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Shadowed Nights	By : Huronoryu Category: InuYasha > Yaoi - Male/Male > InuYasha/Sessh?maru > InuYasha/Sessh?maru Views: 19768 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, nor make money from this story.

Chapter List
- 6
- 7
- 8
Shadowed Nights
By The Black Dragon Queen
Co/Authored by Kallipso .

Notes: Oh hell, this was supposed to be a story focusing on
Inuyasha. How in the world did Sesshoumaru monopolize the entire Fic?
Inuyasha: You bastard! YOU PLANED THIS!
Sesshoumaru: It�s simply I�m more important, obviously. And I have the
bigger fan base.
BDQ: Er, I think Kuufuku
has got you beat there.
Sesshoumaru: WHAT?
Erm, yeah. Anyway,
I�ve been in a really big writing mood, as you can tell since I updated this
story within the month and have been currently helping Kallipso
(AKA Shadowdreamer Lady Fate) With her Ranma � story, a crossover with another series (try to
guess what!). So if you really like Rumiko Takahasi�s
stories and our wonderful interpretation of them please go and read it! Yay!

On Fanfiction:
http://www.fanfiction.net/u/525151/shadowdreamer_Lady_Fate
On Adult Fanfiction:
http://anime.adult-fanfiction.org/authors.php?no=1296807425
On Media Miner: http://www.mediaminer.org/fanfic/view_st.php/116415

Dedications: This is to riki-tiki-tabby on FF.net who
reviewed every single one of my chapters and asked about the Sesshoumaru/mate
situation not knowing that I had already hacked out Chapter 31 which I hope
explains a few things while complicating Sesshoumaru�s
life all the more!

Pairings, Summary,
Disclaimers, and Rating & Warnings: Please Read �The Pact-Part A� (Though
why you would be reading a story out of order is beyond me�

Fonts: �Speaking�� Thinking��
�Surprise!�

Now
(Finally) on with the Story!

Shadowed Nights

Blossoming Affections: Chapters 31-36

Chapter Thirty-One: What Now?

The youkai stared down at the
horrid sight before him.

It took all his strength of will not to run fleeing in
terror from the mangled, twisted shape that was curdling before him in all its
revolting glory. Never before, in all his time of travels, encountering the
mass hordes of crazed and bloodthirsty youkai, could anything ever put such
fear into his heart.

There had never been a single,
solitary thing that he had ever witnessed that was so frightening, so
disturbing�

�So very, very burnt.

�We�re supposed to eat this?�
Shippo inquired cynically as he poked at the mound of charred rock on his plate
that Sesshoumaru passed off as food.

�Oh shut up and eat your
breakfast,� Sesshoumaru snarled as he dumped another armful of destroyed
cookware into the designated washing barrel. �Breakfast,� he determined,
�is a frightening ordeal indeed.�

�Rin�s food tastes funny,� Rin�s
voice was filled with disappointment.

�Sure you still have your tongue?�
Shippo whispered.

�I would suggest you bite yours
kit, before I cut it out.� Sesshoumaru�s eyes were filled with barely
suppressed rage and Shippo wisely stayed silent.

�Finally,� Sesshoumaru
breathed a sigh in relief, �peace.�

�Why isn�t Inuyasha here?� Shippo
demanded behind him.

�Crap.� Sesshoumaru could
feel his eye beginning to twitch. �I told you he left to go hunting.�

�Seems to me he�s the only one who
ever does anything around here,� Shippo muttered.

A carving knife slammed down into
the wood of the table, neatly severing the dinner plate in two. Shippo �eeped� in fright as Rin simply scooted farther back out of
harms way.

�You could very well go after him
you know,� Sesshoumaru growled.

Shippo shook his head wildly.

�That�s what I though,�
Sesshoumaru reclaimed the knife and frowned at the halved plate. �Fuck,� he
muttered.�

Rin giggled but said nothing of
the destroyed item when gold eyes quickly focused on her. �Rin wants to play in
the snow!� she said instead.

�You have chores too you know,
it�s not just Inuyasha.� Shippo gulped as the eyes turned to him. �You,
go feed the dragon. Rin, put the beds away.�

Rin nodded and set off to do her
task with out a fuss. Sesshoumaru was not so lucky with the kit.

�ME?� Shippo squealed in
indignation. �Feed your fat, flying lizard? He�s got two heads you know! He�d
sooner eat me for breakfast!�

�One could only hope,� Sesshoumaru
drawled under his breath.

�But you can�t do this!� Shippo wailed.

Sesshoumaru leveled a look at him and Shippo suddenly remembered that
this particular Inu was not a youkai to be messed with- at least for now. The
small kitsune scuttled out of the cave as fast as his little legs could carry
him and hopefully it was to the little pen that housed An and Un to do as he
was told.

�Little brat,� Sesshoumaru scowled as he surveyed the destroyed
cutlery. Letting out his breath in a great, depressing �whoosh�, he began the
vast undertaking of cleaning up.

It actually was methodical and mind numbing. It was no wonder that
Inuyasha cleaned so often.

�Damn,� he cursed in annoyance. �Can�t even go three seconds
with out thinking that blasted hanyou�s name. Oh hell. Years of nothing,
decades of ignoring him and all I do is spend little under half a year with the
brat and he becomes the primary focus of my disturbed little thoughts�not that
it maters much when he finally comes back to kill me!�

He sighed again. It was official. The night before could not have gone
any worse. Two steps from a total meltdown was about as bad as any one could
get. �Feh,� he scoffed using Inuyasha�s coin
of phrase, �went down like the proverbial rock.� He looked down at the
table and the uneaten reminisces of breakfast. �Speaking of rocks, wonder if
we could use these as paperweights once they cool down?�

�Oh hell, I�m losing my mind.� A sudden noise drew Sesshoumaru�s
eyes to his still laid out futon and the furry creature nestled in his pillow.
�Then again, is that so surprising?�

There was a satisfying squeal of terror as the knife buried itself
halfway into the wall with a pleasing �thunk� right
above the rat�s head. Sesshoumaru itched to finally do away with the creature
but he knew just knew that it would
only push Inuyasha to kill him faster so Sesshoumaru knew it wouldn�t do to
kill the thing in front of Rin. She�d just tattle to Inuyasha when �if,�
he contradicted bitterly, he returned.

Fucking kids.

Sighing, he continued to scrub the thick layer of grim with renewed
vigor only to draw back his arm and release a hiss of pain. Bringing his hand
upward he surveyed the damage to one of his elegant claws. �These can tear
through flesh. Pierce the strongest metal and all it takes is one damn pot
to fucking undo them.� He vaguely wondered if he brought along his diamond
tipped filer before biting off the rest of the chipped piece and got right bake
to scrubbing.

Spitting out the taste of soap, Sesshoumaru searched for a rather dull
spot on the wall to focus on. �He�s never coming back,� he finally told
himself in a droll tone. �I have finally done what I have been longing to do
since I first heard of his imminent birth. I finally, finally, drove him
away for good. Well, huzza. Go me.�

Sesshoumaru scowled, �just wish he took the damn rat.�

He heaved another sigh and dropped the two halves of the plate into the
now murky water.

�Oh hell, just who am I kidding?� he thought bitterly. �If he
comes back after last night, it will be a fucking miracle.�

Fiercely racking the scouring brush across the pots and pans, the Inu
vaguely wondered how it came to be that he had so utterly and completely lost
control of his senses the night before. �It�s one thing for my youki to
recognise Inuyasha as its mate; it�s another thing entirely for me to do
the same.�

The brushing began to slow as his mind conjured up the images of
Inuyasha from the night before. The image of Inuyasha, whose downy soft ears
were as memorizing as any woman would ever dream of being. Those eyes, that
were a mirror image of his own but yet so different.

There were images burned into his mind of Inuyasha from past encounters,
face coated in blood as he fought off youkai after youkai; images of the hanyou
charging at him, eyes full of furry and a wild in anticipation as they fought
to the death.

�Well, not as if it really ever was to the death. We�re
both still breathing.� Sesshoumaru groaned and wondered if putting his head
in the water before him would be better than thinking at all.

He had always adored the look of Inuyasha in battle. Had always chalked
up the feeling to the fact that he too was a total battle nut and the thought
of anyone in the middle of a fight was a sight to behold. But now with his
youki in such turmoil, he began to wonder if that had truly been the case.

Inuyasha in battle truly had been a sight to behold but was that really
all there was to the hanyou? Until they had settled on a temporary accord,
Sesshoumaru had never really even seen
Inuyasha when he was not fighting battle.

He was always looking for those silly little pink crystals with that
rag-tag group of his.

�Humans. What the hell was such
the big deal about humans anyway?� he wondered. �Rin not withstanding, they�re really a very hypocritical lot full of
bigotry and hate�� Sesshoumaru scowled as he removed some of the now clean
plates and looked around for any sort of towel to dry them. �And clearly they do not care for Inuyasha as
much as he believes if those bruises were anything to go by.�

He growled as he dropped the plate on what he now believed was the
sought after dishtowel remembering what Inuyasha had said of the thrice-cursed
priestess.

Rin had paused in her task and looked up at the multitude of sounds
emerging from his corner and Sesshoumaru shook his head before returning to the
dishes.

