A/N: Hey there readers! Thank you so much for your comments on my prologue and hope this chapter satisfies you for the time being. I didn't expect my jobs and school to take away from my time to write.
I hope I didn't rush this chapter too much. Or seem too descriptive. please read and review. Constructive criticism would be very much appreciated! This is my first fan fictiona nd I would like help form you guys to make sure I'm doing things good :)
Thanks again, and hope I don't scare you away! Enjoy!
Also Sorry if my "editations" spammed your e-mails -_-" My internet has been whack and I had to keep re-adding. Sorry!
Inuyasha(C) Rumiko Takahashi
Beauty and the Beast (C) Disney
Chapter one: Ten years later
Jaken spent most of his evenings in his small study on the north side of the castle; spending the nights studying various books on spells and curses in the hopes of finding a sure way of lifting Lord Sesshoumaru's curse. But it all proved vain. Ten years have gone by, and still, no other option was left for Lord Sesshoumaru.
With a sigh, the little imp rose from his desk, ready to call it a night, until he heard a creak at the door.
"Jaken." Lord Sesshoumaru said in a heavily annoyed voice.
"Oh, Yes, Lord Sesshoumaru?" Jaken jumped up and bowed; it was a surprise to see the Lord out, he rarely stepped out of his room in his…condition.
"Why is Rin not in her room?" Lord Sesshoumaru's temper was slowly rising. It was just as rare for Rin to break rules. "Should her guard not have allowed her to leave?"
Jaken straightened up, "Y-yes, My Lord, I shall immediately locate her and assign her a new guard…" He ended nervously.
"Hn, do not bother, I shall find her." He already knew where Rin would be, even in so late an hour. Raising her from infancy, he knew her better than she knew herself.
In the library, Rin walked from book shelf to book shelf at a speed that even the lizard demon guard that protected her found it difficult to follow her. She was a blur in his eyes, if was hard for him to believe she was only human.
"Tell me, Lumiere, what would be a good book to read?" Rin said, while reading the titles of the various books surrounding her.
"I am unsure, my lady, I rarely read…" Lumier gulped."It would be best to get you to bed, Rin. Lord Sesshoumaru will not be pleased to find you breaking curfew. "
"Oh hush. I know I am to obey Lord Sesshoumaru. But he must learn to lighten up. I am simply in need of a book." Rin tip-toed to the highest shelf she could reach and grabbed an old tattered book. "And I've found it!" She smiled up to Lumiere only until she dropped it to find Lord Sesshoumaru at the door; frowning in disapproval. "Oh! Lord Sesshoumaru!"
Lumier jumped up and turned to bow in much the same fashion as Jaken. "Lord Sesshoumaru, please forgive me, I should not have allowed Rin out of her room past curfew." Lumier closed his eyes to await his punishment. (He was temporarily glad that Sesshoumaru was only human at present.)
Lord Sesshoumaru contemplated a punishment for the lizard demon, though in the present moment, he did not feel compelled enough to punish him. When Lord Sesshoumaru was human, his punishments tended to be more severe in order to stress that even when he was in this state, he is as unmerciful human as he is a demon, and would not allow slacking. "You are dismissed for now. I shall deal with you tomorrow. Now return to your post and I shall escort Rin to her room myself." Lord Sesshoumaru said in a dead tone.
Lumier immediately left without a word.
Rin bowed her head and picked up her book and candle stick, "Please forgive my bad behavior My Lord."
"Hn." Sesshoumaru assessed Rin. Tomorrow marked the tenth anniversary of the curse and when the girl standing in front of him was left under his care; tied onto his life. Everything she felt, he felt: pain, sorrow, and happiness. Despite strict upbringing and laws preventing her from going anywhere in the outside world, she took to them lightly; she was much too spirited, and too…human. Lord Sesshoumaru very much tried to detest the girl, he wanted to shun her and rid him of her, but could not bring himself to, and thus kept his punishments light on her.
It was this fact, too, keeping her punishments light, that Lord Sesshoumaru took extra care to conceal from his servants in the castle. For the past ten years he'd managed to maintain the fear factor in his castle and in his territories. And no one outside the castle knew of Rin's existence, a fact he takes seriously and must be kept so.
"My Lord, I've been meaning to ask you…"
Sesshoumaru was brought out of his brief reverie, "What is it?"
"I request to have a governess." Rin stood up straight in much the same manner Sesshoumaru did and raised her head proudly.
Sesshoumaru had to admire her boldness at times, "Hn… Is Jaken not a sufficient tutor? I shall tell him your displeasure with his methods—"
"Oh no, my lord! It's just..." bringing her head down, "Master Jaken babbles too much, and I would also like to learn other subjects than our demon history…"
Sesshoumaru frowned, "Our?"
"Excuse me my lord…Your history…"
Lord Sesshoumaru thought for a moment and examined his ward. "I shall consider it." Sesshoumaru felt her loneliness; Rin was not only aching for a governess, but for some female companion. And knowing this irritated him, it would have him submit to her request to take that sorrow away.
Unknowing of Lord Sesshoumaru's displeasure, Rin nodded and smiled, "Yes my Lord," and she continued a steady pace behind Sesshoumaru, following him to the east side of the castle.
"Oh, Lord Sesshoumaru, will you be away on business tomorrow?" she asked.
"Yes. I shall be gone until mid afternoon. The wolf demons in the area have been causing trouble with human villages. And I hope when I return that I find no more trouble from you." Lord Sesshoumaru said sternly.
"Yes, my Lord," and kept her silence the remainder of the walk to her bedroom.
As Rin grew up with Lord Sesshoumaru's detachment, felt she had some connection with him. She did not fully understand why Lord Sesshoumaru "protectiveness," (at least that was what she called it.) When visitors came, she would be hidden away or sent to a nearby estate of Lord Sesshoumaru's.
