Adult-FanFiction.org : Inuyasha / Yashahime

And You, My Brother	By : Arianawray Category: InuYasha > Yaoi - Male/Male > InuYasha/Sessh?maru > InuYasha/Sessh?maru Views: 15027 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters, and I do not make any money from these writings.

Chapter List
- 18
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Chapter XIX: He's mine, or I am his
Falling into the bottomless pit would be so easy. Better, in some ways, than struggling to climb out of it from where he was. He couldn't fight this. It was hopeless. No one would ever find him here. It would be less painful to let go and drop into the abyss. Maybe there would be a tunnel down there, from which he could make his way back up and out through a less agonising route…
I want you to be strong, Sesshomaru's voice came at him through the darkness.
So do I. But how? he asked.
He heard no answer in words, but his readiness to answer that voice in his head strengthened his spirit. He looked up, out of the abyss, and reached for another handhold above his head. Something was poking him in the side. What is that? A tree root? A rock? He was somehow able to keep clinging to the wall of the pit while freeing a hand to grasp the object prodding him in the ribs, and he realised from the feel of it that it was Tetsusaiga's scabbard.
And of course he could free a hand to grasp it while clinging to the wall of rock… because the wall was horizontal now… and he was lying on it… and some creep was fiddling with his hakama ties. That gold-hued pervert was standing above him, having already loosened and parted his upper garments while he was lost in the darkness of his own mind. Now he was messing with his hakama while pawing at his crotch, and Tetsusaiga's empty scabbard had come loose from its tie in the process and been shoved under his ribs.
Inuyasha tightened his grip on the scabbard, which Kinrin could not see his left hand closing over, because he had opened the left lapel of the fire rat suikan over the hanyou's arm. As the demon undid the last knot on the hakama, Inuyasha snapped into action, thrusting the scabbard into the healing wound that Tetsusaiga had opened in Kinrin's body earlier.
He was gratified to hear the demon bellow in pain this time – the magic-soaked armour he had been wearing earlier when Tetsusaiga pierced his torso must have prevented him from feeling pain. But the armour was off now, and this was hurting him. Good, Inuyasha thought grimly, keeping the scabbard jammed into the wound at an angle and holding Kinrin off. Even if I die for this, I'm glad I got to hurt him at least once.
He had no more than mortal strength at this time, but his determination to deliver a serious blow or two to the enemy, even if he could not ultimately defeat him, lent him speed and focus, and he reached up with his other hand into the hole the scabbard had reopened, and tore a chunk of golden flesh out of it with his claws.
Kinrin gasped, swung a fist at Inuyasha's head, and almost cracked the hanyou's skull, but Inuyasha refused to release the scabbard. As he saw another blow coming at him, he instinctively flinched, but it never landed – for a whip pulled the golden arm back, nearly ripping the scaly hand off its wrist.
Sesshomaru.
The taiyoukai stood in the cave entrance, eyes glowing red with rage as they took in the scene in the den: Inuyasha chained up and half-undressed, beaten and bruised, but with Tetsusaiga's scabbard shoved into the dragon-lizard's body; and Kinrin standing over him, knuckles marked with the blood of the one whose body he straddled. The fury simmering beneath the taiyoukai's pale surface was as hot as molten metal, tempered only by a moment's softness as he saw that Inuyasha was alive and kicking.
You're here.
The fleeting gentleness passed as the dog demon refocused his stare on the creature who had seized his brother. "For this," Sesshomaru snarled, "you will die."
That was all the warning he gave as he launched himself at the golden demon, who stood rooted to the spot, held by the scabbard. Sesshomaru's claws ripped Kinrin's scalp half off his head; tufts of long green hair flew, and blood flowed down the reptile's face and neck.
Inuyasha yanked the scabbard out of Kinrin's body and scrambled aside, as far as the short chain would allow. Kinrin staggered under Sesshomaru's assault, but regained his footing sufficiently to leap over to the wall upon which his sword hung, and snatch it from its holder.
