Monster

Chapter 3

You left for a while.

Original Publish Date: 4/5/2018
Minor Edits/Fixes: 4/16/2018

"Tsukuyomaru is dead."

Sesshomaru sat with his father in the study, only half-listening as he spoke. He hardly knew the bat daiyoukai, his only knowledge of him was he helped Inuyasha at one point to learn Red Tessaiga. "Killed by his own father." The older daiyoukai muttered as he poured him another glass of bourbon, "They say… he almost made it out." Now he had his full attention. "That's why Taigokumaru murdered him. He saw it as a betrayal to his clan and to all youkai kind. The old man later succumbed to his wounds and died himself."

"Then there is no one left to corroborate the story?"

"Apparently…" Touga shifted in his leather chair, "Princess Abi was around during the fight. She said that his father claimed Tsukuyomaru had a human love and a hanyou, much like Inuyasha. The two are nowhere to be found. Now, how or why his father thought he was about to escape this realm, who could say…?"

Sesshomaru took a drink of the aged liquor as he considered the tale. A way out. The bat daiyoukai was significantly weaker than him… Could he have found some spell, an ancient relic? Would his woman know? He dismissed the thought as soon as it came, Taigokumaru was a paranoid fool. It wasn't a stretch to believe he killed his son with no hard evidence. After all, there were no new hanyous living in the realm, Izayoi being the most recent addition. They would have noticed if his human lover sold her soul to be with him and conceive a child.

"You have quickly grown in power these past few years." His sire unexpectedly commented, "Should I watch my back?"

He raised a brow, "Your death does not interest me."

"I don't know whether to be relieved or offended." Touga downed the last of his drink before rising from his large chair. He put a hand on Sesshomaru's shoulder before he passed, "Your brother is joining us tonight. It would please me if you two would be civil with one another."

It took him a moment but he managed a "Yes, father."

Touga patted his shoulder in acknowledgment before leaving the room. Sesshomaru counted his few peaceful hours before sundown.

Everyone in the castle knew the moment Inuyasha arrived. Izayoi's pitched excitement, his father's booming voice, and the hanyou's matching as they greeted each other in the main hall. Sesshomaru watched from afar, having no desire to be a part of it. The less he spoke to the hanyou, the less likely they would fight and anger Touga - but if they didn't speak at all, it would also anger him. They were both aware of this. When the couple finally stopped fussing over his half-brother he took the quiet moment to walk over to them.

"Inuyasha." He coolly greeted, taking note that he listened to his mother for once and wore something other than his fire rat robe to the realm. It was a bit odd seeing him in a blazer, he could hardly recall the last time the hanyou wore one.

"Sesshomaru." The younger brother replied, before looking back at their father, "So, how long is this thing again?"

Touga glanced at them both knowingly, "You will stay until I say otherwise."

Inuyasha's shoulders slumped forward, mumbling under his breath as they all walked to the outer bailey, where food and drink were being passed and music was being played. It was the largest festival they held and all attended without fail. It was their own version of a typical mid-autumn celebration, as the harvest moon only appeared about every 8 years in their realm. While the moon here meant nothing to them, the majority preferred having any reason at all to party and drink. Many youkai enjoyed the tastes of different foods and the intoxication that hard liquor brought, though they didn't need either for substance.

Touga, with his arm around Izayoi, left the two brothers, mentioning he will go give his condolences to the last of the bat youkai that remained. Inuyasha let out a large sigh once their sire was out of earshot, his expressive face openly irritated as his eyes scanned the mass of youkai mingling. "I hate these damn things."

"Hn." It was one of the few things they agreed on. Sesshomaru could concede that the hanyou had it marginally worse, his sensitive hearing already picking up all the whispers being passed about his presence. Inuyasha was an abnormality - a birthed hanyou that lived in the mortal realm but could pass into their own at any time. Only family knew that Inuyasha couldn't stay here for more than half a day at a time before he started fading away, something his sire and Izayoi learned the hard way while the hanyou grew.

Inuyasha was also "illegal" but no youkai here would dare challenge Touga about it, aside from a few snide comments from Ryūkotsusei and Shishinki.

