InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Mind Reader ❯ Brotherly Love Pt. II ( Chapter 15 )

Hey everyone. Thanks for the reviews, I greatly appreciate them! Well, I got this chapter out a little faster than my previous one. It's a start, right? Hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I just realized that I do own someone. I own Akki! Not that I'm proud of owning a demented hell squirrel, but hey, I own someone. It's the fact that you own someone that counts, not who you own.

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Mind Reader

Chapter 12: Brotherly Love, Part II

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Inuyasha and Miroku laid sprawled on the grass in front of Kaede's hut. Both of them were exhausted from dealing with a hyperactive kitsune all day. First came that degrading game of tag, then came `run around real fast while Shippo clung to your back screaming like a little girl,' followed by art time, or as Shippo preferred, `art time with the paper being Miroku and Inuyasha.' He had painted both of their faces in bright pinks, oranges, and yellows. Then he thought it would be funny if Miroku asked a lady to bear his child while looking like that. So Miroku did. And spent the next 30 minutes being chased around the village by that same lady who was holding a broomstick before Inuyasha finally saved him. He then allowed a break for them to clean their faces claiming `your faces are beginning to freak me out.' Once they came back it was time for another thrilling game of tag. Shippo was about to announce the next form of torture when Kaede and Rin returned from whatever they were doing. Kaede had prepared dinner and after eating Shippo had determined that he was exhausted so he went to bed. So now Inuyasha and Miroku were complaining together.

"Tell me again Miroku why we did all that?" asked Inuyasha between deep sighs.

"I don't really remember anymore. I think it had to do with not wanting Kagome to sit you until you were in a crater 100 feet deep," Miroku replied thoughtfully.

"Well that explains why I did it. Why did you go through it?"

"Hmm, now that's a good question. Kagome doesn't have any power like `sit' for me…damn, why did I do that?"

"How about cause you're a great friend who didn't want to see me go through Shippo torture all by myself," replied Inuyasha sarcastically.

"No, no, no, that definitely wasn't it…no offense or anything Inuyasha! Oh yeah! I remember now. Kagome can't `sit' me, but she does pack a hell of a punch. And Sango's boomerang hurts a lot too."

Inuyasha scoffed at this reply. "One would think you enjoy getting hit by Sango. You definitely grope her enough to come across as liking the abuse."

"Nope. Her hitting me is just an unfortunate side effect to the groping. A quite painful side effect I might add."

"Well did the concept of not groping her ever cross her mind?"

"What? How could you suggest such a preposterous idea!? Do you have any idea how much joy I receive from feeling Sango's luscious curves? Yes, the boomerang hurts but the amount of pain I receive from it pales in comparison to the amount of joy I get from groping her."

"Forget I ever said anything you lech. You're not worth talking to," sighed Inuyasha.

Five minutes of exhausted silence passed between the two friends before Miroku decided to interrupt it. "Hey Inuyasha?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you ever think of groping Kagome?"

"WHAT?!" shouted Inuyasha angrily. He considered getting up and beating Miroku up for saying that but then decided he was too tired to do that. So he settled for glaring up at the sky.

"Well do you? I mean that thought had to have crossed your mind more than once. After all, she also has a great body. I'm sure you're just dying to place your hands all over it." Miroku didn't see Inuyasha's pissed off face, which was quite unfortunate for him.

"No I'm not! I'm not a pervert like you. I would never do something like that to Kagome."

"Ahh, but if Kagome allowed it would you?"

"No! I don't like…that wench," Inuyasha said, but with very little conviction in his voice. Miroku picked up on that right away.

"Was that a little bit of doubt and hesitation I heard in your voice? Ah ha! I knew it! You like her don't you?" Poor, poor Miroku. If they weren't lying on their backs at that moment he would have seen Inuyasha's expression and stopped talking…maybe. Actually he probably would have kept on going because that is what Miroku does.

Inuyasha grabbed a handful of dirt and flung it at Miroku. "You're lucky I'm tired right now. Or else a lot worse than dirt on your face would have happened."