�Okay,� he scolded himself. �We are not going there. Think of other
things. Think �happy thoughts�,�
he looked at the barrel. �Like why the
hell four people need so many dishes.�

Reclaiming the scrub brush for the second go-around, Sesshoumaru decided
that he had to figure out just where he went wrong the night before. �Perhaps if I conclude as to where I lost my
sanity- er, nerve, I could apol-apolo-
aw hell, I could fix it.�

His thoughts then wandered to the images of Inuyasha from the night
before. Remembering Inuyasha climbing into his pallet, the feel of the heat
radiating against his back from the body so near his own.

He remembered Inuyasha�s shocked expression as he stared up at him
cheeks flushed a tantalizing hue. Those golden eyes staring up at him, the glow
of the fire making them flicker with an intense light.�

The feeling of those lips under his very own, so moist and yet firm. The
pure taste that was Inuyasha, a sweetish sour flavor that both enticed and
haunted him. He could feel the small koinu fangs underneath those tantalizing lips.
The hot desire to force that delicious mouth open to explore further� deeper�

Sesshoumaru groaned as he could feel the obvious pull of pressure in his
groin. �Oh fuck,� he moaned. He braced himself against the barrel and
tried to take a deep, calming breath. �This is so not good.�

He could hear Rin behind him; playing with the damn rat as she did moved
the large pillows. �Really not good.�

He wondered briefly if he could get by the girl and make his way down to
the privacy of the storage tunnel with out her noticing his� problem.

�Sesshoumaru-sama?� the small voice floated behind him.

�Oh Kami, now what?� he wondered. �Yes,� his voice squeaked and
Sesshoumaru quickly coughed to clear his throat before he tried again. �Yes
Rin?�

��Rin is done.�

�Oh, good,� Sesshoumaru hissed through gritted teeth. �You can go play
in the snow if you like.�

Rin let out a cheer as she bundled herself up before tromping out the
door into the white. Unfortunately, as Rin went out, another entered shaking
snow out of his fur.

�Oh can my life get any worse?� Sesshoumaru moaned as he watched
the small kit shed his large scarf. The Inu tried to shifted slightly, very
grateful for his love of wearing baggy pants.

Now if only he could get past the kitsune.

Shippo looked up suddenly and actually glared at him. Glared at
him. Him! Sesshoumaru! The High Lord OF the West.

This little no nothing kitsune who still bore only a single tail was
scowling at him as if Sesshoumaru were nothing more than a mere bug in need of
squashing.

�It bit my tail,� the youko told him blandly.

Sesshoumaru gawked for a moment before he finally burst out laughing.
�Go fat, flying Lizard!� he cackled.

Shippo�s glare darkened. �It�s not funny!�

The Inu was still laughing.

Shippo huffed as he plunked down at the table and glared at the now cold
rocks. �What are we suppose to do with these?� Shippo asked as he poked at them
aimlessly.

Sesshoumaru managed to get himself under control, berating himself for
losing control for a second time in twenty-four hours. He wondered if the kit
had heard the slight edge of hysteria in his voice when he was laughing.

�Oh Kami,� Sesshoumaru thought. �I think that the strain is
getting to me.� He wondered if this had anything to do with the fact that
his youki was fluctuating so rapidly with the bombarding feelings for Inuyasha.

�Hell,� Sesshoumaru tossed the towel aside. �Why the hell am I
getting so worked up over the dang Hanyou?� He shifted and started putting
the wooden utensils away as he tried to desperately ignore his still present
erection.

His mind suddenly turned to the strange pulls of his youki whenever his
blasted half brother was around.

�Okay, I realized that my youki has never before acted this way when
I was at that lake and for some reason it�s treating the koinu as a mate,�
he thought. �It�s never before acted this strongly for any potential
mate. Not even when I took other lovers.� He frowned as he studied the
thought.

�Oh hell,� he realized. �When was the last time I went
into heat?�

Sesshoumaru racked his brain as he tried to remember how long it had
been since he felt that pull of intense hormones. The raw need to fuck any
Youkai as if there were no tomorrow.

�Oh SHIT!� Sesshoumaru dropped the plate as his mind counted
backwards to his usual heat. It should have been two months ago. After his
agreement with Inuyasha, before he stubbornly moved in with the hanyou. He
realized that he hadn�t gone into his normal heat. Not once.

It was something that had never happened to him before. Not once in all
the centuries he�d lived and it was something that Sesshoumaru had never, ever
expected would happen to him.

He had been told that there could be a day some time far in the future
when his heat would fail to arrive.

Hell, even his father had pulled him aside when he was reaching three
hundred and told him that if he ever felt himself ready for a life mate, his
youki would start to search for a compatible youki to be his mate.

When it found that youki, his heat would subside and only react towards
his Recognized Mate. Meaning that Sesshoumaru would never again be attracted to
any other Youkai than his chosen mate. A.K.A the Idiot Hanyou.

�Oh hell,� Sesshoumaru groaned as another, more frightening realization
hit him. That his youki would never relent until the two were properly bonded�

As in soul bonded.

�Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!�

He growled and slammed his fist against the barrel. Shippo yelped in
surprise but he ignored the child.

�Damn, I knew I should have investigated when humans go into heat,�
Sesshoumaru looked around the little cave in total wonderment at the sudden
insight. �But a Ningen doesn�t have
a youki. Is it possible?�

The Youkai started pacing the massive room, ignoring Shippo�s curious
gaze. �Ningen�s have that reiki, that
silly spiritual power of theirs. So what the hell is my youki reacting to?�

He turned back around, stepping over the few articles of clothing and
multitude of toys the children had once again left scattered on the floor.

�An Inu Youkai has never had a hanyou for a Youki Recognised Mate,
even more rarely do they take a human.� Sesshoumaru thought stubbornly.
�I thought my youki�s pull was just a standard reaction to Inuyasha�s pheromones
from being so close to him for the past months, not a Recognition.�

He pacing became more furious, more determined. �It was shocking
enough that my youki was reacting to him in his half youkai state, but if it
was when he was a human that caused my youki to fall into recognition, then
what the hell does that tell me?�

He glared at the sword, leaning against the wall of the cave once more
forgotten by its master; a testament to Inuyasha�s mental state when he bolted
from the cave and more specifically Sesshoumaru.

�It tells me that I�m fucked up, that�s what it tells me.�

He paused momentarily before continuing on, never noticing that Kuufuku
had come to sit next to the small child to join the kit�s Inu watching.

�That�s not really true,� he realized. �Father had tried to
tell me something that night, right before he took off to rescue Inuyasha�s
mother. Could it be possible?�

He shook his head, refusing to believe. But there was some part deep
inside of him that told him that the conclusion his thoughts were heading
towards was the right one. �But that wasn�t a true mating. Father was
just allowing stupid emotions to get the better of him when he met Izayoi. It
couldn�t have been Recognition.�

He shook his head as he continued to pace. �That doesn�t explain my
youki�s reaction to the idiot though.�

He groaned as the implications of his youki�s choice suddenly
registered. �If Inuyasha is indeed my Recognized Mate, then it presents a
whole new slew of problems.
Starting with the damn council.�

He sighed as he turned and sat down across from his staring audience. �Hell,
this was the whole point of this cave situation. I wanted to avoid the damn
councils criticism.�

He sighed in frustration as he slumped his head into his hand.

Shippo and Kuufuku looked at each other in silent question before
looking back at the dejected Inu.

�Sesshoumaru-sama?� Rin suddenly came flouncing into the cave, her
cheeks flushed from the cold. �What�s for lunch?�

Sesshoumaru froze as he stared at the girl. �Lunch?�

Shippo groaned and brought up his hand against his forehead with a
resounding smack.

�Inuyasha, you better come
back soon,� Sesshoumaru thought
desperately. �If only so we all don�t starve to death.�

Chapter Thirty-Two: Questioning Objectives

The figure stared down at the
little village below him. The people were just getting up and starting their
chores for the day. The men went to work in the woods while the women started
the cleaning or any job that was their life.

It was so depressing.

Inuyasha would have done anything
to belong to such a peaceful life.

The time spent with the humans had
spoiled him in that. The longing to belong, to have a place that he could go
back to and call home, gnawed at him. He had sat there, just watching for a
whole day.

It was smaller that Kaede�s, but
was much more lively, more peaceful. People called out to one another in happy
greeting. His human side pained with longing. While youkai�s were solitary
creatures by nature, humans were filled with the need to socialize.

Inuyasha sighed sadly as he
watched the people moving about their daily lives. It was so disappointing to
Inuyasha that he could only watch from afar, but he would never be allowed to
participate in that life.

Well, not so much as yet another
stone flew dangerously closer to him. He scowled down at the culprit who was
currently re-arming himself. �Be gone foul demon!� the small voice shouted with
false assurance. �I will protect my village from you evil deeds! Be gone!
Before I unleash my fury!�

Inuyasha stared down in
astonishment at the small child that could not be any older than ten human
years that hurled yet another rock at him. It was amazing the boy could
actually throw that high considering the branch he was sitting upon was more
than half way up the old tree.�

Inuyasha sighed and snatched the
next rock out of midair and sent it hurtling back to its source. He grinned as
the stone hit the boy dead center in his forehead.

The child gapped in surprise
before turning back towards the hut and went running for his mother, yelling to
her the demon in the tree was attacking.

Inuyasha sweat dropped and decided
it was perhaps a promising idea to move to another branch. He glanced about
nervously for the villagers to suddenly arm themselves and come running down to
purge the foul youkai from their home.

So it was surprising when the
mother finally emerged, being forcefully tugged by the boy as he dragged her
towards the tree and pointed upwards.

