"Now, may I introduce a little piece that I like to call...oh, what shall I call it?" Satsujin pondered for a few seconds. "Hmm...I should say 'Comedy of a Tragedy.' Yes, that fits perfectly. Alright then, The Comedy of a Tragedy, ladies and gentlemen," he grinned as he sat down again. The other demons cheered loudly, and Inuyasha looked over at Satsujin.
"You'll like it as well," Satsujin grinned as he noticed the glance. "Wait until you find out what's going on. I'm sure you'll be rather pleased, Inuyasha."
The demons in the room jeered and whistled as the first guards came out, stopping in the middle of the room. They motioned for silence, and the crowd instantly became quiet.
"May we present, with much introduction and a very long and tedious wait..."
A few laughs from the crowd were heard at that.
The guard grinned and continued. "A very special display, made in celebration of a momentous occasion..." he swept his hand. "Our very own Lord Sesshoumaru!" he said.
Sesshoumaru was shoved forward, and he stumbled a bit. He was chained, and his shirt had been ripped off. He was covered in grime from the dungeon, and his hair was dull and slightly tangled. He glared at Satsujin before realizing that Inuyasha was there. He stopped, shocked to see his younger brother.
Inuyasha was shocked as well. "Sesshoumaru!" he gaped at his older brother, unable to believe what was going on.
The others were just as surprised. Sango and Miroku were speechless, and Kagome could only gasp as she saw the dog-demon. Shippou dropped his eating-knife and stared, and Kirara mewed quietly.
"Sesshoumaru, what the hell..." Inuyasha asked as he jumped over the table, running over to stand in front of his brother.
"Go ahead," Sesshoumaru scoffed, lowering his head. "I can't stop you anymore. But I suppose that's why you're here, isn't it? I understand. Go on, beat me to a bloody pulp. What doI care anymore?"
"I didn't come here to hurt you," Inuyasha said. "I didn't even know what was going on. I had no clue, Sesshoumaru, honest!"
"I doubt it," Sesshoumaru scoffed. "Why are you here, then?"
"I had a funny feeling, that's all," Inuyasha answered.
"Well, Inuyasha, what do you think?" Satsujin called. "Do you want to do the honors?"
Inuyasha looked back and blinked, a bit confused.
"I'll let you beat him this time, if you want to," Satsujin explained. "What do you say? I know you hate each other. Now's the perfect opportunity to make him suffer."
Inuyasha looked at Satsujin for a long minute, noticing idly that his friends were still too surprised to do anything. He looked back at his brother, and was a bit surprised himself. The dog-demon still had his head down, and he seemed to offer no protest towards anyone, really.
"If I beat you up, you're just going to sit there and take it," Inuyasha realized. "You won't even try to fight me on it. You'll just stay where you are until you go unconcious, and you won't even lift a finger to defend yourself."
"What would be the point? The only thing that would happen if I defend myself is that they would jump in and beat me even more. I see no reason to fight when the outcome is going to be my defeat. There's no question of it; there are too many and they're all strong by themselves. Altogether, they could kill me as easily as you can blink your eyes, and just about as quickly."
"Sesshoumaru..." Inuyasha closed his eyes for a few seconds, clenching his fist. He shook slightly from his emotions, but when he opened his eyes, he was as steady and calm as his older brother usually was.
"You idiotic jackass," Inuyasha said. "What the hell are you thinking? Did your brain decide to take a vacation or what?"
Sesshoumaru looked up, puzzled. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm saying that you must have lost your mind, because the Sesshoumaru that I know would never give up. He would glare at me right now and put on this cocky little smile that says 'go ahead and try to beat me up, you'll get tired before I get hurt.' The Sesshoumaru that I know would be kicking and clawing to get out of those chains. The Sesshoumaru that I know isn't a quitter. And if you're not the Sesshoumaru that I know, then you're not my older brother. And my grudge is against my older brother. So if you're not him, then I have no reason to hurt you," Inuyasha said as he walked back over to the table and sat down, looking at the demon expectantly.
Sesshoumaru blinked rapidly and stared at Inuyasha, wondering if the half-demon was in his right mind. Inuyasha crossed his arms, then stuck his nose up in the air and closed his eyes.
"That's not Sesshoumaru," Inuyasha said confidently. "My older brother would never be subdued like that. He isn't a very docile person. If that were really Sesshoumaru, he would be fighting you right now, slicing at those chains until he broke them. This guy here isn't a very good impostor. Sesshoumaru was never one to stay around like some pussy-whipped little bitch. And that's exactly what your fake is acting like-a cowardly, spineless, weak, defeated, girly little pussy-whipped bitch," Inuyasha said, barely opening his eyes to sneak a look at his brother. He was hoping his strategy would work; he knew it was really Sesshoumaru, but he wouldn't let on.
Sesshoumaru stiffened at the comment, and he began to growl furiously.
