Disclaimer: Inuyasha is Copyright of Takahashi Rumiko
Nothing Without The Other
Rin changes dramatically and is forced to rely on Sesshoumaru in order to adjust. The growing closeness of their relationship begins to unnerve Rin and she struggles to deal with it. In an attempt to get away from him, she convinces him to let her visit his friends. But instead of allowing her to make the journey alone, Sesshoumaru accompanies her. Can they survive the trouble fate throws their way and admit that they are nothing without the other before their relationship is destroyed?
Chapter 1
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HER YOU BRUTE!"
Toutousai hovered over Rin's limp form, wailing uncontrollably as tears fell from his eye like a waterfall. The last time he saw her -before he left her alone with that devil called Sesshoumaru- she was perfectly healthy and fit. Now she looked as though she had tried to starve herself in order to lose weight. He thought he might break her hand -her death-like, cold hand- as he held it in his own. Her skin was pale, her breathing was slightly uneven, and her ears sat atop her head instead of framing her face.
Sesshoumaru leaned weakly against the wall of Toutousai's cave, struggling to regain his energy. "It is now what I have done to her but what Tenseiga has done to her."
"Oh and I suppose Tenseiga just swung itself!?" Toutousai asked, fixing the inu-youkai with a fierce glare.
"I came here for answers, old man, not to hear your complaints and accusations. What is happening to Rin?" he demanded.
"What, you can't tell with your nose?" Toutousai teased.
He fought to remain calm. "This Sesshoumaru is in no mood for your games. Explain why Rin is...changing."
Toutousai huffed a breath and sat next to the girl in question. "Don't get pushy with me, puppy. You would not be here and in that condition if you would have just let the girl die and then revive her instead of healing her."
"I revived her once, I did not want to risk failing to do so a second time," he said grimly.
Toutousai scratched at his chin and looked up at the ceiling. "I suppose you're right. I've heard of second chances in life, but never third," he said with a sigh. "But what you've done now will change Rin's life forever."
"I assumed that much. My youki should have healed her, not changed her."
"And it would have, had she not been so close to death! If she simply were to have broken her arm, for example, your youki would have been transferred from you to her through Tenseiga, quickly healed her, and left her body. That is how Tenseiga's healing ability is meant to work."
Sesshoumaru mentally locked the information away for future reference if necessary. "Are you saying my youki did not leave her body after healing her?"
"That is exactly what happened. Her life force was so weak that even your youki needed to remain within her body in order to heal her completely. What did you say happened to her?"
He narrowed his eyes, not pleased that he would have to repeat himself. "She fell ill and the disease began to destroy her body from the inside."
"Ahh, now I see why your youki remained," he nodded, proud at how quickly he figured everything out. "As your youki rebuilds her body, it remains in her blood in order to sustain her body until it is completely healed. But because it has laced with her blood, the youki will not leave. Now her body is adjusting to your youki's power and strength."
"Adjusting?" He sat up a little straighter, directing his full attention to Toutousai.
"Yes, yes, adjusting," he pointed to the ears on Rin's head. "Her body will change to reflect her human side as well as the demon youki in her veins."
"Human side? Is that why she smells like a hanyou? Because she is becoming one?" Sesshoumaru was not sure how he felt about that.
"She smells like a hanyou because she has human blood mixed with the youki of an inu-youkai. Think of this transformation like that of Inuyasha's. When your brother looses himself, his inu-youkai blood takes over and he smells like a full youkai. But while he becomes more like a full youkai, he is still just a hanyou. The same can be said for Rin. Only her transformation is permanent and she may very well have hanyou powers. That depends on how much of your youki you transferred to her. But regardless, she will still be human."
"You do not sound sure of what you say," Sesshoumaru pointed out.
"Well how can I be!" Toutousai exclaimed. "This has never happened before. The only sure thing I can tell you is she will live and have the life span, and scent, of a hanyou. I will have to come and examine the results when her body has finished transforming."
"Is she not finished already?" He glanced at her ears and tried not to be reminded of Inuyasha. "How more can she change?"
"It is no for certain that she will look like that when this is over. For all we know Rin may have a preconceived image of how she may look as a youkai. And even though she has no control over the transformation, her body may very well shape itself to that image."
"When will this, transformation, be over?" Sesshoumaru pulled the girl into his arms once more, preparing to take flight again.
Toutousai scratched his chin. "A week, and she will sleep the entire time. I heard you returned to the Western Lands. It will be nice to see your fathers estate again."
"Nani?" He looked up at the old man.
"I'll be stopping by in a week to see the end result. Trust me boy, you'll be glad I did. Now, be on your way, it's getting awfully cold out there."
Jaken was impatiently waiting his master's returned from the castle gates. His lord had left so abruptly and with no indication as to where he was going. The only thing he did know was that he would be returning with a guest. Who, when, and why, were a complete mystery. One, he noted as a ball of white light streaked across the sky, that would be solved very soon.
But much to Jaken's surprise, the sphere traveled clear above his head instead of stopping at the castle gates as he expected. He raced back toward the estate, rushing up to his master's room. When he didn't find Sesshoumaru there, he rushed to the guest room that the servants prepared.
