The Ranks.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Inuyasha.

Summary: Rin, tired of military life, leaves her house and goes to B.C. She befriends Sango, who introduces her to a small town, Comox, which she falls in love with. One problem. It's a military town. Soon after her father is transferred to the base Sango works at, and Rin is introduced to their boss, Sesshomaru. To Rin's annoyance, he is arrogant, cocky, and emotionless. He demands everyone's utmost respect, yet never shows any in return. So why is he saluting Rin's father?

Authors note: I hope you enjoy this story, and that you haven't read anything like this. It actually was a dream I had (yes I know I say that for most of my stories, but that's how I come up with stories) it was just going to be a one shot, but I think it will be pretty long… too long to be a one shot, so I am turning it into an actual story. And please tough out the first part of the story… it's kinda boring, the first chapter I mean… You don't have to read the rest of what I have to say, but read the *** right before the story starts.
My history: well I come from a military family, or I did before my parents divorced, but my father was a MCpl (Master Corporal) when he left the military and transferred, becoming a SAR TECH (Search And Rescue Technician). Interestingly enough, they all keep their military titles after they've transferred. My father has transferred bases many times, but luckily while he was with our family (5 years) he didn't have to leave Winnipeg. After that he kept rotating between different towns before he came back to Wing 17 in Winnipeg for their SAR base. He spent a little over a year in Afghanistan when I was 4, and after that he refused to go back, which is the reason he transferred in 2006. The reason my father refused to go back there is because in the middle of his posting, him and his 4 best friends where doing shooting practice on a few abandoned houses and barns, when a plane with a bomb flew above them. My dad left to get more ammo, and the plane thought that his friends where shooting at them, so they dropped the bomb… my dad lost his four best friends that day. I think it hit him pretty hard... Now he is at Wing 19, CFB Comox, B.C.

Reasoning for the story: Well like I said I had a dream like this but at the end their will be an accident and I will explain the reasoning to that at the end. But, and I know this won't make sense yet, but think of a guy named KIRK, who's picture is still on my dad's wall, when you read this. I'm not going to give out his last name till the end because then you could look him up on google and you would know the end of this story.

***Some things you should know: CFB Means Canadian Forces Base. SAR Tech means Search And Rescue Technician.
Ranks: (From highest to lowest) Senior Ranks: Marshal, General, Brigadier (Which is someone in charge of a brigade), Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel, Major (Also called Commandant), Captain, Lieutenant, Second Lieutenant, Officer Cadet (as in "in training"). Junior Ranks: Master Corporal, Corporal, Private, and Private (Basic). (there are two levels for Private.)

Another Authors Note: Sorry that that was super long! And if you read all of that then Congrats! You now know my family history. Well some of it. When I wrote this chapter I listened to these songs, and probably will each time I write for this,: Travelling Soldier – Dixie Chicks, Just a Dream – Carrie Underwood, Private Malone – David Ball, Letters From War – Mark Schultz, I Will Not Bow – Breaking Benjamin, Come Home - One Republic, and If You're Reading This – Tim McGraw. Sorry if it's not your cup of tea but maybe you'll listen to them when you read this… Sorry! On with the story! And yes, I know Rin doesn't have blue eyes.

The Ranks: Chapter One: The Beginning:

"Just put that over there…" An exhausted young woman of nineteen pointed to a windowed room in her new apartment. It was early in the morning in the second week of july.

