Innocent Beginnings

Innocent Beginnings
By: Maggz
Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 24: This Ain’t No Game


I must’ve made a sound… though I haven’t a clue how, if I did. My mouth was suddenly as dry as the Mojave Desert, my heart thundering away in my chest and my breath frozen in my overworked lungs. I could feel Kohaku tugging at my hand, trying his best to pull me down off the stage with him but I couldn’t MOVE. My eyes were locked on Sesshomaru, standing stock still right where I’d first spotted him and I was suddenly afraid for Kohaku, very afraid.


“Rin?”, Kohaku laughed, tugging harder on my hands before finally giving up and reaching to my waist to lift me down to him. I suppose then he must’ve realized that something was truly upsetting me, that it wasn’t just a delayed case of stage fright because he gripped my chin and turned my face toward his.


“What’s the matter, Rin?”, he asked, his eyes wide with worry. “Did you hurt yourself? What’s wrong?”


I could only shake my head as I looked into his eyes. Dear God, I didn’t want anything to happen to him because of some stupid mistake I’d made. I’d been the one that had insisted on him bringing me here to this place, it was all my fault, and now he was going to have to pay the price.


“Let’s go!”, I said breathlessly, my nails digging into his forearms.


“Whoa! Rin! They haven’t even announced the winner yet! I was gonna dance with you-”


“You don’t underSTAND! We have to go, right now!”, I pleaded, tugging on HIS hands now trying my best to make him understand without being obvious.


“Then MAKE me understand! You’re not making any sense here at all. What’s wrong? Did somebody say something to you while I was backstage? Who?”, he asked narrowing his eyes as he searched the crowded room. “Was it that guy who was grabbing at you when I went to take your coat back?”, he asked, his mood swiftly changing from confused to protective as he squeezed my hands .


“NO!!! Kohaku… PLEASE!”, I begged, tears starting to sting my eyes . “If you won’t take me, I’ll just ask Kanna to.”, I said and trying not to look as if I was making the scene that I actually WAS, I moved around him and started to walk toward the tables where we’d been sitting.


It was strange because I felt as if I were floating in some weird world where I could look down from above and see everything very clearly. Kanna, Shippo, Hakudoshi, Souten and the others were smiling and cheering but it was as if I were in an old silent movie… I could hear nothing but the pounding of my heart. Kohaku was behind me, calling out my name with an angry, frustrated, yet concerned tone as he followed right on my heels.


And then there was Sesshomaru…


I could sense him slowly moving diagonally across the floor toward me, taking his time, hands stuffed into the front pockets of his khaki trousers. Yet my feet wouldn’t move fast enough, I felt as if I were walking through jello.


I’m not sure who touched me first, all I know is that my aim was to reach Kanna and I didn’t quite make it. The grip on my elbow was firm and when I saw the looks of astonishment on the faces of everybody at the table, I knew then that the group had recognized Sesshomaru.


“Rin!”, Kohaku was to my immediate right, his voice sounding much different than I’d ever heard it before. I turned to look at him, tears standing in my eyes and gritted my teeth as I hissed at him.


“I TOLD you I needed to GO-!”


Sesshomaru jerked my arm, swinging me back around until I was facing him. If I’d thought him angry outside my house the day he’d found Kohaku and I together for the first time, then I wasn’t sure WHAT I’d have thought him now. His eyes were huge, his nostrils flaring as he heaved in every single breath. I could feel the trembling in his body as he fought to control his temper with everything inside him and knew beyond a doubt that it would only take something tiny… miniscule to set him off to the point of no return.


“Let’s go!”, he snarled, his upper lip curling slightly as he leaned toward me. “…and if I can keep from whipping your ass before I get you to the car, you’ll count yourself lucky. Let’s GO!”, he repeated, his eyes on nobody but me.


I turned to Kohaku who was still gripping my hand and shrugged my shoulders helplessly. I prayed he’d stay out of it, prayed he’d just let me go and get on with his night… a night I’d ruined beyond any hope of enjoyment for him. I wanted to curl up into a ball and just die from the combined humiliation, anger and fear.


