Gotta Get Thru This

Eh...I thought I should warn ye all now...there will be slight InuYasha/Sesshoumaru... AND, as the story goes on, it will explain itself, especially to why both InuYasha, InuTaishou, and other demons react the way they do to Sesshoumaru. k?

BTW: /...../ this indicates someone or something speaking to someone, k?
EX: /Beware the great Red Dragon. You owe me Awe./


"Are ya kiddin' me?! You don't know my name? This must be some trick..." The mysterious man growled, his voice flavored with suspicion. He slowly edged closer to the teenager, as if the young inu youkai would attack at any moment.

Sesshoumaru stared at him, his jaw felt slack. He didn't know what to make of this. A strange hanyou stood before him, who appeared to be a little older than Sesshoumaru himself. He noted the odd white cat-like ears that seemed so hauntingly familar, blunt, but fiery golden eyes, and messy silver hair. Even the scent of this half-breed was deja vu.

'...It couldn't be...' Sesshoumaru's breath caught in his throat, lodged like a rock in a tube. Tears threatened to leak out of his eyes, for an image of his little brother drifted before his vision.

Sesshoumaru's eyes saw the vivid picture, the elborate painting of both his father and deceased brother's features fused within this strange hanyou.

A portrait of what his little half-brother could have been, if he had not died.

'...InuYasha is dead...he died...he is dead...he is dead...' Sesshoumaru, confused and bewildered, chanted his thoughts like a mantra.

"Well, fine then. I'll tell you my name, even though we both know you know it already! Sheesh, you've uttered my name almost as much as Kagome has! My name is InuYasha." The weird hanyou revealed, his grating voice annoyed and impatient.

The inu youkai boy started to hyperventilate, for he couldn't take anymore stress on his body. He tried to calm down, but he couldn't. The air seemed to evade his lungs altogether. He couldn't breath no matter how hard he tried. All he could do was lie sprawled on the ground, trembling and shaking as he expelled the last small amounts of his precious oxygen.

'...well...I wanted to die...so I get my wish, afterall...and...InuYasha...' Sesshoumaru mused, but trailed off as he felt to lose consciousness.

InuYasha stared hard at the hyperventilating youkai. Never in all his life, had he ever seen Sesshoumaru spout so much emotion, let alone hyperventilate. The hanyou may be an idiot, a rather rash idiot, but he was smart enough to notice the discoloration of Sesshoumaru's face and how he clawed at the ground. He also noticed the dry, gasping and wheezing noises.

'...He may be a bastard who wants me dead, but I'm not going to just stand here and do nothing! I'm not going to let him die like this. No one can fake this...' InuYasha thought to himself, for at the right times, he did use his intelligence. Well, at least he used whatever that was floating in his thick skull.

The brazen hanyou knelt beside the suffocating youkai. With a sigh, he forced Sesshoumaru to lie flat on his back. He hesitated for a moment, but when he saw the familar sadness that resonated from Sesshoumaru's honey eyes, he quickly pushed all hesitation aside.

Sesshoumaru felt a warm mouth close over his and he felt air being pushed down his throat to his lungs. Several times the mouth would close over his and deliever fresh air to his aching, oxygen-deprived lungs. It felt like someone was giving his life back to him through their own mouth. It was strange how this mouth on his didn't bother him much, like he thought it would.

He had more than enough air filtering in and out of his lungs. It felt so good to breath again, but the same pain was still burning in his breaking heart. He wasn't so sure which was worse: life denied or death denied.

The same mouth that delivered his life back started to move away, but the young youkai wouldn't have that. Sesshoumaru pressed his lips against the slightly older hanyou's lips. Somehow, he thought the hanyou would move away from him, but he was wrong. He almost purred with contentment and victory when the hanyou's lips pressed back against his, in a experimental, chaste kiss.

'...Am I actually kissing Sesshoumaru?! First I save him from suffocating to death, and now I'm kissing the bastard? I actually...like this...a lot...' InuYasha mused, but eventually his thoughts melted away when fire sparked in his lower stomach. He couldn't help but deeply inhale the slightly younger boy's scent. He didn't know why or how, but Sesshoumaru's scent both captivated and infatuated him.

Something so unsettling took over him that he pinned the youkai's slender arms above his head, as if to make sure he did not get away. As if to prove something, he ravaged the youkai's mouth and pressed his lower body hard against Sesshoumaru's thigh, as if to have him feel how affected he made him.

