Green Shoes

Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, does not belong to me.

.Paizley.

"Augh," Rin moaned, gripping her head from the information overload. "I can't do this anymore," she muttered, flinging herself onto her twin-sized bed. She shimmied under the covers before starring up at the vaulted ceiling. She threw her arm over her eyes, shielding them from the cheap fluorescent lights. She peered over to the clock next to her, those flashing neon blue lights nearly blinding her bleary eyes. It was twelve-thirty. She had started studying around noon; that meant she spent roughly 12 hours in that chair. "Augh." She needed sleep, and she needed it badly considering her history midterm was less than eight hours away.

She frowned at the tall Starbucks cup on her desk, almost as if it were smirking back at her, with that stupid, knowing look. So maybe it was a bad... ok, it was a completely stupid idea to down a venti espresso at eleven thirty at night, but she was desperate! History was not her subject, and she was cursing herself for even taking it in the first place. She should have taken a bird course. Oh how she cursed her academic advisor. Stupid lady. History was so not easy.

She shifted in her bed, ok... so maybe it wasn't entirely her academic advisor's fault. She could have dropped that horrid course months ago, but that meant not seeing him every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Him. She sighed, gosh, he was just so handsome. He had dreamy honey eyes, an impeccable taste of clothes, a lean, athletic build, aristocratic features, and long, silver hair; yet he scowled much too often for someone so pretty. He was definitely the silent, brooding type. Usually, he sat in the back of the classroom, next to a guy who she assumed was his friend. Maybe that was why she wasn't doing so well, she mused, her lips curling at the thought; she spent the class daydreaming of him instead on paying attention.

"Aughhh," she buried her face in her pillow, feeling restless, feeling antsy. She needed to get rid of this pent up energy. She lay still for a moment, thinking. Maybe she should go for a run! Yeah! She jumped to change, before faltering. Right. It was late at night. Going for a run wasn't the brightest idea. She sighed, sitting back into her seat.

She glared at her textbook, The History of Japan, tempted to throw it out her dorm window. "Stupid history," she muttered, taking a marker from her pencil holder to draw a mustache on the samurai on the cover. Immediately though, she felt regret, licking her finger before she rubbed it off. "Sorry sir," she murmured apologetically, "I shouldn't take it out on you."

"Oi!" A male voice came from behind the door, "Are you finally getting laid in there?"

Rin snorted, toying with the edges of the book, "No Jak. I'm just... frustrated."

"Hm," a tall, lanky man strode in, his long black hair flowing with each step. He wore a pink tank top and green shorts, his eyelids painted with blue eye shadow. "Sexually?"

She turned bright red, "Oh my god!" she hissed, chucking a pen at his head. Kami, she should have never told him about her virginity. I mean, what twenty year old, living in a college dorm, was still a virgin! "No! History. History. My history midterm is tomorrow."

"Oh," he snorted, taking a seat on her bed, "Laammme. I thought you were finally getting interesting."

Rin pouted, "Hey. That hurts." She leaned back into her seat, propping her feet in his lap. "I can't sleep," she lamented, "And my midterm's eight hours away. I'm going to fail."

Jakotsu made a face, "Ouch. Yucky. Well, why can't you sleep?"

She shrugged, looking back woefully to her empty cup, "I drank too much coffee way too late at night."

"Oh," he leant back onto his elbows, contemplating for a moment, before sitting up. "Ah-ha! I've got a spectacular idea. Why don't you go to the gym!"

She blinked, "The gym," she repeated, almost as if the word was foreign to her.

"Yeah doofus, the gym." He poked her midsection, "It's like five seconds away, plus open twenty-four hours."

She frowned, "Really?" The school had a gym and she was just hearing about this now? "But, I don't have a membership!"

He rolled his eyes, "Yeah you do. Just show your school id and you'll be good to go."

"Oh..." she thought for a moment, "Whoa. Wait a second," she pointed at him accusingly, "You go to the gym?"

"Hey!" he held a hand to his heart, "I, unlike you, care for my health." He laughed at the look on her face, "Annndddd there may or may not be a gaggle of sweaty hotties there."

She giggled, "Well... ok. I guess I'll go. Thanks Jak!" She beamed, leaning down to give him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"No problem Rinny, and hey, maybe you'll finally meet someone there." He winked, waving his fingers as he left her room. She laughed, changing into a pair of black shorts, and a yellow tank top. She tied her hair back into a loose bun, before grabbing her id and an orange hoodie. "I'll be back in an hour or something," she called out, slipping into her white tennis shoes.

