Remember
Chapter 7
Doubt
Flashbacks
'Thoughts'
(Inner Youkai/Deity/Spirit)
Original Publish Date: 3/4/2014
Rin felt the youkai clutch on to her soaked skin, trying to pull her closer into him. It wasn't enough, and every breathless kiss left them wanting more and more.
Until a threatening, guttural snarl cut through the clearing.
Rin pulled away from the daiyoukai and gasped, the only warning Touga got… "… Lord S-sesshomaru?" …before being torn away from Rin and tossed across the clearing. The older daiyoukai gained his bearings, flipped and landed crouched on his feet with some grace, but his son was on him in an instant. The younger youkai grabbed his shoulders, sinking his claws through the unarmored cloth and slammed his head against his. Touga saw stars as he clutched his head, staggering away.
"Lord Sesshomaru, stop!" The older daiyoukai shook his head clear before glancing at Rin. She should not be here.
"Rin, get back to Jinenji now!" Touga shouted against the pounding rain, dodging a couple of punches before taking off into the trees and dragging the fight away from her. 'She doesn't need to be seeing this… and I know you feel the same, Sesshomaru.' The younger youkai did not let up on him; a whip of light wrapped around his ankle and pulled him down from the canopy. Touga groaned when his head took another blow as he was slammed onto the ground. Blinking back the dots in his vision, he rolled away in time to avoid a poison-soaked punch that left ground melting.
The older daiyoukai was a lost, his son found him in probably the worst position he could be in to reintroduce himself into his life. He felt the fury, the pain, and the hate fueling the wild aura that surrounded the daiyoukai. Touga brought his forearms up to block a fury of punches that cracked his gauntlets, before quickly side-stepping to avoid a sudden swipe of venomous claws. If his memory served correctly, this could go on for days if he did not fight back. 'I can't hit him…'
Touga did not want to enrage his son further, and by all means, Sesshomaru had every right to be furious at him, but he will not be able to keep this up for long. His trapped youki meant he could not call on any of his healing, speed, or any demonic defensive moves, which would be absolutely necessary to ensure his son doesn't actually kill him. He evaded two more swipes of poisonous claws before the whip of light materialized again. He didn't have enough time to move away, and the whip left a scorching slash across his chest.
The older daiyoukai hissed in pain, the stench of burned skin hit his nose. "How long do you plan to keep this up?"
"Until your corpse rests at my feet." That did not sound all too enjoyable.
"Touga! Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin was looking for them. Touga bit back a groan of pain when Sesshomaru's kick connected to his side, and he was sure the force broke a couple of ribs. He slapped away a couple of blows, dodged another kick, only to have a poison-punch near the eyes, degrading his vision.
He barely evaded the next few attacks before a pulse of power momentarily distracted him, unsure of where it came from, and his son's claws ripped across the right side of his face. The younger daiyoukai had broken into his space, and Touga was met with another poison-soaked punch into his stomach, and out the other side. His son pulled his arm away as the older daiyoukai fell to his knees, hand covering the hole in his abdomen.
His body was going erratic, attempting to heal his wounds and fight off the poison but there was no energy to feed off. Again, he felt a pulse, and he looked at his son in confusion. It was coming from him…? Sesshomaru was only staring at him now, the maniacal redness was gone from his eyes and all that was left was a frozen gold he could not look past. Touga's blood decorated his son's poison claw from fingertip to his elbow; they were both soaked to the bone from the rain, but his son stood tall.
The older male let out a hollow chuckle; chin resting on his damaged chest. It seemed his son was still a cold, lost, rage-filled daiyoukai. He remembered how awful each battle with his eldest son was during the last stages of his life. Contrary to what Lady Katsumi thought, those battles ended with him battered, not Sesshomaru. He let the younger daiyoukai hit him over and over again, snarling, growling, and yelling for him to die until he tired out. Touga allowed it, because he knew no other way to ease his pain.
But his son was not doing that now. By this point, Touga would be a complete mess. While a hole in his stomach, body littered with gashes and bruises, and a couple of broken ribs might seem like much, it was nothing compared to what he knew his eldest son was capable of. 'Maybe something has truly changed…' Lost in his memories, Touga did not hear the sound of a sword unsheathing, but he did hear Rin bursting into the clearing, crying,
"Lord Sesshomaru, no!"
