Kokoro No Kaitou : Youko's Story

Chapter 5

~*~

The next morning, I awoke rather early. I groggily looked over at the girl, and saw that she was still sleeping soundly. I dragged myself off of the bed, and stretched.

A knock came at the door, and I quickly opened it before the person could wake the girl.

I glared at Kuronue, and he blinked in surprise. He looked past me to the bed, and then back to me.

"You slept with her already?" He said. "From the way you were glaring at me yesterday, I thought that you were going to wait for at least twenty four hours."

I stepped outside the room, closing the door behind me. "Kuronue, we slept together, but we didn't sleep together."

He raised an eyebrow. "What?"

I rolled my eyes and started walking down the hall. "I mean, we slept on the same bed, but that's all we did."

Kuronue put his hand on my forehead, and made a fake gasp. "Kurama! Are you feeling okay? Do you need me to call the doctor?"

I growled and slapped his hand away. "Stop that!"

He laughed. "Sorry, it's just that for you to sleep in a bed with a woman and not do anything other than sleep…well, either you were exhausted, or sick."

I sighed. "I wanted to, Kuronue but…"

"But?"

"I don't know. She's…" I sighed. "Do you know what I mean?"

Kuronue paused. "No. Care to explain?"

I thought about it for a minute. I wasn't sure why I didn't just take her. She was…different. Any other woman would not have been a problem for me, but this girl…Amaya…was different.

I couldn't just take advantage of her like that, no matter how badly I wanted to.

We walked down to the kitchen, where Hiei was already waiting.

"Oi, kitsune, we need to talk." He said as I sat down.

Kuronue had obviously made breakfast, as the delicious looking food was spread across the table. I licked my lips, and then served myself.

"Kitsune!" He exclaimed, upset that I had ignored him.

"Hiei, she's not going anywhere." I said, meeting his gaze. "She has nowhere else to go."

"So are you just going to pick up every stray human girl that comes along and offer her a home here? What if she escapes? And tells everyone where our lair is?" He said. "What will you do then?"

"She wouldn't do that." I said defensively.

"How would you know? How long have you known her? A week, maybe a little more?" He hissed.

I realized that he had a point. "Well then, what do you suggest, Hiei?"

This seemed to calm him down a bit, and he sat back. Kuronue sat down beside him, and started eating his meal.

"I suggest that we kill her." He said. "Dead men - or women - don't talk."

I stared at him. How could he even suggest killing her?!

He seemed to notice my expression, and glared. "Would you rather that that little wench get us captured? In case you haven't noticed, we're all very wanted criminals."

"But we can't kill her!" I exclaimed.

"Yes we can. And I will. Maybe then her little spell will wear off, and you'll return to your normal self."

"She didn't cast a spell on me, Hiei! She's completely human, and has no supernatural powers whatsoever!" I growled, pounding my fist onto the table.

"Guys, guys." Kuronue said. "Calm down. Let's talk about this later."

Hiei stood. "I'm done talking."

He left the room, and I stood as well.

"Kuronue, let's go see if she's alright. I don't like the way that Hiei stormed out of here. He may actually try to kill her." I said.

He nodded and stood too. We started walking down the hall, towards my room.

Kami-sama, if Hiei lays even one finger on that girl, then I'll slit his throat!

We walked in silence, and when we were about halfway to my room, I stopped.

"Y-You don't want to eat me. I'm too, uh, scrawny to be eaten. I wouldn't taste very good." Came a voice from around the corner.

I quickly walked ahead, and watched as the girl backed away from some demons. I could tell that she was terrified, even without my advanced sense of smell.

There were three youkai - two onis, and one pig demon.

The blue oni laughed. "I call the legs."

"They say that the flesh of a maiden is tender." Chuckled the red oni.

She took another step back, and bumped into me. She gasped and looked up at me. However, I was glaring at those three youkai.

The pig demon gulped. "Y-Youko-sama! Uh, we were just about to catch this ningen. She somehow managed to get into the lair."

I resisted the urge to rip out his throat right then and there. How dare he threaten her!

"And what exactly did you plan on doing with her, once you caught this girl?" I asked.

"Uh, eat her, sir?" The blue oni replied.

I put my hands on her shoulders, and moved her to the side to Kuronue, never once taking my eyes off of those three demons.

"Kuronue, take Amaya. I need to have a 'chat' with these youkai."

He nodded, and led her away.

The three demons trembled.

"So, you were planning to eat her, huh?" I asked, circling around them.

The pig youkai nodded shakily. "H-Hai, Youko-sama."

I felt the anger rising within me. "And what might your names be? I'd like to have them put on your gravestones, if there's anything left of you when I'm done."

"I'm Noh, sir." Said the pig demon.

