Rin sighed as she walked alongside Ah-Un, Sesshomaru was unimpressed by far. He walked ahead of them in agonizing silence and she was all too sure this was her punishment for having been late this morning.
Her eyes reluctantly turned towards Jaken, who glared at her viciously and mumbled under his breath. He caught her gaze and narrowed his eyes even more. She rolled her eyes and huffed out an exasperated breath. At least they weren't dead, just as she'd predicted but leave it to Jaken to see the bad side in everything.
In earnest she couldn't help but feel a little guilty, Jaken had ben scolded and then trampled on, she'd simply been ignored. She could easily understand his frustration, but she would never own up to it.
Her legs hurt from walking nonstop, they'd walked well into the day and past the evening, any further and they'd go through the entire night. Her ankle still throbbed and though she loathed to admit it, she was exhausted, they hadn't even stopped to eat or relieve themselves. In an effort not to slow them down or become more of a bother she said nothing, but she didn't know for how much longer she could continue without capitulating to her human needs.
She refused to say anything though, she wouldn't admit to still needing Sesshomaru to take care of her or mind her humanity. She was a woman now and a slayer, she could take care of herself and was more than capable of keeping up with him and Jaken.
Her internal turmoil flushed her face and when Jaken threw another scowl her way, he was met with a cold side glare that sent him stumbling off of Ah-Un's back.
Jaken fell to the ground with an umph and nor Rin or Sesshomaru glanced back at him.
Jaken jumped up, "Why you insolent little-"
Rin opened her mouth to reply but then suddenly Sesshomaru stopped walking and turned to face them.
Sesshomaru cocked a brow in their direction and they fell silent.
He looked at Rin for a brief second and turned back towards the road; Rin and Jaken sagged in momentary relief.
"We'll stop here for the night." He said.
Rin turned to go into the woods before Jaken's shrill voice stopped her.
"And just where do you think you're going?" he spluttered.
She rolled her eyes dramatically and Jaken narrowed his eyes.
In spite of her bad mood, she couldn't help but placate the small demon. It simply wasn't in her to sulk for long, a trait she loved and hated in herself.
"I'll be back." She promised.
"I forbid it!" Jaken shouted.
That did it.
Rin laughed, the sound washed through her and over the others in the group. Sesshomaru's ears perked up and toward the direction of the sound while Jaken glared mutely.
"Oh Jaken," she said when she caught her breath, "You really haven't changed at all have you?"
Jaken opened his mouth to protest before Sesshomaru spoke up.
"Take Jaken with you." He said without glancing in their direction.
"What?" Rin asked as if she hadn't heard.
Sesshomaru turned to look at her, a look that dared her to defy him.
Rin ground her teeth, her mood returning tenfold. "I don't need Jaken to come with me, I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."
Sesshomaru didn't respond and made himself comfortable at the base of a tree.
"These woods are teeming with demons Rin and your mortal senses are more useless in the night than they are during the day." Jaken explained simply.
"I need privacy." Rin said frankly. "You can't expect me to bathe in front of Jaken, I'm a maiden after all."
Jaken flushed a deep red that looked purple-ish beneath his green skin tone.
"Are you suggesting I would sink so low as to-"
Rin ignored him and glared at Sesshomaru who still paid them no mind.
She growled nosily and stomped off into the woods.
Jaken's mouth fell agape. "I'm talking to you!" he shouted after her, making no move to follow.
"Jaken." Sesshomaru said.
Jaken looked at his Lord who was glaring at him and then into the woods where Rin had disappeared.
Jaken blushed and looked down at his feet.
A low growl started to drum in Sesshomaru's chest.
"She is a young maiden now my Lord, of course you can see that her body has grown in proportion to her attitude, I don't think she'd take to kindly to my following her."
A rock was sent flying Jaken's way, which he dodged masterfully before chasing after Rin in the woods.
"Yes My Lord! Rin, Wait!"
Rin trying desperately not to run to give herself away in the dark veil of the night or further damage her ankle, walked as quickly and quietly as she could. She knew it was only a matter of time before Jaken would come and interrupt her peace. Once she made it to the river, she quickly stripped and made her way into the cool waters. She waded in the waters and let her thoughts run rampant in her mind.
Sesshomaru hadn't spoken to her all day, the only time he'd even looked at her was when he was forcing Jaken upon her as some sort of chaperone.
