Lord Sesshomaru had been the lord of the house and the ancestral domain in name since six years ago when his father departed to fight in the war. When his father, the late lord died three years ago in the war, Sesshomaru became the lord in reality. His life had an established routine and order. He would get up in the morning, get dressed, eat breakfast, oversee his business ventures and then go to the palace for the afternoon court. There in court, he advised the emperor on issues ranging from the war, to royal concubines. Once in a while, he would even indulge in his guilty pleasure of pissing Lord Naraku off.
His home, his domain, his life was about to be invaded. His well-organized life got a rock thrown in the routine.
His hot tempered, loud mouthed, tactless, and idealistic little half brother, Inu-Yasha, was coming home from the war. He was coming home today, to be exact. Lord Sesshomaru was very annoyed by that. For the past three years, Inu-Yasha had been coordinating the army against the invaders. When their father died in battle, Inu-Yasha had become the head general of the army in the entire country. Now that the war ended, he had become a national hero. Knowing the emperor, the emperor now must have Inu-Yasha come to court and advise in all matters concerning the country.
'How annoying,' Sesshomaru thought.
The loud bang of the front door informed Sesshomaru of his little brother's arrival. He heaved a large, annoyed sigh before rising from his seat by the window in the library.
"Oie, where the hell is Sesshomaru hiding?" Sesshomaru heard Inu-Yasha's disembodied voice. Sesshomaru bristled at the comment but cooled his annoyance. 'Little brothers never grow up.' Finally, when he could no longer delay the unwanted reunion, he opened the door separating him from his half brother.
"Welcome home, dear brother." Sesshomaru bit out.
The man that greeted Sesshomaru was not the same child that left the estate to fight in the war. Gone was the round faced boy with wide curious golden eyes. He was replaced with a series looking tall young man with long silver hair down his back. His once trusting eyes had became hard from the experience of war. Inu-Yasha had grown taller during the years that he was gone, now he was tall as Sesshomaru. His shoulders became broader and his over all bearing had become aggressive. The resemblance between the two brothers became much more pronounced during the years apart.
'Looks like baby brother has grown up.' Sesshomaru smirked. 'I guess I could be hospitable and present him with a enjoyable welcome. Good thing Jaken already had his orders.'
Aloud, he said to Inu-Yasha, "Come brother, don't stand there like a servant. I have sent Jaken to make arrangements for a proper welcoming for you."
Upon hearing the name of the family servant, Inu-Yasha grimaced and spoke the first direct words to Sesshomaru since coming home, "That toad is still alive and working here?"
That comment caused an involuntary bark of laughter to escape Sesshomaru's mouth. 'Perhaps, he won't be as annoying as I thought.'
Eventually, a servant arrived with the tea. Sesshomaru tried to engage Inu-Yasha in small talk. But it turned out to be more of Sesshomaru speaking with an occasional grunt from Inu-Yasha. Finally, after what seemed like forever, a knock was heard. Jaken entered the room. He bowed to Sesshomaru and informed him all the preparations had been made.
"Little brother, you better go change out of your dirty traveling clothes. You wouldn't want to look shabby for your own celebration." Sesshomaru smirked when he saw Inu-Yasha grimace at the prospect of a party. Sesshomaru thought to himself 'I think I might enjoy having you around, little brother. You are good, if nothing else, for a few laughs.'
***
Later that night, Sesshomaru and Inu-Yasha rode down the streets of the capital along with a small procession of retainers. Sesshomaru rode at the head of the procession while Inu-Yasha followed a few paces behind. Just as Inu-Yasha became increasingly annoyed at the amount of people, his brother stopped and dismounted from his horse. Inu-Yasha followed suite.
Inu-Yasha looked up at a sign that caught his eye. 'Ichiban no Sakura,' thought Inu-Yasha, 'what kind of place would attract the great Lord Sesshomaru to come here?'
During the celebration in his honor, Inu-Yasha became put out by the constant mention of Lord Sesshomaru. Lord Sesshomaru had commanded the most exclusive room with the most exclusive girls. Lord Sesshomaru had ordered only the best food be served. Lord Sesshomaru had invited the most elite of guests. Lord Sesshomaru . . . Even the serving wenches he hired could not stop talking about him. Apparently, Lord Sesshomaru came to this place often, if the giggle of the girls were any clue.
Bored with the decadence of the place, Inu-Yasha gazed around the room without any real interest. With nothing to occupy his attention, memories and nightmares of the war slowly crept into his mind. In his mind's eye, he saw again the anguish of his soldiers lying in cooling pools of their own blood. Shouts of war and moans of agony could be heard in all directions, even over the beating of the drums. Hundreds of enemy men fell under the stroke of his blade, yet more rose to fill their place. The harder he fought, the more of the enemy would rush at him. Until, finally, they overwhelmed him by sheer force. As he lay buried beneath their dirty, bleeding bodies and gaping wounds, they began to scream in unison for him to return their lives . . .
