Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha

OK, so how on this earthly realm Sesshomaru ended up being a member of the Scoring Club was beyond any earthly creature's understanding. Even when Sesshomaru was in the most psychotic state of mind, he still wouldn't dream up the imagination of being part of that club.

And nobody else saw that coming either. After all, Sesshomaru was completely uninterested in everything!

Well, except for one thing, that was being the winner!

So, by his junior year in high school, Sesshomaru already took his basketball team to the state championship and won it hands down; took the debate team to the state competition and won it by a mere glare from his beautiful golden eyes! Took...

...Well, too long and involved to name all of the clubs, sports, talents Sesshomaru had taken his school teams to the state championship and snatched just about any prize there was to snatch!

By his senior year, his very rich and proud father had to donate the school some money to fund for some new space to display all the trophies Sesshomaru had won for the school.

It was becoming predictable that Sesshomaru would win anything he competed in. There was no suspense in any game, event, competition anymore. The Betting Club had to shut down its business because the members were becoming broke trying to pay out.

"Oh, yeah!" Miroku said one day to somebody who was apparently discussing how ridiculous it was that Sesshomaru was good in everything.

"I bet you Sesshomaru cannot beat me in scoring!" Miroku proudly proclaimed at the gasping faces of everyone who had heard it while standing around or walking down the school hall.

Now, if everyone heard it, then of course, Sesshomaru also heard it. After all, it would be reminded that Sesshomaru would beat everyone in everything!

And it was on!

So that was the reason why Sesshomaru joined the Scoring Club. It was purely for the spirit of competition.

...

Sesshomaru joined the Scoring Club without knowing what the heck it was about. It mattered not. If it had not been emphasized enough, it would be said once more that Sesshomaru was good in everything no matter what the heck it was about! Nobody should dare to proclaim loudly in the middle of the school hall challenging Sesshomaru like that, and Miroku of all people.

The rules were whoever could score the most for the quarter and could prove it with photographic evidence - with cell phone videos or whatever - would become the new president.

Miroku continued, "I proudly say that I've been the president for a whole year."

Sesshomaru mocked at that, "Hm! The girls around here need better taste."

"Well, as for you Sessshomaru, I will make it easy on you since you're a new member," Miroku smirked back.

"Oh?"

"You don't have to keep count of how many you score for this quarter. All you have to do is to score on one specific girl, and I will bow down to you."

"And who would that be?"

"Ahh! Glad you ask. She would be Rin." Miroku smiled evilly.

Every body was like, "Who? Rin?"

A nameless girl apparently, because every body else along with Sesshomaru never heard of her.

"Should be easy!"

Right?

It might have been a trap. While apparently, nobody had heard of this Rin, Miroku would know every girl there was to know in the school. And since he picked her very specifically, there was a tricky reason for his choosing. Sesshomaru figured that much, he wasn't dumb in any sense that word could be used; but he was too arrogant to even care what kind of trap Miroku had set for him.

And this nameless girl who actually had a name that was Rin was probably just another basket he would make, and probably not even a three-pointer, probably just an easy free throw.

...

Scoring a touch down maybe, but scoring on a girl was not so much of a Sesshomaru-style. If it were, he would probably have scored on every girl there was at that school and beyond. Well, maybe every girl except for Rin, because he had never heard of Rin.

Why! He didn't even need to score, girls threw themselves at him every day, 10 times a day. Sesshomaru had been tempted a few times but never found enough interest to go through with it. It didn't matter how beautiful or hot the girl was.

Strange! But no chemistry! And Sesshomaru wouldn't do anything out of sheer pointlessness. He had to enjoy it.

It became obvious to everyone that he wasn't interested in any girl. At some point, The Gossiper Club spread a rumor that Sesshomaru preferred Yaoi action. Such speculation even made Sesshomaru reevaluate himself.

Sesshomaru went further in his reevaluation process as to try out some yaoi action which made the Yaoi Action Club very happy. To this adventure, Sesshomaru ran out scared even before any action got started as he found it completely and utterly beyond the boundary of his preference. At the moment, he didn't really know what preference he had, but it wasn't yaoi for sure. It was a ridiculous rumor which shouldn't be too surprising since it came from the Gossiper Club, a less credible source of information.