She let the cool waters work their remedy over her throbbing ankle and sank further into the waters.
Clearly he was upset about her blatant disregard for their less than timely departure this morning…or maybe, she thought, maybe he'd always been this quiet and brooding and ignorant of her presence. Maybe she'd always been an invisible hindrance to him.
Sadness coursed through her fresh and strong, a sadness she hadn't felt in years. She'd left Kaede's village nearly a year ago for the sole sake of finding him and being of some use to him. He'd clearly forgotten about her or perhaps he felt she was nothing ut a burden to him, but in the course of those ten years, she'd trained. She trained long and hard with Inuyasha, Kaede, Kagome, Sango, Miroku, and especially with Kohaku so that when she'd finally caught up to him, he would finally see some value in her.
She would train until her legs gave out from under her and even then she'd pull herself up with her arms to remain standing before her opponents. Along the way she had saved so many lives and made countless friends but nothing sufficed her, because she only sought to be of use to him. Yet now, when she'd finally found him, she'd realized they'd grown apart.
No. They hadn't grown, she had. She had become someone else, someone Sesshomaru did not like or care for and though Rin had grown up confident, in herself, her skill, her morals and so much more; the thought hurt her to her core.
She loved who she was through and through, she was indepednet, outspoken, defiant (something Inuyasha and Kaede had told her far too many times) but she was goodhearted, strong, and brave. She had worked to become all of those things and she would be damned if she would change who she was for anyone, even…even Sesshomaru.
And yet, that was the crux of the matter.
Who was she, if she wasn't Sesshoamru's Rin?
She let her body float into the night as she counted stars and muttered in frustration to herself when all of a sudden...
"Do you wish to die?" Sesshomaru's harsh voice asked.
Rin popped out of the water and turned to face the voice, Jaken popped up from behind the stone where Sesshomaru's gaze was cast.
Rin screamed in shock before anger coursed through her, she picked up a stone and nailed the little imp demon in the back of the head.
"Jaken, you pervert!" She shouted.
Before Jaken could even defend himself, the rock sent him flying and Sesshomaru grabbed the other individual behind the rock. A young man who he held by the neck, who squirmed in his grasped, and then looked back at Rin in a desperate plea.
"Haruto?!" Rin gasped as she threw her hands over her body, in an attempt to cover her nakedness. Though her arms were not enough to cover her, fortunately her long hair shielded her most intimate parts as she ducked quickly behind another stone.
Sesshomaru tightened his grasp on the boy's neck.
"Please." He choked out.
"Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin called out to him, her first real address towards him over the course of the day. Her shock limited her sentence to just one word. "Please."
Sesshomaru looked the boy and then at Rin, Rin's eyes began to prick with tears and Sesshomaru dropped the boy. He landed on his tail bone, clutched his throat and began gasping for air.
Rin ran across the river to meet them on land and before she could, she was struck still as Sesshomaru began to pull off his own out kimono and handed it to her.
"Cover yourself." He said in a hard tone that let her know it was not a suggestion.
She complied all too willingly and wrapped the large garment around herself, before running over to kneel beside Haruto.
"Haruto." Rin cried as her hands fluttered over him helplessly. "What are you doing here?"
"You know this mortal?" Sesshomaru asked. For the first time Rin glanced up at Sesshomaru who wore a light juban (undergarment of kimonos) that seemed fitted to his muscular chest and build. Her throat went dry as she took in his masculine shape, his broad shoulders and toned arms (both of them).
He stared back at her blankly and she realized he was waiting for her answer.
"He's a friend." She answered, her voice a ghost of what it had been just moments ago.
"Some friend!" Jaken snapped. "He's nothing more than a peeping tom!"
Rin pulled her eyes away from Lord Sesshomaru and knelt over Haruto who had finally begun to catch his breath and breathe naturally again.
"That can't be true, can it Haruto?" Rin asked.
Haruto grabbed her hands in his, "No. No Hime, please believe me, I didn't follow you all this way to disgrace you in such a manner. I left the village shortly after you did and thought I could convince you to stay. I got lost in the woods and I figured you might be staying nearby the river, after all even if your companions are demons, you would certainly have to stop for water. I'd nearly lost all hope of catching up to you when I saw your garments laying just beyond the trees. I had no idea you were bathing here, had I any clue, I certainly wouldn't have come but as I was already so close, I hid so that I couldn't intrude and so that you wouldn't feel compromised in anyway."
