AN: Sorry! I know it's been something like…2 weeks but you won't believe how much work I've got piled on me! Plus, I've been on writers block with this fic…so I was kinda working on another one too…::dodges shoe thrown by AO:: but really, I'm trying! Totally drawing MAJOR blank ::dodges rocks thrown by AO…AO: remember, stupid!:: ok… on with chapter 11!
Disclaimer: stares at inu/sess poster sighs I wanna own them! Sesshomaru-sama! AO throws other shoe ok…back 2 reality…own nothing…unfortunately… :(
g27: ok...i finally remembered to respond to reviews! u must be like my most frequent reviewer thankies! ::hugs:: and to answer what does Naraku want...the answer will come in chapter 14 or 15...u'll just have to wait ;p
overlyobsessive240: i'm glad u think so makes me so happy to hear! and dont worry...even if my updates are slower than normal...i have no intension of stopping this fic
Lynn-Minmay: thanks for understanding :D
thatz it for now...
ah! I ran outa phrases for the song! O well…haven't decided what I'm gna put here instead…any ideas?
------------------------
Chapter 11
Calm After the Storm
Life has strange ways of making fun of you. The best day in the world, can turn into living hell, or vice versa. So it was one of those twisted plots of fate. Say kill me now I wanna die, but fate just laughs harder. Well I got news; fate sucks. Something the average person would say. Stupid fate…always gets the last word…
It happens to everyone. One of those days that it feels like there is no point in living. Yep, it was that day in Rin's mind. Ever since she woke up. Which so happens that she slept through her alarm. She was already 30 minutes late.
Her eyes shot open as she looked at the clock on the nightstand. "I'm late!" she yelled to no one in particular as she hobbled from her bed to the bathroom. Her leg injury made things run a lot slower. She quickly hopped down the stairs to find no one there. "Damn it, Sesshomaru. Now what am I supposed to do?" again talking to no one. She didn't have a car and it would be too far to walk.
"Need a lift?" asked Inuyasha who appeared from downstairs. "I had a conference call so I'm heading to work now." He was wearing black slacks and a white blouse that had the top two buttons left undone.
"You don't know how much of a lifesaver you are," she said relieved. The jade tiger pendant swung back and forth from around her neck as she made her way to Inuyasha's car. It seemed a very short ride before he stopped in front of the building. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," she quickly breathed before limping inside.
"That woman reminds me so much of Kagome. No wonder they're best friends," Inuyasha said to himself before speeding onto the highway.
-------------------------
"Whoa! Rin, you're never late. What happened?" asked Sango as Rin walked furiously past her.
"Tell you in a sec," she mumbled, heading straight for Sesshomaru's office. She slammed the door behind her.
"A bit moody today, eh, Smart Cookie?" he spoke but his eyes never left the monitor.
"Why didn't you wake me up this morning?" she asked in a sharp tone.
"Do I look like your alarm clock?" he countered, making sure he chose those words right. It wasn't the greatest idea to say, 'what do I look like, your mother?' as we all know that both of them no longer had.
"You piss me off sometimes, really!" she retorted, giving up. He wasn't going to give her a straight answer; he never did. She stomped off and slumped into her chair.
"Rough weekend?" guessed Sango who had pulled her attention away from the computer. "You gonna tell me about it?" When Rin said nothing, she took it as a no. "Alright. Whatever."
It seemed to go all downhill from that point on. She had never been late in her life, not for anything. And it wasn't about to start today. Stupid…him! "Come on," she mumbled impatiently to the computer. After awhile, there was only a blank, black screen. "Oh my God…" she lets out a frustrated sigh.
"Something wrong with it?" asked Sango, who already knew the answer, but decided to ask anyway.
"Someone wiped my whole stupid memory clean. Piece of shit," she kicked it.
"I see," replied Sango who in truth had no clue what she was talking about. "Well you'll fix it. I think," she commented trying to be helpful. She hoped it was the right thing to stay.
----------------------------
"It finally works," Rin said rubbing her eyes. "If I look at this screen a second longer I'm going to be sick. I need lunch, you coming?" she turned to Sango. Who had given up on her work and started to apply a second coat of nail polish over her existing one.
"Ya…I'll meet you down there," she said waving her hand so it would dry faster.
She rode the elevator with a bunch of other people to the third floor where the cafeteria was located. It was crowded with workers. Some talking things back to their offices with them, but most sat and chatted amongst themselves. Sango joined her shortly in line. They got some sandwiches and a drink. They decided to eat there for a change. Only a few spots remained. They sat across from each other.
"Oops, we forgot straws. I'll get some," Rin offered standing up just after she had been seated. Something on her chair caught hold of her pants. It was a wad of gum. "Eww. What the hell?" she whined in a disgusted face as she slowly pealed it off. Good thing she hadn't sat there longer. She stomped off to the garbage can.
Sango decided not to comment. When she was mad, it was best to leave her.
"I hate today," she grumbled, handing the straw to Sango.
-------------------------
It seemed as if the whole top floor was doing the same project. Something that no one knew exactly what it was but was doing their work anyway.
"I don't get this!" complained Sango who was making a dramatic scene by slowly slipping off her chair. She sat cross-legged on the carpeted floor, with a pout on her features.
"I'm almost done. Stupid thing, save darn it!" she said waiting for it to finish. A soft rumble could be heard, then…everything went black. When I say everything, I mean everything. The computers, the lights, the digital clocks…you get it.
Everyone groaned at the loss of power. Rin glared through the dark at her monitor. Sesshomaru came out of his office and told everyone that they may leave, due to the loss of power. It was useless to work on the project without access to the computer.
