Chapter 9

Inuyasha opened his eyes. He breathed in, his vision blurred. He could see something in front of him, his chest hurting as he tried to move.

"Stay still." Inuyasha blinked in confusion at the familiar voice, his vision slowly clearing. He saw Sesshomaru in front of him, his golden eyes watching him silently with worry. Inuyasha breathed in again, the act hurting his chest. It felt like it was wrung tight, Inuyasha trying to move his arm but Sesshomaru put his hand over it.

"Be still, you'll reopen your wounds."

Inuyasha was confused.

How did he get any wounds? The last thing he remembered was walking in the forest, the memory suddenly stopping with a burst of light.

"He's a stubborn demon. He will heal quicker than you think." Inuyasha frowned at the sound of Kikyo's voice, looking to the side and seeing her by a bucket. He could hardly see the water from his vantage point, but when it slightly sloshed over the edge when she put a towel inside, Inuyasha's eye's widened when he saw it was red. He tried to get up, Sesshomaru laying him back down. Inuyasha was getting frustrated, not understanding anything that was happening.

"His head was hit pretty hard, I doubt he remembers anything," Kikyo tsked, Inuyasha looking back to her. His throat was dry, Inuyasha smacking away Sesshomaru's hands as he slowly sat up. He hissed when he felt pain erupt in his chest and leg, looking down. His haori and kimono had been removed, his skin bare. A large scar ran across it, Inuyasha touching a hand to it. It would be gone in a few hours, pain and scar. His hakama was also removed, a blanket covering his legs. He moved some of it to the side. On his left thigh was a stab wound, also merely a scar now.

Whatever wounds he obtained had healed enough, Inuyasha running his fingers over it before looking to Sesshomaru. The demon was silent, Inuyasha wanting answers.

"What happened?" He asked, Kikyo forcing him to lay back down after scolding him for moving too much while injured. Inuyasha didn't understand what the big deal was. He had a gaping hole in his stomach before and did rather well.

"The wound is close to your heart, be careful," Kikyo ordered, Inuyasha looking from her to Sesshomaru who had stood. He faced away from him, talking to a little girl who looked to him with worry. She left with a bow and a whispered yes, closing the shoji.

"Sorry for my little sister, she was worried about you." Inuyasha frowned in confusion, looking to the shoji.

Kaede?

"You were ambushed." Inuyasha frowned in confusion, wondering why he couldn't remember anything besides walking in the forest. Kikyo said his head was hit hard, but he was a half demon. That type of injury shouldn't have done much damage.

"Kouga turned against you. He and his pack ambushed you." Inuyasha frowned, grabbing his head as pain erupted through his skull. He growled as he remembered a certain scent, the rays of the sun flashing off a blade.

"Where's your so called strength now, mut?" Inuyasha looked to Kikyo sharply when she touched his arm, a growl torn from his throat. Kikyo frowned, tightening her fist around his arm.

"Rest." Inuyasha almost told her no, but he suddenly got dizzy. He laid back with a groan, touching a hand to his head.

"If Lord Sesshomaru hadn't retrieved me, you would be dead Inuyasha. He managed to save you in the knick of time," Kikyo told him, moving his hand from his head and dabbing it with a clean towel, the one covered in his blood set aside. Inuyasha closed his eyes, too exhausted to say anything.

Sesshomaru saved him?

"Normally I would expect you to heal on your own, but Kouga nearly tore out your heart. Demon or not, that is fatal." Inuyasha wondered why the ignorant ass would do something like that, his eyes suddenly flashing in his brain.

"If I can't have you, no one can."

Had he liked him?
Inuyasha wasn't that big on seducing the same sex, but some pieces had started to fall into place. Kouga had liked him most likely, and since Inuyasha didn't like him, he probably tried to tear out his heart so it could be his own. Inuyasha could find no way to be flattered by his attraction.

It was just fucking creepy.

"Should've let me kill him when I had the chance," Inuyasha mumbled, his eyelids getting heavy.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw Kikyo's face.

...

Inuyasha opened his eyes.

He blinked, sitting up slowly. He touched a hand to his chest, a familiar pain lightly thrumming inside.

Sesshomaru had been there?

Inuyasha looked to the shoji when it was opened, seeing Sesshomaru in the doorway. He looked older than it that memory but still young, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Takahiro wishes to speak with you." He closed his shoji, Inuyasha looking down to his hands.

He thought he didn't care.

Inuyasha got dressed after bathing, ignoring the maids that said they needed to get him ready. He walked into the dining room, seeing his grandfather sitting at the front of the table. A memory flashed in front of his eyes.

"Get him out of here now!"

The old man still looked old, his golden eyes looking down to him.

"Good luck, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha blinked, Takahiro standing with a small smile.

"I have something for you." Inuyasha didn't move as he walked towards him, their golden eyes locked. Inuyasha looked down though when he saw him take his hands from his sleeves, his hand clenched lightly into a fist.
"I was supposed to give this to you when you were 150, but you were pinned to a tree." He opened his hand, Inuyasha seeing a necklace on his palm. He didn't know what to do, staying still as he lifted it up and put it around his neck. Inuyasha looked down to it, lifting it up. It was a fang, Inuyasha feeling tears burn in his eyes.

His father's fang.

He looked back to Takahiro, his grandfather.