Miroku gingerly laughed. "I'm going to get my ass kicked later, right?"

"Yup."

"Damn."

The two broke off once again into silence. Even though they were both exhausted neither of them went to sleep. They were enjoying just laying on the grass staring at the night sky. And though Inuyasha would never admit it he was also enjoying the companionship of Miroku. Miroku would admit to enjoying Inuyasha's companionship but he never would for fear of getting killed by Inuyasha. An hour quietly passed by in which not a word was spoken between the two. Another 30 minutes passed when Inuyasha abruptly sat up sniffing the air.

"What is it?" asked Miroku groggily.

"They're back," he replied jumping up, all traces of exhaustion gone.

"Already? Wow that didn't take long." Miroku also jumped up, albeit a bit slower than Inuyasha. He was still exhausted. They were walking to the edge of the village when Sesshoumaru came running into the village. When he saw them he slid to a halt and calmly walked the rest of the way. Both Miroku and Inuyasha were speechless.

Sango was on Sesshoumaru's back, her arms linked around his neck. Her head was lying sideways on his shoulder and she was grimacing in pain. Her legs were loosely draped over Sesshoumaru's arms. And in his arms was an unconscious Kagome. He was cradling her to his chest to keep her from bouncing too much while he was running. As soon as Inuyasha saw Kagome he grabbed her from Sesshoumaru's arms and gave his brother a look of pure hate.

"What the hell did you do to her? I knew it was a mistake to trust you!" he screamed in rage.

As Miroku helped Sango down from Sesshoumaru's back he tried to talk some sense into the enraged hanyou. "Inuyasha, if Sesshoumaru was the person who did this to them why would he bring them back? Why would he have been holding Kagome so gently as to protect her while he was running? I believe you are mistaken in your accusation. In fact I believe that Sesshoumaru got them out of whatever happened." Miroku then turned his worried gaze to Sango who was leaning against him. "Sango, what happened? What happened to you?"

"We found Akki and Naraku. Kagome passed out. We ran…and ribs!" she gasped out, clutching her abdomen in pain.

"Huh?" was Miroku's reply.

Sango glared at Miroku for not understanding then pointedly looked at Sesshoumaru. Both Miroku and Inuyasha switched their gazes to the demon lord, waiting for an explanation.

"You better start talking now," snarled Inuyasha, holding Kagome to his chest protectively.

Sesshoumaru gave a deep sigh before replying. "Inuyasha, shouldn't you be more concerned about your wench than what happened?"

"He's right Inuyasha. We should get Kaede to help Sango and Kagome and while she is helping them he can explain what happened," said Miroku, actually using a bit of logic.

Inuyasha didn't say anything but he did stomp over to Kaede's hut and throw open the door. "KAEDE! Get your fat lazy ass up right now and tell me what's wrong with Kagome!"

As soon as the name `Kagome' was uttered Shippo was up in a flash. He was immediately on Inuyasha's shoulder sobbing his eyes out. "Inuyasha! What happened? Why is Kagome knocked out? Will she be ok?"

Inuyasha glared at Shippo hoping to get rid of the kitsune but it sadly didn't work. "Shippo, I don't know what happened. Go ask Sesshoumaru. He was with her."

A second later Shippo was on Sesshoumaru's shoulder. "Sesshoumaru! What happened? Why is Kagome knocked out? Will she be ok?"

Sesshoumaru glowered at Inuyasha who smirked in return. As Sesshoumaru tried in vain to get rid of the kitsune a little girl's voice piped up in the darkness.

"Sesshoumaru? Are you back?"

"Yes Rin, I have returned. Have you been good?"

"Yes, I helped Kaede around the village."

"Who the hell cares? Kaede! Get your ass up now!" yelled Inuyasha, who was immediately smacked by Sesshoumaru.

"Don't use that language around Rin."

"I'll say whatever the hell," smack "ow, I want to!"

As Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru had a battle of evil, hate filled glares Kaede finally got up. "Inuyasha, what is this racket for? Some of us actually try to sleep at night."

"This," replied Inuyasha breaking off the battle with Sesshoumaru who grinned in triumph. He thrusted Kagome in Kaede's face.

"Oh, I see. She passed out again," remarked Kaede wisely.

"No shit," smack "damn," smack "you Sesshoumaru! I'll kill you yet!" smack "Hey I didn't curse!"

"No, but you threatened me. I don't want Rin to think that threatening me is allowed."

"Screw," smack "you! That wasn't a curse word either!"

"No, but I also don't want Rin picking up on vulgar language."

"Go to HELL!" SMACK! Inuyasha rubbed his sore head before turning his attention back to Kaede. "So what are you going to do with her?"

Kaede ignored Inuyasha and turned to the demon lord who was waiting patiently for Inuyasha to curse again. She sighed at the maturity levels of the two brothers. "Was it Akki?" she asked.

"As best as I can determine it was," replied Sesshoumaru, looking a little disappointed that Inuyasha didn't curse again. He so enjoyed smacking his brother around. "We were spying on Naraku and Akki when Kagome suddenly passed out." Sesshoumaru paid no heed to the collective gasp that went through the group.

"They're together?" squeaked Miroku. At the odd looks he received he cleared his voice and tried again. "They're together?" he said in a deep voice. `That's better. Grown men definitely shouldn't squeak.'

Kaede stared incredulously at the monk before she decided to ignore him as well. She turned back to Inuyasha who was still holding tightly onto Kagome. "Inuyasha, put her down."

"No."

"I need to check her over. Put her down."

"Well you're gonna have to do it around me. I'm not putting her down."

Kaede gave up and checked over Kagome as best could while Inuyasha growled deep in his throat. She didn't even think Inuyasha was aware of his constant, threatening growls. It was merely an instinctive reaction for him to growl when anybody came too near someone he loved that was hurt. `Not that he would ever admit to loving her, even if it was just as a friend.' After she was done checking the girl over she prepared some herbs to administer. "There are no physical problems with Kagome so I'm guessing it's the same things that happened last time. I'll give her the same herbs since they seemed to have worked last time." After Kaede was done with Kagome she turned to everyone else. "Now is anyone else hurt or can I go back to sleep?"

Miroku immediately stepped up, bringing Sango with him. He had an arm around her waist, for once not in a lecherous manner but a supportive one. "Can you look at Sango?"

"What is wrong?"

"Well I'm guessing it has something to do with her ribs since all she has been groaning for the past 5 minutes has been ribs…ribs…my ribs!"

"You ran, didn't you?" asked Kaede to the demon exterminator.

Sango grinned sheepishly. "Um…yeah?"

Kaede gave Sango an exasperated look. "I told you, your ribs would be fine if you took it easy for the next week. And I very specifically said no running, right?"

"Um…yeah?"

"So of course you ran."

"I had to! Kagome had passed out and Naraku saw us!" said Sango defensively.

At this Sesshoumaru rolled his eyes and spoke up. "Naraku did not see us. Even though Kagome passed out Naraku had no idea we were there. You just freaked out and ran as soon as Kagome fell. By the time I had picked up Kagome and chased after you were rolling on the ground, groaning in pain."

"Ahh, so the truth comes out," smirked Inuyasha.

"Well if Kagome passed out because of Akki then it would make sense that Akki knew we were there. So it would make further sense that Akki would tell Naraku about us!" replied Sango.

"Akki had no reason to tell Naraku. He is not worried about us all. He is still toying with us. He thinks that Kagome's arrow hitting him was a fluke of some sort. He would think it would be worthless to let Naraku know we were there," said Sesshoumaru.

"Whatever," huffed Sango, "my nerves were bent out of shape after the previous night and then watching the two most powerful demons," at this comment there was a `hey' from Inuyasha which Sango ignored, "kind of makes you a nervous wreck, you know? Just knowing that if Akki wished it he could kill us with a touch. So forgive me when I ran. But at that moment I was cursing my idea of reconnaissance."

