I'm Not Rin by ShadowFoxMoon

Alive

I do not own Inuyasha.

Story

Kagome was sitting among a field of flowers, picking several different herbs and digging up a few hidden roots. She would brush away the dirt, before putting the object into her basket with a sigh, a heavy look on her face. Being surrounded by beautiful flowers, Kagome tried to distract herself and reached out, picking up a few of the colorful plants.

“Inuyasha.” She whispered the half-demon’s name as she began to weave the steams together as her mind started to wander away from the reason why she was even there.

The group was attacked by a demon, and the tough dog ended up being severely injured. He thought it was no big deal and kept it hidden from the group, wanting to continue looking for the shards. After a few days, Inuyasha collapsed from his injures and they were forced to return to the village and tend to his wounds. Kagome did her best, bring what she could from her world to heal his cuts and bandage him, but he still hasn’t moved from his bed, and she was starting to worry for him.

So while their sword welding companion was out sick, the others decided to take the time and relax. Kagome was staying close to the village, instead of going home like she would have done whenever they got free time away from hunting for Naraku. The circumstances for their break was different, and it left Kagome worrying for the dog-demon to the point where to past time and to be useful, she has been gathering herbs and other things to try and help his healing.

A shuffling in the bushes tore Kagome from her thoughts and she reached beside her, her fingers wrapping around her bow as she glanced up. Yet her grip on her weapon slacked and her eyes softened when she spotted a small girl walking towards her from the tree line. The girl looked around with a bright smile on her face, before she finally spotted her. Their eyes meet, and the girl paused.

The girl seemed to be thinking over something, before her smile returned and she started walking towards her without fear. Kagome noticed that the girl was young, maybe nine, with dark black hair. The closer she got the more details she could see, like the dirt smudged on her cheeks which highlighted her freckles, and her dark brown orbs watching her with curiosity.

“Hi.” The girl was now standing in front of her and waved.

“Hello.” Kagome greeted the girl with a smile, and removed her hand from her bow.

The girl giggled and plopped down in front of her. The motion causing several petals to rip from their flowers and dance in the air around them for a moment, before finally settling among them. “What are you doing?” She asked innocently, her head cocked to the side as she looked down at the flowers in her hand, then at the basket with the herbs in them.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” She questioned the girl. Her face didn’t look familiar. “I have never seen you before in the village.”

“I don’t come from the village.” She told her and reached out, picking one of the flowers laying among them.

“Then what are you doing here?” She must be a traveler. Kagome glanced around and frowned. Where were the girl’s parents?

“I was told to hide.” The girl was now twirling the daisy in her hand with a smile on her face.

Kagome hummed at the girl’s answer. “Why?”

“There is a demon in the forest, so I was told to hide while it was being taken care of.” The girl finally looked away from the flower. “I know I was supposed to stay put, but I smelt the flowers nearby.”

Kagome’s heart gave a small squeeze of pain, knowing what had happened. Her parents were more than likely dead. They sacrificed themselves to distract the demon so their child could live. “I-I’m sorry.” The words feel from her lips in sadness, and the girl looked up at her in confusion.

“Sorry?” The girl pouted. “You didn’t do anything wrong, did you?”

Kagome shook her head and tried to force a smile. “No.” It probably would be best not to tell the child.

A demon in the forest is a bad. Inuyasha has kept them at bay for the most part but some do wander into the forest while they are out hunting for the jewel. She needs get to the village as soon as possible and warn the others of the demon, so they could kill it. She looked down at the girl. First thing is first, she should get the child to the village so she can be safe, and give her a good home. She was sure Kaede knew someone who could take the child and raise it as their own, now that the poor kid’s parents were gone.

She did her best to give her a reassuring smile. “Hey, I have a great idea. Would you like to go to the village with me? It’s nice there, and there is a lot of kids to play with that are about your age.”

The girl seemed to be thinking about it but then she shook her head. “Naw.” She hummed. “I was told to wait.”

Seems this might take some time, but she had to find a way to convince her to go with her. Kagome noticed the girl looking at her hands and she raised up her unfished crown of flowers. “Would you like me to show you want I am doing?” The girl nodded and Kagome began to continue weaving the flowers together. She then finished her work and held it up to the girl to inspect. The child’s eyes grew wide in surprise and gave a small squeal in joy. Kagome laughed at the girl’s happiness.

“Can you show me how to do that?”

“Sure.” Kagome put the crown in the basket and began fresh. The girl watched, and soon picked up her own flowers and tried to copy her.

As the girls were working, Kagome noticed the girl trusted her a little more so she tried again. “Are you hungry? I have some food at my house you can have?”

The girl nibbled on her lower lip in concentration, having a much more difficult time. “No, it’s alright.” She sighed in frustration and looked at her own mess of bent flowers, then at Kagome’s.

“Don’t get so upset, it just takes time.” She tried to show the girl once more, being extra slow so she could follow her movements. The girl then tried again, but this time she was able to do a little better and she held up her three braided flowers to the miko, a bright smile on her face and Kagome clapped. “Good job!” The girl blushed and looked down at her lap.  The girl was very cute—It was rather sad what had happened to her… As she stared at the girl she tried a different approach. “I’m sorry, but I have to go now.”

The girl pouted. “Why?”

“I have a friend who is sick, and I’m looking after him. I have to return to the village.” The girl looked at her with a conflicted expression then looked back down at her hands, twiddling her thumbs.  Seeing the girl struggle she decided to ask again. “Would you like to come with me?”

