Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters.

A/N: It's been over a year since I've written anything, so please excuse the rustiness of my writing. I plan to have the story follow off/be influenced by the third movie, Swords of an Honorable Ruler, with splotches of canon and deviations from it—I'm not too entirely sure myself yet either.

As this is slash with Sesshoumaru/Inuyasha pairing, if that is just not your cup of tea, please do not complain to me that it bothers you later as I am warning you now. Otherwise, please enjoy the story, and if you can spare a moment, I'd love to know how I'm doing.

A small bundle of bright red huddled into itself, trembling with unbridled tears. Albeit they were quiet and hidden from the waking world, he could still smell them in the air, salty and horribly sorrowful. It invoked nothing but disdain in him, golden eyes narrowing critically at the diminutive figure crumpled on the fresh dirt like a sack of potatoes. Had he no dignity?

Naturally, Sesshoumaru did not happen upon the hanyou by choice. It had been more of an unwanted coincidence, a side effect of the wanderlust rooted inside of him. Still, despite not being one to indulge trivialities such as curiosity unless they resulted in his own personal gain, the full fledged youkai remained, hidden amongst the brush of the forest and in the misty drizzle of rain. He was certain that there was no chance of being founded by the smaller one, not that he even bothered to conceal his presence.

It was merely an unsettled scratch from the past. To be able to finally see for himself just what it was that his father deemed worthy enough, important enough to sacrifice his life that night; he had always wondered what it was that could, that had driven his father, the great Inu no Taishou to such a derisory defeat. Sesshoumaru could remember the scent of blood keening in his nose, refusing to disperse, and the sight of his father, standing proud despite his wounds. The great inu youkai had steadfastly refused to stand down, not that Sesshoumaru had persuaded him to do so otherwise; he knew not to interfere in matters of such. To this day, Sesshoumaru could hear his father's words on that snowy night as he refused to pass him the great fangs of Tessaiga and Sou'unga.

"Sesshoumaru. Have you someone to protect?"

Ridiculous.

It had been that ridiculous notion, that worthless feeling that had ultimately led to his father's demise. Such an imprudent sentiment would never claim this Sesshoumaru. He was above such a disgraceful and foolish fall.

Sharply turning his eyes back from a fractured past to his hanyou brother in front of him, Sesshoumaru sneered at the sobbing creature. What his father had chosen death over life to save. It was a severely disappointing sight, not that Sesshoumaru had expected anything else from a mere mortal and her bastard hanyou son.

"Mom…" the hanyou cried quietly into his arms, the word even just barely reaching Sesshoumaru's ears. It did not surprise him. The fact that the first time he should meet his younger brother, it would be when the boy was grieving over his mother's passing. It seemed an appropriate first meeting; the hanyou losing his mortal mother, just like Sesshoumaru had seen his father off to his own death at this child's birth. He narrowed his eyes. Such a miserable death at the hands of these two.

There rose a trickle of anger within him, seeping into his blood and saturating his being. The very cause of their father's death standing before him, crying without shame over the death of his wretched mother. Stepping out, Sesshoumaru drew towards him, stopping only when there was two halves of a step between them. His claws began to glow of a faint, poisonous green.

The little body stilled, a snowy ear twitching at the sound of his approach. It was too late. Sesshoumaru lunged forward, eliciting a choked squeak from the child.

The smell of burning flesh was always unpleasant, his delicate nose scrunching in distaste as his poison rotted the oni's body. It bubbled, blood spurting in a mess of red around them. A weak demon, undoubtedly targeting his child of a brother as an easy meal. He turned from the spray of color, unfazed, and watched as his half-brother scrubbed furiously at his eyes, tears still pooling down his dirty cheeks despite his best efforts. Sesshoumaru lowered his hand, the green slowly beginning to recede.

He wouldn't kill him. Not now.

"Wh-who are you?" he hiccupped in unfrightened question, bright and familiar golden eyes staring up into his own.

