InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ What Matters the Most ❯ Wounded ( Chapter 69 )

A/n: Don’t have anything to say right now, other than hope you like the chapter! ^_^

Oh, and extremely mild use of a character from the third movie in this chapter. If you haven’t seen the third movie, it’s highly unlikely it’d spoil anything for you, but I figured I’d better warn people anyway.   ~*~   Wounded

Pain.

Sesshomaru could feel pain; burning and twisting and writhing within his gut where Inuyasha’s claws had been only moments before. And it... surprised him.

He was distantly aware of the sound of Naraku’s laughter, mingling in with the flare of absolute hate from his father, but his mind refused to properly acknowledge any of it.

He was used to pain, of course-- both physical, and mental-- but this... the fact that it had been his mate to inflict a potentially fatal wound on him were he any less of a demon... It was too much for his mind to comprehend at this particular moment, let alone his youki to accept.

Small, broken sobs of pain reached his ears from somewhere around his knees, and he found his numb gaze being drawn down toward the sound-- his eyes narrowing slightly at the sight of his mate there, crumpled and shaking and crying, more of those small sobs wracking through his frame, making it shudder violently as he remained slumped with his face turned away from Sesshomaru. Crimson had started to pool around him--soaking through the dirty, worn pair of hakama Inuyasha wore, and dyeing the edges of his hair crimson as they trailed through it, making him look for all the world like a fallen angel. A strange mix of brokenness and beauty wrapped and stained in blood.

His blood.

Blood that was still steadily flowing from a wound Inuyasha had made in his belly.

Sesshomaru blinked slowly in a manner rather unlike himself (though really, who could blame him?), before gradually bringing his hand up, dipping his fingers into the wound a little bit, somehow still slightly surprised when a small flare of pain spread out from the spot he had touched, and his fingers came back sticky and coated in red.

Still, that must have been the right thing to do, because it managed to startle his youki back into action, and it immediately set about healing the wound as quickly as it could while still trying to call out to his mate, who’s despair and upset it could openly feel.

Sesshomaru’s gaze slid down from his crimson coated fingers to land once again on the shivering form of his brother, the shock finally leaving him to be replaced with confusion, worry and, somewhere deep in the back of his mind, anger, as he worked frantically to try and think what he could possibly have done to warrant such an attack.

Of course, he came up empty, and so instead opted for a more direct route: Asking Inuyasha himself.

After all, it had been the boy who attacked him-- if anyone would know why he had done it, it would have to be him.

‘Inuyasha.’ He said softly, watching the way his brother’s whole frame jerked at the sudden sound of his name, and then curled in further away from him-- Inuyasha’s hands coming to white-knuckle the tops of his knees as his claws dug in small punctures. Sesshomaru frowned and made a move to bend and stop his brother’s sudden course of self-mutilation, but a small, angry throb from his stomach stopped him halfway and made him think better of it.

The wound wasn’t that bad any more-- his youki worked fast and it was almost healed. But still, that didn’t change the fact that it had been a very deep and very well-placed wound. It would be better not to make any unnecessary movements that might strain it for the next few minutes until it could full heal.

That in mind, Sesshomaru quickly changed courses-- exchanging his bend at the middle for a bend at the knees instead, and allowing himself to slide into a kneeling position in front of his brother, ignoring the feel of the wetness as crimson seeped into and stained the cloth of his hakama and obi as well.

‘Inuyasha.’ He said again, then paused, unsure what he wanted to ask. What did I do? What happened? What’s wrong with you? Why did you do that? Any of those and a myriad of other’s were resting just on the tip of his tongue, all ready to leap out at his brother at a moments notice. But he held them back.

A small murmur came from Naraku-- one that he could not quite decipher the words of-- and it had him casting a sharp glance over at the kumohanyou, who was watching them in a combination of malcontent and amusement-- adamantly ignoring the silently raging dog-demon standing a few mere feet away from him and barely holding back the urge to tear him apart.

Sesshomaru, however, could see that his father was, for one of the first times in his entire life, having trouble controlling himself. It was interesting-- after centuries of existence in which they had both kept their tempers fairly well, they ended up barely keeping themselves in check because of the actions of one hanyou against another.

Albeit, one of said hanyou’s was Inu Taisho’s son, and his own brother and mate, but that was hardly the point.

A small pulse came from Sounga, who was still strapped safely on his father’s back, and Sesshomaru’s eyes narrowed at the sword. He had wielded it few times before, but he still knew how the sword worked. And right now, it would be doing it’s best to push what remaining shreds of restraint his father had over the edge and make him go on an all-out killing spree. And he could see his father almost visibly shaking in the effort to hold himself back and not give in to the sword.

And for that, he was very grateful. Because, as he had told to his father on the way here, Naraku was his to kill. It was his right as Inuyasha’s mate and Tsukiko’s father. And he wanted no interference from Inu Taisho. His father had seemed reluctant, but had agreed nonetheless. This was more than a matter of honour or punishment or justice or any of those things. Now it was much more personal than that. Personal enough to qualify for some flat-out revenge. And the pain Naraku had wreaked upon Inu Taisho and the other’s was great, yes, but it could never compare to the agony he had put Inuyasha through and, by doing so, Sesshomaru as well.

So, unless Naraku did something very foolish right now that might somehow endanger someone, Inu Taisho would not attack. And, since Naraku wasn’t doing anything of the sort, Inu Taisho was holding off wounding him, though it was obvious that it was with a great amount of effort.

Maybe that is why Naraku was remaining mostly silent. After all, he had too very enraged, very lethal Daiyoukai dog-demons standing in front of him who he had put through hell and back. At this point, any out-of-place or snide comment might set them off.

