Chapter Four: Awkward Conversations
Sesshomaru stared at the ground as he walked, deep in thought. He didn't have his youkai to reason with, and (for once) he found himself missing the annoying voice in his head. Because of his dire situation, and of the demon council's impatience, he was actually considering Amatsu's offer. What could he lose from mating with a powerful demon like him? They were both full-blooded daiyoukai's, and immensely powerful. Sesshomaru remembered when they had fought before, it took all he had to beat the fox-demon. The western lands would never falter under rule like that. And, despite everything, Amatsu was sort of, well, attractive. Regardless of the fact that he could be extremely annoying. Sesshomaru sighed, looking over to Rin absentmindedly.

It would take a bit to convince him to let Rin live.

And, though many wouldn't hesitate to agree to mate with him, Sesshomaru knew that Amatsu was the best choice.

Besides, it wasn't like he was interested in anyone else currently.

Sesshomaru couldn't figure out exactly, why at that moment Inuyasha's face flashed through his mind.

o0o

Kagome was a bit . . . confused about what had just occurred. A demon (Amatsu, was it?), a male demon, wanted to . . . ( . . . ) . . . with Sesshomaru! She looked back at him nervously. The youkai himself didn't seem to be angered because Amatsu was male, but simply because he was annoying. Was . . . Sesshomaru . . . ?

Asking would probably lead to certain death, with or without his strength. He was still bigger than her.

So, she would just have to find out from someone else.

"Inu . . . Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, inching closer to the aforementioned half-demon.

He simply grunted in response, and Kagome continued, glancing back towards the daiyoukai.

"Is . . . Is Sesshomaru . . . gay?"

Inuyasha wrinkled his nose at the foreign word.

"Is he what?"

"You know . . . is he . . . into guy's?"

A dark red replaced Inuyasha's normal complexion, and he stumbled over his feet, smoothly falling onto his face once more.

He jumped back up, glaring the blushing miko.

"How the hell should I know! If you're so damn interested ask him!"

'You're beginning to sound defensive, puppy.' His youkai chuckled.

"I do NOT LIKE MY BROTHER!"

Everyone was silent.

Kagome blinked.

"Er, nobody said you did . . .' She scurried away, hiding her red face in her hands. Did Inuyasha have to shout his answer like that? Now Sesshomaru was gonna know for sure if she asked him, that she had asked Inuyasha first.

Inuyasha was breathing heavily, shutting his eyes tight in aggravation.

'WHY!?'

Miroku was highly confused by Inuyasha's response. He hadn't been able to hear what Kagome asked the hanyou, but he could tell that it disturbed him greatly. He walked closer to the demon, glancing up absentmindedly.

"What seems to be troubling you, Inuyasha?"

Amber eyes snapped over to the monk, and he frowned.

"Nothing. I'm fine. Leave me alone!" He hissed, going back to staring in front of him.

Miroku sighed, patting his friend on the back heartily.

"I hear ya. Let me guess, women troubles?"

Inuyasha grumbled. "Something like that."

The monk smiled.

"My friend, Kagome's never going to understand how you feel unless you tell her—"

"Who said this was about Kagome!?" Inuyasha snarled, forcing down a blush.

Miroku blinked.

"Uh—"

"Never mind! I'm gonna scout ahead."

The half-demon bounded off, muttering incoherent sentences as he left.

Miroku blinked in confusion.

Then he turned around, glancing casually back at Inuyasha's brother.

He had an idea of why Inuyasha was upset.

After all, Miroku was the expert on subjects like these.

o0o

Kirara strode next to Sesshomaru lazily, glancing up at him every once in a while.

" . . . Merow?"

The demon lord looked down at her, before sighing softly.

"I don't know. I still haven't quite made a decision yet."

"Mew?"

"I know he's annoying. However I don't see what other choices I have."

"Mrrrrrrow."

He looked down at her curiously.

"Now, why would you say that?"

Kirara plodded away then, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

Sesshomaru looked oddly after her, before frowning slightly, turning his head to the side.

What a ludicrous suggestion.

Inuyasha.

o0o

Kirara wasn't stupid.

And she wasn't blind either.

Ever since she had seen the two kiss is the forest, she had an idea that something was up between the them, and Inuyasha's earlier outburst had confirmed her suspicions. From previous conversations with the demon lord, she had learned that he was a pretty lonely guy.

Not that he'd come out and said this exactly, but it was easy to guess.

He wandered around all the time, purposely avoiding the demon council and their nitpicky questions about whether he had chosen a mate yet or not.

So she was glad that he was finally getting into the game. They were plenty of fish in the sea, Sesshomaru just refused to cast out his line.

