Rin walked out of the dining room and into the hall with a bright smile plastered onto her face. In her mind, she thought, Revenge is sweet.
She hummed as she made her way through the corridors and past rooms, thinking about how Chi had lead her through the castle. But just as she was turning a corner, she realized she made a circle.
"Oh, Kami," she said to no one, "I'm lost . . . again."
Instead of trying to find her way to her room, Rin decided to wander the place. She skipped down the halls and giggled to herself, not caring if the servants that she passed by were staring at her like she lost her mind. She could've sworn she saw one or two smile at her.
As she made her way down a wide corridor she stopped as a soft breeze swept its way past her. Curiosity got the better of her and she found herself creeping down the hall until the breeze was stronger. She found a turn on her left. When she entered the next corridor, she found it wasn't a corridor at all. It was a bridge that connected one tower to another. The bridge was wide and had dozens of windows on each side, making it feel open and welcoming.
It was spring and the night was warm as Rin made her way onto the bridge. Vines that circled the window frames were full of blossomed exotic flowers. Rin picked one from the vine and lifted it to her nose. As she breathed in the unique scent, she giggled. She placed the flower in her hair and twirled.
She began to dance by herself and giggled as her feet made clumsy movements. She kicked off the ridiculous shoes Chi made her wear and felt free as she whirled and jumped to no audible music; only the song that played in her head.
She was so absorbed in her happiness that she didn't hear the footsteps approaching her. Nor did she notice the presence of a body leaning against the wall until the figure chuckled.
Rin stopped mid-twirl to find Kohaku smiling at her. Rin brightened up immediately, relieved it wasn't who she thought it was.
"Kohaku!" she squealed as she ran into his open arms. She kissed his cheek in a sisterly way. He wasn't fazed by it. "How are you? I wasn't able to see you since . . ." she trailed off.
He understood and picked up the conversation. "I'm great now that I got to see you. Sesshomaru said not to sneak around the castle in an attempt to find you. Naturally, I disobeyed, but couldn't find you because the castle is too big. But now," he smiled brightly, "you found me."
Rin cocked her head to the side and then understood. "Oh!" She laughed. "I was wandering the castle, trying to get away from Lord Sesshomaru and I ended up here."
Kohaku's brow lowered and his smile faded. "Why were you trying to get away from him? What did he do?"
You had to love Kohaku. It was a given since he was such a great friend and had that older brother act towards Rin.
"Forget it. He just keeps calling me a little girl."
Kohaku smiled. "You are a little."
She gasped and playfully punched his chest. "And what about you? You're not the much older than me!"
"One, I'm 18, that makes me a man. Two, I'm older than you, so I don't get categorized as 'little'. And three, I was talking about little in the size department. You are no longer a child, remember?"
Rin blushed a deep scarlet. How is it than everyone knew about her recently started monthly cycles and everyone had to remind her?
She punched him again. "Yes, I remember quite clearly, thank you! Now, what have you been doing in my absence? Don't tell me you're doing anything fun without me."
He pretended to be offended. "Why, of course not, my lady! I would never dream of attempting any fun without my dear little friend."
He turned around and began to walk away, laughing. Forgetting her shoes, Rin ran after him, jumping on his back as he began to run as well. He hooked his arms around the back of her legs and began to run around wildly, Rin laughing the whole time. She haven't had this much fun since she got to the castle.
Kohaku ran past servants and up stairs until he reached an open room.
"Close your eyes," he told Rin. She followed his order, still laughing quietly.
She felt him move inside the room. She felt a breeze once again fly past her and wondered where they were. It wasn't until a few steps later that Kohaku gave the okay to open her eyes.
What she saw was magnificent. It's a rooftop garden, Rin thought to herself as her mouth fell open with awe.
"This is amazing!" she exclaimed. Kohaku placed her lightly on the ground and stood up straight spreading his arms around in a dramatic gesture for her to look around.
"I found it when wandering the castle one day. I thought you might like it."
"You thought right, Otōto." She called him her brother since they began to travel together so many years ago.
He smiled and began to name off some of the flowers and what they did for your body. He knew these things because of his childhood and how he was raised. He was to be a slayer of demons, but after Naraku took control of him, those dreams were over. In order to be a slayer he needed to know every flower and whether it was poisonous or could be used as a medicine.
Rin watched him as he named each flower and how his eyes narrowed on a certain flower before they relaxed and he named it off and what its power was.
"And this one . . ." he trailed off, and Rin knew something was wrong. The flower was white with small brown dots in the middle, a few pollen stems poking out from the center. "This one is an azalea. It means 'thinking about home'. It was Sango's favorite."
Kohaku closed his eyes for a moment. Rin reached out to him and touched his shoulder lightly. He didn't move away, letting Rin reach in and hug him tightly. After a moment, his arms lifted and held her just as tightly. Rin could feel his body shake with silent sobs.
