Till The End Of Time [Inuyasha Fanfiction ]
Chapter 53's

Koga walked into the southern land palace in silence. No one stopped him, instead he was greeted with open arms by the youkai in this palace. He is nothing compared to Akihiko who is the ruler, but anyway, he is still arguably one of the young masters of the south—himself still has little power in this palace.

"Where's Akihiko-sama?" koga asked one of the youkai who welcomed him.

"Akihiko-sama is in the north pavilion square, Koga-sama" the youkai replied respectfully.

Koga said nothing more, his feet immediately stepping to where the ruler was. The northern pavilion square is the arid ground where Akihiko's sword practice. Since long ago, Akihiko always spent time there, the wolf youkai never changed.

Sighing, Koga could only ponder if he could do his mission well.

'When you're in the palace, look for Rin-chan. Where he was held and the surrounding conditions. All of that will greatly help this rescue mission.'

Kagome's words flashed through Koga's mind and it made him sigh again. He left Kagome and the others around the forest of the southern land palace. There were many powerful youkai in this palace, most likely they knew Inuyasha and Kenji and they wanted to avoid fighting as much as possible in this youkai lair.

Koga agrees to join Inuyasha and the others on Rin's rescue mission, as he has no confidence in stopping Akihiko. But, if it says a human girl can stop Sesshoumaru who has already agreed to fight?

Koga actually doesn't believe it either. He knows Sesshoumaru, he is a youkai similar to Akihiko. A true youkai from a ruling family who would not be able to hear the words of others. Yes, he knew, the human girl he brought to life might be different, but there was no way that inuyoukai would revoke the decision that had been made because the girl asked for it, right?

Kagome and her friends strongly believe the girl is capable of stopping this war, except Inuyasha. It is ironic for Koga now, because the only one who agrees with his thoughts is the mutt.

Stepping up to the pavilion field north of the southern palace, what he saw then left Koga stunned in disbelief.

Akihiko was there, practicing the sword as usual, but the difference was, beside the ruler of the southern land, there was a human girl sitting playing the shamisen beautifully.

The sound of shamisen passages being plucked is in harmony with every move of Akihiko. Not forcing, very harmonious, music that flows in the air is like one with the movement of the ruler of the southern land.

The sky blue eyes of the ruler of the southern land stared softly at the human girl, and there was a single smile on her face. Such Akihiko, Koga had never seen him, yet he knew; the usually bored wolf youkai was in a good mood; something very rare.

Then, as his gaze fell on the human girl, Koga was stunned. With hair as black as the sky without stars, skin as white as snow, nose that sharp, lips that stump and cheeks blushing red like a rose, then, then, big clear brown eyes that shine full of innocence—the girl is very pretty.

However, when Koga caught the smell of spring from the human girl, his stunned sense immediately turned to surprise. He knows this smell, this is the smell of the little human girl who always follows Sesshoumaru back then—that girl is Rin???

....xoxOx....

Akihiko moved his sword, his ears could clearly hear the sound of melodious shamisen passages coordinating with his movements. A smile rose on his face, there was a strange feeling in his heart; a feeling of peace.

The strange human girl, today, came early in the morning looking for him with a shamisen in hand.

"Akihiko-sama will practice the sword again, right? Let Rin play the shamisen next to you, okay?"

There is no fear. With a beautiful smile and childlike innocent eyes, she pleaded with Akihiko. Akihiko did not find the strength to refuse his request. Ever since he found out he wanted this human girl, not knowing why, he could tolerate all the attitude of the girl.

Rin's.

The name of the human girl is Rin which means cold. The name is very contradictory to her personality, because the girl is very warm like the sun in spring.

When this girl set foot into the southern land palace, Akihiko never noticed her. However, as he watched her well, he realized the girl was completely different from all the creatures she had ever seen. Akihiko did order anyone not to kill or touch the human girl. He also did not lock her up, because he thought that the girl would definitely lock herself up full of fear in this youkai nest. However, the girl freely without fear walked in her palace. In fact, in the southern land palace where he was taken hostage, he could still smile at all the youkai that existed.

