So, the one-shot nature seemed to displease readers. I already had a bit started for the second chapter, and, years later, I'm revisiting it.

(-)

I didn't mention to Inuyasha that I had unbound his brother from a tree; the same basic situation that I met Inuyasha. Nothing good could possibly come out of that conversation. A part of me wondered why I did it. It wasn't like Sesshomaru was a great humanitarian that the world would mourn the disappearance of. But then I thought of Rin, and the way she doted on him. That was one person who would miss him. I wondered what she'd do without him; that toad Jaken held no affection for her. Actually, the appearance of a little girl who followed Sesshomaru around and wasn't ripped to pieces was the first thing that shifted my perception of the stone-faced demon.

Now I had another peek behind the mask that covered something slightly softer than stone. But it was a mask, albeit an extremely good one that had partially fused onto him. And while I knew such a calm situation would never happen again, I was deeply curious about what else I might find if I could pry that mask open a little further.

My instincts had my eyes darting over to Inuyasha. He was watching me with narrowed eyes, a look of annoyance and revulsion on his face. I hadn't been back long, and I realized he must have been giving me this look since I arrived. He hadn't greeted me, and I hadn't looked at him since I was still irritated with him.

"Why are you covered in Sesshomaru's stench?" Inuyasha bit out the words, his jaw seeming tight. Miroku's head turned sharply towards me. Sango, Shippo, and Kilala were out gathering firewood as evening descended on us.

Oops, hadn't thought of that. I'd been in very close quarters with his brother, and a half-demon still had a keen enough nose to sense it. "I ran into him on my walk."

Miroku sat up straighter, and his hand closed on his staff reflexively. "Lady Kagome, why would you not tell us immediately? If you were attacked, we should-"

"He didn't attack me," I said, trying to calm him.

"If he didn't attack you, then how did you get his stink all over you?" I could have melted through the Tetsusaiga with the amount of acid in his voice.

I didn't have the patience to be too diplomatic here. "Because I was pulling a sacred arrow from his chest. You might remember that requires some close proximity, even without centipede ladies."

"Sacred arrow?" Miroku asked.

"You saved him?!" Inuyasha's outrage was nearly palpable.

"I think you could relate to being bound to a tree by Kikyo. And you were asleep. He was awake and bound." I knew trying to make Inuyasha see things from his brother's perspective was beyond hopeless, so maybe I was just deluded for trying.

"Kikyo?! If she pinned him to a tree, he deserved it!"

A smile that was more smirk than anything sincere crept across my face. "Just like you deserved it, right? Kikyo would never make a mistake and attack the wrong guy."

The growl that escaped Inuyasha was…more hostile than Sesshomaru had given me. Really, it made Sesshomaru's seem much more like a purr, which was weird. Still, ignoring that, I had a sense our traditional yelling match was coming up.

"How dare you say that! Sesshomaru will always be the right guy to punish!"

"If he'd actually been doing something bad, I could see a point to it, but she just snuck up and shot him!"

Miroku cleared his throat before he intervened. "Kagome, how do you know he wasn't doing anything bad?"

"I asked him. He told me she just attacked him, and I believed him. I wouldn't have freed him if I wasn't sure."

Inuyasha let out a bark of a laugh. "'Believed him'?! I always knew you were kinda stupid, but I didn't think you were that dumb."

Oh, no, he did not just say that. Miroku had approached us to intervene, but, eyeing me warily, he backed away. "You have no room to say anything like that! How many times have we saved you from Kikyo trying to pull you to hell or make you her pet or whatever the fuck else she decides she wants to do with you? And, still, the next time she comes around you walk right into her web. If we're calling someone here a credulous idiot, it isn't me!"

"Don't talk about her like that!" I was pretty sure you could hear us screaming from the other side of the well, and we had left Kaede's village a few days ago.

"Like what? Like the truth? You want to pretend she didn't do any of those things? Face it, Inuyasha, if you weren't half-mated to that dead girl, you'd see things a lot more clearly!"

A curious stillness and silence descended on our campsite. I saw that Sango, Kilala, and Shippo were back, arms carrying firewood, and mouths open. Miroku was also gaping at me.

And Inuyasha looked more confused than angry now. There was still some outrage in his expression, but he no longer knew what to do with it. "What are you talking about?"

I really hadn't meant to bring that up. "It makes sense when you think about it. Your connection, the way she can override whatever small amount of common sense you possess…are you telling me you never did anything that could be considered mating?"

Inuyasha turned red and didn't reply. I'd cooled down enough to not want to keep viciously prodding old wounds, so I turned around to help Sango and Shippo with the firewood. They let me take it without a word, still seeming to be struck dumb.

"Who told you that I mated Kikyo?" Inuyasha asked quietly after we'd coaxed a fire to life.

"What?" I asked, though I heard him perfectly fine. I didn't want to keep having this discussion.

"Where did you get the idea that I mated Kikyo? You never mentioned it before now." There was a quiet intensity that told me that Inuyasha knew the exact answer to that question and had been stewing in his growing anger, waiting to unleash it.

"He said that you're a dog demon, even if only half. He could tell that Kikyo was your mate when she was alive, and now that she was dead, she still held strings to you. As long as she's still up and about, you'll never be free to love anyone else."

Inuyasha punched the dirt hard enough to leave a hole. "That bastard tells you my personal secrets, so you let him set you against me to take his side?!"

I scowled. "I'm taking my own side, Inuyasha. You were the one who started attacking me."

"Because you like being covered in his scent!"

