Disclaimer:

Turtlequeen2: Oh my god! I'm finally making another one-shot!

Sesshoumaru: …And we should rejoice with this news?

Turtlequeen2: Of course!

Inuyasha: Keh! Everyone should fear you when you say that!

Turtlequeen2: -mildly glares- Hey! That was uncalled for!

Inuyasha: -snorts- Half the shit you put us through isn't called for!

Turtlequeen2: Hmm… you may have a point there.

Inuyasha: Keh! Of course I do!

Sesshoumaru: -narrows eyes- …Enough of this annoying chatter!

Turtlequeen2: Fine! Fine!

I do not own Inuyasha; only Rumiko Takahashi does.

Note: This is PRE-Rin Sesshoumaru's POV here! So yes, he hates humans!

Though humans made many rules for their own people, Sesshoumaru only abided by two laws. If you were useful, you lived. If you were useless and crossed his path, you died. It was as simple as that. He felt no remorse or sympathy for those vermin who knew not of his laws and ended up tasting the poison from his claws.

Hmph. Humans. Such petty and simple creatures. Try as they might, but they were still insects crawling under his feet. They protected and nurtured; even died for some foolish notion of "love." What lunacy.

"Sesshoumaru-sama!"

A familiar, annoying buzz broke his concentration.

"What is it, Jaken?" he sharply asked, glancing down at his short servant with his gold eyes. He stopped in the trodden path made in the middle of the blackened forest. The daiyoukai did not say anything more as he looked down at him. The green-skinned imp was well aware of his laws and knew how his master could quickly change his status from useful to useless in under the time it would take to draw a breath.

"W-well...w-what will you do about your brother, I-Inuyasha?"

Brother? Hardly.

"That hanyou that sullies the name of my clan?" Sesshoumaru replied back coldly, his icy expression and tone giving off disinterest. Ah, yes, him. Some few weeks ago, he heard that the cur had been orphaned because his mother had perished from illness. He was chased out of the village because the servants of her castle thought that she had been killed by him. "What of him?"

He noticed Jaken shrink back in fear. Sometimes his fear amused him and reminded him to notice how his servant was the only one around who could wield the Nintoujou he bestowed upon him.

"I-I've heard t-that he's b-been looking for you, milord!"

This intrigued Sesshoumaru for some reason he did not understand. Perhaps it was because he had never seen the hanyou before? By the time his father had been killed by his own foolishness, the bastard child was newly born. He had no interest to see him and so made no pursuit of the sort.

The hanyou was how old now? Four? Five? It did not intrigue him in the least.

"He is of no interest to me," the daiyoukai stated bluntly. It was the truth. The half-blood cur was no one to him. Even if he did share his father's noble blood.

Jaken fell silent again. He knew not to pursue the matter any further.

Sesshoumaru did not know if he believed in divine protection or fate. He had seen Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines erected by humans in order to protect their villages. From what he had seen, only their luck had prevented them from being devoured by youkai as opposed to protection from deities.

He snorted at the thought of seeing the fools fall to their knees and praying for food to nourish them or to protect their children. They should learn to rely on their own labor and spend less time preaching to stone statues.

Humans relied too much on outside power. Many sought to find the fabled "Shikon no Tama" or some other type of trivial notion of power that was found outside of themselves. The daiyoukai found it pathetic.

He vividly recalled the insulting first night that Jaken had served him. The imp had killed a human and placed the carcass on the grass in front of him as if he would have eaten it like some low class youkai would. Sesshoumaru had nearly killed Jaken right then.

As if Sesshoumaru would rely on humans for anything. They meant nothing to him. For him to begin to depend on them for sustenance was an insult to his character and to his pride. For him to rely on them for food was to say that their existence mattered to him. He did not depend on their lives. They were simply insects that he could kill at any time if they chose to get in his way.

The daiyoukai then paused in his recollection, catching an odd and yet familiar scent in his path. Without even waiting on Jaken to speak, he noticed a small figure in the distance. A child.

Two, dog-like ears swiveled around on the top of his silver mane. Forelocks ran down over his shoulders, falling over a familiar fire-rat haori that Sesshoumaru's father had once possessed. The most peculiar sight was his amber-gold eyes, which, aside from his dress, gave away his affiliation immediately.

Sesshoumaru made no move towards him, but saw the child take small, hesitant steps toward him. His ears were plastered to the top of his head, as if expecting a scolding from the daiyoukai. His eyes burned with a passionate emotion that Sesshoumaru knew nothing about.

