Through The Well
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InuYasha › Yaoi - Male/Male › InuYasha/Sessh?maru
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
17
Views:
26,380
Reviews:
145
Recommended:
1
Currently Reading:
10
Category:
InuYasha › Yaoi - Male/Male › InuYasha/Sessh?maru
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
17
Views:
26,380
Reviews:
145
Recommended:
1
Currently Reading:
10
Disclaimer:
I do not own the series Inuyasha, nor its characters.They are property of Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise, and Viz. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Fifteen
Chapter Fifteen
"WHAAAT?"
The monk winced and clapped his hands over his ears to try and stifle the volume, while Inuyasha stared at him wide-eyed, mouth agape.
“Well… I wasn’t quite expecting that reaction,” Miroku said, tentatively lowering his hands after a few moments had passed without threatening his eardrums.
“You’re telling me Koga had a thing with Kagome,” Inuyasha said. “How the hell did that fleabag wolf manage to win her over?”
“I remember you asking me that question once before,” Miroku mused.
So his other self had been equally shocked by the news. Finally, this other Inuyasha showed some promise of sense.
“What did you say back then?” the hanyou pressed.
“I told you… it was to be expected,” Miroku sighed. “She was a young girl coming to terms with the fact that the object of her affection, being one obstinate hanyou, was never going to return her feelings for him. Then, in sweeps a roguishly attractive wolf –“
“Roguishly attractive? Seriously?”
“—who professes his undying love for her every chance he gets. It seems obvious to me what would happen.”
Inuyasha took a moment to quietly absorb it. And damn it all if he couldn’t see it happening exactly that way, too. He wondered briefly if his other self had realised what was happening and felt guilty or if he’d existed in a bubble of obliviousness, totally unaware of how he was hurting Kagome.
Then he realised Koga had really had it worse than all of them. He’d lost Kagome for a day and felt like everything had fallen to pieces; how would it feel to lose her for years? Inuyasha’s ears lowered a little at the thought. He didn’t normally feel sorry for the bastard, but this… this, he could sympathise with.
“No one told me anything about that. Not even Koga. So he’s just been alone all these years without her?"
“Alone?” Miroku blinked. “Oh, no. No, he finally found a mate a few years later.”
Inuyasha held up a clawed hand. “Hold on. Just hold on right there.” That sneaky, lying, wolf… “Wolves mate for life, he told us that himself. And you’re telling me that Koga has a mate right now, despite supposedly loving Kagome first.”
Miroku made a face that clearly showed his discomfort. “It’s a… unique situation he found himself in,” the monk explained. “When he was with Kagome, there was no…” His voice trailed off, and the monk made some vague hand gestures to try to explain what he meant.
It didn’t take a genius to figure it out. Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. “Sex,” he finished bluntly.
“Well. Yes.”
“The infamous lecher, now father of three, has trouble saying the word sex.”
“I was trying to be delicate about it, but yes, that was what I meant. There was no mating involved, as it were, so therefore he wasn’t bound. It was more a… courtship with Kagome."
Inuyasha settled again, no longer planning to beat Koga’s face into the ground. He could accept that explanation, and hearing it from Miroku, he was satisfied that it was true.
“It didn’t really make that much of a difference to the group,” Miroku continued. “The dynamics didn’t shift all that much; there was already quite a mixed bag of characters in our group by that point and, having prior history with you and Sesshomaru, Koga appeared fairly often. All that really changed was the frequency of his appearances… and there were two idiots blindly leaping to Kagome’s defence instead of one – ow!”
Inuyasha casually withdrew his elbow, which he had lodged between Miroku’s ribs. “You’re the idiot for not seeing that coming,” the hanyou deadpanned. He then decided to go with the lightening mood. “So who’s the unlucky woman he finally settled down with?”
“Ah. Another wolf named Ayame. Apparently he made a promise to her when she was a child and she wasn’t going to let him out of that one easily. Something to do with a rainbow and a flower. I maintained only a polite interest at the time, so the details are vague."
Inuyasha could read between the lines well enough to guess why. "She didn't much care when you flirted, huh?"
The monk folded his arms and sniffed. "She didn't even give me a chance to start. She was focused only on Koga from the moment she appeared."
That name, though... Inuyasha frowned. Ayame… Ayame… He knew the name from somewhere. And the story sounded vaguely familiar. Where did he know her from? This was going to bug him forever.
Wait…
“Red hair? Green eyes? Or… maybe blue?”
