InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Cursed ❯ Hey bro... ( Chapter 2 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

A/N: I love it when people are nice to me!! thank you so much my_perversities,  DarkAngelJudas, pumpkinpi, and Nikkie23543; you guys rock harder then Rock Hudson! (I really don't care how lame that may or may not have sounded)

Chapter one was originally supossed to be longer but I just decided if I didn't get it out now then I would never write this story. So, really, just consider this chapter to be chapter one: part two.

One more thing: I will totally finish this story!! One thing I hate more then anything else is when I get really into a fic and then the author either forgets about it or just abandons it! Not only is it irritating, it's just rude. So, I promise that as long as somebody wants to read this story, I will keep writing until it's done.

'thoughts'

“speaking”



Chapter 2: Hey bro....





Inuyasha had already sent Kilala back to the others and was currently sitting on the step leading farther up into Kaede's hut, silently staring down at Sesshomaru laying at his feet. Kaede had gone into the forest to get some herbs that would, hopefully, make the antidote to what ever poisoned the demon lord, leaving Inuyasha to the task of cleaning all his brothers wounds before she got back.

Inuyasha managed to strip him, leaving a blanket over the youkai's more private parts, with out any problems...then it came to the actual task of cleaning him. He'd been sitting there, next to a bowl of warm water, holding a wet cloth for almost five minutes now and still hadn't even started.

'What. The. Fuck.'

He sighed, put his elbow to his knee and rested his head in his clawed hand, frustrated and utterly perplexed at his own sudden bought of shyness.

'GOD! It's not like this is the first time I've ever seen a naked man before! It's not even the first time I've ever seen a naked Sesshomaru so what the hell is wrong with me?'

Inuyasha let his eyes travel to his sleeping brother, starting at his head and working his way down. He'd tied Sesshomaru's hair up at the top of his head to prevent it from getting any more tangled then it already was.

'He looks good with his hair up...'

Now, that thought was almost enough to surprise him (almost). Inuyasha had learned a long time ago that it was just pointless to fight the facts: Sesshomaru was beautiful, plain and simple. He would be able to sell ice to a penguin with nothing more then a smile (if he even could smile). The truth of the matter was that Inuyasha had thought's like this every time he ran into his brother even when he was little; he had long since accepted them as simply inevitable and moved on, refusing to spend more time wondering about it. They had even become some what of a comfort; those small random thoughts that just popped into his head whenever they felt like it were the one constant thing he had in his whole life.

Inuyasha gave a mental sigh and continued his tour of Sesshomaru's person with his eyes. He moved down to the youkai's face, taking some extra time memorizing the markings on his brothers eyes and cheeks and that perfect crescent moon on his forehead. Inuyasha had always admired those markings and even remembered once when he was little trying to use his mothers makeup to paint them on himself.

'I was an odd kid...'

He moved on to Sesshomaru's neck and shoulders, paying particular attention to the left one. Looking a little closer he finally realized what had been bothering him about it; it wasn't just a really nasty gash like he had originally thought, it looked as though something very large and powerful had skewered Sesshomaru straight through his shoulder and clean out the other side. It wasn't so hard to figure out what and who had done that. His chest wasn't much better with three large gashes on the right side of his waist and one huge one leading from the hole in his left shoulder and ending down past his belly button. Aside from the bigger wounds, the rest of the demons body was covered in large bruises and an endless amount of smaller cuts and scrapes Inuyasha guessed he had gotten while running through the forest before bumping into him and his pack.

'Damn Sessh. What the hell could have happened that you actually had to run away? You never run away from a fight; you fucking get off on killing people!'

Just the thought of how bad it must have been for his elder brother to have no other choice but to run made him flinch a little. To him, Sesshomaru was just about the definition of indestructible.

Besides the injuries, Sesshomaru was literally covered in a layer of dust and grime. Inuyasha looked to the cold, damp cloth in his hand with disdain

'Even demons can get infections if their wounds aren't cleaned... damn.'

He sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time and put the small towel in the bowl of water, getting it wet and warm again.

Just do it and get this over with you wimp! Think for once; The longer you put it off the worse Kaede's gonna get pissed.'

A shudder ran up Inuyasha's spine at the thought. The last time Kaede got really pissed at him she almost took his ears off, literally. She might be plump and stumpy and older then dirt but god help the fool that's stupid enough to invoke the wrath of that old woman.

Inuyasha suddenly became filled with a certain sense of determination as he snatched the cloth up from the water and finally began to clean the mess that was his big brother. He decided to start safe and focused intently on cleaning the massive wounds adorning Sesshomaru's chest of any sort of debris. Wonderful timing as well as Kaede came walking through the doorway not two minutes later with a basket full of roots and herbs and other items unfamiliar to him. She stepped right past him, grabbed her mortar and pestel and got straight to work grinding up the stuff she brought back with her with some medicine she already had.

It was irritating to say the least; when Inuyasha had come barging into her hut, carrying his brother in his arms, demanding that she help him she completely ignored his outburst and calmly asked what was wrong. He set his brother on the floor gently while telling her all of what he knew plus what had occurred on the ride to the village; Sesshomaru began to sweat, his heart started beating so fast he could barely ditinguish one beat from the next and by the time they landed next to her porch the demon was hardly breathing and had a horrible temperature.

Inuyasha had been freaking out!

Kaede took a few moments to examine him. First she looked at the wounds on his chest and abdomen, then she looked into his eyes and for a moment she seemed a little surprised about something but quickly hid it. Inuyasha watched with bated breath as she got up, grabbed something from her many shelves full of ready made medicines and quickly knelt back down beside Sesshomaru. She pulled the cork out of a small glass vile, waved it under Sesshomaru's nose for a few seconds and then checked his eyes again. She then looked very closely at his tongue and cloths. It didn't take long before she had an idea of what was wrong with him and Inuyasha knew it.

Inuyasha just naturally assumed that she would tell him what was happening. After all, Sesshomaru was his brother so he had every right to know. But then, Kagome did always say that “a persons patience will be rewarded” so he figured all had to do was wait a little while and then the old bat would tell him what the hell was going on. He fast realized how very wrong he was as all she did was grab a basket and walk out the door with an order for Inuyasha to clean up the wounds before she got back.  

He was pissed!

Now she was back and she still wasn't telling him anything! Needless to say, he was getting tired of it. To be honest, he would have just left it alone seeing as she was actually trying to help. He would have just continued to silently seethe at being left out of the loop and kept his concentration on the task he was given...if it hadn't been for the small pained moan he heard slip passed Sesshomaru's lips when he began cleaning the one large gash going down his chest. Inuyasha pulled away instantly, a little scared to continue and hurt the bigger demon any more then he already was. 'Alright, now I have to know what the fuck is going on.'

“Are you gonna tell me what's wrong old woman?” She ignored him. He let out a fierce growl at which Kaede finally looked up only long enough to notice his cease in movement. Kaede added a small piece of some kind of root to her morter and, in an almost bored voice, replied.

“Inuyasha, unless ye intend to be completely useless I suggest ye start disinfecting your brothers wounds.”

“What did you just--”

“AS I SAID...” she nearly shouted, cutting off his furious rant before it even began. “if ye are going to just sit there, asking stupid questions and preventing me from doing my work, then ye can go wait out side. If ye wish to be productive then shut up, take that salve in the jar by the door and start spreading it on the wounds to prevent infections.”