She rubbed his back lightly. She didn't say anything soothing. What could you say to something this heartbreaking? Sango was Kohaku's older sister. She was away with InuYasha, fighting off demons that get in their way.
They must have stood there a good twenty minutes before Kohaku quieted. Rin gave once last pat to his back and pulled back slightly.
"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked tentatively.
"Maybe some other time," he answered.
She wiped away some of his remaining tears and kissed his forehead. "Let's get to bed."
He gave a shaky laughed. "Oh, so now you're the older one?"
"Yes." She added in a mock grown up tone, "Now, let's go, young man!"
It did the trick. He smiled whole heartedly and he let her lead him to his room. She only got a few steps before turning back around and asking for directions. He laughed again and took the lead. Once they reached his room, Rin thought it must have been around eight o'clock.
"Good night, Otōto. Sleep well."
"Good night, Rin. I'll see you tomorrow."
"I hope!" she said and closed the door.
She walked back down the corridor, barefoot and lost. After a few turns she found a small child servant sitting on the ground. He seemed to be crying. She ran to the child and knelt beside him.
"What's wrong, little one? Are you hurt?"
The boy nodded and lifted the skirt of his short, rag kimono. His knee was covered in blood. Without thinking twice, Rin stood and ripped her kimono skirt, only then realizing that her breasts were still partly exposed. She forgot about that for now and knelt down by the kid once again.
"Can you show me were the nearest water source is?"
The boy nodded. He began to stand, but cried out, falling back against the wall. Rin instinctively reached out her arms and the boy fell into them. She lifted him and placed him on her hip. She began walking with him pointing her in the right direction. She found herself in a courtyard with pillars lining the wall. In the center was a fountain with trees surrounding the yard. Small bushes of flowers were scattered here and there. Benches were set every few yards apart.
Rin approached the fountain and sat the boy down. She bent over the side and got the piece of fabric wet. She sat next to the boy. Taking his injured leg, she laid it over her lap.
"This might hurt, okay? But it will be over in a minute."
She dabbed the wet cloth against the blood soaked knee. The boy stifled a whimper. Rin's heart broke. She didn't like to see someone in pain. And it was hard not to think about what happened earlier and say that she didn't want to hurt anyone when she already had at dinner.
"What's your name?" she asked, trying to distract him.
"Koji," he answered. "You're Lady Rin."
Rin laughed. "Just Rin will be fine, Koji. How did you get this big cut?"
"I fell over and—and I landed on my knee."
Rin silently chuckled. It was so cute when kids say one sentence. "How old are you Koji?"
"I'm four." He held up three fingers, and Rin laughed again.
"When is your birthday?" Rin tossed the blood soaked cloth and ripped off another piece. After dipping it into the water, she began to wipe away the blood stains on the boy's skin.
Koji shrugged. "I don't remember."
"Do you have any brothers or sisters?"
He nodded. "I have two brothers and one sister."
"And how old are they?"
"Juro is five, Taro is nine, and Kaminari is two."
"Where are your mom and dad?" she asked.
"Mama is in the kitchen and Papa is out in the field."
Rin nodded. She finished cleaning the cut and ripped off another piece of kimono. This piece was longer and thicker than the other piece she used to clean his cut. She wrapped his leg and talked to Koji as she worked. She found out that he was on his way to see his mother when he fell on the stone floor, causing him to cut open the skin and bruise his kneecap. Rin wasn't a doctor, but she had done something similar to this when she was younger, so she knew what to do.
She lifted him again and he pointed her towards the kitchen. About a quarter of the way there, Koji insisted that he could walk. Rin set him down on the floor and helped him stand straight. They walked slowly at first, Koji stumbling a few times. Rin held him up, though, never letting him fall. They were halfway there when Rin forced Koji to rest a moment. That's when it occurred to her that Koji knew who she was without her telling him.
"Koji." He looked up to her. "How did you know who I was?"
He smiled. "Mama said you were at the castle. She said you were a guest of Lord Sesshomaru's and that you were really nice." He frowned. "I also heard you were human, which was weird to me."
Rin laughed, knowing what he meant. Plenty of people told Rin that Sesshomaru didn't like humans and that it didn't make any sense of why she was traveling with him, much less at his own house.
"It's weird to me, too, Koji. Are you ready to continue?"
He nodded and Rin took his hand once again and they set off towards the kitchen. They were walking slow and saying things that made them laugh when Koji stepped wrongly, causing his knee to buckle and him to fall. Rin caught him before he hit the ground. Without hesitating, she lifted him back onto her hip. He began to argue, but she held firm. He leaned against her shoulder and sighed, defeated. He pointed ahead. "Just keep going straight."
Rin nodded and she continued their walk. She told him a few jokes she learned from Kagome and he laughed along with her. When she reached the kitchen, Koji was fast asleep. Not knowing what to do, and not wanting to wake Koji up, she knocked on the door. It took a few moments before a boy a little older than Koji opened the door.
