Kokoro No Kaitou : Chapter 4
LOL. In the last chapter, my friend pointed out to me that I (once again) made a typo. I put 'nut' instead of 'but'. Oops! Then again, it happens to the best of us, doesn't it? But I'm not the best, so does it really apply to me?
Well, I'll try to make it long. I've got a really bad cold, and thus have an equally bad headache.
~*~
I was awoken by a cold splash of water hitting my face. I gasped and sat up, wiping the water from my eyes before looking for the culprit. Youko was crouched down next to me, an unreadable expression on his face. He looked either bored or slightly amused. It was hard to tell with him.
My hand went to my head, where a dull throbbing had started.
Youko's face remained unreadable. "Daijobu ka?"
"I'm fine. Just a headache." I looked around. "Where are we?"
"My den." Was the short reply.
I looked around. We were in a room, a big circular room made of dark grey stone. The walls weren't decorated, with the exception of a full-length mirror near the door on the left side of the room. On the right side was another door, which I assumed was a closet. I was lying on a futon. It was large and sprawling, and it made me seem quite tiny in comparison. It had plain white sheets, and two large, fluffy pillows. It was fit for a king.
Or a bandit king.
I looked back to Youko, and was surprised to find him looking right back at me.
I blushed. "Wh-what?"
He reached out and gently touched my cheek, and I blinked. What was he doing?
"What happened?" He asked, searching my eyes.
What was he talking about? Nothing ha- then I realized that he was talking about the scratch I had gotten when my elegance had caught up with me.
I blushed again and he pulled his hand away. "I just fell, that's all. I'm a real klutz."
His expression never changed. "Does it hurt?"
I shook my head. "I'd forgotten about it. What with everything else that's happened."
"It was kind of a big shock for you, wasn't it?"
I looked down at my hands lying idly in my lap. "Just a little…I grew up with Kenji and the others, but now it turns out that I'm not even related to them? But why was I even with them in the first place? Who are my real parents?"
He shrugged and stood, brushing off his pants. "I don't know, nor do I know how to find out."
I sighed. "Well, what next then? I can't go back, what with Akira there. And I've never actually left the estate before."
"Just stay here with me." Youko said, moving to sit on the edge of the futon. "There's plenty of space for you."
I smiled, though he couldn't see it. He was inviting me to stay with him? He really cared enough to offer something like that? I had thought that the legendary bandit Youko Kurama would be a ruthless, heartless fiend. But he wasn't…well, he seemed pretty arrogant, though.
He glanced at me. "Well?"
"Oh! I'm sorry. I'd love to stay with you." I offered him the best smile that I could muster, and he just nodded.
After a minute, the silence became overwhelming.
"Kurama, I mean, Youko or- well, first things first, how should I address you now?" I asked.
He chuckled. "You can call me whatever you want to. I don't care. I've been called Youko by some, Kurama by others, and a rare few just call me 'kitsune'. I'm fine with all of those, but I would prefer it if you didn't call me kitsune."
I giggled. "Well, I've become rather used to calling you Kurama, so that's how it will stay."
He nodded, and the uneasy silence surrounded us again.
"Kurama…what happened after I fell unconscious?"
He looked thoughtful. "Nothing much. Kenji threatened me some more, and I just ran past him. Akira and some of his guards came as well, but they weren't much of a challenge. However, Akira ran away before I could kill him."
"All of this with me still in your arms?" I asked, amazed.
"They weren't very strong. I didn't need my hands to defeat them."
I looked down at my hands in my lap, and sighed heavily. "This is really more excitement than I've ever had in my entire life."
He smirked. "Well, I'm glad that you're having fun."
"Fun? Ha! I've been engaged to a demon, broken a very wanted criminal out of jail, and I've discovered that my 'family' isn't really my family. I'm having the time of my life!" I said sarcastically. "And then I discovered that the dream that I've been having is of you, and-"
He smirked, and this was the first time I could ever clearly read an emotion on his face- amusement.
"You dreamt about me, Amaya?"
My face heated up more than it ever had before, and I could easily assume that I was as red as my kimono back at home.
"Um, well, maybe…"
He kept his amused look. "You have dreamt about me. It isn't wise to lie to a kitsune-we can smell when people are being dishonest."
I wrinkled my nose. "Well that's a bit odd."
He shrugged. "It's useful." He smirked at me again. "Especially when you want to make a girl blush."
I did.
"So, Amaya, what kind of dream did you have about me?" He asked, turning to face me and then sitting cross-legged on the futon.
I glared. I knew what he was implying, and I was slightly angered that he would think that of me. "A normal one. You didn't even say anything."
He rested his chin on his hand. "Normally, I don't."
I blushed again. "No, no! I mean, you were just standing there, looking at me. You didn't say anything, and there was a full moon behind you." I noticed his expression, and I added, "And you were wearing clothes, thank you very much."
He started laughing, and I felt as though it were at my expense.
He seemed to notice my glare, and stopped to wipe tears from his eyes. "Sorry, it's just that normally, women don't dream about me clothed."
