17 – Something Even He Loves

There was a yellow post-it tag on inside Inuyasha's and Miroku's room's door. It was written for Inuyasha to remind him of this special day. Something that happened pretty rarely.

His dad and big brother would come see him. This was something he had been waiting for a long time.

Inuyasha's family had gone through tough times. Inutaisho, the father of the family, was married with a dog-youkai woman a long time ago, and they got Sesshomaru. But one day they got in an car accident, which she didn't survive. Some years from that he started meeting a human woman, Izayoi, and when Sesshomaru turned ten, Inuyasha was born.

But even that didn't last for long. Izayoi got cancer. She fought for her life for almost one year, until she finally passed away.

Everything that was left of this family were the boys and the father. But now that Inuyasha was about to spend his life in a mental hospital, strapped in beds and straitjackets, it felt even worse.

The car was shaking as it drove along a rocky road. It was following signs which said "Kuroshima hospital" and a number, which kept getting smaller and smaller.

"Seriously, I don't know what to think..." the man holding the driver's wheel mumbled. He was the father, Inutaisho. "When I last time called the ward, they said he's in the isolation room..."

"That was a week ago", Sesshomaru corrected. "He is okay by now."

Inutaisho turned his eyes towards his son, quiet.

"I hope... I mean guess you're right."

Sesshomaru was holding a red backpack on his lap. They always brought something nice for Inuyasha in this very same backpack. Unlike you might think, there ARE things Inuyasha clearly enjoyed. Most of them was food, but also getting rubbed and stroked - only by his father and Mitsuhiro though.

The car stopped on the small parking lot in front of the K10 building. As Inutaisho stepped out of the vehicle, he turned his eyes to the third floor, and to the window where his son's room was. He knew it, since he had been there. Every patient had the right to show the ward to their family, but only once. Then there was the family room with sofas and a coffee maker.

Inuyasha was about to get ready for the meeting.

"Give me some kind of a sign if I'm strapping too tight", Mitsuhiro said, standing behind Inuyasha's back, buckling a straight jacket's belts tight. Inuyasha seemed bored with this neverending strapping. But who wouldn't?

For a moment Inuyahsa sat on the living room's sofa. Koga, Miroku and Kagura were playing poker, Kagome and some other girls played PlayStation.

Inuyasha fell slowly agains the sofa's back rest and sighed. But then he heard the ward's doorbell ring!

His dog ears jumped up and he started running towards the ward's door. And there he saw their blurry characters through the glass door – his dad and big brother! Inuyasha didn't smile, but if he had a tail, it would be wagging now.

Mitsuhiro opened the door and let them in. He led the canine trio to the family room. The visitors seemed happy to see the youngster... But then Inutaisho grabbed one of the leather straps that wrapped his son.

"Is this some kind of a sick joke?" the man asked with a low voice.

"Just in case he gets wild", Mitsuhiro nodded once, calm.

"What?! My son would never attack either of us! And even if he did, there's no way he'd get to harm us. Have you forgot we, Sesshomaru and I, are both full youkais? One skinny teen boy could never harm us!"

Finally Inutaisho had to give up, and so Mitsuhiro left the room, leaving wrapped Inuyasha and his family behind.

They sat on the sofa, Inuyasha in between his dad and brother.

Inutaisho was rubbing his son's dog ears, and Inuyasha leaned against his shoulder.

"Sessh, hand over the backpack", Inutaisho smiled. Sesshoumaru gave it to him, and he started emptying it.

"Here", he said with his calm, low voice. He showed the boy a bag of dog biscuits, some Chupa Chups lollies, and after that, something he loved, adored – four bottles of Mountain Dew!

"And last..." Inutaisho dug the backpack. He took out quite a big, yellow star plush. Inuyasha had three things to calm him down. Thosew were used before things got out of hand.

The first was this star plush. He had had it since first hospital years, since he was 7 years old, in the children's ward. It was about time he had seen it last time. But his father had taken it away, thinking he had grown out of it years ago. But as the years went by, and Inutaisho heard more and more news of Inuyasha's regression, he thought now was the time to give it back to him today.

"Here you go", the man smiled and kept the plush in front of the boy's face. First he didn't even move, until his ears went drooping, pressed his forehead against the plush, and whimpered a few times. Inutaisho gave Sesshomaru a warm smile and winked.

Then the other sedative item was his feeding bottle. Usually he drank only water, milk, juice, chocolate milk, Nutridrinks, but sometimes liquid medicine. He drank slowly all around the ward, in the living room, activity room, the corridors, not ashamed at all. And nobody laughed at or bullied him. What did it matter?

