Keh and Hmm - InuSess Week 2022
Summary: InuSess Week 2022 Day 1: Fairy Tale/Mythology AU | New Moon | Biting (June 24)
A/N: This is a late posting, but I hope you will like it.
OG A/N: from AO3: There were plans. There was a file. But since May I've been forced offline. Thanks to Lord Yau for helping me to post and beta.
I've never written this ship so if you read this let me know how I did. I might do more of this year's prompts if it turns out enjoyable.
Day 1
It was a splendid night. Early autumn moon hung high in the sky like a lantern of the gods, bathing the forest-covered hills and mountains in its glorious silver light. Soft sounds of night animals floated in the air heavy with pleasant scents. All nature seemed to enjoy a nice long soak in the moonlight.
Inuyasha decided to follow the nature's lead and take a bath. A long, relaxing soak in a hidden hot spring. He definitely deserved that after a long day spent babysitting an official from the feudal land who had come to do some administrative shit with the village headman. Gods, he had been so jumpy and nervous for some reason.
But now the official was gone and the hanyou planned to enjoy his free time. Miroku and Sango were out of the village on a family trip to Mushin's temple to show the old man their kids. Shippou was on his exam week at school and Kaede and Rin were probably already asleep in their hut. Inuyasha looked up to the sky as he walked to his spring. Stars flickered between gently swaying tree limbs. Always when he saw them he thought about the last member of his pack. Kagome was probably done with her school and tests. He wondered what the miko was up to. She held a special spot in his heart, being his first and best friend. He missed her, just like the others did, but at least he had seen her safe with her family, even if he had not had the opportunity to say goodbye.
Melancholy didn't linger in his mind for long - as soon as he saw the steam rising from the hot spring, he smiled and hastened his steps. In a short time he reached the spring cradled between a cliffside and a thicket of willows. Moonlight seemed to be trapped in the steam above the sizable pool. He wasted no time in undressing and entered the water. With a sigh of bliss he started to scrub himself with a handful of weeds that he'd planted under the willows. The weed smelled nicely and helped clean his skin and hair. This was his best kept secret and he always made sure no one even suspected this place existed.
Well, that was about to change.
.
The night was silent and the area around the village where Rin lived was peaceful. Which meant that he didn't have a reason to find Inuyasha and pick a fight. It was getting annoyingly hard to find an excuse to see him. And the daiyoukai was rather fond of doing that. It was… well, fun to tease him. Maybe he could just check up on him - just to make sure he was not dishonoring their bloodline.
As he pondered the matter in a relative silence of the forest (Jaken was, thankfully, on an errand far away), he wandered through the moonlit woods that belonged to Inuyasha and where his scent seemed to linger in every meadow. It was always so relaxing to spend time in the wilderness and he treasured those moments he didn't have to deal with fools and arrogant upstarts. There were but a few people he enjoyed being near to. One was his human ward Rin, innocent and sweet. He still didn't understand why she was not making him want to kill her, like most humans did.
Suddenly, as he walked through a veil of willow branches, he stopped. On the ground at his feet lay a pile of red and white clothing and Tessaiga. He stared at the sword for a moment, but a splash of water drew his attention elsewhere.
Right in front of him was a hot spring, currently occupied. In the sublime silver light the steam rose from the pond like a shimmering haze. It shifted like clouds on a breeze and as it did, he caught a good look of the entity in the water.
White hair, pure and long, was tumbling down in damp waves, appearing soft and inviting one to run a hand through the tresses of silk. It partially obscured the shoulders and back of the creature, but from what he could see, his frame was lean, with stunning proportions. Muscles shifted with every motion of his body. His skin practically glowed with a healthy hue. Every movement was full of easy grace, strength and fluidity as he moved in the pond, wading through it waist deep as he made his way to a submerged rock ledge to sit on it. The pleasant herbal scent underlined his personal one.
He smirked when he noticed his fuzzy ears pressed to the top of his head, probably to keep as much water out of them as possible. The hanyou would attempt to punch him, no doubt, if he ever described him as adorable. He was obviously unaware of his presence yet, all relaxed and lazy. In the soft light he looked like an almost ethereal creature of striking beauty and silent confidenc.e.
His gaze dropped to Tessaiga, the fabled sword he had craved for years, lying on a pile of clothing on the edge of the pool. He could almost taste the awesome power lying within the blade. It looked oddly… in place where it lay on Inuyasha's kimono, the hilt wrap frayed. A glance up told him Inuyasha was almost upon the ledge and about to turn. If he wanted to act, the time was now.
