Hey, I'm updating! Break out the champagne! Seriously though, I'm not going to lie, I haven't been busy; I just have difficulty paying attention to one thing for long periods of time. –shrugs- A week of the delay you can blame on FF Net and report-happy immature brats who hate me. –cough- Not saying any names... –cough- And then I got paranoid and considered taking down all my stories when I found someone copied my first chapter of Notches for their own fic... Not saying any names once again. You know who you are.
With that out of the way, wow. 175 reviews for only nine chapters... I love you guys! -passes out Aikou and Koushi plushies- You know you love them. :D If anyone is interested, I did some drawings of Sesshoumaru, Aikou and Koushi, and you can see these drawings by clicking on my profile and clicking the link at the top of my bio.
Review Responses:
SimpleOne Hah, I know, Jakotsu's shoes own. xD Anyway, I guess I should have made that more clear, but he was talking about the twins' birthday party. They're rich kids, so a lot of planning is going to go into such a party.
Mad-4-Manga: Well, sorry... –shrug- But if he were straight he'd be OOC. Yes, it's made apparent, and yes, Rin knows about him. They're very close. –nods- No, Jakotsu isn't a demon, he just has a little blood fetish, like in the anime.
l Dark Storm l: Thank you, and I'm not making any promises, but I can try to find time to read your story.
Museless Author: Thank you:D I thought Jaken and the fish tank was funny too... Sometimes I just want to throw Jaken into my own fish tank, ya know? xD
ToraNoKo123: Thank you! Yeah, Kagura x Kouga is really weird... She kills his people and later he loves her? Tcha, right. Anyway, thanks for the comments! Glad to know I don't use too much detail; I've been flamed before for 'using too many adjectives.' Oo True story.
Silver Spell: I know, I figured making Sessh a really good father was an original approach. –shrug- He doesn't have much in his life, so he probably wouldn't take having loving kids for granted.
Me, just me: Your review made me laugh. Seriously. xD Technically at the moment, Koushi can't swing either way, but later in his life, yes, he's going to like girls. Is Jakotsu going to meet anyone? Ooh yes. This chapter, actually. xD
Sesslover101: His ex-wife's name? I haven't said yet x3. It's a surprise. But you can go ahead and take a guess, it's not an original character...
FoxyFire92: I'm not talking to you. You know why.
Naoko2: -glomp- I miss you. oo You haven't written me back yet... Anyway, I don't know if it could have been shorter... Like you said, I've got more than one 'group' of characters to deal with... Anyway, I hope you like this chapter! I was going to send it for beta-ing, but I hadn't heard from you in a while so I figured you're busy and my story's probably the least important thing right now, which is totally understandable. –clinghug- I still miss you though!
Retta I'm updating... oo –inches away-
Seek: Heh, that's interesting... I thought most people would expect her to accept... She probably wouldn't though, if Jakotsu wasn't so persuasive. XP
Also thanks to:
Mini Nicka
Dark Phoenix Akurei
CiralFox
PurityFlower1989
Starrilight-Hotaru
Sparkling-Ruby Gem
Ren
Sushimi
InuObsessed o.o
Flor
Eadha Ohn
Tnkrbell
Animegirl007
Rin-almighty-yaoi-lover
Aphrodite-girl
Erica6060
Kogas-angel
Lynn-Minmay
Sesshy-chansbestpal
InuMekoGurl
Animegrl15
Ladyrinremix
AznAnimeFanXP
RanDOMaZnWRIteR
The sun was still high in the sky on the following Friday at five-thirty pm, bright rays filtering in through the glass of the windows and splaying across the carpeted floor of Rin and Jakotsu's daycare. Their charges had mostly gone home with their parents, except for, of course, Aikou and Koushi Iizuki.
Today was the day she accepted the job offered by the most arrogant, conceited man she had ever met in her life. He was also the most powerful, the richest, the most famous, and could ruin her life with a figurative snap of his fingers.
If you couldn't tell, she was having second thoughts.
A lot of them.
One couldn't blame the woman though; it was only expected that she'd be nervous. Anyone would be. Today was the day Iizuki Sesshoumaru would semi-officially be her new boss, which was an unnerving notion; especially since Rin had been her own boss since the day she entered the work force.
