Chapter Seventeen

"The Phone Call"

AN: I figured that this story wasn't going anywhere fast enough, and I know that I would be bored as hell with it if I was the one reading it. So I'm kicking things up a bit in this chapter. As of right now, it will start to become more suspenseful and more…dramatic? I don't know, but it's definitely developing a plot now. Oh, and there's a bit of Sessh/Rin action in this one, too.



It was two in the morning when he received the first call. It was frantic and high pitched, the words moving too fast for him to understand exactly what was being said. The number was restricted so he couldn't trace the call, and within seconds it was over, the line going dead. Confused and figuring it was just a prank call, Inuyasha put the phone back down on its base and rolled over.

Exactly one hour later the phone rang again. This time the call was a little less frenzied, a few of the words actually pronounceable.

"You jerk," was repeated several times, along with a few choice curse words and the sound of choked sobs, the voice obviously female.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha asked tentatively, pulling the receiver away long enough to see that this call was restricted just like the last. "Is that you?"

He heard a gasp at the mention of her name and the line went dead again. The silence was deafening and he quickly felt his heart pick up pace. What if Kagome was in trouble?

Swiftly dialing her number, it took everything he had not to scream as he waited for her to pick up the phone. On the fifth ring a groggy voice asked, "Hullo?"

"Kagome! Are you okay!" he yelled instantly, not caring who he woke up.

"What, Inuyasha? Is that you?" she asked, and he could tell by the pitch of her voice that she had just woken up. So it wasn't her that called…

Inuyasha felt a blush spreading across his cheeks, thankful that she couldn't see it. "Uhm, yeah, sorry about that. I just thought you were in trouble."

"At…" she paused to glance at the clock. "Three in the morning?"

"Yeah, it was just a big mistake," he mumbled. "Don't worry about it, I'll see you tomorrow."

"O-Okay," she answered, now fully awake and wondering exactly what was going on. "Is everything alright, Inuyasha?"

"Everything's fine, baby," he tried to sound reassuring. "Just a bad dream. Now go back to sleep."

They said their goodbyes, Kagome still very confused but not pushing the matter, and hung up the phone. Inuyasha couldn't help but scratch his head at what was going on. Who had called?

"It must have been some punk kid," he whispered.

Rolling over and trying to go back to sleep, he quickly found that he couldn't. He climbed out of bed and made himself a cup of coffee, figuring that he'd stay up for the remainder of the morning. An hour later the phone rang again, but this time he didn't pick up.


"So what happened this morning?" Kagome asked later on the ride to school.

"I'm not really sure," he laughed. "Some prank caller just had me freaked out, is all."

"Oh," she nodded, her fingers fiddling with the backpack resting on her lap. "What did they say?"

"They who?" he asked, turning to her with a raised eyebrow.

"The prank callers."

"Right," he laughed again, rolling his eyes at his own stupidity. "I don't know, the usual shit. I couldn't really make out most of it. Something about me being a jerk…"

"Kids these days," she sighed, a little concerned by the call. Inuyasha may have been joking around, but something in his eyes told her that it was more serious than a prank call.

"You know the weird part about it was that they sounded like they were crying," he added, as if reading her thoughts. "It wasn't like any prank call I've ever made, that's for sure."

They let the topic drop after that, moving on to speak of more generic things. By the time they reached the High School the subject was all but forgotten.

"If you ever need to talk to me," Kagome smiled as she climbed out of the car. "About anything, don't hesitate to give me a call."

"Talking is such a girly thing to do," he joked, his laugh stopping when he noticed the serious look on her face. Moving to cup his hands around her face, he smiled down at her. "I know you'll always be there to listen."

He planted a soft kiss on her velvet lips, pulling away as the bell rang in the distance. She smiled sadly at him, shifting the weight of her backpack on her shoulder.

"We should head to class," he grumbled. "I'd hate for you to be late."

"Right," she nodded, taking her hand and leading him into the building.


Inuyasha searched his call log when he got home that day, sighing when he found seven missed calls all under the title 'restricted.' The calls were really starting to bother him, but he couldn't figure out why. As he went to riffle through his backpack the phone rang again, sending a chill down his spine.

He spent a long moment just staring at it, contemplating whether or not he wanted to pick it up. The phone rang three more times before he reached a shaking hand out and brought the receiver to his ear.

"Hello?" he asked, clearing his throat and waiting for an answer.

