Inuyasha paced back and forth outside of the healer's chamber. He was reeling. Sesshomaru, passing out? He hadn't even done that when Inuyasha had cut his arm off. He was untouchable. Naraku couldn't even make his brother pass out. But one sip of drink—the healer said it was poisoned, but weren't poisons Sesshomaru's specialty?
But apparently, there were still poisons that could work against even Sesshomaru.
The door opened and the healer walked out. Inuyasha spun towards her. "What's going on? How is he?"
The healer looked at him with sad eyes. "He will not die, but…"
"But?" Inuyasha felt his voice rise.
"But the poison has done some severe damage. It burned each organ as it passed through. He has many internal injuries I can't do anything about. He will not be leaving his bed for a long while. He is awake now, but I doubt he'll be able to maintain consciousness for more than a couple minutes at a time."
"Why are we talking then?" Inuyasha rushed past her, bursting into the room. Sesshomaru lay on the bed, looking weak and exhausted. "Sesshomaru! Are you okay?"
"I…am fine." He rasped from his place on the bed.
"No, you're not. You look freaking awful." Inuyasha meant it. Sesshomaru's face was drawn and in pain, and his eyes had dark circles under them.
"…thank…you..." Sesshomaru gave a weak attempt at sarcasm.
"Just telling you how it is. So, hungry? Thirsty? Can I get you anything?" Inuyasha asked hopefully.
"I…hope…you're jok…ing." Another strange attempt at humor. Something was wrong. Sesshomaru never tried to be funny. Never.
"Are you really okay? Did the poison injure your brain, too?"
"foolish hanyou….leave…me."
"Leave? Why?"
"You…still need…to study…"
"What the—? You are freaking in bed with all your organs burnt out, and you want me to study diplomacy and crap like that."
"…of course…did you think….something…like this…could get you…out of…it?"
"You freaking slave driver!" Inuyasha complained loudly, throwing his arms up into the air. When he did, his sleeves fell down to his elbows.
"Inuyasha…" Suddenly, Sesshomaru's aura turned dangerous. Inuyasha fidgeted. How could a bedridden guy be so scary?
"Yes?"
"What…is that…on your arms?"
"Hm?" Inuyasha looked at his arms. "What?! What are those doing there?" The symbols from the books had plastered themselves all over his arms!
"you mean…to tell me…that you did not…realize…you had tattooed…yourself?"
"I didn't! They literally just appeared on my arms!"
"…that is…impossible…" Sesshomaru examined Inuyasha's arms once again. "What…are…these…symbols?"
"Oh, these? They were in this book I was reading, but…" Inuyasha looked from his arm back to Sesshomaru. The youkai had fallen fast asleep. "Jeez. Retard asks me a question and can't even listen to the answer." He muttered, looking down at Sesshomaru's sleeping form.
"Hey! You!" He pointed to a servant loitering in the doorway. "Get me the books Sesshomaru wanted me to study."
He didn't want to, but…Sesshomaru just got his insides burnt out. No, it wasn't that Inuyasha cared if Sesshomaru got hurt—who cared about something dumb like that? Not Inuyasha, that was for sure. But…if Sesshomaru was lying in bed, then he couldn't force Inuyasha to study. So, if he just did whatever instead of studying, it really wouldn't be fair, since Sesshomaru couldn't stop him. So, Inuyasha would just have to study while Sesshomaru was powerless, and then when Sesshomaru got better he could go back to fighting Sesshomaru. It was only fair, after all.
"Chair." He waved his arm again. This was ridiculous. The chair had appeared out of nowhere. It had. So why couldn't it do that again? He tried again. "Chair. Chair. Chairchairchairchairchaircha irchair WHY ISN'T THIS WORKING?!"
"I'm sorry, My Lord!" The servant who had come with his books cowered in the doorway.
"Took you long enough." Inuyasha said grumpily, taking the books from him. Why were there so many? He opened the first one. "Are you freaking kidding me." The entire book was on receiving gifts courteously. He looked at Sesshomaru. "I hate you. Did you know that? I really hate you."
Sesshomaru arrogantly remained silent.
"This is so dumb." Inuyasha began to read the book. A couple pages into it, he stopped.
"This is retarded! Why does this book even exist?!" He looked back at Sesshomaru. "You couldn't have picked out one with pictures or something, at least?"
Sesshomaru just lay there.
"Jeez, quit guilt-tripping me. I said I was going to read it, so I will. But just so you know, you're evil."
Inuyasha read some more.
"So… let's say I don't finish this. I'll just read half of it, and then be done for the day. Sounds good, right?"
Sesshomaru offered no opinion.
"Yeah, yeah. No shortcuts. You can be really boring sometimes, you know that?"
Inuyasha went back to reading.
