A/N: Thanks to icegirljenni, hanayuki and chrysanthemum-nhu in addition to my other reviewers. I'm really enjoying writing this, and the reviews really help. Thanks for your support!And also, in Canada, Thanksgiving is in October. :P I took a little break to brush up on the manga, and now I'm debating whether Sesshomaru's mokomoko is a pelt, or a tail. In the manga, it is unquestionable that is in fact a 15 foot long tail that is draped over his shoulder to prevent it from a-draggin' on the ground. But in the anime, it is just a piece o' fluff draped over his shoulder. The thing is, I don't know if I can take him seriously with a 15 foot long fluffeh tail. I'll just make this an AU and call it a draw. Ha ha
Goodbye is for Tomorrow
Chapter 4
The following week was relatively uneventful, until one morning, Hitsuji poked her horned head into Rin's chamber.
"Ah, Lady Rin, Lord Sesshomaru is here to see you," she said, checking to see if Rin was appropriately dressed.
Rin stood as the door opened to reveal Sesshomaru. The sight of him surprised Rin; he was wearing his white kimono and hakama, with the red flowed crest that she had known so long ago. It was so reminiscent of times past that Rin felt herself back there. What madness that time had been. It was so dangerous; no place for a young girl, and yet Sesshomaru had always kept he safe, or at least, he had always come through in the end.
"Good morning, Lord Sesshomaru," Rin said, with a smile.
"Good morning, Rin," he replied. "Today, we start your training; prepare yourself and then come to the garden," he told her, turning on his heel to leave."
Training had slipped her mind. Rin had been so busy with adjusting to life in the castle that she had completely forgotten any mention of training. "Hitsuji, would you find me something training appropriate?" Rin asked the girl who was still standing respectfully outside the door.
"Yes, or course," Hitsuji said, immediately running to find something for Rin to wear that wasn't a long and restricting Kimono.
Rin quickly braided her hair, tying it tightly at the end with a leather thong. By that time, Hitsuji had returned with what looked like a keikogi and a pair of women's hakama pants. Rin thanked Hitsuji and quickly dressed, rushing down to the first floor and outside as quickly as she could. She slid the garden door open and rushed outside.
Sesshomaru was there and immediately tossed her a sword in a sheath. Rin caught it in her right hand out of reflex.
"Draw your blade," Sesshomaru told her.
Rin nodded and withdrew the blade from its sheath. This was real sword, not some dull practice-thing. There would be no practice, only the real thing. The weight was comfortable. It sat nicely in one hand but was able to be used in two. The blade had a cutting edge on both sides, she noted.
"That sword is called a kogarasu-maru. As you'll notice, it is double edged, so try not to cut something off. It makes up for being marginally shorter than my katana by being double edged, and thus you are able to strike an enemy on the backswing, the front blade, and with a stabbing motion, much like my old sword, Tokijin."
Rin nodded in comprehension, tucking the sheath into her obi.
Sesshomaru drew his simple katana. "Now, try and strike me," he told her.
Rin hesitated. How could he ask her that?
Imeediately, Sesshomaru was practically on top of her, his hand grasping her right wrist to keep her sword away, and his sword at her throat. "Lesson one: hesitate in battle, and you will die," he told her.
Rin stilled her nerves and nodded, backing away, pointing her sword at Sesshomaru.
"Now, try and strike me, and be quick about it."
Rin did as she was told and ran to his open left side, and quickly thrust at his side. Easily, Sesshomaru reached across his body with his katana, and deflected her thrust in an arc over his head, catching Rin off guard and causing her to stumble where he had pushed her sword, in an instant, she was off balance, and his sword was at her throat. She jumped back.
"The strategy is there, but it's sloppy. Try again," he told her.
Rin came at him again, this time swinging in an upward arc towards his waist. He slammed his sword down on top of hers, casing hers to get stuck in the soil momentarily. He raised his leg to kick her and stopped just short of her head.
"Rin, I'll tell you something you're going to have to learn if you ever want to succeed. It is unlikely that you will ever overpower a demon or even a human man with brute force, so you must be faster, smarter, more accurate, and you must be adaptable. Use your body as a weapon. If you can't master the weapons you have at your disposal now, how will you ever master a sword?"
"Yes master," she said, stepping back into the fighting stance that Sango had taught her.
"Again, Rin."
Rin was more careful this time, she attacked at his left, and swung in an upward arc. Unsurprisingly, he slammed her sword into the ground again, but this time she was more prepared, and pivoted on her right foot, following the movement oh his strike and aimed a kick, high at his head. He caught her at the ankle and flung her, her sword tearing from her grasp, remaining in the ground. She went sliding through the grass. Groaning mildly as she brought herself back to her feet.
"Better, much better," he told her with a nod of approval. "Now pick up your sword and do it again."
~.::.::.::.::.::.~
They continued training once a day for the next couple of weeks. Rin was always sore, and had frequent pulled muscles, but she was content that Sesshomaru came every day to practice with her. In spite of his usually quiet air, he was a wonderful teacher, and Rin was a quick learner, though she supposed anyone would be, knowing that not improving meant more frequently taking kicks or punches, or being thrown across the garden, and occasionally into the pond. She was pleased that her Kogarasu-maru had become increasingly lighter to her, and she became able to wield it with ease. As soon as she had begun to learn how to properly hold the sword, she had improved quickly.
