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The Great Trial	By : WinterDovane Category: InuYasha > Yaoi - Male/Male > InuYasha/Sessh?maru > InuYasha/Sessh?maru Views: 22203 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 3
Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha and Co nor do I make any money from this fic.

Chapter List
- 10
- 11
- 12
X: Awkward
A/N: This chapter is the chapter of flashbacks, apparently, but also for some easy bonding time. Fluff and some Angst as well as much more profanity than in previous chapters. It seems to be that InuYasha curses more when he's embarrassed or uncomfortable, so yeah... Finally, the inu brothers have moved from one thing to another that they needed some time. It was rough to keep going, but thanks so much to my reviewers!!
Ajj: Inu is definitely getting there (wink,wink). Nymph guy, hmmm. But also, I completely agree with your point about focus, so they will fade back into the backdrop soon. Thanks for reviewing!
Vyber: You give me a big, warm fuzzy with your reviews.
Kale: in a word, yup. I kinda went back to my hanyou roots with this chapter, so there is MUCH more profanity. Don’t know if I should apologize for that or not...
C-loke: I think it’s more believable if they take it slow, right? This chapter is a much needed respite from the constant pace so far. Think so? Not sure if I should do the next chapter more intense fighting and action or... I don’t know yet.
Red: Do not apologize, period. Your review was not only helpful and insightful, but I read it every time I sit down to start brainstorming, and yes, I do take suggestions into account and for inspiration. I like your Shippo angle with Kenshin, good call. Don’t worry, the relationship is slowly but surely moving. Thanks so much! Feel free to hit me up with more.
Niako-san: yea! The base was hit or miss. Glad it was a hit.
Kobanya: I love your suggestions, and you helped me so much with continuing on—thank-you, thank-you!
Kuragari: I was fretting the last chapter might have been too much in one go, but thanks for showing the love. Slowly but surely, the in brothers will figure it out (I hope?)
Darkenedangel: Thank-you sooo much. I don’t know how I’m going to address the marking thing, I’m still not sure, but his heat while facing the army gave a huge bout of inspiration for the chapter after this one.
All of you: please keep suggesting and speculating!
I don’t own InuYasha, but I have added my own characters and ideas to an existing story.

I:
Two hundred and two years ago, the shores of Nippon
A massive explosion rocks the land. Fire bathes the remains of a once-great palace, cleansing it of evil by utter destruction. Out of countless servants and soldiers, there are only two survivors, and it is unlikely they will live to see morning. The young woman, a much respected princess from the most prominent human family in the Western Lands, runs for her life and that of the precious bundle held tightly to her breast for warmth against the bitter cold. The child whimpers, but the air too cold for him to draw in a proper breath to truly cry. Even close to his mother’s heart, the male child is shivering in his first few moments in the world.

Lady Izayoi, once renown for her beauty and kindness but sadly disgraced for mating outside her species, is barefoot with only a yukata and the fire rat robe over her hair to protect her from the harsh elements. She should be weeping and lamenting the death of her mate while she staggers through the dark, but until they are safe, she cannot dishonor his memory by breaking down now. With snow up to her calves and a mountain side behind her from the smoldering rubble, her body is already overtaxed from the recent birth, death, and resurrection. Any other human would have collapsed, worn out from the physical and emotional trauma; any other would have simply lie down to die.

She, however, refuses to give up—unlike many noblewomen, she is strong of heart and will. With her infant depending on her and her husband sacrificing his life to assure they both live, she will not stop, she will keep running until her body gives out completely. Her tenacity is a trait her infant son will someday inherit.

The full moon shines down to light her path, as if the Gods are with her, and even in grief, the lady thanks whatever forces help her and her son to survive.

From behind, the tiny ball of light makes her tense and duck behind a tall tree, whispering to the child in her arms to try shushing him. Her heart pounding in anticipation, she frees a hand to latch onto a branch sticking out of the snow. One not too heavy or cumbersome. The ball stops out of her sight, and light flashes brightly.

While she is human, she is spiritually gifted enough to feel the raw power exuding from around that tree. She has a moment of indecision, should she put her son down and prepare to defend them both? Would that powerful demon scent her as human and merely leave them?

“My Lady,”

Her breath catches and her eyes automatically burn with moisture. She peeks around the tree, and for a moment has a glimmer of hope. But, no.... Only one tail and flowing silver hair not pulled up in a top knot...

“My first-son! Sesshomaru....” Her voice breaks, caught on the edge of relief and out right sobbing.

The young inu turns immediately at the sound of her voice. His face is an unreadable mask, only his golden eyes show how relieved he is to see her alive.

“My Lady,” he strides quickly through the snow, his tail moving to wrap around her and the child, his new sibling, in her arms. Her feet are freezing and he feels a mild irritation that it has taken so long to sniff her out once he realized there were indeed survivors from his sire’s final battle. He is not comfortable with feeling guilt and does not handle the emotion well, but regardless, Lady Izayoi is an honorable and strong human in her own right. He would not sully her by allowing her and his new sibling to die simply by the elements alone.

Looking up into his face, her tears can finally fall, “Sesshomaru... My lord, Touga...”

“Yes,” with effort for her, his voice gentles and he bends down slightly from his greater height to pick her up gently as he can manage, taking care not to scratch her with his claws. His tail wraps more snugly around her for warmth, and he holds her high against his chest to try keeping the cold plates from her skin. “This Sesshomaru’s father is no longer of this world.”

Silently, another round of tears fall. “Tensaiga?” She whispers in bleak hope.

Sadly, he was not able find any of the damn swords in the bleak wreckage, but his father had once told him the Sword of Heaven would not work for its’ maker. “...Your son is sorry,” he replies in that same soft tone. “Tensaiga is forged from the Inu no Taisho’s own fang. His power cannot save him from the next world—it can only save others.” Neither would his first mate of whom possessed the Mediou stone, for her heart is as cold as the field in the dead of winter.   He doesn’t mention the possibility for fear of giving her false hope.

The distant demon, now a lord, holds his pseudo-mother closer and allows himself this moment of weakness to lay his cheek against her hair and mourn his father’s passing...of which is technically his fault.

            Father and son stand on the beach with eminent battle nipping the air.

            “This Sesshomaru fears not the humans. He will go in your stead and return the Lady to you.”

            “And you would dishonor you father this way, pup? You would dare raise your sword against his will. No. You will stay and finish what I am not able to. You will honor me as my son and my heir.”

            “Foolish father, your blood is already one with the sand.”Only few times has Sesshomaru ever seen his father bleed, but if the wound is still not closed, then the possibility of the Inu no Taisho falling in battle becomes more and more real. In some part of his mind, Sesshomaru guffaws at the possibility of his great father dying.

            “ The moon is right, and the time is now.” The great general knows he is doing the appropriate thing. “This is your father’s battle, my first-born. You will stay out of it.”

            “Many times in the past has this inu followed you in the path of the honorable ruler! In victory, never has your son sullied your honor. Why now do you deny me?”

            There is no answer for a quite a while, for the great inu does not owe his offspring an answer to his will. He expects obedience, and has mindfully laid a well played scheme to make certain his child holds to the unspoken promise.

            And here, the wind coming off the sea brings with it a scent that hits the younger inu’s nose, a tangy perfume. Is it Izayoi’s time and a low growl begins from the center of his chest? “...Are you going, Father?”

            “Are you going to stop me, Sesshomaru?”

            Angry, the younger inu’s stoic face changes only slightly. His brilliant sire had effectively trapped him, honor bound, to stay his hand against the humans that had Izayoi. His face remained impassive, but the young inu is desperately thinking of any way he could stop this turn of events.

            “...I will not stop you,” since doing so would be a grave dishonor, but as a last chance, the inu tries one final tactic; “however, I would like the fangs, Tetsuaiga and Sou’ung handed over to me.”

            Of course, the Inu no Taisho calls his bluff, “if I say I will not give them to you...Would you kill your own father?”

            The young inu’s fists tighten, and he refuses to reply to such an idiotic question. This is the man that had assured him life, one that made him strong, one that needed to stay around and teach him how to be an honorable ruler. His father knew what lie behind his son’s icy mask—or so Sesshomaru believes.

            “Do you desire power that much?”

            The young inu’s eyes narrow dangerously. This line of questioning is ludicrous—unworthy of an answer. Of course he desired power, needed more to be as strong as his father, if he hoped to bring honor to his bloodline and those of the West. He would need strength, but not like this. Not at the price of his sire or his lady. This line of questions is all wrong, insinuating his sire may not trust him after all...

            “Why do you seek power?”

            Caught off-guard, the inu answers with a calm he does not truly feel, “This Sesshomaru must travel the path of conquest. Power is necessary to walk that path.” It is an answer he knows his sire will surely understand. After all, the Inu no Taisho turned the turbulent West into a unified kingdom by victory and, at times, invasion... This Sesshomaru has been in more than one battle at his father’s side for such a purpose, to gain the respect and obedience of vicious opposition with strength and mercy. Instead of slaughtering every enemy, the path of conquest assures an example for the kingdom. It was his sire’s first real lesson, and one Sesshomaru has learned well.

            “Conquest, eh? Sesshomaru, is there something you wish to protect?”

            Aloud, he repeats this innocent question. As of yet, he has no mate to speak of, no children, and few friends. He is not the Lord of the West, nor possesses something or someone that needs his intervention. The Western Lands belong to the Inu no Taisho as well as Izayoi and the household he rules—claiming these things would be usurping his father’s claim, and Sesshomaru has no right to do so. In his heart of hearts, he truly does not believe any force in Heaven or Hell could bring low the General. He has no need to protect, nor does he own anything worth protecting—other than himself.

