A/N: Well, I hoped you enjoyed the first chapter, I know it's hard to see Sesshomaru out of his shell, but I hope you can see that I'm trying to do this in the best mannerisms as I can. Also I apologize if the breaks in the story aren't defined enough; is being a little funky with me. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: InuYasha and Co. do not belong to me.
Rin had turned 13, a new teenager, and was still travelling along with Sesshomaru and Jaken. She looked much different then she did when she first began her journey, and not to mention her attitude changed too. She was still always happy, of which Sesshomaru did like, and she could still be her annoying self but he could tell she was maturing. Sesshomaru found himself becoming more like his father every day with how he felt about Rin, and even about how his perspective of life has changed. He had taken care of this girl for about 6 years, and he never really had the intention of losing her now. He tried to leave her in Kaede's hands, figuring a village life would be better for her – but she learned what she needed, and rushed back to him because she couldn't stand being away from him for so long.
Sesshomaru's thoughts were disrupted when he sniffed the air. "Rin. Are you hurt?"
Rin blinked a few times. "Well, I have this stomach ache in my lower tummy…but rather then that I'm fine. Why my lord?"
Sesshomaru looked around, without looking at her. "I can smell blood coming from you."
Jaken screamed. "RIN! YOU'RE BLEEDING!"
Rin looked confused until she saw thick dark red blood dripping down her leg. It seemed a bit different then regular blood. Rin started to panic, "AH! MY LORD HELP ME!" she exclaimed, about to cry.
"Rin. Calm down." Sesshomaru said, and she stopped. "Where is it coming from?"
"I'm not sure." She said, as she flipped over, to look under her kimono. Her eyes widened, and then flipped back up. "It's coming from…" She pointed to between her legs, "…here?"
Both Jaken and Sesshomaru were speechless.
"What do I do?" She asked calmly.
Sesshomaru had not the SLIGHTEST idea what the heck she was talking about…or where all of this blood was coming from. He knew what he had to about babies, but was never told about what the blood dripping down her legs could have been. He hesitated to himself about maybe leading her to Kagome and Sango to get them to explain this, but she had already piped in, "Lord Sesshomaru, could we find Kagome?" At this point he was practically praising the Gods that she brought up that suggestion and that he wouldn't have to.
"Fine." He said coolly. "I should say we are fortunate that InuYasha is relatively nearby…I have his scent."
"Oh…that's fantastic my lord!" Rin exclaimed excitedly.
"Mi lord, I shall stay here with Ah-Un." Jaken said sneakily, trying not to get involved with the situation.
Sesshomaru looked at him with a sense of envy. "Fine, we'll be back soon."
Jaken was ever so relieved, and so he and Ah-un stayed by a stream that sat in the middle of a bright forest. Sesshomaru was also counting his blessings that he would not have to deal with Jaken's embarrassing remarks at the same time.
"Rin, are you in a lot of pain?" He asked her, as they walked away, becoming distant from Jaken.
"Well, it's not that bad…but I don't know how much walking I can do." She admitted. Sesshomaru made a small sigh to himself and picked her up bridal style and flew off in a dash. She curled into his body as the comfort she had with him made her feel slightly better. She closed her eyes and smiled lightly as he focused ahead. The scent of her blood was distracting his senses of finding InuYasha, as he generally had a very keen sense of smell, but by the time he was contemplating the accurate location they were already there.
Sesshomaru flew slower and lower to the ground before helping Rin stand up on the ground; a couple of drops of blood fell to the ground. InuYasha sniffed the air and looked around, and then looked at Sesshomaru. "Sesshomaru. What the hell are you doing here?" InuYasha proclaimed loudly to everyone, grasping hold of his precious sword's handle.
Sesshomaru completely ignored him, walking by him so close that he pushed InuYasha's shoulder, and went straight to Sango and Kagome. "Tell them what's wrong with you." Rin fell on to her knees, and looked up at them with a painful expression, with bloodstains from her thighs to her feet, and stains on her kimono and hands.
Kagome and Sango looked at each other in shock.
"InuYasha put that sword away! Rin!" Kagome yelled as she ran straight to Rin, who hadn't moved from where Sesshomaru placed her. InuYasha spouted a 'feh!' while crossing his arms and turning away from everyone but just enough to see Sesshomaru out of the corner of his eye.
Sango followed quickly behind. "Oh dear…"
Kagome turned to Sango, and then looked at Sesshomaru. "Thanks for bringing her to us. She has her period."
All of the men made a questioning face. "What the…hell?" InuYasha exclaimed.