But the most powerful sedative item to him was The Chewing Toy under his pillow. He liked chewing on it, even when he wasn't even feeling unwell. He wasn't shameful of this either.

Inutaisho took a hair brush from the backpack and started brushing the boy's hair. Inuyasha was sucking a lolly, Sesshomaru brewing the coffee.

"It's nice to see you this well..." Inutaisho said with a fake-smile. "Maybe next year this time you are home..."

"Oh, please, father", Sesshomaru grunted, concentrating on the coffee maker. "He will be here for Lord knows how long. I mean Look At Him! He's sitting in front of you, drugged and strapped in a straitjacket!"

Inutaisho said nothing. He only stared at his older son, until he sighed and got up from the soda. The man looked at the brewing coffee, then the soda bottles on the table.

"I'll be back", Inutaisho mumbled and left the room. As the door closed, the brothers turned their faces to each other, without saying a word.

Inutaisho walked the main corridor, heading towards the ward's office. He saw all kinds of patients on his journey. But nobody else was wearing a straitjacket. That maybe made him a bit more sad – it meant Inuyasha was 'the sickest' guy in this building.

He got to the office and knocked the door, even though it was open.

"Hello? Is Mitsuhiro here?"

And there he was, writing something on the computer. He turned at the dog demon, but didn't smile.

"Hello. May I help you?"

"I would like to meet the doctor."

"Hmm... I guess I could call her. Just sit down on the armchair on the corridor and she'll come to you in a few minutes", Mitsuhiro nodded.

Inutaisho almost crashed down on the armchair and rubbed his forehead. He felt hopeless, almost like he was losing his younger son.

After a while Mitsuhiro arrived to him.

"Okay. The doctor is ready to meet you."

The doctor's room was just two rooms right from the office. Inutaisho had seen her couple of times during these years, but felt still a bit nervous.

The man sat down opposite the doctor, who sat behind her desk.

"So, you wanted to talk about your son, Inuyasha?" she said while examining some papers in her hands.

"Yes", Inutaisho nodded. "I simply want to know... is there any hope? I mean, he is almost every day strapped on beds or straitjackets, dazed with medicines... Is there any hope he will we be home... just someday? Maybe just one day?"

The doctor got up from her chair and walked to the man's side.

"There is always hope", she said as she laid her hand on his shoulder. "But it won't happen fast. These things take time. It's very hard since he cannot be given more medicine, and as he doesn't speak, there is no idea giving him anything like psychotherapy... We simply can't make out any way to help him. Only time will tell, will he get better or not."

And then something happened. Something that you wouldn't expect from a strong, adult youkai man.

He broke in quiet tears. He sobbed, burying his face in his hands. The doctor pet his back and sighed. These were the worst parts of her job.

"Sorry about this..." Inutaisho mumbled quietly. "It's just that my whole life... has been full of losses... Losing my loved ones... My both beloved wives, my sons' mothers... And now Inuyasha, my little Inuyasha..." And he took a deep breath, shaking his head.

For a while, nobody said a thing.

"Well, there IS one more we could try... again", the doctor said, braking the silence. Inutaisho raised his eyes towards her and wiped tose few tears off his cheeks, sighing.

"And what would that... Ahh, I know. ECT, hm?"

The doctor nodded.

"But that has been done for 20 times! And here's the result!"

"Of course we want force you. As he is a minor, the choice is yours."

They all sat still, quiet.

"Alright. I agree. Let's do it."

Inutaisho and Mitsuhiro shook hands with the doctor. They got on their way back to the family room. Then Inutaisho remembered one thing!

"Listen. You have told me about Inuyasha's weird ways of calming down", he gave a look upon Mitsuhiro.

"Hm?"

"He likes drinking from a feeding bottle. Well, that's how I have understood..."

"Oh yes. But you shouldn't take it so seriously, it's not harming anyone."

"No, I didn't mean it that way. It's okay with me. Could you maybe get me his bottle?"

"Sure. Just a minute."

The brothers sat in the family room in deep silence. The coffee was ready, and Sesshoumaru had poured it in cups. He sat next to his little brother on the sofa, sipping his coffee.

"...You want some?" he asked with his cold voice. Inuyasha stared at nowhere.

Then the door opened. Their father came in. Both boys turned towards him. As the man grabbed the Mountain Dew bottle and started pouring it in the feeding bottle, the boy's ears shot up. Sesshoumaru rolled his eyes.

