Cleaned up this chapter a little bit. Nothing changed except for separating the paragraphs more and fixing a few grammar mistakes.
Times were changing with each year now. Nothing ever really stayed the same. Fashion always had new do's and don'ts. Traditions were broken almost every day. It goes without saying that laws were the biggest things to change. Gay marriage and marijuana was now legal in all 50 states...but the biggest thing to be brought to the light was the fact that a whole other species seemingly more intelligent than the human race had existed for an entire eternity. Demons. Kids had heard of demons in fairy tales, but now they had to realize that they actually existed, and they could look exactly like them. Maybe they would find the grotesque and evil demon that they heard about in the story book, but that would only be if the demon chose to do so.
Rin Saiyori turned 21-years-old today...or at least she assumed so. When she received her new identity, she also got a new birthday, along with a place to live and an education that lead to a stable job. They told her that today was as close to her original birthday as possible though. Not that it really mattered to Rin. Her new identity didn't change the fact that she was an orphan, or the fact that she was still a mute 10 years later.
Well, not completely mute. She only spoke when directly spoken to, but even then, she didn't say much. She had an uncontrollable stutter that got her years worth of bullying, so she ended up keeping her voice under tight chains. That didn't make her situation any better though.
She supposed she was happy now. She had a job she enjoyed as a chef at a five-star restaurant called Chardonnays, and she loved it. She had always enjoyed cooking, and she barely had to say a peep at her job. However, on this particular night of her 21st birthday, the restaurant was in a huge uproar. Rin's manager, Toga Sekurai, was in her face about it for the whole week. She really liked her manager, but whenever he got all antsy like this, it made her really uncomfortable. She had heard the story for the millionth time that week.
The sons of Inu No Taisho, the great dog demon who basically ruled the western coast of the United States, were coming there tonight for dinner. The eldest son, Sesshoumaru Inutaisho, was a full fledge demon, the product of Inu No Taisho and his ex-wife, Kimiko. The youngest son, InuYasha Inutaisho was a half demon, the product of Inu No Taisho and his current human wife, Izayoi. InuYasha was also coming with his human fiancé, Kagome Higurashi.
"I can't believe it," her manager exclaimed. "Rin, you must understand! These are the sons of the great dog demon Inu No Taisho! If things aren't perfect tonight then they have the power to put us all on the streets!"
Rin watched as he ranted on and on. Her manger's nervousness was beginning to spread to her. She wished he would calm down. Demons had become a part of regular life about 3 years ago, and Rin had never been close to one...at least she didn't think she did. She had learned from the demon awareness specials on t.v. that demons could in fact change their appearance to blend in with public, but that ever since the law was passed, they began to show their demonic markings on their body. That used to be the way to tell demon from human, but shortly afterwards, humans took it as a fashion trend and began getting tattoos in the same way. In the end, you really couldn't tell a demon from a human unless they exhibited their power to do so. Rin had heard all kinds of things about demons. Some were evil, some were saints, some loved to be with humans, and some absolutely detested it. She didn't quite know what to think.
"Rin! Are you listening?" Rin blinked from her manager's raise of voice and looked back up at him. She didn't realize that he was still talking to her. Toga put his hands on her frail shoulders.
"I need you to be on top of your game tonight, Rin. You might be the one to cook their meals. The eldest son, Sesshoumaru is not very fond of humans, so we have to impress him. So please, tell me or give me any type of sign that you understand how important this is."
Rin looked into her manager's green eyes with her big brown ones and gave him a curt nod. "H-h-hai, T-toga-san," she squeaked. Toga smiled and took his hands from her shoulders. "Alright, I knew I could count on you," and then he turned and started walking towards the door to serving floor of the restaurant. However, just as he was walking out, he looked back over his shoulder and smiled at Rin.
"By the way," he said. Rin raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "Happy 21st, Birthday Girl."
