Later 17 Learning

Sesshoumaru was returning to Rin when his youkai made him halt and turn back, it knew that his brother's aura was disturbed and this time it was not prepared to allow the Daiyoukai to ignore it. Reaching out his own aura he located his brother not too far away and masking his youki so as not to alarm the boy, he approached quite close to where Inuyasha was sitting in a tree. The hanyou was not alone, but Sesshoumaru was intrigued as to what the flea youkai was talking about.

"Lord Inuyasha, please stop this at once; have you forgotten all the training I gave you when you were a whelpling, or do I have to smack your ears again to remind you?" The only reply Myouga received was to be flicked into the surrounding forest from Inuyasha's knee by a clawed finger, and to be caught by another's clawed hand that reached out to catch him. Sesshoumaru took the flea out of Inuyasha's hearing.

"You will explain just what sort of training a flea can give to an Inu hanyou Myouga, besides how you dared to try and discipline your master?

"Ah, Lord Sesshoumaru, yes, well, Master Inuyasha was very young then; just a small whelp, indeed yes."

"Get on with it Flea. This Sesshoumaru looses patience with your procrastination."

"Well, Lord Sesshoumaru, I felt that Inuyasha was too soft a child when he was left orphaned; only having been with his mother and her tenderness as it were. Despite being spurned often, he was still far too trusting at first and was liable to be killed on his first day."

"So what did you do?" Sesshoumaru kept tight hold on the tiny youkai between his claws so that Myouga couldn't escape the questioning and gave an encouraging squeeze to keep him from forgetting to answer.

"I told him to run when the humans were coming for him, I told him to run when he was chased by youkai. It was I who told him none could be trusted and that he must never cry because tears block his eyes and nose and when he is miserable his ears too, flatten and close. The young master is far too vulnerable with all his senses blocked, especially when he is human."

"This instruction was the extent of your training?"

"No, Lord Inuyasha needed constant reminding at first; I taught him to channel his grief into anger, so that if he felt near to tears he became angry and aggressive instead. I encouraged him to remember my words by smacking him inside his ears with my fans; they were enough to sting the pup."

"It was you that taught my brother to become aggressive, thereby changing his original inclinations and eventual character?"

"There was no other way, or anyone else to help him survive at the time My Lord. It wasn't a pleasant time; I often had to shame him and be cruel with my words to help him. My only consolation is that he understands my reasons now."

"You have served your master faithfully then Myouga and my father would have been pleased with your service." The surprising praise from such a source as Sesshoumaru nearly overwhelmed the cowardly flea, who nonetheless took the first opportunity to escape that he was given. Meanwhile Sesshoumaru approached Inuyasha who hadn't moved or shown any sign of awareness that his brother was with him.

Inuyasha was silent but the scent of his tears was very strong and for once Sesshoumaru felt perturbed; he was more used to his brother being noisy even when upset, than this eerily quiet. Sesshoumaru leapt gracefully onto Inuyasha's branch and placed his hand on his brother's head gently but firmly; although the boy was startled however, Inuyasha still didn't look up at all.

"Inuyasha, it seems Myouga was correct, you are completely open to attack when you grieve like this."

"Feh! I knew you were there; I'm only thinking." Inuyasha ignored the disbelieving sound that Sesshoumaru made to that statement.

"You have put yourself in danger most foolishly; I could have easily killed you just now." Sesshoumaru watched Inuyasha's head come up at that statement.

"Is that it then, the truce is over; she has agreed to be your mate and now you can take her away and no longer need a watch dog for her. You can kill me Sesshoumaru, but you will not harm my mate and pups, Rin would never forgive you."

"You insult me and call my honour into question; why Inuyasha?" Sesshoumaru was angry until he saw his brother's eyes; they were dulled gold with no spark of life and awash with tears that had already left their mark in the reddened rims and trails on his cheeks. This was more than grief, it was abject misery and Sesshoumaru was determined to find out the cause.

He leaned forward and tipped Inuyasha's face up holding the boy's chin in his claws and for once Inuyasha didn't try to pull away from his brother's scrutiny. He already knew he was worthless again in Sesshoumaru's eyes and he had no energy left to fight and not appear as the weak bastard child his brother always saw when he deigned to notice him. Inuyasha was so lost in his misery that he didn't see the concerned look on his brother's face.

"Tell me pup, what has upset you so very much?"

"I was a fool." Sesshoumaru admirably held his tongue, knowing that Inuyasha was not in the mood for even mild teasing at the moment.

"What do you think was foolish pup?"

"I dunno, I just wanted what she said to be true and it isn't."

"Who lied to you?"

"She didn't mean for it to be a lie, she just tried to explain how she thought, but it was all wrong and I'm a fool for letting it hurt."

"What did she say?"

