Rin and Kaede sat before the fire pit preparing breakfast. The tension between them had not abated. Before Kenta's proposal, they'd had a relatively easy going relationship. Now…Rin wondered if Kaede intended to stay mad at her forever.

"Hey Rin!" Inuyasha's bellow from outside made her jump. He poked his head around the door flap and grinned crookedly.

Kaede scolded the half demon. "Inuyasha, must you shout so?"

"K'eh! Get over it, ya old hag," Inuyasha rejoined cheerfully. He was in high spirits this morning. Kaede harrumphed. He squatted next to Rin and stole a piece of pickled radish from her chopping board.

"Sesshōmaru's here. He told me to tell you to meet him by the well, like I'm some sort of errand boy." He snorted rudely.

The girl visibly paled. For a moment, Inuyasha thought she might faint. She looked at him, her face etched with a mixture of excitement and distress and then she looked down at herself in dismay. She set aside the chopping board, scrambled to her feet and began smoothing the front of her mo-bakama. She also removed her scarf and tried to bring order to her hair. Kaede frowned and stopped her.

"Rin, I must speak with Lord Sesshōmaru. I will return shortly and then you may go to meet him. Please tend to the soup."

Rin bowed her head, and sat back down reluctantly. Her knuckles were white as they came to rest in her lap. "Yes, Granny Kaede."

Inuyasha thought it was pretty awful for the old lady to make the kid wait like that. He frowned and watched Kaede shuffle out of the hut.

Rin snatched her knife and went back to chopping vegetables, with a bit more force than Inuyasha thought necessary for the task. He raised a brow as he watched her. The tension in the hut was heavy. Was old Kaede really that upset about Rin turning down a marriage proposal? Sheesh.

"Don't worry, I'm sure she'll go easy on the old dog," he scooted closer to Rin and bumped her shoulder with his, wishing she would cheer up. She glared at him when he grabbed another pickle.

"Ha ha, very funny," she muttered irritably. Inuyasha noticed her hands were shaking.

Sesshōmaru was here now, so why was she so upset? Inuyasha scowled and crossed his arms. Sesshōmaru would have him to answer to if he said anything to upset her. The girl continued to murder radishes.

"I guess you know by now that I told Kenta no. If you were to ask Granny Kaede, the world is coming to an end because of it."

"He finally got up the nerve, poor guy."

"Granny Kaede thinks I made a terrible decision."

"Bullshit. Who ya marry or don't marry is up to you, kid. Don't let that old lady strong arm you about it."

She snorted but her chopping seemed to only become more vicious. Inuyasha cocked his head so he could better see her face. Kagome insisted Rin had feelings for Sesshōmaru. Inuyasha still couldn't get his head around it. It was too unbelievable. He was hesitant to pry, but he felt even more protective of her all of a sudden. If that bastard's arrival made her feel worse, Inuyasha would make sure he seriously regretted it. In fact, he was itching to go find him now and teach him a lesson just on principle.

He cleared his throat nervously, positive he was about to say the wrong thing, but his curiosity was too much for him.

"Is there…someone else ya had in mind to marry?"

Her chopping slowed and she bowed her head, hiding behind her hair. "Inuyasha. You aren't stupid. You know why I said no."

He winced. So it was true. "Sorry…"

Rin dropped the knife and began to cry. She covered her face with her hands. "I could never marry anyone in this village! I could never marry any man, period. I just…want to be with him. It's all I've ever wanted."

"Hey, kid, don't cry. He's here…why aren't ya happy?…" Inuyasha hauled her into his arms and rolled his eyes heavenward at the entire uncomfortable business. He just couldn't believe it, but there it was.

She gratefully buried her face into his chest and cried as if her heart were breaking. "How I wish he felt the same for me, but how could he?"

Inuyasha had no answer for her. He had certain suspicions about Sesshōmaru now that all the pieces were falling into place.

"Why did he even come anyway? Who says he even wants to see me? Maybe he wants to talk to you."

"Oh come off it, when has he ever wanted to talk to me? And if that were true, why would he order me to come get ya?"

"Maybe he came to discuss what he thinks I should do with my life! Probably to tell me I need to hurry up and get settled with a husband so he doesn't feel any more responsibility for me! I am sure Granny Kaede is telling him what a fool I am at this very moment! Of course that conversation would happen without me," she said bitterly.

Inuyasha understood why she was angry. if Kaede and his brother were doing such a thing, he'd be pissed off, too.

