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It wasn't too much longer after that that Izayoi realized that they had become more, whether they had been trying to or not. She realized that Inutaisho was what she had been looking for all her life. He made her feel alive and wonderful. When she was with him, it felt like they were the only two people in the world, that they could do anything, and nothing else mattered.
She missed him terribly when he was gone. She told him so once, after he returned from one of his trips.
"You should come sometime," he told her.
"And just wander around the wilderness?"
"More or less."
"No thank you. I've traveled through the wilderness. I was cold, hungry, and uncomfortable."
"If you ever come with me, I promise that you won't be cold, hungry, or uncomfortable."
Eventually, Izayoi took him up on his offer. She wanted to see the places that he talked about, to see where he felt the most at home, even if it was away from everything she knew. Anything past the well-traveled roads was wilderness to her, and she had had a very dissatisfying taste of that while making her journey here. But he was talking about the real wilderness, even past all that, where not even bandits trafficked or make their hideaways. In a way, it sounded absolutely thrilling, if a little terrifying. But she supposed that she couldn't ask for a better guide than someone who had walked there for centuries.
Izayoi was also aware of what a trip alone might lead to. But she didn't care, since she felt that it was bound to happen eventually anyway. She knew by now that she was in love with him.
The next time that he left, she accompanied him. They set out in the direction that the least roads were, and soon they had left them all together. The hills and the forests were incredibly beautiful, and weren't terribly hard to make her way through. There wasn't that much underbrush, at least in the spots that he picked to walk through. But all around them was an endless sea of green. Izayoi knew that if she were alone she would have been hopelessly lost.
When she had asked what they were going to do, Inutaisho told her that this was really just a trip for her, since he wouldn't take her if he was going to be anywhere dangerous or traveling great distances.
"So you come to these places how often, then?" she asked.
"I come when I'm not doing anything else. They're just resting places--like the Kikuchi's house. I go there if I want to be indoors for a change, or am perhaps in the mood for a traditional meal. But I prefer the outdoors. It's home. Youkai have a greater connection with nature, I think. I usually spend more time at these places. Until recently," he added, with a glance in her direction.
Izayoi looked down, but smiled.
By sunset, they were walking in an enormous forest, with trees so tall that Izayoi couldn't see their tops, and trunks so wide that her arms wouldn't reach even halfway around them.
"This is so beautiful," she said. "I had no idea that there were even places like this. And it's all so old looking."
"It's a youkai forest, more or less."
"What does that mean?"
"First, that it's old," Inutaisho said. "Humans don't like things that are a great deal older than they are. It makes them uncomfortable. They stay out, as a general rule. Youkai like places that are old. So all that's left is youkai. And now, because of the youkai, it's a youkai forest."
"So the trees aren't alive then, or anything like that?" she asked, half-joking.
"Only some."
"Really?"
"One of them is a rather good acquaintance," he said. "But really, there aren't that many more youkai here than in any other forest. It's just that any here have run of it, if they choose, since hardly any humans enter. It should be more overrun, really, than it is."
"Do other youkai stay out because of you?"
"Some do, undoubtedly. Look, we're here." He pointed ahead, to the abrupt end of the trees. Beyond them was a cliff face, which overlooked a splendid green valley below and the remnants of the sunset that were painted across the sky beyond. He sat down on the edge of the cliff, and motioned for her to do the same. Izayoi did so, wondering at how right this all felt. Sitting in the middle of nowhere watching the sunset with a youkai had never crossed her mind as the perfect day, but it most definitely was.
As they sat and the darkness fell around them, he told her more about the places that he had been--places all over Japan, even some on the continent. Some Izayoi had never heard of before, and some were famous sites.
He described Mt. Fuji to her, which she had only seen paintings. He told her about how it looked from afar, what it was like standing at its top, even about its last eruption.
"Everything sounds so wonderful," she sighed.
"Someday, I'll take you to Mt. Fuji."
"But women aren't allowed on Mt. Fuji."
He grinned. "I doubt that youkai are allowed either. Besides, who's going to stop us?"
"Fine. We'll go then," she said with a smile. Then, "What's that like?"
"What?"
"Be able to do whatever you want, whenever you want."
"I don't know. I don't know any other way."
"Hm." Izayoi suddenly shivered. "I just realized how cold it was getting. I could get my blanket out, I suppose. I should have brought another cloak for myself, though."
