Chapter III

"You can't be serious, Rin," a female voice said incredulously.

"I'm perfectly serious, Mika."

It had been a few days after her conversation with Sesshoumaru that Rin had finally informed her land lord that she was moving out. Sesshoumaru appeared almost every day to help her move boxes from the apartment to the room she would be using in his home and had simply told her that he would take care of her furniture. She had no idea where it went, but it was steadily disappearing and she could only hope that Sesshoumaru was taking good care of it wherever it was.

"Where are you moving to?" Mika asked Rin, who sat demurely on her sofa.

"To a friend's house."

"The one who's been coming round every day for the past week?"

"That's him."

"That's a bad idea, hun," Mika said with a frown. "He'll be a bad influence on you."

"Why?" Rin asked, looking at her friend and land lady over the rim of her tea cup.

"Just look at him! You can tell just by looking at him that he comes from the rough side of town."

"I'll be fine, Mika. Thank you for your concern."

Rin smiled to herself as she left the building for the final time. It wasn't hard to understand why Mika had thought that about Sesshoumaru but Rin knew that it was definitely not true. He had surprised her when he showed her where she would be living so much so that she thought he was playing a cruel joke on her. He had taken her to one of the fancy apartment blocks near the centre of the city and had then proceeded to take up her to the top floor of the enormous building to the apartment he owned. It was at least twice the size of her old one and Rin couldn't help but gape at the room he had given her. As it turned out, Rin discovered that Sesshoumaru came from a very wealthy family, although she didn't know which, and had become the black sheep of the family after refusing to be his father's successor to the family business. To say Rin had been surprised would be an understatement, but she was grateful that he saw fit to share his story with her.

Dusting off her skirt, she picked up her bag and made her way towards the location of her most recent job. Although she was quitting the job, she thought she owed it to the manager to at least dress smartly and be as polite as possible when she broke the news. It wasn't often that she wore skirts, but she decided that this was an occasion that warranted one; besides, the rest of her clothes had been packed away already. A black knee length skirt flattered her figure; the high heels she wore made her legs look very long despite her short stature and a dark brown coat covered her white blouse. In her bag she carried a pair of jeans and a t-shirt to wear at work, she knew better than to wear a skirt around a room full of drunken men.

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

Sesshoumaru sighed to himself as he looked at his nearly empty beer bottle and wondered where the person behind the bar had disappeared to. He had abandoned his seat in the corner of the room in favour of sitting at the bar where he could hear all the conversation as well as being on the receiving end of Rin's smiles. Thinking of her name made him wonder where she was as her shift was due to start soon. Almost as though she knew that she was being thought of, the door opened and Rin walked in. Glancing at her briefly, Sesshoumaru turned his attention back to his nearly empty bottle before looking back as he heard loud wolf whistles. What he hadn't seen moments before was that Rin wore a skirt instead of the jeans that she always wore and it appeared that quite a few men in the room approved of what they saw. Admittedly, she did look very nice dressed like that and her legs looked even better, but he couldn't help but wonder about her choice of clothing for a cold winter's night. When she appeared behind the bar, she looked no different than normal in her usual jeans and t-shirt, but she was now centre of attention as all the men around the bar clamoured to get her attention now that they knew what those jeans hid.

A full bottle of beer appeared in front of him moments later and he looked up to see her smiling at him. She was definitely back to her normal self and he was glad because the smile she had just given him was one he had been missing over the past few weeks. He nodded his thanks before she turned away to talk to some of the men nearby and he wondered what she would do if he were to start a conversation with her, not that he had any intention of doing so.

"You're lookin' happy, girl," Osamu commented with a smirk as she refilled his drink. "Got yourself a fella?"

Rin laughed. "No. I'm still looking for him."

"You'll find one soon enough."

"How can you be sure?" Rin asked, falling into her usual routine of bantering with the older man.

"With legs like yours, I'm surprised you ain't got 'em queuing up for you."

"If I was ten years younger, I'd be first in line," another man, Saburou, commented with a wink that made Rin laugh again.

"Why'd you keep 'em hidden, girl?" Osamu asked teasingly. "We not good enough for ya?"

"It's too cold for skirts."

"You wore one today," Saburou interjected.

"I went somewhere special today," Rin said with a smile as she turned to serve some newcomers.

