Strange & Beautiful
Chapter 4: Trying to Be Where You Are

The youkai spent most of the next week by himself, his brother opting to spend some time in the village. Alone. Sesshomaru had a suspicion that his sibling was... how had the half-demon once said it... "figuratively running away"; for whatever reason, Inuyasha hadn't seemed to take well to the demon's confession of losing his heart to the other.

And when he had grown inpatient waiting for his sibling to emerge from the human village, he had decided to retrieve the hanyou himself. Upon sight of his arrival, the half-ningen had been red faced and sputtering obscenities that Sesshomaru wasn't even sure as to their meaning, never mind if they even made sense. However, regardless of the angry words the embarrassed hanyou had used, Inuyasha had eventually relented to hold council with the youkai.

After having dejectedly followed the demon lord into the woods for a while they finally settled in a small clearing, Sesshomaru waiting for some kind of answer or response from the younger inu who merely stared at the ground angrily, flushed red. It was a long while before the hanyou started mumbling, then grumbling and then ranting before he eventually huffed angrily and tried explaining his earlier nonsensical words.

He explained that there were "different kinds of love", such as the love of a lover where intimate physical relations were involved, the love of a companion where you're protective of as well as enjoy spending time with that friend, the love of a child for their parents, the love of sibling for their siblings, and so on. Inuyasha went on to say that Sesshomaru probably meant that he loved Inuyasha in the brotherly sense.

The youkai had blinked, finding his sibling's explanation fairly satisfactory... until his brain touched on something that his brother had hurriedly said.

"What is this 'love' in regards to the 'physical aspect' you spoke of?"

Inuyasha bloomed a blushing pink, the conversation on love from a week ago having already past his point of no return, so he gave in to responding instead of fighting it. "The... physical aspect of love, at least with a lover,... well, that means you're attracted to them physically... and you have... special physical relations with them... to show that..."

Sesshomaru stared. His brother really did lack in this area. Especially when he thought the youkai would give up with an incompetent answer like that.

"Attracted to someone, physically. So to be attracted to someone physically, you must find something about them that is physically... pleasing... to you?" the demon tried.

"Uh, yeah."

"And what is this 'special physical relationship' that one would share with another? Is love involved in this?"

Silence.

"Inuyasha?"

"...yeah?"

"In the physical relations you speak of between another person and oneself... is love involved?"

"Uhm... sometimes."

"Sometimes? Why engage in a physical relationship if you do not love the person?"

"Well, why did dad go for your mom?" Inuyasha says flustered

"He wished to rut her and create me."

You conceited, practical bastard, Inuyasha cursed the older inu.

"To make kids, yeah, that's why people have sex-"

"Sex?"

"It's the same thing as 'physical relations', okay! Just another word for rut, too.

"And people have other reasons aside from procreating to have... sex?"

"... among other... reasons..."

"Such as?"

Inuyasha groaned. "Can't you talk to someone else about this stuff, it's weird!"

Sesshomaru stared.

"Fine. But no more questions after this. Sex is to make babies, show your love physically for your... partner, the one you wanna spend eternity with, and sometimes just to satisfy your lust."

"Lust?"

"ARGH!" Inuyasha yelled out. "You cannot be SERIOUS!"

Sesshomaru blinked.

"I can't even begin to explain that to you. You either know it or you don't, demon or not."

Sesshomaru tried a different tactic, one which, while obvious to him, would more than likely fly over the hanyou's simple mind and get him the answers in which he sought.

"Have you ever felt lust, Inuyasha?"

"I- well, yeah, 'course I have!" the half-demon blushed a horribly adorable color.

"What did it feel like?" Sesshomaru's head tilted ever so slightly to the side, eyes lit with curiosity as they so often were.

"Uh, well... a hot feeling kinda started at the pit of my stomach... it tingled and I felt hot like I'd been through a long battle. I... this is so embarrassing but what more could you possibly humiliate me with?" Inuyasha gave up to his ever clueless sibling, not realizing where his words would lead both of them to. "When I felt lust, I wanted to... touch the other person, with my hands and my body and mouth... and other... various parts... it's just instinct... a primal one... Everybody has it. Everyone feels it. Probably even you, too."

Sesshomaru looked up at the sky, contemplating as Inuyasha yawned, falling into a light doze. Hmm, there was possibility that even he could feel it?

As he watched his slumbering sibling, Sesshomaru decided to contemplate before inquiring further on the present topic.

"Inuyasha?"

"Mm?" the hanyou yawned himself awake an hour later, squinting at the angle the sun was now at.

"When you feel lust, what happens? You say that you share your body, physically, with another. Concluding thus, I assume that your body reacts to them?"

"Uhh, what?"

Sesshomaru stared hard at the ground, picking out his words carefully, ones that would hopefully convey that which made sense in his head to his loopy sibling. "Are there... affects- physically- that tell that one is lusting?"

Inuyasha bloomed and burst cherry blossoms. How did this conversation turn so... so perverted!

"I- I- I-!" was all the half-demon could say coherently. Shaking his head of all the ridiculous questions, he blurted out, "Why don't you just go spy on people in the village and get your answers that way!" before he jumped up and ran off to go kill something and pretend it was his brother.

Sesshomaru stared after his sibling, thinking.

He would admit, it was a rather helpful suggestion, especially if he wished to see how things worked rather than have them verbally confirmed to him, in a very fumbling fashion.

The youkai nodded to himself and stood. He would observe those in the immediate area and obtain his answers before taking them back to his sibling for clarification.

And with that in mind, Sesshomaru made his way toward the human village beyond the river.

Author's Note: Uh oh. Sesshou... the voyeur. Now look what you've done, Inuyasha!