"So here at last is the great Sesshomaru – he is the one I smelt on you, is he not, half-breed?" he sneered, speaking to Inuyasha but keeping his eyes fixed on the taiyoukai closing in on him. "He's finally come to claim you, has he? That's just as well. I'll kill him here and now so you'll know you're mine and mine alone."
"Shut your filthy mouth!" Sesshomaru growled, unsheathing Bakusaiga and forcing Kinrin to the ground with a swift attack.
The dragon-lizard held him off with his blade, got in a kick to Sesshomaru's chest that pushed the taiyoukai off him, and jumped back onto his feet. Already, the wounds he had sustained from Tetsusaiga's scabbard and the two dog demons' claws had stopped bleeding. He moved towards Inuyasha, but Sesshomaru headed him off and another fierce clash of blades ensued.
Inuyasha yanked at the chain holding him to the ground, desperate to free himself so that he wouldn't be in Sesshomaru's way, or be a distraction. As the two demons battled on the far side of the den, another figure appeared in the doorway, and his heart leaped to see that it was Miroku.
The look on the monk's face spoke volumes of relief at finding Inuyasha largely unharmed. He rushed over and worked quickly to undo the spells that gave the collar and chain their power. As Inuyasha knotted his hakama ties back in place, he felt the magic release him from its hold, and with his friend's help, snapped the chain and opened the collar.
"Are you all right? Let's get you out of here," Miroku said urgently, putting an arm round Inuyasha while keeping one eye on the ferocious fight going on a few feet away.
"Miroku – I'm fine," Inuyasha said. But as he stood up, he found that he needed to lean on his friend.
The monk walked him out into the passageway, where a lit torch was jammed into a hole in the wall, illuminating the figure of Sango holding Tatsuya in a death-grip. The sorcerer was bound, and gagged too, to prevent him from uttering any spells.
"Sango," Inuyasha breathed, delighted to see another very familiar, much-loved face – especially when the woman that face belonged to looked ready to kick the life out of the trussed-up sorcerer whose neck was jammed between her elbow and the edge of her hiraikotsu.
"Inuyasha – thank the gods," Sango gasped, breaking into a smile. "Tetsusaiga's here with me."
"Thank you," he said, as Miroku carefully slid the blade out of his wife's sash, and returned the sword to him.
"Ahhhh – out of the way!" the monk abruptly yelled, dragging Inuyasha along and nudging Sango back as Kinrin was hurled out of the den by Sesshomaru, taking a large portion of rock beside the doorway with him, to slam into the passageway wall near them.
Sesshomaru leaped after him, Bakusaiga flashing in the firelight. He aimed his blade at Kinrin's heart, but his adversary scuttled aside, and the blade sliced off a chunk of upper-arm flesh and muscle instead, provoking a howl of agony from the reptile demon. The powers of the Bakusaiga ensured that that wound would not start to heal.
"Damn you, dog!" Kinrin bellowed. "I'll exterminate your tribe and all others, once I'm done with the dragons."
"The dragons have been alerted to your plot. You will harm no one from this day on."
This was obviously news to Tatsuya too, for the sorcerer groaned under his gag and sagged in Sango's grip. The taijiya kneed him in the back to force him upright again, muttering curses that would have made Inuyasha grin in any other situation, for it was nice to know that someone besides himself thought the man was a lower life form than a piece of scum from a stagnant pond.
But the battle between the two demons was their present concern. Upon hearing that the dragons had been warned, Kinrin gave a cry of rage and attacked Sesshomaru so wildly that the taiyoukai was driven several feet back along the corridor. "Curse you for interfering!" he yelled. "Have a taste of this!" From his obi he whipped out a potion bottle, which he hurled to the ground at Sesshomaru's feet.
