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Kohaku sighed.
This wasn’t exactly what he had expected his evening to turn into.
He could have sat in front of a warm fire right now, embraced by his sister and surrounded by her family, to share laughter and stories.
But alas, that was a luxury he hadn’t earned, at least not yet.
He realized that the older he got, and the more experienced of a slayer he became, the more responsibility he was given, even in this village that he visited somewhat regularly. And that in itself was greatly appreciated by him.
So, he didn’t complain when, shortly after his arrival to Priestess Kaede’s village in the early evening hours – where almost all of his friends and acquaintances resided now – he was sent on an errand.
Yes, an errand, because this could hardly be called a mission.
He was instructed to check around the perimeters of the village, where only a few and far between huts stood, either abandoned by those who moved away or newly built for those who’d move here soon.
After all, word went around quickly that this village stood under special protection of quite a few powerful creatures.
Those final rounds of the night, where they would make sure that no lunatic or bandit would sneak around the village with evil intent, were typically left to Inuyasha. But the half-demon has been gone for the past few days – on some mission of his own. So now the responsibility was on Kohaku’s shoulders.
Typical.
Kohaku grimaced internally as he trudged over the barely lit path. He had been looking forward to meeting the half-demon again. But unfortunately, he had no such luck, at least this time.
The task itself was not as troublesome though. It was a safety measure that had only been recently deployed by the wise elder priestess.
Perhaps the newfound peace of the last couple of years had become so precious to the residents that they desperately clawed at any semblance of security now.
He couldn’t hold it against them.
And truly, he was honored to have been chosen to protect the village for the night – even if just in this small way. He doubted that he’d find anything dangerous along the way.
Out here, the dense forest loomed ominously in the back and the thatched roofs of the huts were barely even visible with the surrounding darkness that swallowed them.
But that didn’t worry Kohaku.
With Kirara following behind him, he approached all of the homes. He knocked on doors and peered into windows.
As expected, he found nothing.
Kirara mewled behind him.
He didn’t turn around to look at her, but he could hear her small tapping steps not too far away.
“It’s not that bad, is it?” he asked her. “This place is always the same.”
Kirara mewled again, but this time she sounded rather impatient. Kohaku looked over his shoulder.
“I know you’d rather be back at sister’s place right now, but just be a little more patient, okay? We don’t have much more to check,” he reasoned with her.
Her insistent mewling continued, but Kohaku chose to ignore it this time.
Kohaku knew that the demon cat could simply transform into her larger body and fly off if she really wanted to, but he knew she would never disobey him that way.
As they reached the last hut at the far end, closest to the woods behind them, Kirara let out a pitiful whine.
Kohaku turned around to face her with a frown.
"Today's not your day, huh?" he offered sympathetically.
He knelt down to tap her little head soothingly. But her hair stood up in alarm.
“Do you sense someth-?“
Before he could finish his question, a loud clank interrupted him, deafeningly loud in the otherwise quiet area.
Kohaku jolted and turned around to face the hut again. He was instantly on high alert.
Kirara whined once more, but he hushed her with a finger over his mouth, gesturing for silence.
Still crouched on his knees, he made his way over to the hut where the sound came from.
He was not afraid.
One hand was poised on his back to draw his weapon at any moment, and he made sure his steps were as silent as possible as he moved to crouch under the wooden window.
The weathered wooden beams of the hut were sloppily hammered on, as if they had been broken into before. Luckily that meant Kohaku could look between the gaps to see what was happening inside.
He got as close as possible, straining his eyes in the semi-darkness. To the far left, he spotted the apparent source of the noise. It was a knocked over oil lamp.
He frowned. Someone must've left it there, but that didn't explain the smoke coming from it.
This was fresh.
His eyes wandered to the other side of the room. It was difficult to see everything at once through the small gaps in the wood.
That's when he spotted her.
It was Rin!
She sat against the wall with her knees drawn up, and her head trashed from side to side, as if she was fighting a fever.
Kohaku instantly sprang into action.
He didn’t know what she was doing here all by herself or why she had chosen to hole herself up this far away from the others, but it didn’t matter.
Rin looked greatly distressed, judging by the sheen of sweat he could see glisten on her brows. Even her clothes were disheveled.
But just when Kohaku was about to jump over the wood, through the empty window and into the room, that’s when he saw him too.
When his head popped over the wood to look inside properly, he saw Lord Sesshomaru there as well.
He was kneeling between Rin’s drawn knees.
But he wasn't just kneeling; he was lying between her legs.
Kohaku's breath caught in his throat and his knees instantly gave out again – either by shock or the wise instinct of self-preservation.
