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In Saving You, I Saved Myself	By : CrimsonStained Category: InuYasha > Yaoi - Male/Male > InuYasha/Sessh?maru > InuYasha/Sessh?maru Views: 9734 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 4
Disclaimer: All names/characters belong to the great Rumiko Takahashi. The only thing I own are my ideas to manipulate her characters to my whims. I make no money from writing this fanfiction.

Chapter List
- 6
- 7
- 8
In Saving You, I Saved Myself – Chapter 6 Opposing Blood
“This Sesshoumaru is fine, Miko,” He growled feeling more than a little exasperated, “He will not repeat himself again.” This was a blatant lie in fact, Sesshoumaru was far from fine. So far that he was unwilling to even admit to himself how much the poison from the hydra was affecting his system. Already he could feel his blood boiling as his own venom conflicted with the foreign one; or perhaps he was merely delirious with pain at this point.
“I know you say that, but you’re clearly injured! I can see the blood seeping through your clothing!” Kagome countered, concern heavily layering her tone . Despite what Sesshoumaru thought, humans were not blind, at least not so much that he could dissuade her of the notion that he was indeed injured; she could distinctly see the pristine clothing he wore sluggishly absorbing his life blood from his skin.
She snapped her jaw shut with a click when he glared at her, not willing to risk her own health in the process of inquiring about his.
Alright, so perhaps my healing abilities may be slightly compromised… Sesshoumaru admitted bitterly in his mind.
“Lighten the fuck up, Sesshoumaru-sama, she’s only worried about you cause you fuckin’ bled all over us in your giant mutt-form,” InuYasha growled. Outwardly his brother seemed to be okay, but he had this nagging feeling in the back of his skull that was bothering him, something wasn't right. His senses must be fooling him.
Once again the inu youkai found his eyes narrowing, “Her concern is unwanted, regardless of the fact that it is unwarranted. Though I will have you well know, should the term ‘mutt’ be delega- …”
InuYasha glared at him in disillusion as the youkai’s sentence died prematurely in his throat. You fool, you’re supposed to be atoning – or something of the sort – not continuing to insult him.
“Oh, do go on,” InuYasha snipped, earning a disapproving stare from Kagome. Fuck it, if the bastard was still insulting him, he was damn well fine.
“InuYasha, leave it be,” Kagome stated softly from beside him, slightly hurt that the youkai wouldn’t let her attend to his wounds. Then again, she also wasn’t all that surprised that he didn’t want a mortal touching to him. The hanyou drew his ears back, opening his mouth to retort but changed his mind and settled for a huff to curb his frustration.
"Keh."
The group had been walking for about the past two and quarter hours – well into the night, and Sesshoumaru was wearing thin on his already near non-existent patience. Not to mention his injuries also brought his mood dangerously lower, putting him in the state of mind to pick fights. If the miko did not shut up, she would bleed; if the hanyou did not shut up, he would… be mildly annoying as always.
The group around them remained silent save for the kids; InuYasha and Kagome walking along side of (perhaps near would be a better description) the youkai lord, followed by his retainer and Ah-Un upon which Rin and Shippou sat, chatting amiably; with the Taijiya, firecat and Houshi bringing up the rear.
Left… Right… Left… Right… Step, step, step, It was at this moment that the youkai decided while counselling himself forward to take stock of his body; very determined not to show pain or discomfort to the crew around him. His joints were aching with each step, his wounds burned and his body was febrile. He mentally cursed himself as he almost staggered on a misstep. This would not do, it was beneath one of his stature to show pain or discomfort; a weak lord did not stay ‘Lord’ for long.
“Pathetic,” Sesshoumaru hissed aloud, thanking the night for masking the colour he was sure was gathering high in his cheeks from his temperature.
Sesshoumaru hadn’t been aware that he’d slipped and spoken the words aloud until InuYasha’s palm furiously clenched Tetsusaiga’s hilt for a moment after he met the youkai’s eyes, gold against gold.
“Fuck you, asshole.”
The words dropped from the hanyou’s mouth so coldly that it jarred him, he realized InuYasha thought he’d meant him. Sesshoumaru glanced over with that particular detached expression only he seemed to be able to manage; he couldn’t find it in him to correct the hanyou. Truthfully he was more than a little put off that InuYasha assumed he’d automatically been speaking about him – though true, he’d given him no reason to think he wasn’t.
He disliked more the resigned tone in which InuYasha used to state his comeback; a tone that clearly stated he’d been insulted with words far worse. And he had, by Sesshoumaru himself - as well as the rest of the world. Comparatively, ‘Pathetic’ was probably a pretty positive thing to be called in his book. This only served to make him more irritable.
