The next morning Rin was awakened by the ringing phone. She glanced at the clock. '6:30? If the phone calls start at 6:30 every morning then we're definitely getting separate phone lines.' She grabbed the cordless phone sitting on his desk and answered, "Hello."
"Rin," Toga said on the other side. "Can I speak with Sesshomaru?"
She went to the living room to find him dressed in his robe and waiting for her to hand him the phone. Giving him the phone she went back to bed.
When the alarm went off she opened her eyes immediately and scrambled out of the mess of sheets and blankets to turn off the alarm halfway across the room. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and looked around. "What have I gotten myself into?"
"Already doubting our arrangement?" She turned her head to find that his voice was coming from the closet on the other side of the room. He was standing there buttoning up the top button of his dress shirt. "My father commanded me to take the day off and look for a place to live."
"I've got a meeting with my boss today."
He tucked his shirt into his pants and picked out a tie. "My father called your boss and explained everything to her."
"Do you always dress so formally on casual days?" He glared at her as he tied the tie. "Guess so." 'Separate lives, Rin. Duh! He doesn't want you questioning him.' "I'll get dressed and then be ready to go." He nodded. Taking the dress she wore the night before off the back of the desk chair, she went into the bathroom. After putting the dress on she took a long look at herself in the mirror. 'I'm a married woman now. I'm supposed to be a trophy wife, but I certainly don't look like anyone he's want to be seen with. No wonder why his father was so confused.' She combed through her hair with her fingers deeming it useless. She knew she couldn't stay there long, so she summoned her courage and left the bathroom to follow a waiting Sesshomaru to his car.
While in the car they remained silent, both lost in their own thoughts. When they left his apartment several of his neighbors stared at them. She could tell from their expressions that they all assumed that Sesshomaru had a one night stand with some girl he found. Perhaps there would be a similar reaction from her neighbors. She broke the silence by saying, "We should probably buy wedding rings." He didn't seem to acknowledge her statement. "It would make it more believable for everyone else." He pulled into her parking garage and got out of the car. 'So much for that idea!'
She placed her keys and purse on the kitchen table. He was looking her apartment over as she took her shower and got ready to go. At one time she could hear him talking to a realtor. She stepped out into her living room wearing a nice shirt and khakis. He didn't seem pleased with her attire, but all he did was grunt slightly.
They settled on the third of the five places they saw. It was a two-bedroom condo with a large enough living room to hold her desk. It would be just enough for the both of them. Thankfully, Sesshomaru was able to pay for it all upfront and Rin, in private, promised to pay him back in installments.
That afternoon Rin and Sesshomaru decided which items of furniture would be stored, mostly hers, and which would be used, mostly his. Rin spent the evening alone talking with her landlord about getting her apartment sub-leased and packing.
"Rin, what in the hell did you do?" Helen yelled at Rin when she came in the next morning.
"I guess you're referring to my marriage."
"To a guy you've only known for a week and said you could not carry on a relationship with."
"I changed my mind. He's actually the perfect husband for me because we both want to live separate lives."
"Rin, that's not a marriage." She sighed and walked over to Rin, placing both hands on Rin's shoulder. Calmly she spoke, "This is extremely dangerous marrying a man you hardly know."
"You don't know him, so how can you talk?" The thought popped into her mind, '"You hardly know him" is probably what she is going to say next, and she's right.'
"You hardly know him more than I do." She leaned forward and trapped Rin in the chair. "Take my advice: Get an annulment, then date him for awhile, and when you know each other better, get married."
Rin stared Helen in the eyes. "His father was diagnosed with cancer. We figured the sooner the better."
"I guess I'm not going to convince you otherwise," she said throwing her hands in the air. "Go ahead! Be married to a complete stranger!" Shaking her finger she warned Rin, "When he takes advantage of you then you'll have no one to blame."
Later that night Rin packed several boxes in her car and drove to her new home. Instead of unloading the boxes, she marched in to speak with Sesshomaru. "I want a written contract."
"The untrusting part of you finally emerges." He held out two sheets of paper. Rin took them from his hand and glanced over them. "It's our contract. The language is straight forward and simple. Just sign them when you're ready."
Rin read through them. Finding no errors, she signed both copies giving one to him and keeping the other. "I also want your word that you will not touch me inappropriately, in any way."
"Do you distrust me that much?"
"I trust very few."
"I give you my word then, if you can trust that."
She then went out and started bringing in her things. Sesshomaru left as she was bringing the first box in.
On the weekend the movers would move her large furniture. She would not have the time to pack and finish writing her column. On top of all of that, she had agreed to have dinner with Sesshomaru's family. She went home and finished her column, taking the first few letters she had not answered from the previous week. Afterward she wrote:
Dear Readers, I am sorry for not being able to produce the normal quality, as I have been quite busy lately. On Tuesday I eloped and am now in the process of moving. I can't wait to use the knowledge I will gain about relations to help my readers.
"Ugh, could that not sound more overly perky?" She saved the document and went to bed.
Rin woke up early the next morning to continue packing. She brought over another couple of car loads of boxes. She started unpacking a few boxes before going out to the kitchen to search for something to drink. Sitting upon the counter was a wedding ring and an engagement ring. "I guess he was listening." She put the rings on her finger and admired them on her. "They're a perfect fit."
Not finding anything to drink out of, she decided to go home and prepare for the movers. Upon leaving her condo she saw her next door neighbor. The woman smiled kindly at her and bid her good afternoon. "Hi, I am Takahashi Karen. You're Rin Yamamoto, aren't you?"
"Yes." She knit her eyebrows together in confusion. "How do you know who I am?"
"I read about it in the paper."
"The paper? What are you talking about?"
Karen pulled her into her apartment and ruffled through the morning's newspaper before finding the front page. She flipped to one of the back pages and laid it on the table in front of Rin. Inside were pictures of her and Sesshomaru that had been taken for other articles. In big bold letters it said, "Future heir of Taiyoukai Corp. eloped to local magazine columnist". Rin scanned the article and gasped after getting to the end. "We were trying to avoid the press." Then the thought occurred to her that her credibility was now undermined since she had told her readers that she would not continue a relationship with him. "Thank you for showing that to me, Karen. I gotta go." She ran out the door.