Well helloo, readers. Here's le chapter, hehehe. *is killed FOR FRICKIN VANISHING OFF THE FACE OF THE PLANET* Ya know, my Inuyasha bunch is receiving more of my minimal attention than my Vocaloid stories. Whut? I don't even... Okay. Whatever. Inspiration hit for this one earlier in the week and therefore I ratted it out quickly. It introduces a few more:)
Also, this was going to be a little humorous- Namely, I was going to make Jakotsu Rin's fiance and make it sort of a comedy based off of Jakotsu's feelings for someone other than Rin, but since so many of you thought it was going to be darker, behold; I present to you quite a darker version of the light little thing I had meant to go for earlier. YAY FOR ANGSTINESS AND HURT/COMFORT AND DRAMA!
∙•◦●○◉○●◦•∙Chapter 3∙•◦●○◉○●◦•∙
Fleeting Little Affections and Unidentifiable Objects
"What in the name of all things holy is that."
"I don't know, Rin, you tell me." Kagome shifted a little bit in fear and shied away from even the cover she was using, which happened to be Rin herself. Blue eyes peered out fearfully from behind a mass of curly-straight black hair.
"I think..." Rin swallowed. "I think it's alive." She slowly reached down and removed the shiny chocolate heel from her foot. Raising it above her head, she aimed very carefully- and ended up nailing the monstrosity that had latched onto the wedding dresses in the corner.
...It squawked.
"Ack! You idiotic human! What was that for?" Bulbous, yellowish eyes locked onto Rin and she and Kagome cringed away. It was holding up the wedding dress and had skin as green and rough as a lizard's. Its knobbly head was unsuccessfully covered by some sort of misshapen cone shaped abomination and its nose was long and pointy, almost like a piece of paper had been folded into a triangle and jabbed onto its face. Rin tried to maintain her cool, and instead pointed at him, lowering her other shoe to the ground.
"Ah... You can talk."
"Yes, I can talk, you little human fool!" He hopped up and down like he was having a seizure and waved his knobby little fists as he waddled past the two young woman, clutching his head. "Master Sesshomaru will hear about you imbeciles, as soon as I find hi-..." The little green toad-like thing scuttled away from the door, a door that had just swung open to reveal a somewhat annoyed looking Sesshomaru. A somewhat annoyed looking Sesshomaru whose legs the little creature had just managed to successfully slam into.
"Why are you near the door, Jaken?" He asked coolly, looking down with stormy golden eyes that radiated a silent, scary authority. He loomed a menacing and impressive six feet over the little demon, and Jaken seemed to remember that as he was craning backwards to meet the man's eyes. Sesshomaru looked up, and, upon seeing Rin, he executed a flawless raise of the eyebrow. "Ah, Rin. I see you have met Jaken, already."
Rin, stunned speechless upon this development, kept her mouth shut and tried in vain to wrestle her shoe back onto her foot without looking backward. She hadn't known that Jaken was important to Sesshomaru, and now she had screwed it up. Guilty, she rubbed the back of her head and laughed sheepishly, hoping she could appeal to his less-scarier side. "Uh... Uh, about that..."
"That silly human threw a shoe at my head!" Jaken hopped up and down like an sugar-injected gummy bear. A very squat gummy toad, rather. A very ugly squat gummy toad. Rin flinched at the correct accusation and blushed, trying not to meet Sesshomaru's face. "Master Sesshomaru, please say something to her about this clear abuse of an employee at your fine establishment!"
Sesshomaru lazily drew his amber irises from the complaining, whiny little creature up to Rin's face. She looked pale and guilty, and was avoiding his eyes clearly. There was another human tucked behind her, looking at Jaken fearfully.
"Jaken," he began, ever in the icy tones he reserved just for the small demon and various other imbeciles of his caliber. "What have I told you about the customer?"
"..." Jaken twiddled his hand claw things together, trying not to make them touch. He cringed away from Sesshomaru, those bug eyes shifty and awkward. "That they are always right, Master Sesshomaru."
"And if Ms. Rin deemed it necessary to hit you with a shoe, then she was right, yes?"
