Miroku was wrong.
Inuyasha wasn't just caught off guard or shaken.
He was terrified.
Mind numbing, pants pissing terrified.
The world disappeared around him and all he could see were those burning eyes. Eyes he hadn't seen since before his father had died.
It wasn't possible! Father told us that he was dead!
He remembered one of the last times he'd seen this male. He'd just reached his first century in age, roughly the emotional equivalent of a human seven year old. The male had been his assigned bodyguard, though he'd found it amusing to cause trouble because the Tora would always be punished in his stead. His was a family of aristocrats and the Tora became a sort of 'whipping boy'.
Literally.
He had just come in from the outdoors, having somehow managed to sneak away from the Tora, and concealed himself so as to make it look as though he'd gone missing. Hiding under a table, he'd peeked from beneath a tablecloth as the big Tora was dragged into the room, snarling as he was forced to his knees. He'd been collared and shackled with power suppressing manacles, even as an old Inu bitch had sobbed quietly from the sidelines as another of his father's guards held a knife to her fragile throat. The bound bodyguard, who had gone by the name of Vash, had looked up and locked eyes with the child he'd been. Those cold eyes had darkened with feral rage as the guards had split his clothing down the back.
His father had drawn back the whip in a disturbingly practiced way,and even he had flinched at the first hissing sting of the cat-o-nine-tales ripping into the other male's back.
The single most chilling sound of fury he'd ever heard in his life came from the male then, as his lip curled in a snarl. Inuyasha had cringed as the lashes came down again even if Vash hadn't even so much as twitched, and still the Tora did not look away.
He'd seen his death in those merciless eyes.
Blood had run darkly over the pale flesh of his shoulders, obscuring the curving markings of his breed.
When his father had finally tired, Vash's back was a ruined mess. Yet he'd gained his feet on his own, head held high as he walked gracefully from the room as if his flesh had not just been flayed to the bone.
That had been the last time that his father had assigned Vash to guard his hanyou son. It was not long after that he had been told the Tora had perished.
That had been only a few short months before the death of the Dog General himself.
But he never forgot.
He still remembered the overwhelming smell of blood. The way it had pooled in thick, blackening puddles on the floor. The way thin streams of it had spattered the walls and ceiling. It had been the only time in his life that he could ever remember feeling fear of his father. His young mind could not make sense of the fact that his sire, who was supposed to be an honorable being, had committed such a sadistic act.
And when the door had slid shut behind Vash, the lord had knelt to duck under the table. Inuyasha knew, then, that he had been aware of his presence the entire time.
So why had he whipped Vash?
"You must not sneak away from your bodyguards, my son," The Inu had stated calmly, as if he had not just brutalized the other male.
Inuyasha's response was a tremble of his limbs as he watched the lord with wide, shell-shocked eyes.
"You needn't worry that you will be punished. Vash has already accepted responsibility for his actions."
But…they were Inuyasha's actions…
Now, he recognized the tone for what it was; traces of a sociopathic nature. But back then, it had made him relax and crawl out from under the table. As if everything would be normal again.
"Father, will Vash be alright?"
"Do not concern yourself with the welfare of servants, Inuyasha. They are beneath you. Especially that one."
And he had believed. Because after all, father was always right.
And so he had buried any remorse he might have felt and jeered at the Tora when he finally saw him again. Had laughed and attempted to claw at the male's back, though he was far too slow. His foolishness very nearly got him killed, and would have if his father had not appeared. Some kind of threat was issued and Vash had snarled before turning away and vanishing in the blink of an eye.
He'd never seen him again. Until now.
He stood with the group Inuyasha had begun to see as a sort of family. Kagome clutched at his clothing, eyes wide and terrified. And it wasn't of the Tora…
Another guttural sound spilled through Vash's lips, even as Inuyasha's back hit a tree. Instinct demanded that he find a place to hide but his shaking limbs refused to move.
Oh, god, he looked even bigger than he remembered! That was impossible, his panicked mind insisted. Shouldn't it have been the other way around?
When Inuyasha had known him, Vash's power had been held in tight control. Now, it spilled outward in crippling waves. A burning chill.
His knees very nearly buckled under the onslaught.
"You're dead! Father said you died!" His voice was high, as if it hadn't yet broken.
"So you do remember me." The Tora smiled in a way that made him shudder. "I'm flattered…"
Miroku and Sango stood carefully back and watched. This was unlike any time they had ever seen the Taiyoukai angry. Not once had his face expressed his hatred, though his eyes had glowed with malicious intent. Now, there was a taut stillness to him. Like a cat watching a wounded sparrow.
It was clear that his aggression was restrained by a very delicate leash. One that rested in the dainty hand of the female clinging to him.
