Disclaimer:
I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters. Masuyo is mine.Chapter Three
It took approximately three seconds for Sesshoumaru's words to sink into Inuyasha's comprehension. It took much longer for the hanyou to finally stop laughing, which his older brother endured with rather impressive forbearance. But then, Sesshoumaru was expecting such a response. Would he not have sneered, if not laughed, in Inuyasha's face if his brother had come requesting help? That didn't truly make the present situation more bearable, but he was not willing to allow his brother to see that he was annoyed.
Fortunately, just as Sesshoumaru was about to finally show his temper, Miroku spoke up, "What do you need our help for?"
Welcoming the distraction from Inuyasha's laughter, the youkai lord cast a condescending glance in the monk's direction, "I do not believe I mentioned anyone's help but my brother's. This is a family matter." There was something reassuring about being condescending to another when one was being laughed at. Condescension he was used to- being laughed at was an entirely new experience and he was finding out that he didn't care for it.
Sesshoumaru's words finally cut through the hanyou's hilarity long enough for him to pause and question, "Family matter?" He smirked, "I thought I wasn't supposed to get involved in family matters."
Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed and he retorted calmly, "Ignoring your familial ties does seem to be a preference of yours, little brother."
Inuyasha really hated being called 'little brother'. It was worse than Kouga's love of 'puppy'. Irritated at the reference, the hanyou snapped back, "I ignore my 'familial' ties because they ignore me..." Realizing that Sesshoumaru's attention was no longer on him, "Hey! I'm still talkin' here!"
For his part, Sesshoumaru was gazing speculatively at Kagome, causing the girl to look quite uneasy indeed. He took a step forward and she took a step back. The dance-like moves may have continued for several more, were it not for the bristling hanyou that came between them. Ignoring his snarling brother, Sesshoumaru murmured musingly, "So the human girl is from the future, Hm? Looking upon her now, I am surprised such an explanation did not occur to me." A pause as he continued to look over Inuyasha at Kagome before adding blandly, "I simply thought you two bonded out of your shared love for garish garb."
The youkai lord removed his gaze from the girl long enough to give his brother's choice of clothing a mocking glance. It was a good thing he was looking away from Kagome at that moment, for her indignant expression was not horribly flattering when combined with her mud-splattered features. No doubt she would be mortified if she realized what a picture she presented.
As far as Sesshoumaru's estimation of clothing, he had no fascination of it but he did indeed believe that clothing made the man or youkai as the case may be. Conscientious of that fact, he had given Rin fine clothing so that she would not appear as some street urchin following him around. Jaken, on the other hand, was a lost cause. The imp was actually fond of those bland colored rags. It didn't make a difference, he supposed, for even the nicest finery could not make the creature any more attractive. That said, it should not be any surprise that he did not have a great respect for Inuyasha's mostly monochromatic theme of red.
"Like I really care what you think about what I wear. And how did you know about Kagome?" Inuyasha moved slightly over in an attempt to block the girl from his brother's line of sight. It really made no difference now, as Sesshoumaru was again acting like none of the humans were even there, which would have been his preference.
"I believe I can answer that, Lord Inuyasha." It soon became apparent where the small, wizened voice was coming from as Myouga made himself visible on Sesshoumaru's shoulder. The dog youkai was clearly not pleased to be reminded of the fact that the flea was currently with him.
Serves him right,
Inuyasha thought with a smug viciousness, Probably has never had a flea on him in his life. Today was officially successful in Inuyasha's opinion. He had seen mud on Sesshoumaru, however few specks there were, and now he was seeing a flea. His flawless brother was now a little less so. Of course, the realization that Myouga had given his brother information made Inuyasha's sense of triumph lessen considerably. "Myouga..." He began warningly, taking a step forward and flexing his claws."Please let me explain! I mean, of course, if Lord Sesshoumaru does not wish to tell you the circumstances himself..."
Said Lord Sesshoumaru gave the flea an indifferent glance that clearly indicated he didn't care if Myouga put the story to verse and starting singing it. He had no intention of playing storyteller to a bunch of humans and his hanyou half-brother. Story time was something Rin had yet to convince the youkai lord to do, but. Fortunately there was Jaken for such things. How the imp didn't tire of telling the same stories over and over again was beyond even Sesshoumaru's comprehension.
Sesshoumaru listened patiently as Myouga retold what he had already told him. He listened a little less patiently as the humans asked the flea questions, and as all of the flea's answers amounted to I-don't-knows or I'm-not-sures. Sesshoumaru came to the conclusion that for being an informant, Myouga really did not know very much. Then it came to the crux of the matter, and the youkai began to pay attention to his brother's reaction to hearing that they would both cease to exist should Masuyo succeed. He shouldn't have been surprised when Inuyasha brashly declared that he didn't need Sesshoumaru's help and would defeat Masuyo all by himself. I underestimated his stupidity.
Cutting off his brother's boasts, Sesshoumaru coolly inserted, "You may believe you can defeat him on your own, but I intend to accompany you to make certain that Masuyo is dead. I will not suffer the consequences of your failure."
"I'm not gonna fail!"
"So you have said an exhaustible amount of times."
"Then why don't you go away and just leave this to me?"
"Have you considered, brother, that you are not the only one affected by this? Our father ruled over many, and should Masuyo succeed then all those he led will also suffer. It is not my desire to work with you anymore so than yours to work with me, but I will do so because I cannot choose to risk them as well. I am the Inutaisho now." Sesshoumaru's gaze was implacable and he would brook no argument on this. He had not truly thought his brother would accept this easily, but then, Sesshoumaru himself had not accepted it easily. He was, in fact, still galled by the fact he would have to work with his brother, and if different viable option had presented itself even at that moment, he would have lept at it.
To say that this side of Sesshoumaru surprised the others is an understatement. A smile curved Kagome's lips and she gave an approving nod, "It is the responsible thing to do." Miroku, Shippou, and Sango all chimed in with impressed expressions of agreement. It seemed that for the moment his cruelty and disregard for humans was forgotten.
Staring around at his so-called friends, Inuyasha found himself standing alone...and his brother looking like the honorable one. The hanyou was officially defeated by popular opinion. "Feh. Fine. But I still say I could handle him on my own."
Sesshoumaru had no vocal response to that, but his narrowed gaze conveyed his displeasure. He had faced many creatures that struck fear into the hearts of men and youkai alike, but he had never found anything so daunting as the thought of passing days in his brother's company and having to refrain from killing him. This was going to be a trial indeed.
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First of all, a big thank you goes to those who reviewed. It's good to know people –are- reading and enjoying the story. Secondly, I used "Inutaisho" as a title in this chapter rather than as Sesshoumaru's father's name. This is because I was told that in the cat-demon arc it was used in this manner and was insinuated that Sesshoumaru was the Inutaisho now. If you disagree with this that's entirely okay and you can just feel free to ignore that word in the story or substitute "Leader of the dogs" for it. You'll get no complaints from me. ^_^
Please review and the next chapter will be out soon!
