He'll Wait by Himura Asami

Chapter 1

This is for the Prompt Exchange Challenge.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything.

…

Rin smiled as she twirled around in the field.  She skipped through the flowers in the meadow, swinging her basket in the air. She had been sent by Kaede-sama to gather herbs. She had already picked what she needed to. Now, she just needed to grab a few flowers before she returned to the village.

She spun on her heel and pursed her lips. Kagome-sensei had told her about a special flower. If only she could remember what it was supposed to look like.

Rin sighed sadly, but instantly brightened as her eyes locked onto a 5-petaled, yellow flower. She knelt down next to it and reached out her hand. She deftly plucked the stem and brought the flower to her nose. Rin inhaled deeply and the corners of her lips curled upwards.

"This is going to be a good gift for Kagome-sensei. She likes flowers too."

Nodding to herself, Rin placed the single flower in her basket of herbs and stood up.

"Do not move, or I will kill you, human."

Rin turned around calmly and came face to face with a lizard youkai. He was over 15 feet tall, with sickly green skin and he was sporting a leer that showed off all of his mustard yellow teeth.

Rin blinked serenely before a smile blossomed on her face. "Shippo-kun! It's so good to see you! Your transformations are getting better."

The lizard youkai growled angrily before a pop sounded and he was shrouded in smoke. When the smoke cleared, a kitsune youkai that reached Rin's shoulder appeared.

The kitsune scowled at her. "How'd you know it was me?"

Rin tapped the side of her nose in a way that she had seen Kagome-sensei do. "It's a secret," she said with a wink.

Shippo shivered. "You sounded just like Mom."

"Well, Kagome-sensei has been spending a lot of time with me lately," Rin said, a tinge of pride coloring her voice.

Shippo rolled his eyes, smirking slightly. "Yeah, that's great. How is she, anyway?"

Rin smiled happily. "Why don't you come and see for yourself? I know she'll be happy to see her 'handsome, precious, sweet, little kit,'" she teased playfully.

Shippo flushed bright red.

Rin giggled. "I was just heading back. Join me?"

Shippo gulped loudly. "Well, I think I'll wait for a little bit."

Rin raised her eyebrow in a way that Kagome-sensei had told her was reminiscent of Sesshomaru-sama.

"Bad news?"

"No. Just news she won't like."

"Isn't that the same thing?"

Shippo didn't comment. "You head back, okay? I'll be there soon."

Rin's eyes widened comically. "You want me to go back alone after I've seen you? No way! If she finds out that I didn't bring you back, who knows what might happen! I'll stay with you and we'll go back together."

Shippo grinned. "It's good to know that I'm not the only one who's afraid of her here."

"You didn't know that already?" Rin asked, genuinely curious.

Shippo blinked in confusion. "I think I might have, but going off to school sometimes makes me think that the people in the village grew backbones."

Rin nodded sagely. "That's understandable."

Shippo nodded along with her.

"So I'll stay here," Rin said.

"Sure."

Rin gave him a brilliant smile before dropping her basket and plopping down onto the ground.

She patted the space next to her and Shippo gladly sat next to her. He lowered his body to the ground and placed his hands behind his head as he stared up at the sky.

Rin mimicked his position and joined him in staring at the clouds.

Rin pursed her lips before her eyes lit up. "Shippo! Look at that cloud," she crooned, pointing into the distance. "Isn't it pretty?"

Shippo scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Don't be silly. That's not a cloud, it's a spaceship!"

Rin propped herself up on her elbows and turned to look at her companion.

"It's a cloud!"

Shippo sat up and stared at her. "Don't be silly. It's most definitely a spaceship."

"Unless a spaceship is a cloud, that's not a spaceship."

Shippo looked at her incredulously. "You don't know what a spaceship is?"

"Is it something from Kagome-sensei's time?"

"Yes."

"Then why would I know what a spaceship is?"

"You said you'd been spending time with her. I assumed she was teaching you stuff."

