Chapter 2: I didn't kill her

Inu-Yasha couldn't hold back a frustrated growl : this situation was absurd ! He skilfully avoided another blow from Sesshomaru. He was getting tired of this ; all he was doing was dodging and evading Sesshomaru's attacks, and it wasn't bringing them anywhere. He wished he just knew why his brother was so furious at him. No kidding : the full blooded demon looked ready to crucify him ! It made no sense. What could he have done to infuriate his older brother that much ? He really couldn't figure it out.

"Sesshomaru" he tried again, "in the name of the seven Hells, would you stop for a second and tell me what's wrong ? Why are you so angry at me ?"

Slowing down for a moment, Sesshomaru gave him a calculating stare before finally halting his movements. The demon Lord then looked at him with such burning eyes that if glares could've killed, Inu-Yasha would be dead on the spot.

"Do not take me for a fool, little brother" Sesshomaru growled. "You know exactly what you did."

"What the hell are you babbling about !" shouted Inu-Yasha, his frustration increasing. "I have absolutely no bloody idea what you're talking about ! I was just out there looking for you and when you saw me you went crazy and attacked me with no reason ! Now for the last time, I demand an explanation !"

Sesshomaru's glare deepened and he tightened his grip on Tokijin, his knuckles becoming white from the effort. Now there was definitely some red in his golden irises, Inu-Yasha noticed. And when his brother spoke again, the emotionless tone was replaced by a cold anger :

"You filthy half-breed, you have no right to demand anything from me !"

Sesshomaru then launched himself at Inu-Yasha, who quickly managed to block him with his Tetsusaiga. The blades of their swords crashed against each other with incredible force, sending tremors into both of their bodies.

"Sesshomaru, for Kami's sake !" Inu-Yasha growled out with an almost desperate tone. "Can't you see I'm serious ? Can't you smell I'm not lying ? I swear to you that I have not the slightest idea of what you're accusing me ! Now please... just tell me what I did !"

Maybe it was because he had suddenly regained his senses, or because he was considering Inu-Yasha's words, or again because he had seen the real confusion in his younger brother's eyes, but Sesshomaru finally lowered his sword and took a few steps back. There was still anger in his gaze, but the biggest part of it seemed to have vanished. Inu-Yasha stood in front of him, not moving, waiting for him to speak.

"You really don't know." the Lord stated, his voice stern.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you since 10 good minutes !" Inu-Yasha ranted.

Sesshomaru stared at him coldly.

"So you don't remember" he said, his expression unreadable. "I suppose it would only be fair to tell you why you are going to die, then."

He took a few steps toward Inu-Yasha, stopping a few feet before him. The hanyou didn't move. He waited.

"Inu-Yasha" Sesshomaru started, the disdain obvious in his curt tone. "What you did I will not forgive, and because of it you will die by my hand... as it should've been a long time ago."

Another step toward him. Inu-Yasha didn't budge. They were almost face to face now. The hanyou stood still, staring confusedly at his older brother, even more lost than before. What in the world was Sesshomaru getting at ?

"You killed her, Inu-Yasha" finally came the icy answer. "You killed Rin."

Inu-Yasha's eyes widened as he exclaimed unbelievingly :

"I... I did what ?!"

"You heard me, little brother."

Inu-Yasha was astonished. He wanted to speak, but suddenly couldn't find his voice. He took a step back and looked at his brother like the older demon had gone completely insane. "This is ridiculous !" he thought, "What the hell is he saying ? I never killed that girl ! I was just coming here to tell him that she had been captured by one of Naraku's reincarnations ! Wait... NARAKU !"

That was it. Naraku had set up all of this ! He had tricked them ! Inu-Yasha knew by personal experience how good Naraku was at cheating people. There was no limits at how cruel he could get. But... why Rin ? Why Sesshomaru ? "Oh I get it ! He probably hopes that Sesshomaru will kill me to avenge the girl ! Same old despicable Naraku ! Always getting someone else to do his dirty work ! What a coward !"

The half-demon was furious. Damn that Naraku ! It seemed that his favourite hobby was to make sure to turn Inu-Yasha's life into a nightmare ! "What a creep ! I'll make him pay ! He won't even see it coming !" he told himself angrily, glaring into nothing and imagining himself cutting Naraku into little tiny unrecognizable pieces.

"Inu-Yasha" Sesshomaru said, pulling him out of his thoughts. "Now you will die" he added, his voice cold enough to freeze Hell over as he slowly went into an offensive stance.

"Oh great !" Inu-Yasha told himself, his body tensing and his thoughts racing. "How am I gonna get out of this one ? Of course I could just fight him but... I would hate to give Naraku what he wants. That jerk is toying with us, plain and simple. I HATE to get toyed with ! And I bet anything that coward is watching us somehow, just waiting for us to go at it and kill each other. I'm not sure if it's me or Sesshomaru he wants dead, though... Keh, I guess to him it really doesn't matter, as long as there's one of us out of his way. Stupid friggin bastard... I'm so going to carve his eyes out of his skull ! But I have to stop Sesshomaru first. Damn it, how the hell do I do that ?! That prick is never gonna believe me ! ...Well, guess I have to try anyway."

