Waning Moon

1. Introductions

He is silent as he leaps towards the balcony he knows leads to his little brother’s room, even more so is the screen he pushes aside to let himself in. He pauses by the door, bathed in blue light, his hair reflecting the moon as though it were made of calm water. His eyes glow with a gold hue as he takes in the room’s décor and its occupant’s cot with bored eyes.

The night is peaceful, but there is a sadness lingering about the baby’s room, one that Sesshomaru doesn’t doubt is caused by his father’s death. The human woman is still in mourning, it has been a mere three days since his demise in that disgraceful place, the human’s now burnt down home. Sesshomaru can smell her salty tears leaving her, even as she sleeps in the next room.

His steps are quiet as he lazily walks towards the intricately decorated, oak cot, and peers down. Sesshomaru isn’t filled with much joy when he sets eyes on a half-blood bundle of white hair and smooth skin: His little brother, only a few days old. The blankets are wrapped around him and of a deeper blue than what his father’s markings were.

Sesshomaru’s cold eyes narrow and he idly stretches delicate, claw bearing fingers towards the baby’s ears. As though each one were a fragile treasure Sesshomaru trails his claws lightly over the rim of his brother’s right ear, so different to his own, before doing the same to the left. Sesshomaru studies them intently: Where Sesshomaru’s ears stand on each side of his head, his little brother’s sit atop of his head, and where the demon’s ears are smooth, elegant and pointed, his brother’s are triangular and covered in silken fur. Sesshomaru can’t help but run the tips of his claws over them again. They remind him of a puppy’s.

They twitch and a gurgle alerts Sesshomaru to the fact that the baby’s awake. Surprisingly Sesshomaru finds eyes as golden as his own staring up at him curiously, almost far too big for his face. Mesmerised, the demon allows his fingers to trail over a soft cheek, and for one of his fingers to be caught by tiny hands. He receives a toothless grin and a giggle from the baby when he attempts to pull his claws free.

“So you are the disgrace my father allowed himself to die for?” Sesshomaru wonders out loud. The baby simply giggles again, still tugging pathetically on the demon’s finger. Sesshomaru hunches himself, so that his moonlit hair falls from his shoulders and waves teasingly in front of the baby’s face.

His fingers are immediately released, and Sesshomaru flinches and hurriedly straightens up with astonishment as the baby tugs on his hair. His little brother is wailing after a second of having pulled the silken strands from from his chubby grasp. Sesshomaru can’t take his shrill crying, and quickly bends back over, allowing the baby to take hold of silky strands again. A bell-like giggle rings through the room.

“I still don’t know of your name, little brother. Mine is Sesshomaru, the Lord of these lands you and your mother live and will walk on.”

He gets a confused look in return. The baby is blinking up at him with his huge eyes. He then grins and coos again and pulls on Sesshomaru's hair playfully.

Sesshomaru can’t help but feel a flutter of feeling in his chest at that toothless smile.

Waning Moon

2. Love

Love.

It is considered a special type of emotion, one that everyone wants to gain from another living being, or so his mother had explained.

There are different kinds of love, which can be revealed in many ways: the love of a husband and wife through tender kisses, the love of a child towards their parent through their smiles, laughs and hugs, or the childish love of a first crush shown with the giving of a sloppy looking bouquet of freshly picked flowers.

Sesshomaru thinks it is selfish to love someone. Because if you love someone, you think of yourself: how you would make them smile, the special smile that never fails to cause a burning happiness inside your chest, how they would make your life better, how they would make you happy.

Sesshomaru doesn’t understand the mechanics of love. He doesn’t understand how someone can feel so much for a person that it hurts to not be near them, or how a person can render another completely helpless with just a smile. He finds the concept of loving someone to the point of being willing to die for them ridiculous.

Love is unnecessary; it is easy to be selfish without the trouble of wanting to protect a person.

All he needs is himself. He does not protect anyone, and in return he doesn’t need nor expect protection.

He is sitting by the tangled roots of a large tree, with Rin and Jaken in front of him, making Rin’s dinner. Jaken has just finished cooking a hare. He will eat later, out of his young ward’s sight. She would not understand his need for raw meat.

Sesshomaru doesn’t understand what keeps him from abandoning this little girl and his annoying servant. He doesn’t understand why Inuyasha is still wreaking havoc in his lands, despite having clashed with him in battle many times. They are all annoying, one too loud, another too pathetic, and the other… She is human; he should have left her dead.

