Killing Perfection

Sesshomaru’s wound sent more of that metallic air circling around Inu-Yasha’s nose, the hanyou barely being able to hide the slight grimace he made.  What his brother was saying worried him; despite what he would likely admit to anyone, Sesshomaru was incredibly powerful… And for him to show up in his current state, his words must have rung true.  Inu-Yasha exhaled, his demeanor softening as his arms found their way into his sleeves.

“Well, what’re you suggestin’ we do?  I can’t just take off and clean up the Old Man’s messes anymore.”  He protested, his head tipping back slightly towards the hut behind him.  Though if there was a threat to the Western Lands, his family could be in even more trouble if he didn’t go.  “But I guess that would explain why Tessaiga’s acting up.  Surprised Myouga hasn’t run crying to me yet.”

Flicking the blood off his hand, Sesshōmaru met with his brother’s eyes. Inuyasha’s nose turned up at the splash, a few drops landing at his feet.

“You not only carry Father’s sword, but his scent as well. These youkai will find you, Inuyasha, as they have found me.” He resisted the urge to rest his blood stained hand upon the tree beside him, straightening his posture instead. He glanced over at the hut that harbored Inuyasha’s family. “They will be in grave danger, just as...”

His brother was not alone in the collateral at stake. Inuyasha had a family to care for a protect, and most likely soon, so would Sesshōmaru.

This was not a new occurrence.  He, himself, had been attacked multiple times because of lingering grudges against their father, even more so when people heard that the half breed son of the Inu Daiyoukai had defeated the most fearsome man with the Shikon no Tama.  But the situation still rubbed him wrong.

“So, you’re letting a bunch of weak nobodies get one over on you?”  A dark brow raised ever so slightly.  “Doesn’t seem like the Sesshomaru I know.  Maybe you really have gone soft in your old age.”

“You dare insult me?” His damaged pride distracted him from the pain throughout his body. “You know nothing of what Father left behind.” He clenched his fist, blood dripping between his fingers to the grass below.

"A youkai like Ryūkostusei may have lead our father to his death, but he is nothing compared to what lies out in the Eastern Lands. They’ve been disputing boundaries for several centuries, but now...”

He opened his palm and stared at the blood pooling between the cracks.

The coppery smell of blood hit the hanyou’s sensitive nose, and it was growing stronger.  That scent mingled with the scent of his brother and Inu-Yasha closed a bit of distance between himself and the tree line. A form of white a short distance in front of him drew his eyes to the form speaking to him.  The usually stoic voice of Sesshomaru was marred with something that Inu-Yasha had only heard on rare occasions.

“What the hell happened to you?”  The younger brother asked, taking a few steps closer.

He tried to ignore the look of concern in his brother’s eyes; he had no time for pity. He kept his feet planted firm on the ground, but felt that his legs might soon give out beneath him.

“It seems,” he started to say, trying to keep his breath and tone even, “that some youkai from our father’s time still roam.”

Inuyasha: He tricked me and Kikyo and made us kill each other

Kikyo: He tricked Inuyasha and I and made us kill each other

Kagome: It's the right thing to do

Shippo: It's the right thing to do

Miroku: He cursed my family

Sango: He killed my people

Kagura: He holds my soul in his hands and won't release me

Koga: He killed my people

Something was wrong.  Off, even.  The air seemed thicker and the half demon’s shoulders sat more tense than usual.  Kagome had taken notice of his exaggeratedly quiet mannerisms, concerned but knowing better than to ask.  When he had stepped outside without so much as a word, she let him go.

Inu-Yasha walked along the tree lines, not being able to shake what plagued him.  The sword at his hip seemed to flare up on its own, his calloused hand moving to rest on the worn handle.

‘Tenseiga must be nearby.’  He thought, the scent of his brother hitting his nose.

“Must be bad if you’re out this way.”  Inu-Yasha spoke to no one in particular.  He knew Sesshomaru had to be in the surrounding area, and if it really was an issue, he’d be speaking face to face with his brother soon enough.

Sesshoumaru slumped up against the tree, but it was his pride and stubbornness that truly kept him upright. His breaths were still ragged and uneven, despite the battle having long since passed. Tenseiga shuddered at his side. He reached over to silence it, but winced at the pain shooting up his arm; another trickle of blood stained the forest floor.

“Damn that beast,” he cursed through clenched teeth, gripping Tenseiga firmly. More blood splattered to the ground.

He took in a deep, shuddering breath and surveyed the woods around him. “Of course I’d end up here again...”

I feel weird for posting this since this is a pretty recent blog??? buuuuut...

I’m moving [apartments] next week! So I won’t be very active until the new year. In fact, this entire month has been crazy for me, so that would explain my really late replies and what not, lol.

That being said, please don’t hesitate to send me a message if I’m really late on a reply or if you want to plot. I might not be able to do much until 2017, but I’m always open to hearing what you have to say. :3

Thanks for the support!! <3

The small child dug around in the bushes. Luckily such a plant was known to be bountiful in delicious and edible berries. Such a treat for her. She’d occasionally pop on an her mouth while she picked a few more and dropped them onto an old piece of cloth to hold. The taste was wonderfully sweet and the berries juice left here finger tips stained with evidence of her foraging.

Bright eyes would travel between the thick twigs and leaves to peer at the one on the other side. It left her well to know he appeared much better compared to when she first encountered him, he even seemed less grouchy. That changed happened more quickly in her eyes. Of course he wasn’t much of a talker, having only spoken the number of times of what she could add up on her fingers.

