Disclaimer: Well, you all know it, but I still have to say, Inuyasha is not mine.

Chapter 16: JUST THE WAY YOU ARE.

And if what you are is a strange you,

Doesn't mean you should change you,

Only means you should change your point of view…

'There was something wrong, wasn't there?' – Jaken thought silently while his eyes were stealthily casting towards the little girl named Rin – 'She is extremely silent.'

Since Kagome's appearance, it slowly became a custom for Jaken to have meal together with his masters. Normally, he would find nothing wrong with that. However, today the atmosphere was a bit different. And difference, in this Sesshomaru's house, meant disaster, of course to Jaken only.

Things started with Rin's abnormality. First, she didn't say anything since walking out of her school, no telling stories, no cuddling, no singing, no chattering… and any kind of these oh-very-normal-things. And she just silently went to her room as soon as the car stopped at the front yard of their house. Now, when the three of them gathered to eat dinner, she was sitting there, languidly sucking her spoon, not really touching any of her food. Her face fell, her eyes half closed, looking down so that her eyelashes covering most of her orbs. Not a happy, or normal, for exact, expression, Jaken decided.

Sesshomaru gazed up from his dishes, studying his sister for a while, then put down his chopsticks, eyebrow raising:

"What is wrong?"

The little girl lifted up her head to look at Sesshomaru. Her expression crumbled and she breathed out a brittle sound:

"Brother…"

She took in a deep breath to prevent the tears that were threatening to fall down, hands dropping on the table edge:

"They don't like me."

"Who?" – a surprising question was blurted out. And Jaken, who had just made a slip of his tongue, threw Sesshomaru a nervous look. To his surprise, Sesshomaru just glanced at him through the corner of his eyes, then turned his gaze back at Rin, didn't really show any miff. That made Jaken gingerly moved his hand upwards to wipe the sweats that already damped his forehead, he sighed slackly and couldn't hide his bewilderment. Well, well… is it really true that the Sesshomaru Inutaisho doesn't get mad at him?

"They…" – Rin pinched her lips together – "… at the school… the kids in my class…"

'Apparently,' – Sesshomaru sighed lightly, thinking – '… I knew something like this would happen'

Looking at his disappointed sister, he twisted his eyebrows, saying firmly:

"Leave it to me"

Rin opened her eyes, pupils dilating, her voice sounded worry:

"What are… brother going to do?"

"You don't have to worry about that."

"But…" – Rin protested.

"I won't forgive anyone that makes you sad" – he said simply.

Shaking her head, she stood up, tears flooding out her eyes, her voice cracked:

"Brother… you don't understand anything"

With that, she turned around and dashed out of the room, leaving a scared Jaken, because of the sudden turn of situation, and an unpleasant Sesshomaru behind.

"So that is why…" – Kagome whispered understandingly after hearing Sesshomaru's mid-aged assistant's story.

After Sesshomaru's visit last night, Kagome was quite worry about the inexperience little girl, therefore, she decided to drop by early the next morning. Luckily it was Sunday, meaning that she didn't have class and just needed to prepare breakfast before she went out.

"He really has no delicacy at all, doesn't he?" – she chuckled at a very surprised Jaken, then added – "Sesshomaru, I mean…"

The small old man knitted his eyebrows, didn't know how to answer. Well, this is Kagome Higurashi and she didn't seem to fear Sesshomaru's personality, just carelessly saying whatever she wanted to, but he, even though how true the statement was, wouldn't dare to badmouth his master. Therefore, he just kept silent, wishing that the blabbering girl would stop the topic already.

:::Chapter 16: Just the way you are:::

"Kagome-chan…"

Rin was lying on her stomach, hugging a huge pillow when Kagome entered the room. The little girl jerked her head up hearing the door cracking opened. Realizing that it was Kagome, a smile appeared on her face almost immediately. She sprang up, kneeing on the bed, her unbelievably sparkling eyes pointed out that she had been looking forward to Kagome's appearance. The older girl couldn't help chuckling lightly, she marched past the door, coming closer to Rin.

"Kagome-chan…" – Rin dropped herself into Kagome's awaiting arms. Her petite body relaxed as soon as Kagome pulled her into her warm comforting hug. She patted lightly on Rin's shoulder.

