Hey guys! 00000 represents story breaks, but xxxxx now represents flashbacks!
Also manioc/cassava/yuca is like a yam, but it's not sweet. Chayote (or chuchu as known in Brazil) is a funny looking green pear shaped squash that is put in soup, stewed with meat, or thrown in vegetable stir fry.
ALSO - Rin has not only experienced jetlag, but worked a very demanding job, so her sleep schedule is jacked. Please forgive any grammatical errors, I had to type half of this chapter with my eyes closed because romance gives me second hand embarrassment.
Y-icey! Thank you hun! I will be incorporating more chapters where they get closer! Also, things are unfortunately going to get a little hectic with our two lovebirds, but don't worry - Not too crazy!
MissMeep Thank you so much sweetie!
DraconisRose960 Thank you hun! I tried to work up a chapter before the end of the month!
all followers and reviewers: I love you guys and thank you for reading!
00000
Sesshomaru looked out the window to the pristine sky, and opted to pull on a pair of slate slacks, along with a beige shirt, and layered it with a mens cobalt cardigan, and matching slate blazer. With a frown, he grabbed a pair of shades, and pushed it into his hair.
Rin rolled over on the bed into his previously occupied space.
"Mmm, Toasty."
He scoffed as his eyes danced with mirth.
He turned on his heel and grabbed a pair of dusky blue suede oxfords.
He sighed heavily, before allowing his jyaki to flare into a soft purple light, reverting him to his human concealment.
He frowned when his keys weren't by the glass bowl in the kitchen, and turned around to see them next to a deep mahogany lacquered bento box.
"You don't know how to relax, do you?"
With a tight expression, he lifted the lid of the bento. Well, it doesn't hurt to try.
Before, in the past, he would've been annoyed that Rin tried to give him human food. Now, he was just mostly relieved that the girl was the same. Some things just never change.
With a sigh, he took the bento out the door with him.
00000
Rin awoke around midday, and sighed, "Deus, eu odeio acordar tarde. Me faz sentir preguiçoso"
[God, I hate waking up late. Makes me feel lazy.]
She rolled out of the bed, and opted to brush and style her hair. Giving it the tender, loving, care, that it had been neglected.
She parted her hair, before oiling it roots to end. She picked up the flat iron, and froze.
xxxxx
"Rin, why is your hair so uneven?"
The girl shrugged while tugging on her purple butterfly kimono, "I dunno, it's been a while since Kagome last clipped it for me."
Sesshomaru stood behind her, "It's disgraceful that they allow you to run about this way. Sit down."
The girl sat down and he followed behind her.
She felt his claws tug on her roots, parting them, before hearing the very distinct Snip! Of hair falling.
She giggled, "You would make a wonderful hairdresser, Sesshomaru-sama."
"Is that so?"
"Mmhmm! You don't yank my head like Kaede-oba."
"Are you treated well in the village, Rin?"
"Yes, Sesshomaru-sama. It's boring though, it's not like travelling with you."
He gave a sound of agreement, before his claws raked through her hair one last time.
"Let me know if you like it."
xxxxx
Rin ran the flat iron through the first section of her hair, before carefully studying the ends.
Her fingers clenched around the section of hair, and she smiled sadly, "Oh, Sesshomaru-sama."
She paused momentarily to relish in the nostalgia.
She finished her hair with ardour, and decided to shape her brows. "Talvez eu tenha que pedir a ele que me faça um favor!"
[Perhaps I'll have to ask him to do me a favor!]
About an hour later, she cleaned up the sink and swept the bathroom, before taking a moment to admire her freshly shaped brows. "It's been a while since I've done this!"
Her stomach growled, and she walked into the kitchen, deciding to whip up a small breakfast. She paused, thinking about pastel frito de carne, but frowned at how long it would take.
"Oh, manioc con carne sounds wonderful right now!"
Rin opened the fridge and took a garlic, habanero, onion, chayote, green bell pepper, one cassava tuber and two tomatoes. After moving them to the counter, she took two thin slices of steak and placed it immediately into a bowl.
She used her hip to push the fridge closed, and placed the bowl down before washing her hands.
Moments later, she went to the now fully stocked pantry, and took out a bay leaf and a scoop of beef bouillon powder to incorporate with the stewed beef.
She started chopping the meat before braising it. Afterwards, she chopped all of the vegetables, save, for the cassava. Then threw them into the braising meat along with the habanero, bay leaf and beef powder. In another pot, oil was heating.
She washed her hands again, along with the cutting board, and promptly went back to cutting the cassava. After getting the thick strips she desired, she checked the oil before frying them.
While it was frying, she decided to cut up some avocados, onion, and tomatoes, and squeezed lime on them.
She went back to the stove and placed the fried cassava on a napkin covered copper tray, and returned to washing up the rest of dishes and wiping off the splattered oil from the stove.
00000
"Yo, Yasuo, when are you taking your lunch?"
Yasuo groaned, "Two, wanna finish this up before I head off."
"I'm hungry, man. I can't wait till two."
"Soichi, really?" Yasuo groaned, "Alright, I'll take lunch at one. If you go before me, just make sure you actually leave half of my bento."
A latina girl stood over their glass cubicle, "Y'all still sharing lunches? Yasuo, I would've thought you learned better after Soichi ate your lunch." She looked towards the left, looked at Yasuo, and lifted her brows, "Twice."
"I don't know why I do it." Yasuo groaned.
Yanina sighed, "I'll tell you what, Yasuo, I'm heading to lunch at the same time. Want me to pick you up anything?"
Soichi smiled, "Well I'll take a-"
"Not you, hardhead!" Yanina whispered before going back to her station.
Soichi sulked while turning his second monitor around, "I'm finding so many damn security breach issues on this site, I'm surprised Blue Cross Blue Shield just...left so many people's information exposed."
Yasuo groaned, "I can't believe it either, makes me not want them for health insurance."
"Speaking of which, when is enrollment?" Soichi asked.
"Dude, you're eligible after 90 days!"
"Oh, shit, really?"
"Yeah, full benefits too. How many days you've been here?"
Soichi sighed, "I've lost count, but I'm near 90 days so...I'll go to HR later and get that sorted."
"Nah, company reminder will pop on your screen. Shigeto-san isn't like that." Yasuo added.
"Really, holy shit? Most bosses try to skimp on your insurance."
"I know, but the guy HATES sick people coughing and sneezing 'round the damn place. Two weeks ago Jordan came in sick, and was sent home 5 minutes in. He tried to reason with him, and the guy just sent him home, full pay and didn't take a sick day. He was fuming."
Jordan passed with a coffee in hand, "It's true. He was like, "I can smell you're ill, fuck outta my face." Usually, bosses would take a sick day, but he was, like, God, anything to make you leave."
Soichi inhaled, "That's amazing, I got fired from my last job for calling in sick."
"That's illegal you know!" Yanina spoke over of her glass cubicle.
"It is, but I had the flu and they cited "poor performance" as the problem, rather than attendance."
Yanina stood over the short cubicle again, "But the flu was killing people this year?"
Soichi scoffed, "They probably wanted me dead."
"Well, it worked out for you man," Jordan interjected, "You've got a better job now."
Soichi smiled, "Yeah, and the workplace isn't so hostile. Everyone where I used to work was backstabbers fighting for promotions. Really, it's not that serious."
Yasuo exhaled forcefully, "Yeah man, I know what you mean."
Jordan turned to leave, "After you're done with that diagnostic report, run it by me. I want to run a test virus on the site to see how easily the information can be hacked."
Soichi groaned, "At this point, it's just not even a leak or hack. All proprietary info is just...hanging all out in the open. Like, sitting ducks."
Jordan groaned, "Damn, at least give me a challenge."
Yasuo cut them short, "Be careful what y'all wish for."
00000
Rin wiped her mouth after eating twice, "Nossa, eu estava com muita fome! Talvez eu tenha perdido a comida brasileira no Japão."
[Wow, I was really hungry! Maybe I just missed having access to my hometown food in Japan.]
She cleaned up after herself, and left the rest of the food out, determined to eat again in a little.
She turned on some music, and decided to set up the computer she'd received over the weekend.
"What is the Wifi password?"
She hunted for the modem, to search for the gateway's passcode on the back.
"Where do I even begin?" With a sigh, she continued to herself, "I'm going to find this bad boy without bothering him."
She stood up and decided to head straight to the office, and found the modem right there.
"Aleluia!" she scooched under the desk and took a photo of the back of the modem, before returning to the computer in the living room.
She charged the Windows computer, watched as it started up, while placing the packing back into the box, and closing it up neatly beside her.
When the surface pro finally booted to life, she smiled before standing up and moving the box to her bedroom.
In the closet though, was something she didn't quite see earlier.
"Bluetooth headset? Wow, this man truly forgets nothing!" She picked up the said set, and turned it around.
"-Bose Quietcomfort 35 ll, customized deep burgundy, pink pop, and rose gold trim. Holy, how much did these cost? When-when did he send for these?" Rin's jaw went slack as she kept turning over the box.
Meu Senhor é simplesmente extravagante, e algumas coisas simplesmente nunca mudam.
[My Lord is plain extravagant, and some things just don't ever change.]
Resigned, she took the headset and went back to the computer.
Before anything, she REALLY (despite her sense of self preservation and guilt) wanted to try the headset.
She opened youtube, and decided to search for a few songs after powering up the half charged Bose headset.
She balanced them on her pointer finger while staring in awe, "These match perfectly! And it's matte? I thought this only came in gloss!"
She listened to a few songs, and sat with her mouth open.
"Oh, this is really crisp!" She awed in broken English.
I can't even hear anything! The girl looked around, paranoia and anxiety getting to her.
I love these headphones, but I've gotta be aware of my surroundings.
She opted to close youtube on the surface pro, but decided to toy around with the television and play youtube from there.
Yes! Now, I can listen to my music, and still be aware.
She often played her music aloud, and didn't wear headphones unless someone was home. Years of living in less than desirable areas left an ingrained paranoia of danger always lurking around the corner. Rin tried to push the fear away, but no matter how often she realized she was in a safe place, it didn't quite click yet. Therefore, she was always hypervigilant.
"Ooh! Sabrina Malheiros!"
Rin turned up the music with the remote, computer long forgotten, and started to dance.
She placed her hand on her stomach, and started stepping backwards and forwards rhythmically.
With each step forward she swayed her hips, and with each step back swayed the opposite way, until she built a smooth cadence.
Her feet started to pick up pace as she danced on her tiptoes.
Her waist and back followed, and she started alternating from rocking on her tiptoes to her heel with each sway, moving in circles. The hand not on her stomach waved smoothly in a princess wave with each rotation.
The tempo increased, and the hand on her stomach came to grip her hair, and the waving hand came down to grip her hakama-esque floor length skirt and twirl the smooth fabric around.
Autoplay continued to Toco's - Barraçao.
The girl twirled with a pretty smile, and moved her feet backwards and forwards with small steps, rolling her hips and shoulders as the skirt became a flag.
Eu vou cobrir meu barracão
De zinco
Vou esconder meu coração
Dessa mulher
Vou descer o morro à fé
No peito eu vou cantar
Meu samba
Exigir dessa mulher
Respeita, tenho ainda quem me quer
Cai a tarde na cidade maravilhosa
Meia volta eu vou chegar, pode crer
Vem a noite na cidade maravilhosa
Um sorriso, uma resposta,
Um novo amor pra refrescar
Eu vou cobrir meu barracão
De zinco
Vou esconder meu coração
Dessa mulher
Vou descer o morro à fé
No peito eu vou cantar
Meu samba
Exigir dessa mulher
Respeita, tenho ainda quem me quer
Cai a…
Autoplay continued and another song from Toco played, Assuntos Banais.
She twirled her fingers through her long hair, and continued to dance in a circle, before the song ended with a piano rift, and the girl swung around, allowing her skirt to fan out at the knees and surround her in a perfect circle.
She grabbed the skirt one last time, holding the front up to her knees, before catching a glimpse of herself in the mirrored wall unit.
With a pretty blush, she dropped the skirt and allowed it to fall to her ankles.
She stepped closer to the mirror, and touched her face, before running her hand down her long sleeve clad arm.
She began dancing again, intently studying herself in the mirror.
How would she look to others?
When she danced, she hoped it appeared innocent and carefree.
Suddenly, a surge of self-doubt struck her. Perhaps she was too carefree, and appeared loose?
She hoped that she was attractive?
Rin stopped, and suddenly felt uncomfortable, torn between wanting to be beautiful and also not wanting to appear...sexual.
Her skirt was long enough.
She didn't have much to draw in the chest department, so she sighed in relief, and decided to turn sharply away from the mirror.
"I haven't felt this free in such a long time. Maybe I have some inhibitions of my own to release."
She shook the thoughts from her head, and turned up the music and clapping to Georgette's - Kirie.
She danced and sung along to the chorus, and didn't realize she'd miss a call.
00000
"Yo, Soichi, go on ahead and warm up lunch. I've gotta head to the restroom."
"Yeah, sure man." Soichi agreed.
Soichi walked into the breakroom and opened the fridge, grabbing the bento box.
He opened it up, and saw that really, nothing needed to be reheated.
"Oh, damn, this is really good!" He popped a fried shrimp into his mouth, and ate one of the rolls.
Yasuo came in and picked up his chopsticks, turning over the rice.
"Soichi, this-this isn't mine."
"Yasuo, you're fucking with me, right?"
"I'm not playing, this ain't my bento."
Rice fell out of Soichi's opened mouth.
Fear nipping at his heels, he jumped up, toppled the wooden stool, and opened the fridge.
"Christ, why-Jesus-why are there two bentoes in here?" Soichi yelled.
Yasuo stood up behind Soichi, "Bro...that's mine."
"Then whose-whose bento is that?"
"I don't know, but there's-there's only one other Japanese person in here."
"Do you think it's Nancy's? She's chinese!"
"No, you idiot! Chinese bentos are wider, and flatter!"
"Oh my god, I fucked up!"
The lights flickered above them, and Soichi started panting.
Yasuo jumped back, "Boss!"
Soichi quivered, too horrified to turn around.
"Yes, yes you did, Soichi."
Yasuo started making inhumane clicking noises with his throat, and Soichi was squealing until he lost breath.
Finally he turned around.
"Both of you, office, now!"
Sesshomaru sat at his desk, hands clasped, staring down the two quivering men.
The printer went off, and at the same time a corporate email went out.
Subject: Double check lunches BEFORE consuming them.
"Shigeto-san, we are very sorry about this." Soichi started.
"Dude, I was not part of this! You should've recognized my bento!"
"You're really throwing me under the bus? Here? Now?"
The lights flickered ominously, "Silence."
Yanina picked up the printed documents outside of the office, and stared stunned at the three through the glass enclosure.
When Shigeto looked up, she darted off.
"I can't believe I have to scold you like children. We're all adults here, and common sense should've reminded you to double check the bento."
His computer went off with Hangout's video chat ring.
Sesshomaru froze, before rejecting the call.
