Hey guys! Sorry it took some time for me to update. I went on vacation with my family and it was strictly no laptops allowed so I had to leave it at home. Anyway, the new chapter is up and I'm going to try make it up to you guys by hopefully being able to upload at least three more chapters before the week ends. I already finished my research for all the elements of my story so I think writing would be much quicker from now on. On to the story!

-Ella

Chapter 4

It's been a month since Rin transferred to Seibu-ryo Gakuen and a month since her rather violent encounter with Takahashi Sesshomaru, the student council president. After that, she has resolved to keeping their interactions at the most minimal level possible. She has continued to ignore the nagging desire to know more about him, being convinced that there's more to him than the snob and arrogant façade that he puts up, not that she had any way of satisfying that desire either.

So far, she has succeeded in her trying to avoid any unnecessary contact with him or being in a room with just the two of them. Ever since that afternoon, she has made it a point that she hands in her daily report at the student council room before the building gets deserted. That encounter really was, to some degree, traumatic for her, but not enough to be terrified of him, and that completely puzzles her. Any other girl, person rather, in that exact same situation would have been completely terrified out of their wits. She was definitely scared and wishes it never happens again, and yes, she evades him at the moment, but only to prove to him that she means him no harm (as if she could actually deliver any fatal harm to him), but it doesn't stop her constantly growing curiosity of him.

Right now, it's almost the end of last period and Rin is getting ready to hand in her completed report for the day to the student council room. The bell rang and she was already on her feet and making her way out of the room when she was called by the teacher.

"Tachibana-san, Sangaku-sensei wishes me to tell you that you are to report to the counseling division for your monthly progress assessment today and that you must hurry to it now."

She said her thanks to her teacher and hurried back to her seat to get the forms for the assessment from her bag. She completely forgot that it was today and that she should've asked Kagome to hand in the daily report in her place before she went for training. She placed the report back on her desk and rushed to the counseling division.

When she got to the office of her counselor, she immediately sat on the couch opposite the desk and handed out her forms for the assessment. She quietly waited for her counselor to fill out the necessary information for the assessment while she internally panics about whether the counseling would take long. She had been fairly successful in her routine for a month, and would hate a repeat of what happened on the first day of classes if she hand in the report late today. On top of that, she hates going home late, given the fact that she lives on her own and lately she has been having this feeling that she was being watched and followed. She unconsciously tapped her foot in impatience which caught the attention of her counselor.

"Tachibana-san are you in any hurry? Has there been any problems with you adjusting from moving to the capital? Or perhaps any problems with your class and student council duties?"

Her counselor was a kind looking middle-aged lady but she is very sharp. Besides the fact that she is yokai, she has decorated the walls of her office with the proofs of her proficiency in her field, several diplomas and certificates from prominent learning institutions not just in the westernlands or other territories but overseas as well.

She thought about lying and saying that everything's great, but she would definitely catch on with the lie even before she says anything. Damn yokai and the way they smell the difference it makes when someone lies and she's not yet even the telepathic kind. She tried to find a wiggle room in her current situation and the different things that is happening in her life. She settled on giving out an edited version of the truth, leaving out the part where she was almost mutilated by the student council president.

"Ano, sensei, nothing has happened yet but, I feel like someone has been following me on my way home. No one has made contact yet and it might be just my imagination or paranoia since I live alone in the middle of the city, but, I feel like being cautious wouldn't hurt anyone, so I've been making it a point to go home before sun down or before it gets completely dark." She said as truthfully as she can, although she wasn't really lying when she said that. She just hopes she doesn't seem like she's hiding something.

"Hmmm. I see. Are you sure that's all? The administration is very aware that bullying is commonly experienced by transfer students that's why this monthly counseling has been enforced. Now, if you don't tell me anything, then I can't help you at all. Are you sure that your school to home commute is the only thing that's bothering you? We really can't do much about it but maybe you can start going home with friends."

"My class is very welcoming to me and I didn't find it hard to make friends for they have all been good to me. It's really just the big city move that's been a bit hard for me, it sometimes gives me unwanted paranoia. Other than that, I've been adjusting well especially with the lessons. The pace no longer overwhelms me. As for going home, my friends attend after school training and since my training is held on weekends, I make it a point to finish my schoolwork immediately so I can't wait for my friends to finish training." Rin responded as she tried to assure her counselor that everything's fine with her besides her stalker-scare.

"Well, if you say so. Anyway, according to your teachers, you've been performing well in your classes and the student council assures us that you are performing your duties well as class representative. Just keep up the good work and I will see you next month for our next session. I hope you would be less worried by then and that you get to resolve on your own whatever it is you are hiding from me."

Rin exited the counseling division and hurried back to her homeroom to retrieve her bag and the council daily report. She looked at her watch and realized that she was in counseling for an hour and a half. Walking out of the classroom, she exhaled rather loudly as she tried to calm herself down, very mindful now that she should do all the door lingering away from the student council room. She took light and slow steps on her way to the student council room as opposed to the heavy and fast beating of her heart.

A few feet away from the door, she saw the door was slightly ajar and the lights in the room were open, meaning that the president was most likely still there. She stopped in her tracks and looked at her bag which contained the president's scarf which she had no chance of returning yet since they were never alone (by choice) and had to keep the encounter a secret (as per his orders), but she still kept it in her bag anyway, waiting for the right moment to give it to him, she wondered if she should do it today.

