Speed Racer Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Love, Life, and Reincarnations ❯ We Belong ( Chapter 2 )

The Goshinboku tree. He had been pinned to that tree for fifty years, his breath locked inside him. It seemed fitting that he had died in front of it but Inuyasha's death unsettled him. He had fallen in battle but not against either of the mikos or against Naraku. The damage to the surrounding area was too minimal for Naraku and the village had not been raised to the ground. A battle against either of the mikos would have caused less damage. Another had battled the hanyou, a wolf youkai, and he had used a spell to increase his speed and a bit of his strength, something that was undetectable to the hanyou. Sesshomaru detected the remnants of the spell, along with the scent of burnt flesh, in the air. He wrinkled his nose in distaste. Both smells made him sick.

Sesshomaru supposed that he should have been grateful that his brother was finally dead. He'd wanted this moment, had dreamt about it ever since his brother had been driven from the Western Lands, and had thought his dream come true when Inuyasha had been sealed. Now . . . now he couldn't bring himself to feel anything. He may have hated Inuyasha but he'd had a growing respect for the hanyou. His temper had begun to even out some, though he continued to rush into battle with his sword drawn and a battle cry on his lips. Inuyasha's death left a bitter, acidic taste in his mouth.

"What are you doing here?" a voice growled. He had sensed the wolf youkai coming, recognizing the scent of his brother's killer. A slight smirk graced his features.

"Facing my brother's killer, it would seem," he replied, turning around slowly. All colour had drained from the wolf's face and something flashed in his eyes. For a moment, he could smell the other's fear before he managed to reign it in, feigning a look of complete innocence.

"Are you now?" he snoted. "And how are you going to prove that I did?"

"Prove? Who says I'm going to prove anything?" Sesshomaru said. "I know the miko will have a hard time believing me, should I tell her, but she will believe me."

"Ha! Don't make me laugh, mutt-face," the wolf scoffed. "She already believes that you killed Inuyasha. Said you're the only one capable of taking him on without the use of jewel shards. But don't worry. I'll take good care of Kagome now that Inuyasha's dead."

`So the miko's the cause of all this and unknowingly as well. Inuyasha, you should have seen this coming.'

"I'm sure the miko will sleep much better knowing why you killed Inuyasha, wolf," Sesshomaru sneered. "Oh, and call me mutt-face again and I'll personally see to it that the miko never even remembers your name. She is, after all, a worthy mate for a youkai lord such as myself, given the proper training and spells."

"Why you . . ." The wolf lunged for him but he evaded the attack as he would have a child's. Or Inuyasha's.

"You can't possibly beat me, wolf," he taunted. "Not without Inuyasha. You have three days to tell the miko the truth or I shall tell her myself. And she will listen to me, wolf. Mark my words."

Without another word, Sesshomaru walked away.

* * *

Kouga watched as the inuyoukai walked away from him, calmly . . . as if there had never been any exchange between them. His entire body trembled with rage. He didn't like this youkai with his calm, smug attitude. He didn't like the fact that this youkai had somehow known the truth and would definitely tell Kagome. What he hated most of all was this youkai's scent and that he was, in fact, Inuyasha's brother. The family resemblance had been strong.

`But he's a demon lord,' a little voice whispered. `There's no way you can beat him. Not without more jewel shards. You might as well tell Kagome the truth. You can't keep what you've done a secret forever!'

`No! I can't tell her! It'll destroy any chance that I might have with her!' he cried.

`You never had a chance with her,' the voice retorted. `She was always by Inuyasha's side. Never yours. You can see it, Kouga. You know it. She wants Inuyasha back and his death is tearing her up inside.'

`But she can come to love me in time,' Kouga reasoned. `All I need is that time. I just need to get rid of mutt-face's brother . . . and I think I know how.'

`How? He's a youkai lord. He'd smell a trap before you'd even be able to detect him,' that little voice nagged.

`Not this time,' Kouga shook his head. `Not this time.'

Kouga trotted off. He had a youkai lord to face off against and only three days to prepare. He had to win, if only for the sake of his sanity.

* * *

Sesshomaru surveyed the surrounding area carefully and suppressed a sigh. He didn't know why he had confronted the wolf youkai about Inuyasha's death. Maybe it had been the fact that the hanyou hadn't been able to detect the spell that had led to his demise. No hanyou would. Maybe it had been because Inuyasha had been the last living family he had left.

`Or maybe because things remained unresolved between you two,' a voice stated. It sounded very much like his father's voice. `Despite your differences, he's still your brother and the only one that you'll ever have.' `Hai, he was my brother and the only one who could give me a good challenge.'

