J: Sorry it took this long to update guys, I put the notebook down for a couple days and when I went to write again I'd forgotten what I wanted to write ahha. Then I just kept distracting myself when trying to type it up.

Congrats to: Tempest S for winning the first ever Truth Cookie!

THANKS TO (takes a deep breathe cause holy crap you guys just kinda crawled out of the woodwork known as the 'Inuyasha Fandom'):

Tempest S, JaychAn, OrihimeKurosakiInoue, LBricker88, Lyndine, Guest, Lake2700, sakuramaelienel25, Creamberries, Katscratchstudios, Wrecker Radioactive, Mimi, PurpleGoddess9, Flaminflyer, Kagome Past and Present, MotherDragon8581, One2Handcuff, Takersgirl519, Kairi8912, Fluffy is Amazing, Leesa323, and .

Gleycce (you are the first person to ever give me a review in a different language and I love you that!),

Aintgotnone (I am indeed proud of you)

Cherry20052 (You still found it and that's all that matters)

Ehren Mae (I'm kinda confused so I'm just gonna guess that you are also sakuramae ahha?)

J: I decided that anyone who made a review that I can actually comment back on can be separated from the main list so you can see the response clearly ahha. Before I let you get to reading I wanted to give you guys a heads up about the chapter, there are a few things in here that I will explain at the bottom XD SORRY GO AHEAD READ!

Thank you Angel-Rias for giving this a read over and approval, she actually didn't need to change anything :D

Disclaimer: I do not own any InuYasha characters.

Chapter Fifteen

"I'm done!" Shippo's cheer drew Kagome away from her own project to go see what Shippo had made this time.

Looking over his shoulder she had to smile. Due to the limit of using only his fingers Shippo's painting wasn't overly detailed but still clear in what it portrayed. Shippo and Rin stood on top of a rainbow holding hands and smiling down. Underneath the arch of the rainbow Sesshomaru and herself looked up smiling at their children. "It's beautiful Shippo; we'll hang it up in the bedroom. Are you done too Rin?"

Kagome had looked up just in time to see Rin put a final mark on her painting then smile in satisfaction. Going over behind Rin Kagome's smile became tender. Her rainbow joke had inspired Rin as well as her painting showed a heart shaped rainbow. In the middle of the rainbow heart were Rin and Shippo holding hands, next to them stood her and Sesshomaru holding hands as well. She didn't know if Rin saw the hand holding between her and her Papa as romantic or friendly but didn't care since Rin was clearly telling her that she thought Kagome and Shippo were her family. Unable to help herself Kagome hugged Rin making the little girl giggle, "Your picture is beautiful too Rin. I think your Papa will love it."

Rin and Shippo grinned at each other. They still liked the idea of Kagome and Sesshomaru becoming best friends like them; having put it on paper they were happy that Kagome seemed to like the idea too.

"Let's leave these here to dry and we'll have lunch outside on the balcony. Go wash your hands and I'll set up the picnic." Kagome pointed to the bathroom for Rin to see where to go with Shippo. Hungry and excited to see what they were having for lunch Shippo and Rin hurried to the bathroom.

Humming to herself Kagome went to the same closet that had held the paint and pulled out a simple pink blanket. Taking it out to the balcony she spread it out to cover the concrete then went back to get juice, cups, plates and paper napkins. Shippo and Rin came back to her holding their hands up to show they were washed and dried. "Good work. Now sit on the blanket and close your eyes. Lunch is going to be a surprise."

Rin and Shippo did as told by sitting down and covering their eyes. In the darkness they heard Kagome go to the kitchen then come back. The blanket shifted as Kagome moved from one spot to another setting up their mystery lunch.

Rin fidgeted in anticipation, Shippo had told her about the special lunches that Kagome made for him every once in a while. She hoped it would be something she'd like, Rin really liked Kagome and didn't want to upset her by not being able to eat her special food. "Okay open your eyes." Slowly Rin pulled her hands away from her eyes and looked down at her plate. Any worry she had about not liking the surprise vanished.

On Rin's plate were pieces of sushi arranged in a heart and in the middle of her plate was a wedge of apple cut to look like a bunny. Shippo's plate had sushi arranged to make a smiley face with his apple bunny as the nose. Rin clapped her hands in applause, "It's so cute! Thank you Ms. Higurashi!"

