An Unlikely Pair

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters. (sob)

OtakuGirlEmi: Hello everyone! I'm finally writing my second fanfiction, YAY! It's about the series Inuyasha (obviously) and it's a romance story about Sesshomaru and Rin. Maybe they're an odd couple, but I think they would be great together! It takes place 10 years after they meet, so Rin is now 18, and Sesshomaru is very confused as his feelings toward her begin to change. I'm not sure why I decided to do a S/R fic, because usually I'm strongly Inu/Kag and Sango/Miroku. But the thought just occurred to me when I was watching my Inuyasha anime DVDs (for the millionth time). I'll update as often as I can, but with writing Decisions, Decisions (my other fic) I can't promise exactly how often. So I hope you enjoy it and have fun reading! Arigato, Emi!

Chapter 1: Shopping for an Answer

"Lord Sesshomaru!"

The white-haired dog demon turned around as a familiar voice called his name.

"My Lord, look at this!" The teenage girl who the voice belonged to ran up to him and pointed to the kimono that she was wearing. She was grinning ear to ear and gave a little spin to show off the red kimono with purple butterflies on it. "I got this one! Isn't it pretty?" She tilted her head to look into his gold eyes, waiting for an answer.

Sesshomaru looked down at the girl, taking in the kimono and her extravagant smile. "Yes, Rin, that is suitable."

Rin was no longer a little girl, but, at the age of 18, she had changed very little on the inside and still processed the child-like innocence that she had had since the day she had met him. On the outside, however, Rin had changed a lot. She was only a few inches shorter than Sesshomaru and she had grown into a lady. The new kimono showed off her long legs, toned from all the walking she had done traveling with him. Her newly mature chest was also more noticeable. Her skin was tanned from living outside and her brown hair hung down to her waist, loose and free. Even though she didn't realize it, Rin was beautiful.

As Sesshomaru looked her kimono over, he noticed this. Lately, it seemed that he had started to notice more and more things about his female traveling companion.

"Yay!" cried Rin, throwing her arms in the air, oblivious to the strange looks she was receiving from onlookers. She turned to an approaching green demon and said, "Lord Jaken, Lord Sesshomaru likes it!"

"I don't really care, Rin. And I highly doubt that Lord Sesshomaru does either." Replied the short minion named Jaken. He waved his hand dismissively and said, "Why don't you go look at some other shop until we are ready to leave? And stay out of Lord Sesshomaru's way! Your frivolous frolicking is quite tiresome."

"Oh, okay Lord Jaken." She said, her smile fading slightly. Rin made a move to leave, but turned to face the dog demon again. "Thank you so much, Lord Sesshomaru! You are so amazing and kind!"

Sesshomaru felt a warm sensation spread through his insides. She was smiling that warm, beautiful, genuine smile directly at him. Him, Sesshomaru, the deadly, cold, heartless, human-hater, who didn't deserve her warm and happy company. He suddenly felt terrible and low and unworthy. He wanted to crawl under a rock; he shouldn't be stealing this innocent girl's happiness. It should be directed at someone else.

But why am I thinking such stupid things, he asked himself as he shook his head slightly. It's only Rin; I've known her for 10 years now, why am I suddenly thinking all these things? "Don't be ridiculous, Rin. Your old kimono was simply too small."

Rin continued to smile and walked off, in search of an interesting shop.

What is happening to me? The confused youkai asked himself as he watched her go.

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"Well, that was a fun trip!" Rin said as she sighed happily and looked at her new kimono and basket of food. "Thanks again Lord Sesshomaru! It was so wonderful of you to do this."

Sesshomaru felt the odd warm sensation again. He tried to ignore it.

Rin continued, "I am so hungry though! And there was so much good food at the market, my mouth was watering! And then, after I bought the food, I wanted to eat it right there. I can't wait to get back to camp and eat!" she smiled and hugged her basket overflowing with food to her chest. "What about you Jaken?"

"Ha, I can go weeks without food! You puny humans can only go a couple hours and you're hungry again." Jaken boasted from the reins of the flying beast they sat on.

Rin smiled evilly and pulled out a small cake. "Well, then I guess this wonderful, warm, moist, chocolate cake will go to waste." She teasingly put the cake near her mouth and said, "Mmmmmm….it smells so good. Too bad you don't want it Jaken, I did buy it especially for you." Rin sighed mock-sadly.

Jaken glanced back at the girl. His eyes looked at the cake greedily and his mouth was watering. "Umm, Rin, you know that I was just kidding, I'm actually very hungry." Rin pretended not to hear the green demon and proceeded to bring the cake closer to her mouth. "AAAHH! DO NOT EAT IT! I BEG OF YOU!" Jaken cried, giving in.

Rin giggled and handed the cake to him, another one of her glowing smiles on her face. Jaken took the dessert and crammed the whole thing in his mouth while he glared at Rin as if he thought she was going to take it from him. Rin laughed so hard that she had to wipe her teary eyes with her sleeve.

