Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.
The Mediator/ Meddler
Ch. 3
Inuyasha was startled at first. Of course, after processing the information, he got angry. "You can what!" His fist was up and shaking, causing water droplets to fly every which way."Why didn't you tell me sooner!" He bared his fangs aggressively.
Forhis actions,he was awarded with an icy response to match an icy glare. "I did not find it necessary."
The water splashed around as Inuyasha waved his arms sporadically, "How in hell was it not-!"
"Enough," Sesshomaru gave him a harsh look. "Do not question me, little brother."
Said sibling growled, tempted to continue his justified ranting, but decided this once to give up. "Fine," he crossed his arms, blatantly showing his unhappiness about the whole situation.
Sesshomaru noted the way the moonlight hit the water, then reflected to alight Inuyasha's features. The boy was mad, obviously, but he could see it in his eyes. There was a deep fear in him, and it was maddening, for both of them.
Inuyasha snapped, "Well?"
The lord stood silent for a moment, then he used his only hand to search for the pouch he kept hidden near his heart. "It is usually used," he brought out the pure white bag, "for protection." He brought it over to the boy, "However, if it is willed to perform a different service, it can."
Inuyasha took the bag into his hand. He looked from it, to Sesshomaru, "I don't get it." He opened it up, and found a simple ring. "Huh? It smells of…blood." He took it out, and examined the item.
It wasn't made of metal, but of a very dark wood. Sesshomaru's name was etched on the outside of it. "Your blood…The whole thing is soaked with it." Inuyasha looked up at him in confusion. "Why?"
As always, he couldn't read Sesshomaru's emotions, if he had any. Instead, there was only a short retort. "All you need to know is my will alone keeps you from changing. Do not cross me."
With that, he turned around and left Inuyasha alone to think over the odd gift. Although, he wasn't really alone. There were two very shocked people standing watch over him through a Seering mirror.
Mina knew her mouth was hanging open. It wasn't meant to be stretched so big, it hurt too much. Myoga also realized that if his eyes opened any wider, they might just pop out.
"That," the lady said, "wasn't what I was expect-.
"Master Inuyasha! No!" Myoga was getting hysterical. "This shouldn't-! This can't be!"
Mina sighed, resigned already to the new development. "Myoga, it's alright, I'm sure-."
The door opened with a flourished bang, "I'm back! What'd I miss?" The old man had returned.
Myoga bounded up onto his shoulder, "Totosai! Something horrible-!Oh! I can't even say-!"
The sword-smith back up. "Um, the plan failed?"
Myoga fell silent, thinking over that."Well," Mina began, "actually, no, uh…"
Myoga was about to cry, "Too much of a success, I believe."
Totosai tilted his head, then asked the question. "Did Sesshomaru give his brother the Runed Ring?"
Myoga bowed his head as if defeated. "How did it come to this? Inutaishou must be turning in his grave."
Totosai looked to Mina for a less hysterical answer. She shrugged, "I don't see the problem, do you?"
The old man shook his head and chuckled a little. "Not really. I thought for sure Sesshomaru would just hack off his head."
Mina glared at him, "I fail to see the humor in that."
Totosai waved her anger away, "Don't bother to think about it. Those two won't do anything stupid. Wait," he turned to the mirror, "Does the pup know about the ring?"
Myoga sniffed, "No, but it doesn't matter. He's wearing it now."
"Yes, it does." He looked speculatively at the image. Inuyasha was looking at the ring like it would bite his finger off. "So long as the boy doesn't know about all of this, then it's okay."
Mina put a finger to her lip in thought, "But, why not mark him instead? Isn't that easier?" She looked to the mirror, "I wonder..."
Totosai rummaged through his pockets, then brought out some snacks he had gotten from a nearby town. "This is gettin' good." He plopped down in front of the mirror.
Mina rolled her eyes, "This is a mission, not a show."
"No sense in not havin' fun." He munched on a piece of dried meat. "Now, hush you two, I don't wanna miss anything else."