The demon lord wonders whether it is a sort of love that keeps Rin and Jaken alive. He wonders whether it is love that holds him back from killing Inuyasha whenever they battle; he is more than strong enough to do so.

It is a plausible explanation. One that Sesshomaru disapproves of immensely. He supposes idly that (if it were the case) his love for Inuyasha is justified; despite their different parenting and upbringing they are half-brothers.

He leaves his brooding as Rin tugs on his kimono and offers him some of the hare that had been cooking. He politely refuses, stating that ‘he does not eat human food’. She simply smiles and accepts the answer, and he wonders if it is love that makes him feel when she does.

Later that night he catches the scent of his younger brother and his troop. He is bored, so he follows it. Rin and Jaken are safely sleeping besides Ah Un. It takes a mere few minutes to find the small camp the group have set up. He takes in the scene carefully.

The monk is laying by a tree with the huntress lying a few feet away, the kitsune in her grasp. The neko is curled up by her head. He then catches sight of him, and Sesshomaru wonders whether it is love that causes the angry, hot jealousy to boil in his blood, as Inuyasha cuddles close to the miko, and smiles.

3. Insanity

Humans are fragile creatures. They grow old and die fast. Rin did so, in the same fashion as she did nearly everything else: with a smile on her face. But the pain he’d felt then isn’t nearly as insanely life altering as what he is feeling now, with Inuyasha’s passing.

He supposes he should have expected the half-breed's death sooner or later. Inuyasha was only ever half demon; it is the only reason he grew to be as old as he did. Even with the demon blood running in his veins, he’d aged much faster than Sesshomaru. And despite being a bit more than two hundred years younger than him, Inuyasha looked more than fifty years older when he finally passed on. He had been four hundred and seventy-two.

Sesshomaru doesn’t know if it’s normal to feel lonely when one you have hated since his birth dies. But as he stares at the stone erected in the soft earth beside the human woman Izayoi’s he thinks it is possible. Again he reads and rereads the neat writing engraved in the centre of the stone; it spells the name of his pathetic half-breed half-brother.

He mulls over any other possibility for the numb feeling that has caused his limbs to feel far too heavy and his mind to feel strangely foggy. Again, he attempts to remember if he’s felt so dead inside before, but his mind remains stubbornly blank. Even memories do not want to be seen through the haze in his mind.

He settles for staring at the stone, not feeling the need to move, nor wanting to look away.

The demon Lord remains like this for some time. He simply stands and stares without Rin to distract him with her childish chatter, without Jaken to torment and be annoying, and Inuyasha to curse for his humiliating presence in his life and to their family. Death has claimed them all. Sesshomaru finds that he is alone again.

Sesshomaru slowly returns home, but he feels as though he is dragging himself. He doesn’t want to move, but he must. Because he is still the Lord of this land and he has work to do. He cannot allow his subordinates to attend to the work he is so used to completing and is his duty to complete.

However, by the time he takes a step inside his overly large home it is far past sun down and his duties have been taken care of; and Sesshomaru must find something else to do. After having been reported too on the day’s events and decisions - he can't find the energy to listen properly, and he soon sent his administrators away - he strides towards his chambers. He swears he hears a happy, bell-like giggle and he is positive he smells fresh flowers as he nears his rooms. He is sure that is Inuyasha telling Jaken in the crude way of his to leave the girl alone.

This discovery makes his steps more meaningful, though Sesshomaru looks deceivingly aloof.

He is sourly disappointed when he slides the door open and enters his chambers to find wilted flowers in the vase sitting on a small table by the back wall. He doesn’t have the ability to remove them, he hasn’t for the last two hundred and sixty-seven years. There is no sign of Inuyasha and Jaken also, only a two headed staff hanging on his wall and...

The thoughts of Jaken, as well as Rin and her flowers leave the Lord’s mind as he spots the Tessaiga looking elegant on his wall opposite his bed. He has finally gained his father’s sword – the one he’d been striving to since he’d recognised what it was and how it could aid his journey on his path of extreme conquest.

However, he doesn’t feel proud or smug, not like he'd anticipated he would once he finally held Tesseiga; he didn’t beat Inuyasha for the sword. Both their time had run out. He hadn’t succeeded in defeating his little brother, and Inuyasha is dead.

Sesshomaru knows when he has failed.

“Are you happy now, Inuyasha?” he asks the still air inside his quarters. His voice strong and spiteful, “You have managed to humiliate this Sesshomaru once again.”

