Shocking Situation by CritterWhisperer

Shocking Situation

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, or any of its characters.

Author's Note: Hey all. This is not my first fanfic, but this is my first time posting on Dokuga - I wanted to see if I have what it takes to offer interesting works for this community. This is also my first time responding to a challenge. I hope this gives you all a couple of laughs.

So, here it is, my response to KatLady's monthly challenge - Shocks.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Why her? Why was it always her? Why didn't stuff like this happen to Sango? Oh, sure, Sango got the young, handsome princes . . . and a perverted monk, but that's beside the point. What did Kagome get? The crazed, overbearing hanyous and youkai, who are overprotective, or have a habit of kidnapping her. It seemed every day another mythical being decided she was the one for him . . . it . . . whatever.

This was the last straw. Now she had been cursed by one of the many enamored males she encountered.

It happened two days ago. The group had been going about business as usual, searching for Naraku and jewel shards, whichever they ran into first. The only notable difference was the fact that Sesshoumaru and his small band of followers had joined them. Sesshoumaru had offered an alliance for the sake of expediting Naraku's destruction. The fact that the daiyoukai was willing to endure Inuyasha's presence for more than ten minutes without giving in to the urge to feed him four feet of forged fang was testament enough to his loathing of Naraku.

During their search, they heard about a youkai who had been abducting young, attractive women in a nearby village. Kagome, in her infinite wisdom and tireless need to do good, convinced the group that they should help. Well, she convinced most of the group. Sesshoumaru followed along, not really committing himself to the cause. He guessed that he would get a little entertainment out of it. He was not disappointed.

When they reached the village, they found a lizard youkai - a relatively strong one, given that his appearance was mostly human. He may even have been fairly attractive, if one could look past the scaly, green skin and tail. True to Kagome's bad luck with males, as soon as the group confronted the youkai, he was immediately drawn to her.

"You are a beautiful woman. I shall make you my next mate," The youkai had stated.

Kagome, ever the type to let a guy down easy, smiled nervously and waved, "No thanks, I'm too young to get married."

She should have known then that such a tactic would not work. When did it ever work? Because she could not outright tell a guy to get lost, she had a sweet, but boring guy at home who grasped every opportunity to ask her out, and an overly-amorous wolf who claimed that she was "his woman." And while Inuyasha had no interest in mating her, he was far from willing to let any other male get a chance with her.

"Nonsense," He spoke with a heavy sibilant. "You shall be my mate and you shall wear this necklace so all will know to whom you belong."

He held up his hand, a string of beads in his grasp. A moment later, the beads began to glow and, before Kagome knew what had happened, the beads had moved through the air and formed a circle around her neck.

"Hey! What is this?" She grasped the necklace and tried to pull it over her head. It wouldn't budge and Kagome began to worry if she had just been harnessed with her own subjugation beads.

"These beads will protect what is mine from other males." The lizard youkai answered. "Now come to me, and I will take you away to my home."

"I am not anyone's anything," Kagome replied, still trying to remove the necklace. "Look, aside from your habit of kidnapping women, I'm sure you're a nice guy and all. But, you're cold-blooded, I'm warm-blooded. It would never work."

"I've had enough of this wimp," Inuyasha grumbled as he unsheathed Tetsusaiga. "You can't have Kagome. Now go away and leave this village alone, or I'm gonna have to kick your ass."

The youkai responded by leaping into an attack against Inuyasha. It was a short-lived fight. Once Inuyasha got the opportunity, he used the Windscar, ignoring Miroku's and Sango's protests. There was nothing left of the lizard after the powerful attack. Perhaps it had been a bit of overkill.

"What a waste of time," Inuyasha stated with a huff.

"I don't think you should have killed him before we had those beads removed," Miroku stated.

"Why not?"

"Because he was probably the only one who could remove them," Sango answered.

"That's just stupid. If he's dead, anyone should be able to remove them."

"They're not coming off," Kagome replied, still tugging on the necklace. This was really starting to worry her. She didn't know what these beads were supposed to do. How horrible would it be if she ended up being the slave to a single word, like Inuyasha?

"Wench, you're just not doing it right." Inuyasha stated as he walked toward her.

"How am I not doing it right? Taking off a necklace is not exactly brain surgery," Her voice dripped with sarcasm, and no small amount of panic.

"Let me see them," Inuyasha reached out to grasp the beads. Two screams were heard as both Kagome and Inuyasha felt a sharp jolt of pain, as if they had suffered an electrical shock. The force of it had thrown Inuyasha a good ten feet away.

After a couple of moments of recovery, Inuyasha sat up, a small amount of smoke rising from his head, and shouted, "Kagome, what did you do that for?"

Kagome was still standing. The shock did not seem to be as strong for her, but she had felt enough pain that she was gasping for breath as she recovered from it, "I . . . didn't do . . . anything."

"It must have been the necklace," Sango stated.

"Then we need to remove it. This could be very dangerous if it can cause Kagome such pain," Miroku stated, moving toward the young miko.

"Hey, what about me?" Inuyasha protested.

