Third chapter! We're actually getting somewhere. If you're curious whatsoever about when this story takes place on the Inuyasha timeline, it's practically right after Sesshomaru meets Naraku for the first time. I have a couple reasons for doing this, but the main one is to give plenty of time for the relationship between Sesshomaru and Tomoe to develop.

Anyways, let's get riiiight into business~

Warning: This story will contain potentially triggering situations, mature themes, and will not always follow the Inuyasha storyline. Should you be offended, please refrain from flaming in the comments. I will roast you like a fucking pig.

Note: I do not own Inuyasha. I only own my own inserted character(s).

Chapter 3 A Small Drop

After my first meeting with Sesshomaru, everything calmed down. Ma' stopped giving Father looks, Father stopped giving me looks, and I went along with what I've always done. Supposedly, the oh-so-great Lord Sesshomaru was staying in the Northern Castle searching for something (and that was his initial reason for visiting Father), but I could never be sure. I simply left him to his own business as I awaited the day he would leave—and subsequently, take me with him. In the meantime, I spent days trying to understand the books in the royal library.

Since before my proper marriage age, I'd called the library my surrogate home. It stuck out just a tad in comparison to my overly fancy bedroom. Sure, the sheets on the bed were comfy and snuggable, but there wasn't much to look at there. Everything seemed to be the same. Lots of spirals, antique metal decorations, simple things that didn't quite catch enough of my attention. It was similar to staring at a wall for hours. Not that I had anything against walls, but it was boring. Perhaps that was an emotion I could feel? Boredom? Maybe...

Either way—the library. There was nothing extravagantly special about the room. It was quite large, but the same could be said for almost every room in the castle. Bookshelf upon bookshelf was laid next to each other to form straight even rows. Each shelf was filled to the brim with books and scrolls. You could find anything there—novels, signed treaties, incomplete study papers, war records, anything. I tended to gravitate towards the lower part of the library, where the sitting area was. There was a pile of thick furs laid bundled on the ground next to a window overlooking the royal garden. I spent quite a lot of nights snuggled into that spot. Father got particularly angry when he found me there in the morning. Ma', on the other hand, didn't seem to mind my habit of sleeping anywhere but my bedroom. Not that she encouraged it, but...

"Welcome back, Tomoe." a voice called from the corner of the library. I glanced over, instantly recognizing the scratchy tone of the court scribe. He was an elderly man, one that had supposedly been serving my father and the Northern lands since before I was born. It wasn't that hard to imagine. He looked old. His hair, which once had been a frightful inky black, was grayed due to age. I could faintly recall that he looked better in my childhood, but it was all a bit vague. Regardless of his small changes, he was still mostly the same. He still had the thin black ears that seemed a bit too big for his head and the bushy tail that always dragged behind him. If I thought about it, I could remember spending a lot of my time watching his twitchy appendages.

"Hiroyoshi..." I let the old man's name touch the tip of my tongue. It came off perfectly and I briefly wondered how it managed to flow so well. It was a rather long name and there were a lot of vowels. Perhaps it was from my experience?

"It's a rather lovely morning." Hiroyoshi broke me from my internal debate. I nodded, almost involuntarily, before responding.

"I guess," I took a moment to look at the nearby library windows. "I haven't really been outside," I admitted guiltily. I watched, almost entrancingly, as the morning light filtered through the stained glass. It was extremely alluring. For a moment, I debated lying in the very middle of the sunlight just to see how it feels. But that would be silly—would it not?

"I doubt that will be a problem. You are leaving the Northern Castle today, yes?" Hiroyoshi smiled as I turned my attention back to him. I wanted to tell him that I wasn't sure what was happening because nobody thought to tell me anything, but I didn't. I didn't really care that information was withdrawn from me. It was problematic at times and normally put me in bad situations, but I always found my way out of trouble. It wasn't like it mattered anyway. I never paid attention when people did inform me of the schedule. Sometimes I did, but those were rare times.

