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Chapter 36- I graduate, enough said

I loved mornings like these. Waking up with the one I love holding me in his arms. Sunlight rays seeping in through the large windows, bringing warmth and making everything glow. Who said dreams didn't come true? Because this dream was definitely real.

Until my Prince Charming decided to let go of me and get up.

I groaned, rolling over to watch his silver hair glisten in the warm sunlight. His back muscles moved when he stretched. Seriously, it was a beautiful sight. I smiled, wanting nothing more than to watch him all day. All my life. But school….

"You're watching," he spoke, his voice so heavenly.

"I'm gazing," I smiled.

"It's creepy," he looked over his shoulder.

I leaned on my right side. "It's romantic. Besides, when did you ever find something creepy?"

He smirked, leaning over towards me, whispering, "Since I met you."

He kissed me then, softly, lightly like a feather's touch. I smiled in the kiss, pulling in more and tangling my fingers in his silver locks. He pulled away a few moments later, touching his nose with mine.

"See what I mean?" he chuckled lightly.

When he tried to get up, I grabbed his wrist and pulled him back down…at least I tried. Seriously, getting that guy to move was like moving a statue—impossible.

"Rin, let me go."

"Can't we stay in bed today?"

"No, you have a final math exam and you also have graduation rehearsals after school. We also need to go by your house to pick your brother up."

I sighed heavily. "And I need to pick some more clothes up. I mean I have clothes here, but I've been staying here for the past three weeks. I should have a better selection than…what I have."

"Exactly," he leaned in and pecked me on the lips. "So hurry and change."

I sat up and eyed him enter the bathroom. "You know, I don't have to do the math final. I would pass either way. I do have a ninety-six in the class."

"Rin…" he warned. The shower started running. "You are going. That is final."

I walked into the bathroom and leaned against the doorframe, watching his silhouette in the steamy, glass, shower stall. I bit my lip, getting a juicy idea. "What if I can persuade you?" I asked.

I heard a slight growl, and his head peek out of the shower, dripping. "Rin! Enough of this! You are going! You can't avoid Ami forever."

"I'm not avoiding her…I'm just…." Speechless. That was what I was.

For the past few weeks Ami has coming to school with her son in hand. While she and Shippo went to classes, Michi would be in the principal's office being babysat by the lovely secretary Ms. Chang. Meaning I had to see them every day and get an unfriendly reminder. It wasn't as if I hated them; it was more like I was envious. But Ami was one of my best friends, and Michi was my godson…I just felt like I was going to cry whenever I saw Michi smiling and laughing. He was such a happy baby and Ami was the luckiest woman in the world to have that. I was so happy for her.

And I did owe her at one point. She did help me out when I went to prom that night. She ended up coming over to my house to watch Ichiro and Jun (though I think he snuck out and drank from the way he acted the next day) for the night. Thanks to Sesshomaru who called them by the way. I've always paid Sesshomaru back via staying at his apartment, while Ami…I had no clue what I was going to do. But I would think of something…I swear!

He then stood there, eyebrow raised, dripping wet, butt naked, looking godly as ever…what an idiot.

I huffed and rolled my eyes, heading back into the bedroom to get changed and face the final day of high school.

xXx

The ride to my house was a quiet one. And not because I was mad at Sesshomaru…for standing in front of me naked and wet…because now I couldn't get it out of my head and couldn't remember anything for my math test…no…no that wasn't the reason. The reason was because I was afraid of what Jun's attitude was this morning. I was in no mood for any of his shit. I was going to drag him out of bed if I had to. He was going to school and finishing tests he missed. And guess what? After everything he's been doing to his body…he was still able to maintain an A average. Like what the hell?

But we've all been through Hell the past three weeks. After Jiro's death, Dad rarely came home, saying he was busy with work and had been going on business trips every week. Mom never left the house and had Izayoi helping her out around and taking Ichiro to Pre-school. They had become the best of friends, but Mom was still struggling. Ichiro just seemed to miss Jiro and always asked when he was coming back from Heaven. My mom would break down in tears and lock her up in her bedroom for days when he asked that. And Jun…found my dad's alcohol and was now drinking, sneaking out and doing god knows what. I got a call about a week back from the police about him. They had found him trespassing onto private land, smoking weed and brought him down to the station. After they couldn't contact my mom, Sesshomaru and I had to come and get him. It wasn't a pretty sight and Sesshomaru and I ended up giving him a two hour lecture at Sesshomaru's apartment. One he probably didn't listen too.