He had been there when his mother tried to escape with him, he made sure they were alright. He didn't know what to do, looking to Kimi. A memory flashed in his mind.

He was hiding behind his mother's leg, looking up to a tall lady who was talking to his mother. His mother shook her head, the lady instead giving her a cart of food and clothing.

Inuyasha blinked back from the memory, his breathing speeding up. He took a step back, his anger trying to rise but unable to. He didn't want to believe it. Inuyasha turned away, running out of the room. He felt his eyes burn, memories suddenly flashing in his eyes of times they were there but hidden. His head pounded, Inuyasha darting out of the castle. He ran to the edge, stopping by the waterfall.

He panted softly, looking down to the ground. The memories slowly started to fade away, his vision clearing.

All this time, he wasn't alone.

Inuyasha sat down on the edge, looking to the waterfall. He smiled a little, reaching over and touching the cold water with his fingers. It was freezing, Inuyasha pulling his hand away. Water sat in his palm, Inuyasha looking down to it with a small smile that wouldn't leave his face.

He had woken up to Sesshomaru's face. Inuyasha wasn't going to say he loved him because of it, but the worry he showed in his eyes made him feel less angry. The bastard told him he didn't care, but he made it rather obvious he did. Inuyasha wasn't going to hug him, wasn't going to say thank you or any other bullshit.

But he guessed he wasn't an asshole anymore.

"Mom, I was never alone," he whispered as he looked into the water in his palm. His reflection shifted, his mother's face showing. She gave him a smile, whispering words he couldn't hear. Even so, they comforted him. The reflection shifted, Sesshomaru appearing. Inuyasha looked over his shoulder, seeing Sesshomaru standing not that far away.

He had a frown on his face, Inuyasha drinking the water before standing. He forced his smile away for reputations sake, walking up to him. Sesshomaru parted his lips, Inuyasha raising a hand.

"Yeah yeah don't start with your respect shit," He told him, jumping up onto the balcony. He walked to the dining room, a smile on his face. The maids who he passed by wouldn't stop looking at him but it didn't matter, a hole inside Inuyasha was filled. Even if only a little.

He walked into the dining room, his grandfather looking to him. Inuyasha forced away his smile again, but Kimi had seen it. He could see the content in her eyes, Inuyasha looking to his grand father.

"Thank you." His grand father seemed to be in shock for a second, Inuyasha feeling Sesshomaru behind him. He didn't turn to him though, his grandfather's shocked face becoming a wide grin. He walked over, Inuyasha gasping softly when he hugged him. He didn't know what to do, Takahiro pulling away and looking down to his face. His grin never went away, Inuyasha swearing he saw tears in his eyes.

"You're welcome my son," he replied, Inuyasha looking to Kira who grabbed his arm lightly.

"Please, sit and eat." Inuyasha didn't feel that hypnotizing thing, nodding his head anyway. He wasn't sure he was over everything, but the memories had given him some type of solace. He was led to his seat that had been empty for a long time. It was rather awkward to sit with them, but it also helped fill part of the hole. He looked to Kimi who nodded her head, Inuyasha nodding back.

When he was young, he always wondered where all of the food came from.

"So Inuyasha, do you enjoy unions?" His grand father asked, Inuyasha blinking. He had no idea what that was.

"A union?" He questioned, Kimi deciding to answer.

"It is a form of gathering where we drink and eat with many others," she told him, Inuyasha frowning.

"A party?" He asked, Kimi smiling a little.

"That could be another way to put it," she replied, Takahiro frowning.

"What's a party?" Inuyasha smiled but he quickly wiped it away. Sesshomaru saw it though, Inuyasha clearing his throat as he tried to act bored.

He couldn't though.

All this time he wasn't alone.

They took care of him all of his life.

Just in the shadows.

:::+:::

Inuyasha was walking back to his room, holding the fang between his fingers as he stared down at it. His father's fang was small. Inuyasha wondered how he made such powerful swords from them. He should have expected as much though. He was one of the most powerful demon lords when he was alive.

Inuyasha stopped when he smelt a familiar scent.

He looked up, frowning when he saw Naraku. He could not smile or think of a memory in which he was there. In fact, his armor looked rather new to begin with. Naraku bowed to him, Inuyasha snorting softly.

"What do you want?" He asked, Naraku standing back up with a small smirk.

"You never did take that bath with me." Inuyasha had a very bad feeling go up his spine. Something flashed in Naraku's eyes, Inuyasha having seen it before with Kouga. The wolf demon got over his crush, Kagome filling that gap, Kouga just fighting him now for her. But all in all, that look had been there.

"I do not like you. I will never take that bath with you." Inuyasha was blunt and he knew it, but he was tired of his antics. Naraku's smirk fell. Inuyasha walked up to him, his eyes narrowing.

"Don't talk to me ever again." He brushed past him, Naraku looking down to the floor.

"Do you love another?"

Inuyasha stopped walking, Kikyo flashing in his vision.

"Yes."

Naraku looked up, looking down the long hallway in front of him. He clenched his hands into fists.

"Forgive me then."

Naraku walked away, Inuyasha leaving to his room. Kouga had been rather violent when he figured out he didn't like him, but the calmness Naraku displayed was unnerving. Inuyasha brushed it off though.

The truth always hurts more than the lie.

Author's note: The memory was bound to pop up eventually, especially with Rin making him remember his childhood days.