"And I'm Kin." Said the blue oni.

"And I'm Kahn." Said the red one.

"Now, you three, you can start begging for your lives now." I said, still circling them.

"Please, Youko-sama, we didn't do anything!" The pig demon pleaded.

"Yeah! We always eat humans! They're so tasty…" Said the red oni.

That was the final straw.

I was surprised at how brutally I killed those three. They were barely recognizable by the time that I had finished with them. And here I was, soaked in their wretched blood.

I decided to go and take a bath.

~*~

I took my bath, and even soaked in the hot spring for about an hour or two. I got dressed, and then started to head towards the kitchen. I decided to take the long route, and say down to eat my lunch.

Kuronue wasn't there, and neither was Amaya.

I wondered idly where they were.

I finished my meal, and decided that he could be trusted around her.

I started walking to the hot spring, where I had left my bundle of bloody clothes. I figured that I might as well wash them - these types of robes (infused with special spells to protect oneself) - were rare.

And I sure as hell was not going to where the fabric stained by those bastards.

I arrived at the hot spring, and opened the door.

And promptly stared.

Amaya was standing there, in the middle of ringing out her wet hair. She was naked, from head to toe, and the water glistened on her body.

Here eyes widened in shock, as I continued to stare at her body.

She was…perfect.

In every little way that can be described.

And any minor lust that I had had for her before was now at least ten times as prominent as before.

In fact, several extremely naughty things ran through my mind, and I felt a nosebleed coming on.

"Uh…" Was all that came out of my mouth.

She screamed, and ducked back into the water, covering herself.

"Hentai!" She screamed. "Get out, get out, GET OUT!"

I quickly backed out of the room and pinched my nose to keep it from bleeding. I crouched down beside the door, and willed the bleeding to stop.

Damn!

Where had she been hiding that well filled-out figure?

A minute or two later, she came out of the room. I could sense her anger, and I couldn't blame her.

"Ano…Kurama?" She asked.

I didn't look at her. I knew that if I did, it would make more and more naughty thoughts come, and my nosebleed would get worse.

"I didn't know that you were in there." I said.

"Kurama?" She crouched down beside me, and I made a point not to look at her, despite the fact that I could feel the heat radiating off of her body.

So close…

"Why are you pinching your nose?" She asked, sounding as though she really had no clue.

She probably didn't, and I wasn't about to tell her how I had been thinking about her.

"Because."

"Because why?" She countered.

"Because…because." I said, feeling stupid saying that.

"Well that made a lot of sense." She said, rolling her sea-green eyes.

"Keh." I replied.

"Kurama?"

"What?"

"I…wanted to thank you for saving me this morning." She said, as she looked down at the floor. "If you hadn't come when you did, then I'd be…" She drifted off, and I knew what she wanted to say.

That she would've been dead.

"You're welcome." I said, still keeping my eyes forward, and anywhere but on her.

She sighed. "Kurama, why won't you look at me? I forgive you for walking in."

"Because…you'll only make my nosebleed worse." I said.

"What? Nosebleed?" She sounded confused. "Why would it make your nosebleed worse if you look at me?"

I snorted (as best as I could snort while pinching my nose). "You're clueless about everything, aren't you, Amaya?"

"Well, excuse me for being considerate." She stood, and I finally felt calm enough to look up at her. She had her hands on her hips, and she glared at me.

Kami-sama, how I wanted to touch those hips...

"You should think about being considerate sometime! Here I am, worried about your health, and all you can do is be sarcastic!" She continued.

I stood up and she seemed surprised. "Well I'd rather not talk about it, okay?" I growled.

She pointed at my nose. "Kurama…"

I quickly pinched it again, and glared at her. "Shut up."

She sighed. "I'll never understand the minds of men. One minute you think that a man the nicest person that you've ever met, then the next he acts like a complete and total jerk." She growled in frustration and I was surprised. I hadn't thought that she was capable of growling at someone.

She turned on her heel and started walking away.

"Matte, Amaya!" I called, walking after her.

She ignored me and walked all the way back to my room, and threw open the door. She walked in and closed the door behind her, and I quickly ran over.

I hear her throw her things onto the floor, and then a soft thump.

I opened the door, and entered, to see her laying on the bed with her face in the pillow.

"Amaya?"

I moved to the futon, and shook her shoulder.

"Go away." She said, though it came out muffled into the pillow.

I had to chuckle at that. "It's my room, Amaya. Technically, it should be me telling you to go away."

She peeked out at me from the pillow. "Do you really want me to leave?"

I was surprised by her question. "Leave? No. I don't want you to leave."

She sat up, and gave me a hopeful look. "Demo…does that mean that we're friends?"

