Things you will learn/see in this installment:
-Inuyasha is formal for a reason
-She's the only woman who could ever tell Inuyasha what to do...
-Inuyasha can be scary when annoyed
-Sesshomaru is one moody son-of-a-bitch
-...all this, among other things!


Chapter Five

Foolish! Inuyasha fumed. How could he have reverted back into what he once was by the simple deathly tone his brother had held when questioning what Inuyasha had said about mating? He had worked so hard to change his personality to that suiting of a war lord; he wouldn't be carefree, he wouldn't run into the wild and jump in trees or wrestle in the mud anymore. He had become the epitome of a prized son, a (in his mind) honorable and respected little brother. How had it come to this?

As one of the sons of the Inu no Taishou, Inuyasha had been well educated throughout his entire life. However, not even the young inu's tutors could keep him in check when he was a child; he was feisty by nature, his soul as free as the sun. Often he would be chastised for this indiscretion, his mentors whispering behind his back as most adults were apt in doing, commenting how they wished Inuyasha was more like Sesshomaru, how Sesshomaru had always exceeded their requests and expectations and how he would one day take over great Japan as the successor of the current Inu no Taishou.

Inuyasha had merely turned a deaf ear to such words; he knew he really couldn't disagree with them in that respect. His brother was the personification of perfect. He was elegant, sophisticated, precise, sublime and a whole slew of other words that couldn't even capture a minute definition of what he truly was.

He had always idolized his older brother in not only skill but in mind and body as well. He had an uncanny sense of predictability of his opponent's moves and powers, whether they were guards he had trained with while growing up or with warriors he had never before laid eyes upon.

Sesshomaru had shared his ideas for the future of their clan and regions with Inuyasha on a regular basis when they trained or merely took the time to relax among the foliage of the palace gardens. He would explain that while he may find all human creatures weak in comparison to youkai, in order for their race to continue he knew that they needed to preserve all of their dealings and treaties with the mortal world as well as that of the demon world. Such words and wisdom had filled Inuyasha's head with stars, his mind floating on a cloud at how amazing his brother really was and how he truly did deserve to be the next Lord of the House.

So it would come as no surprise to Inuyasha if Sesshomaru was announced to be their father's successor in a few centuries. He always did seem to come out on top.

That is, until he was around Inuyasha. When Sesshomaru was near the opposing force of his essence, whether it was in public or the privacy of the Main house, Sesshomaru would bend to his little brother's whim; by mouth, order or gesture, he would seek only to please Inuyasha.

That was how things used to be anyway. But now...

Inuyasha scowled, shaking his head of such ludicrous thoughts. There was no way of going back to how things were, no use in thinking of them when all they seemed to do was cause pain and confusion.

After his mate-to-be had come into his war room, Inuyasha had high-tailed it out of there, saying there was urgent business that he had to attend to. Of course this was an outright lie and everyone within the immediate vicinity knew as much. But he didn't even bat an eye at the unbelieving faces and had quickly nodded to his father, kissed his betrothed on the cheek and flew out through the door in record time.

He knew she'd be fine. After all, she was nobility and Sesshomaru, nor his father, could afford to have war waged on their lands at a time like this for maiming the granddaughter of a well-known land owner from the West.

Argh! He felt so stupid for leaving the way he did! But what the hell was he supposed to have done; the situation would have been way too awkward to even begin proper introductions and-

Hurrying footsteps and loud booms caught Inuyasha's attention as he walked down the same long corridor of his Main house. He paused, his ears perking up and listening intently. Another loud crash sounded and something that smelled like smoke and blood permeated through the air.

By the gods... if those idiot servants had dropped that statue one more time on any of his livestock he would make sure that heads rolled instead of tongues being strewn about the palace for decorative warning to all.

The same hurried footsteps from a moment ago approached him from behind, a voice calling out, "My Lord! My Lord! I apologize profusely but-"

Inuyasha paused in his stride, slowly turning around to acknowledge the out of breath manservant. His face was poised, not giving anything away as he arched a thick brow.

"If you're here to tell me that someone let that statue fall on the barn yet again, I can assure you that your mate will not only find her bed warmed by your body's life essence but your head will also make a nice licking ball to hang in the dragon stalls."

The servant gulped. Thank the gods the statue had been erected properly only yesterday!

"I- No, my lord, it's not that, the statue has been successfully stabilized and-" a crash sounded in the distance. The servant winced as more of Inuyasha's followers emerged from around the corner screaming in hysterics.

"You're babbling. What's happened!" Inuyasha yelled over the commotion impatiently, grabbing the frightened man by the collar of his haori.

"I-, we couldn't do anything! We tried to show him to his quarters but he barked at us to leave him alone! We went as far as trying to sway his person in at least the right direction of his rooms but to no avail! He severely injured Kuroku-san! He nearly lost the flesh on his arm!"

Inuyasha kept the man firmly in grip, staring as his patience was tried.

"He- Y-Your brother, he started to-"

The man's words were choked off by a woman nearly howling down the corridor angrily, ordering the servants to calm down and continue on doing their jobs before she caught sight of Inuyasha and glided over to him with a stern look. She was the only one that ever got away with visually or even verbally scolding him in such a commanding manner while any other would find themselves missing an appendage; Inuyasha suspected it had something to do with the fact that this woman was his mother.