Today though, things were less enjoyable. Their session had to be cut short due to Rin stupidly injuring herself. Rin cursed herself for lack of common sense. While attempting to block Sesshomaru's swing, she had reflexively blocked it in a way that she had seen Sesshomaru utilize many times, putting both hand on her sword and blocking a downward strike by crossing the sword horizontally across her body, protecting her shoulder from his blow, but instead, as his sword collided with hers, she could not handle the recoil and her own sword's back edge had slammed into her shoulder with the force.
Currently, a healer was suturing her shoulder as Sesshomaru sat in the corner of the healer's room watching anxiously. Well, anxious for Sesshomaru, that is. This meant he was tapping his nails impatiently on the tatami mat he was sitting on and intensely watching the healer's movements as she worked.
Rin gave him a smile, the only discernable indication that she was in pain being a tightness in her eyes that she could not smooth out.
Sesshomaru realized that she had seen how anxious he was. Damn girl. No one else read him like she did. It was infuriating sometimes. He crossed his arms over his chest. Perhaps it was time they were both outfitted in some sort of armor during training. As much as he hated to admit, she had actually come close to catching him with her sword. If it had connected, it would have been just a knick, barely a scratch, but he was above that. She was improving at an alarmingly fast rate.
"You're all done now, Lady Rin!" the healer exclaimed. "Just try to avoid getting cut up in the future," the old woman told her.
"I will bear that in mind. Thank you again, Lady Natsune."
"Oh, Natsune is just fine, dear. You have a good day now!"
Sesshomaru rose as Rin did and opened the door for her. He was unfamiliar how an injured human was to be treated. All he knew was as a general rule, if you severed their heads, punched holes in them, or cut them deeply enough, they would die. They were pitifully fragile. They died of diseases, animals, old age, minor wounds, anything could kill a human. He eyed Rin suspiciously as she walked beside him. She looked pained. She wouldn't die of something like that, would she? He knew that sometimes, in humans, wounds would fester and kill them.
Rin looked up at him. "What's wrong, Lord Sesshomaru?"
He crossed his arms in front of him, putting his hands in his kimono sleeves. "You're not going to die of that, are you?" he asked.
Rin laughed. "Of course not. I'm going to be fine, my Lord."
Sesshomaru did not like to be laughed at. "I don't care, I was just curious." He said, looking directly ahead. He felt a gentle tug on his sleeve. He turned to look at Rin.
"Don't be angry, my Lord, I didn't mean to laugh at you like that. It's just, I forget sometimes that demons forget human limitations." She laughed again. "I do too sometimes, having spent my life among demons or extraordinary humans."
Rin took no notice of the servants whose eyes were practically bulging out of their heads to see a human girl tugging on Sesshomaru's sleeve, and he, rather than looking deathly annoyed, was talking to her in a kind voice. Was this the girl that everyone was gossiping about?
"It's fine." He gingerly touched her wounded shoulder with the most feather light of touches. "Does it hurt?" he asked, curious.
"Only a little," she lied. She felt the silk thread of the fresh sutures pulling at her flesh as she moved her arm.
"May I see your shoulder again?" he asked, rather fascinated by the process of human healing.
"In private," she told him in a quieter voice. "We have many eyes on us. Would you care for tea in the garden?"
He considered this for a moment. He nodded. "Hn."
Rin sent for tea before following Sesshomaru into the garden. She noticed that her sword, which she had dropped, had already been taken away, though her blood still stained the grass. She was glad to be dressed in a dark blue Kimono, because she felt her wound seeping blood into her fresh kimono. She was also thankful that she had requested an older one, because she had known this would happen.
A young servant girl hurriedly brought a tray to where Rin and Sesshomaru sat in the shade of the gazebo and set it down between them. "Hitsuji told me to bring this for you also," the girl said, setting down a plate of two skinned and sliced peaches.
"Thank you," she said to the girl. She happily picked up a slice of the white fleshed fruit. "Peaches are my favorite," Rin said, popping the sweet fruit into her mouth. This late in summer, peaches were readily available in the west where the climate was perfect for them. The peach was perfectly ripe and delicious.
Sesshomaru picked up a slice ate it, looking out over the garden.
"Aren't they good?" she asked.
He glanced at her quickly and nodded. "Hn."
"Oh, right," Rin said, pulling down the right shoulder of her kimono to reveal her still fresh injury to him. "I forgot," she said. It looked particularly bad now that there was some blood seeping through the sutures, smeared on her skin. Sesshomaru looked fascinated, as if he had never seen such a thing before, and likely, he hadn't, being a demon, and not really being around humans much.
"And poking holes in you with a needle helps you heal?" he asked.
"Yes," she replied.
"Why does it need to be sewn?"
