A/N: Early release! see guys this is what happens when you review.

Chapter VI

Loser

Dear Diary,

I can still hear their voices after all these years. Their whispers of torment and rejection always pushing me farther into the shadows of depression. I can hear them all. All except his.

-R

Eight years earlier.

Walking home in the rain was something Rin always loved. It was the feeling of every single cold drop of fresh water on her face, almost like washing away her fears and demons, and opening the brightness in her mind. It made her inspired to hum out the familiar tune echoing in her brain every day. She felt like she could be free. The smell of fresh rain hit her nose as the droplets splashed on her red hooded coat. Walking down the street, mixing in with the black coated business men, she stood out like no other. She was the target for the rain, and she didn't mind.

But then she stopped, pausing in the middle of the sidewalk while people passed like a bur around her. Her face moved towards the sky, letting the rain hit her pale skin. There she thought about Sesshomaru and the words he had spoken so calmly in her ear. The casual words that made her skin crawl slightly, but not enough. He was a demon. Demons kill.

And so did he.

Then she started to move forward. Her feet moving faster and faster through the sea of black coats and umbrellas. A small red spot from space moving through a sea of shadows. She ran as fast as she could towards the place she couldn't even call home.

She remembered how he left her in the darkness of the closet when he whispered the words of blood. It was as if the Devil himself had appeared in front of her. But the one thing she remembered the most was stained onto her lips forever scarred.

His kiss.

It had left her weak. Her heart pulsed for life of any kind, clinging onto his. But there was something about his kiss that made the light in her life appear brighter than before and the demons in her head disappear. Just one of his kisses…was enough to bring her out of the darkness of despair.

Every one of his kisses always left me in a state…

But fear from his words still struck her hard. When he didn't turn up for morning class, her mind grew distant. Butterflies blossomed in the pit, sucking out the concentration in her brain. The entire time, she couldn't stop her leg from shaking. And when she spotted him at lunch sitting under his normal tree, surrounded by fangirls of the school, she had a slight idea of where he had gone. There was no sign of blood, no sign of ever being a murderous rampage, but Rin had something sour hidden under those butterflies in her stomach that made her want to vomit. A poisonous spider ready to bite into its prey.

And when she stopped in front of the yellow caution tap outside of her already burned down apartment building, she knew the spider had already released its poison.

Red and blue lights flashed against the blacken walls. Cops scattered the area, coming in and out of the destroyed building, carrying blackened objects lost in the fire. People behind her watched as well, curious on the story behind the fire. Fire men and emergency crew moved around the soot, picking up objects and examining them, figuring out who or what was behind the blaze. Then she saw it. In a black body bag on a stretcher, Rin knew who it was inside.

The landlord.

The man she feared for years was gone from the world. Taken by the burning flames of Hell.

He was finally gone.

Along with all of her possessions.

xXx

Rin didn't know where else to go. At first, she thought to speak to the police, but she didn't want to be questioned with words and names she wouldn't understand. Then she wondered if she could escape to Ayame's place, but she remembered she didn't know where Ayame lived. So with the few amounts of money she had left, she hailed a yellow taxi and left into the night.

It was a short hour ride when the taxi stopped at the front of iron gates. She got out, paying the man all the money she had in her pocket, and watched the car zoom off. There she stood in the rain, watching the mansion beyond the gates. The warm yellow glow of lights inside and silhouettes of people in the windows made Rin back away. She remembered then the Gala she was invited to by the kind demon she met days earlier at the same mansion.

Rin looked down. There was no way she could go inside looking like she did. She was soaked, homeless, and dirty. They wouldn't even let her through the gates.

Her hands balled into fists thinking back to the home that had been burned. If they couldn't let her in here, then she had nowhere else to go. She had to at least try.

So she went up to the gates to the guard inside the gate box. The fat demon pig was watching soccer on a small twelve inch screen, eating his heart out in snacks. She tapped on the window lightly, grabbing his attention. He slid the door open with a hard push.

"What? What do you want, human?" he snapped with his mouth full.

Rin shivered at the hitting rain. "Can you let me in? I was invited here by Sesshomaru's father."

She watched the pig's eyes trace her. "And why would he ever do that? Do you have proof?"

"Um…no."

"Then I can't let you in. Get out of here before I call the cops!"

And the door slammed closed before Rin could say anything else.

She backed away looking at the mansion beyond, wondering what it would be like to have that life. A family. Warmth. Love. Everything.

