Servant Boy

Author's Note: Not edited so bear with repetitive words, numerous grammatical errors, among other such natural disasters. Also, I would usually put "flashback begins" for when that happens... but... I like how it flows from being in the present, to the flashback from the present moment point of view, and into a full fledged flashback from the point of view of said flashback. So yeah... dunno why I decided to tell you that but bleh! XD Enjoy!


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Chapter 4 recap

“I am youkai. You are hanyou. Our roles, our lives and our destinies are vastly different. There... can be nothing more," Sesshomaru recited dejectedly.

“And companionship means nothing to you!?” Inuyasha's anger finally got the best of him. Growling, he pushed Sesshomaru backwards, throwing him onto the bed fiercely.

Inuyasha pinned the startled youkai's wrists to the bedding.

Companionship? I was,... speaking of something entirely different... Had it been in his genes, Sesshomaru would have colored at his realization.

“Com’on! We may be past our majority but we can still hang out like we used to! Like when we wrestled! I’m older now and stronger so I’ll definitely beat you!”

Inuyasha commenced with mock wrestling upon the bed trying to get his old friend to play back but to no avail. When Sesshomaru made no move to push back it only fueled the hanyou's resolution to make the demon remember him. He pushed and clawed (carefully) at the taller male's prone body, trying to grapple him into play fight.

Gods but Inuyasha had no idea what he was doing to him... The warmth his body pressing against his had confusing repercussions on Sesshomaru’s body; not only did he enjoy it but he wanted to “wrestle” Inuyasha back in a manner that was highly inappropriate for either of their stations to engage in, especially together.

But that heat... the tight ache that seemed to be consuming his entire being... it was very hard to ignore... and with Inuyasha's body so close...

Sesshomaru didn't think of the punishment he would surely receive at all when he used his superior powers and switched their positions so that Inuyasha was beneath him, his own claws easily pinning the hanyou's above his head, his nose moving to scent the half-demon's neck, rubbing his cheek against the thick, hot column of flesh there... Gods, even his scent smelled divine.

He wasn't the only one that was enjoying the contact, however. He didn't miss the hitch in his lord’s breath, the coloring his face took on, nor how his eyes fluttered shut and how his throat bobbed up, and it excited him.

So submissive...

Sesshomaru's hand moved to touch the soft skin of Inuyasha's cheek.

However when Inuyasha’s breath hitched unexpectedly Sesshomaru came to his senses and pushed himself off and away from his old friend and always master.

Inuyasha sat up, eyes blinking rapidly, unsure of what exactly had just taken place.

“Wh-?”

“My apologies, I was out of line.” With that said Sesshomaru pushed himself backwards, bowing lowly, eyes trained intensely on the floor. He’d felt... embarrassed. An emotion that rarely surfaced, and in his mindless embarrassment he had nearly walked right out the door spouting apologies and just wanting to get as far away as possible. He had thankfully, however, caught himself, and instead found himself bowing in defeat, uncertain of yet anticipating his sure punishment for such a blatant show of disrespect.


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Chapter 5: Onetime Friend, Always Out of Reach

Sesshomaru closed his eyes, recalling the past day's events.

Upon his first meeting with Inuyasha it had all been one surprise after another. And then, the other servants left, and they were alone. A strange power exuded from the younger and it seemed to catch the interest of Sesshomaru's youki if the lack of control over his own emotions, feelings, and even movements was anything to go by. And then the half-demon who was to become Lord of the House one day flooded his senses when tackling him... and something inside of him had snapped.

Rationally he knew, it had been a friendly wrestling match.

Rationally, he knew, he had once enjoyed these matches in a friendly manner.

And rationally he knew now that something profound had altered between then and now for his reactions to be what they had become.

Even now, sorting through his memories of this day's past events, he still could not pin point what exactly he'd felt when he'd flipped the hanyou's body underneath his own. He had yet to comprehend what the smoldering sensation building in him meant. But what he did know, was when he became aware of himself once again.

His first thought had been to flee, to escape the punishment his once-friend, always Lord, would surely administer for the unthinkable crime of overpowering the soon to be Lord, and letting his own intellectually inferior blood overcome himself like the dirty youkai that he was. That had been his first thought, the way of thinking that he'd grown up to be taught was the right way to think.

Such words and lessons that had been taught to him... were merely, and more comparative to, spells laced within sentences to suppress his true nature. A nature that was based in, around, and through instinct. A nature ningens had labeled as inferior. Base. Animalistic. And his lessons through the years of being away from his friend had proved to be successful. Outwardly at least. Inside, a war raged between reason and instinct, or rather, what human's considered moral vs. demon heritage.

