Juuroumaru spent the rest of the time in his room, his door locked and windows barred. Once, a meal was slipped into his room but Juuroumaru wouldn't touch it.

Curled up in the center of the room, he rocked back and forth, bathed in slivers of light. He didn't understand it- why had the inu youkai touched him? Why had he brought him home? Why did his cheeks redden every time he thought of the inu youkai's soft, fluffy pelt…?

His thoughts eventually had taken a darker turn, Naraku, Kagura, and Kageroumaru…

He didn't know when, but eventually anxiety and stress had caught up with him and he was asleep. He tossed and turned on the ground, snarls and screams ripping out of his throat. His cries ricocheted off the walls, reverberating in his mind and making it worse.

Had he not heard the voice from somewhere in the world of consciousness, and had the clawed hand not been shaking him so violently, he might never have awoken.

Sesshoumaru rose irritably from his rare sleep that had been disturbed by the youkai's screams. He entered the room to a scene of total chaos. The demon was thrashing on the floor, screaming, snarling, tears and sweat pouring down his face and body, and his meal lay forgotten. Sesshoumaru began to shake him, trying to bring the demon back to reality, and when those electric violet eyes opened, they were filled with fear and pain. Before Sesshoumaru had time to react, the youkai struck him with a clawed hand, leaving deep ragged marks that crisscrossed with his own red streaks

Sesshoumaru winced as the nails raked deeply into his cheek but before the full extent of it actually reached him, the demon had sat up like a being possessed and began trying to throttle him, snarling and growling. Sesshoumaru immediately grasped the wrists and forced them away from his throat, pushing the demon away forcefully, causing the demon to wake at last.

Juuroumaru looked around wildly, the pain in his head causing his mind to be somewhat blurred, his was world spinning. When at last he could focus, he saw the elder demon standing somewhere above him, ragged claw marks dug into his cheeks and red marks around his throat. Almost unaware that he was doing it, Juuroumaru lifted his hand and surveyed it, realizing the crimson stains that his nails were entirely covered in. Had he…?

He pushed away from the bed as if to launch an attack. Sesshoumaru immediately backed up, raising his claws and Juuroumaru swerved around him and sprinted out the open door.

It wasn't long before the demon began to catch up and he knew he had no chance. He continued to run anyway, blinded by fear and fueled by it as well. Though finally, terrifying him in the process, the lord pounced on him and jumped away, landing swiftly beside him. He was gasping softly and Sesshoumaru bent towards him, a clawed hand outstretched.

Before the cold fingers so much as touched him, he yelped and scrambled away. Angrily, Sesshoumaru firmly grabbed him before he could think to try again, lifted him off the ground and began to carry him back in the direction they had run. Sesshoumaru kept the youkai's arms pinned firmly behind his back as he carried the awkward bundle. Halfway to his destination, Juuroumaru had stopped struggling and Sesshoumaru had been able to change positions so that the youkai was draped in his arm.

Juuroumaru's eyes were shut and his body tense and trembling. He curled fists into the youkai's kimono.

Twice the inu youkai spoke, though Juuroumaru's fear hazed mind was too far-gone to take it in. He only pressed his face closer to the source of warmth and the rhythmic heartbeat.

"Let go," said Sesshoumaru. It was only a half-hearted protest and in truth, he really didn't care. He knew the youkai was far too scared to comply anyway.

Not really realizing what he was doing, he leaned down and gently nuzzled the youkai's cheek, exactly as he had told himself he wouldn't. Bright, electric purple eyes shot open and Juuroumaru stared up at him in alarm. Sesshoumaru pressed his lips to the corner of the youkai's eye. Juuroumaru's white eyelashes fluttered.

Sesshoumaru suddenly straightened, catching himself yet again and berating himself for letting lost cloud his judgment. It was wrong. The youkai was not to be coddled like a doll. He was not Rin, nor was he some pet. He was a full-grown youkai, meant to make up for Sesshoumaru's loss and suffer all that his master had caused everyone. "Release my haori," Not even looking at Juuroumaru, he continued his trek, ignoring the confused, slightly hurt eyes that gazed up at him.

Sesshoumaru carried him on until they were free of the winding, dark corridors. In this new, warmer room, the inu youkai carried him and settled him a few paces away on something warm and soft. Juuroumaru still wouldn't let go of Sesshoumaru's shirt, even when Sesshoumaru commanded him angrily to release him. He shook his head vigorously. "Juuroumaru…" the inu youkai said warningly. Juuroumaru whimpered and tightened his hold on the fistful of silk. Surprisingly, Sesshoumaru didn't reprimand him but instead lay down beside him. The inu youkai wrapped him in the fluffy pelt making Juuroumaru murmur in pleasure and slowly loosen his death grip on Sesshoumaru's clothes.

Sesshoumaru splayed himself out, ignoring his stinging cheek. "Do not try to escape, my pelt with throttle you while I sleep if you so much as attempt to leave the bed. Sleep, Juuroumaru," Juuroumaru glanced over in a sidelong fashion at the inu youkai. It didn't make any sense, one moment, the inu youkai would threaten him, warn him and the next, he might ignore him completely- and, the most confusing of all, he might touch him. He had only been there a day, and already, he found himself completely befuddled.

Juuroumaru reached out, his fingers ghosting just above the three, parallel marks on the unscathed side of his face.

Sesshoumaru's eyes opened and Juuroumaru couldn't tell if he was glaring or smirking. Maybe both. Juuroumaru moved his hand away quickly, shutting his eyes. He wasn't sure what he would be more afraid of if he opened his eyes... the inu youkai being angry with him, or entirely ignoring him.

Sesshoumaru frowned and gently brushed his hand against the youkai's cheek. Juuroumaru only shut his eyes tighter. Suppressing the slightly guilty feeling that came with knowing it was he had that had somehow managed to frighten the youkai yet again; Sesshoumaru turned his head the other way and slept.

When Juuroumaru was sure that the inu youkai was no longer watching, he opened his eyes again. For a while he simply stared at the long silver hair, the deep, smooth voice, the beautiful fluffy pelt, which, at the moment, engulfed him snugly. But why was he thinking such things? The inu youkai surely didn't care. Juuroumaru shouldn't either.