A/N: Don't know what inspired this. Just popped into my head I guess. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: Don't own Inuyasha. Meh.
The Roots of Malignity
The first time she met him, he was standing in the shadows and the foliage, watching Izayoi with impassive eyes so cold they made her shiver even as the fire of the burning castle behind her heated the woods with a torrid blaze. Untouched by the soot and the smoke coming from the path behind her, he stared as she splashed across the stream, the red cloak from her dead demon lover draped over her long black hair and shoulders.
He wore an assortment of colors, but the stark white of his silk kimono and the long white hair was the first thing she saw of him against the darkness of the forest. Izayoi noticed the large plum-blossom pattern around his collar and considered for a moment that her love had lied to her about having another son. If not for the dangerous spikes and the heaviness of the armor on the young demon before her, she would have mistaken him for a girl.
Izayoi stopped running, unsure as to why the demon lord's son chose to appear before her. Perhaps he has come to kill her, she thought. She had been told the youth hated humans over possibly everything else in this world.
If so, Izayoi knew there was no escape. The young mother was out of energy, her body worn from giving birth and escaping the flames of her home. She already lost too much blood.
Inuyasha cried in her arms. His wailing drew the demon youth's attention. Izayoi gasped.
Maybe he had come to kill the infant.
She held the baby protectively to her bosom and stared back at the demon prince.
Why did her lover's older son, who hated humans and resented his father's affair, appear if not to kill her own? Why was he standing in her path?
The demon moved soundlessly and took a step toward the mother and child. Izayoi stood paralyzed. Her feet were frozen of all movement.
But what he did next surprised her.
With one swift and graceful sweep and a soft snap of his silk sleeves, the demon prince swept his right arm out and pointed down toward an obscure pathway in the direction he came from.
"A caravan awaits," he uttered so softly, Izayoi could barely hear him over the dull roar of the castle. "Demons follow. Move swiftly and do not stop until you have reached my father's servants. Is that understood?"
"Yes," she replied, astonished.
When he said nothing more, she ran past him, but stopped a few meters away before turning to him once more.
"Why are the youkai following me?"
He spared her a glance before turning his gaze to the infant in her arms.
"The child," he answered shortly.
Izayoi's eyes widened. "Sesshoumaru …Are you here to hold them off for us?"
"Don't presume that I'm doing it for your sake you pathetic human," he spat coldly. "If my father found it fitting to die in order to save your life and his bastard child's instead of preserving his own, then it is my duty to ensure that his death did not go to waste – anymore than it already has!"
The demon prince's outburst startled Izayoi. His tone was so spiteful – so full of hate it made her heart clench and she trembled under his furious gaze.
Nodding shamefully, she turned and ran, but not before whispering a soft, fearful, but genuine "thank you" to the prince, who stood his ground as the first of the monsters burst from the trees.
Sounds of tearing flesh and terrible shrieks of pain from the youkai behind them faded as the princess escaped further into the woods, leaving behind her home, her love, and her reluctant protector.
The second time they met, not a year after her escape from the burning castle, was during the dead of night at her parent's castle.
The shoji screens remained open for the cool night air to enter the room. Izayoi had just finished coaxing Inuyasha to sleep when the moonlight cast a shadow on the elevated wood floor.
Gasping, Izayoi beheld the sight of Sesshoumaru glaring down at her, looking the same as he did the night of her escape.
"Sesshoumaru!" she whispered in shock.
Sesshoumaru's frown deepened. "Don't address me so familiarly, human. It's unfitting."
Izayoi apologized, but he ignored it. His gaze was focused on the sleeping child.
"May I hold him?" he asked abruptly.
Izayoi's jaw dropped in astonishment. What did he…?
She was quick to snap it shut when he turned and glared at her.
"Y-yes."
But Sesshoumaru didn't wait for her response before he was in the room and kneeling next to the futon. His arm circled around the child's shoulders and he lifted Inuyasha from the bed.
Inuyasha did not wake, but his tiny nose wrinkled and his furry white ears twitched. Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow.
"Hmm…" said the demon, a hint of amusement barely masked underneath. He looked thoughtful. "What did my father name him?"
