Chapter 11 BLOOOD!

Shippo looked at Rin quizzically. "So, Rin now close are you to achieving your goal? What was it again?"

"Rin wanted to find out what mokomoko was, why Sesshomaru-sama never told Rin…and hopefully get to groom it" As she spoke the Lady of the West's voice got quieter until it was barely "Because he will never let Rin groom him in his true form…"

"Right~ So~ How close have you gotten to achieving either of them?" The giant smirk on Shippo's face would have been unnerving but Rin had grown up with the fox, and knew when that particular smirk showed up. Shippo had a really good prank idea he desperately wanted to pull. The Lady loved that smirk, because it meant things were about to liven up in the Palace.

"Tsuki-sama told Rin that the Mokomoko was a symbol of honour and prestige. Nobody but the owner and people he holds dear are allowed to touch it. Sesshomaru-sama told Rin that it isn't a weapon, and only used as such to show respect to elders, or to get out of tough situations as a distraction….Sesshomaru-sama also let Rin wear it twice. Shoko-san asked if we have done that act because Rin was wrapped in Mokomoko…." Shippo cut in there with "basically you got some information but not a lot and still haven't achieved either of your goals right?"

"Hai"

"Well I have an idea that can get you at least able to brush that thing. But we're gonna have to make you bleed…." Then he went on to explain how Kagome had these little vials of red "Fu-do Ko-la-Rin" One of which was red and these weird brushes that one didn't need to dip into ink to work. He asked if she can get her hands on some of the traded Cacao beans and ground them, if she can get her hands on any Taiwanese sugarcanes, and a large porcelain dish. Mystified Rin answered that she can indeed get those material if Shippo can steal Kagome's vial and weird-colorer-brushes that didn't need ink.

A few days later in the dead of night…

Tsukimaru was on patrol, fully transformed but completely at ease. The autumn night was peaceful and the moon was almost full. Crickets string music and the songs of last few birds who hadn't migrated, floated in the air. He had been with his cousin since early in his reign, and very quickly night became both their favourite time. It was the only time of day when neither had to listen to Youkai, or human officials try to bribe them into turning a blind eye or bending the law. The Youkai were better, most being very strict followers of the Bushido code. Youkai culture might not place much value on Honesty (誠 makoto), but virtues such as, Courage (勇 yū), Respect (礼 rei), Honour (名誉 meiyo) and most importantly Loyalty (忠義 chūgi) were highly valued. However, respect could simply be respect for their titles…so called Loyalty could be loyalty to only their own pockets. All of which hidden behind the well practiced mask of an Honour-bound official only concerned about the welfare of the country. In turn they had to wear masks to, masks of cold indifference, to hide their annoyance. Night time flights were the only times when they had the freedom to vent any frustration or contemplate issues. Where was only peaceful silence, and the joy of flight…

"GYAAAAAAAAAA~" A Loud shriek tore through the sky, shaking Tsukimaru from his thoughts. He immediately froze and turned towards the direction of the scream. His cousin's chambers…of course the only thing to destroy the peace had be the current Lady of the West…just how did his cousin end up with such a troublesome mate?

….

"GYAAAAA~" The shriek vibrated through the palace walls, waking up everybody, from the bodyguards close by the royal chambers, to gardeners hut just outside the palace. The elderly House-keeper Shoko whose chamber was on the other side of the palace jolted awake, rushing to her Master's quarters. Even the servants in charge of washing toiletries in the most remote corner of palace grounds jumped out of bed shivering in fear of their lives. Shoko attempted to take charge and orangized everybody into specialized units. Some to get the doctors, others to find the master, the rest were instructed to simply wait for orders.

Of course that didn't work… For the next couple of minutes everyone within the grounds rushed towards the Master's private quarters. All of them wanting to find out what exactly had made the current Lady who, to their knowledge, had never screamed in such fear or pain before, suddenly scream like that.

"GYAAA~ SO MUCH BLOOD! MARU DO SOMETHING!" Shoko took of flying as that shrilly shouted sentence reached her ears. Tsukimaru tore through the sky making sure to order someone to get the Lady Mother here asap. Around Kyoto lights came on as members of the nobility were informed that someone had injured the Lady of the West. Everyone was wondering the same things: Will their Lady be all right? Who would dare to attack her when she was with the Lord?

…

Sesshomaru was up late again, reviewing his documents by the light of an oil lamp and the moon. He was making good progress, and just considering whether he should retire for the night when….

"GYAAAAAAAA~!" A horrendous scream tore through the night sending goosebumps through him. That was a voice he'd recognize anywhere…Rin. Panic tore through him as he sped out of his study breaking the door in his haste. Rin never screamed unless she was really in trouble and scared. What had happened? Last he checked Rin was asleep and safe in their chambers. Who dared to break into the palace and hurt her?How could they have escaped his senses? What of the guards were they all sleeping like logs?

