Sesshomaru sauntered into the hospital room, his eyes quickly darting over to the sleeping form of his brother's friend. "Miroku." He said plainly, leaning against the doorframe, he received no response. "Miroku. Get up, it's morning now." He added, moving toward Miroku and placing a hand on his shoulder to shake him awake.

"Wha-" Miroku stirred awake, rubbing his eyes with his palms as he blinked and stretched, his body sore from sitting in the seat next to Inuyasha the whole night. "What time is it? Has he woken up?"

"No." Sesshomaru responded, running a hand through his hair, "and it's early. Go."

"But what about—" Sesshomaru raised a clawed hand, signaling that he wasn't going to argue with the monk.

Miroku knew better than to protest further. Inuyasha's wrath was bad, but Sesshomaru's mild annoyance was worse. "Alright." He nodded, glancing for a moment at the sleeping body of the hanyou, watching as he stirred gently in his sleep. "Don't be tough on him, Sesshomaru."

"We're in this situation because I've been lenient with him his entire life. We both know this." Sesshomaru responded, hardened eyes staring at his brother's sleeping, battered body.

"You weren't lenient, Sesshomaru. You were busy."

Busy.

Of course, he'd been busy. He was busy trying to balance his university studies with keeping his household afloat. His household that consisted of an alcoholic drug addict of a father and a wild, untamed, un-fucking-lovable little brother, and a more than just absent step mother.

And now he was, playing daddy again. Filling the role that their own father should've been filling, giving Inuyasha the lectures their own father should be dealing with. Not him. He was tired of the fucking responsibility, the constant calls from jails with Inuyasha asking him to post bail, the brawls, the frequent drunken nights where Miroku found himself with more than he could handle. He–

"Fuck." Inuyasha hissed as he clawed at the nasal cannula on his face, the plastic bothering him. He gasped as he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his side, and he looked over with blurry, unfocused vision. Golden eyes following the thick tube down to where fluid was being collected from his body. He attempted, with his free arm to push his body up, trying to sit upright, but the pain was unbearable. "This hurts like a bitch!" He whispered to himself.

Sesshomaru's head turned in the direction of Inuyasha, who'd seemed to have stirred awake from his sleep. He'd attempted to sit up in his bed, but yelped in pain when he felt a stabbing sensation in his side. Miroku leaned forward in his seat, reaching out to place a hand on Inuyasha's arm. Sesshomaru stayed silent.

"You're awake. Hi." Miroku said lowly, watching as Inuyasha blinked in confusion, and his eyes wandered around the room. "You...got into a pretty nasty car accident, Inuyasha. We thought we'd lose you."

"An accident? Lose me?" Inuyasha glanced up at Sesshomaru, a pained expression on his face, he found himself gasping every few words for air. Fuck that tube hurt like a bitch. "Sesshomaru."

"Little brother." He acknowledged. "Hello."

"What is Miroku talking about?" He said breathlessly.

"Oh? You got into an accident." He bit his tongue. He wanted so badly to tear into his brother, preferably with his bare hands but his words would have to suffice today. However, he didn't want to deal with Miroku, who's loyalty to his brother was blinding. He would stand by him no matter what, and that type of loyalty was the most dangerous. "Miroku, would you mind giving us a few minutes?" Sesshomaru asked, hinting subtly toward the door, his hands shoved into the back pockets of his jeans. Miroku nodded in response, and gave Inuyasha a light squeeze on his arm before getting up and leaving the room. Sesshomaru waited for the door to close, before he walked around the chair Miroku was in and sat down at his place.

"You." Sesshomaru started, crossing his legs as he pointed a clawed finger at his brother. Inuyasha jerked back in reaction. "I'm going to stoop down to your level, maybe then, little brother, will you listen. You little piece of shit."

"What the fuck—"

"How dare you!" Sesshomaru hissed, anger seeping through his words. "You...are going to prison for real this time. Is that clear to you? Drunk and using cocaine? Have you actually lost your mind? Or did you never fucking have it in the first place? Are those blows to the head finally catching up? Are you actively trying to kill yourself? Do you want more attention than you already have?!" There was a desperation in his voice that Inuyasha hadn't heard since he was a young boy, and it frightened him as he attempted to slide as far away from his brother as the bed allowed him to, fighting against the pain of moving. "You could have KILLED someone, god fucking damn it. KILLED someone. Do you have any idea what the consequences of that are? Do you have any idea what would happen to you if you had?"