"Yeah, yeah. Go get sweaty," Jakotsu yelled back from the bathroom.

It took ten minutes for Rin to find the gym, walking through two tunnels before finding it. "Hi," she smiled at the girl at the front desk, "I'm here to go the gym."

The girl blinked back, looking up from her book, "Oh, sorry, ok, ID?"

She held out her id, thanking her as she scanned it and pushed through the door. She scrunched her nose at the smell permeating her senses, sweat, and incredibly harsh b.o. Gross. I guess some people don't yet know about the wonders of deodorant.

Surprisingly, there were several people there, though the majority were men, lifting weights. She shrugged, ok Rin, it's time to work out all that extra energy. You need to get to bed. She stepped onto the nearest treadmill, playing with a few buttons before it started to work. She began a nice light jog, looking up at the TV screens. Because it was late at night, there were only infomercials and news channels on. She sighed, man, how utterly dull, she should have brought her iPod.

Twenty minutes later, whilst red-faced and sweaty, a flash of silver caught her eye. It was him! Her breath hitched as he walked past her. He wore a fitted black, long-sleeved underarmour crew, black adidas training pants, that fit so well she could see how sinfully delicious his bum was, and to her surprise; bright green running shoes. She couldn't help but grin as she watched him walk to the chin-up bar, where he proceeded to do thirty-seven pull-ups (not that she was counting or anything). He crossed his ankles, and had a glint of determination in his eyes as he lifted himself with each tug. Oh kami, her mouth watered as his arm muscles rippled with every pull-up. She probably should have looked away, it was pretty obvious that she was watching him, but she just couldn't. She swallowed, slowing down the treadmill to a brisk walk; perhaps he was a demi-god sent here to torture her. Look away Rin, she warned herself, focus on the treadmill. Yeah, forget about him. You're here to workout, not stare at him like he's a piece of meat. She pouted the moment he left the chin-up bar, and walked behind a wall. She could hear the clinks and clanks of the machines, and she could only help but wonder what he was doing.

"Hm," she pressed stop, applauding herself for running off four hundred and thirteen calories in that twenty-something minute span. She wiped the sweat from her brow, jumping off the treadmill and sauntered over to the free weights area. And then, there he was, lifting a fifty-pound weight as if it were nothing. Geez girl, are you actually salivating? She lifted her hand to the side of her mouth, well, good. No. She looked around the room, the weight-machines all looked daunting, she wouldn't dare try any save for embarrassing herself.

"Hey pretty lady," a guy wearing an Ed Hardy shirt, with a tiger paw jumping out of the fabric, and grey shorts, sauntered up to her. His muscles were bulging, causing Rin to ponder whether or not he had taken steroids. "Can I help you?" he sent her a sleazy one-over, grinning as he leaned against a leg press.

"Uh," her gaze flitted back to the hottie-in-green-shoes. Abort Rin! Abort! He's really hot but so not worth talking to this meathead. "Er... actually, I'm just going to go back over there." She nearly ran back to the cardio room, laughing. So, she thought, jumping onto an elliptical machine; the man from her history class, and her dreams, came to the gym. She grinned, well, guess that means I'm going to be a regular here now.

For the two next weeks, Rin began to go the gym at one in the morning every, single day. It didn't matter if she had eight-thirty classes the same day. No. She went, determined to see him. He, however, much to her dismay, didn't come everyday. It seemed, from her two-week observation that he came only to the gym on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. Not that she was stalking him or anything. That'd just be plain creepy. Now, it was December, with only a week until her history final.

She let out a sigh as she closed the textbook, stretching out her arms to ease the strain in her back. "Seven hours," she muttered bitterly, sipping her water, "seven hours and I still don't know anything." She glanced at her watch, almost smiling as she noted the time. 12:50! Only ten minutes until he would be at the gym.

"Hey Jak," she whispered, tucking her books back into her bag, "I'm going to go to head down to the gym."

"Ah," he wiggled his eyebrows, "The gym." He smirked, scribbling down some notes onto his pad of paper, "Just go talk to him Rinny."

"I... what!" She hissed, blushing madly, "There's no he!"

"Sure there's not." He looked up dryly from his computer, his glasses slipping down his narrow nose, "Yes. There must be some other explanation as to why you go to the gym at one in the morning."

She rolled her eyes, thinking quickly on her feet, "It's because it's quieter then."

