Adult-FanFiction.org : Inuyasha / Yashahime

Fortification	By : TheKaytla Category: InuYasha > Yaoi - Male/Male > InuYasha/Sessh?maru > InuYasha/Sessh?maru Views: 6107 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 3
Disclaimer: I do not own the series Inuyasha, nor its characters.They are property of Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise, and Viz. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-One
- 2-Two
- 3-Three
- 4-Four
- 5-Five
- 6-Six
- 1
- 2
- 3
Chapter Two

Sitting on a river bank with his hakama rolled up to his knees and his feet dangling in the water, Inuyasha glared at the Tetsusaiga resting on his lap. Eight months had passed since his father died and that old geezer, Totosai, had dropped off the sword and, so far, it had been about as useful as a twig in battle.

The hunk of crap was rusty as shit and no matter how long and often he tried, he couldn't get the damn thing to sharpen. As it was, it could barely cut a blade of grass, let alone a youkai. Just what exactly did his old man expect him to do with it?

Totosai had claimed it had some great, awesome power, but he was starting to suspect the grubby old man was pulling his leg. He made a mental note to find out where the old codger was hiding and beat the ever loving crap out of him for dumping a useless sword on him.

Setting Tetsusaiga on the ground beside him, Inuyasha leaned back and looked up at the twilight sky. It had already been eight months, huh? It still felt strange, not having the Inu no Taisho around. Each day, he still kind of expected the old dog to show up without warning so they could talk about nothing in particular for hours, or work on his swordplay.

He missed it.

The hanyou huffed out a breath and kicked lazily at a fish getting too curious about his toes. He listened to the silence. How long had it been since he'd spoken to another person? No one wanted a hanyou around, after all. No one, that is, except his dad. His only living relative, the fucking Ice Prince of the West, wanted nothing to do with him and he'd made sure that Inuyasha never forgot that.

Not that he was lonely or anything. He was used to spending long stretches on his own when his dad went off on long journeys relating to this or that boring duty he'd never paid attention to. Even though he knew this time the Inu no Taisho wouldn't be coming back, he wouldn't be lonely.

He'd get used to the idea that his dad wasn't gonna be around anymore. He'd get used to being on his own. You couldn't rely on anyone, anyway. If your own flesh and blood turned their stinkin' noses up at you like you were some shit on their shoe, who needed 'em?

Not him, that's for sure.

He puffed out his cheeks and looked around. Not even a fucking squirrel. Gods, but it was boring, if nothing else. At least before, he'd had something to look forward to. Not just the time with his dad, but the travelling around, trying to see if he could somehow lose the old dog. He never had.

And he'd never thought he'd lose him forever.

Making an irritable sound, Inuyasha dragged a hand roughly through his untidy mane. It was no good acting all depressed and shit. It was over and done with; the old man was bones. Moping around wasn't gonna bring him back, and he couldn't keep doing this to himself. It was time to move on, find something else to occupy himself with.

Filled with new determination, Inuyasha pulled his feet out of the water and stood, stretching. He stared at Tetsusaiga in his hand, and grinned. That would be his goal. No matter how long it took, he would figure out what the hell he needed to do to unleash this "awesome power" that was supposed to be inside it and do the old dog proud.

With this new goal in mind, Inuyasha secured the sword at his waist and marched through the trees until he reached a sizeable clearing. Planting himself in the middle, he unsheathed Tetsusaiga in a slow, dramatic fashion, then brought the sword up to his face.

He frowned at the blade. Dull as ever. "I dunno how the hell this thing's meant to be powerful," he muttered to himself, running a thumb across its chipped edge. "Oh, well," he said and shrugged. "I'll figure it out eventually, I suppose."

He planted his feet firmly on the ground and held the sword out at arm's length. Breathing deeply, he searched within himself for the power he was sure must be there and tried to channel it into the sword, brow furrowing in concentration, grip tight on the Tetsusaiga's hilt.

Thirty seconds of this and he felt stupid, glaring at the blade as though it had personally offended him.

"Grah!" he shouted, and swung it through the air. Nothing.

"Agh!" He swung it again, this time to the side. "Ha!" Back down. "Hya!" Up.

Not even a fizzle.

Starting to get annoyed, as he usually did with the sword, he launched into a fast, aggressive flurry of motions, swinging the sword in quick, random patterns, not sticking to any of the forms his father had taught him, just trying to spark any damn sign of life in the Tetsusaiga at all. All he succeeded in doing was making his arm ache.

However, still floating on the tide of his new determination, Inuyasha continued swinging his sword to and fro, faster and faster, until a voice spoke nearby and he almost fell flat on his face.

