Chapter IV
"We could have just come on the bike," Sesshoumaru muttered with a frown as he looked out the window of the train he currently sat on.
"Don't be so bad tempered," Rin admonished him quietly from where she sat beside him, looking at a map of the town they were heading towards. "This is quicker."
"People don't look at me funny on the bike," he insisted, turning to look at the woman beside him.
"Just ignore them. We'll be there soon."
Rin had finally managed to get Sesshoumaru out of bed early enough to come to visit the house with her and he had not been impressed when she had dragged him to the train station instead of allowing him to use his motorcycle as he was used to doing. In the end he had given up on protesting and simply followed her, slowing his pace so that her short strides could keep up with him. He had never been to the town where the house was, but Rin seemed to know where she was going so he was content to follow her lead.
Sesshoumaru had noticed people giving him strange looks because of his attire and did his best to do as Rin suggested and ignore them, but it was beginning to annoy him. Did it matter that the buttons on his shirt were only half done up even though it was the middle of winter? He saw no problem with it and Rin had not once mentioned that his attire was not suitable for winter even though he suspected that she probably thought it was. Still, it irked him that he seemed to have become the centre of attention. Occasionally, men would glare at him and Sesshoumaru was almost completely sure that the looks sent in his direction by women were not judgemental as much as they were lustful. He was glad that Rin sat beside him which meant that no random women could approach him.
"Let's go," Rin said suddenly, tugging the sleeve of his coat as she got to her feet and made her way towards the doors.
The pair made their way through the small train station and out into the street on the other side. Sesshoumaru looked around him as he tried to find any signposts that could give him any indication of where he was, but Rin tugged his sleeve again and started walking down the street away from the station. Weak sunlight shone down on them and Rin smiled happily as she saw the house come into view a few minutes later.
"This is it?" Sesshoumaru asked, stunned by how good the house looked.
"This is it," Rin agreed and opened the gate.
"It looks a lot better than I thought."
"It does considering no one has lived her for nearly 17 years," Rin murmured as she walked past him towards the front door.
Amber eyes looked at her carefully for a moment when he heard her quiet comment and wondered why the house had been abandoned. Everything in the house seemed to be in perfect working order and it seemed to Sesshoumaru that the only thing missing from the house aside from the furniture was the large family that would have occupied it. It seemed like the perfect family home, although he supposed that if Rin really wanted to live there, she could make it quite homely and perfectly suitable for only one person. Although he knew that she didn't want to leave her job in the city, he wondered why she didn't take up residence here. The location was tranquil and the people were friendly.
"Are you sure you'd want to rent this place out to a stranger?" Sesshoumaru asked a while later as he looked out at the now dried up pond in the overgrown back garden.
"It'd be a waste to just leave it unoccupied," Rin replied as she looking through the cupboards in the kitchen for any sign of deterioration.
"Wouldn't you want to live here?"
"Not really."
"Why not?"
"I left this place a long time ago, it's not home anymore."
Straightening from where she had been bent over looking through cupboards, Rin looked out the large windows and into the overgrown garden, momentarily lost in thought. Although it was not her home anymore, she had to admit that every room in the house was filled with memories. Despite how good the house looked, she had no desire to live there and although she had hoped that some point she would want to, now was not the time. Sesshoumaru watched her quietly as she looked out the window, her eyes distant. There was another reason why she didn't want to live here, that much was obvious, but he wondered if she would tell him what the reason was.
"Since we're here and I don't have to work tonight, let's get started on the garden," Rin said with a cheerful smile.
She led him down a stone path to the bottom of the back garden where a small building stood surrounded by overgrown shrubs and tall weeds. After a brief struggle with the door, Rin finally managed to open it and coughed slightly as the scent of dust and mould assaulted her nose. Sesshoumaru looked into the building and noticed that it had once been a tool house and whoever had cleared out the main building had forgotten about this place as all the tools looked as though they were waiting for their previous user to return and pick them up again. Rin walked into the building, mindful of the stone floor that she knew was uneven, and looked around as she found various memories returning to her.
"Here, you'll need those," Rin said as she handed Sesshoumaru a pair of gardening gloves over her shoulder as she sifted through the contents of a box nearby. "Give them a wash before you put them on though."
