A Taste of Humanity
Disclaimer: Sesshomaru and all characters from Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, not me. This story is for entertainment purposes only; I make no profit from it.
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Chapter 6: Habits
The village was small and fairly quiet, but there were a few people around. None took much notice of the now-human demon lord and his ward. Beside a large pile of long grass, a few elderly women were hard at work on what seemed to be baskets. He watched silently as they took great care choosing the blades of grass that would be woven into their baskets. Rin noticed he had stopped to watch them and decided to narrate as if it were a tour.
"Rin learned to make baskets like those while she was here," she explained. "They are used to store lots of different things like herbs and fruits. Some are used in cooking too, for steaming vegetables and fish." He nodded to show he heard her and they continued strolling through the village. She led him up a small dirt path to a large cherry tree, its tiny buds promising an abundance of blossoms later in the season. She seemed to sense his waning energy and helped him sit beneath the tree. 'How is it she can read me so easily?' he wondered, 'I showed no outward sign I was tiring, yet she knew.' He decided to think on that later and suddenly realized Rin had left. Glancing about he saw no sign of the girl and his chest began to tighten with worry. Just then his brother showed up, perched in the tree above.
"Relax, would you?" he huffed, "She's just down the hill picking you some flowers." Sesshomaru looked where his brother pointed and sure enough Rin came skipping up the hill with a large clump of flowers in hand. He let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding and looked back up to his brother only to discover he had left.
"Rin thought flowers might make you feel better Lord Sesshomaru," she said sweetly. He took the flowers and found their scent quite pleasant. 'I see. To a human nose, these are indeed very nice. She doesn't realize my usual demon nose finds them irritating.' He recalled the time she had brought him bouquet after bouquet of wildflowers until he was practically covered in them. He had been quite proud of himself for not breaking his stoic expression the entire time, though he had to hide his sneezes and his diminished ability to smell from his companions for a full week. Luckily, she had kept the flowers to one clump from then on. She plopped down beside him and looked up at him nervously. He caught her fidgeting and decided to encourage an explanation.
"Rin…" He had learned that just saying her name could illicit a response from her. Depending on the tone, he could ask or command a variety of things, all with just her name. He noticed none of the other humans seemed to fully utilize this mode of communication, though the miko used it on his brother a few times and human mothers seemed to use it occasionally on their children. 'Perhaps Rin's mother also used it. Does that mean she sees me as a mother? No, of course not; that's such a foolish notion. Though, perhaps she sees me as a father.' He was uncertain how he felt about her being his 'daughter', but before he could continue his thought, she decided to reply to his prompting.
"Rin was going to ask something foolish, milord," she admitted, "it is not important." She had never held back asking anything just because it was foolish before. He had plenty of memories to prove that. So, he did what he always would when she did or said something odd. He arched an eyebrow at her.
"As you wish," he said calmly, knowing it would get her to do one of two things. She would either forget about it and happily jump to a completely different train of thought or blurt out whatever it was she had wanted to ask. He had a feeling which it would be and allowed himself a small smile as he was proven correct.
"Rin has seen a lot of the other girls her age wearing braids with pretty flowers in their hair and…" she took a deep breath and in a rush blurted out her question, "wouldLordSessomarubraidRin'shairandputprettyflowersinit?" He blinked, surprised. He had somehow understood the girl's jumbled request, but had no idea how to respond. 'She wants me to braid her hair and put pretty flowers in it? I'm a demon lord. I have no knowledge on how to braid hair let alone the embarrassment of being caught performing such a thing…' Yet he knew if he said 'no' she would be unhappy. He hated it when she was unhappy since it usually meant tears. Tears were unacceptable. So, with a deep breath and a slow sigh, he nodded to Rin.
"If you will show this Sesshomaru an example of a braid, then this Sesshomaru will braid your hair." He felt strangely content with his decision, humiliating though it would be if discovered. Rin grinned and took a small sample of his long black hair. She separated it into three sections and began to braid his hair. It was surprisingly simple. He shook out the braid she had made in his hair and she sat in his lap, her long black hair awaiting his attention. Separating it into the three sections like she had done, he began braiding her hair, adding flowers from the collection she had brought into it as he went along. He found it was quite enjoyable, though he would never admit it to anyone. Once he finished, she handed him a small red ribbon. He tied it to the bottom of the braid in a flawless bow which was rewarded with one of her brilliant smiles and a hug.
