InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Special delivery ❯ Encounters ( Chapter 44 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
Chapter 44: Encounters
A/N: Ah it's been a while. I feel like I haven't posted in forever! I'll try to keep up with the weekly updates as much as I can. I am sooo eager to find out what you make of this chapter. Also I decided to post a little fic for Valentine's Day. Check the end of this chapter to see the summary!
Thank you to my beloved reviewers:
Sychotic
Soojinyeh
Kiari 13
Sesshkagufan13
BlackMagicWhiteMagic
Killersupergirl
Little25victor (Happy to have you back!)
FoxFire7
Kagura's number one fan (Aw thanks for the kind words of encouragement.)
Once again thank you to Dogsfang for the PM.
On MediaMiner.org
Zetsuii (Sesshoumaru doesn't really care about pissing off people or what the consequences might be. We'll see more of Naraku eventually. Ku ku ku)
Disclaimer: If I owned Inuyasha, Sesshy and Kagura would be happily mated and working on silver haired baby number three by now…
“Talking”
`Thoughts'
Kagura stretched trying to ease her aching back. It was a Saturday morning, and once again, she was working at the shrine. Rotating between her different jobs had become a normal routine for her. Moreover taking care of children, cleaning and moving things around at the shrine, or waitressing did not bother her too much.
`Whatever I do, no matter how exhausting it feels, it's still better than working for Naraku…' She thought to herself with a scoff as she kept on sweeping the stone paved way leading to the large flight of stairs of the Higurashi shrine. She felt that anything she could do would be better than the kind of `work' her father made her do.
“Excuse me. Could you give me directions?” An unsure shaking voice asked behind her. Kagura turned around to look at the person who had just climbed the stone stairs, and to her surprise her crimson eyes met a pair of familiar red eyes.
“Tanuki?!” The wind sorceress gasped in shock. “What are you doing here?”
“What a pleasurable coincidence Miss Kaze. I am so glad to see you again.” The raccoon demon and employee of `b-bags' said with a delighted smile. He hurriedly walked up the few stairs remaining to stand next to the wind sorceress.
“Same here. You look… well.” She breathed out in surprise. The reason for Kagura's shock was not only due to seeing him at the shrine of all places, but also the new appearance of Tanuki. He looked more self assured and handsome, his shoulders straight and his head held high. Instead of his usual ill-fitting suit, he now wore a pair of dark blue jeans with a white shirt and a grey vest over it. He looked fashionable and sophisticated.
`Who could have thought he was not only cute with his clumsy ways, but actually kind of… hot!' She thought to herself eyeing his new and much improved appearance.
“Oh well you like my new style I guess?” He commented with an embarrassed chuckle. “Sondai decided to give me a makeover. She thinks this new style suits me well. I don't know about that… but if she likes it, I do too.” He smiled tugging at his shirt, which he found a little too tight to his comfort. However he would never dream to complain to his dear Sondai.
“So the two of you did hit it off. I knew you would.” Kagura grinned proudly, leaning on her broom. Her comment made Tanuki blush red. Ever since she had seen the two demons interact on the set of the test shoot so long ago, she had noticed that Sondai and Tanuki would make a great couple.
“Well… she kind of forced me to go on a date with her… and things went on from there…. But Miss Kaze what are you doing here? Volunteering?” He questioned eager to move the focus away from his relationship with the temperamental director employed by the Takahashi agency.
“Well Sesshoumaru and I… kind of are not together anymore…” Kagura sighed not willing to get into more detail. “So I decided to change jobs. Makes the whole separation thing less complicated…”
“What a pity…” Tanuki breathed out. As attracted as he might have been by Kagura in the past, he wanted her to be happy and smile like she used to, and he knew that Sesshoumaru was the best person suited to make her smile again.
“Anyways what are you doing here?” The wind sorceress asked aiming to stir the conversation away from the hurtful topic of her relationship with Sesshoumaru.
“Well to be honest Sondai sent me on an errand…” He blurted feeling slightly ashamed.
`Poor dear, I knew she would walk all over him.' Kagura chuckled to herself. “What kind of errand?” She asked surprised to see him at the shrine.
“Well Miss Kaze, actually Sondai wishes for me to get her some summer good luck charms at the shrine. She's been very interested in old myths of religions lately… she thinks it's `in', and that having a few charms around her apartment would make it nice and fashionable.” He laughed nervously.
