All I have to say for taking so long is drama, drama, DRAMA! I apologize for the delay and I sincerely thank everyone who left me a review and is still reading this fic. Much love to each and every one of you for keeping me going when my life has been miserable these past few months.

I apologize in advance for any mistakes I might have made while typing this.

Notes:

Sanshin (literally means "three string") – According to Wikipedia this instrument was the precursor to the ever-famous shamisen. From what I understand, it arrived in Japan around the 16th century which, I think is the time period where Inuyasha takes place (500 years ago) then again, Inuyasha has been running for a long time and I'm pretty sure it began in the 90's.

Ningen-Hime – Loosely, Lady Human or Princess Human. You are more likely to see a lady referred to as "oujyo" than "hime" but I always think of the yakuza when I hear this (thanks to Gokusen) so I opted to use the latter.

Keroko - The Sound effect for a frog is "kero" and I've already explained the meaning of "ko". Hence, the name Keroko is made to suit her character.

Ties of Blood

Chapter 9

Accommodations

Sesshoumaru listened to Rin's rapid steps as she struggled to keep up with his much longer legs. The scent of her annoyance perfumed the air and he took perverse pleasure in knowing that he was returning to her a measure of what she was putting him through. 'Serves her right,' he thought to himself, a near-imperceptible smirk touching the corner of his mouth. Contrary to popular belief, the Lord of the Westernlands was not a being without a sense of humor. For example, he took great pleasure in watching his enemies maneuver and plot "behind his back" when he knew, that sooner or later, he was going to kill them all off. That constituted a pleasant thought for him. He was also infinitely amused whenever he went into battle against humans.

Really, they were like insects sometimes, the way they clustered together and made up strategy after strategy in order to beat back the fearsome youkai "invaders". He almost snorted in derision. They were squatting on his land. Their mewling ruler wasn't even a glimmer in his great-great-grandfather's eye when Sesshoumaru hit the age of seventy-five and his world was turned upside down by upheavals inside of his carefully ordered world. Within just a few years, his father had brought thathuman woman to live with them, his wretched half-abomination of a brother was born and his father died fighting for said woman who wouldn't have even lived for very long because of her mortality.

The half-smirk on his lips melted away as quickly as it had come and he silently promised himself that he would not follow in his father's footsteps. The whispered insinuation of just that possibility when his subjects were examining Rin was enough to bring home to him the importance of not letting this…this fixation he had on her to go any further. His odd awareness of her not too long ago was warning enough for him.

He prided himself on his control and his pride was taking far too many blows where she was concerned. Hence, he decided that he needed to assign a new role to her. Since he believed that everything had its place and he kept everyone and everything in his life inside of neat little boxes, he decided that Rin would not possibly fit into exactly the same category as her brother. The way his logic worked, the people conspiring against him were labeled "Tools" on "Sesshoumaru's Scroll" – aka his mental list of what he owned and how he used it. His subjects were labeled "Servants", "Soldiers", and "Pawns" respectively. Souta had been labeled both "Experiment" and "Human Reference Point" and he had thought to transfer those exact labels to Rin but, in light of recent events, he had mentally to scratch her off the "Human Reference Point" list. She was so much unlike her fellow humans as to be in a category all her own.

He continued to turn it over and over in his mind and he was only giving the girl following him half of his attention. Rin, he decided, could retain the label of "Experiment" but he mentally wrote down the heading for a new list as he recalled one of the reasons why he had taken her from the doomed town in the first place – her Miko abilities. Since he wanted to learn more about her kind as well as devise a counter-strategy against them, he decided that first he would need to find someone who could develop her powers enough that he could gain new insights into the workings of a Miko's body. Hence his new list bore the title of "Miko Reference Point" but that still didn't quite describe Rin. There were sub-categories for humans on "Sesshoumaru's Scroll" and she didn't fit on any of those either so he re-examined his own reactions to her in both human and inu form and decided to tentatively pencil her in under "Entertainment". Incidentally, that list also included, eviscerating youkai and burning down human towns.

