POISON | Love Her
Chapter 8
PALE DRAGON
'Thoughts/Rin's writing'
"Speaking/Tablet-Speech"
Flashbacks
Original Publish Date: 2/26/2017
Its was late into the night. Rin was lying on her back on a small twin bed with a modern copy of an old, ancient demon history textbook in her hands, a welcome distraction from the fresh soreness on her face where Kagome tried her knack at light healing. Kaede insisted that she just forget everything she ever learned about demon history in school (which was very little) and read through this book first, then they will start the complicated things afterward. She was expecting to be mostly bored of her mind, but this version of the tales were more real, it seemed, and she didn't feel like just brushing them off as she did in school. Though she was younger back then...
What surprised her the most had to be that Sesshomaru was actually in the book, along with his father, mother and brother—that she didn't know existed!-and even Ryukotsusei and his family. The modern textbooks in school didn't talk about demons that still roamed around, 'Maybe not to scare the children?' Sesshomaru seemed just as ruthless as Ryukotsusei in the beginning, while she saw small hints of his character changing through the centuries, Ryukotsusei stayed the same.
And there was a troubling fact... 'He doesn't die!' First, Sesshomaru's father, Touga, kills Ryukotsusei. Turns out he is just sealed and Sesshomaru's brother, Inuyasha, ends up waking him up, but then kills him. He then reappears a century later, and Sesshomaru kills him. He comes back again about a century and a half later, and manages to stay alive till now. 'How? It makes no sense.'
She found Touga's love story interesting, the influence apparently being one of the first major steps in how humans and youkai should unite. She wondered if Kaede had any other books with him around.
Her concern over this youkai council grew as she neared the end of the book. At that point in history, it consisted of a lot of youkai, including: Sesshomaru, Sesshomaru's mother, a wolf daiyoukai named Daichi, a panther king, another daiyoukai named Shishinki, a fox named Takumi, a bear, a falcon, and... Rin blinked in shock, 'Abi and Kaguya? No way.'
A peace treaty between the humans and demons had been signed about 30 years before, when the council looked considerably different, then a long string of terrible events occurred. The shattering of the Shikon no Tama-there wasn't much on why that's such a terrible thing in the book-which the council ended voting against on helping with. It resulted in unnecessary carnage across the country due to those going mad with the jewel shard's power.
During that time, a demon horse found his way out of his seal, and terrorized human towns and villages, looking for a master. The council also refused to intervene with that, stating if the humans thought they were equals, they could easily tame a demon horse. The list went on and just had shaking her head in disbelief.
The decisions were never unanimous, she noted, as it seemed the council was split on nearly every judgment they made. The constant fighting from every side eventually brought the peace treaty to an end, the humans arguing the youkai did nothing to up hold it thus it was no longer valid.
The youkai council fell not too much later, leaving the remaining youkai with no political party to govern them or protect their rights when the time came that human populations vastly surpassed youkai and human weapons technology advanced to the point that any human could be a real, true threat to any youkai. Throughout the years, the daiyoukais attempted to rebuild some kind of council, but each attempt failed. It seemed how they handled now, like mafia lords, was the only way to provide stable land and undeniable care to their people.
Rin yawned, stretching her self out on the bed after shutting the finished book. 'So, Kaede wants me to appeal to a council that does not exist.' She stared up at the ceiling, lost in her thoughts. 'If Sesshomaru, Naraku, Kouga and Kaguya are the closest thing to a council and the quickest way to get the help and attention of the youkai species... I am screwed.' There was no mistake in that.
-:-
THE NEXT MORNING
"I don't want you near that place again!" Sango yelled, "You could have gotten yourself killed, don't you know the kind of youkai that crawl around in that club?!" She had just heard from Kagome that it was a young man named Kohaku who tried to push Ryukotsusei away from Rin, so she rushed to her brother's home... and she was beyond livid.
"I can take care of myself!" He spat back, "Nothing even happened-"
"Don't fool yourself! If that woman hadn't gotten in the way, that youkai would have split you in two the moment you left the club." Sango's eyes began to water, "I can't do my job and protect you at the same time, Kohaku. Me even being here can put you in danger, I can't lose you. And I... I..." She covered her face with her hands, walking away from her younger brother.
Kohaku's eyes softened, "... I'm sorry. The guys just wanted celebrate, they were getting all suspicious when I pushed to go somewhere else so I just gave in. I didn't think all of that was going to happen." Sango sniffled, her eyes towards the ceiling, trying to blink back any new tears. "I was just so surprised to see Rin there..."
"You know Rin?"
"Yeah, she frequents the shop. I thought about asking her out a few times..." He began scratching the back of his head, "Though now she hangs out with some rich guy now."
"She's a nice girl." Sango said, looked back at him. "Do you happen to know how often they meet?"
"Pfft, like everyday." Kohaku said, dejected as he dropped himself on his beige sofa. "At least, Asagi and Shippo make it sound like that. Ever since since he stopped meeting that lady wind demon-"
"That same man was meeting Kagura?"
Kohaku blinked up at his sister, "I guess? I'm not sure what her name was. She had these huge red eyes. I haven't seen her around in a long time now."
"Is that so..." Sango crossed her arms over her chest, expression unreadable. "What time do you usually see them?"
Kohaku frowned, "Why are you so interested?" She didn't respond. He sighed, "In the evening. Sometimes it could be at 6 or as late as 11. I've only seen them maybe once or twice during the day."
Sango checked the clock on her phone, letting out a soft sigh. "I have to get back, thanks for info." She kissed the top of his head, "Be careful!"
"Yeah, yeah, I know."
-:-
"Do not be so quick to judge, our mikos have also made terrible choices." Kaede started, interrupting Rin's thoughts. They sat outside, Kaede watching Kagome's archery technique while using her powers. "We have made many missteps when dealing with youkai, being as cruel as they were in most cases, thus fueling the flames that separated us."
Kagome cheered when the arrow hit the center of her target, scorching the entire circle. "Nice shot!" Rin typed, before turning her attention back to Kaede, "Can you tell more about the jewel now?"
Kaede nodded, passing her a thin, maroon colored book that appeared ancient. "Only a few pages are translated. Unfortunately, the miko working on that one has... passed away. Read what you can, and any questions you have later, I'll answer."
Rin already began flipping through the pages with a gentle hand, the first translation was the orb's origins, but that was unclear according to the text. Some say it belonged to the dragon god, Ryujin, and was a source of his power—other's say it was created by Susanoo, the god of storm and sea-but the orb's existence goes far back into time... The text claims the jewel was created at the same moment the world came to be. With her nose in the book, Rin didn't notice Kagome's straight shots with her loud cheering or Kaede's amused looks.