Rin took deep breaths as she tied her hair up into a secure bun and stuffed it under her chef's hat. Her manager had done a really thorough job of wrecking her nerves, but after a little quiet time, she got them back under control. As she sanitized her hands, she tried to tune out the chaos of the whole restaurant. If she had let the nervousness of everybody get to her, then she wouldn't be able to do her job well, and that wouldn't be pretty.
The guests of honor had arrived about 10 minutes ago, and they were sipping their drinks as they looked over their menus. Rin was very curious as to what this family looked like, but there never seemed to be a chance for her to get out of the kitchen. Maybe if she took a quick bathroom break she could take a quick peak...
"RIN!" Whoops, too late. Rin's distressed manager nearly sprinted to her leaving a trail of sweat behind him. Rin had to bite her lip to hide her amusement at the scene.
"I got their orders, Rin, and it's all on you! Two steaks, medium rare for Shesshoumaru-sama, a large bowl of beef ramen for InuYasha-sama, and a honey curry for Kagome-sama."
Rin scrunched her eyebrows. Two steaks? Most of their customers could barely finish one. Beef ramen? That's a rather...simple dish for a five-star restaurant. Curry...well that sounds about right. Rin took another deep breath. If that's what they wanted, then that's what they will receive.
Rin wiped the sweat from her brow. She was normally a very humble person, but she had to admit that these dishes she prepared were absolutely wonderful. Every spice was where it needed to be to give the food the perfect flavor, and if that family didn't think so...then Rin would have to call them crazy. Besides, her manager had hung over her like an obsessive mother hen monitoring the whole process.
"Are you sure that everything is ready Rin? No hair or spit or sweat fell in or anything?" Rin, her face flushed from the fumes and heat of the kitchen, put her hands on her hips and huffed at her manager.
Toga sighed and said, "You're right, Rin. Every dish you cook is always cooked to perfection...I just hope that they think so too." With that, the servants took her dishes away. Strangely enough, Rin felt like this was a life or death situation.
About 45 minutes later, Rin had basically forgotten about the ordeal because the restaurant was in fact very busy upon the arrival of the famous guests, and she had plenty of other dishes that she had to make...but then in came Toga, biting his nails to the nub, sweating bullets, and making a straight beeline for Rin.
All of the sudden, that feeling that Rin had when her dishes got sent to the guests came back with a new-found vengeance. Her manager had stopped in front of her and gripped her shoulders. Rin would've felt gross about him touching her with his clammy hands had she not been sweating herself.
"Rin..."her manager said her name with a strained voice. Rin balled her fists up tightly waiting for what her manager had to say. "They...they loved your food Rin. They ate every last bite." Rin let go of a breath she didn't know she was holding. Thank goodness, it looks like she still has a job...so why was Toga still so high strung? "Rin...InuYasha-sama's wife has made a request to see you and thank you personally."
Rin's eyes almost popped out of her head. What? She couldn't possibly do that! Especially with her voice the way it is.
Toga read the fear in her eyes and said, "I know, I tried to change her mind, but she insisted. Please, Rin, just let her see you. I'll do all the talking. You won't have to say a word...ok?" Rin bit her lip. She knew she could trust her manager...but she felt in her heart that he could not possibly speak for her the entire time while she just stood there. Was there really any other way though? Rin didn't think so. She took her millionth deep breath that night, and gave Toga another curt nod. He smiled and gave her a huge hug.
"Thank you so much Rin! I owe you big time!" Rin tried to ignore the fact that some of Toga's sweat had rubbed off on her.
To say that Rin's very breath was not taken away the second she laid eyes on the family would have been a lie, because she certainly found herself forgetting how to breathe.
InuYasha's mate was human, but that didn't change the fact that she had an air of elegance to her that made her a beautiful lady. She had long hair that flowed down her back in waves and framed her tanned face. She had wise brown eyes and her lips were painted in red, her pearly teeth showing from the smile she was giving to Rin as she was approaching. InuYasha, her half-demon husband, had long, shiny, yet kind of poufy silver hair, and two adorable dog ears to match sitting on top of his head. He was a handsome man that had hot amber eyes and two silver eyebrows stitched together in a look of frustration as he glared at his full demon brother.
