Adult-FanFiction.org : Inuyasha / Yashahime

A Heat to Overcome	By : Sparrowhawk Category: InuYasha > Yaoi - Male/Male > InuYasha/Sessh?maru > InuYasha/Sessh?maru Views: 31291 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 8
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or the associated characters, nor do I make any profit from this fanfic. All other characters not associated with the original manga or anime, however, are mine.

Chapter List
- 16
- 17
- 18
Hey everybody, hope you all enjoyed the last chapter because here's the next one. But first, reviews!!
Vyperbites: As always, so happy you enjoyed the chapter! No guarantees about what's going to happen to Kagome, because even I'm not sure where that's going yet. Kouga would be so sad if she dies, though, and so would Inuyasha no matter how bitchy she is, so I don't think she'll be dying. We'll see what happens on that front. She's never been a favorite of mine, either, but I don't despise her enough to kill her off, lol. Anyway, please enjoy the next chapter as well!
Moonlight Vampiress: I'm glad you like Bishamon and Fuyuki together. I thought it was pretty cute, too. Not sure what exactly is going to be happening on the Kagome front, haven't gotten all the details ironed out yet, but it will be exciting, I promise! Lol, I like adding more layers to characters. I mean, people are such complicated creatures, and it's hard to show all the layers in a 30 min. segment of an anime where you can't really get into their heads all that well, so this is my attempt at layering Sesshomaru and rounding out his personality (: Glad to see I'm doing a fairly decent job, lol. Ha ha, I like your answers to his questions. Awesome. Suzu is definitely not just a sexually harassing peacock. He's really entertaining, isn't he? And he has such depth of character. We'll be getting more into him and his character and back story as the plot moves along. Lol, no worries, I'm glad you like Suzu so much (: Hope you enjoy the next chapter!
starchilds: Suzu is all those things, he is a very perceptive character. Oh yes, Sessh definitely needs to learn to watch his temper. Poor Inuyasha gets a fright every time he raises his voice ): He is recovering quicker, though. Still a lot to work through, but they're at least moving forward. Yep, Shippo and Kouga know there's something wrong, not sure when they're going to figure out exactly what's wrong, though. Hmm ... we'll see. Thanks for leaving a review, I appreciate it! Here's the next chapter for you!
Warnings: profanity (I feel like a broken record, lol), more bitchy Kagome, more Inuyasha/Sessh flirtiness/awkwardness/shyness/embarrassment ... however you want to phrase it, mischievous Suzu, some naked inus ... uh, yeah, think that's it (: Please enjoy!

Chapter Seventeen
Second Night: Reunion
“Sessh, would ya stop … ngh … stop pullin’ at my hair like that?” Inuyasha complained, reaching back to try to still his sibling’s hand and the wicked comb that yanked and pulled at every tangle it came across—which was, unfortunately for Inuaysha, about every five seconds. “My hair’s never been one to do whatcha want it to. Ow!”
“That is because you have never taken the time to tame it, little brother,” Sesshomaru responded, evading the pup’s grasping hands with ease.
“Why d’ya hafta … ouch! Why d’ya hafta brush my hair, anyway?”
“I am not going to present you before your pack looking any less than perfectly healthy. It is a matter of pride.”
“Everything is a matter of pride for you,” Inuyasha pointed out grumpily.
Smiling to himself, Sesshomaru conceded that fact. “At any rate, taking pride in your appearance is not something to sneer at, Inuyasha. One man will bow to another for appearance as much as for power.”
“These are my friends, Sessh, not just some random strangers ya brought in. I don’t need any of ‘em to bow to me.”
“In addition,” the daiyoukai continued as he pulled the comb through the last knots of hair, “I take pleasure in being able to show off the beauty of the shiro inu bloodline in my younger brother.”
“Keh, you don’t really believe that.”
“Contrary to what you might think, little one, I have thought you beautiful from the first time I laid eyes on you. That is one of the reasons I despised your existence so. For a half breed to inherit the beauty and perfection of my Lord Father and the Shiro Inu Clan, it was a bitter reminder of my father’s disgrace and of my relation to you.”
“Pride again?” Inuyasha asked, smirking a little.
“Unfortunately. I am not perfect, Inuyasha. An overabundance of pride has been a thorn in my side from before you were there to experience the brunt of it.”
The hanyou grimaced and then grinned cheekily, looking back at his brother over his shoulder with mischief in glinting golden eyes. “Ow. Admittin’ that musta really hurt, huh?”
Sesshomaru let a small, amused smile grace his lips. “I can admit my faults, pup, believe it or not.” Then, almost as an after thought, he went on, “Few though they are.”
“Narcissist,” Inuyasha muttered, grinning.
“Lord Sesshomaru, Lord Inuyasha, may I come in?” Suzu asked from the other side of the bedroom door.
Inuyasha frowned at the door and then over at his brother. “I thought your guards were s’pposed to warn ya when someone’s there.”
Pressing his lips together in irritation, Sesshomaru rose and went to the door, opening it for his general. “Suzu has a talent for concealing himself when he does not wish to be seen or heard, even from this Sesshomaru’s personal guards.”
Inuyasha raised his eyebrows as he watched the peacock youkai silently sashay into the room. “What? Y’mean, like, he’s an assassin?”
Suzu froze, brown doe eyes blinking in surprise. “Your senses are quite sharp, Lord Inuyasha.”
“What d’ya mean?”
“Suzu was an assassin,” Sesshomaru answered for his general.
The bird demon nodded solemnly. “The kind of skill taught to assassins is not easily forgotten.”
“Why would ya want to forget that? It sounds damn well helpful t’me.”
Suzu chuckled. “Helpful, yes. The memories, however, are not very pleasant. But,” his tone brightened along with the general atmosphere of the room at the abrupt change in mood, “I have not intruded upon my Lords for the sake of storytelling. I come only to inform Lord Inuyasha that your bodyguards await you outside with the guards. When my Lord is ready, I will introduce them to you.”
“Thank you, Suzu,” Sesshomaru said, inclining his head in gratitude. “We will be ready shortly.”
Suzu bowed and moved back toward the door, stopping just inside the open doorway. “Lord Inuyasha.”
“Yeah?”
“You look absolutely sinful with your hair brushed like that. Were I any less of a sexual reprobate myself I would have fallen to my knees in worship. As it is, I will merely say your older brother is a very lucky man.”
Flushing bright red, Inuyasha buried his face in his hands, shooting an accusing glare back at said older brother. “This is all your fault,” he muttered darkly.
“Indeed.” Sesshomaru watched the peacock leave, more than aware of the sweet embarrassment that permeated his sibling’s scent, and very glad his general had left. If he hadn’t, the daiyoukai wasn’t sure what he would do—strangle him or give his thanks for the compliment his brother dearly needed, even if he didn’t know it. Through the embarrassment, he could smell just a little more confidence, a little more security in himself. He was grateful for that much, but less than happy about the arousal that had his hakama becoming just a little too tight around his crotch. And he knew full well his sibling would be able to smell it.
