Hello again minnasan ^_^ I finally have time to get another chapter out after dealing with my disgustingly busy work schedule.
Thanks to:
Anhimals- you're right to a point, about Sess's childhood but all will be explained later. *winks*
kawaii28- thank you very much, as you can tell I love this pairing as well ^_^
CometsChaos- thanks for the love, I consider it an honor to be on your favorites list.
aaaaaaa- (is that a scream of pain?) Is this soon enough for ya' tiger?
friendlyreader- aww, you'll make me blush if you keep these kind reviews up. Thanx.
g27- here's another chapter for you.
Chibi Kirara- (I love Kirara, she's soo kawaii in the show) Here's more like you asked and I hope this is soon enough.
SessRin2003- you're welcome. I wish I could post these faster myself *sigh*
Naoko2- Wow, someone actually called MY story cool? Thank you so very much and I'm glad you like the dialogue because I worked hard on it.
Haruya- forgive this poor authoress, she know not what she does- actually that's a lie. I have to do something to get people to keep reading and I'm thoroughly satisfied with the results. Thanks for the love.
Maggy d- Saying that my writing is unique, is one of the highest compliments this authoress can get. It warms my heart that people do not think this story is a clone of other fanfics and I'm glad you don't mind the OOC-ness.
LuckySpirit- I'm glad you enjoy the verbal battles. I enjoy typing them.
Very, very special thanks to:
Aishiteru-inu- thanks for (1) taking the time out to give me such a long and insightful review, your assessment of Sess's character is dead on. (2) I agree with you that there is someone for each individual human (or youkai ^_^), it's just a matter of looking and circumstance. True, it is harder to find that person due to the times we're living in, but it's important not to give up. (3) Suicide is a very hard thing for the people who care about the victim. I almost lost someone close to me because of it and it's a very frightening thing. I just wish that more people would continue to work through their problems instead of running away and taking the easy, albeit somewhat more painful, way out.
Note: a male peacock's long tail is called a train.
Also Miroku speaks more Japanese words because he's somewhat old fashioned.
Ganbare= "do your best"
oyajii= old man
Hai= yes
Thread Bound
Chapter Three
The Way Things Are With Him
The Demure Dove decided to take a flight one day to enjoy the breeze on her feathers, when lo, she came upon a castle inhabited by the most splendid peacock she'd ever seen.
"Good day, sir," said the dove smiling brightly, landing outside the gate which was covered in thorns, preventing her entry.
"Hmph," returned the Pompous Peacock from the inside," who are you to address me you worthless little dove?"
"I beg your pardon, my lord, but I was just out for a quick flight and I just had to stop and admire you and your castle. You are both so very beautiful, but why are you all alone here?"
"I sent all the people away, not that it's any of your business mind you."
"Why?"
"I don't need them staring at me all day. Not because I'm afraid or anything, mind you," he huffed.
"Again I ask why," she returned softly, with a smile on her chubby face.
"Not that it's wholly true, mind you, but I found it to be disconcerting. I was so well loved, that I found it strange. They loved my train, and my crest, and my beautiful eyes, and the claws, oh the claws, how they loved way I strutted, and pranced, and danced…" he sighed," not that any of this is need to know information, mind you,"
"But did they love you for you?" she asked simply, that knowing smile on her face.
"How I wonder if that was ever the case, if that could ever be the case. I ask- not that it's important either mind you- little dove why do you look at me so sweetly? Do you not know that you are much too different to ever cross the thorns around my castle? Too kind to crush the barrier around my heart?"
"But sir, I could come in, you just have to open the door. Surely you have the strength for that."
"Could I really? Would you not run away like all the rest?"
"Ah ha, so they did run away," she said, catching him in his lie and twittering behind a wing.
The Pompous Peacock turned with a hmph, but his back hid a smile," I'll let you in then, but no guarantees, mind you."
"Yes, no guarantees," she chirped happily.
* * * * * * * * * *
He forgot to tell her to call me Rin thought sourly, upon waking up next to the phone. Lifting her head, she espied the culprit who had awoken her, and winced as yet another sunbeam reached her tired eyes through the cracks in the blinds, rousing her even more. Stupid sun, with its stupid beams, coming into my room and waking me up from my beauty rest she grumbled good-naturedly as she sat up and stretched, hearing bones pop as they joyfully returned to their previous positions. A long night of weird positions, with a table for a pillow and a chair to serve as the bed, certainly wasn't good for one's health and she made a note not to fall asleep by the phone again.
