I Do Not Own InuYasha


Ichariba Chode

行逢りば兄弟

"Though we meet but once, even by chance, we are friends for life"


IV: 7


Year 839...

Zhēnzhū Gǎng Palace, Spirit World, China...

Sesshōmaru looked around at all the fiery here, a bit surprised at the sight of it than not. He was used to finery, but this was a bit much, and he found it overwhelming. He looked at the human who he was holding onto and then at the room, her eyes were just as large as his.

"Well, this is a big much," Rin said as she set him down and looked around.

"They lie," he informed her as Rin cautiously moved through the room, he had already sensed they were alone though.

"What do they lie about?" Rin asked slowly sitting on the bed. He trotted up to her and clambered into her lap. He liked her scent, she draped her arms around him and he was happy to remain here for a bit, comfortable and wanted.

"I have no grandmother," he said looking up at her.

"And what happened to your grandmother?" Rin asked moving her fingers over his hair.

"She perished in birth," he answered. "Okaa-sama said she died bravely but could not handle birthing a daiyōkai when she was only an inuyōkai," he said.

"Mmm," she hummed. "Your grandfather must miss her," Rin said after a bit.

Sesshōmaru shrugged. He didn't know his grandfather well; Shikoku didn't seem inclined to be around him for some reason. The few times he had met Shikoku had been with his mother there and the scent of sorrow had always taken over Shikoku whenever they met. Sesshōmaru didn't understand that. His mother had said to was because he reminded Shikoku of a dear friend, but Sesshōmaru couldn't see how that could happen. Creatures like him were not liked or wanted and did not have friends; the other pups of the pack had taught him that.

"I don't think so," he muttered.

"Sesshōmaru, to lose a mate, weaker or stronger than yourself, it's a heavy blow, and it's my understanding that it's frequently a lethal blow," she explained softly.

Sesshōmaru blinked at that information; he had never thought about it that way. He had heard his grandparents had been True Mates and broken many traditions with their union.

"Now you will remain here and rest, I have an unruly fox to deal with," she said.

"You mean your littermate?"

"Nani?" she looked at him then and frowned.

"Littermate, that's his mark," he pointed at her hand and now Rin pursed her lips.

"Alright, explain to me how you know that?"

"This is mine," he pointed at the violet crescent moon on the nape of her neck; a place reserved only for mates, and then pointed at the green scar on her hand. "This is his. It's his yōkai energy."

"Hmm… you and I are going to have a talk when I get back about this, but for now I will be dealing with an unruly, secretive fox," she mused darkly.

"How do you not recognize your own littermate?" he asked her.

"Well, for one thing, he is not named Fǔ Yáng, and another, he was not a thousand year old nine tailed kitsune, merely a thirty year old kit," she explained.

"Your senses are weak to not recognize your littermate," he decided.

"I'm human, my lord, what we lack in superiority we make up for in tenacity," she mused and ruffled his hair.

Sesshōmaru watched her get up and he felt a flash of fear that she would leave him here alone forever. He didn't want his first friend to hate him and leave, and if her littermate was here then she could just leave him. Pack came before all else, he knew that, good alphas served their packs, defended their littermates and such. Sesshōmaru was terrified she'd leave him for her littermate, he couldn't stand the thought!

"Rin?" he whispered as he sat on the bed.

"Hm?" she hummed as she turned to face him again. He noticed how very small she was now, she did not have the lofty height he had thought she possessed, and she wasn't like any of the yōkai he had met or his mother. Rin smiled at him, and her brown eyes were kind.

"Do you like me?" he murmured uncertainly.

"Of course," she reaffirmed. "I'll be back, my lord, just rest, we'll sort this mess out soon enough and you'll be safe and sound at home again," she promised.

He watched her leave him and he was shocked; she liked him, he had scented no deceit on her part when she had had answered.


Fǔ Yáng had never thought about running into Rin this early, he would admit that it hadn't come into his calculations for his plans, the monk was so baffled by this experience that Fǔ Yáng left Wu Min to sit in his silence and shock. Leaving the monk behind he walked into the courtyards and looked at his hand, the cut was throbbing and he swore he could feel her temper.

His mating mark burned a bit which had him looking up just as a pulse of energy landed before him. His mate smiled as she walked forward, her red eyes were glinting like rubies as she neared.

"How is she?" the thunder yōkai asked. He chuckled as he caught his mate's claws and smiled.

"She's alive," he chuckled weakly. "Oh sweet kami, she's alive, I never thought, after… kami," he nearly sobbed as he held his mate's hand in his.

"I can't wait to see her," the thunder yōkai said softly.

"You have some explaining to do you damn fox!" Rin appeared and he and his mate tensed as the human stormed into the courtyard. All her energy was like her mate's then, wild, furious, and he swore he could see the dragon residing in his littermate then. "Sōten!?" she gasped skidding to a halt on her rampage.

"Rin!" his mate released him and darted forward, wrapping the human up in a tight embrace. Fǔ Yáng laughed at his littermate's stunned expression peeking over his mate's shoulder.

