I do not own InuYasha or the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi.
The Mysterious Thief - Part Four
Inuyasha pried himself out of the hole Kagome buried him in and avoided all eye contact with Airi. He considered everything her fault and paced back and forth muttering to himself. His friends were seated on a large, smooth rock watching him become more and more flustered.
"Geez, how long is she going to sit down there," the half demon complained.
"That's what you get Inuyasha, for being so mean," Shippo taunted him. Inuyasha lunged at him, but the fox demon ducked behind Miroku.
"Master Inuyasha, why don't you just go apologize?" the flea suggested.
"Keh, me apologize? I didn't do anything. She's the one that kept saying all those sit commands and shouting and saying she was going to leave," he argued.
Miroku knew the only way this was going to get resolved was if the first move came from Kagome, so he nudged Sango in the ribs. She knew what he was trying to say and started to get up, but Airi placed her hand on her arm. She picked up on things easily and told Sango with her eyes that she would go instead.
When she reached the riverbank the young miko was sitting with her knees to her chest, watching dragonflies zip across the water. Airi sat down next to her and watched the dragonflies also. Kagome sighed knowing why she came.
"I'm not mad anymore; I just don't understand why he's being so unreasonable. I suppose he's getting pretty stir crazy up there, huh?" Kagome presumed.
Airi only nodded while glancing at the backpack lying next to her. She felt this might be her only chance if she was going to go through with her plan.
"I know you don't want to tell us anything about you, but if you ever change your mind you're welcome to travel with us. Inuyasha, though stubborn, appreciates a good fighter in the group. Well, I guess I'd better go up there and talk to him." Kagome stood up and brushed the back of her skirt off.
"You there!" a deep male voice called out.
They both turned to their left to see a well-armed host of bandits approaching: some on horses and some on foot.
Kagome took a few steps back, "Shit, I don't have my bow," she cursed.
"Hmm, what do we have here?" The commander squinted in the sunlight. "Looks like it's our lucky day boys!" he called to his men. He looked over the two girls, loudly praising their young figures and sweet faces. The men responded with whoops and whistles as they started to move closer.
Airi drew her axes, striking the blades together as they crossed in front of her, "Get behind me," she told Kagome. The young miko didn't waste any time following her orders, for the men were surrounding them and she couldn't run to get Inuyasha.
"The first man who catches one gets to keep her for himself," the commander announced.
His round belly shook as he chuckled suggesting that they ate well by attacking several villages. His sausage fingers reined his horse closer to them as his men advanced. Airi's green eyes narrowed and focused on the large group of men. She figured there were about thirty, and they wouldn't be easy to hold off. If she had been by herself she would've fled, but she poised herself and patiently waited for the first assault.
The first man to attack drew his sword and swung at her, but she trapped his sword with her right ax and swung the other one across his belly. Blood and intestines spewed out from his stomach as he stammered and fell to the ground. Blood pooled around him soaking into his hair and the light left his eyes. Kagome gasped, shocked by her belligerence toward the bandits.
"You're going to pay for that!" a voice shouted at her and they charged from all sides.
"Keep your back towards the water, but warn me if you get too close," the ax wielder directed.
Airi skillfully flitted and lunged back and forth in front of Kagome keeping them at bay. She gracefully swung the axes around like they weighed nothing, and hit and chopped away at their attackers, but she was still being pushed back. She glimpsed the yellow backpack to her right slowly getting further from reach. She lunged forward while smacking one guy in the head with the flat part of her ax and stooped down to swing her leg out to grab the handle with her foot. She shouldered the bag while elbowing another guy in the face and tried to make it back to Kagome's side.
She heard the young miko yell and caught sight of a man grabbing her arm. She fought harder to get to her, but the men were intent on separating them.
Back at camp Inuyasha stopped mid stride, his ears registering Kagome's voice. His fury coupled with the rushing stream had blocked out the raucous until now.
"Inuyasha, what is it?" Sango jumped up, but she knew from Kirara's transformation that whatever it was meant trouble.
Without answering, the half demon unsheathed tetsusaiga and raced towards the river. Kagome's second scream rung in his ears, ripping at his chest and drove the air from his lungs. He didn't think it possible, but he quickened his pace. Miroku and Shippo sprung up and Myoga silently dropped off Kirara before they chased after him.
The half demon took in everything as he neared the river. Kagome was in the midst of being carried off and Airi was defending, not attacking, but she had the backpack on.
"Why in the hell is she wearing it," he cursed under his breath. He made a mental note to deal with her later. His first priority was Kagome.
"Dammnit. Why does it have to be humans?" he whined, sheathing tetsusaiga.
There were two men fighting over Kagome and eventually one of them took her legs and the other grabbed her arms and started to carry her off. Inuyasha leapt over to her and knocked out the two men in one fell swoop. He reached down and caught Kagome under her back before she hit the ground. Looking into his amber eyes, she only saw concern and felt guilty for their fight earlier.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yes, but they're humans you should be more gentle," she reminded him.
He rolled his eyes, "You were being kidnapped, I was gentle," he answered, maneuvering her behind him away from danger. "Besides, maybe you should tell her that," he gestured to Airi who had just severed a man's arm off at the elbow. The amount of blood that covered the area was enough to make him sick.
The rest of the group reached the river and joined in. It made it a much fairer fight and they were starting to chase them off. The commander didn't like these turn of events and decided their main hindrance was Inuyasha. He pulled on his horse's reins and ran Inuyasha into the river.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome went towards him, but the commander grabbed her arm and pulled her onto his horse.
The commander laughed as the underwater current carried the half demon downriver. Then he shouted something to his men and galloped into the forest with four men as his guards. Miroku and Sango were set on fighting the bandits without harming them and couldn't get free and Shippo was all out of tricks. Kirara was having a tough time also with a few bandits who kept restraining her with ropes.
A few yards down Inuyasha was able to climb out. He shook off quickly and growled under his breath, "I don't care what Kagome says, I'm going to kill that guy," and raced back to her.
Airi was being pushed back further into the forest and saw it as a chance to escape. With the half demon gone no one would notice if she slipped out of sight. After cutting down one more man she turned and sprinted. Airi put one ax back in the harness, but kept the one in her right hand available. She had lost most of her pursuers except for a man with a ball and chain weapon that he kept launching at her. She dodged his last attack and rounded on him, throwing her ax directly at him. The blade smashed into his face splitting it in half. He dropped to his knees and then fell onto his back. Blood gushed out as she walked towards him and his body jerked violently. She grabbed the handle and twisted it with a flick of her wrist before yanking it out. He ceased all movement and she continued to flee down the path. Little did she know she was headed in the same direction the commander disappeared with Kagome.