InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Pride (In the Name of Love) ❯ Chapter 10

Pride (In the Name of Love) 10 / ??
Written by Jezz-Ra
Warnings - Not all warnings apply to all chapters. Yaoi, Het, Rape, Lemon, Violence, Language, Torture, Angst, Incest, Dark (at times). It's a massive story, folks, it's got a little bit of everything.
Disclaimer - I don't own Inuyasha, don't make money off it. Wish I did.

Sidestories can be found under my author profile at any of my archive sites.
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// blah // indicates thoughts.

A/N - I may take some liberties with the true history of the series here - y'see, I saw *almost* all of the anime and never really read the manga due to...well. Inability more than anything. So...should I say something that conflicts with anything...be it something early on or later...consider it artistic license.
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The trip to Kagome's time had been Inuyasha's first in almost four years, and he hadn't seen Kagome at all for three of those years. Truthfully, he had never expected to see her again. He figured she had gone on with her own life in her own time, and he would do the same.
The raven's information, at least in regards to using the waterfall pool as a portal, had proven accurate. The journey had only taken a day and a half, a short trip home and then a couple more days to reach the Bone Eater's Well. Inuyasha took a deep breath and then leapt into the well.

It was darker than usual on the other side. Inuyasha grumbled as he climbed, finding something heavy on top of the well. He dug his claws into the side of the well and gave a good heave.

A tremendous crash accompanied the motion - apparently, the area around AND on the well had been made into a storage room of sorts. Inuyasha had mixed emotions about that - it was good that Kagome had moved on so thoroughly, and it stung a bit at the same time.

Sneezing from the cloud of dust he'd inadvertently created, Inuyasha picked his way out of the room and headed for the house. He peered in the window to Kagome's room and blinked several times. The room was devoid of anything remotely personal.

Panicking, he darted around to the front and was about to leap through a window when he thought better of it. Biting down his impatience with a supreme effort of will, he knocked on the front door and waited, feet tapping and his hands fidgeting with his sleeves.

Sota opened the door and beamed when he saw Inuyasha. "Hey! Inuyasha! Wow, long time no see!"Inuyasha grinned. "Hey, squirt, you got bigger since the last time I saw you. Look, I'll come back when I can for a social visit, but right now I have a really big emergency and I need to talk to your sister.""Oh...she doesn't live here anymore...she moved across town with her fiance."

Inuyasha wrinkled his nose and twitched an ear. "Is that some sort of animal? I thought she had a cat."

Sota snickered. "Eh, he's kinda an animal, thats for sure. No, the guy she's promised to marry."

"Oh. Hn. You humans complicate all that stuff way too much. Can you point me in the right direction?"

"I can do better, I'm heading over there anyway. Let me get a hat for you and I'll take you there."Inuyasha nodded. "Thanks, kid."

Sota slowly peered behind Inuyasha. "Who's the girl?"

Inuyasha glanced behind him. "Oh. Er, Sota, this is Rin."Rin's eyes were huge as she looked around, clinging to Mokomoko-sama desperately. Inuyasha knew the girl was entirely overwhelmed.

"I need her to stay with you guys for a while. She's in a whole lot of danger if she stays back in our time right now."

"Alright...I'm sure that'll be fine. She can come with us."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

The visit to Kagome's was awkward and pleasant all at the same time. She'd grown up quite a bit in the past few years, and apparently settling down had done her some good. She was much calmer and more even-tempered than Inuyasha remembered.

Inuyasha expressed his regret that he didn't have time to catch up, and then launched into a rapid explanation of what he needed.

"Wait...wait a minute. Inuyasha, you're asking me to do this so you can help SESSHOUMARU? And what...is that RIN? What is she doing here?! And with Sesshoumaru's fluffy thing! What are you thinking?!"

Inuyasha sighed and rubbed his temples. "I know. I can't believe I'm doing it either, but I need your help. I don't know what to do, and I can't leave him there. You..." Inuyasha choked a bit on his words, his voice thick with emotion.
"You didn't see him. What this bastard has done to him. No one deserves that. Not even him. And I'm starting to find out, the more I dig into this, that we may have all seriously misjudged Sesshoumaru, not knowing all the facts. We only had his reactions towards me to base our opinion of him on...but now I'm finding out he was some diplomatic hotshot, all-mighty great and wonderful leader of an entire kingdom. And Rin...I think the girl's changed him. Cracked him open and let a little sunlight into that shadowy thing he called a heart. She's in a lot of danger if she stays there. She'll be hurt or worse. But I don't have time to debate this, Kagome! Will you help me with what I need or not? I don't know who else to go to!"Kagome studied Inuyasha for a long moment and, contrary to his expectations, nodded. "I think I have an idea that just might work. Come on, we're going to the store...and I'll set up a place for Rin when we get home."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

It took the better part of the day to hunt around and get together supplies that would work for their purposes, and then a bit of time to make what they needed. Rin had fallen into an exhausted sleep on the couch, totally overwhelmed from the sights and sounds of this extraordinary world.

