Chapter 82

Towards the Nara Pass



"Sesshomaru, slow down a bit!" Mai breathed out, as she staggered and nearly fell again – the demon's pace was murderous, as though the fight didn't do any damage to his strength. The girl decided, that his stamina must be still superhuman.

Sesshomaru was marching quite ahead now and Mai had to struggle not to lose him out of her sight. Finally he stopped, letting her catch up to him.

"I don't have the strength to keep on walking anymore!" the girl was complaining.

The blisters on her feet were killing her, not to mention the fact, that she really needed to get her sleep soon. Mai trotted to Sesshomaru and saw, that he was looking on something. She followed her gaze, curious, what caught the demon's attention. A boat. It was a small fishing boat, it had even nets inside and looked as though the owner left it only for a short while, about to come back soon.

"Get in." Sesshomaru commanded shortly.
Mai gawked at him and looked around cautiously.

"Um… Sesshomaru…" she began unsurely. "Are you sure, that it's alright to steal someone's boat?"

The inu-youkai glared at her coldly and the girl saw with the corner of her eye his hand wandering to the hilt of sword. Somehow she knew exactly what he was planning to do if the owner showed up – Mai learned already, that if Sesshomaru faced a problem, he usually got rid of it using his sword or claws. Knowing, that there was no point with arguing with him, she crawled into the small boat. Anyway it should be faster to use it, right?

The dog demon stepped into the boat after the girl and pushed it away from the river shore, using a paddle. Precisely in this moment, two men – one old and the other one younger - sprang out of the bushes and began yelling.

"Our boat!" the one with the white hair shouted, pointing the boat, that was just being hijacked by Sesshomaru and Mai. He grabbed the younger man's sleeve and shook it energetically. "Nobuoki, chase after those thieves!"

"HALT!" the younger man yelled, jumping into the water and trying to catch the boat.

Mai grabbed another paddle and helped Sesshomaru get away from the shore as quick as possible.
Mainly thanks to her frantic efforts and the strong current, the boat was already out of the rightful owners' reach. After a few more swings with the paddle, the girl put it back into the boat, seeing, that Sesshomaru had everything under control – the water current was strong, so all the demon had to do was to steer. Mai sighed heavily. That was a one crazy day. Normally she would disapprove of stealing, but kept her mouth shut. The circumstances were exceptional and they needed all the speed they could get and taking the river route would save a lot of time, as the path through the mountains was long and exhausting.

Speaking of exhausting, Mai began to feel the fatigue. The sun was high on the sky, it was perhaps one or two hours after the noon, but a lot happened and the girl was now barely conscious. Not to mention the terribly aching feet... The girl lifted her head and met Sesshomaru's gaze boring into her. The demon scanned her up and down.

"Sleep." He said simply and turned his attention back to their surroundings. Mai furrowed her brows, not being happy about Sesshomaru commanding her.

"It's alright. I'm only a little bit tired." She lied. The inu-youkai narrowed his eyes at her.
"You are no use for me if you are unable to walk on your own." He stated harshly. "Get your sleep. You will need it."

Mai's face turned red with anger. Why the hell must he be like that all the time?! She clenched her fists, about to retort in a witty way, but took a few calming breaths instead. She knew, that the dog demon was right – there was a long journey ahead and she would need all the strength she could get.
She was about to lay down, when something caught her attention – the paddle, Sesshomaru was holding, was covered in red liquid. She looked closely and noticed the drops of blood slowly dripping from the demon's fingers.

"You're bleeding." Mai informed the inu-youkai. Sesshomaru looked at his arm indifferently, then at his sleeve, that was beginning to change its color to red and shrugged his shoulders.
"It is just a scratch." He said shortly. "I told you to rest."

The girl brushed off his attempt to change the topic and moved closer to the dog demon. She saw, that the blood was leaking from a would on his shoulder – the fabric there, once white, was now completely red and wet, so the blood must be fresh. Mai furrowed her brows. She was getting worried, as usually such injuries healed in a matter of minutes and this one seemed to be still open. She decided to take closer look.

