Chapter notes:

"If you should ever find someone new, I know he'd better be good to you.

'Cause if he doesn't I'll be there.

Whenever you need me, all you need to do is, just call my name, and

I'll be there."

The Lily of the Valley signifies "The Return of Happiness"

Disclaimer: The depictions of the characters in this story are completely fictitious. In no way does this represent the views or the story arcs as envisaged by the original copyright owners of this franchise and its characters. The ownership if the characters and the original concept are sole properties of Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 10 - Disaster

Rin wakes up with the chill sensation over her body. She is shivering and notices Aito still in her arms. He too shivers out of cold. She does not know for how long they have fallen asleep on the floor but considering the chill is getting stronger, the girl assumes that it has to be very early in the morning now and soon dawn will approach. Rin scoops up Aito in her arms and carries her son to the bed. She pulls the blanket and covers her son's freezing body before making her way to the dining table. Watching the bento on the table, she realizes that both she and Aito did not take their dinner last night. They were sad and had completely lost their appetite over the demon lord's sudden departure. Rin moves to the nearby window and slowly parts it open. A light chilly wind hits on her face and she quickly closes it. She manages to catch a glimpse of the surroundings and notices the skies are still dark. There are still a few hours to go before dawn but she just doesn't feel like returning to the bed. She decides to heat up the food and do some cleaning before she wakes Aito up.

Not far away from the river, a dependent Sesshoumaru watches the girl up early at this time. The strong scent of tears caught around the entire hut indicates that Rin and her son might have cried over the night but there is nothing he can do other than to observe from the distance. The fact that he caught the girl awake at this time just shows that she might not have had proper rest last night. He wishes to get to the girl's side and comfort her to sleep but he just couldn't afford to let his emotions to blur his decision. This is for Rin and Aito's good. The taiyoukai whispers in self consolation as he sighs and walks away from the river.

Several hours pass and Rin has finished heating the food from the bento and serves it on the table. She has also swept the whole hut, folded some clothes and arranges them neatly inside the wooden wardrobe. Dawn is approaching and Rin decides to wash herself before breakfast. She picks up a new kimono and leaves the hut to the river. She returns in 20mins and finds Aito awake. He sits at the edge of the bed with his legs drawn up to his chest. His long face is resting in between his knee. Poor kid, he is still trying to overcome the sadness. A concerned Rin sets her dirty kimono aside and sits next to her son. She places her hand on top of Aito's head and strokes gently to comfort the boy.

"Son, do you feel hungry?" Rin asks out of concern. Aito does not turn to his mother, instead he sighs and sniffs. The girl watches her son gesture painfully as she slightly lowers her body to give her son a tight hug to comfort the poor kid.

"My dear prince, your loyal mother is worried, can you speak to her? Please?" The girl pleads as she watches her son tilt his chin and face her with a pair of sore sunset eyes. Rin kisses Aito's forehead as she releases the hug and rubs his lower eye lids gently.

"Aww look at this, you have turned into a little cute panda my son. You must stop weeping my dear." Rin tries creating a little humorous conversation but her son does not respond. Instead he raises both of his hands and touches his mother's upper cheek.

"Mother you have sore eyes too, you must stop crying as well. I promise I will not weep anymore." Rin is shocked with her son's reply but is glad that he has finally spoken. She smiles in relief.

"Yes we will stops crying, I am sure Lord Sesshoumaru does not want to make us unhappy with his leaving. We should move on with our life. Come you need to wash your face and we will have breakfast together." Rin lightly taps on her son's shoulder as they both walk towards the river. Soon as they return, they finish the breakfast without words, both are trying hard to adjust to this new feeling and Rin feels so reluctant to leave her son at this stage. She decides to take a day off tomorrow and perhaps they can visit Kagome's village. Things will get better if Aito could spend some time and play with Inuyasha's kids. After ensuring her son feels slightly better, she hugs Aito and bids farewell as she leaves for work. Her pace is slow and her heart is heavy thinking how could things change so much in one day. Just day before yesterday her lord was here and the three of them were having dinner together. It was just yesterday the demon lord sent her to the geisha house. Today, she has her meal only with her son and walks alone to the kitchen. Of course things have just returned to their usual routine, but she never imagined having Sesshoumaru around could have brought so much of joy to her and Aito. Rin stops in her tracks as she stares up to the clear blue heavens, a small tear is visible at the edge of her eyes. I wonder where Lord Sesshoumaru is right now. Did he return to the western fortress already? The girl ponders painfully as she shuts her eyes tightly, allowing the forbidden tears to wet her cheeks. She does not keep her promise to Aito.

