Disclaimer: No owning of Inu Yasha or related characters for this one. Rumiko Takahashi is the owner and creator of the Inu Yasha series.

Thank you so much everyone who reviews! Your enthusiasm means so much to me.

Be warned, this chapter contains an especially unlikely and cliché description of Sesshoumaru's castle (As for the description of the castle, the only castles I've seen in great detail were on Disney movies, none of which were located in Japan.), a "Rin studying in the garden" scene (which I'm sure has been written a million times, but I really think if she were to study, that's where she'd do it.), and PEACHES!

"Speaking"Sesshoumaru thinkingInu Yasha Thinking

Ch. 13- Peaches and Portraits

"Gah! This is BORING!"

"You don't have to stay, Little Brother."

"What's so great about catching a dropping drip? I mean a dripping drop. I mean- Grrrrr…. What's so great about it?"

"Reflex training. You should try it. Your reflexes could certainly use the-"

"Shut up!"

"If you wish."

GRRRRRRRRRRRR….. Doesn't he ever get sick of picking on me? I'll get you back for that one, brother. It might take awhile, but I'll find a question that would make even you react! Hmm…. Gotta shrink that huge ego of his… But how? Grrr…. This wouldn't be so hard if I had grown up around him… What are dog youkai proud of? Battles, but I cut his arm off and it didn't faze him, I'd have to kill the bastard to embarrass him, and then what's the point? He'd be dead. No, something else. Inu Yasha looked around, surrounded by portraits.

"What's with all these damn portraits?"

DON'T curse in front of the pup! Half Breed!

"Inu Yasha, you will not curse in Rin's presence."

"She's not here, you-"

"Yes I am."

"Ah! Where did you come from? Why didn't I smell you?"

Sesshoumaru smirked.

"Because you are a-"

"I wasn't talking to you! You, Girl, how did you get there without me noticing?"

"Maybe you were thinking too hard."

Good girl

Inu Yasha growled and started to leap away to sulk somewhere, and then decided where he wanted to sulk.

"Sesshoumaru?" Silence, of course, "Where is the library with the portrait of you and the old man playing?"

Hm. This could work to my advantage.

"Head west down the hall from my room. Turn left at the first, second, and third turns, then right, and it will be the second library you see."

"Aren't you coming?"

"I have to answer any questions you ask me to the best of my ability. It is your responsibility, not mine, to be where I can hear you ask questions."

What should I do? I'm all out of questions, and that portrait is bound to have some good dirt on him, but if I leave I might miss out on an opportunity to ask him something. Well, I'm not guaranteed to find anything interesting to ask him this way.

"Fine." Inu Yasha turned and ran.

Foolish pup. There is nothing in this castle so urgent you must run.

Gah! I can't find anything in this castle. It's his damn scent; it's all over the place! How I'm I supposed to find anything when EVERYTHING smells like dog! I- Oh!

Inu Yasha skid to a halt, then backtracked a few steps to a large arched doorway. Some servants appeared seemingly out of nowhere and opened the door for him.

Creepy. It's like I'm always being watched, always being followed, how can he stand it?

Inu Yasha walked in to the library, and the doors shut behind him. He could sense the presence of at least three others.

"Grrrrrr… If there's any servants in here you'd all better leave right now!" All three left, as well as another he hadn't sensed. "Ok. Now that that's taken care of, where's the portrait?" Inu Yasha saw books. Lots of them. Huge shelves reaching almost to the ceiling were packed with books and scrolls, enormous tables were stacked with books and scrolls, and small desks covered in books, scrolls, and writing tools. And then he saw it.

Wow.

Sesshoumaru walked silently through one of the many gardens surrounding the castle, towards a particularly lovely peach orchard Rin had adopted as her special place. He could hear the squawking already.

"Rin! Come back here you pest! Lord Sesshoumaru has instructed me to instruct you in your poetry lessons!"

"Look at this one, Master Jaken! It looks delicious!"

"Rin!" The imp squawked in vain.

"Master Jaken, Lord Sesshoumaru always says that if I am hungry, I must fend for myself. I am hungry, so I must."

Jaken's jaw dropped. Sesshoumaru suppressed a traitorous chuckle.

"Master Jaken? How do I know which ones are ripe?"

"How should I kno- Ack!" Jaken fell to the ground with a large lump on his forehead, a suspicious looking peach rolling on the ground near his head. He jumped up and began shrieking in the direction the peach came from. "Who threw that! Show yourself, miserable wr- ack!"

Lord Sesshoumaru strode into the clearing with a smirk on his lips.

"Those were not ripe. They were too hard. A ripe peach would still have hurt, but would not have knocked him over or left a large whelp."

"Oh! I see! Thank you, Lord Sesshoumaru!"

Sesshoumaru walked over to a small boulder in the shade of a peach tree and sat, looking bored. "Rin."

"Yes milord?"

"One peach, and then back to your studies."

"Yes milord."

I'm bigger than he was, and he hates me. It's totally different. Sesshoumaru would never do that with me, unless it was for totally different reasons. Look at them. Look at HIM! I can't even imagine Sesshoumaru looking like that, and I'm seeing it right in front of me! That can't be him.

…End chapter…

It's a little short… ok; it's a lot short. But, this is where the train of thought stopped, so this is where the chapter stops. Besides, if I tried to do a long one I wouldn't be able to post for another week most likely.

By the way, it occurred to me last night. This story is now the longest running (both in chapter count and actual time in progress) that I've ever written.