I do not own InuYasha or the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi.
The Mysterious Thief - Part Seven
Inuyasha kept watch again, but grew tired as the night progressed. He began to nod off when his right ear twitched at the sound of a soft voice.
"Please, no, I'll do what you say," Airi called out in her sleep.
Inuyasha got up and crouched beside her. She was steadily getting louder so he tapped her on the shoulder causing her to thrash wildly. He shook her firmly by the shoulders and she bolted upright. He instinctively caught her before she fell back to the ground and her eyes fluttered open trapping him in a pool of green. Airi relaxed in his arms, but noticed that he held his breath. She genuinely liked Inuyasha and being close to him stirred feelings in her. The half demon seemed to sense that and lowered her to the ground.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," she apologized, avoiding further eye contact.
The half demon moved away before inhaling again. "I wasn't sleeping," he assured her. "Does your past always give you nightmares?" he asked, but she didn't answer.
"I overheard what you told Kagome and Sango earlier," Inuyasha said.
Airi closed her eyes for a moment, shame replacing her feelings of lust.
"You're better off not going back, you know. If they didn't want you the first time, they won't want you again," he advised, settling back on the ground.
She sat up slowly this time, drawing her legs to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs.
Airi sighed, "Maybe, but there's only one way to find out."
She looked at his face to see pain and confusion there and wondered if he had been through something similar.
"I don't think I'll go back to sleep if you want to get some rest," she offered.
"Who says I'm tired?" he barked at her agitated.
She smiled shyly back, "I don't know, I can just feel it off of you. I've always been this way….. Sensitive to others' feelings," she explained.
He remembered a couple of times where she proved that to be true and took her up on her offer.
She settled against a pine tree and thought of Tsuyoshi and what Inuyasha said to her. She wasn't tempted by sleep for the rest of the night, but hoped the sun would rise soon. She felt anxious and lonely, but the sky gradually turned a deep blue from its nightly shade and her feelings eased.
Airi stood up to stretch and quietly walked down to the hot spring. It wasn't far from camp and she longed to be comforted in the warmth of the dark water. She took the axes out of her harness and laid them down, then reached down to remove her boots when a set of hands seized her. One hand twisted her arms painfully behind her and the other covered her mouth.
Hot breath grazed her ear, "Don't fight me or I'll kill them," the voice warned.
She nodded in agreement and was dragged away from her new-found friends.
A couple hours went by before Shippo started to stir. He had fallen asleep first and the morning sunshine urged him awake. He stretched and lay quiet while his friends continued to sleep, but grew bored after a half hour. He saw Inuyasha still asleep and decided to check the perimeter like the half demon normally would at first light.
"That's right, I've got to be the man around here with everyone still asleep," the fox demon whispered, standing as tall as he could.
Shippo strutted through the woods, but was easily distracted by berries, which led him closer to the hot spring. He paused when he saw deep treads in the earth and examined them closely. The young fox pretended to investigate the cause of those marks when he tripped over something hard and metal. It initially startled him until he realized they were Airi's axes. Excited about the prospect of someone to talk to, he glanced around for her in the water and in the bushes nearby. Panic didn't fully arise in him until he went back to camp and she wasn't there.
"Inuyasha, Inuyasha!" Shippo yelled frantically, pouncing on the half demon.
"Wha..What?" the half demon jolted awake, snatching up the fox demon by the tail.
"Airi is gone, she's missing!" he shouted, still upside down.
"What is it?" Miroku mumbled half awake.
Sango and Kagome sat up and rubbed sleep from their eyes.
"Slow down Shippo, tell us what happened," the monk urged.
Inuyasha released the fox and searched for anything amiss by the tree he last saw her under, but didn't smell or sense anything out of place.
"I got up and walked and tripped and she's left!" he rushed the words.
"Shippo? Now you're saying she left?" Sango doubted scratching her head, accompanied by a mew from Kirara.
Kagome slipped out of her sleeping bag and knelt alongside the fox demon.
"Try one more time Shippo. Take a deep breath and speak slowly," she encouraged patiently.
The fox demon exhaled deeply, "I was down by the hot spring and I found deep tread marks in the ground like someone was dragged off and Airi's axes were just lying on the ground. I couldn't find her anywhere," he finally explained.
Fully understanding the situation the demon slayer spoke up first. "Let's spread out and search. Perhaps she went further into the woods," she hoped.
The demon slayer ducked behind a tree to change into her fighting clothes, while Kagome rolled up her sleeping bag and put it in her backpack. The two women searched together flying over the forest on Kirara. Shippo went with Miroku and combed through the area around the hot spring for any more signs of struggle. Inuyasha searched alone darting among the branches, covering a wide margin and doubled back. They gathered again at camp with little progress.
"Maybe she just decided to leave," Miroku suggested, rather sadly.
"No, I don't think so," Inuyasha interjected. "I smelt a sickening sweet aroma mixed with her scent down by the hot spring. I also found these," he said holding out his fist.
They leaned in to get a better look at the strands of hair laid across his palm.
"They're grey, just like Airi's hair!" Shippo remarked, unnecessarily.
"Those could've been there since last night though," Miroku thought out loud.
"Maybe, but I don't think she would've left these behind," the half demon disagreed, tossing her axes on the ground.
Kagome hid a smile for she was grateful Inuyasha didn't immediately give up on Airi.
"Look, I can follow that scent as far as it will take us. Hopefully, that'll lead to some clues," he asserted.
They were all unanimous and packed up quickly, only eating some left over potato chips and berries.
The group followed the scent into a thick, dense, low-lit section of the woods. Only a few rays of sunlight filtered through the covetous tree tops. Their way was noisy when they strayed off the beaten path to a forest floor littered with dead leaves. The further in they traveled the more the forest seemed to be alive, possibly enchanted somehow.
"I don't like this," Miroku said, eyeing the woods warily. "I'm getting an ominous feeling from these trees," he confessed.
"Hmm, I feel it too," Kagome admitted, stopping to get off her bike and walk it.
"Are you sure this is right?" Sango questioned peering into the darkness that surrounded them. She flinched when she saw something move. "I don't think we're the only ones in here," she whispered, putting everyone on edge.
Kirara hadn't transformed yet, which was always an encouraging sign, but Shippo was shaking nervously.
"Let's keep moving," Inuyasha ordered.
They continued on until Inuyasha abruptly lost the scent. He sniffed the ground, air, and different trees to try to pick it up again, but it just ended.
"Damn. I was following that sweet scent instead of hers," the half demon muttered.
"You probably lost the scent due to a barrier," Miroku walked up to where Inuyasha stood and inspected the air space. He stooped down to pick up a rock and chucked it in the direction they were traveling, but it didn't hit anything.
"Hmm, very peculiar," the monk pondered.
Staying still in that dense dark forest started to edge away at their sanity and they desperately looked for clues of where to go next.
All of a sudden a familiar voice greeted them from above, "You lot just poke your nose in everyone's business."
They looked above them as a female figure dropped through a thin clearing in the trees and landed in their path.
Inuyasha bared his teeth and growled, "Kagura."