If it had been anyone else, Inuyasha would have either kept arguing or just beat the shit out of them until they came around to his way of thinking. But this was Kaede; he probably knew her better and longer then anyone else in the village and one thing he knew about her was that she was just as, if not more, stubborn the he was. She wasn't going to tell him anything until she was good and ready and he knew that. Something else he'd learned over the years was that she was a woman of many secrets and to be perfectly blunt about it, Inuyasha wasn't entirely sure he could take her in a fight.

So for once he bit his tongue, dropped the blood stained cloth into the basin and walked over to the door to retrieve the jar. He completely missed Kaede's role of the eye and the small smirk adorning her face when she heard him mumble something about bitchy old hags thinking they can tell him what to do.





Kagome, Miroku, Sango, Shippo and Kilala all arrived in the village about four hours later.  Inuyasha, sitting outside by the door, was the first to see them dragging themselves into the village absolutely exhausted; they all decided to skip the break in favor of getting back sooner and now their feet were paying the price.

The moment they reached the porch of Kaede's hut several things happened simultaneously: Kagome threw her gigantic yellow bag to ground at Inuyasha's feet, Miroku gripped his staff for dear life to avoid simply falling to the ground, Sango did the same with her Hiraikotsu as Kagome leaned on the demon slayers shoulder with Shippo draped over her arm, sleeping. Even Kilala was tired as she just walked up the steps to lay down by the half demons leg.

Inuyasha couldn't blame them for being this ragged; he knew exactly how far it was from where they were to the village and the fact that they made it back in just under four hours actually impressed him a little; he hadn't actually expected them back until well after dark or even early the next morning and yet here they were, just a few hours after noon.

'They probably rode on Kilala for half the way but still, it's pretty impressive.'

But getting the chance to look them all over while they caught their breath for a while, only one thing came to his mind:

“You guys look like shit.” Kagome and Sango both managed to snap their eyes open and gave a glare that most certainly promised death in the very near future for a specific hanyou.

“Inuyasha...” Kagome growled at him in a whisper, scrunching her nose a little bit in absolute rage. Inuyasha instantly regretted having said anything and mentally reminded himself that in the future, it would be best if he didn't say the first thing that popped into his head without thinking about what might be the result of doing so. As it was he barely had the time to brace himself for the inevitable.

“SIT SIT SIT!”

By now everybody was so use to this kind of thing happening that no one even flinched when a loud boom resonated through the village followed by an equally loud yell. Sango looked away from the slightly whimpering hanyou, face down on the hard wooden floor of the porch, and over to her friend. “Couldn't have said it better myself.” Kagome nodded her agreement. “care to take a soak in the river with me?” Kagome didn't even hesitate grabbing her soaps from her bag and, still holding Shippo, followed Sango as she lead the way. The thought of a nice soak in the river after such a hard, and strange, day was very appealing.

This however presented a serious problem for Miroku. On the one hand he was absolutely exhausted and just about ready to collapse where he stood. On the other hand... beautiful naked girls soaking in the river...is there really any need for more of an explanation? He was torn, looking back and forth between Kaede's porch and the path Kagome and Sango had taken. Eventually his aching muscles won the war; he released a disappointed sigh and dragged himself up the steps to the porch to plop down with a thud next to Inuyasha.

The hanyou had finally managed to pull himself up off the floor just as Miroku sat down at his side and began mumbling obscenities at the absent miko. He soon crossed his legs, returned his hands to his sleeves and put his back to the wall of the hut. Miroku looked over to the half demon, mimicking his position.

Inuyasha and Miroku had become very good friends over the past few years. It had taken quite a while but somehow Miroku had managed to worm his way into Inuyasha life. Now, it was like they had known each other forever. It was because of this closeness that Miroku was able to tell when there was something seriously bothering his friend. He just had to look at Inuyasha and he started to get a bit nervous himself.

At the moment Inuyasha was subconsciously jiggling his foot up and down, it was a tell tail sign of anxiety for him. He was glaring intently at a the floor in front of him as if he thought if stared long enough it would tell him the secrets of the world. Yes, these were small things but they only ever happened when there was something bothering him and not just a little. Inuyasha described it as when something just wouldn't leave his mind alone and kept nagging at him until his nerves were basically shot. Usually, what ever it was that was causing Inuyasha and the group any sort of stress was either destroyed or no longer any sort of problem before they had any time to start worrying about it.

'He must be even more worried then we thought.'

Miroku turned away to face out toward the forest but every so often he would cast a fleeting look to the side to check on his friend. As the minutes slowly passed in complete silence Inuyasha just seemed to be going farther and farther into his mind; at one point, Miroku began to wonder if he even remembered the monk was there.

After a while he finally decided to end it.

“So,” the monk calmly glanced to his left. Apparently Miroku was right in his earlier assumption; Inuyasha jerked and snapped his head up to face the houshi so fast it was a surprise that his neck was still in one piece. “How is Sesshomaru?” There was a slight look of shock on his face for the briefest of moments before it was replaced with the usual indifferent gruffness everyone was so familiar with. Inuyasha's voice was a low rumble as he answered.

“He's not dead,” Miroku could detect a certain amount of indignity in his words. He could feel left over guilt from earlier that day resurface, thinking Inuyasha was still upset about earlier. He waited expectantly the him to continue. When nothing else was said, Miroku took the opportunity to ask Inuyasha about something that had been bothering him for a few minutes now.

“Hey, what are you doing sitting out here anyway? I would have thought you'd be in there with Sesshomaru.” A low growl came from Inuyasha's throat. Miroku could have sworn he hear the man growl out something about bitchy old hags and secrets. Something suddenly clicked in Miroku's mind as he put two and two together. “She kicked you out, huh?” Apparently that was the right thing to say (or maybe the wrong thing to say, depending on how one looked at it); he couldn't even finish his sentence before Inuyasha cut him off.

“STUPID OLD BITCH WOULDN'T EVEN TELL ME WHAT THE HELL WAS WRONG WITH HIM!!! He's MY brother, I have a right to know what's going on but nooo! And then, not only does she not tell me what's wrong, she goes and KICKS ME OUT!”

Miroku couldn't stop the small smile that came over his face at the sight of Inuyasha, over excited with arms flailing about, his cheeks turning all red as he explained his situation. It made Miroku feel somewhat privileged; the hanyou didn't behave like this around anybody else, expressing his emotions and thoughts so flamboyantly, it was just Miroku.

Miroku watched as Inuyasha quickly became an eerie sort of calm, resting his arms on his crossed legs and tilting his head down in a threatening slant.

“If you ask me, I think that old hags should just DIE and stop COMPLICATING EVERYBODY ELSE'S LIVES!” his voice become progressively louder with every word until he was practically shouting at the bamboo mat covering the door to Kaede's hut.

Quick as a whip Kaede replied in an almost lazy manor. “Maybe a certain half breed should not have annoyed the 'old hag' trying to save his brother and preventing her from concentrating on her work.”

“What?!” The overexcited hanyou jumped to his feet. “Why don't you come say that to my face you fucking - ” Inuyasha paused when he heard something strange, almost like a small snicker coming from behind him. He looked down at the monk sitting by his feet, instantly taking notice of the hand placed loosely over his mouth and decided to redirect his anger for the time being. “What the fuck are you laughing at houshi?”

