InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ What Matters the Most ❯ Simple, Straightforward ( Chapter 39 )

A\N: Hm, hm, hm. Inuyasha is in a bit of a snippy mood in this chappy. ^_^ Kinda fits the mood I’ve been in most of the day... guess that’s what happens when you’re going on 9 hours of sleep over 2 days. ^_^

Anyway, I don’t really have a lot to say... But, considering it’s St. Patricks day, and that I’m part Irish, I figured I’d help celebrate with another update for everyone. ^_^

-Crazy-Inuyasha-Gril - Lol, kay, will do! ^_^

-Snowfall - Lol, yep a red moon. Hope that wasn’t completely out there, my brain was completely out of control when I wrote that... ^_^ -- Lol, I don’t know if Kouga will take in Rin, but there’s definitely gonna be more coming up between them. As for Kagura... Hm. You put a lot more thought into defining her personality in this fic than I did... but it’s definitely accurate I suppose. Yeah, I like your ideas on her. However, I think I may still be able to come up with someone for her... Someone I am really incredibly surprised that (considering all the other pairings out there) no one else (that I’ve seen anyway) as thought of yet... To give you a bit of a hint, it is a character from the Anime/Manga (not an OC) but it’s not one that lasted very long in the series. Hopefully I’ll get him in there soon... I think it may surprise you yet... ^_^ -- Lol, anyway, once again, glad you’re enjoying the Kouga/Rin thing (never seen it before myself either) because a lot of people seemed to be having a problem wrapping their heads around it. And you won’t find the other character for Kagura, because I haven’t put him specifically in the story yet... ^_^

Well, I don’t have much else to say, so I guess it’s time for the next chappy... Oh! The Chapter after this should have some of Inu Taisho in it. ^_^   ~*~   Simple, Straightforward

Inuyasha woke up with the sun in his eyes and the annoying feeling of not-quite pain in his stomach as his body prepared to empty itself of it’s contents once again.

Wasting no time, Inuyasha had a big fight for his freedom with Sesshomaru’s arms and fur pelt (all while trying once again to not wake his brother) and crawled away just in time to retch all over the grass-- missing his own hand by mere inches.

He was thankful (strangely enough) to see that it was actual vomit this time that came out, and not that horrible throat-burning bile from the last time.

However, this small victory was hardly worth noticing since he had, once again, failed in his efforts to avoid waking his brother, and when his stomach finally finished with it’s rather disgusting display, Sesshomaru was already nearly dressed and moving about to gather up the hanyou’s own clothes.

Inuyasha sat back on the grass and let him do that, his eyes drifting up to the sky as he leaned back on the fur Sesshomaru had conveniently left sprawled on the ground, before frowning and squinting up at the sun with annoyance that it had the audacity to shine so brightly in his eyes, before his look suddenly changed to one of contemplativeness as he suddenly began to realise exactly what the events of last night had, eventually, led to.

These actions were, of course, not lost on Sesshomaru, and the elder youkai moved swiftly over to curl up around his brother, watching him intently for a moment as he continued his silent studying of the sky.

It was not often that he got the chance to see the hanyou so quit and contemplative like this. Not that Inuysaha didn’t spend time thinking or was stupid by any means, but his little brother rarely allowed other people to actually be present and witness his silent reveries, usually drawing back into his room or the forest when he wanted to “meditate” like this, and usually got angry at anyone who tried to follow or interrupt him.

Still, it was definitely worth the wait to see his brother looking so openly thoughtful about something, and Sesshomaru really did not with to ruin it, but his youkai was really concerned about what had caused that look to cross his mate’s face in the first place, and would not let him not interfere.

‘What troubles you, otouto?’ He asked softly, his voice slicing through Inuyasha’s thoughts and making the young hanyou jolt slightly before frowning at his brother.

‘Keh! What makes you think anything “troubles” me?’ He said, reverting back to his old but long missing way of speaking and the tone instantly had Sesshomaru feeling slightly wary and confused at the same time, wondering, perhaps, if his mate was upset with him for some reason.

Inuyasha, on the other hand, had no idea what was going through his brother’s mind currently or when he had asked the stupid question in the first place, all he knew was that he was suddenly feeling very, maybe even irrationally, irritated at his brother.

In factm probably one of the only things stopping him from yelling at the elder youkai was his own youkai yelling at him desperately in a made attempt to remind him who was the alpha of their mating.

It did not want to have it’s guts ripped out just because the idiot in charge had entirely lost it’s senses, thank-you very much! What’s more, the very idea of attacking his mate when he had done nothing wrong was nearly enough to send it cowering away in horror.

Sesshomaru frowned at Inuyasha, not missing the dark expression on his face, nor understanding what had caused it. He has asked a simple, straight-forward question and in return had very nearly gotten his head ripped off.

What’s more, Inuyasha seemed to be physically trying to calm himself (a very strange sight to see since Inuyasha usually just let loose on anyone and everyone), taking a deep, shaky breath, before saying, in a much calmer tone, ‘I was just thinking is all.’

Sesshomaru stared down at him curiously, then asked, albeit cautiously, ‘About what?’

