Kokoro No Kaitou : Youko's Story

Chapter 6

~*~

The next morning, I slept in later than normal. After the day before, I guess I was just exhausted.

Well, I was awoken by a presence lingering over me.

And in my training as a thief, that meant either an assassin or someone who really didn't know how to approach me while I was sleeping.

Either way, I sat bolt upright, and winced in pain as I hit heads with Amaya.

She fell back, wincing and clutching her forehead, as I rubbed my own.

"Damn it, Amaya! What were you doing?!" I demanded.

She had her eyes squeezed shut. "Ow…that hurt! Here I was, thinking you looked so peaceful, and then you crack your forehead against mine when you sit up! Itai…"

I sighed, and she opened one eye. She looked like she was trying not to laugh. "Well, looks like we're both going to have bruises."

I glared at her. "Yours is going to be worse. Remember? Demons heal faster than ningens. I'd say you're going to be purple and blue for at least three weeks, depending on how fast your body heals."

"Great…just great." She said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "And I'm assuming that you'll only take a day?"

"No. About two or three." I replied. "I'm not some kind of god. I bruise too. It just doesn't last for very long. And it doesn't turn nasty colors." I smirked at her.

She stood up and glared at me. "Oh, shut up. At least we'll both be black and blue for three days. Then I'm on my own."

I stood as well. "Let's go get some breakfast. I'm starving."

She nodded and followed me down the hall to the kitchen. I saw that Hiei and Kuronue were already there, and Amaya offered them a warm smile.

"Ohayo, Kuronue, Hiei-san." She said, giving a small bow to Hiei. She was probably sucking up to him.

"Ohayo, Amaya." Kuronue replied. He did a double take at her. "What happened?"

She blushed. "Well, Kurama and I sort of hit heads this morning."

I snorted and sat down on one of the cushions.

Hiei smirked, and looked down at me, his arms folded over his chest. "So, kitsune, I heard that you walked in on her yesterday."

I remembered what I had seen, and my face heated up very slightly.

"Shut up, Hiei." I growled back.

"And I heard that she managed to give you a nosebleed." Hiei continued. He enjoyed teasing me.

"I said shut up." I said, avoiding eye contact with Hiei. I was pissed at him.

Hiei looked pointedly at her. "Who would've thought that she'd have a nice body under that baggy yukata? Good enough to give the great Youko Kurama a nosebleed."

"I SAID SHUT UP!" I yelled, now making eye contact with Hiei as I yelled at him.

She looked confused now, but Kuronue knew exactly what we were talking about - he had his jaw dropped.

He then looked over at her, still with that look of amazement. "Amaya…you gave him a nosebleed?"

She shook her head. "What's wrong with a stupid nosebleed? You're all acting like it's such a big deal!"

Hiei smirked and sauntered over to her, putting an arm around her shoulders. She looked uncomfortable, and he looked at her as though she was being stupid.

Kami-sama, please don't let him say what I think he's going to say.

"When men get nosebleeds, it means-" He started.

"Hiei, don't you dare tell her what that means!" I shouted, standing up and pointing a finger at him.

"-that he was having a naughty thought about a woman."

I was mortified. "Hiei, why'd you have to go and tell her that?!"

Hiei smirked at me. "Because she has the right to know." He looked back at her. "And seeing as how he never blushes or gets nosebleeds, then it must have been something really naughty."

He let go of her shoulders and pushed her away from him, and she stared at the fire demon in shock.

Kuronue cleared his throat, and then tried to give her a smile to clear away the awkwardness of the moment. "Oi, Amaya, do you want to cook us breakfast? Using what I taught you yesterday?"

She snapped out of her daze and looked up at him. "That would be nice, Kuronue! I'd love to cook for you all!" She smiled back at Hiei and myself. I was still staring at him, angry at him for saying that to her. And also, I was embarrassed that she had found out about what nosebleeds meant.
"Hn. I don't trust you to cook my food." He said, eyeing her with scrutiny. "You'll try to poison me."

"I would never!" She exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips and stomping one foot onto the ground.

"Kuronue started to snicker, and she glared at him. "And just why are you laughing, Kuronue?"

He shook his head, and then started to laugh even harder. He actually doubled over with his laughter, clutching his sides, with tears of mirth streaming down his cheeks.

She made a cute pout. "Kuronue…why are you laughing?"

He wiped his tears, and opened his mouth to speak, only to start laughing again.

Hiei snorted. "He says that you looked like an old married woman, bossing her husband around. He seems to find that amusing."

She turned and glared back at Hiei, her hands still on her hips. "And how would you know?"

"I'm a telepath."

"A tele-what?" She asked, obviously confused again.

"Baka." He snorted.

"She's not stupid, she just hasn't had much experience with the outside world." I said. I turned to her. "A telepath is someone that can read the minds of others, and hear their thoughts. They can also talk to you through their mind."