It was a large one story apartment on the top floor of a two story building. It had two bedrooms, a kitchen, an office, two bathrooms, two balconies, a living room/dining room, and a laundry room. The entrances to the apartment were on the first floor, one was indoors and the back entrance was outdoors. The master bedroom was beside the indoor entrance and was large, with a view of the Comox glacier, if you turned to the right. It also had a large walk-in-closet with the master bathroom at the end of the closet, which had a stand up shower. The second bedroom was at the back of the apartment, beside the back entrance/balcony, and was only slightly smaller than the master bedroom. It didn't have a very good view, but from a certain angle, you could see some mountains. The room had two closets that went the length of one of the walls, and a two door bathroom, with a large bath tub. At the end of the hallway that led away from the guest room, on the left of it was the kitchen. It was an open space, and large if you didn't put a table in the middle. Attaching to the kitchen was a small laundry room, the size didn't matter, and she had been lucky enough that she got a laundry room at all. Across from the kitchen was a large, square room, with two windowed walls, one that faced outside, the other faced the living room. Outside of the office space was the living room/dining room. It was carpeted and a very large, open square. Half of one wall was a large window and on the wall beside it was the entrance to the second balcony. This one had no stairs, but she liked the secluded feeling it gave her. It also had a beautiful view of the glacier.

She didn't have much furniture in her apartment, since she had only just left home. All she had was a brown leather love seat, a small dark brown circle table to eat at, a matching circle table beside her couch, a 40inch TV that sat on another matching table, her queen bed, a small dark brown dresser, a simple dark brown desk and a black office chair. Luckily for her, the apartment came with a stove, but she had to buy a fridge. After moving, she didn't have much money, so she bought a small fridge and her grandmother bought her a new washer and dryer. Once the movers left, the woman looked at her large apartment. All of her furniture was in the middle of the living room. Standing in her quiet apartment, she felt very lonely. She came from a military family and was used to moving, but this was different. She suddenly felt very alone, so she looked from something to keep her mind busy. As she looked around she decided that she would put the painters tape down and prepare for painting. As she put the tape down, she thought about how she got there.

Her father was born in NorthBay, Ontario, and the moment he turned 18, he joined the military. He stayed at CFB NorthBay for only a year before he was transferred to CFB Gage town, in New Brunswick. He stayed there for two years before he went to CFB Victoria, British Columbia, which is just how long ago that was since the base is no longer open. He lived there for 3 years before he was posted to CFB Green Wood, Nova Scotia, which is where he met her mother. She was 1 year younger than him and had just gotten out of university to become an architect. He stayed there for 2 years, before he was posted only a little ways away to Shearwater, Nova Scotia. He wanted the woman, Elizabeth, to come with him, but she refused, since she was trying to get a promotion. For the year that he was posted in Shearwater, he would drive to see her every chance he got and vice versa. Finally she got her promotion and planned to move to Shearwater, only to find out that he was being posted to CFB Wainwright, Alberta. For Elizabeth, moving towns wasn't that bad, but moving with Ryan to a completely different province was a little bit harder.

In the end, she stayed in Shearwater and he moved to Wainwright. After 6months, she realized that moving that far away would be much easier than waiting for him, since that was all she wanted to do. She called to tell him that she would move in with him, if he wanted, and he demanded that he be posted somewhere farther east, so her move wouldn't be that hard. In the end, they met up in Bagotville, Quebec, where he worked at CFB Bagotville.

Elizabeth soon became pregnant with their first child, and a pone finding that out, they got married 3 months later at a small church. Unfortunately after having their first child, a boy that they named Patrick, Ryan found out he was being sent to Afghanistan for three years. Elizabeth was furious with him because he was leaving within two months of having Patrick, but he had no choice. He was posted for 2 and half years before he was shot. The bullet entered his forearm and exited his shoulder, shattering his right shoulder blade. But he was lucky. On many occasions had their tank been either right before, or after, a tank that hit a land mine and explode, sending the aftermath of the explosion right at the tank he was in. also he had seen many of his friends be shot, one time much harder than the other. It was the day he was shot and he and his best friend, David, were on the front line. David moved out of the place he was ordered to stay and the moment he was in view, a grenade was thrown at him. Ryan watched in horror as his best friend was almost blown completely away. He ran to David and when he reached his friend that was barely hanging on to life, he was shot as well.