The mother obligingly looked
upward into the vacated tree before glaring down at the boy. �But he was there!�
the child moaned. �I saw him! His eyes were glowing and he had horns on the top
of his head!�

�Horns?� Inuyasha thought
offended. �I am not some stupid ox demon��

�Kaoru!� The mother snapped. �You
will cease these silly stories about youkai and go do your chores! I will not
have you disobey again!�

Inuyasha ginned as the mother
grabbed the child by the collar and started dragging the protesting boy back to
the little hut.

�But I�m not making it up! He
really was there!�

Inuyasha smirked as he snatched a
nut from the tree and sent it flying. The child yelped as it hit him in the
back of the head and he whirled around to stare back at the trees.

Inuyasha couldn�t help himself as
he hooked the back of his knees on the branch and hung upside down to wave at
sputtering Kaoru.

�MOTHER!�

�I�m not listening,� the mother
sang cheerily as the two disappeared into the darkness of the hut.

Inuyasha smiled as he righted
himself and settled down to watch from his new vantage point. Honestly. It was
no wonder that he could pilfer what he needed from these people. Not that he
took anything these people really needed. Most of the items that furnished the
cave were items that people had used over the years until the items were no
longer needed or were replaced.

Hell, the little table he had
stolen had belonged to Kaoru�s house. The family had placed in the discard pile
to be used as firewood after the father had finished carving a new table for
the expanding family.

Inuyasha was grateful that the
village was so considerate to one another that they always helped each other
out with what they needed.

It made his job so much easier
when he filched an assortment of spices and other forms of exotic foods from
their stores.

If it was one thing he was
grateful for from his time in the other human village was the fact that Kaede
had taught him how to cook properly. He had always loved to cook and learn
different ways to make the food he loved taste better.

Now if only Kagome would take
lessons from the older woman. The one reason he loved that Ramen so much was
the fact that Kagome didn�t make it. Her foods were always over done, over
spiced and she never once realized that as a Youkai, especially an Inu�s tongue
was more delicate than a humans.

Even the slightest amount of spice
would explode in his mouth like an explosion of flavor. Shippo he supposed
never complained because in the kit�s eyes, Kagome could do no wrong.

�NO!� he suddenly yelled at
himself. �I will not think of Kagome!� His hand went briefly to the side
of his face before he hunkered further down on his branch, folding his hands
into his warm robe.

He scowled at the remembrance of
those terrible times. �Well, Sesshoumaru never complained about my cooking.�
His shoulders slumped even more. �Two days without one thought about him and
now it�s all that�s on my mind.�

Inuyasha knew he was being
childish. He had hoped that staying at the village he could avoid the subject
but he knew he had to return to the cave some time-if only to save Sesshoumaru
from the children.

Shippo could be quite the hell
raiser once he got over his fear and apprehension of a person. And he had seen
after he awoke from his unintended nap he could tell that the child had long ago
gotten over his fear of the Taiyoukai.

He chuckled slightly. �Poor
Sesshoumaru, Shippo can be devious. The youko�s
nature as a trickster.�

He thought a moment. �Then
again, the prick deserves it.� Inuyasha scowled as he ran his fingers over
his lips. �Imagine him taking such liberties. Damn bastard. Thinks just
because he�s a �great lord� that he can do anything.�

A fist connected with the trunk of
the tree, shaking the branches slightly and sending squirrels scurrying away.

Inuyasha�s mind had come to a
multitude of conclusions as to why Sesshoumaru had done such an intimate thing
with him, him of all people. One being that it really wasn�t Sesshoumaru
at all and perhaps was another of Naraku�s tricks.

It made sense. Sesshoumaru hadn�t
been acting at all like himself ever since that night in the rain.

Inuyasha however scratched that
reasoning off the list however. He knew his brother better than most people
thought. Hell, he had always been obsessed with the idea of his brother ever
since all those years ago his mother had told him the stories his father told
her.

No, it truly was Sesshoumaru.

So if it was the jerk, why the
hell did he kiss him?

�There is no reason for him to
do what he did,� Inuyasha thought. �Hell, I�m technically underage, so
there should be absolutely no reason that any youkai would desire me. So
what the hell is Sesshoumaru�s problem?�

He wondered if it was the same
problem that Kagome always had. She had always acted as if she were his mate
and wanted him to act the same. Always wanting him to be with
her.

Inuyasha shook his head as he
banished the odd thoughts out of his head and tried to focus on the issue at
hand. �Sesshoumaru loathes me to the point of insanity, for him to come out
of the blue and� ��attack� me is way beyond normal.�

He sighed again as he ran over the
other night in his mind, trying to see if there was some detail some little
sign that he might have overlooked in his haste to run away.

�Sesshoumaru has been acting
strange ever since that time he was gone when Shippo arrived. But it couldn�t
be because of Shippo�s sudden appearance. He was acting strange before
he left.�

Inuyasha moaned as his thoughts
went whirling around, �there is absolutely no reason as to why Sesshoumaru
actually� �kissed me.�

He looked at the swirling snow as
it drifted to the ground. �Is there?�

The soft sound of the village
hummed around him as he sat there wondering. Allowing his mind to just listen
to the noise and lull him into a sense of security.

�I mean, why the hell was he
kissing me now of all times?� he thought. �It�s winter for crying
out loud, there�s no reason for him to go into heat or anything like that. So
if he�s not in a frenzy, then what the hell was it?�

He scowled. �If he just wanted
a fuck, I�m sure that there are plenty of bitches for him to screw back at the
palace. There was absolutely no reason for him to go after me.�

He ran his fingers back across his
lips as he remembered the feeling of Sesshoumaru�s lips pressed against his. It
had actually felt surprisingly good to have the larger Youkai�s body towering
above his own.

For one surprising moment,
Inuyasha had felt completely safe.

That feeling had scared the
daylights out of him.

For a hanyou always on the run, to
have some one over him, restricting his movements, was always a bad thing. But
for Inuyasha to feel comfortable underneath his brother, who was most defiantly
a more powerful, dominant youkai was more frightening than Naraku ever was.

He had been relaxed and even had
begun to hesitantly wanting to press back against the kiss when he had felt
Sesshoumaru�s hand move from his shoulder to his cheek, it was so gentle, so
soft.

It was then that Inuyasha knew
that it was wrong. That Sesshoumaru should not have been touching him.

�It�s not as if he wants me
or anything, I just happen to be the only person around,� he told himself
stubbornly. �He just wants to use me� right?�

Inuyasha felt a sharp tug against
his chest at the mere thought that Sesshoumaru was simply using him.

�So what does he want with me?�

Inuyasha sighed as he shifted into a more comfortable
position as he thought all the way back to the beginning when he had first run
into Sesshoumaru all those centuries ago.

�He was standing right there, and I was still only a
child then. Why the hell didn�t he do anything then?�

He could remember the first time he saw Sesshoumaru and
that strange �I will kill you� speech. He had been so excited when he first saw
his brother that he could feel his very soul hum in excitement. There had been
some childish notion with in him that he had really thought that Sesshoumaru
had come to take him away. To bring him back to his father�s people and to
train Inuyasha to be a noble warrior just as Sesshoumaru was.

The fact that the jerk just left him was a harsh slap of
reality to the child.

It was far different than the picture his mother had
painted of the young Inu Youkai. He wondered if his mother had perhaps
embellished Sesshoumaru�s good nature or something to that effect.

Perhaps it had been his father full of pride when he
spoke to Izayoi about his eldest son; Inuyasha didn�t know and truly didn�t
care.

It had been yet another lie that was spoon-fed to him in
a long list of lies that made up his life.

Then that blasted meeting when Sesshoumaru was searching
for Tetsusaiga, which Inuyasha noticed absently he had left behind� again...

It was a wonder he had survived all these years.

�Then again, I never used a sword before. Just not use
to the bloody thing.� It was amazing that people thought that he was able
to master the sword so well when he first used it and defeated Sesshoumaru so
soundly.

Something that Inuyasha once in a while felt very sorry
for, yet Sesshoumaru didn�t seem to care of the loss of his arm. So if
Sesshoumaru didn�t mind, the Inuyasha thought that it didn�t really matter. He
still was sorry though.

The truth of the matter was when it came to Tetsusaiga,
the stupid sword talked to him.

Well not literally but still when he held the
sword he could see images of a masterful Inu Youkai using the different
techniques against his enemy�s. Some of the images were so complex that
Inuyasha knew that it would be decades before he could fully use the
sword to its maximum potential but at the same times the humans, and even the
other youkai, thought that he had complete control over the blade.

�Feh,� he scoffed. �Idiots.�

It wasn�t until the incident with the third sword and the image of his father appeared
did he even make the connection that it was his father that he was seeing.

It was actually very humbling.

He had always envied Sesshoumaru for actually knowing
their father and had seen the man that the whole Youkai Lands dubbed the
Greatest Warrior of all times.

Inuyasha had wished that he had met his father at least
once.

Izayoi had told him that his father was there on the day
that he was born and held him for that brief moment before Izayoi fled her
burning home.

She also told him it was his father who had named him�

Inuyasha had wondered later if his father was delirious
from the pain when he named him.

That was another thing that Sesshoumaru had hated him
for. He knew from Myouga that it was Sesshoumaru�s mother and not their father
who had named the Inu heir.

Inuyasha wondered why it was such a sore point with his
brother. He actually liked Sesshoumaru�s name.

