Shuffle

Japan. A totally different monster entirely. Thank the gods Rin knew exactly where to go and what to do, because Miroku hadn't been in Tokyo since he was a small boy of about seven years old. Sesshomaru wasted no time in meeting with his daughter and her fiancé, even going so far as to send a car for them at their hotel to bring them personally to his penthouse suite.

Shinju and Rin shared a beautiful and sincere embrace at the doorway. Shinju grasped Rin's hands and Miroku couldn't ignore the combined gleam radiating from their silver and gold engagement rings. Like two old friends, the two girls scurried off to Rin's room and shut the door, where talking and some quiet giggling could be heard. Sesshomaru rolled his eyes. Girls… his face said.

"May I offer you a drink, Mr. Kobayashi?" Mr. Taisho said in his smooth emotionless voice. Miroku nodded and he was given a crystal brandy sniffer with the finest brandy swirling in its depths. "A toast. To our daughters." Thankful Sesshomaru didn't elaborate, Miroku drank deeply.

"Have your lawyers been able to break the contract?"

Sesshomaru walked to the window overlooking the neon lights of the streets below. "That has been a daunting task. It may behoove both of us to allow the contract to expire. That may prove to be the shortest route possible with the least amount of risk to our respective plans." He turned to face Miroku. "Tell me, what is it you see in my… ill-disciplined daughter."

Miroku's eyes narrowed. He hated that Rin felt her father didn't love her, didn't want her. Honestly he wanted to know what it was that caused Sesshomaru to seemingly hate her as he did. "Mr. Taisho, I find her to be more than disciplined. I find her to be perfect in every way. Rin is an intense woman, does everything to its fullest, is understanding and genuine… She is intelligent and thoughtful. I can find no fault with her. Other than she places too much importance on what you think of her."

Sesshomaru's hazel colored eyes seemed to flicker a golden color, as if he were trying very hard to conceal those amber colored irises. "Rin is impractical, overemotional, clumsy and unnecessarily silly at times. She is entirely too soft and is fearful of nearly everything. I suppose you enjoy protecting her non-stop."

"You are wrong sir." Miroku was angry. "When was the last time you spent any time with her? How well do you really know her? She tells me you shoved her away from you after her mother died, washed your hands of her until she turned fifteen, where you tried to turn her into a robot to eventually take over your position in your company." Miroku sat his goblet down on the wet bar countertop. "Did you ever consider that maybe she was hurting as bad as you were? That she missed Kagura as much as you did?"

Sesshomaru's eyes blinked closed for a moment. His beloved Kagura had been ripped away from him far too soon, complications during her second pregnancy. She'd lost the baby and then hemorrhaged so badly that she bled to death. He'd lost both his wife and his only son. "There is no way Rin could possibly have hurt as bad as I did. She doesn't even know about the son I lost."

And then it became clear to Miroku. Sesshomaru was happy that Kagura had her little girl to dote on and spoil. But when the fates had taken his boy, and then his wife… Sesshomaru had decided to groom the girl into his heir, and because of his emotionlessness with her, and the fact that he never thought of her as anything other than another human being in the room with him, not even really as a daughter, she'd simply disappointed him to the point where he'd given up on her.

"What is it you see in my little girl, Mr. Taisho? What is it about Shinju that is so different from Rin that you couldn't keep your cold, dead hands off her?"

Sesshomaru crossed his arms and said, "Shinju has a spark that Rin lacked. She doesn't let anyone intimidate her, she lets no one walk all over her, she is direct and to the point, and the few emotions she shares with me are genuine and honest. She never tries to deceive me by saying she is 'fine' when she isn't, and she… knows my needs and wants, sometimes better than I myself do."

"Rin is much the same in that aspect. She saw I was hurting and knew how to repair my soul." He looked Sesshomaru in the eye. "I think it was her overemotional side that caught my pain."

At that moment the girls emerged from the other room, Rin had an odd assortment of things with her and two duffle bags crammed full of stuff. She plopped the bags by the door and Shinju hunted up a garbage bag for the other items, mostly some stuffed animals and a few items of clothing. Rin walked to where her father stood and bowed to him. "I have taken what I wish to bring back with me, the rest of my things you may do with as you wish."

"Very well."

Suddenly awkward silence reigned between them. Shinju spoke up in English, "Maybe we could all go get something to eat? Or I could fix something here?"

"Actually, I think Rin and I should get going, it's been quite a long day. And honestly the jet lag is horrible." He slid his arm around Rin and guided her to the door. Sesshomaru placed his hand possessively on Shinju's hip and politely showed them out, saying they should meet up once they were accustomed to the time change and certainly share a meal together, since they were now all going to be family. Rin looked ill at that statement, only nodding nervously as Miroku agreed with her father. Moments later they found themselves in Mr. Taisho's private car, and soon after that they were back at their hotel.