"I'm sure it is. Go forth Rin," he waved her off, "But he's in your history class right? So just ask him for help or something. A little, 'hello sir, I'm just a weak little girl, could you be so kind as to help me?'"

"I," she stuttered, how did he know? He raised a brow, causing Rin to blush even redder. Oh yeah, he had seen her doodles of him in her notebook. "Just... augh. Goodbye Jak."

He grinned, changing the slide of his PowerPoint, "Have yourself a great, sexy night."

She muttered to herself as she stalked off to the gym, walking through the maze of desks in the library. "Stupid Jak. Stupid know-it-all. Thinks he knows everything." Augh. It seemed that though it was the middle of the night, all tables were occupied. "Sorry," she whispered as she brushed against the back of some guy's chair. He gave a noncommittal grunt, pulling in his seat. She ran eagerly to the front doors, pushing out to breathe in the scent of fresh air.

"Mm," she moaned, tucking her hands into her jacket pocket. She loved winter; the crisp taste of the air was invigorating. That, or maybe the fact that she would be seeing him in less than three minutes added a bounce to her step.

"Hi!" She stuck out her id; this time a guy sat at the reception.

"Hey, working out eh?" He moved up from his slouched position in the leather seat, "Not many people in today," he replied, scanning her card.

Her smile faltered, not many people? Did that mean no history-hottie? "Oh." Would it be weird if she asked if a guy with silver hair had come in? Yeah. Probably. "Thanks," she sighed, pushing through the doors. The receptionist was right. There were maybe three other people in the gym, neither one of them him. Deflated, she turned her heel, only to catch a certain someone walk in. He wore a grey beanie, an expensive blue wool coat (she could see the iconic Burberry stripes peeking out of the lining) over a white sweater, black jeans, and cream-colored canvas oxfords.

Shit, she thought, tightening her hold on her bag, it's him! Ok Rin, talk to him. You can do it. I mean hell, why else did you bother dressing up today, to go the library?

He was walking closer, speak goddamn it Rin! "Hi!" Oh god, oh god, did she just squeak? She should just go jump off a cliff. Augh.

He raised a brow, looking down to see where that voice had come from. He smirked as his eyes landed on the petite girl in front of him; her. "Hi." His voice was smooth, sending tingles down her spine.

"Uhm," she swallowed, wow, she wasn't expecting a response! Oh god, oh god, talk woman! Haven't you had a conversation before? "It's... it's," she stuttered, trying to string along a coherent sentence, "It's getting kind of chilly outside, isn't it?"

His smirk grew wider, if that were even possible, pulling off his grey beanie, "Indeed it is."

She was finding it harder to speak; it seemed the moment he came into near proximity, her brain shutdown. "The gym."

He quirked a brow, amusement shining through amber eyes, "Yes. This is the gym."

"Oh my god," she brought her hands to her face, utterly mortified, "I'm so sorry." She bowed her head before she ran off to the changing rooms, berating herself the entire way. "Stupid, stupid, stupid Rin. The gym! The gym! What the hell woman! Augh," she slammed her bag into the locker, plopping onto the bench. "He must think I'm an idiot." She let out a deep breath, putting her head in between her knees, "I'm going to kill Jak." She should have never spoken to him! Never! She should have just admired him from a distance! God, why did his voice have to be so hot too! Augh, it just wasn't fair. Why couldn't he be more like David Beckham? Sure he looked damn sexy, but the moment he spoke, and that squeaky British voice came out, well, let's just say the attractiveness level went down.

After taking a moment to calm herself down, and for that incessant blush to leave her cheeks, she peaked outside the changing room; should she just go? No, no, she shook her head, that'd be like admitting defeat. She sighed, pulling on grey sweats and a pink tank top. She stuck in her headphones, averting her gaze from the free-weights room by pretending to be entrapped by her textbook. There, she thought, making it successfully to the treadmills without seeing him. "Success," she muttered, glancing up from the textbook. She froze however, at the whirring sounds of the treadmills. The reason why she hadn't made eye-contact with history-hottie-in-green-shoes on the way over here was because he was on the treadmill!

