Disclaimers on everything that is not mine, especially this Anime.

The Present,

By Winterwing3000

"We're leaving. Die, you youkais." The miko muttered, tossing another pack of purifying energy at them, turning the murderers intoashes as a silver haired demon fell to the floor, merely remaining paralyzed.

"IIE! Teishu!" Rin struggled against the holy woman's hold around her waist, one arm reaching out desperately for him to pull her back.

The amber-eyed man's face turned into a dark scowl as he pushed his body up, his clawed hand only inches away from her petite fingers. "He is a youkai. And youkais do not mix with humans." The miko said harshly, white-blue light illuminating around the two females.

"Iie! He is my husband! Teishu!" Rin screamed as the 'husband' watched with a twisting heart as they started fading by particles from the light.

"Teishu! Onegai! Save me! Sess—!"

Beep! Beep! BEEP!

The digital clock on the bed table beside the mattress blinked crazily as it tried to wake its owner.

"Mm…?" a slender long arm reached out and slammed it lazily on the snooze button, sitting up as she did so.

Twenty-year-old Rin Seijun rubbed her eyes tiredly as she let out a tired yawn. Her hair was messily flowing around her head and her x-large t-shirt, which she wore for bed, was wrinkled everywhere.

Rin slipped out of the warm bed, wrapping her robe around her as she headed sleepily down the hall to the bathroom.

"It was that dream again…" she muttered, at last awake from her slumber. "Who was I calling to? And how's he my husband… I'm not married…"

Rin shook her head to rid herself of the dream. It was only a dream after all… Taking off her clothes, she stepped under the showerhead and started scrubbing. However, she avoided the spot between her neck and her shoulder. Strangely, there was a blue crescent moon on her skin and yet, she never knew where she received it. Whenever something touched it… this shock of electricity would speed through her blood, scaring the wits out of her. Her mother told her that she was born with it but her father told her that she received it during the accident when she was ten. So Rin didn't know whom to trust… but she knew that something unique and mysterious was behind this… tattoo.

Finally finished, she dried herself up and threw on some of her work clothes. A black knee skirt with white vertical lining, beige cream blouse with flower cuff designs, white socks and brown loafers. These were ordinary secretary clothing for a Vice CEO, but not as flashy. Her waist length dark caramel hair was twisted into two elegant buns at the top of her head held with gems-studded butterfly clips. Only the lightest touch of blush and lip-gloss appeared on her face and the rest was natural.

She hurried down to the kitchen, grabbed a slice of bagel and stuffed it into her mouth while grabbing herself a capped glass of Saratoga spring water and sped out the door, a small goodbye to her pet dog Silence. The white husky merely tilted its head and barked farewell to her mistress.

Rin unlocked her red Mercedes and got in, speeding down the road at approximately fifty miles per an hour, praying to Kami-sama that traffic would be light and that she would get there in time.

Sesshomaru sighed and buried his head in his hands. It was the tenth year… and he has yet to find her. Ten years has already passed since the kidnapping and he was still looking. It sounded ridiculous, but it was true. Inuyasha, his father… even his stepmother told him that she was possibly dead after all this time. But no, she wasn't. He knew that she wasn't.

He knows that… he saw what had happened. He can visibly recall the haunting memory as if it were only yesterday. The blood, the glass, the tears, the cries. Her desperate face plagued him in his sleep, her screams echoed in his mind, her tears stinging his nose. In his dreams… the whole scene was so vivid, he felt as if it happened over and over again. And there were times where he just knew that she was still walking on this earth, breathing the air, smiling at every living being.

There were times where… He could feel her mark pulsing to his every now and then, sometimes reassuring him that she was out there somewhere.

Why was he hunting for her was the question that always nagged him.

One would think it was his undying love for her. But no… it was the feelings… the misery that she had put him through for the past decade.

"Sesshomaru-nii-san?" Kagome said, closing the door to his room, carrying a tray with tea and odango. Placing the tray on his table, Kagome poured some tea for her brother-in-law and placed it in front of him.

Sesshomaru accepted the cup with a nod of his head and watched as his sister poured some for herself and sat down in front of him. This wasn't an irregular event. Every day, past three, Kagome would come in, serve him tea, and ask him of his day. Why did he have such patience for her?

Simple, she could put his brother into his place (which he is grudgingly grateful for since now the interruptions were less), she has miko powers, so messing with her wasn't an option unless he would wanted to be living as ashes, and she is the only other woman, other than Rin and Izayoi, who actually stood up to him.