Kagome sat back completely relaxed, "You can call me Kagome, and your Papa said your favourite food is sushi, so I made you my super special kind."

This piqued Rin's interest, looking back down at her sushi Rin picked one up. Turning it this way and that she couldn't see anything very unique about the food, it looked just like ordinary sushi to her. Popping it into her mouth Rin could immediately tell it was special.

Kagome had watched Rin inspect the sushi with an inner giggle and smiled when she ate it. The look of surprise and wonder was written all over her face. Shippo had been watching Rin too, seeing the happy look he asked, "Isn't it good? My Mama makes the best sushi in the world!"

Chewing and swallowing Rin rapidly nodded her head, "It is super special sushi! It's so good! What kind of sushi is this Kagome-chan?"

Kagome made a show of looking around for spies before leaning towards Rin to answer in a loud whisper, "I put two very secret ingredients in my sushi, can you promise not to tell anyone?" Rin gave another quick nod and moved closer to the older girl to hear this secret better, "The first ingredient is love."

Rin was clearly confused by the way her head tilted to the side, "Love? But how do you put love in sushi?"

"Like this." Kagome took one of Rin's sushi pieces and squeezed it between her palms, "You hug the sushi in your hands and think about all the things you love about the person you're giving the sushi too." Kagome opened her hands to show that the sushi hadn't been damaged.

Her large brown eyes sparkling Rin asked, "What's the second secret ingredient?"

Kagome moved the sushi to the palm of her right hand, "After you put all your love into the sushi you have to seal it with a kiss so your love doesn't escape. This is very important." Kagome blew a kiss to the sushi then handed it to Rin.

Rin couldn't see any difference between this piece of sushi and the others on her plate but when she put it into her mouth she tasted it. As she chewed Rin wondered what her Papa would think about this sushi, swallowing she asked, "Kagome-chan? Can I bring some of your special sushi back home for Papa to try?"

"I don't see why not. Eat what you can and if you eat it all then we can make more for your Papa." Kagome waited until Rin went back to eating before turning to Shippo, her little fox had been unusually quiet while she'd been talking to Rin. She laughed seeing that Shippo had been busy putting as much sushi in his mouth as would fit. All around his mouth was covered with rice making him look like he was growing a white mustache.

The rest of lunch passed in relative ease with Shippo and Rin talking about what they wanted to do for the rest of their day together.

Towards 12:30 Kagome abruptly announced, "Rin one of my friends are coming over to play with us. She's one of Shippo's Aunties and she's very nice. I wanted to let you know in case you're not comfortable meeting strangers."

Rin smiled, "I like meeting new people, especially if they're nice." Just after Rin said this the doorbell rang.

"Good because she's here. The door is open Sango!" Kagome called out to the door.

Sango opened the door and smiled at the group having lunch, "Hey, hope you aren't full yet, I brought dessert." Sango had been keeping her hand behind her back, now she pulled it out to show an unmarked brown paper bag.

Even outside Shippo could smell the treat Sango had brought, "Takoyaki!"

Rin's first thought about Kagome's friend and Shippo's Aunt was that she looked friendly. When she sat down to join them Sango offered the bag to Rin first, "You must be Rin, Shippo and Kagome have told me all about you and you're much cuter than your picture."

Blushing at the praise Rin felt reassured that this lady would be her friend. As they enjoyed the fish shaped treats Rin asked Sango question about herself to learn more.

"Where do you work Sango-chan?"

"I work with Kagome at One Cup Cafe, and I also work part-time at a dojo my family owns. I teach children and teenagers self defense." Sango gave Kagome a quick glance, on their days off they normally went to the park to work on Kagome's own self defense lessons.

Rin sat up straighter, "My Papa knows self defense and he can fight with a sword. I wanted to learn too but Papa said he wants to wait until I'm older."

Both Kagome and Sango were surprised to hear this, they would have thought that an over protective upper-class demon such as Sesshomaru would have his little girl learning how to defend herself. Brushing off her surprise Sango saw this as an opportunity for Rin and Kagome, "Would you like to learn Rin? I'm teaching Kagome and we practice in the park when the weather is nice."