Satisfied that he had mentally categorized Rin in the proper places for now and thus, could treat her accordingly, he decided to turn his mind towards finding the proper room in his vast castle to put her in so that she would be close but not close enough to be a nuisance.

As if reading his thoughts, Rin spoke up and asked, "Am I staying here?"

Sesshoumaru blinked and realized that he had stopped walking quite some time ago. A sense of foreboding fell over him as he turned his head slowly and stared at the red lacquered door with a golden crescent moon embossed at the top of it. He stared at the door and briefly entertained the thought of kicking it as hard as he could in frustration, but since it was childish and unbecoming of a taiyoukai, he resisted the urge. Besides, he knew full well that doing such a thing would not only deprive him of a perfectly good door but said door would most likely fly across his room, tear through his solid, stone wall and embed itself into the wall of the room after that. He'd done such a thing once with Inuyasha's room door after he evicted both him and his troublesome mother from his lands – hence his intimate knowledge about the physics of an angry taiyoukai's strength paired with a solid sliding door.

For the umpteenth time that day, he cursed both his own youkai senses and Rin. His youki had unerringly led him to his own room – which is where he usually went directly after arriving from a trip – because he hadn't really been paying attention. And why wasn't he paying attention? As usual, it was because he was wasting more brain cells than was wise on thinking about Rin, yet again. And now, he was sufficiently caught between a rock and a hard place.

Dogs would rain from the sky, literally, before he would turn around and march Rin back down the stairs and past his nosey servants, thus admitting by his actions that the great Lord of the Westernlands had allowed his mind to wander and made a mistake.

"You've been really quiet lately, Sesshoumaru-Sama, is something bothering you?" Rin asked and, even though he had his back to her, he could just picture her wrinkling that delicate brow of hers up in concern.

He was oh-so-tempted to reply "You are, now get out of my home and off my property" to her question but he bit his tongue. Instead, his eyes raced over the hall, looking for an empty chamber that he could stick her in. Spying a room about five doors down - his childhood suite which he hadn't lived in for more than a century - he decided that it would do for now.

"So, is this going to be my room or not?" she asked once more, her tone becoming annoyed.

Turning, he briefly took in the faint pout on her shapely lips and said bluntly, "This is my room."

Liquid brown eyes darted from him to the door and back again before widening. Rin took a tiny step back from him and it occurred to him what this would look like to her. She was unusually knowledgeable for her age and, no doubt, she knew that certain youkai had a taste for human women as their concubines. What must it look like for her to be standing before a powerful youkai such as himself who had led her to his personal quarters?

His youki didn't help by perking up at the thought of Rin and that intoxicating scent of hers perfuming his room and bed so that he could lay down with that heady smell surrounding him at all times. It was enough to make his male, inner dog lift his head and loll his tongue out in a distinctly lascivious, canine grin.

If he were prone to blushing, he suspected that his cheeks would be bright red – though he couldn't say if it would be out of fury or embarrassment. Whatever the cause, he muttered a barely audible, "Don't flatter yourself, girl," before turning and almost stalking to his old room door.

"This is where you will stay," he said, keeping up his usual monotone and apathetic expression with some effort – yet another thing, that had been unusual until he met Rin.

Rin stepped forward, the edge of her kimono just brushing his wrist and he shivered imperceptibly at the small contact. He was so used to not being touched that even such a slight feathering of cloth on his skin was enough to upset him. This was probably one of the most trying days that he had even been forced to endure and he would make certain that there would be no future repeats.

Thus resolved, he watched in silence as Rin took in her surroundings. A myriad of expressions flickered over her face as she took in the rich furnishings that adorned the room. He had actually been quite proud of his sense of style as he grew up in this room and a tiny part of him was inordinately pleased that she should be in awe of his taste. His father, Touga, had been a wanderer in his youth and for much of his adult life and there were many furnishings adorning his home that were unobtainable anywhere else in Nippon.

