Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or its' characters. They belong to Rumiko Takahashi. TT

Authors Note: Thanks for all of you for reviewing. You're the ones who keep me inspired to write! I really appreciate all the kind things so say, along with the wonderful ideas you suggest.

However, there was one review that caught my particular notice, from Sessoyasha, who wrote: "I resent that I'm a redneck so shut the fuck up" In reference to chapter 4, in which Kagome made a comment about Jerry Springer and rednecks.

There are a few things I would like to say in reply to that. First of all, here in WISCONSIN, we've got quite a few rednecks as well. We're frequently called a "hick state" ourselves. It is a common stereotype in many of the environments I encounter. I understand why you would be offended, Sessoyasha, and for that I'm sorry.

BUT, I never stated that this was the way that I felt. As a common stereotype, you shouldn't be surprised by it. Just because a character states a fact in one of my stories, I do not necessarily think that way. Many of John Steinbeck's characters in Of Mice and Men use the 'N' word as a term to describe an African American stable worker. Does that mean that John Steinbeck himself is racist?

The point I'm trying to make is that I had no intention of insulting anyone. I understand why you're angry, and your right to be so. However, I resent being told to 'Shut the Fuck up'. If you're going to be angry with me, than please do it using better language. This site is open to people of all ages, and believe it or not there are people who don't want to see this kind of language. I admit that even I may use such gruesome language when I'm angry, but I would appreciate it if you would not direct your anger towards me but rather to a nice, pretty red punching bag.

Ok, that's all I have to say.

I'm not sure as to whether I'm going to delete this review or not. Let me know what you think.

To all those who DON'T wish to tell me to shut up, thank you. I'm sorry you had to read that. That's my ranting at it's…well not so finest.

Ok, less talking, more story…ing.


Chapter 6: Return to a Troubling Scene

Rin sat on Sesshoumaru's floor for near a half hour before actually doing anything. The longer she sat there, the more surreal everything felt. This can't be real, she told herself firmly, I'm dreaming. I'm NOT at Sesshoumaru Taisho's house.

But sitting there didn't help change the fact that she was in fact, sitting on his floor.

The confused and uneasy emotions quickly turned to anxiety. She couldn't live here. Everything that had just happened was preposterous. She couldn't just pack up her things and move into an upperclassmen's house…could she?

She began to feel a swelling sensation in her stomach, one she hadn't felt in quite a while. Was it…joy? Happiness? That excited her. The last time she had been truly happy was when her family was…..well, alive.

"Well," She said to herself, "If I'm going to live here, I need my stuff. Sesshoumaru-sama may have told me to stay here…but I can't just live here with no stuff. And I can't go there in his mother's nightgown. That alone was uncomfortable.

She searched for her clothes. They were nowhere to be seen. She scowled. Her house was indeed quite a bit away. She didn't want to go in a nightgown. And if she saw anyone she knew (particularly Kagome or Sango) she'd have a lot of explaining to do. Her stomach rumbled with hunger. She sighed exasperatedly. Somehow, things seemed much more complicated than they had ever been, and she hadn't done much.

Finally deciding to go downstairs, she tiptoed outside the giant room to find a grand hallway, which led two ways (…as most hallways do…) One, was to further hallways and rooms, the other was to a large set of stairs and a balcony over the front door (A/N: If you know what I mean, there's a staircase to one side of the wall, leading down to the area where the front door is. Up the stairs is a sort of balcony, where anyone upstairs can look down and see what's going on down stairs)

As she came down stairs, she was cautious not to bump into anyone she knew there would be maids, or parents or…Inuyasha. The thought hit her like a lightning bolt. She would be living under the same roof as Kagome's greatest foe.

It was insane.

"Are you Makino-chan?" A voice asked. Rin stiffened and turned around reluctantly. She nodded. "Yes, I am." She said, lowering her head. A maid looked kindly on her.

"As I thought. Sesshoumaru-san instructed me to help you in any means possible. First of all, let's get you something to eat." The maid grabbed her hand and pulled her down the hallway, directly to the kitchens.

"You can have anything you want for breakfast. What is it you desire?" The maid asked.

Rin was speechless. She had never been offered anything with such openness. Even her parents had never opted to give her anything she wanted.

"I can't choose," she said, overwhelmed.

"Well then just sit down and I'll choose for you. My name is Tadako, by the way."

"Arigato, Tadako-san!" Rin said thankfully. Tadako only smiled. "You deserve all the best. Young master Sesshoumaru told me of your troubles."

