Shuffle

Izumi walked to school that morning rather than taking the bus. She wanted time to have a cigarette or two or five before she got to school. Fucking little bitch, Rin… All polite and sweet when Daddy was around, then aloof and distant when he was gone. And Izumi knew Rin had been fucking the shit out of someone, and pretty regularly too. All the evidence she needed was how often the girl changed her panties. Two and sometimes three pairs at a time would be piled in the hamper. She figured it was the guy that kept bugging her in the halls at school, the star player of the basketball team, who Izumi wouldn't mind having a taste of herself. But no. The little bitch had found her father's weakness and exploited it. And Daddy was doing so well too…

Izumi remembered the last two girlfriends her Daddy had, but vaguely. The one called Rayza was memorable because of the pink streaks in her hair. Izumi remembered how she and Shinju had gotten off the school bus and found a strange car in the driveway. Then when they went in they saw Daddy hugging and kissing this girl like he kissed Momma. Daddy seemed embarrassed and practically shoved the woman out the door, growling that she wouldn't be back. And then a few years later, the same thing had happened, only this time Kichirou was coming off the bus with them and they found Daddy with another woman, but this time he didn't have a shirt on, and hers was half unbuttoned. Shinju had asked who this woman was and Miroku had told her she was a doctor. In reality, she was just another means to an end.

'Is Daddy sick?'

'You could say that Ju-Ju.'

'What's the Doctor's name?'

'Don't worry about that, the doctor was just leaving, right Namie?'

She shook her head. After that Daddy and Momma fought a lot. There was a lot of yelling and things getting broken as Momma threw things at Daddy. And then Izumi and Shinju and their three brothers went to stay with Aunt Kagome and Uncle InuYasha for a little while, like two weeks. When they came back, Momma and Daddy weren't fighting anymore, and they were always going to a therapist. After a while life got back to normal and only when Shinju and Izumi were fifteen did they finally learn the truth about their father, as he was the one who had given them the sex talk. He had told them what kind of hell he'd gone through with his own vices and to never be ashamed to ask for help. He wanted to spare them what he'd been through, knowing that sometimes these things were passed down through the genes.

Now he'd had a relapse of the MAJOR kind. Izumi wondered how long it'd been going on, wondered if her mother knew, wondered what Shinju would think. It was then she decided to email her sister. She had to tell someone. And she certainly wasn't going to confront Rin about it yet. At the moment Izumi was likely to tear the little foreign whore apart. She walked the last three blocks to school, stubbed out her mentholated smoke on a nearby tree before the guard in the student parking lot could see her, and strolled through the side entrance. She made her way to the library and sat down at a computer. She began to type furiously and loudly in the silent and empty space.

As she was cruising around her Facebook feed and checking on other various non-school related things, she kept checking her email account to see if Shinju had written her back. Finally, just as Izumi was getting ready to log off and go to homeroom, she saw the reply in her inbox and read hungrily:

Zu-Zu… I know ur not gonna like what I have to say, but sry u have to listen anyway. I have learned alot about Japanese men while I've been here (or at least 1 in particular) ALOT. And I don't know if its typical for ALL Japanese men, (Im sure its not) but it seems that Dads problem is more common than u know. Dad… Let's say I understand where hes coming from so much better now. I know u don't understand, and I know ur prolly PISSED at me now, but I say leave them alone. If they find comfort in eachother then let them be. Momma will be mad, but think about it, has she ever tried to help Dad with his problem really? Or did she just always try to sweep it under the rug? Think about that before u write me back. ~Ju-Ju

PS: I have something MAJOR important to tell you, but I need to call you. I will call you around 5 your time, I'll just be getting up for school. :D

"What!" Izumi said out loud as the first bell rang. She printed the email off and folded it up and stuffed it into her backpack. 'God-fucking-dammit,' she thought to herself as she hustled to her locker and jammed her coat inside, slamming the door with such force that the lock didn't even catch, causing her to turn around and shut it angrily again. People were staring at her. Izumi was always a calm and cheerful girl in the morning, today she was positively like Shinju, stomping around and pissed at something. As she flopped hard into her seat she thought, 'You better have something good to tell me Ju-Ju… Or I'm gonna whip Rin's ass, just for the hell of it.'

