Psycho Demon-Witch: Thank you for the reviews! I can't reply because of the new rule has come up with (grumbles). Oh well, not much we can do about it.
Chapter Two
It had been two days since they had found Sesshoumaru, and his wounds were healing quickly. It had taken longer than normal, partially because of the severity of the wounds. But there was another reason that Inuyasha couldn't figure out. Miroku had said that a poison may have been used on him to prevent old injuries from healing properly, but those were decades old. There was no way that any poison could have any effect on Sesshoumaru now.
They were currently in Kaede's village, where Kaede was able to further treat Sesshoumaru's injuries and Kagome was able to go back to her time for a couple of days to catch up on school and get more supplies. They were waiting for her to return before they went to look for Sesshoumaru's companions. It would take them a day to reach them, providing that they moved quickly enough and that Sesshoumaru's companions didn't ride Ah-Un away from them.
Inuyasha had been surprised at how docile Sesshoumaru had been since they had found him. He had made no sarcastic remarks, nor tried to kill them, but then they did save his life. But there was more. Sesshoumaru looked defeated. His eyes were dull and he seemed to hide into himself. Inuyasha couldn't remember ever having seen him in such a state. It didn't surprise him though. He didn't want to think about what he would be like if he had been raped; and he thought Sesshoumaru was strong for surviving it.
Sesshoumaru had also been having nightmares. Whenever he fell asleep, he would toss and cry out, saying 'not again' or 'please, stop'. Last night he had also called out the names of people Inuyasha had never heard of before. He was curious, so he went to Sesshoumaru to find out who these people were. It was most likely that they were demons, as Inuyasha found it impossible that Sesshoumaru could ever be overpowered by humans.
Sesshoumaru was currently sat under a tree not too far from the village, with his eyes closed, apparently deep in thought. Inuyasha walked towards him and sat down in front of him. Sesshoumaru cracked open one eye and looked at Inuyasha questioningly. Inuyasha took a breath. He hated to hurt Sesshoumaru further, but he wanted to help him. 'Why do I feel so compelled to help him? He's caused us nothing but pain in the past' he thought. 'No, he's helped us before. Maybe not intentionally, but still. He even let Kohaku live, so he must have a heart'. Inuyasha just sat there, gazing at the ground and Sesshoumaru was getting a little impatient. "What is it that you want, Inuyasha?" he asked. Inuyasha's lifted his head to look at him.
"You're nightmare last night, you said some names I have never heard before. Are they henchmen of Naraku, or are they people from your past?" Sesshoumaru stiffened and his gaze flicked to the ground, then back to Inuyasha.
"They were some of our father's 'trusted' friends. Father would often travel when I was a child, and he would leave me in their care" Sesshoumaru explained.
"Why were you left in their care? Why would you have nightmares about them?" Inuyasha asked.
"My mother had died during my birth, and father had not gotten over it. He travelled around the Western lands, trying to keep his mind occupied from thinking about her. His 'friends' would often beat me, amongst other things". Inuyasha opened his mouth to say something, but Sesshoumaru raised a hand to stop him. "He then met Izayoi" Sesshoumaru said, but cut off when he saw Inuyasha give him a weird look. "Don't look at me like that".
"I didn't think you would know her name" Inuyasha said, astonished.
"Whatever. Anyway, after he met your mother, he spent more and more time away, leaving them more and more time to have their way with me. When you were born, it got worse. Sometimes I used to think that father forgot he had another son". Tears were in Sesshoumaru's eyes as he said the final part of his explanation.
"Is that part of the reason you hate me?" Inuyasha asked quietly, hardly daring to meet Sesshoumaru's gaze after this revelation.
"No. I don't hate you, it's not your fault" Sesshoumaru replied.
"Then why are you always starting fight and trying to kill me?" Inuyasha snapped. Sesshoumaru sighed.
"I know I will have to tell you one day, but not now. I think I've told you enough to satisfy your curiosity for at least a few days" he said, a familiar smirk making its way on his face. Inuyasha glared at him.
"If you weren't pregnant, I'd kick your ass" he grumbled. Sesshoumaru laughed. Inuyasha stared at him as though he had gone mad. He had never heard Sesshoumaru laugh genuinely before. It was a beautiful sound, one which Inuyasha found himself wishing he could hear more often.
Once Sesshoumaru had calmed down, he put on a straight face and turned to face Inuyasha. "I haven't really thanked you properly yet" he said seriously. Inuyasha blinked. A thank you? From Sesshoumaru. Inuyasha thought he was in a parallel universe, Kagome having explained what it meant after she had used the expression when Inuyasha had been polite for a change. Sesshoumaru noticed his look and said "I'm being serious. You could have just left or killed me to prevent any possible attacks from me, but you didn't. You saved my life. I still don't understand why though. Your friends said I didn't deserve that fate. Maybe I didn't, but I didn't have any right to attack you". He lifted his knees to his chest and buried his head in them.
"I guess you don't understand kindness. I only knew from my mother, until I met Kikyou. Now I've got a group of friends, and… damn it, they've made me soft!" Inuyasha finished with a growl. Sesshoumaru stared before cracking up again. "What's so funny?" Inuyasha snapped, but Sesshoumaru could not stop laughing.
"You're face is priceless" Sesshoumaru said between laughs. Inuyasha pouted, making Sesshoumaru laugh all the more harder.
"If you're just going to laugh at me, then there's no point of me being here" Inuyasha said.
