Moments go by as a knock occurs on Sesshomaru's door. It opens slowly as Jaken peeks his head inside. He looks around and sees his silver-haired boss focused on something on his desk with a crinkled brow.
"Sir?" Jaken spoke up nervously.
Sesshomaru shifts his golden glance through his brow, watching Jaken walk in and shut the door behind him. Sesshomaru assembles what he had scattered on his desk and stacks them in a pile. When Jaken ambles closer, the little man catches a glimpse of several surveillance photographs of women of the night in their daytime attire.
"Why do you have these, sir?" Jaken asks with concern in his voice, resting his hands on the desk.
Jaken knew of one particular woman with light blue hair and was aware of the 'services' she provides. Sesshomaru sets a yellow envelope over the photographs and folds his hands together with his elbows propped up on the desk.
"Touran hasn't been seen since she left my place a few nights ago." He asserted sternly.
Jaken crosses his arms over his chest with an arched brow.
"Why be concerned with the disappearance of a prostitute?" The little man spoke with indifference.
Sesshomaru narrows his eyes as they pierce Jaken, sending chills down the little man's spine which causes him to shiver.
"Women from The Underground have also been reported missing since yesterday." Sesshomaru went on as he crosses his arms over his chest.
Jaken's jaw drops at the information, making the relation.
"Do you think someone will try to pin you for these disappearances?"
Sesshomaru shakes his head left then right slowly.
"They would be fools to pin this on me. But I'm sure it won't be long before someone decides to drop the cases or target someone to put the blame."
"Well, you do have a payroll with the authorities and all," Jaken notes, stroking his chin, "but this is still worrisome."
Sesshomaru nods and stands to his feet, tucking the photographs back inside the envelope and hands them to Jaken for safekeeping.
"These need to stay hidden." Sesshomaru orders with a small smirk appearing in the corner of his mouth, "A curious cat almost got herself killed over these."
Jaken tilts his head by the statement, "A cat? Do you mean Miss Hashimoto?"
Sesshomaru waves his hand to permit Jaken to leave. The little man complies and walks out of the office with the envelope to his chest, and closes the door behind him. Once alone again, Sesshomaru saunters towards the windows with his arms behind his back. He was silent for a moment as he drops his gaze down to the streets below.
"I hope she makes the right decision and stays away from me."
Rin exits the hotel elevator and gradually makes her way down the hall to her room. She digs around in her satchel for the door key and inserts the card to unlock it. She kicks off her shoes and drags her feet through the floor, falling forward onto the bed. Her arms stretched out to the side, and her face buried in the mattress. She stays like this for a few minutes until she hears a buzzing coming from inside her bag. She shifts her head to the side slow and reaches for the strap of her bag to bring it closer to her.
She finds and stares at the lit-up screen of her mobile-she was receiving an incoming call from Kaede. Rin watched the mobile ring until the call was missed. She lays the mobile face down and buries her head back into the mattress. She hated feeling this way, and she knew sulking wouldn't help her feel any better. She rolls over to her side and takes a deep breath in, and slowly blows air out of her mouth.
Rin closes her eyes for a moment, getting lost in her thoughts of what she should do-she knew doing nothing wasn't going to help her. She needed to talk to someone. She grabs her mobile again and scrolls through her contacts, tapping on the name "Kagome". The mobile rings twice until a woman's voice is heard on the other end.
"Hey, Rin! How are you today?" Kagome greets cheerfully.
Rin was quiet with her face dragged down with a frown.
"Honestly, not that great." Rin replied.
"I'm sorry to hear that." Kagome expressed sincerely, "Do you want to talk about it?"
"I just need to do something to keep my mind off of it for a while." Rin spoke softly, followed by a soft sigh.
Kagome ponders in thought for a moment until an idea strikes her.
"Say Rin, let's go out into the city and do something!"
"Wait, are you still in Tokyo?" Rin asks her with a high pitch in her voice. Kagome had mentioned the other day that she doesn't live in the city so Rin tilts her head with confusion.
Kagome smiles and utters an "mhmm" over the mobile.
"I won't be returning home until the dinner tomorrow night." Kagome explained.