Miroku looked vaguely surprised. “Green. You know her?”
“Yeah… Yeah, I think so. In my world, she saw Kagome as a rival and attacked her.”
“Yeah… that happened here, too. Only for us… it was a legitimate rivalry. Somehow, though, Kagome managed to come out of the encounter with a new friend. It was quite impressive, really.”
“Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me. It may have even happened in my timeline, too. I don’t honestly remember that much; she wasn’t around often.”
Miroku nodded. “She still rarely visits. She stays at their home in the mountain most often, looking after their pups.”
Inuyasha got another jolt. Koga was a father? Really? He supposed it shouldn’t really surprise him, though. Naraku was gone; everyone had a reason to move on, to finally plan for the future. He supposed he was the only one who liked the idea of everything remaining the same. He’d never wanted his friends to leave. He’d never wanted them to grow up… or grow old.
But he wasn’t going to bring down the mood – or pity on himself – by mentioning it. Instead, he forced his lips to curve into a smirk. “So, the mangy wolf got tied down by kids, too, huh? Serves him right. How many?”
“Five,” Miroku said. “Four boys and a single girl, if you were wondering. Daddy’s princess… she already has him wrapped entirely around her finger and he doesn’t even realise.”
The hanyou’s eyes bugged a little. “Five? Five? How quickly did he jump on this Ayame after Kagome?”
He couldn’t help his tone being a little hostile. It didn’t matter to him that she was gone here or that she wasn’t even his Kagome – he couldn’t let that kind of insult slide. If she’d had real feelings for this Koga and he’d moved on that fast… Maybe he would have to pound the bastard’s face into the ground after all.
But Miroku waved a hand dismissively. “Come on, now, you know it wasn’t like that. Koga was as torn up about Kagome as anyone. Wolves have litters, Inuyasha. She had twins, then triplets. And from what I hear… it was her who jumped him, not the other way around.”
Inuyasha pulled a face and held up a hand to stop that topic going any further. “I really didn’t need to know that last part."
While Miroku laughed, Inuyasha mulled over what he'd heard. So all of them were parents, it seemed. Miroku and Sango had their three, Koga had a veritable brood... even Sesshomaru showed parental tendencies that boggled Inuyasha's mind to no end. Just the night before, at meal time, he'd watched with fascination and not a small amount of surprise as Sesshomaru pulled a protesting Rin closer to him so that he could wipe a smear of food from her cheek using the sleeve of his haori. And he was the only one who found it strange and unnatural.
He really was trying his best to accept it. To stop trying to compare everything to his own world... or timeline... or whatever it was. It was never going to be exactly the same, no matter how many similarities. These people who were so familiar to him were essentially their own people with different quirks and interests and concerns. A certain someone's personality was almost a mirror opposite.
The hanyou frowned. His thoughts circled back to Sesshomaru quite a lot, didn't they? Before, he barely gave him a spare thought unless he was within concerning proximity. It had to be because he was so different, so... approachable now. It was some sort of cautious fascination that kept his brother on his mind.
As though summoned by that very thought, the whisper of Sesshomaru's haori announced his presence just moments before he spoke into the companionable silence that had settled on Inuyasha and Miroku.
"Sango is becoming increasingly concerned with your absence, Inuyasha," he explained.
Inuaysha managed to smoothly cover his jolt of almost guilty surprise. "What, were your ears burning?" he asked sourly, looking up at him.
"I beg your pardon?"
"Nothin'." Inuyasha waved it away; explaining what he meant would have been horrific, so he was glad Sesshomaru hadn't understood.
Miroku worried his lips. "We'd better go back," he said. "We don't want to give her any reason to be angry."
The hanyou slanted a look at him. "She terrifies you, doesn't she?"
"Yes," Miroku admitted unabashedly.
"Me, too," Inuyasha agreed, thinking of how often he'd seen Sango lose her temper. But then, because he decided it was a little pathetic, he added: "A little, at least. Either way, let's head back."
The monk was already standing and held out a hand to help Inuyasha up. Instead of being stubborn, he accepted it, then stretched when he was on his feet. As he and Miroku headed back toward the friendly glow of the fire, Inuyasha forgot to be wary when Sesshomaru fell into step beside him.
---
Sorry I've been absent! I started a new job, and even though it's not full time, it's so... busy... I come home and all I want to do is flop on my bed and not move. So that's what I usually do. But piece by piece, I've been writing little bits here and there, so I've not disappeared completely.