Sesshoumaru slowly stopped laughing. He sniffed the air, and found Kagome's scent coming from the bone-eaters well.
"The girl is here" Sesshoumaru growled. He still hadn't been able to forgive her for her comment about his baby and was not looking forward to seeing her again. He suspected that part of the reason Kagome went home was because she feared what he would do to her if she slipped up again. He didn't blame her, but he was still angry with her.
"Great. We can leave to find your companions then. I'm curious, what are you going to do? You won't be able to defend yourself as well as you could before and there will be many demons who will want to kill you for being what you are. I'm actually surprised you didn't get attacked much before. Surely they must have noticed your scent when you came into heat?" Inuyasha asked.
"Have you ever noticed a specific time period where I would not attack?" Sesshoumaru asked.
"I don't know. What kind of question is that?"
"My heat comes during the winter, for one lunar cycle. I am always at the castle at that time where my scent is hidden. I have many people who are loyal to me there" Sesshoumaru said.
"What do you tell the human kid when you hide? She's been with you about a year, right?" Sesshoumaru nodded.
"I haven't told her the exact reason yet. Besides she follows whatever I do. Did you know she finds humans more frightening than demons?" Sesshoumaru said, changing the subject.
"Really? Why is that?" Inuyasha asked.
"She told me her family was killed by a group of bandits. She became a mute after the incident. She found me injured in the forest after you learned the Wind Scar and gave me food. I don't eat human food, so I refused, but she still came back. Once I had healed, I left, not caring much for her.
"When I found Jaken and Ah-Un, I caught the scent of her blood on the wind and I went to find her. I found her dead near to where she had found me. I used the Tenseiga to revive her and she's followed me since then and I allowed it" Sesshoumaru explained, answering the questions he knew Inuyasha was bound to ask.
"How do you do that?" Inuyasha seethed.
"What?" Sesshoumaru asked innocently.
"That… that thing where you know what I'm about to do or say, can you read my mind or something?"
"No, you're just predictable" Sesshoumaru shot back.
"Am not"
"Are too"
"Am not"
"Are too"
"Am no…"
"As interesting as this sounds, Kagome has just arrived" a sarcastic voice interrupted them. They moved their heads to see Sango stood next to them. Inuyasha flushed, while Sesshoumaru merely gave her his usual look. She laughed at Inuyasha's face. Sesshoumaru, wondering what she was laughing at, followed her gaze. His eyes fell upon a red-faced Inuyasha. Although he held his laughter, his eyes sparkled with amusement.
Once Sango had calmed down, the three headed back to the village, Sesshoumaru walking slightly slower. Partly to do with the slight pain in his back, partly because he didn't trust his temper with the young human girl, in case she accidentally said something to offend him or his child.
A small cream coloured figure ran over to meet them and it jumped into Sango's arms, where it promptly started purring. Sesshoumaru was fond of the little cat demon, mainly because she couldn't talk and pester him. Kirara settled herself on Sango's shoulder and they continued to walk towards Kaede's hut, where Kagome, Miroku and Shippo were waiting. Sesshoumaru thought the fox demon brave for joining in the fight against Naraku at such a young age, and he was also quite intelligent, more so than Inuyasha, though he was a little naïve.
Though he would never admit it out loud, he found that he had grown fond of them, and that they were strong people. He had initially been surprised to find he would be disappointed when he left them to travel with a child, an imp and a dragon, that while intelligent, couldn't speak.
Just before they reached the village, Inuyasha reached out a hand to stop Sesshoumaru. "You never answered my question before. What will you do when you go back to your companions? I've already said that you will have difficulty defending yourself, they will be in danger too" he said. Sango noticed that they weren't following and turned around to see them talking.
"I don't know what I will do. Do you have any idea how many people, demon or human; will want to kill me because of this? I've thought of nothing else for the last two days. I'm… afraid" Sesshoumaru said, despair and desperation clear in his voice. Inuyasha hesitated for a moment before responding. Sango, who had joined them at this point said
"Why don't you join us?" Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru stared at her. "What? It makes perfect sense. We've learned to get along, and you can't travel alone with an imp and a little girl" she continued.
"Why would you want me to travel with you?" Sesshoumaru asked.
"Because, believe it or not, you aren't that bad when you aren't trying to kill us" she said with a smile.
"We'll need the opinions of the others, but I guess I'd be happy to let you stay with us" Inuyasha said, trying to sound reluctant. Inside, however, he was ecstatic. He'd learned to get along with his brother really well in the past couple of days and found he enjoyed his company. "I think the only one who will have a problem with this is Kagome, but Miroku and Shippo should be alright with it. Besides, Miroku will probably choose what Sango did anyway" he said.
"Then we don't tell the others of our vote. We only need one person to agree with us" Sango said.
"Do not fall out with your friends because of me" Sesshoumaru spoke up. His head was bowed, and he looked sad at the prospect of leaving, but he truly didn't wish them to argue because of him.
"Don't worry, we're always falling out anyway" Inuyasha said dismissively.
"Well, let's go tell them then" Sango said cheerfully. They walked into the village, to hear the opinions of their friends.
Psycho Demon-Witch: I'm sorry I'm being so cruel to Sesshoumaru and that he is so OOC, I do like the character, he's my favourite one but I need him to behave like this for the fic. I might be able to get him to act more like himself later on, and I'm sorry if Kagome is a little bitchy. I need someone to act like that; and Kagome is the most likely one as she has never encountered anything like this before. Anyway, I hope you liked it, and please review!
