Reconstruction

His eyes followed the hand up the arm and to the face of his brother. It was strange, seeing Sesshomaru in such a relaxed setting. He wasn’t wearing his armor and his hair was pulled over one shoulder, leaving the whole right side of his neck exposed. It was a bold move, especially around Inuyasha. The hanyou swallowed, wincing slightly at the rough feeling in his throat. He had questions. He needed answers.

“What the hell are you doing?” Inuyasha questioned, his voice raspy. Sesshomaru did not look up from the task at hand, his clawed fingers carefully wrapping the hanyou’s arm.

“Preventing you from bleeding to death or getting an infection, you imbecile.” The youkai replied, his tone clipped. Inuyasha narrowed his eyes, licking his lips and trying to force his voice sound stronger.

“Yeah… but why the fuck would you do something like that? Why didn’t you just… leave me out there?” He honestly wanted to know, his brother’s strange behavior confused him. Sesshomaru pursed his lips together in a thin line and his eyes lifted to meet his brother’s, something strange behind the youkai’s golden gaze.

“It would not do to allow you to get yourself killed by a weak and worthless snake.” He returned to his work, collecting the items he’d been using and standing from the futon. Inuyasha noticed that Sesshomaru was not wearing his boots and for some reason, it weirded the hanyou out. It was way too strange, seeing Sesshomaru so casual, almost as if he were…

It suddenly dawned on Inuyasha where exactly he was.

“Am I at your house?” He questioned. Sesshomaru regarded him with a look that clearly expressed how stupid he thought the younger man was.

“Where else would I be? I don’t make a habit out of social calls.” Go figure. Inuyasha studied his surroundings a bit more, fully aware of the fact that the futon he was lying on was the most damn comfortable thing he’d been on, even more so than Kagome’s—

His trail of thought halted, a raw feeling coiling in his chest as he thought of just her name. He focused instead on the room. On the delicate, intricately painted shoji screens, the tapestries over the walls, golden thread woven into masterpieces. Hell, even the tatami seemed nicer than any other common flooring. His gaze finally drifted over to his brother once again, who was at the door talking to someone and trading the medical supplies for a small cup of steaming liquid.

“I have many questions for you—“

“I’ve got a few of my own.”

“—but I’ve been advised by the royal healer not to bring you stress while your body is healing.”

“My body is fine, asshole.” Inuyasha interrupted, growling at the thought of being weak in front of Sesshomaru, of all people. But he was, and Sesshomaru knew that, carrying on with out even regarding the hanyou.

“Therefore, you will drink this. You will rest, and tomorrow we will discuss.” Inuyasha scowled, hating be told what to do.

“I ain’t drinkin’ nothing.” He snarled. Sesshmoru pursed his lips, eyes trained on the hanyou.

“Do not cause me to resort to force, Inuyasha. I could easily over power you at your peak. Taking control when you can barely stand will be no problem for this Sesshomaru.” The youkai very nearly sighed out. Inuyasha’s scowl deepened, glaring at his brother and the cup in his clawed hand.

“What the fuck is it?” he grumbled as Sesshomaru took a few steps towards the futon, gracefully lowering himself to his knees as he sat.

“Something to quicken the process.” The youkai said, passing the cup to the hanyou. Inuyasha reached out with his good hand, snatching the cup away. He brought it to his nose, sniffing for any poisons he could think of. When his search bought up nothing, and not wanting to seem like a coward, Inuyasha brought the cup up to his lips, tipping it back and finishing it’s contents. He wrinkled his nose in disgust.

“That tasted like shit.”

“You amaze me with how eloquent your speech has become.” Sesshomaru snorted, taking back the cup and standing.

“I will return when you awake.”

“Wait, what? Who said anything about sleep?” Inuyasha could have sworn he saw the youkai’s lips twitch upward.

“Oh, did I not mention it was also a heavy sedative?” Inuyasha’s eyes narrowed, but the world was suddenly becoming blurry.

“No… you didn’t, you bastard.” He wanted to push himself up off the futon but found suddenly that his whole body felt like noodles. He blinked slowly, the world swimming in and out of focus.