Sesshoumaru was the one who set Rin's heart aflame. He was a very slender man who had very long limbs, which means that he was very tall. He had such long, elegant silver hair like his brother, but it didn't have the volume. It was perfectly straight and shiny, and seemed to have the length that his body had. His face was angular and pale, and had the markings of a full demon. The pink moon upon his forehead and two pink marks on both of his cheeks. He had amber eyes like his brother, except they were cool, and more narrowed as he scanned the restaurant as if looking for something. As she got closer, Sesshoumaru seemed to get tenser. Then his eyes hit her like a strike of lightning and Rin thought she felt her heart stop.
Sesshoumaru did not want to be here at all. He didn't like being with his brother and his head-strong mate, but most of all, he did not like being tricked. His father and Kagome knew that, yet they schemed together to make the brothers spend some quality time with each other. Imagine that. An ancient demon with the power to smite all those who challenge him working with a normal, but quite clever human. Sesshoumaru still couldn't wrap his head around it. However, Kagome had told him that Inu No Taisho would pay for their meals...so Sesshoumaru didn't make his complaints verbal. Although this night was supposed to be for him and his brother, Kagome was doing most of the talking.
"Well, that meal was amazing! I think we should thank the chef!" InuYasha rolled his eyes, an action that Sesshoumaru would have done had he not considered it childish.
"C'mon Kagome, let's not drag this on any longer ok? Can we please just end it here and go home?" InuYasha and Sesshoumaru may not have gotten along, but they each had a way of saying what the other was thinking. InuYasha more than Sesshoumaru though. The full demon was never really one to speak, never wanting to let his thoughts be known to the world unless it was necessary.
Even when he did speak, he never said much. He never got especially close to anyone, not even his mother or father. He didn't care about humans like his father did. Actually, he used to hate them with a passion, because his father had left his mother for one and made his brother. However, when his brother met Kagome, Sesshoumaru saw how much stronger his brother had gotten. Not to mention that she had gotten through the cold heart of Sesshoumaru. Of course he wouldn't admit that he liked Kagome; he wouldn't dare give his brother and father the pleasure.
"Excuse me! Sekurai-san!" Kagome called for the sweaty manager despite the protests of InuYasha.
"H-hai Kagome-sama? Is something wrong? Did you enjoy your meals?" Sesshoumaru held his breath. This human really wreaked with all the sweat that was pouring out of his body.
Kagome smiled at the pour man and said, "Oh the meals were marvelous! So marvelous in fact, that we would like to see and thank the chef personally please." Sesshoumaru expected the man to breathe a sigh of relief, but instead, the man's eyes widened in a new found fear.
"U-um...but Kagome-sama...the restaurant has been awfully busy upon your arrival, s-so the chef might be very busy right now." Toga said while nervously smiling and wringing his sweaty hands.
"Oh, we'll be very quick, so no need to worry about that. I insist!" Kagome said, oblivious to the man's nervousness. The manager bit his lip so hard, Sesshoumaru was surprised not to see blood come out.
"H-hai Kagome-sama." said the manager, then he did a jittery walk back to the kitchen. Despite Sesshoumaru not wanting to be there, he had to admit that the food had a faint, unbearably sweet smell that made him almost swallow it whole. However he was hungry for...something that he didn't know existed. He had never felt this way before in the thousands of years that the he has lived. This feeling was indeed new for him.
Sesshoumaru paused and got really tense like a cat who had just felt drops of water on its back. That same smell had come back, except it was bigger, and more concentrated this time...as if the source of the smell was coming straight for him. Sesshoumaru scanned the restaurant, barely registering that his brother had asked what the hell was wrong with him. Then his eyes focused a petite brown eyed girl who was tottering behind the manager. Suddenly, a voice he had only heard when he was about to go into battle had released a guttural growl. There.