"Ooh." Rin mutters under her breath.
A grin appears on Kagome's face.
"It's settled then. We're meeting up somewhere." She declared.
"Where are you wanting to go?" Rin asks her curiously.
"I'll send you the location, okay?" Kagome replied as she informs Rin that she would see her soon and ends the call.
Rin peels herself off from the mattress and slips her shoes back on her feet, grabbing her satchel, and heads back out the door.
Down in the streets, Rin was waiting outside of the building where she would be meeting Kagome. A few minutes go by, Rin hears somebody call out to her in the distance, and when she turns around looking out into the crowd, she sees Kagome walking towards her with a smile and a wave. Rin returns a smile and wave as Kagome approaches her excitedly.
"So, why bring us here, Kagome?" Rin asks.
She was going to get straight to the point and was wondered why Kagome brought her there. They were standing in front of a very elaborate clothing store-worth more than what Rin could ever afford.
Kagome links her arm around Rin's as she leads her inside together.
"We are going to find you something to wear for the dinner tomorrow night." Kagome reveals with a smile, "You're still going, right?"
Rin was hesitant to answer because she had almost completely forgotten about it and she also assumed the dinner was going to be something more casual than formal, which was now making her nervous.
"Y-yeah, I'm going." Rin stuttered.
Kagome giggles excitedly and walks towards a clothing rack of dresses.
"Don't worry about the prices of anything, I'll be taking care of it!" Kagome assures Rin to try and ease her obvious hesitation.
"Oh no, you don't have to do that Kagome! These pieces are very expensive." Rin raises her hands defensively.
"That doesn't matter to me. Plus, I want to do this for you, Rin." Kagome grabs a few dresses off the rack in front of them and walks over to a different one. She would ask Rin what colors, materials, and styles she liked the most as Kagome picked out the pieces. Grabbing a few more and they make their way to the fitting rooms towards the back of the store. A store clerk quickly assists them and escorts them to the fitting rooms.
Inside the large room, Kagome had Rin try on every single dress she had picked out for her. Some were much too revealing to Rin's liking, while others just didn't flatter her figure. After trying on a red, floor-length dress, Rin releases a heavy sigh, pressing her back against the wall, and drops her head low. Rin slides her back down along the wall until she's stopped by the tile floor below her.
Kagome squats down low beside Rin with her knees to her chest.
"Are you ready to talk about it?" Kagome asks the young woman kindly with a warm smile, "It's okay if you're not. I'll be right here when you're ready."
Rin took a moment and pulls her knees to her chest. She inhales softly and breaths out gently before she began.
"It's just... I thought things were finally starting to look up for me by getting this amazing job here in Tokyo. And I figured things were only going to get easier and better from there..."
She paused and dropped her head before she continued, "After my first few days, my boss seemed to of started to finally warm up to me, but... Today he threatened to fire me."
"Wow, what a jerk!" Kagome exclaimed with her jaw dropped open and her brows knitted together.
Rin shakes her head and continues, "I don't blame him. I made a mistake and I probably broke his trust in me..."
Kagome's eyes soften and grew concerned for Rin.
"He allowed me a choice that I'll need to decide soon..." Rin expressed burying her face in her knees.
Kagome huffs and pushes herself to her feet, standing in front of Rin who remained sitting on the floor. Rin looks up at Kagome and sees a fire burning in her eyes.
"Now listen here, Rin." Kagome began with her hands on her hips, "You walk yourself back there tomorrow morning with your head held high, and tell that boss of yours that he's not getting rid of you so easily, understand? And tell him to stop being such a major jerk to you!"
"That last part is a bit too aggressive to come from me though." Rin chuckles nervously.
"Well, you don't have to say that word-for-word, but I'm sure you get the idea of what I mean." Kagome winks at Rin with a smile, "Prove that asshole wrong, Rin!"
Rin giggles and smiles with a slight head nod.
"Thank you, Kagome."
Kagome reaches her hand out to Rin to help her up to her feet. Then she lifts a black dress from the rack that had white lace around the shoulders and shows Rin.
"Now, how about we try this one on now?"
Rin giggles with a smile and nods her head in agreement as the two women continued their shopping excursion.
