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And You, My Brother	By : Arianawray Category: InuYasha > Yaoi - Male/Male > InuYasha/Sessh?maru > InuYasha/Sessh?maru Views: 15030 -:- 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
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Chapter XXI: Why should he stay, whom love doth press to go?
"Jump in," Miroku said.
"What?" Inuyasha asked, although he had heard him perfectly clearly.
"Go on, jump in."
"Why should I?"
The monk, the hanyou and Shippo were at the well, standing around the casing, staring into its depths.
"Are you afraid to?" Miroku asked.
"Afraid?" Inuyasha scoffed. "What are you talking about? Of course I'm not afraid. I just don't see why I should jump in right now."
"You haven't come near the well since we returned to the village fifteen days ago. You were sick for the first six days, but you haven't so much as approached the village boundaries since recovering completely, and that is very unlike you, my friend."
Shippo chirped: "Miroku checked the well thoroughly yesterday, and he's sure there's no more magic spell in it. We both climbed in, and everything was fine, so there's no need to stay away from it any more, Inuyasha!"
"Who said I was staying away from it? I've been resting in the village, that's all. But you had to drag me out here for heaven knows what."
"Then get in."
"I don't see why I should!" the hanyou snapped.
"Inuyasha," Miroku said patiently. "There's no more sorcery in there. Granted, there's still no time portal back to Kagome's home either, as I don't sense that at all, but there's definitely no dark magic. It's in your past now."
Inuyasha glared at him. "What are you getting at?"
"I'm saying that it's time to stop being afraid."
"Who said I was afraid?!?" he yelled indignantly. "Weren't you the ones who tried so hard to keep me from sitting in the well months ago? Now you want me to get back in!?"
Miroku sighed. "You are behaving so unlike your usual self that we're worried about you. I think the best first step towards regaining your normal boldness is to get back into the structure that the sorcerer used to take you away from us. It's safe now, and no harm will come to you in there. I'll even climb in with you. If some bad sorcery's afoot, then we'll both get whisked away, but never fear, for I'll be there to fight the magic while you fight our way out – and of course you'll have to carry me back; and if the old time portal is working again, then you'll be at Kagome's while we'll wait here for you to bring her over. But as I said, I'm very certain that's not in operation either."
"Fine, fine! I'll jump in just to shut you up!" Inuyasha growled, leaning over the casing and peering in.
"Want me to hold your hand?" Miroku offered cheekily.
"Piss off, Miroku."
As he prepared to take the leap, he felt Sesshomaru's youki tensing in the forest, the demon himself unseen but very much there. He didn't seem to be moving to stop him, however, so he took a deep breath and jumped.
He landed on the solid floor of the well, much to his relief, and looked up to see Miroku and Shippo smiling down at him. "See? All safe," the monk said smugly.
"Great. How lovely. I kind of miss this spot, you know," Inuyasha said caustically, sitting down in the dirt and crossing his legs. "I think I'll rest in here for another three weeks."
More interesting vibes from the invisible Sesshomaru in the forest, but still no further movement. The real tension was starting to emanate from his friends above as the minutes passed, and they began exchanging looks with each other, wondering how they were going to haul the difficult hanyou back out. While they were looking away from him, he took the opportunity to caress the floor of the well beside him, picturing Kagome's hand in that very spot, in her world, and whispered a silent hello to her across the centuries.
"Inuyasha, you've been down there long enough. I'll count to a hundred," Miroku cautioned him. "If you're not back out by then, Shippo and I will both jump in and join you, and you know it can get uncomfortable with more than two inside."
"Make up your minds!" Inuyasha shouted up at them. "Do you want me in or out?"
"We want you to not be afraid of being in there, but we don't want you actually staying in there!" Shippo snapped.
With a stream of cursing and muttering, Inuyasha leaped back out. "All right, so I jumped in. Is that all for now? Anything else I can do for your lordships this morning?"
"Well, what are your plans from this point on?" Miroku inquired. "Are you going to nap in the sugi tree for the rest of today, and the rest of the next day, and the next week? Do more reroofing jobs? Haul some more barrels of food around for the villagers?"
Inuyasha glared at him, but he knew what the monk was driving at. Since returning to the village, he had not left it at all, save for the little night excursion into the forest seven days ago for that talk with Sesshomaru, which hadn't gone so well.