“Are ya done?” Inuyasha wondered, turning on the stool to face his brother. He tried hard to ignore the distinctly masculine arousal that floated in the air, giving silent thanks once more that Tamae’s potion was still in his system and working like it should be. He had thought his attraction to his sibling’s scent might be only because he had been in heat when they rutted. Now he knew that wasn’t the case. His brother’s aroused scent was just as spicy sweet as he remembered it, just as appealing, and nothing like the stench of the bastards who had … who had ….
He shook his head, still unable to even think the term. The pain was still too raw. When Sesshomaru’s elegant hand came down to rest on his shoulder, he flinched, then smiled apologetically at the demon lord. He really needed to get over that. Sesshomaru wasn’t going to hurt him. He knew that. He really did. It wasn’t the daiyoukai at all, in truth. It was him that was the problem. Being touched still made his skin crawl and made fear pound through his veins.
“Ototo? Are you all right?”
Inuyasha smiled a little at the concerned tone and nodded. “Yeah, ‘m alright. Just thinking.”
“The slavers?”
Again, Inuyasha nodded. He stiffened when he felt an arm come around his waist and a warm body press against his back. Reminding himself that this was Sesshomaru, his alpha holding him, he relaxed. The skin crawling feeling ceased, and all that was left was how right it felt.
“Are you ready?” Sesshomaru murmured into one of the adorable puppy ears.
His confidence rising as his older brother’s youki enveloped him in warmth and safety, Inuyasha responded firmly, “Long as you’re with me, I’m ready for anything.” His cheeks were pink, but that was truly how he felt.
“That is good to hear, little one.” Considering briefly, deciding it was worth it, Sesshomaru pressed a very quick, very light kiss to his baby brother’s temple. “Very good to hear.”
Inuyasha gripped the wrist across his waist when those soft lips touched his skin. He breathed in shakily, and then breathed out, breathed in again, and then breathed out once more before finding his voice. “Should we go then? Suzu’s waitin’ for us.”
“So he is.” Breathing in the younger inu’s scent one last time, Sesshomaru removed his arm and stepped away.
The hanyou felt the loss of heat and warmth and security acutely, so when Sesshomaru went over to the door and held it open for him, gesturing for him to go through first, he boldly reached for his brother’s hand. He shut the door behind them as he slipped his hand into his brother’s, sighing when it fully encompassed his own.
Sesshomaru looked surprised for a moment, but soon squeezed Inuyasha’s hand in reassurance and gratitude. It felt good to be wanted, even if it was only as a security blanket.
They made their way out of his chambers together, Inuyasha staying close to his side and slightly behind him as they passed the guards and came to a stop in front of Suzu and two bird youkai of the fire demon species, known by humans as phoenixes. Inuyasha’s ears flattened against his head as he ducked further behind the broad, protective back of his alpha.
“Lord Inuyasha,” Suzu said, moving slightly around the elder of the Lords to smile serenely at the timid hanyou, “allow me to introduce you to Shiro and Sho, your bodyguards.”
Inuaysha eyed the bird youkai suspiciously, taking in their scent and feeling out their youki. After a moment of trying to discern one from the other, he realized they were mated. Their youki and scents were mixed so much he wasn’t able to separate them, almost as if they were the same being. Together, though, their youki was … fuzzy. That was the only way he could think to describe it. Warm and fuzzy, really.
“Lord Inuyasha,” one of the bird demons said, moving a single step toward the youngest Lord of the West and falling to one knee, hand over his heart. The other male followed suit, smiling brilliantly at the same time. “We are pleased to have this opportunity to serve you. Our swords we pledge to your protection, our bodies to your will, our minds to your understanding, our hearts to your heart, our souls to your soul. As we have pledged, know that we will allow no harm to come to your person while we yet live and breathe.”
Feeling silly, Inuyasha nodded to them, refusing to give up his refuge behind his alpha.
“Come forward, little one,” Sesshomaru murmured, tugging his reluctant sibling to stand by his side. “Shiro and Sho were my bodyguards when our father yet lived. They protected me for many years while Lord Inu no Taisho was still solidifying his hold over the western lands. I trust them with my life, as did my Lord Father. It is my hope that eventually you, too, will come to trust them as I have. They are the best in their fields of expertise.”
“Better’n yours?” Inuyasha wondered, refusing to meet the fiery eyes of the bird youkai. He wasn’t sure he was ready for this, to be looked at, stared at, or have people kneel to him and pledge their lives to him when they didn’t even know him.
“Better, Majesty?” the bodyguard who had spoken earlier asked. “One bodyguard is not better or worse than the other. Sho and I are the best in our fields of expertise, that is, knife throwing, hand-to-hand combat, disarming and subduing, bojutsu, and naginatajutsu.”
“What about kenjutsu?”
Shiro smiled slightly, “That, my Lord, is a style of fighting that is the privilege of yourself and your elder brother to learn and wield.”
“Well then, shall we go?” Suzu asked vibrantly. “Shiro, Sho, please take up your guard positions.”
The two firebird youkai rose and saluted. “Yes, sir.” The younger and smaller of the bodyguards, Sho, grinned at Inuyasha before sliding into his position to the right and slightly behind the hanyou. Inuyasha could also sense Suzu moving somewhere behind him, which, if he was honest with himself, made him quite nervous.
Sesshomaru noted the way his sibling began to fidget, turning every few seconds to watch the guards from his periphery. “Perhaps it might suit Lord Inuyasha better if you two were to remain to either side and slightly ahead. I will guard his back for the time being.” He leaned down, his mouth brushing the hanyou’s soft ear, “You will need to learn to trust them, little one.”
Inuyasha glanced up, taking in his aniki’s serious face, and scowled. “I don’t give out my trust that easily, Sessh. I’ve learnt a lot while bein’ hounded ‘n chased in the wild, and one o’ the hardest and most important of those lessons was t’never expose my back to a potential enemy. My pack had t’earn their place, these guys ain’t any different. The only one I’ve ever given trust blindly was … well,” he shrugged uncomfortably, his fingers tightening around the daiyoukai’s hand, “you.”
“Lord Inuyasha,” Sho called politely, having overheard the brothers’ conversation quite clearly since the younger inu didn’t bother to keep his voice down, “my mate and I are not above earning your trust. However, if you do trust your brother doesn’t that mean you trust his judgment, too?”
“W-Well … I … I guess,” Inuyasha replied uncomfortably. “I guess that makes sense.”
“Indeed,” Sesshomaru murmured, pulling the hanyou tight against his side, exchanging the hand he held for the opposite so he could wrap his arm about his sibling’s waist. “Regardless of his trust in me, however, he should trust in his own judgment more. Give it time.”
“As you say, my Lord,” Sho responded simply. He inclined his head to Inuyasha, including him in the sentiment and giving a cheeky wink that made the hanyou blush.
“Shall we proceed to the dining hall?” Sesshomaru inquired of his sibling, refusing to let him budge from his place against his side as he started to walk.
Inuyasha tried awkwardly to keep their bodies from touching, but it was a useless effort. There was no helping the way their hips brushed every few steps, nor was Inuyasha completely averse to it. “Where are your bodyguards?”
