Catch My Disease

By flo4ever

I'm sorry for the tardy update, but my computer was so fucking stupid! It was defragmenting all of my files, and it resulted into many, many folders being hidden and lost.

But, crisis solved.

Thank you all for your reviews and patience, they've prompted me to kick some serious hardware ass and resume writing.

Summary: Sesshomaru resorts to extreme means after he and Rin share a moment. Will things remain tense between them, or will Sesshomaru finally admit to himself how much his ward really means to him?

Listening to: Jordin Sparks – Battlefield

Disclaimer: Rumiko owns all things IY. I simply bring her characters a liiiiittle bit out of their shell.

Enjoy!


Chapter 3 - Sense

Rin eyes fluttered open slowly, her dim pupils blinking furiously at the glaring sunlight. She groaned and sat up, wiping the sleep from her eyes as she yawned. Standing slowly, she walked over and pulled her bright green kimono off the floor. Combing her fingers through her hair she untangled a few knots and pulled it up into her typical ponytail. She opened the door and headed outside, deciding to check on old Kaede and maybe even get some work done.

Sesshomaru was curled in a small ball on his futon, his bloodied shirt lying on the teak floor next to him. At least he had enough sense to take it off before dozing off last night, sleep finding him for the first time since months. He stirred slightly, his excellent hearing registering a faint sound of movement nearby, not bothering to open his eyes. "Go away." He ground out, pulling the deep red comforter over his head in a meager attempt to avoid his younger brother. He cringed when Inuyasha stomped his bare foot on the futon, pulling the blanket down. He glared at him like a stubborn child.

"Bastard." He said curtly.

"Don't bastard' me, get the hell out." Sesshomaru growled, abruptly standing and grabbing the nearest haori off the ground. It wasn't clean, as Jaken hadn't gotten around scrubbing his clothes yet, but still better than the bloodied cloth he had on last night. He pulled it over his head and remained standing, his back to the hanyou. He crossed his arms over his chest, partially out of stubbornness and partially out of anticipation.

"What do you want?" He asked coldly, still refusing to look at him.

Glaring at the ground angrily, Inuyasha stood, walking over to where Sesshomaru was standing. He cast a quick glance down at his arms, which were now almost completely healed, only faint pink lines remaining where some of the deeper cuts had been. Inuyasha could still smell the crusted blood from Sesshomaru's 'incident,' taking his eyes from the marks as Sesshomaru pulled his arms tighter around his chest, he looked up at him. "I came to talk some fucking sense into you." Sesshomaru rolled his eyes and sneered, dropping his arms to his sides and heading up to the upper level. Inuyasha followed behind him, is deep red robe flopping about as he climbed up the stairs. He had been in Kagome's world for a while when he had decided to stop over to see him. Kagome was going to be late anyway, so that gave him enough time to kick some serious old fang faced ass. He walked inside the study to find the tree tall youkai standing in front of his desk, lifting Toukijin from an open drawer. His eyes landed on him as they stared at each other, unsure what to do. Inuyasha rested his hand lightly on Tetsusaiga's hilt.

"What now, half breed? Finally at a loss for words?" Sesshomaru asked mockingly. He shook his head, swallowing loudly.

"What, poor Sesshomaru's finally worthy to have someone care how he's doing? Hate to break it to you baby brother, but it isn't anything new. I'm still the same obnoxious demon you've grown to loathe and detest, so stop looking at me like I'm a little lost puppy."

Inuyasha went to speak but halted as a mass of chocolate brown hair cocked her head around the doorpost. When Rin fully emerged through the doorway, completely oblivious to his presence, Inuyasha took it as his cue to leave. He wasn't about to ground his brother into a heap of demon dust in front of Rin. Sending one last glare at Sesshomaru's direction, Inuyasha walked to the nearest window and jumped out, muttering something about being lonely.

