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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
- 4
- 5
- 6
Chapter Five

Some fifteen feet above the two youkai, Inuyasha sat on the castle walls and watched as they faced off on the other side of the bridge. He'd been quite surprised when he'd seen it was another inuyoukai come to challenge Sesshomaru; aside from how he was treated, he'd been given the impression by his old man that the inuyoukai clan was at least civil with each other if nothing better. So why, then, was this new pretty boy coming to make things difficult for Sesshomaru?

Could it be just a matter of succession? The rest of the clan, wherever they chose to hide out, were unhappy with how Sesshomaru was handling things and wanted a change of ruler? Was that why Sesshomaru had asked for his help? He hadn't wanted to make it worse for himself?

No, it didn't make sense; why would they send someone to fight Sesshomaru for control of the land instead of just taking a vote or something? Sesshomaru was too damn proud to fight like a trapped animal, so he'd salvage what was left of his reputation and leave. But then again... it was their father's castle. Would he really give that up so easily?

Inuyasha sighed to himself and flicked an ear irritably. This was why he didn't want anything to do with politics. He liked things straight forward and upfront.

There was always the chance it could be some sort of personal grudge, he decided. There was no reason why Sesshomaru and this new inuyoukai had[ to get along; if there wasn't any steadfast rule about real blood family sticking together, he supposed simple clan members weren't exempt, either.

He wasn't close enough to hear what they were saying and confirm either way, but it was pretty likely. After all, Sesshomaru had long since perfected the art of pissing people off.

Today had been yet another brilliant example.

He didn't get why Sesshomaru had to keep ragging him about Tetsusaiga. If the bastard actually wanted him to improve and help, shouldn't he be encouraging him instead? Bashing his self-esteem over and over again was hindering his progress more than anything, and no amount of determination to shove his victory in Sesshomaru's face could make up for it.

But then again, maybe Sesshomaru didn't want him to improve. As the days went by, he was beginning to put more credence in his theory that his brother wanted Tetsusaiga for himself. It would make sense for Sesshomaru to take the sword from Inuyasha after proving his hanyou brother was unable to wield it.

Inuyasha gripped Tetsusaiga's hilt, hard. Like hell he was gonna let that happen. He'd cut off Sesshomaru's arm before he let him take the Tetsusaiga away.

He had to learn how to awaken Tetsusaiga's power, and soon. It was the only way he was going to make it out of this with the upper hand. All other roads led to him being left with nothing but the option to slink away in defeat.

Speaking of defeat, this new challenger seemed to be heading toward a loss. Sesshomaru had been deflecting the sword blows with his claws alone (Inuyasha was reluctantly impressed), and now a solid roundhouse kick had sent the inuyoukai flying. Even high above them, Inuyasha heard the crack of the armour.

The inuyoukai got back up, and they started talking again. Inuyasha frowned. Why was there so much grandstanding with purebloods? Couldn't they just start beating the shit out of each other and save the chatting for later? He didn't get it. Sesshomaru always felt the need to stop every now and again and start talking; it drove Inuyasha mad sometimes.

At least it didn't last long this time. Sesshomaru was the first to launch the next offensive, and Inuyasha found himself leaning forward in spite of himself, feeling the same old grudging respect for his brother's strength well up as he watched Sesshomaru drive back a youkai with a sword using his bare hands alone.

Things began getting more serious. As the other inuyoukai regained his footing, Sesshomaru began to fall back. The daiyoukai leapt away, the long green whip thing he had lashing out from the tips of two fingers, slicing toward his opponent. Said opponent dodged or blocked most blows while pressing steadily closer.

They were pretty evenly matched, Inuyasha decided. The scales tipped back and forth between them, but never swayed heavily toward either side. This was going to be the kind of battle that lasted until all strength and stamina flagged and the slightest wrong move became the deciding factor.

Inuyasha wanted to be closer, to observe and learn what he could, but there was no way he was stupid enough to get close to two warring inuyoukai. He settled instead for running along the wall until he was perched on top of the great gate, leaning forward as far as he safely could. It wasn't much of an improvement, but it was better than nothing.

It was actually oddly nostalgic. He remembered spying on Sesshomaru's battles as a child, also from a relatively safe, high vantage point. Those battles had all been training exercises with their father, but the young pup had been fascinated nonetheless. He'd been both awestruck by and envious of his brother's strength.

"I wanna grow up and be strong like Sesshomaru!" he'd later declared to his father when it was just the two of them. "Train me!"

Inuyasha shook his head as though to dispel the memory. He hadn't thought about that in years. It came from a time when he'd been so terribly naive and hadn't yet learned just how much Sesshomaru hated and resented him. He'd still been clinging to some ill-conceived notion that if he could just prove himself to be more than just a hanyou, Sesshomaru would accept him.

Well, he'd figured it out not long after. But he'd kept up the training anyway.

Forcing his attention away from memory lane and back to the situation at present, Inuyasha found himself starting to frown. If he wasn't seeing things, it almost seemed as though Sesshomaru was... slowing down. But that was impossible. However much of an asshole the daiyoukai was, he had the strength to back up the title. So why was he tiring already?

Was it their "training" earlier? No, that couldn't possibly be it. Neither of them had even been winded by that. It had been little more than light exercise. So what, then?

Then he remembered: Sesshomaru had had a fight recently. Hadn't been a tough battle, really, but the youkai had been quick and sneaky and managed to take a shot at Sesshomaru's back. He remembered how thunderously pissed the bastard had looked at the time and had felt a bit like laughing, but the trail of blood on the ground in Sesshomaru's wake stopped him.

