Through the well and back again

Disclaimer: I still don't own Inuyasha...

Chapter 7:

Kagome:

"You're not serious?!" Kagome demanded hours later, her face turning a pale white as she gaped at Sesshoumaru. 'How could this have happened?' She thought to herself, wondering how she hadn't noticed the sinister behavior of her English teacher before, wondering worriedly if her powers were disappearing and if they were, how would she defend herself in the feudal era? She had been surprised when Sesshoumaru had demanded to talk to her but now she wished that he hadn't in a way because now she had to figure out if anything could be done about her teacher without putting Rin in more danger and not wanting Sesshoumaru to take anything out on Inuyasha, who was currently sulking on her roof because he wanted nothing to do with his brother.

"I would not be wasting my time telling you this if I wasn't serious, miko." Sesshoumaru stated, his voice cold and harsh like usual. "If something isn't done about him, Rin is not returning there."

Kagome glared at him now, seething on the inside. "Oh, really? Rin can decide for herself, Sesshoumaru." Even when his eyes blazed red and he began snarling, she wasn't scared of him. Gone were the days she let him and Inuyasha push her around. Of course, she loved Inuyasha to death and held him dear to her heart but whenever he got moody or tried pushing her away, she made sure she put her foot down and stood her ground. If she had to do the same with Sesshoumaru, so be it.

"You would be wise to watch your tongue around me, girl. You may be my brothers mate, but that doesn't mean I'll go easy on you..." With that, he turned and walked away and Kagome let him not missing his poor company in the slightest.

She couldn't say she didn't understand his reasoning, though. She knew that if it had been her the English teacher had attacked, Inuyasha would be acting the same way, doing anything he could in order to protect her. 'And speaking of Inuyasha.' She thought, knowing already that he was behind her now, glaring in the direction his older brother had went.

"That bastard!" He snapped now, clenching and unclenching his fists."How dare he talk to you that way!"

She sighed and placed a hand on his arm, trying to get him to relax and hoping he wouldn't do anything rash. They needed Sesshoumaru, for he was the only one who could really protect Rin. 'We can help, too though.' Ideas were already making their way into her thoughts and she liked one of them in particular. 'Until we can prove that this man who attacked Rin is guilty, we need to have her watched 24/7, meaning I'll have to ask my friends for help as well.' Yes, she liked this plan a lot and, with the help of Inuyasha, she was going to make sure that this kind of attack would never happen again...

Rin:

She hadn't gotten the best sleep that night. She was faced with nightmares of the man who had violated her body and soul and now, she was soaking in a bubble bath that felt wonderful on her body and was trying to not think too much on the incident that had happened earlier that day. In the end, she had known that her lord would come for her and she was glad that he had but at the same time... she still wanted to learn how to defend herself against any enemy, not just demons. 'It looks like I have a lot more studying and training to do than I thought.' With this in mind, she tried to drown out the voices of her lord and Kagome arguing downstairs about her safety. If her lord would not go back to their own time, then she would ask him to help her learn the new skills that she needed to learn. And, how was she going to convince him to let her stay in this era? She didn't want to show the man who had attacked her earlier any kind of fear or giving up, knowing full well that it's what he expected her to do and she was not going to cower or run away. She was stronger than that.

Scrubbing herself with the washcloth and soap she tried to hum and act like she normally did while she bathed and, once again she had her diary out. 'Maybe later I can talk to Kagome about everything.' She thought, while also writing them down on the piece of paper. She sat in the hot water until she couldn't anymore and stood, feeling slightly light headed but at the very least, better than she had since the accident. 'And cleaner.' She thought. Putting fresh clothes on, she stayed in the bathroom a while longer, thinking back on the almost kiss that had happened between her and her lord. 'Why now, after all this time?' She wondered, putting her own finger to her lips, imagining what it would have felt like to have his against her own.

'Probably like silky goodness.' She thought and shook her head violently, feeling her cheeks flame a brilliant red. 'What am I thinking?! I shouldn't think of such things about him.' She splashed warm water on her face, hoping that would help get rid of the remaining pink and it did a little. 'I suppose that's all that can be done.' She thought and made her way back down the stairs and sighed with relief when the house seemed to be empty. She wanted to talk to Kagome but at the same time, her emotions and thoughts were too scattered to be able to face her lord properly and she was glad that he wasn't in the room at the moment.

At first, she waited on the couch for the other girl and then after a while, when she realized that she was probably in her room, she made her way back up the stairs and gave a soft knock on her door, praying that she would answer. And she did.

"Come in."

Rin didn't hesitate and came in, sitting down on the bed, wondering how she should word her thoughts out loud.

"Rin! How are you feeling? Better, I hope."

Rin nodded. It was true, she was feeling better about what had happened but she knew she wouldn't feel better fully if she didn't talk about it. And so she did.

"Kagome? I would like your opinion on something, if you don't mind hearing me out?"

The other girl smiled and waved her on. Rin took a deep breath. "Lord Sesshoumaru almost kissed me and... I... well, I heard you two talking earlier and Kagome, I want, no I need to keep going to school because if I run away, it would give Makuu what he wants." Rin gave the other girl a pleading look, hoping that she would understand and maybe even help her.

To her relief, she did. "Of course, Rin and... oh my god, did you say he almost kissed you? That's wonderful! And I'm so happy for you and, well how do you feel about it all? Also? I already thought that you would want to keep going to school and I tried talking to your lord about it but, I think you may be the only one who can convince him otherwise of your continued attendance."

It took a moment for Rin before she could think of a good response to all of this and, after a quiet moment she let herself smile for the first time that day. Because, her lord had almost kissed her, which meant that he must have feelings romantically for her and, this was something she had been wanting for a long, long time now.

"I understand, Kagome and I will talk to him. To answer your question about him almost kissing me, though well... I'm delighted that it happened but at the same time... I fear that after today, it probably won't happen again." She looked down at her hands now, frowning and slightly saddened by this thought. And, for some reason, she suddenly felt nervous and began to ring her hands together, an old habit she had picked up when she was younger and couldn't seem to get rid of, no matter how much she tried.

"Don't worry, Rin. I'm sure it will happen again and, the right time will come again soon you just have to be patient."

'But I'm so tired of being patient.' Rin blinked, surprised by this thought.

'Then what are you going to do about it, little girl? You're not brave enough to make your own move. You don't have the guts.'

'Watch me.' She thought back, defiantly against herself.

'Great, now I'm arguing with myself. I'm probably going crazy and losing my mind after everything that's gone on.'

"Rin? Is everything really okay?" Kagome's worried voice brought her back to the present and for this, she was grateful but she really didn't like having the other girl worry about her so much. So, she did her best to put on a brave face and nodded, smiling brightly. Maybe a little too brightly but it seemed to do the trick.

"Yes, don't worry about me, Kagome. I'll be fine and thanks for listening to me."

"Any time, Rin and if you ever need to talk again in the future, don't hesitate. If you want, you can hang out in my room for a bit while I finish up my studying and then we can go down to dinner. How does that sound?"

Figuring it was the least she could do, Rin agreed that it sounded great and, in reality it really did sound good because she was starving and she was surprised she hadn't noticed her hunger earlier. So, while she waited the two girls lapsed into a comfortable silence and Rin was glad that she did indeed feel better at last. At least she did... for now that is.

Author's note: I know it's pretty soon to have the next chapter up so soon but I got excited and wanted to write this down right away. :) I hope you guys enjoy it and more will be up soon! Lemme know what you think? Please and thank you! :D