Wait. Wait she'd said. I'll be back on Saturday. When was Saturday anyway? Yeah, she'd explained it once but he hadn't really cared at the time. Who cared what the day was called, fact was he would have to wait until she got back. Why did she always have to pick the worst times to go back home? They had a lead on another shard for Heaven's sake so why in the heck was she at home right now? Was home really that important to have to go back to all the time?

And so, he sat there pondering these questions. Fact was, he neither pondered nor asked himself many questions but he was now both annoyed and utterly bored, a bad combination for the half-dog-demon. His present expression reflected both of these, most of his face was relaxed to convey his boredom while a distinct scowl was also formed on his face. Presently, he was sitting in the grass, his legs crossed. Arms also tightly crossed, his back was pressed against rough stone of the side of a well. Yeah, he was waiting and not at all patiently. After two straight days of going about the woods as normal, well as normal as he could be knowing there was a sizable demon out waiting for him to destroy it and take the shard it possessed, he had finally come to still, impatiently by the exact location she would make her reappearance. If she ever came back that was...

He was wasting time no, she was wasting time. At home for days while they could be finding put more about that shard. Right now, they only had a lead on the general direction, that was it. But, he assumed there would be a great demon that possessed the jewel piece since it only seemed to make perfect sense to him.

He felt an urge, almost like a twitch, to get up and look down to the bottom of the well but he resisted for now. Kagome better be get back soon. Inuyasha didn't even care if she said anything about him being here. As far as he knew, he wanted to hurry up and get at that jewel shard. The fact that nothing had bothered him today or even that the weather was nice didn't strike him at all. Who cared about stuff like that?

By now, it was mid-afternoon and unlike the normal weather in Japan, it was not humid. Rather, it was nice, not so hot though it was still somewhat warm but that was dulled by a little breeze in the area. It played with the hanyou's warm-silver mane, tossing his pale bangs all about his sun-gold eyes. As for his weapon of choice, the thick-bladed piece lay forgotten across the clearing for now. There was no reason to use it right now and he could not help but continue to be annoyed at that.


(( Add more or no? ))

((Nah, you're fine... although you might wanna fix up the first sentence on the second paragraph... lol.))

As it was on this Friday afternoon, Kagome herself was walking home from school, chatting absentmindedly with a gaggle of her giggling girlfriends; more and more she was finding herself missing these normal, regular junior high school moments while in the feudal era where no one, sadly not even Sango, really understood the things that a normal junior high girl might talk about; and yet the raven-haired adolescent seemed to never be able to enjoy such moments as much as she would like, as much as she would picture herself doing right after winning a trip home from the ever-stingy Inuyasha.

Inuyasha, Inuyasha; he was all that was on her mind lately. She had come back to school on Tuesday and had fully planned to stay until a leisurely Saturday. But a certain ever-impatient, ever-insensitive, ever-annoying half-dog demon kept popping into her mind and stealing away the normal, modern-era moments that Kagome should be enjoying without his voice in her head for once. Where is Inuyasha? What is he doing right now? Is he steaming and pouting like I know he is? Why is he such an idiot? Of course, had Buyo never scampered down into that horrible well, it would've been a different story and she would be enjoying this conversation. But of course, her kind-hearted side won out and it reminded her that had it not been for Buyo, she never would've met Shippo or Sango or (-sigh-) Miroku, or even-- much as she would hate to admit it-- Inuyasha.

"Earth to Kagome!" One of her friends waved a hand in her face and said Kagome blinked, snapping out of momentary spaceyness.

"Uhhh, what?" she asked sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. "Sorry, I just kinda zoned out..."

"Misaki asked about your boyfriend," the friend said, grinning. A chorus of "yeah"s came forward, and the friend (who was apparently not Misaki) kept going. "How are you two?"

"Oh, you mean Inuyasha? He's not really my..." Kagome faltered, trying to figure out what to say about Inuyasha. Coming up with nothing plausible, she decided to let whatever would undoubtedly slip out slip out, and then deal with it. "I had a hard time getting him to let me come home the other day," she commented... well, at least that sounded somewhat acceptable...

"Awwww. That's cute. I bet he's not nearly as bad as you make him out to be."

"Well, it depends on his mood. Sometimes he's okay..." Okay, that was pretty much a lie. "But most of the time he's such a rude jerk. A real dog," Kagome almost laughed at her own little insider's joke. Of course, the 'dog' thing kind of disabled her guard and then-- "But at least I can 'sit' him whenever he gets too off the handle," Oops.

"'Sit' him?"

"Shoving his face into the dirt," Her friends laughed at this, taking it for a joke (which was what had been intended) and going back to their mindless chatter, leaving her thankfully alone for a minute.

Eventually she got home with a hello (and a reprimand for making her to pretend to have another horrible foot fungus disease) to grandpa, a hug for Mom, and a ruffle in the hair for Souta. She then climbed the stairs into her room and sat down, trying to study for a big test next week that she had a sinking feeling that she would have to make up anyways. Kagome sat down at her desk and stared at the pages of five different textbooks; but she wasn't absorbing any informaiton off of the ink-laden scripts. Sighing, her almost-blank stare went blank as she sat, doing nothing really, just kind of spaced out again-- that same certain someone popping into her head.

She wanted to make him wait until tomorrow-- oh, how she wanted to make him wait-- but Kagome was already getting bored, which was not a good sign since school had just let out for the weekend and her elation should not yet have died down. Plus, despite his capability, her ever-caring mind was starting to worry about Inuyasha; would he go off on some half-thought-out adventure and get himself killed without her? Of course, at this point, she was skilled at little more than shooting regular arrows, and even those missed more than they hit; Kagome would be of little help if Inuyasha did drag her into some foolhearted escapade. Still, there was always 'sit'...

Oh, she was done with this.

Kagome sighed and stuffed her texbooks into her beat-up yellow backpack, also shoving in some ramen and potato chips (although why she was bringing back treats for her bad little doggy, the raven-haired adolescent had no idea) and supplies that they might need (like Inuyasha would even think about accepting anything from her little First Aid kit) before shrugging the almost-too-heavy load with a grunt and saying goodbye to her family. Kagome sighed at her own hypocricy and hesitated only seconds before jumping down the Boneater's Well within the Higurashi Shrine. The same eerie blue light engulfed her and the same strange, floating feeling bouyed her body up so that she landed (almost) softly on the hard-packed earth and bleach-white bones of the bottom of the Well. Perhaps a blue light flahsed out of the top of the well; she could never be sure, seeing as she wasn't the one watching. With that, she began the steep climb up the well walls to the top where she would be met with a tongue-lashing from the ever-insensitive Inuyasha. She sighed. Why couldn't she have made him wait until Saturday?