Sesshomaru took a deep breath to steady his breathing. His hands shaky, but pressed together and laying in his lap as he stared at his brother, golden eyes smoldering with anger. His brother's own golden eyes filled with hatred.

He wished he could muster up enough balls to hate the only man in his immediate family who actually gave a fuck about him like Inuyasha did.

But alas, Sesshomaru was not Inuyasha. He was Sesshomaru.

He was just…tired. Tired of Inuyasha constantly going down the wrong path, or managing to fuck up something that should be good for him.

"Remember when we first started this contract with Kagome, I told you that if you messed it up I would destroy you?" Inuyasha nodded his head shakily, never seeing this type of anger and hurt radiating from his brother before. He couldn't throw in a snarky remark like he usually did. He couldn't yell at him, he didn't dare to, actually. He sat in silence, huddled in the corner of his bed like a scared little boy.

Like the scared little boy he still was, deep down.

Only he wouldn't admit it.

"Good," there was a pause as Sesshomaru licked his lips, and looked up to the ceiling sighing, "in cause I wasn't clear enough...let me reiterate for you, okay?"

"Okay..."

"I will destroy you, Inuyasha. I will liquidate your assets to fucking hell. I will end all your contracts. I will sell your fucking apartment. I'll sell your chateau in Vermont. I'll sell your apartment in Japan too. And you know what I'll do? I'll burn through all that cash. Set it all on fucking fire in my backyard and leave you with nothing. I'll murder you with my bare fucking hands because how fucking DARE you throw your life, your career away like this? Inuyasha?! How?! What's your fucking reasoning," he was driving his finger into the side of his head forcefully, his claw digging into his skin.

"I-" Inuyasha squeaked, squirming under the angry gaze of his brother, wishing he could pull the covers up over himself and hide until he was gone. Sesshomaru's anger had triggered a response in Inuyasha that had laid dormant for years.

A feeling he remembered all too well from his childhood, that he'd spent the last few years building up walls to guard himself from feeling ever again.

Belittled.

Hated.

Scared.

"SPEAK!" His brother bellowed again, sitting on the edge of the chair. Inuyasha flinched in response, gulping as he felt his heart rate go up. His hands clenched the sheets, trying to keep them from trembling.

He felt like crying, a lump formed in his throat.

Why did he feel like crying?

"Stop acting like our father!" He was finally able to find his voice after quite literally being bullied into the corner by his brother. He squeezed his eyes together as his hand flew to his side, barely grazing the area where the chest tube was inserted. He felt like he needed to take a deep breath, bug breathing was hard. It felt odd being the one bullied into the corner for once. Sesshomaru blinked hard as he took in Inuyasha's words, rolling them around in his mind.

Stop acting like their father? Had he gone absolutely mental?

"The only person acting like father here is you, Inuyasha." Sesshomaru responded lowly, calmly. Somehow his reverting into his usual tone was more unsettling for Inuyasha than his yelling. "You're the alcoholic, the drug addict. You're the one who treats the ones around him like shit. You're the one blaming everyone but yourself for your actions—"

"That's not tru—"

"I'm not done." Sesshomaru interrupted, his tone harsher on the last insult. "If it hadn't been for your uselessness and your mother's vile ways, our father would've been ten times the man I am, and one hundred times the piece of shit you are." He rolled up the sleeves of his shirt slightly, sighing as he dusted himself off. He'd been waiting years to get that off of his chest. Years. It felt good to finally tell Inuyasha what he was without holding back. "You're the splitting image of that sorry excuse of a man, unable to do better for himself."

There were some insults that barely scratched the surface, and there were others that cut deep into the core like they're intended to. They're driven in like nails into the exact spot where they know they'll latch on the most, and they stay there. Inuyasha had been called many things by his brother and he had called him many things back. They were notorious for insulting one another but this was more than an insult.

This was a drag. A drag that had been pent up inside Sesshomaru ever since he started noticing the path Inuyasha had taken in his life. A drag that he'd wished he could yell to Inuyasha back in Japan every time he was taken back into Juvenile detention. Every single time he or Miroku had to go to Inuyasha's apartment because he hadn't showed up for training in 3 days, he thought of this. Every time Myouga threatened to walk out on them, he thought of this. Sesshomaru had wanted so fucking bad to say this to Inuyasha. Tell him how similar he'd become to their father. How he was the splitting image of him now, his back against the rail guard of the hospital bed, his eyes filled with anger and defiance as Sesshomaru loomed over him, glaring him down.

