Chapter Ten

Inuyasha winced as Sesshomaru dumped a bucket of cold water over his head. "You're almost clean." He took the soap from the hanyo and started to scrub his hair.

"Sesshomaru." Inuyasha didn't know how to ask what was on his mind. He needed his pups safe. If that meant he had to grovel and beg of the one person he never thought he would go to for help, then so be it. "Will you really protect them?"

"Of course." Sesshomaru scrubbed his brother's hair. The soap suds turned grey with dirt. He dumped another bucket of water over the boy's head and started again.

"And me?" Inuyasha rubbed his eye when a bit of soap ran down his face.

"I'm not going to separate you from your pups."

"How do I know you won't take them from me when they don't need me to feed them anymore?"

"I will swear any oath you wish."

"I don't trust you to keep an oath."

"It's your decision, Inuyasha. If you wish to stay here, I will stay and protect you. But the castle is easier to defend and is full of guards. You and the pups will have a room deep in the castle and no one will bother you."

"What do I do when I need food?"

"I'll bring you food."

"When I want to bathe?"

"You can use the hot spring."

Inuyasha finished scrubbing his face and shivered when yet another bucket of water was dumped over his head. "I'm getting cold."

"Get out. We need to empty it now." Sesshomaru lifted the tub and took it into the trees to empty it. When he came back Inuyasha was huddled by the fire. "We're almost done." Inuyasha sat in the tub again. His skin was pink from the scrubbing. His hair was still a little tangled, but at least he didn't stink anymore. "Are you considering coming to the castle?"

"Yes. No." Inuyasha sighed. "I don't know. Maybe. I'm not ready to trust you yet."

"Take your time. I know I've never given you cause to trust me. But I regret the way I have treated you. I regret leaving you alone when I knew that you were likely to be raped." Sesshomaru took a deep breath and started to comb Inuyasha's hair while he soaped himself up again. "I was tired. I had just fought a particularly nasty demon. My control isn't the best when I am exhausted. As much as I have acted like I don't care about you, there is a part of me that does. And I didn't want to be the one to hurt you. But I should have stayed. A little sleep, and my control would have been better. But your scent was confusing me."

"I would have prefer it if you had done it."

Sesshomaru paused. "You would be happier if I had raped you?"

"You wouldn't have hurt me the way he did. It was a month before the damage to my face healed enough that I could eat. Even then, I had to eat something dead I found because my arms still weren't working from being broken. He raped me so violently that I tore and something in my hips broke. I had to crawl like a slug to the creek for water."

Sesshomaru wrapped his arms around Inuyasha and pressed his face to the top of his head. "I'm sorry. It's my fault."

"What he did to me isn't your fault. That you left me alone, that was awful of you. You wouldn't have hurt me nearly as badly." Inuyasha pulled away from Sesshomaru and started to wash the soap off of his skin. "But I love those pups. I wouldn't have them if things had been different."

"That's…" Sesshomaru filled the bucket again. "That's a good way to look at it, I guess."

"I'm not happy with you. I don't trust you. I don't trust this sudden change in attitude from you. It's going to take some time for me to be okay with accepting your help."

"I'm not going anywhere, Inuyasha." He pulled the hanyo to his feet. "You're clean." He handed Inuyasha a towel he pulled from one of the bags. "Dry off. Warm up." He watched the boy sit by the fire again and went to empty the tub. He set it against a tree and moved to sort through the bags. "I brought you clothes if you want them."

"I don't even know what happened to mine. They're probably in that pile of furs somewhere."

"Speaking of those furs. They need to go."

"They keep the pups warm."

"I brought clean blankets and a featherbed for you. Things that can easily be washed. Those furs might be keeping the pups warm but they are also getting filthy with urine and feces. They need to go."

Inuyasha growled softly. "I've been keeping my pups clean."

"Yes. I've seen that they are clean. I'm not accusing you of anything, Inuyasha. You are doing well with them. I'm just saying that those furs need to go. The blankets and the bed are warm and can be washed when needed. But it's your decision if you want to use them." He handed Inuyasha the clothes he had brought for him. "I also got clothes for the pups. If you want them. And diapers."

Inuyasha's mouth twitched. "I don't know how to use diapers."

"I can show you."

Gathering up the clothes, Inuyasha went back into the cave. "You aren't touching my pups."

Sesshomaru sighed. How long was it going to take the stubborn hanyo to trust him? "I can show you on something else."

"They don't need diapers. They're fine." Inuyasha pulled the clothes on and instantly felt better. The pups were waking up and starting to whine. He picked one up and let the haori he was wearing fall from one shoulder. "What else did you bring?"

"Work. If I'm going to be here for the foreseeable future, I have work that needs to be done." Sesshomaru lifted the bundle with the bedding in it. "Can I come in and set up this bed for you?"

"If you keep your distance." Inuyasha watched the man enter. He set a large bundle down and begin to unwrap it. "Do you think I should give them a real bath?"

"Have you been licking them clean?" At Inuyasha's nod he shrugged. "It's up to you. They are mostly clean. But laying on those furs, they aren't completely clean. You might want to bathe them before laying them on these clean blankets."

Inuyasha winced. "I didn't think of that." He picked up the two pups he wasn't currently nursing and set them in his lap. Now that his nose wasn't filled with the stink coming off of his own skin he could smell the stench coming off of the furs. Sesshomaru was right. They needed to go. He lifted one of the pups and sniffed it. "She smells."

"That's from the furs. And from you. We can warm up some water if you want to give them a bath. As long as you make sure they stay warm they will be fine."

"Could you do that? Heat up some water for me?"

"After I finish with this." After the feather bed was laid out, he began tossing blankets over it. He had brought half a dozen of them. They were thick and warm. The nights were cold and he wanted to make sure that Inuyasha and the pups were warm. He moved to gather up the furs and Inuyasha growled when he got too close. "Shush you. I'm not going to touch them." He picked up the furs and wrinkled his nose. They reeked of urine and rot. He carried them outside and took them deep into the forest. He dropped them and kicked them apart. He found Inuyasha's fire rat robes. They were filthy and torn, but with a washing and some stitching he could salvage them. Their father had left them to Inuyasha, he would want them back.

Tossing the red clothing into the tub, he pulled a pot from another bag and filled it with water. He set it over the fire and went to look in on Inuyasha again. He was sitting in the same spot, nursing another of the pups. "Are you hungry?"

"I'm always hungry lately." He shifted the pups and one of them let out a squeal of complaint. He put a hand on its head and moved his leg so that he was gently bouncing the pups.

Sesshomaru couldn't help smiling. "They're loud when they want something. You seem to know what they need when they make those weird noises."

"I've had three months to learn what the noises mean." Putting the little boy over his shoulder he patted its back until it burped. "Are you going to get me some food or are you just in here to annoy me with your presence?"

"Sorry. I like watching you with them. You're a natural mother."

Inuyasha frowned. "Not really. I had no idea what to do at first. They screamed all the time for weeks. I finally figured out that they needed to burp after eating and that they like to be bounced. It took a lot of trial and error."

"That doesn't mean you aren't a natural. It just means that you had no experience with babies and had to learn how to care for them. You knew how to feed them, at least."

"That was easy. I've seen babies nurse. But even if I hadn't, the fact that I was leaking milk all over the place for three days before I gave birth would have clued me in to the fact that that's how I was supposed to feed them." Inuyasha set the boy in his lap and picked up one of the girls. She was the last to nurse. "Get me some food."

"Alright. I'm going."