Chapter 28: A Look Into The Past (#4)
Sessho-Maru had never quite understood humans, and as he watched the blond girl in the "I Swim" t-shirt prancing around before him, flailing at imaginary dog-ears at the top of her head, his opinion of the race dropped about another ten points.
Clenching Inu-Yasha tighter in his arms so that the boy let out a soft squeak, he took a slow step back away from the girl, Syd, and then another.
To his quiet horror, her prancing came to an abrupt halt and she locked her sparkly blue eyes on him.
"Hey, where do you think you're going?" she asked.
"Away," Sessho-Maru replied simply.
"Nuh-uh, no way!" Syd exclaimed.
She leapt forward and grabbed Sessho-Maru by the shoulders. The youkai glowered at her, but she smiled brightly at him.
"You didn't even tell me your name or the name of the cute little dog-eared guy," she protested.
Sessho-Maru's lip curled slightly as Inu-Yasha squirmed in his grasp.
"I see no need to introduce my self to you," he growled.
Syd's face fell and she frowned at him.
"Well, you're super polite," she said sarcastically.
Sessho-Maru growled and released Inu-Yasha with one hand, raising his claws to Syd's throat, forcing his youkai acid into them to have them glow a sickly green.
"You try my patience, girl," he snarled.
Syd stared with puzzled amazement at the glowing nails, but then gulped quietly and gave a nervous grin.
"Wait!" Inu-Yasha squeaked, "Wait! Nii-san!"
Sessho-Maru's snarl fell slightly and he looked down at the hanyou pup clinging to his tail.
"What?" he inquired.
"Well, Syd's from around here, isn't she?" Inu-Yasha inquired, "So... Doesn't that mean she can help us?"
Sessho-Maru blinked down at his younger brother, and a small smirk played on his lips. He lowered his claws and re-established his grip on Inu-Yasha.
"Clever," he commented, "You're smarter than I thought, whelp."
Inu-Yasha grinned proudly.
"What d'you mean?" Syd inquired.
Sessho-Maru wasn't sure how to tell the girl without sounding insane, so Inu-Yasha took the liberty of doing it for him.
"My name is Inu-Yasha and his is Sessho-Maru," Inu-Yasha said swiftly, "We're not from around here, and we're really lost. Can you help us?"
Syd blinked puzzledly at the two youkai before her and tapped her chin.
"Help you with what?" she inquired.
Inu-Yasha looked up at Sessho-Maru and the older youkai sighed.
"Are we still on earth?" he inquired.
"Ur, yes? Syd said confusedly, "That's a dumb question."
Sessho-Maru ignored her comment and continued.
"And what year is it?" he asked.
Syd inclined her head and rubbed it slightly with the heel of her hand.
"I'm not quite sure," she said embarrassedly, "Somewhere in the 1980's though."
Inu-Yasha looked up at Sessho-Maru and twitched his ears.
"But that's at least-"
"Five hundred years forward from where we started…" Sessho-Maru concluded, "More, actually… More like a bit over six… Maybe even more…"
"What are you talking about Sesshilies?" Syd asked innocently.
Sessho-Maru blinked with surprise and annoyance.
"Sesshilies?" he repeated, raising his eyebrow slightly.
Syd nodded enthusiastically and grinned.
"Your name sounds sort of angry," she explained, "So I thought I'd give you a happy nickname!"
"I think she's insane," Inu-Yasha whispered so softly that only Sessho-Maru heard him.
Sessho-Maru nodded with agreement and then stared intently at the smiling girl before him.
"If you ever repeat what I'm going to tell you; I'll kill you," he said calmly.
"Okay," Syd replied cheerfully, as if she didn't quite believe Sessho-Maru's words.
"My brother and I are from another, past era of this planet," Sessho-Maru said simply.
Syd stood, blinking at Sessho-Maru in awe.
"Whoa… That explains the lack of manors!" Syd said, sticking her forefinger into the air as if in triumph, "But… uh…"
She paused and eyed Sessho-Maru over and had to quell a squeal of delight as she regarded Inu-Yasha's quivering dog-ears., while Sessho-Maru puzzled over her surprising lack of disbelief at his words.
"So…" Syd said slowly, tapping her chin, "You're… what?"
"Youkai!" Inu-Yasha squeaked proudly, "And you gotta show us around… Otherwise, those government jerks will come and hurt us and stuff."
"A good knowledge of this time and its technology could prove invaluable," Sessho-Maru agreed, and he looked to Syd, "You will explain it to me."
"Why should I do that?" Syd inquired, "I mean… You ass! You ran me over!"
She glared at Sessho-Maru and he lower eyelid twitched slightly with irritation. The youkai sighed and flexed his claws.
"If you don't… I'll kill you," he said.
Syd, to Sessho-Maru's surprise, blew a raspberry at him and pulled a face by dragging down her lower eyelids and scrunching up her nose while sticking her tongue out.
Sessho-Maru had no idea what to make of this and stared at the girl quizzically. Inu-Yasha looked between the girl and his older brother and sighed, his ears drooping.
This was getting them absolutely nowhere.
Guess I gotta do something then, he thought determinedly.
-
"I'm not scared of you, Sesshilies," Syd scoffed, jabbing her finger at Sessho-Maru's nose, " Youkai or not! In fact…"
She was about to say something vulgar but was interrupted by a delicate, saddened sniff.
All eyes went to Inu-Yasha.
His lower lip was quivering, his ears drooping pathetically, and he let out a whimper as forced tears dribbled down his dirt-stained cheeks.
"S-So you won't help us?" he asked, his voice trembling, "B-But… W-We'll die here if you don't… Oh, p-please?"
Syd gawked at the pup and rushed forward, snatching him from his brother and rocking him in the crook of her arm.
"Aw… Little Yasha, don't cry, please?" she said in a voice one would use for speaking to babies, "Please?"
Inu-Yasha put on his best sad-puppy face and forced his lower lip to tremble again.