Touga had obtained low beds, instead of the customary futon used throughout the country, but these beds were of the four-poster variety. The wood of each bed was intricately carved with foreign birds, flowers, and landscapes. His own bed, in the Lords's chamber, was inlaid with a curious white material that was as smooth as silk – his father called it "ivory". He recalled asking his father how the foreigners who had carved it had known to lay down the symbol of his family - a crescent moon hanging above an inuyoukai – in the wood. The former Lord of the Westernlands explained that in the country where he obtained it, the humans had thought him some sort of deity and he had received many strange and unusual furnishing as offerings. This knowledge, of course, had only served to stoke the fires of that young Sesshoumaru's arrogance. For if his kind were considered to be gods elsewhere, should not both weaker humans and youkai bow to him in his own country?

He sometimes wondered what his life would be like if his father hadn't ruined it by bringing that human woman into their home. And of course, the lowly creature had to compound the insult by spawning his half-breed abomination of a brother. His life had been miserable from that point on, but then, he had never been a particularly outgoing person himself. He was always the perfect model of what a taiyoukai, who was destined to rule vast amount of land and peoples, should be. Cool, calm, and collected - unfazed by the things that went on around him, he was perfection itself.

Then his father betrayed him and all that the taiyoukai of the West stood for and he had to work even harder to maintain that cool. He had never been an emotional person, even before the advent of Izayoi and his half-brother, Inuyasha. But whereas he had been a cordial, if somewhat distant lord before, he was ice itself now. Cold, unforgiving and blank; it was a persona that had gradually taken over until it was what he truly was. He was rude, manipulative, and quite a few of his subjects, along with most humans, though him to be pure evil.

Sesshoumaru calculated the costs of everything and he took control of whatever situation he happened to be in. He almost never took chances and he tried his hardest to suppress his dirty secret - his hidden curiosity that drove him to do things that even he hardly understood. Things like bringing in a human – the creature that he so despised – not only once but twice. He could rationalize most anything away, but at this moment, as he watched the play of emotions on Rin's face, he couldn't stop the questions from bubbling up.

'Does she know that her thoughts are always on her face?'

'How does she see my room?'

'Is it pleasing to her?'

'Will it make her want to stay here?'

This last question took him quite by surprise but he let it rest, unwilling to explore it further. He would not question why he had a vague urge to insure that she didn't want to leave his castle when she had made it abundantly clear that she only stayed with him out of love for her brother.

Rin, he had long ago realized, was not like him. She didn't hide her thoughts and feelings quite as much as he did and she also apparently would not allow their animosity to completely overshadow her manners. After she explored the room, ignoring him for the most part like a bird familiarizing herself with her cage - gilded though it was –she came to a stop before him and bestowed upon him a soft smile that made something deep inside of him twist.

"I never thought that you would put me in such a nice room, Sesshoumaru-Sama," she said in a low voice, those soft brown eyes of hers looking so steadily into his own that he knew she meant it.

"It is merely so that you do not get yourself killed before I tire of you. You seem prone to provoking your betters," he replied in as stern a voice as he could muster.

She did not lose her smile.

"Thank you, Sesshoumaru-Sama."

Such a simple phrase uttered by those shapely lips of hers, but it was one he was unused to hearing. When he did a favor for someone – usually something like sparing their lives or refraining from tearing out the entrails of everyone in their immediate family – they usually groveled or made sure they stayed out his way. Rarely did they thank him, and when they did, it was always accompanied by either the scent of fear or resentment. Not so with Rin.

Her "thank you" was sincere and the look in her eyes, it was as if he had given her a pleasant if unlooked for gift. Those eyes of her, combined with her quiet words, made that curious "something", hidden away in the deepest corner of his being, twist once again – more strongly this time.

For the first time in his life, Sesshoumaru, taiyoukai, lord and master of the Westernlands, broke eye contact first because he couldn't handle what she was making him feel. He was ice, he cold, calm, killing perfection – did not his very name mean that?

The taiyoukai focused his gaze on the sliding door across the room, which lead to a bathing chamber - yet another commodity that his father had picked up from overseas.

