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Disclaimer: I don't own these characters; they are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I merely place them in odd situations for my own amusement.
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Summary: Raising a teenager is never easy, and Rin is hiding something from the people who love her…
This is just a little one-shot taking place in the Naraku's Angels universe, but you don't need to read Naraku's Angels to understand it. It stands on its own.
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The Trouble with Rin-chan
……
"Psst! Rin!"
The crumpled note was passed effortlessly into Rin's waiting hand. Shaking with a mixture of anticipation and dread, the teenage girl quickly opened the note and glanced at the contents. Rin drew her breath in with an involuntary hiss when she read the scrawled lines.
Ten minutes after school ends – the same place as last time.
Rin gave a quick glance over at Suekichi, who was waiting for her response. She inclined her head slightly to show her acceptance of the agreed meeting and then attempted to return her attention to the teacher. Groaning inwardly, Rin realized the teacher was still discussing the same subject she had tuned out over twenty minutes ago. How can anyone make a lecture of the breeding habits of snakes last longer than the lifespan of the snake itself? Kill me now…
Another note was quietly pressed into her hand, this time from Kokichi. Hesitantly, Rin opened the note and tried to decipher her best friend's scribbles. That's wearing off? No, that couldn't be right…What's…going on?
This wasn't good. Kokichi had been more than a little suspicious of her activities lately, and now he had witnessed the note-passing between Suekichi and Rin. Nothing, he just wants to get to know me better. Is that so weird? Rin scratched her answer and passed the note back to the boy who'd been her friend since childhood. She felt a pang of guilt for deceiving Kokichi, but if he found out what was really going on he'd be sure to tell her parents…
The bell rang, releasing her from the unceasing torment of a stuffy classroom and Ms. Tsubaki's uninspired description of serpent mating rituals. As Rin gathered up her books in preparation for leaving, her instructor called for her to wait. With a suppressed sigh, Rin stood patiently before Ms. Tsubaki's deskas the other students left the classroom.
"Yes Ma'am?" Rin asked as the teacher looked her over with suspicion.
"I don't have a lot of time, Miss Taisho, so I'm going to be direct and get right to the heart of this," Ms. Tsubaki began.
Too bad you couldn't have done that with today's lesson, Rin thought caustically.
"Your grade in this class is barely above passing. A couple of your other teachers have commented on your declining performance in their classes as well," Ms. Tsubaki snapped, her thin lips compressing into a hard line. "This not only reflects poorly on you, Rin, but it makes our school look bad. How are we supposed to explain our former star pupil's sudden lack of scholarship?"
"I'm sorry," Rin muttered, staring at her toes. "I'll try harder to improve. I've just been occupied with other things lately."
"You've been coming to class looking like you slept in a suitcase; that is, when you actually come to class. I've noticed your attendance has suffered as well as your grades, Miss Taisho. And when you aren't falling asleep during my lectures, you're passing notes."
Rin shifted uncomfortably. "I said I'd try harder, what more do you want from me?" she bit out.
Ms. Tsubaki's eyes flared with anger. "If the current rumors floating around the school have any basis in truth, then you're hanging out with a different crowd these days. Tell me: is the friendship of the mayor's son and his lackey worth the loss of your academic standing? Or don't you realize they'll drop you like moldy Spam when they get tired of you?"
"Taromaru and Suekichi are my friends!" Rin protested hotly. "They wouldn't treat me that way! And it's nobody's business if I choose to be around them!"
"Get out of my classroom," Ms. Tsubaki hissed, pointing a sharp fingernail toward the door. "I'll be discussing this matter with your parents, Miss Taisho. Let's see how you address my concerns with them in the room!"
Fighting back tears, Rin left the classroom at a run. She threw her books in her locker and grabbed the huge yellow backpack her Aunt Kagome had given her. Checking to make sure no one was following her, Rin headed towards the meeting place.
The soccer practice fields were empty. Rin ran toward the back of the bleachers, choosing the tallest set to hide her presence on the field. Suekichi and Taromaru were waiting for her beneath the stands.
"Trouble?" Taromaru asked her worriedly.
"Nothing I can't handle," Rin assured him. "That bitch Tsubaki just won't get off my ass. She's pissed because the prize pupil she's been bragging about is making her look bad," she snarled. "So, have you got it?"
Taromaru checked to ensure the fields were still empty before opening his backpack. "Yeah, I got it. It took me awhile to find the good stuff, though. My usual source didn't have anything but the cheap shit."
