Miroku POV:
Inuyasha rose from the couch, and I glared up at him. He had explained his side of the story at last, but refused to talk to Kagome.
"Why not?" I demanded angrily. I hated being caught in-between.
"Feh." Was the only response I got.
"She'll probably go running to Koga…" Sango sighed. I looked at her in surprise. I had specifically asked Kagome, and she had said, and I quote, 'Koga's nice, but much too possessive. No way. Ever.'
"S-she wouldn't!" Inuyasha stuttered, caught off guard.
"Well, she might… I don't know. I'm just saying."
"Fine." He snarled. "She can go to her precious Koga. I'm not saying she can't." Sango's eyes widened. She obviously had hoped to force him to talk to Kagome, but it had backfired.
"Let's go Sango. I have home work to do, and I need to pick up my jacket from your house."
"Your… jacket?" she asked in a confused tone.
"Yeah." I repeated, hoping she would catch on to this chance to leave Inuyasha's house politely, "My jacket."
"Oh!" she gasped in realization, "That's right. Well, have a nice night Inuyasha!"
"Bye." He mumbled sulkily.
I turned to Sango as soon as I thought we were out of earshot. "We have to get them to talk to each other. There is no other way to solve this."
"Yeah, but… what do we do? Make it seem coincidental? Or obviously planned? Or do we simply force them by physical means?"
"Well…" I replied slowly, "We should go with the 'obviously planned' option first, and if that fails, we'll have to force them together somehow." Sango sighed.
"I'll think of something. Now leave, you're giving me a headache. I'll talk to you about it tomorrow."
"Kay… we'll figure something out… maybe… eventually."
"Just shut up…" she complained, rubbing her temples.
"Alright, alright… bye!"
"Bye." Sango mumbled with a thoughtful look in her eyes. Seriously, we needed to think of something. Soon.
Sesshomaru POV:
I sat staring moodily into a dark corner for seemingly no reason other than a simple lack of activities to occupy my mind. A sudden loud grumble distracted my brooding thoughts, and I shot a glare in the direction from whence it came. Jaken stared back in a slightly panicked way.
I rolled my eyes in annoyance. While I didn't have to eat, Jaken did. Which required leaving my house to enter a grocery store. I usually had Rin for such things, but…
Rin.
I stood up suddenly, ice pulsing through my veins. I had no need of human service. I could do anything on my own.
"L-Lord Sesshomaru?" Jaken called nervously.
"Silence, Jaken."
"Aye, m'Lord. But where are you- agh!" he cried as I kicked him backward without looking.
"I said silence, Jaken. You are to stay here."
"Yes sir…" was the last I heard of him as I shut the door. The grocery store was close to the school, and consequently close to Rin's home. I snarled under my breath as I caught a wisp of her scent drifting through an open window, and hurried on.
I entered the shop. Shopping on Tuesday nights wasn't overly hectic, but by no means was the supermarket empty. A sudden thought occurred to my mind. Inuyasha had been absent on Monday, but present today; Why that occurred to me in an isle full of Ramen was fairly obvious. Inuyasha always smelled of Ramen cups.
I stalked over to a large bag of pretzel sticks and through them in the basket I was carrying. Jaken could survive off pretzels and water, right?
I purchased my item and began to walk back toward my own house. I paused next to Rin's home, and heard a man's voice through the closed window. No human could have heard it.
"You stupid girl!"
"Please! Stop!" Rins' voice. A crash and a scream of pain; a slamming door, and pounding footsteps. I hesitated, curiosity gaining my attention. Wasn't curiosity a cat thing?
I could see Rin running toward me now, but she was looking fearfully over her shoulder, and did not see me. A man who I could only assume was her uncle chased after her, reeking of cheap beer.
"You little scumbag!" he yelled, catching her shoulder and throwing her down. I watched as he swung his fist at her, cutting her cheek in the gravel. It was entertaining, at least. Usually I would have felt some twinge of pity or anger, but my heart remained empty aside from a vague interest.
She suddenly seemed to give up fighting, and allowed her body to be thrashed by the man. I felt a dim flicker of emotion in my callous, uncaring mind as I saw tears well up in hopeless eyes.
No one makes Rin cry.
Hadn't I said that at one point? I couldn't remember.
No one makes Rin cry.
A sudden pulse of agony flooded through me as my emotions spilled over like a burst dam. Silently and calmly as I was able, I walked up behind the man. Rin's tearful gaze found my empty face, and I merely stared at her for an instant, before, to swiftly for human eyes, I shattered the wrist of the man hitting her.
