Chapter Two
Rin's eyes fluttered open to see the familiar blue crescent mark. She smiled softly as she heard his steady breathing, her eyes switching to the clock on the bedside table that read 5:09 am.
She shifted her weight to sit up, but the strong pair of arms pulled her down again and crushed her into his chest. She looked up to see him growling unconsciously in his sleep. She smiled again as she wondered if he was even taking care of himself. It was not like him to be practically knocked out in his sleep. Other times he would annoy her by cradling her sleepy form, telling her to go to sleep while constantly reminding her that he didn't need much rest as she did being a youkai.
He was being quite protective over her, holding her in a tight embrace as if someone was going to pry her away from him.
She smiled into his bare chest. She never could remember when she was last protected in her life. After her parent's death at the age of three, she lived with her grandmother, the only family member left, until death suddenly took her away, three days after she arrived. She inherited both her parents' and grandmothers'fortune, but she was only a child back then who was forced to live in an orphanage. Luckily for her, she soon found a home in a wealthy family after a week at the shelter. She was loved and cared non-stop for a week, before her foster parents had to get back to their regular assiduous lives as workaholics. She would always be left in the vast house with the maids, obediently attending to all the personal tutoring that would take up most of her daily schedule. Her parents would come only once a month just to check on her, saying that they loved her, but would soon leave after an hour or so. She grew up lonely, but she became the fine woman with a master's degree in medication like her foster parents have hoped her to become and worked as a nurse in the hospital located in the heart of Tokyo.
Maybe it was because she was never used to being cared for during her childhood, but she tended to be responsible of everything that happened around her. It was this little characteristic about her that caught his attention in the first place.
She felt safe in the warm cage she was in, but she was starting to feel a little uncomfortable because of the stale air inside the room. She shifted once more, but his arms wouldn't budge. She wiggledan arm out of his grip and rubbed his left ear. Her fingers ran over the outline of the soft skin and a content groan escaped his lips. She suppressed a giggle as his ear began to twitch. She finally felt his arms loosen its grip and she skillfully rolled out of his reach.
She got into her robe, not noticing a golden orb cracking open as she made her way to the veranda.
A gust of cold wind greeted her as she opened the door to look at the morning Tokyo view before her. The sky was a light hue of orange and the heavy rain had turned into a light shower. She went across the veranda to stand in front of the wet railing. Her feet were getting wet from the drenched floor and her body temperature was dropping every few seconds with the arrival of another gust of wind. She could see the tall Tokyo tower from her veranda, towering over the many buildings beside it, including the massive Takashimaya mall. It was there where she had met him for the first time.
She started when she felt a pair of arms snake themselves around her waist. She leaned into his warm body with a smile as he tucked her head under his chin. She felt something hard pressing on the back of her head and turned around in his loose grip. Slender fingers wrapped themselves gently around a silver locket. It was the locket she had given him on the day he came out of the hospital. It was in a simple oval shape with a small dragon carved in the metal. It was a little something she made for him as a get well present(it had taken her three months to finish it), which he had grudgingly accepted. She never saw him without the locket starting from the next day.
She fiddled with the small locket absent-mindedly, her eyes locked onto the pendant.
"I thought your father told you to get rid of everything," she whispered quietly.
"He did." He kissed her on the forehead.
She looked up, her eyes questioning.
"Have you ever seen me listening to anyone?"
She couldn't help to let out a small laugh. "No...Maybe except me," she smiled as she looked up to him.
He raised his eyebrows slightly. She placed her finger under his eye and pulled back the skin to reveal the thin veins of the inside.
"Pink..." She muttered the color of the skin and pulled her finger back. "It's supposed to be blood red."
His eyes turned into a deep crimson.
"I didn't mean your eye Sesshomaru Koizu, I meant the skin." She gave him a wry smile as she stroked his head again. "You're lacking nutrients."
"And you would know anything about my health because?" He nuzzled his nose against the crook of her neck.
"I'm a nurse, Mr. Koizu." She giggled as he licked her skin. " It's my job to know."
He heard that line before...
He placed his right hand at the small of her back while his left pushed her waist against him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and the two stood for a few minutes without a word, simply enjoying the other's presence.
He could tell she's lost a lot of weight. And her skin seemed to be a lot paler than before.
He gathered her in his arms, successfully startling her, and carried her inside the room. He slid the door behind him to block out the frigid wind and settled himself into the armchair that faced the veranda, where he could see the Tokyo view clearly through the glass doors.
