Author's Note: Ha! And double ha! Bet most of you thought I'd abandoned this fic, huh? Nope, it just took a while to plan out this last chapter. Yep, you heard me; this is the last chapter of Hear No Evil. Thrilled much, aren't you?
Okay, and here's your only warning before I begin: WARNING! If the brief little kisses between brothers in the previous chapters made you feel ill, then you're REALLY not gonna like this chapter.
**
Twin Snakes
**
There was something very peaceful about sharing silence with someone, Inu-Yasha mused to himself as he and his brother walked aimlessly through the forest. It was late, and dark, and neither of them was very interested in running off back to Kagome and the others. It was sort of like… a silent revelry in their victory, something they didn't want to spoil by having anywhere to go or anything to do right away. They'd catch up with the group in the morning.
Sesshoumaru had been a continuously intriguing puzzle this whole trip. And since Inu-Yasha hadn't really had much else to do, he'd spent a long time thinking about the odd relationship that was developing between the two of them.
He didn't really know how it had started, to be honest. Their apparent hatred of each other. Inu-Yasha couldn't quite remember the reason he and Sesshoumaru had become rivals, fighting over… what, a sword? Their father? Any excuse they could come up with to try and tear each other apart? After these last few weeks together, all of that had ceased to matter.
And Inu-Yasha rather liked it this way. It was… nice, having Sesshoumaru around. Fighting alongside him rather than against him. Was that the way it was always meant to be, and they were just now figuring it out? How powerful they could be together! Unstoppable, and… happy. Together.
Inu-Yasha was beginning to wonder if he wanted his hearing back. That was really what had started all of this. Was that the trade-off? Sacrificing his hearing to have Sesshoumaru near him?
But, never mind all that now. It was late, and he wanted to sleep and not bother with worrying about anything until the morning. Nothing he could do about it now, so why waste time on it?
Sesshoumaru grinned at Inu-Yasha in the dark, pointing out a nice high tree with thick branches to make camp in for the night. The thick foliage blocked the light of the moon, and the two silently snuggled up together on one of the thickest branches. Another thing beautiful about absolute silence; it had a way of making them feel like they were the only two people in the world.
**
"Hey!"
Sesshoumaru frowned, sleepily opening his eyes to find it was well into mid-morning. Sunlight streamed through the leaves, causing all the plants to nearly glow dazzling emerald. Someone on the ground was yelling up at him.
He peered down through the branches. Kagome was standing on the ground, glaring up at them. Sango, Shippô and Miroku didn't look too happy either, but in their case, they didn't look like they'd gotten a good night's rest. They'd probably spent all night traveling to find Inu-Yasha and Sesshoumaru. Little Jaken was down there with them as well, hopping around and shouting nonsense. In his hurry to come after Inu-Yasha, Sesshoumaru had left his own minion behind.
"Well?" Kagome demanded. "Are you coming down?"
The answer to that of course was, no, he wasn't coming down. But if he said that aloud, she'd probably 'stay' him. So he just ignored her, lightly shaking Inu-Yasha awake, and pointing to the ground to indicate where his companions were. Judging from Inu-Yasha's soft groan, he wasn't too interested in getting down either.
But Kagome looked like she was just waiting for an excuse to 'sit' and 'stay' them, so after delaying as long as they dared, they came down, ready to continue on their journey. No one seemed terribly interested in talking though, so Sesshoumaru was spared having to explain about the whole slaying-the-dragon deal. Inu-Yasha was safe now, and that's all that really mattered anyway.
And so they walked in silence around the edge of the mountain for a while. Though, not perfect silence; somewhere in the distance, there was something hissing. Rather loudly, as they approached it. At first they couldn't tell what it was. All they saw were the trees, the mountain, and the odd green path meandering up one side of the mountain.
"There's something odd about that path…" Miroku finally broke the silence, peering at the side of the mountain.
"It kind of glimmers," Sango pointed out, pausing to look as well. "And… it's moving!"
The path, it turned out, was actually hundreds of brightly colored snakes, slithering up the mountainside. The serpents didn't pay any attention to the group as they approached.
"There's a million of them!" Kagome said in disgust, peering at the serpentine river. "Yuck!"
"But where are they going?" Shippô asked.
