InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Topsy Turvy ❯ Preparations ( Chapter 2 )

Quick Note- Oh, my god! I am completely blown away with the interest this fic has gotten. Thank you sooooo much to the people that have reviewed me or placed me on their lists. I worship you all!

 

Synopsis- Everybody is getting ready…

 

Beta- The incredible, illustrious Lyiint, you have saved my ass. Thank you so much, love! Anytime that I can be of help to you, I am at your feet!

 

Disclaimer- I do not own Inuyasha. Hell, I am so spent right now that I can't even figure out a funny thing to say in my disclaimer. *beams*

 

Sesshomaru peered out of the gaping windows in his bedroom every night. From his private observatory, the moon grew from the seedling crescent to a waxing gibbous in the blink of his nearly immortal eyes. Just like all Inu youkai, he lived and worked by this calendar of lunar light, ebbing and flowing just like the tides along the seashore that it pulled with pearly fingers. The date of his mating drew near, both strangely exciting and galling him simultaneously. Soon the moon would be full and high in the night sky, and he and his mate-to-be would be baying together at their canine goddess. However, not to be misleading, Sesshomaru would see to it that he would be the one howling with pleasure while Inuyasha worshipped her by yowling in anguish.

 

As it neared the first night of mating season, Sesshomaru felt the truly wild part of himself becoming more inclined to stop and sniff the air. That day, the forest, even though the season wouldn't begin until a few mere hours later, dripped with the scent of unfulfilled lust. He could even smell the light cloak of pheromones that he himself was beginning to produce. Predatory to his very core, these lecherous instincts were only slightly tempered by the iron of his will. Claiming Inuyasha on this night would be quite a pleasure, although he would resent every rose tainted thrust of his hips for the rest of his life. How sad it was that for one moment of white flowers, he would be paying with the rest of his seemingly endless existence.

 

The young dog lord entered the ritual baths, allowing for the castle servants to cleanse his long silver hair. Generally he refused to contract the help of his lowly underlings, but tonight he did not feel the need to hide himself. The liquid steel of being a youkai in heat emboldened him. Regardless of whatever bullshit his father had flung at him the night of their betrothal announcement, this was his night to finally show his brother who the top dog was for good.

 

A young tiger youkai now was laying delicate foils of silver upon his claws. Sesshomaru had to smile inwardly at the apprehension the youth showed in his wavering hands as they fumbled for the tiny strips. Feeling particularly evil, Sesshomaru made eye contact with the adolescent youkai. The tiger demon nearly sliced through the pad of his own finger with the razored edge of the silver leaf. Sesshomaru's blatant advance had really frightened the boy, who was unsure about this unfed need that gnawed at his heartstrings. I was right. This is his first heat. The beast in him studied the young male's slight form. In a few more years, he will be quite a prize for the bed of one fortunate youkai. Claws done, he left the tiger demon in peace to ponder his own attractions.

 

Sesshomaru glided into the next room where his father waited for him, holding the ceremonial kimono in his slender but strong hands. Sesshomaru had already wrapped his underclothing in the style of the samurai, a puzzle for the hands of Inuyasha. It had plenty of twists and turns for his brother to behold and caress, as well as providing a few split seconds of decency in the time spent with his father.

 

Inutaisho set the nearly sheer cloth upon his son's body, admiring the cascades of silk that broke and surged from each prominent feature of his figure. Tying the obi that was embroidered with rampant heraldic Inuyoukai, he pushed Sesshomaru to the mirror that hung on the near wall.

 

“Sesshomaru, there will never be a night where you will look more glorious than this.”

 

Sesshomaru didn't even bother to acknowledge that his father had spoken to him. The divine figure in the mirror was impossible to ignore even for a split second. This was his night. The absence of acknowledgement led Inutaisho to dig his claws into the silken shoulders. Sesshomaru finally broke the concentration on his reflection to glare at his father.

 

“However, even though you are decreed as the dominant one on this night, you will not endanger Inuyasha in any way. Take him, mark him, and mate him. If you even think of harming him irreparably, you would not even want to know what its consequences entail.”

 

“Powerful as I may be, I do not need to maim hanyous to convince myself of superiority over them. Don't worry about your precious little pup,” Sesshomaru growled.

 

“Fair enough,” replied Inutaisho. “This will be the most glorious night of your life. Make the best of it, son.”

 

Sesshomaru closed his eyes and nodded before bowing to his father. Inutaisho walked towards the doorway, beckoning to him with an upturned finger. At last, the sun had set in the sky and the full moon shined her countenance upon father and son. Mating season had truly begun.

xXx

 

Further down the hallway, Inuyasha was eyeing that same celestial body with questioning eyes from the futon that he knelt upon. The knuckles in his fists grew white with the pressure of his weight against the mattress as he leaned forward. This night for him held mixed reviews.

 

Inuyasha and Sesshomaru had never been close as brothers, but Inuyasha had always secretly admired the raw power that sparked in his kin. Before now, Sesshomaru had only used Inuyasha as a sparring partner, whether it was a fight with iron or tongues. When their swords crossed, the jarring pain of Sesshomaru's attacks were just the right amount of attention. To be the object of that calculating battle hardened stare was thrilling beyond belief. Maybe Sesshomaru felt the same exhilaration. Actually, Inuyasha knew that he did.