Do youkai the inhabitants of this palace not like it?—The answer is not. They were all just staring at the confused human girl. Confusion that would then turn into stunned. The smile of the human girl was warm—ada charm that can make youkai stunned.

Looking at her sky blue eyes looking at the human girl, Akihiko's gaze softened. With the typical blue kimono of the southern lands, black hair without stars, small white fingers plucking shamisen, a pair of large brown eyes that sparkled, then, a pair of, charming smile on her beautiful face—the human girl is truly a charming flower.

The quote on the shamisen then slowly stopped and Akihiko also slowly stopped her movements. The human girl immediately clapped her hands with an increasingly wide smile. "That's great Akihiko-sama! It's such a beautiful dance!!"

Akihiko did not say anything, she looked at the smile in silence. If he could see this smile every day, his boring days would definitely become more colorful.

"Akihiko-sama." call someone suddenly.

Akihiko slowly turned his face to look at the source of the voice. His eyes found Koga kneeling with his right hand on his chest saluting him. He had already noticed the presence of that wolf youkai approaching from earlier.

"Koga," replied Akihiko slowly. His face had returned to a bored expression as usual.

"K-koga-san," Rin muttered softly as she looked at the wolf youkai.

Akihiko and Koga turned their heads to look at the human girl. And despite being smiling, there was a hint of fear on her beautiful face.

Koga smiled slightly looking at Rin's face. He knew that the girl must have had a little fear of him, because after all, the girl had died in the mouth of her subordinate wolf. However, for Akihiko, Rin's view becomes one question; why is she afraid of Koga?

"You know Koga, Rin?" ask Akihiko later. His blue eyes looked straight at Rin. Smiling gently, she slowly approached Rin and reached out to help her stand up.

Rin immediately accepted the hand. With a riled up smile still present, he then nodded his head. "Yes, Rin knows Koga-san."

The furious smile that was on that beautiful face, made Akihiko aware, Rin's relationship with Koga does not seem to just know each other, there is something unspoken in it. Looking at Koga again, she smiled again, but in contrast to the gentle smile shown to Rin, this smile of hers was a sharp smile full of intimacy; a smile that wanted answers without lies. "How do you know each other? Your relationship seems pretty good."

Akihiko's follow-up questions stunned Koga. Koga seems to not believe what he sees; akihiko's caring attitude towards Rin is not a lie.

"K-we, we.." Koga stammered around looking for answers to Akihiko's questions. He could not say honestly how he knew the girl, as well as what their relationship was, because the girl had once died in the hands of her subordinates.

"The servant's relationship with him was his first death caused by the wolf in my entourage." cut Koga firmly suddenly.

Koga's reply made Rin and Akihiko turn their heads to look at him. The wolf youkai said nothing more, he lowered his head down. He does not dare to lie and let Akihiko know for themselves the reality of their relationship.

Koga knew Akihiko the ruler of the southern lands from childhood. The Daiyoukai had many concubines, and of all the concubines it was Tsubasa who was the favorite concubine. However, never did she see him being as gentle towards her as he was towards Rin. Moreover, he could feel the southern land lord's obsession towards the girl. How could that human girl make the ruler of the southern land become like this??

....xoxOx....

In his room, Tsubasa's hand moves to write something with a brush in hand. Smile on her beautiful face, all the preparations for the war ahead are perfect, she just waited for the cue from Akihiko to start.

Akihiko's.

The face of the ruler of the southern land was reflected in his mind, and with that handsome face, the face of the human girl he had kidnapped was also imagined. The smile on Tsubasa's face instantly disappeared replaced with anger.

"Why is Big Brother that face?" the laughter of a woman's voice suddenly.

"Sister should have smiled on this beautiful day." Add another woman's voice while laughing.

Tsubasa turned her face towards the source of the voice, she found two youkai women smiling towards her—a cynical smile full of insults.

"What made you two come to visit me, Cho-san, Hana-san?" tsubasa asked with a smile. However, the smile given is not a warm smile, but a cold smile.