Ridiculous or not, at that gossip, both girls and guys threw themselves at Sesshomaru, and it increased from 10 to 50 times a day. Yeah, that count was right. You see, guys would always be more *ahemhornyahem* and not as shy in their romantic pursuit.

Sesshomaru's reaction? Still no interest in both guys or gals or bi. He had decided that he was incapable of love, and at that, incapable of making love to people he didn't love. Did that make any sense? It made sense to him.

It was beneath Sesshomaru to score on an innocent girl, who was unknowing of what was coming to her. But just for once to prove that he was good in eeevery thing, he would do it, all for the spirit of competition. And there was no freaking way in this semi-chaotic world that he would lose to Miroku. Because if Sesshomaru lost to Miroku, the world would become completely chaotic rendering it uninhabitable, at least for himself anyway.

With that determination, Sesshomaru pursued to walk toward the specific girl named Rin so he could get on with his scoring process. And as soon as he did that, the Betting Club gathered their members around hustling for a new game one last time. For this new venture, again, every body was willing to bet that Sesshomaru would win hands down, or up, or sideway.

The Betting Club had apprehension about this time just like many times before when they bet on Sesshomaru. But they were gamblers, and gamblers took risks. They were reeling in the bets. And since it was a gambling contract, every body did it in a hush-hush way. The ordeal was only known to the members of the Scoring Club and the Betting Club. Rin, being very minute in the senior class community, was completely unaware of Sesshomaru's intention.

As for Rin? Well, she was a girl. And that was all one could say about her, simply because, nobody really knew enough who Rin was to say anything else.

She was a good student, but who cared about being a good student? It was all other stuffs beside the academics that they cared about such as clothing and being cool. Well, for those aspects, Rin was below-average in term of clothing, kept to herself most of the time. She was a junior and that meant she was an underclassman. Being an underclassman was just unimportant. And since Rin was unpopular, she was just an unimportant underdog!

Sesshomaru had come close and stood behind Rin the whole time she was rearranging her locker and was completely unaware of his presence, or acted that way.

For some odd reason, his first impression of this very unknown girl was, 'Hm, she smells good!'

It was like an instant pheromone click!

And while it was clicking, it clicked over and over again until Sesshomaru was standing behind her dumbfounded thinking that if he was lying next to her in bed, it wouldn't be so bad with this beautiful scent.

'Bet that scent would be delicious brushing on my lips!'

What the heck was he thinking about? That almost mimicked what Miroku would think. Despite the embarrassing implication, Sesshomaru couldn't stop thinking about 'her delicious scent brushing on his lips' even if it meant that he had stooped down to Miroku's perverted level, or rather reached up since Miroku's level of perversion was really high up in the sky.

As Sesshomaru was thinking that, he leaned over the adjacent locker. With his arms crossing his chest, impressing a macho expression, and with a wink not realizing that his gold stare was the sexier gesture of the two, he grinned a wooing grin and said to Rin, "Good morning, Beautiful!"

Rin said shyly, "Ah! Good morning! And you are very beautiful yourself!"

"Hn! I prefer handsome."

"Hah! Oh, handsome. Yes, you're handsome and beautiful!"

"And you are lucky!"

"Hah? Lucky? How?"

"Indeed, you're the lucky girl who I'll be taking out for a date tonight."

"Tonight? I'm sorry, I have to do something tonight."

Rin turned and walked away after she informed Sesshomaru that she had something to do that night with an appropriate goodbye.

Sesshomaru called after her, "Hey, what? Hey! What about tomorrow night?"

"Sorry!"

"Hey! What about Saturday?"

"Sorry, can't. Goodbye!"

After saying that, Rin walked down the hall away from Sesshomaru as fast as she could. Sesshomaru pursued to chase after her when he felt a hand tapping on his shoulder from behind.

"Should be easy, heh!" Miroku reminded Sesshomaru how easy Rin should be.

Sesshomaru was wearing a seething expression as he realized the situation, 'Did that unknown, unpopular girl just turn me down?'

As if Miroku could read his thought, "Yep! She just turned you down," Miroku grinned so big his eyes became shut. He walked away waving his hand backward, "Good luck, Sesshomaru!"

...