./\.
It was quiet. The only sounds were Touga's rasped breathing. The rain long since stopped.
It was the middle of night, and Rin could not sleep at all. She sat up on the mat, pushing the covers away from her. Touga was okay, he was fine, but it was hard to get the image out of her head…
'No, no, no!' Sesshomaru's blade came down as soon as Touga looked back up at him, slicing through him. There was this darkness, a blue-black haze that appeared around the older daiyoukai and dissipated as soon as it came. 'What was—'
Sesshomaru was holding Tensaiga.
Rin rose from the mat and walked out of the hut. She knew he was outside, and he hadn't said a single word to her. Normally, that would have not bothered her so much, but this was different. He hadn't even looked at her. She was almost afraid to approach the stoic figure that glowed in the moonlight, several feet away at the end of the herb field.
Things were nothing like they were before, and she no longer knew where she stood in Sesshomaru's life, if anywhere at all. 'But I can't just… stay quiet.' She began her slow pace to Sesshomaru's side; she had no idea what to say to him and hoped she would figure out it soon. 'He's angry… but at what?' Rin reached him, a respectable step behind him with her hands at her sides. He didn't move, he didn't glance in her direction, nothing.
She breathed deeply, "Lord Sesshomaru?" Again, no acknowledgement but she was expecting none at this point. "I wish the circumstances were different, but I'm glad to see you again…" Rin licked her lips, a soft breeze flowed around them and her hands came up to rub the sides of her arms. For once, she was out of words. Her mind was swirling with too many emotions, mainly the shock of nearly losing a friend, the confusion that the same friend might be something much more, and the pain from Sesshomaru's complete indifference. Her shoulders slumped with a broken sigh, and Rin started to walk back to the hut.
"Why?"
Rin blinked, turning back to the daiyoukai. "Why… what? Why did I leave the village? Why am I traveling with Touga?" She sighed again when she got no response. "If your question is one of those…" She returned to the spot near his side. "I didn't like staying there. Eventually, Ayumi was the only thing that kept me there. Then I found Touga injured not far from the town's borders, he didn't seem like a bad person and with his memories purged and all… I saw an opportunity to travel again, to be away from that village and… get my mind off… things."
A moment passed before the daiyoukai spoke again, "My father and you… you both were…" She glanced at him from the corner of her eyes, and she saw his lips pulled back into a snarl but he made no noise. He quickly composed himself, "Together." That wasn't a question, but she knew he meant it as such. Despite the somber feel of the conversation, a soft blush still tinged her cheeks at the memory.
"I don't know what we are." Rin said as her fingertip scratched the corner of her lips; it was the most honest answer she could think of without going too much into it.
"I will not allow any more of that happening."
She took a very, very deep breath. 'This is going to be the hard part.' "No… You no longer have any say in what I am allowed to do, Lord Sesshomaru."
Now, he finally looked at her. His icy eyes were narrowed to slits, "I am your Lord—"
"You left me behind—"
"You were safe in that village—"
"I was safe with you!—"
"You have no idea who that man was—"
"I know the man he is now—"
"You will be constant danger—"
"I don't care!—"
"You are not making any sense—"
Something snapped. Rin stood right in front of the daiyoukai, not giving a single care to his 'personal bubble'. "I'm not making sense!? Because you are the epitome of logic and sense, right!?" She growled, "Then, please, enlighten me Lord Sesshomaru… What makes so much sense of Japan's most feared and powerful daiyoukai resurrecting a dirty, mute, orphaned human girl and letting her follow him across the entire country for three whole years, constantly making sure she is safe, alive and healthy… and then just… dumping her in a small no-name village by the shore with no explanation?"
The daiyoukai opened his mouth—Oh no, she wasn't done and she wasn't going to let him interrupt this time.
