Rin sat in the corner of her hut, crying. She had died before, twice. But it had never been like this. Both of those times, she had vague memories of being sucked into the underworld. But this time, she was somehow stuck in the world of the living. To have to see the look in Sesshomaru-sama's eyes was simply unbearable.

Kikou sat in front of her, looking carefully. She knew that he couldn't see her, but he could definitely sense her presence. She tried to speak to him. "Kikou?"

His ears perked at her voice. He could hear her, somehow! It made her feel less alone. She was so uneasy around her body, even though it belonged to her, but she was unable to leave the hut - a barrier of some kind kept her bound. She seemed doomed to be stuck in a living Hell, forever.

Just then, when she least expected it, she heard the rustle of feet. She ran toward the door, carefully avoiding her body. Looking outside, she saw a sight that surprised her - Kagome, Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango, and their children! They must be back from their time spent every fall in the forest. Sango always went to lay flowers on the graves of those in her former village, and the others always helped her. Rin usually did too, but this year she had been... preoccupied.

As they got closer, Rin could her them speaking. "I told you, Inuyasha, NOT to get involved! Rin's choices are her own! There's a reason that we didn't ask her to go with us this year - I could sense Sesshomaru heading this way!" Kagome sounded irritated, as usual.

"Oh yeah? Well then why didn't I sense it!"

"Because you've lost your edge," dug in Miroku.

"Oh, and you're just all kinds of useful, now, Miroku, since you can't use your Wind Tunnel anymore!"

Everyone grumbled at Inuyasha, as they always did.

It brought a smile to Rin's face, but something was wrong. Why didn't they smell the blood? Why couldn't they sense the aura that was strung all over this place?

It was then that Rin noticed that Kagome had frozen, her eyes on Rin's doorway.

"Kagome, come ON!" yelled Inuyasha.

"No, I need to go check on Rin."

"Are you kidding me? I can smell my stupid brother all over this place. If he's been in Rin's hut, I have no desire to see what's been going on in there!"

"Give it a rest, Inuyasha!" said Sango, but she gave a funny look at Kagome, laying down her Hirakotsu. "What is it, Kagome?"

Kagome's eyes had dilated. "Something isn't right here," she said, cocking her head. She turned to Sango. "Can you sense it? I feel as though something bad has happened, and I ought to go in there, but I am simply incapable of walking forward. It's like a barrier, but a strange one."

Sango looked at the hut, too. She tried to walk toward it, but it was as though her feet were frozen to the ground.

"Strange," she said.

"Barrier? Problem solved," said Inuyasha, raising his Tetsusaiga. Before anyone else said anything, he sliced through the barrier. It was unlike any they had ever seen before. When the sword broke through, a black flash blinded their eyes, a sickly, dead smell rose through the air, and a ghostly scream whined through the forest.

"Very, very dark magic," said Miroku. Sango and Kagome immediately ran for the hut as fast as they possibly could. "Wait!" called Miroku. You don't know what's in there!"

"I do, and it's bad!" whispered Inuyasha. "I can't believe I didn't smell it before!" He ran after the women.

"Children, stay here, and don't move from this spot. Here is my staff; use it to ward off anything evil that may come." Miroku slowly walked after the other three.

What he saw inside the hut broke his heart.

Sango, Kagome and Inuyasha surrounded Rin's body. She had a stab wound on the bottom of her chest, and was holding a bone knife. It looked as if she had self-inflicted the wound.

Kagome was weeping softly, and Sango had tears running down her face. They knelt next to Rin's body, their hands gently touching her. Inuyasha, however, had his hands balled into fists.

Why?

Of course, everyone knew that Rin was saddened by being left alone. But as Inuyasha said, Sesshomaru had been here recently. Unless...

Maybe he had refused to allow Rin to return with him? And this was Rin's answer to a life in the village? He couldn't completely blame her - she was barely accepted, and definitely an outcast. She certainly belonged with Sesshomaru far more than she belonged in the human world.

