Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters. If I did,all the characters would suffer.... a lot. :)
I wrote this story for my friend Keiko-chan (damnalove2 over at deviantART) for her un-coloured picture titled 'Embrace?'. I have this uploaded on a different site, but I decided to put it here also. Enjoy.
The sun was setting as Inuyasha padded along at the head of the small ragtag group as they moved forward towards a village Inn, the best in town. He had finally given into Kagome begging that they stay inside tonight. "I don't see why we have to anyways, I can protect us perfectly fine" he grumbled under his breath as Miroku approached the Innkeeper, giving his normal speech about how he 'sensed a dark cloud'. Humph, what a load of crap that was, but it made Kagome happy, so he could put up with it.
He spaced out as the Innkeeper showed them to a room and brought them food, blinking as Kagome tapped his skull, holding out some food to him. He took it and started to eat, sniffing the breeze to make sure there were no dangers nearby.
He lowered his food slightly as a familier scent drifted into his nose and he set his food down, grabbing Tetsusiega as he opened the door to outside and was gone.
Kagome growled "I bet he smelled Kikyou" she said sourly.
"Nope" Shippo said with his mouth full, "I can't smell her anywhere near here".
"Then where was he going?" Sango asked, pausing with her chopsticks half-way to her mouth.
"I smell something familier, but I can't quite place who it is" the kit said and Kirara mewed agreement.
"Well, I just hope Inuyasha isn't doing anything stupid" Kagome muttered.
"That would be impossible for Inuyasha, he always does stupid things" Shippo said.
"Shippo-" Kagome started.
"We must be nice to the handicapped" Miroku broke in, his eyes sparkling with humour.
"Then you should be nice Houshi-sama" Sango said, tapping his head sharply.
Kagome laughed and smiled at her friends "I'm sure it's nothing, we can ask him when he comes back".
V-V-V
The sun was setting as Sesshomaru padded along the darkening forest path alone. He had ordered Jaken to take Ah-Un and Rin take to the Western Castle because he had something to do, something private. Not that it had worked out perfectly. "I hate snakes" he growled under his breath, adding a few more colourful words to his statement as he paused, leaning against a tree.
He had been on his way to talk to an old friend of his father's when he had been attacked by a snakeyoukai. Normally that wouldn't have been a problem if he hadn't already been exhuasted from not sleeping for two months beforehand, causing his reaction time to be slower then normal. He had eventually killed the bedamned thing, but not before he had gotten two rather bad bites. One on his leg and the other on his right side. "Damn it" he muttered as he pressed his hand to his blood-soaked side, which was still bleeding sluggishly. He would heal eventually, but with the bites it would probaly take him about a week.
"So much for getting home on time" he sighed as he moved his hand from his side and used it to push off from the tree, wiping his hand on his haori. Now to go west. He sniffed the air and mentally cursed. 'Damn damn damn damn' he thought angerily as he caught a familier scent. Inuyasha's scent.
'This is going to be fun' he thought sarcasticly as he glanced around him. This was a very bad place to fight, he realized, with a huge boulder to his right side and dense trees on the other side, all of which surrounded a very small clearing. With a soft sigh, he slipped on his blank mask, waiting for Inuyasha to appear, Tetsusiega drawn, yelling.
V-V-V
Inuyasha's brow furrowed as he caught Sesshomaru's scent, combined with another one, which seemed unfamiliar, while he was eating. So he had decided to investigate what it was, who knows?. Maybe his brother was here to say he was going to give up trying to kill him or get the Tetsusiega. He gave a snorting laugh "As amusing as that would be to see him say, I seriously doubt that's gonna happen. He's too stubborn to give up on anything".
As he ran, he tried to figure out what the strange scent he had smelled was and he almost fell over in shock when he realized what it was. It was blood, namely Sesshomaru's blood. Now he was very curious, how or why was Sesshomaru bleeding enough for it to mix with his scent?. Well, he supposed he would figure that out when he found his brother.
