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[A/N] Whoop here we go again! Another one by the Villagefox. Cookies go to whoever can pick out a character similar with P&C description wise. ENJOY!
Ningen Impossibilities
Rin knew she was in love with him at 14. She had out grown her favorite kimono of orange and yellow shapes; she had out grown her next traveling kimono of yellow and purple flowers; and when she had her 14 birthday (an always small celebrated day) Sesshoumaru had given her a kimono that made her fall in love. But at nine-teen she had realized that of course back then the kind of love she had thought was real was just the surface of the suffering love that she had for him now.
[Thirteen yr. old Rin]
"Jaken-sama!!" Rin splashed happily in a deep stream that ran parallel to their tread.
"Insufferable ningen! Will you stop splashing me girl!" The toad shrieked, flailing his Nintoujou toward the lively girl. Rin paused and checked for her lord. As usual he was several meters away walking with no hesitations about leaving the two to squabble alone. With one final splash at Jaken the girl let her long legs carry her as fast as she could to her Lord, leaving poor Jaken in the dust.
"Rin," the stoic demon chided. With a little pout the girl ran back, picked up a wrangling kappa and sprinted back to Sesshoumaru, dropping the kappa unceremoniously.
"Sesshoumaru-sama, will we reach the palace soon?" Rin asked, looking up to her Lord. She knew for her age and species she was tall, reaching his brightly colored obi. A slight nod was her only affirmative and she frolicked around picking random flowers, smelling them and either keeping them or discarding them for her next flower crown. The trio kept themselves busy until well into nightfall. The moon was high when Sesshoumaru decided to stop. Being accustomed to her Lords long journeys, Rin was neither winded nor tired, but rest was welcoming just the same. By her calculations, they would reach the palace by this time tomorrow; depending on how early Sesshoumaru woke them.
The Lord himself kept watch over his dysfunctional companions. He could smell age coming to Rin, the scent of adolescence, and reproduction. He cocked his head to the side silently assessing her. She was strong for a ningen. She was strong for her gender and her age. He was proud of her, but this small revelation was awkward to the Lord. Now, however was a crossroad in her life. Soon her own time of mating would come; instinct would call her to look for a suitable male, settle down and reproduce her own kind. And he, Sesshoumaru, should release her then.
He had always known he would have to give her up. It was customary of the short ningen life span. Only thirteen years of her life, only five of them spent with him. The girl in question sighed in her sleep. She slept on soft moss found at the base of a large tree demon named Nyu-Osuki. He was a landmark, only one day's journey left until Sesshoumaru reached his home. The demon leapt high into Osuki's branches and fixed his gaze on the moon, subconsciously fixing his ears to that of his companion. Soon the day of Rin's birth would arrive. He had made sure to make it to his abode by then. Although he was not sure of what day it was exactly, he had a general idea. It was most likely a day in high spring.
Such a day suited Rin.
[Sixteen yr. old Rin]
As Lady of the palace it was Rin's job to keep everything in order. Nothing could be out of place, dinner must be on time, guest quarters were always to be kept clean, tea always at the ready to be prepared and most of all, Sesshoumaru's whims done. The Inutaisho was a picky and almost quirky Lord and Rin found it her purpose to please him. Everything had to be immaculate, or as close to such as possible. But a thought had recently dawned on her.
This also meant that she herself had to be perfect.
Rin had realized as much when a young female lizard youkai had stolen from the palace. She wasn't sure how he knew, and hadn't been aware of anything until she saw all the servants gathered in the common room. All the shoji doors had been open and the sunlight streamed into the whole palace lighting up the enormous expanse. Rin was the last to arrive, carting old scrolls in a delicate cloth satchel, she prepared to climb the steps and take them to her Lord's personal library. However the gathering stopped her and the sight of Sesshoumaru looking down on a small bowed youkai with the coldest expression, alarmed her. Sesshoumaru never looked that detached unless he planned to take a life.
"Insolent girl, I let you work here, sleep here, in my house and you steal from me." He stated rather blandly, speaking so low Rin strained to hear him. It was not a question. Still the little lizard tried to beg and plead bowing more into the hard wooden floors than Rin thought possible. The air was tense. Some, who knew Sesshoumaru longer, looked away already knowing the poor girls fate. Some looked with hope and pity, thinking she may survive. "No one will bring shame to my home. There is no excuse." Sesshoumaru stared into her and with a flick of his wrist severed her head completely. All her cries ended abruptly and blood pooled rapidly toward the Lord. Turning without another word he glided past Rin up the stairs and into his library. Immediately the mess was being cleaned and her body wrapped and escorted outside. Rin watched for a moment, dwelling on his words. Unconsciously she began to ascend the steps.
It was known that Sesshoumaru kept a human ward. It was known that humans were far inferior to youkai. It was also known that Sesshoumaru had no tolerance for the inferior. Did Rin bring shame to his house? Rin had questioned her status ever since then.
Making her decision, Rin had done all she could do to be perfect in his eyes. She pushed herself physically, striving to be quicker, stronger, more agile and more reflexive. Mentally she pushed herself to become smarter, quick witted, intuitive and wise. She became the perfect lady and Sesshoumaru said he would allow her to take combat training when she had reached sixteen. Rin planned to become just as flawless in this realm as well. She wanted nothing more than to please her Lord. It was by this age that she had reckoned her love was a little deeper than her appreciation for new kimonos.
Rin stared at the rising sun; it's glowing intensifying every moment.
"Meditation Rin?"
Rin whipped around, annoyed with herself for not noticing the youkai before he reached her. "Oh Himatori-sensei! You scared me." Rin laughed nervously. She raised her bokkun in a defensive stance and the two wasted no time sparring. Rin could feel that the strength of wolf youkai more. She could feel the power in every swing and Rin did not delude herself in thinking that in any way would she have an actual chance had this youkai suddenly decided to kill her.
Resentment started to bubble up in her chest. Why couldn't she have been born youkai? Why did she have to be so inferior? Unnoticeably the ningen's swings became filled with emotion and the girl took it out on her sparring partner.
Himatori studied his pupil. This was not the first time Rin would begin practice, then suddenly her aura and demeanor would change and she would unleash pent up emotions she had been feeling. The old youkai understood the pressure she put on herself. Who couldn't see that Rin was striving to be perfect? She was overcompensating for the fact that she was human, and for that, Himatori felt sorry for her. If there was something he knew, it was Rin could never change in Sesshoumaru's eyes.
"Rin," Himatori chided when she swung, missing completely and fell flat on her face. The girl hopped back up surprisingly quick. "What is troubling you Rin?"
Rin obstinately shook her head and swung again, her anger increasing for such a stupid mistake. Himatori raised an eyebrow and the face the young female made. Still he blocked and retaliated. Soon she seemed to calm into her clear-cut fighting style. Himatori kept time; so far they'd been sparring for about two hours straight. This was the longest by far and the sensei was impressed with Rin's stamina. Looking up sharply, the youkai's senses picked up the scent of his Lord walking near. No doubt to observe Rin and make sure she was improving. Barring a little more force her swung his bokkun and was surprised when she didn't parry. Instead Rin dodged completely, feeling the force behind his swing before he even made contact. Taking three large steps back and to the side she sized her options. Himatori went for her again and Rin dodged steadily while taking long strides backwards. Soon they would be nearing the large Koi pond her Lord kept. Himatori began swinging faster leaving Rin no choice but to parry or get hit. After the fourth swing her bokkun was in danger of breaking and she wasn't near enough to the pond for her plan to work.
On a whim, Rin turned and ran in a zig zag pattern barely missing the tackles Himatori tried to make contact with. She ran directly for the pond and while Himatori was confused with this he certainly wasn't going to let her get away without proving herself. He wanted his Lord to see he was doing his job in pushing Rin to her fullest. His thought process failed him when Rin tumbled, swinger her leg in a complete circle. She tripped him and Himatori took a lunge into the freezing Koi pond.
Rin smiled broadly as her plan unfolded right in front of her. Standing she dusted herself off and waited for Himatori to emerge. He would most likely praise her for her inventive thinking.
"Rin." The baritone voice shocked her. She turned to see Sesshoumaru nearly next to her. His face seemed almost disproving. A face she hated the most.
"My Lord," Rin bowed lower than even the servants. Sesshoumaru always noted such, it almost made him smile, her displays of true devotion. Himatori emerged, spluttering; he hopped out with a broad smile on his face.
"Rin! That was excellent! Brilliant thinking!" He spotted Sesshoumaru, feigned surprise and bowed politely. "My Lord, how unexpected. Is there something I can do for you?"
Sesshoumaru seemed to gaze through him for a moment. "I came to observe Rin." His eyes slid back to his wards to find surprise. "You will demonstrate your skill to me."
"Of course my Lord!" Rin smiled wide and bowed low. She ran back to their original sparring grounds, picked up a new bokkun and turned to face her opponent. To her surprise Sesshoumaru stood there, hands tucked into his sleeves and a stoic expression on his face. Rin tried to keep the fear from her voice, but could not stop the confusion. "Sesshoumaru-sama?"
"I will be your opponent Rin." Was his only explanation.