"Like I was saying," The computer rang again.
"Leave my office."
Yasuo and Soichi stood up, and froze when they heard a woman's voice.
"Hi, Shigeto-sama!"
The two employees looked at each other, stunned.
Sesshomaru shot them a nasty glare, before Rin perked up again, "How was the bento I made you?"
Soichi was really trembling, and turned around and mouthing another pitiful apology.
It was like their feet were glued to the ground.
"Oh, Rin, I don't know. Maybe you should my employees." He stated with unnecessary malice, before turning the computer around to give the two guilty culprits their fifteen seconds of shame.
"Hi, uhh, Rin-san." Soichi grimaced over his shoulder.
Yasuo was too stunned to say anything.
She waved at them, "Oh, Shigeto-san, it's fine. I can always make another."
He shot yet another nasty glare before huffing, "Get out. I expect you've learned a valuable lesson today."
Yasuo and Soichi busted it out of the glass office, while blubbering incoherently.
"Sesshomaru-sama, you didn't have to be so hard with them, ya' know!"
He shrugged, "Still doesn't mean I'm not upset."
"If you stop by, I cooked earlier. You can have that instead."
"Are you not relaxing?"
The girl blushed, "I am, I was just dancing earlier. Also, thank you for the headset."
He only gave a curt nod.
"Seriously, do let me know if you feel for anything. I'm here, and have no problem whipping up something."
He only shook his head, "No, I appreciate the sentiment. Get some rest."
"Alrighty, see you later, Sesshomaru-sama."
00000
Yanina gaped at the email, the printout in the break room, and at the two culprits.
Yasuo ate peacefully, while Soichi's mouth watered at the half eaten bento.
"You really ate Mr. Taishou's lunch?"
"I did...I'm fucked."
Yanina started laughing until tears rolled.
Jordan looked at the half eaten bento, "Bro, just eat it. He's gonna trash it anyways."
Yanina sighed, "Still, that's an invasion of personal space. That's someone else's lunchbox."
Jordan took a sip of lemonade, "Yeah, you do have a point."
Soichi looked over his shoulder, checking to see if the coast was clear.
Yasuo underlooked Soichi beside him, "Whatever you gotta say, clasp it 'till we leave."
Yanina nodded but looked over the glass, "You said boss was talking to a girl?"
Jordan sighed, "I want the tea, but I really like my job. We can talk about this, after."
With a sharp nod, they all agreed. Not before, that is, Soichi ate the rest of the bento.
"You greedy motherfucker." Yasuo muttered.
00000
Rin logged into all of her accounts on the surface pro, and was shocked to see the outpouring of reviews and love from her followers.
People were lamenting her well being, and she was shocked to see that she'd truly been missed.
With a surge of motivation, the girl updated her status on deviantart, webtoons, and pixiv.
Almost immediately, thousands of comments starting pouring in.
She felt near to tears, such lovely and positive comments coming her way.
She spent hours reading them.
Her face lit up, and she actually reached out to a few messages.
Feeling her creativity, she decided to try doing a quick doodle with the surface pro, just to feel it out.
00000
Sesshomaru watched as his employees filed out, before sighing and flinging an agenda into the desk. Just because he was good at it, didn't mean he was cut for it.
00000
Jordan and Yanina hopped into the backseat, while Yasuo sat up front with Soichi.
"Dude you said he was talking to a girl!" Yanina perked.
Yasuo nodded, "Yeah, but I better not hear a peep of this from anyone else you hear me!"
Jordan laughed, "Oh my god? What did she look like?"
"Uh, tanned girl. Racially ambiguous?" Yasuo answered.
"She was Arab, I'm telling you! She was dark skinned with long hair, and a curved nose." Soichi argued.
"She could be southeast asian!" Yanina perked.
"But she called him "sama" though." Yasuo added.
Jordan perked, "What? I've read enough manga to know what that means!"
Yanina scoffed, "Hentai or anime?"
Jordan coughed and sputtered.
"I take it as the former." Yanina finished.
Soichi turned, "Y'all think it's one of those rent a maid thingies, you know, with the whole kink call me master thing?"
"Oh, hell no!" Jordan retorted, "He wouldn't let you see her. Obviously she has some sentimental value."
"No," Yasuo argued, "In Japan it's really common for people to take up rent a girlfriend, rent a family, rent a friend type things. Lots of lonely and isolated people there."
Yanina sighed, "But she wouldn't be Middle Eastern?"
"People abroad take up those jobs." Soichi added.
"True." Jordan agreed.
Yanina sighed, "He's so cut and dry, honestly I would be happy if he's romantically involved with her."
"I'll tell you this, Yanina. Whoever she is, she saved my ass from really hot water today." Soichi grumbled with a sigh of relief.
"Well that's the thing, he barely eats ANYTHING and was upset enough to make an email about it, so it had to have more value than just being," she started making air quotes with her fingers, "paid for." The girl squinted her eyes, adding extra emphasis.
The group nodded, and Jordan smacked the driver's seat. "Thanks for letting me wait in your car man, my ride's here. Also, don't forget Friday's training, so we leave early."
The other three waived him off.
"Your ride coming soon, Yanina?" Yasuo asked.
She nodded, "I hope so, I don't wanna get stuck here again."
"If you need a ride, just let me know."
Yanina nodded as they waited.
Soichi was mocking Yasuo in the passenger seat, with a high pitched voice "If you need a ride, lemme know~~~! Y'all get a grip already, it's so obvious ya'll like each-"
"Can it, Soichi. Or you'll stand outside in the cold garage tonight. Or, better yet, wait in the building and run into boss again."
Soichi promptly quiteted himself with a tremble, "No, Thanks, I'm good."
00000
Sesshomaru opened up the door of his SUV, and looked around.
With his car's bluetooth, he called Rin. "Rin, do you need anything before I get home?"
"Oh, no Shigeto-san, I'm good. I was just here responding to some comments."
"Okay then, see you when I get there."
"See you."
With that, he started reversing before leaving the garage.
00000
"Y'all heard that?" Soichi gasped.
"Yo!" Yanina scoffed, "That's his woman!"
"Oh my god, he gives me hope!" Yasuo blinked, "Dry dudes can get girls too."
Yanina sighed, "Yasuo, you've gotta be cool and nonchalant. Not cut and dry, there's a fine line and it seems he's mastered it.
Soichi nodded, and Yasuo made a sour face, "Anyways, Y'all's rides are coming or what? I've been waiting damn near an hour."
"Let's dip. I think my ride stranded me again." Yanina sighed.
With that, the three were the last to leave.
00000
Sesshomaru stood in the rundown mall's lot, hoping to catch the florist before they closed.
With a sigh, he opened the door, and a woman greeted him. "Sir, we are about to close."
"I just wanted that arrangement."
The woman's eyes widened, "Sir, we can make a fresh one in the morning for you. Those are about to be disposed of."
"All? What's wrong with them?"
"They were made for a client who backed out, and now they are too old. You can just take them all if you want."
He inspected the multiple arrangements, and seeing that they were still good, placed a twenty onto the counter."
The woman thanked him, pocketed the money, and helped him to the vehicle with the different arrangements.
00000
Rin's doodle, turned out to be an entire work.
She was engrossed in her work and shrouded in complete silence, she drew. Completely unaware of her surroundings, a feat, considering her constant hyperawareness.
There, in all his almighty glory, stood her character, Rajesh, pointing his sword at cowering Aathira, while Vihaan-Kabir burst in through the door.
"Maybe I should send Naera the draft, see if she likes it."
With a minor blush, she took a screenshot and sent it off to the fox-girl.