"No!" Rin blurted out, a sort of squeamish pity rising up in her at the sight of the pathetic little thing, bowing its head in shame to Sesshomaru. "It really was my fault, I, uh, didn't know he was your..." She thought about and tasted a few words to complete the sentence, and then managed to utter a difficult, "...Accomplice." She smiled in somewhat of a pained way.
"Yeah," Kagome mumbled unhelpfully. "She thought it was a Jell-O experiment gone wrong." Rin elbowed her friend in the ribs, still smiling with a plastered look.
"Jaken." Sesshomaru said, completely ignoring Rin. His eyes didn't stray from the stack of dresses on the desk, nor did his elegant fingers stop for even a moment from writing down notes in loopy cursive. He leaned over the desk, one forearm pressed to the mahogany.
"This Jaken is sorry." The miniature demon grunted in a whiny voice, and then added in a smaller, spiteful voice, "that you humans are all idiots." Rin blinked at him, and Kagome snorted. Sesshomaru calmly stood up, flicked his dark blue rimmed glasses off of his nose, snapped them shut, and, with a well-aimed kick, sent Jaken groveling across the floor into the back room.
"And why don't you come out," Sesshomaru dusted his hands off even though his skin had never come in contact with Jaken's, "When you have counted every spool of silk and organized them by size and color, yes?" Jaken's face was one of pure horror, and the girls could see that the back room was overflowing with colorful spools, several that looked to be about the same shade yet upon closer inspection were subtly different. Sesshomaru clicked the door closed and huffed, pinching the bridge of his nose. There was a moment of silence.
Rin timidly slid up beside his desk, curiosity glittering in her eyes as she scoured over every pattern, every bead, every ribbon on each dress. With an eye for miniscule details, she didn't miss even a single little seashell, or a single crystal drop.
Sesshomaru paused in the middle of his Zen Breathing Exercises and looked over at the young woman, whose hair was elegantly tossed together and held back by a simple pearl pin. Her dark chestnut and copper eyes gave away nothing, but everything, and she was smiling so widely he thought she might rip her own face open. Her face, only her eyes evident over her rich brown scarf, was snowy and flushed, and there were still little flecks of snow harboring themselves and relaxing gracefully in her eyelashes. Today she was wearing a cream, almost tan trench coat with some sort of nude pantyhose. Her chocolate heels matched her chocolate scarf which matched her chocolate eyes. Sesshomaru couldn't remember the last time he favored the color brown so much.
Sesshomaru joined her side and pointed at Rin's sketch of her dress, to which he had added triangles all over the skirt. Rin slid the sheet out of the stack and admired it for a moment. "This one's yours," he said quietly, leaning over her shoulder to see better.
Rin gazed at it; he'd added notes everywhere, even little drawings for the decorations.
"I will use a mold for your little decorations." He said to her, and Rin nodded excitedly.
"It's like a miracle," she said wistfully, whimsically. "Thank you so much for doing this for me, I can't even express my gratitude without becoming all emotional." she paused, and then took a turn for another aspect of conversation. "So, these triangles," she began, trying to comprehend it, "You chose triangles because they are the strongest shape, correct?" He nodded, never looking away from her eyes. Rin thought she might go weak-kneed at the intensity of his gaze and tried to keep her mind on her wedding. "That's really smart, Sesshomaru. And triangles fit to make complex shapes as well." Taking a deep breath herself, she motioned to her friend. "Pardon my manners, by the way; This is Kagome. She's one of my best friends and a bridesmaid." Kagome was now standing next to Rin, a certain toad demon crisis averted. She waved at him, smiling.
"'Llo." He nodded in greeting as response.
"And," Rin continued, "I think this dress is going to be absolutely perfect." She smiled warmly at him. "And I figured, since you were being so great about this whole chocolate dress thing, I brought you and Kouga hot chocolate." At those words, an unexpected Kouga barrelled out of the side room, blinking.
"Yes!" He crowed, "Thank you, Ri- Th... Whoa." He stopped in the middle of his speech to outright ogle Kagome, who was looking at him with undisguised repulsion and offense. His blue eyes were looking way too low for the generally conservative woman's comfort, and she greatly disapproved.
"Hey!" She said, pointing to her face. "My face is up here, thanks a lot!"