In years to come, he bares the shame of the words that surely turned his sire against him:

“...I have no need... to pursue such an endeavor.”

This, his last conversation with his great father, will be the young inu’s lifelong regret. Holding his father’s widow, the only true mother he has ever known, he already knows his choices have been for the sake of honor and not for the sake of his father’s life.

It is a mistake he will never forgive himself for making.

He can only hope that one day the small child would grow to understand why this Sesshomaru merely stood aside rather than defy his father’s wishes and stand with him in battle one last time. It would not be clear to the demon lord until years later how his father must have doubted him in those final minutes in the world of the living...

Present day
“Kindling lies in the corner. I shall return with a kill soon.”
Finally, the hanyou has a few, non-chaotic moments to himself in this nifty hide-out. Leave it to Sesshomaru to have a place he could keep his kid and kappa away from hungry youkai wandering around the forest (speaking of which, where was the kid and the creeper toad? Sure, Sesshomaru probably wouldn’t have thrown the kid into a fight like that, but I haven’t seen either of them yet...). Shit, the spell probably made sure he didn’t even get his white robes dirty or something.

He is still uncomfortably warm and a fire is not necessary, but he gathers the kindling to start one anyway, just to have something to do with his hands. The normalcy of the action is somewhat soothing to his already jangled nerves (how does the smoke get out of here? Keh, bastard probably thinks of everything), and he adjusts Tetsuaiga’s sheath so the thing doesn’t dig into his ass.

Now that he isn’t moving, fighting, or apparently fucking, he can take stock of the wounds that have already healed and make a guess as to when the next jump in the Heat will start. The holes in his back and leg have already closed but remain tender to the touch, his um lower injury is also healed over without any residual pain, so that’s a good thing. He isn’t going to pansy out anymore thinking about what that mother-fucking dragon did to him while he was batshit crazy with demon blood. Naw, not worth the time since he’d ripped the ass-clowns dick off in retaliation. The deed was done and over with, his body is mended, and whatever in him that triggered that pulse of power sans Tetsuaiga would be something he’d just have to explore. Just like when he figured out the Bakuryuuha, he’d have to test himself all over again. Well, whatever. New power is new power and a way to keep his enemies off-kilter. Just as soon as this Heat was over, he’d go back to the village and test out what he could do now...

When this Heat is over...how long, though? The next wave probably won’t hit until tomorrow, maybe? For fuck’s sake I hope it’ll be longer than that. I dunno how I could take another—gah. Not thinking about it. Sooo not thinking about it right now.

Believe it or not, he hopes the next bout doesn’t happen until he can get away from his not-such-a-fuckwad brother. What they did in the caverns makes the hanyou feel strangely...pissed off. Pissed off and a little, well, guilty. Never in his entire life had he used someone like that (well, that’s not necessarily how it happened, I didn’t ask him to do it!...uh, well, me.). He didn’t use anyone in his childhood for food or safety; he didn’t use Kikyo to get the jewel (that was Naraku); he kinda used Kagome in the beginning when the damn jewel shattered, but it wasn’t like that later on in the journey. How he used Sesshomaru was completely different, one-sided, and it didn’t set well with him. The hanyou prided himself on his honor and independence, but it seemed all that was moot now that he knew about the Great Trial. Worse, his honor is compromised by taking from Sesshomaru without giving back...

Watching Sesshomaru’s carved abdomen flex as he rode them to their completion...
The upturn corners of his brother’s mouth, a smile just for him...
Golden eyes dilate as he lowers himself for the first time...
So warm and tight...
“Come now...”
In this little cavern, InuYasha makes a hoarse bark of surprise as his body twitches in reaction to those erotic images of his naked and strangely pleasing elder brother. Well, hell yeah, some stupid part of him wanted the bastard’s approval or affection since he was a kid (didn’t all brothers want to be accepted?!), but he hadn’t let himself see how attractive the demon lord really is—well, he didn’t think to with trying to keep the ass from killing him or taking Tetsuaiga alla time. What went on between them was going along just fine, just damn well fine, with the “I don’t really hate yer stinking guts as much as I always said, ya gotta believe me!” stuff. InuYasha was just starting, a little bit, to put an inth of trust into his younger sibling. Then, it all got screwed to six ways to Hell when he saw Sesshomaru completely exposed. No crazy half-ton of metal and bone or silk in the way of the feel of marble skin sliding against his own. Tasting the mouth that should have been hard as marble but was really soft and sweet...

InuYasha sucks in a breath, eyes wide in a momentary epiphany. Heat is only suppose to make my body ready to become an adult. The things I felt when-w-when he touched me...that wasn’t just the Heat. No, the intense, twisting pressure in his guts when that mouth suckled on his collar bone and down his chest, the warmth pooling in his belly when Sesshomaru, fucking Sesshomaru, took his member all the way down to the root, and crimany the hot spill in his abdomen while his carved older brother rode him to their completion...none of it was just the Heat. Couldn’t have been.

Gods, I actually want him. Fuck me sideways and back, I want him again...I want to grab his hips, touch him with my hands this time, lick him right there...

His body gives a hard throb, jerking him out of his fantasy so fast he groans at the pain of a hard dick in his hakama. It would be humiliating if Sesshomaru would come back and smell his so aroused he could come with just a look—I mean, damn, he’s already seen the whole package, and I owe him since he saved me three damn times. I mean, I could---well, let him use me like that to-to f-finish. That would make us even. But what if...what if he won’t do it with me again...? For fuck’s sake, I don’t need him!! Gah, this Heat is turning my brain to noodles! I might be fucking scarred for life!

He sucks in a deep breath and lets it out slowly; he black out his mental image with some of the most un-stimulating shit he can think of: Kouga...wearing Kagome’s skewl uneeform; Naraku...kissing that little toady bastard, Jaken...; Mirko in Sango’s PINK KIMONO!

Yup, that did it.

His body heat lowers enough to make him less crazy, but the scent of him is strong and musky. A little panicky, the hanyou grabs more kindling in hopes of smoking the scent away. He shouldn’t see Sesshomaru as something to desire—not the cold fucker that let those Elders keep him in exile for the larger part of his life. But putting faith in his brother was like putting faith in Miroku’s wind tunnel—sure both might do what you expect, but both are still dangerous to fuck around with. Same thing. Sesshomaru took him to keep him from dying and did this trial thing to keep the honor of their bloodlines, but is all the rest true? Can it be that his brother really wants to be a sibling?

Just like Fujikunna said, only time will tell, and as it is, there ain’t been enough time for him to put a hundred percent faith just yet. He appreciated the swift kick in the pride his brother must have taken, but it still didn’t make the hanyou any less happy that he had to depend on Sesshomaru of all people. But dammit, he owed his brother, and InuYasha didn’t back out on what is honorable, regardless of what he suspects Sesshomaru is really capable of.

Well, since the last few days have moved seamlessly into the realm of utter ‘what-the-fuck-is-going-on,’ he supposed he’s gets to feel a little off-kilter off at the very least. Same thing happened when he woke up pinned to Goshinoku, discovered Kikyo was dead, and fifty years had passed. His world has made a complete 360, and most of the truths he believed in (hanyous suck to the rest of the world, Sesshomaru’s a grade-A asshat, and he would never even see the lands of his father) turn out to be a bunch of shit. Now, he’s left out of place all over again—this time he doesn’t have Kagome willing to stand beside him, to help him plot his way through this muddled sham of an existance. The only thing he can trust, one-hundred percent, is in his own claws and his sword—just like the last few years of fighting every bad thing that crossed his path.

Sure, fighting for the hell of it he might, in some tiny way, have done in memory of Kagome, but it was more to just keep him from being bored as hell and getting into more trouble. It’s not like he cared about stupid humans or, shit, missed being on the road with a purpose in mind. But, at least that all had been real. His little pack had been real. Kikyo had been real. Being sealed to the fucking tree had been shitty, but real. Naraku’s shit had been real. The Jewel being shattered by the half-assed aim of Kagome’s had been real. Sesshomaru’s hate of him...hadn’t been. Everyone’s hate of him hadn’t been. Being weak just ‘cause he was a half breed hadn’t been, either. So much of his life was just a bunch of crap, he had to separate it all into what he knew for fact (he excelled in the art of beat-down) and what was never right in the first place.

Yeah, so why did Sesshomaru have ta shoved a hand through his gut? Did those Elder assholes make him do it?... Well, he started lowering his stance with Tetsuaiga enough that he could guard his middle after that one... What about the fucking pearl in his eye?! Geeze, he wouldn’t have gotten Tetsuaiga without it... And Sou’ung!! That rat fucker left him in the middle of the un-dead army... which proved he could take on enemies from all sides.

The hanyou sighs heavily; he hates to admit it, but without Sesshomaru tearing him up on more than on occasion, he wouldn’t be the awesome king of ass-kicking he is today. If all those barbs hadn’t been spewing from his own brother...then, he wouldn’t have had the drive to keep getting stronger to prove that frosty ball-licker wrong.

I’m strong as I am because of Sesshomaru. They were right; he did train me to be a great fighter.

This second little epiphany makes him rock back on his heels, golden eyes wide. Well, damn. Just, damn. He wouldn’t have discovered Blade of Blood or the Iron Reaver Soul Stealer. He wouldn’t have been able to keep Kagome alive or beat all those demons, like Ryuukotsusei or the Band of Buttfuckers or any of the others, without Sesshomaru riding his ass about everything. All his accomplishments were because of his brother... the one that actually wanted him to stand as a son of Inu no Taisho.