"Don't you dare… Don't you dare tell me I was just Tensaiga's experiment or you had some kind of obligation to me. That may, may, have been true in the beginning… but people, human or youkai, don't jump through the gates of hell and back for those they don't care for. "
There was a great and tense, incredibly tense, silence. Moments passed and two of them stared each other down, neither looking away. "Nothing? You are going to stay silent a-again?" Her voice cracked. 'No, don't cry.' She thought. "I…" Rin swallowed down the lump in her throat, blinking back the wetness of her eyes, all in vain. "I just want to understand. Why did you leave…?" She backed away a few steps; her eyes stared at the ground beneath them, waiting.
More time passed, and nothing came.
"I hate you…" She had hissed that with more venom than she intended, and immediately corrected herself. "No, I… I don't." Her tears flowed freely now, "I didn't want to cry in front of you." She hiccupped, wiped at her face. "But it's either this—" A sob cut her off, she swallowed hard again but she couldn't keep her tears under control. "—or yell and rage at you more, I can't—I can't do that." Rin's brows furrowed together, a small realization hitting her, before she looked up at the youkai. "Is that why you fight your father so violently?"
Rin saw cracks in that perfect mask, and something vulnerable hidden beneath it all. "Sess—"
But he was already gone.
./\.
"Touga?"
The inuyoukai's eyes fluttered open, and looked at the source of the voice. "Rin?"
And she smiled at him, "You're awake! Do you feel better?"
"I…" He felt clarity. There was no haze fogging his mind, he felt his youki coursing through him, and his wounds were nearly fully healed. "I do… very much so." He began to sit up, and noticed his stomach and chest were covered with bandages. "I'll help you those." Rin grabbed a pair of scissors, cutting through the material. "Do you remember what happened?"
"Lord Sesshomaru, no!"
"I was cut with a sword…"
"Yeah." She removed all his bandages on his upper body, revealing healed but tender skin. "With Tensaiga. It helped you." She carefully removed the bandage on the right side of his face, frowning afterward. "Jinenji can explain it all better, I'll tell him you're up." The human got up and stopped halfway to the door to look back at him. 'Why is she staring?' She bit her bottom lip, seeming to be debating something before she shrugged and trotted up to him again. The human bent down and placed a quick peck on his uninjured cheek, flashing him a brilliant smile, "I'm glad you're okay." And she ran out the door.
The daiyoukai blinked away his shock, he had a nagging feeling that Rin would have nothing to do with him after Sesshomaru appeared but perhaps he was wrong... Jinenji walked in soon after. "Ah, you look well, Lord Touga." The large hanyou had a few small vials in his hand, moving to sit across from the youkai. "The other daiyoukai… His blade heals, not cuts, according to Lady Rin." He set the vials down in-between them. "I do not know much about the properties of his sword…"
"It brings back the dead, and can harm beings from the netherworld." Touga explained, thankful he can easily recall such things now.
"That is what Lady Rin told me." Jinenji shook his head, "If that is all it can do, then it should not have worked on a living soul with a living body, Lord Touga." The hanyou pushed the vials towards him, "You must learn the circumstances of your resurrection. You are still not free; in fact, you might not truly be alive."
./\.
Rin stared at the two wrapped lacquered boxes and a small bag of fruits that sat outside by Jinenji's campfire area. The smell of freshly-made food tickled her noise and she looked back at Lord Sesshomaru in confusion but he only stared back blankly. 'Is… is he trying to apologize?' She rummaged through the small bag of fruit, smiling when she noticed it was filled mostly with her favorite, mikans*. "Thank you, Lord Sesshomaru." When Jinenji and Touga walked out of the hut, Sesshomaru began to walk away. "You won't join us?" But he didn't respond.
Rin sighed, before shrugging at the other two males, and began opening the wooden boxes. Her eyes brightened at the sight of an array of seafood, rice cakes, and fresh vegetables. She offered Touga one section of the box to Touga, but he refused. 'Jinenji is glad to have it though!' Rin thought, 'He probably doesn't get to have food like this often all the way here.' She blinked in confusion when one of the deepest sections of the second box held things she didn't recognize too well. She knew one of the items was dango, and she assumed the rest of the puffy, squishy stuff were dessert too. 'But why so much…?'
Rin realized Touga was very close to her, his nose twitching and golden eyes peering into the box. She placed one of the pink squishy things and a skewer of dango in her box before offering some to the hanyou, who took one of the green squishy things. Then she looked over at the daiyoukai, "Would all these sweets happen to be for you?" Rin asked, giggling. She didn't care too much for sweets so there was no way it had been for her.