But she did feel the heavy pulse coming from the home behind them. Without thought, she jumped out her seat and ran into the building, wincing when another pulse resonated from the box before snatching the jewel from its failing confides. It silenced, she sighed in relief. Kaede and Kagome soon joined her,
"We need to fortify our barriers." Kaede stated, looking at Kagome.
The young woman nodded, "No doubt those waves of energy are going to attract unwanted attention!" Rin's eyes darted between the two, wondering if she could help. Kagome responded, "Don't worry about us. Barriers are miko stuff, so you won't be able to do much... Just keep that thing quiet." She nodded, tightening her grip on the small jewel while the other two stepped out again.
With another sigh, she opened her palm, starring into the dark abyss it held. She saw little sparks bounce around its walls for a brief moment, whispers of a language unknown to her flooded her mind, before stilling entirely.
-:-
"Lord Sesshomaru!" Jaken bowed, "Its been a few days since we have last seen you, milord. Welcome back!" The daiyoukai ignored his vassal as he made his way into his office, determined to catch up on any grueling paperwork he had been neglecting. "Ah, I'll bring some tea!" The kappa exclaimed before scampering off.
He went through the physical mail first, these letters sent from more traditional youkai requesting either personal help or assistance with human authorities. Most requests of the former are denied, selfish requests that he had zero obligation in fulfilling. The latter, however... those were dealt with. Jaken returned, setting down a kettle and single saucer. Sesshomaru started, "Did anything occur in my absence?"
"It has been fairly quiet, milord, but you do have a letter from the band of seven and Abi has personally request your presence." Abi hadn't requested talks with him in the past century. He was aware of her situation with her mother and Naraku, attempting to contact him in private could risk her mother's life.
"Is that all?"
"Yes, mi-lord."
"Then you are dismissed."
LATER THAT DAY
"Finally. You are such a pain to get a hold of." Abi sneered in frustration, her face partially covered with a hoodie. They met behind one of the famous restaurants in his side of the city, called The Pale Dragon.
Sesshomaru brushed aside the tone of her voice for now, "What is the meaning of this?"
Abi let out a huge breath, leaning her back against the concrete wall. "You know I monitor the skies for any abnormalities for Naraku..." She reached into the inner side of her jacket, pulling out a couple of folded sheets of paper. "I saw this nearly a week ago. I was debating on whether to tell Naraku or not..." She handed him the papers, print outs of some type of immense, electro-magnetic disturbance outside of the city. It lasted only a few seconds. "I haven't and I won't. It happened again today. Been trying to get a hold of you since."
"Why?"
"Because whatever that was, Ryukotsusei went insane for. Did you hear what happened at Shikon the other day?" Sesshomaru nodded, still looking through the maps. It ended too quickly for Abi to pinpoint the location. Somewhere far outside the city, to the west. "And that power is concerning to say the least." Abi narrowed her eyes, "You're not surprised."
"I may have heard of something related to this..." Sesshomaru responded vaguely, unsure how much he should divulge to the bird daiyoukai.
"You don't trust me, fine, I get it." Abi growled, "But if I find anything else, I'm bringing it to you. I sure as hell don't trust Naraku." She then scoffed, shaking her head with a smile, "Just like old times, eh?" Sesshomaru said nothing as the female daiyoukai turned into a large bird, a more compact version of her true form, and fled the area. His phone went off at that moment, his 'human' phone to be exact, with a text message from Rin.
'I need to talk to Sesshomaru in private very soon... Today would be great!' The text read.
He read it with abundant curiosity, replying, 'What matter of business is this?'
'I can talk to only him. It has to be Sesshomaru. It has to be before tomorrow.'
Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes at the last message, 'Are you backing down?'
'No, but something has changed. Please, its just for a moment.' His eyes drifted towards the walls of the restaurant in front of him. He had a meeting later with Kouga, Toran and their respective mates. Rin could be a welcomed distraction...
Sesshomaru shook that thought away, did he not just decide days ago to keep her away? Away from the real him? Was his resolve so weak? He leaned against the concrete wall, staring down at the phone in hand. '...we are only expendable to this Sesshomaru, aren't we?' It still bothered him, how she thought of him, and which was compounded by his irritation of even caring in the first place. In the end, he could not change her thoughts on him in his human form, that he was quite frankly tired of using.
He wanted to see her, not as his human self, and he will.
-:-
Rin struggled with her front door, balancing a few large books on her raised thigh as she quickly unlocked it. 'Ugh, so... heavy!' She dropped the stack on the nearest table. Glancing at the clock, she realized she only had about an hour to get ready, though she wished she didn't have to. 'Why can't Sesshomaru like ice cream like Takahashi?' She mentally grumbled, dragging her feet to the shower.
Rin let out a sigh of relief as the hot water hit her body. 'I hope Kagome will be alright.' She didn't like leaving them there with that ominous thing, but she could not be in the city with that on her person. Ryukotsusei knows where she lives, where she works. It would be far too easy for him to get a hold of it. She made quick of her shower, leaving with her damp body wrapped in a fluffy brown towel as she made her way to her closet and realized... 'I have nothing to wear.'
The young woman face-palmed, forgetting that shopping for fine dresses was something she hadn't done yet. Not that she wanted to as the only times she has needed something so formal so far was for-
"Wear this."
Rin stumbled backwards in shock, tripping over some thrown-about shoes and thankfully, landing on her bed. She blinked up at the daiyoukai who somehow made it into her home, into her room, and stood right behind her without her having a single clue to his presence. The young woman tightened up her towel, giving the dog demon her best glare, 'What is with these demons just coming into someone's home unannounced?!' Her glare did nothing to his expression as the daiyoukai just dropped the large box in his hands onto her lap and walked out of the room.
The young woman bit back another sigh as she undid the bow on the white box, slipping the lid open and revealing a striking red dress. Her fingertips glided over the beaded embellishments that ran along the sweetheart neckline of the dress before she stood, pulling the entire floor-length gown from the box. Rin smiled at the dress, turning it around, admiring the lace-up back. She removed the towel and slipped into the dress, humming happily until she realized she would need his help...
Rin opened her bedroom door, finding the daiyoukai idly flipping through one of the books she grabbed at the shrine. She placed a firm hand on his extended arm, getting his eyes, before she turned around and pointed at the back of her dress. "I believed this was something you could do on your own, considering your profession..." He said, though his hands still worked the bodice's ties. 'Yes, I can, but it should be faster and easier if you do.' She thought, glancing down at the book he was looking through. 'Oh, it was that one, the one about... him.'