"Good that you haven't fought as I was gone", Inutaisho smiled, and started giving Inuyasha the soda to drink – as the boy couldn't hold the bottle himself. Sometimes Sesshoumaru was ashamed of his little brother. But what can you do?

"Well, what did the doctor say?" Sesshomaru asked.

"We'll start the ECT -treatments again", the man, holding the bottle, said, looking sad.

As the Mountain Dew was the elixir of life, Inuyasha had finished with in just a few minutes. Inutaisho sat in the middle of his sons, his youngest's head on his lap. Maybe the boy wasn't smiling, but his eyes were half closed. That meant he was enjoying this. Inutaisho stroke him, with a small smile.

"Whatever they say. No matter how often they strap or drug you. I will always love you. I will always be proud of you."Inutaisho turned to his older son. "Just as proud as for your big brother." Night came. And as Inutaisho and Sesshomaru had came all that way, they left the hospital just before supper.

He felt a bit depressed. Now that his mom had died long ago, there were only two people he loved. His dad and his big brother Sesshomaru. Maybe Mitsuhiro would fit in the list too.

Now he had no idea when he would see his family again. They came maybe three times a year. They lived in Tokyo, which was far away from here. Now they were gone. Mitsuhiro had taken Inuyasha to the showering room for taking off the straitjacket. Inuyasha seemed upset.

"Aw c'mon, Inuyasha", Mitsuhiro tried to cheer the boy up while he was undoing the belts of the straitjacket. "You'll meet them again. Isn't it nice to know your family is fine and you all love each other!" Inuyasha turned his head back over his shoulder as much as he could. "All right!" Mitsuhiro shouted out as he hung the white straitjacket on the drying rack right behind him in front of the windows.

"Now you're free to go. But I'd suggest you'd to sleep. It's getting late.

And so Inuyasha did. He went into his room and saw Miroku reading some kind of a book. He was such a bookworm.

"Hey, Inu!" Miroku smiled as the boy closed the door and laid down. "Did you meet your family?"

Inuyasha didn't answer. For a few more minutes Miroku read the book, but finally closed it and put it on his nightstand

"Is it okay I shut the lamp?"

No answer, so Miroku took that as a yes.

The room went pitch back

This was maybe a bit sweet-ish family chapter. Even being a demon boy, Inuyasha is also a daddy's boy. He hand Sesshomaru love each other too, but they don't really show it... Except in the very end of this story...

's ears shot up. Sesshomaru rolled his eyes.

"Good that you haven't fought as I was gone", Inutaisho smiled, and started giving Inuyasha the soda to drink – as the boy couldn't hold the bottle himself. Sometimes Sesshomaru was ashamed of his little brother. But what can you do?

"Well, what did the doctor say?" Sesshomaru asked.

"We'll start the ECT -treatments again", the man, holding the bottle, said, looking sad.

As the Mountain Dew was the elixir of life, Inuyasha had finished with in just a few minutes. Inutaisho sat in the middle of his sons, his youngest's head on his lap. Maybe the boy wasn't smiling, but his eyes were half closed. That meant he was enjoying this. Inutaisho stroke him, with a small smile.

"Whatever they say. No matter how often they strap or drug you. I will always love you. I will always be proud of you."Inutaisho turned to his older son. "Just as proud as for your big brother." Night came. And as Inutaisho and Sesshomaru had came all that way, they left the hospital just before supper.

He felt a bit depressed. Now that his mom had died long ago, there were only two people he loved. His dad and his big brother Sesshomaru. Maybe Mitsuhiro would fit in the list too.

Now he had no idea when he would see his family again. They came maybe three times a year. They lived in Tokyo, which was far away from here. Now they were gone. Mitsuhiro had taken Inuyasha to the showering room for taking off the straitjacket. Inuyasha seemed upset.

"Aw c'mon, Inuyasha", Mitsuhiro tried to cheer the boy up while he was undoing the belts of the straitjacket. "You'll meet them again. Isn't it nice to know your family is fine and you all love each other!" Inuyasha turned his head back over his shoulder as much as he could. "All right!" Mitsuhiro shouted out as he hung the white straitjacket on the drying rack right behind him in front of the windows.

"Now you're free to go. But I'd suggest you'd to sleep. It's getting late."

And so Inuyasha did. He went into his room and saw Miroku reading some kind of a book. He was such a bookworm.

"Hey, Inu!" Miroku smiled as the boy closed the door and laid down. "Did you meet your family?"

Inuyasha didn't answer. For a few more minutes Miroku read the book, but finally closed it and put it on his nightstand.

"Is it okay I shut the lamp?"

No answer, so Miroku took that as a yes.

The room went pitch back.