Sesshomaru's Easter by Allison

Sesshomaru's Easter

Happy Easter everyone! For a present, have a little one-shot I wrote instead of doing my research.

I do not own Inuyasha. In case anyone wondered.

oOo

Sesshomaru led his rag-tag group towards Edo, intent on keeping a promise to Rin. The last time they had run into his brother’s infernal group the miko had asked if it would be possible for Rin to meet them in the field that contained the bone-eaters well on this day. She had said something about a festival in her culture that she wanted to share with Rin. Something about spring. The child did love spring, and she loved the miko, so Sesshomaru reluctantly agreed. The miko had then asked what direction they would be approaching from. This made Sesshomaru’s natural suspicion skyrocket, but he knew the miko meant no harm so he gave her his best estimation.

They had had to go a little out of their way to approach from where he told the miko, but he decided that was OK. Whatever she had up her sleeve was for Rin, and he hated to admit just how far he would go for the troublesome girl.

The field was just ahead. He could smell the scent of fresh grass and budding spring flowers. There was something odd though in the trees hanging above the path. He made sure Rin was safely behind him as he approached it, before getting a whiff of the miko’s scent coming from what appeared to be a colourful basket. Sesshomaru stopped and stared at it. It was a bright, offensive pink with a glaring yellow bow on it and little shiny flecks. It was horribly offensive to the eyes…Rin would love it. There was a note pinned to the basket, which he quickly read, then turned around and lifted Rin. Rin squealed when she got a good look at the basket.

“Is that for Rin?!” She squeaked excitedly.

“Hn,” Sesshomaru replied. The girl squealed again and reached out to take it off the branch it was hanging from. She then moved her legs in what seemed to be the universal child sign for “down,” to which Sesshomaru complied. Rin set the basket carefully on the ground and just as carefully removed the note.

“Will Sesshomaru-sama help Rin read this?” she asked, turning big eyes up to him.

“Hn.” He sat on a conveniently placed log and Rin quickly climbed up beside him, note in hand. He told Jaken to go ahead of them and find the miko’s group while they dealt with the note, not wanting Jaken’s impatience to deter Rin’s budding reading skills. He then turned expectant eyes to the girl.

“OK, here I go,” Rin said, psyching herself up for the monumental task at hand. Sesshomaru found himself wanting to grin, but he managed to resist.

“D-d-deeeeear Rin-chan - that’s me! That says Rin-chan! - , dear Rin-chan, H-h-haaappy, um, what’s this word?”

“I’m not sure, I would read it Easter. It must be the name of the miko’s festival she mentioned.”

“OK, Easter. Happy Easter. Thiiiiiiiiiis b-b-a-a-s-s-k-k-e-e-t-t, baaaaaaassssskeeeeeet, baaassskeet, baaa-“

“Basket.” This was exactly why Jaken had to go.

“Basket! This basket isss fooor yoooou to p-p-uut, put the t-t-t-rrrrreeeeeat-t-ts you f-f-fiiiinnnd-d in the find-“

“Field.” There was an unexplained tick in the muscle under his right eye. Teaching children to read was tedious, but he would NOT have his ward uneducated.

“Oh, field, thank you, Sesshomaru-sama! Fiiiinnnd-d in the field. Th-they aaaarrrre cooloooorred eggs-I know that word! I like eggs!-, what’s that word?”

“It appears to say something like candy. I believe that is what the miko calls the sweets she brings you and the kit.”

“Oh yay! Candy! Aaaaaand t-t-t-oooooooys. What are coloured eggs?”

“I am not certain. Something pertaining to this festival. I am confident we will find out soon enough. Is that all the note says?”

“Uuummmm, yes! It’s signed Kagome!”

“Very good. Now let’s take your…basket…and look for what we can find.” The wind shifted at that moment and Sesshomaru could smell the miko’s group approaching from the village. He led Rin into the field and immediately began to spot objects. He did not say a word though, understanding that this was an experience for the child.

Rin’s face scrunched up as she began looking around the field, not moving from her spot, seeming to try to decide which direction to go in. Her whole face suddenly lit up with pure joy, a squeal to put all others to shame erupted from her, and she took off towards a horrendous bright-yellow egg.

Inuyasha’s group appeared then, led by the miko herself. Her kit was walking beside her, carrying a basket of his own in greens and browns. It was as big as he was. He set the huge basket beside the well then took off looking for objects to fill it with. He quickly found a green egg the colour of the grass and two things that seemed to be sugar on little white sticks. Sesshomaru looked around again and this time noticed that some of the objects were much better hidden then others. The well-hidden objects were what Sesshomaru would call more masculine, while the not-so-well hidden objects were obviously things that Rin would like. The miko was good, very good.

“Hello, Sesshomaru! Thank you so much for coming. I really wanted Shippo to have someone to share this with and I knew Rin would love it,” Kagome gushed. Sesshomaru looked out at the two kids. Shippo had found quite a few things, Rin had only found about half as much, so Shippo had turned his attention to helping Rin. They were both smiling brightly and obviously having a lot of fun.