Idly he wondered how far back he’d regressed their relationship when he’d healed InuYasha; by that bitter distrustful look in his eye, he assumed quite a bit. Now that he thought of it, had he ever truly lost that wary glint?
Probably not. Sure, he had allowed Sesshoumaru groom him that first time, but it was forced by threats. And true, Sesshoumaru had taken care of him and held him, but that was when he was human, weak, and becoming precariously close to dying. Then the second ‘grooming’ attempt in which he’d crossed that line, well… perhaps he’d had good reason to keep that wary glint. Sesshoumaru was also cognizant of the conflicting emotions that had flashed through his brother during all of these moments, enough so that he believed there was still a chance for the redemption of their broken relationship.
“We should set up camp in the next suitable clearing,” Miroku suggested, glancing at the two curiously quiet children to find their eyelids slowly drooping.
Everyone but InuYasha missed the slight drop in Sesshoumaru’s shoulders in –what seemed to be- relief. The hanyou narrowed his eyes as he stared harder at his sibling, his mind racing with speculations.
He was almost surprised to find a light sheen of sweat marring the youkai’s brow - how had he not noticed before? Oh. He'd been angry. Also the way Sesshoumaru put most of his weight to his left side, attempting to alleviate a bit of pain from where the spears of ice had punctured him during the fight, but counter-balancing the pain from the many bite wounds as well. It made for a delicate dance.Truly now that he noticed, it was plain as day. InuYasha felt stupid for missing it in the first place.
“Sounds good to me,” Kagome responded in kind, her eyes glancing to the lord’s bloodied clothes now and then.
“Keh,” InuYasha huffed a noncommittal sound, lifting his nose and scenting softly. The air was tangy with copper and iron, but sharp with toxin; so sharp he thought his eyes might water if he concentrated on it too much. Perhaps he should’ve listened to that niggling feeling he had earlier, “Why don’t you guys go on ahead, I gotta have some words Ice Prince over there.”
Kagome levelled InuYasha with a concerned stare as his sibling turned to glare heatedly at him, at least as heatedly as he could manage with how he felt. Which may've been lukewarm at best.
“InuYasha, are you su- ”
“S’Fine,” He cut off the miko without turning, continuing to openly scowl at Sesshoumaru.
Sango moved forward and place a hand on Kagome’s bicep, shaking her head softly. Kagome pouted but reluctantly turned to her friend, the group proceeding forward as InuYasha and Sesshoumaru stared each other down while they passed by around them.
Without his friends additional scents throwing him off, he finally realized the extent to which Sesshoumaru had pushed himself. There was that fine tremor running through his brother’s fingers, heat and what smelled precariously close to illness exuding from the inu’s body. Bloody and poisoned, his stupid prideful brother put up a front that had fooled him for the past couple hours; InuYasha had thought surely he could not have been as ill as he smelled with the ease in which he trudged forward, and the condescension his tone held as he had warded off Kagome’s attempts to help.
Though it seemed the youkai was running on autopilot.
“We are alone,” InuYasha announced flatly, as if the statement required speech to be tangible fact.
Sesshoumaru looked at him with what seemed to be hazy confusion before he blinked coherently. Everything next happened in dramatic slow-motion; Sesshoumaru’s muscles seized tightly and gave in, forcing him down on his hand and one knee. Walking forward had really been the only thing keeping him going.
“Shit! What the fuck is wrong with you!” InuYasha grinded his back molars in reluctant concern, “You could’ve just told us you needed to stop, dumbass!”
For his part, Sesshoumaru remained silent, pain wracking his body so forcefully he had no choice but to breath in rapid, shallow pants. It appeared that through sheer determination the youkai had kept his symptoms in check, now sweat began to bead on his skin and his eyes became a murky hue from constrained discomfort.
It seemed silly to Sesshoumaru now that he’d forced his body to get to this point, holding himself up on his arm as he visibly trembled. He began to see through a slightly red haze, watching as the stripe partially visible at his wrist grew jagged against the red and white cloth. It seemed his own youki was so low that he was relying on his demon blood to keep him conscious.
The hanyou ceased his chastisement as he took a few steps forward and knelt down low, “Sesshoumaru?”
The youkai turned stark azure iris’ rimmed in red onto his sibling, unwilling to waste energy on speech until required. He was beginning to feel light-headed and shock-y.
“They… They aren’t like normal mortals…” InuYasha spoke gently, aware he had his brother’s attention, “It’s okay to trust them.”