He didn't feel like going anywhere or doing anything.
It was true that when they had still been searching for the shards of the Shikon Jewel, he had slumped into days of being virtually catatonic while waiting for Kagome to reappear – but he had always been irritably morose and depressed in the most antsy way possible during those waits, and had occasionally stomped off into the wilds by himself, or charged through time to drag her back over here. This new lethargy, however, was not accompanied by the urge to expend energy. He was simply demoralised. If he had to give a truthful answer, he would have to say that he knew exactly why.
Of course, there was the trauma of having been caged for five days and almost raped by some scaly bastard the very sight of whom made him want to puke. And there was the illness which had felled him for longer than he had ever lain sick for. But it was more than that.
It was the matter of Sesshomaru.
Everyone had noticed that the taiyoukai had stopped visiting, while continuing to feel his presence close by in the forest, but no one dared to ask Inuyasha why. Kaede and Shippo knew nothing – or seemed to know nothing – about their relationship being anything more than brotherly, so they refrained from asking out of politeness, and wariness of Inuyasha's temper; Miroku and Sango didn't want to be tactless, so they didn't mention it; as for Rin, she had grown so used to her guardian's long absences that she had regarded his daily visits to the village over the first five days of Inuyasha's illness as a bonanza, and was not about to complain that he had not shown up for the last ten.
All this while, Sesshomaru had barely moved from where he was in the forest, and was still watching over him, but he wasn't coming any closer.
You are determined to play perfectly the model role of protective big brother, but you're never going to touch me that way again, are you? Inuyasha asked inside his head. Did I fall that far in your estimation by being caged and chained?
As he walked back to Kaede's hut with Miroku and Shippo, Inuyasha decided that this couldn't go on. He still didn't feel like going anywhere or doing anything, but what the hell, he would make himself get off his butt and fight his way back to what he used to be. That other stalemate – with his brother – couldn't go on either. Hell and damnation, if Sesshomaru wouldn't come to the village, he would go to him, and tell him to get on with his life and do whatever the devil he pleased. He could play big brother all he liked – his little sibling wasn't going to sit around waiting for him to feel like getting in another grope some time in the next century.
"All right!" he announced to Kaede, Sango, Rin, Miroku and Shippo, but most of all to himself, once he stepped into the hut. "I'm off demon-hunting. Didn't someone say something two days ago about a troublesome beast eating villagers to the west of here? Since Kohaku's occupied in the south, I'll take that one on. I'd like some time alone too, so I'll only check in with you lot every ten days or so, okay? And naturally, I'll be back here during the new moon."
His friends caught their breaths. For his sake, they wanted to see him return to being his usual self now that he had recovered his full health and strength, but suddenly running off like that immediately after his first visit to the well since they had rescued him from the caves seemed too abrupt.
"Are you really ready to be on your own?" Sango asked. "Would you like Miroku and Shippo with you?"
"Absolutely not," he said, glaring at her. "Your husband had better stay put to look after you very well for the next – what is it now, eight months? And Shippo would only end up coming close to getting eaten by something or other and needing me to rescue him!"
"Hey!" the kitsune protested, balling his hands into fists but not flying at him to pummel him, because the sight of an Inuyasha getting his feistiness back was exactly what he and Miroku had been trying to achieve.
"Inuyasha, I meant to have you jump into the well as a first step towards a gradual return to your old self," Miroku said cautiously. "I didn't mean for you to run off demon-hunting on the same day."
"Why sit around and wait when I can just leap right back in?" Inuyasha asked ironically, showing him the tips of his fangs.
Without waiting for an answer, the hanyou strode out of the hut and jumped into the trees bordering the forest, soaring beyond their reach and sight.
** *** **
The first thing Inuyasha did before heading westwards to the area that he had heard was troubled by demon attacks was to try and drop in on Sesshomaru. He wanted to tell him that where they had left their last conversation was perfectly okay with him, and they could carry on with their lives as siblings. He still didn't understand what seemed to be a sudden change of heart on his brother's part, but perhaps after his rejection of him at the spring pool, and while he was held captive by Kinrin and the sorcerer, Sesshomaru had had plenty of time to arrive at a decision that maybe was for the best after all.
