Chapter 14: Hurting

Class came and went on a Monday afternoon. As the students began to leave the dojo and the ones that practiced after classes dribbled in, Sesshomaru picked up his phone surprised to see that she neither called or texted him. She missed class and that had him worried. He called her number only for it to go straight to voicemail. There were jobs to be done to shut the dojo down. It only stayed open until seven at night and another teacher took over for the evening classes. He texted Rin and asked, are you okay?

He stuffed his phone in his back pocket and started folding up the extra mats and securing the ropes that were used for climbing. She was an exceptionally good rope climber. She beat out most of the human competition for speed and was even able to jump like a cat from one rope to the other, although one hand lost grip for a minute and he nearly flew into the air to catch her. Several minutes of sweeping the floor later, the phone buzzed. I'm fine, just female problems.

He chuckled to himself. He wasn't sure how he felt about human female cycles and would rather have gotten her pregnant and kept her pregnant to avoid them. He missed her though. They had become nearly inseparable since that night by the fountain. Do you want me to bring you anything? Ice-cream? Chocolate?

No, I'm going to sleep in my room tonight. I'll text you in the morning.

Odd, he thought to himself. Very odd. He sighed, ignoring it, letting it go and finishing his afternoon duties before retiring in his office to do the not so fun side of teaching, grading and paperwork. There were progress reports to keep track of, numbers and skills and other things he needed to look at when Inuyasha came by later.

But then Tuesday morning came and instead of her texting him, he called her after she never showed up for breakfast. She said that she was fine but she just wanted to be alone while she was being a female. She was clipped on the phone and strangely enough, he did most of the talking. He accepted it without asking questions.

But then night came around and she said she wasn't coming out for dinner or to his room and the bedroom was so quiet and the bed so big and empty and he was left without a body to hold. He had gotten used to her being next to him. He texted her a few times before he finished his own work and was saddened when she didn't call him back. He considered going to her room, but then decided that he might be over stepping. They had only been together for a month, which felt long enough for them to be mated to him, but as she reminded him, was still new for her.

But when Wednesday came and she missed breakfast again. He waited until mid-day when he had a break from Judo and classes and as he was about to go to her dorm and ask if she was really okay, Izayoi came strutting into the Dojo. She always reminded him of a peacock with her so fancy and her bracelets jangling. "What do you want?" he snarled and added an eyeroll.

"You know, you really are too old for this behavior, Sesshomaru." She pulled a white sweater around her shoulders. "I didn't come looking for you, I'm looking for Rin. She hasn't been to class since last week. Is she well?"

He furrowed his eyebrows thinking. "I haven't seen her since Monday morning."

"Have you called her?"

"Is that your business?"

"She's my student Sesshomaru and I've sent emails that have gone unanswered. She hasn't turned in two assignments, one that could ruin her grade."

"What happened to student confidentiality, Izayoi? Have you forgotten that?"

"I am speaking to you as another member of the faculty. Is she okay?"

"She is having female troubles."

Izayoi let loose a large, very annoyed sigh. "That isn't an excuse and she hasn't spoken with me. I'm going to have to give her zeros."

"How unforgiving you are."

"Menstruation is not an excuse for missing class, Sesshomaru. If she just emailed me back, I would be able to make an adjustment. I spoke to her other teachers as well, no one has seen her in her classes."

"Are you telling me to go check-in on her?"

"If you weren't so thick-headed, you would have already," she said as she turned on her heels and left.

"Fine, I was going to check-in on her anyway," he said frustrated with Izayoi. But he was worried, she hadn't been open on the phone in the way she spoke. She held back and on Monday and Tuesday she sounded like she was in a lot of pain. He left the dojo and headed for her dorm.

When he got there he dug in his pocket only to remember that he didn't have a key. He had given her one, but never asked for one in return. Of course most of that had to do with the rule that involved him not being allowed to be in her dorm at night. He rapped with the back of his hand hearing nothing on the other side. After waiting a few minutes he knocked again only for the door to remain shut. "Rin, I know you're in there. Come out so we can talk."

"Go away!" her voice broke as she called back to him.

"What happened? You haven't been in classes all week."

"It's none of your business." He could hear her crying on the other side.

