Disclaimer: I don't own Inu-Yasha (or his brother), just Winslow Asparagus and the storyline.
Dearly Beloved
Fourth Installment
Inu-Yasha woke up the next morning with a mild headache and a stuffy nose. Ack. Allergy season. He rolled over, gazed dumbly at the floor, and fell off the bed, vaguely aware of his head whacking the night stand. Already he could tell that today was going to be one of those, "Wait, what the hell happened here?" days. He yawned, opening his mouth as wide as he possibly could, giving any onlooker a chance to get a great view of his big, pointy canine teeth. That's right. He didn't even have manners enough to cover his mouth, that infesting-the-world-with-germs bastard.
He sat upright and rubbed the excess tears out of his eyes with a finger, finding the waking-wetness of his eyes somewhat refreshing. He yawned again, this time with a little less-than-manly inhalation. Then, he stretched his arms, stood up, stretched his legs, yawned a third time, scratched his back, blinked a few times, scratched his left armpit, and finally noticed something out of place on his bureau. How the hell did that get there? he wondered, picking the object he spotted up and looking it over with a lost expression. Eh, well, there really wasn't much else he could do with it except—
Duh. Idjit. It was a gift from Sesshoumaru. The little tag on the little box in red wrapping paper said so. Because yesterday had been his nineteenth birthday. Figures that the second-to-worst day of the year had been his birthday. All that weird shit happening and then all the bad luck which followed. He hoped that a gift from Sesshoumaru would make it better.
How very unfortunate that that was not the case.
Sesshoumaru awoke to find his head stuck between the pages of Carrot Rhythm, a tiny bit of drool having found its way down his chin and onto the paper. He stared at it in contempt; such a thing was very undignified and improper. He wiped it off with a dish towel laying nearby. Had he actually fallen asleep in the kitchen while reading up on Winslow Asparagus's book, despite all that coffee he drank? Uh-oh... Speaking of all that coffee he drank...
Inu-Yasha jumped back in terror and confusion. Why would Sesshoumaru give him something like this? Out from the parcel had jumped what appeared to be a larger than ordinary, but still pretty damn small, flea, which greeted him with, "Good day to you, Lord Inu-Yasha! Long time no suck!" before eagerly leaping its way up to said master's nose. Now the flea was gulping down Inu-Yasha's blood as though it hadn't had a decent meal for weeks. Without much thought, Inu-Yasha slapped the bug on his nose flat. It fell to the floor in a Paper Mario-like fashion (I know, I know, enough with the references, but it's such a cool game—!). Inu-Yasha was too startled to say anything. Which was perfectly okie-dokie, because it was the flea who took up the responsibility of introductions.
"Please, excuse me for being rude. It's just that it has been so long since I last tasted your blood. Tastier than ever, may I say so, my lord."
"Who... Wha...?"
"Allow me to introduce myself: I am called Myouga, and I have come bearing devastating news. News which affects you in many ways. You see—"
"How do you know me?"
Myouga the Flea paused in his speech to cough and jump onto Inu-Yasha's foot. "Well, how should I begin? Your father wanted me to keep an eye on you while you grew up, keeping you updated on certain things while, at the same time, guiding you out of mischief. Unfortunately, I have been unable to do that for the past few years due to a, uh, unusual occurrence in the Underworld. But now I have come to help you better understand—"
Inu-Yasha had stopped paying attention once his father had been mentioned. "My father wanted you to watch over me?"
"Yes. He knew his time was short and so he—"
"Did you know my father?"
"Ah, but of course! He was a magnificent dog demon, the leader of the clan! The biggest and most powerful—"
"'Dog demon'? What the hell do you mean by 'dog demon'?"
Myouga sighed, hopping up to Inu-Yasha's arm and sitting down. "I suppose I'll have to tell you the whole story if I'm to get anything done here. It goes like this..."
