A/N: Ah, apparently the link in the previous chapter got cut up a bit (I blame 's formatting). My apologies, and here's the link again: feral-instinct(dot)deviantart(dot)com/#/d2wn5dm (please remember to replace "dots" with periods.)
A/N: Because Sesshomaru can't stay in the dark forever.
A Fine Kettle
Just because yokai could hold a position for months, even years, on end never meant they did. Sesshomaru had spent the past twenty-three hours with his legs tucked under his knees and a kink knotting his back. He didn't have to force the bored expression. Every fifty years or so, he dragged himself up north to readdress the treaty between the West and Far North in Hokkaido. The alliance dated back to the Mainland Invasion when the Dog General had temporarily unified the major powers of homeland to fend off the intruders. Although there would be many squabbles to come after the war with the Continent, the Dogs of the North and West agreed on something along the lines of a truce with Mount Kaena and its sleeping sentinel serving as the permanent border.
To maintain the cycle of goodwill, custom required one demon had to spend a fortnight in the host's company. It was Sesshomaru's turn.
Apparently no one here believes a guest can overstay his welcome. For the eighth time, the Western Lord quelled his yoki. Once in a while during the visits, the Master of the North – Sesshomaru scoffed at the gaudy title – would recall a story about the Dog General and Sesshomaru would convince himself to stand another day. The Inu no Taisho had always encouraged his son to look up the old war dog as an uncle of sorts. Sesshomaru never did. He spent much of the first and all of the second visits strategizing how he could bring the North under his heel, if only not to deal with an inane waste of two weeks' time. But in those days he had thought such a conquest would be a glory only Tetsusaiga could wrest.
Now on this fourth visit Sesshomaru decided it would be too much to gamble the stability of his own lands for now. "A fleeting caprice," he finally termed it after two hundred years.
Even though he arrived a day late, "Uncle" smiled in that irritating manner old crones oft did, but never mentioned anything. Maybe he found the lapse in his guest's usual punctuality amusing. Who cared? "You've changed some, Sesshomaru," was all he commented.
The younger daiyokai shrugged. "Time passes." And your eyesight is probably the worse for it.
At last, they were down to the wire. The final twenty-four hours were spent from one dawn to the next reviewing the treaty's terms and conditions, ending with the mutual signatures of both parties. Just one hour more.
From his corner of room, Jaken yawned into his sleeve. Rare were the dull moments in Lord Sesshomaru's company; unfortunately, this was the hallmark of them. Rubbing his eyes, Jaken nearly leapt with joy when he saw his master reach for the inkstone that heralded the end of their stay.
But just as he completed the final stroke, a tremor spasmed in the dog-demon's claws. Tips of talons glowed green, then faded.
"Is there something to your disliking, Lord Sesshomaru?" the elder demon looked up from his scrolls just in time to see a comet streak from his quarters.
Sesshomaru knew Jaken would apologize for him, especially since he didn't offer too many himself. He could return later. Rin had called upon her blade's venomous canine, a direct link to his own poison claws.
She's in danger. Even as he flew at the speed of light, Sesshomaru wished he could travel faster. In the space of a second, a million scenarios played through his mind: Rin injured, vulnerable, irretrievably dead.
But she was among company he had permitted, Sesshomaru rationalized, fighting for control of his racing emotions. He wouldn't have left Rin in that village when she was a child if he hadn't trusted the population in it, among them the wielder of Tetsusaiga. Wasn't that the truth?
Naturally.
He shot over the land at mile-eating speed. The daiyokai resumed his temporary form at the last hill overlooking the village. On first impression, he didn't feel any outstanding malaise.
A false alarm?
Sesshomaru took flight and circled high for a bird's eye view of the community. He picked out Rin immediately. His hammering pulse slowing, Sesshomaru observed from his aerial position, and reined in his every instinct to go down and give a complete inspection of the grounds.
Whether she was practicing or simply spooked, he wasn't sure, but she had sheathed the blade, carrying it loosely in her grip, and wandered aimlessly about the sleepy village. Rin always was the first one up.
