Chapter 36:
"Having Inuyasha there wasn't that bad after all, right, Sesshomaru?" Arisa teased as she walked beside Sesshomaru, now on their way to Naraku's hideout.
"Stop talking about him." He bluntly replied, and Arisa only pouted.
"Say…were you actually disappointed that he didn't come to your aid during that second war with the Panther tribe?"
"I told you to stop talking about him, did I not?"
"But I am asking about how you felt back then…"
Sesshomaru didn't reply, and left Arisa hanging.
"…I guess you were." She mumbled, answering her own question.
A few days later, Sesshomaru had wandered somewhere alone during the night, while Arisa and Jaken were fast asleep. Dawn came, and he has yet to be back.
"Sesshomaru…?"
Arisa groggily called out when she noticed that he wasn't around the moment she opened her eyes. She then woke Jaken by shaking his shoulder gently.
"W-what…?"
"Have you seen Sesshomaru…?"
The little demon was suddenly wide awake, and looked all over their surroundings.
"Sesshomaru-sama! Sesshomaru-sama!"
Arisa sighed as she sat down once again.
I can't believe he ditched us just like that…! Hopefully, it's just one of those days where he wants to be by himself...
Still at the forest, Jaken continued to walk back and forth, while Arisa sat there and watched him do so.
"Why don't you just sit down, and wait like you always do?" Arisa commented, her shoulders slump.
"Is that the worth of all the years I had served him?" he answered, earning a confused look from Arisa.
"What the heck does that have to do with waiting…?"
As if that question had sparked up something inside of him, his eyes gleamed with resolution.
"I am going to prove that my worth is more than this!" Jaken suddenly exclaimed, and Arisa's confusion went deeper.
"How exactly are you going to do that?"
"I am going to steal the Tetsusaiga from Inuyasha and bring it to Sesshomaru-sama!"
"What!? You can't possibly be serious!"
"I will do it. Watch me!" he said that, and scampered away from their spot, leaving Arisa dumbfounded.
"Hey, Jaken! Don't you dare!"
Arisa immediately stood up to chase Jaken, and just as she was almost able to; a mist covered her path, and it began spreading all over the forest.
Now what is that little punk up to!?
As she cleared her path using the two cuts, she found Jaken scolding a demon who brought familiar weapons in front of him: Sango's hiraikotsu, Miroku's staff, Kagome's bow and arrows, and Shippo's trickery stuff.
"I told you to bring the Tetsusaiga! The sword that Inuyasha has on his hip!"
The demon servant's body drooped. "But he didn't take the bait or let his sword down…"
Jaken's mouth fell open, but soon, he was again encouraged.
"Give these weapons back to them. I have another plan in mind." He ordered the demon servant, as he sat on the ground assembling his 'things.'
Arisa silently giggled at Jaken's failed first attempt, and so she decided to secretly watch him execute his next plan.
Jaken disguised himself as a blacksmith who offered sharpening weapons for free. Inuyasha's group happened to stumble upon him, and he immediately stopped them, and started his sales' talk.
Arisa did a face-palm as she saw Jaken's obvious disguise.
Does he honestly think they will fall for that…?
"Wow, what a generous blacksmith. I'll take your offer." Miroku happily said, as Sango and Shippo nodded along. They threw their weapons on his carpet, except for Inuyasha.
"Keh! I don't think anyone would just offer something for free. This guy's bogus; I'm telling 'ya." Inuyasha cockily commented, and went ahead, much to Jaken's dismay.
Arisa mischievously chuckled at Jaken's second failure, but was shocked to see him actually sharpen their weapons.
Woah…should I go and help him…?
Arisa thought, then after a minute, she decided not to.
I think it would be better to not meddle just yet.
Jaken was done with his 'work' by dusk, and soon, he fell asleep due to his weariness.
Arisa also fell asleep along the process, as she got tired from watching him do all the polishing and stuff.
Later, Miroku and Sango came back to get their weapons, with Inuyasha tagging along. They saw the 'blacksmith' sound asleep, and so they slowly reached for their weapons. They were actually amazed at his work.
"See, Inuyasha? He was the real deal." Miroku commented as he studied his staff carefully.
"My hiraikotsu has never been this shiny…!" Sango commented as well, prompting Inuyasha to look over their gears.
"Y-you're right!" he said regretfully as they walked away from the scene. Shippo left a note to the 'blacksmith' before catching up to them.
Night came, and Arisa was awakened by Jaken's shrill cry.
What the…!
She sat up and saw Jaken in a state of alarm.
"Aaaahh! I can't believe I slept for too long…!"
Jaken complained loudly as he stood up and looked all over his carpet; only to find them gone.
"Aaaahhh! The weapons!"
Panicking, he searched for them, until he saw a note that said:
'You were sleeping, so we got our weapons by ourselves. Thanks for your offer!'
Jaken's face scrunched in annoyance.
"I am such an idiot! Hah, no matter. I am not giving up…!"
Arisa shook his head slowly, reacting to Jaken's letdown. Despite that, she followed Jaken to see what his third plan was.
Jaken lured the group in a hot spring, and was more than happy when they took the bait without any doubts and hesitation. Because of that, they removed everything and brought their things down, unguarded. As they bathed, he gassed them; which made them unaware of their surroundings.
Arisa was shocked to see that his third plan was actually working. Jaken proceeded to wrap the Tetsusaiga using Inuyasha's kimono so that he wouldn't be repelled by the demon-affecting barrier. That was when Arisa finally interfered.
"Jaken…!"
Arisa called out as she approached the little demon.
"What are you doing here!?" Jaken answered back, taken aback by her appearance.
"You can't be serious about stealing Tetsusaiga!"
"Why don't you just cooperate with me and bring this to Sessomaru-sama?"
"No, I will not. Leave that sword behind!"
"Arisa…!"
"Jaken! You don't have to do this. If you aren't worthy, Sesshomaru would've tossed you aside a long time ago!"
The little creature's eyes widened, as he came to understood what Arisa was saying.
"I…I guess you're right."
"We better go, Jaken. I have a feeling he's back."
He let go of the Tetsusaiga, still feeling upset of his loss.
However, as Arisa waited for Jaken, she was suddenly captured by someone from behind.
"I can't believe you let your guard down."
The captor said, and she recognized that voice.
"Kagura…!" she said as she turned to see her.
"Good girl. Naraku has ordered me to do this, so blame him, not me." She uttered as she released her feather hairpin; taking a hop on it and they flew away right after.
Kagura held her hands tightly, restraining her from doing anything except for squirming, if she wanted to.
"He informed me that your hands were quite the weapon."
Arisa's face twisted.
"How in the world does he know about this?"
"That dude holds a lot of information, especially to those whom he considers his enemy."
Arisa gritted her teeth as she was too dumbfounded that Naraku had found out about her powers.
Damn it…! With her hands on mine, I can't even wound her to make my escape…!"
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