His hand rested on Tetsusiega's hilt as he ran, not sure if he would need it or not. He might not with an injured Sesshomaru. Wait, if Sesshomaru was injured, why was he even bothering to check?. It's not as if he cared what happened to the jackass.
'Sure... that's why you didn't kill him when you had a chance' his mind said.
'Shut up you' he growled. (A/N: I will mention before anyone asks, yes, he is talking to himself)
'I will as soon as you answer my question, do you want him dead?'.
'Feh'.
Inuyasha blinked and turned his attention to what was around him, sights and smells. He gripped Tetsusiega's hilt as he cleared the rest of the trees to the clearing where he smelled the scent of his brother and his blood the strongest. His eyes widening a tad at what he saw.
V-V-V
Sesshomaru growled as he felt the grip his feet on the ground slip in the soggy ground, his eyes widening slightly as his left leg, which had been bitten, collapased, pulling him to the ground with it, eyes closing from the pain of the impact. He gritted his teeth as he grabbed the bark of the tree closet to him, -he was close to the boulder, but you can't get a grip on rock- meaning to haul himself back up. It was then that he noticed the scent of Inuyasha's scent was filling the clearing. He gave a sharp laugh and opened his eyes part-way to peer at his brother, waiting for some sarcastic remark, most likely to mock him. He let his eyes close, his blank face in place as he leaned against the boulder, his grip on the tree loosening.
But the remark never came.
Sesshomaru opened his eyes and his brow furrowed a tad when he found his brother staring right back at him, his hand not even near Tetsusiega. He snorted "Overconfident as usual" he said coolly, burying his pain so it didn't show in his voice, "Do not make the mistake of thinking I am helpless" he added, his tone a tad sharper then he meant.
Inuyasha snorted and crossed his arms "I wouldn't, you are stubborn enough to fight even if you were dying" he said.
The taiyoukai frowned mentally, keeping his face blank. "What do you want Inuyasha?" he asked, his tone just short of snapping. 'Besides to taunt me. Feh.... I suppose it's karma' he thought. His thoughts drifted and his face took on the lot of someone lost in thought. When he blinked, he almost started in surprise -causing a wave of pain from the supressed movement- when he saw that Inuyasha was crouched infront of him. Damnit!. Why had he let his guard down?
V-V-V
Inuyasha watched his brother with a curious expression when he spoke and detected the hidden pain laced in Sesshomaru's voice. So, he was in pain. Those bites did look bad, but what caused them?. Probably some type of reptile demon. But there was no way a normal demon, unless it had a jewel shard and Kagome hadn't sensed any, could hurt the inuyoukai like this.
He heard Sesshomaru ask him what he wanted and was about to answer as he watched Sesshomaru's expression shift to that of someone lost in thought, an expression he was more used to seeing on Kagome then on 'The Ice Prince' as many youkais called the Lord of the West. He moved forward and crouched infront of his brother, intent on asking him when he finally noticed.
He almost started laughing when the surprise darted across Sesshomaru's face, following quickly by an almost imperceptible grimace of pain. That made Inuyasha frown and cock his head slightly. "Well, what happened?" he asked.
"How did what happened?" Sesshomaru asked a tad sourly, his eyes narrowed.
Inuyasha reached forward quickly and poked the wound in the youkai's side with his claw, pulling his hand back quickly. "That" he said simply.
Sesshomaru looked at him suspiciously "Why do you want to know hanyou?" he asked. He knew he couldn't fight, atleast not until he rested for atleast a few hours.
"Becuase I could smell your blood miles away while in the middle of a human village" he said bluntly.
Sesshomaru's mind froze, if a hanyou could smell his blood in a human village, who knew how many youkais who wanted his rule could smell it. He gritted his teeth, anger flashing in his eyes for a moment. Then he gave a bitter sound that could hardly be called a laugh, but it was. A smirk full of irony placed across his lips before his blank face took control again.