When we stopped in front of my house, I looked at it well, frowning. "My house looks so creepy…." I commented. "I'll be right back."

And just like that, I found Jun in bed, snoring like a bear in winter and smelling like dope. My mom wasn't in the house, meaning Izayoi probably took her to her to her counselling appointment. But failed to wake Jun up. Well…I hope she at tried. Anyways, after I pulled the heavy comforter off his body, he groaned loudly, trying to pull the blanket back with his hand. Unfortunately for him, I was a champion at tug a war at summer camp three years running, meaning he stood no chance at all.

"What…what the hell is wrong with you?" he snapped, sitting up in bed, wearing only his black boxers.

"Hurry and get dressed, Jun. Sesshomaru and I are waiting."

"I'm not going." He collapsed back onto his pillow.

"Oh no, I am not letting you do this again, Jun," I said, moving to his bed side. "Today is the last day of school and the last day to do your make-up exams. Sesshomaru was kind enough to speak to your teachers about doing them after all the school you missed, so get up!"

"And why do you care if I go or not? My future is my future…"

"So you want to spend the rest of your life drinking, smoking pot, and staying in bed until noon?"

"No, I want to become a DJ."

"A DJ? Are you serious? What happened to the smart kid who wanted to become a scientist at NASA or whatever? What happened to the kid who did experiments every day and almost blew up the house? What happened to him?"

"He decided to move on!" he snapped, sitting up in his bed. "Okay…I'll go. But you need to leave me alone and let me do my thing."

"I'll let you do your own thing when you decide to grow up."

I left to the kitchen, waiting for him to finish showering and changing. But for changing himself…I didn't know if he would.

xXx

I followed him to the car, making sure he wouldn't run off. Although, I knew he wouldn't get far with a dog demon chasing after him. We both got in, both of us silent. Then Sesshomaru broke it.

"Hello, Jun," he said in his normal, monotonous voice.

"Sup," he answered back.

Sesshomaru and I looked at each other for a moment, and I sighed, putting on my seatbelt on as we pulled away.

About five minutes in the drive, I couldn't stand the silence anymore.

"So, Jun, are you ready for your exams?" I asked, turning around in my seat, and trying to be kind to my little brother, while I wanted to strangle him for being a total idiot.

He shrugged. "I don't know."

"Are you going to try and pass?"

"I don't know."

"Do you know any other words beside 'I don't know.'?" I frowned.

"Donno." He looked at me. "That was one different word."

I growled low, turning back in my seat. "You're hopeless."

"Thanks, I can tell it came from the heart," he said, boringly.

I rolled my eyes. And Sesshomaru spoke up. "Rin, do you have your speech ready yet?"

Okay…what was he talking about now? I mean I understand he was trying to change the subject so we wouldn't be able to cut the air with a knife, but speech? "What speech?"

"Your Valedictorian speech for tonight."

I froze, still not understanding what he was staying. "Valedictorian? But…I'm not…"

"Ayame didn't tell you, I'm guessing." He sighed. "You were chosen after the last Valedictorian couldn't do it due to throat surgery."

"And when was this?"

"A few weeks back."

"I….I can't write a speech in less than ten hours! Are you insane?"

"Look who's not ready, now," Jun added in.

"Shut your mouth!" I snapped.

"Rin!" Sesshomaru snapped too. "Enough."

"Sesshomaru, I can't write a speech in ten hours. Ask someone else to do it, because I can't!"

"You will, and I will help you."

I leaned back in the chair, shaking my head. "I am going to murder Ayame."

"Can you do it after your speech?" he asked.

I smiled at him as he grinned back.

But when we finally got to school, anxiety rose, and I realized I was chosen to be the Valedictorian for my class. Why in god's name would I be the Valedictorian? What compelled my fellow peers to vote for me to be the alternate? They must've been on something…yeah…that was it. They were definitely drunk or high when they voted. Or it was rigged. Ayame must've rigged it. She was on the student committee; she must've done this as a joke or something. Well ha ha to her, because she was going to get it.

I watched Jun walk off, and I yelled, "Don't even think about it!"

He only looked back at me and walked around the corner. I shook my head and started to walk with Sesshomaru inside.

"He's going to get killed one day if he keeps going on this path," I complained.

"It's just a phase, Rin. Inuyasha went through the same thing. And I did as well."

"You smoked and drank until you passed out?"

"Back in the sixties and seventies, yes. It was very common back then."

