A/N: *sniff* This was so sad to write. ; A ; It was for a contest, like, three centuries ago. I never knew who won, though, but I still feel proud that I wrote it. Sad but beautiful. :3

Yoshida Mei is © to the host of the contest (on Quizilla); Kuronue, Yomi, and Yōko Kurama are © to Togashi Yoshihiro's YuYu Hakusho; Story is © to moi~

"The hardest thing to do is wake up without you." – Unknown

Yoshida Mei was known to be a very happy child. Her parents loved her very much, as did her relatives. She was a member of the Yoshida clan, a group of cat demons who lived in a secluded area in the heart of Makai.

Unfortunately, her happy days came to an end. A large band of demons kidnapped her, leaving most of her family dead. The demons took her to a large castle and forced her to do their bidding. If she didn't obey, they would beat her or even have their way with her. Life for Mei had become a living nightmare.

The mastermind behind the whole scheme was a demon named Akuto. He was quite a monster, a downright criminal and a threat known to all of Makai. Akuto had many followers since he was quite wealthy. He made his money off gambling and selling off innocent girls as slaves to some of the dirtiest of creatures, including many humans!

~ ღ ~

It was early in the morning. The sun had just started rising, bright red light shining through the windows of a large castle. Mei was asleep in her room, dreaming about her family and possibly escaping her prison. Oh, if only she could escape this dreadful place...

Mei's dreams were short-lived when her room door slammed open and a rough hand grabbed her arm, jerking her from her somewhat peaceful slumber.

"Get up, girl. You have work to do," a harsh voice said rather loudly. Mei was dropped to the floor, her face scraping against the cold stone.

She quickly gets dressed and heads out of her room, immediately starting her first task. Every day was like this and it never changed. Mei hated it here; if she had the strength, or courage, she would run far away from her dreadful prison.

Looking up to the red-orange and pink sky, Mei couldn't help but think of her family. Most of them were dead but the survivors had to be looking for her. They loved her... Right?

I wish I could just get out of here, Mei thought quietly to herself. Then I could go back to my family. I don't want to stay here forever.

The day went on quickly and Mei was exhausted from all her duties. She was just about to enter her room when she heard noises coming from the front door. Creeping down the hallway, Mei looked to see a group of thugs walking in with large bags on their bags. They walked over to Akuto who was smoking a large cigar.

"Here's all that you wanted, Akuto-sama," one demon, which was assumed to be the leader of the group, said with a smirk.

Akuto took the bags from them and opened them. Inside were large chunks of gold but in one bag was a sapphire as large as someone's fist.

"Good work, boys. I'm gonna make a fortune outta this beauty!"

Taking the sapphire, he placed it in a room with all the other jewels he possessed. The sapphire was placed in a glass case surrounded by lasers. Akuto smirked at his jewel collection. They would be safe from other thieves, wouldn't they?

As Mei walked to her room, she heard the other servants talking amongst themselves.

"I heard Akuto-sama's thugs stole another jewel."

"Yeah, I know. But I think they'll soon be in the hands of Yōko Kurama and his bandits."

"What makes you say that?"

"Don't you know about Yōko Kurama? The Legendary Fox Bandit? He and his group are one of the most dangerous bandits in Makai!"

Mei was curious. Yōko Kurama? Maybe the servants were right. What if Yōko and his group steal Akuto's treasure? And what if they killed the servants after the jewels were in their possession?

I guess I have to be extra cautious...

Later that night, noises were sounded outside, which woke Mei from her sleep. Maybe it was Yōko and his bandits.

Slipping on her kimono, Mei went downstairs, making sure not to wake the other servants. There was a light coming from Akuto's jewel room. What could that be? Curiosity took over the cat-girl's mind as she peeked her head into the room where a horrible sight was revealed to her.

Akuto was slumped against the wall, a large puddle of blood forming around him. A giant monster plant rose over him, sharp teeth covered in blood. The young cat demon could no longer bear another look at the corpse in front of her, so she turned her head to the bright light.

A group of demon bandits clad in all white were grabbing all the treasures, while one stood over Akuto's body with his back turned to Mei. He must've been the leader; he sure looked the part. He was tall with silver fox ears and tail, wearing white as well. It seemed like he was chiding Akuto.

"You fool," the kitsune said coldly, "did you really think you would outsmart us? Incompetents like you deserve to die."

Maybe it would be best if I left... Mei thought to herself, turning to leave, only to bump into something hard but warm. She looked up, seeing that she had bumped into another demon wearing black.

He smirked and grabbed her arm, walking her over to the fox demon and dropping her in front of him.

"Found a spy. What should I do with her, Yōko?"

Mei's eyes widened. This was Yōko? The Yōko Kurama?

Yōko looked down on her, his cold golden orbs not leaving her bright blue ones.

"P-Please don't kill me!" Mei cried, bowing in front of him. "I'll do anything! Just please don't kill me!"

The other bandits noticed and walked over, smirking and chuckling to themselves.

"What a weakling."

"I agree. She deserves to die!"

"Yeah, let's kill her."

"No. I have a better idea."

The bandits and Mei were quite surprised at Yōko's answer. He looked down at the young girl and smirked.

