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: 19
Year 839...
Zhēnzhū Gǎng Palace...
It was later in the morning when Shippō walked into hers' and Sesshōmaru's quarters, after the maids had delivered breakfast. Jiu was still here and wrapped up in her red pelt with a smile as she went about cleaning the room. Unsurprisingly Sesshōmaru was nibbling on the peaches she had sliced up for him.
"This is a bad sign," Shippō muttered.
"I don't see how," Rin countered. "It's rain, it happens, nothing's changed."
"Rin," Sesshōmaru peered over her shoulder and she handed him another slice which had him retreating a bit.
"This means Chang'e had spoken to a water kami and will retain us for as long as she decides," Shippō explained.
"This isn't new," Rin pointed out.
"I want to go home," Sesshōmaru muttered.
"The young prince must not be late for his lessons," Jiu pointed out nervously which had Sesshōmaru pressing against her back stubbornly as he munched on his peach.
"I don't want to go," Sesshōmaru muttered.
"No, Jiu is right, you should go," Rin said as she rubbed her hands over her eyes. "You should appease them momentarily, while I learn to do the same," she sighed.
"But…!"
"No, Rin's right, if you're in lessons the you'll learn things and eventually they'll relax around you, and while you're in lessons Rin can work on learning things from Chang'e," Shippō decided.
"And how the hell am I supposed to befriend an immortal who hates me as much as I despise her?" Rin challenged.
"Her highness is holding an embroidery circle," Jiu supplied.
"I don't know how to sew," Rin admitted.
"I thought you could stitch up wounds," Shippō countered.
"That's flesh not embroidery," she pointed out firmly.
"Can't be that different," Shippō shrugged and now she gaped at the fox.
"I'm sorry, but… really? Fǔ Yáng? Really!? Flesh is flesh, it's messy, I have never once sewn anything in my life that was material!"
"What about all those kimonos your lord would give you?"
"Oba-san would mend them or my lord would have them repaired!" Rin snapped. She had never, in her entire life, successfully sewn anything beyond a wound. Kimi-sama had said she was so bad at sewing that it would be for the best if Rin never attempted it. And Rin agreed given how many times she had stabbed her fingers. There were only so many times she would willingly stab herself with a needle! She hated sewing, she hated when Kaede had attempted to force her to learn how, or when Kagome had given her that 'modern sewing kit' as a gift, and worse, when Sango had attempted to have her mend the children's clothing. Rin hated sewing and she was terrible at it.
"Well, if my lady needs, I could assist in teaching you the stitches," Jiu offered.
"That's very kind of you but we're going to have to think of a different reason for me to be around Chang'e," Rin said.
"Chang'e is more likely to like you if you are learning to sew, she will take great delights in teaching a novice," Jiu explained.
Rin groaned now. "Why does female bonding always happen over stabbing fingers with needles!?"
"It can't be that bad, I've seen you stitch up wounds," Shippō mused.
"Fǔ Yáng, I'm going to cut off one of those tails and make it a wrap," she warned sharply.
"Perhaps Wu Min would like to join," Shippō chuckled.
"That could work," Jiu mused. "The monk is a curious human, and two humans with Chang'e to learn sewing will charm them to her," she stated.
"Then it's settled, Sesshōmaru-sama will go to lessons as Imperial Prince Jūn Ān and you will go to embroidery lessons with Wu Min to get information from Chang'e."
"I think I'd rather go with Jiu," Rin stated firmly.
"Fine, Wu Min and I will continue to scour the libraries for information!"
"What have you found so far?" Rin asked.
"Nothing on the kuroshiju, or soul collecting, but I think I've found a lead on Magatsuhi, but that'll take a few days of reading," he explained.
"With the rain you will have undisrupted time," Jiu said.
"How long do these rains last?" Sesshōmaru asked suddenly.
"Depends on who's controlling the rains," Jiu admitted. "But it should not be more than a moon cycle. Too much rain and the humans will notice," she explained.
