Human Compensation

Kagome stood outside looking up at Rin’s window. Three days had passed and she hadn’t heard from Rin at all. It was if she didn’t exist anymore. She’d done what Inuyasha had asked and kept quiet about the situation, but now, she couldn’t hold it in any longer. She was very worried. She had to know if Rin was okay or she would go crazy. What if Sesshoumaru was doing horrible things to her? She shivered at the torture Sesshoumaru might be putting Rin through. Goose bumps raised on her arms and she folded them in front of her. She’d heard screams at night, loud, ear-aching screams. And the moans, she shivered, the moans scared her the worst. They sounded as if someone was dying a slow painful death.

She turned around and looked up at the tree behind her. It was tall enough and the branches stretched out to Rin’s window. Bending down, she picked up a few pebbles from the ground and stuffed them in her pocket, then proceeded to climb the tree. Things were so much easier when she transformed, she could have just leaped up in the tree with her new powers. However, they had disappeared leaving her somewhat normal. Her seven senses were still high and she was still slightly stronger. Inuyasha had explained to her that her true powers would only show themselves if she was in danger. She climbed the tree quickly, surprised that she didn’t have any problems and slowly made her way onto the limbs. Carefully, she crawled forward on her hands and knees until she was at the end. The branch lowered slightly under her weight. She looked down and gasped. She had no idea she was up so high, but then again, Sesshoumaru’s room was on the fifth floor. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a pebble and threw it at Rin’s window. She’d seen Sesshoumaru leave earlier, so she knew he wasn’t in the room with Rin. She watched the small rock hit the window and waited for a few minutes before reaching in her pockets and throwing another rock at the window.

Inuyasha stood below watching her with his arms crossed. He knew he couldn’t keep Kagome away from Rin for long and had been waiting for her to try to find a way to contact Rin. However, he hadn’t expected her to climb a tree outside Rin’s window. The branch she was on was slowly beginning to crack. Kagome was concentrating so hard on what she was doing, she hadn’t noticed him or the danger she was in. He let out a low irritated growl knowing if he wasn’t standing here to catch her, she would fall to her death or get severely hurt. The branch let out a loud warning crack signaling it was about to break. Kagome heard it, but it was too late for her to react. She yelled out as she felt herself falling to the ground.

Inuyasha leaped up and caught her in mid-air. Kagome stared at him in surprise as he slowly floated to the ground. Her face turned a dark shade of red as he glared down at her. He sat her on her feet and continued to glare at her until she yelled out.

“I was worried okay?! I know I promised not to interfere, but it’s been three days. How long will he keep her locked up in there?”

“I’m beginning to think Sesshoumaru doesn’t have a bad idea after all. If it’ll keep you from getting into trouble,” Inuyasha said sarcastically. He wasn’t prepared for the dark, ominous, look in Kagome’s eyes. He backed away from her as she stalked towards him.

“Just what the hell are you trying to say?” She asked calmly, although her voice sounded as sharp as knives.

Inuyasha gulped loudly. “I was kidding Kagome. It was a joke..” She was scary when she was pissed off. “Look, if you’re so worried about Rin, I’ll check on her.”

Kagome’s anger immediately disappeared. “Really?” She looked at him hopefully.

Inuyasha sighed in relief. “Yes.” He said simply.

“How?” Kagome asked.

He gave her a lopsided smile and leaped up to the balcony. Kagome watch him land on it quietly and knock on the shutters. She fumed. Three days had passed by with her stressed out about Rin. Why hadn’t he done that in the first place? The jerk!

Rin laid on the bed on her stomach reading a book. She was bored out of her mind. There was nothing to do but eat, sleep, and read. Sesshoumaru didn’t believe in having a television in the bedroom. The only real entertainment she’d gotten was from him. She was pissed off at him and let him know it every time he came in. She’d thrown books, lamps, and any other object she could get her hands on as soon as he walked in. He’d caught every one of them casually, without even looking, as if someone was just tossing him a can a beer which only made her angrier. Although deep inside, she admired the way he did everything so smoothly. When that didn’t work, she’d try to attack him which always ended with him on top of her making love to her. She was beginning to think Sesshoumaru was enjoying this. She could never resist him when he touched her or stared into her eyes. She was still very much in love with him despite the way he was treating her. She glanced towards the closed shutters after hearing that persistent tapping again. At first, she’d thought it was squirrels, but now the noise was annoying her. Standing up and ignoring the rattle of the chains, she walked over to the shutters and opened them. She gasped when she saw Inuyasha standing on the balcony. She opened the french doors that led out to the balcony and stepped out to join him. A sudden jerk from her chains quickly pulled back into the room. She landed ungracefully on her rump on the floor.