"Inuyasha," replied Izayoi.
Sesshoumaru held his brother for a few more moments (a few breath-taking and thoroughly frightening moments for the nervous mother) before replacing Inuyasha back on the futon. He neglected pulling the blankets over him. Inuyasha slept on.
Sesshoumaru stood and leapt out of the room.
"When he's old enough to defend himself," said Sesshoumaru, his back to her, "Father won't need me to protect him."
He turned and glared at Izayoi. "And if he gets in my way after that I won't hesitate to kill him," he said.
The woman knew he was serious.
And with that, the demon prince vanished.
The first time he saw his brother's tears was on a cold winter afternoon outside the late Izayoi's home.
"Sesshoumaru."
Sesshoumaru gazed down at the boy standing by him. The boy's big golden eyes were tearful as they stared at the funeral pyre before them. In the boy's hands was a red ball.
"Why did she die?"
Sesshoumaru wanted to roll his eyes. "Because she was human, you fool. Humans are weak and they fade as quickly as the seasons."
Inuyasha sniffed.
"No one else is here," said the boy. "Not even her family. Just you and me."
It was to be expected, thought Sesshoumaru. The human lord and his lady took their daughter and her half-breed child in, but in turn, they shunned her. The whole court did. Even the servants were held with more respect than the tragic princess who fell in love with a demon. The humans looked upon her illegitimate half-breed with disgust.
With Izayoi gone, the humans were sure to throw the half-breed out. Sesshoumaru knew they would despite the princess' last request for them to accept and care for Inuyasha.
He laid a hand on his little brother's hair.
"Let's go. You can't stay here anymore," said Sesshoumaru.
"I want to stay a little longer."
Sesshoumaru could feel the villagers approaching. They were unsure of their actions, but he could sense the malevolence in their hearts.
They intend to kill him, thought Sesshoumaru, for corrupting their lord's daughter. Was this their doing? Did they see their own daughter as filth?
"You can't stay here," he repeated, now tugging at Inuyasha's arm.
"No!" he wailed, the sadness finally overtaking him. He began to cry openly. "Mom! Mother! I want her back!"
Sesshoumaru ripped the boy away in time to dodge an arrow landing exactly where his brother stood seconds before. The ball fell out of Inuyasha's hands and bounced a short ways. It landed in the pile of burning wood.
Sesshoumaru could hear voices shouting orders over his brother's wails.
They would kill a child. A half-breed, but a child no less.
Sesshoumaru scooped the boy in his arm and tossed him over his shoulder before sailing into the sky with a single leap. He found it disheartening that a demon of his caliber should flee from mere humans, but he had a child with him. Inuyasha cried against him, beating his little fists against his silk-clad back. Sesshoumaru held him under his fur-covered shoulder and leapt over the trees.
The first time he saw his brother smile was when the half-siblings rested in beneath the shade of a huge tree after a particularly long journey. Somehow their topic of conversation led to Sesshoumaru's own mother.
"How come you don't live with your mom?" asked Inuyasha.
"I prefer living out in the wilderness," said Sesshoumaru.
"Yeah right. I bet she kicked you out 'cause she got tired of you being a snot-faced jerk."
"Something like that."
"Did you live with her before?"
"For most of my childhood."
"Where?"
"A castle hidden in the clouds."
Inuyasha grinned. "Wow, neat!"
"…"
"What was she like?"
Sesshoumaru paused, trying to think of a way to describe his mother in a few words. He remembered living with her, and those days were quite peculiar themselves.
He and his mother would often scuffle over the smallest things. All of it may have had to something to do with his mother wishing for a daughter instead of a son, he guessed. On a few occasions, he'd noticed his mother staring at him and then sighing longingly when she thought he wasn't paying attention.
"She's difficult to please," he said finally, coming up with no other way to describe her. "You wouldn't want to meet her."
"Oh." Inuyasha paused and looked at him sheepishly before asking shyly, "Did you ever, uh… have a girlfriend?"
Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow. "Why bother with such trivial affairs?"
"I dunno. The boys at Mom's court always chased after girls when they hit pyu… pyuperty?"
Sesshoumaru frowned. "Don't compare me to those barbaric creatures."
