Disclaimer: Inyuasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. Merely borrowing her characters for my own twisted pleasure.
A/N: Thank you so much for all your suggestions! They were so helpful! And all those reviews and comments really made my day you all are amazing! I can't wait to hear what you think of this chapter!
Note: For this story Sesshoumaru underwent extensive regeneration with the help of demon healers and gained back his missing arm.
Warnings: Yaoi, incest, bondage, violence, smex, Kagome-bashing and vulgar language. Please click the Back button if you do not wish to continue.
Disparity
By CharmGirl24.
XXX
The hanyou's olive branch to the daiyoukai had resurrected all his crushed hopes, breathing new life and vigour into him. It seemed when all was lost the gods had pity on him and his mate demonstrated the compassion and goodness that dwelled inside him. Something so pure that had emerged from the tormented and dreadful life the hanyou had endured. To retain such an untainted aspect that could offer the possibility of redemption despite a track record that could condemn the elder demon to the underworld five times over for the transgressions he had committed against his sibling was simply miraculous.
Now it was a matter of proving himself to Inuyasha and that would be the greatest hurdle yet.
As he had discovered nothing short of letting down his defenses and truly exposing himself to the hanyou would his trust. His brother would not be wooed by riches and finery, he could honestly imagine the hanyou taking those offerings and throwing them in a swamp to show his disdain for such trinkets.
He had to find some way to breach the chasm between them that had been created by his prejudice and stupidity.
The first step he would have to take would be to give back to Inuyasha what he had denied to him. Something so precious and invaluable he had placed it under the most stringent security measure the castle possessed. All to protect his late father's possessions.
Visiting the room where he had stored Inutaisho's belongs was always an emotional wringer, the only time he could bear to near it deep within the bowels of the palace was on the anniversary of his sire's death. A day that left him worse for wear letting loose a buried grief that ravaged him as he sat surrounded by his father's things. Haunted by bitter-sweet memories of the past and his regrettable follies.
By this time it would be different for now he was forging the path that would redeem him and honour his father's last wishes. To reconcile with his brother….and his mate.
Clutching the leather bound, battered book in his hand he summoned every bit of courage within him, it would be no easy task to relinquish a part of his father, but Inuyasha meant more to him than his foolish desire to keep their father to himself. That great joy would come from sharing the person he had cherished most in the world with the one who now held his heart and who had equal rights to their father despite his previous dismissal of that claim. Something he now paid for dearly.
From his informants he had discovered the hanyou's whereabouts; he was currently residing in the rose garden with Rin. As he neared them he heard squeals of laughter and Inuyasha's indignant protests.
His curiosity peaked he approached silently, watching from the sidelines.
Inuyasha was currently seated on the lower branches of a nearby tree looking down at the little girl whose hands were on her hips and her face looking very serious.
"Get down here Inuyasha-sama", the child demanded, her voice getting even squeakier due to her rising emotions.
"No way. Not until you give up on this stupid game." The hanyou's arms were crossed over his chest glaring at the scowling girl.
"Don't be so childish. I promise it will be fun."
His eyes widened in disbelief, "Me? Childish? Are you kidding? I don't care what you say I'm not playing!"
Holding up a garland of flowers she gestured to them, "I've already made your crown!"
"I don't care I'm not playing a dumb, prissy girl."
"She's not dumb. And her name is princess Yuki" Rin supplied brightly.
"And I'm a guy. A dude. I'm not going to go around calling myself princess What-sits."
"Its princess Yuki", the pigtailed hair girl insisted, "and you're too pretty to be 'a guy'."
At that statement the hanyou sputtered in outrage, "I'm NOT pretty!"
In response Rin rolled her eyes in disbelief and Sesshoumaru mentally nodded in agreement with the child, his mate was quite pretty.
The child was tired of trying to persuade the hanyou and decided to bring out the big guns.
"You have 5 seconds to get outta that tree Inuyasha-sama. Or else…" the child stated with utter conviction.
"Or what, shrimp", Inuyasha scoffed.
"Or I'm calling Sesshoumaru-sama for you", Rin smirked disturbingly.
Blinking, stunned at the expression on such a sweet face he felt a trickle of trepidation at the threat before laughing it off, "Go ahead."
"One."
"Two."
"Three."
"Four."
"Five."
And still the hanyou remained unmoved.
"You made me do this Inuyasha-sama."
Sighing the little girl shook her head before taking a deep breath and opened her mouth to shout the daiyoukai's name only to have him step out of the shadows and appear behind his charge in a brief display of his speed.
"You summoned me."
Both of them were shell-shocked, Rin gapped in astonishment, while Inuyasha completely flabbergasted lost his grip on the branch and was two seconds from crashing to ground, clenching his eyes, bracing himself for an impact that was sure to hurt when he felt his breath leave him in an "oomph". His fall was broken by a rather solid warm body.