Sighing, Inuyasha flipped over onto his stomach allowing
the warmth of the winter sun flow over him. �Why is my life always so
complicated?� he wondered.

�Aw hell,� he cursed. �What the hell am I going
to say when I get back?� then another thought occurred to him.

�What if Sesshoumaru has already left? Returned
to the palace and all those willing women? Oh fuck!� Inuyasha bolted
upright. �He would have taken Rin with him but Shippo may be alone.�

He cursed again as he stood, wanting to see for himself
that the kit was all right before logic settled in.

�But what if he didn�t leave?� he mused. �Sesshoumaru
may be a complete ass but I doubt he would leave the children alone� right?�

Inuyasha plopped back down on his branch. �He is after
all, a demon. Then again,� he realized, �so is Shippo.�

He sighed as his thoughts went whirling around in his
head.

�Oh Kami-Sama, I really do not want to face the
jerk.� Inuyasha thought desperately. �He just wants to use me like some
two bit� �

He squashed that train of thought firmly. �Though I
understand that he is older and has other, more adult needs but hell, why the
fuck does he have to drag me into it?�

�Hell, I�ll have to face the bastard some time,�
Inuyasha told himself. �But I will not allow him to get away with this.�

Inuyasha was brought out of his musing when the door to
the hut suddenly opened again and the mother emerged from the building with a
basket over her arm. She made her way into the woods with out even looking for
any signs of danger and walked with determination in her steps.

He sat up attentively, wondering
if he should follow her or not before sighing as he realized he would never
forgive himself if she did not make it home safely.

Kaoru was right when he said
demons walked these woods.

Quietly, he jumped from branch to
branch, never once disturbing even the leaves as he followed silently.

The woman walked for a few minutes
before finally coming to a halt in a small clearing still with in sight of the
village. Inuyasha watched puzzled as she set the basket down before turning
again and making her way back towards the village.

Inuyasha stared at her in complete
confusion as she returned to her little home before curiosity finally got the
better of him as he dropped down and tentatively lifted the cloth that covered
the basket.

He gasped in shock at the
multitude of food that filled the basket. Bread, fruit, cheese, even a few
slices of salted meat filled it to the brim.

His eyes widened when he finally
saw the scrap of parchment that was placed between the foods. He wondered if he
should read it or if it would be better to just leave it alone. After all, this
was probably meant for one of the men, chopping wood in the forest.

Perhaps it was for her husband for
a hearty lunch.

The note was in Inuyasha�s hand
before he knew it and he unfurled the little paper and his eyes darted over the
words written there before bringing the paper closer to his face in shock, sure
that he had not read those words.

It can�t be good for your
health sitting in trees all day.

The woman�s basket was sitting on
her front stoop the next morning with a small reply attached written from the
stain of berry juice.

Thank you.

Chapter Thirty-Three: Damn Kids

Sesshoumaru was at his wits end!

It had been two days since that
damn kiss and Inuyasha ran off. He thought he could handle it! Hell, he ruled
an entire kingdom! Running one little cave with only two kids and
parasitic rat should have been nothing.

He had done it before on those
days Inuyasha was unconscious so he should have been all right. Right?

�Wrong!� Sesshoumaru
groaned. �Fucking brats!�

Sesshoumaru never realized that
when Inuyasha had been there, the children were actually very well behaved.
Take away the pending threat of punishment and well�

He stared down at frozen slab of
ice that was supposed to be his bed.

The little twerps had dunked it in
the sub-zero river and allowed it to freeze out side before returning it to its
proper place. Sesshoumaru sighed as he dragged the block of ice nearer the fire
in hopes to thaw the thing out.

He knew that it had been the
blasted kitsune that had actually come up with the plan; Rin would never do
anything remotely cruel to her wonderful �Sesshoumaru-Sama�.

�Hell, that�s another thing I
have to fix,� Sesshoumaru thought sourly. �Rin has got to stop clinging
to me. Although, she is starting to leave me be a bit more and follow
Inuyasha.�

He sighed as he kicked aside the
assorted knick-knacks.

By day two, he had given up trying
to do any domestic chores. It really wasn�t worth it in the long run. He�d move
something and then not two seconds after he turned his back, it was right where
it had started.

His bed was not the only thing
that had fallen victim to the little terrors. Any thing that belonged to the
Inu Youkai seemed to be fair game.

What remained of his clothing had
become yet another tool in the psychotic Kit�s pranks and Sesshoumaru sighed as
he looked down at his current ensemble.

�I should just run the little
jerk through and be done with it,� he scowled as he turned his eyes away
from the blinding vision.

�How the hell did he manage to get
the dye?� he wondered aloud as he glanced about the cave.

Sesshoumaru sighed as he shoved
stuff over so he could sit down.

The kitsune had actually taken to
making the meals! Granted, it was mostly soup but at least it wasn�t coming out
burnt. Hell, it was embarrassing.

He was the elder Youkai and it was
a stupid kid that was taking care
of him. �Pray no one finds out,� he hoped. �Not that I have any friends��

His
mind moved from the children to the one that they were missing.

He had
been reeling from his realization of his feelings regarding Inuyasha and knew
that his mind had simply shut down with the implications. However, with the
threat that Inuyasha could be back at any moment, Sesshoumaru knew that he had
to figure out a plan and soon.

�I can�t believe
that it�s that little hanyou that my Youki is reacting to. Hell.� Sesshoumaru sighed as he
watched the water drip off his pallet.

�I�m so screwed up,� he
told himself. �Inuyasha will sooner kill me, let alone listen to me when I
tell him about the Recognition.�

He leaned back as he listened to
the children playing in the snow outside.

�Hell, has anyone ever told him
about Recognition?� he wondered. �Like he so loves to rub in my face, he
never really had a Youkai�s upbringing.�

Sesshoumaru frowned at this, �Really,
he didn�t have any upbringing at all.�

He wondered what Inuyasha would
say once he was told about the current situation they found themselves in.

No, scratch that. He knew exactly
what he would say. He was going to say that he was completely crazy that�s what
he was going to say.

He scowled as he moved his bed
closer to the flame. There was no possible way that Inuyasha would believe him.
That they were bound together by their youki?

The hanyou was going to laugh in
his face.

�Damn,� he hissed. �There�s no
possible way that he�s going to understand the significance of this.�

He sighed as he rubbed his tired
eyes. He had been up all night after still thinking about the implications of
Inuyasha being his mate. The fact that his youki would only react to the hanyou
for the rest of his life was a daunting thought indeed.

Now if only he could convince
Inuyasha.

�Oh hell,� he thought. �How
is Inuyasha going to react when I tell him that he can never be with any one
else other than me. His hateful brother who has made his life a complete
misery.�

He suddenly jerked upright. �What
if Inuyasha wants some one else? What if he really is in love with that�
girl.�

Sesshoumaru slumped back. �If
he really is than that means that I really am ruining his life.� He
groaned. �I really am the worse thing that�s ever happened to him.�

He looked about the cave. �Perhaps
it would have been better if I really did leave him alone.�

He scoffed as he quickly squashed
that thought. �Not like he has much of a choice anymore,� he grumbled. �Even if
he loves that silly ningen, he�s mine now whether he likes that or not.�

Sesshoumaru groaned as he brought
his head down on the table as he heard himself. �Oh Kami, he�s going to fight
me tooth and nail over this.�

It was gong to be a complete
uphill battle when it came to convincing Inuyasha about the mating. Though
there were some points that Inuyasha may not resist.

A youkai mating wasn�t like humans
where it was together all year. There were some mates that only saw each other
once or twice a season. It wasn�t as if Inuyasha had to stay with Sesshoumaru indefinably.

Youkai lived centuries, so having
a life mating wasn�t really that large a deal. The only thing that it meant was
that they could not have other mates.

He sighed. There was another
problem.

Inuyasha�s age had to be considered.

Sesshoumaru wasn�t sure if
Inuyasha had yet experienced a coming of age. Very unlikely considering that he
was still a very young hanyou. That and after observing Inuyasha after he had
met him while searching for the Tetsusaiga he could tell that Inuyasha had
never acted as if he was on the look out for potential mates.

He certainly never looked at any
of his companions or anyone else with the look of raw need. Then again, he did
consider Inuyasha a very young youkai.

But if his own youki was reacting
to Inuyasha then that had to mean the Inuyasha had gone through a heat.

�Oh Kami, I�m getting a
headache,� he moaned as his thoughts continued in little yapping circles.

Sesshoumaru was jerked to the
present when there was a sudden scream outside.

Fearing the worse, Sesshoumaru
bolted from his spot, tripping over the different items on the floor as he
grabbed Tokujin and ran out the door.

He prayed that they weren�t being
attacked, that the kids were all right, that he would be able to find his way
back.

�Oh hell, now what?�

Sesshoumaru stumbled out of the
cave into the bright winter sun and immediately searched around for a threat.

It was quite easy to stop the
children. There were bouncing around the other side of the small clearing chatting
excitedly.

Sesshoumaru gasped when he saw
whom it was they were speaking to.

�Inuyasha,� he called out in
surprise.

The hanyou looked up from the
eager children to where Sesshoumaru stood. His golden eyes widened in shock as
they studied him from head to toe and back again.

Sesshoumaru could feel his cheeks
flush as he shuffled uncomfortably, suddenly very conscious of his clothes. �I
had hoped for more time,� Sesshoumaru thought defeated. �But on the up
side, at least he�s smiling.�

Inuyasha, meanwhile, could not
suppress the wide grin that spread against his face. He could feel a laugh
begin to bubble up within him but he tried to desperately to suppress the
expression as he tried to look down at Shippo with a stern glare.

