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And You, My Brother	By : Arianawray Category: InuYasha > Yaoi - Male/Male > InuYasha/Sessh?maru > InuYasha/Sessh?maru Views: 15027 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters, and I do not make any money from these writings.

Chapter List
- 8
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Chapter IX: If I do feign
Inuyasha sensed his presence first, detecting his familiar scent and youki from a distance early the next morning. But it was Rin, tending her patch of garden, who had the first glimpse of him.
"Sesshomaru-sama!" the girl's clear voice rang through their corner of the village, alerting everyone else in and around Kaede's hut to his arrival.
Inuyasha went to the door while the others remained behind the screen, inside.
Several villagers had already sighted the taiyoukai and gathered in small clusters up the lane to ogle him. He ignored them. He had become a more or less familiar figure to the people of this village because of his occasional visits to Rin, but he always presented a spectacular sight, with his imposing height, sweep of silver hair, pristine silk clothing paired with that massive roll of fur and intimidating armour that looked almost fantastical to the farming folk, the stripes over his cheekbones and wrists that seemed to them typical of predatory creatures, and the unworldly beauty of his face.
It was also the aura of power radiating from a physique which otherwise looked too slender to even stand up under all that fur, that captivated them.
Rin, likewise ignoring the gawking villagers, ran up to Sesshomaru and respectfully greeted him again: "Sesshomaru-sama!"
The light in her eyes and the smile on her face said all that needed to be said about how delighted she was to see him.
She never threw herself into his arms, or tried to touch him. Even in her moments of greatest terror in the past, when she had almost been killed and Sesshomaru had arrived to save her, she had never so much as clung to his hakama or haori sleeve in relief. She would simply run to him, stand near him with the full assurance that she was safe again, and the second he said "Come, Rin", would trot after him obediently.
Watching them from the doorway of the hut where he leaned against the frame, Inuyasha smiled inwardly to think how ironic it was that a child of nine or thereabouts who adored her guardian always had so much more restraint and dignity than he himself had lately possessed around Sesshomaru.
"Rin, I trust you are well?" the taiyoukai asked, looking down at the child craning her neck to gaze up at him.
"Yes, Sesshomaru-sama! I am very well, thank you." Rin had once always referred to herself in the third person, a quirk everyone guessed she had picked up from her guardian's former, arrogant habit of doing the same for himself. Fortunately, she had dropped the quirk, and now talked more like a normal child.
As they turned towards the hut, Sesshomaru raised his head to meet Inuyasha's eyes. Inuyasha looked steadily at him as he approached, not wanting his brother to think that he was still fragile, or that he was needy, and most of all, not wanting him to suspect for even half a second that he, Sesshomaru, had for the past ten days been unwittingly dividing up stage time with Kagome in the theatre of Inuyasha's mind.
He held up beautifully until Sesshomaru was fifteen feet away, which was when the taiyoukai's golden eyes slid smoothly from Inuyasha's face to his neck and down his body all the way to his toes, then back up again until their eyes locked. It took no more than a second, but it was a startlingly invasive once-over, leaving Inuyasha feeling as if he'd been undressed on the spot, appraised and assessed. What floored him most was that his assessor's eyes, normally so hard to read, seemed to say that they liked what they saw.
Mentally slapping himself and hurling at his body silent threats of immediate suicide if his knees failed him by going weak and exposing his shattered poise, the hanyou steadied himself against the door frame, and moved aside the hanging screen with his arm so that Sesshomaru and Rin could pass through into the hut.
They broke eye contact as Sesshomaru bowed his head so he wouldn't hit the top of the door frame, but his mokomoko brushed against the hanyou as he passed, sending a shiver through him.
** *** **
They were all indoors now, Sesshomaru, Inuyasha, Kaede, Miroku, Sango, Shippo and Rin. Sesshomaru seemed to fill the hut, and everyone gaped for a moment at the unusual sight of the taiyoukai inside a human dwelling.
Kaede broke the awkward silence. "Sesshomaru-sama, will you have some tea?"
"No, thank you," he said, and his deep, calm voice, too, seemed utterly out of place echoing within the humble hut.