The sphere transformed into a string of light and burst through the window just as Jaken entered. A final transformation revealed Sesshoumaru, lightly holding a small, strange figure in his arms. He walked gracefully across the room and placed the figure on the bed, seemingly all in one, sweeping movement.
"S-s-sesshoumaru-sama! You've returned! This Jaken has seen that the guest room is prepared," he bit back the urge to ask of the woman's identity. "Is there anything else you would like for your humble servant to do?"
"Leave, and see that no one disturbs this room until I say differently."
"Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama," he turned and quickly left the room.
Sesshoumaru leaned against the wall next to the futon and slowly sunk to the floor, all of his energy spent from traveling. He glanced over at Rin briefly, his eyes drifting closed as exhaustion began to overcome him. His last thought was her as he slipped into unconsciousness.
It seemed fitting that Rin was his first thought the moment Sesshoumaru awoke the next day. He inhaled deeply, trying to adjust to her new scent and resisted the urge to look at her as he rose to his feet. It was strange to him that she did not smell more like him considering that his youki was laced with her blood. She simply smelled like an inu-hanyou. But, at the same time, she smelled just as she always had. Perhaps, he thought as he left the room, she would not change too dramatically.
He glided down the stairs, his steps light and determined, and made his way to his study. It was still night and so he would be blessed with a few hours of alone time before daybreak. Immediately upon entering, he pulled several scrolls from the shelves in the wall and spread them over the large, low table. It was the map of Kotetsu Village that he dealt with first.
Sesshoumaru retrieved a blank piece of parchment and drew a quick map of the village and the waterfall near it. After writing a few short directions beneath it, he set the parchment aside to dry. And as night gave way to day, he spent the remainder of his time updating his information about Tenseiga on its respective scroll.
It was not soon before his estate began to tingle with life.
Jaken was the first to disturb Sesshoumaru's silence. He found his master staring out an open window of the study, the table behind him littered with half open scrolls. Regretfully, he cast away any hopes of getting any information about the strange woman upstairs. Apparently his master was all business today.
"What may this humble Jaken do for you, my lord?" The toad asked quietly as he bent in a deep bow.
Sesshoumaru turned and sat behind the table before handing a scroll to Jaken. "You are to go to this place and retrieve Rin's things. Bring it here and return by nightfall tomorrow. Take Ah Un."
Jaken's eyes bulged out in surprise as he grasped the scroll. "That woman upstairs, she is Rin? How can that be, she smelled like a hanyou!" When his question was only met with a cold, blank stare, he quickly remembered his place and bowed again. "Forgive me, Sesshoumaru-sama! I did not mean to question your judgment. This Jaken was only curious."
"See to your orders Jaken," Sesshoumaru responded coolly.
"Hai, my lord, right away," he disappeared quickly while he still had his life.
Sesshoumaru spent his afternoon in cooking area, inspecting what they had that would be suitable for a human. He learned quickly that the carcasses of random creatures may be appetizing to him, but not to Rin. And so he ordered his cook to employ someone knowledgeable of human dishes and to see that they were stocked with plenty of human food.
It was not until the next night would he realize he would have to employ much more than a second cook.
Jaken returned with an overly loaded Ah Un and dumped the contents on the ground just within the castle gates. Each item reeked of the sickness that had held Rin captive and the awful scent threatened to upturn the bellies of every creature within his estate.
Sesshoumaru rummaged through the soon to be garbage, hoping to salvage something. He found that some of the items within the barrels could remain. "These bow and arrows, place them some where Rin may access them easily. These kimonos," he gestured to the one she had worn under her armor and the purple kimono she had worn the day they parted. "See that they are cleaned thoroughly and placed in her room. Keep this piece of armor with the bow and arrows."
"What shall I do with the rest, Sesshoumaru-sama?" Jaken quickly asked as his master turned to depart.
"Burn it."
"Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama, of course," he added, more than glad to get rid of the horribly smelly things.
Female servants, Sesshoumaru realized with a miserable inward sigh, would be necessary. The bothersome creatures were only welcome when there was a female present. It had been his original plan to see that Rin saw to her own personal care since she had been doing so for most of her life. But he could see that would not work and why he thought it would, he did not know.
Every kimono she had kept was at the moment being turned to nothing more than ashes. Normally when she out grew her kimonos or ruined them in some fashion, he left it to Jaken to retrieve new ones. Jaken would be to busy for that now and he would not allow some random male servant to tend to her. They could not be trusted.
That was exactly why there were currently no females on his grounds. Women were, more often than not, a trouble distraction to the desires of the male servants. They would fight over them, fight with them, fight for them. And when the women were in heat, there would surely be a blood bath.
This Sesshoumaru would kill most of them himself.
Order would be only slightly difficult to maintain. But he would rather have female servants causing the uproar in place of Rin. If any male servant dared to so much as entertain thoughts of Rin with a small look, Sesshoumaru would burn his eyes out with his poison claw.
And so the situation could not be helped. He met with the head of his servants and gave him orders to find three acceptable female servants to attend to Rin. And with a small, but serious threat to any men who night dare cause any trouble with the women, he sent the man on his way.