This time for Sesshomaru was no different, the fight he endured and struggled with... yet this time, was even stronger within him.

Yes, human-taught thought was the first thing that entered his mind when he came to after having pinned the half-demon prince beneath him. The second taking over in the blink of an eye, was instinct.

And that instinct told him to not apologize. To not back down from something none with rational minds would have. For even humans, mortal as they were, also fell upon their initial instincts in such moments, just as demons did. Though it was probably no surprise that demons, unless broken of, or rather altered of that train of thought and process, relied heavily on, and initially were, instinctive beings. Many would always wonder whether that was because of the animal forms their other half was, or whether it was due to their immortal half.

No human knew, nor did they care to. Save a handful that secretly held a kindness in them for such mysterious, hindered beings. Or so Sesshomaru's father had continued to remind him.

Sesshomaru sighed, looking out the servant quarter's open shoji, up into a bright, moonlit night, this being one of the only time he could truly be at peace with the things around him, but more importantly content with himself.

His thoughts, though they often drifted periodically from the subject, always seemed to find their way back to one particular being, one particular topic which could never be ignored.

Inuyasha.

The young hanyou had merely stared at him after Sesshomaru had pushed away spouting his apologies for having overstepped his boundaries. Never once between bowing his head to the floor and awaiting a punishment that would surely cause more pain than any other he'd endured over the years due to the giver, to probably even at present was he able to comprehend why the younger male had done what he did.

Sesshomaru had expected a punishment.

A quick kick, or two, to his head or stomach, maybe even his neck. A chosen word of subjugation that would put him in his place. Harsh words. Even a call to the guards surely outside the room to take him away from the hanyou prince's presence...

None of those happened though. Not a single one.

Instead the next thing he knew he was on his back, hands above his head and a goofy smiling, boyish face laughing above his own stunned one.

"Hah! Pinned ya again!" Inuyasha had then said next.

Sesshomaru could only blink in confusion before his mind caught up with what had just transpired. And, instead of the ache instinct and thought usually caused within his head, Sesshomaru found he was merely content with the rather unanticipated outcome, simply relaxing his eyes, yet never once mirroring the face with looked down at him with such unearned adoration.

"By the way," Inuyasha's voice had then infiltrated the youkai's musings, catching his immediate attention. "You're it!"

And with that, the hanyou who would be Lord ran out through his shoji which led to the gardens, guffawing all the way. The demon stared after his retreating form for a while, wondering exactly what he was suppose to do in such a situation. He was an attendant, he attended to the needs of his superior, which in this case was young Lord Inuyasha, and by way of that, sought to please and gather that which was desired. But as he'd been taught, "things desired" meant tangible objects, such as soaps, towels, dressings, bed linens and other such daily needs that the Royals asked for. This was... definitely not something he was taught to attend to. Yet... if this was what his frie- Young Lord- desired, to play... tag... then it was his duty to see that the game was to every bit of Inuyasha's satisfaction, wasn't it?

Confused between reason and that which he was taught, Sesshomaru sat up, staring intensely at nothing in particular as he tried to grasp some semblance of an answer.

So caught up in his thoughts he didn't realize the door from the corridor leading into and through the palace had been opened, light feet barely making a sound as they tapped against the wood flooring.

"Aren't you going to follow after him?" a voice had said.

Sesshomaru was standing before the question had even been asked fully, his position one of defense before realizing who it was and pulling back into a more acceptable role of servant.

"My, my, Sesshomaru, what if I'd been a guard, or that nasty mother of our little Lord's?" the other occupant of the room teased, pulling a face as he walked around the prone, yet somehow proud-looking, demon.

"Hmph," Sesshomaru snorted through his nose. "Watch your mouth about our Lady. You may hold some ridiculous and fabricated vendetta against her, but I do not. Don't slant her name in my presence again, Toshiru."

The other snickered, covering his face as a woman would with her fan. Toshiru's dark lashes, framed by equally midnight dark tresses, perfectly accentuated his mischievous nature. "Truly your father's son, I see. In any case, are you following our child-Lord?"

Sesshomaru growled lowly, staring out into the gardens and not bothering to turn his eyes toward his... comrade.

"What?" Toshiru asked. "That's what he is. Nearly time for him to become Lord of an entire section of this Island and he's running off to play tag like he was just a child."

That had done it. Sesshomaru rounded on his friend, eyes narrowed and mouth flattened into a thin line. With one hand and to the eye of any mortal, the youkai looked as if he merely nudged his friend in the chest. But upon initial contact of hand to chest and beyond... that was hardly the case.