And that, for the first time since Kagome left him, gave him another reason not to hate his brother—because Sesshomaru is still trying to make him a great warrior by including him in the war against invaders. But, that jerk made him get up off his sorry ass and move forward again. To live again.

The fighting itself was not a big deal. His whole life has been nothing but fighting since childhood—even before Mother died—but fighting in last few years had been too empty. Giving and taking a beating, well, nothing new; it just hadn’t been the same without a pack, there was no purpose to his endless rounds. But this, on the other hand, a coordinated fight, you know, with shit-tons of people on his side waiting for him to do something, was kinda nice to do again, and he wouldn’t have had the chance without Sesshomaru’s interference. That night in his room in the West, he’d asked the same question InuYasha had been asking himself for the last couple of years:

What would make you desire to take up your sword again?

He hadn’t realized how much he missed having someone (or a bunch of people) at his back, cheering for him to win, or how important it was to keep him moving. It made nostalgia rise up in his chest, remembering all those times when that young girl in the funny clothes notched an arrow in her bow and cheered for him—had unshakeable faith that he would always win. Fighting with West touched a part of him that he threw away once the others moved on with their lives—a part that had been rejected for five years of wandering. He’d had to return to the old way of life, before Kikyo and the Jewel, the one where he was alone and had no one to depend on but himself.

Until the first priestess looked at him with a smile, his way of life had just been another thing set in stone, like the laws of nature, a universal truth. Half-breeds lived and died alone.

But gods-dammed, he just had to get tangled up in Kikyo’s business. Of course, she could have killed him outright and probably saved herself a lot of trouble, but her constant refusal just started that change in him from a wild, blood-thirsty animal to someone that could protect. Her actions and Sesshomaru’s lead him here. Protecting her, protecting Kagome, protecting Shippo and Miroku, Sango and Kilala, protecting innocent humans that hadn’t asked to be terrorized. Protecting the West from fuckers with a loser complex.

It was the one thing he’d managed to right in his whole useless life, to make sure that bad guys got their due, and his half-brother was actually the head in all of it. It was, well, kinda nice to have a purpose again, and hell he could probably get used to leading an army someday.

Shaking that thought right the hell out of his head, the younger of the Inu no Taisho’s sons reminds himself very sternly that he’s not making any long terms plans with the West. Nope, all this shit with the trial, the elders, the people, with Sesshomaru in that cave, it all happened way to fast for him to properly gauge. Sesshomaru might not be such an incredible bastard and he might be trying like hell to earn his trust, but that might not be enough to convince him to be a Prince of the West or take on the responsibilities he’s apparently shirked while in exile. They just up and expect him to jump right into being a noble son or some stupid crap—no problems, right? Like I’d know half that shit that’s going on in the West right now. But really, all that made him nervous, real nervous, like fighting a fuck-ton of big bastards bare-handed as a human or kissing Kagome kinda nervous. Just thinking of all those advisors waiting for his opinion just to tell him how wrong he was, or to watch the West fall into chaos because he made the wrong call... Besides, his life as a fuck-around vagrant had no pressure or responsibilities; he didn’t have to answer to anyone, and that’s how he liked it.

But, well...Sesshomaru had done that same kinda thing, right? He had to survive in exile then step into their old man’s boots, so InuYasha was probably expected to do the same thing. Maybe? If his brother could be a pretty good politican, then so could he, right? Couldn’t be that hard if Sesshomaru made it work and the whole land hadn’t fallen to Hell in a handbasket.

Without realizing, the hanyou already contradicted himself into thinking things from here on out would work out just fine.
II:
The Western army, weary from a fast and intense battle, moves in torch-wielding droves through the land. Leaving a few groups and ships to patrol the shoreline, the generals and lieutenants as veterans of war do not trust the Mongol forces to be finished so quickly. While they have numerous soldiers guarding the prisoners, their eyes in the sky scout for other forces that have infiltrated the land. However, even though the softly falling snow should be a factor in the West’s favor, it acts as a hindrance to the already weary fliers. The dragons are getting colder and ice forming on their wings while the birds huff painful breaths in the ever-increasing cold. Rather than camp at the battle site, those in charge made the executive decision to move their forces away from the saturated ground to avoid any problems with scavengers. Large, hungry scavengers. Matsu, aware that the other human foot soldiers would probably be exhausted and thus useless on watch for invading demons, agreed with the other demonic generals. His men would guard the prisoners of war and carry supplies to free up the demon soldiers in case of attack. The other generals, while demonic, still listened to him as an equal and allowed the human in charge of their ground troops to have a say in their next move.

Among the small group of invading survivors, Badzar and Sanagerel are tethered to the other prisoners and shoved into movement. They are the only elementals taken as prisoners; others with power over nature were killed on sight. Given the power of the kotomodo, the power of the elements is not an issue, but that does not mean the two are completely without resources. Yao Xin knows this; he especially knows that his children are fortunate not to have been executed, and he had even suggested as much to the previous lord as well as Sesshomaru. Elementals are not to be trusted; luckily, however, Sesshomaru has employed many types of creatures during his rein as lord, and perhaps Xin’s two children might see reason...

Walking beside the staggering prisoners, the advisor glances at his youngest twins with his heart in his throat. So long has he been in Nippon that time has blunted the ache of missing his homeland and family. However, as he felt for Touga in his worries for Sesshomaru and (later) InuYasha, he as a father has never forgotten his children. Returning to his homeland after being integrated into Touga’s household was not an option—the Mongols would have killed him on sight as a traitor and defector. He has no choice but to stay and not heap more dishonor on his wives and offspring. It was better...it was better for them that they never knew he gave up his name for a place with the enemy.

            The battle is brutal and bloody as all battles tend to be. The Mongolian people, however, are accustomed to being on the winning end, but against the demon warriors of the West, they are sorely wanting. In this war, they have reached the shores of Nippon to find the West waiting on them, headed by a huge white inu with red, glowing eyes and black markings on either cheek. This is Toshiro, the General of the army and one of the most powerful demons in the land.

Boladjin, an older soldier even back then, kept his reservations of this battle to himself. It would be a weakness to his people if he refused to leave his family for honor in battle, or even if he told others of how idiotic this fight was since they were going away from their own shores with less than half their forces. This battle is suicide, but the Mongolian way of life would not allow his to stay behind and have his children suffer exile for his cowardice.

Jumping from his boat as the other Mongolians, he leapt into battle with his heart determined to kill as many of these demons as possible before they struck him down.

The clash lasted the whole day and into the night, for the Mongolians had many, many Elementals on their side to war with the demons and their youkai. The earth, wind, seas, and fire dealt the Nippon soldiers a mighty blow, but as a source of trouble, these weavers of nature were targeted and killed first, driving the rest of the Mongolians back toward the ocean. But their kind did not allow for defeat, nor would they be taken prisoner. Any worth their weight would willing drive a sword into his heart and bring the honor of his death to his kin and in his afterlife. There is simply no other way.

So, when the situation looked bleak, the soldiers without power were taking their own lives on the beach as the soldiers rushed further. Boladjin made one last move, making the sand like water to suck as many advancing soldiers as he could. With methodic movements, he raised his own sword to his throat.

“And this is your strength?”

He jerks, moving gracefully to point his sword around at the voice that had spoken in his native language. The being that stood before him was a man that was no man. Long silver hair and the blue markings...the general himself stood beside Boladjin, blood splattered over every inch of his armor.

“You kind does not understand strength if this is how they end a battle,” one clawed hand sweeps over the beach littered with bodies of suicide. “They did not even fight with full strength and will—unlike you.”

Boladjin, teeth gritted, makes his move, darting forward to shove his blade through the gut of his enemy while driving the water around them to provide a distraction.

Regardless of the wave, the Inu no Taisho steps out of the path of death and uses a fast claw to pluck the sword from the Elemental’s grasp. Boladjin fell flat on his arse in the water, staring up at the demon above him. Death would release him from the bonds of life, and death at the hands of such an enemy would assure him peace in the afterlife. Prepared to die, the Mongolian breathes and thinks of his children one last time.

“There is no honor in this,” the dog tosses the sword without so much as testing the blade. “If you truly seek to walk the path of conquest, it is here you will find it.” And with that, the lord of the nation offered him a hand.

It had never occurred to the advisor, after Toshiro eventually died in battle, or when Touga became old enough to rule in his own right, that he, Xin, should reclaim his own name and return home after so many years had passed. The family needed him, and Nippon agreed with his own sense of morals and ethics. He felt more at ease here than all his time growing up in the plains of his homeland.

Again, Xin the foreigner looks at his youngest offspring to find his daughter looking back at him with her mother’s eyes. But, in them, he could see thoughts turning and calculating. Whatever his lord said to them back on the beach might have made an impact, but it also might have convinced them even more that their father was nothing but a traitor for staying with the enemy. Either way, Xin felt a dark foreboding settle deep in his bones along with the bitter cold. This will not end well, his instincts seem to say, I will see them meet their deaths before this ends...

“Yao Xin!” Matsu, astride his warhorse, slows his mount next to the foreigner with a powerful pull.

Fates...the universe’s way of manipulating an outcome... “What is it?” The advisor turns from his child and is now alert for possible danger stalking them.

“Trouble. Some of the demons have picked up a scent... We think the bastards have gotten around our forces and are on shore!”