“Rin?”, he said lowly, his eyes flitting between Sesshomaru and myself. “I can take you home. I brought you - you’re with ME.”, he said, his voice barely above a whisper as his eyes pleaded with mine.


“I don’t give a pig fuck in HELL who brought her here! She’s sixteen years OLD, for Godsakes! She has no business in a place like this.”, Sesshomaru snarled.


Kohaku bit his lip, narrowed his eyes and took in a deep breath. It was only when I felt his tight grip on my hand that I knew he was holding himself back for my sake. And somehow that made me feel even lower.


“Everything ok?”, Shippo spoke up as he rose from the table in front of us.


“Everything is great, man. You can sit back down. I’m taking Rin back home where she belongs. Let’s go.”, he said, his eyes raking me as if I disgusted him.


“Rin?”, Kohaku spoke up once more but I shook my head and moved past him, starting toward the exit. I felt as if every eye in the place was on me as I walked through the crowd but whether they were or not, I wouldn’t have really known for my eyes were firmly fastened to my feet.


I hadn’t got very far when I heard the sound of raised voices and a brief scuffle and turning around, prayed that they hadn’t hit each other, my heart firmly in my throat. Shippo was between Sesshomaru and Kohaku, one of his hands placed on either of their chests. Looking over at Hakudoshi, he cocked his head toward Kohaku and as he led Sesshomaru toward where I waited, Hakudoshi pushed Kohaku easily down into a chair, standing in front of him in order to block his sight as well as his escape.


I dropped my head when Sesshomaru and Shippo approached, looking up only when I heard Shippo’s voice.


“Rin? Are you ok to go with him?”, he asked me, bending his knees with his hands on my shoulders as he looked me in the eye. “You have to tell me.”, he said.


“She’s going with ME whether YOU, SHE, OR her BOYFRIEND back there like it or not! It’s not a choice for her, do you understand that? She HAS no choice, she gave up that right when she stepped into this place - UNDERAGE!”, Sesshomaru said more loudly than was necessary.


“I hear you, man. But I’m talking to Rin right now.”, Shippo’s voice, calm and soothing, slid over me.


“It’s OK, Shippo. I’m sorry.”, I whispered, wanting to sob when he hugged me.


“Awww, Rin. Do you think you’re the only teen that’s ever slipped in here? Don’t feel bad. We were looking out for you. YOU know that. I’ll talk to Kohaku. He’s a bit upset right now but he’ll be ok. Trust me.”, he whispered into my ear right before he let me go.


“Now.”, Sesshomaru frowned, reaching for my arm once more. I jerked it away but followed him as he led me to the doors and out into the night. I was shivering as we walked along the sidewalk but I was damned if I would tell him I’d forgotten my coat - the coat my father had given me on our last Christmas together as a family. My throat ached with the tears I held back, my fingernails sank so deep into my palms that I was sure they bled.


Sesshomaru didn’t speak until we reached the car and then he only unlocked the door and told me tersely to ‘get in’. Leaning over me in an automatic response, I was sure, he buckled me into my seat belt before slamming the door shut so hard that it rattled in its frame. I watched him stalk in front of the car and open the door, sliding in under the wheel to start the engine. Backing out, he briefly threw a look my way and then turned his full attention on the road. The only way I could truly judge his upset was in the way he gripped the steering wheel so tight that his knuckles appeared white and strained.


We pulled up shortly in front of my aunt’s house and I reached for the door handle, pulling up on it and stepping outside before he could utter a word.


“I’m disappointed in you, Rin. I really am. I thought I knew you better than this. You could’ve been hurt, arrested or thrown out of there! You know that. I’m not sure if I trust myself to speak to you any more right now so you better just go on inside and go to sleep. I haven’t decided yet if I am going to speak to your aunt and uncle about this. I owe it to them but… FUCK IT! I’ll see you later.”, he said, dismissing me with a flagrant wave of his hand.


“Don’t bother.”, I replied firmly before reaching out to close the door.


The last thing I saw was the hurt in his eyes before I turned and sobbing, walked into the house.