"If we let you live, you are to come with us. I have a way of making you useful."

Mei let out a quiet sigh of relief. The bandits were hesitant but obeyed their leader's orders. They all followed him out of the castle and into the dark forests of Makai...

~ ღ ~

At first the bandits were against having the young cat demon joining their group but after about a month, most of them were pretty thrilled to have them on her team. However, some of them, like Yomi, still had their doubts about letting a young girl join their group.

Mei was capable of doing quite a few beneficial things for the bandit group. She would make herself the perfect distraction whenever the group came across heavily guarded areas. And even though she had no healing powers of her own, she knew the art of medicine and surgery and even how to remove poison so no one had to worry about waiting for long periods of time to recover from injuries.

Yōko knew he was right about his decision. Even Kuronue were a bit impressed by her abilities.

More months passed by and Mei grew close to the demon bandits. She thought of them as brothers even if they barely showed any emotions toward her. As time moved forward, she had grown to love the bat yōkai Kuronue.

Her feelings for him grew strong and at times it would consume her. She would secretly watch over him and was willing to do anything he asked of her. Yōko, her father figure, knew of her feelings for Kuronue but said nothing about it.

He'll learn soon enough...

~ ღ ~

It was a dark night and Yōko and his bandits had decided to rob an old castle. Mei was accompanying them just in case they needed her for something. She also came in order to be next to Kuronue.

The bandits stood on a cliff that overlooked the castle. They saw the castle was guarded well, so something of value must be inside. How were the bandits supposed to get inside?

"Distract the guards in the front," Yōko said to Mei. "We will kill them after they have dropped their guard."

"We don't need her," Yomi protested. "I prefer a direct attack. She should stay behind."

A small group agreed with Yomi and started protesting the same words.

Yōko turned to his comrades. "None of you are the leaders, especially you, Yomi. I make the decisions for this group, not you, so I suggest you obey my orders."

A low growl came from Yomi as he flashed a glare at Mei before stepping back and running off, his followers running behind him. Yōko shook his head in disapproval.

"Fools. They won't survive in that castle." The kitsune's amber eyes scanned the rest of his followers as if he were looking into their souls.

"Anyone else want to join him?"

No one spoke and Yōko smirked.

"Good. Now let's go."

~ ღ ~

The bandits hid in the trees and bushes as Mei screamed. Some of Yōko's bandits pretended to attack her, so the guards ran to her and started fighting them off.

"Miss, are you all right?"

"Y-Yes, I-I think I will be."

"Don't worry. We'll take you home-"

The guard fell to the ground, his head rolling into a river. Mei turned to see Yōko and his group behind her, along with the dead guards.

Kuronue smirked and winked at her. "Good work. Let's hurry and go inside."

Mei's heart lifted and quickly followed the group inside. The hallways were dark and stuffy. Old but haunting paintings hung on the walls. Without even thinking, Mei quickly clung onto Kuronue's arm.

The bat yōkai looked down at the girl and chuckled lightly, his blue eyes dancing with amusement. Mei noticed his reaction and thought of it as a negative one so she pulled back.

"I-I'm sorry, Kuronue-sama."

"You can cling on if you want. I don't really care."

This was obviously a lie, though Mei was oblivious. Kuronue didn't understand it himself but realized there was more to the Yoshida girl than he had thought. He was unconsciously growing feelings for her.

~ ღ ~

Yōko stopped his comrades in their tracks, just as they were halfway through the castle. He had heard something. Footsteps. They were getting closer.

"Do you think Yomi-sama and his followers reached the treasure, Yōko-sama?" one of the demons asked.

The kitsune shook his head, his eyes narrowing. "No. Yomi is a fool. He won't get there that easily."

A chorus of screams rang within the castle walls and a large pang of fear struck through Mei's heart as she instinctively clung to Kuronue's arm.

"Wh-What was th-that?" Mei questioned, fear still evident in her voice.

"The sound of death."

Guards had surrounded them, holding clubs and spears. They didn't seem tough, most of them were C-class demons or lower. No problem.

A smirk played on Yōko's lips as his plants shot out of the ground, decapitating most of the guards.

"Too easy."

The rest of the guards put up a front and charged anyway. Mei watched from the background as the bandits sliced them up. She had been too busy watching Kuronue that she had let down her own guard.

Bad mistake.

One of the remaining guards grabbed her arms, placing a poisoned knife to her neck.

"Surrender now or she dies!" he squawked before running off.

Yōko had noticed, as did the other bandits, but decided on letting Kuronue take care of him. The bat demon seethed at the guard who was holding poor Mei hostage. He quickly sliced off the head of his opponent and disappeared into the dark hallways.

Meanwhile, the guard had taken Mei to an abandoned room and chained her up. He was planning on asking her questions about Yōko and his bandits by torturing her slowly. However, Mei never gave him an answer whenever he asked a question.

The guard quickly became impatient and decided on killing, but another idea popped into his head.

I saw her clinging onto one of Yōko's friends. She must love him, he thought, smiling evilly. Maybe if I have my way with her, she'll talk.

Mei had seen the smile on the guard's face as he grabbed her by the shoulders. Not good.