Pity and sympathy flooded in Inuyasha as he was was surprised at the same time by Sesshomaru's reaction to what he had been told about his blood-scent and reached out carefully, laying a hand on his brother's right shoulder, the shoulder that had his full arm. But Sesshomaru flinched at the touch as if it had burned him and Inuyasha gasped, drawing his hand away.
"Don't you dare pity me Inuyasha" Sesshomaru growled, his eyes narrowed in anger, his blank mask gone now. If there was one he didn't want, it was pity. And pity from.... his younger brother was even worse.
V-V-V
Inuyasha rocked back on his heels at Sesshomaru's angry growl and watched him, matching that stare from golden eyes so like his at the moment. The brothers were compared often, how they resembled each other. But there was never a time they looked more alike then when they were both mad. Or so he had been told by Kagome and the others.
'Why are you still here, you could leave him to die. Or better yet, kill him yourself' his mind said.
'I told you to shut up and...' he trailed off.
'And what?'.
'I don't want him dead, I guess'.
'Hah!' his mind said and feel silent.
Inuyasha looked at his brother, who was angry and injured, as well as in pain. He smiled softly and did something he never expected he would ever do. He reached forward and pulled Sesshomaru into a hug.
Sesshomaru grunted in surprise as he was... hugged... by Inuyasha. He growled, eyes still narrowed. He tried to pull away, but found that -embarassingly- he wasn't even strong enough at the moment to do that. His hand curved slightly, his brother's hair falling over it, wishing he had his other hand to attack with. But at the moment his left arm was just a stub, the last replacement arm had been ripped off by the snakeyoukai.
Inuyasha was just as surprised by what he had done, but he refused to let go, even when he felt his brother struggle to get away. That sobered him in an instant. Sesshomaru was supposed to be strong, he should have no problem getting away from him and then attacking, ranting about honour or whatever. But the taiyoukai couldn't even get out of his semi-loose hold on him.
"Release me!" Sesshomaru snapped, preparing to summon the poison from his fingers when he heard Inuyasha's answer.
"No" the hanyou said simply, but continued, "I'm not pitying you, but how do you expect to stay alive if you can't even get away from me?" he asked.
Sesshomaru bared his teeth, but it was a logical question. How was he supposed to stay alive?. "Why do you care, I will be dead and you can celebrate as I sure you are inside" he spat.
Inuyasha blinked and snorted "You would already be dead if I wanted that".
"Wha?". Ahh.... the most articulte sentence Sesshomaru ever uttered in his life. (A/N: Yes... the wonders of sarcasm x3)
Inuyasha almost started laughing at that remark. His brother, who normally used the most formal language out there, said 'Wha?'. That was more of something he said. He smirked. "I said what I meant" he said.
Sesshomaru was still trying to figure out what Inuyasha meant. But... they both tried to kill each other, that was how it had been ever sense their father Inutashio died. He didn't even remember what started their long feud. He tried to pull away again and twisted wrong, sending jolts of pain crashing through every inch of his body. He groaned in pain.
Inuyasha's ear twitched at the groan and he shifted from kneeling to sitting cross-legged, not letting go of his brother throughout the movements.
"Why?".
He frowned at his brother's soft question, the youkai's voice no longer angry -well still a little-, but exhuasted and pain-filled. His ears drooped slightly. "Cause I don't remember why we are fighting and... I want it to stop" he said. There was no answer, though he did feel his brother's arm now resting on his shoulder. Inuyasha looked down and did give a little snort of amusment.
Sesshomaru was asleep, well, not really asleep. More like unconious from bloodloss, but same difference. Inuyasha sighed and looked around the clearing. Then he pulled the -heavy- youkai into his arms and stood up. He walked over to a tree that was nestled against the boulder, setting his brother down so he was leaning against both tree and rock.
Inuyasha sighed and jumped up into a different tree, Tetsusiega cradled in his lap as he settled down to keep watch during the night. Kagome and the others would be fine, they were in a village.
V-V-V
Kagome frowned as she spread out her sleeping bag, voicing the question on everyone's mind. "Where is Inuyasha?".
"I do not know, but you would think he would be back by now, it's been almost an hour sense he left" Miroku said.