"Please help us?" he begged.
"Okay, but only if you stop crying," she replied.
Automatically, Inu-Yasha's drooping ears perked and he smiled widely.
"Arigato!" he exclaimed, and after hesitating for an instant, decided it would be appropriate to hug the girl around the neck before leaping back to Sessho-Maru's arms and wiping his eyes on his tail.
"Well…" Syd sighed, "Come home with me then. I guess I could tell you some stuff."
Sessho-Maru nodded and Syd began to walk off through the trees. Assuming that the girl knew where she was headed, Sessho-Maru followed slowly behind, placing one hand over his brother's ears once more.
"How did you know to do that?" Sessho-Maru inquired at a whisper.
Inu-Yasha shrugged.
"The woman at the village at home were real suckers for it from their own children," Inu-Yasha explained, "See, I'm little, so it's cute when I do it. She felt bad for me."
Sessho-Maru nodded understandingly and regarded the hanyou child in his arms with a growing respect.
The child was much more clever than he had first made him out to be.
oOoOoOoO
Syd swiftly lead the two youkai out of the forest and back into the main city. It was early morning by now, and the sun had just begun to rise.
Sessho-Maru was incredibly annoyed with all the humans around, while Inu-Yasha was merely fascinated with all the floating lights produced by odd poles at the roadsides and the tall buildings.
As they walked, Syd quietly explained cars and public transit, and how the street signs and traffic lights worked.
Sessho-Maru listened closely, and soon the threesome came to an extremely tall building.
"I live in a condo here," Syd explained, gesturing to the building, "A condo's like a little house that you rent. You know what renting is, right?"
Sessho-Maru nodded as Inu-Yasha squirmed in his grasp to look at a man on the corner of the street that was playing an odd, stringed instrument looking vaguely like a koto.
The sounds coming from it entranced the young hanyou, and he yearned to pluck the strings, like he had at home with his mother's koto.
"Nii-san," he said to Sessho-Maru, pointing to the man's koto-like-thing, "Can I go see the instrument? Please?"
Sessho-Maru was about to answer when Syd slapped him hard on the shoulder, and his hold on his brother weakened enough for him to squirm to the ground.
"Let the kid have some fun!" Syd laughed, though she merely received a killing glare from Sessho-Maru.
"C'mon Nii-san!" Inu-Yasha said happily, tugging on his older brother's pant leg.
Sessho-Maru rolled his eyes and began to walk towards the man, and Inu-Yasha's face lit up and he hugged his brother's leg.
"Arigato!" he squeaked.
Sessho-Maru sighed and watched as Inu-Yasha released him and ran ahead, standing in front of the man with the instrument along with a few others, bobbing up and down on the balls of his feet.
The man looked up from his song and smiled at Inu-Yasha as Sessho-Maru and Syd slowly walked up from behind the young hanyou.
As the song the man was playing ended, the other humans applauded, and all moved off, but the odd threesome of a youkai, hanyou, and an apparently human girl remained.
"Nice ears kid," the man said with a grin to Inu-Yasha, and then mouthed "What's with the get-up?" to Sessho-Maru and Syd.
"A costume party," Syd said swiftly, "Isn't he a cutie? He went as a dog-human hybrid from ancient Japan!"
Inu-Yasha looked back over his shoulder at the grinning blond girl as the man nodded understandingly, and the hanyou raised his eyebrow.
"Eh?" he asked, and Syd gave him a look that told him to just go along with it, and he turned back to the human.
"What's that instrument called?" he inquired curiously, "It's really nice sounding."
"This?" the man asked, looking down at the instrument in his hands, "This, kid, is a guitar."
"A guitar…" Inu-Yasha repeated, and his ears perked as he grinned, "It sounds so wonderful!"
He reached out a tiny, clawed hand and tilted his head.
"Can… Can I touch a string?" he asked.
"I don't see why not," the man said with a grin.
He knelt down to the small hanyou boy, and Inu-Yasha bit his lip and gently plucked the first string.
Its high note rang out clearly through the air, and Inu-Yasha's whole face lit up and he laughed and looked back at Sessho-Maru.
"Nii-san! It's like mother's koto!" he said brightly, and gently plucked the next string, laughing as the new, deeper note sounded.
"Like it, huh kid?" The man asked, and when Inu-Yasha nodded enthusiastically, the man smiled widely, "Wanna try it?"
Inu-Yasha's eyes sparkled happily, and he looked over his shoulder at Sessho-Maru.
"Can I, Nii-san? Can I?" he inquired.
Sessho-Maru blinked, puzzled, but then nodded and Inu-Yasha's face all but glowed with joy. The man gently passed the guitar into the little hanyou's awaiting arms.
Grinning, the boy sat with the instrument in his lap and gently plucked a few of the strings.
"Nii-san, remember that song mother used to sing to me?" he asked, looking up to Sessho-Maru, "Do you think I could play it?"
Sessho-Maru shrugged as Inu-Yasha hummed the tune to himself softly, and then again, plucking strings slowly along to the tune, fiddling with chords that he felt sounded nice as he went along.
The man whom the guitar belonged to stared with surprise at the little boy, and Inu-Yasha smiled.
"Ni-san?" he inquired as he played the first verse over again a few times, "Will you sing it with me? You know the words, don't you?"
"Uh…" Sessho-Maru said slowly, "I'm not… much of a singer."
"But you're good," Inu-Yasha squeaked, "And… Syd won't know the words… "
"Sorry whelp, you're going to have to sing by yourself," Sessho-Maru said, crossing his arms.
Inu-Yasha gave a slight shrug and closed his eyes, swaying gently back and forth as he remembered the lyrics to a special hanyou song his mother used to sing to him.
"Chichi wa iwareta… arakasi no te wa mamori no te… Haha wa iwareta… hito no te aru wa hagukumi no tame…" he sang softly, strumming along to his song, "Ryoi te awase tobira wo hikari…"
Forgetting the rest of the words, he merely hummed again and swayed back and forth, slowly playing the last notes of the song until he was through.