Inuyasha blinked. “You okay, Rin?” He asked as he stood in the doorway. He looked around trying to see who had pulled her back. Seeing no one, he moved in to help her up.

“Stay where you are!” Rin said. “Sesshoumaru may smell your scent in the room. At least on the balcony, the wind can blow it away once you leave.”

Inuyasha continue to stand in the doorway looking her over. Except for the chains and shackles, she seemed healthy to him. No harm done at all. He knew Sesshoumaru would never hurt Rin. A smirk appeared on his face at something he remembered Kagome telling him.

“What are you smiling about?” Rin asked. “You think it’s funny to see me this way?”

“No! I was just thinking about something, that’s all. So, how are you? Kagome is waiting below. She’s very worried about you.”

Rin sighed, “I know. Please tell her I’m fine.”

Inuyasha turned around. “She says she’s fine!” He yelled down at Kagome, then turned back to Rin. “Well, see ya!” He hopped onto the ledge of the balcony to jump off.

“Inuyasha wait!” Rin yelled.

He turned back around to face her.

“Can you stay for a bit? I don’t have anyone to talk to,” Rin said.

Inuyasha looked slightly uncomfortable at that. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to stay with her, he just didn’t know what to talk about with Rin.

Rin pulled a chair to the door and sat in it. “You know Sesshoumaru better than I do. Why would he do this to me?”

Inuyasha settled down on the floor of the balcony and crossed his legs and arms. “You know why he did it.”

“Yes, yes, he’s punishing me and it’s for my protection, but don’t you think this is a little extreme?” Rin said with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

“For Sesshoumaru? No,” Inuyasha said.

“So, you would do this to Kagome?” Rin wanted to know.

Inuyasha eyes widened. “Hell no.”

“Then why would Sesshoumaru do this to me?”

Inuyasha sighed loudly. “Don’t you understand, yet? You mated with a full-blooded youkai and a very powerful one at that. Sesshoumaru doesn’t think or act like a human because he’s not human. He’s one hundred percent demon.”

“But you’re..”

“I”m only half-youkai, Rin,” Inuyasha stopped her. “Only half of the demon blood runs through my veins, but my heart, I’ve been told, is more human than anything else.”

Rin thought about this for a while. “Are you saying he’s acting normal for a youkai?”

Inuyasha laughed. “As far as his personality, he’s acting normal for Sesshoumaru. He thinks what he is doing is right so there is no guilt in his heart for what’s done to you. He won’t feel sorry for you and he won’t change his mind. That’s the thing about all full-blooded youkai. They don’t give a damn once they’ve made up their minds about something. You can cry, beg or plead, but whatever they have decided that’s what they are going to do, whether it’s loving you or killing you.” Inuyasha said through gritted teeth when he thought about Koga trying to steal Kagome away from him over and over. From what he heard during the past days, Koga’s tribe had been destroyed for killing Kikyo. However, no one knew if Koga was still alive or not.

Rin shivered at what he said. Inuyasha was right. She had married a very dangerous man. Well, he wasn’t even a man even though she often thought of him as one. Now, she was seeing a side of him he kept her protected from.

Inuyasha saw her shiver. “I didn’t mean to scare you, Rin, but you had to have known that dark side of Sesshoumaru. I’m sure you saw for yourself what he did to the people whose blood I smelled on him.”

Rin shivered again remembering all too well the demon look in Sesshoumaru’s eyes that night.

“He’s being so harsh on you because he’s scared. It’s something he would never admit, but Sesshoumaru is terrified of losing you. You are the one thing that he cares about more than himself.” Inuyasha told her seriously hoping to put her at ease. What he said was the truth. Sesshoumaru was scared. He could smell his fear when he passed him in the hallway that night with Rin draped over his shoulders.

Rin nodded, finally understanding. “Well, he’s going about it the wrong way,” she mumbled.

Inuyasha shrugged. “Maybe, but it’s the only way he knows how to make you stay here and keep you safe. You’ve lost his trust. It may take a while before he’ll be able to trust you again.”

“Inuyasha! What’s going on up there? Is everything okay?” They heard Kagome shouting from the ground.

Inuyasha stood up and waved at Kagome. “Feh, everything is fine, stop worrying so much. She just wanted to talk.”

“I’ll let you go. Thanks for staying, Inuyasha. I know you didn’t have to,” Rin said with a nod.

Inuyasha turned to her with a sly look on his face. “No problem,” he slurred.

Rin blinked wondering what he was thinking. “Something wrong?” She asked.

“Maybe,” Inuyasha drawled. “There was something else Kagome was worried about. She kept waking me up in the middle of the night saying she heard loud moans and screams.” He watched Rin’s eyes widen and her face slowly turn red. “Yeah,” he said teasingly. “Said they sounded like someone in agonizing pain and wanted me to go check on it. Any idea what she was talking about?”

