Sesshomaru was a great ruler, that was a fact nobody dared to argue. He mixed his mother's detached but serious way of doing things, with his father's compassion, bringing the court to a degree of cleanliness it has not seen since his grandfather passed. Toga for all his virtues wore his heart on his sleeve and was easily swayed. Ascending the throne one of the first things he had to do, was fly around the entire country claiming it as his. The traditional trip took an Inu youkai in true form approximately a morning. Toga took two whole days stopping to help ever official under him with menial tasks. In politics Togo notoriously took the side of corrupt human officials, who were in all senses unqualified. This was due to them being seen as weaker and there for oppressed in the West, human gentry looking to line their pockets with riches knew they only had to plead having sick children and they'd get the high paying government position they want. Under Sesshomaru there was none of that. The current Lord of the West didn't care if a person was human or Youkai or the Kami themselves, if they had the ability, they'd get their position. If a better suited came an official could be replaced. People called him coldhearted, because he didn't listen to desperate pleas of having sick parents to take care of, or ill children, the elderly Housekeeper saw none of that. He was born a leader, and he lead with an iron hand. The West grew under him and nobody dared to swindle each other or be corrupt out of fear of losing their position. The late Lord would scold his son for having no compassion, but as far as she was concerned the boy had proven himself a much better ruler. Sesshomaru showed compassion where it was due, insight where it was needed, and while governing through fear was not something she approved off it was not the only thing governing the West, not as long as the little girl, Rin was the Lady. However despite all his capabilities in ruling and combat, there were still times when the old housekeeper was reminded of the fact that Sesshomaru was in a sense still just a boy. In spiritual years he was only 20 but he had been ruling the West for six spiritual-years, since the defeat of Naraku 7 human years ago, Sesshomaru had taken complete control of the West, and was now governing it without the help of his mother. The old housekeeper knew this would be surprising to many people outside of the palace. However, she had been here since early in the reign of Toga, she saw grow up from a pup to who he is now. Youkai and Kami shared one trait within the two centuries of their lives, Time passed normally. But for each one, Time stops depending on how powerful the entity is. Physically Sesshomaru will never age a day past twenty, but the old housekeeper was not thinking about physical age, why should she? Only young single demonesses think about when their mates stop physically aging. She was old and had grandchildren already. No, she was more thinking about age chronologically, seeing his behaviour it was easy to forget that Sesshomaru really was young. Only a few instances reminded her that the boy was in a sense still a boy, one of which was now…It was 4am in the morning and the Lord of the West was in the kitchen making juice and breakfast for his mate…or she thinks that the piece of art in front of her is breakfast…
"Sesshomaru just what did you put in this tamagoyaki me boy?"
"Shoko-san, relax it will not kill her…this one can never hurt his lovely mate"
"Aye this will not kill her…but it will be bad to serve her this artwork. Ye care much for yer mate, boy, it honours you. But if ye wanted to give her something…a fang would be more than enough, or better a pup of her own"
"P-pup? Shoko-san, this one is not ready for it, and Rin is but a child still!"
"Ie, human girls the age of yer mate are already mothers. Ye have all the time in the world me boy. But yer mate does not." The old house keeper, Shoko, was one of the only people who can address Sesshomaru as "boy" or by name without the title. This was due to her being in service of his father, and almost raising him. Watching him cook a dish such as the tamagoyaki… so much salt was unnerving, and… 'Did he just boil tea with SAKE?!'
"Boy. Ye know that was Sake, correct?"
"Hai, Rin often spikes this one's tea when he's exhausted...This one felt he should return the favour."
"Sesshomaru, for such a clever boy, ye can be so dumb. there is a difference between spiking tea and using alcohol to boil tea. If yer mother heard of this she would be scandalized"
"Not your concern. This one will deal with her when the time comes..." Shoko shook her head remembering a 10yr old prince waxing the library floor...she sighed continuing on with her cooking lessons on Tamagoyaki followed by Onigiri. Rin's favourite foods.
1hr later...
Moving very fast, the Lord of the West made Rin's favourite breakfast almost successfully. The shape of the Onigiri was off…the tamagoyaki wasn't as golden as it should be…and the tea...Shoko didn't trust the Onigiri either…Whatever the Lord was planning she was sure it wasn't going to be good for the Lady. Although she was certain the Lord himself will gain some form of pleasure from it…if the smirk on his face was any indication.