Rin opened the door with a quickness, angrily tossing her things from her old home into the room and slamming the door to the bathroom. Miroku heard the water kick on and he stripped down to his boxers and crawled into bed, despite it only being early afternoon. He flipped the television on and waited for his young bride to come out of the shower, but after forty-five minutes, he decided to go check on her.

He found the room steamy, condensation gathering on the silvery chrome of the fixtures and immediately heard her soft cries amid the sound of the water rushing down the drain. "Rin?" he called as he pulled the curtain back. The water was cold but she sat in the bottom of the tub, crying with her head between her knees, her hair still soapy in some places. Miroku rinsed the rest of the shampoo from her hair and dried her off, saying nothing as he cranked the sun lamp on overhead to help warm her with its artificial golden sunshine. He took the complimentary blow dryer from the wall and used it to warm and dry Rin in a quicker way, kissing her tears away as they trailed down her face. When he was satisfied that she was warm and no longer sopping wet, he gathered his fiancé in his arms and carried her to the queen sized bed, covered her up, then crawled in beside her, wrapping his arms around her.

After a long while, her shuddering cries finally stopped. "Miroku?"

"Yes, sweetheart?"
"I wanna go back to the States. I hate it here."

Miroku shifted his weight so he could look her in the eye. "But what about your friends? Don't you want to visit them before we leave?"

Rin turned her head from him and said quietly, "I have no friends here. Everything I hold dear to me lies across the Pacific." Sadness dominated her chocolate depths, and Miroku could do nothing to ease it.

He squeezed her tighter to him, kissed Rin's ear and closed his eyes. "Alright," he whispered. "We'll leave tomorrow morning. For now let's rest." Rin snuggled into her lover's arms but her eyes refused to close, despite her fatigue. Her thoughts were racing into the past, remembering vaguely that there used to be happier times with her father, that she used to have a loving and sweet mother, and then how after she died her father turned to ice and practically abandoned her, immersed himself wholly in his work and did everything he could to forget…

Rin gasped and Miroku opened his heavy eyes. "I get it now… He never had a problem with me personally. I can't believe I never thought of it before!" She wriggled free from Miroku's arms.

"Rin, what're you doin'?" He watched as she ran naked to one of the duffle bags she had brought with her and turned it upside down on the floor, rooting through assorted random things until she came up with a dusty picture frame. She brushed the glass clean, blew a little on the upper edge and then came skipping back, breasts jiggling in a way that made Miroku instantly ache for her.

"Tell me, who is this woman?" She showed him a picture of a happy young woman smiling in front of a gorgeous vision of Mount Fuji.

"It looks like you."

Rin grinned. "It's my mother. Don't you see now? It wasn't that he hated me, it was that every time he looked at me he saw my mother. The only thing I can think of is he found things he didn't like about me and used those things as excuses to push me away, simply because he couldn't bear to look at me."

She crawled back under the covers, clutching the golden frame to her chest. She held it out and stared at it for a little bit, Miroku joining her over her shoulder as he moved to cover her now chilled and stiff nipples with his big warm hands. "I haven't looked at this picture in a very long time… If I'd looked even two years ago I would have known immediately what my father's problem was." She looked over her shoulder at Miroku. "Do you think if I confront him he'll actually talk to me?"

Miroku kissed her tenderly, drew back from her and said, "Anything is possible, sweetheart. Whatever happens though, promise me one thing." She looked at him, waiting for him to continue. "Don't ever shed another tear over him. I won't have my wife pining for any man, her father included."

Rin smiled at him as she kissed him, then placed her mother's picture face down on the nightstand beside her. She rolled to face her fiancé, wearing a smile that was both mischievous and seductive at the same time. "I promise. Now you promise me something old man… Promise me you'll make a happy memory with me, right here and now in this bed. Give me a reason to think of Tokyo and smile instead of cry."

Miroku rolled on top of his tiny girl, this woman-child who was going to become his wife eventually. "How is it you managed to be as sweet and wonderful as you are after growing up so miserably?" he asked as he kissed her neck.

"It wasn't all bad, only the times when I was home. The boarding schools were not bad, I had friends I guess there. Lots of fun times. It's only Tokyo that makes me sick." Her body was responding sweetly to Miroku's touches, bucking and writhing on its own accord as she spoke.

Miroku's face turned serious as he slowed his pace. "Rin, do you want children?" he asked suddenly. Rin's hips stilled their grinding as she looked down at him. His eyes were unreadable.

"I… I never thought about it before. But honestly… I don't think so. I don't want anyone or anything to get in between you and I and this wonderful, beautiful and unique love we have. And besides, I'll have eight step-children. If I feel the urge to mother something we'll go get your kids, or we'll get a dog."

