A/N: woo go me…out of curiosity, I used my online translation website to see if I could translate Sesshomaru's name, just to see what, if anything, it would tell me about his character and maybe what his parents were thinking. This is what I got

Se: Area of measurement/current, torrent, shoal, shallows, rapids

Sho: various, many, several.

Maru: circle (money, zero), circle, full month, PERFECTION, PURITY.

So…uh…what do we make of this? I heard someone once translate it as, "Endless killing circle." Or something like that. I like the translation I can pull out of this one better: Sesshomaru (se-sho-maru): A lot of raging perfection.

Rin, meanwhile, means: Phosphorous, cold, COMPANION, counter for wheels and flowers (?).

And Inuyasha (Inu-yasha): dog, female demon. Wow…gender confusion? Somebody stop me! Too much fun!

Disclaimer: Nooooo

Last Chapter: Rin and Tsuki stopped at a small village for the night. They fought with each other, and then Rin broke down. Sesshomaru attacked and killed Arasoizuki, the ruler of the Itou (Eastern) province of the Middle Lands. He attacked Shimofuri's people in the Nanka (southern province), but didn't meet with Shimofuri yet. He kills the kitsune youkai messengers he runs into. One spoke very candidly to him, and Sesshomaru realized he was hallucinating the fox up out of thin air.

Forewarning

If Kagome didn't get home in a matter of seconds, Inuyasha decided he would rip his fuzzy white dog ears out. It would be painful, but in the moment, Inuyasha decided that it was a better path than going deaf at his daughter's bawling.

Akisame was angry, and she wasn't afraid of letting her father—and everyone else within a thousand miles—hear about it. When Inuyasha scooped her up and tried to cuddle her, his daughter beat his chest with her little clawed hands; she pulled on his hair, and tried to snag his ears. He tried to offer her some of her favorite foods. Ninja snacks from Kagome's era: chocolate pudding, celery sticks with peanut butter smeared over them, gran-ola bars, but nothing satisfied Akisame.

When Inuyasha scolded her and tried to sit in the opposite room from her, trying to ignore her as punishment for her tantrum, Akisame's screaming changed from unintelligible bawling to actual words. All of them were impossibly high pitched, and all of them were shrill enough to make Inuyasha regret not having been born deaf. He stuffed some of Kagome's socks in his ears, but that didn't work well enough to drown out his daughter's howling.

Her problem was simple, but it was one that Inuyasha just couldn't cure: she wanted Kagome and Koinu, and she wanted them now.

Koinu had never given his parents this problem. There were two reasons for this. The first one in Inuyasha's mind was that Koinu was more like Kagome in nature. As strange of a conclusion as that was; it was undeniable. Koinu might've looked exactly like his father, but he possessed a lot of their mixed and evened traits. Akisame had her mother's dark hair and facial features, but she had her father's eyes and her father's crabby temperament. The other, simpler reason, was that Koinu had been an only child at this age. His parents had never split the family apart and left Koinu with one parent for any length of time.

Kagome had left several long hours previously to take Koinu to the doctor. Inuyasha had fought with her, feeling it was a waste of time, of course. Kagome had insisted that the appointment was made and it was for Koinu's own good. The pup wasn't sick; it was for a shot, a prick in the arm with a needle. The idea alarmed Inuyasha, but Kagome insisted that it was actually a preventative medicine. Inuyasha dismissed it as "mainland shit" like acupuncture. Akisame, unaware of their more intellectual battle, reacted on a simpler basis: Mom and Big Brother are missing. Without them her world wasn't whole, it was incomplete.

She would bawl as long as it took for that to change.

"Maaaaaaamaaaaa!! Kooo-nuuuu!!"

"Dammit." Inuyasha muttered, pacing up and down the hallway outside the sitting room. He was out of sight of Akisame, sitting and screaming in the middle of the sitting room. The hanyou was a comical sight, agitated, arms crossed, and two long white socks stuffed in and tied around his ears. They hung down, trying to get in his eyes, and looked suspiciously feminine, like hair ties.

Out in the sitting room, Akisame was screaming again, beating the floor with her very angry, very tiny wrists. "Maaaamaaaaa!!! MAAAMAAaaaa!!"

At last Inuyasha's tolerance ran dry. Stomping into the room, he stood threateningly over Akisame and tried to speak to her, growlingly. "Aki—your mother isn't going to like you screaming! You're going to be in trouble when she gets home!"

This sort of threat had often worked on Koinu. Akisame didn't even bat an eye.

