Authors Note: My apologies for those who started reading the chapter, I left out a section.
Rin meets up with Kaede and mentions that Jaken thought they should go through some marriage counseling and if that doesn't work, she should file for the divorce.
As part of Rin's therapy with Kaede, she thought Jaken was right in his observation. The two should go to marriage counseling before Rin decides she wants to meet a lawyer for divorce. Since she knows the two, Kaede referred her to someone that works well with demon/human marriages.
Rin did not speak with Sesshomaru at all. He would try to pop up at her job, he would bypass security to come see her and she grew tired of it. She had to start seeing her patients through the zoom app from home, fortunately Sesshomaru did not violate and come there.
Rin calls her lawyer up and asks her to reach out to Sesshomaru's lawyers to tell him about going to marriage counseling since he wants to speak to her so much now. She was a little sarcastic, but she got the message across, and it was settled.
Sesshomaru was feeling this was a step in the right direction. He hoped he could win Rin back, he missed her dearly. He couldn't help the stupid shit he was doing; he was desperate. He let her slide that night with Hitan at the private event, but it didn't stop him from trying to pursue her.
Rin arrives, and Sesshomaru was waiting in his car until she arrived, he wanted to walk in together. Rin was annoyed by this, she thought he wanted to make a scene or have paparazzi capture a photo of them for their next story.
As they enter the building, they wait for the elevator and then enter it. "Rin" he says.
"What Sesshomaru?".
"Do you remember when I use to take you in the elevator when you came to visit me at work?"
Rin breathes out annoyed and presses the button for the floor, "No I do not, and I do not care to remember".
"We had some good times my wife. I miss those days".
"Save the conversation for therapy. I really don't want to respond to you without a mediator".
Sesshomaru thought he could move her, but he doesn't get that he cannot move her the way he used to. She would get flustered and listen to everything Sesshomaru said, he was not use to her rejecting anything from him.
They stop at the floor and enter the waiting area, Rin signs them in and they wait until they are called. Sesshomaru cannot believe a demon like himself is going to marriage counseling as if he did not know how to speak to his wife or understand her. He looks over to her and he craved so much from her. Why did this situation have to happen? But it left him no choice, he would have to make moves to save their marriage.
"Taisho's?" they were called.
They rise up and were led into the office to speak to their marriage counselor.
"Good morning my name is Dr. Tsukuyomaru, please have a seat".
Rin looks to him and sees that he is a demon, maybe he will not favor her and will favor more with Sesshomaru. She hopes Kaede knows what she is doing.
Dr. Tsukuyomaru studies their body language and could tell that Rin more was not in tune with Sesshomaru. He could see Sesshomaru was begging for her to pay attention to him.
"So, what brings the Taisho's here today?" he asks not to get an answer but to start the conversation. "I presume to get back on the same page. I can tell a lot just by reading your body languages. I will be your mediator; you both will be allowed to speak but you have to be respectful to the other. I will hear the both of you, so there will be no talking over each other. The point of this therapy is to help you see and feel what the other one is feeling, to understand it more. Most marriages when they hit the tip of the iceberg is because somewhere along the line the ball was dropped. There is no one to blame, this is a union so therefore the both of you dropped the ball and are blaming the other. That is not how it works; I know from a demon perspective we think we can just say a few words and then it's back to love making. We have the tendency of thinking that works, but that only works with other demons. When your spouse is a human, you will have to understand the emotions they have and not just brush it off".
Rin thinks she likes him, maybe Kaede knows what she is doing then.
"We will start off with how this marriage began". He looks to Sesshomaru because he looks anxious to say something. "Tell me Sesshomaru what do you want to say about your marriage".
Sesshomaru looks to Rin and says, "As you know with demons, dog demons we are very loyal especially to our partners. We don't usually use the term wife but mate".
Rin looks over to him and she wants to say so bad that the reason he would cheat because they were not mated?
He continues, "I Sesshomaru did not think I would be with a human". He turns back to Rin, "We are very different, but I was extremely attracted to her because she is my mate, I love her with my every being".
"So, tell me your side Sesshomaru, you seem to be very open to speaking".
Rin wanted to believe that he loved her with all his being but all she could feel was heartbreak. Sesshomaru feels her pain and growls.
"Everything was going fine, we got married and the first 4 years was everything I could have dreamed of. At that time, she was in school, she didn't have to work because I provided everything. All she needed to do was provide everything else, her smile, her warmth, her love, sex".
