Chapter 10

"There is no coming to consciousness without pain."-Carl Jung

Previously, it has been stated that Sesshoumaru rarely indulged in emotional displays. This was one of those rare times. On any other tongue, the words that Sesshoumaru first uttered upon waking would have been considered coarse vulgarities. However, as nothing could ever be considered 'coarse' when uttered by the magnificent Lord Sesshoumaru, the better phrase to use would be 'eloquent curses'. All bowing and scraping to Sesshoumaru aside, his lack of reserve in using the words make his present circumstances clear.

He was dimly aware of a soft grunt of pain coming from somewhere nearby. Even more dimly did he recognize the sound as coming from his brother, but that realization was quickly disregarded. He could hardly be expected to care when the cries of agony from every single inch of his body made an excruciating chorus when in accompany with the drums within his head that pounded out their own erratic melody. Fortunately for his dignity, his mouth was far too busy forming the curses to let out anything as embarrassing as a grunt.

Much to Sesshoumaru's further dismay, his inner demon was amusing itself with its own commentary on his increasingly creative curses.

I don't think a goat would be inclined to do that. I also began to doubt whether one is even -capable- of doing that…the logistics of it is rather staggering…

It'd do it if I told it to. His reply terse, Sesshoumaru was baffled as to how that corner of his brain was in such perfect working order when the rest of him was having difficulty even remembering to breathe. Had he even mentioned a goat in his curses? He couldn't recall.

Uh…Huh. I'm still just a tad disturbed by the images of it…

Then don't think about it.

If you'd stop with the nonsensical curses, I could stop thinking of it. Anyway, think you could open our eyes so we can see?

No.

Fine then. -I'll- open our eyes.

If you so much consider it, I'll… Nonplussed, Sesshoumaru paused. However did one threaten their subconscious? Admitting defeat, he slowly lifted heavy lids, squinting his eyes as they adjusted to the sudden assault of daylight.

"Hell." At first Sesshoumaru wasn't sure whether that came from his mouth or not, but it soon became evident that the muttered curse came from the awakening hanyou next to him. He elaborated, "What in hell just happened?"

The youkai gingerly sat up, his body protesting the movement vehemently. The only evidence of his pain was that his posture lacked its usual liquid grace. Lifting his hand, he slowly opened and closed it before offering, "Well. We're alive." Of course, death wasn't a problem. The Tensaiga really made it a moot point. What he truly meant by his statement was that they were currently still existing. Given his physical and mental state at the time, his imperfect word usage can be certainly be excused.

Inuyasha felt like making some sort of snide response that would indicate he very well knew they were still alive. It was once said that pain is nature's way of saying, "Hello, you're alive!" The hanyou had not only gotten that lovely greeting, but the welcome wagon came and the whole city of Painville showed up. Yet, he didn't voice his thoughts. Instead he simply grunted and gave a half-hearted snort. Nevertheless, existing was a positive thing and he would have been much more appreciative of it had he truly stopped to think about it.

In any case, it was only after the aforementioned grunting had concluded that the two brothers were made aware of another sound. In actuality, they heard two sounds. The first was the greeting from a certain flea that could make Houdini look like an amateur at escaping during crucial moments, "Lord Inuyasha, Lord Sesshoumaru! You're still here!" In mutual silence, they ignored this sound as irrelevant. It was that or squish Myouga, which may prove foolish later should they need his knowledge. Not that they considered that aspect, mind you, but it is much more impressive than the true reason- That they simply hurt too much to make the effort to squeeze their fingers together.

The second sound, which truly caught their attention, was a soft whimpering. It sounded like that of a crying baby, and to their surprise, when their eyes alighted on the source of the noise, it even looked like a baby. Lo and behold, when they had garnered enough strength to rise and approach the small being, it was a baby.