Inuyasha stared at their creation doubtfully. "Kagome, if this doesn't work, you do know one or both of us could be severely injured or killed, right?"

"It'll work, Inuyasha. Trust me."

Inuyasha sighed and nodded, packing up their creation and then giving Kagome a brief hug. "I promise I'll visit when I can. I want to meet your new mate.""Fiance, Inuyasha.""Whatever. I have to go. The more time I waste, the more my brother is suffering."

Kagome nodded. "Then you better hurry up! Don't worry about Rin, I'll make sure she's taken good care of. Even if I don't have any love for your brother, she was always a sweet girl."

Inuyasha nodded, said his goodbyes and sped off towards the well.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"I finally allow you access to the kitchens to reward your behavior and you don't bother to eat?"Sesshoumaru shrugged listlessly. He knew how gaunt and emaciated he'd grown, but couldn't bring himself to care. His eyes focused dully on a spot somewhere nearby, not really seeing anything.

Tsetsukosei squinted at the taiyoukai, trying to sense if he was somehow being tricked. However, there was no deception he could detect. Sesshoumaru had been a model pet since Tsetsukosei had chased off his brother - he had accepted any order given and not fought with him, no matter what he did to try and provoke the inu. He hadn't even argued when Tsetsukosei demanded he now sleep with him in his own bed so he could have easier access to him.

Tsetsukosei growled inwardly. He had desired to break Sesshoumaru to his will, this was true...but he hadn't expected the taiyoukai to stop focusing on taking care of himself in any fashion unless specifically commanded. His silvery hair was dull and knotted. He spent every moment when not specifically ordered to do something else sitting wherever he landed and staring at nothing.

"You will resume caring for yourself properly. On a daily basis, I expect you to eat, drink, bathe, and make yourself look not only presentable, but good. Do you understand me, puppy?"
"Yes, Master," came the inflectionless response. "Shall I begin now?"

"Yes," gritted the beast before stalking off. // Apparently, something of this brother of his damaged him more wholly than I would have expected. // "I shall be departing for a time. I have learned of something that must be dealt with. I expect to find my orders fulfilled to the letter by my return."

"Yes, Master."

Tsetsukosei growled in frustration and delivered a powerful slap to Sesshoumaru's cheek to express his displeasure, talons raking open pale skin. Sesshoumaru's body jerked from the force of the blow, but he did not otherwise respond. Angrier now, Tsetsukosei stalked out of the room.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Inuyasha couldn't believe his luck when he finally arrived and found the demon beast nowhere on the grounds. It was but the work of a few moments for him to slip into the castle. His brother's scent wasn't as obvious as it had been when he'd been laying in a pool of his own blood, but it still didn't take the hanyou long to locate him. He was on one of the upper levels.

Sesshoumaru was sitting in a window, his head resting against the side of the frame, staring blankly. He didn't even look when Inuyasha entered.

Inuyasha stared at his brother in disbelief. He'd never seen him in such a state of voluntary disarray...nor had he ever seen such a lost, lifeless expression. Inuyasha was mortified - he could clearly count ribs through the thin shirt Sesshoumaru was wearing, and ...were those snarls in that silvery mane?

"S...Sesshoumaru?" he asked hesitantly. The response was a long time in coming. Sesshoumaru straightened slowly as if the act took more than a little effort. He turned his head until his golden eyes locked on Inuyasha. Inuyasha thought he saw something flash briefly and just as quickly die out.

"...Inuyasha."

"Fuck..Sesshoumaru...I..shit. Come on. I'm getting you the hell out of here before that bastard starves you to death.""Master Tsetsukosei has granted me access to the kitchens. I have not yet gone."Inuyasha stared at Sesshoumaru in open disbelief, his jaw hanging open. His eyes abruptly narrowed and his ears flattened back. "Sesshoumaru, if I never again hear you refer to ANYONE as 'Master', it'll be too soon. ""I can not leave." Sesshoumaru tapped one fingertip to the collar at his throat. "It does not matter. I deserve this. Go away, Inuyasha."