"Now… now…" – Kagome burred softly, lowering her head to put her chin on top of the little girl's head – "Did you properly eat my food last night?"

Still hiding her face in Kagome's arms, she nodded her head.

Kagome formed a reassuring smile, she rewarded Rin with a light kiss and with a modulated voice, she spoke:

"Well… Rin is a good girl. I love you."

Hearing that, the nuzzling little girl lifted her head from Kagome's chest with a jolt. Her big brown orbs wavered while eyeing at Kagome. Her face mixed with confusion and incomprehension which baffled the other girl. Cautiously, Kagome leant closer, gently brushing away the unkempt raven lock that fell over Rin's chubby cheeks. A gentle question escaped her lips:

"So… what made my precious little sister sad?"

Rin sniffed. Her dilated nose showed that she was trying to prevent the tears which already filled her eyes from flooding out, her voice shivering:

"No one likes me."

Kagome patted lightly on the little girl's head, waiting for her to tell her story with brittle voice.

:::Chapter16: Just the way you are:::

Sesshomaru looked up from his laptop, his eyes rolling to squint towards the clock, realizing that it had been already 3 hours since he drowned himself in his work. It was Sunday – a day that was created for fun, enjoyment, refreshment or anything that similar to those things. But Sesshomaru couldn't care less. Relaxation was just not his thing anyway. He found it much more comfortable if he concentrated his brain in solving something quizzical, logic, something that could pay off his concentration with a proper answer, something that could boost his status and help him to earn more money. He let himself fell backward on the backrest, arms stretching forcibly to drive away the numbness on several parts of his body. His mouth felt dry, and he leant over the desk to press on the speaker.

"Coffee" – he demanded simply. Laconically.

Waiting for Jaken to appear with his coffee, he once again rested his back on the backrest, his elbows on the armrests, his fingers clasping in front of his chest, his eyes lazily surveying his already-to-much-familiar study room. The room was big and full of exclusive and modern furniture. He didn't even touch all of them, they were there just to prove that he was capable of living a luxurious and happy life without his unfaithful father. Sesshomaru, of all people, would never need someone taking care of, especially since that someone was the one who had betrayed him.

A ginger knock pulled Sesshomaru out of his musing. He looked up, fixing his position and cleared his throat:

"Come in"

One moment later, the door cracked open, a small figure slide into the room. He stopped in front the desk, bowing his head:

"I bring your coffee, director"

Nodding lightly, the silver-haired man gestured Jaken to come closer. He got the cup from his assistant's hands, taking a sip, and let out a sigh.

"How is Rin?" – Sesshomaru questioned, continued sipping his hot coffee. Well, Jaken's coffee was never really good. But he himself couldn't make any tasty coffee, either. And having someone else staying in the house just for when he wanted a cup of good coffee was too much troublesome. Therefore, he guessed he could just deal with this acceptable coffee of Jaken.

"She is staying with Higurashi-san" – the middle-aged man answered.

Higurashi-san? – the word echoed in Sesshomaru's head. He raised his eyebrow:

"She came?"

"Yes. Higurashi-san came about thirty minutes ago." – Jaken explained while superstitiously glancing at his master from the corner of his eyes. He saw an unreadable expression covering Sesshomaru's face and totally taken back when he stood up.

"Check the newest documents in the printer." – with that said, Sesshomaru silently left the room, leaving Jaken standing stupidly there by himself.

:::Chapter 16: Just the way you are:::

When Sesshomaru realized it, he already found himself standing in front of his sister's room, arms crossing in front of his chest and listening to his sister strangled sob. Inside, Kagome was so busy focusing on Rin that she didn't even notice a sudden appearance of a certain silver-haired man. She suppressed a sigh seeing the little girl trying to stop her sob. Well, though she was telling with her broken voice, Kagome still quite caught up with Rin's story. It seemed like that because others saw Rin as a spoiled little brat that came from the Inutaisho family, because she wore extremely high-class clothes and used exclusive things which was kind of abnormal in that normal elementary school, because the teachers paid special attention to her only (which kinda Sesshomaru's fault since he insisted that his sister would have to be in the best condition), because Rin was two years older than the rest of them but still didn't know how to read or write yet, because she was silent and clumsy and didn't talk to anyone… Many, many reasons so that it seemed hard for Rin to listed them all and she gave up since her voice became hoarse from crying.

