Rin had discovered something new to do in those rare instances that Sesshomaru chose to rest at night. Though Rin wasn't entirely sure if the demon lord was actually asleep or not most of the time. Sesshomaru could have just as easily looked like he was.
That particular night, after Jaken was fast asleep, Rin crept over to Sesshomaru, and glanced at the soft pelt over his shoulder. The young girl had always been curious if it was as soft as it looked.
"Lord Sesshomaru?" Rin asked softly.
No response.
Rin smiled as she went over to the small boulder that was next to where Sesshomaru rested. When there was still no response to her actions, Rin hoisted herself onto the small boulder in order to reach the pelt over the demon lord's right shoulder. Balancing carefully on the rock, Rin reached up and ran a tentative hand through the pelt, and smiled more brightly.
It really was as soft as it looked.
Rin carefully shifted on the boulder so that she could run both her hands through the pelt, giggling to herself. She remembered the sight of Sesshomaru in his demonic form, and wondered if the pelt was an extension of that form.
The young girl stayed like that for a time, before Rin decided she should get some rest as well, before Sesshomaru caught her petting his pelt.
-x
The next day was the same as many other days. Travel a short time, follow information regarding Naraku, travel some more, beat off fool bandits that dared to get in their way, rescue Jaken from being a larger demon's meal (Rin had tried to cheer the imp up but Jaken was not to be consoled until he received a glare from Sesshomaru-Rin had happily made flower chains for all of them).
It wasn't until a week later that Rin had another chance to go pet the fur over Sesshomaru's shoulder. Rin began to notice a pattern the next few times she came across the resting demon lord, but didn't question it as it was more than likely coincidence.
The fact that there always appeared to be something that Rin could use a stepping stool to reach the pelt over Sesshomaru's shoulder.
-x
About a month after Rin had started sneaking over to Sesshomaru to study and pet the pelt, she found that she couldn't reach his shoulder this particular night. So she was about to go to get some rest when Sesshomaru suddenly spoke.
"What are you doing?"
"Ah, nothing. I was going to go to sleep but Jaken woke me up." Luckily the imp in question had rolled over near where she had been about to rest. Sesshomaru said nothing in response, and Rin figured that meant she could go lie down. At least until the demon lord reached out without any warning and picked her up to settle her on his right shoulder next to his pelt. Rin couldn't help but run her hands over the fur that was now within her reach. It reminded her more and more of the stray dog that she'd run across in a village some time ago.
"You may sleep here for the night." Sesshomaru said in monotone as settled back and tilted his head to gaze at the starry night sky. He said nothing more.
Rin smiled as she snuggled against the furry pelt. She knew that the demon lord wouldn't drop her, so Rin was content to fall asleep where she was, as Sesshomaru had said that she could.
-x
Sesshomaru said nothing of the sight in the morning when Jaken gave him a quizzical look. Although the sight of Rin fast asleep on his shoulder with his pelt clutched in her hands presented an odd sight.
Nor did Sesshomaru let it be known that he was aware of Rin's sudden fascination with the furry pelt over his shoulder. He just let her do as she would, as Sesshomaru figured that the girl would grow tired of it once the novelty wore off.
But the demon lord was still sure to find a spot to settle down for the night once in awhile so that Rin could reach the pelt if she wanted to.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
A/N: Candy Maiden, this was one of the prompts/ideas that you'd mentioned (doing a chapter with Rin messing around with Sesshomaru's pelt). I realize it was from years ago, but it kinda took me awhile to figure out how to write it, but I think it turned out fine (and I wanted to be in the right mood to write chapters for this fic). I still need to double check for prompts/suggestions that I may have missed from past reviews. I am still determined to get this to 75-100 chapters like I'd mentioned before, even if it takes a long time.
So if there's something you want to read, feel free to leave an idea/prompt/suggestion. I ran across my Inuyasha The Final Act DVDs while cleaning recently and I felt the urge to write some of these again since I do like light fluffy fics. I'm also thinking of perhaps writing 2.0 versions of some of the earlier chapters and posting them with the original chapter (mostly because I want to leave the early chapters as is (with less typos perhaps), since it allows me to see how far I've come since 2006 with my writing). But I also want it to be readable for the people who enjoy this story. So if that sounds interesting at all, let me know?