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Miroku met InuYasha and Kikyo for lunch at the Wendy's around the corner from his office. InuYasha had saved him the trouble of standing in the long ass line and bought him his usual: a number six, chili with cheese and onions and a Mr. Pibb. As Miroku sat slurping down his soft drink, Kikyo had pulled a wad of legal documents from her briefcase and spread them out on the table next to them, holding one up occasionally as she talked quickly.

"Bottom line is, if you can get Rin to find some way to prove how emotionally abused she was by her father then there is grounds to look into terminating his parental rights. They come to your house, do some interviews, see if your home is fit to take her in until she reaches eighteen, which it's likely she will turn eighteen before the interviews, meaning they could technically skip this step at that point. Now, as far as I can gather, she will be considered an adult in Japan at age twenty, but as long as child protective services and whoever else does the investigation can verify Rin's claims of abuse, her father's rights can be terminated and she will be entrusted into your care, Miroku." She smiled, "I'm sure you'll take great care of her."

InuYasha smirked as his friend nearly choked on his chili. "Yeah, real good care I'm sure." Miroku made a twirling gesture with his hand, 'get on with it', as he recovered from his chili-choke. Kikyo continued saying that once Rin's guardianship is changed, she will become a free and legal adult here, and because the family who will be taking her in are American citizens, she will automatically get the chance to take the citizenship exams.

"She takes the test and passes, she becomes a legal US citizen, and she is all yours, friend." InuYasha smiled over his Frosty. "Free and clear, yours for the taking. Now the only thing is, you have to find some way of keeping Sango behind you on this. I think you should tell Rin to open up to her, that way it gets some of the pressure off you."

"I only have one question…" Miroku looked up from his meal. "Will it show on her records when we go to get our marriage license that I adopted her?"

His companions froze. "Wait, you didn't say nothin' about marryin' her," InuYasha said with a wide eyed glare. "We're just tryin' to get her to be able to stay in the states legally."

Miroku returned his friend's hard stare. "And I'm telling you I plan to marry her. If I have to do it illegally than I will." He looked at Kikyo. "I know for a fact Sango will see right through all of this. I know she will not be pleased at all…" He looked into his lap, eyes closing as he took a deep breath. "So this morning I met with my lawyer. I filed for divorce." They both stared blankly back at him. "I… asked Rin to marry me last night, got her a ring and everything, got on one knee… With Sango, we were sitting in my Chevy at the drive-in, waiting for the movie to start when she told me she was pregnant. We didn't really have any plans to get married until then, we were just sort of dating. We eloped at the courthouse… and then she miscarried five weeks later. And then she miscarried again that following winter, and by then I felt like I couldn't leave her." Kikyo and InuYasha regarded him more softly now. Miroku's past was something he'd always kept guarded, but now, in this crowded little Wendy's in the middle of lunch rush, he was letting his guard slip.

"At some point having children became a goal for us, something to strive for so we could prove to God and whatever deity was fucking with us that we could do it. And then the twins finally came, and then it seemed like we had no trouble after that." He took a swig of his drink. "But through it all, I think we both were secretly wishing that we'd never entered into our marriage, that we should have split right after she lost the first baby. Don't get me wrong, I love all of my kids, and I would never give any of them up for anything in the world. After all, the only reason I went through all that therapy and counseling with Sango in the first place was because I didn't want to hurt them, my innocent babies.
"So I decided I'm going to do this the right way. I'm going to go ahead and start my divorce, at least get the legal separation rolling so I can get an apartment, that way Rin and I don't have to keep using your place for our 'fuck den'. And then if she ends up going back to Japan before the divorce is final, and she probably will because I expect Sango will contest it, I will go to Japan too. I'm going to march right up to her father and ask for her hand and if he doesn't give it to me… I dunno. He will simply have to let me have her," he looked at them both, "because I refuse to give her up." He looked down at his watch. "Shit, I'm gonna be late getting back." He stood and dumped his tray, got a refill on his soda and thanked InuYasha and Kikyo for taking time to meet with him, but to scrap the whole idea and let him tough it out with the divorce court first. Kikyo hugged him, InuYasha shook his hand, and Miroku walked back to his office, pulling his coat tight around him as the February wind cut through the smoggy downtown air, nearly slipping on the ice just outside the door.

