Cherries.

That was what his mind finally came to. Cherries.

That is what she would taste like. If he had kissed her lips, she would taste like cherries.

Small, sweet and with a hard core.

Yes. She would taste of cherries.

That thought warmed him, waking his mind to the world as he sighed and frowned to himself. Why on earth was he thinking about kissing that little girl? That child? Why was he wondering what she would taste like?

And why cherries?

He didn't even like cherries.

Rolling over, he grabbed his watch and saw it was abnormally late for him to still be in bed. "Dam girl must have kept me up." He muttered, standing up and running a hand back in his hair. Pulling on a housecoat, he stepped into the main room. "Morning Rin." he said loudly.

There was no reply and his eyes were drawn to the small neat pile of pillow and blanket that were lying on the floor by the sofa. Frowning he looked over the rest of the room. "Rin? Rin where are you?"

Beginning to panic, he looked around the room for anything out of place. He frowned, looking over her belongings. "Where are you?" He yelled, sitting on the sofa. "Where… where are you?"

Hand on his head, he closed his eyes and thought. Then he frowned and leant back with a smile. "Why the hell do I care anyway? She's not my concern." He huffed once then stood and walked over to the bedroom phone to order his breakfast.

It arrived just after he'd changed but the waiter who delivered it said something that caught his attention. 'The lady ordered the same meal.'

On questioning the man, Sesshomaru found out that Rin had ordered her own breakfast about an hour before him and left the hotel on foot soon after, not saying where she was going or how long she'd be.

Sesshomaru huffed but then decided that instead of worrying about the little thing, he'd be himself. He had breakfast then decided to go down to the spa for a little him time, having a long stay in the Jacuzzi and other relaxing and rejuvenating treatments. After two hours, he felt like a new man, pacing himself as he pushed through the water of the empty and clear pool.

It was nice to be on his own so just swam back and forth across the pool. Then he heard the door to the pool close and the soft footfall on the tiles. He turned at the deep end of the pool, holding onto the side as he looked over to see who had entered. "Well, well, look who it is." He laughed. "Where have you been?"

The woman laughed at him as she stood at the side of the pool in a dark orange swimsuit and sarong, unwrapping the fabric from her waist and putting it on the side with a towel. "Out." She said, sitting on the side of the pool and dipping her feet into the water.

Sesshomaru watched her for a moment from the other side then cast off, crossing the pool in a few seconds and grabbing her arm. "Where was 'out'?"

She looked over to his hand on her arm. "I was just out." She pulled away and slid easily into the water, bobbed for a moment then began to swim.

The man looked at her for a moment then followed. "I woke up and you were gone." he said as they swam back and forth. "I was worried about you. Anything could have happened."

She sighed, leaning on the shallow end of the pool, running a hand back in her hair, sweeping it out of her eyes. "If you must know then; I went down to the town. It was a good walk and it's a nice day. Nothing wrong with that is there?"

Also leaning on the wall, he stared at her. "You could have left a note."

"You are not my mother." She laughed, pushing off but then finding her arm grabbed and the water moving around them.

Sesshomaru stood beside her, one hand on her wrist the other on her chin. He stared at her for a moment, watching how her eyes lit up and the water dripped down her skin. Finally he frowned at her. "I agreed to be myself with you. But that does not mean you can just leave and do as you please." He leant a little closer, tipping her head upwards. "I am still responsible for you. So don't run off again. Understood?"

Pushing him back, Rin caused a loud splash to ring out across the pool. "Fine. I didn't know you had to babysit me." She sighed and pushed herself into the water, swimming on her own until Sesshomaru began following her.

Rin swam across the pool for several minutes until she climbed out of the pool and wiped herself down with a towel. Sesshomaru watched her from the water, not caring if his eyes weren't the most gentlemanly, staring as she walked around the pool to a large wooden door at the side that was the sauna. Brushing his hair away, Sesshomaru had a couple more laps then climbed out and joined Rin. The hot steamy air flooded his senses were slightly uncomfortably but he soon passed over it and walked to the bench just beside Rin.

"Hey."

"You take this babysitting serious, don't you?"

He huffed but closed his eyes, relaxing in the humid air, breathing in the flavoured mist as it worked on his skin. For twenty minutes, he just sat there, enjoying the heat and relaxing effect of the sauna. With a deep sigh, he lifted his head, fighting a swift headache as he looked over to Rin. She appeared to be panting, her eyes cringing as she rolled her head back.

