"So Kagome, still seeing that two-timer?" Eri asked over fries and fizzy drinks.

Kagome closed her eyes and took a deep breath, determined that this time she would get through her friends thick skulls.

"For him to be a two-timer I would have to be dating him. Which I am not. I never have, and never will. I have no romantic interest in him, and he has none in me. I have told you three this over a dozen times already!" Kagome finished, nearly yelling by the end despite having started out calmly.

"So are you still dating your two-timing boyfriend or not?" Eri asked, once the shock of Kagome yelling had been overcome.

Kagome frowned and narrowed her eyes at Eri, then reached out to take Ayumi's newspaper from beside the other girl. Rolled up newsprint in hand, she whacked Eri over the head with it.

"Ow!" Eri yelped, hands over her head. "What was that for Kagome?" she asked.

"For being stupid!" Kagome snapped. She passed Ayumi her paper back, then collected up her takeaway, her school bag, and headed for the door.

"Are you okay?" Yuka asked Eri as the doors closed behind Kagome.

"Kagome hits hard," Eri muttered.

Neither Yuka nor Ayumi scolded Eri for her stupid question, since to both of them it was perfectly reasonable. They just didn't understand what was going on with Kagome these days.

~oOo~

As she walked down the streets towards the shrine, eating her fries, Kagome heard someone calling her name. She halted, turned to see who it was, and promptly wished she had feigned deafness.

"Hey Kagome," Hojo greeted with a smile. "I was wondering if you were free to go on a date with me this Saturday?"

"No Hojo. Not now, not ever, not interested," Kagome said flatly, coldly. She was still in a foul mood from Eri's determined stupidity and was in no mood for Hojo's sweet obliviousness. "Of every date you have asked me on, I have only agreed to one, and that because Eri, Yuka and Ayumi pressured me to do so. Every other date you think I agreed to go on with you was you hearing them agree for me when I was trying to figure out how to say no. Well they're not here and I'm telling you: stop asking me out Hojo."

Hojo blinked in surprise, and then got this kicked puppy look which did absolutely nothing for Kagome's foul mood.

"But... I thought that when a girl asked a guy to borrow his notes..." Hojo started tentatively.

"I needed better notes than Eri, Yuka or Ayumi were capable of providing," Kagome said sharply, cutting Hojo off, not letting him finish that idea. "You're a top student. It was never a round-about way of flirting if that's what you were thinking it was."

Hojo nodded sadly, looking like a drowned kicked puppy now as his shoulders sagged.

"I guess that's that then," the boy said, visibly put down.

Kagome nodded firmly. "It is," she answered, then turned her back to him and continued on down the street towards the shrine.

~oOo~

Kagome was still a block from the shrine when she noticed the new shop that had just opened. It was a craft shop, sort of. It sold all the things needed for making jewellery. Kagome narrowed her eyes slightly in thought, quickly ate the last of her fries and dropped her rubbish in a nearby bin after wiping her fingers on the napkin, and entered the shop.

She picked a thin strip of leather that was the right length, then started loading it with beads from the jars. Five stone beads, one of bleached bone, five stone beads, one bone, and so on, finishing with a carved bone bead before she tied the two ends together in a temporary hold until she had paid for the whole lot, then the tag from the leather strip was removed and she tied the new necklace together properly.

It wasn't the same as InuYasha's beads. Those beads had been stained with indigo dye. These ones were made from a naturally red stone, red as blood, and almost seeming to glow from within it had been so polished.

Now, Kagome wasn't entirely sure what she was going to do with this brand new string of beads, but the idea of having a spare subjugation necklace handy was appealing at the moment. Maybe she'd get an opportunity to sling it around Naraku's scrawny neck. Maybe she'd drop it over Kikyo's head and sit her into the ground. Maybe she'd give it to Koga and next time he and InuYasha got into a fight and she said her magic word they'd both slam into the ground. All three of those options sounded appealing to her.