When he opened his eyes, he found both Syd and the guitar-man to be gawking at him.
"What?" he asked in puzzlement.
"Whoa, kid, you're good!" the man exclaimed.
"Indubitably!" Syd agreed loudly, scooping the young boy into her arms and leaving the guitar on the pavement, "You rock, you cute little kid! Yay! Sesshilies, you never told me Yasha-Pup was good with music."
Sessho-Maru rolled his eyes and grumbled softly about his nickname, and the man, still impressed, picked up his guitar, and after bidding the three good morning, left.
-
Syd twirled in a circle with Inu-Yasha in her arms and cuddled him as he grunted and squirmed to be put down.
Swiftly, Sessho-Maru snatched him away as Syd had done, and Inu-Yasha almost automatically relaxed.
"Well, come on then," Syd said, gesturing to the building before them, "We need to go up to my condo."
Sessho-Maru nodded and followed the girl as she pranced happily into the building. She waved cheerily at another human and led Sessho-Maru and Inu-Yasha up a large, beige, dirty flight of stairs.
"This is… quite a tall building," Sessho-Maru commented quietly.
"Yep," Syd stated proudly, "Forty floors!"
"That's really high!" Inu-Yasha squeaked, looking up at all the stairs before them.
"My condo's on the tenth floor," Syd said, "Hey… I'll race you Sesshilies!"
Sessho-Maru scoffed and smirked.
"You'd lose," he said.
"Why are you so cocky?" Syd complained, "You won't even race me to prove it."
"I have no need to," Sessho-Maru replied with a tiny, arrogant smirk.
Syd sighed and pouted.
"You're no fun," she grumbled.
"He's never any fun," Inu-Yasha commented.
Sessho-Maru rolled his eyes and glared down at the whelp in his arms as they mastered another flight of stairs.
-
Soon, they were on the tenth floor, and Syd led the two youkai into her room. She unlocked the door and opened it wide for them.
"Welcome to my home!" she said cheerfully, gesturing inside, "Come in, come in!"
Sessho-Maru cautiously padded into the home, almost as if he were half expecting an ambush, though Syd skipped in happily.
The one room that the could see as they walked into the home was large, but cozy looking, and was divided in the center, one half being living room and the other a kitchen, both painted in multiple blues and reds. There were also two doors, one leading to a washroom and the other to a separate bedroom.
Sessho-Maru glanced around before allowing Inu-Yasha to step down onto the soft carpeting. The small hanyou looked around the apartment in wonder before happily leaping onto a comfortable couch and bouncing happily on it.
Syd laughed and ruffled the little boy's ears, though Sessho-Maru kept a cold stare locked on her.
"So?" he said.
"So what?" Syd inquired.
"You said you'd tell me about this world," Sessho-Maru said.
Syd shrugged and yawned widely.
"In the morning," she said.
"It is the morning," Sessho-Maru said.
"Huh?" Syd said puzzledly, rubbing her head, "Wha…? Oh yeah! You're right."
She yawned again and stretched her arms out above her head.
"Ugh… But I'm tired; can't I nap first?" she whined.
"No," Sessho-Maru said simply, taking a seat on the couch beside his brother, "The sooner you explain things to me, the sooner my brother and I can leave."
"I am sort of tired though…" Inu-Yasha said quietly, "Can I sleep?"
"You? Why not?" Sessho-Maru said.
Inu-Yasha grinned and, before Sessho-Maru could protest, curled up in his lap and promptly dosed off, his small chest gently heaving as he breathed, his mouth slightly agape.
Syd smiled and went into her kitchen. She took a plastic container of food from a cupboard and brought it to the sofa as she sat beside Sessho-Maru.
"Muffin?" she asked, offering him a sweet smelling, bread like substance.
"I don't eat human food," he said quietly.
"Just eat it," Syd sighed, "It's good."
The youkai frowned. He was slightly hungry, but he was reluctant to take food from this odd girl.
Sessho-Maru stared intently at the muffin, and as soon as Syd turned her head, whisked it away from her and placed it to his side, out of her sight.
"Ah hah!" she said, "You took it!"
"Hmm? Took what?" the youkai inquired.
Syd sighed.
"The muffin," she said.
"What in the seven hells is a muffin?" Sessho-Maru asked.
Syd groaned and rolled her eyes, and pulled another muffin from the plastic contained and took a bite out of it. Sessho-Maru slipped his sandals off and crossed his legs, gripping his sleeping younger brother with one arm.
"I'd take the backpack off too," Syd suggested.
Sessho-Maru nodded slowly and placed the sack in front of him on the floor. He opened it, pulled out his haori, and wrapped Inu-Yasha snugly in it.
Syd yawned loudly and rubbed the back of her head, and then looked to Sessho-Maru.
"Okay, we may as well start," she said, "What do you want to know first?"
oOoOoOoO
By the time Syd had completed her explanation of the modern era, it was ten o'clock at night. Inu-Yasha had woken up, and was now munching on the muffin Sessho-Maru had swiped hours before.
Sessho-Maru was, for once in his life, looking slightly flustered, and Syd was snoring on the floor.
"Well… This world doesn't sound too hard," Inu-Yasha said through a mouthful of muffin, and he broke off a piece and held it out to his brother, "Here Nii-san; take it."
Sessho-Maru slowly took the food from the hanyou and eyed it curiously.
"I detest to even look at something called a muffin, but…" he mumbled, and then cautiously tasted the thing.
After finding it slightly satisfactory, he ate the food, and Inu-Yasha offered him another piece, which he politely declined.
He leaned back against the cushions of the couch and sighed.
He had been informed about the government, laws, money systems, and much more: everything that would be necessary for him to integrate properly into an all-human society.