Turning her back on her father, Akisame used the table in the sitting room as a crutch, pushing herself neatly into a standing position. She toddled away from Inuyasha and toward the kitchen and the front door. That was where she'd last seen her missing family members. She was old enough to understand, roughly, how to open the door. If left unsupervised, she would slide the door open and walk right out into the gardens.

Being the overprotective father that he was, Inuyasha wasn't about to let that happen. He followed Akisame, frowningly, waiting and watching as she approached the door. "Aki—you're going to be in trouble!" he warned again, helplessly.

This time his daughter stopped and turned around clumsily to stare up at him. Her crying lowered in its pitch for a moment as she stared up at him with her amber eyes, which were currently red-rimmed and very wet. Her nose was running as well.

Inuyasha grumbled and slipped his hand inside his sleeve, ducking down to wipe her nose the moment he caught sight of the snotty mess. "Aki…"

His daughter slashed at him, fighting his touch. When he withdrew, scowling at her with mounting frustration, she stared at him pointedly and then opened her mouth wide to resume screaming.

"Aki—don't…" he growled.

She screamed anyway, ignoring her father. "Maaaamaaa!! Koooo-nuuuu!!"

And then, abruptly, the front door rattled. Akisame collapsed onto her backsides, twisting around to stare at it. Her crying had stopped completely. She sniffled and pawed at the air, gesturing. "Dahdah…"

"Sure, now you stop, now you want me to help." Sighing, Inuyasha rose up out of his kneeling position and hurried for the door. "Just come in…" he called as he reached for the sliding door. But as he pulled it open, he saw a panting, rosy-cheeked Shippo, not his wife and son as he'd hoped. His shoulders sagged immediately.

"Shippo?"

"Inuyasha!" the kit coughed fitfully, "I ran the whole way to beat Miroku!"

The hanyou blinked at him, baffled. "What are you talking about?"

Shippo's face twisted, almost mimicking Inuyasha's confused gape. "What did you do to your ears?" he squinted his green eyes, starting to grin, "Are those Kagome's socks?"

"Feh!" Inuyasha snarled, backing away from the door and snatching the aforementioned socks out of his ears. Undefeated, the furry white appendages sprung up merrily, though their owner was anything but. "You try dealing with that!" he pointed to his sniffling daughter, staring at them both with wide, currently innocent amber eyes.

"Oh, soon I think she'll be the least of our problems."

Inuyasha had walked over and gathered Akisame into his arms. She didn't fight him now; her attention was focused on the newcomer. Like Inuyasha she could have a short attention span and, if properly distracted, she could be made to forget her big beefs. Now her father easily wiped her snotty nose, sighing with relief as Akisame grabbed hold of his haori, accepting his hold on her. Her eyelids were beginning to dip tiredly.

"Did you hear me, Inuyasha?" Shippo asked, barely noticing the fact that his semi-surrogate father was deeply absorbed by cradling and cuddling his little girl.

"Nope." Inuyasha brought Akisame back to lean against his shoulder and turned his back on Shippo, walking past the kitchen, the sitting room, and into the hallway beyond. Shippo hurried after him, determinedly.

"Inuyasha! You have to listen to me!" he called, trailing the hanyou as he entered the master bedroom, the one that he and Kagome shared. Shippo hesitated at the door out of respect and habit. He had accidentally disturbed the couple in this room many, many times. As a result he associated the room with beatings, and over the years he'd taken to keeping clear of it, letting Inuyasha and Kagome have their privacy. "Inuyasha?"

"What?" he snapped, irritably, "Can't you see Aki's finally shut up? She's going to sleep…" Inuyasha had settled onto the bed he shared with Kagome, resting Akisame on his chest and stomach. They made a peaceful couple, a remarkable turnaround from moments before when his daughter had been clawing and hitting him.

"Inuyasha!" Shippo stamped his foot, "Just listen! While I was out with Miroku and the boys—"

"Yeah," Inuyasha grunted, cocking one ear at Shippo curiously, "Aren't you supposed to be with them? What are you doing back here so soon?"

Shippo rolled his eyes, "I was about to tell you!"

"Then quit going on about it and tell me already!" Inuyasha settled into the cushions on his bed, letting his eyes drift shut. He stopped all movement except for the steady motion of one hand stroking Akisame's black hair.

Shippo plunged into his story, spilling it out hurriedly, as if afraid of more interruptions at any second. "Me, Miroku, and the boys ran into these two women—"

"Okay, who asked who to marry them this time?" Inuyasha snorted, smirking. "Wait, I don't wanna know unless it was Miroku and he got beaten by Sango for it."