He dared not tell Kagura that he had come to acquire a charm for himself as well. After all in only two days his dearest Sondai would meet the most important woman in his life, his mother. The old raccoon demoness was extremely protective of her only son, and the idea of him moving out made her faint. On the other hand, Sondai wanted nothing more than having her boyfriend be more independent of his controlling mother. And the poor Tanuki was stuck in the middle of the two strong willed female demons.
`I can only hope that I will survive the confrontation…' He thought to himself, gulping audibly.
“Then go inside. There's an old man, the shrine keeper, he might bore you to death with old stories and stuff, but he's a nice man. Tell him you're coming on my behalf, and he might give you my employee discount.” Kagura said with a smile. She knew that Tanuki was too nice to ever be able to fend off Matsu Higurashi and his unending long and boring stories.
`Even I have a hard time telling him to stop…' She added thoughtfully.
“Thank you very much for your help Miss Kaze… if I may be bold enough to ask, is it because of the remodeling of the agency that you had a falling out with Sesshoumaru-sama?” The raccoon demon asked uncomfortably.
“Remodeling?!” Kagura gasped in incomprehension. `What is he talking about?' She wondered.
“You are not aware? Sesshoumaru-sama managed to overthrow the other share holders in his company, and took complete charge… For example he stopped dealing with Mrs. Yamashita and the `b-bags' company altogether. Not that I blame him, she is insufferable. Due to her nasty behavior, I even quit my job. I now work for Sondai, she is a much more pleasant employer.” Tanuki smiled happily. Quitting the tyrannical Yamashita to work for his lover had been one of the scariest decisions he had ever made, only second after deciding to introduce Sondai Shuhei to his mother.
`I wonder what exactly took place. Is Sesshoumaru alright? Maybe I should call him or something…' The wind sorceress thought to herself, suddenly worried about the dog demon.
As he noticed the concerned look suddenly displayed on Kagura's face, Tanuki quickly added with an uncomfortable chuckle “From what I heard, Mr. Takahashi is doing very well, so you shouldn't worry.” He pressed a comforting hand to Kagura's shoulder. Tanuki had never been good in consoling people; especially women, who always made him very uncomfortable, but for Kagura he would always try his best.
Kagura smiled lightly at his attempt at cheering her up. She gave his hand a squeeze before removing it from her shoulder. “You should go ahead now.; I made you waste enough time. Something tells me that your dear Sondai must be waiting for you or something…”
Tanuki rested his red eyes on the watch at his wrist and gasped, it was much later than he thought, and he was sure his girlfriend would throw a fit if he came late to their date.
“I am very sorry Miss Kaze, but I have to go. You are right I am behind on my schedule. It was really a pleasure to see you again, and I can only hope w will run into each other once more.” Without letting the wind sorceress say an additional word, Tanuki ran towards the shrine's shop.
`Looks like I'm not the only one trying to make my own way… I just hope that Sesshoumaru is doing fine…' Kagura thought as she resumed sweeping.
“Forgive me for the intrusion, but could I trouble you for a minute?” A melodious female voice asked.
Kagura looked up to look at the newcomer, shocked that the woman had managed to get close to her without the wind sorceress noticing.
“Are you looking for directions?” Kagura asked, her voice catching in her throat. The woman who had just appeared was one of the most beautiful demoness she had ever seen. Her overall appearance was nothing short of regal, her pale white skin seemed to be glowing, and the small wrinkles at the corner of her stunning crimson eyes only made her look more sophisticated and dignified, not old.
“How did you know?” The woman asked in surprise. She smoothed a hand, adorned with costly gold bracelets and a designer watch, over her expensive looking pale violet dress. Only the way in which she carried herself was gracious.
`It seems to be in fashion today…' Kagura thought to herself, thinking back to Tanuki's earlier visit. “You just seem a little lost.” She added aloud. She could tell by looking at her that the woman was wealthy, and she had yet to see a patron of her class at the shrine.
“Yes. I am looking for a place to pray. My son will soon find out if he will be received in the university of his choice, and I wish to pray for his success.” The older demoness said her crimson eyes rived on Kagura's face.
