Brother to Brother
By Hayai Akurei
Disclaimer: All characters copyright Rumiko Takahashi.
Warning: OOC's here for those who don't like to see them. Just a little bit of random brotherly banter. I adore sibling love. I should write more stuff like this.
Sesshoumaru shivered, his skin beginning to chill despite the relative warmth of the outside air. Awkwardly holding his older brother close to him, Inuyasha sighed, adjusting his position on the ground.
"Inuyasha," the wounded youkai murmured with a sigh and a snarl. "Don't think that this changes anything between us."
His brother rolled his eyes.
"Pfft. As if. I just think you've gotten crazier with age."
Sesshoumaru opened his mouth to retort, but coughed harshly. Every breath he took sapped him of what little strength he had. Frowning in concern, Inuyasha held him closer, carefully minding his brother's wounds. The white bandages coiled around his torso and over one shoulder. Off nearby lay his armor, folded up neatly along with the rest of their belongings.
The two sat in the relative quiet of a small clearing in the forest, watching as the sun's rays began to go down. Inuyasha glanced around, making sure that his brother was safe from preying youkai until his injuries healed.
A gust of wind blew by them and the elder brother fought the shiver that ran up his spine. Still, it was folly to try and hide it, even from the younger one's hanyou senses.
Inuyasha pulled the kimono tighter around his brother's shoulders. It was a miracle the thing was still in one piece. While the armor had cracked a bit, there was not a thread out of place on the flower-patterned silk. How it was supposed to provide any scrap of warmth was beyond him. While his own fire-rat outfit was a little rough and homespun, it certainly was a lot warmer than this little flimsy thing.
He would have made a smart remark out of it, but wisely kept quiet. Sesshoumaru's dignity was already at stake. If word got out that he hadn't been able to protect himself in his weakened state, and had ended up leaving that task to his half-human half brother, the other youkai dignitaries would never let him hear the end of it.
The hanyou sighed, deciding to enjoy the temporary truce between them. It wasn't everyday that they weren't trying to kill one another while in each other's presence.
As he held him, his eyes fell to Sesshoumaru's left arm, or what was left of it. The stump ended a few inches above the elbow, the skin white from the scar.
Gingerly, he touched it, golden eyes softening as he recalled the day he and his brother drew swords against one another.
"Inuyasha? What are you doing?"
He blinked, coming back to reality. Sesshoumaru was looking up at him with a look of confusion and a touch of annoyance. Silken white ears flattened back against his head in shame as he lowered his head.
"I'm…I'm sorry." His voice was so soft; he could barely hear himself speak.
His brother seemed surprised by this.
"What for?"
"This…" He brushed his fingers over the healed skin. "I shouldn't have done what I did…I mean, you're still my brother and all."
"Half," Sesshoumaru corrected quickly, his eyes narrowing.
The young man growled, returning the glare. "You know what I mean."
Sesshoumaru made a noncommittal noise and turned his eyes away. Inuyasha did likewise. Silence reigned for a little while, which only proved to make the situation more uncomfortable.
"Does it ever hurt?" Inuyasha asked, looking back down at him.
His brother eyed him, boring into his amber gaze, searching for hidden ridicule. For seemingly the first time, Inuyasha saw just how similar their eyes were.
'Our father's eyes,' his mind whispered.
But his brother's were a little colder. Distant. It came with having seen a harsher world in his hundred-some-odd years of living.
'But he never saw the world that I saw,' he thought briefly. 'We've seen a lot of things that we shouldn't have.'
Sesshoumaru then lowered his eyes, exhaustion sweeping over him.
"It used to, but no longer. That was long ago. It aches now and then, but no, it doesn't hurt."
Inuyasha felt his heart sink in his chest. Since when did his brother look so alone?
"I'm sorry."
Sighing, the older youkai closed his eyes and allowed himself to relax a little in his brother's arms, though the frown remained fixated on his face. "Don't regret it. You were protecting that woman of yours. What else could you have done?"
"I dunno." He frowned, feeling the heat rise to his cheeks at the mention of Kagome. "And she's not my woman," he added.
Sesshoumaru cracked open one eye and grinned slyly at him. "Sure she's not."
"She is not!"
"Then why do you spend so much time with her?"
"She's…a friend."
"A friend? Or a friend-friend?"
Inuyasha could have sworn his brother almost waggled his eyebrows at him just by his tone of voice. He was openly goading him now!
"She's just a friend!" he shouted. "Nothing more!"
"Uh-huh," Sesshoumaru snickered, closing his eyes again. Inuyasha stared. His brother, Sesshoumaru, Lord Ego-Maniac-who-off-and-on-spoke-in-third-person of the Western Lands, chuckled? And since when did they argue like such children?
…like brothers.
He looked away, trying to come up with a good comeback. None came.
"Just…shut up and get some rest," he growled. But no response met his ears. Inuyasha looked down. His brother was already asleep, a soft smile of amusement on his face.
Several hours later…
Kagome giggled softly and motioned for Sango to come over.
The two brothers were cuddled up to one another, Inuyasha snoring softly and Sesshoumaru breathing a little easier. Cuddled up against his older brother, Inuyasha flicked his ears back as a firefly ghosted past. Sesshoumaru breathed into his brother's hair, the gossamer strands swaying back and forth in the breeze.
The girls shared a secret smile. They were so cute!
Then, Inuyasha's brow furrowed and he whimpered softly, moving about. Kagome was about to go and try and calm him when Sesshoumaru reached over with his good arm and pulled his brother closer to him. Tucking his brother's head under his chin, he sighed. Almost instantly, Inuyasha settled down, nuzzling his face deep into the folds of the white kimono.
Kagome smiled when she heard a light snore resonate in her companion's throat. He sounded as if he was purring! Tiny smiles graced the faces of both brothers as they slept on. For once, they were both content and at peace, even within each other's presence.
Slinking quietly away, Kagome and Sango waited until they were out of earshot before they dared to say anything.
"I didn't see a thing," Sango said. Kagome nodded. "Me neither."
Author's Notes:
I did warn you. Don't ask me how they got into this situation. They just did. That and I'm too lazy right now to try and figure it out. I'll just leave that up to you. I know that under normal circumstances they would sooner die than speak civilly to one another, much less try and help each other out after a battle. It's just a crackpot idea, so I'll leave it as is. Long live sibling love!