Or something like that.

Honestly, she thought that the two brothers would make an adorable couple.

Now she just had to get them to realize it.

o0o

Inuyasha ran off into the distance, 'scouting' much farther than he needed to. Why did everybody feel the need to ask so many damn questions?

He sighed, turning his head slightly.

It was so . . . confusing.

Before, if he needed any excuse for the way he felt about his brother, he could write it off as lust. Even he had to admit that the demon lord was . . . attractive (beautiful, really). But now . . . now he could definitely identify what he felt. It wasn't a foreign emotion, he usually felt it boiling when Kouga was around Kagome, but not this time. He was . . . jealous.

He was jealous of the male demon that had been hitting on his brother, jealous that he stood a chance with the daiyoukai, when Inuyasha himself . . .

Well, that was no secret.

As he went farther and farther away from everyone, he began to get the feeling he was being . . . watched.

Faintly, he could catch a whiff of a slightly familiar scent. He looked around, his eyebrows lowering in confusion.

It smelt like . . . fox?

Inuyasha's ear's twitched slightly as he heard a faint sound. Like rushing wind. He looked up at the sky in alarm, as a beautiful, orange-haired demonness glided down from the air in a fluffy of leaves and twigs. The half-demon stared at her faintly, taking in her features. He felt like . . . like he should know her. Large fox-like ears sat on her head, though it was clear she was a full demon, a long, fluffy tail jutting out of the end of her tailbone. A black kimono adorned her, fitting her more than it should have been, a golden obi tied around her waist, with black sakura petals decorating the tails of the bow. She wore no shoes, and she seemed to stand on the front of her feet, with the heel in the air, like some sort of animal. Yellow blossoms decorated the front of her outfit, and suddenly it became clear who this was.

Inuyasha snarled angrily, drawing his sword.

"Chikotsu."

The fox demon giggled, a high-pitched airy sound, before looking at him under dark lashes.

"You must be Inuyasha." She spoke, flicking her hair behind her. It was done up in a long ponytail, bangs hanging idly and falling into her eyes as she moved.

"Give Sesshomaru his youkai back!" The half-demon growled, ready to rip this girl to shreds. After all, it was her fault that he had gotten into this mess.

The vulpine laughed again, before smirking at Inuyasha with a toothy smile and simply stating, "And why should I?"

Inuyasha paused, before growling again and brandishing his sword. "Because if you don't I'm going to rip you apart!" He seethed.

Chikotsu didn't appear threatened.

"Ah, but then, who would help your brother Yasha-kun?"

Inuyasha growled at the nickname (and at the fact that she was right dammit), and lowered his blade, glaring at him.

"Damn you to hell! What reason do you have for being so manipulative? Or do you just like to see people suffer?"

Chikotsu's smirk never faltered, and she crossed her arms smartly.

"Why are you even concerned about this? I was under the impression that you two hated each other."

"Stop talking like you know me!" Inuyasha snarled, about ready to unleash the wind scar for no reason other than he was annoyed at her smart-alecky attitude.

"Oh, but I do Yasha-kun!" She ignored the shout of, 'stop calling me that!' to continue. "If only from what I've heard from my brother about your brother."

This made Inuyasha pause.

"Your . . . brother?"

Chikotsu giggled her airy laugh again, biting her thumb cutely.

"Yes! His scent is near, so I'm assuming you two have met already."

The half-demon blinked. And then, it all came to him in a rush of it's-so-obvious-I-can't-believe-I-just-realized-it and his mouth fell open in shock.

"Amatsu's your brother!?"

The vulpine grinned cheekily, nodding her head.

"You are correct sir!"

Something else clicked in Inuyasha's head and he groaned softly under his breath.

'Well it's easy to tell they're related, their both so damn annoying.'

For once, Inuyasha agreed with his youkai.

'My thought's exactly.'

"That doesn't matter. The point is, that Sesshomaru won't leave me alone until you return what you stole!"

Chikotsu pouted, her full lips glossed over.

"I was going to! Why do you think I was headed in his direction?"

"Shut up! Don't think I'm— wait what?"

"I am totally planning to give Fluffy his youkai back."

Inuyasha blinked.

". . . Totally. . .?" He repeated, a large sweatdrop appearing on the back of his head.

Chikotsu nodded.

"Totally! Just . . . not anytime soon."

She bit her lip after this statement, sighing to herself softly.

"You see, the reason I took Sesshomaru's youkai, why I turned the most powerful youkai in the west into the weakest, was because of my brother."

Inuyasha blinked, and he could feel his youkai sighing internally.

'I sense an incredibly long story coming on.' It groaned.