There was another silent pause. Then I said, "Inuyasha, you and maybe Shippo and Kilala are the only people here who can tell I came into contact with him at all. I can't smell it. So why should I care what I smell like?"

"You smell like you're his! The smell isn't fading the way it should. It's lingering, like one of you wants it there."

I raised an eyebrow. "I can want to keep a scent? So, if I roll around in honey, I can make it my permanent perfume?"

"Honey doesn't have magic power. Both you and Sesshomaru do. And something has him lingering, so someone's magic must be the cause."

I sighed. "Again, why does it matter? So I remind you of your brother. Just nut up and deal with it." I was tired of this conversation. Oddly enough, the fact that we weren't shouting anymore made it even more tiring.

"Feh." With no other words, Inuyasha leapt off into the trees.

It was like everyone breathed easier, because the silence of the rest of my friends evaporated. "Kagome!" Shippo launched himself at me. I held him close and patted his head, but he frowned at me. "You do smell like him. And not a contact smell. It's more solid."

"Kagome, if something is connecting you to Sesshomaru, we can't just ignore it," Sango said. "Who knows what could happen to both of you?"

Miroku settled down by the fire, inviting me to sit beside him. I did, keeping a wary eye out for wandering hands. "You said that you removed a sacred arrow from Sesshomaru. You said this was the reason you had his scent on you. But if the casual contact isn't what's lingering, what remains?"

I thought about it. Nothing should be left. "I don't know. Conversation and eye-contact couldn't do this; the sacred arrow disintegrated just like last time…"

Miroku straightened his spine. "The arrow dissolved?"

I nodded. "Same thing happened when I unbound Inuyasha."

Now the monk looked troubled. "The sacred arrows were shot with the intent to bind. That is what they are made to do from that point on. If you had pulled the arrow out whole, it could only ever be used for that purpose again. But dissolving doesn't change the holy power it was charged with…what happens to the pieces?"

I hadn't really thought about it. "The dust just settles on my skin…and their clothes. Then it's gone."

Sango sat down on my other side. "Miroku, are saying this is a side-effect of the original binding?"

"It couldn't be!" I broke in, unable to entertain this idea. "Nothing like this happened with Inuyasha. If it was the arrow, it would have happened both times, right?"

"Inuyasha and Sesshomaru are very different people in a lot of ways," Sango said. "Which of their many differing traits could be the cause?"

"I wonder…" Miroku said. He turned to me. "Do you know if Sesshomaru is mated?"

I really didn't like that I automatically got very red at the question. "No, he's not. We actually talked about it. It's what led to him mentioning Inuyasha's mating Kikyo."

"Talking mating with Sesshomaru?" Shippo asked. He shuddered. "Gross."

There was nothing on earth that could make me admit that I found the conversation intriguing. Or confess to the growing curiosity about the dog demon Lord-to-Be. It was just innocent inquiry. It was interesting to learn about dog demons.

"But that could be the key," Miroku said. "If the arrow's dust still wants to bind, it has one option. Namely, the two people involved in the unbinding. But Inuyasha had mated himself to Kikyo, which even the sacred arrow couldn't negate, so he couldn't be bound to another. If Sesshomaru was free of any bonds, he might be susceptible to an inadvertent binding."

"It doesn't make sense! Why would the sacred arrow want to bind a priestess with a demon?" I demanded.

Sango actually smiled at that. "The arrow wants to hold the demon bound for all eternity. You're the weirdo priestess who is running around removing them. Things can go all kinds of haywire when you invert their purpose."

Okay, she had a point. "Say this is true: what am I supposed to do about it?"

There was an uncomfortable silence at that question. Then I felt it. I reached for my bow and arrows and turned towards the feeling. The first time it grabbed my senses because it was a binding; power held at bay causing ripples of disturbance. This time, the power itself reached out to catch my senses. "Sesshomaru."

Sango and Miroku were armed and ready within seconds. But Sesshomaru didn't appear. Instead, a form came flying at our camp to land sliding in the dirt to our left. It was Inuyasha, beat to hell and unconscious. While Shippo and Miroku went to check on him, a figure casually walked out of the trees.

Sesshomaru looked mildly irritated. "Put a leash on that mutt. If he comes at me barking about claiming what's his again, I'll put him down."

To my immense dismay, I felt myself flush again. It was only worsened when Sesshomaru met my eyes, face blank, and said, "Kagome. We must speak soon."

And he casually walked into the trees as if nothing had happened. I turned to Inuyasha. Kneeling next to him, I checked his injuries. Shippo, ever helpful, brought my first aid supplies without my needing to ask. I started to tend to my wounded friend as the others started making dinner.

"You're an idiot, Inuyasha. When I said, 'deal with it' I didn't mean try to kill your brother and get the shit beaten out of you."

One of those adorable ears twitched. "You smell like him. Can't stand it."

Inuyasha made to sit up, but I pushed him down. "I'm not done yet. Stay still."

He was surprisingly obedient. When I let him sit up, he immediately went to sit at the fire, where Sango was dishing out stew. He devoured one bowl before I even made it over to join him. He was about to take the bowl Sango had just filled, but when I sat beside him, he took it and gave it to me. When Sango refilled his bowl, he at more slowly. There was a comfortable air between us now, despite my apparent stench. This was as close to an apology as I could expect. And I would take it.

(-)

So, bet you thought you'd never hear from this fic again, eh? Well, when reading reviews, I am sometimes spurred into action. Not a ton of action in the chapter, but hopefully developed interest. Sad to say, though I'm picking the fic up, I haven't watched Inuyasha in a while. Hope that hasn't reduced the quality too much.