Knitting Numbers

Rin couldn't believe her luck. Of all the boring, ancient accountants out there, she had gotten the one that was gorgeous. I mean, she had seen Inuyasha and he was sort-of cute, so she should have realized his brother wouldn't be ugly, but he was just so… beautiful. She could still see his long, white-blond hair and incredible eyes, so light a brown she could swear they were golden. Not to mention his towering height and intriguingly stoic face.

And of course, she had babbled on and made a fool of herself just because there was a good-looking guy in her shop. Well, admittedly, she wasn't that used to being around men due to the fact that they weren't often in the shop and the shop was basically her life, but that was no reason to act all stupid.

After Kagome and Sango had left that night, she stood alone in her store for a moment, taking in the place she loved so well. Straight out of collage she had gotten a pretty good job working with a law firm, and soon she was on her way to making partner as a lawyer. It had made quite the commotion, a 22-year-old about to be made partner, with no "special favors" or bribes. Yet even though she knew she should have been happy, she wasn't. In fact, the only thing she enjoyed anymore was knitting, and after a particularly heart-wrenching case, her path was clear. Six months later, she opened the shop.

As much as she loved it, starting a business from scratch and then keeping it going hadn't left much room for anything else. Her best friends she knew and kept in touch with because they were in the shop all the time, and she hadn't had a steady boyfriend in years. Occasionally she went on a date, but never anything serious. Eventually she sort-of gave up and stopped thinking about it, and she had been okay with that for a long time, so why was she thinking about it now?

Suddenly she was jerked from her thoughts by the buzzing of her cell phone.

"Hello?" she answered it, a little startled still.

"Hey Rin!" she heard Kagome's cheerful voice greeted her. "What's up?

"Oh, I'm still at the shop," she said, glad it was just her friend.

"You are? Boy, you need to get out more, which is exactly what I wanted to talk to you about." Rin groaned. It wasn't the first time Kagome had tried to "help her," a past endeavor involving a very embarrassing attempt at clubbing.

"What this time? If you want me to wear any more leather, the answer is no." She really had to put her foot down. Kagome giggled on the other end of the line.

"Okay, okay! But this time there's no leather. I was going to ask if you wanted to come over for dinner tomorrow. Sango and Miroku are coming too, so I thought you might want to."

Rin was a little surprised. It wasn't unusual for Sango and her boyfriend Miroku to see Kagome and Inuyasha outside of the shop because Miroku was Inuyasha's friend from way back, but she almost never saw them. They were just knitting friends, but, then again, she had known Kagome for nearly three years. Now was a good a time as any to start a real friendship outside of knitting. Still, if it was Sango and Miroku, Kagome and Inuyasha, that would leave her as…

"But Kagome, won't I be a bit of a fifth wheel?" she asked, hopes of accepting dashed.

"Oh, no, Sesshomaru will be there too. You can keep each other company."

Uh-oh. Sesshomaru? There was no way she could manage to keep it professional around him all night at dinner. She had a hard enough time with it today at the shop, and she wasn't even with him the whole time. But she couldn't strand him in the awkward position of fifth wheel, could she?

"All right, I'll come. Thanks for inviting me."

"No problem! I was just wondering why we never see each other outside of the shop, and then I realized it was because I never invited you anywhere. This is really casual, I mean, it's on a Tuesday, so just wear whatever. I can't wait to see you there." Kagome chatted, obviously happy that her friend was coming.

"Won't you see me tomorrow anyway?" Rin asked, remembering that Kagome was having trouble with her sweater.

"Well, yeah, but you know what I mean. It'll be fun."

After chatting for a few more minutes, they hung up, leaving Rin alone in the quite shop once again. Silently saying goodnight to the place, she locked up then walked down into the subway. A short while later, she was home, back to her cozy apartment.

Immediately greeting her at the door were her two twin cats, Ah and Un, dark brown fur making them near invisible in the dark. Flipping the lights on as she dropped her things on the couch, she walked over to the small kitchen adjoining the living room. Ah and Un followed behind her, mewing for food.

The apartment itself was neat and orderly; chock full of yarn as it was. There wasn't a room that didn't have at least a bit of yarn in it (including the bathroom) and she had enjoyed the freedom that living alone gave her to do so. An entire bookshelf in the living room was filled with yarn, making it look like a replica of the yarn shop. This was her space, and she liked it like that.

"Hello kitties. You need food, don't you?" she cooed to them as they circled her ankles. After feeding them, she got something to eat for herself then went to bed, thinking of how potentially awkward tomorrow's dinner could be.

***

The next day at six found Rin standing in front of Kagome's house, dressed in jeans and a crimson top that she hoped was Kagome's definition of casual. Her wavy and usually misbehaving dark brown hair was left down, falling halfway down her back.

The day had gone as it usually did, with a few new customers and the regulars coming by on their lunch break. Sango and Kagome hadn't stayed after closing today because of the dinner, and Rin had changed out of her work apron and black clothes at the shop because she wouldn't have time to close up, go back to her place, get ready, and then go all the way to their house just outside of the city.