Then bright lights behind her caught her eye and she turned to see a black car stop and a female voice call her name.

The car door opened and a figure with a black umbrella stepped out. The sound of high heels walked towards her and once in the light, Rin's eyes widened to see Kagome. She was dressed in a light blue gown, her hair pinned up in a bun and a bright smile on her face.

"What are you doing here? And in the rain?" she asked.

Rin's mouth opened but nothing came out. Another voice spoke. Male and also familiar.

"Kagome!" he yelled from the car. "Everything is getting wet! Get back in the car!"

"Shut it, Inuyasha!" She snapped over her shoulder.

She then grabbed Rin's hand and smiled.

"I'm just picking up a hitchhiker." She winked.

"A hitch- Kagome, what the fuck are you talking about?"

They got into the warm car and Rin immediately spotted the irritated half-demon's golden eyes.

"Who the hell is this?"

"Inuyasha, this is Rin. Don't you remember? She goes to school with us."

He crossed his arms and looked away. "Why would I remember a loser like that? Oh and Kagome, next time you decide to get out of the car while it's raining, close the damn door behind you! Geez, woman, everything was getting wet in here."

"Then you could've closed the door yourself! It isn't that hard. Besides, I wasn't going to be long!"

Rin exchanged glances between the two bickering people, wondering how they ever got together. And even when the car stopped and they got out of the car they still bickered like an old married couple. Still, with Inuyasha holding the umbrella under Kagome and himself, it made Rin smile a bit. Perhaps one day, she would have the same connection with someone.

Some day.

Upon going inside, the man at the front door had stopped her, asking for her invitation. Kagome then turned and told the fox that Rin was with her and Inuyasha, and was allowed in.

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up," she said, leading Rin upstairs.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha complained.

"I'll meet you in the ballroom, Inuyasha!" she called.

The entire time Rin struggled against Kagome's hold on her. She couldn't find the words though to ask why Kagome was doing this. Not until she was pushed into a large bathroom with her.

"Kagome…why are you doing this?"

Kagome's back was turned. Her hands balled into a fist on the closed door and she sighed before turning towards Rin with a smile. "You were invited, right?"

Rin blinked. "Uh…well…"

"Inuyasha told me you were. He heard from his father that a girl named Rin had come by the mansion and was invited to be Sesshomaru's date."

Rin blushed. "You…you know about…? Wait, when did you and Inuyasha…?"

"About a week ago. He asked me to be his date after Kikyo dumped spaghetti on my head at lunch. She said he rejected her because he like this other girl who looked like her…it's a long story, but I'm here now. And Sesshomaru is probably waiting for you."

Kagome started to comb Rin's wet hair with her fingers when Rin stopped her. "Kagome, Sesshomaru didn't ask me to be his date. His father did. And besides, I declined the request," she said, her head down.

"But you like Sesshomaru, right?"

Rin blushed even brighter.

"That answers my question." Kagome continued her work. "Now to figure out what to do with your hair."

Rin stayed still, watching Kagome in the mirror transfixed on the dark tresses.

"And Rin," Kagome paused from her work, "I'm sorry about your apartment."

"How did you hear?"

"Drove passed it this afternoon. Arson they said. I'm so sorry and I'm happy you're okay."

Arson…the word echoed into her brain, scratching the deep reaches of it. She already knew the culprit, but didn't say anything in case Kagome didn't know. She didn't want anyone to know.

It wasn't arson. It was murder.

When Kagome announced she was done, Rin was astonished by her work. Her hair was fixed in beautiful bun pinned behind her head. A few strains fell in front of her face, curling at her chest. Rin stood up admiring it. Then looked at her soaked clothes.

"I can't go."

"Why?" Kagome asked.

"Kagome," she turned to her, "I have nothing to wear."

She smiled. "I can fix that."

Kagome dug in her large yellow backpack, taking out a long red gown.

"Here we are. I always come prepared."

Rin shook her head. "Kagome…I can't."

"Yes you can and you will. Now put it on!"

After that, the red hood was no more.

xXx

She entered shortly after Kagome. She watched many demons turn their heads toward her and whisper words Rin couldn't hear. She wanted to run away from their stares and hide. But then she saw Sesshomaru's golden eyes in the crowd, his silver hair swaying behind him as he walked towards her and stopping right in front of her.

"I thought you weren't coming," he spoke, his voice as cold as ever.

"I changed my mind."

He held his arm out to her and she took it gracefully, letting him lead her out into the light, and leaving her demons behind her.

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