 

There was one time, perhaps a century ago, when Inuyasha had seen a fleeting opening in his brother's fighting stance. Jabbing forward towards the swath of unprotected flesh, he managed to draw blood from a point right above his left collar bone.

 

“Nice attack for a half breed,” Sesshomaru commented, much to Inuyasha's shock.

 

In the split second that he had paused to realize that his icy brother had paid him a compliment, Sesshomaru had knocked Inuyasha flat on his back. With the tip of his sword, Sesshomaru split the skin open where his jawbones fused to his neck.

 

“Just like I thought,” Sesshomaru snarled. Inuyasha winced, bracing for the worst, sword tip still pressed to his neck. “You are just as weak as the mortal's likeness that runs through your dirty blood.”

 

Sesshomaru cleaned Inuyasha's blood from the tip of the scabbard, wiping the crimson liquid on the hanyou's cheek in a clotting smear. How delicate his brother must be to operate his sword in such a manner and not even graze his skin. Sheathing his blade in the blue and amber obi knotted about his waist, Sesshomaru left Inuyasha lying there in the field, still stunned from the encounter of forced surrender. Yet, Sesshomaru had shown no malice, he had just simply put his weapon away and left. For once in his life, Inuyasha had nothing to say back to the figure that left him behind.

 

Inuyasha knew exactly what to expect from his nocturnal rite. He would get no more and no less of the backwards love that had always echoed from Sesshomaru. Tonight he would offer himself up for sacrifice, just as he had done for centuries previous, only this time, he was not offering a stab at his life or body. Inuyasha now stared at the ripples in the pond below his window that were warping the perfect mirror of the moon on the surface of the water. The picture reminded him of the distortions of his own confidence. In a few precious minutes his brother would calmly walk through the doors to the mating chamber and wage war to conquer the only frontier that did not completely belong to the elder dog, Inuyasha's heart.

 

Inutaisho had come to visit his younger son, to help prepare him for the ritual of pairing. Inuyasha didn't think that his father really understood the relationship between his two sons. If Sesshomaru had an undeniable vendetta with his half-brother, Inuyasha would surely be dead by now. This night was not the night that troubled him. Inuyasha had submitted to Sesshomaru several times before, though rarely quietly. It was the next night that Inuyasha feared like nothing before.

 

His father had taken him under his arm, just as he had when the hanyou was just a puppy, scarcely a few decades old. “I will not let him harm you. Submit to his needs tonight without question, for you are promised to him.”

 

“I know, father,” Inuyasha answered. “I am not as dense as you and my brother might think I am.”

 

Inutaisho burst into laughter and clapped his son comically on the back. “Phew! What a relief!” Inuyasha felt relieved as he sensed the topic passed. He was sorely mistaken.

 

“Then what is it that is bothering you?”

 

Inuyasha's stomach pulled a wingover in his abdomen. The great dog lord smiled warmly at him, ready to pull the insecurities right out of his son's head.

 

Inuyasha gulped. “I know full well what I must do tonight, but what the hell am I supposed to do tomorrow? He might actually try to kill me that time.”

 

Inutaisho traced the underside of his chin with a thoughtful claw. A sly smile flickered across his face, his eyes lost in fiendish thought. The young hanyou wondered what could possibly be making his father smile so much. He started to count the grains of wood on a floorboard beneath his shoes. Everything had a number, whether it was the stars in the sky or the days of ones life. Only within the knowledge of numbers can the secrets of life be known, Inuyasha thought to himself.

 

“Just don't worry about it. I am your father. I will protect you. I promise.”

 

Inuyasha stopped staring near his feet and glanced bewilderedly at his sire. “And just how do you plan to do that?!”

 

“I have my ideas. I have a gift for you to use tomorrow. When you are prepared as the top, I will present you with it.”

 

Inuyasha sieved through his mind, trying to figure out any possible solution that his father had determined. Nothing came to him, so he quickly shoved it from his mind. He doubted that Sesshomaru would have any mercy upon him if Inuyasha's mind were not focused on physical attention of his new mate.

 

“I am afraid that I must leave you here. I have some words to share with Sesshomaru before the sun sets. I wish you nothing but happiness and pleasure. Both the ability to control and yield hold ecstasy in their own peculiar ways.” With that the Lord of the West had left his younger son alone with only his tortured psyche.

 

An hour later, Inuyasha heard two pairs of feet echoing in the hallway leading to his room. The pizzicato of footsteps soon dimmed to the light and airy beat of what he guessed was a single walker. Inuyasha struggled to remove the sheet he had wrapped around his shoulders, flinging it to the side of the futon. He first shuffled to hide his nudity and then to expose himself once more. Panic seized him. How should he be posed? Was he supposed to answer the door? And off course, the most frightening question of all disturbed his spirit to the core. Would he be pleasing to Sesshomaru? Was he attractive enough, voracious enough, or strong enough to be worthy of his mate?

 

Silence seeped through the night air as whatever figure stood outside the door, pausing for what seemed to Inuyasha like infinity. The hanyou's bare and slightly oiled chest heaved in a delightful percolation of adrenaline, fear, and lust. With two ill mannered slow squeaks, the heavy oak door swung gently open. Now the only thing that separated the two brothers was empty space and a butterfly's gossamer wing thick of cloth. Sesshomaru…