Disclaimer

Inuyasha (c) Rumiko Takahashi

Author's Note

I haven't proof read this chapter yet despite several times editing. So spelling and grammars maybe still hiding somewhere. If you happened to see any, please bear with me.

I may or may not re-edit this chapter later, but everything was as the way I would like it to go in this chapter. So further editing maybe just to correct some spelling and grammars mistake from my part.

On side note, I've changed this fanfic's rating to M due to the content of this chapter.

Warning

Character death, blood, brutally (personally I didn't think it was, but... oh well), swearing (I am learning how to swear in English, if you find it hilarious I guess you can blame me, but it may not gonna change anything)

Chapter 2

The hanyou had not thought much about what was going to happen upon his return. True that he'd expected many things along the way, mainly his remaining pack members' questions. Something like, what had happened? Where was Kagome? What's about Naraku and the Shikon no tama? Why had he come back alone? And so on. But he had felt very tired as the darkness surrounding him retreated, by the time he looked up to the all too familiar sky of his era, undoubtly Miroku and Sango and Shippo scents hit his nose first. He knew they had been worried, and deserved to know about everything, but he was not ready to answer anything, for now. So the second he jumped out of the Bone Eater Well, he avoided their gazes and just told them a simple "Kagome's fine.". Well, it was the truth, after all. He walked toward the village, with the humans and fox kit, for once being silent from his place on the monk' shoulder, followed at a slower pace behind, heading to Kaede's hut.

The old priestess upon seeing the coming group, had not said anything. When they all took their seats inside her hut, she chanced a glance at the hanyou, then she just blinked slowly and she went about preparing tea for everyone.

Inuyasha's posture relaxed as the herbal smell slightly teased over his nostril, he watched the transparent white color mist escaped from the kettle, danced inside Kaede's hut, then dissolved into thin air, leaving only the fragrance behind.

"It has been three days since you and Kagome disappeared with the Well.", Kaede said.

He stayed silent, his eyes closed, hands crossed inside his sleeves, Tetsusaiga was hold in place by the fold of his elbow and leaned on his upper body. It seemed to him like an eternity had passed when he and Kagome were in the meidou, at the same time, it was just like a blink, and everything was truly over before he even knew it.

"Inuyasha."

He heard Kaede called. He opened his eyes in time to see her pushed a cup of tea in front of him. He watched the cup for a while but not showed any attempt to drink it right away. When she was about to pour the other cup for the rest, Miroku had stopped her and offered to do it himself. Kaede nodded as she took her seat across from Inuyasha.

The old miko watched him through her remaining eye, felt the sadness and something else, so foreign of a feeling for her to put a word into it, radiating from the hanyou ever since she sensed his present from outside the village, not along with the young reincarnation of her late sister, she had known. Kagome had fulfill her purpose in this era and returned to where she was, where she belonged. It never sobered them this much, that Kagome was not one of their time, despite the young girl had come back and forth between their era to hers many times through the well during their jewel shards gathering and Naraku's hunting, there would be the time when she was no longer able to do such, once everything was over. And this was it.

"Kagome had wished for the Shikon no tama to disappear forever.", Inuyasha said, for the second time to his group of friend and first time to the old miko since his return. When he was done, his eyes closed again.

All the humans knew better than asked the hanyou anything from this point. Inuyasha had not said in a voice demanding no further questions, but the finally in that statement was more than a request, and he would answer them nothing.

Inuyasha felt the unsettled aura from Miroku and Sango. Even with his eyes closed he could see the fox kit had ignored all his silent warnings, jumped out of Sango's lap to stand in front of him and took a deep breath, but the monk had acted fast as he reached his hands out and cover the young kitsune's mouth while dragging the struggling child back to Sango awaiting arms, effectively blocked all sound was about to come through it in the process. And the hanyou had felt so grateful about it at that moment. He was real tired, and he thought he may collapse at any time now. "I need to be alone…", he said at length as he stood up, "… for a while.", with that he walked out of Kaede's hut, after looking at Kaede's direction as she nodded in return. The old miko would keep the humans company for a while until he came back to them, or if the humans would like to do something else, without looking for the hanyou in that matter.

But the hanyou had not taken another step away from the hut before he stopped and looked around, then he sniffed the air several times. The humans looked at him in confusion. Kaede stood up and walked over to Inuyasha, "Go on, have some rest. Be sure to come back before tomorrow evening.", she said as she came next to him.

"Did Sesshoumaru and his chibi collection stay here all the time?", he asked her as he inclined his head slightly in her direction. He sniffed again, "Or at least the girl."

Kaede gave him a look, "Young Rin will be staying under my custody from now, so she can return to human community. It's not good for a child running in the wild with a group of youkai."

Inuyasha snorted. "I was a child when I put my claws through a youkai's head, a bear youkai if you want specific, old lady.", he crossed his hands inside his sleeves and huffed.

Kaede rolled her eye as she turned and walked back to her hut. "Not every child had fangs and claws like you."

At the look on the hanyou's face after her statement, Miruko and Sango had to cover their mouth and turned their gaze away from him to stop themselves from laughing out loud and rolling on the floor like a certain fox kit. Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at them all, but it only last for two blinks, then he smiled slightly, "I will be back later.". And that familiar red and white blur shot away from the human village toward Inuyasha's Forest.

