Hello dear readers, this is the 9th chapter of the series.

I am so sorry because I made you all waiting for so long. Well, blame the national exam which was held in April but the preparation took so long and right after that exam, my parents made me work for them, and so on...

I am very sure that you all have already forgotten about this series. Well, so many series in about Rin and Sesshoumaru.

Oh yeah, thanks for all the reviews that always encourage me... I really appreciate them!

Alright, let's just start this chapter!

Rin woke up early in the morning. That day was supposedly to be the day when her master would come to visit her. The last visit was exactly a month ago and Rin always felt that it had been years since her master's last visit. She got up and smiled. Soon, the pretty smiled turn into a grin and into a chuckle. She was wondering what present her master would give her this time.

As she was thinking about her master, Rin took one of her prettiest kimono and looked at it admiringly.

"I'm gonna look so pretty in this!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, of course, dear," Kagome smiled, she suddenly appeared behind Rin.

"Kagome-sama?" Rin looked behind, a bit surprised by Kagome's sudden appearance.

"I wonder when he will change his mind about you...," Kagome said to Rin, but it was rather like she was talking to herself. "It has been three years now."

"No, it hasn't been that long. Only two years and eight months long, Kagome-sama," Rin said, like she was lecturing Kagome, but suddenly her face expression changed. "But, it does feel that it's been a very long time since his last visit. I wonder when Sesshoumaru-sama will let me go on adventures with him again..."

"Huh? You like that cold-blooded Sesshoumaru that much, Rin!" Inuyasha said. His sudden appearance by Kagome's side made her jump.

"Inuyasha! Don't appear so suddenly like that!" Kagome shouted right into his right ear.

"Don't be mad, Kagome... I'm just really surprised that this girl lo-," Kagome quickly covered Inuyasha's mouth with her palm. Inuyasha glared at Kagome and tried to released himself from her.

"It's nothing, Rin," Kagome said and laughed awkwardly. "Just prepare for Sesshoumaru's coming. Ah! You need to take a bath, okay? Bye!"

Then, Kagome quickly took Inuyasha with her and walked away from the girl.

"What is it with you? Why did you do that!" Inuyasha asked after Kagome took him outside.

"You are so stupid! If she realizes that she is really in love with Sesshoumaru, I don't think she would be able to act like herself in front of that guy. And Sesshoumaru would just tell her to marry some guy in the village. You know what Sesshoumaru is like," Kagome quickly explained.

"So, you mean Sesshoumaru would not want her as his mate?" Inuyasha said in a mocking tone. "You just don't know anything, huh, Kagome?"

Kagome looked into Inuyasha's eyes curiosly. "What do you mean?"

"That Sesshoumaru, I think he is in love with the girl," Inuyasha said proudly. He was smiling, showing his fangs to Kagome.

"How do you know?" she questioned his statement.

"Well, accidentally I bumped into him when he was kissing Rin's forehead," Inuyasha told her.

"Oh, Inuyasha, don't you even think it's just like a father and his daughter? This is such an old story. You've told me thousand times - at first, I believe it, but now questioned it a bit," she told him, but then she said. "But, secretly, I, too, am wondering whether Sesshoumaru is in love with Rin or not. Since he really care about her."

Inuyasha looked at Kagome in surprised. He was sure that Kagome would not agree with him, but, this time she was on his side.

"Ah, never mind. It's not our business anyway, Kagome," Inuyasha said as he jumped and went towards the forest. He was satisfied enough with Kagome agreeing with him that Sesshoumaru was actually having some feelings towards his own underling.

Rin was taking a bath in the river deep inside the forest. She washed her hair thoroughly, making sure that no dirt was left on her black hair, and she cleaned her body with soap that was given by Kagome. She could smell a nice scent from her body and from her hair. She smiled and once again she wondered if her lord would be pleased to see her that way. But, deep inside her mind, she was asking her own self why she had to do this kind of thing to please her master. She didn't really remember when she started to do something like this for her master and she didn't even know whether her master was pleased or not. She could remember when she was younger, she would bring flowers for her master whenever he came. She wouldn't care about mud covering her tiny body or if she smelled like the animals in the barn. But now, she really cared.

Rin closed her eyes and felt the coolness of the water, she was relaxing herself and enjoying her bath time. When was the last time she took a bath? A week ago, maybe. She told herself that she should have a bath more often, but, it was spring and she always felt cold whenever she went for a bath. But, it was always different if it was for her master. The coldness of the water was not affecting her at all.

