Chapter 19

A year had gone by so fast, Rin was in her third year of medical school, she was one of the best students with the highest scores in her class. She had moved from her door room and now shared an apartment with Kagome, thus she saw Inuyasha a lot. Rin now had a lot of new friends and her life was in the right direction now. The pain subsided a bit more every day and despite getting offers to date someone here and there, she kept saying no. She had many reasons, and she was scared, scared of being heartbroken again and on the other hand, she was still in love with Sesshomaru, her heart was not able to push him away yet. She did not think she could take another lump like that in her life. She spent days without eating or studying, just crying in her room. Kagome got worried and went to see her. She helped her get through the situation. Her grandmother moved with her for a bit to take care for her. She was such a comfort. One of the things that made things much better was Toga's visit.

He behaved as a true gentleman, he apologized for everything and reiterated that he could not be happier to think that Sesshomaru fell in love with a girl like her. He did not justify his sin's actions, but he did not condemn him either, he explained to Rin that Sesshomaru had a lot of pride and that it was going to take a while to understand his own feelings. Rin accepted the apologies, it was not his fault. In fact, she would not have had a problem with Sesshomaru living in the USA for a year. She would have understood, but to think she was a toy to make his life less boring, that was the thought that truly killed her; she could not forgive Sesshomaru. She decided to ignore the pain, and live with it, she could get through it, she just needed time. And perhaps one day, she would be in one piece again.

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Sesshomaru was wearing a big coat to protect himself from the cold weather, it was finally March and he could go home. He had passed his internship with flying colors, he was offered a permanent spot in the university, but he rejected it. It was time to talk to her. There was not a single day he did not think about Rin; sometimes he saw her walking on the streets, just to realize there was nobody there. Her ghost followed him everywhere, he missed her company, her smile, her touch, well…everything, he needed his Rin. He was living in pain for a whole year, without Rin he felt dead inside.

Sesshomaru was never a social man, he had few friends, but it was the ease he could take a girl to bed that characterized him. Over a year he always tried once, he succeeded, and he only did because she reminded him of Rin.

Flashback

As I was entering a bar to get a drink after work I saw a petite figure dressed in scrubs. RIN? I asked myself. No, it could not be….

Indeed, it was not, but the similarity as astounding. She had long black Raven hair, I stared at her as she put it up in a lazy ponytail just as my Rin used to do. She looked tired, but gentle. I decided to approach, when I was close to her, my heart skipped a bit, it was almost identical to Rin, but she had blue eyes instead of brown. I swallowed hard and asked her for her name. Her voice was different, but smooth and perky like my Rin.

"My name is Tori" she answered slightly nervous.

All I remember was that afterwards was how I took her to my apartment and savagely made love to her, it had been a long time.

With the lights, off it almost felt as if I was making love to Rin. But her movements, her moans, her touch were not the same, nothing was the same. When I reached my climax, I could not help but mutter Rin's name. She noticed but did not say anything.

"You can stay here" I said "I'll sleep in the sofa"

"No", Tori answered with sadness, "I have to go" she added while putting her scrubs back on "besides…I am not the one you really want tonight"

That was the first time I ever felt terrible for my actions and regretted taking her home with me.

End Flashback

Now, Sesshomaru was packing his bags to return home. He had stopped by a jewelry store and picked a ring. This time he was determined to do things the right way. He was going to beg if he had to, but he needed to get her back.

He knew what he had to do first; Sesshomaru needed to talk to his father and apologize, he had not talked to him for his whole stay in Philadelphia. He was not too happy with having to ask him for help, but it was the only way to get Rin back.

With that thought in mind he closed his bags and headed to Philadelphia international airport. He was flying back to Japan and get his life back.

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Rin was biting her nails while she waited on a very elegant armrest chair. The university president had summoned her for a reason she was not sure of and now she was waiting. She started to fathom all the reasons he would want to talk to her about, maybe the peer mentoring program.

Rin was a peer mentor herself with her own mentee, whom she loved. Whoever she remembered fulfilling the program's expectations.

being very punctual and attended to all her meeting on time, organized the social activity, answered all the e-mails, so she was very responsible…. unlike Sesshomaru who a mess was…and….

"WAIT" She thought "IS MR. TAKAHASHI GOING TO TELL ME SOEMTHING ABOUT SESSHOMARU!?" Rin finished her thought in panic.

In fact, that was a very likely possibility, because a year had passed and even though she thought he was going to stay there, Sesshomaru was unpredictable and he might have returned by now.

Rin did not have time to overthink the issues anymore because her name was called by the president's assistant.

She walked into the magnificent office and found Toga casually sitting down on top of his desk eating an orange.