Shippo groaned, ignoring this interruption and skipping straight to the point to catch Inuyasha's attention. "One of them was that hanyou girl, Tsukiyume."

Inuyasha's ears perked up, then his eyes snapped open. "Say what?"

"You know, a few years ago, the hanyou girl you brought with you? When that pink-eyed inuyoukai had Kagome and Koinu and—"

"Yeah." Inuyasha interrupted the kit's rambling, "Of course I remember that." He paused, staring at Shippo carefully, lips pursed tightly. "You saw her on the road?"

Shippo nodded solemnly. "Her, and this other woman that she called Lady Rin."

Inuyasha cocked his head against the pillows, raising an eyebrow. "Lady Rin?"

"Yeah, Lady Rin and Tsukiyume." He leaned forward, lowering his voice as he got to the best part of his story, "This Rin woman was pregnant—"

"With Sesshomaru's kid?" Inuyasha interrupted, unimpressed.

Shippo's chest deflated somewhat. "How did you guess?"

The hanyou rolled his eyes. "I've met her before."

"Oh." There was a pause as Shippo thought this latest news over and then frowned, "But how did you know…"

"Feh." His face colored a little and he turned his eyes to the ceiling. "She was living with the bastard. His mate, I guess. Stupid hypocrite." When he glanced back at Shippo he saw that the kit was still unsatisfied with this explanation. "Okay, so I have a nose, remember?"

Now Shippo's mouth opened up widely in a silent "O" shape. "I get it now."

"So are you telling me this just cuz you thought I'd be shocked that Sesshomaru was having sex with someone or what?" Inuyasha was frowning, annoyed as well as embarrassed by the topic.

"No!" Shippo squeaked, shaking his head at once, "I was telling you this to warn you! Tsukiyume and this Rin lady are coming here to talk to you…"

Inuyasha's ears flattened at once, his frown deepened distastefully. "Great." He growled. The last time Rin had come to him it had been to tell him that Sesshomaru was going to kill him. Why would she be traveling to talk with him now, while pregnant?

He opened his mouth to tell Shippo something else, but the words were lost as the sound of the screen door opening reached Shippo, Inuyasha, and Akisame all at once. The hanyou's ears pricked up, Shippo turned his head to look down the hall, and Akisame sprang wide awake and sat up on her father's chest like a dog startled out of its dreams.

"Inuyasha! We're home!" Kagome's voice floated cheerily down the hallway, "And we brought ice cream for everyone!"

Sasugainu had been unable to sit still for days. From the moment he'd laid eyes on Rin, he'd understood his mortality with such acuteness that he felt frail, weak as an old man. He turned away his advisors and retainers, ordering instead that his spies be sent out, searching the countryside for word of a rogue inuyoukai.

With uncanny speed they found it and word trickled into Sasugainu within hours of his spies having left his castle. A demon, great, fierce, and powerful, was wreaking havoc on the surrounding provinces, all except the Isei. Sasugainu stayed awake all night, listening one by one to the stories his spies returned with. Each hour brought a new story, a new horror, and more detail to haunt Sasugainu's mind.

The once proud inuyoukai lord stayed in his personal chambers, not eating, not sleeping. He stared ahead like a statue, but this statue sweat in thick, sticky, and cold beads.

Reports of Arasoizuki's death and the destruction of his castle and the Itou's countryside flooded in. It was as bad as Sasugainu had feared. In a rampage, Sesshomaru was exacting revenge, using collateral damage as well as frontal assaults that killed the inuyoukai rulers of the Middle Lands themselves. His advisors and retainers thought that the world had descended into madness, but Sasugainu understood otherwise. This was a simple matter that Shimofuri had started. The only way that it could be settled was to give Sesshomaru what he wanted without any reservation at all.

This thought was the only one that comforted Sasugainu, even though it was tentative. It hinged on the questionable idea that Sasugainu could get Sesshomaru what he wanted, appeasing his frantic rage, and it also relied on the assumption that Sesshomaru was not mad with the loss of his mate.

Sasugainu tended to believe that Sesshomaru was less enraged than he was insulted by the loss of the human woman. At least, that was what he prayed.

By listening to the reports of damages and loss of life over time, and over the distances between the provinces, Sasugainu calculated that at about dawn two days after he'd seen Rin with Tsukiyume at the border between the Middle and Western Lands, it would be his turn to see Sesshomaru. His estimation proved to be off only by a few hours. Sesshomaru arrived and demanded an audience just after dawn, in the early morning hours. Sasugainu was at once completely ready to see him, and completely ready to throw himself on his own sword to save his honor.