"Good," Rin heaved a sigh of relief as she took the plastic bag from Taromaru and stuffed it into her own backpack. "You don't know how bad I need this stuff, Taro. How much do I owe you?"
……
"So how's life been treating you, Sesshomaru?" the Chief of Police asked Sesshomaru. "Shikako was just saying we needed to invite you and the family over for a pig roast one of these weekends. What's your schedule like these days?"
"Kagura's had her hands full with work from the detective agency, Umao," Sesshomaru told his friend. "Otherwise, we're just busy raising children. It's a full-time job trying to stay one step ahead of the little crumb-snatchers." Sesshomaru stretched his long legs out, enjoying the feel of the afternoon sun. The sidewalk café was relatively empty at this hour, leaving Umao and him to enjoy the peaceful atmosphere.
"Yeah, parenting is hard work," Umao agreed glumly. "The longer I'm with the force, the more I worry about raising my own kids. Part of me thinks they'll turn out okay, and the other part of me wants to take them into the woods and raise them far away from other people."
"Is it that bad around here?" Sesshomaru asked curiously. "I mean, I know we have the usual crimes, but I never thought of this area as being particularly unsafe. Or were you thinking of something specific?"
Umao took a long sip of his drink before replying. He seemed to be weighing something in his mind. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about a problem we're having," the police chief admitted. "We've had a huge increase in drug trafficking activity over the last month."
"What, your narc squad can't take care of it?" Sesshomaru asked with a raised eyebrow.
"We have a handle on it," Umao said. "What we're lacking right now is proof, but we'll get that in time. Look, can you pretend for a minute that I'm not the Chief of Police, that we're just two concerned fathers talking to each other?" he asked the silver-haired man sitting across from him.
Sesshomaru straightened in his chair. His friend wore a serious look on his face, the kind of look law enforcement officers wore when they were about to drop bad news in your lap. Sesshomaru remembered that look all too well from the day the police had arrived to tell him his father had been murdered. "Whatever it is, just spit it out," he told Umao. "It's obviously got you worried."
"It's possible that some of the drug activity is closer to you than you think," Umao said reluctantly. He swallowed hard as Sesshomaru tensed in response to his statement. "We think the drugs are being distributed through the high school."
"So what's your point?" Sesshomaru asked.
"Rin's been hanging around with some different friends lately, hasn't she? I never see her with Kokichi these days. Every time I run into her, she's been with the mayor's son," the police chief pointed out.
"You're talking about Taromaru," Sesshomaru stated the obvious. "Cut to the chase, Umao. What's this got to do with Rin?"
"How well do you know this kid she's been dating, Sesshomaru?"
"Taromaru and Rin have been dating for a while," Sesshomaru answered as his mind raced. "I can't say I know him all that well, but he and Rin have never given me any reason to worry. His friend Suekichi is always with them whenever he comes over to our house. Both of them have always seemed…harmless." Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes at his longtime friend. "Umao, we're not talking about 'problem children' here, we're talking about three teenagers who don't even get detention! What aren't you telling me?"
"We've had one of the distributors under surveillance all month, but we haven't pulled him in because we're still trying to catch the main supplier." Umao hesitated before continuing. "Without going into detail, let me just tell you that this particular distributor and Taromaru have a habit of being seen in the same place at the same time."
"And because of this, you think Rin's involved as well?" Sesshomaru asked incredulously.
"I'm just telling you to check into your daughter's activities," Umao answered grimly. Seeing the shock in Sesshomaru's pale face, the chief continued. "Listen, kids experiment with stuff, whether their parents want to admit it or not. You might not have taken a toke when you were a teenager, but how many of your friends can say the same? Can your wife say she never did? Face it, Sesshomaru; our generation smoked pot like it was going out of style."
"Not my friends," Sesshomaru said quietly. "The guys I hung out with when I was growing up didn't waste their time with marijuana; they were rich enough to afford cocaine. They snorted more money up their nostrils than you and I make in a year."
"See what I mean?" Umao asked. "It's common. Kids are going to take senseless risks because they think they're invincible! It's a game to them, and they think they can stop doing it whenever they want. Sesshomaru, I could be way off base about all of this. Rin's friendship with Taromaru might be nothing more than a schoolgirl crush, and Taromaru's activities might be perfectly innocent. But I had to say something because I know you would do the same thing for me. I hope I'm wrong."
"So do I," Sesshomaru sighed. He rubbed his forehead with the tip of a finger, trying to ward off the migraine threatening to develop. "So do I."
......