"Rin, if you don't come to class today your grades are going to suffer. Izayoi said you didn't turn in your assignments and one of them will affect your grade."

"What are you? My father?" The door finally opened and what he found was an unkempt, mousy haired girl with a red face, and snot in her nose.

"You aren't cycling." He sniffed the air. He came into the room and put a hand behind her back and lifted her chin so he could taste her lips. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Then why aren't you coming to class?"

"Because," she said quietly. Her heart started beating just a bit faster as her eyes were obviously seeking an answer.

"I take it you are going to lie to me?" It hadn't escaped him that her heart wasn't in the kiss he gave her and while he held onto her she did not return the affection to him. "You need to come to class today. Whatever is bothering you, we can talk about it tonight. We'll eat dinner in my room and-"

"Just stop!" she shrieked at him. "Stop planning my life. Fine, I'll come to class!" She slammed the door in his face leaving him thoroughly confused.

Rin was trembling by the time he left. The wrist that was burned had become swollen in the last few days. She told her parents when they asked whether or not she was okay that she had just been up studying a lot and hadn't slept. She was in too much pain to tell them about her relationship with Sesshomaru.

She took a brush and pulled her hair into a tight ponytail and afterwards changed into her school clothes. She packed her judo-clothes for later and tried to look like her torso wasn't covered in bruises and hid the burns on her wrist. She texted her boyfriend to say she wasn't meeting him for lunch.

You're being immature again.

I'm still a teenager.

You don't have to act like one.

I'm coming to class. Just give me some space.

Then it hurt that he didn't get back to her, even though she had just told him to leave her alone.

She ate lunch by herself in one of the pavilions that was covered in trees to avoid being seen. While she was there, she took the bandage off her wrist hissing in pain. The skin was puckered and reddish purple. It hurt worse than it did the day before and the day that she got it. She wiped tears from her eyes as she wrapped it back up and threw her leftovers out. She hadn't felt very hungry lately either. I should email all my teachers tonight.

Once she got to class she changed into her judo-clothes then sat down to stretch. Sesshomaru paced the dojo, pointing out where his students could do better, or a group of muscles they had failed to stretch, but he did not approach her. He glanced in her direction to acknowledge she had entered and inclined his head, but that was it.

Again she felt tears welling in her eyes. If he really cared about her, why wasn't he trying harder? She stood up and shook her body loose, ignoring the way it made the muscles in her stomach twinge. She didn't feel good and that was half the reason she hadn't made it to class. Her skin felt clammy, and sore all over.

"Class attention!" Sesshomaru called.

Everyone came into a circle around the dojo, standing with hands behind their backs at the ready. Rin took a deep breath waiting. She was almost always one of the first ones called to either perform a move or spar with someone. "Inuyasha and Rin."

Rin came forward with a wane smile on her face and bowed to Inuyasha.

"We're going to practice throws. Inuyasha, you will throw Rin."

"Great," Rin muttered under her breath as Inuyasha grabbed the front of her uniform.

"Don't worry princess, I won't hurt you."

"If it were the other way around, you would be finished." She gripped his shoulders mentally preparing herself for the fall.

"No new moon to depower me. Face it, you are no match for me."

"Enough talk, ready!"

Rin's wrist ached already from the hold on Inuyasha's shirt.

"Set!"

Her heartbeat picked up as she felt her body bent by Inuyasha.

"Fight!"

Mentally she saw the world go up and her body come down, back first and then she screamed so loud that it rattled the hanging lamps above as her spine connected with the mats. She curled into a ball panting.

"What did you do?" Sesshomaru fumed at Inuyasha, shoving him out of the way.

"You saw it! It was a controlled throw!"

Fire, that was all she could think of. Her body was on fire and she couldn't think. She struggled to breathe, the world was going in and out of black and color. Then there were hands on her.

"No!" She tried to stop the hands from lifting up the back of her shirt and revealing the peppering bruises and then another pulled up the front, exposing scratches on her stomach and another set of bruises. "These are old. When did this happen?"

Her lip trembled as she came to and stared at him. "Monday," she whimpered, defeated and humiliated.

"You lied to me. You said it was female trouble. These and this," he pulled the sleeve up on the burnt arm, "are not caused by falling." He picked her chin up and forced her to look him in the eye. "Who did this to you?"

