Characters and plot belong to their rightful owners.
VII.
The lilies had been a sacrifice.
So had the three large boulders, bushes and shrubs, not to mention the seven trees they had felled so far. Sesshoumaru exhaled inaudibly and stepped up the pace a little.
While he enjoyed sparring with a worthy opponent from time to time, his little escapades with Inuyasha (because honestly, all his brother ever did was shout obscenities and wave the Tetsusaiga around) were far from desirable. The only real reason he kept coming around was because he had made a promise to his father, Inutaisho, that he would "look out" for his younger, half-blood half-brother.
In Sesshoumaru's terms, "look out" practically meant "try to kill at every turn". In the beginning, after he had heard that Inuyasha had been aroused from his fifty-year slumber, he had immediately sought him out, only to come up with dead end after dead end. This villager had seen him here, when he was actually there and by the time he had gotten there, he was already gone! Apparently idiots running around in red were common among many villages.
The only reason he had sought him out was because he had learned the location of the Tetsusaiga, what he considered to be his birthright. It was the only reason he kept dropping in on the wayward group whenever it pleased him. At least, that was what he had told himself. This way, he could lie to himself (even though he scorned dishonesty) and fulfill his promise to Inutaisho.
In all honesty, though, Sesshoumaru could admit that the Fang wasn't the only reason he kept attacking his brother. Each visit prompted new information about the hanyou's group – especially the miko – and he was never one to bypass a good source of information. Relying on Miyoga and Jaken was annoying. He liked to do his own research.
The hanyou was tiring, he noted in disgust, his brow twitching in his displeasure.
A few metres away, he noticed his brother's pack, lounging on a patch of grass that hadn't been torn up in their apparent rage. Or rather… Inuyasha's apparent rage.
The humans seemed to have pulled out a set of playing sheets, and were going around in a circle, asking for things he couldn't imagine anyone asking in this day and age. It was unthinkable.
"Hmn… do you have any Queens, Miroku?" The miko asked.
The monk in purple smirked, shaking his head while the kit shouted "Go fish, Kagome!"
Sesshoumaru was puzzled. Why would anyone fish for food after requesting queens? Sesshoumaru observed as the raven-haired woman picked up two pieces of painted parchment, grumbling all the while.
His attention was drawn back to the fight, however reluctant, when Inuyasha screamed in frustration and charged him. Sesshoumaru easily dodged the attack, and was about to lay his own down when his ward, Rin, ran screaming through the trees.
"Lord Sesshoumaru! Lord Sesshoumaru! Get it out, get it out, get it out!" She squealed, doing an odd variation of dance.
"You stupid child!" Jaken wheezed out, clearing the forest in the same rout Rin had taken. "Don't ask Lord Sesshoumaru to do such worthless things!"
Ignoring the imp, Sesshoumaru asked: "What Rin?"
Rin paused, staring up at her guardian before hopping from one foot to the other, her answer coming out high-pitched and breathless.
"There is a frog down Rin's hakama! Get it out!"
Sesshoumaru paled, if possible.
His ward wanted him to do what?
(I've read a lot of stories where characters have gotten into embarrassing and potentially humorous situations, but let me tell you, trying to keep up the funny, dignity denying situations without previous history or background is damn hard. – Incomprehensible)