His retainers assembled and slipped into the audience room, bowing and trying to introduce Sasugainu with all of the usual pomp and fuss. Sasugainu pushed past them, refusing to wait. When they gawked at him stupidly, Sasugainu snapped for them to be silent. He faced Sesshomaru with every last ounce of courage he possessed, stiff and doused in chilled sweat.

"Lord Sesshomaru. Let us skip pleasantries. I know why you've come, and I am here to tell you that I had nothing to do with it!"

Sesshomaru moved his head slightly, as if perhaps surprised, but when he spoke, Sasugainu felt his limbs weakening; draining of strength, to hear what might've been amusement in his voice. "Really? It was my understanding that you are actually Shimofuri's closest ally."

Sasugainu sat back, rocking on the balls of his feet, as if about to spring or fall over, though which wasn't clear. His retainers were tense, twitching, watching the strangest exchange they'd ever seen and would ever see. "Shimofuri and I are allies, I won't deny it, Lord Sesshomaru." He tried to bow, but stumbled, nearly doing a face plant instead. He continued onward with a shaking voice, "He's my nephew. I am bound to him beyond my control! Surely you can understand that?"

"What do you know about his plans?" Sesshomaru demanded, skipping right to the heart of the matter. He had his head lowered, partially shielding his eyes from Sasugainu's view, another very negative sign.

"I'll tell you everything I know." Sasugainu sputtered, pathetically, blurting his words out in a rush, "That fool decided to take revenge on you! He stole his sister away from you and when his spies told him that you weren't with her, he went to your mate and told her about the bitch we gave you—as you requested from us…"

"And he abducted her?" Sesshomaru asked, his voice dropping, growing tighter.

Sasugainu sensed that the right answer would be yes, and so, like a lab rat to please its masters, he nodded frantically, "Yes! That fool took advantage of her in her grief and in her condition…" he cut himself off, aware that Sesshomaru's hand in his lap had clenched up into a fist. He started again hurriedly, but on a different tangent. "And I saw her and I told him I would have nothing to do with it! I said he was killing all of us!"

"Tell me where I can find her." Sesshomaru murmured, speaking very quietly now, almost dully.

"I…" Sasugainu frowned, leaning forward desperately. "I don't know Lord Sesshomaru." He ducked into a bow hurriedly, mumbling in a rush against the floor, "When I left them they were discussing a place to hide her! They wanted to hold her against you, my lord!"

"You do not know where." Sesshomaru had inferred this vital information already. He sat still as a stone, waiting for Sasugainu's answer.

"No, Lord Sesshomaru!" his voice had grown higher, shriller, as if he were about to begin pleading shamelessly, "But I willingly pledge myself to you, to help you until you find your mate and this terrible wrong against your honor has been reversed!"

There was a thick, heavy silence. And then, at last, Sesshomaru asked, "Would you kill your nephew, Sasugainu?"

The other inuyoukai looked up, bluish eyes wide and terrified. "I…" he stammered, feeling the sweat pouring down his face, dripping occasionally onto the floor just beneath his face. "I pledge myself to you, Lord Sesshomaru! I would punish Shimofuri for this wrong he has committed against you…"

"Would you kill him?" Sesshomaru repeated, lifting his head now, narrowing his golden eyes like a hawk, zeroing in for the kill, the moment before its talons closed over the helpless creature below it, crushing and piercing it, spilling blood.

Sasugainu's fingers, his shoulders, his knees, everything was shaking. But as he drew a last deep breath, this quaking weakness ceased and his body stilled. When he spoke again his voice had cracked, becoming hoarse, but unwavering. "No, I cannot kill my own kin."

Sesshomaru sat back, staring at Sasugainu more openly now, and a glint of sanity could be seen in the quirk of his lips, the release of the tension in his jaw. "You are not lying to me." it wasn't a question, but rather an observation.

Sasugainu realized, suddenly, with a slow, prickling sensation over his skin, that he had passed a test. If he had lied and told Sesshomaru that he would kill Shimofuri, his own nephew, Sesshomaru would've known that Sasugainu had allowed fear to taint him, and that would make him an unreliable ally and witness. The truth was what had been needed in this case, and Sasugainu, only by his sheer luck, had passed. He risked breathing a little faster again, risked letting his body relax slightly.

"I am yours to command, Lord Sesshomaru." He said, bowing yet again.

Sesshomaru dipped his head insubstantially. "Send out your spies; find where Shimofuri is keeping her."

