Innocent Beginnings

Innocent Beginnings
By: Maggz
Disclaimer: InuYasha and Co. © Rumiko Takahashi


Chapter 36: Good Things Come To Those Who Wait


A week - he'd said.


A week and he'd be back.


He'd be back to spend time with me in his new place. I couldn't help but hug myself in delight every single time I thought of his penthouse! It was absolutely breathtaking! Every time I thought of him and the way he'd smiled so proudly, showing it off to me with such excitement - it nearly made me want to cry! I WAS proud and only wanted the absolute best for him.


The week he left for Mexico was a busy one for me as far as school went. I had midterms to study for early in the week and the actual tests to take the latter part. I hooked Kohaku into helping me study two of those nights, cooking dinner for him as payment for his help.


He hadn't really asked me any questions concerning Sesshomaru's visit to his place the night he'd picked me up and taken me home. He only commented that he'd read my note when he'd woken up a little after 3am and then casually asked me was everything OK between Sesshomaru and I. After I assured him that it was - he nodded, smiled at me and opened up his backpack to pull out the books and papers we needed to study from.


One night during that week, I met a few of my friends downtown for dinner - nothing fancy - just a burger at one of the older restaurants. We'd taken in an early movie, the four of us, and just simply decided to relax before our tests. We'd all put in our time studying, especially for our maths and we reckoned we all deserved a break. Kohaku was one of the main topics of conversation - being as he called me right before we were to go into the movie and wanted to know could I stop by an hour earlier than I'd planned the following evening for study. I'd said it would be no problem and had rang off, only to find three pairs of curious, amused eyes shining my way.


"Kohaku.", Hitomi nodded.


"If you must know... yes.", I said. "He's helping me study for geometry.", I said, stuffing my phone down into my purse.


"Damn, Rin. How did you luck out with HIM for a study partner?", Naomi giggled.


I sighed... was I going to have to go through THIS again???


"Reika and Ichi found Kohaku through the school as a tutor for me after I came to live with them - he came highly recommended. They interviewed him, hired him and there you have it.", I said, turning to stare at the movie posters hung on the walls outside the cinema.


"He's her boyfriend.", Hitomi whispered behind my back.


"He's HOT!", Mae sighed.


"HOTTER than HOT!", Hitomi giggled loudly.


"Are we going in to see the movie or what?", I asked, turning around to glare at them.


"Sure... unless you'd rather go spend time with Kohaku.", Hitomi teased, winking at the other two.


"Is that the problem, Hitomi? That you have a huge crush on Kohaku? Well - why don't I tell him that so you can just get over it already!? You're more than welcome to hire him on as YOUR tutor if you wish!", I said haughtily and turned on my heel to walk to the nearest ticket window.


Soon enough, they were all three in line behind me and when we walked up to give the attendant our ticket stubs, Hitomi grabbed my elbow, pulling me aside.


"Rin, I'm sorry. I guess I went too far.", she said.


"Yeah, you did. You know I don't like that.", I frowned.


"I know... it's just that... well, you seem so much older than the rest of us now. I mean, after the accident and all... things changed... and I...", she was stammering and yes, I knew exactly what she was trying to tell me because I went through the very same torment, even worse, when I was alone and questioning everything about myself and those around me.


"It's OK, Hitomi. I might have changed but you guys are still my friends, right?", I smiled.


"Always, Rin. You know that.", she grinned back, hugging me tight.


"Let's go watch the movie. I hear the guy playing the race car driver is a HUNK!", I giggled and grabbing her hand, ran to join the other two.


Times like this were what grounded me. I was simply Rin Matsumoto - sixteen year old niece to Ichi and Reika, cousin to Kikyo, friend of Hitomi, Naomi and Mae.


Part of me wanted to STAY in this safe, friendly, contained environment.


But the other part of me was straining to break free.


THAT part of me wanted to be with Kohaku - to have him as my very best friend - the friend that I could talk to about ANYTHING - to have him as my lover, to teach me how to touch and touch me in return with no pressure or guilt, to hear him whisper love words in my ear, to watch his eyes close as he kissed me endlessly.

the then there was Sesshomaru.


Sesshomaru - the tortured, confused bane of my existence. My fondest wish, my dream come true, my sweetheart, my soul mate.


The man who refused, I was positive, to give into his deeper feelings for me because of some skewed sense of priorities, moralities, and responsibilities. The man that I had to constantly bite my tongue over in order to keep from screaming out how I felt about him to the clouds just so he would halfway acknowledge me.


I was frustrated, angry, hurt, scared, excited, torn... I could be so very easily crushed...


