Chapter 2

Inuyasha was baffled when his brother started offering to pick Taiki up from school. It was most unusual for Sesshoumaru to volunteer to do anything let alone something that involved human interaction. Kagome, though equally baffled, had encouraged the somewhat strange behaviour of her brother-in-law. Taiki hero worshipped his uncle although the pride that he had inherited from his father prevented him from admitting it. Similarly, Sesshoumaru was more attached to his nephew than he would ever admit.

In the weeks and months that followed Sesshoumaru's first encounter with Rin, he volunteered to pick Taiki up several times in an attempt to see her again. Unfortunately for him, his first few attempts had ended in failure. The first time he had arrived too early, the second too late and the third attempt nearly discouraged him entirely. He carefully planned the collection time so that he was not as early or as late as before and he had waited patiently outside the school for Taiki as he had done every other time.

Sesshoumaru looked around the play area and located Rin's daughter Akiko seated once again on the swing with a book open on her lap. A car pulled up outside the gates and he held his breath as he waited to see Rin emerge from the car in all her beauty. However, he was disappointed when he saw a man in a suit step out instead. Quickly he scanned the play area searching for another child, but there was only Akiko. Said child picked up her bag and ran towards the man with a smile when she saw him. She dropped her bag when the man reached down to pick her up and wrapped her arms around his neck affectionately.

He heaved a sigh a disappointment as he watched them walk away. As he drove Taiki home, his mind was preoccupied with the scene he had witnessed earlier. Upon seeing Akiko seated in her usual swing, he had been confident he would see Rin again, but his heart sank when the child had run into the arms of the unknown male. Sighing yet again, he contemplated giving up on seeing her again, but decided that perhaps he should try once more before conceding defeat.

*-*-*-*-*-*

Weeks after that incident, Sesshoumaru stood outside the school waiting for Taiki once again when a car pulled up beside the gate. He tried not to get his hopes up, but his heart started to pound when a pair of feminine legs slipped out of the car and an equally feminine body followed. The figure turned and his intense amber gaze met Rin's. She closed and locked the door before walking over to him with a smile, completely unaware of the effect she had on him.

"Hello Sesshoumaru!" she greeted with a smile. He nodded a greeting and tried to tear his gaze from her. She turned away and looked around the play area, frowning when she didn't see Akiko in her usual place. "Have you seen Akiko?"

He shook his head. "Perhaps she's inside?"

Rin looked at the school doors and nodded, her face breaking into a smile when she saw two small figures walking towards them, holding hands as they talked happily. She nudged Sesshoumaru's arm and gestured towards the tiny pair slowly making their way across the play area. She sighed and leaned back against the wall beside Sesshoumaru and smiled again.

"It's cute, don't you think?"

He nodded, suddenly very aware of the woman beside him as her arm brushed against his. Sesshoumaru opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by the loud voice of his nephew calling him. He looked down to find Taiki standing in front of him with Akiko beside him, looking up shyly.

"Can Aki and I go to the park, uncle Sesshoumaru?" he begged. "Please?"

Sesshoumaru looked across at Rin who smiled and nodded. "Sure."

The two children ran down the pavement slightly ahead of the two adults following close behind. As they turned a corner, Sesshoumaru realised that he had agreed, but didn't know where said park was. He looked over at Rin who walked confidently, clearly knowing where she was going. She looked at him and flashed him one of her dazzling smiles.

"It's around the corner," she said as though she had read his thoughts.

He nodded and soon enough, the green grass of the park came into view and the children ran to the play area leaving the adults to sit on the benches nearby. Sesshoumaru sat down on a bench and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he watched Taiki play. Rin sat beside him and elegantly crossed her legs, unaware of the tempting view she was giving Sesshoumaru. There was silence for a while as Sesshoumaru carefully watched her, taking in her beauty and while she watched the two children.

"Do you have children, Sesshoumaru?" she asked suddenly.

He shook his head. "I'm not married."

Rin nodded and was silent once again. As soon as the words had left his mouth, a thought had occurred to him. Perhaps the man who came to pick up Akiko had been her father? That man would have to be Rin's husband. His heart sank at the thought of finding such a beautiful woman who captured his full attention effortlessly only to find that she belonged to another. He was brought out of his increasingly depressing thoughts by Rin's soft voice.

"You don't have to be married to have children, you know," she said with a smile.

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow. "I would have thought that having another in your life made the conception a lot easier."

Rin laughed and grinned at him. "That's not what I mean, although you are right."

"What did you mean?"

"Being a single parent isn't a bad thing."

He nodded and looked back at the two children. "You're a single parent?" he questioned, trying to keep hope from his voice.

"Always have been."

Sesshoumaru frowned at the revelation. "Has she never known her father?"

"I don't know who her father is," Rin admitted. She paused as she realised how that statement sounded. Looking at Sesshoumaru, she blushed slightly when she met his eyes. "She's adopted."

"I see." His amber gaze was drawn to the little girl playing with his nephew. "How did you come to choose her?"

Rin's eyes glazed over as she remembered the day she had adopted Akiko. "She chose me really." Sesshoumaru raised his eyebrow in question. "She was very young, about a year old, when I adopted her. I was sitting in a room looking through files about the different children when she wandered in and sat with me. Needless to say, I fell in love with her straight away."

Sesshoumaru nodded and tore his gaze from her smiling face to look at the child in question again. The little girl bent over and picked a small flower and then another one with a big smile. Once again, he felt his heart warmed by the small child. His attention was captured by Rin's soft laughter beside him.