"She is. But, she focuses more on history."

"Well then, you're excused," Shippo said with a haughty air.

"Oh?" Rin said, raising her eyebrow again. "I'm excused? From what?"

"From any punishment you would have gotten for saying that the spaceship was a cloud. I'm not going to punish you for ignorance."

Rin blinked before scoffing and standing up. "What did you say?" She asked menacingly, placing her hands on her hips in a way she had seen Kagome-sensei do whenever she reprimanded someone.

Shippo recognized the pose, but it just wasn't threatening coming from an eleven year old girl.

He stood up too. "You heard what I said."

Rin took a deep breath and prepared to give him a piece of her mind when the woman she was imitating came into the meadow.

"Rin!" she called out happily. Her eyes widened when they landed on the kitsune. "Shippo!"

She ran to him and tackled him in a hug. "Oh! How's my handsome, precious, sweet, little kit?"

Rin snickered as she looked down at the poor blushing boy who was pinned to the ground by his mother.

"Mom, it's good to see you. Can you get off, please?"

Kagome smiled as she removed herself from her son and helped him up.

"Sorry. I'm just so excited to see you."

Shippo nodded, but before he could speak to return the sentiment, Rin spoke up.

"Kagome-sensei, what are you doing this far out?

Kagome grinned. " I was worried because you hadn't come back yet, and I thought I felt a familiar youki, so I came to check it out."

Rin nodded.

"So," Kagome said with a mischievous smile. "What are you two talking about?"

Instantly, Rin's scowl came back. She pointed to the cloud she and Shippo had been arguing over and glared at the kitsune.

"He says that's not a cloud."

Shippo turned to his mother. "Right. It's a spaceship. Isn't it, Mom?"

Kagome raised an eyebrow, looking towards the sky bound object in question. "That's definitely a cloud."

Rin smirked and Shippo scowled.

"But," Kagome mused, oblivious to the tension between Shippo and Rin, "that does look like a spaceship.  It's a cloud that's shaped like a spaceship. "

She turned back to them, only to find Shippo grinning and Rin pouting.

"Told you it was a spaceship."

"She didn't say it was a spaceship,  she said it was shaped like a spaceship."

"Same thing."

"It is not!"

"It is too!"

Just when Kagome thought she was going to have to intervene, Rin stopped the argument herself.

"You know what?" she began, talking more to herself than to Kagome or Shippo. "This isn't worth it."

"Good for you, Rin," Kagome said.

Rin smiled and turned to Kagome. "That's not worth it, but this is."

"What is?" the mother-son duo asked, one of them curious, the other wary.

"Kagome-sensei," Rin said in answer, "Shippo told me that he had some news for you."

Kagome blinked and turned to her adopted son, who had gone pale. "News, Shippo? What news?"

Shippo gulped. "Well, it's nothing big. Just some stuff. I'll tell you later," he said, his voice rising in pitch.

Kagome raised an eyebrow and put her hands on her hips, effectively causing a shudder to go through her son's body. The pose might not have been frightening coming from an eleven year old girl, but it was definitely frightening coming from his 19 year-old mother.

"Tell me. Now," Kagome commanded.

"Sesshomaru-sama sent a messenger to my school and asked if I wanted to come and train with him at the Western Citadel! I said yes. I'm sorry! I'll tell him that I can't come. I should have checked with you first! I'm sorry!"

Kagome and Rin both had eyes the size of saucers by the time Shippo had finished talking.

Rin couldn't believe that her Sesshomaru-sama would offer that to Shippo, especially considering his tense relationship with Kagome-sensei.

Kagome was thinking the same thing, only with a little less awe and a lot more anger.

Shippo broke the silence.

"Do you forgive me?" he asked meekly.

Kagome's anger evaporated and she walked over to Shippo to give him a hug. "You didn't do anything wrong, Shippo-chan."

"But I know you and Sesshomaru-sama have a bad relationship for whatever reason and I accepted his offer without thinking of you!"