The sun was setting as a sleek black car arrives at a three-story home in Aoyama, Shinjuku-one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Tokyo. The car pulls into the garage area made onto the side of the home and is brought to a slow stop and parks. Once the car shuts off, the driver door swings open and Sesshomaru steps out, pressing the button on the keyless entry remote to lock the car as he walks away.
He walks up to the front door, unlocks it, and steps inside, closing and locking the door behind him. He slips off his shoes and steps up the raised platform in the entryway, walking by the dining room table and the grey couch in the living room. He makes his way up the stairs that lead to his bedroom, walking down to the end of the hall, and opens his door, walking inside. He tosses his suit jacket onto the back of an upholstered chair and steps out the glass door that leads onto his balcony. He feels around his pockets for his cigarettes, but in doing so, he found something else.
He pulls a chain out of his back pocket with the gold watch attached to it. He lays it in the palm of his hand and observes the watch, tracing the engraved lines along the rim of the watch with his finger before snapping out of his gaze and returns the watch. He continued to search for his cigarettes until he retrieves the pack and places one unlit on his lips. He lights it up and intakes slowly, blowing a cloud of smoke out of his mouth.
He rests his forearms against the metal railing, standing there passing an empty stare looking down into the streets below him. The loneliness was far from new to him, though some discomfort has been digging at him for a few days, and it was beginning to irritate him. Especially seeing the expression that was on Rin's face earlier in the day.
"What has brought this on I wonder?" He asks himself aloud.
He lifts his head to look out over the skyline to watch the change in colors as the sun began disappearing. He takes in a long drag and flicks the cigarette over the balcony, retrohaling a cloud of smoke as he returns inside.
It was early the next day, Sesshomaru steps out of the elevator on the top floor of Inuka Co, and walks through the foyer to his office. He stops halfway and glances over to the glass wall to Rin's office where he found that she wasn't there. He shortly resumes and steps inside his office, leaning against the closed door, and lets out a deep sigh.
"I suppose she made her choice."
Sesshomaru throws his suit jacket on top of his desk and drops down into his chair, turning it towards the window. He pulls out the cigarettes from his pocket and places one unlit on his lips. He shifts around to look for his lighter but feels the circular object in his back pocket again. He pulls out the gold pocket watch that Rin gifted him. He holds it and stares at it with the metal glistened in the sunlight. He places the watch gently on his desk, and locates the lighter in his pocket, igniting the cigarette.
He hears a knock at his door and it opens shortly after, assuming it was Jaken bringing in Rin's resignation letter.
"Sorry, I meant to be here sooner. There was a long line at the cafe today." Says a woman's voice.
Sesshomaru turns the chair around instantly after hearing the unexpected voice and glances up to see Rin with a cup of coffee in her hands. His eyes widened with surprise and curiosity seeing the woman before him.
"You're still here?" He utters softly.
Rin looks at him with a smile.
"You wasn't expecting me to give up so easily, did you, sir?"
Sesshomaru pauses for a moment, breaking eye contact with her, blowing out a cloud of smoke from his mouth.
"I suppose I did underestimate you, Miss Hashimoto."
Rin places the cup on the coaster on his desk.
"Need anything else while I'm here?" She asks him sweetly.
Rin had this glow to her that Sesshomaru couldn't understand. He wondered if she wasn't truly bothered by his words toward her yesterday. After all, he did it purposely.
"Not at the moment, but thank you." He spoke returning his golden gaze to her.
She gives him a soft nod and turns around leaving his office, closing the door behind her.
Sesshomaru blinks slowly with a soft smirk.
"You're going to stay after all, huh?" He snuffs out his cigarette in the ashtray on his desk, and grabs the cup of coffee, "If only you realized what you'll be getting yourself into, Rin."
He feels a buzzing in his other back pocket and pulls out his mobile. The screen lights up with a text message, it read:
Hey, Big Brother!
Call me when you get the chance. I need to ask you something.
