InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Kinetics ❯ Blood Brothers ( Chapter 3 )

A/N: YAY! You like me... *sniff* You really like me! I was SoooOOOooo happy at the responses for the last chapter, I decided to get to work on another IMMEDIATELY. I have, like, little to no planning done for this chapter, so I can't really tell you much about it here at the top. Oh yes, the dreaded name change... I figured if I'm not gonna follow Make Yourself anymore, I should probably change the name of the fic, ne? Hope you guys will recognize it >.<

Anywho on with the disclaimer!

Disclaimer: I am poor. Please don't sue me... I'm very attached to the lint in my pockets...

And now, to the fic!

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Kinetics (formerly Make Yourself):

Track 3: Blood Brothers

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'Ring-ring, ring-ring'

"Hello?" Inuyasha answered on speaker phone.

"Hel.... ca.... is.... father....." The voice of the caller couldn't be recognized through the static.

"What? Can you say that again? You're breaking up!"

"Ca.... I.... speak...... fathe....."

"Sure, one second," Inuyasha said. He could just barely guess that the caller wanted to talk to his dad. He couldn't recognize the voice though...

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"Hello?" was the answer on the other end. Sesshoumaru recognized the voice as his younger brother's. Just as he was about to greet him, he an Rin's car entered a tunnel. Quick equation: Tunnel + Family Call = No Bueno.

" Hello, this is Sesshoumaru calling, is father home?"

"Wha... say... gain.... bre...ing up!"

'Tunnels are evil...' though Sesshoumaru as he tried again. "Can I speak with father?"

"Sure...ne.. cond"

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"Hello?" asked Inuyasha's father, Inutaisho.

"Hello father" answered Sesshoumaru. Thank god he was out of that damned tunnel.

"Oh hello! It's you! I'd have thought Inuyasha would be excited to hear from you."

"There was a lot of static a bit ago, I'm afraid he might not know who it is..."

"Oh, he'll know soon enough anyway," said Inutaisho, waving a dismissive hand at his curious son. Inuyasha just shrugged and walked downstairs.

"So how long until you arrive, son?"

"That's why I called, dad. There was an accident a few miles back, and we were stuck there for hours. I'm afraid we're going to have to stay at a hotel tonight, only, I don't quite have the money..."

"Ahh, so you need money for a hotel, then? No problem, just call me when you find a place and we'll handle things over the phone. But just what do you mean 'We'?"

"Ahh... we'll, you see Dad.... it's a surprise, you'll find out when we get there, love you, see you soon, call you later, bye!"

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"-Call you later, bye!" Sesshoumaru finished hurriedly. He sighed with relief, - He'd almost let out his secret-, and smiled over to Rin, who was driving their small two door Honda Civic coupe.

"Funny," said Rin, a smile playing at her lips, "But I don't seem to recall any accident."

"No... but... wouldn't you like some privacy as well tonight?"

Rin just grinned, and turned back to the road.

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"So who called?" asked Inuyasha

"Oh, you'll find out tomorrow, son. I think you'll be glad, too"

"Whatever. Anyway, I've got a tutoring job today, so can I borrow the car?"

"Sure, son. Give Mrs. Higurashi my regards."

"How did you-"

"You should turn down the volume on that phone."

"I guess so..." Inuyasha said, and walked out the door to the driveway. He got into his dad's car, a black Nissan Altima, and started to make the drive across town to the Higurashi's shrine home. Inuyasha was a smart kid in most of his subjects, and found it easy to make spare cash by tutoring. He as he drove the familiar streets of his small hometown, he let his mind wander to the past. Things he hardly remembered from a few years ago, that had no real affect on him. Then he remembered the note.

'Shite! I wonder if she knows I wrote that...' He thought. After all, the next week (which he had been thankfully suspended from for breaking some moron's arm... not like it was his fault that people break so easy...) after she had gotten that note, she went on a school-wide hunt for the author (which made no sense to Inuyasha, because she could have just narrowed it down immediately to the Trig. 1 first period class. Ah well, popular people never were that intelligent). He imagined how awkward it would be if she did.

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Kagome looked up boredly from her textbook. Dawning a seductive smile, she yawned and leaned on Inuyasha's shoulder, wrapping one arm around him. Inuyasha froze. "Uhh... err....yes, yes.... you got that one right, the answer was 'Yeeaaaaaaaaargh...' now, let move on to the next questio-"

"Mngfh..." Kagome mumbled, half asleep...

