Inu-Yasha

A Feudal Fairy Tale


Disclaimer: This episode of Inu-Yasha is of my own creation. I do not own any portion of Inu-Yasha. "Inu-Yasha" and all related characters, names, etc. are ©1998-2003 Rumiko Takahashi/Shogakukan, Inc. Inu-Yasha is a trademark of Viz Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.


A Change of Heart
Scroll Seven:
Brotherly Love


Sesshô-maru, the full-blooded youkai who is also Inu-Yasha's older half- brother, has just emerged into the small clearing where his hanyou half- brother and the miko Kikyo were peacefully eating lunch. He eyes Kikyo with mild interest. "So Inu-Yasha," he begins, his deep voice sounding bored, "I see you have finally chosen." He sniffs the air and smirks. "You are just like Father, having an unnecessary liking for humans. Well at least Father was wise enough to choose one who was alive, not some deceased miko. Seriously brother, this is a new low for you."

The hanyou growls deeply and unsheathes the Tetsusaiga, having it transform into the enormous fang. "Never...insult...Kikyo!" he shouts as he charges straight for his brother.

The inu youkai expected to be attacked but was genuinely surprised at how quickly Inu-Yasha is now moving. He just barely dodges the swipe intended for his right side and leaps aside. 'He is moving even faster then when he is defending that other wench,' he thinks while preparing to dodge his younger brother's next attack. 'What does that mean? Does he now care more deeply for this deceased miko than that other girl he is constantly beside?' Sesshô-maru can tell that Kikyo is a miko because he can both smell and sense her powers. He can also tell that her powers are unusually strong, just like Kagome.

Inu-Yasha is about to attack again when the sounds of shouting nearby distracts him. He, his brother and Kikyo look over to the bushes where Sesshô-maru had just emerged. The sounds of a young girl giggling reach their ears, followed quickly by an agitated voice shouting, "Get back here you miserable little human! Lord Sesshô-maru told you to stay behind and wait for him!"

The young girl giggles back, "But Rin is bored! Why did Lord Sesshô-maru leave Rin all alone with boring old Jaken?"

Suddenly the young human that Inu-Yasha's brother takes care of emerges from the bushes. She is dressed in a simple yellow kimono with blue triangles on it. Her bright brown eyes shine with curiosity and mild mischief. An awkwardly placed ponytail rests on top of her head to the side slightly. She sees the youkai who has become the closest thing she has to a father and squeals, "Lord Sesshô-maru!" and rushes over to him, attaching herself to his left leg.

The youkai lord shows no emotion on his face, but does gently pat her on her head. "You should not be here Rin," he begins in a calm, collective voice, looking back over at Inu-Yasha. "It is dangerous here."

The small girl puts her hands on her hips and puts a pout on her face. "Rin doesn't care!" she defiantly states. "Rin wants to be with Lord Sesshô- maru!"

Just then, the odd little gama youkai that is the inu youkai lord's humble servant, Jaken, emerges from the bushes where Rin just came from, panting and looking extremely agitated. He instantly finds the young human he was supposed to be watching over and who she is currently attached to and shrieks. "L...Lord Sesshô-maru! P-P-P-Please forgive me!" He goes down on all fours and bows his head.

"I gave you a simple task Jaken and you could not follow it," Sesshô-maru calmly responds, never taking his eyes off of his younger brother. "For that, you shall be punished."

Jaken's trembling increases upon hearing that his youkai master will punish him. "O...Of course Lord Sesshô-maru. I promise to not mess up like this again!"

"Be sure that you do Jaken. As of late, you have become more of a nuisance to me. If you foul up again as badly as you have just done, I will have no choice but to kill you."

The strange little gama shrieks loudly as he bows even deeper, stuttering, "Y-Y-Y-Yes Lord Sesshô-maru."

"If you're done," Inu-Yasha loudly interrupts, looking grumpier than usual and tapping his foot impatiently on the ground, "Sesshô-maru and I were in the middle of something."

The inu youkai smirks sinisterly at his younger half brother. "Yes, that we were." Using the only arm he has, he scoots Rin aside. "Stay near Jaken Rin, this will be dangerous and I do not want you to get hurt."

