InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Shadowed Nights ❯ The Pact: Part B ( Chapter 2 )

Notes: I do not have the Internet… … … you can stop gawking now. As a result, I can only access the net when I visit Kallipso, so updates should (hopefully) be bi-weekly on Tuesdays depending on work, school and other torturous events that try to take over my life. So please do not think that I am ignoring you when replies to all your wonderful responses to this fic are slow and far between.

Notice: The others will slowly, but surly appear later on in this story a few characters at a time… I wanted to get Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru as much “alone time” as possible! So please be patient!

Pairings, Summary, Disclaimers, and Rating & Warnings: Please Read “The Pact-Part A” (Though why you would be reading a story out of order is beyond me…

Fonts: “Speaking”… ‘Thinking’… “Surprise!” o NOW (finally) ON TO THE STORY! Shadowed Nights

The Pact: Part B- Chapters 7-12 Chapter Seven: The Return of the Rat… and Inuyasha

It was shaping up to be a beautiful day.

The birds were singing; the sun was shining down brightly. A lone Hanyou grumped to himself as he walked through the forest. ‘Damn birds, Damn Sun and Damn Sesshoumaru that rat.’

One month… it had been one month almost to the day since the baffling incident with his brother and the somewhat agreement of a ceasefire between them.

Inuyasha couldn’t believe that here he was, actually making his way to the blasted cave with the insane rat in order to keep his word to his blasted brother! ‘After everything that happened last time, I should only go long enough to chop of his smirking head!Of all the stupidity, how in the hells could he have forgotten Tetsusaiga?’ He snarled at the memory as his had grasped the hilt more firmly.

In the response to his question of the swords whereabouts, all that Sesshoumaru had been able to respond with had been the ridiculous “um”.

‘And here I thought that this sword was the one thing that Sesshoumaru actually desired,’ Inuyasha mused as he continued throughout the forest, casting his memory back to the trek through the very forest he was in to search for the missing article.

And the fact that Sesshoumaru had been absolutely no help what so ever in re-locating the sword still t-ed him off.

“Will you stop following me?” Inuyasha had shouted more then once at the figure that meandered along behind him. It had been truly irritating that instead of going his own way, Sesshoumaru had followed along behind him, like an irritating bug that refused to go away and continually flew around his head.

How Inuyasha had wanted to squash the irritating “bug” at the time.

‘The least he could have done was point the way there seeing as I had been unconscious when we left,’ Inuyasha groused as emerged from the woods and turned towards the cave, ‘but noo, instead he had to trail behind me, insulting me nearly the entire way!’

Calling him a stupid hanyou was one thing, but to call him an irresponsible combatant was quite another. ‘It wasn’t as if it had been me who forgot the thing. It was his stupid lack of attentiveness that the sword had been forgotten!’

When they finally did return to the little clearing, Inuyasha had searched for a good twenty minuets before finally unearthing the sword from the mud.

It had been a relief to finally have his sword back when he found it, though why it was so blasted important to him after decades of never needing it before was odd. But Inuyasha decided to blame his human sentimental feelings at have something that once belonged to his father and left it at that.

Not that he would ever admit it.

Inuyasha believed that it had been sheer luck that when Sesshoumaru had bashed the sword away that it had gone under a bush and that none of the following demons that wandered the forest had located it.

And now, here he was at the entrance of the stupid cave and absolutely no sign of Sesshoumaru.

“Of all the stupid, fucking irritations!” he shouted. “He’s not even here!”

He glared around the small clearing and with a huff, dropped himself down to sit and wait. ‘There’s not even a sign of the stupid rat,’ he thought briefly as he glanced into the entrance of the cave.

“Where the fuck is he?”

Inuyasha had absolutely no idea that at that very moment just a half mile away, the very subject that was missing was asking his very question.

“Where the fuck am I?” Sesshoumaru growled as he trumped through the forest. Not one tree looked familiar. Hell, they all looked exactly alike and there wasn’t one hint of the demons whereabouts.

‘Of all the stupid exasperating things, to get lost at every god damn turn!’ Sesshoumaru chastised himself. It had been absolutely amazing that he had been able to find his way back to Rin and Jaken. Hell it had been amazing he made it back at all!

Of course, following Inuyasha had helped. Though there were a few wrong turns as the hanyou tacked the scent of the decaying corpses and his own scent on the sword, as the previous night’s rain had dampened the smells somewhat.

Not that Sesshoumaru was impressed by Inuyasha’s tracking ability.

Not one bit…

‘Fuck!’ he snarled. Though, if he was complaining about his current lost situation or at himself he really couldn’t say.

There was absolutely nothing that he admired about his half human brother, Absolutely nothing. He was, after all, a full-fledged demon and there was nothing that the less powerful hanyou possessed that he did not. ‘Well, aside from the Tetsusaiga,’ he admitted begrudgingly.

He suddenly came to a dead stop and just stared at the very familiar footprints in the soft dirt before him.

‘I HATE THIS!’ he nearly screamed the sentiment out loud but the training of a warrior that must never allow his enemy to know what he was thinking held him back…

… That was until he saw the rat.

The stupid, irritating rat was just sitting there, not two feet away, methodically cleaning his whiskers and completely ignoring the Inu Youkai’s presence.

Sesshoumaru practically gawked in utter disbelief. It was with out a doubt, the same fucking rat from the cave.

The same twitching pink nose; the same left ear that he noticed was missing a good chuck from some long ago fight, and the same ugly hairless tail that twitched sporadically.

“Oh, you are so dead,” he growled as he started to draw his sword.

The rat, which wasn’t as stupid as others would believe, promptly turned tail and ran for his life.

“Get back here you diseased ridden rodent!” Sesshoumaru screamed as he took off after the rat. “I have had fleas for two weeks because of you!”

The rat ran faster.

Meanwhile Inuyasha, oblivious to the rat’s current situation of mortal peril, was still sitting in front of the cave waiting for any sign of Sesshoumaru.

He had been waiting for nearly an hour and began to seriously doubt his sanity at remaining any longer for someone who more than likely wouldn’t even show up!

‘I can’t believe that I’m sitting here waiting for that prick!’ he thought to himself as he climbed to his feet.

A quick glance at the horizon behind him told Inuyasha that he had better make a decision fast as the sun was already starting to sink behind the hills.

“Damn it!” he groused as he turned away from the cave in annoyance. “I wasted almost a whole day on that stupid jerk and now I have to find shelter fast!”

He thought about staying in the cave before he dismissed it entirely. It wouldn’t do to stay somewhere that someone else knew about.

For all Inuyasha knew, Sesshoumaru had told about his secret night and who knew what might just show up. Returning to the village was one idea since he and the others had “made up” after their argument. However, Inuyasha was still upset with Kagome’s temperament and his back was starting to ache from all the “sitting’s” she constantly put him through.

The fight about the food had merely been the start of all the fighting, even more than usual as the past month had been nothing but screaming, fighting, ignoring and downright hostile environment that had made Shippo actually crying on more than one occasion that everyone was being so resentful towards each other.

While the other two humans had silently chalked it up to a tiff in what they saw as a relationship between the hanyou and the reincarnated priestess they had taken it upon themselves to try and help move the process along.

However, any relationship advice from Miroku was so stupid, that even Inuyasha had to roll his eyes. Grabbing Kagome’s butt did not seem like it would help any semblance of a truce.

And who knew what Sango had said to Kagome from all the odd looks she was sending his way after their individual “talks”.

On the whole, Inuyasha had actually been looking forward to a reprieve from his companion’s presence and now it looked as if he had to go back!

“Fucking idiot!” he grumbled as he started making his way back to the forest.

Two koinu ears were suddenly perked as the muffled sound of shouting unexpectedly floated towards him.

He turned, his hand automatically rising to the hilt of Tetsusaiga when a figure emerged from the bushes, brandishing a sword of his own.

“Die you fucking rat!” the demon shouted as he swung his arm in a wild arc.

