Where There's a Will by Lady Neko-Eyes

THE READING

"I found it Sesshomaru-sama!" Rin shouted over her shoulder. Sesshomaru stepped forward and out of the dense and dangerous forest, "I already knew where it was Rin," he said calmly. Rin, who had been dancing cheerfully, stopped and stood still, embarrased that Sesshomaru had to remprimand her like a five-year old. Sesshomaru motioned for Rin to stand back, then walked over the destination of their two-day journey. On the base of this humoungous cliff was a small cave entrance, on the left side an old, wooden sign hung, "Musitso, Master Streamess" it said in kanji, on the right, hung a blue silk rope. Sesshomaru grabbed the rope and gave it a hard tug. From inside, a huge gong crash echoed it's way out. Sesshomaru turned to Rin, "Step forward and do not speak," he ordered. Rin nodded shyly and did as she was told. As she settled in at her masters side, an old woman stepped out of the cave darkness and bowed; she was a short, fat woman, with thin, dead, balding hair. Musitso had four eyes, her left eyes were blue and her right eyes were orange. She smiled, revealing green-ish, grey teeth, Rin bowed obediently, though her stomach was churning.

Sesshomaru did not bow, "Musitso," he said, the disgusting old woman snapped up, then bowed again, "Ah, Sesshomaru-sama," she croaked, Sesshomaru placed an arm on Rin's back, pushing her forward, "You remember the girl Rin," he said, "She has out grown her clothing," Musitso nodded and walked over to Rin, "Ah, yes, I see," she said, and began circling the youg girl. She measured her arms, then her legs. Rin, now 12, had grown signifigantly, she was a good 2 feet taller then when Musitso las saw her and had become quite the young lady, she now had long, woman-like legs, her hips grew into those of a womans and on her small frame hung full breasts, which poked through the small kimono. Musitso nodded, "Of course, it would be an honor," the old woman turned to the cave entrance and whistled. At first, nothing happened, but within seconds, a form came sipping out and stood beside Musitso. The seamstress turned to the man-like creature, "This is Sesshomaru-sama of the western lands," she croaked. The, what Sesshomaru could make out, bird youkai bowed. Sesshomaru did not bow back, "I do not wish to be kept waiting, Musitso," he said, the old woman nodded, "Do not worry m'lord, Tweetsuko is hanyou, part bird demon, part human, he is very fast and skilled with a needle," she explained, Musitso turned to Tweetsuko, "This young girl is Rin, take her inside and measure her, use fabrics 112 and 56." she explained. Tweetsuko nodded, then grabbed Rin and within a flash was gone. Musitso sighed and pulled out a pipe, which she lit and took a long drag from, "My, my, the girl has grown; it will not be long till you are able to marry her off," she said.

This comment caught Sesshomaru slightly off-guard, 'Rin? Marry?' he thought to himself, the tall youkai cleared his throat, "Rin isn't mature enough to marry off just yet," he said, his voice was hollow and unconvincing. Musitso caught this, "Hm, I see, is it that she is not old enough, or do you wish to marry her yourself?" she asked in a sneaky tone. Sesshomaru was disgusted, "Hold you tounge onna, Rin is merely a child who I allowed to follow me, a daughter at most. And besides, I have no intention of ever marrying; love and marriage (love and marriage, go together like a horse and...sorry) are sickly human emotions, it killed my father and pinned my imbicile of a brother to a tree," he informed her, this held truth in it, which wiped the smile off of Musitso.

"OSUWARI!!!!!!!!!" an angry voice, followed by a sickening thump filled the Forest of Inuyasha, sending birds flying. Kagome wiped fresh tears from her eyes and headed towards the well, "Kagome!!!" Inuyasha yelled after her, the hanyou struggled to get out of the deep hole she sent him in. Kagome grabbed the railing, "Leave me alone, Inuyasha!" she sobbed, she wasn't afraid of Inuyasha, but of herself. Inuyasha stood and ran over to her, "Please Kagome, it was a mistake," he yelled while running towards her. The hanyou grabbed ger sleeve, "Please," he said. Kagome spun around, "It was a mistake the first time, but the second? Third? and what about the fourth?!" she screamed. Inuyasha reeled back, "Gomen nasai Kagome," he said, tears emerged from the corner of his eyes.