I was mortified. "H-Hentai! I would never dream about you like that!"
He smirked. "Well then, we'll just have to find a way to change that, now won't we?" He seemed to notice my expression, and said, "Relax, I'm only kidding."
"It wasn't very funny." I retorted.
He looked like he was trying not to laugh.
"Kurama?"
"Hm?"
"I…the Kurama that I became friends with, the one in the dungeon…" I searched for the right words. "You and him are the same person, right?"
He nodded. "It was me, just in a human guise. So as not to confirm their beliefs that I was Youko Kurama."
"Kurama…Akira…when he said that he wanted to…um, consume me, what did he mean? Does he really want to eat me?" I asked. My voice quivered as I said it, and I knew that I was terrified.
"He meant that he wanted to eat you." He said, as though it were the simplest thing in the world. "Akira is a demon that can steal the abilities of others by consuming their flesh. You obviously had something that he wanted, even though I'm not quite sure what it is. You're a ningen, and ningens have no special abilities that a demon does not already possess. Unless," He eyed me suspiciously, "there's something that you aren't telling me."
I was surprised. I leaned forward slightly, tilting my head to the side. "Demo…what do you mean by that? Are you implying that I'm hiding something from you?"
He snorted. "Other than being a Princess of the Takahashi estate? You told me that you were a servant."
My jaw dropped, and I quickly closed it again. I had hoped that he wouldn't find out…but then again, how could he not after seeing that the prince had called me his sister? "Ano…I liked it when you treated me as your equal. I thought…I thought that if I let you believe that I was a servant, that you'd treat me like a real person. Not a fake, porcelain doll that will break at the lightest of touches. I rather enjoyed not being called 'Hime-sama' or 'Amaya-sama'. I just loved being plain, regular, normal Amaya."
He shrugged. "Well, to each his own."
A loud rumbling broke the silence, and Youko stared at me for a moment before laughing. I blushed and held my stomach, embarrassed that it had growled so loudly.
"I guess that I'm a bit hungry. I haven't eaten since breakfast." I said.
He gave me a smirk. "I can tell. Come on, let's go get you something to eat before you wake the dead."
He got off of the futon, and walked over to the door. He looked back at me expectantly, and I got off of the futon as well. He opened the door and walked out and down the hall. I tried my best to follow him and yet still take in my new surroundings.
We were definitely underground, in a cave of sorts. However, it still looked like a normal home at the same time. The walls and ceilings and floor were all made of the same dark grey stone that had been in the previous room. There were no decorations, and little furniture. Just doors and more doors lining either side of the hall.
The hall itself was large and spacious, with a ceiling that was well above Youko's height. It was very wide, as wide as my room back at home had been. I was in such awe at the space, that I didn't notice Youko stop walking. So, I walked right into him.
I gasped, and looked up at him. He had raised an eyebrow, and had an expression of amusement.
"Gomen."
"If you think that this is amazing, then wait until you see the treasure room." He said, smirking. He seemed to like seeing me either shocked or embarrassed.
"Treasure room?"
He looked thoughtful. "Well, I'm not so sure, actually. Because with the reaction you get from the hall, the treasure may give you a heart attack."
I glared. He really did enjoy teasing me!
He walked into a room on the right side of the hallway and I followed him. It was a large kitchen, large enough to house fifty men or more. There were twenty tables spread out among the space. Towards the back, there was a smaller entranceway. That was where Youko was walking.
"What do you have to eat here?" I asked as I walked after him.
"Well, you can pretty much make anything that you want to." He replied. He entered the back room and looked back at me.
The room was significantly smaller than the first one, and contained a stove and a counter. Also, there was a small ice chest in the corner. There was a small table with three cushions lined up beside it, which is where Youko sat down. I realized that he expected me to make my own food.
Now, I may not have been the world's best chef, seeing as how I had never cooked anything in my life, but I was still going to try. I used to watch the chefs when they prepared sushi for me as a child, so I at least had an idea as how to make it. I could only hope that I would not end up cutting myself in the process.
Youko pointed to a cabinet. "There's plates in there, and there are chopsticks and knives in the drawer below it."
I nodded and walked over to the ice chest, grabbing the necessary ingredients needed to make the sushi. The seaweed to wrap it in, and the rice to fill it. I found some fish, and set it out on the counter. I opened the drawer and found a knife. I carefully pulled it out and started to cut the fish into tiny pieces, trying to ignore the set of golden orbs watching my every move.
In fact, his gaze was so nerve-wrecking that I confirmed my fears and cut my finger. I quickly dropped the knife and stuck my bleeding finger into my mouth.
"Amaya?"
I turned and faced the kitsune, and he walked up to me. He gently took my hand and looked at my finger. He chuckled.
"You really are clumsy, aren't you?" He said, smirking at me.
I frowned. "Thank you for pointing that out."
He looked at my finger again, and brought it to his mouth.
My face heated up. "Wh-what are you doing?"
He gave me a look that said that I was being stupid. "We demons have gave the ability to heal ourselves at incredible speeds. I'm only helping you to heal faster." He said.
