InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ For the Honour of My Family ❯ Chapter Two ( Chapter 2 )

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

Swords clashed, causing sparks to fly. Sesshomaru grunted from the exertion and allowed himself a tiny yet faint smile. All it had taken to successfully rile the half-demon up had been a single yet cutting insult about his heritage. He had not said a word since then.

Inuyasha's determination had not waned over the course of the battle. If anything, his determination had grown stronger. However, the boy lacked the endurance and stamina to truly defeat Sesshomaru. The hanyou had gotten lucky in the past. He could smell the perspiration as it beaded down the hanyou's forehead, could hear the younger youkai's heart racing as the battle raged on, and he relished in the throes of the battle. Still, he still had presence of mind to keep his youki instincts under control. He wanted to test his brother, to see if the boy was truly capable and worthy of what he was about to do next. Not injure or kill him. Finally, Sesshomaru grew weary of matching swordsmanship with his half-brother. Now that he had his mind made up, he was ready to head home, the younger demon in tow.

`Time to end this.'

With a single stroke his sword, Sesshomaru disarmed Inuyasha and had the hanyou pinned on the ground. The ningens that traveled with him cried out and started to run towards them but he ignored the humans. They weren't his concern right this moment. His brother was. Golden eyes glinted and shimmered as they glared at him, and his brother's chest heaved as Inuyasha fought to gain his breath. A slight hint of fear spiked in his brother's scent but nothing would quench the defiance that Inuyasha possessed. He'd keep going until his last breath. Just like their father would have. Sesshomaru smirked.

`Right where I want him.'

“Had enough, Inuyasha?”

“You wish, you fucking bastard,” he spat. Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow at him, knowing full well that his brother was tired. The hanyou had been in a battle earlier - Sesshomaru had detected fresh blood on Inuyasha - and this battle had not helped him in the least. Very carefully, he lifted himself up and eased Inuyasha to his feet. The hanyou's eyes widened in surprise.

“What...”

“The time for us to fight has come to an end, Inuyasha. Now it's time for you to come home. Your true home.”

“Come home?” Inuyasha's eyes narrowed. “What's that supposed to mean?”

“Exactly what it means, Inuyasha. Our feud has ended as of this very moment.”

* * *

`Stubborn fool,' Sesshomaru sighed, casting a quick glance at his brother's prone form. The hanyou was slumped over Uhn and Ah's back, his wrists bound and mouth gagged. `He should know by now that, when I says something, I mean it.'

As usual, after his declaration of their feud being over, Inuyasha had scoffed at him and started to hurl out insult after insult in an effort to keep the fight going. The humans he traveled with hadn't helped matters, either. Two of them had started spouting out about all of the times that Sesshomaru had tried to kill Inuyasha and stating that he couldn't be trusted. Inuyasha had agreed. Things had escalated from there. More insults were hurled (mostly from the ningens) and tempers flared. Of course, Inuyasha wasn't about to be taken without a fight. A fight that Sesshomaru wasn't about to give. Ultimately, after much cursing and insults, he had sent the humans flying and had successfully knocked Inuyasha out. Before the humans had recovered, he'd slung Inuyasha over his shoulder and was gone.

`Little brother, you are in for a rude awakening. You may not trust me now but you will see the sincerity of my words. I swear that you will.'

As he walked, Sesshomaru kept an ear and an eye out for his ward and his retainer. The two weren't that far away. He could tell by how fresh their scents were in the air. How he had lost track of them, especially Rin, he didn't know, but he wasn't about to allow it to happen again. Not with Naraku still on the loose.

`Naraku . . . you have no idea as to what you're in for, do you? Or perhaps you do. Perhaps that is why you wish for a wedge between Inuyasha and myself . . . because you know what will happen if he and I unite forces. Heis strong . . . stronger than what he's been given credit for.'

Sesshomaru blinked as that thought came to him. He had always considered Inuyasha to be weak, because he was only half demon and because he had a soft spot for humans. Inuyasha winning most of their battles he had always believed to be a fluke. In his mind, it had never because the hanyou actually had any strength to him. The more he thought about it, however, the more he realized it had to be true. Inuyasha had their father's blood flowing through him. That right there gave the half-demon strength. And, whether Inuyasha realized it or not, he very much resembled their father in both looks and attitudes. Their father refused to ever accept defeat, and the man had been one of the strongest youkai Sesshomaru had ever met. Ryukotsusei didn't even factor into Sesshomaru's mind. No one could truly defeat his father on the battlefield, save one, and Sesshomaru didn't believe that Rei Inu would ever raise his hand to his children like that. Besides, Inuyasha had defeated the dragon. How, Sesshomaru wasn't too sure, but Inuyasha had. As a half-demon.

`Something I'm sure Father expected him to do.'

He shook his head as he once more thought of the man who had raised him from pup to adult. At some point, he and his father had lost the rapport they had once shared. It hadn't been much of one but it had still been something he had always counted on. Sesshomaru could not recall when, how, or why he and his father no longer got along. It had just . . . happened.

`Doesn't matter. I can fix most of the mistakes I have made,' Sesshomaru told himself. `Starting with Inuyasha.'

Already he had the plans formed. He'd send for NatsuMaru, the same as his father had done for him. Most of the tutors that he'd had as a pup still resided in his father's palatial home. They were loyal to the family bloodline, after all. Inuyasha's education would begin while they waited for NatsuMaru to arrive, which would take at least a week or two. His grandfather had to approve of the warrior leaving. That was how much NatsuMaru was trusted. The only trouble he could foresee was the Tetsusaiga and Inuyasha's demon blood.

`Maybe Grandfather will know how to seal it without the use of a sword. He somehow managed with Uncle Hiroshi. I'm sure even old Tohma might know something.'

“Sesshomaru-sama!”

Rin's voice cut through his musings and Sesshomaru turned his gaze to the road in front of him. His young ward was running towards him, her arms outstretched and a bright smile upon her face. Jaken ran behind her, doing his best to keep up with the young girl. Sesshomaru allowed himself the tiniest of smiles when he saw them. Things sure were changing for him. Not that he was complaining. Rin was a bright spot in his life. It was through her that he had started to unconsciously understand why his father had started to behave towards Izayoi the way that he had.

Once again, the promise that he had made all those years ago came to his mind, steeling his resolve. The time had come.