The stiff silence of the room was broken when Sesshoumaru's even tone clipped into the receiver.

"Takarashi."

A soft voice drifted with an apology to his ear. It was a voice he was not expecting to hear. Instead of the excited chatter of his young ward the deep tones of the elderly lady Kaede touched his eardrums. Well, when Sesshoumaru focused on it, the fact wasn't so strange that Kaede would be spending his work hours with Rin. What was odd was that never before had the two decided to partake their entertainment in his apartment. Rin had always traversed down the elevator and down the hall to Kaede's living quarters. Why the change now?

"I'll be right there."

Sesshoumaru hung up the phone without waiting for a reply. He tightened his jaw as he stood from his chair. Rin was sick? Was she so ashamed not to tell him? The blame partly fell on him too. He knew something wasn't right this morning. Rin would never have slept through their Sunday ritual. Breakfast together then she would always walk him down to the lobby. Sesshoumaru had let her sleep, but she had felt warm when he kissed the crown of her head. He had figured that since the room had been a bit chilly, colder than normal, it was just her body heat. Sesshoumaru had been a fool and that was a hard fact to admit, even to himself.

Sesshoumaru shook his hand and pulled on his coat. He packed his computer into its carrying case and made sure that everything was in order on his desk. All important papers were locked back into his wall safe and every drawer in his was locked as well. He swept the pencil eraser shavings from the tabletop. He had created them when edited the first draft of his report. He shut his eyes briefly and breathed in deeply. He prepared himself for the putrid, polluted air of Tokyo as he locked the door to his office.

Nearly unheard steps padded on the tile as the president headed for the elevator. As he pushed the button a lingering remembrance flickered in his mind. The girl would be ending her internship soon to go back to her college. Three more months, in March she would return. Her group hadn't had much success with their experiments or progress with research. This epidemic was growing larger by the day. A cure or at least some valuable explanation would be needed, expected, for the public.

If nothing was found, it would turn out bad for Taka Tech. and now Hama Corp. as well. The two leading companies would not know failure. Hirakata wasn't doing his job. The man was a well known lecher and seemed to be quite distracted when it came to his work. Though his reports were very informative and his theories were quite possible, but have yet to be proven.

Bankotsu had also been reporting back little new information as well. Several were stumped as to the causes, no less a cure. Moral was lowering and frustration was taking root.

Perhaps I should look into this.-

Sesshoumaru entered his sleek, silver car and pulled out of the parking lot. First things first, he had to get to Rin. She had much to explain. Sesshoumaru didn't approve of weakness, but there was certain strength in realizing and admitted one's faults. The object was to use them to your advantage and create a powerful strategy despite the errors. Besides, his daughter should not be ashamed to speak of such things like sickness to her father.

Sesshoumaru frowned. The women in his life were so complex, but at least it wasn't dull. He could put up with annoying, loud defiance, he supposed, but boredom was one thing he despised. He looked down upon it almost as much as poor quality and telling lies.

Sesshoumaru checked his watch. He had planned on visiting his soon-to-be business partner. The elderly man's health was failing at the moment, since yesterday he was admitted into the hospital. Sesshoumaru had called to make sure he received the best care and also to check up on his situation. It was a heart attack and a nearly fatal one at that.

I'll have to go home first.-

With Inuyasha

Inuyasha switched his foot from the gas to the break. He geared down from third to neutral. His red corvette, with the black top down, halted on a dime in front of the white line. Inuyasha turned his cell phone on. The silver phone hung attached to his visor of the car above his head. He plucked the ear phone from the fold in the visor and hooked it to his ear. He then used voice command to call.

"Call Kikyo cell."

Two fingers adjusted the volume control of the microphone to a higher notch. Inuyasha popped a piece of gum into his mouth from the pack in the cup holder at his side. Then the male turn the dial on his stereo to tone his music down. He waited for his girlfriend to pick up while his eyes, shielded only by the sunglasses on his face, watched for the light to change. Green flashed and his foot changed places once again. He used his left foot on the clutch and shifted gears with ease. There was no stall and no halt in the easy flow of progress in his baby. It had taken him three years to save enough to be able to buy this beauty right off the lot. No down payments or loans for him. His newly acquired, restored, and seemingly popular restaurant gave him the extra boost he needed to be able to purchase the corvette.

The smooth lines of the car interrupted only by the lift in the windshield as it slanted back towards him. The mirrors glistened catching the streaming sunlight. The brilliant fire red paint stuck out among the other black, silver, and blues common among the city streets. A few bright spots like his drove by and turned away down other streets. In his car, Inuyasha had a freedom he only felt while in the wilderness. He could always drive, could always get away. It was a constantly available escape from his drone-like life. Inuyasha just had to get in and turn the key. The manual clutch released and gears properly changed, Inuyasha could disappear into the smoky clouds of the Tokyo cityscape.

Kikyo's automatic voicemail kicked in meaning that her phone was off or she couldn't get to it. Inuyasha frowned. Kikyo never forgot her phone, she always carried it. The thing was almost always on too. She'd only ever missed a few calls and most were because she was in the shower when he happened to call. However today, he'd called her twice. Once at nine because they were supposed to meet at their favorite coffee house for breakfast, but she didn't show up. He had sat there for about an hour before deciding to call her. He'd been mad about her standing him up and had been ready to give her an earful, but she never picked up. The second time was just a few seconds ago at one. Maybe she was sleeping in? It was really late in the day and Kikyo wasn't ever one to waste the daylight.