"I'm totally fishing for compliments here!" She giggled to herself, and covered her mouth as she waited for a response.
Within a few minutes, her phone went off.
THANK YOU SO MUCH RIN! OH MY GOD, YES!
Naera then proceeded to send a voice clip of her squealing and blubbering.
Rin laughed before responding with a voice clip of her own, "Thank you! I'm trying out drawing on a surface pro, and I love it! It made keeping my layers organized so much easier, and for once, I didn't color on the wrong layer and cry!"
Naera responded with another voice clip, "Hell yeah! That's awesome!" before another voice rang out, "Holy shit, that's cool!"
Rin laughed, "Oh, my god, is that Dion?"
"Yeah, with his mouth full too!" "Well, 'cuse me, I was surprised 'cause I didn't know she could draw like that!" "Nasty, focus on chewing first!"
With a scoff, Rin shifted on her thighs, and stood up on her knees to kneel.
"Ow, my legs are going numb."
With a cute little pout, she rubbed her thighs and backside to soothe the numb tingling.
"Just, what, exactly are you doing?"
She turned a bright shade of red, "Trying to restore feeling into my numb legs."
She couldn't look up at him for the moment, alreading seeing his incredulous stare in his mind's eye.
When she did look up though, he had entered from the garage, rather than the front door.
Now that I'm thinking of it, I've never been in the garage.
He returned from the opened door again moments later, "Are those, for me?"
He didn't say anything, but his eyes plainly stated, "Who else?"
Rin huffed and placed her hands on her hips, "Well, maybe you might like them, yourself?"
He responded, "No. I still don't see the...aesthetic."
Rin was already beside him, hugging the different paper-wrapped arrangements to herself, and if he wasn't mistaken, the flowers looked much healthier than they did before.
Is it truly necessary to coo at the flowers?
As if reading his mind, she turned from her baby talk, "Talking to flowers is actually good for them. When we speak, it gives them much needed carbon dioxide, since we're exhaling. Try it!"
"No. I am not talking to...flowers."
"You're gonna make them sad! Just do it, no one's going to judge you."
"You may not, but I am currently gauging your sanity."
"Hey!"
He rolled his eyes.
Rin blinked, "Oh, so you're being playful now?"
A slight smirk danced across his lips.
"Unbelievable, the Lord of the Western Lands has laughed! Surely, someone might die today."
"If you don't get a vase, it might be your flowers."
Rin held out the arrangement while curling into herself and sulking, she muttered something under her breath before spinning on her heel.
"Wrong way, extras are towards your left."
"Oh," she looked both left and right, "okay."
"Rin, I said, left."
She cringed again from embarrassment and went towards the laundry room.
When she was out of sight, he actually laughed at her absurdity.
Moments later, she returned with multivitamins in hand and three vases crooked under her arm.
"Why the vitamins?"
"Magnesium is good for flower arrangements, makes them last longer."
She set about her task of placing the arrangements into the said vases, and he was content to sit on the barstool, with his jaw resting on his fist, and watch her.
"Do you not know directions?"
Rin stopped trimming the stems, "I don't. I always confuse left and right."
"Which way is North?"
She promptly pointed West.
Kami-sama, she wasn't kidding.
He laughed.
"What?"
"Rin, I would have felt better if you had pointed South. But, West?" With a forceful exhale to regain composure, he continued, "Which is your dominant hand?"
Rin looked at both hands with a sigh, "I'm ambidextrous, so that trick doesn't work for me. It's especially worse since in Japan streets are aligned to the left, and here, people drive on the right."
"It would be wise to invest in some jewelry to denote your left and right."
Rin nodded absentmindedly, and stopped placing the arrangements in the vase when she caught on. Wedding bands are worn on the left hand!
"Oh, Sesshomaru-sama, you're joking, right?"
"What did I say last night?"
Rin blushed heavily before moving off to trash the clipped ends of the stems, cellophane, and green parchment paper.
She twirled her long hair around her finger, too shy to really do much else.
"I see you've shaped your brows? They fit you."
she wrinkled her face, "Still will never be as good as yours, though. I'm envious."
He smirked, "Some simply just have it."
Rin sighed, "Still. Oh, how far is the forest from here?"
"They're actually preserves. There's five though, closest is about an hour."
"Is it too late to still go?"
"Not at all. It may be too dark for you to truly appreciate its beauty."
She shrugged, "Please?"
He stood up, dropping his human concealment.
"Aren't we going to drive?"
"I'd suggest you put on something warm?"
Rin's eyes shined, "Hale puffy or the green canvas?"
"Canvas. Fur lined."
Rin stumbled along with boots in hand, and her coat hanging off her shoulders.
"I'm ready!"
"In a skirt? Your legs might be cold?"
She gave a lopsided grin before lifting her skirt to the knees, "Tights are man's best friend!"
"I think you mean, women's."
"Ah, there's people with all kinds of preferences, Sesshomaru-sama. Can't limit it to only women."
A delicate brow arched up.
He grabbed his own coat from the stool, and grabbed his own shoes while walking towards the garden's entrance.
Rin followed behind him, but furrowed her brows at the coat. "You're not going to morph to your true form, Sesshomaru-sama?"
"No."
Rin blushed hotly, "On second thought, maybe we can go tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow and the day after, forevermore, will I keep this form. I don't desire to be ridden like some common pack animal."
Rin was digging her tight clad feet into the ground, "Sesshomaru-sama, I didn't mean it like that, I just didn't want to invade your personal space."
He seemingly ignored her, and instead flexed his jyaki, blowing the doors wide open.
"I wish I could do-Ah!"
Rin suddenly sound herself scooped between his arms and flying up into the night sky, shoes still in hand.
Her breath was caught by the beautiful bird's eye view that was under them, and continued to grip tightly onto his coats's lapels.
She looked up at the moon above them, and managed to relax enough to point at a shooting star.
"Sesshomaru-sama! Look!"
He gave a, "hn," of agreement, too distracted by her face to notice anything else.
She looked over her shoulder to watch as the trees began to diminish in the distance.
"It's beautiful! I have never seen something so lovely, this even beats my first plane ride."
A genuine smile, that reached his eyes, lit his face.
00000
They finally landed, and Rin admired the snow capped trees and light flurries falling to the ground, before Sesshomaru gently placed her to her feet.
Ice crunched under her socked feet, and she wiggled her toes.
Rin bent down and pulled on her boots without tying them, and walked over the wooden overpass.
"The lake is completely frozen. I would love to skate on it."
Her foot reached between the wooden slacks, to step on the lake.
"No, it isn't completely frozen. You could fall."
"But you'd be there to catch me?"
"Even so, you'd fall ill after the fact."
"You're no fun!"
"We'll return in the morning, with proper outerwear. So that you may do as you please."
Her eyes lit up, "Really! I'm too old for that kind of stuff…"
"Why are you doubting yourself?"
"It was just a childish fantasy I was expressing, I didn't think it was...feasible."
"There's no harm in doing what you like," he leaned over the banister to watch the glistening lake, "you're not harming anyone."
Rin scoffed, "You'd be surprised, Sesshomaru-sama. People go out of their way to make fun of others for indulging in such things."
"If they do, redirect them to me."
"Murder is illegal!"
He smirked, "Just because I can't kill them, doesn't mean I can't enjoy tormenting them."
She chuckled behind her hand.
He crossed the overpass, and Rin watched him for a moment, before following.
Rin looked up into the frozen pine trees, and as they continued walking, the few holly trees between them increased. Soon, the narrow path was filled with mostly blooming holly trees and witch hazel bushes.
