Arc I: Senses
Chapter 1 : Sights of Spring
"It's hard to hold a conversation with people when you're not seeing them."
Dale Ludwig and Greg Owen-Boger
Their meetings were sparse and far between, but when they did meet neither betrayed their shared past. Ever since their alliance during the fight with Naraku, his friends had seen that they no longer fought.
Maybe they thought it meant they were ready to embrace their familial ties.
Maybe they expected things to turn back to how they were before the alliance.
He didn't know what he expected but, he knew something had changed irreparably their dynamic. It would never change back to the comfortable trading of cruel insults and blows. Comfortable because he knew where they stood, now though it was all murky, he didn't know where the lines that separated them were anymore.
He realized the change when he felt no impulse to yell at his brother when he looked at him. He knew his brother felt the same as he saw no real irritation flash in his face.
There was no animosity between them, but neither pair of golden eyes held warmth upon seeing the other. They held their gazes for mere seconds, barely enough to indicate that their presence was acknowledged.
The same ritual came and went with each encounter.
He met his brother once or twice per four months...not that he was counting, Rin had simply always chirped loudly that it was almost time for his visits.
He imagined that Sesshomaru had less time on his hand due to him resuming his rightful place as the head of the Western Land. It was either that or perhaps he still favored aimlessly roaming the land and came whenever he felt like it.
He couldn't help being startled seeing him ahead of schedule. He furrowed his brows as he saw the girl cry in delight at his surprise visit, abandoning the lessons the old hag was teaching her in favour of hugging her former guardian. His brother watched impassively as the girl squeezed him as tight as she could, raising his left arm to pat her head.
The pale face lifted his head and stared dead on at him. As usual, his brother acknowledge him by glancing at him. Inuyasha was startled again as he saw a gleam in the other's eyes instead of the usual indifference.
His eyes clearly challenged him to comment on his visit. That glare wasn't what unsettled him though, it was that deeper emotion laying underneath the challenge that confused him. It felt familiar to him but he wasn't able to put a name on it.
From that moment, Sesshomaru seemed to come as many times as he possibly could. He assumed his brother was simply verifying that his former charge was never lacking.
Even with these regular visits, they never exchanged words, the eye contact had however become longer and that familiar glint in his eyes always lurked around the corner.
It would always start the same way. Today was no different.
Sesshomaru, followed by Jaken, would greet Rin in his own way, then he would lay his hand on Rin's head ceasing her endless chatter for a moment. He would use that silence to stare at him.
Silver eyebrows would crease and his eyes would narrow slightly, the effect intensify somehow with the purple markings on his eyelids.
He could only cross his arm under his sleeves and convey his answer as best he could non-verbally, which was through an annoyed spark in his eyes coupled with a raised eyebrow.
Sesshomaru would then harden his gaze, the marking on his cheeks shifting slightly, his head rose unconsciously in a haughty way.
He would scowl right back at him while scrunching his nose.
Shippo had then muttered it how damn creepy the way they never talked and never broke their gaze until someone interrupted them was. He had even been bold enough to say that if he didn't know any better he'd say they where ogling each other.
Inuyasha cuffed the kit lightly on his head for his cheek, effectively ending their "ogling". He knew Kagome would not have approved of it, but she wouldn't have approved of the fox kit's vocabulary either, making his action a necessary evil.
He was surprised though that their shifting of expression was so subtle that they hadn't caught on to the silent communication. Or maybe they just couldn't interpret what was being said.
It could be possible that the stares didn't translate well for his friends, seeing as the first time this had happened, it had taken him a long soul-searching look - and didn't that sound overly girlish - to identify what was being asked. He had been offended through a gross misinterpretation and later surprised as he understood the meaning.
Ironically enough, it was the most they had talked without a sword a their throats and a promise of death on their lips. He found himself relishing those moments, as for a second, they were more or less being honest with each other. Maybe one day, it would be longer and would touch other topics...
This particular day, Miroku had joined the teasing stating that it was their new way of fighting for dominance. He recalled Sango and Shippo giggle at the comment, the twins pearly laughter only joining from seeing their mother's good mood.
He knew better than that though, it was a new sort of dance he supposed.
Inuyasha watched his brother be dragged away into the forest by the cheerful babbling of the girl, her hand pulling the tip of his clawed fingers. He had seen a variation of it many times now, but in that instant, everything sharpened.
He would forever remember the smell of fresh air that mingled with the scent of his friends and the three retreating form. The picture of his brother's tall and proud form hunched slightly by the pulling of the little girl with the radiant grin and the indignant squawk of the green demon jumping and yelling, would forever be burned in his mind.
That surging feeling of realization would never be forgotten either.
The gleam in the eyes of the Lord of the Western Lands was fear. He feared the fact that human lives were fleeting.
He knew he was dense but, really, this was dangling in front of him since the first time they had that silent conversation.
After all why else would he ask the same things over and over?
Has anything happened to her?
Nothing unless you want the full details of all the scrapes and bruises she's had
Why else would he ask, in his own way, for her protection?
If anything should happen...
As if I'd let anything happen to the brat on my watch!
He ignored the sudden pang that told him his brother truly had a heart and though they were no longer ripping each other's throats, he would never be privy to that.
A/N: First off, it was an idea that popped from revisiting the Inuyasha fandom and this spawn from my desire to see some Inuyasha and Sesshomaru brotherly interaction (or as brotherly as they can without being too OOC). I was thinking of making a series of drabbles from different moments in time and subsequently seeing their interaction grow from different events in time. I could also just make it into a continuous story.
I'm sure it has been done already, but I at least wanted to put my spin on this.
Second: Sorry for any mistakes in grammar or whatever else ( keep in mind that English is not my native tongue, so I'm lacking some fundamental grammatical rules...)
Setting: The drabbles will mostly be set during the time Kagome was sealed in her era to post-manga, though some other period of time could be broached if inspiration strikes
Ratings: It should never become more than T
Genre: humor, family, friendship, angst...You get the picture, though romance will not be a prominent part.
Other notes:
I'm not sure if Sesshomaru truly is reigning as Lord of the Western Land or if he really just wandering fighting however he wants for the heck of it, but I'm making my life easier by assuming he is resuming his position as Lord after an impromptu hiatus.
I tried making it look like both brothers were out of depth in their interaction. I remember seeing that towards the end of the manga there was no clear cut hatred between them, as such I tried (and will continue to in the other drabbles) to make it look like they're experimenting and gauging each other...
There will be no OC (or if there are they will never be relevant to the plot), the pairings will follow cannon (as such no yaoi sorry) and finally there will be occasional use of Japanese words. To those that are put off by this I will only say that there is a reason why they will be used, if there is an equivalent term in English that can translate the word correctly then it will be used (meaning I will not use baka when a simple idiot or stupid will do the trick). This will be applied to some honorifics and only if it's relevant to the plot (lets say like Kagome calling Sesshomaru Onii-san, it's kinda odd for her to use our usual brother..)
For those who read this I'm surprised you did and thanks for reading and tell me if your interested in reading more (as drabbles or a continuous story) !