"Perhaps…" Touga replied, eyes darting between hers and the box of desserts in her hand. She handed it to him, and he grinned before rising and began… walking towards Sesshomaru? Rin looked at him oddly but decided to keep quiet. She did not want to see them fighting again. 'I hope you know what you are doing, Touga…'
./\.
Touga casually plopped himself right next to his eldest son with his box of sweets, as if they did not just have a grueling battle the night before.
This was normal to them. His son was most tolerating of him after a raging battle, so he tried to talk with him after his wounds healed. Though, there were many more instances that Touga did not have the time to sit down with Sesshomaru afterward, now he will make sure he does. Everytime. 'I only hope it won't be often.' The daiyoukai thought as he winced from the pain in his abdomen. 'I rather just speak instead of dealing with a hole in my stomach.' His body healed very strangely, in a way he could not describe to Jinenji but the hanyou nonetheless understood, and only further proved his suspicions-He mentally shook his head, clearing his mind, before looking down at the box from Sesshomaru.
What his concern was now… was what in the world these squishy, round discs in the box were? The older daiyoukai grabbed a white one, thinking the neutral color meant it would be safest to try first. "What are these?"
Sesshomaru gave a disinterested glance, "Habutai mochi. It is filled with anko." The older youkai tentatively bit into the little puff, 'This is pretty good...' he popped the rest of it in his mouth before he dug into the box once more. He grabbed a pink one that felt the same on the outside, but was much larger in size. "Strawberry mochi." His son said before he asked.
'Ah, strawberry.' Touga scarfed down the treat much too quickly, but there was more of those to enjoy. He noticed a light brown puree to the side, sitting inside a cupped paper. Touga carefully grabbed it and gave it a sniff, 'Chestnuts.'.
"It is an Italian dessert, Mont Blanc."
"It was all so lovely, we must return there one day, Touga." Katsumi said, a rare smile illuminating her face.
Touga dipped a steady claw into the dessert, and licked it off to taste.
He promptly scarfed down that one as well.
"Ah, there was only one of those!" The older youkai thought aloud, dismayed. He missed his elder's son annoyed look. Touga looked at the rows of skewers with dango: white ones with a dark sauce, black sesame seeds or coated in chestnut paste, green ones, red ones—"Are you going to have any?" His son eyed him for a moment, before gingerly picking up a skewer of green tea dango.
"Can I have this one?" A young Sesshomaru asked, looking up at Touga with wide eyes.
The older daiyoukai finished his box in minutes, an attempt to push away the memories.
"You are going to become ill." Sesshomaru said blandly, throwing his finished skewer in the box.
"Sesshomaru, what did I tell you about eating so many of those?" Touga said, a hint of annoyance coupled with humor in his tone. His child was hanging over the edge of his bed, groaning in pain.
"But you eat them more than meeee..."
Touga smiled, rubbing his full stomach. "Probably." The two sat in silence for a few moments, drinking in the sounds of the forest around them and Rin's soft laughter in the distance. "I suppose I owe you a thank you for using Tensaiga and, of course, the food…"
"I rather you not." Sesshomaru hissed, hard gold eyes looking away from him. The elder youkai raised an eyebrow at his son, but did not reply. 'You will not even accept my gratitude…' Touga blamed the pain in his chest on his healing skin.
"Your mother told me of trouble brewing on the horizon." The older youkai quickly changed subjects.
"It is none of your concern."
"I believe it might be, when considering it could deal with those that brought me here." Touga rose to his feet. "I am heading back to your mother's. I assume you are doing the same?"
Sesshomaru also stood, "There are matters I need to discuss with her."
"We could… travel together." It was a risk. A huge risk, but he'd be damned if he didn't try to make some kind of amends with his son during his second chance at life. Sesshomaru looked at him, and then directed his gaze towards the far-off Rin. Touga followed his son's gaze, and it turned out that Jinenji and Rin were watching them, though they could not hear them from this distance. The human woman smiled brightly, and waved at the two, before continuing conversation with the hanyou.
When the older youkai looked back at his son, there was a foreign look in his eyes, something almost soft that added warmth to his color. It left as rapidly as it appeared and soon a rigid set of golden eyes landed on him. 'And here it comes…' Touga thought with a frown, knowing the next words were not going to be… nice.
"You are only alive because of Rin. Nor will I kill you in such a pathetic, debilitated state." His son had the 'you-are-an-insect' look mastered, something he most likely learned from his younger self, unfortunately. "When you are rid of your weakness and Rin grows tired of you, I will be the one to end your life."
Sesshomaru spun on his heel, walking back to where his companions were. The older daiyoukai stared at his son's retreating back, 'How strange to see Sesshomaru so protective over someone…' He thought, grabbing the wooden box before following. 'What does Rin mean to you, my son?'
./\.
"Tch, Katsumi's bad enough. Now you too?" Inuyasha grumbled when Sesshomaru entered the mansion, who shot him an icy glare. Rin bowed to Lady Katsumi before barreling the hanyou into a hug.
"I missed you, Inuyasha!" Inuyasha scowled, but made no move to remove the human from him.
"Yeah right! You two just up and left without saying anything, leaving me with her!"
"Oh hush. You were not complaining when you were stuffing your face with noodles earlier." Lady Katsumi redirected her attention to Sesshomaru and Touga. "Well, would you look at that… Father and son… Standing by each other calmly, no snarls or bites…" She said in awe, though something sounded off about it. Rin guessed right when her voice suddenly became bland. "You two fought earlier."
"You cannot expect all of us to get along without making a few holes in each other first." The older daiyouka replied, with a shrug and patted over the spot his son's arm went through.
"He put a hole in you too?" Inuyasha asked, his tone similar to Lady Katsumi's.
"Yes, it was quite unpleasant."
"The attack was warranted." Sesshomaru said, slipping a hand into his haori and taking out a tiny, velvet pouch.
"That is debatable. I had done nothing to you yet."
"I had seen enough to make that judgment." The younger daiyoukai hissed before handing the pouch to his mother. Rin's face turned red at Sesshomaru's words, 'Oh gods, he is talking about…' She clasped her hands in front of her and kept her eyes on the ground, hoping the conversation will just slide over that…
Lady Katsumi crossed her arms into her sleeves, "What is he talking about?"
"Rin, what are you embarrassed about?" Inuyasha caught her scent. 'Oh no, no, no. Just stop talking about it!' She mentally screamed, tightening the grip on her own hands. She couldn't bring herself to say anything out of the fear of what her voice might give away. She glanced up at Touga, and he was just there. A grin plastered on his face. 'Why are you smiling?' She groaned in her head, knowing it would rouse more suspicion. "And what the hell are you smiling about?"
Tsukiyo, the blue fox youkai, hurried into the main hall at that moment—'Thank you!'—going up to Lady Katsumi. "The panther is awake, m'lady."
"Panther…?" Rin whispered, as Lady Katsumi, Sesshomaru and Tsukiyo walked away. 'What did the fox mean by awake? Are they hurt? Was it from Ayumi's tribe?'
Touga placed a hand on her back, "When they are done, we'll check it out."
"Hey, Inuyasha!" Hitomi appeared in the main hall, calling the hanyou. She noticed Rin and Touga, quickly bowing. "Welcome back, Lord Touga, Rin."
"What do you want?" Inuyasha sounded very annoyed, in a funny kind of way.
"I want you…" Hitomi had a hand on her hip, a clawed finger running down his chest. The hanyou's face reddened from her attentions, causing Rin to giggle at him. The falcon grinned suddenly, "… To join me in the dojo! I'm feeling the need to emasculate you again."
"What!? I'm going to kick your ass!"
"Right." Hitomi looked over at Rin and Touga again, "You two are more than welcome to join us." Inuyasha was cursing the falcon's existence as he walked down the western hall. "Do you have any training, Rin?"
"Ah, I know a little bit, very little…" She picked up a few moves from Sango when Inuyasha and his friends passed by the village, and Ayumi taught her a thing or two about self-defense. She never got a chance to really practice anything.
"You should two should stop by, it'll be fun!"
