"I can't leave yet."

Sesshomaru turned from packing his suitcase to stare begrudgingly at Rin. "Why not? Neither of us can be found here, especially together, after that news report. The most logical thing to do would be to leave the country. Japanese leaders will not expedite us back here because of the Takahashi's influence."

Rin bit her lip slightly before answering, "I can't leave my best friend. Boss is sure to find out about that news report and recognize e in those videos. He knows that Sango and I are best friends! He might kill her to find out what's happened! I can't leave her."

Sesshomaru looked to Miroku and waved him over to tell him that he was responsible for finding Sango and bringing her to the hotel as well as adding another ticket to their travel reservations. Rin quickly wrote down the apartment's address and borrowed Sesshomaru's cell phone to warn Sango. Miroku briskly left after calling their personal driver to meet him at the back of the hotel for secrecy purposes.

"You'd really bring her… just like that?"


Why would he bring her?

Why would or should he care, much less about me, but my best friend, who he's only seen like, once?

How?

I can't figure out Sesshomaru.

He tells me he doesn't care about me but he's shown things completely different!

He gives me all of the money from our 'shared' investments.

He gave me money the first time we met to cover Kana's share for Boss…

And now he's going out of his way to protect my best and only friend in the world…

But I don't know if she's my only friend now… Sesshomaru seems like a friend… or maybe he should be classified as an ally?

I don't really understand the situation. It's been like, a whole year since I've met this weird guy.

I've never had so much contact with one guy since mom killed herself... how many years ago?

I don't really remember… I think I'm 19 now?

When's my birthday? And when was the last time someone celebrated it?


Rin snapped out of her inner thoughts when the door opened for Miroku to step in with a frazzled-looking Sango in tow.

"Rin? Miroku told me what happened." Sango embraced Rin tightly and let out a couple of tears. "I can't imagine how it would feel like to find that you were gone without a trace tomorrow."

"He told you that you're coming with us, right?"

Sango nodded and pointed to a couple of beat-up bags. "I brought some stuff for you too. Though… I threw it together quite hastily."

"Thanks, Sango. It'll be fine. We can wash them constantly." Rin smiled; glad to have Sango near her to calm her down.

"We can stop somewhere in Tokyo and get you two some clothes that are… less conspicuous," Sesshomaru said just loudly enough to be heard by the embracing girls.

Rin stepped away from Sango and laughed at Sesshomaru. "You mean that you don't want us wearing our hooker clothes in Japan?" Rin managed to say between giggles.

Sesshomaru rolled his eyes, smiling to himself at Rin's little joke. "Quickly get your things, Miroku. And meet us in the hotel restaurant's kitchen. I've arranged for us to… 'escape' through their alley exit."

"Alighty," Miroku smiled slightly towards Sango, then speed-walked out of the room and down the hallway.

Rin pretended not to see the look that Miroku had flashed her friend, and Sango pretended that she didn't see Rin see Miroku.


Tokyo, Japan, one flight and limo ride later

Sesshomaru spoke in quick Japanese to the driver, so quickly that Rin didn't understand and looked to Miroku for a translation.

"He's telling the driver to stop at a clothing store to find you two something more suiting to wear."

Rin and Sango simply nodded, quite shocked by the time-zone differences that they were facing. Sesshomaru and Miroku, who dealt with the change every month, seemed used to the incredible change.

"Go quickly and find a couple of weeks' worth of clothing. I will pay when you are finished," Sesshomaru shooed the girls into a store and set them forth on their task.


Many worn salespeople and dressing-room runs later, the girls had a much more… modest collection of clothing and shoes. Sesshomaru whipped out a sleek, shiny credit card and didn't even glance at the price, which Rin could only fathom from the few price tags she saw in the process.

They quickly piled into the limousine again and Rin asked her silver-haired companion, "Why are you paying for this stuff anyways?"

Sesshomaru didn't hesitate with his response, "Because to make sure the rumor in New York doesn't become some kind of scandal, I must make you two look like innocent, Japanese girls who couldn't possibly be prostitutes. Our next stop is the hair and makeup salon."

"What's wrong with our hair and makeup?" Sango asked, a bit put off.

Sesshomaru shook his head, like he was being asked where his head was located. "A lot is wrong with your hair and makeup."

Sango shrugged, almost accepting it. "Dressing like we do, doing things the way we do… It's the only way we know how to do them. It's no big shock to know that we don't really look like model-class citizens."


"No!" Rin protested as Sesshomaru instructed the hair beauticians to strip the streaks out of her hair as well as Sango's.

"They must come out, and if they don't, dye their hair a natural brown or black color," Sesshomaru stated to the obedient workers, who decided not to question the handsome man who rented their salon out for secrecy purposes.

"I like my hair this way!" Sango protested, the stylists beginning to mix a chocolate brown color to mask its current bleached blonde color.

After protesting for a while, the girls figured that they weren't going to win the battle, and soon submitted to the treatments and scissors of the beauticians as Sesshomaru and Miroku went for a stroll until their 'change' was over.

"Look at you two!" Miroku smiled at the two newly-redone girls. "You both look great!"

It was true, for the harshness of their hair and the over-done faces were gone. Even Sango's fake tan had faded a few shades and toned down the, well… hooker look.

Sango's medium-cut hair was a nice chocolate brown, with hints of caramel. No longer were her eyes lined with an inch of black liner, but instead glowed a light brown from a beautiful natural look.

Rin had been pretty before, but her true beauty was now evidently clear from the way her new hair shined a radiant black/brown color and her facial features stood out through their own natural way.

The men took a moment to soak them both in, and Sesshomaru decided that it was worth every penny to see Rin like this… natural, like she could have never been touched by the foul world she lived in. If Rin hadn't become what she was in New York, she probably would have grown up in the light that Sesshomaru now saw her in.

"Thank you for your expertise, ladies," Miroku complimented the professionals that had given the girls a chance to hide from the obscenities they would have to face from New York.


What did I do to deserve this man's kindness?

He says that he does these things for his own image, but I know different.

I have been around this silver-haired beauty long enough to have a peek into his interior.

His interior, I think, is quite capable of friendship and love.

He just can't show it, can he?


A/N: There was a lot more description and less dialogue in this chapter. That's surprising, because I really love dialogue.

Btw, don't ever expect me to post this fast ever again. ;P