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: 15
Year 1308...
Somewhere in Kyoto, Japan...
Tōga stared down at the small human who stood before him as an elegant enigma but with mannerisms very akin to Sesshōmaru and Kimi, it was unnerving really.
"What do you know of your history?" he asked leaning on the tree opposite of her. For a human she had an enticing scent, for a human.
"I slept through… all of it, I read a few books from my ane, but I slept through all of Kimi-sama's lessons," Rin admitted.
"Kimi taught you?" he whispered, now a lot of the girl was making sense.
"Hai," she shrugged. "Sort of, it is complicated, but my ane brought very interesting texts with her and they were… enlightening, I will admit I find history rather drab and boring. Kimi-sama would skewer me if she heard me saying that considering my predicament now," she sighed. He couldn't help the chuckle which escaped his lips, oh Kimi would not be amused to know her prestigious lessons were wasted on a human girl.
"You can wipe that smile off your face, she is aware I slept through all her history lessons!" Rin snapped.
"Is she?"
The girl shot him a baleful look very like Sesshōmaru's then. "What of Midoriko and Watatsumi?" she asked.
"Well, like the legend says, he was a dragon, but he wasn't a kami like the humans thought," Tōga said. "In these lands, other than perhaps Kimi's own sire, Watatsumi was the strongest daiyōkai ever sired, so strong he could be mistaken for a kami, a child of Izanagi-kami and Izanami-kami," he said. "Watatsumi was revered, even in my lands, he was fearless, he was all powerful. Watatsumi was very much a sea creature, he was as the humans remember him, he was powerful, and he was weak."
"Weak how?" Rin asked. He eyed the white fang on her hip as he saw it pulse, almost eagerly, like it was alive. Tōga would've sworn that he saw a set of amber eyes peering at him from behind Rin's knees.
"He had embodied the ocean as his territory, and he reveled in the power, the humans would do anything to appease him, until the day that the humans decided to attack him. The human emperor had brought his armies, and his own courtesan, leaving the empress in his palace; the courtesan though, she was nothing particularly special. But her power, it was raw, untapped, pure, innocent power.
"The Emperor waged battle against Watatsumi, but this human; a village orphan near the war, offered a trade. She would give herself to him if he spared the humans, she is said to have made this offer without hesitation or fear, and she should've been terrified. The human stood in the unleashed power of Watatsumi, the greatest daiyōkai ever sired, and she did not cower with fear as the others of your kind did, she offered her life to save thousands of your pathetic human lives. Watatsumi was enticed by her spiritual power, so he accepted the trade, claiming the human as his. The human was known as Midoriko," he said looking at Rin. She looked balefully back, her gaze unwavering, and he looked at her legs, there it was. He could almost see a set of amber eyes staring at him with wonder before they vanished again.
"Watatsumi was enamored with Midoriko, but more than that he desired her power. He gave Midoriko a gift, a young nekomata, and set her to a shrine to learn to harness her young power with promise to return and wed her. They were lovers," he sneered.
"That wouldn't work," Rin said swiftly.
"Oh-ho? How wouldn't it?" he demanded.
"A miko is comprised of pure spirit; connected with the divine power of the kami," she started.
"True, true," he chuckled. "And yōkai are comprised of 'demonic' energy," he mused as he gave her a feral smile. Rin returned his smile with one of her own which seemed impossibly feral as well. "You are not wrong, hu…" he started.
The kaiken was out and her brows were up as she frowned. "My name is Rin, if you do not use it, I will gut you," she warned.
"The miko, Midoriko, who had defied human tradition on the wishes of Watatsumi had now turned her power on expelling 'evil', for humans even understood one simple fact, you are prey and yōkai are predators. Watatsumi heard of his intended's power and was enamored. When he went to collect her to collect her power as they had promised the human turned back on her word and the battle which ensued was legendary to human and yōkai alike.
"Watatsumi was enamored with the human's spirit, he was in love with her beauty, her power, her prowess in battle, and her unwavering faith in her purity. They battled for days, until they could fight no more. Watatsumi was the victor, and his bride to be was to be defeated, the proper domination of any yōkai's mate.