But suicide? It seemed completely unlike her.

The women cried for some time. Miroku and Inuyasha walked outside, unable to bear the scene much longer.

Inuyasha looked pensive - an unusual expression for him. "Why, Miroku? Why would she do it?"

"I don't know, Inuyasha. But doesn't this all seem strange?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we found Sesshomaru's scent here. But this barrier is obviously not of his making. Who would enclose Rin's body in a barrier after suicide?"

"I don't know," Inuyasha admitted. "I don't find that the strangest thing, though. Why does she have that knife? It looks like a youkai blade - certainly made out of youkai bone. The aura on that thing is unbelievable."

Miroku debated for a moment. He had a hunch, but he didn't want to irritate Inuyasha; bringing up dog-youkai culture could sometimes make him mad. "Well, do you know if your brother had an enemy?"

Inuyasha snorted. "The entire country, you mean?"

"No, really. Is there someone who may have a personal grudge against him?"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "I was being serious! Everyone hates my brother. I don't know a damn thing about his life with his uppity family. For all I know, they all want him dead. Wouldn't surprise me."

Just then, they heard Kagome call out inside the hut. "Inuyasha!"

"What is it?" They were both in like a flash.

"Look at this! Look at her wrist!" Kagome held up one of Rin's wrists. A single character was etched into her flesh: "Fool."

"What does that mean?" Kagome demanded.

"Why the hell you asking me?!" Inuyasha shot back.

"Look at the wound," said Sango. "Once we saw it closely, we could see that it doesn't go very deep - it's only deep enough to bleed out over her chest."

"That's not all," added Kagome. "Feel her wrist."

Inuyasha held it for a few seconds. Impatiently, he started, "What the hell are you playing-" and he felt it. A small, light, but identifiable THUD. Naw, he thought, but about 15 seconds later, he felt it again, for sure.

"She's not dead," said Kagome. "But I can tell that her soul is not within her body."

"How?" asked Inuyasha.

"I don't know... I can just feel it. Her soul isn't far away, either. I can feel her presence here. And look at Kikou." She motioned to the corner of the hut. "He isn't paying her body any attention. He's sitting in the corner, staring at it for some reason." Indeed, the little dog was looking at the corner, concentrating fiercely. He gave a small, sharp bark, startling everyone.

"Well then what's going on?" Inuyasha spat out, irritated by the whole situation.

"I would think it's obvious," Miroku said. "Someone wants Rin's body, and wanted to keep it here out of reach. That's why they put up that barrier - a powerful one, that even kept the smell of blood inside of it. Their second defense, if the barrier was broken, was to give Rin a weapon that was clearly cursed, so that no one would dare approach her. They want to use it for something."

Everyone gave Miroku an incredulous gaze.

"You might be right," said Sango. "But what do we do now?"

"I don't know," Kagome replied, blankly. She held Rin's hand, and squeezed it, tight.

...

Rin watched them in stunned silence. I'm not dead? she thought in disbelief. Momentarily, she was elated, until she remembered that she was still stuck out of her body, and had no idea how to get back.

The others were debating the proper course of action. They felt the need to watch over Rin's body, and make certain that it stayed safe. However, they also didn't want to take the risk of anyone touching the cursed bone-blade and becoming possessed. There was much argument for a long time, until they all decided that they would bring Rin carefully to Inuyasha's hut, where he could continually guard her body, while Kagome would carry the blade, without touching it, and attempt to put a purification barrier around it.

Rin was unable to hold back tears as she watched Inuyasha and Miroku pick up her body, and move it out of her hut. After they left, she ran out, finally freed from the barrier, with Kikou following. In a daze, she went as quickly as she could, without even thinking of where she was going. Before she knew it, she was in the meadow she had spent most of her time practicing martial arts in.