After agreeing with the sister of his brother's first miko that he would leave Rin here to get back to her life as a human child, he had all intentions to just leave, and maybe, just came back from time to time to visit the young girl. But, he had found himself walking the same path to the forest, and when he stopped, the same tree stood in front of him. For the first time in centuries of his life, he found himself unable to stop looking for one being. And for the first time in centuries of his life, he, Sesshoumaru, had admitted to himself, that he was regretting not to end the life of that hanyou sooner, when the hatred was still fresh.

For that very same hanyou was the very reason causing this uncharacteristic feelings within him.

He had no idea how long had he been sitting under the Goshinboku tree, with back leaned on the tree trunk, one knee folded up as his recently re-grown arm resting on it, the other knee loosely stretched out beside his right arm which slightly supported his weight on the ground, a habit he'd gotten himself during the period he was putting up with having one arm to do all the works, thanks to the same certain hanyou, again. His brow twisted, irritated raised to another level. His traitorous mind ran back to the god-knew-where hanyou, again. Oh he would do it this time, alright. No need for hatred driven, the imbecile was going to die because he, Sesshoumaru, was being ridiculous with himself. Yes, that would be reasonable enough. No one would dare to question why he killed a hanyou, they never did. No, they only encouraged it. He growled, disgusting parasites, why the bitch insisted on using them still now was out of his understanding. Surely she was so old to go looking for new replacements as she said two centuries ago? No, she was just too lazy to do the job herself. Another growl escaped the more irritated over time demon lord.

He felt a foreign weight dropped on his knee first, then a smooth touch on one side caressed his cheek came almost at the same time, and hot breath on another side teased his ear, then that voice belonged to only one person he'd been waiting, grudgingly admitted desperately, invaded his space, "Have you waited for me all this time, my arrogant big brother Sesshoumaru?"

He opened his eyes, narrowed view closed around the one being crouching on his lap. The fire-rat garment perfectly adorned Inuyasha as always, shielding almost all damage may fell upon the young hanyou. Puppy ears stood straight on his crown would twitch when he heard something, felt something, or there was times he just did it like a normal movement of exercising the nerves. Big brilliant amber eyes expressed everything like an open book looked up at him with a mischievous grin was forming on his lips. He let his left hand wandered through the silver stress of the hanyou, felt the way the silken hair ran between his fingers. The younger of the two sighed contently, now fully sat comfortably on the elder's lap and leaned his head on Sesshoumaru's chest, let the steady heartbeat lured him into a lumber as his hands now idly petting his youkai half-brother's Mokomoko. The hanyou wondered if this white fur was the softest thing ever in existence.

Sesshoumaru, still looked down at the young one, smirked. His right hand left the ground and came to caress Inuyasha's chin before turned his head upward to get the hanyou looked back at him. "I've been waiting.", he started, "But I see I don't have to do it any longer."

Inuyasha smirked back as he leaned up until their noses were slightly touching each other, breathing in each other's air, warm big amber eyes bore into narrowed cold almost identical color, his arms came up and wounded around Sesshoumaru' shoulders as he inclined his head slightly to the side, "Why?", he asked.

"Because,", Sesshoumaru began, his left hand which had never left the younger's hair slowly move up along Inuyasha' spine caused a small shiver ran through the hanyou. "What I've been waiting is already here."

With that said the taiyoukai's left hand ran smoothly through the hanyou's back, to his still beating heart, then came out in front of his left chest, effectively put a short distance between them to bring into view the sight of his bloody hand together with his poison was seeping out from the tip of his claws between their upper bodies.

Blood choked out from Inuyasha's mouth to the front of Sesshoumaru's haori, some of the red fluid smeared the youkai's face as the hanyou's eyes widened at the unexpected attack. The hand on his chin kept his head in place as Inuyasha tried to tear his way out of Sesshoumaru's grap. The poison was eating the younger one from inside, mixed with the blood pulsed out from the battered heart and spreaded through his body, it would not be long before the hanyou turned into a puddle of goo beneath Sesshoumaru's feet.

The taiyoukai released his hold on the soon to die hanyou by jerking his arm, threw the younger one a few feet away from where he was sitting and gracefully stood up, all the while never let his gaze turned away from the red clad being, whom now unable to even move a finger from his place on the ground. Long silver hair dyed in his own blood all messy laying around him. Dimming half-lid amber eyes looked into nothing in particular. His lips slightly parted for soft gasps coming through as the blood filled lung was failing miserably to get air in.

"Once upon a time I had said this,", Sesshoumaru turned his head to the side, looked down at the hanyou, "Never turned your back to your enemy.", he continued, "To the one owned that face, that eyes, that hair, that everything which you had become.". His right hand came up to the side of his neck and ran through his hair, caused the trance flew along the forest breeze for a while before resumed its previous position perfectly as before. "Had you prepared yourself a better brain you would have known this Sesshoumaru will accept no replacement when it comes to his hanyou of a younger brother."

