Recap: InuYasha had traveled to Sesshoumaru's winter mansion and told him of the dreams he'd been having, Myouga's information of the prophecy, and his proposition. Sesshoumaru agreed to help InuYasha and to allow the hanyou and his pack of humans to stay with him at the mansion.

Dedication: This is for kag0me (because I love your enthusiasm), Stormraven (for your sense of comradeship against flamers), and Tokyo-Rose2006 (who shares my hate for "all wide-eyed, half-dressed anime girls").

Prophecy of Brothers

By Scarlet Willows

Chapter Four – The Guests

"Oh, back so soon? I thought you were going to be gone for a few days," said Sango, the first to see InuYasha walking up the path towards their camp. Miroku, trying not to run, walked briskly towards his friend and whispered in a low tone, "Did he turn you down?" InuYasha shook his head. Miroku look puzzled. "Then why are you back? Was it really that quick?" InuYasha smiled and shook his head again. "Then what? Are you with child yet?" InuYasha shook his head for the third time.

He ambled past Miroku to the center of the camp and proclaimed, "Pack everything up, we're moving." Kagome tried to protest but he silenced her before she could start. "Kagome, there's something very important that I have to do. It's for the future. Please don't make this any harder than it already is." He was feeling very delicate and in no mood to be messed with. At that, Kagome looked worried and concerned.

"InuYasha?"

"I will tell you when I'm ready. Please, just pack everything up."

When they had stored everything in bags, they set off, following InuYasha in silence. After an hour or so of walking in utter hush, they came upon the mansion. The sun had set and glow bugs had come out to dance on the breeze. "Who lives here? Are we staying with a village magistrate?" asked Sango. InuYasha said nothing.

Suddenly, he was pelted in the stomach by a small object, which hurtled him to the ground. Rin looked up at him from somewhere around his naval with chocolate eyes and a toothy smile. "InuYasha!" she squealed in a canary giggle.

"Well, hello to you, too," he said as he tried to alleviate himself from the little girl's clutches. He awarded the child with a rare genuine smile. He looked up to the house. Sesshoumaru was surveying protectively from a window and, oddly enough, the corners of his mouth were quirked upwards. Was he smiling? No, surely not Sesshoumaru, that was below him. Perhaps he was mocking.

He turned back to his friends as the little girl hugged each of them in turn. Kagome, Sango, and Shippo looked horrified because if Rin lived there then so did….

Miroku seemed to be the only one truly at ease, pulling out a candy to give to Rin. She accepted the gift, smiled, and shoved it in her mouth. InuYasha looked up once more to the window and saw that his brother had disappeared. Rin led them inside the house where Jaken…and Lord Sesshoumaru…stood at attention. A dead quiet fell over the party as they stood there, staring at the tall, silver-haired youkai, challenging him to break eye contact. He won.

Shippo looked as if he were ready to wet himself. All the party, save for Shippo and Rin, could detect a keen tension between the brothers, a different kind of tension than before…a sexual tension. It looked as if Sesshoumaru was ready to take his brother in front of the eyes of all, including the children, and InuYasha looked as if he were bashfully daring him to.

After a few painful seconds, Sesshoumaru broke the hush, "InuYasha and I have set aside our…past…and come to a mutual agreement…we're both after the same thing," he held his brother's eyes. InuYasha went furiously red in the cheeks. Kagome, or anyone for that matter, had never seen InuYasha blush; they didn't know it was possible. Sesshoumaru paused for a few seconds more, gazing at InuYasha with heat in his honey colored stare. Everyone felt Sesshoumaru's subtle advances. "Be assured, you will not be harmed while you stay here. Jaken will take you to your rooms," he gestured and no one argued or protested. They filed by Sesshoumaru, led by Jaken and Rin, and sped down the hall. InuYasha was last in line.

Sesshoumaru put out his hand to stop his brother from passing. "Not you." Secretly, he was feeling InuYasha's chest, perfect in construction, and his fluttering heartbeat.

"Where will I stay?" his heart sped up in hope and fear.

"You will stay with me," it was not a request but a command that InuYasha was only happy to obey.

"How long am I staying here?"

"I do have honor, InuYasha. I'm not just going to 'knock' you up and send you back to the woods. And I don't want you off gallivanting while you're pregnant with my child so I think you will stay here during and after your pregnancy." He won't look at me, Sesshoumaru thought.

"I won't argue," said InuYasha in uncharacteristic submission, still looking at the ground, now acquainted with its intricate designs; he was beginning to see its repeating pattern. He had been thinking that Sesshoumaru would kick him out after he'd impregnated him and he felt ashamed to admit that. His older brother was principled, after all, so how could he think that of him? Years of rivalry teach one to expect the worst. Sesshoumaru slid his hand from InuYasha's chest, up his neck, to his cheek. InuYasha licked his lips self-consciously and looked into his brother's eyes. It almost hurt…so many years of fighting.