Inu Taisho glanced back at him, and for a moment their eyes met-- some silent understanding passing between them, before Sesshomaru’s own gaze was again drawn back down toward his mate at the sound of Inuyasha’s voice.

‘Se-Sesshomaru.’ Inuyasha rasped, shaking worse than before as he dug his claws deep enough into his own legs that one good tug would be likely to tear off all the skin on the top of his thighs. Sesshomaru frowned at this and reached to try and stop Inuyasha, but the boy jerked back-- away from his grip-- one of his hands breaking free in an attempt to ward Sesshomaru away, and ending up spasming in midair as though Inuyasha really didn’t have control over the limb. Sesshomaru was trying to get a close inspection, but Inuyasha panicked and scrambled back away from him.

‘No!’ He shouted, drawing back as far as he could, before suddenly coming to a halt and jerking wildly forward again-- coming closer to the rather stunned Sesshomaru.

Tears were streaming down Inuyasha’s face as he jerked this way and that, struggling frantically against nothing he could see, before suddenly freezing, his whole body trembling as he seemingly unwillingly began to crawl toward Sesshomaru, coming to a stop mere inches away from him.

‘Ses-sho-maru’ Inuyasha whined, his face turned toward the ground so Sesshomaru could not see it, and a strange amount of dark energy pouring from around his body. ‘G-get... away!’

Sesshomaru’s eyes narrowed in confusion, and then widened as he, for the second time that day, found Inuyasha’s claws flying toward him with the intent to kill-- something he had not seen since before he and Inuyasha were mates. Not wasting a moment, Sesshomaru used his superior speed and leapt away, coming to stand a few feet away.

He turned to face his brother, only to before forced back again as Inuyasha, using some kind of strength and energy the boy, by all means, should not have had, came flying at him-- claws extended and glowing faintly in their attack, the force and speed they moved belying the raggedness and exhaustion permeating from the boy’s body.

Sesshomaru again dodged, but this time was not fast enough to avoid Inuyasha completely, and ended up with a deep cut across his cheek-- cutting over his two magenta stripes and causing blood to well to the surface.

He was given no time to recover as Inuyasha came at him with a torrent of attacks-- each one aimed for a vital place on his body, never once slowing, while under his breath, in a strained and barely audible voice he could hear Inuyasha repeating the words “Get away, Get away, Get away, Get away” as though they were his mantra.

And it was this, more than anything else really, that kept Sesshomaru from going into pure survival mode and attempting to fight back. Because something wasn’t right here. The attacks, the dark energy... they all suggested Inuyasha was bent on destroying him for whatever reason. And yet those words... the look in his eyes... they told a completely different story.

A small gurgled cry issued from Inuyasha, and Sesshomaru’s nostrils flared as a small trickle of blood slipped from the corner of his brother’s mouth. If Inuyasha kept going at this pace... he wasn’t going to last much longer.

That in mind, Sesshomaru again used his speed to his advantage-- all but disappearing from the spot he had been at before and reappearing mere inches from Inuyasha.

The hanyou gave a startled cry, fear filling his eyes as his hand again rose up in an attempt at an attack. But this time Sesshomaru was ready.

As Inuyasha’s hand swung down, Sesshomaru’s own shot upward-- latching firmly onto Inuyasha’s wrist and staying his attack.

A low snarl rumbled through Inuyasha’s chest cavity-- mutating and combining with a sob halfway through as Inuyasha’s body thrashed violently in his grip, jerking and writhing and tugging, trying to get away.

The hanyou’s free hand shot up, only to receive the same treatment as the first as Sesshomaru caught it with his own.

He watched as his brother spasmed and protested and struggled from the neck down, tugging hard enough to nearly dislocate one of his shoulders, causing Sesshomaru to narrow his eyes and, in an effort to prevent further injury, he drew the thrashing body up tightly against his own.

For several moments Inuyasha continued to struggle. Well, his body did, anyway. His head, however, just lolled calmly against him-- occasionally whipping on direction or the other as his body demanded, but for the most part just complacent to rest against Sesshomaru’s shoulder.

Soon Inuyasha’s struggles lessened to the occasional random jerk as the hanyou fell all but completely silent in his arms, and Sesshomaru risked lessening his grip slightly, only to tighten it again when he felt Inuyasha’s body attempt to tense up.

Sighing mentally, Sesshomaru just continued to hold his brother as Inuyasha buried his face against his neck, and the youkai was vaguely surprised when he felt wetness seeping onto his skin and through the cloth of his haori.

‘I’m sorry.’ Inuyasha murmured, his throat barely able to work around the amount of poison that had been injected into him, hating how silent Sesshomaru was as he buried deeper into his neck, his shoulders heaving in exertion. ‘I’m so... sorry...’

Inuyasha trailed off slowly, his breath cascading over Sesshomaru’s ear in a gentle huff before his eyes rolled back in his head, and he went limp again, slumping in Sesshomaru’s arms and leaving the youkai to support him in his unconsciousness. ~*~  

Glossary

Youki - A demon’s spiritual energy

Hakama - The kinds of “pants” you see most of the men (and some of the women) in the series wearing all the time.

Kumohanyou - Spider half-demon... or something to that effect

Hanyou - Half-demon

Daiyoukai - This means something along the lines of great demon

Youkai - Demon

Haori - A japanese sort of half-coat   ~*~  

A/n: Well there you have it. If you’re wondering how Sess survived having his insides mutilated from chapter 67, just consider the idea that Inuyasha has suffered similar (if not the exact same) kinds of wounds repeatedly throughout the series, and never once died. And, considering Sesshomaru is Inuyasha’s elder brother and a full-fledged demon, it seemed kinda off to me that have a few of his intestines shredded would kill him.