Only her cousin and the twins really kept her from barricading herself in the little girls' room with a month's worth of kool-aide and animal crackers.
"Calm down, Rin. Your new job is going to be a piece of cake! I'm so jealous!" Jakotsu said quietly, with a grin, nudging her in the shoulder. There was a broom in his hand, as he'd been sweeping out the little kitchen area. Grey eyes flicked pointedly to the twins, who were sitting at one of the low plastic tables with crayons and a farm animal coloring book. Aikou was bent over an outline of a duck, and was meticulously coloring the entire thing with a white crayon, other than the already yellow beak and feet, of course.
Koushi, on the other hand, was messily moving his red crayon over a picture of a cow, which earned him an exasperated look from his younger by a fraction of an hour sister.
"Kou, cows aren't red."
"Sissy, my cow is." Koushi replied with a light-hearted giggle, filling in some of the white streaks between crayon smears.
"See, Rin? They're so well-behaved, most of the time. And they get along so well! No sibling rivalry!" Jakotsu said matter-of-factly, with a happy nod of the head. Rin sighed slightly, pushing a strand of dark hair behind her ear, and smiled.
"Yeah. They're good kids. It's their father that makes me nervous."
The poor woman was shocked dead still when she felt a presence at her back, and a soft, male voice whispered by her ear, "Oh? And how do I make you nervous, Miyazawa-san?"
"KYAA! Don't do that!" Our heroine shrieked, leaping almost two feet and clutching her heart. Kami, she hadn't even heard him walk in! Sneaky bastard. And Rin would have called him that too, had there not been two impressionable four-year olds in the room. Brown eyes met gold, and she glowered at the smirk the businessman displayed upon oh-so-perfect, delicate, yet still masculine features. Not that RIN would describe him like that, of course.
"Iizuki-san. Come here, please." It was quite obvious that Dakatsu Jakotsu was fighting to keep his voice and expression level. Smirk dissipating into stony displeasure, the tall man took a few cautious steps toward the lipsticked man and... was promptly smacked in the head with a broom handle. Oh dear.
One thin gold eye twitching in utter rage, Sesshoumaru asked coldly, "And what, exactly, was that for?"
"Just because you're a billionaire, doesn't mean you can treat my dearest cousin with anything less than utmost respect, Iizuki-san. Have a nice day!" Jakotsu chirped happily, hugging his broom and twirling once, before striding back into the kitchen area to finish sweeping.
Oh, great. Cousin upsetting new boss, not good.
Red-faced with embarrassment, Rin grabbed Sesshoumaru's wrist and pulled him out into the lobby. Well, led him into the lobby. He was a strong guy, not to mention taller and heavier; she couldn't force him to go anywhere if she tried. "I am so sorry about Jakotsu; sometimes he just forgets his manners and--"
"It's alright. I suppose." A thin lip curled up in disgust at the thought of the effeminate offender, almost in imitation of a dog-like snarl. Hee, like a big mad puppy. Rin had to stifle a giggle behind her hand. "Have you thought about my offer, Miyazawa-san?"
Sobering, she nodded. "I have." Rin took a deep breath to steel herself. Here goes nothing... Well, no, more like here goes a huge, freaking something. "I... accept, Iizuki-san."
Wonderful! Sesshoumaru's stare softened slightly. Finally, his twins had a competent caretaker for when he couldn't be there. One of his problems was solved, anyway. That made... fifty billion to go?
"Good." He stated, breezing past her to the door. "You can start tomorrow."
"No, I can't. I can start when Jakotsu finds someone to replace me here."
Sesshoumaru just looked at her over his shoulder, then nodded once, turning the knob and pushing open the door. He hadn't been expecting that, really, but it was nice to know she showed responsibility. "In a week then. In the meantime, I can have a crew begin moving your things to my mansion."
"Hi daddy!" The twins chirped in unison, dropping their crayons and waving as he walked into the room. Sure that Rin wasn't looking, he smiled back.
"Hello Koushi, Aikou. Have a good day?"
"Yup!" There was that unison again. If it wasn't so amazingly adorable, it'd be creepy. Like, seriously.
