I Do Not Own Inuyasha

Chapter 3

Three weeks had passed since she had returned from the cruise and her life was infinitely better now. At least it would be if she wasn't dragging this box of new kitchen supplies up to her apartment on the eighth floor using the stairs. Why the hell did kitchen supplies have to be so damn heavy!? Fourth floor, she huffed out a breath as she tripped up the stairs. Rin stumbled right into another person, both of them, not the box, fell down the stairs.

"I am so sorry!" Rin gasped as she pulled herself up, the girl groaned.

"It's okay," the girl groaned out as Rin got to her feet and offered the stranger a hand. The girl took her hand and once up to her full height Rin was amazed, the girl was tall! Or Rin was just short.

"I'm Rin by the way, I just moved in." She explained quickly, the girl nodded.

"Kagome Higurashi, I live up on the eighth floor."

"Oh, so do I, apartment 8C," Rin smiled at the girl.

"I live in apartment 8D," Kagome chuckled out; both girls looked up the stairs at the dreaded box. "Kitchen supplies?"

"Yep," Rin nodded.

"I'll help."

"You don't have to, I can handle it all by myself."

"Don't be stubborn, just accept the help. When I was moving in my best friend helped. Besides, it's not like I was doing anything exciting today," Kagome explained. Rin looked curiously at her.

"But weren't you heading out?" she asked since she knew she had tumbled into Kagome as she was heading down and Rin was heading up.

"Yeah, but he can suffer for a little while." Kagome said defiantly, Rin just shook her head in exasperation.

"Boyfriend troubles?" Rin guessed since the tone sounded slightly familiar to that of a dating woman, not that Rin was dating anymore. She had sworn off guys, no dating for her for at least a year. Hopefully in that would be sufficient time to get over her loving Sesshomaru.

"That'd be easier. No it's my boss, he heard I had a date with someone and suddenly there's a mountain of work at the office. He's so irritating that way! It's childish! I mean would it kill him to just ask me on a date rather than pulling all this work out of thin air!? I swear he's the stupidest, most selfish man I know," Kagome huffed out as they began maneuvering the box up to Rin's apartment.

"Sounds tough, a little to the left," Rin ordered as they worked their way up past the fifth floor.

"It is tough, and he's impossible! He says he needs me but then I'll walk into the office and he pining after my older sister, so annoying. You would not believe how many times he's told me he likes me but then he turns around and pines for Kikyo!" Kagome sounded rightfully peeved at the situation in Rin's mind but then again Kagome had clearly stated she and this man weren't a thing. They walked passed the seventh floor and took a breather, mostly because Kagome had wasted all her breath in her rant. "The worst part is Kikyo doesn't even love him! She just loves his money, meanwhile I love him. Every insufferable, stubborn, brash bit of him."

"Love sucks," Rin concluded.

"Love does suck," Kagome agreed as they picked up the heavy box and resumed their trip to Rin's appartment. "What about you? Ever been in love?"

"Yeah," Rin allowed as she opened up her new apartment.

"How was it for you?" Kagome asked as they walked in. Rin thought about it.

"The first time was more of love for convenience, if you understand that. We were comfortable with each other, had a mutual friendship and enough in common to get along well. I thought I loved him, was even engaged to him," Rin muttered.

"What ended it?" Kagome asked as they walked down the stairs again for another box.

"I walked in on him and my best friend, in a very intimate encounter in my bed." Rin explained.

"Ouch," Kagome winced, Rin nodded. "You said the first time so what was the second time?"

"It was fun, easy, and light, it was a fling to be honest. But I managed to fall in head over heels for him and he doesn't know. Ignorance is bliss though," Rin explained with a casual shrug.

"Oh, short sweet romance, lucky." Kagome muttered darkly, Rin laughed.

"Not really, he doesn't know I love him and I doubt he'll ever know," Rin mused as she hefted up another box and walked up the stairs to her apartment again. Kagome followed in suit.

"Didn't you tell him?"

"Nope, I was a vacation fling," Rin repeated. The girls chatted away while they brought up the boxes to Rin's new apartment. Enjoying the casual time, until Kagome's phone rang and she answered. Even Rin winced at the voice she heard shouting at Kagome through the other end of the line.

"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!?" a man's gruff voice shouted.

"Calm down Inuyasha! I was helping my new neighbor move in!" Kagome snapped to the voice as she picked up her purse, waved to Rin then walked out of the apartment. Rin merely chuckled to herself as she began unpacking the boxes she had lying about. The kitchen supplies were the first things to be unpacked, putting away and organizing her kitchen would always take priority for her since empty kitchens bothered her. Rin loved to cook and she was certain that if she hadn't been a graphic artist then she'd have figured out how to be a chef.

Putting music on she absently danced around her apartment unpacking for the day. Putting her clothes away, making her bed, putting up the few photos of importance to her and pulling out her sketchbooks. The private sketchbook she hid amongst her books which held her sketches of Sesshomaru. Rin hadn't taken a single photo of the man but she had wanted to remember him for forever so she had done what she did best. Her fingers had drawn him perfectly over a dozen times. Hiding her private memories from the world was something she was good at.

Finishing with the unpacking Rin was walking out of her apartment when Kagome reappeared looking exhausted.

"I'm going to the market, do you need anything?" Rin asked.

"Yeah, give me a minute and I'll come with you." True to her word Kagome had taken a minute to reappear dressed casually as both girls walked to the market.