Sesshomaru couldn't sleep that night with all thoughts consumed by the image of Rin.

The table had turned. The game was not between him and Miroku anymore. It was now between him and Rin.

'How dare any girl that unimportant turn this Sesshomaru down like that?'

Rin was certainly different.

Rin was poor. She lived in a strict environment at home with a father who unreasonably pressured her into a higher goal. It might have been for her own good, but the work was just too much for a young girl to burden.

She was 16 and had to work part time in the evening while being expected to score perfect grades in every subject. She was not allowed to have any friends because friends were bad influence, or so thought by her overbearingly strict father.

In a way, she spent her free time, if she had any, pondering upon life and all the things that normal teenagers didn't really think about. So she was much more mature than the rest.

Rin was quiet, and never really was a conforming kind of girl. Being more mature, Rin was, in a way, not really fitting into any crowd. And she didn't try to, simply because Rin would be Rin, and not pretend to be anyone else just to fit in.

What was the point of fitting in if she was not allowed any friend anyway?

That was why Rin was so unknown. But in all of her nature, she was probably the sweetest thing - a gem - one could ever meet, if they took the time to really meet her.

But most important of all - at least it would be an important point for Sesshomaru - was that Rin was NOT allowed to have a boyfriend, period.

"Boys are baddd for you!" Her father always emphasized.

'But you're a boy!' Rin had thought trying to make the situation more humorous to be more tolerable. But deep down inside, Rin knew her father was not a boy. He was a man. There were some differences, subtle they might be, but they were there.

Being the most awesome guy had its drawback. Before, when Sesshomaru needed a girl, they fell all over for him. He never really had to score. Now, finding that he actually had to do some work on Rin, he had no idea what to do.

What else was there to do but reading a few advices from the dating articles from girly magazines. He, of course, read them in secret.

With Sesshomaru's pursuit, Rin found her quiet world turning up side down.

Since the day the wooing had started...

There was always a rose stuck on her locker every morning before homeroom session with a note clearly stating how much the sender had missed her. How much truth there was to that, only God knew; really, even Sesshomaru himself didn't even know if he really missed her, or it was just his competitive attitude that got him thinking about her so much.

For every single rose Rin received, she would receive 100 hisses from various girls from all different classes, as in status not grades, at school. And Rin quickly found out that some of the usually classy girls could be shockingly classless in the way they hissed. Some was quite scary actually.

Several girls went so far as to tear down the rose from Rin's locker and whipped it in her face. Even when Rin didn't really ask for the reason of their actions, they explained to her anyway, "I hate you!"

Well, not saying that it was right or anything, Rin had to admit that was a good reason why they would tear her gift down and whip it in her face. And Rin knew well that they hated her because the flower was gifted to her by the wonderfully charming and desirable Sesshomaru.

'Oh! Sesshomaru, you have to stop this!' Rin hauled herself slowly down the hall frowning at the thought. She, being the sweet and quiet girl, just didn't know how to tell him to leave her alone.

So, she just ignored him and made a good effort to avoid him.

Being irritated to no end that he was being ignored, and realizing the prospect of being defeated in this game of cat and mouse, Seshomaru was stuck in a lose-lose situation. He would lose to Miroku of all people; and he would lose to Rin - of all people; that was even worse than losing to Miroku, at least he was a president of some club.

Sesshomaru's mind became even more consumed with the thought of Rin. Her image teased his mind days and nights. Before long, he just wanted to think about her; and inadvertently she became a constant subject in his thought. And the dang pheromone thing didn't help him much either.

Asking Rin out to a date obviously didn't work because the unimportant girl always seemed to have some irritatingly important things to do every night. Leaving flowers in a secret admirer kind of way didn't work out too well either. He had to step up in his game plan, he would give the flowers to her personally.

Standing at her locker, ignoring all the exciting whispers from the Betting Club members who was hushing about how Sesshomaru might lose this game, Sesshomaru waited for Rin.

'Oh! What's he doing here?' Rin walked in a slumping posture dreading the handsome figure at her locker holding a vase of 12 roses. She dreaded it because the hisses had gotten louder, and the bullyings had increased in violence. And suffering thorugh all those negative attentions, she had nothing to gain from it. Even if she liked Sesshomaru and vice versa, she couldnt' have him for a boyfriend anyway.