Said houshi managed to muster up his “serious” face and looked Inuyasha right in the eyes. “Absolutely nothing.” Miroku wasn't stupid enough to assume the simple statement would alleviate the obvious feelings of insult and disdain that had been building up inside him but at least the distraction would pull him away from his anger long enough to at least semi-calm down and not full on attack Kaede. Really, with how worked up he was it wouldn't be that much of a surprise if he simply assaulted the first thing that moved.

“Damn straight 'nothing.'” Inuyasha looked back to the door of the hut and, just as Miroku thought he would, decided to let it go for the time being. He resumed his position on the porch between Miroku and Kilala, who was now sleeping soundly not bothered in the least by all the commotion.  

Miroku sighed, his shoulders slumping. It was once again quiet and, looking over to his friend, he decided to let it stay that way for a while. All the previous signs of stress and anxiety were gone and Inuyasha was now almost half as relaxed as he usually looked. Miroku knew it was all an act though. Inuyasha had told him once that no matter how calm or relaxed he looked, he was always stressed or anxious about something. There was never a calm moment for him, always being on guard, he just never let the others see it.

'At least the atmosphere isn't as tense as before.'

With that thought Miroku let his head fall back to rest against the wall, closed his eyes and let the corners of his lips curve upward to a serene smile. He was happy he'd managed to bring his friend out of the funk he was in even if it was, as Miroku knew all too well, only temporary.

It was only moments before he began hearing the thump thump thump of Inuyasha's foot hitting the porch again and sighed in idle frustration. With nothing to distract him, it was obvious Inuyasha was beginning to get lost in his thoughts again.

'Maybe silence was not the best idea...'

Miroku knew first hand how wrapped up in his thoughts Inuyasha could get if left to his own devices. Contrary to what the rest of their little group of misfits thought, the hanyou was actually a very complex person and had a tendency to over worry about almost everything.

The two men, despite a rather bumpy start (what with Miroku having kidnapped Kagome and stolen their jewel shards and all that), got very close over the years. It took time but eventually Inuyasha came to trust him enough to start telling Miroku a few more personal details about himself.

After being so alone for so long, having no body to talk to but himself and still just a young child, Inuyasha's mind began to wander. Given the situations he was in most of the time for most of his childhood, it was no wonder that he couldn't very well stop himself from constantly thinking the worst was going to happen. There was, literally, danger around every corner and he used most of his time imagining what that danger was going to be. Inuyasha had spent most of his days running away or hiding. The few moments of peace he did have were ruined by the thoughts running through his head of what might happen if he took one more step and what kind of creatures would catch him if he didn't.

These were things Inuyasha thought of all the time regardless of the situation, it was just that most of the time they all had something to do that he could use as a distraction. That was why he enjoyed fighting somethimes; he didn't have to complicate things with thought when he was fighting, he just had to survive.

Miroku knew this time they had on their hands right now wouldn't last all that long; it never did. When Sesshomaru woke up and they found out what had happened, it was likely that they would end up going on some new  and dangerous adventure.....

'When Sesshomaru wakes up...oh dear.'

What were they planning on doing when he woke? It was that chilling thought that brought Miroku out of his trance. Well, he had been planning to try and distract Inuyasha from whatever was plaguing his friends mind and this would be an excellent topic to start with.

Inuyasha was currently sitting with his arms tucked into his sleeves and back against the wall. His brows were scrunched together in deep meditation as he stared at that same spot on the porch. Miroku subtly cleared his throat, attempting to gain Inuyasha's attention but apparently he was buried too deep in his own mind. He cleared his throat again, this time being much more loud and obnoxious about it. Again, he failed. Finally he sighed in frustration.

'All right, if that's how you want to play fine.'

Miroku huffed, straitened his back, and readied himself for the possibility of having a very angry half demon on his tail. He took hold of his staff in one hand, stood it up straight right in front him, gave it the slightest of nudges and casually watched as it fell toward his oblivious friend.

The gentle sound of the golden rings jingling as they fell through the air was the only warning a certain he had before Miroku's staff made a painful connection with his head, bouncing off to land on the floor between the two men.

“GAAHH! What the hell, man!” Inuyasha cried out from the unexpected blow to his temple. His hands shot up to massage the throbbing lump between his ears, wincing when his fingertips made contact. “That hurt...” He grumbled under his breath and glared at Miroku threw squinting eyes when he reached down to pick up his staff.

“So sorry my friend; I wasn't paying attention.” Miroku rushed through his “apology” with one of his trademark charming smiles. Inuyasha looked at him in irritation and bewilderment; it never ceased to amaze him how the houshi always managed  to look so damn innocent while still being so completely guilty.

He scoffed, knowing perfectly well the bump on his head was no accident. Miroku did that sort of thing any time he felt like he needed to drag Inuyasha back to reality. He wouldn't tell the monk but most of the time he was somewhat grateful. Inuyasha really didn't like that he could get so distracted that people could walk right up to him and he wouldn't even notice. When he was younger he came to learn just how dangerous it was to not pay attention and trained himself to keep as busy and alert as possible. Unfortunately, with Miroku around most of the time to draw him out of whatever stupor he might be in, Inuyasha began to fall back into very bad old habits.

'Gonna have to work on that... Later.'

Inuyasha sighed and was about to take his eyes away from the “innocent” monk when something  strange caught his attention; When the group had just arrived Miroku looked like his face was flushed. Inuyasha hadn't thought much of it seeing as how exhausted everybody was. It should have gone away after a few minutes but his face was still just as red as before. Getting a better look Inuyasha realized that what he thought was a flush was actually the evidence of Miroku's attempt to make their little trip back a more interesting. It was obvious he must have made the return trip very interesting for everyone because his face was just about beaten raw. Inuyasha just smiled to himself and turned away.

He was currently a little to preoccupied with other things and didn't really feel like giving Miroku a hard time... yet. He had a feeling there would be plenty of opportunities for that later. Besides, he had some plans that definitely needed some fine tuning before they were set into motion that night.  

To Miroku, it was just a little unsettling that he didn't have a large bump on his head much similar to the one Inuyasha was currently attempting to sooth. It was not, however, so perturbing that he felt the need to draw any attention to it; perhaps Inu was too distracted to worry about pounding the monk just yet and if that was the case then he really felt no need to bring it up. But he was getting off track. He did have a reason for bringing Inuyasha back to the world of the living.

“Inuyasha,” Said halfbreed turned to face his friend with cool eye's, raising his brows in question. “I was really just wondering, what are you planning on doing when Sesshomaru wakens?” Inuyasha slowly sighed as Miroku continued. “It's just that I don't particularly think that you brother will appreciate waking up in a human village surrounded by the people he's tried to kill countless times.”

'Well, I knew that would come up sooner or later.'

Inuyasha briefly rubbed his temple, trying to find the right way to explain. “I asked Kaede if she could do something, 'cause you know she's got some damn powerful stuff hidden away in there that she just doesn't want us to know about. Anyway, I asked her  but she said something was blocking or messing with his youki. She said it was pretty powerful too and since just about anything she could have done had something to do with his youki it was to dangerous. Apparently, if she did try something, she could royally screw him over for, like, ever.”

Miroku was fairly certain Inuyasha ad-libbed at least some of the dialog but the youki thing did have him somewhat curious. “Do you know what it is?”

“What?”

“The thing that was blocking Sesshomaru's youki.”

Once again he heard a familiar feral growl bubbling up in Inuyasha's throat. Obviously, Miroku had unintentionally struck a nerve. Inuyasha responded with a bitter tone. “No, I don't know what it is. She kicked me out after that! But it wasn't my fault; every time I told her to tell me what it was she wouldn't answer!”