And she knew better than to ask why Lord Sesshoumaru became human at night, she understood his sensitivity to it, and particularly how he truly felt about humans. Regardless, Rin felt herself special enough to him, that she held some importance in his life. It was the romantic in her, even at the age of ten, that was patient with Lord Sesshoumaru's detachment and aimed to warm his heart up, but she needed help…she wanted Lord Sesshoumaru to learn to love.
Lord Sesshoumaru opened Rin's room and allowed her to enter before him. Rin, already dressed for bed, ran straight to her large bed and tucked herself in, hiding her chosen book under her pillow.
"Good night, Lord Sesshoumaru, and I hope your business tomorrow goes well." She said softly as he carefully tucked her in, one of Lord Sesshoumaru's very few acts of gentleness.
"Good Night, Rin." Sesshoumaru said from her door, and closed it.
The carriage came up to the modest cottage of white brick. Careful, not to stir up the chickens pecking around the fence, Kagome ran up to the porch in excitement.
"Mama! Bonjour! I'm home!" She yelled, while opening the door.
"Kagome!" yelled her mother and brother, Souta, from their activities in their two bedroom house.
"We're so glad you're finally home!" Kagome's mother embraced her and kissed her cheek. "And you're here early, we thought it would take the carriage until mid-day for you to arrive," she paused to look out the window, "Souta, dear, can you please help the coach man?"
"Oui, mama," and he ran out.
Turning back to her daughter, "And I'm so glad you're finally back home from school. It was too long a time that you were gone." Though she did not show it, Kagome's mother felt the pang of loneliness without her eldest daughter around. Even when she still had her son and father, Souta helped him with the crops most of the day, leaving her to herself.
Kagome smiled thoughtfully at her mother, "I'm glad to be back home, too. For good this time, I decided I might become a teacher at the church. Passing by the town on our way here, there was a sign about it." Kagome looked around the small room that housed their family of four; it was all…too nostalgic.
"And where's grandpa?" Her semi-eccentric grandfather was nowhere in sight.
"Oh he's in the back working on another one of his inventions." Kagome's mother replied and went towards the back of the house to open the back door.
"And Shippo?"
"He is with him too, he'll be happy to see you back," she smiled back at her daughter as she walked around the corner to the basement.
Though it was forbidden, Kagome frequently kept company with demons, though in secret from human knowledge. Before entering school years ago, she stumbled down a small hill that sprained her ankle; she would have been stuck there all night had it not been for the small fox demon that came to help her. Shippo was very young at the time, and did not know better than to talk to be with humans, but he helped her and called for her family. They were surprised that the demon child would call for their help, but they were eternally grateful.
"Grandfather, Shippo?" Kagome called out as she entered the old ragedy entrance of the basement.
"Kagome!" yelled a fuzz ball of peach and orange flung himself into Kagome's embrace. "I'm happy you're back! I missed you! You're here to stay right?" and his large green eyes began to tear up and pout.
Kagome laughed, "I'm glad, too, Shippo, and yes, I'm back to stay, my schooling is done. And have you been out of trouble?"
Shippo ducked his head down slightly, "Well, there's been trouble since you last visited months ago."
"Oh?" her smile turned into a frown of confusion.
"Yes, apparently wolf demons have been roaming closer to our area for the past month. They've been eating the towns' livestock and causing trouble for travelers. Though no one, luckily, has been killed yet…" her grandfather popped out from behind his latest contraption, carrying large bifocals and an odd looking hammer in his hand. "I'm glad you made it home safely, Kagome."
"Oh, me too, Grandpa." She came to him and kissed his cheek, still holding Shippo in her arms. "So I take it you haven't been out much?" directing her question back to Shippo.
"Yeah, the town's folk have gotten even more hostile towards any demon—or animal for that matter, that comes their way." Shippo replied. "But I'm alright, you guys are family to me, and I don't know any better place to stay! I tell you, there aren't any other humans like you!"
Kagome smiled sadly, she and her family were probably the only humans who accepted demons to have kinder sides, too. In a way, demons were like humans, they had their bad sides and their good sides.
"And what about Jinenji? How has he faired? I did not get the chance to see him months ago when I visited before summer began." Kagome asked, about an old friend she met around the time she came to know Shippo. Jinenju was not like any demon she would of thought, he was half, and the kindest creature anyone could meet with an extensive knowledge of herbs and medicines that have helped with her grandfather's arthritis.
Kagome's grandfather and Shippo put their heads down, "Well, he has been alright, though he hasn't stopped by much for the same reason, and his mother has passed recently…"grandfather said lastly. "Though, he has moved a couple miles from us, in hopes that he won't be troubled by the wolf demons. One can only imagine what a full demon would think of a half demon...poor fellow."
"Oh…then I should pay him a visit, it is still early." Kagome put Shippo down and walked to the basement's only window, "how far is it?"
"It is…say, five miles west from here. Not too far." Her grandfather replied, "Though I'm not too comfortable with you going on your own. I do not want wolf demons devouring my only granddaughter, "he finished sternly.
Kagome smiled, she missed her grandfather's protectiveness, he was the closest thing to a father she had.
"I'll go with her!" Shippo interjected, jumping up and down, "I know I may look small and weak, but I've been working on my fox magic! I can at least create an illusion for us to get away if there's any trouble!"
Her Grandfather raised an eyebrow, "And for some reason I do not seem to feel any more relieved. I do recall you burning one of our trees down."
Shippo paused and made a serious face, "Hey, that was an accident!"
Kagome laughed, "Oh, I'll be alright, you can come along Shippo, we can walk five miles fast and still be back a little later than mid-day," she went up to her grandfather and hugged him, "I'll be back safe, I'll go tell Mama and Souta."