III
I have no need...to pursue such an endeavor...
His expression is back to an empty mask that could be boredom or disdain. Under him is the corpse of the nymph InuYasha defended earlier, and even though the task offends his sensibilities as a warrior who walks the path of conquest (those who seek death will indeed find it), he obeys Tensaiga’s rattling and pulls it from the sheath at his hip. Brandishing the Sword of Heaven is still new, but his eyes narrow at the minion of the Underworld suddenly clear to his gaze.

That hanyou will be my eventual downfall... here this Sess—I have come through the cold and ice. For what purpose? For “something to protect...?” I have done so for InuYasha already. His entire life has been the center of my protection, and yet, here it is that I am doing so yet again with this being that very well could have destroyed him. Still, Tensaiga cries out. For this being that ingratiated itself into my brother’s good graces? Hn, not an easy feat but not one that is worthy of this Sess—of my notice. Nevertheless... InuYasha will not mourn this creature if this Sesshomaru has the power to keep it from being so.

He makes a decisive strike to banish them back to Hell.

Before his narrow gaze, the magic of Tensaiga swirls to redeem the corpse by using the ground water to restore the half of the body that was burned away. Muscles, viscera, blood, and skin fill out before his eyes as the fatal wound causing death is amazingly healed, and the water nymph’s eyes open wide as his newly restored form jerks and spasms with life. Satisfied, Sesshomaru re-sheaths Tensaiga and instead pulls Bakusaiga for just in case the demon decides to attack in its’ half-aware state of mind. After all, death must be disconcerting...combined with the fact that the demon lord might possibly be just a bit angry at the nymph, considering how pleasing to the eye he was and the expression of grief on the hanyou’s face when he believed this nymph to be in the afterlife. If the dragon hadn’t interrupted, would InuYasha have mated with this male? The thought makes the demon lord’s fist tighten.

Blood sprays from the nymph’s mouth in a long line of gore from lungs and stomach filled with former death, and it seems even water demons breathe. The handsome nymph rolls to one side, hacking and breathing before he notices the coldly calm demon lord behind him and jerks around. Wide-blue eyes blink several times in woozy question.

“This demon before you is Lord Sesshomaru of the Western Lands.” Giving the nymph a once-over, a curious emotion flickers in the lord’s chest. He notices the nymph is long and firm of limb, but his aura is quite powerful in its’ own right. He may have been, well, a tiny bit jealous. “Nod if you understand these words.”

After long moments of blinking and looking at his hands and body incredulously, the nymph finally meets his eyes with wonder and gives a small nod of his head.

“By the Sword of Heaven, you have been granted you life in exchange for not harming this lord’s younger sibling, the inu formerly in this mountain.” The nymph’s eyes widen as memory apparently comes rushing back and his blue eyes dart around the demon lord as if looking for the younger inu once again. Sesshomaru’s eyes harden. “He is no longer within your reach.”

With that, Sesshomaru is satisfied he has acted honorably and turns on his heel. In mid-step, Bakusaiga is back in its’ sheath and he is moving into the forest. As he once swore to his father’s lady, he would do what he must to assure InuYasha’s future in the West as well as attempt to see to his happiness. Saving this nymph would ease the hanyou’s conscience—seeing him bury one corpse was enough to last the demon lord for a thousand lifetimes. He could return to his younger brother with good news, perhaps it will make InuYasha more at ease in his presence after...their activities to relieve his Heat.

The demon lord’s mind is so full of his younger brother than he is automatically moving more quickly. However, a surge of youkai at his back and the nymph is on his knees grasping at the sleeve of Sesshomaru’s haori. Cool golden eyes look back, and he can read the question there.

“The dragon is no more, and this lord’s younger brother is safe. Go.”

Pulling his sleeve away, Sesshomaru vanishes in a tiny ball of light.

IV:
Shippo takes a soft breath and forces himself to tamp down on his fear. It’s going to be just fine! He’s a tall tree and these guys in armor and stuff aren’t demons with a really good sense of smell. Besides, he just has to stay quiet and follow them at a distance while Kouga is off trying to alert the Western army. No big deal. He can do this! He’s not just a kid anymore, and this will prove it to Miroku and Sango and InuYasha and the other foxes and everyone!!

...But his arms are getting tired from staying up in the form of tree branches sprouting bare limbs covered in ice and snow. His muscles ache pretty bad now, and even though he is standing far back from the small campfires, he can’t be sure one of the look outs won’t see him just shrink and disappear. That would rouse the whole lot of them to start moving again, and Kouga might not get back in time.

The young kitsune just breathes slowly and quietly, trying to think of other things than the burning pain in his shoulders in biceps. He takes himself back to the good times when Kagome’s lap was so warm or when he got to ride on InuYasha’s shoulder under the protective cloud of silver hair. Oh, oh! And the candy she used to bring him, so sweet it would make his tongue dance...

He unconsciously makes a small, mmmh, of appreciation to the memory, and startles one of the guards standing close to him in the forest, keeping watch for any enemies or spies. The foreigner caught the noise, part moan, part sigh, and calls out the other guards on watch. He moves closer to Shippo, a long weapon in hand.

Oh shit! Standing stiff with his eyes close, Shippo stops breathing as several more weave their way closer to him, holding these new weapons up to aim. He swallows silently and waits.

V:
Demonic magic is indeed a tricky thing as demonic kind is in itself a magical creation. Humans, however, could weave magic more effectively without having to take their own power into account when creating a spell. Thus, Sesshomaru must counteract his own youkai in order to reset his safeguards to assure no one will find his hideout when he is gone or when he is inside with Rin and Ah-Uhn (Jaken was not allowed inside this sanctuary for a perfectly rational—and somewhat embarrassing—explanation). The spell must also be able to null any scent or smoke that may arise from the hideout in case another daiyoukai with an exceptional sense of smell happens to wander in the area. And so, in his early years as an exile, the young demon Sesshomaru had hidden and watched human mages study and work the realm of magic. He learned much from observing sorceresses and sorcerers as well as priests and priestesses—enough to be able to bespell his own clothing and hiding places to keep him safe from predators.

It is the only reason he allowed InuYasha to stay in the underground den—even if some demons could track his concealed scent and youkai, none would be able to penetrate the safeguards.

Even so, he did not know what to expect once he entered the sanctuary once again, this time with four little rabbits dangling from his claws by their ears. InuYasha may have been half-mad with Heat, sleeping, taking a piss, or staring into the fire for all the demon lord knew.

What he does not expect, however, is the scent that lightly perfumes the air. One so delicious that he is forced to pause a moment and draw it deep in his lungs to wrap around himself and the knots of power slightly rising to the fore. The combination of Heat and arousal, so purely InuYasha that the demon lord is purring low and soft before he realizes it emanates from his person and ceases immediately. He ignores the scent, listening closely to ascertain whether or not his hanyou brother might be trying to release some of his own tension—which would be quite awkward should Sesshomaru stride in and catch him touching himself intimately.

With no sounds of flesh on flesh, Sesshomaru believes all is right for the moment. On the morrow, however, he may have to force InuYasha’s acquiesce a second time. As he comes to the den, watching the fire dance over the hanyou’s features, he cannot find any distaste in himself for this very real possibility.

InuYasha looks up as the sounds of footsteps echo down the dirt hall; his nose twitches to gather the scent of metal and blood, the crazy edge of electricity (like lightening just before it strikes) and that coppery tinge that signals Sesshomaru has come back. The scent of his older brother makes his heart gives a little thud against his chest and makes his overheated body tingle, but the hanyou just looks back at the fire and takes a breath to clear out all the fucked-up crap in his head. He only glances up at the soft fall of boot steps coming in the ring of light, glancing up at his older brother’s eyes.

Once again, the hanyou’s heart gives a meaty thump against his chest at the sight of Sesshomaru’s normally closed expression...but the shade of something almost warm in his eyes. It’s a crazy sight the hanyou will still have to become accustomed to seeing, but as his mind was earlier flipping out over being googly-eyed for the bastard, he still can’t quite look away from the same yet very different gaze...waiting for it to change back into cold disdain? He’s not sure...

“You are still alive, miracle of miracles,” not even a crack in Sesshomaru’s completely blasé face.

“Keh. Not like I’m going to burn myself to death with twigs n’ shit. Those rabbits give you a run for it?”

Two are promptly dropped in his lap and the hanyou’s stomach rolls, loudly. His cheeks pink when his body reminds him he hasn’t eaten in a day, and it desperately needs food.

A soft noise might have been his brother stifling a chuckle at his expense, but the hanyou merely grumbles good-naturedly while Sesshomaru eases to sit down beside him rather than on the other side of the fire.

“I was scouting the area to assure there were no other demons close,” the demon lord replies once he is certain he has schooled his features to the usual unreadable look. The puppy eyes that were peering up at him were almost too much to ignore. Better to feed the hanyou than risk patting him on the head between his ears as Sesshomaru would do to Rin. At this moment, he is uncertain whether or not touch would be welcome.

At that, InuYasha’s mouth stops watering at the scent of meat in his lap and his gaze cuts over, “anything?”

“No. The wards will hide your scent from any that may come. I will also be alerted if intruders are upon us.” The demon lord glances at him again with those eyes, glittering in the firelight, and gestures to the dead hares. “We shall deal with it when the time comes. For now, you must replenish the energy your Heat has wrung from you. Without food, your body will not be able to complete its’ transformation.”

“Transformation?” Ears perk straight up with alarm. He transformed once a month at least. Shit, more often when his life was in danger. What the fuck else was going to happen to him?