Rin turns and looks towards the window and thinks, even though he never spoke it, I think he wanted me to be a housewife.
"So, you were content with her being home, what changed?"
"It was not like I didn't want her to pursue her degree and career, I wanted her to balance it. She was not home anymore to greet me. There was no smell of her aroma or her in the kitchen preparing our meal. We didn't talk about how our day went. We didn't date, we did nothing of such anymore".
"But you do know the dynamic changes after you receive a degree and begin working, sometimes it is hard to balance, you have to compromise. She is a human and you have lived for hundreds of years, she wants to establish herself like you did".
Dr. Tsukuyomaru looks to Rin, and she looks as if she wants to speak. "Rin, would you like to say something?"
She nods, "I never wanted to be a housewife, I thought that was understood, because when he met me, I was in school. I do think he wants me to be successful but just not as busy to where it takes away from the relationship. He is a provider, he wants to take care of me, but I was not brought up that way to be taken care of, I want to feel I have something for me too".
"It is very important to hear each other, have you heard each other today and got some understanding of how you both think?"
Sesshomaru had been living in an old school way of thinking. He did want to be the provider and take care of her, but he also wanted her to expand her wings. He understood that in this new age way of marriage, and that she is human as well, so she thinks differently.
"So that about wraps it up for this session. I have you both down for next week, same time. I will see you both then but, in the meantime, I have some homework for you both to do. I want you to write down some of the things you love and dislike about your partner that you want them to know. Also write down your feelings too, we will discuss them on our next meeting".
They both nod and walk out. Rin says, "Thank you for coming Sesshomaru".
"I will do anything to make this marriage work Rin. I think I will see things a lot better with this therapy".
She nods, the elevator opens, and they both go their separate ways.
A week later at marriage counseling:
They both arrive at therapy, and they go over their list of things Dr. Tsukuyomaru asked.
Rin goes first:
"What I have loved about Sesshomaru is". Tsukuyomaru caught that, her past tense.
"He is most definitely a provider, a protector, he was a great listener, an amazing lover". Sesshomaru purrs at her words. "He is a great demon in his own right, and I am not just saying that because I am his wife, but he is the most prominent demon in all history".
Sesshomaru dimmed his eyes, he wanted to take his wife right in front of Dr. Tsukuyomaru but he had to keep his composure.
"Okay so what do you dislike about Sesshomaru".
"He does not take ownership of his wrong doings. He assumes that his wants and my wants are the same, at times they are, but there are times when they are not. He always wants things to go his way, that is annoying. Therefore, I didn't argue, I just let him have it". She turns and looks at Sesshomaru, "I would not have stepped out".
That nearly broke Sesshomaru but Dr. Tsukuymaru would give Sesshomaru his chance to speak.
"Okay Sesshomaru what are the traits you love about Rin".
"I love her drive, her determination. She lets me lead and does not question it so that makes me feel she trusts my judgement. She is very caring and willing to help anyone, she would drag me into it but because of whom she is, I didn't mind helping out. Her smile brightens my whole being, and me being without her, made me make idiot decisions".
Rin nods in understanding and she appreciates his words.
"So, what is the traits you do not like about your wife".
"There isn't really much I dislike about Rin but when I spoke to her about how I was feeling about her working, she downplayed it. I didn't like that she put her work before our marriage, she didn't have time for me anymore; I was alone. She knows how I feel about being mated and I waited for her, and she agreed we would wait but that still didn't get done".
It was a hard pill for either one of them to swallow but it was the truth. What they had in common, they both neglected their marriage, and it was simple things that could have been talked about and worked on.
"Don't let this discourage you from possibly rekindling the marriage. This just helps to put things on the table so that you can see what has been overlooked. To see what you have both been ignoring from each other and to own it and work on it because it is not just one person in this union, it is two".
"Good work this session, I am looking forward to seeing you both again next week. Next week may be the hardest for you both. We will talk about what is going on now and how you both been coping with it, and how to move forward if you both decide to move forward with the marriage".
Sesshomaru and Rin are a bit nervous at what would be said. Sesshomaru knows he has been somewhat harassing Rin and trying to force them back together. She will hear the truth of it all. Rin will speak the harsh truth of how she feels about the infidelity.
Rin leaves the session along with Sesshomaru and they both go their separate ways, but would this be the end for these two?