The ningen nodded and steadied herself. She could feel her nerves tingling in the tips of her fingers and toes. She knew she was exuding the strong smell of fear and apprehension. Slowly she cleared her mind; closing her eyes she focused her energy. She felt her ki center itself as she opened her eyes to look at her opponent not as Sesshoumaru, but her temporary enemy.
Sesshoumaru watched her raptly. She was scared and nervous that much was palpable, but almost just as suddenly she was fearless and calm. The change intrigued him. When had she learned to control herself in such a manner? Still he watched as she opened her eyes to gaze at him in a way he had never received before. It raised the hairs on the back of his neck. Never had Rin ever looked at him in such a way. Never. Then she was attacking, quite quickly for a human. It took five long strides for her to reach Sesshoumaru, swinging her bokkun in a wider arc, she let her foot follow. Rin felt the fabric of her Lord's hakama sweep over her heel. She had been dangerously close to landing her kick. Keeping her balance in check Rin immediately dropped to the ground and slashed upward in quick succession, swinging her bokkun round and round.
Sesshoumaru took easy hops back keeping the distance between himself and Rin small enough for her to nearly reach him every time. Her expression was not fierce but almost calculated. Detached.
Rin lunged her arms forward aiming to spear the youkai, but Sesshoumaru simply glided to her left. His body slid past hers as he moved opposite of her in a grace that only reminded her, of her inferiority. She would never please him. In a fit Rin threw her leg out catching the Lord's heel. Sesshoumaru leapt lightly and just as he touched ground his hand came as a reflex and caught the bokkun Rin had thrown right as his face.
Himatori watched in silent awe as Sesshoumaru stared in his silent, stoic version of disbelief at the bokkun still seconds from his face and Rin knelt panting on the ground. Slowly the Inu lowered the bokkun and fixed his gaze on Rin as she struggled to stand without wheezing. "You have done well Rin. Rest, tomorrow you will accompany me to Totosai's villa."
Rin cocked her head. "My Lord," She began bowing, as he walked by her. "May I ask why we will be visiting Totosai?"
Sesshoumaru dropped the bokkun at Himatori's feet. "To commission a sword for you."
The demon was well into the palace before it finally hit Rin. Sesshoumaru was going to have a sword made for her. She squealed silently and sank to the floor, the joy apparent on her face. Himatori chuckled as he approached her.
"You did well young Rin. Exceptionally better than any human my eyes have ever seen. This I promise you. Come Sesshoumaru-sama wishes for you to rest." Rin simply nodded in a happy daze as she was led to her chamber to bathe and rest. Tomorrow she and her lord would travel together to have Totosai forge a sword for her and her alone.
[Nineteen yr. old Rin]
Rin knelt and closed her eyes. She could feel the stare of her Lord and several hundred demons. Her nerves were tingling at the thought of being the only free human in this Youkai's festival. As customary the Rulers of Japan bet against each other and put their best warriors in a ring. The battle was not to be to the death but Rin had a feeling this time would be different. Sesshoumaru had simply called her name casually and she obeyed orders. Now however the full brunt of what he had done was hitting her. He had placed his honor on her. Every year Sesshoumaru won because he revered as having the best warriors in all of Japan. Now he had thrown Rin, a ningen, to fight against seasoned youkai.
Rin was dressed similar to a taijiya. Sturdy black fur boots laced tightly to her ankle, fitting black taijiya pants cut short to her upper thighs, long black gloves that ran down her arm to expose her fingers, and sturdy, fitted black material that covered her torso up to her neck. The only color she wore was a belt that ran around her hips and draped in front of her and behind her. It was the same pattern as Sesshoumaru's obi, a gift for her nineteenth birthday. Her long hair was plaited down to the backs of her thighs and four long and dangerously sharp ornaments rested there and jingled when she moved.
Rin could feel the tension in the air. She steadied herself freeing all the doubt she had in her chest. She could almost taste the auras of each demon. She filled herself with the exhilarating thought of Sesshoumaru having so much faith in her. He must believe that she could do this, and for him she would if it meant to give up her life. The youkai looked at her quizzically as she knelt, her hand splayed on the ground and the other immobile to her left. Her twin swords mounted on her back, Ijo and Yijo. She waited for the host to ring the gong that would begin the tournament, but there seemed to be hesitation. Slowly Rin opened her eyes. The demon was making his way to upper deck where the Rulers sat to watch. Not a sound could be heard and the demon did not try to be discreet.
"My Lord Sesshoumaru, are you sure you want to enter that ningen girl? Surely you--" Rin didn't even blink when Sesshoumaru flicked his wrist and severed the demon in half. As the body fell over the deck it invariably hit the gong and all was fair game.
Rin had one fair advantage to the youkai. Because she was ningen, her bones were light and it was far easier for her to move and use her agility to her benefit. As soon as the sound rang Rin pushed off to her left and slid between the nearest demon's legs, stood back to back, reached over to clasp his neck and flipped him on his chest. Lying on his chest in a daze he was unprepared for Rin to drive her knuckles in the base of his neck, one of the few susceptible places a ningen could kill a youkai by. No one else had moved and the crack of his neck was loud. She stood calculating the distance of everyone to her. Most likely they would all try to kill her first. However no one moved for a full minute. Rin glanced over to see a smirk on her Lords face and it filled her with confidence. She ran forward directly past a demon, who instinctively swiped at her, and used all the strength in her legs to push off the wall, swing her leg and let catch the demon in the neck with her heel. Again the cracking sound was audible. Rin was down two and she had yet to even unsheathe her swords.
She turned to view the remaining demon who looked back in varying degrees of malice and hate. "It is obvious that you will all try to kill me first."
One demon sneered at her; he was finely dressed with long blue hair that flowed in the harsh breeze. "Filthy ningen, you believe that you are stronger than youkai because you live in the Western house? You will die!"
Rin reached behind her and turned the hilts of her swords unlocking them from the sheath. As soon as she unveiled them the aura of the area grew heavy. Chain links of demon energy wrapped around her arm but the material from the gloves kept them from burning her slowly. Mima Nanjo, Lord of the Eastern lands turned to Sesshoumaru "What does she wield, Sesshoumaru?" He asked not too quietly.
The demon's smirk grew, "My fangs."
Nanjo stared at his long time ally, "Ahh," he gave a short chuckle. "And she wields them so naturally," Nanjo pointed to Rin who stood static waiting for an attack in what looked like absolute comfort.
Sesshoumaru nodded slightly. "She has wielded those swords for three years. They know her aura and her being as their master and still she has not fully discovered all of their power. That is why no demon will stand at the end of this."
Huyoko Hibina a fiery hi-youkai grunted, "We shall see Sesshoumaru-san"
The Inu youkai simply nodded. He grew tired of the stalemate in the ring. "Rin," he called calmly. The girl turned her full attention to her Lord leaving herself wide open. "Finish this, I grow tired."
"Yes my Lord," Rin nodded. She turned and clutched her swords backwards, protruding them from her fists. Rin launched herself past two or three youkai letting her sword slash their legs off as she went. She ran so low that the demon's had to bend to swipe at her. Growls of frustration and pain echoed behind her and before she could stop her velocity a spear slammed the ground right in front of her. She moved enough for it to miss her face but it smashed into her shoulder and sent her on a skid. The demon was immediately charging for her and Rin threw Yijo at his neck. The demon laughed when she missed but Rin jerked her arm back and the chains whipped the sword around to behead the youkai before he was even close.
Looking around Rin counted the aura. All were in the rink, none has escaped or fled. Most were dead but some had only lost their legs. Sheathing her swords Rin turned toward the rulers and bowed deeply in the direction of her Lord. "My Lord," she stated ready for whatever he had planned for her. Slowly it sank in to her. She had just defeated some of the most skilled youkai in all of Nippon. Her, a young, ningen female had defeated some of the best warriors. It was then she knew she would one day be Sesshoumaru's personal guard. The demon always flaunted his own power by carrying only one when other demons used at least three. The Inu youkai simply waved his hand toward himself and stood to make his way to his quarters. The days festival was over, there would be a banquet then tomorrow would be another day. Rin hoped up the wall and landed next to her lord almost as silently as any bird youkai.
Sesshoumaru silently reasoned that she probably weighed less than one of his swords. "Rin come, the day is over." Sesshoumaru turned toward the long drone of steps to ground level. Nanjo stood and walked with Sesshoumaru as well, speaking low enough to draw attention but personalize their conversation.
"That is an interesting ningen you seem to have gotten your hands on." Nanjo jested silently while walking with his hand hidden in his large hoari.
He stared straight forward but Sesshoumaru still felt under scrutiny. It did not help the young Lord that this particular demon was also his godfather, a youkai that had known his father and played with Sesshoumaru since birth. He owed the older youkai nothing but respect and loyalty and he was one of the few Sesshoumaru would risk himself for. "You speak more than you listen old man."