“I sent them on an errand. Within the halls of our sire’s palace I do not often require them to stay at my side.”
“O’ course not,” Inuyasha muttered sarcastically. “Cause you’re just so fuckin’ perfect you don’t need guards.”
Sho snickered, but quickly shut his mouth when his mate gave him a warning look.
Sesshomaru growled a little, but the sound was playful rather than threatening. “Watch yourself, pup. You’re asking for punishment with that kind of cheek.”
Inuyasha grinned, ignoring the nervous fluttering in his belly. “Punishment? Are you sure punishin’ me is what you’ll be doin’ aniki? I think y’like me too much to punish me.” To his surprise, the daiyoukai didn’t deny it.
“Silly pup. Haven’t you ever heard of giving punishment out of affection? You may eventually decide you enjoy such attention.”
“What kinda punishment are ya talkin’ about?”
“Hn … spankings, perhaps. You are, after all, nothing if not a naughty pup.”
“Who would enjoy that?” Inuyasha scoffed. He shuddered when he felt the demon lord’s hot breath ghosting into his ear. His heartbeat seemed to have lodged itself in the back of his throat, making speech impossible.
“You might be surprised how good I can make something as simple as a spanking feel, ototo,” the elder inu murmured huskily. It was so tempting to draw that warm, furry appendage into his mouth, but as tempting as it was he knew he could not. A silent sigh of regret left him when they arrived at their destination and he put a more appropriate distance between them. Now that they were here, he could smell and feel his baby brother’s anxiety on the rise. “It is all right, little one. I will be with you, right next to you, for as long as you need me. Believe me. As your alpha I am here to protect you.”
“Keh,” Inuyasha muttered, his flattened ears attesting to his nervousness, though his tone remained brazen, almost arrogant. “I don’t need you t’protect me from my own pack.” His fingers clung tighter to the bigger hand of his aniki, regardless. The presence of the more powerful demon lord brought him comfort, especially knowing the shiro inu was his alpha and was there to back him up if he needed it.
“Of course not.”
Inuyasha hung back, letting the daiyoukai take the lead as Shiro and Sho opened the double doors to the dining hall. He didn’t know why, exactly, he was so nervous. This was his pack, his friends. They had been with him for a long time now. They had fought together with him to defeat Naraku, and although they hadn’t yet accomplished that task, they had never let him down. Yet he knew this meeting would be much more than a test of their loyalty toward him as their alpha. It was also a test to see how they might react to his sharing everything with his older brother, a demon who had, up until a couple weeks ago, been a bitter enemy. More than that, he was apprehensive of Kagome’s reaction. He knew she had feelings for him, more than he had for her. It was this fact that made him the most nervous. She had been his first friend, the one to unseal him from the sacred tree Kikyo had pinned him to fifty years before, she had been a light to him in the darkness of his lonely, half-breed existence, and though he didn’t think his feelings could ever go beyond friendship, he didn’t want to lose her.
All such thoughts were blown from his mind a moment later, however, when a windstorm of a little girl dashed over to Sesshomaru with the brightest smile Inuyasha had ever seen on a person. “Sesshomaru-sama! Is Inuyasha-sama all better now?”
Face expressionless as ever, Sesshomaru stepped aside, giving her a full, unobstructed view of his little brother. Feeling suddenly awkward, Inuyasha waved his hand a little.
“Oh, you are all better!” she exclaimed, springing over to stand directly in front of him. “Sesshomaru-sama was so worried for you. He didn’t leave your side even once!”
“Rin.”
“Yes, Sesshomaru-sama?” she responded, immediately returning her attention to her guardian.
“Perhaps you should give Lord Inuyasha some room to breathe; you are crowding him.”
Blushing prettily, she took a couple apologetic steps back, head bowed. “I’m sorry.”
Inuyasha couldn’t help grinning a little at how well “trained” his brother had his human ward. “Don’t worry about it, kid. Yer fine. Sessh is just bein’ a bit overprotective.” He swore the smile she gave him then could have lit up a pitch-black room in the deepest pit of hell. Her scent was full of such flowery sweetness he wondered how she had come to be traveling with his sibling whose temperament used to be the embodiment of a frozen wasteland and whose mood had, more often than not, waffled between angry and enraged—the only two emotions he had seemed capable of expressing back then.
“Inuyasha!”
He froze, back stiffening when a petite body slammed into his front, slim arms wrapping around his waist and squeezing him desperately. Relieved sobs beat hotly against his borrowed hitoe, heat bleeding through to warm his chest, tears staining the expensive frabric. Kagome’s almost offensively saccharine smell invaded his nose. Happy as he was to see that she wasn’t angry or disgusted with him for … whatever, he didn’t want to be touched by anyone except Sesshomaru. It didn’t feel right. He wasn’t comfortable with it.
As if sensing his thoughts, Sesshomaru grabbed the miko’s shoulder and, more gently than Inuyasha had ever seen him treat anyone but him, moved her back a respectful distance.
“Oh, I’m …” she looked embarrassed as she wiped ineffectually at her teary eyes. “I’m so sorry. I’m just … so happy you’re okay. When Sango told us you had fallen unconscious and wouldn’t wake up and you were close to dying and Sesshomaru was the only one who could take care of you … I … I …” Her eyes sparkled with that gentleness and love he had noticed—and intentionally avoided—toward the beginning of their relationship, before she had begun to delude herself into believing he was hers exclusively, hers to command. “Ooh, look at you, you brushed your hair! You look s-s-so … so good!” With another sob, she buried her face in her hands and turned away, taking comfort on Sango’s ready shoulder.
The demon slayer smiled. “She was really worried about you.”
“Yeah, I gathered that much,” Inuyasha replied with a laugh. He thought this would be harder. That there would be some strife between them, some kind of taint left on their relationship because of what had happened to him, but that didn’t seem to be the case. They were acting as they always had.
He leaned a little further into Sesshomaru, ducking beneath his arm and pressing close to the daiyoukai’s side, gratitude filling him. Gratitude for being alive. Gratitude for being rescued. Gratitude for his brother’s presence beside him. He couldn’t express how good it felt to be wanted by family—actual family—after he had been rejected first by his mother’s human relatives, and then by Sesshomaru himself.
His nose wrinkled when the stench of wolf reached him—one wolf in particular—and that stench was powerful, more powerful than he had noticed before. It made him feel exposed, naked and helpless and dirty, everything he feared. Biting his cheek, he instinctively turned his face into his alpha’s chest, trusting him to shield him from this second alpha demon. The fact that the other alpha was Kouga, a demon he had fought and defeated more than once, made no difference.
Noticing the instinctual gesture asking for protection, Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes at the advancing wolf demon, raising his single hand to shield what he could of his baby brother’s face and growling low in his chest in warning. He didn’t feel Inuyasha was in any danger from the alpha demon, for his scent was deliberately cautious and appropriately respectful, but all the same, in order to calm his submissive and protect his fragile emotional wellbeing it was his duty to step in.
Kouga wisely backed off, tail tucked between his legs to show he meant no harm.