"Yeah, babe, but see... I wasn't aiming to look at your face." Kouga smirked … wolfishly at her and Kagome flushed, outraged. She crossed her arms consciously and turned her entire self away as though that could shield her from Kouga's prying eyes.
"Stop angering my clients, Kouga." Sesshomaru's voice was like rocks being dashed against each other when he was pissed off. There was a visible tension around him; he had his eyes scrunched shut. One could almost see the vein in his head and the irritation that exuded off of him. "Get the hot chocolate and get back to work."
"Yes, yes, ice princess." Kouga grumbled, and flicked his card between his claws at Kagome. "And that's my number, babe. Call me!" he mouthed the last two words, snatched the burning cup from Kagome's shocked hands, and darted back into the side room like a whirlwind.
"H...He's fast," she murmured, and then scowled in annoyance down at his number. Huffing, she stepped on it as she turned to look away. "And that was my hot cocoa! He took my hot c- Grrr." Kagome turned to Rin. "Ko is waiting for you, Rin."
"Right." Rin said tonelessly, the sparkle dying down a little bit at the mention of her fiance. So what was the problem?
Kohaku was a control freak- That was the problem. He was into every habit that Rin didn't want in a man. He was demanding, he was angry. He picked fights with people when he drank too much and he smoked too much. But Sango looked right over all of that with her adoring sisterly eyes and set her and Kohaku up on a blind date. So now, Rin had a demanding, angry Kohaku- Who liked her. A lot. Too much.
Rin spun the thin gold ring on her finger around and thought about the various stages of Sango's probably heartbroken face if she broke up with Kohaku now. When he proposed to her at Sango's 25th birthday party, Rin's eyes had been on the birthday girl. No, I can't, she felt the word on her lips, but sheer guilt, pity, and love for her best friend forced a yes up that kicked the no aside and took over. Rin had uttered a quiet, solemn, and abrupt yes, and amidst the cheers, her face had been stunned. Even Ko had looked stunned, which, now that she thought about it, was kind of depressing.
Sesshomaru hadn't failed to notice the story Rin's eyes were telling, and he read confusion, despair, anger, distaste. And as he leaned over Rin even further, he noticed that he smelled the faintest scent of... smoke. For regular smokers, Sesshomaru smelt it very strongly. But the smell of smoke around Rin was vague, a soft little wisp. Perhaps someone around her smoked. Perhaps she was into smokers... Or maybe her mate- no, fiancé -smoked.
He stopped himself right there. He wasn't going to think about Rin. He wasn't supposed to think about Rin. Rin was taken. And even otherwise, everyone told him he should settle down with a demoness and produce demon heirs, not a human. Humans produced half-breeds. Humans are food, not friends. His mother had said that to him when they were younger, in some movie about a clownfish and his son. The shark had said fish are friends, not food. And his mother had said, "Humans are not friends, Sesshomaru. Humans are food. Just in case you get the wrong idea."
And Sesshomaru, sophisticated little boy as he was, had said, "That's disgusting, Mother. I would never have such a floppy, weak meal." And they had resumed the movie, which had ended up nauseating his mother, and the disc was snapped into two before the happy conclusion, which Sesshomaru still never admitted that he had wanted to see. In the end, the moral was that his mother was an awful mother. End of story.
Sesshomaru had never eaten a human to this day. Although he had come close to ripping his brother's head off in his full demon form. Inuyasha, daring to make the comment, had suggested that "wedding dress designing was for women," and worked in his father's business. That perspective changed greatly when Inuyasha came to the painful realization that Sesshomaru's only clients were women that loved to hit on him, and his clients old, bald men in tuxedos, Inuyasha had to admit Sesshomaru's job was akin to being a male ballet dancer- He got all the girls. Inuyasha had only grown even more jealous when he learned that Sesshomaru got to see women in their underthings to measure them.
Not that it mattered to Sesshomaru- He didn't care much to see women, no matter how much they hit on him. What a hypocrite he was- he'd found it disgusting that women found him desirable when they were to be married, and here he somewhat desired this sweet, ditzy little girl who was going to be married.
