Adult-FanFiction.org : Inuyasha / Yashahime

Brothers Alternate Ending Posted	By : LindaSims Category: InuYasha > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 11317 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, nor make money from this story.

Chapter List
- 9
- 10
- 11
Again I remind you, I have taken certain liberties with the powers of the Ten-siega. I have also
created Inu no Tashio’s personality strictly from the small amount we saw of him in the third
movie. Other than that, we know little of him. He was an honorable man and he loved Izayoi
enough to risk everything for her and their child, but impatience seems to be an Inu Youkai trait.
We see it in Sesshoumaru on occasion and in Inuyasha often. I think the dai-youkai would have
been similarly afflicted though he was probably better at handling his emotions.
Brothers
Chapter Ten
Sango and Miroku came to an abrupt halt, staring stunned and wordless at the dai-youkai
standing in the foyer. They both instinctively knew who he was, but how he got there was beyond
either of their understanding. He’d been dead for two hundred years. Was it possible to resurrect
a corpse so long decayed?
            “I repeat, who are you?” Tashio was nearing his limit of patience. Dealing with strangers
was not on his current itinerary.
            “My lord, this is the human girl, Kagome. The one I spoke to you off. The one who
loved Lord Inuyasha. The others are her companions, Sango-chan and The Monk, Miroku. They
have all been long-standing companions to your son, but I do not understand why they are here.”
Myougo jumped onto Tashio’s shoulder and surveyed the scene. “Kagome-sama looks ill.”
            “She isn’t ill, Myougo-sama.” Sango said, finding her voice. “At least I don’t think she is.
She’s in pain. She said something about having to come to the castle to help Inuyasha because he
was in terrible danger, and that Lord Sesshoumaru had died. She said if she didn’t get here in
time, the world was going to die.” She exchanged a worried look with Miroku and then returned
her gaze to the flea and dai-youkai. “Do you know what she’s talking about?”
            “Hai,” Tashio gazed into the confused brown eyes of the huntress, suddenly feeling all his
anger and frustration evaporating. “The link between the Inu Youkai and earth’s spirit is being
severed. With the untimely death of Sesshoumaru and the loss of his energy, the living energy
force that keeps the demon youkai in check is deteriorating. Should Inuyasha die as well, there
will be nothing to stop the rise and eventual overflow of evil jyaki power.”
            “But what about you? Now you’re here. Can’t you do something?” Miroku braved direct
eye contact with the great lord and found the amber crystals warmer than he thought they would
be. A shadow of Inuyasha passed over the aristocratic features as the Youkai returned his look.
            “Iie. I can do nothing. The land is no longer connected to me.” Tashio passed a hand
over his brow and finally asked the question that had been plaguing him since he’d risen from his
tomb. “Exactly how long have I been dead?”
            “Just over two hundred years, my lord.” Miroku spoke humbly, bowing as best he could
without dropping Kagome. “Your presence has been sorely missed. Not a day goes by that
Inuyasha does not think of you or wishes he’d known you. He wishes for that very much. He
keeps the Tessaiga close to him always. It is his connection to you and he cherishes it above all
other things he possesses. You can be proud of him, my lord. He is a good and honorable man.”
            “And Sesshoumaru? What of my elder son?”
            “That I cannot say, for the only contact I have had with Lord Sesshoumaru has been laced
with evil and lust for power. He is feared and hated in the land we come from, but I know here,
in the Western Lands, he is revered as The Lord. And he holds charge of a young human girl who
seems to love him very much. That is all I can tell you.”
            “His greatest aspiration was to defeat me in battle and take the Sou’unga and Tessaiga
from me. He wished to travel the path of conquest and power. His desire for those things was
insurmountable.”
            “Is that why you left him the Ten-siega? To try and teach him to value something besides
his own desires?” Miroku was astonished. “Was is meant to teach him the meaning of what
makes the living soul so important to the fabric of our existence?”
            “Hai. But it seems he never learned the lesson... not until Inuyasha came to stay with him
these past weeks.” Tashio turned a wounded gaze toward the stairs. “They both discovered the
true meaning of life and love, inside of each others souls. Now one of them is dead because he
could not live with what he’d done to the other in years long past, and the other lays dying
because he risked everything to try and save that which he loved most in the world.” His gaze
dropped to the floor, and then he moved with lightening speed and grabbed Kagome by the
shoulders, shaking her until her head rose and she met his glittering gaze. “Did you hear me, girl?
