Chapter Four

She agreed, albeit reluctantly and she kept her promise. From then on, every night she would get herself lost in the woods, confident that the demon would find her.

Rin was half way to her house when she realized that she was still wearing the dress that she had found in the manor. That was another reason why she had to go back. But first... first she had to make sure her parents knew that she was alive. But... all she could seem to think about was her experience at the castle. She missed the demon lords company already, though that was to be expected, as Rin tended to get attached to people very quickly. She looked behind her once more, thinking briefly for a moment she saw Sesshomaru's leg hanging idly from a tree branch. As if he were sitting there and just watching her.

She stopped walking and turned all the way around, smiling knowingly when she could no longer find him. Yes, she would defiantly have to return here.

She walked down the street, all too aware of how bright the sun was in the morning. It couldn't be too early, she guessed. If she had to estimate she'd say she spent hours in that castle with Sesshomaru, looking around the rooms.

Once she reached her house she tapped in the code to the garage door, waiting for it to life enough before ducking under and walking inside.

"Mom? I'm home!" She shouted, as she cautiously opened the door to the house. Her mother was standing there, in front of the door and looking at her incredulously.

"R-Rin?" She whispered, placing a hand over her mouth. "I... I thought you were dead!"

It took hours to convince her mom that: Yes, she was okay. No, she hadn't been eaten by wolves. No, she hadn't been attacked by a crazy psycho killer. No, she didn't have any wounds. Yes, she was fine. No, she wasn't traumatized.

"I was so worried!" Her mother wailed, gripping onto her daughter for dear life. Rin smiled, hugging her back and telling her that she was fine and not to worry.

After explaining the story (after making sure that she did not mention once the castle or the demon) Rin was able to get her mom to believe that she had just gotten lost in the woods. Her mom scolded her for her carelessness, and for even going into the woods in the first place and then forbid her to enter Whisper forest ever again. Rin frowned. That would be a problem. However she couldn't worry about that right now.

It took longer to convince her that the dress was hers, and she just barely avoided having to explain to her what had really happened in the woods. Once her mother was convinced, and calling her father to explain what was going on. Rin darted up the stairs and into her room, threw Sesshomaru's book onto her desk and ran back downstairs.

After that tedious business was done, she walked out the door to Kohaku's house, after much convincing to her mother that she just wanted him to know she was okay. As she was walking down the street she thought about Lord Sesshomaru. He really wasn't all that bad, once you got him to say more than four words in a sentence. And no evil demon would have let her borrow a book, or where this beautiful dress. Kohaku would be disappointed that it wasn't some horrible monster living in that mansion though. Once she reached Kohaku's doorstep she rang the doorbell and waited, tapping her foot impatiently.

Kohaku answered after a moment, with little more than a monotone, "Hello?" in greeting. He looked like he had been crying, she noted. She frowned, slightly, suddenly feeling quite guilty about staying at the castle for so long.

"Kohaku?" She said tentatively, placing a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her, shock and awe written all over his face.

"Rin!" He shouted, jumping towards her and enveloping her in a hug. "Rin! I thought you were dead! What happened?"

She returned his embrace, thinking about telling him the truth. He would like Sesshomaru, she thought. And he had wanted to know what was in that mansion behind the woods... "You want to come in?"

She nodded eagerly, missing the familiarity of his house. They walked to the living room and sat down on the couch, Kohaku looking strangely nervous.

"I can't stay very long, Kohaku." Rin informed him, stretching slightly. "I told my mom I'd be right back."

He nodded, twiddling his fingers. Finally he sighed and faced her, placing a hand on the back of his neck. He looked up at her, staring into her eyes. Rin was slightly taken aback at the emotion he was portraying. She had gotten so used to feelings being masked behind a stoic face she had almost forgotten how easy it was to read people.

"Er... Kohaku? What's wrong?" She asked, leaning towards him gently. She didn't want to tell him about the mansion when he was in a mood like this.

"Rin, I promised myself that if you came back, I would tell you..."

She looked at him curiously, brushing stray strands of hair behind her ears.

"Tell me what?"

He blushed, looking away before taking a breath and turning back to her.

"Rin... I've always had feelings for you."

She blanched, her eyes widening slightly.

"And I guess it took you disappearing for me to realize just how much... I love you."

He proved his point by leaning in slowly, watching her expression for any sign that she didn't feel the same. Rin was stunned, to say the least. This certainly hadn't been what she was expecting. Maybe a hug, a, "I missed you so much!" And then they would go back to how things had always been. Running around outside, watching movies during the weekends... this however, was extremely unexpected. Needless to say she was even more shocked when he kissed her.