"There." Sesshoumaru pointed farther up the mountain, where hundreds more of the reptiles framed a cave opening in a glistening arch of scaly bodies. Sesshoumaru smiled in satisfaction, walking alongside the snake path, up the mountain. Inu-Yasha was quick to follow him.
"Hey, where are you going?" Kagome demanded.
"Do you have any better guess at where a pair of snake demons might live?" Sesshoumaru called back to her coldly.
Kagome blinked, glowering down at the path of snakes, and kicking away a little green snake that had separated from the group to slither over her shoe. Snakes were such unpleasant, nasty things. But… if this was the snake demons' lair, it certainly seemed like they'd laid out the welcome mat. So, detestable as the little snake guides were, the group followed them up to the cave.
It was dark inside, but happily, snake-free. There didn't seem to be any snake demons around either, however.
"Guess nobody's home…" Miroku muttered.
"Then what's with all the mist all of a sudden?" Sango pointed down at their feet. Indeed, the ground was suddenly covered in a light blanket of smoke.
"Seems we have visitors…" a soft voice murmured in the darkness, sounding amused. "Many of them. How shall we play with them, Yang?"
"Slowly," replied another voice, sounding wistful. "It's been 'such' a long time since we've had visitors."
The first voice laughed. "Might be something to do with your river of snakes out front. Obvious much?"
"Um, excuse me," Kagome called out. "If you don't mind, if you two are the twin snake demons, we sort of need to talk to you."
"Hear that, Ying? She needs to talk to us. Try to be polite."
"Alright, fine, I'll be polite. And then I'll eat her."
"It is not polite to barbecue someone alive, you know."
"Well not on the first date, anyway." A figure stepped out of the darkness, a pale man with long black hair, and brightly gleaming serpentine eyes. There was a golden stripe over one eye, and a large patch of snake scales growing on the other side of his face. "Come all the way here looking for us, have you? How entertaining…"
A second man stepped out of the dark, identical to the first, though this one was smiling more kindly. "Don't mind Ying. Something of a mean streak in him. You understand. I'm Yang. And I guess we're the twin snake demons you were looking for, since I don't happen to know any others. So, how can we help you?"
Kagome took a breath, stepping forward. "W-well, you see… we heard this legend about you two, and it said that if two brothers were to defeat the two of you in battle, you would grant them a wish."
Ying and Yang stared at her blankly. "Do you remember anything like that?" Yang asked Ying.
"I dunno…" Ying frowned, folding his arms and looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "Sounds like something we'd say. If we were drunk."
"We don't get drunk, remember?" Yang scratched behind his slightly pointed ear as he thought. "Maybe we were bored."
Ying nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, that sounds right. We were probably bored. Sorry folks, but that deal's expired."
Sesshoumaru growled, grabbing Ying by the collar of his shirt and hauling him up off the ground. "We came all this way to play your stupid game, and now you're telling us no?"
"Heyyyy!" Ying whined, kicking his feet almost helplessly. He glowered at Sesshoumaru. "Let me guess; you're the older brother, right?"
"You will fight us regardless," Sesshoumaru informed him. "The only difference is, if you're not granting wishes, there's no reason to leave you alive…"
"Aw, come on, Ying," Yang said. "It's not like we were gonna do anything else today. And it might be fun."
"Alright…" Ying finally agreed, still glaring at Sesshoumaru. "If dog-breath here will put me down!"
"That's better…" Sesshoumaru tossed Ying back at Yang, the two snake demons ending up in a heap.
"Okay, here's the deal," Ying announced, standing up and dusting himself off. He produced a roll of parchment from thin air, reading it aloud. "We (the mighty, all powerful, and handsome twin snake demons Ying and Yang) will grant you (the annoying, pushy, poorly mannered- though pretty- warriors who smell of dog) one wish each should you managed to defeat us in battle. Please sign here at the bottom." He presented the parchment and two pens to Sesshoumaru and Inu-Yasha.
"One wish each?" Kagome asked.
"Well, yeah…" Yang said. "Two of us, two of them, two wishes. To make it fair, you know."
That made Kagome nervous. She knew what Inu-Yasha was going to wish for, but Sesshoumaru? Considering the way he'd been treated on the trip, he'd probably wish for something awful. Like Miroku, Sango, and Kagome's head on a plate.