It was a completely a lose-lose situation for Rin.

"Hi, Beautiful!" Sesshomaru flexed his muscles as he greeted Rin. Though he flexed his muscles not to show his masculinity, but actually, they were involuntarily reflexes by his own excitement to see Rin. Though, he didn't know why he was excited; even his muscles didn't know why, that was why they were flexing involuntarily.

"Hi, Sesshomaru! What are you doing here?"

"To see you, Beautiful!" He handed her the flowers, not so much in a genuine way, more like a cool guy's wooing way.

"Thanks!" Rin 'grr' inside at the gift, "Sesshomaru, you must stop it. I can't take that gift." Having said all that, she took the vase from him anyway.

"Why not? Is there something about me you don't like-" he took the liberty to place a gentle hand on her cheek in another wooing fashion, "- Beautiful?"

"No, not that," Rin stared into his beautiful golden eyes- a tad bit arrogant but beautiful nonetheless- with her more earthly dark brown ones. "It's just that I..." she looked down to the floor and didn't know what or how to say it.

But she didn't really need to say much. During the staring session when gold met dark brown which had lasted for about 30 seconds, Sesshomaru had sensed something that sent signals which struck a sensory nerve or two.

As they had said, "The eye is the window of the soul," he finally understood the saying. Because during that stare, Rin had shown him what she was and all that she needed.

She was a girl with a different standard.

She needed real caring from a man, not the fake courtly gesture of wooing from a boy!

He silently took the the flowers back from her and walked away quietly. He turned to hide the secret expression that rose in his eyes a feeling of maybe love or a wish to protect the fragile sweetness of Rin. Whatever that sudden feeling was, he didn't know, but he was quick to hide it.

'Oh, he finally got the point,' Rin thought to herself as she dropped her head down, in a way glad, in a way sad, in a way like she wished he hadn't gotten the point so clearly.

She looked after him wishing he would come back and woo her some more because she, somehow, secretly enjoyed his attention. It was just a wishy-washy way of a girl who, while knowing that she couldn't have a boyfriend, still wanted to be loved.

And even though, unimportant as Rin was, she didn't fall all over for him. But she swore she had felt dizzy a few times very much risking falling all over him when he was near.

Sesshomaru walked down the hall with the vase of roses in his hand. He just handed it to the nearest girl walking beside him. The girl squealed with surprise that Sesshomaru was giving her flowers.

"Oh my god! Thank you Sesshomaru, I love you!" The girl confessed shamelessly while receiving the flowers from him with a wild gesture of the silly fangirls when they saw their favorite rock star or something.

'I know,' Sesshomaru just kept walking completely ignoring that the girl was swooning and almost fell over at his feet behind him.

Since that day, Sesshomaru did nothing more of the wooing sort. He was not interested in wooing Rin anymore. Rin kind of missed it, but she knew it was for the best that Sesshomaru had finally left her alone.

...

One fine day not long after the Vase of Rose incident, and it was a fine day because of what was about to happen - at least for Rin anyway and possibly for Sesshomaru also. The time was lunch break. Rin sat under some random tree, though she had randomly chosen the most beautiful cherry blossoms which happened to be the one with the biggest shade also. She was reading a book totally ignoring the whole high school circuit around her.

Sesshomaru randomly walked over, though he had randomly bought a box of chocolate the night before with a not-so-random intention to give to Rin the next day. The dating advice had said something like "chocolate would make a girl go dipsy for you" or something like that. Though, it wasn't the dipsy-for-him effect that Sesshomaru was going for, he just happened to notice that Rin loved chocolate. Besides, chocolate was just a sure bet of candies when one was just thoughtlessly buying his lady friend a gift - like in the many cases on Valentine's day.

Either way, thoughtless or thoughtful, he handed her the chocolate box and said, "It'll cheer you up."

'One can always use some cheering up,' Rin thought as she looked up at him.

She knew she couldn't have him, but she was quite happy that he still approached her. Despite all the seemingly oddities that set her apart from all the other girls, she, too, needed love. And love from Sesshomaru was just a giant PLUS! Not so much that it was a plus because it was from the sexy Sesshomaru - though it helped that he was sexy, hot, extremely popular, and very wanted - but it was a plus because secretly, Rin really liked him too.