"You seem interested to learn more about me." Sesshomaru stated. Rin couldn't reach for paper or her tablet while he was still doing her ties, so she couldn't voice a proper response. 'Yes, I am. I need to know if you can be trusted, figure out what kind of person you are...' She thought. "You do not need to rely on old human text. You may simply ask."
Rin gave a look over her shoulder, 'How can I believe you?'
"I have no reason to lie." He grounded out, finishing up the knot.
Now she looked at him bewildered, 'Are you a mind reader or something?'
"You are very easy to read." The daiyoukai stated, "Go, finish." Rin nodded, dashing into her room to pick up a pair of matching heels and do her makeup. She looked at her wild hair in the mirror and decided on an elegant side bun that she was used to using whenever she wanted to be a bit fancy, not wanting to fight her hair now with a complicated style. She frowned a bit at the cuts on her face, the marks still pink and tender, though Kagome's healing helped enough to get her stitches out earlier. Still, Rin forgoes covering it with make-up, afraid of irritating the still healing skin.
She walked out just as he was making his way to her room, 'Probably to tell me to hurry up...' He stopped and looked her, his face unreadable as always. She smiled up at him, and twirled around once, before looking up at him again, expecting some kind of opinion. He reached into his blazer pocket, "You are missing something." And handed her another box, this one much smaller. She opened up the navy box, revealing a pair of drop earrings, sparkling with...diamonds and rubies?
Heart thudding, she shut the box quickly and tried handing it back to him, but his hands refused to come up and grab the box. They were beautiful. Way too beautiful. 'I can't... I can't accept that. I'm already wearing this dress...!' "Do you not like them?" Rin looked at him like he was crazy. 'Of course, I do! But no, no, no!' Irritated that he just would not take it back, she stepped closer, tried shoving it back into his blazer but he grabbed her wrist, stopping her. "Wear them for the night. You can return them if it makes you uncomfortable."
Rin looked up at the daiyoukai, knowing she might be a bit too close to him, then puzzled when her mind brought back Takahashi. 'Something about his eyes...' She thought, the amber in front of her reminded her very much of that night were she could have sworn she saw... 'And his clothes... and his personality. Huh.' When one brow quirked up in that familiar way, she realized at that moment, she was touching his face.
The young woman pulled away from his cheek rapidly as she brought herself back into reality, eyes darting between him and the jewelery before sighing in defeat. 'I guess that's fine.' She thought, stepping to the mirror to put the earrings on. Rin gave a long look at her reflection, not used to being done up to look fancy instead of trashy, before smiling sadly... she did look just like her mother. The smile vanished, her eyes downcast. 'What would she think of me wearing this... from a daiyoukai like him? Again. Willingly. Would she be disappointed in her?'
Rin barely felt the hand on her mid-back, looking up to meet the golden eyes of her date tonight. Unyielding, his gaze told her nothing of his thoughts, but she hoped hers did. She hoped he could see how much she didn't want to do this, and hoped he would, at the least, not ask her of it again. She blinked harshly, suddenly aware her eyes were watering. She bit back the tears, 'Can't... mess up my makeup... He'll probably get mad...' "This dinner is for you, not I."
She blinked in confusion, but the dog demon simply turned away, "I will be waiting in the car." She shook her head, grabbing her purse, keys, and quickly went out to join him.
-:-
THE PALE DRAGON
Having a bit of deja vu, Rin clung to Sesshomaru as they walked through a large archway, wanting to hide behind him from the other youkai in the courtyard. The architecture around her reminded her of some of the images in the books Kaede handed her, particularly the ones around the feudal era. The restaurant building itself seemed like a mansion, the courtyard had a good amount of tables spread across the front-and as much as she would love to enjoy the scenery of a place she may not see ever again—she could not help but feel the eyes of every one on them, questioning.
Inside it wasn't any better, the commotion she heard from outside its doors vanished the moment the two of them entered. The restaurant was packed, but Sesshomaru's presence just stilled the life inside. A hostess appeared immediately,
"Welcome back, milord! Your guests have been seated. Allow me to lead you-"
"That won't be necessary." Sesshomaru cut off the hostess, turning to the back, way back of the restaurant. Rin tensed having to pass every single table, until they got to a doorway. He opened the door and allowed her in first. Her eyes nervously took in the spacious room, heavily decorated with a large round table in the middle, occupied by no one she recognized...? 'Wait, is that Abi?'
"Long time no see, Rin." The bird demoness acknowledged her, before taking a sip of the red wine in front of her.
"About time you got here, I'm starving!" A blue-eyed, tan male youkai exclaimed as they both sat, Sesshomaru sending a glare his way.
"Kouga..." The redhead next to him warned, before she pinched his upper arm.
"Hey!"
"Kouga is the northern lord, and his mate Ayame." Sesshomaru started the introductions. She actually never saw the northern 'lord' in her life, and only knew he was a wolf youkai, she didn't imagine him so expressive. He gestured towards Abi, "You know her." Then to a female youkai with ice-blue hair and a large, stocky male with... horns, 'Bull horns?' "This is Toran, leader of the panther tribe and her mate, Yoshiro."
"And you are the last human descendant of Ryukotsusei's bloodline?" Rin gave the bluenette woman who spoke a bewildered look. She hadn't gotten to the book about her family history yet, but she suspected the panther just dropped a major spoiler. 'I'm... WHAT?'
"Hey, hey! Food first." Kouga interrupted, earning a laugh from the bull youkai.
"Yes, I agree with the wolf."
With a flick of Sesshomaru's wrist, many waiters and waitresses bustled in the room, setting down bowls and plates of delicious smelling food. A few carried some bottles of wine, filling glasses with everyone's favorite. Until they got to her, "Which wine would the lady prefer? Or is there something else you'd like?" And she realized she had nothing to write on or with. And her tablet was left behind in Sesshomaru's car. She didn't want wine, but didn't mind it too much and not wanting to cause any trouble, picking the white wine that Yoshiro also happened to be drinking.
"So..." Kouga started, swallowing a large piece of meat he was working on. And then taking a swig of whiskey. "I heard you got Ryu's panties in a bunch the other day." Rin concluded that Kouga was drastically different from his counter-parts. "What'd you do?"
Rin swung her eyes over to Sesshomaru, hoping he would answer for her—or say anything, really. "She can't speak, did you forget already?" Abi was the one who spoke up.
