Author: Absolutely no excuses. I've had serious writer's block for months now, partially because I lost my drafts of the chapters, and I have to concentrate on my badminton. Now the playoffs are over, my right index finger was badly sprained and I can't use it for two weeks. As a human being, I just realized how important that finger is...But at last, the finals are over, and I'm free...NOT. I have 2 summer school courses, one of them being Physics (gasp).
Does anyone still remember this fic? Sigh. Yes it's been a very long time and so, as an award, three chapters ...yes, three chapters shall be uploaded in the very same week, so stay tuned!
And this chap is full of Sess/Rin fluff...
And, like previous chapters, this chap is unedited...so there migth be typos.
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Disclaimer: ...(someone slaps author) Ok! I don't own Inuyasha besides the collection figures and the episodes……….
- Rated for swearing-you've been warned-
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Chapter 8 An Interlude with Ice-Cream
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"Do I really have to?" Rin muttered in annoyance, trying her best to convince her companions to leave her alone, but it was a losing battle.
"Tsk, tsk, do as I say, Rin," Ja said in a superior voice, while Yura hummed to herself and browsed through her, ahem, wig collection (surprise surprise).
"But didn't you guys say it's unsafe for me to be outside, let alone have FUN like people normally do. Wouldn't I get discovered or something?" Rin persisted, and yelped in protest as Yura forced a blond wig on her head.
Ja searched through his collection of various clothing, clearly categorized, defined and 'rated' even. He even has a folder of each article's 'history'.
"Heh, don't underestimate us. We're spies; we're naturally good with disguises. Now put this on," Ja giggled madly like a little girl.
"Here? Now?" Rin gasped. Sure Ja's…….well, Ja's mind functions like a girl but, still overall, he's a guy…………
Ja sighed exasperatedly, "Hey, it's not like I WANT to look or anything? I have my preference in guys with hot body like Inu-chan. I have no interest in your little girl-body anyhow."
Rin growled. After several minutes of heated arguments and excessive whining (Ja's, not Rin's), the two spies had finally finished their makeover on Rin.
Ja dragged his proud accomplishment to Bankotsu's floor, where everyone gathered there.
"Ta-da!"
Rin wore a long blond wig, a red tank top to show off her curves and a pink mini-skirt to show off her long legs. She would've looked like a sexy goddess if it weren't for the angry scowl on her face. Rin wondered how they managed to persuade her into wearing such revealing clothing.
Bankotsu whistled appreciatively (Rin blushed in embarrassment); Ayame and Kouga looked surprised ("Trust Yura and Ja to even own such clothing...," Ayame muttered, and Kouga averted his gaze, his face red); and ………..wait, where's Sesshoumaru?
Before she could stop herself, Rin blurted out her question, "Hey, where's Sesshoumaru?"
Jakotsu and Bankotsu exchanged looks and then they burst into laughter. Rin felt her ears grow warm and she mentally slapped herself. Since when do I care where that jerk is!
Jakotsu coughed in fake seriousness, trying to regain his composure but failed miserably, "Were you listening at all when I explained today's 'mission', Rin? ...giggle...giggle...Forget it, you'll know soon."
Rin sighed again and decided to go see Kagome.
"What...?" was the reaction Kagome had when she saw Rin. Kagome reached forward and covered Shippo's eyes, who was sitting on the bed besides Kagome.
Rin felt her vein twitch, and she glared at Jakotsu, who replied smugly, "I've told everyone to hide any other type of clothing, Rinny,so it's either that or nothing."
Jakotsu sure is evil sometimes. I'll have to think of some way to get back at him. Rin made a mental note.
"Um, Rin? I never think you would wear something like this..."Kagome said, a slight teasing tone in her voice.
Rin was flustered, but she was glad Kagome seemed to be better and that she was more of the 'normal' Kagome now.
"If Miroku is here," Kagome chuckled, and Rin joined. She didn't need to finish her sentence; they both knew what would happen.
"So, Rin, are you going anywhere?"
Rin was about to reply, but Ja quickly spoke...er, giggled, "Well, you'llwhen you come back, Kagome-chan!Giggle...giggle come now! See ya later you two!"
Jakotsu grabbed Rin's hand and pulled her out of the apartment. Shippo waved.
"Hey! I demand at least a jacket..." Rin's vehement protest trailed off weakly as she realized Ja had already closed his ears to her. As they came out of the entrance, Rin saw an ordinary-looking car parked right there. Jakotsu pulled out his key and unlocked the doors. The two went inside (Ja hopped in, while Rin was dragged in), and the car sped off in a speed enough to make even a strong person hurl.
Rin was shocked into silence; she couldn't help but scream whenever Jakotsu almost hit a pediatrician(which is a lot). Being top spies doesn't necessarily mean they have to be good drivers...right?
