Before the Oncoming Storm
By Zaru
Summary: The great Inutaisho has returned full force from the world of spirits. He follows the scent of his youngest son only to become mesmerized by the sweet scent of Sesshomaru's ward left behind in the village.
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. It was created by Rumiko Takahashi.
A/n: Okay, 100% time I have been away from this story which has literally been OVER a year now! So sorry about that! I'm trying to slowly update stories that haven't been touched. But a reviewer wished for me to update cause she loves it, so SessRinz, here you go, my friend! J Enjoy!
~~~~~~Chapter 7~~~~~~
A week had passed by quickly since Sesshomaru's departure from the quiet village which left Rin in a bit of a rather awkward situation. With him being gone, she was left in the care of Inutaisho who resembled her lord immensely, mostly from behind. Sometimes it was hard to figure out who he was when she was a certain distance from him. With his hair held high in the leather band, it was easy for her to be happy seeing Inutaisho. But with his hair hanging loosely from behind, her mind always yelled for her guardian angel Sesshomaru. At one point, she heard herself call for Sesshomaru and, when Inutaisho turned, her face filled with blood, apologizing for her mistake.
The demon lord never held it against Rin. She was used to being at Sesshomaru's beckoned call from what he knew. The stories she shared of her travels with Sesshomaru surprised him very much. From the first time she awoke due to Tenseiga to the last battle with Naraku. Inutaisho couldn't help but wonder how much his eldest son had changed over the couple hundred years since his terrible departure. Last he knew, Sesshomaru couldn't stand the touch or smell of a human, let a lone the sight of one. But with all these changes, why couldn't his son throw away the hate and understand how much his father missed him?
Sesshomaru would never change his feelings about his father. Never. Inutaisho knew that. But maybe with Rin's help, she could open up Sesshomaru just a bit to get an honest to God answer from the current western lord. Though, that would have to wait until Sesshomaru visited the village once again. According to Inuyasha, Sesshomaru needed to head back to his palace to get things squared away before he had to patrol his borders. Then, he would take the time to visit again which should happen in the next month or so. Until then, Inutaisho was free to do whatever he wanted around Rin without his son bugging him about it.
He caught Rin in the middle of the village path kneeling next to, what seemed to be, an injured cat. The demon felt a need to stay away from that situation. If he learned anything in his reigning thousand years, it was never to go near a feline. They always pissed him off thanks to the Panther demons' influence. So, Inutaisho stood by and watched as she worked on tending the small wound it carried.
Rin smiled small at the large orange cat, patting her head every little bit as she cleaned and bandaged the wound it received from a thrown rock. The young girl had seen it happen. One of the village kids was throwing rocks, not hurting anybody, until the cat ran past without him noticing and he threw the rock, hitting the cat hard on the front right leg. Rin scolded the boy for his troublesome ways and went to see the injured. As Rin looked up, she could see the boy still standing there with worry in his eyes. He was about Rin's age, but smaller in stature. His nature was kind, but he could be trouble at any time.
Could she have been a bit hard on him? No. There was no such thing. He shouldn't have been throwing those rocks in the first place. Anybody could have been hit by him. Probably would be better to have been a human. At least they could take some kind of hits. But a small animal like a cat had small bones with a high risk for injury.
"There we go." Rin cooed to the cat, picking it up. "All better."
She meowed at Rin, looking up at her with beautiful gray eyes. "Meow."
"I-Is she okay?" Rin looked up to see the boy stepping up, fiddling with his hands behind his back. "She's not…really hurt?"
The teen shook her head. "No, Nyouske. Mikuka is fine. But you need to watch what you are doing from now on, okay? Someone could get hurt."
"Y-Yeah. You already told me that, Rin." His brown gaze moved to the ground. "Is it okay if I hold Mikuka?"
Rin just smiled. "Sure, Nyouske. I'm sure Mikuka would like that." Handing him the cat gently, she said, "Be careful with her injury. It should heal by tomorrow."
"Thank you, Rin." That said, the boy turned to walk away with a mewling cat in his arms.
Inutaisho chuckled to himself. "I guess there's more than just innocence with her." He said quietly to himself.
"Yeah, she can be a bit hard on people sometimes, too." Someone else said from beside him.
The demon's amber eyes moved to see his youngest son Inuyasha standing nearby. "Inuyasha. When did you get here? I assumed you were out helping the villagers with harvesting."
"Feh. It's mostly done already. They don't need me anymore right now." The half-demon glanced at the older demon. "So, what's the idea of you staring at Rin all the time? Isn't there something better to do than stare at a young female all day? Or is it just a hobby you have?"