Talking about his stepmother, his father and Inuyasha must have gone to the hospital to pick her up. Izayoi had been ill ever since she learnt of Rin's disappearance, falling into a light depression and easily caught a rare disease of anemia related.

Rin… Unconsciously, his amber eyes narrowed slightly and his face was contorted into a scowl.

"Thinking about her again, nii-san?" Kagome's quiet voice interrupted.

"Hn…"

Kagome only shook her head sadly and picked up a stick of odango, nibbling on one of the four. "Why do you continue? She is a human… isn't she?"

"Aa, she is…"

"Then… why?"

"… It is complex. You wouldn't understand." He said, ignoring her question.

"But w-?"

"I'm going for a walk. Do not worry yourself about my dinner." Sesshomaru said fumingly inside, grabbing a light jacket along his way out.

"Sess-!" Kagome called out, hoping to apologize to him, but the slam of the door cut her off.

"No one understands." He mumbled, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket.

Sesshomaru looked up into the sky, which was starting to darken, clouds were gray and the sky was blended with hues of fiery colors.

Why does she plague him so? In his dreams, in his wake…

Does she wish to end his life?

And unexpectedly something solid ran straight into his chest, knocking it backwards while he merely wavered and looked down at the thing that crashed into him.

A girl with two butterfly clipped buns on the sides of brown her head was mumbling how she needed glasses and how her rear hurt like blazes of the Sultan. She was in a fawn colored blouse with the sleeves rolled up and a white stripe black skit that crept up to the top of her mid-thigh, exposing creamy white skin. And with his demon vision, Sesshomaru saw a faint outline of a moon on the girl's neck and brushed it off as a tattoo.

"Itai!" she muttered, standing up and dusting herself off, unknowing that a man was standing right in front of her.

Sesshomaru glared icily at her. Such disrespect, human parents these days doesn't know the word mannerism, modeling such ill examples. His focus was on the girl so that he ignored the pulsing of his crescent mark.

The girl shivered as if she felt someone's eyes on her and finally realized that there was a pair of shoes in front of her. And where there are shoes, there are feet and where there are feet, there's bound to be a body and where there's a body, there's probably a head… unless this person was the modern time headless horseman.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, the girl slowly lifted her head.

And amber clashed with honey-brown.

Rin watched as confusion and brief anger flashed on the man's face.

Was he angry with her for not watching her way?

"Ano…gomen nasai. I wasn't watching my way!" she bowed and kept her head low.

"Rin?" was the only thing that came out of the man's mouth. Rin nearly shivered at the tingling way he said her name, so low and husky.

"Ah… do I know you?" she tilted her head as she looked up at him again, this time more thoroughly at his strange markings… they look so familiar… but where had she seen them from?

And that … blue moon. It looks so much like the one on her shoulder.

"Rin… you are Rin. Your scent is the same… but do you…" the man scrunched his brows and grabbed her by her upper arm and nearly ripped off the right side of her blouse with his other hand, exposing her chest to the cold. Rin winced and tried to pull away, but his grip was like iron.

"Ah… you're hurting me," she whimpered. Man, who assaults girls in broad daylight… wait no it's nighttime! Oh no, the conference date!

"You do not remember me…" he asked, glaring at her suspiciously.

"Iie, I don't know you sir… could you please le me go?" Rin tried jerking her arm away again, watching as the disbelief and anger washed in the man's eyes. As he lessened his hold on her, the loss of contact sparked something in her mind and her tattoo started to burn.

Flashes of a large house. Dark and gloomy room. Blood. Lacerated bodies hanging from ropes.

Rin groaned and gripped her head with one hand. It was so overwhelming… but… what is it? When she looked up, feeling no hands on her anymore, she saw that the man had turned his heels on her and was walking away…

A flicker of disappointment flickered unconsciously in her heart… why?

Sesshomaru walked off, thinking of the girl… so this is what has happened.

After ten years of the accident, she's lost her memory… completely brainwashed about his existence and their past marriage.

He had been dubious of her acting, though after a small sniff, he learnt that her scent hadn't change. It was the same as always, sweet and tantalizing. Her voice had grown to be lower, but still had that ring in it. Her honey-brown eyes… they weren't any different. The same ones that had entered his mind brimmed with tears and heartache, desperation and silent questions.

Growling, Sesshomaru dug his fingers into the palm of his hands, drawing blood.