Sesshomaru sniffed once more, trying to cancel off the smoke with the rest of her cherry blossom essence, and then raised his head. Rin still smelled like sadness, and he looked for something short to say that would get Rin going a mile a minute as she usually did. He didn't have to, though, because speak of the devil, Inuyasha invited himself into the room where Sesshomaru was standing.
"Oi, princess! I've got a bone to pick with you." Sesshomaru failed to show any amusement at the irony of the statement, instead looking upon his half-breed brother with unconcealed distaste, pure and fresh. "Did you-" Inuyasha's gaze had strayed a similar direction's as Kouga's; Straight atop Kagome, whose face was still staring upwards in a pout.
Sesshomaru sighed.
"Hey, who are you?" Inuyasha demanded rudely, poking Kagome between the shoulder blades. "You look like someone I know."
"Excuse me!" Kagome shoved Inuyasha away, only to receive her own strength back because Inuyasha was basically a rock. She nearly toppled backwards into the rack of dresses, but Inuyasha caught her elbow and yanked her back. He pulled her up, real close to his face, and examined her features. Then, he let go of her, grinning triumphantly. Kagome was staring at Inuyasha's ears with something akin to vague wondrous delight. Inuyasha recognized the look and backed away, shoving her back so she slipped on a dress, falling.
"Keh, I knew it. You look like Kikyo." Kagome, who had landed unceremoniously on her backside, rose to brush nonexistent specks off herself. Humiliated and angry, she basically looked like a mother bear ready to claw Inuyasha's eyes out.
"Do not compare me to Kikyo."
"Oh, you know her?" Inuyasha gazed at her, and she didn't bother gracing him with an answer, rather growling angrily much like a demon. "I guess you do, then. I'm not comparing, though. She cheated on me with some guy named Naraku." He shrugged, and Kagome glanced back at him with a speck of pity.
"She's like that," she agreed softly. "Don't let it get to you, she's done it to a lot of guys."
"Gee, thanks." he said sarcastically, and she flushed again. Sesshomaru raised his eyes way up to the ceiling and prayed to Kami that he didn't explode into his full demon form and rip the whole building apart. Rin set her hand against his arm, almost calmingly, and he looked down at her.
"Can I see it so far?" she asked eagerly, her fingers pressing barely any tension against his arm. "My dress?"
Sesshomaru was about to deny her, but found that he couldn't seem to say no. Plus he wanted to get away from the incessant arguing. Quietly, he pushed open the side room where Kouga was and led Rin down a long hallway. Kouga glanced after him in surprise; never had Sesshomaru allowed a woman to walk down those halls to his very private workspace. Hell, even the wolf wasn't allowed there.
Excited, Rin looked around at the cream walls and flower borders between the ceiling and the wall. She dug her heels into the red velvet carpeting and imagined that she was a bride, walking down the aisle in a dreamy dress. Sesshomaru took in the whimsical look on her face, and, gently breaking her reverie, set his hand against her shoulder, turning her towards the room where works-in-progress stayed.
"Wow..." She breathed. He looked away, huffing. This girl, was there anything that didn't surprise her, or bring upon that soft wonder on her face?
He couldn't keep his eyes off of her. Dammit.
Rin immediately saw her dress. There was a large ring of chocolate around the mannequin shaped to her measurements. Spiky chocolate triangles jutted upwards from the circle, to make the hem, looking like a crystal formation. Rin knew not to say anything that would possibly offend the regal demon; after all, Sesshomaru was trying his best. Something, in fact, that no one else would do. No one else had accepted. Rin had to hold on tight to and believe the fact that Sesshomaru would make her a beautiful dress, and that was it.
"It's so cold in here," she said with a shiver instead. Sesshomaru sighed, and, noting that she'd left her coat in the main room, removed his overcoat and dropped it atop her head casually, walking around her to get to the mannequin.
"Oh." Rin expressed her surprise when the heavy fabric dropped on her head. She pulled the large overcoat away, but not before completely immersing herself in the spicy cashew smell of Sesshomaru. It was refined, elegant, a smell that basically exuded some sort of male element. He stood there, looking like he'd simply spring off of a male model magazine, with his thin, medium-sleeved navy blue shirt that was left open slightly to reveal his skin. He had some sort of white scarf that was loosely wound around his neck today, and his blue rimmed glasses were back atop his face. Rin snuggled farther into the coat, maybe just because she could.
