Life with a pregnant Inuyasha, Sesshomaru decided, was not something he wanted to repeat again any time soon, if ever again. If he'd thought the hanyou had been ornery and irritable before, Inuyasha had become a thousand times worse in the days that followed the initial announcement of his pregnancy. No one could say anything to the boy without some kind of clipped and harsh response back from the hanyou. It had nearly everyone, including Sesshomaru, on edge and dealing with frayed nerves. The only one who seemed to handle Inuyasha's sudden mood swings was NatsuMaru. How, Sesshomaru couldn't even begin to guess. He'd heard some of the harsh things Inuyasha said to the guard and they were far worse than what he told anyone else.
'How does he do it?' Sesshomaru wondered as he witnessed yet another heated exchange between the two. Inuyasha's cheeks had flushed a rather cute shade of red as he hurled insult after insult at the inuyoukai warrior. Yet NatsuMaru said nothing in reply to Inuyasha's harshness. The guard merely gazed at the hanyou, waiting for him to finish. 'If it had been myself or the miko, he'd be on the ground by now.'
And painfully so, Sesshomaru knew as well. He knew of the values behind the strange rosary that Inuyasha wore around his neck. He knew all too well of what it could do to the hanyou should the miko get angry enough with his behaviour. It had been a while since Sesshomaru had heard her use her little command and it would be a great while for her to use it again.
The night of Inuyasha's announcement, Sesshomaru had pulled the girl aside. He hadn't been joking when he said he'd kill anyone who harmed either Inuyasha or his pup. That included the ningens. It would distraught Inuyasha, he knew, so Sesshomaru felt it prudent to let the miko know first what would happen if she used her charm on his brother. The other ningens weren't so much of a worry as the miko was to Sesshomaru. They didn't have any control over the rosary. Just her.
Of course, when he'd confronted her, she'd been insulted by his insinuations. Genuinely insulted.
"I would never do that to someone in his condition!" she had declared, her stormy blue eyes flashing. "I can't believe you'd even say that! I care about Inuyasha! I would never do anything to hurt him like that!"
'I had to be sure, though,' Sesshomaru told himself as he caught the scent of fresh tears. They were coming from his brother and he brought his attention back to the hanyou and the inuyoukai guard. Tears rolled in rivulets down his brother's cheeks and NatsuMaru held the boy in an embrace. As if he knew that Sesshomaru's gaze was upon them, the guard turned his head towards the daiyoukai, a strange fire burning in NatsuMaru's golden gaze. Sesshomaru knew at once what burned in the guard's eyes, having had that same look in his own eyes before.
'He wants Inuyasha . . . he wants Inuyasha in the same way that I wanted him that first night and how I still want him. But why? He knows that Inuyasha is mine . . .'
For a moment, Sesshomaru found himself puzzling over the guard's behaviour until it hit him. It wasn't just lust in NatsuMaru's eyes. It was genuine affection and love, a love that would go so much deeper. If NatsuMaru were to be forced to choose between Inuyasha and Sesshomaru, the daiyoukai knew exactly who the guard would choose.
'He sees Father in Inuyasha . . . as do I. And he was loyal to Father. He would have been the head of the army here, if Grandfather had given NatsuMaru the choice. But there's something else there . . . something I cannot identify . . . what is it?'
Tentatively, the daiyoukai approached the two, NatsuMaru nodding his acknowledgment and respect. Inuyasha didn't even bother to look at him. He just clung to the guard as if for dear life.
"Is everything all right?" he inquired smoothly. NatsuMaru nodded.
"Hai, my Lord. Everything is fine . . ."
"Yeah . . . just excellent," Inuyasha grumbled, finally pulling away from the guard and wiping away the tears streaming down his face. "I should kill you for this."
"I know, otouto," the daiyoukai murmured, resisting the urge to sigh. They went through this at least three times a day. Inuyasha cursed him out for getting him pregnant, though Sesshomaru had no idea at the time of their mating that it was possible, and Sesshomaru letting the boy get everything out of his system. He'd retorted back once . . . and had instantly regretted it. The anguish and pain that had reflected back at him had been almost more than what he could bear. However, because he had refused to back down, he'd spent the night alone, or something close to it. Inuyasha refused to touch him and refused to let the daiyoukai touch him. It had driven the youkai lord to the brink of insanity, not being to touch his mate the way that he wanted to. After that, despite his irritation at his brother's behaviour, Sesshomaru had done his best to not rise to Inuyasha's baiting.
"I'm serious," the boy stated. "I should kill you for this."
"I know you are," Sesshomaru replied, kissing the tip of Inuyasha's nose. "You keep reminding of how serious you are every night. I'm not about to forget."
To that, Inuyasha snorted and turned his head away, his amber eyes glittering as if he were still angry. Still, despite his brother's reaction, Sesshomaru knew that he was mollified, if only for a little while. It was a tiny victory over the hanyou, to be sure, but Sesshomaru wasn't about to take any little victory for granted. He graced the boy with a tiny and rare smile and reached up to stroke a furry ear.
"Could you please excuse us, Inuyasha? I wish to speak with NatsuMaru privately."