"I will send someone to help you bathe," he said, trying to break the mood.

"Thank you," she said again.

"You know where my room is, but know that you are unwelcome unless it is the direst of circumstances."

"Of course, and thank you again for warning me," she said softly.

Turning his gaze down towards her once more, he took one look into those soft brown eyes, decided that he had said more than enough, and made his escape.

Fleeing a battle was yet another first for him, but he decided that if he were to fight Rin on the emotional level – in other words, being able to disabuse her of the notion that he was a kind person in any way, shape, or form - he needed better weapons.

What he needed, at the moment, was Jaken.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rin frowned at Sesshoumaru's back as he retreated through the open doors, sliding it closed behind him as if she would stalk after him and pounce while his back was turned.

"I know I said that I wanted to keep him on his toes, but he acts like he's allergic to gratitude,' she thought sourly. However, it was hard to be irritated at him when she took the time to glance around the room he'd given her. It was, in a word, magnificent. The overall theme was blue and white. However, it wasn't just any shade of blue, no, this blue was a deep indigo that matched the crescent adorning Sesshoumaru's forehead.

If asked, she wouldn't have been able to identify half of the objects in the room because they were clearly not from her part of the world, but it was fascinating, nonetheless, to look at the decorations. The bed had four posters and low boards at both the foot and the head that were carved into absolutely gorgeous designs. When she examined it closely, she saw flowers that were quite unlike any that she'd ever seen before and animals that were so strange that she wondered if they weren't really youkai from a different country. The wood itself was a gorgeous red in color with a high gloss to it that wasn't lacquered on.

Rin spent a few minutes lightly running her fingers over the fascinating wood and its beautiful designs before turning her attention to the rest of the room. The walls were covered with massive hangings that sported – on closer inspection – scenes of massive inuyoukai's battling all manner of strange creatures and it was done in an equally unusual art style. It was plain to see that whoever had obtained the hanging had been very well traveled because the buildings being demolished in the scenes were vastly different from what she was used to. There was what appeared to be massive castles but these castles had four rounded towers at each corner - much like how the bed had four posters - and walls with large blocks of stone spaced out along its top edge. If she squinted, she could make out a person dressed in an odd metal hat and peering from the gap between two of the blocks. There were men on the grounds below the castle but she could see quite a bit more of them than the man hiding on the wall. It appeared that their entire bodies were covered in metal armor of some sort that looked like it might be even heavier than that worn by the samurai she had seen in town from time to time.

'It must be heavy to walk around with so much metal on,' she thought before looking at the monsters that the inuyoukai was battling. 'If that's what they had to fight, no wonder they were so heavily armed.' On this particular tapestry, the monster being fought looked like a giant winged lizard. In fact, it slightly resembled the dragons she had heard spoken of in fables but this monster was thickly muscled and stout rather than the serpentine version she was used to and it was obviously built for destruction.

Her eyes fell upon a village that was obviously on fire and it seemed that another one of those odd "dragons" was responsible, judging by the gout of flame emanating from its mouth. It was a fearsome and barbaric scene presented to her and she quickly moved away. She had never been particularly comfortable with the concept of human death and such obvious scenes of suffering didn't sit well with her, so she opted to move on to the next curiosity. The tapestries, she decided, would have to go at some point in time because, quite frankly, time spent as a homeless orphan had impressed upon her the importance of comfort over style. Besides, just because she was living in a castle full of human-hating youkai, that didn't mean she had to subject herself to it in her private life. Depictions of humans being slaughtered by monsters – whether foreign or not – were not her idea of good decorations, no matter how well rendered they were.

Moving on, she spied a sanshin and plucked at a few of its strings, wondering if Sesshoumaru would mind if she played it. The next item was an interesting vase and just as she reached out to pick it up, the door was thrown open and a high-pitched voice said cheerfully, "Hello, hello Ningen-Hime."