Kohaku didn't smell like this spicy, sensual smell. He smelled like smoke.
"..." Sesshomaru gazed at Rin, wondering exactly what she was doing, but chose to leave the petite human girl to her daydream. He shaped another piece of chocolate using the glass cutting tools he'd borrowed from his father.
Rin scooted up next to him, eyes glowing in interest. Sesshomaru was suddenly uncomfortably hyperaware that the girl was there. They were in close proximity, touching, hugging, ravishing distance. Ravishing? What the hell is wrong with me? Sesshomaru couldn't help but watch her eyes with tiny threads of amusement in his amber-gold eyes.
He reached around her to pick up a square of white chocolate. He shaped a large triangle with the cutters and then placed it in accordance to its matching other half along the hem.
"It's cold because if it isn't, the chocolate will melt." He said quietly, and Rin nodded as she watched with unwavering fascination as Sesshomaru fused the pieces together. Her eyes followed the jagged pieces of chocolate, but her mind was far from it. She finally understood why Sesshomaru seemed so... Solitary. Obviously it was because he was always so cooped up in here, with his work. But he created such beautiful pieces of work... Rin exhaled. It was like he was creating a mosaic, a stained glass window.
"Wouldn't you rather want to be somewhere else?" He asked quietly, and Rin started at the sound of his voice, low and rich.
"What? Ah, no." She made a face that was kind of cute. "I have a manicure scheduled today."
He glanced at her. "Don't women like that kind of thing?"
"I suppose most would." Rin's shoulders sagged a bit. "But I hate it."
His eyes were subtly curious enough to urge her to keep talking.
"It's embarrassing," she laughed shyly, embarrassed, and twiddled her fingers. Sesshomaru glanced down at her nails. "I bite my nails really badly, and every time my manicurist sees it..." She shuddered. "Well, what follows is a fit and forcing me to wear these god awful Justin Bieber bandages around each finger to stop me from biting." She was nibbling her thumbnail as she spoke, and Sesshomaru stopped fusing to glance pointedly at her hand for a second.
"Eh? Oh, thanks." She rolled her eyes. "I do it subconsciously, you know?" He nodded shortly and there was a comfortable silence for the next fifteen minutes, as Rin and Sesshomaru remained absorbed in very, very different things. Suddenly, the door swung open and Kagome barged in, red faced and wringing her hands with a terribly worried expression. Kouga was behind him, looking hasty and a little guilty.
"Sorry, Sess. She wouldn't listen to me when I tried to stop her. Started going on about castrating me, and I sort of need my male parts."
"Rin, come on! Your manicurist's been calling me, and he's called me at least seventeen times in the past seventeen minutes!"
"He?" Sesshomaru questioned, and Rin threw her hands up.
"His name's Jakotsu, he's gay, and he does my nails fabulously." Rin noted, rocking on her heels. "But he goes into a rage every time he sees my nails. And somehow, he still manages to do magic with them."
"Jak wants to murder the both of us. We're late, and he's 'a very busy man.'"
Rin rose to her feet. "Totally." She mumbled. "Thanks for letting me see the dress, Sesshomaru." She handed him back his coat, smiling warmly, and he just looked blankly at her, nodding slowly. Gently, he took it from her thin fingers and tried hard to focus on her ring, the symbol that she was someone else's. He supposed that was the only mark of possession to humans;
As they left, Kouga returned to the main shop, tossing Kagome's empty hot cocoa cup into the trash. "I think I'm in love, Sess."
"Don't call me that," Sesshomaru intoned. "And what are you doing here, half-breed? Don't tell me you're... Infatuated," he sneered the word, amber eyes chilled, "with that human girl as well?"
"As well?" Kouga jumped up. "Listen, dog-boy, Kagome is totally mine!" Inuyasha glowered at him.
