Disclaimer: I do not own the Inuyasha series or any of the characters.

Summary: "They had all tried it." The well proves to be too tempting for anyone to ignore. A series of nine one-shots of varying lengths. Final chapter!

With Both Feet

Chapter 9: Sesshoumaru

Standing just inside the cover of the trees, Sesshoumaru watched in quiet bemusement as his brother and the indecently-clad miko walked into the clearing, arguing loudly. They were unaware of his presence, or the presence of his companions. He wasn't currently interested in fighting his brother, as he had more important things to attend to. He didn't even want to be within fifty miles of Inuyasha, but this was the quickest route to his destination, so he'd taken the most expedient course of action and masked the youki and scents of his group as soon as they had drawn near to this region. Inuyasha couldn't fight what he didn't know was there.

From the looks of things, he probably needn't have bothered. Inuyasha's attention was completely fixated on the miko, and hers on him, as they shouted themselves hoarse. Their behaviour was baffling; they seemed determined to purposely misunderstand each other, which only fuelled their fury. Their incessant struggles for dominance still continued to be characterized by a great deal of sexual tension. Why did they still refrain from mating? They clearly desired each other. Was it some deficiency of human blood that caused them to act so? Were human females normally so antagonistic towards potential mates? Or did the fault lie solely with Inuyasha? Sesshoumaru would admit that his opinion of his brother was quite low, but even he would be surprised if Inuyasha was simply too stupid to figure out how to claim a mate.

Soft rustling sounds and cracking twigs approached Sesshoumaru, and he shot a warning look at Jaken, who froze in trepidation. Rin and Ah-Un, the former seated on the latter's back, were much quieter as they watched the scene. Luckily, Inuyasha and his wench were making far too much noise to hear the slight disturbance. The argument finally reached its inevitable conclusion, and the hanyou was left cursing in the dirt as the miko subdued him with her spell. What an embarrassment.

Then the woman surprised him when she sat down on the edge of the well. "I'm going home!" she announced. "And I'm not coming back until my tests are finished. And don't you dare follow me until you can be civil, Inuyasha, or I'll osuwari you so hard your ancestors will feel it!"

Inuyasha slammed into the ground again, as the miko let herself slide into the well and disappeared from sight. Sesshoumaru could feel the sudden surge of magic from where he stood.

He'd known full well that the miko was a time traveller from the future; Bokusenou had revealed that much. But until now he hadn't any idea how she might accomplish such a thing. So this was the trick.

The spell finally released Inuyasha, who jumped to his feet and shouted towards the well. "Fine! Go home! Why should I care?" He then proceeded to stomp around the well for another ten minutes, muttering and cursing under his breath, before finally giving in and leaping through the well himself.

This time Sesshoumaru was expecting the power surge, and all his senses were trained upon the well as his brother's action triggered whatever magic it held. How peculiar… So his brother could pass through at will also. What strange things lay on the other side? How far into the future had Inuyasha and his wench just travelled?

If Sesshoumaru had one failing, it was that he was incurably curious. This was mostly because he was bored much of the time.

He strode forward into the center of the clearing and stopped beside the well. He'd travelled this way many times in the centuries he'd been alive, and he'd never given this dry well a second glance. Had it always held such a power? Or had it been somehow enchanted just recently?

Rin came from behind him and leaned on the edge of the well, looking into its depths. "Where did they go, Sesshoumaru-sama?"

"Into the future, it would seem," he answered absently.

Rin looked up in surprise. "Really? Ooooo…" She peered back into the well again as Jaken climbed up and stood on the edge to look in. "How does it work, Sesshoumaru-sama?"

Sesshoumaru did not reply, mostly because he didn't know the answer.

"I wonder if it is possible for others to travel through it," Jaken mused aloud. "What do you think, Sesshoumaru-samAAARRRGH!!"

Thump!

"Boohoohoohoo! Why are you so cruel to me, master?"

Well, that hadn't worked.

Withholding a sigh, Sesshoumaru stared into the bottom of the well, where Jaken was getting to his feet with many a whimper and whine. He was going to have to jump in there and retrieve the snivelling little pest now, which he should have considered before pushing Jaken into the well. Haha-ue had always warned him that his impulsiveness was one of his greatest failings. He'd never really listened to her. Of course, she'd also said that his habit of ignoring things that displeased him was another of his less than stellar attributes. He'd ignored that as well.

"Jaken-sama!" Rin called down to the complaining figure below. "We can still see you!"

"Be quiet, you horrible little child!" Jaken cried shrilly. "Obviously it didn't work!"

Sesshoumaru leapt into the well and landed gracefully, unsurprised that his jump had not triggered the portal to react. He looked about for a minute, before Jaken's whimpering got on his nerves. Grabbing the little youkai by his collar, Sesshoumaru tossed him out of the well. Jaken quickly started bemoaning his landing on the ground above. Sesshoumaru resisted the urge to roll his eyes and tuned him out so he could go back to studying his surroundings. Experimentally, he flared his youki to see how the well would react, but it sat dormant, its secrets well hidden.

In resignation, Sesshoumaru jumped back out of the well and landed neatly on the grass. For some reason, he was loath to leave matters as they were. The situation irked him. How was it that the miko and the hanyou could get through, when he could not?

As if he'd asked the question aloud, Jaken stopped whimpering long enough to sullenly offer a theory. "Maybe only those with human blood can cross through."

This idea had some possibilities, but there was no way to know for sure. It's not as though he had the means to test…

Caught up in his own thoughts, his panicked snatch at the back of Rin's kimono came a little too late as she vaulted fearlessly over the side. More alarmed than he liked to admit, he watched uselessly as the small girl landed at the bottom with a sickeningly heavy thud. Thankfully, she started to stir almost immediately, and quickly sat up, apparently little worse for the wear.

"You were wrong, Jaken-sama!" she shouted crossly.

Rin was hardly ever cross. She usually only acted so to cover feelings of hurt. Sesshoumaru hated it when she was hurt.

"Are you injured, Rin?" he called down in calm tones.

To his dismay, her eyes filled with tears. She almost never cried, either, and he really hated it when she did. It always made him feel strange and uncomfortable and helpless.

"Rin's ankle hurts really bad," she replied, her bottom lip trembling. "And Rin doesn't know how to get back out."

Holding back another sigh, Sesshoumaru jumped back into the well and picked her up.

:Owari: