Chapter Ten

The Wonders of Womanhood


Kagome sat in Kaede's hut gnawing at her bottom lip. Absentmindedly, she swirled the soup in her cup with her finger. Rin's light voice making up the background noise to Kagome's muddled mind.

The whole gang seemed to be in good and normal spirits. In fact, they were interacting quite naturally with Rin, not at all put out that she had just arrived with no forewarning. Shippo asked something and Rin turned to him to answer with exuberance. Kagome took in Rin's side profile.

She was simply beautiful. Rin had really bloomed. Kagome was finding it so difficult to believe how fast Rin seemed to grow up. Rin was probably only slightly shorter than Kagome now. Her chest had filled out and her face was thinner now. Her large brown eyes looked even richer with the dark fan of hair that fell down to Rin's back.

She looked so womanly it was hard to believe that Rin was only…

"How old are you, Rin?" Kagome asked suddenly, interrupting whatever story Rin had been telling Shippo.

Everyone turned their eyes to Kagome in confusion. She raised her soup to hid her face.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. Just lost in thought." She sipped her lunch; her face flushing.

Rin smiled at the priestess-in-training. "It's okay, don't be sorry." She put a finger to her chin and thought. "I can't say I remember my actual birthday, my parents died when I was very young and I had been living by myself for some years before Lord Sesshomaru saved me." In the slight pause, Kagome recognized the subtle look of blind devotion in Rin's eyes at the mention of the stoic lord. "However, I am pretty sure I'm about fourteen or fifteen."

Sango voiced the surprise everyone was feeling. "You were so small not too long ago."

Rin nodded. "I have always been small, that's why its so scary that I have grown so much over the last few months." Her chocolate eyes looked up at Kagome under a thick fringe of eyelashes. "You said that was normal along with the-"

"Yes!" Kagome squeaked cutting her off; she set down her soup sharply spilling some of it.

Kaede eyed the keyed up Kagome. "Ye alright Kagome?"

"I'm fine, sorry." Kagome shook her head. 'Why am I feeling so edgy? It cant be just because of Rin, could it?'

"I think I'm all done, thank you Kaede; the soup was delicious." Rin smiled, handing her bowl to the old priestess.

Rin's smile was so perfect and natural it was hard not to stare. In fact a loud echoing slap broke the trance of such flawlessness. Kagome's eyes darted to an angry Sango and a sheepish looking Miroku.

Sango stood stiffly. "Me and my fiancé are going to step outside for a moment if you do not mind. Thank you for lunch, Kaede." Sango pinched Miroku's ear and drug him from the hut.

Rin looked concerned. "Is that normal?"

"Keh. You'll get used to it." Inuyasha snorted from behind Kagome.

"Oh." Her eyebrows were furrowed as she continued to stare out the door the couple just left.

After Kagome and Rin helped Kaede clean the lunch mess, as Inuyasha supervised and Shippo played, the two young girls went outside.

Kagome began leading them on path that would wound through the forest.

"So what do you want to know?"

"The blood-"

"Right, okay… Let me begin with a little background knowledge…" Kagome jumped right into the history and reasons why each month woman menstruated while Rin nodded solemnly and didn't interrupt once.

She explained how it was normal for it to last for a few days and sometimes it would cause her to get sick with small little aches and such. The way Rin was absorbing the information, Kagome wondered if she was trying to commit it to memory word for word. She finished and looked at the serious expression on Rin's face.

"Any questions?"

Rin shook her head. "No, that makes sense I suppose. It actually makes a lot of sense to me now." She smiled looking relieved.

"How so?" Kagome asked curiously; only happy that the worst of their conversation was over now.

"Well, I didn't understand why the past couple months right about the time before my 'period,' as you called it, happened Lord Sesshomaru would disappear. It's nice to know that he just probably felt uncomfortable because I was fertile during those times." Her radiant smile never faltering.

Kagome cringed. 'It was too much to ask for the hard part of the conversation to be over already… Now we probably should have the… sex talk… help me…'

"You know they can smell it, the blood I mean." Rin continued when Kagome was silent.

Kagome tried to seem interested. "I didn't know that."