Lord Sesshomaru bent down and grabbed a handful of crimson fabric. In a fluid motion he bundled it and was about to turn when he heard a cry.
"Oi!" Inuyasha yelled. "What do you think you're doing, asshole?"
Lord Sesshomaru didn't respond. He went for the trees.
.
A scent wafted to his nose, barely noticeable under the smell of his soap weed and the forest. For the most of his life he had that scent labeled as a lethal threat, but during the past four years he had learned to kinda ignore it. Sesshomaru was still deadly as fuck, but Inuyasha was bloody strong himself and could kick his ass, especially with Tessaiga.
He turned around, already sour about the fact that his bath was going to be cut short. There was no chance that the asshole would just go away. He rarely did that. Usually he sauntered in, regardless of what Inuyasha was doing, and demanded to fight. As if it was going to end any other way then in dozens of fights they had had in the past. He suspected the idiot was just bored.
As he turned he saw the pale inu standing on the edge of the pool. Of course the asshole had made no noise approaching. He just stood there as if he had been there all the time.
Inuyasha was about to say something, but paused. Instead of giving him the traditional death glare and demanding him out of the water for a fight, the youkai was not even looking at him but at what was at his feet. As Inuyasha realized what it was, Sesshomaru bent down elegantly and reached for it.
Inuyasha's heart skipped a beat. He had almost forgotten how much the youkai lord had craved his sword. He used to pester him about it for months after Inuyasha had gotten it. But since Sesshomaru had finally learned to stay away from his weapon and got a powerful sword of his own, Inuyasha had thought…
He yelled and got ignored. Splashing water he started to make after the fucker… Just to stumble over something on the bank of the pool.
"What the hell?" he glanced down to see his prized sword, just lying there. His ears cocked in confusion and it took him a moment to realize that the thing Sesshomaru had taken wasn't it.
There was only his obi left.
"Come back here!" he yelled after getting his remaining possessions before he chased the man who stole his clothes. What was he thinking? Assuming that the youkai was thinking. It was so not his style to do something like this.
It was easy to follow Sesshomaru, he was easy to spot in the shadows of the trees and he wasn't even running. No, the idiot was just walking as if nothing weird had happened.
Fuming with indignation Inuyasha crossed the short distance and leaped in front of the daiyoukai, causing him to stop.
"What is it that you want, Inuyasha?" His golden eyes looked at him with no apparent emotion. Inuyasha knew how he looked - naked, with mud on his feet and twigs in his hair, but he refused to be intimidated or flustered.
"My kimono! Give it back, jackass!" he demanded. He couldn't see it but
Sesshomaru's right sleeve looked suspiciously full.
"Hm."
"Don't 'hm' me!" the hanyou shook his head and felt water trickle down from his hair down his chest. Golden eyes followed the trail of a drop that went from his forelock down his torso and stopped on the red line of his obi hastily tied around his waist. The youkai seemed to ponder something, but Inuyasha lost his patience and gripped the hilt of his sword, ready to draw it and beat some sense in the inu's head. That motion made Sesshomaru blink and look in his eyes before he looked at Tessaiga.
"Why did you even take my kimono?" Inuyasha asked. "You could have taken the sword."
"It felt right."
"Are you insane?" Inuyasha took Sesshomaru's silence as a 'yes'. "That's my only robe and I want it back!"
A sudden gust of breeze brought to his dog ears a silent answer.
"...No."
"No? What the hell, Sesshomaru?!"
The youkai lord chose to remain silent and just stared. Inuyasha growled when after a minute he realized the other male had no intention to say anything.
"My kimono. Now," he growled with his ears laid back. This time he didn't have to wait for an answer.
"No."
A mental image of himself trying to wrestle his clothes out of the jaws of an enormous white dog came to Inuyasha's mind. He groaned.
"Why not?"
The most unnerving sight of Sesshomaru flashing him a smirk preceded the reply.
"This one found it and shall keep it."
Okay, that smug bastard way toying with him. Inuyasha was going to…
"If you wish, this one shall provide a replacement for you."
Inuyasha paused with Tessaiga partially drawn. He stared at the youkai for a long second, just to make sure he was serious.
"Keh! I don't want anything from you!"
"Very well, this one shan't provide a garment for you."
Infuriating. Full of himself. Obstinate. Asshole.
"What is your deal? You can't keep my fire rat hostage, i'm no bloody tennyo!"
"You look like one."
Fuck him! Inuyasha smashed Tessaiga back in its sheath and went to punch his face. Sesshomaru caught his fist in one fluid motion not ten centimeters from his nose.