Their eyes caught the empty barracks transformed to a temporary arena. "Is it really fighting if its a festival tournament?" It seemed they both had the same idea.

"Father would be ecstatic to see us enjoying the festivities together."

Unfortunately, neither knew how to fight without trying to kill each other. They started slow enough but only ten minutes into the match, their fighting grew more violent. They were unaware of the large crowd that began to form around them. The two of them dropped their sparring swords in favor of claws and punches. It wasn't much longer till the hanyou was bleeding profusely from his torso, Sesshomaru had cuts around his arm and midsection, and the crowd roaring with excitement. Had they been paying attention to their surroundings, they would have noticed when the people suddenly hushed.

Touga landed in the middle of the arena and pushed the two growling brothers off each other. "What is the meaning of this?!"

Inuyasha spat blood on to the dirt before replying, "Tournament." Not wise, brother… Father's snarl did not surprise him.

"Both of you, in my study. Now. I will be there shortly."

The walk back to the castle was quiet with the exception of an occasional hiss of pain or curse from Inuyasha, each one making the corner of his lips quirk. It didn't go unnoticed by his brother. "You're a sadist, you know that?"

"And you seem to enjoy the pain I inflict on you." The hanyou was sputtering unintelligible obscenities now. Sesshomaru sighed, it seemed blood loss was getting to him. His father would not be pleased if he allowed his younger sibling to pass out in the hall. He pushed him in the direction of the infirmary, conveniently much closer than their father's study.

"Oi, where are we goin'?" He didn't have to answer, the hanyou soon caught on. "Pfft, you think you got me that good, huh? I don't need no damn healer." His tone escalated when he pushed him again and the hanyou tripped onto a futon, "Hey! What the hell?!" The daiyoukai left, leaving the irritable hanyou to the on-call doctor.

Sesshomaru ignored his own wounds, they would close up by the next afternoon and fully heal before the end of the day. He adjusted his navy blue blazer, attempting to ignore the stinging pain. His brother's attacks were more painful and always took longer to heal, a 'perk' of being family. It was… bothersome. He froze, standing just at the oak door of the study. A memory of an orphan girl and how his pains inexplicably vanished after a short conversation came to mind.

No, it's ludicrous. The girl couldn't have anything to do with it... But had she, it would a good time to test. His father would still take a bit, even longer when he'd realize Inuyasha was with the healer. He would have enough time if he left at this moment. The daiyoukai swiftly searched for her soul and landed in yet another different closet. He had expected the closet door to open instantaneously like before and fumbled with an unfamiliar feeling when it did not. Has she forgotten? He told her to not wait around for him and three years is a long time for a human child.

An unsure voice called, "... Lord Sesshomaru…?"

"Yes."

The door swung open to reveal the grinning young teen with a full set of teeth and a room much more lively colored and furnished than her previous accommodations. She has not. He thought with an unsettling kind of relief. It should not have mattered either way. "I can't believe you're he-" Rin gasped, her brows scrunching with worry, "You're hurt!" The girl attempted to grab his hand, only to latch onto nothing. "Oh. Right! Come here, please. Sit." She pointed to a light brown bean bag in the shape of a… cartoon bear.

As he sat on it, he briefly wondered how much his brother would laugh at how ridiculous he must have looked. Then he had noticed the girl hadn't stopped staring at him oddly. "Rin."

His voice took her out of her stupor and she suddenly smiled brightly, "That's the first time you've said my name." Was it? He hadn't realized. She moved to sit on the edge of her bed, across from him. "I'm sorry for staring, it's just I've always seen you wearing that armor and all. You look so different!" She glanced at his chest, where a few open cuts lingered, "Was it your brother again?"

"We were sparring."

"I thought you don't hurt your opponent when practicing." Rin said, frowning, "I don't like seeing you hurt."

"These are nothing. I am not human." Sesshomaru took note that she appeared to be thriving here compared to before. Her deep brown hair was shining, her skin was a healthy color and her weight was average. "You are in a different house again."

Rin smiled, "A permanent one. They don't pay too much attention, but they don't hurt me either. They really aren't so bad." Her gaze dropped to her lap, "You left for a while. I thought I wouldn't see you again." Her voice began to trail off, "I was starting to think I imagined you… or something…" Sadness. In her voice, in her eyes. He found himself looking away from her and couldn't place why. "But it's okay!" She suddenly blurted, catching his eyes again. "Because you came back." When she grinned, it was honest, "I'm so happy that you're here."