"Okay okay."
"…"
"I bet you're gay."
"…what?"
And the first time they ever hated each other… was the first time Inuyasha witnessed his brother's savage power.
Sesshoumaru had been angry with him for carelessly falling into the lake. A kappa dragged him down below the surface and he would have drowned if Sesshoumaru hadn't pulled him out.
After a brief scolding, Inuyasha was feeling rebellious and wandered away from the area Sesshoumaru left him remembering that his brother specifically instructed him not to leave the camp. He arrived at a clearing full of sunlight, the only un-shaded place in the forest.
Just as he was about to climb a tall tree, he heard tiny footsteps coming his way from the nearby path. A red ball bounced his way over the bushes and rolled to a stop at his feet. It was very similar to the ball he used to play with at the castle. He bent down and picked it up.
A boy, a little younger than himself, burst through the leaves and came to a stop in front of him. There was a moment of silence before Inuyasha stepped forward and offered the ball. The boy's lip trembled.
"Here."
The child screamed.
"Papa! Papa! Help! Over here - It's a demon!" he cried, his arms flailing.
A man crashed through the forest and stopped with a grunt. He glared fiercely at Inuyasha and held his son protectively at his side.
"What have you done to my child!" spat the man in rage as he coddled his son.
Inuyasha couldn't move or speak. He was so terrified.
"Papa!" wailed the boy. "That demon attacked me and stole my ball! Kill it kill it kill it!"
"I-I… no," choked Inuyasha. He was shaking now. "I didn't… it – here!"
He threw the ball at the boy and tore off. The man cursed and called after him. He was following.
A stone hit Inuyasha's head and he fell.
"You disgusting thing... How could you hurt my boy!" said the man approaching from behind the trees.
He stood over the tiny hanyou and grabbed him by his hair, lifting his body up from where he was sprawled on the dirt. Inuyasha clawed at the hand fisted in his white hair, yelling for his capture to release him. The man's son crept up from behind and stared at them in fascination, his eyes wide and he was eagerly taking in the scene before him.
Inuyasha felt a fist connect with his cheek. He saw light blinding his vision as he hit the ground, only to be dragged up once more for another blow to his head or body.
The man kicked his side and he curled up, biting his lip to hold back a wimper of pain.
"Damn youkai! Damn them to hell!" screamed the man. "You devils have taken my wife and now you come for my son as well? I'll kill you before you lay a hand on my son!"
Inuyasha felt a foot stamping on his back. The man leaned all of his weight forward, crushing the child beneath him. Inuyasha couldn't breathe. He felt his ribs compress against the dirt and pain seized his entire body.
"Se..." he coughed pitifully. His tiny hands clawed at the dirt.
Just as he felt he would pass out, he felt the heavy weight upon him hauled aside and he coughed. Blood escaped his mouth and splattered on the ground. He heard a child scream and it hurt his sensitive ears. His vision was still blurred but he managed to make out the colors of his brother's white kimono and royal blue sash.
Sesshoumaru stood above the man as he lay sputtering on the dirt beneath him, his hands clenched in silent rage.
The village man stared at the youkai prince before him. He and the dog-eared child resembled one another. He assumed they were related.
He wasn't given a chance to speak before he felt the demon's hand clamp over his skull and lift him from the ground, just as he had done with the hanyou. The youkai sneered with distaste, his yellow eyes freezing the man to his very core. He didn't strike.
Instead, the man felt an increasing pressure around his skull and he cried in agony for a few moments before his skull shattered and his head exploded. Blood and bits of flesh splattered all over. The youkai's face and clothing dripped with it. He licked a drop of blood that trickled near the corner of his mouth.
Sesshoumaru tossed the carcuss away and watched it land with a sickening thud.
The man's son sobbed and choked and hiccuped in horror and he wet himself.
Sesshoumaru sneered at it with disgust. His tongue touched the tip of his right fang when ideas of how he should kill the whelp came to mind.
His boot collided under the boy's jaw. He'd been careful to put just enough force to break it, but not shatter his skull completely. The boy flew back and crashed against the hard trunk of a tree.
Sesshoumaru knelt down.