Sesshoumaru whimpered and felt ashamed that he allowed yet another to dominate him so. Perhaps it was because this odd InuYasha-who-should-be-deceased was so much like InuTaishou, body and mind. Yet this InuYasha wasn't nearly as muscled nor as heavy as his InuTaishou.

The inu youkai started to panic; this was not his InuTaishou and somehow he knew what this odd InuYasha wanted from him. It all felt too fast, too sudden, too wrong to him.

/...Ah, so you let another of your blood explore you, you whore. Do you not know its wrong? Incest and homosexuality is wrong, little Sesshoumaru. Daddy's going to punish you for spreading your legs, little slut. You have sinned in more ways than one, and soon enough, you will pay for them.../ Came a dry, raspy, and grating voice that Sesshoumaru could only hear. It was hard to dicern whether this said voice was male or female. He honestly couldn't tell. There was no scent to go with it, therefore, no identity.

'Who are you? Why do you speak to me?' Sesshoumaru mused, his mind overstressed and his emotions raw.

/Oh, in Time, you will know who I am.../ It spoke again to Sesshoumaru, but in a low whisper this time, as if it knew something were about to happen.

'Oh, great, I'm hearing voices now, and this voice actually makes some sense, even though it insulted me in the process. InuYasha...I don't know how he can be alive, or why, but he is still my little brother! I will not subject him to this...incestous madness...yes, now I see...I am wrong...worthless, I was right, I am dirt. Even if it were right, I do not deserve InuTaishou or InuYasha. What...have I done...?' Sesshomaru mused; realization dawned on him.

Before Sesshoumaru could even struggle or push the InuYasha away, he felt a familar presence and heard a very distinct, loud snarl.

InuYasha heard it too and stood up. Instinctively he curled his clawed fingers and bared his fangs at the intruder. His inner demon was pissed off for being interrupted at the claiming of a potential mate.

InuTaishou stood tall and rigid, his eyes glowing red and the stripes on his cheeks jagged. He was raw with rage and jealousy. And of course, extreme possessiveness.

The great inu youkai lord could not speak; all he could do was viciously snarl his wrath. He bared his fangs in return, primal instinct kicking in as well. His inner demon also saw his own son, Sesshoumaru, as a significant mate. He felt his rank, as well as his mate, were being threatened, so he was prepared to fight for both.

And Shippou was speechless...for once.

Sesshoumaru rose shakilly to his feet and stared warily at both his father and half-brother. He still didn't understand how InuYasha was alive, and why he was older than Sesshoumaru himself! He also didn't understand why they both seemed to want to jump at each other's necks like rabid dogs.

Then Sesshoumaru started to get angry. This was HIS private place and they both, including Shippou, too, were intruding on his privacy!

"Father! What the hell is wrong with you? You're acting like someone touched your human woman or something! Snap out of it! Hello, are you even listening to me?!" Sesshoumaru demanded, his voice as loud as he could get it without making it too imposing.

When InuTaishou did not answer him nor take his red eyes away from InuYasha, Sesshoumaru decided to try to knock some sense into him. He took only one mere step towards his father when InuYasha had quickly blocked his path.

"Hey, what's your problem? Get out of my way." Sesshoumaru growled. He was even more angry when both InuYasha and InuTaishou continued to ignore him, as if he were only a piece of meat they were fighting for to satisfy their stomachs.

The young hanyou and older inu youkai glared at each other; they were both fighting for dominance with their eyes alone. Whoever looked away first would declare the other the alpha. And if neither one was declared alpha, they would physically fight for dominance. Whoever won and came out as the alpha would offically be able to claim his mate, which was to be Sesshoumaru, of course.

Sesshoumaru had had enough of this, so he turned his heel and walked away in the opposite direction. As curious as he was towards this new InuYasha and his father, he wasn't about to just stand around and watch them fight.

'...What in the thirteen bloody ass hells is wrong with those two? If I didn't know any better, I'd say they were fighting over me. That's just...silly. My father would never fight for me or over me. He doesn't give a fucking damn about me, so why is he even here? Oh...maybe he smelled InuYasha, thats why. InuYasha was his favorite pup, and always will be...' Sesshoumaru mused as he randomly made his way through InuYasha's forest. He wasn't sure where he was going, but all he knew was he wanted to be away from those two.

He was tired of being ignored by InuTaishou.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Shippou, dumbstruck by the odd-looking hanyou, who somehow resembled the great inu youkai lord, was no longer speechless. He was the first to notice that Sesshoumaru had fled the scene, again.

