Well here I am once again sorry for the delay but yeah I was in Canada and kid of busy at the moment...he he...well forgetting that on with the next thing. I also was getting a major writer's block and couldn't even think! Ok enough gossip.

Review Corner

Angellaggaine: well here you go! Another update!

Ham girl: yay glad you loved it; I hope this one is cute for you too!

AznAnimeFanXP: yay I'm glad you're eager to read on but I think that...well you might get another cliffy .

Inu Obsessed o.o: ha-ha, umm well I guess not really festival time yet but some more mystery for you to think about. Oh I know, well this one Sesshomaru gets some weird feelings towards Rin. Read on!

Duvet: Oh this will be more mystery for your senses! I'm glad that you have reviewed, I always love a newbie! Please continue on!

(Divider)

The lord of Ayame village sat perched on one of Mizu's comfortable coaches as he gleefully sipped his tea that Mizu had recently served. "I am very glad that you are willing to come to the party I am hosting. My, when I told the townsfolk they all looked overly pleased to have their savor in person in this little old town," he stated grinning across the marble table to Sesshomaru who merely nodded.

Oblivious to the guests was that Sesshomaru was only half listening, from looking at the two elderly humans and to the window he was quiet preoccupied. Rin had of course insisted to get the rest of the laundry when Mizu had remembered the sheets were still hanging outside drying.

She hadn't appeared after that and the sun was setting obviously a bad sign, Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes at this and silently cursed at the reason why he cared so much where the young woman had disappeared to.

"Sesshomaru dear, are you quiet alright? You look sort of...in another realm," Mizu stated holding up a small tea cup in her wrinkled fingers. "I am fine," he stated and inwardly flinched at how sharp he had said the statement. Mizu obviously took this to note for she turned to look at the window and then back to his amber eyes with a smug smirk.

"Rin is taking awhile...I wonder if it was smart to send that boy with her..." Mizu stated touching her chin looking back at the window but heard the way Sesshomaru took in a deep breath. "A boy?" he asked and she didn't hide the way her lips curved up in a gleeful grin.

Turning to look at him she then set the small tea cup on the table and gave Sesshomaru her full attention. "Why yes, that dear boy that you saved a while back, he seemed overly eager to help her so I sent them off together to get the laundry. But seriously I wonder what could be keeping up the couple," she answered and she didn't miss the way his eyes darkened.

It seems that even demons get jealous she thought smirking as she then pointed her finger at the window. "Mind checking on the two for me?" she asked but she didn't even have to finish for Sesshomaru was out the door in her mid sentence.

The lord chuckled, "My he was out pretty fast, I don't know if it was to get away from our constant talk of the town party or the urgency to see his little lady," Mizu grinned over to him. "I hope it is the latter, how romantic..." she whispered as the lord grinned her way.

"Reminds me of our old days," Mizu stated as the lord then narrowed his eyes before standing and taking her protectively in his arms, "Who said it was the old days? Has it ever stopped?" he asked as Mizu smiled up at him before he tenderly kissed her forehead.

"Do you think we should tell them of the second part of the party?" Mizu asked as the couple then shook their heads at the same time before erupting into fits of chuckled and giggles.

(Divider) (Old people love...weird on my part I tell you)

Rin patted one sheet after another soon growing weary, laundry of a great amount was harder to finish then it looked. "You okay?" a male voice sounded from her right as she placed a grin on her lips.

"Just fine, a little bushed but other then that-" she was interrupted when Neko stood only a few feet away from her. "...Neko?" she asked a catch in her voice showing fear. His finger came from resting by his side to gently caress her cheek as he then bent so his forehead almost touched hers.

"You are a very kind and beautiful woman, you know that right Rin?" he asked as Rin suddenly blushed, why, all of the sudden, was Neko being overly friendly?

"I don't want to hurt you...but I must do my job," he whispered before then beginning to lower his head but Rin was confused on his words. Hurt her? Do his job? What was he talking about?

Before any questions were answered she suddenly felt her nose being touched by Neko's as she then came back to the present. He wants to kiss me! Her mind must surely being playing tricks on her, sure Neko was attractive but not enough to her so why was she feeling like this had all happened before, as if she wanted this to happen?

A sudden image hit her as her eyes widened; a woman...with long brownish straight hair was standing by trees. A man, no, it was Neko! His hand was caressing the woman's cheek much like he had done a few seconds before to her.