Sesshoumaru arched a brow, wondering if the child knew just what had happened. That he was now in Sesshoumaru's debt for having saved his dismal existence. From the looks of it, however, it did not appear so. As a matter of fact, the half-breed did not even seem to be able to grasp that he, himself, was a youkai, a predator of great strength who could, and would, easily crush his small windpipe and end his insignificant life if he so desired. The lack of fear in the boy's eyes spoke easily of his ignorance. How his father could disgrace their proud lineage with such filth was beyond the young youkai lord. Nevertheless, he humored the question.

"I see you do not know the face of your own elder brother."

It did not come as a shock that the little terror did not know of his existence. After all, their father had passed on the night of his birth and he did not expect that human mother of his to speak about him. He had no ties to that woman nor did she to him. His own mother, on the other hand, had been rather vocal in her hatred for the human lover that his father had taken on. Inuyasha, she had said the bastard child's name was.

Furrowing little brows tight in concentration, Inuyasha's tear stricken face scrunch up at him. The hanyou had to think for a long minute before finally speaking up, hesitant, "You're… Sesshoumaru?"

Interesting. So this runt's mother had, indeed, been aware of his existence. Still, it made not a difference whether either of them knew or not. He had no intentions to associate with the hanyou, regardless of the kinship shared through their father. This little 'visit' had been nothing but a mild curiosity born out of chance and a remarkable waste of time. He was not interested.

"Did you come…" The voice brought his attention back to Inuyasha. It was soft, barely rousing the air with its vibrations, and undeniably hopeful. For what, Sesshoumaru did not know nor did he care. "Did you come to save me? Can I stay with you?"

The harmless question stiffened his back, eyes widening by just a hair and jaw held tight. Inuyasha, this worthless hanyou, wanted to stay with him? As though Sesshoumaru would tolerate his presence, following him everywhere he went and needing his attention and care. It would be something Father would want from him, but not this Sesshoumaru. No, this now-orphaned hanyou was not his responsibility.

"No. I will have nothing to do with you," he declared with finality, watching the young one's eyes. They did not dim in the slightest, ears drooping against his skull instead.

"Ah… so I can't go with you?" Inuyasha tried once more, asking with more hope threading his words this time. He looked like a lost pup with too much confused trust outlining his voice, a distressed and not yet noticed hopelessness tight between syllables. Sesshoumaru wondered how the boy expected to survive on his own.

"No."

Inuyasha frowned, unable to comprehend. Not that Sesshoumaru expected any different. He was a mongrel, after all.

"Why not?"

A persistent mongrel. A trait attributed to his human blood, Sesshoumaru mused. It would not matter, however. He held neither pity nor sense of duty to his so-called younger brother. Whether this hanyou lived or died, he would not concern himself. One last stab at his father for leaving him nothing but the useless healing fang Tenseiga.

Turning around, the youkai began to walk away, leaving Inuyasha in the soft mud, crying in front of his mother's grave. Just the way he had found him.

"Can't—can't I stay with you? Sesshoumaru?" called out a weak voice, a small sniffle attached to the end of his words.

Sesshoumaru continued onward.

It had been three days since the runt began following him. His footsteps were loud and clumsy, enough to garner the attention of hungry youkai should he have been alone and easily reveal his location to his older brother at all times. Sesshoumaru had been hoping, perhaps foolishly, that the hanyou would give up. He was clearly unwanted company, but the boy continued to persist, following him throughout the forest. Never beside, but always a slow five paces behind, as though trying to shadow him. Like Sesshoumaru wouldn't notice the foul stench of hanyou and the thunderous padding of his steps.

The inu youkai chose to pay no heed to the bumbling pup. Eventually, even his human persistence would wear off, and he would give up. Until that time came, however, Inuyasha was but a nuisance.

Up to this point, in his many years of wandering the lands, the need to set up a camp had been rather few since he did not require frequent stops to sustain himself. But Inuyasha, on the hand. He was young, tripping frequently, weak, requiring rest and food, and above all, worthless. In other words, he was a burden on the youkai lord. That was, if Sesshoumaru cared enough to watch over the fool.