“I would suggest you keep your distance for the time being, wolf,” Sesshomaru rumbled, his voice overtaken by his instinctual demon side.
Crouching a little closer to the ground to present himself as less of a threat—or as a smaller target should things get out of hand—Kouga backed away further. “I … think that would be best,” the wolf replied weakly, sinking into a crouch against the far wall. “I would not wish t’harm yer mate-to-be, my Lord. Believe me when I tell you I would’ve slaughtered that bastard Michio myself if I hadn’t a’been protectin’ the mutt’s—” He cut off, clearing his throat in embarrassment. “I mean … er … Lord Inuyasha’s pack,” he finished lamely.
Sesshomaru nodded, accepting that.
“M-Mate-to-be?” Kagome repeated, eyes wide. “But … he’s your brother!”
“That, miko, is a fact of which I am very well aware,” Sesshomaru responded, keeping his voice carefully controlled. She was seriously going to bring up her issues with incest now?
“I thought you were j-just helping him with his heat. You … You’ve been fucking with him!!”
“You will silence that insolent tongue!” Sesshomaru roared, his furious voice filling the entire dining hall, Inuyasha trembling fearfully beside him, though he made no move to get away from him. He tightened his hold, conveying comfort even as his youki lashed out around him, the tendrils not quite visible, not quite solid. “Small minded, selfish little bitch. You are so consumed with finding your own happiness you would not spare a thought for his. How dare you belittle something as pure, as sacred as a mating bond. Should we choose to enter into such a bond, you can have no say in the matter. Lord Inuyasha will make his own decisions.”
Sango and Miroku kept making hand gestures to try to get her shut up. In fact, the monk was practically jumping up and down, and under any other circumstances Sesshomaru would have found their antics highly amusing. When the miko’s face only continued to become redder with misplaced disgust and fury, however, the gestures became almost maddening.
“He doesn’t know what’s best for him! He’s always wanted you to accept him, to love him, and because of that, he’s letting you influence his decisions! The only reason he’s staying with you and doing what you want is because he doesn’t want you to leave him again! That’s it.”
Eyes narrowing in contempt, Sesshomaru lowered his voice to a deliberately soft, menacing whisper. “Oh? And do you suppose you know what’s best for him, miko? You, a woman who is neither related to him nor the same species as him and only desires him because you mistakenly believe you have the right to tell him what to do and he’ll obey you like some kind of collared pet? Do not make a fool of yourself, onna. You and I both know your relationship with my brother has never been that of equals.”
“Well, what about yours? You’re his alpha, aren’t you? Doesn’t that mean you can order him to do something and he has to do it? You’re such a hypocritical bastard!”
Sesshomaru lowered his voice further still, his hand beginning to comb through the hanyou’s hair in an effort to soothe him. “You know not of what you speak. I could hold no sway over Inuyasha if he did not allow it. I can order him, but he will not obey unless he wishes to do so. He has chosen to be my submissive. With that choice he allows me certain privileges, a certain amount of control, but I do not own him, nor would I seek to abuse my power as his alpha when I know beyond a shadow of a doubt were I to do so I would invariably lose him—just as you will if you do not back off. He is not yours to control.”
If possible, her face reddened even further. She opened her mouth, but Sesshomaru had tolerated quite enough of her ignorance for one evening.
“Shiro, Sho,” he said calmly, bringing the bodyguards instantly to his side. “Remove this woman from my sight before I see fit to have her ejected from the palace entirely—she is upsetting Lord Inuyasha. And you,” he growled, turning on Kouga, “if you wish her to be your mate and prevent her meeting her end by my hand, you will learn to control her properly as an alpha and prince should.”
“Wha …? You can’t blame Kouga for this!” Kagome protested vehemently. “This is your fault! You were the one the slavers were after! You were the one who came to Inuyasha for help after trying to kill him for most of your miserable life! You were the one who fucked with his mind when he was in heat! How can you possibly blame this on Kouga or me or anyone but yourself?!”
Miroku and Sango tried to intercede, their hands raised to try to calm her down, but she merely shouldered past them, drawing her bow and a sacred arrow from her quiver. Sango threw her hands up. Miroku gave up with a little more grace, simply shaking his head and then pressing his palm over his eyes, knowing this was going to end badly.
Sesshomaru didn’t bat an eye. He could sense the miko’s sacred powers. They were strong, certainly—stronger than the monks he had rescued Rin from a few seasons ago—but it wasn’t nearly controlled enough to cause him any significant damage even should she get a shot off lucky enough to hit him. “Sho,” he said again with a glance to the firebird youkai. “Disarm and subdue.”
Sho grinned and flexed his fingers. “As my Lord commands,” he murmured, eyes alight with battle fervor. Faster than the eye could see and nearly as fluidly as Suzu, himself, Sho darted in under the miko’s nose and straightarmed her bow arm. In the same movement, he whirled and brought the edge of his hand down across her arrow, ignoring the burn when her sacred powers flared hot and angry against his skin, and snapped it clean in half.
She gasped, stumbling backward with the suddenness of the attack and the shock of having someone so easily slip past her guard—not that there was much of a guard to slip past. Arms pinwheeling comically, she fell with an undignified whump onto her underdressed backside.
Sho hauled her up by the back of her school uniform and shoved her over to his mate who then marched her out the door. Again tucking his tail between his legs in apology for Kagome’s appalling behavior, Kouga slid past the daiyoukai and followed after the miko, shutting the doors behind him.
“Well,” Sho chirped, massaging his injured hand as it began to heal over, “that was quick.”
Lord Sesshomaru looked down at his baby brother’s head when a soft and exceedingly timid voice disrupted the silence. “Was that my fault?”
Before the demon lord could say anything to assure his sibling of his innocence in the matter of the miko’s departure, Miroku stepped in. “Baka,” he scolded. “She brought that on herself. Kouga will sort her out right enough.”
Reluctant to believe his friend over the guilt swimming like acid in his mind and in his gut, Inuyasha slowly nodded. “M’kay.”
“Inuyasha,” Sesshomaru said firmly, pushing the smaller inu out to arm’s length and then softly tilting his chin up to look him in the eyes. “You are not at fault, little one. She does not understand the ways of demons. She does not understand the nature of inu youkai siblings and mating bonds. Her ignorance and prejudices are not your fault and you are not to blame yourself for it, understood?”
Ears laying back meekly, the hanyou nodded again, this time with more conviction. “Hai.”
“Maybe it would be best if you guys returned to your room,” Sango suggested kindly. When Inuyasha looked at her, a little hurt that she might not want to stay and talk with him, she smiled. “You look pale. You’ve been through a lot and you need rest. We’re not going anywhere, so you just listen to your older brother and get yourself feeling better, all right?”
He glanced up at the older inu youkai and, with his nod of assent, agreed. “Got it. Could you …” He paused, feeling suddenly awkward. “Could you tell Kouga I … I’m sorry for freakin’ out on him?”
“Of course I will,” she replied, brushing her fingertips softly across his arm, but withdrawing her hand when he flinched and cringed further toward his elder brother. Her smile faltered a bit, becoming sad. “I’m sure he realizes you didn’t mean it.”