~oOo~

When Kagome reached the top of the shrine steps, it was to find her grandfather cleaning out one of the sheds – dust covered boxes were all over the yard. What really bugged her was the sight of one box which had written on it 'sacred beads'. Oh that was just perfect. She'd had potential access to more rosaries for subjugating other nuisances and she'd never known about it?

Kagome opened the box and stared down into it. Yep. Subjugation necklaces. A whole pile of them. Slowly her frustration seeped away to be replaced with a deliciously unpleasant idea, and Kagome reached into the box and started removing the necklaces.

"Brown for Koga, pink for Kikyo, grey for Naraku, black for Miroku..." she said to herself as she selected different necklaces from the box. "And a few spare for people I've forgotten," she decided, also choosing necklaces in green, yellow and blue. If she needed more, she could always come back for them after all. Quietly, Kagome picked up the whole box and, once she'd dusted it, moved it into the bottom of her cupboard in her bedroom.

Kagome picked up a necklace that alternated between indigo and white beads, with the bone beads appearing every seven, and contemplated putting it around Souta's neck. Tempting, so tempting, but annoying as he was, he was also her little brother. She'd wait until he'd gotten taller than her before revisiting the idea.

"Oi wench!"

"Sit!"

Well, there went her good mood, and it had only just shown up too!

~oOo~

InuYasha had decided to bolt, just go on ahead of her down the well and let Kagome have some time to cool off before she followed. That suited her fine. When she climbed over the edge of the well, however, Kagome felt her already strained temper snap just a little bit.

Koga and InuYasha were fighting again.

"Sit!" she yelled. "Koga! Get your butt over here!" she ordered, pulling out the brown necklace that she'd picked out for him.

"My Kagome," he said, a pleased smirk on his face as he took hold of one of her hands.

With her free hand, Kagome slipped the necklace over Koga's head.

"Down," she ordered coldly once it was in place. She was very satisfied with the way he slammed down into the earth, just the way InuYasha normally did.

"Nicely done Kagome," Sango congratulated, coming up to her. "I don't suppose you've got one that will work on Miroku?"

"I've got another one," Kagome agreed. "But I don't know if it will work on Miroku, since he's a monk and not a demon," she allowed, pulling out the black set of beads. "Go for your life though," she added, handing them over to her friend.

Sango's smile was predatory as she wandered back to the monk.

Annoyingly, it seemed that monks could not be subjugated by rosaries. Only demons and half-demons. Sango silently returned the beads to Kagome, and both of them shared a silent moment of grumpiness.

~oOo~

Kagome's stare was flat and her face was blank of expression. Except for maybe the 'you had so better be kidding' expression. She was downright unamused. It was like everything that could go wrong had decided that, just for this one day, it would go wrong. Not only had Koga been right there when she climbed out of the well, but now Kagura and Naraku had showed up not ten minutes down the road – and Kikyo with them.

Ooh, it was too much.

Kagome drew back her bowstring, sighted down the shaft of her arrow, and let fly. Screw putting subjugation beads around the zombie's neck, Kagome was getting her soul back dammit!

"Sit!" she ordered InuYasha when he looked like he was going to try and stop the arrow, or maybe attack her. Not sure on that, but either way not good and not going to be allowed to happen.

The arrow went straight through Kikyo – releasing all of her stolen souls and causing her body to crumble into dust once more – and lodged in Naraku's baboon pelt. Damn convenient really.

Bastard was a puppet though, but at least he was gone.

Kagome stalked up to where Kikyo had fallen and collected up the few jewel shards Kikyo had been carrying. As she slipped the newly acquired shards into the little bottle she kept her collection in, the part of her soul Kikyo had been hanging onto returned to her.

"Priestess," Kagura acknowledged. "That was unusually efficient of you."

Kagome scowled. "It's been a bad day," she answered, growling a little. "But how about I make yours a little better?" she offered, pulling out the grey rosary. "Drop that around Naraku's neck, then pick your magic word."

"Magic word?" Kagura asked sceptically.

