I Do Not Own InuYasha
Aienkien
合縁奇縁
A couple strangely but happily united;
Uncanny relationship formed by a quirk of Fate;
The mysteries of attraction and relationships or bonds between people
II: 1
Year 1581...
Edo, Japan...
It was a rare morning for Rin, there was no pressing duties for her to attend to, and there was no particular reason for her to be busy. Normally, whether through word of mouth or a grueling nearby battle, she was always busy with the ill and injured, and though she was no spiritual aid like Kagome, she was a skilled healer. Kagome had brought Rin many strange texts from her time on a wide range of 'medical' subjects Rin had found utterly fascinating. Her lord had not stopped her quest for knowledge, neither had his mother.
Rin was also not being annoyed by her would-be-suitor, who Kagome and Sango encouraged, she had not.
It was her time of year to be at the human village, as her lord had decreed, and Rin knew the years of their agreement were soon going to come to an end, she just had to hold out until next summer when she could inform her lord of her choice: live amongst the humans or stay with him. To her it was an obvious choice, but her lord seemed to be less inclined to agree with her, forcing her to think about it. But Rin knew, she had known long before her family's death, she had no home amongst the humans.
Though she may walk amongst them, look like them, talk like them, and even have their respect but she had no place here. Like a hanyō she did not belong with yōkai either though. Rin had been taught from a young age to command her presence, to walk amongst yōkai with no fear and to best them. Rin was neither yōkai nor human really, and she had no place in either world, not really. But she did know, the same thing she had known since she was a little girl, she did have a place with her lord.
Leaving Kagome and Sango to fuss about Sango's new born, and Kagome's impending due date, Rin took to the forest, leaving behind the village Edo, she did not want to be around at this time, she wanted to enjoy her day, as she had as a child with her lord. Rin was aware that her time travelling with Sesshōmaru had not been all that safe, but it had been the best time of her life.
It was when she was deep into the forest that she sensed him, she tilted her head up as she smiled at him, he was perched in a tree, his mokomoko wrapped lazily around the branch he was on, and his amber eyes hard and cold as they assessed her.
"My lord! You're here!" she chuckled. Sesshōmaru had disappeared on a lead about Magatsuhi shortly after bringing her to Edo, she had learnt of his disappearance from his mother who had written her in worry. Rin had known though, he had heard rumors in Joseon about a similar curse, he had left to uncover information on if his own curse could be broken; however, she had not breathed a word of it not wanting to alert anyone to his weakness.
"Rin," he greeted as he dropped down to the ground, his full height still towering over her.
Rin marveled at him a moment, his armor was new, she noted, the silks he wore were white still, and there was a deep plum colored pattern on them, not sakura but something else, she couldn't identify right now. His long silver hair was drawn up in a tail; he had started to prefer that style in recent years, and his yōkai marks had grown darker, a little more jagged lately; probably from fighting Magatsuhi's curse. Sesshōmaru had Bakusaiga on his left hip, the Tenseiga still there too with some other weapons she did not recognize, his mokomoko had grown longer and thicker in fur, the great appendage now seemed to drag on the ground a considerable length behind her lord, or rested on the ground rather inevitably. The sash around his waist was a new set of colors, she liked the blue and green with the stark blackness of it. His armor was still black, though it seemed to be a bit less heavy and ornamental as the last armor had been.
"It's so good to see you my lord!" she giggled. "I have no duties today," she immediately pointed out.
He inclined his head slightly before they were walking together.
"Here," he pulled out a small gift for her. Rin blinked a little before she accepted it, in the last eight years she had grown accustomed to Sesshōmaru's habit of giving her gifts, from fine silks, to useless hair trinkets, to jewelry, to medical scrolls and texts, to weapons, and even spices and teas. She had never really dwelt upon if she should or should not accept these gifts, though lately Kaede and Kagome urged her to think about these gestures because she was of courting and marrying age. Her lord was the only reason she had not been married off at thirteen to the first diamyō who had attempted to steal her.