Her eyes were a crystal blue as she looked up to him as his mouth then crushed down on hers as she was pressed up with passion. Wait, how did Rin know what the woman was feeling? Trying to keep her thoughts straight she watched the pair but just as the couple were about to break a part she saw a flash of light come from Neko's back pocket.

But before she could identify what it was another man appeared, his long silvery hair blowing in the wind. Rin's eyes then widened further as she then recognized the man to be none other then Sesshomaru.

She smiled and tried to call out his name but her voice didn't work and her throat suddenly was over come with immense pain as she then clutched it trying to sooth the burning sensation.

She watched as her lord spotted the pair and to her surprise she saw his eyes grow huge and then his golden eyes turned lighter then usual as Rin tried not to gasp. Her lord was showing emotion!

A sudden and unexpected pain hit her heart as she watched Sesshomaru snarl before pulling Neko off the woman as Rin truly did gasp. That woman, that woman... was her.

(Divider)

Sesshomaru could hardly control his fury as he spotted Neko lowering his head on a very scared looking Rin. Once he made it to the man the couple was almost a hair breath away from each other as he grabbed the man by his slender shoulders and tore him from Rin.

Neko was sent flying as his back made contact with the tree and all his breath was lost with the sudden contact but Sesshomaru didn't care. No he hardly noticed, the one thing that he did notice was that a single tear had made its way down Rin's face.

It caressed her soft cheek as she shuffled down a sob; Sesshomaru submerged the thought to brush it away and hold his young ward but then snarled. Whirling around he sent his death glare to the young man who was now trying to regain his balance.

"You," Sesshomaru seethed barely able to keep his voice from catching as Neko turned his dark eyes to the very angered demon that was slowly approaching in his direction. Before Neko could bring his hands up to fend off Sesshomaru the dog demon had the human hanging from his neck.

"What did you do to her?" he asked as Neko then tried to claw at Sesshomaru but the dog demon barely felt the human's nails digging into his flesh. His anger was beyond boiling point, even of his entire body was broken to pieces he wouldn't have felt it.

When Neko did not answer the lord's question his hold tightened as the human then began to gulp and sputter. "What did you do to Rin?" his voice was more urgent and more threatening as Sesshomaru noted the fear beginning to form in Neko's eyes.

"Stop Sesshomaru!" Sesshomaru felt his entire body go numb at that instant as his ears registered what had just been screamed. Turning slightly he saw Rin looking at him with such fear and sadness that he felt the oddest urge to drop the pitiful human and take Rin into his embrace and chase away her fears.

But he couldn't do that, it was unlike him, changing his glance he then focused on Neko who was now more urgently clawing at his hand. Soon he saw blood when Neko coughed in attempt to grasp air.

"He didn't do anything!" Rin screamed moving closer, her lord looked ready to kill Neko if she didn't say anything. She didn't want that, she knew that Neko must have some explanation for his prior actions.

Soon Rin was only a few steps away from the enraged dog demon as she turned her gaze to a dieing Neko before she then broke into a loud sob before screaming once more. "He was possessed by a demon!" Sesshomaru stopped at this as he looked back to his ward but he couldn't' tell if she spoke the truth for her eyes were too clouded over in tears.

"Please...let him go," this was merely a whisper as Rin then let tears escape, "He did nothing to me, the demon is gone," Sesshomaru fought the urge to kill the human and be done with it but instead listened to Rin.

His hold on Neko's throat lightened before it disappeared all together as the man fell onto the grass with large gulps and sighs of air; he rubbed his aching throat but sent Rin a thankful glance before hurrying away hoping to not endanger his life once more.

Rin felt horrible that tears were streaming down her eyes, she had just lied to her lord, lied, how could she be so treacherous? And all to save the life of a man who had nearly kissed her, a man who had shown that he would be dangerous. But he had given her a vision and she felt that she needed all she could get.

That woman hadn't truly been her, for she had had blue eyes and straight hair, but she still couldn't help the lump that formed in her throat when she had seen Sesshomaru's expression when he found the two together. It was obvious that he had feelings for the beauty and she wanted to know their relationship.

Looking away she let another sob escape when she realized that she had saved Neko's life out of selfishness. Lied to the man that she trusted with her life to see if he was in love with another, how could she have become so selfish?

"Rin..." the soft deep voice of her lord brought her back to the present when she saw him come closer to her side his hand outstretched as if to wipe away her tears but she did that on her own. Feeling lower then she had in her entire life she didn't want comfort from the one she had just thrown his trust into the dust.

