Inuyasha sulked toward his brother's room. His footsteps squished and he left muddy tracks. His ears stuck to his hair, glued down by the mud that coated his body. It smelled funny and made his nose twitch like he had to sneeze. His clothes were heavy and the mud was beginning to dry in places, making the fabric stiff. By the time he reached Sesshomaru's door, he had to waddle a little.

Lifting his hand, the hanyou was about to knock when he caught sight of his now brown skin. His brother wouldn't like it if he got the door all dirty. "Aniki?" Ears struggling to flick forward, Inuyasha listened but didn't hear anything. The youkai was probably busy with something... Frowning slightly, the hanyou nearly fell as he attempted to sit down, right in front of his brother's door. Settling with his legs crossed, he decided he would just wait for the youkai to come back.

Finally dismissed from an audience with his father, Sesshomaru roamed the long halls lined with extravagant windows overlooking the gardens until he came across a small huddle of servants. They did not appear pleased by whatever they were looking at with pursed lips and arms akimbo. "Oh, Sesshomaru-sama!" The one who caught sight of him walking their way stepped forward and bowed low. The other two followed suit immediately after. Noted, they each held a thoroughly dirtied rag in their hands.

"What is the meaning of this? Idle chatter is to be kept in check outside of your quarters." The youkai's emotionless eyes barely conveyed his annoyance.

"Forgive us, Sesshomaru-sama," one of them pleaded, touching his forehead to the floor. "This is one of her majesty's favorite rugs. The hanyou came in from outside, sopping and filthy, and tracked muddy footprints all the way down the hall and who knows where else."

"Cease your gawking and clean it then. See that it is done in a timely fashion. I will deal with him."

"Oh no—I mean yes, Sesshomaru-sama, but... You mustn't trouble yourself with the hanyou, let him be punished by-" The servant snapped his mouth shut. Judging by the look Sesshomaru was giving him, the discussion was quite over.

Leaving the servants with a cold, disinterested stare, Sesshomaru stepped around them and followed the line of muddy footprints. Sure enough, Inuyasha was at the end of them. And sitting in front of the entrance to his private chambers. "Inuyasha." Sesshomaru was not pleased in the least.

"Aniki!" The hanyou pushed himself up stiffly, mud flaking off his haori and hakama as he moved. "I was waiting for you."

"Hn." Sesshomaru frowned, giving his gloppy, foul-smelling brother a quick once-over. "Explain yourself," ordered Sesshomaru with an astringent tone.

"Well..." Inuyasha looked down, picking at the mud on his hands. "I was in the woods and I found somethin' I thought aniki would like and I was gonna bring it back for you. But then..." The hanyou frowned, closing his mouth briefly. "I just fell in the mud. That's all," he said, golden, mud-encircled eyes skirting the youkai as he fidgeted.

"And you thought it would a fine idea to roam the halls this way?" Giving Inuyasha an irritated look, Sesshomaru tapped his finger on the hilt of his sword. The one appointed to scrub the black muck from Inuyasha's fire rat robe was in for quite a time.

"I just... I didn't know what to do." Lip protruding slightly, the hanyou refused to say that he walked through the halls all dirty because he wanted his brother after getting pushed in the mud. And he was upset about losing the youkai's gift. Especially after the other kids made fun of him for getting something for his brother.

After a moment of deliberating silence, Sesshomaru released a huff of air and nodded, his eyes loosing some of their intensity. "What is it you were attempting to procure?"

The hanyou looked up then with a shy, muddied smile. "It was a really big feather—it was soft, like mokokoko and it was shiny too! But it wasn't as shiny and smooth as the rock I found too. But.. I lost them both in the mud..."

Sesshomaru's brow twitched, hand smoothing his mokomoko as he walked past Inuyasha. "What need have I for a feather and a stone?" Sesshomaru asked monotonously, disregarding the capacity for children to take an interest in pointless things. "Come."

The hanyou's shoulders slumped, eyes falling to the floor as his brother passed. "I thought they were pretty..." He really thought his brother would have liked them too.. Slouching further, Inuyasha sulked after the youkai. "...Am I in trouble?"