Miroku would have shook his head or better yet, shook Inuyasha at his childish behavior if doing so wouldn't've surely make him even more aggravated. He knew for a fact that Kaede did enjoy making Inuyasha angry; she absently mentioned to him once how it was almost a comic relief to her every day life. That, he had to agree with, recalling just moments before when the hanyou was explaining to him why he was sitting out side.

Once again, he was getting off track.

'Something capable of playing with the youki a powerful demon like Sesshomaru. This is definitely something to look into.'

Miroku took notice of Inuyasha's furrowed brow and troubled eyes. Suddenly, Miroku figured it out; it wasn't what happened that was bothering him. He could guess that Sesshomaru was going to be fine other wise Inuyasha never would have removed himself from the hut no matter what Kaede did to him. It was the fact that he didn't know what happened, what was wrong with his brother, and the only people who could tell him were either unconscious or just not willing to tell him. “Inuyasha, I'm sure Kaede will tell us everything when the girls get back. She probably just wanted to wait until we were all together to say anything so she didn't have to repeat herself. You know how that annoys her.”

“I don't give a flying crap in space if it annoys her!”

“....Thank you for that wonderful mental imagery.”

“Shut up.” Inuyasha sighed one last time. He knew Miroku was right and it wasn't the monks fault or anything. He began fiddling with the hem of his houri, obviously bothered by something and not wanting to say. But the same phrase just kept running through his head. It just wouldn't leave him alone.

“... I thought he was gonna die...”

The whispered confession was just barely loud enough for Miroku to hear it. Had they been sitting any farther away from each other he wouldn't have.

Miroku looked over to his friend, words eluding him, and he suddenly realized something; Sesshomaru was the only family Inuyasha had. Yeah, he'd known that for a long time but it only just hit him. Miroku knew first hand what it was like to be alone, to not have any familial bonds. Is father died when he was very young and the closest thing he had to family was Mushin. Though he really did love the old drunk there were times he just wished he had some sort of real family around. Obviously Inuyasha wished the same thing. Miroku could do nothing but place a comforting hand on Inuyasha's shoulder. “The girls should be back any minute. Then we can go see how he's doing.”

Inuyasha spared a short side long glance to Miroku. He took in a long breath and sighed... he'd been doing that a lot lately.

“Yeah, I know.” They both sat back, trying to relax while they waited for the girls.

It was only a few scant seconds before Inuyasha groaned in anoyance. He just had this unrelenting feeling that he was forgetting something.

“What was it we were talking about before?”

Miroku looked at him in confusion for a monent before remembering their erlier conversation.

“Sesshomaru, I was asking you what we should do when he woke up.”

Inuyasha nodded, it all coming back to him. “I was thinking you could do that thing you did last month.” At Miroku's blank stare, Inuyasha tried to elaborate. “You know, with that one demon and you used the thing and, you know...” he failed.

“I'm sorry you're going to have to be a little more specific then 'that thing I did.'”

“Come on, you remember! You used the thing and then the demon was paralyzed and then we killed it.”

Realization flooded through Miroku's mind as he reached into his robes to grab the 'thing' Inuyasha was referring too. “You mean an ofuda.” He held one up in front of them for emphasis.

“Yes! I was thinking you could use an ofuda on Sesshomaru and paralyze him.”

Miroku looked down at the small piece of paper he held in his hands, feeling somewhat skeptical of the plan. “I'm not entirely sure the ones I have on me are strong enough to hold a demon as powerful as your brother. I mean, I might be able to make stronger one if you gave me a hour or two.”

“That's good. Do it.” Miroku put the sutra away and looked at Inuyasha, suddenly feeling a very solemn mood all around them.

“...We don't really have any other options do we?”

Slowly, Inuyasha turned to look Miroku straight in the eye and said in a low voice, “If this doesn't work, lets just say nobody should be walking around without a weapon handy.”

Miroku gradually began to nod his head in understanding.

'Oh yes, this is going to be a very interesting week.'




Miroku was almost done with the new ofuda he promised Inuyasha when the girls (and Shippo) got back from their soak in the river. After taking a few minutes to pick up all their things and quite a few angry grumbles from Inuyasha about the girls and their ridiculously long bathing time, the group migrated into the hut to sit around the fire. Kagome took Shippo and Kilala to set them down on a bed mat, making sure they were sleeping comfortably before joining the rest of the group. Kagome, Sango, Miroku and Kaede were sitting in a semicircle around the fire, Inuyasha choosing to watch from the corner.

The girls were nervously nibbling on the stew Kaede made for them, trying not to think about the new, potentially deadly, addition to the hut laying not six feet away from them. Miroku, being so close to finishing his work, decided to keep going until it was done before getting his own meal. Inuyasha had already eaten his fill before Sango and Kagome had even had their third bite and was now looking as nonchalant as ever sitting in his corner. Kaede had already eaten before everybody had entered and was now just sitting back, content enough to just watch her young friends.

Almost ten minutes of solid uncomfortable silence was suddenly broken by a triumphant sigh coming from Miroku followed by a confident “Done!” Everybody paused to watch him hold up the finished ofuda, mixed faces of confusion(the girls) and relief(Inuyasha) among the group. The monk got to his feet and made the short walk over to the sleeping Sesshomaru. He knelt down by the demons side, pulled back the blanket covering his uninjured right shoulder and gently placed the ofuda to his skin before he began to murmur a chant. Everyone watched as the paper started to glow and seemed to glue itself flat to Sesshomaru's skin. It only took a matter of seconds before Miroku brought his head back up with a big smile on his face. Miroku got up and walked over to the pot of hot beef stew, now ready to have his own share. He sat back on his heels and made an attempt at politely stuffing his face, completely oblivious (or blatently ignoring) to the two sets of eyes that had been watching him the whole time in bewilderment.

Kagome and Sango now were not as confused as much as they were curious. Obviously Miroku had done something to Sesshomaru. Even more obviously was that whatever it was had worked. It seemed like it was a good thing too if Inuyasha's and Miroku's new peaceful demeanors were anything to go by. While this was all well and good the one thing that was the most obvious was that the boys didn't look at all like they were going to share anytime soon. This really bothered Kagome and Sango.

Sango cleared her throat, gaining the full attention of Miroku and a casual glance from Inuyasha as they waited. Kagome was the first to speak. “Are you planning on telling us what just happened or are we going to have to play 20 questions?”

Miroku glanced from the girls to Sesshomaru and back, swallowing a mouthful of food while doing so. He calmly placed his bowl of food in his lap and began explaining. “Inuyasha and I were talking about what we were going to do when Sesshomaru woke up and Inuyasha came up with the idea of paralyzing him... for the time being. Remember that rat demon we came across a couple weeks ago that had those two jewel shards? Well, it's basically the same thing except stronger. So, that's what that was.” Miroku finished his hasty explanation with a satisfied, almost smug smile and quickly continued with his meal.

“Okay. So, what? When he wakes up in a few hours he's just not going to be move at all... or is it as much? 'Cause, I mean, if he can still move a little... I really don't think it's that hard for him to cut our heads off with the flick of a finger and that poison whip.” Sango lifted her own index finger and pointed toward Miroku's neck for emphasis.