-Kagome
"She needs to stop calling me that." He groaned as he shuts off the screen and tucks the mobile back into his pocket.
pLater on in the day, Sesshomaru returns to the top floor with an unamused expression washed over his face as he steps out of the elevator. He had just finished the long meeting with his Board of Directors of Inuka Co. He veers by Rin's office, standing at the doorway as he watched her typing on the keyboard.
pRin notices him and turns to him with a smile.
p"How did the meeting go, sir?" She asks him kindly.
p"It was nothing special, just went over some numbers and such." He replied disinterestedly with his arms crosses over his chest.
pRin giggles softly and smiles as she turns back to the computer monitor. Sesshomaru found it strange that Rin was still so optimistic and seemed to be smiling more than she usually does. He was curious to know why.
p"You seem extra cheerful today." He remarked.
pRin turns to him again, keeping her smile.
p"Oh, I'm just excited for tonight." She explained softly.
p"I see. You have plans?" He asks curiously.
pRin tilts her head down, breaking eye contact with Sesshomaru.
p"Yes. I'm meeting someone for dinner tonight."
p"That's nice..."
pSesshomaru makes a long pause before he spoke again, "I hope it goes well for you."
pRin looks up at him with a smile.
p"I'm sure it will, but thank you, sir."
pShe returns to typing on her keyboard and Sesshomaru walks away towards his office, glancing back at Rin before he stepped inside and closed the door. Rin looked over to the door because she had a sense that eyes were on her while she wasn't looking. She shrugs her shoulders and returns to work.
Rin watched the clock ticking closer and closer. She was starting to become impatient that five o'clock wasn't approaching fast enough. She needed to hurry and get to the elevator so she wouldn't lose any more time to get ready for the dinner with Kagome tonight.
Once the clock finally dinged, Rin hops out of her chair and begins dashing towards the elevator. When she approached the doors, she discovered that she had forgotten her bag and groans with annoyance. She quickly shifts around on her heels to run back to her office, not realizing that Sesshomaru was directly behind her now, and runs into him, colliding onto his chest. Rin is stunned and looks up at him with her cheeks turning red.
"I'm so sorry." She uttered as she quickly removed herself and breaks her gaze from him.
Sesshomaru appeared more confused than mad at Rin's hastily behavior.
"Are you in a hurry?" He asks.
Rin shakes her head slowly, with her hands in small fists against her chest.
"Just forgot my satchel."
Sesshomaru steps to the side to let her walk by, swaying his arm out as to direct her.
"I'll keep the elevator up for you." He assured her.
Rin glances up at him with a soft smile, tucking a hair behind her ear.
"Thank you." She replied softly.
She walks by him to return to her office and grabs her satchel. She walks back slowly to the elevator where Sesshomaru, as promised, kept the doors open for her. She steps inside with him without saying anything, and Sesshomaru presses the button to go down to the lobby.
On the ride down, Sesshomaru looks down at Rin and notices that her head was rather low as if she was hiding her face. Sesshomaru tilts and leans his head to the side and asks Rin if she was nervous.
"Something like that." She spoke.
Sesshomaru was silent for a moment before he spoke again, clearing his throat.
"I need to apologize to you, Miss Hashimoto."
Rin snaps her head up and looks at him with curiosity.
"For what, sir?" She asks.
Sesshomaru looks down at her and the tone of his eyes were sincere.
"The way I spoke to you yesterday. It was uncalled for and I shouldn't have behaved so poorly." He elaborated.
Rin smiles and shakes her head.
"You don't have to apologize for that. I knew better and should have minded my own business."
It fell silent between them.
Sesshomaru breaks his gaze and looks up at the floor numbers decreasing.
"Don't be afraid to talk or ask me things."
Rin tilts her head in confusion, she wasn't expecting him to say something so off-handed, especially after yesterday. Sesshomaru returned his golden gaze and Rin saw the softness in his eyes. He was being genuine and it gave her a light feeling in her stomach.
Rin blushes and looks away with a soft nod.
"Okay, Mr. Taisho."
Both Rin and Sesshomaru were silent the rest of the ride down to the lobby. Rin was trying to hide her smile, but Sesshomaru could see it and he had a strange, warm feeling in his chest that he wasn't used to.
Sorry if this chapter seemed boring. The next two chapters are about THE DINNER, so stay tuned for that!