A/N: Hey guys, its been forever since I've written anything for fun, and I've left this story in my documents folder untouched for years. I would always revisit and edit it every so often, and now that I've matured a bit as a writer, I thought it would be fun to come back and publish it for real, and give it a chance. I would love to hear what you think, as I've always loved this story since I first wrote it. This is also the first thing I've published in a long time. Thanks, enjoy!
Yumi kicked over an empty chest and sighed heavily, her fingertips digging into her hips with frustration. She wandered around the room again, overturning everything with unnecessary force. She double checked under the king sized bed now stripped of its lace sheets, triple-checked the massive mahogany closet with it's barren shelves, and poked around the elegantly stenciled cabinets hollowed of their innards for what felt like the millionth time.
The heels of her boots stomped angrily against the smooth stone of the floor as she marched towards the window on the other side of the master bedroom. Her fingers hooked deeply into the folds of the royal blue drapery that hung against the wall, pulling at it savagely until it tore off and fell with a thud. The fabric was poorly made to her surprise, and would be worth nothing.
Nothing.
She pursed her lips and blew a piece of stray hair out of her face angrily. This was the fourth castle she'd broken into this week that had already been cleaned out.
She glanced around the large, and formerly rich looking room for possible valuables once more, hoping she'd missed something.
The shiny rubies that were encased onto the intricately carved busts were removed, the silk scarves and jewelry boxes were taken, and anything that was made of a significant metal, from the doorknobs to the furniture handles were long gone. She plopped down onto the floor of the castle's master bedroom and dug around in her worn, holed satchel. She took out a small red pouch and peered inside solemnly. Just as she had suspected, no money left. Her stomach grumbled on cue and she groaned.
Quick, heavy footsteps began coming from down the hall outside the bedroom and she rapidly put her things together. She reached for the nearest item that looked somewhat marketable, a sizable shard of a shattered decorative vase between her feet. As she slipped the sharp porcelain into her satchel, the heavy wooden door behind her burst open. She quickly tied a white cloth around her face to hide her appearance as she began making an exit through the nearby window.
"Stop, thief!" shouted a silver-clad guard. He and two identical others behind him charged at her, their polished swords raised.
She swiftly jumped down from the stone ledge, awkwardly dodging a sword slash to the shoulder, and landed sloppily onto a sturdy tree branch, losing her balance and nearly toppling over. She cursed under her breath and a sweat bloomed across her forehead.
Crouching silently for a few seconds, she looked down and saw from behind the thick cover of foliage that the grounds were crawling with menacing guards. She thought of a quick way to escape, and knew that it might not be the cleanest way out, but she had no other choice. Hurting others was something she avoided at all costs, unless it was necessary.
She steadied her large oak bow and pulled from her quiver a long, steel-tipped arrow. She shut her eyes softly and felt the familiar tingle of her spirit energy flow through her stiffened arms, into her calloused hands, and finally through to the dangerously sharp tip of her arrow. She opened her eyes and saw the sky blue colored cloud of her spiritual essence now swirling intensely around her.
She aimed carefully at a faraway guard, and with a soft 'shhp' sound through the greenery, he hit the ground, a bloodied gaping wound in his shoulder. Amidst the fuss of guards rushing over to their fallen comrade, and others jerking their heads around in every direction upwards into the trees for where the arrow could have come from, Yumi hopped down quietly, and made her exit through the bushes.
The marketplace was as busy as always, large stands selling exotic foods and spices, suspicious peddlers promoting cheap items, and a numerous variety of demons coming together to discuss the latest gossip and prices on goods. Children and farm animals ran freely through the social chaos.
Yumi weaved through the noisy crowds and kept her head down, careful to avoid prolonged eye contact. Finding a small empty crevice between two large vegetable stands, she plopped down. She refastened the white cloth over her face tightly, her emerald eyes the only viewable part of her visage. Pulling out a small piece of soft red fabric from her satchel, she laid it on the ground, and placed the shattered piece of porcelain onto it. Now, all she had to do was sit and wait for the money to come in.
Some people simply glanced and kept walking, others didn't look at all, and after a few hours of sitting on the ground without selling it, Yumi was annoyed, tired, and her butt was numb.
She decided to just pack it up for the day and move onto the next town, but an interesting tidbit of conversation caught her attention.
"…said he managed to break into three properties in one day! He cleaned everything out!"
Glancing over towards the chatter, she saw two male demons talking as if they were being watched, looking around cautiously as they bought some fruit.