While Rin continued to banter with the others, Sesshoumaru watched her with narrowed eyes as he listened to the conversation and realised that there was a lot about her that he didn't know while she already knew his story. He hadn't even considered the fact that there might be a man in her life, but had felt relief wash over him when he discovered that there wasn't, although he wasn't sure why he was relieved. He watched her as she emerged from behind the bar to collect the empty glasses that had been left on the tables and noticed for the first time that she had a nice figure. Tearing his eyes away, he glanced at the clock and saw that it was already midnight; her shift should already be over. The hours had flown by without him realising it and he began wondering why she made no move to leave.

"You're workin' late tonight, girl," Osamu observed as he too looked at the clock.

"Only for another half an hour," Rin said with a smile as she returned to the bar with a tray full of empty glasses.

"It's dangerous for a girl like you to be wanderin' around in the dark on her own."

"I'll be fine."

When she disappeared from behind the bar half an hour later, Sesshoumaru left the bar and waited outside for her, knowing that it would be easier to give her a ride home considering the circumstances. The door opened a short while later and Rin walked out with Osamu and Saburou on either side of her, laughing at something one of them had said. Sesshoumaru noticed that she had changed back into her skirt and wondered what the point of doing so was. She stood with her back to him while conversing with the two men and from where he stood; Sesshoumaru had a very good view of her legs and derriere and had to admit that he liked what he saw, although he would never admit that out loud.

The two men finally waved goodbye and turned around to make their way home while Rin watched them go with a vague smile. When she turned around, she was surprised to see Sesshoumaru leaning against the wall, a hand in his pocket and the other holding a cigarette. He watched in amusement as her nose wrinkled as the smoke drifted towards her and she waved her hand in front of her face to clear the air as she so often did in the bar.

"I thought you'd stopped that," Rin said, gesturing to the cigarette in his hand.

Sesshoumaru shrugged slightly and tilted his head as he looked at her. "Will you not be cold wearing that on the way home?"

"No, it's fine," Rin said, a blush staining her cheeks as she realised that he too had been looking at her legs.

"Let's go then."

The pair made their way over to the car park unaware that Osamu and Saburou had decided to return to the bar for a bit longer and were just walking past the car park when they spotted Rin standing beside Sesshoumaru as he fastened the helmet for her. The two men watched in shocked silence as she climbed onto the motorcycle behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist before they disappeared into the night.

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

Rin was in high spirits the next day. The first night at Sesshoumaru's had gone well. There had been no awkwardness and both of them seemed to adjusting to the change as easily as though this had always been on the cards. She had decided that she would take a look at the house that had belonged to her family and had taken the short train journey to the small town where it was located. Sesshoumaru had not been awake when she had left, but she prepared breakfast and left a covered plate of food for him in the kitchen with a brief note of where she was before leaving. After all, cooking meals was the least she could do for him since he had allowed her to stay in his home.

Much to her surprise, the house she found herself standing in front of was a lot bigger and in better condition than she thought it would be. She looked around and saw that the garden would definitely need tending, but the house itself was in perfect condition. An idea formed in her mind as she wandered through the empty rooms. If she could clean the house up and furnish it with the furniture from her previous apartment, Rin realised that she could rent it out to someone and earn some extra money. She wondered why it had never occurred to her before, but pushed the thought aside as she began making her way back to the train station to head back to the city for her shift at the bar.

Sesshoumaru was sitting in his usual seat at the bar when she arrived, as were Osamu and Saburou and a few other men she knew by sight but not by name. After making sure everyone had been served, Rin pulled a notebook and pen out of her pocket and found an empty space of the bar where she could work out what she would need to do to get the house back in habitable condition. She was so focussed on her task that she didn't notice Sesshoumaru watched her carefully with a curious light in his eyes and she didn't notice that Osamu and Saburou were sending furtive glances down the bar to the silver haired man. When she was finally happy with her plan, she put the notebook and pen back in her pocket and looked around to see if anyone needed refills. Her gaze landed on Sesshoumaru's empty bottle and she headed towards him with a new one.

"What were you writing?" he asked quietly when she handed him the drink.

"I went to visit the house my family owned today and if I clean it up and put some furniture in it, I could probably rent it out and get some extra money. You'll have to come with me sometime and see it," Rin replied with a smile, taking out her notebook and sliding it towards him. "I'd like your opinion."

"We'll discuss it later," Sesshoumaru agreed before nodding at something behind her. "Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum want your attention."

Giggling slightly, Rin turned away and walked towards Osamu and Saburou who smiled slightly at her as she approached. Quietly, she refilled their drinks and was about to walk away when Osamu spoke.

"You got somethin' goin' with that quiet guy?" he asked, gesturing towards Sesshoumaru with his eyes. "You wanna be careful of him, girl. His type don't play nice."