"Oh, shit. That's right." Rin blinked at the profanity. "Well, how is she going to talk to us?!" A waiter hurried in, passing over a tablet and digital pen to her before disappearing again. She wrote, 'I didn't give him what he wanted.'
Kouga nodded, "That's a great way to piss him off."
"And get yourself killed." Ayame added, with a frown.
"It would get us all killed either way." Toran replied after finishing up her first glass of rose wine.
"Honey, there is no need to bring everyone down." Yoshiro's voice was deep, but soft. "We've dealt with this before."
"Things were a whole lot of different back then." Abi grumbled, snapping her fingers for a refill.
'They know...' Rin thought as she watched the exchanges. 'They know why I am here. This isn't some gathering of corrupts like Fantasia.' She looked at Sesshomaru again, who was quietly observing his dinner guests through his wine glass. He set the glass down and met her gaze, perhaps waiting for her to do or say something, but she wasn't sure what she wanted to ask first. "This dinner is for you, not I." 'That's it? He needs no convincing for this? Do any of them do?' If that was the case, it was a huge weight off her shoulders.
"Yes, there were quite a few more of us..." Ayame started, "Many of them gone now-"
"Are all the women going to start being depressing now?" Kouga flatly asked, interrupting his mate.
Ayame elbowed him in the side, ignoring his groan of pain, "-but their teachings haven't faded. We should be able to gather the youkai necessary for this."
Rin's eyes softened and she gave Sesshomaru a smile before turning her attention back to the table, ignoring Abi's raised eyebrow. "Ryukotsusei will not go down without a fight." Yoshiro said.
"I can handle Ryukotsusei." Sesshomaru stated, his first real words for the conversation. "His followers are an issue. Their numbers continue to grow..."
"And if they find out we are trying to seal the dragon jewel again, no doubt they will rebel. They'll call us human apologists and think we have become the miko's dogs. Bunch of fools." Abi sneered, "They don't see Ryukotsusei doesn't give a damn about their lives."
"Oh well. We'll just take care of them." Kouga shrugged, "Its their right to give their lives away."
"Most of these people are innocent and don't realize they have another choice!" Ayame exclaimed.
"What?! They do! Stop working for the bastard, get the hell out of his lands, and join us!" Kouga fired back.
The redhead crossed her arms, "I don't mean to offend Lord Sesshomaru, but those people, many who still remember how you all were just centruies ago, don't see a difference between you-" She pointed at Kouga, "Him." then Sesshomaru, "That spider, and Ryukotsusei."
"Its true." Toran agreed, "To them, you are all one of the same. They simply choose what they believe is the lesser evil." Those words caused Rin to drop her gaze down to her lap, a frown pulling her lips down. She knew exactly how that felt.
"I am nothing like him." Kouga started, pointing at the dog demon. "And we are sure as hell nothing like that lunatic dragon or that gross spider. Ugh. We're veering off-topic here."
"Are we? The opinion of our people is very important, someone as... charismatic as Ryukotsusei can easy turn your own against you, especially if you do something they don't want." Abi responded, clearing her second glass.
"Like what? Killing Ryukotsusei? I think everyone aside from his delusional lackeys want that."
"No, I said it before. Helping humans. Sealing away a powerful, ancient power that a daiyoukai is capable of using to bring youkai back to the top of the world. Very easy to twist." Abi mocked, "Kouga, why would you help cripple your people in such a way? Why protect the humans after everything they have done that we completely did not deserve at all? Etc, etc."
"My people are happy. They wouldn't ask such stupid questions." Kouga grumbled, before popping a cubed beef in his mouth.
"Happy?!" It was Abi who raised her voice, "You forget what I do, Kouga. I know nearly a third of your people in the mountains are starving." Ayame looked to the side, brows scrunched up and eyes slanted down. She appeared ashamed, but not surprised. The others, however, did.
"That's none of your fucking business!" The wolf youkai growled, slamming a fist down on the table. Ayame placed her hand on top, a small attempt to quell her mate's anger, before addressing the phoenix.
"I know, but it is not due to lack of trying, Abi. We lost a few of our farmlands out in the country to a coporate buyout. While those in the city fair well, those in the mountains do not want to live like modern humans. They rather starve."
Abi waved it off, "I'm not saying you two weren't trying. I'm just stating that... They have good reason to leave. They don't want to give up or adapt their lifestyle and Ryu is going to exploit that with a bunch of bullshit promises. That's a good chunk of our people that we can't have going and following that dragon."
"Then we don't give them reason to." Toran stated, "With Lord Sesshomaru's permission, we have plenty of food we can provide from our fields. Too much, in fact. I'm sure it can feed most of those in need and begin ensuring their loyalty to us."
"Then it is done." Sesshomaru replied, surprising Rin and the wolf couple by the looks of it.
"So, next thing we need to do is to get Sesshomaru a personality transplant to make him at least slightly less scary and somewhat likeable." Abi said so seriously that Rin couldn't stop the giggle that escaped her.
"Yeah, why don't you just be a quiet cute like that pretty girl you got there instead of... being.. you know..." Kouga searched for a word...
"Cold? Murderous?" Abi offered.
"Demanding? Arrogant?" Toran added, a teasing edge to her voice. Her mate wisely stayed quiet. He must have noticed the ever-so-slight twitching of Sesshomaru's left brow.
"Yeah, those. Just be more like your old man or something." Kouga said off-handy, before taking a bite out of another piece of meat. Rin visibly saw Sesshomaru's anger, his tight jaw, narrowed eyes aflame, flashing red.
"And Kouga's dead." Abi stated, raising her fourth(...?) glass. "It was nice knowing you, wolfie."
"That is enough on this matter. We are here to discuss the jewel and nothing further."
"Alright, fine... Your mom still around?" Kouga asked, and Abi planted her face on the table, laughing.
"Are you trying to get him to kill you?"
"The lady is still around, Kouga, but..." Yoshiro offered to reply kindly but Sesshomaru took the reins regardless.
"We are not on speaking terms."
"Oh." The wolf youkai downed his cup of whiskey, requesting more. "Don't we kind of need her?"
"She was there the last time the seal was enforced. In fact, I believe she played an important part of it. Her expertise in barriers and sealant magic would be invaluable." Yoshiro expanded.
"Unless we want to go to Naraku for that stuff." Abi sneered, before gesturing towards a waiting waiter. "Do you have anything stronger than wine?"
"The hanyou will be more likely to assist us than my mother, if only to weaken the dragon."
"Jeez, realllyy? What the hell did you-" Ayame hit her mate, hard, very hard, over the head.
"Stop asking personal questions to Lord Sesshomaru!" She hissed.