"I hate you, Inuyasha. I hate that I even share a fucking last name with someone as worthless as you. Someone as stupid, ungrateful, uneducated as you." Sesshomaru seethed, eyes smoldering with anger. "Miroku and I are trying everything we fucking can to help you. Everything. Do you think I like the fact that we hired that girl for you? Do you think I enjoy the fact that somehow, someway my entire life has been dedicated to trying to make yours work, little brother?"

"Then fucking quit, Sesshomaru." Inuyasha responded, his voice breaking, but his resolve was unwavering. "Go ahead. Quit. I don't need you. I never fucking needed you. You were just in it for the fucking money. You wanted your fair fucking share." He added lowly, looking up at his brother, matching the intensity of his stare. He wasn't going to allow Sesshomaru to make him feel small and belittled. He'd had his entire childhood and adolescence for that. He was a fucking man now, and he'd be damned if he was going to allow his brother of all people to treat him like a stupid little boy. His body hurt, he felt his head begin to throb with pain and the tube that was stabbed into his chest wasn't making things any better for him, but he wasn't going to show that.

"I'm not going to quit." Sesshomaru responded hastily, "I am going to wait for this train wreck with you. I'm going to watch you weep over the wreckage that was your short lived career. And then I'll take everything away from you."

"That's never going to happen." Inuyasha bit out, growling under his breath, "you ain't takin' shit from me."

"Watch me, Inuyasha." Sesshomaru spat back, folding his arms over his chest. "Fucking. Watch me."

"You're fired." Inuyasha growled back. "I never wanna see you ever again, you hear me? From now on Totosai is running anything that has to do with financials and whatever else I have goin' on. Leave." He motioned with his head toward the door, his jaw clenched.

"I said I'm not leaving—"

"It wasn't a fucking question, dipshit." Inuyasha growled back, sitting up. "Leave. Get off my dick, Sesshomaru."

Sesshomaru smirked, and shrugged his shoulders, shoving his hands back into his pocket. "Otōto, anata ga nozomu yō ni." He responded slowly, taking one of his hands out of his pockets to grab his brother's face, digging his claws into his cheeks. He brought his face level to his, tilting it as he spoke. "As you wish, little brother." He pushed his little brother back, ignoring the groan in pain that came from him as he turned his back and walked out of the hospital room.

"FUCK YOU!" He heard his brother yell at him as he made his way down the hallway, but he ignored it. Inuyasha was no longer his responsibility, and the feeling of freedom was a breath of a fresh air for the exasperated demon. He felt as if a weight had been pulled off of his shoulders the farther he got from his room, rolling his shoulders as if to relieve pressure that'd been on them for far too long. It was going to be a pleasure to watch his brother's fall from grace without him. Miroku's scent lingered in the hallway, but it was weak, meaning he must have left some time ago.

With a swift moment, he fished his phone out of his pocket and scrolled through until he found Miroku's contact information, sending him a simple text message that read: Inuyasha has—for all intents and purposes—, fired me. I no longer control his financials or contracts as of this moment. He claims Totosai shall... but I don't trust him. Do you suppose perhaps his other lawyer will?...what was his name again? Jaken? I'll be catching the next flight to Japan for a week or so. Don't bother texting back. Just letting you know.

He pressed send and within a couple of minutes felt his phone vibrating in his hand excessively, with dropped calls and frantic text messages from Miroku, most of them saying the same "CALL ME NOW!" message and some variant of "ARE YOU SERIOUS?" But he simply ignored the messages and opened the american airlines app on his phone, booking a ticket for the next red eye to Japan. He needed to get the fuck away from Inuyasha, lest he go losing his mind any more than he already had over the years. But, it felt good to finally not have a responsibility to him.

God, it felt so good.

So. Fucking. Good.

He kissed his teeth as he mulled over what exactly to tell Rin. He couldn't outright tell her that he wouldn't be in contact with his brother any more, or else she would make it her mission to make sure they were back in speaking terms. He wanted to avoid having to tell her he's going to Japan, even though it wouldn't be for long, just long enough for him to clear his head and get over his anger because fuck he was so angry with him.

He'd need a drink.

Preferably a good Vieux Carre.

