Disclaimer-  I don't own any of the characters.

Sesshomaru was sitting in his office working when he received a fax.  He read it and groaned.

"I am going to strangle her."  He said as he went to her room.   "Rin, wake up."

She opened one eye and saw Sesshomaru standing over her.

"What?"  she asked sleepily.

"I received a fax this morning." 

"Congratulations." 

"It's the itinerary for a charity bachelor auction that I'm apparently going to participate in two weeks from today."  he said as he held the paper out to her.  "The thing is I left Marianne a note telling her that I wouldn't participate."

"Take that up with your secretary.  Why are you bothering..."

"Marianne would never screw up like this."  he said interrupting her.

"Again, that has nothing to do with me.  I hope you have fun."

"Yes, we will have fun."

"What do you mean we?" she said sitting up looking at him.

"We as in you and me.  You're coming so I'll be assured of who wins."

"I'm not going with you.  It's not my fault that you have to go to some stupid auction." 

"If you didn't sign me up, then that means it's Marianne's fault.  I'll fire her immediately."

"What!?" Rin said shocked.

"I can't have someone so incompetent working for me."

Rin looked at him.   That damn expressionless face of his made it hard to tell if he was serious.  He wouldn't fire Marianne.  She had been working for him for a while now.

But are you willing to risk her job on that assumption? 

"Why don't you just back out?"

"There's been an announcement in the paper.  I don't want to risk any bad press if I back out."

"Fine, I'll go."

Sesshomaru nodded his head and walked out.  He knew that the minute he threatened Marianne's job, Rin would give in.  Of course, he would've never fired Marianne.  She was the best secretary around.  Rin dropped back on the bed and groaned.  The whole purpose for signing Sesshomaru up was so he, not her, would have to suffer.  Rin had been to a bachelor auction once and she absolutely hated it.  It wasn't about charity, it was all about seeing and being seen.  Kill me now, she thought as she realized that she was going to have to dress up.  She placed her pillow over her face and tried to smother herself.    After a few minutes of that, she got up, got dressed and went to work on the mural.   Over the next two weeks, Rin left Sesshomaru alone.   She was either too busy working on the mural or finding time to spend with Inuyasha.  The wedding was fast approaching and she needed to spend time with him so he'd see that he belonged with her.  But that was hard because he was always with Kagome.   Surprisingly, she found that living with Sesshomaru wasn't so bad.  In fact, it was pretty decent.  At the moment, the only thing that was annoying her about him was the fact that he was still making her go to the auction with him.   

"Rin, you've got five minutes."  Sesshomaru said from outside her door.

"Any chance you'll go without me?"  she asked.

"No."

"Fine, but I don't want to hear any sarcastic comments about my dress."

"If you didn't always dress like you were going to a funeral then I wouldn't...."

Sesshomaru stopped mid-sentence when she walked out her door.  Rin wasn't wearing her trademark black dresses.  She had on a sapphire colored strapless dress with an intricate beaded dragon design.  She couldn't get her hair into a decent looking twist so she had curled it and left it hanging down. 

"Is it that bad?"

Quite the opposite, Sesshomaru thought.  Rin looked absolutely stunning.

"No."

"I couldn't resist the dragon."  she said with a small laugh.

"Since you're finally ready, we can leave now."

Bored, bored, bored.  That's how Rin felt at that moment.  No one interested her, nor did they have anything interesting to say.  At least that's how she felt.  The only thing most of the woman wanted to do was gossip, talk about the latest fashions, or have in depth discussions about the bachelors.   Rin participated for a while and then moved on.  Most of the time she spent watching Sesshomaru.  He was in what she was now calling his business mode.  He smiled, wasn't so sarcastic, or aloof.  He actually talked about and gave opinions on different topics.   She knew that it was only so his greedy little hands could get more business, but it obviously was working.  She had heard a few of the other businessmen invite him to have lunch or dinner so they could continue their talk with him.    Sesshomaru walked up next to her.

"The auction is about to begin."

"I know.  Do I have a spending limit?"

"Just keep bidding until no one else does."  he said walking off.

Once the auction began, Rin stood to the side and waited for Sesshomaru's turn.   He came on stage and the woman started clapping. 

"All right ladies, let's get right to it.  We'll start the bidding at one thousand dollars."

Rin's eyes went wide as the hands shot up.  One minute they were at a thousand dollars and the next they were at five thousand.  Ten thousand.  Thirty thousand.  Fifty thousand.  Seventy-five thousand.  Holy shit, Rin thought, they want him bad.  For a second she was tempted to stop bidding but as if he knew what she was thinking, Sesshomaru turned and glared icily at her.  They were now at a hundred thousand dollars.  Luckily the number of women bidding was dropping.  Once they reached a hundred and fifty, there were only two of them left. 

"Two hundred thousand dollars."  Rin yelled. 

Everyone glanced at the persistent redhead who was bidding against Rin.  She shook her head no.

"Two hundred thousand dollars.  Going once, going twice, sold to the lady in the blue."

Sesshomaru got off the stage and walked over to Rin.

"That was fun."  she said laughing.  "Even though we were only at one hundred fifty, part of me wanted to yell out five hundred thousand dollars.  You know, for dramatic effect."

Sesshomaru didn't say anything. 

"So are we leaving now?"

"Not yet." he said looking at his watch.

Rin narrowed her eyes and looked at him.  He hadn't wanted to come yet now he wasn't ready to leave.  That could only mean that he was up to something. 

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have one more person to auction off."  the auctioneer said.  "This lovely young lady felt so strongly about what we're doing that she offered herself up for auction."