And she's fine. Annoyance elbowed over Sesshomaru's previous worry. If he was going to let Rin go he couldn't obey every whim to come rushing to her side whenever he sensed trouble. He made a mental note to lecture her about the uses for the venom dog another time. For now he had to finish up a meeting before the contract was rendered null.
He tarried.
Just one more check. His altitude was much too high for his nose to be effective; instead he cast an invisible band of yoki to frisk the area. "A demon's rinse," Father had called it. Sweeping his hand slowly through the air to keep pace with how he "rinsed" the area, Sesshomaru stopped when he picked up on a yokai presence in Rin's home. He broke the thread and prepared to descend. But Rin reached the hut before him. She showed no apprehension. Seeing the way she stretched and trudged back inside he gave it no further thought.
It must the kit or two-tail or whatever foundling they have now. Certain that everything was as it should have been, Sesshomaru snorted at his own folly and headed back North.
oOo
Working a chain of flowers, Rin splashed her feet idly in the brook's cool, clear waters while Kichiruka sat half-submerged practicing his juggling. He was up to six now.
It was too hot to really do much of anything today. Just sitting around with the occasional blurb of chatter seemed like a good enough idea. They didn't talk much about Kichiruka's "unexpected visit" of yester morn. He woke up with a stiff back sans Rin and had already slipped away when she returned to check on him.
Coward, he berated himself.
Rin looked up from her flowers every so often to glance Kichiruka's way. She thought about his teleportation abilities and started to wonder where the demon's home coast was exactly. If he can be there in an eyeblink he could just as easily come from the ocean's side or the shared sea between us and the Continent all the way west.
So she asked. "From which coast do you come?"
"Mikan," Kichiruka answered simply nodding out toward the east. He whispered something, then let go of the juggling circle. Rin gaped as they water spheres continued their cycle without Kichiruka's direct contact.
Long-lasting enchantment.
"However, I was born somewhere on the other side." He waved his hand westward. "Why?"
"Just curious." Rin shrugged. "How long have you lived on this side?"
"I have been in these waters for going on twenty-five years now. I haven't been anywhere for such a stretch."
Only twenty-five years? Rin wasn't too familiar with yokai calendars and ages, but she knew that generally anything less than a century was relatively short. "You rove a lot?"
Kichiruka's juggling cycle slowed. "Yeah…"
"Does your family travel with you?"
"…No." The water spheres merged back with the current.
"So…what's up with them?"
"Can we practice?"
Rin shut up and nodded. "Sorry for prying." She knotted the last stem and set the ring of flowers over his neck. "Here."
He chuckled softly, smiling at the petals before tucking them into his collar underneath. "It's all right. Let's go."
Although she had no idea exactly what there was left to teach Kichiruka. His joints stopped popping a while ago and he moved with nearly the same fluidity as if he were born on land. With a bit of relief she watched Kichiruka make up his own challenges.
"By now I should be able to just jump over this hill," he declared, pointing determinedly at the knoll. The water demon sprang forward…and got about three feet far before the incline caught up with his face.
"Still alive?" Rin drawled.
His outstretched claws twitched.
Eventually, they made it up to the shade of the tree at the hilltop.
"Do humans climb?" Kichiruka asked.
"Yes." Although Rin didn't think her yukata was much suited to the task.
Kichiruka fingered the rough bark of the tree and frowned. He looked up to the lowest sturdy bough. Then leapt.
"Well, you half made it," Rin giggled. Kichiruka dangled by his hands. He'd barely jumped a few spans off the ground. He soon lost his grip.
They settled for sitting next to each other on the grass instead.
Rin smirked. Kagome and Inuyasha this ain't.
"Some two and a half centuries ago, there was a great war between the yokai of this land and those of the Mainland, you know."
The statement was so arbitrary Rin had to think for a minute to come up with a reply. Kichiruka just stared straight ahead. Finally she nodded. "I've heard the stories. Something about a demon named Hyoga." Rin remembered from her early travels with Sesshomaru the pesky moths that had swarmed the land when Menomaru, the son of the Mainland general, resurrected.
