The Project

By: Hikoboshi18

Chapter One

Wake-up Call

He woke up to the sound of his merciless alarm clock. He was greeted by singing birds and the morning light peeking through his window. He grinned.

Today is going to be a very good day, he thought, which was weird considering the fact that it was the first day of his third year at Mica High School. Most people, like his brother, hated the first day of school. But to him it meant new people and new pranks. Ever since he started to go to school at MHS two years ago he always had someone to pick on, someone to annoy the hell out of. He loved it. That was school for him: get a girlfriend, out-prank everyone at school, and annoy the hell out of his brother and his friends. It was the life.

He clicked the alarm clock off and lazily threw his athletic legs out of the bed and scratched his head, his nails making their way through the matted silver hair. He was tired after summer break where his days consisted of work, pranks, girls, friends, pranks, and video games. But today would be fun, he knew it, and he didn't have time to be tired now.

He grinned maliciously when he remembered something. He had someone to wake up…

Now with new-found energy, he got out of bed and went to his closet, tripping on discarded clothes and game consoles along the way. He pulled out his uniform from last year, navy blue pants, and a white dress shirt with a jacket matching the pants. But then he remembered. Mica High School stopped using uniforms starting this year. He grinned when he remembered why they decided to do that.

Of course it was him who did it. Well, he was a large factor. He would pull pranks on the cafeteria ladies (dying the drinking water green, putting "MHS SUCKS" on their aprons, etc.) but they could never identify him since he blended right in with the other students. His long silky silver hair blended in too since it had become the new fad around the school. Ever since he and his brother had started going to the school students had been dying their hair silver, declaring it 'cool.' They didn't know that his hair was natural though.

He supposed the school dropped the uniforms in hopes of catching him this year, but he highly doubted it.

Putting the uniform back with a smug look on his face, he got a wife beater, casual light blue jeans, and a white shirt. He had just pulled on his black sneakers when he realized that he was late. He had to hurry or he wouldn't be able to do it.

"Sesshomaru!" he banged on the door. "Get UP! Time to GO!"

"Dammit, Inu-yasha! I'm getting up! Go away!" a deep voice yelled from the other side.

He kept on banging. "Get your lazy ass up!" Even though he was yelling, he had a hint of amusement in his face and voice that he tried to hid.

"I swear I'm gonna," the voice went onto say something about duct tape and a chain saw.

"You're gonna what?" Inu-yasha asked smugly. "Come out here in your boxers and yell at me? We both know that you aren't dressed yet."

"Ooh, you're so gonna get it!" The sound of heavy stomping came closer to the door.

Inu-yasha ran the short distance to the top of the stairs and ducked behind the steps, his eyes peeking over the top step. He had a grin on his face as he watched his older brother open the door. Then he bust out laughing when a bucket full of red ooze fell on top of his brother's long silvery hair. His vigorous build was revealed since he only had some black boxers on.

Sesshomaru stood there for a while. If Inu-yasha wasn't standing there watching him, he would've immediately started to bang his head on the nearest wall. He should've seen this coming. He curled his hand into a fist. He had no idea what the red stuff was, but two things were certain: he definitely didn't want to know what it was and Inu-yasha was going to pay… big time!

"Argh!" Sesshomaru's war cry could be heard in every room and corner of the three-story house. He charged at his little brother who was still laughing so hard it looked like he was about to cry.

Inu-yasha bolted down the stairs. "You should've seen your face!" he yelled over his shoulder with laughter in every syllable. When he got to the last five or so steps, Inu-yasha jumped the rest. Sesshomaru was hot on his trail, but he had no intention of jumping so far down and he was just concentrated on catching the pest, so he just ran down the rest.

This was a very big mistake. Apparently Inu-yasha had jumped for a reason. As soon as Sesshomaru felt a thin yet strong wire on his shins, he knew it was already too late. The wire held strong and he tumbled down the stairs in a flurry of sliver hair with some unidentified red ooze in it, bare skin, and black Looney Tunes boxers.

Inu-yasha had turned around just in time to see the fall. He immediately burst out into laughter again but this time it was so much he crumpled onto the floor holding his stomach as if it would keep in his laughter.