"Don't worry! I'm glad you did," she said, lying through her teeth and doing nothing to convince her son that she was telling the truth. "Really, it's fine. You'd have been silly to pass up an offer to train with Sesshomaru. There's nothing wrong with you accepting his offer. You'll learn a lot from him. Just not too much, I hope."

Shippo swallowed thickly, but nodded. Kagome let go of him and turned around.

"Come on," she said.  "You'll need to get those herbs to Kaede-sensei, Rin-chan."

Rin nodded mutely and bent down to pick up her basket.

Together, the three of them started off to the village in uncomfortable silence.

...

When they arrived in the village, Kagome's eyes widened.

"What do you know?" she muttered. "It looks like Sesshomaru’s here."

Rin and Shippo stiffened at the familiar and frightening tone in her voice.

"He probably has a gift for you, Rin-chan. And it's only polite to thank him for his generous offer, Shippo-chan. Why don't we go meet him?"

Shippo and Rin knew they had no choice, so they followed after Kagome and tried not to cringe when her aura began to flare visibly.

Together, they entered Kaede's hut. Sesshomaru was standing stiffly in the corner, holding a bundle, and Kaede was sitting near the fire pit.

Rin spoke first.

"Sesshomaru-sama! It's good to see you."

Sesshomaru handed her the package in his hand. "You have been well," he said, not outright asking, but asking all the same.

Rin nodded and smiled before turning to sit next to Kaede and hand her the herbs from her basket.

Shippo was up next.

"Sesshomaru-sama. Thank you for offering to train me," he said, bowing low.

Sesshomaru gave a curt nod, and Shippo walked off to sit next to Rin.

Kagome walked up to him.

"May I speak to you privately?"

Shippo and Rin gasped in the background. Neither Sesshomaru nor Kagome paid them any attention.

Sesshomaru nodded.

Together, they left the hut.

Rin sniffed morosely and picked up the flower from her basket.

"I'll never get to give this flower to Kagome-sensei."

"You're joking, right?" Shippo said. "Sesshomaru-sama is the one who's going to die."

"Aye," Kaede agreed.

Rin whimpered pitifully.

...

Sesshomaru and Kagome walked in silence. Sesshomaru shot calculating looks at the petite woman by his side, while Kagome attempted to control her temper.

Too soon, or not soon enough, depending on your viewpoint, Sesshomaru and Kagome reached their destination, the Goshinboku.

Kagome turned on her heel and stared at Sesshomaru. Her eyebrow twitched.

"Would you care to explain yourself?" she asked, obviously angry, but attempting, and failing, to hide it.

Sesshomaru tilted his head in acknowledgement. "This one is staking his claim."

"Oh? Your claim?" Kagome exploded. "You don't have a claim!"

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes. "This one does have a claim."

"How so?" Kagome screamed at him.

"Four years ago, you said that you were too young to accept my suit. You are not too young now."

"Just because I'm not too young, doesn't mean I accept your suit!"

"Hn."

Kagome groaned. "Sesshomaru!  You cannot interfere in my son's life! You don't have a single claim on me! How many times do I have to reject you?"

"This Sesshomaru will not go away."

Tears welled up in Kagome's eyes. "Why are you chasing after me? What do you want from me?" she asked, nearly hysterical.

Sesshomaru's voice softened and his gaze warmed. "I do not want anything from you. I merely want you."

Kagome placed a hand to her mouth and looked up at him. "Why? I don't understand."

"Must you?"

Kagome looked up at him, searching for something. She began to sob and she ran to him. She wrapped her arms around him, and Sesshomaru didn't hesitate in wrapping his arms around her.

"You aren't him. You aren't Inuyasha," Kagome cried.

"I am not."

Kagome hugged him tighter. "I think I can love you. Can you wait? Will you wait for me?" she whispered.

"I am not my half-brother."

And that was all the answer Kagome required. 

…

T.N.T!