"What's wrong?" Kokichi asked as Rin pulled her bicycle off the side of the path and collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily. "You gonna be sick or something?" He climbed off his own bicycle and propped it against a nearby tree. "Rin?" He approached his friend, looking concerned.
"I'm okay," Rin choked out. "I just need to catch my breath for a minute. Go on ahead to your house; I'm just going to sit here for a little while. Go on," she urged Kokichi when he appeared to hesitate. "You said your dad was stopping by this afternoon to see you; you don't want to miss him. I'm fine, really!"
Kokichi appeared to debate the matter silently before nodding his head in agreement. "Okay," he said at last. "But call me tonight, okay? I want to talk to you about some stuff."
Rin blew out a harsh breath as Kokichi pedaled away looking back over his shoulder from time to time. As soon as her friend was out of sight, Rin opened the yellow backpack and dug through the contents. Her muscles were contracting uncontrollably, making the task more difficult than it should have been.
How much is too much? Rin wondered. I'm so tired…maybe I should quit now, while I still can. She knew though, that it was already too late. Tomorrow would find her doing the same thing; no matter how bad it made her feel.
Her hand came in contact with the plastic bag. After checking to ensure no one else was along the secluded path, she removed it from the backpack and opened it eagerly. She sorted through the various items, checking to see if Taro had remembered everything.
"Oh, Taro," Rin sighed. As usual, the mayor's son had been more than generous. There was no way the money she had given him had covered all of this. She really ought to tell him to cut it out, but if she offended him, where would she get her stuff? She didn't dare purchase it on her own; too many people might recognize her and tell her parents.
She shook one of the bundles from the bag and tore away the saran wrap covering. Taromaru had packaged it so his dogs wouldn't go crazy from the smell. Rin popped it into her mouth greedily.
After a few minutes, her body quit trembling and her headache went away. Rin picked up the pieces of plastic wrap and crammed them into the bottom of her backpack, pausing only when a fat cigarette fell to the ground. She picked it up and studied it; apparently it had been tucked in with the saran-wrapped bundles. Rin dug through the wrapping and found a tiny note.
You said you were having trouble sleeping – this ought to help.
The note was unsigned, but Rin knew it came from Taro. She contemplated the marijuana joint in her hand. Maybe she ought to give the weed a try; it seemed like all she did lately was stare at the back of her eyelids instead of sleeping.
Once again teeming with nervous energy, Rin stuffed the items back into her pack and climbed onto her bike. With such beautiful weather, maybe Uncle Inu would take her surfing. Anything would be better than spending the afternoon bouncing off the walls of her bedroom.
……
"Hello, Ms. Taisho. I was wondering if I could speak to Rin," Kokichi said politely.
Kagura eyed the teenage boy on her front porch and wondered if the kid would ever feel comfortable enough around her to drop the stiff formality. He'd been Rin's friend since they were small children, for heaven's sake! Kagura would be the first to admit that she had a soft spot in her heart for Kokichi, and often found herself wishing Rin would see the boy as more than a friend.
"Rin's not here," Kagura told Kokichi. "She's out surfing with her Uncle Inu. Do you want me to have her call you when she returns?"
"No, I don't want to be a bother," Kokichi answered with disappointment in his brown eyes. "Thanks anyway, Ms. Taisho. I'll just try to catch her another time." He stepped off the porch and began to walk away.
"Kokichi!" Kagura called after him. He turned and looked at her in response. "Is everything all right? I don't want to stick my nose into your personal affairs," she added hastily, "but I'm kind of worried about my daughter. Lately, she just hasn't been…herself."
"I'm worried about her, too." Kokichi dug his toe into the graveled driveway. He jammed his hands into his pockets, and his shoulders slumped. "Maybe she'll talk to you, 'cause she sure isn't talking to me right now." He kicked a few rocks and walked away.
……
"Spill it, kid. I know something's up," Inu-Yasha growled at his niece.
Rin stopped waxing her board and stared at her uncle. "What are you talking about, Uncle Inu?" she asked, wrinkling her nose at him. "Don't tell me you're going to start in on me as well," Rin groaned as she saw the look her uncle was giving her. "Dammit, I'm tired of hearing lectures," she groused.
"When did you start using such bad language?" her uncle scolded before realizing Rin had probably started cursing because she hung around him so much. Inu-Yasha made a mental note to clean up his vocabulary around his nieces before Sess kicked his ass. His brother was so damn protective of his daughters…
"So tell me what everyone else has been bitching about and I'll skip those subjects," Inu-Yasha continued. He leaned over his board and inspected his repairs. That shark he'd hit with the board had put quite a dent in it. Of course, the board had put quite a dent in the shark in return, so perhaps it was only fair.
