I would have had this upearlier in the week but I was having issues uploading it.

Chapter 2

Yuri managed to get through the rest of week with only minor incidents, two more sightings of the tall man but none of pale girl. Still she was not looking forward to working with Ginta on Saturday. She arrived early and told herself that no matter what she would act professional and not go off on the guy. This would probably be easier said then done but she'd do her best. He arrived five minuets late and looked just as weary of sitting at the same table with her as he had about sitting next to her in class. Yuri forgot her promise to herself and lost her temper, "Sit boy. Gees I don't bite." He looked like he very much doubted that. "Look, I know for some reason you don't like me, but since we have to do this project together can we at least pretend to get along. I don't want to be here all day just because you don't want to sit at the same table with me."

He looked ten seconds away from killing her. He really did. For a second she thought that he was going to leap over the table and maim her. There was something very predatory about the way he was looking at her. She wondered if maybe she had gone too far, she didn't even think she went off on the guy that bad.

He sighed and seemed to swallow his rage and with great reluctance took a seat at the table. "What is it with you anyways," asked Yuri when her curiosity got the better of her. He mumbled something and after a "pardon?" from her said it audibly.

"You remind me of somewhat I hate."

Whatever she was expecting, that wasn't it. "What like I act like this person, is that why you don't like me?" She was curious now.

For a second she though it he was going to rip her to bits. She got very nervous and wondered if it was really a wise idea to confront him. He seemed to swallow it but she noticed that he looked everywhere but her when he answered. "Sometimes. It's more like you resemble her. I don't hate her because of the way she acted; I didn't like it…all cocky like she was better than us, when she was nothing but a detachment of a disgusting lowly mess of human and…." He ended his sentence abruptly, paused for a moment and then tried again. "She ki-hurt people that were important to me: my pack, I mean kin, no, my friends. She hurt my friends."

Yuri was taken aback. She didn't have a clue how this person she resembled had hurt his friends but for the sound of things it had been pretty bad. She had thought that he was just an immature jerk; it never occurred to her that he might have real reasons for disliking her. She wanted to reach out and comfort him; he looked so sad. She restrained the impulse because she was afraid he would recoil from her. Instead she said softly, "I'm sure that she will get what she has coming to her."

"She did," he acknowledged with a little humor in his voice. "Actually," he sobered, "I think she got worse then just what was coming to her." Now he sounded almost sad. "It was a long time ago, I thought I was over it, I worked to get past it and move on and then I see you, but you're not her and I need to keep telling myself that."

"Look," Yuri started uncomfortably "if you really can't work with me then maybe we can tell the professor, we can make up some reason like-I don't know we can think of something."

"No," Ginta stared at a spot just past her. "I can do this. I want to do this."

"Okay," said Yuri uneasily. They worked in uncomfortable silence for a little while. Eventually the atmosphere between them became a little better as they shared their findings and decided how the experiment was going to work. But a couple of times she caught him doing his weird stare thing. Once he almost lost it and she noticed that his knuckles were white and he was gripping the table very hard. After a couple of hours they decided to call it a day. They had made some real progress and now they would have to wait for Ayumi to get back so they could compare notes with her. "Thanks for um, working with me. I know it must be hard for you." Yuri felt really dumb saying it, but she felt like she had to say something.

"I'll see you in class," was Ginta's awkward response. He started to walk away then turned around and called to her "Say, Yuri listen, about what I told you…about…I should probably…" His voice faded away and she noticed he was making point of not looking at her again, "Nevermind," he said quickly, "It wasn't important anyway. I'll see you later." She blinked she watch him speed walk away. It was clear that he'd changed his mind or lost his nerve.

The two had met in a public place, some outdoor seating on campus. Yuri was surprised when she noticed that the tall man was sitting just a few tables over. She wasn't so much shocked he was there as how close he was. There had always been a reasonable distance between them. Maybe he was following one of the girls who were sitting on benches a distance she would normally have expected to find him away. Whoever he was stalking, he appeared to writing in a notebook and possibly taking notes from the large book he had open on his table. Maybe he was just a student. Yuri wondered why this had never occurred to her before. He might have a perfectly legitimate reason for hanging around campus. But there was something about him. He didn't give off the impression of student. His appearance was older, more dignified, more like someone who was already in the business world. He could even be faculty.