"I hate him!" Kagome cried out, Rin said nothing. "How come love has to hurt?"

"Because love gets pleasure off of your pain?" Rin guessed as they walked.

"I wish love would go die in some deep pit."

"I agree," Rin agreed as they walked through the market. Collecting the things Rin needed for her dinner she decided to invite Kagome to dinner too. Rin could use a new friend, preferably one who wouldn't sleep with her boyfriend if she should ever get a boyfriend again.

"Hey, you want to come over for dinner?" Rin asked as they walked back to the apartment.

"Sure, what's for dinner?"

"Rice bowls probably, it's easy to make and I'm feeling a little lazy tonight."

"Sounds great, mind if I invite two of my friends over?"

"The more the merrier." Rin decided, she didn't feel she had any reason to be just her and Kagome. Having more friends for a change sounded appealing to her. Perhaps a few girl friends would be nice, Rin had never had many friends but she needed a few at the moment. Restarting was hard enough but trying to make friends and restart, it felt impossible.

"Great, you start dinner and I'll go get her, she lives in the building two floors down." Kagome explained as she disappeared into her apartment. Rin merely shrugged as she started cooking dinner, there was another knock on the door. Rin opened the door and was greeted by Kagome who had two other girls with her. The first was also tall, athletic and reminded Rin of the kind of girls usually labeled 'bad-ass'. The second was a bright, slightly peppy but not annoyingly so and the kind of girl usually labeled 'goody-two-shoes'.

"Rin, this is Sango," Kagome motioned to the first girl. "And this is Ayame," Kagome gestured to the red head.

"Nice to meet you both, come in," Rin motioned for the girls, both walked in with smiles. Dinner turned into a laughing event, after two bottles of wine were spent. They were all laughing, telling wild stories, complaining about guys, and then dreaming up guys. It was so much fun they all forgot the time until Rin looked over at the clock.

"Crap, its one a.m.!" Rin gasped, the girls grudgingly left Rin's apartment as she argued she had work tomorrow. Once everyone was gone Rin sighed alone in the dark again. Trying not to love Sesshomaru was becoming more and more difficult as she had accepted she loved him. Picking up the dishes she washed them then went to bed.


There was a horrendous pounding on her door the next morning, Rin cracked an eye to look at the clock, it was fifteen minutes before her alarm was set to go off. Grumbling she dragged herself out of her bed, pulled on a sweatshirt then stalked over to the door. Whoever was pounding on her door could go die in a fiery hole in hell! It was five in the morning! What was so urgent they needed to pound on her door!? Throwing the door open Rin found herself glaring at a red tie, gradually Rin looked up to stare at a rugged man. His shaggy white hair was like a lion's mane, atop his head were two white dog ears, and his handsome face sported a set of amber eyes. His eyes were the exact same shade of gold which had been haunting her dreams and memories for weeks.

"And who are you?" Rin demanded as she yawned, rubbing her eyes. This man wasn't Sesshomaru, her mind knew that but there were so many similarities between the two it was a little disconcerting. Sesshomaru was taller, leaner, definitely sleeker, and a little more polished while this stranger was shorter; still tall but shorter, a little more muscular, and had something ragged about his appearance.

"You're no Kagome," he muttered.

"Nope, and you are?" Rin inquired again.

"Inuyasha, her boss and we need to leave, where's her apartment?"

"Next door," Rin yawned out as she slammed her door in his face then stumbled to bed again. Ten minutes before her alarm went off, ten minutes to sleep! There was some shouting from Kagome's apartment and Rin tried to smother it out of her brain as she tried to go to sleep again. But the fair image of Sesshomaru was haunting her again, sighing Rin turned off her alarm then walked to the shower. She surrendered, there would be no sleep this morning with Sesshomaru's image haunting her again. The shouting continued as Rin took her shower. Stepping out she dried her hair, pulled it into her customary ponytail then went about getting dressed. Breakfast was a simple affair as she made her hangover elixir and some toast then she was out of her apartment to head to work. Perhaps she'd get a good project to take her mind off of Sesshomaru.

Rin saw Inuyasha and Kagome arguing some more as they got into a car, both with suitcases. Shrugging off her morning's irritation with their shouting Rin walked to her train station then waited for her morning to start. Walking into her work building, the Taisho Publishing House she went to her desk to work. At lunch she walked to the convenience store like always, she smiled as she walked in to greet the old shop owner.

"Morning Totosai, how have the last few weeks been?" Rin asked, the old man looked up and smiled at her.

"Rin! I thought you had moved or something," the old man said.

"I did move, I also took a vacation for a month since my life was falling to pieces, broke off my engagement to Kohaku and finally returned to work. Did you miss me?" Rin teased, he smiled at her.

"I always miss you smiles girl, and my you've been busy." Totosai mused.

"I have indeed, but I'm back!" Rin chuckled.

"Always good to hear," he agreed as he rung up her lunch for her.

"How's Kaede doing?" Rin asked.

"She's good, doc expects her to make a full recovery," Totosai said to Rin, she nodded. Kaede was Totosai's wife and they had, briefly at one point in her young life, been her foster parents. They were the only family Rin had ever kept in touch with.

"That's good," Rin cheerfully exclaimed as she took her lunch. "See ya tomorrow!"

"See ya tomorrow!" he waved to her as she walked out, Rin's heart stop as she saw a tall silver man walking towards the parking garage. Before she knew it her feet were carrying her after the mysterious silver figure.