Delirium imprisoned the spirit of the Demon.
Thrown around many realms even he had not yet encountered, the oblivion of light and dark tore at him.
Horrific screaming pained his ears to extremity, fires of burning fields flashed before his minds' eye, rivers of blood and corpses. What would be a vision of terror to most, this was his fantasy, a hope deep in his heart.
The howling wind tunnel of time revealed Sesshomaru's innermost darkest passions and presented it to him in a hallucination so real he could taste the flesh of the dying. He hated humans with such intensity that the sight gave his unconscious mind the peace he searched for in the waking hours.
Yet a light shone in the distance, blinding him, and he did not want to go towards it. He did not wish to exit the realm of his desire and let the light strip him bare.
But inexorably he was pulled, and the light met him half way in an arresting clash, bringing him back with a suddenness so extreme that he shot up and knocked over the drip trolley, pulling the canula and pulse points from his arm, dislodging the plaster on his injury, and completely frightening the girl sitting next to him.
Like an animal he pounced on her with his long fingers around her throat, willing his mind to surround him with screams of torture again.
Through the red mist of his sight, wide and tear-filled brown eyes looked in horror up at him with such pleading that suddenly Sesshomaru let go.
'Rin?' His voice was a ghost of itself.
Rin had been watching for signs of a comatose state in Hakai even after his short procedure to stitch together his wounds, studying his fine featured ivory toned face and pale hair, when with near supernatural quickness the boy awoke and caused a scene of chaos. Rin found herself gasping for air within less than a second of Hakai going from completely at peace to something of irate – murderous possession.
His hot fingers around her throat squeezed with such strength that she saw specks flying in front of her eyes, and all she could do was stare up silently in to his rage contorted face – the angel, turned to demon.
In her shocked dread, Rin could barely keep up with the changes in him, as she found her neck all of a sudden free from his grasp, and he fell back, collapsing on the hospital bed.
Nurses and doctors rushed in to the room at that moment, restraining Hakai, re-connecting the needles and plasters, and Rin barely heard the doctor mention something about extreme disorientation caused by short term memory loss, but all she could do was stare as though her vision was tunnelled and distant at this boy who had just looked at her with such furious intent that she was utterly hollowed out.
Sesshomaru's eyes were on her the whole time, almost in the way a predator keeps an unblinking stare on its prey, and Rin finally got enough movement back in her body to get up and leave promptly, despite the questions of the doctors and nurses calling after her.
He wanted to kill her. She did not know why. She did not know what she had done.
But that boy, in that hospital room, wanted to kill her.
Rin finally burst out the door of the hospital and immediately vomited in the bushes on the side. Stumbling, she rushed onward, utterly petrified, paranoid that he was somehow following her.
There was no way she could see him again, or at least for a very long time.
He'd wanted to kill her!
His face had been so terrible that her skin was riddled with large goose bumps, her hair stood on end. His hazel eyes seemed bright red in her memory, if for a split second, but that was probably her fear projecting itself on to him in the heat of the moment.
How could she say he assaulted her when the doctor had said he was severely disoriented? Rin couldn't believe it – disorientation surely did not drive someone to almost kill.
Walking, half running as fast as she could in any direction, she forced herself to take deep lungfuls of air to try and ground herself – she knew she was having a panic attack. Grasping on to a tree overhanging the sidewalk she told herself that the tree was real, she was real – that the earth under her feet supported her body, that long fingers were no longer tight around her neck.
What would she have to do to forget that sensation?
She needed to get home, to just curl up in her bed and cry.
Wiping her mouth, Rin brushed off her school clothes and straightened up, still breathing deeply. It was so important to take deep steady breaths.
Rin remembered the job that she wanted to apply for, but that would have to wait until tomorrow. For now, all she could think of was getting home again.
The late-night air blew gently through Rin's small bedroom window, and the sounds of her mother's deep sleep breathing calmed her greatly as it usually did. The sound of the gentle hushing of the leaves was like subtle music, throwing the horrendous day events in to stark contrast.
Rin's sleep clouded mind blocked out the memory of Hakai's face in that awful split second; the red eyes, the fangs! Fangs?
Now she really was embellishing it.
She felt torn in two. On one hand, Rin wished to never see that person again. Yet on the other, her curiosity as to his hatred towards her gnawed at her gut, and she wanted nothing more than to face the bastard head on and demand what his issue was. She would show him what she was made of, that was for sure.
No one treated her in that way, no one dared terrify her so much, most of all a man!
Her mother had brought her up with a sense of fierce pride and independence, with the mindset of personal responsibility, self-sufficiency and relying on no one but oneself. This is how they had both got through life thus far, and it had served both women well.
Rin was mortified and disgusted that a boy she had only known three days had seemed to turn her life upside down, despite all her attempts at avoidance.
Her passionate nature sided with her curiosity, much to her chagrin, and Rin decided she must defeat this spoilt brat of a boy. He would learn his place and be put down by Kami!
With that thought, Rin's mind drifted to sleep again, somewhat more at peace with itself.
Sesshomaru, on the other hand, had no idea what a peaceful sleep felt like.
Why he had not sated his lust to kill with Rin's neck in his hand he was baffled to know. Right there he had the chance to teach her a lesson, to teach all like her a lesson, who refused to bow to the Great Sesshomaru, who represented the scum of humanity that did not even know their own Lords when they saw them. To bow to the Guardians of the land they so selfishly lived off, having no idea what lengths it took the great clans such as his to protect.
Had he lost his decisiveness as well as his powers? Was that a part of the trial too, then?