“Thank you for including Rin. She needs to interact more with children her own age,” Sesshomaru replied. Kagome looked shocked. He figured it was the fact he had shown his appreciation, so he decided to ignore the look. Thankfully the girl pulled herself back together quickly and blushed a little.

“You’re welcome. Shippo needs that too. Maybe we can see about our paths crossing more often, you know, for the kids,” she said shyly. Sesshomaru looked at her out of the corner of his eye. Her blush turned a little darker and she squirmed with nervousness. Again he found himself holding back a grin.

“That would be…acceptable,” he replied. The miko heaved a big sigh and thanked him again before asking him if he’d like to join the other adults. He nodded and went over to join them. They all talked and joked, the miko constantly trying to pull Sesshomaru into the fun. He allowed her to a couple times while constantly keeping an eye on the kids. At one point Rin ran over and grabbed Jaken by the hand and dragged him out into the field with her and Shippo. The toad grumbled but quickly got into it, finding a couple things for them.

Once the kids were done with the hunt they carried their baskets over to the adults and started pawing through their new treasures.

“So guys, Easter is a spring festival. For some people it’s a religious holiday, but my family has always just observed it as a way to celebrate the arrival of spring. According to the lore, the Easter Bunny comes and hides Easter Eggs for kids to find. Easter eggs are the coloured eggs you have there. I thought about telling you guys the Easter Bunny hid your treats, but I knew Shippo would smell me on them and Rin knows enough demons to know that that would be far-fetched, so I decided against that…”

“Umm, Kagome-sama? Why would a bunny bring eggs?” Rin asked.

“Well…umm…it has something to do with fertility I think…”

Sesshomaru couldn’t hold back a snort. Rabbits and eggs, not exactly a subtle representation of fertility. Kagome shot him a glare and went back to her explanation. She walked the kids through their toys and told them how to play with them. For some of them Shippo jumped in and explained for her and she graciously allowed it, building his confidence tremendously. Sesshomaru approved of her mothering skills.

“Alright, it’s your turn!” Kagome announced excitedly, turning to the adults.

“Huh?” Inuyasha eloquently asked.

“I hid stuff for all of you as well. You each have an egg, a type of candy, and a little gift to find. I made sure to put something on each so you’d know it’s yours and not someone else’s. Here are your baskets!” Kagome then proceeded to hand out baskets to each adult. Inuyasha’s was red with white dog ears sticking up on the front of the basket itself. Sango’s was black and pink like her outfit. Kagome also handed her a basket for Kilala that was pink and covered with little white cats wearing red bows. Miroku’s was purple and black with a silver outline of a woman’s silhouette on it, making everyone laugh. Jaken’s was green with two faces like the Staff of Two-Heads pasted to the front. She also gave Jaken one for Ah-Un. It was oddly shaped with a dent in the middle, separating the basket into two separate sections. The miko called it a “buttocks basket” with another blush. Finally she handed one to Sesshomaru. It was white with a navy crescent moon on the front. He raised an eyebrow.

“Why baskets?”

“Why not baskets? Now go!” Kagome made shooing motions at him. He gave her an incredulous look, trying to remember if he’d ever been “shooed” in his life. Finally he decided not to upset Rin by killing the miko and started walking towards the field.

“Oh yeah! The kids’ stuff was in the field, your stuff is all in the woods!” Kagome shouted after the dispersing adults, pointing in the direction opposite the one Sesshomaru’s group came from.

Sesshomaru walked into the woods, knowing this was going to be an easy enough task. He inhaled deeply, ready to track the miko’s scent…and quickly rethought his conclusion on the ease of this task. The girl must have touched everything in the woods, walked around every tree, and sat on every rock and stump for miles. The whole woods smelled of her!

“It’s a hunt, Sesshomaru. Not a ‘walk over and pick it up,’” Kagome snarked, having snuck up behind him.

“Hn.” With a nod he started deeper into the woods. Inuyasha was in the trees above him, sniffing the branches, mumbling about not knowing Kagome could climb trees. Sango and Miroku were shouting insults at each other, betting on who would find theirs first. Jaken grumbled and used his staff to beat weeds aside in his quest.

As Sesshomaru walked, he thought about the challenge. The baskets were very personalized, the miko had put a good deal of thought into them, and she put a lot of effort into making the children’s task an acceptable challenge for them. She probably put the same level of thought and effort into the adults’ hunts as well, meaning he would have to go further afield and get particularly creative with his search.

He walked until the miko’s scent vanished, then backtracked to where he last caught her scent. It seemed she had made a circle around this part of the woods, so he’d stick to the outer circumference. He followed the circumference for about ten minutes before he finally found something out of place: a log that had been moved a scant inch. He picked up the end of the log and lifted it up so he could look inside. Sure enough, there was an egg inside.

