10 Obligations, duties and the other woman

"I think she likes you Sesshomaru-sama."

He lets out a weak smile at her naiveté. "Oh, where did you gather that?" "She praised you didn't she?" She smiles and continues, "Sesshomaru-sama is good-looking and powerful. It is only natural that you are popular with women!"

He examines her closely. Does she not mind the other woman? He muses. He knows he would mind if there is another man. In a smaller voice, she adds, "She is really beautiful, and she looks powerful too. A good match with you, Sesshomaru-sama."

"Rin, sometimes some things and some people are merely obligations or duties." Going along with the marriage is just his way of fulfilling his obligations and duties. If there were things that he knew for sure, one would be that women who "fall in love" or are "interested" with him are merely fixated on his looks, his status, and his prowess – they often have no idea who he is and therefore he has no interest in who they are either. This other woman is no exception. "Obligations or duties?" As she contemplates his words with a frown on her sweet face, he upholds his straight face on the outside but is amused all over again by her innocence on the inside.

"Sesshomaru-sama, am I obligation or duty?"

Seeing no one else in sight, he pulls her into his embrace and kisses her.

"No."

11 Responsibility

Magatsuhi, what a formidable foe – even I, Sesshomaru for a moment thought that I might die in his hands. I have better proceed with caution from now onwards.
Totosai: It's done – the shreath for Bakusaiga.
Finally. Rin is still in the hut… good. Knowing her…
Jaken: Ah?
Better leave before she realizes...
Rin: Wait Sesshomaru-sama!
Jaken, you idiot.
Rin: Kohaku has not yet woken up, could we perhaps wait a while longer?
This is not going to be easy.
"I am leaving without Kohaku."
Here goes.
"Rin, you too."
Please don't make this more difficult than it has to be.
Rin: Why Sesshomaru-sama?
Silly girl. Don't you understand?
Rin: I refuse! I want to go with you!
Silly girl.
Jaken: Rin, stop being wilful. You've got to at least know some restrain!
You must know that I'll be back for you.
Jaken: Sesshomaru-sama is born to engage in battles. Rather it has been you silly kids to tag along up to now that has been strange!
Like always.
"Jaken, you too. Stay."
I need to focus.
Jaken: Wh..why Sesshomaru-sama? I refuse! I want to go with you!
Why is he such an idiot?
Inuyasha: Sesshomaru, are you going to go after Magatsuhi?
You were devastated during the last battle weren't you? I knew, I could smell your tears.
 "He is my prey."
Believe in me.
Totosai: Isn't that a good thing? As Magatsuhi is not from this world, the only one who can slay him would be Sesshomaru.
That creature – I have inscribed his scent in my memory. I will definitely kill him with my own hands!
(Leaps into the air.)
Jaken: Sesshomaru-sama!
I'll come back for you Rin. I promise.

Wait for me.

(Written while reading manga chapter 519. Translation is done directly from the raw.)

12 Home

He used to wander from place to place without a location that he could call home to come back to.

She used to live by herself in a broken dilapidated hut ever since the rest of her family had perished, one so cold and run-down that one could hardly call it "home".

It is not clear when did it start, but somewhere in time he begin to go back to wherever she is. As for her, she would wait patiently for him to come home to her.

Home for them is not a structure that consists of one roof and four walls.

Home for them is where they can find each other.

He is her home. She is his.

13 Strength

She cannot help but chide at her son for his ridiculous request. "So the rumors are true huh? You have indeed grown soft and become a human-lover." She lets out an insinuating laugh, "You have definitely inherited your father's legacy, and by that I do mean beyond inheriting Tenseiga."

Sesshomaru glares at her coldly. He is not here to pick a fight. Neither is he here by choice. While he dislikes his mother, he does know that if there were someone he could wholly entrust Rin to while he has to be gone from her side for a long time, it would be his mother.

She has seen it before when Sesshomaru came to her to learn more about the sword he had gotten from her dead husband. She was aware that Sesshomaru had at that time already displayed some kind of unusual attachment to it, but she had not taken her son seriously at that time. To her, the human girl is just a phase. A phase that he would most probably snap out of in due time – after he has gotten over his curiosity, he would become sick of it (She is convinced too that if her husband had lived long enough, it would have been the same for him too.). It would not be any different now. Her son just needs more time than she thought to get over his inquisitiveness. Given enough time, he would surely discard that thing aside and move on. She is very confident of that.

"Well then, enlighten me Sesshomaru. What is your business with that thing that is weak and needs constant safekeeping?" Without blinking an eye Sesshomaru retorts, "Strength is relative." It has taken him a long time to recognize that, but now he has learnt well that brute strength is hardly the most expansive kind of strength. He sneers, "Her strength way surpasses yours, but I don't expect someone of your caliber to understand."