"Thank you," she murmured softly as she hugged him close. He decided the risk of embarrassment was well worth it after all.
They stayed under the tree for awhile, Rin chattering about how this cloud looked like Ah-Un and the one over there looked like him in his true form. He had to agree that one did look suspiciously like his brother after the miko said 'sit' a few times. 'I never noticed these things before Rin,' he realized. 'Even then I tended to dismiss them as foolish.' He did find himself enjoying the more 'foolish' activities now that he was human, yet he wondered why. 'I am still myself,' he mused, 'I didn't become someone else entirely simply by becoming human. So why do I act and see things differently now?' He did notice emotions were far stronger than before. It was much harder to control them and keep his face devoid of expression. His body would have physical reactions to emotions as well which bothered him even more than the actual emotions did. Things like hunger and exhaustion were more demanding on his body as well. As a demon, he could ignore either for days before becoming physically impaired. Now, he needed multiple meals a day and plenty of rest each night in order to simply function normally. The weather impacted him too. Still, for all the faults humans seemed to have, he did find a few new things enjoyable. The soft warmth of the sun on his skin, the tickling breeze in his hair, content moments spent with Rin, even the sweet fragrance of flowers and the tempting taste mochi cakes made being human less annoying to the demon. Yet he found his actions quite baffling. As a demon, he would never have braided Rin's hair, he would not allow himself to debate whether a cloud resembled himself or not, nor would he ever have stopped to watch a few elderly women make baskets.
'However,' he realized, 'when I was younger I probably wouldn't have given any of this a second thought.' He remembered his father, before he met Izayoi. He remembered laughing and acting much like Rin would. He loved spending time in the family garden with his father. 'Then she came and destroyed it all…' he fumed. 'Yet maybe she didn't intend to. It was my mother who changed things. Mother called father weak, called him a fool. I remember them fighting. She convinced me he had betrayed us, but was that really true?' It had been an arranged marriage to his mother; not one of love. She had tolerated his father as necessary. Females did not rule the Western Lands. 'What would've happened had I not taken her side? Would he still be alive if I had accepted my brother then?' The questions spun unanswered in his mind. He remembered how his mother had raised him after his father's death, trained him to show no emotion, to view humans as weak and pathetic creatures, and to kill without mercy. 'What would happen if I rejected all of that now? I know Jaken would faint if he heard me laugh or even saw me smile.' He found himself chuckling at the image of the imp's horrified look and collapse. Rin looked up at him and smiled. She didn't seem at all shocked by his show of emotions lately and seemed to respond quite noticeably to them. Her new habit of giving him hugs was probably due to his more emotional demeanor. He did enjoy the displays of affection, though he was not sure if he would continue once he was a demon again. 'Why should it change?' he wondered. He decided he would allow her to continue with the hugs regardless.
The sound of someone approaching drew Sesshomaru from his thoughts. It was the miko. 'I really should stop calling her that,' he thought. She was his sister now; he should start showing her proper respect. 'She also just took care of me for two days while I was sick and feverish.' He nodded to her as she came closer.
"Kagome," he acknowledged politely. She seemed a bit surprised, but quickly recovered.
"Inuyasha said you two were here," she commented, "I thought you might want some lunch." She presented them with a small basket. He took it carefully and decided to surprise her further.
"Thank you." He considered giving her a small smile and decided against it. 'I don't want to completely traumatize her.' She smiled and nodded. As she made her way down the hill he could've sworn he heard her say something about wishing Inuyasha was as polite, but dismissed it. He peered into the basket, finding a variety of interesting items. Rin seemed to recognize the basket.
"This is one I made!" she exclaimed cheerfully. It was a very nice basket as far as he could tell. Its varying colors created a subtle swirl pattern along the top edge. For some reason it reminded him of his true form. "I was thinking of your true form when making this," she admitted. "See it swirls like your fur does." He nodded since it did indeed swirl like his fur did. He was a bit surprised she had been able to put such a fluid design into something that seemed very rigid. He studied the basket further, noting the subtle color shifts in the grasses of the design, giving it the illusion of a raised design.