"Hey Rin" he said casually, I am happy to see you again

"Same Sir" she said nervously

"How things have been?" Toga kept asking pretending not to notice her distress

"Good, you know a lot of studying and no sleep" she cackled nervously

"Yeah I imagin….so has anything interesting happened to you lately?" Toga asked with a smirk

"Well…uhm no?" Rin stammered

"I understand he said seriously as he locked his eyes with hers"

Rin felt threatened "What is wrong with Toga!?" she thought

"Today is your lucky day! I am going to make your life more interesting, you see we need to recruit more people for the mentoring program and since you are an exemplary mentor you are going to organize a happy hour with the current members of the program"! Toga said excitedly

Rin had never felt so stupid in her whole life! Of course, he was not going to talk to her about Sesshomaru! He is in Philadelphia. If she was honest with herself she felt alleviated and a little disappointed.

"Ohhhh sure thing Sir, I would take care of that". Rin answered confused

"Okay we can talk about the budget via e-mail send me a form with your ideas" Toga said casually

"Okay, I am going to go now" Rin answered almost tired

"Is everything okay?" Questioned Toga, "maybe something or someone is clouding your mind" He added

Rin just smiled back and waved him goodbye. She needed to run away from there.

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You can come out now Toga said.

Sesshomaru came out from behind the long window curtain.

"You see? She still loves you. Toga said reassuringly

"How can you be so sure?" Sesshomaru asked plainly

"Look at her! she thought I was going to talk to her about you" Toga explained

"Hn" Sesshomaru answered and left the room.

"Good luck Sesshomaru!" Toga yelled so his son could hear.

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Rin had everything planned for the gathering, it had been a long time since she had fun! She was really looking forward meeting the incoming mentees and the new mentors.

She tried to dress nice, it had been a long time since she tried. She had gained weight too. She parted her long raven hair and dyed a half pony tail. She put on makeup and wore tights with a dressed that fitted her breasts nicely and high heeled boots. She looked cute and not over the top, just like she wanted.

She headed to the bar and set everything up, she was happy many people came, some of them for the free food and beer and others were really interested in joining.

When it was about 11 pm, Rin was really tipsy, and everyone was singing with the bar's karaoke machine. She felt happy, for the first time in….well…. a long time, she has spent hours without thinking about Sesshomaru. She could get used to the feeling of "finally getting over it"

She has 2 more beers and went to the bathroom, it was really crowded there so she decided to pay everyone's check and pray to the gods that they had sick to the budget and head out to look for a bathroom. Her apartment was closed so she could manage to get there in one piece.

While she was paying she realized someone was staring at her from afar.

"Inuyasha?" she muttered to herself. It could not be, Inuyasha and Kagome had left an hour ago because Inuyasha got too drunk.

Rin did not have her glasses and it was hard for her to see from afar, the figure was tall, regal, long silver hair and golden eyes. These descriptions pointed only to Inuyasha and Toga….well Sesshomaru too, but that was impossible.

Rin assumed it was Toga, maybe he came to make sure everything was okay, and she had enough money. That is something he would do…So, Rin approached to him to say hi, she was drunk so it was hard to distinguish his face until she was really close.

Rin approached some more, when she saw the figure clearly, she felt her legs giving up on her

"Sesshomaru!?" She almost yelled. Then she saw black.

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Sesshomaru was walking towards the bar, but suddenly doubts began filling his mind. He could not just go there and pretend nothing happened. His father recommended him to sign up as a mentor, but Rin was not going to let him. The scene from one year ago kept going through his mind. It was awful. He decided to wander around the city until he gain his courage back.

Sesshomaru was lost on his thoughts when he saw his watch, it was 10 pm! How could this happen!? The event started at 7 pm, Rin probably was not going to be there. He walked as fast as he could and as soon as he got to the door of the bar he saw her from afar.

She seemed to be paying her check and probably she was not noticing but the bartender was flirting with her. Sesshomaru squeezed his hands in annoyance. He entered the bar, but it was crowded, Rin was still talking to the bartender. Suddenly she looked towards him; he saw her squinting her eyes. She kept looking his way but had no reaction.

She is not wearing her contact he sighed.

He saw her walking his way and still no reaction.

She must be drunk! he thought in surprise. Sesshomaru confirmed it when he saw the lost look in her eyes.

He got out of the bar to meet her outside, she followed him like nothing was happening. When he turned around to see her again, Sesshomaru saw everything is slow motion.

Rin gasped and opened her eyes really wide, for one moment her drunk face disappeared, she almost yelled his name and then she fainted.

He reacted quickly and grabbed her before she could hit the floor.

He kept calling her name over and over, but no response. Sesshomaru was calmed, but very worried. There was only one thing on his mind that he could do.

He decided to take her to his apartment.

One more chapter, 2 more epilogues