He put my finger in his mouth, and closed his eyes.
I swear, if it hadn't been for the fact that I was frozen stiff, I would have slapped him right then and there.
Healing or not, I still didn't want him to…to put my finger into his mouth!
Suddenly, a man came bursting into the room, loudly proclaiming his presence with a hoot. He was tall, around Youko's height with large black wings on his back. He had long black hair that was secured into a high ponytail. He wore a ragged dark colored sleeveless shirt and baggy pants of a similar color. Wrapped around his waist was a cloth of light violet.
"Oi, Kurama, I-" He stopped and stared at us. Youko still had my finger in his mouth, causing the man to grin.
"Kurama, who's the lady? Brought another one home already? I would have thought that you'd wait at least a week after the last one." He said, putting his hands on his hips and chuckling.
"Baka. She's a ningen- he obviously has her here for some other purpose other than sex." Came a voice from behind the winged man.
Youko took my finger out of his mouth, but kept hold of my wrist. I was a bit appalled at what the man had said.
"Hiei, Kuronue, you're back a little early, aren't you?"
The source of the second voice entered the room. He was considerably shorter than the other two, and maybe even slightly shorter than myself. He had spiky black hair that stuck pout in all directions, with white streaks of sorts on the front of his hair. He had eyes that matched my favorite furisode, the one of blood red. He wore all black- from his sleeveless shirt down to his baggy pants and matching boots.
"Well, we decided to get back here before the rest of the men came back from the raid. They should be back in about three hours." He said.
The winged man walked over to me, and then looked at Youko.
"So, kitsune, you going to introduce us to your woman?"
I yanked my wrist from his grasp and put my hands on my hips. "I would appreciate it if you'd stop acting as though I were dumb, sir. I do not appreciate being talked about as though I were not in the room."
This seemed to amuse the man. "Oh, really? Forgive me, my lady." He took my hand and gently kissed it. My anger dissipated and I blushed.
Youko growled and shoved him away from me. "Back off, Kuronue. She doesn't need your seducing."
"Sorry, Kurama. But I believe that I was talking to the lady, not you." He retorted with a grin.
"Atashi wa Takahashi Amaya." I said, hoping to get a word in.
He looked at me. "Amaya, huh?"
I nodded. The one called Hiei snorted.
"That doesn't answer my question. Why does the kitsune want you here? You're a ningen."
I looked over at Youko, who had a mischievous look on his face.
"Because, Hiei, she's going to be living with us."
Both raven-haired boys looked shocked. Kuronue stared at me with wide eyes, whilst Hiei looked infuriated.
"What do you mean, living with us? What's wrong with you, kitsune?!" Hiei exclaimed. He jabbed an accusing finger at me. "She's a ningen! Ningens have families that worry about them and try to take them back! She'll only attract trouble!"
A wave of hurt crashed over my heart. "I…have no family to care about me. They want to give me to the demon Akira."
Hiei stopped yelling and looked over at me. "Akira?"
I nodded.
Hiei gave me a suspicious look. "What would a demon like Akira want with a ningen like you?"
"I wouldn't know. I'm still trying to figure that out for myself." I said, looking down at my feet.
The room fell silent. Kuronue scratched the back of his head, and opened his mouth to speak, but my stomach spoke first.
I blushed and smiled sheepishly. "Gomen nasai, but I'm really very hungry."
Kuronue grinned and walked over to the counter where I had been preparing my sushi. "Well, we'll just have to fix that now won't we?"
"Oh, you don't have to do that for me! I could make the sushi for myself." I protested.
He waved a dismissive hand. "Don't worry about it. I normally cook for those two lugs anyways." He smirked at me. "And I certainly wouldn't mind cooking for a beautiful lady like yourself."
"Thank you, Kuronue-san." I offered him a kind smile. Nobody, other than my mother, had ever called me beautiful. It was just my luck that the first male to call me so would be a thief.
He set about to preparing the sushi from where I had left off, and Youko rolled his eyes.
"Always the charmer, eh, Kuronue?" He said. The winged demon just grinned.
I looked back to where Hiei had been standing, but was surprised to see that he was no longer there. I silently wondered why the little demon didn't like me.
Youko flopped onto one of the cushions again. "Hiei isn't very social."
I sighed. "He doesn't like me very much, does he?"
"Hiei is always like that- even to us. He just isn't a people person." Kuronue said.
"Is there any particular reason as to why?" I asked, sitting on the cushion beside Youko.
"Well, he had a rough childhood. He's the bastard son of a koorime and a fire demon, and because of that he was banished from his homeland." Youko said. He shrugged. "I guess if anyone had to go through what he did, then they'd end up the same way."
"His parents weren't married?" I asked, in awe at the fact.
"Nope. Koorime are a self-reproducing, all female race of ice maidens." Kuronue said as he rolled the sushi in seaweed. "They don't like males, of any race. But Hiei's father was a fire demon, so that made it even worse."
He put all seven little sushi onto a plate and set it down in front of me. I smiled at him.