"You should tell me about your past soon. I'm interested to know what the eighteen hundreds were like."

"Soon. For now, just focus on that speech and your math exam."

"Oh god, I forgot all about my math exams, thanks to a certain someone standing naked in front of me this morning."

He held the door open for me. "You're welcome." He winked.

It was about five minutes before the bell and five minutes for me to get to class and refresh. But as I started to walk away, Sesshomaru grabbed my wrist and pulled me in, giving me a peck on the lips. I pulled back, eyes wide. "Sesshomaru…there are people around."

"Does it look like I care?"

I smiled. "No, I guess not."

"Good luck. I'll see you at lunch."

Not unless I die from the exam first.

xXx

Let us have a moment of silence for those who didn't survive exams this morning. Let them rest in peace and pray they return from their positions on the floor. Because they will eventually when the custodian comes by tonight and cleans it.

But me…I was not one of the fallen. Nope. I managed to survive the terrible beast of the math final. How well? I would not know for about a week, but I made it!

Well…almost.

I still had that damn speech to write.

And now I wished I was one of the fallen.

I hadn't seen Ayame or Ami around…yet. But I knew they were around. Ayame was avoiding me while I was avoiding Ami. I wonder if Ami was avoiding Ayame. Either way…I just wanted to get this stupid speech out of the way.

I entered Sesshomaru's classroom to see him marking the final exams at his desk.

"How did they do?"

"These freshmen students are smarter than you, Rin." He told me without looking up.

"You aren't funny, Sesshomaru." I smiled, leaning over his desk.

He placed one of the tests aside and glanced at me. "What do you have so far?"

I stood up straight and cleared my voice. "Nothing!"

He sighed, getting up. "You aren't funny either, Rin."

"I'm funnier than you!"

"Sit," he pointed to the front and center desk. I did, and he handed me a blank piece of line paper. "Now, write."

"What is this? Detention?"

"Yes, now write!"

I shook my head and look at the paper. Ten minutes later, I gave up.

"What is wrong now?"

"This paper is intimidating me."

"Rin, you have thirty minutes to write this speech. Do not waste time."

"Then you write it! Besides, you're better at this sort of thing."

"Rin…"

"Okay then what about this… 'We are the future, go forth and do whatever…' or 'This is the first day of the rest of our lives…'?"

"There you go. Add from that and you got a speech."

"Yeah, if I was living in a cheesy nineties teen TV show. These are all clichés! I don't want students to fall asleep during this thing. If I'm going to do this speech, I might as well make it epic."

"So you have finally come to terms with the fact you are Valedictorian."

"Well…you don't seem to be helping me get out of it, and I'm too lazy to try to get out of it, so I might as well get it over with."

He walked over to me. "You'll think of something, Rin."

I looked at him and went deep into thought. "That's it," I whispered, getting up. "Sesshomaru…I love you!"

I kissed him quickly, and grabbed the paper, and headed for the door. "Where are you going?"

I turned to him with a smile on my face. "Trust me; I know what I'm going to do. I'll see you tonight."

I left his room, walking down the hall with confidence in my shoes. This was going to be so epic. I bet it would be better than the first valedictorian speech ever! ….okay…maybe not. But it would still be pretty epic!

When I went around the corner, my body froze, mind went blank, and I saw Ami walking towards my direction. She smiled and rushed over, with Michi in her arms. So I decided to just stay and wait.

"Rin! Hey! I've been trying to find you all day. Did you get my texts?"

I blinked. "My phone has been dead and I've been in Sesshomaru's classroom."

"Oh…well I'm super excited to hear your speech tonight."

"Thanks…um…I also want to thank you again for helping me awhile back."

"You mean prom night? Don't worry about it. It was no trouble. Anyways, we'll talk more at the barbeque tonight."

"Barbeque? Where?"

"At the Takahashi's. Anyways, I need to change this one. He's had a big stinky today…yeah," she laughed at Michi's smiled and all I could do was stare. "I'll see you later!"

I nodded. "Yeah, see you!"

This was going to be a long night.

xXx

So there I was….about to go up on stage. I wasn't able to catch Ayame…that wolf was harder to catch than a snake in the grass. But I was about to stand in front of a thousand people so…yes, I was a bit nervous.

On top of that…I never wrote the speech. So this…would be interesting.

"Please welcome our Valedictorian, Rin Ikeda!"

I took a deep breath and went out there. Camera's flashed. People clapped. And my nerves…they were through the roof. Then the speech began.