"They're still thriving in the winter?"
He nodded. Rin caught up to his side, and followed him out towards a clearing.
She looked around, surprised to see what seemed like simple farmland.
"Look up."
Rin looked, and squinted slightly. Her lips parted prettily as she studied the sky.
"The Aurora Borealis is visible here?"
"Only for tonight."
Rin watched the green and purple hues dance above the semi cloudy sky. It wasn't a perfect view, but the almost mythical green and purple lights dancing behind the clouds was more than enough.
Some of the clouds passed, giving brief glances of the starry sky and hues dancing ahead. The lights moved in a glowing sea of purple and green, wavering like banners in the starry sky. The show continued, and the lights seemed to dive closer to the ground, before floating back up, further away from the stratosphere. About an hour in, clouds started accumulating, blocking the beautiful view. WIthin moments, flurries started floating down.
"It's going to snow heavily tonight, we should return."
Rin nodded, "Thank you, Sesshomaru-sama, it was beautiful."
"There's no need, let's go."
00000
Rin's feet landed on the ground, and crunched the soft snow beneath her.
Sesshomaru landed silently ahead of her, giving no notification to his own arrival.
He opened the door, and stood aside to let her enter.
"I could've opened the door myself, Sesshomaru-sama."
He just watched her intently, until she budged and went inside.
She shrugged out of her coat, before hanging it up. "I'll be right back."
He gave a sharp incline of the head, acknowledging her, before watching her skip off towards her room.
He looked around the house, and realized for the first time in five years, that the home actually looked lived in.
The scent of food wafted pass his nose, as well as a perfume, and candles.
He leaned against the kitchen island, and folded his arms while analyzing his surroundings.
A light he was previously unaware of caught his eye, and he couldn't quite place a finger on it.
It wasn't candles, and it surely wasn't an additional lamp. His head turned slightly as he looked besides himself, and noted that nothing had truly changed.
Odd.
He turned on his heel, opting for a shower.
00000
He wrung his hair in the shower, before running his claws from root to end to detangle it.
After feeling pleased with his appearance, he pulled on a teal nemaki with cherry blossom branches on the shoulders and sleeves, and a deep gray striped robe.
He left the bathroom with damp hair clinging to his face and shoulders, and decided to check on Rin before he retired for the night.
He turned the corner, confused as to why he was smelling food, but a different kind from earlier.
His brows furrowed, before admonishing her, "Rin."
Rin froze in the middle of dumping the chopped contents from the cutting board, only to meet his comment with a sheepish grin.
He moved his eyes from her towards the brass clock above her, 11:52
Resigned towards her behavior, he reoccupied the stool from earlier.
"Rin, you do realize you can relax, right?" He reiterated, concern evident in his tone.
"I am, it's just that one, I can't believe I was so hungry! Two, I'm so used to having unpredictable days, so I always make sure to have leftovers for when I return."
At least she was eating, seemed like she had missed quite a few meals in the past.
"Speaking of days, do you think I should, um, send a letter of resignation to my old job?"
His brow arched elegantly as he popped open a bottle of Sangria.
"No, why should you?"
"I just thought about it. I completely didn't even think about my old job."
"Wonderful then."
Rin sighed as she turned down the heat, "I know, It's just that I'm on edge since I haven't been at work. Felt like I was somehow doing something wrong, and that at any moment they'd bombard me. Like I'm going to wake up from a dream or something."
"You're allowed to have recreational time, and enjoy it as well."
"I know, I'm still on edge though. I can't quite keep myself occupied, not to mention I can't sleep either."
He watched her between a sip of sangria, and offered her the glass.
Rin placed her fingers over the glass and pushed it down gently, "Sesshomaru-sama, that's a horrible way to rock yourself to sleep at night. Plus, I've heard it isn't a true restorative sleep your body falls into."
"Hn."
Rin turned on her heel to tend towards the stew.
"Maybe I should try melatonin supplements."
"Perhaps, would you like to get them now?"
"No, it's far too late."
He watched her for a moment, "It seems as though it isn't necessarily restlessness, or insomnia, but rather, anxiety."
Rin looked up, "You do have a point."
"When you're done, retire with me."
Rin blanched, "Don't say it like that!"
He arched a brow, "Just what exactly, then, are you implying?"
"Me? I'm not implying anything!"
He was pouring himself a second glass, "Would I imply such a base thing?"
"No!"
"Then, why the offense?"
Rin looked about ready to implode from embarrassment, "Society dictates that you can't say things in certain ways, lest they be misconstrued. And-That's one of them!"
"Am I truly part of your society?"
Rin shook her head.
"Then take my word for it. Anyways, it isn't as though you haven't already taken residence there."
Rin sighed, tapering her embarrassment once more, and cocked her head, allowing her long hair to sway across her backside.
With a hiss, she turned around and preoccupied herself with adding more lemon juice to her stew, and checking her rice.
She gave a hmm of approval, and began serving out two platters.
"Rin, I don't eat human food."
"I know, but still give it a try. As a snack perhaps, to follow the alcohol?"
"...It isn't strong?"
"Nevertheless, I hate seeing people drink on an empty stomach. Seems lonely. Alcohol should always be paired with a snack."
Sesshomaru could easily smell that it was seafood stew of some sort, but couldn't quite place a finger on all of its components.
"What...is that?"
"Moqueca. Fish stew with coconut milk."
That's what he was smelling.
"No."
"Just try it!"
He eyed her skeptically before picking up some fish with her fork, and tasting it.
"It isn't bad, but still not my taste."
Rin arched a brow back, mimicking him, "So you say."
The rest of the night was spent in amicable companionship. Light conversation in which he actually engaged in, flooded the kitchen and living room
She smiled, sleep finally catching up to her, "Excuse me, Sesshomaru-sama. Let me put this stuff away and wash up these dishes."
"There's always tomorrow, Rin. No need to move them so late."
She rolled her eyes, before placing the entire pot in the fridge, "I hate doing that, but," she yawned softly, "I might fall where I am if I don't close my eyes."
He nodded while she ran the dishes under the faucet, determined to leave them at the very least soaking.
When she finally dried her hands off on a kitchen towel, he snatched the cloth away from her, before pulling her hand.
"I'm not finished!"
"It's 3am."
She gave a frustrated groan before finally deciding to go along with him.
He shut the light switch off behind himself, and in a moment of concern, decided to honor her foolish little wish.
"Goodnight." He muttered, while staring at the bouquets on the tablet.
"Hmm, what was that?"
"Hn, nothing."
00000
Sesshomaru sat beside Rin on the bed, relishing in her obvious nervousness.
With a soft exhale, he pulled her closer to him. He didn't quite look at her, but could feel her eyes boring into his jaw, and her breathing was erratic.
"Rin?"
"Hmm?"
He pulled his left knee up and crossed his right calf across it, "Relax, no harm will come to you."
Rin sighed softly, "Okay."
His shifted his own face, pressing his nose down into her hair.
Within the hour, her breathing leveled, and she was soundly asleep.
He, on the other hand, took the silent night to simply admire her face.
His knuckles brushed against her cheek, and cradled her jaw, before his thumb ran over her lips.
Deep inside of his heart, he purred, My Rin, here in the flesh once more.
00000
Sesshomaru didn't sleep for the morning, but rather, relaxed.
Carefully, he peeled her sleeping form from himself, and sat on the side of the bed.
With a deep breath, he recollected himself, and set about getting ready for the day.
When his clothes were on, he walked into the kitchen, wanting to search for those plum candies.
I'm a demon, irrevocable of time. Eating candy in the morning sure as hell wouldn't harm me.