His lips were soft and they were trembling, almost as if he was unsure of what he was doing. He pressed against her with a little more force, and she was reminded of when Sesshomaru had kissed her. Though the situations were much different. He had thought she was someone else. She pulled back, holding him an arms length away and looking at him guiltily.

"Kohaku... I... I've never really thought about... I mean..." She trailed off, looking away. She brought her gaze back to his and registered the hopeless look on his face. "I mean... I've just gotta think about this, okay?"

This statement brought a little happiness to his eyes and she sighed. He gave her one more hug, before pulling back and smiling. "Well... not the response I was hoping for... but I'm just glad you're okay. I'll uh... see you later?"

She returned his grin, placing her hands on her hips. "Yeah! I'll see you later."

She walked to the door as Kohaku opened it and briskly strolled off, afraid to look behind her.

As soon as Kohaku was out of sight she turned, touching her mouth gently. That was the second time in two days that she had been kissed.

Kohaku's was different from Sesshomaru's, however. His was pleading, and he left her plenty of room to stop him. The demon lords though, was extremely demanding, and it seemed as if he were desperate for her to return his gesture.

Which one she had liked more, however, was something she decided she didn't want to think about.

Kohaku was a friend, and Lord Sesshomaru was... a stranger. Practically. She sighed, dragging her feet until she reached her house. Everything was so confusing. Kohaku... was in love with her? She ignored her mothers worried questions and told her that she needed to be alone, shuffling up the stairs and closing the door to her room.

How was she going to tell Kohaku that she didn't... like him like that? Or at least, she had thought she didn't. When he kissed her it brought upon no emotion, and no feelings other than awkwardness. She frowned, grabbing a pillow off of her bed and cuddling against it.

She needed to talk to someone.

Usually when she was confused she went to Kohaku but... in these circumstances, that might not be the best idea. Her eyes wandered over to the book she had placed on her desk. Lord Sesshomaru's book.

His face flowed into her mind, invading all it's untouched corners until he was all she could think about. She shook her head, frowning. This was no time to be thinking about things like that. Kohaku was in love with her, and she had no idea what to do. She couldn't talk to her mother, and if she called Kikyo or Sango they'd probably just squeal about how cute they were. Her father wouldn't be much help either, for obvious reasons.

She sat up, staring at the book and biting her lip softly.

Maybe...

Just maybe...

She could talk with him. With Lord Sesshomaru. He was an extremely good listener, as she found out. While they had been looking around the ballroom she found that she couldn't stop talking. She loved to talk. Kohaku found her incessant chatter annoying, she knew, but Sesshomaru just seemed to listen to her, occasionally putting in his input or giving a nod to show that he was listening.

She had talked about her father, and how he worked all the time it seemed. About last year, when she was a junior and how she would have to be looking at college application forms soon. Her and Kohaku had wanted to spend all summer together, since they didn't know if they'd be going to the same place. Everyone said that senior year went fast. All the while he listened with interest, not interrupting or stopping her. They had been about to see the study when Rin realized that she had to get home.

She brought her hand to her eyes, falling back onto her bed.

That would be stupid, going to the demon lord's castle just to talk about her relationship problems.

Though he had said that he'd be expecting his book back...

Which obviously meant that he wanted her to return, right?

Right?

She wanted to go back, that much she knew. But would he welcome her? She frowned.

Either way, it wouldn't work. Her mother wouldn't let her out of her sight for weeks now, perhaps even until school started. There was no way she'd be able to sneak out again. And it hadn't even been twenty-four hours since she had seen him last. No, she'd have to wait before she could even consider going back to the castle.

However, it was at that moment that Rin decided. Despite everything and no matter how long it took...

She had to see him again.

She fell asleep, turning to her side and holding her pillow tightly.

She dreamt of silver hair and golden eyes.

sorry about the extremely short and unsatisfying chapter. The next one will be longer, I promise. And I need a little help... what do you guys think. In the next chapter should I skip ahead to when school starts? Because that's the only time she'll be able to see him next so... yeah. Please put answers in your reviews.

Vixen: How dare Kohaku kiss Rin! She belongs to Lord Sesshomaru!!

Foxgirl: ...calm down. This is a sess/rin fic, remember?

Vixen: oh... right. /ahem/ review please.

Foxgirl: oh! And I forgot to mention. This is probably only going to be about a ten chapter fic, so things are gonna move pretty quickly. And thank you to the people who reviewed in the last chapter! I really appreciate it, they give me inspiration!