"Sesshomaru?" Kagome's voice shook just a bit, even as she pressed herself tightly against his back as if to ground his rationality to something solid. The dark, chaotic power retreated somewhat as it wrapped about her. Welcoming her. Dancing against her senses like a physical caress.
Inuyasha paled further when he heard the name she spoke. No…that wasn't possible…
Kagome gasped for air as the Tora's power finally withdrew.
It was then that Sesshomaru turned to look at her. His eyes faded to gold, though his tension remained. He'd not been prepared to encounter his half-brother with his usual emotional defenses stripped away and had momentarily lost himself to the beast's vengeful rage. A sick kind of pleasure spiked through him at the look on the halfling's face. Kagome's hands had slipped under the fabric of his shert and begun stroking his bare skin in an attempt to soothe him.
Dimly, he was aware of her presence and was grateful. Instead of fleeing from him out of fear, she had stayed with him and even now was attempting to comfort him.
Small white puppy ears flattened as Inuyasha realized that Kagome had completely tuned out his presence. Not only was she not coming to his defense (something he was ashamed to admit he desired, but she seemed to have completely forgotten his existence to fawn over Vash.
Whom she had called Sesshomaru…
His mind spun. Vash was Tora. Tora were natural born shape-shifters. And now Kagome had called Vash Sesshomaru. But…Vash had been a full blooded Tora. And Sesshomaru-
He had always assumed that Sesshomaru's mother had been Inu just like his father. His mother had told him that the previous Western Lady had been unable to bear any more children after her first pup. It had been the reason his father then felt justified in taking human lovers, so as to produce more offspring. It never occurred to him to ask her why he'd never taken a youkai lover.
Nor did he ever ask why his brother was almost always absent from the stronghold.
He'd feared his brother as a pup. The Inu had an air about him that screamed death, even if he was too controlled to act on it. Rather like Vash…
Only now, it was becoming apparent that Sesshomaru was Vash. And Vash had neither forgiven nor forgotten.
The first time he'd encountered Vash, he'd felt an odd chill of premonition, though he had not known what to call it. A sense of familiarity as if he knew him. And known that he was hated on sight.
Like anything sane, he'd been terrified of the giant feline…untill he'd come to realize that Vash was unable to harm him. Then he'd begun his little campaign of tormenting the male. Though, more than once, the beast he could half feel as a result of his demon blood had trembled at his audacious stupidity.
He'd ignored it, secure in his superiority. It never occurred to his immature mind that the tables could turn.
Now, there was no more Father to hide behind.
And Kagome would not seek to protect him. He'd lost her.
"How?"
"How what, Inuyasha? How did I survive the many times I was punished for your childishness? Or the sheer humiliation of the heir being treated as nothing more than your whipping boy? How did I survive father's attempt at murdering his own son? Tell me, half-breed, which 'how' do you mean?"
The Tora's well-remembered voice with its oddly musical lilt was bitter with long-pent-up rage.
"How can you be Sesshomaru?"
"Ah…now that is a question, isn't it." The golden eyes were flat and unnervingly still as they pinned him. "I wonder… How does it feel to know that you only exist because of our dear father's failure to spawn his precious Inu-blooded offspring on my mother?"
The insult was bitingly direct and Inuyasha wanted desperately to retort. But for once, better sense kept him quiet. Though the betrayal was staggering as he observed the way Miroku and Sango had moved to stand with Kagome, offering their unspoken support to the other male.
"He could not name you as heir because I had already been acknowledged. But he could punish me for his own failure. And did, repeatedly, under every possible pretext. My mother was more powerful than he and he hated her for it. After all, he had fought fang and claw into the position he held. How dare a mere foreign 'bitch' be more powerful than the Great Dog General?" Sesshomaru hissed sarcastically.
Inuyasha flinched. It never even occurred to him to reach for his sword as had become habit.
"But you must be aware of the fact that my kind does not breed halflings."
Inuyasha remembered demanding information about the bodyguard from one of his teachers after watching Vash- No Sesshomaru, heal a wound that should have been fatal. It was just his luck that he had gained the information from an old male fukurouyoukai who had been demoted in status for attempting to appeal to his Lord's reason. He had known what the result of the mating would be, and when he had attempted to inform the young Inu lord, he had been severely 'rebuked' and then silenced.
Kagome moved in front of the Tora, almost seeming to be attempting to draw away his agitation with her touch. Sesshomaru pulled her tighter to his body, his muscles uncoiling, though his focus remained on Inuyasha.
"You were his last desperate hope for a son in his own likeness. I imagine he would be pleased with the results of your upbringing."
That stung more than anything else, given Sesshomaru's disgust of their father.
And it was that which prompted Inuyasha to lose his fear as blind anger burned through him.
"How dare you."
