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This Chappie is a little... um... well, you read first...


Sparse clouds rolled over the sporadic stars and smiling moon, the small household sleeping peacefully after the hectic and stressful day the adults were under, the frustration only mounting and increasing with each passing waking moment, neither one of them doing anything to ease the burden on the other.

Amber eyes snapped open as Sesshomaru jerked awake, his throat groaning as he stirred against his sheets, his feet slipping out to touch the wooden floor, his muscles stretching as he stretched, his body pulling up to stand sluggishly, his feet moving slowly towards his door, his movements slow and sluggish as he made to move over to the Master bedroom.

Though their relationship had been consistent in the past two weeks, Rin and Sesshomaru both felt as though it was slowly becoming strained thanks to both their work, Aimi hadn't much in that regard, the baby now having developed a mild ear infection, disrupting both her Godparents at odd hours in the night, the stress from both taking care of a baby that was not her own and the idea that midterm season was fast approaching made Rin appear even more nervous and stressed out and was beginning to fight Sesshomaru every step of the way, the demon never giving her an inch.

His feet shuffled on the floor as he squeezed his eyes shut at the sound of the baby screaming away in her crib and towards the wooden door that concealed Aimi's Godmother, his fist raised in preparation to knock.

"If you knock on my door," a muffled voice came through the door, her voice as tired as he felt, "I swear Sesshomaru, you'll get nothing but cold showers for the remainder of the month."

The demon felt his body stall in shock at her words, his amber eyes closing as he groaned, not wanting to fight with the young woman this early in the morning.

"Aimi-"

"For God's sake!"

Sesshomaru barely heard the shuffling of sheets before the door was wrenched open, Rin looking frazzled and just as tired as he was, the rings under her eyes worse than his.

"I am not deaf Sesshomaru, I know she's crying!" Rin snapped angrily, her brown eyes narrowed dangerously, "I also know that it's your turn to sooth her! So go get her!"

"I have a conference call at eight tomorrow-"

"Which you told me you were doing from here as I told you I need to go in for some more office hours for the midterm," the young woman's glare seemed to intensify, "and you told me you'd take her in to see the doctor tomorrow! Now, go and get your niece; and don't you dare make the comment that I'm better at putting her to sleep than you are because at three in the morning, I am not buying that kind of shit!"

The demon flinched as the door slammed in his face, Rin clearly agitated and irritated by the late nights and the lack of sleep she had been experiencing for the past week, the baby getting marginally better but still keeping both of them awake at odd hours of the night.

"Hey Aimi," Sesshomaru muttered softly, his body slipping into the room where the baby was squirming and wailing, "come on, calm down now…"

Aimi kept crying as she was lifted to her uncle's chest, the long fingered hand patting and rubbing her back, taking the tender child down to the kitchen, his eyes searching for the small bottle of clear liquid the doctor had prescribed Aimi for her ear infection. Three days ago, Rin had returned from the doctor with a still irritable baby, the diagnosis a simple ear infection, a round of antibiotics prescribed and ear drops to be given whenever it got too serious.

The dog demon was careful with the crying baby as he dug through the cabinet where Rin kept most of her medicine, his hand accidentally knocking over a bottle, the object clattering to the floor where it thankfully remained unbroken as it bounced and rolled away. Gritting his teeth, Sesshomaru ignored the fallen medicine as he pulled out the bottle of ear drops, his fingers careful as he drew the fluid up into the dropper, his arm careful with the baby as he adjusted his hand to hold the baby's head still, the child's fists still thrashing as she cried from the pain.

"Ssh now Aimi, you know the drill," Sesshomaru murmured quietly as he slowly put in three drops into the infected ear, the still baby whimpering at the feeling of the medication and the pain, her whimpering slowing as the pain decreased dramatically, her tearful amber eyes looking up at her uncle. "There we go," the demon whispered softly, the cap replaced on the brown bottle before it was replaced in the cabinet, "feel better?

Aimi whimpered as she hit her fist on the demon, the baby clearly as frustrated and as her guardians were with the ear infection, Sesshomaru feeling as though it was just one thing after another when it came to his family's misfortune.