“You cannot trust anyone,” Sesshoumaru hissed in response, clenching his teeth against the pain.
“I used to think that,” He admitted quietly, his ears drawing low on his head.
“Youkai, ninjin, even hanyou; if you are weak someone will prey on you. Someone will jump at your vulnerability,” If court life had taught him one thing, it was never to let someone find your weakness. Show no fear, no pain, no love. If you did not have a weakness, it could not be taken advantage of.
“You are not wrong,” InuYasha validated with a soft sigh, finding it ironic that his someone that preyed on him was speaking those words to him, “Someone will, in fact most will… But not these guys. You can trust them, they aren’t… They are not your typical mortals.”
Sesshoumaru’s neck suddenly jerked as his hand lashed out, his poison whip shooting forth West of the pair. InuYasha flinched instinctively before his ears caught the squeal of a rat beyond the brush. Both inu stared while the whip disintegrated and the wind brought the scattering ashes towards them.
“That… Smells like that hydra…”
Sesshoumaru said nothing in response, the pain that was shooting through his nervous system in chaotic abandon rendered him silent as he lurched forward to meet the ground.
“Shit!”
InuYasha was panicking, in an out-of-body sort of way Sesshoumaru knew that, but instinctively his body curled tighter in on himself to lessen the agony, thankful to at least have been cushioned by his fur.
“Ah- I… Sesshoumaru? A-Are you okay?”
No, you idiot. Quite obviously I am not okay, He thought sardonically before closing his eyes. It was not InuYasha’s fault that he’d become as such. Truly, there must be something – some ironic twist of fate, that it was the hanyou that tended to always catch him at his worst.
“I’m ah- I’m gonna bring you to the others so-”
“No,” He pretended he didn’t notice the williowy, reed-thin quality to his voice.
InuYasha let out a strangled noise of frustration, looking wildly around them, “Look – we’re going back whether you wanna or not! I don’t know nothin’ about healin' nobody! Kagome is best for that!”
“InuYasha... No,” It was increasingly hard to sound threatening when this damned shortness of breath was corrupting his flow of speech.
“Fine! Fucking be a stubborn asshole, but I have to at least bring you closer. I can’t watch everyone so far apart!”
“I do not… require-”
“Oh, just shut up! Don’t - Just don’t say a goddamn word,” The hanyou snarled, sinking low to gather the other in his arms. His embarrassment at the predicament this action put the two of them in momentarily disappeared as Sesshoumaru hissed in pain.
“Kami, you’re fuckin’ heavy! Who in the hell needs this much armour when they’re as fuckin’ fast as you are? This is fucking stupid,” InuYasha raved, staving off the humiliation with flimsy insults as he slung his brother’s arm around his neck and gripped his hip, struggling to get the two on their feet.
“Then. Leave. Me.” Sesshoumaru clipped back, his tone strung tight with pain.
“Screw that, you’re already hotter than hell which is ironic considering your personality; I’d come back tomorrow and find you melted or somethin’! And there ain’t no way I’m cleanin’ up melted Inu Youkai!”
“Why, Inu... Yasha, I was… Unaware you so… Thought of me… That way,” I really must be delirious, Sesshoumaru thought as he maintained a flat mask while InuYasha pinned him with a flushed glare from the corner of his eye, This is not the time to be joking.
“That’s not what I meant and you know it, Asshole,” InuYasha responded, staggering as Sesshoumaru tripped them both up, “You pick a queer time to have a humour all of the sudden.”
“Always have,” Sesshoumaru puffed gently, “…Just quiet.”
“Keh. Right.”
The brothers caught up to the rest of the group, Sesshoumaru demanding that InuYasha leave him at the base of an elm nearby, close enough to hear but out of sight. Reluctantly, the hanyou consented, kneeling to rest his brother against the bark.
“I’m gonna go talk to Kago--” InuYasha narrowed his eyes as Sesshoumaru pinned him with a stare, “Oh lay off! I gotta ask her what to do and give you! You don’t understand, she has … well, stuff. A lot of stuff; in fact half of it I don’t even know the names of, but it is better than anything either of us are gonna be able to cook up or match on our own.”
“You’re not… Instilling me with… Confidence in you.”
“Yeah well, no surprise there,” He huffed, angrily pushing himself to his feet and stalking off.
Once again, Sesshoumaru despaired as InuYasha read his words incorrectly. Did he really need to spell it out for the hanyou when he was attempting to joke around? Or was he just not that humorous?