Kagome turned to him, 'NO! You know yourself, you know what you'll do, DON'T STARE INTO HIS EYES!!!' her mind screamed, but it was too late. Kagome turned and stepped forward into his embrace, she knew this routine all to well, and she even knew that sooner or later, he'd go back to Kikyo, but she just wasn't strong enough to break free of his hold on her, maybe, she didn't want to be strong enough at all. Inuyasha held onto her gently, murmuring false predictions of their future. Kagome just nodded and let herself cry into his shirt, 'why am I doing this, why am I setting myself up to be knocked down again?' she asked herself. "Kagome?" Inuyasha spoke her name softly, Kagome nodded, "I'm listening," she lied.

Thankfully, Tweetsuko was so quick that Musitso was spared of Sesshomaru's impatient wrath. Rin ran eagerly to her master, "Look, Sesshomaru-sama!" she squealed. Sesshomaru watched as the girl twirled around; her new kimono was a bright blue silk with a pattern that resembled little flowers. Sesshomaru nodded and turned to Musitso, "Here," he said and threw a small sack of gold to her, which she caught and placed inside her kimono. He need not ask the price, the youkai could just walk away and not pay at all, Musitso would not dare argue, but he had a reputation to uphold and paid her this respectable amount.

He turned and looked at Rin, she was very grown up; it wouldn't be long before Sesshomaru's paternal companionship to her would wear away and Rin would no longer speak to him about things, Sesshomaru started into the forest, 'The girl will need another woman to speak with,' he thought to himself, without realizing, Sesshomaru fell deep into thought about this situation, 'Perhaps I should leave the girl in a village with other women to care for her,' he contemplated, but something struck him, what if the village was attacked, he knew that if he left Rin, it would have to be far away, lest Rin would come back to him, but if she was too far, he wouldn't be able to sense if she was in trouble, and he had to admit, Rin was highly prone to danger. Sesshomaru thought for different alternatives, 'I refuse bring another woman to the castle, I don't want people to think that I'd sunk so low as to bring more women to my domain, nor do I want them to think I have them there as whores,' the thought disgusted him. Rin began singing a silly song of love and other human emotions, which pulled Sesshomaru out of his thinking trance. Rin would be fine for now, but for how much longer?

TWO DAYS LATER

Sesshomaru carried the now sleeping Rin through the main gate and up the steps to his castle. Before long, the small toad youkai, who had been waiting at the gate, unsleeping, for four days was at him masters feet, "I am glad to see you back, Sesshomaru-sama," he said, Ah and Un ate something that made them sick so Jakken was left with the task of caring for them. Sesshomaru continued up the steps, "Have Rin's room ready for her," he said. Jakken nodded, glad to be of use and ran into the castle ahead of Sesshomaru. As the castles lord stepped through the front door, a group of servants similar looking to Jakken ran up to Sesshomaru and held their arms out. Sesshomaru turned and laid Rin down on their little arms, within minutes, she was down the corridor and in her room. Jakken ran up to Sesshomaru, "M'lord, Kenji-sama is here," he said, Sesshomaru looked down to his servant, "Very well," he said coolly. The youkai could already smell the mole youkai in his main study. Sesshomaru headed up the steps, his faithful servant as his side.