He howled in anguish and fell to his knees, clutching his broken arm. But I wasn't finished. Bringing my leg up in a roundhouse kick, I slammed my foot into his face, cracking his jaw. Believe me; it took all I had not to kill him by bashing his whole damn head in.
He went flying, and the metallic scent of blood scored across my senses as his face scraped along the asphalt. I stared toward his limp body. My face remained just as blank, but inside I was a swirling vortex of clashing emotions.
Affection and hatred, worry and disregard, pain and a sense of well-being, jealousy and victory all combined to form a burning desire to destroy something and bestow a portion of my own suffering upon it. I stood over the concussed man, staring blankly into his empty eyes.
"Sesshomaru!" Rin cried gratefully from behind me. I didn't turn, but placed my foot on the prone form below and began oh so slowly to apply pressure. I derived pleasure from hearing his bones begin to crack. This man had hurt Rin. He deserved suffering of the highest degree. Death was not good enough for him.
Her warm hand caught my arm. "Sesshomaru, stop it!" she cried fearfully. I gazed dully at her.
"Why?"
"W-well,"
"He deserves this, you know. He hit you. I refuse to tolerate it." I was surprised at my own voice. It was icy, and somehow mechanic, as if I held no connection to the world any more.
"But you'll kill him!" she cried desperately.
"So?"
"You can't go around killing people!"
I removed my foot from the limp body and reached out to wipe a drop of blood off Rin's face. "Does it please you to know," I said coldly, "that I am currently engaged in finding a ditch to die in? It is quite difficult to find a ditch where no one would find me, you know."
Rin froze, her hand over mine as I held my fingers over her pulsing cut. "You… you're not serious, are you?" she cried in shock.
"I might be. Were you serious when you said you wanted me to die?"
"No!" she began to sob. She embraced me around the middle, burying her face against me. "No, no, no, no! I don't care anymore! Even if you were cheating on me with Kagura, I want to go back! I want to go home, back to my room upstairs! I want to go back and screw with Jaken! I want to go home!"
"I would never cheat on you with anyone, least of all that freak Kagura! (May she rest in hell)" I hissed.
"So… I can… go back? With you?"
"If you wish to do so." I said indifferently. It was so odd. I could feel energy and emotion leaping inside me, but I couldn't bring it to the surface.
"What do we do about Uncle?"
"I don't know. Leave him here if you want."
"We can't do that!" she cried in shock.
"Fine, do you want to call an ambulance or something?" I asked in some annoyance.
"Um… can you do that? If I'm moving out I need to pack my things."
"Fine…" I sighed.
Half an hour later, Rin was packed, and the ambulance was gone. Rin and I stood in the shadows, staring after the flashing lights. We turned away, and began the trek home.
"You need rehab." Rin said spontaneously.
"I beg your pardon?"
"You're all cold and uptight again! And you were doing so much better with your emotions…" she complained.
"What do you suggest for my 'rehab'?" I asked her.
"I don't know… I'll figure it out. And why are you carrying a grocery bag full of pretzels?"
Yes, it was good to have Rin back.
Naraku POV:
"What?" I asked blankly. Hakudoshi had just informed me that Sesshomaru was one again in the grasp of that girl Rin. Where Rin was, Sesshomaru's emotion and conscious dwelt. My hope had been no Rin, no conscious, no problem with me using Sesshomaru to kill.
There goes that idea.
"What?" I snarled viciously, advancing on the still calm Hakudoshi. "Why didn't you do something, you little bastard?"
"You sent me to spy, not to fight."
"You… damn… brat!" I yelled. I whipped around and stormed away. One of my plans was fail-proof. I halted before Kanna as she threw a black powder into a roiling pot of clear, odorless liquid.
"Is the poison ready yet Kanna?" I spat at her. She flinched and scanned her ingdients.
"N-nearly, Naraku." She stuttered, tossing a dash of something else I couldn't identify.
"If I find out that you tampered with this in any way, you will die." I said more calmly. She trembled a bit, nearly missing the pot as she placed a bean pod into the mixture.
"Yes, Naraku." She mumbled to her toes, not looking at me.
Inuyasha would fall. I would kill him. He. Was. Mine.
CAILEE WAS HERE-from Cailee
A/N: Um, thanks Cailee. :D No really, she helped me transition between things in the chapter. HAAHAHAHA! Kay. Short chapter, but the story will be finishing up in about two or three chapters anyways. Sorry if this chapter is weird, it's 11:52 P.M., and I'm practically already asleep. Kome'! Anyways… Reviews would be nice... please…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…..