Inutaisho shook his head, moving his eyes back to Rin who was now talking to a few of the village women. "It is not a hobby, Inuyasha. There's just something about her I rather like. It's no different than how you stare at your mate, Kagome."
"That's different, old man. Kagome is my mate and Rin is not yours." When his father didn't answer, the half-demon just stared at him with a narrowed gaze. "What are you thinking, old man?"
"It's nothing, my boy. Just reminiscing."
"Hmm." Inuyasha saw Rin walk away from them, seeing his father ready to leave his sight. "Hey, wait, old man! I want to talk to you."
"Can it wait? I wish to spend some time with Rin." He looked back at his son with a small smile on his face and noticed how his son's facial features read 'No'. Letting out a tired sigh, he relented. "Very well. What do you wish to speak of?"
Inuyasha and Inutaisho made their way out of the busy village, away from any activity that might distract them from conversation. Inutaisho was rather curious about what was on youngest son's mind, though he truly wished he were near Rin right now instead.
"All right, Inuyasha. We are away from anyone who may hear us. What do you honestly need to speak to me about that is so private?"
Inuyasha looked around, making sure nobody was in the vicinity as they stood there in the forest. "I want to know why you keep moving after Rin."
Inutaisho snorted, folding his arms across his armored chest. "What business would it be of yours, pup? What I do with Rin is my own business. I suggest you leave it that way."
"Feh! If Sesshomaru heard you speaking like that, he'd be after you!"
"It is none of Sesshomaru's concern either. She may be my son's ward, but she is her own person who can be around whomever she chooses."
"But why Rin, father? Why her? I know how much you enjoy village girls, and there are plenty of them around. But why set your sights on Rin?"
Inutaisho looked up into the small opening between the trees watching the clouds pass by. "Son, how did you feel about that priestess you first met more than fifty years ago?"
"What's that got to do with anything?"
"Just answer me." He glared down at his son.
Inuyasha's eyes moved from his old man's. "I loved her. Meeting her and getting to know her, I just fell in love with her." He cleared his throat. "Then I thought she betrayed me, and I hated her for it. That was when she bound me to the Sacred Tree for fifty years."
"And then you were awakened and met Kagome."
"Yeah. I didn't like her though. At least in the beginning." He admitted.
"You fell in love with Kagome, even though you still held feelings for Kikyo."
Inuyasha scratched the back of his head. "Why are you suddenly bringing this up, old man? This isn't about me, it's about you and -"
"Because it is relevant to me!" Inutaisho raised his voice slightly.
Inuyasha was taken aback. "What? What are you saying?"
Inutaisho moved past his son, making his way to the edge of the forest, just staring at the village. "Over 200 years ago, I fell in love with your mother."
"She was pretty young, too, I was told." Inuyasha answered, treading up behind his father.
"Indeed she was, my son. She was only at ten years when I first encountered her, to be honest."
His eyes widened. "Wait, you knew mother when she was that young?"
A chuckle escaped him. "Yes. So young, innocent, beautiful. A very playful, yet elegant child. She was the daughter of a local landowner in the western lands. I met her as I patrolled my borders, catching a beautiful scent on the wind.. Then, as I looked, there she was." He closed his eyes, picturing the memory. "Since that day, I always made a stop at the landowner's estate with different excuses. I was able to see her grow up into a beauty."
Inuyasha stood straight, setting a clawed hand on his father's shoulder. "Mother never told me any of this."
"I guess she wouldn't seeing as she was rather shy about herself during those times."
"Mother was never shy around me. She was probably the strongest person I knew." His gaze faltered for a moment. "Always, she would tell me that no matter what, she would never be ashamed of me, even if I was a half-breed. Mother stood up against anyone who spoke wrongly about me even though she believes I never heard such talk from those who lived around us." He whispered.
"If I recall, you told me she died a long time ago, yet never spoke of how."
"She was very sick and passed away when I was only seven."
The old demon's eyes squeezed tightly, water forming in the corners, but never falling. "How I miss her so."
"Me, too." Inuyasha wiped at his eyes with his haori sleeve. "But, father, I don't understand what everything we just spoke of has to do with Rin."
Inutaisho turned to face his half-demon child with a warm smile on his face. "Simply put, Inuyasha, I may still hold strong feelings for your mother, but new ones have arisen since being in young Rin's presence."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that I believe I am falling for Rin."
He was in shock. His father was falling in love with Rin? Inuyasha couldn't understand it at first, but it seemed to make sense. Izayoi was officially gone from this world, so his father was left open with options to find a new lover. Though it upset him a bit that Inutaisho wished to move onto somebody so quickly even if 200 years had passed since then.
