Sister of the Thief
Rated: M
Disclaimer: The characters are mine, but the story it's based on is not!
Long swathes of luscious red, bright fields of choice green, water of three colors blue. Art was all that Hikari Kaito ever thought about. It was in his dreams, his language, and his step. Every move was another stroke. The way he ate his food, picking grain after grain of rice until it had just the right shape, swirling the noodles in his bowl into long arcs and loops. But, when he actually shaped his art, when he picked up his tools and carved, or his brushes and painted, that was the real art. Just watching him work was enough to make Niwa Ayaka dizzy.
She knew she wasn't supposed to be here. She knew that the Hikaris were the sworn enemies of her family. But, she just couldn't draw her gaze away from him everyday. The way he moved the brush, in those long, lazy arcs, and rough, quick jabs. Every picture came out perfect. When his chisel cut through the wood, carving knobs and arms, scales and horns, smooth cheeks and soft lips. Oh, god, his works looked so real.
It's because there's something horribly wrong with them, she reminded herself. The Hikaris are too perfect in their skill. They put too much of themselves in their art. They care for nothing else. He cares nothing for you.
Even wit this thought in her mind, she couldn't stop herself from running to his garden every morning, hiding in his rose bushes until noon, watching his every move. She followed his arm around the canvas as he penned a charcoal Sparrow. Every motion was deliberate, and had power, soft or hard. He was the real artwork, she decided. He could never make anything as perfect as the way she saw him.
"Ayaka!" Came a whispered voice. Her heart skipped a beat. The voice was familiar. It was very familiar. In fact, it was almost exactly like her own, if not a few octaves deeper. She turned around slowly, looking over her shoulder, hoping that it wasn't who she thought it was. It was. Her older twin, Niwa Shou, peering in through the hedge. He gave her a stern look, before jerking his thumb backward and tugging his head out of the foliage. She sighed, and took one last look at Kaito, before following her brother through the bush.
By the time Ayaka had broken through, Shou was already halfway down the alley.
"Brother, wait!" She called, running after him.
"No, Ayaka, this is just too much. What were you doing there? No, don't answer that, I already know."
"Well, what were you doing there?" Ayaka asked her brother, finally catching up to him.
"My job, Ayaka." Shou said, whirling around on her. "I'm the Phantom Thief. I was checking the place out. The Hikaris have some very dangerous art in there, and as the third Phantom Thief Dark, I have to uphold the tradition that Father and Grand-Father set down. And, as the daughter of the second Phantom Thief Dark, you cannot lust after our sworn enemies son."
"What harm can it do? He's just a boy--"
"He's a Hikari." Shou interrupted. "Everything he makes draws his curse into itself. He is a walking plague, making new monsters everyday, and you are to have nothing more to do with him."
"But,--"
"I won't tell Father this time, but this is it. If I ever catch you here again, I'll let him tan your hide."