"Your degree of trouble depends entirely on whether the servants are able to free my mother's rug of stains." He listened as the hanyou's mucky feet smacked against the marble floor. Better the floor than his kimono. Better his mother's rugs as well. She was far too attached to material things. Once before, she had sent Inuyasha beyond the protective palace walls in the middle of the night to be eaten by wild youkai for urinating in her koi pond.

"I didn' mean to aniki... Promise! I just wanted to get you somethin'—but that didn't even work..." The hanyou ran forward a few steps, looking toward his brother's face anxiously. "Really, I ju—" Not paying attention, Inuyasha tripped over his own muddied feet and fell forward, reaching out to catch himself. His dirty hands found his brother's hakama as the rest of his body tumbled forward too, his legs leaving smears across the floor as his chest smacked into the back of the youkai's leg.

Sesshomaru halted, closing his eyes with an internal wince. He heard the wet smack of mud upon contact. He could feel the hanyou slide down his leg through the gritty, decaying grime. This was just perfect. With a sigh of defeat, Sesshomaru reached behind himself to pick Inuyasha up by the back of his thickly caked haori. Continuing on his way, he held the hanyou out away from his body. To all appearances, he was taking Inuyasha to where he would receive a severe thrashing.

Inuyasha wiggled around in his brother's grasp, trying to look over his shoulder to gauge how upset he'd made the youkai. His ears, having worked themselves a little loose, now fluttered before flattening back against his hair. Sesshomaru must be mad at him now. Going still in the youkai's hold, Inuyasha remained silent, too worried about further angering his brother to speak, though he snuck a few hasty glances at the youkai.

As Sesshomaru moved swiftly through the main hall, Inuyasha tightly in his grasp, the hanyou received a few knowing snickers. Everyone was waiting for the hanyou to get what he deserved.

The hanyou teetered from the fabric of his haori as Sesshomaru turned and pushed open the doors to the large bathing area. Those already occupying the room, upon noticing the state of their lord's sons, rose out of the water with startled expressions and skittered out like mice with numerous sputtered apologies. Paying the fleeing guests no mind, Sesshomaru carried Inuyasha through a curtain leading to a private connected room where dirty clothes were left for washing and set him down on the floor. "Strip."

Inuyasha blushed lightly as he noticed the naked people in the room, but his attention shifted when he and his brother where in another room, alone. He could hear the other people leaving. Shifting his feet, the hanyou gripped his haori tightly and stared up at his brother. His angry brother. He swallowed heavily, knowing he must be in more trouble than he thought. "A-aniki... Please—I'm sorry..." What would Sesshomaru do to him? Others had always been so cruel to him... His ears laid back completely at the memory of the bruises and even broken bones he'd receive after upsetting someone. His mother had never done anything mean though.. She'd even only spanked him once. It hadn't hurt that badly, but Sesshomaru was stronger—he could make it hurt a lot.. Inuyasha barely contained a whimper as he stood, fidgeting uncomfortably.

Sesshomaru arched his brow curiously. Neck craned, the hanyou looked up at the youkai with relative fear. Sesshomaru had alarmed his brother more than he'd intended to, it seemed. Since Inuyasha was currently unwilling or unable to make a move, Sesshomaru began the process of stripping off his own clothing, piling it all neatly where it would be washed by careful hands. "If you do not strip down to your skin, you will not be able to bathe."

"B-bathe?" Inuyasha frowned in confusion, still standing rooted in place. He'd expected.. Reprimand. "That's it?"

"Yes. I imagine you would feel better without that stifling layer of filth." Sesshomaru turned to walk back through the curtain. "It appears I will be bathing alone."

After a moment's hesitation, the hanyou was struggling to remove his mud-caked clothing. Once free of the dirty fabric, a nude Inuyasha was stumbling through the curtain after his brother, one foot tangled in his hakama. Even his bare skin was streaked with dirt, his hair still darkened and dulled by the mud's presence. "Aniki?"

Sesshomaru stood in front of the water pump, quickly filling bucket. "What is it?"

The hanyou stepped closer, a fang poking into his bottom lip. "You.. Aren't mad at me?"