Her lord had been livid when that daimyō had stolen her, it was the first time since the defeat of Naraku that he and InuYasha had worked together, she was aware of what that meant.
Rin was pleasantly surprised though when she held a small gift made of polished ebony, it was small, it fit neatly in the palm of her hand. The leather binding it was cured to be the same matching violet the Bakusaiga had on its own sheath. Gingerly she pulled the blade and was stunned to look at a pure white kaiken blade. It was the perfect size for her, for when she got into trouble at a close range, there was a familiar pulsing from the blade in her hand which told her it was yōkai forged, and it was probably from her lord. There were no decorations on the blade or the sheath, but there were two black pearls in the sheath. Her lord had found she had a secret affinity for them, she had never told him that though, but if he presented her with pearls, they were always black.
"It is most beautiful, Sesshōmaru-sama, thank you," she smiled as she sheathed the weapon and continued admiring.
He relaxed a little and she sensed his tension gone through their bond.
"Is it made from a yōkai fang?" she asked.
"My fang," he replied. "I had Tōtōsai forge it for you."
"It is a truly magnificent weapon, my lord, thank you!" she smiled again. She did not ask about the significance of such a gift from her lord, although she was highly aware this was a gift customarily given to wives.
He tilted his head to her a fraction. Rin smiled as slid the blade into her sleeve when they started walking, she took her place on his left side.
Sesshōmaru had been apprehensive about giving Rin this yōkai blade. Tōtōsai and Myōga had actually suggested he present it to her as a gift. Since the incident with the diamyō stealing Rin a few summers back he had become keenly aware of the attention she was attracting, human and yōkai alike.
He supposed she was beautiful, though he had no true measure of standards in beauty, he had always thought Rin to be the most beautiful creature he had encountered so his opinion could be biased. Her hair was long, a bit wild, straight black to her waist, her eyes were the dark brown that seemed to glow in the sun like brown tiger eye gems. She was small, very small, she barely came up to his chest, she was shorter than his brother's mate, and her friend, Rin also had a slender figure, not lush and endowed like the other women. He knew for a fact though her hips and legs were very strong and shapely. Her skin was like fine ivory, but there was a golden tan to it from her time in the sun, and her cheeks were dusted with a blush frequently.
He found her face pleasing but did not know if that qualified her as a 'great' beauty.
Sesshōmaru always thought her a great beauty, but she was also Rin, and Rin was gorgeous to him. To others though he wasn't certain. He knew she held a great appeal though for Rin was a skilled healer, she was a renown warrior too, he had been seeing to that himself despite the miko's objections. Rin needed to be able to fight back, and he had overseen all her training personally since her tenth summer, she was just as skilled, if not more so than the taijiya who roamed this forest.
Sesshōmaru however was on a break from his hunt for a cure for Magatsuhi's curse because of a bold human's proposal.
Over the last few years Sesshōmaru had fallen into a routine of sorts which did revolve around Rin. From spring to summer Rin was in the human village, Kaede pressured him not to keep contact when he was here, but he could not fully stay away from her and would appear with gifts under the guise of checking in on her. Sesshōmaru would also spend his time away learning everything he could about Magatsuhi, it was everything he could to stay away from Rin and not panic about his impending ceasing to exist crisis. He had not reveled the mark to anyone, though Rin knew because she had seen it after the bathhouse incident.
Neither of them spoke of that, but she had seen the mark and that had lead to him explaining the curse he was faced with since Magatsuhi had stabbed him in the chest. A foolish price to pay because of pride, but one he was paying, and working to undo. Rin however had also taken to aiding his quest to find information about the mark and how to remove it. They had kept it very quiet from InuYasha's pack and everyone in the InuYōkai Clan, not even Jaken was aware of the curse he was afflicted with.
But that was not what brought him here, no what brought him here was an audacious proposal from human who wanted his favor.