“He would not be able to do that.” Everyone turned to focus on Kaede with puzzled eyes. “After everything that happened his energy is almost completely drained. It would not be a surprise if he were unable to form a working poison whip for at least three days. Even if he woke up right now he probably would not have enough energy to lift his own head, let alone attack anyone.”

Miroku instantly stilled his eating movements and slowly brought his eye's up to meet with Kaede's. He took the time to swallow the food he still had in his mouth and coolly placed his empty bowl on the floor. “Say, Kaede-sama, I have a question. Nothing big really, I was just kind of wondering why, exactly, you neglected mention that little bit of information about an hour ago? You know, before I started having an anxiety attack over getting the ofuda finished before Lord Kills-a-lot woke up.” He wasn't angry, so much as irritated. She had known what he was working on and how tense he had been for the last hour and a half about getting it done before the demon lord woke up and she just sat there, not even bothering to tell him that there was no need for it in the first place.

He continued staring, irked, at the elderly priestess sitting across from him, waiting for her answer. Although, when all he got in response was a very nonchalant “ye didn't asked,” he'd almost wished he hadn't even bothered. Miroku decided to just role his eye's and shrug it off. It was irritating but it was done. Besides, at least now they had a back up plan in case Sesshomaru woke with a little more energy then Kaede thought he would.

Kagome brought them back from their little conversational detour with a wave of her hand and, as soon as she had everyone's attention, continued with the conversation. “One more thing: That poison... obviously it was effective and... strong. And Inuyasha and Kilala were pretty close to him. So, are they going to get like that too?” The concern was evident in her voice as she cast side long wary glance first at Sesshomaru, then a concerned one at Inuyasha.

Inuyasha was covering up his own sudden feeling of trepidation very well: He hadn't even thought about that. What ever that stuff was had to have gotten into his brother's system some how and he could tell by the smell that it was all over Sesshomaru's skin and clothes, most likely some kind of powder. Even so it never occurred to Inuyasha that he could be effected by it.

'But I would've felt something by now if I had been, right? I mean, Sesshomaru just got so bad so fast and he's a full demon so I would've been able to feel something by now if I was going to at all... right?'

Strangly enough, if anything Inuyasha had actually started feeling a little better. Or, more relaxed at least. In truth he probably would've been sitting around the fire with the others  except he wasn't entirely that sure he would be able to stay sitting up right... or awake. It was almost like his muscles just gave up and decided to take a little nap without his permission, leaving Inuyasha feeling drained but still, very relaxed.

'Maybe I should ask Kaede about that...'

“It was not a poison that had been infecting Sesshomaru.”

Okay, that woke him up. What the hell was she talking about? He looked around to his friends to see if he was the only one who thought Kaede was slightly off her knocker and apparently they agreed with him, if the equal looks of surprise and confusion were anything to go by. “Yeah, it was. I could smell it all over him. It was poison.”

Kaede got to her feet and walked over to her many shelves on the wall. She quietly examined the contents of the five horizontal rows in front of her before grabbing a fist sized clay jar from the third one down and walking back to her spot around the fire. As Kaede set the jar down in front of her so everyone could see it, she continued explaining from where she left off. “There is an plant called Yowameru found near the base of Mt. Hakurei. During the winter, this plant is picked and the roots dried and ground into a fine powder. Many healers and miko's and monks buy this powder to help them heal. This is what was used on Sesshomaru. It is not a poison, it is a root. Whatever you were smelling did not come from this.”

While Kaede was explaining the clay jar had been traveling from person to person, each one taking a good look at the fine white powder inside. Inuyasha could smell from where he was that that was the same stuff he smelt all over Sesshomaru but less putrid. It was obvious Kaede was telling the truth about the Yowameru root. That sickly, almost toxic scent of poison was probably something added by Naraku. “So what does that stuff do anyway?”

The Yowameru powder was just getting back to Kaede when Inuyasha asked his question. “Put simply, it makes one relaxed and sleepy.” She capped the jar and set it to the side. “Normally one would add it to some tea or food and pass it on to the one who needs it. It causes the patient to become very relaxed and calm. The more someone is given the more relaxed they become. Usually however, the Yowameru only goes so far before they can't get any more relaxed then they already are. People can only be effected so much; A small child might fall asleep where as one of ye girls might just become a little drowsy if given the same amount.”

Inuyasha looked back to Kilala and Shippo. Now it made sense; why they were so abnormally sleepy so early in the day. Shippo had probably gotten a little too close to Sesshomaru when they ran into him and accidental breathed in some of the stuff. Kilala had carried Sesshomaru all they way here so that wasn't quite as surprising. At least he new they were okay and it would wear off soon enough.

“I think Sesshomaru got a little more then 'drowsy' Kaede.” Inuyasha was starting to get very pissed very fast; Sesshomaru was poisoned but that didn't really have much of an effect on him and the thing that was causing all the issues shouldn't have done anything to bad in the first place. . .

'What. The. Hell.'

“I expect this is not the first time Sesshomaru-sama has encountered this root before.”

“How come?”

“Because of how severe his reaction was.” … Silence. Kaede sighed, noticing they had no idea what she meant. Kaede subtly made herself a little more comfortable, settling in for what she could guess was going to be a long, tiring talk. “Sesshomaru-sama is severely allergic to Yowameru.”

Miroku scrunched his brow and turned to Inuyasha. “Lord Sesshomaru can be allergic to things?” Kagome and Sango also turned a questioning eye on their friend as well.

Inuyasha watched his friends curiously as they stared at him, idly wondering what they were expecting him to say. “...why y'all lookin' at me? I didn't know.”

“Demons, like humans, are able to have allergies,” said kaede, bringing everyone's attention back to the subject at hand. “The same way they can get infections if their wounds are not treated properly or sick if they do not take care of themselves. Demons may be much stronger and more resilient then humans but they are not impervious. It just takes more to effect them.”

“Okay. I get that. But how do you know this wasn't the first time this happened?” Kagome asked.

“In Sesshomaru's case, his body was unable to handle the effects of the medicine and treated it like it would a virus. If some one took some Yowameru to relax a cramping leg muscle, that is what it would do. For most it would stop there but Sesshomaru's body blew it's effects way out of porportion, causing continued numbing to the point of complete immobility.”

Kaede paused, trying to gauge her young friends reactions. It was almost entertaining how all of them had their eyes glued on her, remaining absolutely still. For some reason, Kaede suddenly got the mental image of three little puppies waiting for their master to give them a treat.

“It was very lucky Inuyasha got him here when he did before the paralysis got any worse.”

It took her a moment but eventually Kagome remembered what she had learned not too long ago in her biology class. “Ooohhh...” Kagome let out a woeful sigh as the realization hit her, dropping her eyes to look at the floor. Kagome seemed to be the only one of them who really understood what Kaede meant.  

“The heart is a muscle.” She spoke in a soft whisper.

The simple statement was fast followed by a sobering silence as everybody finally understood how serious it had really been. “So, his heart was...” Sango let her sentence trail on, knowing they all understood what she was going to say.

“Yes. Sesshomaru-sama is a very strong demon, there is no question of that, but even he would not live long if his heart stopped beating. Inuyasha was extremely lucky to have gotten Sesshomaru here so soon.” Kaede raised her eyes above the teens shoulders to talk to Inuyasha directly. “The fact that he was conscious when you arrived was a good sign. Had he not been we would probably be having a much more depressing conversation.”

Inuyasha gave a slight nod of acknowledgment. He looked over to the slumbering Kilala and was instantly filled with renewed gratitude for the fire cat. If it hadn't been for her flying them here his brother would be.....wait...