"Damn it, that actually hurt!" The wolf youkai growled, rubbing the back of his head.
"You deserve it!"
Toran began chuckling at the two, "I miss this."
"Ayame beating her husband?" Abi asked, now with a fresh shot of tequila in her hands. "Its classic."
The panther let out a laugh, "No, not exactly, but meeting together like this for a common goal, for our people. Its been awhile."
"Too bad Naraku is gonna ruin it. Do we have to ask him?" Abi whined, looking at Sesshomaru. "You know he is a complete bastard that you were about to get rid of any way. Look at what we got going on here, its good so far. Inukimi really won't help us?"
"No, and that is the end of it." His demand was sharp. Rin found it so strange that Sesshomaru appeared to have no love for either of his parents. 'But they were together on the council before... wonder what happened...' She also wondered how their plan for Naraku will fit in all of this. They may have to delay...
Abi blinked at his aggressive tone, "Alright, alright..." She was quiet for a moment, before she asked. "What about your brother?"
'If looks could kill, Abi would be on the floor by now.' Rin thought, shocked by murderous stare. 'No love for any of his family...' The human couldn't help but think how sad that was. Yes, she had... serious... issues with her father, but her mother's love helped through that, even after she was gone, especially after.
"Look, it ain't my fault you have a family of, like, endless power, and they all can do these extravagant things." And she was starting to think Abi was drunk... She did a lot awfully fast. "We need youkai—and hanyous now, I guess-who can do extravagant things, your brother's sword is pretty fancy. Might help with something. Like Ryukotsusei. He did it once."
"We're getting dog-breath involved now?"
"No."
"Thank the gods." Kouga praised before stuffing some noddles in his mouth.
"You have barely eaten, is everything alright?" Yoshiro asked Rin, bringing the attention she didn't want at all and had been successfully avoiding. Rin nodded, she hadn't meant to eat so little, she was just... so distracted and absorbed in the conversations. These youkai didn't really seem all that bad-
"She's been too busy staring at pretty boy to worry about something so insignificant like eating, Yoshi." Abi said, finishing off another drink. Rin felt her face heat up, and she mentally cursed Abi for saying anything-
"Abi, that's not nice. You embarrassed her." Toran scolded, though there was a knowing smile on the panther's lips. Rin realized her sneaking glances at Sesshomaru, trying to catch any change in his expressions as the group spoke, did not go unnoticed by the rest. Her blush deepened, 'Sesshomaru probably knows I kept looking at him too.' She just was trying to figure him out, it wasn't because he's handsome!
"No more drinks for this one." Yoshiro told the main waiter, pointing at the bird youkai next to him.
"Hey! You can't do that!"
"Don't you need to sneak out of here, then sneak back into Naraku's territory?" Kouga asked.
"Yeah, and I can! Just gotta fly out of here."
"Can you even fly straight right now?"
Abi stared the wolf youkai before crossing her arms, "...Maybe."
"I'm sorry to interrupt..." The head waiter started, bowing before continuing, "Will the Lords and their guests be having dessert tonight?"
"Hell yes." The phoenix replied, hand in the air. The waiter seemed to not want to take Abi's answer...
"Yes, we will. Thank you." Yoshiro answered. The waiter bowed once more and walked away.
"Well, Rin... Its Rin, right?" Kouga started. She reluctantly nodded, wondering where this was going to go. "You get to go back to the Mikos, say they have our support, and you didn't even have to say a single word-"
"She can't say a word." Abi interrupted.
"I know that."
"Then why did you-"
"Dammit Abi! Its just an expression!" Rin covered her mouth in an attempt to hide her grin and stifle her giggles, but in a room full of youkai, that was impossible. "Look at this. Now we're just a joke now. Its your fault, Abi!"
"What?!" The bird youkai exclaimed but stopped when a line of servers entered with various different plates of dango, sakuramochi, uiro, Wasabon, and... 'No. Way.' A pretty, decorated stainless steel frozen container of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream.
Everyone, with the exception of Sesshomaru, who sat oddly still, began grabbing pieces of dessert, and Rin noticed no one touched the ice cream. 'Do none of them like ice cream? Why did they serve it then? How strange!' She served herself a small bowl, and immediately noticed the others got strangely quiet...
"You're actually letting her have that?" Abi was, of course, the first to speak.
"Shut. Up." She didn't understand what the big deal was... unless... 'Is that suppose to be for him?' She gave him a questioning look, but he did not meet her eyes. The young woman shrugged and just ate, if he wasn't going to stop her then why stop? The rest of the table eased,
"I need to steal your chef." Toran broke the silence first, "Every thing was amazing, like always."
"Can we have him with the food?" Kouga joked, Ayame promptly elbowed his side again.
"Call me tomorrow afternoon about the food." Toran told the wolf couple, "I should know by then how much we can give and we'll talk about how to ship it over, discreetly, of course."
"Yes, we will. Thank you Toran..." Ayame then turned to the dog demon. "And thank you as well, Lord Sesshomaru." She paused, then glanced at her mate who was still popping pieces of steam cake in his mouth, oblivious. "Kouga..."
"Hmm?" The she-wolf gestured towards Sesshomaru. "What?"
"You are impossible." The redhead sighed, sinking into her seat.
"Okay, okay... Ffftt-an-s Sesshomaru." The last part was quite muffled by all the tiny cakes he shoved in his mouth at the moment.
The dinner came to a close at that point. Sesshomaru had to send another bird youkai with Abi to ensure she got out of his territory with ease. The others thanked Sesshomaru for the dinner and went their separate ways. When Rin was siting in the leather seat of Sesshomaru's sports car, she was smiling, curling the lock of loose hair around her finger. 'That... that all wasn't so bad.'
"You had fun." Rin thought about it, and... 'I guess I did.' She nodded at the daiyoukai, though there a few things that were nagging her.
She slipped out her tablet and began typing, "How did you know that I needed to talk to you about this?"
"Abi caught the ruptures from the jewel on her aviation instruments, along with Ryukotsusei's increased harassment, it was not hard to guess."
"I thought it was going to be some huge debate..."
"If there was a council, you only met with what would be about a third of it. The more irritating ones were not present."
Well, that did sound about right. Kaguya is still around so she would probably be included, and she knew from experience she wasn't too pleasant, they had to go and talk to Naraku (not something she was up for), if there were more, she didn't know of them. With a small smirk, she resolved to point out a very glaring fact revealed tonight.