"Keh, you idiot. Wolves are part of the dog family. And besides, who said anything about liking her at all?" He scoffed, rocking spastically on his heels. (Though that was hardly surprising. Inuyasha hardly stood still.) "Hey, Sesshomaru. Did you make a bet with Miroku that you lost? Because now he wants me to pay for drinks and entrance to some club tonight."
"Hardly." Sesshomaru responded scathingly. "I have no time on my hands to go to a club tonight." He paused, and then spoke up again. "Besides, I don't lose bets."
"Hehe..." Kouga suddenly appeared shifty and nervous. "I may have told him you want to make a bet with him... And if you lose then you have to pay us entrance tonight."
There was a momentary pause before a crack was heard and Kouga went flying backwards into a rack of dresses. Inuyasha was breathing harshly, fist raised, and it was evident who had thrown the first blow.
"Careful!" Sesshomaru nearly roared as the two went at it with each other. Kouga hopped forward gracefully, teetering on his heels for one second before throwing himself at Inuyasha with a blur of speed.
"You bastard!" Inuyasha growled. "Son of a-"
"Don't you dare, you filthy hypocrite! You're the son of a-"
"My mother is human!" Inuyasha bellowed, nearly strangling the wolf demon. "Why did you even bet for me?! Do you know where that lecher monk wants entrance to? Do you?"
To his surprise, it was Sesshomaru who answered. "Where?" It was dry, but he sort of needed some distraction from a certain pair of doe eyes and a clement smile.
"Kiss and Fly." Inuyasha raged, rising to his feet. "Where each glass costs thirty dollars and acceptance is exclusive only." He continued fuming. "We'd get in free if only we had some sort of c...Celeb..." He trailed off, and Sesshomaru, who'd looked back at his notes for Rin's dress, looked up again at him. To his irritation, Inuyasha's eyes were on him.
"No," he intoned bluntly.
"You haven't even heard what I'm going to say!"
"I know I'm not going to like it." Sesshomaru growled between gritted teeth.
"You can get us free acceptance! You're like a magnet for girls everywhere. A walking pantie-dropper." Sesshomaru raised a pissed off eyebrow at Inuyasha's crude epiphet for him.
"No. I said no. You're the famous Inuyasha Takahashi, aren't you?"
"Yeah, to old men! If I wanted acceptance into a famous business luncheon, that's one thing. This is a night club. I don't have enough money for this one." Inuyasha scoffed, glancing at a point on the ceiling. His ears twitched in irritation.
"Uh, yeah you do," Kouga grumbled. Inuyasha shot him a searing look.
"This is your fault, you mangy prick. You should be paying for yourself and that pervert, and for me too." He growled, and Kouga rolled his startling blye eyes to the ceiling. "Come on, Sesshomaru. You could have some fun."
"No time. I have to finish Rin's dress." Sesshomaru really did want to get a move on with Rin's dress- it was taking ages, and each triangle required utmost patience. Since he started her project, he had given Jaken twenty-three serious injuries and fourteen minor ones for interrupting him and causing a piece of chocolate to break.
Never again.
But every time he thought about just resigning and telling Rin that she'd look much prettier in some sort of silk gown than a chocolate statue, he thought about the reminiscing glimmer in her eye when she thought about her mother.
"Just leave it for tonight." Inuyasha's pestering was starting to grate against Sesshomaru's nerves. "She won't care! Come on, Sesshomaru. Get a life. You stay cooped up in here all the time, so just- I dunno. Get out there, ice princess."
That was it.
"Fine." Sesshomaru nearly growled, the snarl rolling clearly from his curled lip.
"Come on, Sesshomaru- Wait, what?" Inuyasha blinked, recoiling from his brother. "Really? Great! Free access!" He howled. "Suck that, Miroku!"
"Just shut up and leave." Sesshomaru pointed at the door with one razor sharp claw, clearly telling Inuyasha that if he lingered even one second longer, then he would certainly die. "Now."
Inuyasha hastily made his exit before Sesshomaru attempted to strangle him or worse, changed his mind.
"Awesome." Kouga grinned, leaning back against his chair and folding his arms behind his head. Sesshomaru glared at the wolf demon as he continued scanning the dress. "This is going to be a fantastic night out."
So, thoughts? How do you feel about the development? I take criticism! Reviews are appreciated. *rambles*