"Lord Sesshoumaru, I will pray for your well being and success wherever you are." She whispers softly and wipes off her tears before resuming her walk to the geisha house.

Rin remains silent the whole time in the kitchen. She does not feel like talking to anyone with her unfocused mind. Both Akemi and Tsuyu exchange their curiosity a couple of times, while Tsuyu thinks the girl is still disturbed with the Ryuuki incident, while Akemi strongly senses it has to do with Sesshoumaru. None of them wish to bother the girl at this time as they plan to talk with her by lunch break.

Lunch time is here, Rin takes her lunch box and leaves the kitchen before Akemi manages to speak to her. She searches around the surroundings and fails to locate the girl. When she is about to return to the kitchen, she spots lady Onna, the owner of the geisha house having a confrontation with 2 men outside of the geisha house entrance. Slowly she steps carefully to the nearby wall and eavesdrops on the conversation.

"You fool! You don't even have a girl that is not so stretched out? Am getting tired with this rubbish every night! I want some fresh girl stupid!" Arashi yells at Onna as he pushes Tamako on the floor, one of the geisha who has been working there for a few years. Kaoru, his younger brother is standing next to him and laughs evilly at the sight of the girl falling like a mess on the floor.

"Oh am sorry master Arashi, our dearest Tamako has upset you last night, but rest assured that you will have plenty of fun tonight with our popular girl, Nanase." Onna replies in a rather flirty tone as she places her hands over Arashi's shoulder and smirks playfully. Akemi almost pukes with the old woman's behavior but pitied Tamako who is still on the floor.

"Nanase you said? Another worn out bitch! Give me a break Onna, seriously, have you ever thought to get some new girls to this house? I have grown tired with those wrinkled old women. Don't expect me to show up at this house anymore!" Arashi steps away from Onna but she moves ahead and tries to stop the duo.

"Oh come on master, give me another chance, I shall specifically arrange a new girl to satisfy your hunger ne?" The old lady continues her flirt which totally turns Arashi off. He pushes Onna's hands away violently which causes her to fall on the floor right next to Tamako.

"Don't waste my money on these stupid ugly bitches." Arashi slams Onna as he turns and walks away with his brother following closely. Onna continues to plead with her most precious customer but neither of the duo cares to bother with what the old lady has to say. Akemi quickly hides herself upon seeing the 2 nasty men head in her direction. She is trembling in fear. When both Arashi and Kaoru passes her, she sighs in relief. They are for sure insulting women openly. I better tell Tsuyu san about this. Akemi whispers as she turns and walks back to the kitchen with her quivering knees.

"That old Onna is really getting on my nerves." Arashi stops in his tracks as he turns to face his brother with a furious look. Kaoru pats on his brother's left shoulder to calm him down a bit.

"Come on bro, I am sure we will get another better house than this, do not waste your time being angry at this old lady. Come let's see what we can find in the next village." Arashi nods, his brother is right, they have spent way too much cash over something which is not even worth the price. He makes an irritate glance over the geisha house and spits on the floor before turning away. Just when he turned, he feels something crash into his chest. He is pushed backward a bit but hears someone fall on the grass.

"Ouch!" Rin rubs her forehead desperately. She is too lost in her thoughts that she didn't even notice someone approach from the opposite direction head on. When she pulls her hand away from her forehead, her eyes catch the sight of two strong men. Quickly she rises and kneels in front of them to apologize.

"I am truly sorry sir; I did not pay attention with my walking. Please forgive me." Arashi stares interestingly at the girl, he is almost unable to find a word to respond. He is too busy to scanning the girl from head to toe with an evil grin. Kaoru knows well his brother is showing a strong interest in the girl, he steps to his brother's side and stares at Rin.

"Oh it is fine girl; he should be the one to watch his steps. Are you hurt?" Kaoru drops to one knee as he takes a closer look at the girl. Beautiful! Rin feels uneasy with the way these two men are looking at her; she shakes her head to indicate she is fine. She then rises on her feet and bows before turning to leave. It is Arashi who starts to call out for the girl to stop her in her tracks.

"Oh hey young girl, where are you heading to? As far as I know there are no villages in the direction you are heading to." Rin turns and stares curiously as to why this man seems to be interested in where she will go.

