Chances Not Worth Losing

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Inuyasha.

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Rin was sitting down to eat the delicious meal she had just finished creating when the doorbell stopped her. Whoever was at her door kept ringing the doorbell alerting her to the fact that it was obviously urgent business. "I'm coming," she yelled as she looked out the window. It was Sesshomaru standing out there. Immediately she started trying to quickly groom herself so that she would be presentable before opening the door. "Sesshomaru? What are you doing here?"

"I was hoping to talk to you."

"Um…" She looked around her living room at the mess of papers sitting all over the couch. "Why don't you come in as long as you don't get upset about the mess."

He stepped in and looked around taking in the so called mess. "Am I interrupting anything important?"

"I was just sitting down to eat."

"Oh. Well, it can wait until you are finished eating."

"That's okay, unless it's going to take a long time."

"I'm not sure how long it may take." He was actually glad that he could wait a few more minutes so he could rehearse what he would say. Rin ate quickly fearing what was so urgent only a minute ago but was no longer as urgent. Once she finished she got up and started rinsing out her dishes, but he was too anxious to wait for her to finish that. Scooping her up into his arms he took the protesting woman into the living room and sat on the floor with his back to the couch and Rin in his lap. "I have something important to discuss with you."

"That's what I figured," she said sarcastically.

"Rin…" he said before pausing to gather more courage. He had been through many fights, many political debates, many discussions over time, but taking their relationship one step further took more courage than he even thought he had all of a sudden. "I want to take our relationship one step further…" 'So far so good.' "…and I want to start courting you."

To say her face looked shocked was an understatement. She had always wished and dreamt that he would ask her that, but never in a million years had she ever believed it would come true. "You want to court me…a human?"

"I want to court you. If you are human, then so be it."

Rin sat there pretending to be shocked. She didn't want to be too quick to answer him in fear that her enthusiasm was not entirely shared by him. After a minute she slowly answered him, "Okay. I will allow you to court me."

"There's one problem though."

"I know that it's not going to be easy for you to explain why you are courting a human, but I will help you however I can."

"Yes, that will be a problem, but I have something else to deal with. I was offered the endorsement of the party leaders to run in the gubernatorial race."

"They came last night to meet me and decide if I was good enough for you?"

"Yes, but they are fine with you. The problem will be the media and my opponents. They won't wait one second to paint you as a power hungry human trying to use me for her own gain."

"Oh…well, I knew that I was going to have to deal with demons asking that a minute ago when I agreed, but I certainly never expected to have to deal with that many accusations."

"So you are changing your answer?"

"Not necessarily. If it's for our benefit that I can convince as many people as possible, then I suppose that I can deal with that."

"Good." He started nuzzling her neck before placing small kisses up it.

"Sesshomaru, what are you doing?"

"Enjoying you."

"Aren't you moving a bit fast for someone who just found out he could court me?"

"No. Courting doesn't take as long as human dating. If we are pleased with each other I will make you my mate by May."

That didn't bother her. "Oh, okay." She sat there motionless as he continued trailing kisses up her jaw. "What happens when humans and demons mate? I know that your other next door neighbors are human and demon, but I have never asked them what it was like for them to mate."

"It's about the same as when demons mate. The only difference is when they bond. Since demons that mate are often around the same age, if they bond, which is extremely rare, their appearance will not change. When a human and demon bond, the human will change their physical appearance to match their demon mate's. That's also because of the fact that they will gain immorality."

"Why exactly is it called bonding?"

"Bonding only occurs when two mates are in love. When the demons mark their love, the love between them creates a bond that will allow them to live and die together."

"When a human mates with a demon do they mark their mate?"

"Some do, and some chose not to. Would you mark me?"

Rin thought about it for a minute before answering, "If we do mate, I probably would so that female demons know that you're taken."

"We would also marry. The wedding ring would also be a sign."

"Right, but I would want to make sure everyone knew." He continued kissing her, but she felt uncomfortable with it at the moment. "Sesshomaru, can we take this a little slower?"

"Are you afraid of affection?"

"No, it's just that I want us to pace ourselves. It's not right for couples to have sex before they're married or mated."

"If that is how you want it, then I shall slow down."

"Thank you…Besides, we've known each other for a long time, but lately we haven't been able to talk about each other during the 15 years after we graduated from NIU. And don't you think we should talk about your campaign?"

"Well, what about the campaign?"

"Do you want me to help you, or would it be best if I stayed in the shadows since I will cause controversy?"

He took her hand in his and assured her, "I want you to be as much a part of my campaign as you feel comfortable. If you are to possibly be my mate some day it is important that you stand by my side. I want everyone to know that I am not ashamed of courting you."

"I won't be able to come with you when you travel," she said looking at their hands in her lap. "But when you are in town I will be happy to help you when my job permits me to."

"They'll probably encourage you to spend some time working with me since you will be garnering support for them. Not to mention the fact that my support will also encourage the support of the other party leaders and anyone else in the party who will support me."

There were many minutes of silence as Rin sat thinking about all that would change with their new relationship. Most demons and many humans were opposed to human-demon relationships, but at least their closest friends would be of some support. Too bad her parents weren't alive to see her finally courting her true love. His father would have been quite happy with the arrangement also, but his mother… "Sesshomaru?"

"Hm?"

"What is your mother going to say about this?"

"She'll be happy that I'm running."

"I know that, but what will she say about us?"

"She's not going to be too happy. She may even try to kill you, but you don't need to worry about her. I'll always protect you."

"What about when you are on the campaign trail?"

"I'll hire someone to keep tabs on her."

"You shouldn't have to waste your money on that."

"Do you not want me to keep you safe?"

"I do, but I don't think that you should have to waste your money on me."