The young child huffs lightly, putting on another small pout, but obeys the youkai's order, walking over next to Jaken, who is still trembling slightly.

Inu-Yasha and Sesshô-maru are about to face off when Kikyo walks in between the two of them, halting their progress. "Please, do not fight. I grow tired of all of this fighting and blood shedding. You there," she says, looking over at Sesshô-maru, "you are Inu-Yasha's brother, are you not?" The youkai does not move a muscle. "I will take your silence as an agreement. I wish to know why you desire to do battle with Inu-Yasha."

Sesshô-maru looks at her for a moment, and then turns his head away from her, closing his eyes. "I do not need to explain my actions to anyone...especially to some filthy human."

The inu hanyou growls menacingly, gripping the Tetsusaiga tightly and waiting for a chance to strike. 'Once Kikyo moves,' he thinks to himself, 'I'll make sure to become an only child.'

The miko quickly arms herself with her bow and an arrow, pointing it directly at Sesshô-maru's heart. "Do not think that I will hesitate to destroy you because you are related to Inu-Yasha. I have killed many youkai in the past without much of a second thought, and many of them were quite powerful." The arrow she is pointing at the inu youkai faintly glows a light blue for a split second, emphasizing her point.

"Kikyo," Inu-Yasha begins, "I want you to move away from him, this is just between Sesshô-maru and me."

"Indeed it is," Sesshô-maru agrees. He reaches over to his left side, pulling out one of his two swords, the Tokijin, forged from Kaijinbo, the failed protégé of the sword smith Tôtô-sai, from the fangs of Goshinki, one of Naraku's 'offspring' reincarnations. "Come now brother," he beckons, "let us finish this once and for all." And with that, he lunges.

______

Some distance away, Kagome and the rest of the group have just arrived at the village they have been heading towards since the day before. It looks like any other village they have come across, children running around and playing, adults either watching over the children or going about their daily business as well as the elderly.

Miroku walks up to the nearest villager, a kindly looking old man and politely says, "Excuse me sir, but my companions and I hears some news about a koumori youkai nearby that has been a nuisance to your people as of late."

The old man regards Miroku for a moment, then answers, "Well young man, there was a nasty little youkai around here a day or two ago, but a kindly miko and a hanyou took care of it."

The entire group stops moving after hearing about this. Kagome rushes over to the man, startling him slightly. "A miko and a hanyou?" after the old man nods, Kagome continues on, "Did the hanyou have long silver hair, dog- ears and wore all red?"

"Why yes he did, have you met him before?" the old man asks, now looking surprised. Everyone nods silently in response. "The miko was quite young and beautiful if I do say so. I was very shocked to see a miko traveling with someone who has youkai in them."

Kagome backs off, her depression coming back at full force. The houshi, however, isn't quite done with his questions. "Tell me sir, when the miko and hanyou destroyed the koumori youkai, did any of them carry with them something small and perhaps shining?"

The old man scratches his chin, thinking heavily. "Hmm...a tiny shining thing you say? Well.now that I think about it, yes...yes the miko was looking at a pretty little shining thing when they came back down from that cave up the hill over there," he expresses while pointing over to his right. "It looked really nice, what was it?"

"Nothing," Miroku answers, "thank you for your help." With a friendly nod, the old man walks away. The houshi sighs slightly and walks over to the group. "Well it appears that Inu-Yasha and Kikyo have beaten us here and have taken a shard of the sacred Shikon Jewel, which begs the question as to why they are collecting shards."

Sango looks around the village, Kirara sitting comfortably on her shoulder. "In any case, we don't need to be in this village or valley anymore so I say we should get going." Everyone nods in agreement. Kouga kneels down again so Kagome can climb on, Shippô sitting on her shoulder. Kirara hops off of her master and is engulfed in flames for a second. The flames dissipate, revealing the nekomata in her large form. Sango leaps onto her faithful youkai's back. She looks over at Miroku, who is getting ready to start running again. The taijiya notices the sweat on his brow and the slight hunch to his normally straight posture. "Er...houshi-sama," she calls out, "why don't you ride with me on Kirara for now? I see that you are tired from all the running you did to get here."

