Confessions of a Tea Leaf

Sesshomaru's POV:

I woke with a startle. The scent of demon blood filled my nostrils. I recognized it immediately as my wretched half brother, Inuyasha's. To say we're related burns my pride, however I have no choice in the matter. If I hadn't respect for my deceased father, he would have died by my hands long ago. I was relieved that the scent was far, for if he had been closer, he would have caught my own scent in the wind. His senses are much weaker than my own, for he is only a half breed, born of a human mother.
I detest humans. For a weakling human woman took my strong, undefeated father away and bore his second child. Because of her weakness, he has died protecting her. And for his death, I will die detesting her, and all of her kind.
Because of my father's foolishness, she died along with him after birthing Inuyasha. And now I am left alone, with all of my father's land and belongings in my hands. All of his burdens and his responsibility, except for one.
His most powerful blade, the Tessaiga, made of his fang, was left in my half brother's hands, and I was left with this useless blade, the Tenseiga. This is a blade that cannot cut, it can only heal. Why would I, a powerful fullblooded demon, and son of the great Inu No Taisho, need a sword with the power to heal? I cannot use this blade, yet I have been reprimanded and denied of the powerful Tessaiga.
I forever loathe my brother for his ability to wield this sword that I cannot, and I loathe him because he survived, and I loathe him for being the reason my father left me. Now, I lie injured in the forest, injured by Inuyasha's hands. Missing an arm and forced to flee like a coward. Pride is my most prominent asset, yet I have been stripped of it.
I close my eyes and sigh, feeling defeated and frustrated. I call for Jaken, hoping he could hear me. After a few moments of silence, I realize how foolish I had been. Jaken, my impish servant, would never be able to hear my call from this distance with his weak hearing.
I groan and tried to sit up, failing when the pain waves over my body and my wounds reopen. Scoffing, I look around, searching for a tree I could lie against and lick my injuries. I find a large redwood and crawl for it, my body becoming so weak from the effort that I have to transform into my hardly humanoid form. I shudder as I feel the transformation start to take place, my muscles contracting in an effort to contort. Once the change had completed, I was too weak to pull my limp body to the tree I had spotted, so I gave up and lied on the dirt ground, still, waiting for the slightest of recoveries.
Something had caught my attention and I took my breath sharply into my lungs, holding it so I could listen. A human. Small by the sound of the leaves crunching beneath its feet. I waited, wary. It came closer, its smell wafting towards my sinuses. Soon, it hovered over me.
A female human child. I was amazed by its fearlessness. All of the humans I had come across would never even come near me. They were all too afraid of what I am.
I let out a low, hissing growl. It blinked, and leaned down, looking at my wounds. I studied its movements, for I had never been this close to a human without instantaneously killing it. Its hands seemed gentle and caring as it lifted my tail and inspected my shoulder where my arm had once been. After a moment, it stood up and bounded away, leaving nothing but a wretched human scent behind on my clothes.
I grunted and rolled over, frustrated at my useless state. Damned that Inuyasha and his human girl.
I closed my eyes and waited for my wounds to heal and my pain to fade. I slept for two days, fading in and out of painful convulsions.
To my surprise, the human girl had come back, with strange herbs and human food. It sat at my side, tending my wounds and patting my tail as if it were a pet. I would kill it when I recovered.
Every night, it came back, changing my bandages and leaving human food by my side. I never ate it, I just scowled and ignored it. For a week this continued, until I was able to stand and walk. Once I had recovered enough to walk, I decided to depart that morning.
Again, the human girl came, this time with fresh bread and fish. She had minor injuries on her legs and arms, along with a few scrapes on her face and neck. I inspected her movements as she approached. Her head was down and she had a slight limp.
"Human child."
She looked up as she dropped to her knees beside me and began changing my bandages.
"Why do you come to me in marring of the body?"
She shrugged as she continued working. It was the first I had spoken to her.
"I got caught stealing the bread and fish."
I sat in silence as she finished her work. There was no giddy humming or gentle smiles. I met her eyes for the first time and they immediately glistened. Her lips pulled tight over her teeth in a huge grin. I marveled at the sight. I had never been smiled at before. Much less by a human. Confused by her action I pulled away and grunted. Her hands hovered awkwardly in the air for a moment before she lidded her eyes and stood. She turned around and limped into the forest, leaving me alone by my tree. This would likely be the last time she would ever tend to my wounds. I noted this silently in my head and let myself drift off to sleep.