He held her closer and rested his head against hers. In a seductive voice he whispered to her, "You're worth it." Rin snuggled in closer until they were both comfortable, and they stayed that way until Rin fell asleep. He put her to bed, washed and dried her dishes from earlier in the evening, and went home.

--

The next month proved to be quite an interesting one. First they had to get Sesshomaru campaign staff. Thankfully they took an instant liking to Rin, especially his campaign manager. She wanted to get Rin as involved as possible. If they had the money, Rin would fly or take the train every weekend to join the campaign. This of course was also an obstacle with her work since being a lobbyist is a seven day a week job, but they were more than happy to allow her to aid the campaign since it would bring in much support for that union.

Then they had to prepare the papers and get the signatures needed for him to be put on the ballot. That didn't take as long since he was easily able to get signatures from his supporters in his district and from the party leaders' strongest supporters. The paperwork was more time consuming than a nuisance.

Press releases had to be prepared, fundraisers were organized and held, statements to the media about his issues and his relationship with Rin had to be carefully crafted, and his mother had to be told about Rin before finding out from the media. The last task was expected and ended up being the most difficult of all the tasks.

They arrived in Chicago only days after that night he asked her for her permission to court her. He had not made his mother aware that he was visiting, but he had been told by her servants that she had not prepared anything yet for that day.

Her penthouse sat atop one of the tallest skyscrapers in the city, and they had to be buzzed in by her servants. Once outside of the door Sesshomaru turned to Rin and assured her that everything would be okay. "She's not going to react well to you being here, and she will get even angrier when I tell her. Just stay calm, and allow me to do the talking. I also advise you to stay as close to me as possible."

"Do you think she'll ever like me?"

"Probably not, but she'll eventually have to learn how to deal with it. She can't control my life forever."

He rapped on the door to find it open immediately. "Welcome, Master Sesshomaru," the butler greeted them. He looked at Rin curiously and then his eyes darted back to Sesshomaru. "Your mother is sitting in the study. Please follow me." They followed him through the maze of rooms until they came to a door that was closed. He opened it and stepped in to announce, "Your son and a human are here to see you."

"I know a human is here; her stench is polluting my home," the mature voice of his mother spoke. Rin was standing between Sesshomaru and the wall outside of the study. While she couldn't see his mother's face, she was sure it was set in its usual scowl. "Bring him in."

The butler stepped aside so that Sesshomaru could enter. Sesshomaru took Rin's hand in his and lead the way into the study. "I'm sorry, Master Sesshomaru," the butler said in a rather snotty voice. "But your human companion will have to wait outside. Your mother does not want to see her."

Sesshomaru bared his fangs and growled at him. Rin couldn't hear what was said because it was in such a low frequency. The butler backed away and allowed for both of them to enter the study. Once they were all inside of the study, the butler bowed to his employer and then exited closing the door behind him. "Mother," Sesshomaru addressed her in his usual cold voice.

"Sesshomaru, I don't appreciate you bringing that human in my home."

"I know you don't, but we have both come here to talk to you whether you want to hear it or not." It was obvious to Rin how he learned how to put up a mask to hide his expressions since his mother did that at that exact moment. "Days ago I asked Rin if I could court her, and she has allowed it."

"As long as I am alive, you will not court any humans!" she fumed as she rose to her feet.

"I will do as I please."

"Have you not learned from your father's mistake?"

"I have learned from his mistake, and I will not allow that to happen to us."

"And how are you so sure of this? She may pretend to be a small, scared, little human, but once she has control of you, you will not be able to see her damaging your reputation and stealing your money."

"Rin would never behave in that manner. Izayoi never did that to my father, and you know it."

"Then how do you explain his death?" By now she was slowly approaching the couple. Rin was becoming extremely alarmed by the glint of malice in her eyes. As an instinctive reaction, Rin pressed herself against Sesshomaru.

"That was not a matter of power except for that of trying to take power away from Dad because they thought he was weak. He would have won."

"Yes, he would have won, but that fluzy stopped him."

"That was just a bad call on her behalf." Rin could not get any closer to Sesshomaru at that moment than she already was. His mother was now close enough to reach out and hurt her. Sesshomaru could sense Rin's anxiety, so he let go of her hand and wrapped it around her waist.

"I hardly call that an excuse."

"It's not an excuse, it's the truth." She reached out a hand towards Rin, but Sesshomaru bat it away with his free hand. "Rin, I think it's about time that we leave." She nodded her head.

"You cannot run from me forever, I am your mother. Would you dare chose a human over your own mother?"

"I will have both of you in my life."

"You cannot protect her all the time. You cannot be at her side forever."

"I will protect her at whatever cost." With that said, he scooped Rin up in his arms and walked away from his mother. Rin leaned back to get a glimpse of his mother before they disappeared out the door. His mother stood there glaring at the both of them.

He didn't put her down until he put her into the passenger seat of his car. Once he was inside of the car he turned in his seat to look at her. "If you ever see my mother without me, don't go anywhere near her. Never allow her into your house either." All Rin could do was nod numbly.

They would not see his mother again for another several months. They supposed that during that time she was probably plotting. They didn't have much time to think about it though. Before November had even started, Sesshomaru had been accused of courting Rin in hopes of attempting to gain votes from humans. The demon media commentators were saying that Rin was just trying to use him. This had to be dealt with immediately.

Kathy, Sesshomaru's campaign manager, scheduled a number of media appearances for both of them. Together they assured the people of Illinois that they were truly courting for legitimate reasons. While some didn't seem to believe any of it, the voters obviously did as he won by a large percentage in the primary.

That victory boosted their campaign, but it brought about a greater sense of urgency. While Rin was able to join the campaign every weekend and events nearby on weekday evenings, she was unable to spend any real alone time with Sesshomaru. That just extended their courtship.