Disclaimer: How many of you here watch Inu-Yasha? Please say all of you, 'cause other this will be confusing. Now that we've got that cleared up, how many of you remember those funny credit things? You know, the things that "Give Credit" to the people who actually helped with the creation of Inu-Yasha? And it tell you based off the manga by Rumiko Takahashi (Turns out the YGO creator actually has the same last name)? Believe it or not, I'm not in the credits. Because I didn't create Inu-Yasha, and even more shockingly, don't own it. If I did, Sesshomaru would be in it so much more, because clearly he's the best character… Oh, and I don't own Twister, Trivial Pursuit, or Star Wars…or Operation.
"Let's call this a matter of opinion," Tensaiga announced.
"What?"
"A…difference, if you will, in perspective," Tensaiga continued.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"The time in which our minds go their separate ways," Tensaiga said solemnly.
"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, DAMMIT!" Tetsaiga roared.
"Diet or regular?" Tensaiga asked, blinking.
"…"
"Personally, I like regular better, but since I know you need to watch your figure-"
"Watch my figure?" Tetsaiga spluttered.
"You are getting a bit on the chubby side," Tensaiga said, nodding.
"…I am going to kill you."
"I thought you had worked out those nasty, violent impulses of yours with that counselor."
"WHAT COUNSELOR!"
"The one I sent you to, obviously," Tensaiga sighed.
"GRRRRRRRAAAAHHHHH!" Tetsaiga howled.
"GRRRRRRRAAAAHHHHH is not a word," Tensaiga corrected.
"Die."
"But you can't live without me," Tensaiga pointed out, highly affronted.
"I guess we'll just have to find out, won't we?" Tetsaiga said grimly.
"But I'm to wonderful to die!" Tensaiga wailed.
"Stop it! Stop it! You're breaking the windows!" Tetsaiga shouted.
"You don't love me anymore!" Tensaiga sobbed.
"Not if you keep howling like that I won't!" Tetsaiga snapped.
"You're so mean!"
"Oh shut up," Tetsaiga said irritably.
"Fine, I won't tell the last part of the story and we'll never get out of here," Tensaiga sulked.
"You wouldn't," Tetsaiga gasped.
"I would."
"I'm deeply sorry!"
"That's what I thought," Tensaiga smirked.
"I was wrong, so very wrong. I can't live without you- or Supernatural."
"What? How can you compare me to a stupid show!" Tensaiga cried.
"Says the man who once accidentally called me Trip because of his damn Star Trek obsession!" Tetsaiga accused.
"My WHAT!" A vein pulsed in Tensaiga's forehead.
"…do I at least get a ten second head start?"
"I'm not that nice."
"Can't we work this out like reasonable demons?" Tetsaiga asked frantically.
"We aren't reasonable demons!"
"But I didn't mean it!" Tetsaiga protested.
"Too late now!" Tensaiga lunged.
"Mfph." And Tetsaiga kissed him.
"…I'll kill you later."
"All right then, just finish up this damn story," Tetsaiga said, smiling.
"Oh come on, you can't tell me this wasn't at least a little fun."
"Yes, yes I can."
Chapter 22: And Things End
It was a simple enough direction.
Perhaps being a half-breed really did cut your intelligence in half.
Or he was just an imbecile.
"Which part of follow me was difficult for you to understand?" I inquired coolly. Surely, even slow as he was, Inuyasha could grasp something was happening, something that demanded to be resolved quickly.
"Why should I follow you?" he sulked.
Childish theatrics. Was that really all I could expect out of him?
I glared.
If so, then it was back to my initial decision.
After all, the demon slayer and monk had said nothing about the death of one causing the second's passing. I would not have been surprised if that was because, even if on a conscious level a demon might be temporarily overwhelmed, at least his body was able to remember its pride.
"Ah shit!" Inuyasha suddenly exclaimed.
Had it occurred to him, finally, that he was completely unharmed (because those pitiful, grand total of two attacks were no match for me)?
Not that I was going to attack him, it would have been a pointless pursuit since I know I would win with Tetsaiga…no longer in his possession.
Speaking of certain annoying entities, at any point when it chose to use its brain, it would realize that it was not, in fact, locked in as there was no lock.
Of course, if it would simply frantically bang against the door for help quieter, I had no problem simply leaving it there. At least there it wasn't bothering me.
Though it seemed to be bothering Inuyasha currently.
"What are you so nervous about, Inuyasha?" I asked, smirking slightly. How…cute. The puppy was scared of his old sword.
"I'm not nervous," he snapped.