With all those pluses, suddenly, the rays of the sun got absorbed into her eyes and reflected outward in the way of hopeful brilliant shines.

'Beautiful!' Sesshomaru thought.

"Thank you!" Rin said as if she had heard his silent compliment, but she was only referring to the chocolate and greedily reached out for the sweet gift.

He snatched the box back as quickly as she had reached out for it, and he sat down beside her. He opened the box and said, "Actually, it wasn't for you. It was for both of us."

"Alright," she surprised even herself as she fell into that conversation with ease because she was supposed to run him away, "I want the one that's shaped like a dog," she giggled and pointed at the one that looked like a dog.

"Nope! Not gonna have it. Nothing's free, even chocolate, especially if it's shaped like a dog," he moved the box to the other side so Rin couldn't reach it.

"What you want me to do?" Rin tried to reach for the box unsuccessfully.

"Say I Love You Sesshomaru!" He chuckled, a bit louder than his usual reserved manner, and raised the box up in the air so Rin couldn't even hope to reach it from where she was sitting, a bit more playful than, again, his usual reserved manner.

"Sesshomaru, it's just chocolate. I can't possibly be that low to love someone for a return of a dog-shape chocolate piece," Rin stood up and moved to the side where he raised the box and snatched it.

"Au contraire! I'd say you wouldn't do it for the chocolate, but for the truth that you do love me," Sesshomaru switched hand and brought the box to the other side away from Rin.

"ARG! Said who?" Rin jumped to the other side at the box.

Not that she needed the chocolate that much, but it was just fun to be that playful sometimes. Somehow, of all the people on earth, Sesshomaru made her feel like a real beautiful woman, who was a giddy one at the moment.

"If nobody had said it yet, they will," he stood up just as Rin was about to successfully snatch the box. He dash to the other side of the cherry blossom tree challenging her to chase after him.

"No, they won't be," Rin huffed and chased after him.

He gripped the tree branch and made a turn. By his strong yank, the branch released the petals of its blossoms raining down on Rin as she approached.

He hair was covered with the flower petals when she closed in on him. He didn't run away as she had expected, so she ran into him because of her miscalculation of his movement. He immediately embraced her slender waist, excusing himself that he only held her so they wouldn't both fall down by her graceless crashing into him.

Though, he wouldn't let go of her even though they both felt that they were pretty balance after a second or two, or 60. And she stayed inside his arm like she was too scared to even move or something.

He was completely taking advantage of the current situation. And she seemed to allow it.

He, of course, took that advantage a bit further as he lowered his lips to her cheek and stole a sweet taste from it in a way of a kiss - quickly though it was done. But it was long enough to know how sweet it was and to egg him on for more of that sweetness.

Rin blushed!

She blushed, and then she quickly covered her face with her hands and hid her whole head in his chest because she was too shy by his kiss. But that action didn't help her much. The closer her face was by his chest, the deeper the blush turned. She could feel that the pink shade of her blushing had become a crimson red. So, the shy girl just stood frozen with her waist still in his arm, her face still buried in his chest, and did not know what to do next.

Of course, whatever she was doing was exactly what he wanted her to do!

He smirked, unseen by her of course, because her face was still buried in his chest. He threw the box of chocolate on the ground. He didn't need the bait anymore after he had already gotten the fish. Besides, he needed the other arm to be free so he could run it through her hair to feel her shy magic working on him and ripping his heart right out of his chest.

He could feel the chemistry dancing erratically between them catalyzed by the charm of the girl who was still hiding her face in his warm strong chest.

"I," he whispered softly as he looked down at her, of course not seeing her face at all, just the crown of her head which was covered with the cherry petals, "I'll do everything according to your wish, Rin."

But dang it, the moment was ruined by the ring of the school bell announcing the start of the next class.

"Rin, it's time for class."

Of course, she knew it too. She had been in school enough to know that, but she was just too shy to move, or too comfortable to move. He gently smoothed out the entanglement of their current position. He took her hands away from her face revealing a really blushed girl. She quickly lowered her face to the ground blushing some more.