"Takahashi and you like the same ice cream." And she watched him very carefully. He blinked, but didn't move. His body seemingly tense. If it had been anyone else, she would thought nothing of it. "Hn." Was all he said. So she stayed staring at him, hoping her large, wide eyes would unnerve him. It was almost a game, except she knew she had already won but Sesshomaru did not. Maybe.
Because she had a nagging feeling about Takahashi since the last time she saw him. Because the similarities between the two were astounding, and when something so random like favorite ice cream flavors ended up lining up, she knew. The golden eyes she saw that drunken night were real. "You are staring." Her smile was slow, but her gaze did not waver. He looked at her for just a moment. "Again." Rin giggled, going back to her tablet.
"You, sir, are a liar." She should probably be angry, but her night was too fun to be angry right now. Rin could see and understand his reasoning for wanting to keep his human identity a secret, she was more miffed that he probably thought she would do something with it. She didn't care about his human identity, and she wasn't just going to tell the world. Why would she do that?
"How so...?"
She huffed, typing "You know exactly how!"
"I do not recall explicitly lying about myself." His tone almost sounded like teasing.
She stuck the tip of her tongue out playfully, "How convenient!"
-:-
There were many times throughout the night that he about lost his patience, but he kept it reigned in, unwilling to lose his temper in front of Rin and what could be the start of a new council. (The ice cream nearly pushed him off the edge, how he could forget something so simple?) The meeting went smoothly for the most part, far smoother than the last ones he attended centuries ago which involved snarling, high tempers, and flying furniture. He glanced at the human woman in the passenger seat, humming softly as she fiddled with her technology.
He was expecting the typical rage over being deceived, his favorite dessert had done him in and had her connect his human identity to his true daiyoukai self. But she only laughed, stuck her tongue, and continued on as if nothing. The woman was... very forgiving—and it made little sense to him.
"How can we trust Naraku to help us?" Gods, he hated the tablet. The robotic sound grated his hearing.
"We cannot, but unless we can find another with such expertise, we have no other option."
Rin typed something, but appeared to lose her nerve and removed it all without letting the machine speak, before she turned her attention to the side window. The ride was silent until they reached her home. The woman gathered the long-length of chiffon before trying to step out of his low vehicle, he offered his hand and she accepted, pulling her up to her feet with ease. She awarded him with a shy smile before making their way to her door. He wasn't anticipating her inviting him inside, but he remembered the deal about the earrings and assumed she was making a move to return them.
Instead, she grabbed a pad of paper, quickly jotting down. 'Will you answer my questions now?'
"You are not tired?"
'Are you?'
"No." He wasn't. He shouldn't. "I will." Rin gave him a large smile, a little noise of excitement that reflected on her aura as she put her things down and went to get changed... And then ran back, pointing at the rear of the dress with a helpless look. He may have used a complicated knot to fasten the bodice... "You need help to get undressed?" Her cheeks blushed a pretty pink, and she wagged an warning finger at him with amused eyes, before she turned her back to him and pointed at the dress again.
Mindful of his claws, he began undoing the knot, taking his time much to her displeasure. She slipped away from his hands when he finished, bowing her head in thanks before running off, the sound of her heels clicking until she got to her room. His attention drifted back to the book still sitting on her coffee table.
The one on the top of the stack was about him, that he pushed away to look at the others. The next one was a book about her family history, he suspected she might not enjoy what she will find there. The third was a book about inuyoukai behavior. He was curious as to why she picked this. Perhaps she thought it would help negotiations with him?
He opened the book, flipping through its contents quickly. It went over hierarchy of packs and pack behavior, hunting techniques, how inu youkai communicated through touch and scent, various traditions and rituals such as mating and courting, and a few tales important to their culture... Most of the content he skimmed through was surprisingly correct. Whatever human had written this had done their research.
He moved on to the next one, and couldn't stop his jaw from tightening. A book about his father and his accomplishments. He nearly tossed it aside before looking at the last one, a book about healing issues with the eyes, ears, and... throat. The first few pages revealed to him she would need a miko's touch for most of the techniques. The daiyoukai briefly wondered what would her voice sound like...
'HEY!' Sesshomaru blinked at the pad suddenly in his vision, he had been too lax and distracted, not noticing the human woman had made her way to his side. The young woman was dressed in a soft-looking tank and small shorts with little dogs on them. She grabbed one of his hands and led him to her bedroom.
He tried to ignore the scent in her bedroom, it hit him the same way it had earlier despite being prepared for it. The scent was embedded in the walls, the fibers of her bed and the carpet-he smelled her despair. She spent far too many days in this room crying, bleeding... How could the woman still lay here, or live in the house for that matter? Did her memories not torment her?
She only hopped into her bed with her pad and pen, oblivious to his silence, covering her lower body with her pale blue comforter and began writing. When he didn't move, she stopped, looked at him with an inviting smile before tapping the empty side of her bed and continued on. He concluded it wouldn't hurt to get comfortable. After removing his blazer, shoes and loosening his tie, he laid on top the covers beside her and momentarily shut his eyes, attempting to focus on her active, true scent in the now, not the past in her room.
"You are not angry?" It still nagged him, her minimal reaction earlier in the car. Human women were not known to let go of things easily, if his brother's troubles were anything to go by.
She momentarily switched to another paper, 'No. I was a annoyed a bit but...' She sighed, 'If I had a real problem with you, I would have left 'Takahashi' that morning and never come back.' Rin paused, suddenly sitting up straight then shot him a flat look before viciously writing, 'You didn't have to kiss me that night, you could have just flown us away!'
"Humans don't fly." Sesshomaru replied, "And I don't recall hearing any complaints at the time." Her cheeks blushed a bright red, shaking her head vigorously before throwing the entire comforter over her body, hiding her embarrassment. He almost chuckled at the display, listening to her pen scribbling on the paper.
Rin returned to her previous position, this time her face blush-free, then handing him the paper pad. The first question did not surprise him, age was usually the first thing humans asked. "Over 800 years." The next jumped right into his weapons, but not his offensive ones. "Yes, I carry a blade that does not cut. It heals." He was not going to elaborate. He intended to continue keeping Tensaiga's resurrection ability hidden from humans, even only a handful of his people and his family were aware of its power.
The daiyoukai did not mind the questions of his previous conquests (appeared she had already read a bit on his history), getting a bit lost in the nostalgia of when he, lawfully, ruled over a vast part of the country, when his reign extended past the shore and to the lower islands. It was simpler then, the humans were only a minor problem and he only had to deal with 2 other demon lords. 'What really happened to youkai?' A very board question, with too many answers.