"It's so tragic, Inu. So sad and tragic." Kikyo said as they walked out to her car. They piled in and she cranked the heat up. "He's gonna throw every thing he has away for her. If that's not love, I don't know what is."

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The phone rang at almost exactly 5:00 pm. Izumi picked it up instantly and snarled, "You better have some fuckin' good news or I'm strangling you through the phone."

"Christ, Zu-Zu, calm down!" her twin cried over the line. She said something in Japanese, the only thing Izumi could make out was she had told whoever it was "Thank you," and "I love you."

"Who's there with you?"

On the other side of the globe, Shinju's face went slack. She didn't know if she should tell Izumi her secret while she was so upset… Sesshomaru was asking how she liked her coffee. No doubt her sister had heard what she had said to him. "Uhhh, that's my… boyfriend." Fiancé was more like it. He'd all but demanded she stay in Japan and never leave him. He never mentioned marriage, but he'd implied it, and it was good enough for Shinju.

"So, is he the one that you learned all this stuff from regarding Daddy? Is he the one that has had one affair after another and then suddenly decides that fucking the exchange student is okay?"

"Actually…" Sesshomaru stood behind her, sat her coffee mug down on the table and kissed her neck, his bare chest touching against her bare back. He'd loved her awake only thirty minutes ago, his foreign exchange student's cries of passion rang through the penthouse suite in the pre-sawn hours.

"Shinju… Who is this dude you're seeing?" Izumi could not keep the suspicion from her voice. After all, they were identical twins and shared a bond like no other.

"He's the only man I see. And the only one I will see. Zu-Zu, I don't think I'm coming back. I'm going to stay in Japan."

"Ju-Ju, I swear to god… Please tell me you are not fucking Rin's father."

Silence.

"Have you lost your ever lovin' mind?"

"No. He treats me like a princess. And he's so goddamn hot. Zu-Zu… Long hair, snow white like Uncle InuYasha's, tattoos… a true hottie. They don't grow 'em like this in Kentucky."

"And that's why you don't mind that Daddy's fucking Rin. Even trade." Izumi screamed into her pillow and launched the phone at the wall, leaving a good sized dent in the drywall. She ran and picked it up. "Shinju, you fuckin' skank! I can't believe you! I've heard how Rin talks about him, hell as far as we knew you were staying with his assistant, not even staying in Rin's room like you were supposed to!"

"Yeah, well, that all changed when he had to pick me up from school after I twisted my knee in gym class. He brought me to his place, ordered me some food… we stated talking and one thing led to another… He's quite good with his hands."

"Filthy fuckin' whore…"

"Izumi, I'm not a whore!"

"The hell you aren't! He's supposed to be like your father while you are there! He's twice your fuckin' age you idiot! What in the hell has come over you?" She was screaming into the mouth piece. "HAS EVERYBODY LOST THEIR GODDAMNED MIND?"

Shinju could hear her sister crying and screaming even as she held the phone out away from her ear, Sesshomaru wincing at the ire in her twin's voice.

"Quite a temper on her… You are definitely the better of your pair."

"Actually, back home I was the one doing the screaming and yelling and she was the sweet one."

He crawled under the table and spread her knees apart, kissing up her inner thighs and teasing her while she was still on the phone. "See? Japan has been good to you already. Another reason for you to stay."

"What the fuck Ju-Ju?" Izumi sobbed. "What the fuck am I supposed to do without you? You're my only sister, my best friend and partner in crime! It's bad enough Daddy is balls deep in Rin, now Rin's father is balls deep in you? And when do you plan on telling Momma and Daddy you're not coming back? When they're standing at the airport waiting for your plane? Or are you going to greet Rin with a t-shirt that says 'New Step-mom' on it?"

"Let me talk to Dad." Shinju knew she had to talk to her father to get this all straightened out. He would know what to do and how to handle this volatile situation.