"I am going back to work." She replies calmly but the expression she catches on the brother's face startles her. The evil smiles they are exchanging between themselves has somehow frightens Rin. Knowing well that staying around longer might not be a wise idea, Rin prepares to leave but hears her name being called.

"Rin what are you doing there? Hurry or you will be late." Tsuyu shouts not far away from where she stood.

"Coming!" Rin exclaims as she lowers her body to make a small bow to the brothers before running up to join Tsuyu. Arashi's eyes are fixed on Rin all the way until her shadow disappears. He is truly enjoying the sight of the young girl and wishes badly to have her in his arms to feed his heart's desire.

"So looks like we can afford to trust Onna another time, isn't it brother?" Kaoru smirks at the thought of the girl's face.

"Definitely, we will be back later in the evening. Oh young girl, you will submit to me tonight. I will make sure of that." Arashi laughs whole heartedly with his mind full of lustful designs.

.

Back to the kitchen, Rin pants heavily and tries to catch her breath. She feels relived to be able to escape from those weird men all thanks to Tsuyu's timely intervention.

"Thanks Tsuyu san, I may not be able to escape without you." Rin smiles a little at the lady while still trying to catch her breath. Tsuyu shakes her head at the girl's condition.

"You should not be off somewhere alone, you know well what kind of place this geisha house is, and so next time tell someone before you go anywhere. Akemi and I are so worried about you." Tsuyu speaks out of concern. She is not mad at Rin but more worried about her safety. Rin nods in agreement as she knows what kind of troubles she met with earlier.

"I am sorry Tsuyu san." She bows slightly. The lady pats on Rin's shoulder indicating apology accepted. They both exchange smiles and continue on with their work.

When the blue cloudless skies are replaced by the orange mixed red heavens, the geisha house begins to fill with lots of customers. Some are from the nearby villages but mostly this house is actively visited by outsiders. There are demons that stop by as well, but not much compared to humans. Arashi and Karou show up in time just when the place starts operating. Lady Onna welcomes the brothers happily and guides them to the usual premiere room. They are the regular customers of this house who are willing to pay high amounts for any lady who could keep them well satisfied for entire night. This explains to why Onna was so heart broken earlier when the duo insisted not to come back. Once sake is serving to the brothers, Onna approaches her valuable customers and tries to make up for what has happened in the afternoon.

"Oh master, I am so glad you have returned. Thanks for having faith in me, I shall assign the best lady just for you two, give me a moment." Arashi interrupts before Onna calls out the lady's name who would have waited outside the room.

"So I heard you have got a new girl, and I happen to bounce with one earlier today. She is young, pretty and very fresh looking. You are doing a great job though. Now bring her to me." Arashi takes a sip of the sake the moment he finishes his words. Onna frowns, she does have a couple of new girls but they never come to the house until evening. Besides, those girls are not really young, they are more in 25 years old range.

"Ah ha, which lucky girl has captured the heart of master Arashi, if you have her name?" Onna is slightly teasing as she tries to not upset her precious customer. Kaoru shoots an annoying look at the lady, she should know well which new lady she has brought to geisha house.

"Don't be so stupid Onna, you don't even know which young girl you have here? Don't waste our time; bring the young girl here now!" He snarles at Onna, who is now trembling in fear. She has no idea which lady they are talking about.

"Come on Kaoru, spare the lady, she has grown old that her brain might have started to rust." Arashi laughs loudly and continues. "We want Rin to be here tonight, that young girl has stolen my heart since afternoon. I can't wait to touch her smooth skin. She will keep both of us entertained for tonight. I will pay big bucks for her." Now Onna is really hit with a huge trouble. Rin? The girl who work as kitchen helper? Who was brought by Tsuyu here a year ago? Sweat drops from the left side of her face, she has no idea how these brothers have encountered Rin, but on top of that she can never ask a kitchen helper to be a geisha. With her voice slight shaky, Onna tries to explain about the girl.

"Rin you mention? Errr I am afraid to inform you that, she works here as a kitchen helper not a geisha. Oh and why not just try out the new girl I have selected earlier? I am sure she will please you both." Onna rises on her feet as she is about to call the geisha in but Arashi slams his fist on the table hard enough to make the sake bottle drop to the floor.

"WHAT THE HELL? I have been waiting the entire afternoon and you tell me she does not work as a geisha? Bring her here and I will make her a geisha tonight!" Arashi shouts out loud which makes Onna's knees weak and kneel instantly in front of the brothers.