And for the second time that day Inuyasha felt himself agreeing.

o0o

Shippo's nose moved faintly as he smelled something unfamiliar. And Inuyasha as well.

"Kagome, Inuyasha's up ahead! And he's with another demon!"

The miko nodded, increasing her pace.

"Come on guys! Inuyasha could be in trouble!"

o0o

"Wait a minute, let me get this straight. You weakened my brother, could have had him killed, just so that your brother would have a chance with him?"

" . . . Well, of course it's gonna sound bad if you say it like that. And besides, there are other reasons. Sesshomaru just doesn't seem to realize what can be gained from joining our two lands."

Inuyasha frowned.

"That is the absolute stupidest thing I have ever heard."

Chikotsu glared at him defiantly.

"Even more so than the word 'stupidest'?"

"Shut up!"

"Inuyasha!"

The two demons (one half-demon) turned at the sound of the voice, Inuyasha's glare softening when he saw Kagome bursting through the trees, as well as the rest of the group.

"Inuyasha, who is this demonness?" Miroku asked, taking notice of her curvy form.

"This is –"

"Chikotsu." Sesshomaru snarled, interrupting Inuyasha's sentence. Said half-demon pouted.

The fox demon giggled.

"Fluffy-sama! Long time no see." She said happily.

Sesshomaru was not happy.

"Chikotsu I demand that you undo this enchantment."

The fox-demon chuckled again.

"Aw fluffy, I'm afraid that I simply can not do that."

The air was silent for a moment, before the demon lord growled in frustration, his mouth twitching angrily.

"And just why not?" He snapped, looking ready to rip her in half, demon powers or no. Inuyasha looked over to his brother in surprise. He had never heard him raise his voice before.

Even Chikotsu appeared to be a little nervous now, unconsciously backing away from the demon lord.

"You see, fluffy, I didn't just take away your powers for fun, I had a reason!" She explained, pouting as she spoke the last part.

"Could've fooled me." Inuyasha muttered, keeping his hand on his sword. Just in case.

"Well you might have informed me of this reason, instead of just running off giggling like an idiot."

Chikotsu's pout grew larger. "Oh fluffy, your words wound me!"

The demon lord sighed under his breath at the nickname, wincing slightly each time it was said. It was like a thousand needles stabbing at his pride.

"Look, I'll make you a deal." Chikotsu reasoned. "I'll take off the enchantment. All you have to do is . . ."

There was a pregnant pause in the air as everyone waited for the fox demon's next words, Sesshomaru's eyes narrowing slightly with every second. Inuyasha was feigning boredom, but he was listening intently, his ears swiveled towards Chikotsu anxiously. Depending on what she said, he could be rid of Sesshomaru soon! Everyone seemed to be anticipating her next words.

"Just . . . mate with my brother."

"No—."

"NO—!"

Sesshomaru and Inuyasha, who had spoken at the same time, turned to look at each other, the half-demon blushing profusely. Sesshomaru tilted his head to the side slightly in confusion, before turning back to Chikotsu, and disregarding it for the time being.

"Those conditions are unacceptable. You cannot force me to mate with anyone."

Inuyasha stopped himself from shouting his agreements. Chikotsu opened her mouth, but was cut off by the daiyoukai speaking again.

"And in any case, I am already . . . considering Amatsu as a . . .mate." Sesshomaru found he had to force himself to say the last word, suppressing the urge to gag.

Chikotsu gasped, clapping her hands together.

"Oh! Really Fluffy? Oh this is wonderful!"

Inuyasha begged to differ. Though he tried to convince himself that he didn't care. Because, after all, he didn't.

Right?

'Still not fooling anyone, puppy.'

Inuyasha sighed, averting his eyes.

Why?

Why in the world was he feeling this . . . attraction for his brother? It wasn't wanted, nor needed.

"Perfect! Well, I'll just take off the enchantment then . . ."

She paused.

"What?" Inuyasha asked. "Get on with it!" He forced out, swallowing thickly.

"Uh . . . I –uh . . . don't know how . . ."

Everyone sweatdropped, Sesshomaru sighing softly.

Of course.

"What do you mean 'you don't know how'!?" Inuyasha roared, highly upset that he would have to spend even more time with his brother. Or was that relief?

"Aheh heh . . . well, I wasn't expecting Fluffy to just give in so easily, so I didn't bother asking . . ."

Sesshomaru winced.

There was a pause as she seemed to think of a solution, her tail twitching slightly. The leaves rustled in the small breeze that had worked up. Then, Chikotsu smiled, her fangs glinting.

"Oh! I got it. Come to my home in the southern lands. You remember where it is, right Fluffy?"