"No one… talks … to me…" – Rin sniffed difficultly – "No… one… wants to… be in … pair… with me…"

Kagome pinched her lips together, she still had her arm around Rin small shoulder and the other hand slowly wiped the crying girl's tears.

"When… Shimi-san's…. pencil… dropped, Taku-san… picked it… for her… But… when… my eraser… dropped… no… one…"

Kagome sighed once again. She didn't image those things would happen. She thought that when Rin go to school, she could become a normal kid that had friends and that would help to cease her loneliness. And she also persuaded Sesshomaru to let Rin go the same school as Shouta and Shippo, even though his initial plan was the high-class elementary school for the rich only. She also forgot that Rin was actually older than the normal 1st-grade kids since that Sesshomaru didn't even consider about her study even though she was old enough. Moreover, Rin had been a timid and not-used-to-strangers kid all her life, of course she found it difficult to make friends. Argh… there were so many simple and obvious things that Kagome found it hard to believe that she didn't realize it sooner.

"It… is… because… I'm… not like… everyone…" – Rin continued – "… I… hate… myself…"

Shaking her head, Kagome formed a gentle smile. She released her arms around Rin a little and made the little girl look up. Her hand brushed Rin's hair lightly while her brown orbs gazing directly at Rin's red swollen eyes.

"Rin, did you hear the story about the princess and the pauper?"

Sesshomaru, standing at the door, raised his eyebrow at Kagome's sudden change of topic. Well, that girl's unpredictability never ceased to bemuse him.

Rin blinked her eyes, she shook her head lightly, still quite not comprehend Kagome's sudden question.

"Well, it was about the princess and the pauper who looked exactly the same…" – Kagome started telling – "…but it is not them I want to talk about…"

Rin began to be curious, she sniffed again, but it seemed that the story had distracted her so her tears started to fall more slowly.

"The pauper had a cat. A very cute cat." – Kagome continued with a singsong voice – "There was just one thing abnormal about that cat: It barked."

"Bark?" – Rin blurted out wheezy sound – "No way."

A cat that barked? – Sesshomaru chided silently. What kind of ridiculous tale is that?"

"But it did happen." – Kagome chuckled when she saw Rin was all eyes at her now – "You know, it didn't meow meow but bow wow…"

"Amazing" – Rin whispered in astonishment– "you sound… like real… cat and dog. Again, Kagome-chan"

"Like this?… MEOW MEOW…" - Kagome gladly did what Rin told. Talking about mimicking, Kagome was kind of the best. She had to possess something to deal with the kids unpredictability, right?

Then moved on with the story.

"One day, the cat was teased for barking like a dog. It was very sad and then it wanted to learn to meow meow like other cats. However, the pauper realized what the cat's thought, and then she felt unhappy…"

"Why?" – Rin questioned incomprehensibly.

Kagome smiled while releasing Rin and made her sit properly on the bed –"Rin, you know what she did?"

Rin knitted her eyebrows, and then shook her head disappointedly.

"She sung for the cat" – Kagome winked mischievously.

"Sing?"

"Yeah, like this…" – Kagome cleared her throat in a grandiose way and then started to sing.

" … … I can see it when you're feeling low

You can't hide that from me

You're no status quo calico

So why keep trying to be? … …

'Cause you're more than that

You're a doggish cat

I wish you could see the you I see … … "

Rin's eyes started to lit up, a faint smile played across her lips while she watching Kagome enthusiastically.

" … … I say.. If you bark…

Celebrate it

Make your mark

Serenade it

Noah's ark

Should I had a cat like you … …

And if what you are

Is a strange you

Doesn't mean

You should change you, only means

You should change your point of view … …

Hey, feline, you fetch just fine

To thine own self be true

Your bow wow's the cat's meow

It's how I know you're you … … "

Kagome stopped for a moment and pinched the little girl's nose playfully, smiling.

"Remember…

… … You don't need the bows

Or tiara

Bid your woes

Sayonara

Trust your nose

'Cause it knows the way to go … … "

Rin blinked, her smile widened and she sniffed again. Kagome was trying to spin around just like she remembered in the movie to cheer Rin up and she was happy to see the girl's eyes shone so brightly.

She moved like a hamster – the unwilling other audience outside the room commented silently, while leaning his head on the wall and snorting.