Did you hear what I said?” his voice snarled and whipped across her pale face. “Evil though he
was, my Sesshoumaru died of a broken heart and tortured soul, and now that which you
condemned as unworthy lies dying because he could not live without the love of that heart.”
            “I–I know...” Her voice trembled with pain and regret. “I s-saw it... I saw it happen.”
            “Did you?” Golden eyes searched dove-gray. “Then do you know how it is I am here?”
            “Iie, I do not. Onegai, my lord, we must go. Inu... I can heal him.”
            “You?” He was confused.
            “She’s a Miko.” Sango provided. “She can heal his wounds.” Tashio nodded, bent and
scooped Kagome up into his arms, dumping Myouga on the floor in the process, and then
bounded up the stairs, taking them three at a time. Sango and Miroku followed behind as quickly
as they could.
            When they reached the room, the odors drifting out the door were so foul the humans
almost wretched. Tashio grimaced in distaste but carried Kagome in regardless. Several candles
provided light in the dim, shrouded room and he could see well enough to find his way to the two
figures on the floor at the foot of the bed. He reached the little girl first. She was sitting on her
haunches, wrapped in Sesshou’s tail, holding the Ten-siega in her lap. Her pretty face was blank
of all expression. He set Kagome down next to her.
            “Rin-chan?” Kagome carefully reached out and touched the child, finding her skin cold
and clammy. “Rin?” Slowly the little girl turned and looked at her. The large brown eyes were
glassy and blank. “Rin? Where is Inu-yasha?”
            “There.” Rin pointed to a place in front of her and Kagome painfully turned to follow her
finger. “INUYASHA!” she screamed when her eyes fell on his crumpled body. His right hand
and forearm were burned almost beyond recognition, and lessor burns mottled his neck and torso.
She crawled to his side.
            Tashio was stunned as he looked on the face of his hanyou son for the first time since he
was a newborn infant. ‘Izayoi.’ The face he looked at was a strong resemblance of hers, yet, he
could see himself reflected there as well. And the ears... did he remember the child having those
ears before? It didn’t matter really, this was his beloved son. The child he and Izayoi’s love had
created. The rush of emotions that filled his heart so suddenly made him stagger. ‘Inuyasha.’ He
dropped to his knees beside the hanyou and lifted the unburnt hand between his. It was cold, but
he could see the barest movement of breath through the chest. His son still lived.
            “Can you heal him, Kagome-sama?” He asked quietly as he watched tears roll down her
face. “Or is he beyond your powers?”
            “I... I don’t know.”
            “I see.” Tashio rose to his feet and approached Rin. Bending down, he retrieved the Ten-siega from her lap and then returned to his son’s side. “If you cannot, perhaps I can.”
            Kagome looked up and saw him holding the sacred fang. “Doesn’t he have to be dead
before you can use that?”
            “Hai. So you must try first, and if you cannot save him, I shall.”
            She nodded and laid her hands over the hideously burnt arm. The pain in her chest
subsided as she called on her healing powers to reconstitute Inuyasha’s flesh and restore function
to his body. Brilliant blue light began to glow beneath her palms, and then spread to cover the
hanyou, encasing him in a cocoon of warmth and spiritual energy. ‘Live, Inuyasha.’ She begged
his tormented soul when she reached it, finding it huddled in a ball of agony and grief. ‘Live and
come back. The world needs you...I need you.’ She knelt beside him and pulled his head into her
lap, gently stroking his hair. ‘Your father has come home, Inu. Come back and help him save
Sesshoumaru.’
            ‘Save...Sesshou...’ Glassy amber eyes opened and gazed up at Kagome. ‘My Dad is
here?’
            ‘Hai, Inu. He has the Ten-Siega now, he can save Sesshoumaru. He can bring him back
to you, koishii, but you have to live before that can happen. Will you, Inu? Will you live for
me? For Sesshoumaru?’
            ‘Sesshoumaru... my Saiai...take me back to him, Kagome. Take me back.’