Everyone looked around to see who the woman was.  Rin's eyes widened in shock when the spotlight landed on her.  She turned and glared at Sesshomaru.

"I am going to kill you."

"It's for charity."  he said mockingly.

"You better bid on me or else you'll never get a moments sleep for fear of what I'll do."

Sesshomaru smirked and pushed her toward the stage. 

"Isn't she a pretty thing."  the announce said once Rin got on stage.  "Let's start the bidding at five hundred dollars."

Rin stood on stage with a smile on her face but inside she was thinking up ways to get back at him.  At least he was bidding like she told him to.  She concentrated on the ceiling and pretty soon the bidding began to slow down.    Rin glanced at Sesshomaru and nearly screamed.  He wasn't biding.   

"Sold to the man in the corner for fifty thousand dollars."

She looked at the man who won and groaned.  Anyone but him, she thought.  Rin had already met him earlier.  He had spent the whole time talking about himself, how much money he made, what kind of car he drove.  

Sesshomaru I hope you have a will because you are a dead man. 

She got off the stage and went over to him.

"I told you to bid on me."

"I remember that, but you never said it had to be the winning bid."

Rin was about to say a few nasty words to Sesshomaru when the man who bid on her walked over to them. 

"I came over to introduce myself to you.  I'm Travis."  he said.  "I would love to stay and talk to you but I have an early morning meeting with...."

Rin tuned him out as he started his name-dropping. 

"I'm sorry."  she said interrupting him.  "But I really need to use the ladies room."

She smiled and the walked off.  Sesshomaru watched Rin until he couldn't see her anymore.  He turned to Travis.

"Excellent job." he said..  "Stop by my office and I'll give you your check."

"It was no problem.  In fact, you can keep your money and I'll really go out with her."  Travis said with a smile.  "I thought you did this to boost her self confidence.  You know, because she wasn't exactly a looker.  But she's kind of hot.  Dating her wouldn't be an inconvenience, if you know what I mean."

"I know."  Sesshomaru said coldly.  "But you won't be seeing Rin again.  If you know what I  mean."

"I understand.  Tell her I look forward to our date."  Travis said laughing as he walked off.

A few minutes later, Rin came back.

"Is he gone?"

"Yes."

"He's horrible.  I refuse to go anywhere with him.  We have to do something."

"We?"

"You got me into this."

"Actually...."

"Shut up."  she said cutting him off.  "Maybe I'll just not go."

"If you don't go, he doesn't have to pay."  he stated.  "Think of the poor kids."

"I hate you."

"I know."

Sesshomaru saw her frown and smiled inwardly.  She deserved this for signing him up in the first place.  He had known Travis for years because their fathers did business together.  And because Sesshomaru knew exactly how annoying Travis was, he was perfect for what he had planned for Rin.   After letting her worry for a few days, Sesshomaru was going to have Travis let her off the hook. 

"Can we go now?"

Before Sesshomaru could answer Mr. Asher, the host, came over to them. 

"The press would like to get a picture of you two dancing.  Do you mind?"

"Not at all." 

Rin dragged him to the dance floor.  She leaned against him as they begun to dance.

"The last time I was forced to dance with you was at Inu...."

"Don't even think about finishing that statement."  she said looking up at him.  "Let's just get this over with so I can go home."

"Home?  Does that mean you're returning to your father's house?"

"And make you happy?  No way."  she said grinning.  "Besides, you'd be bored out of your mind without me."

"Hardly."  he scoffed.

"Hardly."  she said imitating him.  "Who else would you annoy if not for me.  And in turn, there's no one else who'd you rather have your apartment smelling like paint, tease you about your cooking, walk around in t-shirts with funny sayings, eat your not so secret stash of candy, draw very cute devil pictures of you...."

"When you put it that way, why not stay forever."  he said sarcastically with a grin as he interrupted.

"And even when I'm annoying you, I manage to put a grin on that expressionless face of yours."  she said.  "I'm a miracle worker."

"Shut up and dance Rin."

Rin smiled up at him. 

"Can you please face the camera?"  the cameraman suddenly asked.

They both faced the camera and he snapped off a few pictures.  

 "I'm ready to leave now."  Rin whispered to Sesshomaru. 

"For once I agree."  he said and then turned to the cameraman.  "That's enough."

They grabbed their coats and headed for the car.

"Considering that I was sold like a hunk of meat tonight wasn't so bad."  Rin said as they got in the car.

No, it wasn't.

"It could have been better."  he said instead. 

 "How?"  she asked and then quickly answered.  "Never mind.  I know.  You could have been with someone you actually wanted to be with?  Right?"

Sesshomaru didn't say anything so Rin looked at him.  She took his silence as a yes.  And for some strange reason, that bothered her.  

Sweet Sheri-  thank you.

KitKat07-  :D  If someone was to auction Sess off, I'd be there too.   Thanks for the compliments.

angelfire000-  thanks for reading.  :)    

Ookami Spirit Hishana-  I'm glad you liked it.  Yes, Sess is going down.  

Naoko2-  thanks for reading.  yeah, she's beginning to like him. 

DiLLiRgA-  thanks.  I look forward to reading the next chapter of your story.

Twilightkitty-  thank you so much.  I hope you like this chapter. 

MintlovesSR-  :D  yes, he cooks.  I was waiting for breakfast when the idea of him cooking popped into my head.  Don't worry, this is a Sess/Rin.

SessRin2003- thank you.  I hope you liked the newest chapter.