"Indeed, from those battles stormy waters shook the ocean and howling wind torrents ravaged the region." Kichiruka paused and considered the shifting leaves overhead. "It was in the turbulence that I lost my family."
Again Kichiruka stopped. A blank look barring any expression. His cerulean eyes dulled to cornflower, his voice flattened. He could've been reading from a town register.
"I called and searched for days, months, and years to no avail. It seemed the more I swam the farther I got from my pod. Eventually, I roamed into these waters. Lord Ichikawa found me. He thought it was amusing that there was no one else in his kingdom like me.
"I certainly don't hate his lordship. Heaven knows he's been…fair with me." Kichiruka picked his words with care. "And then there's Master Tensai, too." He chuckled. Then looked at Rin. "Hey, what're the tears for? It isn't that terrible a –"
"I'm crying for you," she sniffled. "You…you're…AN IDIOT!"
Kichiruka toppled backwards. "Huh? Me?" He struggled to sit up.
"Yeah, you, stupid!" She jabbed a finger into his chest. "I shed my tears for my family. I got closure, but you, you just keep it all bottled up inside like a moron. You can't expect anyone to be a freakin' mind-reader! I'm sick of dealing with emotionally constipated yokai!" Rin stormed.
Well…geez. Hope she doesn't totally mean me.
She huffed, scrubbed her eyes, then glared out to the village below. "I forgive you," she grumbled.
Kichiruka twitched. "Okaaay…" He crept closer and they sat quietly for a bit. "I'm going to be needed back…in the ocean for a while," he finally said and started walking back downhill.
Rin followed. "Visitors?"
"Yes. How'd you know?"
"That seems to be when you have to spend the most time there. Are you a diplomat of sorts?"
Kichiruka's eyes rolled skyward and he tugged at the spiked strands of his topknot. "…You could say that I help alleviate political tension."
"Are you a catamite?"
"No! Ech, I told you Ichikawa's fair with me not abusive! "
He was back to evading her questions. But seeing that this didn't upset him, Rin let the line drop.
"Do you usually get visitors from far away? Like the ones with the water horses?"
Kichiruka nodded. "Usually demons accompany humans on the way over here, giving life to the stories that foreigners share, but once in a while they find their way over – just to see."
They stopped by the brook and Rin tilted her head. "Do these visitors look much different than the yokai here?"
"Yeah, if 'strange' brings to mind anything different." He laughed. "They're weird-looking creatures with even odder customs. Though I daresay that's where Ichikawa gets a few of his more 'original' ideas. He says it makes our guests feel more at home. Huh."
"Really? Like?"
"Eh, maybe I'll show you one of these days. Just not now. I'll return soon." Kichiruka smiled gently and leaned in.
Rin was only dimly aware that her eyes fluttered shut.
When she opened them, Kichiruka was waving from the brook. "Okay! See ya in a few days!"
He dove in and disappeared.
Rin huffed.
Idiot.
oOo
After sparring the day had passed quietly, especially without Jaken around. When Sesshomaru neglected to bring his loquacious retainer along Rin wondered just what sort of errand or tedium the poor imp was braving alone.
Eh, he's probably got Ah-Un with him.
As the sun crawled to the horizon and she walked toward home, passing by the brook, Rin realized she was walking by herself. She glanced over her shoulder. "Aren't you coming?"
Sesshomaru stood still, arms at his sides. "You don't need me to walk you back anymore." His voice sounded faint and distant.
Emotionally constipated. Rin shook her head, smiling. "I like it when you do."
Without a word, Sesshomaru fell into step with her again. Even though the use of the poison dog had unsettled him somewhat, the daiyokai had forced himself to wait another two days before returning to check on Rin again. He would grow used to this. Then Sesshomaru looked at sword she wore and remembered. "If you implement the finishing technique at any time I'll be there."
Rin smirked. "And if the demon's already dead?"