She nodded.

"It does. Especially when there's a baka like you in the room. I'm trying to block out your stupidity." Hiei said, putting emphasis on the word baka.
Kuronue stopped his laughing and stood, glaring at Hiei as well. "Hey, don't insult her. If you do, you'll have two angry youkai on your ass before you can cry for your mother."

"Baka. I never cry. And I could beat yours and the kitsune's asses any day." Hiei said, an arrogant tone to his voice.

She sighed and rubbed my temples. "Onegai…stop fighting."

Hiei snorted and sat down on one of the cushions. "Hurry up and make breakfast, onna."

She opened her mouth like she was going to say something, then seemed to decide not to. She started preparing breakfast for us.

When she was done cooking, she set out the food onto the table, and served all three of us first. She handed us each a pair of chopsticks, then sat down herself. She smiled eagerly at us as we broke their chopsticks.

I took a bite of the fried eggs, as did Kuronue. We both gave her our approval. Hiei just stared blankly at his miso soup.

She looked over at him. "Hiei-san…aren't you going to eat your food?"

He snorted. "I refuse to eat this shit."

She glared at him. "You will try it."

I looked slightly surprised, and Hiei's eyes flashed for a split second. That symbol! It had just appeared on her forehead again! The crescent moon…only this time, it was slightly brighter, and easier to see.

"Fine." He said, taking the miso and eating it.

She seemed surprised, but then grinned in triumph and served herself some food. We all ate in silence after that.

However, about halfway through the meal, Hiei suddenly looked shocked. He got up from the table and spit out his food into the sink. We all stared at him in shock.

He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "What the hell was I doing?" He muttered before glaring back at Amaya. "What the hell did you do to me?"

She looked confused. "Nani? I didn't do anything! What do you mean?"

He turned and stomped out of the room, leaving us all to wonder what he had meant.

~*~

After breakfast, I left to go to the library to look up that symbol. Amaya stayed with Kuronue, and I didn't even hear from Hiei. Still, I shut the door and started searching for a certain book that we had acquired on a recent raid - a book of symbols and signs.

It took me about five hours (the library houses thousands upon thousands of unorganized scrolls and books), but I eventually found the leather bound book (Symbols: Marks of the Supernatural) amongst the scrolls and such. So, I sat down at a table and propped my feet onto it, flipping open the large pages of the book.

Tsuki.

Moon.

That was what I started to look for, because that was what the symbol on Amaya's forehead had been.

It took me quite a while to find the right page, and I assumed that it was almost dinnertime by the time I did. I read the page. At the top of it was the word - 'Tsuki' - in big bold print. Below it, was a sketch of the symbol that I had seen.

I read the passage aloud.

"Tsuki: This symbol is often used by heavenly creatures to represent themselves. It is a symbol of being from Heaven, and is most commonly found somewhere on the body of these heavenly creatures - often tattooed directly onto the skin. These creatures include angels, archangels, and…"

The last word was smudged, and I silently cursed Kuronue for reading the books while eating, as I knew he often did. He did just about everything while eating.

But what was the last word…?

"Ohayo, Kurama."

I yelped and lost my balance on the chair, and I fell over in it. I groaned at the pain that went through my head, and looked up at her.

She kneeled down beside me. "Daijobu ka, Kurama?"

I propped myself up on my elbows, and glared at her. "Amaya, you scared the shit out of me."

She smiled. "Gomen."

She helped me stand, and I righted the chair.

She picked up the book, and stared at it for a second. But princesses weren't taught to read, were they?

"What are you doing here?" I asked, dusting myself off.

She didn't reply.

I waved a hand in front of her face. She snapped out of her daze and looked at me.

"I said, 'What are you doing here'?" I repeated.

"Oh! I'm here to tell you that dinner is ready." She replied, blushing slightly.

I rolled my eyes. "You gave me a heart attack about that?"

She smiled. "Sorry!"

I started walking towards the door, and she followed me. The rest of the way to the dining hall was silent, and we eventually made it to the mess hall.

I threw open the doors, and remembered that it was dinnertime after all, and therefore the mess hall was crammed full of youkai. My underlings.

I started walking through the middle aisle, and she tried to keep up with me. I heard the calls from the demons at the tables. There were cries of 'ningen wench', 'witch', and various other very rude and insulting names.

When we were right in front of the door to the kitchen, a youkai came up to us.

"Youko-sama?"

I looked at him out of the corner of my eye, as I always did with those of lower rank. "What?"

"Well, some of us are wondering why Noh, Kahn and Kin were killed." He said, looking slightly intimidated under my gaze. As it damn well should be.

I glanced back at her. "For threatening her."

The demon looked at her, disbelief in his eyes. She squirmed under his gaze.

"Sir? For threatening a worthless ningen?" He asked, all humbleness aside.

