InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Pride (In the Name of Love) ❯ Chapter 137

Pride (In the Name of Love) 137 / ??
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 - Just when you think maybe life has thrown you enough crap for a while, it goes and does something else. Lol... long story short, my back is *screwed*. Very bottom of my spine is like...I don't know. Maybe I have a slipped disc or something. All I know is...pain. Lots and lots of pain. This has happened to me twice before...and both times took MONTHS to get better. I can't sit, I can't lay down...I surely can't stand all day. When I finally do park my rear in my chair at my computer, I'm only surviving because I'm taking enough painkillers to tone it down from screaming agony to a dull roar. This does NOT do wonders for my creativity. Which is lame, considering I can't move around and do much, you'd think I'd have lots of time to write, right? I just am having a hard time putting thoughts together to make a plot and I don't want to ruin this for y'all. Sigh. Will update in those rare moments where I haven't moved for an hour or so and I feel almost human again...

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Inuyasha snorted in irritation, wanting nothing more than to remain sleeping. However, something was tickling his nose. And he felt vaguely squashed. The hanyou finally ground one sleep-clogged amber eye open to see Kouga sprawled out on him, sleeping soundly. His hair was the source of the tickling, the majority of the wolf's ponytail being draped across Inuyasha's face.

Inuyasha irritably swatted his mate upside the head with a sleepy growl. "Get off me, ya ass, yer heavy..."

Kouga responded with an equally disoriented kick. "Shut up, 'm sleepin'."

"Yer squishin' me, ya damned flea-ridden wolf!" Inuyasha gave Kouga a much more solid thump, and Kouga promptly boxed him between the ears. Before the fight could escalate, both parties paused as realization hit them at the same time. "Hey! You're not a shrimp anymore!"

Kouga blinked, pulling back to examine himself. "Hey...you're right!" Kouga promptly punched the hanyou in the shoulder. "Why the hell did you let the damn bird turn me into a cub again?!"

"How the fuck is it my fault?!" Inuyasha's ears flattened and he growled at the wolf.

Kouga paused. "I don't really know, but it probably was somehow. Yeah, I remember! You were tryin' to steal my dinner!"

"You bastard, I had just as much right to that as you did. Just because you're faster than me and scarfed down your share didn't mean you got the rest!"

"Fuck you. You need to go on a diet anyways, mutt. Then maybe you wouldn't be so damn slow."

Inuyasha growled and bared his teeth. "You're such an ass. Why the hell do I even l--"

"Shit!"

Inuyasha blinked, ears pricking up. "What?" Their fight was dropped as if it had never been at the genuine alarm flickering in Kouga's eyes."What about my pack?! Shit, how long was I out for?!"

"Meh. We took care of it. Ginta and Hakkaku have been acting chiefs in your place because we said you were out doing some mission for my old man or ... I dunno. But it was important and you left them in charge until ya could get back."

"Fuck. I have to go take care of that. The Elders are gonna want to skin me alive. I'll catch up with you later, alright?" Kouga hopped to his feet and made sure he was properly dressed.

"Yeah, sure. I'll go talk to the old man and my brother, make sure they know what's up. Sairex is...gone. So is Miroku. Got no idea where...but hey, at least you're better."

Kouga smirked. "Damn skippy I am." The wolf king bounced towards the door and then paused before stalking back across the room. "Forgot somethin'." Before Inuyasha could blink, Kouga grabbed him by the back of the head and hauled him up, leaning down to give him a hard, long kiss before abruptly letting the hanyou drop. "There." The wolf grinned. "I'll have to get a proper welcome back later."

Inuyasha couldn't help but smirk as he propped himself up on his elbows. "Keh...get outta here, ya mangy wolf. Go fix up yer pack and I'll go talk to mine."

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

Inuyasha leaned on the wall next to the desk. Sesshoumaru was shaking his head, staring out the window and down into the courtyard.

"My Lord Father seems to have regressed to puppyhood," he finally stated, unable to keep his smirk down. Inuyasha snickered.

"Aw, come on Sessh, he's havin' fun. You probably put him through just as much when you were a knee-high brat."

"This Sesshoumaru was never a 'brat', hanyou," the taiyoukai sniffed, although he didn't bother to deny the rest of the claim. He dimly remembered some of the games and ideas he'd drug his father along with; Toga had always humored him no matter what his current scheme was.

At the moment, Toga was with Aliana in the courtyard. Both he and the little raven demoness were covered with paint from an earlier activity. Now they were dressed in sheets and stalking through the courtyard with handmade bows and arrows, apparently hunting something. The inu patriarch looked absolutely ridiculous, but seemed to be having just as much fun as his little 'niece' and didn't mind a bit. And really...who was going to tell the most powerful demon alive he couldn't dress up in the bedsheets and stalk imaginary prey with bows of sticks and string if that's what he felt like doing?