"Sorry master, I can never force her to be a geisha, she has to do it on her own willingness. Beside, this poor girl only works for her son's meal, she has a tough life and I hope you both can spare her for my sake. Please master." Onna pleads in fear; she certainly wishes no harm will come to the girl. Tsuyu has told her about Rin's life and personally she felt pity for the girl. Although many would think Onna is a bad lady since she runs this sort of dirty business, but she never ever forced anyone to do anything against their wish.

"Damn you old lady! How dare you go against my wish!" Arashi is about to raise his hand to beat poor Onna but Kaoru catches his brother's arm. He shakes his head slightly to signal Arashi to calm down. Reluctantly, Arashi is back to his seat and crosses his arms around his chest. He turns away from the lady and hisses.

"Alright now go and get us some new sake, we don't want to have any geisha for now. Be sure to bring the sake by yourself. Be gone!" Onna feels relief to hear that as she rises and nods she understands and bows before she turns to leave. Arashi narrows his eyes in annoyance at his younger brother.

"What's wrong with you Kaoru? I didn't know you have such a kind heart. Trying to be gentlemen?" His brother smirks evilly followed by a loud laugh.

"I have a better plan, bro! Trust me; you will not be upset tonight. All we need to do is, take as much of sake as we can to warm our body up and build the mood. Soon we will be very busy with the girl." Arashi stares in confusion but does not question his brother. He knows well his brother is cunning enough to come up with a great plan. He doesn't even bother about what the plan will be, for all he wants now is the girl named Rin.

When Rin reaches home, she finds Aito missing. He is nowhere in-sight in the small hut. Quickly, she leaves the hut and searches the surroundings and finds her son by the river bank. She rushes to Aito and sits beside him. He stares blankly at the river; only god knows what is on her poor son's mind.

"Son, what are you doing here?" Rin asks in concern, her heart aching, depressed at the sight of her son. Poor child, he is still unable to accept Sesshoumaru's departure. A moment of silence falls between them.

"Yesterday, Lord Sesshoumaru bid farewell here. I hug him tightly to stop him but he just walked away." A small tear drop is spotted at the corner end of the kid's eyes. Rin bits her inner lips as she watches her son struggle to fight his emotions. Blood is definitely thicker than water, it draws them closer without realizing the bond tied between them. She strokes the back of Aito's head and draws him closer to her arms.

"Son, Lord Sesshoumaru has his own life too. We can't be so selfish to keep him with us for long right? Be a good boy, now let's go back and eat." Rin hugs her son and kisses him on his left cheek.

"Mother, I don't feel hungry, can I skip the dinner?" The kid asks in a rather dull tone. Rin sighs discouraged, her son's appetite has completely gone. She can not afford to let Aito go on like this. Something has to be done.

"Oh, so you do not wish to have your dinner huh? Then we shall cancel the trip tomorrow." Aito's head snaps up instantly to face his mother with curious eyes.

"Trip? Mother you are not working tomorrow?" The boy asks excitedly.

"Yes, Tsuyu san allowed me to take a day off, but looks like it has no use now." Rin purposely looks away. Aito steps up and kneels on his mother laps.

"Mother, why cancel the trip? I want to go for a walk. Please..." Rin catches her son's pleading cute face. She is trying to hold back her laughter.

"But we need to walk a lot tomorrow, if you skip your meal now, you probably won't have enough energy for the trip. Because... "Rin stares at her son's eager face that is waiting to hear about the trip. She then continues. "I plan to visit lady Kaede tomorrow."

"HOORAY! We will go to the miko hut! I miss Taku and Neko so much!" Aito dances merrily and circles around her mother. Rin chuckles at her son's reaction, perhaps the decision to go away for a day might help to distract him from the painful incident last night. Besides, she really misses Kagome and Sango.

"So are you still wishing to skip the dinner my dear?" Rin teases her son. Aito stop his movements and runs to his mother, he then circles his arms around her neck.

"All of sudden I feel so hungry now! Let's go mother, we need to eat and sleep early." Rin laughs at her son's statement, she then scoops Aito up in her arms and walks back to the hut. Both of them finish their dinner as how they used to normally. Rin is really pleased to see Aito's chatty mood return, he talks about what he is going to get for Neko and Taku in the entire dinner. She also promises to stop by the nearby village to get some gifts for Kagome's kids. Once they are done cleaning the table, Rin rests on the bed while Aito sneaks into her warm arms. She cuddles her precious son and kisses on the top of his head. A short silence falls before Aito speaks.

