Chapter 3:

(Rin's point of view)

After my first class ended, I made my way to my second one, American History. It sped by, then I had a break for an hour before calculus started. Thanks to my A.P. courses in high school, I gained credit for all of my basics without having to take the classes. It was good because I had an edge on everyone else, but the downside was I didn't have any classes with my friends. I guess that's ok, considering I'll be less distracted. Well, besides in my first class. I made my way to the section of campus where the oak trees intertwined to almost form a pavilion, found a bench, and pulled out a book to read to pass the time. I lucked out considering this spot was on the side of the library and building my next class was in. I sunk into my book and had read six pages by the time I realized I hadn't been paying any attention to the book, but only to my thoughts on the most beautiful man I've ever seen. I blushed and shook myself, turning back to the page I started on in order to reread what I had missed when a familiar voice rang out and nearly made me jump out of my skin.

"Hey Rin!" He chuckled as I turned around to see Miroku and Inuyasha. "Whatcha reading?"

I smiled at them and looked down at my book as I relpied. "It's called The Dancer's Foot Book. It's all about feet." I laughed as I saw Inuyasha crinkle his nose and Miroku scowl at the thought of feet. "It's a required reading for my Theory and Physiology of Dance class. It's my Monday night class." Their expressions changed quickly at the thought of girls dancing. Boys.. I swear…

"Oh so you're a Dance Major?" Miroku asked.

"Yeah, well, I'm triple majoring in Dance, Geography, and Math, with a double minor in Dialects and History." I failed at holding back a giggle as their mouths dropped.

"How do you plan on doing all of that? Kagome said you work three jobs." Inuyasha blurted out.

"I'm really good and managing my time." I winked.

"Seriously."

"But seriously, I took nothing but A.P. courses in high school and got a ridiculous amount of credits in all my basics so I get to fill the next four to five years with upper level courses instead of waste my time with trivial things."

"Wow. Impressive." Miroku stated.

"Thanks. What about you guys? What are you majoring in?" I asked.

"Well I'm gonna be a P.E. teacher!" Inuyasha said proudly.

"I'm in Ancient Studies but I'm minoring in Chemistry." Miroku said. "Correct me if I'm wrong, Rin, but didn't we see you at our apartment building earlier this morning?"

I nodded. "Yep, I live there." They looked at each other as to say I told you so and smiled back at me.

"We should have a sleep-over." Miroku smiled before Inuyasha hit him on the back of the head again.

"Don't mind the lech. He's harmless just perverted as can be." After laughing, Inuyasha turned back to me. "So, what's up with Kagome?" I smiled a big, all-knowing smile.

"What do you mean, what's up with Kagome?" I knew what he meant, but no one gets information on my best friend that easily.

"I mean, is she seeing anybody? What's she like?" I giggled at his intrigue.

"He also wants to know her favorite color, what kind of shampoo she uses, if she has a dog-" Inuyasha quickly cut him off by sending an elbow to his ribs. I just giggled before answering.

"No, she's not seeing anybody. She's pretty awesome I do have to say. I mean, she's one of my best friends, so you know she's top shelf. Her favorite color's red, she constantly changes shampoos, and no she doesn't have a dog… yet." I smiled at my final word as I glanced at his dog ears. He turned very red.

"Oh, that's cool." He tried to sound nonchalant but I could see through him. I just smiled.

"We're all going to meet in front of the cafeteria at noon. You should casually stroll by and join us. You can ask her all these questions yourself. Don't worry, I won't say anything." I looked at him out of the corner of my eye and smiled some more.

"Stop smiling so much!" he barked. I just laughed. He was getting embarrassed.

"You should put in a good word for me with Sango. She's absolutely beautiful." I looked at Miroku as if saying, come on dude, seriously?

"She is that but I bet you say that to all the girls so, if you want to make good impression, you have to do it yourself." I smiled at him to let him know I wasn't being a complete bitch before something Inuyasha said took me by surprise.

"Hey! Sesshomaru!" He yelled. I turned to see the god of a man across the courtyard leisurely strolling toward us. My heart began to pound against my ribs when I realized I forgot to breathe. I shook myself trying to get a grip when he finally reached us. "Hey, dude. This is Rin. Rin this is my asshole of a half brother, Sesshomaru."

