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

The Mysterious Thief - Part Fourteen

Exactly as Inuyasha had predicted, small muscles in Airi's face began to twitch. She scrunched her eyebrows together and then suddenly shot upright. Her eyes quickly took in her surroundings and within seconds, she spotted Inuyasha. His accusing, amber eyes watched her from the shadows. Her mind raced over what happened in the underground caverns, but she had a pounding headache, that made it hard to recall everything. She assumed it was a side effect from the potions she had drunk the day before.

Inuyasha briefly glanced at his slumbering friends and then turned without a word to the female half demon. She tossed off the blanket and winced as she struggled to stand up. Inuyasha flitted from tree to tree until they reached a small clearing in the woods that he had scoped out earlier. He turned around to face her, calm and composed.

She jumped over a fallen tree trunk, landing softly on the other side, but suddenly her youkai dropped and she stumbled to her knees. Within an instant, Inuyasha was by her side. He reached his right arm behind her and held onto her right wrist while his other hand steadied her left arm. She raised her head up to look at him with wide eyes and her mouth slightly ajar.

"Geez! Don't over do it!" He scolded her, as he helped her sit on the ground.

She knew he wasn't a bad guy, but after her betrayal, his kindness caught her off guard. Inuyasha then crouched down at a respectable distance next to her, with his hands resting on the ground in front of him.

He didn't speak right away and the growing silence between them gave her butterflies in her stomach. He had planned to really let out all his frustration on her, but somehow lost his nerve.

Airi closed her eyes and sighed heavily when she couldn't stand the pressure anymore. "Inuyasha, I'm sorry," she apologized, humiliation and sincerity in her voice. "I have no excuse for everything that happened. I stupidly drank those potions that Hideaki gave to me an… and… turned on you guys. And I don't say that lightly," she confessed, still staring at the ground.

Inuyasha looked over at her, but she continued to avoid his gaze. He looked her over carefully, noticing the differences from when he first met her: her skin was a pale, icy blue, but no longer hardened like armor and that copycat scent of hers was strong, but he breathed lightly to keep from being overwhelmed. It was one of the few times that he regretted having such a keen sense of smell.

"Yea, it was stupid and it certainly doesn't make it any easier to trust you, after what you pulled," he warned.

The animosity in his voice was clear, but his words suggested something else.

"Don't misunderstand me. I don't plan on traveling with you guys. I'm just apologizing for the wrong I did," she stated sternly, finally looking at him.

Inuyasha, although he didn't show it, was relieved.

"It was nice of Kagome to offer, but I need to find my own path and it's best if I do it alone." Inuyasha couldn't help but roll his eyes at Kagome's over-friendliness.

"I don't even know how to fully control myself yet,"she added.

"Keh! Didn't seem that way to me," he snorted.

She scoffed and rolled her eyes, "Yea, I guess. But everything I know about myself came from a demon that killed my mother...and poisoned me," she grimaced, raising her eyebrows at the irony of the situation. "It's probably not the most reliable source of information," she frowned, unlocking her eyes from his again.

She looked down at her lap and fidgeted with her fingers.

Inuyasha's curiosity got the better of him, "Why did you do it?" He asked. "Why did you drink the potions?"

Airi sighed deeply lowering her head in shame as she did. "I thought if I had more power that I would be able to escape," she admitted sheepishly.

Now there was a statement he could relate to: the desire to have power to protect yourself.

Inuyasha hesitated over his next question and reluctantly mumbled it, "Wh...why didn't you wait for us?"

She picked her head up then and stared at him incredulously.

"Keh, nevermind. Forget I asked," he grunted.

"I did think about it, but I'm not used to depending on others. There was no guarantee that you would come," she explained, "So I took matters into my own hands. I can see how you wouldn't really understand that."

"Hmmph! I didn't always have someone by my side," he huffed, stuffing his hands into his sleeves.

"Uh, Can I ask you something?" Airi asked warily.

"Isn't that what we're doing here?" he replied.

"Right, so um, who is Kikyo?" Inuyasha tensed up immediately when she spoke Kikyo's name, causing her to immediately regret it.

"How the fuck, do you know about Kikyo?!" he growled, his hands now resting on tetsusaiga.