“Ah, must have slipped my mind. “ Sesshomaru little more than muttered, obviously taking some pleasure out of pulling one over on Inuyasha. The hanyou growled, but it came out almost as a purr and that just pissed him off more. He wanted to do something, but his body felt so tired and the futon so comfortable….


Finally. Sesshomaru thought to himself as his brother slipped into unconsciousness. He heaved a small sigh, turning on his heel and quietly leaving the room.

The palace was in a bit of an uproar, from what Sesshomaru had heard from his most trusted of servants. Many of it’s inhabitants were upset that Sesshomaru had brought a hanyou to the palace, but as far as Sesshomaru was concerned, it was his home and he’d do whatever he felt pleased. He would have thought that they’d have been over such a thing in the length of time Rin had been living there. Apparently, she was the only exception. Some of the servants didn’t care at all, some were even excited about a change of pace, others excited to catch a glimpse of Inutaisho’s other son. That constant flow of whispered chatter from corners of the palace was enough to form a headache behind the youkai’s eyes.

And none of it helped his current situation. None of the chatter was helping him come to any sort of conclusion over the hanyou’s actions. Heaving another sigh, Sesshomaru decided to take a walk out in the gardens. Perhaps that would clear his head, or at least ease the tension from his back.

The gardens had always been a favorite spot of his since he was a child. It was the one place he could go to escape from any responsibility, any problems, anything at all. It was his favorite place to think, to doze, to watch the sun set over his lands. The gardens were laid out with ponds filled with lotus, lined with wisteria and sakura. A stone bridge led over the pond to the more flowery areas of the gardens; amaryllis, lavender, lilac, dog rose, jasmine, orchids, peony and many more exotic flowers laid out as far as the eye could see. There were waterfalls and rock gardens, crimson queen trees and bamboo.

Esthetically, the gardens were exquisite, but they were more than that to Sesshomaru. Something about the smells and the quiet sounds made him feel more at home there than anywhere else in the world. He took in a deep breath, letting his eyes fall shut with a soft sigh before slowly making his way through the paths and over the bridge to his favorite spot right on the edge of the flower gardens against an ancient oak tree. He could remember climbing the branches high above the ground until he could barely see his father standing down below through all the leaves and budding flowers. His father would tell him to swing down, that he would catch him. And even if he couldn’t see his father, even if his scent was overpowered by the scents of spring, Sesshomaru would close his eyes and swing, knowing his father would be there to catch him.

Thinking back to when he was a child, to the times spent in the gardens with his father, made a tight knot form in his chest. It made Sesshomaru slightly uncomfortable, not understanding the feeling that made it almost hard to breath. He pressed a hand to his chest, his eyebrows knitting together, and looked away from the gardens towards his palace. His palace where Inuyasha laid now, after…
After what? After purposely losing a fight to take his own life? Sesshomaru did not understand. His brother was always one to let his pride get in the way of his judgment, sometimes picking fights to prove he could win, not to purposefully lose. And what he had said earlier…. Was the miko woman so important to Inuyasha that without her, he felt that his life was not worth living?

This did not sit well with Sesshomaru, though he didn’t quite know why. He heaved another sigh, not happy with his inability to understand the sudden wave of emotions and concern coming over him. Sesshomaru prided himself in knowing exactly what was going on in his head, and not knowing was really starting to irritate him. He leaned his head back against the bark of the tree, his eyes sliding shut. He felt safe where he was and the aromas from the garden were making him feel drowsy. The air was warm, but beneath the shade of the tree, Sesshomaru felt extremely content. He needed to relax anyways…


When Inuyasha awoke again, the first thing he noted was how warm and comfortable he was. Consciousness was slow coming and until then, he was happy to just drift in and out of sleep for a while.

That was until he remembered where he was.

The hanyou shot up into a sitting position, a dull throb running up his arm the only indication that he was ever injured in the first place. His head whipped around, looking for the smug bastard who had drugged him in the first place. Pushing himself off the futon, he swayed slightly, caught his balance and stalked off in the direction of the youkai’s scent.