The spoken word of her name pulled her from her thoughts and gaze. Small, quick hands lifted up her collected berries and she emerged from the bush. A soft giggle earned as leaves brushed gently against and tickled her skin. “Yes, M'lord. ”

He scoffed at her, disgusted by her stained fingers; he even spotted a few twigs poking out from her mussed hair. How do humans even manage to take care of themselves? They’re such a frightful mess. 

For a moment, however, his mind wandered to their first encounter. As disheveled and beaten as she had been, she had taken time to care for him. Sesshōmaru’s scowl softened as he thought of the perils they might face on the road for a new sword. How will she manage on the road?

Barely having time to react, the half demon’s brows came down hard, glaring at his brother until he backed away.  The words that Sesshomaru had spoken to him stung a bit, knowing full well that he was right.  Their father really had left Inu-Yasha with more than he could ever hope for, even though he had probably never seen his face before.

“You came here for my opinion, right?”  The younger spoke, breathing through his nose heavily in order to get his temper under control.  “I told you what I would do.  I don’t know what else you want from me, Sesshomaru.”

Sesshōmaru’s feet didn’t move. He could hear the control in Inuyasha’s voice; his temper was bound to set off, just as Sesshōmaru’s had. He took a moment to consider his own words about duty, about the legacy his father had left him, the legacy he was currently carrying out; it seemed to calm his mind, but not his heart.

The thought of Rin stung at him again, but perhaps eventually the acknowledgment of how he felt for her would ease his anguish. Although she was with another (at his arrangement), she still existed in this realm. For now...

“Take mind to heed my earlier words, Inuyasha,” he said after moments of silence. “Enjoy these years while you have them. They will be gone soon enough...”

Sesshōmaru had finally, completely healed. It had been years since his last near-fatal confrontation, but this recent one with the hanyou took more of a toll on his body than he had anticipated. Taking a deep breath, Sesshōmaru was ready to continue on his recent quest; to forge a new sword, one more powerful than the useless Tenseiga...

There was a rustling in the bushes behind him. Sesshōmaru stopped; the mere thought of Tenseiga seemed to call to its recent, and only revival.

Here’s where their similarities collided; both brothers were far too hardheaded to reach a decent conclusion, it seemed.

“Keh,” Inu-Yasha looked away from him, annoyed at the conclusion drawn.  “Suit yourself.  But for someone who prides himself on his own honor, you’re sure rolling over and letting this happen pretty easily.”

Sesshōmaru’s lip quivered in vexation. He darted up to Inuyasha, mere inches from him, and glared down at him like an insect. “Do not presume to tell me that I ‘rolled over’ in this situation. You know nothing of what Father left to me, this heavy burden on his legacy, while you get to walk away with his love and protection.”

His logic returned, mixed with a silent, seething rage. “Perhaps I do love the girl enough to whisk her away; I see now how he was easily tempted. But I will not falter as he did. Not out of pride, but out of duty.”

He turned his back, fed up with his younger brother’s indifferent attitude.

“I don’t believe the shit you’re spewing for one second.”  Inu-Yasha told him, shaking his head.  “As high and mighty as you act, I don’t think anyone could just give up the person they love just like that.”  Just the mere thought of having Kagome marry someone else… It made his stomach twist in knots.  The grief that he and Kagome went through, the disapproving stares of a miko and a hanyou; he’d live that every day as long as it meant being with her.

“You just can’t let yourself be happy, can you?”

“I suppose not,” he said, glaring at his brother, recalling the happiness he had once sought out in a sword from his father. He remembered the struggle, the frustration. But eventually, he had grown to accept his fate and was gifted with a sword truly meant for him. Surely, this situation with Rin would be no different.

But can you really compare the girl to a sword?

Again, his thoughts tried to fight his logic. He maintained his stance and took a deep breath. “Perhaps you and I desire different paths for those we love...”

...He said it. For the first time he vocalized the word. Love.

Dropping his eye contact to his own bare feet, Inu-Yasha wracked his brain for any possible way that this situation could even make sense.  Sure Sesshomaru had a soft spot for the kid and had continued to watch her grow into an adult…  Things had started making sense.  The only person to seemingly ever make it past the other’s cold heart, and she had surely gotten in deep.

“Why didn’t you…? You could have stopped it, y’know.”

Could he have, though? He had made the arrangement with the human lords, after Rin’s initial approval of her suitor. It was the first time he had ever made a diplomatic agreement with humans, but as the new reigning Daiyoukai of the West, it seemed...right. Proper. He had promised to protect their lands from outside harm, but only for as long as Rin lived. It seemed a strange deal at the time, for all parties included, but it was all in Rin’s best interests; for her to live safe from harm, and with humans, where she belonged...

But with whom does she truly belong?

He shut out his thoughts, thinking only on what was right.

“Now?”  The question was more to himself than Sesshomaru, though it could come across as being the other way around.  His brother had stated that he understood their Father’s choice in his Mother, if he wasn’t mistaken.  And something in the atmosphere between them told Inu-Yasha he was very much not mistaken.

“You… Sesshomaru, you’re in love with Rin.”  He stated dumbly, as if his entire world had turned on its side.  For a moment, he swore it did.

“What?!”

He had not heard the words spoken before, nor had they ever crossed his mind. But the feelings were there, and he could no longer deny them.

A human girl...a human woman had taken his heart, just like his father’s. But she had abandoned him for a human, because that was what he willed, what he intended for her.