…

The door to the bedroom burst open as her mate came through eyes red and furious. There had been no guards, which he wasn't too surprised at, whenever Rin decided to wait up for him, she would tell the guards they are free to go to bed if they wished. Of course that meant most did, and only one or two stayed. Those two were currently unconscious outside the room. Rin was on the floor half her face was red with blood and her right hand had the nastiest cut he had seen on her since she quit being a farm girl. The angry red cut ran from her wrist to approximately her elbow, thick red liquid ran along the cut, the skin was peeling so badly it almost made him sick. Rin had tears in her eyes. Sniffing the air carefully he can't find any other person's smell besides Rin, himself and Shippo. He will never harm his Rin of course, and Rin was to smart to have accidentally hurt herself…Shippo being Shippo though might have tried to prank Rin only for it go horribly wrong….Sesshomaru shook his head, 'stop the bleeding first, then deal with what happened'

"Nii-sama….do you need help holding her down?" That would be Tsukimaru.

"Master the doctor is on his way" Shoko's voice piped up behind him. "Ye must do what ye must"

"Tsuki-chan, put her into bed and hold her. Shoko you to" Gone was the imperial voice, replaced by the soft one of a concerned husband. "Rin, hold onto this" giving her the end of his mokomoko. Then he held a hand over her face about a centimetre away, closing his eyes Rin saw the hand glow a very faint green…that was curious…but she didn't have time to wonder too much before Mokomoko proved itself to be very distracting.

Sesshomaru was confused…the cut didn't look deep but the blood flowing from it was crazy. His poison wasn't burning through it either normally crusted blood will get eaten away rather fast it…so instead he stopped and directly touched her face. his hand came away red…of course she was bleeding…then he noticed something off about the blood…but before he can think on it to much the doctor walked in.

…

Tsukimaru looked at his cousin while the doctor cleaned Rin's wounds with water and soap. He wasn't wearing any type of mask right now, and seemed to be the curious older 'brother' that Tsukimaru had known for centuries.

"Care to share what's on your mind?" Seeing Sesshomaru examine the blood on his hand and periodically make it glow his signature green, was something Tsukimaru had not seen since his uncle died.

"Hmm, I think there's something wrong with this blood…it's not melting away"

"Nani?" Tsukimaru put his own hand on his cousin's currently neutral one, and made it glow blue. Removing his hand…nothing happened to the blood, but his cousin's glare said he had a frozen hand…which Tsukimaru learned meant…he was about to have a date with his cousin's whip….But before he did he just had to voice his thoughts…

"That's a very convincing trick…she scared the whole palace and probably Kyoto, for what? To gain attention from her mate? To touch his mokomoko? Kami above this girl is troublesome…."

SMACK!

Tsukimaru landed on the ground with a THUMP!

"Ano…milord…what Tsukimaru-sama said was true…Lady Rin is in no real danger…the blood is a mixture of ink, and fruit juice and something this doctor cannot identify"

"Do not lie doctor, this one can smell his mate's blood from here"

"Hai but the cut is minuscule…the Lady likely wanted this trick to be convincing and cut herself with a paper…knowing our noses will pick up on it"

"Leave us…" That cold tone sent a shiver down everyone's spine and they immediately piled out some jumping off the balcony to escape their angry Lord. Nobody bothered to pick up Tsukimaru who was unconscious on the ground.

"Rin? Why did you do this?"

"Rin hasn't seen her mate all week, not since the breakfast incident, and Rin wanted to, so she asked Shippo for help"

'Shippo again, that Kitsune is going to get it when this one sees him again…how dare he further corrupt Rin, has he not learnt his lesson?' To Rin he just smiled and hugged her…silently directing his mokomoko to wrap itself around her, keeping her warm.

"This Rin likes the feeling of mokomoko, it's so soft…may Rin keep it for tonight?" No response just a nod, "Ano Sesshomaru-sama does every Inuyoukai have one?"

"Hai, we are born with it" He had to admit he really liked seeing Rin wrapped up in his fur…but he could do without the questions she asked whenever she had it, and was aware of having it…explaining it was awkward, 'perhaps this one should instruct his mate to consult a book on Inu Youkai physiology…they do mention mokomoko don't they?' He didn't remember it's been centuries since he read one. Sesshomaru filed that thought away he would order a servant to double check the physiology books in the morning. For now he needed to clean his mate up, get her to bed, and maybe they can do more before sleeping…Scratch that he will have to drag his cousin out before joining her, and dragging that mammoth of an Inu-youkai was going to be draining…BUT after the workout if he still has energy to spare, doing something with Rin sounds nice.

Lol, I hope this turned out all right. It's a pre-halloween piece of Rin tricking Sesshomaru I'll be doing a halloween story, focused on Sesshomaru haven't decided on "Trick" or "Treat" yet though, so please which would you rather he do?

Special Thanks to: Crimson Sakura Princess, Darkside69, Fanfictionusername1, FoxDemongirl84, Go to bed. Inureader2, Ladyrouge214, Leah Rose Agreste, Mia Montes, Miraia, SessRinFan, Tenyoukai, Vampire Lover Forever123, Youkai-rin19, inu-love-kag, inulovernekomaster, vidanime, for following my story, I really appreciate it. Hopefully you've all laughed at some point of this story!

Shout out to 677 and Guest, glad you enjoyed.

To anyone else who took the time to read this humble little story, I hope you were able to laugh the stress of a day away. Ja ne!