She snuggled closer to him and closed her eyes. Soon the sound of her slow steady breathes reached his ears, telling him that she had fallen back to sleep. He idly stroked her hair as he stared at the tall ediface of the Takashimaya mall. The very place where he first met her. He too closed his own eyes and recalled the day when he had met the woman in his arms as if it was yesterday.
April 25th, year 2003. Exactly ten days after the discovery of the legendary Shikon no Tama. The discoverers? An overly laid back wolf demon with the name of Kouga Tawamura and his pissed off successful friend, Sesshomaru Koizu. Kouga was no archeologist. In fact, he was the author of the best-selling mystery novel in Japan, who was pissed off on that fateful day of the discovery. He was suffering from a writer's block and had called Sesshomaru two in the morning, asking him suggestions for recovering from it. His unfortunate friend was ticked to the very end, but growled out the first thing that popped into his mind: To go and drink a cup of tea. Maybe fate was playing with them that night, because Kouga had heard his suggestion of drinking tea as 'go plant a couple of trees' over the weak line.
He had thought that was the stupidest idea, but decided to go with it.
Then there were two problems.
Problem number one: He didn't have a tree to plant.
He solved that by dragging his pot cactus out in the middle of the night and up the huge knoll behind his residence with a shovel in hand.
Problem number two: He had been whistling and stabbing the earth with his shovel, when the unsteady layer of dirt gave in under his feet, making him fall into a pit of darkness. After letting out a loud string of curses and rubbing his hip quite ferociously, he realized he was in a dark enclosed cave full of decayed demon bodies. He looked above him and realized he was a good number of feet underground with no way of climbing back up, due to the smooth walls.
He solved that by calling his dear, ticked off friend and asking him meekly if he could help him out.
Half an hour later, a rather annoyed Sesshomaru lowered himself into the pitch black cavern. The only light was the pale moonlight that was coming in from the large hole Kouga had conveniently made when he fell.
Sesshomaru was about to levitate the two of them through the opening above by using his yougi, when Kouga stopped him. He growled in annoyance, but noticed the purple glint in the darkness ahead of them, which was exactly what Kouga had been trying to point out to him. After swiftly leaping over the massive pile of decayed carcasses and thick bones, they found a stone statue in the shape of a human, dressed in traditional miko clothes. There was a large hole in her right chest and demons were climbing all over the lower half of her body, but her right arm was stretched high out of their reach, the fist clenched tightly. The small glint of purple flashed in the stone fist.
Sesshomaru had said it wouldn't be smart to break the hand off the statue, which was exactly what Kouga did, but nevertheless was quite surprised when he saw the purple jewel glistening in the moonlight when Kouga crushed the remaining stone hand.
The headlines of most of the newspapers of Japan the nextdayheld the words 'The legendary Shikon no Tama found by a nature-loving author'. Kouga had been showered with questions by numerous reporters which annoyed him like hell for the next few days and his phone never stopped ringing, due to the calls of curators and archeologists, asking him to hand over the priceless artifact to them.
Kouga finally lost it and "accidentally" slipped out that his most "loyal" friend Sesshomaru Koizu was there when he hadfound the jewel. That got quite a lot of interviewers off his back, but an infuriated Sesshomaru, who was pestered to no end by reporters, was soon after his blood. And that was how Sesshomaru Koizu became to be known as the discoverer of the most wanted jewel of Japan along with a smug Kouga Tawamura.
Now the two had to finallycome up witha decision of where to contribute the artifact. In other words, Sesshomaru simply made Kouga handle everything while he went back to his normal life of being the young president of the booming Toukijin Industries. The result? Kouga had finally chose the national museum in the prominent Takashimaya mall.
"It's run by a nutter," Kouga explained as he and Sesshomaru headed for the revolving doors of the mall, "His name is...uh...Toottoot...Or something like it."
"Toutousai," Sesshomaru nonchalantly corrected. He hated being in these cramped public places. Too many people goggling at him because of the unusual color of silver of his hair. Not to mention the women pointing at either him or Kouga, giggling hysterically like a bunch of hormone filled teenagers and blushing in a deep shade of red.
"How do you know the nutter's name?" Kouga asked flabbergastedas they entered the mall. It was full of demons and humans of all shape and size, busily trying to get their spring shopping done. Sesshomaru growled inwardly at the thought that he had to pass through the thick mass of people.