Inuyasha quickly unsheathed Tetsusaiga and with a resounding “clang” the two blades connected.

“Who are you calling a fucking rat you prick?” he screamed as he shoved the taller demon away from him.

Golden eyes actually widened in surprise. “What are you doing here?” Sesshoumaru asked.

Inuyasha gawked as Sesshoumaru took in his surroundings. “We’re back at the cave,” he said in almost amazement.

“No shit!” Inuyasha screamed in annoyance. “What the hell were you doing swing Tokujin around like a freaking idiot?” he demanded.

Sesshoumaru blinked as if coming back to himself and turned back to the hanyou, leveling his sword at him.

“Step aside, Inuyasha,” he commanded.

Blank look. “What the hell?”

Sesshoumaru scowled. “I said to stand aside. That… thing…” and here Sesshoumaru jabbed his sword in the direction of Inuyasha’s feet, “is too much of an irritant to allow it to live.”

Inuyasha stared at his brother before slowly glancing downward at the small ball of fur that was currently quivering behind his heals. He recognized the ear.

He slowly looked back up at the furious Inu Youkai.

“It’s the rat,” he said slowly.

Sesshoumaru scowled even more.

“You do realize you are seriously speaking about killing a rat because he annoyed you.”

Inuyasha could feel the laughter beginning to bubble upwards and bit his lower lip to try and suppress it.

It wasn’t working.

“I could easily kill another annoying thing instead,” Sesshoumaru stated as a small giggle made its way past Inuyasha’s lips.

The rat squeaked and Sesshoumaru jumped as if one of Kagome’s arrows had shot him.

That was it for Inuyasha as he finally burst out laughing; holding his stomach as he nearly doubled over in merriment.

“Oh my god!” he laughed, “You were seriously going to kill a small, defenseless rat because it managed to get on you bad side!”

Sesshoumaru glared as he re-sheathed his sword. ‘He will never let this go,’ he realized as he watched Inuyasha actually falling down to the ground as his body shuddered with the strength of his laughing. The rat had meanwhile wandered back into the cave, his tail held high as he left the two larger creatures behind him in search of something to gnaw on. Chapter Eight: Settling In

The cave was actually larger than Inuyasha remembered it.

In the dying light of the sun, he could clearly see that the ceiling went up a good twenty feet if not more, and that the whole room was a good fifty, easily able to house a large Youkai Inu in full form…

‘Keh, he actually did a good job finding this place,’ Inuyasha thought as he started to walk the circumference of the space, ‘damnhim.’

It was quite annoying when his brother showed his “superior intellect”, as Sesshoumaru called it, and was able to get the upper hand in countless situations. Inuyasha liked to call it his “brainless luck”.

‘I should just chalk it up to him being older…’ he thought. Then he thought again. ‘…Nah.’ He finally decided as he glanced back at the silver form that was totally ignoring him. ‘The bastard,’ Inuyasha thought. ‘I can’t believe that I’m actually here with that jerk, voluntarily!’ he huffed again as he tried to remember why it was that he actually honored the blasted agreement.

It was rather odd to be able to have a somewhat normal conversation with his brother, especially after all the insults, fighting, and downright hatred they had against each other. He had thought long and hard on the days following after their encounter and for the life of him he could not figure out what angle that Sesshoumaru was playing.

He almost laughed again at the thought of Sesshoumaru hunting down a little grey furry rodent and skinning it to make what Kagome called a “Davy Crocket hat”.

It was not something he ever pictured his brother doing. It seemed to him as if Sesshoumaru never, ever, lost his decorum. Though, there was the time against Naraku but Inuyasha agreed that the spider demon would make anyone lose any semblance of restraint.

‘Why would he insist that we “guard”each other on the moonless nights though?’ the hanyou wondered as he glanced at the other youkai. He was still ignoring Inuyasha, much to Inuyasha’s irritation, and was instead setting out what seemed to be a pallet of some sort.

Inuyasha almost tripped over his own feet. ‘Damn! He’s one up on me again!’ he bemoaned as he realized that Sesshoumaru had actually thought ahead and brought provisions for the long night.

When he first saw his brother emerge from the woods he had questioned the small pack that Sesshoumaru had had, and now as he saw Sesshoumaru unpacking food he about kicked himself. He vaguely wondered if this was the first time that Sesshoumaru had gone though this little ritual or if it was something that the Inu Youkai always did.

‘Something else for him to poke fun of when he realized that I didn’t bring anything,’ he groaned in irritation. ‘Not that I ever really needed supplies when running for my life.’

His wits and the Tetsusaiga were all he really ever needed on these nights. He was almost always too tense with the fear that someone would find him and kill him in his weakened state to worry about sleep or food or any other form of daily survival.

Inuyasha sighed as he could feel the beginnings of a headache forming. His ears flattened in response and he forced himself to relax his jaw in order to try and relieve the pressure.

This too was a monthly occurrence. Every time when he shifted from half youkai to full ningen, it always started out as a slight headache before worsening to the painful tearing and reassembling of his body. ‘A very fair warning,’ he supposed when he thought about it. ‘Better than just shifting right in the middle of a battle.’

‘Still fucking annoying though,’ he concluded and rubbed his temples.

As he walked a little form scurried behind him, occasionally nipping at his heals with excitement and bringing Inuyasha’s attention away from the odd thoughts of his brother. “You are just one giant pain in the ass, aren’t ya?” he asked the small rodent that traveled behind him.

“I beg you pardon?” Sesshoumaru inquired in a near shout from where he still remained at the entrance.

“Talking to the rat!” Inuyasha called back cheerfully.

There was a soft growl at the mere mention of the animal and Inuyasha tried to suppress a grin. “Tried” being the operative word.

“Just what did you do to him anyway?” he chuckled as he glanced back down at the furry creature.

At that moment, he could have sworn that the rat gave him a look of perfect innocence. “Squeak!”

He sniggered again. “That bad, huh?”

“I heard that!”

Inuyasha this time allowed himself to laugh fully as he continued his explorations.

It was when he just reached the other side when he saw it. There was dark hole in the wall and when the hanyou glanced inside, he saw that it was actually a long dark corridor that seemed to stretch on forever.

“Hey! There’s a passage over here! There might be another entrance on the other side!

It took a full five seconds before Inuyasha realized that there was no answer. Not even a snide comment thrown his way.

Puzzled, he turned to see what it was that Sesshoumaru found so interesting that it was not worth answering him.

When his fading golden eyes finally lay upon his brother, he could see that it was very interesting indeed.

Sesshoumaru, meanwhile, had been completely ignoring the wanderings of his little brother, preferring to watch as the last of the sun’s rays fading beneath the horizon and refusing to admit that he was still in a tiff over the rat.

‘Fuck.’ It was a very coarse word, but in Sesshoumaru’s experience, it summed up everything very nicely. ‘How could I allow my emotions to become so uncontrollable that I ended up degrading myself in front of the baka?’ he wondered as he stared at the slowly sinking sun. While he had grown quite use to his monthly changes, this would be the first time that there was any one else there to witness it.

He glanced at the wandering figure and scowled at the little fuzz ball that followed it.

‘Damn rat!’

Sighing, he finally removed the small pack he had thrown over his shoulder and began to unpack the few contents.

While he rarely needed such frivolous things such as a big, fluffy bed or any other luxuries when the ground worked just as well, it was a surprising realization that the hanyou may actually require some sort of supplies for the coming night.

Humans were weaker were they not? The time they had spent in the cave the last moth had shown Sesshoumaru as much with Inuyasha’s reaction to the wet cold. And as such, it stood to reason that Inuyasha, as a weaker human, required more than just the hard dirt to sleep on.

‘Did hanyou’s truly bruise easier in their weaker forms?’ were just one of the many thoughts the Inu Youkai had after discovering Inuyasha in his other appearance.

