A bit later than I expected, but still relatively early compared to how erratic my update schedule has been. You all have been incredibly patient with me and I cannot thank you enough! I write for you guys, and it is nice to know that I have not been abandoned during my long hiatus. The past two weeks have been brutal, and it is only going to get worse, what with SATs and college applications. *sigh*
Thanks to the lovelies who reviewed the last chapter: Taraah36, SerenePanic, sailormoon45, StoriedFabric, waterlit, melodie, crazykenz, icegirljenni, darkstar2010, and The Sandman's Daughter.
I am still on the look out for a beta reader, so if any of you are willing to, please PM me!
Enjoy the chapter!
Disclaimer: All things related to InuYasha belong to Rumiko Takahashi. All music mentioned in this chapter belong to their respective owners.
Izayoi had shooed them down the stairs, bustling toward the kitchen. "You girls go out back and see if there is anything Inu no Taisho needs."
When Rin made to go follow Kagome and Sango, Izayoi stopped her and motioned for Rin to follow her into the kitchen. Rin followed her, blowing her bangs out of her eyes and tilting her head to the right ever so slightly when she saw Izayoi's smile reach her ears.
"What happened, Izayoi-sama?" asked Rin.
Izayoi pursed her lips at the word "sama," making Rin recoil a bit. Izayoi sighed when she saw Rin grow flustered. "Rin, dear, there's no need to call me 'Izayoi-sama.' We're family."
Rin dragged her toe along the crevices in the kitchen tiles, looking sheepish. "I've called you Izayoi-sama all my life. It would be weird calling you anything at this point."
Izayoi shrugged her shoulders, brushing the matter off. "You're too sweet, Rin. Anyway, I wanted to give you your birthday present."
Rin looked at her, confused and then at the beautiful orange dress she was wearing. She pulled the hem down a bit as it had risen up a bit and was self-conscious of the length. It wasn't terribly short, but it did stop just before her knees. The jersey material was a bit too comfortable with her body, so it had a tendency to ride up. Rin loved the dress the minute Sango showed it to her at H & M, but couldn't afford to pay for it. Izayoi had, of course, stepped in like she had done so many times before and insisted that she pay for it as an early birthday present.
"But wasn't the dress my birthday present?" Rin asked.
"Hmm," Izayoi mused more to herself. "Yes it was, but I wanted to give you something that you would get a little more... wear out of. Be honest, how many times are you going to wear that dress?"
Rin felt her cheeks flame red and she had an inkling that Izayoi was about to give her something that was of high cost and value, two things that Rin didn't mesh well with. "It's a very nice dress, and I'm grateful that you paid for it, but there really isn't any need for anything else! Honest, Izayoi-sama. This dress is more than I expected for my birthday."
Izayoi looked quite taken aback, her smile fading. "It's just a dress... you didn't expect your parents to surprise you with something else? I've noticed that you don't have your own car and that you walk to most places or take the bus. You didn't even want a car for yourself?"
Rin felt sick to her stomach when her late parents were mentioned. There were many painful and horrible memories that she had worked for two years to block out successfully, and all of them had resurfaced. Perhaps the most painful of all was the one where she had finally confided in the one person who knew the truth about what had happened. Rin worked hard to keep things the way they were, and she knew Kohaku would never breathe a word of it to anyone, much less the Takahashis, but it was getting harder and harder to fake smiles and keep herself occupied with what was in front of her. The Takahashis were nice people and she was not about to burden them with her problems; she had handled them well for two years and would continue to keep her mouth shut.
Izayoi noticed the brief look of disconcernment on Rin's face as well as how quickly it was replaced by a sheepish smile. Izayoi watched Rin wave her hand, laughing nervously.
"I'm not really one for cars. I have my license, but I prefer to use public transportation and walk because it's energy-efficient!" Rin said in what she hoped was a convincing voice.
