Hooray, new chapter. The play is over and I'm back to writing. How exciting. I hope you guys like this chapter. It started out as a filler chapter and ended up as a fluff chapter. Mostly a bit of Inuyasha/Kagome and some Rin/Sesshoumaru. I've been having some problems with the Miroku/Sango portion of this fic, but I'll add some in next chapter. Some important things do happen at the end of this chapter though. Some good facts to know about Rin's past.
I love you all!
Hearts!
Lola
Chapter 12 – Without Concealer
"Who do you think sent it?"
Kagome sighed. The girls had spent all of break wondering as to who had sent the mistletoe after the party, but no real obvious individuals came to mind.
"Kagome? Are you listening?" Rin asked as the three girls walked down the hallway after class.
"Yes," She said quietly. "I just really am sick of talking about this. I don't think we're gonna figure out who sent it."
"Kagome has a point," Sango said, "it could have been anyone. It could even be someone who wasn't at the party."
"Or it could be a joke-"
Kagome groaned. The two girls were quiet. They knew the whole thing made their friend uncomfortable, and with good reason.
When the package had first arrived, Kagome, Rin and Sango racked their brains for a good hour trying to figure out exactly who it was that sent it. They named of guests, friends, enemies and everyone in between. Yet none of them seemed likely to send it to her.
Lost in thought, Kagome didn't notice the person in front of her and promptly hit their shoulder. Losing her balance, she fell slightly forward, dropping all her books on the ground. Groaning, she bent down to pick them up in the busy hallway.
"Here, let me help you with those," a voice said.
A boy bent down and swept up her books before Kagome could reach all of them.
"Thanks," she said, grabbing them from his open hands. She looked up to see an unfamiliar face.
He had very striking features- long black hair and beautiful blue eyes. His smile was kind, yet it held slight mischief at the same time.
"I don't believe we've met," he said, helping her up, "I'm Kouga. Are you new here?"
She shook her head. "No, I've always been here. Well, since the district merger. I'm Kagome."
He smiled. "It's nice to meet you Kagome. I can't believe that I've never seen you before. You'd think I would have noticed someone so beautiful."
Kagome blushed at the compliment. "Oh! I'm not-" she began. Kouga just laughed.
"I should probably get going," she said meekly, "I have class."
He smiled again. "I will see you around then. Goodbye, lady Kagome." He waved goodbye and left, keeping Kagome in a trance in the hallway.
Kagome couldn't help but get Kouga out of her mind for the rest of the day. He was very nice and he intrigued her. He made her nervous and almost scared. His compliments made her smile to herself. No guy had ever called her beautiful before.
"Oi, Wench!"
Kagome was broken from her thoughts by quite an annoying voice.
"I have a name, Inuyasha!" she snapped.
"Yeah, I already said your name about fifty times and you didn't answer," he shot back.
"Well what do you want?" She said, even more irritably. She immediately wanted to take it back when he looked slightly hurt.
"You weren't listening, were you? We're doing partner work again. Guess Ms. Aiosun likes torture. I wouldn't be surprised if she was into masochism," Inuyasha grumbled.
Kagome raised an eyebrow. After seeing how well the groups did in their debates (Kagome and Inuyasha had won) Ms. Aiosun had made them do more and more partner work. It looked as if she and Inuyasha were permanent partners.
"I'm surprised Miss Goody Two Shoes Higurashi wasn't paying attention," Inuyasha said with a smirk.
"I'm surprised you actually understood her directions with that thick head of yours," she snapped back. Then she sighed. "We're not getting ourselves anywhere. Will you please tell what it is we are doing? I'm sorry I was thinking about something other than this class."
Taken aback by her sudden obedience, Inuyasha stammered, "S-sure… we're doing a unit on poetry and have to analyze a set of poems and write some ourselves."
"Great," Kagome said, "I'm awful at writing poetry."
"You're not the only one, "he grumbled.
"So when are we getting these poems?" Kagome asked, twisting a strand of her hair on her pencil. Inuyasha slammed a good sized manila folder on her desk.