I whirled on him and picked the demon up by the throat. I crushed the demon's throat in a simple squeeze, and she threw her hands over her ears when the youkai's neck snapped like a twig.

The dining hall fell silent, and all eyes were on us. I tossed the body away from me and turned back to face the hall.

"Let that be a warning to you all: lay a finger on this girl, and you will face the same fate." I said in my loudest voice.

She stared at me in shock. I then turned and opened the door, and she quickly went inside.

Hiei and Kuronue were already there, eating. Kuronue was stuffing his face. We sat down across from them, and I served myself. She served herself as well, and Hiei spoke up.

"Oi, kitsune, what took you so long?"

I glared at him. I knew what he was implying, and I didn't appreciate it. "Get your mind out of the gutter, Hiei. I was reading, and we talked for a minute."

"Coming from the King of Dirty Minds himself." Hiei retorted.

I opened my mouth to make a smart remark, and realized that he was right. So, I could only glare at him.

Suddenly, the door flung open and Amaya jumped in surprise. She put a hand over her chest, then looked up at the three demons that had entered the room. Two were large black onis, and the third squeezed between them was obviously a lower level demon.

One oni said in a gruff voice, "Forgive our intrusion, my Lords. But this demon says that he had to deliver a message."

I nodded. "Leave him here. You're dismissed."

The onis nodded and left the room. The lower level demon turned to us. He was a scrawny little thing, with a rather large head. He had skin of light blue, and wore nothing more than a loincloth. He had a nearly bald head, with gnarled teeth. Pretty ugly, if you asked me.

"I come with a message from my Lord. The demon Akira." He said in a raspy voice.

Amaya tensed, and I growled. So, that bastard had found out where we were, huh?

"What does he want?" Kuronue asked.

"My Lord wishes for the maiden Amaya to be brought to him at the Takahashi Estate. My Lord says that she is not the property of you, and she needs to be returned. My Lord also says that if she is not returned by midnight, two nights from now, then he shall send forth his army to take her by force. The Takahashi army would also be sent forth." The demon said. "In essence, you have until two nights from now at midnight to fulfill my Lord's request for the return of the maiden Amaya."

Amaya paled. I growled again, and summoned a plant, which shot up from the floor and swallowed the lower level demon whole.

"Well, now what?" Kuronue asked.

I glared. "What do you mean, 'now what'? We aren't going to hand over Amaya."

"I'm all for giving her back." Hiei said. "It would solve all of my problems."

I glared at him as well. "Hiei! I'm telling you, we aren't going to hand Amaya over."

"So what are we going to do? Go after him?" Kuronue asked.

I smirked. "Precisely."

She looked up at me in shock. "You can't! He's too powerful!" She protested.

I looked over at her, slightly disappointed at the fact that she seemed to doubt my abilities. "Why are you underestimating me? I'm the King of Thieves, Youko Kurama!"

She glared at me. "Because, I know that my father bragged of Akira's army - he said that he's taken down a clan of nine-tailed kitsune before. A whole clan!"

Kuronue spoke up. "I've heard about that - it was all an exaggeration."

"Either way, you can't go!" She said, shaking her head. "I'll just go - I don't want any of you hurt on my behalf."

"Glad we agree on that subject." Hiei said, a sarcastic tone to his voice.

I stood. "Listen, Amaya. I refuse to be submissive and hand you over to a demon that's only going to eat you anyways. You have to understand - it's mostly a pride thing."

So what if it was a lie? I couldn't just tell her that the real reason that I wasn't going to hand her over was because I cared.

I cracked my knuckles. "Well, let's get to training, boys. We have a big fight coming up."



~*~

Author's Notes: Yay! Yet another chapter down - and only a few more to go. I'm so sad! Still, there are two more stories after this one (true sequels - I'm not going to rewrite the story from Hiei and Kuronue's POV, because that would get very annoying).

Thanks to those who reviewed!

DarkVixenNisha : Gomen nasai, Nisha-chan, but my dad has strictly forbidden me from talking with people (IM) that he doesn't know personally. It's nothing against you - my dad's just a little too strict. Sorry! But we can still talk through e-mail and such.

Suzaku no miko : More cuteness for you! But the real cuteness has yet to come! And ya gotta love Kuronue!! By the way, is your name from Fuushigi Yuugi?

Katie E. : Yes, it is much more informative. I think that so far, the nosebleed part from Youko's POV is my favorite part because it's the funniest. LOL.

Kagome0102 :Thank you so much!!

UltaAnimeFangurl2004 : Your dog married ice cream? LOL Is your dog named Hiei, by any chance?

Story Weaver1 : Yes, I wrote Amaya's story. I don't know why it wouldn't be on my bio. Well, here's the link for you anyways (remember to delete the spaces) :

Naoko-san : Um, I know that now. I went onto another name thingy after that and saw that it also meant sun child. No need to bite my head off, okay? Well, thanks for the reviews anyways.