Why! How can one mere human girl affect him so? He was a great demon, a powerful demon, a full demon feared by man. Yet… this… this… girl possessed no trace of fear. It made him feel frustrated when he doesn't feel what he wanted her to feel. It made him angry when he felt that she was hurt, mentally or physically. It made him insane when he doesn't receive the response that he wanted from her.

His heart wrenched at his thoughts. Why was he feeling these things! All the misery she put him through… he waited all these years, hoping to kill her… to get rid of her existence so this grievous feeling would just disappear from his heart, leaving him as he was ten years ago, before he met her, before he changed by her, before this stupid… complicated… thing came to life!

But first… he needed details about her. Seeing the way that she was dressed, no doubt that she has a job and lived alone. He would get Shippo to look her up.

He needed to bring her back to him, keep her with him… to make her suffer… to make her comprehend the horror that she had put him through…

That kitsune pup owed him anyways.

Rin closed the door to her home with a snap and leaned against it, eyes closed and breathing heavily. Slowly she slid down to the floor, knees drawn to her chest and arms wrapped around it, sitting on the floor in a fetal position.

Kami-sama… what just happened?

She was taking a walk to the conference date with her boss and other vice CEOs and then she was assaulted in the middle of the street by a silver haired stranger, which was most likely a demon. Now there are these flashes of memories that she never even knew exists… what's going on?

Her dreams, could they be related to these flashes that she was having?

Or was she just going plain crazy from all of her work?

Something warm and wet nudged at her feet repeatedly, bringing her out of her reverie. Silence was begging for some attention while she was sitting there for the past few minutes. Smiling forlornly, Rin gathered her husky into her arms and lap, burying her nose into the white fur. "Do you think I'm going crazy Silence?" she asked, hugging her dog tighter.

It only gave a small whine and shook its fur, then licked her on the palm of her hand. Rin gave a small laugh. Such a nice dog, she was lucky to find her in the middle of the park. And its white hair… it reminded her of that… stranger…

He had such long and silvery hair that Rin found it hard to be real. The four magenta stripes and the sky blue moon on his head… they were so much like the man's in her dream. Were they brothers? Maybe even the same person? And those eyes… such an emotionless face but expressional amber eyes. But they looked so …. Sad… when they were focused on her. Why was that?

And how did that man know her?

More whines came from her canine friend, telling her that it was hungry and wanted out. "Hai, hai. Let me get your food and then we'll both go out for a short walk to the corner store for some groceries. 'kay?" Rin got up, dog in her arms and went to the kitchen.

Dishing out some dog chow and a bowl of milk, the girl went up to change into some sweats and grabbed a black leash and blue collar with a golden yellow dog tag.

Walking down to the kitchen island, Rin saw that her dog was nearly finished so she got herself a granola bar.

Watching Silence eat, she sat on the counter and thought hard. If that man kept on bothering her or stalking her… she ought to move. After all… it might not be safe to stay here with a stranger following her, marking her every move every day… that would be just plain freaky…

Silence barked, announcing that she had finished her evening meal and was ready for her walk. Nodding down to her stray breed husky, Rin slipped on the collar and clipped on the leash and allowed Silence to drag her out the door.

Picking up the phone, he dialed some numbers and listened as the phone rung. When it clicked a childish but polite voice answered the phone.

"Moshi moshi!"

The thunder youkai bitch… figures, the kit was living with her. He's too poor to get himself a suitable home.

"Put the kit on. Tell him it's Sesshomaru."

"Oh… okay… hold on a minute." There was some shuffling and a clap when Souten called out 'Shippo! It's for you!'.

"S-sesshomaru?" the fox squeaked, Sesshomaru smirked inwardly. So the grown up kit was still afraid of him…

"I have a job for you, willing to take it?" the dog demon asked.

"Uh… well…" Shippo stuttered, clearly hesitant.

"I'll pay to two grand if you get the job done."

"Ano… fine. What is it?"

"I need to you track down this girl named Rin. Gather all the information you have on her and follow her, keep records of all her daily activities 24/7. Loose contact with her and I'll be cutting the pay in half."

"Uh, you know I can't do that. I need the full name, address or work place." The fox said, half annoyed at the older man's tone.

"Description qualifies as well, is it not?" Sesshomaru questioned knowingly, one brow disappearing underneath the silver bangs.

"I suppose."

"Height of five six, waist length brown hair, honey-brown eyes, human and has my marking on her right shoulder." Sesshomaru descried, remembering every fine detail about his … ex-wife.