There was silence on the other line for a long moment, the only sound being the static from the wires. He thought he heard the sound of faint breathing somewhere, but that was probably just his imagination.

Just as he moved to put the phone down, a voice spoke up. "Inuyasha? I need to talk to you."

The voice was soft and feminine, laced with grief and dripping like poison. He knew the voice from somewhere…

"Who is this?" he asked, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion and his voice raising a few octaves.

"You mean…" the voice paused, as if afraid to finish the sentence. "You don't remember the sound of my voice?"

He suddenly got angry, his grip on the phone tightening. "Listen punk, I don't know your voice and I don't care to. If you want to waste your time pranking someone, call a different house. 'Cause I'm done picking up."

He heard a strangled sob on the other line, a small squeak in the back of her voice that he recognized from somewhere. It all seemed so familiar, like the image of whoever was calling was on the edge of his mind but he couldn't quite reach it.

"Fine," she sounded angered. "Be that way."

A chill rushed down his spine as the phone was slammed against the receiver, the not-quite-silence of a dropped call drifting to his ears. The urge to call the woman back nagged at the base of his mind, his fingers tingling with the sensation of loss. But it was just a prank caller, right?

"Who was that?" Sesshoumaru appeared in the doorway, his masculine build leaning against the frame.

"Just a prank call," he whispered, his eyes still lowered on the phone.

"I see," there was silence between them before the elder spoke up. "I need you to run some errands for me."

"What kind of errands?" Inuyasha scowled, his attention temporarily diverted from the phone call.

"Nothing illegal, you mafia boss," Sesshoumaru laughed at his attempted to joke. Inuyasha did not find it funny. "I just need you to go to the grocery store."

"Why don't you do it, it is your house after all."

"Exactly," Sesshoumaru scolded. "It is my house, and if you want to continue living in it you will do as I say."

"Whatever," he grumbled, grabbing his keys from his dresser and walking toward the door. "What do you need me to pick up?"

"Just the basics—milk, pop, some cereal," he answered, fishing a hundred dollar bill from his pocket. "And anything else you might need. Take your time."

"You seem like you want me out of the house," Inuyasha waggled an eyebrow at his brother.

"Maybe I do," he smiled. "I have an associate coming over this afternoon, and I would appreciate it if the house is empty."

"Ah, I get it, an associate. Have fun with her," he joked.

"You know that is not what I meant, now go," he growled.

Inuyasha didn't say anything more as he pushed past his brother and headed for his car. Sesshoumaru watched him leave, waiting until he heard the car leave the driveway before practically running down the stairs toward the phone.

Dialing the seven digits that he had quickly set to memory, he tapped an impatient nail on the tabletop waiting for the line to pick up. As the rings grew on he began to panic, his heart racing at the idea that she could have forgotten his promise to call. As he moved to place the phone down on its cradle, however, a small click was heard quickly followed by a feminine "Hello?"

"Rin? Hey, it's—" he paused when she interrupted him.

"Sesshoumaru, I would recognize your voice anywhere," he could hear the smile in her voice.

"That's fantastic," he chuckled. "I'm just calling to see if you were busy."

"Today? Well, I suppose I'm not. Why?"

"Then I'm coming to get you," it wasn't a question, and a smile washed over his features as she didn't protest.

"Alright, how long will it take you to get here?" she asked.

"Less than fifteen minutes," and with that he briskly hung up the phone and grabbed his keys.


"God, I hate shopping," Inuyasha grumbled as he turned down another aisle. A small plastic basket hung limply at his side with a box of Cap 'N' Crunch and some bacon inside, occasionally bumping into his leg as he walked.

Scanning the shelves with a bored look, he cursed to himself and skipped to the back where the milk and other dairy products lined the wall. Grabbing a carton of Fat Free Milk and a small bottle of Chocolate Milk, he turned rapidly on his heel and headed for the register. He wanted out of this store as soon as possible.

He quickly paid for his stuff—or, more specifically, Sesshomaru's stuff—and practically ran to his car. As he carelessly tossed the groceries in the back seat and shoved the key into the ignition, he realized that Sesshoumaru didn't want him home at the moment. Glancing at the milk that was sure to spoil if he didn't get it in a fridge, Inuyasha shrugged and headed for home anyway.


"You know," Rin sighed happily as Sesshoumaru held the door open for her, gesturing for her to come inside. "This is the first time I've been in your house."

"I realize that," he smiled, "that's why I invited you over."

