Ah, at last, chapter six. Sorry about the delay. Not only have the Drama gods been raging, but also my Muses were off musing elsewhere. Did I ever mention that school totally drains my creative energies? I haven't thought of a new story in ages, nor do I have enought time to write. Grrr... oh well, enjoy the chapter!

The Guardian

by Ichigo2491

Chapter Six

"Ichiro-sama…"

Tears streamed down Rafu's grimy face as he stared at his dead friend. The giant wolf stood snarling over its kill, blood dripping from its massive jaws. So far, the wolf hadn't paid any attention to him, but that wouldn't last. Trembling, the child crawled out of the fort, determined that he would crawl out of the clearing to escape the wolf's notice, then, once he was out of sight, he would make a dash for home and get his father to slay the demon. For it must be a demon, mustn't it? It was far too big not to be!

Rafu's bid for freedom was ill-fated. The beast raised its head from Ichiro's body and noticed the boy crawling away on his belly. With a roar, it followed him, aching with hunger and determined that this juicy morsel not escape. Rafu sobbed as he covered his throat with his hands and squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the wolf to fall upon him, waiting to die as Ichiro had.

The fangs never hit him. Instead there was a glow, and a howl of pain, and a muffled thump. Rafu crouched on the ground, shaking, for a few more moments. At last he dared to raise his head. The wolf was lying on the ground, literally torn to shreds. Over its butchered corpse stood a tall, imposing…

"Demon," Rafu gasped.

The demon turned to face the child, blood dripping from his claws. On his face, framed by flowing silver hair, there was an expression so utterly devoid of all emotion that Rafu was even more frightened. The demon took a step toward him.

"You," it said in a deep, cold, terrifying voice, "ought not to venture so far into the woods without an adult."

Rafu blinked. He had certainly not expected THAT. "I know, ok!" he hollered, tears leaking out of his eyes. "I did a bad thing, and now Ichiro's dead!" The boy's voice broke and he sobbed. "Please don't kill me… I want my mommy…. I want my daddy…"

"I have no interest in killing you," the creature answered, looking almost exasperated. "One life has already been sacrificed by your foolish actions."

Rafu crawled over to Ichiro's body and threw himself over his dead friend. "Go away… don't say anything… I didn't mean to! Besides, it was his idea… his…" he buried his face in his hands.

There was a sound of a sword being drawn from its sheath, and then the cold voice sounded again. "Kindly step away from him."

Rafu glanced up to see the demon glaring at him, holding a sword in his clawed hand. "No! Don't kill me…" he said in a panic.

"How many times must I stress that I have NO INTEREST in taking your life?" The demon's eyes narrowed. "Get out of my way!" There was a hint of a snarl in the words now, and Rafu did not dare object. He scrambled away from Ichiro's body, wiping tears from his eyes and sniffling as he stared at the creature.

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes in concentration. The messengers from hell materialized, and with one deft swing of Tenseiga, they were gone. The air cleared, and the dead boy's chest began to rise and fall again. Sesshomaru sheathed his sword, and turned to Rafu, who blinked at him. His face looked like Rin's…

"What did you do, creepy dog-man?" Rafu demanded, sniffling.

Sesshomaru felt indignant at this, but restrained his irritation and said, "I merely… woke your friend. He will be alright. Do try to be more intelligent form now on, Rafu, and do not go into the forest alone."

"Don't worry, yokai-sama," said Rafu, wiping tears off his face, "You saved me, and I guess you saved Ichiro-sama too. I'll do what you say."

"I must leave," Sesshomaru said after a brief pause. "Your father is coming."

"Will I see you again, inu-sama?" Rafu asked timidly. Sesshomaru could not help but like the boy. He looked like his mother… and of course Sesshomaru could not help but be fond him, for Rin's sake. He had been watching the boy from a distance ever since he was born, trying to hide his presence from the family, but he would be there in times of trouble. Protecting Rin's sons was the least he could do for her.

"I certainly hope not," he answered the child, and left as suddenly as he had come.

Mere seconds after Sesshomaru's departure, Kohaku came running into the clearing like a wild person. Almost at the exact same moment, Ichiro woke up.

"Rafu! Ichiro! Oh thank the gods…" Kohaku fell to his knees and pulled both the boys into his arms. He was so relieved to find them safe… Then he realized that Ichiro, blinking his eyes bemusedly, was covered in not-quite-dry blood. The color drained out of Kohaku's face. He stared at his grubby and tearstained son, then his eyes fell on the wolf corpse.

That's not the demon, he thought in confusion. Then he noted how it had been slain, ripped into shreds as easily as paper, and the information began to click in his mind. "Can either of you tell me what happened here?"

"Well, it was real scary," said Rafu importantly. "We were playing and a big giant wolf came out and jumped on Ichiro-sama…"

"I thought I was dead!" Ichiro exclaimed.

"And then" Rafu continued, irritated by the interruption, "I thought the wolf would jump on me too, but a big demon came out of nowhere and chopped it up! Then he got out a sword and cut the air over Ichiro-sama. He just left a few seconds before you did, oto-san. And then Ichiro-sama woke up. I guess he wasn't dead after all."

Kohaku knew what had happened, and he felt relieved and angry at the same time. He was very grateful that Rafu was alive, and that Ichiro had been brought back to life. Not that he was going to tell the child that he really had been dead… it was best to keep that to himself. Speaking of which…

"Boys, we mustn't tell anyone about what happened in the woods today, and especially about seeing the demon, alright?" Kohaku looked hard at Rafu. "Especially not your mother." The urgency in his own words startled him. "No one can know."

Both boys promised to keep the encounter confidential, Ichiro even removing his bloodstained shirt and offering to say he had lost it. Then Kohaku became stern and began to lecture them on this why they must never, ever go so far out in the forest for so long, and started marching them home.

"Gee," Ichiro said wistfully, "I wish I could have met that demon. You say he was a dog-demon?"

"Yeah," Rafu replied. "Scary guy. He acted like he knew me. Funny, huh?"

"You sure are lucky, Rafu-chan."

Kohaku felt resentment bubbling inside him. Am I not a good enough father, that I couldn't protect my own son? Why, Sesshomaru? Why, of all people, did it have to be you? Why do you keep coming back? Why? Why?

But in reply he got only a mocking silence.

Ok, a bit of clarification here... Kohaku is NOT the bad guy. Neither is Sesshomaru. I'm not saying Kohaku sucks because he wasn't the one to save Rafu. It's just that Sesshomaru got there first. The only villain in this story is misunderstanding, distrust, and fear of emotion.

I don't like this chapter very much, but I had to put it in, because I had to clear the wolf situation up. The next one will be better, more emotional, probably.

I'll update ASAP. Which may not be for a while. Ja ne!