Melody drummed her fingers along the cave floor, she was irritated and bored, and how did she keep getting into these situations? First Sesshomaru and now this guy, she was getting tired of being some dumb trophy. She spared a glance at the mercenary and sighed, he was perfectly happy sharpening his sword. If one could even call it a sword, the thing was huge! She had to admit she was impressed how easily he wielded it, she had remembered him using it against Sesshomaru in their first encounter, and he held it like it was a feather. She shifted her position causing a tug on the rope that was tied to her ankle, the other end being connected to Bankotsu's ankle. She had acquired this new accessory the night before after her twelfth escape attempt, though she was glad that it was tied to the non injured leg, come to think of it, the leg hadn't been in pain for a while and she had been able to keep up with Jakotsu without fail, she must have been finally healed. She glared at his ankle before giving the rope a good tug, hoping to cause him pain in some way, sadly the only thing she accomplished was getting his attention.

"Is this really necessary?" Bankotsu stopped working with Banyru and turned to her.

"Well since you tried to run off twelve times I'd say yes."

"You're holding me here against my will!"

"No, the necklace is mine I'm allowing you to hold it, so then you belong to me." Apparently that was completely his logic on the matter. Melody huffed. But she had to admit, he was much simpler than Sesshomaru. She wondered how old he was, he didn't look much older than her. However, he had defiantly seen his fair share of battles. She guessed he always simply took whatever he wanted and killed whoever was in his way. But then again so did Sesshomaru. How did she end up with another possessive guy?

"Still no sign of Inuyasha's group, and Suikotsu is finishing covering her scent near the village."

"How?" Renkotsu turned to the girl slightly curious as to why she would ask that question. As far as he could tell the knowledge would not aid her at all. She could not stop them from covering her scent, so why did she need to know?

"That's not your business." He was about to turn when the girl spoke again.

"It's not like I care that you're doing it, I just didn't know you could detour a dog demon. How do you get past his nose?" The young girl looked genuinely curious.

"If I tell you, you'll try t use it against us."

"Why would I do that?"

"So you can lead Inuyasha's group right to us." Renkotsu answer matter of factly.

"Psh whatever." Melody turned and began to pout. She could feel a pair of eyes bore into her back. They were most likely Bankotsu's. She continued to pout as the other members filed into the cave. She was not used to her curiosity being denied, Sesshomaru despite his lack of interest in conversation he always indulged her curiosity. Actually when it came to her animal instincts he always indulged her… Maybe he was proud of them…

"Big brother, why do we keep such a troublesome wench around?" Jakotsu started to pout as well. "Why not just kill the wench and take the necklace?" He whined.

"That's enough Jakotsu!"

"But-"

"I said enough!" Bankotsu sprang up taking Melody with him and stormed outside.

"Ouch you're hurting me!" Bankotsu glared down at Melody.

"Deal with it!" She quickly shut her mouth. She could clearly see that there was room for complaints. He was stomping around grumbling under his breath.

"Hey just calm down, who cares what they think." She really didn't know why she was attempting to comfort him. Maybe because he looked so upset. He paused his trudging at her comment and noticed her wince again then swiftly hoisted her up onto a nearby bolder and leaned against it himself. "Thanks…" Melody was a little taken aback by his little act of kindness. "So, want to talk about it?"

"Hnh."

"Fine then be grumpy." Before she could stop herself she gave his braid a huge tug, and she paid for it, before she could register what was happening she was trapped between the bolder and a very pissed off looking Bankotsu, and her ankle was throbbing in pain. She could actually hear both of their hearts beating and the air between them was thick with anger from the warrior in front of her, and yet despite the most recent action being the cause of her current situation she knew most of his anger was actually directed at her. It would seem that the leader of the band of seven didn't have an outlet for his frustrations concerning his companions. Melody found herself feeling slightly empathic for him; she didn't really have an outlet to her home life, her old one or her new one. The stare down between them seemed to last forever before Melody couldn't take the silence anymore. She tenderly reached her hand up to his face and placed her finger on his nose and pushed… "Smile button!" Bankotsu blinked a few times and took a step back from her.

"What did you just do?"

"Got you to stop being angry."

"How do you figure that?"

"You're too confused by what I did to be mad." Bankotsu blinked a few more times before chuckling and smirking down at her. "See the smile button works…"

Sesshomaru growled violently at the dead bodies surrounding him. The battle ended far too quickly. Now he would be bored until the next battle. He also was rather irritable. Rather was an understatement, he had wounded several men for pointless reasons. What was wrong with him, he had far better control over his beast than this! Could one girl affect him so much? It was rather bothersome. First Rin now this! This pet ordeal was becoming rather troublesome. He silently scoff, it was far more than troublesome.

"Lord Sesshomaru, with you on my side the war will be over in weeks rather than months." Lord Yuki was chuckling at his own joke. The lord looked over Sesshomaru's figure. "My old friend, didn't you look into oni-petto before claiming her?" The dog demon stilled his raging beast.

"What nonsense is this?"

"Your beast is calling for her. It doesn't like to be apart from her. The two of you have bonded in a sense." Sesshomaru growled at the news.

"And how do I stop this terrible weakness?"

"Mate her, or kill her, but you already knew that you just don't like the solutions." Sesshomaru growled at his friend as he walked away. But, Yuki was right; he didn't like either of those answers. And he hadn't known that it would get this bad. He was unaware that their bond would become strong enough to affect him so. All he was completely sure of was that in order to calm his beast he needed his pet back.