"It don't matter Sesshoumaru; forget it, go and celebrate or something with Rin." Inuyasha pulled away from his brother and put his head on his knees again, isolating himself once more. Sesshoumaru growled in frustration but not enough to intimidate, before leaping down from the tree and informing the guards to be attentive to Inuyasha. They were already standing by the trunk and had overheard their young master so Sesshoumaru didn't need to explain further other than instructing that if necessary, Inuyasha was to be brought bodily to him.

Meanwhile Sesshoumaru appeared beside the hut where Kaede lived and knocked before entering. Kaede welcomed him before once more offering her congratulations which he could tell were sincere, as he now suspected that she had known long before he did that his affections had already been given to Rin. This time however he wanted to know exactly what she had said to Inuyasha, having guessed that Kaede was the 'she' the boy referred to earlier and remembering what Rin had also said.

"Lady Kaede, This Sesshoumaru requests that you tell him of your conversation with Inuyasha." He then proceeded to tell her of his brother's distress and the mystery in his words. Kaede thought long and hard before answering Sesshoumaru with a question of her own.

"What do ye intend to do with the answer My Lord? Were thy words on the past new moon although spoken in haste and under stress, meant, or were they out of temper and just unfortunate? Do ye mean to start to torment the child again?"

"Your impertinence could get you killed Old Lady."

"But not until I give ye the answer to thy questions; I do not mean to be rude to ye My Lord but Inuyasha is so easily hurt in his feelings, that I would not add to his burdens."

"This I know, and no I will never deliberately harm my brother again but I wish to know what it was that I said or did that aggravated the situation between us, apart from when he was human." Sesshoumaru was aware he had dropped his lordly tone, but the old Miko was a kindly lady and strangely he felt safe with her, knowing that she would never abuse his trust.

"Firstly My Lord, how did ye know that it was I who had spoken with Inuyasha; did he mention any of what was said to him? "

"Very little; it was Rin who told me, she said he had seemed upset with seeing his pups together and you spoke with him."

"That is essentially correct."

"I do not understand, this was nothing new, the pups always curl up together; it is the nature of the Inu and we have often remarked on the irony about how different it was for us."

"Ah, but this time the pups had been caught fighting between them quite severely and already been spanked, before they had messed up the flower bed of Kagome's and been sent by her to do some punitive weeding. It was seeing them in such a congenial way after their spat that proved too much for the boy, especially after thine own fight."

"This Sesshoumaru understands, but what did you say to him that he wishes was true?" He waited as Kaede sighed sadly. She eventually narrated what had happened and Sesshoumaru didn't interrupt her.

"I spoke firmly to him, I told him he was to listen to me and that I would take no nonsense or rudeness from him and he was to just sit until I'd finished. He postured a bit but did as I said pretty quickly. I asked him what had upset him and he told me about how affected he had been by thy words. Oh he pretended he didn't care much and I said I wasn't born yesterday and didn't believe him; at which point he wept for a while.

"I asked him if it were true that ye were a cool and calculating youkai, not given to saying much when ye fought. Inuyasha said ye were precise and concise in movement and word; he didn't use those words but they were the gist of his answer. I concluded that only he was able to make ye less guarded and angrier when ye met and Inuyasha agreed and told me why he thought that was so. The answer seemed obvious to me and still does so.

"I then asked him what he wanted from ye Lord Sesshoumaru and he was silent, so I told him that I thought he had always wanted you as his brother. Then I congratulated him because that is exactly what he has in thee and ye in him; only ye are both wound up so tightly that neither of ye can see it for what it is. He was sceptical rather naturally, but it is true; brothers do fight and squabble, they call each other names and make each other cry, but they pull together too and protect one other when they are in trouble.

"Ye can see it so easily in the pups but thy behaviour is not really any different. Normally it happens more when pups are younger true, but ye two never had the same opportunity as pups and it is coming out now; you have come into more contact since Inuyasha was freed from the tree and he has aged sufficiently for this rivalry to be two sided now.

"I said it was obvious that ye and he had settled many differences, but that ye could both still bring out the worst in each other; I also said that ye Lord Sesshoumaru would have hunted down Inuyasha if ye really felt that he had been less than diligent where Rin was concerned, but ye felt safe in letting out thy frustration instead, by yelling thy familiar anger at thy brother.

"I didn't tell Inuyasha of my suspicions for thy loss of control, only that I felt ye hadn't meant thy words, in much the same way that he hadn't meant some of the sometimes cruel things he had said to Kagome when he was angry and confused. Inuyasha could see that most of all I think and it is that I would surmise, is at the root of his upset now."

Sesshoumaru had remained still and silent while Kaede spoke; her words were at first astounding to him but he could assimilate quickly and her words although surprising, were wise. He supposed that the Miko of a village even if childless herself had seen much of others and even he knew that the young of any species fought between themselves to establish order. He could see quite clearly how his little brother had wanted her version of things to be true as well.