The houshi smiles at her. "Why thank you lady Sango, I am a little fatigued from the initial trip so I think I will take you up on that offer." He walks over and seats himself up on the fire neko behind Sango. He gently places his hands on her waist for extra leverage, no groping whatsoever. The taijiya stiffens slightly under his touch, but calms back down when her wandering hands decide not to wander. She looks over at Kagome and blushes at the appraising look her friend from the future is giving her.

"Come on!" Shippô whines. "Let's go! I'm getting bored just sitting here!"

Kagome ruffles the small kitsune's hair affectionately. "Yeah, he's right. Let's get going everyone." And with that, the group gets up and quickly leaves the village, heading out of the valley in which so much has happened in just a couple of days.

______

The sounds of swords clashing ring out for several miles in all directions, scaring any animal or human out of the immediate vicinity. Inu-Yasha and Sesshô-maru fight with a strength and vigor that neither has used before. The hanyou now fights like a true warrior, not just relying on brute strength as he used to do all the time in the past. After killing Ryukotsusei, the youkai that was responsible for the death of Inu-Yasha and Sesshô-maru's father, the inu hanyou has become the master of the Tstsusaiga. The legendary blade now feels light and swift in his hands and he has complete control over all of its special attacks.

For the second time today, Sesshô-maru is genuinely surprised at his younger half brother. His second sword, the Tokijin, is supposed to be stronger than Inu-Yasha's blade since Goshinki's teeth, which make up the youkai lord's blade, were able to bite apart the Tetsusaiga. But now both swords seem to be on par with each other. 'How can this be?' Sesshô-maru thinks to himself. 'Is this filthy half-breed finally able to fully master the Tetsusaiga? What has he done to accomplish such a goal?' He pauses his inner thoughts to block and parry a few slashes from his brother. His widen very slightly as he recognizes some of the moves the inu hanyou is doing. 'Those are my moves! How is he able to perform my moves in the exact same manner as I?'

Nearby, Kikyo watches in awe. 'I had no idea his skills had increased so much. I can tell that his brother is a full-blooded youkai, meaning his strength and skills are much greater than those that Inu-Yasha has, but now it appears that they are equally matched, incredible!' She pauses her inner thoughts as the hanyou leaps in the air to avoid a strong horizontal slash from Sesshô-maru. As he soars over his brother, time seems to slow down, as it always does while he is airborne, and the miko gasps in surprise and places a hand over her heart at how dashing he looks. The wind lightly whisks at his fire rat haori and long silver hair. His deep golden orbs look sharp and determined. "Oh my," she whispers out loud.

Right after Inu-Yasha lands, his brother is right on him, slashing and swiping with deadly accuracy. Just as the youkai thinks he is about to finally land a blow to the hanyou's shoulder, Inu-Yasha quickly brings up his sword just in time, successfully blocking the attack. "What is wrong Inu-Yasha?" he asks, his right arm struggling to push his half-brother back, "why are you not using any of the special attacks of your beloved Tetsusaiga? By the way you have been handling it, I believed you had mastered it."

"I have," Inu-Yasha replies, also struggling to push his older brother back. "I just don't feel like using them, they make a battle too easy to win," he adds cockily. "Besides, with that other sword of yours, you could easily survive anything I throw at you."

That comment throws the youkai lord off. His eyes make a quick dart to his second sword still in its hilt on his left side. 'Tenseiga,' he calmly thinks to himself. 'Why father would give me such a sword is still beyond me. I have no true use for a sword that only heals and never injures. Though it did save my life when Inu-Yasha first struck me with the Wind Scar. And...' he pauses mid thought, his eyes looking over to the little human girl he has taken in and taken care of for some time now, '...Rin.'

After Sesshô-maru saved the little girl's life after she was attacked and killed by ookamis, Rin tagged along, following the inu youkai wherever he travels. Over time, Sesshô-maru unknowingly developed feelings for the child and now acts as an adoptive father figure to her, protecting her at times as if she were his own pup.