"Whoa… your marking! Kagome-kaa-san never said anything about you being mated! To a human nonetheless! Has the world ended?" Shippo joked, forgetting how frightening the omnipotent demon was.

"Joke about this Sesshomaru again and I'll disembowel you in front of your wench." The amber-eyed dog growled menacingly into the phone and hung up.

Folding his hand behind him, Sesshomaru stood by the window and pulled back the red shade and saw his target walking down the street with a white husky…

He will not let his prey escape his hands this time, not after these ten years of suffering…

Let the hunt begin.

Rin closed the door to her car and locked it, hurrying into the house… why is it that she kept on feeling eyes on her? Was that man stalking her again?

Tiny fear rose in her chest… did that man wanted to kill her?

The hairs on her neck prickled and her skin grew goosebumps. Rin shut her eyes and remembered the raged glowing amber eyes from her nightly dream… it had turned blood red. He had her pinned to his body, which was emanating vibrant waves of hate, and bit ferociously into her neck. The blood that spilled… the sting on her neck… the animalistic eyes that dug into hers.

Rin clawed at her neck, feeling the aftermath of the pain. Dark eyes widened into the size of dinner plates and her instincts were on alert. Why was it so painful? Why can't she breathe? Wasn't it all just a dream?

"Woof!" Silence bounded up to Rin and pounced on her, scaring the girl and making her scream.

The husky whined and whimpered; barked and nudged, as it hoped to bring her mistress out of her nightmare.

But Rin didn't calm down. She can't breathe… it won't let her… tears stung her eyes, threatening to flow from the excruciating pain. What's happening to her!

"S-Sile-!" she tried calling for her dog, reaching out blindly for the pet.

It jumped to her, burrowing itself into her chest, whining and licking her face.

Rin squeezed Silence tightly, hopeful that the pain would go away that way. The marking on her shoulder pulsed quickly and then sent a wave of emotion through her veins, as if soothing her.

Itching curiosity made her trembling hand reach up to her shoulder and slip it under her shirt and clamed down, accepting the warm it was providing for her cold, sweating hand.

Taking deep breaths, Rin shut her eyes firmly and decided that it was time to move. She can't keep living in fear and letting this single stranger interfere with her daily life. Yes, back to her old self and living with her pet in peace.

Taking her cell out of her purse, she pushed a speed dial number and smiled lightly as she heard the other side pick up.

"Moshi moshi."

"Ayame-chan? Rin desu!"

"Rin-chan! I haven't talked to you for a long time! What's up?"

"I'm fine. I'm just wondering if you still have no roommate…"

"Yeah, the last one moved out like three months ago. He said that he can't take my music, what's wrong with my music? Who doesn't like J-pop? It's hot around here! Ano… demo doshite?" her friend asked, very curious of the unexpected call.

"Ah, you see there are these rats all over the place and they won't seem to go away. And I've tried all the traps and even got a company to kill them… but they seem to love this house a lot. And I really would like a change of scenery. I think you also live near my workplace, so if I live with you, I don't have to worry about being late everyday…" Rin lied.

"Haha, hm… okay! I'll have the room ready by tonight, you're moving here tomorrow, right?" Ayame asked, knowing that her friend liked to do things almost immediately.

"Hai! Arigatou gozaimasu Ayame-chan! Sayonara wo tomodachi!" Rin said, eyes shining brighter at the results.

Silence frowned and barked, sad for not receiving any attention from the other side of the line.

"Heh, Silence said hi as well! Here." The secretary put the compact phone in front of the dog and it barked happily, earning laugh from Ayame.

"Well, I've gotta go. My boyfriend's here! Ja ne Rin-chan, tomodachi!" Ayame said and hung up.

As the cell phone turned off, Rin looked disbelievingly at her husky. "Ayame has a boyfriend now?"

Silence merely groaned and tilted her head and covered its eyes with its paws.

The girl giggled and clapped her hands together, forgetting the eyes. "Hard to believe, I know. Well, let's start packing!"

"Sesshomaru's not gonna be happy about this…" Shippo sighed and put away his binoculars after scribbling down some notes onto his notebook. Jumping off the tree, he went to collect his car from a nearby parking lot and headed home to phone Sesshomaru of the change of events.
AN: Another chapter down and two more to go, not counting epilogue of course, since I'm still undecided… however the more reviews the more I'll consider it! Review onegai! Thank you for those who have reviewed too!