Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up, but my computer crashed, and I had to wait until my vacation in California to get on a computer. (A really crappy desktop, too...sigh...)

Anyways, here's the next chapter! –FlamingDrake

Involuntary Connections

It was rather interesting that after all these years, the source of relief for him was this mistake of his half-brother's. Sesshoumaru let his gaze wander down her slender wrist to thos dark eyes, sparkling with the general light of innocence.

When had he first realized? Perhaps it was because of his naturally competitive nature. Even as children, before his mother's death, he'd often fought viciously for the possession of a new game, a new toy. They'd battled over their father's affections, too; but that was one fight strength couldn't win.

He remembered his vow to hate all ningen after his mother was cast aside for the hanyou's.

And then, of course, she had to come...

That girl, Inuyasha's companion, who seemed to follow him everywhere, the reincarnation of Inuyasha's first love.

Well, it was too late for the hanyou.

Kagome was his.

Chapter Three – Favors

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Damn it, you're supposed to care about me!"

"That feeling doesn't extend towards anyone else."

Kagome sat down in the middle of the room (therefore jerking Sesshoumaru down beside her) and pouted. "Just a month, then."

He considered that.

"A month. Thirty days. That's all!"

He frowned.

"You have a whole mansion to yourself! It's practically the size of New York City!"

"New York City?" he reiterated, looking politely confused. "That is...?"

"Eh...never mind. Just a month!" She renewed her attack vigorously.

"No."

"Sesshoumaru-sama!" Something closely resembling a human tornado came whirling through the door. "Sesshoumaru...sama?"

It was an adorable little human girl with a wide smile and liquid-looking, innocent eyes. Oh, Kami-sama. Sesshoumaru was having enough trouble with the pouting girl he was connected to. He did not want to deal with Rin right now.

Unfortunately, it was a bit late for that.

"Oh, is it a playmate for Rin?" The girl was circling around Kagome like a hyena.

"Yes, Rin, I'll be your playmate. And guess what? Sesshoumaru-sama's also brought five other playmates, too! There's another girl, and two boys, and a hanyou, and a big kitten! Aren't you happy? And –" Kagome cast her companion a triumphant smirk – "we're going to stay here forever!"

Damn the conniving bitch.

Rin's eyes were steadily widening until they were approaching the size of Jaken's. Sesshoumaru shifted uneasily – no one (A/N: With the possible exception of Sauron from LotR) could ever defeat him in a staring contest, but the child's eyes were getting quite scary.

"Rin, Kagome and I need to have a little talk." The taiyoukai motioned absently towards the door. As soon as Rin had bounded out, his expression turned murderous. "Now then, whatever happened to 'just a month!'?"

She sighed. "You think I'm comfortable stuck in this ice castle with no one I know? I need my friends, Sesshoumaru."

"Friends?" The word was spat out like the worst of epithets. "I'll give you one month before they clear out. Satisfied?"

"Not in the least," she muttered, but relaxed anyways and leaned against him. "I can't believe this. When Souta finds out I've dumped Inuyasha for you he'll..."

Oh, crap. Souta. And...her mother. And her grandfather.

"Um...Sesshoumaru?"

"Yes?"

"I'm going to need to go home sometimes."

"Home...?"

"Ok, let me explain it to you." She took a deep breath and paused. "I come from the future. There's a well that lets me go from here to the future and back. Basically, I go there once in a while to be with my family and friends and to catch up on schoolwork, etc."

He blinked at her.

It was sort of amusing. Sesshoumaru rarely blinked, after all.

"So...so I suppose you'll have to come with me."

"You want me to do what?"

Ok, he'd chosen a perfect time to be stupid.

"You want me to mingle with ningen fools for days on end?"

Kagome glared at him. Who said he was stupid? Oh, right, I did.

"They're not really fools," she began, but then pictured some of the airheads from school. "Well, some of them are, but they're exceptions." She considered that. "Most of them are fools."

"So now the majority is the exception?"

"Eh?" She blinked at him. "Er...what?"

The taiyoukai shook his head wearily. "Let's compromise," he muttered. "Your friends will NOT come anywhere near here. In return, I will accompany you to this 'home' of yours once a millennium."

"You are the epitome of justice," Kagome muttered.

Unfortunately for her, youkai generally had exceptional hearing, and he snapped a cold glare down at her. "I was being quite charitable."

"Oh, well, thank you so much. But there's another thing...I still have to collect Shikon shards..."

There was only silence from beside her. He seemed to be taking the news better than she thought. Glancing over, she frowned as she saw that he was in deep meditation, apparently to prevent himself from destroying the room.

"Ok." Sesshoumaru's eyes opened, their depths once again completely unflappable and serene. "Let us discuss this calmly and rationally."