His face wrinkled at the thought of Rin catching him, but he shoved it aside.
Although, not entirely, as he decided to eat some of the soup from earlier. He warmed it, thinking of only have some to appease her. In the end, he ended up eating the entire pot and moving it into the dishwasher to hide his transgression.
There, at the top of the pantry, stood his prize.
He hated the scent of plastic, but could tolerate it enough to reach his end goal.
The bag of Chan Pui Mui fell, as well as another red candy he didn't quite recognize.
He turned the package, made an incision, and sniffed it curiously.
Leaving the other candies on the counter, and decided to try the Li Hing Mui.
He grimaced when he realized it stained, but gave it no additional thought as he popped one into his mouth.
Soon, one became the entire bag.
He held the last one between his clawed thumb and index finger, extracting the last bit of flavor from the seed.
Moments later, he blinked when he heard a vehicle pulling up into the driveway.
He looked at the time, and frowned, why would Aka be here so early?
He trashed the incriminating evidence before he had to hear her mouth. And, flared his jyaki to shroud himself once more in his human concealment.
A silent knock caught his attention, and he opened the door for her.
"Goodmorning" she whispered while creeping in.
"Aka-san, it's barely 6:30, why are you here?"
He smelt nervousness on the elder woman, "Ah, yes, I think it would be wise for me to allow Rin-chan to get some rest. I wanted to sort a few things and be on my way by 10."
Before he could answer, shuffling in the background caught his attention as he closed the said door.
"Goddamn!" Aka muttered.
Rin was already yawning and dressed for the day, "Morning? Why are y'all looking at me like that?"
"Child, don't you sleep?"
"Aka-san, I like to be up early. Those few days of sleeping in were a doozy! Plus I heard a car in the driveway, so it woke me."
The woman groaned, "Alright."
Rin looked off from Aka-san, and followed Sesshomaru's line of sight.
"Fujimori, what is on your vehicle?" Shigeto asked.
"Oh, it's my son's car. Weird kid, could never understand why he had drooling girls on his car."
Rin was looking through the glass rim of the double doors, and trembling.
Sesshomaru followed her shaking form, and she met eyes with him, frankly, looking quite pallid.
"Child what is wrong with you? You look as though you've seen a ghost!"
"A-Aka-san, did, did you drive here...in that?"
"Yeah, took the keys from my good-for-nothing, why?"
Rin started hyperventilating, "Aka-san! You can't...you can't possibly drive back in t-that that thing."
"Speak up." Sesshomaru admonished.
The girl was squealing and rambling in a mix of Japanese and Portugese, "I-I can't, Shigeto-san, it's um, it's…"
"Speak!" Aka coaxed.
Oh my god, I can't speak! I'm obviously standing between two people who don't know what they are looking at and I don't have the HEART to break Aka-san's heart and skew her perceptions of her already blacklisted son, and FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, I can't let Sesshomaru know the extent of human debauchery and filth and oh my God, oh my Lord, Jesus in Heaven, WHAT WOULD SHE THINK OF ME? I might traumatize this poor lady and she'll never, ever, be able to look me in the face again. She'll think me a disgrace! A pervert!
A clawed hand waved against her peripheral vision, "Rin?"
Aka looked concerned as the girl was muttering something jumbled under her breath, while staring out into space, and trembling like an epileptic.
Rin looked between their two faces and covered her own, "I-I-I can't, Aka-san. Just, please, make your son pick up his vehicle. It's um, uh. Uhhhh..."
"Child if you don't speak now, I will make you speak! Hurry with it!"
A cross between a screech and a gutteral noise bubbled from her throat.
"Aka-san, that's not-that's not saliva."
"What? Child, what in heaven do you mean? Are you alright? What are you talking about?"
Rin reiterated, while pointing to a very specific girl decal on the black and white mustang, "Aka-san, that's not saliva!"
"What in the seven hells do you mean, child?"
Rin didn't know how else to say it, "Those, those comics, are from very, very, dirty comics."
Aka huffed, but stop mid-exhale, before swinging her head around, "What!?"
"That's, supposed to be um, girls, in um, very uh, passionate, um, intimacies."
Then it clicked, and by God, you could see the woman's face reddened in six out of the seven stages of grief in less than thirty seconds.
One. Her jaw hung open. Shock.
Two. She stuttered, "but." Denial.
Three. She stuttered, "I'm s-so sorry," Guilt.
Four. Her brows furrowed, she turned red, and clutched her chest while hyperventilating. Anger.
Five. Her eyes watered. Depression.
Six. Gears churned in her head as she pieced the situation together. Reconstruction.
But, stage seven didn't come immediately.
Her mouth opened as she leaned on the entryway table, "YOSHIDAAAAAAAAA!"
Sesshomaru cringed as his sensitive ears pricked from the abrupt holler.
But, he still didn't understand what was going on.
Rin was covering her face, and still couldn't form a coherent thought, and he sought to ask her to elaborate discreetly, but she was currently, at the very moment, praying under her breath that the earth would open up and swallow her whole.
Rin looked up, and whimpered, "It's a h-hentai mobile."
How in the absolute hell could choking have to do anything with hentai?
"Sesshomaru-sama, uh, hentai isn't pervert in the traditional sense….Hentai encompasses an entire genre of animated...uh….erotic comics...that people use to….to...entertain..themselves…"
Better she stayed silent! He couldn't bear to hear her use the term "entertain one's self" ever again. Not even in another context under different circumstances!
Aka-san cradled her head, and Rin, Could. Not. muster the strength to help his gears churn a little faster.
Aka looked directly at Shigeto, and sighed before stating it bluntly, "For fuck's sake, Shigeto-san, she's choking on semen."
Sesshomaru simply skipped the seven stages of grief, opting to openly display revulsion.
Rin was still hiding her face, hoping that the Mustang outside would simply drive itself off.
Aka looked at the vehicle, and looked at Shigeto, silently asking him to move the car.
"Over my dead body, Fujimori-san."
Rin finally peeked through her fingers, only to jump back when Aka was looking directly at her.
"You drive?"
"No!"
"Well, child, you'll learn today. Hopefully, we'll wreck that monstrosity!"
"Aka-san, how did your son even...obtain...such a thing?"
"Rin-chan, my son went to college for two semesters, to simply collect and squander student financial aid."
"...How did he get into college?" Shigeto asked.
Aka sighed, "Motivation is one hell of a drug, Shigeto-san. He was hellbent on getting a loan for a car, since I absolutely refused. Somehow he managed to test in, but went on academic probation within the same month. Passed his classes by the skin of teeth, then failed the following semester."
He didn't know whether to be impressed or appalled.
"So it's not that he isn't capable, he simply chooses not to!" Her attention shifted from him to her.
"Girl! What is this Hentai you speak of?"
"I just explained it's DIRTY COMICS!"
Aka-san looked simultaneously confused and disgusted, "But...those foul expressions...people actually enjoy that?"
Obviously, her perverted son enjoyed such a thing! There's no need to make the girl reiterate.
Rin sunk down to the ground, "Aka-san, there's an entire subgenre of….hentai...named ahegao...dedicated to just those faces…"
"Good Lord in Heaven. I'm going to disown my son and adopt Rin in his place!"
That was a wonderful idea! Marriage wasn't that much of a safety net, but adoption would expedite the process.
He'd have to run the idea by Ayame.
Pleased with the revelation, and a few plans in mind, he simply took his leave.
"Oh, Aka-san, I'm 21. Much too old for adoption."
"Not really, you can adopt till 23. But, let me handle this and I'll get back to you."