The taiyoukai jumped back as the porcelain bottle smashed, but he received a good dose of the substance. Inuyasha could see the effects of it on him at once – he did not do anything so inelegant as to shake his head, but the way he turned his head to one side and slowed his movements told the hanyou that he was attempting to clear his mind and body of the sense of despair that threatened to overwhelm him.
"Move back – keep away from the fumes!" Inuyasha warned Miroku and Sango, directing them further down the passageway, far from the broken bottle. To his brother, he called: "Sesshomaru! It's just concentrated emotions – don't let it get to you!"
But Sesshomaru's movements had slowed so much that he came across as disoriented, almost blinded by the fumes, and Kinrin advanced on him, declaring in mocking tones: "You arrogant dog. I'll cut you down and chain you up for two thousand years. You'll watch as I take your beloved half-breed again and again for as long as it pleases me. He'll be mine until the day he dies!"
Sesshomaru froze. Inuyasha, weak as he felt, was on the verge of jumping into the fray when he stopped himself, somehow knowing in a second that the stillness that had descended on his brother's entire being was not the paralysis of despair or fear, but the stillness of certainty and strength. And as Kinrin raised his sword and brought it down in a ferocious sweep, the taiyoukai effortlessly stopped the blade dead with the Bakusaiga.
A chilling calm came over the dog demon's features even as his eyes blazed red again, boring into Kinrin's soul, and he stated coldly: "Inuyasha is not yours, and he never will be."
With that, Sesshomaru pressed Kinrin back, forced his opponent's sword-arm down, and lifted Bakusaiga for a split-second, only to drive it down with such power onto the other blade that Kinrin's weapon shattered, and the dragon-lizard dropped it. Then Sesshomaru thrust Bakusaiga into Kinrin's belly and drew the blade to his right, slicing him almost in two and severing his spine.
The demon dropped to the ground, a broken heap of bloodied flesh and scales, but incredibly, still alive. Sesshomaru had the Bakusaiga poised over his chest to end it all when Kinrin gave a short laugh and spoke in barely audible tones: "So. He's yours, is he?"
The amber hues had returned to Sesshomaru's eyes, and they flashed with a powerful emotion when Kinrin spoke. He visibly wrestled with the emotion and brought it under control before answering: "Inuyasha determines his own destiny."
"What an adorable name – I never asked him for his name. I never even got to see what he looked like as a human. How does he look, Sesshomaru? As pretty as when he's a hanyou?"
Inuyasha stared in disbelief as he listened to this insane creature expending his dying breath asking stupid questions. You'd think his last words would make a hell of a lot more sense than that, he thought. Maybe he's been stark raving mad all along.
But Sesshomaru seemed to think the questions worth answering, except that his answer was: "You will never have the right or privilege to know that. Consider that while you rot in hell."
With that, he drove Bakusaiga through the demon's heart, rupturing it beyond repair and terminating that eventful life. With the tip of his blade, he sliced the heart out of the body, dropped it onto the ground, then coolly wiped his blade on a clean patch of Kinrin's clothes and sheathed it before turning to Inuyasha and the humans. Tatsuya was wailing under his gag at Kinrin's death, but no one paid him a blind bit of attention.
"Are you all right?" Sesshomaru asked Inuyasha, the second he locked onto his brother's wide-eyed golden gaze, which had not lost any of its fire. It was clear from the way Sesshomaru searched that gaze that if he had found those precious amber-gold eyes at all dulled or dimmed by irreparable damage to the hanyou's spirit, he would have revived Kinrin with the Tenseiga and proceeded to skin the reptile alive.
"I'm fine," he replied.
"Your head – it's bleeding."
"It's healing. I'm perfectly well."
"Are you certain?" Sesshomaru seemed to want to inspect Inuyasha all over for wounds, but was holding back because they were not alone. Miroku and Sango looked desperate to give the brothers privacy, but it was not feasible in the circumstances.