"I guess," I responded nonchalantly. There was a small space of silence, one which I used to once again turned my attention to my new favorite window, before I spoke again. "What's the outside world like?"

"That's a good question. I suppose it all depends on your views." Hiroyoshi responded after a moment.

"Views?" I asked slowly. I still didn't look at the scribe, finding a small scratch rather interesting. Despite my eyes being away from him, I could almost feel Hiroyoshi's astute smile and nod. He always had a particular expression when responding to my pointless questions.

"Some people view the outside world as a terrible place. Senseless murder, rape, cannibalism, demons walking the earth, the general stuff. They believe that everybody is selfish—which is a rather morbid way of thinking. There are other people who view the outside world as something to be conquered. I've never really favored those type of people myself." I contemplated Hiroyoshi's response. It made sense, I suppose. Father always seemed to have different views than Ma' and so-on-so-forth. It was simple, but not really. I gave a sigh, trying to ease my swirling thoughts.

"Is that it?" I asked even though I already knew the answer.

"No, no. Tomoe, my dear, I could go down thousands of winding roads and never reach a solid ending. I will admit that demons think like demons and humans think like humans, but there are always differences. There's always warped morals and there's always polarity." Hiroyoshi finished. I took in all his information, absorbing it for later analysis. I doubted I would remember all his words, but I was determined to understand. I wanted to know how others operated. I wanted to feel.

"What are your views, Hiroyoshi?" I said straightly. My gaze turned straight towards the man and I stared him down, awaiting a response. He seemed shocked—whether by my question or tone I would never know.

"Well, I-" he started.

"Tomoe!" I frowned deeply. Father, standing tall in all his glory, practically smashed through the library doors. His eyes landed on me immediately and I briefly saw a sneer pass over his lips.

"Father," I acknowledged.

"You are leaving," he growled out. My ears twitched at his tone, but I did not move.

"Now?" I muttered, not quite intending to say it out loud. Father didn't seem to take my question seriously, nor well. He stepped forward, rather quickly, and took a fistful of my hair into his fist. I made a quiet sound at the zap of pain that ran through my head, but only stared up at him. I had to resist the internal voice that told me I was in danger. Struggling would not help me and socking Father in the face would simply aggravate him. All I could do was stand there, baring my neck submissively (which wasn't really under my control). I had learned at a young age that fitting my female role was the best way to avoid trouble. It was uncomfortable, and often painful, but necessary.

"Tomoe," Father lowered his head to my pointed ear, "Do not cause me issues. Know your place."

"Yes, Father," I whispered lowly. With my response, Father released my dark locks and gave me a few inches of space. I gently touched the abused strands, then moved to my aching scalp. I eased my hands into the spot that seemed to hurt the most and made a face when I found a bald spot. Father had burned me. I looked up at him, unable to make out any emotions in his dark eyes. I had to guess, though, that he was delighted by his work. It was nothing new.

"You have five minutes to have yourself situated and ready to go at the front gate," he warned. He looked down at me, as if he were staring at an ant, before turning and marching out. The moment he turned out of eye-view, Hiroyoshi rushed over to me.

"Are you okay, Tomoe, my dear?" I returned the scribe's question with a blank stare. I didn't want to respond. Responding felt like too much of a time-consuming task. Instead, I pushed past him, ignoring the way he stumbled from my force. I didn't mean to push him hard, but it did not matter. I didn't have time to dwell on anything; not my old mentor, not my swirling thoughts, not my burnt hair, and certainly not the small drop of unknown liquid that fell from my chin.

So...how was it? I'm trying to fit some character development in here before I add Sesshomaru.

If you couldn't tell already, Tomoe has a bit of a mental crisis.

Sorry for the late update. I haven't been writing as much lately. Most of my days have been something along the lines of getting home, taking a nap, waking up, eating dinner, watching something small, then going back to sleep. Writing is obviously not included in that schedule. This chapter was actually only made because I forced myself to get on and do shit.

But yeah. I hope you enjoyed. Feel free to leave a review and correct any shitty mistakes I've made~!