Sorry for the delay, I tried for days but just couldn't get this new chapter added for some reason. This chapter is my favourite, aside from the ending (Chapter 8, I'm nearly finished writing it!) so I hope you all like it as well :)
Chapter 4: Pining & Awkward Dining
Do you see the fall is coming?
Come, I'm falling into you.
She was utterly and completely shocked.
He was returning her kiss - quite enthusiastically, too.
It was as if a million different emotions were fighting for control inside of Rin's body. Pleasure – he really was an amazing kisser. Worry – had she just accidently bitten his lip? Dread – what would happen when their kiss inevitably ended?
Pushing all those thoughts aside, she allowed her eyes to shut and her instincts took over; heartbeat pounding loudly in her ears.
Rin's arms found their way around his neck, catching a few strands of his silky hair in her fingers. When she opened her mouth, intending to get some much-needed air, Sesshomaru was quick to take the opportunity to deepen their kiss and a quiet, gaspy moan escaped Rin's lips. She could feel his reply; a low rumbling sound that came from deep within his chest.
A loud, awkward cough finally broke through Rin's hazy mind and she remembered that there was an audience of one watching.
"Are you ready yet?" The cranky attendant was watching the wall rather than the make-out session taking place before him.
Embarrassed, Rin reluctantly pulled back enough to whisper in Sesshomaru's ear, "What are you doing?"
"I believe I should be the one asking that question. You initiated this." Sesshomaru's voice was low and laced with some emotion that had shivers of delight running down her spine.
"Yes, but you were supposed to get all flustered and embarrassed, not me!" She whispered back.
A puff of warm breath softly hit her face as he made a short, quiet 'heh' noise. If Rin didn't know any better, she would have called it a laugh. "I thought you knew me by now, Rin. This Sesshomaru does not get flustered or embarrassed." He pronounced each word slowly, exaggerating his point.
"So you were playing me? Ahh.." Rin groaned and lowered her face in humiliation, leaving her forehead to rest against his.
He gently extracted her from his arms after stating in a quiet, deep voice, "Although your discomfort is entertaining, that was not my intention."
He stepped away just as the elevator closed, leaving Rin gaping at the shiny metal doors and wondering exactly what the artist had meant.
She was still mulling over his last comment when Sesshomaru's shiny black Porsche pulled up to her curb that evening. The only explanation she could come up with was that Sesshomaru had very cryptically revealed that he had feelings for her. Though as soon as she came to that conclusion, Rin shook her head and cursed herself for being such an idiot. There was no way a guy like him would feel anything other than annoyance towards a girl like her.
These thoughts made the ride to Kagome's very awkward for Rin; she found herself blushing every time her eyes caught his and when their fingers accidentally touched as they both reached for the radio controls, Rin was quick to withdraw her hand as if it were on fire.
Either Sesshomaru did not notice her sudden shyness or he chose to ignore it. He was his usual quiet self, only once breaking the silence to ask the simple question of "turn left here?"
Once outside of Kagome's door, Rin felt a nervous flutter in her stomach. What would Kagome think of her artist? Wait – when had he become her artist anyway? Her sudden nervousness only served to unnerve Rin even more - wasn't she always the cheery, bubbly one? Maybe Sesshomaru was rubbing off on her more than she cared to admit.
Rin bit her lip with worry. That wasn't right; she was supposed to be lightening his personality, not stifling her own.
She sighed and forced a smile to her face before knocking. The door opened swiftly a few moments later and Rin found herself drawn into a suffocating hug by her best friend.
"Rin! I'm so glad you made it! And this must be..." Kagome released the other girl and her voice suddenly trailed off as her eyes met Sesshomaru's.
"Sesshomaru," he stated flatly, making no move to even shake her hand. When Kagome continued to stare, his voice darkened with annoyance, "Is my face really that interesting?"
Kagome quickly averted her gaze, cheeks tinged with pink, "Sorry, it's just that you remind me of someone."
"Hey, Kagome! Who's at the door?" A rough voice yelled from within the apartment.
"Speak of the devil," Kagome muttered under her breath. Standing aside, she motioned for Rin and Sesshomaru to come in.
They entered and followed Kagome through the narrow hallway. In the living room, Rin found herself face-to-face with a man about her age. He was wearing a red shirt and a scowl on his boyish, handsome face. What startled her most though, was the long silver hair and eyes that burned a bright liquid gold.