"Those spells knocked the stuffing out of me, and I was sick for a while, and I'm a bit battered, but apart from that I'm fine," Inuyasha assured him. He longed to burrow into Sesshomaru's arms, but Tatsuya's presence was a strong deterrent – it was a contaminant, and he wished to keep the more affectionate moments between himself and his brother, or his friends, from being sullied by having the sorcerer's eyes upon them. So he simply said: "Stop worrying about me. Are you all right after that dose of potion?"
"Yes. Was that made from what they collected from you?"
"I think so."
"Hmm. You are never sitting inside that well again."
That made Inuyasha chuckle, ending the awkwardness for Miroku and Sango. Inuyasha then asked: "So how did you all find me?"
"I'll give you the details later," Miroku told him. "But in brief, we couldn't have done it if Shippo hadn't found Sesshomaru-sama and told him what happened to you, and we wouldn't have known who did it if Sesshomaru-sama hadn't known how to question the apparition, and by the way, I was obliged to remove my clothes to get answers out of that thing – don't ask. I was ready to lay down my life for you, my friend, but I wasn't prepared to have to strip down to my loincloth."
Sango, trying not to giggle as she remembered the look on her husband's face last night, almost loosened her grip on the weeping sorcerer. "I'll tell you all about it," she promised Inuyasha. "But for now, what do we do with this… piece of slime? He's led us to this magic-concealed den, and we know the way back, so I think he's outlived his usefulness."
"As much as I'd love to push him off the mountain, I'm afraid we may have to take him with us," Miroku sighed. "We can't just leave him here, and simply killing him now is rather cold-blooded."
"That was what I thought earlier today," Inuyasha said. "Only to have it come back and whack me in the head. Literally."
"We could lock him in the cage," Sango suggested. "I'm sure we can put it back together well enough to stick him in it for the next five days."
"Let's look into that possibility," Miroku said gleefully. "But before that, I'd like to return to his den and that storage area we passed on the way, to destroy all the potions. They shouldn't be left around for anyone else to make mischief with."
"Good idea," Inuyasha agreed.
Sesshomaru led them down the twisting passageways to a small cave Inuyasha had not seen before, one furnished with wooden shelves and stacked from top to bottom with row upon row of potions in jars, representing years of experimentation and work.
"We can't just pour these away, so if you don't mind, I'll have to use some of my own spells," Miroku explained. "May I suggest that the rest of you move as far away as possible? You may want to sit down. This could take a while."
They took his advice and retreated further down the corridor while the monk spent the next half-hour painting brushstrokes onto slips of paper, then erecting a strong barrier over the mouth of the cave. It was obviously designed to allow him to partially penetrate it, for he pushed his arms through it, holding his shakujou and a bunch of the paper spells, and dispersed the latter throughout the cave. His companions could not clearly see what he did from where they were, but the eventual crash of hundreds of breaking vessels of clay and porcelain told them the result. Miroku then withdrew his arms and staff, cleansed his skin and the shakujou of any fumes that might have settled on them, and reinforced the barrier.
When he turned back to his companions, he looked satisfied. "By the time this shield comes down, the liquid from the bottles should have evaporated off the stone floor, and the fumes will disperse in these passageways," he said. "I will erect another barrier somewhere between this spot and our access point into these mountains, so that no one will wander in by accident and be affected, until everything has dissipated."
Inuyasha muttered: "That bloody lizard fed off this stuff. Are you sure the fumes won't waft right over to his body and resurrect him?"
He spoke casually, but Sesshomaru sensed the fear behind his words and quietly cursed Kinrin all over again. To his brother, he said: "He won't revive. Bakusaiga has made very certain of that."
"Good."
They moved on to the den where Inuyasha had been held in the cage. They found the hanyou clean water to drink and made him rest near the door while Miroku spent an hour carefully checking the numerous materials and containers in the room. In the end, they found only raw ingredients and unprocessed vessels.
"It looks like that fellow didn't keep any of the finished potions in here. These ingredients will dissipate or decay if left to themselves, so we needn't do anything more in this den. I'd really like to stuff that man's bones into the cage, though," Miroku growled, turning to glare at the sorcerer, who was still in pieces after seeing his master killed and his years of work destroyed.