"It's nice to meet you, Sesshomaru" I said as casually as I could. He just stared at me before looking at his brother again.

"You need to find another ride. I have some work to do on my thesis." He said coolly. With that, he turned and walked into the math building.

"Jackass." Inuyasha mumbled. "Don't feel bad, Rin. He's the Ice King. All he's worried about is finishing up Grad School so he can take over the family business from our Dad. Ha, which is funny since I overheard my dad telling my mom he doesn't get it until he finds a mate. Sesshomaru might as well just try and find something else to do because he'll never settle down and actually show someone his feelings." For some reason this tickled Inuyasha so I laughed with him to make it less awkward and their less than kind brotherly love. I looked at my watch and sighed.

"Well I've got to get to calculus and get a seat, but I'll see you guys at lunch?"

"Definitely." They said in unison. I waved and walked into the Math Building and found my class. Sure enough, there he was, sitting next to the only available seat. Super.

I took my seat next to him and got out my notebook and pencil. The teacher came in and started writing problems on the board for us to complete as her form of testing the skill level of the class. She was a beautiful demoness with long black hair braided down her back and green eyes that sparkled behind he square-framed glasses. Her name was Mrs. Noramuske. All the problems were super easy and I wondered if this was really calculus. I mean, I literally did most of them in my head. For her benefit, I fully worked out the problems, put my name on my paper and passed it up to the front of the class.

Mrs. Noramuske looked over all of the papers before standing up again with papers sectioned into twos in her hands.

"Okay, class. It looks like most everyone is on par but I'm going to pair you up based on your scores so you can always have a study buddy. Maybe the familiar faces from last semester can pass this way." The melodic tone of her voice grew harsh for emphasis at the end of her sentence.

Is it just me or is she staring directly at Sesshomaru? Weird.

"Ms. Rin Loto?" She looked up and I raised my hand. "You'll be paired up with Mr. Takahashi." She used her eyes to note Sesshomaru. Oh wow, I didn't realize you were that dog demon's son. Mrs. Noramuske leaned down to whisper, "Try to make him pass this year my dear." I was stunned and embarrassed all in one. She began pairing everyone else up and when she was done, she returned to the front of the class. "Ok, now your assignment for the day is on page 36 in your text books. Work problems 1-15. This will be homework as well as time to get to know your partner so take the rest of the class time to do so, but don't ever expect time to work on homework in my class again." She was so small and dainty when she first walked in, now she appeared more a demon than most as if her ora turned red.

I gulped then looked at Sesshomaru. He turned and looked at me in return with his cold, emotionless eyes. I turned and got my book out to turn to the correct page and look at the first problem. I wrote it down and turned back to him. He was just sitting there, staring at me, his desk blank. I gave him a confused look.

"I didn't bring my book. I refuse to buy it again." He said calmly.

"Oh, ok. Well, we can share mine if you want. Do you need some paper?"

"Why don't you just give me a copy of your work." He turned around and stared forward.

"Hmph.." I said as I turned back to my work, beginning on the first problem. All these were super easy. I worked out all of the problems and made sure to indicate every step then wrote my number at the top of the paper as well as my name and handed it to him. "Here. You can call me if you get confused or need me to explain anything." I gathered my things and left without looking back. Jerk. All I was trying to do was help.

Mrs. Noramuske eyes flashed from him back to me then down at her desk. She smiled which confused me, but I didn't think much of it as I headed to the cafeteria. I was starving. Unfortunately, I didn't get paid until tomorrow.

I decided to take my time getting to the cafeteria since I got out of my class early and went for a stroll around campus to admire the landscape. My stomach was rolling and growling with hunger, begging me for food. I put my hand over it to try and calm it down. Thank goodness it didn't do this during class because that dog demon would have heard it loud and clear. I started to think about how arrogant and rude he was and I zoned out in an internal rant when I started seeing spots. Oh no.. I thought as I began to feel faint. I hadn't eaten in four days. I had managed to get everything in my apartment paid and the day I went to get the last few things from his house, he threatened me to give him all the money I had. Unfortunately, it was my grocery money. At the time, I was happy to get out of there without another bruise and beating, but now I should have just held out. Everything around me started to blur and then it went black.