Before he could crash loudly to the ground he braced himself with his arms against the wood as he reclaimed his position under the window.
Maybe it shouldn’t have been so surprising, judging by the way Rin blushed whenever he would ask her if she was still seeing Lord Sesshomaru occasionally or where she had gotten all her pretty but expensive gowns from.
But how could it not be so utterly shattering?
He knew that this was a deeply private and frankly, scandalous moment.
They were not married, he wasn’t even sure if they were promised to each other. That thought alone made his head spin.
He had always seen Rin as Sesshomaru's ward, a young girl – now a young woman – under his protection. Nothing less but certainly not anything more.
He stared at Kirara with wide eyes. Now it was clear why she had been mewling so uncomfortably.
Damn, he should have listened to her warning.
A shiver raked through him when he heard another whine, this time from inside the hut.
Although his mind protested, desperately screaming at him to make a run for it as long as he remained unseen by Lord Sesshomaru, his body moved on its own accord.
Kohaku turned around and looked through the gaps in the wood again. His heart pounded so loudly and with such force, he felt as if it was about to burst out of his chest as he tried to brace himself for what he might see next.
Rin’s thrashing had stopped. A low keening escaped her trembling lips.
If he didn’t know any better, he’d say she was suffering a great deal.
But this was no suffering.
As much as he wanted to, Kohaku couldn’t tear his eyes away from them.
Heat crept up his skin and burned its way through his veins like the most vicious poison.
It was shameful and vile to watch them.
But the vision that unfolded itself right in front of him, was so captivating, riveting and terrifying at the same time, Kohaku simply couldn’t move.
He stared at Rin’s flushed face.
Her eyes appeared unfocused and although he was directly staring at her through the thin veil of the weathered wooden beams, she seemed to take no note of him at all.
The crimson flush on her face extended all the way down to her throat and into the neckline of her kimono, maybe even further down.
Kohaku swallowed hard.
She was beautiful like this – perhaps even more so than usual, he dared to admit to himself.
He didn’t want to, couldn’t, think more about how stunning Rin looked in this moment, and how a tingling sensation began rousing up from his own abdomen at the sight of her.
He tore his eyes off her and instead, they fell to Lord Sesshomaru.
It was so surreal.
Kohaku couldn't see the demon lord's face, only the back of his head as it remained buried... there, in Rin's most sacred place.
In their haste, they hadn’t even taken the time to discard their clothing.
Rin was still dressed in her kimono, though because of her drawn knees, it now bunched up at her hips.
Her legs were exposed, and although he couldn’t see what was going on between her thighs – due to Sesshomaru laying there, venerating her with such dedication and patience – Kohaku could see how the demon wrapped his large hands around her pale thighs.
His fingers covered the bruises that were left by him beforehand.
Kohaku noticed another astonishing detail.
Sesshomaru was in quite the state of undress.
He was not wearing the heavy pieces that protected him. Kohaku couldn’t tell if they were somewhere in the room with them or if they had vanished by some other way.
Lord Sesshomaru, who typically was the perfect likeness of strength, lethality and otherworldly warriorhood now looked oddly… vulnerable.
The pristine and elegant robe that draped his form now hung haphazardly around him, and the fur that adorned his shoulder was spread out before them, more voluminous than Kohaku had ever seen it before.
Kohaku’s hands felt clammy and damp.
Was this just their prelude? Was the fur spread so conveniently on the floor supposed to be their bed for tonight?
The altar of their sinful worship?
Even in this moment, on the floor, lapping at Rin like a dog in the most literal sense, Sesshomaru was magnificent.
Carved like a masterful statue and dedicated to Rin’s pleasure like the most subservient serf, he didn’t fail to make Kohaku tremble with fear.
Kohaku didn’t understand how Sesshomaru couldn’t have noticed him yet.
Was he truly so entranced that he hadn’t heard him, hadn’t smelled him?
Or maybe Lord Sesshomaru knew he was there.
Kohaku’s thoughts spun in frenzied circles.
With a strength that Kohaku hadn't witnessed before, Rin pulled at Sesshomaru's hair while she thrashed and whined.
But Sesshomaru showed no signs of offense at being manhandled this way. Quite the opposite.
He was positively feral for it. And the longer he kept going, the more relentless he became, it seemed.
Through the loud pounding of his heart and the rushing between his ears, Kohaku had drowned out all other noise so far.
But then, just as his mind was starting to comprehend what was happening inside the hut, the sounds finally reached his ears.
And by all the gods, Kohaku was about to pass out yet again.
Those wet, filthy, sloppy licks and kisses reverberated so shamefully, but so insistently through the space between them, Kohaku wouldn’t be surprised if the rest of the village could hear them as well.