The silence in the room isn’t filled with an answer, but Sesshomaru hardly seems to notice. He simply stares at the fang hanging on his wall. He listens to his little ward's giggles haunting the room. And he is certain that it is Jaken’s nervous knocking rattling the door.

Waning Moon

5. Rivalry

Inuyasha eyes his brother as he seats himself at the base of a thick tree. The little human girl that has been traveling with him, and subsequently with them, has taken a seat beside him, grinning as her head is buried in the fluffy pelt now resting about Sesshomaru's form. His toad is quickly by his side also, rambling about one thing or another, squawking over the child's behaviour.

Inuyasha can’t stand the sight.

They have been traveling as one large group for a month now, and Inuyasha can’t stand her. He hasn’t since the first night they camped together, when she’d settled herself by Sesshomaru’s side and fallen asleep. She’d snuggled into him, damn it!

He watches with narrowed, burning gold eyes, his mouth set into a frown, one that looks far too much like Sesshomaru's. The little wrench, Rin, is laughing and smiling and he swears Sesshomaru’s face isn’t as expressionless as it usually is. She is brushing – braiding – his long, shining hair. Sesshomaru hasn’t stopped her, in fact, Inuyasha is sure he'd turned just the slightest bit, almost as if supporting her actions…

How did this pathetic, little human child manage to worm her way into Sesshomaru’s stony, cold, nonexhistant heart? How come Inuyasha wasn't allowed inside of it? These are questions Inuyasha hasn’t managed to find answers for, and he isn’t nearly as stupid as some perceive him to be as to ask the ice Lord himself. He’d much sooner face Naraku without his Tessaiga, while hopping on one foot, than do that.

By the time Kagome is calling them all to gather around the campfire for dinner, less than half of Sesshomaru’s hair has been braided into thin, loose plaits. Inuyasha has to hide a snarl at the affectionate way Sesshomaru gently ushers the girl to go and eat. Inuyasha scowls and stabs at the ramen in his cup, damn the bastard and his ‘I don’t eat human food’.

He comments roughly on his brother’s answer, earning a 'sit' from Kagome over his crude language in front of the children. His eyes travel to Sesshomaru from where he lays plastered to the ground, and he dares him to laugh, to smirk, to do something, because they were related and – at least he acted as though Inuyasha existed when they were battling! But all the hanyou receives is a bored, emotionless stare that is broken when Rin lowers herself beside the Lord and she calls for his attention.

Later that night, Inuyasha finds that he needs to get away. He needs to have space, away from Kagome and her stupid 'sit' commands and Miroku’s humiliating groping and Sango’s mothering and Shippo and the Brat's games and – He needs out for a few hours.

He runs off, glaring heatedly at the sight of the Brat curled up beside the toad and Sesshomaru’s leg, far too close to the cold Lord for Inuyasha’s liking. He turns away with a huff, and races towards a nearby stream, hoping to find a thick branch to rest on when there.

Inuyasha doesn’t find a branch, and instead settles himself onto the ground by a large rock formation. He hopes that the slow running stream will help calm him, like his mother's singing did long ago. His ears are still ringing from Kagome's last command.

He sits in silence, allowing the wind to flow freely around him. His ears flatten themselves against his head when it glides and tickles their fleshy insides. Inuyasha growls with frustration when the wind continues to tease them. His ears flick, trying to make the annoying tingling feeling dissipate, and they do so again, before they stand to attention, alert, when he hears the slightest of steps.

The hanyou is on his feet instantly, his ears rotating slowly from atop his head, trying to pinpoint the origin of the noise. He needn’t concentrate for long; Sesshomaru soon reveals himself.

Inuyasha quickly looks him over and sniffs the air curiously, making sure it is Sesshomaru; Shippo has tried to trick him on more than one occasion, as well as to help him work out why his brother's reasons for being there are.

Sesshomaru is without his fur pelt as he gracefully walks towards the rock Inuyasha had been leaning against. He is without his armour and his feet are bare. Inuyasha stares at them; they are as pale and elegant as the rest of him.

“Little brother,” Inuyasha’s eyes rise to meet a gaze identical, and yet very different, to his own, “You should be asleep.”

He snorts, earning a raised brow from Sesshomaru, “Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be protecting your little brat? You better watch out, I heard there’s a group of bandits wandering around stealing children.” He says unkindly, his words spat out. Really, Inuyasha wouldn’t mind if the kid was stolen…

Sesshomaru barely blinks, “Rin is safe.”

“Keh!”

