Disclaimer: All things Inuyasha goes to the one and only Rumiko Takahashi.

CHAPTER !4

"Are you sleeping?" Inuyasha whispered and reached over to poke the moon marking in the middle of Sesshomaru's forehead. The demon was lying on the couch with his fingers entwined over his stomach. His breathing was steady and his eyes were closed. He looked so peaceful when he slept. Then again, he never showed any emotion so his face always looked like this.

"Would you like to lose that finger?" Sesshomaru opened his eyes before Inuyasha's finger made contact. But with the events of what happened today, one wouldn't be easily subjected to sleep.

Inuyasha quickly pulled back, "Ok, personal space. I get it."

Sesshomaru sat up in a sitting position opening the spot next to him. Inuyasha took the seat and nervously twiddled with his fingers. The half-demon felt as though someone told a secret, and everyone was in on it except him. First, it was that Jaken toad, bulging eyes old man, and now they were residing in a random house like this was a vacation. His mom shot Sesshomaru for Kami's sake and everyone was acting like it never even happened. It was even weirder than the one who was on the receiving end of the barrel who sat here like there wasn't a hole in his shoulder.

His ear twitched as he found himself getting irritated. A bullet especially made for demons? His mom rushed him to move bags into the car, he didn't have enough time to ask questions. She claimed that she would have a talk with him once they got settled but, the only thing she's been talking about is how deadly Sesshomaru was. And instead of taking the demon to a hospital, she called a balding witch doctor who didn't have a sense of fashion.

If he had to think about it rationally, it was normal for someone to own a gun. It's for protection against a desperate situation that couldn't be handled civilly, he supposed. For safety reasons, he could see why Izayoi didn't tell him she had one. What was he going to do with that information anyway? Yet, he couldn't fathom why this situation was so desperate that she couldn't handle Sesshomaru civilly. The older demon wasn't a threat to himself or anyone else as far as Inuyasha was concerned. Not to mention, he invited Inuyasha into his home and he barely knows anything about him.

"What did you and my mother talk about?" he inquired.

There was a pregnant pause before Sesshomaru spoke. Inuyasha was going to repeat the question, thinking maybe that he was ignoring him.

"Why me?" Sesshomaru asked without facing him. "Why did you associate yourself with This One?"

What answer was Sesshomaru looking for? Inuyasha was sure that he explained himself a bunch of times to the demon. Is his hearing not as keen as Inuyasha thought it to be?

"Do you get a kick out of pitying me? It's embarrassing enough I opened my personals with you but you keep asking me the same question," Inuyasha lined his brows. He raised his leg, still bent at the knee and put his heel on the edge of the couch seat. He put his forearm across his knee and laid his head on his arm, looking at the demon.

"That is not the case," Sesshomaru reassured him. "There is something that I believe you should understand."

"I'm listening."

"We have only known each other for two or three days. Aside from you spilling your life story, we do not have much knowledge about one another," Inuyasha could hear a bit of sarcasm in his explanation, "There are things about me that I do not wish to reveal and these things are what is going to keep us a distance away from each other."

Ice Queen was spitting this same nonsense when that green toad showed up. Before that, everything was fine between the two of them, at least Inuyasha thought everything was going well. Inuyasha hoped that this wasn't about his stumbling across Sesshomaru's mother's shrine. It was an accident.

"Suddenly, you don't want to be friends or something? Listen, I have absolutely no idea why my mother shot you. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around it myself", Inuyasha raised his head trying to keep his calm. If he's too loud, his mom will come out of the room to "save" him from the evil clutches of the demon. "If you want…you have my permission to contact the police. Shooting someone for no reason is a crime."

"That is…also not the case," Sesshomaru shook his head slowly. "Your mother took such action because of what I'm trying to tell you. Obviously, I cannot go into detail but just know that it is not safe to get close to me. This is mostly my fault. I was too trusting, I let you into my home, and you saw Jaken," Sesshomaru cleared his throat. "That is not like myself and I led you to believe that we could have this relationship."

Inuyasha abruptly stood. "You didn't lead me into anything, Sesshomaru. I told you that I wanted to be your friend. Do you know how lame that sounds out loud? I still have some pride in me, ya know. I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want a frien— why'd you say relationship? Don't use that word, it sounds weird."

Sesshomaru brushed his bangs back just to have them fall back into place. "The point is, because of my reckless actions a lot has happened in just this small amount of time. Considering all that has happened to me in the past, I should have known better."

Sesshomaru gestured to his wounded shoulder. "This…is not the first time and it won't be the last."

The younger of the two tapped his chin and sat back down. He folded his legs under him this time and really tried to read between the lines. He wasn't good at breaking down this kind of thing, he was a straightforward person who didn't speak in riddles. Whenever someone hinted or referred to something without saying the words, it flew right over his snow-white head.