"Or not...."

Jus then, the not-so-peaceful scene was interrupted by Kagome's mother, who, shocked and appaled, grabbed a broom and started whacking Inuyasha over the head. "No! But- I Didn't! Arrgh! Ow! That really hur- uh oh! No AAAAHHHHHHHHH!!" screamed Inuyasha as he ran away.

"Aww mom..." sighed Kagome dejectedly, "You've scared away another one!"

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He was taken abruptly from his reverie when he turned in to the Higurashi's driveway. Stepping out of the car, he waved to Kikyo Higurashi, who was in the garden having some tea. When he was much younger, back when he was in 6th grade, he had a crush on Mrs. Higurashi, when he saw her picking up Kagome after school. That had died long ago, but he still thought she had her own kind of beauty. Someone to be friends with... he didn't know how she could be the mother of the girl that practically ruined his high school life.

When Kikyo waved back, he began walked into the house. He greeted Kagome formally -can't let a grudge get in the way of business- and sneezed. Rubbing his nose furiously, he sneezed again. His eyes began to go bloodshot. It was then he noticed the large blob of cat sitting in Kagome's lap. 'Oh great,' thought Inuyasha, 'they got a cat.'

"Is something wrong? Would you like a glass of water?" asked Kagome.

"Can we go somewhere else? I'm allergic *sneeze* to cats."

"Oh... oh! I'm so sorry, I hadn't even noticed!" she said apologetically as she scooted the cat off of her lap. "Come on, lets go outside."

She picked up her books and headed towards the sliding door to the backyard. Inuyasha followed like an obedient puppy, desperately wanting to get out. As they stepped outside and his sinuses began to clear, he couldn't resist the urge any longer. He knew he'd scare away most of the neighbors, but what the hell, he'd have fun doing it. "SWEET MERCIFUL JESUS!" He screamed, "FREEDOM AT LAST!!"

Kagome had to hide her face as she stifled a giggle. If anyone ever caught her laughing at this freaks stupid jokes, her entire reputation would probably be down the drain. She already knew she'd have to explain herself like, a bazillion times tomorrow.

Sitting down at a picnic table in the yard, Inuyasha asked his first question. Boy was it tough. "Okay, now, can you tell me, just exactly what are we studying in History."

"Uhh... I dunno... something about Nazis, I think..."

Inuyasha face-faulted. "Okay," he said, gathering himself, "Not a problem. I have a week to drill useless facts about specific battles of World War II into your brain for the mid-terms. Oh my god, I'm so screwed."

"What? Can't you do it?"

"A trained monkey could do it." said Inuyasha coolly.

"Well then what's the problem"

"The problem," he began, "lies in the facts that A). I'm am not a monkey, and B). I have no training."

"What, so you mean you can't help?"

"Oh I can help. Just don't expect to get much sleep for the next week. (A/N: You guys are all Perverts... with a capital P! ) And do try to pay attention in class. I really don't want to have to explain the political ideology to you as well."

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The next day, late in the afternoon, Sesshoumaru and Rin pulled into the driveway of Sesshoumaru's old home. He was only coming back to live here for a year or so, until he could afford a nice house for Rin and himself. And the way things were going for him, that time would come sooner than expected. But, now was not the time to fantasize about the future. Now was the time to hope his father didn't flip out and kill him.

'Funny...' thought Sesshoumaru. 'Dad's car isn't here... but he should have gotten home from work hours ago.'

They got out of the car and walked over to the kitchen door, finding it unlocked. Inside sat Inutaisho, sipping on coffee and reading the paper. He always did have a way of doing his daily activities backwards...

"Hello father," said Sesshoumaru warmly, "Where is Inuyasha?"

"He's out on a tutoring job."

"Oh, I see... well, in that case, there's someone I'd like you to meet, father."

"Oh really now?" Inutaisho was genuinely curious. 'Maybe he's brought home a girl this time... god's, that'd be a first.'

Sesshoumaru went out to the car to get Rin. 'God I hope he doesn't kill me...'

"Well, milady," he said, offering his and as he helped Rin out of the vehicle. "Our time has come."