Rin gave a small shrug. "Many reasons. It heals faster, and chances of the wound festering are lessened. Also, the scarring isn't as bad this way." Just then, Rin had a delightful thought. Her Master was cute like this, when he was so curious. She shuddered to think about what he would do if she ever mentioned that out loud.
"Interesting." He said, leaning back from her again, eating another peach slice.
Rin pulled the sleeve of her kimono back up and readjusted it.
"When will you be ready to resume training?" he asked.
She shrugged. "Tomorrow, I guess."
"That is doubtful, you are badly wounded."
She waved a dismissive hand at him. "Oh, this is just a flesh wound."
He shook his head again. "No, it is an unwise idea. We will resume once the thread is removed from your shoulder."
Rin was about to object, but decided it was probably for the best. Her body was quite worn out. She was sore everywhere and she was beginning to become just a large, purple bruise under her kimono. "Yes, my Lord. I'm just anxious to get back to training. I want to get better, but I can't help but feel that I'm still going to be a mediocre swordsman for years."
Sesshomaru shook his head. "That is also doubtful. You are improving very quickly; faster than most demons, in fact."
"Really?" Rin asked in disbelief.
He nodded. "Hn."
She rubbed her head nervously. "Well that's good. I thought I wasn't doing very well."
Sesshomaru was about to speak when he heard Hitsuji from the door.
"Lord Sesshomaru, there is a human man who is requesting to see Lady Rin. He says his name is Kohaku."
Rin's face lit up. She had not seen her friend Kohaku in years. She looked to Sesshomaru.
"Bring him into the garden Hitsuji."
Hitsuji nodded curtly. "Yes, Lord Sesshomaru," she said before disappearing back into the castle.
"I wonder why he has come here," Rin mused aloud, "or how he found me. He must have looked for me in Inuyasha's village first." She looked at Sesshomaru, silently questioning if he knew.
"I haven't the slightest clue," Sesshomaru said, feigning ignorance. There were very few things a man traveled so far to see a girl for and the boy had had feelings for Rin ever since she had become a young woman.
Rin shrugged, slipping another slice of peach into her mouth. Sesshomaru and Rin sat in silence for a while.
"Rin!" a familiar voice called from the patio. Rin turned and stood, only to have Kohaku embrace her in a tight hug.
"Ah!" Rin cried out with the sudden, sharp pain of Kohaku constricting her shoulder.
Sesshomaru was on his feet in a flash, and without thinking, separated Kohaku from Rin. He smoothed out his angry features. He had overreacted and pushed the boy away out of instinct. He looked at Rin, whose bows were furrowed, and her eyes were tight with pain. This girl…how did she steal his sense like this?
"Rin, I'm so sorry, what did I do?"
She shook her head. "No, it's fine, I just have some sutures in my shoulder, that's all," she told him.
"I'm sorry Rin, let me look at them," he said, coming close to Rin again.
"No, no, they're fine," she told him.
"Rin, torn sutures are prone to infection," he told her.
She grudgingly pulled down her sleeve again. It didn't look like they had torn; they had just been pulled on painfully. Kohaku examined her shoulder with gentle fingers.
Sesshomaru wasn't particularly for of the boy's hands on Rin in any manor. What was this, jealousy? Him, jealous? Maybe it was him that needed to be looked at by a healer.
"So what are you doing here, Kohaku?" Rin asked, once he had declared her sutures perfectly fine.
"I was just passing through the west and I'd heard you were here," he told her.
Sesshomaru smelled a lie. How dare the boy lie in his presence? He quashed the urge to call the boy out on his lie. It could just be a white lie, and forcing to admit it would just make him look like the fool.
Sesshomaru sat silently as Rin and Kohaku talked about trivial matters. Surely he was not jealous. No, Rin was merely his, and Sesshomaru didn't like others encroaching on his territory. Rin was his. Rin is your what? His mind asked him. Rin wasn't anything, she was just his, and that's all there was.
"Right, Lord Sesshomaru?" Rin asked him
"Hmm?" he asked, brought out of his daydreaming.
"I told Kohaku I was doing well in my training, right?"
Sesshomaru nodded. "Very," he said, but all he could concentrate on was how close Kohaku sat to Rin. Every time she shifted away slightly, he found an excuse to shift closer.
"See, I told you, Kohaku!" Rin exclaimed.
Kohaku laughed. "I was just bugging you, Rin."
Sesshomaru stood. "Rin, I'm going inside, I will come gather you from your chambers for dinner. Kohaku, you may stay as long as you wish, I will have a servant bring you to your chambers later." Sesshomaru left, feeling Rin's eyes on him as he left. Sesshomaru slid the garden door shut, setting off to find Hitsuji. He followed her scent to where she was airing out kimonos for his mother's use. "Hitsuji, after you are finished, take the boy to one of the guest's chambers on the east face of the third floor."
Hitsuji suppressed the urge to grin. It appeared the Lord was upset over the boy's presence, and it did not escape her notice that he had wanted him placed in a chamber that was farthest away from Rin's own. "Of course, my Lord."
Sesshomaru left without another word, stalking through the castle angrily. Didn't that girl know what she did to him? Even more vexing, why did he care?