"I know, I know," her uncle continued, his arms gently bouncing the baby slowly, her amber eyes drooping as she started to sleep, Sesshomaru thankful that she had fallen into a bedtime routine as Rin suggested, the two alternating between each other reading the baby bedtime stories to put her to sleep, the baby understanding when her guardians pulled out a book that it was time for her to go to bed and stay to sleep, "it hurts, doesn't it Aimi?"

The baby merely whimpered once again in response, the baby babble she was beginning to happily giggle forgotten in her sleepiness, Sesshomaru half-wishing to hear the calling that seemed to make Rin light up even after the multitude of hard days she was having, the demon suffering through an equally as bad a time made worse with Kagura hounding him day and night.

"Back to bed Aimi," Sesshomaru told her softly, the baby brought back to her room, the child placed with care in her crib, her body falling asleep almost immediately as her head hit the pillow, "there," the demon murmured to his tired niece, "feel better soon Aimi."

Sesshomaru sighed as he moved back to the kitchen, his body bending down to pick up whatever had spilt from the cabinet, his arms reaching to retrieve the orange bottle, his exhausted mind almost uncaring as he retrieved the medicine, his body only stopping at the sight of the prescription label, his amber eyes widening as he read the description further, his mind coming to an uncomfortable understanding.


"I'm back."

Sesshomaru lifted his head to the sound of the tired and slightly frustrated voice, her jacket hung with care on the coat hook and her bag placed beside her piano, her lungs expelling a sigh in frustration as she moved with softness to the kitchen, a groan of irritation emanating from the kitchen. Rin had disappeared before he even woke a second time, her

"How did the office hours go?" Sesshomaru decided to ask, his body standing from the couch to follow her to the kitchen, his amber eyes watching the soapy water fill the sink of dirty dishes.

"Terrible," she muttered, "I told at least six students the same thing three times each. How was your conference call?"

"Better," the demon replied, "not much was decided but we're at least on the same page."

Rin said nothing as she scrubbed furiously at the dishes, that and the fact that she didn't apologize like she normally did when she was short with him told Sesshomaru that she was in a terrible mood, one worse than his.

"Rin-"

"How's Aimi?" the young woman asked, the subject change sudden though expected.

"She's alright," Sesshomaru told her, "her infection seems to be better, the doctor said the inflammation has gone down considerably. She's down for her afternoon nap."

"That's good."

The demon said nothing as he waited for her to fill the room with her concerns, her silence even more worrisome.

"Last night, when I was giving Aimi her medicine, I found this," the demon started, his hand reaching into his pocket for the rattling bottle, "what are these?"

Rin turned from the dishes in the sink to see Sesshomaru hold up an orange bottle with pills rattling around in the bottle, the label bearing the name Elavil.

"Those are none of your damn business," the young woman retorted, "but since your need to know, they're my anti-depressants."

"I can read a label," the demon told her, "but why do you-"

"Have those?" Rin finished his question, her voice a clear indicator of her frustration, "because when I was eight, I lost my entire family and for some reason, that seemed to make me depressed, so my doctor, thinking that an eight-year-old girl should be happy and without suicidal thoughts, sent me to a psychiatrist who gave me a lesser dose of those. When I turned twelve, I got off them, but my doctor told me that if I ever needed them again to come back, which I did when my best friend died along with her husband because again, for some reason, it seemed to make me depressed. So no, there's no logical reason for me to have those, is there?"

"Why did you never think tell me?"

"We're not married and you have no need to know," the young woman snapped at him, "I only take them on extremely bad days anyway and haven't taken them in forever, they make me sleepy."

"I should still know what's going on with the guardian of my niece," Sesshomaru retorted, his amber eyes narrowing.

"Well now you do," Rin told him, "now put them back."

"Rin-"

"I am not suicidal," the young woman snapped, "I would never think of doing that, not when I have a child to take care of and especially not when her only other option is you."

"Just what's that supposed to mean?" the demon growled as she bristled.

"You know exactly what I mean," Rin retorted, her rubber gloves removed and the water drained from the sink, "would it honestly kill you to make a little more effort when it comes to your niece?"

"I'm under as much stress as you! What if that actually killed me?" Sesshomaru asked sarcastically, the young woman turning as she left the demon to follow her.

"Then it's one less thing for me to worry about," she grumbled, "shouldn't you be doing another business dinner with some clients?"

