Yuki: Chapter 2 (Epilogue) by asesina

A/N: I hope you like this second chapter! It is just a little epilogue that I wanted to add. Enjoy!

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Inuyasha's eyes opened slowly and he squinted into the dim light of the cabin.

"What the hell happened?" he grumbled aloud, eyes flicking down to the cloak that was now a tangled mass under his head.

As he woke up, Inuyasha gradually remembered bits and pieces of the previous night, first the chill of late winter, then the anger of the fox demon who had attempted to steal Tessaiga, and then-

"Sesshoumaru," he said quietly, almost phrasing it like a question. Inuyasha wondered if it had all been a dream, but no, he was in the tiny, abandoned human village from his memories, and he was sleeping on an old cloak that Kaede had lent him long ago, and-

And there was a dying fire next to him, yet another shred of evidence supporting the odd notion that Sesshomaru had indeed saved him and even watched over him for some time.

The idea was so absurd that Inuyasha almost wondered if the fox demon had poisoned him into a fever dream somehow, but he shrugged it off and began gathering his belongings, noticing that Tessaiga was carefully hidden by the cloak, unperturbed by his jealous and vengeful older brother.

Inuyasha almost felt bad for expecting Sesshomaru to fall into his old patterns again, but he was used to it. He almost liked it, that odd balance and familiar rivalry that used to define them.

In many ways, it still did. They'd never open up to each other or go on a long, soul-searching journey together, but in a way they already had.

Of course, they'd attempted to kill each other many times in the interim, but they always stopped short of actually doing it.

"Eh, whatever." Inuyasha thought.

He needed to get back to Kaede's village before Kagome came back from her own time.

"I wonder if it's snowing there too," he added, sitting back on the floor for a moment. He felt a sharp pain shoot up his side and he groaned in annoyance.

"Damn it. What the hell did he do to me?" Inuyasha spat.

"He overpowered you, clearly," came a cool, curt response.

"Sesshomaru? What the hell are you doing here?" Inuyasha demanded. His glare softened a bit when he saw that Sesshomaru wasn't in a fighting stance. He wasn't even resting a hand on Tenseiga or Bakusaiga like he usually would.

"I was merely returning to remind you that Kagome will be here in two hours," Sesshomaru said. The old sneer crossed his face, but it was also muted, almost as if-

"So, what? You've never acted like my brother, and now you're acting like my mom?" Inuyasha scoffed.

Sesshomaru's eyes brightened with rage.

"Do not mock me, half demon. I should have left you to die out there, you ungrateful cur," he added, voice rising to a shout.

"Aw, shut up. You save me once and you act like you've changed. You're only doing this because you need Tessaiga. We all know that Tenseiga is weak without it," Inuyasha snarled, getting up sharply and biting back another grimace as the pain returned, shooting down his arm and neck with lightning speed.

"Still weak, I see," Sesshomaru said under his breath.

He stepped back and surveyed the younger demon quickly.

"Let's go," he said quietly.

"What, you don't wanna fight? I'm still weak, and you know it," Inuyasha challenged.

"What do you take me for, Inuyasha, a coward?" Sesshomaru said coolly.

"What-" Inuyasha began, but Sesshomaru held up his hand.

"If I were to attack you now, it wouldn't be a fair fight," he said simply.

Inuyasha's eyebrows raised in confusion, but he quietly followed Sesshomaru out of the cabin and into the snowy village.

"Kaede's village is only three miles east of here. You should be able to make it in time," he advised.

Inuyasha opened his mouth to speak, but he couldn't think of anything, other than a simple, "wait", and Sesshomaru turned to look at him again.

"What are you doing, Sesshomaru? How did you find me?" he said, almost to himself.

"My senses are far more powerful than yours. I knew that you would lose the fight, so I gave pursuit and found you bleeding out," Sesshomaru explained. He narrowed his eyes at Inuyasha.

"It won't happen again," he added, turning away from his brother with a flash of silver as he disappeared into the night.

Inuyasha looked up into the sky and noticed that the fat, lazy snowflakes were beginning to fall once more. They formed a soft, powdery curtain that Inuyasha hoped would mask his next words,

"Thank you."

But, as he'd already admitted, Sesshomaru's senses were far better than his own.

End.