sorry about the late update again. i'm trying to get these out on a semi-regualr basis, but i dont get more than three days notice when i have to work for the week and then i've got school on top of that.

i'm just happy i'm getting any of this done at all!


"Inuyasha woke slowly, a mite irritated to learn that he had once again been knocked unconscious. He heard his brother muttering above him and Kagome's occasional interruption. He groaned; why did they have to be so damn loud?

Curiously, the conversation cut off as his ears swiveled back in pain. He opened his eyes carefully to observe the shrine's ceiling, noting that at least this time he was in the main part of the shrine, rather than the bellows. Noting a fuzzy brown instead of sharp focused planks he blinked several times as his brother spoke, "Inuyasha, do not scent the air. You are now able to detect my youki and as custom demands, we will fight to determine dominance. But not now. This is not the time."

The younger squinted his eyes as he turned to his brother, noting that the figure cleared only slightly. He opened his mouth to speak and was sent into a coughing fit. When his breathing had calmed, he looked back at his brother, faintly registering that his vision had cleared and there was only a very vague tremble to Sesshoumaru's image, "What do you mean, 'you're now able to detect my youki'? How do you think the Wind Scar worked?! I had to 'detect your youki' to use the Wind Scar!"

"Idiot… only a full demon can detect taiyouki. Taiyouki is different than youki. Any being with demon blood has youki, but only a taiyoukai has taiyouki. Taiyouki is detectable as a scent in the air, which is why you mustn't try to find my scent." The taiyoukai gave Inuyasha a trying look, as if to say, 'you should already know this.'

He snorted; as if he'd ever been able to 'detect' such a thing. And no one had, obviously, explained it before. It wasn't like there'd ever been a need. He saddened at this, but his thoughts brightened as he realized that it did apply now. He could walk freely among demons without fear.

His focus came back as his brother stood and made to leave.

The younger inu blinked, "Sesshoumaru?"

"Come," was all the departing figure said.


'I wont tell them right away,' he glanced over at the miko walking a little beside and behind him. She was staring at the ground in a glazed sort of way.

'Ok,' he amended, 'I wont tell him right away. Knowing the koinu, he'd just get all depressed after he'd try and kill me for keeping such things from him before his choice.'

He shook his head. As if he was able to tell. Speaking of demon laws to outcasts was one of the most strictly regulated laws in inu society. The penalty was instant death; even a taiyoukai such as himself would be stripped of his titles and outcast from the clan. And Inuyasha, as hanyou, was outcast from the moment of his birth.

Getting the council to allow him to fight beside his little brother had been all but impossible and, he was sure, had he been a couple centuries younger, he would have come out of the meeting with several cuts and bites. It was only because of Naraku's rather fortuitous attempt on the Council that he was allowed two months to train the hanyou in the use of the Tessaiga and to defeat the spider-demon side by side. Still, he was forbidden to have meals with his younger sibling or have any contact whatsoever outside of the training sessions.

Now, though… now, he was completely free from those laws. He was finally able to speak to his brother, though it would take time, he knew, to come out of the shell he had forced himself to live in since his little brother's birth. Because of their close clans, hanyou were often the downfall of their parents and siblings, who would rather die than see them outcast. Which was why he, himself had deliberately taken it upon himself to 'kill' Inuyasha.

By being in such open and direct conflict with his otouto all the time, he was able to both keep his eye on him, train him and diffuse suspicion from himself. He had been the one, discretely, to inform his brother of the Jewel of Four Souls, and it's ability to remove the human from a hanyou. Oh, how he had wept in joy after the meeting in which he had learned of the Tama. He finally had the chance to speak with his little brother, to be a companion to him.

He glanced to his other side, where the newly transformed Inuyasha was looking about with obvious rapture, his nose twitching and ears swiveling about a mile a minute in his excitement. He had the strange urge to laugh at his brother's antics, and, remembering with a slight shock that he was able to show emotion now, let a small smile escape. Yes, unlocking his emotions would take time.