"If you ever say that again I will rip your throat out," he snarled menacingly.
"It sounds more like him, but I still don't believe it," Inuyasha said thoughtfully. "Nice job on the way he looks, though; you almost had me going for a minute. Now where's my real brother?"
"I am your real brother, you numskull!" Sesshoumaru yelled.
"Yeah, right. Prove it," Inuyasha scoffed.
"You turn human on only one night of the month," Sesshoumaru answered. "Does that prove it?"
"Not at all. For all I know, the real Sesshoumaru told everyone in this castle when I turn human. Nice try though," Inuyasha said.
"Can't you tell from my scent?" Sesshoumaru asked.
"That doesn't account for anything. Sesshoumaru's scent is all over. You could be wearing his clothes and smell like him," Inuyasha smirked. "Give it up, you impostor. The real Sesshoumaru would be fighting tooth and claw to get away."
"I'm telling you, Inuyasha, it's not that I don't want to fight them," Sesshoumaru said. "It's just that..." he stopped, looking down with a weak smile. "Why am I explaining myself to you? As if you would care about me. It doesn't matter."
"Oh, let me hear your explanation though," Inuyasha urged. "I want to know how bad you are at acting like my brother."
"For the millionth time, I really am your brother," Sesshoumaru replied. "I just...well...there's no point anymore. They have me outnumbered, and I have nothing to fight with except my claws. They even put a spell on me, so I can't transform. I'm helpless," he said quietly. "I've finally been defeated. They might not be able to break me down into the begging little terrier they want me to be, but they beat me already. There's no reason to deny reality."
"Alright, if you really are my brother...I know that you don't talk very much, and you would never tell anyone this. I haven't ever told anyone either, so you can't possibly be an impostor if you know this one. You gonna answer if I ask you a question?"
"Sure," Sesshoumaru agreed halfheartedly.
"Okay, here goes. There was one night, a very long time ago-I was still a pretty small kid, and it was a night I turned human. There was a demon chasing me, and I tripped over a rock. What happened next?" Inuyasha asked expectantly.
"I had to come save your pathetic little hide because you broke your damn leg," Sesshoumaru scoffed as he glanced up at the half-demon. "You were unconcious after that, and I carried you back to your precious human mother. She was surprised to see me, but she thanked me anyway. I left before anyone else found out about it, and for the longest time after that, you would refuse to fight me. You'd let me beat you senseless for a while, and then I would feel too honorable to kill a defenseless whelp and let you go. It took ten years for you to finally decide to fight back again, and it was about damn time," the dog-demon scoffed. "Satisfied?"
"Sesshoumaru...it really is you..." Inuyasha muttered. He had to admit, it was getting to the point where he really was beginning to believe it was an impostor; but nobody except the two of them knew about the long-past incident, and the retelling confirmed his identity.
"I've been trying to tell you that, you halfwit," Sesshoumaru sighed. "I suppose that you're going to start thrashing me, now that you're sure I'm really your brother."
"Yes, Inuyasha, feel free," Satsujin urged gently. "He's really quite stubborn-perhaps you can succeed in making him scream. We've tried everything, and so far, none of it has worked."
Inuyasha sighed at that as he closed his eyes and shook his head. "If there's one thing I know about castles and stuff like that, it's how to get somebody to scream. You people just have no clue how to deal with a demon's body. It's not easy to hurt somebody like him," Inuyasha said as he walked over to his brother. "You see, demons like my brother here-" Inuyasha said, "are not as easy to torture as humans are. There's a huge difference between them. For example, did you know that dragon demons hate having their noses touched? They never let on to anyone else, but unless you're a very good friend, they consider it offensive. Dog-demons like my brother and I, we're sensitive in different areas. Let me illustrate," Inuyasha said, looking Sesshoumaru up and down. "Hmm, right about..." he mused as he traced his claw along his brother's side. Sesshoumaru shuddered as the claw passed over a sensitive spot, glaring at his brother the entire time. "Here," Inuyasha said, tapping his finger. "I'd say that if you want him to scream for you, you should hurt him right there"
"Guards, hand him a dagger," Satsujin ordered.
"No, no, that's okay," Inuyasha refused politely. "I want to see if you know what you're doing."
Satsujin nodded to his guard, and the demon went over to Sesshoumaru. The soldier slashed his short dagger across Sesshoumaru's side, and though the cut was very shallow, the dog-demon had to stifle a cry of pain.
"See, what did I tell you?" Inuyasha said proudly. "You guys know nothing about him like I do. Now if you'll excuse me...I would prefer to carry this out in private. You can see him when I'm done," Inuyasha grinned maliciously.
Satsujin nodded his approval, and the guards handed over the chains. Sesshoumaru snarled fiercely as Inuyasha tugged him back down the hallway, but the half-demon paid him no attention.