"Hello," he said. He noticed Koji in Rin's arms and his eyes widened. "Koji?"
The boy stirred in her arms, but didn't wake.
Rin whispered, "My name is Rin. I found him with his knee cut and cleaned it up a bit. He can't walk very well, so I thought I'd bring him to his mother."
The boy at the door nodded hastily and opened the door wider, allowing Rin to come in. The kitchen was like any other, only a tad bit larger and fuller with cooking utensils.
The boy lead Rin to the back of the kitchen where a large table was set in the middle of the room and people sat at it with cups of steaming tea.
"Mama!" the boy cried. Rin realized then that the boy must've been Juro, or Taro; Koji's brothers. The people that sat at the table silenced their murmured talks and looked over at Rin and the small boy. Rin tried not to cringe.
A woman at the end of the table jumped up. "What is it, Juro?"
"Koji got hurt and this nice lady brought him here."
Rin stepped forward as the woman made her way to them. The woman glanced at the cut on Koji's knee and then spoke to Rin quietly, "Follow me."
Rin and Juro followed as the woman made her way out of the room, out of the kitchen, down the hall and through a door on the left. It was a large room with several beds in it. In one was a man that looked as though he was tired enough to sleep for two days.
He jumped up as they entered. "What's wrong?"
"Koji cut his knee," the woman—who Rin assumed was Koji's mother—said. Koji's mom gestured for Rin to place Koji on one of the mats that was made into a bed. Rin gently placed the boy on the mat. He awoke from the movement and looked up into his mother's eyes.
"Mama," he said. "Hello."
His mother laughed. Rin took a good look at the woman with hair to her waist and large green eyes. Rin described her as beautiful. The man came to stand by the woman. Rin realized that Koji and Juro looked almost exactly like the man, so she assume the man was their father.
After Koji said his two words, he fell back asleep. His mother and father turned to Rin with all smiles.
"Thank you so much for helping my son. I really appreciate it!" The woman was close to tears, Rin could tell.
"It was no problem," Rin answered. "He's a good child."
The woman nodded. "Yes he is." She held out a hand, "My name is Utako. I'm his mother."
"My name is Rin." They shook hands.
The man took this as the time to speak again. "The name is Hiroshi. Thanks for everything you've done for Koji."
Rin shook his hand. "It really wasn't any trouble at all. He's really great."
Hiroshi nodded in agreement like his wife before. "He's a keeper."
Rin smiled. "You might want to check his bandage, though. I'm not too great at cleaning cuts."
"We have a medicine woman that will take a look later," Utako assured Rin.
She had a soft voice, almost like a beautiful song. Utako meant 'child of the song', making her name match her voice and beauty. Rin like her off the bat and thought of her as a friend already.
"I must be going. It's late and I don't want to keep you folks up." Rin began to leave the room.
Utako interrupted her leave. "Would you like to stay for some tea?"
Rin smiled. "I would love to."
Utako smiled as well. Together they walked back to the kitchen, Juro and Hiroshi staying behind in the room. Once they entered, Utako introduced Rin to everyone. They all knew her from the rumors flying around the castle, but Rin forgot everyone's name until someone else said it. One person even had enough courage to ask if she was romantically involved with Lord Sesshomaru. Everyone silenced to hear her answered.
Rin gave a nervous laugh and answered, "No. I'm not. I didn't think he was the type that could love."
Everyone laughed. An older lady spoke up, "Of course he's not. He's too sincere to be anything but."
They fell into laughter again. Rin sipped her tea in between talking to people. She only remembered three people's name. One was an older lady named Hisa, another was an old man named Isi and the last one was a girl a little older than Rin named Ayame. Ayame was also beautiful like Utako. She had long hair and bright blue eyes. She was shy and soft spoken. Whenever she did speak, it was to pay Rin compliments; compliments that Rin returned.
"You're really sweet, Rin-sama." Rin couldn't get any of them to call her just Rin. A few actually called her Lady Rin, even though she wasn't lady of the house.
"Thank you, Ayame. You are absolutely one of the nicest people I've meet here."
Ayame blushed and returned to being quiet.
Rin laughed the night away with the rest of the group. By the time ten o'clock rolled around, they were still laughing like crazy at a funny story Hisa was telling. She was getting to the ending when everyone fell silent. They all stared just behind Rin, who was sitting in the chair right in front of the door. Rin turned to find someone standing just inside the door.
Everyone, except Rin, stood and bowed. "Lord Sesshomaru."
A/N: Yay! I updated! Hah. And it was longer this time, yeah? I will be updating a lot sooner since it's SUMMER BABY! Haha. Review please and I'll update even faster. Let's say . . . five reviews noon tomorrow and I will update by this time tomorrow! Yes? Can we do it? If not, then I'll update around Sunday, because I have a graduation to go to on Saturday. So . . .
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