I do not own any characters from yyh.

This is just one random story with youko and an oc... but I may add more to this in the future, either a continuation of this or new stories entirely. Thus, it's got a weird title. Also, I'm bad at titles.

Anyway, here it is.

The rest of the men were starting to gather. They'd all traded and divided up their spoils and taken it back to their respective tents and sleeping areas. I'd only taken a few things this time. There wasn't much of interest in this particular castle. I had only taken a couple of manuscripts and had decided to read them near the fire pit, right across from our brand new prisoner.

He kept looking up at me, and then back to his hands. When we first got here he kept looking into the forest, as if contemplating running. I wanted him to try it. It would've been fun, chasing someone through the woods. When I sat down across from him though, he seemed to give up, and had taken to trying to conceal his trembling and debating if he should ask me what his fate was going to be. He's been doing it for about twenty minutes and I'm starting to wonder if he is actually going to speak or if I'll need to prompt him to do so. For the moment, I've decided to appear occupied with other things, like my new manuscripts. I didn't want him to know he had the majority of my attention. He was already so nervous I thought he might be cowed into total silence if I stared too much, and he would need to start talking soon.

"So, Youko, what now?" one of the men asked.

What now indeed? I was surprised taking the fortress was so easy in the first place. It was surprisingly understaffed, considering it belonged to a person calling himself a king. I thought kings were supposed to have large armies and well defended fortresses. This king in particular appeared to have replaced many of his men with spells. The numerous traps and wards were what drew me here in the first place; I thought it would be fun to rob. I was right, of course. The spells were very complex, and I enjoyed cracking every one. The drawback of that is, once the fun was over, I had to deal with people before any of us could steal anything. After we killed most of the guards, I wanted more information on other potential fortresses that this king maintained. Which is how we ended up with this trembling fluff ball with us at our camp. Sighing, I finally addressed him directly.

"Do you know where your king is?" I asked.

The fluff ball's ears perked a little. I couldn't tell what he was. I wanted to investigate, but he had the personality of a rabbit, and I didn't want to scare him too much right out of the gate. All I could do was guess from what I was seeing. If I went with the ears, I'd guess he was some kind of cat. They were tan, slightly pointed, and stout. His hair and tail were throwing me for a loop though. His hair was short and curly, which is why I'd privately taken to calling him fluff ball. It matched the color of his ears, but it had really pronounced red highlights. The highlights matched his tail. That tail was unusual. It had the red of his hair with black strips in it. I was fat, fluffy, and a few strands curled just like the hair on his head. It was currently doing a nervous twitching back and forth. He opened and closed his mouth a couple times as if trying to summon his voice. Finally, in a very quiet voice, he said "My King has many fortresses along the river. I believe he left to go to the eastern most one."

"How many exactly?" I asked.

Fluff ball jumped when I asked that. He stole a glance at me before answering. "Seven," he said, looking back at the floor. What a terrible liar. I'll bring that up later. It'd be a bad idea to push him when we've finally got him talking.

"Are all of the fortresses guarded with spells like this one? Do they all have as much gold and treasures as yours?"

More hesitation. "I'm not sure. I think they're all mostly the same," he said. It wasn't a lie this time, but he regretted sharing the information. His tail curled around his lap, he hunched over a little bit more. Make yourself small so the predators aren't interested, that's what this behavior was.

"All along the river?"

He folded his hands into his lap and stared resolutely at them. Resigned. Defeated. Nope, he would definitely break quickly if I had to get serious about making him talk. "Yes," he said. Another lie.

I turned to address the small group I'd gathered for this heist. "Well, it sounds like we have two options. One would be to leave. The other would be to break into more of this king's fortresses while he's away," Because I wasn't so sure I wanted to face off with the king in the first place, "What would you lot like to do?"

There was mumbling within the crowd. After a couple minutes, it died down, and one man spoke up. "I liked what I got here. I wouldn't mind fishing around a few more castles for more loot," he said.

"I agree," another said.

A few more mumbles of agreement and I held up my hand to the silence them. "I wouldn't mind cracking a few more of this king's spells, personally. Alright, it sounds like we'll be taking at least one more castle. But before we do anything, we need to scout the other places. Divide yourselves up, and I want one group at every castle. Don't get too close, I just want ideas of what's there. Numbers of guards, visible spells, and anything else interesting you can find. Whichever group goes to the eastern most castle needs to confirm the king is actually there. Then come back here." I would do my own scouting work, but honestly, I wanted to play with my new toy while he was available to me. Types like him are my weakness. I prefer the quiet ones to the ones who try to act tough or devious. They're the only types I don't often have an immediate desire to kill when I meet them. I find it especially cute when they're scared. They're passive, they do what they're told, it's nice.

