InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Change of Heart - A Sesshoumaru & Inuyasha Story ❯ Monthly Meetings ( Chapter 2 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

True to his word, the night after the next New Moon, Sesshoumaru was at the Goshinboku. To Inuyasha’s surprise, he arrived right as the sun was dropping behind the mountains to the west. ‘I expected him to be here at night, not riding the Sun’s ass as it disappeared,’ he thought.

But it was okay, it wasn’t like Inuyasha had anything better to do. He’d been lounging in Goshinboku’s branches trying to think when he’d felt his brother’s aura. ‘Huh, I can tell I’m really getting tired of these villagers when I’m looking forward to seeing Sesshoumaru.’

Jumping down, he’d been waiting when Sesshoumaru had arrived.

“Good evening, Little Brother,” the Demon Lord greeted him.

“Hey Sesshoumaru. Uh, so…what’re we gonna be doing?” the boy asked. He’d not really thought about it, but what on earth was Sesshoumaru expecting to do during these times?

Sesshoumaru smirked and raised an eyebrow, and it made Inuyasha’s eyes widen. ‘He has facial expressions? Well, other than ‘pissed off’ or ‘disinterested?’ That made the Youkai smirk even more.

“Well, Otouto, come with me.” The Youkai started walking towards a hot spring that was about five miles from the village. Far enough that he would have Inuyasha to himself, but close enough that Inuyasha would be able to hear anything that threatened that pathetic village. He did not want Inuyasha to be distracted, thinking he had left them unprotected.

Inuyasha knew where the Demon Lord was headed; it was a hot spring he used often himself. In a way, he’d hoped to go even further, just to get away from the village and their dependency on him for a while. But this was okay too, so he just walked beside his brother quietly.

Sesshoumaru was surprised at his brother’s silence. He had expected him to talk as Rin did, a mile-a-minute. Why he had assumed that, he now did not know. Was it because of Inuyasha’s human blood that he had thought that? Maybe he should be trying to do this without any preconceived ideas.

He watched his little brother out of the corner of his eye as they walked. The boy had his hands tucked into the sleeves of his Fire Rat suikan, as usual. He was still barefoot, and Sesshoumaru realized he could never remember a time when he saw the boy wearing shoes. ‘And does he not have any other clothes?’ He had assumed before that Inuyasha always wore the robe of the Fire Rat because of the constant danger when dealing with Naraku. Now he was not so sure.

They arrived at the hot spring and set about building a fire and catching their dinner. Sesshoumaru was surprised and impressed at the quiet ease with which they worked together. They hunted and brought down a large deer together very quickly, with Inuyasha the one to score the killing blow. Bringing it back, they removed the hide, and then ate it raw.

Inuyasha seemed to enjoy the raw meat a great deal, and ate quite a large amount. ‘Does he not eat raw meat very often?’ He knew Rin had to have her food cooked properly. Perhaps the humans were not accepting of the Hanyou eating his food raw?

They ate in a companionable silence. The Youkai Lord’s mind was overflowing with questions now, and this was very unusual for him. He found himself more and more curious about his little brother.

Once finished, they both rose at the same time. “I was going to wash off, and was thinking about bathing. Do you wish to as well?” Sesshoumaru asked Inuyasha.

Inuyasha blushed slightly. He didn’t like anyone to see him naked. He knew he was disgusting because of his mixed blood. Knew it somehow made him look different, compared to those of pure blood of either species. How to explain that to Sesshoumaru?

“I, uh… I don’t bathe with other people. You go ahead, and I’ll wait here,” Inuyasha replied, sitting back down by the fire.

Sesshoumaru was surprised. Why would Inuyasha say this? Did this mean he truly never bathed around others? What did he do when his Pack was traveling together? More questions to find the answers to… For now he would not push, he would just go and bathe.

When Sesshoumaru returned to the fire, he realized that Inuyasha had cleaned the area completely of any blood and the remains of the deer. He then noticed that the rest of the deer meat had been bound in the hide, tied together, and secured high up in a tree away from predators.

Sesshoumaru admitted to himself that he was impressed. His brother’s InuYoukai instincts seemed to be strong and well-developed.

He sat down a short distance from the boy.

“Inuyasha, I find I am very curious about some things. May I ask you a few questions?” Sesshoumaru began.

“Curious, huh? That’s what you said before. So, yeah, go ahead ‘n ask. I’ll try’n answer them,” the boy replied.