"It is very impressive Rin," he said honestly. She seemed surprised at first, then decided to give him a hug. He was starting to think he would develop an addiction to these warm, affectionate displays. When she finally released him, she began digging through the contents of the basket. Luckily, she seemed to know what each item was and happily informed him of each piece of food as they ate. They came to small boxes of brightly colored things rolled in what appeared to be rice. The names of the small pieces of food were confusing to him, but he noticed she referred to most of them by shape and color when stating preferences. He found himself agreeing that the rectangular pink ones were tastier than the round black ones, but while she favored the square red ones, he liked the round yellowish-orange ones best. They continued eating the various tidbits of their lunch when they came to a small box. Inside were treats he was becoming quite familiar with… mochi cakes. There were only four and he found himself playfully trying to 'steal' her cakes while she tried to grab his. Stomachs full, they reclined against the tree together. He found himself getting drowsy again and didn't notice his brother had dropped by until his face was two inches in front of his own. He tried to hide his surprise, but failed. His brother was sniffing him as if unsure who he was.
"What have you done with my brother?" Inuyasha asked, still sniffing him cautiously. He was confused. 'Did he somehow forget I have been cursed into a human?'
"This Sesshomaru has done nothing with 'your brother'," he stated calmly. Inuyasha plopped down in front of him as if trying to decide something.
"Then why is Kagome insisting you're an imposter all of a sudden?" 'I show some respect to her for once and she thinks I'm an imposter?'
"Perhaps, this Sesshomaru showing your mate respect was too traumatic for her," he replied.
"Keh," his brother huffed, "As if you would ever… wait a minute, you aren't kidding, are you?" He simply raised an eyebrow. "No, you're right, you don't kid. Since when did you decide to stop being a jerk?"
"I believe your mate uses that term on you often enough, dear brother," he quipped, dropping the third-person speech. 'I do find it annoying at times.' He heard Rin stifling a giggle next to him. His brother merely looked stunned. 'Is it my joke or the lack of my usual 'this Sesshomaru' that has him stunned?' He watched as the emotions crossed his younger brother's face in steady waves: shock, disbelief, anger, and finally amusement. Then, his brother smirked.
"True enough," he admitted finally, "you gave her quite a shock with whatever it was you said. She was trying to get Jaken to let her borrow Ah-Un so she could go get Miroku. She thought you'd become possessed or something." His brother chuckled. "What did you say to her anyway?"
"I just used her name and said 'thank you' when she brought us lunch. I did not think it would panic her." 'I wonder what would've happened if I had smiled at her? Have I really been so disrespectful to her that a simple thank you causes her to think I've been possessed?' That thought bothered him more than he anticipated.
"Why the sudden change?" his brother asked, distracting him from his thoughts. 'Should I tell him the truth? I've never admitted not knowing why I've done something… and to do so to this half-breed… no, he is my brother. The fact he is a half-demon should not matter anymore. He proved himself to be strong and capable many times already.'
"I honestly don't know," he admitted, "Perhaps her tending to me while I was ill made me realize she deserved my respect. She is my sister-in-law now after all." He waited, unsure how his brother would take his honest answer. Inuyasha nodded.
"I'm glad you've finally accepted her and I'm sure she is too," he smiled, "you think it's just you being human doing it? I know my feelings get all jumbled during my human nights."
"I don't think so," he paused, considering, "I've been doing a great deal of thinking lately; thinking about father." Inuyasha moved to sit next to him. He noticed his brother seemed sad now.
"I wish I remembered him," Inuyasha whispered. "I was still too young when he died." His brother hung his head, his long bangs hiding his eyes. Sesshomaru felt an ache to reach out and comfort his little brother. 'I miss him, yet he never got to know him.' Uncertain, he reached out and put his arm around his brother.
"You look like him," he said softly, "though he had my markings. He was a great general; strong and respected."
"He didn't have my ears," his brother joked half-heartedly. He noticed Inuyasha's eyes were wet, but he didn't mention it.
"No, those are uniquely yours, dear brother," he smiled softly. "He loved spending time in the family garden. He always seemed to have time for me, always had a story to tell, always willing to listen." He notice Inuyasha was leaning into his embrace now, a faraway look in his golden eyes as if trying to visualize what Sesshomaru was saying. 'He's still so young,' he realized. 'I'm the only link he has to our father.' Giving Inuyasha an encouraging hug, he decided to continue telling his little brother about their father. Rin seemed happy to listen as well and curled up against his other side.