            ‘Hai, koishii. Take my hand and we will.’
            Inuyasha came back to conscious reality coughing and choking, gagging on his own
breath, but very much alive. He clawed the air with his newly restored right hand and arm as if he
were trying to remove a canopy of hanging cobwebs. As it was, he nearly toppled over into the
crouching Kagome.
            “What the hell?” He growled through a parched, tight throat. “What is going on?
Where’s Sesshou? Where’s the Ten-siega? Rin-chan?” He was about to get to his feet when a
strong hand shoved him back down on the floor. “Hey!”
            “Sit!”
            Inuyasha growled and turned his eyes upward, meeting the stern amber gaze of a man he’d
only seen once, and that was hardly an official meeting. He froze and his jaw dropped. The
purple stripes on the Youkai’s cheeks as well as the features marked him as one person.
            “Dad?”
            “Hai. We meet at last, Inuyasha. Not quite the exchange I had in mind, but at least we
are both alive, ne?”
            “But, how... you’re... I thought... what the hell? You’re dead.”
            “Not anymore, so it would seem.” Tashio offered a hand to his son, who tentatively
accepted it and let him pull him to his feet and then into his arms for a long, emotional hug.
“Perhaps you can help me understand just how it is I came to be here. I certainly don’t.”
            “How should I know.” Inu shrugged and looked around the room. “I always wondered
why Sesshou didn’t bring you back a long time ago.”
            “Because he didn’t want to share the power of ruling the Western Lands with me,
Inuyasha. Surely you know how much your brother lusts for power and dominion? I understand
the two of you have been enemies for a very long time.” Tashio watched his son’s face carefully.
            “Hai, we were, but not anymore. Sesshou isn’t like that anymore, Dad. He’s changed.
He’s... different. He was learning how to laugh, and play...”
            “Play?”
            Inuyasha nodded and turned his gaze to Rin. “Rin-chan and I were teaching him. He was
getting pretty good at it too. Wasn’t he, Rin-chan?” Tenderly he bent down and unwrapped the
little girl and lifted her into his arms, cradling her against his chest and shoulder. “We were
teaching him all kinds of things, weren’t we?
            “Hai.” Her voice was so tiny. “I’m sorry, Uncle Inu.” She whispered, pulling back to look
into his face.
            “For what, koishii?”
            “Ten-siega almost killed you and it would have been my fault. I told you to use it.”
            “Rin-chan!” Inuyasha hugged the child hard, stoking her back. “It wasn’t your fault. I
wanted Sesshoumaru back just as much as you did. It would never have been your fault. I just
can’t wield Ten-siega, the same as he could never hold my Tessaiga.”
            “Now we’ll never get him back.” She said, breaking into sobs. “He’ll be dead forever.”
            “Iie, Rin.” Kagome struggled to her feet and lurched toward Inuyasha. “Come with me
and I promise everything will be alright.” The amount of pain on her face had lessened
tremendously with the healing of Inuyasha, but she was still suffering. “Let Inuyasha and Lord
Tashio help Sesshoumaru...we’ll wait outside with Sango and Miroku, okay?”
            “Lord Ta-shio?” Rin’s large eyes grew even bigger as she finally took full notice of the
other youkai. His face looked formidable to her and she clutched her arms around Kagome’s
neck. “He looks scary,” she whispered.
            “But he’s not.” Kagome carried Rin out into the hallway and closed the door behind her.
            Tashio watched her leave, wondering about her motives concerning his son. He supposed
all things would show themselves in time, but at that moment he needed to concentrate his
energies on his eldest. Gripping the hilt of the Ten-siega in his hand, he turned back to the bed
and caught his breath. Inuyasha had crawled up onto the bed and was holding the dead, limp
body of his brother across his lap, stroking the long silken strands of his silvery hair. His touch
and the look on his face was so loving and tender that Tashio could feel the depth of the bond that
existed between them.
            Unnatural or not, it was a love as pure as that he shared with his beloved Izayoi. It was
not something he could deny. Quietly he approached the pair, standing at the side of the bed so
he could look into a face that was no longer the arrogant, youthful son he remembered.
