Past Lives, Current Conflictions

Chapter 4: Childhood Memories

Groggy didn’t even begin to describe how he felt right now. God, his eyelids were so heavy he didn’t feel like he could even pry them open with a set of pliers, let alone by his own willpower. Ah, but his body felt really nice; light and warm. Content. As if he just had the best sleep of his life or the best sex of his... young... inexperienced... career...-!!

Inuyasha shot straight up from his position of being slung over one half of the couch, eyes darting every which way until they could focus properly (and until he didn’t feel so dizzy), and only then did images and voices reel through his mind and past his eyes.

“Let go, little one...”

“You will consent to his request, because unlike me, he will more than likely acquiesce to your wishes.”

“Sesshomaru...”

“Very well, then I will wrought upon you what I would have on my mate.”

“SHIT!”

Blinking suddenly from the climax of whatever the hell that had been, Inuyasha focused his eyes once more, the noise in the background finally clicking in his brain as being the TV.

And then his eyes landed on... him.

He let out a scream of shock (it didn’t sound girly at all, either) to which the one being visually assaulted rolled his own eyes in annoyance.

“I see you’re finally awake. How you could have found this special on the Feudal Era that boring is completely beyond me.”

Inuyasha, jaw still somewhere on the floor and eyes still the size of saucers, meeped out, “W-What?”

Sesshomaru turned his head slowly to look over at Inuyasha, giving him one of those ‘Are you seriously asking that?’ looks.

“You fell asleep, moron. What? Did you have another one of your morning dreams? Going to go take another shower? Be careful this time, remember how it went off the last time you cleaned it,” Sesshomaru said, smirking in satisfaction at his little brother’s look of complete bewilderment.

Inuyasha’s eyes were still comically wide as his brother was talking, gaze roving over his slouched form upon the couch.

Long limbs... lean body... powerful-looking legs... Oh God! Stop! Stop! Stop! No, no, no!

“SHUT UP!!” came the sudden outburst as Inuyasha ran upstairs to wash out the nasty, nasty thoughts that seemed to invade his mind like the fucking plague!

In his rush up the stairs, Inuyasha didn’t notice the relieved look that crossed Sesshomaru’s features, nor did he realize the fact that Sesshomaru and he seemed to have traded seats from when they first sat down to watch television an hour earlier...

- - -

Cold water splashed against the mirror repeatedly as Inuyasha vigorously scrubbed at his face, hoping against hope that he’d somehow be able to drown himself in the sink.

Oh fucking mother of hell, someone please have mercy on his soul, he dreamed – more like nightmared - the whole thing up! He’d subconsciously either thought about doing those things with his brother or his twisted, sick, delirious, perverted mind somehow strung bits and pieces of his consciousness together to form that- that thing!

Just trying to figure out how his head could ever make something like that up... images flashed through his mind, feelings coursing through his body.

A long, hot tongue swirling around and dipping in his belly button, body arching of its own accord, soft padded fingertips splayed at the V of his hips, warm, wet mouth suctioning his phallus as if they were meant to fit together that well... as if... as... if...

SHIT! He was hard just thinking about it! Bad thoughts, bad thoughts, bad thoughts!

“Okay, Inuyasha, don’t think about that bastard...” the young male said to his reflection in the mirror, the most serious look plastered across his face as he tried to coach himself against that line of thinking. “Okay, good, don’t dwell on stuff like that... Think about... kendo! Yes! Think about kendo and how much you love being on the team! Think of how invigorating it is to feel yourself getting stronger every day you do it, think of how thrilling it is to feel your muscles contracting as your body stretches itself into form for the final thrust... how sweaty and hot you get working out and... sweaty and hot... when... Sesshomaru used to be on the kendo team... he was captain, too... I bet he practiced all day, got hot and sweaty, too... he probably took off the old haori of the uniforms we have to wear... and... drenched in sweat... and hot...”

Inuyasha squeezed his eyes shut tight, not realizing that he had unconsciously been pressing his clothed and still thick-with-need erection against the side of the sink.

Only when the sink started overflowing with cold water and soaking into his pants did he realize what it was exactly that he had been doing. With a horrified scream he lunged back in surprise, inevitably falling to the ground on his butt.

“I just violated the sink... God, I’m going to need so much therapy when I’m older...” Inuyasha groaned, letting himself fall backwards, his entire backside and neck-length hair soaking up the new pool his family now seemed to have in their home upstairs bathroom.

Not bothering to turn off the still running faucet, Inuyasha let his mind wander off... wondering why images of his brother had haunted him in the only place he seemed to be able to get away from his damned presence; in his dreams.

He figured it was partly due to the fact that they hated each other. The brothers rarely spoke, let alone acknowledged the other’s presence. Alright, fine, it was mainly just Sesshomaru who refused to acknowledge that Inuyasha was in the same room as he was, but that was beside the point. Regardless, the hanyou had always known where his brother was, was always conscious of his ever looming existence.

Hurtful words were said, punches were thrown and sneering faces made. Nothing was as it used to be.

