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: 20
Year 1308...
Somewhere in Yamagata, Japan...
Rin was pressed against Sesshōmaru's back, as the taijiya took to speaking amongst themselves, Sesshōmaru's ear would occasionally twitch indicating he could hear them.
"What are they saying?" she hissed.
"They are deciding to kill you or not," he said. "That will never happen," he dismissed reassuringly.
"I figured, between you an A-Un I don't think I have to worry about being killed!" she stated. Sesshōmaru had never willingly let her die. Her second death was a bit odd, but from what she knew of it from his perspective it had been shattering to him. To her though it was a very different experience, one she didn't fully comprehend and never dwelt upon; nor was it one she had ever dared to share with her lord or his mother. "Will they let me speak with Naohi or not?"
He didn't respond, merely pulling her tightly against his back as his mokomoko draped around her, she slipped the tsuka in his hand as her own fingers wrapped around her own. They would be a unit, she had learnt to fight as a unit with her lord. She was prepared.
"We will let only the girl pass, unarmed!" the taijiya shouted.
"You will let her pass with a weapon," he countered as his own claws cracked.
"Please, there is no need for violence!" the monk appeared. "I have heard of you, you're the inu daiyōkai, Sesshōmaru-sama!"
"We do not want the Shikon no Tama," Rin said as she slid Bakusaiga into his own sash and slipped out from behind him, shoving her kaiken into his claws before she walked for the village. "I merely need to speak with Naohi," she said.
"I sense you are pure," the monk said.
"I doubt that," the taijiya snorted as she approached. "Yōkai whore more like!"
The growl from Sesshōmaru as he released a fraction of his power was deafening and shook the ground where they stood.
"You will retract that statement, or I will annihilate you, vermin," Sesshōmaru was in front of her holding the taijiya by his throat.
"No Sesshōmaru, you will not be killing him! Put him down!" Rin snapped rubbing her temples. Her lord's temper was clearly something he had mastered in the coming centuries. Though she knew her lord's icy demeanor was a façade his temper ran deep and hot when provoked, and when provoked he was less inclined to be his true self and more inclined to be the monster everyone thought he was.
"You live because of her," Sesshōmaru stated icily as he dropped the taijiya and she made it the last few steps, the monk was cowering and the taijiya lining the walls had their bows draw and aimed at Sesshōmaru. Not that it would actually harm him. Sesshōmaru glared at her as he walked by, his hands in his sleeves before they were in step again.
"I apologize about that," she smiled charmingly as she offered the taijiya her hand. The man looked like he wanted to spit on her, but he didn't, merely huffing as he shoved himself to his feet. Rin sighed, being referred to as a yōkai whore was not new to her, she had long since been called that, by many of her own villagers, especially when Sesshōmaru appeared to bring her a gift or visit her. She had had monks convinced they needed to exorcise the inugami from her life, but when they learnt her lord was an inu daiyōkai they would tell her to die now before Sesshōmaru-sama killed her. She had been spat on, harassed and rejected by humans long before her lord was in her life, so she had never been bothered by this attitude after she took to travelling with him.
"My name is Rin, I am on a mission to save my lord, I need to speak with Naohi," she informed the monk again turning her attentions on the cowering man.
Sesshōmaru looked indifferent as ever as he stared at these men.
"You obviously know Sesshōmaru-sama, by reputation, he had decided to escort me here," she said with a smile at him. Sesshōmaru merely glanced at her, she sensed he was not amused nor was he particularly happy, but he was perfectly relaxed.
"You dare to bring a yōkai here?" the taijiya hissed.
"It was him or a dragon, he seemed the safer pick right now," she warned lowly. "And besides, we're not here to create problems, we're here for me to speak with Naohi, Sesshōmaru has no interest in the Shikon no Tama, he merely brought me here."
"You are… you are very pure," the monk whispered.
"May I speak with Naohi, please," she asked softly, bowing her head a bit. Her lord's shock and displeasure coursed through her as he stood even more erect than before. Kimi-sama had taught Rin that she was never to submit to anyone, ever, she was Sesshōmaru's equal and she would only submit when her alpha called upon it. Rin accepted that, she was very rude by human standards but by yōkai she was to be respected. But now was not the time for her to keep her dignity, she had to save her Sesshōmaru from Magatsuhi and if that meant giving a bit of humility to garner favor then she would sacrifice all of it.
"Very well, we will speak over a cup of tea, but he must stay," the monk said.
"Arigatō," she said and looked at Sesshōmaru. "I will be fine, promise, be back soon!" she waved at him with a large smile.
"Do as you please, Rin," he said dismissively. "No one is to harm her or there will be no village left," he warned as he turned to go back to the forest.
"I'm certain they would never harm a human!" she called after Sesshōmaru and smiled at the monk.