"Oh, lighten up, Fluffy," Rin said giggling at Sesshoumaru's reaction. "It's not like you're 17 or something, you're a man now, and you can do whatever you want."

"Somehow, your calling me Fluffy makes that hard to believe."

"And who is this lovely young lady?" asked Inutaisho as the entered. Inside he was doing cartwheels. 'I'm going to be a grandpa, I'm going to be a grandpa!' (A/N: O_o)

"Father, I'd like you to meet Rin... we've been dating for the past 2 and a half years..."

"Lovely!" said Inutaisho excitedly "When's the wedding?" he asked playfully, hoping, the evil ways that parents hope, to embarrass his son. The reaction he received was quite unexpected, though.

Sesshoumaru blushed furiously, "How... how did you know?" he asked.

"Oh.... oh dear.... Son, fetch me some water... I think I shall faint from joy!" Inutaisho said excitedly as he fell back in his chair.

Sighing, Sesshoumaru did as he was told. 'I really did want to tell Inuyasha first...' he thought somewhat sadly.

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"Alright, now, I want you to repeat after me, okay?" Inuyasha explained to Kagome, "And try to write it down as we go."

"Okay!" she said, determined to show this arrogant son of a bitch that she wasn't as dumb as he thought she was.

"'Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force!'"

Kagome repeated and wrote, as she had been instructed. This was going to be easy! Then Inuyasha got tough. Real tough...

"'You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, towards which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.'"

"What?!" Kagome asked incredulously. "That's not fair! I can't remember all of that after hearing it just once!"

"Are you sure you belong in an Honors History course then? Because Mr. Toutousai goes a lot faster than that."

"Yeah, but he usually has a transparency on the board!"

"So?"

"Arrgh! Fine, we'll try again, but please try to go a little slower!"

"Actually, I've got to get home. But not to worry, I have a voice recording of General Eisenhower's speech here," he said as he pulled out a cassette and a piece of paper, "as long as study guide for tonight. I expect you to have all of this done for tomorrow." He said, getting up.

"But that's insane! No one can learn that much in one night!"

"I learned everything I know about World War II in a day, and it's not my fault you got behind and didn't think of tutoring until a week before Mid-terms," he said cockily as he walked around the house and to the car. On his way, he was stopped by Kikyo.

"You're being awfully hard on my daughter, aren't you?"

"Heh. She's stubborn as hell. She'll get all that done and more, if only just to prove me wrong." he said, and continued on his way. He wanted to get home in time to see who his father's visitor was.

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A smile appeared on Sesshoumaru's face (A/N: anyone else have trouble picturing that?) as they heard a car pulling in to the driveway. He was excited and anxious to see how his brother had grown.

It was sad to say that Inuyasha didn't feel the same way when he saw the familiar car parked in the driveway. "Well," he said sourly as he entered the kitchen, finding everyone there waiting for him, "If it isn't Houdini himself. Tell me, where are you planning to disappear to next?"

Ouch. That hurts. Sesshoumaru's smile faded, leaving an almost mournful look in it's place. He had no way to respond to that. He hadn't been expecting this.

"Well? Geez, you make me sick. I'll be in my room." And with that, Inuyasha angrily walked down the stairs to his basement residence.

"Well... Uhh... I'm sorry son... maybe I should talk to him..." offered Inutaisho uncomfortably.

"No. No, I think maybe I should try to explain..."

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'And if you're taking a walk through the garden of life,

what would you think, you'd expect, you would see?

Just like a mirror reflecting the moves of your life,

and in the river, reflections of me.

Just for a second a glimpse of my father, I see

and in a movement he beckons to me,

And in a moment the memories are all that remain,

and all the wounds, are reopened, again

We're blood brothers! We're bloo-'

Inuyasha angrily turned the radio off. Jesus Christ, even his music was taunting him now. He couldn't believe that after three years absence, three years without a word except for a card at Christmas, hastily signed 'Merry Xmas, Sessh', after three fucking years of leaving him in the dark, alone, his brother thought he could just waltz back and everything could be happy-happy fun-fun.

He heard footsteps coming down the stairs. "Pleasegothefuckaway!"

"Sorry brother, not until I straighten a few things out."

Inuyasha snarled. 'Great,' he thought, 'It just had to be him'

"Inuyasha... Do you remember, when you were six and I twelve, do you remember the promise we made?"

Inuyasha keh-ed, and nodded. How could he forget...