And that was just the icing on the cake. Sesshomaru found himself utterly in love with her shy gestures that showed so innocently on her angelic face.

He picked out the dog-shape chocolate piece from the box and handed it to her, "Come on Rin, we'll be late." He lead her to her next class while she was still blushing the whole time walking by him.

...

From that day on, just like he had promised her, he did every thing according to her wishes.

Their meetings were in secrecy because it was absolutely forbidden by her father for her to have a boyfriend, or any friend.

Instead of her riding the bus to work after school, Sesshomaru took her to work and delivered her home, stopping at a distance from her house so they wouldn't get caught. Their dinner dates were consisted of him visiting her at work during her break and brought her most favorite foods. Flowers were given in a form a simple daisy, or one small cherry blossom that he picked spontaneously from the tree when they walked by; because the more showy the flower was, the less likely she would bring it home to keep. The conversation wasn't loudly announced as "Hi, Beautiful," but it was whispers of encouragement for her to be strong and to tough it through no matter how strict the father was.

"He might be strict, but it's for your own good," Sesshomaru would say to Rin in a form of a deep whisper carrying a great love. "Don't worry, I'm with you. And there's nothing you cannot do by the side of this great Sesshomaru," Sesshomaru interjected with some playful whispers like that which really carried some truth of his intention.

Every now and then, he stole a quick kiss from her lips and left a blushing smile on her as repayment for that theft. And sometimes - all thanks to the Kami that gave him the bravery for doing it - he would climb over a fence, then a window, then her bed to visit her at night - suppressing the hormone-raging boy within him - just to look into her well being and to satisfy his own whim of missing her.

All thanks to whatever chance it was that she had no pet dog. But if she did, he would probably find a way to tame the dog just as well.

And all the times in between their rendezvous, he spent them thinking about her. As for her, her free time - if she had any - was also spent day dreaming about him and loving it.

Sesshomaru didn't even notice the progression of their relationship. But it didn't pass his keen detection that the pheromone click he first felt didn't fade away, it only grew stronger. The cute sparkles in her eyes that breached the sweetness of her soul had grabbed his love so tightly, he was hopeless to break free from it. His heart danced to some exotic beat at her sweet and quiet grace, and it only stepped up that dance to a saucy tango when she giggled gleefully in his presence.

As for Rin, she was in no better position than him. His consideration in their relationship as he showed respect for her and her wishes had made him her world. His strong support through all the pressure imposed upon her by the strict father had helped her progress. And more than anything, his sexy glance, so strong, so tender, had made her swooning shyly with love. Albeit, his muscular chest helped her hide that shyness rather well.

And the brainy one that she was, she would soon find out that Sesshomaru was even brainier. Sometimes, when she frowned with confusion over a physics or calculus problem, he would ease her way into an easy comprehension, better than her teacher could have done it. When she understood the answers, she sometimes secretly admitted that he was right in saying, "Rin could do anything by the side of this great Sesshomaru."

Then she would admit it loudly to him. He would comfort her in an answer like, "The great Sesshomaru wouldn't be so great without Rin," or some statement like that. It seemed that he was being modest, but really, it was the exact way that he felt.

Before long, they no longer denied their feelings for each other, not that they tried to deny it before. But as time progressed, it had become a matter of fact.

Three months had passed by. It was time for another conference so the Scoring Club members could show off their scores.

The night before that conference, at Rin's house, Sesshomaru climbed the fence, then the window, then her bed. Then Rin climbed into his arms under the blanket.

A knock on the door!

'Kami!' Sesshomaru thought and quickly rolled under the bed.

Rin opened the door, "Yes, Dad?"

"Rin," Her father looked around her room, though it was dark and he didn't see that Rin was shaking a little bit. Her father wore a frown on his face which almost made Rin's heart add an action verb to it to make it a heart attack.

After a short moment, her father said, "My work called me in to work tonight since they're 5 people short on the night shift. You think you'll be OK by yourself?"

'How wonderfully convenient!' That thought was thought by both of them, not the father and Rin, but Sesshomaru and Rin.

Rin perked her dark brown eyes, "Daddd. I'm almost 17. I'll be OK."

"Sure! Call me at work if there's any need, dear Rin."

"Yes, will do, Dad!"