“Oh good for him. There's an area where you can pray and give donations over there, right around the corner on the left.” Kagura said unable not to think back to the application she had sent for Suikotsu's scholarship. “I hope you'll find everything you need.”
“I am sure I will. Thank you. You were most helpful.” With a bright smile, the woman left Kagura and walked towards the direction the wind sorceress had indicated.
`Hum maybe I should pray and donate for good fortune myself... maybe the old man would even give me a discount on good luck charms. After all I do want to be a recipient of Suikotsu's scholarships…' The wind sorceress thought to herself as she hastened her clean up of the courtyard. It was getting late, and she had promised Kanna to take her for ice cream once she was done with her work at the shrine.
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Sesshoumaru admired the sketch he was making with his piercing golden eyes. He gave a satisfied nod and placed it back on his worktable. Since his new secretary had yet to start working, his office desk was too littered for him to get any work done on it. He therefore had decided to work in his penthouse; even though, since the departure of Kagura and Kanna he tried to spend the less time possible there. He leaned down to pick up his cup of tea and drained it hoping his medicine would soon take effect and rid him of his bothersome migraine.
Once done his golden gaze strayed again to his sketch. Ever since he had remodeled his agency the demands of his clients had not gone down, and his business was still doing well, for which he was grateful despite the long hours of work.
His admiration of his work was interrupted by a knock at his door. Only a few seconds later, a key was inserted in the door, which was unlocked and opened. The dog demon knew exactly of only one person who would dare enter his penthouse without his permission, not to mention that only one person other than the manager of the building owned a key to his apartment.
`Inuyasha' Sesshoumaru growled to himself just as his half brother walked in, Shippou in his arms.
“Hey I'm on my way out, and I'm starving.” The hanyou said just as he placed his son on the living room carpet, and headed towards the kitchen to help himself to the fridge.
“A normal person would stop at a super market or a fast food place.” Sesshoumaru scoffed. He hated his half brother's habit of dropping by to get food from his fridge. He at least had refrained from doing it when Kagura and Kanna lived with him.
“Hey uncle Sesshoumaru.” Shippou smiled as he walked towards the dog demon to observe what he was drawing. Sesshoumaru nodded in his nephew's direction before giving his red head a tap. Just as he grinned back happily, Shippou noticed something on his uncle that truly shocked and hurt him.
“Wah how come you have it! Inuyashaaa! Dad!” The fox demon, with tear filled eyes suddenly screamed.
“Why are you screaming for?!” Inuyasha hurried from the kitchen to join his son and brother. As soon as he appeared, Shippou latched onto his leg.
“He has the gift I gave to Kanna.” The kitsune's facial features were contorted in a mask of outrage.
“She gave one of them to me.” Sesshoumaru retorted, a clawed finger touching the flower shaped hairpin placed in his silver hair. His confession made Shippou stop frowning.
“Feh! That's all nice and well, but why are you actually wearing it?” Inuyasha snickered. He was amused by the sudden look of discomfort that appeared on his brother's face.
The older half sibling stood up from his couch, and took hold of one of his sketches, effectively hiding his face.
“My bangs are too long, and I have no time to get a haircut. The pin is therefore aof great help when I draw” Sesshoumaru shrugged, trying to mask the real reason why he had Kanna's hairpin on him. Then as he noticed the plate in Inuyasha's hand, Sesshoumaru put down his sketch, and lunged towards his brother.
“You idiotic moron.” To Inuyasha's surprise the older Takahashi brother took the plate the youngest had been eating from and walked over to the dining table to safely place it there, a mask of anger etched on his face.
“Hey I ain't done eating!” The younger sibling growled in anger and outrage.
“Oh that was probably the pie Kanna and Kagura made. Kanna told me about it. She was really excited. No wonder uncle Sessh got mad at you dad.” Shippou shook his head judgmentally.
“Runt, if you knew, why didn't you say anything?” Inuyasha scowled ignoring the furious look Sesshoumaru sent him “Guess that explains why it was in the freezer. Were you trying to keep it as long as possible? Well it was a good pie, so I guess I should give you something in return… Fine I made my mind. You're coming with us, and no protest.” To Sesshoumaru's surprise, his younger half brother suddenly took a hold of his elbow, leading him towards the door of his apartment.
“Unhand me at once!” Sesshoumaru easily broke free of the hold his younger brother had on him.