Apparently conscious of the peculiarity of the situation caused by his entering Kaede's home and speaking politely to humans he had once despised, he remained silent for a few more seconds before saying to the elderly miko: "I have come to ask if I may take Rin out for the day."
"Of course, Sesshomaru-sama. It will be good for the child to spend some time with you."
"If Rin likes, Shippo can come along," he offered, looking at the girl, and Rin nodded enthusiastically.
The kitsune was startled. He had not realised that the taiyoukai even knew his name, or that he would ever deign to utter it if he did, and he sidled closer to Rin, unconsciously using her as a shield between himself and Sesshomaru.
"Will we see Jaken-sama and Ah-Un?" Rin asked.
"Yes," Sesshomaru replied. To the others present, he added: "I left them in the forest beyond the village. I did not want the villagers terrified by a dragon landing in their midst."
"Sesshomaru-sama," Miroku said respectfully. "May I ask if you have any news with regard to the apparition we have been trying to track?"
"That is another reason for my coming here today," he replied, looking at Miroku and Sango. "After I encountered you four days ago and learnt that you had been to the area north of here, I turned west. I myself have seen no sign of the apparition. However, the youkai contacts Jaken and I have spoken with have informed us that a demon may be involved in controlling it."
"A demon?" Miroku asked, surprised. "But our investigations indicated that such things are controlled by human witches and warlocks."
"That is so. But my sources have heard of a warlock who has mastered this obscure craft, and who works for a demon. Even this little information was available only because certain clans who briefly encountered such a human warlock some months ago detected the scent of youkai protection on him. It is unfortunate that none of them could identify what demon was associating with the warlock, except that it was powerful. We have thus deduced that the use of the apparition, which leaves no scent, is a means of further disassociating the demon from whatever is afoot, making it harder to trace."
"I understand," Miroku said. "If the demon uses only a human warlock to do its work, it can be tracked down through the human; but if the warlock in turn uses an apparition, it becomes almost impossible to find the demon."
"I don't like the sound of this," Inuyasha commented. "Why would a powerful youkai need a warlock to make potions for him?"
"That is the question no one has yet been able to answer," Sesshomaru said, turning a keen look upon Inuyasha that came very close to making colour creep into the hanyou's cheeks. "A strong youkai needs no potions to conquer its enemies in an honourable fashion. Claws and swords are all it should require."
"So it is up to something dishonourable," Miroku murmured thoughtfully, his ever-alert mind pondering the matter of the apparition while at the same time wondering why Inuyasha had lowered his eyes when Sesshomaru looked piercingly at him. The hanyou normally bristled, spoiling for a fight, in such instances.
Sango spoke up: "We had planned to move on to the villages west of here to keep looking into the matter. However, as you have communicated with your sources in that area, Miroku and I should perhaps go south."
"I would suggest that you cease your search for the time being," Sesshomaru advised. "I do not think we could find out much more about the nature of the apparition for now, nor can we locate its human and demon masters this way. May I propose instead that the houshi and miko use the knowledge they possess to find a means of trapping the apparition? Questioning it may be our best chance of finding out who controls it."
"It may not know who controls it," Kaede said. "It may simply be a thing that obeys orders without knowing what it does."
"Even so, it may reveal something that will give us a new lead," Sesshomaru replied. "We have learnt that it often appears near graves, battlefields and other places associated with death. If you find a way of containing it, share the method with other temples and shrines in the region – if one of them encounters it again and traps it, they can send word to you, and we can question it."
Miroku was aware of the significance of the moment: a proud demon who had previously regarded humans – and most other demons, for that matter – as less than the dirt beneath his feet was now politely asking them to work with him. "We shall look into possible ways of holding it, at least temporarily," he promised. "It may take us a number of days."
Sesshomaru nodded in acknowledgement, and to signify that the discussion was over. "Rin, shall we go?" he asked the child beside him.
"Yes," the girl said, and took Shippo's hand.
"I will bring them back here this evening," he said to Kaede.
The others bowed politely as he turned towards the door, but he paused halfway there, and surprised everyone with his next words: "Inuyasha, will you come with us?"
Inuyasha put on a nonchalant air and said with a casual shrug: "Yeah, sure." But the unconscious widening of his eyes and perking-up of his fuzzy ears were telltale signs of his pleasure at being asked along.