“He wasn't awake when we got here.” he told her incredulously.

“Yes, he was.” Kaede poured herself some more tea as she replied. “When I looked into his eyes, he was looking back. He was very much awake, just unable to move even to open his eye lids. I gave him something to help him sleep before leaving.”

Now that was something to think about; he had been awake. Inuyasha had to fight the urge to groan in both annoyance and embarrassment. He absently wondered how long his brother had been awake before they got to the village.

“He's alright now though right?” asked Kagome, worry etched into her brow. “I mean, you fixed him, he's going to get better and there's nothing else to -”

“Oh, Kaede-sama, excuse me for interupting Kagome but Inuyasha mentioned before that you said there was something wrong with Sesshomaru's youki, that it felt strange or that something was messing around with it. What did you mean?”

Kaede nodded. “Miroku, ye are able to see a demons youki, yes?”

That was something he had to think about. Yes, he had been taught when he was younger how to “see” a demons youki but over the years that particular technique had never really been very much use to him. Sure, he remembered how it was done but Miroku hadn't actually practiced it in what was probably five years. So did he know how to, yes, did he think he actually could, that was anybody's guess.

The monk considered the question for a few seconds before hesitantly nodding a yes.

“Then do so. Close your eyes and try to 'see' Sesshomaru-sama. It is quite subtle but ye will know when ye see it.”

Miroku did as he was told, closing his eyes and trying to concentrate. It wasn't as if he could just look at the man and see his youki, it was more complicated then that. Other demons could feel the youki of any number of demons in the area. It could tell them how strong or weak their next aponent might be. It was how they knew to run, fight, or hide. Miroku heard that if a demon was strong enough, they could even see the youki of other demons by just looking at them. It was diferent for humans. It required a considerably high amount of concentrating and energy. The best way he could think to describe it to someone would be looking at the strength of someones soul.

'Wow, I never really realized how lame that sounded.'

There was really just no better way to put it. What was interesting about it was that, what a person “saw”, was different for everyone. Some people saw shapes or objects or even places that represented a demons youki. Some, like Kaede, could feel it. Miroku had even met another monk once that swore he could smell youki... that one made him laugh every time he thought of it, (it was just ridiculous; smelling youki). Miroku, however, saw colors. Some times bright and vibrant and other times dark and dull, depending on who he was looking at.

Miroku drew himself away from his musings to focus better on Sesshomaru, not wanting to look like a fool in front of Kaede. He turned his body to face the sleeping demon, took a deep cleansing breath, and silently wished he had spent more time practicing when he was younger instead of chasing after every girl he saw.

It took him a minute or two but a sudden flow of relief and satisfaction washed through his body when a bright blue light almost forcefully invaded his mind. Sesshomaru-sama was a stunning, misty blue. It was the type of blue he had only ever seen worn by the richest royalty on the most important of occasions. Calming but at the same time firm and unforgettable. Miroku couldn't have hand picked a better color to describe the Lord of the West.

He calmed himself from his internal happy dance, trying to see what Kaede had been talking about when she said there was something strange. He focused hard on this beautiful blue in his mind; it wasn't changing as far as he could tell and it certainly wasn't by any means weak. He was about to give up and ask the elderly miko what she felt when, finally, something caught his eye. Miroku kept watching, trying to see it again.... and there it was. As if somebody was holding up and sheet and poking it from behind. Small, almost imperceptible ripples were going through him. This, while small, was astonishing. A demons youki was supposed to be solid, it meant that he was in complete control. These ripples were not supposed to be there. Ripples don't just appear for no reason, some one had to be causing them like a child throwing a pebble into the still surface of a lake. Now Miroku understood what had Kaede so worried. The big question now was who's the one throwing all the pebbles?

Miroku snapped his eyes opened and turned to Kaede, both sporting similar expressions of understanding.

“What did you see?” At Sango's question, he turned back to look at his friends, trying to think of a way to explain what was happening but he just couldn't think a damn thing. Lucky for him, Kaede could.

“Sesshomaru is being manipulated by someone.”

There was a pause as this new information sunk in.

“What do you mean manipulated? How? By who?”

“We don't know.” Miroku finally got his voice back and tried to explain. “we don't know who, we don't know how but someone or something is obviously playing with him. I mean, it was probably how he got so hurt before he ran into us. Maybe he just couldn't fight back.” Miroku stopped to see if they really understood.

Sango and Inuyasha seemed to be taking it better then Kagome, she had a puzzled look in her face, almost like she was having trouble excepting what she was hearing. “So, you're saying some one's trying to kill him? Or, like, mind control?”

“In a way. They could be trying to kill him or they could be trying to use him. If we knew who was doing this or, better yet, what they are using on him, we could attempt to find a way to fix it.”

Kagome scoffed, frustrated by the sudden turn of events. “Some how, I don't really think they're just going to walk right up to us and say 'we did it!' I mean, Sesshomaru would probably know but I don't really see him as the type to share with others.”

“Yeah.” said a equally frustrated Sango. “We're probably never going to know for sure what happened.”

Miroku could easily understand where the girls were coming from; what they said was true. Plus, it was incredibly upsetting, knowing that something was wrong and not being able to do a thing about it. Helplessness was a very foreign feeling to this group of do-gooders. They had gotten use to taking control of a bad situation and making it better. Even if they did manage to find out what or who was manipulating Inuyasha's brother, who knew if they could actually do something about it?

At the thought of his friend, Miroku decided to see how Inuyasha was doing. He had been abnormally quiet throughout the last half of their conversation and it was slightly anerving. Miroku looked to the corner to see his friend in his favorite position: legs crossed, arms tucked inside his sleeves but, surprisingly, no trace of a scowl on his face, not even a glare that every one had grown to expect. In fact, I didn't even look like he was paying attention to anything they were saying. Inuyasha was staring at the opposite corner of the room, a far off look to his eyes, giving the appearance of a man in deep thought and Miroku was sorely tempted to go ask what he was thinking so hard on that it would consume all his attention.

He decided to save the question for a better time and, instead, looked to Kaede for some much needed advice. He gave her his best impression of a wounded puppy through his eyes hoping that she, like many others, wouldn't be able to resist and would help them. She of course, didn't even blink.

Kaede rolled her eyes and had to fight the urge to laugh at how ridiculous the monk looked. But, in the end she decided to take pity on the group and offer up the only idea she had come up with so far (She had been listening the whole time and despite her nonchalant appearance, she had been equally puzzled as to what to do about it. At the moment, she could only come up with a way for them all find out who placed the spell, charm, curse or what have you on Sesshomaru in the first place. They'd think about how to remove it later).

Kaede cleared her throat, bringing everyone's attention back to her. “If ye wish, there is a way for ye all to know who is behind it.”

It was a tempting offer. On the one hand, knowing who was behind Sesshomaru's “problem” probably wouldn't help them much in finding a way to fix or get rid of what ever they were using on him. On the other hand, what else did they have to go on?

Miroku, Kagome and Sango all looked at each other for a moment, all knowing that, for the time being, they had no other options. Each could tell what the other was thinking as they all looked to the window; the sun was just barely touching the top of the tree line of what had been dubbed Inuyasha's forest. They had about four hours of day light left and, while they were all tired, leftover guilt and an exciting cat-like curiosity gave them a bit of an adrenalin boost.

Sango was the first to regain her voice and looked back to Kaede “So, what do we do?”