The girl then mumbled to herself. “I was told to stay here, and I would get in trouble if they came back and I was gone.”

Kagome tried to reason with the girl. “I am sure the village is where they were headed before the demon showed up. They will probably know to look for you there.” She smiled at her.  “In fact I’m sure they might have wanted you to go there.”

“Really?” The girl had a puzzled look on her face, questioning her.

Kagome sighed, wishing the girl would just accept her offer to the village. The demon that killed her parents is still out there and they are sitting ducks in this field. “Yes.” She nodded. “They would have wanted you to go to the village.”

The girl’s lips puckered to one side of her face, as she thought about it, looking down. She then looked up at her and smiled. “Okay.” Kagome gave a small sigh of relief.

“Good.” She got to her feet, smiling at the girl—A chill went down her body as her senses were screaming at her. It wasn’t the tell-tell sign of a shard, no, this was a demon. From what she could tell, a powerful one. “Get behind me, quick.” Kagome picked up her bow and notched an arrow. The girl without question got behind her and for that she was glad. She tried to focus her senses, but she wasn’t that good at controlling them, and instead felt the demon’s force all around her, echoing off the trees and the air. She tried not to shiver, for it felt as if she could feel his breath on her body, looming over her. She heard movement from the tree line and she brought her bow up to her face and pulled back her arrow, ready for it to fly the moment it lunged into the field.

But instead of the wild beast jumping from the bushes, he made an elegant approach in all of his glory and grace, his usually stoic expression on his face. She opened her mouth slightly, but her lips wouldn’t dare speak his name, too frightened that her life would be pulled away from her before she could speak it.

Sesshomaru.

He approached them with a painfully slow stride, his golden orbs locked into hers, putting her under a spell which had her body frozen, unable to move. Was he the one who killed the girl’s parents? Why? It didn’t make much sense to her at all. What was he doing here? Was he here to kill them? Was he here to kill Inuyasha? Did he hear about his brother’s injuries and wanted to finish him off? The demon lord seemed more like the type to kill a man at his full strength, then stabbing an already wounded animal. Then again, she really did not know much about the demon, other than the few encounters she had with him. All of them involved him trying either to hurt or kill her and Inuyasha for whatever logical reason he had at the time. One thing was for certain, when Sesshomaru appeared, blood would be split, and someone was more than likely going to die.

Even as all of this was in her mind, another nagging thought was constantly there as well: She had to protect the child. That one idea pushed away her fears and allowed courage to replace it.

She dug her heels into the ground, trying to stable her mind as well as her body. The girl’s smiling face entered her thoughts, and she dared not look away from the demon to even glance the child, knowing that a single distraction will end her life. She was afraid to even blink, knowing that he could vanish and her head would be detached from her body just as fast.

She stood strong, her arrow still notched as she stared at the demon lord beyond the end of her arrow’s shaft, ignoring the feel of the feather tickling her cheek. The arrow head was placed directly at his heart. She knew they were more than likely dead. She had just one shot, and even then it would miss him and he would kill her before she could reach for a second one.

Even though the odds were against her, she had to protect the child. She will be nothing but a sacrifice in the end, but if she can distract him long enough for the girl to escape…

He was already just a few feet upon them, and she tried to still her beating heart that was pounding in her ears. “Stop.” She hoped the trembling in her body did not give away in her voice, as she continued to stare at the lord with a glare.

Surprisingly enough he halted in his movements, and just continued to look at her with indifference. They just stood there. The tenseness combined with the demonic power he exuded was like poison in the air, crushing her chest and making it hard to breath. Her grip on her arrow tightened, but she could feel the sweat in her palm, and she tried not to let her fingers slip from the bowstring.

Now what? She couldn’t help but question as she continued to stare into his amber pools. She didn’t really expect him to stop…

“Rin.” She tried not to jump at the sudden sound of his low voice cutting though the quiet air. “Come.”

There was a blur in the corner of her eyes, followed by a pleased giggle from the girl. Then she saw the girl come into her vision, even as she continued to stare down the demon lord. Her eyes narrowed in warning, but she didn’t voice her concerns to the girl, but only watched as she continued to run obediently to the demon with a bright smile on her face.

It wasn’t until the girl ran past him, and he now stood between Kagome and the girl, that Sesshomaru finally broke the deadly eye contact they shared. Without so much as another word or acknowledgement to her presence, he turned and followed the girl out of the field, and back into the shadows of the forest.

It wasn’t until moments later and she knew that he was gone, that her whole body started to visible tremble. Her shaking hand allowed the wobbling arrow to slip off of the bow string and landed into the ground with the thud at her feet. Her lips were parted and her breath came in deep and raspy gasps, her lungs unable to get any oxygen in her panic. The bow fell from her weak and sweaty grasp, hitting the ground with a clatter. She soon joined her weapon as her legs gave out beneath her and she had both her hands clinching her chest. Her heart felt like it as going to burst as she leaned over and touched her burning forehead to the cold ground.

She couldn’t hear anything other than her own heart beating, and she found herself unable to believe the sound. She released a pitiful cry that was a mixture of both fear and joy as tears swelled in her eyes.

She was alive.

 

INUYASHA © Rumiko Takahashi/Shogakukan • Yomiuri TV • Sunrise 2000
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