"I'm gonna make you talk whether you like or not-"

"Or maybe you won't talk at all."

Kuronue was standing behind the guard, his sickle piercing through him. The guard coughed up blood before falling to the ground. The bat demon cut the chains, his eyes filled to the brim with hatred.

"What a fool."

As soon as Mei was freed, she immediately threw her arms around Kuronue, crying silently.

"Thank you, Kuronue-sama! I love you so much!"

Her words surprised him, though Mei knew it all along. Kuronue was confused; he didn't know how to react. Should he just laugh at her as if it were a joke? Then she would be heartbroken, possibly for the rest of her life. Perhaps he should embrace her feelings? But that would make him weak. He had to choose something, thought it did seem like a lose-lose situation.

Yōko, meanwhile, was watching from outside. He could have interfered but decided to let his friend handle this. He might not have been in love before but hopefully Kuronue would choose the right thing...

~ ღ ~

Kuronue had decided to love Mei from afar. His top priority was his reputation as a thief but his feelings for Mei slowly pushed that priority aside, though he didn't lose his talent.

As Kuronue dealt with his feelings, Mei's thoughts started drifting to her family. How were they? Were they doing just fine without her? Mei didn't want to leave her bandit "family" but she did want to know about her real family; she had almost forgotten about them.

Mei was staring up at the silver moon that was only a sliver in the sky. She remembered looking at the stars with her cousins and they would use the stars to tell stories. Those were such good times.

"You're still up?"

The girl snapped out of her reverie and saw Kuronue leaning against a tree, swinging around his pendant.

"I-I couldn't sleep, Kuronue-sama. I was just thinking about my family."

"Family, huh?" The bat demon chuckled. "You shouldn't worry about them now. They're probably all dead."

Mei looked up at the sky, her bright blue eyes saddening. Kuronue noticed, knowing he had said something wrong. He sighed and took something out of his pocket.

"Here," he said, tossing it to her. "Stole it for you."

Mei watched as Kuronue disappeared behind the trees and then looked at what he had given her. It was a silver necklace that held a ruby pendant. It was simple but pretty; Mei couldn't help but smile. She placed it around her neck, admiring herself in the crystal clear river in front of her.

She smiled to herself and touched the pendant. I'll never take it off, she thought. Never.

~ ღ ~

Both Mei and Kuronue knew they loved each other and decided to embrace each other's feelings but in secret. Yōko already knew but the other demons were oblivious.

As the months passed by, the lovebirds grew even closer to each other until they were inseparable, which was when the other demons started getting suspicious. Yomi had disappeared while the rest of his followers had already died because of his mistakes. The only ones left were Yōko, Kuronue and Mei.

Her heart had ached terribly for her family and she had begged Kuronue for quite a while to allow her to see them once again. Kuronue finally agreed and they both went off to the Yoshida territory.

Fortunately, the remainder of Mei's family was still alive, obviously worried sick over her. Her parents were absolutely thrilled to have their daughter back, as were the rest of the clan, and let her inside the house so they could celebrate. Mei never told them about her previous life as a helper of bandits. What would they think of her?

Later that night, Mei went out to find Kuronue. He had left and came back hours later just so he could say goodbye to her. It pained him to leave her but she would be safer if she stayed with her family.

"But I want to stay with you, Kuronue-sama."

"I'm sorry, Mei, but I don't want to lose you. It's too dangerous for you to be walking around with us now. It's better this way."

Mei's heart sank at his words. She had promised herself that she would stay with him, even die with him. All of that couldn't have been for nothing, right?

"Will you come back?"

"Yeah. I'll come and visit you when I can."

He placed a soft kiss on her forehead and disappeared with Yōko. Hot tears fell down Mei's face as she watched them go. She had missed him already...

~ ღ ~

Kuronue had kept to his word. He came back to see Mei every night. Mei felt content, even though it was a forbidden romance between her and Kuronue. Her parents would have never approved if they knew whom she had fallen in love with.

About a month passed and Kuronue stopped coming. Mei grew worried. What had happened to him? Her questions were soon answered but the answers weren't very pleasant. Kuronue was killed during a robbery.

"He died," Yōko said when he broke the sad news to her, "in order to save my life." After he said this, the fox demon disappeared, never to return.

Mei was completely devastated. Her first and only love was now dead. She didn't know what to do or who to turn to now that Yōko was gone.

Her parents were worried about her and thought she just needed some romance in her life. They decided on choosing a husband for her but Mei, however, turned them all down. Her heart only belonged to the bat demon Kuronue who was now dead.

~ ღ ~

Mei continued to mourn for her demon lover. She knew that he would never come back, neither would Yōko, the great Fox Bandit. Every evening, she would gaze at her necklace, her heart aching every time she saw Kuronue's reflection in the ruby pendant. Her heart was completely broken in two.

The girl quickly became sick and her body became weaker each day. The doctors had no idea of her ailment and her parents were absolutely frightened. Mei died a few days later and the Yoshida clan gave her a proper burial. They had noticed the necklace that hung around her neck but never found out its origin. However, we know why Mei had perished.

She had died of a broken heart...