Izayoi stared at Rin for a minute, not knowing what to think. She blinked a couple of times before gathering her composure. Before she spoke, however, she stowed this bit of information in the back of her mind to talk to Inu no Taisho about it. She gave Rin a gentle smile before extending her arms.
"Oh, Rin," she breathed when Rin accepted her hug. "You're finally eighteen years old."
"I turn eighteen on Wednesday," Rin said softly.
"You're finally an adult," Izayoi continued as if she hadn't heard what Rin had said. "It seems like just yesterday when you and Inuyasha met at the playground."
"It was a long time ago," Rin commented. "More than ten years ago."
"Exactly, which is why we want you to drop that silly honorific! You're family, Rin. You're over all the time. You have a toothbrush here as well as your own room, but that is besides the point." Izayoi wiped at her eyes with a nostalgic smile. Rin felt slightly uncomfortable watching the older woman cry and awkwardly watched as Izayoi tried to keep her cool.
"I don't have any daughters, but I think of you as the daughter I never had."
Rin watched Izayoi's hand drift over her pocket, pulling out a long and slender black velvet box. She opened her mouth to protest, but something about the gleam in Izayoi's eyes made her hold her tongue and wait for Izayoi to start speaking again.
Izayoi held the box in her hands, proudly smiling at it. She opened the box, revealing an eloquent and antique looking string of freshwater pearls. "This necklace belonged to my mother," she said softly. "And before, it was my grandmother's. It's been passed down in my family through the eldest daughter for generations. Like I mentioned before, I don't have any daughters, so I want you to have it."
This was too much for Rin to handle. She felt her ears grow uncomfortably warm and she could barely hear herself sputter out a polite refusal. "Oh, no, Izayoi! I couldn't possibly accept something so valuable!"
"Nonsense, Rin! I want you to have it. Nothing would make me happier than seeing my mother and grandmother's necklace around your neck. Besides, it just wouldn't be right leaving it for a daughter-in-law or granddaughter."
"Izayoi-sama," Rin protested meekly.
"I know how much you love pearls, and I thought this would be a fitting gift for you. Come, Rin. Turn around, so I can put this on you."
Rin gave a little sigh of resignation before turning her back to Izayoi. Izayoi draped the necklace over Rin's collarbone, taking both ends of the necklace and fastening it. She spun Rin around, her eyes misting at the sight of the necklace around Rin's neck. "It's beautiful on you. You look all grown up."
Rin touched the surface of the pearls, feeling herself on the verge of tears. Not because of how special the gift was to Izayoi and now her, but because she knew she would never have such moments with her own mother. Everything of her mother's was lost forever, and there was no way of getting it back.
Rin's bottom lip trembled, yet she forced herself to smile graciously and hug Izayoi. "Thank you very much," she whispered, not trusting her voice. "I'll always treasure it."
"Good," replied Izayoi pulling away. She dabbed at her eyes, laughing. "It won't do for both of us to be crying. Enough with the heavy stuff. It's your special day, so let's go out back before Inu no Taisho murders Sesshomaru and, or Inuyasha."
After taking a few minutes in the bathroom to freshen up a bit, Rin slipped into her beige heels. She glanced down at them, already feeling uncomfortable. She liked wearing heels and the added height they gave her, but she also liked to have feeling in her feet by the end of the day. She shrugged, figuring she could deal with it for a couple of hours for the sake of it being her birthday party. She carefully walked out of the house and out back where the rest of the guests were.
It was particularly warm outside as it was mid-July. She would have regretted the dress choice had the sleeves been jersey like the rest of the dress. She walked a bit faster to the tent that Inu no Taisho had set up for the party, praying it was cooler in the tent.
Upon stepping into the tent, she was greeted by a chorus of hi's and happy birthday's. She gave everyone a small smile and an awkward wave. She stood still for a minute not noticing Kohaku walk toward her with a glass of punch.
"Hey, you okay?" He asked, his eyebrows knit together.
Rin took the glass of punch and drank it gratefully. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just a little warm, I guess."
