InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Nothing of Importance ❯ Segment Two ( Chapter 2 )

`I shouldn't even be doing this. The half-breed can take care of himself,' Sesshomaru told himself gruffly as he walked back to where he'd left Inuyasha. Uhn and Ah's reigns were in his hand as he walked while Jaken and Rin rode on his back, both of his retainers resting comfortably to the point of sleeping. He needed no rest but knew, and accepted, that his retainers did. And maybe it was better that they were resting. He didn't want to deal Jaken's indignation on his way to check on his hanyou brother, telling himself that it really wasn't out of concern, that something about the way the whelp had been acting had him feeling confused. It just needed some clarification, and it happened to be on their way away from the stream where Rin had done her fishing. The fact that the half-breed burned with a fever had nothing to do with it.

 

`He's probably left already,' Sesshomaru reasoned. `I doubt he'd be that foolish and stay somewhere where he could be killed.'

 

As he approached the clearing, a weak cough caught his attention, and immediately nixed the thought that Inuyasha had left. Squelching the concern that had risen in his chest, Sesshomaru let go of the two-headed dragonet's reigns and ran to his brother. The hanyou had not moved since he'd left him a few hours before. Sesshomaru knelt next to Inuyasha, a frown lighting his eyes.

 

If he'd thought it possible, he would have sworn that Inuyasha had gotten worse in the few hours he'd been away. His cheeks were flushed, his breathing harsh and heavy, and his skin was burning. Sesshomaru hadn't even touched him but he still felt the heat coming off the hanyou, as if he were in front of a campfire instead of his brother. With a resigned sigh, Sesshomaru grabbed the front of Inuyasha's haori, lifting him up. When he had Inuyasha in a sitting position, he quickly let go then caught his brother under his arm before the half-breed could hit the ground. He then eased Inuyasha on to his shoulder, noting with a growing alarm that Inuyasha remained limp, like a child's rag doll, and only emitted a single groan. Whatever had happened to him, it was obvious to Sesshomaru that the half-breed's human friends would be useless in helping him to recover.

 

`Don't know I'm bothering,' he scowled as he hefted Inuyasha on to his shoulder. `He's always been an ungrateful whelp. I should have left him with his human family . . .' Then he shook his head of that thought. `No . . . I couldn't . . . he'd have died for certain if I'd allowed him to stay with them. I couldn't have left him there . . . not to die . . .'

 

Sesshomaru strode back to Uhn and Ah. He had a sick hanyou to take care of. He wasn't about to trust a bunch of mere humans to care for his last living relative. The half-breed was the only one he encountered who could put up a more than halfway decent fight, after all.

 

`You better appreciate what I'm doing for you this time, Inuyasha,' he thought darkly as he lay the hanyou across Uhn and Ah's back, just behind Rin. `If not, I will not hesitate to kill you.'

 

* * *

 

A soft moan escaping the limp form caused Sesshomaru to glance up. It had been a few days since he'd taken Inuyasha back into his care, days that had been filled with memories, both pleasant and unpleasant. Pleasant because he'd remembered the times when Inuyasha had looked up to him and adored him. Unpleasant because such times were overshadowed by InuTaisho's presence. As much as he had tried to bury such memories, they always came back to haunt him, shoving their way to the surface and reminding him that such events were the reason behind why he was the way he was. Because of his father ripping his own innocence away from him, Sesshomaru had vowed to never let it happen to Inuyasha upon learning of the pup's birth. Shaking his head of those thoughts, Sesshomaru rose to his feet and stepped towards Inuyasha. It had been the first noise the half-breed had made since he'd taken Inuyasha with him.

 

`If he's getting better then I can send him on his way,' Sesshomaru told himself, trying to ruthlessly kill the feelings of protectiveness that he'd always had for his brother. `The sooner the better.'

 

What happened next Sesshomaru would never forget, not for as long as he lived. His brother started to thrash in his sleep and whimper, as if trying to escape some unknown horror. But it was Inuyasha's words, his childlike tone that would freeze him to his core, and haunt him to his grave.

 

“No . . . Stop it . . . Leave me alone . . . stop it! Nee-chan!”

 

Golden eyes snapped open and Inuyasha bolted forward, a scream erupting from him . . .