Sesshoumaru was agitated.
This feeling only moved to infuriate the Youkai Lord even more as Inu Youkai were never agitated. 'It all comes down to the irritating hanyou!' Sesshoumaru thought as he stared at the figure in red as Inuyasha moved about the cave while he made dinner.
Sesshoumaru suppressed a growl. 'Irritating hanyou,' he thought again as he sat down at the table and proceeded to meditate…
Or at least, he tried to meditate.
Every time he managed to clear his mind, he heard Inuyasha move and before he could even think about it, his eyes would snap open and immediately move to the smaller youkai.
It was really starting to piss him off. Inuyasha only had to do the slightest twitches; the smallest of movement and Sesshoumaru was immediately compelled to watch it. To follow it. To file the small motion away for later reference in the now growing file that was Inuyasha.
Sesshoumaru finally did growl softly. 'Fucking hanyou!'
Rin, playing in the corner, with her human hearing could not hear the soft noise that emitted from his throat but Inuyasha did.
The right koinu ear swiveled towards him and Inuyasha turned to look questioningly at his older brother over his shoulder, the right eyebrow lifting displaying Inuyasha's inquisitive look number three; the one where he was simply curious but not overly so.
In Sesshoumaru's opinion, "inquisitive look number three" was much better than number four. The inquisitive but hostile "what the fuck's wrong with you?" look.
Sesshoumaru had never wanted to bang his head against a table so hard in his life.
He was going INSANE!
For the past five days all he could think about was his brother and the odd feeling accompanying the thoughts of his brother. He wondered once more why it was that there was this stupid feeling. That odd little notion that told him, no, demanded that he had to protect the hanyou.
From what, he had no idea but he knew he had to protect him.
Sesshoumaru wrinkled his nose as a pungent smell reached his nose. 'If only from himself,' he concluded as Inuyasha made his way over and called Rin to dinner.
If it could be said that Sesshoumaru was agitated, then it could be said that Inuyasha was anxious. And the cause of the feeling was right across the cave staring at him as he did the dishes.
Sesshoumaru had said nothing when Inuyasha returned from the back of the cave and began making dinner. He said nothing when dinner was finished and everyone settled down to start eating. He didn't even utter one word when dinner was finished and Inuyasha teasingly said that it was his turn to do the dishes… although he did send his brother a withering glare.
Sesshoumaru had not said one word since the argument about the laundry. After the meal, he had moved to one side of the cave and sat down with all the grace and arrogance of the lord he was all with out uttering a single word.
And the silence was really starting to freak Inuyasha out. It didn't help that Sesshoumaru was staring at him- again. Everywhere he went, he could feel the golden eyes staring at his back as he moved about.
Inuyasha was they type of person who could barely sit still as it was but with the added tension he was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet.
He was tempted to snap at the taller youkai, yell at him for being an idiot or perhaps try and provoke a good fight. It was a very pleasing idea but one Inuyasha regretfully set aside. 'If we fight in here it's more than likely everything would get trashed,' Inuyasha thought as he looked about the cave.
However, this thought did nothing to quell his anxiety nor did it solve the problem of Sesshoumaru staring at him. Huffing in annoyance, Inuyasha moved towards the sleeping area and started messing about with the blankets.
'I blame the new moon…' Inuyasha thought irritably as he unmade and remade Rin's futons several times. 'It's nearly a week away,' he thought as he tucked in a corner, 'I'll blame that.'
Sighing, he sat back at stared at the perfectly made bed before moving a few feet down towards his own and undertook the task of remaking that one. He didn't dare go near Sesshoumaru's, which was on the other side of Rin. For one thing, he was unsure that the small black bugs he saw there were fleas or not. For another, Sesshoumaru would kill him.
He groaned as he finished his third round of making the bed, 'I hate my life.'
Glancing at the entrance to the cave to gage the lateness of the evening, he called to Rin and spent the next hour trying to distracted himself with the task of putting the little girl to sleep. Three stories and a still very perky girl later, Inuyasha had almost forgotten about Sesshoumaru's staring… almost.
For his part Sesshoumaru was actually slightly amused at Inuyasha's attempt to put the child to sleep.
