ChapterIX

Much to Rin's delight, the manager at the bar she had worked at had given her back her old hours and had welcomed her back with open arms. The regulars had cheered when she turned up at the same time she always had and were eager to hear what had brought her back. While Rin was contentedly settling back into her old lifestyle, Sesshoumaru was struggling to adjust to his new lifestyle. He had agreed to stop the smoking and the drinking in exchange for Rin being with him, but he was finding it more difficult than he had originally thought. It wasn't hard to give up the drinking or the smoking, but knowing that Rin was going to the bar late at night by herself did not sit well with him at all. She had banned him from going anywhere near the bar for fear he would fall back into his old habits and much to her amusement, he had listened to her.

Life fell into a routine that took some adjusting to, but soon the pair found that their everyday life was a lot easier than they had expected. Rin found it immensely amusing when she had woken up early as normal and had wandered into the kitchen to make breakfast only to find Sesshoumaru already seated at the small table with a mug of coffee in his hand and dressed in a suit. He had glared at her as she giggled helplessly at the sight but cracked a tiny smile when she wrapped her arms around him when her laughter had subsided. Every morning she saw him dressed so, it always struck her that before moving back to the city, she had never seen him wear a shirt that was fully buttoned up. When she brought this fact to his attention, Sesshoumaru merely shrugged and said he preferred shirts the way he always wore them, but he couldn't wear them like that for the sake of propriety.

Even though Rin wasn't particularly fond of his family and thought that their first impression had been rather poor, she found herself associating with them quite often. As time passed, she came to know Sesshoumaru's step mother, Izayoi, and really enjoyed her company. Gradually, she came to know Inutaisho as well although she was still a bit wary of him, but overall, she had to admit that the whole family was quite nice if they got their own way. However, Rin couldn't say that she liked Inuyasha at all. He had insulted her on more than one occasion and his short temper and bad manners grated on her nerves badly. She met his wife and had to admit that she had been surprised any woman would subject herself to living the rest of her life with Inuyasha, but the woman, Kagome, was pleasant and seemed to be quite a strong woman, which Rin supposed helped when living with the devil incarnate. Sesshoumaru found the Rin's dislike of Inuyasha quite amusing and actively encouraged it since he didn't like his brother much either. It was definitely not one big happy family, but Rin supposed it was better than no family at all.

*-*-*-*-*

"We ain't seen yer fella around lately," Osamu commented one evening as Rin served him his usual drink. "He ain't done a runner, has he?"

Rin laughed. "No, he hasn't. He's probably still at work, but considering how late it is, he might be home by now."

"Good," the older man said, nodding his approval at her response. "I'll cancel his birth certificate if he's hurt ya!"

"Calm down, old man," Saburou commented with a smirk. "I think we'd be able to tell if he'd hurt her, don't you agree?"

"I s'pose. Why don't he come in 'ere any more? We not good enough for the working man? When did the boy get a job anyway! He spent most of his time in here!"

While Osamu continued his little rant about Sesshoumaru, Rin smiled tolerantly and wondered how she was supposed to answer those questions, or if indeed she should even bother. It wasn't any of the other man's business, but he was clearly interested so it may been difficult to avoid the subject forever. Sighing softly, Rin decided to bend the truth a bit and spin a tale for the two men so she wasn't revealing so much about Sesshoumaru's background. She assumed that if he had wanted to discuss it with these men, he would have done so already but since he hadn't, she guessed he didn't want to. Before she could answer, the door opened and in walked Sesshoumaru. Rin's eyes narrowed as she looked at him and took in his appearance. He still wore his suit but it was rumpled, his tie crooked and the top few buttons of his shirt undone. Amber eyes met brown and Sesshoumaru smirked as he saw Rin's scowl, moving towards the bar to sit in his normal seat.

"Speak 'o the devil," Osamu commented with a smirk.

Rin ignored the older man and stalked over to Sesshoumaru with a ferocious frown on her face. He watched her come over and took in her ill temper with a smirk. She came to a stop in front of him and put her hands on her hips and looked at him in much the same way a mother would look at one of her children when they've displeased her. Rin was very aware of the fact that quite a few of the people seated at the bar were watching her curiously and she was also very aware that she was probably tempting fate by going over to Sesshoumaru intending to berate him. Still, she pushed aside her thoughts and returned her focus to the man sitting in front of her. He was looking at her with amusement in his eyes and an innocent expression on his face as he waited for her to speak.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded, keeping her voice low and even.

