Looking back at the scene below him, Sesshoumaru saw that Inuyasha had ran a short distance away and the youkai was attacking the woman. It's too late. The youkai had been standing beside the woman the whole time. At any time, the youkai could have killed the woman in less than a heartbeat but probably wanted the added bonus of also capturing the boy. Sesshoumaru jumped to land in front of the wolf youkai just as the youkai slashed the woman's throat. Seeing Sesshoumaru, the wolf youkai threw the corpse of Inuyasha's okaa-san at Sesshoumaru. Instead of dodging, Sesshoumaru slashed through the corpse to kill the wolf youkai. Unfortunately, the moment Sesshoumaru slashed through the woman was when Inuyasha turned around.
~End of Flashback~
A soft whimper broke the stunned silence that followed. Sesshoumaru slowly rose to his feet, pushing off with one hand placed on the ground. Slowly, the youkai turned to face the one who had struck him and bounded softly off the broken balcony towards the ground below. In his arms, a little girl clung tightly to his kimono, her eyes streaming with tears of fear. Kagome sighed with relief at seeing Rin unhurt and rushed towards Sesshoumaru as he landed softly on the ground. Her friends watched with part shock and part fear, as they wondered if Sesshoumaru would attack Kagome when she approached the youkai. Sinking to one knee once again, Sesshoumaru handed Rin to Kagome without a word. Standing beside the demon lord, Kagome sensed that he was tense with anger. There were probably few things that could cause Sesshoumaru to lose his temper, and apparently, Rin was one of them. Kagome rubbed Rin's back comfortingly while she anxiously wondered what Sesshoumaru would do. The youkai gazed at the crying Rin silently.
"Rin. Stop crying." Kagome's eyes widened in surprised anger at his quiet command and opened her mouth to make an angry retort. She had barely gotten Sesshoumaru's name out when Kagome realized that Rin had stopped crying. Hearing a small hiccup, Kagome looked down to find that Rin was rubbing her eyes with the back of her hands. As the little girl lowered her hands, Kagome was amazed to find a happy smile on Rin's face. Rin tapped on Kagome's shoulder, letting the teen know that she wanted to get down. Walking over to Sesshoumaru, the little girl bowed energeticly to the youkai.
"Sesshoumaru-sama protected Rin again! Sesshoumaru-sama daisuki!"
Sesshoumaru placed a hand upon Rin's head, acknowledging her words, but not taking his eyes off of Inuyasha. The hanyou's turbulent eyes hidden by his long hair, the Tetsusaiga's tip slowly lowered to touch the ground. How did this happen? I almost killed a little girl, human and defenseless. All I wanted was to save Kagome from Sesshoumaru. Instead, at this moment she is standing with my brother, her captor, but also the one who saved the little girl. Miroku laid a consoling hand on his shoulder, only to have it shaken off. Shaking his head, Miroku took his position behind Inuyasha, if Sesshoumaru should attack, he would assist the hanyou.