"You're a hanyou, you can handle it." Miroku stated as he reached for the enchanted necklace. Another chorus of screams ripped through the air as both the miko and monk experienced a painful jolt. Miroku beat Inuyasha's record as he hit the ground five feet beyond the hanyou's landing point.

"What the hell is going on here?" Inuyasha asked as he stared at the unconscious monk.

"I . . . don't . . . know," Kagome gasped.

Sango stepped closer to her friend, "The youkai said that those beads would protect you from other males. I think that is what they are doing." Sango reached for the beads.

"No, Sango!" Kagome blurted out, fearing for her friend's safety just as much as she was fearing another painful shock. Nothing happened. Kagome looked down to see that Sango was holding the beads, and let out a sigh of relief.

"See? It only works against males."

"Well, that's just great! Help her take the stupid beads off, already."

Sango attempted to pull the necklace over the miko's head, but they wouldn't budge. After some struggling, Sango gave up, preferring not to accidentally decapitate her friend.

"It's no good," She stated. "We'll have to think of something else."

"Gah! I am not going to be stuck with my own subjugation beads!" Kagome yelled.

"Heh, now you know how it feels," Inuyasha stated smugly.

Kagome cast a murderous glare his way, "Come here, Inuyasha, so I can give you a nice, big hug." It would hurt her, but it would do worse to him. Judging by how Inuyasha paled at the idea, he knew that fact, too.

While all of this had provided a good deal of entertainment, Sesshoumaru decided that they had wasted enough time on this problem, "Perhaps you should seek the advice of someone who may be knowledgeable in the removal of these beads."

Everyone stopped to stare at the daiyoukai. They had forgotten about him during this debacle.

"Who would know about them?" Kagome asked.

"Maybe Kaede would. They may be a youkai curse, but she might have some knowledge of them, also."

"Maybe," Kagome agreed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It took two days' journey to return to Kaede's village. Inuyasha, Miroku and Shippou kept a safe distance from the cursed miko as if they had started their own "Girls Stink" club. Shippou had not attempted to come in contact with Kagome, just in case the cursed beads had an effect on all males, despite their age. If it weren't for the fact that she had Sango, Rin, and Kirara for support, Kagome would have felt very much alone and miserable.

When they reached the village, Kaede's assessment was less than encouraging. What little she had heard of such curses suggested that they affected only those who felt any sort of lust, be it conscious or unconscious, toward the one wearing the cursed beads. This bit of news was not received well by a certain demon slayer, who immediately began showing a certain monk exactly how much pain she could inflict on him before he passed out.

While Miroku made a hasty retreat, claiming that Sango was the only woman he truly loved, Kagome thought over this explanation. She supposed it could be true. Miroku lusted after every woman he met, and her likeness to Kikyou could explain why the beads affected Inuyasha. That was, unless he really did have such thoughts about her. She hoped not. She loved Inuyasha, but she had no such desires for him anymore. There was also that brief moment when Jaken had stumbled during their journey and bumped into Kagome's leg. No shock had resulted from this contact, so that must mean the kappa did not find her attractive. Kagome mentally sighed in relief. Thank the kami for small favors.

"But why do the beads hurt me?" She asked.

Kaede shrugged, "That I could not say. Perhaps it was intended as a punishment for when you allowed another male to come in contact with you."

Kaede had continued on with her explanation. She had heard that it was possible for the beads to be removed, if the wearer found his or her true love. That was just perfect. Yep, she just had to sit back and wait for Prince Charming to come riding along and . . .

"We don't have time to wait around for Kagome's true love." Inuyasha grumbled, deciding that he needed to give another try at removing the beads.

He reached for her arm. Upon contact, he was thrown against the wall of the hut. Kagome, recovering from the shock first, ran out of Kaede's hut, trying to avoid Inuyasha's touch. Inuyasha staggered out of the hut, dazed from the impact his head had made with the wall. Shaking his head to clear it of the fuzziness, he focused on Kagome and made another grab for her.

"Come on, Kagome. Do you really think we are going to wait around for you to get over this curse? What if you true love is that mangy wolf? I'd never hear the end of his 'my woman' crap if that happened."

Kagome managed to dodge him, but stupidly swatted at his hand, causing another jolt for both of them. "You idiot! They are going to come off by force."

She was about to try to dodge another lunge, when she realized that she was being pretty stupid, herself. "Sit!" She shouted, and repeated the command at least another dozen times.

When it was clear that Inuyasha was down for the count, she approached the hole that Inuyasha's body had dug into the ground, "If you want to put yourself through a lot of pain, you can leave me out of it." She turned and walked into the woods, heading for the Bone Eaters Well.

Sesshoumaru sat in a tree outside the old miko's hut. He had heard the whole explanation and watched the ensuing events. He should have joined this group a long time ago, just for the entertainment value.

It had been Sesshoumaru's doing that Jaken had collided with the miko during the trip to the village. A well-placed, "accidental" kick had managed to get the kappa in contact with her. It was a little experiment he had tried to determine if all males were affected by the cursed necklace. Jaken made such a useful test subject and he had been hoping for amusing results. But nothing happened. With the new-found knowledge of the necklace, he decided that Jaken had received no shock because he was not interested in the miko.

