Chapter 73

The newest asset
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In the evening Totosai gave Tenseiga back and showed Sesshomaru, how to use it as a weapon. Mai was amazed, when she saw the dog demon use Meidou Zangetsuha for the first time – the ogre was literally sent to the netherworld.
"Amazing, Sesshomaru-sama!" Jaken exclaimed. Mai nodded, not being able not to agree and folded her arms.
"I guess, that you can teach an old dog new tricks, after all." She muttered and earned a glare from Sesshomaru.
The demon sheathed Tenseiga and turned to the old smith.
"Totosai, I will be fighting with Tenseiga." He stated and glanced at his group. "We are going."
Rin obediently climbed on Ah-Un and Mai together with Jaken followed the child. Sesshomaru soared into the sky and the dragon followed him.
"Goodbye, master Totosai! Bye, Myoga-jiji!" Mai called to the old men, waving. She was surprised, that she didn't panic, when she saw receding figures on the ground, as Ah-Un was flying higher. Slowly, she bent over and observed the forests, fields, villages and mountains down there. She was slightly scared, but wasn't trembling anymore. She wasn't the one, who noticed it. Sesshomaru slowed down, so that he was gliding beside Ah-Un now.
"You do not seem so scared like before." He commented. Mai turned her attention from the view below to him and gawked at the demon. Damn, he was starting a conversation on his own. That was rare…
"Yes, my fear of heights seem to get better." The girl replied.
"Good." The demon said and flew forward, leading the way again. Mai stared at him, baffled by his behavior. Was it her imagination or he was noticeably nicer recently? She thought, that it was kind of suspicious…
Suddenly, Ah-Un ducked, flying towards the ground. Sesshomaru landed gracefully on the path among fields and the dragon followed him. Mai sighed and sprawled herself on the beast's back.
"Another walk." She mumbled. Rin and Jaken slid of the saddle and were trotting near the dog demon. Mai closed her eyes, relaxing. The sun was already setting, so she could take a nap – Sesshomaru would probably make them run around all night too, anyway.
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As Mai expected, Sesshomaru and his group kept marching all night. The girl woke up around midnight, letting Rin and Jaken sleep. She wrapped the kimono around the child and after a short moment she covered Rin with second one as well. The night was really chilly and she didn't want the kid to get sick. When both the child and Jaken were soundly asleep, she patted Ah-Un's heads and, seeing no other partner for conversation, walked to Sesshomaru. They were marching in silence for long minutes. The girl sighed – the dog demon wasn't the most talkative one. She cleared her throat.
"Umm… the weather is nice." She tried. Sesshomaru glanced at her shortly, before averting his gaze.
"Indeed." He said. Mai's eyes widened from surprise. He answered! And without her nagging too. Really something strange was happening to him. Maybe the demons also got sick from time to time…
"Sesshomaru, are you feeling okay?" she asked, slight worry in her voice. "You're… different lately."
The inu-youkai abruptly turned his head to stare at Mai. He searched of any sign of her discovering his humiliating secret, but thankfully she seemed to be still oblivious. If she found out about this situation, how would she react?
"Do I have something on my face?" she asked, glaring back at the demon. "You're staring at me, Sesshomaru."
He quickly averted his gaze, cursing his own foolishness. He must not let her know. Not ever.
Mai looked at the demon, who went back to ignoring her. Typical. However, she was pretty sure, that he was behaving suspiciously, as though hiding something. She would have thought about this more, but the pain in her feet distracted her. Sesshomaru was making their group run around for days without any break – you really can't call a trip to hell a break – and she had horrible blisters on her feet. Mai winced, taking another step.
"Damn, my feet hurt like hell." She complained. The girl noticed, that Sesshomaru glanced at Rin and Jaken, who were sleeping soundly on Ah-Un, before turning his attention to her. What did he want again?
"Gah!" she yelped, when he unexpectedly flung her over his shoulder. She struggled instinctively, waving her arms and legs frantically.
"Stay still, woman. You will wake Rin." The demon scolded her. Mai stilled and supported herself with her elbows, placing them on the hard surface of Sesshomaru's armor – she didn't like the idea of banging her forehead against it every time, he made a step. She furrowed her brows, feeling extremely uncomfortably in such a position. Damn that man! Somehow, she couldn't get angry on him. Mai figured out, that he did it to ease her pained feet. The girl sighed heavily. The demon meant to be nice, but he did it in his demonic way again. She smiled and decided to bear it for a while.