"Family friend," he curtly answered as they headed to the escalator through the mob of people. He heard Kouga growl next to him. It was a common trait the two of them shared. Both demons hated jam-packed public places and had little patience. The only differencebetween them was that Kouga had no problem showing his disapproval while Sesshomaru's impassive face never showed anything.
"Stupid museum had to be in the very middle of the god damn mall," Kouga muttered.
"Why did you pick this museum out of all the rest?" Sesshomaru asked as they arrived at the steepescalator. Many people were sticking to the right side of it, leisurely enjoying the short rest. Others were hurriedly going up the ascending steps on the left side of the escalator. This was the main escalator that headed directly for the third floor. It was located in the middle of the round layout of the building, allowing anyone on any floor to have a clear view of it.
"You want the truth?"
"Did he bribe you?"
"Nah, but he wouldn't be the only one if he-"
"Excuse me."
Kouga looked behind him to see a young woman smiling politely at him. He stared at her for a moment or so, wondering why she had called him, when he realized he was standing on the left side of the escalator. He quickly squeezed himself behind Sesshomaru, successfully annoying the man behind him, and laughed weakly as an apology.
"Thank you."
She flashed him another smile of gratitude and headed up the moving steps.
Kouga let out a low whistle as he stared at her retreating form. "I got to say, she is one looker."
Sesshomaru merely nodded as he watched the woman make her way up the steps. He couldn't help but notice her slender legs under her short skirt.
"Is dog boy done goggling at pretty woman?"
Sesshomaru glared down at his friend, who had a teasing smirk on his face and a pair of eyebrows that were moving up and down.
"And I was saying...Oh yeah. You want to know why I chose this place?"
Sesshomaru was only half listening. He was watching the young woman make her way up the escalator, thinking that he had seen her before, and saw a small boy around the age of seven standing quite a number of steps ahead of her.
"This museum was the closest from my place."
Sesshomaru refused to roll his eyes. He knew Kouga always made critical choices by the most absurd methods, but this was way too extravagant.
"And then this nutcase wanted to buy it from me...He said he wanted to add it to his collection. Offered me five hundred thousand US dollars. Rich bastard," Kouga scoffed, "Didn't take it. He started threatening me in the end and that pissed me way off."
"Did he call first?"
"Nope. Toto did."
"Toutousai."
"Yeah, whatever. He offered me a milkshake too. Much better deal than that bastard made with me."
He was about to ask the name of the man who had tried to make the deal with him when the escalator suddenly jerked with a strenuous screech, earning all the attention from the shoppers on every floor. His gaze was still on the young female ahead of him even when the escalator came to a abrupt stop, which was why he was able to recall everything that took place that fateful moment.
The small child ahead of her had jerked back when the escalator came to a sudden stop and he could see that the boy was going to lose his balance. And he did.
His golden orbs saw the child letting out a cry of surprise as he fell backwards. He then noticed the young woman darting forward instinctively. She caught the child in her arms, but the sudden weight had caused her to lean back too far. He saw her falling backwards and the next thing he knew, he had left Kouga wayback at thelower half of the escalator, which was where he was standing a few milliseconds ago, and had caught her falling form in his arms.
Scattered applause could be heard from the escalator and frommany on-lookers from the floors of the shopping complex as the child's mother came hurriedly down to the two.
"Thank you so much," she whispered as the young woman carefully handed the frightened child to her.
He saw the mother briskly head up the motionless escalator and his acute hearing picked up the voice of the mall manager's apology and suggestion of taking the elevator through the excited murmurs of shoppers. But for some reason, his mind wasn't focusing on his surroundings. It was focused on his hands, which were holding onto the woman. He couldn't help but notice that she had a lovely scent and he would have been lying if he had said he didn't enjoy warmth of her body .
"You can let me down now."
He looked down and saw her smiling up at him. She had a beautiful smile.
He was emotionless to the very end from the moment he caught her in his arms and to the second he lowered her feet down. She smiled at him once more. A smile that was full of gratitude...but nothing else.
"Thank you."
She had a sweet voice. He merely nodded. She flashed him another smile for the last time and headed up the motionless escalator like the rest.
He stood there motionless until Kouga finally came up behind him with a grin playing on his face.
"Looks like our dear Fluffykins fell for pretty woman."
His grin was soon wiped off of his face when Sesshomaru looked down at him with a menacing glint in his eyes.
"Uh...Let's get going." Kouga gave him a push and the two headed up the steps while Kouga cursed loudly about uselessly long escalators.
And then he met her again...In the same mall, on the same day when he was in a bloody state, Kouga no where to be seen, lying in a mess of shattered glass.