"I can't believe that killing was outlawed," he sighed, "Gods, but what do you do with someone who gets in your way constantly and pisses you off?"
Apparently, Syd had also taught him some modern lingo.
"You talk," Syd said sleepily.
The girl opened one eye and smiled at Sessho-Maru, who gave another frustrated sigh.
"All these laws and whatnot… Who the hell does this "Government" think it is?" he growled.
"It thinks it's the government," Syd sighed, "And that means it thinks it's the ruler of the planet."
"Damn it to hell," Sessho-Maru sighed.
He stood and rubbed his brow with frustration.
Syd looked up at him puzzledly.
"Where do you think you're going?" she asked.
"Well, it's simple," he said, "I plan to get some money and then proceed to-"
"No, no, no," the girl said swiftly, cutting him off.
Sessho-Maru glared at the incredibly rude child with malice, rage welling in his chest at the disrespect.
"You can't leave now," she said, "Weren't you listening? Do you know how far you'll get without money?"
Sessho-Maru frowned, unsure of what to say, and the girl sighed with exasperation and rolled her eyes skyward.
"Look, just stay the night, and tomorrow I'll buy you both some clothes, okay?" she said.
Sessho-Maru frowned.
"Why are you doing this?" he asked, "Explain yourself."
Syd merely shrugged and yawned widely, and Sessho-Maru's frown deepened.
"We should purchase those items now then," he said quietly, "I loath being in any sort of debt to you, girl. The quicker we are out of here, the quicker I can repay you."
Syd stared at the youkai as if he were insane and shook her head swiftly.
"No way," she said, "I'm tired, and you two must be too… We're waiting 'til morning."
Inu-Yasha looked up at Syd and seemed like he was about to protest, but he, as well, gave a loud yawn.
"Nii-san, can we just wait until morning?" he inquired.
Sessho-Maru sighed, his frown deepening even further. He stared at the exhausted child, and thought his options over slowly.
It was true; if he left now, without any funds, how far could he get in the city?
And Inu-Yasha was exhausted, and having a sleepy child with him wouldn't exactly be the best thing in the world… And there was no way in hell that he would even consider leaving his whelp of a sibling with this loopy human.
"I suppose…" he grumbled.
"Excellent!" Syd said, "You can sleep on the pull-out bed!"
Both Sessho-Maru and Inu-Yasha looked puzzled and Syd waved her hand dismissively to tell them to forget it before shooing the small hanyou off the couch and throwing the cushions aside.
She pulled on a metal bar, and managed to heave a large, folded-in bed out from the couch as Inu-Yasha stared in awe and his brother blinked with puzzlement.
Syd then went to a closet to pull out pillows and blankets.
"Girl…" Sessho-Maru said slowly, sniffing, "There are no other people here. Do you not have parents?"
Syd shrugged.
"Meh," was her only reply, and she tossed a blanket into his arms, and some pillows at Inu-Yasha, though they toppled the tiny boy over with a yelp.
"You guys sleep here," she said, gesturing to the bed, "I'm in the other room; good night."
She grinned, turned off the lights, and sped off, leaving the two baffled youkai standing beside the pull-out bed.
-
Slowly, Sessho-Maru leaned back, closing the door. He placed his backpack on the ground as well, though he pulled his sword out of it and placed it on the floor beside the bed.
There wasn't anything special about the blade, though holding it with him assured him that most humans who mistook him for one would leave him be.
He sat, a little awkwardly on the bed, and patted the mattress beside him.
"Whelp; get some sleep," he instructed, "You must be exhausted."
Inu-Yasha yawned and scrambled up onto the mattress, and Sessho-Maru draped the blanket around his younger brother.
He sat there in a slightly awkward, to him, silence, before coughing quietly to break it.
"How's your arm?" he inquired quietly.
Inu-Yasha blinked with surprise at his older brother and smiled widely.
"A lot better; thanks Nii-san," he said softly.
Sessho-Maru nodded his approval, the tip of his tail give a tiny, semi-contented flick.
"Nii-san…" Inu-Yasha piped up once more, "You sound sleepy too… You should sleep."
"I'd rather be in a tree," he grumbled, "But…"
The older youkai couldn't quell a tiny yawn and he let himself lay down on the mattress, and before he knew it, Inu-Yasha was curled up against his chest in a warm ball, nestling into his tail fur.
Sessho-Maru looked down at the hanyou's blissfully smiling face and couldn't help but crack a tiny smile as well.
"Nii-san?" Inu-Yasha whispered, "Will you sing me that lullaby again? The one from before?"
Sessho-Maru blinked with surprise.
"I told you… I'm not much of a singer," he muttered.
"But you sang it really well before," the boy pressed, "Please?"
"Inu-Yasha… It's a spell when a youkai says those words," he muttered, "I only sang it to make you…"
"You sang it to make me feel batter?" Inu-Yasha suggested.
"No, I sang it to get you to shut up," he lied, and then sighed, "Look, Inu-Yasha…"
"Please Sessho? Please?" Inu-Yasha begged, looking pleadingly at his older brother, "Please?"
Sessho-Maru was about to protest again, when he heard a cry of irritation from another room.
"My God, Sesshilies! Just sing him the damned song!" Syd yelled.
"Don't start telling me what to do!" Sessho-Maru called back.
He looked down at Inu-Yasha's pleading face and sighed.
"Fine… But you owe me, whelp," he grumbled.
Inu-Yasha's ears perked and he grinned broadly, snuggling into his brother and closing his eyes.
Sessho-Maru blew out a sigh and began to sing the lullaby softly to his brother and before he had even completed the second verse, the pup was fast asleep.
Sessho-Maru looked down at the whelp, and found himself to be smiling again as his paternal instincts rose. He sighed again, held the whelp to his chest, and rolled over onto his back, staring blankly at the ceiling over his head.