"Haha! I'm done! You, know what, Sesshomaru? That was useless. They could have summed it up in like five pages."
Sesshomaru didn't answer.
"Well, I'm done for the day then—Don't look at me like that, I was just kidding." Inuyasha looked at the pile of books. "But, really, now. Do I have to read all of these? Can't I just, you know, let you do all the diplomatic stuff, and I can do all the patrolling the kingdom stuff?"
Sesshomaru lay there.
"I know, I know. I'm the daiyoukai. Let me remind you, though, I never asked for it. You just kind of forced it on me."
Sesshomaru was silent.
"Yeah, I know I gave in too easily. But what was I supposed to do? Ever since I was little, I wanted to have you acknowledge me, and there you were, saying I could live at your palace, and mom had always said it was so beautiful and nice, and I wanted to see it. Then you were all expecting me to be the Daiyoukai, and do you know how your face looks when you're disappointed? It's freaking ugly, man, and I didn't want to see it."
Sesshomaru was silent.
"And yeah. I thought I could get some revenge. You know, embarrass you in front of your friends, like you did to me. You're such a jerk, though! I finally manage to get back at you, and you couldn't even have the decency to get angry. And then everybody here is freaking huge, and why did you have to get mad at me for the diplomatic meeting? So, I didn't listen to your advice. You were talking really monotone! And so what if I took longer than usual seeing my friends? I can't see them for a couple months now, not even Kagome! Why does everything I do have to be so wrong to you?"
Sesshomaru was silent.
"Fine—I'm reading, I'm reading. This one's on how to eat. Jeez? Did you specifically choose the most boring books in the library?"
Inuyasha resumed reading.
"And, you know what?" He shut his book suddenly.
"…What?" Inuyasha yelped in surprise.
"You're awake?!"
"It…would…seem so."
"How long were you awake for?"
"not…long. You…are…studying." Sesshomaru looked at him approvingly, and Inuyasha blushed in embarrassment.
"No! I was just—I wasn't studying!"
"…very…well. What…were…you going…to say?"
"Hm? When?"
"Just...now…"
"Oh, that. Nothing. Just that you were stupid." Inuyasha lied as he blushed again. Stupid. Why did he have to blab about everything as soon as Sesshomaru closed his eyes?
"…very…classy." Sesshomaru answered sarcastically.
"Shut up."
"…now…how…did you…get those…tattoos?"
"I don't know. They literally just showed up, I swear."
"What do…they….mean?"
"Who knows? They were in this book. Oh! I know this one. It means—" Sesshomaru began to try to sit up, so Inuyasha unconsciously put a hand on his shoulder to stop him "—heal."
Inuyasha watched as the symbol actually slid down his arm and onto Sesshomaru's shoulder. It sat there for a second before seeping into his skin, tinting it violet. The violet color began to expand until it covered his torso. Ropes of the color shot out of the stump of his arm, twisting together until they formed into the shape of his arm. Then, slowly, the color died away until there was not a drop of violet left on his body.
"What did you just do?" Sesshomaru asked, astonished. He was healed—not just healed, but better than before. His arm had returned, without a single scar to show it had once been missing.
"I don't know." Inuyasha stared, at a loss for words. What had just happened.
"Well, you obviously did something. When you said that word, your eyes glowed violet, and I was healed. What did you say?"
"I just said 'heal.'"
"No, you said something else."
"Look, I'm pretty sure I'd know what I said."
"Just as I would know what I've heard."
"I said 'heal.' Maybe you heard me wrong because you were injured."
"I might have been injured, but my ears were not." Sesshomaru sighed loudly. "This is getting us nowhere. Call the servants in."
"Why?"
"We will hear you say another symbol's meaning, and test to see if you are saying what you think you are saying."
"Fine."
When the servants had entered the room, Sesshomaru poked one of the tattoos. "What does this one mean?"
"Love." The symbol began to heat up, sliding from Inuyasha's arm to Sesshomaru's finger, where he touched the mark. Yet again, it expanded until Sesshomaru's whole body was encompassed in violet light, and then faded.
"So? I said love, didn't I?" Inuyasha looked at the servants.
"N-no, sir. You said something in a language we did not understand." One servant said, and the rest agreed.
"What the heck! I was sure I said 'love.' Sesshomaru, what did you hear?" Inuyasha turned to Sesshomaru, who was staring at him with a strange look on his face.
"What?" Inuyasha asked, suddenly feeling self-conscious. "Is there something on my face?"
"No." Sesshomaru answered hurriedly, looking away. Was he blushing? No. He couldn't be. Sesshomaru didn't do stuff like that.
"So? What did you hear?"
"When?"
"Like five seconds ago. Did you hear 'love' or something else?"