A furred shoulder shrugged. "I suppose you will now be able to handle any yokai pests…"
Suddenly, the hairs on nape of dog-demon's neck pricked up. Rin saw his nose twitch. Both looked toward the brook.
"With ease," he completed. In a slicing whisper, Sesshomaru's whip ribboned out to the brook, ripping the calm waters.
Rin bit back a gasp. Please don't be there.
Sesshomaru frowned when the energy band turned up empty. He could have sworn he sensed another demonic presence. Nothing vanished without a trace and his sharp nose never lied.
Covering her relief, Rin affected a curious, wide-eyed stare. "Something the matter?"
Sesshomaru didn't answer and strode toward the brook to rake his hand through the bank's silt. Sampling some of the muck he sniffed it over. There. It was faint, but he could distinguish a salty content in the freshwater. Whatever this demon was that had these strange comings and goings it was frequent enough to leave residue.
"Rin," he ordered.
She jumped at her name. "Lord Sesshomaru?"
"You used your blade recently."
"Yes." Did he have to make it sound like an accusation? His brows furrowed asking a silent "why?" "I had to test it for myself," Rin answered simply, keeping a nervous pitch at bay.
"The venomous properties only function if you fear for your life. Were you threatened?" Sesshomaru sounded on the verge of anger, but Rin knew this meant he was terribly concerned. She squirmed inside and just felt like blurting out the truth.
And what do you think he'll do to Kichiruka?
"I woke up feeling nervous." It wasn't a total lie. "So that must have triggered it. I went for a walk to calm down, then went back to sleep."
Sesshomaru nodded. What Rin said aligned with what he'd seen that morning.
But the girl stepped back as he drew closer. The dog-demon stooped and tilted his head in that unnerving way when he meant to commit a smell to memory.
He's scanning me…for Kichiruka's scent?
Golden eyes narrowed. "You're hiding something."
"And what could that be?" Rin hedged. Sesshomaru would smell a direct lie.
"You're being evasive."
"Well, anyone would be under these circumstances." She reached for the hilt of her blade and pressed it against his abdominal plate to put some space between them. "Is this a test? M'lord?"
Sesshomaru backed off a bit, crossing his arms into voluminous sleeves. "Huh." He looked Rin up and down. She stared back up at him somewhere, he gauged, at the space over his shoulder. A token's defiance. He wondered if this foolhardiness was what his mother saw in him. At least Rin merited the advice.
"Don't do anything stupid."
oOo
From the safety of his ship, Kichiruka breathed deeply, trying to get the hyperventilation under control. He had to replay the scene four times over in his head before it made sense.
He was struck dumb by the lightening reflex, an automatic, merciless reaction. Like the way sharks chomped on anything that moved. It was as natural and regular breathing. This demon had killed before, many times; Kichiruka couldn't deny it, not with the proof dragging him within an inch of his life.
Without even glancing down, that daiyokai had unsheathed his claws, utterly composed and detached. Had he squashed an insect he could hardly have displayed less emotion, and this deadly calm unnerved Kichiruka as much as the ruthless, unthinking speed with which he had struck.
The water demon swallowed. He thought if he was going to declare any of his feelings for Rin he would like to speak to the guardian she held in such high esteem. Yet for being yokai himself, it seemed that her protector wanted nothing to do with demon-kind.
Huh. There's a fine kettle of fish.
Kichiruka shuddered. He could still feel the sizzle of yoki that had crackled just before instinct took hold and teleported him out of there. That demon was in a completely separate class. Daiyokai.
Kichiruka cursed the fates for putting such a temperamental guard dog in his path, for being born a common demon, and – in spite of his arsenal of spells – for being so easily bewitched by one human girl.
He sighed.
And I must be pretty sick because I like it.
.
A/N: If "Hooked" had a cover page: feral-instinct(dot)deviantart(dot)com/#/d2wy56l Ah, and finally got this one done: feral-instinct(dot)deviantart(dot)com/#/d2wy5vc (please replace "dots" with periods and keep the first portion of the link when pasting). Thank you for reading!