His eyes snapping open he gazed into the face of his savior before groaning out loud, "Speak of the devil."
Sesshoumaru wasn't exactly keen on being compared to the devil but he was resolute that he would convince Inuyasha otherwise.
Meanwhile Rin whi had gotten over her shock was bouncing on her toes, letting out gleeful giggles before approaching the pair.
"See Inuyasha-sama we even have a prince charming. Sesshoumaru –sama caught you just like a prince rescues the princess", mentally congratulating herself on her indisputable argument and faultless logic.
Immediately then hanyou shoved himself out of the daiyoukai's arms and scampered away.
"I didn't need any "rescuing" I was perfectly capable to landing on my own two feet. And anyway it as his fault anyway" pointing at the elder demon, "And where'd you come out from anyway? What are you some kinda creepy stalker?"
"The only one I would be inclined to stalk would be you", the demon lord stated unabashed.
The hanyou blanched before blushing fiercely and glaring at the ice prick.
Rin sensing the rising tension sort to diffuse the situation and bring their attention back to her problem.
She tugged on her guardian's arm, directing her most adorable, wide-eye innocent look at him complete with quivering lips.
"Sesshoumaru-sama, Inuyasha-sama doesn't want to play Princess Tea Party with me. He says it's stupid", she whined looking very put out.
In truth the daiyoukai couldn't blame his brother for not wanting to partake in Rin's game since role-playing especially the part of a girl much less a princess was quite emasculating, but nonetheless he would have to pacify his ward in some manner.
"Not everyone will enjoy playing the same games as you do Rin and I cannot force Inuyasha to do something he's wish to."
The hanyou was fighting back the urge to yell "LIAR" after he'd recalled how the demon lord had literally threatened him to eat breakfast the other day.
While Inuyasha went on ranting in his head the ice prick continued to reason with the little girl, "We have also discussed how important it is to take another's feelings into consideration and it would be unfair to Inuyasha to make him play your game if he does not wish to. I know you would not want to make him unhappy. You do like him do you not?"
"Oh yes. Very much. No I don't want to make Inuyasha-sama unhappy," Rin mollified and feeling a bit ashamed at her behavior turned towards the hanyou.
"I'm sorry. It was mean of me to try to force you."
Both surprised and touched that someone especially this little girl would apologize to him and actually cared about his feelings was an incredible phenomenon. No one really bothered to give a shit about him and his feelings yet for such a small quarrel this child showed him so much compassion. It provided a sharp contrast to his other life and just how insignificant he was to them, in particular Kagome.
Bending down he ruffled her hair and smiled, "Thanks shrimp."
She beamed at him, "No problem. But I still have a problem, who's going to play Princess Tea Party with me?" Then her eyes automatically locked with her guardian.
In a sugary sweet voice she implored, "Will you play with me Sesshoumaru-sama? Please?"
Before the daiyoukai could even formulate a diplomatic response the hanyou jumped in, "I'm sure "Sesshoumaru-sama" would love to play the part of Princess Yuki."
"Oh really! Oh please say you will."
Grimacing internally, grinding his teeth at his mate's devious tactics after all he'd done to help him. Well nobody ever said it would be easy but he just had to conveniently remember Princess What-sits' name after everything.
So sighing in resignation he answered, "I would be honoured."
XXX
Playing Princess Yuki had been an…interesting experience but not one he'd ever wish to repeat. Sa
Satisfyingly though Inuyasha had begrudgingly agreed to play when Rin told him that if he wasn't a princess he had to leave well course he couldn't miss Sesshoumaru playing a girl and acquiesced taking up his new role as Princess Yuki's servant. So he may have gotten to play a guy but he was still Sesshoumaru's lap dog and let's just say they made him earn his keep.
Rin was surprisingly a rather demanding taskmaster and more than once the hanyou cursed himself to agreeing in the first place.
They had had lunch in the garden and afterwards Rin had been required to put an end to their game since she had lessons to attend.
Once they were alone the hanyou made to leave his brother's prescence but the elder demon had not forgotten his original reason for seeking out his mate earlier.
"Please wait Inuyasha", he requested quietly.
The hanyou thought to ignore him initially before sighing and pausing in his stride.
"What is it?"
"There is something I would like to show you. Would you please accompany me to the library?"
Inuyasha's first instinct was to refuse but the polite and earnest quality of his voice made him second guess that decision further compounded by his curiosity which had been aroused.
After a moment of contemplation the hanyou shrugged, "Yeah. Ok. I guess, lead the way. This had better not take long."
"Thank you and it won't be", the daiyoukai mentally breathing a sigh of relief, he had expected some sort of resistance.