Meanwhile, standing almost shell-shocked in the lobby, was Rin still. Move her things...? Oh, that's right. Live-in nanny. How the hell could she forget that teensy, weensy little detail? In one more week, she'd be living in a mansion. With the richest businessman in Japan. Taking care of his children.
To think, Rin had gone from small-time daycare co-owner to this...
Hah, now she had her own Cinderella story. Cinder-nanny, oh yeah.
Another week passed. Fliers were put up around town, ads were placed in the newspapers, and the news traveled by word-of-mouth. Thus Saturday found the co-owners of the Shikon Child Care Center seated in Jakotsu's office (it was larger), looking over resumes and endlessly repeating the phrase, 'We'll get back to you.'
Interviewing potential employees wasn't exactly the most pleasant of experiences. Already Rin and her cousin had spoken with four old women, who had all seemed tight-lipped and 'proper', not the kind of nice old ladies, and two teenagers who thought babysitting for the neighbors was enough experience.
Someone kill her now.
Tapping his pencil boredly against the wood surface of his desk, Jakotsu called, "Next!", as he had so many times that day, though now with considerably less enthusiasm. He was quite willing to bet the next applicant would either be a kindly old woman or a bubblegum-chewing teenager with candy pink nails.
So, you see, it was quite a surprise when the seventh applicant that day who walked in the door was a young man. A young man with a very long braid and very blue eyes.
Ooh la la.
The young man, looking beyond confidant, handed Jakotsu his application and took a seat on the opposite side of the desk, folding his hands in his lap and leaning back. "It's all there, resume, application, etc."
Sure was; niiiice. An organized guy.
Briefly scanning the papers, Jakotsu soon learned that the man's name was Nakamura Bankotsu; he was twenty-two years old, and just out of one of those seven month community colleges with a degree in child care. He also had experience that didn't date back to the 40's, and references that weren't his parents.
"So, are you very good with kids?" Jakotsu asked with a tiny smile; the smile he got, Rin noticed, when a male he was quite attracted to was in his presence. Hehe... Jakotsu had a crush!
Nakamura Bankotsu nodded, leaning back in his chair with his arms behind his head. "Sure am. Kids love me." And Rin could definitely see why. The braided man had a nice smile (or should she say, cocky grin?), and blue eyes that were to die for.
"And why do you want this job?" Standard job interview questions. The man was already hired, and both cousins knew that, but it was only fair to finish the interview. After all, getting a job just because your boss thinks you're hot isn't exactly something to brag about.
"I moved from the other side of the city to this area, and I wanted a job closer to home, you know, to avoid traffic and commuter trains. And I like kids, and this kinda thing is what my degree is for, so... yeah." Okay, maybe he wasn't the most articulate, but he was cute! And so hired.
"Thank you for applying," Jakotsu said with a little giggle, then winked. "Expect a call from us soon."
Grinning again, Bankotsu stood and shook hands with the man soon to be his boss. "Of course, thanks. I'll be seeing you soon then."
Jakotsu waited until he had gone before clasping his hands in front of him and hopping up and down like a giddy school child. "Rinny rinny! I wanna hire him! Please please please! He's qualified and I don't want to get stuck with an old woman!"
Doubling over with a case of giggles, Rin nodded. "Okay, okay! Just try not to flirt with him at work! I doubt the parents would want their kids seeing that!"
Mock-indignantly, her cousin huffed in reply.
The very next day, Bankotsu received a call stating, 'You're hired.'
The following Monday was a day of change for everyone. It was the day Rin left the daycare, and Nakamura Bankotsu started his new job as her replacement. It was the day Jakotsu no longer worked with his cousin.
It was also the day Rin moved out of her apartment.
As Iizuki-san had asked (well, commanded), she packed her clothes and personal belongings into boxes and watched as two hired hands took them from her home and loaded them into a U-Haul. Everything she wouldn't need or want was put into more boxes and stacked in the living room around the couch. The furniture, of course, would stay here, as would kitchen supplies and other miscellaneous items.
It took all morning, but everything got done. With butterflies in her stomach and lead in her heart (it wasn't easy to just leave your apartment, where you had lived since college.), Rin took her key and locked the door. The young woman wouldn't be coming back for quite some time. Her newest job would keep her at the Iizuki mansion until she was fired, or until she quit, or until she wasn't needed any more.