"I did. Take this," he said, pulling something out of his clothing.
Izayoi took it, surprised and flattered that he had put so much thought into her comfort. Even though she had fully told him how unpleasant her trip west had been, she hadn't expected him to commit it all to memory. She spread the cloth out. It was the top half of a set of clothing. It was light, but she wrapped it around her like a cloak anyway. To her surprise, it fully blocked the wind and the chill in the air, leaving her feeling completely warm.
"What is this?" she asked.
"It is made from the fur of the fire rat. It was my mother's," he added.
"Your mother's? But these are men's clothes."
"Youkai women are rarely traditional, my mother even less. She was a warrior--a powerful one, and a good one. She helped teach me. But you are correct about the clothes. These weren't hers originally. They belonged to her older brother. But when he was killed one day, she discarded her own clothes and wore his. He died long before I was born, so to me, they were always hers."
Izayoi wasn't sure what to say about him giving her something to wear that was so old, and had such a history. "Thank you."
"Would you like to take a short walk?"
"Where?"
"There," he said, pointing.
"Down there? In the valley?"
"Yes."
"All right." Izayoi stood up as he did. However, he didn't turn around or start moving in any direction, but only stood, still looking down at the valley. "Well?" she asked.
"Well, let's go," he said, putting an arm around her waist.
She momentarily panicked. "From here? Off the cliff?"
"Don't you trust me?"
"Yes, of course. But--"
"Then hold on." His grip tightened and he took a step forward, and then another. Nothing happened.
Izayoi looked down, and then back at the cliff. Her feet dangled uselessly and the cliff was several feet behind them, yet the two of them were still there, suspended in midair. Then slowly they began to descend towards the land below.
"You can fly?" she asked.
"More or less. This form can't for large distances, but hanging or moving in the air isn't a problem."
Izayoi poked him with her elbow. "You could have told me that before you stepped off."
"Now where would the fun in that be?" He smirked as they landed. "Now, you stay right here, I'm going to get some firewood. I'll be right back."
She nodded. Then he jumped up, and was gone from her sight. Izayoi found that under the cliff was an overhang, one part of which was quite deep and cozy. It was also shielded from the wind, so she spread the fire rat cloth out on the grass first, and then folded the remainder over herself. Then she began to unwrap the rice and other food that she had brought. Before she was done, Inutaisho was back with the wood, which he built a fire for her with. Izayoi had her meal, and then decided that she had to go to sleep or she wouldn't be able to do anything the next day.
She found a comfortable spot, and then covered herself with her thin blanket and the cloak over that. After a minute of lying there, she realized something. He was still sitting there, staring out at the land before them, his back against the wall. She suddenly remembered what he had said about not needing sleep. Was he going to do that all night? Well, he must be, since surely he wouldn't leave her here. But neither option seemed that appealing, actually. Izayoi couldn't decide which sounded more unnerving--someone watching her sleep all night, or being alone in the wilderness all night.
"Aren't you going to sleep?" she finally asked, knowing that he wouldn't, but at least wanting to know which alternative it was going to be.
"No."
"You're not going to leave, are you?"
"No."
"Are you just going to sit here, then?" she pressed.
"Yes." He paused. "Actually, I was planning on staring unblinkingly at you all night," he added sarcastically.
"Shut up."
He laughed. "Do you know how many people have ever even dared to suggest that I shut up?"
"I thought that was why you liked me. And you deserved a 'shut up' for that."
"Very unladylike, telling people to shut up," he continued.
"I just don't like the idea of someone watching me sleep all night, that's all."
"I could go to sleep, would that make you feel better?"
"No! Then something might sneak up and kill us. Or at least me."
"Look," he said. "You have to sleep. I don't. I'm probably going to do what I would do if I were out here alone, just sit and watch things. You won't even be interesting unless there's something about to attack you." He smirked. "Which it won't. So just go to sleep already."
"Fine." Izayoi turned her back to him and fell asleep. Eventually.
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I lied, Inutaisho thought.
He didn't mean to at the time, but it happened anyway.
He ended watching her sleep for half the night. First it was just a quick glance in her direction, and then looking back out at the landscape. Soon it became shifting his gaze between her and the land. Though each time he found it harder to look away from her.
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Notes: What can I say? I like the idea of the last great dog demon being a woman. :)