Pack of the West

Chapter 10: Getting To Know You

Rin was overjoyed to have another child her age to play with. As much as she enjoyed spending time with Miroku and Yumi, Miroku was a little too old and Yumi was a little too young to play the things she enjoyed. Shippo was happy too, he was in the same boat as Rin except he had a grouchy half demon that enjoyed any excuse to bonk him on the head, or so it seemed to him. After talking together for three minutes, they were fast friends.

The rest settled in fairly quickly after a first few awkward moments. Sesshoumaru didn’t exactly bubble over with welcome and enthusiasm, but he wasn’t trying to kill anyone and just went off and sat by himself, watching the group.

The two that had the grouchiest faces were Jaken and Inuyasha, their moods almost exactly matching each others. Miroku had to try very hard not to smile at the two almost identical faces they were making.

He was worried about Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru. Anything could set the two of them off at each others throats and he was glad when the two half siblings kept out of each other’s way by unsaid mutual agreement. He hoped that eventually they would get a chance to know each other and perhaps come together as brothers.

Miroku went over to Sesshoumaru and sitting beside him said quietly “Thank you, Sesshoumaru, for letting my friends stay.”

Sesshoumaru said nothing, but gave him a soft look, glad that he had made Miroku happy. Sango watched them, curious as to why Miroku seemed to be getting along so well with the cold demon lord.

Yumi awoke from her nap and looked around curiously at the new guests. She recognized Inuyasha, or at least his hair, and giggling, made a grab for it when he leaned over to look at his little niece.

“She’s grown” Inuyasha commented to Miroku as he tried to keep his hair from her hands.

“Yeah, Sesshoumaru says demon pups have large growth spurts.” Miroku was pretty proud of the little pup; she had already managed to learn to crawl and had kept him, Sesshoumaru and Jaken busy trying to keep her out of trouble. Inuyasha again noticed that Miroku had called Sesshoumaru by name.

“You guys seem to be pretty friendly,” Inuyasha intoned neutrally motioning to his brother. The half demon widened his eyes in surprise when he saw a blush cross Miroku’s cheeks.

“I just got a chance to get to know him a bit, he’s not bad Inuyasha; you should try to talk to him. You may find you have more in common than you know.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Inuyasha asked, again surprised by his friend.

“I’ll let him tell you,” Miroku said cryptically before placing Yumi in Inuyasha’s arms and left to go visit with Sango and Kagome.

This was the third time in a few minutes that Miroku had surprised the half demon. Inuyasha didn’t think Miroku would allow him hold Yumi, especially with no one around to watch him. He felt happy that his friend let him know with this gesture that he had forgiven him for what he had done and the hanyou smiled down at the little girl, this time letting her grab a fistful of hair and pull hard as she laughed.

Sesshoumaru watched as Inuyasha held Yumi. At first he prepared himself to pounce, unsure of whether or not to trust his younger brother, but then seeing that Miroku didn’t seem worried and the pup was happy he relaxed and watched the two interact.

She is his blood kin; he wouldn’t hurt her, the demon reassured himself.

He was surprised at how well his brother held the child and how pleasant his face looked when he wasn’t scowling or angry. He still felt some jealousy toward his half brother, especially about the sword, but since telling Miroku of his past he had let much of the hatred go. He realized that his brother had done nothing to him other than having been born and that fate had dealt with both of them unfairly.

Inuyasha looked up, experiencing the sensation of having someone watching him, and gazed into the eyes of his brother. He was surprised, yet again, to see that Sesshoumaru was not looking at him with hated, but with curiosity instead.

Maybe I should talk to him, Inuyasha thought. Miroku sees something in him. What I don’t know, but maybe I should find out.

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They were all working together to collect the shards and with the two groups now together, they had little trouble defeating the demons that had the pieces of the jewel. Sesshoumaru was impressed with Inuyasha’s control of the Tetsusaiga and he noticed that Inuyasha had been trying to copy some of his own moves. The hanyou was, of course, no where near as graceful and artful as the lithe demon lord, but he had the basics.

Sesshoumaru felt some pride in his brother’s attempts and thought that maybe he would try and give him some training. He now no longer coveted the sword. Miroku again helping him to let go of that last vestige of anger, but the brothers had yet to really talk with each other.

When Sesshoumaru thought of all the help Miroku had given him he could not believe the luck in having this wonderful man in his life. Miroku had known that Sesshoumaru was galled about the Tetsusaiga being in the hands of his half demon brother. He had followed Sesshoumaru one evening just after the two groups had joined together to talk to him about it.

“Did you ever think your father had a plan when he gave you the Tenseiga and Inuyasha the Tetsusaiga?”

Sesshoumaru had been in a bad mood and replied angrily, “I should have received the stronger sword, I was eldest and his heir.”

“Sesshoumaru, you do not give the Tenseiga enough credit. It is the sword of life, to have the power to give life is an awesome thing. Do not devalue it. It is far too easy to give death.”

Sesshoumaru had not thought of it that way and sat, a bit stunned that this human brought something to his attention that he should have known. It was humbling to say the least.

Miroku then told him how the Tetsusaiga held back Inuyasha’s demon side and how his younger brother was no better than a beast when he transformed, killing anyone without care or thought or honour. After that Sesshoumaru no longer cast envious looks towards Inuyasha and the sword

Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha had gradually developed a peace between them, much to the relief of the others and mostly thanks to Miroku who had gently hinted that Sesshoumaru and his brother should get to know each other better. They began to talk civilly to each other and the tense stare downs of the past were few and far between.

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The group had just stopped for lunch by a nice waterfall with a pool at the bottom of it. The area around the falls was grassy and the day warm. Rin and Shippo were happily splashing in the pool as Miroku kept watch feeding Yumi on the bank. Sango and Kagome were preparing the food, chatting and laughing.

Sesshoumaru went off a bit from the group and began to practice his forms, aware that his brother had followed him. He pretended not to notice.

Inuyasha watched as his brother moved from fighting stance to fighting stance with a fluidity and grace that he wished he could attain.

“Join me,” Sesshoumaru invited, still moving and spinning.

Inuyasha hesitated at first, unsure of Sesshoumaru’s motives.

“Unless you do not feel you can keep up with me,” the demon lord teased.

“I can keep up with anything you do” Inuyasha huffed indignantly, approaching his brother. He stood facing him, watching intently, trying to memorize Sesshoumaru’s moves so he could copy them.

“Keep your elbow up,” Sesshoumaru coached as he reached forward and gave Inuyasha a push.

Inuyasha frowned and tried to push Sesshoumaru back, but was blocked as his brother put his arm up and swept Inuyasha’s hand to the side.

Sesshoumaru again went back to the first stance and moving quickly pushed Inuyasha again. “I told you to keep your elbow up,” he smirked.

Inuyasha was beginning to get annoyed and again he tried to push Sesshoumaru who just blocked him once more.

The next time Sesshoumaru tried to push him Inuyasha put his elbow up and blocked the move surprising himself.

“Better,” Sesshoumaru praised in flat tone.

They continued like that until the girls called them for lunch. Inuyasha was slightly out of breath when they returned to the falls. He was feeling confused, but glad that Sesshoumaru seemed to want to help him rather than kill him.

Maybe Miroku’s right; maybe he’s not so bad, Inuyasha thought. The same thought went through Sesshoumaru’s mind as he moved to sit by Miroku.