Disclaimer: Rin, Sesshoumaru and all other characters from Inuyasha belong to Rumiko Takahashi and the other various entities involved with the production of the manga and anime. I do not profit from this piece, nor is any copyright infringement intended by it.

A/N: Just a little something I wrote back in 2013. Four years later, I found a typo and had to fix it . . .

Three hours.

Sesshoumaru exhaled deeply, his breath forming a fine evanescent mist in the frigid winter air. He had been standing there, at the edge of the tree line, for three long, tedious hours—hours he could have put to more productive use; precious hours of his life he would never get back. Looking across the clearing, he watched his ward, his brother and the motley assortment of characters his brother considered friends as they laughed and frolicked under the light of the moon and strategically placed luminaires, seemingly oblivious to the cold.

What was he doing here again?

Just then, the young brunette looked up and waved enthusiastically at him, wearing a brilliant grin that stretched from ear to ear.

Ah, yes. Sesshoumaru remembered now. She had begged him to come tonight.

Pleaded . . .

Stared at him with those hopeful eyes, watching him with bated breath, as though the future of her world was dependent on his answer to her request . . .

At one point, he thought she would start groveling on her hands and knees. It was that pathetic a display. He could not bring himself to tell her no.

Sesshoumaru continued to observe the spectacle, smoothly masking confusion behind a well-practiced face of indifference. He truly could not get his head around the purpose of the festivities. Somehow, that strange miko had convinced Rin and countless others that it would be a fantastic idea to have a New Year's celebration. Rin said there would be music, dancing, fireworks—anything you could imagine for such a celebration. But why go to all the trouble when the next year did not start for another two months? It made absolutely no sense. Not that he cared.

Rin jogged over to the secluded spot where he had taken refuge, boots crunching in the snow. "Why are you over here all by yourself, Sesshoumaru-sama? You should come join us."

"I'll pass."

Rin stuck her tongue out at him teasingly. "So grumpy."

Sesshoumaru glared at her from the corner his eye. "If you were anyone else . . .," he muttered, letting the rest of his words drift away. She knew the implications of his words.

She snickered, a smirk playing at the corner of her mouth. "I am such a lucky woman to have such a compassionate lord. You are so forgiving of all my silly transgressions."

Sesshoumaru sighed inwardly. There was no winning with her. "Tell me," he said, changing the subject, "why exactly did the miko decide to have a New Year's festival in the middle of winter?"

"Kagome-sama said that in her homeland, the New Year celebration falls in this month, rather than when we celebrate it," Rin replied, pausing long enough to see the still-skeptical look on his face, before deciding to elaborate further. "She's been feeling homesick lately, so we thought it would be fun do something she used to do before she came here."

Sesshoumaru nodded. It figured that Inuyasha's wench was behind this. She usually was the culprit behind Rin's fascination with bizarre things.

Rin's voice called him from his thoughts. "So . . . you're really going to keep lurking in the shadows all night, aren't you?"

"If it bothers you, I can leave." With great pleasure and haste, lest I lose my mind or die of boredom before sunrise . . .

"No!" Rin shouted. "I mean, if you don't want to stay, you don't have to. I just thought that . . . um . . ." She sighed and looked away, nervously fidgeting with the hems of her sleeves. "I don't know what I was thinking. I should have known better. Why would you want to come to a stupid human party anyway?"

Sesshoumaru leveled a cool gaze upon his ward. He was inclined to ask her the same question, but refrained, the dejected tone of her voice cutting him a little deeper than he cared to admit. He watched her closely, waiting until her nervous eyes finally flicked back to his face before he spoke again. "Do you wish for me to stay?"

"Will you? At least long enough to watch the fireworks with me?" Rin asked, watching him in hopeful anticipation. With every second that passed, Sesshoumaru felt the inclination to leave slip further and further away, until he finally nodded his head in quiet resignation. What was it about her that made him so incapable of saying no?

"Thank you, Sesshoumaru-sama!" Rin exclaimed, happily bouncing up and down in the snow. For an instant, Sesshoumaru thought that the girl might try to hug him.

Hell, he would probably let her do that, too.