"Shit," her eyes grew wide as she held the book tighter to her body, "Shit." She shuffled over to the StairMaster, forever thankful that he also had headphones in. Thankfully, the machine was behind the two rows of treadmills, which meant she was partially camouflaged from his view. Ten minutes later, he jumped off, and began his routine of pull-ups, then weights. She couldn't help but watch his pull-ups; this time, forty-two. She chewed the corner of her lip, finding it harder and harder to breath. "Why does he have to be so attractive?" she muttered, angrily turning a page of her book. Augh, she ripped the page. Guess that means I can't return it now. Stupid boy. Stupid hot boy. Stupid hot boy with a sexy voice. Augh. "Stop Rin." she muttered, tying her long hair up into a ponytail, "Think of something else." She looked down at her textbook, trying to concentrate on reading the first paragraph but it wasn't working.

"Forget it," she sighed, closing the book. She blasted the music on her iPod, taking her anger out on the stairs. An hour later she found herself utterly exhausted, and incredibly sweaty. "Attractive," she mumbled, blotting her face with paper towel from the dispenser. Gosh, she was parched. She looked around the room for the water fountain, cursing as she noted he was lifting dumbbells two feet away from it.

"Buck up Rin," she told herself, creeping past the guy in Ed Hardy, who seemed to live at the gym, to the fountain. To her ever-growing luck, he had stepped in front of the fountain, waiting for the girl ahead of him to finish filling up her water bottle. From her position behind him, she could hear the music blasting from his iPod. The Black Keys, she smiled, gosh, could this guy get even dreamier?

"After you," he had apparently spotted her behind him, stepping back to allow her access to the water first.

Her eyes shot up, mumbling a quick thanks as she leant down to take a quick sip. She bowed her head as she stood back up, "Uhm, thanks again."

He nodded his head, "You're in my history class." It was more of a statement than a question.

She blushed, he noticed her? "Uh," she lifted a hand to her face, "Yeah."

He smirked, "And you study at the gym?" He asked, pointing to her textbook, which she held haphazardly in her left hand.

"Huh?" She looked down, "Oh. Yeah," she blew out her bangs that were sticking to her forehead; oh why oh why was he talking to her when she was all sweaty and red and blotchy! "The exam's soon."

"Indeed it is." He leant down briefly to take a sip from the fountain, "Are you majoring in history?"

She let out a very unladylike snort, "No." She shook her head, laughing at the thought, "Not at all."

"No?" He tucked his hands into his pockets, intrigued, "Then what?"

She thought for a second, before tilting her head to the side, a twinkle in her eye, "Guess."

He raised a brow, "Very well." He knitted his brows, taking a minute to ponder all the possibilities, "Business Admin."

She giggled, "Not even close."

"Really? Alright," he took a step closer, "Science."

She licked her lips, starring up at him. Wow. He is tall. Or maybe she was just incredibly short. Oh right, she should probably answer. "Closer."

He took another step forward, "Chemistry?"

She shook her head, her cheeks flaming red. Really Rin, blushing because he said chemistry! Chemistry! What is wrong with you!

"Biology."

Oh, now that was better, "Ish."

"Ish," he repeated, "Care to elaborate?"

"Oh," she shrugged, "It's kinda lame."

He chuckled, "I'm sure it's not."

She scuffed her heel on the floor, looking up bashfully, "Botany."

"Botany." He raised his eyebrows, "Interesting field."

"Yeah," her eyes lit up as she spoke, "It's so awesome. Yesterday the plant that I'm working on for my honors project bloomed! It's a rare species of orchid found only in the Amazon! It was so awesome! And so pretty! I've been waiting for three months for it to bloom and it did and I was just so ecstatic! I'm manipulating their growing conditions to simulate climate change but..." she trailed off as she realized her spiel, "Sorry. I didn't mean to go off on a tangent."

He quirked his lips; "Don't be." He brushed a loose curl from her cheek, looking intently in her chocolate eyes, "You've been watching me."

Oh fucking god. He knew. HE KNEW! It was at times like this that she wished she could apparate. Kami, why oh why hadn't she gotten that damn owl when she turned eleven? "Um," she probably looked like a tomato at this point, "Um."

"You intrigue me," he murmured, stepping closer so there were just two inches separating them.

"Yo, you two going to make out or can I get some fucking water?"

Rin whipped her head around to see Mr. Ed Hardy tee glowering at them, "Sorry!" She replied meekly, running to the change room.

"What was that?" she asked herself, quickly changing back into her light pink over-sized tunic and leggings. She washed her face, splashing cold-water onto her face repeatedly to wake-up from this dream/nightmare. "Augh," she looked back at her pale face; at least it wasn't red anymore.