While Sesshoumaru contemplated his facitiousness, InuYasha returned to the group who turned all eyes on him upon arrival, sitting around a small fire.
“Where is Sesshoumaru-sama?! You ungrateful dog! You must’ve h—AHHHHHHH!!”
Rin and Shippou blinked, tracking the imp’s abrupt departure through the sky.
“InuYasha, that was unnecessary,” Kagome sighed, raising a hand to the bridge of her nose and pinching; he could’ve at least offered an explanation first.
“No time for him. Kags, I need to ask you some stuff.”
The miko lowered her hand, interest and question warring in her eyes as she before she got up to follow him into the surrounding brush, further from the group and further still from Sesshoumaru.
“What’s the matter, InuYasha?”
“I just… Well…” The hanyou averted his gaze, blood rising high in his cheeks. He could feel her watching him, making him feel self-concious and nervous. Taking a deep breath, InuYasha continued, “Fuck, I just… I think Sesshoumaru is reacting strongly to the poison that the fuckin’ dragon thing injected him with… And he’s still bleeding, but he doesn’t want you guys to help, and I’m not sure what I need, or if you have something, and--”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!! Slow down, Sesshoumaru’s poisoned?”
InuYasha snorted irritably, “Yeah, the jackass can barely fuckin’ stand.”
“But… But I just saw him… I mean, he was bleeding, yes, but otherwise…” Kagome trailed off as the half-demon began shaking his head.
“He was putting up a front… You’ve seen his wide range of expressions, is it truly that hard to believe?”
The future girl lips thinned with a thoughtful frown before slowly shaking her head. She honestly felt horrible that she hadn’t pushed the issue of letting her treat his wounds if he was that bad, though she knew InuYasha had no reason to lie, “Okay… The let’s see, you’re going to need some salve, bandages, anti-venom…”
InuYasha watched as she came to a slow realization, “InuYasha… You don’t - by chance - know how to hit a vein with a needle?”
InuYasha wrinkled his nose, immediately picturing himself stabbing Sesshoumaru in the arm with a sewing needle, “Why would I do that? C’mon Kagome, I’m tryin’ to fix ‘im, not cause more bleeding…”
“What? No, I mean…” Kagome signed, massaging her temples. Sometimes she had to stop and remember that the things which seemed so commonplace to her were but foreign concepts in this time, “It’s a very small, slim medicinal tool called a syringe. It’s kind of like a hollow tube. You inject the anti-venom straight into the blood-stream with it.”
“But you just said it was a needle?”
“Well yes, it's called a needle.” Loosely, anyway, She added in her mind.
“What? You called it a syrup a minute ago! Make us your damn mind, wench!” InuYasha snapped.
“A syringe is the hollow part on top that connects with a needle to inject medications, ‘needle’ itself has many definitions,” Kagome growled, her patience wearing thinner by the second. Why did InuYasha have to focus on something so insignificant right now when there was more important things at hand? And truly did he need to call her names?
“Feh! A needle is a needle, you sew clothes with it; even I know that, Stuuupid!”
That’s it. “SIT!”
Hn… The fireflies make for a nice ambiance… I wonder when the last time I sat back and appreciated my surroundings was… Sesshoumaru blinked slowly, turning his head and feeling as if he were moving underwater. Everything felt… Slow, and blurry. Almost as if it were dreamlike. No, more like a nightmare, he thought, forcing himself to straight-face through the wave of pain, thinking bitterly how he had needed his brother’s help to assist him in walking.
In the distance, he heard the miko’s shrill voice using the word of subjugation, and InuYasha crashing into the ground.
That would also be a nightmare, Sesshoumaru didn’t know why InuYasha would allow someone such control over him. If it were he, the youkai would’ve silenced the miko ages ago; even if InuYasha were to not kill her, just… Perhaps, cut her tongue out so she couldn't use that spell against him.
Subconsciously he realized he felt pain still, but that it was becoming more of a background annoyance. The inu raised his singular hand in front of his face, slowly clenching it into a fist, marveling as all of the muscle slid against one another to close his fingers, then opened it again and stared at his palm. Each line of his hand was a curvy road his eyes felt compelled to travel. Was his hand always this fascinating? Why had he never noticed before?
This was likely as good a time as ever to indulge in this newfound fascination.
And that was how InuYasha found his brother, furling his trembling fingers in front of his face like it was the best thing since ninja food.
“What… The fuck… Are you doing…”
“InuYasha… Look,” When Sesshoumaru’s eyes met his, he could tell he wasn’t all there.
The hanyou paused as his brother held his hand palm out towards him, “Yeah… It’s a hand.”