"Do you follow?" Sesshomaru turned to him with the same stoic expression. Damn, he could try to look concerned.

"If I didn't believe you before, I definitely do now," the half-demon laughed without mirth. Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow waiting for him to explain. "That you've never had a friend before. Friends are the ones who always have your back. Who you can skip class with and take on bullies together."

"I do not get bullied," the demon innocently cut in.

"Yeah, thanks for mentioning it Mr. Full Demon," Inuyasha gave a tight-lipped smile, obvious annoyance in his tone.

"Forgive me."

"The best thing about a friend is that not only will they be by your side through thick and thin, but that they accept you for who you are. They never make you feel like you're alone, you can tell them anything and you'll never get judged for it. I never asked for anything more than for someone who didn't turn their nose up when they looked at me. In that case, I got Myoga. Who do you have?"

No ball of emotions flashed across his neutral face but Inuyasha could tell that he was really thinking about it.

"I don't expect you to tell me anything that ain't my business," Inuyasha shrugged.

Sesshomaru frowned in confusion. "How can you call someone a friend if you don't even know anything about them?"

"I'm not writing a book. Until you are ready to tell me how you got here, I'm fine with who you are now," Inuyasha reassured. "In the beginning, I just thought that we could study together and hang out but, since our conversation at your home I see that you need more than just an associate. I'll be the person to accept your faults, secure your insecurities, and make you feel good about yourself."

The room fell silent for a moment. That was all the convincing Inuyasha had in him, there was no more to say. Unfortunately, the inner turmoil that Sesshomaru burdened could only be shouldered alone, much to Inuyasha's chagrin. Though it pained the half-demon to see his new friend in such a state if it was for Inuyasha's sake that his superior kept his secrets as they were. Secrets. And he was fine with that. Considering, Inuyasha threw away the key that went to the lock of his closet of skeletons.

"I need time," the demon broke the silence. "With what happened this evening, for both our sakes, it is best to keep our distance."

Inuyasha tapped the tips of his fingers together, "And this has nothing to do with me invading your privacy and accidentally finding your mother's shrine?"

"Oh no, we are going to have a conversation," Sesshomaru wasn't very happy about that. "This will be hell week for you at the dojo. I expect you to be in every session."

"What about keeping our distance?" Inuyasha gasped.

"We will outside of school," Sesshomaru responded.

A small smile graced the half-demon's lips. It wasn't over between the two of them. In fact, things were just getting started as opportunity knocked at Inuyasha's mental door.

Reluctantly, Inuyasha left Sesshomaru to in peace on the couch and slept in the same room as his mother. He reminded her that it was a school night and she didn't make any more moves on him to let him sleep. When early morning came, he found her in the kitchen making a small breakfast before it was time to leave. Of course, he went to see if Sesshomaru was still in the living room but was disappointed to find that he was gone. Inuyasha leaned against the counter and she held out a bowl to him, with a spoon sticking out.

"Good morning," she greeted and turned back to the stove.

He closed his eyes and said a one worded grace before eating. No matter, he'd see Sesshomaru at school and at the dojo. "How long will we be staying here?" Inuyasha asked as he put a spoonful in his mouth.

"As long as it takes," she turned the ring on the stove off and began eating from a bowl of her own.

"For?"

"For it to be safe to go back home," his mom sighed. She looked to check the time on her phone and walked out of the kitchen.

Another thing Inuyasha wasn't good with, more so irritated by, was when people didn't explain a situation that he was clearly confused about. Not talking about his deceased father was one thing, but he at least deserved something about what the hell was going on!

"I thought Sesshomaru was the danger. If he's gone, why isn't it safe?" he inquired as he followed her as she went into the living room. She took a seat on the couch while Inuyasha stood against the doorframe.

"You just don't understand, quite yet," she shook her head. "I'm trying to keep everything that I have control of under control. For your sake."

What was with this whole thing about keeping him safe?

A/N: I have no excuse for how long I've been absent. This has been sitting in my drafts forever, I just never added to it or uploaded it since the last chapter.

The thing is, I've been learning and improving as a writer. It becomes a double-edged sword for myself when this happens because I tend to neglect my older ideas. This story has so much potential but I've grown so much from this that I want to throw it away. However, I know that it wouldn't be fair to you all and I owe it to you to show you how much I've progressed. I will be continuing and be editing like crazy until this is finished. What you've read so far won't be changed but I will move some stuff around.

You may not really care about this "epiphany" I've come to but I want you to understand that things will be better from now on. Thanks so much, you all are really amazing!

Reviews are the bomb!