Bonds of Resonance

Chapter 2: Summoned

The brothers sat patiently in the dining hall, awaiting the arrival of one young woman who was to return from a short journey she had taken a few days before they had gotten back. The girl would arrive soon and until then both siblings busied themselves with either of their regal duties, Sesshomaru listening quietly to Togi-san, one of his trusted generals, orally reiterating the border patrol reports while Inuyasha pretended to bury his nose into a couple agricultural documents and sneaking curious glances at the general sitting beside his sibling.

Togi-san was a bear youkai, and as gruff and strict as he was, not only with his men, but with those of the Household, too (he even kept Sesshomaru in line!), he had an unusually soft spot for Rin, whom had grown up in his care when Sesshomaru had periodically visited the palace during the Days of the Shard.

While Inuyasha smiled nearly every time he saw Rin and Togi-san chatting like little village girls, he still couldn't help but feel a tad bit angry as well...

Not because he was jealous that her attention was centered on the bear, but because said bear never. Got. THE. LOOK. From her. It agitated the half-demon to no end, especially since he'd witnessed it enough times for it not to be pushed off as mere coincidence. And due to this immense indiscretion, and regardless of the outcome of past experiences, he still took every chance provided to him to get the bear in trouble... which almost always (9.8 out of 10 times) ended up with HIM being the one that got in trouble instead.

While he really should have been listening to the bear's border patrol report, he didn't particularly want to take the time and effort to stand up or even crawl over to the other wide of the long table where the two youkai sat. Inuyasha felt fine where he was, liking the isolation where he could keep to himself... and plot. He couldn't help it when one idea after another jumped into his head of how to set Togi-san up... each theory better than the last.

And while the hanyou conspired safely within the confines of his own mind, he never noticed the continually deepening crease forming about Sesshomaru's brow the more the youkai listened to Togi-san's report.

"You are sure of this?" the youkai lord asked carefully.

"Hai, my Lord. It is... not common knowledge. Even the majority of those within the castle walls have continued to be none the wiser. But somehow, the closer we get to them, the more tell I hear of it."

Sesshomaru could not help the nearly non-existent snarl curling past his tongue from the back of his throat. Togi bowed his apologies.

Sesshomaru let out a breath, shaking his head. "You did well, Togi. You need not take that which is not your burden to bear onto your shoulders, my friend. It was foolish of me to have thought something I have been expected to do since before I was born would so easily fade away with one notice of decline."

"My Lord," the bear general said, ears pulled back in helplessness as he tried to think of something, anything, that would help his old friend.

Sesshomaru caught sight of Inuyasha sitting at the end of the long, narrow table, mumbling to himself, glad, at least in this moment, that the hanyou's attention span was nil and void, and he was no more aware of the going-ons than he ought to be that Togi and he were speaking of.

"My Lord, perhaps if we spoke with the rest of the Alliance, maybe formed some sort of -" the bear began.

Sesshomaru shook his head, his gaze still resting on his brother, eyes soft. "We shall speak of this later, Togi. In private. For now, I wish to enjoy the evening and then retire for the night."

"Yes, my Lord. I will leave the rest of the report for you to glance over should you have time-"

The main shoji slammed to the side abruptly, an enchanting, though brash, beauty standing anxiously in the doorway. The young woman's eyes lit up the moment she laid her sights on the brothers and Togi-san at the table and immediately made her way across the large room, a fumbling, screeching yapping thing following in her wake.

"Rin! Rin! RRIN! Oh! My Lord, my apologies! I tried to calm her down but she wouldn't-!" Jaken screeched, scampering and sputtering after the disobedient girl as she bound over to stand in front of the dining table.

"Jaken," Sesshomaru warned simply as he felt his ire rise significantly. Thankfully the simple warning was all it took to cut the imp off mid rant, Jaken's beak snapping shut and quivering into a pout.

"Lord Sesshomaru! Inuyasha-san! You've returned! Oh! Good evening, Togi-san!" Rin said, bowing politely, clasping her hands together.

The bear smiled, bowing in kind as he gathered and organized a few of the papers Lord Sesshomaru and he had been going through earlier.