"In the preparations of their union, where the human would be welcomed to bear his mark. But in the time Midoriko had been with the humans she had enamored a very powerful human, who decided to exorcise Watatsumi," he said. "The results was Watatsumi losing his mind as a human and he warred for power, and other, weaker humans joined in consuming Watatsumi, Midoriko killed him though rather than exorcising the human and weak yōkai consuming him, and rather than purify and save Watatsumi she did what all weak humans did and killed him rather than fighting to save him. Watatsumi was so engulfed in the will of weaker yōkai and that human who sold his soul to the weak yōkai for the power to claim Midoriko he didn't even know he was killing the human he so coveted, or that she killed him, and the battle rages on and on in the Shikon no Tama."
"I see," Rin mumbled.
She really didn't, Watatsumi and Midoriko had died, their souls had not gone peacefully to the other side like humans or yōkai believed. Midoriko and Watatsumi still raged war and betrayal on each other within the Shikon no Tama. Tōga knew because he had been unfortunate in finding the Shikon no Tama shortly after it's creation, he had felt it's raging war within, and felt the betrayal and fury which accompanied it. The power within the Shikon no Tama couldn't be contained, and it couldn't be trusted. No one could be trusted with that kind of power, and the power forged itself again and again, creating a tragic set of lovers, usually with the purest of human females and the power powerful of daiyōkai. The Shikon no Tama didn't just grant wishes, it had been influencing fates for the near six hundred years it had been around.
"What else are you not telling me?" Rin asked.
"Why is my son marked by Magatsuhi?" he asked her softly.
"He was marked trying to out do you," she answered icily. "I do not pretend to comprehend the complexities of a father's relationship with his son, and I do not pretend I comprehend Sesshōmaru's relationship with you, I will not, but you hurt him. I do not know how, I do not know when, but something you did, something you said, you pushed him over the edge, he is marked trying to prove himself to you," she seethed.
"Was he defending you?" he asked.
"I was there, but I am not what he protects, you are what he tried to emulate," she snapped. "He was marked saving no one, he was marked trying to prove himself to you."
"You…" he sputtered. He had never been able to get Sesshōmaru to ever need to prove himself, Sesshōmaru always easily slipped through the obstacles before him as if it were nothing. This had always frustrated Tōga, his progeny was effortlessly powerful, never comprehending the struggle. The idea that Sesshōmaru was marked by Magatsuhi… that meant Tōga had not been able to sway the fates to be kind, and to not follow his father's own self-fulfilling prophecy. Tōga had fought to break the chains of destiny his father seemed intent on binding their bloodlines in.
"I will not let my lord perish because of your idiotic hardheadedness getting passed to him!" she snarled furiously.
"I never wanted to hurt my son," he started.
"That's a riot, I should call Master Jaken to shout it from the rooftops," she snorted.
"Listen mortal," he started.
"The name is Rin," she snarled lowly as the kaiken was again produced.
"Rin…"
"You know before meeting you I could understand my lord's desire to live up to your standards and surpass them. Now I do not," she seethed.
"You," he started.
"How do I speak to Naohi?" Rin asked cutting off whatever protests he could have had. He looked at the human and sighed, so this was his son's mate, the reason his son was doomed to be bound by Magatsuhi in that endless cycle the Shikon no Tama inflicted upon the fates. And like the others, the human would betray him and Sesshōmaru would perish. Unless…
Tōga stared at Rin then, he could care her, prevent all he knew from happening. He pulled his claws back, he could make it swift and painless.
"Rin?" a voice called out, it was sweet, melodic to the ears, he turned to see that woman from the other day, and now he had a chance to actually see her. His eyes widened and his breath hitched as he stared at the most lovely creature he had ever seen.
The woman saw him though, and she moved to be behind a tree, her wide brown eyes were staring at him like a doe in the meadow. Her eyes were dark, soulful, almost onyx, her lips were pert, her heartshape face was cute, but in a very unhuman way, and her straight nose was almost too pert for her face. She was stunning, he could hear her heart beating rapidly and scented her anxiety.
"I am coming my lady," Rin said levelly.
"I will come to take you to Magatsuhi," he murmured as he watched the other woman. He couldn't look away, he could feel Sō'unga mocking him for being bewitched by a mere woman, a human woman no less, but he couldn't look away. The woman hurried to walk with Rin, and Rin tossed a warning glare over her shoulder worthy of Kimi herself.