And the way his eyes kept darting to the door made that statement especially convincing.
Pathetic.
But there would always be time to scold him for that later. A great demon was not an incompetent liar.
However, there was something else that commanded my attention first.
I don't think I had been in this particular room in almost two hundred years.
"Come in, Inuyasha," I commanded.
"Make me," he shot back.
And promptly rethought that particular sentence.
Perhaps he didn't lack basic reasoning skills entirely.
"Coming," he said meekly.
But very slowly. One would almost think he was suffering from apprehension.
He had nothing to fear.
I suppose he hadn't realized that, yet.
"A question for the ages," he muttered, as he stepped across the threshold.
Gibberish.
"What?" I questioned. He didn't appear to have gone completely insane. But then, with him, I suppose it would be hard to tell.
But he had perfected the expression of surprise.
"What is this?" he asked, looking frantically around for some reassurance. Something that might tell him that he was hallucinating, one might guess. "Sesshomaru, what is this?"
He wasn't.
"You don't remember, Inuyasha," I said calmly. I would have been surprised if he had.
Two years old is two years old, after all, half demon or no.
"Should you be asking me if I remember this or not?" he demanded.
It was inconsequential, but I did wonder if he realized how stupid he sounded.
"You asked me what it was, so I should hope not or I truly have given you more credit than your intelligence actually deserves," I said, feeling an annoying twitch of something akin to amusement.
Foolish mutt.
One could only hope he made sense, at least, to himself.
"Oh shut up and just tell me what the hell this is," he barked.
For future reference, he did ask to know.
As a mental note, did he honestly think I had just brought him here so he could puzzle it out himself? Surely he didn't think I had that much faith in him.
"This was your bedroom," I said simply.
He appeared to be capable of making vesting interesting facial expressions.
He did have a talent after all.
"What?" he gasped.
If a very low intelligence level to go along with it.
Some things could not be helped.
"Your bedroom," I repeated.
But he persisted in looking like he thought I was lying.
Because clearly I had nothing better to do with my time then make up ridiculous stories. One had to live through it to understand the urgency a small girl with a large mechanical and well armed teddy bear could instill in a situation for a small green toad demon.
I did my best to ignore the shots.
"It was your bedroom," I said again.
What was that moronic human saying? Third times the charm, or something like that.
As long as it got through his thick skull.
"What do you mean by my bedroom?" he asked idiotically.
"As in the room in which you slept on a bed," I explained, with a tad more patience then the situation warranted. "I was under the impression that your vocabulary extended to the use of those two words."
"They do!" he replied angrily- but in a rather unconvincing manner. There was something wrong when he doubted his own vocabulary. "But I have never lived in this castle! I would not have a room here!"
No, clearly I was lying.
If I was a lesser being, I would have sighed."Tell me, Inuyasha. Do you ever remember coming here?" I inquired.
It seemed as though there was only one way to get his attention.
It was a sign of weakness when one concentrated clearest while angry.
Odd how it didn't bother me as much as it used it.
Irrelevant to the moment.
"No," he snarled.
Could he really not see where I was going with this?
That was something we would have to work on.
Basic reasoning skills often became useful in day to day life.
I was amazed he had managed to live this long.
It almost seemed as if he should have walked off a cliff somewhere, not noticing where he was going.
One could almost wish he had.
It would have made a nice, quick resolve to this.
I frowned slightly. Was I hallucinating chest pains now?
"You have no memory of ever coming here, yet as soon as you woke this morning you knew where you were," I began to say, trying to force the reason down his throat.
"And your point is?"
And apparently force was the only way to give it to him.
You could almost see the steam rising from out of his ears as his brain overworked itself, trying to figure out what I was getting at.
Saying it flat out would probably the only way he would have the slightest chance of understanding.
"You have been here before. You lived with me for six months."
"I think I would remember living with you for half a year," he scoffed. "If you're going to lie to me, at least try and make it believable. Now how about you let me leave?"
He didn't…believe me.
"You were only two when I found you," I said quietly.
I don't know if he meant for him to hear it, or if I was just talking to myself.
It doesn't really matter.
He did.
"Excuse me?"
I hadn't even meant to say the first sentence. At least, not now. Not for a while.
But one sentence and suddenly he had to know.
I couldn't let him simply continue on, oblivious to what had happened.
"You were only two and you had wondered away from the village you and your mother were currently living in. A demon found you. I think he knew who you were, who your father was. I don't really know, because he and I didn't exchange many words."