The crowd dispersed. A few went off on their own. Some people got into groups and decided to go out right away. Hopefully they won't be stupid and get themselves killed. Then I really would have to go do my own grunt work. With that arranged, I gathered my reading materials and walked over to the fluff ball.

"You're going to come with me," I said. His fluffy little ears perked up again, but he wouldn't meet my eyes. When he didn't move right away, I added, "Unless you'd like me to leave you with the rest of my men?" I could smell the small spike of terror that came over him, and he shot up and followed me to the tent I was in.

I directed him to sit on my bedroll. There was nowhere else for him to go, really. The only things in here were mine and Kuronue's. We both had a bedroll and a small pack. I wondered where he went off to, anyway. He'd left the castle with us, dumped his loot in here, and took off without a word. Hopefully he'll be back soon.

The fluff ball was sniffing just above the bedroll. He's probably noticed it's mine. It seemed to calm him down, bringing him in here. He had been by himself in the castle too. Perhaps he doesn't like crowds. I decided to plop down right in front of him. Predictably, he jumped, a reaction which I enjoyed. I didn't say anything, I just stared. His eyes darted in every direction, most likely trying to find anywhere else to look. Eventually, he settled on the ground, with his tail curling back around his waist.

From this distance I could smell him better. I leaned in closer and sniffed, causing him to stiffen up. I couldn't smell anything that would help me identify what he was, mostly because all I smelled were layers of fear. An old one, from the prolonged stressful situation, and then a fresher one, probably from being alone with me. Underneath that I picked up a small hint of dust and books, similar to the manuscripts I'd found. He likely maintained them in the castle. Finally there was a faint hint of his own scent, but it could only let me guess what I already know, which is that he comes from the mammalian branch of the evolutionary tree.

I also noticed his skin had nice pink undertones to it. Despite the fact that it was much darker than the tan of his hair, this close you could make out the nice pink underneath. I looked back up to his face and noticed he was staring intensely at me. It was adorable. He looked like a frightened bunny. At least now he was looking me in the eyes. Speaking of eyes…

"You have very pretty eyes," I said. They were a pale blue, and they grew even wider once I said that. "Do you think I'm going to eat you?"

His response was to swallow, audibly. I laughed.

"I'm not going to eat you, in case you were concerned. It's always been my policy to treat hostages well. After all, we will probably need you later. What's your name?"

He studied me for a few minutes, confused, as if he expected me to suddenly change my mind. Or leap forward and bite him. I did want to bite him, just a little bit. I'll file that away for later. "Izumi," he said.

I reached forward and picked up a curl from his head. His hair felt smooth. I'd expected it to feel shaggy. It certainly looked shaggy. "Izumi, how old are you?"

"One hundred sixty two," he said, returning his gaze to the floor. I decided to keep playing with his hair. At some point I was going to need to pull more information out of him. He was definitely lying before, and I wanted to know about what. But I hate to make types like him bleed; he'd probably start crying. Not that I have a problem with crying, I've made lots of people cry. But if I make Izumi cry, it'd be the end of all the fun I could have with him. I moved on from the ends of his curls and started twirling the strands near his ears. He started blushing. That's to be expected. He has ears like mine, they're probably very sensitive. I may not need to make him bleed to get what I want.

"Can you stop touching me?" he asked.

I grinned. "No," I said, pulling gently on a curl. He stiffened again, but this time it wasn't from fear. Well, it wasn't completely from fear. He was still very scared, but now he has other feelings competing with his nerves. "I like your hair, and since you're my prisoner, I'm going to keep touching it." He stared at me like he couldn't tell if I was serious. I shifted so I was sitting closer to him, and when he tried to lean away, I used his curls to tug him back.

I felt a small shift in the air. Energy. The same from the wards in the castle. So Izumi here was responsible for powering them. I wonder if he designed them as well. "Izumi, I need more information from you. I am trying to get it from you in the least painful way possible. Trust me, you do not want to fight me. You won't win, and in the end your interrogation will be less tolerable for you," I said, letting go of his hair. Then I let my own youki flicker to life. A few sprouts of grass started to grow from under the tent.