"Why?" Immediately, the hanyou's eyes narrowed and his lips drew into a thin, tight line.
'Suspicious are we, little brother? And why is that?' Sesshomaru wondered, noting it to be odd. He'd had private conversations with NatsuMaru many times over the last few days and Inuyasha had never once acted quite like this.
"It is a private matter, otouto," he began when he noted the boy's injured expression. However, it was replaced quickly with a cold and stoic expression, something unbefitting the boy.
"I see," came the clipped response. "Very well then. I'll leave you two alone."
With that, Inuyasha turned and stormed away, his aura radiating distress and anger. Sesshomaru blinked when he saw it. Before he could call Inuyasha back to him, though, the boy disappeared around a corner. Next to him, NatsuMaru let out a soft, almost inaudible sigh. The daiyoukai glanced sharply at him. Was he just as exasperated with the boy as everyone else?
"NatsuMaru . . ."
"Yes, my Lord?" the guard replied.
"What is going on?" Sesshomaru demanded quietly. "I have never seen him like this."
"Do you really wish to know, my Lord?"
Something in NatsuMaru's tone sent off a warning bell in Sesshomaru's mind. He didn't like the soft tone the guard spoke with. It meant that there was something going on, something that had yet to come to his attention but had somehow found its way to NatsuMaru.
"Yes, NatsuMaru. I wish to know. How foolish of you to ask."
To that, a hint of a smile graced NatsuMaru's features. Why, Sesshomaru couldn't even begin to guess. The guard's behaviour was certainly baffling.
"Yes," he murmured. "How foolish indeed . . ."
"NatsuMaru . . ."
"The boy is troubled, my Lord," NatsuMaru answered. "Deeply troubled. Part of it is due to his pregnancy. Breeding females go through the same thing. The unborn pups demand so much of them before they are even birthed. He's tired all the time and he hates it. He hates the feelings of helplessness that have arisen within him."
"And the other part?" Sesshomaru prompted. He knew what NatsuMaru said to be the truth. For as little as he was around Izayoi when she carried Inuyasha, he still recalled her being ornery enough to bring his father down a few notches. Sesshomaru had found it odd and annoying that a mere human female could bring the great daiyoukai down like that and had asked . . . only to be told it was complicated. That he would understand when his own mate was going through the same thing. There was more to Inuyasha's behaviour.
"He is insecure, my Lord. Justifiably so."
"What . . ."
"Inuyasha has heard the talk of various servants, my Lord," NatsuMaru explained, his tone still soft and quiet. "He has heard them say that, once the pup is born, you will cast him out once more. They have not said such things directly to him but when they think he is not there to hear them. Given the history you two have shared, he believes it. He needs to hear it from you that you will do no such thing."
"I see," Sesshomaru nodded, his lips drawing into the same tight, thin line as Inuyasha's. "Thank you, NatsuMaru."
"It was nothing, my Lord."
'To you, perhaps,' he told himself as he followed after his distraught sibling, 'but to me, it is something. I will not lose this boy. I will not lose the last vestige of my father that I have.'
He trailed Inuyasha's scent throughout the palace, idly noting that his sibling had a strange habit of going outside when he was upset. Sesshomaru caught hints of sakura blossoms and jasmine as he drew closer to where Inuyasha had gone.
Sure enough, the boy had gone out to the gardens, the only place outside Sesshomaru allowed him to be. He knew that greatly restricting Inuyasha's movements was not a good idea, especially since Inuyasha had always had a habit of disobeying him and pushing him to the extremes, but Sesshomaru also knew that he had to. It wasn't just Inuyasha he was thinking of now but their unborn pup as well.
'Something Inuyasha's accepted . . . so far.'
As he entered the gardens, he found his half-brother sitting on a stone bench, the boy's eyes closed. Sesshomaru paused as his eyes landed on the hanyou, his breath nearly stopping at the sight before him.
The sun shone high above them but the bench's location put Inuyasha under one of the sakura trees. However, some of the sun's light had managed to filter through the branches, bathing Inuyasha in its light. His silvery-white mane shimmered, giving him an angelic appearance. Even the violet and blue kimono the boy wore added to the effect.
Cautiously, Sesshomaru approached. He didn't want to break the spell that seemed to have fallen around them. After all, his brother's beauty was breathtaking.
It was also in that moment that Sesshomaru understood how NatsuMaru, and the miko, could have fallen for his brother. Inuyasha had a charm to him, a charm that he didn't even begin to realize that he possessed. It was the same charm his father had possessed.
'Now I understand,' he thought idly. 'I understand why Father died for him. I would die for him. Anything to keep him safe.'
Sesshomaru reached Inuyasha and knelt before him, one hand reaching out to touch a porcelain-hued cheek. With that one touch, the rest of the world was forgotten. Golden eyes opened, revealing a sadness so great and so deep that nothing else mattered to Sesshomaru, other than erasing that sadness away.
Pale lips parted.
Perhaps to ask a question. Sesshomaru wasn't quite sure. He was only aware of the distress that radiated from his brother, how the distress slowly evaporated with a touch and a kiss . . .