"We will in a moment, Hitomi." Rin hadn't noticed the hand on her back was now at her waist, Touga was very close beside her. The falcon raised her brows, and then winked at Rin knowingly, before running after Inuyasha.
"I need to speak with you. Come with me."
./\.
"My name is Hiyoshi, the adopted son of the current Panther King of the Western Panther Tribe, Tatsuya." The young panther swallowed a bit of water before continuing, "A white tiger came to our village some days ago. Toran didn't let him past our gates and told him to leave. Then he withdrew this blade…" Hiyoshi looked around, "Did it reach here?"
"Yes, I already examined it." Lady Katsumi replied. "Continue."
"It let out these attacks, perfect circles that seemed to suck anything nearby into nothingness. We started to fight… then the hyenas came." The female daiyoukai's lips curled in disgust. 'Hyenas. How revolting.' "It was a massacre. The tiger, he kept healing and regenerating, we couldn't figure out why or how… until Lord Tatsuya knocked the sword from his hands. We finished him after that, but hyenas are relentless… they kept coming, there was so many of them… Who were was left, we all got separated. I don't know who's still alive, or where my family is…"
"Did the tiger say he was working with anyone?"
"No… but I don't know if it helps any… Immediately after Lord Touga left, we had to double our nightly patrol due to lone soldiers being slaughtered. The attack occurred a couple of days afterward."
"Hmm, that is enough for now. I have a team of men searching those lands, if they find any survivors, you'll hear of it."
"Thank you, Lady Katsumi." Hiyoshi bowed his head "Lord Sesshomaru." And the two daiyoukai left the room.
"One shard with a pack of regenerating, immortal weasel youkai attacking the west outpost, and another shard in a blade held by a tiger attacking an ally of the west…" Lady Katsumi sighed, "Was the meidou stone broken for this? An army of disgusting, low-class demons with the ability to revive themselves? How ridiculous. It will be tedious to gather all these missing parts."
"Have your men in the South contacted you?"
"No. Tsukiyo is declaring them missing in action if they do not make contact by tomorrow night."
"Then I will make my way there the next morning."
"Alone?" Of course, her son decided to stop speaking at that point.
./\.
"What do you need to speak to me about?" The human and daiyoukai both stood in the garden, a little deeper into the flowers and trees than before for a bit of privacy. Once he was satisfied with the distance they were from the castle, he turned to face the petite woman who barely reached his shoulders.
Touga observed the way the late afternoon sun played with her messy dark hair, her great coffee-colored eyes watching him with innocent curiosity. She was a bit dirty from their travels, but her skin held a healthy glow. He raised a clawed hand, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her round ear. His gaze traveled down to her soft lips, the memory of their kiss from not so long ago flashed through his mind. He needed another taste of her. "T-touga?"
Rin seemed to be shying into herself again, crossing her arms in front of her and resting her hands of on her sides, lowering her head and shuffling her feet closer together. The human became very nervous under his gaze, and he did not understand why. He grabbed her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes again. "Why do you hide yourself?"
"I…" She rubbed the sides of her arms and Touga placed a hand on each to stop her. The human glanced at both of his hands before responding, "I don't know what to do… when you look at me like that."
"I'd prefer you get closer, not move away."
"But then what happens?" Her voice was a squeak, and she spoke as if she was speaking of dark and forbidden things. He felt himself smiling at her; her innocence was endearing… and intoxicating. Rin blushed and looked away, chewing on her bottom lip. He caught trace of her excitement.
(She wants to be taken.) Touga ignored the voice. "That depends on you, Rin." The daiyoukai replied, nearly forgetting her question in the haze of her scent.
"It is okay to touch you whenever I want?"
He chuckled, "If I recall correctly, you have taken a few liberties with my person already." Touga teased, enjoying the flush in her cheeks afterward.
"I know I never asked before, but… I thought you might be a little different after getting your memories back…" 'Ah. And there it was.' He thought.
"Rin, nothing has changed." She gave him a skeptical look, but nonetheless accepted the answer. The human cautiously closed the distance between, her hands rested on his chest for a moment, before sliding upwards until they reached the sides of his face. She traced the jagged stripe down each cheek, and he felt his eyelids grow heavy from her feather touch.
