Last Request
Or, One Way Sesshomaru Most Certainly Did Not Raise Inuyasha.
Sesshomaru looked down at the small bundle of cloth that was, supposedly, his half-brother.
Not caring to hide his grimace, he picked up the material between his claws. It was just about the filthiest thing he'd ever seen. So it did not surprise him that from within its folds, out tumbled the second filthiest thing he's ever seen.
The child looked about nine, almost younger because of his oversized clothing. The long silver hair ratty and dirty, but so obviously like his that he could not think of it as ugly.
"Wha..." The child yawned, and for some reason he was glad to see the fangs. Even more glad when the child turned his eyes on the older demon, and saw that they were not the common brown of his mother, but the distinct golden color of their father's.
The sudden jump and quick snarl though, kept Sesshomaru from getting attached better then if the thing had looked like it's mother.
He ignored the child's attempt at intimidation for now and thrust the bowl that had been next to him towards the boy, glaring. "Be quiet, and eat."
There was a moment of long, drawn-out silence in which the child reeled back, then came forward and sniffed the bowl, before settling on squinting suspiciously. The food was completely untampered with, Sesshomaru thought with irritation, couldn't he trust his own senses? Things were bad enough without the him being uncooperative.
Sesshomaru could always force the child to eat, but that would set the tone for the rest of the day and he wasn't sure he was dedicated enough to manhandle a child all afternoon.
He felt relieved for a moment when he saw the boy reach into the bowl, but it quickly turned back to irritation when he realized a large slice of fruit was being held in front of his mouth.
He remained still, not quite believing the whelp's audacity in face of his generosity. Only his eyes moved as he glanced down at the bright orange fruit, to the hand holding it, and then to the suspicious gaze of the brat. What a waste of time this day was going to be.
In a blur, his mouth opened and snapped off the end of the soft fruit.
It was a testament to his will that he didn't smirk when the child flinched and dropped it back into the bowl. Even more so that he didn't sneer when he promptly began to shove the food into his mouth. He was eating so hurriedly that he didn't seem to care when the juices were running all the way down his neck. It was annoying to watch.
"Stop eating so quickly. You're doing nothing but making a mess of yourself." Sesshomaru commanded, his voice as cold and uncaring as usual.
To his surprise, the kid gave him an almost hurt looked, and began to eat more slowly. He even sat down properly. If something good was shown in his mother for bothering to teach the child etiquette, Sesshomaru did not see it. But nevertheless, Sesshomaru found that he sat straighter in response.
After a while of gradually louder eating, Sesshomaru pulled the bowl away. For a moment, it seemed as though the child wanted to do something as stupid as whine, or even try to take the bowl back, but luckily for him he did nothing but look up in an uneasy manner.
Sesshomaru checked 'fed' off in his mind. As he set the bowl somewhere away he asked, "Do you have any other clothes?"
The kid started a bit at the sound, but glanced down at himself and the small pile nearby before shaking his head, "No."
Wonderful, that meant he'd have to clean them, too. He stood easily. "Come with me, bring your things."
For a moment he waited and then set off, pointedly not looking back but knowing that the child was following after him as fast as he could.
This day was all starting to become a bit too much, irritating and slow when he had thought that this job would be done in a couple of hours. The kid needed more care then he had bargained for, and now he was taking him to the stream? This was not the kind of situation he would ever thought to put himself in, and that bothered him.
By the time they made it to the river the half-breed was breathing heavily. At the sight of his red face Sesshomaru wondered for a moment if he had gone a bit far, but then remembered that he had not made the child follow after him. What a stupid creature he must be, to trust a strange demon so quickly.
"Get into the water and wash yourself, give me your clothes and I'll..." he walked towards the water so the child wouldn't see him snarl, "...clean them for you."
Maybe it was because he had turned his back on the younger demon, because he followed his orders without protest. There was a soft rustle of clothing behind him followed by the sounds of feet stepping into the water. He only hoped this complacency would continue throughout the day, it would certainly make Sesshomaru's job that much easier.