‘Things!’ Inuyasha replied, some of the snap and anger back in his voice, then, calmer, softer, added ‘Last night. About what happened...’

‘Between us.’ Sesshomaru mentally finished for him, concern swelling through him. Did his mate, perhaps, regret what they had done? Had he truly not been ready?

Considering his brother’s last two responses, Sesshomaru approached his next question with extreme caution and a great deal of concern.

‘Inuyasha... do you regret what we have done?’ He asked, causing Inuyasha to shoot him a sideways glare of sorts.

‘No, stupid!’ He said harshly. ‘That has nothing to do with anything at all!’

Inuyasha could feel Sesshomaru’s apprehension slip away even as his tension grew, and his youkai thrashed about violently within him in absolute rage at his stupidity.

He sighed, his ears droop as his rage suddenly fled him, replaced instead by a strange sort of exhaustion that he should not have been feeling since he had just woken up and had yet to really do anything at all.

However, he couldn’t focus on that right now.

His mate had asked him a question that his youkai was indignantly refusing to leave unanswered since it had finally managed to get him to enter this strange submissive mode.

So, certain to keep his voice low and his ears flattened, shifting slightly to expose the still sore skin on the back of his neck where Sesshomaru had bitten him last night, Inuyasha scooted around slightly and tentatively pressed himself against Sesshomaru’s hard body.

‘I was just thinking about last night-- the moon, me being human...’ He turned slightly to look back at Sesshomaru. ‘Sesshomaru, before that night I had never slept during my transformation.’

Sesshomaru stared down at his brother’s face, still unsure what was causing all his brother’s random and seemingly unrelated mood swings (maybe it was an after-effect of the transformation?) and he was still caught up in Inuyasha sudden display of submission that he barely had time to register Inuyasha’s words.

It was... interesting to say the least, to find that, on his weakest night in his weakest form, Inuyasha somehow found the energy and strength to remain alert and awake without any sleep. It was a curious thought to be sure.

‘Ever?’ He asked softly, feeling his little brother shiver slightly for some unknown reason in his arms as he shook his head.

‘No. At least, not on any night that I can remember. I might have when I was younger, and nobody really knew who or what I was, but it’s too dangerous now.’

‘Why is that?’ Sesshomaru asked, not quite grasping the complex idea that it was safer for his baby brother when he was a baby, and trying to focus on that rather than how the small shifting motions Inuyasha was making were effecting him...

He was Sesshomaru for hell’s sake, he should be above such base emotions and lack of control as this!

But his body, surprisingly enough, didn’t seem to agree with him on that assessment, and he was left to steadily trying to ignore it’s very existence as Inuyasha continued shifting about in his arms as well as speaking.

‘Don’t be stupid, Sesshomaru.’ He said, though his tone was low and not at all defiant or challenging like it had been before. ‘You of all people should know how much half-demon’s are despised. Imagine what would happen if anyone found out?’ He asked, before a bitter sort of smirk played across his face. ‘A lot of people would come after me. If any of them attack me when I’m human like that, I don’t stand a chance in hell.’

Sesshomaru was silent for several minutes (almost enough time to allow Inuyasha to fall back to sleep), considering the truth behind his brother’s words.

When he finally spoke, his words surprised both of them and were enough to jolt Inuyasha out of his not-quite sleep.

‘You have nothing to fear now, Inuyasha.’ He said softly, wrapping his arms around his younger sibling (both of their youkai’s practically purring in contentment at the contact). ‘I will protect you.’

Inuyasha stiffened in surprise, glancing back at his brother, who, despite what he had just said, wasn’t really looking at him, but gazing off at some unknown spot on the horizon.

He frowned slightly at his brother and shook his head.

‘That’s a nice line for a book, Sesshomaru, but let’s be realistic here for a minute, alright?’ He said, looking away from his brother just as Sesshomaru looked down, his past stoic mask in place even as shock coursed through him.

‘What do you mean by that, little brother?’ He asked slowly, his tone taking on an icy edge to it.

Inuyasha let out another small “Keh!” and offered him a glare, then seemed to realise that this was not sufficient enough an answer, and, twisting around so he could better face Sesshomaru, he quickly moved to continue.

‘Sesshomaru, I’m a half-demon, okay?’ He said in a fairly deliberate manner that Sesshomaru didn’t like much at all ‘I don’t belong to either world, and so I’m considered by both to be barely above an animal. In more than a few places a person will only have to take one look at me and I’ll be proclaimed a wolf’s-head. That’s fine. I deal with it, and I can look after myself-- I’m not out for anyone’s acceptance or self-pity. But for you to say you can always be there and protect me on the new moon when you obviously can’t is as good as breaking a blood-vow. To me or any hanyou.’ He looked at Sesshomaru with hard eyes, and Sesshomaru stared blankly back, still not quite understanding why his brother didn’t believe him.

‘Sesshomaru, think about it.’ Inuyasha said in a rather tired manner. ‘You’re the elder of the two of us and the firstborn son of the dog-general. You’re not going to be here all the time.’

Sesshomaru felt his insides freeze slightly when he heard these words-- heard the truth behind them-- and he finally began to understand what Inuyasha was saying.