It was actually a rather peaceful moment.
Looking about the cave, one would almost think that it was a serene picture with your typical family. The master of the … er … cave… was relaxing after dinner while the "wife", being a overaggressive hanyou, was settling down the child. The "child" being a once killed now resurrected… 'is she a zombie now or what?' Sesshoumaru wondered absently.
There was even a… pet… sort of… in the rat Kuufuku. Sesshoumaru snorted as he glanced around for the small fur ball of doom…
…And eyes widened in complete and utter shock and disgust at the sight of the diseased ridden ball of fuzz curled up on his pillow!
The teacup had never before flown with such frightening accuracy across the cave as Sesshoumaru hurled the cup at his own bed. With a rather loud squeak (that sounded to the youkai like a taunting laugh) the rat quickly scuttled away from the deadly ceramic and quickly made his way to the other side where both Inuyasha and Rin were watching him with rather amused looks.
Sesshoumaru scowled and narrowed his eyes at them before they turned their attention back to… well, whatever the hell it was that they were doing.
'Oh god, I'm actually losing it,' Sesshoumaru moaned quietly. 'The hanyou had done it. He has actually gone and done it. He's driven me insane. Any and all rational thought has actually gotten up and flew away for the year…'
Sesshoumaru huffed as he rose to his feet and made his way to the back of the cave and the solitude of the tunnel. 'One can only hope it returns in the spring…'
Growling in utter disgust, he stomped back to Inuyasha's storage cave and hefted himself up on the crate he had been sitting on earlier. The entire week has been driving him crazy. He actually wondered what it was that possessed him to actually even suggest staying with his brother for the whole of the winter season.
'This is insane,' he mentally cursed at himself. 'Jaken was right. This whole thing with Inuyasha is unhealthy.'
Sesshoumaru huffed and closed his eyes as he tried to get his jumbled thoughts into some semblance of order.
To start with, there was the discovery of Inuyasha as a human. Right there he should have been thrilled with the knowledge of the cursed hanyou's weakness. Instead, he suddenly felt the compelling urge to ensure the hanyou's safety. In doing so, he forced his brother into a truce where ever month, he would protect his now human brother during the nights of the new moon.
Sesshoumaru rationalized this argument with the re-enforced notion that it was because he did not want anyone else to kill his half brother, instead holding onto that privilege for himself. However, the simple fact that Sesshoumaru wanted the privilege of killing Inuyasha himself did not explain the current situation. The discovery that Inuyasha was living on his own and no longer with the dratted humans should have had absolutely no effect on Sesshoumaru one way or the other.
As Inuyasha had argued more than once in a very determined tone, he had survived by himself for decades and he was not yet even a full grown hanyou! But when he realized that Inuyasha had once again taken to the wilds by himself, some part deep inside Sesshoumaru practically shot up in alarm at the mere notion. 'Why did this ridicules urge to watch over Inuyasha increase almost a hundred fold when I found out that he was by himself?' Sesshoumaru wondered in annoyance. 'The last thing I need is some fraternal feelings creeping up on me.'
"Sesshoumaru?"
'Oh Kami, now what.' Sesshoumaru cracked an eye open and glared at the intruder. "What do you want?"
Inuyasha visibly bristled. "Well excuse me for wondering what the fuck's wrong with you. I have to live with you, ya know. It could help if I knew what the fuck went on in that 'regal' brain of yours."
'You and me both,' Sesshoumaru huffed. "Why do you insist on bothering my solitude today? Is it not enough that you practically destroyed my cloths today? Is there anything more of mine that you can annihilate with your incompetence?"
Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "You destroyed my life. Can you blame me for wanting to get something back?" he asked sarcastically.
Sesshoumaru scowled. "I did not 'destroy' you life hanyou. You're still breathing, are you not?"
"What the fuck is that suppose to mean?" Inuyasha shouted as he stormed towards the seated youkai. "Here I am actually somewhat worried about your huffy ass and for once, it's you who just wants to start a fight!"
Sesshoumaru growled low in his throat as he surged forward and grabbed the hanyou by the color of his fire rat robe, slamming him against the wall as he glared at the snarling koinu.