"Ahhh… her first moon." Miroku mused – which called for some very awkward and annoyed glances in his direction. He laughed it off quickly and before anyone could smack him, everyone had already diverted their attention back to Rin.
Kagome asked quietly to Rin if it was her first time she had it, just in case. Sango sighed, and turned to the men, as Kagome got her bag off her shoulders. Rin started to tear up, partially embarrassed, partially hormones.
Sesshomaru piped up, "Isn't this something that Kaede woman was to teach Rin before she came back to travel with me?"
"I guess she thought that she wasn't old enough to learn about it at the time." Sango said, "She's very old now, it may have slipped her mind." Sesshomaru acknowledged her, but didn't respond. "What's happening to you is called menstruating, or in Kagome's other world they call it a period. But as Miroku just said, this is your first moon. Basically, every month for a few days blood comes out of our uterus. It means you're becoming a woman. It also means that if you had intercourse, you could have a baby." She assured Rin. "…Women normally have it from when they are about 12 until about, well, I'm not sure what the age is in this time…what is it in your time Kagome?"
Kagome turned around as she pulled out a pad from her bag. "Women usually go through menopause around 50, which means they won't have a period anymore." Kagome turned back to Rin. "Now Rin, This is called a pad." She spoke to her as she pulled out a yellow square package. "This is how you use it." She opened it, and placed it on the underwear. "Okay?"
Rin blushed. "I guess."
"Now…you can have these." She held out a few other pads. "Only change them when they get really bad and bloody…or whenever you take a bath, you want to use a fresh one. You might want to wash your underpants too, because I'll guarantee you something's bound to happen. Any questions?" Kagome asked.
Rin held the pads, and the underwear. "What if I run out of these?"
"Oh…come see me again. I can make some natural and washable ones for you. I did some research about it before I left my world. This should hold you over this time. I kept those for backups." She gestured the underwear with the pad already on it.
"Alright." Rin said, as she ran off near by to put it on privately.
Kagome turned around to Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru didn't show any emotion like usual, but he did feel scared inside. "Okay Sesshomaru, so now that she's becoming a woman, you'll notice a lot of changes. She's growing - everywhere and she may get slightly moody before and/or while she's menstruating. Tall tell signs for you, if she's crying for no reason, or yelling at anything for no valid reason…then chances are you know. So if that's the case, don't ignore her because she'll yell at you for that, so act normal around her, but make her feel better about her self. She'll probably want to say bad things about herself, so it's your job to support her about how to change whatever…but be positive about it." She paused as she waited for him to show any sign of emotion. "I KNOW it's not you to do that, but you just have to. The older she gets the better she'll get and then you soon won't even notice whether or not she's got it. Teenagers are a handful, so it'll be really hard to handle for now, but it'll pass."
Sesshomaru's head swirled around in circles, along with Miroku and InuYasha's.
"Hmm, that would explain some things." InuYasha said grinning to himself, chuckling to Miroku.
"Sit."
Miroku sighed ignoring InuYasha's 'sit' command, shifted himself away from him and calmly said, "Yes, well in any case. I have a question…" as if he did nothing wrong.
"Oh God Miroku, we don't want to hear it." Sango said, thinking he would say something perverted.
Rin came back around the corner. It had looked like she cleaned the blood off her legs, and she seemed a bit happier. "What's the question?" Rin asked.
Miroku smiled. "I've heard you mention this before Kagome, what's PMS?"
"For some reason, when you say that, it doesn't sound right." InuYasha said glaring at him as he was getting up.
"Yes, well…in any case…it's a good question." Kagome responded politely. Sesshomaru said nothing. He couldn't deny this was education for him too.
"We PMS because we do!" She said, placing her index finger in the air as a matter-of-fact way.
"That doesn't say anything." InuYasha said staring,
Kagome joked. "Actually…it's called premenstrual syndrome. It's the mood swings, physical and emotional changes that happen right before they get their period. Though commonly enough, Rin may not get PMS until another few years and as she gets older she'll be able to hide it a bit better. But teenagers are a whole different level of PMS." She laughed lightly.
"Hey lord Sesshomaru! This all reminds me of the time you were telling me about what my breasts were for!" she said, giving her own a bit of squeeze.
There was silence, partly Sesshomaru's embarrassment, but it was mainly everyone's amazement. Kagome cleared her throat. "Sesshomaru?" she choked, painfully trying to hold in her laugh.
Sesshomaru shot her a dirty look. Miroku, InuYasha and Shippou burst out laughing. "OH YEAAAAAH" Miroku announced. "A few years back Sesshomaru came to us looking for you ladies to give Rin the talk about sex."
Sesshomaru stood frozen. "Well," Sango and Kagome said looking at each other, both trying to contain their laughter (still).