He guided her over to the couch in the sitting room, telling her to sit down while he grabbed something from the kitchen. She did as she was told, her eyes scanning the large room to get a better idea of what kind of man this was.

Along the fireplace mantle there was a collection of family photos, adding light to the otherwise white room. The pictures alone seemed to give the room a homey feel and she was urged to go look at them before Sesshoumaru came back.

At the center of collage sat a large photograph of a family, two children and their parents. She assumed it was his parents because the father and youngest child both sported his beautiful silver hair and golden eyes.

"That must be his brother," she whispered softly, noticing how similar the two looked. A smile graced her lips as she moved down the line of pictures.

Standard-issue Sears photos were speckled in amongst hand-taken ones, all ranging from childhood to present. Picking up a picture that she assumed was of Sesshoumaru as a child, she got so caught up in the vibrant golden eyes that she didn't notice him walk up behind her.

A startled gasp escaped Rin's lips as unexpected arms were wrapped around her waist, pulling her back into a warm body behind her. "I see you discovered the family pictures," he whispered with mock-embarrassment lacing his words.

"They're lovely," she sighed, putting the picture back in its place and leaning into him. His grip on her tightened affectionately as Rin pointed to one of the frames. "Is that your brother?"

"Yuh-huh," he nodded, pulling her over to the couch and sitting her down. Taking his place beside her, he offered up a steaming cup of tea.

"Thank you," she took the tea and sipped at it timidly, waiting for it to cool down. They sat there in silence for a long moment, meeting the other's eyes occasionally but neither speaking up.

"I—" he began, but stopped when he realized that he really had nothing to say. He was never really good with these things. They were plunged into silence once more, the only sounds being the occasional sipping of tea.

"I don't think I'll ever forget the first time I waited on you in the café," Rin smiled. He simply nodded in return, a small smirk pulling on the corner of his lips. She looked at him, trying to read the look on his face but unable to see past the stern and collected visage.

"Me either," he answered after a moment, seemingly snapping out of a trance. He glanced at her, his eyes running along her form briefly before resting on her face. There was something in her eyes, something he couldn't put his finger on—something akin to passion.

He licked his lips, his pink tongue running along lips that he didn't know were parched, and swallowed hard. He wanted her, he couldn't deny that, but he wasn't an animal. He wanted to be civilized and take things slowly, offer her some dinner and fine wine, romance her and tell her she was beautiful—

Hungry lips snapped him from his thoughts, his body being pressed against the back of the couch. He couldn't think as she straddled his waist, arms locked firmly around his neck as she kissed him deeply and instinct told him to kiss back.

Acting quickly, he tangled his long fingers in her raven locks, pulling her face closer to his own. Tongues battled, clothing was pulled at, and breaths were quickened. A foot kicked out and knocked over one of the tea cups, the steaming liquid pouring over the oak tabletop. Neither of them noticed, though, too caught up in each other to care.

Sesshoumaru pulled back for the briefest of moments to change positions, flipping her over on her back. She giggled at the sudden movement, her arms once again wrapping themselves around his neck. He leaned down and placed a trail of sloppy kisses along her jaw line, staring at her from the corner of his eye. With a primal growl he ran a long nail down her side, tracing each rib and stopping to rest on her hip.

Just as his fingers ghosted over her belt-buckle they both jumped to their feet when a door slammed open somewhere behind them.

"This won't take long, I'm just putting away your stupid groceries," Inuyasha called as he walked right past them without so much as a second glance. He made a beeline to the kitchen, two bags in his hands.

Sesshoumaru and Rin just starred at him, still in the position they were in when he barged through the door, both afraid to move. When Inuyasha came back a minute later he finally spotted them and the compromising position they were in.

"Oh," he grinned, a cocky little thing that pulled at the corners of his mouth and made his eyes sparkle with mischief. Under his breath he quickly whispered, "Wait 'till your wife hears about this."

Before Sesshoumaru could say anything Inuyasha had already run out of the room, a sharp laugh filling the space before he slammed the door shut.

"What did he mean by that?" Rin asked the second she knew that he was gone. Sesshoumaru stared down at her, swallowing hard.

"Kids these days," he tried to laugh, but it got caught in his throat. He didn't have time to hope she believed him, for as the last syllable left his lips hers took its place.


Author's Note: Once again, I find myself apologizing for not updating. There's only one excuse this time: the computer that I thought was fixed wasn't, it crashed and I lost all of my files. Sigh. I am SO sorry about this. I promise (althought you have no reason to belive me) that this will never happen again.