‘Why am I not feeling confrontational?’ Inuyasha wondered to himself. ‘Normally, before, I could never have been this quiet and respectful around Sesshoumaru. It’s not a feeling like I’ve gotta ‘submit’ or anything, more like I remember the manners Mother showed me before she died. Maybe it’s because he’s treating me with respect finally… Whatever the reason, it’s kinda nice.’

Sesshoumaru was thinking thoughts very similar to his brother’s. “Well, Otouto, I suppose I should start with the questions I had in mind when I approached you last month. First, why do you continue to wear that tattered necklace Inuyasha?”

The Hanyou’s eyes widened slightly. That was not what he was expecting. No way was he going to admit his weakness and tell his brother that it couldn’t be removed; or that it was a kotodama that could control him with only a word.

“I guess it’s because it’s all I’ve got left of Kagome,” he answered finally.

“Ah, yes, I had noticed that I did not see or scent the miko near you anymore. Why is that? You both seemed close before Naraku’s death. Did you send her away?” Sesshoumaru asked.

“No, it certainly wasn’t my choice. It wasn’t her choice either.”

“I do not understand Inuyasha. If you both wanted to be together, then why are you apart?”

‘Well, shit, how am I supposed to explain the Bone Eaters Well to Sesshoumaru? Then again, it’s not like it’s still gotta be kept so secret…and he probably won’t believe me anyway,’ Inuyasha thought.

“Well,” Inuyasha began, “I guess before I say anything more, I’m gonna have to explain more about her and where she came from. Not quite sure how to start, so I’ll just say it.

“She wasn’t from ‘here’. Uh, she was from a different time, a time 500 years in the future,” Inuyasha stated calmly.

The look on that normally stoic face was just too much. Seeing Sesshoumaru’s eyes widen to a comic extent, and his jaw drop open in shock and disbelief before he could catch himself, sent Inuyasha off into a frenzy of laughter. He had rolled backwards and was trying unsuccessfully to contain his hilarity. ‘Kami! If I’d have known that telling him about the Well would get that look, I would’ve chanced it years ago!’

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes at the boy. “Inuyasha, I am disappointed that you would lie just to see my reaction,” he said coolly.

At the same time, the Youkai Lord could not help but think, ‘When he laughs like that, so unrestrained, he is a beautiful creature. If I am honest with myself, he is a beautiful creature even when not laughing; but his open innocence when he laughs is striking, and very charming.’

Even with his brother’s death-glare, it took Inuyasha another minute before he was able to stop laughing enough to speak. “Wasn’t lyin’. She truly was from the future. I mean, shit…didja’ never think anything strange about those stupid clothes she wore?” he asked, still snorting with laughter.

Well, yes, he had wondered about the miko and her strangeness, but… “Inuyasha, that is impossible. 500 years in the future, indeed,” Sesshoumaru chuckled to himself slightly, shaking his head.

This got Inuyasha smirking at his brother. “Are you kidding? We fought inside a giant spider floating in the sky in a cloud of miasma, whose body was way bigger inside than it was outside, and you’re gonna say anything is impossible?”

That stopped Sesshoumaru, and his eyes focused in on the boy. Was Inuyasha truly being serious? It would answer many questions about that strange priestess.

“Okay then, let us say I will suspend my doubts for a while. Tell me about this then,” the Demon Lord demanded.

“Well, it had everything to do with the Shikon no Tama. Remember that Well that disappeared as the fight with Naraku ended? You left before it reappeared…don’t blame ya’, it took us three fuckin’ days to get back, but anyway…

“At first, long ago, the Well was a place where humans put the dissected corpses of slain demons to be sure they couldn’t be revived. Go there now and you’ll see them all still, at least the ones near the surface at the bottom.

“Anyway, a female Centipede demon had died at the hands of demon-slayers while trying to possess the Jewel, and was put in there decades before, in this era.

“I won’t explain the entire back-story with Kikyo now, but Kagome was Kikyo’s reincarnation. When Kikyo died, she had the Jewel burned with her body. When she was reincarnated as Kagome 500 years later, the Jewel was inside her body without her knowing about it.

“On Kagome’s 15th birthday, she was near the Well in her time, and that same Centipede demon’s youki reacted because of the proximity of the Jewel. This demon revived and grabbed Kagome, dragging her into the Well, bringing her through it for the first time.

“That same night she arrived here was when she freed me from the arrow that had bound me to Goshinboku for fifty years. The revived demon was trying to kill her, and to save herself, she freed me so I could kill it. Only Kikyo could remove the arrow, but as her reincarnation, Kagome also had the power to remove it.”

