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: 6
Year 1308...
Setsuna Castle...
Rin woke in the late morning to the sound of birds chirping, and a pounding, throbbing headache. An attendant was here, and it startled both her and the young woman who had been opening up the room.
"I didn't know you were awake; I should have brought you some morning meal and tea," the woman said nervously. She winced at her throbbing head, which was making the fact she was thrown into a tree known right now, she dragged her fingers through her disheveled hair and was stunned to feel the neat stitches on the back of her head.
"I am fine," she rasped promised the young attendant. "Where am I? And how did I get here?"
"You were found by my lady, at the yōkai boarder when she was gathering herbs, she and Kato brought you back," the girl explained. "We cleaned you up, though I must admit your garments are beyond ruin," she said softly.
Rin sighed, she was startled to still feel the pearl around her throat and her weapons at her side in the fine bed. She would not have expected this, in her experiences, humans were rarely so considerate to leave the valuables and weapons with the injured. Or put them in a nice room of their shiro rather than leaving them in the barracks.
"I'm Rin," she offered the girl; her throat was throbbing and speaking hurt.
"Aine," she smiled softly. "My lady will be eager to speak with you, as will our lord when he should return. You must be terribly brave surviving a yōkai mauling."
"It was a long time ago," Rin sighed tiredly. She honestly never paid attention to the scars left on her by Kōga and his pack from her first death. Her lord had taught her young that scars were marks of valor, they were not what made or broke beauty. There had been many times she had wept about her beauty lost, for girls in the village were often cruel to remark on her scars when they were bathing. There were burns from the night her family was slaughter, there were lashings from the villagers who feared her, a few arrows from hunters, and then there'd been the wolves. Rin's body had never been flawless or beautiful with all the scars that riddled her skin, and she was certain to a girl like Aine it had been a horrifying sight.
"Still, I will alert the lady you are awake, I will also bring you proper attire," Aine said before she left. Rin was sitting in the bed, and she rubbed her throat; it had felt sore like that time when the daimyō had attempted to strangle her for denying his proposal. Her mind went over yesterday's events carefully, the look on that inuyōkai's face…
No doubt he was a daiyōkai, she recognized that with his inhuman beauty, and the strength with which he could attack her, and the size of him when he transformed. Her lord was not fully finished growing; Rin knew this, and Sesshōmaru was the mightiest Inu Daiyōkai ever and he was huge! Her attacker had been bigger. Rin had only escaped because the density of the forest, she knew that, her small size a good advantage in a dense forest. And evading yōkai was child's play after her childhood.
Still…
There was something unnervingly familiar about that inu daiyōkai, something. Rin knew he looked familiar to her lord, but such similarities did not explain much about why she felt betrayed when he attacked. She pondered this carefully. Over the last eight years Rin had met many yōkai, many different kinds of yōkai too, and she frequently lived amongst the inuyōkai, Kimi her mentor in how the inuyōkai packs worked; for it was different from the ookami packs. And of the many inuyōkai Rin knew, none would have hated her or attacked, no, since the time of her childhood many seemed to adore and revere her; and not because she was always in Sesshōmaru's presence. No, it was like they all knew her already, like she was a packmate already and one to be respected and cherished. There were also times she would catch a few looking at her like she was supposed to understand or simply know what to do, and she couldn't always fathom why that was. So often it was like they all already knew her, but she could not remember knowing a single inuyōkai before her lord had taken her in.
Rin was never treated like an inuyōkai pup, there had always been a reverence with which they had always treated her with; one she didn't understand.
After the attack of the netherworld, where she had died, she had been stunned that in that aftermath at the shiro so many inuyōkai came to check on her; she could not remember meeting them. Sesshōmaru had gotten so annoyed with the influx of visitors she was having that he literally wrapped her in mokomoko and ran to a remote part of the shiro and hid her there for her to rest. She had later learnt that her lord had taken her to his private quarters where they would not be disturbed. Strangely enough she heard whispers about how only Sesshōmaru's mate had ever been in the quarters, but he always welcomed her to explore the quarters he so rarely inhabited. Not even Jaken was welcomed in those quarters though, and Sesshōmaru attended to all the cleaning and straightening of the quarters when he was there, his mother said she hadn't been in them in well over five hundred years, never welcomed since her son's puphood in his sanctuary.
So, Rin was slightly unnerved having a being so similar to her lord in appearance attack her with such hatred when for the most part she knew inuyōkai to be kind and generous creatures; if a bit eccentric and obsessively overprotective.
Rin looked up when her door slid open, the attendant was back, but so was a stunning woman.
"I hope you do not mind, but I would like to join you for your morning meal," she said softly.
Rin inclined her head as welcome, a mannerism from her lord and the inuyōkai she had picked up. It was a sign of welcome, and she saw the lady's unease but quick determination as she walked in. the meal was set up and Rin reluctantly removed herself from her futon, pulling on an offered rob as the attendant bowed and left them. Propping Bakusaiga on her shoulder as she sat Rin inclined her head as thanks for the meal since her throat was killing her.