"Arigato gozaimasu." I replied with a smile.
He shook his head. "There's no need to be so polite here, you know."
I nodded slowly and turned to my meal. "Itadakimasu." I picked up the chopsticks that had been lying on the side of the plate and picked up one of the sushi. I ate it, and noticed that Kuronue was looking at me expectantly. I smiled at him.
"Suki desu, Kuronue-san."
He grinned. "Good."
Youko rolled his eyes again. I looked at him out of the corner of my eye as I ate, and saw that he kept sending murderous glares in Kuronue's direction. After several minutes, he seemed to get whatever point Youko was trying to make and left the room. So, that just left Youko and I sitting at the table.
It was quiet while I ate, and Youko had his eyes closed. I finished with my food and looked around for the sink. I saw it and brought my plate over. I looked around again, and frowned. I turned back to Youko.
"Kurama, do you perhaps have anything that I could use to wash my plate?"
He opened one gold eye. "In the drawer to your right."
I nodded and opened the drawer, pulling out a towel. I poured some water into the sink and rolled up my yukata sleeves. I started scrubbing the plate; enough to get it decently clean. I then dried it, and walked over to the cabinet that held the plates, putting mine in its rightful place. I turned back to Youko, hands on my hips triumphantly.
"Do you know that that's the first time I've ever cleaned my own plate?" I asked, not at all ashamed of the childish grin on my face.
He chuckled. "Princesses really do live sheltered lives, don't they?" He stood and stretched. "I'm going to bed now. It's late, and I need to get some sleep before dawn comes."
I blinked. I hadn't noticed it, but I was tired as well. It had been sunset when I had fallen unconscious, so only a few hours must have passed. I looked down at my yukata.
"Would you happen to have an extra yukata that I could sleep in?" I asked, gesturing to mine. "I could use a fresh one, if it's not too much trouble."
He looked my up and down, then nodded. "We could borrow one from one of my men's rooms. One or two are female, and they wouldn't mind sparing a sleeping yukata or two."
He started walking back out to the hall, and I scampered after him. He kept going, past his room and further down the hall, stopping beside a door that had a flower engraved into the wood. He opened the door and entered, while I stayed outside. He returned a minute later holding a white yukata, which he tossed to me.
I caught it and smiled. "Arigato. Demo…where can I change?"
"In my room." He replied. He looked down at me, and I must have looked like I was glaring or something, because he sighed. "Kami-sama, I'll be outside of the room! Not in it while you're changing."
I smiled. "I assumed that from the start."
We walked back to his room and I walked in, closing the door behind me. I quickly change into the yukata, and then called out that it was alright for him to come in.
He walked into the room and stretched. "Well, all we have to do is find you a place to sleep."
I shrugged. He looked around the room. "We aren't very well prepared for guests, and I can't just let you sleep on the floor. And I'm not going to sleep on the floor…so that leaves only one option."
I gave him a questioning look, and he sighed. "Things go right over your head, don't they? We share the futon."
I looked over at the futon. "It's big enough, I guess. But it will work."
He walked over to the futon and flopped down onto it, burying his face into the pillow. I giggled and got onto the other side, more gracefully than he. I pulled the blanket up to my chin, and almost instantly fell into a deep, deep sleep.
What a day…
~*~
A/N: Well, how was that? I had to go back and change so many things because I was thinking in 'American'. I had put 'stools' instead of cushions, forks instead of chopsticks, and various other mistakes. Like bed instead of futon. It's been a really off day for me, LOL.
Thank you to those who reviewed the last chapter:
Kelly: I'm glad that you like it!
YoukoKurama: Thank you! Trust me, the plot's going to get twisted. Reeaaaallly twisted. Question is, can you guess what's going to happen? If you can, then I'll give you an extra long chapter.
The Great Me: Thanks!
Riyo-Hikaru: *blushes* I'm a great writer? Thank you! Here you go, Kuronue AND Hiei! Gotta love Kuronue, he's so cool!
Katie E.: Thank you! I know a lot about Japanese culture because I'm a diehard otaku, and I spent a lot of time researching for this fic. I wanted it to come out as well as I wanted it to.
Rika-chan: Thanks!
Snowie Yuki: Thank you! Cool name, by the way. Anything to do with Yukina?
Koori no Kitsune: Thank you!
Japanese Dictionary for this chapter: (let me know if there was one that you don't know thta I forgot to mention here)
Demo - But
Suki desu - I like it
Atashi wa - feminine way of saying 'I am' or 'My name is'
Review!!! Let your opinions be heard!! By the way, how did everyone enjoy the Amaya / Youko fluff in this chapter? Also, what kind of things do you want to see happen in the future? Like fluff ideas or Kuronue vs. Hiei arguments, or even ways that you would like to see Hiei tease Kurama!
Here's the question : more fluff in the next chapter, or is that too rushed for you?
Okay, one last rant before I shut up. Is anyone else annoyed with the fact that FF.Net kept disabling the log-in screen? I could've had this chapter posted yesterday, but I couldn't log in!! Darn. You could have read this a whole day earlier.