"What? Is this it?" She gasped. "I didn't know we'd have this many!"
"What's so hard about it?" Inuyasha asked lazily, "we read it, make up some bullshit excuse for ideas and type it up. It'll be easy."
She glared at him. "Yeah, but you're gonna leave me with the work."
"Did I do that last time? Huh?" Inuyasha objected, "Do you not trust me or something?"
Kagome laughed. "Trust you? Are you serious? This is coming from the person who once put super glue on my desk and got me stuck."
"You're one to talk," Inuyasha said, "I'm not the only one who openly embarrasses people in front of everyone!"
Kagome looked down, obviously feeling guilty. In a quiet voice she said, "Yeah, I'm really sorry about that."
This immediately shut him up. He looked at her quizzically. "You're…sorry?"
"Yeah. It wasn't my attempt to embarrass you. I just…well…" She fumbled with her words, her face turning slightly pink.
"You haven't been kissed yet have you?" Inuyasha said, a small smirk appearing on his face.
"No! I mean, yes, I have! Tons of times!" She quickly tried to cover, but realizing she failed miserably at lying, sighed, "no, I haven't. I've sort of been saving that for when I find someone I really like. I've never really dated either, for similar reasons. It's ok, you can go ahead and laugh."
He shook his head. "No, that's nothing to laugh about. It's your choice and people should respect that. There's nothing wrong with waiting for a certain person." He couldn't believe what was coming out of his own mouth. Yet, somehow he felt much better this way than when he was mean to her. Seeing her so vulnerable definitely took away his dislike for her. Something about her innocence intrigued him- he wanted to know more about the softer side of Kagome Higurashi.
She stared at him, unaware of why he was being so nice to her. Once again, she was seeing that kind, passive side to Inuyasha she had first seen at the library that one Saturday afternoon. It was a side of him Kagome could actually learn to like – if he used it more often. "…Thanks," she said with a hesitant smile, "that really means a lot to hear."
"I used to feel that way," he admitted suddenly, "back in middle school. And then I met this girl, Kikyo…and things changed." He looked at Kagome, so similar to his ex-girlfriend in appearance. She looked at him, expecting him to go on. "What?" He asked, suddenly feeling uncomfortable under her gaze.
"Oh," she said, suddenly blushing and turning away, "n-nothing. I thought you were going to say something else."
"Eh, just that she changed a lot when we dated. She was pretty nice to start off with, when we first started dating. After that she started giving me the cold shoulder a lot. She was manipulative and after awhile I got sick of it. After we broke up, she sort of went a little nuts. She's dated pretty much every guy in the Shinikwa district after that. She's incredibly annoying these days…I don't know what her problem is." He looked up at her and shook his head. "Sorry, I didn't mean to ramble."
"No, it's ok. We all deserve to ramble a little bit," she looked over at Sango who was currently beating on Miroku. "I don't know what I'd do without Sango and Rin."
Inuyasha suddenly remembered Rin, and the conversation he'd had with Sesshoumaru. He bit his lip. Should he tell Kagome? They weren't exactly friends, but she should have the right to know about Rin. Kagome was a caring person, and he know Rin would be better in the long run. On second thought, Sesshoumaru had sworn him to secrecy. If either he or Rin found out he had provoked Kagome's curiosity, he would be as good as dead. He wasn't sure if Kagome was worth all the trouble.
He looked back at her, a simple smile on her face as she read over the first poem in the folder. Her face showed soft expressions as she read on.
"Kagome," he said, barely above a whisper, leaning in closer to her.
She looked up at him, and upon realizing exactly how close their faces were, inched back slightly. She could feel her cheeks reddening. "y-Yes?" she stammered.
"I think you need to talk to Rin," he said in a rather urgent tone. "She needs a bit of help. Don't worry, she's not in any danger, but I don't think anyone in our household can give her the kind of advice that you can."
She looked at him quizzically.
"Inuyasha, what's this about?" she asked cautiously.