Soon, she felt that she had enough and came out of the river. Her body was not like a few years ago - when the mound in her breast was still to small to be noticed and her body had no shape at all. Now, she really did look like a real grown-up woman. Her body was taller than three years ago. Her hair which looked like a broom years ago, now, it looked like a black satin, and her body curves were perfect. She was indeed a grown-up.

Rin put on her kimono and she looked at herself in the mirror. She smiled.

"I hope Sesshoumaru-sama will like it!" she said and then she went back to the village.

It was already noon, but Sesshoumaru hadn't shown up. Rin was sitting down on the stairs which led to the shrine, she looked very troubled, because usually her master never arrived late. He would always arrive at nine or ten, never this late. She wondered if she was the one who made a mistake in counting the days or if something happened to her master.

Her brown eyes looking everywhere, hoping that she would spot her master standing behind the bushes or entering the village. She sighed deeply.

'What if he doesn't want to see me anymore?' she thought. 'He left me here so that I would be able to live with humans. What if he doesn't want to show himself to me anymore since I adapt myself really well in this village...'

Rin looked really worried that Kagome was concerned about her. Kagome told her kids to play by themselves and then went to Rin. She sat next to the girl and her eyes gazed into the endless sky.

"Don't worry Rin," Kagome said, still looking at the blue sky. The girl looked down. And Kagome continued, "Maybe there is something on his way."

Rin was still quiet.

Kagome sighed. "If he really doesn't come here, that means it's your turn to look for him, right?"

Rin turned her eyes to Kagome. "Kagome-sama...," Rin whispered. "Didn't you always say that I should remain in this village no matter what happens until my master say that I have to follow him?"

"What can I do? I cannot keep a girl who's going to daydream and put a gloomy face all day long here," Kagome turned her eyes to Rin. "At least you'll be happier if you look for him, right?"

Rin nodded.

"Well, that's what you'll do in case he's not coming. The time limit is a week, agree?" Kagome asked Rin. "If he doesn't come around in a week, I don't want to keep this gloomy girl by my side."

"Thank you, Kagome-sama!" Rin exclaimed cheerfully. "Thank you so much, you are very kind to me!"

Kagome smiled and left the girl who was still waiting for her master.

Kagome left the girl, sighing all her way to the shrine. She felt a bit guilty to the girl because she actually knew that Sesshoumaru wouldn't come to look for the girl anymore. She thought about his last visit.

Flashback

"What's wrong, Sesshoumaru?" Kagome asked him. "Usually you're going to ask for something if you are like this."

Sesshoumaru looked at Kagome in surprise. Was he really easy to read that the miko knew what he wanted?

Then, he nodded.

"About Rin, right?" Kagome guessed. "What do you want me to teach her? I've taught her so many things I knew about humans and demons. Or do I need to do an extra protection for her?"

Sesshoumaru looked at Kagome in the eyes and shook his head.

"I won't be coming here anymore," he said emotionlessly, but Kagome thought that she saw a bit of sadness in his eyes. "Don't tell Rin about this and don't ever let her search for me," he continued.

"Why?" Kagome asked curiously. She was not shocked about it because she knew Sesshoumaru always made unexpected decisions, like when he made Rin stayed in the village. Though this one was not so shocking, it still made her curious. "You know that Rin loves you more than she loves herself, she admires you so much and always hopes to rejoin you in your journey someday."

"I just can't have her hanging around me anymore...," Sesshoumaru said. He turned his eyes to the setting sun.

Kagome looked at Sesshoumaru in disbelief. She sighed, shook her head, did anything to make her mind clear. But, she just couldn't find a logical reason behind Sesshoumaru's excuse.

"It's silly, Sesshoumaru," she said. "Don't you have another, a better, excuse?"

Sesshoumaru didn't say anything. A few minutes went on without words.

"Ah, that doesn't really matter. Alright, alright, I won't tell her anything. But, that doesn't mean I support your decision," Kagome said. Sesshoumaru looked relief. Then, without saying his gratefulness to Kagome, he flew into the night sky and vanished from her sight.

End of Flashback

"I told you, I'm not supporting you, Sesshoumaru," Kagome whispered to herself as she entered the shrine. "Maybe, I'm hoping that Rin could be with you..."

Okay guys, this is it for this chapter.

You know, it's kinda hard to rewrite a story. Actually the first version of this chapter was made before I took a really long rest from writing, but, because I forgot to publish it, it's gone! I uploaded it, yes, I did that, but I haven't publish it, and so it was gone when I realized about it... T.T

Sorry, if this chapter is not good enough, my skills were dull because it had been such a long time since the last time I wrote some stories. But, I really do hope you enjoy this chapter...

Lastly, reviews are very appreciated, just give me some if you got time, if not, that's okay!

See you!

~Pheria~