Chapter 1

BEEP BEEP BEEP. Rin reached over and turned her alarm off. 'Thank God it's Friday.', she thought as she sat up in bed. She looked over at the clock, it was 6am. That meant that she had 2 hours to get to work. As she stood up and started walking towards the kitchen, she smelled the freshly brewed coffee and breakfast that her grandmother, Kaede, was making.

"Good morning Nana.", she said as she grabbed a mug and went to pour herself a cup of coffee.

"No need! I already made you a cup just how you like it, cream and sugar.", Kaede said as she pointed to the steaming hot mug already on the counter.

Rin smiled and kissed her grandmother's cheek, "What would I ever do without you in my life?"

"You'd be an independent 23 year old with your own apartment." Kaede said in a stern tone. Rin giggled and went back to her room with her coffee. It was time to get ready for work.

About 45 minutes later, she was fully dressed in her light blue scrubs and ready for work. She checked her phone and saw that the next bus would arrive in 10 minutes. That was just enough time for her to finish another cup of coffee and walk to the bus stop down the street. "Bye Nana! I'll be home around 5 today!" She said as she left, not waiting for Kaede's reply.

As she walked to her stop, she put in her headphones and began to play her playlist that consisted of female rappers. She loved to listen to raunchy rap. Rin loved feeling like the baddest bitch in the world at 7 in the morning. According to her, it was the best way to start the day. After catching the number 22 bus in front of the Franklin Park Zoo and finding a seat, she took the compact mirror out of her purse and checked her makeup. She wanted to make sure that her winged liner was still in place and that none of her mascara smudged around her big light brown eyes. She also made sure that her thick black hair was still tightly secured in a bun behind her head. She did not know why, but she had a good feeling about today and wanted to make sure that she looked as good as one could look in scrubs. She exited the bus at Ruggles station and proceeded to the inbound orange line platform. The next train arrived at 7:20am like clockwork every morning. She was planning on getting off at Back Bay station, at which point she exited the station and walked the one block to the Copley Green Line station. Within 2 minutes of arriving, a Heath Street train pulled in and she got on. At 7:45am, she was already at Heath Street. She then walked the remaining 3 blocks to the Boston Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BSPCA), where she worked as a veterinary assistant and occasional adoption associate. Rin always loved animals. She felt an affinity with them and had her whole life. Her friends often joked and called her the animal whisperer, which she happily embraced.

Once she was clocked in, she heard her boss, Kikyo, call her from her office. As soon as she walked into her boss' office, she noticed that her scrubs were covered in blood.

"We had a stray pitbull puppy arrive last night that had been hit by a car. I was able to perform surgery to set her leg and stitch up all the other wounds. She is still groggy from the anesthesia but should be back to her usual self in a couple hours. You will be primarily caring for her for the next couple weeks. Your heart will sink when you see the condition of this beautiful white baby. It seems she has been living on the streets for a few months now. She not only had injuries from being hit, she also has severe mange as well as fleas and ticks. Luckily for her, she arrived just in time to save her life. " Kikyo informed her while handing her the puppy's record.

Rin looked it over before nodding and leaving the office. She immediately headed to the kennel to see the poor baby. She froze when she saw the puppy. She had the most beautiful golden brown eyes. Almost all of her white fur was soiled due to the mange. Rin opened the kennel and gently petted the pitbull. Tears started to form in her eyes. Even though she had seen scenarios like this before, it did not make it hurt any less.

The next time she looked at the clock, it was time for her lunch break. She left her job and walked a few blocks to a local empanada restaurant for two buffalo chicken empanadas. As she was sitting in the corner of the tiny shop on her phone, she felt a strong aura enter the restaurant. She looked up and saw the most beautiful man she had ever seen. She guessed that he was around 6 feet 5 inches, a good foot taller than her. He had the silkiest, long silver hair that was tied up in a ponytail. He must have felt her looking at him because he turned around and looked her right in her eyes. They were the same golden color as the puppy she was caring for at work. She also noticed the colorful tattoos that he had on his face, the most notable being a purple crescent moon on his forehead. As quickly as their eyes met, he looked away and at the woman behind the counter asking what he would like to order. Rin could not take her eyes off of him. There was something about him that drew her to him. It was similar to the feeling she felt whenever she saw an animal, but this was much stronger.

He must have called ahead because he was given a plastic bag full of empanadas. She watched him as he left and walked to a black Tesla Model Y that was parked in the bus stop on Centre Street. Rin was brought back to reality when she heard the woman behind the counter call her name and gave her her food.

Rin spent the rest of the work day feeding, changing dressings, and playing with the puppy, who she named Tsuki because her white fur reminded her of the moon. Once the clock hit 4pm, she clocked out, said goodbye to her coworkers, and began her trek home. While on the way, she received a call from her best friend, Kagome, asking her to go out with her tonight. The guy she was currently pursuing was going out to the nightclub Venu and Kagome wanted Rin to accompany her. Rin agreed since it was payday and it had been a minute since she had a girl's night with her bestie.

She walked into the apartment she shared with her grandmother in Dorchester and was greeted by the smell of baked mac and cheese and ham, her favorite. She ate dinner with Kaede, telling her about the puppy before doing the dishes and going to her room. She needed to prepare for tonight. She connected her phone to her Bluetooth speaker and continued to play her female rapper playlist. She was now ready and in the right mindset to go through her closet and pick out an outfit. She eventually settled on a yellow crop top that rested off of her shoulders, showing off the cleavage of her C cup breasts. She decided on her favorite black flared leggings that emphasized her bodacious backside. With her outfit laid out, she took a shower so that she could wash her hair and remove the makeup around her eyes.

30 minutes later, Rin exited the shower. She blow dried her hair and used her curling iron to create the most perfect soft curls at the ends of her waist length hair that was parted on the right side. Next, she sat in front of her vanity and proceeded to apply her full face of makeup. She wore a yellow eye shadow look that matched her top and combined it with her signature winged liner. She never applied falsies since her lashes were long enough. All she needed was mascara. After finishing her face, she applied her 90's dark brown liquid lipstick. With her hair and makeup done, she got dressed. She had just finished putting on her strappy black heels when she got a call from Kagome.

"You better be ready! It's already 10pm! We need to leave now if we want to beat the line." Kagome stated as Rin looked at the clock. She knew that Kagome hated waiting in line at clubs. She quickly said goodbye to Kaede and went downstairs to Kagome's silver Corolla hatchback.

On the ride to the nightclub, which was in the heart of Boston's theater district, Kagome told Rin all about this new guy she was talking to. Rin had started to daze off while looking out the window at the bustling city. She could not stop thinking about those golden eyes she had seen while on her break today. Her thoughts were interrupted by Kagome's whining after driving by the club and seeing the line that had already formed.

After waiting in line for 25 minutes, they were finally inside the club. Rin heard the reggaeton coming out of the Latin room and the trap music coming out of the Hip Hop room. After discussing it, they agreed to stay in the Latin room tonight. Rin went straight to the bar and ordered them some vodka cranberries to start off. Once she received the drinks, she turned around and immediately caught a glimpse of those magical gold eyes that took her breath away in the VIP section which was across from the bar.