She suppressed another yell when the car skidded to an abrupt stop. Ja announced cheerfully.
"We're here!"
Rin looked outside to find a huge building with a enormous sign that says "Courthouse No.4"
"On the charge and specifications of murder, we find the defendant, Josh Mackenzie, guilty," The judge's voice boomed around the room.
At this, a little girl and a teenage boy jumped out from the seats and hugged each other joyfully, screaming in happiness. On the defendant side, the convicted man just roared in rage as the guards dragged him away.
The man's beady eyes narrowed at the tall man standing behind the little girl. The murderer spat in contempt, "I knew I should've gotten those two brats! I'll kill you all! I swear I'll get my revenge and fucking kill you all!"
The little girl winced and hid behind the tall man's legs. The tall man, known as Seki Tetsuga, glared at Josh and spoke in a frighteningly cold tone, "Just be quiet and go join the prison just like the filthy criminal you are."
The teenage boy shook hands with Seki, "thank you so much, Mr. Tetsuga. Without you, we would have never been able to avenge our parents, sir!"
The little girl laughed and hugged Seki's leg again. Seki's eyes softened and patted her on the head.
As he left the courtroom, flashes from the reporters started immediately and Seki was secretly glad that he wore his sunglasses, even though it was for disguise.
"Congratulations on your case, Mr. Tetsuga," a mocking voice flowed right into Seki's ears, grating his nerves - an reaction of instant dislike to this person.
"Morgan, I don't belive you're actually congratulating your rival here," Seki replied calmly, glaring at the man with long black hair in a high ponytail and a pair of shay green eyes.
Morgan smirked, holding his hands up in mock defeat, "Fine fine. Don't blame me for defending that Josh. He's my client after all."
Seki glared at Morgan; not long ago, this man had started to become quite successful in the lawyers' field, not losing a single case at all - but all his clients were the ones that Seki suspected were guilty. That means this Morgan had let many criminals free.
Today was an exception, though; after all, Morgan's oppenent was he, Sesshoumaru, a.k.a. Seki Tetsuga.
Sesshoumaru rolled his eyes and walked away briskly.
Morgan stared at Sesshoumaru's retreating back in his unique-sneering way. Morgan's gaze darkened and he muttered sadistically, "There is so much you don't know about, Seki Tetsuga..."
"Byakuya, give me your report immediately," A dry voice growled from the earpiece Morgan wore...or, actually, Byakuya wore.
Byakuya sighed, but his voice was still casual, "Still as sharp as ever,Naraka-sama. Ever since you sent me into the lawyers' field, I've never lost yet this dude beat me. It's supposed to piss me off, but I am not..."
Naraka chuckled without humor, "Well, here's a challenge for you, Byakuya...look up everything there is about Seki Tetsuga, and as to repent for today's loss, what do you plan to do?"
Byakuya smiled, "Well, I can give you a very good experiment material..."
"Talking to yourself is a sign of retardation, Rinny," Ja repirmanded motherly, waving his index finger.
Normally, Rin would get mad, but right now she was too nervous to even do so. Many many thoughts ran through her head.
Would he recognize me? Would he dislike me because of the attire Ja forced me into? Would he scold me for even coming out of the apartment? Would he...
And the list just went on and on. She felt many stares from some of the passing by men, some even whistled catcalls. She felt unbelievable comfortable, and instead of feeling hot with embarassment, she felt slightly cold instead, feeling exposed to the world.
"YO Seki-chan!" Ja suddenly shouted, scaring the wits out of Rin.
There's Sesshoumaru; even under the disguise as 'Seki', he still looked as elegant as ever.
I wish he can take off his sunglasses...he looks good in a suit...ECK! WHat am I thinking? Rin mentally slapped herself. She had been thinking 'weird thoughts' about the number one assassin lately.
Um...why's he staring at me? Am I that flustered...? Rin shuffled uncomfortably under Sesshoumaru's intense gaze.
"R...Rin?" Sesshoumaru (gasp) stammered, and he cursed inwardly for not gaining his composure. But, of course, who can blame him? Even the great Sesshumaru's shocked after seeing such clothing...and on Rin no less. However, what Sesshoumaru was angry at was himself, because...
He liked it.
Even under that fake blond wig, Sesshoumaru can still replace it with Rin's brown hair in his mind. Disguise or not, Rin still had her beautiful smile, and her cute blush.
Sesshoumaru felt his face got slightly warmer.
Ja gasped. OMG is Sess blushing? Yes! I can tell...that is definitely a blush! HEHEHE! Mission complete!
Ja suddenly looked like he just remembered something, and quickly, he told Sesshoumaru and Rin, "Ah, seems like I still need to do something...gotta go! Have fun you two!" The last word was extra sweet and Ja skipped away gleefully. He hopped into the car and drove away in an even faster speed then before.
