Disclaimer: I do not own the show InuYasha or any of the characters…
Summary: Rin is 17, soon to turn 18 when she suddenly seems happier, and it seems another person came into the picture.
"Talking"
'Thinking'
Chapter 2: Hiding
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Rin hummed softly, sitting on a stone bench in the open courtyard. She twirled a small blue flower between her fingertips, her head in the clouds. The demon lord stood beneath the awning, observing her.
"Rin." He said, announcing his presence and snapping her out of her thoughts. "Where did you go off to yester-"
"I know what I want for my birthday." she interrupted him, knowing well he wanted to question her on her disappearances.
"Oh?" He said, slightly annoyed from being cut off, but interesting in what she was to say next.
"I like roses…but they die, so I can't really keep them for long." She paused, satisfied with her answer she made up on the spot. "And….maybe a pet." She added, listening to the demon behind her remain deathly still.
"A pet?"
"Hai--one that will keep me company…and...protect me if needed." She tilted her head to the side, plucking the pedals from the flower and watching them drift to the ground.
"And I do not do that?" He said, stepping up behind her. He felt her freeze for a moment, being caught off guard by his words.
"Well……." Her mind searched for an answer. "It's not the same." Sesshoumaru sat down beside her, causing a pause in her speech. "You're not like a pet. I can't go up to you and pat your head, or play games, or talk about things. "
"We're talking now." He said smoothly, looking at her with indifferent amber eyes.
"Hai, but it's not the same." She said, starting to get frustrated.
"No?"
"No, it's not."
"How so?" He overlapped what she said, leaving them both talking back and forth without pause.
"This is chit-chat, I'm talking about conversations."
"You know I'm too busy to just talk."
"Exactly!" Rin shouted, silencing the chirping of a gathering of birds in a tree. Sesshoumaru looked at her, slightly taken aback. Her shoulders dropped slightly in embarrassment and she lowered her head as well. "Gomen Nasai, I shouldn't have yelled." She muttered at her feet.
"Roses that don't die and a pet." He spoke after a few minutes choked with silence. With that he left, leaving her in confusion.
"Hai…Sesshoumaru-sama." She said quietly after he had left, raising her head with a slow inhale that turned into a sharp gasp. Haru was on the roof, looking down at her. He waved, jumping down to meet her.
"Haru-kun, what are you doing!" She said in a hushed tone, looking around.
"Nani?" He said, innocently enough. "You live here?" he asked, looking around in astonishment.
"Lady Rin?" She heard a servant's voice call, "it's lunch time" A door leading into the courtyard opened, an old lesser demon in the doorway.
Rin grabbed Haru's hand, pulling him into another door leading into one of the hallways in the castle. She dragged him through the hallways, almost at a run.
"Where are we going?" He asked, yanked around another corner.
"Shh!" Rin replied harshly, "I'll explain later." She led him up stairs, then stopped suddenly. They had arrived at a hallway that lead to the rooms for more important people, like Jaken, Rin, and Lord Sesshoumaru.
She peered cautiously around the corner, seeing no one. "Stay absolutely silent" She said slowly and quietly, making sure he got the point. He nodded, and they made their way down the hall.
As they passed the great demon Lord's room, soft footsteps made their way towards the door. Rin heard this and sped up, sliding open the door to her own room and throwing Haru inside, then herself.
He opened his mouth to ask something, but she covered it with her hand, pushing him back into her closet. She looked at him among her kimonos for a moment, then placed a slender finger on her lips to tell him to stay quiet. The door to her closet closed as another opened.
She turned around to bow to Sesshoumaru.
Right as she did, he spoke sternly. "The servants said they couldn't find you anywhere; they even checked your room." He told her, stepping into the room.
"I was bored, and hid from them." She said. The tense atmosphere she felt was suffocating her, causing her to begin to pant.
Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow at her odd behavior and breathing. "Very well…..are you alright?" He asked, advancing towards her. She nodded, forcing her body to cooperate.
"Hai…oh, and I'm not hungry either, so I won't have lunch." She said, praying to the Gods that he would leave soon.
"You need to eat, you're still growing." He ordered, waiting for them to walk down to the dining hall, together.
"I'll meet you down there, I want to clean up my closet." She said, her heart starting to pound again. "It's been bugging me, and I want to clean it up…after I do, I'll come down."
"Have one of the servants do it."
"But I don't want them touching my stuff!" She protested. Sesshoumaru frowned. Turning around, he stepped out of the door and slid it closed.
Rin opened the closet and Haru stumbled out, a kimono draped over his shoulder and another wrapped around his arm. Rin giggled, untangling him from her clothes. "Gomen, Sesshoumaru-sama is pretty strict."
Little did she now, Sesshoumaru was standing outside the door, hearing Rin speaking inside.
"That's alright, I think I understand why you sneak out now." He sighed. "So I suppose I should leave now?"
Rin felt like she had hurt him somehow. "Hai…gomen nasai…I'll meet you tomorrow, around dawn. At the garden." She said, causing Haru to smile.
He nodded, opening the window and leaping onto it's sill. "Ja ne"(see ya) And disappeared into the trees.
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Sesshoumaru heard the quiet voices inside, not able to hear what the words they muttered were. There was a male voice, talking to Rin. 'She's laughing…what could she be laughing at, and in such a way as that?' He thought, quickly making his way to the dining hall as to not have Rin suspect anything.
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