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Chapter 3: Her Presence
Later, on the same morning, at Kaede's village, a lotus petal flew into Aika's house and landed behind Aika, the village's chirography teacher. The petal transformed into Hasu who immediately reached out a hand and drew a stream of light from Aika's head, and Aika's life memories and knowledge flashed quickly through Hasu's mind.
Aika whimpered but only briefly before her body shriveled up and disintegrated, leaving only her skin sac intact. Hasu picked up Aika's skin and fused it into her own skin. A short moment later, an alive Aika stepped outside.
Earlier that morning, Hasu had instructed Takashi to take a horde of lowly demons and raided a human village nearby to draw Inuyasha's attention away from Kaede's village. Her plan was successful allowing her to come through undetected.
At the moment, she stood in front of Aika's home with a girlish chuckle. In Aika's skin, she would elude the Inu brothers' keen detection.
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At mid afternoon, Sesshomaru returned to the village and went to Rin's garden from his unfruitful trip of hunting down the man.
He stood on a boulder from afar, gazing at Rin.
Rin moved through the rows of herbs, pulling up weeds in a skillful fashion, pruned the plants and harvested the necessary amount. She then went to a creek nearby to fetch water for the garden. On the other side was a vegetable garden and a patch of fruiting trees. She tended to that garden the same way she did the herbs.
When all was done, she walked down the footpath beside the gardens for a final inspection. Her eyes gleamed with love and pride. She then put up her tools, picked up the sack of harvested herbs, and went to the grass field where Ah-Un was grazing.
Rin was stroking Ah-Un's back when Ah-Un roared happily. She turned around. Her eyes lit up. She stumbled and fell, luckily Ah-Un placed his head under her to stop her from hitting the ground.
Jaken yelled, "Be careful, Rin. You clumsy girl."
Sesshomaru stood motionless beside Jaken, fixing his gaze on Rin.
Rin had had her kimono rolled up and tied around her legs. Her hair was pulled up in a haphazard bunch. A few small stems of weed caught in between her hair and stuck out in random directions. There were streaks of dirt on her face.
Sesshomaru's eyes gleamed with amusement.
Rin started running toward him, giggling like a child. But when she was at halfway, she stopped. She stared at him briefly and then lowered her head.
A moment of silence passed.
Rin resumed her running toward him.
At full speed with her head still lowered, Rin was blindly running into him. He immediately broke the armor on his chest using his internal power to prevent her face from hitting the sharp horns protruding from it - just in time as she flopped into his chest and quivered, "Sesshomaru-sama!"
Her tears started to dampen his chest. She folded her arms around him. She was trembling. He slightly bent his elbow, cupped her head with his palm, and pulled her even closer.
Rin fell comfortably into his arms.
Jaken raised his voice, "Rin, keep decorum. What's wrong with you, girl?"
Sesshomaru threw Jaken an angry glare which shut the latter up from further protest.
Rin stayed in Sesshomaru's arms even after Jaken said that.
And Sesshomaru would embrace Rin until the end of time if that was what she wanted. He had been longing to hold Rin for the last 8 years since she came to the village. But since Naraku disappeared, he couldn't find a protective reason to hold Rin anymore.
When he visited, especially lately, Rin had started to be timid and had stood at a short distance from him. She would fold her hands in front of her in a decorous manner and almost always kept her face lowered. He wanted to know why she seemed shy around him, but he didn't ask.
He didn't want to leave Rin at the village. But he was not the best protector of Rin. She had died in his arms and he was powerless to stop it, and it was all his fault. If it wasn't for his mother, he would have lost Rin forever. Besides, Kaede was very convincing that it would be best if Rin was presented with more options. If Rin was constantly in the presence of a seductively handsome and strong person such as him, she would be blind to any other viable options that might be better for her.
The decision was made because it was best for Rin. And Sesshomaru would suffer eternal pain if need be in exchange for something that was best for Rin.
But he missed his Rin for one simple reason, he was simply addicted to her scent.
Like young sakura blossoms in the fresh sunshine of a spring dawn, Rin's scent was of pure innocence, cheerfulness, and loving, devoid of jealousy and hatred, the two emotions which had a foul scent to him. And all others he had met had some traces of those emotions, even Kagome.
Rin's scent was euphoric. It never failed to wrap him up in its radiance. It had become even more pleasing as their companionship progressed. He would and had risked everything, even his life, to protect her, and he no longer cared to deny that Rin was the most important.
At the moment, being that close to him, Rin's evermore pleasant scent, temporarily mixed with the scent of the earth, the sun and fresh herbs, had him all wrapped up inside its utopic aura, yet again.
And he reveled in her presence.
Though her anxiety puzzled him, so he said in his most gentle voice.
"Rin."
"Yes, Sesshomaru-sama," she quivered.
"What is bothering you?"
A moment of silence ensued.
Rin slowly backed away with her head still lowered. She wiped off her tears but still didn't answer his question.
There should be no reasons why she should be trembling and crying like that. Did something happen? But she wouldn't tell him. Was it because Inuyasha had chastised her the night before? Ah, perhaps the necklace.
Sesshomaru reached out his hand and opened it.
"Is this yours?"
"Umm?!"
When she saw the lost necklace in his hand, she looked up at him with her pink blushed cheeks. She smiled as if all her anxiety had just vanished.
It eased him some.
She stepped closer to take the necklace. Her hands softly touched his and rested there for a moment. He allowed that touch without disturbances until she withdrew first before he pulled his hand back to its natural position.
"Thank you, Sesshomaru-sama!"
She braced the pendant against her chest. She then reached up and traced the crescent shape on his forehead. Her eyes shined like a kid with her favorite toy.
He slightly tilted his head, probably so that it would be easier for her to reach. He stayed still and let her trace whatever she wanted to on his face.
She moved to the stripes, from one side to another. She giggled softly and stopped her finger at the end of one of the stripes.
"Sesshomaru-sama."
"Yes."
"You're so dashing!"
He raised his brows. He had heard it before from her and acted like the compliment went unnoticed, but he was elated.
He took her hand and led it slightly away but didn't let go. He just held her hand at the level of his face.
His gaze intensified.
She giggled and pulled her hand away, and he loosened his hold so she could do that. She blushed even deeper and turned away to walk back to Ah-Un.
She walked by Jaken, "Come on, Jaken-sama, let's go home."
Jaken had to speed walk to keep up with her since she had grown a lot taller.
Ah-Un crouched down for her to get on as she offered her hand to help Jaken up. Together, they took off, with Rin sending soft giggles into the air.
Normally, that would be the extent of Sesshomaru's visit, but the recent uneasiness from Rin convinced him to stay longer. So he ascended, drifting slowly behind them.
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Note:
Thank you marnika, Alina and Ginink for the reviews. It encourages me a lot.