It has been months after the demise of the Lord of the west, the great dog demon, Inu No Taisho. His son and heir, Sesshomaru is under an obligation to ascend to the throne that has been vacated…. and for that, he must take a mate. The youthful lord-to-be is already betrothed to a wind sorceress. Apparently, the scrupulous Sesshomaru is all set to wed and take his father's place as the new Lord. The future is clear as crystal….Or so it seemed…. but….what would happen when he gets attacked by his father's enemies and ends up losing his memory…? How will the antics of a young orphan girl, a human at that, change his personality and perspective of life…? Read to know…..

Hi all! I had thought 'Landlord of the West' would be my very last fic, but, thanks to you all, for your reviews, PMs, following and favouriting, I am inspired to write this fiction….. Thank you so much again, for not letting me quit or take a break from writing…. ^^

And I promise you all that this fiction will be a fun to read, perhaps better than 'Landlord of the West' because, the cute, fluffy, subtle-romantic moments might be more here….

Enjoy reading!

Author's note: Rin + giggles = ringles

With her sunny smile, musical ringles and flamboyant personality no one could have guessed that she was nothing more than an orphan girl who was adopted by Kaede and by the whole of village Edo. It is a girl called 'Rin'. She used to have a mother, father and brothers. But bandits took their lives right in front of her eyes, when she was not more than five…..and now, this village is her family.

Having been 'adopted' by the villagers did not make life any easier for Rin. She is always treated like a servant by all the villagers. They used her labour to their best advantage, paying her peanuts (i.e. very meager) of a wage for her service. Kaede is a kind woman. But she is too old even to provide for herself. Then where was the question of feeding Rin? All the old woman could manage was to cook and even for that Rin assists her. So Rin practically earns and pays Kaede, while she takes shelter in her hut and eats the food provided by the hag.

Poor little Rin was even beaten up once, by the villagers when she got caught red-handed in scavenging the village's fish supplies and vegetables. Kaede begged pardon of all the villagers on Rin's behalf and swore that Rin would never do such a thing. She also requested them to let Rin be of their service in some way or the other and pay her some wage in return. That would be enough for Rin to provide for herself. The villagers had great regard for the old priestess so they assented to her request. That was how Rin ended up being the servant of the village.

Despite the fact that most of the villagers and even the village head Tai treat Rin with disdain, she is always spirited. It has been, eleven years and she is presently 'sweet' sixteen, yet not once was she disheartened by the villagers' contempt and criticism. And how this girl tolerates the badmouthing and ill-treatment of the villagers and still wears the sunshine smile, with kindness and joy flowing from her bearing is beyond Kaede's wisdom. She was certain that, if it were her in Rin's place, she surely would have lost half her sanity!

"RIN" called a cute, tiny guy with green eyes, thick orange-brown hair tied up in a puny ponytail, as he leaped into the waiting arms of Rin. He had a bushy tail and a fox's feet. Yup! He's a fox demon.

"SHIPPOU! *ringles* Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you!" answered the girl in the loveliest voice, akin to ringing bells. It was hard to believe that she was in her energetic self, even after a full day's hard labour.

"The girls are calling ya! Let's go!" answered the fox demon excitedly.

Demons were never allowed into the village but few years ago, Shippou helped the Village head Tai from surviving a storm by providing his fox fire (it was feeble but good enough to build a campfire and to kill venomous insect demons). Owing to his helping tendency and passive nature he was allowed to stay in the village. Yes. Shippou is an orphan too; his parent demons were killed by superior demons. This similarity could be one of the primary reasons as to how Rin and Shippou turned out to be the best of friends.

Rin reached the riverbank where the servant girls from the household of the Village head were chitchatting. Rin being a servant herself, she got to befriend only an orphan like Shippou and servants like those girls.

"Hi Rin! Just come over!" called Emiko as she waved a hand at Rin.

"We've gotten something really interesting to tell ya! *giggles*" Jaya turned around to face Rin and told her excitedly.

All the other girls started giggling hysterically at Jaya's statement.

Even Rin started ringling as she caught up with the girls' merry and took a seat beside them, "What is it?"

"My aunt told me this! *giggles* And she swears it's true!" said Emiko as she clasped her giggling mouth with her hands.

"Oboyoboyoboyoboy! I just can't wait to see if it's true! *squeals*" squealed Sae.

Rin's curiosity got colossal, "What is it!? Another village carnival? YAY! I just can't wait- HEY!" Rin paused her enthusiastic leap and placed her forefinger on her chin, thinking deeply, "We just had one two moon cycles ago! We can't be having another that soon!" Rin reasoned.