"You do know that I have areal name?"

"So just meet me there, and then I'll give you the antidote. My healer, Leiko was the one who gave me those leaves, so she should know how to reverse the effects."

She glanced around, smirking proudly.

"I'd go with you Fluffy, but . . . I don't particularly care for humans."

Kagome rolled her eyes.

Of course.

"But oh! This is so wonderful. Fluffy and my brother, soon to be mated!"

Chikotsu sighed happily for a moment, before noticing the absolutely miserable expression that Sesshomaru was attempting to hide. He was succeeding, of course. Her face fell, and she furrowed her brow slightly. She let out a breath, lacing her fingers together.

This hadn't been her idea. She was simply chosen to execute the plan.

No, her father had done this. He wanted only the best for his son, and Sesshomaru was the obvious choice. He was the only one that he had ever lost a fight to. With their lands joined by Amatsu and his mating, they would be an unstoppable force.

It was clearly the best thing to do.

And Chikotsu, who knew this perfectly well, still felt . . . guilty.

" . . . You know, he really does love you Sesshomaru."

Sesshomaru scoffed, exhaling through his nose sharply.

"Hn. The only thing that he loves about me is my body. And in any case, Amatsu is simply the most practical decision. Love has nothing to do with it." Bitterly said, Sesshomaru turned on his heel and began walking back the way the group had come, going to where they had left Rin, Jaken and Ah-Un behind.

Everyone was quiet, the humans in the group staring at their feet. Kirara was subdued, tilting her head down slightly. Even Chikotsu seemed taken aback by Sesshomaru's words, and she looked away, biting her lip almost guiltily.

Nobody seemed to notice the heartbroken expression Inuyasha was desperately trying to keep from showing on his face.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

When everyone reached the camp, Sesshomaru was sitting, leaning against the two-headed dragon who was laying on the ground comfortably. Rin was twirling in circles, not seeming to notice her lord's melancholy mood. Jaken was desperately attempting to get her to calm down. He stood when the others approached, waiting for his brother to begin leading the group once more.

Sesshomaru regretted that Kirara and Ah-Un couldn't carry all of them, or else the whole trip would go a lot faster. On foot, at the pace they were going, it would still take at least two weeks, maybe 10 days to reach Chikotsu's home in the south.

Once they had established a general direction, they began the journey everyone feeling a little antsy, now that they were nearing the end of their quest.

Inuyasha felt strangely unhappy. He refused to believe that it was because Sesshomaru was expressing interest in that Amatsu guy.

Besides, he had Kagome, right?

Right?

He looked over to her, trying to imagine the two of them together.

He knew that she loved him.

He wasn't that oblivious.

But . . . did he feel the same way?

He spared a glance over to Sesshomaru, looking into his normally stoic amber orbs.

They seemed to be swimming with emotions now, their usual glimmer fading to a dull glow. He could see confusion, dread and . . . fear?

He looked again, to make sure that he hadn't been seeing things, but his brother had put up his defenses once more, leaving him completely unreadable.

Against his better judgment, he found himself tentatively walking closer Sesshomaru, his hands resting in his sleeves nonchalantly.

"Hey, Sesshomaru." He said, keeping his voice low so the others wouldn't hear.

His only response was Sesshomaru turning his head in his direction slightly, before looking straightforward again.

Inuyasha knew that this needed to be handled delicately. His brother was more easily prone to anger these days. So he opened his mouth and said,

"What the hell's your problem?"

Inuyasha winced when he heard how harsh his tone was. How was he supposed to get Sesshomaru to open up to him if he couldn't even say anything nice?

Sesshomaru turned to face him, his eyes narrowed.

"I don't have a problem." He ground out with a tone that clearly said, 'conversation over'.

Inuyasha frowned.

"Bastard! I'm just trying to help!"

"Oh really? By doing what? When have you ever wanted to help me?"

Inuyasha's brow furrowed.

Sesshomaru continued,

"In any case, you've been acting strange lately, Inuyasha."

Amber eyes found his once more, and Sesshomaru stared at him, tilting his head to the side slightly.

"Why?"

Inuyasha's mouth opened, before closing again. He looked down, scowling slightly. A light blush dusted his features, before he glanced back up at his brother.

"Baka. I'm perfectly fine! I just . . . I mean . . ." He stumbled over his words, trying to find what it was exactly he wanted to say. He glanced over at his brother again, putting on his normal scowl.

"I meant that you don't seem too thrilled with the choice you made."

Sesshomaru looked away, leaving him unreadable.

"That is none of your concern."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

"It's never 'anyone's concern.' You sound like a broken record."

