The Life After

6/23/06

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or the characters of Inuyasha. I do not own Naraku, Inutaisho, Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru, Jakken, Rin, or Ah-Un. Rumiko Takahashi is the wonderful creator and owner of said characters, manga, and show. I do not make money off of her characters or this story. This Disclaimer applies to this and all following chapters.

Author's Note: This Chapter is when things start getting interesting. What will Sesshoumaru do when he realizes Rin has become a woman? My appologies for those who thought Shen and Tuu-Yen would be more important characters...they're not. I get too distracted by the end of my story to take my time and actually right in depth chapters in between the beginning and the end. If you are still looking for the "good" chapter in this, you might wanna give up. lol. It won't be posted until I write it. . . but I've already started the chapter and I promise that it is Chapter 7. Which will be posted soon. I am nearly done with the story, and I do not like to keep any avid readers waiting, so the chapters should be up in two weeks at the very absolute latest.

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It was when Rin was around twenty years of age, and Sesshoumaru came home from a really long journey that had taken him three months, that something changed in the castle. Sesshoumaru was in the library, reading over what had happened in his absence. It was after dinner, and Rin knelt at his feet, happy that he was home. She, too, was pouring over scrolls. Hers, however, were all of the history of the western lands. It was something that happened often when Sesshoumaru came home from long journeys. Neither of them thought any different of it. Until Sesshoumaru put down his scroll, taking a deep breath. He was going to ask her what she had learned in his absence, like he always did, but this time he choked on his words. There was something different about her smell. No human would have detected the scent, but it was something he knew well from all his travels. Rin was in heat. Sesshoumaru's eyes were wide, and they began to turn deep red. Rin looked up at him, smiling, prepared to answer the question she thought was coming. Her eyes grew wide as well when she saw how angry he looked. “Lord Sesshoumaru?” she asked weakly.

“Go to your room, Rin,” he growled.

“Did I do something wrong, my lord? Have I angered you?” she leaned forward, bowing as low as she could, “I'm terribly sorry for whatever I have done wrong.”

“Your room. Now,” he hissed, tearing his gaze from her.

“Yes…my lord,” she whispered, then raced from the room. Her feet pounded up the stairs, and he could hear her door shut behind her.

His Rin was in danger. It was something he had neglected to think of. It was obvious now. She had become a beautiful young woman, and there were so many men in the castle. Any number of them could try to harm her! His Rin was not prepared for such terrible things. He would not allow any of the men to stay. They all had to leave, especially her tutors. He walked through all of the servants' quarters dismissing the men and giving them scrolls calling for female servants to hang up in their hometowns. The men were all joyous to return home. The women looked up at him sadly. As he started to leave the servants' hallway, he paused. He told the women that if they could find someone to replace themselves, then they could leave as soon as the new women began to work. They all raced to pack their things and find people to replace them. Perhaps it was the thought of Rin that had made him allow all of his servants to return home. It did not affect him either way, so long as there would be people tending to his castle and so long as they were all female. He then proceeded to Master Tuu-Yen's room. He told the panther that he had done wonders with Rin, but that he had stayed far longer than necessary. The panther was overjoyed to be allowed to return home. His encounter with Master Shen did not go nearly as well. Shen did not want to leave; he kept ranting about how he had many more things to teach Rin. “Those are not things that I would ever allow you to teach Rin,” Sesshoumaru said with a hiss, and Shen growled in defiance. He left, but swore that Rin returned his feelings and would leave Sesshoumaru for him. “Rin does not lust as do you,” was Sesshoumaru's reply. The only men left in the castle, besides himself, were Jakken and Ah-Un, and neither were a threat to Rin.


Rin buried her face in her pillows, crying softly. She had never seen Lord Sesshoumaru so angry; she must have done something terrible to him. She felt as though she had betrayed him. If only there was something she could do to make it up to him.


The next morning Rin headed down to breakfast, still feeling miserable. She only half noticed that all of the humans who served herself, Jakken, and Sesshoumaru were female. She was too busy trying not to meet her lord's disappointed eyes. It wasn't until she reported for history lessons in the library, that she realized something was wrong. As she traveled back to the kitchen to find Jakken and ask him where Master Tuu-Yen was, she noticed that all the humans who passed her were women. Not only that, but she hardly recognized any of them. She stopped one of those that she did know. The maid responded, “Our generous lord has allowed us to return home. There will be new women coming to replace us,” she then bowed and continued with her duties. Rin could not help but think how sweet it was of Lord Sesshoumaru to allow all the women to go home. Still this did not explain why there were no men in the castle. She quickened her pace and entered the kitchens to find that all the chefs were gone and only women were cooking. Jakken was nowhere to be found. At lunch, both Jakken and Sesshoumaru were absent. When she was to report for weapons training, Master Shen was also gone. Rin was terrified. What could have happened? She raced towards Ah-Un's meadow, hoping that the two-headed dragon could help her find Sesshoumaru. To her surprise, not only was the dragon there, but so were Jakken and Sesshoumaru. “My lord!” she cried, happily, running towards him. He looked over at her, but said nothing. Instead he waved a hand at Jakken. The little frogish demon jumped onto Ah-Un, and the two flew off. “My lord! Something terrible has happened! All the men…,” Rin trailed off.