"Wait, what?"
"Shì, the mortals notice," Jiu replied.
"So, what's happening here is happening in the mortal realm?"
"Shì, at times, and at times like this," she admitted. "Imperial Empress Chang'e would wish to ensure wherever you escaped to would be inconvenient."
"I see, well then…" Rin smiled. "I'll take the cycle to glean information and gather supplies but then, regardless of weather we're leaving."
"Fine, I'll get Wu Min to help with the hunt," Shippō decided.
"And keep him away from the maids," Rin said as Shippō darted off as a kitsune.
"I'll prepare the Imperial Prince for his lessons," Jiu murmured.
"Arigato," Rin replied as Sesshōmaru glared at her but let the maid pull him along. Sighing now that she was alone she fell back on the bed. Why couldn't bad weather just be bad weather? Why did it have to be an infuriated kami out to get her!? Rin wondered if she had somehow offended the kami in a previous life and she wasn't aware of it only having to deal with the backlash. Kagome and Sango had always told her that she would reap what she sowed and if that was true perhaps her past life had reaped challenges for this life to confront.
Getting up Rin changed and braided her long hair before stabbing it into a twist with the hairpin from Kimi. Pursing her lips Rin pondered what she could learn to sew that would be time consuming enough that she could spend time with Chang'e and yet challenging enough that she would be able to divide her focus between Chang'e and the task.
Her mind flashed to the quilt her lord took such careful care of.
Perhaps… crazy as that was, perhaps she could make him another one, not as a replacement but as a gift? He might like that…
Sesshōmaru was reluctantly dropped off at his lessons by the maid Jiu. Jiu was not bad for a kitsune, but he was a bit annoyed that a fox held authority over him. No, that was not true, Rin was his alpha and equal and she treated Jiu as an authority, so he had to respect that, even if he did not like it. Walking into his lessons he was greeted by the sight of his tutor, the nervous, loud goose spirit, Chi-Ping, fluttering about.
"AH! Good Morning Imperial Prince Jūn Ān! We are joined today by Princess Ying Yue," the tutor greeted in his loud voice which had his ears wincing at the sound. He saw the little inuyōkai that he had lunged at the other day sitting in the room. Her liver colored eyes were assessing him warily and he smirked; good, he thought.
"Play nice or Mistress Rin will hear of it," Jiu warned him sharply.
His smirk dropped as he adopted his indifferent façade and stalked forward. Rin had ordered him to apologize to the female, and though he did not want to he wanted to make Rin happy.
"I apologize for yesterday," he informed Ying Yue. He kept his voice cold, clipped and soft; how his mother always spoke. His mother and grandfather were both quiet by nature and yet they always seemed to accomplish more with their quiet tones than his father did with a boisterous tone.
"I am your mate," she started.
"You are not, I will not mark you, do not rise above your station, bitch," he snapped as he took his seat for the lessons. That seemed to stun the princess as she blinked large eyes at him and he focused on Chi-Ping now. Sesshōmaru would just have to adapt to this moment, and when he and Rin escaped they would never return here, or if they did, he would be coming to take it all back from his grandmother and grandfather for every little insult they had paid his mother and Rin. He'd unleash hell in tenfold when he was bigger. Sesshōmaru was going to be the biggest and baddest daiyōkai in the history of daiyōkai. And when he was the undisputed strongest no one would ever dare to insult Rin.
Sesshōmaru looked at the lesson before him and frowned.
To be the best he would have to know everything, even if it was from the enemy. He smiled inwardly now, learning the enemy's tactics and culture would give him a dangerous advantage over them, one he could utilize later in life. To be the best he would have to start now.
Tuning into the lesson he ignored Ying Yue and her attempts to get his attention. Sesshōmaru would learn everything there was to learn. he would become the most powerful and the smartest Inu no Taishō ever sired.