"I…heard something else." He looked very disappointed. Inuyasha cocked his head to the side. Why did Sesshomaru look disappointed? He'd just been proved right.
"What? No gloating?"
"Inuyasha…you…"
"What?"
"Nothing. Have you eaten yet?"
"Me? No, I guess I kind of forgot, what with you collapsing and all. Come to think of it, though, I am kind of hungry."
"Perfect. I shall prepare our meal, then."
"Really? Thanks, man!" Inuyasha smiled at the thought of eating. "What's it gonna be?"
"What would you like?"
"Umm…" He really just wanted Ramen, but they didn't have any here. "Anything's cool with me. Just as long as it's not people. Or mushrooms. I hate mushrooms."
"I will keep that in mind then, and prepare only the best food for my liege." Sesshomaru walked out, and Inuyasha couldn't help but smile. Dude. Sesshomaru had gotten awesome.
Sesshomaru walked down the hall, trying to control the beating of his heart. What had happened? It seemed like Sesshomaru's entire existence had shifted. Once, he had only looked for his own happiness. Now, though, he felt as if the very reason he was born was to make Inuyasha happy. As if all he wanted in the world was to make Inuyasha smile.
Had Inuyasha put some sort of spell on him? No, there was no way Inuyasha could ever do something so underhanded. Inuyasha was too honest for that. Everything Inuyasha did was honest and sincere. Compared to the other lords, Inuyasha's way was so much better.
When he got to the kitchens, he demanded to see what the staff was preparing, trying each and every dish on the menu.
"Is this the best you can do? Inuyasha is not some sort of third class lord anything will do for! He is your Daiyoukai! Remake everything. I want nothing less than your best. And you." He pointed to a chef in the back. "How could you not know that our lord hates mushrooms?! You're fired. Leave now."
The kitchen staff got back to work, with Sesshomaru breathing down the necks of each and every member of staff. "This needs more salt. You! Are you honestly going to make a dish for your Daiyoukai in such squalor? Clean up your work station immediately. I will leave to make preparations for the venue. When I come back, I expect everything to be well in order."
It was much the same in the dining hall. "You were going to use these plates? Are we peasants here? You are to use nothing but the finest China for the daiyoukai. You! What are you doing? Throw those candleholders out immediately. They are a disgrace. This music isn't right. Please play something a little softer and sweeter…yes; that will do."
Finally, everything was perfect. Sesshomaru went upstairs to fetch his lord. "My lord. Dinner is ready."
"Really?" Inuyasha looked guiltily at Sesshomaru. "Well, um, I actually…just ate. But I can eat again!" He added hurriedly. "You just were taking so long, that I thought you'd forgotten about it, so I ate some fruit. But, really, it's not my fault. I didn't ask you to spend forever on dinner."
Sesshomaru gritted his teeth. He had been too careless. In his rush to give Inuyasha the best possible meal, he had taken too long. He mentally kicked himself. Of course, Inuyasha would have wondered what was going on. "I apologize for making you wait, my lord. Are you still hungry?"
"You know me. I'm always hungry." Inuyasha seemed relieved about something, but Sesshomaru couldn't decide what.
As they ate. Sesshomaru decided that Inuyasha was too distractingly cute. He ate with this adorable passion, as if he was afraid the food would run away if he ate it any slower. Sesshomaru found himself chuckling to himself as Inuyasha tried to shove the pie in his mouth at the same time as the pheasant and found his mouth was too full to swallow. At that, Inuyasha looked at Sesshomaru suspiciously. He drank a large gulp of water before asking,
"What is up with you?"
"I'm sorry?"
"Well, first, you make me this awesome dinner, and then when I tell you I already ate, you don't even get mad at me. Actually, you haven't gotten mad at me this whole dinner, or nagged me about manners. In fact, you're even laughing all creepy like that! What's up with you?"
"You thought my laugh was creepy?" Sesshomaru tried not to feel hurt at this.
"Like Naraku's. It was bad."
"Oh…"
"See? Look at that! Before, you would've totally scolded me for my insolence. Now, you're just getting all…wistful."
"I apologize for displeasing my lord."
"AHA! This is part of some sort of revenge plot, isn't it? You never call me that unless you're being vindictive."
"I am not…"
"Well, Good luck, Sesshomaru! I'm not falling for it this time. I'm leaving." He stuck his tongue out before running away.
"But I wasn't…" Sesshomaru spoke to the empty room, feeling a strange sort of despair come over him. Inuyasha was right. Something was wrong with him. Something that made Inuyasha look adorable in his eyes. Something that made insults from Inuyasha hurt worse than the poison burning his organs. Something that made him want to make Inuyasha the happiest person in the world. Something that made him feel as he had never felt before.
But what could it be?