He had come to the decision that Inuyasha would never even think to bring anything for the night, so had taken it upon himself to bring along what he thought a human might need.

‘A blanket for one,’ he thought as he remembered the shivering form huddled in a tight ball one month earlier. There was also an extra robe, some medicinal herbs and even an extra pair of chopsticks. ‘I wonder if my feral brother even knows how to use those,’ he wondered absently as he went through the contents.

There was also at the bottom of the pack a small pack of food that Rin had given to him just before he left her and Jaken under the protection of An and Un.

Sesshoumaru actually had to smile at the remembrance of the little girl who barely stood as high as his knees so stubbornly insisting that he needed looking after.

She was a treasure.

‘It is her that I should be looking after,’ he thought as he unpacked the dried meat and other foods. He glanced at the slight figure that was still wandering the caves edge. ‘So why do I have this urge that Inuyasha is the one that needs my protection more than anyone?’

He once more peeked at the hanyou. ‘For Inuyasha to still be alive at his age though shows great determination and a strong sense of will.’

More than once, he wondered why it was that he had gone to the hanyou’s rescue on that rainy night. The excuse that it was to keep the Inu Clan from disgrace had long ago worn out when he had realized that there really was no demon, powerful or not, that had not heard of his younger brothers exploits and concluded that the half yokai actually could take care of his own.

There was just this feeling. It was a little itch in the pit of his stomach that said the “chance” encounter with his brother the month precious had not been a mere “chance” at all! There was something greater at work. Some form of other power that was pulling he and his brother together.

The multiple encounters and the mutual hatred of their arch-nemesis Naraku was merely the tip of the iceberg to something far greater in the works. There was just something that nagged at Sesshoumaru on that long, long, long journey back to his companions that told him an alliance with the hanyou was imperative. It was not so much his Youkai premonition as it was the animal instinct that was warning him that something big was going to happen.

And so, against his better judgment, he had bullied his brother into accepting his propels of the monthly meetings. There was no way that he could go on with the knowledge of Inuyasha’s weaker state and not do something about it. It was not honorable.

Sesshoumaru had not expected to see Inuyasha waiting for him at the cave entrance earlier and had been fully prepared to raid the little human village to drag the hanyou by the scruff of his very neck.

‘This is insane,’ he huffed as he finished unpacking the small bag. ‘It’s not as if I’m his blasted mother, so why in the hell am I so concerned whether or not he’s taking care of himself?’

“You are just one giant pain in the ass, aren’t ya?”

‘Then again, it could just be that no one would bother killing such a stupid, annoying…’

“I beg your pardon?” Sesshoumaru nearly winced at the raised tone that escaped from his throat.

When Inuyasha responded, he couldn’t help growling at the reminder of the small rat and frowned at the small bout of laughter and the squeak that accompanied it.

“I heard that!” he shouted and frowned even more at the soft laugh that answered him.

Somewhat miffed, he again turned to the small pallet he had formed when it suddenly happened. The sun had completely set.

His insides felt as if they were being torn apart and he doubled over in pain clenching his stomach.

He could feel the urge to kill anything that moved rising and hoped in the back of his mind that the rat would suddenly dart out in front of him.

What happened instead was the feeling of a hand coming to his shoulder as Inuyasha had moved to his side. Though what the hanyou thought he could do to help in this situation was slim to none.

He could already feel that his face was elongating and that fur had begun to sprout from his body as red begin to seep into his eyes. Bones cracked and groaned as the lengthened and Sesshoumaru had to drop his jaw to allow his teeth room to expand.

The process on the whole took less than a minuet and soon a full on Inu Youkai staggered to his feet in a daze.

Shaking out his newly grown fur, Sesshoumaru sat back on his haunches and looked down at the creature that sat at his feet looking up at him in awe.

Inuyasha had never known that a Youkai could wear an expression of surprise and now he knew that they could.

Ginning sheepishly, he reached up and tugged his still furry koinu ears. “My shift is more subtle and slow to take,” he explained to the question in Sesshoumaru’s eyes.

Even as the words left his mouth, Sesshoumaru could see the silver of the hanyou’s hair gently overshadowed by the dark black that bleed downward and the koinu ears slowly sinking beneath the silken strands.

Inuyasha gasped as he felt his youkai power melting away and the dulling of his senses finally complete and he could no longer see, hear or smell as well as he had before.

With his very center of gravity off balanced, Inuyasha nearly fell over. Grabbing hold of Sesshoumaru’s massive leg in order to steady himself.

With in moments, the change was complete and there they were.

A simple Ningen and an Inu Yokai.

…And one rat that was very happy that he, at least, remained a rat. Chapter Nine: Behind Door Number One

Inuyasha jumped back from the furry Youkai as if he had been burned and staggered back a few steps to fall on his ass.

And they sat there.

And they sat there and they sat there.

Just staring at one another for a long twenty minutes.

Inuyasha scowled. “Do you have to stare at me?” he demanded.

Sesshoumaru cocked his head and made a point of looking around the cave before coming back to stare at the now human.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes, “I’ll admit that as exciting as this place is, there has got to be something else for you to do. Why don’t you go patrol the grounds or something?”

Sesshoumaru woofed in annoyance, ‘“Or something”he says, Like I would ever be able to find my way back.’

Inuyasha shifted awkwardly. “Could you at least pretend that you’re not staring at me?” he asked.

The crimson eyes did not shift in the slightest.

‘Fucking terrific,’ Inuyasha grumped as he crossed his arms and looked away.

He saw the small sack that Sesshoumaru had brought and dragged the item to him. He turned to the large creature, “did ya bring anything to eat?” he asked opening the sack and peering in.

Sesshoumaru could have rolled his eyes, instead simply nodded his head to the best of his capabilities.

Which was completely lost on the hanyou who had already delved into the bag and yanking out the few items of food Rin had given Sesshoumaru.

It was amazing that he didn’t smother himself to death with the way he had inhaled his meal. Within seconds, almost half the food supply had vanished down that hanyou’s throat.

“I don’t suppose you have any ‘Instant Ramen’ in here?” Inuyasha asked between mouthfuls.

Sesshoumaru stared. ‘Why am I not surprised by this display?’ he asked himself. ‘He’s rude, arrogant,’ he stared at the tangled black locks, ‘has no sense of hygienic cleanliness. And what the fuck is “Instant Ramen”?’

It was almost like watching a wild animal, gorging himself to death after a fresh kill. Almost as if he was afraid that some other, stronger predator would suddenly appear and steal his dinner.

The sight was a revelation to him on just how bad off Inuyasha had truly been in the wild. It was almost as if he had become a creature of the wild himself.

‘Speaking of wild animals…’ Sesshoumaru stared at the little pink nose that suddenly poked out of a small hole.

Tempted by the smell of food, the rat risked life and tail to emerge from his hidey-hole and slowly crept towards the munching hanyou.

Inuyasha stopped and glanced down at the small creature that looked to him with such longing. Such pitiful eyes were beseeching him to share a small morsel of fare.

Rolling his own darkened eyes, Inuyasha handed down a round chunk of bread. He smirked at the little paws that reached at grabbed the offering greedily. “What do rats normally eat in the wild?” Inuyasha asked as he looked back at Sesshoumaru.

A bale stare was his only answer.

“Er, right.” Inuyasha ducked his head, retuning to his chunk of dried meat.

The cave fell silent, only the soft rapid chewing of the rat.

Sesshoumaru huffed to himself and watched as the last of the food was quickly devoured.

He was actually rather put out at the fact that Inuyasha had not even bothered to offer him any food but gladly shared with the rat. ‘Well, I know where I stand,’ he thought. ‘I suppose that after years of trying to kill him I suppose I would be leery of me too.’

After the rather filling supper, Inuyasha glanced at the pallet that Sesshoumaru had set up before the sun had set but couldn’t bring himself to truly relax around his brother.

He squinted in the darkness and once more delved into the sack. “How about flint?” he asked. Answering his own question, he soon found some flint in the bottom of the bag and went about searching for something to create a fire.