            “Sesshou-maru.” For the first time in so many years, the name fell from his lips in a tone
that was not filled with disappointment. He reached out his hand and let it slide softly along the
curve of the cold cheek, down the graceful neck, and across the broad chest. “My son, I never
believed such a thing would be the end of you. I did not believe you capable of love. How my
heart cries for you and the pain you have felt. Because of this, and your willing your body to die,
it will be difficult to bring you back.”
            “Dad?” Inuyasha looked into his father’s face, worry and fear widening his eyes. “I
thought the Ten-siega could bring anyone back?”
            “Iie, Inuyasha. There are some souls even the Ten-siega cannot reach. A soul that wills
itself dead is one of them. If I am to bring Sesshou-maru back, it will take more than just the
lifeforce of my soul. It will take both of us.”
            “Both of us?”
            “Hai. You are a strong youkai, my son, even if you are hanyou. Your lifeforce is
powerful and the love you have for your brother will make it stronger. Together we may be able
to coax him back from the other side.”
            Inu weighed his father’s explanation and then slipped off the bed to stand next to him.
“Tell me what to do.” He said.
            “Put your hands over mine. Ten-siega will not harm you as long as you are with me.”
            “Hai.” As Tashio placed his hands around the fang’s hilt, Inuyasha covered them with his
own. Then he was at last given the chance to see what only his brother had and father had seen.
The little gray soul demons that feasted upon the dead, turning them into decayed refuge. His
father growled low and dangerous, and together they swung the sword destroying the filthy
beasts. Then, reaching deep inside of their lifeforce energies, the two youkai fused their souls into
one stream of power, focusing it into the fang whcih began to shudder violently beneath their
hands.
            Suddenly the room filled with blue light and then white. It was blinding and Inuyasha shut
his eyes against it. The moment he did, he found himself standing next to his father on a winding
path leading through a grassy meadow lined with trees and filled with wild flowers.
            “Where are we, Dad?” He asked, looking around in confusion.
            “I don’t know.” Tashio replied. “But your brother must be here or Ten-siega wouldn’t
have brought us here.” He took his son’s arm and urged him up the path. “I think we should go
this way. Come.” They walked through the meadow until the entered the forest, and then Tashio
stopped. “Do you hear that?” he asked.
            Inu cocked his head, pricked his ears, and listened. The faint sound of water filtered
through the trees. “There’s a stream nearby.”
            “We should go there.”
            “Hai. I agree.” It took only a short time for them to traverse the twists and turns of the
trees and bushes to reach the stream. Once there, they followed it until they came to a large clear,
blue pool being fed by a tall waterfall. It looked very much like Inuyasha’s favorite pool by the
castle. “Do you think he’s here?”
            “Hai. Somewhere close. Can’t you feel him?”
            “I... I’m not sure. I feel something, but...”
            “Tell me what you are feeling.”
            “Emptiness, Dad. I feel empty and alone.”
            “That, my son, is your brother.”
            “Oh, Sesshou...” Inuyasha looked to the pale sky and then across the pool. There was a
heavy grove of evergreens and he crossed the stream to reach them. The oppressive feelings
increased as he approached, and then became overwhelming as he passed through to the inside. It
was dim beneath the canopy and he had to wait for his eyes to adjust. When they did, he gasped.
Sesshoumaru sat perched upon a large stone, not twenty feet away from him, looking very much
alive, but weary and worn beyond description.
            “SESSHOU!”
            He cried the name in a voice filled with anxiety and disbelief and bounded across the twig
strewn forest floor to pounce upon the started, dumb-struck Youkai. “Sesshou! Oh Aniki,
you’re real! Can you feel me, Sesshou? Can you feel me?” His arms wrapped around his brothers
neck and shoulders as he fell to his knees in front of him, burying his face in warm soft throat.
“You’re alive, Sesshou! You’re alive!”
            “I-Inu?” The once proud voice was so tremulous, so unsure. His hands were shaking like
dried leaves in the autumn wind as he lifted them to touch what he was sure was a figment of his
imagination, but as his fingers fluttered across the naked flesh of Inuyasha’s back and slipped
through the silky silver-white tendrils of his hair, Sesshoumaru moaned a deep, mournful sound
that echoed through the damp forest. Anguish and loneliness rotted in his belly like spoiled food,
and he wanted nothing more than to vomit them up and be rid of them. His arms closed around
the trembling body and he felt the embrace around his shoulders tighten. He closed his eyes,
savoring the scent that filled his nostrils and burrowed into the flesh of his brother’s shoulder.
