The Journey of a Man
Hey, new story here. I own nothing of Inuyasha and the series' characters.
It was silent-save for the few rustles of paper. Rin sat behind the oval desk, just like every day, thumbing through one of her large textbooks.
"Mou~, maybe I should've taken chemistry last year instead," but the junior knew she wanted to take the art course the year before.
She sighed heavily and glanced at the cart filled with the returned books, knowing she'd have to lug all of them back to their rightful places. She pouted slightly then reluctantly left her spin chair. Her hands had just touched the handles when the double doored entrance swung open. Rin spun on her heel with a smile on her face. It faltered though, when her eyes met with Sesshoumaru Takahashi, the killing perfection. Like all the stories told, he demanded respect with his cool glare, his beautiful white hair that framed his chiseled face-
"-rny of a Man."
'S-shoot, what did he say? Oh, bad Rin.'
She was distracted! So she took a wild guess hoping to save at least some face.
"A-no, did you say you wanted The Journey of a Man?
He only nodded.
" T-this way then." Rin grasped the handles of the cart and pushed. On the inside she let out a large sigh of relief. 'Thank Kami'
She led Sesshoumaru to a secluded shelf.
"The book should be right here along with other books that might interest you."
He turned to the shelf and nodded. She smiled and turned to the shelf opposite, taking some books in hand. She began sliding the books in their places. It was an easy job, nothing strenuous. Another plus side was she stayed out the imposing aura of the demon beside her.
"L-717." She murmured. Rin had grabbed a heavy book and looked up warily at its intended place on the top shelf. She braced herself and grabbed the metal stool attached to the cart and elevated her toes. Even standing on a stool and on her tippy toes, her mere five foot height wasn't enough. That wouldn't stop her though. It wasn't like she could ask the dangerous demon next to her. That'd be so embarrassing!
So Rin reached and reached and reached! The stool wobbled but she was too focused. She'd finally touched the top of the shelf when she was suddenly falling back.
'Oh no!' She shut her eyes tight, waiting for the impact. She slammed into something hard-but not hard as in the ground. No, she would know the difference after countless times of falling. She knew the brittleness of the cheap carpet on her back. This time though, it was firm and she felt nothing brittle.
She slowly peeled her eyes open to come face to face with Sesshoumaru's, spiderman-style.
Sort of.
'Was it her or was the heater on just a little too high?' Rin and Sesshoumaru spent what seemed like a decade, staring.
'His eyes, pretty. I-is that red in his eyes?' she reached up to touch his face, to lost in curiosity and awe. Though he slightly flinched at the contact, he didn't pull away. His eyes were indeed flecked with red.
The shrill bell broke their stare and Rin shot up in embarrassment. Her face burned as she scurried from his lap to the front of the library. She sat behind the oval desk, facing away from the double doored entry and especially away from the silent demon passing through them. Rin waited for a minute to calm her heart before she collected her things and made her way to her class.
The next day, Rin stood nervously at the double doors. She'd just finished her fourth period and her nerves were rung as tight as a rag. She'd glanced over her shoulder more than once just to see if he was around.
No luck.
She braced herself and walked through the doors. Not as many people were there, all of them set in their old world. None with captivating gold eyes with red flecks though.
Sighing at her dramatization of the whole event, she organized herself at the oval desk and opened a new textbook. Several times during the lunch hour, she'd catch herself glancing at the double doors a little longer than needed, so she would quickly berate herself.
Her eyes skimmed the English text, not really absorbing the foreign words. The shrill reminder rang and she gathered her things solemnly.
"Oh Rin, reading all those romance novels have really gotten to you." She shuffled to her next class, through the sea of older and young students, not once looking up.
That was until she hit a hard shoulder.
"Nngh." She winced. Rin looks around to find her culprit but the hallway was filled with too many students.
"Mou~" She huffed.
Finally she'd made it to her class. Rin settled down to her seat after a series of "Hello's" and "How are you's".
She reached her desk and reached into her bag for materials. Her hands brushed upon paper that most certainly not there moments ago.
Steps After Us is a more adequate resource for your Biology test.
The writing was beautiful although the note was somewhat unnerving. 'Who was this?' Rin knew the book though. If she decided to trust this newfound advice, she'd have to start reading immediately to be able to fit her other reading material.
The final bell rang, jolting Rin from her thoughts. She hurriedly sat down.
A week had passed and Rin had found her routine again. She picked up the new book and true to the beautiful words, it prepped her more "adequately".
Friday's lunch didn't seem any different. The bell rang; she came in, settled into her spinney chair behind her oval desk and cracked open her boo, already halfway done with it. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, she'd stopped fantasizing Sesshoumaru would just show up. She figured after a week, he had better things to do and it wasn't like they had had a conversation, just prolonged eye contact. That's all.
Yea, that's all.
Even in her head, she sounded like a hopeless romantic.
Sighing, she shook her head and continued reading. Half the lunch had passed when one of the doors swung open. Rin looked up, ready to greet the newcomer with a smile.
Her smile faltered.
Man, this demon surprised her. In her head, she began to tally the accumulating number of surprises.
He passed casually and took a seat, taking his own reading miscellaneous materials out. She hid her face in her book. Face red, she occasionally looked over the hard cover to watch him.
Five minutes into her new hobby, he stood up. She squeaked and abruptly looked down.
She waited three minutes; she'd counted, before she slyly looked up. Sure enough he was back at his solitary seat. Rin sighed at her anxiety. Lowering her eyes to the desk, what was she expecting?
Her eyes landed on a small sheet of paper. 'Was that always there?'
This one, is pleased you enjoy the book.
It was the same beautiful handwriting. She only looked in awe, were they here? She stood up abruptly and began to look around furiously.
Then the bell rang and Rin's shoulders sagged in defeat.
Things would continue as it was except Sesshoumaru would spend his days at the library and occasionally a note or two would show up on Rin's desk. A month of this had passed, Rin had stopped hiding from Sesshoumaru and they had gone from strangers to somewhat comfortable friends. Rin conversed lightly with Sesshoumaru and he listened. Even she and her mystery writer changed their once routine. The notes changed from books to her, school, and even to him. She'd found all but his name.
They had just entered the halfway mark of two months when Sesshoumaru had stopped coming. It was abrupt. At first, she thought he was talking to his teachers. It was his last year; Rin assured herself he was getting his ducks in a row. Rin never saw him that lunch.
More lunch hours passed, Sesshoumaru stopped coming and eventually, even her occasional notes ceased. It was heartbreaking. Rin had thought she'd created something special with her two friends. She soldiered on though, even when students began to bully her.
It was random. At first, they were just tripping her, childish pranks. But then, they would push her, steal her shoes, and once, even a bucket of water was poured over her. After two and half months it had stopped. Rin's only sanctuary was the library. Even after the bullying had stopped, she thought it'd be safer to just stay in the library. So she buried herself in the library for three and half lonely months.