From the author
There is no single theory on how demons grow and age, and it seemed logical to me that Sesshomaru would be just a little older than Inuyasha. In my story, he is 19 years old, and he has not yet become truly cold, as in the series. This is a real young man who lives very little by youkai standards - just like Inuyasha. Even in the series, it didn't seem to me that he didn't feel anything: Sesshomaru showed anger very clearly. And he looks just as much like his father as his mother, so he could have a lot of feelings inside him, he just learned to hide them as he got older. So, I don't want to make the older brother frozen. He is 19, has lost his father, abandoned his heritage and is faced with raising a younger brother. Now it is easy to push him in any direction, his position is precarious. I want to push him towards Inuyasha. Thank you for your comments!
Miko
"It smells like people — are you sure that's a right way, onii-san?"
Inuyasha's ears stood up curiously. Sesshomaru preferred not to answer his stupid questions... even if they weren't that stupid.
"You don't want to kill them, do you?" — Inuyasha asked worriedly, stomping after him, trying not to step on his brother's fur. "You're not like that, are you? You don't kill for nothing."
"You don't know me," Sesshomaru warned tartly.
Inuyasha fell silent, feeling the splash of yoki. He had never seen his brother in demonic form, but he felt that he was dangerous.
However, this didn't affect his silent concern, which was gradually developing into fear — the closer they approached the village, the more the air around Sesshomaru became saturated with acid. The smell of fear is similar to the smell of metal — Sesshomaru knew that very well.
"Stop it," he ordered, without looking back. "I won't touch them."
A sigh of relief was heard from behind. Sesshomaru really didn't want to kill people: it was beneath his dignity to pay attention to such pinheads. His goal was different.
"Kami-sama, demon!"
"Demon!"
People scattered as soon as they saw Sesshomaru come out of the forest. Predictable. Without even raising an eyebrow, Sesshomaru walked through the snowy garden beds and then entered the village. Inuyasha grabbed his fur as soon as the locals ran out of the houses, holding clumsy swords in front of them.
"What do you want, damn demon?"
"Get away!"
Sesshomaru raised his hand — his claws flashed dangerously. With a wave of his hand, blood sprayed out of some peasant, but the daiyoukai didn't let him fall to the ground: he gripped him by the collar and lifted him above his head. Inuyasha meanwhile grabbed his clothes hardly:
"No, you promised, onii-san!"
If not Sesshomaru's keen hearing, he wouldn't had heard him among the shouts of the peasants.
"Take me to your priestess," the demon grimaced and threw the man aside. He escaped with only a cut arm. "Then you will all survive."
...
The old woman finally noticed Inuyasha, peeking curiously from behind Sesshomaru's mokomoko.
"Kami-sama, is this a half-breed?" the priestess burst out involuntarily.
"Yes, so what?" Inuyasha snapped, frowning and immediately pressing his ears to his head trying to hide them.
"Nothing, puppy. I've just never seen a hanyo, even though I've been in the world for a long time. So, what do you want, demon? Apparently, you are not the one who approaches people... and not the low-born youkai who attacks them."
Sesshomaru grinned slightly.
"You don't need to appease me, old woman. I said I won't kill anyone if you help me — I keep my word."
"Yes, my brother isn't a liar!"
Sesshomaru grabbed Inuyasha by the ear and pushed him back. He groaned loudly and frowned, but didn't dare to contradict. The old woman realized. This was evident from her softened look. She stood up, creaking her knees, and waved invitingly towards the fireplace.
"Brothers, you say... well, that means you want me to give you medicine for the boy."
"No, knowledge," Sesshomaru snapped. "I don't need your ready-made decoctions — tell me how to make them, old woman, and what they are for."
Even without seeing Inuyasha, Sesshomaru felt him throw his head back and stare at him. He was a half-demon, but not so stupid. A puppy, but still understood something.
And let it be.
"Well, sit down then. The conversation will be long... and difficult."
...
Inuyasha was nodding off for a long time. He had crawled out from behind Sesshomaru, closer to the hearth, and if at first he carefully listened to the recipes voiced by the old woman, then he gave up — he didn't have the demonic memory that allowed him to grasp everything the first time. When the sun set, the boy's ears drooped as usual, like flower heads droop when falling asleep, and his eyes began to stick together.
Additionally, the old woman fed the hanyo with hot broth, which Inuyasha hadn't eaten since he left people — it was much tastier than overcooked meat or fish (Sesshomaru, of course, didn't cook, and Inuyasha was clumsily learning everything by himself).
Finally, the boy gave up and fell asleep with a mokomoko under his head. This was Inuyasha's way of making sure his brother wouldn't leave him alone.
"I don't need any comments," Sesshomaru warned, noticing the priestess' sideways glance. "Continue, you haven't explained everything yet."
But the miko relaxed: she no longer believed that the demon could kill someone. Like Inuyasha, she was under the illusion that Sesshomaru didn't like to spray blood.
"I just wanted to say it won't be easy for him in this life. Half-demons aren't liked anywhere, but you probably already know that without me."
"Be silent, old woman."
"You are still young yourself. And children are children everywhere: both demons and people."
Claws flashed in the dim light of the fireplace, but before Sesshomaru grabbed the priestess' throat with them, she handed him a bunch of some kind of grass.
"This is sophora. If you make a tincture from it..."
The claws retracted unpleasantly. It's too low to dirty yourself in a human woman. It's a shame his chichi didn't know this.
That night was starry and tensely quiet — for the locals sitting with swords in the bushes, but not for Inuyasha. He slept soundly and even sweetly, only waking up occasionally, without hearing his brother's voice for a long time. Then he checked with one eye where Sesshomaru and where the old woman was, glanced at the steam rising above the boiler, then looked again at the night sky hanging like a picture outside the window.
And he was carried away to distant places that smelled of oregano, like his mother's hair, her kimono... and the pearlescent claws of his older brother.
That night even Inuyasha's restless ears drooped to his head and fell silent. After all, the puppy understood: Sesshomaru was doing all this because of him.
And for.