“Inu-yasha... my Saiai. How are you here? Have you died and come to this loneliness place?
Please tell me you aren’t dead, my little one. I cannot bear to think of you that way.”
            “Iie, Aniki.” Inu pulled back and smiled into the beautiful, beloved face. “I’m not dead. I
came to bring you back.”
            “Bring me back?” Sesshoumaru gazed into the glistening jewels of his brother’s eyes,
confusion written upon his face. “How can you bring me back, Inu?”
            “The Ten-siega.”
            “But you cannot hold the Ten-siega, you baka pup. Don’t you know that?”
            “Hai, I do now.” He looked shame-faced and refused to meet Sesshoumaru’s eyes.
            “What does that mean?” An edge entered the hollow voice. “Did you do something
foolish you impetuous hanyou? Did you?”
            “I had to try, Sesshou...”
            “Baka Hanyou!” Sesshoumaru yelled, standing up and dumping his brother on the ground.
“Are you completely insane? Don’t you know Ten-siega will kill you if you try to wield it to
bring back the dead?”
            “I do now.” Inu scowled and stood up to face his brother. “You could at least pretend to
be a little grateful, you fucking arrogant dog. Don’t you realize that I risked my life to try and
bring you back? Don’t you know it practically killed me when you died?” He stormed, shoving
his nose up into Sesshou’s face. “I nearly lost my damn mind... not to mention what it did to
Rin...”
            “Rin?” Sesshoumaru paled. “What happened to Rin?”
            “I almost killed her, you selfish bastard. I was so washed up in grief, I was just a little bit
crazy, and when she came into the room, I almost shredded her.” He turned away, and angry
pout on his face. “We miss you. Both of us. We need you too, so get up off your depressed ass
and come home.”
            “I-I can’t.”
            “Why the hell not?”
            “How do I get there, Inu?”
            “With us, Sesshou-maru.”
            Sesshoumaru turned to face the owner of that voice and fell to his knees as he looked into
the face of his father. “Chi-chioi... Kami-sama.”
            Tashio strode forward, knelt in front of his distraught son, and took him in his arms,
holding him for a very long time. Inuyasha walked over to the pair and wrapped his arms around
both. Together, the three youkai forged a new bond and healed the wounds of the past, forever
sending the pain, suffering, and misconceptions of all things to a place where they would never
again cause problems.

            Inside Sesshoumaru’s bedchamber, the white light began to fade, and as it did, Tashio and
Inuyasha slumped to the floor unconscious from the amount of energy they expended. However,
on the bed, Sesshoumaru’s lifeless body suddenly filled with the breath of life, heaving in an
upward arch as he gasped for breath, coughing and rolling onto his side. The pasty gray of his
flesh turned white and then its usual pale pink and the lack-luster silver of his hair returned to the
brilliant silver-white. Last of all, the glorious jewels of his amber eyes blinked open, shining a
molten gold as he focused on the familiar surroundings, his nostrils twitched, searching for scents
and smells that would tell him he was home.
            ‘Inuyasha... Chi-chioi...?’ He tried to sit up but his muscles were too weak and he fell
back gasping for air. Sleep, he needed to sleep. Morning would bring time to express his
feelings. Morning...
            “Kagome-chan, can we go in now?”
            “Iie, Rin-chan. Tomorrow, we will go in tomorrow.”
                                                            *********
            Although the sun had risen more than an hour past, the three youkai remained unconscious
within the dim, shuttered room. The two on the floor lay curled close to one another, their hands
loosely holding the hilt of the Ten-siega which had fallen across the elder’s chest. Both faces
were obscured by the younger’s heavy mane of silvery hair.
            On the bed lay the Lord of The Western Lands. The even rise and fall of his chest
accompanying the whispery sounds of his breath as it passed through his nose and lungs. His own
hair lay in a pool of silk around his head and across the bed. One clawed hand drooped over the
edge, dangling in limp relaxation of the muscles. The dark, maroon stripes on his wrists, waist,
and face stood out so starkly against his pale flesh, they looked almost black. Moaning in his
sleep, Sesshoumaru rolled his head to the side, his eyes blinking open.