Bzzzzz...
He cracked open an eye when he heard his cell phone vibrate under his jeans, which had been thrown onto the floor the previous night, indicating that someone was calling him.
He was planning to ignore it, so he wouldn't wake Rin up while trying to get it, but he figured it was too late when she shifted in his lap.
"Go get it." She whispered into his skin, her eyes still closed.
"It's not important."
She opened her eyes. "It could be your father."
He was going to say that he couldn't care less, but he knew it was pointless to argue with her. She pecked him on the forehead and he let out a irritated growl as she got to her feet and headed for the bathroom. He got up and looked at the constantly buzzing phone. He let out another growl when he saw the caller ID.
He pressed the call button.
"Fluffy!"
Kouga's loud yells made him wince inwardly, due to his sensitive ears.
"Why the hell didn't you tell me you were getting married?" His excited voice still needed to be lowered down a notch. "Did you really need to make me hear it from your mutt brother? It's with Rin right? The hot nurse with the cute ass? You're one lucky dog Sesshomaru Koizu. So! Am I going to be your best man or what?"
Sesshomaru merely stared at the phone in his hand. He had picked up every single word Kouga had said and his heart tightened with every syllable. He turned his gaze to the closed bathroom door, nervous that Rin had heard Kouga(which was not very difficult), and couldn't decide whether he should be relieved or not when he heard the shower being turned on. He replaced the phone to his ear once he was sure Kouga's adrenaline level was back to normal.
"We'll talk about this later, Kouga."
He hung up the phone and separated the battery from the device. Carelessly throwing them onto the floor, he headed for the bathroom.
>>Kouga>>
I looked at the cordless phone in my hand, my eyes narrowed in irritation.
Humph...He didn't need to hang up like that did he? As his best friend I have every right to congratulate him! Do all grooms do that? Hang up on their best friends when they call to congratulate him?
Was he embarrassed? An image of him blushing red popped into my mind.
...Nah, that really doesn't go with him.
I tossed the phone onto the chair(hit the leg) and looked behind me. I couldn't get a good view from the bed and I really didn't want to get out just to see if the bathroom door is closed, but I couldn't detect her scent near. Probably still taking a shower.
I quickly turned my gaze to the nightstand and quietly opened the drawer. After digging in it for a good full minute, I finally found what I was looking for. Camel. Not the best, but try being a chainsmoker who hadn't smoked in three months and you'll appreciate a pack of damp Camel.
I placed one in my mouth and lit it, enjoying the spicy aroma of smoke. I was in pure heaven. Not as blissful as the previous night I spent with my little vixen...But pretty close.
I let out a content sigh, thinking I was the luckiest guy alive.
...For a second. As soon as I inhaled the second time, a hand snatched my precious stick away from my mouth and stubbed it in the ash tray.
"Aw...Ayame..." I looked up at her with a weak smile on my face. I was so busted.
She was standing with a scowl on her face(I got to say, a smile goes much better with her), dressed in only a towel. Her flaming red hair was damp from her morning wash and her brilliant green eyes were glaring down at me. I was busted, but hey, I would rather be busted by a hot chick than my mother.
"Kouga Tawamura," she snapped, "Do you realize that this roll of paper stuffed with tobacco can-"
"-Make my lungs as black as my hair. Yeah, I know baby." I raised my torso from the pillows. "But come on...I think I made an improvement throughout the last three months...I need a reward." I couldn't help eyeing her legs as I wrapped my arms around her waist. She had a sexy pair of legs and the towel I snagged from the hotel last week stopped at her mid-thigh.
...If it was just a little bit shorter.
She got what I meant and I could just imagine her blushing deep red. She stroked my hair and massaged my skull in the MOST relaxing way. I groaned and closed my eyes, burying my face in the towel. Her fingers ran through the roots of my black hair and pleasing memories of the previous night we shared together floated into my mind. Her fingers suddenly left my hair and I could hear her reaching for something on the nightstand. I finally cracked open an eye to see a stick of gum in front of my face.
"Your reward." She flashed me that seductive smile of hers.
"Oh, come on, Ayame..." I pulled her into the bed with me. I ripped off the towel and threw it onto the floor to let it join with the pile of our clothes we wore the previous night. "Have you seen the cool guys in mystery movies chew gum? You always see them smoking."
"Uh-huh." She kissed me on my right temple. "But you don't see attractive red heads kissing them do you?"
"No. But attractive blondes do."