That sounded like a good idea.

"And I'll begin by calmly explaining the rules of my household. You are, obviously, a bit higher placed than the servants –" he ignored the irritated squawk that accompanied these words – "so you should, at all accounts, be free to travel wherever you wish."

Seeing that Kagome was beaming, however, he quickly continued. "Except that we are connected, and I do not cherish the idea of being dragged around my resort all day, or of traveling with the hanyou bastard, etc. Therefore, you will simply have to do what I tell you to."

"And that places me above the servants HOW?"

"Good point. It doesn't, really."

She jumped to her feet – or tried to, anyways – and glared at him. "I'm not some fucking slave without a life like...like Jaken or something!"

He stood up too, and she suddenly realized how tall he was. "I'm not going to bow to your demands because of this rosary."

His calmness irritated her. "So...so try changing into your big, fuzzy doggy form! Maybe it'll snap!"

Maybe it would.

And yet, he didn't change.

Why didn't he change?

Did he...not want to change?

"Kuso!" Pushing away his subconscious feelings, he concentrated on turning into his normal youkai form. The thick fur began slowly spreading over his arms, and he dropped to all fours. Suddenly, he let out a short cry of pain and quickly resumed his humanoid form. At the same time, Kagome gasped and tugged at the rosary string, which, instead of snapping, had stayed at exactly the same size and thus began to cut into their arms.

"So much for that idea." Glaring malevolently at the beads, Kagome groaned. "Well, I don't care. I'm not going to be some servant of yours. You can try to do what you like, but I can make your life a living hell, and I will, too! You're going to have to listen to me half the time anyways. And after I complete the Shikon jewel, maybe I can get rid of this thing." She motioned to the rosary. "And then...mmmph!"

The last part of the rant was due to the fact that Sesshoumaru had turned and pressed his lips very firmly against hers.

Shocked silence ensued.

"You talk too much," the taiyoukai murmured. "Besides, the rosary's effects seem to be wearing off anyhow."

"E...excuse me?" Kagome was now being half-dragged across the corridor. "Just because you're slightly stronger – ok, a lot stronger – than I am, you think you have the right to take advantage of me? You egotist! Hypocritical ignoramuses like you shouldn't be allowed to live! You're such a narcissistic, imbecilic, effeminate, conceited, arrogant, cold-blooded, abnormal, deranged, mentally unstable, idiotic, vain, self-absorbed, haughty, supercilious, overconfident JERK!"

She had a certain way with words.

It was mildly amusing to hear all the insults she could come up with. Sesshoumaru made a mental note to use them on Inuyasha the next time they met.

Which, he noted as he yanked Kagome out onto a balcony and stared at the neko youkai approaching from the sky, would be about...now.

Joy.


Ok, this chapter accomplished absolutely nothing, other than showing that Kagome seems to have lost some of the initial feelings bestowed by the rosary. Otherwise, this is a completely pointless chapter.

One of my friends read this and asked, 'Yay, Sesshoumaru kissed her! Are they in love?'

To that, my only response is: DID YOU READ THE PREVIOUS TWO CHAPTERS? YES, THEY ARE IN LOVE! (A forced love, true, but still...)

I think sooner or later I'll stick Naraku and Kouga into this. I don't particularly like either character. Not that they're horrible, but still...

And yes, this is indeed a Sess/Kag fic, despite the fact that Inuyasha plays a prominent role. Why do I like Sess/Kag fics? Because I am a sadist who enjoys torturing the emotions of poor little hanyous.

But don't worry. The rosary breaks at one point or another. (Probably.)

And now, just for giggles (and because I want to increase the word count of this chapter), here's a riddle!

There are eight wells, numbered 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Well #0 is perfectly normal, non-poisonous, and non-lethal. All the other wells are poisonous.

If someone decides to drink from a poisoned well, drinking from a well of a higher number will cure them. (Ex: Someone drinks from well #1; they can drink from wells numbered 2-7 and they will be healed.) Therefore, there is no cure for well #7.

A dragon is guarding well #7. The dragon is not stupid or suicidal. (I will stress this point.)

A traveler comes across the dragon and the wells. For some reason, they decide to play a game of sorts. Each takes water from ONE well and pours it in a cup. They then exchange cups and drink. After drinking, they have enough time to drink from any other well of their choice before discovering whether they live or die. (Remember: the dragon is guarding well 7, so the traveler couldn't possibly have drawn water from that well.)

At the end of this game, the dragon is dead and the traveler is alive.

Assuming that the traveler didn't kill the dragon with some weapon, how is this outcome possible?

Send me your answers, please! It took me half an hour to solve this riddle...I must be really stupid or something. -FlamingDrake