Well, the nerves won out again, if they were losing at all to having his hair played with. I felt kind of bad. It was lost progress, I suppose. But he needed to know who was running this interrogation. He managed to seal up his own energy. Probably, as soon as he felt mine, he recognized the difference in power. For a second, I wondered if maybe I was pushing him over the edge. He started shaking, quite violently. A small instinct in the back of my head wanted me to hold him until he stopped. If I didn't really need information, I might have done it. Like I said, trembling cuteness is a considerable weakness of mine.

"What do you want to know?" he whispered.

"Earlier you said your king owned seven fortresses. You were lying. How many are there really?" I asked.

"Eight."

"And why did you lie about this before? Weren't you concerned we'd kill you?"

He raised his voice to just above a whisper, "Why didn't you point out I was lying before, if you were so concerned about that?" The statement was burning with anger. I'm surprised he said that despite being terrified. He's still shaking.

I didn't think it would be a good idea to go for the ears again. Not right at this moment, since he's struggling so hard to stay in control. I decided to check out his tail instead, twirling a curl sprouting off of it. It was still curled around his waist. It's interesting that he has curly hair on his tail too. I thought he'd try to move away again, but this time he didn't do anything. Oh dear. I hope he's not totally broken already.

"I made the wards for that fortress. They're a little more complex. They guard a recorder stone. The stone describes some more complex spells that are passed down in the King's family. Nobody is supposed to know about it, except him and me," he said. He sounded bitter.

"Is this other fortress also by the river?" I asked

"No, it's part of a cave in the mountain," he said. He'd balled his hands into fists. I studied him for a moment. I could see and smell so many feelings coming off him. I could also smell the adrenaline building up.

"I'm guessing your king threatened you, if you told anybody about it? With death, torture?" I asked. At this, he spun away from me. His shoulders were trembling. I smelled salt. He was crying. Great. I was hoping I could have a little more fun with him. Maybe I could recover the situation. "I didn't ask you before because I thought you'd be too scared to talk in front of everyone," also, I didn't get to have any alone time with the new toy if I squeezed all the information of him in one go. "I think your king will understand that you had to tell if you were kidnapped by bandits," I said. I felt it was time to bring the tension down a few notches, now that I have the information I needed, and I decided to pet little circles around his back. Most people found that generally soothing. Once he's calm again, maybe I could play around with him some more.

"I'll be punished for it," he said.

"But not killed?"

"I'd rather be killed," he said, "Hell, if you steal the recorder stone, maybe I will be killed. After he's done with me." His knuckles began to turn white, "Now can you please stop touching me?"

Well that's just disappointing. He doesn't want to be touched at all? For now, I'll give him a little respite. Kuronue's youki was close by, and I want to know where he's been. Sighing, I lowered my hand. "Alright, I'll stop touching you… for now," He tensed up, and I just couldn't keep the smile off of my face after that, "but only because my associate is back, and I need to speak with him. You are going to stay right here and wait. Do you understand?"

He nodded. I left him in the tent to his anger and went out to meet Kuronue just and he landed near the edge of camp. He waved.

"Kurama! Hey, want to guess where I just got back from?'

"Not particularly."

He frowned at that. "What's up with you?"

"My new toy is currently not as fun as I anticipated."

"Ah, well, maybe this will improve your mood. I found another fortress. It has the same energy signature. I picked up on it a while back, when we were traveling. When we got to the castle today, I realized I'd felt the same thing before! It's up in the mountains, and-" He paused when he saw me smiling, "It did improve your mood! But I have the impression you already knew about this."

"It's true. I already knew. I just finished talking about it with our guest," I said, pointing to the tent over my shoulder, "but you are confirming the knowledge. That's useful."

"Right. Sure." He said. His enthusiasm is a little deflated. I should probably cheer him up a bit.

"Would you be interested in meeting our new guest? I find him quite… interesting."

"Cute?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes. "A little," I said, "Oh, but first, let me bring you up to speed." I elaborated on what had happened while he'd been away. We spent about two hours plotting, and then decided that perhaps we should take Izumi with us to scout the fortress in the mountain. He could confirm that it was the fortress he set up wards for.

"So where is he?" Kuronue asked.

"He's in our tent," I said.

Kuronue smiled and started walking to the tent. "So he told you all about the castle before I did, huh?"

I nodded.

"I'm a little jealous. Bet his highness won't be too thrilled about that."

"Probably not" I said.

"Should we do something about that?"

