I do not own InuYasha or the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi.
A/N: I decided it made more sense to let you know where the chapters fit in, at the beginning. This one should take place right after episode 54 in between the season break. I got a little writer's block, but was inspired by an idea from MorikoTheHalfAngel so big thanks to her (check out her stories). Enjoy!
The Lost Chapters: The Mysterious Thief Part 1
Inuyasha and his friends were traveling since early morning and decided to take refuge under a large oak tree. The tree was in a clearing just over a small hill to the right of the forest path. Kagome gladly swung her leg off her bike and walked it up the hill as Shippo and Kirara frolicked in the grass. Miroku slowed his pace and Inuyasha flopped down the ground. Kagome put the kickstand down and Sango helped her lay out a blanket. They started a fire to boil water for tea and the Cup of Noodles Kagome carried in her backpack.
They ate quietly and enjoyed the cool shade, but peace didn't last long.
"Hey! Inuyasha stop it!" Shippo snapped at him; but the fox demon's loud protests weren't enough to stop him from stealing his noodles. "Aaaah! There's going to be nothing left," the fox demon sniveled.
"Inu…yasha," Kagome glared at him.
He froze instantly in fear of her saying the word. Instead she sighed and dug around in her backpack for a bag of potato chips.
Just then, a small metallic looking ball rolled onto the blanket. Sango's eyes widened with recognition, but before she could warn the others it exploded and released a massive cloud of smoke.
"Hey! I ca…can't see!" Shippo coughed, stumbling through the smoke.
Sango hastily put her gas mask on and stood up, tightening her grip on hiraikotsu*. They were used to being attacked, but normally it was something they expected or ran towards by choice. Inuyasha covered his nose with his arm and scanned around for their attacker. He spotted something yellow slide out of his peripheral vision and knew it had to be Kagome's backpack. He rolled his eyes, recalling several instances where she forgot about the jewel shards in the midst of chaos. The half demon jumped out of the smoke barrier and landed in the grassy field. He couldn't locate anyone fleeing the area, but sniffed the air and caught wind of Kagome's scent leading into the forest behind him.
"Keh, this thief isn't too smart?" he scoffed and disappeared into the forest.
While Inuyasha went after their mystery thief, Kagome fumbled around on the blanket for her quiver and bow.
"Kagome? Are you alright?" Miroku called.
He hadn't heard Inuyasha since the blast and assumed he had passed out from the heavy smoke. The monk got on his feet and gripped the beads of his wind tunnel in his left hand.
"Ye..yes, and I fo..ound my bow. I'm going to pur..rify the smoke," she answered between coughs.
She clumsily notched an arrow and aimed towards the sky. The smoke dissipated almost immediately after she released the arrow.
Sango removed her gas mask after deciding the danger had passed and gasped: not for fresh air, but from shock.
"Hoshi*, what are you doing?" She addressed him through clenched teeth.
"Sango, I couldn't see you and I was concerned for your safety," he teased with closed eyes and a broad smile. He showed no sign of removing his hand from her rear.
"There's no reason to find me, now!" She screamed and smacked him across his left cheek.
Shippo and Kagome just shook their heads at his predictable lecherous behavior.
"Kagome, what are you looking for?" Shippo asked, noticing that she had been glancing around since the smoke cleared.
"I don't see Inuyasha anywhere," she said staring off into the forest.
"Or the intruder," Miroku observed. "There's nothing to do, but wait for him to return," he concluded, sitting back on the blanket.
"Don't worry, Kagome, if it gets late we can search for him with Kirara," Sango offered. The young miko nodded but remained restless. It wasn't just Inuyasha she worried about, her backpack was gone too. She was sure he'd be upset about the missing jewel shards, but she really hoped her Math book would still be in there, if he found it. There was no doubt in her mind that it would be the first thing tossed out of the pack. About a half hour went by before a red gaudy outfit finally emerged through a cluster of bushes. He was dragging someone in one hand and two axes in the other. It was hard to see the face of the person he caught, but Miroku quickly noticed it was a female.
"Inuyasha, you shouldn't be so rough with young ladies," the monk rushed over.
The annoyed half demon released her wrist, and let the axes drop behind him.
"I keep telling him this, but it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks," Miroku greeted the young girl, extending his arm out to her.
Inuyasha flicked his ear at this and was about to retort when Kagome gave him a threatening look. Rather than lash out, he shoved the backpack into her arms, thrust his hands in his sleeves and looked away from her. Kagome's eyes began to water and the half demon nearly jumped out of his skin.
"Kagome, I…I di…" he stammered.
"Thank you, Inuyasha. I was afraid my Math book was lost forever," she beamed, hugging the bag.
The half demon's mouth hung open for a second, "What!? You think I went after a lousy book? The jewel shards woman, that's all I care about," he scolded her.
"Oh, yeah, those too," she quickly dismissed him.
The newcomer eyed the monk suspiciously, but accepted his hand to help her up. Miroku barely able to contain his excitement decided to take it a step further and pulled her into his chest. Before she could react, Miroku was already stroking and telling her that he would protect her. She got over the shock rather fast and pushed away from him with surprising strength. She edged towards Inuyasha as if for protection and something in Kagome pulled at her heart for a brief moment.
She hadn't realized until now, but the girl was tall and quite pretty. Her eyes were an intense emerald green that were calm, but observant. Her tanned skin made your eyes go straight to her rosy lips. She looked young, but her wavy shoulder length hair was light gray with bangs swayed to the right, framing her face. She wore a midnight blue kimono shirt with matching blue pants and black boots. Her black shoulder shields, similar to Sango's, doubled as an ax harness and from middle finger to elbow she wore black gloves. To complete her outfit there was a black obi* around her waist encircled with rope and gracing her neck was a thin, orange, metal necklace. Kagome's observation of the girl was interrupted by Kirara who mewed and rubbed affectionately against the girl's leg. This seemed to relax her a bit and she looked over each member of the group. She noted that it was a strange collection of people and reminded herself to be careful; after all, she did get caught.
Taking her cue from Kirara, Sango strode up to the girl, "Don't mind him, just keep your distance," she smiled at her. "I'm Sango," she introduced herself.
The girl not sensing any threat relaxed her shoulders, "My name is Airi (I' dee)," her voice a soft whisper, barely audible.
"I'm Kagome, wh…" she was interrupted by Inuyasha's booming words.
"Are you guys kidding me, she uses a smoke bomb on you, steals your stuff and you want to be friends?" he growled.
Airi thought better of her close distance to him and backed away. Her eyes flashed between her captors and the axes lying behind Inuyasha.
"Well, I'm trying to find out what she wanted," Kagome yelled back, "as you said before it wasn't my Math book she was after."
Inuyasha stared angrily at the young miko and flared his youki*, but she matched his anger and didn't falter. A low grumbling noise made his left ear twitch, but he wasn't the only one to hear it. The group turned to gawk at Airi's loud groaning stomach.
"I was hungry and I saw you taking all that food out of your bag, that's all," she confessed, "To be honest, I don't normally get caught," she admitted sheepishly.
"Yeah, you're pretty quick for a human, but not quick enough," the half demon gloated.
Kagome pushed past him, "We can share," she offered, much to Inuyasha's protest.
They settled back on the blanket and Kagome made another serving of Cup of Noodles. Airi was grateful for the food, but pleased to learn they carried something much more valuable… sacred jewel shards.
hiraikotsu - Sango's boomerang weapon
hoshi - Japanese term for monk
obi- a broad sash worn around the waist
youki- demon energy