The little act of InuYasha moistening his lips aroused Sesshoumaru. He couldn't wait any longer. He slowly bent down and ever so softly laid his lips on InuYasha's. InuYasha yielded immediately to his brother's greater force, closing his eyes. He hadn't expected him to be gentle. Sesshoumaru's kisses continued to be slow and supple, barely touching InuYasha, lingering, hovering above him tauntingly, out of reach. InuYasha wanted to scream; he wanted to taste him. And he'd wanted this forever.

Sesshoumaru bent again and InuYasha was already standing on his toes to better receive him, but Sesshoumaru didn't kiss him again. Instead he ran one talon across InuYasha's bottom lip. "I don't hate you. I never hated you," he whispered, lips brushing against InuYasha's, sending chills down his brother's spine and his own.

"I don't hate you either. I hated what you did, but I couldn't bring myself to hate you." InuYasha was trembling again, trying to keep his…reactions…under control.

"I ostracized you because Kikyo had you and I couldn't."

"So you do have feelings."

"Yes," he admitted, smirking in amusement.

"So you've had feelings for…me." It was more of a question than a statement. Sesshoumaru said nothing; instead he kissed him more firmly, sucking on his brother's lower lip as he pulled away. "Oh." So Sesshoumaru tasted like he smelled, like rain and fresh jasmine and gardenia flowers.

"You said you've been having these dreams for two weeks, correct?"

"Yes."

"You've only been waiting for this fourteen days. I've been waiting for this hundreds of years."

"What?" InuYasha's stomach went cold. He felt like he was going to vomit.

"I've had the same dream ever since my first heat, InuYasha. I've been waiting for you. It was only a matter of time; you just weren't ready. This is your first heat…is it not?"

"I…I," InuYasha fumbled over the words, taken aback. So when he'd come to him, Sesshoumaru had already known what he was going to ask yet he had made him struggle, that bastard! A small, petty revenge seemed like a tempting idea.

"That's why I hated the miko, because I knew I was supposed to have you. Do you have any idea what that feels like?"

InuYasha was shaking now, visibly. So this was his brother's way of telling him that…he loved him? No, maybe "wanted him," or "desired him," was perhaps a better way to phrase it. Love was such a pure human emotion, which spawned other strong sentiments as well, and was therefore beneath the youkai. No, love was surely not in his brother's vocabulary. "Why haven't you told me before? Why have we been fighting? Do you still want my sword?"

"Right now, I don't care about the sword, we'll talk about that much later. And if I had told you, would you have listened?" he chided as if he were talking to a five-year-old. "Silly puppy, you did hate me at the time. You're so stubborn, a trait you inherited from our father." InuYasha looked down at his feet. Sesshoumaru raised his chin with his finger. "Look at me. You had to be ready to come to me. The past is past. This is now. All we have is now." He captured InuYasha's lips with his and passionately kissed his brother…his lover….

…

The room was grand and spacious, well lit and elaborately decorated, but not overly so. Kagome thought she'd stepped into a fairytale castle, so many twisting halls and suspicious looking doors. Why had InuYasha come to his brother after so many years? Were they uniting to kill Naraku? It seemed unlikely; InuYasha would have told her if that was the reason. Why was he keeping it a secret? Miroku seemed to be the only one not jittery, sprawled over the large bed. Why is he so relaxed? wondered Kagome. Shippo sat in a corner, refusing to come out. Sesshoumaru scared him half to death, more so than anything.

"I can't wait to sleep in this bed," sighed Miroku, with the afterthought of, with these two beautiful ladies! Ah, I'm so lucky….

"Miroku? Do you know something we don't? Why are you not wary?" asked Sango, who had echoed Kagome's thoughts.

"Yes, Miroku. Please tell us," Kagome folded her arms and pursed her lips.

Miroku cracked one eye open. "I can't tell you."

"Why you-,"

"Do you know why InuYasha is here? What happened between he and his brother?" asked Sango quickly before Kagome could go into full-blown murder-mode.

"It's not so much as a 'happened' but a 'will happen'," was Miroku's sheepish excuse for a vague answer.

"That's not an answer."

"It's all you're going to get. Now, I wonder if there are any hot springs around…" Jaken walked in, announcing dinner. "Do you have a bathhouse? Or hot springs?" asked the monk.

"We have both," answered the short imp.

"Oh good. I am in need of a wash."

"Yes, I can tell," muttered Jaken as he left the room, rolling his eyes at the pitiful humans.

"Shippo, please come out and eat," begged Sango.

"No, no, no," he pouted, snuggling further into the corner, petting it as if it were a security blanket.

"Are you afraid of Sesshoumaru, the big, bad doggy?" asked Kagome teasingly.

"I'm not afraid of anything."

