The pain that grips you
The fear that binds you
Releases life in me
In our mutual
Shame we idolize
To blind them from the truth
That finds a way from who we are
Please don't be afraid
When the darkness fades away
The dawn will break the silence
Screaming in our hearts
My love for you still grows
This I do for you
Before I try to fight the truth my final time
Chapter 3
Sesshoumaru walked over the bridge that connected the two campuses, the noise of the early morning traffic caused his sensitive ears to ring, but he continued on repudiating to display his apparent discomfort. The first thing that he noticed when he arrived at Building A, that was used mainly for two dimensional art, was the unbearable scent of tempera, acrylic, and oil paints as well as the pungent odor of paint thinner and paint remover. He could also detect the scent of glue, watercolor, crayons, and other mixed media used for the creation of art. The scents were noticeable even from ten yards away; Sesshoumaru inwardly recoiled at the prospect of having to succumb to the overpowering smells in order to complete his "education." However, when he entered the building he was pleasantly surprised to find that the smells were barely detected by his sensitive nose, that and the fact that the room felt as though it was mimicking the inside of a refrigerator. He took in the layout of the large room, the high ceilings, skylights, fluorescent lights, and large windows provided the building with the sufficient lighting. The walls were painted in an off white; the tiled floor was azure in color, the fluorescent lights had been dimmed slightly to that it would not blind the artists. The area had been divided into separate workstations; half of the room had been divided into a type of classroom with artists desks set up in sets of six – two rows of three desks facing each other- with high stools for the alumni to sit on. Near the desks was a large teacher's desk several supply cabinets and a cart of books with Portfolio written on the spine in varying shades of blue. The rest of the room had various easels next to desks that were overflowing with supplies, obviously for the advanced alumni, the ones who had been required to submit an artwork prior to registration and display their portfolio to the professor to see if they qualified for the class. Sesshoumaru noticed that some students had already arrived, as he took note of who he would be sharing a class with he was mildly surprised to see the ningen that had crashed into him talking animatedly with another black-haired ningen.
Sesshoumaru took note of the group she was with and noticed that it consisted of demons and two ningen females. One of the youkai reeked of ookami, she had red hair and green eyes, he believed that her name was Kaori Ayame. The other demon had short ebony hair and crimson eyes, he recognized her to be Karakaze Kagura. The other two were black-haired ningens and one seemed to be familiar and had the scent of Inuyasha on her. He recognized her as Higurashi Kagome, a close "friend" of Inuyasha therefore that left the other ningen to be Amarante Sango, Kagome's best friend. However, that did not solve the mystery of who the ningen with the large child-like eyes was. Sesshoumaru's ponderings were cut short with the arrival of the art professor, a middle-aged ningen with red hair and looked as though she expected everything to be done her way or else. Sesshoumaru quickly sat down at one of the desks having no desire to engage himself in a conversation with the ningen, even if she was to be his professor.
"Ohayo minna-san, I am Kawamori Midori, and I will be your sensei for the next four weeks. I want to welcome you to Portfolio I, which is an entry level art class for college but a level four class academically, for those of you who have never taken an art class before don't worry, you should be able to catch on quickly. Now, since this is the first day I will go over the rules and procedure for my class, I expect my students to be on time, observe all safety rules and you are only allowed one pass per week. There is a lab fee, to pay for materials used in his class that is due by the end of this week. Materials required for this class are one three-ring binder for notes and handouts, a pen, pencil, college-ruled notebook paper and a large eraser; preferably kneaded rubber. We will be doing a lot of vocabulary in this class as well as numerous projects as art is mostly hands on. Now, two of the projects we will be doing are self-portraits, the first will be done in pencil using the proper shading techniques; the other will be done in acrylic paint again observing the rules of shading. Here are some examples of previous work that students have done," said Kawamori-sensei while holding up several artworks, each was well done and demonstrated proper shading and use of highlights. "A word of warning, art is not a class that you will be able to sleep through and still pass, those of you who believe that you can, good-bye. Art requires effort and time and care, points will be awarded or deducted for neatness and creativity, consider yourselves forewarned."
"Ano, Kawamori-sensei," the ningen with the large eyes raised her hand.
"Yes, what is your name?"
"Rin, Hoshiko Rin, and I was wondering if we are going to study perspective and if one of our projects is a still life."