"This way," the monk motioned for her. "Tell me onna, are you bewitched by that yōkai?"
"No, I'm not, I follow him because he was kind to me, he saved my life, many times," she said levelly.
"I see, he is most evil," the monk warned.
"He's really not," she murmured softly. Her lord wasn't a good man, not by human standards, but he was not an unnecessarily cruel man either, he was merely powerful and that lead to a lot of conflicts for him.
Setsuna Castle...
Tōga was befuddled by the human, he couldn't figure her out. She was not special; he had watched her today. She had tirelessly worked to aid ailing humans, which was a futile task, he knew it, he had set their deaths in motion, and it had not changed. She was proficient in weaving and in tea making, and she seemed enamored with the hideous human male always at her side.
Still that male's nearness to his onna had him wanting to leap down there and tear the human apart, which was startling for a realization. Tōga had never considered any female his, Kimi had raked his nose over the coals for daring to presume her to be his. She had been livid, and warned him that she would not, nor could she ever be his, for they were not True Mates, and while Kimi was his alpha bitch she was well aware she would not be his. He had reluctantly accepted that and never dared to think anyone his other than Sesshōmaru. Sesshōmaru was his pup. An odd pup really, but his pup all the same.
The thought that he could think of this onna as his, and he did not really know her, was unsettling, though his beast kept scenting her.
Unlike Sesshōmaru's human, this onna smelt nice, beautiful even, like peaches and flowers, it was bewitching. He wanted to wrap himself up in that scent all day, he also wanted the human male dead for being so near her. Which was another thing Tōga didn't understand about himself.
Other than this was probably his father's blasted curse!
Tiāngǒu, the black inu daiyōkai of the East, servant of the Yellow Emperor, and a powerful conqueror had warned him long ago that as an inu they were susceptible to human charms, for inu looked to humans for companionship and purpose. Tōga had been so livid, especially when his father decided to arrange a mating between him and a mortal princess to broker peace between their worlds, he had been so disgusted in his bride he had mortally wounded her and fled to the east; stealing his father's fang the Sō'unga, where he had eventually come to Japan. Japan was perfect, it was a beautiful land with powerful daiyōkai and purpose, Tōga discarded his Eastern Name, and allowed Kimi's father to rename him. He had fought for the right to mate Kimi, to prove he was a worthy alpha and won, and here he was not expected to fall for mortals or even care about them. Mortals were merely a part of his lands, their affairs were their own, and they served purpose for they kept him informed to his borders about their ongoings with lesser yōkai.
Tōga refused to be like his father, to be so bewitched with a mortal as to make her his mate. No, he would not shame his bloodline by loving mortals. He was too powerful to taint his bloodlines with mortal weakness, to discard the ways of his kind to become a glorified pet for a pampered princess. He was an Inu Daiyōkai! As powerful as a kami, he would not submit to anyone weaker than himself! He had instilled that to his only pup, the most powerful daiyōkai ever sired, and Sesshōmaru bowed to no one, especially did not cow to mortals like humans!
And when Tōga discarded Rin, after she saved Sesshōmaru from Magatsuhi, Sesshōmaru would be free of his grandfather's self fulling prophecies and grow in power, living to be the greatest Inu no Tashio ever sired.
Sesshōmaru's power would be irrefutable, especially when he claimed his place as emperor to all, Tōga was looking forward to that. But to do that he would have to discard of Sesshōmaru's mortal issue. And now it appeared Tōga would have to discard his own mortal problem as well. He wanted to sink his claws into Izayoi, tear her skin apart, paint the garden in her blood, but the beast within him rebelled so violently at the thought he was physically ill with Sō'unga mocking him for this weakness.
He didn't understand it.
Why her? Why now? What was happening to him?
Rin found herself sitting in the chief's hut, and she looked between the taijiya and the monk, who had prepared the tea in silence.
"Why are you here?" the chief finally asked as they were served tea.
"I am not hear to cause or inflict harm upon your people," she said softly.
"And yet you brought our enemy to our gates," the chief said.
"I did, but Sesshōmaru-sama would never have let me come alone, he is very diligent about my safety when I travel," she said.
"Why?"
"I imagine it is because I am nothing short of a perfectly loyal servant to my lord," she said. "In turn Sesshōmaru-sama gives me the respect and loyalty any true lord gives their vassal."
"I see, and you believe a yōkai, a daiyōkai no less, is capable of anything beyond cruelty?"
"I believe that perceptions are skewed and tainted with what you are taught to see," she replied. "Sesshōmaru-sama is my friend and my companion, he is not here for the Shikon no Tama nor is he here to obliterate the yōkai taijiya, he is merely ensuring that I am safe during our travels. Nothing more, nothing less."
"Why do you seek Naohi?" the monk murmured.