"Daddy ain't here, he's fuckin' Rin somewhere."

"You don't know that."

"Huh, just wait, she'll come in, change her panties and then hibernate in your bed until dinner, then in the middle of the night she'll sneak downstairs and Daddy will put her in bed again and do his best not to fuck her in front of me like he did last night."

"Fine, I'll call his cell phone then." She hung up on her sister. As soon as she slammed the phone down on the table Sesshomaru slipped his tongue up inside of her waiting body and caressed her silky pink pearl, tenderly bringing her to her third orgasm this morning. He wiped his chin with the back of his hand and pulled the chair out next to her.

"How's my daughter?" Not that he really had any interest in the girl, only that he knew the question was expected of him. When his wife died he lost all interest in anything that made him feel any emotion at all. Kagura's death had killed him, and he vowed to never allow that kind of hurt to move into his heart ever again. His small daughter was only three years old at the time, and from the day after the funeral on she was kept in day care centers, private boarding schools and such, separated from her father as much as possible. He wasn't close to his little girl. But this girl Shinju, she was sharp, brilliant in body and mind, quiet, observant, obedient… Yes, her obedience was what won him over. He had commanded her to disrobe and place herself in his bed and she did so without question. It was then he wanted to keep her here with him permanently.

"She's well, she's met someone."

"Hn. Your twin seemed quite upset."

"She is. She's not happy with me, not happy with Rin either."

Sesshomaru pulled one of the fresh croissants out of the basket on the table and bit into it, slurping some bitter black coffee down behind it. "She'll get over it."
Shinju sipped at her coffee and rubbed at her temple with the other hand. "I'm going to stay home today, I have to speak to my father. It's important."
"Fine. Be sure to get your make up assignments tomorrow. I'll be leaving in twenty minutes." He finished his breakfast and drank the last of his coffee, then went into the master bedroom to shower and dress. Shinju picked up the phone and called her father. It was time to let the cat out of the bag, on both sides of the globe.

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Miroku's phone buzzed in his pocket, his pants down around his thighs as he had Rin bent over the little breakfast table at InuYasha's Love Nest. He saw the number was a Japanese number, and he told Rin to be silent on penalty of death. He continued to pump into her as he flipped the phone open, "Uhhh, hello?"

"Dad, quit fuckin' Rin, we have to talk."

Miroku immediately closed the phone and dropped it, shock growing on his face. He lost his rhythm and slipped from his teenage fiancé, his erection completely gone, his balls completely blue as he was shut down moments before he blew his load inside of her.

"Holy shit." He sank to the stained linoleum floor.

Rin turned to look at him worriedly. "Baby, what's wrong?" She tried to ignore that she was completely unsatisfied, as it was clearly something to do with that phone call. Her lover would never leave either himself or her in such a state without a good reason. When he continued to stare at the wall with his eyes wide, she knelt down beside him. "Miroku?"

"How did she know?" he asked quietly.

"How did who know? Know what?" Her hand smoothed his loose hair from his face.

"Shinju… She said… she told me, 'Dad, quit fuckin' Rin, we need to talk.' How did she know?"

Rin's face went white. If Shinju knew, more than likely, her father knew. "You should call her back, it was obviously important. And besides, my father can't get here to kill us for another whole day at least. Please, call her."

He looked dazedly at the phone, trembled as he took it in his hand. He called the number back, flipping the speaker function on as his daughter answered.

"Shinju…"

"Dad. Izumi must have been telling the truth after all."

"Izumi…" he breathed.

"I know I'm on speaker phone, so hi Rin." Strangely enough, she sounded cheerful…

Rin's face turned red. "Hello, Shinju," she said quietly.

Sesshomaru's voice was heard in the background and got closer as he approached his little lover, speaking in Japanese, "Have you told him yet?"

"No, but if you wait a second I will. Say hi to Rin, she's with him."

"Hello Rin."

Rin did not speak.

"Tell me what Shinju? Have I not been humiliated enough today?" Miroku was crying.

"First of all, don't be upset. I'm not angry, and in fact, as I told Izumi last night, well, this morning for you, I understand a bit better about your uh, condition you told us you had. I have a new found respect for you Dad, and I am happy for you."