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At dawn, when Rin and Jaken finally woke up, Mai sprawled herself atop Ah-Un and fell asleep. Having Sesshomaru carry her all night long was quite nice of him, but you can't really have a nap if your head keeps banging against the armor. The girl wrapped herself in silky fabric and drifted off to sleep.
Mai's eyes snapped open, as the loud noise woke her. She sat up, yawning, and looked around. Sesshomaru was nowhere to be seen, Jaken and Rin darted towards the nearby bushes, Ah-Un slowly made his way behind them. A movement caught her attention. She looked up to see a man taking off on an oversized origami crane. She rubbed her eyes, wondering if she wasn't still sleeping by chance.
She heard a commotion behind the bushes and soon saw, what caused it. The trees were knocked down – it seemed that Sesshomaru made use of Tenseiga and on the ground was laying none other than…
"Kohaku!" Rin cried and ran to the boy, who was tangled in the snakes, swarming on his body.
"Do not touch him, Rin." Sesshomaru told the child. "Those snakes are poisonous."
Mai quickly slid of the saddle and grabbed the child's hand, dragging her away from the poisonous reptiles.
"Jaken-sama was bitten." Rin commented.
"Please help me, Sesshomaru-sama. It hurts." The imp whimpered. Mai rolled her eyes and was pretty sure, that the dog demon also would like to do it. Sesshomaru's fingertips glowed and a light whip shot out. The inu-youkai moved his wrist and all the snaked were slashed to shreds in a heartbeat. Jaken kept whining. The girl noticed, that Kohaku stirred a bit.
"Wait here." Sesshomaru commanded and leapt into the sky.
Mai cursed under her nose. That bastard! Youkai asshole Sesshomaru went somewhere again, most probably to chase the guy on the origami crane, and left her alone with such a situation to handle. The girl gritted her teeth and folded the sleeves.
"Rin, wrap a bandage around Jaken's arm, above the wound and really tightly." She commanded and kneeled by Kohaku's side. Frowning with disgust, she removed the remains of the snakes from the boy's body, having some difficulties, as a few heads had their teeth still sunk in Kohaku's flesh. The kid was not moving, unconscious. Mai checked his pulse – it was faint, but steady. She turned the kid onto his back and noticed, how pale he was.
"Crap." She muttered. The poison must be already circling in his veins, so there wasn't much she could do. Without any medicine, Kohaku would have to fight it with the strength of his immune system. She grabbed the boy's legs and dragged him between the trees, so that he would be at least a little hidden. She run to the packs and fished out a few things. She returned to the poor kid. Kohaku was shivering. Mai kneeled by his side and touched the kid's forehead – he was burning. Actually, fever was a good sign. It meant, that his body reacted on the poison and is fighting it. The day was chilly, so the kid could get sick. Determined to get him better, Mai wrapped her spare kimonos around the child to keep him warm. Having decided, that it was all, that she could do, she stood up and took a look at Jaken. The imp was whining, but seemed to be okay.
"Oh, stop it, Jaken!" the girl rolled her eyes and looked at Rin. "Rin, go and get some firewood, but stay close to the camp!"
After the kid vanished in the bushes, Mai formed a stone circle in the place, where the fire would be and checked up on Kohaku. The boy was still unconscious.
She knew, that he was possessed by Naraku and was Sango's little brother – Rin told her that. She also remembered Kagome telling her, that it was Sango's brother, who killed the demon slayer's father and her companions. Mai sighed. The kid hid a horrible secret indeed. No wonder, that he didn't want to remember it. The girl pitied Kohaku – he was such a nice child. True, he tried to kill her and probably murdered more people, than she could count, but he was controlled by that evil bastard Naraku. Being possessed once before, Mai knew, how difficult it is to resist, so she didn't blame the boy for his actions. She hoped, that he would be able to lead a normal life in the future.
"Mai!" Rin called her name, dragging a lot of dry wood. The older girl took it from the child and built a fire. Just when she managed to do it, she saw Sesshomaru landing. He stalked to Mai and tossed some weed to her. She furrowed her brows.
