I do not own InuYasha or the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi.

The Mysterious Thief - Part Three

When Inuyasha got back to camp Airi had already started the fire and the fish was roasting.

Shippo excitedly hopped up to his eye level, "Inuyasha you missed it! It was amazing! Airi started a fire in one flash! It looked like magic!"

Inuyasha ignored him and went over to sit with Miroku, "What are we going to do with that girl?"

"What do you mean?" the monk responded.

Inuyasha gave him a stern look which prompted Miroku to clear his throat and answer him properly. "I don't see much of a problem. She hasn't wanted her axes back badly enough to come to me, but I'm not against tying her up for the night," he suggested with a devilish smile.

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. "Can you please think straight for one minute," he pleaded.

Before the monk could supply some clever answer in his defense Myoga chimed in, "Lord Inuyasha, where did you find her?"

"Still here, huh? She found us and I don't want anything to do with her," he snarled.

Myoga examined her more closely, "She's very pretty, a little exotic looking. I would gladly suck her blood to make her drowsy for the rest of the night," the flea offered happily, which even caused Inuyasha to twist up his face in disgust.

"Let's just see how the rest of the evening goes and we can decide from there," Miroku advised, but the half demon's growing distrust of her ebbed away at him.

Eventually, Kagome was able to ease him out of scowling long enough to sit beside her. Sango sat next to Kagome with Kirara in her arms and Airi sat alongside Miroku with Shippo resting on her lap. Inuyasha managed to be fairly civil and they ate and probed the newcomer with more questions, which she seemed to skirt around using indirect answers. As the fire dwindled they grew quiet and tired, but Inuyasha still had something on his mind.

"So what are we going to do with her?" he spat, disclosing his distaste for Airi.

"Inuyasha, I don't think she's our enemy," Kagome answered delicately.

The half demon glanced at everyone, but no one contradicted her. He still looked uncertain causing Airi to take her fate into her own hands: she had no desire to be tied up. She leaned towards the monk until she could feel his energy respond to her closeness.

"I won't be any trouble, I really am sorry about attacking you before," she said sweetly, addressing the group.

Miroku stuttered a bit, but spoke up to support this, "I th…think, it's just fine Inuyasha. You worry too much. Airi is a lovely young lady. So lovely in fact, that I have something to ask you. Would you like to bear my children?" he proposed taking her hand in his and stroking the top of it. He gasped, "Your hands feel like ice. We should get started right away, then?" he insisted with an encouraging boyish grin.

"That took longer than expected," Shippo chimed in, and everyone nodded in approval.

Miroku looked up at his friends wide-eyed, the fire dancing across them. "You know me better than that guys. We now know, that she's not a threat so it's okay to ask her," he explained.

Airi coyly removed her hand from his, "My hands are always cold Miroku, but I've learned to endure it. As for the children, I'm not ready for that," she teased. Her eyes continued to flirt with him, knowing that if the monk was on her side then the half demon would lose the argument.

"Fine, have it your way, but don't tell me later that I didn't warn you," he glowered at them and marched away from the campfire to sit against a tree cloaked in darkness.

"Don't let him get under your skin. He's actually a good guy, even though he won't admit it," Sango reassured her.

They didn't stay up long after that and everyone retreated to their designated sleeping areas. Sango was adamant about Airi sleeping clear across the camp from Miroku. She liked her, but the demon slayer noticed how she used the monk's weakness against him and she didn't trust him to behave.

At first light Inuyasha went for a quick run to clear his head. He had stayed up most of the night mulling over the curse she had and who might've given it to her. He couldn't work it out in his head, but he doubted Naraku had anything to do with it since it didn't end in death; but, he supposed the curse did inflict a certain kind of misery. When he returned he decided that they should just leave Airi where they found her and move on with their search for Naraku since she had already taken a day from their travels.

"Let's go, we lost enough time already." He managed to hide the slightly amused look on his face when Airi starting packing up also. "Keh, not you. You can go wherever you please as long as it doesn't involve us," he scoffed at her.

"What do you mean just leave her here?" Kagome rounded on him.

"Look we can't go around pretending to rescue everyone we come across. Besides, she's capable of taking care of herself. Miroku give the axes back," Inuyasha ordered, but the monk just looked forlorn at the thought of a lecherous plan unexecuted.

"Inuyasha you're so mean! How can you just leave her in the middle of the woods?" Shippo burst into tears. "Would you leave me behind?" he shouted at the half demon.

"I tried to, but Kagome stuck her nose in that, too," Inuyasha shot at him, causing Shippo to wail louder.

Kagome scooped the fox demon up in her arms and cradled him to her chest.

"Hey, what's your problem!?" she hollered, the color rising in her face.

Inuyasha's ears lay back on his head at the sound of her voice and Shippo grew nervous from the anger emanating from her. Sango took Shippo from Kagome's arms and stepped back and signaled to Airi to do the same. The newcomer felt nervous and awkward at being the cause of their argument.

"I'll just go, it's not a problem," she said softly.

"Absolutely, not!" Kagome yelled at her, "You're coming with us!"

"Kagome…..I said she's not!" the half demon roared.

Miroku knew what was coming soon and he too, took a few steps back.

"Master Inuyasha, I…." Myoga tried to warn him, but the half demon continued to dig a deeper hole.

"What I say goes, and that's that!" he barked.

Kagome set her jaw, "Oh, really? Well, then I guess you don't need me then, because I'm leaving with her!" She turned her back on him and folded her arms tightly across her chest.

"What!? Are you crazy!?" he said stunned, hurt by her words. "You ca..can't go anywhere! We need to find the rest of the shards!" He stammered, pointing at her back.

She looked over her should at him, "Oh yeah? Watch me," and with that she picked up her backpack and walked towards her bicycle.

"He…hey, get back here!" he shouted and ran after her.

He jumped in front of her before she reached her bike. Her eyes pierced through him when he made eye contact and he knew what was coming, but it was too late to make amends.

"Inuyasha…..Osuwari! Osuwari, osuwari, osuwari*!"

Kagome turned sharply and stalked away from him. She knew she had won the argument, but was too upset to look at him. She retreated down to the river leaving everyone else to deal with the pride wounded half demon.

Miroku and Sango shook their heads, well-aware that it was going to end that way, but Airi looked utterly shocked.

"I…I, what just happened?" Airi asked in a daze. "Oh, that's normal for them," Sango told her.

"Yes, I'm surprised Kagome was so patient with him for so long," Miroku added.

Airi still looked on amazed and wondered if the jewel shards were really worth all this trouble. From the corner of her eye she saw Miroku handing back her axes.

"I, um…uh," she tripped over her words.

"Don't worry about it, you're coming with us," the monk told her.

She put the axes back in her harness and glanced over at Inuyasha. She was starting to reevaluate her original scheme. Was she ready to steal from the only people who had accepted and trusted her?

*osuwari - sit command in Japanese