(( crap, I knew I'd forgotten something XP ))


Well, it was stupid even for him to think there was a possibility of her not coming back. She always did no matter how many times she threatened not to or took off after a fight (these two often went together with one another). Sometimes she was gone for a few hours sometimes it was a week. Either way, he was always impatient after all, he needed her. Well definitely not in that sense, the hanyou was quick to fix his thinking. He needed her to find the jewel shards, that was her job and really about the only thing the stupid girl was good at. It was her fault they even had to go collect the shards... And here she was wasting time when it was better spent not waiting around.

What was taking her so long anyway? He wished she would hurry up and get here so he wouldn't be sitting around with her on his mind. He was too frustrated to care at the time but he hated how she could disrupt his thoughts so easily. And she didn't even have to be present to do it! He could hear her yelling voice in his mind now, screeching something about her aim. Ha, what aim? For a girl that was supposedly a miko, she couldn't shoot arrows to save her life which was why he had to on some occasions. Of course, as he told himself, that was because she could find the shards so she was of no use to him if dead.

Absentmindedly, he wondered what she was going to bring from home this time. She almost always did bring back something she thought was needed or otherwise and that sometimes meant instant ramen or chips or both, now that would be perfect. The two odd foods were favorites of his from Kagome's time and he hoped she bothered to bring some this time, not that she should ever expect a thank you. If she did bring them than that was really both good and bad for him. The good was obvious but the bad, she would bribe him into things by promising food. Inuyasha hardly liked to be controlled and even less so that it was her but he couldn't help it when it came to those foods. Well...there was one other thing she could do but he just returned to frustration at the thought, having been briefly content with the thought on food. His head drew down a moment to his chest where a string of deep violet beads, interrupted by occasional white ones, hung around his neck. How he hated the thing... He would have torn it off by now if that were possible.

What was she doing right now? Probably something with her so-called 'friends'. He wondered for a grand total of ten seconds before scowling. Who cared what she was doing if she was only wasting time? By now, Inuyasha was done sitting around. For one, he couldn't remember if this 'Saturday' was tomorrow or the day after and two, what good was sitting around going to do? So, in brash decision, he made up his mind to go ahead and move East. The direction was the the only lead they had but he hardly cared. If he'd known she was going to take this long then he would left a while ago. He was arrogantly certainly that he could both find the demon and kill it with his own hands. Or sword really, speaking of which...

The hanyou stood from his place beside the well and, unfolding his arms, started across the clearing. He bent to pick up the long metal piece and shouldere the blade. Forget Kagome, there was no reason he could not take care of this himself. But, just as the metal touched to the blood-red material covering his shoulder, something light caught his sight from the corner of his amber eyes. He turned back to see the lights disappear from the well but he hardly had to have seen to know what it meant. He could smell her scent on the air the instant she came back. It was a lot like... Well she was finally back. But wait, today wasn't Saturday was it? That was at least a day away right? So she was early? No, he shook off the idea since it made no sense to him. But, that meant he would be wrong about when Saturday was. He was well-aware he hadn't been paying attention as she had explained. For a moment, he debated whether to leave so she did not find him here waiting but he decided to stay.

Kagome wasn't even completely over the well's side before he started talking, or whatever it could be called since it was definitely louder than normal talking, "'S about time!" He snapped. "Let's go already, you've wasted enough time."

((I'm just assuming Inuyasha is by the well... if not, well, then lemme have my fun! Lol, it's a funny scene ))

"'S about time! Let's go already, you've wasted enough time."
"Seriously, Inuyasha, you're really asking for it. Shut up already-- or do you want to be slammed face-first into the dirt?"

Why. Why could she not have just stayed home instead of being such an idiot and coming back to this stupidity?

Before she even climbed over the top of the well, she heard the voice, replied instinctively, and made a snap decision that Inuyasha wouldn't be getting any snacks anytime soon. If he wasn't impatient enough to not notice the scent of the ramen and chips, then she'd just keep it a secret. If he and his damned sense of smell did, then any attempt on the beat-up yellow bag would be foiled with a 'sit' command. Kagome had almost decided, her mood improving on the way up the well, to just let him have the dog treats in hopes of teaching him that patience pais off... Nah. That would never work, she sighed inwardly. Anyways.

Well, at least good (ha!) 'ole Inuyasha hadn't gone and gotten himself killed yet.

Too bad.

Strange how minutes ago she could be worrying about his safety when right now, she was wishing he actually had. When Inuyasha and feelings came into the same sentence, came within three millimeters of a thought together, bang! Collision. Confusion. Frustration. Denial? Well, maybe not denial... (the author laughs at this) Annoyance. Anger. Stupidity... SIT! ... Of course, thinking 'sit' didn't actually help much. In fact it just brought more frustration. Oops, she had done it again-- he had popped right into her mind. Like an annoying song one just can't get out of one's head; you want it to be GONE! Like it never existed in the first place!

Kagome hoisted herself up over the creaky wooden edge of the well, wishing she had thought to bring something else to wear than the disgustingly short green skirt of her school uniform; but of course, every time she was preparing for the feudal era, it always either slipped her mind for some reason... hm. Whatever. In any case, she straightened up with a grunt and dusted herself off, leaning back to do it so that the weight on her shoulders almost yanked her back down the well. "Who-o-o-oa!" She could feel herself falling backwards... reflexively, Kagome grabbed the closest thing around--

Inuyasha's crimson kimono.
Oh, great. Clumsy me...

((You can make them fall in, much to Inuyasha's displeasure, or Mr. Hanyou can use his supernatural strength and somehow stay there without falling. Lol, I just thought it would be funny... and half of the series is funny!! Lol.))

(( He wasn't but that is fully fixable :3 And why shall I fix it? Because the idea of them falling in is ridiculously funny lol. I would assumed they would hit the bottom rather than pass through? ))


"Seriously, Inuyasha, you're really asking for it. Shut up already-- or do you want to be slammed face-first into the dirt?"

Of course, he couldn't let her have that. She might be finally back but the hanyou was far from ever expressing gratitude for anything the girl did. So she had come back? So what? There were things to do involving another shard and even though she was back, he was only just more impatient. It was as if he absolutely had to express some type of emotion at her return and he had decided on more frustrated impatience. After having shouldered Tetsaiga, he stalked over the the well's side, snapping a reply as he did.

"You're still wasting time!" He went on. "Will you hurry up? It doesn't take that long to climb up."