"It's about time you showed up," a voice commented. "Three days is a long time to make someone wait."

Sesshomaru's eyes widened. He hadn't detected the wolf youkai's presence and he'd been lost in thought, making him an easy target. Then his eyes narrowed. The wolf was cheating once more.

"You haven't told her," he stated coldly.

"No, I haven't," the wolf stated, stepping into the open. "And I'm not about to let you tell her, either."

"You aren't?" Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow at him. "I do believe that you are outclassed, coward."

"What did you just call me?" the youkai growled.

"Coward," he repeated, "for that's what you are. A coward. Only a coward hides his scent from an enemy. A true demon faces his enemy with everything he has and wins his own battles based on his prowess. Not spells and weak tricks."

"I am no coward." The wolf advanced.

"Aren't you? You resorted to trickery and cheating to murder someone and for what? A female who will never love you, whose love will always be for a hanyou."

"Shut up!" came the howl. "She's MY woman, always has been and always will be!"

"Is she?" Sesshomaru smirked. With a feral growl, the wolf youkai growled.

Sesshomaru had anticipated this. The wolf had a similar temper to Inuyasha's but he lacked something, something that Inuyasha had always held close to him.

`Closer than any memories that he had of his mother,' he thought as he sidestepped the wolf, `and that was the will to survive. Inuyasha had it rough. Scorned and mocked by demons. Scorned and feared by humans. He belonged to both worlds and yet neither accepted him. It created a shell around him, a shell I had once believed to be unbreakable. I was wrong. And you, wolf . . . You're wrong as well. The miko will never love you. Not the way that you want her to.'

He evaded another attack by the wolf, trying not to be cornered. If the wolf hadn't confessed his crime to the miko and he had taken the time to hide his scent, he had lain a trap for him. And Sesshomaru wasn't about to spring it.

`But evading is getting me nowhere. Though I have no intentions of ever making the miko mine, I do intend on telling her the truth. Father would have wanted me to.'

Finally, he tired of evading. The game the wolf had plaed had been a trifle amusing at first but now it annoyed him. When his opponent charged again, he stayed in place, shoving his fist out at the right moment. Sesshomaru watched in smug satisfaction as the younger youkai's body slammed into a tree, splintering it in twain. His satisfaction turned into shock as something pierced the back of his neck and he couldn't breathe. Somewhere, very faintly, he heard a yell then his world went dark.

* * *

Kouga glared at the form of the dead inuyoukai's body. Killing him had not been nearly as easy as killing Inuyasha had been. The youkai lord had somehow figured out that he had lain a trap. How he had figured it out, Kouga didn't know. And he didn't care.

"Didn't matter in the end, did it, you bastard?' he spat. `You still sprang it and I was still able to kill you. Now to make sure that you're truly dead and no one discovers you. At least . . . not for a while, anyway.'

He unsheathed his katana and brought it down . . .

* * *

He couldn't breathe. Something had poked him in the neck and now some strange man stood over him with a really big knife, poised to use it on him. The man had a bad gleam in his eyes so he did the only thing he could think of. He screamed.

"OFUKURO!!"

As soon as he had screamed out, his eyes flew open and he scrambled to get out of his bed. But the sheets and blankets had grabbed onto him, tangling him up and keeping him from escape.

"OFUKURO!!"

By now, he had tears in his eyes. The sound of footsteps coming down the hall then the flick of a light switch told him he'd been heard. Strong yet gentle arms embraced him, untangling him from the monster sheets and blankets, and a warm body cradled him close. The gentle scent of lavender greeted his nose. Sniffling, he buried his face in his mother's chest.

He'd been in his new home for some time now, the only other parents he'd known now gone forever. That's what the lady in that one place had told him and he still didn't have anyone to chase away the monsters of his dreams. Then they had told him that he and his baby brother had a new home, in a place called Amerika. His new mom and dad, when they had first seen him, did something his parents had never quite done before, though he knew he was different from the other children there, even different from his baby brother. They loved him, had even given him hugs and kisses that first day and had never stopped. They played games with him, read him bedtime stories, and chased away the monsters that lived in the closet, under the bed, and in his dreams. He even gained another brother and he rather liked that fact. But, at that moment in time, he was scared. He wanted someone to hold him, to make the bad man go away and never return. Once in his new mother's arms, listening to her soothe him in Japanese and English, he did what any three-year-old would do. He cried.

"Shhh, it's okay, baby. It's okay. I'm right here. I won't let anything happen to you. Ever."

"Promise?" he whispered, wiping away the tears that flowed down his cheeks. She smiled and kissed his forehead, wiping away some of the tears herself.

"Hai, Sesshomaru. I promise."