The half-demon brushed the loose hair over his shoulder toward his back as he entered the village. His father had left him alone, suddenly wishing to isolate himself instead of pursuing Rin like he originally planned. Probably the talk of Izayoi made him think of the past and he needed time to himself.
As Inuyasha made his way toward the hut he shared with Kagome, he heard her speaking inside with someone. The voice was familiar. It was Rin. Unfortunately for the females, he was nosy and wished to listen in. Standing casually next to the door, his arms in the haori sleeves, sensitive dog ears picked up on the talk.
"Thanks for helping me, Rin." Kagome smiled at the young girl who was folding some laundry.
Rin grinned back, finishing folding up a simple pink yukata. "I don't mind it, Kagome. I love to help."
"You sure do." The priestess said as she stirred some stew in the pot over the fire pit in the middle of the hut. "Though I'm sure you have other tasks to see to, don't you?"
"Lady Kaede and I already gathered the herbs we needed for the day, so she wished for me to find more chores."
"Or go out to play like a young girl your age should be doing." Kagome added. "Rin, you really should get out and play. Since Sesshomaru left a week ago, you've confined yourself to either Kaede's hut or busy doing chores. You've barely allowed yourself time to breathe."
Rin sat back on her legs, another kimono bunched in her lap. She fisted the silky fabric. "Is my presence a bother, Kagome?" She asked, voice almost whispering.
"Of course not." Kagome laid the ladle next to the hanging pot and pushed herself to her feet, making the short walk to Rin and kneeling down. "No, Rin. You are never a burden to anybody. In fact, you are just so helpful to all the villagers. I don't think we'd survive much without you around." She tried to assure her, a hand rubbing her back up and down. "Though you haven't spoken much lately to anybody." She added.
Rin nodded. "I know and I'm sorry. I've just been thinking about a lot of things lately." The young girl admitted. "Even when I'm doing chores, I think about things I probably shouldn't."
"Well, why don't you talk to somebody if there is something bothering you? You know you could always come to me or Kaede. Even Inuyasha."
She smiled warmly at her friend. "I know. Thank you, Kagome."
"So, do you wish to talk about something?"
"Kagome."
"Yes?"
"What does it feel like to be in love?"
Kagome's chocolate eyes widened slightly. "Being in love?"
"Mm-hmm." She nodded once.
Rin really wished to know. She was so young and knew plenty of things, but knowing if she was in love was an entirely different subject she had no experience in. Lately, her mind had been on Inutaisho. With each thought of that demon, her heart went pitter patter. Butterflies were flying in her stomach. And she sure blushed a lot around the demon lord.
"Well, it's actually different for everybody, Rin. They can feel different things toward somebody than normal. For example, after being around Inuyasha for awhile when I was younger, I realized whenever he was close to me, I'd blush. Being held in his arms, I felt safe and warm. Those unexpected embraces made my heart skip a beat."
"Wow." Rin answered breathlessly. "What else?"
Kagome blushed slightly. "You want to know more?"
"Yeah. When did you realize you were in love with him?"
The priestess smiled. "When being on the other side of the well away from him just about killed me. Being so far from him, not in his presence, brought tears to my eyes. Then, as I stood under the Sacred Tree, the tears that flew made me realize I was madly in love with that man."
"The Sacred Tree?"
"Yeah. It's so calming and peaceful. You feel like any burden you hold is lifted and you can see clearly about what's in front of you."
"I see." Rin looked down at the wrinkling kimono. "Kagome?"
"Yes, Rin?"
"If I speak of something to you, do you promise not to say anything to Inuyasha?"
"Of course."
"I think I might be in love." She whispered, then eyes widened as Kagome's face appeared too close for comfort. "Um…"
"You're in love, Rin?!" She practically squealed, a hand gripping her shoulder. "Seriously?" Rin nodded. "With who?"
"With Lord…" She trailed off, wondering if she should really say it out loud.
"Lord who, Rin? Is it Sesshomaru?" That would be the best guess seeing as the young girl knew him for a long time. Feelings were bound to happen for him.
She was very embarrassed, already saying too much. "Oh!" Rin covered her face with her hands, blushing crimson. "I do not know if I can say!"
"It is Sesshomaru, isn't it?" Kagome grinned. "Come on, Rin. It's okay. You can tell me that it's Sesshomaru. I always knew you would possess feelings for him."
Rin shook her head. "No. It's…not Lord Sesshomaru."
"Then who is it?"
"It's Lord Inutaisho."
TBC…
A/n: Wow, seriously? Who's up for the Inutaisho x Rin pairing finally taking effect? *raises hand* Me! Let's get it on! Can't wait to get the next chapter up! Thanks for reading and please review!
Zaru-san