�Shippo, I told you those berries
were for later.�

Shippo looked down at his feet
trying to look sheepish thought Inuyasha knew very well that the small kit was
smiling too.

Sesshoumaru groaned as he realized
exactly what it was that was making his clothes a very vivid pink.

Inuyasha smiled again before
turning to the children and asking them to continue playing outdoors while he
and Sesshoumaru spoke.

He could hear Sesshoumaru huff
behind him, but Inuyasha didn�t care. He had actually managed to come to a
decision after Kaoru�s mother had left him that basket.

Now all he had to do was get
Sesshoumaru to listen.

Shippo looked between the two
curiously before grabbing Rin�s hand and pulling the girl away from them,
saying that they should go look for more winterberries.

Inuyasha ignored Sesshoumaru�s
little shout of outrage as he reminded the kids not to go to far into the
woods. He turned and followed Sesshoumaru as the Inu re-entered the cave in a
whirl of furry.

Sesshoumaru refused to look at the
hanyou as he marched to the table and sat down with a growl.

Inuyasha took in the situation
with one glance, pausing for a moment over Sesshoumaru�s half thawed pallet by
the fire. He turned to then examine the Youkai himself. �He looks exhausted,�
Inuyasha realized. �But is that from the children or because of what
happened?�

Glancing at Sesshoumaru�s clothing
he determined it was the kids.

�Inuyasha,� Sesshoumaru suddenly
broke the silence. �We need to talk.�

Inuyasha took a deep breath as he
made his way over by his brother. �We certainly do,� he replied.

�Now I know you may be a little
confused�� Sesshoumaru started.

�Oh no, I understand perfectly
well.�

Sesshoumaru jerked up in surprise.
�You do?�

Inuyasha nodded. �Yes. I
understand that you haven�t been around any other youkai�s and that your��
Inuyasha squirmed slightly. �Frustrated.�

Sesshoumaru gawked.

�And I know that you didn�t mean
it and that you can�t control something like this. You are after all, an adult.
However,� Inuyasha turned to stare Sesshoumaru straight in the eye. �I will not
be your whore.�

And with that Inuyasha stood from
the table and left the cave calling for the children to get in there and clean
up their messes.

Sesshoumaru was still sitting at the table in complete
shock as he realized that explaining the Youki Recognition was going to be a
little harder than he thought.

�Well, there�s always plan B,�
Sesshoumaru reasoned. �Now if someone would tell me what �plan B� is I�ll be
eternally grateful.�

Chapter Thirty-Four: Plan B

Plan B.

The idea of needing a �Plan B� had
never occurred to Sesshoumaru. He had never needed
a �Plan B� in all his life. So the fact that there had to be a �Plan B� must mean that there was once a �Plan A� and that
said �Plan A� had failed.

From what Sesshoumaru could
understand was that the failed �Plan A� had been to explain to Inuyasha that
their Youki�s were compatible to each other and that
they were now mates. However, the idea of trying to explain to Inuyasha the
implications of aYouki Recognition while the hanyou
was under the impression that Sesshoumaru was just a horny bastard who wished
to screw anything that moved�

Sesshoumaru blinked as a barrage
of lewd mental images assaulted him of the multitude of Inu councilmen at his
palace.

�Ew.�

�Well, it was just asking for a
beating.

Sesshoumaru wanted to avoid a fight with Inuyasha, not be the
cause of a whole new one.

So it had come to a point of
Sesshoumaru in need of a �Plan B�.

Naturally he could not tell Inuyasha about the Recognition.
Inuyasha probably wouldn�t believe him anyway, so that meant that he had to get
Inuyasha to be his mate without
telling him about the recognition. However, Inuyasha thought that Sesshoumaru
just wanted him because he was the only �mate-able� youkai around. This meant
that Sesshoumaru had to prove that he needed Inuyasha as his mate and not just anyone.

In other words, �Plan B� quite
simply meant-Seduce Inuyasha

Sesshoumaru started banging his
head against the cave wall.

�I�m dead,� he thought, �he�s
going to not only take the other arm but my whole head as well.�

Sesshoumaru groaned as he slid
down the wall to his knees, grateful that the barrels of the storage tunnel hid
him completely from view from the entrance. After Inuyasha had gone to fetch
the children, Sesshoumaru thought it best to make himself scarce and thing
things through. So once again, he found himself in the storage chamber.

�How the hell am I going to do that?� he wondered. �I�ve never had to seduce any one in my
entire life. Usually all I have to do is look at them and they�re in my bed
before I could blink.�

He glanced around his surroundings
in hopes an idea would come to him. None did.

�FUCK!�

�Sesshoumaru-Sama?� a small voice
floated down the passage. �Hello?�

Sesshoumaru groaned as he stood
and made his way to the main cave only to stop short at the sight before him.

The cave was clean! And what was that smell? That wonderful and glorious non
burning smell?

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow as the
Great Inu Taiyoukai squeezed himself between the two children and immediately
began eating the grilled fish, sans chopsticks.

It really shouldn�t have been that
surprising. The kids were doing the exact same thing.

�I can never leave again, can I?�
Inuyasha asked rhetorically. Four enthusiastic nods answered his quire. �Well!�
he chuckled as he dished out some more servings of rice.

Kuufuku by far was winning the
impromptu eating contest. The little rodent had managed to put two whole bowls
away.

�Whatever,� the hanyou thought. �It�s
good to be needed.�

Sesshoumaru took the next helping
graciously, which meant he didn�t thank Inuyasha with a full mouth as Shippo
did but still there was a nod in there somewhere of thanks.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes as he
quickly moved back to the fire to rotate the next serving of fish there. In
truth, he was still very apprehensive around the older Youkai. Never knowing
what Sesshoumaru had planed tended to make him nervous to the point of
paranoia.

Throw in hormones into the mix and
Inuyasha really had no idea what to
expect.

�I should have made it clear to him that I won�t allow him to use me,�
Inuyasha told himself. �Now if
Sesshoumaru actually follows my
warning, everything should go back to normal� yeah� right.�

Inuyasha sneaked a glance back
over his shoulder at the table and its occupants. Gold eyes were staring
straight at him.

Inuyasha quickly turned back
towards the fish and blew his bangs away from his face. �I should know by now that Sesshoumaru does what he wants.�

Inuyasha could feel those eyes still
on his back and he shifted slightly with apprehension, feeling those eyes
follow every little movement, every little twitch.

He took mental stock of himself,
hoping that he looked as he normally did. His ears were swiveling madly with
nerves but Inuyasha knew that it couldn�t be helped.

In fact, it seemed to be
Sesshoumaru�s focal point as Inuyasha glanced over his shoulder again. Inuyasha
gritted his teeth and forced his ears to hold still. There was a sigh of
disappointment behind him but nothing else.

Inuyasha slowly released his
breath so as not to be heard by the intently observing Youkai. �Okay, clearly Sesshoumaru has some issues
and is still obsessively staring at me,� he thought. �Then I suppose this explains why he was staring at me all those other
times, he was already thinking of jumping me.� He giggled slightly under
his breath. �Who knew Sesshoumaru was a
pedophile?�

Inuyasha removed the now golden
fish from the pan and served the still eating group.

�Of course it could not have to do with my age and have everything to do
with me,� Inuyasha realized as he dug into his own portion of food. �It may just be because it�s me that he did
that but then again...�

Inuyasha glanced upward through
his bangs at the Inu who was still stuffing his face. A sudden blush stole
across his cheeks and he quickly looked back down.

�Well, clearly my warning had some effect if he�s leaving me alone. Then
again, it could just be because the kids are here. Feh,
what a mess.�

Inuyasha suddenly smiled as an idea
flashed across his brain. �That�s it!�
he suddenly tore into his food with gusto now that he had a plan.

�Just make sure that I�m never alone with the bastard and always have
the kids with us!� Inuyasha smiled. �Brilliant!�

Sesshoumaru glanced questioningly
at the now very perky hanyou who was grinning at him idiotically.

The Inu sweat dropped. �Okay, some one has had a good day��
Sesshoumaru�s chewing slowed considerably as he tried to determine the cause of
Inuyasha�s sudden mood shift

It had been really disappointing
when Inuyasha�s ears had stopped twitching. The two points were always a thing
of interest to the Taiyoukai. He had never really seen a youkai or hanyou for
that matter before with such delectably enticing ears.

Sesshoumaru suppressed a groan as
he felt his groin sit up and heartily agree with him.

Forcing his thought under control
he glared as one of his fish suddenly appeared in front of Kuufuku who was
devouring the morsel as if there were no tomorrow.

�Pesky rodent,� he scowled as he took another large bite from one of
his remaining fish. �Now, back to
business-how the hell am I suppose to seduce the blasted hanyou?�

Sesshoumaru�s mind thought back to
his time in the palace and the different conversations he had overhead. The guards
were actually quite chatty when they thought their lord wasn�t around and he
had over heard some juicy tidbits concerning his staff�s love life.

Though, cooking a romantic dinner
seemed out of the question.

Sighing, he reached down for
another serving when suddenly his hand suddenly encountered empty space.
Looking down, he frowned at his dish and the now single half eaten fish that
lay there.

He glared at the now happy and
full rat before moving his rice bowel some distance away.

Inuyasha across from his smiled
with amusement before he fetched another fish for the still scowling Taiyoukai.