Just like Sesshomaru... her inner voice offered. Rin gazed up at the artist who stood rigidly at her side, as if he would answer her unspoken question.
Kagome cleared her throat, obviously sensing the tension that suddenly filled the room, "Rin, Sesshomaru, this is-"
"Inuyasha." Sesshomaru cut in, "I assumed you'd be in prison by now."
"Feh, same to you." Came Inuyasha's nasty response.
"Wait, so you two are...?" Kagome trailed off with widening eyes.
"Brothers." Inuyasha provided at the same moment Sesshomaru stated "half-brothers".
"Ookay, this isn't awkward at all." Rin joked. Her attempt to lighten the mood failed horribly as the half-siblings continued their stare-down.
"Don't tell me you're actually going out with her," Inuyasha said incredulously, nodding his head in Rin's direction.
Sesshomaru didn't speak for a full minute. The time ticked by painfully slow for Rin and she could feel her face turning redder and redder with each passing second.
"More or less." When he finally replied, his tone was indifferent but Sesshomaru's eyes glared daggers at Inuyasha.
More or less? Well, it was better than a flat-out 'no' Rin supposed. She had to work hard to conceal the grin that tugged at her lips when she realized that Sesshomaru – her stoic, detached Sesshomaru – just admitted aloud to having feelings. For her, no less! She could already see herself picking out a painting of his after doing such an epic job on her side of their agreement.
Rin felt a surge of pride not unlike that she felt when, after weeks and weeks of work with one of her problem students, they finally succeeded in writing their name for the first time, or tying their shoes with no help at all. She desperately wanted to take Sesshomaru's hand, but settled for simply looking up at him with a mixture of surprise and adoration. Sesshomaru was still intently focused on his half-brother and Rin knew the physical contact would only embarrass him.
Inuyasha was the first to end the staring contest, breaking eye contact with Sesshomaru so he could turn his attention to his girlfriend, "Kagome, can we eat yet? I'm starving."
"Naturally, your appetite is your first priority." Sesshomaru spoke with distaste.
"Shut up or I'll break your arm again," Inuyasha threatened, cracking the knuckles of one hand.
"You caught me off guard; it was a one in a million chance. You'll never be so lucky again."
"Wanna bet?"
"Dinner!" Kagome interrupted with forced cheeriness, "Time for dinner! Everyone to the dining room!" She snatched Inuyasha's shirt sleeve and pulled him along behind her.
They were a good match, Rin decided. On first glance, Kagome might seem innocent and kind but underneath she had a fiery personality that would most definitely keep Inuyasha in line. Rin would never dare tug at Sesshomaru like that.
"Rin?"
The subject of her thoughts gazed down at her, blinking as if he only now realized she had been standing there. Unsure of what else to do, she nodded stupidly, like she needed to confirm that she was in fact standing next to him.
"Ready to eat?" She asked quietly. In a moment of sheer bravery, Rin grasped his arm with both hands just below his elbow. Sesshomaru quickly fell into step next to her and they walked side by side to the dining room.
She really, really wanted to ask him about the 'more or less' comment and what it meant for them, but Sesshomaru was very obviously ticked off. Anger was rolling off of him in waves, and while Rin knew that none of it was directed towards her, she still hesitated to bring up any controversial topics.
Kagome was an excellent cook and so dinner was silent aside from the quiet scraping of forks and knives against plates. Sesshomaru ate with quiet, graceful movements, Inuyasha shovelled food into his mouth as if it were his last meal and the girls picked at their dishes, still finding the atmosphere a little uncomfortable.
Afterwards, Kagome dragged Inuyasha into the kitchen to help with dishes, leaving Rin and Sesshomaru alone on the living room sofa. Arguing could be heard from the two on kitchen duty and Rin saw a brief, satisfied smirk pass over Sesshomaru's face when he heard Kagome's shrill voice.
Sighing, Rin sunk back into the cushions. She chanced a glance at the ever-silent man beside her and found that he was watching her with a similar look.
"I'm sorry," she blurted out and then the stream of words just wouldn't seem to stop, "If I had known he was your bro-half brother, I wouldn't have made you come. I knew you had a difficult childhood when you showed me the painting and all, so I appreciate you coming, but I just...I'm thinking..."
A warm finger came up to press against her lips, effectively cutting off her rambling. The expression in Sesshomaru's eyes was doing funny things to Rin's stomach and she fought the urge to throw herself at him.