"Well, if you stay up here, that's how it will seem. At least come down and be company to Rin."

"Alright," he caved, a mood of determination coming over him. "I will stand firm."

…

Sesshoumaru, Rin, and InuYasha were already eating, sitting cross-legged on the floor, dipping chopsticks in and out of their bowls periodically. Sesshoumaru was at the head of the table and his brother was at his right. It was quiet. Awkward. Miroku itched to pull InuYasha aside and ask him what Sesshoumaru had said to make the hanyou look so subdued.

InuYasha was barely eating, aware of his brother's gaze upon him, though he dared not look up for fear of loosing himself into those pools of honey. "We have a bathhouse if you'd like to clean up after dinner," said Sesshoumaru into the lull.

"We are thankful for your gracious hospitality, Lord Sesshoumaru," said Miroku when he'd finished his bowl. Sesshoumaru said nothing, not even acknowledging the monk with a glance, his whole world focused upon InuYasha. Finally InuYasha gave up trying to eat. It was futile under his brother's watch. He started breathing rather heavily when Sesshoumaru's hand disappeared under the table for a short while.

"Jaken will show you to the bathhouse," said the youkai when his servant, Jaken, had entered. The party got up and followed the amphibious creature. InuYasha couldn't wait to be clean.

Jaken led the girls to a separate bathing area while he showed the males into another facility. It was warm, whitewashed, and sterile, smelling of soap and flowers. A shallow pool was in the midst of the room and a few smaller separate pools with different temperatures were placed around it. Benches lined the wall where they could place their clothes and weapons and a tray of soaps, shampoos, scented oils, towels and fresh clothes lined the adjacent wall.

Shippo shirked out of his clothes and cannonball-ed into the water, liquid sloshing somewhat onto the floor. InuYasha and Miroku waded in slowly, enjoying the curling warmth. After they had washed away the grime and dust from traveling, InuYasha and Miroku sat on a provided ledge, watching Shippo play with water toys.

"What did he say when you first came here this afternoon? Tell me the exact conversation," said Miroku.

"Well, I finally got the point across that I wanted…needed him to impregnate me. He didn't say anything. Then I got up to leave and he said, 'You will have no-one's child but mine,'" he said in a mock deep voice, doing a poor impression of his stoic older brother.

"Really."

"Yeah. Then, when you guys left to find your rooms, I think he was trying to tell me he, at least, cares for me."

"Really? Sesshoumaru? Caring?"

"So it seems. It doesn't matter if he loves me or not. After he beds me, he won't care about mushy romantic speech. He won't have to pretend. He'll have gotten what he wanted," said the silver-haired man bitterly with a sad visage as if it hurt to think that Sesshoumaru would use him...not that he would admit that he cared.

"InuYasha, did you ever think that he might actually love you?"

"What? A cold-hearted beast like him? Love? How could he? How could he love me? He said he'd been having the same dream as I have for hundreds of years! If he loves me, then why was he trying to kill me?"

"Maybe he wasn't."

"How do you figure?"

"Well, as I see it, he had plenty of opportunities to kill you. Numerous times. Yet he didn't. I think, in some strange way, he was training you." InuYasha was quiet. Now that he thought about it, there had been many times when Sesshoumaru could've easily taken his life. "When are you going to his bed?"

"He…" InuYasha went cold even though the water was warm. "He said that…I wasn't 'ripe'. What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, before females start their blood cycle, there's a time when it is easier for them to become pregnant. I assume it works the same way with youkai and hanyou. Maybe that's what he was referring to."

"Oh, yeah. You're right. Duh!" He smacked his forehead. "I should know that."

"Are you still going to look for the Shikon Shards even though you're going to be with child?"

"Sesshoumaru basically said he didn't want me out of his sight while I was pregnant, so that'll be a 'no'. So we'll have a few months off; you, Sango, and Shippo can do what you want and Kagome can go home and do skull."

"I think you mean 'school.'"

"Whatever." InuYasha tried to comb through his hair with his fingers, but couldn't, so he gave up. "What a mess."

"I can't believe you're actually going to do what he wants. It just doesn't sound like you."

"Well, I don't want to give birth to my first son in the middle of the forest!"

"Wait…Are you staying with us in our room or…?"

InuYasha went numb, skipped cold, completely forgetting that part of his conversation with his brother. "He…he wanted me to stay with him."

"Kagome and Sango will think that's…skeptical."

"Make up a story or something. Just say I'm staying in another room."

"Why can't I just tell them?"

"No, they wouldn't understand."

The monk sighed. "Whatever you say."

"Miroku, I'm nervous now…about staying with him in his bed."

"I don't really know how to comfort you, I've never been in that position. All I can say is that he probably won't do anything unless you him want to. And knowing him, he looks like a good judge of a person's character…and tastes." The monk waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Japanese terms:

Miko – priestess

To be continued…