"Kagome! How could you!" InuYasha yelled as he pulled himself up from the ground.

"Don't you touch my woman!" Koga yelled at InuYasha.

"Sit! Down!" Kagome snapped. InuYasha and then Koga were both planted into the ground again, face first. "Magic word," she said with a cruel smirk, waving in the direction of the two new craters.

Kagura smirked in answer and tucked the rosary into her obi. "Appreciated priestess," she said. "I'll see if I can't sneak you jewel shards where and when I can, as thanks."

Kagome nodded in answer. "Good luck," she called after the demoness.

~oOo~

Jaken was present in the village, meaning that Sesshoumaru was visiting with Rin, but it also meant that Kagome finally had a properly convenient sentient being to treat like a football.

"Kagome's being scary," Shippo whimpered as he ran into the hut where Rin was staying with Kaede – where Sesshoumaru was visiting with her, despite the pressing smell of old human.

The powerful demon raised a delicate eyebrow at the fox cub's assertion, even as Shippo went to hide behind Kaede. The meek, kind, soft-hearted, gentle, nurturing, childishly pretty priestess was being scary? This, he had to see for himself.

He exited the hut just in time for the show.

"Filthy human!" Jaken was yelling. "You will return my property at once!"

Kagome had taken the staff of two heads from the imp, and was clearly wondering what she should do with it. No one would know, but she was wondering if she could break it over her knee or if just throwing it as far as she could would be better. Rather than either of these, she simply tossed it over her shoulder.

It clonked Miroku on the head, but he didn't make a sound, only wincing silently in pain.

Kagome then stepped up to Jaken and, impressive scowl on her face, drew back her leg and kicked, just the way her little brother might kick his football to score a goal.

Jaken went flying. Up, up, up and out of the village.

"That wasn't nearly satisfying enough," Kagome grumbled.

"This Sesshoumaru found it immensely satisfying," he countered. "And Jaken will be back shortly, so you may repeat the action as many times as you like."

Kagome snorted indelicately, but a smile – a truly, genuinely, happy smile had finally begun to work its way onto her face.

"Oi Kagome!" InuYasha yelled.

"Kagome!" Koga called.

"Sit! Down!" she hissed at them, smile completely vanishing into a snarl.

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow again to see first InuYasha and then the wolf slam into the dirt at her words. He had known, in an abstract way, that the priestess had some kind of power over his disgrace of a half-brother, but the presence of the wolf was new.

He watched, amused, as she stomped up to their craters.

"I have had it with you two!" Kagome told them fiercely.

"Filthy human! How dare you -" Jaken had made his reappearance.

Kagome snarled wordlessly and punted the toad again. She proceeded to rant at the two cratered demons, occasionally repeating the words that would only force them further into their holes, breaking only when Jaken made it back again (and again, and again) to apply her foot to his face or behind and send him flying (again, and again, and again).

Finally, Kagome closed her eyes, took a deep breath through her nose, released it through her mouth, and turned to where everybody else (Kaede, Shippo, Miroku, Sango, Kirara, Sesshoumaru and Rin) were standing, staring at her, and declared: "I feel a bit better now."

"Only a bit?" Sesshoumaru asked, and he could not help that his amusement at this tiny but powerful human tugged at one side of his mouth, drawing it upwards.

"I still need a long soak in a hot spring, a full body massage, and possibly an orgasm before I feel like being a nice person again," Kagome answered.

The entire group blinked.

At the same time.

Twice.

"Kagome-onee-san," Rin said, speaking up. "What's an orgasm?"

"Has Kaede taught you where babies come from?" Kagome asked the girl.

Rin nodded.

"Well, when a male releases his seed that is called an orgasm. Women can have them too, but we don't release the same stuff because we have different parts," Kagome answered.

Shippo, Miroku, Sango and Kaede all blushed at this information, and Kirara placed a paw over the bridge of her snout like she was hiding a blush as well.

Rin just nodded in acceptance of having learned something new, and Sesshoumaru was now looking at Kagome in a speculative manner. Rin moved over to the holes that had been made by InuYasha and Koga being subjugated so much.