I don't remember him speaking at all. Serious of high-pitched screeches, unintelligible groans, pointless, wordless shouts…but the entire time he said nothing.
I remember wondering if he had known he was going to die all along.
"What?" Inuyasha croaked.
He didn't want to hear this.
I suppose no one really wants to hear entire parts of their past re-written.
That wasn't my problem. Not yet, anyway.
"I had been walking through the woods around this castle, not really looking for anything in particular at that point, when a small figure ran into me. It was you, Inuyasha," I continued, catching his gaze.
This wasn't the time to be staring at the floor.
I wasn't lying.
He had to see that."You were bleeding and covered in dirt, but even so I could tell who you were. Then the demon appeared and we fought. I won easily enough, but even so it managed to injure me slightly, a cut to my arm."
I was not…pleased…to admit that last part out loud. It had been a weak demon, it should have been unable to harm me.
But I shouldn't have fought while feeling even the slightest distraction.
Inuyasha….
"At first I was just going to leave you there to die, but then you looked at me, trying so hard not to cry, and I couldn't. It wouldn't have been the honorable thing to do. So I picked you up, even though you were bleeding from a cut in your arm and several others scattered on your body."
He had always been so stubborn.
Even then, I hadn't been able to remember if I had been like that when I was that young.
But whatever the case, I did remember feeling a little impressed with the half breed's strength. A human would have long since been bawling.
"That would probably be why our blood mixed."
That was speculation, but there was a scar on my remaining arm that had never faded.
The statement itself seemed to alarm Inuyasha.
"Blood mixed?" he squeaked.
There was no other word for it.
"I brought you back here and tended to your wounds…" There was more I could tell.
But I wasn't sure what was important enough to say.
The flow of words had seemed to dry up, at least, so I stopped.
And as much as I wanted Inuyasha to know the truth of everything, I didn't want to overwhelm him anymore than he already was.
"Why the hell did you keep me here for six months? Has it always been a hobby of yours to kidnap me?" he yelled.
If I answered him, I knew full well I would loose some part of my pride as a demon, small or large something would be taken from me.
I wondered, though, if I did, if I would gain something even better.
It seemed to be worth the risk.
"I kept you here, Inuyasha, because I wanted to see what it was like to be your brother."
Less than twenty four hours. It had been less than twenty four hours since I had taken him back to Western Castle.
In more than two hundred years, I had never been so honest all at once.
"Then why did you let me go?" he demanded.
He seemed more than ready to punch me.
Because I had let him go.
"Because you missed your mother," I responded. I didn't want to assume, but that seemed to be a positive reaction in my favor. "And because there was a demon problem that came up and put you in danger as long as you were with me."
Damn tiger demons and their ridiculous assassination plots over a simple thing like a killed leader.
"So you were trying to protect me?" he asked, looking puzzled- but in happy way.
"Yes." I was.
In my own way, I suppose I always had been.
Well, from other people. Even those damn mortals who had tormented him the entire time he had lived with his mother. The same ones who had chased him out of his village.
And that priestess, the original one, I had tried.
Inuyasha, however, could not be saved from making his own mistakes. All the time.
"Oh," he said.
There was one more thing to be said.
"Inuyasha, I don't know whether or not to tell you if the blood bond is real. I don't care. Chances are it is a foolish human explanation for something that makes them uncomfortable."
And it probably was.
"Which is?" he asked in confusion.
"Relationships between family members," I replied.
At the moment, I felt no urge to criticize for not knowing.
"But the fact remains, blood bond or no, I do feel something for you," I said carefully.
"Something!" he said dangerously.
That annoying feeling of amusement popped up again.
My comical little puppy.
"Yes, something. I'm not going to tell you I love you right now, because quite frankly I'm thrown off by this entire situation," I informed him. A day ago we were mortal enemies. And because of that, I wasn't entirely sure how to say the next part. "But I don't hate you, and I would like you to stay."
That sounded weak.
He said nothing.
Was that a bad sign?
"Will you?" I asked.
I didn't get nervous, but for a split second I was unsure how he would respond.
And then a tragic even unfolded.
"Yeah, will you?"
He was back.
"I'm back," he apparently felt he had to clarify for all those present who were blind.
I had been rid of him.
Naraku was usually so efficient at killing things.
That was the last time I trusted a maniacal half-demon to destroy anything properly.
"Come on, answer the man!" the annoying one piped up.
He should have stayed "locked" away.
"Weren't you locked in that room?" Inuyasha asked blankly.
He couldn't be serious.
"The door had no lock," the annoying one announced, sounding ridiculously pleased with himself.