"You don't say enough to listen to, pup." Nanjo chuckled and glanced back at the almost robotic walk of Rin about twenty feet away. Hard listening distance for a ningen, but Nanjo wouldn't be surprised. "So how did you acquire this talented one here? Is she the one they gossip about? The ningen you kept out of sheer random will?" Sesshoumaru simply nodded. That seemed to fit the bill. "What do you plan to do with her? What is she exactly?" The Inu sounded like a gossiping old women.
Sesshoumaru slid his eyes to the youkai, "What do you imply by 'do with her'?" He asked blandly.
Nanjo held up his hands in an innocent contemplative sort of manner. "I mean like what purpose does she have? Surely you do everything for a reason."
Sesshoumaru mused this for a long while. They were near his castle, the festival being hosted in his lands, when he finally gave an answer. "She has no immediate purpose." It was true wasn't it? He had often thought of reasons to keep her around and contemplated her very being for hours. What she did for him that was irreplaceable. Why he felt he needed to make these purposes. It was all too new to him until suddenly he stopped. She didn't seem to have made any plans of leaving so neither did he. For as long as she wanted, she would stay in his house and her 'purpose' would never be questioned.
"Hmmm," was all Nanjo replied. Sesshoumaru tensed his jaw. Certain times like these he wished Nanjo was not so in tuned to him as he was. The old dog could sniff out a bluff even if one was bluffing to oneself. "You never do anything without a purpose Sesshoumaru; just think about that will you."
The younger Inu growled. "What are you implying?" he spat stopping his gait abruptly to face the completely unphased older Inu.
Nanjo simply raised an eyebrow to the demons sudden demeanor and continued walking. "Nothing you haven't already."
It was sunny this day and Rin felt a bit lighter. She didn't know why but she was excited to see Inuyasha, his mate, the monk and his mate as well. Kagome and Sango were like mentors for her in her still short life. Whenever Inuyasha was forced to pass through these lands or deal with his brother he always brought his mate, the monk, and the taijiya with him. It was Sango that had overseen her battle wear and hidden weapons. She had also half trained her on the art of deceiving a man. Kagome on the other hand, had taught her how to be brash enough to evoke respect from a man but how to be docile enough to remain feminine. All was a lot more difficult than Rin had thought, but her relationship with the women was strong. She guessed it helped that they were only four and five years apart. Kagome was twenty-three this year and Sango twenty-four both who tried to keep themselves from pregnancy as long as possible.
Rin chuckled to herself but stopped when she felt the strong permeating aura of her Lord. Turning she bowed deeply, "My Lord," she quipped always ready to please him.
"You wait for my brother and his troop?" he asked with a small sense of resignation.
"Hai my Lord they should arrive soon." Rin's easy smile slipped in place. "I will welcome them and house them in their usually quarters, ne?" Sesshoumaru simply nodded, stepped up onto the ledge of his wide stone gate and sat. Rin joined him immediately remembering when they used to do this when she was younger. Back then Sesshoumaru held her because she was so clumsy she would have dropped herself to her own death. They spent time in quiet silence filled with the sweet smell of late spring and each other. Sesshoumaru prized this about his ward, she no more needed conversation than he did, but she had no problem babbling on when she felt to do it. For some reason she always seemed to know when was right.
"They are here." Sesshoumaru announced a full five minutes before they came into view. They traveled light, Kagome on Inuyasha's back laughing with Sango and Miroku. Inuyasha smiled easily looking completely content with his misshapen family, even when they approached the gate, the happy look didn't fade from Inuyasha's eyes thought he tried his trademark scowl when facing his brother.
"Bastard, you seem well." Was his opening remark but it came out seeming more light than meant.
"Inuyasha! Rin jumped down and hugged the hanyou effectively throwing him off balance. Kagome dropped down and was bear hugged next. Sango and Miroku next until the girls started appraising one another and commenting on what had grown and filled out where. By the end of it Rin was a scarlet red and Sango and Kagome both had sly grins on their faces.
"Sesshoumaru," Kagome greeted amicably completely refusing to use his title, especially when she felt slightly disrespected when all he addressed her by was 'Inuyasha's ningen' or 'Miko'. Sango gave a nod but immersed herself in her conversation with Rin once again. The troop waltzed through the palace, Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha exchanging words with non subtle threats and insults while still handling business, the girls amongst themselves and Miroku hopping from conversations.
Sesshoumaru's respect for his little brother had grown, though the demon didn't know when. He supposed it has something to do with his power and leadership but the Inutaisho would deny this until death. "You plan to stay here Inuyasha?" The demon more stated than assumed. Inuyasha didn't look up from his parchment but nodded. Sesshoumaru sent for a servant to ready the rooms and turned back to his brother. "The day's festival will commence soon, do you mean to attend it as well?" Inuyasha looked up in a sort of puzzlement then nodded toward Kagome. Sesshoumaru rolled his eyes and turned to the Miko.
Kagome looked up from Sango, "What?" she asked confused as well. The Lords patience began to wane.
Rin, never missing her Lords moods intervened. "Did you and Inuyasha plan to attend the festival?"
"Oh," the Miko stated. "I hadn't thought that it was this time of year, I thought it was later. It is only for youkai right?"
Rin mused this question. "I suppose if you are a strong enough human that you can attend as well."
Kagome raised a brow. "I take it Sesshoumaru lets you attend."
Rin brimmed in pride. "I won the competition for my Lord and protected his title." A small blush crept with the words and Rin turned from Sesshoumaru slightly. The demon noticed but for his wards sake averted his eyes. He couldn't understand silly human follies. Why she would become embarrassed over restating facts was beyond him. He supposed it was something he would never know.
"Ahh! You fought youkai?" Sango's interests were piqued.
Inuyasha looked up from his parchment and turned to his brother. "You let her fight youkai?"
"I made her fight youkai." Sesshoumaru corrected. "She is far stronger than any ningen and most youkai because I trained her that way. If it were not for her life span she would not be considered ningen."
Rin's blush increased and she ducked her head as Inuyasha scrutinized her. "You're in one peace so I take it was easy for you?"
She thought a moment. She hadn't needed to struggle. She wasn't hit once. Everything came natural to her, she wasn't even scared. After a moment she realized that it had been easy for her. "Yes," she said slowly. "It was easy for me." Rin wrapped herself in her own reverie.
"How long ago did you fight?" Kagome asked.
"Yesterday," she replied automatically.
"And today?" Kagome asked.
"Today is Kariputchu. All youkai dance from sundown to sun up."
"Are you not going to join this one?"
"I am not sure." Rin glanced at Sesshoumaru, still he said nothing.
"Kagome we should join with young Rin here." Sango chirped.
"Inuyasha would you dance?" Rin asked curiously.
"Only with Kagome." The hanyou replied almost instantly. Rin looked at Sesshoumaru again but he seemed truly disinterested.
"I am not sure if humans can join this part of the festival. I have never seen any, and I have never joined any part before yesterday."
"Don't worry about it," Kagome replied. "I am technically a Miko, Sango is stronger than most middle-class youkai and you my dear are hardly ningen at all." She clapped her hands. "It should be fine!"
Inuyasha lifted a brow and glanced at Kagome before going back to what he was doing. Rin let her eyes run back to her Lord to find him looking at her in the most peculiar way. Like he was contemplating something. "My Lord?" She asked. However Sesshoumaru simply remained silent. Turning back to Kagome the ward considered, "Well the sun will not set for another six hours. What do you wish to do until then?"
Kagome stood unexpectedly, "Rin, there is a hot spring near here. We passed it not too long ago. Let's go there! I haven't soaked in a hot spring in so long." Kagome looked eager and Sango groaned at the thought.
Rin smiled "Of course, let's go."
When the women returned, an hour before sun down, Rin led Kagome and Sango to the fabrics chamber and the three picked out kimonos, and pretty sheer hakamas with dangling gold coins. Rin chose an ornate black kimono with red flowers stitched along the back that split up to the waist on either side. She donned a pair of sheer red hakamas that barely shielded her legs at all and pretty satin black slippers. Pulling a long black cloth embroidered with hanging golden coins, Rin covered her entire face, save the eyes that shook with every step. Kagome wore similar attire except her kimono was red and her hakama white; Sango's kimono was brown and her hakama a deep purple.
If Sesshoumaru had no sense of smell he was sure he would not have known who had just arrived. He had attended the festival long ago and had found himself bored to pieces waiting for it to be over. Inuyasha had found refuge high in a tree gazing at the stars as the youkai below socialized. However the familiar scent he knew only as Rin wafted to him; only the woman walking his way was most certainly not Rin. The woman walked like a lioness and the peeks of skin from the slit of her kimono did no good to dispel the image she had inflicted on Sesshoumaru. Suddenly the deepest feeling of displeasure welled in the Lord. How dare this ningen come baring skin that did not belong to her.
However he schooled his features, still not sure what was coming over him. He knew Rin meant no harm and one wrong look would destroy her spirits for weeks on end and only clear through some sort of praise.
Rin arrived right in front of her Lord only her brilliant hazel eyes visible. She bowed low, "My Lord," Kagome bowed as well out of respect.