Kuronue was always much more considerate than I was regarding the plight of our hostages. In fact, he was charming enough that sometimes he could make them talk without hypnotizing them. And he was being serious too. He tended to view stealing as more of a game, and he liked to be fair to all the players involved.

When we reached the tent, we were both suddenly aware that it was emitting energy. It was very discreet. It's unlikely anyone would notice unless they tried to go inside. Kuronue looked worried for a minute, but when he turned to me, he noticed me smiling, and his worry seemed to vanish.

"You really do like toying with people don't you?"

"Of course," I said, "If I have guests, I like to make sure they're entertained."

He rolled his eyes, and reached for the tent. As it happens, the tent itself wasn't what Izumi had placed wards on. Probably a good thing since Kuronue didn't really investigate before trying to open it. When we walked into the tent, we found that the wards were actually floating just above Izumi. He was laying down, still on my bedroll, and he propped up on his elbows when he noticed we were walking in. He looked defensive and unsure. Honestly, I don't know what he thought he'd accomplish here, but I found myself ridiculously pleased that he gave me more puzzles to solve, for free. And I get him as a reward. This was going to be very entertaining.

"Well, I can tell by the way your ears perked up that you probably want to deal with this?" Kuronue asked.

I just grinned, not taking my eyes off Izumi. He was starting to look very alarmed.

"He does look very cute," he turned to Izumi, "Hi there, I'm Kuronue, the assistant thief."

I chuckled at that statement, "He is my second in command," I said.

"So, when you're done, can I have him?"

"Perhaps."

"Gosh Kurama you really need to learn how to share," he said.

I finally glanced over at him, mostly to confirm he wasn't actually angry. He appeared to be joking. He was smiling at least. "I didn't say you couldn't. Besides, you got the last one."

"And she was gorgeous. Listen, I'm going to go practice a few new tricks on some of our new guys," he said.

"If they are planning to go scout soon, please make sure they are functional before they need to leave, and if they are coming back, please make sure they are not injured. I don't want to lose men before we raid again."

"Sure thing, boss," he said, opening the tent. He glanced at Izumi, then back to me, and smiled, "have fun."

Izumi appeared to have been watching our conversation with interest, and then he started to undo the wards.

"Oh no, Izumi, don't take those down on my account."

He gave me a wide eyed look filled with terror. "I didn't want anyone touching me and you weren't here so I put these up but I can take them down if you want." His voice held a slight quiver. I moved to sit in front of him.

"I want to take them down," I said. I placed my hand over one to test it, and it sent sparks all the way up my arm, and broke the skin on my hand. I smiled even wider. I was probably showing lots of teeth. Izumi looked bewildered. His mouth was hanging open. I funneled some energy into my hand to heal the cut, which closed over in front of Izumi. He looked a little defeated. "I'm sure these would have kept most of the men away from you. Though Kuronue and I would not be seriously injured by these. Not unless we tried to force ourselves through. But we can't do that, since they're so close to your body." I ran my hand just above them, making the magic ripple like water.

"I thought about warding the actual tent."

"That would have been fun, too"

"But I thought everyone would notice sooner."

"Most likely," I said, examining the wards. They were made up of symbols, with intricate webbed patterns surrounding them. Actually, they were quite beautiful. The patterned portion appeared to be acting like a web, supporting the actual ward, and each web was different. However, the same principle applies to them all. If you were to unravel the web, then the ward would break. He'd used something similar in the fortress we raided. I starting poking at the web in different places. Predictably, it nicked my fingers a little. I ignored it.

"Why do you want to take these down? Aren't you angry?"

"Hmm. Well, you didn't attack me or otherwise cause any trouble, you're merely defending yourself. No I'm not angry. And I want to take them down because I enjoy doing so," I said. I got to one section of the web lose and then tugged. Half the web unraveled with a crack. Izumi jumped a little from it. At this point, if I applied a little extra energy, I could break the ward. But really, why rush through it? I decided to work on the other half of the web until it too cracked. Then I placed a miniscule amount of energy onto the ward and it broke. Izumi sat up at that, giving me a view of seven more wards.

"I should have made it stronger, more complicated," he mumbled.

"You put seven more of these on your person?" I asked.

He nodded. My fingers were dripping blood. He was staring at them. He sat there mutely while I cracked open another six of them over the next hour. Most of my fingers were shredded up by the time I finished. He looked like he was starting to panic again. Nothing makes me happier than cornered prey.

"So, Izumi, once I get though these, what should I do with you?" I asked.