"Was this… somehow your doing, Father?" he asked aloud, "Did you want me not to hate my brother, so you sent us somewhere where… I'd have to protect him? I bet… wherever you are, Father, you're laughing at me, aren't you? …I can't blame you, but…"
He closed his eyes, gently rubbing Inu-Yasha's back as he slept.
"You… wanted me to get over her, didn't you Father?" he whispered, "She's gone, and there's nothing either of us can do… I know it wasn't the whelp's fault, but… You wanted me to not hate him."
He bent his head and rested his nose in between his brother's ears, delicately inhaling the hanyou's scent.
It's not so bad… he thought, I've met full-blooded youkai that smell worse.
He blew out a soft sigh into his brother's ears, and gave his forehead a tentative lick.
"Hey pup?" he whispered, though he expected no answer, "Look, I… I know it wasn't you… I know it wasn't your fault that she died… And… I know… that you can't survive here without me… So we're going to stay together, all right? I promise… that I'll protect you, little brother."
He closed his eyes tightly and sighed again, though he was secretly a little disappointed that Inu-Yasha would never hear his sentiments.
He sighed once more and relaxed against the mattress, wrapping his tail around the whelp and consciously allowed himself to fall into a light sleep.
oOoOoOoO oOoOoOoO oOoOoOoO
When the dream came to Sessho-Maru, he was well aware that it was a dream, though despite his efforts to wake himself, he was unable to break free.
He sat calmly on the edge of a rocky cliff, staring out over the horizon, watching the clouds drift across the sky and looking over the land that was his father's… And was his, too.
All the lands of the West belonged to his family.
He smirked slightly, unable to hide the pride on his face, and he took in the fresh scents of the woods behind him.
Then, he caught a new, soft scent that he recognized.
It belonged to her.
Sessho-Maru stiffened for a moment before the scent caused all his muscles to relax and become slightly limp.
He cringed, despising the feeling of weakness, though he couldn't shake it and sighed as he heard her gentle pawsteps padding through the grass behind him.
Her name was Akai.
She was a neko-panther youkai who had been taken in by his father after her clan had planned to destroy her for being a half-breed.
The girl had long copper hair, eyes like molten gold, a tabby-striped cat tail, and cat ears crowning her head that were layered with a thin coating of fuzz that mirrored the colour of her hair.
…And Sessho-Maru couldn't help it… For years, ever since the girl had been rescued, he hadn't been able to quell the affection that had sprung deep in his chest for her.
He thought it was going to drive him insane.
Though he had been encouraged by his father to find a mate, he had had no intentions to let a thing like love make him weak.
He had failed though.
-
Slowly, the neko girl sat beside him in the grass, though he tried to keep his eyes on the sky.
"Hey Sessho," she said cheerfully.
Sessho-Maru grunted in acknowledgement and continued to stare blankly ahead. The neko girl smiled and, to the inu youkai's dismay, leaned comfortably up against his ribcage.
He was unable to keep a blush from staining his cheeks, and he gulped quietly to keep back a tiny sigh of his internal contentment.
He adored having this youkai close, though he would never… no, could never admit it.
She snickered softly as she spotted his blush, though she didn't comment about it and merely sat quietly, following his silent gaze across the horizon.
Sessho-Maru cringed again, internally begging her to leave. He didn't want to accidentally blurt something too affectionate, though, with Akai, he was bound to.
Plus, he was thinking deeply.
-
His father, the great lord of the West, had just chosen a mortal woman as his mate.
Sure, she wasn't a horrible mortal. He honestly didn't mind her very much, though now, she was pregnant with his father's pup.
He was to have a little brother within a few weeks.
A hanyou.
Sessho-Maru didn't know what to make of the situation.
The hanyou would be part mortal, and therefore weak… Unless, of course, he inherited a great amount of their father's strength.
Sessho-Maru supposed that his father might expect him to perform some brotherly duties to the whelp, and he supposed that he would until the child was old enough to not need him anymore.
Contrary to popular belief, Sessho-Maru, for the moment, had nothing against hanyous other than the fact that they were generally weaklings.
He vowed quietly that he would try not to get too close to the pup, despite the close family ties that were quickly established between inu youkai.
-
He sighed, puzzled, and by his side, Akai looked up at him, frowning a tiny bit before her smile reformed and she gave his cheek a gentle lick.
A tremor ran up and down Sessho-Maru's spine and he looked swiftly to Akai, who then smiled fondly at him.
"What in the hells was that for?" he demanded, though despite his attempts to sound angry, his question merely ended up coming out as a quiet bark.
Akai shrugged and leaned her head on his shoulder, knowing that he had no intentions of pulling away.
"You… seemed troubled, that's all," she commented quietly.
Sessho-Maru stared at her for a moment, trying to fix his normally ice-cold glare on her, but he… he just couldn't, and when her tail unconsciously curled around his waist, his pathetic glare was completely felled and he was left to look a little embarrassed.
To his relief, Akai had closed her eyes and didn't see his cheeks turn a deeper shade of crimson, though he knew that she could smell his embarrassment.
She laughed softly and then opened her eyes to stare at him briefly.
"Hey Sessho…?" she said softly.
Sessho-Maru stared into the neko's eyes and gulped quietly.
"Hai?" he replied.
Akai stared at him for another moment before smiling shyly and shaking her head.
"Nothing, never mind," she said, and she gave him another cat-kiss on the cheek before turning her gaze on the sky again.
"It wasn't anything that you would've wanted to hear anyway…"
Sessho-Maru stared at the girl, his eyes becoming wide.
"What do you mean by that?" he asked, craning his neck to peer into her face.
The neko shrugged, though she said nothing to inform him of her thoughts.
The inu youkai frowned.
He hated it when people kept information from him.
"It's nothing," Akai said quietly.
"If it was, you wouldn't have bothered to say anything," Sessho-Maru said grumpily, "Now, I demand that you tell me what you were about to ask me."
"It's…" she whispered quietly, and then shook her head swiftly, "Um, hey? You're getting a little brother. What do you think of that?"