Humans had heard that he was Inu no Taishō, many yōkai had already accepted that and sought his favor but had never dared to infringe upon his mated status, despite their bold attempts to create a harem for him. Tōga had possessed a harem, his mother had despised it, but it wasn't an unusual thing for a creature of his status, he had thus far discouraged a harem and put the females sent to him to his mother's care and she would create them positions as needed. But he would not have a harem, he was not in need of such things, and he did not trust anyone enough to be that vulnerable, no one except for Rin that is. The human vying for his favor though had gone with a bold proposal, which was irksome, and enough to have him coming to Rin.
The human had asked for Rin's hand in marriage, the idea alone had his hackles rising, and wanting him to snatch her away from humans permanently. But he didn't.
The Oda Clan had made the proposal, with the rising power of the human faction many would think him fool not to think about merging with the humans, but every yōkai knew Rin was his, the humans couldn't seem to grasp this. In the eyes of yōkai Sesshōmaru and Rin were a 'married' pair as the humans termed it. And the humans seemed to foolishly think he viewed Rin as his daughter or some other nonsense, so the proposal for Rin's hand to form an alliance between yōkai and humans was in the human's eyes; reasonable.
Sesshōmaru though was having none of that.
He had gone to Tōtōsai and looked into forging Rin a small weapon she could easily conceal and was trained to use. Unlike the other blades she and Kagome often requested, he had wanted her to have something lethal, not for healing.
"My lord, have you had any information on the mark?" she asked.
"No," he replied.
"Is it spreading?" she inquired.
He didn't answer, which he knew she was taking for answer and fretting about. Sesshōmaru didn't know the cure, and he knew he was running out of time, especially with some of the wars he had been fighting in recently.
"What brought you here my lord?" she asked as they finally emerged from the woods by the river. Sesshōmaru blinked at her question unsure of how to answer as they both sat beneath the trees by the running water. Rin for her part sat by his mokomoko, on it's own accord it moved to spread over her lap, he watched her fingers absently start brushing the fur as she leaned on his shoulder. He only allowed her to be this close to him, and he reveled in her clean scent; fresh rain with a hint of the forest in it, he also took comfort in having her comfortable enough with his inu daiyōkai nature to accept he wanted her close when it was just them.
"You have had a proposal," he said as he hid his hands in his sleeves. Bakusaiga and Tenseiga both rested against his shoulder.
"I see," she said thoughtfully. "I decline," she shrugged delicately.
He was a bit surprised at her decline having not heard who it was from, but he didn't say anything about it. It was not often he and his mate got time to be together, and alone without the interruption of someone. Instead he decided to savor the silence of the day, and let her lean on him. They had not done this in a very long time. Rin hummed a little absently, one of her childhood songs about him, his victory and return, something which made her happy, and he took comfort in her being here.
This was the longest he had had Rin with him, eight human years, it felt strange to know that.
"Why do you decline, Rin?" he asked her softly after a while.
"Well, because I have one more year before I can make an informed choice on how I would like to live my life, my lord," she chuckled.
Kagome was a quietly holding the newborn son of Sango and Miroku's; Ren, she chuckled at holding such a precious burden, and soon, if her luck prevailed, she would hold her own bundle of joy soon!
In the eight years since Naraku's defeat Kagome had found a balance in life. Her return to the Edo period had been her greatest joy. When she had decided upon returning to the Edo period though she had come fully armed with books, medical tools, and some extra pillows, blankets, and a few stuffed animals. The books she had brought were predominantly history and medicine, which was useful, unlike when she had been fifteen and stupid about time travelling with no regards to what she might be affecting or doing, this time she came with intentions of not causing trouble. Also, she found, slowly, after her return she could not continue her life between worlds, Honekui no Ido was not letting her go, and in fear, after her last journey almost didn't let her come back, she had stayed in this era, having brought as much as she could possibly need back with her.
Miroku and InuYasha had already, with Kaede's direction, started building Higurashi Shrine around Honekui no Ido so no one else would fall down it and become entangled in it's web of time and space. InuYasha had also settled down in Edo, somewhat, he hadn't been able to leave the well before her return, and she knew why that was. Even if he had been willing to let her go back to her era it had to have been excruciating pain to part; she felt it had to be because it had been agony for her in the three years they were separated.