I know what I want to happen in this story in terms of what happens between Inuyasha and Sesshomaru, but other parts of it are fluid and I can change them as and when I want, so if there's something you want explained or even have a suggestion for something you'd really like to see happen, do tell me. I read literally every comment I get, and try to reply to them all where I can, so I'll take everything under advisement.
"WHAAAT?"
The monk winced and clapped his hands over his ears to try and stifle the volume, while Inuyasha stared at him wide-eyed, mouth agape.
“Well… I wasn’t quite expecting that reaction,” Miroku said, tentatively lowering his hands after a few moments had passed without threatening his eardrums.
“You’re telling me Koga had a thing with Kagome,” Inuyasha said. “How the hell did that fleabag wolf manage to win her over?”
“I remember you asking me that question once before,” Miroku mused.
So his other self had been equally shocked by the news. Finally, this other Inuyasha showed some promise of sense.
“What did you say back then?” the hanyou pressed.
“I told you… it was to be expected,” Miroku sighed. “She was a young girl coming to terms with the fact that the object of her affection, being one obstinate hanyou, was never going to return her feelings for him. Then, in sweeps a roguishly attractive wolf –“
“Roguishly attractive? Seriously?”
“—who professes his undying love for her every chance he gets. It seems obvious to me what would happen.”
Inuyasha took a moment to quietly absorb it. And damn it all if he couldn’t see it happening exactly that way, too. He wondered briefly if his other self had realised what was happening and felt guilty or if he’d existed in a bubble of obliviousness, totally unaware of how he was hurting Kagome.
Then he realised Koga had really had it worse than all of them. He’d lost Kagome for a day and felt like everything had fallen to pieces; how would it feel to lose her for years? Inuyasha’s ears lowered a little at the thought. He didn’t normally feel sorry for the bastard, but this… this, he could sympathise with.
“No one told me anything about that. Not even Koga. So he’s just been alone all these years without her?"
“Alone?” Miroku blinked. “Oh, no. No, he finally found a mate a few years later.”
Inuyasha held up a clawed hand. “Hold on. Just hold on right there.” That sneaky, lying, wolf… “Wolves mate for life, he told us that himself. And you’re telling me that Koga has a mate right now, despite supposedly loving Kagome first.”
Miroku made a face that clearly showed his discomfort. “It’s a… unique situation he found himself in,” the monk explained. “When he was with Kagome, there was no…” His voice trailed off, and the monk made some vague hand gestures to try to explain what he meant.
It didn’t take a genius to figure it out. Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. “Sex,” he finished bluntly.
“Well. Yes.”
“The infamous lecher, now father of three, has trouble saying the word sex.”
“I was trying to be delicate about it, but yes, that was what I meant. There was no mating involved, as it were, so therefore he wasn’t bound. It was more a… courtship with Kagome."
Inuyasha settled again, no longer planning to beat Koga’s face into the ground. He could accept that explanation, and hearing it from Miroku, he was satisfied that it was true.
“It didn’t really make that much of a difference to the group,” Miroku continued. “The dynamics didn’t shift all that much; there was already quite a mixed bag of characters in our group by that point and, having prior history with you and Sesshomaru, Koga appeared fairly often. All that really changed was the frequency of his appearances… and there were two idiots blindly leaping to Kagome’s defence instead of one – ow!”
Inuyasha casually withdrew his elbow, which he had lodged between Miroku’s ribs. “You’re the idiot for not seeing that coming,” the hanyou deadpanned. He then decided to go with the lightening mood. “So who’s the unlucky woman he finally settled down with?”
“Ah. Another wolf named Ayame. Apparently he made a promise to her when she was a child and she wasn’t going to let him out of that one easily. Something to do with a rainbow and a flower. I maintained only a polite interest at the time, so the details are vague."
Inuyasha could read between the lines well enough to guess why. "She didn't much care when you flirted, huh?"
The monk folded his arms and sniffed. "She didn't even give me a chance to start. She was focused only on Koga from the moment she appeared."
That name, though... Inuyasha frowned. Ayame… Ayame… He knew the name from somewhere. And the story sounded vaguely familiar. Where did he know her from? This was going to bug him forever.
Wait…
“Red hair? Green eyes? Or… maybe blue?”
Miroku looked vaguely surprised. “Green. You know her?”
“Yeah… Yeah, I think so. In my world, she saw Kagome as a rival and attacked her.”
“Yeah… that happened here, too. Only for us… it was a legitimate rivalry. Somehow, though, Kagome managed to come out of the encounter with a new friend. It was quite impressive, really.”
“Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me. It may have even happened in my timeline, too. I don’t honestly remember that much; she wasn’t around often.”
Miroku nodded. “She still rarely visits. She stays at their home in the mountain most often, looking after their pups.”
Inuyasha got another jolt. Koga was a father? Really? He supposed it shouldn’t really surprise him, though. Naraku was gone; everyone had a reason to move on, to finally plan for the future. He supposed he was the only one who liked the idea of everything remaining the same. He’d never wanted his friends to leave. He’d never wanted them to grow up… or grow old.
But he wasn’t going to bring down the mood – or pity on himself – by mentioning it. Instead, he forced his lips to curve into a smirk. “So, the mangy wolf got tied down by kids, too, huh? Serves him right. How many?”
“Five,” Miroku said. “Four boys and a single girl, if you were wondering. Daddy’s princess… she already has him wrapped entirely around her finger and he doesn’t even realise.”
The hanyou’s eyes bugged a little. “Five? Five? How quickly did he jump on this Ayame after Kagome?”
He couldn’t help his tone being a little hostile. It didn’t matter to him that she was gone here or that she wasn’t even his Kagome – he couldn’t let that kind of insult slide. If she’d had real feelings for this Koga and he’d moved on that fast… Maybe he would have to pound the bastard’s face into the ground after all.
But Miroku waved a hand dismissively. “Come on, now, you know it wasn’t like that. Koga was as torn up about Kagome as anyone. Wolves have litters, Inuyasha. She had twins, then triplets. And from what I hear… it was her who jumped him, not the other way around.”
Inuyasha pulled a face and held up a hand to stop that topic going any further. “I really didn’t need to know that last part."
While Miroku laughed, Inuyasha mulled over what he'd heard. So all of them were parents, it seemed. Miroku and Sango had their three, Koga had a veritable brood... even Sesshomaru showed parental tendencies that boggled Inuyasha's mind to no end. Just the night before, at meal time, he'd watched with fascination and not a small amount of surprise as Sesshomaru pulled a protesting Rin closer to him so that he could wipe a smear of food from her cheek using the sleeve of his haori. And he was the only one who found it strange and unnatural.
He really was trying his best to accept it. To stop trying to compare everything to his own world... or timeline... or whatever it was. It was never going to be exactly the same, no matter how many similarities. These people who were so familiar to him were essentially their own people with different quirks and interests and concerns. A certain someone's personality was almost a mirror opposite.
The hanyou frowned. His thoughts circled back to Sesshomaru quite a lot, didn't they? Before, he barely gave him a spare thought unless he was within concerning proximity. It had to be because he was so different, so... approachable now. It was some sort of cautious fascination that kept his brother on his mind.
As though summoned by that very thought, the whisper of Sesshomaru's haori announced his presence just moments before he spoke into the companionable silence that had settled on Inuyasha and Miroku.
"Sango is becoming increasingly concerned with your absence, Inuyasha," he explained.
Inuaysha managed to smoothly cover his jolt of almost guilty surprise. "What, were your ears burning?" he asked sourly, looking up at him.
"I beg your pardon?"
"Nothin'." Inuyasha waved it away; explaining what he meant would have been horrific, so he was glad Sesshomaru hadn't understood.
Miroku worried his lips. "We'd better go back," he said. "We don't want to give her any reason to be angry."
The hanyou slanted a look at him. "She terrifies you, doesn't she?"
"Yes," Miroku admitted unabashedly.
"Me, too," Inuyasha agreed, thinking of how often he'd seen Sango lose her temper. But then, because he decided it was a little pathetic, he added: "A little, at least. Either way, let's head back."
The monk was already standing and held out a hand to help Inuyasha up. Instead of being stubborn, he accepted it, then stretched when he was on his feet. As he and Miroku headed back toward the friendly glow of the fire, Inuyasha forgot to be wary when Sesshomaru fell into step beside him.
---
Sorry I've been absent! I started a new job, and even though it's not full time, it's so... busy... I come home and all I want to do is flop on my bed and not move. So that's what I usually do. But piece by piece, I've been writing little bits here and there, so I've not disappeared completely.
I know what I want to happen in this story in terms of what happens between Inuyasha and Sesshomaru, but other parts of it are fluid and I can change them as and when I want, so if there's something you want explained or even have a suggestion for something you'd really like to see happen, do tell me. I read literally every comment I get, and try to reply to them all where I can, so I'll take everything under advisement.