Sesshomaru just sat there, hair, legs, and arms twisted in the most peculiar way. This was probably the worst prank Inu-yasha had ever pulled on him. Actually, it was the only prank he was able to pull on him. He was always wary to avoid this kind of thing. But Inu-yasha had just made him so livid… He sighed inwardly. It was over and done with now. Now he just had to get him back.

Inu-yasha watched Sesshomaru's face go from pale to crimson. If he could've gotten a better look, he'd have said that his face was about the same shade as the red stuff the bucket poured on him. No, even he didn't know what it was and he was the one who found and used it. He just thought it was the perfect combination: bright red and silver.

The whole ordeal was even funnier to Inu-yasha since he'd used the oldest tricks in the book. Tying a string to the door so that when it was opened it would cause the bucket to tip and tripping people with wire were some of the first pranks he did. And now they worked on his brother, the emotionless, totally composed eighteen year old boy who he could never get before. And now he knew the trick to getting him to fall for anything: get him angry. Why the hell hadn't he thought of that before!

But now wasn't the time to think. Sesshomaru was now about as red as a tomato and Inu-yasha was willing to bet that it wasn't from embarrassment but from anger.

Sesshomaru's battle cry vibrated off the walls again as he launched himself from the floor into Inu-yasha's direction. By now, Inu-yasha had gotten up and was a good ten feet away from his raging brother. He looked over his shoulder and broke down into laughter again. This was better that he had hoped! Apparently, Sesshomaru had forgotten to untangle himself before he started to run after Inu-yasha again. Inu-yasha had turned around in time to witness the second fall of his brother. He dove head first into the carpeted floor. He landed with a 'thud' and was now untangled but he was still a site with his gooey red hair and Bugs Bunny boxers.

Inu-yasha was rolling on the floor now, laughing and holding his stomach. "Oh my God, you should've seen the way you fell!" he panted. "That was priceless!"

Sesshomaru glared at him from where he was and got into a push-up position. With a heave he had taken off after his brother again. This time Inu-yasha hadn't had enough time to get up. Sesshomaru landed on top at him, forcing the air out of his stomach which stopped his issue with not being able to stop laughing real quick.

Both boys had their fists up and were just about to punch each others lights out when they felt a sharp yank on their long hair.

Both boys whelped at the pain and were pulled onto their feet, each on either side of a certain mad business man.

"Ow, ow, ow!" both boys said in unison. Neither of them had to look to know who it was who now held a fistful of silver/red hair. They also knew that whatever was about to happen wasn't going to be pretty.

"What the hell is going on here!" a deep voice rang out. The boys winced.

"What's going on here is that dumbass here just had to ruin my morning!" Sesshomaru yelled.

"Liar!" Inu-yasha said instinctively although he couldn't help the smug smile that he had to hide.

"You're the liar!"

"Am not!"

The man yanked on the hair in his hands again and both boys whelped in response, stopping the arguing immediately. "I don't care who the liar is! I just want to know why…" And then he saw the redness in Sesshomaru's hair and the fact that he was wearing only some boxers. He sighed and his grip on the boys' hair relaxed a little. "Inu-yasha…" he started.

Just then a woman flew into the room and gasped. "Oh my goodness, what on earth happened, dear?" She gasped again and said, "Sesshomaru is that blood? Are you okay?" She rushed over to him.

The man let go of the boys' hair and both of them fell to the floor since he was mostly supporting them.

"I'm fine, Izayoi," Sesshomaru said when she came to him. He pushed her caring hands away and stood up. She tried so hard to replace his real mother. "May I leave Dad? I want to get this stuff out."

"Go son." Sesshomaru sent one last death stare at Inu-yasha and then went up the stairs to take a shower.

As soon as the shower started, Inu-yasha burst out laughing. He couldn't hold it anymore. It was just too funny.

"Dad, you should've seen the look on his face! And he fell… twice! One was a nose dive! That was the best prank I've ever pulled off! Oh my God, I've gotta…" Inu-yasha shut up after he saw his dad's face. He was definitely not laughing. "I-I-I'm s-sorry D-Dad!" he stuttered.

"Son…," he started. Then he did what Inu-yasha thought would never happen. His father's face broke out into… a smile! And now he was chuckling. "Alright, I have to admit that was good!" he laughed.

Inu-yasha wasn't sure if it was a joke or not. He just gawked at him.

"You'll have to give me the juicy details about what happened later," he laughed.

"But…" Inu-yasha said uncertainly.