Sesshoumaru walked out of the bathroom, zipping up his pants and heading over to the coffee maker to throw it out the window. Okay, not really, because then he'd have to replace it, but still... He feared he would never get out of there. He wouldn't be drinking coffee for a long, long time now. And especially not in as excessive amounts as he had the night before. It was like, coffee after coffee after coffee, and he still managed to fall asleep. Stupid caffeine was overrated. He sighed and stared out the window, wondering if Inu-Yasha had woken up and discovered his little present by now. Inu-Yasha was known for sleeping in and being perfectly blind to the most obvious things. Lucky for him, this was Saturday and he didn't have to go to work. So he could actually sleep in and be perfectly blind to the most obvious things without too much gripe.
But the look on Inu-Yasha's face when he discovered that within the small box was a cowardly, talking flea! Ah well. That could be dealt with later. For now, there was that book to—
"Oh, ho ho, such very loud music playing from next door! Can you hear it, Sesshy? Those girls are having a party! Listen to them giggle! I popped in there last night, and they were playing DDR! Have you ever played DDR, Sesshy? I doubt you have. Too stiff to dance! Ho ho!"
Sesshoumaru turned around slowly, reluctant to look into the face of who dared speak to him this early in the morning. "I would rather not waste my time on such things, Mr. Asparagus."
"Oh, no, I would think not, Mr. High and Mighty Can't Dance for Shiitake Mushrooms," Winslow Asparagus replied with a grin. He was looking greener and grosser than ever, especially in the neat black suit he had on. His shoes were a little too shiny. "How do you like my book? It's grand, isn't it? A true masterpiece, I would say!"
"It's unusual," Sesshoumaru nodded, "but I will admit it is a good read. What business have you here today, sir?" Winslow's grin lessened, his humor having been reduced by hearing that mocking note on the word sir. This pesky demon was out to stop his fun!
"I see how you are. Tell me, has your little brother taken a peek at my book yet?" He was answered with a shake of the head. Disappointment now completely dominated his good mood. "I was afraid not. Well, I suppose I shall bid you good evenin', then, and be on my way."
"So soon?" Sesshoumaru asked, a bit surprised that Winslow was so eager to leave when, during all his previous encounters with the goblin, he had to do all in his ability to get away from the damned creature. "You wouldn't even care to stay for tea?"
"A vile beast you are, Lord Sesshoumaru, using my only weakness against me. All right. I suppose I can stay for just a sip." And with that, his trickster's smile came back. He sat at the table, lifting his book for a quick look-see and placed it back down, closed, neat. One could say he was a bit over compulsive in this needing for things to be tidy and organized whenever it had little to do with his sexual sadism (when it came to that, vacuuming the living room was something he'd never dream of doing). The way he moved, the way his eyes glowed in their yellow light, disturbed Sesshoumaru greatly.
Inu-Yasha's older brother went to work on the tea while Winslow sat twiddling his thumbs, every now and then sighing in a daydream-y sort of way. Once the tea was done, he placed it in front of the strange man and sat opposite him. "So. I hear you used to live in New Hampshire as the son of a farmer and his bitch."
"Oh, Gods, no. Mummy wasn't a bitch, she was a witch. I remember when I was just a wee child, I wandered into her chambers to find her stirring a dark green liquid in her cauldron. Oh, blessed memories! She fed it to the goat later. The next day, the goat produced twice as much milk as normal and gave birth to a six-legged kid. I named him Spider-Legs. Dear Spider-Legs, where are you now?" He got this far-off, reminiscent look on his face, as though recalling how the young goat's hair felt against his skin. Sesshoumaru—if he had a gun within his reach—would have shot him just to be rid of him.
Winslow drank his tea in a ladylike fashion before setting the cup down and regarding Sesshoumaru with his head cocked to the side, his mouth turned in a grin which would have made the devil want to join Sesshoumaru in shooting him. "Well, sorry to drink and run, but I have work to do. Master's been requiring a lot of me lately. I'm due for a promotion." He stood and winked at Sesshoumaru. "Take good care of your brother. You never know just how important he'll be to you." He deteriorated from sight. Besides the teacup and faulty positioning of the kitchen curtains (where Winslow had apparently made his entrance), one would have never known he had been there to begin with.