She saw how his eyebrows had furrowed further and she had the strangest urge to gently caress his eyebrows and sooth the anger and stress from his face. But she kept her hands on her face and then to her sides.

"I sorry, I must look horrible all teary eyed like this, you always said that tears weren't necessary," she breathed trying to pull a smile but hardly succeeding. But he seemed to ignore her as he looked her straight in the eye.

His golden orbs seemed to study her as he then asked, "Did Neko hurt you Rin?" he asked his voice serious as she then shook her head, it was the truth. "If he didn't then why do you cry?" he asked as Rin sucked in an uncertain breath as she thought it over.

She had cried before Sesshomaru had come because of the woman who had sparked Sesshomaru into showing emotion and how she lacked that power and love. The thought caused her entire body to start to shack and go numb.

Did she want her lord to love her? She did before but that was as a father not as...something else. But now she was sure that she didn't want his love as that from a father, for she wanted him to caress her and kiss her to tell her that she was only woman that he would ever love.

But most of all she wanted him to tell her that she was beautiful, truly from the heart and show her how beautiful she was.

Shaking the thought away she came up with another lie but inwardly flinched and stifled back a cry of protest. If she told him that she lied he might go and truly kill Neko. He didn't deserve that, "It was just that...when the demon appeared around Neko it scared me and I thought that he...would be killed so I tried to shake him awake but he wouldn't answer me so I thought that he already was beyond my reach," to her dismay her voice caught at least twice in mid sentence.

Her lord must've noted it also for his eyebrows furrowed even further forward but he did not comment. Oblivious to Rin was that Sesshomaru did believe her lie, overly so in fact, that it sent him in a whirl of doubt. Was she in love with that human? The thought sent a fresh flood of anger to consume him as he barely stuffed a growl from erupting deep in his throat.

Before she knew what was coming she felt her lord rest his index finger along her cheek and swipe a stray tear that was about to fall from her eyes. She nearly began to cry once more at how tender he was, as if she would break at any instant.

Sesshomaru could hardly believe that he was touching Rin, pushing away her tears, it was unlike him. He was the lord of the Western lands, cold calculating Sesshomaru, never showing emotion so why then, was he here barely able to keep himself from grabbing and holding Rin tightly to his chest.

Why did he want to protect her more then a father to a daughter but as a lover to his lover. Then the question of Neko in her eyes burst into his mind as he thought to get the question out of the way but surprisingly he felt nervous of the answer.

"Rin...do you," he began and then cursed silently for the strange nervousness that was overcoming his stomach at the moment. "Yes?" she asked but her voice was slightly shaky as if afraid as he turned his gaze back to her.

"Do you... do you-" he couldn't finish for another's voice decided at that very moment to speak. "There you two are! Oh...am I interrupting?" a smug voice asked as the couple turned to see Otaku levitating over to them.

Sesshomaru then sighed, "No, but why were you looking for us?" he asked annoyance clear in his voice even when he had tried to conceal it.

"Well we saw Neko come home a bit scared looking and we were worried for the worst so we all split up and went looking for you. Well mainly me and that lord, Mizu stayed to help heal Neko, I say he has the biggest bruise on his neck, it actually looks like marks made from a hand," Otaku stated as Sesshomaru showed no indication that he had anything to do with Neko's recent injuries.

Rin hurriedly hid behind Sesshomaru's broad form and swiped away her tears and rubbed her eyes hoping that they weren't red and swollen. "Rin? What's the matter?" Otaku's voice rang from behind her as she walked from behind Sesshomaru to smile softly.

"Oh nothing just making sure that nothing was behind us, you never know what kind of demons could be around here," she answered as Otaku "Uh hum" ed as Sesshomaru assumed that Rin had forgotten or didn't know that Otaku could read minds.

"Well I think that we should head back, Mizu might die of worry, she thought that you all were taking awhile with the laundry," Otaku replied as Rin's eyes widened, "Oh!" she practically screamed before scurrying forward back the way she had come to get the rest of the sheet patted and folded into the tiny wooden basket.

(Divider)

"I do hope that they are alright," Mizu muttered as she placed yet another cold cloth atop Neko's head. "You should really learn Neko, it isn't right to trifle with Sesshomaru, remember what happened last time?" she scowled but was surprised when Neko slightly nodded.

"Though he didn't hang me by my neck back then, I wonder..." he whispered as Mizu looked him straight in the eye. "If you don't watch yourself Sesshomaru one day will kill you, I don't understand why you even try to win every woman that Sesshomaru travels with, which isn't many mind you," Mizu scowled further as Neko glared her way.

