Shuffle

Despite being warned not to speak to Rin in Japanese, he found himself doing so whenever they were alone. She spoke it beautifully, he loved how familiar it felt in his own mouth, and it was something only the two of them could do together. While Sango was of Japanese descent, she was third generation American, and only knew a handful of phrases and words, most of them from crummy ninja movies and fangirl stories. In his mind, it was as good as physically loving this girl. Miroku made love to her with their language and they both enjoyed it. On top of that, there was a smug satisfaction that the two of them were in on some kind of secret, that his kids and his wife would never know if he'd said, "Could you pass the potatoes?" or "Could you suck me please?"

Rin was struggling as much as he was. Her strict father, Sesshomaru Taisho, had raised her to forget about human emotion, that it was pointless and only hindered the success of a true professional. "If you want to be the best, the first thing you must do is lose anything that isn't logical, and emotions are often illogical," he'd told her as they dined with some of his colleagues concerning the acquisition of a large company. "That is the secret to success and wealth."

She could understand how emotions could affect proper decision making, and that power and wealth were indeed important, but her uptight father had forgotten how to be happy. She never saw him crack a smile, never heard him laugh… She had smiled and laughed more in her first two months with the Kobayashi family than she had her entire lifetime. On top of these new feelings she was discovering, she had found her first fires of lust for the man who was her acting guardian, a middle-aged man who was happily married, but so charming and sweet and spoke Japanese to soothe her because she was so uncomfortable in this completely foreign place. And his gentle voice... The only time she ever had to herself was when she was in the shower, and she would run her hands over her slick soapy body, touching and teasing herself into a hot mess under the cascading water, hearing his voice in her mind, cooing to her in their native language, wanting so badly that he would touch her to relieve the ache she kept for him in between her legs, but knowing it would never happen.

They became hyper aware of each other, as if they each had a special aura that only the other could sense. Sometimes they both would lie awake at night, waiting for their respective roommates to fall asleep, waiting to see if one or the other would get up and go downstairs, maybe chance a rendezvous in the laundry room or in Miroku's gamer dungeon… This never happened, and though they neither one voiced their desires, this is something they both wanted desperately to happen.

The seasons sped past. It was winter, and the Kobayashi family had decorated the house for Christmas, something they celebrated not for religious reasons, but because it was fun in a commercial way. The kids put up a tree and made origami ornaments, Sango and her friend, Kagome, hung lights outside on the bushes while Miroku and InuYasha, his best friend and Kagome's husband strung them on the house. Rin had come outside bringing them fresh hot chocolate, and smiled big at Miroku as she called him down, "Come on down while it's hot!"

"Hey, ain't you supposed to be speakin' English, kiddo?" InuYasha yelled.

Rin's eyes flashed wide, thankful she didn't exclaim something else to her guardian, something involving how sweet chocolate was, like him. She blushed as she waited impatiently for the men to come claim their steaming mugs of cocoa so she could run inside and hide her furious blush.
"What are you doin' baka? You know if that lady heard her speakin Jap she'd yank her out of here."

"If you don't tell her, that lady will never know," Miroku said as he shimmied back up the ladder. InuYasha joined him on the roof a moment later, full of questions.

"Man I tell ya, she has got one fine little ass."

"Don't I know it… She's dangerous for me, friend. Dangerous indeed."

"Does she know?"

"Who?"

"Sango. Does she know how you feel about Rin?"

"I dunno. I hope not. But the longer Rin stays, the more I want her."

"Has Rin said anything to you about how she feels? 'Cause man, I get the feeling that this is something mutual."

Miroku stopped unwinding his string of lights for a moment, making little puffs in the cold air with every breath. "You think so?"

"Are you fuckin' blind? She turned fifty shades of red when I spoke to her, You must speak to each other in Jap a lot, don't you. You could say anything at all to her and Sango would never ever know… And you've not said anything out of color to her yet have ya?"

Miroku shook his head. "I don't know man. I've been faithful to Sango now for almost ten years. I don't need something like this to happen again. Not after I almost lost her forever."

"See, you're lookin' at this all wrong." InuYasha got back to covering the chimney in electric sprinkles of multicolored lights. "Me and Kikyo keep everything on the downlow. When she's in town, we hook up, when she's not, it's no big deal because I still got Kags to bust a nut in. Your little girl from the land of the rising sun will be leaving in the summer. She won't be a distraction to you forever. But, to let something that fuckin' hot just pass you by, when you know damn well you could keep it a secret from Sango… It's retarded. I'd have fucked her on the way home from the airport, woulda stopped right there in the breakdown lane and showed her right away who's boss."

Miroku laughed. "Whatever, you dirty little horn-dog. Let's just get these damn lights done so we can go in and get warm."

"I'll say, lets go crawl in her bed and get her to warm us up." The look on InuYasha's face was hysterical, a devious smirk and lusty eyes.

"I don't share well, InuYasha. Go get your own exchange student!"

"Keh, my luck I'd get a fat Italian boy."

They both laughed at that and finished up, climbed down the ladder and admired their work as the sun went down. The kids came out and oohed and awed, then the boys started chasing each other around the yard. Izumi left for her date and Rin simply stood with her arms drawn inside her sweater, shaking but enjoying the fun company. Eventually she left to go back inside, a cute little sneeze escaping her just as she hit the door. Kagome and Sango were suddenly overcome with Christmas spirit, and they each asked their husbands for some money to go shopping with.

"Miroku, this is the perfect time! I'll take the boys and we'll go fuck around for a while down at the ice rink. Make me proud buddy!"

"Hey mister, you know I don't like it when you do that!" Kagome squawked as she put her hands on her hips.

"I was telling him what I got you for your present! I couldn't just outright tell you what it was could I?" InuYasha smiled as he kissed her rosy cheek. "Leave enough to pay the rent with," he said as he handed her a charge card. With that Sango and Kagome left in Miroku's powder blue hatch back. InuYasha winked as he yelled at the boys, "Hey, whoever can outskate me gets twenty dollars!" Miroku's sons stopped running aimlessly about the yard and gathered around InuYasha. "Don't forget though, I was the fastest player on my high school hockey team, I don't think you'll be able to beat me."

"Aww I know I can!" boasted the second son. "I'm the fastest on my team old man!"

"Come on, let's put it to the test brat! Everybody in the car!" InuYasha clicked the button on his keys to unlock the doors. He turned and winked at Miroku. "I expect a detailed report."

"Come on Dad! Wanna watch me whip InuYasha's butt?" his son cried before he shut the car door.

"No son, I've got a raid tonight, and I think Rin might be getting sick. I don't want to leave her here alone."

"Don't worry," InuYasha called. "I'll text you with a pic of me leaving him in my icy wake!" And with that, InuYasha pulled away from the house, leaving Miroku and Rin alone at long last.