Sesshomaru let him, Shippo and Rin out through the door first, then stopped in the doorway and turned back to the other occupants of the hut to say, with a certain undertone in his voice that they would have sworn was as close as they would ever get to hearing Sesshomaru make a humorous comment: "I will return him to you by this evening too," as if Inuyasha were a child entrusted to him for the day.
Beyond the doorway, the hanyou scowled with embarrassment, but his eyes remained unclouded.
Miroku observed the scene before him with interest, and stepped out of the hut to stare after them as they walked towards the forest behind the village where Sesshomaru had left the dragon.
He moved the disparate bits of information around and around in his mind until they suddenly clicked into place, and the monk's eyes widened in astonishment.
"Ahhhh," he murmured knowingly, his twinkling eyes switching between the red-garbed hanyou and the pale taiyoukai disappearing into the forest. "So that's Lord Venison."
** *** **
Shippo and Rin tormented Jaken all morning with their teasing and games, tearing around the meadow Sesshomaru had directed Ah-Un to fly them to. An out-of-the-way spot far from human settlements and the home bases of youkai clans, it was a quiet area that provided more than enough to entertain the young ones, let Ah-Un doze, and drive Jaken berserk.
Rocks for hiding places, flowers to pick and make posies of, a stream to play in, drink at and catch fish from, and gentle slopes to roll down – it was a perfect children's playground, and every kappa babysitter's nightmare.
"How do you find all these places?" Inuyasha had asked in amazement upon first landing in the meadow that morning.
"It helps to be able to fly," Sesshomaru answered matter-of-factly.
"No kidding."
It seemed like the perfect time and place to say so much more, and yet, the time did not seem right. Instead, Inuyasha remarked: "I'm surprised you'd want to take Rin on an outing when you're busy looking for the demon behind the apparition."
"I've done all I can for now, and I've neglected Rin long enough."
Mid-morning, and they still weren't talking about anything other than the children. Rin had expertly caught several fish from the stream for a snack, clearly retaining the survival skills she had been forced to learn while in Sesshomaru's protection.
"You sure didn't spoil that girl, did you?" Inuyasha asked his brother, while watching her herd and scoop out the fish, then take them to Jaken so he could cook them.
"No. She had to be able to take care of her own basic needs, as I knew I would often be away from her. But I should have fed her better at those times when she had nothing to forage for except fruit. I should have hunted animals to give her meat."
"You didn't know anything about caring properly for a human child back then. All things considered, I think you did a decent job."
More silence followed as they watched Shippo, Rin and Jaken fuss over the fire they were building on a pile of stones.
Now, in the late morning, he and Sesshomaru stood in the shade of the trees, watching Jaken dash about in a frenzy, the victim of some incomprehensible, improvised child's game of catch-plus-hide-and-seek.
Inuyasha waited till the sun was high in the sky to call out to Shippo and Rin: "Hey, get into the shade now, you two. I don't want you to fry. Kaede will have my hide for that. Look, I just went over to the other edge of the forest and found some pears you can eat to cool down. Come on, don't make me go out there and get you!"
But of course that was just what they wanted him to do, so he bounded into the field. Rin squealed and Shippo laughed as he caught them, one under each arm, and carried them under the trees where he dropped them on the grass.
He and Sesshomaru sat down beside them while they munched on the fruit, which Inuyasha also ate, and Sesshomaru declined. Shippo was still intimidated by this strange, sociable new side of a Sesshomaru who wasn't trying to kill him, and made sure that either Rin or Inuyasha sat between them at all times. Fortunately for his nerves, the taiyoukai seemed content just to watch Rin enjoying her day out away from her village chores, and did not try to speak to him.
When they had eaten the pears, Inuyasha told them: "Now for heaven's sake, lie down and rest before you collapse from exhaustion. Jaken certainly has."
Indeed, the kappa was slumped against Ah-Un's flank, out like a light.
The young pair continued giggling and teasing each other for a while, tossing fruit seeds and cores at each other from where they lay under the trees; but after a few minutes, the warmth of the day got to them, and they dozed off at last, covered in grass stains, fish scales and pear juice.
