Chapter six : Meeting Inu-Yasha's pack

Sesshomaru's POV

Sesshomaru, Demon Lord of the Western Lands, was angry. Tired, annoyed, and angry. About what ? Oh, a lots of things, but right now the cause of his frustration was a band of stupid humans. And a little kitsune.

His brother's pack. Though, he had always thought that it was quite a strange pack : a miko, a taijya, a monk and a kitsune. To him, each of them were pretty weird, and he was trying hard to figure out what his little brother could've seen in them. They were fragile, whiny, annoying and they had absolutly no manners. Not with him, anyway. A couple of days ago, he would've called Inu-Yasha an idiot for travelling whit that bunch of weaklings. But... not now. Now it was different... Those pack members probably had something special for his brother to accept them and wanting to protect them. Maybe they weren't always annoying... But that was hard for Sesshomaru to believe at the moment.

He looked up at them again, trying to refrain his temper ; they were still shouting at him, all of them in battle position. The monk had his cursed hand directed at him, the taijya was holding her enormous boomerang, and the miko was pointing an arrow at his heart. To any other demons, it may have looked scary, but to him, it seemed pathetic. Did they really think they could defeat him ? He almost laugh... almost. He was too angry to laugh. And too sad...

He lowered his gaze to the precious burden he was holding close to him with his only arm. His heart squeezed. His little brother's body had gone cold and stiff, and his skin was now so pale it almost seemed white. But at least there was no more blood... Sesshomaru had washed Inu-Yasha's body in a hot-spring he had found, trying to make the dry blood and the smell of death disappear. The blood had. But not the smell. That would never disappear...

He had tried to revive him with his Tenseiga. Of course. That was the first thing he had done. But it hadn't worked. He knew what it meant : his brother's soul was already gone. So fast... He couldn't bring him back. First, it had made him so mad... For once he had wanted his stupid sword to work so badly, to give him back his little brother... But the weapon had stayed hopelessly silent. He had thought about throwing it away... but for some reason, he hadn't. He had took his brother's body to a hot-spring, washing it gently, making it presentable again... well, there was still a hole in his chest, but he couldn't do anything about that... Looking at Inu-Yasha, he had suddenly felt so sad and tired. He wanted him to open his eyes, to breath, to smile, to talk, to shout at him even... He wanted him to live...

After that, he had tried to find his brother's friends. Inu-Yasha had wanted that, had wanted him to tell them... And he had promised... He wasn't going to break that promise, no way in Hell... Luckily, the humans weren't far. Apparently, they had been looking for them. Inu-Yasha had probably told them to rejoin him. What a bad surprise they were going to get, Sesshomaru had thought...

He looked up at them again. Sure enough, they were still shouting... They thought he was the one who had killed Inu-Yasha. They had reasons, after all he HAD threatened his brother's life in the past... What else could they think, seeing him appear before them with the lifeless body of their pack leader in his grasp ? He should be patient and explain calmly to them what had happened. But the thing was... he wasn't in the mood to be patient and comprehensive. Not right now. Not when his heart and soul were aching like never before, and when the only thing he truly wanted to do was fall to his knees and cry like a baby. Which he would not, because he was Sesshomaru. And now, he would remind it to those bugs...

He shot them a terrifying glare and said with a voice that could give you nightmares :

- That's enough.

He was probably very scary, because at his command all colors drained from their faces and their mouths shut. He could see fear in their eyes, but they hadn't drawn back. They were brave. Or foolish. "They really want you back, little brother" he thought looking at the immobile figure in his hold. But still, he WASN'T in the mood. Picking a fight with him right now was more or less suicidal. He felt more like himself, though... and that was a bit comforting. Anger and annoyance were the only things he had always allowed himself to feel. Sure his feelings for Inu-Yasha had changed, or more like returned to normal, and he didn't regretted it, but he felt no needs to act differently with other people. In the best scenario, he wouldn't kill them. Inu-Yasha wouldn't want him to...

They were waiting for him to speak, it seems. Although he thought that the major reason why they hadn't attacked him yet was because he had Inu-Yasha with him. He tried to calm down and finally said :

- Listen and listen well, for I won't say it twice. I wasn't the one who killed him.

- Liar ! the miko... Kagome, he thought... threw at him, silent tears flowing down her cheeks.

- I never lie, he answered without flinching. It is beneath me. The one who killed him was one of Naraku's pet demon. A very... special one. I tried to revive him, but for some reason... it didn't worked.

His voice wavered a little at his last words, but he quickly regained himself and pursued :

- I bring him back to you because he asked me to. He also asked me to tell you that he was sorry and that... that he loved you all more than everything.

The last part had been a bit harder for him to say. He wasn't use to that kind of words coming out of his mouth. But he had promised...