He reached for the robe that was folded up only to freeze in mid-motion by the growl that emanated from the large form next to him.

“Er, I think I should get some firewood…” he started when Sesshoumaru rose and went to stand by the entrance.

Inuyasha bristled, “I think I can survive for five fucking minuets!”

Sesshoumaru didn’t move.

Narrowing his eyes, Inuyasha got up and forced himself to walk calmly to the entrance and right pass the large creature that watched his every move.

Walking towards the woods he looked down and started to pick up some twigs and smaller branches that lined the edge. Gathering some small dried foliage, he started to move further into the forest when there was a sharp bark behind him.

Pausing, he glanced back at Sesshoumaru in question.

When no other sound was made he turned and again tried to go into the forest to gather larger pieces of wood.

Again there was the irritated bark.

“Oh come on!” Inuyasha shouted. “I can’t even gather fire wood? I’m not that fucking helpless! Even Shippo gathers firewood by himself!

‘Shippo?Oh, the kit,’ Sesshoumaru remembered, ‘however the kit is not my concern.’ He barked again when Inuyasha tried a third time to go into the woods.

Inuyasha whirled around in annoyance. “You are a fucking pain in the ass, you know that?”

Sesshoumaru coked his head and tried to put on a bored expression but still continued to growl whenever he thought Inuyasha was getting close to the border.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and gathered more small twigs until he had a sufficient armload and whirling, marched back into the cave not even looking at his brother.

By the time Sesshoumaru had turned his large body around Inuyasha was already furiously striking at the flit. However he was so furious by Sesshoumaru’s controlling rules that there was no time for the flint to spark.

‘Just like a pup throwing a tantrum,’ Sesshoumaru thought as he settled back down to stare at the now human.

Inuyasha ignored him completely and tried to take a deep, calming breath. He struck the flint again and this time was able to get it to light. It was a few more times before he was able to get the small bundle of kindling to catch fire.

He sighed in content as he immediately held out his hands to warm up. The fire could not heat the entire cave, however it did give some warmth to their little corner. Now that that was done, Inuyasha sat back and looked up to find he was staring right into crimson eyes.

‘He is creeping me out!’ Inuyasha could feel goose bumps rising as Sesshoumaru continued to stare. ‘He is really creeping me out!’

Inuyasha wracked his brain for something, anything as a distraction. …But they were in a cave, and what was so exciting about a cave?

“Oh yeah!” He sat straight up suddenly as he finally remembered and turned to the youkai. “There’s a passage.”

Sesshoumaru was suddenly on his feet growling furiously. ‘A passage?’ he thought in disbelief. ‘APASSAGE?And he’s only telling me NOW?’

“HEY! It’s not like I meant to forget!” Inuyasha screamed indignantly as he jumped to his feet. “I was a little busy turning HUMAN! And you’re lucky I remembered to tell you at all!”

Sesshoumaru snarled at him and begin to look for the tunnel.

“Keh,” Inuyasha huffed as he picked up a piece of firewood like a makeshift torch and wandered back towards the direction of the small hole he had found earlier on the opposite side of where Sesshoumaru had been searching. “This way, genius,” he called and he made his way down the small ally.

Sesshoumaru barked again in surprise and quickly darted in after the smirking hanyou.

‘Damn it! I should go first! What if there’s demons or something, anything at the other end?’

Sesshoumaru soon caught up and snapped at the back of the leading figure.

He was very pleased with himself when he saw that Inuyasha jump three feet into the air and whirled around.

He was not pleased that his fur caught on fire.

“Oh SHIT!” Inuyasha cried and quickly started hitting at the small area of Sesshoumaru’s flaming hair.

With in seconds it had been put out and Sesshoumaru’s once impeccable white pelt now had a rather large black spot right on the center of his chest.

Inuyasha had to bite his lip to keep from laughing and instead he wrinkled his nose at the smell. Even with the nose of a human, the smell was terrible.

‘Powers that be, strike me down now…’ Sesshoumaru groaned.

Inuyasha turned back and once more started heading though the tunnel. “Oh come on,” he called over his shoulder. “It’s not that bad.”

Sesshoumaru dejectedly looked back down at the small spot in on his chest before he continued on after him.

The tunnel was rather narrow, but like the main cave it had very high ceilings. Sesshoumaru only had to scrunch his shoulders slightly to fit. It was actually not very long before the tunnel gave way to a small antechamber, and there they found a dilemma.

There were two new tunnels.

“Well,” Inuyasha muttered in confusion, “this is weird.”

Sesshoumaru had to agree.

Taking a closer look at the tunnels, he could feel his fur nearly stand on end.

There was magic in the air. A strong youki, imbued with age but still powerful in it’s own right was emanating from the very stone of the walls.

Of course being human, the whole menacing effect was completely lost on Inuyasha.

“We’ll go right,” he announced as he started to move in that direction when Sesshoumaru suddenly growled and shoved his large head passed the human and headed him back into the antechamber.

“What the fuck?” Inuyasha cried, as he was herded towards the left one. “Just because I said we should go right, you absolutely insist we go left! MUST you always have to do the opposite of everything I say?”

‘Yes.’

Sesshoumaru continued to herd the hanyou towards the other tunnel. The fact that it was Inuyasha that insisted to go that way was one thing, but it was actually the fact that the tunnel to the right practically resonated a “Do Not Enter” vibe.

Inuyasha nearly sulked at the second show of pompous arrogance from Sesshoumaru, but continued onward down the new tunnel.

‘I can’t believe that he actually insisted we take the opposite tunnel. Just who dose he think he is?’ Inuyasha wondered as he held the torch up higher, trying to see further down the dark hallway.

They wandered down the tunnel, turning right, then left, then right again. It was almost as if they were going in circles.

“This is ridiculous!” Inuyasha cried as they turned again. “Dose this thing ever end?” He asked the large youkai behind him.

They went around yet another bend in the passage and Sesshoumaru “woofed” in total agreement.

It was ten minuets later when they finally saw a light ahead of them. Sesshoumaru immediately tensed.

Dawn was still hours away.

He surged forward, pushing aside Inuyasha, who let out an offended squawk of protest, and surged ahead; narrowly avoiding a second hair cut courtesy of the torch.

Emerging out of the tunnel he came face to face with his number one enemy… after Naraku that was.

The Rat.

That small, infuriating, rat was sitting in the middle of the main cavern; happily munching away at the elegant robe that he had brought along with the supplies.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me!” Inuyasha cried as he to finally emerged from the passage and stepped back into the cave. They were actually only a few feet away from the first tunnel they had gone in a few feet past where Inuyasha had stopped his explorations. “We WERE going in circles!”

Sesshoumaru growled and bared his teeth in furry.

Inuyasha smirked at the angry Inu. “Care to try my way now?” he inquired sardonically.

Sesshoumaru turned back to snap in his direction.

Inuyasha raised his eyebrow. “Is that a no?” he asked.

‘Fucking hanyou!’Sesshoumaru growled. ‘What do you know about youkai wards and the power that radiated from that passage? Can’t even keep himself out of trouble for five minuets!’

“I can so keep out of trouble!” Inuyasha shouted. “And what wards? This is a stupid cave! Who would bother to ward that?”

‘You couldn’t feel Youkai Magic if it came up and bit you in the ass! No matter what form you’re in!’ Sesshoumaru countered.

“What the hell do you know about me?” Inuyasha was in full ranting mode now. “My senses are perfectly functional, thank you very much!”

The stared at each other, Sesshoumaru growling in complete furry and Inuyasha’s chest heaving at the exertion of the unusual shouting match. Nether of them dared looking away from the other as they both continued growling at each other, though Inuyasha was less menacing that usual without his fangs to back up the snarl.

The rat continued munching on his high fiber lunch as the two brothers struggled and forced themselves to cool their head.