He looked down at his hands, poking and prodding at the last ward. "Can't you just leave me be? Or let me go? I won't tell the King what you're doing," he said, his voice just barely above a whisper.

They all say things like this. "Hmm, no, I can't do either of those," I said, pulling at the first part of the seventh ward. His shoulders slouched it cracked, making him look resigned and sad, but there was still a tiny little spark in his eyes. Like he could maybe get away. Many of my hostages have this look as well. Actually, so have many of the people I've killed. I don't think I've ever seen a person give up completely before they die. I've always imagined it to be some sort of defense mechanism. The last ward unraveled with a snap, and as soon as it was gone, Izumi lurched backwards. He glanced over at the door twice, debating if he could beat me to it.

"It's the middle of the night, but I suppose if you'd like me to chase you through the forest I'd do it," I said. Izumi turned back to me, he was rigid, except for his upper lip, which was trembling. I hope he's not going to cry again. "Of course, you don't have to run. We could stay in here and do other things."

"Do you do this to all your hostages?" he asked.

"Only the ones I really like," I said.

"What is it you want to do, exactly?" he asked.

"Why don't you come over here and find out?"

Well, he didn't come to me, but then I wasn't expecting him to. He did however, sit down in a more relaxed position, with his knees up and his hands wrapped around them. He didn't look like he was planning on running now, in fact, I'd say my prey has finally accepted defeat. His lip was still trembling. He reached his hand up over the top of his head and dragged his curls back. When he released them, they fell back around his face like a halo. "Well, just get it over with, whatever you're planning," he said.

I laughed, which seemed to wound him further. He flinched as though I'd actually struck him. "How sad," I said, crawling towards him, "I wasn't planning on doing anything you won't like." I stopped short, hooked my hands under his knees, and pulled him closer to me. The movement caused him to fall back on his elbows again.

"They always say that," he said, and then that tiny spark in his eyes left completely. Well, it wouldn't be the first time I've kept a victim in my bed. As long as I don't do anything that scares him too much, we should be fine. The trick is going slow, and using patience, so they trust you. A couple times, I've had the pleasure of ripping that trust to pieces with people I did not like. That was not in the cards for tonight though. I had my prey right where I wanted him. I licked the blood from my fingers and used some youki to heal them. Then I reached down, grabbed the collar of Izumi's shirt, and pulled him slowly into a sitting position. He obliged and sat up. Then I switched so I was kneeling and pulled Izumi's legs around my waist. Again, he didn't fight me, but I could tell he was very nervous.

"This is usually the part where I tell people they should relax, but if people always put their hands on you, I doubt you'll be able to," I said, brushing a few strands of hair away from his face. "Would you like to touch me instead?"

He looked surprised I'd asked, and seemed to be searching my eyes to see if it was really ok. When I didn't say anything to the contrary, he went right for my hair. I rested my hands on his thighs while he ran his fingers through it continuously, as though he was afraid to go anywhere else. I could feel strands vibrate with the trembling of his fingers. "You do have nice hair," he said.

"Thank you." I let him continue for a few minutes before deciding to run my hands up and down his thighs. He paused running his fingers partway down a handful of hair to watch me. He swallowed, audibly. "You'll have to let me touch you eventually," I said.

"I guess so. If that's where this is going," he said, his hands still wrapped in my hair.

"I like you," I said, "so I'd like it to go there."

"What if I didn't want to?" he asked.

I sighed. He was being quite dramatic about this, but then, we did kidnap him, so I can't really fault him for it. "If you really didn't want to, then we don't have to. I'd like to change your mind, though." I paused to study his face. He was still watching my hands in the same way prey watches a predator to see what they'll do next. His eyes were wide, his breath was shallow. I enjoy catching and playing with my prey, and I enjoy bending them to my will. But in this case, it's more of an accomplishment to make him willing, simply because that's the harder prize to obtain.

I wanted to ask who had hurt him, although I'm guessing it was his king, or someone close to the king. Perhaps to give him more incentive to make wards. It wasn't unheard of.

"What will you do with me after? You didn't bring me here just for this," he said.

"Oh, no of course not. At first we were thinking ransom, but after seeing your skill with wards, I'm not sure I want to give you back," I said. Probably, we'd keep him for a bit. I could use his skill to practice breaking spells and wards. After that, maybe we'll sell him. I bet someone of his skill level would make a good profit. Although, given his history, I'd have to be very picky about the buyer. Perhaps I could loan him out instead of giving him away completely. "We will have to see."