He really must have been harboring a death wish.
"But I am a brilliant actor," the annoying one droned on and on. "Need trapped in a lock-less room? I'm your guy."
You never knew how good you had it until the thing came back.
"Go away," I ordered.
They were getting in the way- and on my nerves.
Killing them would ruin the moment I was trying to create.
"All right, fine, but work it our or I will sic the wind scar on both of you," the annoying one warned.
What business of his was it what we did?
Inuyasha looked at him like he was crazy.
And he was.
It would be a slow and painful death.
First, however, he would be repairing my castle. The hole the demon slayer had made was more holes than I had wanted. The additional ones it made, trying to demonstrate its less than impressive powers were far less welcome.At least they left, if in an amazing irritable manner.
"I have things I need to do," Inuyasha said as if he were trying to sort thing sort things out while he spoke once the morons were gone. "Like finding the jewel shards. I can't just abandon my friends."
So that was it then.
"Then leave," I said.
I didn't need him. Things were probably better off going back to normal.
"But," he continued hastily. "I can't just abandon my brother, either. And the jewel shards can always be found later. And-"
He may have said something else, I didn't catch it.
There was only one thing I wanted to focus on.
"Inuyasha," I interrupted smoothly. "Are you staying or not?"
I thought I knew what he was going to say. There was always the possibility of him saying the opposite.
This was it, really. The moment that decided the rest of our future.
It was rather daunting when put that way.
But, it was comforting in its own way at the same time.
All he had to do was answer.
"I...I want to stay," he said hesitantly.
But he said it.
And that was all that mattered.
I smiled.
Then I said something I didn't say often.
"Thank you."
He turned beet red.
"I'm not doing this for you! I'm doing it for me!" he protested.
I honestly didn't care if he was doing it to appease the turnip god.
He was staying.
He was mine.
"Inuyasha," I said, coming over to him. This time we would do it right. No protesting, no blaming, no vindictive reasoning behind it.
He smiled a little. This time he even saw it coming.
"Inuyasha," I said again. I could almost hear his thoughts. We were very close indeed, and it almost didn't seem close enough. But it wouldn't do for him to be distracted. So I said one more thing.
"Inuyasha, stop thinking."
And I kissed him.
Authors Notes: Thank you, as always, to all my reviewers! And now I'm not really sure what to say. I do apologize that I got this chapter up a little late, but hope that everyone will instead focus on the positive- we think we spotted a definite thread of plot in this weeks' episode. Quick, someone catch it before it gets away! –grins- Sorry, I'm tired. But it's vacation, and even though I have been abandoned by certain friends going off to other countries, leaving me to stay at home, I am rather glad. Now I have all week to catch up on my sleep…but at any rate I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, since this is, well, the last chapter. Next week the epilogue will be posted and it will be over. –sighs- So, now I'm going to take this moment to plug a future story and will inquire how many of you would be interested in reading a prequel, getting a little bit more detail on what Sesshomaru said to Inuyasha, as I think I'll begin writing it next month- assuming, of course, that anyone is interested and doesn't think that's taking things a tad bit too far. Might I suggest reviewing and giving your opinion on the matter? And your opinion of this chapter? Sad to see it end this way? Hope things wrap up better in the epilogue? Willing to throttle me for writing, in your opinion, a horrible piece of literature? Clearly, everyone has something to review about.
Phantom Fox: Well, I hope that this chapters Tensaiga/Tetsaiga part was bit better than last weeks. Ever heard of That Was Then, This Is Now by S.E. Hinton? …of course, for this to work, an oblivious teacher tends to help…
Davinci: I suppose little is the key word, but at least they did kiss to finish things up. And, at long last both the brothers have finally, at least, agreed that they want to be together. I suppose that's all we can ask of them.
kera: Sorry it was bit delayed! But hope you enjoyed it anyway.
InuSessyYaoiGirl: Fluff and humor, that will be the entire epilogue (ridiculous humor, and obscene amounts of fluff, that is). On the brightside, while Kagura is back, at least that annoying baby has been cut in half and turned into something else- and now all we have to do is count down 'til Kagura dies…What worries me most about Inuyasha is whether or not we'll ever see Sesshomaru (especially in a decent amount) ever again- especially in the last episode. I'm thinking that the chances aren't looking good.
Once you have already established your acting career and have become sufficiently famous, bar jumping up and down on a couch like a lunatic and promoting a cult, you are no longer required to be talented. And sometimes, you don't even need talent to begin with, all you need to look sufficiently like a fictional character and you've made the big time without even trying.