"Des....WHAT?!" Inuyasha exclaimed, unable to cope with Sesshoumaru acting so...opposite to everything he was supposed to act like.

"I am sorry for the way I have treated you. It was wrong and it has brought me grief. I was angry and unjustified in my prejudice."

Inuyasha simply gawked.

"You could not help the circumstances of your birth, and I have learned not all humans are bad. I tested you and you were strong enough to bear the rights to our heritage. I do not expect your forgiveness. I abandoned you to fate when I could have cared for you, said horrid things, and inflicted damage upon you without ever explaining myself, in part out of a ridiculous notion to blame you for my Lord Father's death.""Well...but....ok. I accept your apology. Now can we go?"

"I have many other sins to atone for. Leave me. I...I am not worth your effort. You are a better son of our Lord Father than I. Besides...the collar. And Rin would be in danger."

Inuyasha growled and dug through his pack before finding his creation. He held it aloft with a grim grin of determination. "I brought Rin to Kagome's time, so she's safe. As for the collar...I don't have any way of getting the damn thing off you, but until we can find one, I can at least keep it from zapping you."

Sesshoumaru's curiosity was piqued at least a bit, despite his seemingly all-encompassing apathy. Inuyasha held a circle of something black.

"It's rubber, I guess. Kagome said it doesn't...convi...cond....fuck. The zaps wont go through it. So we put this around the collar and attach it in place and then you can't be zapped until we find a way to get the damn thing off. And we put some padding on it so it wouldn't hurt, but we didn't have much room to work with."

Sesshoumaru's expression was doubtful. Faced with the reality of trying it, Inuyasha's wasn't much more convinced it would work. He'd felt a taste of that dreadfully powerful current, and it seemed hard to believe that just wrapping it up would be enough to halt it. Sesshoumaru finally shrugged, his voice flat. "As you will."

Inuyasha accepted that as permission to proceed and set about the task of working the rubber between Sesshoumaru's throat and the collar. He made a few adjustments and then set about lacing it tightly closed with the heavy cord they'd woven through it. It surely wasn't pretty, but it covered the entirety of the metal surface. "So I guess we should test it out, make sure it works right. Your life kinda is going to depend on it until we get the fucking thing off you."

Sesshoumaru shrugged and spun his legs out the window, simply leaping out. Inuyasha let out a yelp and darted over. He saw his brother land in a crouch just outside the fortress wall. Judging from his distinct lack of spasming and twitching, the rubber insulation must have been working. Inuyasha leapt out behind him, giving Sesshoumaru a dark look. "Dammit, if it hadn't worked you'd have been fried before I got you back inside!"

The taiyoukai shrugged slightly, obviously not caring.

"If you don't give half a shit about yourself, Sesshoumaru, then fine. But at least don't make all that I've risked to retrieve your sorry ass a waste."

Sesshoumaru nodded once. "My apologies."

Inuyasha nodded grimly. "Come on. I know how to get us home. And maybe whatever is powering that damn thing will burn out or something when we get too far." With that, he took off with a leap. He skidded to a stop a short while later, realizing that his brother was fading rapidly from sight. He blinked in confusion and exasperation before running back. "What the hell are you doing?""Walking.""WHY?!" Inuyasha demanded, feeling suddenly like he was dealing with a difficult child, although the look Sesshoumaru gave him a moment later broke his rage into a wince of pain.

"I do not have the strength for anything more." Indeed, every step he took did seem to be a supreme effort on Sesshoumaru. Inuyasha was horrified by the image of his brother trudging...SESSHOUMARU, trudging and not gliding along as gracefully as if his feet didn't even touch the ground!...in the direction Inuyasha had pointed out.

"Fuck me...god, I'm sorry Sessh..." Inuyasha debated asking if Sesshoumaru would like for him to carry him, but one look at his brother's eyes stilled the question in his throat. If his brother was to regain any of his pride, he wouldn't do it by feeling like a burden.

However, that didn't mean Inuyasha couldn't passively help out some. "I'll be right back." He hopped off and returned a moment later with a stout walking stick he had cut from the forest. He handed it over. He knew their progress would be slow...but with Rin safe and Sesshoumaru free of the beast's clutches, Inuyasha didn't feel the same press of time he had previously.

Sesshoumaru eyed the stick, then slowly looked at Inuyasha before nodding once, the tiniest flicker of gratitude at Inuyasha's understanding flicking across his features. Together, the two of them headed into the woods.