They had been quiet, for awhile at least. Sesshoumaru woke up two hours later and went downstairs for a drink. Between studying and Inuyasha, his sleeping habits had taken quite a turn for the worse. Even if he wanted to stay asleep for longer, it was impossible for his body to accept more than two hours at a time, if it could even get that much in.
At one desperate moment in time, just a few weeks after Inuyasha had started living with him almost two years ago, he'd almost considered sleeping pills.
But then decided he would not allow himself to fall like his brother did, consenting to drugs in order to get relief. So he discarded the idea. And he adapted, as much as he hated to, around his brother.
His pale blue eyes in the mirror looked back at him, sharp, but hollow at the same time. The skin beneath his eyes, already translucent because of his condition, was dark with fatigue.
He stepped down the stairs, aware that a light was coming from the living room, and went to the fridge, where he got a bottle of water and chugged half of it. He wiped some of the drippings from his neck with a silk sleeve and went to the entryway of the living room.
They'd set up four rolls of sleeping bags on the rug in front of the television, although only two were occupied by Miroku and Sango, who were resting their backs against the lip of the right sofa cushion. Her head was on his shoulder, his leaning against hers, and their hands were clasped loosely between them. They were both asleep.
Inuyasha and Kagome were seated on the left side of the couch, not quite touching, but very close to each other. He was leaning half his body on the arm of the couch, staring absently at the television. She was seated next to him, arms around her legs and resting her chin on her knees, faintly smiling.
Inuyasha noticed his brother first.
"Feel like watching a musical?" he asked.
"It's 'The King and I'," Kagome amended.
"It's in English," Inuyasha scoffed.
"With subtitles," she said through grit teeth, glaring. "Don't act like you don't understand what they're saying."
"The king talks like a kindergartner. I don't understand what he's saying."
"That's because he's speaking a language that wasn't his first," Kagome said, matter-of-factly.
"Don't speak a language unless you know you're doing it right."
"Oh," she said, her voice raising. Sango stirred a bit at the noise. "So you're going to tell every single foreigner here to not even bother trying to communicate unless they know Japanese one hundred percent?"
Inuyasha shrunk back a little, knowing he'd been beaten and hating it. "Shut up."
"Please tell me it's because you're tired that you're being so stupid," Sesshoumaru stated flatly.
Inuyasha sat up, indignant, his mouth pulled back in a snarl.
"That animal act of yours is pathetic. I should send you to the pound."
That was the last straw for his brother, who forgot himself and jumped from the couch onto Miroku's legs and then at his elder sibling. Miroku grunted in pain and woke up only to see the two brothers locking hands. Inuyasha's feet gripped the carpet and he pushed forward with his powerful legs. Sesshoumaru didn't budge.
Something gold glinted in Inuyasha's eyes as the light from the movie caught them. Sesshoumaru grit his teeth. "Snap out of it."
The spark only burned brighter.
Sesshoumaru unlocked his arms and his brother crashed into his chest. He gripped his shoulders and whispered darkly in his younger brother's ear. "Get ahold of yourself. Do you really want to have one of those right now?"
Inuyasha gasped and roughly shoved himself away, shaken. His eyes were wide. But they were not gilt anymore.
The other three sat there, watching intently, bodies tensed.
Sesshoumaru went into the kitchen, grabbed a chair, and brought it into the living room. He then sat down upon it and focused his eyes on the television, looking bored.
Eventually they all settled down, but not completely. Inuyasha plopped himself on the floor in front of Kagome and she absently played with his hair.
It was uncomfortable. Not so much because of Inuyasha, but because of the presence of his brother. It seemed that Inuyasha only became that angry when it was around Sesshoumaru and his superior tongue. And it seemed to be Sesshoumaru that was the only one who could calm him down afterwards.
It was like watching a cat rile up a dog and then punch it in the face.
They all surreptitiously glanced at the albino from time to time, but his gaze never left the television.
Is he staying here to make sure Inuyasha doesn't go berserk again? But he was the cause of it all in the first place.
Inuyasha was grumbling and growling to himself, clenching his fists in the sleeping bag.
Yes, the first place... He glared at the people dancing onscreen but he did not see them. He was thinking back to that day so long ago. The day when he'd turned to ruin.