"Moderately. However, I was also once your age. I do not believe a fall into the mud is cause for punishment. It is still early spring, you would have grown ill if you had remained outside, soaked in cold mud. Though I would advise you not to do it again." Sesshomaru nodded to a sloping portion of the floor with a drain in the center. "Come here."

"Hai," Nodding, the hanyou moved to where his brother directed. His fears of being punished fled quickly, his trust of the youkai quickly falling back into place. "I really didn't mean to get the rugs all muddy.." Inuyasha glanced up at his brother again, hoping for some type of recognition.

Sesshomaru's eyes, softer now, fell on Inuyasha's. He swiped his thumb across the hanyou's dirty cheek. "I know." Sesshomaru then pressed the side of his hand against Inuyasha's forehead, just above his eyes, shielding them as he poured the first bucket slowly over Inuyasha's head.

The hanyou pursued his lips, forcing air between them to blow at the dirty water that slipped past his brother's hand and tried to drip into his mouth. Once the stream of water stopped, Inuyasha shook his head, hair slapping against his skin. Then he clasped both hands over his soaked ears, pouting up at his brother. "Anikiii," he whined, "You got it in my ears..." Even shaking like a dog hadn't helped to clear the water out.

Sesshomaru sniffed amusedly, poking the hanyou's forehead. "You will survive." Again, the youkai filled the bucket with water. "Cover your eyes and hold your breath." As he poured the water over Inuyasha's head, he used his other hand to rub mud from his brother's face and chest. After a couple more bucketfuls, the worst of it was washed down the drain. He sat the bucket down and grabbed a vial of liquid soap. "Come, the bath is much warmer."

Inuyasha did as instructed, allowing his ears to suffer as his hands moved to his eyes. He gave a few short whines and shifted his feet, but otherwise stayed put. Then, he padded over to the edge of the bath, but hesitated as a new thought crossed his mind. Wrapping his arms around his torso, trying to keep warm, the hanyou looked toward the youkai. "Aniki... I've never been here before. What if it's too deep?"

Sesshomaru joined him at the edge, glancing at the hanyou thoughtfully. Inuyasha was fairly small...and this bath was crafted specifically for adults. Had the hanyou never learned to swim? Then again, who would ever deign to teach him? Sesshomaru stepped into the steaming bath, gathering Inuyasha in his arms as he sank down until water lapped at his collar bone.

While the water was warm and comforting, Inuyasha couldn't help but curl his arms around his brother's neck and hold onto him tightly. After a moment, the hanyou slipped one leg down, stretching it as far as it would go to see if he could touch the bottom. The only thing that touched him was the water as it glided between his toes and beneath his feet. Where he normally bathed was smaller and not as warm. He wasn't sure who else bathed there when he didn't though. Relaxing slightly, the hanyou rested his head on his brother's shoulder. "This is really nice, aniki. Do you get to come here a lot?"

"Yes, I bathe often." Sesshomaru had no idea how often the hanyou bathed. Since Inuyasha came to stay with them, the little hanyou had never been Sesshomaru's responsibility. Caring for a child—a hanyou at that—was beneath him. If fact, those with power who placed themselves above the weak were revered. But it seemed that those who extended a hand to the weak were also revered. His mother wanted segregation while his father wanted equality. Two extremely powerful youkai with completely different outlooks.

Despite Inuyasha's low status, Sesshomaru found himself growing more invested in his brother's life. In turn, Inuyasha was seeking the youkai out far more often than he used to. Back when Inuyasha had first arrived, Sesshomaru wanted nothing more than for the sniveling creature to fear him and to stay out of his way. "I am pleased you enjoy it." Sesshomaru sat up a bit and settled the hanyou into his lap. "Did you injure yourself when you fell today?"

"Oh, um.." The hanyou thought a moment before thrusting his left forearm in front of his brother's face. "It hurt... Riiight here," he pointed with his other hand, wincing a little as he pressed too hard. When he tried to look himself, Inuyasha nearly elbowed the youkai in the jaw.