"Humans, I pity them," he sneered, bringing his face close to the boy's deformed face. "Human children always play innocent to get everyone's pity."
He spat the word out as if it was poison.
"But I do pity you. You humans are so stupid, so vile, so eager to see another creature's pain just so you can have the satisfaction of seeing another's weakness. Its a wonder how filth such as yourself can even live and love yourself as much as you do."
Sesshoumaru crushed the boy's hand under his foot. It screeched.
"What made you do it? What made you send your pitiful father at that child? Do you like the attention? Did that man spoil your soul rotten? Do you enjoy another species' pain?"
The boy bawled and gurgled and the noise stung Sesshoumaru's ears.
"Shut up. I'll kill you now."
He raised his hand and extended his claws to deal the finishing blow when a tiny fist grasped the hem of his pants.
He turned and stared down at his brother.
"What?"
"Don't," Inuyasha pleaded. "Don't..."
"Let go."
"Please!"
"Do you want me to kill you too?"
"Don't do it! Please! He didn't hurt me!" Inuyasha cried. He wrapped his arms around his brother's foot and tugged weakly.
Sesshoumaru growled and tossed the thing away.
"Get home," he said, "before I kill you too."
The boy held his face in his hands and escaped.
Sesshoumaru turned on his brother and grabbed him roughly by the collar.
"What did I tell you? Did I not specifically tell you not to leave camp?"
Inuyasha didn't answer.
"That man laying there would have killed you," said Sesshoumaru, shaking him "If you were not a mere child and my brother he would have saved me the trouble."
"You were going to do it..." whispered Inuyasha.
"What did you say?"
"You were going kill him! You were going to kill that boy!" he cried.
"And you saved him. After seeing that grin on his face while his father beat you... you saved that brat from me!"
"How could you be so cruel! That boy didn't deserve it! That man didn't deserve it either!"
"And are you saying that you deserved death? That boy sent his father to kill you."
"No. But you were there... You were watching when that man beat me. You knew the things that boy said to me!"
Sesshoumaru was silent.
"Why didn't you help me, Sesshoumaru?" yelled Inuyasha. "Why didn't you do anything?!"
"Shut up. You deserved punishment until I saw fit to rescue you. If I had gotten you before that human came, you'd be begging for death."
"Why do you hate me so much, Sesshoumaru?!" yelled Inuyasha.
"Because you are a half-breed, Inuyasha.You have that woman's filthy blood poluting your veins," said Sesshoumaru, his bitterness evident. "The thought of human blood mixing with my father's disgusts me."
"Don't talk about Mom that way."
"And why not? What relation do I have to that woman? I speak the truth and that is all."
"You don't hate Mom. Mom told me she met you. She said you were kind to her," said Inuyasha, his voice quivering in anger and pain.
"You are sadly mistaken. I hate that woman with every fiber of my being," said Sesshoumaru.
"Then why didn't you just kill us?!"
"Inuyasha, you fool, Father protects you from me and I hate him for it!"
"Mom said you saved us the night Dad died. She said Dad had nothing to do with it. You saved us on your own free will!"
"I didn't. I'd have let you die too."
"You don't make sense."
"Then shut up. You're presence is making me angry."
There was a bitter silence. The brothers glared hatefully at one another. One defiantly staring with tears at the corners of his eyes, the other covered in blood, looking dangerous and wraithful.
"Why did you come for me when Mom died?" Inuyasha asked quietly.
"To make sure she was dead," replied Sesshoumaru without emotion.
"Then... you let her die."
"Yes."
Inuyasha felt angry tears roll down his cheeks. "I hate you."
"That's splendid. The feeling is finally mutual," said Sesshoumaru before he turned away. "Better hurry. I think the villagers are coming."
He walked away, into the darkness of the forest.
"And if I ever see you again, I'll kill you, Inuyasha."
Fin.
Let's just say I wanted to write something about the brother's relationship. And you have to remember that Sesshoumaru was evil in the beginning chapters of the series. I kinda miss that. Lots of people write Sesshoumaru as always unemotional and aloof and calm, able to control his emotions. But the fact is, anyone who deals with anger by popping people's heads off is in serious need of anger management.