"You haven't told me what you wanted to talk about…" Rin said lightly, her voice barely above a whisper. She took advantage of his closed eyes and careful swiped a fingertip across both lids.
"It can wait." He had wanted to ask her about her relationship with his son, knowing so little of it, but he did not want her to stop touching him. He wrapped his hands around her waist, pulling her flush against him.
To his disappointment, she pulled her hands away and brought them back to his chest. "No, what is it?"
"It is about… Sesshomaru." Touga observed her carefully. He did not want to miss a single emotion passing through. "He seems very protective over you."
"I suppose. He protected me when I was younger; he always made sure I was okay." 'Truth, but the subject is making her unhappy…'
"How old were you when you joined him? How did he treat you when traveling?"
She gave him an odd look, but answered. "I was eight and he treated me better than Jaken. He'd make sure we stop somewhere near food and water each night. If I wasn't feeling well, he would catch something for me to eat. Sometimes he'd let me sleep on his fluff if I was having bad nightmares. He wouldn't mind if I ran into a flower field during the middle of travel to pick flowers as long as I didn't take too long. He never got angry with me when I talked a lot. He wouldn't say anything, but he was listening. When I got a little older, he started getting me these very pretty kimonos to wear then… then it all stopped."
Touga ran his claws through her hair. He knew to avoid any questions about her abandonment right now. 'How strangely considerate for him to do all those things for her.' "What would happen after he had to save you from danger?"
"He'd act a bit strange. Wanting me to be closer, to talk more, and sometimes he would pat the top of my head." She mimicked the patting motion on Touga. "What's with all the questions?"
"I am merely curious… Did you ever wish to be with Sesshomaru?"
"Of course, why would I want to leave? He saved me so many times, I was in debt to him—"
"I meant in a more intimate relationship—"
"Oh…" Rin rested her head on his chest, "When I was younger, I thought about it. Kagome would tell these stories about how these strong princes would save princesses from all kinds of danger, marry and be happily ever after… So, sometimes I would daydream that Sesshomaru was the prince." Her brows furrowed, "Though, he doesn't act anything like any of the princes in those stories."
"Always coming to my rescue… You are quite strange for a daiyoukai, Lord Touga." Izayoi giggled softly, holding her hands in front of her.
"Hmm…"
"I haven't thought of him like that in years." Rin gave him a level look, "Touga, why are you asking me these questions?"
"I was only trying to evaluate the relationship you two had. As I said, he is very protective over you."
She shook her head, and her hands were playing with his markings again. "Do you think I'll just leave? It seems you forgotten our little talk before we reached Tatsuya…"
"Sesshomaru does not guide my actions. He has not for years. What I do now are my decisions and mine alone, like my choice to be here, beside you."
"I have not forgotten…"
"Hmm. We should head back inside before Inuyasha starts wondering where we are…" But she made no move to pull away; instead her hand reached up, her dainty fingers ran though his bangs.
Touga watched her gaze dart from his lips to eyes a few times, before licking her lips. "Can I kiss you..?" She asked as she crossed her arms behind his neck.
"Of course."
"Whenever I want…?"
He chuckled. "Yes, though I would avoid it in front of my sons… for now." She giggled, resting her chin on his chest with her head craned upwards at him.
"Then does that mean… I can kiss you as much as I want?" Touga looked down her, bringing his lips a fraction away from hers.
"Yes." She raised herself on the tips of her toes, closing the distance between them. Touga kissed her back, tilting his head to allow her better access to his mouth. The woman didn't hesitate, slipping her tongue inside to meet his. The daiyoukai held back a groan when she nicked her tongue on his fangs, small droplets of her sweet blood flavored his mouth. They pulled away, and Touga was fighting hard to ignore the growls and demands of his demon.
"Sorry, I wanted to know what they felt like." Rin had a sheepish grin on her face, and the daiyoukai wondered if she was completely oblivious to much how much she was affecting him.
"Stop it! Just let them have their privacy!" Touga heard Hitomi not too far in the distance, and what sounded like her attempting to drag Inuyasha back inside.
"They've been out here way too long."
"Ugh, so what!? It's none of your business what they do!"