"Been a while, Rin," he greeted.


Rin was stunned when Sesshōmaru had informed her Fǔ Yáng was her littermate, which meant that unruly, nine tailed kitsune was somehow, in some way, Shippō, and she did not know how that could be. She was well aware of how the kitsune tails grew as they lived through centuries of life, but to think that Shippō, her littermate, to have lived so long, and somehow; like her, ended up in this time, using a false name no less, had stunned her. Rin would've expected this devious behavior from Sōten or Jiu, not Shippō!

But now she was even more stunned to find herself wrapped up in a tight hug with her attendant and general!

"Rin!" Sōten gasped pulling back. Rin was stunned by how much taller Sōten had gotten, though it really shouldn't have been a surprise to Rin. Sōten had been young by yōkai standards, and she wouldn't have finished growing and maturing until the end of her first century of life, rather like Shippō.

"What are you doing here!?" she sputtered when her friend released her, satisfied by whatever inspection she had done. Sōten had grown up into a beautiful onna, her hair was long and black, her fangs were sharp, her lips were red, and her eyes looked like rubies, there were two deep black marks beneath her eyes and an almost flower like mark on the center of her brow.

"We couldn't let you do this alone Rin," Shippō said walking forward to drape his arm around Sōten's waist; which was a surprise to Rin. She saw the way Shippō's tails were wrapping around Sōten too, the black tips and orange fur were unique markers to their link. But more interesting, Rin saw the streaks of lighting over his neck, and the green drag of claw marks on Sōten's.

"You're… you're mated!?" she sputtered.

"Hai," he nodded.

"I'll leave you two, I have to go find it," Sōten said and disappeared in a pulse of lightning which left Rin standing there stunned and staring at Shippō.

"I know you have a lot of questions," he said carefully.

"What the fuck is going on?" she deadpanned, which had him chuckling before gesturing for them to walk. Rin numbly followed, falling into step with her littermate, Shippō kept his hands in his sleeves now.

"A great many things are going on Rin," Shippō said as they walked.

"Mmm, what's with the new name?" she asked.

"Well, I need an in to the Imperial Court and that required the sacrifice of my name for a new one to sound more local," he explained. "Also, it would not do if in seven hundred years people noticed the correlation between myself and the young kit to run amuck with Kagome and InuYasha."

"You had better start explaining before I start cutting off tails," she warned sharply. "You have a lot more tails now to which I could make myself a lovely pelt out of if you don't tell me why the hell you're here and how you got here!" she seethed. "Also, why the hell am I in China!?"

Shippō had the gall to chuckle at her query which had her wanting to throttle the fox, littermate or not, Rin had had brothers before and she knew that she could kick his ass without fear of retribution.

"Oh, I have missed you, imouto," he chuckled. "I'm here to help you," he said levelly.

"But why? I thought only Kagome-san could pass through the well," she sighed.

"I didn't come through Honekui no Ido," he replied. "Sōten and I travelled here through Heaven's Door, it opens once every thousand years or so," Shippō explained.

"And why are you here?"

"And that is the paradox," he said softly. "I'm from a timeline where you failed and Magatsuhi consumed the world," he explained.

"Nani?"

"In over a thousand years from now there will be a brilliant mortal called Einstein, and he created the theory of relativity, which would explain most of what I have to say but I cannot explain it well. I am here Rin, because in my time, or world, I'm not even sure which, you failed, and Magatsuhi destroyed everything. It did not stop with consuming Sesshōmaru but rather it ended with the death of the kami all because you died when Sesshōmaru-sama placed you in Honekui no Ido. I've come to ensure that you do not die and that you learn some level of mastery over your yōkai skills and that you do not die," he said.

"Nani?" she whispered.

"Your death, it broke Sesshōmaru-sama, and when he broke he couldn't battle Magatsuhi and Magatsuhi won," Shippō explained. "I'm here to help you and to ensure you do not perish."

"I'm alive, Shippō," she pointed out.

"Hai, you are, here and now, but I can't afford to fail, Rin," he said.

"Kami, this is going to be confusing and a headache," she groaned rubbing her eyes in irritation.

"Hai," he agreed. "And it's Fǔ Yáng, Rin," he said.

"When it's you and me it'll be Shippō or I'll take a pair of sheers to your tails until you have none and I'll call you stubby," she stated heatedly. She was so confused right now, and a bit pissed at Shippō for being.

"I'd expect nothing less, imouto," he chuckled.

"I am not the younger one here," she stated firmly as she folded her arms.

"Hai, you are," he chuckled. "By over a thousand years if my calculations are right," he teased.

"Oh no you don't! You were shorter than me when we became littermates!" she seethed.

"And now you're the pipsqueak!" he mused as he made a play show at differentiating their height now.

She swiped at his hand which had him laughing.

"I've missed you Rin," he said softly when the laughter subsided.

"You're going to explain everything," she warned Shippō.

"Hai, I'll bring Sōten to your quarters and we'll discuss it over dinner," he agreed.

