Regenerist

I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I need to be.

-Douglas Adams: The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul

 

January 13, 1991        

Dexter, Maine

 

“Your all set now?” Shippo asked again. The question was greeted with silence. Sesshomaru simply looked from the television to the fox demon. He was still in his flannel pajamas even though it was almost afternoon and there were certain things he wanted to get done today. There was a big fake ‘For Sale’ sign stuck into the front lawn of Shippo’s house. It was for show. A sign for the neighborhood that the good natured neighbor was moving out, and Sesshomaru or as his passport, brand new drivers license, and visa said ‘Scott Crane’ was moving in.

The youkai service providers were already stepping in already instructing and molding Sesshomaru’s mission. A few comments about Rin’s extraordinary sense of smell made them apprehensive about letting Sesshomaru on his own.

As if Sesshomaru did not know how to conceal himself from a pup!

Shippo assured him that they would be like this for a few months at most, and then Sesshomaru would be on his own. Sesshomaru was already instructed to change his hairstyle. The instruction confused Sesshomaru at first. He hated his hair! While he was in Japan the Syndicate bemoaned even a single strand of silver showing up in his long dyed hair. But in America…

“We want you to look less Asian.” a stuffy nosed service provider spoke bluntly to him. The apparent reason behind making him look different was the fact that Rin’s family was the only ‘Asian’ family around and the Syndicate didn’t want there to be any connection, even something as silly as ethnicity to tie them together. To which Sesshomaru replied that technically he was not ethnically Japanese. His father’s pack had come from Tibet originally. Sesshomaru’s grandmother was the link who brought his family to Japan, and she was the one who brought their family to prestige. Sesshomaru’s father was the first born in Japan and he stayed even after his mother died and his father secluded himself in the mountains of Tibet. Sesshomaru’s father was more than capable in making a name for himself, and then he met and warred with Sesshomaru’s mother, a beautiful demon whose family originated in Siberia.

But ethnicity didn’t mean much of anything to demons. All of Sesshomaru’s ancestors were from the Dogs of the Flower pack, and by youki that made him pure bred.

It still confused him terribly when the youkai service providers tried to explain to him that most Americans couldn’t tell the difference between different ethnicities. The idiocy of humans was proven once again.

Also in America men were not supposed to don long hairstyles. So after a lengthy talk and trip to the barber Sesshomaru was grumpily dealing with a so called ‘macho’ buzz cut which was supposed to make the roots of his dyed hair look platinum blond rather than silver. Sesshomaru didn’t think it worked.

“Are you still light headed?” Shippo asked in a teasing tone. Sesshomaru merely growled in distaste and sunk himself further into the couch cushions. His head felt naked and … strangely furry. Sesshomaru realized he was still rubbing the top of his head and forcefully removed his hand bringing it to rest on a clipboard he held in his lap.

Shippo laughed and said his farewell leaving Sesshomaru to ponder his next set of plans. He needed to submit a proposal for safeguarding his identity by 8pm. It took an hour to get to the nearest office, and Sesshomaru was running out of time and ideas. Shippo had given him the suggestion of just being a mean son-of-a-bitch so that no one in the neighborhood would want to be near him.

How irritating. Besides he wanted to protect his identity, not gain a reputation.

Standing up Sesshomaru threw the clipboard back on the couch. Maybe he would get an idea if he took a walk.

           

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“Ring around the rosy, pocket full of posy, ashes, ashes, we all fall down!” A singing voice filled the small clearing in the backyard. The little girl with long black hair laughed as she purposely fell down her swinging her arms and legs over the soft white snow on the ground. Puffs of white snow blew up around her form. “Do you like snow angels?” She asked turning to the air beside her. Hugging an invisible creation she smiled. Letting go of her invisible friend she ran around the yard her large red snow boots crunching the snow under her feet.

Diving into a pile of loose snow she played and tumbled continuing to engage in conversation with her imaginary friend. She didn’t seem to have a name for the imaginary creation, but her great enjoyment of its presence was due to the lack of other youngsters in the area.