“Hn. The fire rat robe grows with you, so it may be unnoticeable how much you will grow during this time. Your youkai will also reach full maturity soon. Perhaps in less than a few days.” With one deadly claw, Sesshomaru (almost daintily) carves a piece of flesh from his kill.

InuYasha, mulling over this, merely raises the morsel and sinks his fangs in deep to soft meat below fur and rips back. Blood quickly stains his hands and mouth, but the mouthful is pure heaven. He dives back for more, suddenly so hungry he could die. Well, not that he hadn’t known that kind of hunger a bunch in his life, but eating has never eased the intense heat and tingling in his body before.

Sesshomaru covertly watches out of the corner of his eye, taking note of the fluctuating waves of youkai within the hanyou’s smaller form. Eating is taking the brunt out of his growing youkai. The spikes would be the most powerful, ones that determined when he would need to mate or when his youkai needed to be released, until his power finally evened out and the Heat would be over.

The demon lord would have to carefully watch the hanyou closely to assure his spikes would not draw out more demons as well as to know when InuYasha’s body would need his guidance to continue its growth. Once his youkai expanded, any chaos could occur. His power might be controllable, such as he had observed in the cave with the demon- InuYasha as a somewhat lucid creature, or his brother may simply not know what to do when the excess power built to incredible proportions...as the moment before the Tetsuaiga nearly exploded in the fool’s hands.

Either way, any demon’s Heat is the final plateau to his power, and left to his own devices, InuYasha would end up dead or dying if he is caught unaware. Combined with the drug his mother had provided, there are too many unknown factors for Sesshomaru to assume when and where the next spikes would strike or when the Heat would finally be over.

As such, his younger brother’s previous claim to be left in the wilds only seems even more preposterous than before.

The loud suckling draws Sesshomaru’s attention back to the now, and he raises one eyebrow at the picture before him: InuYasha slurping the marrow out of a leg bone with obvious, blood-stained relish. His little pink tongue darting out to lick the remnants still clinging to the clean skeleton; he had apparently been ravenous as both rabbits are indeed picked clean of meat. It is discerning that he must stifle the noise rising in his throat (a laugh, perhaps or a moan?) a second time at the, dare he think it, the cuteness of InuYasha’s shenanigans. Not that he would ever utter such a word as ‘cute,’ no daiyoukai would even have such a notion in his vocabulary. However, the hanyou is simply that, a confusing mixture of innocence, brash courage, coarse cursing, and loyalty all rolled into one conflicting being. It would prove a challenge to get to know the young demon his brother had become, but if nothing, Sesshomaru was always ready for a challenge.

The demon lord merely holds up two of the carefully cut slices from his first rabbit close to the hanyou’s face.
Golden eyes comically wide, InuYasha sniffs the offered meat with adorable (adorable?) intent before looking at him, “y’ sure? I mean, really sure?”
“Of course”
“Hot damn!” Greedily, he fills his belly with the strips Sesshomaru kept handing him until the third rabbit is also picked clean.
Starting on the final one, the demon lord stops as InuYasha waves a hand, “you finish that one. I’m full and y’ gotta eat too, demon or not.”

For a second, the corners of Sesshomaru’s mouth twitch strangely, but he sinks his own fangs into the soft and tender fare while InuYasha lies back with a full belly and fire radiating warmth to keep away the damp of the earthen cave. His body isn’t being a pain in the ass and bothering him with fire under his skin or tinglies. Actually, he feels as close to normal as possible.

“Man, that was good. I only eat cooked meat when I was with humans ‘cause they’re so damn squeamish about eating shit raw.” He gives a glance over and blinks that his older brother is already done and delicately licking his bloodied fingers clean. That pink tongue sweeps out from between his lips, and a flash of memory shoots through the hanyou like a bolt of lightening down his spine.

That tongue swirling around the tip of him just before Sesshomaru opens his maw and takes it in...

His face flames, and he looks away so fast, he wrenches something in his neck.

Sesshomaru doesn’t miss much in general; the abrupt movement is just one of those little things. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what the problem is—he licks his last finger with narrowed eyes. As admitted by the hanyou himself, he had no intimacy either from males or females, and certainly his first time with his elder brother must be wreaking havoc on the younger inu. His trust has not been earned as of yet, but the scent of arousal assures the demon lord InuYasha was thinking about something...stimulating. Perhaps he could make this easier on them both with simple, surreptitious seduction—so furtive, innocent InuYasha wouldn’t even realize what was happening. Hn... slowly licking the blood from his mouth, he calculates. Not at the moment, he deserves a time of peace. Soon, however.

“It seems you have been thinking a great deal while I have been gone.” That’s all he needs for a lead-in.

“...Well, yeah, I guess. War’s kinda over so there’s time.”

There will be ample time.

“Indeed.” Clean, Sesshomaru makes himself as comfortable in the dirt as possible and turns to look at his sibling in one smooth move, his eyes hooded. “Now that the fighting has ceased, you may ask what questions have come to you.”

Didn’t expect that, I guess. “Aw, well shit...we survived so I guess I do have questions. There’s a lot I wanna know about.” He sits up, lit by the dancing flames, and throws more small kindling from the pile beside his leg.

“As you should. Where would you like to start, little brother?”

“Why did you let me fuck you instead of the other way around?” Damn it!! So NOT asking him that! But, his face still starts flaming again, mortifying the hanyou so much that he leans closer to the fire to give the impression his face is hot from the heat rather than his own thoughts. “There’s so much,” he murmurs mostly to himself.

“Then I shall begin,” Sesshomaru turns himself so he is facing the hanyou, back rigidly straight. “The Elders have told you the history behind the trial and why you were chosen. Therefore, I will tell you how your mother met our father and how the two of you were banished to her family home.”

That got his attention. InuYasha turns as well, putting the two dog demons face to face.

“The Lady Izayoi was of the prestigious Minimoto clan, as you well know, and she was once groomed to marry one of the sons of the enemy clans to alleviate the warring in the human world. It was said to be an excellent match for her family’s enemies since it was known Lady Izayoi was not only beautiful and compassionate, but also wise and spiritually powerful for a human.”

As Sesshomaru’s deep voice wove the threads of the past, InuYasha unconsciously leans closer to hear every word.

“She was quite young when our father first came upon her in the forests outside her family’s compound. She once told this Sesshomaru that one of her servants and best of friends snuck her out to the serenity of the forest to escape from her duties as the prized daughter of the Shogun. It was there, on one of her many excursions that she happened to meet an injured warrior, bleeding heaving from several severe wounds.”

Ears perk immediately, “the old man, right?!”

“Correct. He had fought a thousand invading demons for a hundred days to secure the Western Lands from the forces of the East, and had finally won the day. He, however, was gravely injured and needed to rest and heal before he would have been able to make it back to the palace. Unknown to your elder brother, he was lying in a tree far from the palace, much like the way you perch, waiting for his great blood to stop flowing. Your mother happened to notice it dripping down the tree and since she possessed a great compassion for injured animals, she stayed to see if the bleeding animal would fall and she might be able to catch it... Eventually, it was our father that fell from the tree once he lost consciousness and landed on the ground right in front of her.”

InuYasha’s eyes widened. He fell out of a damn tree? Like, the greatest, ass-kicker of all time? ”No way!”

“I do not lie. Luckily for him, your mother’s compassion overrode her fear. She used bushes and leaves to cover him, then left to find water. She tore her kimono to make bandages for his wounds, and ground herbs for a poultice that would stave off infection before she was forced to return to the fortress. To keep him warm, she told your brother once that she made sure he was not awake and took off her under-kimono to lie upon him before leaving him for the night.”

“Days passed, and each day, your mother stole from the compound to bring water, food, and more healing herbs to our injured sire. He regained his wits when she was bandaging his sword arm and thought her to be a ghost or a hallucination, so he spoke to her thinking he may as well have been dying and she an angel sent to see him to the afterlife.”

“He-he thought Mother was an angel?” InuYasha’s voice is soft, quieter than Sesshomaru has ever heard. This story, it seems, was a good place to start after all, giving Sesshomaru the benefit of his sibling’s rapt attention.

“Yes. It was not until two days after he awoke that he realized she was no apparition, but in fact, a mortal princess. Of course, he had few dealings in the human world, and many of those few were bloody and vicious, so he was uncertain how to proceed, or so he told your brother much later. However, as the lady was renown, he could not help but be entranced by her beauty and gentleness.” Here, Sesshomaru pauses and the hanyou tenses, “yet, it was unfortunate that not long after our father was able to stand and his wound nearly healed, that Lady Izayoi’s jealous sister noticed her absences, and found out through the servant of forest where the lady vanished each afternoon.”

“My aunt, the one we had to live with,” InuYasha’s eyes rounded in foreboding, remembering the days when he was beaten almost to death by the evil bitch his mother called elder sister. She hurled the name bastard and outcast, tainted and mongrel at him like stones...

“Indeed,” but Sesshomaru’s tone brought him out of those beatings and back to the present. “She followed your mother through the forest and came upon her tending our father’s wounds. When Lady Izayoi left to sneak back into the castle, her father was waiting with a whip...and a sword. He intended to beat the demonic influence from his daughter before forcing her to commit ritual suicide for the dishonor she brought to their house by cavorting with a demon. Your mother argued that she, as any spiritual healer would have healed the sick and downtrodden, demon or human alike, but it did nothing to sway her father. The servants tied to a post in the courtyard and she suffered through fifty lashes from his whip.”

InuYasha’s face is horrified, fists clenching and unclenching at the evil in anger.

