Chapter 35

The wind of change





The whole group sat by the well, fervently discussing Mai's future, not bothering to ask the girl, what she thought about it. Not that it would matter – according to her, she was screwed. After considering countless possibilities, a decision was made. Mai would stay for the time being with grandma Kaede, until she decides something else. The girl was fine with that, she hadn't a better idea anyway. If she stayed in the village, she would have an opportunity to see Kagome, Inuyasha and the rest of their group from time to time, so it wouldn't be that bad. On the other hand, living with an old woman in a one-room cabin wasn't really appealing. Maybe she could convince Kaede to make someone build her own hut for Mai.

Finally it was Sango, who decided to bring up the most unpleasant issue.
"What about Sesshomaru?" the demon-slayer asked. "Sooner or later he will be in the vicinity and will pick up Mai's scent."

Mai's attention suddenly turned back to the conversation. After all, the issue of Sesshomaru was a matter of life and death for her. To put it straight, Sesshomaru equals death – and a painful one, Mai was sure of that.

"Isn't there a way to hide her scent?" Miroku asked Sango, as the youkai-slayer seemed to be an expert, when it came to such things. The woman furrowed her brows. Mai prayed in her mind, that Sango would have an idea how to do that. She wanted to die in her bed of the old age, not murdered by a demon, before she even had a chance to go on a date.

"I think, there is one." Said Sango slowly. "There is a herb, that can mask a person's smell and the demon-slayers used to grow it a long ago. I'm almost sure, that a demon with an acute sense of smell like Sesshomaru won't be able to sense Mai, if she has it with her."

Kagome's face brightened and she clapped her hands happily.

"Great! Let's get it!" she exclaimed, smiling at Mai. The girl smiled at her friend back, relieved, that the solution of the problem was so easy. However, it was too soon to celebrate. Sango sighed heavily.
"It's not so simple." She said after a while, making Kagome's smile disappear. Miroku motioned Sango to continue and the demon-slayer nodded. "The herb is very rare and grows only in one place, swarming with youkai. It would be tough, but we could get it."
Kaede smiled.

"If you bring me a couple of those plants with roots, I could grow them in my garden." She said.
Inuyasha stood up and made an annoyed voice.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" he said, impatient as ever. "The sooner the better."
"I agree with Inuyasha." Miroku said. Sango nodded and Kirara transformed instantly from the sweet little kitten into the huge cat. Both the monk and the demon-slayer mounted Kirara and Inuyasha looked at Kagome.
"Come on, Kagome!" he called. The black-haired girl glanced at Mai and made her decision.
"Inuyasha," she said. "I'll stay with Mai. You will manage without me, right?"
"Feh!" Inuyasha snorted, folding his arms. "Not that you are any help anyway."
Kagome narrowed her eyes and Mai felt evil aura gathering around her friend.
"Osuwari!" Kagome shouted. "Inuyasha, you idiot!"

The hanyou landed face-flat on the ground with a loud thud. Mai giggled. She thought, that she wouldn't be ever fed up by the sight. Inuyasha got up and tried to argue with Kagome more, but she "sat" him again, ending the discussion. Finally the hanyou flew away on Kirara, along with Sango and Miroku, leaving Shippo behind – with a large bruise on his head.

"Damn you Inuyasha!" screamed Shippo after the hanyou, waving with his little fist. Mai couldn't help, but notice, that the little fox demon was behaving a bit like the half-demon. Well, it was to be expected, given how much time they spent together.

Kaede fixed her eye-patch and cleared the throat.

"I'll go to the village now and leave you two. Surely you want to talk about a few things." The miko said to Mai and Kagome. The girl was grateful for the old woman's insight. Shippo looked between Kaede and Kagome, unsure whether to leave or stay with the girls.
"Come on, Shippo. I'll make tea." The miko told the little fox. The kid nodded and rushed after Kaede. Kagome laughed and motioned Mai to get closer.

"I'm sure, that Shippo will find another first love in a heartbeat." She whispered into Mai's ear. The girl giggled and furrowed her brows with a fake concern.

"You know what, Shippo may become a womanizer with Inuyasha's temper in the future. Better pay attention, what influence the both bastards have on him!" she said to Kagome, not stopping laughing.
"Sure." Kagome answered. Both girls giggled for no reason for a while and then stayed silent, just sitting next to each other.

"Quite a mess, huh?" the black-haired girl asked quietly. Mai looked at her and then tilted her head upwards, observing the clouds floating through the sky.

"It was pretty screwed up before." She said with a bitter smile. "Even if I could go back, there isn't anything to go back to. I wanted to study on the Tokyo University, lead a normal happy life, but I can't anyway, so is there any point in returning? Would it matter?"
Kagome looked at her with concern.

"It would." She ensured. "My mom, grandpa and Souta will missing you. It would matter for them."
Mai nodded. She avoided looking at Kagome, as she felt tears welling in her eyes.

"And I miss them too, but…" the girl said hesitantly. Her friend kept staring at Mai. Kagome smiled.
"It is hard, when you have people, you care for, in both worlds, right?" she asked. Mai turned abruptly to the other girl and saw understanding in her eyes. "You missed Rin-chan all the time, didn't you?"