Feh. She always took so long to do anything! He let his sword off his shoulder and left it leaning on the well's side as he himself did the same. Clawed hands clutched at the structures wooden rim as the hanyou's amber eyes fell down the well to find the raven-haired girl climbing up the inside, slowly of course. Surely she was just being annoying on purpose. Then again, humans were slow beings. As for her 'secret', she was able to keep it since he was more than absorbed with impatience to be using his sense of smell properly. He was glaring down at her.

"Hurry it up!" He repeated himself though not as a question this time, "Or you can just go back home while I go find the shard myself!" He continued, growling in an undertone, "Stupid."

It really was a shame that he had to rely on her ability to sense the shards. If he could do such a thing, he would have ignored Kagome entirely since she would have to need to be here. Or, so he thought.

Yes, it was probably a lot to be demanded and insulting, over-dramatic even. But that was Inuyasha, blowing things out of proportion and being incredibly rude as he did. But for whatever reason, she had not fulfilled her threat to 'not come back' yet. It had never occurred to the half-demon to ask why she bothered to come back.

Inuyasha moved back a little since she was now out of the well, dusting herself off like that was some big undertaking. Women. She would probably cry if she cut herself! Speaking of girls, didn't she ever change? She was still wearing that -what did she call it- skirt? No one dressed liked that here but did she ever think of that? No. Well whatever. What did he care what she wore and whether it looked normal?..

He could tell she was about to fall only a moment before she realized. Stupid girl and that bag. Of course, he hadn't expected her reflex to consist of grabbing at his robes. If he had still had a hold of Tetsaiga, the heavy weapon, he would have been fine but alas, he did not. The weight of her backpack caused her to fall in and consequently, him as well due to her hold on his robes.

Naturally, they landed at the bottom of the well with an unceremonious little crash in the dirt and bones here. Hyper-aware of contact as always, Inuyasha instantly made to get off the human girl who'd succeeded in dragging him into her clumsiness. That was stopped by the fist-ful of his crimson robes clutched in her hold. Wrapping a clawed hand around her wrist, he jerked her hand off before moving, pressed slightly against the side of the well though there was not a whole lot of space. For a few seconds, he could not say anything since he was, well, caught off guard and it was situations like this that caused him to spit out whatever was on his mind at the time. Though, it wasn't like he ever gave much thought to what he said.

"You stupid klutz!" He yelled causing an odd echo from the surrounding stone, "Next time don't bring so much crap!" Her backpack was the problem really. If she hadn't brought so much crap in the first place, this would not have happened.

It may have seemed like the fall should've been in slow motion... but apparently it wasn't. One moment, she was leaning over, the next, and Kagome was dragging Inuyasha down the well with her. They landed among the pile of bones and dirt that was the bottom of the Bone Eater's Well; fleetingly, she wondered why they didn't go through it; she already knew that Inuyasha was able to pass through, although no one else was. It bothered her sometimes, especially when he appeared in the present to fetch her. Now that was annoying; to have a rude, inconsiderate hanyou stomping around your own home and harrassing your poor cat! Poor, poor Buyo... Inuyasha always tortured the cat like he was some kind of dog toy.

These thoughts were quickly gone from her mind; Inuyasha had landed on top of her, and now she was winded, frozen on the dirt ground while trying to regain her breath. The human girl must've looked almost dead, lying flat, back-down, not breathing and not moving for the moment. Luckily her backpack had broken the fall, saving her from a broken neck (Huh? What about the portal to the future?) although Kagome could've sworn she heard the crack of the splitting spine of an important textbook. She didn't have the breath to groan; but she would have.

"You stupid klutz! Next time don't bring so much crap!" The horribly frustrating voice reached her ears, and her expression grew grim. Ready to explode. Which she would, just as soon as...

In a moment, Kagome's breath came back and she was instantly on her feet and fighting Inuyasha with a witty (at least, she thought) comeback that had come to her in her fury while she was still winded.

"Oh yeah?! You complain that I bring too much stuff, and then you complain when I don't bring you food-- treats that a dog like you doesn't even deserve, you inconsiderate, stupid, annoying, insensitive, brutish, brash little...! Make up your mind, idiot-face! Do you want your doggie treats or not?!! SIT!!" Having not paused to take a breath throughout her yelling spree, Kagome stopped now to catch her breath before she passed out from lack of oxygen. Rather childishly, she scolded herself, she turned her back to the 'sat' hanyou and plopped down, scooting her backpack in front of her.

"What kind of half-demon are you, even?! If you can't even stop a puny little human from falling down a well..." There. There was the final strike; his PRIDE. She had already gotten his weakness for future food, battled him with logic, taken care of his physical humiliation with the 'sit' command; the pride was a last step, and now that her fury had been unleashed, Kagome was temporarily subdued. That was, until Inuyasha decided to start up another battle-- which he would lose...

Still angrily, though, Kagome reached into her backpack and examined her ruined biology textbook; the book that had broken when she fell. The raven-haired human groaned internally, momentarily forgetting her half-demon adversary, but figured that is was better the textbook than her neck... although at the rate she was going, she was going to have to repeat a grade... she groaned out loud this time, stuffing the biology book back into her now even more beat-up yellow sack, figuring that although the binding was broken, it would still be readable... possibly... ugh, nooooo! ... Inuyasha was thoroughly forgotten, although that could probably be fixed with a choice comment-- one of many that would push her buttons, yet again-- from the ever-stupid Inuyasha...

"Oh yeah?! You complain that I bring too much stuff, and then you complain when I don't bring you food-- treats that a dog like you doesn't even deserve, you inconsiderate, stupid, annoying, insensitive, brutish, brash little...! Make up your mind, idiot-face! Do you want your doggie treats or not?!! SIT!!"

He was in the dirt before he could even breathe. Or think of a reply. The latter of which he would have deemed more important at the time, just like Kagome had. She hadn't even taken a breath as she had rambled all that off. His insults had earned him a 'sit'. Inuyasha growled a few choice words directed especially towards the Beads. He didn't curse at Kagome, possibly never, but it had not occurred to him why that might be. Aside from arguing and being preoccupied with the shikon jewels, he thought about little else. A glaring difference between him and say, his half brother, who gave almost everything heavy thought. Why think so much? It just wasted time.

At the sides of his head, Inuyasha pressed his clawed hands into the dirt, pushing himself to glare at the girl, sitting with her back to him, who had indirectly forced the sitting position upon his form. She was still talking, of course. She never could shut up could she? Then again, neither could he so that was one of the causes for all the arguing in the first place.

"What kind of half-demon are you, even?!-"

In addition to a little dirt in his bangs, there was a slightly red mark under them where his forehead had hit a rather hard bone half buried in the dirt. Merely out of spite, the hanyou ripped the thing free from the dusty earth-

"-If you can't even stop a puny little human from falling down a well..."