"Inu-yasha, in the eighteen years that Sesshomaru has been alive, I haven't seen anything like this happen to him. It's like, a holiday!"

"Dad, you're scaring me…"

He laughed at his remark but Inu-yasha had the feeling that his father didn't know that he wasn't kidding.

They heard the shower go off upstairs.

"Alright," his dad said using his business voice. Inu-yasha knew what he was about to say wasn't going to be good. His business voice was almost always a bad sign. "As far as Sesshomaru knows, you have all his chores for a week for what you did to him."

Inu-yasha gasped. "What!"

"Calm down son," he commanded. Inu-yasha shut up real quick. "I said as far as Sesshomaru knows, which means that you're to tell him precisely that." Inu-yasha's face told him that he was completely lost. He sighed. "I'm not going to punish you." The look on Inu-yasha's face clearly said 'thank god!' "Tell Sesshomaru that you are though. You know how mad he'll get." Inu-yasha nodded vigorously. "I'll have Tami do them for you. Just tell Sesshomaru that you did them."

Tami was the only maid in the house. She had short blond hair and a chunky build but she made it work for her. She had been helping out around the house since before Sesshomaru was born. She was well into her forties by now but she was treated like family even though she was just a maid.

"Even though you should be," Izayoi spoke up. "Oh Inutaisho, dear, you're going to be late."

"Yes, thank you darling. I'm leaving now." Inutaisho turned to his son. In his business voice he said, "Alright, I'm letting you off the hook but next time…" He didn't have to finish for Inu-yasha to get the point. Inutaisho wasn't one to play favorites, especially since his two sons were so competitive. But even he, the proud ruthless owner of the family business, Taisho Cybernetics, had a sense of humor.

"Goodbye family!" Inutaisho yelled loud enough so that Sesshomaru could hear. Grabbing his keys, he made his way out the door, his family calling a farewell before he closed the door.

Inu-yasha decided it was time he really started to get ready for school. He went to the kitchen, grabbed a plate, and piled it with the pancakes and bacon his mother had fixed for them on the first day of school. It was her little tradition to fix breakfast on the first day of school. He was halfway done when Sesshomaru walked in, his hair now red ooze-free, clothes (a black shirt, blue jeans, and white sneakers) on his body, and his emotionless mask in place. His mask immediately disappeared as soon as he saw Inu-yasha though and was replaced by strong dislike. Inu-yasha tried to conceal a snicker by casually coughing.

"You will pay for this, little half-brother," he said in a menacing low deep voice.

Now Inu-yasha didn't bother to hide his smug smile. "I bet I will but until then… HA!" Sesshomaru's face reddened a little and for a second Inu-yasha thought they'd get a chance to finish what they started earlier. But Sesshomaru quickly gained his composure and his mask was once again in place.

He muttered something about slow and painful as he grabbed some food. Deciding to be wary, Sesshomaru stood and ate his food. He knew that his half brother had been in that room for a while and he could've booby-trapped the chairs. They ate in silence.

"Alright boys," Izayoi's voice broke into the room. "It's about that time." She had a cheerful look on her face.

Inu-yasha, finished with his food, stood up and gave her a kiss goodbye. "Bye Mom." He smiled at her before he went to the door, grabbing his backpack along the way. The sound of the door opening and closing could be heard by Izayoi and her step-child. There was an awkward pause but if Sesshomaru felt any discomfort it didn't show on his face. He just finished his food, put his plate in the sink, and said a casual 'bye' before following his brother's tracks.

Izayoi sighed. She knew that she'd never take his mother's place and that wasn't what she wanted anyway. She just wished it was easier to talk to him. She knew he had the right to be hostile since her husband had dumped Sesshomaru's mother soon after he found out that she herself was pregnant with Inu-yasha. But still…

The sound of Sesshomaru's yelling could be heard as soon as the door opened. "Inu-yasha, I'm going to KILL you!"

"Four in one day! Wow! You better watch out, I'm getting good at this!" Inu-yasha's voice sounded.

"The only thing I'll be watching is my fist connecting with your head!" Sesshomaru yelled back.

"Catch me if you can!" come the cocky reply.

The door slammed shut and Izayoi could still hear the faint yelling of Sesshomaru and Inu-yasha.

True siblings, Izayoi thought chuckling to herself and getting ready for work.