"Wow…" said the other man. "That Yoko Kurama is not one to be taken lightly. They weren't kidding when they said he was a the King of Thieves. His offenses are too many to count and yet they haven't even come close to catching him!"
"He just robbed Asura's Castle. Rumor has it he's heading up north to the Kohaku Temple to take a few relics. Hopefully they catch that bastard, I'm starting to get worried about my own goods being stolen.."
Yumi's eyes widened as the shock set in. This entire time she had been a step behind this Yoko Kurama character, there to pick up nonexistent remains of the places he's robbed a day or two before. She had heard stories of him from her family when she was a small girl, but never thought much of it and could only remember small details. He was a fox demon with white hair and golden eyes. He had lived for many, many centuries.
She was actually heading to Kohaku Temple next as well, and if she hadn't caught onto this bit of information she would've come up empty handed again, merely a couple days behind.
She swiftly packed up her things and made her way towards the exit of the marketplace, but was stopped by a slimy looking carp demon.
"Why, hello there, friend…" he hissed slowly, grinning in a way that made Yumi's skin crawl. "Are you interested in having your fortune told?" Yumi shook her head politely and tried to continue walking past him, but the demon put his clawed hand on her shoulder.
"It's a special low price, and I'm giving it just to you! I can see it in your eyes, you have a dark destiny ahead of you!"
She quickly jerked her shoulder away from his grasp. "I said I wasn't interested, sir, so please stop insisting I play into your scheme to rob me blind of the money I don't have." she snapped crossly. She had had a long unfruitful day and needed to move quickly if she was going to catch up to the legendary thief.
He glared at her and shoved her. She quickly caught her footing and with inhuman speed drew an arrow into her bow, aiming right at his bug-eyed face. Her defensive reflexes would get her into trouble someday.
"Leave me be, and I will be on my way." She really wasn't looking for an unnecessary fight. She shifted uneasily as she noticed a crowd began to form, stopping to stare at what was going on.
As a crowd had enlarged around the two of them, the carp demon began to play out a large argument in order to attract potential customers.
"Look at this! I sense a dark, dark energy from this young girl!" he shouted dramatically, waving his hands frantically around Yumi. "What? Are you going to fight me?" He turned back towards her, grinning with pointed teeth. "The best fortune teller in all of Makai? You're just a girl, there's nothing you can do! And what're you hiding under that mask? Your ugly face?"
She made the error of mistaking his step back as his retreat from the confrontation, and lowered her bow. He then charged forward as soon as her weapon was down, and tore at her cloth mask before tripping and hitting the floor behind her.
The dust cloud that flew up as the demon fell to the ground began to settle after a few seconds, and Yumi felt the familiar hand of terror gripping at her thumping heart.
Long and pale pink hair flew freely around her shoulders, and her bright green eyes quickly filled with panic. Her cover was blown.
They knew who she was.
Loud gasps and shouts suddenly erupted from the growing crowd, and the carp demon pointed at her face, shaking in fear.
"It's an Aikawa! Aikawa! A member of the demon hunter family!"
Yumi quickly scooped up her torn face cloth and made a quick run for it as she was chased down by an angry mob of teeth-snapping demons. They pursued her a long way out of the town, and she had run for about an hour or two before she finally shook them off, and found herself in the middle of a blackened forest with thick towering trees.
Walking a few more miles out of the way just to be safe, her tired legs soon felt like flimsy noodles. She plopped down against a tree trunk and caught her breath. She reached into her satchel and took out a piece of bread she managed to nick as she was making her hasty retreat from the marketplace. She gobbled it down hungrily.
Damn her family. Even after running away from them years ago, their name would be permanently marked through her human-like appearance.
The Aikawas were known famously for their demon hunting throughout the centuries. They were the first group of humans with significant amounts of spirit energy that had somehow found their way into demon world, adapted and settled, and had children. They were soon developing powers throughout the generations to better help them survive in their environment.
They were skilled bowman, swordsman, and martial artists with impressive levels of spirit energy. Trained from a young age to be killers, they kept the family strong in order to survive in such harsh conditions, her ancestors holding onto the silly notion that they would be able to purify the demon world and create a second heaven. Her father had told her this story too many times to count.
Though the Aikawas may have originally been human, over the years they had gained heightened agility and senses, and either unnatural hair or eye colors, or both. The miasma of demon world had also further tapped into their spirit energy, having them develop unique powers, though it was a rare occurrence.