He shook his head. "No, don't ask questions. Just see if you can get it out of her. I'm sure she's been wanting to tell you…it's hard to talk about stuff like that."
She nodded without a word. "I will, I promise." She looked down for a moment, then back at him and said sincerely, "Thank you, Inuyasha."
The bell rang and Miroku came over to them. Looking embarrassed, Inuyasha shrugged.
"yeah…whatever. Bye Higurashi."
"What do you think he meant by it?" Sango asked that night.
Kagome sighed, "I don't know! I really think we need to call her!"
"Do you have Inuyasha's number?" Sango asked.
"…well, yeah…"
"So then call her," Sango urged.
"…."
"What's wrong?"
"I don't know," Kagome said exasperatedly, "I don't feel comfortable! What if he answers? Or Sesshoumaru? Or their mom!"
"Well then let's go pay her a visit," Sango said, "my dad will let me borrow the car for an hour or so. Don't worry. I'll be by to pick you up in a few minutes."
"Are you sure Inuyasha won't mind?" Kagome asked tentatively. She frowned to herself? Did it matter? On any other day she would have burst right into his house, so why did she feel so scared to do it now?
Probably because of is stupid party, she thought to herself grimly.
"He'll just have to deal with it," Sango said finally.
The two girls stood on the front porch, waiting for someone to answer the door. Immediately a made swung open the door and said with a smile, "hello, can I help you?"
"Hi," Kagome said, feeling more nervous than she tried to look, "may we please speak with Rin Makino?"
The woman surveyed them slightly, and then smiled behind her square rimmed glasses. "Of course, come right in," she said. She led them through the front entranceway, then down hallways they'd not explored when they were there at the party. "At first I thought the two of you were here to see master Inuyasha," the woman said with a small laugh.
"Hardly," Kagome mumbled under her breath. Although he had been nice to her again today, she was still unsure how long that would last. It seemed that whenever she was set on her opinion of him, whether it be a jerk or a nice guy, he always seemed to come out and prove her wrong. How ironic.
The woman stopped at a door and knocked gently. "Makino-chan, you have some visitors," she called.
"Thanks Tadako, be there in a second!" they heard Rin call from inside. Seconds later she opened the door in her pajamas, her hair hanging down to her shoulders. She was very surprised to see Kagome and Sango standing there.
"What are you guys doing here?" She asked in amazement.
"We just decided to stop by. Sorry we didn't know the number," Kagome lied.
"Well come on in," Rin said, opening the door. Tadako gave a nod to the girls and walked away.
The girls smiled at Rin's room. She had decorated it nicely. The soft colors were touched up with her own personal flavor in decoration. She had made collages and hung them in her room- a taste neither Sango nor Kagome knew she had.
"Make yourselves comfortable," Rin said, "are you hungry, do you want something to eat? I can go get something if you-"
"Rin," Kagome interrupted, "we really need to talk to you."
She looked at her curiously, "Oh? What about?"
"For awhile now Kagome and I have been a bit worried," Sango said, "and whatever it is has seemed to get a little better now that you're staying here…but we can't help but be worried."
"Please," Kagome said, pain in her eyes, "if there is something wrong, please tell us. We want to help you."
Rin knew this was it. She couldn't keep it from them forever. "There is," she finally confessed, "and I didn't want to tell you…I was afraid if you ever found out, I would lose you as friends." Kagome grabbed on of her hands, Sango the other.
"That's silly," Sango said. "We wouldn't never leave you."
"Yeah? What kind of friends would we be?" Kagome said.
Rin gave a weak smile. "Thanks guys." She took a deep breath. "I need to show you something." She stood from where she had been sitting on her bed and went to the dresser drawer (It had become a sort of traditional hiding place for her) and took out the picture of her family. "This was my family," she said. "I used to live about a block away from this house. I grew up here in this district with my mom and dad and twin brothers. When they died, the closest relative was my uncle. He lived in the Kaisun district and was the most likely choice. He was mad with grief when my mother died. She was his best friend. He just sort of lost it. He drank a lot and…" she stopped, her throat tightening. She struggled to get the words out, "he hit me…for a long time. A few weeks ago I ran away. Well, more so he kicked me out. I ran and ran and passed out someplace. When I woke up, I was here. Sesshoumaru rescued me and I've been here ever since. My uncle hasn't come looking for me and I haven't attempted to go back."