Sesshoumaru shook his head, finding this situation very exasperating. Winslow Asparagus would come and go as though he owned the whole friggin' world, and while he was at it, would do his best to piss off everyone within range. He felt kind of sorry for those girls the goblin had been spying on; the idea of being watched but being unable to see or know who was watching you... He stood from the table, giving a skeptical glance toward the book, and headed down the hall to check up on Inu-Yasha. The newly-affirmed adult hadn't made a noise all morning. Not even so much as a snore. There had to be something wrong.
Inu-Yasha regarded Myouga with a quizzical stare. He was confused beyond belief now, and the fact that it was a talking flea getting him that way made it worse.
"Run that by me again, why don't you...?"
Myouga sighed. "Look, Master, if you don't understand, you should probably ask your brother about it. He can probably explain it better than I can."
"No, no, I'm not asking him for anything; just tell it to me slow, alright?" Inu-Yasha refused to resort to asking Sesshoumaru about their father; there were plenty of times when he had done that before, and each and every one of them ended in pain and emotional torment. Talking to Sesshoumaru about Daddy was near impossible, bringing the topic up gave you an automatic bad relationship and an ear-grabbing.
"Very well then." Myouga cleared his throat and prepared to tell the story again. "My lord... You are a half-demon. Do you understand?" Inu-Yasha glanced at his fingernails—long, white, and pointed—and shrugged.
"I guess so. That's where all this"—he pointed to his hair, his ears—"come from, right? That 'demon' side?" His retainer nodded.
"That's right. You never noticed it before because your mother was a human. Your father was a demon. A great dog demon, who claimed the Western Lands as his own."
"Right... But how could he be a demon? I've never seen none o' them before."
"'Never seen any,'"corrected Myouga. "Well, that's because demons aren't as common as they used to be. Most of them were killed off in the Great Ningen-Youkai War that went on nigh a hundred years ago. Mind you, humans and demons have never gotten along very well, but it wasn't until that war that they really began to join together and fight against one another. We don't need to get into that right now, though.
"Demons aren't as common as they used to be, but there are still a few roaming about. Your father was one of the last to survive this long. He was over a thousand years old when he died, wise, powerful, and kind-hearted. He had the courage and the wisdom to give him an honorable reputation and a noble title, and he left two of his most treasured possessions to you and your brother: the swords Tenseiga and Tessaiga, the swords of Heaven and Earth. Do you know what kind of power that sword possesses?" Myouga brought his audience's attention to Tessaiga, over in the corner of Inu-Yasha's room. After awhile, Inu-Yasha shook his head. "It has the power to slay a hundred demons in one stroke. One hundred demons, my lord, if you can master it. The Great Dog Demon would not have bestowed that sword to you if he did not believe you could master it, despite your half-demon status. He believed in your potential, Inu-Yasha, even though you were just an infant when he died."
"How... did he die?"
"He died... protecting your mother from the evils of man. I don't really know how; I wasn't there, but it was a great tragedy. It resulted in your mother taking you and Sesshoumaru and moving away, raising you on her own. Do you know she has never so much as dated another man after your father's death? She was loyal to him, Inu-Yasha, as loyal to him as he was to her. Theirs was a love unfathomable. It went beyond the difference of their species, it was magic. It was—"
"Shaddup!" Squish. "I don't need to hear about it! Just move on already! What's the deal with Sesshoumaru? What about his mother? His sword of 'heaven' or whatever." Inu-Yasha had begun to cry; upon hearing the commitment his parents had to each other, his heart began to tear itself, thinking about their compassion. They were good people, and they were together now. He missed them. He wished he could have met his father, more than ever before. But hearing about it, from a flea he barely knew... He didn't want it. Not now. Now wasn't the time. He wanted to move on. He didn't want to cry.
He wiped the tears from his eyes with his thumbnail.
Myouga popped back into shape, seemingly oblivious to Inu-Yasha's emotions. "Excuse me, my lord. I got carried away. -Ehem- As I was saying... Yes, Sesshoumaru. His mother was a demon. One of those who died in the War."
"But the War was a hundred years ago, you said..." Now that they had changed topics, Inu-Yasha successfully avoided crying. His head was a little clearer, but there was a dull throbbing, resulting from his moment of emotionality.
"Yes. And that would make Sesshoumaru over a hundred years old."
"But... How... Then why didn't he ever tell me?"