Too bad I suck at keeping promises to myself she thought with a smile as she happily bashed herself, knowing full well that she'd probably sleep by the phone again in a few days.
Today was Saturday, which meant… she had the day off. Rin smiled sadly too bad I don't have any really close friends except Kagome, who's probably with her husband at the hospital. Speaking of which…she frowned, remembering just who was at the hospital as well.
That pompous brat Sesshoumaru, probably neglected to pass on my message on purpose. We really need to have a talk about his manners a sigh escaped her, handsome and obviously lonely, pompous brat.
The soft carpet felt good beneath her feet as she paced to the other end of her one room studio, where the shower was. Shedding her clothes, Rin ducked beneath the spray and allowed it to soothe her somewhat frazzled state of mind. All night, she had been haunted by dreams of her worst living nightmare. He would give her that smile, so full of shadows, and pull her towards him, only to return to the corpselike state she'd found him in yesterday, cold hand still gripping hers as he stared sightlessly at the young woman with dark pupils nearly swallowing his beautiful golden irises like black holes Or was that the day before yesterday that I helped him? It was as if time had slowed down and stopped moving altogether ever since she met him.
She looked down at her hands as the water rinsed the shampoo from her hair and wondered if saving him had been the right thing. Why did you do that to yourself, Sesshoumaru? Why would someone so very beautiful want to leave the people who care about him behind? Reaching out from behind the curtain with her foot, she used her small toes to pull the towel from the chair that sat only a few feet from the area designated as the "bathroom." It's only the bathroom because it has a couple feet of tiled floor as well as Mr. Toilet and his wife Lady Shower she thought in amusement as she patted her hair down before wrapping the towel around her slight frame. She had to get out of the childish, artist's habit of naming inanimate objects, lest Sesshoumaru figure out yet another way to make fun of her and her markedly different thinking process.
Her mind turned to happier things as she dressed and brushed out her still damp hair. Maybe I can go visit Kagome and Inu-yasha, after all she did say that his injuries weren't overly serious. I'll bring them some flowers…and maybe I'll even visit His Pompous Lordship before I leave.
That decided, she fixed herself a quick bowl of Frosted Cornflakes with some orange juice before grabbing her purse and taking off for the hospital.
Lower Middle Class, huh she said inwardly as she locked the door to her studio more like barely off the bottom of lower Low Class. If it weren't for my paintings, Id' be Hobo Rin in no time at all. Ah, such is the fate of orphans like me.
She reached the bottom of the stairs leading from first to second floor and opened the door to the store below. The convenience store, named "Kirara's Tails", was a tiny business run by an interesting couple named Sango and Miroku Houshi. Miroku was a pervert through and through and Sango kept him in check- mainly through force. If they weren't fighting, they became one of the most lovey-dovey couples she'd ever met. Both were kind people though, and she found that it was easy to talk about her problems without fear of them being judgemental.
"Ah, where are you going my sweet, little flower girl," Miroku called, pausing in the midst of stocking his shelves.
"To the hospital, Houshi-san," she replied, deftly avoiding the hand that wandered towards her bottom," don't go making Sango mad again," she cautioned, noting the fading hand shaped bruise on the side of his face.
"You wound me, truly you do. I was merely basking in the glow of your lovely smile. It's good for the cataracts you know."
"Cataracts?" she laughed," you're only twenty-five. I think you'll have to be twice that age before you get real ones."
"As roughly as my beloved wife shows her love?! It'll be much sooner, I'm sure."
She shook her head, knowing full well that no one loved Sango as much as he did.
"By the way, do you have any flowers?"
"But of course fair Rin," he took her arm in his and showed her outside to look at the plants," take your pick."
There were so many that it took her a few minutes pick out the right ones. She considered grabbing a few gardenias, but their fragrance could be over powering and they wilted quickly. A flash of color near the back caught her eye and she moved around the display to look.
"These are perfect," she exclaimed gently running a hand over the petals. There were Gerber daisies there, as well as tiger lilies and she grabbed a few of the former, mixing orange, and gold and pink petals together.
"Those are the ones you want?" Miroku asked, coming up behind her.
She easily avoided his hands, which seemed to want to squeeze her every opportunity they had, and asked," how much."