With a whoosh Inuyasha leapt out of the tree and landed a little behind Kagome. The Kagome turned and accepted his outstretched hand. It was time like these that Rin could see their love like a tangible string connecting the two. She so desperately wanted the same. If only, if only. The two began a century old dance meant to seduce one another and joined the other youkai and hanyou. Kagome jingled as she moved deliberately slower than Inuyasha meant to depict her slow growing love for him and they hanyou danced around her rapidly showing all his efforts to woo her. The dance looked serene when done by the couple. Rin thought it was because their eyes rarely left each other.
Lord Huyoko Hibina was just conversing with Lord Suzari Sashine the Lord of the Middle Provinces when he caught sight of the trio walking. One whiff of the air told him it was the same ningen woman that accompanied the arrogant dog Sesshoumaru. He nodded to Sashine and stalked over to the young woman. Hibina knew he was good looking, well into handsome and he also knew he was young. He had the second largest military in all of Nippon and prided himself on being a strong individual. Hibina had pulled his long black mane into a high pony tail he knew accentuated the deep blood red of his eyes, his pale complexion and the natural angles of his face. He didn't see the ningen and her Lord talking so he didn't think it rude to interrupt.
With a fangy grin he reached the couple and gave a polite bow to Rin. "Pleasant to finally meet you little ningen."
Rin, grateful of the veil to hide her blush, bowed lower. "An honor," she replied with perfect manners, her voice soft and melodic.
Hibina's eyes found that of Sesshoumaru and he gave a cordial nod with a good smile. He may not like Sesshoumaru but he did respect his power. "Lord Sesshoumaru." he greeted, only being slightly disrespectful by greeting him after Rin. The Lord in question simply nodded to show his response. He seemed to lack the want to talk. Hibina extended a hand toward Rin, "Would you care to dance with me?"
This time the blush reached up to right under her eyes. "Excuse me Lord Hibina, but I do not think that dance would be appropriate." She eyed Kagome and Inuyasha, the two looking completely at home.
Hibina chuckled, "Nonsense, we would not perform that dance, but a simple one to the beat of the drums. I will show you an ancient hi-youkai dance that only nobles in the Southern Lands perform." He smiled easily and took her hand. After nodding once more to Sesshoumaru he led Rin to the same arena of earthen ground that all other dancing youkai were on. Rin had always thought dancing like a demoness would be hard. She observed the way Kagome moved, an ordinary ningen woman would find that impossible. Holding her leg high for far too long and moving in ways that seemed to defy natures law. However the dance Hibina shared with Rin was not difficult at all.
Hibina placed his hand on the cloth on the back of her neck and led her completely from there. Rin moved where she was guided and was elated that the quick pace was not hard to keep up with at all. She locked eyes with Hibina unconsciously imitating the same look Kagome gave her mate. The effect was the Lord pulled her closer and sped up. Grabbing her shoulders, Hibina about faced the ningen and guided her by wrapping his had around her upper arm. He turned her and took two large steps back. Moving her paused and waited for her to copy him. A quick learner, Rin fell into rhythm quickly. She held her hands up as she moved and the large sleeves of her kimono fell to expose her elbows and the quick turns ballooned her kimono out to expose the naked skin of her waist.
Sesshoumaru watched with a face of disinterest. Inside he was in turmoil. Realization was hitting him square in the chest. What this feeling was, he did not know, but he knew it was unwelcome, undeserved, and abhorred. And he knew it was caused by Rin. He could barely stand it. He tried to quell his growing rage by watching his brother dance but the two were so in love it made him sick. He directed his attention to the taijiya, who had long ago discarded the veil in favor of draping it over the monk. It was interesting enough to watch the two because their dance was not youkai, but clearly not human. Sesshoumaru inferred probably just spur of the moment movement that made the couple unique. But still he became tired of watching them and Sesshoumaru found himself watching Rin and that hot head demon dance as if they were long time lovers.
It made him sick. Standing, Sesshoumaru caught Rin's attention just as she was turning again. She froze and their eyes connected. Sesshoumaru let his look of disgust fill his features before ordering his imp and walking away.
Rin stood motionless for a moment confused as to what had brought this on all of a sudden. Her first thought was that he hadn't been looking at her. But she was fooling herself if she tried to pass that off. Her second thought was that she had in some way disrespected him and her mind raced as panic filled her body whole. Never would she intentionally disrespect her Lord. He was absolutely everything to her. It took her but a minute before he legs began to work and she ran.
"My Lord!" Rin was racing up the corridors of the Western Palace. She knew Sesshoumaru was near she could feel his aura in her bones. "My Lord please tell me what I have done!" Rin begged beginning to sob uncontrollably. Her adrenaline gave out and she stopped abruptly and fell to her knees holding herself. She had ripped the veil from her face and her long wavy hair hung drearily around her face. 'It's unfair.' She thought bitterly. 'If he would just give me a chance to explain whatever it is I have done.' But Rin knew her Lord. It was not often Sesshoumaru acted impulsively, but in every time he had never made a mistake or regretted his actions.
She felt the spike of his aura and it filled her with a new determination. Leaping up she followed him down the winding hall and through the servants entrance to his personal garden right next to his chamber. There she found him gazing at the high moon. Music could still be heard from the festival not too far away. "My Lord," Rin whispered all of the sudden afraid of what he might say. "please." Was all she could mutter.
There was a long pause. "You have irritated me Rin." Sesshoumaru, out of a loss of words, let the truth tumble out.
"But how my Lord. Please tell me and I will never do it again."
"That is it Rin." Sesshoumaru paused not sure how to admit this. "I don't know what it is."
Flabbergasted Rin sputtered. "But my Lord it must be something!" She tried raising her voice in a manner that she had never used with him. "Please Lord Sesshoumaru you must tell me wha-"
"It is your very presence." Sesshoumaru said venomously. Rin's breath left her and she felt like she couldn't breathe. What had he just said? "I can not take it any longer." Sesshoumaru was glad his back was to Rin. He was not sure if he ever remembered his face twisting into such displays of emotion. "Something must be done."
There was a decisive silence that cut deep through the ningen as Rin felt her world crashing around her. "My Lord please tell me is it because I danced with that youkai?"
Rage filtered though the inu youkai. In a second his face was mere inches from Rin's, eyes red and glowing and his fangs protruding from his mouth. "What did you just say?"
Rin felt fear shake her to the core. "I just want to stay by you my Lord. Like Rin always has." She reverted back into third person displaying her fear. It did nothing to quell her Lord. "If my Lord desires, Rin will never dance with another youkai again. Rin will never dance ever again. It has only been you my Lord." Rin could feel herself breaking down. She was saying anything that she thought would dampen the situation.
Sesshoumaru took a large step back. "What?" he fixed her with an almost disgusted stare.
Rin could feel herself shaking. "It has always been you my Lord. The one Rin lives for, the only thing Rin loves. Please don't send Rin away! Please-"
"That is enough." His eyes came back to the cold color of amber gold. "You must go. Your simple ningen follys have gone far enough. You will not shame me by proclaiming you love this Sesshoumaru. You are nothing but a ningen. Even thought I invested so much into raising you to be above other ningens you are still ningen. This has gone far enough. Had I known this before I would have left you at the first ningen village across Nippon." Sesshoumaru turned away from Rin and whistled. Two inu-youkai maids came and bowed low. "Take Rin to her chambers and let her pack her belongings. Then escort her to wherever she wishes to go. She is no longer welcome here."
Rin stood in shock. What was her Lord saying? Surely he was not telling her to go. Where would she live? What would she do? How would she survive not seeing her Lord's face, not hearing his voice? It wasn't until she felt the warm hands of the maids that it truly set into her. He was ordering her exile. He was kicker her out. "No!" Rin clawed out their grasp and ran to Sesshoumaru. The demon leapt high out of her reach. "No! My Lord please don't send me away! I promise I will never speak of this again? How will I survive? Please don't."Sternly yet kindly the maids wrapped their arms around Rin and pulled her back through the palace with the girl screaming and sobbing all the way. The strength left her and she slumped on the floor of her chamber.
"My Lady, our orders were to help you pack and then escort you to your destination."
"NO! I will not leave!"
"My Lady you must-"
" No!" Rin curled herself into a tight bun and rocked. 'It is not true. This is just a nightmare. He would not abandon me. He would never send me away. I am the closest living thing to him, even if I an ningen. I am strong. He is proud of me. I am an asset.' Rin convinced herself until a black oblivion met her.
[A/N] Well there you have it folks. Next Chappi will be up soon! Review Plz!


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Internet Explorer
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In this luminous new novel about love, loss, and the unpredictable power of memory, John Banville introduces us to Max Morden, a middle-aged Irishman who has gone back to the seaside town where he spent his summer holidays as a child to cope with the recent loss…
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On a languid midsummer's day in the countryside, the Godley family gathers at the bedside of Adam, a renowned mathematician and their patriarch. But they are not alone in their vigil. Around them hovers a clan of mischievous immortals—Zeus, Pan, and…
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Hi Everyone,
In the last week I'm trying various times to install a WPMS on my server, but every time the installation don't work great... I don't understand!
