"So Rin, you know that demon that keeps visiting?" said one of the village girls near Rin's ear. Rin, now fourteen shied away from the warm breath blowing on her skin, a demure smile on her face. The other village girl was sneering at her.

"Lord Sesshōmaru?"

"Yeah, that one. He's really handsome isn't he?"

Rin chuckled uncomfortably as she looked away from the village girl, her eyes landing on another village girl who was working in the fields. The other girls saw Rin's look and rushed towards them.

"Aoi, Rin, what're you talking about?"

"How handsome Rin's demon is," said Aoi, switching places to be beside the new comer.

"Oh he is handsome. All that long hair, and I saw him once without his shirt on and damn, he's got great muscles."

Aoi chortled. "Lucky bitch. I was just asking Rin what she thought of him."

"Well Rin?" asked the new comer, both girls watching Rin expectantly.

"Well I suppose. I don't think about him that way though."

"You must be kidding!" said Aoi, mouth agape. "There is no way you can't think of someone that handsome like that. I always think about him at night, when I'm under the covers, you know. He's so hot."

Rin gulped. "I just don't think about him like that. He's like my father."

The newcomer, Kaori, snorted, rolling her eyes at Rin's words. "He's too young to be a father. Anyway, what interest would he have in a human girl like you if he doesn't plan on getting a little something from you in a year or two? Men don't want daughters, they want wives. No one is voluntarily going to take a daughter that's not there blood and flesh."

"Exactly Kaori!" agreed Aoi. "Don't you see Rin; he doesn't see you the same way? Even if he did, which he is definitely doesn't, why would you see him that way? What's the benefit for you?"

"So I'm not alone?" she answered hesitantly.

"Wrong! There is no benefit for you. He will get you nothing as a "father". Men are husbands and that is it." Aoi nodded her head to back up her point then looked to Kaori with a smug look. Kaori was nodding her head vigorously

"I have to go," Rin murmured, rushing off before the two girls could say anymore.

"Lord Sesshōmaru?" Rin asked as she held the canary yellow yukata in her hands. Her fingers brushed over the fabric, knowing she should've been excited about the gift, but hearing the words of the village girls instead.

"Hn?"

Rin sighed, looking up at her lord as she clasped her hands in her lap. "I was talking with some of the other girls a few days ago and they asked about you. What are you to me?"

The looked that covered his face was one she had only seen once before, when she had asked him if he would remember her after she died. "Don't be so silly. You are my daughter, I am your father."

Rin's lips bloomed into a beautiful, radiant smile, just like the once so many years ago when she was mute and he was injured.

Rin threw her arms around Sesshōmaru's neck, catching him off-guard again. "Thank you father."