"Rin," the daiyoukai gave a slight nod. "I trust you faired well on your way back from Inuyasha's village?"

"Oh, yes, my Lord. We returned just a while ago. The trip was fine."

"Hey, kid, you been keeping up with those 'assignments' I left for you?" Inuyasha asked, having made his way over to his sibling's side, taking a seat before he began to peel the skin off an orange.

"Yes, Inuyasha-san! I finished them the first week you and Sesshomaru-sama were gone! I incorporated them into my schedule so that I was able to do them a second time so I wouldn't forget."

Inuyasha pursed his lips together as he sucked in a piece of orange, fairly impressed with the girl's devotion to toughening up her defense skills, not realizing he'd just cornered himself accidentally by asking her about how they were going in the first place...

"Assignments?" Sesshomaru asked as he gave a slight farewell nod to Togi who left the room, retiring for the evening.

Inuyasha froze before blatantly shaking his head back and forth sharply, trying his best to give the girl a non-conspicuous "Don't tell him, Don't tell him, Don't tell him!" motion...

...which she either didn't notice or completely ignored as she went on to answer the inquiry. "Hai, before you both left to reinstate treaties with the North, Inuyasha-san left some assignments for me to practice while you were away."

"And these practices would entail?" Though he directed his question and attention to Rin, Sesshomaru's eyes were locked on the wincing, hesitant hanyou beside him. It was obvious that whatever Rin was about to explain Inuyasha had known full well that his sibling would not be happy with it.

"Oh, defense techniques. Inuyasha-san has been training me during... uhm... I mean, the time that he... has free..." Rin stammered, finally catching the disapproval forming around Sesshomaru which said daiyoukai was currently directing toward his younger brother.

"I see," was all the youkai said, eyebrow arched as he gave one final death gaze at the hanyou before turning his sight back toward the anxious girl before them. "Please, Rin, take a seat. The evening meal will begin soon."

"Hai, Sesshomaru-sama."

A few moments later the servants began to bring the meal out, plate by plate, as Inuyasha and Rin animatedly conversed, Sesshomaru silently cursing his sibling and all his hanyou tendencies (surely non-compliance was genetically encoded into every human being's blood).

Not only had the foolish half-demon gone behind his back to teach Rin defense (regardless of the fact that the youkai had, time and time again, expressed his immense dislike of his ward being anywhere near dangerous weapons) but Sesshomaru was fairly certain the only time Inuyasha would have had time to teach Rin at all was when the hanyou was out of the youkai's sight. And while such times were rare in and of themselves, there were, in the end, only two viable options; their secret trainings either happened after everyone had gone to bed, or during the hours in the late afternoon when the hanyou was suppose to be in his OWN study, doing his OWN provincial duties (ones which the youkai always seemed to get stuck with in the end).

"Oh! Did that really happen, Inuyasha-san?!" Rin asked fearfully as she quickly eyed the hanyou's arm.

"Yeah, stupid snake broke it until bone was poking outta my damn arm. Dumbass number 1 here," the hanyou said, nodding his head in Sesshomaru's direction, "didn't even lift a finger to help me!"

Rin's wide eyes turned to her Lord, not entirely believing he would abandon his sibling, but knowing there had to be some truth- however twisted it may be- to the half-demon's declaration.

"While there is truth in that statement, little brother, you made it irrevocably clear to stay out of your battle lest I wish for my arm to be cut off again," the youkai said before taking a drink of his tea.

"Inuyasha-san!" Rin said in a scolding manner, Inuyasha's ears flattening against his skull. "Why would you say such a thing!"

While Rin's eyes weren't nearly as keen as someone of demon heritage, Inuyasha easily caught sight of just the smallest lift of his sibling's mouth. He grumbled angrily, knowing his brother had just set him up for a lecture on etiquette and "how one treats another" regardless if he were to say he hadn't meant it (even though he really, really, really had, especially right now!).

"Inuyasha-san."

"Tch, it's not like he hasn't had to go through it before; he's used to it. 'sides, it'd take him down a peg or two from that highass ego he's sittin' on-!" Inuyasha stopped abruptly as he caught sight of... THE LOOK. Argh! He could just feel Sesshomaru's belly roiling with contained shiver laughters. The prick... Keh! Why was it always Inuyasha who was usually on the receiving end of that look?