I follow the steps described on http://codex.wordpress.org/Create_A_Network, I arrive at the step #3 but the results is everytime the same:
- The interface of wordpress keep the same
- I can't install plugins
Also the images attached:
- Image 01
- Image 02
Maybe is my server? or what's is the problem?


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Quid Pro GATE 2/2012
Kitchen Science - 1/2012
Flip Video - Night before Xmas
Festival of Trees - 12/2011
GATE Robo Games - 11/2011
Mr. Will Hatch and Mobile Ed Productions delivered an outstanding evening of hands-on Science at Cooper Elementary School. On Tuesday, December 8, 2015, students were challenged at as many as 16 inquiry-based stations including everything from Dominoes, to Sudoku, bubble-making and even 3D printing. Many thanks to the over 100 families and students that made time to critically think about their each move during the 1.5 hour session!


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Artur Davis Makes Appeal to African-American Voters
Ahead of the Ann Romney and Chris Christie speeches, former Democratic Rep. Artur Davis of Alabama made a polite but passionate appeal to fellow African-Americans, as well as others who supported President Obama in 2008.
More In 2012
- Harry Reid, His Romney Tax Allegations, and No Regrets
- Two Capitol Hill Democrats Seek Details on Fed Leak Probe
- Most Memorable Moment: Obama Reminds GOP of His Election Wins
- Payback: Republicans Paint 'Millionaire' Democrats as Out of Touch
- Rick Perry Talks About Second Chances as He Ponders 2016 Bid
- U.S. Panel Urges More Early Voting
"There are Americans watching right now…searching right now because they know their votes didn't build the country they wanted," he said.
He urged them to listen to the Democrats next week in Charlotte, N.C. "When they say we have a duty to grow government…does it sound like compassion to you, or does it sound like recklessness?"
He also chided Democrats for exaggerating the country's economic and social differences.
Mr. Davis left the Democratic Party after an unsuccessful bid for governor in Alabama, in which he felt his party abandoned him. He's considering a run for Congress in suburban Virginia near Washington. His remarks seem unlikely to move many to the Romney side, but could help reassure skeptical voters that the GOP is inclusive. Tuesday's session included a number of minority speakers, in addition to lots of women.


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1. Can you provide a brief history of the studio: when was the firm founded and who are the partners? Where did they study and where else have they worked? How old are they?
My practice gradually developed out of my studies at Lunds School of Architecture. During my second year I started doing work with graphic design, this expanded into interiors and small houses. My first major project was the Villa Bergman - Werntoft, which I finished the same year I graduated. The next year it was nominated best debut project in Sweden and everything else followed.
I don't have any employees at the moment, but I work in close collaboration with several student helpers and Blasberg & Andréasson Architects in Malmö, sharing an office space. Their analytical skill and expertise in historical buildings and materials is the perfect complement to my very intuitive design process.
Another important influence is my work as a teacher at the Lund School of Architecture. My collaborators and partners are my students. I learn more from their projects than they do.
2. How would you describe your approach to architecture? What are your aspirations for future work and projects?
I begin all my projects with an quick and very intuitive design process that relies heavily on the spirit of the site and my understanding of the clients. I would say that form, space and order surpasses any kind of conceptual ideas or beliefs. Ultimately, what after some serious thought feels right, is usually right. New technologies are always at our disposal, but the important questions about space stay the same. I would love to try out my skills at a larger and more complex project. Another aspiration is to work internationally, it would just be so much fun to see more of the world.
3. Where do you find design inspiration? Is there anyone else whose work you especially admire?
The work with my students is my greatest input. Apart from that I try to stay updated in the field of graphic design and visual arts - our worlds have so much in common. Zumthor, Utzon and Friberg models that spring to mind, but I could just as well say Jackson Pollock.


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Well, After last week it's not a surprise. 3 goals that shouldn't and our 2 goals that should. 2 Wins that should be if Officiating crew did the job right, Charlie adams is low life. On tv and didn't have the class to start by saying he was sorry for maiming bale with a naff challenge! No class. No character. I hope he gets a similar challenge and the same result.
To add, The Premier league should Follow American football and penalise players for cheating and Bad fouls by fines and bans on evidence after the game. I remember Robbie Fowler once telling the ref that he hadn't been fouled. Blackpool lack the class and are desperate for the points by any means. If the players knew they;d be banned or team docked points. It would stop!


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Champions League Diary: Bayern Munich 1, Lyon 0
The Journal provides minute-by-minute analysis of Bayern Munich's 1-0 victory over Olympique Lyon in today's Champions League semifinal, first-leg match. Guest blogger Pete McEntegart offers commentary on the match and the television broadcast.
Lyon likely expected a difficult road to the French club's first-ever Champions League semifinal today at Bayern Munich, but nobody could have predicted the trip would be this tough. With European air traffic snarled by the ash cloud caused by Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull (no, I can't pronounce it either), Lyon made the 500-plus-mile trip by bus over two days, arriving yesterday.
There it'll find a red-hot Bayern Munich squad fresh off dispatching Manchester United in the Champions League quarters and smoking Hannover 7-0 over the weekend in the Bundesliga. Thus the key matchup: a Bayern attack led by Dutchman Arjen Robben and France's Franck Ribery vs. a defense-first Lyon backed by 23-year-old star keeper Hugo Lloris.
With this the first game of a home-and-home semifinal leg (the return trip to Lyon is next Tuesday), the pressure is on Bayern to put some goals in the bank. Join us here all game to see if it can do just that — and if I can avoid ham-handed, volcanic-ash metaphors.
As kickoff approaches, let's note that Bayern will be without captain Mark Van Bommel. The key ball-winner in the center of Munich's midfield has to sit out today due to an accumulation of yellow cards. He'll be replaced in the starting lineup by Danijel Pranjic.
The top offensive weapon for OL (Olympique Lyon) is Argentina's Lisandro "Licha" Lopez, who will be playing as a lone forward in Lyon's 4-5-1 setup. Midfielder Miralem Pjanic has meanwhile led Lyon so far in the Champions League with four goals, but dangerous scorer Michel Fernandes Bastos has surprisingly been left out of the starting lineup. He might be nursing an injury, but let's see if he comes on as a sub.
1st minute, 0-0
We're off! Bayern sends it long off kickoff, goal kick for Lyon.
5th minute, 0-0
Bayern enjoying some early possession but nothing vaguely threatening thus far, not counting the extremely loud home crowd.
5th minute, 0-0
Lyon has free kick from distance, but ball handled easily by Bayern defense before offsides flag flies.
8th minute, 0-0
Bayern's Ivica Olic taken down by Lyon defender Anthony Reveillere, though Italian ref Roberto Rosetti says it was clean play on ball; no free kick. Crowd not happy as Olic makes a meal of it by writhing in pain.
11th minute, 0-0
Ribery can't get on the end of a long through-pass for Bayern. Right idea.
12th minute, 0-0
Muller draws FK for Ribery; Daniel Van Buyten mishits the resulting cross. Good opportunity.
13th minute, 0-0
Ooh! Bayern misses golden opportunity to take lead as Bastian Schweinsteiger gets a free header off a corner kick, but nods it wide. Lyon GK Lloris was barely in the picture.
16th minute, 0-0
Schweinsteiger cross for Thomas Muller, who can't quite get on top of it and heads it wide.
18th minute, 0-0
Ribery sent in by beautiful pass from midfield but shoots just wide between two defenders. Terrific buildup. Bayern dominating chances but finish not there yet.
20th minute, 0-0
Ooh! Another great setup goes wanting for Bayern. This time Ribery sent one long for Robben, who beautifully laid it off in box for Olic. Alas for Munich, the Croatian made a hash of it, firing well wide from in close.
22nd minute, 0-0
Muller puts one over top from just outside box as Bayern is attacking in waves. Some beautiful soccer. For one side, anyway.
23rd minute, 0-0
Lyon central defender Cris stays down on field for a while, though miraculously recovers just as stretcher appears. Bayern crowd whistles to indicate its belief Cris is just buying time for shaky Lyon defense to regroup. I think they're on to something.
28th minute, 0-0
Bayern's Pranjic received a yellow card for an intemperate challenge. He'll have to miss the return leg thanks to previous yellows in the Champions League, though that's not a huge loss because he's only starting in Van Bommel's place.
30th minute, 0-0
Lyon has its first good scoring chance, as Ederson fires from distance through a crowd after a corner kick was only partially cleared. The whistler deflected off a Lyon player and could have gone most anywhere; where it ended up was a few feet wide of the post.
35th minute, 0-0
Ribery takes two straight CKs for Bayern, but not much doing.
37th minute, 0-0
Red card for Ribery!
37th minute, 0-0
Ribery is sent off for his challenge on Lisandro Lopez. He did get his boot over the ball and came down on top of Lopez's shin. It did indeed look dangerous on the replay. Unsurprisingly, the Bayern crowd disagrees vehemently.
41st minute, 0-0
Well, that certainly changes the complexion of things. Bayern will have to play the rest of the way with 10 men, and Ribery will also miss the second leg in Lyon. Huge call by Rosetti, though it's hard to argue with it much after the replay.