The three girls were silent. Rin had tears in her eyes. It was obviously an open wound that still stung with grief. Kagome and Sango huddled around her and hugged her tightly.
"Rin…I'm so sorry," Kagome whispered, "I'm so sorry I didn't know. I would have helped you…I would have."
Rin shook her head. "There's nothing you could have done." She dried her eyes. "Besides I'm happy now."
"You can tell," Sango said with a warm smile.
'I may have been wrong about this family,' Kagome thought to herself, 'If Sesshoumaru is capable of that kind of kindness, perhaps Inuyasha can't be all that bad…'
"You guys should get going," Rin said, looking at the clock on her wall. "It's nearly 10:00."
Sango winced. "Dad's gonna kill me. He wasn't expecting me to be back this late."
The three said their goodbyes, and Rin was left alone in her room. She felt at ease to have finally told her friends about the trouble she had been through, but something still bothered her. She had ripped open a painful memory of her family, and the guilt she felt about there deaths. Silent streams of tears began to run down her cheeks as she thought about it.
There was a sudden knock at her door and she barely mumbled "come in!" before whipping her tears.
"Rin, did some of your-" Sesshoumaru stopped as he saw her. "You're crying," he observed, staring at her without emotion.
She shook her head. "No, no I'm not! Really I'm not!" She lied, putting a smile on her face.
"You can't always hide these things Rin," he said softly, shutting the door.
With that, she began to cry again. Not silently, anymore, but real genuine tears of pain and hurt.
"What's wrong?" he asked, sitting on the bed beside her.
"It's my fault," she wailed, "i-it's my fault they died!"
"Who?"
"My family," she said, her body racking with sobs. The young man took the crying girl in his arms.
"No it isn't Rin," he said in the same soothing voice, trying to calm her, "no one controls death like that."
"yes, yes it is. I was s-sick," she stuttered between sobs, "I had the flu and they went to the store to get me medicine. If I had only been healthy. Why did I have to go play outside? I should have stayed out of the rain, like mom said. If I had just been healthy, they wouldn't have died on the way to the store."
"Did he tell you that?" Sesshoumaru asked her.
She didn't answer, only wailed even more. He hushed her and stroked her hair as she cried.
"Rin, look at me," he demanded softly. She did so, her eyes red from crying. "It was not your fault they died. Your mom and dad would be very proud of you. You're a strong girl with the most enthusiasm I've seen in my life. Please know that it's not your burden to bear." She felt very weak under the gaze of his eyes, so knowing and mysterious. All she could do was nod.
For a split moment, he smiled at her. "Good," he said, "now go to sleep." She wriggled herself out of his arms and nodded again. They were still a bit red from crying, but he could see a bit of vivacity return to her honey brown eyes.
"Goodnight Rin," he said, standing to leave as she crawled under the covers.
"Sesshoumaru?" She squeaked from beneath the covers.
"Yes Rin?"
"Thank you."
He looked down at her as he flicked the light switch off. "No," he said, barely audible, "thank you." He shut the door softly and walked the hallway back to his room.
He had many a reason to thank Rin. For her smile, bright outlook and kind attempts to help him, knowing he too was in need. What she had given him most was desire to live- something he hadn't done in quite awhile.
He found it funny how raw and unprotected he felt around this girl. Something about her optimism stripped him off his sheltering cold exterior and left him open and feeling vulnerable. And although he felt most uncomfortable in the moment, every time he left the room, he couldn't help but smile to himself and think that it was a good thing. A very good thing.
I hope you all liked it. Don't forget to review! (and I really would like some suggestions/comments/criticism) Thanks so much to everyone! I'm sorry it's been so long!
Lots of love!