Rin whirled around in just enough time to catch a glimpse of something short, green, and disturbingly similar to Sesshoumaru's hateful pet toad before said creature abruptly let out a squeak of dismay. The thing hastily exited the room with a muttered, "I'm so sorry," that was cut off by the door slamming behind it.

The young woman blinked in surprise and could do nothing more than stare at the closed door in bewilderment, wondering what in the world had just happened. She heard a curious scrabbling noise on the wooden floor outside of the door before the distinct sound of a tiny throat clearing reached her ears and a timid knock sounded.

Now her curiosity was really piqued as to who it could possibly be. She tightened the ties of her kimono and ran her fingers briefly through her hair before calling out in a steady voice, "Come in, please."

A tiny squawk with a definite tone of excitement sounded before the door was opened with more than a little eagerness and the creature made its appearance.

"Ah, forgive me my rudeness, Ningen-Hime," it said with a deep bow before peering up at her earnestly.

Rin blinked once, twice, and then a third time as she took in the creature standing before her. Her earlier observation that it resembled Jaken was spot-on. In fact, if she had to lay down money, she would bet that it was most definitely from the same species of youkai. However, as she looked at the tiny toad-like creature she realized that it wasn't an "it" but a "she" rather, judging by the dark pink kimono printed with light pink flowers that tiny youkaisported. Then again she also sported tiny dangling flowers on her pointed ears and her dark green hair was pulled back into a bun that rested at the base of her almost non-existent neck. Rin had stifle her amusement as she noted that the creature's lips were painted in pink as well and what little she could see of her eyelids above her massive amber eyes was decorated with some sort of eye-shadow that was also pink.

It was obvious to anyone that this "toad" - or whatever Jaken and the rest of his race were – was very conscious of style and she forced herself not to be rude and laugh because it was obvious that the youkai went through great lengths to be beautiful. What really caught her, though, was the kindness evident in the youkai's eyes - it was a world apart from the blatant contempt Jaken seemed to hold for Rin and the rest of humanity. It simply wouldn't do to call the individual before her nothing more than a female version of Jaken just because she was wasn't pretty from a human standpoint. Besides, even she had to admit that the creature's skin – a very nice shade of green tinged with blue and sporting few bumps– was far more attractive than Jaken's marsh green skin that truly did resemble that of a toad.

The young woman really wasn't the type to judge based on looks alone or to shoehorn an entire race into a few words based on just a few encounters , hence, when she addressed the female youkai, she made sure to keep her tone respectful.

"Don't worry about being rude," Rin said with a smile, recalling the toad's earlier apologies.

The youkai gaped at her for a minute before her thin lips tilted up into a return smile and she clapped her hands together.

"Well now," she squeaked, "you are quite a bit different from what I expected, quite different indeed, Ningen-Hime."

Rin winced at the unintentionally rude form of address, "Princess Human" or simply "Human" just didn't sit well with her. Oh, she was sure the youkai meant "Ningen-Hime" to be a respectful title but she hardly needed a reminder that she was a mere human among youkai – some of whom would just as soon kill her as look at her.

She managed to maintain a kind smile as she replied, "You don't necessarily have to call me 'Ningen-Hime' - just Rin should be fine."

"Oh, no, no, no, no, NO, that simply wouldn't do," the youkai squeaked, her eyes going wide as she shook her blue-green head in dismay.

"I can hardly be so disrespectful, to address you as such. You are Sesshoumaru-Sama's guest and I refuse to show you nothing less than the utmost respect."

'I really, really wouldn't call myself Sesshoumaru's guest,' Rin thought, a curl of annoyance rising up when she thought of the circumstances surrounding her abduction by the moody taiyoukai.

"Well, how about you just call me Rin-San, then?"

The tiny youkai seemed to mull that over in her head for a minute before crossing her slender arms and shaking her head once more, "No, no, it's still isn't good enough."

Rin had to bite her tongue to keep herself from blurting out that it was her name and she had every right to decide how it should or should not be used. Dear Kami, what was it with most of the youkai she'd met and their fixation on titles and labels? Then again, some humans were the same way – so she supposed it came with being of the nobility. Curiously enough, she sensed that there was an underlying reason for this particular youkai's insistence that she have a grand title attached to her person.