When he reached the study, the small of mole and whiskey was thick. Sesshomaru opened the door and stepped inside, sure enough, there was Kenji and sure enough, he was drunk. Sesshomaru sat down, "I've never known you to be the drinking kind," Sesshomaru said, he had to speak for he knew that Kenji could not see or smell in this state, he could hear the mole wheezing. Kanji jumped, "Oh! Sesshomaru-sama, how long has it been?!" he said the short fat creature ran towards him (the table in Sesshy's study is friggin looooooooong), in his stubby arms, Kenji held a big scroll; Sesshomaru could smell his father's blood and knew that the only thing written and sealed in his father's blood was his Will. Sesshomaru didn't want to waste time with chatter, "What are you here for?" he demanded more than asked. Kanji fixed himself up and sat down, Sesshomaru had to scoot away as to not breathe in the fumes of alcohol. Kanji laid out the will and turned to Sesshomaru, "Sesshomaru-sama, last week, as I was rearranging some documents something happened," he began, Sesshomaru crossed his arms and nodded for Kanji to go on, "Well as I was saying, I heard shaking and turned to see your fathers will glowing!" Sesshomaru scoffed, "You've had to many drink-" "Please sir, with all due respect," Kanji interrupted, "I've had a few, but I'm still very sober as I was when this happened," he said, "I heard your fathers voice, it was a whisper, but I knew it, it said "Read me", so I took the will and read," he said. Sesshomaru gave him a skeptical look, what kind of ridiculous story was this, "Kanji, if you are done wasting my time with this foolish story-" Kanji slammed the will on the table and stood up (it's the whiskey that's making him brave), "Sire, please, I'm not-" "My father is dead," Sesshomaru said in an annoyed tone, what exactly was this drunken idiot getting at, 'it matters not, but I have other things to do' he said to himself, he turned and started out the door, "If you wish to continue living here, you'll listen to me!" he shouted, Sesshomaru stopped in his tracks, Kanji didn't wait for him, "There's a paragraph in your fathers will that concerns you in a critical way, your lawyer must have overlooked it at the reading," he said, Sesshomaru was already back in the room and sitting down, "Go on," he said. Kanji pointed at a small paragraph on the will, "I leave my eldest son Sesshomaru my estate and all it's contents, which will be in his possession until his 220th (22 in human years) birthday, if he is not married at this time, he shall lose the estate and anything on his person, the estate shall then be divided between the three smaller lords of the western lands and anything of value on Sesshomaru's person shall be given to his brother Inuyasha." he finished, Sesshomaru looked unaffected, "My father was a fool if he thinks I'll marry," he said in a calm tone, Kenji held up a hand, "If you do not, you'll lose everything, a barrier will form around your palace sire, and will not let you in." he explained. Sesshomaru grabbed the scroll and looked at it carefully, "That bastard; he knew I wouldn't care about the palace," Sesshomaru looked up at Kanji, "But I stand by what I've said, I refuse to marry," he said, the taiyoukai grabbed the side of the will and tried to rip it, nothing happened, without Kanji knowing, Sesshomaru increased his strength till he was actually trying. Still the will would not rip. Sesshomaru set it down, "And what makes my father think I won't just kill Inuyasha and take by belongings back?" he asked Kenji. The youkai just shrugged, but Sesshomaru knew the answer, his father knew how prideful Sesshomaru was, and he knew Sesshomaru would never EVER as his younger brother for anything, plus the fact that if Inuyasha found out, he'd never let Sesshomaru live it down. The taiyoukai sighed and sat back in his seat, his father thought of everything.

Rin gasped and listened as Kenji explained the situation, she woke up when she felt the servants carrying her away, taking her from her Sesshomaru. Rin blushed at the thought, sure Sesshomaru had cared for her all these years, but how would she be able to tell how he felt about her, and how would she be able to tell him how she felt. Rin peered in and watched as Sesshomaru tried to rip the will; Sesshomaru was so engrossed with this predicament, that he hadn't even noticed her standing and eavesdropping outside. She heard what his option was and smiled, 'This is my chance,' she said to herself. Standing, Rin tightened the sash on her kimono and stepped inside.

As she did, Sesshomaru did not turn, he smelled her when she sat down, "Sesshomaru-sama," Kenji said, "I need an answer or some sort of solution before next week, the lords of the smaller kingdoms will be coming to finalize your decision. That's when Sesshomaru realized something, the lords were a ningens and two hanyou, suddenly he became angered, 'I will not have my father's land run by ningens and hanyou,' he thought to himself. Sesshomaru thought of all these obstacles in his way, finally he made his decision. Sesshomaru turned and sighed, "Very well, I shall...marry," he choked out the last word. Rin's heart jumped for joy, she cleared her throat, "Sesshomaru-sama, but whom shall you marry," she asked innocently. The inu-youkai looked at her, "I'll let you know in a few days," he said, more to Kenji than to Rin. The little mole nodded and stood, "Very well, I shall bring the other lords here in four days," he said, "Oh, and another thing," Sesshomaru did not bow, instead, he stood and unsheathed his Tokijin and pointed it at Kenji, "I've been extremely generous in letting you live, mole, but next time I expect you hold your tongue from further outbursts like the ones I just experienced." He pressed the tip of the blade into Kenji's stomach. Kenji gulped loudly and shook, "Y-yes Sesshomaru-sama," he said and without another word scurried out the door.

Well that's it, the first chapter I mean. Like it so far? Tell me what you think! I SAID TELL ME DAMN IT....I sowwy, I lost control, anyways, when my critic first read this, she thought this was gonna be a Sess/Rin type of thing, sorry to all you Rin fans, BUT NO BWAHAHAHAH!!! Ahem...oh and to you Kaggy fans I am also sorry for not putting more Kagome in this first chappy, but do not fret, she'll be making a strong comeback very very soon, so yeah, tell me what you think Kamui1815@yahoo.com or you can also write Kikyohater2006@yahoo.com JA! ^_^