The lord of the western lands looks back over to his little brother, the faintest traces of a smirk appearing on his face. "Well Inu-Yasha, it appears that you have indeed learned something. I am impressed." The hanyou growls and leaps back a few feet and then charges forward, only now his anger makes his moves a little sloppy and easy to determine. 'Yes,' Sesshô- maru mentally beckons, 'let the anger consume you Inu-Yasha. Feel it build up and let it take over your body. I, the great lord of the western lands, will not allow a filthy half breed like you to ever come close to besting or rivaling me.' He watches the hanyou prepare for another strike and almost laughs out loud. 'It does help in my favor that you are using the same fighting style as before. It is so predictable that I am now feeling ashamed that I was impressed at him earlier.'

In front of him, Inu-Yasha is struggling against his brother's powerful counterattacks. 'What's going on?' his mind yells out in confusion. 'I was doing really well and now he's beating me! What am I doing wrong?' He is about to go in wide a swipe to the midsection when he sees Sesshô-maru bringing his sword down to block the attack he hasn't even attempted to do yet. 'He knows what I'm gonna do!' he thinks in surprise. 'He must know my fighting style!' A small smirk spreads across his face. 'Well then, let's switch up a bit and see how he likes it!'

The full-blooded youkai confidently brings his Tokijin down the block the expected midsection swipe when his brother suddenly changes tactics, now slashing down at his head. Sesshô-maru back steps very quickly, the sword tip just missing him as it comes down. "Impressive Inu-Yasha," he calmly says. "I suppose you noticed that I knew your fighting style."

"Yeah," he agrees. "And the fact that you started blocking for a strike I didn't even start yet sorta gave you away."

"Did I now?" the inu youkai lord asks, looking amused. "I rarely make such mistakes."

Inu-Yasha chuckles slightly. "Yeah, well…" he is cut off by the sounds of Kikyo yelling in pain and Rin shrieking in fear. Both brothers ignore the fight for a moment and look over to where the woman and young girl are. Inu-Yasha's blood runs cold at the sight before him. Another of Naraku's Kyodai Shinidamachuu has appeared and has wrapped its large red body around Kikyo, trapping her while it consumes the many souls within her body. She has gone limp against it and is her skin is deathly pale. "Kikyo!" the hanyou shouts as he rushes as fast as he possibly can towards the woman who he loves. He leaps into the air, shouting, "Tetsusaiga!" and the large fang slashes through the insect youkai, killing it instantly and releasing the souls it was devouring.

Moving quickly, he kneels down beside the miko and gently picks her up in his arms. "Kikyo?" he quietly asks her, moving aside some of her black hair from her face. The hanyou looks up as a swarm of the miko's Shinidamachuu appear and begin to grab the many souls that are floating around. As soon as each grabs one, it flies down to Kikyo and releases them next to her, her body absorbing them and relinquishing her strength.

Sesshô-maru silently walks towards his younger brother, watching in mild amusement. 'He truly does love this human woman. It has changed him. He and father have a lot more in common than I had originally suspected.' He puts the Tokijin back in its scabbard next to the Tenseiga. 'I can tell by the look in his eyes that the fight has left him. There is no more point in me being here.' He turns around, saying, "Rin, Jaken, come. We are leaving now." He begins to walk away when he notices that he can only hear one pair of small footsteps following him. The inu youkai stops in his tracks and turns around, his eyes narrowing slightly as he sees that his servant is following him, but not the tiny human girl.

Rin is slowly, cautiously walking up to Inu-Yasha and Kikyo. She has a concerned look on her face as she gazes at the extremely pale miko. "Is she...is she gonna be okay?" the little girl asks.

"Yeah," the hanyou responds, not tearing his eyes away from the woman in his arms. Every few seconds more Shinidamachuu come down and give the miko more many needed souls. He smiles slightly. "She's starting to get some color back to her." He runs a hand across her cheek and she slowly opens her eyes.

"Inu...Inu-Yasha?" Kikyo asks, gazing up into the inu hanyou's deep gold orbs.

He places a finger on her lips to quiet her. "Shh. Don't waste your energy talking yet. You're still pretty weak from that youkai taking almost all of your souls."

"Why does she need all those souls for?" Rin asks, looking confused.