Ensuring there was a short rein on his temper, Sesshoumaru finally took a step forward and looked deep into his brother’s bronze human eyes.

‘Can you hear me?’ he asked, never once believing that he would get a response.

Inuyasha huffed and flopped back down, shoving his hands into his large sleeves. “Well of course I can hear you,” he stated irritably. “And I’ll have you know that I do know about ‘hygienic cleanliness’ you pampered prick!”

And Sesshoumaru had his astonishing answer. Chapter Ten: Circling the Issues

‘What the fucking, god damn, hell is this?’ Sesshoumaru scrambled back, staring at Inuyasha in utter disbelief.

Inuyasha stared back at him as if he were utterly insane.

“What the hell is your problem?” he asked in all seriousness.

‘You!What? Impossible! Human! Talking! Gah!’ Sesshoumaru’s brain promptly closed for the night.

Inuyasha gave him a very odd sidelong look, “Okay… Care to repeat that wonderful string of nonsense?” he asked.

‘Gah!’ came again.

“Right…” Inuyasha turned to the rat. “Did you get any of that?”

The rat, which by now had managed to devour a whole sleeve and was working furiously on the body of the robe, simply let out a squeak and continued chewing.

“Right, neither did I.”

‘You!Talking back! You can hear me?’ Sesshoumaru asked again.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. “You already asked me this.”

‘HOW CAN YOU HEAR ME? I’M NOT TALKING BUT THINKING! HOW CAN YOU HEAR MY THOUGHTS HANYOU?’ Sesshoumaru raged.

Inuyasha shrugged it off. “How should I know?” he retorted. “I thought this was some sort of Youkai thing. Isn’t this how you all communicate when in Youkai form?”

‘This “Youkaithing”as you call it, is not a “Youkaithing” at all! No demon, be it Inu, Ookami, Kitsune, Kumo, or any other can invade another’s mind! Now tell me how you can hear me!’ Sesshoumaru demanded.

Inuyasha glanced at the rat, “I think you missed a piece.”

‘GOD DAMN IT!’ Sesshoumaru snapped in irritation, ‘This is not some sort of JOKE!’ he nearly screamed. ‘The only person I can think of who could remotely be powerful enough to read the thoughts of another youkai was father and you are no where NEAR his level.’

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. “Unless your eyes went bad in the past five minuets, you would realize that I’M HUMAN you nit wit!”

Sesshoumaru was taken aback for a moment.

“And what makes you think that it’s me listening instead of you talking, hm?” Inuyasha continued.

‘Because when ever something just remotely odd happens around here, it always seems to come right back to you,’ Sesshoumaru grumbled.

Inuyasha glared. “Right then.”

Completely annoyed, Inuyasha decided that the last thing he needed was to sit there and be insulted by his condescending brother.

Clambering to his feet, he turned his back on the Youkai and marched back to the tunnel entrance’s and picking up his abandoned torch stormed back into the main door without a backwards glance.

‘Fuck!’

Sesshoumaru tromped after his younger brother. ‘Where the hell do you think you’re going?’ he questioned.

Inuyasha huffed and marched onward.

‘I told you that the other passage is warded!You can’t go through there!There’s no doubt traps and other nasty surprises in there!’

Inuyasha continued on; soon reaching the antechamber and plowed straight through the right hand passageway.

Sesshoumaru came to a halt at the entrance. ‘Don’t come crying to me when you get killed!’ he sent after the fleeting figure.

Nothing answered him.

‘Fuck.’

Sesshoumaru waited, watching the golden glow that filtered around the corner where the hanyou disappeared.

He shifted awkwardly as he listened for any distress from the hanyou.

Every time he stepped within a foot of the entrance, power danced through the air and Sesshoumaru’s instincts just screamed “Back Away”!

It was only a few moments when Inuyasha returned, a rather puzzled look on his face.

“It was empty,” he announced.

Sesshoumaru gaped as Inuyasha walked past him back to the main chamber. Whirling around again, he jogged slightly to catch up.

‘What was empty?’ he asked.

Inuyasha shrugged. “It just led to a smaller cave further back,” he explained. “There really wasn’t anything back there to freak out about.”

Sesshoumaru mulled over the information as they returned to the main cave. ‘Who would bother warding an empty cave?’ he thought and looked at Inuyasha expectantly. ‘Well?’

Inuyasha glanced up from removing the tattered remains of the robe from the very fat rat. “Well what?” he asked.

‘Didn’t you hear me?’ Sesshoumaru asked.

“Hear what?” Inuyasha asked back, getting rather annoyed.

The Inu Youkai now hand a lot wonder about as he went to what he deemed “his” corner and plopped himself down, gracefully of course, to think.

Inuyasha waited patently for Sesshoumaru to continue before the full inch and a half of his patience wore out and he went back to search for anything else to eat.

‘I wonder who warded that cave,’ the Inu questioned as he watched the small human dig though his bag once again. ‘Hell, I wonder how old those wards actually are!’

While the wards were defiantly old, the fact that they still had that much strength to actually stop the son of the All Powerful Inu Taisho dead in his tracks meant that who ever built them had to have been powerful indeed.

He glanced back at Inuyasha. The human had since abandoned the bag, having consumed anything and everything edible and hand now moved on to the pallet, rearrange and fluffing the blankets.

‘Can you hear me now?’ he thought experimentally.

No reaction.

‘Can you hear me now?’

Inuyasha dug out a pillow.

‘Can you hear me now?’

“GOD DAMN IT! WHAT DO YOU WANT?” Inuyasha screamed.

Sesshoumaru sent a mental shrug. ‘Nothing.’

Inuyasha nearly stabbed his brother with a chopstick.

‘Of all the fucking, pain in the ass…’ Inuyasha growled as he climbed beneath the rather fluffy blanket and tried to find a comfortable spot.

It had been the most bizarre night that even went beyond the wackiness of the month before and Inuyasha was nearly at the end of his rope.

While exploring the tunnels had been fun, and he had to admit some sort of satisfaction at managing to set Sesshoumaru on fire, the fact that Sesshoumaru was hounding him with questions and ordering him about nearly drove him insane.

It didn’t help that he could hear the odd snatches of his brother’s thoughts every once in a while either.

‘I do too know about “hygiene”,’ he huffed annoyed as he yanked the cover up to his chin to ward out any cold. The fire had long since fizzled out to a small smolder but Inuyasha was to tired to go out and find anything more to burn.

He wondered vaguely if Sesshoumaru would finally allow him to burn the now rat chewed robe but decided that moving would be too much effort at the moment.

‘Why dose he think this whole “reading thoughts” is my fault?’ he wondered as he ran the conversations though his head.

While Sesshoumaru was right that a lot of strange things happened to him, it was highly doubtful that he, who barely possessed a handful of youkai power in comparison to his brother, was responsible for the latest turn of events.

His strength and power was built though decades of vigorous training and sheer determination. There was nothing that had just been handed to him.

Chancing to peek out of his makeshift burrow and dared glance at the large Youkai across the dying fire, he smirked at the large patch of singed fur.

‘He dose have a point though, the bastard,’ he thought as he pondered over Sesshoumaru’s announcement about the small chamber.

‘Why would someone ward a cave? It’s not like there’s a lot of Youkai activity around here. Especially since Kikyou had the Sacred Jewel. Only since the Jewel’s shattered have there really been youkai’s wandering into the area.’

It had been strange when he went into the smaller cave. The whole thing was smooth. Not smooth as if by age and time, but rather smoothed as if someone had deliberately erased all the rough rocks and worn the walls down.

The floor was completely flat and even and there were actually little shelves carved directly into the walls.

It was almost… “Homey”.

‘Right, you’re completely losing it…’ he chastised himself as he rolled over to try and find a better position.

His mind was too worked up to allow him to sleep, but his body was so fatigued that it demanded he do just that.

He tried counting sheep.

