Please Put This Pain to Rest

Rating: R (for incest)

Pairings: Inuyasha/Sesshoumaru; some one-way Kagome/Inuyasha

Disclaimer: I wish I owned these pretty boys, but sadly I own nothing, not even the manga.

Warnings: Slash, yaoi, homosexual, whatever you want to call it there is boy/boy in here. Homophobes back off! Also this contains incest.

Dedication: To Yana Goya-san who drew a picture that inspired this fic. The title's inyaniki, so I recommend you all go see it, it's truly amazing!

Inuyasha felt the need to get away, to run as far as he could in an attempt to escape everything. Usually whatever the world chose to throw at him he took in stride, never complaining. Sometimes, usually on rainy nights- he never dealt with those well because of the memories- it would all catch up with him. The unfairness with which life had treated Inuyasha threatened to make him burst into tears, but he could never do this in front of the others, they wouldn't understand.

Inuyasha continued to run, occasionally slipping on the rain slicked ground. He arrived at the hot spring they had used to bathe and collapsed into the water. The rain continued to pound down as Inuyasha lay still. Small rivulets began to run down his back and despite lying in a hot spring, Inuyasha began to shiver.

Sesshoumaru walked through the forest silently. He needed a walk to clear his head, which had proved impossible in the presence of Rin and Jaken. The rain felt good, almost bringing a smile to his face. Sesshoumaru wandered through the woods till he came upon a hot spring. He sensed something was in the water and approached with caution, not able to smell it because of the rain. There in the water was a mass of wavy hair swirling around a red hatori. 'That must be Inuyasha.'

"Inuyasha…" Sesshoumaru said softly but loud enough for the hanyou to hear. Inuyasha stirred and grunted before his eyes widened at realizing who had called his name. He immediately sprung to his feet and took a defensive stance. Sesshoumaru merely stood there.

"Sesshoumaru…" Inuyasha wobbled slightly, still exhausted from earlier, and sent the taiyoukai a death glare. Sesshoumaru quirked an eyebrow and continued to remain silent. "Grr…why don't you say anything? Are you mocking me? Why don't you just fight me…?" Inuyasha made a leap at his older brother but collapsed into the water, his body too tired to move so much.

In a very out of character gesture Sesshoumaru stepped to the edge of the bank and offered a hand to Inuyasha, who scooted away from it as though it was an offensive gesture. "Why are you trying…trying to help me?" Inuyasha said, looking confused.

Sesshoumaru stepped back from the bank edge and stuck the hand back in his sleeves. "What does it matter?" he growled.

Inuyasha just sat in the water. "It doesn't…I guess. But, aren't you going to attack?"

Sesshoumaru scoffed, or as close a noise that he ever made to scoffing. "You're unarmed and exhausted. What's the point in winning a battle against you like that?"

"There isn't any…I suppose." Inuyasha remained silent, the only sound made was the rain hitting the surface of the water. "Aniki…" Inuyasha whispered, using a name for his older brother he hadn't for many years, "Do you remember, why we're fighting? What started it all?"

Sesshoumaru though back, his mind drawing a blank as to why they'd originally stated fighting. There had been the dispute over the tetsusaiga, but it had begun before that. Now that he thought about it, Sesshoumaru wasn't even sure when their battles had started. As children they'd never been close, Sesshoumaru never accepting Inuyasha fully as a sibling, but they'd gotten along, able to have fun together. "Why are you asking this?"

Inuyasha feebly got to his feet, still resting his hands on his knees for support and looking at the ground. "It just occurred to me that we always fight whenever we see each other and I can't remember a time when it was otherwise."

'That's right…he had been very young when Okifuru and Chihue died. He wouldn't remember a time when we got along…' "There was a time." Sesshoumaru said shortly, his face remaining as stoic as ever.

Inuyasha rose fully to his feet and looked up. Through a gap in the clouds and trees a beam of moonlight shone down on his older brother. His hair glowed light blue in the surreal lighting and the rain falling down on him created a faint glow. Inuyasha had never noticed his brother like this, he looked completely different from the person he frequently battled. This youkai looked unreal, like some strange, glowing god. Inuyasha reached out in the rain to touch this new god, but stopped, realizing this was his brother.

"Hanyou," Sesshoumaru started out, Unsure about how to phrase his question, "Why were you crying?" It had truly bothered him, the only people he'd ever seen display this type of emotion were Inuyasha's mother and Rin.

Inuyasha's hand dropped back to his side and the moon beam that had temporarily shone on his brother went away. Upon remembering his problems, soft tears began to leak down his face again. "I was just…unhappy?" he questioned, not really able to find the right word to fit his feelings. "I just…why isn't anything ever easy in my life? I why do I always have to be fighting?"

Sesshoumaru saddened at these words. 'Nothing's ever been easy for either of us, little brother.' The rain paused for moment, leaving a heavy silence in its stead. "This Sesshoumaru doesn't know, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha stood wavering on the stop for a moment and then gathered all his energy to spring at Sesshoumaru. However, instead of attacking him, Inuyasha grabbed tightly onto the taiyoukai's neck and sobbed into his tail. Sesshoumaru was taken back at this, but didn't feel like pushing off the hanyou. In a secret part of himself he needed this hug as much as his brother. They remained there for a moment, Inuyasha sobbing into Sesshoumaru and the latter patting his back.

"Aniki…do we have to fight?" Inuyasha whispered in hoarse voice after all his tears had gone.

Sesshoumaru looked over his brother's shoulder. Did they have to fight? He knew the answer and it saddened him. "Yes, Inuyasha."

The hanyou looked up from where he'd previously been crying on Sesshoumaru's chest into the other's face. "But why? You said we didn't always fight. If you…if we didn't fight, life would be so much easier. Why do we have to?"

Sesshoumaru looked away from Inuyasha to the cloudy sky, from which the rain had begun to fall again. "Because that's what the fates want."

Inuyasha looked ready to burst into tears again, but then unexpectedly grabbed Sesshoumaru's face and pulled him into a kiss. The taiyoukai was too stunned to react before his brother broke the kiss and continued to sob onto his shoulder. "But aniki, I don't want to fight…"

Sesshoumaru sighed and looked at his brother's tear-streaked face. Something deep inside of him broke at the sight of the pitiful creature in his arms. He released a deep sigh and gave in. "Okay…but only for tonight and no one must know of this." He reached down to pull his brother into a kiss.

Once again the clouds broke, bathing the two brothers in moon light. They continued to kiss, deeply, expressing feelings neither of them could with words. After several moments the two had to break apart for air and in this time Sesshoumaru pushed them both to the ground.

Kagome woke in the middle of the night, the rain pounding too loudly on her tent to allow sleep. She left, grabbing a jacket, to check on the others. Both Sango and Miroku lay in their tents. Shippo curled up to the demon-slayer and was fast asleep. Kagome panicked when Inuyasha was no where to be found. 'Perhaps he went for a stroll…but then it's so wet and cold, I bet he didn't even remember to wear anything warm. I better go check on him…'

For several minutes Kagome traveled the winding path that lead to the hot spring, assuming that's where Inuyasha would go. The rain began to lighten, drizzling only a little once she reached the water. For a moment she couldn't see well enough to tell whether Inuyasha was there or not, but her eyes soon adjusted to the dim light.

On a small inlet, beneath a tree, Kagome could see two figures, sleeping together with their arms wrapped tightly around one another. She moved closer, in an attempt to better see who was there and gasped in surprise at what she saw.

There lay Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha, completely undressed and limbs intertwined. They both shivered slightly in the cold, but Sesshoumaru curled his tail around them in an attempt to stay warm. Even in the bad light Kagome could see that Inuyasha's face was red and streaked with tears, but the expression of peace on both of their faces stopped her from waking them.

A part of her died at the thought that Inuyasha couldn't come to her for comfort, but her mind still savored the thought that he could find peace. 'You've suffered so much. I wish that one day I can be the one to help you bear that suffering, but now I can be happy to only look.'

The morning would come and all of their problems would be back. Inuyasha would wake alone and prepare to fight his brother once more. Sesshoumaru would attempt to get the tetsusaiga. For now, however, neither one could feel this pain. They knew only the comfort of having someone to tell their problems and find peace in. No one would speak of this night, but savor it in their hearts.

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