Bound by Privilege

This story is not for profit. It is purely fanfiction. I don't claim any ownership of the manga or anime Inuyasha, the original story, or the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 17

The clock ticked as blows continued to be exchanged, attempting to best each other with claws and fangs. Sesshoumaru took to the air as Inuyasha mounted his defense Sesshoumaru came down against him, his energy at its peak, the air around him electrified as Inuyasha again took a swipe at the air, the wind itself becoming a force to go up against Sesshoumaru, neutralizing his attack as he landed. Sesshoumaru could feel the fatigue of his legs underneath him. None of his fights lasted this long. Inuyasha was wearing down but the healing had given him a renewed advantage and he was readying himself again. Sesshoumaru could feel the pulse in the ring as Inuyasha stepped forward. His claws gradually changed in color and texture, and markings began appearing around his muzzle.

Rin was sure that the entire crowd could feel this build-up of energy although they were all supposed to be protected by the outer barrier of the Ring. Inuyasha's form was shifting again right in front of their eyes and she wasn't sure what to make of the new weapons that looked like dragon scales for claws. She wondered how he could look any more demonic. Was it the sharper fangs, the markings on his face, or the blood-curdling roar that he'd let off? Kagome's stance shifted too. Rin hadn't realized it but now Kagome was giving the signal for options. Rin's level of shock was unregistered. Inuyasha had been fighting at Kagome's signals the whole time. Her hand with the handler's band was in constant motion up until now. Rin realized this was how Kagome was communicating with Inuyasha.

Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru clashed again head-on. The force of it caused the outer barrier to ripple and the ground to crack underneath them. Inuyasha struck out as Sesshoumaru evaded it and returned a strike to push Inuyasha back. He'd taken a page out of Inuyasha's style and immediately followed it up with another strike despite his body's protest. Throwing enough of his weight into Inuyasha to get the half-demon off balance, Sesshoumaru allowed his claws to dig back into Inuyasha's shoulders. As quickly as he'd felt triumphant, Sesshoumaru inwardly cursed realizing his mistake. The left arm was too injured to maintain the grasp. The error left too much room for Inuyasha to twist himself, but rather than freeing them from each other, he'd felt Inuyasha dig his claws into the already injured left side, pulling them into a roll.

Rin ignored the pain in her hands as her grip tightened. She was sure that her grip on the railing would shatter it. Her heart felt like it would beat out of her chest. She'd never witnessed Sesshoumaru trapped under their opponent in a fight, and she hoped that he had a plan to get out. The longer Sesshoumaru stayed in this position the more she realized there wasn't one and she had no way to help him.

Inuyasha growled in pain as the poison seeped in. Sesshoumaru still managed to keep his right set of claws jammed into Inuyasha. The thought of releasing his grasp to turn out of this terminal position was cut short as Inuyasha would not relent from the left side, digging dragon-scaled claws in to impede any movement. Despite his hold, Inuyasha was moving his paw to shift over to Sesshoumaru's throat, applying just enough pressure to stay within the rules. Sesshoumaru recognized this move that he'd rendered so many times. Being on the receiving end of it felt like a fight to gain access to the surface for air.

Rin replayed Sesshoumaru's words from when they'd first agreed to go into these sanctioned fights. He wanted her to do everything except stop the fight. Her use of a shield was up, there was no point in creating a barrier, and the Ring was back down to its normal height. Rin glanced at the man watching from the center she knew to be the referee, as her band blinked, notifying her of Sesshoumaru's critical status and she'd made him a promise never to be like Takemaru.

Inuyasha was struggling under the poison, his hind legs failing. Sesshoumaru realized he no longer was actively maintaining a hold on Inuyasha. Registering the sound of the siren to end the fight, Sesshoumaru closed his eyes and caught his breath, hearing Inuyasha collapse next to him.