The village that had once been home to Lady Kaede and Kikyo, was gradually flourishing. The rice fields were expanding, the villagers' numbers were increasing. In their long years they'd seen the appearance of the Sacred Jewel, the powerful priestess Kikyo killed and then reappear, they'd seen her reincarnation as well. They'd endured attacks by all manner of youkai and survived. They'd accepted the hanyou Inuyasha into their midst, and seen him turn on them seemingly without provocation.

Now their prospering little town saw a second hanyou and the lone, rich mistress that accompanied her, leading their packhorse through the huts. Most of them were in the fields, pulling the early weeds out of the irrigation channels and laying down the rice and other crops for the growing season. Their huge sunhats made them look like giant mushrooms that had sprung legs and begun to take up agriculture as a serious hobby. They glanced up at the travelers eventually, and, seeing that they were unusual, kept staring, blinking and squinting.

No one mistook Tsukiyume for Inuyasha, she was both the wrong gender, and she had dark hair. The darkness of her human-like hair only served to accentuate the whiteness of her fuzzy dog ears, making them stand out. From faraway she might've looked as if she were wearing bright white ornaments, but anyone that looked for any length of time could see them swiveling, and from there it was easy for them to realize that she wasn't just a human girl. In every other way she was normal, nothing to gawk at. Her clothes were messy, stained a little by blood from the bandit attack the day before, and they were of poorer quality than what she had worn while she was with her brother or in Sesshomaru's care.

Rin, meanwhile, drew more stares than Tsukiyume did at first, even from faraway. At a distance, the colors of her robes, and their exquisiteness, were very apparent. She was like a jewel that had slipped out of a miner's purse onto the roadside. She was unexpected. Up close she became less extraordinary. Her face was smudged with dirt, she didn't smell fragrantly of fine perfumes, her robes were scuffed and dirtied by the journey and, on the sleeves, by human blood.

As they passed through each village along their journey, Rin kept a tight clutch on her sword, Hikitsuru, which she'd tied onto her obi. Her over robes hid the sword from searching eyes, making her appear to be a strange, unprotected princess on the road without any male escort. She stared straight ahead, but she could feel the heaviness of their eyes with each step.

The last village on their journey was no exception. People lifted their heads, wiping the sweat from their brows, and found their eyes caught by the bright, lavish colors of Rin's robes. Purple outer robes embroidered with pink and white water lilies, a baby blue inner kimono with a gold dragon curling its way from her hips to her calves.

Nervous field workers slipped away, with their pant legs rolled high to avoid the irrigation water. Tsukiyume's keen ears heard them speaking of demon women, and of calling Inuyasha to their aid.

Her ears flattened down against her dark hair and she slowed, letting Rin catch up to her a little, in spite of Roba's warning grunts. "They're going to get Inuyasha." She murmured when she was sure Rin would hear her.

"Let them." Rin answered, calmly. "That's why we're here."

"But a huge crowd of villagers, Lady Rin…" she sighed, hopelessly. The idea of so many disapproving eyes unnerved her, filling Tsukiyume with primal fear. If the villagers became a mob, they could kill Rin or Tsukiyume…

"Keep walking." Rin ordered.

Frowningly, Tsukiyume spurted forward with a few short hops and stopped, feeling her face redden as she became aware that this movement had garnered double the attention she'd had before. The villagers in the fields hardly worked at all now, they merely pretended to be busy, when really, as they bent over, their hands stilled, and their eyes turned toward the strange women and their horse, passing by.

Ahead of them then, as they entered the thickest part of the village, where the huts were lined up together tightly, a small barricade of villagers had formed. At first Tsukiyume slowed, intimidated, but when Rin came close enough to her that Roba nickered uncomfortably at her scent, Tsukiyume glanced back at her mistress, tensely. "Lady Rin—they're going to try and stop us…"

"We'll cut them down." Rin muttered, pushing on Tsukiyume's backsides. She squinted past the hanyou and sighed. "They've brought out their priestesses. Fall back behind me, Tsukiyume."

The hanyou readily obeyed, turning and sprinting back several yards, watching with her white ears pricked alertly. They moved forward again, slow but steady.

When they came within a hundred feet, the group of villagers took up defensive positions and shouted at them. "Halt! Who are you?"

Rin didn't stop walking as she answered them. Her voice rose with power and authority. "We've come to see Inuyasha, let us pass."

There were two priestesses behind the three men of the village, and it was the priestesses that posed the true threat to both Rin and Tsukiyume. The men were unarmed. The priestesses hefted bows and arrows, and they appeared perfectly ready to draw them and fire on either Rin or Tsukiyume.

