Chapter 5

True to his word, Miroku helped Sesshoumaru devise a way to make Rin like him. It had taken him a while, but in the end he had come up with what he considered to be a fool-proof plan. He discovered that Rin was a private person, but would open up if there was someone willing to listen. Eventually, Miroku decided that the best way to help Sesshoumaru was if he, Miroku, got to know the girl in question. When he suggested this to Sesshoumaru, he had been met with silence before the man had agreed, knowing his friend was acting in his best interests. Now the hard work of getting to know Rin was about to begin.

Miroku was on his way to the café area wondering how he was going to go about getting to know Rin, when he saw her walking a few steps ahead of him going in the same direction. Both of them were alone, seeing as everyone else had either left or had a class. Now was as good a time as any to start, he supposed. Taking a deep breath, he lengthened his stride and caught up with her easily, falling into step beside her.

"Hey Rin!" he said with a friendly smile.

She turned to look at him, not once slowing her pace. Her eyes showed slight suspicion at his actions. He rarely spoke to her, what reason would he have now?

"Hello, Miroku," she said calmly, hiding the suspicion and deciding to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"No lesson?" he asked cheerfully, praying she wouldn't shut him out.

"Finished for today. You?"

"I'm finished too. Think there's anything good in the café?"

"Maybe."

"Want to have lunch with me?" he asked suddenly.

She paused and looked at him, not bothering to hide the suspicion in her eyes. Sensing she was about to reject him, he hurried on, not giving her an opportunity to speak.

"You wouldn't leave me to eat alone, would you?" he asked, giving her cutest expression he could manage.

She smirked and nodded. "I suppose lunch won't hurt."

"Brilliant!" he exclaimed happily. "My treat!"

Rin allowed herself to be pulled along by Miroku's enthusiasm. She didn't have anything against him, he had always been nice to her, but she was still wary of his sudden attention. Sighing, she decided to push her distrust aside for the moment and followed him over to one of the tables near the back of the café and waited while he disappeared to get food. Miroku returned with two trays of food and a grin.

"Eat up!" he said cheerfully and took a bite out of his sandwich.

"Thanks," she said and ventured a small smile as she picked up a small packet of grapes.

"Do you enjoy being in your band?" Miroku asked, trying to start a conversation.

"Yeah. It's a bit hard getting used to it though," she said, giving him another tiny smile before popping a grape into her mouth.

"It takes a lot of confidence to be a lead singer," he commented.

"It takes a long time to build up that confidence if you don't already have it," she remarked drily. "Inuyasha's lucky."

"We're just lucky Inuyasha decided to join the band, we'd be nothing without him."

"Nonsense," she said and shook her head. "A band isn't made up of one person. Credit for the band's success goes to all of you, not just the vocalist."

"True," Miroku acknowledged. "But without him, we'd wouldn't be the band we are."

Rin nodded and popped the last grape into her mouth, chewing slowly as she gazed out the window. Watching her from subtly, Miroku realised that there was a lot more to Rin than met the eye. She was more intelligent than she gave herself credit for and he found himself intrigued. He hoped that she wouldn't shut him out when he had only just discovered how interesting she was.

"Do you think Kagome likes Inuyasha?" he asked her, searching for anything to start the conversation again.

Rin blinked at the question and put down her drink as she thought over the question. "I suppose she does," she replied thoughtfully before she smirked. "Really it's quite obvious when you think about it."

"About as obvious as it that Kouga like Ayame," Miroku grinned.

"And that you like Sango," Rin returned, a smile pulling her lips.

Miroku blushed and looked away.

"Don't be embarrassed," Rin said softly, leaning back in her seat and watching him. "You'd make a good couple."

"She doesn't like me though," he muttered and raised his eyes to meet hers.

"Don't be so sure," she smiled. "Keep your wandering hands in check for a while and you may be surprised."

"Do you have a boyfriend, Rin?" he asked, watching her closely.

"No," she said, not breaking eye contact.

"How can you not have one?"

"It's pretty easy really," she said with a crooked smile.

"Why not?"

"I haven't met the man who doesn't treat me like an object," she said the first thing that came to mind, then cursed herself for such a stupid line.

"What about those guys you're friends with? Don't any of them meet your standards?"

"They're like my brothers," she replied with a laugh. "It would be awkward being with them in that sort of relationship."