When, and how, had the relationship between his brother and him become so bad?

When they were younger they always played together outside, made messes in the house, colored all over the walls in the dining room, sabotaged their father’s gardens (which got them thoroughly grounded a few hundred times it seemed), raided the fridge every chance they got... all this among many other forms of mischief that they had planned together.

So when... when did it all go so wrong...?

A light clicked in Inuyasha’s head as his mind wandered back a few years, searching for the exact moment their relationship went to the pits.

The boys had been attending the ever elite D.E.M.B.O. Academy, which was home to elementary through high school levels of high-ranking demons and socially rich human children. From what Inuyasha remembered, the D.E.M.B.O. stood for Demon... Estra... Melimbra... Bosta... Ostris... or something Latin like that (despite the fact that none of those words were Latin in the first place, but really, Inuyasha never gave a damn about such trivial things).

The school itself was divided into three buildings; elementary, middle and high school. During some of those years the brothers were separated due to building changes and since nearly every kid there was pureblooded one way or the other, it caused Inuyasha to stick out like a sore thumb. It was almost understandable for Sesshomaru to distance himself when on school grounds because, really, he wouldn’t have been able to make friends otherwise.

Despite going in such different directions, Sesshomaru still somehow managed to be around when the students would team up to beat the hanyou behind the gym or near the janitor’s closet on the second floor. Even when they were in different buildings he seemed to magically appear, his cold glare always sending the children scurrying away in fear. Once they got home, Sesshomaru would silently patch up whatever damage had been done before their father got home.

But after a few years, Sesshomaru’s cold manner from school began to gradually leak into their home life as well and Inuyasha would find himself cleaning his own scrapes and cuts more and more often. What had to hurt the most was that the cold glare that had been used on his bullies was now being used on him as well, often accompanied with a sneer that clearly showed his older brother’s disgust at how weak his sibling was.

Then after having turned twelve, Inuyasha decided that he had had enough of the disapproving look that etched itself into his brother’s fine features whenever the elder teen looked at him. Inuyasha knew that he had to rectify this and prove to Sesshomaru that he was worth something and that he wasn’t as weak as he believed. So when the chance arose to join the Kendo Club he knew he had found his outlet.

Joining wasn’t merely about becoming stronger (though it was a big part of it) but it was also about trying to close the emotional gap between Sesshomaru and him by way of sharing a common interest through the love of swords and the art that was kendo fighting.

However, much to Inuyasha’s chagrin, it only served to deepen the gap that had formed between the brothers. He would train daily before and after school with his peers and brother, always marveling at how graceful and fluid Sesshomaru was when using a sword. But the time came when Inuyasha had picked up a rhythm of his own... That was when the girls, that had always come to see his brother practice, started seeing the ‘pathetic half-breed’ in a new light, thanks to how quickly he picked up his skills as a swordsman – almost as if he were a natural.

It only got worse, too. The rift between them had never been so tangible before then…shortly after Sesshomaru’s 16th birthday and shortly after Inuyasha had moved into the high school portion of D.E.M.B.O. Academy.

Inuyasha had been wandering through the halls having forgotten not only his lunch, but his wallet as well in his rush to make it to his third day of high school on time, when he smelled a delicious aroma coming from one of the nearby classrooms. Following his nose, the dog demon found himself in the Home Economics Club room, which was completely empty save for one girl, who was standing near a stove, stirring up some ramen.

They became fast friends.

Her name was Kagome, and she made the world’s greatest ramen as far as Inuyasha was concerned. From that point on, you could always find him in that room during lunchtime, begging her to cook up more delicious noodles, no matter what other dish she had prepared for his arrival (much to her annoyance).

It had all come to a point on that day, the hanyou believed.

Inuyasha had been busy laughing up a storm as Kagome insisted that Miroku had seriously stumbled out of the girl’s locker room, barely conscious thanks to the number of slaps he had received, when puppy ears perked as he suddenly felt his presence nearby, just as he had always been able to.

Laughter dying almost immediately, Inuyasha looked toward the door where, sure enough, Sesshomaru was standing wearing a look colder than death. For some reason, Inuyasha felt afraid for the first time, almost as if he had been caught doing something wrong. What it was, he didn’t know, but before he had a chance to stand up and walk over to the door and ask, let alone discern the feeling, Sesshomaru was gone.

That day when they got home from school, Inuyasha knew that his relationship with his brother was now nonexistent. He only wished he knew what he had done that was so wrong to cause such a thing.

Evening came and that was when things took a turn for the worst.

Inuyasha had been chattering away to his father over the phone about how his first few weeks of the new school year had been. Since his brother wasn’t talking to him and his father was away on business, the next best thing to ‘family time’ was either ignoring your family member (when concerning Sesshomaru) or talking their ear off over the phone (when concerning his father).

Inuyasha had been telling his father about meeting a “really awesome girl who had the best culinary skills in the world,” and reiterating the story that Kagome had told him, when the phone was snatched out of his hand and hung up before the entire unit was sent flying into the fridge across the room. The hanyou looked over to the one who had the audacity to interrupt his ‘me and dad’ time. However, the snide remark he had ready to thrash his brother with was interrupted as his body was slammed against a nearby wall.