When Rin didn't stop moving forward, one priestess, the older of the two, raised her bow and notched an arrow, aiming. The other stepped forward slightly, so that she was even with the men, and spoke. "Stop! What business do you have with Lord Inuyasha?"

Rin halted now, not because she respected the priestesses, but because she was intrigued by the priestess's use of formal language. Inuyasha was well-known, a supernatural hero of sorts. Rin didn't know how the people of the village felt about him, and hadn't really expected them to resist her on Inuyasha's part, but now she found herself surprised. Could they really have so much respect for a half-demon? Her thoughts, in spite of herself, were drawn to Sesshomaru's disregard for his half-brother for so many years, his insistence that Inuyasha was a pest, like a flea on his back. But Rin couldn't help the feeling that arose within her, bubbles of hope at the sight of this village coming out to defend a half-demon.

Hanyou have no place.

Her hands, readied on Hikitsuru, loosened their grip and one transferred to her belly now, feeling the slowly growing roundness of the life that still clung on within her throughout this disaster, her daughter. She stared at the priestesses, at the men, and became aware of the dainty, messy huts around her, all of the village…Inuyasha was raised by his mother. By humans. She thought, and then, my daughter will be raised by me. A creature unto herself…

To the priestess, Rin said, "I've come to ask him for asylum."

The villagers blinked, then looked to one another perplexedly. Rin heard them repeating the word, much as Miroku had when she'd told him the same thing. The priestess that had drawn her bow, lowered it, scowling. The priestesses looked to one another, uncertainly.

"What of the creature with you?" one the men demanded, warily.

Tsukiyume, hidden some distance behind Rin and Roba, cringed, as if expecting to be beaten.

"She is my guardian." Rin answered, calmly.

The priestesses were trying to shush the whispering men, knowing by the feel of Tsukiyume's aura, that the girl was hanyou, like Inuyasha. This intrigued them, and although they no longer perceived a threat, they were still curious. At last one of the priestesses, sounding warmer than she had before, asked, "Is your guardian…related to Lord Inuyasha?"

Rin couldn't stop the smirk from coming over her face. She looked to the ground, trying to hide the expression in case it alarmed them. If only they knew how Rin was related to Inuyasha…

"Yes," she answered, "They are cousins."

This brought further whispering from the villagers. The tension was easing over into something closer to a wary amusement.

"May we escort you to Lord Inuyasha's estate?" asked the priestess who had not spoken before. She was in her late twenties perhaps, and bore a resemblance to Kikyo, although she was not as pale and her eyes were smaller, narrower.

"I would prefer to travel alone." Rin answered, and pulled on Roba's halter, moving her forward again. The villagers ahead of her dispersed, slipping between the huts, but the priestesses remained, merely moving aside as Rin passed between them. Tsukiyume followed as closely as she could without spooking Roba. Her ears were flattened, her eyes quick and darting, anticipating some sort of secret attack.

The priestesses bowed to her cordially as she passed. They waited, watching the retreating figures climb higher along the road, heading toward the shrine, and beyond it, Inuyasha's land. When the sounds of the horse's hooves had faded into the background whisper of the trees and the light spring wind, they at last moved in unison, moving to follow.

The older priestess led the way, confidently. "We can take the shortcut through the hills, Hyakka."

The younger hurried to keep up. She was shorter and several years younger. Her hair was a lighter color, more brown than her counterpart. "But Kumo—a half-demon and a mortal woman? Are they really a threat to Inuyasha-sama?"

"There was an incident a few years ago while you were still training, Hyakka, and I was away from the village. Strange youkai passed through the area looking for Inuyasha-sama then as well. They took Kagome and held her against him." Kumo puffed, cutting off the actual road and plunging into the trees and underbrush with Hyakka following close behind.

"Is it right to stop them Kumo? We don't know—they might've been telling the truth…" the younger priestess scrambled up the slop alongside the other woman, stumbling a little and cutting herself off as she fell.

Kumo reached back and caught her arm, steadying her. "Inuyasha-sama has known three generations of my family. If I can help him, I will. We won't stop them, but we will watch to make sure they do not intend to harm Inuyasha-sama and his family."

Hyakka nodded, "You are right."

Kumo—Lady Kaede's niece—nodded and continued to scale the hill.

(A/N: were Kikyo and Kaede blood sisters? I am thinking they were but I'm not sure. And if so, it seems priestesses don't have children…? Kaede seems childless anyway. But I figure if Kaede and Kikyo were sisters, it stood to reason there are other family members, perhaps a brother who would marry and stay in the village and continue the family. So why not make one of the women later on be another priestess?)