She could feel the atmosphere between them becoming violent: his youkai was rising and she struggled to keep hers from flaring in response. "I...I dreamt about you and her when I was unconscious, or maybe it was a memory," she blurted out quickly, in an attempt to quell his anger. Inuyasha furrowed his eyebrows even further, keeping his hands on tetsusaiga. "I think one of the potions was meant to set us at odds, using the feelings between you and her or something, but forget I mentioned it," she waved it off, hoping that he would relax again. She liked it better when he wasn't on the defensive.

"Yeah, well... it's complicated," he said, turning his face away from her. Inuyasha was quiet for a while as he reflected over Airi's behavior after drinking the potions and wondered if that was actually how Kikyo felt towards him.

When she figured that he didn't have anything else to say, she got ready to stand up. "I'll go back now," she said.

"Wait, there's something that demon probably didn't tell you," he spoke softly, his thoughts still occupied with Kikyo. Inuyasha didn't look at her, or rather wouldn't. "Half demons lose their powers on certain days," he began. "You'll be mortal, so watch your back. I thought you should know," he finished gruffly.

Airi was continually impressed by Inuyasha's generosity and helpfulness. She could see through the front he put up to protect himself, which only added to her admiration of him. "Inuyasha," she said, saying his name with a tenderness in her voice.

He peeked over at her again.

"I know it's not fair of me to ask, but will you do me a favor?"

"What is it now?" he complained, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Hold your breath," she prompted.

In response, his left ear twitched nervously, but despite that, he obeyed. Airi raised up on her knees and closed the distance between them. She brought her face close to his and exactly as the day before, she gently nudged her nose against his while leaning against his forehead.

He lost his balance when he pulled back in shock and she hastily sat back on her heels.

"I'm sorry," she whispered and steadied herself as she stood up.

She started walking back towards camp, while Inuyasha sat there half fallen over and frozen in place. He exhaled forcibly as he remembered to breathe again.

"What the fuck was that," he cursed under his breath. "Oi!" he yelled, springing up from the ground. He wasn't going to let her take advantage of him whenever she wanted. "What the hell are you playing at?" he demanded.

She turned to him with tears threatening to spill out from her eyes. "It's something I used to do with Tsuyoshi. I just needed a moment to feel like someone cared about me, without them losing control. You're the only one who can do that," she said.

She forced a half smile and turned without any further explanation or apology and walked back to camp. Inuyasha didn't say anything and just stood there flabbergasted.

"And this is the reason why I don't go around saving people," he muttered.

Although he understood what it was like to be alone, he just didn't have the patience for that kind of bullshit. Instead of returning immediately, he went hunting to blow off some steam. He was confident enough that Airi wouldn't hurt Kagome and the others.

Inuyasha's inner monologue while he hunted:

'How could she think that I don't understand what it's like to be alone? I know what it's like to be alone. If it wasn't for Kagome, then I would still be pinned against that tree.'

He smiled at the memory of when Kagome and him met and how much their partnership had grown.

'And we've come so far together and I have even more companions, than I ever thought possible. Together, we're going to send Naraku to hell where he belongs. That girl is going to have a long road ahead of her and it's not going to be easy. I mean damn, I've got ears, but her skin is fucking blue.'

In spite of himself he snickered aloud at the thought.

When Airi made it back to camp, everyone was still asleep. She stood there awkwardly for a moment. If she left now then she could avoid the embarrassment and shame that she undoubtedly felt, which would only increase once she had to interact with everyone. She noticed her axes laying on the ground near Miroku and she rolled her eyes at the predictability of them being near the lecherous monk, although she was also grateful. "What am I going to do?" she wondered aloud, considering the pros and cons. Finally, she took a decisive step towards the monk.

A/N: Oh Airi, she is always struggling with the right thing to do. As a half demon she often has conflicting feelings, much like Inuyasha, but with everything she's going through now, she's just lost and confused. Will she flake out on them? What do you think? Leave a review with your thoughts. On another note, I'm pretty sure this experience influenced his encounter with Shiori. Although he was willing to help her return to her mom, he was not keen on having any more long discussions with half demon females lol. Because you know, in my head this all actually happened in the series. :-) The power of imagination people...Happy Reading!