She paused and looked a little nervous to continue, but then did anyhow.
"He's going to be a hanyou," she said softly, "What do you think of that?"
-
Sessho-Maru stared at Akai and mused about her question.
His first reaction was: he's going to be a weak, worthless, half-breed, though he quickly quelled the response.
That was what a common youkai would think and, he, Sessho-Maru, was anything but.
He refused to let himself think like the stereotypical, idiotic youkai, who would taunt and torture the hanyou for amusement for not being born a full-blood.
He resented that, in doing so, he'd also be like the humans, who would also loathe the hanyou merely because he was half "monster".
No, he would not lower himself to judging someone merely by their heritage.
Blood didn't matter to him; all that mattered was strength.
Someone could have only a tiny drop of youkai blood in their veins, though if they were strong, Sessho-Maru couldn't care less.
-
"So…?" Akai pressed, "Sessho…? What do you think?"
Sessho-Maru, coming back to reality, stared at the girl for one more moment before shrugging absently and looking up to the sky.
"I don't care," he said.
Akai locked her eyes on the inu youkai, blinking her golden orbs with shock.
"What?" she inquired.
"I don't care," Sessho-Maru repeated, "The whelp will either be strong, or he won't be… If he's not… he will be a disgrace to the family, though…"
Sessho-Maru let his sentence trail off and he gave a gentle smirk.
"If he is strong, I'll take him on as my student," he said, and he turned to Akai, "And you'll help me teach him, won't you?"
Akai stared blankly for a moment before bobbing her head in an exuberant nod.
"Of course," she said.
Sessho-Maru's smirk broadened and he nodded approvingly, and then sent a knowing smile towards the neko.
"That wasn't what you were going to ask me before," he stated, "Tell me what is."
Akai smiled shyly and shook her head, though Sessho-Maru swiftly moved so that he was in front of her, staring her in the face.
"Tell me now," he ordered, though Akai merely shook her head and attempted to playfully push him backwards.
Instead, he grabbed her wrist, smirking at her, and he leaned forward again to stare at her, attempting to weasel the information out of her.
"Akai," he growled warningly.
She giggled and shook her head again, though the inu youkai was losing some of his patience.
He grunted with irritation.
His plan was to swiftly grab her, pinion her against a tree, and glare the question from her, though as he tried, the girl slipped and fell onto her back, and he, in turn, fell on top of her and found his face pressed almost unbearably close to hers.
He found their mouths pressed together, and he stared down at Akai with wide eyes, while she stared back up at him, her cat-ears folding backwards with embarrassment.
Shyly, pink staining his face, he leapt backwards and quickly helped the girl upright.
"Gomen, that was my fault," she mumbled, though Sessho-Maru swiftly shook his head, put his hand to his brow, and looked down to hide his blush.
Akai looked at his bowed head and laughed softly, a rosy blush colouring her cheeks as well, and she cautiously tilted the inu youkai's face upwards with a gentle finger.
"I was going to ask if you and I could bunk together tonight; it's getting colder," she said a little shyly.
Now, "bunk together" had many meaning, but for youkai, there was only one unless the youkai being asked happened to be mates with the other youkai: it meant "Would you share a bed with me, because I need your body warmth".
It was an innocent enough question; he and Akai had shared a futon before, during the winter when the temperatures could get dangerously low, though it now made Sessho-Maru's face turn bright crimson before he was able to force out a nod.
Akai smiled gratefully and wagged her tail, and made as if to leave before whirling swiftly on Sessho-Maru and gently pecking him on the lips.
Sessho-Maru blinked dumbly at the neko as she smiled warmly and stood, disappearing back into the woods.
-
Then, a flash.
-
It was suddenly three weeks later.
And Akai… was dying in his arms.
Sessho-Maru begged; pleaded with the gods not to take her before he could tell her what need to be said, though they merely laughed, and then mocked him further by having her body burned in a flash forest fire before his father's legendary Tensaiga could be put to work.
Sessho-Maru became numb… bitter…
He was furious with himself, and just how the girl he… loved… had perished.
It wasn't fair. Nothing was fair.
He wanted her back.
He wanted to tell her he loved her, but there was no chance for that now.
It wasn't fair…
oOoOoOoO oOoOoOoO oOoOoOoO
Sessho-Maru woke up with a jolt; sweat coating his brow and the stench of death stinking in his nostrils, though it was swiftly replaced with the scent of simmering meat and eggs.
He felt moistness against his cheek, and his forlorn gaze traced down to see his baby brother, still fast asleep, gently licking him.
Rage filled his eyes for a brief moment, though it died swiftly as the tiny boy gave a fearful whimper as his Nii-san's scent altered to match his mood. The fury turned back to a slightly melancholy expression, and he sighed.
He knew it wasn't Inu-Yasha's fault, nor was it his mother's.
No one had asked Akai to sacrifice herself for Izayoi and her unborn hanyou son, though she had.
Sessho-Maru cringed and buried his face against Inu-Yasha's head.
If anything, he though slowly, I should be taking care of this whelp because of what that crazy neko did… Her death will not have been in vain…
He sighed again, and to his surprise, he felt tiny arms locking around his neck and a gentle nuzzle on his throat.
He looked up from the tangled silver mane of the child, and Inu-Yasha tilted his head to lock his large, amber eyes on his brother's.
"Nii-san?" he asked softly, "Why are you so sad?"
Sessho-Maru blinked blankly at the tiny boy.
"What?" he asked.
"You're sad…" he whispered, and then cupped his older brother's cheek, his ears drooping, "I… didn't do that, did I?"
Sessho-Maru stared disbelievingly at the whelp in his arms and slowly shook his head.
"No, you didn't," he replied quietly.
Inu-Yasha stared up at Sessho-Maru, though his eyes slowly welled up with tears.