“I KNOW!” The group nearly jumped a foot off the growned. Inuyasha, who had been completely silent for the last twenty minutes, sent all there hearts racing in fear with his sudden, loud shout. They all stared at him, wide eyed and frozen.

Inuyasha, in his overzealous enthusiasm, accidentally spoke just a tiny big louder then he intended to. For the moment he shoved the embarrassment into the back of his mind to dwell on later and instead pulled his concentration into the present. He calmed his nerves and continued in the most composed voice he could muster up.

“The spell to tell you what you want to know. It lets you see a memory from some one's past. I know that spell, I've seen it before.”

They all stared at him, shocked and at the same time skeptical (though none more so then Kaede). Miroku raised an inquiring eyebrow. “You do?”

“Yes,” Inuyasha subtly gulped, swallowing the lump in his throat though no one seemed to notice. “It's a spell created to reveal secrets or show someone something from the past. It's actually kind of simple. All you really need is a candle, a plate, some water and I'm pretty sure Kaede has all the herbs we need,” he drew his uneasy gaze away from his friends to concentrate a steely glare at Kaede, daring her with his eyes to say he was wrong. “right, Kaede...” there was a pointed sharpness to his tone that the old miko hadn't heard in the longest time.

Kaede had listened carefully to the description and the list Inuyasha gave of things they would need for the spell. She knew the very spell he was talking about and it was not the one she was thinking of in the least.  Except for a few rather important clarifications that she was positive he had left out on purpose, Inuyasha's description was accurate.. to say the least.

For the next minute or so there was a great tension in the air around them, Kagome, Sango and Miroku completely clueless as to to what was happening. Kaede thought she understood where Inuyasha was going with this, if only a little, and was silently debating with herself about whether to let him continue, or worn the others.

Out of all the time she has known Inuyasha, she has never known him be some one who pull such an underhanded trick on the ones he cares for. Granted, it didn't harm them in any way but still... Despite herself, she really did want to see where this would end up.

In a slow, unsure voice, she spoke. “Yes. I believe I do have everything ye will need.”

Inuyasha breathed a sigh of relief, infinitely grateful that things were finally going his way for once. He let himself relax a bit after that.

“Okay. Now that that's settled,” Kagome glanced between Inuyasha and Kaede, unsure who she should be asking her questions to. “What do we do?”

Inuyasha allowed a small, near imperceptible smile to grace his lips. “Well, Miroku, you can get a large plate and some water. Sango, you get three bed mats and line them up here, straight against the wall,” he motioned to the space beside himself. “Kagome, you know that really big candle you brought here a couple of weeks ago? The white one with the three wicks?” she nods. “it's in the back room, we're gonna need it. And Kaede,” There was a certain smile to his voice as he spoke to her, as if he'd won some grand battle. “you should get to gathering up all the ingredients we're gonna need.”  

Once given their marching orders, they all spread out to do their respective jobs, Kaede with a little less umph to her step then the others. Inuyasha watched them work as he got up and walked over to the other side of the hut to stand above Sesshomaru.

Kaede was setting down an armful of herbs and such just in front of where Inuyasha had said the bed mats would be. Miroku walked over to her and placed a small bowl of water in front of her and a large plate to the side of himself while asking the older miko if there was anything he could do to help. It wasn't long before Sango had all the mats set out and Kagome was coming back into the room with the candle. She sat down beside Sango, holding it in her lap and both of them watched as Miroku and Kaede continued mixing up a very interesting concoction.

Inuyasha look at his brother and quietly knelt by his side. To the naked eye, Sesshomaru gave the perfect impression of a man in a peace filled slumber, not a worry in the world. For a split second, he forgot about everything else and all he could see was his brother.

'This is the first time in over 50 years we're within 5 feet of each other without trying to kill each other. . . this is gonna work Sesshy, I promise.'

In that moment, any guilt he felt about lying to his friends was gone. If they wanted to leave him after this then he wouldn't stop them and he definitely wouldn't blame them but right now all he could think about was saving his big brother.

Inuyasha reached above Sesshomaru to grab a fairly decent lock of his hair, cut off about four inches, and got up to go over to his friends. Kagome, Miroku and Sango were each sitting at the ends of their respective bed mats. Kaede was kneeling in front of Miroku, the bowl of what was now a deep orange liquid between them. Inuyasha sat beside the old miko, inspecting her work. Once satisfied that it was right he turned to Kagome. “Do you still have those matches with you from the fire this morning?”

Kagome reached into her shirt pocket, pulled out a small match box and gave it to Inuyasha. “So, how does this thing work?”

Inuyasha took the match box from her and placed it and the lock of Sesshomaru's hair on the ground by the bowl. “Well, basically, after we complete the spell you three. . . go to sleep. Then, it's like, what ever it was you wanted to know about is happening right in front of you. You see it as it happened in the past. All you guys have to do is think about what you want to know and a second later it's like you're really there. You can see and hear everything that's happening but they can't see or hear you.”

As he explained, he grabbed the candle from Kagome. It was a big, triple wick, nine inch tall thing, so large he could just barely fit both hands around it. He then moved the orange mixture to the side and told Miroku to put the plate in front of them. The monk did as he was told and Inuyasha placed the vanilla scented candle in the center. Once he handed a single match to all three of them he pored the liquid into the plate, creating a mote effect around the candle.

“How do we know what to look for when we get there?”

“That's why all three of you are going; if one of you sees something weird and the others miss it you can tell them. Better odds of seeing something important. You can move around and explore all you want.” Inuyasha had an answer to everything. By now he had this almost completely planned out; he had a reasonable answer to any and all questions they could possibly come up with.

While they were all busy discussing what they thought happened with his brother and what was wrong with his youki, he had been coming up with every possible question they could ask him about why and how they were doing this spell. When Kaede had mentioned her idea of finding out who had caused the problems with his brother he saw his opening. It couldn't have been more perfect and so far, that still held true. At least for now, everything was going his way.

'After I get Kagome, Miroku and Sango out of the way all I have to do is get rid of Kaede. Then all the hard parts will be over and I can relax.'

“How long is this supposed to last?” Inuyasha was dragged from his thoughts once again to answer another question by Kagome. He was getting ahead of himself anyway; Inuyasha still had to get the three to go through with the spell before he could relax even a little.

He gave the match box back to Kagome to hold and grabbed the lock of Sesshomaru's hair from the floor. “It'll probably only take about a half an hour as long as you guys pay attention.”

They all nodded their understanding and watched intently everything Inuyasha was doing, genuinely intrigued by this new spell he was showing them. Inuyasha slowly, so as not to spill anything, pulled the plate with the candle and the water in between himself and Sango, so everyone could see and reach it.

They watched as he dipped the lock of Sesshomaru's silver hair into the orange colored brew and drew a circle around the candle in one fluid counterclockwise motion. He then told his three friends to light their matches. Kagome was first, then Sango and finally Miroku.

“Okay, each of you light one of the wicks and repeat after me, 'Kono shira rete iru kako o kakunin.'” Inuyasha's heart was beating faster then ever in nervous anticipation. He was so close...

At the same time, all three of them lit a wick and said the phrase.

“Kono shira rete iru kako o kakunin.” It wasn't a second after the last word left their lips that they all colapsed back into a clumsy mess on the prepared bed mats behind them, out cold. Inuyasha raised the shining silver hair he still held in his hand and allowed it to burn over the flames of the candle. For a few seconds it shot out bright green sparks before burning up into ash.