Both Sesshoumaru and Rin stood there, still staring at each other, but now there was an awkward silence.
Inside, Rin was fuming mad. How dare did that Ja leave me alone with Sess? Is this what I'm supposed to do? Wait. What AM I supposed to do now? Start a conversation with him? Ha, yeah right. As if my past attempts were ever successful. Face it, you don't know anything about this man.
Exactly, that's what you should do right now! An annoying voice known as conscience whispered in her mind.
"Um, so...Sesshoumaru...er, I haven't been out for a while, and I want to look around...do you want to go together?" Rin asked hesitantly, her ears completely red.
"Hnf." Typical Sesshoumaru response.
Rin sighed, and turned around.This will never work unless he cooperated, no?
Many people walked by them, and Rins spotted quite a few people eating ice-cream. She gaze longingly at a family of four, the mother feeding ice-cream to a little boy, and the father giving her daughter his share.
How lucky...a family...
Rin spun around to face him again, but he was already gone.
"Eh...?" She saw Sesshoumaru already walking ahead. She ran up to catch him.
"Wait...wait, Sesshoumaru! Where are you going?" she panted, barely managed to keep up with his long strides.
Sesshoumaru didn't even look at her, but he replied, "You want some, ice-cream, don't you?"
Rin was too surprised to even reply.
They walked together in silence, but somehow, the air didn't feel so umcomfortable anymore.Rin knew her face was blushing, hard, yet she still maintained her smile.
"What flavor would you like, miss?" The ice-cream parlor asked, glancing appreciatively at Rin's figure.
Sesshoumaru didn't know why, but he growled instantly, "She will have the deluxe strawberry and chocolate icecream."
Staring up at the intimidating figure, the man quickly scooped the correct ice-cream. Sesshoumaru payed with another icy glare and strolled away.
Rin spoke up, her voice in awe, "How do you know I want that flavor, Sesshoumaru?"
He grunted, "It's a guess, and I never guess wrong."
Rin smiled, and Sesshoumaru had to look away again so she wouldn't catch his light blush. He handed her the ice-cream and she accepted, "thank you so much."
He felt a warm feeling spreading from his chest. It felt nice...to have someone to thank him.
They walked towards the park, Rin happily scooping some ice-cream with her spoon, and Sesshoumaru was...well, just walking.
Rin stole a glance up at his face, or, more accurately, his eyes. At this angle she was able to see his stunning moon-like eyes. Sesshoumaru glanced down and their gaze caught. They both looked away and it left Rin to ponder something.
She tentatively reached out her hand and tugged at his jacket slightly, looping her arm around his. A few seconds passed, but he didn't push her arm away. Rin sighed in relief and allowed herself a smile of content.
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Far far away, on top of a building, were two very shocked ex-mafia. Each of them had a telescope, spying at Rin and Sesshoumaru. Bankotsu was speechless, and Jakotsu was giggling madly.
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Sesshoumaru could feel like someone was watching them, but he didn't feel any threatening intent, so he let it be. Besides, his mind was in a rather confusing state. He couldn't focus on anything, really, except Rin's arm. Of course, he had no idea of why she did that, but she had absolutely no objection.
They sat down at a bench in the park, and Rin let go of his arm. He felt an unexplainable sense of loss. Rin suddenly asked, "would you like some? I didn't touch this side of the ice-cream at all."
Sesshoumaru blinked, and stared.
He was unsure what he should do next.
He, the great Sesshoumaru, sharpest sniper, didn't. know. what. .to. do.
However, before he could say anything, Rin already stuck a spoonful of the ice-cream into his mouth. Sesshoumaru blinked again.
Rin giggled. It was so much fun to make Sesshoumaru confused! She pulled away the spoon and asked, "Well?"
Sesshoumaru swallowed the creamy substance, "Pretty good, actually." Rin grinned.
"Koryu! Come back, Koryu!" A small girl's frantic yell caught Rin's attention. She looked away from Sesshoumaru only to find...
An adorable little puppy?
The said puppy barked cutely and wagged its tail, nudging Rin with its little paws. This made Rin remembered the times she played with Taisho, Inuyasha's dog, and she felt nostalgic.
However, unlike before, I will not run away fromr reality again.
Rin gave the puppy a bit of the cone, and laughed when it licked her hand to get to the cookie.
Sesshoumaru found himself relax unconsciously. Such is a content feeling, so carefree, just listening to her laugh...
It was too bad that Rin missed his smile.
"Here you are Koryu," a small girl with her hair in two buns ran towards them, swooping up the small puppy up.
"Hello, so your puppy's name is Koryu? He seems to like ice-cream cones a lot," Rin smiled at the girl, who smiled back.