Rin stared at him, lost for words because of her embarrassment. Was she and Sesshoumaru that loud during their lovemaking? Her face turned three shades of red.

Inuyasha couldn’t hold it in any longer and begin to snicker.

Rin’s embarrassment turned to anger. She grabbed the book she had been reading and threw it at him. Unlike his brother, Inuyasha didn’t catch the thick, heavy book in time and it hit him upside the head with a loud thud.

“Shit,” he cursed, rubbing the side of his head.

Rin smirked happily. Finally, she got to hit someone!

“Feh! You women are too sensitive!” Inuyasha snapped and leaped off the balcony. The side of his head was pounding in pain when he landed beside Kagome.

“What happened?” She asked as he continued to rub his head. She’d seen the book flying out and hitting him. She’d also heard him curse loudly and couldn’t help but giggle. She knew Inuyasha well enough to know that he’d said something that had insulted Rin.

“Nothing,” Inuyasha said walking away.

Kagome followed him. “Well I’m glad that Rin is okay. Now I want to know about Sango.”

Inuyasha glanced at her. “You just don’t stop do you?”

“Well it’s been three day since I’ve heard from her too. I mean how long can she and Miroku stay in that apartment without contact with anyone?” Kagome said. Inuyasha had told her that Miroku had taken Sango home and that they didn’t want any disturbance for a few days. At first Kagome thought it sounded normal, after all, they probably wanted to be alone to themselves since they were lovers now, but today, when she had tried to call, no one answered the phone. She’d called five times and the only thing that answered was the answering machine with Miroku’s voice.

“Give them time, will ya? Do you know how long Miroku’s been trying to get with Sango? I’d give them at least a week,” Inuyasha said trying to borrow time to get Sango back. He’d lied to Kagome because he didn’t want her to be worried, but he didn’t know how long he could keep the truth from her. The faster they got Sango back the better things would be. When Sango was back safe and sound, then they would tell Kagome what happened, but not now.

Kagome sighed. “I suppose you’re right. I just have the strangest feeling something isn’t right. Maybe this thing with Rin and Sesshoumaru is causing me to stress out over the smallest things,” Kagome said with a light laugh.

Inuyasha opened the door for her as they walked into the mansion. “You shouldn’t worry so, much.”

“I know. I know,” Kagome agreed, “but I can’t shake that feeling away. I worry about you too,” she said stopping him. She slowly circled her arms around him and hugged him from behind affectionately.

Inuyasha stared straight ahead. His head lowered slightly and his bangs covered his eyes. “Why do you worry about me? I’m fine.”

“Are you?” She asked. “You seem a bit tenser than usual. You come home very late, almost every night. Is everything all right, my love?”

His heart skipped a bit when she called him that. He didn’t know when she started, but she’d been saying it a lot lately. He liked it. “Yes, everything is just fine,” he said slowly, hoping he wasn’t going to get struck down by a lightening bolt from all the lies he was telling her.

Images of what he and Miroku had been doing the past three days flew through his head. Images, he wouldn’t soon forget. They had committed some of the worse crimes to find out information of Sango’s whereabout. A table full of employees, all men, who worked for Naraku lay dead, slumped over from poison during one of their supposedly secret meetings. Only one was kept from eating the soup served to them so he could deliver a message to Naraku. He stood by silently and watched Miroku wreck havoc on the homes of Naraku’s closest allies sucking up entire families, some of them who were actually kin to Naraku. Finally, on the third day, someone had approached them in fear that Miroku and Inuyasha would come afer him or his family next. He’d told them that Sango was alive and well with Naraku and that he hadn’t harmed her in anyway. What he couldn’t tell them was where Naraku was hiding her. So, Miroku slowly begin to unwrap his hand and the man spilled out that he heard Naraku lived underground a few miles from the city before passing out from fear. It was all the information they had gotten so far. It was all the information they needed...

Inuyasha was snapped back from his thoughts when he felt Kagome’s arms tighten around his waist. “Did you hear what I said?” Kagome asked him again.

“I”m sorry, what did you say?” He asked.

“I said I had the strangest dream a few nights ago.”

“What was it about?”

“I dreamt that everyone that I loved, everyone that was close to me, died and I was alone.”

Inuyasha felt her arms tighten again seeking comfort. He sighed and turned around pulling her into his arms. “You only had a dream like that because you worry too much. His hands rubbed up and down her back comforting her as he lowered his head to kiss her brow. “Stop it, Kagome. Stop worrying about everything. You’ll only make yourself sick. Everything is going to be all right.” Inuyasha wondered if he sounded believable, even he didn’t truly believe those words. Until they had Sango back, none of their lives would be the same again. After all, Sango was part of his family as much as she was part of Miroku’s life.