It is silent for a moment, the stream and rustling leaves the only noise surrounding the two brothers. Sesshomaru moves slowly, “Inuyasha,” He calls again, softly. As if mimicking his actions a few minutes before, Inuyasha raises his eyes, “I wish to bathe, braid my hair.”

Inuyasha blinks, his eyes wide, “What?” He asks incredulously.

“I will not repeat myself, little brother.”

“Braid your own damn hair!”

Inuyasha turns back to the stream, his eyebrows drawn together, his temples pulsing as he glares at the innocent water, reflecting the bright half moon above them. How dare that arrogant bastard tell him to braid his hair? He isn’t anyone’s servant! He can kick Sesshomaru's ass any day! The least he can do is ask!

“That is impossible.”

Inuyasha stares for a moment, his eyes narrowed suspiciously, before they grow wider. His realization causes Inuyasha to swear quietly; this is what he gets for cutting off his brother's left arm. He turns away again, a low growl thrumming lowly in his chest. After a moment, he has decided and he turns, ready to bad mouth his brother before he does anything else. The sight awaiting him makes Inuyasha’s eyes widen: Sesshomaru is sitting on the ground, his back turned to him, his head turned slightly as he looks up at the hanyou. His hand is resting in his lap. The breeze that was tickling Inuyasha's ears is now playing with his brother's hair and kimono. Inuyasha doesn’t think Sesshomaru should look so feminine for such an emotionless and deadly, demon Lord.

He shuts his mouth hurriedly, and huffs at the raised eyebrow he receives from Sesshomaru. Determinedly, he strides over to Sesshomaru. If it means so much to the bastard, he will do it.

Inuyasha stares in wonder as he crouches behind his taller brother, carefully examining the white, shining, silky strands his claws are combing through with ease. Sesshomaru has now turned completely in the direction Inuyasha is facing, seemingly calm with Inuyasha behind him. Inuyasha would have scowled as his brother's ease, if he were not so captured by the feeling of Sesshomaru's hair.

He spends a while doing this, simply allowing his claws to work out non-existing knots in the long, far too long strands. Inuyasha simply enjoys the feel of Sesshomaru’s hair. Even his ears, covered in the softest of fur, do not compare to it. He remembers stupidly how he used to fall asleep petting his own ears; it was a small comfort of sorts, especially after his mother passed. But his concentration is turned back to Sesshomaru as he begins to imagine that the low rumbling reaching his ears is coming from his older brother, though he knows that is impossible.

Eventually, Inuyasha has to complete his task. As he divides the silken strands into equal groups, Inuyasha jealously examines his brother’s ears, so smooth and elegant on each side of his head; he thinks life would have been easier if he’d owned ears such as Sesshomaru’s; he would have had a chance to fit in if he did; it is a lot easier to hide the pointed tips of Sesshomaru's ears to the annoying, trouble makers on top of his own.

Slowly, Inuyasha gently tugs the three groups of long hair over one another, pulling them tight, falling into a rhythm almost instantly. It is startled only when Inuyasha’s claws finds themselves entrapped in a few strands of his brother’s silken mane. Inuyasha almost thinks the experience is over far too soon, as he ties his brother’s hair with the small, blue ribbon Sesshomaru provides.

His brother stands, leaving Inuyasha with a whispering of thanks, slowly heading towards the still gurgling stream. The braid swings and bounces against the back of his brother's thighs, before Sesshomaru carefully wraps it around itself so it holds itself up, to hang around his shoulders. Inuyasha turns and runs back to the camp a moment later, his cheeks aflame at the sight of his brother’s kimono sliding from his pale shoulders. He angrily swears at his brother's nerve.

He falls asleep with that image burned into his mind, only to wake with it there again.

Sesshomaru and his group are awake too, not too surprisingly, they seem to wake at dawn everyday.

Inuyasha glares at the girl that holds Sesshomaru’s attention firmly as she presents a small plate of fish and berries to him. He’s surprised when he notices his brother’s hair is still tied up in the braid he’d created the night before, no longer around his shoulders, but around his thighs, still neat and perfect and hiding the tips of his pointed ears.

“Lord Sesshomaru, can Rin comb your hair?” Inuyasha hears the girl ask. He frowns despite himself, managing to stop himself from providing an answer he knows will cause him great pain. The little Brat is at it again, charming her way deeper into Sesshomaru's softening (but only towards her) heart...

“No, Rin. Not today.”

The answer causes Inuyasha's gaze to focus on his brother, his golden eyes wider. Then he smirks, as he relaxes back against the tree behind him smugly; at least he’s earned one victory over the Brat.