3 months after his return, Elizabeth was expecting again. 2 months into her pregnancy they were posted again, to CFB Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, where they had another baby boy. The two boys looked almost identical. They both had their fathers brown eyes but while Patrick had their father's brown hair as well, Mark had their mother's blond hair. They stayed there for 3 years before they were posted to CFB Halifax, Nova Scotia. After a year there, Elizabeth became pregnant once more. After a very difficult birth, they had their first baby girl. Her name was Rin and looked exactly like her mother, dark blue eyes and all, except she had her father's brown hair. After 4months, they moved to CFB MooseJaw, Saskatchewan. They didn't last more than a year there before they were posted to Trenton, Ontario. After four years in Trenton, they were posted CFB Summerside, Prince Edward Island. Rin started school there and soon learned the disadvantages of a military family when she had to leave her very first friends 2 years later when her father was posted to CFB Chilliwack, British Columbia. It was very hard for the 7 year old Rin to deal with her best friend's departure from Chilliwack, since she to belonged to a military family.

Another 2 years later they were posted to CFB Shilo, Manitoba. Elizabeth took the kids into Winnipeg once a month for a taste of the big city, and finally Ryan got tired of all of the gas it took for that trip and filed for a posting to Winnipeg. It took 2years before there was an opening for him in Winnipeg and he gladly took it. An 11 year old Rin enjoyed living in the city a lot, but tried hard not to fall in love with it, knowing her father would be posted in another two years. But that day never came. Instead her father was offered a promotion to teach the new guys the ropes. The catch? To stay in Winnipeg. He gladly took the offer and it was there that they stayed. Unfortunately for Rin, her best friends still wound up being from military families, so she kept watching them walk right out of her life.

That was the main reason, the other being to make her father mad, that she went through her rebellious faze at 14. She had bleached her beautiful brown hair blonde and got a few piercings. She got her ears pierced twice, her nose, and her belly button done, along with a small tattoo of a bird on her ankle. The bird represent freedom, and the right to make choices for yourself. She promised herself that the first chance she got, she would leave and stay as far away from anything or anyone military related.

When she turned 18 and finished high school, not only did she go back to her natural hair color and take out her nose piercing, thank god she hadn't gotten the others, but she quickly packed up what little stuff she would need and her basic furniture and drove west as well. It was an easy drive in her black pickup truck. She had her heart set on moving to Kamloops, British Columbia. It was in the south east area of the province but kind of close to the Alberta border.

When she got there, she soon found out that buying a house in that town cost a lot more than most other towns, since the insurance was VERY high. She couldn't understand and, frustrated, she checked into a hotel for a few days to figure out where she wanted to go next. The next morning at breakfast, the room was very crowded and she sat beside a quiet looking woman in the back corner. Half way through the meal, Rin heard the woman sigh loudly. Rin asked what was wrong and the woman answered that her job stressed her out. Rin laughed and said house hunting stressed her out. The other woman introduced herself as Sango and told her that she shouldn't look for a house in this town unless she had no choice. Having her curiosity picked, Rin asked why, and it was then that she found out that every summer the town was evacuated when the forest fires hit. Which was also why the insurance was so high. Rin's face fell. This was more stressful than living with her father. It wasn't that she didn't like him, but he had a bad personality. He was rude and very rough. Sango asked Rin if she wasn't going to look there anymore, maybe she would be interested in coming to the island with her. Rin agreed. It sounded better than blindly driving through B.C. during forest fire season, and Sango seemed to know where she was going.

When Rin found out that Sango was taking a bus back home, she offered her a ride. They drove through B.C. like tourist, stopping at every town and taking pictures. After days of getting to know each other, Rin found out that Sango was actually in the military. She was a SAR Tech, and to Rin's displeasure that must have meant they were going to another military town. Sango knew of Rin's past and had a plan B, just in case. Rin ignored the fact that Sango was in the military since, normally, SAR's didn't get posted as often as Air force, Army, or Navy. Sango's whole family had been in the military, on both sides, every female and male had registered. Her great grandmother on her father's side had even disguised herself as a man and fought in the Second World War It was kind of a tradition in her family. Even her younger brother was training to become a SAR Tech on the next course, which started in a month.