Rin was reluctant to gather supplies for sewing, but she did it anyway. She had measured out the amount of fabric she would need for the simple quilt she had in mind. If there were to be more complicated additions to the quilt, she'd have Jiu help her out. The white and red were a given selection for Rin, those were the colors of both the Shikoku InuYōkai Pack as well as the Shikoku InuYōkai Clan, as well as being her lord's favorite colors. She picked up violet threads, she could make this simple.
She could do this, simple, she just needed to keep the quilt simple.
What was simpler than the lunar cycle? Rin didn't know of anything easier she could possibly sew than maybe a twig, and she did not think her lord would appreciate her sewing him a twig. Her lord did not play fetch, he had made it a point to rub that in InuYasha's face when Kagome tricked InuYasha with a stick one day and sent InuYasha dashing off to the forest.
"This is a good idea, my lady," Jiu whispered.
"I'm going to be stabbing my fingers a lot, I hope this works," Rin muttered as they walked, materials in arm.
"You cannot be that terrible at sewing," Jiu countered.
"I am terrible at it," Rin repeated. "I attempted to mend a kimono and it was so ruined that my lord's seamstress forbade me from handling my own mending."
"You seem so good about whatever you set your mind to," Jiu countered.
"I have two things I am terrible at, attempting to play a musical instrument and sewing," Rin stated. She could not play an instrument to save her life, Kimi-sama had gone through the ear bleeding lessons, how her lord's mother had not skewered her where she stood Rin would never know. As to sewing she simply hated the task.
"You will do well," Jiu decided for her.
"Our whole plan is us bonding over me inflicting torture on myself in hopes that we can get Chang'e to like me enough to tell us about this kuroshinju…" she muttered. "Jiu-chan, do I strike you as a masochist?" she demanded.
"You will do this well," Jiu reaffirmed for her.
"We are doomed," Rin sighed. "So very, very, very doomed," she groaned.
"You will do well, you've befriended a dragon and several pelted spirits," Jiu mused.
"If I die, tell my lord that at least I was attempting to make a quilt for him," Rin mused.
"I'm sure you won't die," Jiu promised. "I'll help you with this, and we will figured out how this pearl works."
"What I want to know is how I already have one of his souls," she hissed.
"Making nice with Chang'e might help you," Jiu said firmly.
"I think I would rather suffer water torture to this," Rin muttered. At least then she wouldn't have to manage Chang'e or possibly Tiāngǒu.
Year 1581...
Zhēnzhū Gǎng Palace...
InuYasha was stunned looking around at this place, and the people here.
Tsuzuki Castle had been grand and imposing but this was something else. InuYasha had never been outside of Japan, and this was impressive, which saying something. This Palace made his brother's home look rather simple.
Then there was the matter of this woman who Sesshōmaru was looming over.
The onna was rather slim, delicate, petite figure, but about Sango or Kagome's height. He was a bit stunned being here and seeing the guards and finery around him. He had thought that he had known finery with how he had grown up and even seeing Tsuzuki Castle he knew this onna was wealthier than his own mother or Kimi-sama was. She was clad in beautiful silks, silver silks, her hair was decorated in finery of diamonds and golds, her eyes flicked onto him and widened fractionally as she saw him.
"That is not possible, Zhìháo had no other sons," she started.
InuYasha smirked at the disbelief on this onna's face now. "You sure about that?" he taunted.
From what he had seen Sesshōmaru was toying with these people, he just didn't know why Sesshōmaru was toying with them. The onna stared dumbly at him and then back to Sesshōmaru and back to him.
"It's not possible," she started.
"Not probable, now we're going to speak about your intentions, obaa-san," Sesshōmaru growled lowly.
"Or we could just talk about why the fuck we're actually here," InuYasha offered.
Spirit Wilds of the Spirit Realm, China...
Miroku grumbled when A-Un landed him and Kirara in the wildness, near the base of the castle. He didn't know if he should be annoyed or accustomed that he was here in the bloody wilderness. It was just like old times.