Sesshoumaru�s scowl deepened as he
nodded his thanks and returned to his meal. �Really out of the question.�

He sighed as he slowed his eating
noticing that the rice bowel he had moved had suddenly been claimed by the
still gorging kitsune.

�I hate my life.�

Inuyasha frowned as he scolded
Shippo before once more retrieving another serving for Sesshoumaru.

Glancing around the table,
Sesshoumaru realized that action needed to be taken and got up to stand beside
the wall. Ensuring that all of the cave�s occupants were in his line of view,
Sesshoumaru quickly finished his meal before dumping the dishes into the
washing barrel and reached over for the scrubbing pad.

He needed some mind numbing work
and in lieu of a good fight, he had found that washing dishes was a good way to
go.

Inuyasha, meanwhile, sat there
completely flabbergasted as he watched his brother- who had never before done any domestic chores ever-
wash his dishes.

He didn�t know whether or not he
should be grateful that Sesshoumaru was finally pulling his own weight or
terrified that the world was coming to an end.

�Er, are
you finished Rin?� he asked instead turning to the small girl.

Rin nodded as she handed her
plates over to the hanyou. �Arigato Gozaimasu,
Inuyasha-sama!� she chirped brightly.

�You�re welcome. Shippo? Are you
still eating?� The kit nodded enthusiastically. Smiling, Inuyasha brought over
his and the girl�s plates to where Sesshoumaru still stood scrubbing away.

Curiously, Inuyasha glanced at
Sesshoumaru�s face.

The Inu was focused and working
with a determined air. Much like he looked during a fight.

Grinning, Inuyasha mischievously
dropped the extra dinnerware into the barrel and waited for the expected shout
of annoyance from Inu.

It was with some surprise that
Sesshoumaru simply took the newly added dishes and went right on with the
scrubbing.

�Are you feeling alright?�
Inuyasha asked, worry evident in his voice.

Sesshoumaru turned his head to
give Inuyasha a glare worthy of freezing the artic. �What�s that suppose to
mean?�

Inuyasha immediately moved
backwards, hands held up in the air. �Nothing.� Sesshoumaru scoffed but said
nothing as he went back to his cleaning.

�Inuyasha-sama!� Rin chirped as
she flounced over to where the hanyou stood. �Inuyasha-sama and
Sesshoumaru-sama must come outside and see the huge snow castle that Rin-chan and Shippo-kun built.�

Inuyasha smiled at the girl.
�Well, sure. Show me what you did.� He glanced at the Youkai beside him. �Ya coming?�

Sesshoumaru looked over at the
challenging grin that the hanyou was presenting him with. He suddenly realized
that perhaps by showing that he could be nice to the children, he could perhaps
show Inuyasha that he wasn�t the cold-hearted bastard that Sesshoumaru knew he
was.

Throwing down the dishtowel,
Sesshoumaru nodded. �I would love to see this �castle�,� he said.

And ignoring Inuyasha�s gasp of
surprise took Rin�s hand and allowed the girl to pull him out into the blinding
white.

Chapter Thirty-Five: Snow Forts

Inuyasha stared at the empty
doorway.

After a full minute, he slowly
turned and looked back at Shippo who was still eating like there was no
tomorrow but was now looking out the cave entrance as well with a look of
suspicion.

�What the hell did you do to him
while I was away?� Inuyasha demanded.

Shippo shrugged his shoulders as
he slurped up the rest of his meal. Kuufuku gave a rodent-ish
burp but said nothing on the subject.

�Inuyasha-Sama!� Rin called as she
poked he head in the cave once more.

�Hai! I�m coming!� Inuyasha
huffed.

Shippo tossed his dishes in the
wash barrel before trotting to catch up to Inuyasha, scrambling up onto the
hanyou�s shoulder.

Inuyasha glanced at the boy before reaching up to pat him
quickly on the head as they emerged into the bitter cold wind. Tracking through
the snow, Inuyasha made his way a few yards over to where Rin and Sesshoumaru
stood staring at a rather large lump of snow.

�It very� nice Rin,� Sesshoumaru
was saying as he eyed the pile dubiously.

�Isn�t it?� Rin chirped. �And
here�s the garden and here�s the kitchen and here�s pond and here�s��

Inuyasha glanced at Sesshoumaru
who obviously had no idea what the little girl was chatting about as she
pointed out the different mounds of snow. �Well, at least he�s trying.�
he thought.

�Why would you put the pond by the
kitchen? You never have a pond by the kitchen.�

Inuyasha rolled his eyes at
Sesshoumaru�s attempt to converse with the little girl. Rin had stopped
abruptly and blinked up at Sesshoumaru cluelessly.
�So Inuyasha-sama can see the fish while he�s cooking of course,� she
explained.

Inuyasha chuckled as he listened
to her reasoning. �Aren�t we all being a little over obsessed about food?�

�No,� Shippo and Sesshoumaru
responded simultaneously.

Blinking in surprise, Inuyasha
shrugged and turned to listen to Rin as she continued explaining the different
rooms deciding to ignore the two walking stomachs.

Sesshoumaru meanwhile, was shooting
convert looks at Inuyasha as the hanyou pointed out random sections and asking
Rin what rooms they were. It was slightly more difficult to see Inuyasha�s face
as Shippo perfectly blocked Sesshoumaru�s view.

�What I wouldn�t give for a
very strong gust of wind right now,� he thought bitterly as he turned back
to the pile of snow. He couldn�t understand the girl�s logic. No matter how he
looked at it, it was just a rather large mound of fluffy frozen water.

�With rat sized tunnels in which
Kuufuku continually poked his nose out of before ducking back into the mound.

Sesshoumaru hand itched for his
throwing knife. �I knew I should have taken him out when I had the chance.�

�All right you two,� Inuyasha�s
voice broke thought his thoughts. �It�s starting to get dark. Time to go in.�
The two children groaned in disappointment but Sesshoumaru actually was relived
to go in. His nose was getting cold. He turned in a full circle until the cave
came into his line of vision and not allowing it out of his sight, marched
strait for it.

Sesshoumaru was in the cave before
Inuyasha had even managed to turn around.

Shippo smirked on his shoulder. �Wuss can�t stand a little cold.�

�Shippo,� Inuyasha hissed as they
followed the youkai into the cave. �What had gotten into you? You were never
this bratty.�

Shippo shrugged as the entered the
room only to find that Sesshoumaru had already squirreled himself away in the
back. �He doesn�t scare me any more,� Shippo explained. �He�s actually a rather
large, cranky goof ball.� Inuyasha gave the kit a sidelong look of skepticism.
�Well he is,� Shippo insisted. �He can�t do anything right. He can�t even make
soup! And soup�s easy!�

�Shippo! You know he�s never done
anything like that in his life. This is all new to him.� Shippo scoffed at the
suggestion. �Well he�s trying.�

�I doubt that,� Shippo argued.

�Well he hasn�t killed you yet has
he?�

Shippo actually had the grace to
blush.

Inuyasha chuckled softly as he started tucking the two
into bed. Rin demanded two stories and Sesshoumaru finally returned just as he
finished the last story. Rin immediately demanded a story from Sesshoumaru as
well.

Inuyasha had to suppress the look
of complete horror that crossed the Youkai�s face as Sesshoumaru turned to look
pleadingly at Inuyasha who decided to take pity on the frazzled man.

�Enough stories Rin. It�s time for
bed.�

The girl pouted for a while before
she snuggled into the blankets. Ensuring the two were actually falling a sleep
and not pretending, Inuyasha turned to find Sesshoumaru staring down at his
still sopping wet bedding.

He frowned in concern. Inuyasha
actually felt bad about how the kids, or rather Shippo, had acted while he was
off sulking. With a sigh, he made his way over to the still fuming youkai.

�Do you want to use my bed?�

Sesshoumaru never thought he would
hear that sentence coming out of Inuyasha�s mouth in all his life. His hormones
immediately sat up and cheered him on to take the offer before Sesshoumaru
viciously herded them together and locked them in an imaginary trunk.

Mentally tossing the invisible key
over his shoulder, he looked up at Inuyasha gratefully. His first instinct was
that of course he was going to use Inuyasha�s bed as his own was ruined but
Sesshoumaru immediately squashed that feeling down, trying to see it from
Inuyasha�s view and knew that the other was offering mostly out of guilt.

Guilt or no, it was actually a
very kind offer.

Sesshoumaru mentally berated
himself for never realizing how kind Inuyasha really was. �Of course it�s
rather hard to tell when the other person starts cursing like a sailor the
moment he spots me.�

�Sesshoumaru?�

Inuyasha�s worried tone jolted
Sesshoumaru out of his thoughts.

�Er��
Sesshoumaru wondered how to best handle the offer while not sounding pompous
when suddenly he wondered if this would be a good moment to try and start with
�Phase One� of �Plan B�.

Prove to Inuyasha that he was not
a selfish ass.

�Together?� The word was out of
his mouth before he could stop it.

Inuyasha gasped in shock before
his features morphed into a fierce scowl.

�FUCK!� Sesshoumaru groaned
at how eager he sounded. �Baka! Baka! Baka! Baka! Baka!�
He scrambled to salvage the situation before Inuyasha�s reaching hand managed
to grasp the hilt of Tetsusaiga.

�I- I mean, where will you sleep?�
Sesshoumaru�s words flew out of him in a rush. �Its too cold to just sleep on
the floor.�

Inuyasha�s expression softened
slightly as he took in Sesshoumaru�s concerns and looked about the cave. �I�ll
be fine,� he said even though he too some doubts as to whether or not he would
be comfortable.