Kohaku lost the battle against the blush he had been fighting and his face instantly turned a deep shade of crimson.
Along with those noises came a glowing heat that radiated through the thin wood separating him from what was going on inside.
Kohaku started sweating.
But not only did the lewd sounds of Sesshomaru’s mouth on Rin’s flesh reach his ears.
While Rin was holding herself back, whining but not quite moaning as if she wanted to remain silent, Sesshomaru held no such sentiment.
Like an emaciated beast that was led to the trough, he was thoroughly unashamed in voicing just how much he enjoyed drinking from her in this way.
He growled and grunted in the most savage and untamed manner.
Kohaku’s eyes widened and his trembling, sweaty hands gripped the wood almost painfully.
Was this what lay beneath Lord Sesshomaru’s stoic and poised demeanor?
He had witnessed the demon in battle before, on more than one occasion, but even then, he had never appeared as ferocious as he was now.
It couldn’t be an impostor, this was clearly Lord Sesshomaru.
But this version of him was so different, Kohaku had a hard time reconciling him with the image of Sesshomaru he had memorized in his head.
With a wet pop, that made Kohaku’s head spin again, Sesshomaru pulled off Rin.
He looked up to her and their eyes met. Although Kohaku couldn’t see Sesshomaru’s face, he only saw Rin’s, he could imagine the unbridled desire that would be reflected in his uncanny eyes.
“Don’t hold yourself back,” Sesshomaru commanded, low and demanding. “I want to hear your cries.”
Kohaku almost choked on his own saliva. The sound of Sesshomaru’s voice and the meaning of his demand shivered through him as another flare of shame and repulsion.
He really, really shouldn’t be listening to this, shouldn’t be watching this.
But it was fascinating too, the way Rin’s head fell back again as Sesshomaru remained immovable, firmly pressing his head between her legs once more.
Her feet kicked out and she squirmed more than before. Heeding his command, sweet, dulcet moans fell from her lips – loud and unobstructed.
Kohaku closed his eyes tightly and took a deep, shuddering breath to steady himself.
He couldn't bear to listen to Rin's moans or watch as she squirmed and kicked out in pleasure. Tremors of shame and disbelief licked through him.
Enough was enough.
He couldn't continue to stand idly by and watch something so intimate and forbidden.
There was an ache in his heart that grew harder to ignore by the second.
His own foolish hopes and misplaced expectations came back to haunt him now.
Had he truly been so naive as to believe that Rin would always remain as she was, free and virtuous, waiting for him to become man enough to court her?
He shook his head and tried to banish these foolish thoughts.
He hadn't even made an effort to show interest in courting her before, so why was he feeling this way now?
His knees were stiff from crouching for so long and Kohaku swallowed hard again, as he tried to make as little noise as possible on his way off.
But then, he heard shuffling from inside the hut, and his heart skipped a beat as the anxiety spiked terrifyingly throughout his body.
If this was to be the moment he was discovered, he could never stand to live with the shame.
Cautiously, he peered through the wooden beams again.
He saw something that he had expected and bitterly dreaded.
Sesshomaru and Rin had switched positions. They were no longer pressed against the opposite wall, but spread out on the fur beneath them – directly facing him.
Rin was on her knees with her torso pressed firmly into the softness underneath her. And Lord Sesshomaru towered behind her, over her, as he folded himself across her back.
His hair spilled around them until Rin was completely engulfed by his much larger form.
Kohaku’s throat tightened.
There was no way he could move now.
With them directly facing the front door and window, the slightest movement could be seen.
Panic rose in him as cold beads of sweat ran down his back uncomfortably.
They still hadn’t undressed properly. Rin’s gown was simply pulled up until her bottom half was exposed to Sesshomaru, though not visible from Kohaku’s vantage point.
And for some reason, his robe still hung loosely around Sesshomaru’s shoulders.
Kohaku could see more of him than he could see of her, and he suspected that this was quite on purpose.
With Sesshomaru draped over Rin’s entire body in this very canine position, he was even more imposing than he usually was.
He was magnificent, the vision of a god on his very personal altar of worship and devotion.
But Rin was magnificent too.
Kohaku’s eyes instantly fell on Rin’s face again.
Her eyes were squeezed shut tightly. She was breathing hard, and tears ran over her temples.
Was this what it meant to be loved by a demon – by a monster?
To be agonized in the most pleasurable way?
“Please, my lord. Don’t make me wait any longer,” she whimpered pitifully.
It took all of Kohaku’s strength, acquired through years of relentless training, not to collapse at the sound of her sweet prayer.
There wasn’t much hesitancy or preparation now.