Shaking his head, Inuyasha muttered: "I'm going to have a real job cleaning them up this evening."
Sesshomaru looked at him appraisingly and said: "You make a much better guardian to young ones than I do."
"Ha. If Kagome heard you say that, she'd kill herself laughing. You have no idea how often she's got on my case for hitting Shippo – she used some weird term for it – 'child abuse', I think. Although the fact that he's full youkai and heals in zero time probably helped shut her up."
"It is good that you can now think of the miko without upsetting yourself."
Casting a glance at Sesshomaru, Inuyasha said: "I miss her, hot temper, sits and all, and I want her with me. But things are the way they are, and I'm not going to lose my mind over it until something practical can be done – isn't that what you beat into me eleven days ago?"
"Been counting the days since we last met, have you?" Sesshomaru asked, almost archly.
It hit too close to the truth for Inuyasha to avoid the creeping of colour into his cheeks. Sesshomaru had filled his mind for days, but Kagome hadn't left his thoughts at all either. It was bewildering: his desire for Kagome seemed to be coexisting tolerably with his fascination for all these intriguing new ways in which he and Sesshomaru were interacting – entirely unlike his previous inability to harmonise in any way whatsoever his love for Kikyo with his love for Kagome.
"Is this your way of distracting me from obsessing over Kagome?" he demanded. "And what was with that absolutely filthy look you gave me this morning in the village, anyway…?"
Sesshomaru, lifting a finger to his lips and indicating the sleeping children and kappa with a fractional turning of his head, warned him to lower his voice.
Sniffing the air and pricking up his ears, Inuyasha was relieved to find from their scents and the sound of their heartbeats that they had not been disturbed by his raised voice, and remained fast asleep.
Speaking more softly, he continued: "What are you doing, Sesshomaru? Trying to replace my obsession with her with an obsession with you?"
"No. I did not say you should forget the girl. When she returns, if she returns, she will be your mate. You should not forget her."
"Then what's all this about? Wanting to protect me is one thing; practically undressing me with your eyes is something else."
"Why would I need to undress you with my eyes when you voluntarily undress in front of me to jump into pools?"
"You –" Inuyasha spluttered. "You know what? I think you're just messing with my head. This is some kind of elaborate, long-drawn-out plan for revenge, and you're getting your kicks enacting it."
He contradicted his words, however, by staying put instead of stomping off to the other end of the meadow, and further contradicted them by not objecting when Sesshomaru reached out and fingered the ends of his hair.
"You got a thing for my hair?" he asked sulkily. "Might as well fondle your own, you know – it's a lot prettier, after all."
"And where would the fun be in that?"
"So this is all just fun for you?"
"No," Sesshomaru said, and withdrew his hand.
Oddly, that made Inuyasha feel slightly guilty, as if he might have offended Sesshomaru, when heaven knows it was Sesshomaru who had been molesting his tresses.
"Look, I –" he began, and broke off, exasperated, not knowing what he had been about to say.
Sesshomaru waited to see if he would continue, and when he did not, the taiyoukai said: "May we say for now that we are both working this out along the way? Be patient. I am not asking you or myself for answers or decisions we cannot give or make as yet. Just be with me and bear with me until we both know what we are doing."
"You don't know what you're doing? I never thought I'd hear you say that."
"I know that the more I see of you, the more I like what I see. That is what I know at this point. I am still examining the rest of it."
Inuyasha remained silent, pondering the proposition, his head still full of questions.
Sesshomaru watched him and waited, then lifted his left hand and stroked Inuyasha's face with the backs of his fingers, but the hanyou gripped his wrist with his own hand and stopped him from continuing with what he was doing. Sesshomaru gave him an inquiring look, only to see Inuyasha glancing over to where the children lay – Rin was showing signs of stirring, although she had not opened her eyes.
"Not in front of the children, Sesshomaru," he said with a gentle smile that communicated to his brother the message: Yes, I'll be patient; yes, I'll bear with you, even as he felt a bit like Sango reprimanding Miroku for his public displays of affection.
Sesshomaru obediently kept his hands to himself for the rest of the afternoon.
- 8
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And You, My Brother