Chapter Five

Chapter Five

I am so so so so so sorry about the long wait. The next chapter will come quicker, and it will be much longer, I promise. Gomen!

He loved talking to this raven-haired girl that he had found, loved just being with her. Every night, in return for safe passage home he would ask her to come back the next night. And every night she agreed.

Sesshomaru sat in the library, flipping through a book that he had read four times before. He looked out the window, stoic expression in place. He had been doing that a lot. Perhaps he was looking for someone. He sighed, turning the page in the novel again. His amber eyes began at the top of the page, reading intently.

However he found that he could not focus.

After he read the same sentence over for the third time, he stood.

Snapping the book shut he threw it across the floor. He suddenly felt angry. Angry and disappointed and incredibly stupid.

Why had he ever assumed that... that girl would come back? Why had he thought for one moment that she would be different? Stepping gracefully down the stairs to the first floor of the library, he frowned, looking at a spot on one of the shelves that was missing a book. That happened to be his favorite. His frown deepened as he opened the door to exit the library and started out into the hall. He wandered his mansion a bit, before finding himself sauntering down the hallway that led to his room. He stopped in front of a portrait, looking at it with what appeared to be mild interest. Hesitantly, he lifted an arm up; running his clawed hand over the picture someone had painted of his face, tracing the places where his demonic markings were now.

Sometimes the pain was almost unbearable. He had been living in this mansion alone for decades, unable to die, unable to talk to anyone and do anything but wallow in his loneliness. He allowed his head to fall, and for a moment, he thought he felt the burning of tears behind his eyes. His mouth set into a frown and he looked back up, exhaling softly. Snapping out of his reverie, he drew his hand back. His eyes narrowed as he stared at the realistic painting in disgust. The longer he looked at it the more he hated it. He couldn't stand to look at the only thing that stood to remind him of his past. With a snarl, he raked his claws over the portrait, ruining the beautiful face that used to be his.

Sesshomaru walked briskly down the rest of the hall, stopping at his room and throwing the door open.

If he had been human...

Maybe...

Maybe Kagura would have loved him.

Rin was avoiding Kohaku. Summer was quickly coming to a close and she just didn't know how to tell him that she didn't feel the same way about him. She hadn't seen him since the day that she had come back to the castle. Not that she was doing it on purpose, or at least that's what she told herself. In reality, she knew that it was purely intentional. She had barely spoken over the last couple of weeks, without a best friend to spew her feelings too, she really had no reason to.

The silence was killing her.

Rin sighed, looking up from her pillow and sparing a glance at her calendar. It had been three weeks. There was only one-week left until school started and Kohaku and her still weren't talking. She frowned, burrowing her face in the pillow once more. It seemed that she couldn't even enjoy the last seven days before school started. The past few weeks had been extremely boring. She was afraid to talk to Kohaku, and her parents wouldn't let her go anywhere anymore, so the only thing left to do was sit at home. In addition, read. Rin found that the book she borrowed from Lord Sesshomaru was very interesting, and she was known to be picky about books. It was a decent sized volume - about 450 pages – and she had gotten through it in three days. Since the night she left the demon lords castle she had read it seven times.

She eyed the book from her position on the bed. Placing it in her bookshelf seemed like the best place for it to stay inconspicuous. She didn't want her mother questioning anything, after all. Sitting up slightly she stared at the novel almost sadly, wondering if she'd ever be able to see the book's owner again.

Rin groaned, forcing herself to stand and get out of bed. She had been ignoring the issue long enough.

It was time to talk to Kohaku.

She paused as she thought this. It had been three weeks since she'd seen him last. Three weeks. He probably hated her now. She bit her lip at this thought, falling back onto her bed. Curling up into a ball, she thought over her options. She could either tell Kohaku that she only liked him as a friend and get it over with, or she could keep ignoring the situation until school started and she was forced to confront it.

Breathing deeply, she made a decision.

Rin threw on a clean pair of jeans and a hoody over her shirt, brushed her teeth and ran down the stairs.

"I'm going to see Kohaku mom!" She shouted. Her mother stopped her at the door, grabbing her arm.

"Rin..." Her mother said hesitantly. Rin rolled her eyes, gently pulling her arm out of her mothers grasp.

"I'll be fine. I'm just going to Kohaku's."

Sighing, her mother silently agreed, shuffling away from the door to go back to what she was going. Less than eager to reach her destination, Rin walked down the street, still trying to convince herself to turn around. Her shoes made subtle noises as they hit the pavement. The wind blew in her direction slightly, cooling her as her breathing quickened when his house came into sight.

Once she reached it, she wasn't sure what she was going to say.

'Gee, your feelings kinda creep me out, but can we still be friends?'

That probably wouldn't do it.

Sighing she ran a hand through her hair, stomping her foot angrily.

Forcing herself to keep walking she jumped up his porch, placing her fist in the position to knock. Why was this so hard? She didn't want to hurt his feelings, but not talking to him was probably hurting him just as badly. Biting her lip, she hesitantly knocked once, twice, then took a step back and waited.

After what seemed like an eternity the door opened, revealing a surprised Kohaku.

"Rin!" He said, blinking. "I thought it might have been you but I wasn't sure... what's up?"

Rin sighed.

That was something Kohaku would do. They were so alike, and yet so different. Whereas Kohaku acted as if nothing happened, Rin chose to prolong the inevitable, ignoring her problems until she was forced to confront them.

"Look, Kohaku-"

Kohaku cut her off, placing a hand over her mouth. He looked up at her sadly, before taking a breath.

"Please don't." He told her, his voice cracking slightly. He removed his hand and looked down, refusing to meet her eyes.

Rin frowned. He was close to tears, his lower lip trembling slightly. It pained her to see him like this. And it was all over her. She sighed, running a hand through her hair, before forcing herself to smile.

"Kohaku, I..." Her voice was strained. Was this really... the right thing to do? Her words would tear him apart. "I was going to say that I... I..." She looked up at him. He was looking at her intently. She couldn't do it. She couldn't tell him that she didn't feel the same way. "I was thinking that maybe... we could try going to the movies this Saturday." She bit her lip immediately after she said it, knowing how he would take it.

"Like... like a date?" He asked her, straightening up a bit.

She gulped, looking down. "...Y-...yes. Like a date."

"RReally!?" He exclaimed, his face lighting up.

"What could it hurt?" She mumbled, still unable to look at him.

After her and Kohaku said goodbye five minutes later, while walking away from his house Rin burst into tears. She hadn't meant to get his hopes up. She just didn't want to break his heart like that. Though now, she knew it would be much worse. Running down the sidewalk, she didn't even bother to look where she was going. All she knew was that she didn't want to go home. She wiped her eyes as she ran, trying to s top the tears from flowing. This had turned into a huge mess. And how was she going to fix it now?

She stumbled, barely catching herself and stopped, sobbing harder and falling to the ground. She buried her face in her knees, at a loss of what to do. What was there to do? She sniffled, before looking up.

Her feet had taken her to the entrance of the forest.

foxgirl: I'm so sorry that it took so long for me to update! And even worse, this is a really short and stupid chapter... thank you so much for your reviews! please forgive me!

Vixen: They won't.