Toshiru flew backwards into the wall, a crash inevitable with his impact. Even with one line of blood dripping down the side of his mouth, he still grinned mischievously up at Sesshomaru. "I've always admired that strength of yours. Even in regards to youkai you are freakishly strong. I fear and look forward to the day some fool of a mortal gets on your bad side."

"Tch. You are far too-"

"What the hell's going on?!" came a new voice into the demon's conversation, the owner clicking in Sesshomaru's head the moment he spoke.

It was instinct that made him turn his head to the side to see Inuyasha standing their in the open shoji, looking fiercely, and rather suspiciously, at the two youkai in his personal quarters, and it was human-taught thought that made him kneel and bow his head the next moment.

"Sessr- Sesshomaru? What the hell just happened?" Inuyasha asked, seemingly incensed. "And who the hell are you?" he jerked his head toward the newcomer with dark hair, dark eyes and an entirely too inappropriate state of dress for any man to be seen in public wearing, never mind a Royal's personal chambers.

"Oh, young Lord, this is entirely my fault. I came looking for this servant-"

"Sesshomaru," Inuyasha stated without thought.

"I'm sorry, my Lord?" Toshiru asked, not understanding the sudden use of Sesshomaru's name.

"His name. Is. Sesshomaru. Not Servant. You, on the other hand, seem by far more deserving of that title if you can't even introduce yourself before bleedin' all over my floor," Inuyasha said evenly.

Toshiru's lip curled before it began quivering; it took all his strength not to let the grin tugging on the sides of his mouth to break past his grasp. What a feisty little Lord they had, indeed. And it seemed the honored hanyou was as equally protective of his once friend, always servant as the other was of him.

Interesting, indeed.

"My apologies, my Lord," Toshiru said, bowing. "I go by the name Toshiru, 3rd servant quarters, household duty enforcer."

Silence followed for a while.

"You can stop bowing," Inuyasha said before adding, "So you're basically everyone else's babysitter, huh? So you just, what, watch people do work all day and sit there?"

Toshiru barely managed to (rather poorly) disguise his snicker as a tight sneeze. "In a manner of speaking, my Lord, yes. I have the task of checking every area of the Household, and by way of that, every servant in service in that particular area, to make sure they are carrying out their duties to their intended expectations."

"Hm," Inuyasha murmured in thought as he walked over to his futon he took a seat. "What happens if the duty isn't up to your standards?"

"Permission to speak a bit more boldly, my Lord?"

Inuyasha nodded to the request.

"The standards have only become second nature to me, my Lord, as they are your family's standards in which we follow. And should a servant not meet the Household's expectations of duties servants are to perform on a daily basis, they are obviously punished to the extent of the expectations lacking."

This seemed to have caught Inuyasha's attention. "What?"

"Should a servant not meet-"

"I heard you! What I meant was, what exactly do you mean when you said, 'punished to the extent of the expectations lacking'? And punished, how?" the hanyou prince was standing once again.

"Permission to stand, my Lord?" Toshiru asked. Inuyasha grunted. "Permission to... explain with not being hit for answer your Lord's inquiry?"

Sesshomaru's stance for the first time, and without permission, changed a second after his friend had uttered that. "You are out of line, Shi!" the dog youkai hissed quietly, so quietly he doubted and hoped Inuyasha would not hear. But with the surprised look the hanyou prince gave him... he apparently had. Though it seemed to have had little to no affect on his decision in agreeing to the disrespectful request the dark haired youkai had made.

"Yeah, yeah. Answer the question."

Inuyasha didn't notice it, but Sesshomaru did; the very slight quirk of Toshiru's lips. Whatever he was about to say, the dark-haired, wolf demon was going to enjoy the outcome. And from personal experience, anything Toshiru enjoyed... never boded well for anyone but Toshiru.

"Thank you, my Lord. To answer your first question, should a servant not adequately finish his or her assigned duty they are punished for the part of that duty that they did not accomplish. An... example of this might be something like..."

Toshiru's eyes flicked over to Sesshomaru, the white-haired demon instantly going tense, not liking the look in the other's dark orbs at all.

"A certain servant, no servant in particular... so we'll call him "Ruffledfeathers"... had the duty of tidying up a Royal's personal bedchambers, gathering the day's laundry and taking it to the Boiler, a nickname the servants have given the rather cramped cave that is home to some of the hottest natural springs in the West, before going back to the Royal's personal chambers to see if there is any other laundry or areas to be cleaned, and then returning to finish the laundry, returning it and retiring for the evening. Should our dear Ruffledfeathers not go back to the Boiler to retrieve the first load of laundry in the time he is permitted and expected to accomplish his duty, should he... forget, we'll say, it is adequate enough proof in lacking in his duty, and therefore punishable."