Although famous for their story, they were even more known for fact that they were not only the closest thing to human in demon world, but incredibly human looking, making them stick out quite easily, and the target of many attacks.
The Aikawa family kept under close cover and always stuck together, and because of the treatment of their family line, they had no choice but to keep a strong offense to survive. There were many bounties over their heads, with very large rewards for their capture, alive or dead.
After resting for a few moments, Yumi looked up and saw nightfall rolling in. She decided to look for shelter, and padded through the lush forest for another hour before she found a cave that was practically invisible, tucked away into the bottom of a mountain. Any demon walking around these parts probably would have missed it, and she had happened to catch the cave by a lucky glance.
Her feet made cautious steps toward the small rocky opening. She remained quiet, listening for any sudden noises or the howls of demons. There seemed to be nothing but the hollowed echo of droplets from the cave ceiling, so she walked in.
She realized the cave got larger as she continued through it, and walked a long while before seeing some freshly used torches outside a forked tunnel entrance that veered off into a different direction deep inside.
She was too tired to walk all the way back and look for another place to stay, and decided to just ask whoever was in the cave if she could just stay the night and maybe have something to eat. She quickly retrieved her cloth from her satchel and covered her face before moving forward. She walked about one hundred yards in before coming to the end of the cave, where there was a large, smooth-walled oval shaped room.
Her eyes widened and she had to quickly choke back a loud gasp as she took in the glorious sight of piles and piles of numerous riches that filled the room.
Jewels, rugs, silk robes, jars of spices, and many other items lay in heaps all over the cave floor. After taking in the vast amounts of goods that sparkled and glimmered deliciously around her, she noticed there were two men sleeping soundly against opposing walls.
The first man was clearly a bat demon, his pointy ears poking out from under a black witch's hat he wore pulled down over his face. His large dark wings were tucked lazily behind him. He wore a shabby black vest and traditional demon clothing. His arms were crossed as he snored lightly.
The second man was unlike one Yumi had ever seen before. Long white hair as pure as the first snowfall, soft fox ears that protruded from his head, and a slender body that was hardened with muscle. He wore a simple, loosened long white tunic that was tied at the waist, and comfortable white traveling shoes. His large tail twitched as she stepped slightly closer to him.
His face was absurdly handsome, with long lashes and a strong jaw. His full mouth seemed to form a pout as his chest rose softly with each slow breath. Large, slender-fingered hands rested open palmed to the ceiling as they lay in the crevice of his crossed legs.
Yumi knew immediately he was Yoko Kurama, and assumed the bat demon was his partner. He must've been hiding here, since it was a secure place and the Kohaku Temple was on the way.
The white hair, the fox ears, the piles of goods from all of the recent robberies that should've been hers. All the clues pointed to the obvious. It had to be him.
She felt frozen to the spot, and didn't know what to do. Everything around her seemed to still, and the droplets of water that fell every so often around her suddenly seemed roaringly loud in her ears. Her chest contracted against her ribs violently.
Should she take something and get out of there? Or just leave without anything? Should she wake them up and ask them to stay? How dangerous were they?
She had heard stories from her family about Yoko Kurama as a young child, and the more she thought about it, the more she had began to remember some things about him and his bat demon friend, too. She knew they had possessed absurd amounts of strength, cunning and spirit energy, but the years of her childhood had long passed and the memories were muddled. Although she knew it was better to just leave and remove any traces of her presence as soon as possible, she had absolutely no money left.
If she just took one small thing, they wouldn't really notice. Right?
Some sparkling objects caught her eye that were nearest to Yoko Kurama, and she took a quiet, slow breath through her nostrils before tip-toeing silently over.
She was now in front of a tall pile of stacked decorated rugs that had numerous types of jewelry on top. She slowly reached out and managed to take a large green jewel.
That would hold her over for quite a bit.
She was about to turn and go, but a beautiful cerulean necklace caught her eye. It reminded her of her youngest sister's eyes, the sister whom she had not seen in years. Mizuki, she almost whispered. She shook her head softly to erase the oncoming memories. There was no time for that kind of emotional pain. She buried it back down deep where it belonged and glanced around the room one last time.
She reached forward to grab the necklace, but quick as lightening, and even before her senses could register it, her wrist was grabbed, and she was thrown down hard against the stone floor, her head making a loud 'thwack'ing sound that bounced against the cave walls.
Her widened eyes tried to focus on the blurry white figure standing over her, and before she had met unconsciousness, she knew she had been caught.
A/N: Thanks, guys! Don't forget to drop a review!