"Where do I start?" Rin muttered. "Let's see – I'm failing half of my classes, my best friend is insanely jealous of my new friends, every time I turn around Mom is yelling at me about something, my sisters won't stay out of my room or my stuff, and Dad never has time to do anything fun anymore. Want me to continue, or are you tired of my whining?"
"Well I sure as hell can't lecture you about school," Inu-Yasha said. "I dropped out of high school when I was sixteen and was married by the time I was seventeen. As for the rest of it, your Mom is suffering from work overload, and your sisters will never stay out of your stuff, so get a good deadbolt lock for your bedroom door. And as far as Sess being too busy to do anything fun, you're probably right," Inu-Yasha grunted. "My brother is a workaholic, even if he is a stay-at-home dad. If you want any time with him, you're going to have to slap him upside the head and demand it, because he'll never see it on his own."
"Yeah, I guess so," Rin said. As they continued working on their surf boards, she spoke. "Uncle Inu, how come you dropped out of school? Did you hate it that much?"
"No," Inu-Yasha answered shortly. He gave his board a final swipe with the rag and plopped on the ground. "Come over here, brat," he said, motioning for Rin to come sit beside him.
He picked at a few pieces of dried seaweed, considering what to tell his niece. "I don't like talking about this, Rin, but maybe you need to hear it. I've done a lot of stupid stuff, and when I say 'stupid', I mean really stupid. I was pretty screwed up in my head when I was your age. I dropped out of school because I was failing, and then I made things worse by running away from home. Your father and I didn't get along and he was stuck in a no-win situation trying to take care of me, so I figured he was better off without me."
Rin stretched out and cradled her hands behind her head. "That stupid stuff you mentioned…what kind of stuff did you do? Not that it's any of my business," she added as she dug her feet in the sand.
"If I don't want to tell you, I'll just tell you to shut up," Inu-Yasha reminded his niece. "You know me well enough to understand that. How about this?" he offered. "I'll give you an honest answer to that question if you'll give me an honest answer to mine."
Rin eyed her uncle. "I'm trying to decide if I want to hear a straight answer to my question," she admitted. "It might shatter some long-held illusion I have about you."
Inu-Yasha laughed, the dog-tooth necklace around his sun-darkened neck bouncing with the movement of his chest. "Illusions? What illusions could you possibly hold? I'm the lazy, underachieving and irresponsible younger brother to an over-achieving model of perfection, remember?"
"I guess there aren't any illusions, then," Rin smiled. "Okay, I'll answer your question honestly if you'll answer mine. But no cheating, because I can tell when you're lying, and you have to answer my question first."
"Okay," Inu-Yasha told her. He rolled onto his stomach and looked Rin in the eyes. "Besides quitting school and running away, I drank too much, did too many drugs and stole some shit. I got away with it at first, but it cost me big-time later. I never went to prison or anything, but I married the wrong person and spent too many years living in hell with her. Does that answer your question?"
"I guess so," Rin grimaced. "So how did you know you'd married the wrong person? I mean, how do you tell when someone isn't right for you?"
"You're way past your first question, but I'll answer anyway 'cause I like you so much," Inu-Yasha grinned. "Are you having second thoughts about that boyfriend of yours?"
"I don't know what to think about him anymore," Rin admitted.
"You're too young to be thinking about anything serious, anyway," Inu-Yasha reminded her. "But I'll give you some advice: you'll know someone is right for you if he brings out the best in you. If you're hanging around someone who brings out the worst in you, run like hell."
"Ooo-kay," Rin giggled. "I'll keep that in mind."
"Now it's my turn to ask the questions. How come you've lost weight?" Inu-Yasha asked.
"What?" Rin blinked. The question clearly surprised her. "I haven't lost that much weight, have I?" she asked as she scanned her figure.
Inu-Yasha reached out and grabbed her ankle. "Yes, you have," he insisted. "It especially shows in your legs and your face. Now answer the question. You're not throwing up on purpose or anything like that, are you?"
"No!" Rin was disgusted. "After watching Mom with her motion sickness and morning sickness all these years, the last thing I want to do is barf! And I'm not starving myself, either!" she assured her uncle.
"Then answer my question. Why have you lost weight, Rin? Because you're losing it too fast, and you look tired all the time."