"Mother, do you still remember the strange dream I used to have?"

Rin smiles slightly and answers."Yes my dear, do you still have the dream these days?" Aito does not answer. He recalls the day he had the nightmare in the forest and woke up in Sesshoumaru's arms. The comfortable feeling being around with the demon lord has started kicking in his memory now. The strange thing is, he feels like the taiyoukai is the one who has been watching over him all the time. He grabs Rin's right hand and places it on his chest.

"Mother, th- the guardian angel, who seems to rescue me all the time in my dreams, resembles Lord Sesshoumaru. The crescent moon and the magenta strips are exactly the same I saw in my dreams." Rin is silent, she does not wish to tell her son about Sesshoumaru's true form. All the time she just explains to him that he is watched by this strange dog, his guardian angel.

"Ya, mother thinks the same too." That's the only answer from Rin. Aito is puzzled in his own thoughts. If Lord Sesshoumaru is truly the guardian angel in my dream, I wonder will he always be watching over me. I really miss him. The kid thinks to himself painfully.

"Come on son, is time to get some sleep, we will be off to miko hut tomorrow morning." Aito nods happily. When he is about to close his eyes and sleep, he hears the door of the hut being pushed open violently. He turns and spots two tall men standing at the door. Rin gasps, she instantly leaves the bed and walks a bit closer and finds out they are the same guys she saw earlier in the afternoon. She remembers that entire scary gaze from the men but is shocked as to how they know she lives here.

"Wh-what are you guys doing here?" Her shaky voice tells the brothers that she is afraid. This paints a satisfying smile on their face.

"We have taken too much time to hunt you my young lady. The information was quite accurate isn't it bro?" Kaoru pats on his brother's shoulder, who is now admiring the girl's figure.

"My, my, she sure is a pretty one..." Arashi drools as he stares at the width of her chest and her soft skin. A fear shoots through Rin's body with the nasty comment. Oh no, not again. She whispers in fear. Aito hides at the back of his mother.

"Brother get the kid and you will get to go next." Arashi instructs firmly. Kaoru instantly runs to Rin's side and pulls Aito's arm. In a second, he presses a blade to the kid's throat, immobilizing the boy. Rin panics, she knows they will use Aito to threaten her, but has acted too late to protect her son. Damn it!

"Girl you have to make a choice now. Do you want me to slit his throat or you strip your cloth?" Arashi smirk evilly as Rin's eyes widen with the horrible choice.

"Don't hurt my son! He is innocent, please!" She attempts to plead although she knows it will be futile.

"Awwww you have quite a weird son isn't it? Now now, what will he feel when my sharp blade pierces through your little boy's neck? You better hurry and decide young lady as I am itchy to kill the kid here." Kaoru press the blade against Aito's flesh and Rin spot some blood is forming.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO..." She wails with tears streaming down her cheeks. Arashi's patience wears thin. He steps closer to Rin and shouts.

"Strip or slit?"

Chapter end notes:

Dear readers,

I am so sorry for taking this long to update my story. December use to be a busy month though, it doesn't matter in which fields you are working in because we need to settle all the 2010 unfinished works and make a way for the year of 2011. I was overloaded with plenty of unfinished reports and therefore I did not have the extra time to review my chapters. I sincerely apologize .

But as I said earlier, I have written up to chapter 12 and I just need some times to review it before publish. Things would have been easier though, if my beta reader is around. But poor guy, he needs to have a break as well. So I shall handle this on my own until he returns. So, cliff for this chapter and there will be no cliff for chapter 11. In the next chapter, we will get to see some action from Aito, well, he is not going to involves in any fight though but there will be something about him that you'll wish to see. So stay tune with me, as I have only few more pages to check on chapter 11.

Thank you for all your story alert + favorite subscriptions. Trust me, it mean a lot to me and for those who have been reviewing my story, *big hugs* for you all. An author will not be success without the reviewers.

p/s – Recently, I have read a lot of interesting stories over ( thanks to Taraah36 ) There are plenty of fabulous stories these day, so you see how am I going to adjust the times between, writing, reading and working? LOL so 1 day should have 48 hours instead of 24 LOL (Am I right Taraah? LMAO! ) Anyway, if you wish to know which stories i was referring to, check on my favorite stories list.

Enough with my rant, and in case you don't hear form me before the days pass. Merry Christmas and Happy New year to all my lovely readers. Cheer!