He followed it down a hall and through a door outside to the biggest, greenest garden the hanyou had ever seen. He stopped in the middle of walking to stare at the scenery, eyes widening and jaw dropped. He’d never seen anything so beautiful in his life. Walking along the pathway, he crossed over the bridge, watching the way the sakura petals fell against the smooth surface of the water. He turned to look further into the gardens, following his brother’s scent, thought it was nearly overpowered by the aroma coming from the flowers. When he spotted his brother he slowed his movement, something about the scene made him want to take it all in.

Sesshomaru was propped up against the largest tree in the gardens, his head tilted forward a bit, but his hair over the opposite shoulder to Inuyasha, exposing the whole side of older man’s long, slender neck. His long white hair fluttered slightly in the wind, brushing his pale cheeks with the softest of grazes. His hands were folded in his lap, one leg pulled up, the other stretched out, his yukata rising up on his leg—

Yukata? That alone was enough to make Inuyasha wrinkle his eyebrows in confusion. He’d never seen Sesshomaru in anything other than his hakama and haori. So to see him dressed in the pure white yukata with simple gold and silver embroidery in the same pattern as he was always seen in… It was mind-blowing for the hanyou. It was so strange to see Sesshomaru so casual and laid back. As if he didn’t have a care in the world…

Inuyasha made his way towards the youkai, and when he was but a few feet away, Sesshomaru lifted his head, golden eyes trained on Inuyasha’s face.

“You’re awake.” His voice was soft, it caught the hanyou off guard. He stared for a moment, unsure of what to say before he caught himself and snarled.

“No thanks to you, ass.” Sesshomaru shifted slightly, crossing one leg over the other.

“It was necessary. You needed rest and I knew with your thick head, you wouldn’t do it on your own.” Inuyasha scowled, flopping down beside his brother, crossing his legs underneath his body.

They sat in silence, Inuyasha looking around at all the different plants he had no idea the name of. There were so many different kinds; he didn’t know there even were so many. It was Sesshomaru who broke the silence, letting out the softest of sighs before turning to Inuyasha.

“You have not been staying in your village.” Inuyasha gave him a weird look, raising an eyebrow.

“Uhm… No, I haven’t. What’s it to you?” Sesshomaru seemed to think for a moment, eyes lifting upwards the sky before he nodded slightly, mostly to himself.

“You do not wish to be there. Understandable. You will stay here.” Inuyasha’s eyes widened, his jaw dropping in shock.

“Wh-what?!”

“You will stay here. And then we shall travel along Father’s land. Along the Road of the Grieving.” He glanced over at Inuyasha’s sputtering form. “You would be stupid to turn down a good home and fresh food every night, Inuyasha.”

The hanyou stared at his brother as if he’d grown three extra heads. Stay here? With Sesshomaru? Wasn’t that just asking to have his head ripped off? Was this some sort of trick? And what was this… traveling around the old man’s land shit? What did that mean? He wanted to ask all these questions, wanted to demand answers, wanted to know what the fuck the crazy bastards problem was. Instead, none of these things happened. When he opened his mouth, all that came out was the worst possible thing the hanyou could think of.

“O-okay.” He cursed himself as he saw Sesshomaru raise an eyebrow.

“I-I… mean… It would be… pretty damn stupid of me to… to not take up an offer like that. Just so long as I don’t hafta see you very often.” He added the end on just to make sure Sesshomaru didn’t get the wrong idea. Sesshomaru looked away for a moment, crossing his arms over his chest.

“For once you are making a wise decision. Seems unlikely, but I suppose we all have our moments of… weakness.” Inuyasha scowled, crossing his own arms.

“Shut up, you pompous ass. I said I’d stay here, not that I’d have to put up with your shit. I can still beat your ass.” The hanyou could have sworn he saw his brother roll his eyes.

“You can’t beat me in a fair fight, let alone one on my own property.” The youkai stood, looking down at Inuyasha.

“You may come in when you like, but dinner will be served soon. Perhaps, for once, you could try taking something most call a bath.” Inuyasha sneered after his brother as he watched him go. He smelled just fine, Sesshomaru was just being an asshole like always.


After a moment thought, Inuyasha decided maybe a bath wouldn’t be such a bad idea.