Sesshomaru had a feeling it would be a late night at the police station, but better here than at home with Inuyasha on the New Moon.
Taking his cup of coffee out from under the machine, he wrinkled up his nose at the thought. Over the years, he had certainly learned to tolerate his brother. But the New Moon was practically unbearable; the emotions swirling from Inuyasha would make the smells overwhelming, and the boy would pathetically brood around all night long. He'd act particularly snappy as well.
Surely he was at home by now, perhaps with that human he seemed so fond of. They'd started to train in self defense every night recently. Sesshomaru didn't really mind; the girl was amusing, and a distraction for his brother. The girl also had a remarkable talent for calming Inuyasha, sometimes even scaring him into submission. Amusing indeed. She had claimed not to be his lover, but Sesshomaru had no doubt that would change. Inuyasha had clearly inherited their father's taste for human women, not that Sesshomaru gave a damn.
But one thing now he was confused about was how he hadn't sneezed in a while.
Indeed, perhaps it was connected to demon energy somehow, but the superstition that sneezing meant someone was talking behind your back seemed to work on him. He often got into strange sneezing fits out of nowhere, and finally suspected the connection when he overheard Inuyasha cursing his name when alone in his room on a particularly annoying night of arguing.
Over time, it had become Sesshomaru's small way of keeping tabs on his brother; surely if Inuyasha had a good enough mood to grumble about Sesshomaru, then he wasn't busy being murdered or getting into some ridiculous trouble like he always did. He sneezed a few times a day, and admittedly, it relaxed him. Not that he cared about his brother's safety. No it was simply… picking up after his brother's mess was an annoying prospect. Yes. That must be why.
(He pretended not to notice the detectives by his office telling each other to pick up especially spicy food or shake out dusters in Sesshomaru's office, because they somehow realized that when Sesshomaru sneezed, he was in a better mood. Why they were so determined to fear him, he didn't know. But he also didn't mind.)
This afternoon, however, he hadn't sneezed once. Even if Inuyasha was going home after his half school day with that girl, surely he would have cursed his name in some form by now.
Sesshomaru frowned down into his cup. Inuyasha focusing usually meant not cursing Sesshomaru, and also meant he was fighting.
But he shook this off; Sesshomaru was simply being paranoid, that was all. Surely the girl could keep his brother out of trouble for a day. After all, maybe he was focused on the girl, since he obviously adored her so. Sesshomaru shuddered at the thought of romantically and sexually considering any being, but to each their own, he supposed. The Tashio line did need to be continued somehow.
Still. He should be sneezing.
As if an answer to an unspoken prayer, his phone suddenly let out a trill that indicated a text. Perhaps Inuyasha was letting him know that he was staying over with a friend tonight?
But when he looked down at the phone, he furrowed his eyebrows to see an unknown number. He'd never gotten a wrong number text before, and out of bored curiosity, he opened it.
"What the fuck," he muttered in a monotone, blinking down and re-reading the message.
[Listen, Inuyasha's being a dumbshit. He's found Naraku's distribution point tonight and decided to go after him, just the five of us. And he's gonna get us killed. Fuck that noise. I ain't dying tonight. Gotta make babies with Sango yet. So meet us at…] There was an address listed at the end.
"Who in the name of…?"
The texter must have been telepathic, as the next message soon appeared: [I'm Inuyasha's friend, Miroku, btw. I stole your number from his phone in case we needed to call in the big guns someday when Inuyasha decided to do something moranic. Bring lethal firearms cuz we don't have any! Toodles!]
So Sesshomaru had been right to be suspicious of the no sneeze issue. Calmly, he closed out of his phone and took a sip of his coffee. "Inuyasha, you dumbshit bastard." And he grabbed his keys off his belt.
Dear miraculous humans,
As you can see, I've got some short little varying POV snippets that I'm posting throughout the story. First one for Sesshomaru, showing how he knew where to find Naraku's hideout! Credits to Akela-Nakamura for dorkily brainstorming the sneezing idea haha this is her favorite I believe...
Thank you for the wonderful reviews! I can't describe exactly how dorky of a smile I get when I get the email saying I got a review but let me tell you it feels pretty damn dorky okey. SO THANK YOU and I hope you enjoyed this lil part enough to say so!
Happy New Year!
Mizpah,
~LoneStorm