“Feh! Look at that Shippou, looks like your uncle is scared of following us; who knew he could be such a chicken…” Inuyasha snickered.
Anger suddenly lit up the dog demon's amber eyes. A part of him was aware that his brother was trying to bait him, but his pride prevented him from not saying a thing.
“Fine I will accompany you, but do refrain from touching this Sesshoumaru again, or else....” The elder sibling flashed his claws close to Inuyasha's face, issuing a clear warning, but to his credit the hanyou did not even blink.
“Yeah yeah whatever. Let's just go.” Without further ado the three Takahashi demons were out of Sesshoumaru's penthouse, and riding into Inuyasha's luxury car towards an undisclosed location. The light of glee in his brother's eyes made Sesshoumaru pretty sure that whatever Inuyasha had in mind, he would not like.
`Why on earth did I fall for the idiot's trap?' The dog demon sighed heavily.
“So you still aren't coming to the dinner? It's only a week and a half away…” The hanyou spoke not removing his eyes from the road in front of him.
“No. The change of management at the company is taking too much of my time.” His brother lied without any effort.
“Yeah right…” The hanyou muttered. “Isn't it rather that you're afraid of seeing Kagura again?”
“Inuyasha…” Sesshoumaru growled. “I told you before do not speak of the subject. My relationship with Kagura is none of your concern. When the time is right I shall act accordingly, until then shut your mouth and do as you're told. Besides this Sesshoumaru is aware that your fiancée is truly the one behind the questioning.”
“What?! Why are you dragging my wench into this?!” Inuyasha asked even though he knew how true his brother's words were. Had it not been for Kagome, he would not have had such an interest in his brother's love life.
The eyes of the fox demon opened wide in wonder. From where he was strapped in the back seat, he could feel tension rising in the car, and he hated it. Eager to have the topic of discussion changed, he decided to intervene.
“Uncle Sesshoumaru, are you going to at least help with the wedding stuff?” Even though due to the heritage of Kagome's family, the wedding between the hanyou and the priestess would be in the Shinto tradition, she had promised Shippou he would be able to be a ring bearer, in which he took great pride.
“Not everyone is as eager as your father to engage in activities relating to other people's love lives or matrimony.” Sesshoumaru snorted.
“Oh I forgot about you and your hatred of marriage.” His brother said thoughtfully.
“From what I have seen, it has not nearly as many benefits as people claim. To me marriage is definitely not an attractive thing...”
“Agh come on. You can't still be traumatized by the divorce of your parents…” Inuyasha sighed before adding “Anyways look at my parents. They were happy together for a long time.”
“Why are we talking about this again?” It was Sesshoumaru's turn to sigh.
“Bah don't be sour because you are nowhere near my perfection.” The half demon boasted.
“What perfection?” Sesshoumaru retorted clearly not amused.
Inuyasha chuckled, glad to have managed to get under his brother's skin “After dad had me he didn't even want any more children… proof enough of how satisfied he was with me.”
“Maybe it was because he was afraid of having another dumb son…” Shippou offered.
“What did you say?!” With angered eyes Inuyasha turned his face to the side to glare at his son. Letting one more sigh escape his lips, Sesshoumaru kept a vigilant eye on the road. He even raised his hand to steady the wheel in case his brother got too involved into arguing with his son to drive carefully.
“Oh look dad we're here!” The young fox demon said relieved to have a distraction. Sesshoumaru frowned when he realized he had no idea where they were.
“Oh yeah. Keh! You're off the hook for now runt.” He informed his son before parking his car. Ignoring the curious look Sesshoumaru sent him, Inuyasha took his son out of his car seat before walking towards the large white building he had parked in front of.
“Hey about what I said before about marriage, I mean it. You know people can be happy together. The reason why your parents split was that your mom is a greedy bitch.” Inuyasha ignored the glare his brother sent him, and kept walking and talking. “You know it's the truth. You know my mom would have welcomed you as her son with opened arms had you let her.” At Sesshoumaru's scoff the hanyou added “Bounds of blood mean nothing when love is involved…” The half demon's eyes could not help but stray to his son, who he was carrying.