With a resounding sigh she lifted her bag into her shoulder, strolling hesitantly out of the gym. Thankfully, he was nowhere in sight. That was until she spotted him outside the gym, leaning nonchalantly against the brick wall. He was frowning, reading something on his phone.

"There you are," he looked up when he heard the doors open. He stuffed his phone into his pocket, "Are you going to make it a habit of running away from me?"

"I..." she was about to bolt when his hand wrapped around her arm.

"Stay," he commanded, in that oh so silky, oh so sexy, but oh so deadly voice of his.

"Ok," she muttered; well, considering her knees were in a current state of mush, she couldn't very well run away from him.

"Do you live on campus?" he asked, gently prying her textbook from her hands and tucked it under his arm.

She nodded, not trusting in her ability to speak at that moment.

"Very well," he took his hand off her, "I'll walk you to your dorm." He began to walk away, before glancing back, "Are you coming?"

"I..." she stared back at him, like a deer caught in headlights, "I don't even know your name."

His lips quirked, "Sesshomaru."

Sesshomaru. So the man of her dreams was named Sesshomaru. Geez, even his name was sexy. "Rin." She coughed to clear her throat, "My name is Rin."

"Rin," he walked back to where she stood rooted to the gravel, "Very well Rin," he purred, taking her hand, "To your dorm."

She tried to ignore the fact that her hand fit perfectly in his, or that there were billions of butterflies fluttering inside of her. She also tried to control her blushing, but that wasn't really working out too well. "So," she began, "how about you?"

"Hn?"

She dared to look over at him, noting how great he looked in his hat, "What are you majored in?"

"Architecture."

She gasped, "Wow." Even his major was sexy! "That's..." well, telling him that she thought architecture was incredibly sexy was probably not the greatest idea, "admirable."

He laughed, "Admirable. Interesting choice of words."

"Mm," she smiled, now skipping over the lines of the sidewalk, "I've always wanted to live in a place with exposed-brick. That and to own a mini-cooper." She giggled, "My two life goals." She cocked her head to the side, "So why architecture?"

He was silent for a moment, "I was good at drawing."

She laughed, "And I liked plants." She bit her lip, her gaze falling on their intertwined hands, "So, what year are you in?"

"My fourth and very last year. I finished my degree in civil engineering before taking architecture."

"Wow." So not only was he artistic, he was a genius too! "I can't help but feel quite insignificant in comparison."

He smirked, "I'm sure botany is no laughing matter." He looked up at the sky, where snowflakes were slowly dropping down. "Are you in your final year?"

"Yeah. I decided to do my honors by thesis," she made a face, "Not my smartest decision."

"Mmm, sounds academic."

She laughed, "Oh it is." She lifted her hand to point at the red brick building to their right, "This one's me."

"Very well," he walked her to the front door, "It would be highly inappropriate of me to kiss you now," he murmured, "considering we have yet to have a first date. Thusly," he lifted her right hand, pressing a soft, promising kiss on her wrist, "Tomorrow night. I will pick you up here at seven. I will take you out to dinner, we will walk downtown afterwards, you'll have a wonderful time, find me positively charming, and I'll kiss you," he lifted her chin, "Like this." He pressed his lips softly against hers, slowly plying hers, his tongue, so silky, so smooth. Oh Kami, he even kisses like a god. She moaned, her arms wrapping around his neck, "Sesshomaru," she whispered when they parted for breath. "I..."

He didn't let her finish, pressing a quick kiss on her lips. "I'll see you tomorrow night." He turned to leave, before pausing as she tugged his sleeve.

"Wait!" she exclaimed, her cheeks tainted pink, "By tomorrow night at seven, do you mean tomorrow as in Tuesday or tomorrow as in actually tonight, considering it's technically already Monday?"

He laughed, processing her spiel, "Tonight then." He kissed her warmed cheek, "Have a goodnight Rin."

She nodded, "Ok." She rocked on her feet, watching as he walked down the path. When she figured he was far enough away, she let out a huge squeal, "HOLY SHIT!" She giggled, twirling around the front doors. She cart wheeled, and ran to hug a tree, "Thank you Kami!" She squealed once more, jumping up to high-five the steel lamppost, before running into the building.

From his spot, a mere twelve meters from her dorm, a man in green running shoes, wearing a blue jacket over a grey hoodie and black workout pants, smiled. He tucked his hands into his pockets, delight shining through his honey-colored eyes; he was definitely looking forward to tonight.

... shall I continue?

xo

Paizley