"What is it?" she asked. The demon sat down under a nearby tree.
"An antidote. Boil it." He said shortly. Mai looked at the weed and then at the inu-youkai. Wow, he brought cure to the snake's poison. Sesshomaru kept surprising her lately. Immediately she grabbed a pot and boiled water. She threw the plant in and boiled for some time, till it started to look like tea. She poured the liquid into a cup and, after it cooled down a bit, made Kohaku swallow it, holding his nose. When the boy gulped everything down, she poured another cup and repeated it. Then she gave the rest of the antidote to Jaken.
Mai eyed Sesshomaru with suspicion, thinking that it was odd, that he would save another human. On the other hand, it seemed, that Rin liked the kid and she always had her way with the dog demon. Mai decided, that it was the time to cook the dinner, as it was her turn today – she and Jaken were taking turns. The girl examined their supplies: rice, carrots, radishes and some other vegetables. All right, all of it was quite nutritious, but there was something missing…
"I'd kill to eat some meat at last!" she complained, slicing the radishes. Mai didn't really pay any attention to her surroundings, but she heard Jaken making a fuss.
"Sesshomaru-sama, where you're going? Sesshomaru-sama!" the imp squeaked. By the time the girl lifted her head, the dog demon was already gone. She sighed. He was wandering off like a stray dog. Wait… He was a dog. Mai chuckled to herself at the thought.
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The girl just finished slicing the vegetables, when she heard Kohaku moaning and stirring. Quickly, she got to the kid and refrained him from getting up. The kid opened his eyes.
"Mai-sama?" he asked recognizing her. Mai nodded.
"It's me. You shouldn't move yet, Kohaku." He told the boy.
"Kohaku!" Rin exclaimed, throwing herself at the boy, laughing and crying at the same time.
"Rin." The boy managed to utter, his face turning bright red. Mai sighed and pulled Rin back from him, so that Kohaku could breathe at least. She sighed and decided to explain the situation to the boy.
"All right, so… Sesshomaru came and rescued you from the guy on the oversized origami crane." She said and looked at Kohaku with curiosity. "Who's the guy?"
The child sighed.
"His name is Byakuya, he's one of Naraku's minions." The boy answered Mai furrowed her brows, as something was not right.
"Aren't you by the chance one of Naraku's minions too?" she asked hesitantly, wondering if the kid could even remember something. Kohaku abruptly shook his head.
"Not anymore. I escaped Naraku and travelled with miko Kikyo." The boy said. Mai's eyes widened. Kikyo? Kohaku continued. "But we split up. I should find her."
He tried to get up, but Mai stopped him. She looked at Kohaku warily.
"And… your memories?" she asked. The boy looked, like he was about to cry, nodding.
"Yes, I remember everything. How father… everyone…" he whispered. Mai smiled at Kohaku and ruffled his hair.
"Someone told me, that your past your meaningless, because you live here and now. You should always remember your past, but don't let it ruin your future." She said.
Kohaku nodded and closed his eyes, resting. His face seems to be more peaceful now. Mai wrapped the cloth around Kohaku and went back to preparing the dinner. Rin was sitting by the boy's side and Jaken was mopping nearby. The girl noticed, that the sun was already setting.
Abruptly, Kohaku sat down and got up on his feet, the legs wobbling.
"Lay down, Kohaku!" she called to him, but the but didn't listen. Rin ran to the him.
"No, Kohaku! You can't move!" she was shouting at him. Mai nodded.
"You have to rest!" the older girl scolded him. Kohaku began walking, swaying on his feet.
"I must go back." He said. "There's something wrong with miko Kikyo. I wonder where she is."
Rin gripped Kohaku's arm, worry all over the face. Mai and Jaken hurried to the children.
"Know, that Sesshomaru-sama won't take care of you!" Jaken told the boy, jumping and waving Nintoujou. Mai silently observed the scene.
"We can't ask him to do so?" Rin wondered. Mai had a hunch, that soon Kohaku would join their dream-team.
"The scent changed along with the wind." Said a deep voice. The girl turned around to see Sesshomaru, standing a few feet from them and observing the setting sun.
"Did something happen to miko Kikyo?" Kohaku asked, fear for the woman's safety in his voice.
"It is too late now." Sesshomaru said.