Chapter 2: Blood Moon
Another two months and another rainy day later, Inuyasha couldn't stop his moping and groaning. He sulked at least ten times a day, and whenever Sango or Miroku confronted him he just brushed it off, yelled at them and then hid in the forest for days. He still hadn't eaten a single thing, resorting to some sort of Anorexic way of life. Everyone noticed that he was getting thinner, much thinner, and it worried Sesshomaru the most.
Not because of his adoration of him, but because it was painful and depressing to watch him try and walk around in the mornings and fight demons when he was getting close to being all bones. Rin had offered him more food than she used and the answer was still no.
The hanyou had given up. He had really given up.
This amazed the demon, because he never thought that Inuyasha would be one to resort to such a thing. He was sure he'd be the kind of guy to eat his feelings away rather than starve, but hell, he wasn't sleeping either. He obviously didn't want to be around anymore and it was getting harder and harder for Sesshomaru to sit back and not confess and nurture him.
For some reason, Sesshomaru found his brother disappearing during the weeks of the new moon. It was strange and unusual, but for all he knew it was just a coincidence that it was only during the full moon that he couldn't smell him at all.
But he shouldn't be caring. The demon had other matters to take care of and it was his last day in the village to spend with Rin. Autumn was on its way and Sesshomaru needed to help his mother with tending their lands. The Inukimi seemed to be getting prissier and refused to dispell demons now that she was apparently "getting old." The demon just rolled his eyes at the letter she had sent and decided it was time to leave.
Gathering his armour and redressing, he hugged Rin and let her give him a loaf of bread. He'd throw it to some crows later as he wasn't too fond of the strange taste.
Sesshomaru wanted to see Inuyasha before the winter though, but he couldn't find a trace of him anywhere. He felt a small tug on his Hakama and he looked down to see a little girl staring up at him. He raised his eyebrows and then looked up to see Miroku grab her away, slinging her over his shoulder.
"I'm very sorry, Lord Sesshomaru." The monk laughed nervously and smiled. "She's just curious!"
"Daddy! I wanna pet the fluffy!" The little girl giggled and reached out for Sesshomaru.
The demon stepped back quickly, looking at her almost horrified. Children were so disgusting. "It's. Fine." He said through grit teeth. Gods, the smell of that child was disgusting. When was the last time she was bathed? "Have you seen Inuyasha?" He asked boredly, trying to make it sound like he had no interest in seeing his brother to check on his well being.
The monk pondered teh question for a moment and then readjusted the child to under his arm, holding her like a ball. "Uhhh...No. He's been gone for a couple days now. I think he said he had something to do. I don't know if that's to go die or something. He's been looking like a dead dog for a month now. No pun intended of course- Oh! Well bye to you too." Miroku's face fell to one of exhaustion and frustration as Sesshomaru walked away.
"Stupid youkai..."
Inuyasha laid in a tree far off from the village. He had laid in it for a few days now, starving, thirsting, and in general depressed. His thin arms hugged the branch as he watched the light fade to black through the branches and leaves. His heart pumped harder as it began to flush the demon blood in him to create room for his human side, and his hair slowly began to turn black. Blue eyes replaced gold and as the sun disappeared from the sky and the lands were consumed by absolute darkness, Inuyasha closed his eyes and waited to die.
He was ready. He was definitely ready to go, move on and die and possibly be with Kikyo in the netherworld. With nothing but darkness behind his lids, the hanyou-turned-human began to look back at all his times with Kagome. All the sits, the screaming, the arguments and the times he had traveled to see her though the well.
Cheeks dampening, he pried further into his memory: The nights she fell asleep studying, the nights he fell asleep watching her, meeting her friends, picking her up from her school, saving her from the demons in both worlds. Then the battles with Naraku, their first kiss in the castle beyond the looking glass, the second in the void, the countless nights and intimate times together once she came back. The smiles and the laughter, and the tears and the depression. He wanted her back so bad.
And it was then that he had done something he hadn't done in over 3 years. He cried. Tears spilling faster than they did when he held Kikyo in his arms for the last time, the human shook violently, shaking the branch as well. Leaves and other little plant life fell from the limb until he heard something rustling through the bushes.
Inuyasha sat up and looked around, but it was useless with his human sight. The dark haired boy scanned the complete darkness, knowing well that there was something there. Something probably smelt him. Something was probably going to eat him.