Friday of that week I awoke to a horrible headache, the sound of thunder crashing right outside my bedroom window. Today was to be the last one for finals and I knew my headache was pretty much stress related. Kohaku had told me over and over that I had nothing to worry over - it was as if he could reach into my mind, at times, and pull out whatever was there. I begged to differ - THIS was my one shot at finishing school where I wanted, at the top of my class. THEN life would really begin for me, I was positive. Travel, parties, meeting people, coming in whenever and wherever I wished. I was going to take advantage of it all.


I dressed for school and grabbed a ride with Uncle Ichi on his way into work. Giving me a kiss on the cheek for luck, he dropped me off and early, I went inside and sat down in the hallway, opening my backpack and pulling out my text to study from one last time. It seemed I wasn't the only one who had gotten the idea to come in early, most likely on the pretense of getting it over quickly, for I was soon joined by a handful of students studying just as hard as I was.


By the time the first bell finished its peal, I was on my feet, headed into class. My mobile vibrated against my leg and smiling, I furtively pulled it from its hiding place to see a text message flashing at me from Kohaku.


b kool, gd lk, I luv u!, it read.


Slipping it quickly back into my pocket, I waited for the signal to begin the test and once given - I never looked back. After an intense hour of figures, I gave my paper another once over and standing, walked up to place it on my teacher's desk. Excusing me for the remainder of the day and wishing me a happy holiday, she smiled and wishing her the same, I took off as fast as my feet could carry me.


While I'd been busy with my finals, the rainstorm had disappeared to be replaced by watery sunshine. Lifting my face to capture the weak rays, I breathed in deeply and dug for my mobile to ring Kohaku. He picked up at once.


"So???", he laughed.


"So??? I think I did OK!", I giggled.


"Just OK? After all our hard work! C'mon! It's surely better than just OK!", he scolded.


"Alright. But if I'm jinxing this, it's all your fault!", I said, biting my lip. "I think I aced it!"


"Fantastic, BABY!", he screamed and squealing myself, I ran the entire way home.


Kohaku and I made plans to go out for the evening and with a happy heart, I bounced inside the house and informed my auntie that I had done quite good and was excited to, at last, be free for holidays. Begging her permission to celebrate for the evening with Kohaku, I ran up to my room to decide what to wear.


Tossing my book bag into a far corner of the room, I stripped out of my jeans and automatically hit the email download button on my computer before going back to survey the contents of my closet. I couldn't make up my mind between a pair of beautiful purple linen capris or my sexiest pair of jeans. Deciding on the jeans, I pulled them from their hanger and tossed them over to my bed, where they landed in a heap.


The bell signaling that my email had fully downloaded sounded and taking a last look at what blouses I could choose from, I walked over to see what was in my INBOX.


"Gossip...", I laughed and clicked on the first mail. Sitting down, I watched as the message came up and my heart began to pound.


...Sesshomaru back on the town with his very own dancing queen, Kagura, after a very short breakup we hear...


My hand trembling, I clicked on the next message and sat there dumbfounded as it revealed its secrets to me...


"…just WHO is it that claims NO significant other but always seems to show up with one particular brunette beauty on his arm???? Sesshomaru spotted at one of Mexico's finer nightclubs to dance the night away with the delicious Kagura who was none other than Naraku Onigumo's younger sister..."


My breath held now, I clicked on the final message and watched as a picture slowly downloaded bar by bar to divulge what I didn't want to believe. Someone had captured my Sesshomaru quite well - his amber eyes dancing merrily, his grin wide and full on, his arm thrown possessively around the waist of Kagura... his NOBODY.


"Bastard. Lying, cheating BASTARD!", I said through gritted teeth. "Beauty? Delicious? Who in the HELL writes this crap?"


Looking into his smiling eyes, I jammed the delete button down so hard the keyboard flew to the floor and giving it a swift kick for good measure, I started to cry.


"Lying... NOBODY? NOBODY? She's THERE! He took her WITH him! All the time he was lying to me! HATE... BASTARD!!", I spat, stomping around my room. My phone took that particular moment to interrupt my tirade and leaning down to pull it from my discarded jeans, I saw that it was Kohaku.


"Yes?", I huffed into the phone.


"Rin?", he asked, sounding bewildered. "Is that you?"


I heaved a sigh and walked over to my bed, throwing myself face down.


"Rin? You there?", Kohaku shouted.


"I'm here, Kohaku.", I said softly, flipping to my back and wiping my eyes.


"What's wrong?", he asked, picking up on my change of mood at once. I wasn't exactly trying to HIDE it!


"Nothing I can't get over, Kohaku. Promise me you'll kick my ass if I EVER decide to talk to that BACKSTABBING LYING SONOFABITCH again!", I said lowly.


"Uh oh! Should I ask what Doggy's done now? Or do you just want to drop it?", he asked.