Miroku attacked her mouth with heated fervor. He released her, panting. "Thank the gods, I didn't want any more myself, but I didn't want to deny you anything you wanted either. Oh gods thank you…" He simply wrapped his body around Rin and hugged her, relieved that his days of caring for babies would only exist with Sango. "Ooh! Wait! I almost forgot!" He practically leapt from the bed and ran to his suitcase, digging around and then brought out the silver handcuffs they'd used in their homemade movie. "I brought a little something to liven things up!"

"As if we need livening up just yet," she cooed, putting her hands behind her back where he cuffed her. She turned back around and let him kiss her, then Miroku watched as she trailed her wet mouth down to his boxers and pulled them down with her teeth. Once he'd sprung free she greedily opened wide and took him in her mouth, his hands coming up to fist her hair on either side of her face. The handcuffs assured that her posture was low and her throat was straight, allowing Miroku to thrust right into her mouth and beyond without gagging her.

"Oh princess, ain't nobody ever sucked this old man's cock the way you do," he purred as he continued to move back and forth in her mouth, her doe eyes locked with his blue ones. "Do you want me to cum in your mouth, little girl?" She closed her eyes and moaned, nodding minutely. He pulled out of her mouth, "Open wide baby, stick your tongue out…" Jerking himself quickly he spilled his snow white essence into the hot, wet cavern of her perfect mouth, shuddered when she ran her cum covered tongue over her lips, smearing it like lip gloss. She swallowed with an audible gulp, then licked the remainder up with a flutter of her eyelids.

"You taste so sweet… Must be all that fruit you eat." She watched Miroku lay over on his back and beckoned her to come to him.

"Sit on my face little one, let me taste how sweet you are." She positioned herself in a "69", her head lying on his stomach as he nibbled and ate at her swollen and sensitive pink folds, already wet and glistening from being restrained and tasting her soon-to-be mate. Miroku was like a man starved. His crippling addiction: the insane urge to worship this part of the female anatomy, led him to treat her to several strong orgasms, using only his tongue in her most sensitive areas. When he was so full of her flavor and aroma that he was hard again, he bid her to simply move over to the side of him.

Miroku pulled her to her knees, spread her legs wide apart, then nestled his body right in behind hers, releasing one of her hands long enough to pull them both over her head and then cuff them back together. Her arms rested around his neck, bringing her breasts to a beautiful suspension, arching her back just right so that her hips were tilted perfectly, leaving her open and ready to receive him into her flesh. Miroku's hands were kneading those flawless tits, sliding occasionally to grip her flared hip or tickle her pearly clit. After a few moments of teasing her at her heated entrance, he finally penetrated her, nearly groaning himself as she let out a desperate gasp. After all the times they'd been together, she was still so tight and wet for him.

"Gods, Miroku… You feel soooo gooood inside me…" He leaned back a little and took her with him. As he pumped long strokes into her his deft fingers settled on her nipples, twisting and pulling and pinching until she was a keening mess, threatening to orgasm against him already.

Sensing he was needing a little more than just her wanton sound effects, she said in a husky voice, "Miroku, cum inside me baby! Flood me with that sweet, hot sugar… I wanna feel you explode inside of me!"

He pushed a little harder, slammed into her velvet interior a little faster, pinched at her nipple and her clit in tandem with his strokes all while licking the shell of her ear. Rin came undone and convulsed deliciously against his aching cock, and once he was sure she'd had hers, he finally detonated in her deeps, splattering his essence inside her and coating her inner walls.

They were both panting as Miroku released his little lover's hands. She turned her head over her shoulder and let him taste her sleepy lips. "Mmm, that's a happy memory," she said in an exhausted tone.

"You betcha. I need a drink, you want some water?" He sat the handcuffs on his side of the bed as Rin laid back in the covers.

"Yeah, sure." He returned with two plastic cups full of cold water and they both gulped it right down. "I think you're right about the resting part, baby. I'm so sleepy all the sudden."

With a smirk, he said, "Gee, I wonder why?" She flashed him that smile he loved to see before he turned and got them each a refill on the water. When he returned he got back into bed, letting his girl come to him and plaster herself against him like a postage stamp. "I love you Rin. Remember, the great and wise prophet Ozzy Osbourne once said, "No more tears," and I am holding you to your end of the promise. I believe I've held up my end…" he said with a kiss to her crown.

"Oh yes, Tokyo's not so bad as it used to be now." Rin leaned her head back, "Thank you Miroku. I won't let you down."

"I know you won't sweetheart. Now let's get some sleep. We should try to sleep as much as we can so we can break the jet lag alright?" She nodded in his embrace, they whispered good night to each other, and then they slept straight through till around midnight, where they rose, made passionate love again, then slept some more. Upon their final waking at nearly five in the morning, they made love in the shower. Tokyo's appeal was definitely improving.

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Sesshomaru laid on his back, his eyes wandering about his darkened bedroom as Shinju rode him. Finally she slowed and eventually stopped. "Sess… you're distracted, what's bothering you?"