She refused to meet his eyes. "Uncle Inu," Rin began, "if I told you something, would you promise not to tell Mom or Dad? Because I don't think they'd understand."
"I'm not making any promises, kid," Inu-Yasha said firmly. "If it's something I think they need to know, I'm opening my mouth. And it would surprise you what they understand. Now tell me what the hell is going on with you," he ordered. His voice softened and as he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Rin, if it's something big, you need to let us help you. Don't screw up your life like I did."
Rin's shoulders slumped in defeat. She closed her eyes tightly and answered in a tear-filled voice. "Mom and Dad don't know about any of this, Uncle Inu. And when they find out..."
……
"We need to talk, Sess. Where are you?"
"I'm stuck in downtown traffic. What do we need to talk about, little brother?" Sesshomaru asked Inu-Yasha casually, trying not to grip his cell phone too tightly. He was wound tight from his conversation with Umao. "Is there a problem?"
"You need to sit down and ask your daughter that question," Inu-Yasha responded. "Rin has something to tell you when you get home, and you aren't going to like hearing it. Do you think you can handle it, or are you going to go off the parental cliff? Because I'm telling you right now, if you freak out on Rin, she's going to tune out anything you say to her."
……
No one ever tells you how easy it is to second-guess your decisions as a parent. Why don't these little buggers come with instruction manuals? "Where's Rin?" Sesshomaru asked his wife as he tossed his keys on the rack and planted a kiss on Kagura's forehead. "I need to talk to her. She isn't out with Taromaru, is she?"
Kagura looked up from where she was sitting in the recliner feeding the baby. "She should be in her room," she answered. "Inu-Yasha dropped her off over an hour ago. And no, Taromaru hasn't been by here at all."
Sesshomaru walked down the hallway to Rin's room and knocked on the door. "Just a moment!" he heard. The crinkling of a plastic bag followed, then a brief silence.
"Come in," Rin said, opening the door for her father. Sesshomaru followed her into the room and closed the door behind him. Grabbing the chair from her desk, he turned it around and straddled it, facing his daughter as she nervously perched on the bed.
"What were you hiding before I came in here?" Sesshomaru asked, getting straight to the point. "I heard a plastic bag being moved. What was in it?"
"Dad, um…" Rin's voice trailed off and her hands began to fidget with the bedspread. "There's something I need to tell you, but I'm kind of scared. I've been doing something, and I know you're going to be mad at me."
Sesshomaru felt his heart drop into his stomach. Right now, he wished he was anywhere but here in Rin's room having this conversation. "Inu-Yasha said as much," Sesshomaru commented.
"He told you?" Rin asked with surprise.
"How long has your uncle known about this?" Sesshomaru asked, avoiding her question. He was hurt that Rin had trusted Inu-Yasha and not him. He was her father; when did he become the bad guy?
"I told Uncle Inu this afternoon," Rin answered softly. "He said I had to tell you tonight, or he would do it himself. Then he said only a coward would make her uncle snitch on her."
He snorted with laughter at this piece of avuncular wisdom from Inu-Yasha. Trust his brother to say the one thing guaranteed to bring Rin to confess. She would rather die than be branded a coward. "Let's see what's in that bag," Sesshomaru prompted. "And then we'll try to discuss this without the spilling of anyone's blood."
……
"So what did you talk to Rin about?" Kagura asked as she dried herself off from the shower. "You looked so serious when you went to her room. This hasn't got anything to do with Taromaru, has it?"
"Actually, it does," Sesshomaru told his wife. At her worried look, he continued. "Tell me something, Kagura. What's your biggest fear as far as Rin is concerned?"
"Teen pregnancy," Kagura said bluntly, startling the daylights out of the silver-haired man draped across the bed. "She and Taromaru…I don't know, Sess. I keep feeling like they're up to something. It reminds me of how I used to sneak around with my boyfriends when I was in school."
"I hadn't even considered that possibility," Sesshomaru groaned, dismayed. "In fact, I refuse to consider it! This is my baby girl we're talking about, Kagura!"
"Yes, I know," Kagura smiled as she lay down next to him on the bed. "And she'll always be your baby girl, even when she has babies of her own. So if teen sex isn't the problem, what is?"
Sesshomaru grabbed the plastic bag from where it lay on the floor beside the bed and handed it to Kagura. She opened it and pulled out the contents to examine them. "What are these?" she asked in confusion.
"Shin guards, sweat bands, and energy bars," her husband answered. "Rin has been playing soccer. Remember that 'field trip permission slip' she had me sign in such a hurry last month? She moved that piece of paper so fast I never took the time to read it."
