"Y'know, considering how bad you two wanted to come along, you're certainly taking FOREVER!" Kagome growled.
"Coming Lady Kagome. As soon as I'm untangled that is."
"Me too!" Shippo called. Kagome turned around, and discovered why these two companions were taking awhile in catching up to her, Sango, and InuYasha. Miroku and Shippo had somehow managed to get hopelessly tangled in some vines on the side of the path. Laughing, she and Sango went back to help the pair.
"Honestly, I don't see how you two manage to get into situations like this. Come on, the well is really close."
"How can you tell?" Shippo asked.
"Shippo, how many times have I gone through that thing?"
"A lot?"
"Exactly. A lot. And that means that I just know, okay?"
"Okay." The next five minutes were spent in relative silence, until the well came into view.
"Yes! We're here. InuYasha quit that."
"Quit what?" He asked, feigning innocence.
"Quit sneaking up behind Shippo. Shippo, come here, and bring Kiara with you." The young demon obeyed, Kiara at his side. "Okay. Shippo, hang onto Kiara, so she can help you get out of the well on the other side. Go on, jump." Shippo, who had been terribly excited a moment ago, stood on the lip of the well, staring nervously into its depths. Kiara, apparently eager to be gone, leaned in towards the well, and dragged Shippo in with a startled cry. Kagome laughed. "And I thought I knew everything about that little cat."
"I don't think we'll ever know everything." Sango said.
"You're probably right. Sango, go after Miroku. InuYasha and I will follow." The demon slayer and the monk hopped in. There was only one hitch. InuYasha, impatient to get to Kagome's time and the promise of ramen, he leaped in immediately after Sango, hauling Kagome into his arms as she shrieked in protest. As a result, Sango and Miroku did not have enough time to get out of the well. Yells of pain and surprise echoed from the well as InuYasha and Kagome landed on Miroku and Sango. Hard. "InuYasha you idiot! SIT BOY!" Kagome and the others climbed out of the well, then waited until a grumpy InuYasha appeared.
"The floor of the well is rock." He growled. Kagome shrugged.
/Meanwhile, in InuYasha's time/ Sesshoumaru was busy, tracking his little brother. After a series of events, including several humiliating defeats at InuYasha's hand, he'd come to the conclusion that it would be in his best interests to make amends with his younger brother and cross over to his side. After all, he'd had to deal with demons after the whelp several times himself, because they were too stupid to tell the difference between them. And, of course, there was Naraku, who'd played him for a fool more than once. No more. Also, he'd heard that Kagome had sweet, sugary treats from her home that were absolute heaven to one's palate. He didn't want to admit it, but when it came down to it, Sesshoumaru had quite a sweet tooth.
Following InuYasha and the others was easy. Each member of the group had a distinctive scent, whether it was Kagome's flowery perfume, InuYasha's pine and rain-washed earth, Sango's delicate peach, Miroku's mint, or Shippo's honey and grass. Even Kiara had a smell, strong catnip and the mint she loved to roll in. Yes, even if he was blind and had a cold he could have followed them, the combined scents were so strong. Unbeknownst to him, Sesshoumaru also left a distinct and rather out of place scent; a tangy citrus smell. The scents stopped abruptly at the old well that had sat in the forest as long as he could remember. Sesshoumaru leaned over and sniffed delicately at the slight updraft wafting out of the darkness below. Sure enough, the smell was coming from there, along with a multitude of others that he couldn't place. Some were pleasant, like roasting meat, running water, and grass. Others were foul and sulfurous, promising nasty consequences if tasted. The thought of tasting the sweets Kagome had was tempting in itself, but venturing into the well wasn't something he wanted to do. He sat with his back against the well for a while, until something happened that convinced him completely to jump in. A sweet scent, reminiscent of honey, but only just, wafted out of the well. Sesshoumaru's mouth watered. He didn't care what it took to do it; he had to taste the source of that smell.
/Kagome's house again/ "Mom! We're here!" Kagome called.
"Oh good. Now, everyone come-wait. InuYasha, shoo."
"What?"
"You heard me. You look like you haven't washed in months!"
"He hasn't." The others chorused.
"Why would I? I don't need to."
"Yes you do. And you aren't coming in until you have. Kagome, I don't suppose you could…?"
"Wash him?"
"Yes dear. I've got a big metal tub you can put him in."
"Naked? Mom, you can't be serious!"
"No, I still have those shorts…you know, the ones Hojo left when you ran him off. He can put those on."
"Fine. You get those, I'll talk to him."
"Would you stop talking about me like I'm not here!"
"Okay. InuYasha, I'm going to give you a bath in the backyard. You aren't going to fight me, understand? If you do, you aren't getting any ramen, and I'll use the 's' word so many times you'll get to shake hands with the tap root of the oak tree out back." InuYasha hung his head, knowing that he didn't stand a chance. Besides, he desperately wanted his ramen.
"Okay." He mumbled, defeated. Kagome's mother showed up, bearing a pair of swim trunks in an eye-smarting shade of blue in one hand.
"Here. Put these on. Miroku, help me get the tub out."