“All the men are gone,” Sesshoumaru said simply.

“Yes! Wait…you know?” Rin looked confused.

“Of course I know. I banished them.”

“You what?! Banished them where?!”

“Do not concern yourself, I merely sent them to their homes and families,” Sesshoumaru still had not looked at her.

“But why? Why have you only hired women to replace all of the servants? And where are Masters Shen and Tuu-Yen?” Rin shook her head, what was happening?

“I sent them home as well.”

“But why?!” she begged, “Did they do something wrong? I thought you were mad at me!”

“Mad at you?” finally he turned to her, “Of course not, but the men pose a great danger for you. They had to leave.”

“A danger? What do you mean?” Rin asked.

“Have you not noticed? You are a woman.”

“What?” Rin gasped, “Of course I'm a woman!”

“You were a girl, and now you are a woman. The men are a danger to you. I sent them away; I will not have you harmed,” he said, though it hardly seemed an explanation.

“You sent away Master Tuu-Yen and Master Shen?! But they weren't a danger! Weren't you paying them to protect me?!”

“I, Lord Sesshoumaru, will protect you,” as soon as he said it, he regretted it. For years he had said that he had no one to protect, now here he was promising a human that he would protect her. Still he was not shaken enough to take it back. He knew he had meant it.

Suddenly Rin grasped what he meant, “Are you stupid?!” A nearby group of maids carrying laundry dropped their baskets. “Master Tuu-Yen and Master Shen wouldn't do that to me! Neither would any of the chefs or servants! What's WRONG with you?! How could you send them away?! Now I'll never be smart or strong enough to be of any use to you! You bastard! I'll never forgive you for this!” Rin took off running towards the forest, in the direction of the human village.

The maids that had been listening drew back, completely terrified that he would take out his anger on them. No one had ever dared to speak to the great demon lord like that, besides Inuyasha. Sesshoumaru blinked once, watching Rin disappear amidst the trees. “Never forgive me,” he whispered softly, then disappeared. The maids quickly grabbed their baskets and raced towards their duties, before he changed his mind about relieving his anger by punishing them.


Rin stumbled through the village, tears streaming down her face. Clearly Lord Sesshoumaru thought she was worthless, unable to protect herself, and possibly even a slut. She couldn't see where she was going through the tears. Suddenly, she bumped into someone. She mumbled an apology, although it was garbled. “What could make such a pretty girl cry so hard?” a familiar voice whispered gently. Rin looked up into the face of Shen.

“Master Shen!” she cried out happily, “You're still here?”

“I was just about to leave for the north, Tuu-Yen has already gone, but then I heard you crying. I feared you were in danger and came to find you. What's wrong, Rin?”

“It is Lord Sesshoumaru! I cannot believe he doesn't trust you or Master Tuu-Yen or anyone! Much less me! I am worthless to him. I have disappointed him and now he thinks I am a whore,” she rubbed her kimono's sleeve across her eyes.

“You are certainly none of those things. You are beautiful, smart, and strong. You must be wrong, the lord knows all of those things about you,” Shen's arms were still around her comfortingly.

“No! He hates me, and I am worthless,” she cried, her chin resting on his shoulder.

“Don't cry anymore, Rin,” Shen patted the back of her head, “You don't have to go back to him. You can always come with me to the north and continue your training.”

Rin pulled out of his arms, “I could never leave Lord Sesshoumaru,” she gasped.

“You said yourself that he hates you. Why stay with someone who hates you? I think you're amazing,” he smiled, his sharp canines glinting in the moonlight.

“You do?” she whispered, stepping slightly closer to him without realizing it.

“I do,” he pulled her closer with one arm, using his free hand to slightly lower the kimono from her shoulder. Rin felt something nagging at her insides, but it felt so right to be with Shen in that moment, that she couldn't bring herself to argue. The air around them seemed to crackle; Shen's teeth brushed her shoulder.

“Fool!” an even more familiar voice cut through the air, and Shen went flying backwards into an empty stall. Rin's knees gave out, but strong arms stopped her fall. She couldn't get her brain to work; her thoughts were consumed by Shen. Still that familiar new voice cut through her mangled thoughts, begging her to gain control of her mind. “I told you to leave immediately. You dare to defy me? You will die,” a bright green light cracked, causing Rin to cover her eyes. When she opened them, Shen was bleeding badly.

“Master Shen?” she whispered. Part of her wanted to help him, but the other part still urged her to understand that something was wrong. Her voice seemed to work on its own, “Don't kill him.” She didn't know why she had said that, but she couldn't grasp any reason to take it back.

The hand around her waist tightened. A growl cut through the air above her head. Finally the voice spoke again, “Leave. Now. Or I will kill you.”

Shen growled, clutching at his wounded shoulder, “She doesn't belong to you! She chose to come to me.”

“You forced her! She chose nothing! Her life belongs to me. You will leave. NOW.” Rin felt an arm slip around her knees, and she was lifted off the ground. She buried her face into the kimono that was suddenly beside her head. She couldn't find the strength to lift her head and see who was holding her. She heard Shen growl and then his footsteps receded. The person who held her began to walk, and she fell asleep before she even realized how tired she suddenly was.