Sesshomaru was already having a bad day to begin with before he got ice cold water dumped on his head.
He had had an…encounter, so to say, with his half-brother earlier, which left him in a foul mood. Knowing what would happen if he brought that mood back home to Kagura, he went to relax in the most secluded part of his favorite park. He sat down and leaned against a tree trunk, closing his eyes to rest for only a few minutes.
Of course, he had forgotten that he had a giant bruise on his cheek that wasn't healing as fast as he wanted it too.
All he knew was that one minute he was resting (and no, Kagura, the great Sesshomaru does not take naps) and the next, someone had dumped water on top of his head.
Needless to say, it wasn't exactly a pleasant feeling.
Sesshomaru sat up immediately, eyes wide and ferocious as he looked around to see who had done it. If Inuyasha had come back for another stupid fight then he would not hold back—
The dog demon stopped at seeing who had been the one to do so. It wasn't his annoying half-brother, nor had it been said-brother's nagging significant other, or even Kagura pulling a prank on him. It was a tiny, petite woman leaning her torso forward to look at him in the eye.
"Oops! Sorry!" The woman straightened up.
Even in her full height, she was still rather tiny - only 5'2 if Sesshomaru's eyes weren't deceiving him. She was the epitome of innocence - she was wearing a knee-length yellow and orange sundress, with nice flats on her tiny feet. Part of her hair was pulled into a small ponytail to the side on top of her head, the rest of it loose. And to top it all off, she had a picnic basket in one hand, an empty bottle of water in her other.
Sesshomaru glared at her and huffed, not saying a word. Why should he? She was the one who had thought it was a good idea to dump water on his head.
"I'm really sorry! I saw that you were taking a nap and when I got closer you had a giant bruise on your cheek and no arm and your chest was barely moving so I panicked and dumped water on your head to shock you into speed your heart up!" she said in all one breath, kneeling down in front of him to be on a better level. "Are you okay?"
"What is the meaning behind you thinking that dumping water on my head would help my heart speed up and thus save me?" Sesshomaru growled out at her, fruitlessly trying to dry his hair. Maybe he shouldn't have left his automail arm at home, it was hard drying hair with one hand. But the arm had just gotten lengthened, and Sesshomaru always waited a day before putting new automail on. It drove Kagura nuts, which is probably why he did it.
"Cold water is a shock to your skin, you see, so when it hits you when you're unaware your sensory neurons are telling your brain that something is going on and your brain makes you wake up to see if anything bad is happening," the woman explained, before blushing a pretty pink. "Sorry, I'm training to be a pediatrician. Oh! I haven't even introduced myself!" She smacked herself on the forehead before bowing towards him. "Hi, I'm Rin. Rin Hayashi. What's your name?"
Sesshomaru only raised an eyebrow. This woman was…interesting, in a strange way. Mostly an annoying sort of interesting, but still interesting. "Do you need my name?"
The woman, Rin, frowned. "Not for any purpose…I just like to know the name of the people I talk too. You don't have to be so rude about it," she huffed, crossing her arms across her chest and glaring at him.
She looked like as intimidating as a Chihuahua. It was strangely adorable.
"Sesshomaru Takahashi." He stood up, and Rin looked at him with astonishment in her eyes. "I'll be leaving now."
"Wait! Do you like salmon?" Rin began to rummage around her picnic basket, not waiting for an answer.
"I'm leaving to go home." Sesshomaru wondered why he wanted her to know he was leaving. If it had been anyone else he would've walked away without a word, so why not her? "Kagura must be waiting—"
His mouth wouldn't stop forming words. He wondered if this was how Inuyasha felt like all of the time.
"Your girlfriend? She can have some too then!" Rin stood up and offered the Tupperware full of what seemed to be squared-cut salmon sandwiches. "Here you go!"
Sesshomaru gingerly took it, eyeing the Tupperware as if it was about to explode. "Why are you…?"
"I'm having a picnic with my cousin and her boyfriend soon so I may have packed too much food but I wasn't sure, considering he doesn't seem to have gag reflex. And I figured you should have some too!" Rin beamed up at him, having to crane her head slightly to meet his eyes. "You can keep the Tupperware if you're so worried about how to give it back."