The village they were passing through was a neighboring one to the temple. The entire reason Sesshoumaru had taken Inuyasha (and te miko, of course) to this particular village was because it was unique in two ways. Not only did this village specialize in beautiful and detailed fabrics and kimono, the village traded freely with the Inu clans. Sesshoumaru himself was a common fixture here, having need several times (mostly after encounters with his brother, he noted wryly) of their ability to repair garments that were torn or soiled.

Oddly, side by side were street vendors like those the larger cities of Edo and Kyoto, hawking their wears. A good percentage of them were selling food: chunks of meat on sticks over fires with various seasonings, fried pork or beef, seasoned rice, chilled and heated sake, udon and miso were among the more frequented. It was one of these he stopped by, not trusting his brother with food around any new (or old for that matter) clothes.

Which was the entire purpose behind the trip; getting Inuyasha kimono that fit.

He bought three sticks of roasted beef, daikon, carrots, onions and some red fruit. Passing one off to the miko, he turned to his brother with a stern look of warning, "DON'T spill it."

Inuyasha huffed and looked off to the side in irritation, but nevertheless took the stick when his brother offered it to him. He even said thank you, muttered though it was.

The taiyoukai turned and tore off a chunk of beef from the stick, noting with satisfaction that he had been right; the meat was youkai. He belatedly hoped that it wouldn't make the miko sick. Turing to her with the intention of warning her, he discovered that there was no real point; she'd already downed a third of it and was, at the moment, working on a rather large chunk of onion.

He sighed lightly and continued to lead the small group down the main street. By the time they had reached the shop the taiyoukai was looking for, he had finished his snack and noticed with amusement that the priestess was glancing at Inuyasha's remaining beef chunk, which he was chewing on idly. He brought them up short outside of a small, sparse looking shop nearly on the end of the street and, making sure that Inuyasha had finished his meal, ushered them inside.

He heard the shop keeper greet them as he came inside, "Ah! Customers! How can I help you?"

The taiyoukai came forward with a slight bow, "Onegaishimasu. I would like to commission kimono for my younger brother."

The shop-keep, a middle aged man with bright blonde fly-away hair smiled brilliantly at the demon lord, "Maa, Sesshoumaru-sama, miemasendeshita. Sumimasen."

[A/N: Sesshoumaru- onegaishimasu (to make a request; lit. 'please')

[Shop-keep- maa ('oh') miemasendeshita (lit. 'did not see') sumimasen ( sorry; lit. ['please excuse me'

The store was sparse, but warm and clean, something that appeased to Sesshoumaru greatly. The taiyoukai was sure that, with the quality of his work, the shop-keep could afford a much larger store, and possibly a few workers under him, but despite the quality and sturdiness of the material, the shouten was always in this spot and in this condition whenever Sesshoumaru needed it.

The little counter that the owner had set up was off to the right of the door way, and always had a tea pot and several washed cups for his customers, and often was paired with rice balls or manjuu. Today there was a small tray of dango with, what smelled like, sweet rice and jasmine tea.

After making sure that they were all set up (Sesshoumaru took both tea and dango, the miko taking tea and Inuyasha forgoing both), the smiling tailor turned to the demon lord, "So, Sesshoumaru-sama, you're brother you say? If I may be so bold, I do not ever remember the Great Dog Demon siring other pups."

Sesshoumaru simply looked at him until the man began to fidget slightly before replying, "Inutaishou-tou-san sired both myself and Inuyasha, though I would appreciate this news not leaving this shouten."

The blonde man blinked, "'Inuyasha'? Wasn't he the hanyou who-? OH!" he stared in surprise, "He was-is your brother? But then isn't he-?"

"As I said earlier, I would appreciate this news not being spread to anyone," the taiyoukai said from behind his tea cup.

The shop-keep looked offended, "Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama. Of course I would never tell anyone about my customer's lives and relations. Gossip-mongering is such a nasty habit after all."

Sesshoumaru gave the owner one last look before bringing the discussion back on topic, "It will have to be comfortable, and in a style and color fitting of a son of a demon lord, not to mention as heir of the Western throne."