Inuyasha was right: some war or political matter was bound to come up sooner or later that would call him far away from the castle. He would have to go and attend to it whether he wanted to nor not and there was never any grantee (far from it in fact) that he would always be back during the new moon.

This realisation hurt slightly as it meant that he could not always provide his mate with the protection he needed, but he knew Inuyasha was not angry at him, rather trying to explain and get him to accept, and so, wrapping his arms more tightly around the thin figure before him, he nodded his head slowly for Inuyasha to see.

‘Alright, little brother.’ He conceded. ‘I may not always be here, on that point you are right.’ He said, pausing and falling silent for several moments in which Inuyasha gazed at him in suspicion, not sure what to expect would come out of his brother’s mouth next. And what did shocked him. ‘But I will always protect you.’

Inuyasha blinked, and then looked back at Sesshomaru with protest in his eyes and on his lips, but Sesshomaru refused to let him voice it, smothering in back into the prison of Inuyasha’s throat as he pressed his lips against his little brother’s.

Inuyasha tensed slightly at first, his body growing slightly fearful of the dominance Sesshomaru was displaying, but he slowly relaxed and melted into the kiss, returning it for a few minutes before pulling away, a small smirk on his face.

‘Did my ears deceive me a minute ago, or did you just admit you’re wrong?’ He asked, the corners of his lips twitching slightly as Sesshomaru’s face momentarily darkened before, moving with a speed too swift for Inuyasha to detect, Sesshomaru was on his feet, Inuyasha held captive in his arms by the fur as the elder youkai suddenly began to carry him back toward the castle.

‘Sesshomaru!’ Inuyasha whined in surprise and protest, bringing his elder sibling’s eyes to his own, and he could see the smirk in them as plain as it had been on his own face just moments before. ‘Dammit all, I’m not a child you know! I can walk on my own!’ He half-heartedly fumed.

Sesshomaru gave him a small half-smile, ignoring the protest as he continued the journey up the castle, and Inuyasha’s ears flattened and his arms crossed in front of his chest as he huffed softly in protest and exasperation.

Giving up on any hopes of escape, Inuyasha let out another small huff, before curling more closely into his brother’s chest, sleep claiming him once again before Sesshomaru could take five more steps. ~*~  

Glossary

Hanyou - Half-Demon

Youkai - Demon

Otouto - Little Brother ~*~  

A\N: Lol, there’s a quote somewhere in this chapter “If anybody attacks me when I’m human like this...” that was actually taken from one of the Inuyasha episodes-- “Kaijinbo’s evil sword” I believe.

Also, I couldn’t really see a place to fit this explanation into the story since both brother’s clearly know what it means, a wolf’s-head is (I believe) an old term (not necessarily from Japan) that, in a nutshell, means that you’re considered no better than a wolf. Since wolves were notorious for killing livestock way back when, they were permitted to be slain pretty much on sight and without a second thought, so to be proclaimed a “wolfs-head” basically means the same thing and that anyone who comes upon you may kill you without facing any more consequences than they would if they had killed a wolf attacking their livestock. It’s not a very pleasant thing to become.

Oh, and gomen once again, but my emails still down... I’m supposed to be getting it back up by later tonight or sometime tomorrow, but... >_< ~*~

Well, I am definitely convinced now that I added the names at the bottom way too early, and I’m sure that everyone’s thoroughly bored with them, so I guess I’ll take them down after a couple more chapters... Hopefully I’ll have selected the right number of names by then... ^_^

Until then, I guess it’s time to delete all the one-votes.

(Number of * = # of votes)

Tsukiko - Female - means Moon Child - *****************

Inuko - Means Dog-Child, and could be for a boy or a girl - **********

Moriko - Female - Forest child (Picked it out cause Inuyasha’s so fond of trees and all that ^_^) - *********

Akira - Male - Intelligencebrightness - *****

Akiko - Autumn child - This one’s just female (for reasons I do not know). Picked these 2

out because I like autumn. ^_^. It’s a tie between it and spring for best season. - ****

Gina - Silvery (Think I picked this out because Inuyasha and Sesshomaru have silver hair ^_^) Female - ****

Kenaku - Swordsman, obviously a males ****

Suzume - Sparrow - female (again, this one I just liked the sound of) - ****

Hikaru - Light: this is a boys name (I believe) but I suppose it could be used for a girl as

well - ***

Hotaru - Firefly - Female - ***

Naomi - Female - Above all beauty (I always liked the name Naomi, so why not?) - ***

Katana - Female - (Yep this is an actual name, not just a word) it means Sword andor

Blade - **

Aki - Autumn andor bright - It’s male and female - **

As well as ones given by the reviewers:

-Shinsei - Boy - DivinityPureDignity ****

-Arekusu (boy)- Revered Wild Air Spirit - ***

-Haruko - means spring - girl - ***

-Ryuji - see Ryuko - boy ***

-Keitaro - Boy - blessed ***

-Ryuko - means dragon - girl **

-Biri (both)- Beautiful Reason **

-Takara - means treasure - either **

-Shion (boy)- Graceful Scholar **