InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Waning Moon ❯ Insanity ( Chapter 3 )

3. Insanity

Humans are fragile creatures. They grow old and die fast. Rin did so, in the same fashion as she did nearly everything else: with a smile on her face. But the pain he'd felt then isn't nearly as insanely life altering as what he is feeling now, with Inuyasha's passing.

He supposes he should have expected the half-breed's death sooner or later. Inuyasha was only ever half demon; it is the only reason he grew to be as old as he did. Even with the demon blood running in his veins, he'd aged much faster than Sesshomaru. And despite being a bit more than two hundred years younger than him, Inuyasha looked more than fifty years older when he finally passed on. He had been four hundred and seventy-two.

Sesshomaru doesn't know if it's normal to feel lonely when one you have hated since his birth dies. But as he stares at the stone erected in the soft earth beside the human woman Izayoi's he thinks it is possible. Again he reads and rereads the neat writing engraved in the centre of the stone; it spells the name of his pathetic half-breed half-brother.

He mulls over any other possibility for the numb feeling that has caused his limbs to feel far too heavy and his mind to feel strangely foggy. Again, he attempts to remember if he's felt so dead inside before, but his mind remains stubbornly blank. Even memories do not want to be seen through the haze in his mind.

He settles for staring at the stone, not feeling the need to move, nor wanting to look away.

The demon Lord remains like this for some time. He simply stands and stares without Rin to distract him with her childish chatter, without Jaken to torment and be annoying, and Inuyasha to curse for his humiliating presence in his life and to their family. Death has claimed them all. Sesshomaru finds that he is alone again.

Sesshomaru slowly returns home, but he feels as though he is dragging himself. He doesn't want to move, but he must. Because he is still the Lord of this land and he has work to do. He cannot allow his subordinates to attend to the work he is so used to completing and is his duty to complete.

However, by the time he takes a step inside his overly large home it is far past sun down and his duties have been taken care of; and Sesshomaru must find something else to do. After having been reported too on the day's events and decisions - he can't find the energy to listen properly, and he soon sent his administrators away - he strides towards his chambers. He swears he hears a happy, bell-like giggle and he is positive he smells fresh flowers as he nears his rooms. He is sure that is Inuyasha telling Jaken in the crude way of his to leave the girl alone.

This discovery makes his steps more meaningful, though Sesshomaru looks deceivingly aloof.

He is sourly disappointed when he slides the door open and enters his chambers to find wilted flowers in the vase sitting on a small table by the back wall. He doesn't have the ability to remove them, he hasn't for the last two hundred and sixty-seven years. There is no sign of Inuyasha and Jaken also, only a two headed staff hanging on his wall and...

The thoughts of Jaken, as well as Rin and her flowers leave the Lord's mind as he spots the Tessaiga looking elegant on his wall opposite his bed. He has finally gained his father's sword - the one he'd been striving to since he'd recognised what it was and how it could aid his journey on his path of extreme conquest.

However, he doesn't feel proud or smug, not like he'd anticipated he would once he finally held Tesseiga; he didn't beat Inuyasha for the sword. Both their time had run out. He hadn't succeeded in defeating his little brother, and Inuyasha is dead.

Sesshomaru knows when he has failed.

“Are you happy now, Inuyasha?” he asks the still air inside his quarters. His voice strong and spiteful, “You have managed to humiliate this Sesshomaru once again.”

The silence in the room isn't filled with an answer, but Sesshomaru hardly seems to notice. He simply stares at the fang hanging on his wall. He listens to his little ward's giggles haunting the room. And he is certain that it is Jaken's nervous knocking rattling the door.