"Maybe she had to go into work."

Inuyasha doubted that also. Kikyo was a hard worker, but she rarely ever gave up her weekend relaxation to go into work. Only workaholics like his half-brother ever did that. Inuyasha flicked on his right turn signal, merged into the right land and pulled onto the expressway. Immediately he shot back into the left lane and pressed his foot down speeding past several vehicles. He gripped the steering wheel and snapped his gum with his tongue.

Inuyasha lifted a hand and turned his stereo to the next CD. One of his favorite rock bands, what could be called 'scremo' because it was a screaming emo band. Inuyasha pulled the visor down to shade his eyes further from the rising sun and pulled out past yet another car.

He couldn't help being worried. Her father wasn't doing so well. Yesterday, he had passed out while sipping his coffee. He was spending the Christmas morning with his children, no matter how old they were. The morning was spent opening gifts. However, that normally happy occasion was interrupted when he dropped his coffee and fell to the floor clutching his heart. Hisoro was rushed to the hospital and into surgery. He had had a heart attack. Kikyo had spent the night by his bedside. Her father was still in critical, but when he stopped by with coffee late last night, they had decided to get breakfast together the next day. Was she still at the hospital? It was possible she forgot. Inuyasha couldn't deny the pang that caused in his chest. Of course it wasn't that she missed breakfast, but the possibility that she forgot about him. Almost immediately, Inuyasha felt guilty. Her father was in the hospital for Christ sake. How could he be so selfish?

He sighed and hit his left turn signal. Inuyasha steered off the highway and beneath the overpass. He looked both ways before turning left and heading towards the hospital. The coffee in the second cup holder jostled with the quickness and steepness of his turn. Inuyasha grunted lowly before righting the cup and continuing on to the next stop light.

Kikyo's too good for me.-

Still, at that thought Inuyasha couldn't stop yet another rare smile from crossing his face.

Sango's Apartment

Kohaku stood and stretched. With a weary yawn, he replaced the book back onto his bookshelf. The thick volume bind sat heavily into his palm as he slid it back into its slit. A finger ran along the next shelf down. Kohaku blew out his cheeks and rubbed a fist against his eye. As he lifted his arms above his head and arched his back the bottom edge of shirt lifted to reveal his stomach. Kohaku lidded his eyes as he walked over to the body length mirror hanging on the wall.

The young lifted his shirt pulling it up past his ribs. There in the arch of his ribcage was a clean scar from a deep incision. The pad of his index finger touched it briefly. Kohaku sighed dropping the length of his shirt back down to cover the obvious mark. Everything had different ways of dealing with pain. Some cried where others, like his sister, drank in an effort to drown the torment. However, he utilized other methods. While his sister was locked away in her room, he slipped into the kitchen. Her sobs and drunken steps covered the soft gasp and coughs he uttered. Very little sound escaped him and still Kohaku guarded himself from pain. It was so easy to block it all out.

Only one girl didn't avoid him because of his silence and lack of emotion. Of course, he smiled every now and then. He spoke and would give a small laugh as well, but Kohaku was bursting full of life. He was always holding himself back in fear of rejection or getting hurt. Rin didn't go away. She would always come up to him during class, talk to him, and ask him for help. The little girl wanted to see him out of school too unlike some of the others he met who just wanted to use him for his homework. He was always popular when there was a group assignment or project because Kohaku was full of fresh, brilliant ideas.

Rin never asked for anything besides on how to do this type of math problem. She wasn't particularly adept with math or science. English, language, and grammar though were certainly her expertise. Rin was nearly fluent in English, French, and of course Japanese. She was currently working on Latin and German. Shippou had found it funny that she wanted to learn a dead language. He had asked why learn to speak something no one else used anymore. Rin's answer was because it was beautiful and the basis for all other languages.

Though it was no wonder Rin could so simply see past his barriers. Her father was the one and only ice man of the technology field, Takarashi Sesshoumaru. Go figure that one of his closest friends in his new school would be the adoptive daughter of his idol. It was even more ironic because when he heard her last name he hadn't made the connection that she could possibly be related. At the time, he had only bowed and proceeded to explain the quadratic formula. She was so strange too. Rin was constantly full of energy and looking forward to the bright, new day. Her happiness was contagious and Kohaku found himself chuckling as he followed her down the halls of the school. Somehow, he was glad he met her. Along with the ever-cunning Shippou, the trio made quite an interesting sight.

Kohaku looked out his window where he could see the park. Many of the trees were beginning to bloom; a large Sakura tree near the center was already becoming burden with unborn blossoms. Kohaku's eyes drifted higher to the faraway, yet so close high rise buildings in the distance. He could only wonder what his strange companion was doing at the moment.

So, I know this might be pretty drawn out and maybe getting a tad boring…but it is my story. If this is too overdone then don't read. Of course I don't want to lose readers. (I have met so many awesome people via reviews .) If my story is a little boring that is something I can fix that. I won't, however, go back to change and edit out half my plot.

Well…that was sort of a rant and I apologize for it. I was a little irritated because I know my plots move slow and I suppose get annoying. Anyway, continue on. Still more chapters!