Inuyasha, it seemed, felt it time to make his desires known, "I don't want any frilly stuff, Sesshoumaru. No pink and no flowery crap! You want that stuff, you get it yourself! And why isn't my fire rat good enough, anyways?! It acts like armor, and even repels fire! I don't want some cheep human clothes."

The elder sighed; he should have known this was going too well, "Inuyasha, what do you think I'm wearing? Human silk? You have personally wrecked my wardrobe two hundred and seventeen times. Did you not once stop to think why it was that I kept getting the same kimono made?" he threw a dango at his brother and felt a small amount of satisfaction as the bun hit the now-youkai in the face, eliciting surprised squawk.

Inuyasha peeled it off his red face and just glared as his older brother continued, "It's because the fabric is made out of stuff stronger than your fire rat. Easier to clean as well. It's made with dragon hair."

The shop-keep nodded along in happy agreement. Sesshoumaru turned back to his conversation, "It will need to be ready before the new moon. And I wish armor commissioned as well." He saw his brother open his mouth from the corner of his eye and decided to head the demon off before he got too much momentum, "Inuyasha, I am paying for everything so you better just sit down and shut up. You are now a prince of the Western Lands, and I'll have no brother of mine wandering around in too small, badly worn kimono. I'll also have no arguments about the armor; it's necessary in inu society, I'll explain the details later."

Once again, he addressed the tailor, "I'll need have shoes commissioned for him as well. Do you happen to know of any stores in the area? I'm afraid the one I went to seems to have closed in my absence."

The shop keeper rattled off a number of stores with an excited smile before adding, "But, of course, we also provide that service here! Your friend from the shop, Yamanaka-san, didn't close down, he merely transferred his services here."

Sesshoumaru nodded in recognition of the fact before he set about discussing the finer things of the deal, "My brother, I'm sure, would prefer something in red, or a similar hue, although I insist on at least two colors. Further, the armor should also be in two colors and have our family crest on it."

They heard a calling from behind one of the doors in the back, "Shindou-kun? What did you do with my leather press?"

'Shindou' looked apologetic, "Shitsureshimasu." He hurried over to the back and cracked open a large shoji screen, "Your leather press? It was against the back wall, next to the dyeing station."

Some rattling and rustling, "You sure? Cause I don't remember it being there…"

The figure peaking in shook his head, "Yes, I'm sure. Just try looking for it. Ano, I'm with a client, so if you would mind… actually," he glanced back at Sesshoumaru, "If you wouldn't mind Sesshoumaru-sama…?" he received a nod of acceptance, "Aa, Yamanaka-san, please join us, as Sesshoumaru-sama also wishes shoes made."

"Really?! Cool!" there was several loud banging noises, a rather large clang, and a crash before Yamanaka emerged, her leather apron askew and her red hair falling out of her headband, her eyes were substantially different from Shindou's murky grey, not only in their silted iris, but also in their startling violet shade. She was tanned as her leather and was barefoot, only her ankles wrapped.

She walked right over and 'plopped' herself to the left of the seat that Shindou had vacated, which he quickly retook.

"So! You want more shoes, Sesshou-san?" the young demon asked with a grin. The taiyoukai could almost feel the miko and former-hanyou cringing behind him. But he smiled (or smirked, really); he was used to dealing with this particular shoe maker. Her father had been in the service of his father and then himself for the better part of seven centuries. She, as her father had, made excellent shoes, but it was for their armor and artistic taste that the Yamanaka family was well known.

The inu lord inclined his head in assent, "For my younger brother."

Her eyes darted to the figure seated behind him and he watched as her eyes took in his form. He noted with no real surprise that she didn't comment on his recently 'acquiring' of a brother. She had far more tact than that; well, that and she just didn't care, probably.

Arms crossed she scrutinized the younger inu brother before stating plainly, "You want armor for him, too, huh?"

Again, he nodded.

"Any preference on what type of shoes?"

"None."

"Good!" she sprang to her feet and bounded back to the shoji screen, which she disappeared behind for a bit, before coming out with a measuring cloth, several scraps of material, a few pieces of metal and several different chunks of youkai hide. She deposited all of these in the space between Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha and provided a running commentary, mostly to Inuyasha, as she held up each sample.