"What are you talking about, Shinju? Does this involve Rin in some way?" her lover asked her. Sesshomaru spoke perfect English, but did not choose to dirty his mouth with it very often.

"Shh, gimme a second, I'll get to you," she said with a smile. "I was going to call you and tell you and Momma together, but you two will have to do for now. I've met someone, and I don't think I'm going to be coming home."

"Shinju, please just spit it out, I can't take any more of this shit today."

She sighed audibly. "Fine. Hope you're sitting down. Mr. Taisho and I have been living together for the past month. We've become lovers, and if I'm not mistaken I believe he wants me to become his wife, and I've accepted."

Sesshomaru ripped the phone from her hand, saying, "Mr. Kobayashi, I'm sorry but you're not getting her back."

"I'm sorry Mr. Taisho, but you're not getting Rin back either."

Sesshomaru was silent, but not for long. "You wish to trade your daughter for my daughter?"

"Indeed."

"Rin, is this true?"

She jumped as he addressed her, his authority still intimidating to her despite the miles between them. "Yes father. He… has asked for my hand and I accepted."

"Aren't you already married Mr. Kobayashi?" His tone was serious.

"I filed for divorce this morning." He expected Shinju to gasp but she didn't.

"Hn. Congratulations Rin. I'll be in contact with you soon Mr. Kobayashi. We must end this ridiculous contract between us and the exchange office. I will have my lawyers take care of this."

Sesshomaru kissed Shinju goodbye as he turned for the door and handed the phone back to her. "I'll be back at quarter after six, be in the bed and be ready for me." He was far enough away that Miroku and Rin couldn't make out what it was that he had said, only that he'd said something to Shinju, then Shinju spoke again.

"Does Momma know about the divorce?"

"No… I'm sorry Ju-Ju, I never meant to hurt you or Zu-Zu or your brothers… But I can't help how I feel about Rin, she completes me in a way Momma can't."

"You don't have to explain it to me Dad, I've seen how much like Sesshomaru you are. I understand you now so much better, and I forgive you for all that had happened before." She poured herself some more coffee. "I don't blame Rin either, she was just being herself. After all, that's what happened here between me and Sesshomaru. I never led him on, I was just being myself. We clicked and we're together. It's as simple as that." Shinju didn't bother him much longer, only said that she would come and visit after the school year was over, but she would be returning to Japan after that. She told Rin to call and talk to her anytime if she needed a friend, and to not pay any attention to Izumi if she got violent. "Just pinch her real hard and she'll be out of your hair, she's always been a bit of a pussy when it comes to pain." They said their goodbyes and phones were hung up.

Miroku felt an odd relief slip over him as he tossed his phone onto the couch. One of his daughters was pitted against him and would probably lay into him and Rin when they got home, while his other daughter supported them both. The important thing was he had an ally, they had an ally, and by default Shinju did too.

Rin sat between his legs on the floor staring at the wall. "He wasn't mad. I can't believe he was alright with this." And then she looked at him with tears in her eyes. "See how quickly he threw me away? I told you he hated me." Miroku gathered her in his arms, shushed her as he cried uncontrollably, reassuring her that no matter what her father had done to her, that he would never turn her away from him like that, that he would love her and cherish her and protect her for as long as he was granted life on this planet.

"We're gonna make it Rin. It might take a little bit to cut through the drama that's going to come, but we're gonna make it." He gently ran his palm up her neck and held her face, leaned in for a kiss and then held her tightly to him, just holding her as they reveled in this moment of peace. A few moments later they decided to finish what they'd started before Shinju's call, and they completed their union in a fit of heated kisses and lustful excretions. They cleaned up and redressed themselves, straightening the little studio apartment from their afternoon romp. On their way out he stopped by the renter's office and asked how much it would cost for the apartment two doors down from InuYasha's. He took an application when the woman said only $375 a month, utilities included. He made triple that in a week at the firm. And the place in general held happy memories for both him and Rin. It would be a nice place to start. Rin's hand slipped into his and gave him a squeeze. As was becoming her usual thing, she gave him all the confidence he needed.