Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. It belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

Italics denote thoughts.


oOo

"Rin, I'm very sorry but I don't think I'll be able to make it this afternoon."

"Why Kagome? Are you sick?" worry apparent in her young voice.

"Don't worry Rin, I'm not sick or anything. I just have some things I need to take care of."

"Oh I see. Well, it's okay then. I'll see you next week."

"Yeah, sure. I'm sorry. Bye Rin."

"Bye Kagome."

As soon as the receiver was down, she grabbed her purse and headed out.

oOo

He could see the young girl over the top of the book he was reading. She was doing nothing except staring out the window. For someone who seemed to be almost hyperactive, her vast abundance of energy seemed to have run out and he wondered if she could have fallen ill.

"Rin, are you feeling unwell?"

"No Sesshoumaru-sama," her usually chirpy voice sounded listless.

He heard her soft sigh as she began poking softly at the windowpane. Her countenance was beginning to irritate him. She wasn't ill so why is she acting this way?

Now, it was his turn to sigh. "Rin, is something bothering you?"

"Kagome is not coming today. She said she has some things to take care of. I thought of making something as usual but somehow it felt different without her around so I gave it up."

She misses Kagome? That explains it. She does seem to be rather attached to her.

The sudden ringing of the phone jolted him out of his thoughts.

"Kawamura household. This is Sesshoumaru speaking."

A nervous little voice reached his ear over the line. "Erm…hello Sesshoumaru-sama. Can I speak to Rin please?"

"Hold on a minute."

"Rin, it's for you," he said holding the phone out towards her. Surprise and curiosity was written all over her face as she took the phone from him.

"Hello, this is Rin speaking."

"Hey Rin! It's me Shippou! How are you doing?"

"Shippou-chan! I'm fine. Er…how did you get my number?"

"Oh, I asked Kagome for it. I know she won't be coming over to your place today and you must be bored. So I was wondering if you'd like to hang out together, maybe watch a movie or something."

"I'd love to Shippou but I'll have to ask Sesshoumaru-sama first."

"Okay."

Covering the mouthpiece with her hand, she turned to her guardian.

"Erm…Sesshoumaru-sama, can I go to the movies with Shippou-chan later?"

His eyes were glued to the book in his hands, but that did not hide the fact that he had, in all reality, heard every word of Rin's part of the conversation. He answered Rin's question with only a slight nod of his head, eyes never lifting themselves from the pages of the book.

"Yup, Sesshoumaru-sama said yes."

"Great. Let's meet at the cinema at 12 o'clock. Or will that be too soon for you?"

"Nope. It's fine. I'll see you at 12 o'clock then. Bye Shippou-chan."

"Bye Rin. See you later."

With that she skipped gaily out of the room to prepare for her little movie outing with Shippou. Suddenly she didn't feel so bored and lonely anymore.

Amber eyes followed her exit noting the change in her. If before she seemed down and lacking in energy, she was full of life and in high spirits now, with a spring in every step she took. Sesshoumaru smiled slightly to himself as he observed the drastic transformation the girl had undergone in a matter of minutes. Shippou, a friend of her's huh? He probably is although I don't recall her mentioning his name before this. It would do her good to spend more time with someone her own age.

oOo

The place was quiet, hiding the fact that it was, in reality, not too far from the city and its loud, unending sounds. Other than her soft footsteps hitting against the gravel path with a rhythmic beat, only the whispering of the wind could be heard. It was as if this place is in a little world of its own. The lone figure walked slowly, a bunch of lilies in her hand. There was no hesitation or uncertainties in her steps because she knew every twist and turn of this path like the back of her hand.

Everything looked like it had year after year. Time stood still here while it ran the marathon elsewhere. The old magnolia tree is still standing steadfastly there at the end of the lane, just as she remembered it. A flower floated down to adorn the ground beneath it with its beauty.

Under the shade of the old tree, lies the thing that brings her back here every year no matter where she may be. The once-white tombstone is now a dirty, weather-beaten gray but it still served its purpose faithfully, rain or shine. She gently laid the flowers in front of the gravestone and sat down beside it, hugging her knees to her chest.

"It has been another year father. Time really flies, I guess. Ten years. Believe it or not, you have left for ten years. I hope you've gotten used to life in heaven by now. Don't get me wrong, I still miss you terribly but it doesn't hurt so badly now because I know you're somewhere up there watching over me."