"Humans began to reproduce at extreme rates, becoming stronger against illness and literacy becoming more common across all classes. The youkai birthrate was beginning to suffer as more and more youkai spent all their time raping human women instead of taking care of their own, leaving an abundant amount of abandoned hanyou children—that is when the true problems began to arise. Regardless, most youkai refused to change, to acknowledge the looming threat of your species, and I... was one of those for a long time. It was not until one of my islands fell into human-rule, willingly, that I saw a glimpse of what was to come."
"Instead of fighting and losing more of our people, I and the eastern demon lord swallowed our pride and agreed to approach the humans with an idea of peace between our species. When word spread about our meetings, it fractured our lands and our people on both sides. There was simply too much bad blood between us all. It would take centuries for a peace treaty to finally be drafted and passed, only to fail due to those who refused to leave the past behind."
Through old money, now, he still controlled quite a bit—but the situation was far different. His people either lived hidden among the rest of humans, cramped but free within his territory in the city or alone in secret, among themselves, far out into the country. Aside from Kouga, he was the only lord with territory outside the city lines but the reasoning for that was simply that the majority of humans choose to not live on mountains and the settlements around the city were still quite small. Regardless, it granted his people a way to live life a bit more closely to how it was before, even if it meant being cut off of most modern civilization.
He reached the last question, though the woman had scribbled it off—His throat was dry; how long had he been speaking now? When was the last time he spoke so much?-He still could read it. It was a question about his family. Of course, she would be curious. He may hide his thoughts and feelings well, but not when it came to them.
"My father was a fleeting existence in my life., appearing only to criticize." Why was he answering this? She crossed it out. She backed down from it. Even if she hadn't, he had no obligation to answer. "My mother is insufferable-" He tried to reason that he knew such an intimate, dark part of her life, it would only be fair to shed a tiny light on his. "-and my half-brother is reckless and ungrateful." But he was not willing to spill more than that.
He saw her from the corner of his vision, her eyebrows scrunched with concern and lips pulled into a frown. In her eyes... Pity. From a mute, abused human woman-child. 'Wonderful.' Sesshomaru's mind sneered as he put down the pad between them and made a move to stand.
Rin stopped him, wanting to tell him something—but he did not want to read it. He spent too much time here, he spoke and said far too much for his liking—and he could not phantom the reason why. But Rin was not having it, she dropped on her weight on him (as ineffective that may be, he still paused) as she continued scribbling on her paper before putting it clear in his vision. She was persistent as always. It did not bother him as it should have.
'You look tired. Sleep.' He was relieved, if not a bit surprised, she hadn't written 'I'm sorry', 'That's terrible', or anything along those lines in an attempt to be sympathetic. Aside from that, inviting him to stay was highly unusual. He read the next line, written in awfully tiny letters. 'And I'm a bit scared of being alone tonight...'
"Of what?" And why would his company be any less 'scary'?
Rin got off of him, then drew something that appeared to be a dragon, he surmised, with a stick figure in its jaws. It was ridiculous. He raised a brow, "You are aware I am capable of the same." She tapped the end of the pencil on her chin, then nodded. 'But you are different.' She wrote. He was unsure if that was a good thing. Her eyes then became pleading, clasping her hands in front of her—what was going on through her mind to ask him, personally, for protection? He had been far too nice with the girl...
As if on cue, his sharp hearing heard something rustling outside her window, too big to be a stray animal of some sort. He caught the sense of a faint, weak aura near. His eyes hardened, the woman's fears may come to be true tonight. Rin gave a perplexed look. He rose from her bed, with a curt command telling her to stay put.
-:-
Rin pulled the covers around her tight as the daiyoukai left, feeling vulnerable without the calm blanket of his youki in her room. She chewed on her bottom lip, wondering, again, if what she was doing was wise. If she could trust him to lock away a powerful artifact, she should be able to trust him around her, right? 'No, those are very different things.' She resolved, 'One is a threat, I'm probably just an annoyance.'
The young woman jumped from the bed at the thunder that cracked outside her window. Shaking, she peered through the glass into the dark night. There was no rain, no wind, no storm. 'Where...?' She saw a youkai in the skies, she remembered him. Hiten. His brother is more likely around some-
"Well, well, look at you." Rin fought against the iron grip of the youkai that snuck up behind her. It was his brother, Manten. "You know, Ryukotsusei just wants you alive—no reason why I can't have a little fun with you first. " She screamed against the hand that covered her mouth, as the other hand roughly grabbed one of her breasts. Lighting struck outside, the daiyoukai must be busy with Hiten. She bit down as hard as she could, piercing the ugly, pale skin. The youkai let her go and roared in pain, and she used that moment to escape into the kitchen, grabbing a large, chef knife, the only weapon left in the house. "You will pay for that, girl!"
Rin held the knife threateningly in front of her, trying to calm her racing heart as the large demon waddled to her. She didn't want to, she didn't want to hurt or kill anyone. Her father was enough, why couldn't that be enough? "Now, put that down. We don't want you hurting yourself..." She tightened her grip on the wooden handle, wincing at the thunder cackling loudly enough to shake her walls. He charged at her that moment, she dodged and blindly swiped at him, only slashing through the tail of braided hair behind him.
"What... My hair..." Manten looked devastated, picking up the small lock of hair on the floor. "You..." His hands turned into fists, and his eyes began to glow. "You ruined my hair!" His large jaw began to open, a bright ball of energy forming in his mouth. Rin paled and ran out her front door, a stream of lighting exploded right behind her and through her entire home.
'No, no, no...' The house began to crumble under its destroyed walls. Manten escaped high above on a black cloud. He prepared another attack, one she mostly dodged, a touch of lighting lightly singeing her arm. "Where are you!?" Rin tried catching her breath, her back against Sesshomaru's car. It won't be long until- "There you are!" He gargled, another attack already prepped to fire. She tried to run; the bolt hitting the vehicles in the driveway, resulting in a small explosion that threw her across the yard.
Rin groaned as she tried to sit up, her bare legs taking some damage from the force. When she looked ahead, the thunder youkai was already prepped for another attack. She can't avoid this one, she knows this. His jaw opened as wide as he is able, until a whip of light cuts clean through his mouth.
The young woman muffled her scream behind her hands, as the black cloud dissipated, the youkai's body and partly severed head fell to the ground not far from her. There was so much blood, just pouring from the body. The hands on her mouth moved to rub her shaking shoulders, she looked away from the grotesque scene, her eyes landing on her savior, Sesshomaru. He was injured, a burn across his shoulder, but he didn't seem to particularly care about it, walking up to her with his usual cold demeanor.