Tadako was no more than thirty years of age. She had a light completion and dark eyes, with made her look a bit sickly, but young. She was tall and slender, like a willow tree, with long, graceful movements. A pair of square, black-rimmed glasses framed her face, making her features appear more sharp and intelligent. Her black hair was tied neatly in a bun at the back of her head. Rin thought her beautiful.

After she had been well fed (and carefully watched so) Tadako led Rin down a long hallway on the third floor. "These are generally the guest bedrooms," she explained, "and Sesshoumaru-sama instructed that you get any of them you want."

After close examination of each and every one of them (and there were MANY) Rin finally chose one. There wasn't anything particularly great about it. It wasn't large and spacious, or ingeniously designed, it was simple. The room had been painted with soft colors that gave it a relaxed, calm feeling. The bed was placed against the wall below a large window, where the moonlight could shine in at night. She loved it.

"I've always liked this room too," Tadako said, "but nobody has really stayed in it. Mostly because the majority of our guests are men. I suppose it's too feminine for their liking." Rin, giving into temptation, rushed forward and collapsed backwards on the bed, letting out a great sigh of content. Tadako smiled and laughed. "I see you find it quite comfortable," she commented, "and I'm glad. Master Sesshoumaru will be very happy indeed."

Rin said nothing. She only closed her eyes and thought happily of how much she could do with this lifestyle.


By mid-afternoon, Rin began to get restless. Tadako had to go out and run errands, and left Rin alone with the rest of the maids, who seemed to be somewhere around the large house. A part of her mind continued to nag her about going home and getting the rest of her stuff. Why not? She thought. Her uncle would surely be at work by now. She was no longer wearing the old nightgown, but instead a maid's uniform that Tadako had lent her until she retrieved her stuff.

Without another, she marched out the door to get her stuff. The only thing she had with her was the cell phone Sesshoumaru had given her. She looked happily at it, thankful that if anything were to happen, he would be able to come to her rescue again.

As she walked, she pondered that thought. He had rescued her. Of all the people in the world that she thought could possibly save her, Kagome and Sango, the police…Johnny Depp…it was the person she had least expected (ok, other than Johnny Depp). She wasn't quite sure if she liked the idea or not.

When she reached her uncle's house she hid behind a tree to survey the area. Her uncle's car was missing and nothing seemed all that peculiar. She dashed across the street to the front door and unlocked it with the key, which she hid underneath the 'Welcome' mat.

When she stepped inside she gasped. The house was a complete disaster area, or more so than it usually was. Things had been smashed all over. There were empty beer cans, cigarette packages, clothes, food packages and broken glass spread across the floor. She darted around the room, avoiding anything that could possibly go through her shoe. She rounded the corner into her bedroom to find it in worse condition. Her mattress (on the floor) had been ripped to shreds and feathers blanketed the floor. Insults and foul names were written across the walls with god knows what. All of her things were gone. She looked around wildly, trying to find where he could have possibly put them.

It was then she noticed the smell of smoke.

She fled her old room and dashed into the backyard. All of her things stood in a heap of charred ash. He had burned all of her things. She put her hands over her mouth in horror. How could he be so cruel? She dashed back into her bedroom without a second thought, in search of anything that had remained. He hadn't missed a thing. She looked over at her dresser, which was tattered, but still intact.

She walked over to it and pulled out the first drawer. It was empty. She pulled out the other two. Both empty.

The picture.

She suddenly remembered. Whenever she felt alone, she would go to that picture. It was the only one she had left of her family. When she had fist moved in with her uncle, she was ridded of all of her family pictures, since he hated the reminder. This was the one remaining picture that had saved her so many nights after being beaten and controlled.

She went to the third drawer in the dresser and pulled hard on the board inside. It loosened, and eventually was ripped away from the frame of the drawer. Inside was a compartment, where she had kept the most important things she owned. They were still there.

She cried out in joy and thankfulness, as she pulled the items out of the drawer. Along with the picture there were a few items that reminded her of her family: Her mother's hairbrush, a watch that belonged to her father, and two small toys she had given her younger brothers. She smiled fondly at the items, her eyes stinging as tears began to wet the corners of her eyes.

She turned then to the picture. It had been the picture they had taken that Christmas, a few months before they died. Her parents were dressed formally, smiling happily. Rin admitted that was the prettiest she'd ever seen herself (even if it was in a photograph). Her brothers wore hand-knit sweaters. The whole family looked so happy. If only they knew what was going to happen.