The woman was very familiar looking, and though Rin was certain she remembered the woman saying her name was Izayoi, she feared that it was Izayoi. If this was truly Izayoi then she was a far ways off from when she needed to be for her lord. And that would mean, that other than Higurashi Kagome and InuYasha, Rin was able to pass through the well, and that could lead her to problems. Rin didn't know how the well worked; not really. Kagome had only ever gone in between two periods in time and yet Rin got the sense that would not be her case if she had gone through the well.
"I do not know how much you remember; I am Izayoi," she said with a soft smile. Rin smiled though she felt her heart plummeting to the pit of her stomach. So that meant that her lord was younger, and Rin didn't know how to think of that.
"Rin," she offered.
"I was curious about you Rin, what were you doing in the river?" Izayoi asked.
"I am on a mission to save my lord," she answered honestly.
Tsuzuki Castle, Shikoku InuYōkai Territory, Japan...
Kimi was reading in her gardens when she scented her mate's return and looked up to see him very irritated and his limp was there.
Tōga was not Kimi's True Mate, though they were as close as they could be to being True Mates, she had accepted that long ago they simply were not meant to be though they did love each other in their way. Tōga was a proud stubborn creature, one her father had found favor in to arrange their union, though Tōga had abandoned his homeland and father to build his own empire. The strange Western Inu Daiyōkai had been quick to pick up their customs and language, even abandoning his name for one that suited her land.
However, in moments like these she heard him cursing in his native tongue which had her setting aside her readings as she went to find her mate. His blood could be scented well before she reached him and she was greeted with the sight of him stubbornly pulling off his armor. There was a lot of blood on his inner thigh, and Sō'unga was put away.
"What happened?" she asked calmly, walking over to start undoing the hidden clasps and small ties that bound his armor to him.
The only way one saw that Tōga was not a true InuYōkai of their land was when they saw his armor, he could never, and she had never permitted him to completely discard the Western style of his armor. It was something her son had adopted from his sire and she was impressed too for their son was turning into a brilliant warrior.
"That human wench is back," he snarled lowly, and Kimi finally saw the other wounds when he looked at her. There was a slash over his nose and his arm had a massive through and through slice that scented of their son's venom.
"I see," she said calmly as she put the armor away and continued helping her mate undress. Tōga had, since the audacity of humans to boldly kidnap their son as a pup, despised any and all humans with a venomous passion. The knowledge that Sesshōmaru had a human bitch had infuriated Tōga beyond reason and for the past six hundred years.
She understood it, she did, but she did not detest humans as Tōga did. Humans lived such short lives they were inconsequential really, and the only human she had met worth anything was the very human Tōga despised beyond all reason, their son's bitch.
Kimi could never understand it, neither had Sesshōmaru, but Sesshōmaru had found his True Mate; though he did not remember marking her, and she was human, Tōga despised this fact. He also despised the fact that Sesshōmaru's mate was not some hapless human who would break when she fought.
"Have you ever tried not provoking his mate?" Kimi asked patiently.
"She was trespassing," he snapped as her as she examined his wounds, they were healing slowly.
"This would not happen if you would just accept, he had a human mate, you cannot break the binds of a True Mate bond, even in death, Tōga," she warned lowly.
"It cannot be a True Mate bond, she is human," he snapped.
Kimi did not dispute that, but she also didn't bring up the fact True Mate bonds were rare and not well known so yōkai did not know what compelled the bond. But clearly, at some point, Sesshōmaru and his mate had met, and she was marked with Sesshōmaru's mark and venom, and Sesshōmaru would do whatever was needed to keep her safe and happy. That was a dangerous fact the pup had displayed when his own grandfather had attempted to harm his mate.
Sesshōmaru would destroy whatever threatened his mate, no matter how strong or weak he was, no one would ever harm his Rin. Kimi accepted that.
She also accepted that the little soothsayer human was actually very good for her son. Rin made Sesshōmaru a better alpha, she made him a more respected alpha and she was the only one bold enough to assuage her son's temper.
Tōga would just have to accept this one day, and know that he was not a kami, he could not control everything and if he ever met his True Mate perhaps he could understand the devotion their son gave his mate because of that bond.
Year 1581...
Edo, Japan...
It was midday the day after Rin had disappeared, no one had been brave enough to dare to approach Sesshōmaru. InuYasha had been forced to go make sure that Sesshōmaru was still alive, and he had peeked to see Sesshōmaru sitting with his back against the well, mokomoko wrapped around the well and Tenseiga propped on his shoulder. The blood was still there, and his brother looked pained, but the moment InuYasha had been sensed he had been pinned by his brother's red glare.
InuYasha was a bit unsettled at how in control of his inner yōkai Sesshōmaru always appeared to be, when InuYasha was terrified of his own inner yōkai. But the wild look in his brother's eye was enough for him to reassess if Sesshōmaru actually did or did not have total control of himself.