"More alcohol, my lord?" A cool emotionless voice broke through his blood filled vision of horror. Inu-Yasha glanced up from his waking nightmare to meet the serene, gray eyes of a serving girl. Grateful for the distraction, Inu-Yasha nodded his head in consent. Watching her perform such a mundane and simple action helped to calm his nerves and pull himself from the past. He glanced at the girl while he drank. She caught his gaze and gave him a tiny smile to encourage him.
Many men before had taken that smile as an indication to boast of their accomplishment or their devotion to the emperor. But Inu-Yasha, unlike most men, did not speak of his glory days in the army or the greatness of his house or his great devotion to the emperor. In reality, he did not even notice the hidden meaning of the glance before he cut off all eye contact with out a second glance.
"How do you like Lady Kikyo, dear brother?" Sesshomaru purred next to him. "It's not every day she serves at functions. In fact, she would only serve her favorite at occasions like these." Sesshomaru said the word favorite like it should hold a significant meaning. Without noticing the annoyed scowl from Inu-Yasha, Sesshomaru went on with his praises all the while smiling at the serving girl. "Lady Kikyo and the other serving girls at the Ichiban are not like those street whores that followed the army. The women here are as delicate as sakura blossoms. "
Inu-Yasha ignored him while the girl, Lady Kikyo, again smiled her ready smile that almost sent his blood stiring. Then it dawned on him, 'Lady Kikyo was a whore and Ichiban no Sakura was a whorehouse!'
Angry at his brother's stupidity, Inu-Yasha downed the rest of his drink in one gulp. Obviously, Sesshomaru wanted him to pick a girl from the celebration to fuck with. Obviously, Sesshomaru thought Inu-Yasha was a disturbance to his peace, his every gesture emphasized it. And just as obviously, Sesshomaru thought Lady Kikyo was the best solution to his problem -- for that night.
Obviously, Sesshomaru was a gigantic moron.
As much as Inu-Yasha wanted to just toss his cup into his brother's smiling face and beat the living day lights out of him, the thought of dishonoring his father's name with such a public display of familial discord caused him to stay his hand. Instead, he just growled at Sesshomaru and drank the cup of alcohol Lady Kikyo refilled. By the time he drained the last drop, he had made the decision to keep Lady Kikyo for the night. As boring as that girl might be, anything was worth it to get away from bother dearest. Rising from his seat, he nodded to the girl and left the party.
Her quite words muttered between soft breaths directed Inu-Yasha in the direction of the correct room. While walking toward the room, Inu-Yasha's sharp hearing could pick up sounds of pleasure faintly behind the walls once in a while. No words were passed between the two as they traveled to their lodging for the night. The room was aglow in a ring of candlelight. The European four-poster bed sat in the middle of the room like an alter waiting for the offerings to a god of pleasure.
Inu-Yasha felt nothing but irritation as he tried to undress for bed. When the girl suddenly caressed his cheek, he stopped his attempt to untie his sash to look her quizzically in the face. She held his gaze and stepped lightly into his personal zone of comfort. He briefly contemplated pushing her away but realized the formal kimono would have been much easier to take off with another person helping. Nodding his head in permission, he let Lady Kikyo help him undress. The rustles of clothing were the only sound in an otherwise quite room.
Lady Kikyo took his elaborate kimono and folded it neatly before putting it away in the corner of the room. She then undressed, to Inu-Yasha, in a too slow of fashion. When she was about to disrobe from the final piece of garment covering her flesh, Inu-Yasha stopped her with a wave of his hand.
Lady Kikyo then stepped behind Inu-Yasha and trailed her hand upward on his spine to rest them on his shoulders. She moved her hands to massage his shoulders but quicker than her eye can follow, his hands stopped hers in mid-motion. "I hope you are not under the misconception that anything other than sleep will occur in this room." Inu-Yasha informed her coolly. The widening of her eyes indicated that was exactly what she had expected. "The only reason I am at this damn place is because of my brother. The only reason you are here is so I could get away from my brother. Now we can share the bed, like partners not lovers, or you can sleep alone on the bed and I'll sleep on the floor."
Stunned silence filled
the room as Lady Kikyo contemplated his proposal. In the end, she
inclined her head in agreement and indicated to Inu-Yasha to join her on
the bed. Inu-Yasha, who had been under the impression Lady Kikyo
would be spiteful enough to actually make him sleep on the floor, grunted
to mask his surprise. The silence in the room became uncomfortable
to Inu-Yasha because it had been a long time since he heard silence at
night. But Lady Kikyo displayed no signs of discomfort as she raised
the quilt to climb into bed with a strange man. Encouraged and oddly
comforted by her quiet movements, his discomfort dissolved to acceptance.
In the quiet acceptance, Inu-Yasha's rough hand was gently embraced by
Lady Kikyo's own delicate hand. That acceptance turned into relaxation
as Inu-Yasha finally fell asleep holding Lady Kikyo's hand.
Author's Note:
I just want to say 'thank you' to Rachel for her review and beta efforts. The wonderful new version of Chapter 1 could be attributed to her. I also want to say 'thank you' to Stormie for your wonderful review. There's so much I want to respond to according to the reviews, but that'll just ruin the surprise. Thank you guys so much for reading and reviewing. Please email me if there's anymore typos or grammar mistakes. Constructive criticisms are always welcome.
-Love, Diana