I do not own the show/manga of InuYasha. Nor do I own the characters.
I do own the creativity that has forced me to write a fanfiction, however. D:

It Is Not True
Pairing: MriokuXSesshomaru
Side Pair: InuyhashaXKouga
Chapter Eleven: Proven Wrong

Inuyasha, now fully clothed and clean, made his way back to Kaede's. The villager's he passed seemed awfully tense and jumpy. More so then they usually were when he was around. They actually seemed to be ignoring him more than usual as well. This was an odd turn of events and it made him wonder what was wrong with everyone, earlier they were fine. . . Though he did have more to worry about then he needed to. The villagers were the last on his list of things to fix. Right now he only had time for Miroku and. . . What he thought he felt for Sesshomaru. Inuyasha would show him that, even though he gave in once, it didn't mean that they were in "love". It was lust. It had to be lust. There was no way anyone like Sesshomaru would feel anything besides the need to kill.

Bah. Sesshomaru. Love. Those words did not go together. They didn't even belong together. After all that Sesshomaru has ever done, he doesn't deserve someone like Miroku's love. Horrible people do not love. End of discussion.

"What do you got cooking, old lady, I'm starv-"Inuyasha walked right into Kaede's hut to see a scene he would have lived his whole life pretty well without seeing. "WHAT THE HELL?" He was gone maybe an hour (It was more than an hour…) cleaning up and he comes in to find his worst (Okay, second worst) enemy eating all lovey-dovey like with his best friend? It most likely shouldn't be such a shock to him, since he knew they had been together, but he couldn't help it. It was one thing to know and not see it, it was another thing entirely to know about it and physically see it.

"Whaa!" Rin literally jumped at Inuyasha's outburst. You'd think living with Sesshomaru she'd be used to things liking fighting, but Sesshomaru took it upon himself to not show her too much of that side unless he had to.

"Inuyasha! You, uh, you knew. . . about. . this. Please don't scare Rin." Miroku reached over and put a hand on the girl's back to make sure she was okay. She had been sitting closer to Miroku than to Sesshomaru, and with the jump she had scooted a little closer to him.

"What's he doing here? What's she doing here? What's going on?" Inuyasha may have been freaking out a little bit. He still wasn't used to Miroku being in love with his brother and vice versa (Since Sesshomaru couldn't be in love and all). Not that he wanted to be used to it.

Miroku looked over at Sesshomaru, who seemed to be intently looking at the soup, which he had hardly touched, as if he were trying to figure out what Lady Kaede had put inside it. It seemed Sesshomaru would need a little help to be able to talk to his half-brother. "Uh, Sesshomaru wanted to . . . speak with you."

This was good. Inuyasha huffed, "Well, good. I wanted to speak to both of you…." He looked at Rin. "Alone."

Rin looked up at both Miroku and then across to Sesshomaru. She wasn't entirely sure what was going on, just a lot of hostility from the guy in red. . . and to tell the truth she'd rather be far away from him. "I.. I can go… see where Master Jaken… is." She got up and started pass Inuyasha. Before she passed him she thought she heard Inuyasha mumble an apology to her, but she couldn't believe a scary guy like that would say he's sorry for scaring her. . . would he?

Inuyasha stood there awkwardly. Sesshomaru pretended to keep looking at his soup intently. Miroku, on the other hand, wanted them to talk but had no idea how to start this. More importantly, Inuyasha said he wanted to speak to bothof them. Miroku didn't want any part in the brotherly feud. . . But if you are in a relationship with one of the brothers, you tend to be brought into the feud. Miroku sighed. "Maybe, it would be best if I leave…"

"No!" Both brothers yelled in his direction. He paused mid-standing and sat back down. At least they agreed on something.

Inuyasha glared at nothing. His brother and him said the same thing at the same time! How idiotic. Inuyasha needed Miroku here to talk to him. Who knew why Sesshomaru wanted him here. Maybe this was the time he'd tell Miroku that he was playing with him the whole time, and then Inuyasha would have to kill Sesshomaru just to protect Miroku's honor. . . . Miroku's honor? What the hell! Was he a girl now? All of this did not make one once of sense to the half-demon.