"I wanted to see you," Sesshoumaru replied simply, shrugging off the comment as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"You could've waited until I got home. I'll only be here another hour!"

"I didn't want to wait."

"What are your parents going to think? They're going to think I'm a bad influence again!"

"I don't care what they think. I wanted to see you so I came here."

A sigh escaped her lips and she shook her head slightly. Sesshoumaru didn't seem to understand that his family blamed her for the way he behaved and she wondered why he didn't seem to understand that fact. Or maybe he did and he didn't care? She narrowed her eyes at him and sighed again, debating whether she could get away with just turning around and ignoring him for the rest of the evening before deciding against it. Past experiences had taught her that he was very persuasive when he wanted to be and he would win every argument they had no matter how playful it was. There was simply no winning with this man. He had even managed to use her small stature against her even though he knew her lack of a height was a sore point for her. A tiny smile tugged her lips as she turned her gaze back to him. If he wanted to do something, he would do it regardless of what others might think or what the consequences of his actions might be.

"You won't go home?" Rin asked after a moment of silence.

"No."

"What if you father hears about you coming here?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Oh well, if you're sure about that then you can stay here, but you won't be drinking and there'll be no smoking."

"Yes, ma'am," Sesshoumaru replied with a smirk as he nodded his consent.

The end of the evening arrived quickly and Rin found herself walking out of the bar with Sesshoumaru like she used to do. She smiled to herself at the familiarity of everything and sighed contently as she was led to the car that Sesshoumaru now used. She couldn't get used to the fact that he drove a car now, although she was glad that it was at least warmer than travelling around on his previous preferred mode of transportation. When they arrived back at the apartment, they found Inutaisho standing outside the door with a frown on his face. Rin sighed to herself, knowing that this was probably not going to be a pleasant confrontation.

"I'm not pleased, Sesshoumaru," Inutaisho said sternly once they were all inside. "I specifically asked you to stop your bad habits."

"Did I not say he would find out?" Rin exclaimed suddenly, turning to look at her lover with an exasperated expression. "Honestly, you do make life difficult for yourself sometimes!"

Inutaisho and Sesshoumaru watched as Rin shook her head and disappeared into the bedroom. Glancing at the clock and realising it was just after midnight, Sesshoumaru supposed she was going to bathe before going to bed and was simply going to leave him alone with his father. Sighing, he mentally made a note to get back at her for simply abandoning him and then turned to his father with a frown.

"Contrary to what you believe," Sesshoumaru said in an icy tone. "I have not had a single alcoholic drink since we made our agreement."

"Then why were you visiting that run down bar?" Inutaisho asked in an equally cold voice.

"Do you have a problem with me wanting to see my lover and wanting to escort her home?"

"She can get home by herself. You don't need to hover over her constantly like a mother hen."

"So am I to believe then, that if our roles were reversed and it was Izayoi who worked in that bar, you would let her get home by herself?"

"Of course not!"

"Then why must I do it?"

There was silence as the elder man tried to come up with a suitable argument but failed. Sighing heavily, Inutaisho shrugged his shoulders and glared at his son. The boy had a point; there was no denying that, but the whole situation still set him on edge.

"That girl is a bad influence on you," Inutaisho muttered. "She'll lead you astray if you're not careful."

"She's a better influence than you are," Sesshoumaru pointed out casually. "You taught me to be ruthless when dealing with others, but Rin taught me otherwise."

"You need to be ruthless to get what you want!"

"I prefer her methods to yours. Have you ever wondered why people seem to respect you but badmouth you at the first chance they get?"

"I don't care about such things," Inutaisho scoffed as he crossed his arms.

"It's because you are not as great as you'd like to think."

"You are hardly one to talk. If I hadn't convinced you to come back to the city you would have become an alcoholic or worse!"

"I enjoy a drink as much as the next man, but I was never in danger of becoming an alcoholic. Besides, you have no right to criticise me or the way I live my life. You only seek me out when it's convenient for you."

"I have every right to criticise you! I am your father and that gives me the right!"

"Do the Native Americans not say that you should 'walk a mile in another man's moccasins'?"

"What does that have to do with anything?!"

"I thought that it was a fairly well known phrase? In any case, I shouldn't have to explain my meaning to you."