Inu-Yasha and Sesshoumaru finished reading over and signing the contract, passing it back to the snake demons. Ying looked it over with satisfaction, then rolled it up and made it disappear.
"Alright then," Ying announced cheerfully. "Let us begin."
Ying and Yang each drew long, thin and wicked looking swords from out of nowhere, attacking Sesshoumaru and Inu-Yasha immediately. Kagome and the others scrambled out of the way as the battle started, taking cover behind a boulder by the entrance to watch the fighting.
The snake demons were good; they were fast, and had an annoying habit of disappearing into the fog that was swirling up within the cave. That became the problem, as Sesshoumaru and Inu-Yasha clashed with the twins; the smoke inhibited sight, and that combined with Inu-Yasha's deafness made it difficult for him to fight.
This wasn't working. Sesshoumaru caught a glimpse of Inu-Yasha stumbling as Yang attacked him. The twins had separated Sesshoumaru and Inu-Yasha, and were using the smoke and their speed to confuse them. This was there territory, and they had the advantage.
And so the only way to beat them was to use this smoke against them. Sesshoumaru grabbed Inu-Yasha's arm, dragging him deeper into the thick fog. Inu-Yasha glanced at his brother, surprised. They waited there in the dark, and Sesshoumaru listened for the twins. If the smoke could obscure their position, and bring the twins to them…
There was only the slightest noise of warning. Sesshoumaru had only a second to point out where the enemy would be attacking from, before Ying and Yang leapt through the fog, swords raised, to attack.
And they stumbled back, surprised, as they were impaled on Sesshoumaru and Inu-Yasha's swords.
Immediately the fog dissipated. Ying and Yang looked down at the swords protruding from their stomachs.
"Owww…" Ying muttered, gingerly removing the weapon. "Not fair… I thought we had you, there…"
Yang was having a harder time removing Inu-Yasha's sword from his belly. As a demon, it hurt him too much to grip the handle. "Er, a little help?"
Sesshoumaru gestured to Inu-Yasha, who pulled the Tetsusaiga free, going about cleaning the blood off of it.
"So… why aren't you two dead?" Sango asked, moving out from behind the boulder.
"Silly girl, haven't you heard snakes are immortal?" Ying said sweetly.
"That's just a myth," Sango muttered, but didn't press the issue.
"Alright then," Sesshoumaru muttered. "So now what?"
Ying and Yang looked at him, then moved together to whisper to each other. Finally they nodded decisively.
"Okay, you come with me," Ying told Sesshoumaru, "and your brother goes with Yang. Might as well get this whole wish granting thing over with."
Without waiting for Kagome to translate that for Inu-Yasha, Sesshoumaru gestured for Inu-Yasha to go with Yang, and then he followed Ying deeper into the cave.
"So, you can grant any wish?" Sesshoumaru asked.
"Well, pretty much…" Ying muttered, sitting down on a rock once they were away from the others. "We're pretty special like that. Your brother's cute, you know that?"
Sesshoumaru gave him a no-touching sort of glare. "Yes. I know."
"So, go ahead. What is it you want?"
Sesshoumaru blinked. He hadn't really thought of that. He could wish for anything? He could have his arm fixed, or finally get possession of Tetsusaiga. Or kill those damned annoying humans that dragged him along on this trip!
But thinking about it, he really didn't care much about any of those things anymore. He'd been under the impression that they were only going to have one wish, and that was for Inu-Yasha to use… he hadn't really considered what he himself wanted.
"I suppose… I just want Inu-Yasha to have his hearing restored," Sesshoumaru finally answered. He smiled at that. Yeah, that was good. That was what mattered the most at the moment.
Ying blinked at him. "That's it? That's what you weirdoes came all the way here for? Damn it, that's easy. Coulda just told us that in the beginning, we would have done it for free." He snapped his fingers, winked at Sesshoumaru, and vanished.
Sesshoumaru blinked, then headed back for the main part of the cave. And he thought humans were annoying. Some demons could be so much more annoying than any mortal…
When he returned to the main cavern, Inu-Yasha was just coming out from another section of the cave.
"Well, did it work?" Kagome demanded. "Are you all better now?"
Unfortunately, Sango, Miroku, and Shippô had all begun asking the same thing at the same time, and were making a fine loud racket of it too. Inu-Yasha winced, rubbing at his ears.