"Now, color doesn't matter too much, as I can dye almost any color you want, but durability and mobility are crucial. We have to find what works for you personally.

"This here," she held up a scrap of material, "is called 'cat cloth'. It's made from a hanabi neko's hide. In addition to resisting fire well it provides limited protection against acids, and is one of the best insulating materials around."

"This, on the other hand," she held up a different material swath, vaguely blue toned, "is called 'wormskin'. It doesn't actually come from worms but from the evolution shells of moth demons. It provides almost complete resistance to water, but it does very poorly with oils."

"Here we have 'dragon fur'," a vaguely shimmer-y fabric was in her hands at this point, "Dragon fur is probably the most effective of the three. It can withstand heat, water, oil and acid, but because of it's cost and the fact that it doesn't insulate well, it's mostly ignored."

She held up both the reflective dragon fur and the cream colored cat cloth together, "However, since this is Sesshou-san's otouto-san, we can get a little more creative! These two, layered would be the best for you, I think, Innya-san."

Yamanaka handed over the samples to Inuyasha, and Sesshoumaru watched in mild amusement as he fingered the cool-and-smooth dragon fur and compared it to the soft, plush cat cloth.

He turned to the demon shoemaker, "I believe your appraisal would be best. What do you have for armor?"

"Ah!" she started with excitement, "I just got in a new shipment of materials today! From Hokkaido! There's a fairly large battle going on over there, right? Lots and lots to choose from!"

Her red hair bounced around her as she rummaged through the pile in front of them. She tossed aside chunks of demon bone, hide and exoskeleton before coming back up with a few, "This is from a centipede demon-"

Sesshoumaru, having seen the green looks on both Inuyasha's and the miko's face forestalled any further development on the topic, "I think not for this sale, Yamanaka-san."

Violet eyes blinked, "Er…ok? Um, well, then…" she shifted through her selection before settling on a piercing white chunk, "This is a piece of bone from a wolf demon-"

Again, Sesshoumaru interrupted at his brother's expression, "Perhaps something else…?" Was there any type of demon Inuyasha hadn't had a foul run-in with?

"Uh, right. Hmm…" She shifted around again, "Ok, well how about this one then? Dragon's claws are made from a material so like metal we can actually mold it, with extreme heat…"

He was about to cut her off again, memories of his father's death flashing through his mind when Inuyasha suddenly broke in, "This one! That's it. Dragon claw."

The taiyoukai looked at his brother in surprise. He wasn't even aware that Inuyasha was paying any attention, let alone that he already knew what he wanted, "Inuyasha, Father-"

He was equally surprised when gold eyes locked with his, "I know exactly how Father died, Sesshoumaru. And I know 'what'. That's why I want it." He nodded towards the four foot long dragon claw that Yamanaka was blinking over, stupidly.

No, you don't Otouto. But I will tell you, he glanced at the miko, I have to tell you.

"Very well, Inuyasha." He turned to the befuddled demon, "A simple chest plate of the dragon claw, kudasai. With my family's crest on it, if you will."

The demon nodded and scampered back to the shoji screen, returning with a scroll and a piece of charcoal. They discussed back and forth over the paper, the leather worker sketching and rubbing out portions of her design, trying to make it fit with the lord's idea. At last, the taiyoukai nodded and the red hair bounced once as it's owner nodded in confirmation, "it'll be done in a few days, Sesshoumaru-san. The shoes should be done in about a day and a half, though, so feel free to come pick them up any time past then."

She gathered up the material samples that were scattered across the floor that Shindou was eyeing in distaste, "I'll leave you with Shindou-kun then."


This is turning out to be an interesting day, Inuyasha pondered. First, Sesshoumaru wakes him up, leads him to some town, not only buys him food (which was quite good, he had to admit) but then practically shoves down his throat that he, the great, stuck up, Mr. Prissy Prick was going to buy clothes, shoes and armor for his pathetic, hanyo- oh, wait, he wasn't half-and-half any more.