Inuyasha shrugged as casually as he could manage, the thought of Kouga being offended by his reaction, or worse, having the wolf see him as lesser—more pathetic—because of his reaction made him sick with unease. “Keh, he’s probably gloatin’ now that I’ve been,” his lip curled in distaste, “put in my place.”
Sesshomaru snarled, making him jump and whirl in fearful surprise. The snarl tapered into a quieter rumbling growl, but did not cease altogether even as the daiyoukai began to speak. “Were he to be so foolish as to gloat over your condition after all you’ve been through, ototo, I would chop off his tail, feed it to Ah-Un—”
Rin grinned at Inuyasha’s bewildered expression and whispered for his ears only, “Sesshomaru-sama’s two-headed dragon youkai.”
Oblivious, Sesshomaru continued irately, “—and kick him all the way across the Western Lands to that hole in the rocks he calls a den where he would then be privileged to witness just what having one’s head up their anus truly means.”
Sango shook her head with a laugh for the demon lord’s protectiveness. “I don’t think he’s gloating. They want to make Michio—” Her face contorted into a grimace as her hanyou friend flinched, his knuckles turning white where he gripped his aniki’s magenta striped hand. “—suffer at least as much as you do, Lord Sesshomaru. One of their young was stolen from them some time ago by his band, and then taken and broken by him. The pup committed suicide soon after he was returned.”
“Returned?” Sesshomaru repeated in concern.
“It appears not all of those they capture are turned into slaves. Michio seems to enjoy breaking whoever happens to catch his interest. Once that is done, he returns them to their family.”
The daiyoukai scowled. “No doubt to fulfil some kind of sick perversion.” He looked down at his brother who, in turn, was looking up at him. The hard planes of his face softened at the trust in those beautiful, sun-colored eyes. “I am grateful you were fortunate enough to escape him before then. I do not know what I would have done had he taken you from me in that manner.”
“You wouldn’t have lost me …” Inuyasha responded, breathless with the intensity he could feel in his aniki’s gaze, the sincerity and passion and the truth of the words that fell without thought from his own lips. “If he had broken me, you would have brought me back. I know you would.”
Sesshomaru shook his head, not in denial of what his brother said, but in disbelief. “You have more faith in me than I do in myself, little one. But, know that I would do anything and everything in my power to save you. You have my solemn vow as alpha. I will protect you, now and forevermore.”
Flushing, the hanyou accepted that. Before he could say anything, though, the dining hall doors opened and admitted Shiro who immediately went to his mate and took up the hand that he had injured on Kagome’s sacred arrow. “Are you hurt, my beautiful?” Shiro asked, anxiously running his fingers across the pink, newly healed skin of the edge of Sho’s hand.
Sho laughed and tucked his mate’s fiery hair behind his pointed ear. “Not a bit, baby, not a bit. You worry too much. ‘Sides, you know pain excites me.”
“Pain in the bedroom is far removed from pain elsewhere,” Shiro said quietly, taking the other demon’s hand from his hair and kissing his palm. Bending his mate’s hand back as far as it would go, Shiro nipped at the vein that pulsed in excitement at the affectionately rough caress, whispering against the other firebird’s hot skin, “Didn’t I warn you to avoid being hurt by anyone else?”
Sho ducked his head at the reproachful tone and mumbled, “Yeah … you did. I just thought—” He swallowed convulsively at a look from his mate. “Ropes?” he asked with a tremulous smile.
Shiro nodded gravely. “I expect to see you tied to our bed when our duties are finished. Agreed?”
“Agreed, my mate.” He snatched the other bird youkai’s hand before he could withdraw it and brought it to his lips, pressing an open mouthed, heated kiss to the battle scarred knuckles, an action he knew drove his mate wild. “I love it when you’re all possessive and domineering,” Sho purred.
“Minx,” Shiro accused good-naturedly. “Return to your guard position. I do believe our conversation is making Lord Inuyasha uncomfortable.”
“Didn’t I explain those types of relationships to you, Inuyasha?” Miroku asked with a chuckle for the hanyou’s flustered expression. “There’s no need to blush, you know.”
Sango raised an eyebrow. “And when, exactly, did you talk to him about those types of relationships? It’s not really within the parameters of a normal conversation, now is it, monk?”
“W-Well … it was uh …”
“It was?” she prompted, hands going to her hips.
“You know you’re the most beautiful woman in the world to me, don’t you Sango?” he asked in a simpering tone.
“What did you do, monk?” she demanded, advancing on him.
“What?!” he exclaimed, backing away, knowing he was in trouble. “He was curious! I mean, he is a man! I was just … giving him some pointers and … showing him different aspects of being in a relationship. Honest! Nothing else was going on!”
“Don’t tell me nothing else was going on, you pervert. You are an incorrigible flirt if ever I saw one. And don’t you foist this off on Inuyasha. You were probably the one who made him curious and persuaded him to go to a brothel … or whatever with you!”
“Sango,” Inuyasha interjected before she could start on one of her infamous tirades about her love interest, “he didn’t take me to a brothel. He just explained a little about it t’me, that’s all.”
Sesshomaru pulled his ototo closer. “Is that … acceptable to you?”
“What? Livin’ that way?” He went on without waiting for a reply. “I wouldn’t choose it for myself, but I can kinda understand why someone would want to. It’s … hard bein’ in control all the time when yer not born t’the role of alpha. I don’t really get why they feel the need t’be hurt, but I can respect their choices.”
Sesshomaru was surprised to say the least. He had expected some sort of disgust or fear after the ordeal the hanyou had been through with Michio and the slavers, but all he could sense from Inuyasha was acceptance with a tinge of confusion. He had been prepared to silence the two firebirds when they started discussing their sexual relations, but had refrained from doing so when he did not sense the now quite familiar signs of impending distress. He wondered why his baby brother didn’t have more of an issue with that revelation. Perhaps later he would ask about it.
The demon slayer gave Inuyasha a wary look, but nodded, causing a sigh to tumble from Miroku’s lips in relief. Behind the slayer’s back, he gave Inuyasha a grateful smile, which the hanyou tentatively returned.
After a few moments of awkward silence, Inuyasha called their attention to his missing kit. “Hey guys, any of you know where Shippo got off to? I thought he woulda been with Kagome, but … well, he wasn’t.”
Sango frowned thoughtfully. “He hasn’t wanted to be with Kagome lately. I’m not sure why. When we got here, he looked at her once, said hi, and left. I haven’t really seen him much since then. He’ll pop in for meals, but other than that, I don’t know what he’s been up to.”
Sesshomaru bumped Inuyasha’s shoulder to draw his worried gaze to him. “Let your mind be at ease, ototo, your kit is fine. The bodyguards Suzu chose are with him. They will not let anyone bring him harm. It was my understanding that he wished to become more independent. Perhaps, while attempting this, he desires solitude. He is nearing his first heat, after all.”
Inuyasha chewed his lower lip. “I know. We’ve just been t’gether so long, it kinda worries me t’not have ‘im where I can keep an eye on him.”