'He killed him so easily...' Rin thought, 'So quickly...' It was terrifying. The youkai nearly killed her, she being absolutely powerless against him, and Sesshomaru just took care of the ugly demon with a flick of his wrist. When he extended a hand to help her up, Rin hesitated. Now she had the sense to be truly afraid of him, someone who could kill so effortlessly, without a flinch...
The woman swallowed thickly, 'And likes colorful margaritas and cookie dough ice cream.' She reminded herself, 'And saved you.' Her hand was trembling when she accepted his, aware of how he minded his claws to not cut her unintentionally, how he brought her up gently with ease, how his cold gaze flickered to her small cuts and mild burns...
"We must go." And how he wouldn't leave her behind.
Her eyes traveled to her crumpled home. She didn't care about the walls, but she doubted the photos of her mother, when her life was bright and much less complicated, survived that blast. Now, she had nothing left from happy times. 'You can always make new ones.' The stronger, more optimistic part of her mind reasoned, 'You need to.' Rin bit down on her bottom lip, trying to blink away the sadness.
Sirens. They were still ways off, but the chances there would be a Demon Slayers or even a Miko in that unit were high. Rin startled when the daiyoukai held her close, "Hold on to me." She did what she was told, feeling as her choices at the moment were very limited, and without warning, the daiyoukai took off into the sky.
They landed in a dark alley not too far from the apartment he had taken her to downtown as Takahashi. When her gaze turned to him again, that was who he was. It didn't hide the blood-soaked, injured shoulder—but they didn't need to walk far. Once inside uninterrupted, though they did get a few curious looks in the lobby, the daiyoukai blinded the large windows immediately before letting his disguise melt away.
'Ah, I'm filthy...' Rin thought, looking down at her torn shorts and the dirt and dry blood that stained her skin. She didn't get seriously hurt—thanks to the daiyoukai—but could use a bath, and clothes... "Go shower. Grab whatever you can wear from the bedroom." She turned her attention back to him, blinking at his suddenly bare upper body as he trashed his damaged tops.
The young woman soon frowned, her concern overrode all else. The wound was blistering, some bits of skin appeared completely charred and dead, the swelling, the spots of yellow, purple-She wasn't any youkai, and didn't know much about how they healed, 'Would he be alright?'
"It will heal." Rin jumped, the sound of his voice interrupting her thoughts. She nodded, then scurried to the bedroom, deciding on a pair of silk boxers and a soft white tee. When she switched over to the bathroom, she heard him speaking on the phone, though about what she couldn't make out. She didn't stay as long as she wanted to under the rainfall shower set up the bath had, knowing Sesshomaru will have to clean his wound in there.
Once she was finished, Rin went straight back into the bedroom and dove right into the bed, the events of the day finally catching up to her body and mind. 'It could have been worse...' She thought, 'I have the help of some youkai for the jewel... and I didn't die.' Out of habit, she rolled herself into a blanket burrito and nuzzled against one of the many large, soft pillows. 'I wonder if I'll be able to salvage anything?'
Some part of her hoped not, hoped that everything in the blast just burned. 'There was nothing left there but bad memories...' The young woman frowned at her thoughts, 'And some good ones... but maybe this is for the best. Maybe it was just time to move somewhere else.' Unfortunately, two raging demons from Ryukotsusei made that decision for her. 'What am I going to do now? I have no where to live, and Ryukotsusei is getting impatient...'
She moved around facing the inner side of the king-sized bed, her mind also switching gears. 'I have to tell Kagome and Kaede about tonight and get back to the shrine. Hmm, I can't text them though... Maybe I can get Sesshomaru to call for me? Ugh, and my car is fried. I'm going to need a new one...'
Rin was surprised when the daiyoukai dropped himself beside her, already showered and his wound dressed. 'How did he...? Oh, it doesn't matter.' She began to unravel herself a bit with the intention of giving him some of the covers, but he stopped her. That's when she noticed he actually looked a bit tired, 'Healing must be draining.' Comforted by his presence, Rin found herself drifting off into a deep sleep.
-:-
"They are... dead, sir." The lower youkai squeaked, bowing as low as he could go to the dragon daiyoukai.
"Dead...?" Ryukotsusei started, before taking a sip of sake. In his office at the hotel, Exalted Sea Resort, the dragon went through the happenings of the evening while he was away. "Dead. Dead trying to capture a young, mute, frail, human woman?"
"T-that is what our scouts report, yes. The Demon Slayers got there fairly quickly so the scout was unable to approach... He did note that there was another car in the driveway, an expensive one. She had a guest."
"A guest...?" The dragon rubbed his chin, "Sweet Rin had a guest, and I knew nothing about this?"
"S-sir, m-milord, the scout had stepped away but a moment to send out the district report asked of him. It was that moment she had stepped out."
"Hmm..." He'll have to kill him later. "And what of the bodies? The Slayers took them away, I presume?"
"Yes, we have men tracking where they are being stored as we speak, sir. Once they have the opportunity, they will retrieve the corpses. Ah, and a few more things, Lord Kouga has returned."
"Wonderful." Ryukotsusei stated, spinning once around his office chair. "It was starting to get boring around here without his usual crassness. Continue."
"And Bankotsu is having some kind of party...? It appears you have been invited. I have not opened the invitation, should I, milord?"
"No, give it here." The band of seven rarely held any kind of events. The dragon sliced open the envelope, revealing a matte blue card, inviting him to... Jankotsu's birthday of all things. 'No.' While he admired their bloodthirstiness despite being a pack of humans, and they had proven their usefulness to him a few times, he was not about to attend that man's birthday party. And why did an immortal man insist on such a pointless tradition? The foolishness of it all was enough to already anger him.
Ryukotsusei was about to order his servant to send a gift and inform the band he could not make it until he read... Entertainment by the Women of SHIKON and the Men of Hakurei. 'Its been awhile since I have seen her dance...' A wicked smile played on his lips as he handed the card back to his servant. "I will be attending. Insure I have a gift for... Jankotsu."
"Yessir! I'll pencil it in."
End of Chapter 8
A/N: When you realized you had this done months ago but never uploaded it. I'm awful. D: Though there is still something in here that I'm not too happy with it, but I can't seem to figure it out. Maybe its the length... I had about 4 different ways for Rin to figure out Takahashi/Sess and most were just going to take way, way, wayyyyy too long. Can't trust myself with that, the story already got more complicated than originally planned. o_o Toran is from that panther episode in case anyone doesn't remember. I apologize if there are any mistakes, I try to catch what I can!
Hope those still out there enjoyed this chapter! :D