A loud banging sound woke me up. Startled, I fell out of bed. The noise continued dramatically before I realized someone was banging on my front door.

What on Earth?

I moved quickly, hoping the noise hadn't woken Kagome up. I had no conception of time, but sunlight hadn't even begun peaking through the windows. I grabbed the robe off of my bathroom doorknob before heading into the living room.

I grabbed the baseball bat by the front door.

"Who is it?" I cried out, wishing we had a peephole on our apartment door.

"Rin, it's Stefan. I'm one of the security guards from Taisho Enterprises."

I unlocked the door before peaking through the opening at him.

"Um. Do you have some ID or something?" Hey, a girl had to take precautions, especially in my neighborhood.

He handed me his security badge. It looked official. I mean, it did, but I had no idea what they were actually supposed to look like. I'd only started working there yesterday.

"Can I help you?"

"Lord Sesshomaru has instructed you be picked up and brought in to begin working."

"What?" I scratched my head with my free hand, drowsiness apparent in my voice. "What time is it?"

"A quarter past four am."

"WHAT!" I groaned.

"Too be honest, ma'am, you're already late. If you don't mind hurrying things along, that would be great."

"Give me a moment, please." Before he could answer, I shut the door in his face.

What was going on? I was already late? The workday didn't even begin until eight a.m. every morning, and I had planned on being there by seven, to get my desk organized. If I needed to be there by four a.m., that could only mean one thing. Sesshomaru was already there!

I ran into my bedroom, throwing on a pantsuit, stockings and high heels before rushing into the bathroom. Quickly I patted down my face with a wash cloth, brushed my teeth and wrapped my long black hair into a loose, but professional, bun.

I made my way into the kitchen, grabbed a banana and threw open the front door. I tossed my briefcase to the guard while I reached for my keys. I locked the door and breathed a sigh of relief.

Surely that couldn't have taken long. I looked at the man.

"How was my time?" He silently handed back my briefcase before walking towards the elevator.

I followed along, thanking him as we made it outside and he held a car door open for me. I climbed into the black SUV, shutting my eyes instantly and relaxing against some kind of fur pillow. It was warm and wonderful, reminding me of the bed I had just vacated.

If I just slept through the 30-minute drive to the office I would be fine, I assured myself. Eyes still shut, I placed the pillow around my waist, absorbing its warmth.

"You're late."

My eyes snapped open and my head smacked into the roof of the car as I leapt up.

"SON OF A BITCH!" I shrieked, clutching my aching head. I could feel a knot already forming from the fierce impact.

I looked around quickly, finding Sesshomaru sitting across from me, an angry expression on his face.

"What," I asked, too late realizing what I had yelled at him. "OH. No, no I didn't mean you, My Lord! Or your mother!" My skull throbbed viciously. "Oh, my head."

I risked a peak back at him; worried he would fire me on the spot. To my utter dismay, there was a small smile dancing on his face. My mouth dropped open in shock.

Was he laughing at me? His shoulders shook suspiciously.

I narrowed my eyes.

Quickly, the smile disappeared, leaving behind the emotionless mask that was my employer. I felt a tug on my heartstrings as his smile vanished.

"Rin. Are you alright?" His mokomoko came up to press along my jaw.

"Um." What did he ask? The mokomoko kept gently caressing against me, making it almost impossible to think straight.
"Rin, do you need to go to a hospital?" I rubbed the pelt longingly, barely noticing as Lord Sesshomaru tensed. "Rin."

"Hm? Oh, right. Hospital. No, I think I should be alright. I'll just need to stay alert in case it's a slight concussion."

"Humans. You are all so weak." He sat back into his seat.

"Well, we can't all be horribly hardheaded or we'd give you a run for you money." Oh my gods. What was wrong with me? What was it about him that made me talk without thinking first? I was never like this with anyone else. I couldn't be like that with him.

Lord Sesshomaru smirked. It was there for only a moment, but I knew I hadn't imagined it. He might have actually liked me, the weak human. Huh.

"I find it an inconvenient drive to your location. You will need to move."

"I'm sorry?"

"You need to find a new living arrangement closer to my home and closer to the office."

"Why can't I just take the bus to work like I had planned?"

"There are many reasons." OOOOKAY.

"My Lord, you need to be more specific than that. Apartments are extremely hard to come by in Tokyo. Especially cheap apartments."

"You are a human woman and you live in a horrendous neighborhood. It will reflect poorly on me if you are assaulted on your commute to work each morning."

He was worried about my safety? Probably not. I assumed by 'reflect poorly' on him meant that if the little human assistant were murdered he would appear weak for not watching after me. He was a demon lord, after all. It was probably necessary to keep all of the ducks in a row. I guess I should start quacking.