Toshiru paused, taking in his audience. The young Lord was merely staring at him intensely, silently waiting for him to continue with his explanation and answer to the second question, while Sesshomaru looked tense, rigid and uneasy. Excellent.

"Because Ruffledfeathers forgot to complete his duty his punishment is imminent, thus because of the nature of the remaining part of his chore he so irresponsibly neglected to finish, his punishment fits... his crime, I suppose is good way to put it."

The young Lord's eyes were narrowed and trained on him still, daring him to continue. It was a request he could barely not grant such an opportune guest.

"Ruffledfeathers' punishment, obviously, will be a little dip in the Boiler's springs for only the sufficient amount of time that it takes to learn his lesson, of course. I hope that answers your questions fully, my Lord," Toshiru finished, having to bow in order to hide the cruel curl of his mouth.

"I take it you're the one to decide how long a... 'sufficient amount of time' is?" Inuyasha said, eyes still trained on the bowing demon.

"Sometimes I am given that task, yes, my Lord. However, I am but the one that makes sure jobs are being done, and should they not be, I take the unruly being to the 2nd servant quarters, where they are handed over to the one that usually administers the punishment suggested."

"I see," Inuyasha said. Golden eyes flicked over to his friend noticing that his posture still had not relaxed. "You're dismissed," he then said to Toshiru without averting his gaze.

"Yes, my Lord. If I could possibly have this serv- Sesshomaru, accompany me to my next destination, we will take our leave of you and let you rest for the remainder of the da-" Toshiru began.

"Denied."

Toshiru, and even Sesshomaru, paused in surprise.

"My Lord? Surely you're tired from today's studies to be burdened with-"

"Tell me, Tacky-" Inuyasha began.

"Toshiru, my Lord."

"I don't care," the half-demon Royal waved his claws dismissively. "Tell me, what happens to those who have the duty of making sure other's are accomplishing their duties when they in fact... are not?" Inuyasha began walking toward Toshiru slowly, eyes narrowed and focused intently.

Sesshomaru, while having been tense at the thought of what Toshiru had been referring to, was now in complete astonishment with the abrupt change Inuyasha seemed to have taken. From a young, child-Lord that wanted to wrestle his old friend, to a well-versed, diplomatic prince that saw through malicious games in such a short span... the half-demon would never cease to amaze him it seemed, not then, and certainly not now.

"I-" the dark-haired demon stumbled verbally, for the first time he was unsure of the situation he'd gotten himself into. Unconsciously he took a step back every three steps his Lord took.

"Do you think it'd be fair to say that when those who enforce others yet are neglecting their own job and actually lacking discipline themselves, to merely antagonize a peer... Do you think it'd be fair for someone in a higher position to pronounce discipline on the one in question? It'd be quite the parallel; Lord to enforcer, and enforcer to his peers."

Toshiru's face had finally evaporated to solid understanding as the his back hit the wall and Inuyasha stood directly in front of him. Though the same height, the hanyou somehow towered over him, his fierce aura adding to the intimidation and threatening promise he resolved to achieve should a certain boundary ever be breached again.

"Just in case ya don't understand exactly what I'm saying, I'll say it once more, in easier terms for your brain to grasp," Inuyasha said slowly, a clawed hand coming out of nowhere and attaching itself to Toshiru's slender neck. The half-demon prince leaned in, blatantly eying the column that connected head to body. "I will rip out your goddamned throat if you ever think to make up some lameass bullshit that'd get someone I call a friend into trouble, specially the kind you seem to be apart of. Does that make sense? Yeah? Good." Inuyasha pressed his claws harder into Toshiru's neck, leaving lightly bleeding pin pricks, before pushing away in disgust. "Now get the hell out of my sight."

Toshiru's mouth started twitching again, but this time for entirely different reasons and with entirely different emotions playing across his eyes.

"Yes. My Lord," the ookami said tightly, obeying. As he was about to slide the shoji closed behind him, Inuyasha called out.

"By the way, Tacky, I hope you realize that I'm pretty well acquainted with all four servant quarters, and consider the household servants as some of my closest friends. You'd be smart to remember that. Dismissed."

The soft snarl the wolf emitted did not go undetected.

But neither did the chortle Inuyasha let out after it.


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Chapter end.