I don't own YYH. I do own the plot of this story, and any unfamiliar characters. Thanks all! Enjoy!
Part 1
The Raven
The thief crouched low, avoiding the light that streamed through the window. A door to her left stood open, two figures standing there talking in tones she could not hear. Curse that stupid fox for having those plants that dulled her sharpest senses. Ah, well, at least she could still see and she would have to rely on that for the next while, even if her hearing and sense of smell now sucked.
"Got 'er!" A voice behind the crook called and tackled her. Fear jumped forward in her mind. Wriggling, she threw up her defenses and transformed into her smaller, raven form and lept out of her captors hold and into the air, pumping her wings until she reached the roof where she dropped down on the far side and took on her normal shape again. She could hear the indignant yelling and confusion from below.
Regaining her courage, she looked for an alternate entrance. There, to her left, a hatch had been cut and concealed rather well in the roof, probably meant for quick escape if the need should arise. "My entrance now," she thought happily and slipped over to it, silently thanking the snow that muffled her footsteps. She lifted the trapdoor and jumped lightly down, using her black feathered wings to slow her decent so she didn't make any noise in her landing.
A single feather dropped from her wing. With a growl, she picked it up and turned it over in her hands. Oh well, it didn't hinder her any. She just hated loosing them. Shrugging her shoulders, she tucked the feather into her equally dark hair and tiptoed across the rafters of the attic into which she had jumped. Other trapdoors showed around her, but she needed a specific one that she knew rested on the opposite end of the attic.
"I can't believe you missed her," a voice growled from below. "Now how do you expect us to catch her?"
"Calm down, Youko," the speaker remained calm, and the voice didn't strike a bell in the burglars memory as the first speaker or the one that had tried to grab her a few minutes before. "We'll catch her when she shows her face again."
"If she shows her face. This bungling fool let her escape and I would expect our unwanted visitor to be halfway to ningenkai by now!"
"She'll be back, and sooner than we expect, I'm sure."
"You have no idea," the thief thought smugly and continued her way across the roof beams. The hatch she wanted came into view but she kept her pace slow. A mistake now could cost her dearly. She stopped next to it and listened for a moment. When no abnormal sounds reached her pointed ears, she gripped the metal ring and lifted, exposing the dark room below her.
Her wings extended again to slow her fall. The vault door stood on the other side of the room. Again, the crook made her way silently to her destination. Placing an ear next to the lock, she spun the dial and heard the familiar clicking. She slowed down after a few turns, and started listening for the tumblers to fall into place. The first one did, she turned the dial in reverse, listening for the next. When it did, she smiled slightly, knowing her prize would soon be in her grasp.
The final tumbler fell into place. With a triumphant smirk, she twisted the handle and swung the door open.
"You are the persistent one, aren't you?"
The robber spun on her heal, one hand still inside the safe where she grasped a sapphire attached to a black chord. A man leaned against the doorframe to the room, a grin gracing his pale face, showing off his inch-long fangs.
"Crap," the thief thought, her face not giving away any emotion. Instead, she discreetly pulled the gem off the shelf and stuck it into her back pocket.
"Smooth," the man said, brushing his waist-length black hair behind him. "I almost didn't notice you taking it, but then again, I'm very fond of that stone and would appreciate if you would put it back, along with the bloodstone already around you neck."
Irritably, the outlaw complied.
"Good shojo," the man told her, his dark blue eyes twinkling. "Now come here. We need to deal with you."
"We?" the thief wondered and stayed where she stood.
"Don't be stubborn."
She didn't move.
"Have it your way, then." He turned to the hallway behind him. "Youko! She's being difficult!"
A few seconds later another man entered, his golden eyes glinting angrily. "Get out of my vault," he growled and a hand went to his long silver hair. A seed sprouted in his fingers when he brought the hand back in front of him. Vines grew quickly and the thief didn't have time to react as they twined around her ankles, lifted her up, turned her upside down, and pulled her over to the two men watching her.
"You have to admit, Youko," the first said. "She's really very good. No one's ever made it into the house, let alone the vault."
"True," the fox-eared man holding the plant that held her said. "How'd you get past the plants?"
She didn't respond, just blinked innocently.
"Oh, she's good," the black bat-winged man laughed. "Put her down. Let's work something out."
With a glare, the fox-tailed demon complied, dumping the intruder on her back and turning out of the room without a sound.
"He's in a mood," the first man sighed. "Oh well, guess I get to make the decision concerning you." He crouched down to look the trespasser in the eye. "So, who are you?"
She blinked innocently at him again.
"You are a difficult one," the man said. "I'll just have to fix that." A slight clinking sounded and a scythe attached to a chain appeared. The girl resisted the urge to gulp. The next she new, the scythe and chain had her pinned to the wall and the tall man grinned mischievously.
"I'm not sure I like how this is going," the captive thought. The grin on her captor spread, becoming more playful than ever. His hand reached out and cupped her chin in it.
"Difficult, persistent, stubborn, good thief, smooth motions, and attractive, what more could I ask for in a new toy?" His eyes flashed strangely as he leaned in closer, his warm breath ruffling the short hostage's hair as he neared her.
"Itekurai."
"What did you just say?" the winged man leaned back a little in surprise.
"Itekurai," she repeated, "is my name."
"Well, Itekurai," the man leaned in again. "What should I do with you?"
The girl shrank back, trying to distance her captive form from him.
"Afraid?" the man asked.
"Just wondering who you are," she replied, her voice a curious and calm alto.
"I would have thought you'd know who I was, considering you just tried to steal from me."
"I only knew where I would be working, not who I'd be stealing from," Itekurai said.
"Is that so?"
The girl smiled innocently in reply.
"In that case," his face was now mere inches from hers. "I am Kuronue, demon thief extraordinaire."