"What in hell?" Inuyasha was truly favoring that phrase today and for good reason. What other phrase is quite as effective in expressing complete and utter disbelief while maintaining an angered and aggravated air? It is really the only phrase that came to his mind in the circumstances. The circumstances were, of course, that they were presently looking at a baby in the middle of what they presumed to be 'nowhere' and conveniently positioned where an enemy had stood only minutes earlier. At least, Inuyasha thought it was only minutes. He refused to consider that they may have been out considerably longer than a few minutes.

Sesshoumaru's first absurd impulse was to point out that he shouldn't speak that way around the child, however unknown it may be. The youkai always watched his language around Rin, ever since that first time a curse escaped his lips and the girl heard it. The shocked, disillusioned look she had given him had filled him with such a feeling of dismay that he forever guarded his tongue in her hearing. Why he was so dismayed at a little girl's disapproving look, he still did not truly know. It wasn't as if he truly cared, no matter what his subconscious told him. Instead of chiding his brother, which he knew would only garner a sneering comment in return, Sesshoumaru offered, "Has your education so failed you that you cannot recognized an infant when you see one?"

Imitating his brother's condescending expression in a manner he knew was childish, Inuyasha responded, "Has your intelligence so failed you that you can't see this ain't a human kid?" He was going to add a jeering comment about Sesshoumaru having more of an experience with children since he traveled with one- then he recalled Shippou and it occurred to him that such a crushing set down would inevitably backfire. Inuyasha, on occasion, could actually think of the consequences of his words. Unfortunately, he never considered such consequences when Kagome was around till the words were half way out of his mouth. By that time, it was usually too late.

At that moment, the earlier referenced kid opened his eyes to find two rather large creatures staring down at him. The distinction that every creature was large in comparison to himself was unimportant to the infant's comprehension. All he understood was that he was lying on the ground… and that a pointy thing was prodding his back… and those people above him were not momma. Though the one with markings on his face may be pretty, he was not as pretty as momma, and that meant he was inferior. The child began to bawl in earnest. He was stuck with inferior things and he was uncomfortable. That was enough reason to cry.

"Of course it's not human. It's a youkai." Sesshoumaru explained this slowly to his half-brother, as if Inuyasha was the child. "You see, little brother, human children do not have silver hair or golden eyes and they most certainly do not…" As if just now realizing what he was saying, the youkai lord's eyes shot down to the babe in shock. Indeed, the unknown creature had such hair and eyes, frighteningly similar to Sesshoumaru's own. Temporarily speechless, Sesshoumaru just continued to stare, with an occasional blink thrown in for good measure.

Myouga bounded up to investigate, having wisely decided to hang back when he was ignored. He could tell when his masters weren't pleased in him. Upon seeing the still bawling infant (it had not occurred to either brother to actually pick it up yet) the flea inhaled sharply and sat down where he stood.

Sesshoumaru ran his hand through his bangs, not lifting his gaze, "Flea. Explain this."

"Eh..Ah… Lord Sesshoumaru, I cannot imagine how you would think that I would have any sort of idea…"

"Explain it." This simultaneously from both brothers. They both also ignored that the other had spoken at the same time.

Swallowing hard, Myouga stared at the child, his mind racing to comprehend what his intuition knew as fact, "It would appear…that instead of managing to go back and kill your father as he intended…Your interruption must have caused Masuyo to switch places with him."

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A/N:

I would love being able to give some long, completely justified reason as to why it's taken me so long to get out this chapter. The problem is, the only reasons I can honestly give are writer's block, writer's block, even more writer's block, ad no time to work through it. So, I apologize immensely. Unfortunately, writer's block is still plaguing me so I don't know when the next chapter will be out. I can only promise that I will try.

For those curious, I'm going with anime coloring on all the characters. When Inuyasha is a human in the anime, his eyes are very dark. In the manga, they are a light gray or violet. So, if you are a manga-only fan, and my colors don't seem to match up with what you know, that's why. ^_^

I was really hesitant about this chapter, so please let me know what you all think. Thank you to those who have been reviewing all the while. I consider your reviews priceless.