"Uh...Sesshoumaru's gone, guys." Shippou announced loud enough to be clearly heard.

Unfortunately, they ignored him, too.

"HEY, YOU IDIOTS, SESSHOUMARU IS GONE AGAIN! WAKE UP, INUTAISHOU!" Shippou screamed at the top of his lungs; his tiny hands were clenched into tight little balls.

Both InuTaishou and InuYasha turned at the exact same time and stared at the small kitsune.

"Uh...well, you heard me! Stop staring at me like that! Its really scary, you know!" Shippou nervously backed away. He didn't like how they were acting, especially InuTaishou.

InuTaishou turned away and his eyes fixed themselves on the hanyou. He was concerned for Sesshoumaru, but first, he needed to know something.

"Who are you and why were you so shamelessly on top of my pup?!" InuTaishou growled both protectively and possessively. It would seem he was playing both the roles of father and lover. Later he would berate himself for saying that since he, too, was at one time so shamelessly on top of his own son.

"The name's InuYasha, asshole, and what do you mean, 'pup'? Sesshoumaru's dad, who is also my dad, is dead. He's been dead for years. Now, I've answered your stupid question. Now its my turn. So, who the hell are you?" InuYasha replied, crossing his arms over his chest.

"InuYasha? That can't be. My son is dead. He died only recently. You are not InuYasha..." InuTaishou stared at him, studying every inch of him. His pulse started to quicken dramatically and hope fluttered in his belly.

"Well, that's sad and all, but my name is InuYasha and my half-brother is Sesshoumaru." InuYasha replied, his eyes studied that of the older inu youkai as well. It was so strange to him how this youkai looked so much like Sesshoumaru and yet looked more like InuYasha himself. It couldn't be...

"I do not understand. Where did you come from?" InuTaishou's eyes softened a bit. His nose told him that this was his son. InuYasha's scent was just like his InuYasha's, yet it was older. And his eyes told him this was his pup, as well. This was his InuYasha...only older.

"Feh, Kagome tells me where I come from is called the Fuedal Era of Japan. She comes from the future, you see. She didn't come back, so I went to go get her like I normally do...and so I ended up here, where her house should be. Only...her house is gone. Even her shrine is gone. That's how I met Sesshoumaru here. Her house and shrine used to be by the God Tree here. I sense youkai here, as well. In her time, there are no youkai..." InuYasha explained as best as he could.

"Your story...is unbelieveable, but somehow, I do believe you. I am still...confused. Forgive me, this is all so strange. The last time I saw you, you were but a small child. You died only some time ago. Izayoi, your mother, and you...both were killed in an accident. I wonder though...how can this be?" InuTaishou asked as he gestured at his 'son'.

"I don't know. Y'know though, I think...maybe we're in different...Times or dimensions, you know? Kagome was talking about it a month ago. I started to listen, but it got boring. I think, though, that...this is a different world. Its completely different from both my world and Kagome's. The only difference between Kagome's and my world, is that ours is set in different times." InuYasha explained, and for one moment in his life, looked and sounded intelligent.

"Perhaps, that may be help. I think I know of someone to ask about this matter..." InuTaishou trailed off, his thoughts ricochetting in his mind.

"He seems very different from the Sesshomaru is my world. For one, he didn't try to kill me or insult me. And, he looks about my age, too. He also seems more...innocent and I can actually see some emotions in him..." InuYasha replied thoughtfully, his eyes stared off at the horizon.

"Your Sesshoumaru tries to kill you? What is the matter with him?" InuTaishou asked, his curiousity piqued.

"I don't know. He's very mysterious and aloof. He's anti-social and he...well, seems very bitter about some things. I don't know what or why, though. I don't know anything about him, other than his fighting abilities. And of course, his very obvious hatred for me..." InuYasha paused, but then added, "In my opinion, I think he was hurt real bad as a kid or something. Maybe it was something worse or as bad as what I went through. I'm not sure, though."

"That's so odd." InuTaishou commented. He couldn't imagine his own pups fighting to the death.

"Why is that?"

"Because my Sesshoumaru and InuYasha loved each other unconditionally, as they should."


~*~*~*~*~*~


*Flashback*

"Sesshy?" A five-year-old looking InuYasha tugged on Sesshoumaru's shirt.

"Yeah, brat?" Sesshoumaru looked down at him with a half smile. Inside, his heart was still raw and sore from the sudden, tragic death of his beloved mother, even if it had happened some few years ago. Otherwise, on the outside, he looked as if he were all right.