Kohaku pretended to just notice the dress she was wearing. "Orange dress. Your favorite color."
She glanced down at the dress, pulling down at the hem with one hand so it reached the bottom of her knees. "Yeah... It's a present from Izayoi."
"It's a nice dress. It... It looks nice on you," he said quietly.
"Thanks," Rin said looking at her feet.
Kohaku pulled apart his collar at the uncomfortable silence that fell between them. He felt self-conscious of the fact that awkward silences usually never bothered them. They could talk for hours endlessly about the simplest of things. Why were things so much harder now that Kohaku had realized he had a crush on Rin?
"Hey, did you hear that new song by that British band?" Asked Kohaku awkwardly.
Rin lifted her eyes to him, looking confused. "Music is your area of expertise," she reminded. "I only know most of the mainstream bands."
"This one is mainstream. It's a British band called Bastille," Kohaku explained. "They have this new song called 'Pompeii.' Well, it's not really new, but it's a recent song. It came out earlier this year. February, to be exact."
Rin felt herself smile, noticing how Kohaku was having a "geek-moment" with music. It was one of the many things she liked in people. If people had the courage to have moments in public about the things they were passionate about, she had no problem befriending them and taking part in that same enthusiasm because that was what she did with her stories and new books.
Now that she thought about it, she couldn't put her finger on a single thing she had seen Sesshomaru be passionate about. Granted, Sesshomaru was a reclusive demon who kept to himself on most occasions; however, Rin knew there had to be at least one thing that Sesshomaru liked as much as she liked writing or Kohaku liked music.
Kohaku had been rambling on about Bastille for a good ten minutes before he noticed the dreamy look in Rin's eyes, signaling to him that she had not been paying attention to what he was saying for a while. He rolled his eyes, waving his free hand in front of her eyes, waiting for her to blink suddenly and come to her senses.
"Earth to Rin," he said, drawing out the only syllable in her name. "It's nice to know you listen to me when I talk to you."
He mocked hurt, turning his back on her. She laughed, waving her hand.
"I didn't tune you out all the way! I heard you say something about Pompeii. I'm not sure how Bastille works into this... The Bastille was a prison during the French Revolution wasn't it? That was a long time after Pompeii."
Kohaku stared at her for a minute, completely unable to say anything. From the look on his face, she was worried she had said something wrong.
"Kohaku?" she asked.
"Rin, 'Pompeii' is a song that was written by Bastille," he said meekly. "Thanks for making a guy feel better."
"Sorry," Rin replied apologetically. "I really didn't mean to. It's just the history and-"
"It's fine," Kohaku said softly. "I have the song on my phone, if you want to listen to it."
"Sure!" Rin said smiling. She scanned the area for a place to sit and listen to the song. "Over there in the corner. That spot is empty."
Kohaku followed Rin, forcing himself to keep his eyes on the back of Rin's head. He mentally berated himself with every step he took.
'Goddamn, you're turning into Miroku!' he wailed to himself.
Fortunately, Rin was completely oblivious to Kohaku's thoughts. She sat in one of the white plastic chairs that Inu no Taisho had out and waited for Kohaku to join her. She watched him pull up the song, and he was very much aware that she was watching him. He prayed she didn't notice his shaky fingers.
"You think Bastille will ever be big?" Asked Rin.
Kohaku found himself relaxing. It was always easy to talk about music. Music was his all natural cure to any situation. "Oh, no doubt about it. They're actually pretty similar to Imagine Dragons and The Neighbourhood," he said, well aware of how much she liked those two bands.
"Really?" Asked Rin excitedly. "Let's give this a listen then!"
He couldn't help but smile to himself at how excited she sounded. It was one of the many things he liked about Rin. Rin had an uncanny ability to emanate a sort of infectious happiness that touched everyone who bothered to get to know her.
Meanwhile, Sango and Kagome were smoothing out their dresses, waiting for their respective boyfriends. The girls both held a small glass of punch, looking around. Sango glanced at the skirt of Kagome's dress and how it fluttered in the breeze. She wrinkled her nose at the dress.