Sesshoumaru�s mind whirled for an
idea, any idea that would help him impress Inuyasha. None was forth
coming.

�Think you idiot!�
he yelled at himself. �You can�t just expect to take his bed since yours is
ruined. That was the old Sesshoumaru; this is the new more thoughtful
Sesshoumaru. So get your head out of your ass and think!�

Inuyasha was already turning away.

�Say something! Anything!�
�Er, I could always sleep on the floor.� �BAKA!
You�ve never slept on a floor in your life!�

Apparently Inuyasha agreed with
Sesshoumaru�s inner critic, which strangely sounded like his old edict teacher,
as the hanyou turned and started backing away from him very slowly.

�No! I mean- I mean- um,� gold
eyes swiveled frantically around the room. He finally spotted the pile of the
horrid pink robes. Scooping them he held them out hopefully. �I mean if you
wish, you could use these.�

Inuyasha stared down at the
offered material before looking up at Sesshoumaru who was looking anywhere but
at the hanyou. It was clear to him that Sesshoumaru was nervous as hell about
something and Inuyasha had a vague notion on what it was.

�He must feel really bad about
what happed,� Inuyasha determined, �else why would he be trying so hard
to be nice?� In truth Inuyasha wasn�t sure if he should feel flattered or
frightened. �Is he always this way when I�m not around or is this some sort
of trick?�

He looked back up at Sesshoumaru
who was now looking back down at his offered robes with doubt. Slowly,
Sesshoumaru began to pull the clothing back towards himself when Inuyasha
instinctively reached out and took the offering.

Sesshoumaru�s head jerked up with
surprise before� �Is he blushing?� Inuyasha wondered in amazement as
Sesshoumaru suddenly turned his face away.

Inuyasha was feeling just as
embarrassed, as he knew Sesshoumaru felt. He turned his head away as well as he
tried to quash his own blush, �arigato.�

Sesshoumaru�s eyes widened
slightly and he nodded curtly in response.

�Inuyasha-sama?�

Both youkai jumped as Rin�s voice
suddenly floated from behind them.

�Ye-� Inuyasha cleared his throat
and tried again. �Yes?�

�I left my scarf outside,� Rin
admitted softly.

�That�s alright Rin, we�ll-�

�I�ll get it!� Sesshoumaru�s voice
broke through Inuyasha�s sentence as he suddenly bolted out the door.

�-get it now,� Inuyasha finished
lamely as he watched Sesshoumaru disappear out the door. �Well, that was
awkward,� he muttered. Rin looked at him quizzically, her eyes almost
completely shut once more. �Go back to sleep,� he whispered.

Rin nodded and did just that much
to Inuyasha�s amusement.

Smiling, he gathered up the rest
of the pink silk and made his way to where Sesshoumaru�s pallet use to lie
before being moved by the fire. He separated the cloth and with a flick of his
wrist spread out the robe on the cold ground.

Kneeling down to smooth out the
wrinkles Inuyasha allowed himself to slowly fall forward into the cool silk,
enjoying the feel of the material against the skin of his cheek.

He had never felt such softness.
It was so smooth under his touch that he almost felt bad using it as impromptu
bedding. Opening his eyes, he reassessed his opinion as the bright pink
assaulted his eyes.

Closing them against the sight, he
rolled onto his side inhaling deeply as he got more comfortable.

The robes smelled of Sesshoumaru�
and berries� but mostly Sesshoumaru. A berry scented Sesshoumaru.

Inuyasha groaned as he quickly got
up and moved to away from his makeshift bed. �What the hell is wrong with me?�
Inuyasha wondered anxiously. �And how long dose it take to fetch a hair tie?�
he wondered as he looked to the cave entrance in which Sesshoumaru had
disappeared almost ten full minutes ago.

Sesshoumaru meanwhile, was having
problems of his own. He had clearly not been thinking when he darted out of the
cave grateful for any excuse to leave the awkward situation.

His thoughts had been filled with the idea of �get away�
when they should have been �stay within the tree line�.

�Okay, I�m not that far from
the cave,� he thought as he glanced around at the dense cluster of trees
surrounding him. �Damn winter and making all the trees look exactly the
same.�

Sesshoumaru looked upward, hoping
to get his bearings by using the stars. �Damn you clouds!� he shouted in
frustration.

�Sesshoumaru? Where the hell are
you?�

The youkai wasn�t sure if he
should shout in aggravation or sigh in relief as Inuyasha suddenly appeared
behind him. �What are ya doin�?�
Inuyasha asked suspiciously.

Sesshoumaru, not wanting Inuyasha
to know of his complete lack of direction, immediately went on the defensive.
�Is it so wrong to get a breath of air?�

�Er, I
guess not,� Inuyasha replied.

�Well, I suggest we fetch Rin�s
hair tie then.� Sesshoumaru didn�t move as he watched Inuyasha expectantly.

�Okay�� Inuyasha drawled as he
made his way back to the little clearing, Sesshoumaru right on his heels.

They both stopped at the snow
hill, a.k.a. the �castle� to search for the tie Rin used for her hair.
Searching for something so small in the dead of night would have been a problem
for the girl, but with their enhanced vision it did not take the two youkai�s
long to find the strip of leather.

It was with some shock when both
their hands met over the innocent item, Sesshoumaru�s closing over Inuyasha�s
smaller one as the hanyou gripped the leather.

Inuyasha immediately tried to yank
his hand away only to find in caught firmly in his brother�s grasp. He glared
upward at the other youkai only to yelp in surprise as Sesshoumaru�s head
rapidly descended and Inuyasha found his lips covered by Sesshoumaru�s own.

This time however, Inuyasha was
not caught by surprise and with a great shove, sent the taller man tumbling
backwards into the mound of snow as he quickly darted back to the safety of the
cave all the while strengthening his resolve to never again be caught alone
with the clearly psychotic youkai.

Chapter Thirty-Six: Not Exactly Friends

Sesshoumaru was
rudely awakened next morning by a fierce smack to the nose. Snapping his eyes
opened Sesshoumaru looked around to find the culprit, already prepared to give
the person the most scathing insults from his arsenal.

He blinked.
There was no one there.

�Squeek.�

Blinking, his
eyes blearily traveled downward to find Kuufuku
happily flouncing away, his long pink tail held high like some perverse
triumphant flag.

�Oh for the
love of-� Sesshoumaru fell backwards on to his bed with a groan.

His very
lonely, very hard, and very pink bed.

Glancing out
side, Sesshoumaru estimated that he probably got at most two hours worth of sleep the night before.

After Inuyasha
had given him the sudden snow bath by pushing him into the snow pile, of which
Sesshoumaru was very suspiciously thought had been built over an existing pile
of rocks, he had returned to the cave to find Inuyasha already bundled up in
his own bed. The hanyou was more than likely just
pretending to be asleep but Sesshoumaru figured his best course of action was
to leave the other boy alone.

Grudgingly,
Sesshoumaru wandered over to the already laid out robe as wearily collapsed on
the horrid surface.

The Taiyoukai had spent hours upon hours yelling at himself for
losing such control around Inuyasha. But then again, it seemed as if whenever
he was around the sexy hanyou, his youki had decided to take the initiative and Sesshoumaru
found that he would no longer find himself in control of his own body.

�Oh Kami,� he
groaned as he dragged one of the pink sleeves over his head. �I am so dead.�

He laid there
for a few minutes simply enjoying the feeling of stillness before finally
shoving the sleeve off his face.

�Hell, I�ll have to face the boy sometime,�
he told himself.

�Inuyasha-� he
started as he sat up. However Sesshoumaru found himself only addressing the kitsune who was giving him a rather amused stare.

�Inuyasha isn�t
here.�

��Thank you, for stating the obvious,� Sesshoumaru
scowled. �Now could you possibly tell me where our illustrious cave-mate went?�

�No idea.�

�Must. Not. Strangle. Child!� Sesshoumaru
pinched the bridge of his nose. �He didn�t tell you where he was going?�

�He didn�t say
anything to me,� Shippo explained with a sigh. �I
woke up and he and Rin were already gone.� The kit
paused. �Kuufuku is still here though.�

Sesshoumaru�s eye twitched. �Great,� he muttered. �Where the hell did he go?�
�
Where Inuyasha
had gone, actually, was not very far into the woods at all. He was in a small geln some distance away picking berries furiously with Rin.

�I�ll kill him,� Inuyasha thought. �Bar that, I�m kicking his sorry ass out into
the snow tonight.�

Another fist
full of berries found their way into the basket at his side. �Rin can stay, but the prick has got to go.�

He fiercely
yanked at the small red globes of fruit, most of them squashed into juice, for
a good while before he finally managed to slow himself down. �That bastard,� he
muttered, but was surprised that his voice did not hold as much malice as he
had before.

It had been so
aggravating the night before that Sesshoumaru had completely disregarded his
warning of not allowing himself to be used as Sesshoumaru�s
personal play thing but Inuyasha had to admit that at the time, Sesshoumaru had
looked just as surprised that it happened as he did.

A thought
occurred to him that perhaps Sesshoumaru really didn�t have any control over what he did. Hell, Myouga
never really explained a Youkai�s mating habits. Considering Inuyasha�s age, the bug
probably didn�t think it was necessary yet.

