InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Osuwari, Little Brother ❯ Fateful Osuwari ( Chapter 1 )

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

Frustration was not something he was used to. Frustration had never been something more than a word in his life, until he'd tracked the fang to its hiding place. Now frustration was part and parcel of his existence. Every step he took, every breath, every waking moment was a frustration, a reminder that he was forever thwarted in his crowning goal.

It was supposed to have been so easy. Find the tomb. Take his birthright, and then…

<i>And then what exactly? </i>

Breathe each breath knowing he was the most powerful of youkai; that he was now tai-youkai in fact. Finally surpass his father in power and status. Finally be at peace with himself.

All of it gone at the hands of a worthless, half-breed moron. The son of his own father, a boor, uneducated and insolent beyond forgiveness. Why had his father preferred the hanyou son to the youkai son? How could the Inutaisho have made the choices he had made regarding the birthright of his sons?

Gold eyes focused on the moon reflected in the water of the spring. A long delicate hand rose and touched the smooth stump that was all that remained of a left arm, washing it while bitterness flickered across a normally cool, remote face.

He did not know why. But he did know one truth.

He was going to make Inuyasha pay for the insults, the defeats and the humiliations. Inuyasha was not just going to die; he was going to suffer until his death was a relief, looked at as a favor or a blessing.

A cool smile played across full lips as the youkai rose from his bath and sought out his brother; he had to observe the hanyou and find all he could about his enemy… only then could be defeat the fool and claim Tessaiga and his empire at last…
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“Inuyasha! Come down!” Kagome called from the foot of a rather tall tree. Her wide blue eyes were entreating the inu-hanyou to come resume their trek to retrieve the Shikon no Kakera. However the young half-demon was pouting in his perch, angry at the continued presence of the newest member of the party; one Miroku, a monk with amazingly perverted thoughts and a hand that seemed eternally attached to some unwitting female's behind.

“Come on Inuyasha!” Kagome scolded. “We really have to go! Some scary demon could be claiming a Shikon shard right now!” she yelled, waving her arms to emphasize her point. Still the pouting hanyou did not move. “Don't make me say “it” to make you come down! It will hurt even you to fall so far!” she threatened. Now the hanyou's ears twitched; though he did not move or even shift, distress radiated from his form at her words. Miroku ambled up beside Kagome, who instantly shot him a look of warning about touching her.

“Inuyasha, we both want to find Naraku, and we both want to reassemble the Shikon no Tama, so why are you pouting up there?” Miroku's smooth voice called. The hanyou's eyebrow twitched with irritation; why couldn't he nap in peace? After the whole business with sending Kagome home, and fighting the possessed Ryuukan, all while dealing with a serious and near mortal wound inflicted by his half-brother, he really felt like resting for just one day.

They didn't understand him at all. Stubborn and temperamental he might be, but he was a person as much as they were. Even a hanyou needed time to think about things. He gazed up at the clouds and sighed, his long clawed fingers caressing the hilt of Tessaiga, his birthright and a mystery he must unravel if he was to keep it for himself…

“Osuwariiiiiiiiiiiii!”

As the shrilly voiced word cut the air Inuyasha yowled; a sudden surge of gravity yanked him to the ground far below, the violent eruption of pink light from the kotodama rosary barely noticed as the bespelled thing dragged him down so hard he left a deep gouge in the road. His nerves jumped with a combination of pain and annoyance, his hanyou metabolism healing him from the minor bruises fairly quickly; still he looked ridiculous, arms and legs in the air as his face was planted in the hard-packed dirt. He rolled up to his feet fluidly and resettled his sword in his hakama ties, golden eyes flashing with anger.

“Dammit you little bitch! Fine! Let's go!” he flicked his thick white hair back and stomped off down the road, not caring if Kagome apologized or not for her impatient use of the submission charm. The girl raced to catch up, but he didn't speak to her until night fell, too embarrassed about having having been “sat” in front of Miroku and Shippo to feel very gregarious…

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Sesshomaru pondered as he paced the odd little group from a distance where he was certain they would not sense him easily. Inuyasha had not said a word all day, but his scent and his expression spoke of deep frustration. It was how his admittedly agile sibling had somehow fallen from that tree that confused the youkai. One moment the hanyou was relaxed in the tree. Then the girl with the odd clothing had yelled “osuwari” and Inuyasha had tumbled to the ground as if startled. It made no sense. As moronic as he felt Inuyasha to be, he also knew the truth; the boy was agile and strong, far more so than any human could dream of being.