“Such is the fate of all fathers when their sons come of age.” The demon lord untangled his hand from his brother’s, ignoring the confusion in those beloved eyes. Then with careful fingers, he touched the hanyou’s lower lip, pulling it gently from between his teeth. “You will injure yourself that way, little one.”
An unwelcome thrill of pleasure passed through Inuyasha’s body, seeming to hum just beneath his skin like electricity. Were he not on Tamae’s potion he knew his cock would be hardening. The slavers had never touched him there. Not with their fingers or mouths anyway. Not in an emotionally intimate way. It was all about pain and humiliation, all about breaking him. This new sensation, of being wanted and, perhaps, even loved scared him as nothing else could. Heart pounding with near crippling fear, he jerked away from the touch of his aniki’s fingers. Heat suffused his cheeks with the knowledge that the daiyoukai could smell exactly how he felt, and it shamed him.
Withdrawing his hand at the clear rejection in the younger inu’s stance, Sesshomaru took his brother’s hand once more and steered him toward the door with a polite inclination of his head to the rest of his pack. The monk returned the courtesy with a bow, the slayer with a smile and a nod, all of which Inuyasha seemed not to notice. He stopped at the double doors and turned back with an apologetic look. “Ja, I guess I’ll … see you guys tomorrow?”
Miroku and Sango nodded together. “Count on it, my friend,” Miroku responded cheerfully.
“You really should consider having Sesshomaru help you with your hair more often,” Sango suggested. “Kagome was right. It suits you. You’ve never looked better. I can see why your brother wanted to show you off to us.”
Sesshomaru looked surprised, as if the comment—echoing one of his reasons for brushing Inuyasha’s hair—had not been something he expected to come from her, or any one of his younger brother’s pack, for that matter.
“Th-Thanks …” Inuyasha said, voice soft with uncertainty for the truth in that statement.
“It would seem, ototo, that I will be brushing your hair on a daily basis. Your pack has given their approval.”
“Keh,” Inuyasha grunted with a petulant glower for his smug elder brother.
“The more you brush it, Inuyasha, the less it will hurt.”
The hanyou’s ears pricked hopefully. “Promise?”
“You have my word.”
***Ӂ***
“Kagome,” Kouga called in frustration, exerting all his authority as alpha and the Prince of the Northern Wolf Tribe in his voice in an effort to halt his mate-to-be’s forward progress. Snarling, he finally gave up, instead, grabbing her by the arm and jerking her around to face him. “Kagome,” he barked, eyes flashing red. “You will listen when I am talking to you.”
Wrenching her arm from him, she crossed both her arms stubbornly under her chest. “Why, hm? Why should I listen to anything you have to say? I’m not one of your demons that you can order about on a whim. I am a free woman with a free will of my own, and you would do well to remember that if you want to win me into your bed.”
Kouga flinched, stung. Then, shaking his head, he seized her wrist and pulled her toward him until their chests were almost touching, their faces scant centimeters apart. “You know that’s not why I want you. What’s happened to you? Did that damn bird do somethin’ to ya when I wasn’t around? This isn’t like you.”
She struggled with the fingers imprisoning her wrist and beginning to cut off circulation in her hand, then gave up with a huff. “Taka-san didn’t do anything. This is just me, Kouga. Just me. You don’t know enough about me to tell me what’s ‘not like me’ and what is! If you can’t accept that you can find someone else to be your bitch, ‘cause I won’t.”
“You, miko, are walking a very thin line,” Kouga warned, tail bristling. He lowered his voice to a hiss. “Inuyasha is not yours any longer. You cannot have him. Let him go.”
She looked like she wanted to be angry, but the anger would not stick. After several long minutes of struggle, upset gained the upper hand and her face crumpled, tears streaming unchecked down her face. Prepared for the occurrence, Kouga let go of her arm in favor of embracing her, letting her cry out her frustrations and disappointments on his chest. What he wasn’t prepared for was her lips pressing earnestly against his own and the insistent hands that grabbed his shocked face and held him immobile while she plied him with mouth, teeth, and tongue. Before he could put a stop to it, his demon overcame him, and with a growl, he reversed their positions, backing her into the wall and pinning her there as he thoroughly fucked her mouth with his tongue. She whimpered and moaned against his dominating mouth as he held her motionless with his body and rocked his hips steadily into her pelvis.
They broke apart only when they ran out of air. As soon as he filled his lungs, reality flooded Kouga’s being. He shouldn’t be doing this!
Breathing heavily as he wrestled with the primal lust of his demon side clamoring to claim his mate-to-be, he took a couple stumbling steps back, absently flicking spit from the corner of his mouth. She moved with him, one hand grasping the base of his neck, the other going around his back to try to pull him back into her. Her eyes were half lidded and glazed with lust. “Kagome …” he protested halfheartedly as her mouth hungrily crashed into his own. “Kagome … wait. We … hmm … we shouldn’t be … doing this.”
“Why not?” she asked between kisses, tears still in her eyes. “Please, Kouga. Please, I need this.” She pulled back abruptly when he didn’t respond, hurt. “Or … do you not want me?”
Finally having gained control of his youki, Kouga chastely kissed her forehead. “Of course I want ya, Kagome. But yer still in love with Inuyasha. I don’t want our first time t’be one you might regret later on.”
“I won’t regret it. I promise I won’t!”
“Now,” Kouga responded with a shake of his head. “You say that now, but what happens if Inuyasha decides he doesn’t want to stay with his brother? What then?”
She hesitated, clearly unsure. The anguish in her expression only confirmed what Kouga thought. If Inuyasha ever left his brother, which he doubted, she would do almost anything—including dump him—to be with her beloved hanyou again. It would be some time before she would be able to forgive him for leaving her and forget the feelings she held for the inu.
“Please, Kouga,” Kagome whispered. “I know … I’m being a bitch about this. Inuyasha belongs to Sesshomaru, he’s Inuyasha’s alpha and his seme … or whatever they call it. I realize that. I really do. That’s why I want you to help me forget. Can you do that? For me?” She stepped close to him again, leaning her head into his chest. “Please?”
Kouga inhaled slowly, and then let it out just as slowly. “All right.” Her face lit up, but before she could say anything he continued, “If you want to do this, though, we will need to see Lord Sesshomaru’s healer, Tamae.”
Kagome frowned, suspicion immediately igniting behind her dark eyes as she took a step back. “Why?”
“I want t’be certain yer in good health before we do anything. And we’ll need to pick up a pregnancy potion since I doubt yer wantin’ pups right away.”
She glared, instantly detecting the falsehood. “You mean you want to make sure I’m in my right mind.”
Well, Kouga thought ruefully, so much for being tactful. Now that she had brought the issue out in the open, he opted for pleading instead. “Kagome, you’ve been actin’ strange lately. I just want t’make sure yer not … sick or anything.”