"You sure?" he whispered, "You… you smelled so angry and then sad…"
Sessho-Maru stared at his baby brother again, and then shook his head swiftly before sitting up and letting Inu-Yasha rest in his lap.
"Look, whelp, I'm not mad… or sad because of you, okay? Everything fine, so stop crying," he said.
Inu-Yasha gazed up at his brother and nodded swiftly, wiping his tears on the back of his sleeve. Upon doing this, however, Sessho-Maru noticed just how filthy his baby brother was: he was still covered in mud and grass stains, and a tiny bit of blood.
Before Sessho-Maru could comment, Inu-Yasha began to hug him around the waist contentedly.
"Gomen about saying all those bad words before, Nii-san," he said, "I don't think you're a bastard or anything like that."
He nuzzled into Sessho-Maru's t-shirt and smiled.
"I love you Nii-san," he whispered.
Sessho-Maru stared at the whelp for a moment before he gently laid his hand between Inu-Yasha's ears. He remembered being caught in this situation before, though now, he felt those paternal instincts jumping up his throat.
That could be considered love, couldn't it?
"Hai, I… uhh… feel… some affection for you as well, little brother," he said a little awkwardly.
Inu-Yasha blinked with shock before he began to giggle quietly, squeezing Sessho-Maru tighter.
"Arigato," he said.
Sessho-Maru stared down at the pup, and suddenly, a loud squeal was heard.
Sessho-Maru jerked around, one set of claws raised defensively, only to see Syd standing at the doorway to the kitchen, her eyes all but sparkling.
"That's so kawaii!" she exclaimed, "Brotherly love! Sesshilies, I didn't think you had it in you."
Sessho-Maru stared at the human girl intently, and then blew out a sigh as he bowed his head to look down on Inu-Yasha.
"Neither did I…" he whispered inaudibly.
Syd chuckled quietly at them smiled at the two youkai in her living room.
"I made breakfast," she said, "Who wants eggs?"
oOoOoOoO
Half-way through the day, Sessho-Maru decided that he wanted to at least begin to get their new, modern lives on track… though he bathed Inu-Yasha first to get all the grime off of him. He and Inu-Yasha needed money, clothes, food, and a place to live.
Syd informed him that she'd lend him money and that he and the whelp could stay with her until they found a place.
Sessho-Maru scoffed; how hard could it be?
-
Now, they were outside. Sessho-Maru remained in his modern-era clothes, though his tail was still draped over his shoulder like a living boa. He held Inu-Yasha in his arms; the young boy was still in his kimono, though he sported a large baseball cap to conceal his ears, but it constantly slipped and fell down over his eyes.
Syd laughed as Inu-Yasha grumbled and pushed his hat up for about the zillionth time, and steered the two brothers into an enormous building crawling with humans.
"It's called a mall," Syd said, "You guys had markets, right?"
"Hai," Sessho-Maru replied.
"Well, this is like hundreds of different markets all in one building," she said, "We're going to get you clothes and stuff here, okay?"
"I still have no money…" the youkai growled softly.
"I said I'll pay for you until you have some! Jeez!" Syd exclaimed as herded the two brothers through the interior "streets" of the mall.
Sessho-Maru was dazzled and slightly disturbed by the amounts of humans, scents, and sounds all concentrated so closely, while Inu-Yasha stared in awe at all the different shops they were passing.
She stopped Sessho-Maru at a green bench next to a large, loud fountain, and she peered closely at a stand that sported a small map of the interior of the mall.
Slowly, Sessho-Maru sat and allowed Inu-Yasha to scurry from his arms to look around.
The boy looked awed at the coolness of the tiles against his bare feet. As he looked down, the brim of his hat fell down over his eyes again, and with a grunt of irritation, he pushed it back up again.
"I don't like this thing," he muttered.
Sessho-Maru gave the whelp an amused smirk, and he glanced at Syd, folding his arms against his chest.
"Wench, are you nearly done?" he inquired.
"Um, yeah," Syd said, "Okay."
She turned to Sessho-Maru and forcibly put a plastic card into his palm.
The youkai looked at it with puzzlement, his brow knitting, and flipped it over to observe it fully.
"That's a credit card," Syd said, "Like I told you yesterday, remember?"
Sessho-Maru nodded and looked up.
"So…" he said slowly.
"It's mine," she said, "You're going to use it to buy things that you need. I'm going to take Inu-Yasha with me and buy him things with a different credit card, okay?"
Inu-Yasha's head jerked to the sound of his name, and he looked, alarmed, back at Sessho-Maru and Syd.
"What? I'm going with you?" he squeaked, pointing at Syd, and then looked up at her shyly, "You won't… throw-"
"She won't throw things at you Inu-Yasha," Sessho-Maru said with a sigh, "She has no concept or understanding of the differences between youkai, ningen, and hanyou."
Syd nodded swiftly.
"Right; what he said," she agreed.
Inu-Yasha looked considerably relieved, and his ears perked up happily under his hat.
"Oh good," he said, smiling.
Syd grinned, and then looked to Sessho-Maru again. She tapped the red credit card in his hand with a fingernail.
"The password for it is 5666," she said quietly, "Don't tell anyone. You remember how to use it?"
Sessho-Maru nodded and stood, as Syd took Inu-Yasha's tiny hand.
"We'll meet back here in two hours," the girl said, "Cool?"
Sessho-Maru nodded, remembering that "Cool" was like "okay", and he looked down at Inu-Yasha.
"Pup, stay with the girl," he instructed, "Don't leave her sights… And try not to talk to anyone else, do you understand?"
Inu-Yasha bobbed his head in a swift nod.
"Right Nii-san: I won't let you down, I promise!" he said sincerely.
"Good boy," Sessho-Maru said approvingly, and then looked up to Syd, locking his ice-cold gaze on hers, "Girl?"
"Yeah?" she asked.
"Do not let anything happen to my little brother," he warned, "If something happens to him… I will personally take your head, okay?"
Syd stared at him and smiled, laughing softly.