-and snapped it in half with one hand, causing a loud cracking noise. He was scowling as the white pieces fell from his grip. Inuyasha had not intended to break it in the first place but it had been a reflex at Kagome's words. That successful strike at his pride, one of the most important things to any given male whether human or demon, seemed to only be symbolized at the noise. He had been humiliated had having been forced to sit again so that had done nothing for his temper but the final strike was only worse. She had hit him with every weapon possible, how was that even fair?! Sometimes he was sure she knew too much about him since him being predictable wasn't considered. Fortunately, this left her with no more weapons, or so he was sure.

She appeared to have been worried about that book of hers but Inuyasha had no mind for such things, especially when he had to come up with a response to her successful hit at his pride.

"Nothing can stop you from being a huge klutz." He spat, "You could have pulled Sesshoumaru in if it had been him instead of me." Now that had to prove how clumsy he thought she was... Though, he was oddly irritated with the thought of the inuyoukai this close to Kagome. Perhaps Inuyasha was territorial? Even he didn't realize that. "Can we go now or do you have something else to waste time with?"


(( They still could suddenly pass through, might be more amusing I thought especially since it would only tick Inu off again now lol. Hm, would sit even work passing through? :P Oh yeah, we're awaiting a post in the other rp by the way ))

"Nothing can stop you from being a huge klutz. You could've pulled Sesshomaru in if it had been him instead of me. Can we go now or do you have something else to waste time with?"

And there was Inuyasha's fatal mistake. Of course, he was so predictable, but the ignorant half-demon almost always left a hole in his words that Kagome could use against him. Oh, lord help the poor boy...

Kagome whirled around, dropping her poor already-mangled textbook onto the ground and, if possible, damaging it further. Her fingers curled together in fists, arms pressed tightly against her sides, legs locked straight, leaning forward in a pose that could only be described as "Dangerously Angry Woman, Number Three." Her brown eyes burned in the fury that exclusively the one-and-only inuhanyou could generate within her. Of course, it took all of five seconds to come up with a decent comeback-- there was always a fault in anything Inuyasha said, leaving him painfully open. The guy could take a hole through his gut without a second glance, and yet when he argued with the human girl his face went red as a rasberry and he was at a pissed-off level incomparable to that of any other mortal being. And of course, then commenced the verbal barrage; 'sit' had already been used to the maximum point of its make-Inuyasha-shut-up fulfillment.

"Oh, I could've pulled Sesshomaru down, could I?! Well, I guess that would make me stronger than the both of you! You know, Inuyasha, right now I wish it had been Sesshomaru right there right then instead of the stupid idiotic jerk you are!" she shot back. ((OOC: Omigod. Wouldn't this be a TOTALLY awkward point for Sesshy himself to waltz right in? Omigod, I'm roflmao'ing thinking about it!! You know, we could do that... HAHA! Anyways, so we can either have Sesshy come in or them go through the well at this horribly inopportune moment. Either way, you choose in your next post. Back to IC now:)) Kagome gave a frustrated sigh and shook her raven-colored locks one more time before again turning her back to the hanyou and exclaiming once again in anguish as she realized what she had done to the textbook-- although the junior high student kept her ears open for any new whiplash that Inuyasha might generate as his chosen comeback. After all, that boy's pride was huge to the point of almost infinity.

((Sorry the post is so short, but I can't do all that much until you decide whether we put our favorite couple into a super-awkward encounter with Sesshomaru or send them unexpectedly through that damned Bone Eater's Well. Heehee.))

(( I didn't even think of that! I am soo going with Sess overhearing! XP ))

"Nothing can stop you from being a huge klutz. You could've pulled Sesshomaru in if it had been him instead of me. Can we go now or do you have something else to waste time with?"

The tall inuyoukai, the subject of which was now mentioned, just so happened to be in the area at the time. He had been passing through on his way to recollect Rin and Jaken when he stopped near the well of the Bone-Eaters. Sesshoumaru was only a few feet from the actual thing and the two at the bottom were obvious. One did not have to be as close to have heard their arguing. On more occasions than there should be, he heard it miles away since his hearing was quite that good.

Did the half-breed do nothing else but argue with this girl? If they spent as much time searching for the shikon shards as they did arguing, the entire thing might be restored by now. Sesshoumaru would have gone right on by if he was not the subject of the conversation and awaiting the human girl's reply to his ignorant brother.

InuYasha knew that pose and didn't care anyway. Did the gift of a powerful sword cost him his intelligence? One had to wonder sometimes... Then again, you could wonder something similar about her. She was the reincarnation of a powerful miko and yet took the time to argue with the selfish half-dog-demon? Seemed like they were especially stupid for one another. But it was not entirely unjustified, InuYasha had a habit of leaving himself just enough open for a response, something that had never occurred to him and probably never would. Kagome never failed to use this flaw of his against him.

Thankfully the beads' effect wore off in that moment and he was on his feet as Kagome tensed up as usual. Her dark eyes were even aglow with rage and he didn't care as he got up in her face. It was just another outward sign that she was about to blow his hair back and she did indeed.

"Oh, I could've pulled Sesshomaru down, could I?! Well, I guess that would make me stronger than the both of you! You know, Inuyasha, right now I wish it had been Sesshomaru right there right then instead of the stupid idiotic jerk you are!"

Him down at the bottom of the wretched well with the miko instead of the hanyou? Sesshoumaru found the thought somehow amusing given that his half-brother was quite prone to jealously. Well, it was also amusing for more than that but he was not entirely sure why. Perhaps it was the word choice the girl had made? Did she even realize what she was making herself sound like?

"WHAT?!" InuYasha exclaimed immediately. "Why the heck would you want him down here instead of me? And at least I'm not a whiny, stupid girl!"

To top things all off, his little brother seemed to have forgotten the girl had claimed her strength was greater than either of the two demons. As if there was anyone to challenge Sesshoumaru. Ha. In one's worthless dreams perhaps.

And even with all that, she had the audacity to turn back around. One of InuYasha's clawed hands shot out to grip her arm and jerk her back around to face him. He was not thinking straight, obviously, but he did know that she couldn't tell him to sit so long as he had a hold on her. He was not going to argue if she wasn't even going to face him. He opened his mouth to continue but-

"Had you waited a moment more, it may very well may have been this Sesshoumaru rather than the hanyou." the dog-demon's cool voice conveyed sarcasm even if it was toneless as it drifted down the well from above.

