I
Rin swallows disappointment. She lingers by the doorway as the others surge forward, their young faces alight with toothy grins and sparkling eyes. The adults will choose them, rather than the awkward eight-year-old standing alone, a wistful smile curling her lip.
Her cheeks are hollow, and the hungry, knowing expression in her brown eyes makes the young couples draw back instinctively, although they don't realise it. A curly-headed child stumbles, and is caught in a young woman's arms. She beckons to her husband, and he bends close, evidently asking the little boy's name. She sees Hoshi answer them, his eyes growing round and delighted above his chubby cheeks as they smile.
She finds that her fingers are tangled in her shift, and sternly makes them stop their nervous dance on the worn fabric. Rin feels a touch on her arm, and knows even before she looks up that it will be Kaede's careworn face frowning slightly at her. "Why do you not go forward, child?" the old woman asks, pressing the child's fingers in her own wrinkled palm. Rin musters a smile, and merely shakes her head. The orphanage owner smoothes the girl's unruly hair, and Rin leans into the caress for a moment before disentangling herself gently.
The young girl moves forward slowly, and perches herself on the fringe of the hopeful children, with all these adults milling amongst them like nervous chickens. She sights a tall, lean man as he enters the room. His cold demeanour causes the orphans to edge away from him, but Rin likes the way that he does not immediately go to the babies. He remains at the window, allowing his dispassionate gaze to rest on all of them, one by one. When his impassive eyes flicker to her face, she tilts her chin a little, meeting it squarely. Suddenly, desperately, she wants to go home with this man.
A squat, nervous person holding his suitcase mutters something to him, careful not to strain too close to that untouchable figure. It evidently displeases him, for there is a slight twitch around the other's firm-lipped mouth as he replies. Rin has become adept at reading the shapes of a person's mouth. She watches everything, and says nothing. His words are clipped and short. I know, is his cool reply. His mien is an utter contrast to the hopeful parents clustered in the room. His fingers flicker slightly, as though he is forcing himself to remain calm and motionless, when he would prefer to employ them differently.
Rin bites her lip. There is nothing to do but wait. Try as she may, she cannot make herself agreeable to increase her chances of being adopted. Her heart is lonely and sore, but it wants nothing more than to be accepted for its own, rather battered, self. Her fingers grip the edges of her stool, and she fixes her gaze on Haru as he casts a shy smile at an older gentleman and his wife. The nine-year-old has been here only a month, but he won't be here much longer, judging by the charmed expressions of the couple. They may visit continually for a fortnight, trying to decide whether it is wise, or wonder if they can provide all that he needs, but in the end, he'll be taken to a new home and treasured.
She doesn't sigh, she doesn't speak. The mute child who has lived at the orphanage since she might have begun talking never has. Her memories of her mother are little more than impressions: the elusive scent of jasmine, the image of dark eyes and hair good to play with. Rin remembers all too well the feeling of fear, and a darkness creeping across her despite trying to fight against it. The same acute senses that warned her then - though the woman couldn't understand her tearful shrieks - tell her that the beautiful, untouchable man across the room is a youkai. And strangely, she knows she would be protected if he would just choose her.
He walks with the languid grace of a panther, although the markings on his face proclaim him an inu, a dog demon. She remembers Kaede's careful distinctions, the way her mouth wrinkled at the demon lords' mention as she instructed her young charges in the noble bloodlines of Japan's taiyoukai. "They are an integral part of our society," she said firmly. "They control most of the wealth in Japan. It is wise not to meddle with them." It is clear that Kaede was right, for even if she hadn't known of the superior strength and battlelust that lurks behind such a beautiful deception, this person is not an individual to be crossed. His eyes are amber, true, but they are utterly without feeling. It does not deter her. She wants to go home with that one.
He is beside her abruptly, tilting her chin so that he can gaze at her more deeply. He makes a quiet sound, almost of dismissal, but his nervous companion scurries towards him, brandishing the suitcase. "Sesshoumaru-sama," he squeaks, "are you sure? You would be bound contractually - it isn't an easy thing - that is to say, it isn't a decision to be made l-lightly." He falters underneath his employer's bland stare, and begins to rummage within the leather case. Sesshoumaru ignores him supremely, instead directing his attention to the young human before him.
His tone is devoid of emotion, but it resonates deeply somewhere in Rin's chest. "Do you wish to come home with this Sesshoumaru, girl?" It is clear that this taiyoukai rarely asks anything of anyone, as his rich voice is peremptory despite its coolness. She looks up at him, and takes his hand.
Rin nods.
His fingers are surprisingly warm, but he does not relish the contact, evident in the way that he holds her little paw loosely in his grip. Perhaps it is for the photographer who has followed them in, and is snapping pictures of them with a gleeful expression on his face, that he allows it at all. Dazed, she doesn't think of much else until he growls softly under his breath - she most likely the only one who can hear him - and picks her up with no apparent effort at all, settling her on his Armani-clad hip. His arm is curled around her, and she gives a sudden, dazzling smile. The joy seems to make her head dizzy and her blood pound, and when Kaede asks her whether she'd like to collect her things - everything's happening so fast - he shoots the elderly woman a cool look, and states that this Sesshoumaru would be remiss if he did not immediately provide all that his new charge could possibly need - or want.
So with one more signature, Rin no name becomes Rin No Taisho, and she finally - abruptly - finds herself daughter to the most prestigious businessman in international affairs.
She'll find out soon enough, Jaken thinks snidely. Smile for the camera, child, because that's all you're here to do.
I'm not exactly sure why this came to me, but it did, and I wrote it. You've read it. Now all that's left to be done is for you to leave a small, honest review. Ta muchly!
All the best,
Rachel