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 19

Syla's city's vast stretch of lights glowed against the clouds as they descended. The city grew from the view of the window of the jet as it approached the runway to land. Sesshoumaru rested his fingers gently along Rin's arm. She was completely unphased by the view and her rest would not be interrupted. She would have no recollection of when he'd removed the headphones or adjusted the pillow over to his shoulder so that she could snooze peacefully. Even as he'd waned in and out of sleep, he was sure that she'd been like this for the last couple of hours of their trip home. Rubbing her shoulder to wake her, Sesshoumaru lifted a brow as Rin's eyelids fought his attempts.

"Rin."

"Sesshoumaru...babe you smell really good."

Sesshoumaru smirked at Rin's murmurings as she'd yet to open her eyes.

"Rin, wake up."

"We should do that again...I like that."

Sesshoumaru could feel the blood starting to rush to his face and commanded it not to show. After the interview, they'd been quite busy with occupying each other and making it an unforgettable afternoon. Rin was returning to those moments and he distinctly remembered similar words during these events. Sesshoumaru straightened, attempting to keep his thoughts from drifting out of control, as Jaken and a few of the other crew members began to look in their direction while gathering their belongings and preparing themselves to disembark.

"Rin, we just landed. We're home." Sesshoumaru quieted the words in an attempt not to bring more attention.

"Even better...we can..." Rin opened her eyes, finding a pleasant view only to notice the warmth in Sesshoumaru's features as she finally realized that they were still on the plane with her entire team listening in to this conversation she thought was contained in her sleep. She was certain that the color in her cheeks now matched Sesshoumaru's. Rin couldn't help but bury her face against him as she heard the knowing snickers and whistles around them. Not long ago, she would've likely told all of them to silence themselves, but the shake of Sesshoumaru's chest and the unavoidable bob of his shoulders was a dead giveaway to a quiet joy that would forever amuse her.

Rin let off a deep yawn as they made their way to the private elevator to her condo. Sesshoumaru wrapped his arms around her, hugging her from behind as he kissed her cheek. Jaken sighed, unimpressed by the young lovers as he struck the button with his cane that would deposit them on the 25th floor. The ding notified them of their arrival and the doors slid open, wafting in the scent of the condo. Stepping out, Sesshoumaru immediately pulled Rin behind him. Jaken halted noticing the dog demon's sudden shift in demeanor.

"Sesshoumaru?" Rin quieted as he squeezed her wrist and continued to concentrate on searching the scents in the air. His ears were alert to any sound. He separated the silence of this floor from the normal noise below. It was mostly quiet near midnight and the other inhabitants didn't seem disturbed. There was no sign of panic. Sesshoumaru swallowed looking into the dark hallway. Despite its short length, its privacy now felt like a trap. He eyed the front door further down that was paralleled by the end of the island. It remained closed, seemingly untampered as he slowly approached. Rin held her breath at Sesshoumaru's stillness as he peered into the rest of the dwelling. His eyes narrowed and he growled his anger as the strength of Takemaru's scent grew. There was another scent there as well and he searched his memory to place it. Rin heeded his motion to stay where she was. As little good as Jaken would do, she was glad that he'd filled the dwindling distance of protection between herself and Sesshoumaru. He stepped over the glass of the overturned coffee table. It was seemingly thrown to crash into the island. The action had demon written all over it. The breeze that Sesshoumaru felt from the living room confirmed that he was right. They were 25 floors up and a door-sized piece of glass was cut, only to land and crash onto the living room floor. A quick scan of the area and his nose told him that Takemaru had failed to venture where the rest of the rooms were located. Instead, Sesshoumaru decided the vile handler's stench was stronger near Rin's bedroom. The door was cracked. Sesshoumaru flexed his claws and readied them. His anger filled them with poison. The door faltered on its hinges and rested at an obscure angle as he moved into the room. His jaw clenched only finding complete ruin. Half-shredded curtains, broken and mangled pieces of a chair, the headboard was a victim of claws shredding the soft exterior only to splinter the wood deep underneath. The claw marks that continued to run from wall to wall in Rin's bedroom only served to infuriate. The mirror of the dresser returned his reflection and a message more sinister. Takemaru and this demon visitor's goal was not to stay. The scent was recent, maybe within the last hour, but they'd purposefully avoided the confrontation. A broken leg of the chair in the room was staked through the glass. A paper underneath. Tearing it away from its resting place the message was clear. Return to me. A real handler knows your strengths and will dispose of your weaknesses. Sesshoumaru looked up, Rin's reflection was now present in the glass as she kept a hand over her mouth in shock as she slowly made her way toward him. Feeling her hand on his back, Sesshoumaru took the necklace from the wooden leg with his parents' rings. Takemaru didn't need to complete the note. The insinuation of Rin becoming like his parents, or at least like his father, was exactly what he meant to communicate. A pain rose in his chest, the result of anger unsettled. If Takemaru considered this a game, then it was about to be over.