Nodding silently, Sesshoumaru left Rin in the tool house and went in search of water to wash the gloves. After finally locating some water, he hung his coat up on the tree branch nearby and rolled up his sleeves before plunging his hands under the cold running water to wash the gloves. Rin appeared beside him a moment later carrying another pair of gloves and a couple of tools that would help dig up the weeds. She waited patiently for Sesshoumaru to finish washing his pair of gloves before handing him one of the tools she held.
"We won't finish today, but we can make a start," she smiled as she headed over to the stone path.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
The sun was beginning to sink low in the sky when Rin finally sighed and stretched her arms above her head as she surveyed the garden that she and Sesshoumaru had spent the day working on. Just as she had predicted, they hadn't finished the whole garden but they had certainly cleared away a lot of the weeds and could now see the dry grass beneath. Brown eyes looked across the garden to where Sesshoumaru knelt among the weeds with his back to her. She got to her feet and smiled to herself as she made her way over to him. He jumped slightly when her hand landed on his shoulder and looked up into her smiling face before rising to his feet.
"Let's get stop for today," Rin said softly. "We'll come back another time and finish off."
"Alright. I'll go clean up," he said as he pulled the gloves off his hands.
Sesshoumaru watched Rin walk back to the tool shed with both tools and both pairs of gloves in her hands. Shaking his head, he walked back over to the tap he had found earlier to wash his hands. Rin reappeared moments later as he was pulling on his coat and smiled before washing her own hands. She stretched again before heading back towards the house to fetch her own coat. Just as she was securing her scarf around her neck, Sesshoumaru appeared in the doorway.
"What now?"
"We should go back to the station," Rin said, sounding slightly preoccupied as she struggled to secure her scarf the way she wanted it. "I don't know what time the last train leaves and it'll be getting dark soon."
The pair made their way back to the train station trying to ignore the chill in the air as they walked. The building soon came into sight and Sesshoumaru felt the urge to breathe a sigh of relief as they entered the warmth of the building. Just as it had been earlier that day, the building was virtually empty and they headed straight towards the ticket desk to ask about the next train. Rin sighed beside him when she learned that there was still an hour until the next train.
"It's going to be dark and very cold by the time we get back," she murmured as they stepped out onto the platform their train would leave from.
"It's unfortunate."
"Do you think my idea of renting the house is a good idea?" Rin asked, turning in her seat to look at him.
"If you're not going to live in it, then I suppose it's better than leaving it as it is," Sesshoumaru replied, looking thoughtfully at the setting sun.
"Indeed. I don't like the idea of it just standing unoccupied."
"Is living in it that bad, though?"
"No, I suppose not. There's just too many memories to deal with at the moment," Rin said with a vague smile.
"How long have you lived in the city?"
"Since I was 7." She paused and looked at him. "Have you always lived there?"
"Unfortunately."
"You don't like it?"
"Not particularly. Everyone knows who I am and it's annoying."
"I see."
"It'd be so much easier if I didn't have a wealthy family."
"Do you dislike them that much?"
"I don't dislike them, they dislike me."
"Because you didn't want to take over the business?"
"Indeed."
Rin sighed and looked around the now dark platform, watching the lights click on to dimly illuminate the area. There was no point sitting in the cold discussing painful matters, it would get neither of them anywhere. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Sesshoumaru pull his coat closer around him and shook her head slightly. Pulling her scarf from around her neck, she turned around and wrapped it around his neck. The man himself stared at her in surprise, not sure how to react as she secured it snugly around his neck and sat back beside him. He lifted the bottom of the scarf in his fingers and stared at it, unable to comprehend the fact that it had been around her neck only moments before. It was very warm and smelt of the perfume she wore. Turning in his seat, Sesshoumaru looked at her and his eyes widened as she turned to look up at him with a smile.
"Won't you be cold?" he asked, still slightly stunned by what had just happened.
"I'll be fine," Rin replied, her smile growing. "If you won't button up your shirt then the scarf will keep you warm."
"I thought you had an opinion on that," Sesshoumaru said with a smirk as he sat back.
"About your shirt?"
"Yes."
"I suppose I do, but if that's how you like it, then that's how it should stay. Besides, I'm in no position to criticize your dress sense."
"I was surprised when you started working at the bar," Sesshoumaru admitted, leaning back to look up at the ceiling.
"Why?"
"You don't seem like the type to work in a place like that."
"Don't you start that," Rin pouted, remembering the argument that had taken place in the bar the night he had first given her a lift home.