As the boy cleaned himself Sesshomaru removed his large outer layer and armor. As he knelt down at the edge of the river he tried not to think of what he was about to do. The words 'common' and 'peasant' kept slipping through his mind despite his efforts.
Everything was a filthy mess, but a mess without tears or stains, and for that he was relieved. He would feed the boy, wash the boy, but mend his clothes? That was going too far, last request or no.
The clothes were finally clean after many rinses and he laid them on a nearby rock to dry in the sun.
He stood and looked for the first time at the brat washing in the river. It wasn't surprising to see the child was not much cleaner then when he had first gotten into the water. His skin seemed clean enough, but his hair was a mess of dirt and tangles.
Without thinking much on it, Sesshomaru crouched slightly before jumping into the forest. A quick look back and a strict, "stay here" was all he gave the boy.
It was here somewhere, he knew. Just a week ago he had used the same river to bath in, and remembered the spot because of the fruit trees nearby. Sure enough, within good enough distance of the river he spotted one of them.
On this tree grew large bulbous plants, so delicate and soft that they often rotted only days after they ripened. Thankfully, whether they were ripe or not was unimportant to him as he grabbed two and headed back.
When he got back to the stream the boy was still in the water up to his nose, probably to stay warm. The boy turned his eyes on Sesshomaru when he heard footsteps approaching, Sesshomaru noticed his gaze was still a bit uncertain, despite being considerably less hostile than before.
He moved again to the edge of the river, right across from where the child was. "Come here." He set one of the soft fruit next to him and cut a small gash into the other with his index finger. Across from him, the boy wrinkled his nose at the smell.
"What is that?"
Not wanting to explain himself, and not wanting to talk to him at all, Sesshomaru ignored the question. "Come here."
The boy gave the fruit a curious look and came forward.
When he was close enough, Sesshomaru reached out and grabbed the child's hair. He waited a moment for the boy to calm down, though it seemed he was finally beginning to realize the dangers in trusting strange demons so easily. It was a good lesson to learn, and he mentally added it to his tally.
Still, he didn't want the boy to start clawing at him, so without warning he used his other hand to pour the sloppy nectar from the fruit onto the boy's head.
"Wha-" the half-demon sneezed from the strength of the scent and tried to pull away from Sesshomaru.
He considered for a moment letting the child go, but knew the brat wouldn't clean it properly. As it was not in his nature to do things halfway, he simply reaffirmed his hold on the boy's hair and began to rub the juice into the mess of silver. As he thought, it was identical to his own down to the silky texture.
It was a strange thing that the child didn't fight him once he realized what he was doing. Sesshomaru assumed that he was used to people washing his hair, as Sesshomaru himself had been accustomed to at the same age. Though, this was the first time he had washed someone else's hair... it was different.
He got out most of the tangles and dirt, cleaned the white furry ears as best as he could, and even took care to wash the bangs that hung in front of the child's face. It wasn't until three orders to rinse and once more with the other fruit that Sesshomaru deemed the boy clean.
When he stood so did the boy and he pointed to the rock, "Go, get dressed." He went as well, and put the little he took off back on. Both he and the boy finished dressing and a minute passed.
He hadn't done this because he was a kind person, he hadn't done this because he wanted to. He did this because it was his father's last request. While he didn't quite respect his father, or like him much at all, he was an honorable demon who knew there were times to put his pride aside.
One last look at his half-brother told him that he had fed him, washed him, and taken care of him. In his mind, this was enough to satisfy the last request. "To take care of his half-brother, if anything were to happen to the mother." Not to raise him, take care of.
As he turned away he thought to ask if Inuyasha knew how to fish, to hunt, to make himself a home, but he decided not to. It wasn't any of his business after all.
A small hand reached out, and he could feel the warmth of it on his leg. Before the half-breed could say anything, he spoke.
"I do not care for you, and you will not see me again. Believe that."
The warmth left him, and he ran quickly into the forest. He got far enough fast enough that he did not hear anything like sobs, or smell anything like tears coming from the direction of the stream.