Kagome stopped her spin, she came closer to Rin and scooped the little girl up. A butterfly kiss was placed on Rin's forehead and Kagome lowered her voice in a soft-spoken voice:

"You know, Rin …'Cause…

… … There is not

One hair of you

That I would re-arrange

I love you the way you are

And that will never change

That will never change … … "

"Kagome-chan…"

"You understand?" – Kagome breathed while playfully pinching the little girl's cheek – "The pauper loved the cat because it was her cat. I love you, your brother loves you and Jaken-san loves you because you are Rin. If you are different, then that is what makes us realize it's you. So don't hate yourself, okay?"

"Really?" – Rin blinked reluctantly.

"Yeah. If you don't believe me, go ask your brother." – Kagome said in a very, very persuasive tone, adding with her nodding head in a firm way as if what she said was something that was already proved and undeniable.

Rin smiled radiantly, but soon her smile faded away when she remembered her bigger problem:

"But… everyone… in my class…"

"Don't worry, don't worry…" – Kagome choked her off – "… it's because you're new, and you are shy. When they know you better, you'll come to like you. Shouta and Shippo like you, right?"

"Yeah" – finally, the little girl found herself being all cheerful again. Even though her eyes were still red and swollen, her voice was still hoarse but she felt that her problem was not really a big deal like before and she couldn't help asking hopefully – "Kagome-chan, I want to watch that film… The princess and the pauper…"

"Okay…" – Kagome giggled – "but we have to eat lunch first, right? I guess your brother is hungry now"

"He is" – Sesshomaru chose that moment to speak which startled both of the girls. He walked into the room in Kagome's bewilderment, stopping right in front of them and took Rin into his arms from Kagome.

"Sesshomaru-san…" – Kagome stammered. Since when… she asked herself secretively, remembering how ridiculous she was with that dancing and singing.

Sesshomaru glanced at the bemused girl through the corner of his eyes, smirking:

"Good show"

Immediately, Kagome found her face burning and reddening as if a klutz had dropped a bucket of red paint on her.

"I'm going to make lunch now" – unpleasantly, she didn't even gaze at him and just like this, she stomped out of the room.

"You are making Kagome-chan mad, brother." – Rin worriedly eyeing Kagome's stomping figure.

"Am I?" – he said nonchalantly, showing that he couldn't care less.

Sesshomaru was slightly thankful when he saw that Rin was behaving like always. Once again… that girl solved something that he couldn't. The scene that she was animatedly dancing and singing flashed through his mind again and he couldn't help chuckling. Okay, so he admitted that that girl was good at touching people heart now.

:::Chapter 16: Just the way you are:::

That afternoon, when Sesshomaru went checking up on Rin again, he found his sister was cuddling into Kagome's arms, both was sleeping soundly. The DVD player was still on, showing some kind of cartoon that he would never watch. Turning off the player, he guessed it was the cartoon that that girl told earlier. About a princess and a pauper, and a cat that barked, right?

Rin was stirring lightly, making a soft sound that attracted his attention. He turned back to find his little sister was trying to nuzzle more and more into that girl neck, a smile plastered on her lips and that girl reacted unknowingly by pulling Rin more closely to her. The blanket slid down because of their movement. Shaking his head, he reluctantly fixed the blanket and made sure that it covered both of the girls' petite bodies. It was a sweet and peaceful sight and this time, Sesshomaru unknowingly allowed himself to from a small smile. And he found it strange, but it was as if that girl's melodious voice still lingering in the air and echoing in his ears.

… … There is not

One hair of you

That I would re-arrange

I love you the way you are

And that will never change

That will never change...

_ \End of chapter16/_

So, even though I still had to apologize for a very very long time of updating, well, writer's stuck and all (T_T), I'm still happy to say that I already finished chapter 16 *(^o^)*

I hope you all wouldn't forget about my story already (T_T)

This time I used the song "The cat's meow" from the Barbie movie "The princess and the pauper", maybe you all realized that already. I'm so in love with this movie and this song, and when I started writing this chapter, things just came naturally to me. I'm glad I could use my favorite song in my fic, woahhh…

And this would be the last time I took long time to updating. I promise the next chapter will be very soon. So give my story another chance, 'kay?

Anyway, enjoy your time here.

RnR, please.

Thanks so much.