"Hey…Shessoumaru, right?"

Sesshoumaru turned around, his foot halfway out the door to see Bankotsu smirking at him smugly. "Uhm, no. Actually its Sesshoumaru." He corrected.

"Yeah whatever." Bankotsu shrugged carelessly. "Come on, we're playing cops and robbers today!"

Sesshoumaru looked bewildered at this 'game', as Bankotsu called it. He considered inquiring further, but decided not to since he'd already promised to play with Rin at recess and it wouldn't matter what silly game they were playing. "Actually, I'm not—"

However, Bankotsu wasn't paying attention. "Come on, hurry up!" he grabbed Sesshoumaru's arm, pulling him out the door behind him. "We're gonna end up being stuck as cops if we don't get out there!" Bankotsu screamed, charging through the large yard, not caring of what or who he ran through.

Sesshoumaru trotted clumsily along behind him, trying to keep his feet on the ground long enough to stop and regain his footing. "Hey!" a girlish voice stopped them both and Sesshoumaru breathed a sigh of relief. It was Rin. "Hi, Sesshoumaru," she grinned before frowning at Bankotsu. "What do you think you're doing??"

Bankotsu sneered. "We're going to go play cops'n robbers, so get out of our way!" he moved to take off with his grip still firm around Sesshoumaru's arm when Rin suddenly reached out and grasped his hand.

"But Sesshoumaru told me he would play with me today!" she whined, pulling slightly.

Bankotsu laughed. "You must be crazy! No boy would wanna play with you!"

Rin's face grew indignant and she tugged even harder on Sesshoumaru's hand, her brows knitted in anger. "And why not?!"

"Cause you're a GIRL and girls are GROSS!" Bankotsu screamed, pulling back. "Right, Sessh?"

Sesshoumaru looked at Bankotsu, then at Rin and for the first time felt uncertainty enter his mind. He would later learn to call this 'peer pressure'. Rin stared at Sesshoumaru, waiting for him to denounce Bankotsu's ridiculous claim; when he said nothing, tears began to well up in her eyes. "But you promised."

Sesshoumaru could only stare as her lovely face crumpled and she dissolved into sniffles, obviously trying hard not to cry in front of them. "See? Told ya, we're too cool to hang out with girls." Bankotsu sneered again and pulled, this time not being restricted from movement by Rin. The hurt in Rin's eyes almost made Sesshoumaru stop Bankotsu from pulling him away, but she turned and ran away before he could do so. "Stupid girl," Bankotsu muttered to which Sesshoumaru gave a less than half-hearted "Yeah,"

"Hey you!" Sesshoumaru squinted up at the woman that was standing in front of the school, waiting for him.

"Hi, Izayoi." He replied glumly. This game 'Cops and Robbers' had been less than satisfactory and what's worse, he'd sacrificed what could have possibly been a peaceful afternoon with Rin for running around with a bunch of boys that couldn't properly organize games dealing with crime and punishment. After recess had ended, Sesshoumaru had tried several times to talk to Rin, to apologize and explain himself, but she'd gone and told Kagura of his broken promise, who'd formed a human girl-wall around her. "Well now, what's the matter Sesshoumaru?" Izayoi bent down, sensing how upset her stepson was.

Sesshoumaru blinked at her slowly before turning, his eyes landing on Rin. She was standing about fifteen feet away, hugging the arm of a boy much older than she; he could only guess that was the older brother she'd spoken of. He moved forward as if to approach Rin but her eyes narrowed and she stuck her tongue out. He gasped slightly and turned when he heard Izayoi chuckle. "Whatever you did, I'm sure it'll be better tomorrow," Izayoi reassured as she took his hand and led further down the block until Rin's form could no longer be seen.

Hopefully Izayoi was right and Sesshoumaru would have better luck with Rin tomorrow.