Sesshoumaru had a thought, ’So this first priestess intended Inuyasha to be sealed for eternity?! It was only due to luck that he was ever freed?’ He did not voice this, but continued to listen to the fascinating story.

“Kagome and I were the only ones ever able to travel back and forth. Kagome because of the Jewel. Me? We always thought it was because she had me tied to her with the ros-…ah, this necklace. It’s probably a correct guess, but we’ll never know for sure.”

“Mattç Inuyasha, you went to the future too?” Sesshoumaru was shocked. (Enough so that he missed Inuyasha’s near ‘confession’ of the necklace being a rosary.) It would seem this would also explain the times his brother’s scent seemed to disappear completely. Those times that would leave him feeling strangely bereft.

“Well, yeah, ‘course I did,” Inuyasha said casually.

“But anyhow, to continue the story, right before Naraku died, he caused the Well to vanish from both this time and Kagome’s; you were there to see that. Remember that I had to open a meidô and go in to save her?” Sesshoumaru nodded, and Inuyasha continued.

“Crazy part about that was, once I was in the meidô, I could hear her family cryin’ for her from the other side…the future side, and we could talk to each other, even though the Well was gone and I was floatin’ in empty space. Fuckin’ strange, right? And in the meidô was crazy too…all the shit I had to deal with and figure out just to find her in there.

“Okay, so anyway, in the meidô, I finally found her. Then she made the ‘one correct wish’ on the Jewel, and it disappeared forever. Once that happened, Naraku disappeared too, and the Well reappeared. When that happened, we both were pulled through the Well and arrived in Kagome’s time to find her Mom, grandfather and brother crying beside the Well, thinking they would never see her again.

“She was cryin’ too, and jumped out and into her Mother’s arms. I didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye. Within seconds, there was this bright glowing light, and then I was being sucked back into the Well, to reappear here in this time.

“I think I was with her for that moment because we were holding each other when the Jewel disappeared and the Well reappeared. If we hadn’t been, I think it would’ve dragged us each back to our own separate times simultaneously. When she let go of me to go to her family, it was only moments before I got dragged back here.

“Since then, the Well hasn’t worked. I can’t go there, and I’m assuming she can’t come here. So that’s the reason we aren’t together.” His ears drooped so much that they nearly disappeared into his hair as he finished.

“I am sorry Inuyasha. I did not mean to make you relive a memory like that,” Sesshoumaru said sincerely. It was quite easy to see that this upset his brother. “But I can see now you have been telling me the truth. That is truly an amazing story. Sometime, I would like to hear all about the future, and more about the battles you fought in the meidô, if you would tell me.”

“Huh?” Inuyasha was shocked. ‘The Perfect Lord Sesshoumaru apologizing? For hurting my feelings? Is the world comin’ to an end or something? Perhaps Hell is freezing over…’

“It’s okay. And yeah, I’d tell you about the future and that stuff in the meidô anytime, just ask. Um, I figure there’s more you wanna ask right now, but can I ask you a favor first?” Inuyasha asked.

“Yes, you may.”

“Well, I’m kinda answering all the questions tonight. Maybe next time we meet, I can ask you some?”

Sesshoumaru was surprised, but also strangely complimented, to know Inuyasha was curious about him as well. “Yes, you may. The next time we meet, I will endeavor to answer all of your questions about me.”

“Alright then,” the Hanyou smiled. “So, uh, what else didja’ wanna know?” the boy asked.

“I did want to ask about your Pack. After Naraku, aside from the miko, what happened to the rest of the Inuyasha-Tachi?”

Inuyasha told him about the others, and Sesshoumaru continued asking mild questions long in to the night; about the new powers that Tetsusaiga had acquired before Naraku’s death, asking for the full story on each power he had gained. Questions about how the Hanyou protected the village, although not asking why he would bother to protect them, or how he was treated. Inuyasha answered them all, realizing that all these questions were ways for the Demon Lord to ‘get to know him’ better.

He’d even gotten him to promise he could ask some of his own next time. Not too bad a night, in Inuyasha’s mind. And it had been nice, just sitting and talking as equals, no hostility.

Both brothers truly enjoyed themselves that night. They departed the next morning with a bit more respect for the other than they had before; and they agreed that they would continue this, and see where it led.

~tbc

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(If you want the translations and kanji, just let me know. MM doesn’t support Japanese.) ;)
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