Rin knelt bringing her raised hand back to her lap. The tears she tried to blink away still reached her hands. Looking up, she noticed that Kagome was resting her head on her arms against the rail in exhaustion. The crowd was on its feet screaming and cheering. They'd been sitting on the edge of their seats too hanging onto every blow, every attack and they'd gotten their money's worth. Even those who had placed their bets on Sesshoumaru and her against staggering odds were not disappointed.

...

Rin hurried down to the recovery area. All she wanted to do now was get to where Sesshoumaru was and make sure he was okay. Too focused on her destination she'd bumped shoulders with another woman making her way down the hall. Rin tried to excuse herself but was stopped, her arm grasped as she was pulled backward and into a room.

The woman brought her finger to her lips as Rin began to protest, fearful of why she was seemingly being taken hostage. The dim lighting alerted Rin to the fact that they were in a storage area.

"Miss Luna, please don't scream."

"Let me go."

The woman's hand sprang loose from Rin's arm as she straightened.

"My apologies. I had to make sure that I would not be heard."

"What are you talking about?"

"You and Sesshoumaru were up against one of the highest-ranked opponents in the industry. I was quite impressed by such a worthy battle today. You two have only been a team for a short period, correct?"

"A few weeks, although I'm not even sure who you are or if I should be speaking to you about anything. As far as I am concerned, you may be another opponent."

"I assure you that I am not one for the Rings."

"Your words mean nothing to me." Rin attempted to push past her.

"I know that your enemy is Takemaru and his Wolves."

Rin turned back to her trying to get a better glimpse of her features. The woman seemed to understand what she was attempting to do as she turned away from her. Rin continued to listen as she spoke.

"Your skills are rough at best. I can only imagine what the two of you could do if you were more refined and if Sesshoumaru's abilities were more developed. He's been fighting for survival so long in the unsanctioned rings that he's become stagnant in counting on the abilities that he knows. There is no doubt Takemaru saw this fight today. Sesshoumaru's potential is too great for Takemaru to let him go even if he were to repay his father's debt. The truth is, the two of you can enter lower-level fights and still pay back what's owed. Takemaru won't stop unless you defeat his best. The two of you will have to improve your skills quickly and be ready. This fight should have opened Sesshoumaru's eyes to that."

Rin was beside herself hearing the woman's words. She was sure that she and Jaken were the only people in Sesshoumaru's life who knew about the debt to Takemaru. There was only one other person Sesshoumaru had left in the equation.

"For you to know all of this..."

"Don't assume you know who I am."

"Then who are you? You know my name but I don't know yours. I would hardly think that's fair."

The woman nodded but hesitated, "My name is Akari. I knew Sesshoumaru's parents well. You should tell him that they would be proud of him and glad that he has you."

Rin nodded a bit taken aback as Akari hugged her and left quickly. Coming to her senses, Rin stepped out of the room and attempted to catch another glimpse of the woman but the hall was empty. Akari, herself, was an enigma but what was clear was that Takemaru would not rest and they would have to be ready. Rin rounded the corner to the recovery area relieved as she immediately locked eyes with Sesshoumaru and ran to him. She hadn't let him attempt to even get her name out, kissing him as if their very lives depended on it. She felt Sesshoumaru wipe away the tears that escaped.

"You fought so hard...I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I know you'd asked me not to stop the fights but I couldn't..."

"You did what was right. Thank you."

Sesshoumaru pulled Rin in to kiss her again.

"Ah geez, get a room."

Rin looked up to see Inuyasha recovering on the mat table across the room as Kagome sat relaxed next to him and yanked his ear to correct him.

"Inuyasha, don't be rude. Leave them alone. I'm a fan of your music by the way. It's nice to see firsthand that some of the rumors are true."

"Oh, thanks. Congratulations on the win."

Rin noticed Kagome's nod. Her smile and friendly demeanor were the total opposite of what she'd assumed Kagome to be and she realized that maybe Kagome's fighting persona was, in fact, just a poker face during the fight.