"I think it would be best if we traveled together. It-"

"I think you're playing with Miroku's feelings. I-"

The brothers started talking at the same time and stopped when they noticed this fact.

"You think I am what?"

"You want to what?"

If Miroku could see a disaster strike, this would be the time. The brothers weren't even talking correctly! Each wanted to talk about their subject first and to not let the other speak. . . at least for very long. Miroku sighed and spoke up before either brother could go for the other's throat "Whoa! Now, hold on. This is a conversation without fighting. Inuyasha, I know you didn't say you weren't going to just talk, but. . . If our friendship means anything to you, you should at least respect my feelings enough to not fight." This was harder than he thought, speaking about feelings used to be so easy for the monk. Now it was a scary ordeal. "Inuyasha, you should go first." It was the least Miroku could do. He knew how much stress and worry he was putting the half-demon in, it was the most he could do to let him get his words in first.

Sesshomaru sighed and, even though he didn't agree with who spoke first, this was for Miroku and he'd let him have it his way.

Inuyasha was between a rock and hard place. Miroku was indeed a most trustworthy friend. He would even go so far as to say he loved him, in the way you love a brother or sister. He seemed to know what he was feeling. . . He sure wished he had that same clarity as Miroku. But, at the same time, he did not trust Sesshomaru and if he came down to it, he didn't care that Miroku loved another man, he cared that it was Sesshomaru of all people. "Traveling together aside, it's obvious to me that you are toying with Miroku. Just leave us alone. Someone like you can't possibly love Miroku or even love at all. I don't know what you're after, but you need to stop."

True to his word, Sesshomaru did not get up and rip his half-brother's heart out and throw it into the low fire that still heated the rest of the soup Kaede had made. He would not fight his brother under any circumstances. "May I ask, little brother," Sesshomaru chose the term carefully, since Inuyasha hated to be reminded that they were in fact brothers. "How you became such an expert on me and my 'feelings'?"

Inuyasha huffed. "Try to kill someone since they were seven and you kind of learn how they act." Inuyasha crossed his arms, a clear sign this conversation was going down the drain and quickly.

Sesshomaru looked at Miroku, he saw the worry in his face and felt it radiating off him. If he knew he would have these kind of feelings for Miroku when he tried to kill Inuyasha, would he have done so? All this 'feelings' talk was so confusing to him, he just now understood how he felt about Miroku, how could he possibly understand his feelings for his little brother? How could things have gone differently? Was there ever going to be a time when the two could call each other allies instead of enemies?

Inuyasha sighed. There Sesshomaru went being silent. How could you talk to someone being so silent all the time?

Miroku wasn't sure what was going on in Sesshomaru's head, but he knew Sesshomaru went to silence when he wasn't sure what to say or he wasn't sure how to put what he wanted to say into words. He sure hoped this would all go well and they could all be friends.

"Inuyasha." Sesshoamru started, still unsure of what to say. Maybe if he just spoke the right words could come out. He had never done this before. He was always the one to think about what he wanted to say and how to say it before the words left his mouth. "I understand your hatred for me." Which was true, he often did try and kill Inuyasha, the little half-breed was half of what he hated: human. But now… it was different. He loved Miroku, who was human. He finally understood his father's feelings for Inuyasha's mother. The wretched woman who- Sesshomaru was about to say something else but stopped short of starting a new word. Was this why he hated Inuyasha? His father would have only mated with his mother, had he not met that human woman… had he not taken her… had Inuyasha not been born. Sure, his father and mother were not in 'love' but the marriage and children were agreed upon. Sesshomaru was a child of two proud demons. Inuyasha was a child of love. His mother loved him. Their father loved him. But did he love his first son?