“No human could have survived that!”

“Your mother did. She was strong in body and mind, InuYasha. When her father found her to be still alive, he raised his sword to finish her...and our father’s blade is what he met.”

“The old man saved her?!” Well, no shit. How else would she have lived to have me?

“Our father was mad with rage that any father could do such horrific damage to his own child. He cursed her family for fools, and took her back to the West for all his best healers to aid him in saving her life. It took many days, but your mother healed and eventually mated our father in the way of demon kind.”

His heart bleeding for all she suffered, InuYasha blinks rapidly and turns to watch the fire. “So, our father loved her? I mean, he really loved her?”

“He did, more than he could have ever loved my bearer. He truly worshipped Lady Izayoi as his one and only mate. Takemaru kidnapped her during our second skirmish with the Mongolians, and that is how she came to be in his fortress the night she brought you into the world.”

“...That’s—that’s the night he died, isn’t it?”

“Yes.” Sesshomaru’s voice has softened with his own inner turmoil. “The dragon, Ryukotsusei, caught him before he made it to Takemaru’s compound and stuck at him by surprise. If not for that, he would not have been so gravely injured that he may have survived the assault...however, your brother was also there that night, and I did not aid him as I should have. Perhaps it is also my fault he did not live to see you grown.”

“What? What do you mean your fault? A-Wh-Why didn’t you go with him?”

“I attempted to. Our father denied me the right to stand at his side.”

His mind blown, InuYasha just stares until he registers the bitterness in Sesshomaru’s tone. But, there’s something else to it, something so unlike Sesshomaru that InuYasha doesn’t get it for a few long moments. Guilt. He feels really shitty about how that went down.

“Well, it-it wasn’t your fucking fault!” He yells with well-meant vehemence, startling his elder brother out of his wallowing in dishonor. “He didn’t let you go.” Why the hell he felt the need to defend Sesshomaru to himself of all people was beyond his ken, but well, fuck it.

Sesshomaru’s expression hardens and his golden eyes flash dangerously, reminding InuYasha of the beat-down he used to get at this demon’s hands. “I should have gone to save her in his stead,” Sesshomaru snarls, baring the fangs on one side of his mouth. His youkai rises to the fore, pressing against the hanyou’s chest like a wall. “He denied me! Our father used my honor against me. I should have defied him, fought beside him, died beside him. That would have been the honorable way.”

“...But, but if you did,” InuYasha forces his tone to be calmer, steady, “what would have happened...to me?”

At that, Sesshomaru blinks. He faces the same golden eyes as his father’s, not condemning or calculating or judging, but his only kin left in this world. If he had died that night with their father, InuYasha would not have survived the night either.

Regaining control, Sesshomaru breathes, “You, little brother, are the only reason I have not joined him in the afterlife.”

Holy hells...he ain’t lying.

Clearing his throat, InuYasha swallows thickly. “Hey, Sesshomaru. You know why I wanted that fucking Shikon no Tama in the first damn place?” Yeah, his pride is going to hurt after this one, but after hearing his brother’s confession, it’s the only way InuYasha can express what he needs to say. Besides, Sesshomaru gave a lot there, and it’s only right he give back some too. Tit for tat.

“I had thought to become human, so you would be able to live with your priestess.” The demon lord replies softly, wondering why InuYasha asks such a thing now.

“Keh!” The bravado is back, “that ain’t why, you simple bastard. Never was. I wanted the damn thing to be a full demon, just like you, y’ know? I’m not trying to have a girl moment where I wanna talk about my feelings and shit, but—well fuck it—I wanted to be your brother, and I thought if I became a full demon, you wouldn’t hate me anymore.” There, I said it without being a complete lame-ass.

“It doesn’t mean I don’t think you’re kind of a shit-head still or anything, but—that’s why I went through all that crap to find the Jewel. Only reason I didn’t wish on it in the end is because I saw how it royally screws every wish, no matter what. But, at the end, the only way to make sure the Jewel would be gone for good was to let Kagome make the last wish.” He scratches his head, looking down at his other hand, “when she left, I thought...well, it don’t matter what I thought. But, that’s the truth of it. You didn’t die because of me, and I didn’t die because I thought I still might have a chance at this,” he waffles both hand between them to mean, well, he wasn’t sure what but thought Sesshomaru would get the picture.

Sesshomaru straightens, his face cryptic as usual. He doesn’t care to be called a shit-head, but he supposed it was InuYasha’s twisted way of showing affection. From across the fire, the two stare down one another in moments of understanding in which the bonds grew ever stronger.

“So, our old man did what he thought was right, for both of us. Let’s just say that’s the way it went. So, what happened after that?” InuYasha stretches out on his side, propping his face up in one palm.

“I retrieved you and Lady Izayoi from the forest after Takemaru’s compound collapsed and brought you both home to the palace. You were not there even a full two moons when messengers came from the Elders and brought father’s last wishes to be read. In keeping with the trial, I was not even permitted to see you in your infancy.” Something raw twists in Sesshomaru’s eyes, “I was only able to hold you a few times before my bearer came to take you. No other would come to the palace.”

“Why?”

“...the messengers were unfortunate casualties.”

InuYasha is the one blinking this time, “you killed Elder demons? Really?” But, Sesshomaru had just become Lord of the West, right? Wouldn’t that have fucked his rule from the start? Why didn’t they come back and whoop his ass?

“...It was a moment of, as you might say, ‘highly pissed off bitch slap.’ Our family had suffered enough, and for you and Lady Izayoi to be taken away so soon after Father’s death was a travesty in this Sesshomaru’s estimation. Regardless, the two of you had to leave immediately, and we decided it would be best if she went to her family’s home once again. Her father had died after father’s attack, and her mother was a timid woman. Your aunt had since taken control of the household. She allowed your mother to return.”

“Whoa, whoooa, whoa. We’ll get to that.” Both hands up in a halt motion, the hanyou unabashedly interrupts, but his curiousity gets the better of him. “Why didn’t the Elders get highly pissed off and come in a big group to bitch slap you for killing their own? I mean, shouldn’t you have at least gotten punished or something?”

“Hn. They did punish me in a way,” and at this, Sesshomaru actually looks away and his eyes turn colder than snow.

Oh shit. InuYasha perks, “what did they do?”

The demon lord’s eyes slide back to his younger brother and the fire dances dangerously off his features. “...they decreed that I would be the one to hunt you.”

Oh. At a loss, the hanyou murmers, “Those fuckers. What a shitty thing to do.”

“Perhaps... However, I preferred it to be this way even though we have several cousins that could have stood in my stead. If one of them had been deemed suitable to train you, then I would not have been able to see you until the end of the trial.” Their eyes met a moment at this admission and that same warmth is there again.

“Guess you gotta point. I mean, if I could cut your arm off, I might have royally fucked up one of your cousins or something.” The hanyou gives half a grin and shrugs.

The demon lord’s brow lifts, “I am certain you would have if your delusions in some way resemble reality, InuYasha. If I had not threatened the life of your scantily-clad priestess, you never would have figured out how to use the Tetsuaiga.”

“You were a fly’s fart away from eating her whole with doggie breath of death. What was I suppose to do? I needed that wench.”

“One lucky strike and I will never hear the end of it,” the demon lord heaves a fake sigh.

“Aw, c’mon. You got your arm back and a sweet-ass sword to boot. I mean, what more do you want? A reach-around?”

The moment he said it, InuYasha wished the words back. It reminded him of the cave all over again.

Bastard didn’t make it any easier when his face changes into a knowing look and one striped hand comes up to pillow his cheek. “That may have been welcome earlier, but was not necessary when my arm regenerated,” comes out in that smooth voice.

If InuYasha didn’t know better, he would think his elder brother lost the stick permanently lodged somewhere and was trying to make fun of him.

To hide his utter mortification, the hanyou rolls his eyes, “woulda helped if you said it then instead of now, don’t cha think?”

Sesshomaru’s only response is to shock InuYasha even more... a smile curves the harsh edge of his mouth. The same small smile he had on his face while he loomed over the hanyou with their bodies joined.

Gods, it’s hot in here again...Shit! Say something not stupid to blow it off.

“I’m fucking flabbergasted. You have enough muscles in your face to smile! I mean, who knew?”

A rough sound comes from the demon lord’s mouth and his hand moves seemingly to cover it. InuYasha leans up, closer. “Holy shit! Did you just laugh? For real? Damn, I think I might pass out here. You can smile and laugh. That’s too much shock in one sitting.”

Here, Sesshomaru’s shoulders are slightly trembling and he holds up a hand. “E-Enough of—this foolishness, InuYasha.”

So, he shuts his hole and leans back to just watch the phenomena. Lord Ice-Hole could laugh.

VI

A booted foot tears the soft skin of his cheek; blood splatters in the snow. The foreigner draws back for another cheap shot aimed for his rib cage this time.

It had been hours of pain. He’d been tied, dragged, beaten, and now the whole camp has their opportunity to question him. In a few hours, dark would melt away to dawn.

Shippo gasps in an agonized breath of pain, his face shadowed in firelight. Some gibberish is directed at him, but he still has no idea what the hell these guys are trying to tell him. He lost consciousness one already, but they only threw water on him to keep him awake during the beatings.

Kouga, InuYasha, someone! Help me...

VII

InuYasha is dying. Tears are streaming down his face and his middle creaks from the rolls of laughter still bubbling up from his belly. The minute he thinks he’s calmed down enough to breathe, one look at Sesshomaru’s scowly face sends him off into another gale. His face is red as his fire rat.