"Enough with the death threats," she said, "You can trust me Sesshilies."
"Sesshilies…" the youkai growled out, the very word bitter in his mouth, "Oh gods…"
"God," Syd corrected, "Now, people only say God, not gods."
"Fine, GOD," Sessho-Maru repeated exasperatedly.
He drew a bewildered glance from a passing woman as he rubbed his fingers through his bangs and Syd chuckled softly.
"We'll see you later, okay?" She asked.
Sessho-Maru nodded and, with a flick of his finger serving as a wave to his younger sibling, turned elegantly on his heel and walked away.
Inu-Yasha watched him go, and then looked up at the girl who was grasping his fingers.
"What do we do now?" he asked softly.
"We buy you clothes," she said simply.
She turned towards a store called The GAP and gently escorted Inu-Yasha into it, across the suddenly wooded floorboards.
-
Inu-Yasha sat patiently on a carpeted bench protruding from the wall as Syd scampered back and forth, picking clothes out for him from the many shelves around he store. Every once and a while, she would return and place items onto an accumulating pile beside the young hanyou until it was taller than he was.
Inu-Yasha let out a yawn, and then looked up at Syd as she returned from her tenth round.
"Are you done yet?" he inquired innocently.
Syd nodded swiftly, though she whisked a baggy, blue pair of children's slacks and a red sweatshirt from the pile and delivered them into the boy's arms.
"There's a little room over there," Syd said quickly, pointing to a half-open door to her left, "Go try these things on in there to see if they fit all right, okay?"
Inu-Yasha nodded a bit numbly, puzzled, and Syd grinned and shot off again into the shelves of clothes. The small hanyou raised one eyebrow in puzzlement, though he did as Syd had told him to and walked towards the room, though, before he got there, he spotted a small, white hat similar to the one he was wear except for one thing: it had small, pointed dog ears poking up from the top.
Inu-Yasha's eyes widened as an idea dawned on him, and after awkwardly shuffling he items he held under his arms, he picked up the hat and examined it.
To his glee, he found that the hat would fit him perfectly; even his ears could fit into the little folds of material that served as the false ears.
Smirking with triumph, he managed to heave the massive (to him) pile of clothes into the small room and kick the door shut behind him.
-
The boy swiftly pulled off his red, mud caked kimono, a little relieved to be out of the dirty garments. Slowly, he looked through the new clothes and determined what order he was supposed to put things on in. Biting his lip, he stumbled into the baggy blue pants and yanked the sweatshirt up and over his head. The clothes were warm and dry, and he smiled contentedly. Turning to look behind him, he spotted a mirror, and he cocked his head as he looked at his reflection.
These new, different clothes didn't seem too bad…At least they were warm.
Inu-Yasha picked up the hat with the small ears sticking up from it and placed it on his head with the rim facing backwards. He used a claw to poke his real ears into the folds of fabric to conceal them. He snickered as he observed himself in the mirror.
Now, none of the humans would guess he had real dog ears, would they?
-
He tentatively pushed the door open again and poked his head out, looking around.
"Syd-chan?" he called, "Syd-chan, I'm done."
He could see the blond-haired girl's head jerk up from behind a row of shelves at his call. He waved a small arm in the air to draw her attention and walked out of the room to lean against the wall, folding his arms to his chest.
Syd scurried to him, though when she laid eyes on him, her jaw dropped and her blue eyes bulged.
He looked gust like a tiny, puppy rapper… An extremely cute, tiny, puppy rapper…
Syd's lips pulled back as she ground her teeth together, trying not to burst out laughing.
The little hanyou tilted his head, one eyebrow cocking with puzzlement.
"Is something wrong?" he inquired.
Syd shook her head swiftly, let out a tiny giggle, and then whisked the boy in the baggy clothes into her arms.
"No, no, nothing's wrong, you just look… really kawaii," she said, "Where are your other things?"
Inu-Yasha pointed to the where he had been sitting previously, so Syd placed him back on his feet and picked up all of his clothes, including his muddied, torn kimono from the changing room.
She escorted him to a counter where Syd paid for all the clothes, including the ones Inu-Yasha was wearing. The woman behind the counter allowed Inu-Yasha to keep the newly bought clothes he had donned on; she cut off the tags with a pair of shiny scissors.
-
As soon as the store began to become swarmed with other patrons, Syd tightly grasped their bag of spoils in one hand while she took Inu-Yasha's with her other and guided him back outside.
"We got that done pretty quick, huh Inu-pup?" she said happily, "We should be proud."
"We should?" Inu-Yasha inquired.
"Oh yes, very much so," the girl said a she bobbed her head up and down in a nod.
She walked to a pedestal where a tree grew up out of the tiles and gestured for Inu-Yasha to sit on a bench in front of it. She fished through the bag of clothes for a minute, a look of determination on her face. Inu-Yasha cocked his head quizzically, and Syd laughed triumphantly as her hand emerged gripping a tiny pair of sandals.
"Here," she said, handing the to the hanyou boy, "They'll keep your feet off these tiles… They're completely filthy; you could probably get a friggin STD."
"ST-what?" Inu-Yasha asked.
He had put one sandal on and was pulling on the other as he looked up at his human escort with puzzlement.
Syd laughed a little embarrassedly, thinking she had said a little too much, and shook her head swiftly.
"Nothing, nothing," she assured him hurriedly.
She tilted her head and looked at her watch.
"You hungry?" she asked, "We have time to buy some food if you want."
Inu-Yasha looked up at Syd, his eyes glistening hopefully as his stomach gave a tiny, painful gurgle.
"Really?" he inquired, "O-Okay… What is there…?"
Inu-Yasha was expecting her to respond with something along the lines of dried bread and fruit, though instead, Syd grinned widely at the little boy and ruffled his cloth-covered ears.
"Anything you want Yasha-pup, anything you want."
TO BE CONTINUED! …Later…
