A/N: 1. Inuyasha isn't mine and the original names of the characters but some new characters are mine.

2. Sorry for not updating sooner coz I wanted to get some shut eye from all the excitement of writing this story, not that I was complaining though, you were all great readers!

SOFT UNDERSIDE

4

"What in hell is that noise?" The complaint was punctuated with a groan and a hand hitting a forehead in consternation.

"I assure your untutored ear it wasn't noise." A cold petulant voice argued from somewhere.

"You could have fooled me." The complainant turned its head to face the voice. "That sound is bad enough to wake up the dead."

"Then I welcome you to the afterlife." Cold amber eyes burned from across the room.

"Ha. Ha." The sneer further infuriated the musician. "Nice try. The afterlife is much quieter than this place." The speaker came up to a half sitting position whilst looking around. "Where is everybody again?"

The offended flute player sniffed and stiffened its spine not even deigning to answer the question. Instead, he just sat there with his hands inside his sleeves and frowning.

Quieter than the afterlife, indeed! Insufferable woman! Here is this Sesshoumaru who took the time from his busy timetable to lend some assistance and this one was insulted as my compensation! His brows almost met. Why do I even bother? The demon lord slid an irritated glance at the woman half reclining on the futon.

"He-llooo?" A hand began to wave to get his attention. "Sesshoumaru to earth, I'm talking to you!" The sing-song voice further irritated the taiyoukai. "Hey, I'm just kidding! Why did you have to practice that thing in here anyway?"

Sesshoumaru stiffened and his eyes narrowed. Practice! She called my music 'practice'! A slow growl began to form. The inu lord stood up and slowly strode toward the direction of the door, displeasure pasted on his face.

"Hey…!"

Grrr, the woman really had some gall!

"Where are you going?" The miko called out.

"I will leave you to the 'afterlife' to give you some 'peace'." The demon lord stopped in front of her futon as he huffed and looked down at her disdainfully. "Do not call this Sesshoumaru 'hey'."

Kagome looked at Sesshoumaru in disbelief. "O-kay! So, sorry!" But the sensitive taiyoukai continued to look down at Kagome. "What's your problem?"

In fact, Sesshoumaru wasn't looking down at her. In reality he was really mesmerized by the tousled pale beauty whose face was upturned at him. A thought has suddenly ran across his mind: How could someone look so beautiful?

A pink spaghetti strap on a porcelain smooth shoulder slipped down and never in his life had he wanted to bend his head down on that long curvaceous neck of hers and breathe in her scent. He could just see the fine hair on the junction of her neck and shoulder stand up when his warm breath stirred the skin further releasing that tantalizing aroma. Then his hand would be busy running his fingers at the spun silver tangle of her hair while his other hand would be inching upwards from the long-waisted inward curve of her small waist. He'd like to see her pale blue eyes close when his hands caress her nape…those succulent pink lips open slightly in…

He heard her voice calling his name, she stood up and a slight curve of luscious breast peeked out from the fallen strap…dear kami…

There was a whirl of movement and bodies falling on the tatami mat along with sounds of flesh connecting flesh followed by a groan…

(Hm, what could you guys be thinking?)

~O~O~O~

The captain of the West and the Kitsune lord were being led by a servant in one of the smaller dining areas in the castle. The place was perfect for quiet evenings like this when entertaining a small group of close friends, important dignitaries or family members. The room was by no means small for it could easily hold ten people with room to spare.

Tonight, all of the shoji doors had been pushed aside letting in the cool evening air with the fresh scent of blooming flowers. The gurgling sound of the stream running through the castle was soothing. During the day the colorful koi and other assorted fish could be seen darting or slowly swimming under the portico among the reeds and lotus leaves.

The warm illumination coming from the oil lamps under the eaves of the veranda and along the garden were both utilitarian and romantic, it would be a nice idea to take a stroll in the garden and take advantage of the nice evening. The stars were also out and the night sky was dotted with diamonds for the clouds decided to retreat and allow the beauty of the universe to awe and inspire mortals and immortals alike.

Shippo had been looking forward to this evening. He was secretly glad that the Western Lord declined to join them. The kitsune inwardly frowned; it was kind of hard to have a meal with an impassive demon lord in the dining area. It wasn't like the meals he shared with Kagome and Inuyasha when they were shard hunting. Yeah, usually the meals were just ramen or fish if they were lucky to stop alongside a river or stream but it was never boring not with Inuyasha and Kagome always arguing about something or the other or Miroku's wandering hands and Sango's Hiraikotsu connecting with Miroku's thick skull.