He looked at his friends, laying in clumsy heaps before him, feeling a sudden but anticipated pang of regret well up in his gut. The monstrous butterflies he'd previously had in his stomach were finally starting to calm down a bit only to be replaced by the gut wrenching guilt he'd been ignoring until now.

'It's too late to have second thoughts now you idiot. It's done so just keep going; everything going fine.'

Inuyasha mentally berated himself as he tore his eyes from his friends to cast a side long glance at the silent Kaede. She had quietly watched the whole thing and so far hadn't given him very much trouble. He crawled over to Kagome's side to straighten her up and lay her and the others flat on their backs, all the while, hoping that Kaede would continue to cooperate with him.

“What are ye planning to say to them when they wake?”

Inuyasha paused for a second while he was fixing Miroku to spare her a look. He turned back and finished straightening out his friend. With all his planning, that part was the one thing he didn't want to think about. He looked to the candle at their feet and decided that there was probably about five to six hours before the flames would burn out and they would all wake up. He had plenty of time to think about what he was going to say to them and right now was not that time.

Inuyasha stood and stepped aside to look at his friends, making sure they all seemed comfortable enough. He then took a deep breath, preparing himself for what could quite possibly turn into a very messy fight with a very old hag.

He turned around and walked over to a now standing Kaede. Inuyasha looked right into her eyes, willing her to work with him.

“You said you gave him something to make him sleep, yeah?” He tried to keep a steady voice and not sound as riled up and anxious as he felt.

Kaede knew he was talking about Sesshomaru and slowly nodded a yes.

“So I know you have something to wake him up too.”

Again, all he received was a slow nod.

“Where is it?”

No nod.

Kaede was starting to guess where Inuyasha was going to go from here and was starting to question her decision to let him get this far. Unfortunately, her lack of response to his question was enough incentive to turn some of the excitement he was feeling into anger. Inuyasha crossed his arms and got very close to Kaede's face, making absolutely sure that he had her full attention before speaking in a very quiet, threateningly calm voice.

“ Kaede, I have gotten way to far into this for you to try and stop me now and you know that. I don't know why but for some reason things have been working out very well so far and I am not about to let  you ruin that. Now, one way or another, you're gonna tell me where you put the 'wake up juice.'” He paused for emphasis. “Now, you know me Kaede. You knew me a long time before I got pinned to that tree so you know that if you push me far enough... I am not apposed to beating up and old woman.” For a fraction of a second Inuyasha thought he might have seen the smallest spark of fear flash through Kaede's eyes before it was replace with firery defiance. “Now, one more time; where is it?”

For a moment, Kaede stayed firm, but soon, her face softened the slightest bit and she took a step back from her childhood friend. She sighed and turned around face her shelves of medicines, herbs and salves. She reached for the smallest glass vile; it was filled with a clear liquid and had a tiny cork in the top to keep it closed, very similar to the one she had used to put him to sleep.

Inuyasha stiffened up and waited patiently for Kaede to get back to him. She held the small vile in her hand and looked up at the silver haired hanyou. “I really do hope ye know what ye are doing.” With that, she placed the vile into Inuyasha's waiting hand. “Just hold it under his nose and he will waken in seconds.” She turned around and to walk out of the hut. “I assume ye wish to be alone tonight?” It was more of a statement then a question but still, Inuyasha nodded his head, a little surprised that she was suddenly seemed so understanding.

Kaede decided she was going to go stay the night in Inuyasha's, Miroku's, Sango's and Kagome's hut. After the first year of them all coming and going from the village and always staying with Kaede, she and the villagers decided they should have a place of their own.

Kaede had just reached the door when Inuyasha called out to her.

“Kaede...” She stopped momentarily in her tracks, waiting for him to continue. For the longest time all she heard was silence. Finally, just as she was beginning to walk out she was met with the tiniest of whispers.

“... Thanks.”

Kaede left, a small smile on her lips.

Inuyasha waited, making sure she was really gone before turning back to get one last look at his friends. They were fine, of course. He looked to the candle and saw that there was now small pools of melted wax surrounding each flame. He was about go back to Sesshomaru when the empty bowl Miroku used for the water stopped him. It was the same one he had used to hold the water for cleaning Sesshomaru's wounds. He bent over to pick it up and bring it back to the water barrel.

Inuyasha made it all of three steps before he noticed the distinct smell of something burning. He only had to take another one step to realize it was him!

Inuyasha dropped the bowl in fear and began furiously swatting at his hair to put out the flames. He looked at the seared tips of his hair and instantly his head shot back to Kagome, Sango and Miroku. His eyes went wide in horror as he slowly started to grasp the situation.

“Fuck....”

Some how, that one word just seemed to say it all. He was royaly fucked... There was really just no better way to put it. He sighed and had no other option but to turn away with a growing sick feeling in his gut; there was nothing he could do about it now. “Sorry guys. Looks like you gonna be stuck with a few of my memories too.”

'Oh god... that's really gonna suck.'  

This time he left the damn bowl where it was and just walked over to sit where he had been in the beginning; on the step leading further into the hut. Inuyasha rested his head on his knees and wrapped his arms around his legs looking down at Sesshomaru laying less then three inches from his feet. He tightened his grip on the small vile still in his hand and made a great effort to work up enough courage to actually use it.

'Breath. Just breath. This was the plan. Miroku put that ofuda on him so it's not like he can attack you or get away or anything like that. You're in complete control now.'

It was some what of a surprise but as he mentally prepared himself he could actually feel himself getting more confident. Everything had gone better then expected and now he was at the climax of the night. It was thrilling and terrifying all at once. He knew better then to think about it for much longer though; if he did he knew he'd start to have doubts and that's just not what he was looking for right now.

In a short burst of determination mixed with adrenalin, Inuyasha riped the cork from the vile and held it under Sesshomaru's. The response was almost instant. When he saw Sesshomaru begin to stirr he quickly corked the bottle back up and set it aside, eager for his brother to wake up.



'That was the most offensive thing I have ever had the displeasure of smelling.'

This was the first thought that went through Sesshomaru's mind as he once again greeted the waking world. Though, upon feeling his injuries start to throb painfully, he almost wished he was still asleep.

Slowly, very slowly, he opened his eyes the smallest crack to see where he was. So far it was nothing special; a long row of shoes, a giant yellow bag, a doorway and that was it; same place he was before. He seriously doubted the rest of the hut would be any more interesting and started to close his eyes, thinking maybe he could use a little more sleep.

“Hey bro...”

Sesshomaru's eyes snapped wide open.  That got his full, undivided attention. He instantly regretted having not looked around the rest of the room. Sesshomaru carefully allowed his eyes to travel to the right of him where the unmistakable voice of his baby brother had come from. After what seemed like forever, he finally saw him; there, sitting above him, what his ototo, arms by his sides and a small smirk on his face.

Seeing Sesshomaru's shock, Inuyasha's smirk began to grow into a large, toothy grin, giving himself the impression of a predator taunting his prey. A light chuckle bubbled from Inuyasha's throat.

“... What's up?”






yeah, I don't speak Japanese, wish I did but I don't, so these are very rough translations (curtusy of google translate) :

Yowameru – weaken

Kono shira rete iru kako o kakunin - Make this past known

ototo – little brother


All constructive criticism and/or just your general run-of-the-mill comments are greatly appreciated!!

Later!
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