Inuyasha became unusually subdued as they drew to a stop before Kagome’s chamber. Sesshoumaru suspected the scents emanating from within to be the cause, and in hindsight, he should himself have been better prepared for what would transpire when his half-brother crossed that threshold and beheld her at last.

Sango, Miroku and Kirara were absent—no doubt they were still sleeping off their exhaustion from the previous day. Perhaps their presence would have had a mollifying effect on Inuyasha. Or perhaps nothing would have tempered the ghastly shock of distress that overcame him as he stood frozen near Kagome’s bedside, his eyes staring wide and unblinking at the hopeless ruin of her face.

His chest rose, rapid and faint. His claws clenched and unclenched, seemingly of their own accord. As Ryouken sauntered into the room behind them, it was the sound of repulsion he swallowed quickly back into his throat that wrested Inuyasha at last from his stupor. Before Sesshoumaru could stop him, the hanyou advanced, ripping back the sheet that covered Kagome and taking in the whole horrific sight of her in a single, fevered glance.

A strangled whine escaped him as he reeled. Shouldering hard past Ryouken, he barreled headlong from the room. Replacing the sheet with care, Sesshoumaru followed swiftly in pursuit, his cousin rushing along after him. Outside of the castle, Inuyasha’s path veered sharply west, into the woods that blanketed the mountainous ridge.

A short distance ahead, Sesshoumaru could hear the booming crash of trees being felled, the roars of his brother’s agony sending flocks of panicked birds into flight. Casting a warning glance at his grim-faced cousin, Sesshoumaru hung back a moment to gauge whether Inuyasha had surrendered fully to madness, before venturing forth into the leaf-strewn carnage of the leveled wood.

No longer satisfied with venting his bitterness out upon the remaining trees, Inuyasha scored his claws over the bare granite rock instead. Crouched low to the ground, he howled in abject misery, his nails cracking and splitting against the unrelenting stone, until only the tips of his fingers grated over the abrasive surface again and again. Setting his jaw, Sesshoumaru stepped forward to put an end to this self-mutilation—when Inuyasha abruptly stopped, shivering as he clamped his bloody hands over his ears and began to piteously groan.

Having never seen another creature so violently distraught, Sesshoumaru was uncertain how best to handle his brother in this state. Trusting his instincts, he decided to wait and see if Inuyasha’s grief would subside. Hours passed before the horrible groaning ceased. Leaning against the severed trunk of a tree, Ryouken straightened warily as Sesshoumaru moved toward his brother, speaking his name. Yet there was not even the subtlest change in the hanyou’s still, hunched form.

“Inuyasha,” the demon lord spoke again, more firmly.

As Sesshoumaru’s shadow fell over him, Inuyasha dragged his glassy gaze slowly up at last. His amber eyes were wet and distant, yet as they focused on Sesshoumaru, a sudden ferocity twisted his features. Ryouken shouted as Inuyasha lunged, claws snatching at him to no avail. It was Sesshoumaru who sidestepped his brother’s frenzied charge and wrenching both of Inuyasha’s arms behind his back, drove him face-first into the rocky earth beneath him.

“Bastard,” the demon lord thundered in outrage, grinding his knee deeper into Inuyasha’s writhing spine, “how dare you raise your claws against me…”

“Give it to me!” the hanyou growled, his lips peeling back from his fangs in savage derangement. “Give me the fucking Jewel!”

“The Jewel,” Sesshoumaru spat in disgust, tightening his crushing hold on Inuyasha’s wrists. “You worthless half-breed—Kagome lies wounded beyond reckoning, and you seek only to gratify your petty delusions!”

“I NEED it!” Inuyasha bellowed as he continued futilely to struggle, not seeming even to register Sesshoumaru’s accusation. “It’s the only way—it’s the only way to save her!”

Sesshoumaru eased his grip a fraction, his brother’s snarling pleas diminishing gradually to a whimper. “No,” he said at last.

Fury rekindling, Inuyasha thrashed, nearly throwing Sesshoumaru off him in his wild desperation. “You son of a bitch—it’s your fucking fault she ended up this way. If you’d protected her like you should have, this never would have happened to her!”

Releasing him with a harsh shove, Sesshoumaru stood. Flat upon the ground, Inuyasha glared up at him, seething through the vise of his fangs.

“You are right,” the demon lord said.

A little of his brother’s animosity bled out of him at the admission. “Then…you need to make this right. The Jewel’s the only way—you fucking know that it is.”

“No,” Sesshoumaru said again, cutting his half-brother off as he opened his mouth to argue. “The Jewel is not the way, no matter how convenient it may seem. Kagome warned me herself against using the Jewel for selfish gain.”

“What’s so selfish about us wanting to heal her?!” the hanyou shot back.

“Think for a moment, Inuyasha,” Sesshoumaru said witheringly, “and you will realize that it would ease your conscience and mine to see her restored. Just because the wish would not benefit us directly does not make it a selfless wish. Any wish made will be selfish—that is the very nature of a wish.” Extracting the Shikon no Tama, the demon lord regarded it with loathing. “This is the Jewel’s grand deception, the treachery it uses to ensure its own survival. Through twisting the desires of its wielder, it assumes control—as it did with Naraku,” he added in disdain. “Kagome understood this well. Shortly before she was taken, she confided to me that she intended to destroy the Shikon no Tama.”

“She—she what?” Inuyasha spluttered. “Why the fuck was she telling you all these things?”

Ignoring this, Sesshoumaru continued on, “The point of light that remained in the Shikon no Tama, the reason why we were able to defeat Naraku…It was she who planted that light there, with the last of her power—a power she could have used to defend herself instead. Kagome sacrificed herself in order to ensure that the Jewel would not be overtaken by evil, and continue to wreak its devastation upon the world.” Keenly, Sesshoumaru seized his brother’s gaze with his own. “Will you honor her sacrifice with me, brother? Will you resist the Jewel’s temptation and help me find another way to heal her?”

Inuyasha’s throat worked furiously as he swallowed. Haltingly, he pushed himself to his feet.

“Another way,” he muttered, his voice low and rough as he brushed the dirt off his clothes and approached Sesshoumaru. His eyes glittered, his smile tight as he rested his hand on the hilt of his sword. “Well then—what the hell are we standin’ around here for? Let’s find it.”

Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi

A little brotherly moment, in the spirit of the occasion 😊

Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃🦃🦃