"Eh, don't jump to conclusions, kid. You used to act like the gods themselves came to visit you every time he showed up. Now you are bawling your eyes out making all kinds of crazy assumptions!"

"I can't help it! He confuses me! It's been so long with no word at all from him! What makes now so special? If he's going to stand there like a silent statue for ten minutes, give me another silk kimono and then disappear again, then he can just… go back the way he came! It's always silk, of all things! Do you have any idea how many expensive kimono I have that barely get worn? It's not like I can tend the garden in them! It's absurd!"

Inuyasha couldn't hold back his snort of laughter, thoroughly enjoying the idea of Sesshōmaru being baffled by this tiny slip of a girl. Kagome had been right, as usual. Inuyasha supposed on some level he'd always been aware of what had been behind Sesshōmaru's behavior toward Rin in recent years, but didn't want to admit it because….well, it was weird imagining his brother…courting a female. He shuddered.

Thanks to Myoga, he now had a decent idea how canine nature would drive a great demon like Sesshōmaru. Since Inuyasha had married Kagome, the old flea had been generous with sharing his prodigious memories of Inuyasha's father and mother. He learned how his father became attached to his mother for her kindness, and would have protected her regardless of if she accepted him as a husband.

Rin had no idea that Sesshōmaru had quietly guarded her ever since leaving her in the village six years ago. She was blissfully unaware that any demon she ever came across would instantly knew that to touch her would bring destruction upon them. It didn't register with her that Sesshōmaru was always nearby, especially during Inuyasha's human night.

It seemed that Sesshōmaru was indelibly attached to the girl, and likely had been since their first meeting. Whether that attachment went beyond his need to look after her was anyone's guess. He hoped for her sake that it did.

If Sesshōmaru was trying to court Rin, the poor bastard was failing miserably. He had no damn idea what he was doing. Rin was human, and didn't understand anything about dog demon instincts. Inuyasha also thought it was pretty dumb that he disappeared without a trace for so long, as far as Rin was aware. If he expected to get anywhere with her or impress her, that was not the way to go about it. Idiot.

As a very married man, Inuyasha had learned a thing or two about human women, usually the hard painful way, but he doubted Sesshōmaru would listen to anything he had to say on the topic. He sighed, and couldn't believe he was about to defend the bastard.

"Rin, a demon like Sesshōmaru doesn't think about the passage of time like a human does. The fact that he's come around as much as he has over the years is proof that you are important to him."

She sniffled. "But it's been forever. I—I thought he was never coming back."

"K'eh! No chance! I could never get that lucky to be rid of him!"

"Don't say such things about him." Rin poked him hard in the ribs, but she was smiling.

"Ow! Got ya to stop crying, didn't I?"

Her smile faded into a look of such forlorn sadness, Inuyasha was sure she was about to start sobbing again. But she didn't.

"Don't get me wrong, Inuyasha. I am so glad of the friends I have made here, and for Granny Kaede's taking care of me. But the ting is…I never wanted to live here. I understand it, really I do. But my decision was made from the beginning. With him is where I belong. He has always just let me be myself. The feelings I have for him now…I can't explain it. He makes me feel...alive and happy. It's not like when I was little. It's so much more, so much deeper. I know you two don't get along and you don't much like him, but he is good, kind and gentle to me."

Her voice was tearful again. "When Kenta proposed to me, all I could think about was how I wished it were Lord Sesshōmaru asking me that question." She blushed and hid behind the curtain of her bangs. She moved away and turned her back, hugging herself.

Inuyasha just stood there. He felt awkward and embarrassed but didn't know what to say, so he just stared at the back of her head like a complete moron.

"I do not expect him to understand my feelings, or to return them. But I will be true to myself, no matter what."

Inuyasha reached out and squeezed her shoulder in encouragement. "Rin…I ain't any good at words. But I don't think you can go wrong if you do that."

She turned to face him, her brow knit with determination. "Then it's settled. I am no longer going to pretend everything is fine. I'm going to say what I need to say to him. I can't live like this anymore."

He gave her a lopsided grin and retrieved a wrapped bundle from inside his fire rat robe and held it out to her. "Here. I almost forgot."

Her eyes widened. "Is this my ink and parchment?"

"It's only a couple rolls. I'll bring the rest of it later. There's a new brush in there too."

Her face broke into a true smile and she hugged the bundle to her chest. She set it aside and went back to preparing breakfast. "Thank you, Inuyasha."

He ruffled her hair like he used to when she was little. "You bet, kiddo."