"Listen, Sesshomaru" Inu-Yasha started, trying to sound convincing. "I didn't harm your little brat. She's been captured. Naraku tricked you. She's not even dead." "At least I hope she's not..."

Sesshomaru merely shot him a disgusted look and said :

"And now you lie, otouto ? That's pathetic, even for you"

Inu-Yasha was about to deny his brother's words, when Sesshomaru added :

"You were through the moment you appeared before me, Inu-Yasha. I can smell her blood on you."

Inu-Yasha swallowed back the violent retort he was about to give his brother. Oh hell, he had forgotten that ! It was true that there was some of Rin's blood on him, due to when he had accidentally scratched her leg whit his claws, then wiped it out on his clothes. "Damn it ! Damn it ! Now Sesshomaru's never gonna believe me !" Inu-Yasha tried to calm down. Now was not the time to panic.

"Right, Sesshomaru. Okay. First things first. Who told you I had killed her anyway ?"

The older demon frowned, probably pondering if Inu-Yasha deserved an answer or not. Finally he said coldly :

"The wind sorceress Kagura."

"Figured..." Inu-Yasha thought.

"And you believed her ?!" he asked, dumbfounded.

"At first, no. But when Rin went missing, I searched for her and I found you instead. When I smelled her blood on you, and the residue of your recent transformation, I realized Kagura had told me the truth."

"The truth ? That bitch ? She doesn't even know what it means ! And why would SHE come and tell YOU about that, anyway ? It's not like it concerns her OR Naraku !"

"Naraku likes to see people suffer. He doesn't need any other reason"

Well, Inu-Yasha couldn't argue with him on that. But still !

"Sesshomaru, damn it ! Stop being so friggin difficult ! Don't you see they're messing with us ? They tricked you, both of them ! They want us to fight and kill each other ! Isn't it obvious ? They knew we were on better terms since a while so they had to find something to set us off ! They probably want YOU to kill ME, or the other way around, and that's why they took Rin ! They knew that you wouldn't cooperate willingly so they made you believe I had killed Rin. Haven't you figured that out already !"

"If that's the case" Sesshomaru said calmly, "then why can I smell her blood on you ? Is that another one of their "tricks", little brother ?"

"No, that was an accident ! It's a mess of bad coincidences ! She was kidnapped and when I tried to grab her I-"

"Enough, Inu-Yasha" Sesshomaru suddenly interrupted, the warning clear in his tone. "Stop this nonsense. You're just making a fool of yourself. Why would Naraku or any other of his minions do so much efforts just to get you, or even me, killed ?"

"Like I'm the one to know ! Go ask HIM for details !" Inu-Yasha suddenly shouted, his rising anger and frustration taking the best of him.

"You're merely trying to escape death" the demon Lord declared with a voice as sharp as a blade. "I never thought you'd be such a coward, little brother"

Inu-Yasha growled dangerously. He had just about enough of this ! His brother wouldn't believe him ? Fine ! It was his problem ! Inu-Yasha didn't give a flying f-k anymore ! He was getting tired of being insulted and called a liar when his mighty Lord of a brother was the one in the wrong ! The hanyou was going to pound some sense into him with his Tetsusaiga ! Maybe then Sesshomaru would learn to frickin' believe him when he spoke !

But then again... what would HE believe if he was at his brother's place ?

He knew the answer to that. Apparently stubborness ran in the family.

Inu-Yasha's anger quickly receded, decreasing until all that was left was a mild annoyance. At his brother or himself, he couldn't be sure.

"Don't blame Sesshomaru" he reasoned with himself, "all of this is Naraku's doing. He knew Sesshomaru would react like that. And he probably expected me to react like my usual self and try to slice Sesshomaru's throat for insulting me. Well, he almost got his show... But now he's in for a little surprise. I'm not falling for his sneaky schemes this time." And with that decided, Inu-Yasha straightened up and re-sheathed his Tetsusaiga. The startled look in his brother's eyes (although his stoic features never changed) would've made the hanyou smirk at another time. Not today.

"I'm not lying, Sesshomaru." he stated calmly. "I didn't kill Rin. I hurt her by accident while trying to grab her and take her back from the demon who was kidnapping her. I saw the spider-mark on its back. All of this is Naraku's doing. He tricked you and you fell for it. I didn't think it was possible... Granted, Naraku is a master when it comes to messing with other people's lives, and I talk from experience. Well, I'm not letting that bastard manipulate me this time around. I can't make you believe me, Sesshomaru, but I don't have to explain myself either when I know I didn't do what you're accusing me of. So go ahead and be a stubborn prick, but don't expect me to do the same. And if you wanna let Naraku pull your strings, then be my guess. I, for that matter, am nobody's puppet."

Japanese translations (for those who don't already know) :

hanyou : half-demon

otouto : little brother

big brother would be oniisan ('niisan for short) or aniki