When she stopped laughing, Rin turned to look at Sesshomaru. "Oh, Lord Sesshomaru, I also bought something for you." She rummaged through the basket and smiled in satisfaction as she found what she was searching for. "I know you really don't like shopping or human trinkets, but I thought this was adorable and maybe just this once, you would accept it." She opened her hand to reveal a small wood carving about 3 inches long. It was a carving of a white dog. The little figure appeared to be howling at the sky while it stared at it longingly with gold eyes. Perched on its shoulder was a tiny purple butterfly.

Rin held the figure out to Sesshomaru, a hopeful look in her eyes. When he reached out his hand, she flinched slightly as if she was afraid that he would slap it away. For a split second, their skin met and Sesshomaru felt as though he had been electrocuted. His stomach seemed to leap around as he took the carving gingerly into his clawed hand. "Thank you Rin. I accept it, and I shall always carry it with me." He said softly as he deposited the wooden dog into a pouch inside his shirt, fighting the heat that was rising to his face.

Sesshomaru slowly reached out his arm and patted her on the head gently. Rin smiled shyly. When she didn't draw back or flinch, he moved his hand and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. Am I seeing things? Sesshomaru wondered as Rin quickly averted her eyes to the ground and he drew his hand back. (Equally as quickly) I could have sworn I saw Rin blush.

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"…and that was how Lord Sesshomaru vanquished the formidable Salamander demon." Jaken finished and bowed. Rin sat there and applauded wildly. Retelling stories about Lord Sesshomaru's accomplishments was a regular ritual around the campfire at night, despite the fact that all of the stories had been retold more than 10 times. Rin loved this tradition, even though she was almost an adult.

"Well, I'm going to go fetch some more firewood." Jaken informed Sesshomaru and Rin as he walked off into the woods.

Rin stood up and began to pack the extra food into her basket. When she was done she plopped down by the fire and wiped imaginary sweat off her forehead.

Sesshomaru, who had been gazing into the fire wrapped up in his own thoughts during the story, looked up at the girl and asked "Rin, must you be so dramatic?"

Rin looked up at Sesshomaru sheepishly. She didn't reply, but shifted her eyes to the ground in apology. Sesshomaru allowed a small smile to cross his face as she looked up at him.

They sat there in silence for a few minutes as they both gazed into the fire.

Rin broke the silence. "Lord Sesshomaru," she asked. Sesshomaru looked over at her, confirming that he heard her. "Can I ask you a question?" Sesshomaru nodded and Rin continued. "What's a "kiss"?"

Sesshomaru choked on his own spit, but managed to disguise it as a cough. Why would she be asking such a thing? He wondered as he panicked.

Rin seemed to read his mind. "I was just wondering, because today at the market I heard some girls giggling and talking about "kissing" someone. So I was curious." She smiled and waited for an answer.

Sesshomaru had no idea how to respond. But she wants an answer, and if I tell her, she'll probably forget about it, he figured. But his tongue seemed too big for his mouth and it was hard to reply. "Well, Rin, a kiss is…umm…A kiss is- I don't know how to explain this-" he broke off, shaking his head slightly and looking at the ground, while trying to act normal.

But Rin wouldn't be put down that easily and she piped up loudly. "If you can't explain it, you can show me!"

Sesshomaru was taken aback; she wanted him to kiss her! He considered it silently. It wouldn't mean anything, of course. She wouldn't care and she genuinely wants to know what it is. She's not like other humans, she wouldn't act ridiculous afterwards. And I'm sure she'll forget about it and drop the subject if I showed her.

"I suppose I could. I have never done it before, but I have seen humans perform it." He stood up and walked over to her, and then sat down. This was the last chance he had to back out. But, strangely and suddenly, he found himself wanting to kiss her; wanting to feel her lips on his.

"Well, first you have to close your eyes." Rin did as she was told and sat there, waiting. "And then you just…" Sesshomaru trailed off as he pressed his lips to hers.

Once again, he felt as if he was being electrocuted. Her lips were soft and gentle and seemed to embrace his. He wanted to stay this way, he wanted to hold her and kiss her until he couldn't breathe. But he was quickly brought to his senses as Rin squeaked in surprise.

He broke away, trying to hide his ragged and quick breathing. Rin was blushing crimson (though she didn't know why) and was also trying to catch her breath. How long had he kissed her to make her gasp for breath like that?

He stood up and said briskly, "That's it…a stupid human ritual, really…" As he turned to go, he saw Rin gently press her hand to her lips, looking bewildered and happy. He felt like doing the same thing. His lips tingled and it felt hard to talk or concentrate on anything else but the memory of the overwhelming happiness and satisfaction that had filled him at that moment. "I'm going to go fetch firewood with Jaken."

Rin sat there, dazed and confused, as her master walked off. Rin, he thought to himself, you cannot possibly be as confused as I am. When we went shopping at the market, I should have been shopping for an answer.

Do I love Rin?

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OtakuGirlEmi: That's the end of chapter 1! I hope you liked it. I wasn't sure if I described the kiss right. (Since I've never had one) Anyway please review! I would love to hear any comments, questions, or ideas for the story. Thanks for reading! Emi