How was it that she could go from hating the guy to falling head over heels so suddenly? And he was still his usual frosty and expressionless self. Rin felt as if she had done more of the changing than Sesshomaru and a small, irrational part of her worried that his earlier declaration of feelings wasn't enough; that she wouldn't be able to keep up her end of their agreement.
Was there even still an agreement or had 'more or less' changed that too?
Rin twisted her head so Sesshomaru's finger slid from her lips to the curve of her jaw. He easily repositioned his hand so his palm now cupped her face. Rin opened her mouth to speak again, trying to figure out how to breach the subject, when Inuyasha and Kagome came back into the room, still bickering over something.
Sesshomaru withdrew his hand so quickly that Rin barely saw his arm move from her face to the couch where he let it dangle over the armrest.
"Rin? Help me with dessert?" Kagome asked her friend. The look in her eyes said it was more of a case of wanting to talk privately than actually needing help.
Rin nodded, jumping up from the couch to follow Kagome back into the kitchen.
"Brothers?" Kagome groaned once they were out of the guys' range of hearing, "I knew Inuyasha had an older brother, but I never made the connection between him and Sesshomaru. I'm so sorry Rin."
"Half-brothers," Rin found herself automatically correcting her friend, "and it's ok. I should be apologizing to you too. I didn't know anything about Sesshomaru's family and I should have."
Kagome frowned as she opened the fridge to pull out a pitcher of lemonade, "Nothing at all? I suppose the least I can do is tell you what Inuyasha's told me, so you're not completely in the dark."
Rin smiled at her friend and proceeded to snatch a few glasses from the cupboard above her. "Thanks, Kagome." She said with gratitude, "I have a little bit of an idea, but I'd hate to be wrong and say something that would put me in Sesshomaru's bad books...not that I'm completely sure I'm not already in them." She muttered, thinking over his 'more or less' comment in a whole new light.
Kagome rolled her eyes in response, "As if sweet little Rin-chan could be in anyone's bad books.
So, from what Inuyasha has told me, he and Sesshomaru share a father but he –InuTaisho - left Sesshomaru's mother to be with a woman named Izayoi. Shortly afterwards, Izayoi discovered she was pregnant and along came Inuyasha. Apparently Sesshomaru lost all respect for his father after that; he felt like he had been abandoned in favour of Inuyasha."
"That's understandable," Rin commented, processing Kagome's story, "he would have only been a little boy. Is that when he became so serious?"
Her friend shrugged, "Inuyasha says he takes after his mother in that department. She was a cold, calculating woman who never showed much love or affection for her son or her husband."
"Wow," Rin breathed, "Poor Sesshy-sama."
"Excuse me?" Kagome's eyebrows shot up and Rin immediately blushed, realizing she accidently used her little nickname for him aloud.
"Uh.. nothing. Where do you keep your napkins?"
Meanwhile...
"You don't deserve her," Inuyasha's voice filled the otherwise silent room.
In reply Sesshomaru simply turned his head, fixing his half-brother with a deadly glare.
"From what Kagome says, Rin's a friggen' angel. Makes me wonder why she's hangin' around you." Inuyasha said with a smirk, pleased with his insult.
"Rin is none of your concern."
"Oh, I think she is," Inuyasha shot back, "cause I'm the one who's gonna get an ear full from Kagome when you break Rin's heart."
Sesshomaru frowned but before he could reply, Rin and Kagome came back into the room carrying a tray of drinks and desserts. Kagome passed around the glasses while Rin set a platter of cookies and squares on the coffee table. She snatched up a chocolate chip cookie before returning to sit next to Sesshomaru on the sofa.
"Cookie, Sesshy-sama?" Rin whispered in his ear, dangling the treat in front of his face.
She could see his eyes narrow and his nose crinkle slightly, as if he were utterly offended by her offer.
He grasped her wrist with a large, warm hand and brought it down into her lap, away from his face.
"I do not eat cookies and I do not like that nickname. Can you get a ride home with your friend?" His piercing eyes never strayed from hers.
"Wha- yes. I think so, but..." Rin was caught completely off guard by his sudden question.
"Good," came his simple response. He stood and walked swiftly to the door, turning only when Rin made a short sound of protest. Golden eyes found three faces staring back with confusion and concern. Well, two were confused and concerned. One was a smug grin that seemed to say 'you just proved my point'.
"Kagome, dinner was...acceptable. Inuyasha, go to hell. Rinnn..." he let her name drag out as if he were unsure of what to say. Finally, his mouth snapped shut and the door followed suit a moment later.