"Really? You never wondered why Inuyasha was more agitated with you some times more than others?" Rin raised an eyebrow.

Kagome's face feel. She honestly never put two and two together though she probably should have before. Inuyasha was part demon and had a very, very sensitive nose. Her hand covered her mouth.

"Oh how mortifying." Kagome whispered.

Rin laughed and looped her arm through Kagome's. "You are so funny. Why would you be embarrassed? You should be happy that we have demon mates. It will make getting pregnant easier."

Kagome stared wide eyed down at the new adult. "Excuse me? What do you mean? You and Sesshomaru? Me and Inuyasha? I-You… no you don't mean…?"

Rin looked genuinely puzzled. "You and Inuyasha aren't going to be mates? How strange. I just assumed that is why he has always stayed with you."

"What? We had a mission- but wait, you and Sesshomaru have talked about this?"

Rin nodded as if talking about mating with a demon was an everyday topic of conversation. "Oh sure, we talked about it a few years ago."

"A few years ago?! You haven't…?" Kagome felt dizzy, how old was Rin again... 26...?

"Oh no, Lord Sesshomaru is waiting until I have finished my woman training. I have to be able to provide for and cater to my mate. I mean I have been preparing for awhile, but I never had another female to talk to about it."

"So, now? When you return to Sesshomaru soon, you will become his mate?" This didn't seem plausible to Kagome, she is still only a child... how can Lord Sesshomaru... defile her?

"Yes, I have waited for years. I am ready." Rin stopped walking and anxiously peered into Kagome's eyes. "Are you alright? You look pale."

"I just need to sit down." They promptly sat in the shade of a tree. "So how old were you exactly when he told you, you were going to be his mate?"

The smaller woman shrugged. "Probably twelve or thirteen."

"You didn't mind? Did you even have a say?"

"Well, of course I did. He told me I could stay with him forever and be his mate or he would find a village for me to settle down in."

"How did you choose to stay with him? You were so young... you are still so young!"

Rin wrinkled her nose at being called young. "I have loved him since the day he rescued me. Of course, back then I couldn't have defined the emotion but I knew I was meant to stay with him always. When I saw you and Inuyasha a long time back I knew that was what I had with Lord Sesshomaru."

"You think me an Inuyasha are in love?" Kagome asked blushing, suddenly she felt more like the student then the teacher.

Rin giggled. "Well duh, its very obvious that you both care a lot for each other."

"You've known this for years?"

Rin simply nodded.

"We haven't ever talked about it… not in the way you have with Sesshomaru; until recently I had had so many doubts."

The small girl bunched her delicate eyebrows together. "What doubts?"

Kagome smiled and leaned her head back against the tree she sat against. "That he didn't love me or ever would. Lately, he's been so wonderful and caring. I've never really seen this side of him before."

Rin's little hand touched Kagome's. "Sometimes a person shows they care through actions and not words. Maybe that's why you haven't noticed until now. Inuyasha has always been so protective of you."

Kagome smiled. "Maybe you're right. But how would I talk about this with him? It's so embarrassing."

"No, not at all. Kagome, if you weren't from a far away land I would think you so strange. I'm already considering myself an old spinster."

Kagome laughed and stood up, brushing off her bottom. "Right. Well, anyways I think that take cares of the talking portion of your training, what do you say tomorrow we learn how to do some helpful chores?"

Her little protégé smiled radiantly and stood up as well. "Are we going back to Kaede's now?"

"Yeah, go on without me, I'm going to stay here and think for a little."

Rin nodded and walked off into the setting sun. Kagome sighed heavily feeling slightly relieved. She spun quickly on her toes only to come nose to chest with a demon.

Her round blue eyes looked up into the fearsome face of Lord Sesshomaru.

"What are you doing here? Rin said…" Kagome began breathless and startled.

"Rin did not lie; she has no knowledge of my being here. I came without invitation."

Kagome took a step back and folded her hands formally before her. "It's alright, were you planning on staying the night?"

"No, I must be going. I came only to make sure Rin wasn't making a nuisance of herself."

"Of course not. She is so well behaved; you've raised her well."

"Thank you priestess for honoring our previous agreement." He said seriously, ignoring her compliment.

"Anytime, Sesshomaru."