LOL. In the last chapter, my friend pointed out to me that I (once again) made a typo. I put 'nut' instead of 'but'. Oops! Then again, it happens to the best of us, doesn't it? But I'm not the best, so does it really apply to me?
Well, I'll try to make it long. I've got a really bad cold, and thus have an equally bad headache.
~*~
I was awoken by a cold splash of water hitting my face. I gasped and sat up, wiping the water from my eyes before looking for the culprit. Youko was crouched down next to me, an unreadable expression on his face. He looked either bored or slightly amused. It was hard to tell with him.
My hand went to my head, where a dull throbbing had started.
Youko's face remained unreadable. "Daijobu ka?"
"I'm fine. Just a headache." I looked around. "Where are we?"
"My den." Was the short reply.
I looked around. We were in a room, a big circular room made of dark grey stone. The walls weren't decorated, with the exception of a full-length mirror near the door on the left side of the room. On the right side was another door, which I assumed was a closet. I was lying on a futon. It was large and sprawling, and it made me seem quite tiny in comparison. It had plain white sheets, and two large, fluffy pillows. It was fit for a king.
Or a bandit king.
I looked back to Youko, and was surprised to find him looking right back at me.
I blushed. "Wh-what?"
He reached out and gently touched my cheek, and I blinked. What was he doing?
"What happened?" He asked, searching my eyes.
What was he talking about? Nothing ha- then I realized that he was talking about the scratch I had gotten when my elegance had caught up with me.
I blushed again and he pulled his hand away. "I just fell, that's all. I'm a real klutz."
His expression never changed. "Does it hurt?"
I shook my head. "I'd forgotten about it. What with everything else that's happened."
"It was kind of a big shock for you, wasn't it?"
I looked down at my hands lying idly in my lap. "Just a little…I grew up with Kenji and the others, but now it turns out that I'm not even related to them? But why was I even with them in the first place? Who are my real parents?"
He shrugged and stood, brushing off his pants. "I don't know, nor do I know how to find out."
I sighed. "Well, what next then? I can't go back, what with Akira there. And I've never actually left the estate before."
"Just stay here with me." Youko said, moving to sit on the edge of the futon. "There's plenty of space for you."
I smiled, though he couldn't see it. He was inviting me to stay with him? He really cared enough to offer something like that? I had thought that the legendary bandit Youko Kurama would be a ruthless, heartless fiend. But he wasn't…well, he seemed pretty arrogant, though.
He glanced at me. "Well?"
"Oh! I'm sorry. I'd love to stay with you." I offered him the best smile that I could muster, and he just nodded.
After a minute, the silence became overwhelming.
"Kurama, I mean, Youko or- well, first things first, how should I address you now?" I asked.
He chuckled. "You can call me whatever you want to. I don't care. I've been called Youko by some, Kurama by others, and a rare few just call me 'kitsune'. I'm fine with all of those, but I would prefer it if you didn't call me kitsune."
I giggled. "Well, I've become rather used to calling you Kurama, so that's how it will stay."
He nodded, and the uneasy silence surrounded us again.
"Kurama…what happened after I fell unconscious?"
He looked thoughtful. "Nothing much. Kenji threatened me some more, and I just ran past him. Akira and some of his guards came as well, but they weren't much of a challenge. However, Akira ran away before I could kill him."
"All of this with me still in your arms?" I asked, amazed.
"They weren't very strong. I didn't need my hands to defeat them."
I looked down at my hands in my lap, and sighed heavily. "This is really more excitement than I've ever had in my entire life."
He smirked. "Well, I'm glad that you're having fun."
"Fun? Ha! I've been engaged to a demon, broken a very wanted criminal out of jail, and I've discovered that my 'family' isn't really my family. I'm having the time of my life!" I said sarcastically. "And then I discovered that the dream that I've been having is of you, and-"
He smirked, and this was the first time I could ever clearly read an emotion on his face- amusement.
"You dreamt about me, Amaya?"
My face heated up more than it ever had before, and I could easily assume that I was as red as my kimono back at home.
"Um, well, maybe…"
He kept his amused look. "You have dreamt about me. It isn't wise to lie to a kitsune-we can smell when people are being dishonest."
I wrinkled my nose. "Well that's a bit odd."
He shrugged. "It's useful." He smirked at me again. "Especially when you want to make a girl blush."
I did.
"So, Amaya, what kind of dream did you have about me?" He asked, turning to face me and then sitting cross-legged on the futon.
I glared. I knew what he was implying, and I was slightly angered that he would think that of me. "A normal one. You didn't even say anything."
He rested his chin on his hand. "Normally, I don't."
I blushed again. "No, no! I mean, you were just standing there, looking at me. You didn't say anything, and there was a full moon behind you." I noticed his expression, and I added, "And you were wearing clothes, thank you very much."
He started laughing, and I felt as though it were at my expense.
He seemed to notice my glare, and stopped to wipe tears from his eyes. "Sorry, it's just that normally, women don't dream about me clothed."