"You had better, also, why is there a monk here?"

"I'll take care of the monk, go to Sesshōmaru-sama," Shippō ordered. Rin sighed but walked off without questioning it more, she would compile questions for Shippō and about her quest before the afternoon was over.


Year 1581...

Somewhere in Izumo Province, Japan...

Sesshōmaru landed atop a tree, ignoring the monk and his brother as he stared out at the glittering expansion of the sea. It would be two days to get over the sea, nonstop. He sighed as he closed his eyes against the onslaught of memories being near the sea always brought, he couldn't afford the distraction. Pausing the memories, he pondered his next move. He hadn't thought about going West in years, he hadn't pondered his grandmother or grandfather's kingdom. The first time he had pondered it was when Shikoku had mentioned that the West was mounting preparations to come East, which wasn't a good sign.

Though Sesshōmaru itched for a war, he longed for battle to relieve some of his frustrations about his situation, he knew that it wasn't something the pack particularly wanted. But then again, it could all be for naught, he knew that, he was well aware that this could all be in vain, a power move from his grandmother and her Clan in an attempt to bring him to them in hopes of ensnaring him onto their throne. He didn't understand it fully to be honest, he had never cared enough to attempt to understand what his grandmother's motives could be or what they were. It wasn't like Chang'e was his pack, and her actions meant nothing to him. She meant nothing to him.

Chang'e could not seem to grasp that, he remembered all the times his grandmother had encouraged him to adopt the name Jūn Ān and to discard his mother's people. Sesshōmaru hadn't relished those memories where power was just handed to him with no regard to what he may or may not desire.

Before he went to deal with the Ming empire he would go consult Bokusenō, it would probably help to go there with a clear head, he knew with the current thoughts running through his head he would not go there with a level head or rational thoughts in mind, he was aware that if he went over as he felt right this moment that heads would roll. Which would not be productive, he was aware of that.

Sesshōmaru could not go there with his current mindset.

"Set up camp," he ordered as he walked away. He would talk to Bokusenō before going, clear council would be needed. There were also matters of his father's will to discuss, and that would be needed.

"Where are you going?"

"We leave when I return, A-Un," he summoned the dragon and went into the forest. Sesshōmaru always traveled with his mate's dragon, the beast had saved his life on more than one occasion and he was certain that Bokusenō would be happy to see the beast.


Year 839...

Zhēnzhū Gǎng Palace, Spirit World, China...

Sesshōmaru looked up when Rin reappeared he had been examining her fang, and now he shoved it back to where she had put it.

"What were you doing?" she asked walking towards him.

"Nothing," he mumbled. He didn't want her mad at him for touching the fang. His father always got furious at him whenever he touched Sō'unga or talked to the fang.

"You can touch it," she said picking up the fang as she knelt to his level. Sesshōmaru looked at it then at her, she smiled softly. "It's called Bakusaiga," she informed him.

"Is it yours?"

"No," she smiled and shook her head. "This is my lord's, though he taught me all the secrets and taught me to wield it. This is the most powerful daiyōkai fang ever forged," she explained.

"It doesn't feel like a fang," he mumbled.

"Oh?" she asked unsheathing the blade and he looked at the fang. It was obviously daiyōkai, it felt familiar, like him but different. Sesshōmaru touched blade to examine the carvings in the metal, he was surprised when a flash of gold eyes that weren't his looked at him which had him jolting as he stepped back.

"What does it feel like?" Rin asked him innocently.

"Alive," he answered bluntly.

"That's strange," she mumbled. He didn't explain it but the fang felt like Sō'unga, it felt alive and powerful, there was something different about it. "You can touch it, no one is going to be upset about that," Rin promised.

He nodded when there was a rapping on the door, he growled as he walked to stand between Rin and the door.

"His Imperial Highness has summoned you for dinner!" the retainer announced walking in, the maids followed. "And you are to dress appropriately," the retainer smiled as he looked Rin over critically.

"Nani?" Rin sputtered.

"You are invited as well, human," the retainer informed her with a sneer. Before Sesshōmaru could lash out for the insult dealt to her Rin had out her dagger.

"There are only a handful of creatures permitted to call me human, and you are not one of them, you will address me as Rin or you will lose body parts," she growled lowly. He preened at the onna's boldness and watched the others step away from her.

"Eastern heathens," he heard the retainer mutter as he left. Sesshōmaru felt the light unspool from his claws as he lashed it through the retainer's ridiculous hat.

"Do not insult my Rin," he ordered sharply and saw the startled way the maids were staring at him and Rin.

"Arigato, Sesshōmaru-sama," Rin smiled as she ruffled his hair and walked by him. "We might be foreign, but even I'm aware insulting your guests is bad manners," she said softly to the retainer before looking at the attendants here.

"I'm Rin, and you are?" she asked sweetly; effectively dismissing the retainer. Sesshōmaru cocked his head as he watched the human curiously, she smiled and chatted with every attendant as she returned to him. He wondered how she did that, went from threatening to having everyone adoring her, he wondered if she could teach him that.