"Inuyasha! Do something! He's completely destroyed the entire south west wing of the palace!" Izayoi, a beautiful dog demon princess from the South, scolded her son as if he were a mere pup and not a fully grown youkai standing many heads above her.

"Okasan..." Inuyasha murmured, dropping the servant as he stepped over the crumpled form and walked towards the dark-haired demoness.

"I don't want to hear your excuses," she dismissed easily as he opened his mouth to speak. His shoulders slumping as he'd apparently missed his chance to get out of dealing with this on top of everything else. "Go! You're the only one that can make him see how senseless he's acting!" Inuyasha looked a little taken aback at her remark. "You are the lord of this region, are you not?" The one in question nodded dumbly. "Then as such you should be able to take care of this! Even if he is your brother!"

"Hai, Okasan."

With that the Lord of the East turned begrudgingly toward the south west of the palace, not noticing the look his mother gave him as she sighed, shaking her head.


He arrived just as the last room was blown up, one thought crossing his mind: So much for the honeymoon suite.

Though Inuyasha had a pretty good idea of why Sesshomaru decided to completely annihilate this wing of the House. It was, after all, probably reeking of his soon-to-be-mate and him having taken an extra early trip to the room that was (used) to be their mating room after the initial engagement in the next week. Needless to say it was probably still drenched with their coupling.

He found his brother standing as regally as ever in the middle of the ruins. Thankfully, no one else was within earshot of this side of the manor due to Sesshomaru's extreme rage which seemed to be warding all off. Even the wind it seemed had ceased.

He was glad that being the son of the Inu no Taishou and ruler of the East had such perks as large estates that expanded over a considerable amount of land. Else this next conversation would be rather awkward if anyone else were to hear aside from the two involved.

"Was all this really necessary?" Inuyasha began, sighing as he crossed his arms over his chest in agitation and a little in self-preservation. He turned his nose up as he glanced around the smoldering ruins part of his home now lay in.

Sesshomaru growled lowly. "You vile half-breed," the Lord of the West hissed, not turning around just yet.

"That's rich," Inuyasha snorted. "Just cause Okasan is from the darker clan of dog youkai that automatically makes me a half-breed, does it?"

Sesshomaru didn't seem to care much for explaining his insults. "You would touch that soiled piece of filth even after the vow you made to me all those years ago-"

"That so called vow was annulled the moment you walked out of the north palace doors!" Inuyasha practically growled in turn. "And I'd kindly refrain from referring to my mate-to-be as filthy. She is anything but, nor does she deserve your blatant disrespect."

Choosing to ignore the reprimand, Sesshomaru continued on, biting out, "That vow was made in blood!" His voice had risen just as strongly as his brother's, finally turning around and facing his kin, suddenly materializing right in front of his little brother. The daiyoukai brought dangerous claws to the side of the younger one's face, lightly brushing them against his left cheek.

"We vowed, Inuyasha," Sesshomaru said softly, a fiercely betrayed light sparking in his otherwise halcyon eyes. "We vowed in not only blood... but in tears, and sweat and semen. Do you not remember those many times we vowed to one another, little brother?"

"Damnit, Sesshomaru," Inuyasha whispered harshly, the close proximity of the elder inu's body bringing other, baser things to mind as he got caught up in his brother's tumultuous emotions.

"It's been so long, Inuyasha," the youkai said huskily, lightly trailing lips along the side of his little brother's neck as he breathed in his scent, tasted his skin.

"Sesshomaru..."

"No one will take you away, otouto. I will have you for myself. Give in, Inuyasha," the youkai whispered against his brother's neck, nipping softly. "I will not let this day end until I have you writhing beneath me again."

Inuyasha groaned, pushing against the daiyoukai in mindless approval.

Sesshomaru smirked as he continued to enjoy the heat of Inuyasha's body against his, despite their clothing and armor.

"While we can now move forward, I do wonder why you ignored me after I left to the West, Inuyasha," the demon murmured, eyes shut as he absently nuzzled his sibling's head.

Inuyasha stiffened immediately in his brother's arms, eyes flying open as he pulled away harshly.

"You- You're blaming me?! You're the one who wanted to mate with some shrew from the West and wanted to put an end to our communication! You said as much in your last letter! For me to 'leave you be'! So I left your ass alone! And then 200 years later, hearing no word from you, you didn't even see it fit to attend my majority!" Inuyasha growled furiously.

Sesshomaru's brows narrowed. "Inuyasha," he began slowly. "I wrote you until your majority, yet never received a response." Sesshomaru paused. "Are you implying that you never received my letters?"

Inuyasha stopped mid huff, shoulders slumping in frustration. "I'm not implying anything. I didn't get anything from you."

"That's not possible, every day until your majority I sent you-" Sesshomaru stopped. "Unless..."

"What?"

A growl of rage rumbled around the destroyed ruins of the south west wing, vibrating throughout all of Inuyasha's estate. "Father."


Chapter end.

A/N: Ohohohoho. Run, daddy-sama! Haha. Hope you all enjoyed! Thank you for reading and reviewing! Keeps my mind geared to finishing the end!