Aftermath

By the time the school day was over, Rin was dreading going home. Although her aunt seemed nice and all yesterday, she remembered from her younger years that she had a temper like no other when she found something she didn't like. A lot like Kagome actually.

Waving goodbye to Sango and Miroku, Rin anxiously walked up the flight of stairs that led to the shrine. Walking through the temples and artifacts shops, Rin slowly made her way to the back of the shrine where the house is located.

"Tadaima," Rin called out as she slid open the shoji and stepped into the genkan. Slipping out of her shoes, Rin walked towards the kitchen where she can smell dinner being cooked.

"Okaerinasai, Rin-chan." Sneaking a peek into the kitchen, Rin saw Sayuri behind the stove stirring what smelled like miso soup. "Where are Kikyo and Kagome?"

"I'll tell you over dinner. I want to wait until jii-chan and Souta are here."

Glancing over her shoulder, Sayuri gave Rin a quick scan before nodding her head and telling her to go change. Sighing, Rin agreed. Up in her room, Rin changed out of her school clothes and into some shorts and t-shirt.

'How am I going to break this news to obasan and jiichan?' Rin thought as she took a seat on the bed. 'Jiichan will try to understand, that much I know. Souta-kun will probably pretend to understand but really won't. Obasan…' Biting on the tip of her nail, Rin decided to shift her focus to her sisters instead. 'I should probably call them later to see how they're doing. I'm worried about Kikyo-nee, if Kagome hadn't stopped me, as well as what's-his-name, I probably would have gone on a man haunt trying to find her.' With widened eyes, Rin stared off into space as a new thought processed. 'Why did Kagome stop me? She knows we're in the right to search our sister out and she knows I'm capable of defending myself. So why?'

Brooding this over, Rin didn't realise that someone was in the room until they tapped her in the shoulder. Eyes flashing, Rin swiftly looked over her shoulder to see Souta hovering behind her. Relaxing her tense muscles, Rin closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Upon opening her eyes, Rin looked back at Souta with an unwavering stare and asked if he needed something.

"Dinner's ready," is his only response before he's walking out the door.

Sighing, Rin stood up and made her way to the hall.

'Time to face the music.'

~Taisho Residence~

Inuyasha arrived home several hours after his brother did with a freshly cleaned and dressed miko. Besides the worn look on the young girl's face, no one would know that a fight of dominance had happened hours before. Taking a good look at her son, Izayoi couldn't hide her worry. From what she could see, the miko (the burns on her son quickly identified what she is) had put up quite the fight.

Looking at her husband and mate, Izayoi quietly projected her concerns. The soft smile that was directed at her eased any of her lingering fears, and once those were gone she snapped to attention.

"Inuyasha!"

Looking up at the sound of his name, Inuyasha offered a mundane, "What?" which infuriated his mother to no end.

"What took you so long? Your brother arrived here hours ago, I was expecting you to be right behind him."

"Keh! As if I'll allow my mate to walk around naked."

With a critical eye, Izayoi walked around the pair searching for any grievous injuries. Finding none, Izayoi turned and walked away. "Come to the dining room, some of the pack members want to meet her."

Growling under his breath, Inuyasha gently coated Kagome to follow his mother. With a glance at his motionless father, Inuyasha shadowed his mate and mother to the dining room.

~Onigumo Residence~

After what seemed like hours, Kikyo's eyes fluttered open slowly.

Sighing, she pushed herself up from where she was lying and looked around her with a with a bewildered look on her face. As her eyes roamed about the room they fell upon the man sitting opposite of her. Frowning slightly, she opened and closed her mouth a couple of times to try to form words but failed and—eventually—gave up. Exhaling, she laid back down and stared up at the ceiling for a moment before a soft tap caught her attention. Turning her head slightly, she found herself looking at a glass filled with water.

Murmuring her thanks, Kikyo wrapped her fingers around the glass and took a sip. It wasn't until then that she realised how thirsty she was, so with a tilt of her head, she was gulping the water down so fast that some tickled down her chin. Wiping the water away, Kikyo watched as the guy leaned back in his chair and had to do a double take as she found herself gazing into amused crimson eyes.

"Who...are you?" Kikyo asked as she took a closer look of the crimson eyed guy. From what she could see, and it wasn't much—the room would be engulfed in total darkness if it wasn't for the bedside lamp—he had pearly white skin and dressed in a dark blue sleeping yukata.

Clearing his throat, the guy leaned slightly forward and when he spoke it sent a tremor down Kikyo's spine. "I am Naraku...your mate." For a moment Kikyo was speechless as she let that thought set and then her head was in a frenzy. 'I can't have a mate,' Kikyo thought. 'There has never been a record of a miko having a mate and if there is one, it's not open to the public...Wait—if I have a mate does that mean that Kagome and Rin have one as well?' Standing, Kikyo brought a hand to her mouth where she began biting on her thumb nail as she mused this over. 'Think Kikyo think. You know how this is supposed to go, you don't get to be the mate of anything without putting up a fight, so Kagome and Rin should be alright...If that's the case how did I end up here?'

"Naraku was it?" Kikyo questioned.

"Yes."

"How did I get here?"

"I brought you."

"Hmm. And where is here exactly?"

"My house, my room."

"Why?"

"You fainted when I marked you," Naraku said as he calmly watched Kikyo's eyes fret around the room. Although her overall expression and posture seemed relaxed, Kikyo was anything but. Her eyes gave her away. Wanting to sigh at Kikyo's obvious planning, Naraku stood up causing Kikyo to jump. "When you finish executing your escape, come join me downstairs, the door is always open."

With that said, Naraku exited the room leaving Kikyo to stare at his back in wonder.

Author's Note: Updates for this story can be found on my profile page, that being said chapter updates will be slow so to be up to date for chapters check that. I automatically say when one will be up there.

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