I was mortified. "H-Hentai! I would never dream about you like that!"
He smirked. "Well then, we'll just have to find a way to change that, now won't we?" He seemed to notice my expression, and said, "Relax, I'm only kidding."
"It wasn't very funny." I retorted.
He looked like he was trying not to laugh.
"Kurama?"
"Hm?"
"I…the Kurama that I became friends with, the one in the dungeon…" I searched for the right words. "You and him are the same person, right?"
He nodded. "It was me, just in a human guise. So as not to confirm their beliefs that I was Youko Kurama."
"Kurama…Akira…when he said that he wanted to…um, consume me, what did he mean? Does he really want to eat me?" I asked. My voice quivered as I said it, and I knew that I was terrified.
"He meant that he wanted to eat you." He said, as though it were the simplest thing in the world. "Akira is a demon that can steal the abilities of others by consuming their flesh. You obviously had something that he wanted, even though I'm not quite sure what it is. You're a ningen, and ningens have no special abilities that a demon does not already possess. Unless," He eyed me suspiciously, "there's something that you aren't telling me."
I was surprised. I leaned forward slightly, tilting my head to the side. "Demo…what do you mean by that? Are you implying that I'm hiding something from you?"
He snorted. "Other than being a Princess of the Takahashi estate? You told me that you were a servant."
My jaw dropped, and I quickly closed it again. I had hoped that he wouldn't find out…but then again, how could he not after seeing that the prince had called me his sister? "Ano…I liked it when you treated me as your equal. I thought…I thought that if I let you believe that I was a servant, that you'd treat me like a real person. Not a fake, porcelain doll that will break at the lightest of touches. I rather enjoyed not being called 'Hime-sama' or 'Amaya-sama'. I just loved being plain, regular, normal Amaya."
He shrugged. "Well, to each his own."
A loud rumbling broke the silence, and Youko stared at me for a moment before laughing. I blushed and held my stomach, embarrassed that it had growled so loudly.
"I guess that I'm a bit hungry. I haven't eaten since breakfast." I said.
He gave me a smirk. "I can tell. Come on, let's go get you something to eat before you wake the dead."
He got off of the futon, and walked over to the door. He looked back at me expectantly, and I got off of the futon as well. He opened the door and walked out and down the hall. I tried my best to follow him and yet still take in my new surroundings.
We were definitely underground, in a cave of sorts. However, it still looked like a normal home at the same time. The walls and ceilings and floor were all made of the same dark grey stone that had been in the previous room. There were no decorations, and little furniture. Just doors and more doors lining either side of the hall.
The hall itself was large and spacious, with a ceiling that was well above Youko's height. It was very wide, as wide as my room back at home had been. I was in such awe at the space, that I didn't notice Youko stop walking. So, I walked right into him.
I gasped, and looked up at him. He had raised an eyebrow, and had an expression of amusement.
"Gomen."
"If you think that this is amazing, then wait until you see the treasure room." He said, smirking. He seemed to like seeing me either shocked or embarrassed.
"Treasure room?"
He looked thoughtful. "Well, I'm not so sure, actually. Because with the reaction you get from the hall, the treasure may give you a heart attack."
I glared. He really did enjoy teasing me!
He walked into a room on the right side of the hallway and I followed him. It was a large kitchen, large enough to house fifty men or more. There were twenty tables spread out among the space. Towards the back, there was a smaller entranceway. That was where Youko was walking.
"What do you have to eat here?" I asked as I walked after him.
"Well, you can pretty much make anything that you want to." He replied. He entered the back room and looked back at me.
The room was significantly smaller than the first one, and contained a stove and a counter. Also, there was a small ice chest in the corner. There was a small table with three cushions lined up beside it, which is where Youko sat down. I realized that he expected me to make my own food.
Now, I may not have been the world's best chef, seeing as how I had never cooked anything in my life, but I was still going to try. I used to watch the chefs when they prepared sushi for me as a child, so I at least had an idea as how to make it. I could only hope that I would not end up cutting myself in the process.
Youko pointed to a cabinet. "There's plates in there, and there are chopsticks and knives in the drawer below it."
I nodded and walked over to the ice chest, grabbing the necessary ingredients needed to make the sushi. The seaweed to wrap it in, and the rice to fill it. I found some fish, and set it out on the counter. I opened the drawer and found a knife. I carefully pulled it out and started to cut the fish into tiny pieces, trying to ignore the set of golden orbs watching my every move.
In fact, his gaze was so nerve-wrecking that I confirmed my fears and cut my finger. I quickly dropped the knife and stuck my bleeding finger into my mouth.
"Amaya?"
I turned and faced the kitsune, and he walked up to me. He gently took my hand and looked at my finger. He chuckled.
"You really are clumsy, aren't you?" He said, smirking at me.
I frowned. "Thank you for pointing that out."
He looked at my finger again, and brought it to his mouth.
My face heated up. "Wh-what are you doing?"
He gave me a look that said that I was being stupid. "We demons have gave the ability to heal ourselves at incredible speeds. I'm only helping you to heal faster." He said.