"Weren't we already?" I said, trying to make it so that she wasn't mad at me anymore.

She smiled. "I just wanted to hear you say it. I figured that you thought I was annoying."

"No. I don't think that you're annoying."

"I'm glad…" She smiled again. "Kurama?"

"Hm?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"Can we…can we go outside?" She asked, still looking hopeful.

I was confused. "Outside? Outside of the room?"

"No, I mean outside outside. Like out under the stars?" She said, spreading her arms out to emphasize her point.

I chuckled. "If you really want to."

"I do!" She exclaimed.

I stood and offered her my hand, which she took. I helped her off of the bed and led her to the door, letting her hand go first. I stopped there, and thought about something.

I turned around and faced her. "So, does this mean that you've forgiven me?"

"For being a jerk? No." She said.

My face fell, and I stared at her.

"I'm giving you a chance to redeem yourself." She added.

I blinked, but then rolled my eyes. "Women are complicated."

She giggled and I started walking down the hall to the entrance of the lair. She followed me, and we went up the stairs together, and we were both silent as we went.

We made it to the clearing, and she walked past me into the middle of the space. She spread out her arms and twirled in a circle, and I could feel the happiness coming from her.

She sighed contentedly, and I couldn't help but laugh at that display. She acted as though it had been years since she had seen the outside world!

"You're really happy, aren't you?" I asked, crossing my arms.

She turned back to me and smiled. "Yeah! I've loved the outdoors ever since I was a child!"

I walked over to her, and sat down cross-legged on the ground. She smiled again and gracefully folded her yukata under her before sitting with her back against mine.

"Kurama, what was your childhood like?" She asked, leaning her head back.

"Nothing really interesting. I was pretty much on my own my entire life. I would spend my days training, and I eventually got bored with that after I mastered the control of plants. That's when I started learning how to break codes and spells. Basically, I became a thief." I replied, a little sleepy.

"So, you became a thief out of boredom?" She asked.

"Yeah. What do princesses do during their childhoods?" I asked teasingly.

"Well, nothing special. We're treated like normal kids until we reach the age of five. That when the stupid lessons start. Ikebana, tea ceremony - you know, the things that a proper wife is supposed to know." She replied.

"Were you any good at it?" I asked, curious.

She laughed. "Nope! I was terrible at it. My flowers looked miserable, and my tea serving was horrendous. I was more suited to playing in the woods than to learning to be the proper wife."

I was quiet for a minute, and thought about that. Playing in the woods, huh? Not how I imagined a princess spending her time. And the thing about being a proper wife…I thought that she would be, just not for a lord.

Maybe for someone of a lower rank.

Like a thief or something…

I stopped and snapped myself out of that train of thought.

What the hell? I've never thought about something like that before.

I was never going to get married. EVER.

Too many women would go to waste.

When you were married, you were tied down to one woman, never allowed to even look at another.

"Kurama, what are you thinking about?" She asked.

"I'm thinking about…things. About what's happened over the past few days." I said slowly.

She nodded. "What about it? How do you feel?"

I started telling her about certain things - about how I thought that maybe it was too dangerous for her to stay here. After a minute or so, I noticed that her breathing had evened out, and she wasn't responding to anything that I said. I was confused.

"Amaya?"

There was no reply.

I slowly turned around, and she fell over. I quickly caught her, and saw that she had fallen asleep. I chuckled slightly at that - I hadn't realized that I was that boring. I stood and picked her up bridal style, and she sighed lightly in her sleep. I started walking back to my room, and I opened the door with my foot. I set her down on the futon, and then got down on the other side.

My own fatigue caught up with me, and I fell asleep shortly after.



~*~

Author's Notes: There's another chapter down! Woohoo! By the way, does anybody else agree with me when I say that John Mayer's song "Your Body Is A Wonderland" is the best song on the planet? I love it! In fact, I like all of his songs!

Thanks to those who reviewed:

Story Weaver1 : I hope that you do look into her story! Hers is more of a happy-fairy-tale-romance, while Youko's is…uh…pretty much the opposite.

Explosion : Every once in a while, I'll feel really bad for him too…then realization kicks in, and I start laughing.

Suzaku no miko : Damn straight he's sexy!! LOL Thanks for the review!!

UltaAnimeFangurl2004 : Your reviews are so fun to read, LOL! Thanks for the review!!

DarkVixenNIsha : Thank you, Nisha-chan!! (Do you mind if I call you Nisha-chan?) I try to "Think like Youko" while I write. Um, that sounded kinda weird, didn't it? LOL!!

Katie E. : Thanks for reviewing! Yes, it was rather…interesting from his POV. But now you see the even funnier part from his POV. Hope you liked Youko's weirdness. LOL

Do I even need to repeat it for every chapter?