"I suppose it would," Miroku conceded. "I'm glad we had a chance to talk," he said, genuinely meaning what he said.

"Me too," she smiled at him. "But you can tell Sesshoumaru that I'm not interested in someone who finds amusement in playing with me."

He stared at her, dumbfounded. How could she possibly have known that he was trying to find a way to get them together. Miroku narrowed his eyes slightly and then smiled.

"He's not that bad, Rin," he said gently.

"Are you sure?" she questioned.

"He's slightly emotionally stunted, but he wouldn't ever intentionally do anything to hurt someone else."

"Slightly emotionally stunted?" she queried with a raised eyebrow.

"Okay, very emotionally stunted," Miroku said with a laugh, raising his hands in a placating manner. "But he still wouldn't hurt anyone intentionally."

"I don't think he would intentionally hurt anyone," Rin said. "I just don't enjoy being played with like a toy."

"He likes you, you know?"

Rin shrugged. "He'll give up when a woman in a short dress flutters her eyelashes at him."

"He's persistent."

"Until someone better comes along," she repeated and looked Miroku in the eyes. "I have nothing against you or any of the others, Miroku, but I know his type. I'm not foolish enough to fall for anyone who relies on their wealth and looks to get a woman."

"He's not like that. Will you not give him a chance?"

"A chance to prove me right?" she raised an eyebrow again.

"No. Will you not give him a chance to prove that he's not the person you think he is?"

"What would this chance involve?" she asked sceptically.

"Just talk to him, get to know him and let him get to know you," Miroku smiled at her slightly.

Rin narrowed her eyes. "Fine, I'll do it. On one condition."

"What's that?"

"That you try your hardest to show Sango you're not a pervert."

"You're trying to get me together with Sango?" he asked incredulously. "She hates me."

"If you won't give it a try then I won't either. Besides, she doesn't hate you."

Miroku sighed. Helping his friend had now turned against him. In order to help his friend, he was now forced to humiliate himself by going after a woman who clearly didn't like him.

"Fine, I'll try."

"Remember, it works both ways. If you don' try, neither will I." She got to her feet and pulled her bag over her shoulder. She gave him a genuine smile as she turned to leave. "Thank you for lunch, Miroku. It was nice talking to you."

With that, she left the café, leaving Miroku to stare after her, despair and regret swirling through his veins. He should have known getting her to give Sesshoumaru a chance wouldn't be easy, but he wouldn't have thought she would ask him to do something in return. With a sigh, he got to his feet and wandered out to his car before driving off to band practice.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

It was a couple of days after her conversation with Miroku that Rin found herself in the company of Inuyasha and the rest of the band. She had been on her way to the library a few minutes away from the university when she heard her name being called. Turning around, she found Inuyasha standing beside a red car and beckoning her over. With a sigh, she wandered down to where the stood only to find Kouga and Miroku in the car beside him.

"Yes?" she asked, when she stopped beside him.

"The girls are coming to lunch with us, want to come?" Inuyasha asked.

Rin almost sighed aloud at her misfortune. Instead, she closed her eyes briefly before opening them and looking at Miroku who had a tiny grin on his face. If it would not have aroused suspicion, she would have brandished her fist at him for being the cause of her predicament. Turning her gaze back to Inuyasha, she nodded.

"Where?"

"Just the restaurant opposite the library," he grinned.

"Fine. I'll be there after I go to the library."

Without saying another word, she turned and walked away, seething that she had agreed to this. Knowing that Sango would benefit was a small consolation. After visiting the library, she dawdled in the doorway, looking across the road at the restaurant where she could see everyone happily talking. She was tempted to just turn and walk away. Walk away from Miroku's request and just carry on with life as normal. Heaving a sigh, she shifted the two large books in her arms and started towards the restaurant. Miroku grinned at her when he saw her approaching. He made sure to pull up an extra chair between himself and Sesshoumaru. Rin narrowed her eyes at him, but sat down anyway.

The meal passed far too slowly for Rin's liking and she merely sat and ate quietly, not attempting conversation with anyone, let alone the stoic man beside her. She prayed hard throughout the meal that it would end soon and eventually, her prayers were answered. Inuyasha decided that it would be fun to see a film and the others agreed, all except Rin and Sesshoumaru who opted out of the arrangement. Shrugging, Inuyasha had promised to drive everyone to the cinema and left the pair behind in the restaurant to foot the bill. Before leaving, Miroku leaned down and whispered a reminder about their deal into her ear and then left with a wink.