Sesshoumaru retracted his offering and broke eye contact, letting his palm drop heavily to the ground. He slow-blinked before shaking his head slightly, as if he were trying to clear his misty mind.
“Rrrrriiiiggghhhttt… Well, I got some shit here to help you, so you’re gonna have to cooperate with me.”
Plunking down cross-legged beside his sibling, he allowed his armful of stuff to clutter the grass beside him. Beside a tasuki sat a few mysteriously well-crafted bottles, and a big white box with a red cross.
“Give me your arm,” InuYasha stated, putting his hand out. He watched as Sesshoumaru looked to his palm with some semblance of interest before glancing away in dismissal.
“You did not want to see it before,” He responded recalcitrantly.
“Oh for fuck--!! Nggh! Look, I’m tryin’ to help, so gimme your goddamn hand before I rip that one off too!!” The hanyou reached forward and grabbed his wrist, using his other hand to push of the youkai’s blood-soiled sleeve up, tying it back with a tasuki.
“… I didn’t mean you.”
“What?”
Sesshoumaru blinked through the fog in his mind, why couldn’t he control his mouth? It was like he had no filter. He didn’t need to explain himself! But… But maybe he did. Then InuYasha would finally understand, right?

“Pathetic… I didn’t mean you.”
“…Oh,” How in the hell was he supposed to answer to that? Luckily, he didn’t have to.
“What’re you doing?”
Shit, did I just hear him slur? Sesshoumaru never slurs… “I’m going to give you an anti-venom, then bandage and clean what I can. Just trust me.”
Sesshoumaru was silent as InuYasha pulled another mysterious tie from the white box, it was like a rope, only stretchy; and as far as both of them knew, rope didn’t stretch much. He seemed to be contemplating something deeply as the hanyou tied the tourniquet just above his elbow.
InuYasha opened the white box, pulling out a syringe that Kagome had pre-drawn the anti-venom (Kami forbid if he had to figure out how to do it). Uncapping the needle with his teeth, InuYasha looked into Sesshoumaru’s blank face as the inu glanced to the sharp tip then met his eyes.
“I’m going to stick this in your arm, Kagome said it won’t hurt a bit,” InuYasha repeated before looking to his brother pale, pale forearm. He examined the junction of his elbow, finding the tourniquet doing it’s job well, and lowered his face nearly level as he slid the needle in.
True to his word, it hadn’t hurt in the least. The inu youkai watched his sibling compress the plunger slowly, feeling ice suddenly filling his veins, “That’s not fair…”
“Hmm?” InuYasha glanced up at the dejected tone, the plastic needle cap still hanging hilariously from his lips, “What ain’t?”
“That you expect this Sesshoumaru to… trust you, when the favor is unrequited.”
InuYasha withdrew the needle, pressing against the puncture with his thumb as he capped the syringe once more, tossing it back in the box. He contemplated his sibling’s words, feeling the harsh sting of truth in them.
“Maybe because… I’ve never had anything to gain… From helping you.”
Those were the last words Sesshoumaru heard before he sank into unconsciousness.
Naraku paced the length of the corridor for what seemed to be the umpteenth time, awaiting the right time to transfer the soul of the magi to the recreated body he’d formed of his own flesh. He squeezed the nearly completed Shikon no Tama tightly in his hand, smiling maliciously in thought, This! This will be the exact thing I need to get ahead of those inu brothers. She can keep them distracted while I find the last shard…
The castle in which he resided was a large structure for a nameless mortal lord in the far East. He’d stationed himself as far from the inutachi’s wandering path as he could, moving around time to time when they got too close. Not out of fear to be sure, just to avoid the nuisance of dealing with them face to face.
He’d been having as much luck as they had in the search for the last shard. He’d dismissed taking Kohaku’s shard yet as he knew where to find it whenever he wanted; as well it would not be hard to retrieve since he could still control the boy’s body to an extent.
“Kanna,” The hanyou turned as he felt the void of presence strengthen, his connection to her alerting him of her presence, “Take Kagura, retrieve the items needed for the ceremony.”
A young girl with silver spun hair nodded with an indifferent face, ink black eyes blank as she padded past him slowly. The cold mirror within her grasp would lead her to her sister.
When the destitute girl turned the corner and disappeared, Naraku reverse his path and continued towards his chambers in the borrowed house; his mind taking him into the past.
It had been approximately six months back when the abominable half-demon had first heard word of a spell-caster on the Eastern coast, one that had to power to rule but merely kept justice where she went, unremittingly refusing the offer of to be 'Lady' of the lands she resided.