When Rin looked up, Aka-san was pulling on her shoes and stomping outside towards the...hentai mobile.
When she finally managed to turn around, she thanked God in heaven above that she didn't have to look at Sesshomaru after explaining such a thing.
00000
Sesshomaru walked into the office, and rubbed his fingers to rid himself of the orange stain from the candy.
When it didn't work, he sighed, and logged into his workspace.
Employees started filing in at 8, and he watched them log in for the day themselves.
After a moment, he looked up through his glass office, and upon noticing everyone doing their own thing, he pulled out his phone and sent a text to Ayame.
Ayame, what would the adoption process for an adult migrant look like? I may have a potential adoptee."
He locked the phone and placed it face down, minding himself until his dreaded 10:00am appointment with a client.
00000
"Oh, Aka-san! I cooked last night, would you like to try some for breakfast?"
"Ah, you're so sweet. Why not?"
She loaded the last fork into the dishwasher, and popped open the stove, ready to clean the drip pans.
Rin opened the fridge, closed it, and opened it again with furrowed brows.
"Hey Aka-san, have you seen a copper stock pot with brass colored handles?"
"Yeah, why?"
"I could've sworn I put it in the fridge last night!"
"Oh, heavens, no child, it's in the dishwasher."
Rin's eyes widened in disbelief, before opening the fridge again, shutting it, and looking in the dishwasher.
"He ate it! My soup is gone!"
Aka turned from the stove, "He ate it? I wondered if he ate, ever?"
"I'm happy! But jeez, he could've told me! I totally thought I had breakfast set and ready to go."
Aka laughed, "Well, looks like I was right about not having to split up those groceries."
00000
Sesshomaru gave a leveled hateful stare towards the client as he exited from the office.
He barely managed to taper down his displeasure, and left his office for a breather.
00000
Yanina jabbed Soichi in the arm, "Ouch, what was that for?"
She jutted her chin toward Shigeto-san's red fingers.
"Bro, why are his fingers red?"
Yanina furrowed her brows and hushed him.
But unfortunately, too late, since he was giving Soichi a nasty glare.
Yanina chuckled, "Man, if looks could kill! You got the leftover hate from that meeting."
"I have a feeling that maybe looks can kill, Yanina."
00000
Aka leaned back gracefully, enjoying the quick breakfast Rin had thrown together.
Rin looked over at the bowl of fruit she had assorted two days prior.
"Oh! The bananas are already getting overripe!"
Aka sighed contentedly, "Well, you can freeze them if you'd like."
Rin shook her head while standing up, "God bless whoever invented smoothies, so I can devour six bananas in a single drink. Would you like a smoothie, Aka-san."
"Oh, no, child, I'm too full! You should be careful, smoothies can make you pack on weight."
Rin nodded absentmindedly, already set on taking down the blender.
Although, you look like you could catch up on a few meals!
00000
The rest of the day went by peacefully for both parties, that is until Yoshida showed up with Saera to pick up the car.
"Yoshida, that's gross!"
"No it isn't, it's art!"
Saera watched Yoshida exit the car in absolute disgust. You're gonna catch your death.
Aka stood at the top of the stairwell, livid, with the keys dangling from her folded arms.
Rin waved at Saera with concern in her face evident.
Saera waved back, before a resounding slap sent her flying out of the red Subaru.
"Aunty, stop!"
Rin was yanking Aka's arm, as she continued to cuff her son in the head. Each point of contact making Rin cringe.
"Ow! Ow! Ma please, stop!"
Rin placed herself between Aka and Yoshida, pushing them off each other. While Saera all but dragged Yoshida down the stairs.
Aka dragged poor Rin down along the stairs with her, and grabbed after Yoshida as he dodged another blow.
"Wait till I tell your father about this, Yoshida!"
"Aunty, stop! You can go to jail for hitting Yoshida now! He's not a minor anymore!"
"He will always be my son! Plus, if I were to call the police right now, and if they saw this perverted caricature of a car," she pointed at the vehicle, "they would excuse my behavior. In fact, they might condone it!"
"Aka-san, please calm down you could die of a stroke!"
"The only person dying today is Yoshida!"
Yoshida ducked and picked up the keys to the Mustang, before burning his tires while doing a u-turn, and speeding off with haste.
"If you value your LIFE Yoshida, you better not return home until you GET RID of that THING!"
00000
Saera sighed, "You going home Aunty? I can give you a drop."
Rin waved her hand, "Come on in, Saera. I think we should all calm down before hitting the roads again."
"You have a point, Rin-chan. But, I don't want to impose."
Rin waved her off, before shuffling both the heavily pregnant girl and hyperventilating woman.
"Wow! It's even more beautiful on the inside!" Saera gasped.
Rin smiled, silently thanking Saera.
Aka sat down on the couch, and Saera sat next to her.
"Would you like anything to drink, or eat, Saera-san? I just cooked."
Saera's mouth watered, "It does smell quite delicious, I'll give it a taste."
00000
Sesshomaru read his text, and felt his blood boil.
Here's the thing, Sesshomaru, Rin could be adopted, but she's currently racking up unlawful presence here in the US. It would look bad on the adoption case, and cold possibly warrant a deportation. Plus, she would have to live with the person, and have proof of support from that person for a minimum of two years. It would've been great if she were still out of the country.
00000
"-It was almost three weeks ago to the day! I'm telling you, the fates are really weird? Who the hell meets someone 3/3/13, and gets married again in a multiple of threes?"
Rin chuckled, "Yeah, no kidding. Fate is such a weird thing!"
Aka-san calmed considerably, and was texting her husband at the table.
The front door opened, and Rin waved towards Shigeto as he removed his shoes. "Okaerinasai! Shigeto-san, this is Saera-san I was telling you about. Himori's wife, and Aka's niece!"
He blatantly stared at Saera, and then her stomach.
The woman waved nervously, "Hello, Shigeto-san."
He inclined his head, not truly acknowledging her.
Saera stood and bowed, "Well, we'll be taking our leave. It was a pleasure to meet you."
"...The car isn't outside."
Oh Saera thought, Thought he wasn't too pleased about me being here. He's just pleased to see the car's gone. Honestly, can't blame the guy.
Saera laughed, "Yeah, I dropped Yoshida off this afternoon to get his...vehicle."
Aka looked at Shigeto-san incredulously, "Can I pay you off to just give my son one whaling of a lifetime?"
"Aunty! You did enough to Yoshida earlier!"
Rin grimaced and nodded her head in agreement, "Aka-san, your son already had enough damage done, anything else would warrant an arrest."
Aka sighed, "Still wasn't enough to beat some sense into him. Well, Shigeto-san, we're taking our leave."
He tipped his head forward in a bow, before watching them pile into the vehicle.
They waved, and he returned their wave. Rin jumped up and down beside him, waving and wishing them safe travels.
Sesshomaru looked down at Rin beside him with questioning eyes.
"Oh, God, Saera dropped Yoshida off, and Aka stood at the stairwell with the keys. When he approached, she acted as though she was going to hand him the keys, but dragged him up the stairs and started cuffing his head. He ducked and dodged, grabbed the keys, and sped off. I-It was pretty bad."
"I didn't expect any less."
Rin sneezed, "Yeah, kinda had it coming I guess."
Sesshomaru sighed, "You need any cold medicine?"
"-No," her face wrinkled mid phrase, and sneezed again violently, "Maybe?"
"Let's go."
00000
Rin stood in the herbal remedy and supplements aisle, with a list of herbs to pick up to lessen the severity of a cold.
With another terribly timed sneeze, she grabbed the licorice extract, black elderberry syrup, and Oregano oil. Then, focused on picking up the cheapest bottle of vitamin c and zinc caplets.