‘What I don’t get,’ his thoughts continued between bleating ewes, ‘is why this snooty jerk is suddenly so obsessed with me. Yeah, he was obsessed with me before over Tetsusaiga but why this paranoia over the fact that I can hear him?’

Inuyasha wondered over the significance as he counted sheep seventeen through thirty-four.

‘It’s not as if he’s thinking quietly,’ he continued. ‘Hell, I think they heard him all the way back at the Palace of the West.’

He rolled over again and curled into a small ball, scolding himself for even so much as thinking about Sesshoumaru’s odd worrying.

‘Oh God, I so don’t want to go back tomorrow,’ he groaned and he buried his face in his pillow.

He knew that going home meant facing an enraged Kagome. An enraged Kagome meant a painful “sit”. A painful “sit” meant a throbbing back. A throbbing back…

Inuyasha groaned just picturing the day he had ahead of him.

Kagome was still on the warpath from the last moonless night he had disappeared and his refusal to divulge his whereabouts that night. The week she spent back in her own world hadn’t even helped with her attitude.

If anything, it had only gotten somewhat worse upon her return!

Inuyasha had over heard Sango and Miroku wondering if Kagome had finally come to regret her duty to return to the past and deal with the Sacred Jewel shards. He scoffed at the notion at the time. It had been her fault that the thing was broken into a thousand pieces in the first place!

Baring the so-called “Relationship Advice” from Miroku, no one had actually come out and ask what was going on between himself and Kagome however. It was something Inuyasha wanted to know himself!

Even Kaede had noticed the rapid change in Kagome and had wondered if a vengeful spirit had possessed her.

Inuyasha didn’t care what was going on with the wench, he just wanted one day without a face full of dirt. The rat braved death by abandoning his own hole to crawl over to the distressed human and curl into a little ball next to him, giving little squeaks every so often as if to comfort him.

A pitiful moan rose from the huddled form and Sesshoumaru was dragged out of his thoughts.

‘Nani?’ he asked curiously.

Inuyasha rolled over again, presenting his back to the Youkai and reached sheep number one hundred and forty seven.

“Nothing.”

Chapter Eleven: Time And Again

“I think this robe can be donated to the fire pit,” Inuyasha announced one month later as he picked up what remained of the robe from the corner where the rat had dragged and clearly made a nest out of it.

Sesshoumaru frowned as he glanced at the ragged remains accented sharply by the setting sun. “That was pure silk,” he lamented.

Inuyasha laughed at Sesshoumaru’s expense, something the other did not appreciate, and dropped the robe onto the burned out circle on the cave floor.

The hanyou had added small stones to border the makeshift fireplace, something he had done in the long hours waiting for Sesshoumaru to make his belated appearance, and there was now a small stack of firewood to last the night.

He winced as he straightened, stretching his back and he moved towards “his” pallet. “What was with that lizard Youkai?” he asked, referring to the week previous. “That thing was down right ugly!”

Sesshoumaru shook his head at Inuyasha’s remarks. “The Tokage Tribe is one of the oldest tribes in the East,” he explained. “Though why a Tokage Youkai was straying so far from its territory is somewhat worrying.”

Inuyasha shrugged as he sat down and immediately began eating. “Go with the flow,” he said, coining Kagome’s phrase from her time. “Blame the Jewel Shards.”

Sesshoumaru glanced at him before agreeing with him and moved to get a fire started.

Inuyasha watched avidly. “How did you explain the burn?” He asked referring to the fire incident from before.

“Explain?” Sesshoumaru inquired.

He rolled his eyes. ‘Leave it to him to not even bring it up,’ he thought, instead stating for Sesshoumaru to “forget it” and shoveled another helping into his mouth.

Sesshoumaru shrugged and returned to arranging his supplies. “I inquired about who could have warded the back cave,” he announced as the kindle sparked and Inuyasha bolted to his feet, the small bowel clattering to the floor.

“You mean you told someone about this cave?” he shouted.

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow, “I did nothing of the sort.” Inuyasha minutely relaxed but still remained poised for flight.

“I inquired about any powerful demons that may have resided in the area over two hundred years ago,” the youkai continued, ignoring Inuyasha’s tense stance. “There has not been a response as of yet, but I suppose going back though two hundred years of property tax archives will take quite a while.”

Inuyasha fell back down, gathering his bowel and moving for another portion, the rat eagerly eating the remains of the first on the floor.

“Why are you so obsessed over that cave?” he asked as he took a fresh mouthful.

Sesshoumaru declined to answer as he snatched the bag away from Inuyasha’s reach and dug out some food of his own. “Why are you so obsessed that no one find out that this is where you’re hiding?” he asked a question of his own.

Inuyasha jerked back and stared down at his empty dish.

Sesshoumaru huffed and filled his own bowel. Balancing it upon his knee with practiced ease, he began eating at a more dignified pace.

Inuyasha rarely ever took notice of his brothers missing limb that he himself had removed nearly a year ago. Perhaps because Sesshoumaru had such an intense aura that sometime he forgot that his brother only had one arm at all.

The absence of the limb suddenly brought to the forefront with the mere act of trying to eat suddenly hit home with Inuyasha and he realized that it had to have been hard for Sesshoumaru to adjust his whole way of living to make up for the lack.

Inuyasha was compelled to see Sesshoumaru not as the commanding Inu Lord but as a mere person who had his own tribulations of life.

He hunched into his own dinner feeling the threads of shame begin to creep over him. While it had been a triumph at the time, the fact that Sesshoumaru would forever be burden with the loss completely shamed the hanyou.

To a warrior, their hands were their life. To suddenly have one stolen away would be a devastating blow too more than most. That Sesshoumaru not only continued as he had but to actually thrive after the loss of his arm showed just how great his determination and strength truly were.

Inuyasha held out a small breadcrumb, watching disconnectedly as the rat took the offering.

Shame was actually a rare feeling for him to have.

While he felt sorry or sympathetic, he had never truly felt shame at himself. It was enlightening.

And down right disturbing!

“Any one who could be powerful enough to erect that barrier has to be one of the most powerful creatures ever to live.”

The statement jolted Inuyasha out of his reminiscence and he looked back up at Sesshoumaru curiously.

“What do you have in mind?” Inuyasha asked eagerly. ‘Perhaps he is thinking of acquiring allies to fight Naraku, or more believable, learning how to gain that power…’

Sesshoumaru elegantly set his bowel aside and dabbed at his mouth.

“None of you business.”

Inuyasha nearly fell over. “Man, do you have trust issues…”

Sesshoumaru tilted his just as he had done in his Inu form and gave him a sidelong look.

The hanyou sighed and reached for a third helping only to have Sesshoumaru snatch the bag and hold it out of his reach.

Inuyasha stretched for the bag. “I’m hungry!” he complained.

“Then don’t eat the entire supplies!” Sesshoumaru countered back. “You’ll just be hungry later!”

“I’m hungry NOW!” Inuyasha declared.

“What are you? Three?”

Inuyasha jumped to his feet. “Am not!” he responded and again tried to reach for the sack. “Come on! Or else it’ll spoil and I’ll give it to the rat!”

“You do and you die!”

Inuyasha stood there glaring at the smirking Inu Youkai who swung the bag lazily over the hanyou’s head.

“God damn it, give me the food mutt!” he shouted and lunged towards the other youkai.

Sesshoumaru simply stepped out of the way and glared. “‘Mutt’?” and the food was lifted a half a foot higher. “Care to say that again?” he challenged.

“You bastard!” Inuyasha cried and dropped his hands to his hips. “Now who’s acting like he’s three?”

Sesshoumaru smirked as he held the bag up loftily. “Not getting the food…”

Inuyasha lunged again and managed to tackle the larger form. Only by his sheer grace was Sesshoumaru able to keep his feet and he turned his body away trying to keep the sack from reaching hanyou.

Inuyasha nearly climbed the youkai like a tree as he leaned even further over, pressing his entire body against the hard contours of Sesshoumaru’s armor; the fur of Sesshoumaru’s stole tickling his cheek.