Rising to his feet, Sesshoumaru stretched and headed over to the door. Uncertainly, Inutaisho followed his son and watched with wide eyes as the younger man opened the door and nodded.

"Thank you for yet another delightful visit, father," Sesshoumaru said sarcastically. "If ever you feel you need to vent some steam and have no other target, please do feel free to come back and see me again. Maybe I will have more pearls of wisdom for you."

Inutaisho stared in surprise as the door was closed in his face and locked with a loud click. On the other side of the door, Sesshoumaru waited until he heard footsteps fade away before walking back into the living room and sitting down heavily on the sofa. Rin had yet to re-emerge from the bedroom but he supposed it was a good thing that she hadn't overheard that conversation. She wasn't on good terms with his family as it was and he suspected that she would most likely declare war on them after hearing what his father had just said. Leaning forward, he reached into the drawer of a nearby table and withdrew a packet of cigarettes. With a sigh, he leaned back against the cushions and exhaled a large cloud of blue smoke into the air above him as he closed his eyes. Amber eyes snapped open moments later when the cigarette was suddenly taken from his lips and he found himself looking at a none too pleased Rin who held the cigarette between her fingers and glared at him.

"What do you think you're doing?!" she demanded, waving the hand that held the cigarette and ignoring the ash that fell to the floor with her movements. "You said you'd given up."

"I don't really care anymore," Sesshoumaru said with a shrug as he eyed the woman before him.

From what he could gather, Rin had just emerged from the bath since she had only a rather short towel wrapped around her slim body. How she knew he was smoking, he doubted he would ever know but decided that it was unimportant. She looked positively ravishing as she looked down at him and he had to admit that the view he had from his angle was quite nice. A yelp escaped Rin's lips moments later as she found herself tumbling down onto Sesshoumaru's lap. Her eyes widened as she felt his hands creeping up her sides to the top of her towel and she struggled to put some space between them to keep a grip on her towel.

"Don't think you can distract me!" she declared with a frown as she put out the cigarette and clutched the top of her towel. "You will not succeed."

"I succeed every other time, don't I?" Sesshoumaru inquired with a smirk as he finally managed to loosen her grip on the towel. "You will not escape."

Realising that this was a battle she couldn't win, Rin grinned suddenly and leapt to her feet. Promising herself that she would finish the conversation later, she tried to take a step towards the bedroom but found herself suddenly divested of her only covering. Squealing in surprise, she crossed her arms under her ample bosom and glared at the tall man who still sat on the sofa with a devilish grin on his face.

"My, my," Sesshoumaru murmured as he rose to his feet and approached her. "Shouldn't you be worried about having no clothes on rather than glaring at me?"

"Why should I be worried?" Rin retorted, flipping her hair over her shoulder and grinning in a way that made him hesitate his advance briefly. "There's nothing you haven't seen before."

"And here I was thinking that you wanted a conversation."

Rin giggled. "You're the pervert that took away my towel. You were the one who took away our chance at conversation."

"We're conversing now, aren't we?"

"Not about what we need to talk about."

"That can come later, can't it?" Sesshoumaru asked, nuzzling her neck gently when he came to a stop in front of her.

"Of course it can," Rin replied with a soft sigh as she reached up to wrap her arms around his neck.

After hauling her against him and ravishing her lips, Sesshoumaru swept her off her feet and sat down heavily on the sofa. Rin smiled to herself as she felt his hands travel up her sides before his arms wrapped around her and she was lost in bliss. After a moment, she sat back on his knees and smiled at him before looking around the room.

"I didn't know you were an exhibitionist," she teased as she pressed a kiss against his lips.

"If anyone here is an exhibitionist, it's most definitely you," Sesshoumaru retaliated as he returned her kiss with more passion.

"That's because you won't let me go back to the bedroom."

"A sofa is as good as a bed, is it not?"

"There's more room on a bed to lie down."

"Who says you'll be lying down?"

Rin laughed. "The lights are still on and I've not drawn the curtains yet. Someone might see."

"I doubt there are many people who enjoy voyeurism so much that they would try to climb to the seventh floor of this building."

"There might be some very determined perverts around."

"Then we'll give them a show to remember."

Rin could say no more as her lips were claimed in a passionate kiss. She had not been pleased with Sesshoumaru's actions this evening, but she might be persuaded to forgive him if he carried on the way he was going. Tomorrow was another day and maybe then, she would get some answers from him about what he was doing.