"How deep do you think they are?" she asked.

Kagome smirked. "Deep enough to be buried," she decided. She'd snagged Koga's jewel shards out of his legs the first time she'd put him 'down'.

~oOo~

Far away, Kagura was enjoying the effects of the grey rosary, and testing its limits. After all, if it worked when she wasn't anywhere near Naraku as well as when she was near enough for him to hear, then all the better.

"Bastard," she whispered from fifty feet in the air.

She smirked as she heard the thump of Naraku planting into the ground. The priestess may have been very pissed off and having a bad day, but she had just made Kagura's life so much better.

~oOo~

Sesshoumaru was well acquainted with the hot spring near the village. He enjoyed regular hot baths after all, unlike his disgusting half-brother. He also took advantage of the bathing products that Kagome left for Rin and Kaede to use. Neither of them bathed often, and only Rin used the pleasant smelling stuffs anyway.

At this time, Sesshoumaru gathered his preferred selection of bathing supplies and headed off towards the spring. Kagome had headed in the same direction with her things just a few minutes ago. Alone. It seemed that not even Sango wanted to be around her friend right now.

Sesshoumaru smirked to himself. The priestess really could be scary, and it was quite attractive on her. But then that might just be because it displayed all the power that she didn't regularly flaunt, and Sesshoumaru had always found power to be attractive.

When Sesshoumaru reached the hot spring, he watched in silence for a moment, stunned by the spectacle.

Kagome had her eyes closed and was creating ripples in the clear water, so that what would normally be so easily seen beneath the surface was distorted, but there was no mistaking the actions of the hand that was above the water as it played with one of her pert, deliciously curved breasts. The other hand, Sesshoumaru could tell through the distorted water, was buried in her secret place.

So this was how the girl knew about such things while still smelling untouched.

Sesshoumaru stripped and slid into the water with her, not caring one wit that she might not appreciate his presence. She had no beads around his neck after all.

"What do you want?" Kagome asked sharply, removing her hands from their previous places, planting them on her hips and opening her eyes. She'd only just begun to stimulate herself and she took absolutely ages to get anywhere, so the sound of clothes being removed and another person entering the water had snapped her out of her attempt at self-gratification.

That the intruder was Sesshoumaru was quite the surprise, but she was still a long way from in a good mood.

Sesshoumaru smirked at her. "This Sesshoumaru thought you might appreciate the full-body massage you mentioned, and perhaps some help with that orgasm, priestess, and clearly none of the other males of your acquaintance are up to the task," he answered.

Kagome snorted. "I bet most of them don't even know how to give either of those," she muttered with a scowl before eyeing Sesshoumaru up and down above the water-line. "Alright," she said at last, moving towards a large rock that she had left her towel on. Kagome climbed out of the water and lay down over the soft cloth on her stomach, then cut a challenging gaze towards the dog demon. "Do a good job and I might return the favour in kind."

Sesshoumaru's mouth went dry with want at the suggestion as he moved through the water towards her. The girl was attractive after all, and he was male. He was not about to disdain an appealing female giving him a rub down – of either sort.

Within minutes, he had her moaning in pleasure. An hour later, as promised, Kagome returned the favour in kind before they both settled down in the hot spring to simply soak away any lingering tensions and clean off the sweat and other bodily fluids.

"How would you feel about doing this again some time?" Kagome asked as she leant back on a rock, closing her eyes as she relaxed.

"Very amenable," Sesshoumaru answered from a similar position on the other side of the hot spring, his eyes also closed.

"Good," Kagome said, a smile on her face. In retrospect, apart from that bit with her so-called friends earlier, Kagome decided that she'd accomplished a lot that day and could feel good about it. "Because I think I'll be good for another round in an hour."

Sesshoumaru's eyes sprung open, then a very self-satisfied grin spread across his face before he closed his eyes once more. "That sounds like an excellent idea."

~The End~

There is now a sequel.