Today though was proving to be unusual for Kagome, it was quiet, almost too quiet.
There had been a nonstop trickling of the injured and ill to their village for some time, she was a renown healer, with Kaede and Rin, but this was different.
There was no war, and she could sense no nearby yōkai, she couldn't sense any trouble. It was just a quiet day, which was odd.
"Morning Kagome!" Kohaku greeted her, she bounced Ren in her arms.
"Hey Kohaku!" she greeted.
"Have you seen Rin today?" he asked. Kagome smiled broadly. She fully supported Kohaku's pursuit of Rin, there was something about the pair that was so sweet, they belonged together, and Kohaku was completely infatuate with Rin.
Besides, many in the village had taken to commenting to how 'old' Rin was for a young, unmarried woman who was not a miko; though Kagome thought Rin to be very young, by this era's standard she should be married already. It had been odd that Sesshōmaru had not married her off, and Rin didn't seem inclined to talk about her impending future, which Kagome knew would come for the young girl. And Rin, unless healing or in battle, was still skittish around humans, though she did have a lot more confidence now than she had as a child around humans; granted Rin was very comfortable around InuYasha and her, and their friends as well, but that was family; pack as InuYasha called it, for someone raised by Sesshōmaru that would mean something vitally important and safe. If nothing else Sesshōmaru had worked very hard to make a safe, stable environment for Rin's childhood between himself and humans. Kohaku was a human male who Rin relaxed around, it was a good match too, and Kagome would bet that Sesshōmaru could not deny that, Kohaku absolutely adored and worshiped Rin, and he was active enough to keep up with Rin so she could have an equal partner. It was a good match, and Kagome felt the need, with the aid of Sango and Miroku, to encourage this match. Rin had yet to show interest, only treating Kohaku as a friend, but Kagome had a hunch the young woman would look at her future soon, she was nearly seventeen, in this era Rin would have to look at her prospects soon.
"No, I have not, but I was just looking for her myself," Kagome admitted.
"I heard she had another proposal," he admitted.
"From whom?"
"A messenger in the village talking to InuYasha," he admitted. "He's here for Rin."
"Who's the proposal from," Kagome clarified.
"They didn't say, only that they wished to speak to Sesshōmaru-sama about asking for Rin's hand and for InuYasha to pass on the message. No one's seen Sesshōmaru-sama this summer; according to InuYasha no one has seen him for three moons," Kohaku said.
"Well, don't give up hope, Kohaku," Kagome said. "Sesshōmaru will have the final say."
"I…" the young man sighed and looked dejected.
Year 1308...
Setsuna Castle...
Somewhere in Kyoto, Japan...
She moved silently through the forest, looking over the herbs she would need, and looking at the overall health of the plant.
She had been long since lost her home because of the growing conflict of the InuYōkai threat. The slaughter of her people and her family was disheartening to her and she wanted to weep at their conflict, but there was not much she could do to aid her people.
There was a thunderous snarl behind her which had her gasping as she spun around to find herself staring into a set of brilliant bloody red eyes of a giant white InuYōkai.
Izayoi gasped as she jolted up from her sleep, her heart was pounding wildly in her ribs, and her mind wouldn't settle. Gripping her duvet, sweat clung to her skin, and her body wouldn't stop trembling as she looked around her room, stunned to see nothing but the dim flickering of a candle she had not extinguished.
Izayoi had been, ever since arriving in Setsuna, having more and more dreams about the giant InuYōkai with blood red eyes and magenta marks on his cheeks. He was a fearsome beast. She did not know what to make of these dreams, or him, only that he was terrifying. Unsettled, Izayoi stood up and grabbed a small torch, walking from her quarters she went to the gardens to seek out some peace, she was unhappy though at the predawn rain that was filtering down so persistently this early spring.
She was not a miko, nor was she gifted with the gift of foresight, so she did not understand her plague of dreams since arriving at Setsuna.