After a few more excited comments and gestures, Rin finally calmed herself. He stood beside her in comfortable silence, watching the moon and the stars drift across the obsidian sky. Sesshoumaru cast a glance to his side, sneaking a glimpse of his ward as she looked into the distance. She looked particularly fetching this evening. She wore one of the best kimonos she owned—a piece made from bright red silk and embroidered with elaborate gold and white cranes; his gift to her for her mogi celebration three years earlier. Her hair was loose; long, wavy locks flowing freely down her back. For a moment, he wondered if there was some boy in attendance that she was trying to impress.

And for the briefest of instants, Sesshoumaru was actually jealous.

Ridiculous . . .

He decided to ignore the unusual thought, addressing the girl about another subject that had been on his mind of late. "So have you given it some thought? About whether you would prefer to remain here or resume your travels with Jaken and me?"

Rin turned to him and smiled. "That's such a silly question, Sesshoumaru-sama. Of course I want to . . . ah!" she paused with a gasp as the first mortar flew into the air, exploding with a powerful boom, throwing brilliant reds across the sky. "It's so pretty!"

Sesshoumaru snorted and shook his head. Still such a child . . .

Rin continued to stare into the night sky, in complete awe of the spectacle before and completely oblivious to the daiyoukai's derision. He was sure she had seen fireworks before. What was so special about these?

Just then, Rin moved, stepping right in front of him, staring at him with the most peculiar look on her face. It was an odd mix of fear, indecision, excitement and . . . something that Sesshoumaru could not quite identify.

"Yes?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Suddenly, she clasped her hands on his cheeks and, rising onto her tiptoes, pressed a firm kiss to his lips.

Sesshoumaru's eyes shot open, wide with shock. This he had not expected. Every muscle in his body tensed at the sudden intrusion of his personal space, yet he did not pull away. Confusion overrode the voice in the back of his mind screaming at him the million reasons why he should push the girl away.

Not that it was an unpleasant experience—the softness of her skin, the warmth of her body so close to his. Nor was the soft scent of the dried rose petals with which she bathed or the lingering taste of sake on her lips. It was quite the opposite actually, all serving to further cloud his thoughts, drawing him deeper and deeper into a void of curiously pleasant sensations.

Amber eyes finally closed as Sesshoumaru leaned into her a bit more. His hands drifted upwards, ghosting across the curve of her hips, fingertips softly brushing the smooth silk of her robes. He felt her fingers leave his face and weave themselves into his thick hair; his skin tingling beneath her fingertips.

Not unpleasant at all . . . how odd.

"Oi, Kagome!" Inuyasha yelled as he walked across the snowy ground. "It's freezing out here! Why are we doing this again?"

The priestess turned to face her husband. "I don't know. It was Rin's idea. She thought it would be fun to have a New Year's style winter party. It's nice though . . . kind of reminds me of New Year's Eve back home."

"This party Rin wanted to have . . . it wouldn't have anything to do with Sesshoumaru, would it?"

Kagome shrugged. "I don't think so. I know he's around here somewhere, but I can't imagine why he even came in the first place."

Inuyasha snorted. "Yeah, sure. I bet you have no clue at all."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Seriously?" he asked, dumbfounded. "You don't see them? They've been at it for a while now."

"See who? What?"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Geez, your eyesight is terrible!"

"Oh, give me a break! It's the middle of the night! I don't have magic demon night vision like some people do."

The hanyou sighed. He walked behind his wife and firmly placed his hands on her shoulders, roughly turning her to her left. "Over there, by the trees."

Kagome's jaw hit the ground. She looked to her husband, then to the trees, then back again. "No way."

"Told you so," the hanyou replied proudly, folding his arms across his chest, a triumphant grin plastered on his face.

"Go get her!" she yelled, gesturing wildly towards the silhouettes in the distance.

"Whaddya mean, 'go get her'?"

"I mean, Rin's making out with your brother! He's like a million years older than her!"

"So? I'm older than you."

"That's different. This is cradle-robbing."

"Oh, whatever," Inuyasha replied tartly. "You're making a big deal out of nothing."

"You really don't see the problem with what they're doing?"

"Aside from the fact that the thought of anyone willingly making out with Sesshoumaru is gross and will give me nightmares? Or that he's a colossal asshole? No. Besides," Inuyasha shrugged, "maybe getting some will loosen him up a little."

Kagome smacked him in the shoulder. "Ugh, you disgusting pig! I cannot believe you just said that!"

"What?"

"OSUWARI!"

Sesshoumaru smirked as he drew Rin closer, losing himself in her lips just a little more.