The two youkai in front of him were Cho and Hana, two of Akihiko's many concubines. Cho is a butterfly youkai and Hana is a flower youkai. Both of them had very pretty looks and were also powerful youkai. However, they were never as beloved concubines as Tsubasa was. That is the cause of their bad relationship. Although both are concubines of the ruler of the southern land, they always compete to get the attention of the ruler.

Hana smiled at Tsubasa's question, chuckling, she covered her mouth with the fan in her hand. "I only visited Brother to encourage Brother."

"We're both afraid that Brother will be sad and demoralized," he said with a grin. " We've all heard of Akihiko-sama who is very interested in the human girl you brought from the west."

The smile on Tsubasa's face disappeared upon hearing Cho's words. His red eyes instantly reddened like blood.

Akihiko who is interested in the human girl he kidnapped is no secret. In just a day, all who saw the attitude of the ruler of the southern land knew, the girl would be a favorite. No matter as a concubine or a toy, the girl had the attention of the daiyoukai.

"The man's life is short, Brother," continued Cho again. He was satisfied to see Tsubasa's expression now, because all this time, this bird youkai always looked down on those who did not care about Akihiko. "Sister just needs to divide Akihiko-sama's attention for a while."

Cho who wanted to come back laughing suddenly felt the fingers touching his neck. In one blink of an eye, his neck had been tightly choked by that finger. His eyes widened when he saw Tsubasa's lustful eyes killing directed at him.

"What are you doing Tsubasa!!" hana shouted frantically at Cho who was attacked by Tsubasa suddenly.

Tsubasa turned her head to look at Hana's panicked face. The two youkai who dared to act in front of him were indeed strong, but compared to him, they were still no match for him. Why is she able to become Akihiko's favorite concubine?—that's because she is the strongest.

"Losing you two will not diminish the power of the south. Akihiko-sama won't mind in the slightest if I kill you guys." Tsubasa laughs later and breaks Cho's neck.

....xoxOx....

Koga walked slowly in the forest beside the southern land palace. His mind was now completely muddled, he did not clearly remember how he could be here now.

The wolf youkai only remembered Akihiko's stern look at him as he answered what his relationship with Rin was. He thought he would die at the hands of the ruler of the southern land earlier. In the wolf clan, he is the alpha, but Akihiko is the alpha of all alpha. He will not be able to fight the absolute leader at the top of the clan if the ruler wants his death.

Yep! Koga was pretty sure he would never be able to see his son later if Rin wasn't there at the time - if the human girl wasn't interested Akihiko left him alone.

Rin's.

The beautiful face of the human girl known as Hime from the west was reflected in his mind. Koga wondered, how can the human girl turn Akihiko into that?

Looking back to the past, when the girl was a child, when she first saw her with Sesshoumaru, Koga thought to herself, why would this human-hating inuyoukai let the girl be next to him? The answer is answered now. Who would have thought that girl would grow up to be that beautiful? Could it be that Sesshoumaru had already noticed it? Is that why he protected her?

Koga shook his head again. No matter how he thought, he didn't get the answer, and by the time he regained consciousness, he had been in front of the cave where Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango, Miroku and Kenji were hiding.

Kagome, Miroku, Sango and Kenji immediately walked out once aware of Koga's presence. Only Inuyasha was still in the cave with an unconcerned face.

"Do you know where Rin-chan is being held, Koga?" ask Kagome with a smile on her face.

Miroku, Sango and Kenji did not say anything, but they waited for an answer from Koga who was in front of them.

"Rin, he," Koga did not know what to answer, his facial expression turned into inexplicable, between confused mixed in disbelief. "It won't be easy to save him now.."

"What do you mean skinny wolf?" hardik Inuyasha and ran out. Although he looks full of emotion, he still cannot hide the feeling of worry in his heart, because for him, Rin is already like a sister.

Koga did not reply to the nickname Inuyasha had addressed him as usual, probably because his mind was still very messed up. Sighing, the wolf youkai then tried to give the shortest possible explanation. "Akihiko-sama likes it. He's under the control of the ruler of the south..."

"What??!!!!!"

....xoxOx....