He seemed to be debating something. Then he reached up and kissed me. I assume this is because he wants to make an impression. Perhaps Izumi doesn't want to be returned to his king after all. I let him lead for this kiss. He was quite aggressive, forcing his tongue through my closed lips, bruising them. It was a type of kiss brought on by nerves and desperation, which frankly, made me want to grab the back of his hair and slow him down, but I think giving him some measure of control will make this much more enjoyable for him.

When he finally broke away, we were both panting. I can't say I expected this out of the trembling fluff ball. "All done with the distractions then?" I asked, snaking my hand into the bottom of his shirt. I pushed lightly on his stomach, guiding him down to the bedroll. I tried to move my hand further up, but he stopped me, grabbing me with both hands. His grip was very tight, which means I was probably moving a little fast for him. I just want to see more of his skin.

"Ok, um," his voice quieted, back to being just around a whisper, "can you please just go a little slower?"

I smiled. "You kiss me like that and then ask me to go slow?"

His face flushed a deep red and he moved one hand to cover his eyes. After a couple seconds, he peeked out from behind it and mumbled, "I was just testing you out. I wanted to be sure that…" he had to recover his eyes, this time he used both hands, "that you weren't going to hurt me. It always hurts." He turned even redder, which, despite his words, was adorable.

I slid my hand out from under his shirt. "We'll go slow then."

He nodded. Perfect.

I decided to kiss him this time, and I made an almost excessive effort to be as gentle as possible. Then I moved on to nibbling his ear and kissing his neck. He leaned his neck away to give me more access. I nipped at his neck once before kissing it again. I felt him breath in and out, slowly, trying to release tension. I kept working on his neck until I reached the fabric of his shirt.

Clothes can be so irritating sometimes. Especially when I want to see skin. Again, I reached under his shirt this time with the intention of taking it off. And, again, he stopped me.

"I'm sorry," he said, looking away from me, "I really don't think I can do this."

I'm rarely speechless, but I'm not sure what to say to him. I could, in theory, go slower than this, but if he really doesn't want to, well… He'd really break if I forced him. And I've got no reason to force him, since he's already given me what I needed. Disappointing, but unfortunately true.

"I just… I just, well, it's never been good for me, and all I think about is them every time I try to do anything so please can we just not do this," he said. I must have been silent for too long, because he opened his mouth like he was going to speak again, and he was starting to hyperventilate.

"Alright, if you don't want to, I won't force you to, but under one condition," I said.

He stared at me in confused silence. I couldn't tell if he was confused because I listened to his request or because I wanted to make one of my own. "C-condition?"

"Yes. I want to be able to touch you still. Your hair anyway."

He reached up and grabbed a handful of his curls. "You want to be able to play with my hair? Why?"

"Because I like your hair, and I want to keep touching you. I rarely get prisoners as cute as you."

"I guess. You really aren't going to make me…"

"Not unless you want to."

"Oh. Ok. Thanks," he said. He slowly let go of my hand, and I removed it from his shirt.

"And if I'm being honest, Kuronue will probably want to touch your hair too. He likes touching people a lot more than me. Don't be alarmed if he does that to you," I said. I sat back on my heels and let him sit up. He sat up cross legged. He was shaking again. "Can I hold you for a little bit?"

He looked positively bewildered. "Why?"

"So you stop shaking," I said, moving so I was sitting instead of kneeling, "Come here, please."

He paused for a minute, and then moved so he was sitting just in front of me. I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him to my chest. It took a few minutes, but he eventually relaxed.

"I have another condition, Izumi," I said. He didn't speak, just turned a little in my arms so he could see my face. "I want you to make more wards. So I can try to break them. And they need to be the best you can create," I said.

"You're strange," he said, "but ok."

We sat there for a while, with me investigating his curly hair until he fell asleep. When he was finally out, I laid him down on the bedroll and wrapped him up in a blanket, and went out to see what Kuronue was up to.

I found him getting one of the men to stand on his head. He glanced at me and then turned back to the man, releasing him from the compulsion. The man, confused, stood up and looked around. Some of the others started laughing.

"Yeah you talked big about how strong your mind was and look at you!" one said.

"He had you doing all sorts of things," another said.

Kuronue left them to argue and came over to me. "You don't seem like you had that much fun," he said.

"Not as much as we could have had. He didn't want to sleep with me," I said.

"That's never stopped you before, though," he said, "was what you got good, at least?"

"I'd say so," I said.