The day was gorgeous with barely a cloud in the sky and the wing was only a little chilled. She wouldn't mind going to the park and she did want to learn how to protect others. Rin glanced over at Shippo, she hadn't been able to do anything to help Shippo when the older boys attacked. She didn't want Shippo to get hurt again because she couldn't do anything. "I want to learn!"

Kagome gave a nod of approval, "Then let's get cleaned up and go."

Cleaning up the balcony picnic, cleaning hands and faces and locating the skip rope took ten minutes, walking to the nearest park took another ten minutes. By the time Rin and Shippo saw the slide, see-saw and swings they were all but ready to race ahead of their adult companions. "Go on ahead and play you two, Sango and I are going to be right over there practicing."

"Come on Rin I'll push you on the swings." Shippo took hold of Rin's hand and tugged her to his favourite swing that didn't squeak and moved smoothly.

The children in their sights Sango and Kagome moved to the grassy area a bit past the asphalt covered ground. Finding a good spot that let them view the entire playground and the street Kagome and Sango went into their routine of stretching, running on the spot and other exercises meant to warm up their muscles. This done Kagome faced Sango in a defensive stance, "I've gotten better at the over head weapon block."

"Alright show me." Sango moved towards Kagome in the motion of someone holding a weapon and aiming to attack with a downward swing.

When Sango was close enough Kagome took a step into the space between Sango's legs to get closer, in the same motion she chopped sideways at Sango's neck with her right hand and grabbed Sango's wrist with her left hand. After the chop she used a strike down on the middle of Sango's arm with her knuckle to make her release the weapon which she would then take and step back into a defensive stance.

Sango rubbed her arm that Kagome had struck, "I'd say you've perfected that one. Come to the dojo next chance you get and we'll have you practice it on someone wearing padding so you can get used to it without holding back. I'm going to teach you a new technique until then. It'll let you get out of someone's hold where they have their arm around your neck from behind. It's simple so you should get the hang of it no problem."

Sango moved behind Kagome and lightly wrapped her arm around her neck, "I want you to widen your stance...Good, now use your left foot to kick my leg to cause a distraction, as your putting your foot back down move further to the left so the front of my body is easier to hit...Right, now jab your elbow back into my solar plexus, then slam your fist straight down in a back swing to my crotch and then bring your elbow straight up under my chin...Then step away and assume the stance." Kagome followed Sango's instructions until she was two steps away facing her in the ready stance.

Smiling Kagome agreed, "That is simple to do, can I try it without instructions this time?" Sango saw no reason not to so she resumed the role of attacker.

Sitting on the see-saw Shippo and Rin watched Kagome learn the new motions as they went up and down, "Why is your Mama learning self defense Shippo?"

Rin asked the question at the same time it popped into her head. With her attention on Sango and Kagome Rin didn't see Shippo's frown while he answered, "A bad man hurt my Mama once, she doesn't want him to hurt her again." The sadness and worry in Shippo's voice drew Rin's attention to him. Shippo's expression made her wish she hadn't asked. Rin didn't like to see Shippo so upset.

What he had said made Rin worry for Kagome as well when she whispered, "The man that hurt her wants to hurt her again? If he hurt her why isn't he locked away by the police?"

Shippo's hands curled tightly around the see-saw's grab bar, his voice was no longer sad but an angry growl. As he spoke Rin felt her hairs stand up, "Because he's hiding. The police can't lock him up when he's staying in the dark. It's why Mama never lets me leave the house without her or Auntie Sango, Auntie Kikyo or Uncle Miroku. Mama is always scared to be alone outside but she pretends to be okay. This man is the biggest and meanest bully on the whole planet."

In the back of her mind Rin felt fear from this mystery man that could scare such a caring and vibrant woman like Kagome. 'Papa is the strongest on the planet and he never gets scared. Papa can protect Kagome and Shippo, I'm sure he will.' Convinced of this secret decision Rin could tell that Shippo wasn't having fun anymore. "Shippo lets go learn from Sango too. If we both learn we can protect your Mama from the mean man right?"

This brought back Shippo's smile, "Right! I already know a little bit so I can help you practice." Hopping off the see-saw Shippo and Rin joined Kagome and Sango.

After InuYasha's update Sesshomaru was left feeling more restless than before. Telling himself that Kagome had power and layers of protection was no longer soothing his protective instincts. This constant worry was keeping him from working, in fact he'd barely gotten halfway through one of the contracts and the first meeting he'd been through was hazy in his memory.