He pushed open the heavy metal doors that lead to the stairway, preferring to avoid the awkward interaction with strangers on the elevator and briskly walked past the desk at the main lobby, ripping off his visitor badge and throwing it onto the desk. He mentally prepared himself for the questions he would be asked by the few brave paparazzi that dared to hang by the doors, despite the hospital making it very clear they would be escorted away from the vicinity and–

Why did he even care? This was no longer his problem.

"Sesshomaru! Sesshomaru, care to tell us how Inuyasha is doing?"

"Sesshomaru how is Kagome dealing with everything?"

"Any thoughts on when he'll be back in the octagon?"

"Are his next fights cancelled?"

"He's in stable condition." Sesshomaru responded in passing, ignoring the better half of the questions, except for one. "Kagome is doing as well as you would expect anyone to do when your partner was in an accident such as the one Inuyasha was in. His representatives and I ask that you please respect his and our family's privacy while he recovers, and refrain from asking any more work related questions. Thank you." He waved the following questions off as he made his way to the parking lot, turning on his Range Rover with a press of his key fob. He opened the door and climbed into the car, slamming the door shut behind him as he leaned forward, resting his head in the steering wheel.

He was exhausted, though he wouldn't show it. The amount of emotional manipulation and just downright entitlement that he had witnessed from this brother seemed to grow exponentially any time he got away with something. He was lucky that police officers were easily bribed, and even luckier that he had someone like Miroku who did anything they could to keep his problems out of the public eye, including breaking the law. Sesshomaru wasn't loyal enough to risk his license for that, much less for his brother. Hell, he wasn't even loyal at all.

He sighed as he put the Range Rover in gear and pulled out of the driveway, heading toward a bar he knew. It was the only bar he ever went to whenever he felt the urge to drink, which unlike his brother, was extremely rare. The ride to the bar was extremely quiet, save for the noisy city streets outside. He always preferred Calabasas to New York City, but Miroku figured that getting Inuyasha further away from the glitz and glamor of the epicentre of celebrity life would slow down his pace of life. Sesshomaru snorted at the thought.

What about New York City screamed "slower lifestyle"? Maybe lower profile, sure. But there was no stopping Inuyasha, he'd made that very clear.

Abundantly clear. Crystal fucking clear, if he would. One thing was for sure though, moving to New York had greatly lessened the amount of women he and Miroku would have to kick out of Inuyasha's hotel rooms and house. That was one part of the west coast life that he definitely did not miss. Perhaps Kagome was doing her job after all. He sighed as he parked his car, and got out of it, locking it with a press of a button on his key fob. He pushed open the door and was instantly met with a fog of cigarette smoke, the establishment smelled of spilled liquor. There was a film on the floor composed of substances that he wouldn't dare to touch. It was a hole in the wall place, but he didn't mind going as it was demon owned, and primarily served demons. It meant no one would attempt to make small talk with him, and he was free to enjoy a drink or two in peace. He grumbled as he kicked aside an empty bottle, and settled into a seat at the bar. "Yamazaki. Neat. Double." He ordered simply, running a hand through his hair before pulling it up into a ponytail.

How the fuck has it only been 4 months of this...fake relationship?, Sesshomaru wondered, gently running his claws along his scalp.

"Rough day, huh...Sesshomaru?" He heard a familiar nasally voice ask, Sesshomaru glanced in the direction of the voice taking in the figure of Myouga who sat a seat away, swirling the last of his gin and tonic. "I was thinking of stopping by the hospital. Ended up deciding not to."

"I suppose one could say that." Sesshomaru sighed in response, he thanked the bartender under his breath when his drink was placed down in front of him. He picked it up and swirled it for a moment, before taking a tip and setting the glass back down gingerly. "Inuyasha is…" he paused to gather his words, "unbearable."

"I'm aware." Myouga said, a slightly amused bite to his words. "I've watched that boy grow up just as you have. I've been training him since he started doing this sport. Every year he seems to grow more and more unmanageable. He surprisingly hasn't lost his discipline for the sport however, and that's really all I care about. I could give a damn what he does otherwise."

"That's what you think." Sesshomaru grumbled under his breath. "I take it you know about the accident and the circumstances surrounding it?" He assumed that Miroku had the decency to inform Inuyasha's trainer of all people about the accident. After he had informed Miroku of what the doctor said, he remembered him muttering something about having to tell Myouga, although if he had done that, the Inu daiyoukai had no idea.