She shook her head, tears spilling down her cheeks. "Goddammit Rin!" He was pissed. "Tell me who did this? Why didn't you tell me? I could have protected you! I could have stopped it before it got this bad!"

"Okay." Inuyasha threw his hands up in the air. "Time to go, everyone. Let's leave these two alone!" Koga even lent a hand and helped with moving the students away.

"Are they dating?" one girl asked as she left the room.

"I thought she was with Dai?" another one asked.

"We broke up a month ago," Dai explained.

Rin forced herself weakly off the floor. Her body was shivering, she felt cold, her teeth chattered as she sniffled. He hadn't let go of her arm that was hurt. Words weren't coming either. His eyes were red around the edges and that was scaring her.

"Who did this to you?" He wanted to howl. His blood was boiling, he would kill the person that had caused her harm.

She still couldn't speak. Goosebumps flew down her skin as his eyes covered in a deeper shade of red.

"Dammit, why didn't you call me?" He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. "Why?"

"I did!" She finally found her voice pushing him back by the chest, "I screamed for you! You didn't come! You didn't come and I was there by myself, terrified."

"I didn't hear you. The walls are soundproof here. You could have called me afterwards. You could have let me heal you!"

"No," she started walking away. "This is a mistake. This… I shouldn't have agreed to dating you."

"Rin?" He tried to follow her.

"No!" she screamed at him. "No! You… you can't protect me! No one can. I shouldn't have come here."

He caught her by the elbow and demanded, "what are you saying?"

"We're done. I… I can't be your mate. I'm sorry. Go find some pure-blooded demoness who can fight her own battles, or some human that isn't me. Please?"

"I don't want some pure blooded demoness or another human," he stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. "I want you."

"I don't want you. Don't call me ever again, just don't!" She ran out of the dojo and fled for her dorm.

Koharu jogged back to her dorm after Kohaku texted her about the fight that Sesshomaru-sensei and Rin had about the bruises she had passed off as nothing days before.

"Rin?" she called out when she walked inside their room. When Koharu didn't see her in the room, she knocked on the bathroom door. "Rin are you in there?"

"Yes, I'll be out in a minute," her voice was weak from the pain she was in after being thrown by Inuyasha. She looked into the mirror with bloodshot eyes, swollen cheeks, and messy hair. She was feeling weak, tired, and now feeling very sick. She was pale and feeling the urge to throw up. Her whole body felt like it was on fire. Her vision was fading in and out. Her arm was in more pain now than earlier and swelling rapidly.

She removed her judo shirt and remained in her black sports bra and pants. Her whole body was covered in deep bruises with new ones added from class.

"What happened?" Koharu called through the door. "You both seemed just fine the other day."

"I broke up with him. I… I… don't want him to..." her words were starting to slur.

Koharu jiggled the locked door knob. "Rin, are you sure you're going to be okay? Your words are slurring."

"Koharu… I don't feel.. .so great." Her vision went black as her whole world caved in.

Koharu heard a loud thud and things falling, clattering on the ground in the bathroom. "RIN?... RIN! ANSWER ME!" When no reply came she turned around to find Rin's phone sitting on her bed. She grabbed it to find the home screen opened. She found Sesshomaru's number and called him while pacing their room, "come on, pick up."

Sesshomaru had left the dojo right after Rin ran out. He was seething. He knew where she went to jog in the mornings. Her scent was heavy along the path to the lookout. He was livid that she hadn't even bothered to tell him about the attack. Her wrist needed healing, but she needed space and he wanted answers. Who did this?

His phone started ringing in his pants pocket. He pulled it out to see Rin's name on the caller ID and ignored it. Clicking the silent button, he went back to searching the area. Rin's scent was all over the grass and leaves and was mixed in with three different smells he knew all too well. Naraku, Takahiro and Kagura. I'm going to kill them. Signs of a battle were everywhere, torn grass, scuffled dirt, footprints. "Damn them for hurting her."

He touched another patch of dirt with his hands and sniffed, silver? He lifted her necklace up with a pen, being careful not to contaminate the scent or smudge his own fingerprints on it. He realized it was Rin's. The clasp and part of the chain had broken. He turned the necklace over and found Rin's name engraved into the metal.

"Shit," Inuyasha said from a distance. "Those bastards."