/Fifteen minutes later/ "Okay! InuYasha, come here!" A thoroughly embarrassed InuYasha slunk out of the bushes. (Not going into details here. Let's just say that the bath was uneventful, though InuYasha managed to get soap in his eyes, and to lose the rather baggy shorts when he was finally allowed to climb, soaking wet and irritated, out of the tub to be hosed down)
"Whoa!" 'Thud'
"What on earth was that?" Shippo, sent by Sango, went to investigate the sound, which had come from the well house.
"Aaaagh! Kaaagooooomeeee! It's Sesshoumaruuuuu!" Shippo screamed. Kagome was in the shrine in an instant, bow drawn. She had expected to find the pesky demon trying to get Shippo to shut up, possibly with threats of violence. Instead, she found the youkai dragging himself out of the well, dusty, a bit bruised, and looking quite surprised.
"What do you want?" she asked. Shippo, having regained the power of motion, shot out the door.
"I came to seek an alliance with my brother and…"
"And what?"
"Never mind."
"And what Sesshoumaru?"
"And see if the rumors were true." He looked down at his feet.
"What rumors?"
"That you have some kind of sweets that are wonderful." He said hopefully.
"Who told you that?"
"Some children in a village you stayed in."
"Okay, I understand that. Why do you want an alliance with InuYasha?"
" Because it's a better idea than going up against him. I have no intention of losing my arm again."
"Got it. Come on, let's go inside. You can meet my mother, we'll talk to InuYasha, and I'll see what I can do about that candy. But I'm warning you; start a battle with that brother of yours, and I'll do more than remove your arm." Sesshoumaru nodded, and followed Kagome out of the shrine and into the bright sunlight beyond. Things went okay until they reached the back door. Kagome's mother took one look at Sesshoumaru, still rather grubby from his landing in the well, and handed Kagome the shorts, soap, and shampoo that they'd just had out for InuYasha.
"But mom-" Kagome began.
"But nothing. Give him a bath, or he isn't setting foot in my house."
"Yes mom. C'mon Sesshy."
"What did you call me?"
"Sesshy. It's better than that mouthful you call a name, and I can say it easier. Put these on." She handed him the shorts.
"What are these?"
"Shorts. When I come back over here, they had better be all that you're wearing."
"All that I'm- but, Lady Kagome I-"
"Do you want the sweets you've heard about or not?"
"Y-yes. May I inquire as to why I have to wear these?"
"My mom wants you washed before you come in, so I'm going to wash you. Deal with it." Kagome stomped around to where the tub sat, and filled it. "Are you done?" she called when the tub was full.
"I am."
"Then get over here." Getting forced into bathing InuYasha's older brother was not something Kagome had wanted to do. Red with embarrassment, the Lord of the Western Lands obeyed, coming to stand beside Kagome and the tub.
"Is this really necessary?" he asked.
"Just get in the tub." Sesshoumaru did, sinking up to the middle of his chest in the water. Kagome soaped up a bath pouf and told him to lean forward so she could scrub his back. It was about this time that InuYasha, having eaten his ramen, came outside to find Kagome. He had not expected to find her washing his brother. He grinned. Oh, revenge was sweet, and Sesshoumaru deserved a bit of humiliation.
"Hey, Sesshoumaru! Did her mother say you were too dirty to come inside!" he yelled. Sesshoumaru swore.
"Sesshoumaru, if I catch you saying something like that again, I'll wash your mouth out with soap." Kagome warned.
"What's the matter brother? Too afraid to come after me?" Sesshoumaru responded with several unprintable things. Kagome scowled.
"InuYasha, shame on you for provoking him! SIT! Sesshoumaru, I did warn you." Sesshoumaru then discovered how awful it was to have one's mouth washed out with soap. "Now, hold still, and close your eyes." The demon held still, but refused to close his eyes. Kagome, unaware of this, began shampooing his hair. Very soon…
"Aaaagh! My eyes! What did you do to me! Owowowowow! I'm blind! I'll kill you for this, girl!" Sesshoumaru howled, rubbing frantically at his eyes. He only succeeded in rubbing more soap into them. InuYasha was, by this time, rolling on the ground laughing, which only made Sesshoumaru more upset.
"Calm down Sesshy, it's okay-"
"How can it be okay when I can't see!"
"It's just shampoo. Hold on a sec, and I'll try to help." All in all, it took Kagome the better part of ten minutes to rinse a majority of the soap out of the big youkai's eyes. She finished shampooing his hair, and then ushered him out of the tub and onto the concrete slab that served as a porch so she could hose him off. This done, she gave him a brisk towel-drying and gave him back his clothes, which her mother had washed (Note: the bath itself took over an hour, what with the arguing and the soap problems.) When he was curled in an oddly cat-like ball on the couch with the sweets he'd been incessantly pestering about, Kagome went back outside and gave InuYasha a good lecture on manner, punctuated every few sentences by 'sit'. When the hanyou was thoroughly apologetic, she hauled him back into the house and refereed a negotiation between the bothers. Maybe having Sesshoumaru around wouldn't be so bad.
/After dinner/ "Mom, where did Sesshoumaru go?"
"I think he's out in the backyard." Kagome went out by way of the front door. As she rounded the corner to the backyard, she found an oddly touching scene before her. Sesshoumaru was allowing Sota and Shippo to use him as a living, moving jungle gym. She grinned. Yes, having Sesshoumaru around was going to be…interesting.