“T-That f-fucking toad” heh, ha, ha, ha, “singed your eyebrows clean off ?!!” He covers his eyes and still can’t stop. “Gods damn! Yer killin’ me here!” Just the image flashes in his mind again, and InuYasha has a real concern he might piss himself soon if he can’t stop.

“Hn. It was the first time he used the Staff of Two Heads.” Sesshomaru pretends to looks bored and examine his claws for any chips. “Regardless, I believe the sound kick I delivered sent him flying to Edo...from the shoreline.” Completely dead pan, and the hanyou roars with about bout, rolling on his back in the dirt, clutching his sore abdomen, spewing the same curses in merriment that he spews in anger.

“Shit! Y-Ya-bastard!”

Sesshomaru, scowly face and all, just watches with secret tolerance and satisfaction. It is good to hear his brother’s mirth (even if it is at his own expense). This means he would survive whatever the dragon had done to him without permanent damage to his personality. As he has proven over these many years, InuYasha would keep surviving. Covering the lower half of his face with one hand, the demon lord is actually smiling yet again.

After the hanyou seems to finally calm down to a few chuckles and panting breaths, Sesshomaru sighs and picks himself up to stand gracefully.

“I trust you are through?”

Golden eyes peek through his fingers and one puppy ear crooks adorably in question. With a final guffaw, InuYasha sits back up and wipes the tears from his cheeks with a sleeve. “Hoo, damn. Oh, man. Heh, heh, heh. Yeah, okay. I’m good, I’m good,” he waves a hand in Sesshomaru’s direction.

“Hn. Then follow.” He turns without explanation and merely waves a hand at the far wall. A few words under his breath and the outline of a circle with several smaller kanji markings glow for less than a moment and the wall shifts, leaving a gaping hole and more steps going further down. A soothing warmth wafts from the passage way.

“Wh-Wow. That’s—some really neat shit.” Wafts from over his right shoulder.

“Indeed. Did I not tell you this is an excellent hiding place?”

“Well, yeah, but you’re idea of an excellent hiding place could be a nasty-ass bog with poisonous swamp gas for all I know.”

“Ridiculous. As if I would chance my robe’s cleanliness for such an endeavor.”

“I’m just sayin’.”

With excellent night vision, the two brothers venture down into the earth.

“It’s warm down here...”

Sesshomaru steps on the packed earth and spots the natural spring bubbling up from underground. As he walks forward, he is already unbuckling two of the straps that hold his armor in place, listening to InuYasha’s soft footsteps behind him. Certainly he could have left the hanyou up into the previous chamber to bathe in private then allow him to come down afterwards, but in the demon lord’s mind, InuYasha would need to become more comfortable in Sesshomaru’s presence—particularly if they would be forced to mate again soon. This was an opportunity to break some of the barriers of InuYasha’s modesty and aversion to mating...it may also prove to be quite a prospect if Sesshomaru must indeed resort to sly seduction to assure his brother survival.

The things this Sesshomaru is forced to endure...

The hanyou in questions watches with wide eyes as the armors slides off his brothers back with ease for such a heavy piece of equipment. His brain registers the smells of the spring, but he didn’t know they were going to...get, well shit, he didn’t think Sesshomaru wanted to bathe...you know, with him.

His suspicions are confirmed as the flowing white haori leaves the broad expanse of demon lord back wide open to his gaze. The curve of spine vanishes into the hakama still tied around his brother’s waist.

Sesshomaru casts one golden eye over his shoulder, “it has been a difficult battle. Do you not wish to ease your wounds? To wash away the dirt of the slain?”

Tempting...damn, he was still kinda achy in places, and unconsciously rubs his arm where the arrow sunk in to make him drop that sword.

“After all that cold water, yeah, I guess it would be nice,” he shrugs and moves around Sesshomaru to untie his own clothing. He purposely averts his gaze from the rustling beside him as his brother steps out of his hakama and walks with his usual grace to the large pool. Keeping his gaze firmly on the ties to Tetsuaiga’s sheath, he only looks up once he hears the splash and assumes his brother is in the water.

Damn. He shouldn’t have looked up.

Standing with water up to his waist, Sesshomaru arches his back in a stretch, head back and throat exposed. Waves of silver hair flow down his back. The water laps teasingly at the indentation of his hips, just below the slashes of demon markings. As if to make the hanyou suffer more, the lord’s hands cup water and slowly slide up to leave the achingly smooth flesh wet in their wake. The hanyou’s eyes unwillingly follow the path of those hands up the carved curves of abdomen to the taunt muscles adorned by two pink nipples, the same color as the marks on his body.

InuYasha sucks in a breath and lies Tetsuaiga on the ground, tearing his eyes away. His heart gives a meaty thud and resounds in his ears.

I shouldn’t do this. I can’t.

But if anything, the hanyou is not a coward—and can’t, shmant. He could damn near do anything as proven by the fuck-ton of powers the Tetsuaiga got over the years. He glances up again, bangs camouflaging his intense gaze like a wild animal. Sesshomaru’s back is to him now, the demon lord bends over to run hot water up his arms, and bares the curve of ass cheeks—the only soft plumpness on his whole, muscular body.

So tight...

InuYasha’s face gets flaming red instantly, the abrupt blood movement making him light-headed for a moment. Stop it, now. That’s enough. It’s Sesshomaru for fuck’s sake.

Blustering up his balls, he drops his hakama and moves to the water, testing one foot before stepping in up to his thighs. A breath hissed through his teeth as the water hit the sensitive place on his calf and the muscle spasms with a quick bite of pain.

Sesshomaru straightens and turns at the sound, moving through the deeper body of water to come to the shallow end where his shorter sibling stands.

“What is it?” His eyes scan the leaner body for open wounds or lacerations. No scent of blood, but he catches a dark spot on the back of InuYasha’s leg under the water.

“Nothin’,” the hanyou assures with a guffaw. “I’ll heal just fine.” He turns and finds Sesshomaru much closer than he should be, neck craned to look at his backside.

Feeling strangely exposed, he blusters for words, “it’s fine, dumbass.”

“There is an arrowhead in your leg.”

With that, the hanyou blinks and cranes to look back as well. There it is, a dark spot with the skin of his leg healed over the damn thing.

“Sonofabitch. I hate when that happens.” With a sneer, he lifts a clawed finger, ready to slice himself open to get the offending metal shard out.

Sesshomaru is already kneeling in the water, hands on the hanyou’s upper thighs to turn him around.

“It’s fine! I’ll get it out.”

“I am able to see more clearly. Turn around.”

Never thought I’d be shoving my ass in Sesshomaru’s face. Man, I should be enjoying this.

With a frustrated huff, he turns and lifts his leg out of the water. One clawed hand cradles his ankle in a gentle, almost tender way that makes the hanyou forget he’d naked and Sesshomaru’s naked, and well, they’d kinda been naked like this before. ‘Cause, see, there’s no poison coming out of his brother’s claws or the sharp bite of them sinking into his skin. All he can feel is the pads of fingertips and fleshy cradle of a palm. But still, InuYasha looks back at Sesshomaru’s intense gaze focused on a piddly-ass piece of metal that got stuck in the meat of his leg. It makes him feel, well, warm, and not just from the water. Sesshomaru gives a shit about that hunk being there.

“Relax your muscles. The shard is deeper than I originally believed. This will be painful.”

“Keh! Seriously? Nah, getting a couple holes shoved through my chest by a giant fucking grasshopper kinda hurt. Do yer worst. Long as I still have a leg, it’ll be fine.”

“Hn.” Grasshopper? A story for another day. “Breathe in.”

Claw poised to slice, Sesshomaru gives him a quick glance and times his movements to the rise of InuYasha’s abdomen. Quickly as possible, his steady claw opens the skin with a hot spurt of blood and enters the cut to nudge around muscle and tissue for the shard.

It takes long moments of work, with only their combined breathing and soft noises of dripping water, for the demon lord to maneuver the arrowhead away from the meat of muscle to finally pop free of the skin. True to his word, however, InuYasha doesn’t utter a word throughout. The hanyou is actually looking curiously around the underground cavern while the slight feeling of a deadly claw cuts through his muscle.

With the metal safely in hand, Sesshomaru does not think about his next move—leaning over the wound and laving the torn skin with his tongue.

This certainly got a rise out of the hanyou, of whom jumps on his uninjured leg at the contact. Sesshomaru’s mouth is like being struck with a tiny bolt of lightening, crackling up through his leg and right to the center of his belly. Warmth pools and his eyes shoot open in shock. To his complete humiliation, InuYasha’s dick hardens just a little at the tongue sweeping back and forth over the back of his calf.

“That’s good!” he jerks his leg back and stands for just a second, throwing a look over his shoulder because he really doesn’t want to turn around. Sesshomaru’s golden eyes do that slow blink up at him, his throat, shoulders, and collar bone an alluring shade of pink thanks to the warm water.

“Better?”

Pointedly, the hanyou ignores staring at his brother’s mouth. “Much. Thanks for getting the damn thing outta there.”

Without waiting for a reply (and to put some distance between them), InuYasha moves brusquely through the pool, wading deep enough to lap at his belly. He ducks under the water to soak his hair and stays under for a minute to scrub at his scalp with his claws.

Miroku...pink kimono... all right. Good to go.

Sesshomaru’s eyes narrow when the hanyou rises out of the water, back arching, muscles extending, mouth open... But, his youkai is not spiking. Hn.

