Needless to say, Kagome’s whirlwind romantic encounter at the Bone-Eater’s Well left her totally bewildered. Happily so, but bewildered nevertheless.

All of her previously-understood notions about her demonic partner were now, once again, in total upheaval. Their lovemaking—and a dreamy expression stole over her each time she referred to it as such in her mind—hadn’t taken place in that cave. It hadn’t even occurred on the night of the full moon—or at night at all, for that matter. In the days that followed, she struggled to make sense of what had happened, and kept coming up woefully short.

He was an enigma, all right. But even if she couldn’t figure him out to save her life, she was still elated that he had visited her. For once, he had sought her out—and that had to mean something, didn’t it? Kagome nodded to herself, convinced.

Yet as the afterglow of that surprise sex session began to fade, her doubts came creeping back in. What did it mean? She’d been hoping it meant a renewal of their assignations, at the very least, but in his continued absence, she couldn’t help but wonder. What if it’d just been ‘one more for the road’?

Pacing now before the well, Kagome frowned in exasperation. Since that afternoon, she’d taken pains to secure as much alone-time for herself as possible. In a village full of prying eyes and some particularly sneaky friends, this hadn’t been an easy feat. But the miko had persevered. Her seclusion at the time of her last meeting with him was the only thing she had to go on, as far as circumstantial evidence was concerned.

Yet here she was, back at the very spot where it had all gone down, so to speak, and he was still a no-show.

Dejectedly, Kagome sighed. She was about to throw in the towel when her miko senses tingled, her heart leaping in hope before her mind puzzled out the source of the sensation. It was a youki signature, constrained, yet distinctive. It preceded him a few seconds before his snowy figure appeared through the trees.

“Oh,” she said, shoulders slumping. “Hi, Sesshoumaru.”

Stepping into the clearing, the demon lord regarded her for a moment. “Were you expecting someone?”

Kagome flushed, abashed. “E-expecting someone? Oh no, not at all! I was just out here studying—this is my study spot, you see.”

Sesshoumaru glanced toward her books and binders, which still remained neatly stacked beside the spread of her blanket. Neatly stacked and clearly untouched. Kagome gave a sheepish laugh, her hand fluttering to one heated cheek.

“…I guess you could say I’m having a little trouble focusing today.”

Not commenting on this, Sesshoumaru moved past her toward the well. As he went by, she caught a trace of his scent—warm fur and the tang of metal, cool silk and something else beneath it which was simply…wild. Still, it was a nice smell—a very nice smell, and Kagome pursed her lips, feeling slighted anew as she realized yet another thing her daiyoukai love interest had been withholding from her all this time.

Though she had no idea what he smelled like, she could only assume it was similar—he was also some sort of beast, after all. As Sesshoumaru lowered himself gracefully to the ledge of the well, Kagome wondered what other similarities the two of them might share.

“This place holds meaning to you,” Sesshoumaru observed, gesturing around at the clearing with a smooth sweep of his claws. “You’ve been here many times before…”

As he continued to speak, about scent and memory of all things, Kagome found herself more caught up in the tone of his voice than the words he was saying. The way he spoke had such a resonant quality to it, and she couldn’t help but remember with a pang what that Obasan had said. Lost in her musings, Kagome trailed her eyes over his hands, their long slender fingers tipped with keen ivory claws, and imagined them belonging to another—

“…Are you listening?”

Kagome’s attention snapped to Sesshoumaru’s face with a start. His all-too handsome face. More eye-level with him now that he was seated, she took in his fine features in all their stunning detail and felt her blush redouble in a way that had nothing to do with her scarred demon partner. Inwardly, Kagome berated herself—what in Kami’s name was the matter with her these days? She’d lost her virginity, and now anytime she came across an attractive demon it was some kind of free-for-all?

Checking herself with a tiny head shake, she belatedly replied, “Right—this place. It’s certainly special to me; it’s where I first met Inuyasha, after all.”

Sesshoumaru’s resplendent gaze seemed to flicker. “Is that the only reason?”

“Well, no,” she said, caught a little off guard by the sharpness of the question. “It’s the spot where everything began.”

“Everything?”

Kagome nodded, looking off toward Goshinboku. “My journey here. Although, it’s kind of a long story…”

“Tell me,” he said, and when she continued to hesitate, he added, “Or did you not say yourself that you ‘owe me one’?”

The miko smiled at him wryly. “So you really did remember, huh?” With one leg folded beneath her, she sat down on the ledge adjacent to his. “Well, fair’s fair, I suppose. Just don’t forget that you asked for it.”

Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi