Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

Do you love me?

"Big Brother, do you love me?"

A simple question, one would think. So effortless to think of, so facile to ask. A yes or no answer, what could be easier? But it's not simple; even then it was not simple. His voice was so frail, so innocent—a youthful deception. For all those years ago, when he asked me that, when I looked—really looked—at him I could see. When I gazed into those honey coloured eyes I could see them clouded with solemn wisdom so far beyond his years. He had so few of them at the time. Did I love him? Yes. Could I protect him? Teach him what he needed to know to live? Probably. Could I have made him happy? No. Which is why, as we sat there, on the veranda to our father's large house, watching the snow carpet the grounds, I told him what I did.

"You do not know what love means, Little Brother."

I knew my accusation was not true. And what he told me next only strengthened my suspicion. And yet, for whatever reason, I could not bring myself to tell him the truth.

"Yes I do!" He insisted, leaning towards me so that his frontal portion of his weight was supported by his tiny hands. "Love is what Mother and Father have. Love is what those humans in the stories Teacher Myiouga tells me have." And I think I felt my heart literally shatter as he looked at me through those wisdom-clouded, hurt-filled, all-too-innocent eyes. Eyes shining with suppressed tears. "Do you love me, Sesshoumaru?"

I knew I could not persuade him to drop it. He never did when he got like that. And so I did what, at the time, I felt I must. I lied to him.

"No."

That was all. No explanation, no berating, simply no. I had no choice! I could not have told him! He did not believe me, I could tell. But he no longer argued. After Father and his mother died, he left with nary a backward glance. As much as it hurt to tell him no, it hurt so much more to let him go.

I have been accused, from time to time, of having no emotions, no feelings. I suppose, in a way, this is true. The pain of watching him walk away from me was so unbearable, that everything else seems so minimal. It's almost like I'm numb.

Which is why, as I face him down, meeting his cold, life-hardened glare, I feel only a fraction of what I once would have. But he simply stands there, not reaching for Tetsusaiga. And, in turn, I do not attack him. It is only when he opens his mouth to I feel a twinge of fear, deep down in the pit of my heart. And that fear erupts into a volcano of emotions as he asks me,

"Do you love me?"

I think long and hard before I answer. He needs my protection no longer. He knows all he needs to survive. And I still cannot make him happy. So, it is with these things in mind, as I answer as I did so long ago. I try to keep my tone empty and void of emotion as I open my mouth to speak.

"No." I lie.

End