Rin folded her arms and carefully observed her Lord. He was so different from how she had found him yesterday, as if nothing had happened. He was suddenly himself again, not the hazy and tortured creature she had stumbled upon only hours before. No wonder she had never known, he kept it hidden. That was probably one of the only secrets he had kept from her, and she could see why. She felt guilty and he didn't want her to feel a hint of sadness, especially not because of him. He didn't want to upset her, so he hid what she had driven him to.

"Ses- Milord?" was all she managed, rocking back on her heals.

She knew why.

He shrugged and fell back against the desk, hiding the blade behind his back. Let her figure it out on her own. He inhaled deeply, allowing the flowery scent to flow into his empty body. He allowed her personal fragrance to roll out of his nostrils, finally turning to face her.

"Why did you come back? You don't care anyway. I'm not a part of your life, remember?"

She cringed as he shot her words back at her. She had never apologized, had she? That's what she had come to do and it had completely slipped her mind. Tending to Sesshomaru's wounds was reason enough to forget, she guessed. His health was bit more of an issue than his feelings. But then again, his feelings were causing him to hurt himself. Foreign.

With a sigh, she walked over and sat down on the opposite end of the desk, looking at the ground. His eyes remained locked on her. "I'm sorry."

He snorted softly, "For what? Last night?"

She brought her eyes to his, smiling grimly, "No, for what I said to you, about you not being able to love. I'm sorry."

"You said I was a cold, heartless creature that was unable to care. And I suppose finding me slicing and dicing my hollow chest had nothing to do with this apology, that it came from your heart, right?" He asked sarcastically, his cold tone returning. "I'm sure you would have told me that if you hadn't found me like that." He looked away from her, huffing indignantly. She didn't speak and he remained silent, not wanting to talk to her anymore. After a few moments, he gave up, finally turning to face her.

"This Sesshomaru highly doubts you came here to have a staring contest with me so why don't you get back to the village. I'm not going anywhere." He never ceased to amaze her. Here he was, pissed as all hell at her for finding him being emotional, and he was trying to make sure she didn't waste her time with him and get back to her own life. He always put her sake before his, even when something as serious as this came up.

With a defeated sigh, she pushed herself off the desk to stand directly in front of the white-haired demon. "No, Sesshomaru. We need to talk. They'll survive without me in the village for awhile."

He nodded his head at the ground, not sure what to say. For once she hadn't come to him when it was merely a convenience to her, she was actually putting her other priorities to the side for him.

"I meant it." She said quietly, almost inaudible. If he hadn't had ungodly hearing, he wouldn't have caught what she had said.

"Meant what?" Sesshomaru prompted.

"That I love you."

Silence.

"Why are you here?" He asked softly after a brief silence, finally able to look at her.

"Believe it or not, to say I was sorry." She rolled her eyes, smiling slightly. "I got a little side tracked though. Kaede made me collect herbs for a good part of the afternoon. I lost track of time."

"Hmm..." He muttered, glancing down at the marks on his arms. "Did you mean, well, the other thing you said too?" he asked, looking at her hopefully. Once again his feeling on the issue were conflicted, part of him wanting to be her closest and most trusted friend and the other part wanting to be something more.

She sighed, placing her tiny hand on top of his. "I don't know. Not right now, at least....but you're always so confusing. I don't know how to read you, Sesshomaru. But I don't think you are heartless, I mean that." She smiled slightly, standing. "I'll see you later Sesshomaru, I'm off to pounce on Inuyasha for not minding his own business."

He clenched his trembling hand into a fist at the loss of her touch, "Go get him." He ran his clawed fingers through his curtain of silk hair when she was gone, unsure what to do. Maybe she did think of him as a friend, but then again, he might just be reading her all wrong. Pull the demon's strings; see what you can make him do. He buried his face in his hands. Inuyasha was right, life sucked, especially when you felt alone.

But Rin hadn't spent two hundred and fifty years alone...

Don't blame Sesshomaru for being angry at the world for not understanding his emotions. He still needs more time, like, a chapter or 2.

Let me know what you think! And thanks for reading.

Review plz!