Oh hi! What's up? I uh...yeah sorry for the late update. ;_;

Chapter 28

Counting bears is not rocket science

My astounding effort to capture who I like to call 'stalker of the year' brought myself closer to technology than ever before. Now let's make it clear that I was never in the phase of obsession or addiction, but an everlasting need of watching that computer screen, like I was a five year old child watching their favourite TV show. My eyes were a little sore after a few hours. Never could understand how someone of such high education rates could sit and watch a screen for so long. Ultimately, they would become part of the couch, but I was not a college student spending twenty-four plus hours watching Netflix. I was a girl on a mission to capture so 'stalker of the year'.

I sat on the bed at approximately 2:32am, watching the four black and white screen panels on the laptop computer, while my chained, dog demon partner tossed and turned like he was a small puppy. Awe, now I want to cuddle a puppy.

I looked over at the...cute…sleeping…demon? Man, why can't you just be a cute, little, white puppy.

But I had to say, he was pretty cute with his eyes closed.

"You're staring," he muttered.

I shot my eyes back to the screen. "Am not."

"Are, and you were thinking how great it would be if I was a cute, little puppy."

My eyes widened a bit. "Was not! Stop reading my mind!"

He sat up a bit. "I wasn't, you were mumbling."

I bit my lip. Was I actually saying those things out loud?

"Mutant, turn that damn thing off and go to sleep," he said again.

"I can't," my eyes still glued to the screen. "I have to make sure to not miss anything."

"You know the camera records video. You don't need to watch it like an animal stalking its prey on animal planet."

I turned my head to him with a questioning look. "Wait, since when do you watch animal planet?"

"All the time; it's very entertaining." He leaned forward towards me. "It has also shown me some very interesting things as well. I can show you if you turn the computer off."

I stared into his eyes for a moment before going back to the screen. "Sorry, no can do. I need to keep watching this. I need to be on point and call the police if I see anything strange."

Sesshomaru sighed as he flopped back onto the bed. "The only strange thing I see is a human girl getting too attached to that computer."

I smirked. "Are you jealous?"

"No," he said shortly, turning the other way. "Now turn it off before I break it."

"Sure, in one minute."

My eyes went back to the screen. Over the next hour and a half, I watched. I waited. I got really hungry. I waited some more.

Nothing changed.

It was the same black and white picture.

Wait, what if they knew? What if they placed the same picture on the front of the camera, tricking me? What if they were one step ahead of me? Oh great, now I was paranoid, and Sesshomaru's snoring wasn't helping.

How are you sleeping? I blew on his pointed ear, getting no reaction. Oh yeah, he was out cold.

4:06am…

4:23am…

4:55am…

5:12am…

I lost track after that since I fell into a deep, but quick sleep.

It was surprising to find Sesshomaru gone when I woke up. Another surprise is that fact I was having déjà vu. I called out his name to find out I had no voice.

Another strange thing was the fact I wasn't in Sesshomaru's bedroom, but my childhood bedroom.

A loud noise made me stand up from the bed. I was in pajamas that I didn't remember putting on and my stomach was completely flat.

I opened the door to a small light coming from a crackling fire downstairs. Sounds of men talking echoed through from the area, making me slightly nervous.

Then I heard a voice I hadn't heard in years: my father's.

I slowly made my way down the stairs, being careful not to make any noise.

When I got there, and peeked around the corner where the fire still cracked, I saw my family sitting on the floor with three men standing over them like a looming shadow. Their heads and bodies covered with a long, dark cloak. They were tall, and gave off an evil sensation.

Then I heard another familiar voice, the voice of the man standing in the middle. His long, silver hair appeared when he took that dark hood off his head.

And I cried.

I shot up suddenly when I realized I had fallen asleep and let me tell you, sleeping upright does not do wonders on the back and neck. And that dream…wow. Strange thing about being pregnant with a demon's child are the dreams you get.

The alarm clock was blasting in the room like drums. No, Sesshomaru's alarm were actually drums. Traditional, island drums. I have no idea why.

"I FELL ASLEEP!" I yelled out, grabbing the now dead laptop.

I heard Sesshomaru groan, sitting up. "You're too loud, Mutant."

I kept pressing the on button several times, but to no avail. "No! No, no, no, no!"

I tried to get up, totally forgetting about the chain around my wrist. Yeah, found that out pretty quick when my arm was caught and I was thrown back onto the bed. Sesshomaru leaned over me, shaking his head. "You need to calm down. Everything has been recorded and you can look it over later."

"Ok, but Takahashi?"

"What is it?"

"I need to pee."

He sighed again, narrowing his eyes.

"What do you think I was going to do?" I asked him, sitting up.

"Go crazy," he answered. "Correction, go crazier."

"Crazy people don't know they're crazy. I know I'm already crazy; therefore your argument is invalid about me being crazy and I am not crazy. Isn't that crazy?"

