Important Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned from Ancient Magus Bride or Inuyasha.

Authors Note: One of the things I found in common between Chise and Rin was the scene in each anime where they're running from danger. I wanted to use that situation to create a link between them in this chapter. Let's see what happens next!

P.S. I hope you are all enjoying the story!


Chapter 2: Diffidence

Diffidence, it made them appear weak and vulnerable. They were both basically mute children anyway, never saying a thing to anyone, both hiding their fears deep within. How could they express their thoughts when those who were supposed to be "caring for them" were the main cause of their unresponsiveness and fear? Chise's relatives loathed her existence, and Rin also suffered the hate of the villagers for her. Those humans, who instead of protecting them, were the first to beat them; they had no problem with leaving the girls to starve, and constantly humiliated them for being orphans.

How could they not be diffident? How could they possibly believe in their special souls after all the cruelness their own kind showed them? In the end, there is only so much a child can handle before losing faith in their self.

Green eyes looked at the happy family from behind a tree. She envied how the girl in the middle was giggling as her parents were lifting her up, and swinging her around, showing off the pretty dress she had. It was yellow, such a joyful color. The dress reminded Chise of the dandelions that released their petals in the wind during spring. How she missed those seasons next to her parents, especially the playtime with her little brother. Those moments were never coming back. Chise would never relive those memories because her parents had decided to abandon her. They wanted to leave to live and, not live, just to avoid her existence.

Was she such a terrible child that they preferred leaving her by herself? Why had they cared so little of where she would end up? Hadn't they felt guilty? Apparently not. It seems that it hadn't been an issue for her parents to leave her future in the hands of unloving relatives who only whispered among themselves of ways they could dump her on the streets without getting caught.

The worst part for Chise was the frequent visits of the monsters. They began to feast upon her fear a lot more than on her body. They were enjoying that she was unprotected and began to fool with her sanity with each passing day. She wished they would simply kill her and put an end to her loneliness, but they would simply impede her from sleeping and eating and then return days later, after her strange behavior caused her even more trouble with her family, in order to continue with their heinous games over her fragile mind.

True torture.

Now, all that there is to wonder is if one day somebody would want her broken soul.

Rin's Universe

"We're here."

Rin looked around and saw only the forest that they'd just walk out of and the border. Could it be that only demons could see her Lords castle?

"Rin."

If she couldn't see it, could she go in? Would she have a room? Was there room for a human like herself?

"Rin?"

Would there be servants and warriors? How would the weather be like?

"Rin!"

Uh oh. Two brown doe eyes shot up and locked with two narrowed golden ones, but, as usual, it was Jaken who did the scolding.

"Dumb girl! What on earth is going on in that excuse of a head you have?!"

"I-I'm so sorry master Jaken!"

"Don't apologize to me ningen! Lord Seshoumaru doesn't have time for your human mistakes! He's summoning you! GO!"

Her anxious sprint towards her Lord caused her foot to trip on a stone that was in front of her, making her fall to the ground. Jaken growled out of annoyance.

Ashamed of another one of her "human mistakes" (as Jaken put it) Rin began to feel tears gathering in the corner of her eyes. She heard his footsteps getting nearer. Rin squeezed her eyes and brought her arms to her face to occult the salty drops that were about to fall down her cheeks. She knew her Lord hated seeing weakness; he was probably going to leave her for good now. Instead, he knelt down and picked her up.

"Rin." He repeated. The girl opened her eyes slowly, and hiccupped. "Stop crying. This Sesshoumaru will not stand such an irritating behavior."

She swallowed whatever emotions she could and wiped her eyes quick. Her outside demeanor showed she was done crying, but he could still sense sadness from her. Nonetheless, he scooped her up and walked towards the border.

A strong wind began to blow from behind them, making her Lords hair flow above his shoulders, and cover both view of her sides.

"Prepare yourself Rin." Before she could understand what he meant, she felt the pull of gravity in the mouth of her stomach as they dropped into the cliff. She clutched on her Lord as tight as she could, and when she thought that the sensation in her body was fading away, another strong wind encircled their bodies and shot them back up to the sky. With the help of the wind they passed the clouds and jumped into the sky. From there, her Lord used his demonic power to take them even higher.

Rin found the strength to open her eyes. The view resembled that of a fantasy heaven, where the ground consisted of the clouds and the sky was a blanket of stars. It was by far the most beautiful view she had ever seen in her entire life. Her awe lasted shortly, for the air was getting too thick for Rin to breath. Sesshoumaru could sense her body running out of oxygen, but she would have to endure just a little bit more. 'Almost there.'

Before fainting in her Lord's arms, Rin saw the scintilla of a light that transformed into the shape of a castle; 'How pretty…' was her last thought before she shut her eyes.

Rin's Dream

Sweaty palms, drenched forehead and heavy breathing. 'This dream again'. A dark red sky, snarls from blood thirsty wolves, tears falling down her cheeks. 'They're after me! They're going to eat me!' She ran, they chased.

Rin could feel the beasts behind her, nearing with each leap. She looked ahead, running as fast as she could. Her Lord, always appeared in her dream, but as a faraway image and would always walk away without a single glimpse her way. It was such a heart breaking scene.

Normally, this nightmare would end with her tripping and her horrified face turning to watch how several sharp teeth aimed at her neck, but surprisingly, to Rin's confusion, she kept on running, and she couldn't feel the ground anymore. Rin looked down, 'what are on my feet?' she was still escaping, but could no longer hear the cry of the wolves hunting her. Instead, she looked back and saw a deformed black figure rushing behind. Whatever it was, it had red eyes and huge teeth. Mirrors appeared between the trees that surrounded her, and she saw her reflection, but with the passage of a tree, she was no longer Rin but instead –

'The girl from my dreams!'

"Almost got you!" spoke the monster with a crackling voice, the words caused a deeper sense of panic in Rin than the wolves had. Ahead, there appeared to be a house, and without a single doubt she ran faster and faster, when her hand touched the handle it didn't turn, but right before the big blob of black could touch her, she managed to open the door and kicked it shut.

The monster crashed into the door and exploded into an animal that would haunt Rin's mind as much as wolves-

"Rats."

Chise's Universe

Chise looked up and saw how all hundreds of rats scattered around the glass roof, squeaking wickedly. She was catching her breath when a hand on her shoulder caused her to leap away and corner herself between the wall and the door.

"Whoa whoa, it's okay. You're safe from them now." Said a man with brown hair and circle shaped glasses. "The rat spirit is gone, and even if it used all its power, it can't get in here."

She stared at him, still keeping her distance. He seemed human, but now she wasn't sure what to believe in.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Miura Riichi. I am the magician that takes care of the Library of the Forest. I'm glad you came to visit, nobody has been here in quite a while and well…books get lonely too." The man chuckled and scratched his head. He appeared to be a nice person. "What's your name little one?"

She took a long time to answer, but eventually whispered out her name. "Chise, I am Hatori, Chise."