A sleek brow rose in mocking question. "How dare I?"
"You spout all this bullshit about how you were wronged and yet you've been attempting to kill me ever since I could remember! I was only a child the first time you sank your claws into my stomach!"
He was suddenly pinned to the tree by the throat as Sesshomaru snarled in his face. "You are alive simply because it was not to my benefit to dispose of you, bróðir. Had I truly attempted to kill you, there would not have been enough of you left to bury."
"Get your paws off me, you son of a bitch!"
"Bitch? No, that would be your dam. After all, she climbed into our faðir's bed with full knowledge of my mother and their adultery."
"Just like you're attempting to steal into the bed of a female from my pack? She's mine you goddamn hypocrite!" He turned his glittering eyes on Kagome, who was holding onto Sango for comfort. "You WHORE!"
Suddenly, pain like he'd never imagined drove the length of his spine. He was forced to his knees as claws wrapped tightly around his spinal column…from the inside.
"You will beg her to forgive you." Harsh and implacable, his elder brother's voice hissed in his ear as he bent over his prey.
Inuyasha's breath rasped in his lungs as the claws began to sear his insides with heat. It was the most sickening feeling, to feel claws caressing the inside of his throat. Blood slowly trickled down his back under his fire-rat robes.
"NOW!" the Tora roared at him, his claws tightening.
"I apologize…" Inuyasha gasped, choking on the blood that spilled into his esophagus. His capitulation removed the claws from his flesh and he found himself dropped like some broken doll.
Sesshomaru turned from the hanyou and moved toward the humans, his eyes on Kagome. She looked at him with a shell- shocked expression as Inuyasha lay in a crumpled heap at his feet.
The other two watched him with dawning understanding. Just how long had he been repressing the gut-deep rage they had just witnessed?
Something in the Taiyoukai began to tighten with unease. The miko was so silent.
But he needn't have worried. The last of Kagome's pity for the hanyou drifted away from her gaze, dying a swift and regretless death. Her blue eyes cleared and she stepped forward, ignoring her longtime companion. He imagined that hearing him call her a whore with so much malice had damaged their relationship irreparably.
A small hand lifted, reaching for him. She smiled at him as he took it, quietly tugging him away from the scene of his loss of control. He smiled back in that gentle way that was reserved only for her, leaving Inuyasha behind.
Miroku and Sango did not bother to spare Inuyasha a glance as they fell into step behind the other couple without a word.
Their world was defined by loyalties.
Kagome had theirs. Inuyasha no longer did. He had crossed the line. He could have escaped the damage inflicted by the Taiyoukai if he had just kept his mouth shut. His vile accusation against Kagome had been unforgivable. They had no more patience for him. If he chose to return and attempt to make amends, he would be tolerated and nothing more. But he would no longer be trusted with Kagome and both would guard her if that came to pass.
Though they highly doubted it would prove necessary with Sesshomaru now traveling with them. He was a force of nature all on his own.
Miroku looked down at Sango and smiled at his beloved huntress. Her eyes remained on the path. But her fingers entwined with his as a small smile curved her lips.
Later that night as they readied the evening meal, Kagome lay curled up in her Taiyoukai's lap as they laughed at the antics of the hentai houshi and the huntress.
The addition of their physical relationship had not changed Miroku's need to grope his woman's backside and she still brought him low whenever he dared. But her eyes sparkled with humor, even as the monk shook his vision clear with a satisfied smile.
He claimed that the result was always worth the effort, despite the lumps to his head.
Sesshomaru's low, rich laughter rumbled through the camp and both humans found themselves unconsciously acting to again bring forth the pleasant sound.
It was strange how easily he fit into their group.
With Inuyasha, there had always been a marked edge of tension. It was as if he was either waiting for something to happen or waiting for the right time to cause something to happen. He had never been content with a quiet moment, always craving conflict. And if he could not create one with Kagome or the others, he would seek it out.
It was part of what made jewel shard hunting such a necessity to him. That need for violence that soothed his suffocating beast as he ended the life of some fool being who happened to possess a shard of the Tama.
But Sesshomaru seemed at ease with the quiet. He thoroughly savored every moment as he sat peacefully with Kagome and gracefully accepted the bowl of stew handed to him by Sango. He even complimented her on it, much to the woman's surprise. She'd blushed faintly under the praise while smiling at Kagome, who giggled into her hand at her reaction.
And when they had all gathered round the fire for the night to sleep, it was with the most surprising sense of relief. Sango and Miroku lay side by side in the 'sleeping bags' given to them by Kagome while she herself lay curled up with her youkai.
The stars were bright in the sky that night. The last thing Kagome saw before closing her eyes for the night was their cool light reflecting off the treetops.
%%%%%%%%%%%%