Sesshomaru's hand shot up to keep Inuyasha's unpredictable arm spasms from hitting him in the face. Taking the hanyou's arm, Sesshomaru examined the expanse of skin, finding a substantial cut just below the elbow. Sparing no more thought on the matter, Sesshomaru leaned forward, closing his red-lidded eyes, and stroked over the cut with his tongue, repeating the action a few times before releasing his brother's arm. "How fragile you are."

Inuyasha watched silently until his brother was done, then he titled his head and raised an eyebrow. "Mama said it ain't okay to lick people. But.. You're aniki, so it's okay, ne?" The hanyou nodded, answering his own question before his brother had the chance to. "Ya know what else mama said? She said it's not okay to be naked around other people. Said that some people ain't nice. But you're nice—s'okay. Then she said some people will try to do..." Inuyasha looked around to ensure they were alone before leaning forward to whisper in his brother's ear. "Things." Leaning back and nodding as if to affirm his statement as a fact, Inuyasha was suddenly struck with a question that made his eyes widen slightly. "Has.. Has aniki ever been around not nice naked people? Ones that wanted to do things?"

Sesshomaru gave the little hanyou an appalled look, sliding him forward in his lap so that his legs were on either side of the youkai's waist. He held Inuyasha very close and looked vigilantly at his face, searching. His little brother was innocently asking if Sesshomaru had ever encountered a rapist. Did Inuyasha understand what his mother had meant? "Inuyasha, has anyone ever touched you in a way you did not like while you were unclothed?" His voice was very serious, contrasting with the hanyou's chaste reminiscing.

Inuyasha tilted his head slightly, wondering why his brother had gotten so serious. Had he said something he wasn't suppose to? Ears flicking, the hanyou nibbled at his bottom lip nervously. Maybe if he just answered the youkai, his brother wouldn't be upset again. He didn't like it when Sesshomaru was upset with him. So he gave a slow nod, "Jus' once."

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes, resting his hand along the hanyou's cheek, after swiping hair out of the way, to ensure he had his brother's full attention. "What did this person do?"

The hanyou opened his mouth but paused, remembering what the person had said to him. "He told me not to tell anyone... Aniki—" Inuyasha looked at the youkai desperately, hands going to Sesshomaru's shoulders as he leaned forward, "Please, you can't say anything, okay? I don't want him to do it again..."

"You have my word," said Sesshomaru hastily, his nerves touched by apprehension.

Inuyasha looked down, his fingers absently toying with the youkai's hair. "...I was takin' a bath—he's the one that showed me where it was. I thought he left, so I took my clothes off. But he was still there and he got in the water with me." The hanyou glanced up briefly, ears hanging low. He didn't want to talk about it—even if his brother had promised not to say anything... "I wanted him to go away 'cause—'cause mama said it wasn't okay. But he told me to be quiet." Inuyasha remembered the man telling him that he was just a worthless, good for nothing hanyou too. "Then he made me lay on my tummy and he wouldn't let me get up... Then he started touching me..."

Eyes widening, Sesshomaru's grip tightened around Inuyasha. Envisioning what the hanyou was describing to him, rage seethed to the surface, becoming evident in his words, "This happened here?"

Squirming in his brother's firm hold, Inuyasha nodded, refusing to look at the youkai. Thinking he was in trouble, the hanyou hesitantly continued as he pulled his hands back to his own body. "First.. He touched me here," One hand moved behind himself, fingers brushing over his anus. His legs tensed on their accord at the contact before he moved his hand to his front. "Th-then here." Now, Inuyasha touched his penis with nearly trembling fingers. "I tried to kick him but he yanked on my ears. When I tried to yell, he stuck his fingers in my mouth—wike dish." The hanyou wiggled his fingers around in his mouth as emphasis though he couldn't quite make himself gag like the man had made him, looking up at his brother. As he removed his fingers, he looked away again. "I bit him. He didn't like that—but he took his fingers out of my mouth. I tried to yell again, but he covered all my mouth that time. I kept tryin' to bite him and scratch him and kick him and he got really mad at me." Inuyasha swallowed heavily and chewed his bottom lip. "He hit me. Really hard—my head hit the floor too.. And, I-I don't remember anything else." Wringing his hands together and trying to blink through the blur in his vision, the hanyou continued. "I saw him sometime after I woke up and he told me... He told me he'd do it again if I said anything, b-but he'd make sure I was awake." Inuyasha finally looked up, tears burning his eyes, scared that his brother was angry with him. "I didn't mean to, I tried to stop him! Aniki, I'm sorry—I really don't want him to do it again though! I-I hurt when I woke up and I don't want too again.. Please, aniki... Don't be mad..." The hanyou dropped his face into his hands then, cheeks red with shame and fear.