"Sesshomaru, show me your shoulder." She said, giving the demon a stubborn look. "You're wounded, aren't you?"

The inu-youkai slightly moved away from her, just a bit, as there wasn't much space in the boat.
"Hn." He glared at her, as though wanting to fend the girl off. "I said, that it is just a scratch. It will heal."
Mai narrowed her eyes at the demon. She noticed, that the way Sesshomaru was trying to wriggle away was strange. Probably he was just ashamed and confused, given his current… condition. The girl rolled her eyes, cursing his stubbornness and stupidity.

"Don't move." She said shortly and swiftly reached out, grabbing the hem of Sesshomaru's haori. The inu-youkai attempted to push Mai away, but with one arm he couldn't do much, as he had to hold a paddle. The demon bared his fangs and growled at the girl, wanting to warn her in that way, but she forcefully pulled the cloth down, exposing Sesshomaru's bare right shoulder. The boat rocked violently and both of them stilled, not eager to fall into the cold water. The inu-youkai sent Mai his most intimidating glare.

"What do you think you are doing, woman?" he hissed out, angry at her insolence.
The girl completely ignored him and took a look at the injury.

"Oh crap." She muttered, seeing the cut.

It wasn't deep – just a shallow wound from slashing the flesh with a sword. As Sesshomaru said, it was just a scratch for him. The most worrying was, however, that this scratch showed no signs of healing. The wound was still gushing open, even after those couple of hours, that passed since the fight with the highway robbers. Everything indicated, that Sesshomaru lost his demonic ability to heal instantly as well.

The girl looked up at Sesshomaru's face. The dog demon's eyes were also on the injury, as though not believing what was right before them.

"Idiot." Mai muttered under the nose, gaining the inu-youkai's attention. "Did you want to bleed to death?"

Not waiting for him to respond, the girl unwrapped her scarf and, using a knife she got from Sesshomaru earlier, cut it into smaller pieces. The cut was clean, so she pressed it with a folded cloth and expertly wrapped the makeshift bandages around the injured shoulder. Mai tied the loose ends strongly and pulled back to examine the result of her work. Satisfied, she glared at the dog demon with every intention to lecture him. She opened her mouth already, but changed her mind, after seeing the strange expression on Sesshomaru's face. The inu-youkai refused to look her into eye and she could clearly see shame on his usually stoic face.

"I guess, that you'll have to be more careful from now on." She said gently, pitying the dog demon. She thought, that the whole situation must be hard for him and his pride. He said nothing, but Mai knew exactly, what he was thinking – he must be embarrassed about becoming weak, compared to his usual self.

"Take your rest." Sesshomaru spoke, still not looking the girl in the eye.

Without saying a word to him, Mai nodded and pulled the sleeve of his haori back up. She curled into a ball on a bottom of the small boat and closed her eyes. She didn't know, when the sleep embraced her.



Mai's eyes snapped open, as she felt a not-so-gentle tugging on her shoulder. Still half-asleep, she looked up to see what woke her up. It wasn't surprising, that she saw the face of the certain dog demon, who looked slightly irritated.

"Get up, woman." He said and forcefully yanked her up. Before Mai's body had time to react, he dragged her out of the boat and carried her to the shore, before lowering her onto the dry land.
The girl looked around, feeling, that her knees buckled. The sun was casting red rays, as it was low on the horizon. The river was turning north – that must have been the reason Sesshomaru decided to leave it.

"We're walking on foot?" she made sure, not happy about marching for god knows how long. She rubbed her eyes and yawned.

"Yes. Do not stay behind." Sesshomaru answered and already began walking away. Mai sighed and followed him.

She noticed, that they were still surrounded by mountains and walking along the path, that was on the bottom of a long valley. Around them were rocks, trees and the sky above. Then, between the trees, she noticed something else – buildings, a lot of them. There must be a village here.