But Sesshomaru had said he was fine the next morning. And he'd been moving as fluidly as ever, so Inuyasha had believed it to be true. He'd even been envious of his healing abilities, because such a wound would have laid the hanyou up for a few days, at the very least.

Had Sesshomaru lied to him? Was his back still giving him problems, and that was why things were starting to go downhill? Inuyasha unconsciously bared his teeth as he watched, eyes riveted to the battle as the two youkai, now toe-to-toe again, circled and slashed at each other, retreating and advancing... but Sesshomaru was losing ground. Gradually getting slower.

It wasn't a fair fight if Sesshomaru was suffering with an injury. He knew that didn't mean jack in a real fight, but weren't these two meant to be allies to some extent? Shouldn't this guy give Sesshomaru time to heal before fighting him? If it was explained, would the fight stop? Sure, Sesshomaru might hate him for pointing out a weakness, but...

Suddenly, the attacker's sword changed motion in mid-air and slashed viciously at Sesshomaru's mid-section. The daiyoukai saw it coming, but wasn't quite fast enough to dodge away; a thin shower of red flew up into the air as the sword scraped his chest.

Sesshomaru leapt back again while the other inuyoukai held up his sword, making a show of licking the blood from the edge of his blade.

Inuyasha's legs tensed, braced and ready. His hand gripped Tetsusaiga's hilt. Obviously, this youkai wasn't going to listen to reasoning. Not when he obviously took pleasure in the sight and taste of his opponent's blood. That meant Sesshomaru was stuck seeing this through to the end... but what end would that be, if he was at a disadvantage?

He wanted to get in there and help. For all his plans to use Sesshomaru and run, for all the pent up hate and bitterness, he couldn't just sit here and watch him get cut to pieces. But what good would he be? Without Tetsusaiga's transformation, all he had were his claws, and though they had served him well, they were as useless as the rusty sword at his hip against a youkai as strong as Sesshomaru.

But when the inuyoukai charged again and Sesshomaru retreated, relying on his whip instead of a counter attack - something unheard of - Inuyasha found himself jumping down from the gate and charging in before he'd even thought to do so.

Now that he'd apparently decided to do this, he had to be clever about it. Fighting fair was stupid in a fight to the death, and so he circled around behind the other inuyoukai, lashing out with Tetsusiga. The blade was dull and useless and wouldn't do any damage, but it might distract the bastard long enough for Sesshomaru to gain some kind of advantage.

Before he could land the blow, a foot shot out and caught him in the stomach, launching him backwards off his feet. Coughing, he sprung back up and found he'd barely interrupted their stride, but Sesshomaru was glaring at him.

"Leave!" the daiyoukai shouted, his voice more guttural than usual. "You're in the way!"

"You brought me here to help, didn't you?" he countered as he lifted Tetsusaiga again. "Just let me help!"

"Leave!" the daiyoukai said again, even as he dodged a vicious downward slash of a sword.

The enemy youkai laughed coldly. "How wonderfully touching," he sneered. "Is the great Lord Sesshomaru building bridges between himself and his mongrel sibling? Very well, then. I shall kill you both and end your despicable father's line once and for all."

"You will die here, Tetsuhiro," Sesshomaru replied coolly, but Inuyasha could see the signs of fatigue. His breathing had quickened, his mouth parted slightly, close to panting. He was keeping distance between himself and Tetsuhiro, giving himself room to dodge to compensate for his reflexes.

How could Inuyasha just back away from the fight now?

Yet he found he really couldn't be of much use. Sesshomaru and Tetsuhiro continued their deadly dance, and blood steadily stained their clothes from each landed blow, but there was little Inuyasha could do. He waited for openings, trying to get in close enough to land a strike of his own, but every time he was knocked back.

His cheek was split open from a backhanded fist, and the fingers of his right hand had been feeling a little tingly ever since Tetsuhiro's foot had clipped him just above the elbow, but he was still determined to help, somehow. Breathing a little harder himself, he kept his eyes trained on the battle, looking for more openings.

Then he saw one. As the two purebloods clashed yet again, Tetsuhiro's back was compeltely open. Sesshomaru had hold of his sword, their free hands carrying out yet another kind of duel, and no one was paying attention to Inuyasha at all.

Wasting no time, he leapt forward, slashing down with his sword and, to the surprise of all three, the dull blade cracked against his right shoulder. For a moment, no one moved.

Tetsuhiro recovered first. A hard, fast kick to Sesshomaru's chest, right where he'd been slashed earlier, had the daiyoukai falling backwards. He then turned on Inuyasha, lashing out it with his sword.

The Tetsusaiga's blade might be rusty, but it was surprisingly sturdy. Instinct had Inuyasha swinging it up to block the blow, both blades clashing with a loud ring. The hnayou had to use both hands (one at the hilt and one closer to the tip) to stop Tetsuhiro pushing through his defence, and even then, his arms shook under the force. And the inuyoukai was only using one hand.

"You're irritating," he spat, lifting the other above his head. A green halo appeared around it, and before he even smelled the acidic bite in the air, Inuyasha knew it was poison. Just like Sesshomaru.

"Die!" That hand shot forward, claws sharp as knives, heading straight for Inuyasha's head. He had no way to defend himself. If he moved either one of his hands, that sword would cut him down. If he did nothing, he'd lose his head, if he was lucky, rather than have it melted off.

Watching that hand coming at him, eyes wide, all he could think was shit.

---

Cliffhangeeeeeer. Don't you just hate those? I do. But I wrote one anyway. Ah, well.

Wasn't intended. The chapter was too long, so I cut it in half at a dramatic moment. The rest is finished and shall be updated in the near future, when I decide to.

Enjoy. <3
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Fortification