"My lord was cursed by Magatsuhi, I need to know how to save him," she replied evenly. "I was told by my lord's father that I would need to seek out Naohi within the Shikon no Tama for answers, so here I am."
"You want nothing else from or to possess the Shikon no Tama?"
"I cannot make a wish upon the Shikon no Tama, it is why my lord is cursed, I will not use it for power for all it offers is faux power, I have no use for it in general for it brings nothing but calamity to those who seek to use it. It is a paradox and one I do not seek in my life. I merely wish to speak with Naohi," she said.
"You are most pure, impossibly so," the monk murmured.
"I have no spiritual powers and I am steeped in yōkai ways, when the time came to me I was intending to renounce humans to remain by my lord's side, I do not think I am half as pure as you are proclaiming me to be, good monk."
"I mean your intentions," the monk clarified. "Your intentions are so pure, so strong, so certain, I have never met a human with this resolve where the Shikon no Tama is concerned, or any matter really."
"I am merely here to save my lord, nothing more, nothing less," she said.
"But you see, it is intentions which dictate how the Shikon no Tama will act," he said softly. "It is tainted and corrupted by those of a wicked nature or intention, it is purified by only the purest of hearts, and it is only helpful to those of clear intent, the Shikon no Tama reflects the beholder, which is why we are so cautious to let anyone near it," the monk said.
"Especially a yōkai whore," the taijiya said.
"I am no yōkai whore, my lord would be offended you think so little of me."
"How can you say that when they've slaughtered thousands of us!?" the man snapped.
"And we've slaughtered thousands of us and them!" she retaliated. "Do not believe me an ignorant child, I am well aware of the company I choose to keep and I am aware of what they are. But it was humans who killed my family, humans who abused me, humans who discarded me to starve and perish to the elements as a child, it was an inu daiyōkai who decided to save me, to give me home, safety, food, companionship. It was a kappa who raised me, taught me, loved me. It was an inu daiyōkai who took me in as her own. I am well aware of what they are, but more than that, I am aware they are more than you dare to claim them to be," she warned. "Evil is evil, cruelty is cruelty, and both yōkai and humans are highly skilled and capable in it when they choose to be, so do not presume one or the other present a greater or lesser capacity for such pain and atrocity. It is a choice as to which nature they will follow. A yōkai is just as capable of good as a human and a human is just as capable of evil as a yōkai. It is a choice as to which they will be.
"I at least trust and know the nature of my lord, and I am very well aware of what humans think of him," she warned lowly. "But he has never deceived me and never hidden his true nature, and despite all that I serve him; knowing full well the monster he can be, because unlike many humans he has never tried to deceive me as to who he really is. And that is more than I can say for many humans I've met."
"You have given this a great deal of thought girl," the monk said.
"My name is Rin, not girl, you would be wise to use it," she warned sharply.
"I am Muhai, chief of the Yōkai Taijiya," the taijiya informed her.
"I am Ichiro," the monk said.
"Tell me Rin, why did you never leave the yōkai? They are not known for raising human children?" the taijiya asked. "They normally prefer to…"
"Devour a human child? Common misconception with creatures like daiyōkai or more evolved yōkai. While many lesser yōkai will gladly devour a human many of the more evolved yōkai are disgusted at the notion, we are not very tasty apparently. According to the kappa that helped raised me, a human does not provide enough nutrients to be enticing to eat, then there's the matter of our scent, and lack of challenge to hunt. Most prey knows when it's being hunted, which more evolved yōkai appreciate, humans very rarely catch onto the dangers they could be in. Realize that yōkai are animal base, and part of their thrill is a challenge, this leads the more powerful yōkai, such as the daiyōkai to be more selective about what they will and will not do. Lesser yōkai follow instinctive impulses where hunting is concerned and sometimes easy prey, like a human, is better than no prey at all," she explained.
The look in Muhai's eye had Rin unsettled as she finished her tea.
"Now, may I speak with Naohi?" Rin asked.
"Hai," the monk nodded. Rin stood and followed the monk and taijiya chief through the village. They made it to a cave before the taijiya confidently stalked in then looked smugly at her, as if a dare for her to fail. Kohaku had once explained to her how Midoriko's gravesite worked, even after the Shikon no Tama had been taken from this world. Rin had never been here, when she had visited the taijiya ruins, but she knew about it.
Walking through the barrier without pain or fear she walked through the cave, leaving the men gaping behind her. Rin followed the winding path of the cave until a point where she saw a heartbreaking scene.
A beautiful woman battling a pained looking dragon. She was stunned seeing this beauty and sorrow. She bowed to both Watatsumi and Midoriko.
"I am sorry for your losses, but I need to speak to Naohi, please," Rin said as she clasped her hands together and bowed her head in submission. "Please," she pleaded.