"Very well, my lord. Once I have the proper amount saved up, I will find another place to live."

"Money should be no object. You will move this weekend into a more suitable place."

I sighed.

"Lord Sesshomaru, money is a major object. One needs money if one plans to move. "
"Why must you argue, Rin?" He looked perplexed. Hell, I felt perplexed!

"Because I'm poor, my Lord. This job is supposed to be to help my sister with all of her medical expenses, not to move somewhere else. I can't afford such a thing at this time."

"You will move. Find a place today. Since you are my assistant, you can forward the bills to the finance department until further notice. Consider this an incentive to work harder."

My jaw dropped.

"You're going to pay me to move somewhere close to work?" That was crazy! And kind, no matter how much he might have been repulsed by that thought. His mokomoko slid along my legs, my hand still holding on to it.

Sesshomaru sighed. "Are all humans this dense? Yes, I will pay for you to be at a safer location." I grinned at him. How much farther would Lord Sesshomaru allowed this to continue?

"Sorry, My Lord. Of course, I'll need a new wardrobe with this job as well, you see."

"Fine. You can have the mall I own send me the bill from your shopping."

"And what about a better cell phone?"

"I can arrange for you to have your own personal cell phone. In fact, we should have done that yesterday. I'll need you to be available at all times."

"I was joking, My Lord."

"You still need a phone."

"No, I meant about the clothes, Lord Sesshomaru. Well, and the phone. But mostly I was only teasing you about the clothes. I'm fine with the clothing I have."

His gaze looked me up and down before meeting my eyes.

"If you think your clothing is suitable."

"What does that mean?" I called out angrily. "You know what, never mind. I don't want to know. If you don't approve of my clothing then you don't have to look at me. The nerve. Demon or human, all men are the same!"

I let go of his mokomoko, crossing my arms in a huff.

The SUV came rolling to a stop outside of work before Sesshomaru could give a reply. The door closest to the entrance opened and I jumped out first, feeling slightly victorious.

The sudden movement made me dizzy and I would have fallen backward if strong arms hadn't grabbed a hold of me from behind.

"I think you might actually require a doctor, Rin." Sesshomaru's voice sounded above me.

I pulled away from him gently, straightening my spine. No way was the little human going to act like a weakling. At least in front of him. The baka.

I smiled brightly, inwardly groaning at the pain in my head. "I'm fine, My Lord. Shall we get to work?"

We made it inside and to the elevators. I waved before heading to the last waiting elevator.

Without looking back, I rushed inside when the doors opened, grateful Sesshomaru was no longer with me. I greeted the same demon I had met the day before, Clyde I thought his name was. The pain in my head beat at me like a drum and I sat down on the floor abruptly, trying to keep the dizziness at bay.

Nausea crept up and I placed my head in between my legs, breathing in slowly and deeply.

"Miss Rin, are you alright?" Clyde stood next to me as the elevator began moving to the top floor. I groaned pitifully.

"I'm afraid I slammed my head into the roof of the car earlier. I'm in a lot of pain. Would you be able to get me some aspirin and ice when we get to the office?"

"Sure thing, ma'am. Does Lord Sesshomaru know how bad you feel?"

"I don't see the point in bothering him with this, Clyde. Please don't mention it to him."

Clyde hesitated above me. "It's not wise to keep things such as your health from him. He can be very possessive, Miss Rin."

Sighing heavily, I stood up slowly. I smiled at Clyde as the elevator pinged and the doors opened. "I'll be alright." I walked out.

"Okay, Miss Rin. I'll have that aspirin and ice for you as soon as possible." The elevator door shut once more.

~*~

I was sitting at my desk, fingers moving swiftly over the keyboard as I stared intently at the computer screen. I should have been doing something even remotely work related, but I wasn't. Well, I guess it could be considered work related.

I was being nosy and searching for photos of Lord Sesshomaru on Google. Well, I was more interested in photos of Lord Sesshomaru with other women. NOT because I was interested or anything… Really. I was merely curious over the type of women that appealed to him.

My search was going horribly. Over 17,000 photos to choose from and in all of them he was alone! I was just about to give up when I saw it.

There WAS a photo of him and another woman! I excitedly clicked on the photo, twiddling impatiently as the photo was enlarged.

The pixels cleared and my jaw dropped. That couldn't have been… No, surely it wasn't! I groaned out loud.

Kagura. The bitch demon that worked at the reception desk out front. God, were they still together? The date labeled took place only four months ago! Was he still involved with her? Now it made sense why she had been so hateful yesterday.

Not that I cared. I shouldn't have, right? Lord Sesshomaru was my boss. That was IT. Nothing more.

Then why did my heart hurt?