"Haa… sa...id… the… moth...er… fuc...ker…", the dying hanyou drawled out, "nev...er… ac…cept…ed… bro…th…er…". He died.

Sesshoumaru sneered at the dead body, which already started its process of dissolving into the air in a greeny mist bit by bit. Finally looked away from it to turn his gaze on the direction of a familiar scent was coming his way.

"Sesshoumaru?"

The red and white blur stopped some distance away from him as Inuyasha looked at him in confusion. Sesshoumaru just stared back at the hanyou for a while before he turned and walked away.

Inuyasha called again. He did not stop. But he knew the hanyou was walking a few caustion steps behind him. The hanyou fell silent for a while, then, "Where are you going?"

The taiyoukai had expected the hanyou to ask him a bunch of questions from what had happened, what were you doing here, even why were you here, which highly very possible, knowing what a talkative the younger one were whenever he confused. However, where was he going, was not what he had expected the younger to ask first, but he decided to humor the hanyou anyway. "This Sesshoumaru will not walk around looking like he just killed a lowly youkai."

He had recognized Sesshoumaru' scent since the time he was about to jump out of the well, more like, that one particular scent was the very first he focused on searching before identifying the others in the air. But it was so faint the hanyou had thought maybe that was just the remaining of the youkai, from how long since he was here since the last time they'd all fought Naraku together before he left to wander to gods-knew-where again. Although with Naraku now had gone for good, he doubted he would have the chance to see his brother again, that was the case if the youkai had thrown away his idea of killing his hanyou ass. Had the hanyou known, several years from now on, said youkai would truly own his hanyou ass, not in all their previous encounter way, but in a deeper way, he would have run for his life right at this moment.

Inuyasha had not slowed down his speed, if not adding more as Sesshoumaru' scent was getting stronger, along with something else, fainter and fainter, almost fading scent. And there he was, the white figure stood in the midst of woods, his head hold high, his shoulders straight, intimidating set of armor, ridiculous huge of his fur, narrowed cold amber gazed at him. This was the very Sesshoumaru himself, checked. But something was off.

In closer inspection, Sesshoumaru's face and the front of his haori were all in blood. Of course it was not of his brother's blood. His entire forest would have turned into ash had the great Sesshoumaru spilled a little bit of his precious blood in anywhere. He rolled his eyes at the thought. But as soon he realized where they were, in front of the Goshinboku tree, his brows furrowed in confusion. Why the hell Sesshoumaru was here? What was he doing here? Who was he just killed here judging by the fresh smell of the blood on his person and eeeewww, that poisonous smell of his Doukasou was all in the air. For fuck sake, this was his sacred place, his favorite tree, couldn't this son of a three plus one legs bitch find somewhere else to have his lunch? He mentally groaned.

And the bastard was staring at him as usual. Great, just great. Was he still deciding what kind of insult he would use this time?

"Sesshoumaru?", Inuyasha called, unnecessary gathered the taiyoukai's attention, whom was still staring intensely at him.

More staring. Did the bastard ever get tired of this?

The taiyoukai turned away from him and walked in another direction. That sudden movement of his brother struck something inside Inuyasha and the hanyou unconsciously let the youkai's name pass his lips again. Sesshoumaru still walked away.

No. He reached out, and caught himself before his legs started its own attempt at running to the youkai.

Say something. He urged himself. Anything to… to? To what?

"Where are you going?", he blurted. Oh great, his brother had said repeatedly that he was a fool, and he really felt like a fool now. Sesshoumaru would go anywhere he wanted and he would answer to no one. How his hanyou head could even thought of asking the taiyoukai and expected him to answer was now beyond him. By the gods, his legs were following after his brother! What the fuck was wrong with him? Why every-fucking-thing of his hanyou being suddenly decided to have their fucking own minds now?

He was dragged out of his mentally barking at himself when he heard the youkai's voice for the first time since they stared at each other in front of the sacred tree as the youkai unexpectedly said, "This Sesshoumaru will not walk around looking like he just killed a lowly youkai."

The hanyou blinked. Blinked. Blinked again. Blinked some more. Never realized he had stopped walking at the taiyoukai's answer, and just stared at his brother's back as his eyes turned even wider than sausages, his mouth agape. No insult? Was the first thing ran through some small parts of his still not fully rational mind.

'You just killed a youkai. And you are walking around.', Inuyasha groaned in his mind.

And a small pebble hit him right on the middle of his forehead.

"Are you going to stand there and look as idiotic as a gapping fish?", he heard Sesshoumaru asked from far ahead. Did the bastard just throw a rock at him from where he was, with his back at him?

Without thinking, the hanyou broke into a run to the still walking taiyoukai, when he came to a several feet behind his brother he slowed down into a walk, all the while never realized he was unconsciously grinning from ear to ear. "You insulted me!"

The taiyoukai did not talk to him until they stopped at a spring after a good long walking. If the hanyou had walked beside the taiyoukai he would have seen the small change on his brother's seemingly stony face as the corner of Sesshoumaru's lips slightly went up. By the time Sesshoumaru inclined his head to look back at Inuyasha later on, his face was as usual as one would always see him.

To be continued.

Thank you for reading.