"Or we could turn him over to the dragons," Sesshomaru proposed. "I believe we have company."
They stepped out of the den and looked down the passageway to see Kirara escorting a demon towards them. Inuyasha, Miroku and Sango tensed, but relaxed again when they saw that Sessshomaru was not even reaching for his sword.
"Ryuhi's scent is on you," the taiyoukai said to the newcomer, a female. "Are you one of his disciples?"
The dragon demon immediately displayed her empty hands and bowed politely to show that she meant them no harm. "Yes, Sesshomaru-sama," she said. "Ryuhi is my sensei. My name is Amaya. He sent me here to find out more about the magic potions that you were kind enough to warn us about."
"How did you get here so quickly?" Sesshomaru asked. "My kappa and dragon can only have just reached your territory."
"Our forge is connected by a portal to a sister forge on the edge of the western coastal territories. My sensei sent me and my fellow disciple through it, and from there, it was a short flight to this mountain, which your servant described to us. I'm sorry that we could not bring your dragon and servant back with us, as Ah-Un is far too large for the portal. Your servant would not come with us. He said you had ordered him to remain with Ah-Un, who needs rest."
"That does not matter," Sesshomaru said. "Has your sensei succeeded in stopping the shikigami from scattering the potions?"
"We trapped most of them with our own magic just in time, but unfortunately, we lost one family. The potions made them tear one another apart. A second vessel broke in the cave of another of our leaders, but he was alone. My sensei is trying to calm him while waiting for the effects to wear off. However, we need to know more about neutralising these potions."
"This human can tell you all about them," Sesshomaru said, taking Tatsuya from Sango and holding him out to the dragon demon. "He made them himself, under Kinrin's orders. You may take him with you and question him. My condition for handing him to you is that your tribe is not to use his skills to further its own political ends. I expect to see proof of that once you have the information you need to neutralise the potions. Tell your sensei that."
"I understand, Sesshomaru-sama. My sensei will not betray your trust in him." Amaya took Tatsuya from him, and the look on her face told them that things would not go easy for the man.
The dragon demon had another matter to bring up. "Sesshomaru-sama, what of Kinrin? Shall I report that he is dead, or in your power?"
"He is dead. If your tribe wants his body as evidence, it lies along these passageways deeper in the mountain. We will be sealing the caverns with a barrier before we leave to keep the potion fumes inside, so you will have to take it now, or much later."
"We will take it now," Amaya said, and called down the passageway to her fellow disciple, who had been waiting further up the corridor, closer to the main entrance that led to the network of caverns.
A younger dragon demon appeared, bowed to Sesshomaru's group, took instructions from Amaya, and vanished into the darkness of the corridor. When he reappeared, he was dragging Kinrin's broken body along the ground, bundled into one of the skins from the den.
The group then navigated the passageways until they emerged into open air on the side of the mountain, and the two dragon demons took their leave.
"Can we trust them?" Sango asked Sesshomaru, as the visitors flew away with Tatsuya and Kinrin's corpse.
"We shall see."
"Who is this Ryuhi, anyway?" Inuyasha asked.
"The demon who bred Ah-Un."
"So I suppose he can be trusted? Or is he waiting to get back at you because – oh, I don't know – he ungraciously lost that dragon to you in some gambling session?"
"I? Gamble?" Sesshomaru asked haughtily. "I do not gamble. If I want something, I take it."
Quickly seeing that those words could hit some raw nerves, considering the events of the past few days, the taiyoukai added in a softer voice: "At least I used to at the time I acquired Ah-Un. I don't do that any more. Ryuhi is a story for another day. Now, we must get you back to the village. You're not looking well."
"I told you I'm fine."
"You're feverish. I can tell even from here."
Inuyasha felt his own forehead, but he didn't need to, for he did feel a bit ill again. "Damn, it's back. I thought I'd got rid of it."