44th minute, 0-0
Lyon midfielder Kim Kallstrom blasts a half-volley from some 35 yards, forcing Jorg Butt to punch it away. Kallstrom absolutely smoked that one.
Halftime, 0-0
Rosetti blows the halftime whistle after two minutes of stoppage time and is showered with whistles, i.e. boos. It's nil-nil, which is a beautiful scoreline for Lyon on the road.
Halftime, 0-0
In the opener we discussed the pressure Bayern would likely feel to score some goals. That seemed to play out in the first half. Munich generated some excellent chances, but the finish was wanting. Then with Bayern still moving forward in force, a perhaps frustrated Ribery lost his head for a moment in trying to win the ball back in the attacking end.
The resulting red card has changed the entire feel of this two-leg semifinal. You have to think Bayern will keep pressing ahead for a goal, but with only 10 men that would leave them more vulnerable to a Lyon counterattack and a crucial "away" goal (road goals are the first tiebreaker should the cumulative score be tied after the two games). That would seem to put Lyon in the driver's seat, though it's nothing a goal couldn't cure for Bayern. At any rate it certainly sets up an intriguing second half.
46th minute, 0-0
We're back. One key change during intermission: Bayern has brought on midfielder Anotoliy Tymoschuk to replace Olic. Bit of a surprise for the sniper Olic to go off. Not sure if he got nicked or Bayern wants to play a smidge more conservative, which would make sense given the Ribery send-off.
49th minute, 0-0
Pranjic unleashes a sizzler that Lloris has to knock aside for a corner. Though Bayern can't do much with the latter.
52nd minute, 0-0
Robben draws a foul from Toulalan, which in turn draws a yellow. Toulalan is one of seven Lyon players carrying two yellow cards into today; he'll miss the second leg on Tuesday.
55th minute, 0-0
It'll be 10 players apiece! Toulalan picks up his second yellow card in a matter of minutes, so he's sent off for the game. Frankly, it was a rather pedestrian challenge on Schweinsteiger. Makeup call, anyone? At any rate, Lyon has lost its man advantage. Great break for Bayern.
61st minute, 0-0
Oooh! Robben shakes-and-bakes in the box, drills the ball along the turf but just wide. Robben has looked more and more dangerous the last 5-10 minutes.
63rd minute, 0-0
Just as when the teams were even at 11, Bayern is dominating possession and creating quality chances. But they need to put one in the back of the net. Is this really the same team that won 7-0 over the weekend?
66th minute, 0-0
Schweinsteiger puts it off the side netting. Here's hoping he'll take the brief stoppage in play to shorten his name.
68th minute, 0-0
Robben sends beautiful cross to substitute Mario Gomez in front, but Gomez misjudged it in the air and only got off a weak header into Lloris's hands. He should have done better with that one.
69th minute, 1-0 Bayern
Robben scores for Bayern!
71st minute, 1-0 Bayern
Robben must have figured he'd do it himself. From outside the box he ran at several defenders, then cranked one on goal that eluded Lloris. The ball actually appeared to deflect off Muller's head, but Robben has been given full credit for the goal. As well he should.
74th minute, 1-0 Bayern
Now Lyon has to think harder about moving forward to try to pot that elusive away goal. To that end OL has indeed brought Bastos off the bench; the Brazilian has been on the pitch for almost 10 minutes now.
78th minute, 1-0 Bayern
Bayern currently playing a neat game of keep-away. Lyon can't even touch the ball, never mind move forward.
81st minute, 1-0 Bayern
Longtime Lyon standout Sidney Govou has also come on as a sub. Does the veteran have any late-game magic in him?
85th minute, 1-0 Bayern
Robben blast from just outside the box turned aside brilliantly by Lloris, though Gomez was flagged for offsides on the play so a goal would not have counted. Then Bayern coach Louis Van Gaal subs for Robben, who didn't look happy to come off. Van Gaal gives Robben a quick what-for, which seems to have worked.
88th minute, 1-0 Bayern
Lyon tries to send one long for Lopez but Bayern defender Demichelis wins a goal kick. Bayern has really kept Lopez bottled up.
89th minute, 1-0 Bayern
Ooh! Govou almost gets the coveted away goal for Lyon, but he slots his shot just wide. Best chance for Lyon in some time. And time is running out.
91st minute, 1-0 Bayern
There will be three minutes of stoppage time.
93rd minute, 1-0 Bayern
Bayern content to take air out of ball.
FINAL, Bayern Munich 1, Lyon 0
And that's it.
This 1-0 Bayern victory over Lyon is kind of a glass half-empty/half-full result for both squads. Considering Ribery's sendoff meant that at one point Bayern was playing down a man, any victory should be considered a bonus. On the other hand, Bayern had a number of great chances it failed to finish, and a slim 1-0 edge heading into Lyon for the second leg is no sure thing. Lyon might have been willing to take a 1-0 Bayern scoreline at the start of the game given how well it's played at home in the Champions League. But the French side never looked especially dangerous, not even during the nearly 20 minutes that it was up a man. It has a lot of work to do next Tuesday.
Does Lyon have the firepower to overcome even one Bayern away goal? We shall see soon enough.


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To the Moderators and everyone else on this forum:
Please accept my apology for an earlier post where I made a request that I should not have made.
If it's at all possible, I'm still looking for any possible assistance with a problem. The following is my prior post (now edited):
I had posted yesterday about a problem that I encountered when I messed up my attempt to install evox and a new HD. After recovering and installing my original backup onto my original HD, xbox live would not let me connect. In network settings, when I attempt to connect, I got a message saying "xbox live not found." I am not banned from xbox live, as I never had the chance to try it with the modchip turned off prior to going through by evox fiasco.
I'm not trying to repeat my prior post. Just wanted to put this one in context. Thank you very much to all of those that replied to my previous post. Based on those responses, I have a few more questions.
Someone mentioned using the Slayer install to place a fresh version of ms dash on the C: partition. First question, when I do this, does it install xbox live components or is there a option to install without xbox live? Part 2, if I do this with the Slayer disc, are there specific files (relating to xbox live) on my current HD that have to deleted prior to the install?
The main question is does anyone know exactly which files (relating to xbox live) must be deleted off the HD in order to then do a clean install?
Thank you all for your time and once again, I am truly sorry for my prior transgression.
Still Looking For Help With Loss Of Xbox Live
Started by PSonic , Dec 07 2003 02:33 AM
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As the cost of higher education continues to rise, many college students can use all the financial breaks they can get.
One source of assistance: the federal tax code, which has a tuition and fees deduction as well as tax credits for higher education.
A variety of websites feature information about various federal tax benefits for students. Here are a few where you can learn more:
Efile.com: Provides a wide range of information about various education tax credits and deductions; www.efile.com/student-tax/.
CollegeBoard: Spotlights the breaks associated with college tuition tax credits; tinyurl.com/7h3mz3e.
Federal tax credits: Covers rules associated with education credits; tinyurl.com/79lwltt.
Internal Revenue Service: Serves up details on the two key federal tax education credits: The American Opportunity Credit and Lifetime Learning Credit; www.irs.gov/publications/p17/ch34.html.
UncleFed's Tax Board: Highlights education and work-related expense deductions; tinyurl.com/6rlkz4k.
Chuck Myers
McClatchy-Tribune News Service


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After a disastrous Australian GP weekend, when the team encountered a spate of reliability issues with its E22, Lotus is braced for some more tough times as it bids to make up for its lack of early season running.
But it hopes that smaller steps forward in form over the next few races will be followed by a return to its previous strong form for the start of the European season.
Speaking about how he thinks the team will fare over the next few weeks, technical director Nick Chester said: "It is difficult to make a strong prediction after the weekend we have just had in Australia, especially with the limited mileage under our belt.
"I'm certainly hoping for an improvement for Malaysia and then some more in Bahrain, although as they are back to back it is likely to be small steps.
"It may well be Barcelona before we are in a more stable position and compete at the level we want to be at.
"One thing's for certain, we're not sitting back; we're pushing all the way with the focus on extracting the maximum from the E22."
Although the progress of the E22 mostly depends on improvements to its Renault engine package, Lotus has been working on aerodynamic development in the meantime.
Chester added: "We are still producing new bodywork and have some good upgrades coming for Malaysia in all areas around the car.
"We will keep pushing as hard as we can with the upgrade programme."
- Sports & Recreation


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Frequently Asked Questions
Do we need to add anything?
Our party hire service is made to be as easy as possible. The package we supply has everything included. Simply pour the mix into the machine and turn it onto freeze - very soon your very own Daiquiris will be ready to enjoy.
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Readsboro principal admits to embezzlingJuly 28,2014By Patrick McArdle
Staff Writer
BENNINGTON — The former principal of the Readsboro Central School admitted on Monday to embezzling from the school but may evade a criminal record for the incident.
Michael W. Heller, 41, of Fairfax, pleaded guilty on Monday in Bennington criminal court to a felony charge of embezzlement. The state dismissed a misdemeanor charge of petty larceny.
As part of the plea agreement, Heller's sentencing was delayed for 18 months. If he has no further legal problems, the charge will be expunged from his record.