Inuyasha struggled and demanded to know what the fuck was going on but the only answer he got was knee in his groin and a snarling “Shut up,” hissed from between his brother’s clenched fangs.

Inuyasha had doubled over, covering his privates and growling at having been kneed for absolutely no reason. However, his curses soon became pathetic whimpers of pain which seemed to grate on Sesshomaru’s conscious. The elder inu seemed to have taken pity on his poor hanyou brother as he nudged Inuyasha back up into a standing position against the wall, pushing his brother’s hands away from his nether regions.

“Who was that wench that you were with today,” the elder of the two demanded to know.

Inuyasha’s eyebrows knit together in confusion, then in anger. “Why the fuck should I tell you!”

Wrong choice of words, if the deadly claws wrapping around his throat were anything to go by. Damn but Sesshomaru was even more pissy than usual. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that his 16th birthday didn’t go as well as planned a few weeks ago and if that was the case the jerk needed to get over it!

“Don’t make me repeat myself, half-breed!”

“Fuck yo-” Inuyasha began but was cut off as his head was slammed back against the wall, while the other hand grasped him through his pants rather painfully. There was no winning in this situation, it was either tell Sesshomaru what he wanted to know or be strangled and castrated. The hanyou instantly decided that the latter was NOT an option; he rather liked his bits where they were. “Kagome, her name’s Kagome!”

While the hand around his neck retreated, the one that had been threatening to rip his dick off had loosened its grip and began to massage Inuyasha’s nether regions which caused an odd feeling to flutter within the young hanyou, effectively confusing the thirteen year old, causing him to emit a surprised gasp.

The next moment Sesshomaru pulled back, his hand going with him, as he made a disgusted noise through his nose and then retreated upstairs to take a shower.

Inuyasha sighed, finally coming back to reality in the upstairs bathroom, not realizing, and not particularly caring, that he was soaking up the still running water like a sponge. However, his clothes had long since reached their water-holding capacity, which left the rest of the pool needing elsewhere to stray. Like out beneath the door, down the stairs and into the kitchen and living room. Thankfully (or not) they had wood floors but that still didn’t change the fact that there was an annoying ring in his ears that sounded suspiciously like his name being taken in vain.

Inuyasha sneezed and the next moment the door burst open. For some reason that didn’t surprise the hanyou as he continued to gaze blankly at the ceiling.

“Inuyasha!” a curse and a swift kick to his head had the half-demon springing to life. And knocking his head right against the sink, sputtering obscenities and falling backwards again.

“You are such an idiot,” Sesshomaru mumbled as he reached over to turn the faucet off. “You realize you’re cleaning this mess up, don’t you?”

“Keh, I’ll get one of the on-call maids to do it, just stop spinning around in circles and talking so loud,” Inuyasha whined.

Sesshomaru closed his eyes in annoyance and started to make his way out of the bathroom when his slacks caught on something. Or rather, something caught his slacks.

Inuyasha, with his head still bowed, tugged at his brother’s pant leg again.

“What?” Sesshomaru growled, highly irritated by this point; his socks were completely soaked! It was really a trivial matter to the usually stoic demon but it was just another thing to take out on his damned little brother!

“Sesshomaru?” came a quiet voice. “Have you gotten me anything for my birthday?”

The one in question snorted, “Of course not.”

“Then I have a favor. Consider it my coming of age birthday present from you to me.” When only silence greeted Inuyasha’s ears he continued on, knowing that he had caught his older brother’s attention. “I’d like you to take me out... to the place where we used to go when we were younger...”

Sesshomaru, had he been any lesser of a demon would have gasped at the sudden request to visit such an old place, but the fact remained; he was not. However his surprise was evident upon his face when his eyebrows knit together in confusion.

On the verge of declining, Sesshomaru thought better of the request when he caught sight of the time on his wrist watch. 11:45am. Inuyasha’s friends would more than likely be arriving in less than an hour to pick him up, and from what his father had demanded of him (you could not call it a request no matter what that old bastard persisted it was) he had better keep his little brother home and otherwise occupied.

“Very well. Change out of those clothes. I’ll meet you downstairs.” And with that Sesshomaru walked out of the room to call for a maid to clean up the mess and to write a little note to leave on the front door for when Inuyasha’s friends arrived. Needless to say, he didn’t catch the small smile that appeared on his little brother’s face as he left the bathroom.

- - -

Inuyasha’s companions arrived at exactly 12:07pm ready to pick up their birthday friend, only to find a note stuck to the door that stated in simple terms that, He’s not home. Go away.


~ * ~


Author’s Note: Mmkay, so a small part of this chapter is dedicated to the author of Topsy Turvy, Russanya, because there is nothing I have found funnier than InuTaishou having a garden fetish! XD Thanks also to an old friend for writing part of this chapter when I was stuck. Hope you all enjoyed!