"I'll tell you later. Are you still coming to pick me up? I meant to call you back and tell you that Reika gave me her permission to go oonigonight."


"Awww, that's no problem. Yeah, I'll be there in about... two hours or so, that ok?", he asked.


"Perfect. I'll be ready.", I answered.


Getting up off the bed, I looked around my room and decided right then and there that I wasn't going to allow Sesshomaru to mess up this night for me. I'd accomplished something that a year ago had seemed impossible to me. I'd pretty much assured myself of the future I so wanted and I had a wonderful, sweet, gorgeous best friend to share my successes with.


As far as I was concerned, Sesshomaru could go fuck himself - it had to be better than doing HER!


Kohaku was right on time, just as he'd said he would be and as I was sitting on the front steps waiting for him, I called out a goodbye to my family and ran to jump into the car.


"Damn! That didn't take long! You usually keep me waiting at least a good five minutes so I have to honk the horn at least twice!", he laughed.


"Which, by the way...", I started to tell him about Uncle Ichi's feelings concerning his blaring car horn.


"I know. It's not gentlemanly, is it?", he grinned. "You know, I just plain damned forget! I'm sorry! I'll try to do better next time, ok?", he offered, brown eyes glittering.


"Ok, I'll believe it when I see it.", I said, biting the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing out loud. He would forget again and we both knew it! Kohaku was just... Kohaku!


"So, you want to tell me about Sesshomaru?", he asked, digging for his smokes.


"Other than that he's a complete JERK and that I hate him?", I hissed.


"Uh oh. I mean, I thought it was bad but this must be beyond that!", he said.


"You can say that again! He's a liar, Kohaku. When all is said and done, he's nothing but a liar and if I didn't love him so much, I swear to the heavens above that I'd just tell him to go lose himself somewhere!", I fumed.


"But you DO love him and that's why you get so mad!", Kohaku said carefully, dragging on his cigarette as he narrowed his eyes at me. "You know I told you this before but I'm gonna say it again... YOU and HARA are two of the most stubborn people I know. When you two finally DO decide to become a compatible team, I'm gonna be there to see the explosion go off because as much as you're both attracted to each other, you seem to grate on each other just as strongly. Damn, I don't envy it at all!", he laughed.


"You're very funny, Kohaku. I'm sooooooooo happy you don't envy it!", I snapped.


"What I meant was... well... you and me, we got something different, Rin. It's softer and more easy going. Yeah, we got our own little sparks but you and the DOG... damn! It ain't sparks, it's a raging inferno!", he chuckled, pleased with himself for the analogy.


"Fuck off.", I snarled and grabbed a cigarette from his pack. Taking his from his fingers, I touched it to the tip of mine, lighting it and drawing a deep breath.


"Sesshomaru knows you smoke, Rin?", Kohaku asked. I opened my eyes and stared at him, wondering why he was so intent on baiting me about Sesshomaru tonight. Was he jealous? Had I opened my mouth maybe TOO much regarding Sesshomaru and myself? Did I expect him to understand more than he really could?


"No.", I simply stated and took another deep drag as if to drive my point home. "He doesn't know and you won't tell him.", I said.


"Damn, Rin...", he frowned, shaking his head in wonderment. "What else do you hide from him? IS that why he thinks you're such an unspoiled little princess?", he asked.


"What's your problem with me tonight, Kohaku?", I asked.


"ME? I don't have a fucking problem? Maybe YOU do!", he shot back, his good humor temporarily forgotten.


"Yeah, I've got a major problem and he's over in Mexico screwing the shit out of this slut he claims is a nobody in his life, Kohaku. HE stood right there in front of me, looked me in the eye and said she was a fucking nobody! Then he took me to the most beautiful penthouse apartment I've ever laid eyes on and said that it was for US to share. Do you know what the worst of it is? Do you? I BELIEVED him when he said it! Yeah, I let the walls come down, I let him come back in once again and promise me the world, and then he just ripped me to pieces like he does time and again! He doesn't even have enough BALLS to call me or tell me that he's seeing her again, that she followed him to Mexico to spend the week there. NOOOOO!!! I see it on the net! I read it in the trash magazines! THAT'S how I know that the love of my life is being honest, straight forward and loyal to me! Yeah, I've got a huge problem but NO MORE!", I sobbed.


I hadn't even noticed that he'd stopped the car, pulling it onto the side of the highway. I didn't even realize I was screaming at him until a deafening silence echoed throughout the car. I didn't know I was crying until he leaned across the console and pulled me halfway over it, hugging me to his chest as he whispered endearments into my ear.


"What's so wrong with me that he can't SEE me like YOU do!?", I wailed, clutching fistfuls of his shirt as I looked up at him.