Which was why he was arguing with Kagome that she was not going near Sesshōmaru when Sesshōmaru was injured and pissed, and she was extremely pregnant. She tried to argue back, but he didn't care how much she'd 'SIT' him she was not going and that was final. InuYasha was trying to think up solutions for the problem, but he was too busy arguing that Kagome wasn't the solution to think.
He even recruited Miroku, Shippō, and Sango to side with him on this argument because she kept screaming 'SIT' at him when he made valid arguments.
"I am going to check your brother and you can't stop me!" she shrieked.
"You are not going near Sesshōmaru when he's like that!" InuYasha shouted.
"InuYasha SIT!" she shrieked, he gasped as he went crashing into the crater he was making at the entrance of their home from all her 'SIT' commands.
"Oh my," an aristocratic, melodic voice said which was when he found himself staring at the heavy mokomoko of an inuyōkai he had never seen before. She was tall, slender, and radiating the same dangerous power Sesshōmaru radiated, her long silver hair was pulled up in an elaborate style and yet it was still showing how long it was, she was dressed in pale blues, and her face was similar to Sesshōmaru's complete with the mark of a crescent moon. "So you are the hanyō of Tōga. I see the resemblance, you even have his markings coming in, but I see much of Izayoi in you too. Very interesting ears though, do all hanyō have these peculiar traits?"
"Uh…" he blinked at her.
"Who are you!?" Kagome demanded.
"And I see you have taken after Tōga in many other ways," the woman mused looking at his mate in a way that made InuYasha uncomfortable. The woman was looking at Kagome with a hard to read look, but everything about this woman was dangerous and wild, she gave off the same sort of aura Sesshōmaru did; but he didn't know her and he didn't trust what he didn't know.
"Listen lady, I don't know who you think you are!" he started.
"I am Kimi-sama of the Shikoku InuYōkai Clan, and you will have respect for your alpha, boy," she snapped in a tone like Sesshōmaru's which had his ears flattening against his head as he bowed slightly; completely against his will; at her. "I am here because I was informed Sesshōmaru was gravely injured and I scented Sesshōmaru's blood. Is Rin here?"
"Rin's missing," Kagome said softly stepping into his side, which had him wrapping an arm around her to shield his mate.
Kimi frowned slightly. "I see, and where is Rin missing to?"
"We don't know when she is, she fell down Honekui no Ido and vanished."
"Very well," Kimi said softly before she turned. "All of you stay here, I will bring him here for proper care."
"I wouldn't do that! He's wild right now," InuYasha said.
"Of course he is, just be prepared for him and I will go see what troubles my son has found for himself this time," she dismissed as she walked away.
"Son!?" Kagome squeaked.
"That was bizarre," he muttered. There was a small pinch on his nose which had him crossing his eyes to see Myōga on his nose and he scowled.
"Hello Master!" the flew squealed, InuYasha slapped his nose which had Myōga fluttering limply into the palm of his hand.
"Myōga," he seethed.
"It's good to see you too," Myōga muttered weakly.
"What the hell are you doing here and what the hell is going on! Who the hell was that lady!" he roared at the flea.
"That is Sesshōmaru's mother, Kimi-sama," Myōga said carefully. "I had heard from Tōtōsai what had happened and thought it best to bring her here before Sesshōmaru did something rash."
"What the hell is going on!"
"I don't rightly know," Myōga admitted. "Tōtōsai is consulting Bokusenō."
"What do you mean you don't know what's going on!?" Kagome shrieked.
"What she said," he said blandly to his mate.
"I mean your father did not keep Tōtōsai or I appraised of his intentions or on goings of Sesshōmaru. The advisor who handled the execution of your father's will for Sesshōmaru's inheritance is Bokusenō as he is the only advisor who Sesshōmaru listens to."
"Who's Bokusenō?" Kagome asked.
"A two thousand year old Magnolia tree yōkai who is the very tree the scabbards for Tetsuseiga and Tenseiga were made from. He was a close advisor to Tōga and is an advisor to Sesshōmaru, he is also the only one truly aware of Tōga's will where Sesshōmaru was concerned."
"That makes no sense. I thought you carried it out!" InuYasha snapped.
"We carried out the part of the will to bring you to your power and Tetsusaiga. We also entrusted the Tenseiga to Bokusenō so Sesshōmaru would receive it, but we were never in charge of informing Sesshōmaru of his inheritance from Tōga, the master felt it would be a way to a swift death after what happened," Myōga said warily.
"After what happened?" Kagome growled.
InuYasha glared at the flea who was now trembling, but they were interrupted when Kimi appeared with Sesshōmaru leaning heavily on her, and a lot of blood was seeping from his wounds. The furious glare he gave Myōga had the flea leaping into InuYasha's hair to hide.
"I'll get he bandages!" Kagome gasped waddling back into their hut. InuYasha held up his hand to stop Kimi and Sesshōmaru as he glared at them both, his mate was heavily pregnant and he didn't want her harmed.
"No harm will come to your bitch," Kimi said.
Sesshōmaru said nothing, but InuYasha looked between the two of them.
"You do anything to Kagome, and I'll finish you off before Magatsuhi can," he warned seriously before he let them follow Kagome into the hut.