"Hey Rin," Inuyasha greeted her gruffly at the door. She smiled at him, but she knew why he was on edge. Kagome had told her that the two brothers didn't get along very well, so being in the same house must be hard for them. She hadn't said exactly why they didn't get along, but Rin was pretty sure it had something to do with the fact that they were just half-brothers.

Inuyasha led her into the dining room where everyone was already sitting and talking and took a seat across from his wife, who sprang up to greet her.

"Hey! I'm so glad you came," she said, giving her a hug.

As soon as she let go she turned her to the table and shepherded her to the last empty seat, right next to Sesshomaru. Sango was sitting across the table from her next to Miroku, whom she had met only once very briefly. He smiled and waved like they were old friends then turned to Sango and said something that made her smile like Rin had never seen her. They are such a cute couple, she thought, then looked at where Inuyasha was sitting at the end of the table, pouting, and Kagome was standing behind him with a hand on his shoulder. The same could be said for them.

Sesshomaru looked at her as she sat down, and then went back to carefully not looking at his brother.

"What's up with you guys?" she whispered to him. He turned to her, raising an eyebrow.

"Since when is that your business?" he asked her right back.

She smiled her signature grin then shrugged, attention stolen by Kagome, who cleared her throat and straightened up.

"Okay, time to eat! Rin, will you help me bring the food in?" she asked her, motioning to the kitchen. "So?" she prodded once they were in the food-filled room.

"So what?" Rin was bewildered. Was Kagome up to something after all?

"You and Sess," Kagome clarified, but now she was just really confused.

"Sess as in Sesshomaru? There is no me and Sesshomaru. What are you talking about?" she asked, looking at her smiling friend.

"Oh, come on. It's so obvious," said Kagome, rolling her eyes. "You have a crush on my brother-in-law. Oh my gosh, that means if you guys get married, we'd be sisters!"

"Kagome, no one's getting married. It's ridiculous to even think, I mean, he's seven years older than me, and completely out of my class, and…" she trailed off. Even to her those arguments sounded weak, and she could feel a tell-tale blush creeping up her cheeks. The way Kagome was smiling at her made her want to run and hide. Did she really have a crush on him, like a little school girl?

"Uh-huh, just as I though. And I want you to know I'm supporting you one hundred percent. You guys would be so cute together," Kogome gushed, then shoved a plate into Rin's hands and grabbed one herself. "Come on, everyone's waiting."

Rin gulped then took a breath she hoped would steady her and followed Kagome back into the dining room. So her friend did have ulterior motives in getting her to come tonight. She should have known. And what if she really did like Sesshomaru, her accountant!?

Taking her seat once again, she decided to approach whatever feeling she may have maturely, but her mouth decided otherwise.

"Watch out for the Bach Choy, I choked on that stuff once," she informed him, then looked quickly down at her plate before he could raise his eyebrow at her again. Did she really just say that?

"I'll be sure to." She could hear the laughter in his usually emotionless voice. After eating in silence for a while, listening to the other couples laughing and talking, the silence between the two was broken once again, but this time not by Rin.

"I'll be done re-organizing your paperwork by the end of the week, but if you'd like, I'll stay on as your accountant. Once a week, I'll stop by and check in on your books," he offered. She was touched actually. He didn't seem like the kind of guy that did charity work.

"Oh, um, thank you so much. That's so sweet of you!" she exclaimed once some of the shock had worn off. He merely nodded and went back to his meal. Rin, meanwhile, took to staring at the older man's countenance. Okay, she could admit to herself that he was handsome, but that meant nothing!

The rest of dinner passed in a silence between the two that was awkward for Rin while for Sesshomaru seemed totally fine. As the meal came to a close, Rin was still in a state of confusion as to her feelings. If she really did like him, she'd have to dismiss him, which she didn't particularly want to do since he was excellent and she didn't have to pay much for his services. But it wouldn't be professional to keep him on, and besides that, it would be too hard to regularly see a man who would never return her affection.

Once it was time to say goodbye, Sesshomaru was the first to go, much to Inuyasha's joy. Once his brother was gone, he relaxed enough to act like a semi-normal human being. Sango hugged Rin and Miroku bowed over her hand before they left, leaving Rin to be the last to go.

"We're really glad you could come. I hope we can do it again sometime," Kagome suggested, something in her voice giving away that she was playing matchmaker again.

"Oh, it was fun," she lied, hugging her friend and giving a nod to Inuyasha. "See you tomorrow."

She guessed it really would have been fun, but for now her head was swimming with thoughts of Sesshomaru. Last week she didn't think of dating as an option, but now she couldn't help it. Marriage even seemed like a possibility when she thought of his quiet wit and reserved humor. How was one guy she met yesterday changing everything so fast?

Author's Note: This chapter was a bit longer to make up for the fact that the next one may be a bit shorter. As always, I love to hear what you think! Send a review if you want me to know what you're thinking!