            ‘Where...?’ He struggled into a sitting position, looking around the room in confusion.
Where was the forest? The stream and the pool? Where...? Suddenly his eyes widened as he
began to recall events that he was certain could not be true but were the only explanation for him
being where he was. ‘Inuyasha? Saiai? Where are you?’ He lurched to the side of the bed and
threw his legs over the edge. A rush of dizziness washed over him and he froze, hanging his head
low into his lap. He couldn’t remember ever feeling so weak.
            ‘What’s wrong with me?’ He ran a trembling hand through his hair and fought to regain
his composure. ‘I feel as though... as though...’ Reality struck Sesshoumaru’s senses like a
lightening bolt and his thoughts fragmented, then convoluted into a horrible understanding. ‘I
died...in Inuyasha’s arms. Dear God... I was dead and alone in the forest of the afterlife.’ His
hands fisted in his silver mane and he pulled at the roots until he growled at the self inflicted pain.
‘He...he came for me. Inu came for me, and... and... Chi-chioi! The Ten-siega! Chi-chi!’
            His head shot up and he slipped off the bed, his feet landing slightly unsteady on the floor.
Grabbing the bed for support, he balanced his weight between himself and his make-shift crutch,
then he began to search the room for his family. Shuffled steps took him to the end of the bed
where he stumbled over the body of his brother.
            “Inu-yasha!” Sesshoumaru’s voice was weak and scratchy and his throat was sore, but he
forced the name from his lips as he dropped to his knees beside the hanyou. “Inu...” He reached
out and grabbed Inuyasha’s arm, dragging him across the floor and up into his lap where he
brushed the tangled hair out of his face. It was dirty and smudged, but he didn’t care. It was
Inuyasha and he lifted him up into his quaking arms, burying his face in the warm throat as tears
filled his eyes and rolled down his face. “Inu.”
            Tenderly he cradled the hanyou’s head in one hand, murmuring his name over and over
like a holy mantra. Then he gently lowered him so he could look at his face. It was still beautiful,
just as he remember, and leaning into the hanyou, he pressed his lips over the slack mouth,
running his tongue over the softness. Tremors quaked through him and he crushed his brother
against his chest, seizing the lips in a hungry kiss.
            Inuyasha moaned, his mind struggling to wake as a warmth and presence invaded his body
and curled around his soul. ‘Sesshou? Is that you?’ He drifted to the surface of his awareness
and discovered himself wrapped securely in his beloved brother’s embrace, the heat of his kiss wet
upon his lips. A whimpering cry of pure joy rose within him and Inu pulled Sesshoumaru as close
to him as he could. “Aniki,” he sobbed beneath the pressure of that beautiful mouth. “You came
back... you came back.”
            “Hai, Saiai.” Sesshoumaru replied, releasing Inuyasha’s mouth so he could gaze into the
golden eyes. “I came back for you... Aishiteru, Inuyasha. You are the light of my soul.”
            “Aishiteru, Aniki. I could not live without out you.”
            “Hai, and it appears the three of us will be living together now, ne?” Tashio had risen,
observed the passionate embrace between his sons, and then crossed the room to the window
where he stood watching them. “There is much that needs to be settled between us. All of us, the
least of which is not your relationship. We will deal with it first.” At that, he threw the blinds
open, flooding the room with light.
            Sesshoumaru slowly disentangled himself from Inuyasha’s arms, and then rose as fluidly to
his feet as he was able. His eyes fixated themselves upon the figure of his father as memories of
the last time he saw him alive rushed through his mind. He’d still been a youth then, a pup of less
than thirty years; not yet full grown, and still he had asked for the Sou’unga and the Tessaiga to
be given to him before his father left to rescue his human lover. What a fool he’d been all those
years ago. How disrespecting of his father’s life, and how naive about the workings of the world.
All he cared about was the acquisition of power. He must have been a terrible disappointment to
the great dai-youkai.