He gave me that look that you make when you know the person you're talking to has crossed the line of confusion. Yes, I had finally done it! I made Sesshomaru Takahashi confused!

"We're going to be late for school," he stated.

I laughed.

xXx

The attempts of getting that dream out of my head were a failure. I kept my eyes on Sesshomaru when we drove to school, waiting for him to do something since speaking was out of the question. But of course my continued staring got him speaking.

"Why are you obsessed with staring at me?" he asked. "Wait, it's my good look, right?"

I narrowed my eyes. "You wish." My eyes looked at the cuffs. "I had dream about…you last night."

"And from your tone, it wasn't a good one? Relax, Rin. What could I do with these damn things on?"

"So you're saying you would do something if they were off?"

He pulled into the parking lot, shut the car off, and turned to me. "You're being paranoid…again. Haven't I proved to you how much you mean to me?"

I didn't answer.

"I haven't killed you for one thing."

"Okay, now I'm more paranoid."

I felt his fingers on my chin, pulling my head to his direction. I felt his soft lips on mine. I felt the warm feeling I get every time he kisses me.

I felt safe.

He pulled away, and looked me into my eyes. "I will never hurt you again, I give you my word, and I give someone my word, I mean it."

I nodded. "I'm going to hold you to that."

"So, what was that dream about anyways?" he asked, as I exited that car behind him.

"Oh," I paused. "I forgot. All I know is that you were in it."

And there was that annoyed look again. "You're something else, Mutant."

It was normal when we entered the school. Nobody gave us strange glances anymore. It was strange the fact this was normal now. I wasn't sure about Sesshomaru, but I was so used to be cuffed to him.

We got to my locker to see a note inside. Of course…this was why I didn't want to fall asleep.

I gave Sesshomaru the I-told-you-so look and opened the note.

Instead of written words it was a drawing of a pair of eyes. Round eyes with a solid dot in the middle. I crumbled it up and threw it back into my locker. I knew what it meant.

"He's watching me," I noted.

"We're watching him as well," Sesshomaru added.

I saw his eyes drift to locations around the hallway. The locations of the hidden camera, so tiny nobody would see them…I think.

"I need to get to the library so I can watch the tape," I said, closing my locker. "We finally have him."

Watching that video was pressuring. I sat there in the library, pretending we were both studying. We wanted to at least look like we were doing something then creeping on the hallways of the school. And I just want to point out that this video footage of the school was dismally short lived, and I was no scientist with technology.

The tape continued to play. Both mine and Sesshomaru's eyes glued to the screen. We could see people trying to get a glimpse as they walked by, but with our backs to the walls, I mentally wished them luck.

We rolled through the whole tap up to the present and nothing. There was no indication of someone coming around in the middle of the night. They would've gone before either since we checked my locker when the cameras were placed. There was no note.

Miroku and Sango showed up unannounced and sat down at our table a few minutes later. We were not really prepared and well…shuffling our stuff last minute pretending to study.

"Hey, you two! Mind if we sit?" Miroku asked, already having sat down.

"You already have, humans," Sesshomaru commented. "What do you want? We're busy."

"There are no more tables in the library, and since we know you guys, I thought we could join."

"I don't know who you are," Sesshomaru responded coldly.

"We know Rin," Miroku corrected. "Do you mind?"

My mouth gapped opened and I looked at Sesshomaru's cold expression at me before replying. "Of course."

I felt Sesshomaru's leg brush up against mine briefly, letting me know his annoyance. Oh well.

"So, what are you guys studying?" Sango asked.

"None of your business," Sesshomaru commented again.

I hit him in the side with my elbow. "He means math. We're studying math."

"And you need your laptop open for that?" Miroku asked.

I nodded. "For…um…equations and stuff. The internet is great for those kinds of things."

Miroku leaned forward. "You know, Rin," he cleared his throat. "Counting bears is not rocket science."

I raised my eyebrow. "Bears?"

"Yes, if you get a math equation, it's just based around counting. Like time, counting time and the hours are exactly the same. I always hated those time questions, especially around the train…"

"Time?" I asked, pausing in my head to think about the word for a moment. "Time. That's it! Time!"

I stood up, shutting the laptop down. I looked at Sesshomaru who was giving me the questionable glance.

"We need to go." I smiled at Miroku. "Thank you so much!"

I rushed out of the library with Sesshomaru, and the librarian shaking her head at us being too loud. Once outside the library, I pulled Sesshomaru down the hall and into a janitorial closet. I turned the light on, and he raised his eyebrow.

"The janitor closet? Really, Mutant? Can you be anymore cliché?" he said.

"Shut up, I just figured out why we can't catch this guy on camera."

"Okay? And?"

"Time," I said. "He's using time against us."

"Explain."

I opened the laptop and got him to look at the timeframe. "Look," I said, pointing at the time. "It changes. Something happens…right…here!" I pause and point at the time. "5:34am. Now, if we fast forward it a little bit. 5:30am. Unless the camera is broken, and we know it's not, it's being messed with on a whole other level."