“Sick!” she scoffed. “You mean insane! Or, what, possessed maybe? You’re out of your mind, Kouga. I’m not any different. You just want to think that I am so you can have a reason to give to your buddies for why you haven’t fucked me yet. Isn’t that right? I’ve heard the things they say, the way they talk about me, how they look at us when you assert your so-called ‘dominance.’ Well, let me tell you this. I do not need to see a healer,” she crossed her arms, doing a passable impression of a two-year-old in Kouga’s opinion as she concluded with a snotty, “and you can’t make me.” With that, she turned on her heel and left.
Kouga threw up his hands with an exasperated sigh. The girl was impossible. Stubborn and sassy and self-righteous, all traits he adored, but at the same time, found insufferable. It seemed he would have to resort to going behind her back. He didn’t want to, would’ve rather she gone to the healer of her own accord. Considering her sudden personality shift, though, he had all but expected her to act exactly as she had. Now that he had confirmed that, it was even more imperative that he speak with Lord Sesshomaru’s royal healer, and perhaps, Lord Sesshomaru, himself. He couldn’t imagine why the hawk youkai, Taka, would have wanted to cause the miko harm, but he wasn’t about to let it pass unpunished. As soon as he ascertained what, precisely, the damn bird had done, he would hunt him down and rip him to shreds for messing with his mate-to-be.
Resolutely, he strode in the opposite direction Kagome had taken toward the healers’ quarters. One way or another, he would find out what was going on.
***Ӂ***
“Gods, they musta thought I was crazy!” Inuyasha griped as he plopped down on Sesshomaru’s bed and buried his face in the satin blankets.
“They understood,” Sesshomaru refuted with a hint of a smile. “Your miko notwithstanding, you have an exceptional group of friends. They are loyal to you, perhaps as loyal as a true pack of inu youkai. That is a rare gift, ototo, one that should be treasured.”
“Yeah …”
“And yet … you do not seem pleased. I would know why?”
Slowly, almost thoughtfully, Inuyasha sat up and turned to face his sibling with haunted eyes. “I can’t … touch them without flinching. I know they won’t hurt me. I know you won’t hurt me, but my body … it’s as if my body is moving without my direction and it’s … it scares me, Sessh. It really does.”
“It is not your fault, little one,” the daiyoukai murmured, kneeling once again in front of his fragile submissive. “You have been through something no one should have to go through, and you survived it. It is only logical that there would be side effects, fears that you cannot yet reconcile. Give it time.”
“But … it frustrates you … hurts you?” his tone went up in question as to the truth of that, “w-when I flinch away from you … or when I’m afraid of you. You don’t like it. It bothers you.”
Sesshomaru didn’t deny it. Instead, he simply switched position from the floor to the edge of the mattress where he shifted to face his baby brother. “The reason it ‘bothers’ me, little one, is because I am your alpha. A submissive should be able to trust their alpha and yet, you do not trust me.”
“Then, it’s my fault.”
The demon lord shook his head, though Inuyasha’s tone wasn’t accusatory in any way. “No. The fault lies with me in that regard. I have caused you nothing but pain for most of your adolescent life. I beat you down, insulted you and your mother, accused you of sullying my Lord Father’s and my bloodline, and I was not strong enough to save you from Michio.” He let his breath out in a soft sigh of regret when the younger inu flinched, then brought his fingers up under the pup’s chin. “And I do not know how to help you through this. That, little one, is what frustrates me.”
“I do trust you, Sessh,” Inuyasha whispered.
“Then why do you flinch when I touch you? Why did you recoil when I touched you earlier?”
“I-I …”
Inuyasha looked at a loss for what to say, so Sesshomaru left it alone. “Come, ototo. You need rest. You haven’t yet regained your full strength.”
“Not yet,” the hanyou muttered, shaking his head. “I … I want a bath first. Can you h-help me?”
The inu youkai’s brow lifted. “I will have to touch you, ototo.”
Inuyasha rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I know that, dumbass. I’m … well, I’m invitin’ ya.”
“Inviting me? In what way are you inviting me, Inuyasha?” He lowered his voice to a husky murmur. “You had better make your intentions clear, pup, or I might … misunderstand. For all intents and purposes, I am courting you.”
“C-Courting? What, ya mean like a guy courts a girl t’get married?” the hanyou scoffed, voice wavering with badly concealed anxiety.
A smirk bared Sesshomaru’s canines. “No, little one, not in that way. I want you in my bed. I want you by my side. I want your everything. Courting is a period in which I offer what I believe might entice you to become mine, and you decide whether or not to accept it. You have already accepted that I will be the one to aid you when you again come into heat. You have already accepted that you will carry my pups. Now, are you inviting me as a man, as a lover, as your seme, into your bath? Or are you inviting me as your brother, alpha, and protector?”
“W-Why do you hafta make it a choice?” Inuyasha mumbled with a scowl. “You’re not one or the other, Sessh. You’re all’a those things t’me. I’m just … not ready to … to move onto the l-lover part yet.”
Sesshomaru frowned to himself. “Being a lover is not all about sex, Inuyasha. You realize that, do you not?”
“B-But the way you said it—”
“Perhaps that was not the best way to phrase what I meant. I would like to … explore your body, your reactions while you bathe—as a lover, Inuyasha. I desire to become closer to you. I will not touch you sexually,” he quickly assured the pup when he looked as if he was going to interrupt. “The only way I will touch you is in order to aid in acclimating you to my touch and to explore how best I might touch you without arousing your fear. It will also help you so you do not panic during or after we rut when you cease taking Tamae’s potion. On the other hand, as a proper brother, I would aid you only where and when you might wish for aid to be given—giving you a hand into and out of the bath, or otherwise, washing your hair. It is merely a difference in the level of intimacy. I need to know what is acceptable and what is not if I am to refrain from hurting you further or crossing a line you do not yet wish to cross.”
“But, Sessh,” Inuyasha said, shaking his head uncertainly, puppy ears flattening into his hair, “what if I don’t know where that line is?”
“Then, I suppose the only way to find out is to allow me to touch you.”
Inuyasha shuddered at the thought of what that might entail. But he wanted it so much! To touch and be touched again. To have those he trusted touch him without making him feel dirty, unloved, or tainted and without causing fear to rise up out of the depths of his soul. More importantly, he wanted his elder brother, his alpha, and he was afraid if he did not get over his fear soon, he would lose him. Sesshomaru had abandoned him once, what was there to say he wouldn’t do it a second time?
No, no, he believed in his alpha. Sesshomaru had rescued him from Michio. He had always trusted him, even when he had been trying to take Tessaiga and slaughter him in the process. He had always trusted him. He couldn’t stop now just because he was afraid.
Worrying his lower lip between his teeth, he stood and walked to the door to Sesshomaru’s personal bath chamber. “Sessh?” he called timidly, glancing back over his shoulder once to make sure he had his aniki’s attention and then jerking his head toward the door where he had stopped. “Are you coming?”
Sesshomaru swept to his feet, a fluid motion that made Inuyasha jealous. “You are inviting me then?”
Blushing, the hanyou ducked his head. “I guess I am.”
“And your limits?”
“I … I don’t know them, okay? You’re just gonna hafta figure ‘em out … or something.”
“Very well,” Sesshomaru responded gracefully. “Perhaps we should begin by disrobing?”