"Like hell it isn't!"
"Is that Inuyasha?" Rin asked in a hushed tone and he nodded to her. They were getting closer to their spot, and Rin completely pulled away from Touga before the two tumbled into their clearing. She was the face of innocence, waving at the two intruders with a perfect smile. "Hi Hitomi! Hi Inuyasha!—"
"Don't you 'Hi, Inuyasha!' me! I can smell what was going here!"
"You're so rude!" Hitomi hissed, bonking the hanyou on the head. "She's old enough to make her own decisions, and if that includes having fun with your Lord father—""UGH! Don't say that!""—Then it's her choice!"
"Yeah!? And what about Sesshomaru?! He's gonna fucking go on a rampage and you know what?! I ain't gonna help you when that happens!"
"He knows." Touga responded simply, crossing his arms into his sleeves. He wondered where his son got such wild theatrics from; it was certainly not from him.
"See!? You are the one being ridiculous!" Hitomi said, placing her hands on her hips.
"… Is that why he put a hole in you?" The hanyou asked.
"Perhaps…"
"I can't believe I'm agreeing with that bastard… but you totally deserved it." That earned him another hit from the falcon.
"How can you say that?!"
"Will you stop hitting me!?"
Rin scooted closer to him, a bewildered look on her face as she watched the two in front of her continue to argue. "What are they doing?" She whispered up at him.
"Denying their obvious attraction to each other." Touga replied in a bored tone as he wrapped an arm around her small shoulders, loud enough for the other two to hear and stop their arguing. Though in all honesty, he found the exchange amusing and almost adorable, reminding him of the times he spent with Katsumi before they started courting—
"I'm not attracted to this fucking bird! Look at her! And don't try changing—" The next hit was enough to drop him to the floor.
"You asshole! What is that supposed to mean!?"
"You're an abusive, worm-eater!"
"I'm a falcon, you idiot! I don't eat worms!"
Touga ignored the couple, bringing his attention back to Rin who was still watching them strangely. He brought his lips close to her ear and whispered, "Let's go back inside." She shivered a bit before smiling up at him, nodding. The two made their way back to the mansion, leaving the argumentative couple behind.
./\.
"Lord Raiden, our troops have recovered the rest of the scattered shards. Lord Sesshomaru and one of panther demons hold the last two." An old dragon daiyoukai sat on his lavish throne, layers of embroidered demon silk and black, heavy body armor covered his body. His hair was dusty silver, styled back and reached his waist. He stood, his frame towered over his disciple, and his eyes, an ominous ruby red.
"Good, good… Let them keep them. It will do no good for them now. How long until the others are ready to mobilize?"
"All are ready to move at your command but the Mountain Wolf Tribe of the East, they are dealing with Lady Katsumi's men."
"Tell the wolves to get rid of them. I need them to be prepared at a moment's notice."
"Yessir, right away." The smaller youkai scampered off, leaving the daiyoukai alone. The dragon moved from the front of his throne to a sliding door that leads into a private outdoor area in his fortress. There was a marker in the middle of the small clearing, a statue of a dragon daiyoukai.
'After some setbacks, it is finally all coming together…' Raiden crossed his arms into his sleeves; eyes stared hard at the sculpture in front of him. 'I will send that dog's entire family to hell… and you will finally be avenged, my brother.'
End of Chapter 7
Author's Note: Sorry this didn't get posted yesterday! I was having lots of trouble with how to end the chapter.
And oh my god. o_o Lots of new readers! –waves-
Salerina – I'm glad you are enjoying the story! Bakusaiga is the name of his sword that he gets in the final act. Though your comment totally made me realize… There is like never any blood on their blades, even after like cutting through a bazillion demons and there's blood all over the ground. How strange. Lol.
StoriedFabric, SessRinz, sakemori, Darkis Shadow, Lightning Streak—inhales—Carmen, Shiokaze17, mamita53, Mary and finally Redsky! – Thanks you guys sooo much for reviewing, I hope you guys like the new chapter. :D
If you asked a question I didn't answer, its because I totally can't acknowledge the subject or it would spoil stuff! Sorry!
*Mikans are just seedless, mandarin oranges.
Reviews are loved! ;3