The way he had hesitated to jump into the well had proven him right about one thing: he wasn't ready. He wasn't himself yet, and his brother was being technically correct by refusing to discuss that sensitive subject with him until he was completely back to normal. Yet, the taiyoukai had admitted that he himself might not be ready when that happened, and damn it, but that had stung. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he had grown quite comfortable with the idea of a Sesshomaru who would wait patiently for him until he, Inuyasha, came around to the idea of smooching his brother.
To find himself keen now, only to be rebuffed by the one who had had the hots for him but who didn't seem to be encouraging him to think that he would wait any more, was a blow to his assumptions and pride, but hell, he would get over it.
As he arrived at that conclusion, he sailed through the air under the canopy of the trees towards where he knew Sesshomaru had stationed himself for the last fifteen days, save for short periods when he moved deeper into the woods, presumably to hunt. When he landed at the spot, however, the taiyoukai wasn't there.
Inuyasha could still detect him nearby, so he moved in the direction he sensed he had gone along, only to realise that he still couldn't see him. Another move, and the same distance remained between them.
Bloody hell, Inuyasha thought. He's avoiding me!
He experimented with one more great leap towards where he knew his brother was, and again saw no sign of him despite knowing through the evidence of his scent and youki that he was very close.
You prick! You're just going to keep dancing away from me, aren't you? Fine! Dance on. I'm going off to do what I want, and you can play your game of avoidance till it's oozing from those pointy ears of yours.
Feeling mightily offended, somewhat hurt deep in his puppyish heart, yet a little bit amused that this great and powerful demon was practically hiding from him, Inuyasha pronounced his verdict on the whole situation with a huffy "Feh!" and headed west.
** *** **
"You are certainly not easy to find, my old friend," came the voice from among the trees, catching Sesshomaru in the absurd act of playing hide-and-seek with his brother.
"Ryuhi," Sesshomaru said, turning to greet the old dragon demon, silver-skinned but bronze-haired, who emerged near the forest trail behind him. If he was flustered to have been seen retreating from the hanyou's presence, he didn't show it.
"I'm amazed that my young disciple Aki didn't take a month to locate you. He clearly has a much better nose than I do," Ryuhi remarked. "I found you only because I chanced upon your water sprite exercising Ah-Un fifty miles away, and they told me where you were!"
"It's been a long time," Sesshomaru said, noting the discreetly coloured yet elaborate, multi-layered robes of the elder youkai, which indicated his high rank – unusual for a swordsmith, but then Sesshomaru knew that Ryuhi had never been one to conform to demon or any other stereotype.
"There was good reason for not meeting before, wasn't there?" his visitor commented. "After your father fought Ryukotsusei and died as a result, it would not have done for you and I to be seen in each other's presence."
"I take it your visit indicates that things may be changing?"
"There's hope of that. Our tribe's present leaders have always been more interested in battling each other for power than looking outward like our old one. And Ryukotsusei's daughter is young yet – she has not been ready these two hundred and seventy years to rule our domains herself, but she seems much more reasonable than her sire, and has just taken a mate who could help her do a decent job – that is, if she can wrest more authority from the regents."
"But you didn't come to keep me updated about your tribe."
"No, Sesshomaru. I came because I considered your father my friend, and I think of you as one too. I wanted to assure you with whatever authority I have – which I may flatter myself is sufficient, considering my years and my standing with the regents – that our tribe has no interest in making trouble beyond our own borders at present. Mind you, I can't speak for the next few millennia, but at least for now, you needn't concern yourself with our leaders. They have accepted that they owe you thanks for the warning about Kinrin's plan, and won't be pushing into your territories any time soon."
"I watch those territories purely to continue my father's protection of the clans living within them, but I do not rule them as he did, and I don't keep a home there. I have no fixed abode, as I'm sure you know."
"Not setting up your own household yet?" Ryuhi asked in a curiously playful way. "I'm sure I heard some talk about a certain someone for whom you fought Kinrin."
"You are referring to my brother," Sesshomaru emphasised the last word pointedly.
"Your brother – yes, the hanyou who slew Ryukotsusei. That he is a half-demon perhaps surprises me, but that he is your half-brother does not. Come now, youkai have never been prevented as humans have from choosing siblings as their mates and companions. So don't give me that stuck-up rubbish about him being your brother."