Sesshoumaru shifted into a more comfortable position, taking care not to wake his sleeping mate. Rin, the name was so simple and yet it held so much meaning, her name was fitting for it meant companion and she was his companion. However, she had proven to be more than just a companion and he had come to realize that she was more than just his mate, from the beginning she had caught his attention but he had never thought, never considered, that she would become more than an acquaintance. However, during the time he had known her she had come to be a close friend. She understood his nature, his need for peace and solitude, never questioned his motives and was adamant on keeping him company for she felt that no-one should be left alone. Rin's sudden movement momentarily startled Sesshoumaru, her body racked by coughs was trembling in his arms, he rubbed her back in a soothing motion, futilely attempting to put her back into the profound sleep that she had been in.
"Sesshoumaru, daijoubu desuka? Nande?" she questioned her voice slightly hoarse from the coughing and leaden with sleep.
"Go to sleep Rin, you are ill and merely a ningen, your body needs rest in order to recover," he gently chastised her knowing that she would more than likely ignore his order and continue to beleaguer him until he either revealed his thoughts or became aggravated with her questioning.
"Iie, not until you tell me what has caused you such unrest considering that the night is growing old."
"Rin," said Sesshoumaru, his voice devoid of emotion, "you must sleep if you hope to be allowed to perform the tasks that bring you so much pleasure, you forget yourself Rin, I am a youkai and as such require less rest than you."
"Sumimasen, moushinikui, I burden you greatly with my illness, sumimasen."
"Iie, you are my mate, and as such it is my duty to care for you when you are ill, I am responsible for your safety and general well being, now sleep."
Their small argument appeared to have drained Rin of what energy she had acquired during the day and she was once more sleeping soundly within seconds of Sesshoumaru's statement. Sesshoumaru sighed, it appeared that he had been sighing more than usual he mused; however, it troubled him that Rin still had not completely cast off the doubt of being a burden to him. At times, such as what transpired seconds ago, she felt that she still imposed upon him and his hospitality and felt that her intrusion, while it had been unexpected, was an unwelcome one. Whether her intrusion was unwelcome or not, Sesshoumaru was not ready to say, if she was not around to break the monotony of his life he was sure that he would slowly become insane. The thought amused him, the prospect of losing his sanity was not one he enjoyed and yet, what was sanity, it was merely a word used to describe something as accepted in the eyes of society but society was often wrong. She had provided something that had been lacking in his life, a type of stability that was not truly stable. He could not describe everything that her presence brought him, but he was sure that he would not be able to liberate himself of the feeling of warmth that he felt for her. She was an anchor on which he could cleave to, a balm that eased away his problems and was predisposed to listen whenever he needed to vent his frustrations.
She truly was unlike anything he had ever had the fortune of knowing, and he admired her for it, to be able to be the way she was and accept the continuous berating she received from youkai and ningens alike, to accept such psychological abuse without anger or hatred was the signs of a true lady. She had been denounced as a traitor by some of her ningen acquaintances, loathed and abhorred by many of her kind because of him. It did not matter to the malicious and pusillanimous creatures that times had changed and that ningens and youkai had come to acknowledge the verity that they had to live together, if not in harmony but in acceptance of the other's race. However, Sesshoumaru understood that ningens were not the only bigots in the world, youkai could be even worse in their condescension for those who were different even if they were youkai but both youkai and ningen alike had a ruthless repugnance for hanyous such as Inuyasha. The words that he had once heard Rin say soon after he met her resonated in his head, the veracity of her statement had astonished him, how effortlessly she understood the nature of the living.
"No one is born a bigot, the teachings that one receives as a child molds their behavior but not their personality, behavior can be changed you are born with your personality."
Truly she was unlike anything he had ever met, how was it that she could be so understanding when he, a youkai of social status, could not accept the derogatory comments of others. How many had perished at his hands, how much blood had he shed with his claws just because one hapless creature had dared to defy him? It made him question if he truly deserved to have someone so pure as his mate, made him question if everything was merely some callous joke of the gods and soon he would find himself alone once more. He loathed how he felt towards Rin, not because of anything she had intentionally done but how she had unconsciously caused him to become dependent on her. He abhorred the fact that he had become dependent on a ningen, even if it was Rin.
"Moving on down my street
I see people I won't ever meet
Think of her, take a breath
Feel the beat in the rhythm of my steps
And sometimes it's a sad song
But I can not forget
Refuse to regret
So glad I met you
Take my breath away
And make every day
Worth all of the pain that I have
Gone through"
Maroon 5 –The Sun