Inu-Yasha sighs slightly. "Kikyo died a long time ago, but was brought back to life recently, but her soul wasn't complete so now she needs to have a lot of borrowed souls inside of her so she can still be alive." He looks down at Kikyo, and notices that her eyes are fully open and alert and her skin color is back to normal.

She begins to sit up on her own, but struggles in doing so since she still needs more souls and isn't back to full power just yet. "Yes," she adds. "And if I were to loose all of these borrowed souls, then I would perish again."

Rin scoots closer, her eyes wide and fearful. "Rin doesn't want you to die! You are so pretty and nice!"

Kikyo smiles and reaches out and ruffles the child's hair, getting her to giggle lightly. "I will not die as long as Inu-Yasha is here to protect me." She looks back lovingly to the hanyou who has sworn to protect her life against Naraku. Two more Shinidamachuu give her a couple more souls and she finally feels strong enough to move her own body. She slowly stands up, but the attack took more out of her than she expected and she begins to stumble down, but Inu-Yasha is there to lend a helping hand. "Thank you Inu- Yasha. I still feel weak and I do not think I can walk a great distance at the moment so could you please carry me until I feel stronger?"

"Sure," he answers without a second thought. He kneels down and the miko climbs onto his back.

"Rin," Sesshô-maru's strong, yet curt voice calls out to the small girl. "It is time for us to leave now so come.

The child shakes her head defiantly and attaches herself to Inu-Yasha's right leg, getting looks of surprise from everyone else in the clearing, even the youkai lord. "Rin doesn't wanna leave the nice lady and your brother! Rin wants to go with them!"

Jaken looks nervously up to the youkai lord, unsure what he is going to do. Sesshô-maru looks all calm and composed on the outside but a torrent of thoughts and emotions flow through him on the inside. 'Should I leave Rin with that deceased miko and my little brother? If I do, there is a chance that Rin could get injured, and then I would have to kill Inu-Yasha, and he is quite stubborn to kill. But if I make Rin leave with me, then she will be upset with me and possibly will not talk to or listen to me anymore.' He inwardly sighs deeply. 'There is one choice I must make to ensure both her safety and happiness.'

Jaken coughs nervously, getting Sesshô-maru's attention. "M-Mi Lord!" he stammers. "What are you going to do about the human child?"

"Yeah Sesshô-maru," Inu-Yasha adds. "We can take her with us and all, but I don't want you crying about it!" he finishes with a cocky grin.

The inu youkai looks up sharply, wiping the grin off of his younger half- brother's face. He slowly walks up to the hanyou, miko and small child. When he is a few feet from them, he says, "For a while, a very short while," he adds with narrowed eyes, "Rin and myself will accompany you on your journey." Inu-Yasha's eyes go wide in surprise. Sesshô-maru turns his head slightly to look at the gama youkai that is his humble, yet oftentimes bumbling servant. "Come Jaken, we are now traveling with Inu-Yasha."


To be continued...

______

Translations (in order of appearance):

Gama: toad
Tenseiga: Heavenly Life Fang, the sword that can't kill, the sword Sesshô- maru inherited from his father. This sword has the ability to save a hundred lives with one swing but since it cannot harm anything, Sesshô-maru despises it.
Tokijin: Fierce Fighting God, this is the sword that Sesshô-maru has Kaijinbo make for him from the fangs of Goshinki, which were able to break Tetsusaiga apart. It contains within it Goshinki's spirit, which is filled with hatred of Inu-Yasha for killing him. Lesser youkai or mortals can be possessed by the evil spirit of the sword if they try to use it.

Kyodai Shinidamachuu: The giant red soul collector youkai that Naraku sent off to kill Kikyo.

______

Author's notes: I know I haven't posted a new story in a long time, but I ran into a huge dry spell and didn't know how to go on. I'm just glad that they are showing new episodes of Inu-Yasha every Monday-Thursday on Adult Swim on Cartoon Network, I was inspired by some new ideas from watching it.

Any way, a friend sorta gave me the idea to have Sesshô-maru join Inu-Yasha for a while since they'd make a badass team. I have to agree. Naraku's gonna have one hell of a time taking out those two together, don't you agree? -- lighthawkdemon

Questions or comments? E-mail me at: lighthawkdemon@yahoo.com