An easy smile touched his handsome face and he replied sweetly," for you…only five-hundred yen."
"I couldn't possibly accept them for so low!" she rifled around in her purse and pulled out a crumpled thousand yen bill.
"Here, Houshi-san," he sighed and rolled his eyes before accepting the cash," you really need to learn to take advantage of deals Rin-chan."
"But I feel like I'm cheating your store out of money."
"Trust me when I say the world will come to an end before our store starts having financial problems."
She clutched the flowers to her breast and replied," but I don't like to impose…"
"So silly," Miroku chuckled, patting her head," is there anything else you'd like?" he said to change the subject.
"Well…not rea…wait there is one more thing," and he'd better appreciate this," I would like to purchase some of these tiger lilies for an…acquaintance who is also in the hospital."
He smiled slyly," an acquaintance huh? And what is his name?"
She blushed," his name is Sesshoumaru. How did you know it was a guy?"
"Oh, just call it female intuition."
"Female? Is there something about you I don't know about?"
"No but I've dated and groped many enough women to know infatuation when I see it."
"I am not infatuated!"
"Those red cheeks tell me otherwise."
"Well, you're wrong. I'm just fascinated by him, that's all and he's the brother of Kagome's husband."
"Hai, hai. Whatever you say. Just remember that it always starts off with interest. Then come the fascination and the becoming enamored of the man. Obsession can play a role too, you know, and in the end comes sweet, true love."
"Well don't expect that to happen to me anytime soon. The guy's a total jerk."
"So am I and Sango still loves me. Now then, hurry up and pick out the flowers you want, alright?"
Rin decided that ending their current train of thought was for the best and took her eyes off of him to grab a handful of lilies. Slender fingers, lightly pinched her rear and she stood up swiftly, only to find that he'd made his escape into the store. Trying the handle she found it locked and looked through the glass to see Miroku happily sweeping the floor.
"Hey open up, I need to pay for these."
He went on as if he hadn't heard her.
"Hey can you hear me?"
"No."
She grumbled and moved to leave, knowing that this was his way of forcing her to accept his gift of free flowers. A sigh forced its way between her lips, the man was just so darn pushy sometimes. Another sigh came out when she saw her crumpled thousand yen bill resting on the edge of one of the outside displays.
Pocketing it, she gave Miroku one last glare, and he smiled back, waved and said cheerily," ganbare, with your love Rin-chan!"
A tiny smile worked its way onto her face as she waved, defeated by his sheer kindness.
Now if only that brat can appreciate what I'm doing for him. Rin felt as if she had to have the respect he withheld from everyone and she wanted so very badly to see him again. So much that she hurried her steps, looking forward to verbally sparring again with such a clever, beautiful man. To knowing that he had his intense golden eyes set on her and her alone.
She knew her cheeks were flaming by the time she got to the bus stop but she couldn't help the way her mind constantly turned to him. Please, please accept me, Sesshoumaru.
* * * * * * * * * *
After much deliberation and far too much trial and error, Sesshoumaru concluded that he hated hospitals. If he wasn't being fed some disgusting swill, then he had to endure the irritating twitters of his bird-brained nurses. I'm fine already so why won't they just let me check out? he wondered in irritation.
He found himself thinking about the childish woman who had woken him up the day before. "Foolish child, what's taking you so long to get here?"
After more than fifteen years of admiration, he could easily see the interest she had in him. Normally he wouldn't care, but the way she stubbornly refused to acknowledge or even speak of her attraction, choosing instead to argue…his interest was truly piqued for the first time in years. Rin was so innocent that she practically had a halo around her head and he found himself entranced when she argued with him. There were so very few people who could stand up to him the way she did. A smile graced his lips and he leaned back against his pillows. Can you show me something interesting, little Ms. Hattori? Can you force me to live?
The door opened and he heard another annoying giggle from outside before a young freckle-faced girl stepped into the room.
Good gods, here comes another one he thought in irritation. It seemed he was destined to break the heart of every woman, this side of the hospital. Not that he minded really. He got a perverse pleasure from crushing the hopes of others. After all, his dreams had never been fulfilled, so why should he fulfill theirs, why should he go out of his way to make them happy when he could never reach that plane of existence?
"Uh, ah mister…" she began.
Sesshoumaru forced himself not to roll his eyes at the childish greeting, maybe she was here to deliver a message from his idiot brother or something, otherwise he had no intention of bothering with this little girl.