He put my finger in his mouth, and closed his eyes.
I swear, if it hadn't been for the fact that I was frozen stiff, I would have slapped him right then and there.
Healing or not, I still didn't want him to…to put my finger into his mouth!
Suddenly, a man came bursting into the room, loudly proclaiming his presence with a hoot. He was tall, around Youko's height with large black wings on his back. He had long black hair that was secured into a high ponytail. He wore a ragged dark colored sleeveless shirt and baggy pants of a similar color. Wrapped around his waist was a cloth of light violet.
"Oi, Kurama, I-" He stopped and stared at us. Youko still had my finger in his mouth, causing the man to grin.
"Kurama, who's the lady? Brought another one home already? I would have thought that you'd wait at least a week after the last one." He said, putting his hands on his hips and chuckling.
"Baka. She's a ningen- he obviously has her here for some other purpose other than sex." Came a voice from behind the winged man.
Youko took my finger out of his mouth, but kept hold of my wrist. I was a bit appalled at what the man had said.
"Hiei, Kuronue, you're back a little early, aren't you?"
The source of the second voice entered the room. He was considerably shorter than the other two, and maybe even slightly shorter than myself. He had spiky black hair that stuck pout in all directions, with white streaks of sorts on the front of his hair. He had eyes that matched my favorite furisode, the one of blood red. He wore all black- from his sleeveless shirt down to his baggy pants and matching boots.
"Well, we decided to get back here before the rest of the men came back from the raid. They should be back in about three hours." He said.
The winged man walked over to me, and then looked at Youko.
"So, kitsune, you going to introduce us to your woman?"
I yanked my wrist from his grasp and put my hands on my hips. "I would appreciate it if you'd stop acting as though I were dumb, sir. I do not appreciate being talked about as though I were not in the room."
This seemed to amuse the man. "Oh, really? Forgive me, my lady." He took my hand and gently kissed it. My anger dissipated and I blushed.
Youko growled and shoved him away from me. "Back off, Kuronue. She doesn't need your seducing."
"Sorry, Kurama. But I believe that I was talking to the lady, not you." He retorted with a grin.
"Atashi wa Takahashi Amaya." I said, hoping to get a word in.
He looked at me. "Amaya, huh?"
I nodded. The one called Hiei snorted.
"That doesn't answer my question. Why does the kitsune want you here? You're a ningen."
I looked over at Youko, who had a mischievous look on his face.
"Because, Hiei, she's going to be living with us."
Both raven-haired boys looked shocked. Kuronue stared at me with wide eyes, whilst Hiei looked infuriated.
"What do you mean, living with us? What's wrong with you, kitsune?!" Hiei exclaimed. He jabbed an accusing finger at me. "She's a ningen! Ningens have families that worry about them and try to take them back! She'll only attract trouble!"
A wave of hurt crashed over my heart. "I…have no family to care about me. They want to give me to the demon Akira."
Hiei stopped yelling and looked over at me. "Akira?"
I nodded.
Hiei gave me a suspicious look. "What would a demon like Akira want with a ningen like you?"
"I wouldn't know. I'm still trying to figure that out for myself." I said, looking down at my feet.
The room fell silent. Kuronue scratched the back of his head, and opened his mouth to speak, but my stomach spoke first.
I blushed and smiled sheepishly. "Gomen nasai, but I'm really very hungry."
Kuronue grinned and walked over to the counter where I had been preparing my sushi. "Well, we'll just have to fix that now won't we?"
"Oh, you don't have to do that for me! I could make the sushi for myself." I protested.
He waved a dismissive hand. "Don't worry about it. I normally cook for those two lugs anyways." He smirked at me. "And I certainly wouldn't mind cooking for a beautiful lady like yourself."
"Thank you, Kuronue-san." I offered him a kind smile. Nobody, other than my mother, had ever called me beautiful. It was just my luck that the first male to call me so would be a thief.
He set about to preparing the sushi from where I had left off, and Youko rolled his eyes.
"Always the charmer, eh, Kuronue?" He said. The winged demon just grinned.
I looked back to where Hiei had been standing, but was surprised to see that he was no longer there. I silently wondered why the little demon didn't like me.
Youko flopped onto one of the cushions again. "Hiei isn't very social."
I sighed. "He doesn't like me very much, does he?"
"Hiei is always like that- even to us. He just isn't a people person." Kuronue said.
"Is there any particular reason as to why?" I asked, sitting on the cushion beside Youko.
"Well, he had a rough childhood. He's the bastard son of a koorime and a fire demon, and because of that he was banished from his homeland." Youko said. He shrugged. "I guess if anyone had to go through what he did, then they'd end up the same way."
"His parents weren't married?" I asked, in awe at the fact.
"Nope. Koorime are a self-reproducing, all female race of ice maidens." Kuronue said as he rolled the sushi in seaweed. "They don't like males, of any race. But Hiei's father was a fire demon, so that made it even worse."
He put all seven little sushi onto a plate and set it down in front of me. I smiled at him.
"Arigato gozaimasu." I replied with a smile.