"I know you are, don't bother denying it. You're my father after all; I know what you're thinking. You're probably saying that you're so busy cooking for all the angels there that you don't have the time to keep an eye out for me, right?"

A small smile graced her lips at the thought of her father cooking in heaven.

"Sometimes, father, especially whenever I cook, I feel like you're standing right beside me, I can hear your voice reminding me over and over again to cook from my heart. That's about the only cooking tip you've given me anyway, isn't it?" A small sigh escaped her lips.

"Father, I've met Sesshoumaru, your student. How come you've never told me anything about him? I didn't know you even had a student until Myoga told me. It's not his fault so don't go haunting him or anything, he let it slip by accident and I made him tell me everything."

"Anyway, I found out where he works and went there as a critic. Sesshoumaru, of course, not Myoga. Well, to tell you the truth, father, I was disappointed. I thought his food would taste like yours seeing as he's your student and all that, but…it wasn't. He cooked like someone who can't feel at all. When I saw him in person, I was sure of the fact that this guy couldn't feel any emotions, that is, until I saw his eyes. It was his eyes that told me he could actually feel. He confuses me father. He can truly feel but why did he choose not to? I can taste it in his cooking. He's preventing himself from feeling anything and everything. Has he always been like this father?"

"I don't know what came over me father, but I find myself thinking a lot about him and why is he the way he is. He can cook so much better than what he's doing now but he's holding himself back. Does he know about it father? Or did he simply forget what you used to teach him?"

"I want to tell him, maybe remind him about it, but I'm afraid he won't listen to me. Who am I to teach the genius anything? He's so proud and arrogant that I'm very sure he won't even spare me a glance, much less hear me out. He'll probably just turn his back on me or something like that. Do you think he'll spare me a minute if I told him I'm your daughter? Hmm…somehow I doubt that."

"You know what, father; he gives me these funny feelings I've never felt before every time I meet him. I find myself getting curious over everything about him, I want to know what he's feeling, and I want to know the person that is the real Sesshoumaru, not the one that he shows to the world. So I suppose, in a strange way, I care about him."

"I keep telling myself not to think about him but I've been doing that so much I even see him in my dreams! It's almost like falling in love. I know it sounds stupid, father. How can I feel this kind of love for a person whom I hardly know and have only met a couple of times before? But I do, I care and it hurts to see him in that cold unfeeling state of his."

A gust of wind blew, lifting several strands of ebony hair.

"I should be going father. It's getting chilly now and I think it will be raining soon. Goodbye father. I'll come again next year."

She stood up to leave but was rooted to the spot at the sight of the tall figure partly hidden by the shadows of the old magnolia tree.

oOo

He arrived to find the real place hadn't altered much from the one in his memory. Everything looked undisturbed and unchanged except for maybe a few new additions here and there, their white standing out from the gray surrounding them. The tree was still standing like always on top of the small hill, a silent sentinel watching time hurry by the place without making a stop.

The magnolia tree with its white blossoms and gnarled branches was old, having been here ever since the first time he stepped foot on this ground ten years ago. It was the only living companion for the departed, standing by them loyally when the world has forgotten them and offering them its sweet smelling flowers when they had none. A light breeze caressed his cheek and tickled his nose with the scent of magnolias.

However, he stopped short when a voice reached his ears. It sounded familiar, a voice he knew he would never tire of listening to. Another step revealed the small figure huddled beside a grave he knew only too well to whom it belongs to. One look was all he needed to confirm the identity of the figure sitting on the ground. With the mass of dark hair curling about her shoulders and the face that he saw in his dreams every night, it had to be her, Kagome.

He watched her silently, his body hidden from her view. Usually, he did not come on this day, preferring instead to come on one of the other 364 days. However, Fate had brought him here today just as it had brought her here every year. And it was also Fate that had given them both a reason to be here among the dead and the departed on a dreary day like this.

She was speaking softly, holding a one-way conversation with her deceased father. The thoughts in her mind were falling as words from her lips, allowing the wind to pick them up and send them to heaven where her father was. It was downright rude of him, he knows that much, but he had not meant to eavesdrop; Sesshoumaru had too much pride for that. It was just that he did not want to interrupt her by revealing himself. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to walk away, giving her the privacy that she deserves.