"I came home all excited, because I thought I'd found a way to make us full brothers, instead of just half. God, I remember your face like it was yesterday. You're chubby cheeks were stretching with glee."

"Get to the point Sessh."

*sigh* "The point is, Inuyasha, that even though we haven't spoken in a while, even though I haven't exactly been a good one, we are still brothers. There's still a connection there, deeper than almost any other. Just think about that, and when you're ready to talk to me more, I'll be upstairs." And with that, Sesshy began to head upstairs, leaving Inuyasha to brood.

And brood he did. He let his mind wander back, to twelve years ago...

~*~Flashback~*~

A twelve year old Sesshoumaru ran into the house excitedly, waving a sheet of paper his friend had given him. He didn't stop to get a snack like he usually did. Today he had something more important to do.

He found his half brother, a six year old Inuyasha (A/N: Awwww....) watching some children's show in the living room. (A/N: C'mon guys, Über-Awwww...) "Sesshy!" He said, in the goofy over-excited tones of small children everywhere. "Sesshy's home, Sesshy's home!"

"C'mon, Inuyasha, I wanna show you sumthin'"

"Oooh!"

They made there kawaii little way down into the basement/bedroom that they shared at the time. They sat across from each other on Sesshoumaru's bed, and Sesshy had placed the paper between them.

"Okay, I'm gonna tell you something really cool and important, but you gotta promise that you're not gonna cry, no matter what, okay?"

"I dunno... what is it? Is it gonna hurt a lot?"

"Well, today, at school, one of my friends showed me a way to make us full brothers, instead of just half," Inuyasha's face brightened at his words, "but it's gonna hurt a little, so you gotta promise you're not gonna cry, okay?"

"Okay!" he answered with a determination only a child could muster.

"Okay, first, we gotta say this promise, but since you can't read yet, I'm gonna say it for both of us. then, we gotta pinky-swear on it, okay?" Sesshoumaru looked at Inuyasha for a confirmation, seeing his head nodding furiously.

"Okay. I do promise," he said, reading from the paper, "That we, Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha, will forever and ever, from this day on, be sworn brothers, no matter what!" He then extended his hand, with his pinky hooked outwards. Inuyasha's pint-sized-pinky hooked with his and the swore on it.

"That didn't hurt at all, Sesshy..." began Inuyasha.

"We're not done yet though," he answered, producing a pin from somewhere in his pocket.

"Wh- What chya gonna d- do with that, Sesshy?" Inuyasha asked, his voice shaky from fear.

"C'mon now, you promised you weren't gonna cry. I'm just gonna poke your finger like this," he said, and demonstrated on his own finger, "and then we're gonna rub our fingers together, and we'll be brothers forever."

"Okay..." Inuyasha said, still a little uncertain. But, his resolve grew, and he became determined again, because he wanted nothing more than to be full brothers with Sesshoumaru.

The pin hurt a lot, but Inuyasha did as he promised and refused to cry. When they we're finished, Sesshoumaru took out two band-aids.

"Do you want the red one or the blue one, brother?" asked Sesshoumaru.

"Blue," answered Inuyasha happily. Finally, they were full brothers, and nothing would take that away.

~*~End Flashback~*~

Inuyasha sighed. So what if Sesshoumaru was right? That didn't mean he was gonna go rushing upstairs and apologize. Besides, he still wanted an answer. Why hadn't Sesshoumaru called at least once, in the past three years.

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Meanwhile, Sesshoumaru was somewhat busy unpacking with Rin. This was the last night he'd see her for a while, because she was going home to live for a few months as well, and he had wanted things to go better. He sighed, hoping she didn't think he had a crazy family.

Taking a break, Rin decided to try and strike up a conversation. "You know, when you told me your brother had a strong character, I didn't think it'd be quite that strong."

"Hnn... yeah, Inuyasha has one hell of a personality. He's got a strong will, and he's always a little bit cocky. What's more, he never, ever, admits defeat. We once went two months without talking to each other when he broke something, and the entire time he refused to take the blame, saying it was just an accident. I don't even remember what it was he broke anymore... I look up to him, in ways. He's a lot more sure of himself than me..."

"Yeah... two months over some toy or something. Almost seems as strange as three years..."

"Oh, come on. I thought I'd explained this to you before."

