Chapter 6- Down again, up again and into Mayhem..

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Ai yawned and rubbed her eyes, waking up slowly. She squinted her eyes. A gentle breeze blew, bringing to her nose gentle scents of the forest surrounding her. For a moment this startled her, but as her mind cleared from sleep, she remembered where she was. Who would have thought, she'd wind up right beside Kagome, and Inuyasha? It was still hard to grasp, but slowly she was growing accustomed to the thought that some of her favorite characters, were in fact real. In the flesh they all slept, around her, unaware of the bizarre thoughts filling her troubled mind.

'If only Hoshi could see this.' She smirked. The fun she'd have. Her eyes swept over to those sleeping around her and nearly sighed. She rested upon her pillow merely glancing upwards dreamily from under dark lashes, which is probably why her heart nearly popped out of her chest just then.

"Oi...onna, will you stop making such noise ? " Regaining her wits she looked up to see the hanyou glaring. With a snort he closed his eyes. 'I didn't think the bag was that noisy geez..' She narrowed her eyes. Sighing she looked away. 'Such a temper...really.' Her lids grew heavy and once more she felt the drugged warmth of sleep overtake her body.

*-*-*-*

"Interesting indeed brother. " The smooth tenor voice noted, silver eyes glinting in amusement. Tsubasa smirked. His white hair, hung loose midway down his back. In a simple kimono, made of silk the dark hue was a stark contrast to the gossamer locks.

Tori smiled back.

"I suppose you find that mortal more towards your interests for amusement?" The former's twin, he wore a kimono of white, matching his hair. The brightness of this seemed to make him glow. His sharp features and pointed ears made him a walking incarnation of fae folk. Every lore seemed to have hit the description dead on.

And here they stood nearly mirror images of each other,the only difference in the hue of their eyes. Retaining a stark hue of silver, was akin quicksilver ,the younger twin smirked. Such a hue was aptly bestowed upon this creature's eyes. Quick of both mind and tongue, Tsubasa was an enchanter if there ever was one. To him the use of mortals for amusement was not something new, regardless, he never did bore of mortals. When under the right pressure they never did cease to surprise him.

His eyes a clear blue, Tori was the more reserved. Reservation did little to abate his capricious nature. On whims the things he'd done to amuse himself, might sicken others. Mortals, such lovely little play things to him. He especially enjoyed the females. Perhaps that is why one that so wished to be given anything to assuage boredom presented the perfect target. Long elegant hands rested under his chin. His lips curved upwards as a chuckle left his lips.

"So now the choice has been made. Hoshi is my mortal, and the other girl yours?" Tsubasa nodded impish smirk upon his lips and intent dancing in those eyes. With a nod he was off. Tori turned to his scrying mirror. 'Now to check up on her.'

*-*-*-*

Hoshi sneezed. Sniffling she furrowed a brow.

"Someone's talkin' about me.." She muttered. Where had she heard that one again? Shrugging she walked onwards ignoring the quizzical look she recieved from those around her. Vash tilted his head.

"Did you say something?" She blinked.

"No.." She said walking her eyes in no direction whatsoever. ' He wasn't supposed to hear me..' Vash scratched his head and shrugged.

Maybe she liked talking to herself? Or maybe the heat was finally making him crack. A whole list of possibilities arose in his mind. He furrowed a brow. 'I'm thinking too much about the little things.' Looking over at her he wondered. 'Just in the last couple of days. She's getting into my head.'

He sweatdropped. That would be perfect. For all the flirting he did with women, and got no response, now one was beginning to get in his head. She had stopped to stretch, her leg had cramped for some odd reason as she bent to stretch it with an exasperated sigh.

The difference in height played a key role in the following event.

You see, she was completely UNDER his line of vision as he kept walking and tripped over her. You can imagine her frustration as she hit the sand, now in the midst of a tangle of limbs. The sand was hot. She growled. Frustrated she nearly yelled as her voice grated in frustration.

" Its not enough that I'm SHORT but , you had to go and trip OVER ME?!" She had managed to stick her head up somewhat to face him, it didn't do much good seeing as she was under him and flat on her belly. She was losing the fight with gravity as she tried to sit up and extricate herself from the klutzy blonde.

He was in shock , one minute standing the next toppled over atop the young woman. He grinned sheepishly as he sat up, only to realize he was still ontop of her. She was so close to losing her temper, he noted. With a nervous chuckle he jumped up and stood before her with a hand extended to help her up. Glaring she took it nonetheless and stood.

Scowling she walked ahead past the staring women who shook their heads. It was a non verbal way of displaying their embarrassment in being associated with him it seemed. Frowning he sighed. 'This just isn't going well for me..' He walked along falling a little behind.

He didn't deny that it was a little dampening to the spirits to have everyone you were traveling with mad at or embarrased of you.

Two sighs were released in unison. Hoshi and Vash shared a glance.

'Eh...' Little did they know they shared that same thought. Nearly blushing Hoshi quickly looked away. Vash shrugged a contemplative look upon his face. Studying her profile he noted the pink hue that colored her cheeks lightly and grinned. 'Ah..blushing already.'