"Kagome, your dress is too cute," she said. "I'm still serious; Inuyasha isn't going to be able to handle himself," she said with a wink.
Sometimes Sango purposely put Kagome in a situation like this just to see her blush profusely. It was simply too entertaining not to, especially when Kagome sputtered out denials. This time, however, Kagome gave Sango a little smirk of her own.
"In that case, I might have to take off the necklace Izayoi helped fix."
Sango's eyes grew wide and she doubled over, laughing. "Kagome! You did not!" She exclaimed with tears in her eyes. "That sounded way too sexual for you."
At that moment, Inuyasha slipped his arm protectively around Kagome's waist, smiling devilishly when she leaned into him a bit. "Sango, don't be fooled by that innocent little face. Kagome is secretly a sex kitten."
Sango covered her mouth to try to keep herself from laughing while Kagome turned bright red. She whipped around, punching Inuyasha square in the stomach. She felt her cheeks grow warm the more Sango and Inuyasha laughed. "You all are a bunch of asses!" she shouted, flouncing away.
"And there it is," said Sango, wiping her eyes.
She and Inuyasha laughed for a bit longer until Sango reclaimed her composure and punched Inuyasha in the same spot Kagome did, albeit a lot harder. Inuyasha doubled over, clutching his stomach. He winced in pain, slamming his glass down on a nearby table.
"What the fuck was that for?!" Wheezed Inuyasha.
"Language, Inuyasha!" Shouted Izayoi from a corner of the tent.
"You just embarrassed your girlfriend! Go make her feel better!" Sango exclaimed.
Inuyasha groaned audibly as he went to go find Kagome. "Women... There was honestly no other way you could have told me that?"
Sango watched Inuyasha walk toward Kagome. She supervised them with caution until Kagome laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck. Sango turned away shaking her head and crossing her arms over her chest.
"Men... All of them are chauvinistic bastards."
She found herself smiling a bit when she pictured Miroku's reaction. She reached into the pocket of her dress and pulled out her phone to text Miroku. It wasn't odd for him to not have arrived yet, but she was growing bored, and she was not about to third wheel with Inuyasha and Kagome. Not until Miroku got here at least.
When she finished typing, she slipped her phone into her pocket, picked up her punch and looked around the tent. Inu no Taisho and Izayoi were setting up the extensive table of food and sweets. She smiled lightly, appreciating the fact that they were doing so much for Rin. Sango didn't know much about Rin's parents, but if they weren't here to acknowledge their own daughter's eighteenth birthday, Rin was most likely better off without them.
She turned away from Inu no Taisho and Izayoi, looking for Sesshomaru, noticing she hadn't seen the daiyoukai that day. She scanned the entire tent but didn't have any such luck finding him. She shrugged before straightening a bit. She also hadn't seen her brother that day. She had almost forgotten she came to the Taisho household to get ready. She felt her maternal instinct kick in as she scrutinized the tent, looking for her brother.
When she finally found him, she smiled at him sitting with Rin. They seemed to be listening to something. Rin began to smile a smile that reached her eyes. Sango was about to turn away when she noticed something off about her brother from even a mile away. She squinted and felt her mouth drop open when she spotted an unmistakable blush on her younger brother's cheeks.
Rin was the mystery girl! She had to be!
Sango decided not to say anything of it at the moment, but gears were spinning rapidly in her mind. Kohaku had hinted at having a crush; she didn't buy the half assed Selina Kyle excuse he had given her, but couldn't think of any girls Kohaku was close to. Now that she thought back to it, she should have realized he was talking about Rin. He and Rin was practically inseparable. Oh, she was going to kill him for not telling her something like this.
She was going to make her way to Kohaku when she felt something grope her bottom. The feeling was too familiar for her to blush. Instead, she narrowed her eyes, turning around to face her lecherous boyfriend who wore a nauseating grin.