"Get lost." InuYasha snapped without hesitation as his narrowed eyes looked up even if his brother could not actually be seen. Jerk had a knack for appearing whenever he was least wanted... What was he doing here anyway? And addressing Kagome? The half-demon scowled, thinking that Sesshoumaru should heed his couple words or he'd have fun cutting the jerk's other arm off- Woah! Tetsaiga! InuYasha prepared to get out of the well in case his brother decided to take his sword once again.

((Yeah I know, right? But I just thought that this would be a great and awkward time to bring Sesshy in for a while.

"WHAT?! Why the heck would you want him down here instead of me?! And at least I'm not a whiny, stupid girl!"

Predictably, Kagome uttered yet another reply as she was jerked to face the hanyou, wrenching her arm away from his clawed grasp. "Stupid girl, am I? You'd be better off as a stupid girl, even the dumbest girl alive is smarter than you, you sexist dog!" Of course, that comment was pretty sexist too...

She managed to continue a bit more, despite of her little bout of hypocrisy: "Why would I want Sesshomaru down here, you wanna know?! Because at least he's--"

And then was cut off by the toneless, expressionless voice that made her blood run cold: "Had you waited a moment more, it may very well have been this Sesshomaru rather than the hanyou."

Oh shit.

Kagome instantly went from pink with rage to pink with embarrassment (there's a difference, you know.) How absolutely perfect. The most powerful demon she knew, he who needed no further urging to kill than one out-of-place look. The one who was constantly after his brother Inuyasha for both chopping off his left arm and for the Tesusaiga, which their father had so nicely locked to Inuyasha (even though Kagome was the only one who could pull it out) which caused major problems in the Lord Sesshomaru, oh, she didn't know, CONSTANTLY TRYING TO KILL INUYASHA AND HERSELF. The expressionless, cold, emotionless, gorgeous-- wait, where did gorgeous come from? One didn't normally think of one's enemy who was out to kill them as gorgeous. But then, picturing the inuyoukai in her mind, it was true; and, she knew, that, if her friends could see him, they would agree. Every girl would have to agree. But the fear Sesshomaru created within her, within anyone (except for maybe Inuyasha, who was stupid enough not to be afraid) was much, much more than enough to offset any appearances. In any case, there he was in all his glory...

By the time Inuyasha uttered his words: "Get lost.", Kagome was silent, feeling a bit dizzy, sickeningly pondering how she was going to die by the hand of th eLord Sesshomaru...

His words snapped her back into reality: she wasn't going to die, this time. No, if she was, she would be long gone by then. Hearing the familiar scrape of metal, Kagome's head snapped to Inuyasha who was drawing Tetsusaiga; the hanyou she had been furious with but a moment before now brought up different emotions: pity; exasperation; and even a bit of relief, among other little snatches. That was what she hated about being a woman: they were so darn sentimental! In any case, since Kagome was still next to useless with the bow and arrow, (Hey, where were the holy powers she was supposed to have inherited from Kikyo?) Inuyasha was basically her only form of protection within the fuedal era. For the millionth time, she tried to ask herself why she kept coming back... and the answer was that it was her duty for breaking the Jewel. And the fact that Inuyasha would annoy her to no end within her own time. But something else, a hidden answer, an unplaceable nagging, echoed in the very back of the smallest part of her mind: There's more to it than that; you're a woman.

Kagome ignored the voice and looked to the top of the well, pinkness receding into a touch of coloring.

(( It is. Glad you thought of it since it hadn't occurred to me ))


"Why would I want Sesshomaru down here, you wanna know?! Because at least he's--"

He meant to interrupt his little brother but the miko was so quick to shoot a reply at the hanyou that he'd interrupted her instead. If only that speed and aim could be applied to her arrows? Then again, one would expect the skill to come naturally as she was supposed to be a reincarnation. Some miko she was.

As for the sentence of hers he'd cut off, Sesshoumaru was mildly curious as to what she had intended to say. It was likely something to further agitate the half-dog but if that was to be so, would it not have been a compliment to him? One would never know he was curious for his expression remained lifeless.

The girl now wreaked of fear, the inuyoukai could actually smell it on the air, something InuYasha could not do because he was half human. It was only stronger as the lazy breeze of the day blew slowly through the clearing, playfully tossing Sesshoumaru's silver hair about his magenta-lined eyes.

"What the heck are you embarrassed about?" InuYasha spat at her, noticing this after he had oh so nicely dismissed his brother.

Why did girls get embarrassed anyway? It was even more puzzling when in came to her. This was not, of course, the first time he'd seen Kagome embarrassed. Truth was, he did know why she was embarrassed most of the time even if he didn't make it obvious. For some reason, this made him wonder what the heck she had been going to say about Sesshoumaru.

After this, he sprang out of the well and drew his sword out of the ground were it was stuck beside the well. He shot a scowl at his older brother who stood across from him on the other side of the well. Still far too close for InuYasha's liking which was exactly why Sesshoumaru stayed there.

"Didn't I tell you to get lost?" He growled.

"I quite miss you as well, little brother." The inuyoukai was clearly being sarcastic as a little smirk appeared on his face. He was not here for the half-breed but to inquire about whatever it was the miko was going to say earlier.

"Why are you even here?"

"Certainly not on your behalf."

Jerk and his fancy speech. Why couldn't he talk like everyone else in the world. If he wasn't here for InuYasha then why was he here?

((Heehee. Wouldn't HE like to know what she was thinking!! I'd like to know too, lol. But I have a general idea, so... if it does come to that question, don't be afraid to ask.))

"What the heck are you embarrassed about?"

In the moment it took for Kagome to come up with a reasonable reply (Yhe first thing that sprang to mind had been 'Because I'm a woman, that's why?' but then Inuyasha would have backfired it. For some reason her mind had been bringing up the subject of womanhood quite often lately. Damn puberty!), in that moment, Inuyasha sprang out of the well and it would be ineffective to insult him, yet AGAIN, without being face-to-face.

So she muttered under her breath: "If he had a little sensitivity, maybe the thick-headed dog would be able to figure it out." Of course, having spent so much time around Inuyasha and treating him like a human rather than a half-dog with enhanced hearing, she had a fairly good guess that the inuhanyou wouldn't be able to hear the stray comment. Of course, his brother was a different story, so Lord forbid that she had misjudged...

Why? Because Sesshomaru's bemused expression was infinitely more creepy than his normal one. Because, a) it wasn't human, b) it was so abnormal for him, and c) he was scary enough as it was. Kagome really needed to work on the bravery-fear thing.

Only a fool is not afraid.

The sudden philosophy came to mind and Kagome smirked down at the bottom of the well, delighted at how well the phrase suited the senseless Inuyasha.

Of course, Sesshomaru was never afraid either, but since he was the thing to be afraid of, it didn't count.