Nonetheless, he found himself stopping when he could hear Inuyasha panting, lungs wheezing pitifully for breath and legs trembling from overexertion. And despite the reiterations of weak and useless hanyou running through his mind, Sesshoumaru did not forget to respite near a stream of water when night fell, usually to allow for Inuyasha to catch fish as sustenance and to quench his thirst. These were the only times when Inuyasha dared to venture closer to him.

The first night, Inuyasha had merely collapsed on the floor in a pitiful lump, too tired to even move. The second night, he had gone through a similar phase; this time, munching on a handful of berries that he had found. Not poisonous, by luck.

This night, however, Inuyasha tripped onto the ground as soon as Sesshoumaru stopped, whimpering softly. His little body had held out for three days before succumbing to his baser human needs. It was pathetic.

"There is a river nearby. Go and catch yourself fish before your body wastes away," he ordered.

Palms pressing against the soft grass, the hanyou pushed himself up, forcing his worn body to get up. Sesshoumaru watched in silence, face impassive. It was on the fourth try that Inuyasha succeeded, short legs wobbling as he stumbled over to where he had been directed.

Offhandedly, the young lord imagined his father. Perhaps laughing at him from the afterlife for taking up responsibility over Inuyasha like he had always wanted and despite Sesshoumaru's own adamancy to sever their forced kinship. The thought only annoyed Sesshoumaru, and he banished it.

His father had been resolute in saving Inuyasha, throwing away his own life. It would be a waste to let the mongrel expire after everything their father had gone through to keep his puny existence in this world. Besides, if he died now, Sesshoumaru would not have the pleasure of slicing him to pieces in the future when his brother fully understood his place and the vindicated hatred held towards him. It was the only reason why the youkai was tolerating the hanyou. To allow Inuyasha to understand what he was and then strike his miserable being to the afterlife while he fought futilely for it against him. There was no other reason, much less any attachment.

Inuyasha trampled back into view, his clothes soaked and hair wilting from the weight of the water. Carefully, he held two fish between his clawed fingers. The corners of his lips began to upturn diffidently, not quite a smile yet but having all the beginnings of one.

Sesshoumaru did not return the gesture, instead, deciding at that moment, just as the smile came to a full, yet diminutive bloom, that he would end his brother's life, if the hanyou survived long enough.

Nearly two weeks passed since Sesshoumaru found himself with a shadow. For the most part, Inuyasha stayed that way, as just a shadow. But as the days rolled by, he found his brother becoming, perhaps, fonder of him, engaging in the occasional one-sided conversation and offering him food.

It was disconcerting, in the very least. He did not have any feelings of familial attachment to the other and did not desire any attached to him. It had been fairly clear, since their first encounter, that Sesshoumaru held nothing but contempt for him. The fact that despite this, Inuyasha was actually growing fond of him could just be chalked up to another unsolicited side effect.

Listening for the maladroit footsteps that had become like background music during his travels, Sesshoumaru was just a touch surprised to hear nothing but light touches against the earth. Inuyasha was learning, slowly and maybe without even realizing it himself, how to tread noiselessly. It was instinct, the youkai supposed, that was guiding Inuyasha's steps into mimicking his own. At least something not entirely useless was coming from having the hanyou follow him: survival instincts. Not enough to survive on his own as of yet, but the bare basics were beginning to form, he mused.

Too wide golden eyes peered at his back, and Sesshoumaru could feel as they darted fervently from his own feet and back. He hoped that it would not be another repeat of Inuyasha asking about Mokomoko and then touching it. However, the sound of teeth gnashing together filtered through to his ear. He could hear the question gnawing on the other's tongue. Pausing in his strides, Sesshoumaru waited patiently, knowing that Inuyasha would talk now that they had stopped for the night instead of worrying his lower lip.

Just as expected, once the hanyou had settled himself against a tree, he spoke, the wisp of his vocal chords decidedly timid, "S-Sesshoumaru?"