Yuri was fed up with having some mysterious guy follow her. She marched over to his table put a big fake smile on her face and announced, "Hi, I'm Yuri. I've seen you around campus quite a bit and I thought I'd introduce myself."

He smiled back at her. The smile lit up his face and made his features appear far less cold, "I'm Sesshomaru."

"Am I disturbing you?" she asked trying to emphasize the word 'disturbing' like she suspected he wasn't really reading but watching someone. She had no clue if he got the intended message or not.

"Not at all, have a seat, I was ready for a break." he gestured to the empty chair across from him.

They sat in silence for a few minuets. He was apparently one of those people comfortable with silence who didn't have to say needless things just to cover it up. "What are you reading?" she asked him.

"A law book."

"Are you a lawyer?"

"Yes, I don't currently practice but I like to stay informed."

They sat in silence again. Yuri was unsuccessful working up the nerve to ask him if he was following her despite trying several times. Giving up she stood up and told him, "Well next time I see you don't be surprised if I come over and say hi."

"I look forward to it." Was he mocking her, it was hard to tell. Yuri walked away from him toward the student union. She turned a corner and leaned on the wall. Taking a deep breath she glanced around the corner. He was still sitting at the table reading. Was it possible that she was wrong about him? That he had really had a legitimate reason for hanging around campus? That the weekend meetings were a coincidence? It seemed so incredible but he didn't seem in the least bit phased that she'd approached him. She would have though he'd act guilty; instead he seemed slightly amused with her.

Maybe he'd seen he in all the same places and thought she had a crush on him or something. That made her want to march back around the corner and clear up that. No matter how handsome he was she didn't have a crush on him, well maybe just a tiny one. But she wasn't following him around or anything. She knew that the message would probably get lost in translation and she'd end up sounding like some kind of crazy girl.

She firmly turned her back to the corner and side that he was one and prepared to walk away from the situation before it got worse. She made it one step then stopped abruptly. The apparition was back. It appeared about twenty feet away. This time the little girl was wearing a simple white dress and carrying the mirror. She held the mirror at the level of stomach turned so that the reflecting surface was facing out. Her dark eyes were looking directly at Yuri.

Yuri blinked a few of times trying to clear the illusion from her vision. It didn't work. The little girl opened her mouth but Yuri was too far away to hear what she said. Should she confront this stalker too or would she only look weird confronting nothing. Well, she already risked looking like a total idiot once today, might as well do it again. With more confidence then she felt, she marched over in the direction of the girl.

"Look out," a guy's voice yelled. Yuri turned around in time to see a wild kick of the soccer ball some boys were playing with in the grass narrowly miss another student. She turned back around and saw that the little girl was gone. Yuri walked the rest of the way to where the girl had been standing. She searched behind the bushes, just in case in kid was hiding but she knew it was futile. While she didn't have any proof that the girl vanished into thin air, the kid had left awfully quickly. She wondered if it were possible that the girl had hid and snuck away. She didn't wonder for long though because she didn't like where it was leading.

Since she was on a roll and facing her problems instead of ignoring them she risked looking like a fool for a third time. "Excuse me," she asked the boys playing ball. "This is kind of a random question, but did you notice the little girl holding a mirror that was standing over there?"

One of the guys shook his head but another one said, "The albino kid, yeah I saw her." The third one nodded.

"Thanks," she replied incredibly relieved. Other people saw the kid, she wasn't crazy, and it wasn't just in her head! Of course there was the uncomfortable question of what the kid had been doing on campus but she could worry about that some other time. She'd confronted her stalkers more or less and reaffirmed that she wasn't seeing things. Yuri headed to the library with just a little more bounce in her step. She didn't know that Sesshomaru, still seated at the table, watched her. She also didn't know that he wasn't the only one. From inside a nearby building another pair of eyes followed her.

Thanks to my one reviewer. Any criticism or comments welcome.