"Oh yeah?" Jaken challenged, "And I suppose you only watched from behind the stone to assure her safety."
Haruto flushed and gapped wordlessly.
Sesshomaru grabbed the hilt of his sword and before he could even unsheathe it, Rin dove in front of Haruto and grabbed Sesshomaru's hand still on the hilt of his sword.
"Please my Lord." She pleaded.
Jaken's mouth hit the ground, never in all of his years had he seen such a bold move.
Sesshomaru looked down at Rin; her face flushed, eyes wide, lips parted, eyelashes and hair wet. His outer kimono dwarfed her and yet still brought every curve and muscle to attention. He brought his sword back into the sheath and looked down impassively at the man who cowered behind Rin.
"Go and never return." He instructed Haruto.
Haruto grabbed Rin's hand and she turned to look at him in shock.
"Come with me Rin." He pleaded though his eyes bounced between her and Sesshomaru.
"Haruto." Rin replied in shock.
"Join me Rin, you'd live well off in the village, where people (human and demons alike) love and adore you. If you go, if you go with him, with them" he stuttered as Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed at him, "You might never return, you might even die. Please Hime, reconsider."
Rin held his hand gently in hers, "Haruto, your worries are unfounded. I'll be fine. Please go home."
"Hime," he pleaded, "you're not like them, you're a young maiden, with your whole life ahead of you. Don't you long for a family? A place where you belong?"
Rin flushed, this was the last conversation she wanted to have in front of Sesshomaru.
"Haruto." She said in warning. "I belong here, this is my place, these people have always been my family."
"Why you good for nothing ungrateful scoundrel, I knew you lusted after her! She is none of your concern! She is Lord Sesshomaru's ward. Her life belongs to him and always will." Jaken shouted boldly.
"Be with me, Hime." He finally said. "I can give you more than a family of friends, I can give you children, a home, a life worth living. Not as a ward, as a burden, but as a treasured wife, as a lifelong friend."
Rin smiled at him and he flushed, awestruck by her beauty. "We are already lifelong friends Haruto, have you already forgotten? You promised as much just this morning." Rin reminded him softly.
Even in the kindness behind her words, he could hear her soft rejection.
"Please Haruto, go home." She insisted.
"Hime-" he started.
A ferocious growl ripped through Sesshomaru's throat as he lunged at the boy, he'd grown tired of this, he'd scare the boy away.
Chills ran down her back and she instinctively covered her ears.
"Go Haruto!" Rin shouted.
Haruto scrambled unto his feet and started running, looking back only once to catch a final glimpse of the woman he'd come to love. The woman he left at the foot of a demon.
Rin watched as he scurried into the woods and let grief wash over her, her shoulders sagged and she turned to face Sesshomaru, her head bowed.
"Thank you." She said begrudgingly. "For sparing him."
Sesshomaru turned without another word and made his way back towards the camp.
Jaken sat on the stone and crossed his arms, his staff tucked into his elbows.
Rin looked at him through her big sad brown eyes and Jaken, again, was struck by her candid beauty.
"D-dress yourself woman! Before you catch a cold or worse, completely sully the Lord's kimono." He snapped.
Rin smirked at his absurdity but stood up and made her way towards the bank where she'd placed her clothing.
When she was certain she was out of Jaken's sight, she brought the kimono to her nose and inhaled deeply. It smelt so much like him. She sat by her clothing and brought her knees to her chest, rendering herself to this small moment of bliss, which was wearing his clothing.
He had to care for her, to some extent. She was certain. After all, would he have given his kimono to another naked woman? He hadn't to Kagura.
She took a deep breath and thought of the night's unfolded events.
She'd been proposed to and yet the only thing she could think of how she was wearing his clothing and how his juban had fitted him so well. She resigned herself and concluded she must be mad. Mad and yet irrationally content. She hugged herself a little tighter to keep warm and finally started patting her hair dry with her towel, Jaken would come for her soon if she didn't hurry.
She took off the kimono, hoping she hadn't drenched it too much, and before putting on her own clothes brought it to her nose once more. She scolded herself for such flagrant thoughts and yet couldn't find it in her to genuinely care; as no one was around.
Sesshomaru, sitting on an away branch from an ancient tree, watched as she held his Kimono to her face, before slipping into her own clothes.
He wondered idly what had made her so gleeful.