"When did you get here?" Sesshomaru slid the necklace into a waiting plastic bag held by his brother. "Their scent is everywhere."

"You're going to have to recuse yourself," Toga landed next to his two sons. "Son of a bitch. She didn't say anything?"

"She broke up with me," Sesshomaru said bitterly. "She said nothing. I am not recusing myself from this case. I am going to kill them," his eyes bled red.

"No, no you aren't," Toga tried to grab his son's hand but was thrown. He landed against the trees with a thud and stood up. "You're contaminating the crime scene!"

Sesshomaru growled in return furious, chest on fire and teeth gnashing. He flew at his father trying to get his fingers around his neck. "You won't stop me."

"I can stop you." Toga grit his teeth and flung his son over the cliff wall to gain the upper hand. "And I will stop you!"

Sesshomaru tried to fly back up only for Toga to slash at him with his whip. His back pocket was buzzing incessantly. He dodged a blow to his face and then to his legs as his father attempted to trap him. He flew, claws extended and managed to hack into his father's shoulder right before Toga grabbed his wrists, rolled him, and landed on top of his chest. He pinned Sesshomaru's wrists down into the dirt. "You need to stop now! This will not fix anything. We can prove they did this with a scent ID. We will press charges, I will suspend them. Inuyasha go bring those three idiots to my office and you, stop it." He glared down at his son.

Sesshomaru relented and was let off the ground. He rubbed his wrists in contempt.

"I'm going to my office. If they are found guilty, Sesshomaru, they will be tried, and her family will mete out the punishment." Toga flew into the air, disappearing.

His phone rang again. He pulled it out to see it was her calling. He was furious, but if she kept calling, maybe she realized how stupid she was behaving. He answered it, so frustrated, still boiling from what she had said to him before.

"What? Are you trying to apologize? Because I won't…" he was not expecting another female voice on the other end of Rin's phone.

"Sesshomaru-sense? It's Koharu. I think Rin passed out in the bathroom, she's not responding and the door is locked. I don't know who else to call."

His heart sank. The burn on her arm looked like it came from Naraku's miasma and he knew what it could do. If she hasn't had medical attention and it happened on Monday? A pit formed in his stomach, she could lose her arm.

He didn't even respond. Hanging up the phone, he turned into a ball of white light and shot to the freshman dorms. He banged on the door and Koharu answered immediately.

"How long ago did this happen?" he asked as he walked into the room.

"About fifteen minutes ago. I keep calling for her but she won't answer."

Sesshomaru banged on the bathroom door, hoping it would alert her. "Rin?" No answer. He pounded louder on the door. "Rin can you hear me? It's Sesshomaru!" He tested the knob.

When she still didn't reply he took a step back and instructed Koharu to stand back. His leg went flying into the door, just by the jam, slamming it open and knocking the top hinges off. He pulled the door away to find Rin leaning half over the bathtub. "Rin!" He rushed for her.

The shower rod was broken off and covering her body. He removed the material, got down on his knees, and pulled her into his lap. "Come on Rin," he shook her, "wake up. I've got you." Her whole body was shivering in a sweaty fever. He pressed his ear to her mouth and touched her neck. Her pulse was rapid. "She's in tachycardia."

"Sesshomaru-sensei, Rin's arm!"

The massive burn was red and oozing pus. He lifted her delicate arm up to examine it and knew instantly what was causing the fever. Stupid girl, he fumed in his mind. This is Naraku's poison.

"Do you have a forehead thermometer? Wake up!" He shook her again. "Come on, open your eyes." She flopped in his arms.

"Yes, I do." Koharu grabbed it from inside the mirror and passed it over to him. Clicking it on, he rubbed the tip against her forehead. "103.6, she's too hot. She needs a doctor. Rin, please wake up!" He set her down on the tile floor, walked out into her room and ripped the white bedsheet off of her bed. "Call for an ambulance!" he yelled at Koharu. He turned the cold water on and soaked the white sheet in it. Wringing it all the way out, he lifted Rin up and wrapped the cool wet sheet around her back to the front of her torso to help try to bring her high body temperature down. "Please," he said in her ear. "Wake up."

"They're on their way, Sesshomaru-sensei," Koharu announced, leaning her head into the bathroom.