"Are you sure it's not Kikyou Shippo?" Kagome asked, a tinge of worry in her voice.
The kitsune sniffed the air again and nodded "I don't smell Kikyou, but that familier scent is really strong. And it smells like there is blood mixed in with the scent".
Sango frowned "Who do we know that Inuyasha would go investigate if they were injured?".
"We aren't close enough to Kaede's village for it to be that" Kagome muttered.
"And it smells like demon blood" Shippo added.
"Demon blood?!" the three humans exclaimed all at once and look at one another.
"Sesshomaru" Miroku said grimly, "Shippo, do you smell Inuyasha's blood?".
"Nope, just a whole ton of Sesshomaru's if that is who it is".
The three humans once again looked at each other. "Maybe Inuyasha finally killed Sesshomaru?" Sango suggested.
"That must be it" Kagome agreed, nodding.
"Then why hasn't he come back yet?" Miroku asked.
"We will find out when Inuyasha returns, but we should sleep" Kagome said after a few moments of silence, sliding into her sleeping bag.
All the occupents, with the exception of Shippo and Kirara, took a while to fall asleep and then it was an uneasy sleep.
V-V-V
Inuyasha yawned as he glanced through the dense trees as well as he could to see the sun was rising, he needed to get back to the others. He looked down at Sesshomaru and found a soft smile creeping on his lips. It was hard to believe that that jerk could look so innocent asleep while he was so cold awake. He sighed, he had stop trying to figure things out in his life, it just complicated things more. (A/N: Anyone else notice, whenever Inuyasha tries to figure something, it gets worse?. Maybe its just me)
He jumped to the ground and stretched, yawning again. Hmm... maybe he could ask Kagome if he could take a nap before they started traveling again. Now Kagome's face was going to be amusing when he asked that. He looked back at Sesshomaru and smirked "I'm going to want to talk to you again later when you aren't falling asleep" he called behind him as he ran in search of somewhere to wash Sesshomaru's blood off of him.
V-V-V
Sesshomaru lifted his arm to cover his eyes as the sun shone straight into them, waking him up, and he rose shakily to his feet, grimacing in pain. "I'm alive?". It was more of a question then a statement of fact, but it could be taken either way. He glanced down at himself and saw that his normally pristine white clothes were now a dark crimson colour on his right side and his left leg. With a muttered remark, he sniffed the breeze and turned, walking the opposite direction that Inuyasha had taken as well as searching for a source of water.
The events of the night before played through his mind as he walked and amazingly, he smiled softly, bowing his head a little so that no one could see his display of emotion. So Inuyasha wanted them to stop fighting?. That was a matter that required some thought. That in mind, he kept walking.
V-V-V
Inuyasha pulled on his -still damp- haori as he walked into the Inn room where he found the others eating. He plopped down and grabbed some food, starting to eat. Everyone blinked at his sudden apperence
"Inuyasha, where did you vanish too last night?" Kagome asked.
The hanyou looked up, a bite of food in his mouth as everyone else looked at him, waiting for his answer. He smirked and shallowed his food, pondering what to say.
Shippo wrinkled his nose "Come on Inuyasha, hurry up and tell us" he whined.
One of Inuyasha's ears twitched and he smiled suddenly. "Dealing with family" he said finally as he started to eat again.
"Does that mean you have other family besides Sesshomaru?" Sango asked.
Inuyasha shook his head.
"Did you kill Sesshomaru?. Or attack him even?" Shippo asked.
Inuyasha paused and chuckled "Nope, now can I finished eating you brat?" he demanded, grabbing Shippo's food. The kit yelled and grabbed for it back, starting Inuyasha and Shippo's fight of the morning that Kagome dubbed 'The Breakfast Battle'.
Sango glanced over at Kagome and Miroku, mouthing 'He didn't kill him or attack him, what happened?'.
Kagome smiled as she continued eating, mouthing back 'Maybe they are reconciling finally'.
All three humans smiled, then turned to eat and watch the 'entertaiment'.