"A…Ano…I've been… watching you and…I was wondering…"
A small growl made its way from his lips, when would these women learn that he had no interest in them?
He opened his mouth to say something scathing when she walked in carrying a bunch of flowers. The young nurse immediately ceased to exist for him as his entire being focused on her, his eyes drinking her in as if she were water given to a starving man in the middle of the Sahara.
"How are you?" Rin asked kindly.
He took his sweet time answering as he analyzed her appearance. She was dressed in a sleeveless blue, button-down cotton blouse, with white knee-knockers and sandals. He noted with amusement that her sandals were mismatched. Oh yes, he would definitely have to tease her in a suitably mean fashion when they had time alone. Her magnificent hair was tied back in a messy bun at the nape of her neck and those eyes, so very alive, were soft as they gazed upon him.
"I was fine until I saw your face. Didn't anyone ever tell you how unattractive you are?"
He was amused by the swift changes that flitted across her expressive face, going from happy to pissed in no more than two seconds.
"Um, ano," the other occupant of the room interrupted, flashing an irritated glare at Rin for ruining her "moment."
"Yes, can I help you?" Rin bit out as kindly as she could, given her current mood.
"Well…I…I was talking to him first…you shouldn't interrupt."
"If you're thinking of confessing your love for him don't waste your time," she said softly," he doesn't have a heart to give to anyone."
"You never know…" the girl replied heatedly, giving him what he supposed was a sultry glance.
He burst out laughing in her face.
"What's so funny?"
"You…you look like a cow. An ugly waste of time, space, and air," his voice was pure malice and she flushed in embarrassment.
"Get out off my sight and stop contaminating my atmosphere by breathing in the same room as me."
With great satisfaction he watched her break down. It never ceased to amaze him, the processes that took place when normal humans went about expressing their sadness. First the girl's face crumpled, her body tensed up and her eyes became glassy. A brief sob, followed by a hiccup, then a whimper and shoulder shaking after which, came shortness of breath and then… after much dramatizing, came tears trailing down her freckled cheeks. She chose to make a hasty exit then and he smirked in satisfaction until stems whipped across his face and the petals attached to them scattered across the bed and drifted to the floor.
"You sick, twisted, freakish, bast…"
"Ah, ah, ah watch you language," he said, smirking at the fact that she had actually hit him, and with flowers no less.
"How could you do something so cruel to that poor child?"
"I merely discouraged her from further attempts at wasting my time," he replied with a warm, satisfied smile that he knew she would find sickening. Yes, show me how you stand up. Amuse me, little Rin. Let me feel your strength.
"You disgust me right now," she bit out, eyes flashing with tightly controlled anger.
"And I didn't before?"
"You don't do things like that to girls. You just DON'T!! What if she decides to commit suicide or something because of what you said? Things like that are the most hurtful words a girl can hear."
"And why should I care about her feelings? Suicide? Good, she'll know the same joy I had and hopefully she won't have a meddling cleaning woman to stop her."
"You…ooh you…why are you like this," she whispered resting her hands on the edge of the bed, all anger gone form her person in one quick moment. She looked up at him with helpless eyes and he felt something akin to fear run up his spine.
He averted his eyes," don't look at me like that. It irritates me."
"Coward," she whispered.
"What did you say?" he wasn't quite he'd heard her right.
"I called you a spineless, scum-sucking, coward," she yelled," is that loud enough for you?"
Coward. Coward. Such a worthless coward, you are. Those hated words from so long ago danced in his head and he grabbed Rin's shoulders in a crushing grip. For a second he saw her, that woman with her pouting lips and hurtful words, causing his ire to rise.
"Don't call me that! DON'T YOU EVER CALL ME THAT!!" he yelled, eyes flashing in real anger.
"You're hurting me."
"…"
"Let go."
"…No."
"Sesshoumaru…please."
"I suggest ya' do as she says, Frosty, or I'll have to make ya'," came a voice from the direction of the doorway.
The hands on her shoulders relaxed their grip before dropping away and he turned to look at the young man standing in the doorway," so you finally decided to pay your dear brother a visit, eh, Inu-yasha?"
* * * * * * * * * *
Wow! I can't believe I actually typed so much. I'm soo happy. Hope you guys like this chapter and as usual, please review. *smiles and gives out candy to those who reviewed before*