Through the darkness that engulfed them, Kohaku could see some movement from behind Rin and soon enough, Sesshomaru started rutting into her.
Her voice broke through to him again, this time louder than ever before.
There was no force on earth that could pull Kohaku away now, he was thoroughly and utterly entranced by their mating game.
Sesshomaru and Rin moved together in sync, fluid like the ocean.
His thrusts were forceful like the thunder that uncoiled its anger upon the earth, and Rin met each of these shattering thrusts like the tides met the moon.
Rather fitting actually, Kohaku thought wryly.
Sesshomaru pulled Rin’s head back by the hair and he drew her in.
Their mouths clashed together in something that couldn’t be described as a kiss, but rather as an act of devouring.
It was all teeth, tongue, spit and passion. He swallowed her cries as well as her shallow breaths, and Rin’s tears simply wouldn’t stop.
Oh, but how beautiful she still was, Kohaku thought, thoroughly awed by what he saw.
Shame and indecency so often went hand in hand with curiosity… and yearning.
It wasn’t hard to imagine himself in Sesshomaru’s stead – how he could be the one to unravel Rin in this way, to make her blush so delightfully and to make her cry so beautifully.
But the longer Kohaku watched, the more his lungs burned. Not only his lungs, his whole body and soul were aflame.
“How does it feel?” Sesshomaru asked suddenly, still pressed tightly against Rin’s back, never ceasing the rhythm of his hips.
Her eyes flew open and she looked back at him with obvious confusion.
“Wha- Ah!”
A particularly vicious snap of his hips jolted her body forward and she couldn’t even finish her question.
Sesshomaru was relentless. He picked up speed behind her without even breaking a sweat.
It was an impressive show of dominance and strength.
“Having me inside of you, does it feel good?” he asked her again, though now he sounded impatient, desperate for an answer even.
Kohaku swallowed hard as an ominous sense of dread overcame him.
Was this truly for Lord Sesshomaru’s benefit or was this a demonstration of strength, a warning to him who had so callously walked into their private moment?
In the throes of passion, Lord Sesshomaru was terrifying. He was demanding, enduring powerful and glorious.
He gave pleasure with boundless generosity, but he also took it with just as much enthusiasm.
His sharp, erratic thrusts never ceased.
“Y-yes, plea– ngh,” she grunted incoherently. “More, please, I want more.”
Her fingers grabbed fistfuls of fur while Sesshomaru continued to claim every inch of her body.
For endless minutes he kept fucking her as he wanted, until at last, her cries ceased, and her body became limp.
Kohaku’s throat constricted so tightly, he feared he’d never be able to speak again.
Whereas Kohaku feared that Rin had lost consciousness, Sesshomaru was unperturbed, though the snaps of his hips slowed into a gentle rocking motion.
But Rin wasn’t unconscious. Kohaku strained his eyes and ears when he saw her eyelids fluttering and her mouth move, as if she was mumbling something under her breath.
He couldn’t make out what she was saying, but whatever it was, it made Lord Sesshomaru stop, if only briefly.
With a tenderness that Kohaku hadn’t expected from Sesshomaru before, he leaned down and placed small kisses all over her face and jaw.
His hands moved to brush along her hair, her tear-stained eyes and her sweat stained skin.
Something burned inside of Kohaku, a feeling he couldn't quite name but that sent a sharp pang through his chest.
Another unwanted vision flashed in his mind, brief but vivid.
He imagined what it must be like if it were him in Sesshomaru's place.
If he was the one caressing Rin's hair, whispering sweet nothings into her ear, and placing gentle kisses on her tear-stained face. If he was the one who she looked up at, tear-stained, exhausted, but utterly trusting and devoted.
It fueled a longing within him, a yearning so visceral that he knew it went beyond what he had just seen, and even beyond Rin herself.
Finally, those words she spoke so softly to Sesshomaru, reached his ears as well.
“I love you, Sesshomaru,” Rin mumbled, now shamelessly basking in the gentle attention that was bestowed on her.
Lord Sesshomaru didn’t say the words back, but instead the unspoken reciprocation of that sentiment was poured into the way he venerated her – like she was the most delicate, precious, and holy treasure.
Something tugged deep within Kohaku’s soul.
Beneath the faint, shameful echo of arousal that he refused to acknowledge, Kohaku knew that he was missing something in his life.
Something he'd never have in the same way Rin and Sesshomaru did.
This kind of bond, this kind of passion and devotion that consumed them both to the point of obliviousness, he’d never have it.
Feeling numb and detached, Kohaku knew that now was the time to leave Rin and Sesshomaru to their private world.
He quietly crawled away until he was no longer within their view.