Sesshoumaru realized the purification was blunting his senses again outside of the ring but he hadn't forgotten Inuyasha's smell.

"Inuyasha, you carry the scent of my father's blood. Did you know him?"

"My old man? No."

Rin's brows lifted at what Sesshoumaru was implying. She'd questioned the similarities from the profile but when Sesshoumaru never made mention of a sibling, she hadn't thought on it further.

"You don't seem surprised."

"Eh, I can't be. I never knew either of my parents. I was traded to multiple teams. None of which knew what to do with a half-dog demon and a mix of whatever the hell else I was until I ran into Kagome's family. Her family's line of powers managed to unlock my full abilities as a dog demon and I've been training like it ever since. I left my past behind me a long time ago."

Sesshoumaru shook his head realizing what might have happened. Takemaru wasn't out to create a fighter at that time but maybe another handler was. They'd seen Toga winning in the Rings and Takemaru likely convinced his father of an easy deal for DNA.

"Who promised you this fight?"

"Some woman by the name of Akari. She said she knew you and your fighting style. She said something about your skills needing to be challenged and she was right."

"Those are strong words coming from someone who uses healing abilities during a fight."

"It's a team sport Sesshoumaru. Your handler kept me from taking you out early on. Being unable to manifest a shield or throw your attacks might work in the unsanctioned rings but not here. You'll never make it to the top ten like that."

Sesshoumaru sneered at Inuyasha's words although he couldn't help but take them into account. Akari was attentive and knew him well enough through his wagers in the unsanctioned fights. Inuyasha wasn't exactly wrong but figuring out how to improve his skills on his own wasn't going to be simple.

Rin noticed Kagome jab Inuyasha in his side over the harshness of his words as he grumbled about still being sore. "Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha are pretty strong opponents. I doubt that we'll get matched again any time soon based on this fight. What do you think about training together sometime? I could show you some of my handling skills too."

"You would do that?"

Kagome nodded ignoring Inuyasha's grumbling again, "I think Inuyasha's getting tired of training with our fox demon friend all of the time. He needs the challenge too."

Rin turned to Sesshoumaru already knowing her answer. If Akari was right, they needed to be stronger and Kagome and Inuyasha had been recruited to put them to the test for a reason.

"This could help us. I think we should try it."

Sesshoumaru could see the look in Rin's eyes that there was something else behind this. Maybe she couldn't communicate it here but she wanted him to trust her to agree.

"Alright."

...

Rin clasped her hand into Sesshoumaru's as they left. She knew that Sesshoumaru would need longer to heal but Kagome had helped with her healing ability and outside of the venue the purification wouldn't affect him anymore. Rin felt Sesshoumaru stop abruptly and turn to look back. Rin rarely read confusion from him but he was the face of it right now.

"What's wrong?"

"..."

"Sesshoumaru..."

Sesshoumaru questioned his senses. The purification was gone. Rin's scent was unmistakable but there was another.

"My mother."

"...Akari?"

"No. Akari is a friend of my family. My mother's name is Satomi. Her scent is here."

"Describe her."

Rin closed her eyes envisioning the woman Sesshoumaru described. She recalled the woman's features who pulled her into the storage room. Even in the dim light, the silver hair, the crescent on her forehead, the golden eyes were unmistakable. She was no doubt Sesshoumaru's mother but the name she'd given was not hers. There must have been a reason she couldn't take the chance to see Sesshoumaru. Instead, Satomi hugged her knowing that her scent would be carried to her son. The reminder that she was still alive.

"Your mother hugged me. She told me that she's proud of you. She wanted this fight for us to be ready for whatever Takemaru has waiting for us."

Sesshoumaru hugged Rin to him finding comfort in the two scents he loved deeply.

A/N: Just to clarify: Sesshoumaru's mother introduced herself as Akari to Rin to hide her identity. Inuyasha mentions the name Akari, also referring to Sesshoumaru's mother. I hope to update again soon! Thank you for the support!