"Are you sad?" The child tilted his head to the side, looking so much like a little curious puppy.

"No. Why do you ask?" Sesshoumaru lied; he didn't want to explain his feelings and nor did he believe InuYasha would understand even if he tried. Also, he was a bit envious that InuYasha still had his mother.

"Its ok. Its ok to be sad, Sesshy." InuYasha comforted and patted Sesshoumaru's arm.

"No, its not..." Sesshoumaru trailed off, for he didn't bother to argue with the child.

"Yes, it ok! Daddy says so and I say so!" InuYasha persisted; he was one stubborn puppy.

"Look, you don't know what you're talking about, little one..." Sesshoumaru sighed and patted him on the head as a sign of dismissal.

"Maybe, Sesshy, but I still love you!" InuYasha's little arms wound themselves around his brother's waist and he embraced him tight; it only confirmed that his words were true.

'I love you, too, Inuyasha...' Sesshoumaru had thought rather than said, and little did he know...

*End of Flashback*

Sesshoumaru rested his forehead against a tree and clenched his fists into tight balls. The memory had assaulted him out of nowhere and it disturbed him.

All the guilt and despair rolled back onto his shoulders.

"Why didn't I tell him I loved him? Why didn't I?" Sesshoumaru whispered to himself and he desperately fought the tears that always seemed to want to escape.

He had only two regrets in life:

1.) Asking his mother to get him candy.

2.) Thinking to himself instead of actually voicing "I love you" to InuYasha.

Oh, how he regretted it.

The next day, InuYasha had been in a fatal car accident, along with his mother, Izayoi.


TBC

Eh...work and school tired me out, but I delivered, as promised! ^^ Oh, and be patient, please, guys, for the story WILL unwind and reveal things. I can't just write all the secrets and stuff all in a couple chapters, you know? Well, gotta go, bed awaits me...

Oh, and for anyone who's interested, I will be writing a Sephiroth/Sesshoumaru ficlet pretty soon...


To My Reviewers:

Atocha-Yep, you'll see my idea that was inspired by you unfold in this chapter and in later ones, too. I think its different and would be interesting. And I did think, too, that its a shame Inuyasha is dead...so I just remedied that with another inuyasha...lol. Oh yah, thanks for reviewing! You still get a treat for guessing almost correctly...since inu and kouga are practically carbon copies...at least in personality...o.o

Akaia-You were close, though. heehehehe. Kouga and Inuyasha are A LOT alike. Hm...maybe I should include kouga...oh yeah, since you guessed almost correctly too, I'll still reward you. ^^ I have something cute for you...

YoukaiObsessed-I'm glad you like them. There shall be many more chapters, and many more cliffies, too, of course! bwahahahahahaha! Arigatou! ^^

Poikilothermic-Yes, I know. *sigh* The story will explain itself as it goes along, k? You'll see why InuTaishou is more concerned about...screwing sesshoumaru than about the dead. I'm itching to just say it and stuff, but I don't like to rush stuff. Also note that I didn't have them...actually consummate anything yet. It'll explain itself, k? I promise. ^^ I know it seems...well, unlikely, but we'll see. Sesshoumaru, the teen...is a bit based off of me, actually, so the things he does and feels, is a lot like me, which is why his mental and emotional stability is weird. And actually, before I wrote this chapter(the one where inuyasha enters), I had in mind to throw in a few flashbacks and such...

Yeah, that's what I was trying to say about the incest. Of course, in some stories, I do make it...less common and more morally wrong. But anyways...Inuyasha is more moral, so of course he found it shocking that shiori's grandfather murdered his own son. I think in a way, he related shiroi as to himself and as shiroi's father as his own father. I think demons...depending on their nature, speices, temperment, and personality, will be what they'll be, but of course will usually be much more open and harsh than human society. Oh yeah, and thanks for reviewing! ^^ Its nice someone is paying attention enough to ask me stuff...

Stormyskies-Thanks for reviewing!

Alicia-Thanks, I appreciate it. And thanks for not being one of those people who eat mcdonalds 24/7...lmao... I always want them to go to burger king or something! -,- I usually aim to write more...unique and differentish stuff. I'm not boasting or anything. Its a fact, and of course, with anything I do, I make it complicated for me, but I still do it. ^^

Bill the Surly- Now, now, watch the language... Keep in mind though, that demons who are in clans are usually close-knit, like Kouga and his wolf pack, for example. Like I said, it really depends on the demon's personality and nature. Stuff like that...