Since the chatty little thing seemed so bent-set on this particular point and she had been unusually nice to her, Rin took a deep breath and decided to be patient. It was amusing, at least, to watch the miniscule youkai - who barely reached past her knees - as she unconsciously padded around Rin's room while she tried to think of a suitable title for her.

The little creature kept muttering under her breath as she wandered from one end of the room to the other, sometimes shaking her head in the negative and sometimes holding a mini-argument with herself. It occurred to Rin at that point that she still had no idea what the female's name was. She couldn't very well continue to think of her as "the random Toad-youkai who was nice but odd". Besides, she strongly suspected that she would need friends in her current situation so it wouldn't hurt to be on the creature's good side. Besides, good manners dictated that she try to learn her name - it would be hypocritical of her to insist that the youkai use her name if she couldn't even bother to learn hers.

With that in mind, she opened her mouth to ask the female her name only to be cut off when the odd little thing spoke up.

"Yes!" she exclaimed, punctuating it with a loud clap that made Rin jump with its suddenness.

"Yes!" the youkai exclaimed again, "yes, yes, yes," and she punctuated each with a clap of her little hands before whirling around to face Rin.

There was a massive smile on her face that stretched from one pointy ear to the other and Rin almost took a step back as the youkai approached her. Yes, she didn't believe in categorizing entire races but that didn't mean she would let her guard down just because she had finally encountered a youkai who was pleasant. She still hadn't forgotten that odd sense of glee that she had sensed from Sesshoumaru in his canine form…right before he went off to decimate her home town. For all she knew, this female was happy to think of all the different ways to serve up a tender human girl for dinner.

However, determined that no one would ever have cause to call her a coward, Rin stood her ground and refrained from yanking her hand away when the female grabbed it and declared loudly, "Rin-Hime!"

Rin blinked and opened her mouth to say that such a name was hardly fitting for her but the youkai cut her off again.

"Yes, that's it. I've spoken. I'll call you Rin-Hime from now on. I thought about calling you 'Most Exalted Rin' or 'Beautiful Flower Rin' but you don't seem to like such exalted names. Though I don't know why when they're such perfectly lovely titles," she muttered that last part under her breath but Rin heard it anyway.

"But I," the young woman began, "I mean you really don't have to…I mean…I'm not even that important of a guest. In fact, I don't' really count as a guest at all," Rin wanted to kick herself for getting to tongue-tied.

"Nonsense, Rin-Hime, nonsense. You are Sesshoumaru-Sama's guest, else he wouldn't have given you a room in the family's quarters. In fact, this room used to be his about, oh, I'd say a hundred years, give or take a few."

"R…really, I had no idea," she thought, her sharp mind racing over the possible reasons for Sesshoumaru sticking her in this room. He certainly didn't strike her as the sharing or caring type which was why she had been so surprised when he settled her in such a fine room. She could understand him sticking her in the servant's quarters, but in his old room? And in the family's section of the castle, no less? Briefly, her mind flew back to the crazy idea that he wanted her for his concubine when he had walked her to what was obviously the "Lord of the Castle's room", but she dismissed it as quickly as it came. She just couldn't see Sesshoumaru being interested in her that way. Whatever his reasons, she didn't want to be stuck with "Rin-Hime" the entire time she was here and she was determined that it wouldn't be so.

"I'm really just a plain human being, nothing special at all. There's nothing wrong with calling me 'Rin-San' or just plain 'Rin.' In fact, I would prefer it."

The youkai merely stared at her before asking her in a voice that had more than a hint of hurt in it, "You really don't like the name?"

Rin felt like a complete heel so she kindly replied, "Well, no, it's not that but…"

"Would you rather I call you 'That-Ugly-Sesshoumaru-Stealing-Filthy-Human-Wench'?" the youkai quickly interjected.

"Where on earth…," Rin began.