*-*-*-*-*

Ai had awoken again, hearing those around her stirring. She glanced at the hanyou who'd jumped down from his perch moments earlier. 'Hmph..' She thought a rather sour expression on her face as she stood and stretched. She took care to roll her sleeping bag perfectly and put it into its seperate bag. She yawned her hand covering her mouth as the scent of ramen awoke her stomach , which growled as if to remind her of its existence. She patted her abdomen. 'You'll be fed soon enough. '

Sitting around the fire was an interesting experience, as far as eating could go. Savoring the noodles as she absently listened to the sounds of her companions. Sango and Kagome talking , Shippou making some remark to annoy the hanyou who growled but found eating more important. She looked up and found the houshi was looking at her. She quirked a brow.

Noting that she'd caught him in the act he did his best to look innocent. But how could he? It was not enough that Kagome-sama wore such a short kimono, now her too? It was tempting. Very tempting for a male that worshipped the female body by means of touch. He grinned at her. She gave him a knowing look and shifted. 'She doesn't seem to mind..' She had returned her attention to her food. His hands were twitching as he looked back to his food. He was struggling to keep his mind from straying.

Too bad it wasn't so successful. Before the end of the day he knew his hands would wander. He sighed and continued to eat.

Stumbling after hours of walking, without a break Ai glared at the hanyou. 'What kind of tyrant is he?! Does he wanna kill all of us?' She remained quiet, her discontentment only in the rather bland expression she wore. She wasn't about to complain, the last thing she wanted was to hear him reply nastily. She was tired, bored and growing closer to irritatability than she'd prefer. If she ever got the chance she'd have to remind herself to do something equally irking to the "leader' of their group. She nearly laughed imagining what her best friend might have done in her place.

And in her mind the scene played out quite nicely. Then again, when it's your mind, would it be all too bad?

* Insert dreamlike sequence music here. *

Hoshi grumbled about walking and simply sat down inhaling.

"I'm not made for this kind of work.." Gazing around rather passively she stretched and got rather comfortable. The fact that she'd fallen a bit behind not bothering her in the least. In her momentary relaxation she'd peacefully ignored her group which had stopped. A red streak appeared before her. Two very unhappy amber orbs bore into her own indifferent ones. He needed not to speak. She understood the reason for his vexation quite well.

"I'm...tired." Ignoring his unrefined snort she went back to taking her "break" .

However things couldn't be so easily attained in the real world. Onward they trudged. Through sleet, rain snow and heat , so they would move. A reminder of the Us postal service. Wonderful dependability. Her eyes narrowed to slits. 'WHY ME?!'

*-*-*-

Slumping down onto her bed roll with a sigh, her eyes set upon the sky. Sleeping was not in her mind at all, even laying it felt as if she might just fall. Her arms extended just then fingers curling to feel the coarseness of sand upon her palm and fingertips.

"Its finally not scorching hot.. " The temperature was dropping, the cool a nice change from the arid heat of the day. The crisp clean air whirling about the four travelers. A gentle kiss of comfort and drying of the sparse sweat that dotted the covered portions of their bodies. Rolling over lazily she had wiggled into the sleeping bag.

She spared a small smile at the other who lay awake with her.

Another conversation would soon begin. It was comforting, not to be alone. She'd found some comfort in a strange place. Propping her head up upon an upturned palm she smiled.

"Something on your mind?" He spoke, seeming to read her. She felt like a book, truthfully it made her feel a bit vulnerable; however, he seemed to be on the same wavelength. That made things a little easier to swallow. Which led her thoughts to pills, but she blinked realizing she had yet to respond. He had cocked his head to the side, a bit confused. "I'll take that as a yes."

"Well..I dunno, my mind's full of things. I keep jumping from one thing to the next. Its..disorienting. " She murmured her brows furrowing. Her expression accented that bit of confusion. He simply smiled. She mentally concentated on not allowing a blush to creep on her cheeks. Silently she thanked the night for being so dark.

"Care to share?" He said, with the limited visibility she could only imagine his "suave" look that came with that voice of his. She stifled a series of giggles.

"Just wondering how you pick up on things..so easily." He nodded. She smiled. " But don't worry about it. "



"You know..when you say it like that, I can't help but worry, that and it makes me want to know even more. " He smiled. " But I won't push it because I have faith that you'll tell me soon enough. "

She laughed. "Thats rich." She continued laughing and he blinked not finding humor in his previous statement. She took a breath and looked at him wiping the corners of her eyes. "I'll tell you things but not everything. Some things you just can't wait for, because they won't happen. " She thought about her words. 'Shit..that sounded cold..'

"...Oh.."

"Well..its not that I don't trust you, its that somethings just don't make enough sense to be shared." She was trying to remedy the consequences of her ever impulsive mouth. Just saying what came to mind. She had a bad habit of doing so. It wasn't received kindly most of the time.

" And here I thought you were being mean. " He chuckled. " But I should know better than to think you're mean, ne? " That innocence. How could he do it? She felt so flawed just then. Swallowing her self disgust she smiled, sure that he couldn't see it.

He did. She didn't know how clear she was swathed in moonlight just then, emotions flickering in her eyes now and then. So expressive was this strange girl that had somehow appeared in his life. It made things interesting that was for sure.

She wondered about the silence but let it be as she reclined.

"Thanks again for helping me get rid of insomnia.." She murmured sleepily as her eyelids drooped and she yawned.

"No problem."

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Finally an update,eh? Work and school -_-; blame them.

so review!