Rin sighed as she watched the group leave. In truth she was glad they had left, trying to socialise was tiring when you didn't feel like it. However, she was now faced with Sesshoumaru and she had no idea what to do. Since Miroku wasn't there, she could just get up and leave, but it was likely that Miroku would find out that she had done so one way or another. Instead, she stayed put and rubbed her aching temples gingerly. She looked up when the bill was placed on the table and her eyes widened in surprise as she grabbed it and examined it.

"He left us to foot the bill!" she exclaimed, her previous thoughts about Sesshoumaru vanishing in an instant.

"He always does that," Sesshoumaru said with a shrug, reaching over to pull the paper from her fingers.

Rin turned to look at him incredulously. "And you just let him do it?"

"It makes no difference who pays it. The money comes from the same account in the end."

"That's not the point!" Rin declared, louder than she intended.

"And what, Ms. Oshiro, is your point?" he asked, fixing his amber eyes on her intently, a smirk tugging his lips.

"That you can't let him walk over you like that all the time," she said with a frown and leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest. "You're his older brother, not someone who picks up after him."

"Aren't older siblings supposed to look after the younger ones?"

"Well yes, but he's just taking advantage of you!"

Sesshoumaru almost laughed, but settled for a smirk instead. "Why does this bother you? From what I remember you don't like me."

"This isn't about whether or not I like you!" she declared again, irritation beginning to grow inside her. "This is about you putting up with something you shouldn't have to! You could put a stop to it if you wanted to."

"I suppose I could, but in the end, what purpose would that serve? Like I said, the money comes from the same account in the end so why should it matter who pays the bill?"

Rin scowled at him. "You're hopeless," she said quietly, folding her arms again and looking away in annoyance.

Truthfully, she didn't know why it bothered her so much that Inuyasha just left his brother to pick after him. Perhaps it was because she knew that Sesshoumaru could do something about it if he wanted to and yet he didn't. She shouldn't care what he did with his life, but for some reason the thought of him being walked over by his own brother irked her more than he had ever done.

"Perhaps I am," Sesshoumaru shrugged.

"You're not supposed to agree with me!" she glared across the table at him. "You know, you're nothing like I thought you were."

"And what did you think I was?" he smirked at her.

"You always acted so cool and aloof, like nothing bothers you or gets in your way and now I find out you're just a push over. It's kind of disappointing."

"Why would you be disappointed? You don't even like me."

"I thought it was impressive that you wouldn't let anything get in your way of achieving anything."

Rin opened her purse and slammed some money down on the table before standing up and walking out of the restaurant. Sesshoumaru looked down at the money and pocketed it, he put some money on the table and left, trying to catch up with Rin. When he reached the street, he saw her about to turn a corner and ran to catch up with her, pulling her around by the shoulder. She glared at him and crossed her arms, waiting for him to speak.

"You left your money behind," he said, holding out the money to her.

Rin looked from his hand to his face and narrowed her eyes slightly. "It was my share of the bill."

"Do you honestly think I'm the type of man to make a woman pay for her own food?"

"So, you're treating me?" she asked with a smirk.

"I suppose I'm treating everybody."

"As usual."

"Well what am I supposed to do?" Sesshoumaru demanded, beginning to get annoyed. "Am I supposed to change the way I am just because of Inuyasha?"

"Of course not," Rin shook her head and gave him a vague smile. "I know you probably don't want to hear this from me of all people, but you're fine the way you are. You don't need to change. Don't let him walk over you; a handsome face covered in footprints isn't very attractive."

Without another word, Rin turned and left, leaving him staring after her again. When she was sure he wouldn't follow her again, she finally allowed her blush to surface. She couldn't believe she had just said something as stupid as that! 'A handsome covered in footprints isn't very attractive'?! Where did that come from and why did she have to say it to Sesshoumaru of all people? That's not to say she didn't think him attractive, because any woman would agree that he was an Adonis, herself included. However, she still didn't think any different of him, not entirely anyway. Perhaps he was soft on his family? Or maybe Inuyasha was just that crafty that he managed to better his brother? She shrugged, trying to erase what had just happened from her mind with little success.