Sesshomaru didn't say a word, just nodded his head to her and walked away.
What a strange woman.
###
"Sesshomaru, you forgot to put on your automail - what the actual fuck."
Kagura reacted much better than what he let himself imagine. She only clutched the automail arm closer and raised an eyebrow at the Tupperware in his one hand.
"A human decided to give it to me after dumping water on my head in the park." He put the Tupperware on the coffee table and sat down on the sofa, rolling up his left sleeve. "The automail?"
Kagura rolled her eyes and pushed him down, making him lie down with his left side facing the equipment. She began to fiddle with it, lining the arm with his stump.
Life was good when your girlfriend was also your automail mechanic.
"A human dumped water on your head?" she questioned. "Did you catch it on video?"
Sesshomaru glared up at her. She smiled innocently and decided that that was the perfect time to connect the nerves to the automail. Sesshomaru didn't flinch, but Kagura found great enjoyment in the look of annoyance in his eyes.
"No. It was a…peculiar human woman. Started talking about medicine and rudeness and salmon—"
"Salmon? Is that what the sandwiches are?" Kagura began to put her equipment away. "Was she cute?"
"Kagura, you know very well that I'm—"
"Just because you're asexual doesn't mean you can't recognize a cute person when you see one, Mr. I'm-In-The-Bathroom-All-Morning-To-Reach-My-Makeup-Aesthetic." Kagura raised an eyebrow. "So was she cute?"
Sesshomaru glared at her and turned away, huffing. Kagura leaned back in her chair, grabbing the Tupperware and opening it up. His nose twitched, and she smirked, grabbing a sandwich and taking a bite out of it.
"Well, cute or not, she makes good sandwiches. Do you at least know her name?"
Sesshomaru turned to look at his girlfriend who was heartily eating the salmon sandwiches with that ever-present smirk on her face. Without a word, he leaned over and snatched a sandwich out of her hands, taking a bite of it herself.
"She said her name was Rin Hayashi. And she was cute, in that innocent woman sort of way."
Kagura smirked. "That's all I needed to know."
###
Kagura could deal with many things. She was related to a psychopath and had to deal with him for most of her life, after all.
But Sesshomaru's bad attitude was not one of the things she could deal with.
Under her breath, she muttered curses that would make even sailor-mouth possible brother-in-law Inuyasha blush bright red as she worked on an automail leg that the hospital had commissioned her for. It was clearly for a young kid by the length they asked for, and her heart ached in thinking of how that poor kid lost their leg.
This was the curse of being an automail mechanic. The only client she had that she didn't feel bad for was Sesshomaru, and that was because for the year he had gone around without an automail arm, people would often forget that he no longer had one of his arms. Also because he was an asshole, but she digressed.
"What's he blaming me for, it's not like I asked Kagome to come over, the girl comes in whenever she wants—" she muttered.
"Hello? Is Kagura Kaze here?"
Kagura cursed and stood up, stomping over to the front of the shop, still too angry to care about first impressions or some other bullshit. She was ready to unleash her pissy mood onto the person who probably didn't deserve to get yelled at when she caught sight of her.
She was small and petite, looking around with wide brown eyes filled with childish wonder. Incredibly fashionable - a beige trench coat with cute little round buttons and a gray spotted bow at the collar, wearing black leggings with cute black boots to match. Her black hair had a small little side-ponytail, and she was even holding a cute big purse to match her trench coat.
God, she was so incredibly cute.
And here she was, with her hair not in its usual intricate hairstyle but a simple high ponytail, sweatpants, and a sports bra. And she probably had oil grease in her pants and face. Shit.
"Are you Kagura Kaze?" The woman tilted her head to the side, the shininess of her smile resembling the sun. Kagura didn't know whether to find that endearing or annoying. She went with endearing.
"Yes, I am. Just call me Kagura. Do you need something?" She grabbed a towel, wiping her face just in case there really was oil on her face.