He’d become intrigued.
Riko Kaguyama was a magi of great talent, she specialized in the dark arts, but was keenly aware of the balance of light and dark, good and evil, and though it could be said she’d toed the line more often than not, she had merely been indifferent to either side.
“What do you want of me, half-demon.”
“Heh, so you’ve been aware of my presence for a while then, the rumours of your power are proving legitimate,” Naraku cooed gently, unmasking his youki.
Riko scoffed, turning a cautious silver eye onto the demon, taking in his abominable mixture of limbs, armour, and clothes, “Truly. Are you making a mockery of me? You must be well aware that any priestess, monk, or magic user worth their weight in dirt can sense youki. Especially one such as… yours.”
“I would like to proposition you,” Naraku cut to the chase, narrowing his eyes while giving a small grin, “Join me. Together we could rule over this land, no one would stand in our way.”
“Do not take me for a fool,” Riko replied, turning her body towards the hanyou with a flat stare, forcing herself to not beat that pretentious look of companionship off of the hanyou’s face, “No one will rule by your side, you are not that kind of demon. You want supreme conquest, not just conquest – winning is not enough. Being stronger than all is not enough. You want to subdue, you want to enslave. Your aura tells me all I need to know and I will have nothing more to do with you.”
“Hmm, you can read all of that with a look?” Naraku grinned, his eyes darkening as he withdrew a shard of the tainted jewel, “Well. Whether by choice or force, you will help me take care of the dog brothers.”
Naraku opened crimson eyes and smiled eerily, from there it had been something of a struggle to force the shard onto her forehead. She’d fought valiantly as the rumours had stated, but only one with a completely pure heart can overcome the power of a tainted shard. She was now his. His to use, abuse, and dispose of as he saw fit.
There was a slight ripple of annoyance through him at that moment as Sesshoumaru destroyed the rat spectre that had been following them. With Kanna he could observe them through her mirror, but being just that – a reflection – he could not hear their words. The rodent had allowed him to hear what was going on when he chose to check in. He supposed he should be happy enough as it was that Sesshoumaru was fairly injured; he could always have Riko set another stalking incantation when she was tangible again.
He was lucky enough to have had the forethought of separating her soul from her body as he did his own, otherwise InuYasha and Sesshoumaru would’ve already disposed of his newest toy, and he hadn’t even gotten much time to play with it yet! The audacity.
His luck came through once again when the brother’s had dispatched the witch, they had not noticed the shard in her forehead; not without that miko wench – Kagome – to see it. Just one less shard he would have to retrieve from the group in the end.
And what an end it would be.
“I wonder what’s taking him so long…” Kagome mused, looking at the houshi and taijiya. Sango shrugged as Miroku frowned in thought and shook his head.
“Perhaps Sesshoumaru is giving him a hard time; you saw how reluctant he was to have his wounds bandaged,” Sango replied, glancing towards the sleeping figures of Rin and Shippou, curled in Kagome’s sleeping bag together, with Jaken sprawled hilariously on his back a couple feet away, snoring.
“Maybe,” Kagome agreed, but something still felt off.
“On another note – how weird is it that Sesshoumaru hasn’t killed anyone yet?” The taijiya looked to her friends who both nodded in agreement, “I mean, even in the past couple hours since he arrived I’ve heard serveral comments InuYasha made that would’ve at least received a disembowelment or two in the past– not that I’m complaining!”
“A testament to his injuries?” Miroku offered.
Both women looked stunned and suddenly concerned; Kagome abruptly burst out, “Kami, he must be dying then! I knew I should’ve forced him to let me see his wounds!”
They had a few chuckles before the young miko shook her head softly, “There’s more at work here. There’s definitely a whole portion of the story we aren’t aware of.”
“Well, let’s be honest… InuYasha is probably a little too stunned to know it, and Sesshoumaru is too dangerous to ask – on his deathbed or otherwise,” Sango pitched, earning a sigh of defeat from Kagome and a nod of agreement from Miroku.
“I wonder how long he was here before InuYasha left to help him retrieve his body … I never did ask,” The miko stated rhetorically.
“I wonder if what he told us is true – you know how bashful he gets about helping others,” Sango added.
Miroku grinned lecherously, propping his index finger and thumb around his chin and raised an eyebrow, “I wonder what he’s not telling us.”
That earned him a good conk from the demon hunter, “Hentai.”
“Kagome!” InuYasha’s voice reached the clearing a second before he did, a flash of red, white and black. It took the group of mortals almost a full second to realize he held Sesshoumaru draped over his back.
