Rin's Choice (Sesshomaru x Rin)

In Love (Part 1)

Rin

"Let me go!"

A young man's voice startles me awake.

"Quiet you!" Jaken demands. "You should be proud to be chosen, hand-picked by Lord Sesshomaru himself."

"I didn't ask to be chosen, and I will not serve a demon!"

I jump to my feet, feeling my heart flutter in my throat as ice-cold dread dances down my body.

Why is Jaken bringing a stranger, especially a male stranger, into our camp? Where is Lord Sesshomaru?

Before they can get to me, I run behind A-Un, whispering, "Please hide me."

They settle, tail whipping back and forth erratically, and I know from the movement that they're just as ill at ease as I am.

"Where are you, my lord?" I whisper, squeezing my eyes together, trying to calm my breathing.

Jaken's voice carries again, "The insolence! You will learn in time. Rin will tame that tongue or Lord Sesshomaru will cut it out. But for now..."

I hear a struggle, then footsteps are once again crashing through the underbrush.

No, no, no. If the man has hurt Jaken, then—

"Milord?"

Jaken's voice! Jaken is still okay. And he said milord!

With that realization, I reach out my senses, straining for any hint of change. And I get it. I can feel it now when Lord Sesshomaru is around, can feel the charge of not only his presence but his power.

"Rin?!" he calls, his voice holding an edge of panic. "Where is she?" I can only assume he demands this of A-Un.

They both turn their heads to look at me. Hesitantly, I rise to my feet, "H-here, my lord."

He dashes to my side, his hand gripping my arm, "Are you hurt? What happened? Where is it?"

"Where is what my lord?" I whisper, breathy despite my best attempts to sound normal.

"What made you hide? I smell your fear, Rin."

"I heard a voice, a human voice," I admit, glancing to the clearing where Jaken stands with a bound human man, the Staff of Two Heads pointed in clear warning.

"Yes, a human voice," Jaken crows. "Lord Sesshomaru in his brilliance and generosity has brought you a mate, Rin."

"A... what?" I whisper, horrified. There's a roaring in my ears, so I'm not sure I heard him right. I really hope I didn't.

A muffled sound of protest reaches my ears. I look at the human man, bound and now gagged. He looks terrified.

"I don't want a mate!" I blurt. "Let him go."

"Whaaaat?" Jaken gasps. "But Rin, all the signs—"

"I don't want a mate!" I shout, turning my back on Jaken.

"But, Rin, you are at the age that—"

"I hate humans!" I whisper, but my quiet words are enough to end Jaken's tirade. I glance at Lord Sesshomaru, hurt and betrayal and embarrassment fighting for supremacy. "I thought you understood that."

"You did well with the priestess—"

"She wasn't a normal human! Neither is Kagome. Normal humans, like him, don't look at me as a person. They look at me as a tool, something they can use. At least with yokai I know my place. I'm either servant or food, but—"