Through his attorney, David Silver, Heller admitted on Monday to embezzling about $4,500 for his personal use from about $6,000 in grants that were awarded to the school last year.
Police released information about the embezzlement in January. Heller resigned from his position as principal of the school, where he had served for about a year, in December.MORE IN This Just In
WEATHERSFIELD -- A 29-year-old man died Wednesday night after his motorcycle left... Full StoryThe family of Julia Lathrop will host an all-you-can-eat spaghetti dinner buffet at the Downtown... Full StoryTeen avoids deer, hits utility pole
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South Sudan
Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
The federal election result is on a knife-edge, with the outcome between a majority Turnbull government and a hung parliament.
Malcolm Turnbull has been delivered a major rebuff and left potentially embattled, with bitter recriminations breaking out in conservative ranks. Even if the Coalition ends up with a majority, Turnbull will have an uphill struggle to manage a party that includes many who are his enemies.
There were immediate calls for a review of the superannuation policy that the government took to the election, which cut back concessions for high-income earners and deeply angered the Liberals' base.
Liberal ministers blamed Labor's Medicare scare campaign for turning voters against the Coalition.
Late in the night the swing against the government was 3.6%. The election has seen a high vote for small parties.
Turnbull waited until after midnight to address his supporters, declaring: "I can report that based on the advice I have from the party officials, we can have every confidence that we will form a Coalition majority government in the next parliament". In his speech, he did not accept any blame for the bad result or suggest he would make any changes as a result.
Treasurer Scott Morrison said the Coalition was "on the cusp" of being able to claim the 76 seats needed to form majority government.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, who spoke to supporters around 11:30PM, said the outcome might not be known for days but whatever happened one thing was sure: "the Labor Party is back". He said the Liberals had "lost their mandate".
Labor's Senate leader, Penny Wong, said there was "too much on the table to call it tonight".
The ABC said that with more than 70% of votes counted, the Coalition was on track to win 72 seats, and Labor set to claim 66, with five crossbenchers including one Green, and seven seats in doubt.
An unanticipated big swing in Tasmania has cost the Liberals Bass, Braddon and Lyons. Labor has won Eden-Monaro (NSW), Macarthur (NSW), and the notional Liberal seat of Burt in Western Australia.
In Queensland, Assistant Innovation Minister Wyatt Roy appears to have lost Longman and the Liberals may lose Herbert. The Sydney seat of Lindsay is likely to fall, as is Macquarie. In the Northern Territory, Solomon is set to fall.
Nick Xenophon's Nick Xenophon Team (NXT) candidate Rebekha Sharkie has taken Mayo from former minister Jamie Briggs, who had to quit the frontbench after an incident in a Hong Kong bar. Briggs tweeted "After a tough fight tonight hasn't been our night".
The Liberals could win the Victorian Labor seat of Chisholm. The Labor-Green contest in Batman is neck and neck.
Despite Turnbull calling the double dissolution to clear out small players in the Senate, the new Senate will contain a plethora of micro players. They will include three South Australian senators from NXT. Pauline Hanson has been elected to a Senate seat in Queensland. Broadcaster Derryn Hinch has claimed a Victorian Senate seat. Independent Jacqui Lambie has been returned in Tasmania.
In his speech Turnbull took on criticism, already being aired, that he should not have called a double dissolution, saying this had not been a political tactic but had been driven by the "need to restore the rule of law to the construction industry".
Even if Turnbull wins majority government he may not have the numbers to get the industrial relations bills, which were the trigger for the double dissolution, through a joint sitting.
The backlash in conservative ranks erupted immediately.
Senator Cory Bernardi said in a tweet to Liberal pollster Mark Textor:
Broadcaster Alan Jones clashed with one of Turnbull's numbers men, senator James McGrath, on the Network Seven panel. "There were a lot of bed-wetters in the Liberal Party and you seemed to be the captain of the bed-wetters," Jones said. McGrath hit back, saying Jones was "not a friend" of the Coalition.
Tony Abbott's former chief-of-staff Peta Credlin and Attorney-General George Brandis had a spat on the Sky panel over the government's superannuation changes. Credlin said the changes would not go through the Coalition partyroom in their present form; Brandis retorted she was not in the partyroom.
Tasmanian senator Eric Abetz said there had been strident criticism in emails to his office of the superannuation changes. "I for one will be advocating we reconsider aspects of it."
Victorian Liberal president Michael Kroger said the party's base was "furious" with the superannuation policy. "I certainly hope the partyroom would look at this issue."
Conservative commentator Andrew Bolt called for Turnbull to quit. "You have been a disaster. You betrayed Tony Abbott and then led the party to humiliation, stripped of both values and honour. Resign."
Morrison, asked if Abbott could have won the election, replied "highly unlikely".
Roy and Peter Hendy, member for Eden-Monaro, were both heavily involved in the Turnbull coup.
Deputy Liberal leader Julie Bishop said "undoubtedly" the Medicare scare campaign had been an important factor in the result. She said a number of people on election day had raised Medicare with her at polling booths.
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said Labor's Medicare's scare was more effective than the government had thought during the campaign. "No doubt the absolute lie Labor was running on Medicare was effective."
Turnbull lashed out over the Medicare scare, saying "the Labor Party ran some of the most systematic, well-funded lies ever peddled in Australia".
He said that "no doubt" the police would investigate last minute text messages to voters that said they came from Medicare.
Abetz said the "three amigos" in Bass, Braddon and Lyons had been swamped by the Medicare campaign.
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce held New England from independent challenger Tony Windsor. Independent Cathy McGowan retained Indi. The Nationals have taken Murray from the Liberals, and headed off a challenge in Cowper from independent Rob Oakeshott.
The poll has seen the first Indigenous woman elected to the House of Representatives – Linda Burney in the NSW seat of Barton.
The pre-poll count continued to 2AM. There will be no more counting until Tuesday.
Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
Malcolm Turnbull's speech to deflated supporters in the early hours of Sunday morning was extraordinarily lacking in self-awareness.
Turnbull had just brought his party a devastatingly bad election result. That's true even if he manages to reach majority government, which remains far from clear despite his assertions. In the early hours of Sunday things got closer as more votes were counted. With 77.6% of the vote counted, the ABC tally had the Coalition and Labor on 67 seats each, five crossbenchers, and 11 seats in doubt.
Yet Turnbull showed not a scintilla of humility. He made no gesture of contrition, no promise that he had heard the message the people had delivered.
Instead he denounced Labor's scare campaign – as if the Liberals themselves have not at times been masters of that dark art. And he made an unconvincing attempt to justify a double dissolution that has ended up producing a Senate as potentially difficult as the last one, with the added negative of including Pauline Hanson, so giving her a national platform.
There is now a bizarre parallel between Labor and the Liberals in turning triumph into disaster. Kevin Rudd won convincingly in 2007. He was then removed by his party and successor Julia Gillard came out of the subsequent election with a hung parliament. Tony Abbott had a strong win in 2013, was replaced – and now the Coalition will have a tiny majority or there will be another hung parliament, with the outcome depending on the crossbenchers.
Turnbull and his supporters can argue that if Abbott had still been leader the loss would have been greater, and that's probably correct. But it is unlikely to be an argument that will do Turnbull much good in the days ahead when there won't be a lot of Liberal love around.
Turnbull complains about Labor's lies about Medicare's future, but they were made more credible to the public because of the Coalition's previous lies and actions. Did it think people would not remember Abbott's 2013 promise of no cuts to health? Or the attempt in the 2014 budget to bring in a co-payment, unsuccessful though it was? Or the various subsequent moves for cuts and user pays measures?
Labor's campaign might have been exaggerated and dishonest, but the Coalition itself had effectively given the ALP the building blocks for it.
Turnbull's argument that he called a double dissolution not to change the nature of the Senate but because the lawlessness in the construction industry had to be confronted is facile. He did not even make the industrial relations legislation a central talking point in the campaign.
And in his speech he overlooked the point that even if he reaches majority government it is doubtful he would have the overall parliamentary numbers to get the bills through a joint sitting (although at this stage it is impossible to be definite about what the new senators might do).
In the wash-up, everything from the Coalition's strategy for the past eight weeks – running almost entirely on a "plan" based on company tax cuts – to the mechanics of getting the case across, will be under internal criticism. It will be remembered that Turnbull's pitch for leadership included his ability as an economic salesman. That, as it turned out, he over-hyped.
The Liberal conservatives will try to unravel policy. They started on election night with their bugbear – the superannuation changes. Assuming the Coalition survives in government, how will the ructions in the Liberals now play out for the same-sex marriage plebiscite?
Turnbull was looking for a mandate to allow him to be his own man. Instead of getting that, his government has been left struggling to survive.
If it does, the conservative forces will now take one of two views of him: as someone who must be forced to follow their will on core policies, or as someone who at a future date should be replaced. Or maybe they will adopt both views.
Turnbull's enemies within his party have played this election craftily. Abbott was mostly quiet during the campaign, although in the final week he made clear that he thought the issues of budget repair, national security and border protection had been underdone. His former chief-of-staff Peta Credlin used her role as TV commentator to run an at times sharp critique of the Turnbull campaign. Now the conservatives will be full-throated.