"What a nice night!" Shippo took a deep breath of the cool clean air.

"It is, isn't it! " Rin nodded and smiled at the young kitsune walking beside her. It still amazes Rin how Shippo had grown into a tall and handsome young man.

"Say Rin, I've been meaning to ask you; what made you decide to join Sesshoumaru's army?" The childhood friends have lost communication for many years on the instruction of the kitsune's sensei so he could concentrate on the most crucial phase of his training. Ascending on the title left by his father is not a trivial thing.

Rin chuckled. "Who wouldn't want to learn self-defense, Shippo, when my guardian was always getting into a fight almost everyday?"

"So, what did Sesshoumaru-sama say when you said you wanted to train?"

"He didn't object, really, and it was as if he was expecting it." She smiled at the handsome kitsune then giggled.

"Really?" Shippo's brows rose up. "What made you say that?"

"Well, he caught me one day holding one of the kodachi's in the dojo. I was about 8 years old that time. I was trying to remember how I saw chichiue practice the kata before." She shook her head as she blushed at the memory which intrigued Shippo the more.

"And?" They had been directed to sit by the servant facing each other on a red lacquered table near the veranda. "What happened?"

Rin nodded to the servant to serve food before replying. "So…I closed my eyes and did the kata. I didn't know it was so difficult!"

Flashback in dojo:

A light film of sweat formed on the young girl's brow and Rin's hand was also shaking from holding the surprisingly heavy sword but she was resolute to try and finish what she started. She had mistakenly assumed it was lightweight. She had been secretly observing her father and the soldiers as they practice, and to her eyes the weapon 'looked' easy to handle so she thought that she could give it a go. But now that she discovered her slight error she couldn't just put it down, she's already here and she wanted to do this.

With a determined look in her eyes the girl gracefully swung the short sword as she turned…

The lord of the West was standing with his hands inside his haori sleeves, an unreadable expression in his eyes. The girl stood there with wide light brown eyes staring at a pair of gold-flecked amber eyes.

Rin swallowed and felt she had trespassed a rule in the castle. The dojo wasn't really off limits to her but it is not usually a place suitable for children.

She put down the sword in front of her and bowed to her guardian. "Sesshoumaru-sama, this Rin is…" Rin bit her lips for she doesn't know how to explain what she was doing in the dojo. She looked up when the inu lord's feet stopped between her and the sword.

"Please forgive me…"

"Pick up the sword." The demon lord's voice was even.

Rin blinked at the command. "Sesshoumaru-sama…?"

"Rin, I do not repeat myself." She was confused when her guardian stepped back two paces from her.

She picked up the weapon and waited.

"Show me." When Sesshoumaru nodded at the sword in her hand she understood: he wanted her to repeat the kata exercise for him! He nodded again to her when she questioned him with her eyes.

So she went back to her starting point and repeated everything. This time she had a little bit of practice so her execution of the exercise was much better, she thought.

"Hn."

~End of Flashback~

~O~O~O~

"And…that's it." Rin shrugged matter of factly.

"That's it?" Shippo was stumped; his hashi' (chopstick) halfway up his mouth.

Rin nodded. "You know Sesshoumaru-sama, Shippo, he's a man of few words."

Shippo was shaking his head in wonderment. "I know, he was also the same with me but he likes to scare the hell out me sometimes. So, what happened afterwards?"

"We talked and I told him I wanted to train and he approved." Rin shrugged again as she put down her sake cup.

"And Sango taught…."

Everyone was startled when a howl shook the walls and floors in the castle.

~O~O~O~

Two sets of feet came barreling into the hallways, their hearts pounding. The frightened servants were milling around the halls but not deigning to approach near the miko's room where they heard the commotion fearing a rampaging Western Lord. From the loud noise coming from the inside it is plain that there's a fight going on or someone was being attacked, most probably the miko herself.

They parted and almost flattened themselves upon the wall to give way to the captain and the kitsune lord. Some of the castle guards led by Jiro also ran with their weapons ready but they were stopped by the staying hand of Rin who gave instructions using short hand signals. Rin also motioned Shippo to stay back as she trotted the last several feet. The captain reached from inside the back of her kimono and took out a pair of sai swords before flattening herself beside the door. She used her foot to slide the door open then charged inside…

~}O{~