"Can you guys not be so loud?" Inu-Yasha asked.
**
And so, that was that. Inu-Yasha irritably brushed off all Kagome's eager displays of relieved affection, and the group of them headed back outside into the sunshine. The snake path was gone, and everything looked bright and cheerful.
"Well, guess you can go now, Sesshoumaru," Kagome said.
"You're forgetting something," Sesshoumaru replied, tugging at the string of magic beads she'd put on him. She'd promised to remove them once the trip was over.
"Oh, right!" Kagome quickly removed those, smiling at him. "There, all better. No hard feelings?"
"Not quite." Sesshoumaru's hand shot out, grabbing her by the throat and lifting her off the ground. "I do not appreciate your methods of asking someone for their assistance."
Inu-Yasha lightly touched Sesshoumaru's arm. Sesshoumaru looked at his younger brother, shot Kagome another irritated glare, and dropped her. Kagome landed in a heap on the ground, rubbing her throat and coughing. Without a word to any of them, Sesshoumaru turned and walked away into the forest.
"Good riddance," Miroku muttered.
Inu-Yasha watched his brother go, then turned to his companions. "I'll be right back." He hurried after Sesshoumaru.
He caught up with his brother in a pleasantly secluded part of the woods. "Hey, wait a second. I wanted to thank you."
Sesshoumaru paused, blinking at his brother. "For what?"
Inu-Yasha smirked. "Wishing for my hearing to come back."
Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed. "How do you know that's what I wished for?"
"Because I can hear again," Inu-Yasha said with a smile. "And I didn't wish for it. So… you must have. Why did you do that, anyway? You could have had anything you wanted."
Sesshoumaru thought about that. "Well, I suppose the best way to explain it would be…" He lapsed into silence, beginning to use the sign language they'd all recently abandoned. He pointed to himself to indicate 'I', crossed his arms over his chest in the sign for 'love', and pointed to Inu-Yasha for 'you'.
Inu-Yasha grinned at him. He didn't say anything in reply, but there were many kinds of sign language, and the loving kiss he gave Sesshoumaru then really said it all.
Sesshoumaru smirked at Inu-Yasha when at last they ended the sweet kiss. "I hope your companions aren't expecting you back for a while."
"Oh?" Inu-Yasha raised an eyebrow, smirking at his brother. "Why is that?"
Sesshoumaru brushed another soft kiss over Inu-Yasha's lips, his hands deftly working on removing his little brother's garments. "Because I have a special sort of brotherly bonding in mind."
"Oh really?" Inu-Yasha grinned, helping Sesshoumaru spread their clothing out on the ground, and then pulling his big brother down to lay with him on top of them. "Do tell…"
From the bushes, the little toady Jaken watched the scene with his little bug-eyes, looking horrified. Pushing down his queasy feeling, and hoping neither his master nor his master's brother would notice him, he quickly ran off, back to Kagome and the others. "Master Sesshoumaru-sama and his brother are doing something nasty together!" he announced to them.
"Oh dear…" Kagome murmured, her eyes scanning over the woods as she hefted up her backpack. "Maybe we should go after them!"
Sango touched Kagome's shoulder, holding her back. "Actually… I rather think the two of them can take care of themselves. I, er… rather doubt we'd want to witness what they're up to."
**
Inu-Yasha and Sesshoumaru returned to the group quite some time later. Both boys looked flushed, their hair in disarray, their clothing rumpled. And they both looked intensely pleased with themselves. Kagome decided she probably didn't want to know what they'd been up to.
"So, what shall we do now?" Miroku asked as they began walking, with no particular destination in mind.
"Ooh, I know what we could do!" Shippô announced. He dug through all his little tricks and games, before pulling out the shiny silver dog whistle.
Inu-Yasha snarled at the sight of the object, glancing at Sesshoumaru. "Kill him?"
Sesshoumaru smirked evilly. "Oh yeah."
Shippô shrieked as the two brothers lunged at him, and the little kitsune took off running, wailing, with Inu-Yasha and Sesshoumaru chasing after close behind.
***
The End!
Last but not least, the disclaimer. I do not own the show Inu-Yasha, or any of the copyrighted characters from it. I do however own the demons Kegan, Ion, Ying and Yang, and the dragon. They're mine. And can be seen happily cavorting about on my website!
Happy New Year, everybody!