Once everyone had left, Rin stood up and yelled to no one, "This whole fucking day is screwed!" And let out a frustrated kick to the computer. "I'm so out of here."
"Please, Smart Cookie. I don't need to hear your profanities," said Sesshomaru walking out of his office. "You are still expected at my place later, are you not?"
"I know, I know. But I gota get my stuff from home first."
"Suit yourself. I'll pick you up in about two hours," he said simply before disappearing into who knows where.
----------------------------
Rin held her briefcase over her head to act as an umbrella. She really should have checked the weather this morning. Well she would have…if SOMEONE would have woken her up on time…
She reached the intersection of her building. (When I say building, I really mean townhouse. You get it…) A bunch of people were standing outside. One of the children who lived there was sobbing into her mother's clothes. Others were talking amongst each other with worried faces. Rin didn't know exactly what was going on.
"Excuse me, ma'am. But do you happen to live here?" asked a man in a thick brown and orange trench coat. He looked kind of like…no…it couldn't be…could it? Yes, there was no mistaking it, he was a firefighter.
"Uh, yes. What's wrong?" she asked, panic rising in her voice.
"You see, at around 2 o'clock this afternoon, we got a call saying that there was a small fire on Fifth Avenue. When we got here, it had spread, and the rain did nothing, as it was a grease fire. All the houses are damaged, but the fire insurance should cover it…"
He explained the rest to her and then went off to deal with another owner of the houses. Salt slightly stung her eyes, as she fell to her knees. The whole day was a disaster from the start. From waking up late, to the blank hard drive, to the gum, to the power failure, to her house burning down due to a careless neighbor who had the bright idea to leave a frying pan with oil in it on the stupid stove!
"This is brilliant," she mumbled, silently crying into her hands. The rain poured down hard, soaking her to the bone, but she didn't care. Nothing mattered anymore. It was a world without meaning. And little by little, everything around her disappeared. First it was the many cars that filled the street. Next it was the shops and streets. Then the townhouses. After awhile, the people around her slowly faded into inky blackness. And the rain stopped pounding too. Not a sound was heard. She was alone in a world that no one could penetrate.
But an image formed in front of her. She peered through her hands. It was a young child sitting on the couch, like she was lost in thought.
'Hmm. It's late I wonder when Mommy is going to come home with Daddy. Truly, I don't see why she had to go and bail him out all of a sudden. He's been there for two years and had only a few months left. What's the big rush anyway?' mused the now 10 year-old raven hair girl.
She gazed out the window again. The rain made the vision foggy. It was impossible to see what was coming. 'Jeez, I don't know why Mommy left me here. I could of come too…'
A loud phone ring cut short her thoughts. "Is there an adult home, miss?" the deep voice on the line asked.
-No, they aren't here right now.
-Are you the daughter then?
-Yes, I am.
-I have some upsetting news…he went on saying how they're car got hit by a truck and slipped on the highway into a ditch. He went on about how a social worker was going to come her house shortly to discuss the matter.
She replaced the receiver and slumped back in the couch. First it was silence, and then it was total sobbing.
Rin tried to reach out to her, but her limbs wouldn't move. She tried to yell out, but her throat was paralyzed. She knew who the little girl was. Afterall, she had lived through it. After that, she lived with her grandmother, who never really paid attention to Rin. She was her father's mother, and no one on her father's side cared for her very much. She was sixteen when her last living relative died, so she was allowed to live on her own. So she had to stay strong in school and get a job. Her parents left barely anything, because it cost a fortune to bail her stupid dad out of jail because he couldn't wait another six months.
Rin sobbed harder. No matter how angry she was at him, for forcing her mother to get him that rainy day and that truck to hit their car, he was her father. She couldn't truly hate him. She wanted it to be like most families, when their parents really loved them.
"I hate my life," she sobbed alone in the darkness of wherever she was. The image was now gone, and nothing took it's place.
But something managed to slowly take her back to reality. It was a hand that rested on her shoulder; she felt it this time. The rain came back and so did the people and cars in a blink of an eye. She immediately stopped crying, and turned to face whoever it was. She tried to speak, but her voice was still not functioning.
"You were really spacing out there, Smart Cookie," he said, helping her to her feet. "I know I'm early, and it's a good thing too. You were going to catch hypothermia at that rate."
"Well you're no better, you're soaked too," she pointed out.
"I have more stamina than you do."
"Demon, human. What's the difference?" she asked more to herself, turning her head away and let more silent tears fall from her eyes. "Nothing matters anymore."
Sesshomaru sighed, "If nothing matters anymore, then you're not the person I thought you were." This caught her attention slightly. "Just because of one horrid day, you're ready to end your life. If I think I know you, then put it behind you and keep going."
"But…this place. It's the only memory of my parents I have left. You can't possibly know how that feels."
"That isn't true. I lost my mother too," he said reluctantly. He preferred to remain silent about his late mother. They were silent for the next few minutes, avoiding each other's gaze.
He did have a point. He'd told her briefly once. "I…I…"
He took his thumb and dried the tears from her face. But more just replaced them. "Let's go home," he said softly.
Rin nodded in agreement as she wrapped her arms around him. He slowly too, did the same
---------------------------
SO: AH! What a horrible ending! ::goes into corner and fumes::
AO: u really need to learn how to COMPLIMENT yourself! Jeez…u is always such a downer! Ok! I'm taking over these notes! What my friend would like to say if she was to busy being mad at herself (for some unknown reason) is I would like u pplz to review! It would make her day! ::sings:: turn that frown, upside down! ::talks:: ahem…that and she hopes to get next chapter up quicker, or so she says…