"Y-you're my brother, right?" the child's voice was quiet and timid. "S-Sesshoumaru?"

Jaken was now on alert. "How dare you speak to Sesshomaru-sama with such disrespect, you disgraceful hanyou!" he yelled rudely.

"Jaken!" the daiyoukai snapped sharply, not wanting him to drown out his inner thoughts. After the imp relented, he looked back to the young hanyou, waiting for him to speak again.

"I-I've been looking for you..." the hanyou admitted. His voice was even more quiet than before. Mixed in with the scent of Sesshoumaru's father's blood was that of various other youkai blood that ebbed onto him from obvious battles the cur had faced. The closer he came to the daiyoukai, the sooner the older sibling realized how many bruises and cuts covered the child's lithe frame. Inuyasha's small fists shook slightly when he heard Jaken's title for him. He obviously did not take well to his identity.

Sesshoumaru finally found enough reason for him to speak. "For what purpose?" His tone gave away all that he felt. Faint interest and annoyance. Even with Inuyasha standing before him for the first time in both of their lives, he felt no pity, no sympathy, nor remorse for his situation. Inuyasha's life had nothing to do with him.

"M-my haha-ue... is dead..." the hanyou murmured. His ears drooped. "Y-you're the only family I have left."

Family? That was the first time Sesshoumaru had heard someone refer to him as "family." Not even his own father had called him "family." He was seen as the first born son. A continuation of royal lineage. Nothing more. Nothing less. He supposed that it vaguely amused him.

It must have shown on the daiyoukai's face because he noticed Inuyasha tilt his head. "I-I was wondering... if...I could travel with you...?" His voice held a weight Sesshoumaru did not understand nor care to understand. It was as if he knew his older brother would say "no." It was written all over his face.

"I h-have nowhere else to go..."

Was the hanyou seeking help from him because he was known as his "brother"? How preposterous! Obviously his human mother had taught him nothing of the cruel world he lived in.

"And you believe that I will take you in as part of my kin?" Sesshoumaru murmured, more in thought, feigning to think about the notion of raising him as his brother.

"I-I have nowhere else to go..." Inuyasha only repeated, his voice growing more shaky. His eyes narrowed, showing the frustration that began to build up within him.

"Do you believe that I'd feel sympathy for you? Is that it?" the daiyoukai questioned, finding himself more and more amused by this conversation.

"No..." the child growled. "I don't need your sympathy..." It was obvious that he was lying. "I just don't wanna die."

"So you thought I'd protect you?" A small, cold smirk lined Sesshoumaru's lips. The thought of him protecting anyone was enough to entertain him for a good while.

"A-ain't that what family is supposed to do for each other?" Inuyasha's ears pressed even more against his head.

"Perhaps... for humans," Sesshoumaru replied, sounding as if he were explaining concepts to an imbecile. "Clearly, I am not a human so I am not bound by their standards of emotions or companionship."

The daiyoukai could practically feel the hanyou's bodily quakes shaking the ground beneath him. Inuyasha already knew his answer.

"Hanyou," Sesshoumaru addressed coldly, placing emphasis on the word. "I will do you a favor and walk past you." He had no interest in killing Inuyasha at the moment. Despite how his brother's existence was irritating, some part of the daiyoukai found him intriguing.

With Jaken at Sesshoumaru's heels, the daiyoukai passed by the hanyou and never looked back. Even Inuyasha's growls and the small amount of salt he smelt was not enough to get him to turn around. If the hanyou wanted to prove himself worthy, Sesshoumaru had just given him the chance.

A smirk crossed Sesshoumaru's lips as he continued to walk. It was the first time he had ever broken one of his own laws.

-Owari-

A/N: I know it was short in comparison to the usual one-shots I do, but I didn't feel that there needed to be more to this. Also, the lack of description is due to it being entirely from Sesshoumaru's POV. Do you think he would waste his time describing what he's wearing? I focused more on Sesshoumaru's thoughts than the actual descriptions. lol.

With that said, what did you all think? I thought it was an original take on a scenario that most likely happened before the events of the manga. I noticed that no one really wrote out how Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru first met so I took it upon myself to try.

As for the word, "haha-ue," it's a respectful (er…respectful in terms of Inuyasha's rude language) and archaic way of addressing one's mother. He calls her this in the series.

Please review!

Ja ne!