Ok, but still, Inuyasha thought, he let Kagome come. He let Kagome come. She's human. And he hates humans. He frowned, I think.

Currently, he, his stuck-up Mr. Prissy-Prick brother (he sniggered; oh that was a good nick-name for the bastard) and Kagome were sitting in some shop in another town where his brother was haggling with a tailor over the cost of making a kimono before the new moon.

There it was again; the new moon. It's like the world was trying to tell him that it was all a sick joke and he better not get used to it because it was all disappearing in three days.

But that was stupid. He knew for a fact that he was full demon. There was tons of evidence; him 'attacking' his brother, his strange episodes, the new edge to his senses and how sometimes, when he really concentrated, he could kinda feel what his brother was thinking.

It was really interesting in his brother's head. There was a lot of hope, some worry (which the demon lord was trying oh-so-hard to suppress), glee and a great deal of guilt, which puzzled Inuyasha to no end. What could the taiyoukai possibly have done that would require that much guilt, let alone any guilt from 'this Sesshoumaru'?

He had felt the spike of pain when the dragon claw was held up, but he had wanted it anyway, and said so. Oddly, there was a small hint of worry at his words followed by a huge crashing of guilt so intense that he lost his focus, and his brother's emotions faded from his mind.

He'd had valid reasons for wanting the dragon claw, too. Not only to show that he, too had beaten the dragon, like his father, but also to show that he was not his father. Or Sesshoumaru. He had walked away from the battle alive.

His attention was brought back to reality by his brother beckoning him to follow the tailor. He glanced at Kagome in confusion, and she leaned over to whisper/explain that the reason they were going deeper into the shop was to pick out a fabric for his new kimono.

He nodded and followed diligently after his brother, trying not to fidget in the too-small fire rat.

They stepped into a shoji screen on the left hand side, Sesshoumaru giving him a stoic yet surprisingly disapproving look after noticing the younger's restless shifting and fussing. But he couldn't help it! They were too tight!

Sesshoumaru sighed lightly and continued following the human, pushing his brother ahead of him to meet Shindou at the back of the large and very crowded room. The place was jam, filled-to-the-gills, no-I-can't-even-eat-a-dinner-mint pact with bolts of fine fabrics.

Inuyasha stopped a few times along the way, noting with awe the amazing quality of the fabrics. The last time he had seen something even half as fine had been when he still lived in the palace with his mother. And they had been the ruling family for the state!

The tailor bowed low when they finally reached him (Sesshoumaru had almost been ready to pull off his little brother's ears for his stopping so much) and addressed Inuyasha directly, something he had yet to do, and something that surprised the prince greatly. He was largely used to being ignored by anyone and everyone. Unless they wanted to kill him, that is.

"Inuyasha-sama," the tailor began, "please choose any fabric from among these bolts. These are the finest linens, silks, cottons, hairs and furs in my collection." He bowed low again and exited to allow his customers to pick their product, "Shitsureshimasu."

Inuyasha fingered one of the dangling pieces of material, amazed by it's softness.

Sesshoumaru, however, called him further down towards the left wall, "Inuyasha, leave those; they are all human cloths. This section here is for demons. It's stronger and more durable than anything a human could make."

He did as Sesshoumaru asked, moving towards the more vivid bolts a few feet from his brother.

His brother. How often had he called the taiyoukai such, recently? He didn't know. Something inside him wanted to protect his brother, make the elder proud of him and, confusing most of all, get closer to him. it was a surprising and exhilarating emotion all at once, though not unwelcome. It was bittersweet that the taiyoukai meant so much to him when he was the reason Inuyasha had spent so much of his life in fear and hatred.

"Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru, his brother, drew his attention back from wandering with a simple brush on the shoulder, "Keep in the present; the past has little value now."

"I know," the elder continued, "that you preferred the fire rat, but did you also prefer the color?"

Inuyasha blinked, "Uh… yeah. Reds and blues."

Sesshoumaru nodded and led him over to a section to the right that had bright reds and golds. His brother perused through them, commenting occasionally on the construction and composition of each of the shimmering, shinning, fluttering cloths. Holding up one after another, the taiyoukai tried to find one that wasn't 'too pink', 'too bright', 'too shimmery-ish', 'too flowery' or 'too abstract'.