Miroku sighed internally as he started setting up his campside. Eight years with Sango and a house he was very unaccustomed to the camping again.
Because he and Sango were always having children he hadn't been running around the wilderness hunting yōkai. And when he and InuYasha did do a job they always were in villages and inns or the finest house when he could con his way into them. Sesshōmaru and InuYasha being in the castle was just typical. He didn't know why he thought it would be different after having dealt with Naraku and travelling most of his adult life.
Still, he missed his bed, his wife, and strangely he missed his kids.
He should be relieved to be having a break from having Kanon, Kaori, Akira, Ken, Ren and Mitsuru but he really missed the little menaces. He was a bit surprised about that.
A-Un growled a bit which had him looking around for what had both the dragon and Kirara getting up on edge. A-Un released an energy blast which had leveled some trees as a figure jumped out of there.
"Kami! A-Un!" a voice barked.
"Who are you?" Miroku demanded as a kitsune was revealed.
"You can call me Fǔ Yáng," the nine tailed kitsune stepped out of the shadows. "Kon'nichiwa, Miroku-oji-san, it's been a while."
"This isn't possible," he whispered.
Tsuzuki Castle...
"Kaori, don't climb on that!" Sango called as she and Kagome were nursing the youngest babies. Sighing she watched her twins run through the gardens chasing a butterfly now. She didn't know what to think or do now.
Kohaku had done something Sango couldn't save him from, she knew that, there was absolutely no hope for her to save her little brother, of that she was certain.
Her husband was gone with his best friend to a foreign land, under the protection of a daiyōkai none of them really even knew!
And Sesshōmaru-sama was somehow giving all of Edo refuge, and she didn't know what to make of that given her knowledge of how little he cared for anyone who was no Rin.
"It was beautiful Sango," Kagome whispered.
"You shouldn't be snooping through the Castle, Kagome," Sango countered.
"I didn't mean to," she promised. Sango frowned, her dearest friend, who was very much like an imouto to her, was the nosiest onna she had ever met. Kagome did not understand boundaries.
"Kagome, we shouldn't wonder around here," she said as Mitsuru finished nursing. Which had her burping the babe before she would help Kagome out and feed Nobuyuki.
"You aren't the tiniest bit curious about this place?"
"I am, but, Kagome, we are refugees here, we're lucky if Sesshōmaru-sama doesn't throw us out because of what your curiosity uncovers!" she hissed as she wiped the spit up from Mitsuru's lips and put her son down before accepting Nobuyuki. Kagome had yet to get her twins on the same cycle, and Sango remembered those days, and did not mind helping her friend out right now.
"He won't do anything about us," she promised.
"You don't know that, Kagome," Sango countered. "We don't know anything about Sesshōmaru-sama and what he will and will not do about us."
"He'd never…"
"Kagome we don't know!"
"He can't be all bad, Rin adores him!"
"Hai, she does, but we don't know him, Rin never talked about him or told us about him, we didn't let her, so what do we actually know about him?" Sango countered firmly.
Kagome opened her mouth then shut it as she thought that over. Sango would admit she had never wanted to know about Sesshōmaru-sama. The time she had thrown Hiraikotsu at Rin had been the time that Sesshōmaru-sama had stared at her with a look that screamed pure hatred, she could never forget it. Sesshōmaru-sama didn't reveal emotions or thoughts, but the look of absolute hatred he gave her, it was so unnerving, Sesshōmaru-sama had looked at her as if she had threatened to take away his world. Since then, Sango had accepted she would never truly know the daiyōkai, he was reluctant to entrust Rin to them, and after the daimyō had attacked Rin, he was very protective of Rin. They were not in Sesshōmaru-sama's inner circle, they were not welcomed, and Sango wished Kagome could see that.
Sango wished Kagome could see that Sesshōmaru would never welcome them openly in his life, and encroaching on his privacy was probably a fast way to become nothing more than a puddle of goo.