It was a relatively short walk and during that time neither of them spoke. When they had finally come to a stop the hanyou stared in awe at the enormous set of doors that guarded the library, they were more than twice his height and were very ornate with delicate, intricate carvings depicting foreign symbols and patterns along with gold embossing in the rich brown wood.
Sesshoumaru taking note of the hanyou's obvious wonder and bemusement explained, "These doors have guarded the castle's library for centuries, the designs are meant to act as protection against intruders, those who seek to steal or do harm using the knowledge held in this room."
"Hmm. So what does it do to them?"
The daiyoukai smiled, "If you stay long enough you might just see it for yourself." Mentally adding 'I plan on keeping you here….forever.'
Once they entered the first thing the hanyou noticed were the books. Well duh it's a library of course there would be books but honestly the sheer number was friggin' ridiculous. Wall to wall, shelves upon shelves of book, from three feet off the ground to the tall ceilings.
One would expect it to smell old and musty considering most of these books were older than him and had probably never left the room yet it smelled like some sort of incense. The odour had a peculiar effect on him, he felt more at ease, more focused, his mind felt…sharper if that made any sense.
Alright what kind of weed were these people burning in here.
It's not that its effects felt bad, but it was just odd.
The next thing he realized was that it was surprisingly bright and airy, another shocker. Usually you would expect everything to be all dark and serious and gloomy. At least that's the feeling he'd gotten the last time he'd gone to the wretch's library on the other side of the well.
There was a dome of glass in the middle of the ceiling that took up a good chunk of space allowing natural sunlight to filter in unimpeded. It looked rather cool, he could only image what a sight it would be at night.
Reluctantly he withdrew from his musing to see the bastard looking at him with a funny expression on his face, well really any expression beside arrogance, contempt and indifferent was considered weird to him after all this was the ice prick.
The elder demon lead him to a small alcove, it was rather inviting, there was a desk with a lamp and a large comfortable chair, in the next corner there was a couch situated by a window that allowed a direct view of palace's largest garden.
"This was our father's special place to escape from the pressures of being the Lord of the Western Lands especially when he had piles of paperwork cluttering up his office and his advisors hounding him with their "urgent" issues", the inuyoukai revealed to his younger sibling.
The hanyou walked forward, absently trailing his fingers lightly over the furniture.
This had been a place their father had treasured, a place where he must have spent a lot of his time and the hanyou could see why. He had seen portraits around the castle of his sire, an incredibly handsome, commanding demon, even his picture seemed to convey his power and strength.
Sesshoumaru looked upon his mate fondly, feeling a warmth inside him that the hanyou seemed to be taken with their father's little hideaway. There was a small pang of sadness and guilt that he had denied his brother his rights for so long, but nonetheless he would fix his mistakes even if it took a lifetime.
Motioning to the hanyou to sit on the couch he slipped his hand inside his silk purple kimono and extracted a rather frayed book that's age was made apparent by its yellowed fragile pages.
Holding onto the book he explained, "I know that you have never met our father, thus you have no memories of him. It is unlikely you know much about him beyond his reputation. This book is meant to share with you the kind of demon our father truly was, the man beyond the legend. This, this is his journal and I would honoured to give you this piece of our father if you would have it. Inside are his thoughts, his ideas, his experiences. There are many more, this is merely one of his earlier journals from when he was a young lord. As time passes I would gladly give you the rest."
Inuyasha's eyes had widened in shock and he looked upon the book with reverence. The daiyoukai extended his hand to offer the book to the hanyou who continued to stare at it dumbstruck. He reached out his hand tentatively almost touching it before snatching back his hand and turning away.
Sesshoumaru was puzzled and hurt. His mate had rejected his peace offering, an object that had taken a great deal of courage to part with and his efforts had been tossed back in if face. Yet the expressions on his mate's face belied his actions.
"I am giving it to you freely Inuyasha. Please accept it."
"I-I don't need an old ratty book. Take it back. Just leave me," the hanyou retorted angrily before moving to leave the daiyoukai's presence.
But Sesshoumaru was having none of that, he wanted to know what was going on inside of his brother's mind and if he didn't confront him now he would never discover it, the hanyou would surely close up like a clam with time to erect his defenses.
Grabbing his wrist, he tugged him around sharply to face him, his hands gripping the hanyou's slighter shoulders.
"Do not run away from me Inuyasha, I cannot help you if you do not give me some insight as to what you are thinking. Why did you reject the journal?" the daiyoukai inquired firmly.
The entire time the hanyou's eyes were downcast so the damon lord could not determine his emotions but his body was stiff with tension.
"It's none of your business. Now lemme go. I don't need to answer to you", he responded harshly his voice slightly husky from emotions the elder demon could not identify.