"It is none of your business," he snapped back as the older woman held her hand to her chest in amazement. "I don't know how you changed Neko but I don't like it. Has something happened a long time ago to you?" she asked but Neko only looked away from her not answering.

"I found them!" a male's voice rang in the house as Mizu sighed in relief relieving Neko of her pestering. The elderly woman some set her blue eyes on the pair as she grinned, "Oh thank goodness," she breathed as the pair walked up the stairs but to her dismay both had looks of dread on their faces.

"Now is that a party face? I think not!" Mizu cried before pulling Rin into a short hug and then Sesshomaru but neither showed any move of a smile or smirk. Sighing she took both of them and placed them in her kitchen before grumbling.

"Neither of you are getting out of here until I see both of you in lighter moods," and with that she slammed the door and a light sound of a click sounded in the deathly silent room.

Rin folded her hands on her lap and stared at them not uttering a word, she felt horrible for lying and she felt like her lord was purposely avoiding her gaze.

"Do you love her?" the sudden question brought Sesshomaru to whirl his head to gaze at Rin but his barrier didn't falter. By the look in her eye he didn't even have to ask who she spoke of, that night at the stream, it seemed that her little faint didn't fully cause her to forget what he had proclaimed to Mizu.

When he did not answer Rin felt her throat become dry once more, it must be true, but she didn't want to hear it from his lips so she went to the next best thing, she began to babble. "Oh you must think me a fool, asking you about past things that don't concern me," and then she blushed and Sesshomaru submerged the feeling to smirk at her shyness.

"It doesn't concern you, for now," he answered as Rin's head shot up, for now? Did it mean that later on he would share it with her? Trying to keep her joy from spilling she tried his mask but to no avail.

Forgetting her place she then got out of her chair and flung herself into his chest as her head snuggled into his tail. Sesshomaru blinked twice confused slightly on the sudden turn of events but he did not voice his confusion. Partly because he knew that his voice would deceive him and he sort of liked having Rin pressed up against him.

After a couple of seconds she brought her face from his tail to look up at him and he felt a smile trying to tug at his lips as he noted thankfully that her eyes glowed as they usually did. "Does this mean that you do not hate me?" she asked as Sesshomaru could barely conceal his surprise that Rin even noticed it which caused her heart to flutter unnecessarily.

"Well I guess that is enough for you two-" Mizu's voice rang as she opened the door that at first Sesshomaru had thought a mean of danger which caused his arms to quickly and protectively wrap around Rin's small frame. But once the older woman entered the room she could only grin, "Why I didn't think that you two would make up this well or quickly but I am certainly happy," she stated gently resting her hands on her hips.

Rin blushed and tried to pull away but to her dismay, and delight, Sesshomaru's hold only tightened preventing her escape. She could hardly think when Mizu spoke next for when Sesshomaru had tightened his hold her head had moved from his tail to his chest. She couldn't help but sigh slightly as her left hand rested atop his chest as well.

Sesshomaru heard the soft sound, it seemed to ring in his ears as he looked down to the young woman to see her head nodding off and before he could warn Mizu she was fast asleep atop his chest.

"Oh, the poor dear, it seems she is quiet comfortable," Mizu observed with an inward smile. "You wouldn't mind hold her for awhile would you? If you do then I could put her in Neko's arms but I don't know if she would be as comfortable," Mizu asked but at the thought of Neko even looking at Rin caused Sesshomaru to protectively growl.

Mizu chuckled as she then patted Sesshomaru on the shoulder.

"I wish you all the luck, don't let her go no matter what," she advised as Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes. "I don't intend to let her out of my sight," he replied but Mizu's eyes narrowed as well.

"Keeping her in your sight and keeping her in your arms are two different things my boy, and I say that you better not mix the two up or you'll pay in the near future for your mistake," and with that the older woman showed herself out as Sesshomaru then looked down to Rin's soft wavy hair before gently moving her so she lay in his lap rather then pressed against his chest.

Then the hunger to caress her arose in him as he gently let his index finger once again touch her left cheek as she sighed and then mumbled illegible words before nodding off once more.

His eyes narrowed before he retrieved his finger and then looking ahead of him, she would be fine, Mizu was just overreacting. He wouldn't make the mistake, he never made mistakes, or did he?

(Divider)

Ok I'm sorry that I never got to the party part but I will sooner or later I promise!