"'This Sesshoumaru' is STILL a brat," Inuyasha countered, dodging the scroll his brother threw at him with a laugh.

"What do you need, little brother?" Sesshoumaru finally asked.

"I don't know what it means and shit, but-"

"Must you use such language? It's demeaning."

"Sorry that I'm not so stick-up-my-ass high-born as you."

Sesshoumaru coughed. "Inuyasha, much as I'd love to agree with you, you're our Lord Father's son. You ARE born to rank. Can't you at least make SOME effort to fit the part?"

Inuyasha's ears flattened back and he squinted at his brother before huffing at his bangs. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. So anyways, get a load of this sh--...crap. Woke up this mornin' an' that ...darn... scrawny wolf was full size again."

Sesshoumaru sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "You entirely missed the point, brother. Regardless...the wolf king is back to normal? Has he suffered any damage or memory loss?"

"Not as far as I can tell. He seems to be his usual mangy self, tryin' to piss me off. One of these days, I'll rip off that flea-bitten tail and cram it down his throat."

"The displays of affection between you and the wolf never cease to astound me," Sesshoumaru replied flatly. "Still...my Lord Father will be interested in this information. Sairex was not even close, as last I heard, to breaking the spell he had inadvertently cast upon the wolf. And now, in his absence, it ceases?"
"Well, maybe it only lasted for a set length of time? Or... I dunno, maybe with him gone it couldn't work anymore and ran out of energy or somethin'? I don't know much about magic and shit."

"Nor does this Sesshoumaru. The only one around we could have asked outside the raven is your monk and it seems he is gone as well. In all honesty, we are still entertaining the possibility that they have both perished. The stone itself is scorched in that room.""We would have found SOMETHING, Sessh. But we didn't. Nothing smelled even remotely like roasted chicken. Or human, for that matter. And what the hell was up with all the sand?""I do not know. It may be a clue of some sort, but if it is, the significance is lost on me. For all we knew it had previously been in a container in their room that was destroyed in the fire."

"And just why the fuck would Miroku and Sairex have sand in their room?"

"I have no idea, but I have seen stranger things in the raven's possession. Either way, it tells us nothing. If they did indeed travel to another location, perhaps the sand was from their destination. It isn't enough of a clue to go on. There are innumerable beaches along the coast, and that is providing that they are still in Japan at all."

"Meh. I know. I just wish we knew somethin'. Anything. Sairex is really an alright bird...good guy. I'd hate to see anything happen to him. And... y'know, Miroku's like family to me." Inuyasha eyed his brother after that comment, half expecting some scathing remark about humans and exactly what Sesshoumaru thought about them being associated with the family in any way. However, the taiyoukai simply nodded.

Inuyasha's gaze was drawn out the window. His father was now in his full inu form, albeit a small version, and was giving Ali a ride through the yard. The hanyou's eyes locked on the happy little demon girl. "It's all fun and games now, but if we don't find those two, that poor kid'll be crushed."

"If we cannot locate the raven or the monk, you know full well our Lord Father will take her in and raise her as his own. Even if he did not, this Sesshoumaru would."

Inuyasha did well to hide his surprise at the last half of that remark. He had no doubt that Toga would raise Aliana if she had indeed been orphaned, but to hear his brother volunteer? // Well, he did take care of Rin all those years... but still... // "Yeah. I know that...but still. Even though she'd be taken care of, you can't replace your parents, for better or worse."

Sesshoumaru nodded solemnly, eyes riveted out the window. "I know, Inuyasha. You and I are both very acutely aware of that fact."

Inuyasha chuckled, although there was no real humor in it. "Yeah. We are. I never knew our father and you lost him. And you never knew your mother but I lost mine. Life's a bitch, isn't it?"Sesshoumaru nodded. "Indeed."

The brothers were silent for a moment, each lost within their own thoughts. Inuyasha finally stood up straighter and stretched. "Well, I have no reason to think Sairex and Miroku are dead and not just missing, so I'm gonna see if I can turn up any other clues as to where they might be."

"If this Sesshoumaru hears word, I will let you know. Likewise, I would appreciate if you kept me informed. I am taking care of matters while our Lord Father is watching the girl."

"Sure thing. I'm gonna have Kouga send out some runners, see if they turned up anywhere nearby."

"Do not have him send too many. Our military is weak at the moment, with a large contingent in the south to aid the kumo. Relationships are still somewhat strained between the four kingdoms."

"Keh, you, me, and our father are an army all of our own. But I got ya. I'm not gonna send out too many. I'll keep ya in the loop."

Sesshoumaru nodded, and Inuyasha made his way out to meet up with Kouga. Neither of the inu brothers had much hope of the wolf scouts turning up anything, but they had to try everything they could. For now, sadly, it was about all they could do.