He looked up and froze as he came nose to nose with Sesshoumaru, his accursed Youkai brother. Gold stared into gold and the two froze, nether daring to so much as breath.

That’s when it happened. He suddenly felt the change and the bag dropped from nerveless fingers.

Inuyasha, never one to miss an opportunity when it came to a quick meal, darted forward and grabbed the bag, heedless of his own change and quickly darted towards the back passage.

Sesshoumaru shook himself out of his daze and took off after the now fleeing human.

‘Come back here!’ he roared as he skidded to a halt at the back cave entrance.

“NEVER!”

‘Of all the fucking stupid, self-indulgent, maddening, pains in the tail, THIS TOPS THEM ALL!’ he stared at the small tunnel in furry. What disturbed him however was that tense moment when they had been trapped in each other’s gaze.

His heart actually thumped. It had never done that before.

He glared at the corner where Inuyasha had disappeared before turning back the way he had come. Inuyasha would come out when he had consumed everything to look for something else to eat. It was inevitable.

Sesshoumaru had actually insisted on packing extra food for just this situation after witnessing Inuyasha’s previous dining habits.

Rin had giggled and declared she believed that Sesshoumaru had acquired himself a girl youkai.

Jaken had been horrified at the notion.

‘Women… bah,’ he huffed as he moved to his corner. ‘That is the last thing I need. Always simpering and tittering and wheedling and…’ Sesshoumaru shuddered.

‘At least I was able to train most of that out of Rin before any of those dreaded female tendencies settled in.’

Sesshoumaru considered himself far to busy to try and take a mate, female or otherwise.

There was the Tetsusaiga to appropriate; which, he absently noticed, was leaning against the cave wall forgotten in the imperative pursuit of food. Again, Sesshoumaru marveled at Inuyasha’s continued existence.

Then there was the need to destroy Naraku and his deranged sisters. Now that was going to take some time.

One of the reasons he had inquired about the cave’s previous occupants. If they could get any sort of clue as to whom it was that had actually lived here and if they were even still alive, then that would be an accomplishment worth noting.

If he could find who ever it was that had held such power and learn the secrets for himself, then he would be an adversary that no one dared to challenge.

“Anything else to eat?” Inuyasha asked as he made his way back into the main chamber.

‘And then there are those who just stubbornly refuse to get a clue…’

‘What do you think?’ Sesshoumaru scowled at the dark haired figure.

Inuyasha shrugged nonchalantly. “I thought you were just trying to horde all the food for yourself,” he explained as he dropped the now empty bag on the floor.

‘Most of that Rin packed for my supposed “mate”,’ Sesshoumaru huffed.

Inuyasha gawked at the Youkai. “Mate?” he screeched. “You?”

He promptly fell over laughing.

Sesshoumaru huffed irritably. ‘I’ve learned human girl children have rather romantic notions,’ he tried to explain.

Inuyasha did not stop laughing. “Sesshoumaru… Girl… MATE!” he burst into another fit of laughter.

‘Must you always be this annoying?’ Sesshoumaru asked.

“But you! You would never take a mate!” Inuyasha guffawed. “Hell, what girl would have you?”

Sesshoumaru almost felt offended by the matter-of-fact way his brother stated his belief.

‘But I will have to take a mate eventually,’ Sesshoumaru justified. ‘The blood line must continue.’

“Oh, God…” Inuyasha gasped. “Mental picture! Get it out, get it out!”

The Inu Youkai huffed angrily. ‘Like you and that Miko are no where near being bond-mates yourselves!’ he retorted.

“DO NOT EVEN JOKE!”

Sesshoumaru reeled at the sheer venom that laced the demand.

The hanyou had sobered considerably and was not glaring back at the shocked creature. They stared at each other, Sesshoumaru in narrowed eyed suspicion and Inuyasha with a wild challenge in his eyes…

‘What spell dose she have over you?’ Sesshoumaru accused.

“Nothing!” He shouted shoving his hand in his sleeves again in that annoying habit of his. “She doesn’t have a ‘spell’ on me… well not the way you think at any rate,” he mumbled the last part but Sesshoumaru still heard him.

‘Why do you stay with them? Three humans and a scrawny kitsune kit; hardly your average pack.’

Inuyasha shrugged absently, “we all want the same thing. Naraku destroyed and the Sacred Jewel in once piece.”

‘Then by you reasoning, I too have the same objectives.’ Sesshoumaru countered. ‘Do you plan to incorporate myself into you atypical party?’

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow, “isn’t that what you’ve done to me with this little accord we have going here?” he asked.

‘Hardly the same thing,’ Sesshoumaru dismissed.

“Yeah, whatever.”

They were silent for a while, both deep within their own thoughts. ‘How in the world did you end up with those four to begin with?’ Sesshoumaru finally had to ask.

Inuyasha sighed. “I’m not quite sure myself,” he admitted. I think this actually all started those years ago when I was bound to the Great Tree…”

‘I can’t believe you got trapped to a tree!’ Sesshoumaru jeered.

“What they fuck do you know anything about it?” Inuyasha snapped back angrily. Sesshoumaru gave the impression of a shrug and they returned to their silence.

‘Do you suppose my future mate will be someone of rational mind?’ Sesshoumaru finally broke the silence to ask.

Inuyasha laughed at the question, the tension from his shoulders dissolving in an instant. “To deal with your temper, your insane notions, and your obsession with obtaining physical strength and power?” Inuyasha asked. He laughed hysterically.

“Your mate would have to be completely nuts!” Chapter Twelve: “Nothing” Always Means Something

It was Sesshoumaru who was waiting for him at the cave the next month with now two sacks resting at his feet; one solely packed to the brim with food.

He had been sitting there for a good three hours having arrived relatively quickly since he left in the early dawn. It had only taken him four hours and only a few wrong turns. He was actually glad he had found it at all; last time it had taken him seven.

He glanced up at Inuyasha’s arrival and narrowed his eyes menacingly. “Why are you limping?” he didn’t even try to curb his words.

Inuyasha growled as he made his way through the last of the underbrush, a pack of his own now slung over his shoulder.

“None of your business!” he snapped as he dumped his own bag next to Sesshoumaru’s and immediately turned back into the woods.

“Where are you going?” Sesshoumaru called after him, rising to his feet in order to follow the grumping hanyou.

“To get firewood!” Inuyasha responded over his shoulder. “That all right with you, Your Highness?” and he soon forged into the forest and disappeared behind a tree.

‘Well!’ Sesshoumaru bristled before sitting down again to wait for his second self appointed charge.

It wasn’t long before the Hanyou returned, baring a huge stack of small logs that towered over his head. A stack that size would last a week and not just a single night.

Sesshoumaru wondered absently how he could see where he was going. Rising to his feet once more, he made his way over and appropriated some of the wood, balancing it on his right shoulder.

“Care to explained?” he asked evenly.

Inuyasha nearly deflated the same way Sesshoumaru had all those months prior on that rainy night and slowly made his way into the cave, dumping his load by the remains of the last fire before going back out for the bags.

“Been a bad month,” he snarled as he sat down on the pallet they had left.

The rat soon darted out to greet the hanyou and Inuyasha actually reached out to pat the creature.

“Do you know how many diseases those things carry,” Sesshoumaru stated.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and rubbed the bridge of the rats nose. “About the same as a mangy dog I imagine.”

Sesshoumaru glanced sharply at him. “Care to say that louder?” he snarled.

“You heard me,” Inuyasha challenged as the rat, sensing danger, returned to his own little hole.

“This conduct is completely out of line, even for you!” Sesshoumaru shouted. “Just because you had a bad few days dose not give you the right to snarl at your betters!”

Inuyasha jumped to his feet, “what betters? You’re just older!”

“I,” Sesshoumaru hissed, “am a High Regional Lord and your inherent ruler.”