"Rin, listen to me. This is hard as hell to say because you know how I feel about you -", he started before I interrupted him.


"Ah, GOD! SEE? Do you realize how fucking STUPID I am? I'm sorry!", I cried, moving out of his arms.


"No, listen to me!", he argued, grabbing my arm and pulling me back toward him. "You just listen to me."


I sat there, holding my breath, eyes on Kohaku as he bit his lip and tried to find the words he needed to say.


"The problem with Sesshomaru is that he DOES see you as you want him to see you. But he's put so much fucking SHIT in FRONT of all that, that it now makes no sense, Rin. NONE of it makes sense to him. He's crazy for you. This thing that he's going through with that Kagura it's all just a fucking cover... a cover for HIM, a cover for YOU... something to make him think he can get over you but you know what? He can't and he won't. The only way he'll ever get over this is to just fucking accept it and go on. There are ways to get around his hang-up over your age. You're not THAT much younger than me... I mean, him!", he said.


"You really believe he loves me? Really?", I asked.


"Before God.", he insisted, raising a palm as if to pledge it.


"How did you get so damned smart, Asada?", I sniffed, smiling up at him.


"I read a lot of Cosmo.", he nodded sagely before he winked at me.


"Oh, Kohaku...", I sighed, laying my head back against the seat and closing my eyes.


"Why the big sigh?", he asked.


"I'm tired of being sixteen...", I said, opening my eyes to look at him.


"Just wait `til you're twenty, Rin. You'll wish you were sixteen again.", he said.


"Not a chance. I'll bet you on that one!", I said firmly.


"I just BET you would!", he laughed, starting the car and pulling back onto the highway.


He took me to a nice place that served the best Londonil Iil I'd ever put into my mouth. We had champagne and he even ordered caviar for me - though he wouldn't dare touch it for himself. I had laughed at how we were dressed once we pulled up in front of the place but once inside, I could see why Kohaku had told me that everything would be just fine. The clientele was a mix of fancy dress folks along with the jeans and t-shirts crowd we were used to and somehow it all seemed to fit just perfectly.


We took our time with dinner, he even asked me to dance, and once we'd had our fill of hot fudge sundaes - dripping with chocolate fudge sauce and covered in whipped cream and nuts - he took me home.


"Rin.", Kohaku sighed softly as soon as he pulled in front of my house. I turned to him, smiling. I'd had a good time once I'd blown off my frustrations about Sesshomaru and I hoped he had as well.


"I had a good time, Kohaku. I really did. Thank you for everything you've done for me... You know, all of it.", I said, blushing from my head to my toes. "I mean, studying and all that..."


"I know what you mean, Rin! And you're very welcome. I'm just so proud that things are looking up for you.", he said, reaching for my hand.


"Most things...", I murmured softly.


"All good things come to those who wait. If it was meant to be, it will be...", he grinned.


"More Cosmo?", I laughed, tugging on his fingers.


"Nope. Some damned book of quotes I had to read for my Lit class last year. They stick in your brain at the worst of times, you know?", he laughed back.


"I adore you.", I said, getting to my knees in the seat so I could lean toward him. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pressed myself to him and kissed him full on, putting my entire heart into it. A soft moan escaped his mouth as his hands slid from my waist upward. I sighed happily, he could always lead me into temptation... or was it ME leading him? Sometimes it was hard to tell...


"I worship YOU!", he whispered against my mouth before gently sucking on my tongue.


"Don't do that...", I murmured, my fingers playing with the soft hairs against the nape of his neck.


"Don't do what? Worship you or suck?", he laughed, pulling away from me.


I sank slowly to my bottom in the seat and held his hands to my face, unable to look fully into his eyes. Wasn't his love what I wanted? Well, then what about Sesshomaru? Was I finished with him or was I just waiting for him to open those incredible amber eyes and notice me for once in his life as the woman I'd become? What was fair? What was right? Who was right?


"Rin?", Kohaku whispered, pulling one hand free so he could tuck my hair behind my ear. "What's wrong?"


"I'm not sure.", I answered, tears stinging my eyes. Hateful, cursed, weak tears!! Somehow I could never contain or control them!


"I'm not asking you for anything other than what we've got between us right now, Rin. I know where your heart lies and I always have. I know!!", he insisted, cupping my chin in the palm of his hand.


I looked into his eyes and saw sincerity gleaming from within their brown depths and shook my head...


"You're more than I ever deserved but what would I ever do without you? I love you, Kohaku.", I said, just as I'd said many times before and I meant it each and every time from the very bottom of my heart.


"I know you do...", he said softly and leaned across the console to place a soft, sweet, innocent kiss against my waiting mouth.