She gave herself a mental push to continue walking to the office, not wanting to keep the president waiting. She was only a few steps away from the door when she heard voices coming from the room. Somehow, she felt relieved that the president wasn't alone. It sounded like it was the vice president, Kagami Kanna. She's as cold and even more quiet than the president. It surprised her that they were actually having a conversation, although she really couldn't hear what they were talking about. When she got closer to the door, she started hearing the conversation more clearly.

"-maru" Rin thought it was probably a fragment of the name of the president, although it surprised her that it was said in an almost whisper-like manner and that they were actually close enough for her to call him by his first name only.

She opened the door and she was shocked with the scene that welcomed her. Kanna was sitting on the conference table, her uniform's buttons undone, the president trailing kisses down her chest while she grabbed onto his hair and his hand under her skirt.

They looked at her at the sound of the door opening. She dropped her open bag and the contents spilled out on the floor. Despite the obviously embarrassing moment she had walked in on, the two people caught in the act did not show any signs of moving away from each other anytime soon, although the president stopped what he was doing and stood leaning against the table, his arms across his chest and Kanna did the same with her arms.

Them being so quiet is so not helping with Rin's nerves. She has somehow thrust herself in rather weird encounters with the president and she doesn't know if she's just the queen of bad timing or just plain old unlucky. She must have done something to piss off the gods. She hurriedly gathered her belongings on the floor, mindful to keep her head down, personally she doesn't want to catch another glimpse of the scene she just walked in on.

After shoving all her belongings on sight into her bag, she picked up the report and placed it on the table, still keeping her head down. "Gomen for submitting this late. I'll be going now." With that, she ran as fast as she could away from the student council room. When she reached her locker, she stopped to catch her breath. She could feel her heated up cheeks getting redder both from embarrassment and the running. Once her breathing normalized, she hurriedly changed to her outdoor shoes and made her way out of the building before she runs into them again. Although she doubts they would be done with whatever it was they were doing anytime soon. She blushed again at that thought and tried to shake her head in an attempt to make it go away.

Feeling like she's somehow calmed down from the earlier events, she realized she had to do some grocery shopping and since she was already going home late anyway, she decided it's better to do it now than buy convenience store food for dinner and anpan for lunch the next day.

She changed her direction from her usual route home to the supermarket that is around 3 blocks away from her apartment building. When she turned a street, she had this feeling again that she was being followed. She picked up her pace and turned to a street where there are generally more people. She continued walking and became more aware of her surroundings, checking whether she was still being followed. Feeling like she already lost whoever it was following her (if there were any), she continued to walk towards the supermarket, now a few streets further from where she is since she changed streets.

After a little over an hour, she went out of the supermarket, both hands holding two bags each. 'I think I may have bought a little too much, but eggs, beef, udon, and toilet papers were on sale.' Rin thought to herself. Satisfied with the amount she was able to save for her groceries, she happily walked home, her worry about her potential stalker momentarily forgotten.

The walk back to her apartment building took about 20 minutes. When she got to her door on the 10th floor, she heard her home phone ringing. She hurriedly opened her door and answered the phone.

"Moshi-moshi."

"Rin, since when did you start answering the phone like a commoner of inferior background and education?" The fierce and stern voice on the other line said.

Rin flinched as she heard the remark. She knows very well who the owner of the voice was. She lightly sighed in slight frustration at the thought of it.

"Obaa-sama, where did you get the number to my home phone? What is it do you need from me?" Rin said slightly annoyed.

"Do grandmothers only call their granddaughters if they need anything from them? Also, I got your home phone number from Shippo. How dare you give it to a lowly kitsune but not to your grandmother or any of your family? Anyway, I called you to tell you to reconsider your unreasonable decision. You are 16 already and the family expects you to perform your duties as a part of it. Not only did you decline to inherit Yamato-ryu and be sent to train in Urasenke, you also ran off to the west's capital, lived in your father's mother's okiya, transferred schools, lived on your own in a city you are foreign to, and on top of that, you refused to attend the marriage meeting with the town's temple abbot. You being a boumori would've brought great honor to the family and the Yamato-ryu. Why can't you just do what's good for the family?" her grandmother said in a tone full of accusation.

Rin felt a vein pop on her forehead. She doesn't know until when she could take all her grandmother's insults.

"You ask me to do what's best for a family who has abandoned me from the moment I was conceived. You drove my mother away from your house and stepped on my father's pride. You never once took a look at me since I was born, until you forcefully took me away, from my home the moment I turned 16, only for you to marry me off to some abbot I don't know. The only family I know is my grandmother, my father's mother, who took me in when I was five when my parents died. She has fed, clothed, and sent me to school, all while running a full time okiya in Shinmachi. Now I ask you, stop trying to contact me or bombarding Shippo who's my friend, or else I will have a restraining order on you. Goodbye."

With that, she put the receiver back down to the phone and sat on the floor next to the table that held it. She reached into her shirt and grabbed the locket that rested on top of her chest. She looked at the photo of both her deceased parents as if asking them if she's doing the right thing. For a long time since she moved to the capital, it just dawned on her that she felt lonely and somehow cornered. She wished she was back in her grandmother's okiya in Shinmachi, but she knew this was what she had to do to be able to become who she really wants to be.