Warmth by TamashaToko

Brothers

“The answer is no,” Sesshoumaru said coldly the moment he laid eyes upon his younger half brother, “whatever trouble you’ve found yourself is not my problem.  You’re an adult so you are on your own.”

His response would have been colder if it weren’t for InuYasha daring to show up in the office of his place of work.  Things must have been desperate for him to show up there as he was fully aware Sesshoumaru preferred to not discuss his remaining family out of embarrassment.

The conversation had moved into the parking lot where Sesshoumaru tried to demonstrate that the conversation was over by opening the door to his car.  His demeanor went from indifferent to enraged when his younger brother held on to the car door, stopping it from being slammed shut. Sesshoumaru had paid a pretty penny for his black luxury car and would have no ounce of forgiveness or mercy left in him if the idiot had managed to scratch it.

“Do you think I’d come to you if it wasn’t an emergency,” his younger brother indeed sounded distressed, “I am asking you for help as a brother.  Please. I have nowhere to go Sesshoumaru. I’m living in my car.”

“Hn,” Sesshoumaru shook his head, “interesting.  I recall upon our father’s passing you receiving a sizable inheritance and then receiving almost the same amount again when your mother left us.  What was it you did with your inheritance again InuYasha? I believe you mocked me for investing mine while you blew yours on drugs and booze claiming you only live once.  Now you come to me because you have nowhere to go? That’s your problem.”

“It’s not like that anymore!  If it were just me I’d rather curl up in a gutter and die than come to you like this.  I really messed up Sesshoumaru. I- I got a girl pregnant and she is living with me. She wants to have this baby, your niece or nephew.”

Was that supposed to guilt him?  InuYasha was just his half brother so why did he have to be responsible for him and whatever his seed created?

“The girl is living with you?  In this car of yours I presume.  What of her family? Go beg to them for handouts.”

“I can’t do that Sesshoumaru.  She can’t go back there. When she told her father she was pregnant he used it as an excuse to kick her out and I made things worse.  That Naraku is a- it doesn’t matter for the moment she has no one other than me, and yeah she lives in my car that’s why I need your help.  She can’t be pregnant living outdoors in the wintertime.”

“Surely she has other means.  Friends with a couch for her to sleep on or some sort of homeless shelter.”

“Her friends would help if they could but most of them are in college living in dorms or with their parents and I’m not letting her stay in some sort of shelter with psychos and drugs addicts.  She becomes officially homeless by that point and the baby will get taken away.”

“But yet she is better off with you?  Perhaps it’s for the best if that happens then InuYasha.”

Sesshoumaru’s words were as harsh as ever as he reflected on the fact all the girl’s friends were in college.

“How old is this girl?” Sesshoumaru dared to ask.

“Barely eighteen,” InuYasha confessed, “and I want you to know right away she’s not like the other girls you’ve seen me around.  Kagome is one of the kindest women I’ve ever met and always does her best even now. It was a mistake to put her in this position.  She deserves better than being in the freezing cold with me. She’s the reason why I’m asking this of you Sesshoumaru. I’ll do anything.”

Sesshoumaru was ready to hit InuYasha with another no before slamming his door and driving off, but something was stirring within him.  He’d learned a long time ago that there was no helping his brother and that he’d constantly be a screw up so it was just better to stay distant, but no matter how hard Sesshoumaru tried to shut him out there was a lingering feeling of guilt that struck him that day.

“Where is this car of yours InuYasha?” Sesshoumaru then asked him, “I have a suspicion you’re about to tell me it doesn’t run.”

InuYasha was dead silent which was confirmation.

“So you can’t even provide heat,” Sesshoumaru shook his head disapprovingly, “very well.  I will not guarantee you anything. I’d like to meet this girl and see if there is truly nothing else that can be done.  If I find out this was all just a ploy to extort me for money you’ll wish there was a gutter to hide yourself in.”

Before InuYasha could even thank his older brother for hearing him out Sesshoumaru shut his car door almost taking out InuYasha’s fingers out in the process.  The moment he agreed to such a thing he instantly regretted it having a feeling that this whole thing would be a giant inconvenience.

 

INUYASHA © Rumiko Takahashi/Shogakukan • Yomiuri TV • Sunrise 2000
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