Inuyasha thought Sesshoamru was going to continue, but he took to silence again. Maybe that was all he was going to say. "It took you this long to understand why I hate you. I thought you were smart, but I suppose you w-"

"What you don't understand is… Why I hate you." Sesshomaru interrupted without knowing he interrupted. He was, in fact, very smart. Smart enough to realize his own shortcomings, few as they were. Miroku was smart enough to notice this, did Miroku always know this? Sesshomaru looked toward Inuyasha and stood up, his bowl of soup he had been staring at, not eating, he had put away long ago. "Inuyasha. Child born of demon and human."

Inuyasha didn't think his glare could get any stronger, but it did when Sesshomaru pointed out his lineage. He knew Sesshomaru hated him for being half-human. He knew every demon and human hated him for being a half-breed. Was Sesshomaru pointing this out again just to start a fight? He may value Miroku's friendship, but he couldn't take these personal blows for too long without throwing physical blows at some point.

"Or should I say a child born of love." Sesshomaru now, as if for the first time, and maybe so, looked at his brother as just that. A brother. "You were born from a man who loved a woman. I was born from a pact. A pact to make our race of demons stronger. I was not loved as a child. I was not held as your mother held you or as father held you. I've taken my anger out on you. I can not take it out on our dead father, or even your dead mother. So I did so on you." Sesshomaru, as much as he did not want to say these words, as much as they, already, felt like acid in his mouth, he had to say them. They were only partially true. He said them to please Miroku, of all people. He knew that if he did not say something along these lines, then Inuyasha would never agree to their traveling together and Sesshomaru would have to follow, despite Inuyasha and then there would be fighting all the time and hardly any time for Miroku. He took a breath and started his apology. "I apologize for everything I've done in the past to you. If you could forgive me. . . if we could be allies-"

"You what?" Inuyasha could not believe the words coming from Sesshomaru's mouth. The glare was replaced with a look of shock. Why did those words ease some of the pain he had felt for years? Were these words he had wanted to hear for so long? This was not true, this couldn't be true. Sesshomaru wanted to.. No. No. This is a trick; this had to be a trick! Sesshomaru was not capable of feeling anything! He was only capable of killing and tricking so he could kill! Without another word, or letting Sesshomaru talk, Inuyasha turn and ran out of the hut. He wasn't sure where he was going, but he had to get out of there. That wasn't Sesshomaru. That was someone in his skin. That was someone who wanted to make him trust him and then rip him to shreds. Even if the words weretrue, and Inuyasha highly doubted they were, it would take a lot more than a simple apology to get him to be Sesshomaru's ally.

Sesshomaru turned to Miroku. That was the thing he least expected from his half-brother.

"Uhm. I… I'm…" Miorku didn't know what to say, even this information was a bit hard for Miroku to swallow. Sesshomaru had been jealous of Inuyasha? This was what the monk wanted, in any sense of the word 'want', but he wasn't sure Sesshomaru was being very truthful. There was no way that Sesshomaru would jump from 'travel together' to 'allies'. If anything, that was a work in progress… "I'm not sure why he did that."

~It is Not True~
/SideStory

Inuyasha finally stopped running, only because his legs were so tired. He fell to the ground. He thought he heard a stream around him, but he wasn't for sure. It was dark in the sky and his legs ached at him like they were on fire and bleeding. He knew they weren't, but he let himself be lost in the pain. He didn't want to think about Sesshomaru…That man wearing Sesshomaru's skin. He was so different. Did Miroku do that to him? Did Miroku change him? Was it possible to change someone? It was so dark by now Inuyasha just closed his eyes. Even if he were in danger and had to move to a safe place, his legs would fight him. They were just so. . . tired. He was vaguely awake of something coming closer to him and sniffing his hand. It was most likely some curious animal. Lucky for the animal, Inuyasha wasn't a predator and in no mood to kill random animals. He let sleep take him away for the night. If he stayed up much longer who knew what he would think about.

