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London: ParaPsyCorps Offices, Early May

She stepped off of the elevator at floor thirty-six with a little wave to the red-headed Shippō. She was both excited and fearful: excited because Sesshōmaru would be waiting for her at the corner table with a barely-there-smile, a pot of black tea, and a plate of scones; fearful because today was Friday and tomorrow was Saturday and Izayoi Leiot was expecting her for tea. All week she had wanted to ask Sesshōmaru if he knew this Tashō and Izayoi—if they were related and what she should expect—but each time she opened her mouth the words died on her lips in the face of his unwavering amber gaze.

"Ms. Dane," he stood as she approached and bowed to her.

She blushed and made a clumsy little bow back.

He reseated himself when she had settled and poured the tea into the delicate china cups. Today they were bright yellow and edged with cerulean blue and gold flowers. The tea was

slightly astringent with the tang of pomegranate and the sweet and sour flavor of lemon.

"This is very good," she said appreciatively.

Sesshōmaru nodded and took a sip, "It is made with Andalusia lemons from southern Spain."

ParaPsyCorps was really rather classy, she was starting to realize. The menu for their workers in the café was nutritious and affordable, the coffee rich and dark, all the tea organic and designer quality, and everything was served on rotating sets of fine bone china.

Sesshōmaru was wearing pressed black slacks today and a sharply tailored blazer of deep blue with black oriental style braided trim. His silver hair was down today and fell in a gleaming wave over his shoulder as he leaned forward to offer her the tray of sweet smelling scones.

"Mr. Leiot?"

His amber eyes snapped to her face and she faltered again. "Yes?"

Rin swallowed and ran her fingertip along the decorated edge of her saucer. "What caused you to move from Ireland?"

He looked at her for a long moment as though carefully weighing his words. "I—met someone."

Her heart sank inexplicably. "Oh?"

"My family is near here, as I have said. And my younger brother has taken my place in Ireland and it will be good for him."

"Were you a secretary in Ireland too?"

"No," he touched his bottom lip with his forefinger. "I chose to take the secretary job here even though it is very different from my old work." Rin was mesmerized by the tiny flickers of emotion that tightened the corners of his almond shaped eyes and warmed or cooled his golden eyes. "My raw psychic powers are not unusually strong and so my skills lie in other directions." He turned the full force of his gaze back on her. "Your powers however—are extraordinary."

Rin ducked her head. "I'm not sure I know what you mean."

"There are only three Chroma Sifting Sections that deal with tier one information. Did Martin not explain it to you?"

Rin shook her head, embarrassed.

"Ri—Ms. Dane, you are not a secretary. I am your secretary."

"But I don't need a secretary," she said, bewildered.

Sesshōmaru leaned forward slightly, "Your workload is growing, hadn't you noticed? As you gain experience and knowledge your work will go faster. You are approaching the first bump next week in fact."

"Bump?"

"A jump in pay and workload."

Rin sat back, discarding her empty teacup on the low table between them. "I am not a secretary?"

Sesshōmaru stood and led the way back to the elevators. They descended to floor eleven and he eased her forward, his large hand on the small of her back. They climbed the glass staircase to Mr. Martin's office.

"Lor—ah... Mr. Leiot?" Kōga stood up respectfully from his desk.

"I would just like to see Ms. Dane's personnel file please." His voice carried more authority than she had ever remembered hearing from him.

"Of course sir," Mr. Martin extracted a purple file from the color coded bookshelf that took up one side of his office.

Sesshōmaru flicked it open and pulled out the first page. It was a thick cream card-stock and bore the ParaPsyCorps logo in black and red in the top corner. The familiar sight of the black triangles tip-to-tip, ivory human profile in one and scarlet canine profile in the other beckoned her closer.

—Rin Dane

Chroma Sifter

Class: A

Tier: 1

Zener Score: 98% over 5 trials. 99% over 10 trials.

Clearance Level: Beta

Currant job level: Beginner (Graduation on May 5th to Intermediate)

Subordinate Secretary: Lord Sesshōmaru Leiot—

There were more sheets in the file but when Rin handed back the top sheet Sesshōmaru returned the lavender file to it place.

"You mainly sort classified information: government documents, surveillance photographs, police reports, spy dossiers and etcetera. Each packet contains a question and corresponds to what drawer you put it into."

Rin didn't know what to think or how to feel.

Sesshōmaru's hand was back to resting on her back and without noticing she leaned into him slightly. "On the other side of your drawers is another room where they take out the envelopes and write the corresponding symbol on the envelope. Depending on the color they are sent to different places and opened there. The symbol is decoded and the answer to the question is revealed."

Kōga cleared his throat. "It might seem like a lot of needless fuss and bother but insulating the Chroma Sifter from the information and the concerned parties is key."

Rin made a tiny noise like a whimper and Kōga and Sesshōmaru shared a look.

"You seem rather out of sorts Ms. Dane," Kōga said quietly.

Sesshōmaru stepped closer to her, "Perhaps a day off is in order, come Rin."

She allowed herself to be led to the elevators. "Chroma Sifter..." she murmured wonderingly.

They descended to the street in the long shadow of the ParaPsyCorps building where Sesshōmaru hailed a hackney.