"This is all very well Lady Kaede, but this does not explain why Inuyasha is upset now."

"No; how did he take the news of thy courtship of Rin?"

"He called me a hypocrite, accused me of not taking any pups into account, called into question my ability to look after my own and then insulted my integrity and honour by accusing me of plans to kill him now. Then he has the audacity to run away and sit weeping after cutting me down like that." Sesshoumaru realised he sounded petulant, but Kaede was understanding and felt like an older relative to him at the moment.

"Our Inuyasha is still such a child at times, but I think I can tell ye what he is feeling at the moment. My Lord ye have told him ye will look after thine own, but of this he has no experience and yet has craved it all of his life. Perhaps he feels he does not belong, especially if he is thinking ye have gone back to the old ways of being. The boy is not as logical as ye can be, his human heart is very hurt and damaged; it will need a great deal of care for him to fully believe ye, even when he so desperately wants to."

Sesshoumaru thanked Kaede and started to walk back to where Inuyasha was sitting. As he walked he thought about what the old Miko had said and knew he had to make this right with Inuyasha. After all he would also have hanyou pups and he would need to understand them as well but despite that, he didn't like misunderstandings between Inuyasha and himself. Even when he had been cruel to the small pup and the older boy, he had always been honest with himself, or so he thought.

If he wanted Inuyasha to trust him, Sesshoumaru knew he would have to be open with his little brother and his youkai agreed; it was the only way to bond the family ties. He reached the tree and spoke with the guards who told him that Inuyasha had stopped crying but was still silent and unmoving. Sesshoumaru encountered a problem though when he tried to dismiss the guards; they were polite but in no uncertain terms told him that they were to protect the young lord at all times even against the wishes of their Lord.

These were the instructions given by Sesshoumaru himself on granting them their lives after his attack and could not be revoked. But they were tremendously loyal and caused Sesshoumaru to marvel once again at the protective feelings Inuyasha could engender in others. The guards did however give assurance that their discretion could be relied upon and Sesshoumaru had no choice but to allow them to stay at the bottom of the tree.

The Daiyoukai had reasoned further on Kaede's words, especially when she called Inuyasha a child. Albeit he was a father and a good one too, even Sesshoumaru called him pup sometimes and not just as an affectionate term, in point of fact the boy was still very young and the elder brother had noticed that he sometimes responded in the way of a pup. Not that he would make the idiotic mistake of patronising his brother when he spoke with him but he would use more normal speech rather than his imperial tones.

"Inuyasha, I promise I will not try to hurt you again; I have spoken with the old lady and she is right, we have both acted like pups and if father were here we would have been treated like your pups were, very quickly."

"No, nobody would have cared if you'd killed me." Inuyasha's voice was flat and resigned, he was not talking out of self pity, and there was no whine, just a stating of the facts as he saw them. "I'm alone Sesshoumaru, truly alone and it's the first time I've really been aware of it."

"You are speaking nonsense Little Brother, you have your family…"

"I know, but I've got no roots anymore."

"Speak clearly and explain Inuyasha that I may understand you." Sesshoumaru was worried about where this was going and he waited patiently for Inuyasha to gather his thoughts. Inuyasha took a long time to answer his brother but his voice was steady as he did so.

"It's like a great big tree Sesshoumaru, the West I mean, and everyone down through the ages like you and father, your mother, you are all the branches. My pups too are strong and good and will grow into sturdy branches worthy of the tree; your mother has adopted them as her grandchildren which is great and more than I'd hoped for. I thought that maybe I was a branch too, father's blood flows through me like the sap in the tree, but I'm wrong.

"I'm really a branch that was hit by lightning and died where I fell to the ground; or not even that, more like one of the dead leaves that are cast away each year and left to blow around till they become dust. Your mother cares nothing for whether I live or die and she never has, I don't blame her; but when you too said that if I'd been considered family you would have cared for me like your own…I…I…I felt such pain inside, my youkai has been crying ever since and that hurts.

"I thought I'd have to become a new tree, but I won't take my pups away from the older one where they are welcome and where they belong. But me, once it didn't matter where I lived, I felt the pull to father's homeland but now I have no roots, no history and no belonging anywhere…I've never felt so alone." He repeated, before his sorrow overcame him once again and he lifted his head and let out a tremendous howl full of grief.

Instantly the guards were beside the boy on the branch, their instincts taking control in protecting the distraught pup and Sesshoumaru too was no different, although this time he didn't leave Inuyasha to himself and instead pulled him into his lap until he quietened. The guards returned to the ground having seen that Inuyasha was safe and in the village, Kaede persuaded Kagome to trust Sesshoumaru while she looked after the pups that had been disturbed by their father's cry.

TBC