"The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life."

-Richard Bach

Greetings

Sesshomaru unlocked the door to his apartment without struggle, the only concern in keeping quiet as they entered—even going as far as to put a finger to his mouth as to signal her. Almost immediately, a loud bark echoed in Kagura's ears, and she snapped her head down to the white, three legged malamute sprinting towards them as best it could, jumping onto his owner with gusto as he knelt down to the ground to greet the pet by scratching at his ears. For whatever reason, it brought a slight smile to Kagura's face.

"Sir, you're home!" a hoarse whisper came from the couch, "I was worried! You were la—." The man's train of thought immediately ceased the moment he caught Kagura in his eye, glaring at her as if she were a mere pest. He was a shriveled little thing, perhaps shorter than she was, bald, wrinkled, with a large nose that made him seem like a reptile to Kagura. He had to be at least fifty years old.

"We have a guest tonight. This is Kagura, she needed some help," he explained, not bothering to look his worker in the eye. The older man's lip pursed in distaste, as if he had had a bite of a lemon while looking at the woman.

"I don't understand you at times, sir."

Kagura repressed a fowl look at the housekeeper. These people were helpful, but at the same time, they were condescending and rude. She wasn't exactly sure how to feel about her current situation.

Sesshomaru ignored his housekeeper's statement; he certainly did not hesitate to flash a look over at the old, shriveling man. "Did Rin give you any trouble?"

A look of contempt and anguish swept over the man's face. "Don't get me started! She wanted to go to the park today, and so of course, I obliged, since you've given me permission to partake in such 'activities'-," he rolled his eyes, "-but today, she was ever so gracious and played in the mud!"

"She always does that, Jaken. She likes to play around in the dirt. She's four, it's normal," Sesshomaru lectured with annoyance in his tone.

"Yes, I know, but she threw it at me today! She came over with the pie, and I, of course, thanked her, and then!-then she wanted to have a mud ball fight! And she simply stated the fact she wanted one, threw a fistful of mud at me, and ran away, without letting me get to say 'No' in the first place! She ruined my best shirt, sir, I'm not sure-," the old man continued to blabber on, immediately losing Kagura's interest, but she couldn't help but notice the small smile that came to the surgeon's face as his housekeeper relayed the details of the day. She wondered if he could see the events unfolding in his mind as Jaken explained them and was happy for his daughter's joy, or some sort of masochist who enjoyed the suffering of another human at the hands of his child (although, it was probably both).

"Did she go to sleep with ease?" Sesshomaru cut off the sitter, sorting through a pile of mail that was left out on a table. Kagura took the chance to examine the room, for an apartment, it was definitely luxurious. He'd done well for himself.

There was space, the kitchen and living room were separated by what appeared to be some island bar, and there was a table with three chairs leaning up against a window that sat by a balcony. There were cabinets surrounding the three walls in the kitchen area, all a dark brown wood, which appeared to be smooth like glass. There was a cabinet designated solely to fine china, she began to wander around, looking at the different things that were there. When she made her way around to the living room, she examined the furniture. For having a child, the man seemed to have pretty poor intelligence based on the fact that all of the sofas and couches were white. There was one long sofa that sat in front of a coffee table, with some kind of blanket thrown over it, really, it looked like a cloud, except for the stains that came with the privileges having a child, and all Kagura wanted to do was sit down and wrap herself in it. There were two other couches that were sat around the table, so that it seemed to be an open area where a group could talk without be isolated from one another. There were several tables that were placed around the room, covered in photos. A large, flat-screen T.V. hung on the wall in front of the living space. The man had clearly done well for himself. Kagura picked up one frame; it was a picture of the surgeon and the young girl who had to be his daughter. They were on a boardwalk, the little pig-tailed girl was standing up on the very last ladder of the fence of the pier, holding a windmill in one hand with the largest smile on her face, Kagura knew that the picture must've been taking while she was laughing. Her gaze followed the line of her father's finger to Sesshomaru was pointing towards in the water, probably, Sesshomaru's arm wrapped around his daughter's waist to help keep her balance and prevent her from falling in. There was a slight smile on his face as he was looking up to acknowledge the child's happiness. Kagura caught herself smiling. From looking through all the pictures, though, the girl didn't seem to have a mother or even resemble her father in anyway. It provoked Kagura's curiosity, but at the time, it gave her a stronger appreciation for the man helping her, at least, in that moment.

"Jaken, I'd appreciate if you could spend the night," Sesshomaru's eyes glanced over at Kagura, as if she didn't notice. The sitter simply nodded his head and made his way down the hallway, perhaps he had some quarters in the household? "I'll get some sheets for the couch. You can sleep there." the voice broke her train of thought; she immediately set the photo down back in its place. Kagura nodded her head.

"Thank you," she responded, bowing her head slightly, he didn't say much else; he simply walked down a hallway to where she assumed there were rooms.

"Papa!" a gleeful cry exploded in the hallway, and Kagura immediately jumped, clutching a hand over her heart, only to relax when she realized it was his child.

"Rin, you should be asleep," the calm voice echoed in the hallway. Kagura felt another smile creep on her face, that calmness had to come in handy, she was sure that neither of her own parents would've probably handled that kind of excitement at this time in the morning the same way.

"I know," the little girl whispered, as if quieting her tone would change the fact that she was out of bed, "but I heard you get home. I'm going to say bye to Jaken, now!"