His almost bony hand came to rest on her hip. "Not distracted, I can feel every squeeze you give me, Shinju."

"But you seem… miles away."

Hmm, too clever for her own good. Maybe they'd just been together long enough that she knew him pretty well now, and knew something was definitely preoccupying his mind. "It's a long story, but please don't let it stop you from fucking me. I am well aware of everything you're doing."

"Oh, so you want me to keep moving like this?" she said as she rolled her hips forward, taking him in deeper.

Sesshomaru's eyes closed and all his thoughts of how much Rin now looked like Kagura instantly faded. "Haaaiiii… just like that Shin…" he groaned beneath her.

"There he is! Where you been Sesshomaru? I've been fucking your hot body for the last ten minutes but you were nowhere to be found!" Shinju's hand cupped his defiant jaw line. "You know you can't lie to me Sess… I know you were distracted."

"I'm not now," he growled as he thrust himself into her sheath, eliciting a breathy squeak from his little vixen. "Now are you gonna ride me or lecture me?"

With that, Shinju unloaded everything she had, even moving herself so she was bouncing up and down on him froggy style, slamming herself onto him with such force that their skin was smacking together, the tingling sensation it left behind spurring them both to their shared ecstasy.

Shinju climbed off of Sesshomaru, carefully pulled the condom from his shrinking maleness and threw it in the garbage can by the bed. She washed up in the bathroom, bringing a wet wash cloth over to wash his area, and then crawled into bed next to him, snuggling up into his arm. "So are you gonna tell me what's rolling around up there in your noggin?"

"No." He said this in a casual tone, as if he were answering 'You want some dessert?'

"Why not?"

"It doesn't pertain to you."

"But your happiness does, and I can't help if you don't tell me wh-"

"I said no, Shinju." He rolled away from her. "Go to sleep."

"Hey nastiness," she said angrily as she poked him forcefully in the arm, "you're not allowed to talk to me like that! Hey, look at me… Look at me!"

With a grunt he rolled over again. "What!"

"I'm going to be your wife. In the states that doesn't simply mean I'm a piece of steady pussy, it means we will be partners in everything, share everything, even the shitty parts! If it hurts you, it hurts me. If it delights you, it delights me too. Now open your stubborn fucking mouth and spill it or I'm finding my father and I'll go back to the states!"

Sesshomaru grabbed her wrist, "I already told you Shinju, you are never going back to the states."

Shinju, undaunted by her aggressive partner, got right in his face in true Shinju form and growled, "Then you tell me what the fuck is bothering you."

An evil grin crossed Sesshomaru's face. "I knew you were perfect for me Shinju. You have earned my love, you have earned my trust, and now you have earned my respect for refusing to give up your prodding. Alright, I will 'open my stubborn fucking mouth', but only for you, and you must never breathe a word of it."

Shinju kissed her fiancé deeply. "You have my word that it stays in this room with you and I. Now please my dear, tell me what has you so bothered."

Sesshomaru brought his skeletons out of his closet and showed them off one by one to his future bride, spilled every secret regarding Rin's treatment and every emotional outburst that never happened regarding Kagura and his unnamed infant son's death. There were tears, there were sad smiles, there were anger and joy as well. Sesshomaru Taisho, one of Japan's top businessmen, cut his heart out and laid it open for the girl beside him in his bed, and when he was finished, she held him tight to her chest as he sobbed with relief that finally he'd gotten it all out, finally it was out and he could begin to heal.

"May I ask one question?" His white head nodded in her embrace. "If Rin looks so much like her, and you shoved her away, how come you keep me if I remind you of her ways?"

Sesshomaru sniffled and answered in a quaking voice, "People may pick up habits of others, may behave the same as others at times… it's just the way of any social creature. But it is rare when someone nearly identically resembles someone else. The ways you have are very similar to hers, yes. But your voice is different, your eyes are different… You don't constantly remind me of her the way Rin does. Please Shinju, I mean no disrespect, I love you very much… But Kagura was so special, we had plans and dreams for our future and for our children… And then it was all gone in a matter of days. I struggled just to live. I turned to the brothels to drown myself in something besides memories of her. Even as a young child Rin looked just like my Kagura. It was so painful. I figured Rin would have a better life if she were separated from me and all my sorrow. Now that I know I was wrong and that I've damaged her beyond repair more than likely, I simply have to live with my decision." He curled himself around Shinju's silky frame, laying his head on one of her breasts. "I really do love my daughter… I did what I thought was best for her."

Shinju kissed the top of his silvery head as he quietly drifted off to sleep, wondering if there was something she could do to make this all right, for both him and Rin, whom she really liked as well. When Sesshomaru rolled over in his sleep, she rolled herself as well, thinking of the dilemma even in her restless sleep.