Rin was blown away at the beauty of the small town Sango had brought her to. It was called Comox, and although it was a military town, she fell in love with it. Sango took Rin's silent state as a negative thing and tried to tell her that there were two small towns' only 2minutes away each, Courtney and Cumberland. Rin shook her head violently, saying she was staying in Comox no matter what.

The first houses Sango tried to show her were by the harbor, which meant they had sea views. Deciding that they were too expensive, Rin looked farther into the town. At the time she was staying at Sango's place. A cozy two story house on Noel, and on their early morning walk, that's right, Sango made her exercise at 7am, Rin noticed a "for rent" sign on a small apartment building. It was on Guthrie road, close to the corner of Anderton, meaning it was of walking distance to the coast and most stores. Well actually that wasn't saying much since the whole town was within walking distance of everything, including the two towns' right beside it.

Rin was shocked that the apartment was within her budget and she would have money to spare. Smiling, she paid her first month's rent and had the moving men move her stuff the very next day.

Which is where she was at the moment, laying down tape, and waiting for Sango to come with her "friend" to help her paint. They were going to pick up the paint Rin had bought and then they were coming over. Happiness filled Rin as someone knocked at the door and she ran to answer it.

The friend Sango had with her was a man about a year or so older, with his neck length hair tied at the end. Even after just a minute, Rin could tell that the man and Sango had something between them.

Sango smiled brightly and gestured towards the man. "Rin, this is my friend, Miroku"

Rin had long since learned that Sango was NOT the timid person she originally thought she was. Rin held out her hand to shake his and smiled as well. "It's nice to meet you, Miroku. And thank you for helping a completely stranger out."

He shook her hand and smiled back. "Not a complete stranger. I have this 6th sense that tells me we will be great friends."

Sango hung her head. "Not this AGAIN!"

He laughed before he caught Rin completely off guard with a big bear hug that lifted her off the ground. When her feet touched the ground she tried to pull away, only to feel something on her lower back, that was slowly moving lower. She screamed and slapped him. "PERVERT!"

Sango's head snapped up. "YOU DIDN'T!" one look at him with his hand rubbing his neck told her that he did. "GET OUT AND ONLY COME BACK ONCE YOU'VE RESTRAINED YOURSELF!"

Rin giggled as he slowly walked out the door with his head hung.

As soon as he was outside the door he turned to face Sango with a pleading look. "But Sango-"

"Save it." She said sternly as she slammed the door on him. Both girls looked at each other and laughed. "You know, he really is a nice guy… sometimes…"

Rin laughed at her friend before dragging her to one of the many unpacked boxes. She grabbed two ripped yoga pants and baggy t-shirts that all had some town name on it. They started by painting Rin's bedroom so she could sleep in it as soon as possible. It was painted a light orange that looked like it was a water color. It didn't take as long as they thought, so they did the bathroom as well. They painted that a light blue. They also had time to paint the closet a white, since it looked like a really gross yellow. After that, Miroku finally came in, which would have made them mad for how long it took him, but since her brought lunch, he was forgiven. When they finished, they started the kitchen, which went much faster with Miroku's help. They painted it a light, forest green. They did the same to the laundry room, and every other closet, as they had to the closet in Rin's room, painting it white. Next they went to the other bathroom and painted it a light, pastel yellow. That took about five minutes, so they went into the next room and painted it a light purple. It was going faster than they though and decided they could put the first coat of the office room, which was a faint red, before they would break for supper. By supper, they had the priming done in every room and the first coat of paint in every room except for the living room area, which they knew could take a day all together. After they ate, they each grabbed a chair and went to the stair less balcony, where they drank a coke and enjoyed the cool evening air after the long day of work. After their break, they reluctantly went back into the house to put the final coat on each room they had done that day. It took less time since they started with more people and didn't have to do the closets. In the end it was 11pm when they finished and they all collapsed on the floor in the middle of the living room. Sango laughed, causing everyone to laugh at her. When they calmed down, Rin asked what was so funny.