…
Rin woke up to the smell of something yummy…She turned her head towards the direction and sat up. Blinking her eyes open she saw white…red…furry thing…a yawn escaped as she completely sat up and rubbed her eyes. The covers were suddenly gone, and something warm was placed onto her lap. Rin blinked again before looking down, then up then down and up again.
"Sesshomaru-sama…you can cook?"
"Ie, Shoko had to supervise. Have some."
Rin did, without any hesitation, happily biting into the Onigiri she munched on it noting its taste…it was the same type of citrusy sting that Sesshomaru had…deciding she liked it Rin picked up the other one, and ate…only until after they were gone did she feel a such hot burning spice that she covered her mouth with her hands, and eyes watered. She started coughing immediately after looking desperately for water while shouting at the top of her lungs:
"SESSHOMARU YOU ASS, YOU MADE WASABI ONIGIRI!"
Finding no water Rin grabbed the teapot and turned the cup over. Not caring about appearances or decorum anymore she clumsily poured herself cup after cup. All she could think about was her poor abused mouth. Only after her 5th cup of tea did Rin notice something amiss…she felt a bit…TIPSY? Smelling her cup Rin noted the smell of Taiwanese Oolong tea, and something else…the distinct smell of authentically Japanese, Sake…
"SESSHOMARU YOU DIMWIT YOU USED SAKE TO MAKE TEA!" Her Lord-mate only chortled at her reaction.
Pouting Rin grabbed her chopsticks and reached for the tamagoyaki, her favourite breakfast dish. Rin was certain Sesshomaru would not spike this one with anything. He knew she liked it sweet.
Picking up a piece Rin delicately put it into her mouth. One bite…Rin's face changed a million different colours before settling on a pale green as she spat out the egg.
"Sesshomaru sama…Are you still mad at Rin for the Honey? Rin is sorry, please don't make RIn eat this!"
He said nothing, only raising a delicate eyebrow. He deliberately mixed the wasabi so that it can't be tasted until both had been eaten. It was surprisingly easy to hide the taste of wasabi behind the semi-sweet taste of lemon filling Shoko made. But what was the problem with Egg and honey?
Rin took his silence as "finish your breakfast" so with tears in her eyes Rin forced herself to eat the egg. Well she tried to at least…a sip of sake, a lot of inner talk 'You can do this…', 'come on, one bite at a time' Sesshomaru was almost certain something was wrong, if Kagome were here she'd would make a remark like "if this were anime Rin's face would be going from pale to green now.' He didn't know what A-na-me was but he did know the face of a sick person…He did put in a little salt as a way of revenge…but he still made sure to sprinkle it with sugar…Shoko did look horrified at his egg dish though…
Taking Rin's chopstick, he picked up a piece of egg himself…and immediately spat it out. Rin felt a two rushes of wind, and the food was replaced with a cup of water…
"Here, you said yourself in your first essay 'Everyone needs to drink water. In the morning one must drink water, at night one must also drink water…' After eating this one's tamagoyaki one especially needs to drink water! This one will not even care if you flood Kyoto with drinking water!"
…
Yep the Old housekeeper has seen a lot, including the Lord's failed attempt at serving his wife breakfast in bed. Who knew Inu-youkai had a romantic streak? The Old Housekeeper walked down the hall, back towards the kitchen. As she debated a large cauldron of Miso Soup, or Tonjiru her mind wandered to the young Lord and she smiled: Sesshomaru was probably thinking he should have paid more attention when she was teaching him to make Tamagoyaki. Now the Lord of the West who was normally taciturn and poised, wise and dignified was once again, a child barely out of his teens. The Lord had in an effort to get his mate's forgiveness answered one more question about his mokomoko, and let her wear his fur for the day. An act not done since ever. The fur was after all reserved for someone precious. The old house keeper didn't mean Rin wasn't precious, she knew the boy she had helped raise held Rin in very high regard, but normally only expecting mothers wore her mate's mokomoko. The boy had either forgot, did the act, or simply felt more for Rin than he let on.
So sorry, but I just had to make Sesshomaru get Rin back for the Pie.
Mostly from the old housekeeper's prospective. Tbh I don't know why. It just happened. Anyways, which of her assumptions do you think it was?
Again this is mostly a stressed student writing on the fly, not edited at all, so please let me know what you think. I really want to improve my writing.