Once he was certain he was out of sight, he climbed onto the transformed Kirara's back and they flew back to the village center.
Kohaku knew he couldn't speak about what he saw tonight, not to anyone.
He was lucky enough to be still alive.
But not only Lord Sesshomaru’s possible wrath held him back from ever speaking to another soul about this.
Everything he saw tonight, everything he had heard and felt, it would continue to haunt him forever.
One sleepless night and many desperate attempts to banish those forbidden images from his head later, Kohaku was finally given the warm welcoming he had hoped for the previous day.
People came over and greeted him, among which were the old priestess Kaede and Rin too.
She was as sweet as ever, completely oblivious to what had happened, to what he had seen.
And Kohaku’s lessons in stoicism really paid off. He spoke with her as if he hadn’t watched her get pounded into oblivion the night before.
Kohaku had to admit, Rin looked radiant this morning.
He exchanged pleasantries with everyone until it was time to depart again.
Right as he was about to leave, standing with Kirara amidst the forest adjacent to the village, something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye.
A flash of white, deadly and fast, flew by, and in the next second, Lord Sesshomaru stood before him.
Kohaku willed his face to remain calm, not impassive, but pleasantly surprised rather. But he knew he couldn’t fool Lord Sesshomaru’s keen ears.
He would definitely hear the thundering of his heart.
Kohaku had a hard time meeting Lord Sesshomaru’s piercing gaze.
Now more than ever, he was the image of a god so thoroughly unearthly and intensely intimidating.
Nevertheless, Kohaku was not about to let his inner hysteria show.
“Lord Sesshomaru,” he greeted and bowed his head respectfully.
He tried to ignore the unease that settled in the pit of his stomach as a sense of dread overcame him.
Perhaps Sesshomaru came to scold or punish him for his intrusion last night. Kohaku tried to not let his nerves shows.
He would take whatever was coming to him with honor and pride – it was something he had learned from Lord Sesshomaru himself.
When he finally met the demon’s gaze however, he saw no ire, nor anything else really.
Lord Sesshomaru regarded him with the same patient indifference he always did. He acknowledged Kohaku’s greeting with the slightest tip of his chin.
“You return to this village regularly?” Sesshomaru asked, though it sounded rather like a statement than a question from his lips.
Kohaku blinked up at him, feeling rather lost.
So, he was not about to get punished?
“Yes, I do,” he answered quickly. “I try to keep in touch with my nieces and nephew and of course my sister as much as possible.”
Lord Sesshomaru still stood uncomfortably close, but Kohaku remained steadfast.
He knows, he knows, of course he knows, an annoying voice in the back of his mind repeated.
“You have become a slayer like her?” Lord Sesshomaru continued to ask calmly.
More dread filled him.
Lord Sesshomaru typically never showed interest in anyone, aside from Rin, and he certainly never engaged in any pleasantries or vapid talk.
Perhaps his final hour had truly come now.
Kohaku nodded.
The calm intensity with which he was looked upon made him feel like Lord Sesshomaru was assessing him, somehow.
But he didn’t dare to speculate further.
"You find purpose with that work, a sort of gratification, yes?" Sesshomaru asked.
"I do," Kohaku replied.
A heavy silence settled between them. Heavy for Kohaku, he was sure that Lord Sesshomaru wasn’t affected by it.
Finally, Sesshomaru spoke again, and this time, the monotony in his voice made way for something genuine.
"Humans... they find purpose in all sorts of endeavors, don't they?"
Cold sweat ran down his back again, but Kohaku fought to keep his composure.
"I guess so, Lord Sesshomaru," Kohaku mumbled, not entirely sure what it was that the demon wanted to hear from him.
But he didn’t have to worry about that much further.
As if their conversation hadn't taken place at all, Lord Sesshomaru turned around without another word and strode away from the woods towards the village where Kohaku had just come from.
Kohaku watched him go with both relief and surprise. Before he could stop himself, he asked the question that burned on his tongue.
“Lord Sesshomaru, have you come to see Rin?"
Lord Sesshomaru stopped immediately.
Shit, why did you ask that? Kohaku cursed himself in his mind when his anxiety spiked.
But Sesshomaru didn’t turn around to face him again.
Without a single word of reply, he resumed his stride and walked away from Kohaku and into the village.
When he was out of sight, Kohaku let out a deep sigh of relief.
Kirara nudged her head against him, eager to leave for now. He quickly climbed onto her back and they took off into the sky.
It was not Kohaku’s place to question what Lord Sesshomaru and Rin did privately when the rest of the world was asleep.
But even so, he couldn’t help but wonder when exactly Rin had learned to tame him so.