"Yea, he loves cookie a lot! Well, bye, big sister, I think my brother's callling me," she then ran towards whom Rin assumed was the brother.
Rin failed to notice the exchange between the brother and Sesshoumaru. The two glared at each other, and, instantly, they recognized who each other was.
Hiten glared at Sesshoumaru one last time, and glanced at Rin. he frowned, and walked away, with Souten tottering behind him.
"Time to go, Rin," Sesshoumaru said coldly, and Rin was surprised to hear such tone. I thought he opened up...to me.
Hiten swore inwardly. He had decided to take Souten out to the park, in attempts to cheer her up.
Who knew he ran into the one who assisted in his brother's death.
Hiten had no idea who the blond woman was, but that guy...even with the sunlasses, Hiten recognized the glare, and he knew that Sesshoumaru recognized him as well.
No matter, as much I don't like the guy, I would not report this to Naraku. Screw that bastard. He's the main reason we're in this mess in the first place. But, I will get my little sister away from that hellhole, and avenge my brother, and that's promise.
"What's the matter, Sesshoumaru?" Rin asked tentatively, almost running in order to catch up with the guy.
It was sudden, that they left the park just like that. It was alright, and Rin thought he was having fun as well, but now...
"It was foolish of me to drop my guard like that, we should've never gone there in the first place," he replied, in that cold tone of his.
"What?" Rin gasped, wincing at the unknown pain at her heart, "that was all a facade?"
She stopped abruptly, and Sesshoumaru was forced to stop walking as well.
"What is it now?" He said impatiently. He was furious at himself. He had dropped his guard so much that he did even sense Hiten approach. Of course, he had no idea that was Hiten at first, but as a trained assassin, he was supposed to sense any individuals with killing intents, and boy, Hiten had a lot of that. Also, not to mention Hiten realized who he was. For the first time, someone actually discovered who Sesshoumaru was, under the disguise of 'Seki Tetsuga'.Such was an unforgivable mistake, something Sesshoumaru thought he would never do.
And now his identity was exposed to the enemy. He stared at Rin, his inner conflict made him look as if he was angry.
Rin was half shocked and scared. She didn't know this side of Sesshoumaru yet. Rin managed to speak, "Why are you like this? Why did you act as if you liked the ice-cream, then? Why did you..." act as if you liked my company, Rin wanted to say, but the words died at her throat before they could come out.
Deja vu, Sesshoumaru thought, I had argued about the same thing with her, too. However, it wouldn't happen like before...I will not be soft.
"You're still too naive, Rin! How can you be so carefree, even knowing the situation you're in? Do you not fully grasp the seriousness our situation has become after what happened yesterday? Even with our disguises, we can stil get discovered!"
"Carefree?I was just being me, Sesshoumaru. That was me, I love to eat ice-cream and play with puppies. I don't want what had happened to me change who I am. No matter what happens, I am still me, and I want to believe that. I understand your concerns, Sesshoumaru, but why can't you be youself for once?"
Her words had hit home. Sesshoumaru growled darkly, "You don't know me. you have no right to judge me."
Rin replied angrily, "The same can be said for you, too."
Sesshoumaru was rather irritated, "I don't know why I bother with you at all. All Suikotsu wanted was to erase the evidence, yet I intervened, adding unwanted burden to our organization. Yet, you still come back heedless of my warning..."
Now it was his words that hit home. Rin chuckled bitterly, "An evidence...an unwanted burden...so that's what you really think, then? Yes that's what I am, what I have always been. I've brought all this upon myself, is that what you want to say?"
Had he felt the guilt yet? Of course he did. Sesshoumaru regretted saying those things to Rin, and now he was even more furious at himself.
"Rin, I ..." He was ready to apologize, but Rin cut him off.
"Don't worry about it, oh great Sesshoumaru, I would make myself scarce from now on," her words were meant to be sarcastic, but her trembling tone only held sadness andpain.
Rin brushed past him, throwing the long forgotten and meltedicecream into the garbage can.
Sesshoumaru's shoulders sagged visibly, but his face showed no expression.
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"A-leh-LEH? Did my plan backfired, Oo-aniki?" Jakotsu asked, clearly confused.
Bankotsu sighed.True, none of them really know about Rin's past, but he could understand their feelings.
"Let's just go home, Ja. They must be tired, both of them."
Bankotsu looked down at the picture Jakotsu took during their spying.
It was a picture of Rin laughing, holding the spoon and Sesshoumaru wiping away the smears on his lips.
And there was no mistake about the peace and content in Sesshoumaru's eyes.
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End of Chapter 8
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Yes, a chapterful of humor and SessRin moments, but I bet all of you are ready to murder me at the fight they had...
(dodge incoming bullets, matrix style)
Anyways, thank you for all the reviews and hopefully you guys will continue to support this fic!
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-Kaco-