Rin laughed. "There's nothing going on."

"You went home with him last night for fun then?" Saburou asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, you saw that, did you?" Rin asked in mild surprise. "He was just giving me a lift home."

"You wanna be careful," Osamu repeated, closing his eyes as he spoke. "He'll drop you like a bad habit when he gets bored."

"It's nothing like that," Rin said, waving her hand dismissively. "Besides, he's a lot nicer than you make him sound."

It was a few hours later when Sesshoumaru was standing outside the bar smoking that Osamu and Saburou came out and were about to make their way home when they spotted him leaning against the wall beside the door. Saburou shrugged and turned around to start walking home when Osamu changed course and headed towards the taller man. Sesshoumaru looked at the man expressionlessly when he came to a stop in front of him and simply blew a cloud of smoke into the air between them as he waited for the shorter man to speak.

"You better not be playin' with that girl," Osamu said in a low voice as he tried to appear confident in front of the silent man.

"What's it to you?" Sesshoumaru asked, pulling a fresh cigarette out of his pocket and lighting it.

"Osamu, just leave it," Saburou exclaimed in an exasperated tone.

"She aint' no toy to amuse you 'til you get bored."

"No one said she was."

"Boy, you could make a preacher cuss! I'm bein' serious 'bout this!" Osamu all but shouted as his agitation grew.

"So am I."

Osamu looked furious for a moment and spluttered as he tried to come up with a response and instead chose to grab the taller man's shirt, pulling him down until they were at eye level. He opened his mouth to speak but never got to say what he intended as Rin stepped out of the bar, waving at someone behind her before closing the door. When she turned around, she surveyed the scene for a moment, completely dumbfounded. The trio of men turned to look at her and there was a moment's silence before she recovered her speech.

"What's going on here?" she demanded, approaching the small group and putting her hands on her hips as she waited for a response.

"This boy ain't takin' me seriously," Osamu muttered as he turned his attention back to Sesshoumaru. "I ain't jokin' 'bout this, boy!"

"I'm not a boy," Sesshoumaru growled in response, beginning to lose patience with the man.

Rin sighed as she suddenly understood what was happening. She was grateful that Osamu had taken it upon himself to defend her honour, but there was really no need. Sesshoumaru didn't see her as anything other than "the girl at the bar" and she knew that he wouldn't do anything to hurt her even though everyone seemed to disagree. Frowning, she stepped closer and somehow managed to get Osamu to let go of Sesshoumaru's shirt and she pushed them apart, stepping between them before turning to the older man.

"It's kind of you to look out for me, Osamu," Rin said with a vague smile before glancing over her shoulder at the man who towered over her. "You don't need to worry though. Like I said before, he's nicer than you think."

Sesshoumaru blinked in surprise as he heard her words. Nicer than you think? She thought he was nice? That was certainly different; he hadn't heard himself referred to as 'nice' before. The cigarette in his hand was soon forgotten as he looked down at the tiny woman standing in front of him and wondered why she would defend him. His other hand brushed against the notebook in his pocket and remembered her saying that she wanted his opinion. Stunned by being complimented twice in one evening, he tilted his head slightly as she turned around after the other two men had left.

"I'm sorry that happened," Rin said sheepishly, blushing when she met his gaze. "He's a bit too protective."

"You really are very small," Sesshoumaru commented casually, putting his hand on her head as he had done a week before. "You need someone to look after you."

Rin stared at him in shock, not quite sure what to say and why the conversation had taken a strange turn. Had he never noticed her height before? As she thought over his words again, she realised that he clearly thought of her as a helpless woman who needed to be defended.

"I don't need to be looked after!" she declared hotly, crossing her arms and turning slightly away from him. "I can look after myself!"

"Feisty as a rooster too," he said with a chuckle.

"You laughed!" Rin exclaimed, forgetting her petulance as surprise took over.

"Even I laugh occasionally."

"Not often enough though."

With a new respect for the diminutive woman, Sesshoumaru drove them home and decided that life was probably going to be quite interesting with her around. She had insisted on making meals for them both, regardless of the time, and she obviously had a big heart. The feisty part of her only intrigued him all the more as he realised that she was far from being the cheerful but slightly timid woman he had always thought she was. He had seen her throw a man nearly twice the size of her out of a bar and she even defended him when others seemed against him. She was truly amazing. Sesshoumaru didn't think he had ever met anyone quite like her before. Maybe befriending her wouldn't be such a bad thing.