"What is it?"

Gracing the boy with his attention, Sesshoumaru glanced over at him, face vacant of any semblance of expression. Inwardly, he almost curved his lips in a faint smirk at the sight of apprehension suddenly filling Inuyasha's eyes.

"Um, I just…" Inuyasha trailed off, fingers fidgeting with the hems of his sleeves. Whatever had taken over the hanyou's mind this time was quite catching judging from the way he squirmed, as though uncomfortable in his own skin. Huffing in a breath, Inuyasha sputtered out, a spot of something he could not quite identify, "Do you… do you hate me, Sesshoumaru?"

Sesshoumaru paused, eyes narrowing just a smidgen as he rolled the question around. There really was no need to think upon it for an answer; he already knew. Despite this, the elder kept his gaze leveled on Inuyasha, eyes impassive. Inuyasha dug his toes into the ground, still fiddling with his sleeves and biting his lower lip. His eyes were downcast and ears drooping, much like they did when he was upset or nervous. It was the first time Sesshoumaru had smelled such an emotion on the younger boy. Inuyasha was frightened. Frightened of the answer he would give him. It was quite nearly laughable. How much Inuyasha cared when he cared nothing of the hanyou.

"I do."

Instead of a look of utter deflation, however, Inuyasha merely nodded as though having always known the answer (but how could he possibly know just why Sesshoumaru hated his very being), ears twitching quickly three times in sequence. He curled into himself, hugging his knees tight, and responded, just as childlike as before, "Okay."

There was a small gap in his breaths, and Sesshoumaru waited once more. What more could he possibly have to say?

"I'm sorry."

Golden eyes narrowing, the youkai said nothing in return to his younger brother's apology, mouth curling in a mild, unpleasant surprise. It was not as if Inuyasha could even fathom why Sesshoumaru hated him—his wretched mother, his birth, their tainted lineage, the death of their father. As a matter of fact, Inuyasha probably did not even know that he was a blemish upon their family. He could not even comprehend the greatness of their father within that half-human mind of his. To apologize before he could even begin to understand what he was apologizing for. For what he was. A sliver of resentment began to crawl its way under his skin, darkening his eyes with hatred. He was born an ignorant hanyou. He would live as an ignorant hanyou. And he would die as an ignorant hanyou. Forever being nothing more than a smear on their father's name. And yet, Inuyasha, this child who knew absolutely nothing of this shame and of the sacrifice made for his detestable behalf, was apologizing. Belittling every ounce of hatred Sesshoumaru could hold for him. Making a mockery of it all with his naivety. It was positively infuriating.

"Know this, hanyou. The fact that we are tied by Father's blood running through our veins will not deter me from killing you," Sesshoumaru articulated, voice hard and eyes smoldering with molten rage. He wanted to crush Inuyasha's very human soul, bristling internally at his innocence, his unawareness of everything.

Those much too wide and much too familiar golden eyes continued to stare into his own, matching pair. Irises painted with nothing but childlike simplicity. Sesshoumaru cooled his rising fury, knowing it to be a fool's pursuit to be angry with his younger brother, a pup. He turned away, listening to Inuyasha as he readied himself for sleep. The boy was rather compliant for someone who had just been foretold their death.

"Sesshoumaru…?"

The lord of the western lands did not spare him a glance over, merely waiting for Inuyasha's hesitation to pass before his breath could catch up. He was growing impatient with all of these pointless inquiries.

"Thank you. For saving my life."

A small gasp of air escaped from his lungs, filling the night, as he snapped his widened gaze back over to the hanyou, startled by the declaration of gratitude to him. Surely his brother was not speaking about the oni hiding behind the tree at his mother's grave from many moons ago. Narrowing his eyes, he studied Inuyasha but could find nothing except a bright smile. There swelled a feeling of nonplus in his stomach.

One day, Inuyasha would come to regret thanking him that he had. Sesshoumaru would make sure of it.