The mountain path at last peaked, passing the shrine and its stone steps, the little monument to the fallen priestess Kikyo and, in another grave nearby, her sister Kaede. Rin and Tsukiyume passed by it uneventfully, knowing nothing and caring nothing about the history and drama of that past, more than fifty years ago.

They followed the mountain path downward a short ways, and then paused at a fork. One lead downward, curving away into the distance, toward the eventual deep, flat blueness of the sea beyond, a view that was blocked by hills and cliffs as far as Tsukiyume and Rin were concerned. The other rose into the hills again…

Rin jerked on Roba's halter, forcefully. "Just a little further." She whispered, sighing.

Tsukiyume's ears drooped, her shoulders sagged. Inuyasha's scent lingered everywhere through this forest. The scent was very alike to Sesshomaru, but very distinct all on its own. It filled her with memories of two years ago, when she had journeyed to the hanyou's home in the crush of night, a stormy, troubled spring. Inuyasha had been struggling to save his mate and young son…he wouldn't be eager to welcome her back into his life because she had been partially to blame for the trouble…and yet she had also gotten them out of it…

She was jerked from her reverie when she saw Rin stop Roba and push away a few of the saddle bags. Tsukiyume gawked and began shaking her head, reaching out even though she was several feet away and didn't dare move any closer for fear of spooking the horse. "Lady Rin—you shouldn't ride—"

"You can't stop me." Rin shot back, impatiently. She pulled up the edges of her robe with one hand and grabbed tightly to Roba's mane with the other. Grunting, and making a tense, tight expression, Rin pulled herself into the saddle. Roba whinnied underneath her, sidestepping and growing excited by the change of weight. She sniffed, tossing her head up and down restlessly.

"Please, Lady Rin…" when Tsukiyume took a step forward, instinctually trying to restrain Roba to keep Rin safe, the horse shied away from her nickering and snorting.

"Get back!" Rin hissed, glaring. "You'll spook her."

Tsukiyume stepped back, cowering. "Yes…"

Roba let out a rushing exhalation and then, as Rin spurred her on, took off at a steady walk. Tsukiyume hurried after her, ears folded backward and her face twisted with worry. They moved up the path, following it as it circled the hill until the land evened and flattened out into a plateau. A wall rose up before them then, marking the beginning of Inuyasha's estate.

Rin pulled Roba up alongside the closed gate. As if she were performing in a theatrical drama, Rin had forced her face into a grave expression, tight-lipped and with slanted eyes. "Inuyasha!" she called out, shouting the name at the top of her lungs.

Tsukiyume remained many yards away, unconsciously crouched in a defensive position.

The answer was swift, far faster than either of them had expected. It came as Rin was opening her mouth to shout again, but she stopped, startled, as the youkai child they'd run into with Miroku appeared on top of the gate, grinning down on them.

"Hey! You guys again!" he chirped mischievously. "I beat you here."

Roba, reacting to the kit's abrupt appearance, stamped and snorted, tossing her head warningly. Rin pulled on the reins, steadying the flighty mare. When Roba had calmed somewhat, she looked up at the kit with fierce, angry eyes, though the rest of her mask-like face hadn't changed. "Let us inside. I must speak with Inuyasha."

"He sent me." the kit answered, still grinning, though his humor was beginning to run dry and his posture hinted that he was tense, perhaps even scared. "What is it you want?"

"I've told you once." Rin grumbled, her composure starting to slip.

Tsukiyume spoke up, trying to give Rin a break. "We need to ask Lord Inuyasha to protect us."

The kit cocked his head and put one hand to his chin, as if considering their request himself. "From who?" he moved so that one leg was tucked underneath him, the other hung forward over the gate, swinging merrily. It was a delicate balancing act; the kit was showing off and perhaps stalling. "And why?"

Tsukiyume and Rin answered in the same moment, but tossing out different answers: "That is none of…"

"Sesshomaru."

"…your concern."

The youkai child smirked, looking between them and laughing. "Inuyasha's going to love you guys…"

Rin turned around on Roba's back, grimacing with the effort of the motion, and glared pointedly at Tsukiyume. The hanyou girl cringed, avoiding her accusatory gaze, her ears drooped. Without being asked to, she launched into a stumbling apology, "I'm sorry, Lady Rin…"

The gate creaked then, making the kitsune squeal in fright as he lost his balance. It ceased to matter in a second because he vanished into thin air, leaving nothing but a thin cloud of dust in his wake. From inside the gate Rin and Tsukiyume could hear the kit's grumbling. "Why'd you do that? You knew I was sitting there, you jerk!"