"Oh no! you ninny! We just figured out how our respective husbands-to-be would look like and how many children we'd have after marriage!"

'Husband-to-be'…. 'children'…..'marriage'….. To Rin, it was as if her anticipation which was flaring like fire was put out by a flood of water. She had her eyes half-closed in boredom and murmured, "That's it?!"

*HU-A-YAWN* Shippou made a big yawn.

"You show no excitement! Or interest! WHY!?" Sae asked worriedly, her face frowned in concern.

"Ah! You're such a tomboy! You should have been born as a boy, instead!" complained Emiko.

"Yeah! Sometimes, I even suspect the very fact that you're a girl!" Jaya joined in.

Well, of course, after a moment, the girls were giggling at their own bickering, including Rin herself.

"Now come to the point! How'd you know how a man you may never have seen would look like?" Rin paused and went on, "or guess something like, how many children you'd have, while as of now, you're not even married yet!?" she asked sensible questions.

"Show us your right hand's palm NOW!" Sae yelled.

Rin obeyed immediately.

Sae took Rin's held out palm of right hand, examined it and declared, "you'll have two children". Sae looked up at Rin as she turned the side of her palm to Rin's attention. Rin looked at the spot to which Sae was pointing to. There were two small, horizontal lines on the side of her palm, right below her little finger.

"Er… this tells you that I'll become a mother of two?" Rin queried disbelievingly, still having her eyes fixed on those lines.

"And I'll have ONE!" Sae said eagerly.

"Me too!" Jaya popped up.

"I'll have three!" Emiko's head poked out, her forefinger pointing upwards.

*SNOR…IIING*

Shippou was sleeping tight on Rin's lap, partly out of fatigue, mostly out of boredom.

"And we haven't told you the best part of today's discovery!"Jaya jumped up with a cat face and held out her palms to Rin.

"Look at my palms! I'll have a very handsome husband! *squeals*"

*BLINK-BLINK* Rin blinked blankly at Jaya for a moment.

Then she dragged her gaze to the held out palms, against her better judgment, hoping to find any image of some random guy with a good-looking face.

*BLINK-BLINK* Rin blinked blankly again. Those palms were just palms.

"Hey, Rin! This is the sign! Place your palms together facing upwards such that the sides of your palms and little fingers touch….Like THIS!" instructed Emiko as she demonstrated the action with her own hands.

Rin wordlessly followed her orders, but she did not feel any better than a beggar, who has held out her hands to beg for alms. Are they planning to make a fool-No-a beggar out of me, for fun? Rin was suspicious of the legitimacy of her friends' coaching.

"Now take a look at the horizontal lines on your palms, right below your fingers. The horizontal line on each of your palm should eventually turn upwards towards the forefinger…. like mine, see!" Emiko pointed out the lines on her own palms.

"If these lines are in a shape such as a crescent moon, then, it means that you'll have a very handsome husband! If those lines are only horizontal and have not curved upwards much then he'll not be a hunk." Emiko said assertively as though she knew that it was true.

Rin was not even looking at her own hands. She was so baffled at the stupidity of her friends' superstitions that her jaws dropped leaving her mouth open.

"Oh! Mine looks like a crescent moon! Well, er…almost…." Sae exuded.

Emiko: "Mine too! In fact, mine's much clearer!"

Jaya: "Mine is only straight! YAY!"

The other girls, including Rin snapped their heads in Jaya's direction with something more than shock in their faces. Sae scratched her head and said: "an' why are ya happy 'bout that? What if he's unattractive?"

Jaya said proudly: "My Suno is not the most good-looking guy in the village, y'know…"

Emiko said as if she realized something, "Oh yeah….You have a crush on him for a while now, haven't you? I almost forgot…."

Sae nodded her head, having been absorbed by the truth, "Mmhmm…."

Rin's forhead was sweating anime-style as she watched the show in front of her. "The craziest thing I've ever heard" she thought.

The only mistake she had committed was that she had thought it out aloud….

The next moment she was shot multiple daggers by her human-turned demon friends (A/N:- The girls are only humans; I have described that their fury was so much that it was as if they have turned into demons)

Rin's face turned blue out of fear.

"What. did. you. say?!" Emiko spat through gritted teeth.

"Hee..hee….*nervous chuckles* Emiko, dear! *nervous chuckles* Easy girl! I was just-" Rin said before she was interrupted by Sae.

"Now tell us Rin, what do you desire for…?" asked Sae. She was a bit annoyed but she was calmer than the others.

"Hey guys! I'm sorry if I offended you-" Rin apologized remorsefully before she got interrupted as usual.