Inuyasha pouted, sinking into his seat as Rin did a complete turnabout once Sesshomaru asked what she had learned while they'd been away. The girl went on to answer in explicit detail each and every single thing she'd learned and how she'd utilized it the first chance she'd gotten. On and on she went, and on and on Inuyasha continued to sink further and further into his seat, hoping no one would notice if he were to slip under the table and take a snooze until the meal was over.

Alas, the meal eventually did come to an end, a fatigued Rin nearly drifting off to sleep on the table herself before she was quietly woken up by a clawed hand gently cupping her shoulder, Sesshomaru offering to walk her to her rooms. She declined saying she would see herself to bed before wishing both siblings a good evening and exiting the dining hall.

The servants removed the remaining plates from the table, Sesshomaru and Inuyasha continuing to lounge in the hall after everyone had left, the youkai reading over the reports he'd pushed off to the side while Inuyasha made use of the stick utensils that were always thrown away after every meal. Whether it was so he wouldn't have to look at or talk to his sibling, he began constructing a rather poor looking hut that could rival that of blind, two-year-old human's artwork (something that, regardless of that slight fact, he was still immensely proud of).

Trying to pour his full concentration into the little hut he was creating, it was only a matter of patience that separated his sibling and he from the inevitable. Soon enough, the hanyou was unable to withstand the deafening silence his brother and he had fallen into, and before he consented to is, he cracked (if only to arouse a sound of any kind).

He knew the demon was probably still irked by the dirty little secret he hadn't been let in on until now, an opinion which was reinforced by the demon not having said a word to him all meal, but... still!

Damnit, but it seemed Sesshomaru knew how to break through his sibling's defenses! He knew the half-demon hated silence more than anything (at least where Sesshomaru was concerned cause it was creepy as hell), and to pull the answers from him like this! Without the bastard doing anything but being quiet and creepy! It was like pulling fangs out of a mature adult to enhance a sword that would then weigh five times its usual weight (and you'd have a hard time using it to defeat your enemies, never mind lifting the damn thing up in the first place)!

It was truly the most effective form of non-violent torture!

Argh! Yelling, scolding, belittling! He'd take whatever the jerk had to offer! Anything! Just as long as the silence stopped and the demon's unapproving gaze turned on to someone else!

"Look, she wanted to learn more ways to defend herself, so I showed her how. I was even considerate enough to keep to your lame ass wishes of her not goin' anywhere near, or even wielding, sharp objects. Geez, a guy does his best to keep everyone happy and this is the thanks I get-..." Inuyasha trailed off as he aimed a well-placed glare at his brother... before it melted into a look of confused apprehension.

"W-what?" the hanyou stuttered as he saw something change in the youkai's features. "Sesshomaru...?"

The demon gave his sibling a once-over, his mouth quirking at the seams, ever so slightly. "Inuyasha," was all the youkai said without further warning.

The next moment a crash and an "ACK!" sounded as demon pinned hanyou to the cushions beneath either of them, the elder of the two towering over the younger.

"W-what the hell!?" Inuyasha sputtered as the demon immobilized his use of either arm, pinning his wrists to the side of his body. "Sesshomaru! Stop it! We talked about this on the way back! You promised not to push- Will you QUIT that?!"

The youkai ignored every blasphemous remark his sibling spit in his direction, opting instead to place light, tickling kisses over the half-demon's fragrant neck. His claws dug into the shoulder of Inuyasha's haori and kosode, pulling them out of place, and exposing bare, tan flesh to his enraptured gaze. The sight did nothing but tempt him to peel away more of the cloth and reveal more naked skin.

"Ah!" Inuyasha's breath hitched. It seemed his brother had "reached his limit" (in what Miroku had once told him was called "sexual frustration"), regardless of the fact that they had taken the (rather awkward) time to actually speak with each other about "taking it slow and exploring their feelings" toward one another.

However, any thoughts on the matter of "waiting", "taking time", etc, immediately left his mind as he was grabbed by his hips and hauled upwards, laid out across the low tea table like one of the delectable entrees they'd eaten earlier.