"Um, well... I'm not quite sure." Myouga felt a little guilty for not knowing. "To be honest... I never knew he didn't tell you. I thought you would have known by now..."
Knock.
"If your name's Sesshoumaru, you're not allowed. If it's not, you're still not allowed, but state your business anyway," Inu-Yasha called to the door.
Lo and behold, Sesshoumaru opened it. "Inu-Yasha."
"I said all people named Sesshoumaru weren't allowed!" Sesshoumaru rolled his eyes and tried again.
"Inu-Yasha. When you're done bonding with your new best friend, I'd like you to unload the dishwasher."
Little brother scoffed. "You came here to tell me that?"
Big brother remained calm. "I didn't say I was finished. After you unload the dishwasher, we have something to talk about."
"Joy. Does it involve demons and that vegetable dude?"
"It might. It might also deal with... something else."
"Such as...?"
"..."
"Well?"
"I'll talk to you later." He left. Inu-Yasha glared.
"That bossy... Arrogant... Demanding... Faggot-y sonofabitch! He just thinks he can tell me to do whatever the hell he doesn't want to do and I'll do it like a good little puppy—! Goddammit! I'm not ever letting him fuck with me again! He's using me!"
Myouga jumped away, sensing the rising anger in Inu-Yasha's energy. "Er, but sir, he's your brother... That kind of thing is expected..." He knew nothing, of course, about exactly how "brotherly" the two of them were. He knew naught of their secret relations, little of their everyday behaviors, nothing of their partnership—or lack of. It had been years since he had last spent time around the Taisho boys. And spending the last few minutes around them was enough of a wake-up call on its own.
Inu-Yasha turned to reprimand him, then remembered that there was a piece of his relationship with his brother that was best left unknown, that was beginning to irritate him at the moment, but had to be left secret. Myouga didn't know they recently became lovers; how could he? He joined the "family" not an hour ago (or two days ago, if you thought about his time encountering Sesshoumaru and being stuffed in a box). Besides that, it wasn't something one would normally share, especially not with people they only just met.
"Never mind," he said, finding himself calm again. "It was his tone that bothered me, that's all. He's been asking a lot from me lately and it's getting to bug me."
"I see..." From the way his voice trailed off, Myouga clearly wasn't seeing, but he said he was, meaning he wouldn't force it. Inu-Yasha was glad; he didn't want to get into it.
Later, when Myouga had contented himself in a light nap on the kitchen windowsill, after Inu-Yasha finished his chores, he met Sesshoumaru in the living room. It was after noon now, and the sun shone bright as ever through the windows, almost blinding our favorite hanyou buddy.
Sesshoumaru sat drinking tea on the couch, a book splayed on his lap; the television was off, making the room unusually quiet. Inu-Yasha felt free to sit beside him. He rested his arms behind his head. "So. What did you wanna talk about?"
Taking notice of his brother's presence, Sesshoumaru placed his tea on a coaster on the coffee table, marked his page with an index card, put the book aside and watched Inu-Yasha. When he stared at you in that all-knowing way he had of staring at you, it was almost impossible not to feel ashamed of who you are. Inu-Yasha experienced that not-so-fuzzy feeling now, that familiar tingling of embarrassment. It was like Sesshoumaru was reading his soul, not by looking through his eyes, but by looking through his being. He hated it when Sesshoumaru looked at him like that, it always made him feel vulnerable and weak. He loathed being weakened, especially around his brother, his big, strong, perfect brother. And no wonder; the guy had been around over a hundred years according to Myouga. He was bound to be wiser, destined to be more experienced. Fated to know all about Inu-Yasha that Inu-Yasha didn't know himself.
How does my ass feel to you, asshole? Inspired you to write a book of your own about it yet? You could make the bestseller charts, just like Winslow Asparagus, you sick sonofabitch.
Perhaps this sudden anger directed toward his brother was unnecessary; mayhap he was overreacting. Making a bigger deal than need be. All Sesshoumaru had asked was for him to come and talk, but to unload the dishwasher first. Was that such a crime? Yet, here was 'Yasha-dear, his mind racing with negativity. He did feel vulnerable, he did feel used, and he did feel as though Sesshoumaru were reading all that went on his mind, all that went on in his heart, his body, as though just by sitting next to him left his aura wide open, his person displayed solely for Sesshoumaru's viewing pleasure.