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The sun peaked over the horizon, blasting the world into an array of colors. Orange clashed with crimson and yellow, the many hues seemingly battling for dominance. Sesshomaru watched the sight for a bit, but didn't seem to care for the show of rebirth.
When the light hit Inuyasha's face, he groaned but didn't open his eyes. He was up on the tree branch again, the Runed Ring still upon his left ring finger. Sesshomaru didn't see it as the boy's hands were inside his haori, but it was of no importance. That ring was connected to his very soul, he could sense both it and the wearer miles away.
Such a token was not to be given away thoughtlessly. Normally, such a gift would show to the world that Inuyasha was his son and heir, under his protection. Of course, this would mean Inutaishou had lied about Inuyasha's mother and himself, causing quite a scandal which would completely ruin the father's name as well as his first born son's reputation.
However, as the practice of the Runed Ring had faded, Sesshomaru hoped that this would be the best temporary solution. After all, marking the boy would have bonded them forever, the ring could be taken off. If a foolish demon who happened to know about the ring and wished to start some unfounded rumors...Sesshomaru broke the silence of morning by cracking his elegant fingers.
One of Inuyasha's ears twitched, and he opened his eyes to look at his brother. "Something bothering you?"
The demon lord gave him a hard glare, "No." His voice was a bit tight.
Inuyasha felt like laughing, but managed to just smile a bit. Something was obviously upsetting the guy, but he let it go. "Whatever," his tone giving away his disbelief.
Kagome shifted about in her sleeping bag, then sat up to wipe the sleep from her eyes. "Good morning," she said softly, "Who else is awake?"
Inuyasha dropped down to the ground beside her. "Just us three. Need help makin' breakfast?"
Kagome smiled at him, "No, thank you for asking."
Inuyasha tilted forward a little bit, "Are you sure, Kagome?"
Something about his tone, it wasn't right to her. She tilted her head to the side, "Why are you so interested?"
Truly, the half breed could be so dense at times. "It's just that it always takes you so long. I mean, just because you're a little sleepy doesn't mean you have to be so slow."
Kagome had her eyes closed, her cheeks tinted pink. She looked a little embarrassed. Suddenly, that visage was gone, replaced by an overly smiling girl. "Inuyasha?"
"Huh?"
Her oily sweet voice ordered, "Sit boy."
BANG! Inuyasha was now inside of a crater. In a state, Kagome flounced out of bed, grabbed her bag, and headed off into a nearby clump of trees. This woke up Shippo, who simply looked without pity at his friend in the ground. All the racket woke up Sango and Miroku who had been sleeping on Kirara.
Shippo was the first to ask his semi-buried comrade, "What did you do this time?"
Inuyasha's slightly muffled response was, "I didn't do anything!"
The fox demon looked to Sesshomaru. He had been staring down at his brother's limp form, amazed that he was actually related to such a thing. He said plainly, "He insulted the human woman about her lack of speed in cooking meals."
Sango immediately said something about that, "Inuyasha, that's so rude! She tries really hard to make our meals." Kirara transformed with a blaze back into her smaller form.
Miroku nodded his head in agreement with Sango, "And really, Inuyasha, isn't Kagome's cooking worth the wait?" He got up, then extended his hand out to the demon slayer. She took it and allowed him to pull her a little closer to him.
Sesshomaru noticed, but chose not to watch more of the obvious love scenario. Instead, he concentrated on willing Inuyasha's pain away. Some of it came into the demon, whose pain tolerance was beyond that of his little brother's. The boy was getting up, his face giving away his shock.
Shippo gasped, "Wow! Pretty quick recovery."
Inuyasha just nodded. It had been odd, feeling the pain being sucked out of him. There was only one reason, one way that could make it happen. It was eerie, knowing that Sesshomaru could do that. Could he also cause him pain? Or maybe all this had to be done benevolently? Shaking his head of the pointless questions, he asked, "Where did Kagome run off to?"
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A quick thank you to all reviewers.