"I'm not a woman!" he yelled and swung with his other hand. It got gripped at the wrist.
"This fact was not put into question." The youkai gave him that annoying smug smirk. That is, he didn't smile, but there was this look in his eye. He was definitely smirking inwardly, that stupid ass.
The hanyou pulled his hands free and jumped back. He half expected a nasty comment or something, but Sesshomaru remained silent and merely lowered his hands.
Inuyasha glared at him, confused and miffed. The youkai wasn't there to fight, nor was he there to insult him - so why was he there? Not to see Rin since the spring was far from the village and she was asleep. Guessing the asshole's motives was like pulling teeth. The youkai lord looked somewhat thoughtful and almost undecided.
"This one," the daiyoukai started slowly. Inuyasha's ears cocked his way. "This one shall return your robe to you if you agree to this Sesshomaru's terms.
"Terms," he repeated flatly; more than a bit suspicious. The youkai nodded once. "What do you want?"
Three slender fingers were lifted.
"First, you shall swear to accompany this one for a year wherever this one wishes to travel. Inuyasha just waited in silence, so he continued. "Secondly, during that time you shall refrain from acting and speaking without thinking. And lastly… you shall remove those foul beads from around your neck."
Inuyasha's hand mechanically went up to touch the necklace he was wearing.
The bastard wanted him to do what? To wander around with him when he felt like it and remove the rosary! What was the meaning of this and what was his motive? What would he get from this? He tried to read anything from his face, but Sesshomaru looked the same, patiently waiting for his reaction.
And… What exactly was his reaction? He wasn't charging at the asshole yet. He just stood there, naked and wet, staring at the daiyoukai who held his kimono hostage and asked him to be his travel buddy. He wanted his kimono back and… well, maybe spending time with him wouldn't be so bad? Like, he could learn something from observing him… Hm…
.
A tennyo. Yes, he looked like a celestial being. Especially back in the hot spring. Now there was no longer relaxed serenity in his body language, but still he looked rather stunning. like a wrathful forest spirit. Oh, yes, a fierce, powerful entity that would not back down from a fight from the fright of a stronger opponent.
In hindsight, maybe he had made a mistake comparing him to a tennyo, Sesshomaru decided as he blocked Inuyasha's strikes with little effort. Inuyasha was always sloppy when he was angry.
Well, this wouldn't have been the first misstep Sesshomaru made tonight. What had possessed him to steal the fire rat kimono? Now he faced a real dilemma - he wanted to give it back and save his dignity. And, preferably, not make Inuyasha hate him even more than he already did.
And now the hanyou was pouting and glaring. A highly distracting sight. Was that a maple leaf lodged next to his right ear? Had the half-breed had to be so unintentionally adorable?
A thought came to his mind and, true to his nature, he examined it in a second. This could work. He could save his face and get something out of it. First he demanded the hanyou to accompany him on his travels - not giving any explanation as to why. The second demand was easy - Inuyasha was even more prone to act on an impulse then he was. And if he was to see him more often and spend time with him the beads had to go. How could Inuyasha still wear the sign of his defeat and humiliation? They were a constant reminder that a human dominated one of Inu no Taisho's blood.
Yes, a splendid plan. Satisfied with his cunning strategy, Sesshomaru stood still, awaiting the other's answer. His demands were not unreasonable and Inuyasha should have no issue accepting them.
The hanyou looked puzzled and cautious but didn't yell profanities yet, which was a good sign. He was using his head more often as of late. His fingers played with the beads as he thought.
"I can't remove those," he said finally.
"This one can remove them if you wish," he offered quietly. Inuyasha's ears perked up.
"And if I want to keep it?" the boy asked, hesitant but somewhat hopeful.
"This is of no concern to this one," he shrugged.
"And you will warn me beforehand when and for how long we will be gone?"
"This can be arranged."
The hanyou shifted his stance to face him fully. Sesshomaru instinctively held his breath.
"Okay. Now, give me back my kimono," the hesitation was gone now. Inuyasha made his choice and dedicated his whole being to it.
Sesshomaru nodded, glad that he was reasonable. It was always good when his plans went well. He reached into his sleeve and retrieved the red robe. With a graceful motion he threw it at the other male who caught it eagerly and started to put it on. He scowled as he stepped into his hakama.
"This one shall come to fetch you soon," he informed the hanyou and turned to leave.
"When?" he heard his irritated voice. The youkai glanced up at the moon.
"On the eve of the new moon," he declared and took off. His ears picked the sound of fabric falling to the forest floor but he didn't look back.