 

Suddenly the little girl stopped one foot lifted in the air her head to the side wet hair sliding around her face. She had lost her wool hat when making her snow angels, and it was slowly being buried by the falling snow. Lifting her chin in the air she looked around hopping on one foot till she came full circle. Her balance was excellent.

 

“Rin!” her mother’s voice called from the back porch. A dim florescent light was turned on making the snow sparkle more. “Rin, dinner is ready!”

 

The little girl skipped towards the house then occasionally looking behind her to the thick woods. She forgot her hat laying in the snow, and presumably her imaginary friend.

 

Sesshomaru leapt forward careful not to be seen.

“Mommy! Something out in the woods smells really good!” Rin exclaimed as her mother helped her out of her soaked winter gear. The backdoor closed and Sesshomaru was soundless as he snuck onto the porch following the girl’s scent trail.

 

“It’s the trees honey. Trees and snow always smell really good.” Rin’s mother said kissing her forehead. Sesshomaru huddled next to the backdoor. Heat from the kitchen seeped out a little making this the ideal observation spot.

“Your mom is right, now sit still.” Rin’s father sounded like the stern kind. Sesshomaru’s nose twitched he was unsure exactly what they were having for dinner, he had never smelled anything like it before. His stomach growled.

“Ok, Daddy.” The girl sounded like she was smiling and her scent betrayed nothing but contentment. A few minutes of silence went by and Sesshomaru seriously considered walking away to find something in his own refrigerator. But something made him stop. “Daddy?” Rin’s voice sounded sweet and young.

“What Rin?” Her father responded with controlled annoyance.

“Can I have a puppy?”

Someone coughed.

“No.” Her father answered sounding strained.

“Please, please, please, please!” The little girl begged without restraint and Sesshomaru had to chuckle. A puppy? Being that she was a dog demon like himself the request was amusing. Snow swirled around his face and the wind of winter blocked the scents from inside from reaching his nose.

“No.” Her father’s voice was raised and angry. “Dogs are dangerous unclean creatures. No daughter of mine is going to take some disease carrying mongrel into the house!”

Wow. That was quite an opinion and Sesshomaru found himself disliking Rin’s father.

“Rin.” Her mother spoke softer, “Wouldn’t you like a goldfish instead?”

“But Jennifer has a puppy…” Rin was sniffling and Sesshomaru was glad that he could not smell her tears through the door and blowing snow. Was that one of her friends?

“I thought her parents were more mindful than that.” Her father interjected hatefully. Sesshomaru didn’t know much about the family but he got the feeling that Rin would be denied a friend because of her friend’s choice of pets.

There wasn’t much more talk at their dinner table, just some ‘please pass the butter’ and ‘yes it is yummy Mom’. Their conversations were just what Sesshomaru needed to motivate himself into filling out the rest of that proposal. Sesshomaru sprinted back to his new residents confident that the snow fall would cover his tracks, and his scent through the woods. He was pleasantly surprised that Rin noticed him. She was definitely able to pinpoint his scent out from her natural surroundings, and thankfully had an amicable reaction to it. Sesshomaru was pleased that she considered his scent to be good. It would be helpful once she awoke to the full extent of her demon powers.

 

At the same time that good reaction was a handicap. Sesshomaru knew that she would be much more likely to follow her nose into new situations. All pups were like that. She needed a deterrent.

Jumping from branch to branch Sesshomaru felt windswept and wild. Dexter, Maine was the wild natural setting he missed for so many years in the cities. Stretching his legs he jumped as high as he could and found happily that he still cleared trees by several feet. Landing gracefully on the roof of his trailer Sesshomaru smiled.

If he was correct the best deterrent would be her parents. Until she was grown she should act like any pup. She would obey her parents, and if Sesshomaru was right that meant she would stay away from dogs.

Now Sesshomaru had an idea.

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Thank you for reading and reviewing!!!

starchilds: I agree completely Sesshomaru and Shippo could become allies. The question is whether or not Sesshomaru is capable of seeing that possibility given everything he is going through. Thank you for the review, hope you like this chapter!

Flying_sunshine: Ty, lol yeah there aren't going to be many chapters that short. Thanks for reading sunshine! TTYL