And why was Kagome comparing the brothers, again?

Shaking her head and keeping a leash on the wretched emotion known as fear, the reincarnated miko scaled the well walls. By now she could climb the smooth cobbled surfaces fairly quickly, although not without difficulty, and could not help but complain inwardly that is was much less of a pain in the butt when Inuyasha was an available vehicle.

With her only-human hearing, Kagome probably wouldn't have heard the curt conversation ocurring now only a few yards above her from the bottom of the well (well, maybe Inuyasha's side of the conversation.) But she was close enough to catch about the last of it:

"... not on your behalf."

That was what sucked about being a modern human schoolgirl-- with no ride. You almost always got left behind, left out, left to be protected, left because you were essentially useless, etcetera. Mostly just 'left.' In any case, by now Kagome was nearly used to catching only snatches or the end parts of conversations.

She found another open spot between stones and shoved her fingers into it, remembering the blisters she had ended up with the first several times she had climbed these ancient walls.

(( Of course. Sess is too darn curious for his own good. He will ask since that's why he's hanging around ))


Sesshoumaru would never had dared to admit it but his brother had posed an interesting question to the girl, one she did not respond to without some crypticness. Her undertone was more than easy to hear what with his proximity,

"If he had a little sensitivity, maybe the thick-headed dog would be able to figure it out."

The Heaven's above should fall out of the clouds the day that InuYasha could figure anything useful out! She was embarrassed given that the subject of the argument likely was never expected to hear it, was that much not obvious? It was this fact, naturally, which made Sesshoumaru disposed to stay even longer. It was not often, not ever so far as he knew, that he had overhead them speaking about him. He had been able to have a decent moment of silence to think as it had taken the hanyou that long to come up with something to say,

"Why are you even here?"

"Certainly not on your behalf."

Being that InuYasha could think of nothing useful to say, he only crossed his arms, after resheathing Tetsaiga that was, and looked off childishly refusing to meet his older brother's gaze. This amused Sesshoumaru as the simplicity of InuYasha did at times. It was amazing how immature one could be. The inuyoukai could hear the miko working her way up the stone inside of the well. Only when she was close enough did InuYasha notice the same thing. Scowl still set on his mouth, he leaned over the side to glare down at Kagome.

"Hurry up." He snapped, leaving her the brunt of his current frustration. All the same, she was partly the cause but not all of it. He was, to say the least, incredibly annoyed that Sesshoumaru couldn't take a hint and as he said, get lost. He couldn't honestly be here for Kagome after all. What in the world would he say to her? InuYasha suddenly felt very protective of her as he always did when he thought she was in any sort of serious danger. To this day, it never did occur to him why he was so easily defensive of her. He glanced at Sesshoumaru and his eyes narrowed slightly before he looked back down the well to Kagome.

And his issue was? You'd never know from his face but Sesshoumaru was pleased to see he was bothering his brother quite so much. His unintelligent little brother was always so protective of the girl. That indeed gave him a thought...

((Uh-oh. That kind of train of thought with Sesshomaru is not good. Teehee!))

"Hurry up."

"Not all of us are part supernatural being, you know!" Of course, Inuyasha might fail to receive this statement with competence, seeing as he wouldn't be paying attention to the fact that in her time he and his demonic heritage were nonexistant, mythical, fairytalistic, even, and that his abilities were beyond that of modern human comprehension. Should he figure this out, she would be positively amazed.

Her brown eyes, having steamed down a bit during the climb, returned Inuyasha's glare, and Kagome continued up the side with a sigh and a minute eye-roll.

Why now? she asked herself once again when she made it to the top of the well, hoisting half of her body up over its edge to rest a moment, leaving her body bust-up over and the rest still dangling in the well, arms crossed and hooked over the wooden edge so as to not fall back down (would that make Inuyasha pissed, or what? Then again, he was rarey anything less than pissed.) Puffing a bit, she heaved the rest of herself up and sat on said wooden edge, smoothing out her school uniform green skirt (damn the thing; what she wouldn't give for a pair of comfy pants right now, or even a maneuverable skort) so that it didn't hike up and expose even more than it did. Honestly, were the people who chose these uniforms reincarnations of the forever-lecherous Miroku? Or maybe all those children he always asked every woman he met to bear (provided that, God forbid, they actually agreed?) Sometimes it seemed like it; the flimsy wrap-skirt was so short that every girl in school's constant fear was having to bend over and reveal her ill-fitting Disney Princess panties. The fear of all schoolgirl fears, even greater than accidentally dropping feminine needs supplies in the hallway or other public places.

Then she stood up and shot Inuyasha a half-glare, having regained an ounce or two of angry steam pondering the mystery of the school uniform and deciding to take it out on him as he had decided to take his unhappiness out on her.

The anger was what made Kagome able to ask the next question.

With a small, tired breath: "Lord Sesshomaru... why exactly are you sticking around, if you don't plan to try to kill us or take Tetsusaiga from Inuyasha here, that is... although I assume you would've started doing so by now if that was the intent." (Can't forget the 'Lord', now can we?) Right now Kagome was irritated and since she was not dead already she had assumed she wasn't going to die from asking such a query, and had the nerve to have the impulse to ask such a question indeed.

Her head tilted curiously to the side slightly and Kagome now wished that she had not had that sudden strike of impulse, although she retained a little bit of agitatedness and was scolding herself, because whereas she had before had hopes of living, now she was as good as dead. But somewhere inside, somehow she didn't really believe that Sesshomaru was going to kill her now (the logic of her previous statement made sense, he would've done so by now) so she wasn't all that afraid; but still, since Sesshomaru was something to fear anyways, there was only the a nagging edginess on the back of her mind.

(( Definitely not. Oh what fun I'm going to have as Sess in this rp! :P ))

"Not all of us are part supernatural being, you know!"

Kagome earned herself and irritated twitch of one of the hanyou's black brows. Supernatural? And what the heck was that supposed to mean? He couldn't view anything not in light of what he was, his standard 'supernatural' as she said was just plain normal to him which led him on to other thoughts. This was normal so Kagome was not, meaning she was slower than normal. Yes. That sounded right.

"No, you're just slow." He snapped again.

Regards for the girl's feelings were barely ever considered and why should he bother when she didn't care to regard his? The things he observed really were so random most of the time. For example instead of pointlessly noticing the fact she glared back, he'd caught the sigh instead. Thankfully, he didn't rush her again as she was at least closer by now though her stopping was annoying. If the stupid girl fell... He was just a moment from hoisting her out of the well himself when she finally got out and a good thing too as his impatience with her would have done little for her fears about a wardrobe malfunction.