"You alright?" He asked, sitting forward.

She nodded once then rubbed her forehead. "Yeah."

"Spend much time in saunas?"

"I've never been in one before."

He frowned at her. "Get out."

"What?" Rin blinked, staring over at him as her vision span. "Why you…."

"Get out. Right now, get out."

"But…."

"Just get out!"

Grunting, Rin turned her head to the side. "Fine, no need to be so…" she stopped, swaggering when she stood up before stumbling forward, her knees giving way.

Across the room, Sesshomaru jumped and wrapped his arms around her from behind, catching her from falling. "You idiot." He hissed, pulling her up to her feet. "Come on, we have to get you out."

"But…"

"Trust me." With his arms around her, the man lifted her up into his arms like a bride and pushed the door to the sauna open. Once out of the steam, the cold air washed over them both, causing a painful response from Rin and she shivered in pain. But she was soon shivering even more as Sesshomaru carried her into a deep cold pool beside the hot sauna.

She gasped and wrapped her arms tight around his neck. "It's cold!"

"It'll cool you down." A soft voice whispered into her ear, his arms pulling her closer to his chest. "You idiot."

"W…why?"

"I thought you were used to saunas. The way you were just sat there. You do know you can get really ill from being in the hot air too long."

As Rin shivered, he lowered her to the bottom of the pool before pulling her back into his chest, sighing as he did, rubbing her arms to wash the water over her skin.

Rin gulped as her body cooled. "I… it's so… cold. Can… I get out… now?"

"Not yet." He whispered, rubbing her arms again. "You're still too warm. Just a little longer."

Rin shook her head as she leant against him. "It's so cold."

Sesshomaru shook his head and rubbed his face into her neck, his arms wrapping around her even further. "Take a deep breath and hold it."

Rin, beginning to feel the effect of the hot steam and the cold water, gasped, trying to control her breathing but found it too painful. "I… I can't."

"Trust me." His arms wrapped a little tighter. "It will help. Ready? " He whispered to her ear. "On three. One. Two…. Three!"

On his command, Rin took a deep breath and held it while at the same time, Sesshomaru bent his knees and plunged them both under the water before standing back up. The man laughed as Rin spluttered and wiped her face clean, turning her around to face him. She kept coughing, removing the water from her face but he placed a hand on her forehead, testing her temperature. Finally he smiled and nodded. "That's better." He held her shoulders as she rested her head on his chest. "Still too high for my liking but much better."

Rin frowned as much as her easing pain would allow but that wasn't much. The man tipped his head a little at her. "Come on, we'll head back to the room."

Carefully he guided her out of the cold pool and to the side of the other larger pool, grabbing her towel from the side and wrapped it around her shoulders, allowing her to clutch it tight around her body. As he wrapped his own around his shoulders and began to walk away, he huffed. "It's a good job we are here out of season, I'm not sure you would want everyone to see you in your swimsuit."

Rin held the towel tighter but said nothing, causing a glance back at her from her companion. "What? No insults? You must be feeling ill. Well, not that I'd expect any different from a little girl who overheated."

"Ass…h…hole."

He huffed, looking back to the corridor. "That's better. I was beginning to worry."

Rin stared at his back as they walked, blinking as her body cooled. They walked in silence to the stairs and up to the main hotel, ignoring the looks from members of staff as they observed them. The silver haired man blinked and reached backwards, grabbing the young woman's hand in his and squeezing it tight, pulling her along to their room. There, he closed the door and nodded, dragging her to the bedroom and easing her carefully to the bed. "Lie down. It'll do you good to rest for a little bit."

Rin didn't say anything, too light headed and dizzy to care. She lay on her back on the bed, her head resting on a pillow and her towel a make shift blanket across her swimsuit. Just as her eyes closed, she felt something push against the back of her neck, lifting her up.

"Here, drink this."

Water pressed against her lips, forcing her to drink, again cooling her down. When finished, a hand brushed against her cheek and she leant into it. "I'm tired." The words came slowly out of her mouth.

"Go to sleep. I'll check up on you in a bit." He brushed her cheek again, stroking the hair from her face. "You just sleep."

Dizzy, Rin nodded, rolling into the pillow. "I'm sorry, for being a burden."

He chuckled. "No. I was meant to look after you. But you just sleep. I'll be right next door."

As Rin rolled over and pulled herself in to sleep, the man silently crept around the room and grabbed a change of clothes, his note book and pen before closing the curtains and leaving as quietly as he could.