Crossing his arms over his chest, the demon lord merely finds the same comfortable niche that always seems to be perfect for his bum. The water levels at the base of his throat, and he lays his head back to rest on a convenient out-cropping to let the hot swirls ease his muscles. Indeed, it was a good idea to bring InuYasha here.

A wet thump makes him crack one eye open. The silly boy is whacking himself in the side of his head to get water out of his ears—as though it helps. Sighing, Sesshomaru wonders if shaking like a mere mutt is also one of his brother’s strange quirks. Be that as it may, at least he is washing away the scent of their sexual encounter.

Sloshing through the water, InuYasha likewise finds a nice little curve to nestle his ass in to relax for a few minutes. They lay side-by-side without touching or (InuYasha) feeling awkward.

“Something troubles you still.” Without moving, the demon lord breaks the easy mood. “I would know what it is, InuYasha.”

Said hanyou blinks up at the dark stalactites dropping down from the cavern. He hesitates a second, but eventually comes out with it “...what’s really going to happen once the Heat bullshit is done? I mean, you don’t really expect me to live in the West or anything, right?”

The gruff tone is unsettling. Through the dark, Sesshomaru’s gaze cuts to his brother.

To take the edge off his words, InuYasha blurts out, “I mean, damn. I’m a busy hanyou, y’know? I got places to be, asses to kick, evil shit to kill, humans to piss off. The usual. I ain’t cut out for the courtly life and stuff.”

This would require some finesse in order to make certain the younger didn’t just blow everything out of proportion. In fact, Sesshomaru hadn’t considered the possibility that his brother might not want to return to the Western lands and live in the palace. He, the heir to the land, hadn’t really been given a choice in the matter. The palace was the first place their lord father had taken him after the trial ended. The first seven days had been hell if he remembered correctly; him fighting off guards every day to make a break for freedom, and his father there to thwart each escape attempt without bloodying them both. Only when Father finally showed him the specially-made dojo and swore he would train his heir in the art of the sword did the young Sesshomaru stop trying to escape.

In some strange fashion, he always knew what would sway me...

“...I was in hopes you would come back to the palace for a while, at the very least. Simply to see if living there would be to your liking. Perhaps you would be curious to see your mother’s and our father’s possessions that are still in the castle, or to read the scrolls left for you to open, written in their own hands.”

This time, InuYasha did turn to meet Sesshomaru’s gaze. Of course, using the hanyou’s mother was unscrupulous, but if it would snare his promise to return to the Western palace, then Sesshomaru would fight dirty.

“Mother’s things? And letters?”

“Indeed. I have not opened her chests or her missives to you in all these years. All have waited for you to finish the Great Trial. More so, it is a change to have food and security at all times rather than fight for them—this is something I learned from my own time in exile. You owe it to yourself to try living at home for a while. Should you find it unsuited to your tastes, you may leave whenever you wish.”

“Keh. Home...The village used to be home.” He looks away, and his tone sounds so very hollow.

“You had not returned there for some time, I take it?” Sesshomaru turns his body in the water to face InuYasha, propping his cheek on one arm.

“Not since Kaede died.” The hanyou does his best shrug, but it does not hide the tinge of pain in his voice.

“The villagers forced you out?”

“Naw, not really. They kinda got used to me not being the terrrrible demon pinned to a tree in their forest. But, there was just no point in going back after that. Kagome gone, Kikyo back in her grave politely not dragging me to Hell, Sango and Mirkou took Shippo and went back to the demon slayer village...nothing really to go back to, I guess.” Even Goshinboku’s branches didn’t feel the same, and man did he hate passing by that fucking, thrice-damned well...

Movement through the water and a hand closes around his, making him turn back to his brother.

“Then come home with me,” is all Sesshomaru has to say.

Even with his reservation about being a prince and all the shit that goes with it, InuYasha swallows around a lump in his throat, eyes vulnerable and raw. Slowly, piece by piece, Sesshomaru is making him into a total sap, a girly, frilly sap with a big fricking sword and matching red ensemble. Sheesh, what’s next? I’m not gonna embarrass myself by crying on him again—Hells no.

“...Maybe.” Is all he can promise for the moment. The reassuring squeeze to his hand is almost as comforting as the initial offer. “We’ll see when it comes time. I wanna get out in a minute and go hunting again. Buncha fighting really gave me an appetite, and I need to stretch my legs anyhow.” He rolls his head back and closes his eyes again, but still hangs on to the stripey hand in his grasp.

VIII

His lungs are ready to burst from lack of air.

Kouga, Prince of the Northern Wolves, can’t stop to get in a full breath. Without the jewel shards in his legs, he’s one fast motherfucker, but no longer a whirling tornado of speed leaving his followers in the dust. Well, by followers, he meant the slower-than-frozen-water bodyguards, Ginta and Hakku. Those two had been mated for years, and had foregone following Kouga to start their own brood of pups. He was happy for them, but dammit could he have used those knuckleheads now.

The slayer is going to kill me. She’s going to rip me apart piece-by-piece and make that monk send my soul straight to Hell—I just know it!

Blood lingers in the air, kitsune blood, from where those sons of lame bitches dragged Shippo away. He doesn’t know if the kit is still alive, or if they questioned him for information, killed him, and left his body for the buzzards. All he does know is that he is a shitty leader for bringing the kid along and leaving him alone to keep an eye on where the small forces might be off to next. He never, never, should have left him alone.

Sure, the kid got right in the middle of the shit storm of blood during the Naraku years, but for Kouga to assume Shippo would run or be able to hide if he got spotted was just plain out stupid. No kid should have to do what he did.

The only up side to this whole mess is that the Western army wasn’t really that hard to find or that far. Well, it’s probably kind of hard to miss a few thousand humans and demons meandering around, but the gods must have been smiling to make them less than a mile from where Shippo got taken.

Hold on, kid. Hold on!! Help is on the way!

IX

Arms crossed over his chest, InuYasha taps an impatient foot while Sesshomaru carefully unweaves the spells keeping the hidey hole safe and secret. He meant to ask how Sesshomaru learned all this magic hokum and why he’d never seen his brother use it in battle before (magic swords notwithstanding), but he figured that was a whole basket of worms that might take a while to explain. Better leave it for the time being.

The steps formed and the demon lord turns to face him one more time.

“I will reiterate: you will stay close to me if I allow you out.”

“Keh. I heard ya the first time. On with it already, it’s hot as dog balls down here.” He uncrosses his arms to make a shooing motion with his hands.

“I am the one guarding your virginal rear, little brother. Do not make it an impossible task.”

InuYasha blanches, “I can’t believe you just said that! Shit, Sesshomaru, haven’t you ever heard of the guy code? Some things are just understood.”

The demon lord merely sniffs, “as long as we are in agreement,” and takes the steps two at a time, clawed hand on the hilt of his sword. He makes sure he is the first to hit fresh air and strains his senses to scout the immediate area before moving to allow InuYasha outside.

It’s a mistake—a few seconds made this an obvious problem.

The very forest around them groans in protest, and something is very, very wrong. The sky, while dark, is ominous with black clouds lingering only in sparse spots further into the woods, and the ground trembles under their feet with minute vibrations that are not the normal cycles of nature. Even the sharp winter winds sweep in frigid waves and make swirls around the duo before sailing back into bare branches. Sesshomaru focuses on locating and gauging power signatures while InuYasha cautiously sniffs the air around them. It is still full dark, dawn less than two or maybe three hours away (he isn’t sure how long they were underground or anything).

Behind them, the open doorway to the underground slinks back to solid, earthen floor, and InuYasha instinctually moves to put his back to Sesshomaru’s. His ears twitch to gather as much sound as he can, but all he can make out is snatches of noise that could be random youkai foraging before the sun rose. His angles his head away from Sesshomaru’s scent just as the winds shift.

Eyes widen in recognition. “S-Shippo...” Not sweat, but blood and tears.

The demon lord’s head whips around, he too trying to catch the scent. “The Western army is closer than it should be and not bedded down for the night. Something has gone amiss.” His eyes narrow dangerously, “our forces to the north, and a shadowy signature to the East. I must go and investigate before the army reaches a potential threat.”

“My ass! We’re goin’!”

Mouth in a grim line, Sesshomaru looks down at the shorter inu. Before he can open his mouth, a clawed finger is wagging in his face.

“Just save it. Yeah, this is pretty damn dangerous, but that was Shippo, Sesshomaru. Not some trick ‘cause he’s still got some of my smell on him, but it’s Shippo, and he’s just a kid. I won’t leave him out there.”

Sesshomaru’s jaw tightens even more, “if your Heat spikes at any moment—“

“—They’ll be over me like wild animals. I know that, but you just have to trust me this time. I’ll have my own back, and if I don’t see my kit right away, I’ll turn and run while you whoop some mighty ass.”

Still, the elder calculates opening the doorway behind his back and simply throwing the hanyou inside, but looking down into that ferocious expression and reading the waves of his youkai make it impossible to leave him behind.

“You swear you will run?”

“On my mother’s grave.”

A sharp nod and the two condense into a single orb of light.

A/N: As someone on Fanfiction.net mentioned, it is an interesting change that Sesshomaru actually liked and respected Lady Izayoi—InuYasha’s mother. If the Great Trial were true, I don’t think it is a farfetched idea. As the hanyou’s “trainer,” Sesshomaru would have to resort to dirty tactics (thus, the Un-Mother and all those slurs against the human blood) to get rise out of his sibling. So, I wanted to show that more. I think it helps Sesshomaru look like less Lord Icy-Asshole and more demon with a heart.

On that note, Happy New Year.
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The Great Trial