Either the kappa was interested in other types of females, or the experiment had confirmed a suspicion that he had always had about Jaken. Sesshoumaru repressed a shudder of revulsion as he thought of exactly who was the object of Jaken's desire. Best not to think about that at all.

He watched Kagome walk away, no doubt to try to collect her thoughts and figure out what to do. This would be the perfect time for another experiment.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kagome stood next to the Bone Eaters Well, thinking about how much her life sucked. Why hadn't this happened to Sango. She was pretty. She wore that form-fitting slayer uniform that left little to the imagination. She had been standing next to Kagome, but the lizard had taken no notice of her. Not that she would have wished this same fate on her friend, but it did make her wonder. What about the slayer made males look at her and decide not to pull this kind of crap with her?

Maybe it was Hiraikotsu. The over-sized boomerang could make anyone want to watch their step around a person who knew how to wield it. Although, it didn't deter Miroku at all. Surely, it couldn't scare off a powerful demon, either. Maybe males in this era weren't in to the dominatrix look. No, they preferred the innocent, school girl look. Never mind that she had been carrying a bow and a quiver of arrows. Did getting an eye-full of bare, shapely legs make the men of this era turn into lust-crazed idiots?

With a groan, Kagome propped her elbows on the edge of the well and buried her face in her hands. Why did she insist on wearing this stupid uniform, anyways? It wasn't the most practical garment for traipsing across the countryside and fighting demons. It hardly provided her any protection from the elements or in battle. If she had been smart about it, she would have dressed in the bulkiest, most unflattering clothing she could think of. Something like the way Jaken dressed. Yes, and she could paint her face green and put fake warts on her nose. With her luck, she would probably find the one male out there who would find that attractive, too.

Enough feeling sorry for herself. The situation could be worse. This could turn out to be something useful. Like Miroku's wind tunnel, it could be used as a weapon. Except she won't get sucked into a void because of her curse. Instead, she'll suffer a shock every time a lustful male touches her and will probably die a virgin. That is, unless the highly improbable happens and she meets her one true love. How would she even go about trying to find him?

The sudden image of her running around villages, propositioning men flashed through her mind. She giggled as she tested out her own version of Miroku's line, "Excuse me, Sir, would you do me the honor of letting me bear your children? I guess not, judging by how you just flew twenty feet away." Her giggles took on a more hysterical note before she buried her face in her hands again in renewed misery.

"Nope, my life just sucks." She mumbled.

"Do you make a habit of talking to yourself, Miko?"

Kagome lifted her head and turned to look at Sesshoumaru, "Why not? I'm doomed to be all alone. I might as well try to make conversation with myself."

Sesshoumaru said nothing in response. Kagome stared at him, waiting for him to explain why he was there. She had always had a healthy respect for him. A respect born mostly out of the fact that he could easily slice her into pieces at any give moment. But she had also noticed that he had a softer side. While he was not big on showing that he cared about others, the few things that he did do spoke volumes. Like when he resurrected Rin. During the time that he had been traveling with their group, Kagome had even begun to feel some attraction to him. . . wait a minute.

"Sesshoumaru, do you think this necklace could be removed if I were dead?" She hoped she found another loophole.

The daiyoukai lifted an eyebrow at the unexpected question, "Perhaps, but being dead will be a hindrance to you enjoying your freedom from this curse."

"Yeah, but couldn't you resurrect me?" Her hope began to waver during the following silence. She guessed it was too much to hope that he might be able to find enough compassion to bring her back from the dead. He probably didn't even like her that much; and there were a number of good reasons for that.

She was brought out of her thoughts as he began to walk toward her, "It is an interesting theory. Plausible, yes." He stated thoughtfully.

He stopped within a foot of her and lifted his hand. "But I can resurrect a life only once. If you fall in battle, I cannot save you again. And there is no guarantee that this would end the curse."

He began to reach forward and Kagome closed her eyes, thinking he was about to strike her down. When nothing happened, she cracked open one eye, then the other, wondering what was happening. Surely he would enjoy getting the chance to kill her, just this once. When she looked at him, he still had his hand outstretched, a somewhat satisfied expression on his face. The fact that he showed any expression at all was enough to shock her, but when she looked down to see that a portion of the necklace was draped over two long, clawed digits, she panicked, expecting another dreadful jolt of pain. Then the logical part of her brain managed to kick in, telling her that if there would be any pain, it would have already happened, and that this was Sesshoumaru. Right. He didn't have a lustful thought in his whole body, much less have any involving her.

"You could have warned me you were going to do that. What are you doing anyways?"

"Performing a little experiment."

"Did it work? Do you think you know how to remove the beads without killing me?"

"I believe so, but I don't think I will remove them. At least, not until I have a new set created that will not cause you harm. I rather enjoy watching the effect they have on Inuyasha."

He gave her a devilish smirk before releasing the beads and moving his hand the the back of her head. His other arm snaked around her waist to bring her flush against his body as he dipped his head to capture her lips in a heated kiss. A jolt went through Kagome's body, but this was one of pleasure that stirred other urges to life. After a moment, Sesshoumaru broke the kiss and regarded Kagome's dazed expression.

"Now, about those pups you are willing to bear."