He shook his head. "There's no need to be so polite here, you know."
I nodded slowly and turned to my meal. "Itadakimasu." I picked up the chopsticks that had been lying on the side of the plate and picked up one of the sushi. I ate it, and noticed that Kuronue was looking at me expectantly. I smiled at him.
"Suki desu, Kuronue-san."
He grinned. "Good."
Youko rolled his eyes again. I looked at him out of the corner of my eye as I ate, and saw that he kept sending murderous glares in Kuronue's direction. After several minutes, he seemed to get whatever point Youko was trying to make and left the room. So, that just left Youko and I sitting at the table.
It was quiet while I ate, and Youko had his eyes closed. I finished with my food and looked around for the sink. I saw it and brought my plate over. I looked around again, and frowned. I turned back to Youko.
"Kurama, do you perhaps have anything that I could use to wash my plate?"
He opened one gold eye. "In the drawer to your right."
I nodded and opened the drawer, pulling out a towel. I poured some water into the sink and rolled up my yukata sleeves. I started scrubbing the plate; enough to get it decently clean. I then dried it, and walked over to the cabinet that held the plates, putting mine in its rightful place. I turned back to Youko, hands on my hips triumphantly.
"Do you know that that's the first time I've ever cleaned my own plate?" I asked, not at all ashamed of the childish grin on my face.
He chuckled. "Princesses really do live sheltered lives, don't they?" He stood and stretched. "I'm going to bed now. It's late, and I need to get some sleep before dawn comes."
I blinked. I hadn't noticed it, but I was tired as well. It had been sunset when I had fallen unconscious, so only a few hours must have passed. I looked down at my yukata.
"Would you happen to have an extra yukata that I could sleep in?" I asked, gesturing to mine. "I could use a fresh one, if it's not too much trouble."
He looked my up and down, then nodded. "We could borrow one from one of my men's rooms. One or two are female, and they wouldn't mind sparing a sleeping yukata or two."
He started walking back out to the hall, and I scampered after him. He kept going, past his room and further down the hall, stopping beside a door that had a flower engraved into the wood. He opened the door and entered, while I stayed outside. He returned a minute later holding a white yukata, which he tossed to me.
I caught it and smiled. "Arigato. Demo…where can I change?"
"In my room." He replied. He looked down at me, and I must have looked like I was glaring or something, because he sighed. "Kami-sama, I'll be outside of the room! Not in it while you're changing."
I smiled. "I assumed that from the start."
We walked back to his room and I walked in, closing the door behind me. I quickly change into the yukata, and then called out that it was alright for him to come in.
He walked into the room and stretched. "Well, all we have to do is find you a place to sleep."
I shrugged. He looked around the room. "We aren't very well prepared for guests, and I can't just let you sleep on the floor. And I'm not going to sleep on the floor…so that leaves only one option."
I gave him a questioning look, and he sighed. "Things go right over your head, don't they? We share the futon."
I looked over at the futon. "It's big enough, I guess. But it will work."
He walked over to the futon and flopped down onto it, burying his face into the pillow. I giggled and got onto the other side, more gracefully than he. I pulled the blanket up to my chin, and almost instantly fell into a deep, deep sleep.
What a day…
~*~
A/N: Well, how was that? I had to go back and change so many things because I was thinking in 'American'. I had put 'stools' instead of cushions, forks instead of chopsticks, and various other mistakes. Like bed instead of futon. It's been a really off day for me, LOL.
Thank you to those who reviewed the last chapter:
Kelly: I'm glad that you like it!
YoukoKurama: Thank you! Trust me, the plot's going to get twisted. Reeaaaallly twisted. Question is, can you guess what's going to happen? If you can, then I'll give you an extra long chapter.
The Great Me: Thanks!
Riyo-Hikaru: *blushes* I'm a great writer? Thank you! Here you go, Kuronue AND Hiei! Gotta love Kuronue, he's so cool!
Katie E.: Thank you! I know a lot about Japanese culture because I'm a diehard otaku, and I spent a lot of time researching for this fic. I wanted it to come out as well as I wanted it to.
Rika-chan: Thanks!
Snowie Yuki: Thank you! Cool name, by the way. Anything to do with Yukina?
Koori no Kitsune: Thank you!
Japanese Dictionary for this chapter: (let me know if there was one that you don't know thta I forgot to mention here)
Demo - But
Suki desu - I like it
Atashi wa - feminine way of saying 'I am' or 'My name is'
Review!!! Let your opinions be heard!! By the way, how did everyone enjoy the Amaya / Youko fluff in this chapter? Also, what kind of things do you want to see happen in the future? Like fluff ideas or Kuronue vs. Hiei arguments, or even ways that you would like to see Hiei tease Kurama!
Here's the question : more fluff in the next chapter, or is that too rushed for you?
Okay, one last rant before I shut up. Is anyone else annoyed with the fact that FF.Net kept disabling the log-in screen? I could've had this chapter posted yesterday, but I couldn't log in!! Darn. You could have read this a whole day earlier.