Where the hell was she? Sesshomaru thought. He had learned to easily pick her out of a crowd or class but he couldn't see her. Everyone knew who she was now and he was dead sure they were stalking her but Rin could handle herself.
Where was she? It wasn't till after school that he found her. She was leaning against his car, no one seeming to notice her. It was hard to see her, as if the lines of her body were blurred. "Where-" She stopped him by putting a finger to her lips.
He got the picture and climbed into his car, the Mustang today, with Rin creeping in before him. He pulled out of the parking lot and was a ways down the road when he asked, "so where were you? It's not like you to skip school."
Rin shook her head and signed. Whenever they had car conversations he was happy that he had good perphial vision so he could see her sign and not crash the car. "I was there, you just didn't see me."
He frowned. That couldn't be right. "I've learned to pick you out of crowds. You weren't in class." Rin smiled but remained motionless the rest of the way to his house. As usual the house was empty directly after school so he and Rin went to the kitchen, since he had a feeling she would be hungry.
Having been there enough over the past few weeks she knew where everything was and didn't feel guilt over eating his food. Getting herself a ham sandwich with mayo, tomato, and cucumbers she sat down while Sesshomaru idly munched on chips.
They sat in comfortable silence while Rin finished her snack. When she finished they went to his room. After he shut the door he turned and saw that she wasn't Indian style on his bed like she normally was.
She was standing there, staring at him. He didn't know what the emotion was in her silver eyes but it was gone in a blink. "Watch." She signed. He watched, and then blinked. She was gone.
Where the hell did she go? He heard her laughter and Rin appeared beside him. "It is a trick I use when someone finds out about me who isn't a teacher." Sesshomaru sat on his bed and, not for the first time, considered Rin wasn't human.
No average miko, monk, or gifted human could do an invisibility spell that good. Hell, his mother had been part sorceress and she hadn't been able to do a spell that good. "What about the teachers?"
Rin shrugged and went behind the mini bar to grab a soda, tossing one to Sesshomaru. "I have it fixed so that they see me and only them.
If I have to talk to someone that isn't a teacher, say you, then I alter the spell so that you can see me but no one else can." Sesshomaru watched as she walked over to the bed and plopped down.
"Your secret is worth that much to hide?" She sighed, a sad look coming on her face. In an effort to comfort her, he placed a hand on her shoulder. They were about a foot apart on the bed so she leaned against him for a moment, allowing herself the illusion of safety. Then she straightened and faced him.
"Yes, my secret is worth that much to hide. The celestial beings feared it so much that they cursed me to silence during the daylight hours." Ok that was new. Sesshomaru looked at her, looked at her deep in the eyes.
There was such sadness, such loneliness, that it made his ache to reach out and comfort her. But she was stronger than she looked, much stronger. "Will you tell me?" She looked away for a moment and looked out the window, at the picturesque landscape.
She then sighed, a sound Sesshomaru didn't understand, and simply signed, "maybe one day. For now we have History to do."
Inutaisho was in a smoky bar tonight. Every now and again he went scouting for potential singers instead of sending one of his agents. Tonight was one of those nights. Sesshomaru had barred himself in his room tonight, Inuyasha was at a party, and Izuki had been working in her garden and was too tired to cook.
So Inutaisho came here to look for new singers. He had had a tip that there was a really good one who performed here every now and again if she couldn't get a better deal. A money singer, Inutaisho mused.
A money singer was a singer who sang only to pay the bills and appear normal in society. He had found a lot of really good singers who had been money singers. At that moment a spotlight hit center stage and a piano rang through the bar with a sad tune.
A low, smoky, voice floated through the bar, singing of lost love, of unfulfilled dreams. Inutaisho was caught up, not only in the voice but also in the fact that he had heard that voice before. Rin.
What was she doing here? Money singer. It echoed in his head like Rin's low ballad. In the near month they had known her, Rin had never mentioned who her parents were. Sesshomaru knew where she lived since he took her home most nights but said that it was a small, well-kept house on the outskirts of Tokyo well within walking distance of school.
He had known Rin kept many secrets, both dangerous and not, but that she was a money singer told him that there was more to Rin's background than he had thought. He frowned, enraptured as her voice lulled everyone in the room, even the drunks.
She finished a minute later and was gifted with wild applause. Inutaisho walked up to the bar as Rin grabbed some water by her side and conversed with the piano player. "You were right Tony, she's good. What's her name?"
Antonio Belvard had built his bar up from scratch and had seen more than the average human. He had also learned when to trust and when not to. He had been friends with Inutaisho Taisho for years and learned that the old dog kept his word and didn't skirt around things. He knew that he could also trust him with his best singer's name.
"No one knows her real name, so we just call her Shadow. Came in about four years ago, looking for work. She worked the bar here before I discovered she had a voice that went straight to the loins. So I set her up with a night and she's been set.
Sometimes, though, if she's too tired to sing or she had too much homework, she takes the bar and gives me a night off. Good girl that one. Sad, but good." Inutaisho nodded his thanks and watched Rin again.
It wouldn't do to approach her since he had a feeling she would bolt like a scared doe. For now he would keep this knowledge to himself. "Do you mind if you keep the fact that I was here quiet from her and everyone else?" Used to his friend's weird requests he nodded, but waited for an explanation.
"She's been a study partner with my oldest for about a month now. Still doesn't trust us, through she trusts Sesshomaru more than the rest of us so its best that she doesn't know about me since I think Sesshy's in love with her. I don't want to spook her."
Tony looked at the petite girl and nodded. She was like all street kids, tensed, wary, and ready to run at a moments notice. "Just make sure she's ok with that son of yours. She's been through enough, our Shadow. She needs no more trouble."
Inutaisho nodded and slipped out of the bar. Rin had more secrets than he thought. That didn't make her any less deadly. And he intended to find out why she was deadly in the first place.
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