Gritting his teeth, Sesshomaru could hardly believe his eyes and ears. To be treated this way, as a child no less, and believe himself to be at fault... Not even a hanyou deserves this. Someone within these walls had the audacity, the gall—to rape the brother of the revered, first-born son?

Protective instincts flooded Sesshomaru's consciousness and he drew the hanyou into his chest, both arms sliding fully around his small, mildly quaking form. A striped cheek rested atop the hanyou's head. "You have no cause to be sorry, Inuyasha," said Sesshomaru softly. "This was no fault of yours, it should never have happened." Did they hate the child this much? "I care not what anyone says to you, if you are hurt that way again, you will come to me. From now on, you will bathe alone, after informing me of your intentions, or you will bathe with me." The pedophile bastard was lucky the hanyou probably had no idea who he was. Had he been there to act, Sesshomaru would have forced the youkai to deep-throat his own severed dick.

Inuyasha wound his arms around his brother's neck, burying his face against the youkai's chest. His ears fluttered as Sesshomaru spoke and he nodded in response. He wouldn't have to worry about the man again. Sometimes, he thought he'd seen him when he bathed. The hanyou was never sure though. That's why he didn't like to bathe as much as his mother used to make him. With tears falling against pale skin, Inuyasha took a hiccupping breath. "Th-thank you, aniki..."

The youkai nodded once against the hanyou's hair. "To answer your question, showing your body to me is fine. I am your brother. If anything, you can trust that I will never molest you." Sesshomaru closed his eyes, absently scenting Inuyasha. The scent was so distinct—not human and not youkai. The one Sesshomaru seldom recognized as his brother had his own smell. One that was sweet and soft and, at the moment, laced with awe and gratitude. "Do you feel safe in my presence?"

Pressing his nose against the youkai's throat, Inuyasha nodded again. "I know aniki won't hurt me. But..." The hanyou pulled back and sat up so he could look at his brother, using the back of his hand to wipe away the tears clinging to his eyelashes. "I was a little scared earlier... I thought you were mad at me."

Picking up the vial of soap, Sesshomaru nodded his understanding. Sesshomaru may not have been happy with the situation but he was not particularly angry with Inuyasha. Truly, the youkai had mostly been dreading an ear-full from his mother. Lying and claiming to have punished the boy for merely acting as children do, was likely in his near future. "When I deem it necessary, there will be consequences for purposeful actions only. I will, however, never strike you." He poured a good amount of soap into the hanyou's hair and began to massage it into his scalp.

The hanyou smiled at his brother's words and was ready to thank him. At least until soap and hands were in his hair. "No!" He yelped, hands shooting up to clap over his ears protectively as he scowled at the youkai.

Sesshomaru frowned in turn and pealed the tiny hands off of flattened ears. "I will avoid your ears, pest," Sesshomaru promised with amusement, continuing his ministrations. "You may wash my hair if you would like to. Water does not bother my ears."

"It's 'cause my ears are cuter," Inuyasha stuck his tongue out at his brother with a pleased grin. "That's what mama said. And aniki? Isn't your hair supposed to be.." The hanyou threaded his fingers through the youkai's hair and lifted it to the sides of Sesshomaru's head. "Wet?"

The youkai chuckled lightly, trailing his finger around the base of a furred ear. "They are indeed." Sesshomaru slid beneath the water, reemerging with hair having no more volume than a wet mop.

Inuyasha stared a moment, pressing his lips together as he eyed the youkai's hair. "Aniki," he said with a smile and a giggle. "You look like a dog that got rained on. A lot."

Sesshomaru snorted. "You do not appear much better," he said smirking and jerked Inuyasha in a mock threat to dunk him.