Suddenly, her stomach rumbled, as soon as her brain linked village with food. Mai grabbed her belly, realizing, that she had her last meal a day ago. Maybe Sesshomaru didn't need to eat, or eat frequently, but she wouldn't manage to travel days without food.

"Sesshomaru…" she began.

The demon looked back and followed her gaze towards the village. Without saying anything, he changed direction and led her to the village. Once they were close, Mai grabbed the sleeve of his haori and stopped him. The dog demon arched his eyebrow, as though silently asking what the hell was she doing. The girl bit her lower lip.

"Um…" she said unsurely. "Maybe I should go alone."

The inu-youkai freed his sleeve from Mai's grip with a forceful pull.

"Do not be foolish." He retorted. "I will not let you go there unprotected."

The girl nearly rolled her eyes at Sesshomaru's antics. Damn, did he have to be so overprotective all the time?

"Sesshomaru, you're a demon." She stated the obvious. "I wanted to ask those villagers a couple of questions, but if there is a youkai with me, they will run away."
The dog demon was examining her face.

"Hn." He stopped finally. "Do as you like."

Mai smiled widely, glad, that it didn't have to take more convincing. She didn't really expect him to yield so quickly. Was he getting more reasonable?

The girl reached out her hand and waited. The inu-youkai arched his eyebrow.

"What do you want now, woman?" he asked. Mai made an impatient gesture with her palm.
"Isn't that obvious?" she rolled her eyes. "Money!"

The dog demon narrowed his eyes at her and reached into his sleeve, taking out the small leather bag. He tossed it to Mai and she snatched it swiftly, before whirling around.

"Don't go anywhere!" she chanted happily and skipped towards the village.



Sesshomaru was growing impatient, as the sky was getting darker and the woman was not coming back. He waited for her at the edge of the forest, feeling miserably powerless, as he could not follow her scent nor hear her in case anything happened to her. The demon clenched his fist. He was the one, who was supposed to protect her and in this unfortunate condition he could do practically nothing. To add the humiliation, he was depending on the woman, he, powerful youkai Sesshomaru was dependant on the weak human female. That was shameful beyond his imagination, as well as showing weakness in front of her.

"Sesshomaru!" the demon heard Mai's voice calling his name. He whirled around towards the source of the sound and saw her a few meters away from him. He cursed his dulled senses, that were making him unable to detect her earlier.

He noticed, that she was carrying a large sack on her back. The demon narrowed his eyes at her.

"This Sesshomaru will not carry this for you." He stated instantly. Mai tossed the sack on the ground and crouched in front of it, opening it.

"No one will be carrying this." She said. "Okay, I've got some information from the villagers."

She paused and began taking some things out of the sack. Sesshomaru urged her with a gesture to continue. Mai cleared her throat.

"The closest big haven is two days on foot from here. The people in the village said, that the best and quickest way is a stone road, that begins at Nara Pass, it's only two hours walk from here." The girl shared the information.

The dog demon frowned, obviously not happy about what she just said.

"We will go through the forest." He decided. Mai shook her head.

"No, we won't." she disagreed, earning Sesshomaru's cold glare. She sighed. "If we don't take the stone road, we'll waste a day or two. We can't afford that, we have to board a ship to Saga as quickly as possible."

"The road will be crowded with humans." The inu-youkai retorted. Mai smiled slightly.

"I know. It can be a problem, since you look definitely like a demon." She said, her grin growing. "That's why you're going to disguise yourself as a human!"

Sesshomaru didn't share her enthusiasm. His eyes went cold like icebergs.

"No." he said shortly.

The girl was prepared for this. She was ready to put everything she got into convincing the dog demon. Sooner or later logic would have to soak through his thick skull and reach his brain, right?

"You'll have to do it later anyway. No one will be letting a demon board their ship. You'll have to pretend to be a human." She said and waited for Sesshomaru's reaction. The inu-youkai wasn't saying anything for a while, as though considering her words.