Turnbull talks about the need for stability and unity. The Australian public is faced with instability. Whatever the result ends up being, there is no clear mandate and an extremely difficult Senate.
Turnbull, if he is still prime minister, would be confronted by the prospect of internal disunity plus a chaotic upper house that could likely make it nearly impossible to do much that is meaningful.
As happened when he was opposition leader, Turnbull is again in a situation where he didn't read the danger signals. He thought he was more persuasive than Bill Shorten; he and his strategists (apparently) believed that whatever the national polls said, the marginal seats would stick. They said the election would be close but appeared confident it was in the bag.
Turnbull will pay a high price for his misjudgements, though it is unclear exactly how high.
Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
Adrian Beaumont, University of Melbourne
After counting into the early hours of Sunday morning, the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) currently has Labor leading in 72 of the 150 lower house seats, with the Coalition ahead in 66.
There are seven not-yet-determined seats, where the AEC selected the wrong candidates to count on a two-party-preferred basis and now has to realign the count. The Coalition will win five of those seven seats, and Labor one, bringing the totals to 73 for Labor and 71 for the Coalition.
However, late counting, particularly of postal votes, favours the Coalition. The AEC lists five seats as close, and in three of those Labor is narrowly ahead. If the Coalition wins these three on late counting, the Coalition would lead the seat count 74-70. Other seats where Labor currently leads could also be won by the Coalition on late counting.
Current sitting crossbenchers Bob Katter, Andrew Wilkie, Cathy McGowan and Adam Bandt easily retained office, and will be joined by the Nick Xenophon Team's (NXT) Rebekha Sharkie, who crushed Liberal Jamie Briggs in Mayo.
The NXT could win a second seat in Grey, one of the seven seats where the AEC needs to realign the count.
However, Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott both lost their bids to return. The Greens are unlikely to win a second seat.
Labor gained all three Tasmanian seats that were previously held by the Coalition, and also gained Solomon in the Northern Territory. Labor gained seven seats in New South Wales, at least two in Queensland and at least one in Western Australia.
However, the Liberals have a good chance of gaining Chisholm from Labor in Victoria, perhaps owing to the state government's dispute with the Country Fire Authority.
The current primary votes are 41.8% for the Coalition (down 3.7% on 2013 election figures), 35.3% for Labor (up 1.9%), and 10% for the Greens (up 1.3%). "Others" have a collective 12.9% (up 6%). In South Australia, the NXT won 21% of the vote. The Coalition and Greens are likely to gain a little at the expense of Labor in late counting.
Kevin Bonham says the current two-party swing against the Coalition in the 138 classic Coalition vs Labor seats is 3.3%, which will probably moderate to 3% when counting is finalised. The Coalition is thus likely to win the two-party count by about 50.5%-49.5%, but will lose many more seats than it should have based on sophomore effects. Perhaps Labor's marginal seats campaign was strong enough to overcome sophomore effects.
Sitting members usually have small personal votes that are not associated with their parties. When one party wins a seat from another party's sitting member, they should get an additional boost at the next election, but this didn't appear to happen last night.
The final pre-election polls were very close to the overall primary and two-party figures, but single seat polls were poor. Yet again, national polls were much better than seat polls.
Though it is unlikely Labor will form the next government, this is a much better result for Labor and Bill Shorten than was expected, particularly when Malcolm Turnbull was riding high in the polls after deposing Tony Abbott.
For Turnbull and the Coalition, this was a bad result. However, it is clear that Turnbull's popularity dropped between February and April as he abandoned his more "liberal" approaches to climate change, same-sex marriage and other issues. Had Turnbull been more progressive on some issues, it is likely he would have been comfortably re-elected.
Even if the Coalition scrapes out a lower house majority, it will have fewer senators than it currently has.
One of the newly elected senators will be Pauline Hanson. Here is the Senate table, based on results at the ABC. There are 76 total senators.
The three definite "Others" are Pauline Hanson in Queensland, Derryn Hinch in Victoria and Jacqui Lambie in Tasmania. Most of the undecided seats will be contested by micro parties, with One Nation in the race for other seats.
The Coalition had 33 seats in the old Senate, so this will be reduced. This will make it difficult to pass the industrial relations bills that were the reason a double-dissolution election was called, even with a joint sitting.
Normally only six senators for each state would be up for election, but as this election was a double dissolution all 12 were up. The quota for election was reduced from 14.3% to 7.7%, and this has benefited smaller parties.
Under the old Senate system, it would have been possible to calculate Senate seats using the group voting tickets. As preferences are now up to voters, it is unlikely we will know the outcome of some of the undecided Senate seats until the AEC has data entered all votes and pressed the "button" on its computer system, probably by late July or early August.
Adrian Beaumont, PhD Student, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Melbourne
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
Emil Jeyaratnam, The Conversation; Fron Jackson-Webb, The Conversation; Michael Courts, The Conversation, and Wes Mountain, The Conversation
Australians have voted, but with the result currently unclear, how are the numbers falling across the country? This post will be updated when we know more.
As at 11:45AM Sunday, July 3:
Emil Jeyaratnam, Multimedia Editor, The Conversation; Fron Jackson-Webb, Health + Medicine Editor, The Conversation; Michael Courts, Editor, The Conversation, and Wes Mountain, Deputy Multimedia Editor, The Conversation
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
The Australian national/federal election has been run and currently there is no clear result. Some have lost seats and others have been elected for the first time (or in some cases, won their seats back). It would seem that the Coalition government may be returned with a drastically reduced majority of less than a handful of seats at best, with the ALP still an outside chance of being able to seize government. It is more likely that there will be some form of hung parliament, with no side being able to form a majority.
Jenni Henderson, The Conversation
The UK has voted to leave the European Union but even before all the votes were counted volatility made its way across Asian markets and to Australia.
The S&P ASX200 has finished 3.3% down at the close, wiping off approximately $50 billion in value, while the Australian dollar has dropped 3.4% to 73.4 US cents.
Richard Holden, Professor of Economics at UNSW says the volatility is likely to continue at least for another 24 hours.
"We could see volatility, perhaps not as extreme as the current levels, for a really extended period of time," Professor Holden says.
One of the major factors in this will be how affected UK banks and therefore Australian banks will be by this decision, as they rely on short term funding for their operations.
"If those markets start to dry up and there's uncertainty about their funding getting rolled over, one day to the next, then that's when things can go pear shaped within an incredibly short period of time," he adds.
The position of hedge funds, banks and other financial institutions in betting on currencies in over-the-counter markets (not regular currency markets) in times like this, also adds to the uncertainty.
"Basically we don't know, what we don't know and suddenly there's a liquidity crunch and someone gets into trouble and that has flow-on effects like we saw in 2008," Professor Holden says.
He also warns that a drop in the Australian dollar shows that money could flow out of Australia and back to the UK as financial institutions there change their positions.
In the longer term, Brexit could affect the way Australian companies trade with the European Union through the UK.
"All of a sudden that's going to be more complicated, it's going to have to go through under some new trade agreement and we know that a series of bilateral trade agreements are always more complicated and have more nuance than large multilateral trade agreements," Professor Holden says.
All this comes as Australia goes into the last week of an election campaign and this volatility will keep economic management top of mind for Australian voters.
"I don't think either side of politics in Australia has an exclusive right to say they are going to be the best economic managers, I guess we'll have to wait and see about that as well."
Jenni Henderson, Assistant Editor, Business and Economy, The Conversation
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.


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After weeks of buildup that saw the triumphant returns of the two front-runners to win this year's event—Randy Orton and Chris Jericho—the Royal Rumble has finally arrived compliments of St. Louis, Mo.
A handful of young names are expected to impress in the Royal Rumble this year, including Cody Rhodes, Wade Barrett, Sheamus, Mason Ryan and possibly Dolph Ziggler.
This big-four pay-per-view is where the undercard goes to die, as most of the intrigue and excitement is centered around the fastest 60 minutes in sports and entertainment as the WWE gears up for WrestleMania season.
Be that as it may, this year's Royal Rumble presents a very serviceable undercard featuring a main event between CM Punk and Dolph Ziggler that is expected to be a very strong wrestling contest.
Among the many burning questions surrounding tonight's Royal Rumble match, the element of surprise looms large, as WWE's decree that "every superstar is eligible" will figure to open up a king-size can of worms. My defiantly un-synched Mock Royal Rumble from earlier today submitted the likes of Michael Cole, Christian, Dusty Rhodes and Daniel Bryan as those who could make an unexpected appearance in the 2012 Royal Rumble match, but let's hope the WWE really hits our mark-out buttons with what they have in store.
Here are my predictions for tonight's Royal Rumble pay-per-view:
Singless Match: John Cena over Kane by Disqualification
World Championship Steel Cage Match: Daniel Bryan over Big Show and Mark Henry by escaping the cage
WWE Championship Match w/Special Guest Referee John Laurinaitis: CM Punk def. Dolph Ziggler via pinfall
30-Man Royal Rumble Match: Chris Jericho wins the 2012 Royal Rumble
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