"Aye," Myouga said bitterly, sipping on the last of his gin and tonic, before ordering a beer. "The nerve of that boy is unsettling."

"Alarming." Sesshomaru added, taking another sip of his drink. "The ungratefulness—"

"No." Myouga cut Sesshomaru off, "Inuyasha is not ungrateful. What he needs is guidance...a mentor."

"Are you not one?"

"He needs someone who cares for him."

"He's got plenty of adoring fans."

"Sesshomaru." Myouga said sternly, sighing. "You know just as much as I do the type of upbringing that young man has had….it wasn't a pretty one. He was involved with gangs, ran with the wrong crowd, stole cars, sold drugs. All for what–to keep himself clothed? Fed? Because we both know his father was less than a deadbeat. He was absent. Completely and totally absent. Either high or drunk off of his damn ass every single day."

"Are you implying Inuyasha has turned out the way he has because of me?" Sesshomaru seethed. He had no patience, today especially. He wasn't going to put up with people pointing fingers at him, like Inuyasha was his fault. "I tried my best–"

"No one is saying you didn't." Myouga responded calmly, worrying the watch on his wrist. "No one is blaming you. Although that you would jump to that conclusion is...well, telling of some guilt."

There was a pause.

"Guilt of what? I did what I could to help him. I was in University. Inuyasha should have applied himself to his studies like I did instead of-of...those things."

"Not everyone deals with their situations the same way you do Sesshomaru." Myouga said, taking a swig of his beer. He heard the bar stool creak, causing him to finally turn his head and look at the young demon. "Oh? Leaving already?"

"I don't need a lecture from you." Sesshomaru said plainly, slamming down some money on the counter as he finished his drink.

"You sound just like your brother, sometimes." Myouga said, chuckling quietly to himself.

"Myouga. Don't ever draw similarities between us." Sesshomaru said, as he turned, fishing his keys out of his pocket. "I mean that." He added, narrowing his eyes at the flea demon.

"Was just pointing out something I've noticed." Myouga responded, shrugging his shoulders as he stirred his drink, clearing his throat as Sesshomaru walked out.

The silence in his room was deafening, aside from the low hum of the machines he was hooked up to, and the beeping of his monitor. Every once in a while, he would hear Kagome clear her throat as she flipped through the book she was reading. She arrived a few hours after Sesshomaru had left, and he quite frankly didn't have the strength to shoo her out of his room. And so she sat in the chair next to him, her legs folded under her body as she enthusiastically read her book, every once in a while reading out a passage to him.

He wasn't necessarily listening, however he did offer a little "hm" to appease her every once in a while. Inuyasha was more interested in replaying the morning's events in his head, constantly hearing his brother's words over and over again. But it wasn't so much his words that he was worried about...Inuyasha hadn't ever heard Sesshomaru curse as much as he had that morning. Sure, he'd heard him mumble a "shit" or "fuck" every so often; he'd never heard that come out of his brother's mouth. And he never thought he would, but it seemed Inuyasha had once again royally fucked up. He bit his lower lip as he crumpled his eyebrows in thought. He knew he had to change. It wasn't as if he was in denial of having a problem...er, problems.

He hadn't seen that amount of anger flair up in Sesshomaru since...well, frankly he hadn't ever seen it, period. He wasn't even sure Sesshomaru was capable of feeling anything other than mild annoyance until today, and he wasn't sure how he felt about it either. Part of Inuyasha agreed with Sesshomaru. It was time for him to stop. He had to grow up, put down the bottle and get help. He had to stop, or else he'd end up like his father. He shivered as he thought about that possibility. Inuyasha had always told himself that no matter what happened he would rather die than become anything like his father.

It looks like the more I try to be less like him...the more I turn into him. He thought to himself, biting his bottom lip. I fucked up. "Well...I can't admit to Sesshomaru that I messed up this time." Inuyasha whispered to himself. Sesshomaru had a tendency to restrict his freedom more on the rare occasions Inuyasha admitted he was wrong. His controlling tendencies would go into full swing. I'll just hold my tongue.

He sighed as he closed his eyes and sat back in his hospital bed. Kagome cleared her throat as read her book quietly by his side, sipping on a cup of coffee. "How do you feel?" She asked softly, briefly glancing in his direction.

Honestly?

"Like shit." Inuyasha responded, scoffing at her.