The sun melted over the horizon just as Sesshoumaru finished. He stood out on the veranda, watching it intently as it bathed his lands in yellow and orange hues. It was a calm and quiet winter evening. His servants were just beginning to finish their day's work and settle down for sleep, so the world around him was relatively peaceful. But for some reason, he did not feel at ease.
Something stirred deep inside him as he the seventh day since Rin's arrival began to approach. Everything would be prepared for her awakening in the morning. Everything that she could ever desire would be at her fingertips. She would be happy, healthy, alive, and well prepared to live her life to the fullest. But as Sesshoumaru turned to see himself to his room, he realized that he was not prepared to see this new Rin.
The old youkai was right. This Sesshoumaru was glad he was coming.
It was bright when Rin peaked her eyes open, so bright that she quickly squeezed them shut with a silent curse. It was also noisy. She could hear the tell tale signs of a slow and steady beat of what she assumed was a drum. But there were no other signs of music, just the mumbling and grumbling of incoherent voices. And there were scents, thousands of scents that she could not clearly identify. She assumed it was food since she could smell the soot of a newly put out fire. But something else lingered, something that made her stomach turn and threaten to revolt. Unsure of what it was, she buried her face in her blanket and ignored the festival that she assumed taking place.
And then there was silence but for the steady beat that she quickly realized was someone's heart. All the scents except that of the fire vanished. She kept her eyes closed and focused on remaining calm as something in her chest began to rumble. Her hand clinched into a fist, itching to hold the sword that could take care of the stranger that was entirely to close to her. If only she had some type of weapon. Then she could -
"Relax. I swear you're just as ornery as Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru himself!"
Rin recognized the voice and was quickly confused. Then her last memory hit her hard and she sat up quickly, ignoring the wave of dizziness that rushed over her. "Toutousai! What are you...when did..what is going on?" She finally managed. "I'm not dead..."
"Foolish girl. Did you really think Sesshoumaru would let you die?" He did his best to pretend he was not staring, but the girl's transformation was quite astounding.
"Sesshoumaru-sama? He's here?" She said with a squeak as she looked around. "Where are we?"
"The Western Lands. This is Sesshoumaru's estate."
Rin suddenly found it difficult to breathe and she fell back on the futon with a groan, covering her face with her hands. Her timing could not have been more perfect as the very person she dreaded seeing entered the room. The recognition of his presence hit her quickly and she remained frozen in place, spreading her fingers only slightly to peak up at him.
Sesshoumaru eyes fell upon Rin's form as several servants walked past him with trays full of food. He stared, but saw nothing of her transformed state except for the claws that had replaced her nails. If she were trying to hide her appearance from him, it was working.
It only made him more reluctant to see her.
"If you need anything else, there will be a servant waiting at the door." And with that, he disappeared.
Rin slowly sat up and stared at the door. "There is something bothering him, I can tell. Maybe he regrets healing me, regrets testing Tenseiga's ability."
"Now, now girl. Don't be foolish." Toutousai selected a dish and stuffed its contents greedily into his mouth. "Healing you was far from a test. If it had been, it would not have worked."
She pulled a tray in front of her, not trusting her legs to get up and walk. Her hands caught her eyes and she wondered how long she had been sleeping since her nails had grown so long. "What do you mean?"
"Tenseiga's main function is to revive and so it can be easily done, even it is just a test. Healing and protecting, however, is a different matter. Sesshoumaru must have a strong motive to do both abilities and a motive to test those abilities is not nearly strong enough."
Rin shook her head as she ate her soup. "I do not understand. Tenseiga protected me quite easily before."
"That is because that egotistical hound is over protective. That is motive enough," he added as he inhaled another dish. "Wanting to test something is like wanting a new kimono. You want it, not because you need it, but because you can say you have it. If you don't get it, it is no big deal. Tenseiga will not function under those conditions. Had Sesshoumaru wanted to heal you like he wanted a new kimono, the test would have failed and you would have died."
"I see."
"Sesshoumaru wanted to heal you more than anything, and he was willing to sacrifice quite a bit to do it. Tenseiga responded to that and here you are! Alive and well," he paused to drink three cups of tea at once. "If anything is bothering him, it is how he is going to handle the fact that when his youki healed you, it turned you into something much like a hanyou," Toutousai said with a grin, pleased that he had found such a clever way to deliver the news.
The tea Rin was drinking scorched her throat when she sipped too much at once. She choked and coughed on it, struggling to breathe again as Toutousai's words repeated themselves in her head. It was several moments before she found her voice.
"Nani!?" It was all she could say.
It has been a while, yes, I know. But I didn't want to start updating and then have everyone waiting a month for the next chapter. I started writing over winter break and within a week and a half, I had nine chapters done. I just finished the 10th so I decided hey, why not add the story? Hopefully I will stay on top of things and finish the story before I even come close to posting chapter 10.
Anyway, I hope this was worth the wait. Please enjoy and review so I know what you think or what to change in other chapters. Thanks so much for the continued support.
P.S. Sorry for any typos!
Rabid Anime Gurl