So against his better judgment, he settled for waiting behind the tree where she wouldn't see him, deciding to come out only after she'd left and ignoring the fact that she would be very mad at him if she were to find him there. It amused him to imagine what she would look like if she got really angry with him.

Genius? The way she said it doesn't sound like it was a compliment. Proud and arrogant, huh? If she would come up with something new, I might spare her a minute. Two if she comes in the short dress she wore to the restaurant. Sesshoumaru smirked to himself. He wasn't really giving any second thoughts to what she was saying, her words being just an additional amusement to him as he waited. Heck, he wasn't even paying much attention to her actually focusing instead on the fallen magnolia blossoms.

However, her last revelation did the trick. To say that it shocked him was an understatement. Indeed, he was just short of pinching himself to make sure that he was really awake and not dreaming. His hiding place was almost revealed when he unconsciously took another step towards her.

I know it sounds stupid, father. How can I feel this kind of love for a person whom I hardly know and have only met a couple of times before? But I do, I care and it hurts to see him in that cold unfeeling state of his. He could still hear her voice in his head, continuously repeating itself.

Amber eyes held confusion within their depths. This was something new, something very foreign to him. It hurts her to see me like this? Why? She hardly knows me, she said so herself. To think that someone, a stranger, actually felt that way about baffled him. It puzzled him to no end and he does not like questions that he doesn't know the answers to.

"Sesshoumaru?"

Her soft voice jerked him out of his thoughts. He looked up from the ground blanketed with magnolias only to find her brilliant blue eyes fixed on him. He wanted to ask a million questions of her but his voice failed him. All he could manage was a single word, a summary of the questions in his mind.

"Why?"

The sound that was emitted sounded alien even to his ears, like it belonged to another person and not him, Sesshoumaru.

His question startled her and her brow furrowed slightly as she tried to make some sense out of it. Confusion was even more apparent in her sapphire eyes when they rested on him. His face, which was normally devoid of emotions, had bewilderment written all over it.

"Why what Sesshoumaru?"

Amber clashed with sapphire as his eyes met hers.

"Why do you care about…me?" His quiet voice was low and strained.

She gasped, her blue eyes widened as she stared at him. How did he know? Is he a mind reader or something? Wait. How long has he been standing there? Had he overheard everything I said? This doesn't look good. Why? I don't know why!

"I…I don't really know Sesshoumaru," she said with hesitation in her voice. It was the truth, however. She was uncertain as to the real reason behind it herself. Was it really because of love? Is it even possible for her to fall in love with someone she doesn't even know?

He turned and began to walk away. The sun, which did not show its face the entire day, was now further prevented from coming out by the gray clouds that had started gathering. The wind had picked up again, bringing with it the sickly sweet smell of decaying magnolias.

"Sesshoumaru…wait!"

He stopped in his tracks. She was watching him, he knew. Her deep blue eyes, eyes that could melt him in an instant, were fixed upon his back. It is now or never. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath.

"Do not waste your time."

Without even a backward glance, he resumed his departure, the distance between them growing with every passing second. The first step cracked his heart and the second broke it. With every step that he took away from her, he felt as if his heart was shattering, the fragments, like broken pottery, fell and embedded themselves in the cemetery grounds. But still, he continued to walk down the path, never once looking back at the girl standing beneath the magnolia tree.

oOo


A/N: A big hug for all your lovely reviews. They gave me the warm fuzzies. :) I'm so glad you guys liked it.

To:

cookiemonsterks - about the whole Rin rushing her words part ... that was from my own experience so i sorta know first hand what will come out when she slows down ::blush:: and yeah, i like the cookie part too. ::wink::

lil mutt face grl - hehe...the cookie gone missing part is one of my favs. glad you liked it too.

Kohana - great...i have succeeded in making someone hungry ::grins:: as for the name 'Kawamura', i have no idea why i chose it. It just sort of popped into my head when I wanted a name to go with 'Sesshoumaru'. i have no idea what it means though. hope it's not something bad.

OrchidPrincess 1010 - i was so worried about Sesshoumaru being OOC. ::sighs in relief::

crystal lilith - when i was writing out Sesshoumaru's character, i wanted people to connect with him, to see what is it that makes him the person that he is now and i'm so glad someone did. :)