"Inuyasha," Miroku said. "Your strength has been suppressed by dark magic for six days. You're not going to brush off its effects just because the spells have been lifted. You have some recuperating to do."
"Keh."
"No 'keh'-ing from you this time," the monk was firm. "It'll be a course of Kaede-sama's herbs and plenty of bed rest for you for the next few days."
"I've only just broken out of that stupid cage after five whole days and a bit, and you want to confine me to bed for more days yet?" the hanyou protested.
"For your good."
"Will you stop fussing? I think I know how to manage –"
"Inuyasha, shut up," Sesshomaru ordered, stepping over to him and touching him for the first time in six days, wrapping his left arm round the backs of his legs, slipping his right firmly round his shoulders, and lifting him into his arms.
"Hey – put me down – Sesshomaru, I can walk just fine! There's no need to – hey, watch it – whoa!" he stopped struggling and clung to his brother's breastplate as the taiyoukai took to the air, followed by Sango and Miroku on Kirara.
Inuyasha looked back at his friends – he had to flatten the mokomoko with his hands just to see past it – and yelled out to them: "Look, can't I ride Kirara? Wouldn't that make more sense?"
"Kirara can only carry two grown-ups!" Miroku shouted in reply. "If you're here, then either myself or my wife will be in Sesshomaru-sama's arms, and that's another thing I won't do for you, my friend!"
The hanyou scowled, looked up at his brother and muttered to him: "Can't I just stand next to you and hold on to your armour or something? This is seriously embarrassing. I'm not a girl, you know."
"Be still, and sleep," Sesshomaru told him. "You're not well. If I have to hold you like this for days to make sure that you rest, I will do exactly that."
Inuyasha pulled a face and sulked for a few minutes more. But when he looked around him, he supposed it didn't matter, as there was no one up here besides his good friends to see him being carried through the clouds like a child – and if that cheeky pair so much as breathed the words "aww", "sweet" or "cute" with reference to this, he would thump them into next week. He was exhausted from his ordeal. The mokomoko was draped around him to keep him warm as they flew and to protect him from the breastplate spikes, and the part of it that curled round Sesshomaru's shoulder was just perfect for resting his head against. Ah well, hadn't he wished only a few hours ago to be right here where he was?
So he gave up sulking, circled Sesshomaru's shoulders with his arms and drew himself up to nuzzle his neck and whisper: "Thank you for coming to get me."
For answer, his brother's embrace tightened around his body, and a kiss was planted on his head.
Inuyasha pulled his arms back into the warmth of the fur, burrowed against Sesshomaru's chest, and allowed himself to relax completely for the first time in days.
** *** **
"Aww, look at that – that's so sweet!" Sango cooed, as she and Miroku flew along behind Sesshomaru and saw Inuyasha's arms going around his brother's neck, although the rest of him was obscured by the mokomoko.
"That is cute," Miroku murmured, feeling inspired by the sight to wrap his arms as intimately around his wife as the hiraikotsu would permit, and fold her high-necked collar down so that he could kiss the soft skin under it.
When she did not protest, it emboldened him to unbutton her collar, working around the obstructive weapon between them, for access to more of her delectable neck and throat. She finally objected when he tried to undo her top altogether, and threatened him with swift ejection from Kirara's back. "We may be up in the clouds, but if you try to undress me any more than you have, you'll be flying really fast – straight down to the ground."
"Sesshomaru will have to catch me then."
"Trust me, he won't bother. You can't even begin to compete with what he's already got in his arms. I swear, Miroku, if some other demon flies past right now and sees me with my clothes flapping open in the wind I will kill you. I love you, but I will kill you."
"To die at your hands would be my greatest honour, if it could be preceded by an entire night of lovemaking, with a promise that you will have conceived my child before the end of that night."
"Oh, shut up. Kirara, if he says one more idiotic thing, turn over, then come and catch me – just me."
"Rrrrreeow."
- 18
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And You, My Brother