"I know, dear. But not even a phone call? You have to admit, that's a bit harsh, especially for someone his age. So when's he gonna take his hat off? I'm dying to see if you were telling the truth or not."

"Oh, don't be so light about that. It's been hard for him, his whole life, because of people making fun of him for that. It's the one thing he won't fight against, people taunting his ears. I think he's ashamed of them, although it's not his fault. It's just some genetic disorder that runs in the family, that's all. God, if I had to go through what he's been through, all for such a stupid thin as ears, I'd cave, I really would."

"Yeah... especially with no older brother to look out for you..."

"Alright! Okay, I was wrong, I shouldn't have left him in the dark for so long. But he needed to learn to look out for himself, needed to know that I wasn't always going to be there. I swear, if I knew he was gonna look at me the way he did today, I'd never have done it..."

"It's okay sweetie... He'll get over it... don't worry," Rin gave him a quick peck on the cheek, and got up to resume unpacking.

"I love you, Rin..." said Sesshoumaru quietly, as he went over to help her, "swear to god, I love you with all my being." He planted a quick kiss on her lips before continuing to unpack.

"Sesshou..." came a voice from the door. Sesshoumaru looked up to find Inuyasha standing in the doorway, looking towards the floor, his face covered but the bill of his hat.

Sesshoumaru cleared his throat, "Rin, darling, do you think you could give me a few minutes alone, with my brother?"

"Sure," Rin smiled sweetly on got up to leave, knocking Inuyasha's hat off on her way out. "You know," she said sweetly as she looked his face over, "You're actually quite handsome." She handed him the hat and walked away, saying, "It really is a shame to keep them covered, seeing how cute they are."

Inuyasha just ignored all of this, or at least pretended to ignore it. Deep down, part of him was smiling. "Sesshou.... why?"

"Inuyasha..."

"Why did you leave me here? Alone? For three years... three years of hate and taunting... why Sesshou... why weren't you there to protect me?"

"Inuyasha..."

"You promised Sesshou... you said you'd look out for me... you promised!" Inuyasha had to fight off tears. How could his brother, his sworn brother, been so cold. So heartless. How could he not be there, when he was needed most.

"Inuyasha... I'm sorry... I really should have called... but you need to understand, although I went about it entirely the wrong way, I just wanted to help you. I wanted to help you understand that I wouldn't always be there when you need me, that I wouldn't always be able to fight your battles for you. I was wrong to leave when I did, I was wrong not to stay in touch, but please, please tell me I wasn't wrong to come back..."

Inuyasha let the tears flow freely now. "It really hurt you know. I thought you'd abandoned me. Thought you didn't want people to see you hanging around with a freak all of the time," he choked on a sob that was trying to escape, "It hurt so much thinking you didn't want to be my brother anymore..."

"Inuyasha... I'm sorry for putting you through that... I should have known you were still to young... oh, baby brother, can you ever forgive me?"

"I've missed you so much," Inuyasha sobbed and embraced his brother in a tight hug.

"I've missed you too, Inuyasha. I know I screwed up, and I know it must have hurt more than I can imagine, but please, give me another chance. Let me be your brother again."

"Sesshou... you've always been my brother, and you always will be... I'm glad you're back Sesshou..."

"Thank you, Inuyasha... come on, tell me what's happened these past few years. I wanna know everything."

"Okay, Sesshou... but promise me something."

"What?"

Inuyasha extended a fully grown hand, with his pinky hooked outwards. "Promise me you won't be too far away. In case I really, really need you."

"I promise, Inu. I'll never leave you again."

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A/N: *Sniffle* I'm feeling sad now... Oh well, things are gonna get happier in the next chapter ^.^ Not many other important notes this time.

I just want to put in another segment of song that I couldn't work into the fic itself:

There are times when I feel I'm afraid for the world
There are times I'm ashamed of us all
When you're floating on all the emotion you feel
And reflecting the good and the bad

Will we ever know what the answer to love really is?
Can you really tell me what love is?
Maybe all the things that you know that are precious to you
Could be swept away by fate's own hand

The song is Blood Brothers by Iron Maiden, a classic rock song.

Next Chapter: What is and What Should Never Be

Open-ended Poll: Who should be the main Villain in this story? I'm drawing nearer and nearer to the confrontation, and I haven't a clue who to make our heroes confront with @.@