"Did you come all this way to lecture me about my personal life?"
"Maybe I did!" the old demon said brightly.
"Ryuhi," Sesshomaru said in a tone of voice that came close to being a warning.
"Yes, yes, I know, I'm such a tease."
Sesshomaru arched a brow; "tease" was not the word he would have used to describe the elderly dragon demon.
"You've changed, by the way – time was when you were such a brat, you would have tried to slice off my head for saying half so much. I think I like you better now," Ryuhi remarked. "But as to why I came: of course it was to see you after not having had the opportunity to do so for such a long time. However, I also wished to visit because it occurred to me that all this sending of disciples and messengers back and forth was not of much assurance to you about our intentions. I didn't want you to think that any members of our tribe were plotting anything further behind your back with potions or sorcerers or whatnot. I came in person to tell you that I didn't kill that sorcerer to silence him over anything. He was damned close to ending his own life when the guards caught him at it, and I would not give him the honour of dying by his own hand, not after he and Kinrin dared to seize your hanyou. So I cut off his head myself."
"I trust you, Ryuhi. You did not have to come so far to tell me this."
"I wanted to. It is only correct. As for Kinrin, rest assured that we are not trying to bring him back to life or anything of the sort – we wouldn't want to after what he tried to do to us, unless it's just to kill him all over again, more painfully. We turned against him in the first place because he tried to murder all the regents to gain full control over Ryukotsusei's daughter. Then this crazy potion plot – no, believe me, we don't want him back," Ryuhi murmured.
"I believe you."
"Hmm, you're only being polite. Don't pretend that you didn't have misgivings about what we were going to do with his body."
Sesshomaru did not give a verbal reply.
"We owed his mother a last look at her son, although she had disowned him. Then with her permission, we cast his body into the ravine beneath the red cliffs on our eastern coast. It was all he deserved. You may view the remains there whenever you wish – or take your brother there to show him that the bastard has stayed dead."
"I would not want to subject his eyes to the sight of that thing again," Sesshomaru answered.
"As you wish. In any case, you must visit me at my forge soon. I'll never have Totosai's talent, and I can see that you have no need of a blade, but I make fine enough swords, so if you want a look around the forge, come by. That's all I came to say. I've been away long enough, losing my way and all – I should return before my disciples set the whole damned place ablaze. And of course you do not want to be delayed much further from keeping an eye on the young one, whom you were watching so intently yet avoiding so assiduously when I arrived?"
Sesshomaru glared at his old friend. "You are here to interfere in my private life."
"What else have I to do outside of my forge?" the ancient demon sighed. "Go on, before he strays too far. Remember – come and visit me. Bring him along if you think he hasn't already had too much of scaly youkai."
"I doubt he'll be going anywhere with me anytime soon."
"Oh? Have you had a fight? Well, hurry up and make up!"
"It's not that simple, Ryuhi."
"No?"
"No."
"Then do something about it! You're not going to just follow him around for the next three hundred years?"
"I will if I have to."
Ryuhi shook his head. "I'll not tell you what to do, but I will tell you that you're behaving like an idiot by avoiding him. That won't solve anything."
"Perhaps not. But it could prevent things from becoming worse."
"Really?"
"You don't know the story."
"Ah, but I do know that even when we are wiser and older, we may not always know what's best for someone else, and even when know that, we may not realise how doing what is 'best' for them could only break their hearts," Ryuhi said. "Just something for you to think about."
"For someone I haven't seen in about two hundred and fifty years, you presume to know a lot about me."
"Oh, I might be better informed than you think. Ah-Un may not be able to talk to you or anyone else, but he has ways of telling me things, you know. And we had quite a bit of time to catch up while he was resting at my forge."
Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed at that piece of information, but Inuyasha's scent was almost fading from the area, and he had to go.
Ryuhi said breezily: "I'll continue this discussion with you on another occasion, although I sincerely hope that you'll have worked everything out by the time we next meet. Off with you now, don't let him get away from you."
Sesshomaru wanted to question him about what Ah-Un had told him, but Inuyasha was on the move, and fast, so they took their leave of each other. The taiyoukai moved swiftly through the forest in the direction his brother had gone in, thinking to himself: That sly two-headed gossip is in for a whipping when I next collect him and Jaken!
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And You, My Brother