"What are you doing!?" the half-demon gasped, trying to find purchase on the well-polished table.

"Enjoying you," came the simple answer, the demon's tongue and fangs attacking the hanyou's exposed shoulder and neck.

Inuyasha sucked in and blew out tight breaths, the feeling of anxiousness thrumming through his body, crawling at an agonizingly slow pace southward, nearly exploding when his sibling further immobilized him with not only hand securing writs, but the youkai steadying the hanyou's hips with his thighs!

He was sprawled on the table like the main entree, and Sesshomaru was... on top of him, powerful thighs squeezing Inuyasha between them before pushing tightly against him!

Inuyasha's hips raised as best they could, his body too enticed by the heat and hypnotizing tingles he felt, to be the one who said it was enough, that they were moving to fast, going to far... It didn't matter.

All that mattered was that Sesshomaru didn't stop touching him, didn't move his body away... didn't-!

The main shoji slammed open with a resounding crack, the voices of guards in the background yelling down the hall in angry alarm.

Both youkai lord and hanyou prince paused in the midst of their rather steamy entanglement, Sesshomaru pinning his brother to the table top, one hand holding either of the hanyou's wrists above his head, the other at the half-demon's obi. The siblings stared at the one who dared interrupt without appointment or announcement of self.

There in the doorway was a slightly, young stag demon, the crest upon his breast indicating his allegiance and where he haled, causing Sesshomaru to narrow his eyes further.

"Who the hell are you?" Inuyasha asked suddenly, slightly embarrassed but more pissed off at the audacity of the kid before them (who was probably younger than he was!).

The young man bowed, coloring at the scene before him and stuttered awkwardly, "I-I am-"

"He is of little importance. My apologizes, my Lords," came a voice from a different entrance, Togi-san making his way over to apprehend the intruding stag demon.

"P-Please! I- I'm sorry, my Lord, b-but..." the young demon sputtered, cowering rightfully as the guard moved around and grabbed him from behind.

"Come on, you!"

Sesshomaru blew out a breath, his nerves having finally reached their limit. "A moment, Togi," he ceased his guard's actions, wanting to hear what the ill-mannered brat from there had to say. The daiyoukai narrowed his eyes on the young stag in question. "Out with it," Sesshomaru snapped, knowing that whatever message this boy had been sent to give him would not bode well for what he had originally hoped would be a... relaxing, entertaining evening.

"Y-yes, my Lord. The Council has r-requested your presence, as well as young L-Lord Inuyasha's. You have both been s-summoned, my Lord."

"Summoned? What the hell does that mean?" Inuyasha asked, pulling the fabric of his Fire Rat back over his exposed shoulder. He eyed the messenger suspiciously.

A tight sigh escaped the daiyoukai then, disgust and fury written all over his features at the disrespect the message brought by calling upon him.

It seemed the situation was far direr than Sesshomaru had originally anticipated, what with the Council not only summoning him but his brother as well. And all because Sesshomaru had declined, and gone against tradition, to take a mate as was the expectation for one of not only his rank but of his age as well.

He would not overly dwell on the implications of what this summoning meant, however, but he was sure that sooner or later blood would spill from either side, and, if it came to it, war would be declared by none other than himself against the one group of people no one had ever won against.

But by the gods, he would not relent, nor would he allow them the satisfaction of taking that which took him nearly his entire life to understand and find.

"It means, little brother," Sesshomaru began, giving the messenger a nasty glare before turning his attentions to the one sitting upright on the table, "that the Council has a problem with a decision I've made, one which I can assure any listening that I will not relent." The demon made sure to give the messenger a look that told him he'd be wise to pass that message on to the Elders.

Throughout his vague explanation, Sesshomaru purposely failed to mention that the decision the old bastards were unhappy with was his choice in not taking an equally high ranking female as his mate. The illusion that the Summons had nothing to do with Inuyasha specifically would continue until the date which they were requested to present their case.

He would not allow anyone or anything to cause his sibling superfluous panic until absolutely necessary.

And anyone who tried to impede upon this decision especially would pay dearly.


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Author's Note: Yay! Hope you enjoyed! It's building up!