...

"That lightning attack was more like a static shock Sesshoumaru... Let's go!... Huh, you're gonna have to move faster than that!"

"Pity. Maybe you'd land more attacks if you'd shut up!"

The clatter of claws across the old warehouse floor interrupted her thoughts again as Rin tried to concentrate on the handler's gestures that she was attempting to learn from Kagome. The experienced handler seemed less than concerned with the constant growls and barks happening only twenty feet away from them as they sat on the handler's platform above. Rin glanced again as Sesshoumaru roared his frustration at Inuyasha. By now, she was used to this particular vocalization of her beloved dog demon after a few practices. Sesshoumaru never failed to confirm these frustrations once he was back in his human form. Sesshoumaru likened the older brother to his father without subtlety. The half-dog demon had a habit of little patience, trash talk, and rapid pacing. Inuyasha was as difficult to spar with as he was to listen to, but she was sure Sesshoumaru was enduring it to sharpen his skills. The result was his ability to pick up attacks quickly or defend himself until he could.

Kagome turned her attention momentarily from Rin, watching Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha in a bit of a free-for-all, tempering themselves just short of hurting each other.

"Sesshoumaru is doing well. Inuyasha's pretty happy to be able to throw harder attacks. Our fox demon friend Shippo usually can't stand up to those very well and Inuyasha always has to pull back more."

"Yeah, but Sesshoumaru can get pretty flustered with Inuyasha. He's trying to learn the newer skills but I think Inuyasha is getting under his skin."

"Inuyasha tends to do that with everyone. His bark is a little worse than his bite. I keep telling him to coach his brother rather than trying to beat him but does he listen? Of course not."

Kagome's focus fell back on Rin. She wasn't sure what it was but there seemed to be something more than a rush to get into the top ten. Sesshoumaru was picking up moves and attacks at an above-average pace. She understood the need for any team to want to be the best but it baffled her as to why there was such a need to push the pace. Luna and Sesshoumaru were likely comfortable and, had made a name for themselves, so what was the urgency?

"Luna, I don't mean to pry but is there a reason you and Sesshoumaru want to get into the higher ranks so quickly?"

Rin couldn't help but be taken by surprise as she turned back to Kagome. Sure, Satomi had alerted Inuyasha and Kagome to the need to challenge Sesshoumaru's skills but she'd kept her identity hidden and it was clear that she hadn't informed them about the situation with Takemaru. Kagome and Inuyasha assumed the higher rank was their goal but this was far from the truth. What was worse was the threat at home to which they'd returned. Sesshoumaru had yet to pay Takemaru although they had immediately returned to lower-level fights winning quickly to more than satisfy a reasonable quota if the need arose.

"Sesshoumaru's just a perfectionist. He wants to be the best at everything that he does and I feel the same way." Inuyasha might have been Sesshoumaru's half-brother by blood and maybe Kagome was kind enough to offer to train but there was little else to trust in this team.

Kagome smiled. She had an inkling there was more to it than what Luna provided but was it worth jeopardizing this easy friendship among handlers?

"I watched the interview you and Sesshoumaru did with Ruri. Your story is touching. I can only imagine the childhood Sesshoumaru might've had and it makes me think of Inuyasha too. His bark is worse than his bite for a reason. It's the way he protected himself with every trade to a new team. A half-dog demon wasn't necessarily anyone's first pick and navigating the Rings on both sides isn't easy. I can't help but see how attentive you are to Sesshoumaru. Most handlers don't have an emotional connection to their fighters but we do."

Rin had her suspicions about Inuyasha and Kagome's relationship but the ribbon tattoo on Kagome's ring finger left little to question. She'd seen a similar band tattoo on Inuyasha's left ring finger. "You said Inuyasha had to navigate the Rings on both sides? What do you mean?"

"Unsanctioned fights may be illegal but they're not a secret. Inuyasha navigated them when he was younger but once he met me, we stuck to the sanctioned fights. Most fighters have dabbled in the illegal means at some point and a lot of handlers don't have a clean background either. Some teams take fights on both sides but steer clear of a few of them. They're the worst in the industry."

