacles in her blurred vision. One last struggle and she fainted.
Dun dun dun... Heh. Anyway, sorry it took me long to update. Things are a bit busy around here and all that.
Anyway, Review please. ) It'll motivate me. I was kinda surprised that I got those reviews...