“Since when are you such a philosopher?” The dog demon scoffed. He silently followed his half brother through the corridors of the building, wondering about the purpose of their visit. Despite his mocking exclamation, Sesshoumaru could not help but see the truth behind his brother's words; proof enough was his feelings for Kanna…
“They're here!” A childish scream suddenly broke the inu youkai away from his reflections. To his surprise he had suddenly found himself in front of a large room of children, all eagerly eyeing the newcomers.
“What is the meaning of this?” He whispered to Inuyasha's furry ear.
“Oh I didn't mention it, did I?” The hanyou chuckled. He put down Shippou who wasted no time running towards the other children, a large smile on his lips.
“Enlighten me.” The elder brother said dryly.
“It's a party from the orphanage. The one I adopted Shippou from.” The hanyou grinned as a little girl walked to him asking to be tossed in the air by him; Inuyasha quickly complied.
He had started being involved in the orphanage two years before, as they had hired the Takahashi agency for a campaign to promote adoption and donations, and ever since then Inuyasha had been close to the institution. It had nothing to do with the fact that it was run by his ex girlfriend Haruka, but rather that he felt close to the children. Not to mention that Shippou still had many of the children he had known since birth
“Hey Haruka. Looking good as usual.” Inuyasha smiled in greeting before putting down Keiko, who he had been playing with, to the toddler's delight.
“I see you brought company.” The young woman smiled as she walked towards the newcomer. “A pleasure to see you again Sesshoumaru. Do not take offense, but why are you here?”
“It is quite obvious that the idiot dragged me along to this ridiculous children birthday party…” Sesshoumaru remarked with a sigh as he spotted the large pink banner reading `Happy birthday RIN!'
`Why did I not take my own car? I then would have been able to get away from here as fast as possible.' The inu youkai cursed under his breath, angered by his lack of anticipation.
“The more the merrier as they say. I hope you will be able to have fun. I have not forgotten how helpful the Takahashi agency has been to my orphanage. Thanks to your advertisement campaign we have benefited from so many very needed donations… I am forever in your debt.” Haruka gave Sesshoumaru a low bow. She was aware that even if Inuyasha had been the one working on the campaign for her orphanage, he would have never been able to work for her for free unless Sesshoumaru had too agreed. After all any acceptance of a charity account had to go through the boss.
“Do not mention it. The Takahashi agency often gets involved in charity work, your situation had nothing particular.” The dog demon brushed aside her gratitude. He could be civil, but it did not mean he had forgotten how she had shattered his brother. After only a few months of dating, Haruka had suddenly broken up with Inuyasha, breaking his heart, and pushing him into a depression, which only stopped when Kagome started working at the Takahashi agency. Seeing how she had managed to make his brother happy, was the main reason he had chose to ignore the in office romance; even though, it went against the company's rules.
`In any case that rule is quite foolish. I should do something about it.' He thought to himself. After all he too had violated the said rule just as his father had all those years ago. Now that he had busied himself with remodeling his agency, the dog demon felt that the obsolete rule should definitely be taken off the books.
“Uncle Sesshoumaru it's Rin's birthday. She's new here, but she is super shy, and she won't talk.” Shippou explained pointing towards a little girl obediently and silently seated at a table. Among the chaos of the many children running around the room, jumping and trying to climb on Inuyasha, she easily stood out.
“Shippou I have told you about Rin's situation. Please do not tease her.” Haruka scolded him just before a little boy grabbed her by the hand forcing her to take part in one of the many games taking place in the room.
“But I was not teasing.” Shippou scowled.
“Stop pouting and come help me runt. I'm being taken over by your friends.” Inuyasha chuckled, filled in fake consternation. He purposely let the children climb as high as his hip before making them slide off his legs. “Ha ah! Feh let's see who's got enough guts to get to my ears?!” He taunted them, wiggling the furry appendages. Many children cheered eager to take on the challenge.
Sesshoumaru watched the scene with fake boredom. As much as he tried he could never imagine himself letting children try to climb on him as his brother did. Not that with his frosty exterior any child, other than Kanna, would even dare request to play with him.
“Since the two of you seem to like silence so much why don't you go play with birthday girl?” Inuyasha suggested. He let out a victorious laugh when he managed to prevent his son from climbing up his leg. Heaving a heavy sigh the dog demon complied and sat next to the silent little girl.