Rin, no longer able to take the steadily building pain she was under, collapsed in a fit of tears, hugging the picture closely.


Sesshoumaru was in Chemistry class when he received the call. He had his phone on vibrate, since cell phone usage was not allowed during school hours.

Sesshoumaru set his pencil down and asked to get a drink. The teacher nodded and he left the room. He quickly ducked out of sight and answered his phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi...it's Rin."

"Yes Rin, what do you need?" He asked, looking around the hallway to make sure he was alone.

"It's gone. It's all gone," She said shakily, trying to control her voice before she began to cry again.

"What's gone?" He asked calmly, but there was a slightly quizzical tone in his voice.

"My stuff. My uncle burned almost everything. It's all a pile of ashes in the backyard. All my clothes…my belongings-"

"You left the house," he said sighing, "I told you not to. I…drove by this morning and saw it. I had hoped you would follow my instructions."

"I'm sorry," She sniffed.

"Don't worry about it. I'll take care of everything, alright?" He said in a soft tone.

"…Okay. I owe you everything Sesshoumaru-sama," she said gratefully.

'Damn right you do', he thought disdainfully, but he only replied with a small, "hmm."

He hung up and shook his head. She was trouble, that was for sure. But somehow, worth it. This still puzzled him to know end.

He made a quick phone call and went back into class quietly. When he entered the room, a classmate of his commented dryly, "Well that's the longest damn drink I've ever heard of."


"I'm worried," Kagome said finally. It was lunchtime. She had been holding the thought in all day and kept it to herself until she could finally no longer take it.

"About what?" Sango asked, opening a can of soda.

"Rin," Kagome said, shaking her head, "I dunno. Maybe I'm being way to motherly, but it's just…weird. She acts so strange sometimes. And she seems to miss school so often. At least once a week."

"I don't know Kagome. Maybe she's sick. You could be overreacting. Would it make you feel better if we called her after school?"

Kagome shook her head. "See that's one of the things. I don't have her phone number. She won't give it to me. We've never even seen her house. What are we supposed to do to get in touch with her?"

"Well she has my number, and I know you gave her yours," Sango said logically, "she can call us if she feels the need. That's how we'd meet up with her otherwise."

"Yea, I guess you're right. I'm overreacting." Kagome laughed.

"Keh, you always overreact." An annoying voice interrupted Kagome from her somewhat pleasant mood. Oh well. That was out of the question now.

"What do you want, Inuyasha?" She asked, her tone so deadly it made acid seem harmless.

"Who said I wanted anything? But while your at it, you could just leave and never step foot in my school again," he said, a smirk planted on his face.

"Ok, fine. But as far as I know, you don't have your own school. And while you're at it, you can do me a favor: Put your lip over your head and swallow."

"Uh oh, better call the paramedics for that one. That was a third degree burn," Miroku said with a wince. Inuyasha glared at him. Miroku shut his mouth.

"Whatever, Kagome. I came over here to tell you that I have plans for Saturday-"

"-You're not backing out on me, if that's what you think," she said, gritting her teeth.

"That's not what I'm saying, would you give me a damn second to explain what I'm saying?!" He said irritably. Kagome shut her mouth and let him continue.

"I was saying we should probably meet a little earlier than that, so I can leave around 2:30. Is that okay with you, wench?"

"That's fine," She said, still glaring at him, "and don't call me wench."

He looked at her in mock sympathy. "Oh, I'm sorry Kagome, did I hurt those feelings of yours? I'm sorry, but you have to face the truth. The first step is acceptance you know."

"Oh go away." She said, turning her back to him.

He walked away, with Miroku in tow (but of course, not before he got his hands on Sango's behind)

"He's such an asshole," Kagome said haughtily.

"I know! Who does he think he is going around grabbing people's butts?!" Sango said, enraged.

"Umm, actually, I was talking about Inuyasha, but you're right. They're both assholes."

Kagome felt a sick feeling settle in her stomach. Now she would have to meet him at the library earlier than planned. She had hoped she could sleep till noon and forget about meeting him there. She sighed.

Sometimes there was no choice. You just had to stick it out.


Done! And it's only 9:30. But I'm tired and want to go to bed anyway…what kind of teenager am I? I'm sorry about the rant at the beginning people. You who didn't deserve it shouldn't have to listen to it. I hope it won't have to happen again. --'

Any more ideas for me, let me know!

Love you guys! Don't forget to review! (wink wink!)

LOLA