But the something was actually a someone and below the tree stood Sesshomaru. He could smell a human. A human that strangely smelt like Inuyasha just more digusting was in the area, and he wanted to find it. He wanted to scare it and make it get the hell out of his way. The demon looked up and he saw something red in the tree. He snarled and slammed his fist into the trunk, which rewarded him with a yelp of surprise and the human to fall flat on his face.
The human looked up and blue eyes met gold before the skinny little thing scrambled up and book it away from the dog. Heh, it had been a long time since Sesshomaru had been given a chase and thus as soon as the red figure was at least 100 yards away he gave chase.
Inuyasha ran as fast as he could through the bushes and tree, forcing himself on despite his body being extra fatigued in the form he was in. He swiped branches aside and covered his face as he ran through thorns, trying to limit the damage he'd take to his weakened body. He hadn't expected the demon to hit the tree and make him fall. In fact he didn't expect that the demon would be a humanoid. The gold eyes were familiar but he he didn't care. He needed to get the hell out of the forest before he was-
The human gagged and gargled as he slammed into the chest of the demon, a sharp pain travelling through his body stemming from his stomach. He coughed up a small amount of blood and looked down, noticing that yes, he had been stabbed through. The demon twisted the blade slightly and Inuyasha looked up and sobbed.
Sesshomaru.
The demon panicked as he saw that the human was Inuyasha, bewitched by the new moon and evidently weaker thanks to his self abuse. He felt his brother grip his arms and then slide off his blade, crumpling to the ground with another sob.
Sesshomaru dropped Bakusaiga and fell to his knees, pushing back his brother's raven hair to look at his thinning face. Nearly empty blue eyes met his once more before closing with a groan and he grabbed the hanyou turned human into his arms, along with his sword and booked it back to the village.
Damn it all. How had I not noticed that this was Inuyasha? Why did I use Bakusaiga of all swords? I should have seen that it was him. I should have known that this was my brother! The demon thought as he took to the sky, trying to get back to Kaeda's village before it was too late. He looked down to see that they were both covered in Inuyasha's blood and his brother had yet again spat up a gallon of blood onto him.
He grimaced and landed hard, jolting the hanyou, forcing him to puke up red again. He needed to save him! He needed to help him!
"How is he fairing?"
"He is ill, Sesshomaru. Ye best be dwelling else where. Inuyasha will not want to see ye hanging around his body."
"Have you been able to feed him?
"I do not know what ye is trying to do, but ye better leave before I pin ye myself."
Inuyasha stirred and coughed, his head rolling to the side. He could smell again, and it smelt like his blood. And Sesshomaru. He growled ferally, forcing his eyes open to glare at the white figure that stood over him. Beside him, kneeling over him was Kaeda. The old hag hadn't croaked yet. Thank the heavens for she was the only one that would be able to get his brother to die for good.
"What...the fuck do you want, Sesshomaru?" The hanyou hacked out, narrowing his gold eyes. "You mangy bitch...You're waiting for me to die to take...Tetsusaiga...I knew it..." Inuyasha fell into another fit of coughs, feeling Kaeda slap a cloth over his mouth as he tasted blood on his lips. "Get the fuck away from me..."
"You haven't been eating..." Sesshomaru murmured.
"I smell you everywhere. What did you fucking do..."
"I tried to save you-"
"You stabbed me didn't you..."
"I didn't know it was you. I was on my way to-"
"Save your excuses and get the fuck out of the village...Life was better when you weren't hanging around...When you weren't always there..." Inuyasha snarled, coughing again into Kaeda's cloth.
Sesshomaru's back stiffened and he hung his head, turning slowly on his heel. "Priestess...You will inform me when he is well again..." He whispered.
"You tell him a thing and I'll kill you both!" The hanyou roared hoarsly.
"Very well..." The demon walked through the flap covering the door, his foot steps melting away the further he got.
Kaeda brushed Inuyasha's bangs back and sighed. "He brought ye back. Covered in your blood and in a frenzy, as if he would kill us all if ye were not saved."
"I don't give...a shit..." He whispered and closed his eyes again.
"Kagome will not return, Inuyasha. You must not seek death out as you have been."
"Then make me better...So I can murder the bastard who dared to carry me back to save me from death."