For the fifth time in two minutes he looked at his cell phone thinking maybe he should call to make sure everything was alright. This fifth time he decided to just do it rather than continue to just keep thinking about doing it. He dialed the Higurashi house phone, Kagome told him they would be inside most of the time. When the call went to her voice mail he frowned, 'Seems this is the one time they decided to leave the house.' Her voice mail message provided him with her cell phone number which he was both grateful and concerned about. Grateful because he didn't have the number and concerned since leaving her cell number out in the open this way could lead to anyone tracking her movements if they were experienced with technology.

He dialed her cell number and heard it ring twice before she answered, "Hello Kagome speaking."

"Ms. Higurashi this is Sesshomaru Taishou." As he stated who he was he made a mental note that Kagome didn't have called ID, another flaw that could be taken advantage of.

"Ah Mr. Taishou, you've called at a good time. Rin is right here if you want to talk to her." Through the phone he heard another female voice in the background talking to Shippo, he could also hear a car driving past and cheeping birds. 'They're out in a public area and she has someone else with her. Safety in view and numbers.'

"Hn."

There was a brief shuffle from the phone being moved then, "Hi Papa! We're at the park with Shippo's Auntie Sango."

'Sango Taijiya, I'll ask Miroku about her during our next meeting.' To Rin he responded, "Hn."

"Sango is teaching me, Shippo and Kagome self defense. I'm learning how to fall so I don't get hurt and can move away quickly."

'Self defense?' He recalled having a discussion with Rin about her waiting until she was older to learn any self defense. Thinking about what Rin was describing he realized that the most basic self defense wouldn't be bad for Rin to learn. When they'd talked about it before his mind had been focused on the more advanced manoeuvres that could lead to injury if done incorrectly. From the silence on her end of the phone he guessed that she was waiting to hear if she was doing a bad thing. "Hn, this is good."

He could hear her smile when she talked, "I'll show you everything I learn when we get home tonight."

"I will watch. Please give the phone back to Ms. Higurashi now Rin."

"Okay, I love you Papa. Here Kagome-chan, Papa wants to talk to you." Rin's voice faded as she handed the phone back and went back to Shippo to keep practicing.

"This is Kagome again Mr. Taishou." Sesshomaru thought her silly to state it was her when he could clearly tell by her voice but made no comment.

"I wanted to know if there have been any problems." Sesshomaru left the question open ended. He wanted to know if anything out of the ordinary had happened that would affect Kagome. Any lie would be caught in her voice.

"There hasn't been a single mishap. Rin ate every single bite of her lunch and she's even getting Shippo to act better." Kagome watched Rin fall to the ground and try to slap it so she'd be braced against the impact. The cutie was quite determined to perfect this before they went home.

Sesshomaru heard no lies only adoration. He found himself pleased with this, if Kagome became attached to Rin then her instincts to protect Rin would be much stronger thus leading to an increase in her strength should protection ever be needed. "Hn. That is all then."

"Mr. Taishou will you still be getting Rin at 7:30? I know that work can sometimes alter plans."

"Yes Ms. Higurashi, I will be retrieving Rin at 7:30 as planned." Sesshomaru thought he'd heard a bit of hope in her question, as if she wanted Rin to be with them longer.

Inside Kagome sighed in defeat, she loved Rin and wouldn't have minded her staying longer than 7:30, "Okay we'll see you then. Enjoy the rest of your work day Mr. Taishou."

"Hn." Sesshomaru closed the connection, the lingering doubt of Rin's safety eased out of his mind. Tucking his cell phone away Sesshomaru faced his computer and the small amount of work he'd done. Kagome had told him to enjoy the rest of his work day. He wouldn't be able to enjoy anything until more than half of his work was done. Cracking his knuckles he settled in for the kill.

J: Okay so here are the points I mentioned back at the top.

1. I have little to no experience with sushi so I left what kind of sushi they actually are up to your own imagination.

2. The two self defense lessons that I describe are ones that I actually learned when I took Kenpo. I described them in how I remember learning them.

3. Learning to fall and slap the ground I actually took from Tamora Pierce's book "First Test" where students learning hand to hand combat are taught the same thing.

On another note reviewer 150 will receive a truth cookie!

That's all for now! Love ya my duckies!