There was a small silence as he stood staring off into the direction Rin had just left. Kagome could see the tortured longing in his eyes now. She wanted to ask so bad about his relationship with Rin. She wanted to know, if he thought, as Inuyasha's older brother, if Inuyasha was in love with her too.

She opened her mouth.

"I will be back in a fortnights time for Rin. Do not tell her I was here. Farwell." He turned dramatically and strode off into the cover of the trees before Kagome could respond.

"Well, that was weird."

"You're telling me. What the fuck was my brother doing here?"

Kagome shrieked in surprise and turned around to see Inuyasha leaning up against a tree with his arms folded. He pushed off it and walked closer to her.

"What did he say to you? I only just got here to see him walk away."

"He just wanted to make sure Rin wasn't bothering anyone, I guess."

"How nice of him to ask now, that he already dumped the runt on us."

"Inuyasha! Don't be rude, Rin is always welcome and so is your brother!"

"Keh. Whatever, still don't see why he could care enough to come all the way over here just to ask you that."

Kagome's angered expression turned soft. "We wanted to make sure she was alright. He missed her."

Inuyasha's face turned to a look of terror. "He said that?!"

She rolled her eyes. "No. But its obvious. He loves her and he couldn't stand being away from her." She sighed, caught up in the romantic thought.

"Fat chance, he was probably just pillaging some nearby village and decided to stop by another place he isn't welcome."

"You're impossible, you know that?" She shook her head sadly.

Inuyasha smirked that mind tenderizing smile but didn't say anything. Not that he needed to, Kagome had turned to mush at his feet. She tried to clear her mind.

"Anyways, Rin is a quick learner, I don't see why I wont be able to have her learned in two weeks."

"Two weeks?"

"Yep, that's when your loveable brother is coming back to get her."

"From today?"

"Yes, that's what he made it sound like."

"So, the day before Sango's wedding day?"

Kagome's eyes bulged. "Oh no, that's going to stress Sango out."

Inuyasha shrugged. "I could always keep him from getting anywhere close…"

She punched him playfully in the arm, he caught her fist. Weakly, Kagome tried to pull away.

"I don't think Rin would be to happy with you if you did that." She said, getting lost in the pull of his deep, amber eyes.

"Keh, I'm okay with that, as long as you are."

Her eyes closed slowly as his face descended closer. Her heart skipped as his lips met hers. This was bliss, this was happiness, this was everything that Kagome had ever wanted.

The feeling of belonging, and the feeling that even though she was separated from her world and family, she had a new place she was apart of. Inuyasha was her home.

Her hands looped around his neck and his hands greedily pulled her near. A claw grazed her hip and her body shuttered against his. Inuyasha's tongue pressed against her mouth and she parted her lips.

There was a sigh as she ran her tongue against his. He pulled away slightly and her teeth tugged at his lip. A vibration ran through his chest and Kagome felt excited. His mouth fell on hers again.

Inuyasha managed to sit them in the grass, with her seated firmly in his lap. As they kissed his hands sneaked under her top. Her head fell to his shoulder when his claws dragged themselves up her bare skin. Just below her breast they descended to the band of her shorts only to come back up.

The ticklish sensation was building something needy and desperate up inside her. With every rise of his hands, she hoped for him to finally grasp her breast. She wanted to feel the calluses of his strong hands chafe against her breasts' sensitive skin.

She distracted herself from her frustration by attaching her mouth to the side of his neck. He hissed as her teeth teased and her tongue tortured his neck. And finally, with only a split second of hesitation, his hands continued forward, under her bra and grasped her naked breast.

Her head rolled back and a sigh escaped her lips. He kneaded her flesh until her hips withered against his. She pulled herself back for another searing kiss. Inuyasha's hands slowly, reluctantly detached themselves from her body. They both pulled away disheveled and breathing erotic.

Kagome blushed and smiled, only slightly embarrassed she had let herself get so carried away in the moment. Inuyasha smiled too and place another soft kiss to her lips. He lifted her up and wordlessly lead the way back to Kaede's hut.

As they walked through the darkened forest Kagome sneaked a look at her hand firmly clasped with Inuyasha's.


Hey Everyone!

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