She let out a laugh. It always made me feel smug when I see her laugh.
"You know what I mean."
"I might if we get back to what we were doing before that damn clock rang." I nuzzled her nose.
"Oh, right!" She raised her upper body to look down at me with a gorgeous smile on her face. "You were telling me how you found the Shikon no Tama."
"Uh...That too...But the thing we did after that."
"Uh-uh. You're going to tell me what happened," she giggled, "Or you won't get anything from me."
"Fine..." I pulled her down again with a small scowl. "If you're more interested in some purple marble than me, fine."
"You got that right, mister." She kissed me on the nose and plopped down to my side again.
"So...Where was I?"
"You dragged your pot cactus out in the mountains in the dead of the night..."
"Oh yeah... And then..." I suddenly felt really stupid telling her this. "Do you really want to know? I mean, didn't you read it in the papers?"
"I did. But I want to hear it personally from you."
"Fine... The ground collapsed beneath my feet and I found myself in a cave. And ta-dah. I found the little sucker."
She looked at me with wide eyes and then burst into breathless laughs. I scowled. I could feel the blush creeping up my cheeks.
"Now I really want to know what they said in the papers..." I muttered. "I never even bothered to look at them because of all those demented pictures of me they took..."
"Don't worry," she gasped out between laughs, "They put it into a much more dramatic story."
"Oh?"
"They said you were secretly searching for it for a decade even while you were working on your books and you generously contributed it to a national museum without any price. Well, most of them did."
"True about the national museum part."
"How did you choose which museum to donate to?"
"Um...Do I have to tell you this one too?"
Her eager eyes told me yes.
"Ok fine...It was the nearest museum from my place."
She got into a fit of giggles again. I was getting a little uncomfortable(I hate being laughed at) until she kissed me on the lips.
"That's why I love you so much Kouga," she whispered, "Simple minded, but still comfortable to be with."
"I"ll take that as a compliment." I licked the tip of her nose.
She blushed and started fiddling with my hair. "So...Did anyone else call you? No bribes?"
I knew she was only saying it because it just popped into her mind, but I couldn't help narrowing my eyes when I heard the word 'bribe'.
I think it's a disgusting word, a cowardly way of obtaining what one wanted. Such offers were given out from wusses to spineless bastards. And an anonymous worm had once offered it to me. Which meant he thought Iwas a spineless bastard.
"Yeah...A lot of bribery... The last one being a big one by this anonymous guy."
"Big one? How much did he offer?"
"Five hundred thousand...US."
"You didn't take it did you?" She looked at me with those eyes my mother used to give me whenever I raided the cookie jar(did in the past and still do now).
"No, of course not! I generously donated it to a national museum, remember!"
"Yes, I remember," she chuckled as she stoked my hair, " I know you're not as low to accept such things."
"Hn..." I kissed her on the nose while I inwardly smacked myself for making that 'hn' sound. Fluffy always used the 'hn' sound whenever he was doubtful or not interested and it seemed like I got it from him.
"But I really can't get that bastard off my mind..." I muttered.
"Who?"
"Huh? What?"
She raised her eyebrow at me. "You said that you couldn't get someone off your mind."
"Did you hear that? I think I heard my conscience just yell at me to get ready for the interview I have this noon!" I jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom, mentally smacking myself again for talking to myself out loud. Did all authors go through this stage? When they just can't help but to speak outloud to themselves?
"And you'll soon hear me yell once you get out of that room, mister!" I heard her laugh and head for the closet to dress.
I closed the door and looked at the mirror.
...Hey, gorgeous.
I shook my head. Gorgeous my ass. My hair was disheveled, dark circles were visible underneath my eyes, and was it the lights or did I look paler than usual?
Maybe I was being really stupid to take his threat seriously... Was I? Nothing happened...yet.
I growled as I glared at the mirror. That...bastard. If he thought he could hurt Ayame, no, if he thought he could even think of hurting Ayame and get away with it...He was so wrong.
But I couldn't help feeling weak inside as I leaned on the tile wall and slowly slid down until I was slumped onto it.
I closed my eyes and tried to remember the day...
The day when I got the call from him.
Hey, this chap came out a little earlier than I thought! I got all the story planned out, needs a little tidying around the corners, so this story is officially on the roll! Thank you so much for the reviews, they were what stimulated me to update it faster than I really planned. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Review for me please-!
Little preview: Flashback of the little phonecall Kouga got, a little lime planned, and maybe a little bit about the contract!