�Oh hell, I can�t kick him out if it�s not
his fault,� Inuyasha thought bitterly. �I
can beat him up, but I can�t kick him out.�

�Inuyasha-sama!� Rin�s cheery voice rang
across the field. �Rin has found more berries!�

Unable to
suppress a smile, Inuyasha wandered over to where the girl stood triumphantly
next to a rather large bush. He stared down at the bush with a frown. �I�m
sorry Rin, but we can�t eat those. They�re not meant
to be eaten.�

Rin�s
eyes got huge as she looked at the bush in dissaointment.
�Why?�

�Because
they�ll make you sick,� Inuyasha explained.

�Why would the
make Rin sick?�

�Because they
don�t taste very good.�

�But why don�t
they taste good?�

Inuyasha sweat
dropped.� �Er,
I think I saw some over here that we could gather.�

�YAY!� Rin cheered as she danced over towards the indicated bush,
her own little basket swinging from her arm.

Inuyasha sighed
in relief as he watched the girl move away, taking her circling questions with
her. �Who knew kids were so difficult?�

It was then
that he heard it. A sudden gasp of indrawn breath behind him.

Inuyasha�s
temper flared at the thought that Sesshoumaru actually had the gall to follow
him when he thought it was clear as day that he wanted to be away from the youkai.

Whirling
around, Inuyasha nearly bit off his tongue when he saw that it was not his
brother behind him but rather some one else he really did not expect to see for
a long time.

It was Sango
who stood behind him gapping in surprise, her giant boomerang hanging limp from
her hand. The two stared at each other, neither one quite sure what to say.

It was actually
Kirara who broke the silence, for Inuyasha anyway. �I�m
sorry pup, I hadn�t realized which direction we had been traveling.�

Inuyasha told
her silently that it was not the two tailed neko�s
fault while he nearly groaned aloud with dread.

For where ever
there was one the others were sure to be�

�Inuyasha!� Miroku said amazed as he stepped into the clearing behind
the Demon Slayer. �My god! You�ve been missing for months! Where have you been?�

Cue the perv.

Inuyasha gave a
little nervous laugh as he raised a hand in greeting. However before he could
say anything another voice stabbed into the silence.

�Inuyasha?� a
high-pitched screech sounded from the background.

The hanyou tensed and automatically took a defensive step back.

Kagome, in all
her futuristic glory stormed over to the small cluster of people a scowl that
would put Sesshoumaru�s to shame planted on her face.

�OSUWARI!� She
screamed in fury!

Both Sango and Miroku flinched in anticipation of the resounding bang of
Inuyasha hitting the floor, but the hanyou simply
stood there smirking.

With a smirk of
triumph, Inuyasha held out his arms and did a full one hundred and eighty
degree turn. �Notice anything different?� he asked.

Kagome gapped as she stared at the empty
neckline. �You!� she screeched �How dare you remove those? You have no
authority to remove those! You-� her voice trailed off into an inhuman screech.

�Kagome, please. Calm down,� Sango tried to place herself
between the fuming girl and the now very worried hanyou
while Miroku tried to place himself between the
girls.

�She�s worse that before,� Inuyasha realized as he stared at the
girl in shock. �I didn�t even know that
was possible.�

Suddenly Inuyasha felt pressure in
his free hand and looked down to see Rin clinging to
his hand as she stared at the other tree humans apprehensively. �Inuyasha-sama?� she whispered.

Glancing at the other three he
leaned down and whispered to Rin to go by the berry
bush and to stay there, no matter what happened. He quickly asked Kirara if she would stay with the child and spotting the
girl, the neko immediately agreed.

He looked back just in time to see
Kagome throw off her two companions and marched as quickly as she could through
the ankle deep snow right at Inuyasha who was not an idiot and immediately
moved away from the charging female.

�Just what did you think you were
doing?� she hissed. �How dare you leave the village! You have an obligation to
search for the Jewel shards! You can not slack off on your responsibilities!�

�Yeah right!� Inuyasha shouted
back as he ducked behind Miroku. �I ain�t have to do shit!� Kagome gasped at the swear word but
Inuyasha stubbornly continued before she could even utter a word of protest.
�Who was it again that broke the damn thing in the first place? It certainly
wasn�t me who shot that arrow.�

Kagome made a frantic lunge at the
youkai who quickly jumped out of the way, this time
landing behind Sango who looked at him furiously for putting her quite
literally in the middle.

�You were there! You made a vow
that you would help me find the shards.�

�I did no such thing!� Inuyasha
gasped as he evaded another swipe of the girls� fingernails. From the way Miroku was wincing, Inuyasha knew that those things just
had to hurt.

�Yes you did!� Kagome counted.
�You said you were going to gather the shards!�

�For myself you whacked out
psycho! I wanted the jewels for my own purpose. The fact that you tagged along
didn�t mean I was friggin� helpin�
ya!�

Kagome gasped in anger and made
another desperate lunge at the silver figure. �What of Naraku?�
Kagome snapped. �You vowed to get revenge and stop him from obtaining the
sacred Jewel.�

�What the fuck dose that have to
do with YOU?�

�Inuyasha!� A familiar voice rang
into the glen as Shippo suddenly appeared and
clambered up onto his shoulder. �Miroku! Sango!
You�re all here!�

Kagome stared at the small kitsune in shock. �Shippo!� she
gapped. �YOU!� she whirled around to point an accusing finger at Inuyasha, �how
dare you kidnap that poor child and force him to live in the woods!�

�What?� both youkai
shouted in shock.

�Inuyasha, what is going on?� Shippo demanded as he stared at Kagome in shock as she
still continued her shouting about Shippo still being
only a child and other such nonsense.

�What are you doing here?�
Inuyasha asked the kit.

�We got tired of waiting for you
to come back and make breakfast so we decided to come and find you.�

Inuyasha boggled. ��We�?�

Suddenly there was dead silence
followed by a rather hallow thump.

Turning, Inuyasha stared at
Kagome�s slumped form laying flat on the snow covered ground, the other two
beside her both in battle formation. Sango�s boomeranged held at the ready
while Miroku already had his free hand grasping his
beads.

Inuyasha stared at the slumped
woman in complete shock before he slowly looked up past the unconscious figure
to the silver figure that stood directly behind her.

There in a triumphant pose, stood
Sesshoumaru- wearing a shit eating grin and a holding a gigantic rock.

~TBC~

**Stares
at the last line** Oh they are so going to kill me!

CELEBRATE!
CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES! COME ON! Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do~o woo hoo~!

I
FINALLY HIT 200 PAGES! Oh MY GOD! I have never written this much
before EVER! The longest story I had was an old Digimon
fic wa~ay back when that
was 73 pages� I think I beat it! YAY! Really AMAZING considering this was
originally suppose to be a single one-shot story in which the two Inu Princes were stuck in a cave over night and due to
overwhelming hormones fuck like rabbits.

As you
can see, the story kind of� � � exploded. � Oops.

*Kallipso laughs hysterically.� This was supposed to be a one shot for my
birthday a year ago Wensday. I don�t know about you
but this seems to be the birthday gift that keeps on giving. Whatcha think?*

Okay, about the Youki Recognition. I got
the idea out of the old comic �Elf Quest� by Wendy and Richard Pini. I tried to explain it, as I understood it but the old
series never really explained �Recognition�, it just was. There is a major plot
point about the Recognition in the �Elf Quest� series as far as I could
figure but if I explain it here that will be giving away some major points!
They�re reprinting the series now so please go and enjoy.

A
repost of the Challenge!
We
will be introducing a new character that is not a cannon character but a new
person that has popped out of the dredges of my odd little brain. There
actually has already been a hint in previous chapters as to this person's identity.
If any one can figure out who this new character is gets a cookie and a short Kuufuku tortures Sesshoumaru side story dedicated to them!
Only Two More Segments until this person is revealed!

Japanese Index:
Arigato (gozaimasu)-Thank you
Baka-Idiot/stupid
Hanyou-Half Demon
Hakuchoo-Swan

Inu-Dog

Kitsune-Fox
Kisama-Bastard (roughly)
Koinu-Puppy
Kumo-Spider

Miko-Priestess
Nani?- What?
Neko-Cat
Ningen-Human
Otouto-Younger brother
Ookami-Wolf
Osuwari-Sit
Shika-Deer
Taisho- General
Tokage-Lizard
Youkai-Demon
Youko- Fox Demon (Think Kurama in Yu Yu Hakusho.)
Youki-Demon Spirit
- 6
- 7
- 8
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Shadowed Nights

Shadowed Nights

Blossoming Affections: Chapters 31-36

Chapter Thirty-One: What Now?

Chapter Thirty-Two: Questioning Objectives

Kagome gapped as she stared at the empty
neckline. �You!� she screeched �How dare you remove those? You have no
authority to remove those! You-� her voice trailed off into an inhuman screech.

Hakuchoo-Swan

Inu-Dog

Kumo-Spider

Shadowed Nights

Shadowed Nights

Blossoming Affections: Chapters 31-36

Chapter Thirty-One: What Now?

Chapter Thirty-Two: Questioning Objectives

Kagome gapped as she stared at the emptyneckline. �You!� she screeched �How dare you remove those? You have noauthority to remove those! You-� her voice trailed off into an inhuman screech.

Hakuchoo-Swan

Inu-Dog

Kumo-Spider

Kagome gapped as she stared at the empty
neckline. �You!� she screeched �How dare you remove those? You have no
authority to remove those! You-� her voice trailed off into an inhuman screech.