Mai sighed heavily, when her friend mentioned the child. Rin brought a whole lot of trouble upon her head including a murderous youkai, but she was a little sister to her. There wasn't a day without Mai worrying, if the kid was still alive, warm and fed. The worst was, that when both of them were in the same world, they couldn't ever meet anyway. Rin was precious for her, but her own life was too.
The girl looked at Kagome, when she felt her friend poking her with the finger. The black-haired girl passed Mai a folded piece of paper. She took it and wiped the tears of her face with the back of her hand. Then, she unfolded the paper carefully, not to tear it, curious, what it was. Mai gasped. She held in her hand one of Rin's drawings, exactly the newer version of the one, the kid showed her before the escape. In the picture was the whole Sesshomaru's group, including Mai. She and the dog-demon were holding the child's arms. The girl noticed, that Rin was getting better at drawing. The picture was made very neatly – it was apparent, that the child put much heart and time into making this one. However, this was not all. On the side of the piece of paper was a text. Mai opened her eyes wider, as she recognized the familiar messy letters. Rin managed to actually write something on her own. The girl felt pride filling her heart. Mai narrowed her eyes to read the letter.

Mai,
I miss you so much and wish you were with us again. I am heelthy, so please don't worrie about me. I love you.
Rin

Mai smiled, when she noticed the small mistakes. She will have to show the girl, how to get those words right. No… she won't ever have the chance to do that. The girl felt a stab of pain in her heart, but she was glad, that the kid was safe and sound.

She looked at Kagome, grateful, that her friend passed the letter to her.

"Thanks." She said to the black-haired girl. "Your family worries about you, so go and tell them, that you are all right."

Kagome nodded.

"I'll be in a minute, so don't go anywhere!" the girl said to Mai, standing up and climbing onto the edge of the well. She jumped in and vanished, leaving Mai alone on the clearing.

The girl watched her friend passing through to their time. She stared for a while at the bottom of the well, when she heard a gush of wind blowing from behind her, ruffling her hair. Mai whirled around and saw a woman casually landing on the ground, placing a white feather in her hair. She smiled at her, what gave Mai creeps. Instinctively, the girl made a step back, but there was the well behind her.

"Ooo." The woman spoke up, lifting a fan to her face. "To think Sesshomaru left you alone…"

Mai widened her eyes. What the hell did the woman want from her? The girl had a very bad feeling about this – especially because the woman was a youkai. There was no doubt about that. Red eyes, pointy ears, everything about her screamed demon. Mai gathered her courage.

"Who are you and what do you want?" she demanded. The woman snorted.

"My name is Kagura and I serve Naraku." She explained.

Naraku. Mai realized, that she was in a deep shit.

"What the hell Naraku wants from me?" Mai asked, feeling more and more nervous. She looked for the escape routes. The village was quite far from here, so she would have to run fast and far. Did she have a chance to outrun this Kagura woman?

Kagura laughed.

"Och, you're a feisty one." She said, making a step towards Mai. "It's rather obvious, that Naraku would want Sesshomaru's woman as a hostage." Kagura explained, rolling her eyes.

"Sesshomaru's woman?" Mai repeated, confused. Did Naraku take her as Sesshomaru's… lover or something like that?

Mai felt herself blushing and cursed her face for such a reaction in this situation. Her first reaction was to start protesting at the absurd idea, but, fortunately, she stopped right in time. If she said it was not true, she would be worthless as a hostage and, as a result, dead.
The girl decided, that it would be the best to buy some time or distract Kagura.

"So what does he want with Sesshomaru?" Mai asked. Kagura snorted, amused by a silly question.

"Are you an idiot? Don't you…" Kagura stopped in midsentence, as Mai darted sideways, running to the village.

Then everything happened so fast. Mai ran forward and heard Kagura screaming something behind her back. The girl fell backwards, as the wind blades in the shape of crescent moons struck the ground right before her feet. She got on her feet instantly and tried to escape in another direction, but saw Kagura swishing with her fan.

"Fujin no mai!" the woman screamed and the wind blades flew once more in Mai's direction. The girl had to jump sideways to avoid the attack knocking her of the feet again. Angry Kagura gritted her teeth, hissing from irritation.

"Get her!" she yelled and countless snake-like youkai flew from between the trees. Mai yelped and looked for the way to escape, but she was already surrounded.

"Mai!" she heard a familiar voice calling her name and turned her head in the direction of the sound. She saw Kagome crawling out of the well. Shit! Now her friend was in danger too.

"Kagome! Go back!" Mai screamed, but it was too late. One of the youkai flew from the behind and with a swish of the tail hit Kagome in the back of her head, making her lose consciousness. Another one snatched the girl and flew towards Kagura.

"Kagome!" Mai screamed. Kagura turned her attention back to the girl.

"All right. It's time to finish." She said and waved her hand, ordering a youkai to get her. They tried to do the same thing to her as to Kagome, but Mai managed to duck and avoid being hit in the head. She wanted to jump aside, but huge claws grabbed her firmly and lifted the girl from the ground.

"Let me go!" she yelled, struggling with the demon. Kagura rolled her eyes and plucked the white feather from her hair. It enlarged and the demon flew on it next to Mai, who was still trying to fight with her captor.

"Stop struggling you idiot! You're coming anyway." She scolded the girl. "I have no idea what Sesshomaru sees in you."

This was too much for Mai.

"Don't you even dare to say that arrogant jerk's name to me!" she yelled, forgetting to stay cautious. "I hate him and I hate you!"

Kagura stared at her with wide eyes, surprised by the sudden outburst.

"I see you have some guts. I advise you not to say such things to Naraku, if you want to live." She said quietly and flew on her feather higher, the youkai after her.