One Week

Chapter 3

I don't own Inuyasha

Sesshoumaru laid his head on the pillow, satisfied that they'd made it through day one without much of a hassle aside from a little bickering, which was to be expected. In six more days he and his father would be in the car lot and picking out his new car. He allowed himself to slip into sleep and dream of a new set of wheels.

"Sesshoumaru..."

Sesshoumaru woke to the sound of Kohaku's voice as he cracked his eyes and looked at the clock. It was 3 am and he couldn't understand why Kohaku was up. Without looking at his younger brother, he pulled the cover further up.

"Go back to bed."

"But..."

"Go back to bed."

Sesshoumaru tried to dig himself deeper into the bed as he felt Kohaku's presence creep closer. Even Aun sat up from the end of the bed and began pawing at Sesshoumaru's shoulder, whining, and burrowing his nose into his side with the audacity to start pulling the covers off.

"But, Rin's not feeling good."

Sesshoumaru turned over to see Kohaku holding Rin's hand. Even in the darkness, Sesshoumaru could tell she wasn't feeling well.

"What's the matter Bug?"

Rin shook her head but ran to him in order to be picked up burying her head in his chest. Even through the shirt, he could feel that Rin was warmer than normal. It didn't take long before he figured out what was wrong as Rin repeatedly rubbed her ear.

"Is she okay?"

"Yeah."

"Is it okay if I go back to bed?"

Sesshoumaru nodded as he carried Rin downstairs and into the kitchen where he sat her on the counter top to look for the medicine. He searched through the cabinets as Rin whimpered and rubbed at the offending ear.

"Where did Izaiyoi put the rest of your medicine the last time you had an ear infection?"

Rin pointed to the cabinet he'd just been searching only to go back to it and find the medicine buried in the back. He'd never seen Rin take a pill but then again he'd never paid much attention to what Izaiyoi did. Sesshoumaru placed the small pill in her hand along with a cup of juice and noticed Rin frowning.

"What? What's wrong?"

"Mommy crushes them."

"How?"

"With spoons."

The minute Sesshoumaru presented her with the crushed pill on the spoon Rin shook her head again, refusing the medicine.

"Rin, you've got to take this. We both need to sleep."

"Mommy puts juice in it."

"Of course she puts juice in it."

Sesshoumaru tried to measure the juice to pill ratio as the juice teetered on the edge of the spoon. It took a steady hand to keep from tipping the balance. It was perfect and there was no way Rin would turn it down. Looking at Rin, he immediately knew the situation was critical. He needed to move. There was no time to react, and words would be of no use here. He'd seen Izaiyoi save the tile floor and the carpet multiple times in a way only a mother could. She'd cupped her hand to catch whatever undigested food matter came out of this child and rushed her to the bathroom in the other arm. He had no such strength, nor motherly ability. To his father, such bodily fluids were like kryptonite to his Superman and unfortunately he himself did not fall far from that tree. He compared it to witnessing an exorcism as green and brown colors lept forth from the small girl. Sesshoumaru felt his heart skip a few beats as a small amount of queasiness entered the pit of his stomach before he rejected the notion that he might become sick at the sight of this unfortunate event. He looked up at the spoon in his hand. There was no sign of juice or pill. It too had become a projectile as all of his calm was thwarted and he had no idea where the small amount of liquid had landed by comparison to the massacre of kitchen cabinets where he'd only been standing a moment ago. To Sesshoumaru's surprise, despite her legs being covered in the otherworldly contents of her stomach, Rin looked to him and smiled.

"I feel a little better now."

"Sesshoumaru why do you look like the police are about to arrest you?"

Sesshoumaru noticed that he still had both of his hands up as Inuyasha walked around him to get to the refrigerator.

"Oh! What the hell happened in here?!"

Sesshoumaru let his state of shock dissipate as he tried to figure out where to start cleaning first.

"Inuyasha, clean this up. I've got to take Rin to get a bath."

"Oh hell no!"

"Just do me a favor this time. This one time!"

"You owe me your allowance for two months if I clean this up..."

"Done."

"...And, if Dad buys you a new car, you chauffeur me and my friends around for three weekends of my choice!"

"I'm not chauffering you and your idiot friends around."

"Good luck cleaning the kitchen."

Sesshoumaru groaned, "One weekend."

"Make it two."

"Fine."

"I'm holding you to it. Bug heard it. Right?"

Rin nodded as she repeated the deal, "Sesshy's allowance for two months and he rides Inu and friends around."

Sesshoumaru sighed hearing the little sister recount the details, "I thought I was your favorite brother. What happened?"

Rin nodded as Sesshoumaru picked her up and held her at arms length, "You are! I still love Inu and Haku too."

"Okay, just don't throw up on me."

Inuyasha heard Rin gag as Sesshoumaru took her back upstairs. He was sure that the distress call and thud up against the wall was Sesshoumaru's attempt to move his body out of the way without dropping Rin.

"Hehe, got em!"

Inuyasha laughed as Rin proclaimed her victory in scaring Sesshoumaru. Maybe Sesshoumaru didn't want to get thrown up on but he would risk it if it meant Rin wouldn't get hurt. Their baby sister could be annoying at times but the three of them were probably overprotective of her being the only girl. It was something that their father had instilled in them.

After finally getting through a bath and getting Rin to take some medicine, Sesshoumaru had taken her back to her room. He never made it a point to come into the room since Rin was usually the social butterfly. But it was where he'd gotten her nickname from. Rin was a fan of all things flowers, ladybugs, and puppies. Her bed was fittingly decked out with flower sheets and a cloud frame.

"You feel better?"

Rin nodded

"Good, get some rest."

"Wait, Sesshy."

Sesshoumaru began to silently chant a mantra of patience as he'd nearly been out of the room.

"Yeah?"

"Mommy always reads me a story so I can fall asleep."

"Bug, it is four in the morning. I'm tired."

"Please?" Sesshoumaru tried not to look into her pleading eyes but he could still see them in his head.

"Alright, pick one of your books."

Sesshoumaru's yawn was interrupted as a book was shoved into his hands. Sesshoumaru blinked twice looking down at the book.

"Bug, I cannot read you Oliver Twist in one night. Besides, isn't this a little dark for you? I thought this was Kohaku's book."

"I took it from Kohaku's room. Besides, it's about an orphan like me."

"You're not an orphan. Don't say that."

"I know. Mommy got to chapter five."

"One chapter."

Rin crawled to the side of the bed and looked over Sesshoumaru's shoulder with Aun, as he sat back against it and opened the book. He wasn't surprised to see that Izaiyoi had marked the chapter by bending the corner of the page. He tried to ignore it but found himself attempting to smooth the corner straight so that it blended with the other pages. After reading two chapters, Rin finally fell asleep and Sesshoumaru allowed himself to collapse into his own bed. Sleep beckoned him under.

"Sesshoumaru..."

"Go to bed Kohaku!"

"But, it's 7 o'clock and I'm going to be late for Karate."

"Walk."

"But it's 10 miles away."

"You'll be fine."

"But I'll miss it by the time I get there!"

"I don't care."

"I bet you'll care if dad doesn't get you the car because...I tell him you didn't stick to the schedule!"

"What?!"

Sesshoumaru could hear a faint whisper coming from the doorway as Inuyasha reached and placed his cell phone in Kohaku's hands.

"Stand your ground Kohaku."

"I'm...calling dad, right now."

"Just, get your stuff while I bury Inuyasha in the backyard."

A/N: Thanks for reading!