"What did you find there?" Kouga, flanked by two of his other wolves, walked up to his wolf smelling… a hand… that appeared to be attached to Inuyasha. "Hmm. I thought I smelled a mutt around here." Which he did, he thought Inuyasha was around here somewhere but he wasn't really concentrating on find him. "You're just outside my territory, Mutt. Lucky for you… Mutt? Inuyasha?" Inuyasha hadn't been saying anything, was he hurt? Kouga pushed a leg with his foot, but the half-breed on the ground didn't move. He didn't smell injured. He was… sleeping? Kouga scratched the back of his head in thought. "Ahhh. This is no place for a nap, Mutt." Kouga kicked him again, a little harder this time, but Inuyasha remained out cold. Bending down to look at Inuyasha's sleeping face, Kouga mumbled. "Just what were you up to… Out like a light." He sighed. "I suppose it can't be helped." Kouga then picked up Inuyasha and started carrying him to his den.

When he walked in he got a few confused looks from his tribe members. "Looks like we'll have a new addition for a day or so. Found him almost dead." He told the tribe as he walked back to his area. "He'd do the same for me if things were switched." Kouga did have to explain his actions to the tribe even though he was the leader, even if his explanation was a bit of a stretch from the truth. It wasn't because he was scared they'd disown him or rebel against him. He was their leader for better or worse. He was just kind enough to inform the tribe of his actions. He wasn't a tyrant, like other wolf demon tribe leaders in other areas. He was a leader with fairness, albeit, with white lies, but fairness all the same.

Kouga made Inuyasha as comfortable as he could. He had to question, if the tables wereturned would Inuyasha help him out? He wasn't fully sure he would. There was a bit of him that said they are for better or for worse allies. You do help your allies when they are in danger. There were moments in the past were Inuyasha helped him in battle and he helped Inuyasha, this was no different from one of those times.. wasn't it?

Inuyasha made the smallest noise and moved the tiniest bit, but it caught Kouga's attention. His movement brought back the day he had seen Inuyasha in the lake. He had been sitting far away from Inuyasha and trying his best not to look at him sleeping because of that day. That day brought some feelings he hadn't felt before, not even for Kagome, who he though the feelings would be for. But now, looking at Inuyasha, he felt something stronger than his childish feelings for Kagome. Kouga watched as Inuyasha's golden eyes opened slowly and then blinked twice, as if they couldn't believe what they were seeing.

"Where am I…. what are you doing?" Inuyasha's voice was groggy, like he should be sleeping more, but something woke him suddenly. "Get off me!" His voice was stronger now, like he was now more awake than he wanted to be.

Kouga suddenly took in his surroundings. In his looking at Inuyhasa it unexpectedly appeared that he had moved without realizing it. He was basically sitting on Inuyasha, his face just inches away from Inuyahsa's face. He moved away, hopefully, much quicker than when he got in that position. "I was checking for injuries!" Kouga found himself saying quickly. "I found you half dead outside, brought you here…. This is the thanks I get? Stupid Mutt…"

"Oh.." Inuyasha said and sat up, his legs were still stiff, but they didn't hurt so much now. Kouga let out a breath of relief, his cover had worked. "Well, thanks, Wolf."
Inuyasha was really thanking him? This was strange. Was this really Inuyasha? "…What happened?" Something very strange had to have happened if Inuyasha wasn't himself. He half expected him to run out of here without so much as a thanks when he woke up.

"…." Inuyasha sat up. He wasn't sure why, but he felt that if he was going to talk about…. Miroku and his half-brother… he might as well talk with Kouga. He did have an outsider's view, since he didn't travel with Inuyasha and the others. But then again, it's Kouga. Why would he want to know? "Ah, you don't want to know. It's more personal than it has to do with my worn out legs. Really… thanks for the help though. I'll be sure to retu-"

"You're not going anywhere until you tell me, Mutt." Kouga crossed his arms. If he wasn't mistaken, Inuyasha had actually thoughtabout if he wanted to tell Kouga what happened or not. If he were really Inuyasha he would have said "It is none of your damn business what happened!" without even a second pause to remember what language he was speaking.

"Stop calling me Mutt, damnit! I can go where I want to go." Inuyasha said, despite not getting up, sitting up had been more tough than it really should have been, but he didn't show how much trouble it had been. Kouga was next to him, it would have been a sign of weakness.

"That's more like the Inuyasha I know. Fine, if you really want to go: Go. Give me back my bed." Kouga wasn't sure, but there had to be a reason he wanted to stay. He hadn't left yet.

