It was three days until Kozue saw Rin. Her and her companions from Jo-Mu came down the market street as usual. Kozue grinned when he saw her and bowed politely when they stopped at his stall.
"Good morning, everyone," he said cheerfully.
They all chimed a greeting back except for Rin who smiled shyly and dipped her head down out of politeness.
"And an especially good morning to you, Miss Rin," Kozue whispered for her to hear.
Her smile faltered and her gaze left him, Rin only nodding in response. She was still unsure of how to feel when she was given special attention. Her teacher, Umita, said that attention made the gods jealous. Rin did her best to be polite yet remain humble.

"Will it be the usual for you ladies today?," Kozue asked, rummaging around in some wood barrels.
"Yes, please," Rin's friend Momo answered, "But we were also wondering if you had any salt. No one else seems to have any today."
"I can certainly check and see if we have some in the back. Please wait a moment," the young man said, giving Rin a sly wink.
Heading into the back room he looked in the salt barrel and found two pouches left, sure to last someone or even a large group for a while. Kozue tucked the pouches into the belt of his yukata and went to the back corner to find the flowers from Hoshiko forest. With nervous hands and a plea to the gods for the magic to work he pulled one stem from the bunch and hid it behind his back as he went back to the front.

"I did manage to find a couple bags of salt. Normally I would ask for five ryo for these but since you are such wonderful customers I will lower the price to three." Kozue explained.
"That is a good price for a such a rare commodity so far inland. We appreciate it, sir, and will be sure to come back again," said another of Rin's companions.
Kozue smiled at each of the girls in turn, stopping on Rin.
The group turned to leave, saying their farewell, but Kozue laid a delicate hand on Rin's shoulder.
"Miss Rin, I have a gift for you. It would mean a lot to me if you would accept this as a token of my feelings for you," the young man said, pulling the flower from behind his back.
Rin studied the flower for a moment, thinking of it as an ordinary flower. A white carnation was held before her and the tips of its petals were slightly stained pink.

He said it was a gift, a token of his affection for her. Though she did not harbor any feelings towards the boy in turn she had a hard time convincing herself to reject it. It was rude to refuse such a heartfelt gift and Rin did not want to incur any ill feelings.
With a light touch Rin reached out and took the flower from Kozue, opening her mouth to say something but instead bowing very deeply out of respect and thanks.
"It seems like a rather plain flower but I think you find it has its secrets," he said, smiling at her.
Rin tipped her head to the side thoughtfully, weary of things that were magic that she knew nothing about. Kozue, though, was a nice boy whom Rin had never gotten any malicious feelings from; perhaps he was just a boy who happened across something very special.
Again, Rin bowed her head and turned to leave, catching up with her companions who tittered on about her present.

As the group fell out of sight, Kozue looked down on the table and smirked. The flower had been ample distraction from the coin purse Rin left behind. Kozue quickly grabbed and pocketed the purse before going back to work.

It was early, the sun just barely dipping below the horizon but Rin decided to call it a night. Going to the village always took a lot out of her; human interaction was not her favorite thing in the world. They said her aversion to people made her seem rude and the forced outings to the village every week were part of her training, training to become better acquainted with people. She was not, however, rude, she just plain didn't get along well with people. Around Jaken, Ah-Un and Lord Sesshoumaru she was chatty and full of energy, she loved them all dearly and felt that they accepted her the way she was.

In town, surrounded by strangers with their fake smiles and small talk, Rin was checked every little detail of herself to make sure she did no wrong in their did not stare too long but not too little as to be impolite. She checked the tilt of her head, the position of her shoulders and feet, how long her stride was and how she held items. Everything was picked apart when around others and she was so very frustrated with it all. She longed for the freedom she had with the others where all she had to worry about was getting in Lord Sesshoumaru's way. Those days were long gone though and she was not sure they would ever come back.

She stifled a sob and buried her face into her pillow, making sure no one heard her cry.
He just left her there. After years of traveling together he just left her. She never got an explanation from him, though Jaken had offered many that she did not believe.
"It's time for you to live with your own people."
"It's time you learned to fight."
"It's time to find your calling."
It's time for this, it's time for that but Lord Sesshoumaru showed no inclination that any of that was true. He didn't even say if he would come visit her.
Twice that man had brought her back from death and then nothing, not so much as a goodbye. Lord Sesshoumaru had never been a warm person but he had never done anything to hurt Rin, not like the day he just flew away.

Even more exhausted after crying Rin hoped sleep would come for her quickly but something kept her up. Finally pulling her face away from the pillow she found a faint light in her room. The sun had long since cast it's last beams of light so she looked around to find the source. Surprisingly she found that the carnation, the one Kozue had given her, was glowing with a pale light. Brows furrowed, she crawled over to where she had put it, in a small vase on top of a table. It seemed to breath and with each exhale a puff of sparkling light glimmered in the dark room before dissipating. Carefully Rin reached out and touched one of the petals. The whole flower, stem and all, seemed to shake with ticklish delight. Rin smiled and felt an urge to thank Kozue, this time with words.