"Rin, wait!" Sesshomaru called out, but the slight tapping of small feet burst through the hallway as the child went to say her goodbyes, only to run into the strange woman in her home. She was dressed in an oversized pink t-shirt, long pants covered in frogs and hearts, and she clutched a stuffed dog to her chest, nearly identical to the pet in the house, her brown hair was pulled back into a pony tail, where the ends flew out in any direction they pleased, and her brown eyes sparkled with fear.

"Papa!" she cried out anxiously as she retreated back. Sesshomaru was already hustling down the hallway behind her so that she backed up against his leg. She immediately dropped the stuffed toy and her small hands gripped to his pant leg as she hid behind him. "There's a stranger in our house."

"No, Rin," Sesshomaru started, twisting around so that he could look at her frightened features, "she's staying the night is all." The child exhaled in relief and immediately escaped her father's grasp in order to observe the new woman in her home. She walked up, stuffed dog dragging behind her, and looked at Kagura head to toe before promptly sticking a hand out to Kagura to shake it. Kagura first looked to Sesshomaru, remembering his earlier statement and wondering if it were okay to shake the child's hand.

"Hi, I'm Rin!"

Kagura noticed that the surgeon nodded at her, so she looked back down at Rin with a beaming smile, and limply shook the little girl's hand.

"Hello, Rin, I'm Kagura. It's very nice to meet you." Rin instantly wrapped her second small hand around Kagura's and began to drag her towards the hallway and roughly past Sesshomaru, who seemed completely un-vexed by his daughter's actions. Rin immediately stopped, causing Kagura to hasten to a halt in order to not run over the child, the little girl bent over and scratched at the three-legged dog's ears.

"This is A-Un. I named him. Papa came back with this dog, 'cause the dog 'spoke to him' or something, but I named him 'cause I love him and that's that. Okay, I'm going to show you my room now!" The tiny pull of the child's grasp was strong enough that Kagura swore that her arm was going to fall right out of its socket. She turned around to Sesshomaru to ask for help, but he was already walking into his room and closing the door. Kagura felt a siege of rage come over her, but she quickly masked it for the child's happiness, who had brought her over to her bed and insisted that she take a seat as she began to bring every toy she had available over to the stranger. Kagura took them all, greeting every one, complying with the child and pretending that each toy had it own persona. It wasn't long before Sesshomaru was leaning in the doorway, beckoning to the child. He took a knee, and the little girl barely came up to his head as he did so.

"I'm going to have Ms. Kagura sleep on the couch, and she needs rest, so you'll have to say good night now," Sesshomaru explained to the little girl. She nodded her head and turned to Kagura. The young woman stood up, placing the toys on the little girl's unmade bed in a meticulous matter so that there were arranged as a giant, organized pillow. Sesshomaru stood up, observed the behavior and looked down at Rin as she began to skip over to Kagura, who she tapped on the back of her legs.

"It was very nice to meet you. I'll see you in the morning!" Rin exclaimed before wrapping her tiny arms around Kagura's legs, nearly throwing her off balance. Kagura reached over to the bed post for balance, and when she had regained her composure from the initial shock, she reached over and stroked Rin's head once before patting her on the back.

"It was very nice to meet you, too," Kagura responded, as the young girl's arms unwrapped from around the woman's legs, Kagura made her way towards the door and wandered down the hall. She watched as Sesshomaru entered the room, barely hearing the whispers that were exchanged between father and daughter, and then as he quietly shut the door. The moment Sesshomaru caught her gaze, Kagura sharply turned her head, almost embarrassed at her behavior.

"She's a sweet girl," Kagura stated. "She must get it from her mother."

"Get what?"

"That… Behavior. You seem so…" Kagura trailed off, realizing that she could come off as insulting, and she waved her hand in front of her face before turning around. "Forget it. That was rude of me."

She heard the young man sigh as he passed her, "I don't like nosy people," he stated matter-of-factly. "So if you have questions, don't ask." Kagura swallowed hard, her eyes boring into the back of his head. She had apologized; a polite person would've at least acknowledged that, perhaps his daughter was picking up behaviors from her old man. Kagura walked over to the makeshift bed and sat down on it, it was comfy enough. Although, she noticed that the throw blanket had been removed which was a slight disappointment to the woman. She kicked her feet up onto the sheets and quickly pulled the blanket up to her shoulders, breathing in its warmth and feeling comfort for the first time in years.

"Do you want to tell me why you were going to jump off that roof?" Sesshomaru seated himself down on her feet; she quickly retracted them before containing the scold that was just at the tip of her tongue for his disregard. Instead, she held the blanket up to her chin, sitting up against the arm of the chair, eyes piercing the surgeon's.

"I thought you didn't like nosy people," Kagura reinforced, the surgeon's facial expression did not change, and as Kagura waited for a response to his hypocrisy, she realized that she wasn't going to receive one. The young woman's eyes flickered down to her feet. "It's a long story."

"Try me."

Kagura's eyes flashed back up to his, pausing, unsure of which details to recount and which to keep out. If he knew the whole truth, it could change his opinion on helping her and she certainly didn't want that. As for right now, she needed him; she couldn't have him kicking her out on the curb, especially when only God knows who her boss sent out to search for her. But in his eyes, she found sincerity. It almost made her uncomfortable how strong his gaze was as his arms draped around the couch in such as comfortable manner, it was almost as if he was relaxed in intensity. She gulped and sighed, bringing her knees closer to her chest.

"If I'm going to tell this story, I'd like some coffee, okay? We're probably going to need it."