“I-InuYa-”
“I did everything you told me, I gave him the injection of anti-venom and he lost consciousness, about ten seconds after that he seized, and now he’s like this!” InuYasha cut her off, golden eyes wide and alert.
“Set him down!!” Kagome jumped to her feet, dashing over to help lower the youkai onto his back gently, immediately pressing her first two fingers to his jugular and shutting her eyes.
Thump, thump… Thump, thump.
She was discovering the trick to removing his armour in the next second, “His heart rate is low, but there. I need to see what his—Sssssssshh.”
There was a split second when both her and the hanyou hissed in sympathy as she peeled back his armour, the usually pristine white cloth beneath was soggy with blood, “There aren’t healing, why aren’t these healing…”
InuYasha ignored her musing, capturing the youkai’s moon-lit hair and smoothing it aside, out of the sticky, bloody mess of his body. He sniffed gingerly at the air, “Before he smelled like blood and poison, now all I smell is the blood, but it’s different…”
“Different how?” Kagome narrowed her eyes, taking a peek back the at hanyou before redirecting her attention to cleaning up the Western Lord’s person, trying not to think of how well-sculpted the body beneath her fingers was. She removed his blood-soaked haori, wondering where she should start first.
“It’s just… Missing something… Like… Like trying to make your mom’s soup, but forgetting the secret spice!” InuYasha compared despairingly, he could just... smell it, how did you explain sight to the blind?
“Okay, so you went over, gave him the anti-venom then… Oh my God, the anti-venom…”
Sango and Miroku picked up on Kagome’s dread-filled tone, immediately catching on to her idea.
“Yeah?! He was poisoned, of course I gave it to him!”
“No!” Kagome looked up at the hanyou, her eyes wide, “We gave him anti-venom…”
“Yes! I know! We’ve been over this!” InuYasha was beyond frustrated.
“You aren’t understanding!” Kagome snapped, “Sesshoumaru – he is a poisonous being himself! He makes a natural poison and attacks with it! It only stands to reason… that it’s part of his blood as well... Part of his being…”
Realization dawned on InuYasha, “We… Poisoned him… By un-poisoning him?”
“It’s possible…” The huntress piped up, glancing at the dog youkai’s recumbent form in thought, “No medication like Kagome’s exists in this time… So really there’s no counter measure… I think if we intentionally tried to poison him it would not have the effect we were looking for though.”
“Then… I’ve killed him…”
“InuYasha, no!” Kagome refuted, “It was a mutual idea, and I drew up the syringe and told you how to use it so it's not like you were alone in this! Do not try to shoulder something like that solely on your own! He will come out of this on the other end, and probably kick your ass for it too.”
Despite her attempt at making light of the current dilemma, InuYasha’s ears drooped low. He couldn’t die, especially not like this – this was not the kind of defeat InuYasha could live with. He’d always thought one of them would kill the other, but he’d always pictured himself dying – the hanyou, the unimportant one. Not the Lord of the Western Lands, the Daiyoukai, and not to something as simple as an anti-venom.
“I… I’ll finish.”
Kagome paused, looking back to her friend, her fingers tangled in the length of a bandage she was currently winding around Sesshoumaru’s stomach, “I-I.. Uh… A-Are you sure?”
“I can do it,” InuYasha mumbled back, slowly sinking down beside his brother. Guilt warred against confusion, self-directed anger, and concern inside him. Kagome nodded and held the rest of the bandage out for him to take.
Methodically, he bound the different puncture wounds on the inu’s chest and arm, feeling like he was making his brother into a bad rendition of an Egyptian mummy. He felt down the youkai’s legs, finding another bite to tie up on his right leg. InuYasha was blown away by the sheer amount of wounds he’d wrapped by the end.
How was he still standing through this?! He paused and perked his ears forward, closing his eyes and listening, Thump, thump. Thump, thump.
“His heart-rate is higher,” Kagome murmured his thoughts causing him to jerk out of his trance, finding her fingers on his neck once again.
“Don’t touch him,” InuYasha stated, shocking himself, Don’t touch him? What? Why the fuck not? He abruptly realized he was going to have to answer himself out loud as he registered the expression on Kagome’s face, “A-Ah, I mean… If he wakes up… D-Demons have a nasty chance of lashing out before being fully aware. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Nice! Fast thinking! InuYasha congratulated himself mentally as Kagome nodded slowly, coming to the conclusion that he was right, Now… Why did I say that in the first place.