She walked across the store, searching for the tea aisle, hoping to find the throat coat tea she'd been recommended in the past.
Finally, she found her aisle after the floor associate ignored her, and two girls were standing in the tea aisle as well. The taller girl was reading something off her phone, while wearing a pair of black jogging pants and pink sneakers. Her beige coat was zipped towards the neck, and her hair was tucked into it.
The shorter girl, with a short bob that danced on her jaw, gold rimmed circle glasses, and gray overalls kept stretching on her tiptoes to reach something from the top. Rin noted her overalls were rolled at the ankles to show off her beige hannover boots.
"Hey, do you need help with that?" She asked in broken English.
The Chinese girl turned and smiled, "Thanks, I'd appreciate that!"
Rin turned on her heel, grabbed a broomstick from the aisle beside them, and began knocking the items down from the top shelf.
The girl wearing the frames watched as Rin stretched, and her jeans dress rode up higher and higher on black stocking clad legs. Her coat, doing the job to keep her modesty.
The girl admired her legs, her shoes, and her sense of style, before muttering something under her breath about "beautiful."
Her friend, though, leaned over, blocked her line of sight, and brought her back into reality.
"Nancy, stop being weird!"
"Anna, but she's so cute! Look at her! Do you think I should try to make a move?"
"No! She probably has a boyfriend!"
Nancy coughed, "But I may never get a chanc-"
Rin held out the three boxes of tea, "Here you go! Do you need anything else?"
"Um, no, thanks. I appreciate your help, don't know why I didn't think of that! What's your name?"
Rin smiled before placing her weight on her left hip, "It's Rin! It's all good, we all do it. What's yours?"
Nancy blushed, "Nancy, Nancy Ho."
Rin turned back to her task of knocking down the throat coat tea from the middle shelf.
Nancy gathered her courage, and pushed up her glasses, "Hey, are you free sometime?"
Rin looked over her shoulder with a smile, before a box of tea hit her smack dab in the face.
"Oh, I got that!" Nancy bent over to pick up the box.
"Thank you! Oh, yeah, I can be free!" Rin responded.
Nancy gave her friend a sharp look, and Anna mouthed back, "She doesn't know what you're talking about."
Nancy coughed again, "Yeah, so uh, what's your number?"
Rin was pulling out her phone when Sesshomaru rounded the corner.
"Oh, hey, Shigeto-san, I didn't know you were here."
He gave Nancy a mean glare of his own, "I needed something for myself."
Rin smiled and motioned towards Nancy, "This is Nancy! Cool girl, just give me a moment," she turned back to Nancy, "My number is 518 - 970 - 1588!"
Nancy was too horrified to do much else than stare into the face of her EMPLOYER whose face obviously stated, DON'T TRY IT.
Of all the goddamn, fucking, places to go, she had to walk into Aldi's, and she HAD TO HIT ON HER EMPLOYER'S...WHATEVER!?
Nancy coughed violently, and Shigeto looked down at her doubled over frame, "If you're sick, Nancy, I don't expect to see you tomorrow."
Holy hell was that a threat?
"Ah, Shigeto-san, I understand. If I'm not feeling well by tomorrow, I'll be sure to call out."
"Oh, you work for Shigeto-san! Nice to meet you, Nancy! What a small world!"
Nancy smiled nervously at Rin, unable to meet her happy and carefree gaze.
She was totally oblivious, and damn, she envied her innocence.
Sesshomaru lowered his eyes, regarding Nancy from between his lashes, and tilted his neck above her cowering frame, "Nancy, I don't expect to see you at all tomorrow. Give yourself a day to rest."
His voice held so much shrouded malice.
"Alrighty-oh, boss, uh, see you Friday. Nice to meet you, Rin."
Rin waved, "Get better, hun! I hope to see you soon!"
Sesshomaru was already leaving the aisle, and Rin followed behind him with her cold supplies.
Nancy slid to the floor in the aisle, "My heart's been crushed, and now I've gotta go home and cry my sad, sad, bisexual fantasies out to every one of Alona Chemery's songs!"
Anna regarded Nancy from the corner of her eyes, "Dude, stop being overdramatic."
Nancy clutched her chest, "I'm telling you, it's love at first sight!"
00000
Sesshomaru paid for the items, and debated whether or not to break Rin's little happy bubble.
Given earlier's situation, he decided not to.
Rin skipped to the car, completely oblivious as to what had occurred.
How could someone go through the entirety of their lives without the ability to recognize that they were being hit on? He briefly found himself both concerned and amazed at such a feat.
Even he, who was mostly aloof, had the ability to discern people's intentions. Either from his imperial sense of smell, or simple deduction, he couldn't be sure.
Rin sneezed again, and her nose began running, "Oh boy, now the stuffiness is settling in."
He slid into the driver's seat, "You have everything?"
Rin held up the two bags, "Sure do! Hey, Sesshomaru-sama, can we go back to the county preserve? I want to see the lake again."
"Not if you're sick, Rin."
"Oh, suddenly I'm not sick anymore!"
"Rin, I can clearly see your eyes and nose running. You're not going back into those conditions."
"Sesshomaru-sama! Being cold doesn't make you sick, but rather the germs from others! Someone else made me sick, don't punish me for it!"
He turned on the ignition, "No."
"Please! I'll be annoying if you don't!"
His brow arched, "I'm prepared this time around."
She groaned, "Fine."
00000
Rin drank a cup of the nasty throat coat tea, and cradled a box of kleenexes between her arm.
A blanket covered her shoulders as she engrossed herself with some show or the other.
Sesshomaru sat beside her on the bed, and reclined
Rin was watching a k-drama of some sort, and he caught bits and pieces of the program. It wasn't his thing, but she seemed to be enjoying it.
She poured herself another cup of hot water from the canteen beside her, and added licorice extract, elderberry syrup and vitamin c caplets to the water.
"Rin, that looks absolutely unappetizing."
"Doesn't taste bad, they're both sweet, and the vitamin c tastes like lemon. Funny aftertaste, but better than that throat coat tea."
"You do sound better."
"Thanks! Can we go now, then?"
"No."
"Ugh! Speaking of which, Sesshomaru-sama. Where are my plum candies?"
She'd have the decency and spare him the embarrassment of her entire soup gone missing.
She looked at his red stained fingertips, and back at his face.
Shit! He didn't answer her.
"You can't ignore me forever! Just fess up that you liked it!"
"No."
"That's awful! You know, I would be so happy to know that you enjoyed them! Don't deny me such a pleasure!"
He busied himself with looking far away.
"Unbelievable!"
He watched her force herself to stay up to finish watching the drama, and he arched a brow before simply tilting her over from her sitting position.
She gave a soft cry of protest, but was out before she could formulate a coherent response.
He looked around the room, and briefly wondered whether bringing her stuff in there would be too forward.
She's always in here, anyways. Perhaps, I should just ask her.
He pulled the blanket over her back, and smoothed the fabric over her.
It was odd to imagine that he'd be here, less than a month after meeting her.
Kami, to think that if there wasn't a mailing blunder, that she wouldn't be here.
Or better yet, dead, and unknown.
His once proclaimed lifeless heart constricted at the thought.
What if he had ignored the email?
It was funny to think that he'd been so consumed in his own misery, that he could've missed her entire life. She could've passed him by, and he would've missed it, none the more aware.
He turned off his lamp, and the television. Instead opting to try to see things through her eyes, and enjoy the clear beauty of the moon shining above them.
Maravilhosa.
Fin: Lights from Above.