Sure, he spread his legs for him a few times, but did he expect to have Inu-Yasha's soul, too?
"Inu-Yasha. It has been a while since your mother died. Have you recovered?"
"Well enough, I guess. I mean, I still miss 'er and everythin', but I'm not depressed about it anymore, I guess. Why?" Inu-Yasha backed away from his brother; that stare was too hot to handle right now. Burning. He felt scarred.
"This all started because of her, you know. We... We wouldn't be in our current situation if it wasn't for her."
Stuttering? That was... different. That wasn't like Sesshoumaru at all. Sesshoumaru always knew how to says things just right, just so they pissed you off and crawled under your skin and over your spine.
"Whadduya mean, 'our current situation'? It was that Asparagus dude who killed her, wasn't it? So there'd be no way we could have avoided—"
"That's not what I'm talking about." Sharp. Direct. Stab. Heated anger began its rise in Inu-Yasha's gut. He couldn't stand it when his brother got angry with him; it made him angry with Sesshoumaru.
"Then what are you talking about!" He was going to add, "bitchwad," but decided against it. Damn second thoughts.
Sesshoumaru pretended not to notice any harshness in Inu-Yasha's voice. "I think you know damn well what I'm talking about; have you so much as thought about what we've been doing?"
"I don't know! What have we been doing!"
"It's incest, Inu-Yasha!"
Oh. That. Yeah. It was incest, wasn't it? So they had been thinking the same thing all along. Heh.
Inu-Yasha blushed and stared at his hands, now laying limp in his lap. That word made him feel guilty, like he had done something wrong. Once again, the idea of being with his brother in that way made him sick. He was a traitor. A family traitor. Brothers didn't fuck each other on normal circumstances. If that did occur, one of them had to be insane. Or both of them had to be insane. As far as Inu-Yasha was concerned, he was perfectly in his right mind, but he wasn't too sure about Sesshoumaru.
Of course, it had been Inu-Yasha to push it, hadn't it?
Maybe he was insane.
"Y-yeah. What about it?"
"Think about it, Inu-Yasha. Would you seriously want to be lovers with me?"
That was a good question. One that could definitely use some thinking. On the pros, Sess was pretty hot. And he was an awesome lover; Inu-Yasha couldn't see why he didn't have a girlfriend (or a boyfriend) of some sort. He was strong and loyal and protective and really, really smart. On the cons, he was his older brother. Ick. He was bossy and authoritative, prideful and spiteful. He held grudges. He was hotheaded. Actually, he had more in common with Inu-Yasha than any of Inu-Yasha's past girlfriends.
Then again... There were times when he just couldn't stand being around Sesshoumaru. -Sigh- What a life, eh?
"Well, um, that would depend... I mean, we do know each other pretty well and all, so..."
"Are you suggesting you wouldn't mind continuing our... our... fling?" Now Sesshoumaru was staring wide-eyed at him as though he had requested they have sex in public. Inu-Yasha raised an eyebrow at him and backed himself into the armrest of the couch.
"Uh... sure? I don't see a problem with it... 'Cept... That would make us gay... And... special. But I mean, no one has to know about that, right?" Now he just being hypocritical. Really. Couldn't make up his mind today. Did he hate Sesshoumaru or did he want him to himself? Oh, God damn it all.
"Inu-Yasha..." Sesshoumaru whacked him on the head, grabbing an ear and holding onto it. "Do you have any idea what Winslow Asparagus said to me today?"
"Winslow Asparagus came to visit you?"
"He said, 'Take good care of your brother. You never know just how important he'll be to you.' He knows, Inu-Yasha. He knows everything."
"Yeah, and he's also the weirdest guy I've ever met, but—"
"It scares me, brother, it scares me more than I've ever imagined possible."
"Say what?"
END/Installment Four
Ending Notes: There ya go! At long last! I know, that was a pretty crappy cliffhanger, but it gives me a great advantage when I start the fifth chapter. Now that I've gotten back into it, I hope to make some quicker updates. I apologize for taking so long. Don't give up on me yet!