"Cut your whining, Shippo." A deep, gruff voice answered him. A moment later and the gate was opening, revealing a golden-eyed, white-haired, dog-eared hanyou, standing with his arms crossed and an annoyed frown covering his face. Shippo, now tall enough that his little red-haired head was level with Inuyasha's hips, was grunting and pushing on the gate, forcing it open.

Roba backed away from the protruding gate, continuing to snort and stamp. The animal's nostrils were filled with youkai and hanyou scents, the only safe creature was on her backsides. Tsukiyume stayed quite a ways back, watching the horse and the gate uncertainly, almost timidly.

Inuyasha took Rin in, searching her up and down with his narrowed, calculating gaze. Rin met it the same way with her own earthy brown eyes, but after a moment she felt something dangerous flutter in her chest, a weakness awakening. She bit her lip, turned her face away, pulling hard on Roba's reins to make her back up. Then she cautiously dismounted, holding her breath until her feet were steadily on the ground again. She wobbled a little, to her shame, but held her chin high.

Her mate's younger brother was still scrutinizing her, challengingly. His eyes, they were the same color, but a thousand times more expressive. Rin's learned ability to read inuyoukai feelings, no matter how subtle, were overwhelmed by Inuyasha. She felt her head spinning as her mind automatically tried to read the hanyou the same way she read her mate.

And then the dizziness seemed to take on a new dimension, tightening in her chest and then spreading in a jolt into her abdomen. Rin's proud chin trembled, her knees shook, but she refused to falter just yet. "Inuyasha." She called, tightly, "I ask for your protection."

"Feh!" he scoffed, shrugging his shoulders and half-turning his back on her. "How stupid do you think I am? You've got Sesshomaru's stink all over you." he turned his head slightly, peeking at her over one shoulder. "He wouldn't send you here, so this is either a trap, or…"

Rin crumpled, shaking, and clutching her belly. She choked back her whimpers, but her distress was impossible to hide between two hanyou and the kitsune youkai.

"Hey—are you okay?" Shippo asked concernedly.

The kit's words made Inuyasha face Rin directly again, and Tsukiyume cried out, rushing up from behind Rin to support her. Roba spooked at last, rushing away alongside the wall surrounding Inuyasha's property.

"Oh damn it all!" Inuyasha groaned, stepping forward as well, sniffing loudly. His face blanched as he recognized the troubling scents rising from Rin's body. "How stupid are you?" he snarled, gesturing wildly. "Shippo—get them inside and get my bastard brother's mate to lie down."

When the kit blinked up at him, slightly overwhelmed by the turn of events, and hesitated, Inuyasha swatted him impatiently in the back of the head, making him yelp. "Useless!"

The hanyou stepped forward himself to where Tsukiyume was cradling Rin helplessly and knelt, trying to scoop her up into his arms. Rin fought him, though her brow was now thick with sweat and her teeth gnashed together with pain. Inuyasha slapped her hands away—and Tsukiyume's as well when she tried to resist—and picked her up, carting her inside his estate.

Shippo, still baffled and alarmed, pulled hurriedly on the gate to close it again as Inuyasha passed through it with Tsukiyume following awkwardly behind. He grunted loudly as he tried to force it shut, "What's wrong with her, Inuyasha?"

"Stupid bitch rode the horse up here—and she's pregnant." His face was twisted with both irritation and a deep grimness as he crossed through the front gardens of his home, feeling Rin's fists gripping and tugging on his haori fiercely as she fought her internal struggle. The moment he reached the porch, he shouted out, "Kagome! Hurry up, I need you!"

A/N: Next chapter…

"I understand that his missing arm, you are responsible for it." Tsukiyume murmured, staring meekly at the table.

"Yeah." Inuyasha grunted, eyeing her suspiciously, "What about it?"

"It is his greatest injury." Tsukiyume bowed, her dark hair hid her face from Inuyasha's scrutiny. "That is why Lady Rin choose you when she needed sanctuary. She believes you are the only threat to Sesshomaru in existence."

Inuyasha's face colored. He blustered, "Feh! Stop…" he paused, searching for Kagome's creative expression that described Tsukiyume's current tactic of flattery. Damn, what is it she always used to say about Miroku when he was flirting with girls? Even when they were ugly he called them pretty…His mind at last grabbed the expression and he spat it out hurriedly, "…buttering me up! It ain't working!"