            “Chi-chioi,” Sesshoumaru took a tentative step toward the elder inu. “I... forgive me.” He
said in a low, quiet voice, bowing his head and shoulders in respectful submission. “I have been a
dishonorable son and I have not upheld the wisdom of your legacy. Rather, I have spent my life
in the pursuit of worldly things and that which would make me stronger. I prey on the weak, and
spent many years in the torturous abuse of my own brother. I have even sought after his demise
by my own hand. I do not deserve to carry the title of Lord of these Western Lands. I am not an
honorable man.” Dropping to his knees, Sesshoumaru leaned forward and put his forehead on the
floor. “I humbly ask that you once more take your place in my stead.”
            Inuyasha was stunned. Sesshoumaru was disgracing himself at their father’s feet. He was
giving up his title and offering it back to the dai-youkai. A low rumble of angry frustration
vibrated in his chest, but as he jumped to his feet, he turned silent and confused. Sesshoumaru’s
tail was gone. The grand fluffy length of silk was no longer attached to the Youkai, but instead
lay in a bundle of furry chaos on the bed. ‘Your tail is gone? What the hell does that mean?’ He
stumbled forward and dropped down beside his brother.
            “Sesshou? Why are you doing this? Dad doesn’t want to be Lord again. It isn’t his
lifeforce that’s connected to the Lands anymore, it’s your’s.” He watched the shocked face rise
from the floor to gaze at him in confusion. “You have to do it. It’s your spiritual responsibility.
Don’t you understand that?”
            “I...” Sesshoumaru turned a stunned face to his father. “Chi-chioi?”
            “Hai, my son. Your brother is right. Only you can be the Lord of the Lands now. My
soul has been gone too long. I no longer possess the connection. Only you have that. Only you.”
Quietly he walked over to his sons and knelt in front of them. “And because Inuyasha is so tightly
bound to you, his soul is also connected. You are both required to keep the Lands jyaki in
check.”
            “Both of us?” Inuyasha was now as confused as Sesshoumaru.
            “Indeed. Perhaps now would be a good time for you to get that mop of hair out of your
face so your brother can see why he no longer has a tail.”
            “You know?!” Inu stared at his father, his mouth hanging open.
            “Hai, I know, and there is a reason. It’s written on your face and will soon be singing
through your blood.”
            “What? I don’t...”
            Sesshoumaru turned abruptly and grabbed Inuyasha’s face in his hands. Frantically he
pushed the silvery strands out of the way, tucking it behind his ears to keep them out of the way.
Then, as his brothers face was fully revealed, he realized it wasn’t dirty or smudged but streaked
by two identical, pale lavender demon stripes. One on each cheek bone. They were the same
color as his human eyes.
            “Inuyasha?” Disbelief colored the youkai’s voice and he grabbed both of his brother’s
wrists, turning them out. The same pale streaks were present there as well, and when he looked,
he found them on either side of his waist. There was no need to look for them on his thighs and
calves. He knew they would be there. “Kami-sama, Inu.” He rasped, once more cupping the
beloved face. “Your full Youkai. You’re a dai-youkai!”
            “I...I am?” Inuyasha lifted his hands and touched his face. It didn’t feel any different, but
when he reached for his ears, he discovered the dog ears were gone and in their place were
elongated, pointed ears like Sesshoumaru’s and Tashio’s. His hands started to shake. “My ears,”
he whispered. “They’ re gone.”
            Sesshoumaru gasped. He hadn’t even noticed when he was wiping the hair out of Inu’s
face, but now, now he could see them and he threw his head back, laughing with joy. “They look
awfully strange on you, pup.”
            “Shut-up,” Inu growled, fingering the new ears with hesitant fingers. “It’s not like I asked
your opinion, Lord Dog.”
            Tashio sat watching the two of them interact and knew there was no way he would be able
to separate them, but the intimacy issue had to be addressed. That was one thing that would have
to change, even if it was only in frequency. Both of his sons needed to take mates. Sesshoumaru
was well past the age, and Inuyasha needed a female simply to keep him out of trouble. Tashio
sensed that his moody younger son was very good at getting himself into a lot of that. He smiled
and shook his head. This life should prove itself to be quite interesting. Quite interesting indeed.
TBC
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Brothers Alternate Ending Posted