Sesshomaru turned, glaring.

"You have an odd way of helping people, Inuyasha." He said, sounding slightly sarcastic. (Yay! alliteration!).

"Well at least I'm trying!" Inuyasha spoke, feeling increasingly frustrated with his older sibling.

"I don't want your help."

"Dammit Sesshomaru! Do you have to be such a bastard all the time?"

"Name calling will get you nowhere Inuyasha."

"Gah! You're infuriating!"

"I wasn't aware you knew such big words."

" . . . That was a low blow."

Sesshomaru ducked his head a bit, and Inuyasha looked over, his ears twitching slightly. The daiyoukai let out an amused breath, before turning back to the half-demon.

"Really Inuyasha, what are your true motives?"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

"Do I need a motive?"

"Yes. The Inuyasha I know would never try and . . . 'help' me like this." The demon lord said, eyes narrowing. "It would be odd of me not to think otherwise."

Inuyasha blinked.

Well, alright. Why was he talking to Sesshomaru?

He thought about it for a moment, his gaze flickering upwards.

And then an unknown emotion flittered up within him, and he frowned.

Pity.

He was pitying Sesshomaru.

He looked back over to his brother, feeling the words he had meant to say die in his throat.

Sesshomaru wouldn't want his pity, wouldn't appreciate it either. So Inuyasha said nothing, instead continuing to walk forwards. The sun was quickly beginning to set, pale light washing over the group as the sky erupted in hues of pinks and yellows.

"I don't understand what you see in that Amatsu guy." Inuyasha said, starting a completely new topic of conversation. "He's annoying as I don't know what. I'd say he's worse than Shippo."

Sesshomaru tilted his head slightly to the side.

"There is nothing to see, Inuyasha. I am not basing my decision on good traits. As a lord of my standing, the only qualities I can hope for when searching for a mate, is that they are physically appealing, and I am able to stand them being in my presence for more than five minutes. And when dealing with youkai who are in my position, the list is relatively short."

Sesshomaru was almost unable to suppress a frown at his words. It was true, most of it. Amatsu was the only person who met those specific qualifications, but Sesshomaru wished for so much more. It had gotten to the point that he didn't think he'd ever find a mate that would be able to satisfy him.

He did have a few qualities that he looked for and admired when searching for potential mates.

Amatsu had none.

He put up such a façade of fake pleasantries that it sickened the demon lord. He acted like he would give you a choice when dealing with matters, but the truth was that eventually he would take what he wanted. He was too calm, too collected, his poker face rivaled Sesshomaru's himself, though instead of hiding behind an icy mask Amatsu shielded himself with a haughty smirk.

In fact, he was rather the opposite of one annoying half-demon . . .

Sesshomaru's brain froze at that thought, and all coherent notions stopped.

. . . No, that hadn't been what he had meant.

What he had been trying to say was that . . .

Sesshomaru frowned.

Inuyasha found his brow furrowing when he heard his brother's words. And he found himself speaking without thinking.

"That reasoning is just ridiculous. You shouldn't stand for something less than you deserve."

The half-demon's eyes widened when he actually thought about what he had just said.

Sesshomaru didn't seem to notice the unintentional compliment.

"That may be true, but it is irrelevant in this particular case. I need to take a mate soon, and Amatsu is the only worthy candidate."

The half-demon felt the jealousy grow within him once more and he barely pushed back a growl.

"Well what about m—!!"

Inuyasha clamped his mouth shut once he realized what he had almost said.

What in the world was he doing?!

He had started this conversation so that Sesshomaru wouldn't be all pissy, not because he had wanted the demon lord to know that he— his youkai, was expressing interest in him!

Sesshomaru turned to look at him curiously.

He knew very well what the hanyou was about to say.

What he didn't know was why.

The half-demon was declaring himself as a potential mate.

Sesshomaru felt slightly . . . flustered.

And . . . pleased?

His frown grew deeper.

An awkward silence grew between them as Inuyasha cursed himself, clenching his fists and blushing darkly.

"I mean, what I meant was—"

"I am perfectly aware of what you meant, otouto." Sesshomaru interrupted, finding himself unable to look at his younger brother.

Inuyasha's head turned at the name.

Seeing as there was no way he could possibly talk to Sesshomaru after that slip up, he began walking faster, pulling in front of the youkai and grumbling to himself.

What in the world was happening to him?

foxgirl: sorry for the long wait... it took me a while to get this chapter how I wanted it, and I still don't think it's exactly perfect. If you guys have any ideas on how to make it better, please share. I think I'm moving the story along too quickly...

VIXEN: Hah! My name is in caps! Review please!