"And the other?" she asked, clearly trying to buy some time.
"You don't need to know about him," Kuronue's eyes narrowed, that odd light growing stronger.
"Oh, I'm sure I do," she responded.
"I'm sure you don't."
"I'm sure I do," the girl insisted, turning her face away from him as the bat demon leaned even closer.
"Fine," he growled that playful look still in his eyes. "He's my partner, Youko Kurama."
"Wait," the thief ordered. "You're that Kuronue?"
"The one and only," he replied, smiling dashingly.
"Oh, Inari," she breathed, eyes wide in awe. "If I had known I was robbing you, I wouldn't have made the attempt. No wonder I got caught."
"Flattery won't get you out of this situation," he told her, "but it does give you points. I'm impressed you made it this far into the house. No one has ever gotten past Youko's roses before."
"They were rather nasty," the young woman admitted. "I barely managed to get away. One of them did sink rather deeply into my left wing though."
"It what?" Kuronue snapped his cheerful eyes suddenly dark.
"Got my wing," Itekurai replied and shifted it slightly.
"Youko!" Kuronue yelled for the second time that night. The fox demon returned, a glare still planted firmly on his features.
"What?" he demanded.
"One of your roses got her wing."
"So?"
"Give her some credit, Youko! She has too much talent to kill her now! Now, give the poor girl an antidote and we'll see what we can do about the current situation."
The fox glared at his partner. Kuronue glared right back. Finally, Youko gave in. "Cut her down," he ordered and the scythe and chain were quickly removed. "Sit," he ordered, and Itekurai did. "Stretch out your left wing." Again, the young girl complied.
"Well?" Kuronue asked after a few minutes.
"I don't understand," Youko breathed, "for some reason, the poison isn't working as quickly as it normally does. She should be unconscious by now."
"I really have no clue," Kuronue snapped. "You're the expert with plants and all that good stuff. I'm here for other reasons, remember?"
Youko ignored his irate partner. "In any case, chew on these." He handed the girl a couple of leaves. "They'll cure you."
"Arigato," she said and started munching on the greenery.
The bat demon muttered angrily under his breath. He then noticed that the girl was starting to fall asleep. He looked quizzically at his friend.
"In a minute," the fox mouthed. Finally, the would-be thief fell asleep where she sat, leaning against the wall.
"What do we do with her?" Kuronue asked.
"You're the one that didn't want to kill her," Youko growled. "You figure it out."
"You know I won't make large decisions without your consent."
Youko sighed. "I know, I know. I'm just annoyed that she got past my defenses."
"She got past mine too."
"Good point, now I don't feel half as stupid. In any case, you are right. Her talent is too great to let it go to waist. I still have no idea what we do with her."
"We could let her stick around for a while, see what all she can do. If she becomes a threat, we eliminate her, like we always do."
Youko opened his mouth to argue, and then thought better of it. He knew Kuronue wouldn't suggest such a thing for personal reasons. Granted, he knew the look on his friend's face. He liked the sleeping demon and obviously had plans to seduce her, which was a bonus for the bat, but it wasn't his main motivation. The girl could be an asset to their small team, especially because she was an unknown thief, the perfect help. Many of the richer people in Makai had placed specific wards against the fox and the bat demons. She could disable such spells, making the thefts easier and a lot less painful. Besides, they did have an opening after one of the henchmen let her get away earlier…
"Alright," Youko finally agreed. "We'll give her a trial run."
"I thought you would agree," Kuronue grinned, picked the girl up, and carried her into another portion of the house.
"Ah, crappin' piece of junk, headache…" Itekurai grumbled and sat up. "Something's not right," she realized when she noticed she still wore her belt and her wings were in a very painful position under her back. Wincing, she stood shakily and stretched them, taking in her surroundings in the same moment. She was in a small room with only the necessary furnishings. A door opposite where she stood was the only way out, as the windows were covered in roses and would probably alert the legendary Youko Kurama.
"I can't believe I'm in their house," she murmured, wide eyed as memories came flooding back to her. Taking another minute to stretch, she opened the door.
Whack! "Ow…." Kuronue looked in the room, only to see Itekurai rubbing her abused nose and glaring at him. The bat demon had opened the door, just as she'd reached for the handle, smacking her in the face.
"Oops, sorry about that," Kuronue said, scratching his head.
"Yeah, you should be," the girl thought, letting her hand drop back to her side.
"Come on, then," the tall man ordered, "unless you're not hungry." He led the way out the door and down the hallway, into a good-sized kitchen where Kurama already sat at the table, pealing an orange for his breakfast.
"How's the wing?" he asked absently, not looking up from his food.
"Better," Itekurai replied, shifting it slightly.
"Good. Kuro, you tell her, I'm off to get some work done on those roses that didn't kill her in the first few minutes." The fox stood, pulling the orange to pieces, and walked out the door.
"Tell me what?" the girl wondered, glancing at Kuronue who had sat down and started munching on an apple.
"Sit, eat," he ordered. "First things first," he commented after swallowing another bite, "you got a nickname? Four syllables are a little long."
"Ite."
"Ite? Good, much easier. In case you didn't catch it, I'm Kuro to those that know me as more than a thief, which I hope will soon include you. Before you start asking questions," he held up a hand to silence her, "I'll tell you what you probably want to know. Youko and I started talking last night after you fell asleep. We agreed to give you a trial on the team. We'll start you with something small, see if you can handle it. You'll have to work your way up the ranks, but someday, you might just become Youko and my partner. Granted, that's never happened, but now you have a dream."
Ite nodded, as she tore the orange she'd pealed apart. "I figured that out pretty fast. All I want to know is where my boots are," she told him looking at her bare feet.
Laughing, Kuronue shook his head and went after her footwear.