The hanyou yelped in surprise and quickly made a grab at something in his panic. That something happened to be his brother's hair, which he gave a good tug as soon as he realized he was still in the youkai's lap rather than submerged. Glaring with his bottom lip stuck out, Inuyasha released his brother's hair, opting to splash water in the youkai's face instead and mutter something he had heard from the servants. "Bastard.."

Sesshomaru blinked, pursing his lips against the unwelcome droplets of water running down his face. "Though truth might lie in your words, you should not always utter them." What a word for the hanyou to already have in his vocabulary. Sesshomaru had a feeling he would hear it plenty in years to come. "I believe I may be inclined to disown you now," the youkai grumbled.

Eyes widening, Inuyasha's ears laid back at his brother's words. Not wanting the youkai to be upset with him, the hanyou leaned forward and hastily licked the drops which were sliding down one striped cheek and then the drop about to fall from his brother's nose. Face set with determination and a lingering hint of anxiety, Inuyasha leaned back, satisfied the youkai was no longer upset about the water and scowled at his brother. "You can't disown me. I won't let you, aniki."

Brows raised with the hanyou's sudden decision to lick his face, and then quirked at the hanyou's words. Sesshomaru rested his chin on the back of his hand. "Oh? And how do you intend to stop me?"

"I'll—I'll..." The hanyou huffed in frustration and crossed his arms. "I'll tell Father! He wouldn't let you either."

Sesshomaru crossed his arms in turn and narrowed his eyes with a smirk, darting forward to slowly run his tongue from Inuyasha's chin, up the side of his face, moving to an ear and licking it forcefully enough to cause the fur to change direction. "Perhaps I could stand to keep you here for a short while longer."

Growling, Inuyasha nipped at his brother's nose before lifting a hand and using his fingers to smooth the fur along his ear back in place. Then he wiped the saliva off his face and swiped his fingers over the youkai's cheek to be rid of it, grinning. "I'm gonna stay forever, aniki. You can't get rid of me."

Mouth twitching, Sesshomaru poked Inuyasha in the forehead, tipping him backwards slightly, mindful of his claws. "You will tire of me."

The hanyou shook his head and batted at his brother's hand as he righted himself. "Nu-ah. You're my aniki—I can't get tired of you. Just like you can't get tired of me, ne?"

"That has yet to be determined... Otouto. Now," the youkai continued quickly. "Lean your head back into the water so I am able to wash the soap out."

Doing the exact opposite of what the youkai said to, Inuyasha threw himself forward and wrapped his arms around his brother's neck excitedly. Sesshomaru had actually called him 'otouto.' Laughing lightly, the hanyou squeezed his brother tightly. Anybody could call him by his name, even though he was more often referred to as 'hanyou.' But only Sesshomaru could call him his otouto, just like how only his mother had called him her son. He didn't see enough of his father to really know what he would be called by the lord. But that didn't matter—not when he was Sesshomaru's otouto.

Having to stop the reflexive urge to return the embrace given him, Sesshomaru cleared his throat. "Yes yes, that is quite enough. I am going to leave you in here to become that of a prune if you do not do as instructed."

Inuyasha happily obliged after briefly nuzzling his nose against the youkai's throat. Releasing his brother, he tipped his head and leaned as far back as he was comfortable with. "Don't get my ears!" He said, piping up urgently when he saw Sesshomaru's hands beginning to move toward his head.

"Such excessive volume is not necessary, Inuyasha," Sesshomaru scolded, letting his fingers glide leisurely through the hanyou's submerged hair. Contentedness washed over the youkai as he gazed down at the relaxed, rosy-cheeked brother of his. And they continued much like this for quite some time, stalling until someone felt the need to check on them to ensure nothing was amiss. Undoubtedly, it was the longest bath Sesshomaru had ever taken.

We have been bad this week... Yesterday, we wrote this instead of Licentious Obsession. Tis two nights in a row now. But ConspiringWordAddict started it! Just saying... This one was deliberate...

Less fluffy than the previous one but still quite fluffy.

Any of you new people who have no idea what we are all about and enjoy M-rated fics can check out Licentious Obsession. ^^

Ja ne.