Admittedly, he felt a bit better when she’d backed away to the fire once more, ignoring the groups eyes shifting from him to each other as he situated his brother against a tree; leaning his long body back against the puffy fur (which he knew from experience made for a nice buffer against the harsh scrape of bark).
“So… We just wait?” InuYasha needed confirmation that nothing else could be done.
“Unless you have fundamental power-generating secret, than … yes. Unfortunately.”
“Keh!” Life-giving secret? Yeah right.
“Thought so,” Kagome sighed.
Life-giv-Wait… Wait! Sesshoumaru was able to share youki with me! InuYasha noticeably perked, garnering Miroku, Sango, and Kagome’s attention with the movement, and then their short-following confusion when he flushed a deep scarlet.
“InuYasha?” Sango questioned, the hanyou’s ears drawing low. There was no way in hell he was telling them of the memory that had surfaced, nor was he about to attempt something (potentially sexual?) that he had no clue how to do with them watching.
“Dammit… He’s gonna be so pissed when he wakes up here,” InuYasha pretended to ignore the unspoken question, listening to the beat of Sesshoumaru’s heart; he would at the least wait until they were all asleep, “Well… Whatever. He’s here now, I’m here now; you guys should try to get some sleep.”
“I’ll stay up with you and –”
“No!” The hanyou interrupted Kagome, wide-eyed and slightly frantic, “I-I mean no, no that’s fine. All of you, get some sleep.”
Seemingly reluctant, InuYasha gave a silent sigh of relief when Kagome seemed to come to some sort of mental realization and nodded, pushing herself to her feet and returning back to Miroku and Sango’s side of the fire.
“Why… Why are you smirking?” He asked uncertainly, watching as the future girl smiled at their friends and nodded. Feeling even more at odds as Sango and Miroku smiled and nodded back, “The fuck? You all psychic now or what? Someone want to tell me what’s going on?”
“Nothing, InuYasha,” Sango gave that same warm smile Kagome was giving, “We’re all just deciding to go to bed, that’s all!”
“Yes, by all means, wake us if there’s anything anyone can do to help,” Miroku added.
“You’re all fuckin’ creepy.”
He blatantly ignored their snickering as they readied themselves to sleep, deciding to dismiss it as a ‘human thing’.
Sesshoumaru was still so pale, closer to normal now that his wounds had finally been swathed tight in futuristic cotton, but still beyond what it should be. He looked so much smaller without his fur and armour, and even more so without his haori, though there was no point putting that back on until it was clean.
I wonder if I can truly share my youki as well… InuYasha sucked his bottom lip between his teeth, What if I can’t? What if it’s only pure youkai that can do it? Feh, that would be the fuckin’ cherry on top. My sullied blood was too weak to kill him on my own, and is probably too weak to revive him too.
While he mulled silently, Miroku took a chance to peek at the hanyou; InuYasha seemed genuinely concerned for Sesshoumaru’s state of being. While this did not completely take him off guard, the depth in which he cared did. From the houshi’s understanding, all of InuYasha’s life his brother rejected him, denied him, beat him senseless, and then just began to merely dismiss him. He could see InuYasha being somewhat concerned for his kin, but something wasn’t adding up. What had happened on that trip that had changed InuYasha’s fundamental feelings? He was so curious he could barely contain himself.
“You got somethin’ to say, houshi?” InuYasha’s gaze slowly slid to his.
The predatory gleam he found there triggered some innate primal instinct in him to immediately avert his eyes, “Nope, nothing, not at all! Just g-going to sleep!”
“Thought so.”
“Heh heh…” The nervous laugh died off as Miroku laid down facing away from the hanyou, perhaps… he could probably contain himself a little longer. In effort to protect his wellbeing.
A/N: Alas, I did the best I could to update on time this week (obviously I failed). I am trying to set a two week limit but, well, besides making an intricate wood-burning as a secret santa gift (that took HOURS) and my sister have a child (which took even longer), this timing was the best I could do. I'm fairly certain my relatives are buying me a computer for christmas, which will be MOST excellent and well-appreciated so I can bring it around with me like before.
Once again, thank you to my frequent reviewers, I love you guys. It always makes me smile to read your reviews. I'm glad you guys are liking it so far. As I've stated before, this is going to be a long running fic- I myself am not certain where it's going to end as it's kind of writing itself (another reason it's taking longer than normal). I hope you all continue to be patient with me, and look forward to the next update! What's a bashful hanyou to do when faced with the task of attempting youki transferring with no knowledge on how to do it? Hehe, next chapter in ISYISM!
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In Saving You, I Saved Myself