"Because that's what Jaken-Sama called you but after seeing you for myself, I can't agree. You aren't too bad for a human and I like your smile. I simply must tell Jaken-Sama that you're not that ugly so he shouldn't say such things. You'll certainly have to forgive him, Rin-Hime, he isn't so bad and he doesn't always know when to quit. Besides, I just can't say no to his handsome face," the youkai's cheeks actually turned a few shades darker in what could only be a blush.

Rin decided that she would be far more disturbed if she were to find out just how big this female's crush was on that nagging little toad with a Sesshoumaru complex than if she just allowed her to call her Rin-Hime. The thought of anyone liking Jaken in that way was just too weird to fit into her brain at the moment. Therefore, she decided to steer the conversation in a different direction than Jaken.

"Well, I suppose Rin-Hime is fine. I do wonder though, why you decided on that name."

"It's romantic," the youkai said…and the sad thing was that she said it with a completely straight face.

There was a long moment of silence before Rin dared to ask what she meant by that.

"Romantic, you say. I'll admit it's nice, but romantic?"

"We…ellllll," the youkai began and actually batted her large eyes at Rin, "Sesshoumaru brought you here on the back of Ah-Un - I saw that part because I was rushing out to meet my handsome Jaken-Sama - but I didn't hear much else before Sesshoumaru-Sama cleared us out. Then Jaken-Sama called me after speaking to Sesshoumaru-Sama and told me to wait on you. Imagine my surprise when I find out that he had put you in his old room of all places. The whole castle is abuzz with the news. I mean, the young master has always been so standoffish to the opposite sex and he hates humans, no doubt about it, but there were always rumors, you know."

"Rumors?" Rin queried, an odd feeling stealing over her that she was about to learn something very important.

"Oh, yes, especially since he brought that sweet, young human boy back home with him the last time. It was the talk of the entire Westernlands and now he's brought you with him, so don't you dare doubt that the rumors are going the spread even faster or grow ever bigger."

"You still haven't really answered my question about what these rumors are exactly. And I still don't even know your name."

"Oh, yes, yes, sorry 'bout that. My name is Keroko. I apologize, truly I do. I get so caught up in talking and then we go onto other subjects and then I start forgetting why I came in the first place and then…"

Rin held her hands up in surrender, an amused smile playing about her lips as she interrupted what was sure to be yet another tangent. She was honestly starting to like the talkative youkai.

"It's alright, I forgive you. I just want to know what rumors might be started by my being here. I heard something interesting upon my arrival but you would know better than I would."

"I yes, I suppose I would. Well, the word about the castle is that Sesshoumaru and taking after his father by bringing you here. That's also why calling you Rin-Hime adds to the romance you see."

"And we're back to the romance thing again. You're talking in circles Keroko-San."

"I, er, yes, sorry. What I mean to say is that there has only been one other time that a human woman was invited to stay in this section of the castle. It's been well over a century now but there are some youkai who refuse to let sleeping dogs lie and I fear they'll provoke the young master into a rage. He always was a lot more hot-tempered than his father was, though you wouldn't think it to look at him now."

"You were saying something about a human woman. Who was she and why was she here?"

"Oh, my dear child, didn't anyone tell you? Well, no, I don't suppose they would have, but the human woman who lived here…she was the lover of Sesshoumaru-Sama's father and the mother of his half-brother."

Rin froze in shock as she absorbed that bit of info. 'My, my,' she thought, 'there's a whole lot more to Sesshoumaru than I thought.' She moved over to sit on the bed and patted the spot next to her in invitation as she said with a smile, "I'm sure you realize that this comes as quite a shock to me but I believe in being prepared. Please, Keroko-San, won't you tell me more about this human woman and the rumors about Sesshoumaru and I."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As usual, please read and review. If you're still reading this then I'm glad you stuck by me. This was a pretty laid back chapter but I wanted the story to be a bit more fleshed out and we get to see Sesshoumaru and his frightening ability to compartmentalize everything around him. Question is: Will Rin really fit into the roles he has given her?