"Hi! I'm Rin Hayashi, I'm a training pediatrician at the Children's Hospital." She fumbled with her bag, pulling out her wallet and her identification to prove that she did in fact work at the hospital. Kagura raised an eyebrow, impressed that this tiny woman knew what she wanted without her having to ask, before her eyes lit up with recognition.
Rin Hayashi…the woman who poured water on Sesshomaru's head? Oh, this will be good. Kagura leaned forward to inspect the ID, nodding. "Of course. Are you here for the automail leg? I was going to the hospital—"
"I am, but not to take it!" Rin assured her hastily, eyes wide. "I'm just here to inspect it, you see, before you to come in tomorrow for the procedure to connect the nerves and such. I have some knowledge of automail because my cousin's boyfriend is a mechanic, so they decided to send me."
"I see. Well, I was just now tweaking it in the back, so if you're not squeamish about getting your cute outfit all dirty—"
"Oh, I'm not!" Rin placed her hands on the counter, standing up in her tiptoes to reach Kagura's eyes. "I've always found automail amazing! The science behind connecting the nerves to an arm to be able to flex fingers or wiggle toes is awe-inspiring!" She finally leaned back, resting her heels on the floor again. "And even if I get this outfit dirty, the best friend of my future cousin-in-law is a fashion nut - she has her own line and everything. She'll fix it." She waved her hand and clapped her hands together. "Can I see?"
Under normal circumstances, Kagura would've found this sort of behavior on anyone else annoying. On Rin, it was adorable.
"Sure, as long as you promise not to dump a bottle of ice cold water on my head because you think I'm dying." Kagura rested her elbows on the counter, smirking at her with an raised eyebrow.
Rin's face flushed a pretty pink. "Oh! You're Sesshomaru's girlfriend? And he told you about it?"
"You bet. Too bad you weren't filming it, I need the blackmail material." Kagura sighed in disappointment.
Rin blinked. "Aren't you two dating?"
"Your point?"
Rin stared at her before ducking her head down, raising her hand to her mouth as her shoulders shook. It seemed like she couldn't hold it in, because soon after she began to laugh. Her laughter sounded like bells.
"His face was pretty funny," Rin admitted, coming around the counter. "If I see him dozing off in the park again, I promise I'll do it again and have someone film it for you."
"I'd very much appreciate it. Now, you wanted to see that automail?"
Rin's back immediately straightened, and she nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! Very much!"
An hour and a half later, Rin had to go back to work, leaving Kagura alone in her shop with a Tupperware full of cookies and a laughing wind demoness.
"Tell Fluffy I said hi!"
God that woman was surely something else.
###
"So I met Rin today. You know, the girl who dumped water on your head?"
Sesshomaru let out a "hmmm" as he flipped another page in his book, not looking at his girlfriend.
"She told me to tell Fluffy she said hi, so hi, Fluffy." Kagura flicked at the fluffiness Rin had been referring to, watching with amusement as Sesshomaru's eye twitched.
"She's ridiculously cute."
Sesshomaru "hmmm"ed again. "Your point?"
"My point is that ever since she dumped water on your head, she's been in your head, and I honestly can't blame you. I had to close the shop early because I kept getting distracted thinking of her."
The dog demon grunted and closed his book. "What do you want, Kagura?"
"I want her," she said bluntly. "And I know you do, too."
"I'm not breaking up with you—"
"Good, neither am I. I'm just saying that she's a special girl and it's not like we're both monogamous, Sesshomaru."
"…tell me you don't have some stupid plan to ask her out, Kagura."
"Have I ever had a stupid plan to ask people out?"
"Kagura, need I remind you of how you tried to ask me out."
"That was different and you know it. Are you going to listen or not?"
"…"
"That's what I thought."
Rin stared up at the two demons with an unamused look in her face, hands on her hips. "You know, you could've just asked me out like a regular person instead of pretending that your little sister was your sick child that could only be cured if I went out with you."
Sesshomaru shrugged. "It was Kagura's idea."
"Shut up, Sesshomaru."
Without meaning too, Rin giggled. "You two are dorks. Does meeting at the park at Saturday around four pm sound good?"
"Perfect."