Romantic things resumed as normal when her father closed the front door. In fact, it got even more romantic between them this time than all the times in the past. They had the liberty to do so as Rin was home by herself - well, by herself with Sesshomaru.

He ran his wild fingers through the curves of her body while he nipped lightly on the side of her neck. When his hand got to the more seductive part, the boy within him perked its scream loudly for MORE personal things.

He got his phone ready and all to record some video evidence for the Scoring Club. Rin would not win over Sesshomaru, Miroku would not win over Sesshomaru. Nobody would win over Sesshomaru!

Rin whispered weakly in pleasure at his action unknowing of his intention, "Oh Sesshomaru, I love you. But I'm so afraid."

"There's nothing to be afraid of, Rin," he whispered back an answer revealing no less pleasure in his voice. He carried his kiss to the part that was a bit lower from her neck.

She moaned softly, "I'm just so afraid, this is so wrong. What if I get pregnant. I... uh!" Rin abruptly stopped her unwillingness by a sudden arousal that Sesshomaru just made her feel and let go of the terror of whatever wrongness she was talking about.

But then he stopped suddenly.

His hormonal-raging boy pouted at that action, and his ego of winning in everything sulked sullenly at him. But his mind overrode it. The boy, his ego, and he would just have to battle it out later.

Right at that moment,

He remembered the promise that he had made to her, the promise that he would only do everything according to her wish. And the last thing he wanted to do was something that Rin was uncomfortable with.

All in all, there was no point in impressing Miroku if it sacrificed Rin's love.

At that moment, it was made clear to him, and Sesshomaru no longer denied that winning was everything - else beside Rin, but Rin was the only thing. The winner inside him just had to take a step back, because the owner of it had inadvertently got himself tangled in this thing called love to the point of irreversibility.

And he wanted to make sure that the respect she had for him, and the respect he had for her, stayed that way.

"Rin, maybe when it's more comfortable for you," Sesshomaru took his kiss away from the part below her neck back to Rin's lips and engaged it there for a very long moment.

He, however, had to cut his visit short despite that they were alone that night. If he stayed any longer, he would not be able to stop himself. Beside the fact that his hormone-raging boy was cussing him out calling him every stupid name ever created, Sesshomaru was content as he left Rin wholesome with the smile on her face, still very innocent, at the moment of their farewells.

...

After the tally of their scores, Miroku laughed heartily out loud, really out loud, "Hahaha!" directing it at Sesshomaru.

The laugh was so aggravating that Sesshomaru resigned his membership from the Scoring Club. He absolutely wanted another chance to beat Miroku in scoring because he was sure that he could score on any girl he wanted - beside Rin. But it was over for him. His scoring career was over before it even got started because of Rin.

The members of the Betting Club actually laughed even louder because, for the first time in years, they were making a staggering profit. They congratulated themselves for a game well played. After the collection of money was done, they became so rich that they decided to fund for a small statue of Rin because she was indirectly contributing to their profit and thus, back in business.

There were major rumors spreading around by the Gossiper Club that Rin was going steady with Sesshomaru. But there was no evidence to back it up, so the rumors only got more mysterious and more distorted into every version they could creatively make up regarding a romance making them the most talked about couple in their school.

Mindful of the rumors, Sesshomaru and Rin got even more secretive in their relationship. But they were hopeless in thinking that they could elude the watchful eyes of the paparazzi from the Journalism Club.

By the end of his senior year, the Journalism Club had secured a picture of Sesshomaru placing a small cherry blossom on Rin's hair in some secret place. They reserved that picture and stuck it in the Superlative Section of the year book as the Cutest Couple, beating all the other couples by a landslide in their votes.

Needless to say, Rin dared not bring that year book home because she didn't want her father to see it. Sesshomaru solved that problem real quick by cutting it out of her year book and carefully placed it in his wallet.

"I'll carry this picture when I go away to college, Rin."

Rin smiled, "That's a great idea. I don't want any other girl chasing after you."

On the night before he left for college, Rin took off from work early with the understanding of her supervisor since every body from work knew about her relationship with Sesshomaru.

