Akari ran after Inuyasha, who was tracking Koga. When Akari felt the presence of the fragments, she began to distance herself from Inuyasha. Akari glanced at Miroku and Sango and nodded. After a few minutes, a large number of wolves attacked them. These separated her from the others, and in the blink of an eye, Koga grabbed her and ran away.
"Umm, are you scared? Don't worry, I won't kill you. I need you to tell us who the leader of the Birds of Paradise is and where the fragments are," Koga said. This woman was very strange; she hadn't said a word since he brought her here. At the beginning, Koga thought it was because she was scared, but she had been acting very calm. Is she pretending to be strong?
"I got it," Akari said.
"You are interesting, you know," Koga said, laughing.
Akari rolled her eyes and said, "I hope that doesn't mean that you like me or want me to be your woman or something like that."
Koga was startled before saying with a sneer, "Don't talk nonsense. When your job is finished, I will kill you."
Akari laughed and said, "You can try."
Koga furrowed his brow. He wondered why she was so confident.
The next morning, they headed to the nest of those birds. Akari let Koga carry her because she couldn't keep up with his speed.
"Where are the fragments, Akari?" Koga asked.
"They are in front of us, inside the mountain," Akari said, before a large bird broke through the stone and attacked them.
Koga avoided it and protected her from the bird, setting her on the ground before running toward it with a spear. The bird broke the spear and bit Koga's arm. Akari took a bow and arrow. She shot when she saw that Koga couldn't free his arm. The bird avoided her arrow, but it still hit its wing.
The bird was furious and used the power of the fragment to launch a ball of evil energy directly at them. Koga was released, and his companions surrounded him to protect him. Akari drew her sword and stood in front of him.
"What are you doing?! Get out of here! I can handle it!" Koga shouted at Akari, then looked at his companions and yelled, "You too!"
"Stay back, you are injured," Akari said and swung her sword, splitting the evil energy ball in two with her spiritual power.
Koga and the others were surprised. They never thought she was so powerful. Akari sighed, and she was about to attack the bird when suddenly her sword broke in half.
The bird saw that they were unarmed and lunged at them.
Akari swore. "Damn it! Why now?!" She gathered her power as quickly as possible to create a shield, but she didn't have enough time. At that moment, a person suddenly arrived and stood in front of her.
"Inuyasha!" Akari said.
"Back off. I will take care of that thing," Inuyasha said, drawing Tessaiga and attacking the bird monster.
Akari sighed in relief. That was close. Akari turned and used her power to stop Koga's bleeding. Koga looked at her for a while.
"Thank you for saving me before." Akari seemed a little surprised but quickly answered, "I didn't do it for you." It was just that he had a very important role in the plot, and he couldn't die.
"I know. However, I have been thinking about what you said. It doesn't sound bad," Koga said.
"What do you mean?" Akari seemed confused.
"About what you said—that I like you. You weren't wrong."
Akari furrowed her brows and said, "I'm not interested in you."
Koga laughed and said, "But you will be." Akari was speechless because of his confidence.
"Don't talk nonsense. Prepare yourself. I'm going to kill you." Inuyasha, who had heard the last part of their conversation, was very angry.
Akari looked at Koga and said, "Get out of here. We will spare your life in exchange for the Shikon fragments." Akari signaled to his companions, who quickly took him away. Inuyasha tried to stop him, but Akari held him back.
"Why are you helping them, Akari?!" Inuyasha shouted, upset.
"He saved my life. I cannot repay kindness with death." Akari wasn't lying—if Koga hadn't protected her, she probably would have let Inuyasha kill him.
Inuyasha was startled. He furrowed his brows and said, "It was his fault that you were in danger in the first place."
Akari chuckled. "You are right."
Inuyasha asked, "So, is it because he said you like him?"
Akari looked at him and said, "It doesn't matter. We should not talk about this. Where are Sango and Miroku?"
Inuyasha clicked his tongue and said, "I don't know."
Akari nodded and said, "Then we should go back to the village. I need a new sword, so we should wait there for it. Also, I'm leaving for a few days."
Inuyasha ignored her and walked away from her. Akari shrugged and followed him.