“The West has nothing to do with me!” Inuyasha retorted. “You saw to that, remember? When you kicked me out of it!”

“That’s it!” Sesshoumaru shouted as he leapt to his feet. “This attitude is worse than your usual immature conduct.”

He marched over to the hanyou and grabbed his chin in his hand, ignoring the wince. “And why the hell is one side of your face almost completely purple?”

Inuyasha reached up and tugged at the arm with very little effect.

“Nothing.”

“You said the same thing last month.” Sesshoumaru accused. “When I asked if the Miko had a spell on you.”

“Why do you care?” Inuyasha asked continuing to struggle out of the Youkai’s firm grip. “You want me dead! Why should you care if I’m in pain?”

“You’re in pain?” Sesshoumaru repeated, immediately releasing the hanyou’s jaw.

Inuyasha jerked away and stormed down the passageway in an echo of the month previous.

Sesshoumaru again trailed after him. “You have been acting strangely ever since that night I found you in the rain,” Sesshoumaru continued as he followed along. Inuyasha remained stubbornly silent. “What has been going on?” the Youkai asked. “I noticed it the last time our two groups happen upon each other. There seems to be this undercurrent of hostility and uneasiness.”

Inuyasha walked faster and turned sharply to enter the smaller chamber knowing it was the one place that Sesshoumaru’s youki would not allow him entrance…

The problem was, Inuyasha could not pass the barrier either.

He had gone not two steps into the doorway when he was suddenly propelled backwards into the air, colliding with a warm, solid chest as Sesshoumaru caught him with his right arm to prevent the hanyou from further damaging himself.

“Wha- what was that?” Inuyasha sputtered as he stared at the blue crackles of power that sparked from the small passage.

Sesshoumaru looked down at the silver head pressed against his chest plate as Inuyasha’s koinu ears perked forward and swiveled as he listened to the crackle of the wards. They were even fuzzier than Sesshoumaru imagined. “What I’ve been trying to get into you thick skull for two months!” he said slowly. “The blasted wards.”

Inuyasha watched as another lightning streak spark across the floor.

“Why would anyone do that?”

Sesshoumaru dropped him.

“HEY!” Inuyasha cried as he felt himself falling backwards connecting with the stone floor hard.

“YOU BASTARD!” Inuyasha screamed after the retreating figure.

Sesshoumaru glanced down at the rat, “you want to say something?” he asked mockingly.

The rat twittered and moved to Inuyasha’s bag, methodically chewing on one of the straps.

Inuyasha eventually re-appeared, rubbing circles at the small of his back. “Did you have to drop me?” he asked accusingly.

“Yes,” Sesshoumaru answered truthfully. “Yes I did, now come over here.”

Inuyasha stopped and graced his elder brother with a scathing look. “You’re kidding, right?”

Sesshoumaru held up a small medicinal jar. “It’s actually muscle relaxant,” he explained as Inuyasha slowly made his way towards him, “and I’m sorry to say it will not improve you face any…”

He smirked and handed over the small jar. “However it should help with the bruising.”

Inuyasha bristled. “Very funny.”

Sesshoumaru smirked, “yes, I thought so.”

Inuyasha sighed as he dropped onto his makeshift pallet, absently pulled his sack away from the munching rat, and opened the jar to the pungent odder of moss and what could possibly be bird droppings.

“What the hell is in this?” he started to ask before shaking his head. “Never mind, I don’t want to know!” He took a small portion of the brown good and lifted it up to sniff it tentatively. It did little with his rapidly declining nose as the sun slowly set but it was a force of habit. “Better question, where in the world did you get it?”

“Fathers Court Healer swears by it and I’m sorry to say that the putrid goo actually works.”

Inuyasha paused in applying said ‘putrid goo’ and stared at Sesshoumaru in shock.

Sesshoumaru instantly tensed defensively. “What?”

“Say that again,” Inuyasha instructed.

“Say what again?”

“Goo.”

“What?”

“Say ‘goo’,” Inuyasha specified.

“WHAT?”

“Just say it!” Inuyasha pressed.

Sesshoumaru glared and said in an extremely deadpan tone, “goo.”

Inuyasha grinned widely, satisfied and went back to applying his medication.

‘What the hell?’ Sesshoumaru wondered. “Was there a point to all this?” he asked.

“Oh nothing really,” the hanyou admitted as he finished with the sloop and placed the leather cover over the jar. “It’s just really amusing to hear you say the word ‘goo’.”

Sesshoumaru stared in surprise before accepting the offered container. “I take it you’re feeling better now.”

Inuyasha sighed as he lay back down on his pallet, crossing his arms behind his head and watched the small fire crack and pop. “You were right, there has been a lot of tension with the others lately. Miroku actually went to a temple voluntarily to meditate and there are absolutely zero women there.”

Sesshoumaru nodded sagely. “This is serious.”

“Yeah, and it’s been getting steadily worse these past few months.”

The sun finally set and the two shifted forms but neither took any notice. ‘Has anything happened with Naraku recently?’ Sesshoumaru asked.

Inuyasha shook his head as he sat up and poked the rapidly hardening gunk on his chin. “How long dose this have to stay on?” he asked.

‘All night,’ Sesshoumaru replied.

“Keh, great…” he poked at it with a finger.

‘Leave it alone,’ Sesshoumaru chastised. ‘Has it been everyone acting oddly or just a few?’

“Actually it been more like ‘only’ Kagome.”

‘Ah, the Miko,’ the youkai mused. ‘It seems as if this is all coming back to her.’

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. “I thought that when anything weird happened it always came back to me.”

Sesshoumaru woofed. ‘Contrary to your belief, the world dose not revolve around you. Now then,’ he continued, blatantly ignoring the humans sputtering. ‘Have there been any odd anomalies around her?’

Inuyasha shrugged, “just the usual demon fighting for the Jewel shards.”

‘What about her previous carnation? The one that was resurrected from clay?’

“Kikyou?” Inuyasha shook his head. “Haven’t seen her for at least two months now.”

‘Hmm,’ Sesshoumaru ran over the facts wondering if there was anything crucial he had missed.

Inuyasha stared at the Inu Youkai, watching as the long tail occasionally twitched back and forth.

‘We’ve actually been civil for four months…’ he told himself, ‘so why am I getting nervous lately with the though of seeing him?’

It had started the month previous when he had been hiding in the back chamber eating the remains of the food.

It had almost been… fun with Sesshoumaru. Almost as if they were acting like actual brothers but there had been an undercurrent of something. Inuyasha had actually lost his breath. It had been a small incident in a string of oddities but still Inuyasha shuddered at the remembrance of staring into the golden eyes that were exactly like his own.

He sighed and rubbed his temples in an attempt to banish the pounding headache. Sitting up he poked at the now flaking gunk on his cheek the subjugation beads clacking with his movements.

‘Why do you wear that ugly necklace?’ Sesshoumaru finally had to ask.

Inuyasha “keh’ed” again and looked down in disgust. “This ugly thing?” He asked lifting the beads up before him. “This is the humans way of forcing me to ‘submit’,” he explained. “Kagome only has to say ‘sit’ and I’m literally forced to the floor.”

‘Then that’s the spell that the Miko has on you!’ Sesshoumaru finally comprehend. ‘And your bruise.’

Inuyasha released a bitter laugh. “Stupid, isn’t it? They almost treat me as if I were an actual dog…”

Sesshoumaru looked at the dejected figure with a small trace of pity. ‘Why don’t you just take them off?’ he asked.

Inuyasha let out a halfhearted laugh. “You think I haven’t tried?” he asked. “They’re spelled so that a youkai can’t remove them. I’ve tried every chance I get…” he explained as he took the beads firmly in hand and jerked them upwards to demonstrate.

And Sesshoumaru snorted in annoyance as the beads slipped right over his head. ‘You were saying?’

Inuyasha gawked at the strand that hung innocently from his hand.

“YOU’VE GOT TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME!”