He only nodded his head. He was too focused on keeping his eyes on Rin. She looked like a fragile porcelain doll all bruised and broken. He would hold her till the paramedics got there. Her forehead burned a hole through his shoulder as it lolled against him. He found a clean wash rag and ran it under the tub faucet. After ringing it out, he softly rubbed it along her face. "Stay with me," he said, feeling her pulse again.

"What's wrong with her?" Koharu asked.

"She was poisoned," he said. "Her wrist is infected. Her heart is beating too quickly, sending it through her blood. She's dying."

Toga sat in his office seething, livid and nursing a bloody shoulder. He sat down in his high backed leather chair while Izayoi bustled around his room, pulling gauze from his top shelf and took a pair of scissors to cut the material from his shoulder. She tore the sky-blue, pin-striped shirt off her mate and dabbed the open wound with a dampened, green washcloth. "He did a number on your shoulder."

"Can you blame him?" Toga didn't flinch while it was being cleaned. "I sent Inuyasha to bring the three culprits to my office."

"Was it wise to send him alone?"

"I told him to take Miroku, Sango, and Kagome with him, covertly of course. If they won't come willingly Miroku and Kagome will subdue Kagura and Naraku and Sango will handle the Endo boy. Trust me, if I hadn't stopped Sango last year when he grabbed her backside, she would have beaten him to a pulp." He rolled his shoulder against the pressure of Izayoi's hand.

"How is Rin?"

"I don't know," he exhaled heavily. "I need to call her parents. Sesshomaru went with her to the hospital, although I'm not sure how she is going to feel about that. She dumped him."

"I saw that coming," Izayoi chuckled. "Your son has no social skills."

"He loves her."

"Love isn't enough Toga and you know that better than anyone. You loved Shizu and she didn't return your love."

"She couldn't," he said, standing and unbuttoning his shirt. He always kept spares in the closet. He took out a lavender one and buttoned it just as he heard voices outside the door. "Scars of the past often fester," he said as Inuyasha opened the door to his office.

In sauntered Takahiro, Kagura, and Naraku. Inuyasha closed the door as Toga pulled So'ungo, his most powerful sword from his closet. He felt the evil radiate in his palm and then sat comfortably in his chair. "You three have been very busy."

Kagura opened her mouth to speak, her eyes covered in red spider webs.

"Save it Kagura," Toga said tersely. "You were warned to steer clear of Rin. In school suspensions obviously meant nothing to you. This time you will all be suspended indefinitely until I can determine that you are no longer a threat to Rin and until an investigation is completed into what happened by the lookout. Takahiro, you will be tried in front of the School's Demon Counsel."

"But-"

"-No," Toga slammed his hand down on the table. "This is the law. All demons will be tried for crimes committed in the demon courts. If a human employs demons and the majority of the offending party are demons then that human will also face our courts and the punishment for attacking and mortally wounding a human with supernatural powers is whipping. We don't coddle our kind with three square meals and a prison cell. If you are found guilty, you will face your punishment."

"My father will-"

"Enough Takahiro, your father will do nothing if he knows what's good for him. You and I both know that this is an election year," he leaned forward in his chair, lacing his fingers together and grinning. "He will not want the public to know that his son has assaulted the same girl twice."

"You'll pay for this Toga," Naraku rose threateningly.

"I would think twice about that," Toga stood gripping So'ungo. "Let me make something very plain. You will not fight me, whatever strength you think you have, is nothing compared to what I have. There is a reason I am nearly two thousand years old."

"She'll pay for this," Naraku snarled as he, Kagura, and Takahiro left the room, slamming the door behind them.

"You sure you don't want to expel them?" Izayoi hugged her mate from behind.

"We need to watch them. You know that and it will only be a matter of time before Hanzo calls me complaining about how unfair it is that his son is suspended. But for now," he picked up the phone and pulled Rin's file out of his desk. "I need to call the girl's parents."

"Has he updated you?"

"No," Toga finished dialing. "She collapsed in her bathroom. The paramedics said her arm was badly infected and her heart was beating irregularly."

"I'll call him," Izayoi said.

"Bad idea," he listened to ringing on the other side of the phone.

"She's my student. As a member of the faculty I have a right to know. Whether or not your stubborn ass of a son agrees with me."