Disclaimer: The characters in this story are owned by Rumiko Takahashi.
Shots
He sits down. Already there is a tokkuri on the table. Beyond the window, darkness cloaks, newly invented streetlights flickering.
"Can I have a bottle of sake?" he calls. A server yells out 'yes' before hurrying to the kitchen.
The company has not spoken; only gazes out the window unseeingly.
"How's it going?"
No response.
The sake is chillier than it once was, brewed differently. The little heat from the flask weaves around the cups, reaching outward to warm the nearest area.
They sit quietly, unsure if they are enjoying one another's company or if they feel vex for the proximity they share.
Sesshomaru glances at his sibling from across the table, a look that Inuyasha misses.
Inuyasha exhales, a heavy breath pulling far deeper than his lungs, a breath that appears to come from the soul.
"I miss the old days."
A comment that sounds random. Sesshomaru knows that it is not though. He does not respond. A cryptic statement, not surrounding a time, but a person, an irreplaceable person for each. Irritation rises for seconds, lastly settling like creaking wood in an old home. The silence stretches, leaving the atmosphere yawning.
"How I miss those times."
This time he responds, biting down the seething tone that threatens to erupt.
"Must you repeat that?"
Inuyasha shrugs. The clinks of the kitchen echoes through the restaurant.
"We never talk about it."
"Why would we?"
No one speaks and he hopes that his brother does not continue. It is always the same, every time they meet- once a year for reasons beyond him. The same comments, the same responses. Repetitive. It feels lonely.
"Because it's better than what I feel everyday."
Again, he says nothing.
"It's better than what you see when you close your eyes."
This time, he turns his attention to him. Staring. A statement so close to the truth. He resists saying anything.
He drops his eyes to the bottles between them. Even now, he cannot blink. His tokkuri is half-finished, while the top of Inuyasha's is still steaming. His sight loses focus as his mind swirls to scatter his thoughts with memory. His thinks back to a time when drinking sake sealed agreements. Sealed marriages. The feeling is wistful, euphoric, blessed for a second, that pure and high degree of emotion. Love. That level of affection that he has only given voice to in the whispers of his mind. Brown eyes, sweet smile, gentle touches…
He flicks his eyes forward, turns his head toward the glass window while reaching for his tokkuri, pouring sake in his ochoko. Facing Inuyasha once more, he raises his cup while his brother does the same.
"Kanpai," they both say.
Yes, he misses the old days too.
This is a short one-shot where Sesshomaru and Inuyasha miss their wives, Rin and Kagome.
Tokkuri- a flask in a sake set.
Ochoko- a small cylinder cup in a sake set.