"You know, most guys say hi to their girlfriends, not grab their asses," Sango huffed.
Miroku's violet eyes twinkled mischieviously and he waggled his eyebrows at her, trying to pull a smile from her. "Ah, but Sango, my dear, you have a fantastic derriere."
Sango didn't bat an eye at the foolish and lecherous grin Miroku gave her. A slight smirk was pulling at the very corner of her lips because she knew old habits never died. Miroku had groped her ass when they first met and he groped it now, four years later.
"So glad you noticed," she said slyly, turning around to look for Kohaku when she noticed he had disappeared. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head in disbelief. She whirled around, looking frantically for her brother.
Miroku noticed the change in Sango's behavior and dropped the lecherous grin, his eyes tinged with worry. "What's wrong, San?"
Sango didn't answer for a moment, still looking for Kohaku. She swore under her breath, having realized she lost her chance of interrogating him. "It's nothing," she said warily. "I just wanted to ask Kohaku something, but he's disappeared."
Miroku's eyebrows knit together. "I ran into him before you. He and Rin said something about punch and then something about a walk."
"A walk?" Asked Sango, already trotting out of the tent. "Thanks, babe. I'll be back!"
Miroku watched Sango disappear out of the tent, sighing before grabbing a beer from the cooler that lay near the finger food. "The least she could have done was tell me she was going to abandon me the minute I got here." He took a swig of beer. "Thank God Inu no Taisho loves beer."
Rin had insisted on changing out of her beige heels since the it was cutting into her flesh. Kohaku, not wanting to leave her alone, followed her. He waited for her to change into flats, trying not to notice how much of her back was visible. The jersey fabric only came up as far as her midback. The rest was sheer, orange lace.
"So how's your birthday been so far?" Asked Kohaku, awkwardly trying to make conversation.
"It's been nice," Rin said, her tone clipped. "I didn't think Inu no Taisho-sama and Izayoi-sama would go through so much trouble for me. It's very touching to know that they care about me so much."
"What? Of course they care about you!" Kohaku said laughing lightly. "You're basically a Taisho at this point."
Rin turned around, her face blank and her eyes glassy. She kept her gaze on the floor as she reached up to her hair and pulled the bobby pins out, letting her hair tumble down her shoulders. "I don't want to be a Taisho. I want to be my parents' daughter."
Kohaku immediately wrapped his arms around Rin, not thinking twice about the action. "Rin, you've got to tell them about this. God, I knew something was off with you today, but I couldn't put my finger on what it was."
Rin gave his shoulder a melancholy smile. "I must be getting better at hiding it."
He pulled away from her, his face stricken. "You can't be serious. Rin, you can't expect to keep this up forever! You have to tell them now!"
"What am I supposed to tell them?" She demanded hotly. She donned a high-pitched and innocent sounding voice. "Oh, you know how I've told you my parents have been on a business trip? They're not. They actually died two years ago on a business trip to Hokkaido when the pilot lost control!"
Kohaku glanced around, making sure no one had overheard them before firmly taking hold of her hand and pulling her out of the house. "We need to go on a walk," he said briskly. "You're upset, and you need a breather."
He led her out of the house, gently giving her hand a reassuring squeeze when he heard her sniffle and wipe her nose. He ignored the euphoric feeling in his chest when she leaned against him ever so slightly.
"Where are we going?" She asked.
"Don't worry about it," he said. "Don't worry about anything. Today is your special day, and you deserve to be happy and carefree for once."
Sesshomaru had busied himself with helping Inu no Taisho, seeing as Inuyasha was busy with Kagome. Sesshomaru hadn't bothered to get the details, but he inferred that Inuyasha had said something he should not have and was now paying the price. He shook his head, walking toward the table where Izayoi and Inu no Taisho were setting up the cake.
"Stupid half-breed," he muttered.
"What was that, Sesshomaru?" Izayoi asked, her hands fluttering about the cake.