"And where were we?" Kagome asked the guys.
"You guys went to the neighboring village, Kagome you were performing a funeral, and Sango was with the twins." Shippou said.
Sesshomaru had never felt so insulted. But, he also couldn't do anything about it. He couldn't kill them…If it weren't for Kagome and Sango, then Rin would probably continue going on about blood going down her leg, and he'd have to ask for someone else. That would be even worse.
"Talk about bad timing." Sango said, as she and Kagome stopped laughing.
"Yes it was." Sesshomaru finally spoke.
"And…so…YOU…gave her the talk?" Kagome confirmed with disbelief.
"Yes." Sesshomaru said quietly.
"How would you know? I don't remember being getting talked to-" InuYasha started with a cocky undertone to his voice.
"Both father, and your mortal mother had died before you were old enough; where as I was plenty old enough to hear those stupid lectures from father about love." Sesshomaru interrupted bitterly.
InuYasha snorted. "Well, I'm thankful for that then."
"Hey guys! When Sesshomaru leaves, let's give InuYasha…the talk." Kagome whispered loudly to them, and laughed loudly.
"Pffft. Like you can make me sit and stay for that."
"Want to bet on that?" Kagome said grinning. (Flames surrounded her, and InuYasha gave an eerie look.)
"Enough of this. C'mon Rin. We're going." Sesshomaru spoke, as he turned around.
Rin tugged gently on Sesshomaru's sleeve while he was turned. Sesshomaru paused, looked down at her giving her a slight nod, as she looked at him, and then she ran back to Kagome and the others who were starting to walk the opposite direction.
"Thank you Priestess Kagome. I'm sure Sesshomaru would say thank you too…but you know him." She smiled, gave her a gentle bow, and ran back while waving.
"You're welcome Sesshomaru!" Kagome shouted back, as she waved but received no response.
Sesshomaru and Rin then left out of sight. "Thank you lord Sesshomaru for letting me see Priestess Kagome." She smiled. He said nothing, but she knew what his silence meant.
When they got back, Jaken came charging at them with questions. "What happened? What happened to the blood? Where was it coming from? Are you okay? You're not hurt are you? My lord, you look upset…Rin! Are you going to die-" Sesshomaru kicked him, and was once again left wandering around in a haze.
A little while later, Sesshomaru and Rin sat leaning against tree roots at the edge of a forest looking out to an open field. Rin sat against the tree next to his, trying to relax from her light cramps. She kept making light murmurs, trying to keep it contained and less obvious, but she was in pain. Jaken was off with Ah-Un by Sesshomaru's orders to find Rin some food.
"Rin." Sesshomaru said suddenly.
Rin looked up from her tree, and looked up at Sesshomaru, who looked like he was deep in thought. "Yes?"
"You embarrassed me."
"What? How my lord?" Rin said puzzled. She didn't know what she had done.
"You told them I gave you the talk." He told her, continuing not to look at her.
"Why are you ashamed of that?" She asked giving a sympathetic look, and didn't wait for a respond when saying, "Listen, I'm sorry my lord. I do stupid things…I say stupid things…" She stood up and walked around in slow circles. "And I'm annoying and I get in the way. I don't know why you keep me with you. I'm old enough to live on my own now…you've trained me to do things I couldn't before…" She ranted. He got a little confused about whether this was her or her hormones talking.
"Stop." He spoke. Her mouth stopped, as she was about to continue. "No." He remembered about what Kagome said about his job being to comfort her. "I…I had it coming."
Rin stood still. "Huh?"
"I forget you are human sometimes." He pushed out.
"My lord! You are a demon!" She laughed, but went serious. "Demon or not, I'm ever so grateful of being a companion to a great demon like you, and that you put up with me, and even master Jaken…because he's more annoying than I am."
"Yes, but because you are human, you should be associating with humans. I should not treat you like a demon…I am treating you something that you're not." He pushed even further. If it were anyone else but Rin, he probably would have self-imploded by now.
"What is this, my lord? Are you apologizing?" Rin offered.
Sesshomaru stared at her. "I don't have to."
She started to sit down again, and smiled gently at him, "I know my lord, and I accept. I'm sorry for embarrassing you."
Sesshomaru dropped his stare, and turned it to be a bit of a happier look. (But he didn't smile.) "I wonder where Master Jaken is…" Rin pondered out loud, as she looked around and saw no sign of Jaken.
"How are you feeling?" He asked her after a comfortable silence.
Rin turned back to him and smiled. "It comes and goes. You're sure taking this well."