"So the one who is doing this has the power or is using some sort of time spell."

"If there is such a thing, it's possible. That's why we can't catch him. That's why we aren't getting him on camera, because he's one step ahead of us with time."

"Rin, if he is using the power of time, it will be nearly impossible to track him without a counter spell."

"Meaning without it, he'll catch up and we'll never catch him." I shook my head. "What do we need to do for a counter spell?"

Sesshomaru shot me a surprised look. "Rin, you realize only a handful of people in the world know these kind of counter spells. Even if could find one, it'll take a lot of effort to convince them."

"Do you know anyone who can do one?"

He pursed his lips. "Yes, but it's not going to be easy."

"As long as it's possible, who cares?"

His eyes softened, and only a few times do I get to see this look. A look of appreciation. "You really are something else, Rin."

"Thank you!" I replied happily. I grabbed the doorknob, pausing. "Oh, and if you were looking for something nice in return, it's not happening."

I heard a growl as we exited the closet, and I quietly giggled.

The one thing that I regretted exiting the closet was the fact nobody was in the hallways. Class had begun, making us late. Too bad for us because one step into the direction of our class, we met with the principal of the school.

Crap.

"Any idea on why you two were in the janitorial closet?" Principal Midoriko asked, her arms crossed, and her face wearing a smiling, but dangerous expression.

"Uh…" I started. "We were…um…I…he...I got nothing."

And Sesshomaru remained silent. Gee, thanks a lot for backing me up!

"Come with me you two. We have important matters to discuss," Principal Midoriko stated.

We followed her to our doom. The entire way there my heart leaped from my chest, probably trying to escape and run away from the dooming fate.

I was only called to the principal's office once in my life, and it was with Sesshomaru too. We had started an argument in the hallways the first day at school and I slapped him in the face when Principal Midoriko was just walking around the corner. I served two days detention after Sesshomaru and I explained what had happened. He still deserved it even though he got no punishment for his nasty words.

There we sat in the same office once again, this time handcuffed. I grasped his hand this time, something I would've never thought I would do the first time. Man, how times have changed in the last few years.

"Ms. Mori, Mr. Takahashi, do you have any idea why you are here?" she asked.

"Because you asked us to be here? We were hiding in the janitorial closet, I get it Principal Midoriko, but I assure you that nothing happened." I answered.

"That isn't what I am talking about, Ms. Mori. Although, you will be punished for going places you shouldn't go. I am talking about this." She placed down a small camera on her desk in front of us. The same one placed in the hallways the night before.

Crap. She was onto us.

Sesshomaru spoke up. "It was for an experiment, Principal Midoriko. We meant nothing by it."

"And you didn't get permission before hand, Mr. Takahashi. We have a zero policy rule for this kind of equipment in this school unless its school property and it's allowed. You and Ms. Mori aren't in any classes currently that use camera material."

"It's for a different experiment; one outside of school. Rin and I meant nothing bad towards it."

"That's too bad, Mr. Takahashi, because I've been getting complains all morning from students spotting it in the corners." She leaned forward. "This is a violation in privacy, you two. I have students very upset about this."

"We're sorry, Principal Midoriko," I said. "It's won't happen again."

"It better not, Ms. Mori. I should suspend you both for this and take away graduation."

I could see Sesshomaru tense up in the corner of my eye. He getting kicked out of graduation because of me would break him. Leaving for college was his dream. Oxford was his dream. "If you want to punish someone, Principal Midoriko, please punish me. The cameras were my fault, not Sesshomaru's."

"There will be no major punishing today, Ms. Mori. However, you will both serve detention today as a warning. Thank you for telling the truth."

I nodded, watching Sesshomaru look at me with wide eyes.

"That's all for now. The detention will also serve for your trespassing into that closet. I'll be talking to the janitor about locking it at all times. You students and going into closets these days." We all stood up as she continued talking about closets and back in her day…I blocked it out. It was as bad as listening to Kaede telling me a boring story about her past for the millionth time.

When we were finally free, I felt happy that she was our principal and not the other guy. Or we would be in deep dog poop right now. Really deep dog poop.

Speaking of dog poop, I had another letter waiting for me in my locker. Oh joy!

This time I read it out loud. I was just getting to the level of being very annoyed and angry at this guy.

"Dear Rin, time cannot stop us. We will be together soon and get rid of the dog shit beside you. Don't worry, my love. In time, we will be one. –Anonymous."

I crumbled the paper, and Sesshomaru's eyes glowed red.

"Shouldn't I be the one with glowing red eyes right now?" I commented.

And I threw the letter in the trash where it belonged.

Review?

I just want to give a quick thanks to those who reviewed last chapter even though this one was delayed. I'm so sorry. This year...yeah. Anyways you know who you are and you know that I care so much for your words. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Updated: December 2, 2017