"'s about time." He complained under his breath.

InuYasha was more or less prepared to leave now, forget Sesshoumaru when Kagome, instead of snapping at him after her glare, asked the inuyoukai a question! Was the girl insane?!

"Lord Sesshomaru... why exactly [i]are you sticking around, if you don't plan to try to kill us or take Tetsusaiga from Inuyasha here, that is... although I assume you would've started doing so by now if that was the intent."[/i]

Sesshoumaru did not allow the unworthy to address him unless it was absolutely necessary so it was the deserved and proper title she gave him that kept her from harm at the moment. Well, that and the fact that he wanted an answer to that unfinished question. Funny she should inquire exactly about it without even knowing. How ironic.

Curiosity still somewhere in his gaze, he was watching the girl as her head tilted. As it would seem she was curious as well but probably more so about what it was he was going to do to her for addressing him at all. InuYasha seemed to note something off about one of them and stepped over, closer to Kagome's side, his eyes glaring fixedly on his older brother who ignored it and spoke anyway.

"At least I am...?" He asked, bringing up her unfinished statement. Naturally, it was left off as to specifically specific that she answer now. Of course, she would answer. He had no doubt she feared him enough not to object.

((Oh God. Poor, poor Kagome... I look forward to this post.))

"At least I am...?"

...

That?

That was what Lord Sesshomaru wanted to know? What she was going to say before he himself had interrupted? Something as insignifigant as that?

If there is a God, kill me now.
...
She wasn't dead.

Sesshomaru wanted an answer. And yet if she did answer, she would provoke a whole other argument with Inuyasha, and she was really not in the mood, and not only was it embarrassing enough to be talking about Sesshomaru in the way she had been and he had overheard, but now to bring up the subject again and ask her to create further an awkward situation?

The seconds ticked by, Kagome silent, unsure what to say.

Inuyasha was probably internally snorting and wondering what was taking so long and maybe was just a little bit curious as to the answer, too.

Sesshomaru was probably, as his tone suggested he wanted an answer right away, counting the seconds until he had to figure out an amusing way to kill her because she had displeased him.

Kagome opened her mouth, but no sound escaped.

She couldn't even remember what she had been going to say, for God's sake! All the things coming out of her mouth had been totally impulsive, Kagome hadn't even known what the next word out of her mouth would be, and yet now she was expected to recreate the scenario and--?!

Wait. That wasn't a half-bad idea.

Recreate the scene.
So she did. She remembered the scene:

"WHAT?! Why the heck would you want him down here instead of me?! And at least I'm not a whiny, stupid girl!" Inuyasha provoked.

The retort from Kagome: "Stupid girl, am I? You'd be better off as a stupid girl, even the dumbest girl alive is smarter than you, you sexist dog! Why would I want Sesshomaru down here, you wanna know?! Because at least he's--"

And then she was cut off by the toneless, expressionless voice that made her blood run cold: "Had you waited a moment more, it may very well have been this Sesshomaru rather than the hanyou."

That still didn't tell her what she would've said.

So she tried again, and attempted to cut out the icy chill of Sesshomaru's voice:

"WHAT?! Why the heck would you want him down here instead of me?! And at least I'm not a whiny, stupid girl!" Inuyasha provoked.

The retort from Kagome: "Stupid girl, am I? You'd be better off as a stupid girl, even the dumbest girl alive is smarter than you, you sexist dog! Why would I want Sesshomaru down here, you wanna know?! Because at least he's--

It wasn't working!!
Kagome tried once more, summoning up once again the fury that she had experienced in that scene:

"Because at least he's--

Smart enough to figure out when to shut up!"

Somehow, that didn't seem right, and there was no way Kagome was going to say that to his face.

"Because at least he's--

Got the sense to think before he acts and talks and doesn't do all the stupid shit you!"

Yup. Jackpot.

Kagome gulped and didn't look at Inuyasha as she spoke, almost two full minutes after Sesshomaru's question was asked:

"Because at least you've got the sense to think before acting and talking and don't do all the stupid shit Inuyasha does." Very quietly; almost impossible to hear. But she knew he heard. Very politely; almost timidly.

That said, now she was going to have to deal with Inuyasha. Kagome sighed and squeezed her eyes shut.

((Sorry for all the spacing, but I think it makes it more dramatic. Heehee.))

(( lol, it's great to have you back on the site Kitty :P No problem about the spacing, I see the effect you were going for ))


Yes it was a whim. The answer to this was likely perfectly useless but all the same, Sesshoumaru wanted one. Did the girl actually recognize that this was a whim of his? She might be intelligent enough reason. Then again why would she have figured that out? He never gave any true intention away when he did anything and some part of proper thinking must be left off if she bothered to argue with the hanyou at all.

Silent seconds went by as InuYasha was too confused to say anything. His brother wanted Kagome to finish a sentence? What the heck was that about? His confusion ended up putting him on the defensive for lack of knowledge and he was even more guarded of the girl since Sesshoumaru was hardly making sense to him at the moment.

After a minute, he was seriously beginning to doubt that her intelligence was any higher than InuYasha's. It had not even been a half hour, had she forgotten her own thoughts so easily? She would not dare refuse an answer of some kind. Even the bravest of souls would respond if he bid even if it was a lie.

By now, InuYasha was fed up. His arms crossed tighter over his chest as a scowl reformed on his face, this one directed at Kagome. He didn't really care what question his brother wanted, she should just hurry up an answer it so they could leave. Even he wasn't stupid enough to drag Kagome off when Sesshoumaru's attention was on her while in rare form. He opened his mouth to snap at her yet again but she opened her own as if to reply. That was fine except she didn't reply.

She had forgotten. Or was it the embarrassment? No. If that was it, she would still show the signs of being embarrassed, Sesshoumaru knew. When she swallowed the hanyou's gold gaze was instantly on her. She didn't do that unless she was nervous. And when was she usually nervous? When she was going to do something she knew he would dislike.

"Because at least you've got the sense to think before acting and talking and don't do all the stupid shit Inuyasha does."

What was this? A compliment? And at the expense of the hanyou? How perfectly glorious. Sesshoumaru's curiosity became amusement in full. He was satisfied with the answer especially knowing that InuYasha would not be.

"WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?!" The hanyou exploded, rounding on Kagome, his arms flying out to his sides. "I've got plenty of sense and who cares about thinking? If he had so much sense and hadn't been thinking so much he wouldn't have had his arm hacked off!"

Sesshoumaru might have been offended if he actually cared but alas he did not. What had happened in the past was taken care off. Perhaps there was some use in her honesty...

"That's why you wanted him down there instead of me?!" InuYasha went on, not noticing how that sounded.

"WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?! I've got plenty of sense and who cares about thinking? If he had so much sense and hadn't been thinking so much he wouldn't have had his arm hacked off! That's why you wanted him down there instead of me?!"

"Hey, remember, you called me a stupid whiney girl first, and if you follow that line so help me the Beads will break from overuse and your face-first into next Tuesday!" Kagome threatened, (although Inuyasha didn't know what Tuesday was) but it was half-hearted because she'd had enough arguing in one day and repeating the argument they had just had minutes before honestly didn't seem like a good way to exhaust the rest of her diminishing patience. That, and with Sesshomaru standing right there, she didn't feel like humiliating both herself and the hanyou even further in front of his brother. She could almost sense his amusement within the demonic dog. "When you make me angry like that, I can hardly control what comes out of my mouth because I'm so damn furious with you it doesn't seem to matter! And as hypocritical that may sound, it's true, and I don't feel like arguing with you right now and I'm losing my patience quickly, so will you please just let it go and shut up?"

With the mouthful she had just uttered, she stopped to catch a breath before staring Inuyasha down even though he was close enough to annoy her (although what that annoyance was masking was unapparent; it was masking well) she didn't feel furious. Ah, yes, she should've made him wait until Saturday... Why, oh why not?

Why, why, why, why, why?

And why was Sesshomaru still here?

Kagome saw him out of her peripheral vision, platinum hair, golden eyes, brightly colored tattoo marks. Still there. Well, he had gotten his stupid answer, why didn't he just leave?! She was starting to feel some of Inuyasha's irk now that he remained after making her spit out those words, quite embarrassing that had been, and she knew that he knew that, so why didn't he have a little feminine respect and just leave her to dealing with Inuyasha? What more could the damned inuyoukai want? She couldn't possibly think of another thing that would need satisfying before he went.

In any case, now Inuyasha was angry, Sesshomaru was undoubtedly laughing on the inside, and Kagome was losing patience very quickly, and knowing all this didn't seem to help that diminishing patience at all.

Well, this was an absolutely wonderful situation to be in.

"Hey, remember, you called me a stupid whiney girl first, and if you follow that line so help me the Beads will break from overuse and you're face-first into next Tuesday!"

But saying something like that was barely justified just because he'd called her a name, they did that to one another all the time! InuYasha wasn't appeased with this answer but he was forced to be, and physically winced at her sudden reference to the most evil of all objects the Beads. How he hated each and ever one of the dark violet or white things. Just thinking about being forced to 'sit' again made him want to tear the thing off and he certainly would have if he was actually able to. He hated when she threatened with this because there was nothing he could do about it and to make it worse this time, she'd done it right in front of Sesshoumaru! However, the red mark across his forehead from the most recent 'sit' was just enough fresh that he only crossed his arms tight like a pouting child to mask the fact that he was, more or less, humiliated.

"When you make me angry like that, I can hardly control what comes out of my mouth because I'm so damn furious with you it doesn't seem to matter! And as hypocritical that may sound, it's true, and I don't feel like arguing with you right now and I'm losing my patience quickly, so will you please just let it go and shut up?"

Feh. She made it sound like she actually thought about what she said outside of arguing. As if that was believable. She was right to say hypocritical cause it fit exactly right!

And why was Sesshoumaru still there? Merely to be irksome. Call it childish if one would but it was his personal way of getting back at InuYasha for having Tetsaiga. As if he'd asked for the ability. The sword belonged in more capable hands, the inuyoukai was certain. The particular word to explain why he remained might be easier to guess than one would think but that was precisely why it was hard to do so. After all, a simple thing like envy could not define the omnipotent Lord Sesshoumaru could it?

Unknown to her, InuYasha caught Kagome's glance at his brother and at this he cast the most hateful of glares at the inuyoukai whose response was to remain devoid of all emotion. The hanyou couldn't help but feel that something bad was being foreshadowed by his brother having not left but bothered to ask Kagome something. Though, the InuYasha wouldn't have known to call it a foreshadowing since he'd never heard of the word. He just had some overwhelming feeling that something was up and his reflexive reaction was to be protective of Kagome. Funny how he managed that even if they were still arguing.

"Get on." was the simple command at Kagome. It wasn't as his normal impatient demands but sounded as if he was not open for argument about it. His gaze hadn't moved so two pairs of hard amber eyes glared at one another in the silence.

He was awfully defensive of that girl... It would seem the half-demon actually sensed something off, good for him because that was right. There was something off, he should be concerned and he should keep a better eye on that miko of his....

"Get on."

...

Well, that certainly took Kagome by surprise. Usually she would expect at least a half-hearted argument-ending retort, but there was nothing. She had been fully braced for another attack on her ego and then... nothing. She was surprised enough that it took a few seconds to register his command. Get on. That was it? Of course, the inuhanyou had gone incredibly pouty for a moment, so maybe that was all the venting his fury needed for the moment? No... no, it was because Kagome had just inadvertently brought up another point of humiliation in front of Sesshomaru. The Beads. Yes, that must be it; apparently the rare situation had arose that Inuyasha was ready to be done arguing-- for the moment-- and get on with life.

What was also a bit strange was that his command wasn't really, well, a command. Not for Inuyasha at least. Usually it would be more authoritave, territorial even-- now, although sounding unegotiable, he was merely stern and even a bit urgent. What? What had she done? Of course, Kagome assumed it was her that had done something to affect the hanyou's attitude and not any other party. It usually was, like she could help that. However, when she realized the only thing out of place of any usual behavior was the question she had been forced to answer by will of Sesshomaru, the blame tilted towards the inuyoukai. Again, she had to wonder why that question would be so important as to distract him momentarily from whatever sadistic, cruel mission he was on at the moment. Kagome had never cared much for Sesshomaru and her mind wandered again as to why he was still around. Just trying to be... annoying? That didn't make sense, Lord Sesshomaru wouldn't stick around for something as childish and pointless as that. Or would he? That man was unreadable.

In the moment it took for her to respond to Inuyasha's polite (for him) command, all this had passed through her head, at a faster pace than it seemed.

Tossing a last puzzled glance over her shoulder at Sesshomaru she turned and climbed obediently onto Inuyasha's back, legs hooking around his positioned red-clothed elbows as usual. For some reason she had never been bothered by the proximity and positioning of bodies, but today she felt almost uncomfortable astride the inuhanyou as she spoke quietly:

"Okay. Let's go."

The brothers were what was on the schoolgirl's mind. Both of their faces floated around in her head, her logical mind vainly trying to find a reason behind all of the insanity that had taken place over the last half-hour.

And guys said women were complicated!