"Nothing," he said smoothly watching her stick a colorful cake pop into the side of the cake. "You are going to have a lot of leftovers with this cake. The nine of us cannot possibly finish it. It's too rich and sweet."
Inu no Taisho shook his finger at the cake and then at Izayoi. "I told you! Sesshomaru doesn't like cake, so it might as well be the eight of us!"
Izayoi huffed before violently jabbing another cake pop into the side. "Excuse me for wanting my little girl's day to be perfect!"
"Rin is not your little girl," Sesshomaru said a bit harsher than he intended. "Shouldn't her parents have a larger role in her birthday? She is turning eighteen."
Inu no Taisho shrugged before pulling a beer out of the cooler. He ignored Izayoi's reproachful look, taking a swig. "I haven't heard from them in a while. From what Rin has told us, they're always busy with work."
"There is no one busier with work than you."
"Sesshomaru, their work requires them to make frequent trips out of the city," Izayoi said kindly. "Your father doesn't normally have to take business trips. Poor Rin, she misses her parents enough as it is without the constant reminder that they can't be in town for her birthday."
Inu no Taisho glanced at the bottle in his hand, making a face. "Inuyasha needs to detach himself from Kagome once in a while and do his job right. Sesshomaru, he didn't bring the Canadian beer!"
"You told him to bring a cooler of beer down," Izayoi said defensively. "You didn't specify that you wanted Canadian beer, and you shouldn't be drinking too much tonight, honey. It's Rin's birthday party."
"Inuyasha should know Father prefers Canadian beer," Sesshomaru said snidely.
"Hmm, Sesshomaru, bring your father a beer," Izayoi said absently, resuming her job of decorating the cake with pops."
Sesshomaru tightened his jaw, turning on his heel before Inu no Taisho could notice the venomous look he had shot at Izayoi. He swept out of the tent, using his demon speed to go back to the house and get the right cooler of beer. He narrowed his eyes while taking the cooler outside, mentally planning different ways to get back at Inuyasha for being an incompetent fool as always when he felt an uncomfortable need to drop the cooler and let his inner demon come out. Sesshomaru had inwardly groaned at what this meant and made to use his demon speed again to take the beer to Inu no Taisho, but he stopped short when the citrus scent mingled with salt diluted with water. He could hear hushed and urgent whispers, so he trained his hearing on the sounds, mildly curious.
"We need to go on a walk," said a masculine sounding voice. "You're upset, and you need a breather."
Sesshomaru raised his eyebrow, knowing that the voice had to have belonged to Kohaku as Souta was not here yet. What perplexed him, however, was the bit of information Kohaku had unknowingly given him. Rin was upset for a reason he had no knowledge of, and it elicited a myriad of emotions within the daiyoukai, several of which worried him greatly.
What was Rin upset about? She seemed fine a little while ago, and even when he saw her come down the stairs. It wasn't Sesshomaru's business to wonder about Rin. Hell, her affairs should not have even mattered to Sesshomaru, but he would have been lying to himself if he said he was not the least bit curious to know why a usually cheerful girl was suddenly upset.
Sesshomaru heard the door open and carefully peeked out from his spot to see Kohaku leading Rin out of the house, his hand wrapped around hers. A low growl tore from his chest, angering him almost immediately. It was growing annoying how his demon acted at the smallest actions, but he could not shake the feeling off. The feeling that there was someone Rin had full confidence in. Perhaps he underestimated Kohaku.
He put the thought out of his head, briskly marching out of the house with the cooler of beer. He pushed forward, intending to take the cooler to his father instead of listening to his inner demon, which told him to drop the beer and pursue the sweet flower that was getting farther and farther away from him.
I originally intended to have the birthday party be one chapter, but I felt that it would be too long. Having said that, Sess is growing a wee bit jealous of Kohaku's role in Rin's life... But the most important part of this chapter, you all know how Rin's parents died, although why she kept it a secret is still, well, a secret.
Don't forget there are links on my profile for the dresses the girls are wearing and my fanfiction update twitter!
Until next time, lovelies.