Which pretty much eliminated every bolt of fabric in the red/gold section.

"Can't we just get red!?" Inuyasha whined. He was at his wits end; every fabric that Sesshoumaru thought was good was completely over flourished, and every fabric that he suggested, was 'too plain for a son of Inutaisho'.

Sesshoumaru sighed, actually sighed, and rubbed his temple in annoyance, "Inuyasha, red is too-"

"-plain a color, blah, blah, blah!" Inuyasha growled, "I get it! My tastes are unrefined! But at least I don't waste two and a half hours picking out my god damned clothes!"

Sesshoumaru growled uncharacteristically and almost stomped to the end of the aisle and stopped suddenly. In fact, he froze.

"Inuyasha," the taiyoukai was being quiet, even more so than usual, "come here."

Reluctantly, and grumbling, the youkai obeyed, shuffling to the end of the line where he was caught just as his brother was.

There, at the end, was a moderately dusty bolt of fabric that looked as if it hadn't been used much. That wasn't the reason Sesshoumaru stopped, although the condition of the fabric was appalling.

The fabric was strong, made from a blend of demon tiger fur and youkai silkworms and was dyed to reflect the setting sun. it started as a pale, pale peach at the top, then worked it's way down through various shades of yellow, followed by orange, red and then crimson. It ended in a deep, deep wine color that was so dark, it was nearly black.

"This one," both youkai stated. They turned and blinked at each other; they agreed on something?!


I just thought I'd clarify a few things, cause I'm sure you're all goin; 'huh?'. The title 'taiyoukai' (in my story at least) isn't a title like 'lord' or 'captain' that can be taken away by society. Taiyoukai is an actually physical trait that one acquires after many years or a hard battle. A youkai evolves into a taiyoukai after gaining enough experience. No outside force can strip a taiyoukai of his 'taiyoukai' title. However, any youkai can challenge any other youkai for their positions and titles. In the inu clan, titles can only be exchanged between dog demons. Further, only one of the Inutaisho line can inherit the Western lands, regardless of youki status (basically saying that if Inuyasha ((now as a full youkai)) beat Sesshoumaru, he would become the Lord of the West regardless if he wanted the title [hanyou and other 'outcasts' are bereft of this right, which is why Sesshoumaru was still Lord even after his brother kept beating him as a hanyou).

Hanyou, as instant outcasts from the clan, are forbidden from inheriting.

I wanted Sesshoumaru to have a reason for being such an irritating, condescending, arrogant asshole all the time. So I gave him a little benefit of the doubt and took a little artistic license and made him be the one to inform Inuyasha about the Jewel. Although, Inuyasha has no idea. One of Sesshoumaru's servants had discussed it with the boy. This also gives me an opportunity to play with Sesshoumaru more, especially in inu social context.

the next chapter will be much shorter than the rest, but i'll do a double up-date because of it. the next chapter will cover the three days until the meeting with the Council and the chapter after that will cover the dreaded encounter itself. dhun-dun-DUN!

--

Interesting thing of note: it seems that all those rumors of Inuyasha's name were true- to an extent. While, yes, 'yasha' means 'female demon', the individual mora 'ya' and 'sha' also have meanings. 'Ya' can mean 'arrow', 'melting', 'eight' or 'valley'; while 'sha' can be either 'inn/hut/house/mansison', 'borrowing' or 'photograph, copy, transcribe, duplicate'. I took this to mean 'the dog's dissolving house, as Inuyasha was only half a dog demon so he was the point at which the house of the dog began to 'melt'. (inu of course means dog)

[the reason I went to all this trouble: I noticed that when writing his name, Inuyasha contains three kanji, not two. Now kanji, unlike hiragana, don't stand for individual sounds. They, more like hieroglyphics, stand for ideas. That's why the idea of 'dog' 'female demon' didn't sit well with me. There were three kanji, yet everyone was only translating two ideas. It didn't fit.