The egg was red, the same colour as the sakura on his gi. In fact it had sakura blossoms on it. They were sloppily done in white. He ran his thumb over one of the blossoms and noted that the texture was different, almost waxy. He carefully placed the egg in the basket to ponder over later, then continued his journey. He decided she probably would not have stuck to a straight line for him, so he moved a few feet inside the circle and continued his walk.

He almost missed the second one. It was much further inside the circle than he expected, he just happened to have his head turned in the right direction to notice a bruised leaf on a bush that was drenched in the miko’s scent. He riffled through the bush for a bit with no luck, then noticed a rock under the bush near the trunk. He sighed since no one was around to hear him before laying down on his belly to reach under the bush. He flipped the rock and was assaulted by the scent of orange and sugar. He pulled out a little paper box that obviously had some foodstuff in it. He wasn’t sure of all the words on the front, but was pretty sure it said something about oranges. Again, he put it in his basket to puzzle out later and moved on.

Sesshomaru thought about the miko, what she was like, what she seemed to want to get out of this little venture, and decided he knew the trick to the final object for his basket. As he walked he passed Inuyasha who had not come down to earth yet but also had two of his treats.

“Damn woman is a monkey, who knew?” he grumbled.

He also passed Miroku and Sango. Sango had two objects and was hot on the trail of the third, Miroku on the other hand only had one, obviously too focused on tormenting Sango. Jaken was still looking for his first treasure, but Ah-Un had all three of his. Sesshomaru rumbled good-naturedly at the dragon, who was hiding all three of Jaken’s goodies between his front legs. The dragon rumbled back and rolled the egg to rest by one of Jaken’s feet while he wasn’t looking. The toad’s shout of glee echoed through the woods as he hugged the lime-green egg.

Sesshomaru walked back to the clearing, finding Kagome policing the candy coming out of the kids’ baskets while Rin and Shippo played with their new colouring books and crayons.

“Rin,” Sesshomaru called when he was close.

“Yes, Sesshomaru-sama?” she asked from the ground, face alight with pleasure.

“This Sesshomaru would appreciate your assistance in finding the final item for this one’s basket. Would that be acceptable?” He asked, holding the basket out for her to see that there were two items already in it. The girl jumped up and started running circles around him, babbling excitedly about searching. He didn’t miss the bright smile that appeared on the miko’s face. It appeared he had deduced correctly.

Rin boldly grabbed Sesshomaru’s hand and dragged him towards the woods and started looking. He was amazed by the logic the girl was using in her search. Not too dissimilar to his own thoughts, she decided it would be “super DUPER hard to find” and would be in a great spot. She led him over away from the rest of the group, saying they would have found it already if it was there, so it had to be over here somewhere. After about ten minutes of letting the girl lead the search, lifting her up to look high, crawling on his belly beside her to look low, and even lifting objects that would be entirely too heavy for the miko to lift for Rin to look under, they finally found it. Rin knew it as soon as she saw the stump. The top didn’t look quite right, but she couldn’t explain why. Sesshomaru sat with her on the ground, examining it and guiding her to explain what was wrong with the stump. The girl was shaking she was so excited to be able to put words to what she was seeing, she felt so smart!

Sesshomaru urged her to approach the stump and help him figure out how to get inside based on her observations. After a few minutes the girl got it off and reached eagerly inside to pull out his gift.

His chest felt funny. Like, his heart was suddenly too big for the cavity it was in, and like it was trying to beat through heavy layers of cotton. He had this odd sensation behind his eyes, like a burning, like…oh Kami, were those tears???

Rin had handed him a beautiful dark, wooden frame, with a crescent moon in the bottom right corner that covered the bottom corner of the portrait inside. The portrait was extremely realistic, like he could touch it and feel skin rather than canvas. In fact, it was very shiny so he doubted the small portrait was even done on canvas. It was a portrait of Rin with a giant smile on her face, arms outstretched as she ran towards the artist, surrounded by flowers, Jaken and Ah-Un chasing behind her.

“Wow! That’s Rin! Do you like it, Sesshomaru-sama?”

He swallowed, then turned around, noticing the miko behind him. The wind was blowing towards him, bringing her scent to him. Her hair danced around her face, her scandalous kimono swaying around her…and that bright, happy smile she always wore. He felt a deep need to reach out and hug her, thank her for this, ask her to do it again and again and again so he could feel this feeling in his chest again and again and again…

He turned back to Rin. She looked up at him expectantly, waiting for an answer.

“I love it…”

oOo

I hope you all liked it! Please let me know in the reviews!

For those of you who don’t know about this egg-dyeing trick, Sesshomaru’s Easter egg was made by drawing the sakura blossoms in white crayon on the egg first, then dyeing it red. His chocolate was dark chocolate with orange peel. Also, I’m not trying to suggest that Sesshomaru’s reading skills aren’t up to par, I’m just taking into account words that would have no business being in the Japanese language 500 years ago.