"She loves flowers. She has her own section in the garden at home."

As the words left her mouth, the little girl stood up and ran towards the two adults. She slowed to a walk and stopped just in front of them. A grin crossed her face as she held out one of the yellow flowers to Rin. Sesshoumaru watched as Rin leaned forward to accept the flower and press a kiss on the child's forehead. While he was wondering what Rin's lips felt like, Akiko had moved and now stood in front of him. Looking down he felt a small smile tug at his lips. Seeing his smile, Akiko's confidence grew and she held out a flower in a small hand. He reached forward to accept the flower and as he leaned back, he tucked the flower into the button hole of his suit jacket. With a smile of glee, the little girl turned and ran back to where Taiki was waiting for her.

Rin smiled as she watched Sesshoumaru adjust the flower. "It suits you," she teased.

Raising his head to look at her, Sesshoumaru smirked at her. "Akiko has good taste."

"She should, she's around plants often enough."

"What do you do, Rin?" he asked, suddenly realising that he knew nothing about her.

"I'm a botanist," she replied with a smile. "I run a florist in the town centre."

"That's where she gets her love of plants from then."

"What do you do?"

"I run a family business – Takahashi Technologies."

Rin's eyes widened. "Wow…" she said softly as she realised just who he was.

She couldn't believe her ears. The man sitting beside her was one of the most powerful and wealthy men in the city. He ran one of the biggest companies in the country. Rin knew she had recognised his surname from somewhere but couldn't remember where and now all the pieces fell into place. She had just spent most of the afternoon with one of the most sought after bachelors in the city. Looking at him from the corner of her eye, she marvelled at how gentle he was with Taiki and how he had accepted the flower Akiko had given him with a vague smile. He was said to be ruthless in his business dealings, but here he had, perhaps unconsciously, shown a gentle side of him to a virtual stranger.

*-*-*-*-*-

An hour later, as the sun began to set, Rin stretched her arms and sighed as she looked at her watch. "It's nearly 5 o'clock!" she gasped.

Sesshoumaru raised his eyebrow. "I should return Taiki to his parents," he said quietly and as he watched the child play, he had no desire to disturb him or the time he had spent with Rin.

It was as though the child could read his thoughts; Taiki came running towards them with Akiko in tow. He stopped in front of the two adults, panting from the exertion. Beaming up at the pair, the child suddenly wondered if what he was about to say would upset his uncle. Raising his eyes, Taiki met his uncle's curious gaze, silently asking what he wanted. He grinned and launched himself at Sesshoumaru, who caught him easily and sat the child on his knee as he patiently waited for whatever question he knew the child was going to ask.

"Could Aki and I play again tomorrow?" he asked, looking expectantly from his uncle to the woman beside him.

"You should ask her mother, Taiki," Sesshoumaru replied, his normally deep voice lowered as he spoke gently to the child.

Taiki turned to Rin and smiled. "Can we?"

"Of course you can, but you must ask your parents as well."

Beaming the child leapt from his uncles arms and wrapped his own small ones firmly around Rin's neck in a gesture of childish happiness. After getting over the initial shock of the action, Rin wrapped an arm around him to return the gesture. The child climbed down from the bench and left with Akiko to pick up the toys they had left in the play area. Sesshoumaru turned to Rin and silently looked her over.

"I apologise for Taiki's behaviour," he said sincerely.

"Don't worry about it," she laughed. "We need to make some arrangements though if the children are going to play tomorrow."

"What did you have in mind?"

Rin sighed slightly and looked away thoughtfully, her lips pursed as she thought. Sesshoumaru watched her and had an almost irresistible urge to kiss her as she pursed her lips. Fighting to regain control of himself he turned back to the woman beside him as she began to speak.

"I have a meeting tomorrow morning unfortunately so we'll have to arrange something around that," she said with a frown.

Sesshoumaru nodded. "I'm sure they could play after that."

"The meeting is to end by 11am," she murmured. "It would be easier to bring lunch and let them play here for the day."

"It would."

"Will you be bringing Taiki?" she asked and Sesshoumaru thought he was imagining the faint sound of hopefulness in her tone.

"Possibly. It depends what his parents say."

Rin nodded. She wanted to see Sesshoumaru again and had to admit that she enjoyed his company seeing as she didn't know any other of the parents or relatives from the school. "Here's my number," she said quickly as she pulled out a small card from her purse and handed it to him. "Let me know what they say."

Sesshoumaru nodded and took the card, glancing down at it briefly before tucking it safely away in an inside pocket of his jacket. He noticed Rin had risen to her feet and followed suit and soon the two children were at their sides. Rin smiled as she watched him lift Taiki into his arms. She took Akiko's hand in her own and the four of them began walking back to their cars. Once the children were settled in the cars, Rin walked over to where Sesshoumaru stood, struggling to fasten the clasp on Taiki's seat belt.

"Let me do it," she said gently and reached over his arms to untangle the belt and easily slip the clasp shut.

"Thank you," he said quietly as he closed the door and turned to her.

She nodded with a smile. "It was nice to see you again, Sesshoumaru."

"You too."

"Perhaps it won't be so long until we meet again," she said with a grin. "See you soon."

She turned and walked back to her car, slipping gracefully into the driver's seat. Smiling at him one last time, she waved before driving away. Sesshoumaru watched the car disappear and sighed as he slipped into his own car. He hoped that would be the one to be with Taiki tomorrow, but as it was a Saturday, he knew his chances were slim.