She sat herself underneath the ancient maple tree and cried for a long time, with Kikou watching mournfully. It wasn't fair - all her dreams had just come true! Sesshomaru-sama had proved to her that he loved her, in the most intimate of ways. It seemed she was finally going to be with him forever. And now, her life was ruined by a selfish, vengeful youkai-woman!

Who was she, anyway? Hadn't she mentioned something about Sesshomaru-sama choosing Rin over her? She must be someone from his past!

Rin had scarcely ever thought of Sesshomaru-sama's past. She knew he was old - far older than humans could live - but he was not old for one of his kind. He was, by their standards, in his young-adulthood. He never spoke of anyone, and the only other full-blooded dog youkai that Rin had ever met was Sesshomaru-sama's mother.

Who, then, was this woman?

Rin, deeply lost in her thoughts and miseries, was trying to figure out what to do next. She stood, slowly, wondering where she should go, and what she should do. As she turned around, she gave a start of surprise. Someone was standing there - and she hadn't even noticed.

It was a woman - no, wait - it was a youkai!

Startled, Rin ran behind the tree, shivering. The last thing she needed was another encounter with a crazed youkai - maybe this one wanted to eat her soul, or something!

"I'm so sorry, Rin, I didn't mean to frighten you. Please come out - I won't hurt you."

The voice, clear and beautiful as a bell, sounded not the least bit vengeful and angry, but Rin wasn't taking any chances.

"How can I know that?" She asked. "The creature that just killed me spoke sweetly enough at first!"

"Oh, I know that all too well," the lovely voice said, with a slight bitterness. "But like you, I am only a spirit."

Rin, slightly mollified, though still wary, peeked out from behind the tree, looking at the youkai-woman. When the woman saw she was watching, she stuck her arm above her head into one of the tree branches. It went straight through, making no contact with the wood whatsoever. She was a spirit, just as she said.

"I know you don't know me, Rin, but I've known you for a very long time. I've followed you ever since you were seven years old. If I'd meant you harm, you would be dead by now."

Of course, this didn't make Rin feel any safer, but something in the woman's voice told her that she could be trusted. There was something about it - whether it was sadness, or gentleness, or both, Rin couldn't tell. Anyway, what did she have to lose at this point? She didn't see any way of getting back into her body. Who cared if her soul was eaten?

She approached very slowly, looking at the youkai. She was, by far, the most beautiful being Rin had ever seen, ghost though she was. Even Sesshomaru-sama couldn't possibly be compared to her. Her skin was the color of milk, with pinkish tones throughout. She had no markings on her face, as Sesshomaru-sama had. Unlike most dog youkai, her hair was the color of blackest night, beautifully wrapped around a small wooden comb at the top of her head, and cascading down her shoulders, spilling all the way down to her knees. Her legs, fingers, and arms were incredibly long, delicate, and shapely. Her large eyes were a beautiful blue that was the deep color of twilight. She wore a simple black cloak, but on her, it looked finer than any seven-layer kimono worn by the most beautiful noblewoman. Rin felt hideous and ungainly beside such an elegant creature.

"How do you know me?" Rin asked, walking warily closer.

The creature sat upon one of the boulders underneath the maple, and gazed into Rin's eyes. "I have followed you ever since you began following Sesshomaru. Where he goes, I go also."

Shocked, Rin stared at her. Before she could ask why on earth this was the case, Kikou, who had gone off in the forest to quickly drink some water, ran barking towards the woman. Rin noticed, however, that he was barking at her the same way he did when Rin returned to him from a long day of work in the fields. He gleefully did figure eights around her, his pink tongue lolling joyously out of his mouth. The youkai-woman smiled at him, saying, "Oh, how I wish I could take you in my arms, little friend!" The joy in her voice was so much more lovely than the sorrow that Rin wasn't sure she could take it.

"Well, you seem to know a lot about me, but I know nothing about you," said Rin, somewhat icily. The youkai, distracted from her joy at meeting Kikou, gazed at Rin, somewhat mollified.

"Of course, Rin, I apologize for not introducing myself properly. My name is Inuyuki."