So saying, he turned his back and, beginning with his hitoe, removed his clothing piece by piece until there was nothing standing between Inuyasha’s gaze and his very naked, very smooth, and very desirable flesh.
Scarlet with embarrassment, the hanyou’s eyes wandered over his brother’s pale skin. It looked like porcelain or perhaps marble or some other pristine material. The way it rippled with muscle when he moved, the scent of it, realizing he liked what he saw was as disturbing as the first time he’d seen and realized how irresistible his elder sibling actually was. When the daiyoukai turned around, he got an eyeful of firm chest, rock-hard abs, lean hips and everything, every detail below his waistline. The most obvious asset of his masculinity the younger inu tried to ignore with little success until Sesshomaru cleared his throat, drawing his attention back up to the demon lord’s blessedly emotionless face.
“Ototo? To bathe I believe one needs to be nude.”
“Oh … uh … right.”
Sesshomaru’s eyebrow lifted when his sibling still made no move to undress. “Perhaps you would feel more at ease if I waited for you in the bath—”
“No,” Inuyasha interrupted quickly. “No. I get … more nervous when you’re not where I can see ya.”
Watching the hanyou’s fingers rubbing his arm under the sleeve of his hitoe, the daiyoukai wondered if it might be more prudent if he was to undress the anxious pup himself. Would Inuyasha allow it? If he was to test his baby brother’s boundaries, this might just be the way to start.
He waited for a moment longer to see if the younger inu might gain the courage to start to remove his clothes. When nothing happened and his sibling’s scent only became more embarrassed and more distressed the longer they stood there, Sesshomaru took action. He strode purposefully to the hanyou, unintentionally backing him into the bathing room door. Inuyasha turned his red face into his shoulder, knowing he was stalling, but unable to stop.
“S-Sessh?”
“Shh,” the daiyoukai responded with a deep, soothing rumble. “You’re all right. Trust in me, little one. I am not going to hurt you.” Carefully, he lifted his hand, but paused when the younger inu recoiled from him. “Relax. I am not going to touch you yet.”
Gasping in shallow, uneven breaths, Inuyasha managed a small, tight nod of assent and squeezed his eyes shut. Even with his eyes closed, though, he knew exactly where that hand was, exactly where his elder brother was standing, exactly where those compelling golden eyes were focused, and when he felt those elegant fingers meet the thick cloth of his hitoe, he had to beat back the urge to leap away.
Whispering constant reassurances, Sesshomaru slipped his hand between the hanyou’s hitoe and kosode and began to slide the outer cloth down his shoulder, untucking it from his hakama as he went. When he finally slid the garment free of Inuyasha’s torso, the younger inu’s breath stuttered out of him unevenly.
“How does that feel?” Sesshomaru wanted to know.
“F-Fine,” Inuyasha muttered breathlessly. “Just … give me a minute.”
Ever the noblemen, Lord Sesshomaru did just that, waiting until his sibling’s breathing had evened out and his hands were no longer shaking where they fisted by his sides. Then he gently put his hand back on the hanyou’s shoulder, feeling him tense up beneath him. “Do not be afraid; I am only touching.”
“R-Right,” Inuyasha breathed, leaning his forehead against his elder brother’s chest. “Only touching.”
Taking that as permission to continue, Sesshomaru stroked his hand down the back of his baby brother’s shoulder, mapping out his shoulder blade, over to his spine before returning to the collar of the white kosode. Before he could even attempt to remove it, however, Inuyasha’s strong, clawed hand grabbed him by the wrist.
“Wait. Please just … just wait …”
When the hanyou’s grip on him loosened, Sesshomaru slid his hand out of Inuyasha’s grasp and covered his little brother’s hand with his own, guiding it to the collar of his kosode. “With me,” he whispered. “Take the hem. Slowly. With me now. Slide it down your shoulders.” Their hands moved together, Sesshomaru restricting his area of touch to the back of Inuyasha’s hand and fingers. “Good,” he praised quietly. “Now the other side.” The hand under his started to shake as they slid the other side of his kosode down his shoulder, exposing another expanse of the hanyou’s sun kissed flesh. He chuckled when he noticed the younger inu’s chest had stopped moving. “Breathe, Inuyasha,”
Visibly starting, Inuyasha inhaled deeply and then let it out, looking up at his elder brother with a sheepish grin. “Thanks.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Surprisingly … okay.”
“Shall we continue then?”
With less hesitance than before, Inuyasha nodded.
An approving smile twitched up at the corners of Sesshomaru’s mouth. His submissive was learning to trust him more.
They untucked the hanyou’s kosode together and let it slip to the floor without further incident. Sesshomaru expected his sibling to balk when they reached his obi, so when it happened, he merely paused while the pup regained control over whatever panic attack he was having while whispering reassurances into his ear. To his surprise, Inuyasha took the initiative this time. Sesshomaru’s hand still on top of his, the younger inu brought his other hand over to help as he undid the simple tie and slid the red obi from around his waist, letting it fall to the floor in a small pile.
“Sessh, could you … move back while I finish?” Inuyasha requested, nervously shifting his weight from foot to foot.
“Of course,” Sesshomaru complied, moving back only far enough to give the hanyou the room he need to bend as he pushed the borrowed hakama and fundoshi down his hips and legs to the floor. When Inuyasha kicked the item of clothing away, he stepped back up to him, reaching out to catch a strand of hair between his fingers. “Now, my brother, how do you feel?”
“Exposed …” Inuyasha shifted again, forcing his hands to remain by his sides and not cover up his nakedness as heat suffused his cheeks. It helped that his elder brother’s gaze was on his face rather than on his body. “Vulnerable,” he elaborated shakily. “But … still okay. Is it weird that I feel scared and safe at the same time?”
Sesshomaru couldn’t help but give vent to a deep chuckle. “I would be astounded indeed if you were not at least a little afraid, ototo. However, I will tell you this: I am very proud of you. Your trust means a great deal to me, and I thank you for that.”
“So … where do we go from here?”
“That, little one, is entirely up to you.”
“Then … could you do that … grooming thing you did before and we can w-work our way up from there?”
“If that is what you would prefer.” Inclining his head, Sesshomaru let the strand of silky, white hair slide through his fingers and drop to lay against the younger inu’s slim shoulder. Rotating his hand until his palm faced upward, he then offered it to his sibling. “Come. Let me take care of you.”
Lowering his eyes shyly, Inuyasha accepted the hand into his as he accepted the words into his heart, though they seemed to mean far more than what Sesshomaru had meant in reference to bathing.
**************************************************************************************************************************
Definition of Terms
Bojutsu - the martial art of using a staff weapon or "staff technique"
Naginatajutsu - art of wielding the naginata, a weapon like a spear with a short sword on the end rather than the more regular wedge shaped blade, or "naginata technique"
Kenjutsu - the martial art of using a sword or katana or "sword technique"

A/N: Think that's all of the terms, if there's any I missed please feel free to point it out. Thank you everyone for reading, I hope you all enjoyed it and please remember, if you did enjoy it reviews are like food for the soul (or the muse) for us authors (: (:
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A Heat to Overcome