`I stay for five minutes then I grab a taxi and leave. This is certainly not a place for me.' Sesshoumaru thought rolling his eyes, exasperation emanating from him in heavy waves. He almost groaned when he felt his earlier headache coming back.
The dog demon settled at the table, his scowling eyes looking around him. He did not even bother hiding his distaste at being there. He drummed his claws impatiently as he waited for five minutes to pass by. To his surprise something suddenly came in contact with his moving fingers. He looked down and saw one of Rin's colored pencils.
“Here.” He extended his large clawed hand to give the little girl her pencil.
Rin jolted at his words, but her surprise was quickly changed to a big smile as she took the pencil from his outstretched hand. The dog demon despite himself and his foul mood returned her smile whole heartedly. She quickly turned back to her drawing, ignoring the children playing together around her.
His golden eyes rested on Rin who was busying herself by drawing. At seeing her he thought about a few things. Why was she not partaking in games with the other children? Or wolfing down some of the junk food offered at the table opposite of them. But what troubled him the most was that when seeing Rin he could not help but be reminded of Kanna and her enjoyment of drawing especially by his side. His thoughts then moved from Kanna to her mother, which made him hurt and angry.
Had he been honest, Sesshoumaru would have confessed that he had expected Kagura to be back by his side by now. When he had allowed her to leave his side, he was sure that the wind sorceress would have quickly come to realize that she was better with him by her side. He would have never allowed their `break' to be in the first place if he had known that it would have lasted as long as it had.
A growl almost escaped his throat when he realized he had once more allowed his thoughts to drift to Kagura. Heaving a heavy sigh he thought back to his earlier discussion with Inuyasha about love and marriage and realized how much he had changed his mind in the past few months.
`I used to think about marriage and family as inconveniences, but now I could actually see myself as a family man, but only with Kagura… maybe Inuyasha was right. Perhaps I should go drag her back home, no, that would not do considering her headstrong ways… what would be the best option to ensure her return?' He silently discussed with himself. A sudden loud childish shriek made him cringe as it irritated his sharp demon ear.
He quickly realized that trying to sort out his feelings among a crowd of playful children screaming around him was next to impossible.
`I have had enough. I'd rather be home working.' On this thought Sesshoumaru took to his feet. To his surprise Rin suddenly latched onto his shirt, giving it a firm tug. He turned around an eyebrow raised in surprise. As he peered down into her shinning dark eyes, a smile almost appeared on his lips.
“Come visit Rin again!” She smiled brightly at him, a gap showing in between her little pearly teeth. The dog demon accepted her gift of the drawing she had made with a nod before walking out of the room. To his surprise he had tolerated, if not liked Rin. In some ways she actually reminded him of Kanna, in her silent ways, gentle words and natural cuteness.
`Unlike other children she like Kanna at least does not beg for constant attention nor scream or irritate me.' He thought on his way to the door. After spending time with Kanna or even Shippou he knew the importance children attached to drawing they made, so he carefully folded Rin's art piece and placed it in his pocket.
As he left he did not even pay attention to the fact that the room had suddenly become deathly quiet, or the astonished looks on everyone's face in the room, especially the way Inuyasha's eyes were bulging out of his head.
`Well what do you know? I never guessed the bastard could actually have talent with kids…' The amazed hanyou thought as he looked as his brother's retreating back.
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A few miles away, someone was attentively spying on the scene that had just taken place. The face of the person intruding on the scene suddenly grew red with irritation. With a groan the person threw away the round object just used to spy on the scene.
`How could he do that?...' The person thought disappointed.
To be continued…
A/N: New characters, old faces, and much more mystery. We'll see what happens next in Crossing paths. This was a super long chapter, which I hope you enjoyed. I feel so bad for saying it, but there probably won't be any update next week again. I am very very very busy, and I'd rather post quality chapters than something rushed. In any case things are going to start heating up soon!
As I mentioned at the beginning of the chapter I will post a little fic in honor of the annual celebration of love. It will be called Battle Royale.
Summary: They say love is a battlefield, but the fight can be sometimes unexpected. Sesshoumaru/Kagura one shot for Valentine's Day. I'll post it Sunday if I have time to finish it.
Lastly you guys all have to thank ArtemisdelaLune for the addition of Rin in the story. It may not have come about in a dramatic way, but she's here now… wonder if she'll stay ;)