"No, I refuse to let you walk away. Did my gift offend you? Is there something else you want? "
Shaking his head the hanyou insisted, "Offend. Ha. Your gift is just fucking perfect, but I can't take it."
"Why can't you then?" Sesshoumaru prompted desperate determine the reasoning behind Inuyasha's reactions.
Yet the question gained no reply from his little brother who declined to look at him.
What could it be? Why is he acting like this? If he really does want the book then why is he turning it down? Is it too difficult to read about their father's- wait read.
Kami-sama.
Read.
Did his mate not know how to read? Is that why he wouldn't take the journal?
The shame that overwhelmed him almost made his knees buckle. To their father education was crucial into developing a person of strong mind and character, capable of making informed, intelligent decisions. His father had had such a passion for reading and here his youngest child could not read.
And this Sesshoumaru was to blame, it was a failure on his part. For the hanyou had grown up without any sort of guidance or aid, surviving on his own skill and determination.
There was no easy way to address such an issues especially considering his brother's pride and his aversion to showing weakness which was deeply rooted in an inferiority complex that had been inspired by his unjust treatment.
Steeling himself, he was not inclined to back down from possible conflict, this situation was his fault and as he had stated before he was going to fix things.
"Inuyasha answer me truthfully. Do you know how to read?" the daiyoukai silently dreading the answer.
Immediately the hanyou's head snapped up, his eyes exposing his shock, fear and humiliation. That was enough of an answer for the demon lord who didn't miss a beat.
"Very well then. I shall just have to teach you", Sesshoumaru declared resolutely leaving no opening for discourse.
The hanyou was flabbergasted and flustered, "Wah! What! No way in hell. I know how to read!" He insisted.
Tilting his head to the side slightly resisting the urge to raise a brow at the hanyou's obvious lie.
"There is no need to lie to me Inuyasha. I will never think less of you" the daiyoukai soothed.
"Argh. Dammit I can read! I just-"
"What is it then? Tell me" Sesshouamru demanded unwilling to relent until he had gotten the absolute truth from the hanyou.
"I-I just can't remember how to. It's been a long time ok. It's not like I have the time to read while fighting demons. And there aren't books just lying around either."
"Who taught you then?"
Shrugging his shoulders he looked away, "Kikyo. In her attempts to "civilize" me she taught me while I stayed with her."
The daiyoukai bristled at his response withholding the urge to snarl at the mention at the wretched undead bitch.
Nodding his head he pulled Inuyasha towards the couch, seating himself before pulling down the hanyou besides him their legs touching.
Startled the hanyou immediately tried to move away but the ice prick thwarted all his attempts as he always did maintaining their close proximity.
"I have the time. I shall read our father's journal to you whilst teaching you to read again."
Sputtering the hanyou tried to convince him otherwise.
"That ain't necessary. I don't need you to "baby" me, bastard. And I certainly don't want you to read to me." Even if secretly he delighted at the thought of being able to have access to knowledge about their sire.
"It is. If you wish to be treated as my equal then you shall cease you protests."
Then before the hanyou could get another word in edgewise Sesshoumaru opened the book in front of them his elegant finger pointing out the characters as he began to read.
Soon enough the hanyou became captivated by the elder demon's deep rich baritone as he related the words of the young Inutaishou.
Unaware of the passage of time, caught up in the past unconsciously taking comfort and relaxing in each other's presence.
XXX
A/N: Well that was your new chapter. Did you like it I hope so. It was influenced somewhat by the ideas you provided me with and my own.
Really I can't remember if Inuyasha could read or not so I taught it would make a nice starting point and the scene with Rin was my attempt at some humour and fluff. How was it? I hope it didn't suck.
I also did some research on traditional japanese wear but no one could really name Sesshy's clothing and apparently men's attire was also referred to as a kinomo.
Um these "bonding" chapter should last for the next 3 or 4 updates so no worries I'll be able to include many of your suggestions, if you have any more feel free to tell me.
Here is the acknowledgement of persons who helped influenced the writing of this chapter:
Escape my reality
KawaiiKD
fangirlmaylin
Yamaris
Snowangel701 (thanks for the list)
Special note to ChelleRae: Since you did not sign in I could not reply to you. They will definitely have sex, but they still have some ways to go before they can reach that point but I will be dropping hints of smut as they get closer. Sesshy doesn't possess that much restraint and he won't let an opportunity pass by him if he can take advantage of it. By the way smut is great I enjoy it, but I'm not that great at writing it. Oh and thanks for the lovely reviews they were so nice and I love long reviews I so don't mind!
Thank you very much you all were of great help. I really appreciate it.
Till next time. Please don't forget to review! I love them!
Sincerely,
CharmGirl24.