He didn't respond, and she took it as a sign, "You're not taking it well? Did you not expect something like this would even happen?" She asked, as she sat on her knees right in front of him. Though she did not know what love felt like at such a young age, she may have felt what the equivalence of a crush would be.
"It's different. I forget that you're a woman now. Times have changed; I forget that you're growing." He told her. She rested her head on his knee and wrapped her arms around his leg.
"So we can be mates then?" She smiled lightly, half joking, "Now that I am a woman, I mean." Sesshomaru gave her a bashful look. "I'm just kidding my lord…" She half-laughed. They both knew she wasn't fooling anyone.
Sesshomaru closed his eyes to calm himself down of wanting to punch something thanks to everything that had happened that day. He was trying to figure out how she was feeling right then, and determining what kind of pain she might be in.
"MY LORD, IM BACK!" Jaken came screaming back holding fish and berries. Rin shot up from leaning on Sesshomaru's leg (to which he said nothing about).
Rin turned around. "Thank you master Jaken."
"Rin! These are not for you. Mi lord sent me to get them for him." He said proudly, presenting the food to Sesshomaru.
"Jaken. I sent you out to get them out for Rin." Sesshomaru corrected.
Jaken froze. "I spent all my time to get food for her?!" He yelled astounded, and threw the food on the floor, disappointed.
Rin turned around. "Thanks a lot Jaken. So now I mean nothing to you now? I thought we were friends." She said becoming emotional, picking up the food he threw.
"Jaken…I'd watch myself if I were you." Sesshomaru said calmly with his eyes closed. Jaken lowered his head slightly and looked a different direction while Rin peacefully ate all of her food. He was jealous that Rin was getting far more attention from their master than he was.
As night drew near, Sesshomaru sincerely hoped that another day like the one he just had, would never come again. He contemplated to himself what other crazy surprises women had that he had to prepare himself with. If it were anyone else, he would have gotten rid of her to spare his embarrassment, but he knew in his heart, he cared for Rin.
"Lord Sesshomaru?" Rin asked, standing in front of Sesshomaru who was sleeping against the same tree as earlier. He opened his eyes to her voice.
"Go to sleep." He told her, but she didn't budge. "What is it?"
"I hear frightening noises." She said, as she held the edge of her kimono sleeve, and looked about.
"So?"
"Can I sleep here?" She asked, giving him a saddened look. After all, they were basically in a forest, and although she's been hearing these sounds forever, they seemed to be louder that night. Sesshomaru had a hard time saying no to Rin, and with everything that had happened that day, he knew that he would enjoy her there too – even if she was still a child.
"Fine."
"Thank you." She said, as she sat directly beside him, and laid her head on his shoulder. Subconsciously, he ended up wrapping his arm around her to bring her body in a bit. She felt extremely comforted and content… and in a way, so did he.
Rin woke up the next morning feeling slightly better. She still had her period of course, but some rest did her well.
When the next month came rolling around, she went to see Kagome. Sesshomaru came with her again, but understood and expected what the conversation would have turned into. InuYasha and the others were at Kaede's village, and so when she came to Kagome, she seemed very happy.
Rin burst over to see Kagome, "Hi Kagome!"
"Hey Rin!" she cheerfully responded and hugged Rin.
"Ummm…Do you mind…?" She whispered shyly.
"Ah Yes. Here, I want to show you something." Kagome brought Rin to her and InuYasha's hut, where she had a few pairs of hand-made underwear and a big handful of homemade washable pads for Rin.
"Wow…Thanks so much Priestess Kagome. This must have taken some time!" she said amazed.
Kagome smiled, "It's not that bad, they were actually kind of fun to make."
"Kagome." Sesshomaru said confidently. Kagome looked at him. "Did InuYasha get his talking to?" he asked with a sense of revenged curiosity.
"Well actually...you came on a good day. We convinced Kaede to give him the talk; she's enjoying it as much as we all are." She turned and pointed to InuYasha, who was crouched down with his eye twitching at Kaede while she sat in front of him with (detailed) drawings. "So don't worry Sesshomaru, vengeance has been made!" she laughed.
Rin piped up for Sesshomaru, "What made him stay?"
"I told him I'd S.I.T. him about 50 times in a row."
Sesshomaru was dying to laugh at him, but knowing his cool style he said nothing, but, "Alright." Rin on the other hand was laughing, and then waved Kagome off shouting thank you and that she'd visit again soon, as Sesshomaru started leaving.
After that, things started to get back to normal for Sesshomaru. The adjustment was difficult at first, but she was good about being private and discreet about it. She tried not to bring it up as she knew he and Jaken didn't like to hear about it, but naturally with her hormones - she did cry a lot, usually to Jaken.