"Hn." He straightened his back even more. "This Sesshomaru will cut his way through if necessary."
Mai had to take a deep breath, not to explode. Didn't his stupidity have limits?!

"You can't man a ship alone. You need a crew for that. Alive." She explained patiently, mentally cursing his youkai pride. "I won't tell anyone."

The dog demon stalked closer to her.

"I will kill you if you do." He said.

Mai narrowed her eyes at Sesshomaru. Did he just agree? Without any more dawdling, she began taking out all the things, she bought in the village a while ago.

"Okay." She said, grabbing some brownish cloth and handing it to the dog demon. "First thing, we have to get rid of our fancy clothes. They draw too much attention and everyone would want to rob us."

The inu-youkai examined the hackneyed peasant kimono, he just received, with disgust all over his face.

"Woman, do you expect me to wear this rag?" he hissed out. Mai rolled her eyes and waved with a matching plain kimono.

"It's a disguise. If it will make you feel better, I have the same." She retorted, making Sesshomaru fall silent.

She gave him a pair of sandals in his size and a glove to hide his claws. The girl took out three bamboo shuttles and sighed, preparing for the worst part. Silently, she handed it to the inu-youkai.

"What is it?" the demon asked, taking the shuttles from her. Mai looked at his face, feeling a bit
unsure.

"It's a hair dye." She explained shortly. "You'll have to dye your hair."

Silence full of tension fell after her words. Sesshomaru was looking at her, as though he thought, that she wasn't serious.

"Dye my hair?" he repeated, the tone of his voice indicating, that danger was approaching. Mai gulped.

"Silver hair draw too much attention. Don't worry, the dye will wear off on its own after about ten days." She said quickly, but the inu-youkai didn't seem to be convinced.

"I will not do it." He insisted and shoved the bamboo shuttles back into Mai's arms. The girl was fed up with his stubbornness and decided to take out a cannon.

"As you wish." She said indifferently. "Just don't blame me if you won't get your demonic powers back."

Momentarily anger showed on Sesshomaru's face and a furious growl escaped his throat, when Mai pulled a string in him. Without saying a word, he snatched the shuttles and stalked away, disappearing behind the nearby bushes. The girl smirked triumphantly to herself.

"Victory." She muttered to herself.

She looked around to check if no one was around and changed clothes quickly, putting on a brownish peasant kimono. The girl took off her emerald hairpin and hid it in the folds of her new clothes. Then, she took out a shovel from the sack and started digging.

After a longer while, a considerably large hole in the ground was dug and Mai packed her beautiful green kimono into the sack. Suddenly, she heard a clank, as Sesshomaru's armor landed in front of her, followed by boots, white haori and hakama. The girl looked slightly up and her gaze stopped upon the pair of hairy shins. They were not hairy in gorilla-style, but still hairy. She blinked. Hairy shins were still before her eyes.

"Woman, do not waste time." Sesshomaru's irritated voice nagged from above. Mai mumbled something in response and looked up.

With all her willpower, she kept her jaw from falling to ground. The dog demon looked so… different. His hair was wet and definitely jet black now. Along with the peasant kimono it made a strange combination, adding Sesshomaru's intimidating presence to it. Another fact couldn't go unnoticed – the demon was glaring daggers at her now.

Mai swiftly tore her eyes off him and packed his belongings into the sack, before placing it in the hole she dug. As quick as possible, she covered it with the soil and disguised the spot with the leaves, while Sesshomaru was waiting for her to finish. Damn, he could have moved his ass to help her!
The inu-youkai wrapped his both swords – Tenseiga and the human one – in a cloth and placed it on his back. Mai took the small bag with food and took out another cloth.

"Just one more thing!" she called to Sesshomaru, running to him. She climbed on her toes and wrapped a head kerchief on his head, hiding his pointy ears and the stupid moon demon marking. She smiled slightly, thinking, that it made him look like a pirate. "Done. No one will tell, that you're a demon now."