"And it was actually a permission slip for playing soccer," Kagura guessed. "The little sneak! She knows darn well that we wouldn't have given her permission! She's overcommitted with her extra-curricular activities as it is! I'm not about to let her sacrifice her education for the sake of some high school ball game!"
"She pawned her stereo and some other items to pay for her athletic gear," Sesshomaru said quietly, interrupting Kagura's rant. "Rin has also been practicing every spare minute available, including during her lunch period. That's one of the reasons she's tired all the time and losing weight."
Kagura stopped mid-rant. "Oh…she's really serious about this, isn't she? I was noticing how thin she was looking the other day, but I just thought she was going through a growth spurt or something. You know how kids' bodies change as they grow. She's really been missing her lunch? She doesn't eat breakfast very often; what's she been living on?"
"Energy bars and power shakes," Sesshomaru said, "which isn't exactly the breakfast of champions." He reached his good arm back and rubbed his neck tiredly. Some days he really wanted to turn in his resignation as a parent.
"So what are we going to do, Sess?" Kagura was asking. "I can't believe Rin went to these lengths over a stupid game! Should we kill her now or wait until she's had a good night's sleep?"
"During our talk I pointed out that the real issue here was her deception, not the damn soccer games. We had a long discussion, and I think we've come to an understanding." Sesshomaru pulled his wife next to him, and she began to smooth his long hair away from his forehead. "I told her she's grounded from any non-school related activities until her grades get back up to acceptable levels, and I want her in bed at an early hour every night. Her body clearly isn't getting enough rest."
"She's also going to start eating breakfast every day," Kagura added. "So what are we going to do about the soccer? Are we just going to let her get away with this?" Kagura asked with concern.
"I don't think we should make Rin quit playing, Kagura. Like I said, soccer isn't the real issue here; trust is. Do you really feel like turning our home into a battlefield over a sport she'll probably get tired of after a year?" Sesshomaru covered a huge yawn. "Of course, I also told her to take a good look at the walls of her room, because if she ever pulls a stunt like this again I'm locking her in her bedroom until she graduates."
"Now that sounds parental," Kagura laughed. She propped herself up on an elbow and inspected a strand of her husband's silver hair. "I'm checking for gray hairs," she told Sesshomaru. "But with your hair, I guess we'll never be able to tell, will we? And just think – Rin's only the eldest child! We've still got all her younger sisters to deal with."
"Don't remind me," Sesshomaru groaned. "I can only imagine what kind of mischief they'll get into, especially Shiori. She idolizes Inu-Yasha way too much. Kagura, what were we thinking, having so many kids?"
"We were thinking that someday they'd be parents themselves, and we'd get to sit back and laugh. Actually, that's what you were thinking. I was thinking of something entirely different," Kagura said as she eyed her husband lustfully. "The baby is getting too big for her crib, Sesshomaru. You know what that means don't you?"
"Time for a new crib?" Sesshomaru asked hopefully.
"Time for a new baby."
……
"Man, that really sucks that you're grounded for so long," Taromaru told Rin the next morning. "I can't believe your parents are making such a big deal out of this. Doesn't that piss you off?"
"They're mad because I lied to them, Taro. And by the way, there's something you and I need to discuss," Rin said, cornering the boy against his locker. "You left something else in that bag, and you're damn lucky I found it before my dad looked inside."
"Did you like it?" Taromaru grinned. "Mary Jane's a good friend of mine. I can get plenty more where that came from."
"I flushed it down the toilet," Rin said quietly. "Don't do anything like that for me again, okay?" She turned and walked away.
"Rin, wait!" Taromaru ran to catch up with her. He grabbed her by the arm and yanked her to a halt. "What's your problem? I thought you were cool about stuff like that."
"Then you must not know me very well, Taro." Rin pulled away from him.
"So…are we still, you know, together?" Taromaru asked.
"No, I don't think we are, Taromaru," Rin answered with some sadness. "And thanks for buying the shin guards for me, but my dad says he'll pay for any equipment I need from now on. I'll see you around, okay?" She walked down the hallway, leaving Taromaru standing there with an astonished look on his face.
If you're hanging around someone who brings out the worst in you, run like hell…
A ghost of a smile flitted across Rin's face. That was pretty good advice from a self-professed underachiever, she thought. Uncle Inu's not as stupid as he makes himself out to be.
……
A/N: A little vignette from the life of Rin-chan. For some reason I just love developing her character as a teen…