"What are you doing?"

Inuyasha only managed to keep his balance because of the whiplash of irritation that swept through him. He knew that damn voice. His bastard brother's stupid little frog thing, who so obviously wanted to hump his leg it had long since passed disturbing.

Whirling on his toes and managing to find solid footing again, Inuyasha pointed his arm - and by extension, Tetsusaiga - at Jaken. "None of your damn business, you snivelly little toad," he snapped. "What the fuck are you doing here, anyway?"

"Toad?!" Jaken squawked in indignation, his voice grating on the hanyou's ears as always. "I am not a toad, you ignorant half-breed! I am a kappa, and from a noble lineage, I'll have you know! And as Lord Sesshomaru's servant, I - OW!"

Inuyasha lifted Tetsusaiga from where he'd smacked Jaken on the head with it, effectively dazing him, and peered curiously at the injury. It was already forming a nice sickly pink swelling, but the skin hadn't broken. Sighing, he picked at some of the Tetsusaiga's rust with a claw.

"Still can't cut a youkai, huh? Not even a weak little reptile like Jaken," he said to no one in particular. "And I put a lot of effort into that swing, too..."

Jaken snapped out of his daze. "A toad is not a reptile, you fool! And I'm not a toad!" Cringing, he touched the new bump on his head. "You were actually trying to kill me, weren't you?! Foul, disgraceful, miserable half-breed!"

He might have carried on, but Inuyasha raised Tetsusaiga above his head and the little beak snapped shut. "Shut up," the hanyou growled, annoyed at being corrected. "Answer my damn question, toad."

"You are such a rude hanyou!" Jaken shouted, irate, waving his ugly ass stick at him. "I don't have to tell you anything! I only do as Lord Sesshomaru wishes!"

Inuyasha shrugged. "Whatever. Just get the fuck out of here before I skewer you on my Tetsusaiga, got it?"

"No, no, I can't leave!" Jaken cried, clutching his staff desperately. "I bring a message of greatest importance from Lord Sesshomaru!"

Inuaysha yawned. "Like I care."

Jaken gaped. "You should care!"

One ear flicked. "Oh, yeah? Strangely, I just don't. Now get back home and tell that asshole I don't want him sending me anymore ugly messengers."

"Miserable half-breed! Filthy ingrate!"

Inuyasha reared back a foot. "If you don't get going, I'll send you back myself. One..."

Jaken screamed, hopping up and down in his impatience. "You have to come to the castle!"

"I don't gotta do nothin'. And you can tell that bastard as much. Two..."

"But Lord Sesshomaru needs your help, Inuyasha!" Jaken cried, stooping so low as to call the hanyou by his name out of sheer desperation.

"Whatever shit the asshole's got himself into, he can deal with it on his own," Inuyasha countered, but he stopped counting. Despite himself, he was curious. Sesshomaru never even so much as admitted he had a problem, let alone asked for help. Something big must be going on.

"If you don't come back with me, Lord Sesshomaru might die!" Jaken wailed dramatically, falling to his knees as he started to sob.

Now Inuyasha was definitely curious. Not that he actually cared; after all, there'd been plenty of times when he'd nearly died, and Sesshomaru hadn't lifted a finger. Hadn't even cared. So why the hell should he care if the bastard bit the dust?

He sheathed Tetsusaiga and folded his arms, staring down at the sobbing imp. "Oi, shut it!" he snapped, and waited for him to stop crying. "What's going on at the castle?"

"It's awful," Jaken moaned, then proceeded to explain about the demons coming out to challenge Sesshomaru in droves to try and steal control of the land. Why it was so important to them, Inuyasha had no idea, but because of it, Sesshomaru was getting more and more tired and less able to fight.

"So he expects me to go charging over there, start fighting and save his ass?" he interjected, snorting.

"No!" the toad said, offended. "Someone who can't even wield the Tetsusaiga could never match up to Lord Sesshomaru!"

"Then what the hell does he want?" Inuyasha growled, angry all over again, but unable to deny his inability to use his sword.

Jaken sniffed. "Lord Sesshomaru knows how to wield it."

Inuyasha whipped his sword out so fast, the kappa didn't see it until it cracked across the top of his head again and he sprawled in the dirt. Inuyasha growled and yanked him up to eye level, glaring in his face.

"Is that what he wants me to go back there for?" he demanded. "Does he expect me to just roll over and let him have the Tetsusaiga? The old man gave it to me, not him!"

"Lord Sesshomaru... knows how to use it..." Jaken murmured faintly, his eyes unfocused. "Maybe... you could learn... then help..."