"Nothing really… it's just that I'm in the military, and THIS was the most work I've done in awhile. I'm tired now…" She teased. "Rin, you're coming to my house tonight right?"

"Yeah… I guess I have to… the fumes wouldn't be safe…"

Sango rolled over. "Pff. 'You have to'… nice…"

"You know that's not what I meant!" Rin sat up in a panic, thinking she had offended her friend.

Sango laughed. "I know Rin. It was a joke. Alright!" She pulled herself up off the ground. "Well lets go before we fall asleep! Come on Miroku, I'm your ride."

Miroku mumbled complaints about how comfy he was as he thumped down the stairs, making the girls laugh.

Rin walked them to the door, but didn't follow Sango to her car. "Sango, I'll be at your place in 10. I just need to make sure everything is cleaned up and then I'll head straight over."

"Yeah, don't worry! I still need to drop him off."

Rin nodded and shut the door. She walked around her home, sad that she couldn't stay in it, and opened every single window, except the guest bedroom one, because if you came up the stairs and onto the balcony, you could climb right in, since it didn't have a screen. At the same time, she checked to make sure there was no paint on her floors and cleaned up the painting equipment. She was amazed at how much they had finished. All they had to do the next day was paint the living room, dining room, hallway and stair well. They didn't even need to prime it since they'd done that already. She still had a suitcase at Sango's so she headed straight over. She got there just before Sango, and as soon as they got into the house they ran to their rooms and blacked out. Neither of them even remembered getting changed in the morning.

The both slept until nine before they put on the same clothes as the day before left. Sango went to pick up Miroku, and Rin went to set up for another day of painting.

It took Sango longer than it should have, but she'd actually had to pick Miroku's lock and wake him up herself. He was a very heavy sleeper and she had to go get a cup of water to dump on his head. Unfortunately for Sango, when Miroku woke up, he made an inappropriate joke about her getting him all wet, which earned him a slap. By the time they got there Rin had already walked to the Tim Horton's across the road and bought them breakfast. It was quick, but the coffee sure woke them up. It took longer than they thought it would to put the first coat on the living room, but when they finished, Rin admired the dark brown she had chosen, which was a big contrast to the light colors they had painted the rest of the house the day before. She didn't care if it didn't match. She liked it. They checked all of the other rooms to see if any needed a third coat, but thankfully none did. Knowing they had a while to wait before the brown dried, they decided to go to the harbor for a few hours.

When they got there they stopped at the water front restaurant, where they took a table outside. They sat in the heat, which was very different from the cool wind they experienced the night before, while they ate their first non-fast food meal in the past two days. When they finished that they chatted happily as they walked on the docks and looked at everything. Sango pointed out the Comox Glacier in the best view Rin had seen yet. After that they walked through down town and even bought Rin a patio set for her balcony so they wouldn't have to drag the chairs outside anymore. They decided to head back when they past a lingerie shop and Miroku made comments on what would look best on each of them.

The apartment looked good and the walls were all dry, but they all groaned as they prepared to paint for another 2 hours minimum. The process of repainting the living room, hallway, stairs and dining room was worse than before. Now they knew they were close and after they finished they would be done, but their muscles were sore from the day before and each stroke took more effort. That day, the heat was almost unbearable since Rin had no air-conditioner and they grew tired faster. After what seemed like forever, they finished. They all looked at each other, put down their brushed, stretched their backs and arms, and screamed "FINALLY!" before flopping onto the ground. They finished before supper and decided to go out to eat again, and Boston Pizza was looking really good at the moment. Sango and Rin changed into some of Rin's clothes before they drove Miroku home so he could change as well.

On their way to eat, Rin screamed, "Stop!" as they passed the mall.

Annoyed at being scared into slamming the breaks, Sango slowly turned to look at the girl in the passenger seat. "What?"

"I wanna buy an air-conditioner!" Rin scream, pointing at the mall like her life depended on it, which in this heat, it might.

Sango sighed before pulling into the mall parking lot. Rin owed her big time.