Ok. I wrote this for a friend (big yaoi fan) months ago. I just re-discovered it. It's complete crack, AU, takes place in the 1920s and its shounen-ai. xD And everyone's OOC. Still, I'm postin git anyway.


A World Without Knowing

By

A Twisted Vine

In a world without knowing, wind slips through the cracks and carries its secrets away. Counties dip their feet in ocean, and one could not walk along the shore without stepping upon a secret buried deep within the sand, hidden and gone. Lies and regrets were pushed aside, and none would tread in a land of lost. Secrets were kept, and that was that.

They, however, were not so lucky.

They lived in a land of knowing.

"Oy, Sesshoumaru," A miserable hanyou waved his hand and caught his older brother's eye. The wooden platform was warm beneath his feet, and hot air dripped from his brow in sweat. A demon turned, silver hair mussed and limp beneath the sun.

"Hn."

Two suitcases stood beside the older demon, old leather worn and hot to touch. Inuyasha watched his brother, the sound of a distant train and steam rising over the horizon making him still. "When will you be back?"

Red dust rose in clouds along the tracks. Sesshoumaru turned his dead, golden eyes on the half demon. "Never."

:----:

Had he wanted too, talking on the train would have been useless. Over the sound of crunching steel and pumping engines, the only other noise he could make out was the rattling of a few bits of luggage overhead. Empty seats filled his compartment of the car, a layer of dust settling over the cushions. The rest of the train promised to be much of the same.

Almost alone, Sesshoumaru thought silently.

The door slid open, and the demon had to keep from glancing up in surprise.

"These seats taken?" A deep voice rose over the volume of the train. Sesshoumaru gave a short shake of the head, and turned his attention to the landscape rushing by outside his window.

The man sat down across from him, and took immediately to reading a small, blue colored book. For a human, Sesshoumaru had to admit, the man was strange. Half his face hidden beneath a mask, and one eye by a slanted headband, it was amazing he didn't suffocate in the heat. The shock of white hair draping itself over his head at an odd angle made him look off-balance. As if he would fall over at any second.

Sesshoumaru peered at the book from the corner of his eye. Make-out tactics. He felt a frown tug at the corners of his mouth.

The man caught his stare, and his eye turned up in a smile. "Do you have something against smut?"

The demon glowered. "What did you say to this Sesshoumaru?"

"I said," the human spoke louder, "Where are you headed?"

". . ."

"Never heard of it before," the man glanced back down at his book. "I'm on my way to New York."

We have the same destination, Sesshoumaru thought darkly.

As the hours passed, the noise of the train became a dull hum in the back of his mind. Sesshoumaru wasn't one to speak much, but the human across from him had him off guard. "What is your name, human?"

"Scarecrow."

The demon quirked a brow. "This Sesshoumaru is not amused."

"Mm, it seems This Kakashi has no need to ask your name."

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes. He hated to be mocked.

:----:

"Would you like to read my book?" Kakashi asked mutely.

"I have no need for fantasies," the demon sniffed.

"Is that why you settle for watching me read it?"

"I am merely… observing."

"Mm…"

:----:

"Food cart will be around soon."

"Must you buy something everytime?"

Kakashi grinned beneath his mask.

:----:

"Your mask," Sesshoumaru inquired the second day, "why do you wear it."

"I have to keep the ladies off me somehow."

The youkai snorted. "I do not see you having that problem."

"You talk a lot for a guy with bangs."

Sesshoumaru raised a clawed hand to the silver tendrils. What was wrong with having bangs?

:----:

Kakashi fiddled with the cover of his book, staring idly out the window. "Mind if I borrow a pillow?"

"You have your own."

"Need one for my feet."

Sesshoumaru stared.

:----:

"A demon?"

"Does this bother you?"

Kakashi tilted his head back. "Do perverted ninja bother you?"

"No…"

"Then it doesn't bother me."

:----:

"How does it do that?" Sesshoumaru questioned nonchalantly.

Kakashi blinked. "Hm?"

"Your hair."

"I'm not sure, actually. Doesn't want to get too close to my scalp, I suppose."

"Indeed."

:----:

The third day, and the train pulled to a slow stop at a station in New York. The brakes protested with a long moan, making Sesshoumaru wince. Kakashi reached up into the luggage rack to grab his bag. "Sensitive ears?"

"I am inu youkai." Sesshoumaru took his own suitcases, and waited for the conductor to come through for inspection.

:----:

The air was cool, strange on skin so used to the sun. Kakashi closed his eyes to rush and noise of the city around them. "Jaa ne, my friend."

Sesshoumaru froze, caught off guard by the casual remark. He cleared his throat, and nodded.

:----:

The hotel was old. Brick walls crumbling beneath themselves, and yellowed paint adorned the entrance hall. Sesshoumaru suspected it might have been white at one time, but chose it would be best for his sanity to not dwell on the fact. He moved to the check-in desk, where a clerk pointed a bony finger down a long hall. "Room 108, breakfast is served at six and ends at eight."

The clerk paused a moment, flipping through a few papers on the desk. "You don't mind sharing a room, do you? It's $50 cheaper…"

The very thought was disgusting. Sleeping in the same room as a stranger? His empty pockets, however, protested. "That will be fine."

The clerk handed him a key. "Room 34 then."

:----:

The door opened with a long squeak, and even then only after he had spent two minutes fighting the doorknob. Dust filled his senses when he stepped into the room. He must be the first occupant in years… and the maids seemed to have neglected dusting. Sesshoumaru dropped his suitcases on the bed. The single bed.

Is this a joke?

Floorboards creaked to his left. The demon sniffed, eyeing a door he suspected to be the bathroom. How in seven hells…

The door swung open, leaving a surprised ninja in its wake. Kakashi grinned. "Got attached to me, didn't you?"

"I'll go request a new room-"

Kakashi cocked his head to the side. "Scared?"

"This Sesshoumaru has no reason to be afraid."

:----:

In a world without knowing, no one would have stared when the demon and the ninja left the hotel the next morning together. They wouldn't have cried out and persecuted them for being who they were. The demon and the ninja would have lived as they would, and no one would scowl and grimace and gossip. They would not have been hated.

They, however, were not so lucky.

They lived in a land of knowing.