He watched the interaction between the four persons of the party, seeking something of use about the humans and the kitsune cub. The male human, the monk, was a pervert, whose eyes often fastened to the human girl's rear with avid attention. The kitsune-cub was desperate for attention, and pestered the girl, the monk and Inuyasha until he was either comforted or batted away.

As days passed and Inuyasha began to fall into the rhythm of traveling with his companions, Sesshomaru observed him and had most of his original ideas reinforced. The boy was a boor, with few manners, though the girl Kagome was trying to instill some better ones into him. He was very easy to anger and was cocky to the point of being laughable. Yet he was strong and courageous, never backed down from any fight, and usually won when he did engage with enemies, demon or human. Even the stoic youkai had to admire the boy's courage and grit.

It was not the hanyou's personality that was the key weakness though. It was a simple word, a word that only the girl said, and she said it often. It did not take long before the youkai lord realized that the rosary around his brother's neck was the key; it was charmed, and the girl was the only one who could enact the spell to subdue Inuyasha with it. It was a strange find that had him thinking sleeplessly for two days, before he left off his watching and sought out someone who could explain the charm more fully…

<i>Osuwari…</i>

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“Inuyasha…” Kagome sat next to the hanyou and smiled gently at him, receiving a curious look tinged with wary trust in return. She handed him a steaming bowl of instant noodles from her natural time and sat quietly as he wolfed them quickly. She'd once thought his hurried way of eating was a lack of manners, until she realized he ate whenever he was presented with food no matter how often that was, and secretly slid small food stuffs into his sleeves for later.

She then adjusted to think he was just hungry a lot thanks to his demonic metabolism, until Shippo explained how when his father and their clan was killed off, he had gone hungry quite often. Left an orphan, Shippo had barely a clue about how to find food and what he found was mostly roots, nuts and flowers. He'd shuddered and huddled as he spoke of it. Kagome had hugged him and looked up to see a strange understanding in Inuyasha's eyes, and a spark of compassion for the small Kitsune-cub on his face.

Finally she'd seen that he wasn't rude so much as conditioned. He would not speak much of his past or his family but she did know he'd been on his own very young; he ate fast because he'd gotten used to not eating often, and it was likely that food might have been stolen from him by stronger beings that the younger Inuyasha simply could not fight off. He was incredibly thin, and stayed that way even though they did not miss many meals; Miroku saw to that now that he was in the party.

Once the bowl was empty she took it from him and set it aside, then wrapped her arms around her knees and gazed at the valley below them. She sensed something was bothering the hanyou but she also knew he'd never tell her his upset on his own. She waited and heard him sigh.

“Go to the fire Kagome. I just wanna think, ok?” he said quietly. She looked at him and nodded, obeying his request to be alone, rising and disappearing behind the brush. He looked up at the stars and pondered his unrest. He remembered that one “osuwari,” in fact it rarely left his mind. He knew somehow that that one moment had changed something… as if destiny had shifted. Maybe he should have agreed and come down when Kagome called him… or maybe she should have respected his silence. He did not know what was wrong, but he knew he had to shake this paranoia…

He did not sense the attack, was barely aware of what was going on as he felt a sharp blow to his face that spun his body around and sent it tumbling down the hill. Of course he rolled to his feet and sprang to the side, only to find another blow waiting for him; he actually ran into the large fist that slammed into his cheek with the force of a tsunami. His bare feet left the ground and he tumbled further down the hill, stunned and winded by his fall and the harsh blows. The hanyou growled and slashed madly behind him as a hand wrapped around the back of his neck and then shook him like a puppy. Finally he caught the scent of his attacker, and that scent drove him into a rage.

“Sesshomaru, you asshole! Let go of me!” he almost roared in his flashing anger. He swiped again, and felt a tug as he actually caught his brother's leg in a glancing blow. The hand on his neck tightened so hard that he saw red and white flashes as he was lifted off of his feet. His body went numb and his breathing grew labored under the bruising pressure.

“Inuyasha, you will pay for those cuts. You will pay for humiliating me before your precious human female and you will pay for claiming my birthright; now be quiet and be still.” Sesshomaru's cool voice was smooth and calm despite his words; if he was in any pain from the claw marks on his leg he did not show it. Inuyasha's hands rose as he tried to grasp the fingers that had claimed his neck, but suddenly the world went white and he lost awareness.