"Rin-"

"Look!" the young woman turned to him, tears of frustration blooming in her eyes, "I'm not taking them as often as I should, alright? I've got a class of over a hundred students to test and grade in two weeks and a baby to take care of and a house to maintain so yes, I should be taking those, but I'm not because they are supposed to make me sleep better and if I do, I might sleep through something important with Aimi!" her chest heaved as she tried to calm herself, "I am beyond stressed out right now and I know you are too! So do not hound me about those, alright? I don't need you on my back too!"

The demon simply huffed as the young woman retreated to her room, the door shutting as silently as an angry woman could while Sesshomaru was left standing in the kitchen, his hand still holding on the bottle of pills he had dug up. The cupboard door opened and shut as he replaced the pills, his amber eyes noting the date that was prescribed to her and how many of the pills were still left, indicating that she hadn't taken as many of them as she should have as she told him.

It was honestly no surprise that she was on anti-depressants, and she was right that it was none of his business, yet it still bothered him that she never told him about it, that she just let the stress and frustration build until it was almost unmanageable for her. It wasn't as though Kagome and InuYasha didn't know about her personality, so why they would choose someone like that to raise their child was beyond him.

It wasn't as though he wasn't doing what she asked, the problem was was that was all he was doing. Any extra chores lying around the house he never bothered to do, not that he was around much in the evening, his nights filled with dinners with clients and investors, his duties to Aimi never forgotten in the chaos of his life. Rin, on the other hand, kept the baby's health first while managing a classroom full of students and managing to keep the house spotless.

His brother's words rang through his mind, InuYasha reminding him that he was chosen as the Godfather for his brother's little treasure more so for Rin's sake than Aimi's, that he was there to make Rin's life easier, not harder as he was currently doing.

Fingertips rubbed his temples as he tried to shake loose the thoughts that were plaguing him, figuring that adding problems that weren't his to his already stressful mind would only cause him to become as irritable and as miserable as the young woman was and distracting him from the dinner he had later on.


Blackleather shoes stepped across the wooden floor as the demon returned from his dinner with the business men, the verdict drawn up between them was that the company was interested in investing in the company, Sesshomaru feeling even more pressure on him now that he needed to impress the men even further while taking both InuYasha's work and most of his father's in an attempt to lessen the elder's burdens. Sesshomaru moved with silence in the house, careful not to disturb the now surely sleeping babe, his amber eyes catching sight of a figure on the couch, his body moving over to look at Rin in curiosity.

Her closed eyes held remnants of redness and puffiness, her cheeks holding dried tear tracks as she lay curled up on the couch, strands of her midnight locks covering her cheek and slipping over her shoulder to hang by her collarbone, her chest slowly rising and falling with her deep and even breaths, his heart feeling it quiver slightly at the sight of the deteriorating young woman, wondering how long it would take for her to break completely, would it be before or after him.

His arms slowly slipped under her slim form, the young woman lifted to his chest with care, her body lighter and slimmer than he remembered, the stress and strain on her now beginning to take a physical toll. Sesshomaru was careful as he carried her to her bed, her body placed on the mattress before he slipped the covers over her, her body looking even more delicate under the warm covers. Long fingers extended to remove the strands of hair from her cheek, a soft hum slipping from her lips before she settled for what seemed like the night, the demon's back turned to her as he made his way out of the room.

Sesshomaru moved towards the baby's room, his feet equally as quiet as he peeked into the room, Aimi sleeping peacefully after what appeared to be a night of playing with her Godmother, the colourful blocks and toys stored neatly in the wooden chest and her stuffed toys stored on her bookshelf along with her books, yet more evidence that Rin was pushing herself to do everything on her own. Amber eyes looked down at the sleeping babe, his face almost somber as he wondered what will happen to the baby when either one of them finally snapped, the demon knowing almost instinctively that it would be sooner rather than later.

His cellphone vibrated softly in his pocket, the demon turning from the still sleeping infant to glance at the screen, his shoulders sagging as he realized it was the details of their new contract, the demon slowly becoming aware that it might be him who breaks first.


So... how bad? I know it seems like an odd way to go after the previous chapter and seems a little choppy, but let me know what you think please ^^