"Be quiet for a moment and drink this," interrupted Kaede, handing Sango a cup of tea she had concocted while the argument was taking place.

Sango roughly grabbed the cup and drank it while glaring daggers at the brothers. She then grabbed the blanket Kaede handed her, spread it on the ground, and laid on it. "Good night," she spit out, then closed her eyes.

Kaede then looked to the remaining people. They stared at her. "Are you going to keep talking or finally go to sleep?" she asked.

"I'm going to sleep," piped up Shippo. He jumped off Sesshoumaru's shoulder and curled up by Sango.

"Can I sleep too?" asked Rin, looking at Sesshoumaru with sleepy eyes. He nodded and she went back to her blanket. Kaede looked at the 3 remaining guys expectantly.

"Talk?" suggested Miroku, looking to his counterparts for agreement.

"Yes, talk. I still want answers," agreed Inuyasha, glaring pointedly at Sesshoumaru.

"Then I guess we'll talk," sighed the demon lord.

"Well…" replied Kaede giving a nod to the door.

"Well what?" asked Inuyasha.

Kaede pointed at the door. The 3 guys stared at her completely clueless. She jabbed her finger at the door. They stared. She growled. Inuyasha growled back. Miroku stared at Inuyasha. Sesshoumaru stared at Kaede. Kaede stared at all three. Miroku stuck his tongue out at Kaede. Kaede laughed. Then glared. Inuyasha growled some more. Sesshoumaru did nothing. Kaede got pissed. Miroku got confused. Sesshoumaru got bored. Inuyasha kept on growling. "GET OUT!" screamed Kaede. The three guys scurried out of the hut, Inuyasha still holding Kagome. Kaede smiled and went to sleep.

Outside the three guys stared at each other blankly.

"Did Kaede…growl in there?" asked Miroku incredulously.

"I think so," responded Inuyasha, finally deciding to stop growling.

"And I thought I had seen it all. But no, now old woman are growling at me," remarked Sesshoumaru.

At this comment both Miroku and Inuyasha broke up laughing. Even Sesshoumaru let a slight smile land on his face.

Inuyasha quickly got a hold of himself and turned serious. "So what did you find out?" he asked, facing his brother.

"Well as you know Naraku and Akki have teamed up. It looks like it is a mutual relationship. Akki is in control of himself and there is no apparent boss. And it also seems that Kagome damaged Akki's eyes in her attack. I overheard him say something about no death move but just headaches."

"Well that's good," replied Miroku perkily.

"Yeah, I can handle a little headache." Inuyasha than glanced down at the girl he was holding. "Do you know what happened to Kagome?"

"No, I'm sorry. One minute she was looking at them and the next she was passed out."

Miroku patted Inuyasha's shoulder. "It's alright, she was fine after the last attack, she will be fine again. And now if you'll excuse me I am going to bed."

Inuyasha watched as Miroku disappeared into the hut and went to follow. Right before he went inside he turned to his brother. "Thank you," he grumbled before quickly going inside.

Sesshoumaru stared at the door unblinking for several minutes, replaying the scene in his mind. `Did I hear right? Did my hardheaded brother just…thank me? For helping Kagome?' Sesshoumaru slowly blinked before walking to the side of the hut. He slid to the ground and leaned his back against the wall. "Your welcome," he whispered before drifting off to sleep.

From inside the hut a soft smile could be seen on Inuyasha's face as he sat on the ground with Kagome in his lap before he too went to sleep.

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Aww, the brothers are beginning to understand each other. Isn't that sweet? Well I will try to have the next chapter up soon. Until then have fun, stay off drugs, and review! Later.

Hououza: You went to Japan? Seriously? That's awesome. What part did you go to? And what did you do over there? I'm going there next May for a couple weeks which I'm really looking forward to, but then I'm also a little nervous about it as well.