"Oh yeah? Who are they?"

"Naraku's Dark Shikon, Suikotsu's Deadly by Design, Bankotsu's Band of Beasts, and Takemaru's Wolves. They're all bad news and you should never consider business with them. They're ruthless handlers and it leaves the treatment of their fighters in question.

Rin swallowed. Her thoughts fell short of her lips hearing Takemaru's name slide off Kagome's tongue with such malice. Kagome held pride in her position and the handlers that sought to tarnish their role didn't deserve it in the first place. Rin's hand searched out the crescent of the necklace resting against her chest. Her hand became a fist over her heart. The thoughts of malice building against Takemaru.

Sesshoumaru could feel a rush of anger. The electricity around his body grew and wanted to reach outward, away from him. These thoughts were furious and he realized that they were not his alone. Rin's reflection in the broken glass flooded his memory. The very idea of harm coming to her caused an uncontrollable growl to roll forward as he contemplated shredding Takemaru's body apart. The handler's undoing would undoubtedly bring a taste of true freedom. A resolution to the struggle against being bound for so long. Rin's thoughts felt like a second pulse that gripped him from the inside. "Inuyasha Move!" A vicious roar lept from his throat as he raised his head, a light surrounded him, and the energy sprang forward from his body, the electricity striking like a dragon engulfing the entire ring.

Rin's eyes shot open as she stood, feeling the energy in the room and hearing Sesshoumaru. The entire building shook as the ring attempted to absorb the energy. She'd noticed Kagome was already standing and had shouted something to Inuyasha with both of her hands outstretched. She'd looked over the platform to watch Inuyasha stumble out of the Ring, barely moving in time but watching in shock and amazement.

Sesshoumaru could feel the result of the energy spent as he shifted back to his true form, taking a knee. He gripped the hand Inuyasha offered noticing the half-dog demon's smirk as he pulled him up.

"What the hell was that?!"

"Dragon Strike."

"You sure you can control that?"

"I controlled it enough to spare you."

"Huh, there was no chance that was hitting me."

"Still, I didn't do that alone."

"What are you talking about?"

Sesshoumaru smirked as he watched Rin running toward him, "I could hear Rin."

Inuyasha crossed his arms against his chest, understanding.

"You heard me? But, I didn't say anything out loud."

"I heard...your thoughts?"

"It makes sense." The three of them turned to Kagome. Rin watched Kagome point to the band on her wrist and explain the gesture bringing her fist over her heart and pressing the band to her chest. She'd instructed her to think about what she wanted to say. Once she was able to determine her words, the band's connection with Sesshoumaru would allow him to hear her. Most handlers struggled to make any connection with their fighters but with Sesshoumaru and Rin, it came naturally. What was more surprising was Rin's ability to help Sesshoumaru manifest and throw an attack.

"Whatever the hell you two did to get that attack across was nothing short of beast! You remind me of Toga. I saw him several years ago. He wiped the floor with some Ogre demon with a similar attack. Now that was a dog demon out for blood."

Sesshoumaru couldn't ignore the pressure of Rin's shoulder against his arm. She didn't need a handler's gesture or a band for him to understand her thoughts. It was her support with whatever he chose to reveal to Inuyasha and Kagome.

"I would remind you of him. Toga was our father." It was the first time he'd drawn a speechless reaction from the half-dog demon, those brows knitting together, the gold eyes searching and trying to complete the picture, realizing he at least knew who one of his parents was now and he'd seen the great dog demon in action.

"..."

"Toga's handler was Takemaru," Kagome stated matter-of-factly. Sesshoumaru felt an immediate pinch of defensiveness. He fought against this knee-jerk reaction to protect himself. Rin tensed, biting at the inside of her jaw and refusing to make eye contact with Kagome or Inuyasha as the silence fell between them and she knew that they were starting to make the connection.

"That bastard! Sesshoumaru, tell me you don't have anything to do with him anymore!"

"..."

Sesshoumaru felt his guard dropping as Inuyasha proclaimed his distaste for everything that Takemaru stood for. A handler whose reputation involved the avoidable death of a fighter and now the one he knew to be his father was nothing short of detestable.

A/N: The reviews are always appreciated! I intend to update again soon! Please be on the lookout. I have been having some technical issues with Fanfiction regarding notifications and emails.