Fuck.
That was all he could think knowing that the impulse to rush after and mark the woman would likely having Rin skewering him with her fang.
"What were you doing?" Izayoi asked as they walked.
"Dealing with an unruly dog," Rin muttered.
"Rin, I do not think it is wise to attend whatever you are doing alone with only him," Izayoi whispered to her.
"It is not about wise, my lady, it's about what is best for my lord," Rin explained. "He will help me, if only because he should want to aid my lord, he does not have to like me to do that," Rin admitted.
"Rin, why trust him, he is likely to destroy you, that's what yōkai do," Izayoi sighed.
"They are no more nor no less destructive than humans, it is all how they decide to be for they have free will and destiny as well," she said. "To despise something different from yourself because you can is usually a sign of weakness and ignorance and to not be willing to learn and tolerate is a sign of a lesser being. To hate a yōkai is to hate an animal you do not know or understand, you cannot fault the animal though for reacting to violence with violence," she said. "And besides, Tōga is too curious to harm me, so long as I hold his interest I am safe."
"And when you don't hold his interest?"
"I believe something else will be filling his interests when I get to that point."
"Why do you say that?"
"For many reasons," Rin shrugged. "Besides, after your wedding I will leave to seek out the Shikon no Tama for answers, I am certain that Tōga-sama's interests in me will wane significantly at that point."
"You sound awfully sure," Izayoi sighed.
"I am. I have known a man very much like Tōga who leaps from obsession to obsession once he's solved the mystery," Rin admitted. InuYasha had this habit and she saw a lot of it stemming in Tōga, the natural curiosity for things that interested him. Sesshōmaru had it, but his level of cold detached focus was unnerving, Tōga seemed to be the one more likely to follow his nose or interests. Unlike Sesshōmaru who never relented or surrendered even when he was unbelievably bored with whatever it was he had ben obsessing about. Sesshōmaru didn't give up whatever he was obsessed with until it was dead or there was nothing more he could possibly learn from the subject of interest.
"You are a mystery Rin," Izayoi chuckled.
"Not enough to hold his attentions," she shrugged. She would get to the Yōkai Taijiya village, find the Shikon no Tama, and that would be that, she would have her answers and then all would bore Tōga about her. Though she would not be surprised if he attempted to kill her at some point or another.
The most surprising thing about this entire encounter was the passion with which Tōga despised humans. It was surprising because Tōga had been so adamant about saving and protecting humans in all the stories she had heard of him. He was a great defender of humanity, he had forged the Tetsuseiga for that purpose. So to discover Tōga's hatred for humans was a bit of a shock to her system.
Rin had expected such animosity from her lord, she was well aware of his passionate hatred for humans, but she was also aware that her lord wasn't unreasonable. He was never so unreasonable that he would let humans in his lands and protection be needlessly slaughtered, and he never voiced his hatred when in the presence of anyone, not even her, a human, he only voiced it whenever InuYasha was around. There was something there though, some deep reservoir of emotion that no one knew or understood, they just all ended up on the receiving end of his temper when he finally lashed out. It had quelled a bit, she thought, with her being with him, her lord had seemed to settle, he no longer was vocal about despising hanyō or humans, though Jaken was vocal enough about their lord's preferences. No, Rin didn't think Sesshōmaru hated humans or hanyō without reason, but what those reasons were, was not something anyone seemed privy to.
Or if they were privy to them then they never spoke of it.
Sesshōmaru's silent nature made it difficult for Rin to know what his reasons were, and no one in the shiro seemed to know him well enough to ever fill her in on whatever had happened to her lord to make him so passionate about hating humans.
Tōga though, that seemed different; his hatred seemed deep rooted, and centuries old, he probably had been the one teach Sesshōmaru his aloof nature regarding humans. Kimi-sama had never been involved in human affairs but she had said that it was simply because yōkai outlived whatever human court they managed and it wasn't worth the effort when the human just died in a handful of decades and she would have to start over. Which made sense, Rin supposed, when life was so long for beings like Kimi or Sesshōmaru. But Tōga was different, his hatred seemed pointed, direct and for reason.
But what that reason was, was truly beyond her right now.