She came over with some anxiety because it would be the first time she would meet his family. But it didn't matter. Soon, she would not see him as often, so she didn't care anymore. To her surprise, his family welcomed her rather well. His parents had a pleasing expression as if they approved that Sesshomaru had chosen well.

It almost seemed like his parents had known about her.

His parents even made it so convenient for the young couple as the parents excused themselves that they had a dinner to go eat and a movie to go watch. So Sesshomaru and Rin were left at home by themselves.

She shyly excused that she was there to help him pack. But that only distracted him from packing. He cooked her a nice dinner and fed her through the whole ordeal.

"Rin, apply to my college when you graduate. I have need for a female roommate."

"I bet you have needs!" She took a playful nip at what he was feeding her. "Do you plan on eating some for yourself."

"Yes, of course," he ate the leftover on the fork that he fed her with. "But I only take female roommate whose name is Rin," he looked at her with some faraway yearning in his eyes.

And she knew what he was thinking.

After all, as mature as he was or acted to be when he was with her, he was still a man-boy! And in a strange way, she thought the moment was very right. It would be a whole year when she would be that close to him again. Suddenly, she kissed his chin because that was how high she could reach when they were sitting down.

But it didn't really matter where she kissed, he enjoyed it just the same.

He stood up from the table and carried her to the more private chamber, not that his whole house wasn't enough private already. But for some reason, he thought of Rin like a fragile being that would only be treated with delicacy and appropriateness - not that what he was about to do was any appropriate, but it was acceptable, very acceptable.

As he laid Rin down on his bed, Rin looked at him with the same yearning that he had looked at her, with no more fear. She let herself fall comfortably into his tender care and trusted him completely with her precious grace that she would forbid any other man to touch.

And he made her feel so delicate through his kisses brushing gently on her body. He made her feel so enchanted through the rhythm of his love making that nothing else mattered. And everything that really mattered - like what if she got pregnant- was taken care of by him with very careful protection on his part, in that very particular sense the phrase was to be understood! *wink*

"Oh, we better go clean the kitchen before your parents come home, Sesshomaru," Rin said while blushing inside his arms, still!

"I'll take care of it later, Rin. Don't worry. Right now, we better pack."

"I suppose you're right," putting on her the clothes that was stripped off some moment ago as Sesshomaru was thinking that he rather enjoyed looking at her without them. Though, that would really be distracting.

And through their packing, Rin somehow, mysteriously found a small box of jewelries crusted with a very pretty golden emblem. She curiously opened it thinking it might have been his class ring or something.

'Wow! A set of wedding bands and a really big diamond ring! A really pretty one,' Rin thought as Sesshomaru approached her to see what she was looking at.

"That!" He took out the bigger wedding band and handed it to her, "Slip it on my finger, Rin."

"What? Why? You're married?"

"Just did!" He gave her a playful wink, "Claim me with this ring, Rin. Or else, you might lose me to pretty college girls."

Rin couldn't remember agreeing to a marriage with him, not that she disagreed, it was just that she hadn't thought about it.

She hesitated, "I..."

"Don't worry Rin, while I really have that wish, I'm not forcing you to marry me. And if you decide to marry me, there would definitely be a lavish wedding to honor you. Even if I don't have that respect, my parents wouldn't have it any other way. But right now, I'll leave this box in your keep, only put the rings on when you want to," he placed a hand on her face with a sweet sentiment.

Looking into his loving eyes, Rin hesitated no more. She took his hand from her face and slipped the wedding band on his finger. He smiled at the action and pulled her head to his shoulder tenderly as he whispered softly, "It's just a way for me to tell the world that I'm taken. So no other girl would bother me because it's you, Rin, who I love."

...

Rin came home with a huge diamond ring on her finger and did not pass the keen eyes of her father.

"Dad, the boys around the school started to chase me. So I though I bought this fake diamond ring to put on my finger to say that I'm taken, so they won't bother me again."

Her father was very pleased with that plan not knowing that at the same time, his daughter was thinking,

'Yes, it's just a way for me to tell the world that I'm taken. So no other boy would bother me because it's you, Sesshomaru, who Rin will forever belong to!'

A/N: Thanks for reading and thanks for reviewing **wink** in advance. I personally don't think that this story has enough of a strong content to be placed in the M rating, but do tell me if you think so. Thanks (^_^)