Would he go and hunt her down again and rid her insolence from the earth once and for all!
Jaken had come to the hospital to bring Sesshomaru some news. His trip to the hospital via ambulance had been caught on camera by one of the pesky photographers and had been streamed online to the fan pages who already worshipped him.
Kami help him.
'Jaken, be careful. I will kill everyone in this form, very shortly, if I am not given further information as to the intentions of those orchestrating this joke'
Jaken had rarely heard such a tone from his master. It was strange, quiet, full of a terrible power.
The imp boy looked at his Master for a few moments.
'Did you see anything while you were unconscious?' Jaken asked.
Sesshomaru snarled. 'That is not what I asked of you'
'M-milord, please listen to me for one moment. Remember, they who set this trial know the path of it. You didn't meet that demon for no reason last night. What did you see in your travels?'
'Death' he said with such ardour that Jaken involuntarily stepped back.
Jaken nodded. 'Sounds like you'
Sesshomaru growled, but he was too exhausted to really react.
'You were in Gehenna' the toad said.
'That still does not help me' the Demon was about to throw something at Jaken.
'It reflects your inner self. This trial might be about such'
'Don't give me that vague crap. This trial is about the here and now, physical fighting, you said so already. And I know you are not letting on everything you know'
Jaken balked.
'Milord, please don't go fighting anything else in your current state'
'You seem to be getting the idea you can talk down to me because I am not my true self. You wait you impudent frog – when I am returned to my rightful position, I'll hold you accountable for withholding information and patronising me'
'Please, milord, I only wish to serve you! Even the doctors told you to rest for a few days'
'Rest be damned! I am so bored I am about to punch myself in the face and swallow my own teeth to satiate my thirst for blood'
'N-no, no, don't do that, you're face could earn you so much money if you sign with one of those agencies from today – '
Jaken was suddenly drenched in water. The Demon Prince had thrown the jug of water at his bedside over the imps' head.
'I'm getting out of this place' Sesshomaru tore the needles from his arm, put his clothes back on and walked out of the hospital dorm. Jaken followed, pretending to be his younger brother picking up his sibling. The doctor admonished Sesshomaru to stay home and ensure he rested, as his vitals had been through some extremes; Sesshomaru nodded once and left.
That doctor did not know he was speaking to a being many hundreds of years older than he, well able to care for itself.
The doctor watched the tall boys' retreating back with some suspicion. No one should be up and walking with normal vitals as he had after such a scare.
'Who was that person?' The doctor stopped a nurse about to enter the vacated dorm.
'Ah – let me look' the nurse pulled out a file and flicked through the sheets.
'Hakai is all it says here – a student from the school. He looks like a celebrity!'
'Hm' the doctor ruminated as he continued on his way 'very curious'.
Luckily it was Friday the next day, and Rin just wanted it to end already so she could enjoy some peace and quiet over the weekend, maybe spending some time with Kohaku and Ayami at the sushi train.
There was the same mob of photographers outside the school again, but this time they were cordoned off and barriers in place. The school had taken quick action to protect the privacy of its students, and Rin grimaced at their stupidity. It wasn't like Hakai would be at school today, the doctor had told her he'd need another day or two in hospital for monitoring. This gave her a great sense of relief – well at least up until next Monday.
She barely knew how she was going to go about exposing Hakai's character or discovering the source of his hatred, but first she'd have to get over her fright of him. This, she was sure she could do, for her dislike, pride and curiosity were just as strong, and those emotions would soon win over.
Rin looked up as she got to the school gate to meet the last pair of eyes she wanted to see, attached to a tall body leaning against the wall that supported the gate.
A shock of fear consumed her, and she had the second thought that it might take a bit longer for her to overcome this rather egregious distress.
A shorter, younger boy was with Hakai, and Rin immediately swung her gaze away to focus on getting past them as quickly as possible.
How the hell was he even standing? Looking not only cool as a cucumber, but entirely recovered? Rin walked briskly toward the social sciences building.
'Rin-san!' She heard a voice calling her, but she refused to turn around.
'Rin - !'
She was attacked from behind, and she almost swung a karate kick around to knock him out, but it was not Hakai after-all.
'Ignoring me like that, geez!' Kohaku laughed, and Rin breathed a deep sigh.
'What's got you so on edge, little lady?'
'N-nothing. I just didn't sleep well last night'
'What even happened yesterday?'
'Ah – well, he was fine, so it turned out. They had to monitor him for a while and I just went home, because it was almost school out o'clock by the time the doctor told me it was all ok'
The lies were semi-truthful.
'The burden of being so popular must have got to him' Kohaku shrugged ironically.
Rin chuckled and nudged him in the arm.
'So did you get to talk more to Rika about this whole love letter thing?'
'The love letter by yours truly' Kohaku pointed in Rin's face, making her feign ignorance again.
'Why do you keep insisting I had something to do with it? Don't be silly I have better things to do with my time'
'She protesteth too much' Kohaku smirked, pulling out a piece of paper 'if this isn't Rin-chan's hand writing, then I'm a Russian Czar'
Rin paused in her walk to stare at the sheet of writing that said 'I love you Rika. From Kohaku'
'How did you get that?' Rin said softly.
'Rika. She showed me the note yesterday. If you plan on playing pranks young miss, you better think of more fool proof ways of doing it. By the way, want some coffee? I have some – '
'No' Rin said quickly 'It's probably filled with slime or dirt knowing you'
'Aw, come on, don't you trust me at all?'
Rin only gave him a dirty look – and they had made it to their first class for the day.