"Hey lady, you coming or not?" One of the movers asked gruffly, hefting the last box to his other arm. Nodding, she followed them down the hall, into the elevator, and from there, outside to the U-haul. Mover Number One loaded his box atop a few others and shut the back of the vehicle, while Mover Number Two unlocked the cab and slid into the driver's seat.
Mover One opened the passenger's side door and helped her in, then got in beside her. Oh great... Rin would be stuck between two hairy, smelly apes for the duration of the drive. Now, don't get her wrong, they were both very nice, but was it really all that wrong to be slightly prejudiced against those who had never in their life seen a stick of deodorant?
The scenery flew by when she glanced out one of the windows, but there wasn't much to see at first. Cars, stores, houses, buildings... Typical city settings and typical city happenings. As time passed, the residential neighborhoods became more frequent, and nicer by the mile. Pretty soon, there was more lawn between each house, and more lawn between the houses and the street... Houses grew into large houses into mansions... Lawns grew from shaggy and littered with children's' toys, to tidy and neatly mowed, to landscaped by hired gardeners...
Hey, was that a fountain? Snazzy. Or should she say 'tres chic'?
The U-haul slowed down, turning into an expanse of driveway, separated by a wrought-iron gate manned by two security guards. Halt, state your name and business; heh. Laughable as that little statement was, it was just what the two movers did. The driver pulled to a stop, rolled down the window, and leaned out a bit. "Yeah, we're the two movers Iizuki-sama hired."
The security guard, a skinny man in his forties, peeked into the cab of the U-haul and nodded to the movers, then glanced to Rin. "You Miyazawa Rin?"
"Yeah, I am. Iizuki-san should be expecting me..." She said politely, brushing a strand of dark brown hair behind her ear in nervousness. Dealing with men in policeman-like uniforms was never fun. Those badges were just so... intimidating. The security guard smiled and waved to his partner to open the gates.
"You have a nice day, ma'am."
"Thank you, and you too."
The wrought-iron gates slid open without so much as a creak, and the U-haul rumbled up the amazingly long (or so it seemed to Rin, who hadn't seen very many mansions in her lifetime) driveway before slowing to a stop again.
Iizuki's mansion nearly took her breath away. It was probably one of the largest buildings the young woman had ever seen, and it was absolutely gorgeous. Five stories tall, it was built from light-colored brick and trimmed with glossy black. The windows themselves were a work of art, sparkling glass inlaid in gleaming bronze, and the entire front side of the house was ringed in flower-beds full of white and red roses.
My, how out of place our Rin felt, climbing out of the cab behind one of the movers, in her plain old jeans and plain orange t-shirt.
"Miyazawa-san," Iizuki Sesshoumaru greeted her, in the same detached tone of voice he used for everyone but the twins, standing in the doorway, leaning against the black-painted frame. Her brown eyes scanned his slacks and dark red dress shirt and Rin wondered, amused, 'Does he ever wear normal clothing?' Aha! He wasn't wearing pinchy dress shoes today! The young woman found it quite amusing indeed that Iizuki Sesshoumaru, big time businessman, was only wearing a pair of socks. In front of someone. Hah...
"Iizuki-san," She nodded back politely, returning his less-than-warm greeting.
The silver-haired man had already turned to the movers, and was instructing them to take Rin's things to the room on the second floor, the one to the right of the door covered in crayon drawings. Hey, at least she got to room next to the twins and not Sesshoumaru.
"RINRIN'S HERE!" Speaking of whom... Little Koushi came running out the open door, ducking around the movers' legs, his sister hot on his heels. The diminutive four year old skidded to a stop in front of his new nanny and latched onto one of her legs happily. "Hiii! Daddy said you're gonna take Kaggywa's place but you're gonna stay here!" Aikou, his silver haired counterpart, gave Rin's other leg a hug, but didn't cling.
"Yeah! Are you? Kaggywa was mean, but you're nice!"
Now, Rin had no idea who 'Kaggywa' was, but she made a guess that she was the old nanny, whom they didn't like, and thus Sesshoumaru had to fire. "I guess I am!" She told them with a smile, kneeling down to their level. Why had she been so nervous? This was going to be, dare she say it, fun!