14 Indifference

Naruku had been slayed and Kohaku somehow kept his life. Kohaku was thankful and grateful towards Sesshomaru, but most of all, he had admired him. Sesshomaru was sometimes harsh towards him, but he treated him like an equal and had saved him from time to time. To him, although Sesshomaru was not demonstrative of his affections and spoke very little, he knew that he cared a lot from the way he took care of Rin and him. Sesshomaru gave him a sense of security and he liked a lot being with Rin. Above all, he still felt guilty over what he did after being possessed by Naraku and did not wish to be Sango's burden. So he went after Sesshomaru and asked if he could come with them. Sesshomaru glanced at him expressionlessly at him out of the corner of his eyes and replied coldly, "No." He wanted to protest, but Sesshomaru was simply not interested to listen as he just walked away and left. It was only then that Kohaku realized that Sesshomaru actually could not care less about him – his first harsh lesson of how sometimes one could act out of empathy or obligation or even sympathy, and that does not always mean one genuinely cares.

15 Things with a shape

"Sesshomaru-sama, thank you." Rin turns away from him to put it away. She lowers her head.

"But…" She pauses, as if unsure of what to say next.

He is watching her closely. He would like to think it has been his imagination, but it is clear to him now that something is bothering her. It kills him to not know what.

With her face shielded from him with her back, she utters, "Sesshomaru-sama, please don't give me any more things with a shape."

"Anything with a shape will break someday. I don't want anymore things that can break."

There is a tone of stubbornness in her voice that he does not like.

16 Unworthy

Stay with me. I will protect you from harm… and from him.

He says to her as he secures her into his embrace and lets her bury her face on his chest. She sobs and sometimes murmurs something. While he is not able to make out what, he is content. He likes the feeling of her secure in his arms.

He is unworthy of her. He only knows to string her along. She is too gullible for him.

"Kohaku," she finally speaks in an audible voice. "Go find a nice girl to marry, be happy and forget about me."

What nonsense is she talking about?

No… he whispers in her ears. I only want you.

It is true. There is no one else in this world he would ever desire this much.

"I'm unworthy of you. I've been with Sess…"

He stops her speech with a kiss on her lips. He stubbornly holds her even tighter in his arms.

I don't care. You are the only one I want. It has always been you. It will always be you.

17 Scent

Sesshomaru has always loved Rin's scent. It is true that she always smells of the nature and of flowers, but for him her scent is much more than that. Her scent is what he craves for after killing. Her scent has always been what he comes home for. No demon could smell this good and no human could smell this sweet. There is something about her scent that could satisfy him in a way that no other could. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Sesshomaru is addicted to Rin's scent.

But lately, Sesshomaru could not help but feel that Rin bathed too often and smelled "too good" – like as if she is attempting to cover up something with excessive flowery smells. No, he tells himself. She must have just wanted to smell good for him. He trusts her.

18 Blush

The color starts from her cheeks and spreads rapidly down her neck and beyond. Perhaps it is not meant for him to see, but somehow it is simply there for him to witness. Her flesh is pink in contrast to what he remembers it to be pale beige on a normal day.

It started on a causal day and from a causal event. A lesson in wielding a sword was to be given. He thought she has grown big enough to hold a weapon. He had wanted her to be strong. He had also noticed how she was shy around him. He believed it to be his imagination. Years might have passed since he took her in under his care, but she was still herself and he was still himself – nothing had changed, he thought.

That causal day that causal event showed him how wrong he was.

As he came close behind her cupping his hand around hers to show the moves – she trembled and blushed.

Never has anyone blushed like this for him. Never has he seen her blushed like this for anyone else. His face might have been serious, his mind was in fact distracted.

It was then onwards that he realized how real the changes were. Her age may be tender but her body was no longer one of a child. He swore it was not his fault – it was the blush that beckoned his eyes to trace downwards her neck and her collarbone, her chest and her breast, and further beyond. There was something inviting about the pink. The wicked part of him had not stopped at where her clothes began – his interest fuelled by sinful thoughts.

If that was the beginning, there is certainly no end. Time after time, she trembles around him when he comes close. Again and again, she blushes under his gaze. Indecent thoughts of her have not come to him before but then onwards it just would not leave him alone. He starts to look forward to every lesson, whereas his aim has never really been for the sake of imparting any skills.

Bit by bit, he yearns for more. He finds himself wanting her the way he never thought he would. Then there would come a time when he is no longer content with her blushing wearing clothes – as he needs to know how far that blush goes.