Intrigued with the idea, Inuyasha let him drop back to the ground. He didn't fully trust it, as he wouldn't put anything past the frigid bastard, and it may well be a trap to lure him in and take his sword. When he'd asked Totosai what kind of gift Sesshomaru had been given after their dad's death, he'd learned a bit about the other sword... Tenseiga, he thought it was. Apparently, it couldn't do any kind of damage at all. He knew Sesshomaru was probably really pissed about that, and it had given him great pleasure at the time to imagine it. Now, he was worried what Sesshomaru might do to get his claws on the useful sword.

Still, despite the danger, it had merit. If he kept his guard up and didn't relax, he might get something very useful out of it. He'd been trying for months to get the damn sword to reveal its true power to him, but it just wouldn't come, and if Sesshomaru knew the secret... Take advantage of every opportunity, the Inu no Taisho had once said.

Grinning to himself, Inuyasha resheathed Tetsusaiga and once again grabbed the practically unconscious toad, hoisting him up, staff and all. "You got yourself a deal, toadie," he said happily. "We're heading back to the castle."

A two-headed dragon was waiting at the edge of the clearing. Inuyasha vaguely recognised it as being one of the castle's mounts and headed over, hopping up onto its back and dumping Jaken behind him. If he fell off, he fell off; Inuyasha hardly cared.

As soon as he touched the reins, the dragon took off. Inuyasha assumed it had something to do with the fire on its feet, because the thing didn't have any wings, and it sort of... hovered, more than flew. He wasn't entirely comfortable with it and wished the beast would fly lower just in case it did fall.

"I hope you know the way back home," he muttered, pretty sure it wouldn't understand him anyway. " 'Cause I sure as hell don't from here."

One of the two heads brayed in what he assumed was meant to be a comforting manner, and he decided to let the matter rest. Worst case scenario, he'd wake Jaken up and make him steer the damn thing. It didn't seem like he was going to wake up on his own any time soon, at least; he was out cold now and even starting to drool a little. Inuyasha wrinkled his nose and looked away.

Staring off into the distance ahead, he wondered if the castle had changed. He hadn't been there since he'd been young. The animosity directed at him from the servants and their children - and, most importantly, Sesshomaru and his mother - made it a very unpleasant place to live and he'd convinced his father to let him live outside the castle walls when it became clear that not even the threat of the Inu no Taisho's wrath would keep their venom at bay.

Would it still be the same? What would he have to endure for the sake of learning his sword's secret? If Jaken's attitude was anything to go by, probably a lot of sneering and insults, but nothing overtly threatening. He wasn't a pup they could terrify anymore. And he had a foul mouth that could contend with any and all of theirs. He wasn't vulnerable anymore.

He shook himself out of the memories as the trees thinned out underneath them and the castle loomed tall and proud in the distance. As the dragon swept lower, the thick scent of youkai blood wafted up to them, strong enough to make Inuyasha gag. There was so much of it, and from so many different youkai, that he could damn near taste it.

It seemed Jaken hadn't been lying about an endless stream of challengers. Though no bodies remained outside the castle walls, the scent was telling enough. And Sesshomaru had fought this many by himself? The hanyou felt a grudging respect well up; even if his brother was a bastard, he was a fucking strong bastard.

The dragon touched down on a thick oak bridge and Inuyasha jumped down, staring up at the huge gate. He supposed it was supposed to intimidate would-be challengers and impress visitors, but to him, it had always looked macabre; it was like a huge mural of war carved from the bones of those who had been foolish enough to challenge the powerful inuyoukai in the past, long before even his father was a pup. Forever etched into the aged ivory was half a dozen bloody battles remembered in his family's history, a testament to the strength of his line.

Inuyasha just thought of it as a really grim way to invite a guest into one's house. Kind of like saying you welcomed them, but if they fucked up, you'd tear them to pieces. No wonder Sesshomaru constantly acted like a bear with a sore tooth.

The gates opened then, slowly in true grandiose fashion, revealing the lush gardens within and the quiet bustle of servants rushing to and fro about their duties. And there, standing on the steps leading up to the castle and awaiting his arrival, was Sesshomaru.
________
A/N: Enter Inuyasha! In case anybody asks, no, there was no black pearl issue this time to get the sword. Totosai just dropped it off. Kind of anti-climactic, yeah, but I need Inuyasha a virgin in the ways of life and death adventuring for later purposes. And that's all I'll say on that matter or I'll accidentally feed you spoilers. x3
Next chapter's in progress. Should hopefully be finished soon and published within the next three weeks. I still have two other chapters of other things to post weekly before I have to worry about new material.
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Fortification