"Please hold on while I find my brain…"

Laughter. And I smiled.

"I'm going to speak the truth out right now and tell you all, I have no speech written down. I was told earlier today that I was chosen to speak during this graduation ceremony, and my first thought was…what the heck were these people on? I mean, I am not a type of person who comes up onto a stage and starts speaking like she knows what she's doing. Like now for instance. Trust me everyone, I am imagining you in underwear. Anything to make this easier, right? But I realize that imagining someone is underwear, or as a pumpkin, doesn't calm the nerves…it almost makes it worse. And we can relate this to our next chapter we're going to go through. Life.

"Yes, everyone, I said it. Life. This worst word in existence right now. Because who know what the hell will happen. We can be anywhere between now and fifty years without knowing. It's almost like we're in a labyrinth, all these twists and turns with obstacles in the way. Yeah…I'm in one right now and…the obstacle is…to me it's a fifty foot brick wall impossible to climb over, so I'm trying to break it with a shovel. And I've been trying to break it since January. So, this shovel sucks. Anyways, we've all been through something rough, something we wish we could go back and start over, but that's not life. That's being a wizard from Harry Potter and using the time machine necklace or whatever to go back in time. And even though we have magic in our world, we don't have THAT kind of magic. At least I don't think we do. But this is the time in our lives to make decisions. We might make dozens and dozens of decisions, or just one, either way it will shape ours live the way we want.

Webster's dictionary defines 'life' as the ability to grow, change, whatever, but life can be anything you want. It doesn't matter because it's yours. So take a lesson from your friend Rin, do what you want, be what you want, and whatever the outcome, you'll know it's the right one for you. It can start tomorrow, or it can start ten years from now. Only you will know.

So let's end these years together on a positive note. We never have to see each other's face until the reunion. And in the words of Elle Woods… We did it!"

Clapping. Clapping. And more clapping.

I officially graduated high school.

Thank gods!

xXx

I never thought I would be the one standing around awkwardly at a graduation barbeque. Actually, no that was a lie. I did imagine myself doing that.

But…awkward.

On the bright side, my whole family was here. Yes, even my mom. Izayoi managed to get her out of the house. Jun was here…somewhere. I would probably search for him later. And my dad; I was surprised he came. Last I heard he was in London doing business…and he came home just for my graduation. I felt like the luckiest daughter ever.

However, I felt luckier to have graduated high school. I couldn't believe I did it! I was in a dream…someone do not pinch me please.

And then Ayame came, and I gave her the face of disapproval.

"I know…hate me. I'm sorry. I just blanked, okay?" she said.

"It's okay. I forgive you, but if you do this again, I will kill you in your sleep! Be aware!"

"Gotcha! I shall wear an alarm on me when the time comes."

I laughed and we hugged and talked for the next hour about random stuff I would never remember. It was great! Until she brought something totally private up when Sesshomaru was standing right behind me. I was going to tell him! I was! But it would've been later tonight…I was too nervous during the moment!

"So…when are you leaving for the east coast?" she asked. And remember…I didn't know Sesshomaru was right there.

"In the next few weeks."

"Have you told Sesshomaru yet?"

"I will…I just don't know what will happen when I do."

She gave me the silent look and her eyes moved behind me.

I sighed. "He's right behind me, isn't he?"

"Whoops."

And there he was. Right there.

"I'll talk to you later, Rin."

Geez, thanks for abandoning me, Ayame! I shook my head in disappointment. Then I faced Sesshomaru.

"Hey, so you probably want to speak to me."

He nodded.

I followed him inside and into his bedroom. Then I waited….

And of course, he was never the one to speak up first.

"I was going to tell you…just…" I paused, biting my lip. "Jiro…"

"I know. It's fine, Rin. When did you get accepted?"

"Why…are you being so calm about this? Shouldn't you be, I don't know, upset or something? I didn't even tell you I got accept until now? And it wasn't even by me!"

"Rin, you've been through a lot. We've been through a lot. Now answer my question."

"About…around when Jiro passed. I guess I forgot about it…I'm sorry."

"I see…I understand since he passed during a difficult time—"

"I need to ask you something, Sesshomaru,"I blurted out without even thinking! Seriously! What was I thinking! "I want you to come with me to Princeton."

That wasn't really a question…still; I needed to know what he thought. He looked into the distance, letting me know he was thinking.

"Rin…"

And I waited.

And waited.

Then he spoke again.

"I can't come with you."

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