One thing was for sure, Inuyasha didn't want to limp out of here. Which would be what he looked like if he got up now to leave. "…." He didn't want Kouga to think he was inured though, since all he did was run without stopping or slowing down. Any demon could do that and be fine. But Inuyasha was half-demon… His human side had weaknesses he tried to forget.

"Well, if you aren't going to leave. Sleep or tell me why I found you out cold." Kouga found it quite enjoyable to have the upper hand on Inuyasha.

Another thing was for sure, Inuyasha wasn't going to sleep again around Kouga. He may trust Kouga a bit, but not enough to knowingly sleep around him. Inuyasha sighed. Why was everything so difficult for him now? "Fine. My half-brother and Miroku are lovers. There."

He had spoken so fast it took a second for Kouga to string to words together and make them sound right. So his half-brother (who Kouga did not know) and that monk that traveled with him were together. "Why does that concern you?" Kouga didn't mean to sound rude, but he honestly didn't see where Inuyasha fit into the equation there. Even in his tribe, love was a very personal thing. No one asked him if they could mate someone. They usually just did and informed people that person belonged to them.

Inuyasha turned his eyes from the straw on the ground (apparently Kouga's bed) to Kouga. He looked at him like he was so incredibly stupid. "Sesshomaru is toying with him. He has to be. Someone that evil, that destructive couldn't possibly have those feelings for Miroku."

Sesshomaru was Inuyasha's half-brother? Sesshomaru the lord of the west? Even his tribe didn't mess with that Demon Lord. Kouga was momentarily at a loss for words, but then he found them. "… That seems complicated… Do you have proof he's playing with the monk?" As he watched Inuyasha think about this he was shocked to see that he did not even blink before he answered.

"No, but the point is I knowSesshomaru. I've known him since I was little. He's not the type to… have feelings at all."

Kouga knew he heard the words "know" and "known" but he could have sworn they sounded like "fear" and "feared". Kouga shook his head. "And he couldn't have changed? Your monk friend, maybe he changed Sesshomaru. People can.. make other's change in an instant." Maybe Kouga was thinking more along the lines of what Inuyasha made him think and feel sometimes… Even now, in this very serious conversation, Kouga wanted to reach out and touch the half-breed's long silver hair. Why hasn't be touched it before?

"Huff. Change. No one changes. They're always the same. Like telling me a few lies will make me think you've changed. I'm not stupid." Inuyasha took the silence after Kouga's words to think about the last thing Sesshomaru told him. It made more sense now that he was lying.

"Lies? Who told you lies?" Kouga, for a second, was taken aback. He did lie to Inuyasha, but that was a while ago. He surely didn't think back and analyze the injury situation! "I-" He was ready to defend himself again, but Inuyasha interrupted and he was glad he did.

"Sesshomaru told me… he wanted to be my brother." Kouga took this pause between what Inuyasha was saying to look at his face. "He's lying. He's tried to kill me before. . . this change is too quick. It doesn't make sense. So I ran away from there."

Kouga had seen a range of emotions flash through the half-breed's face. The only emotion Kouga felt for Inuyasha now was, as much as he didn't want to admit it, was pity. This wasn't a battle fought with swords or fists or any kind of weapons. The type of battles the half-demon was used to, that he could survive. This was one of the hardest battles of all. Battles with words, feelings, and, most importantly of the heart. Kouga stood up and Inuyasha looked at him. "I'm going. You should get some sleep…" Kouga didn't even turn around to listen to what Inuyasha said afterward. He was going to get some information from the problem itself.

Hi!
Hectic life is hectic.
This chapter has about 1,000 words more than last. o_o

Eek. Who would have guessed Sesshomaru would pop out with that!
Who would have guessed Kouga has some interesting advice for our
half demon!
I wonder what Kouga is going to do next….

Ah! Thank you very much Spirit of Auron for that information!
I will try my best to keep it Kouga. =]

Thanks for the R&Rs!

:3
Much Love,
Maddening Shroud.