"Sesshoumaru! Kisama! What is with you and walls? Put me down you bastard!" Inuyasha yelped as he immediately started struggling against the iron grip.
"Shut up!" Sesshoumaru snapped. He shook Inuyasha as he tired to push the raging emotions down in to a tiny lockbox in the back of his mind. "Just," he growled. "Just shut up."
And wonder or wonders, Inuyasha did.
They stood there, both their chests heaving as they fought for breath.
Inuyasha's eyes watching as Sesshoumaru sucked in air through clenched jaws. His brother's face was almost directly next to him. He could actually see a small bead of sweat as it rolled down the youkai's temple down the slender jaw line. His silver hair was frazzled and small strands were plastered to his perspiring brow.
Inuyasha's breathing hitched slightly. Was it possible that there was something more going on than what he had originally thought? Sesshoumaru seemed very upset.
And if Sesshoumaru was upset, then in normal speak Inuyasha should be absolutely terrified.
Inuyasha swallowed heavily and tried to calm his breathing but the very thought of something that frightened the lord of the west to this level of panic only succeeded in causing his short gasps to speed up rapidly, until he was near hyperventilating. His shoulders were trembling with the force and he knew his eyes were as wide as they could go as they stared up at Sesshoumaru.
Sesshoumaru to one look at the distressed hanyou and nearly groaned at the picture his brother presented.
It was a desperate, wild look as he stared up at the taller youkai above him. It was a look of almost fearful helplessness that surge the need to protect this creature to the forefront of Sesshoumaru's mind.
The glassy sheen to Inuyasha's golden eyes, the flush across his cheeks…Hell even his ears were shaking and Sesshoumaru found that he couldn't tear his eyes away from the sight.
The two points were trembling on top of the hanyou's head, swiveling sporadically as Inuyasha tried to calm down. Sesshoumaru's eyes remained riveted on the two fuzzy triangles and he leaned forward those extra few inches towards the odd appendages.
He gently exhaled against the closest one and the reaction was immediate.
Inuyasha had completely stopped trembling, his body instead going ramrod straight as his eyelids fluttered closed. The ears that had been the youkai's sole focus twisted to lay parallel against the floor away from the attacking air.
This time, Sesshoumaru couldn't even hold back the moan that rose to his throat.
Inuyasha's eyes instantly opened as he looked up at Sesshomaru with a puzzled frown. Sesshoumaru's own wide, shocked eyes looked back down at the confused hanyou as he practically dropped the younger youkai. 'Oh god! Oh Kami-Sama NO!' Sesshoumaru's mind wailed as his brain finally caught up with what it was that his youki had been telling him- had been screaming at him, for the last few months.
The grand Youkai Lord stared at the smaller figure in complete and utter amazement. Sesshoumaru knew that there had to be something wrong. There was no possible way that his notion was right. There had to have been something wrong! The conclusion he had arrived at was the result of a wrong turn somewhere in his frazzled mind.
Inuyasha stared up as Sesshoumaru shook his head as if to disagree with something and the hanyou could almost hear the small word "no" repeating over and over under the youkai's breath. He frowned as some part of him suddenly felt the urge to comfort the distressed youkai and he tentatively took a step forward toward the other male, one arm stretched out as if to lay a comforting hand on his shoulder.
Sesshoumaru actually reared back at the offered hand, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Oh God…" he groaned as he stared at the now very worried and anxious visage of his brother.
"Sesshoumaru?" Inuyasha finally asked. "What is-"
He got no further than that as the Great Inu Youkai; the Lord of the West and all around levelheaded youkai turned and completely fled the small antechamber.
Staring in complete shock, Inuyasha gapped at where Sesshoumaru had been standing before he finally managed to gain enough awareness to actually follow the youkai out of the antechamber.
One way or the other, Inuyasha was determined to get some answers but he was too late. When he arrived at the main cave he discovered only the still sleeping girl and one small rat staring out at the entrance to the cave with a perplexing look.
Sesshoumaru was gone.
Inuyasha had to wonder if he would ever bother coming back.