"It's true. Not to mention it was surprising that you didn't throw yourself at me like every other woman had done."
Rin giggled. "Well actually I was scared of you."
"Scared?" Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow at that. "Why would you be scared of me?"
"You never spoke to anyone and always sat alone. Everyone always used to say that all you did was drink, smoke and fight."
"That's true, although I don't fight anymore. I stopped that a long time ago."
"You also said that your language was bad," Rin said with a grin.
"Hm. You remembered that."
"I don't think what everyone says about you is true."
"Oh?"
"I didn't want to believe what they said," she carried on, ignoring his question.
"Why not?"
"I wanted to see for myself." Sesshoumaru grunted and looked away. "I'm glad I didn't believe them. You're a lot nicer than I expected."
"Nice enough to give the lady back her scarf," he said quietly as he pulled it from his neck and held it out to her.
"No no!" Rin exclaimed, waving her hands in front of her. "You need to keep warm."
"So do you."
"I'm wearing more clothes than you, I'll be fine."
Rin regretted her words almost as soon as they left her mouth. It was true that she wore more clothes than he did, but she noticed an eyebrow rise before amber eyes swept over her and settled back on her face. Biting her lip, she was glad that her coat was buttoned up to her neck even though she wore nothing revealing beneath. The scarf still sat in his extended hand and she picked it up, leaning forward to wrap it around his neck again.
"If you don't wear the scarf, I'll button your shirt," Rin said seriously when he ducked out of the way.
"I'd like to see you try," Sesshoumaru replied with a smirk, still leaning away from her outstretched arms.
"I accept your challenge," she murmured, a smirk crossing her face as she put the scarf into her bag.
"Challenge?"
There was a moment's silence as Sesshoumaru wondered what she meant by challenge. He didn't recall challenging her to anything, but when he remembered his words about his shirt, he wanted to groan. It wasn't meant to sound like a challenge and she was obviously not the type to back down from one. He was so caught up in trying to find a way of discouraging her that he didn't noticed her lean towards him slightly and her arms dropped until they were level with his open buttons. Rin had already done up two buttons by the time Sesshoumaru's attention came back to her and he caught her hands in one of his.
"You failed," he smirked and lifted her hands up.
"Only because you're bigger than me," Rin pouted as she tried to get her hands loose. "That was an unfair advantage."
"I can't help it if you're small."
"I'm not that small!"
"Yes, you really are that small."
Rin looked down at her bag for a moment and then back up at him. "Please wear it?"
"What?"
"The scarf."
"You should wear it."
"I'm wearing more clothes than you!"
"So you said, but I don't believe you."
"You're stubborn!" Rin exclaimed and pulled her hands from his. She reached for the scarf and wrapped it around his neck before turning around and sitting beside him so that part of it covered her own neck. "A compromise then."
Sesshoumaru looked down at the woman who sat close beside him with a bright smile and shook his head. She called him stubborn but she was the one insisting on making him wear it. The scarf was just as warm as it had been earlier and the scent of her perfume was stronger now that she sat so much closer. Her attention was drawn away and Sesshoumaru observed her silently.
As usual, her hair was tied up in a bun at the nape of her neck, but he knew that it reached her waist. A scattering of freckles covered her cheeks and over the bridge of her nose and her lips were plump and pink. It was hardly surprising that all the men in the bar fawned over her and wanted her attention, she was really very pretty. In his opinion, her lack of height made her endearing and the way she pouted when teased about it was cute. The wind blew past them and ruffled her hair, causing a few strands to fall around her face. Slender fingers reached up to tuck them behind her ears and Sesshoumaru found his gaze following her hand as it fell back to her lap. They were very delicate hands with long slender fingers. He marvelled at the idea of both her hands fitting into one of his and shook his head, once again struck by how small she actually was. Her exuberant personality made one forget that she was actually tiny and every so often he was struck by moments when he saw her for what she truly was. The scarf fell from her shoulders as she got to her feet and turned to smile at him, pulling him from his thoughts.
"Let's go!" Rin exclaimed happily as she made her way towards the train that had just arrived.
"You're like a child," Sesshoumaru remarked drily as he followed her.
"Travelling is exciting!"
"We're going home."
"It doesn't matter, we're still travelling and anything can happen!"
How right she was. Anything could happen and Rin was going to regret those words when she thought back on that day later.