"It's okay, Rin. We understand you. But as friends we'd like to know what you wish for….or more like what you aspire for…" Jaya said.

Rin began "I don't think this is the right time to-"

"SAY IT!" yelled the three other girls impatiently, which scared the life out of Rin and drove the sleep out of Shippou.

"AAAH!" Shippou screamed and hid behind Rin's back.

Rin knew she'd better give up before getting roasted alive in her friends' raging fire.

She smiled softly as she pointed her index finder upwards and looked up. The girls and Shippou followed Rin's gaze to the sky above.

"I…." Rin began in a gentle tone, "I aspire to reach the sky…".

Her mind was playing the scenes of her aspiration as she murmured, "stay there…..live there….."

Two seconds passed.

*FITS OF HYSTERICAL GIGGLES*

Jaya: "Rin! *giggles* what's gotten into you!?"

Emiko: "I didn't *giggles* expect something like this from you*giggles*"

Sae: "And THAT must be the craziest thing I've ever heard *giggles*"

Rin blinked at her friends innocently while Shippou was silently cursing the other girls at their rudeness.

Rin is not a dim-witted girl; she is popular among her friends for her sensibility and maturity beyond her age. As much as absurd as her own words sounded in her ears, as much as impossible her aspiration was, it was all Rin has desired for; aspired for; from childhood…..even before her family was killed. Well, she had wanted to be part of the sky as long as she could remember. But as to the questions such as 'why', 'how', 'when' etc., she had no answer. But bizarrely, she stuck to her aspiration and never had her hope faltered in all these years. Nor did she let others thrash her optimism. Rin was a mystery….even to herself….

The girls took their leave, saying that it was too late and their respective parents will be worried.

Well, Rin and Shippou had no 'parents' as such, who'd be worried about their absence, so they remained. Rin kept staring at the sky with a wide smile on her face, as if she was not deterred one bit, by her friend's dispiritedness. Shippou was gazing at Rin with a worried expression on his face. He was feeling very bad for the way the villagers and sometimes even her friends treat her. He just wished he could do something about this. But what can a small, defenseless, orphaned demon like him do?

"It's okay, Rin. Someday you WILL reach the sky!" Shippou said confidently, his petite hands, balled up in a fist. He knew inwardly that Rin would have felt hurt at the mockery her friends made of her, even though she never showed on her face. He wanted to comfort her somehow.

"Huh?!" Rin broke her gaze from the sky and looked down at her fox friend.

"Yeah! and you will STAY and LIVE there!...FOREVER!"Shippou said even more forcefully than the last time. But he had not the least idea how it will turn out to be true. Or will it? Nevertheless, he wanted to say and do anything and everything to make his friend feel better.

Rin's eyes watered which had not in a long time till then. She gave him the warmest smile she could muster at the moment.

"AW! Shippou! You're very sweet…. and kind! You're my best friend!' Rin said as she pulled him for a tight hug.

"not so sweet and kind as you are!" Shippou replied with pinked cheeks, as he hugged her back.

It was almost bedtime and Rin tucked Shippou in his small futon. She was not sleepy yet so she went out to have a glimpse of the bright crescent moon on the sky. The wind blew and danced with her frizzy hair. She was adoring the sight of the moon. It looked more exquisite than the last time she saw it. Some internal curiosity induced her to check her palms like how Emiko had told her earlier.

She took a look at her palms held upwards together and studied it. What she found out was a perfect shape of a crescent moon….too perfect to be true. Does that have to mean that her husband will be exceedingly handsome?

*CHUCKLES* Rin chuckled at the absurdity of the thought. All her life, she was in the village and she had never met any guy who made her think that he is 'exceedingly handsome'.

However, she could not help the small-shy smile that blossomed on her lips as she pondered over the prospects if at all this superstition was true…

Rin drew in a deep breath, turned her gaze to the sky's crescent moon again and uttered, having lost in thoughts of future, "and who might that be…?"

"It is I, Sesshomaru" answered a young, exceedingly good-looking, dog demon, in his smooth, silky, baritone voice, to the inquiry of the maid-in-charge of his fiancée, Kagura.

Poor, Rin! How will she survive the hardships in her village and materialize her aspiration (if that was ever possible….)? And what of the handsome, dog demon, Sesshomaru…?

Stay tuned until next chap! ;)

I hope you all like this start… Although I have an overall idea as to what I want out of the story, I don't know how to bring them all about…. I don't have the entire plot under my control this time, so, I request you to review and tell me how you felt when you read this chap…. Feel free to drop in some suggestions…. Also, even one letter of review from you will serve as a great motivation to a writer like me… ^^

So, should I continue…? PLz review…. :)