Their attitude changed a little : Kagome cried even more, her bow and arrow trembling in her hands. The monk lowered his hand a bit and looked to the ground, his determination decreasing. The taijya looked down too, her eyes becoming glassy. But they kept their positions. They were still suspiscious over his intentions, and would probably be as long as he had Inu-Yasha in his hold. Sesshomaru growled of impatience and gave a sigh of frustration. Stupid idiotic humans !

He kneeled down and gently laid his brother's form on the soft grass. Brushing a few strands of silver hair from Inu-Yasha's face, he bent down and put a soft kiss on the hanyou's forehead. Completely ignoring the astonished expression on the others's faces, he whispered something so low that they couldn't possibly hear him :

- Don't worry, little brother. I won't be gone long. I have to get Rin back. But I'll come back to say goodbye. Wait for me...

Closing his eyes a moment, he recomposed himself before standing up and glaring at the miko and her companions. He was back to his cold self. Only Inu-Yasha was allowed to see him otherwise, he decided. In the exception of Rin, of course. And since she was not there... and that the hanyou was dead...

His brother's pack was still looking unbelievingly at him, troubled by his actions toward the hanyou. He pretended not to notice, and told them in a emotionless tone :

- I have some urgent business to attend to. It can't wait, and I'll be gone for a while. I'll be back at the latest tomorrow evening. Wait for me for the burial, or else...

He let his threat hang in the air, giving them a warning look. After a moment, they all nodded, and the monk said softly :

- Fine. We will, Sesshomaru-sama.

Satisfied, the dog demon lowered his head just a little. After a last glance at Inu-Yasha, he turned around and disappeared into the woods.

No one's POV

The second after Sesshomaru had vanished, they all ran to Inu-Yasha, throwing their weapons away, completely forgetting about any idea of battle. They fell to his side, their eyes haunted, unable to believe what they were seeing. They waited for a breath, a move, something... any sign of life. But of course, nothing happened. Something broke inside of them...

Kagome was devastated. Tears were running down her cheeks, and she felt like they were never gonna stop. She gently took Inu-Yasha's head and put it on her lap. Stroking his hair, she sobbed :

- Y... you... stupid... idiot ! Why d... did you have t... to go and g... get yourself... killed ! Why ! Y... you're such a... b... baka !

Looking down at the hanyou's lifeless features, she continued more softly :

- You... you didn't even... g... give me the time... t... to tell you... how... how much I love you...

She barely whispered the last words, her heart breaking.

Shippo wasn't in a much better shape. The small kitsune was crying painfully, only like kids could cry. "Stupid hanyou" he first thougth angrily, "you can't do anything right !" But then the smell of death came to his little youkai nose. The smell of Inu-Yasha... dead. He started to sob uncontrollably, as the reality of the situation slowly begun to sink in. "Inu-Yasha... daddy... don't be dead... I don't want to lose my father again... please..." But he knew he was pleading for the impossible. He buried his face in Inu-Yasha's red haori and cried. His little heart was broken.

Miroku couldn't bring himself to believe what he was seeing. He was holding his breath, waiting for a sign of life. But when he realized that nothing would never come anymore from the hanyou, he fell to his knees, his head spinning. That couldn'be possible ! Not Inu-Yasha ! He was so strong, so tough... he just couldn't be dead !... But he was. Indubitably. Gone for good. "No ! Oh, dear God, no !" the monk implored silently. Inu-Yasha was a close friend to him, he was family... He had loved him like a brother. And now... Miroku closed his eyes. There was nothing he could do... At that, his unwavering heart broke.

Sango was crying now. She had tried not to, but she couldn't hold it anymore. She had lost someone she cared for again. First her family, then her brother, and now Inu-Yasha. She looked down at him ; the unstoppable Inu-Yasha. Always fighting, always frowning, always being the most stubborn person she had ever met. But always protective and secretly caring too. Always saving them and risking his life for them. Always getting hurt, but always healing up faster than any normal person. And then he was back on his feet, protecting them again. Getting hurt again. Like a viscious circle. But never dying. Never. He was unbreakable, she had thought. Now she was wishing that she had been right about it. That he would just rise and get on his feet again. Like always... "Not this time..." she thought. This time they had lost him. She cried more. Her heart was aching so painfully, the only thing it could do was break. And it did.

They all stayed there for what looked like an eternity, mourning on their lost friend, heartbroken. At the sunset, they took his body to Kaede's village. Washed him again. Dressed him. Stroke his silver hair delicately. It was strange... Lying on a couch, a soft halo of light surrounding him, their rough hanyou suddenly looked like a beautiful fallen angel. They observed in awe, almost mesmerized.

After that, they just waited for Sesshomaru to come back.