"Why?" He was essentially an apparition that appeared inconsistently in her life for no purpose. Scaring off her abusers only twice out of all the years she endured should not have meant much.

"Why?" She seemed surprised by his question, "You scared them away. Forever." That wasn't his intention, they are not meant to intervene in a human's life so much, but he couldn't say he wasn't pleased. "If you hadn't, I wouldn't have found here. And… I do have friends now too, I didn't before, but I still like talking to you more. The other monster wouldn't talk to me..."

His eyes narrowed, "Another monster?"

"I never got his name, but he was a lot smaller than you and had fox legs. A baby monster, maybe? He got scared when I said hi…" Shippou. Youkai births were so rare that the whole realm knew about it when it occurred. Shippou was a fox youkai born only a decade ago who undoubtedly had trouble scaring anyone, as most of their kind can't conjure complex illusions until much later in life.

But there was an important lesson the girl had to learn here. "Do not speak to other monsters."

"Why?"

"They are dangerous and you are only a human girl." He shouldn't have come. She was going to forget, she admitted it, she was going to chalk him up as a figment of her imagination, born of her loneliness. Now her belief in his kind would persist into adulthood and any daiyoukai looking for a feast will be drawn to her light. His hand fisted, I made a mistake.

"I'll be okay." She didn't understand. "They can't hurt me."

"They will."

She gave him a small smile but it wasn't like her usual ones, "I've been hurt a lot. I'm not afraid." He didn't know what to say. Perhaps he was the one who didn't understand. "Your cuts are gone." He glanced down, she was right. It is not a coincidence then… but why? How? Again, he only found more questions than answers. "Do you have to go now?"

"Yes." Sesshomaru replied as he stood.

"Will I see you again?"

This time, he looked at Rin when he answered, "...Yes."

His return was met with an eerie silence. He had missed his father's visit to the study. Damn it. His sire will not be happy with him. "Sesshomaru." He turned around to see Touga approaching him, his face unreadable. "It is not like you to disobey me so blatantly." His father stood 4-5 inches taller than him with broader shoulders, still able to tower him despite his growth in power. "Where did you run off -" He reached out and touched the healed skin that was visible through one of the larger cuts in his button-up shirt. "You are healed… again. How? You haven't fed, I can tell."

"I am not sure yet." Sesshomaru replied honestly. Anything less than the truth his sire's senses would catch.

"Where did you go?" He wouldn't answer. He doubted his father would even believe him no matter what his nose and ears told him. He simply didn't know how his sire would react. Would he forbid him from visiting her ever again for their own safety? Or would he just tease him relentlessly? Would he say nothing at all? In the end, where he spent his free time was little of his father's business. It was not necessary for him to know. Touga sighed, his posture relaxing, "For leaving Inuyasha at the infirmary instead of bleeding all over the study, I will let this go. I assume you are not going anywhere that would disappoint me?"

"I am not, father."

"Very well. Get some rest. Healing so quickly is taxing and I don't want you falling ill. Goodnight, son."

"Goodnight, father…" Sesshomaru replied as his father left, his perplexed expression unnoticed. He wasn't tired in the slightest. He felt he could take on Ryūkotsusei at this very moment. He shook his head and made his way to his room. Later, he would search for answers about Rin and his wounds. For now, he must pretend to rest to not rouse more suspicion from his father.

End of Chapter 3

Author's Note: I swear we'll be going into Rin's POV soon-ish. :)

Rin was 10 in the last chapter, 9 in the first one. I'll admit to not knowing so well how someone that age should speak, though I did edit one of her lines in the last chapter to be more simple in AO3 (still gotta update it here!).

And omg, one of the first lines in my super rough first outline was "They live in some kind-of 'upside-down' looking world"!

I read this chapter over like a million times during the week and about 15 more times before I posted. I think I picked up all the errors. If I still missed something, I am so sorry. ):

Thank you for all the reviews, favs and follows! :D Hope you all liked this chapter too!