This's just an interesting little piece I'm doing about my seven original characters I created for the YYH series. It switches POVs between them. What else do you want me to tell you??? Oh yeah, so far, the rating's just to be safe (there's really nothing in this chapter that you wouldn't learn in either "sex-ed" or 9th grade bio), but in later chapters there'll be a bit of freakiness.
Disclaimer: I don't own YYH or any of its characters or events mentioned in this story. I do own most of the opinions or elaborations about facts never covered or clearly detailed in the series. I also own the seven characters, though sometimes I think it's them who own me...
Chapter One: Forbidden Dreams of Fire
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((Kozuye's POV))
There are two types of demon mating: pleasure mates and life mates. A pleasure mating is permissible with as many demons as desired as long as the youkai has not yet bonded to a life mate. Once they've life mated, they cannot only ethically not mate with others, they're physically and spiritually bound not to do so. Breaking the bond often causes the death of one or both of the mates. My parents were youko, fox demons, ranked among some of the strongest demons in the level of the makai where we resided. I always knew they were old and had been life mated for a few hundred years, but it never really occurred to me that I might not be an only child.
I ran away from home when I was a toddler, already able to access and manipulate my ki. Youko are not meant to live with their parents long, instead they wander off at a young age and are either picked off by other youkai if they are weak, or live to pass on their genes to strengthen the species. I passed the test of survival, which is pretty obvious since I'm telling you this right now. I even grew bored with the methodical killing of those low-level demons stupid enough to approach me. So it was that I decided to take up a new hobby. Thieving to be specific.
Fox demons are the perfect thieves when you think about it. Agility is one of the greatest strengths we possess, and our slight but sleek build allows us access to anywhere we might wish. While our senses are not as strong as an inu youkai's, they are powerful enough to give us the warning we need. All fox demons also tend to have at least a bit of earth power, which allows us to cover our trail. Once we escape into the forest, it's nearly impossible to catch us.
While it is true that I had not fully awakened my powers by the time I began my new "hobby", nowhere near it in fact, stealing came naturally to me and the issue of having to fight my way out of a capture was never something I had to deal with anyways. In a way, it was almost too easy. I was tiny and very young, a combination no one thinks to guard against. There was no opening I couldn't wriggle through, no wall I couldn't scale, and no device I couldn't fool; even the tiniest crack in the defenses of a fortress left me a method by which to cause chaos. Before long, I stopped using ki and continued with only my wits, blocking even my spirit awareness so I couldn't tell when there was someone coming. By the time I was nine in demon years, even this grew tiresome, and I was ready to move on to a bigger, more entertaining challenge. Someplace like the Spirit World Palace.
((Miyuki's POV))
Koorime are solitary beings. This is, of course, because they reproduce asexually and have no need for others, but also because they are afraid of males. Hell, they're afraid of the Outside period. So they huddle away, secluded on their little island in the sky. It's enough to make any sensible person go crazy. And to make it worse, each child only inherits her mother's genes, the result being that a vast majority of the koorime have identical personalities. When something different or new shows up... well, they don't know what to do.
I must've given them all heart attacks.
As far as looks go, I am a normal koorime. Classic blue-green hair worn down at an accepted length to the shoulders. Large purple eyes. Pointed ears that, though not common among koorime, are an occasional occurrence. I've even got the freaky sex organs. What they didn't accept was my personality.
I couldn't help it: nothing about their lifestyle fit with me. They taught me the basic healing arts required of every child. I asked for weapons training and knowledge of other uses of ki, including offensive ones. I refused to wear a kimono like everyone else; I would readily argue instead of showing obedience; I was fiery-tempered and boisterous; the list goes on and on. Frankly, I had the leaders baffled: they couldn't figure out how I had come out so oddly much less what to do with me.
Only one other girl was as unsuited for their life as I. Her name was Kaiya, and while her personality matched the others' much better that mine, her appearance set the elders whispering every time they caught sight of her. When I heard that she had gone mad and slit her wrists, I finally realized that I needed to leave the island and make my way on my own.
((Kaiya's POV))
Shadowed One, Dark Child, Flame Born: these were the names the adults called me behind my back when they thought I could not hear. They were wrong. I was listening, though what they said neither surprised nor confused me in the slightest. I knew I was different from the rest: even wearing my clothes and hair just like my sister's, I would never be able to hide that fact. Every ice apparition, even Miyuki, who is nearly the exact opposite of a koorime in personality, has hair some shade of blue or green. My hair is as black as darkness itself, tinted a bit blue except for two pure white strands in the front. My eyes are crimson, while all other koorime I know have eyes of a more gentle color.
What I heard but did not understand were the murmurings that I was a second 'Forbidden Child'. Some called me an omen, claiming I would prompt the reappearance of this other mysterious demon. Others scoffed at these notions, but though they asserted my predecessor was dead, they watched me just as warily as the rest.
From what I overheard, I was able to sketch a rough conclusion in my mind. Another child had been born a long time ago, and she had been an outcast just as I was now. Unlike me, however, her differences had been so great that she had been thrown off the island while still an infant. But this brought more questions than answers, as discoveries will so often do. Who was this unknown girl? Why was she discarded when I was not? Why was I different to begin with when my sister was a normal apparition?
Theories were as thick in my brain as the snow on the ground. Every time I asked for confirmation of my thoughts, however, the adults would shy away from the topic, soon resolving to avoid me altogether when my inquiries were not deterred. The children, who had never liked me to begin with, took the hint from their parents' behavior and shunned me as well. I, in turn, locked myself mentally away, growing remote as I meditated upon this latest turn of events. Normally, though strict, the koorime would willingly answer queries, especially if it would cause the questioner to behave better. My asking ceased, and I only pondered when alone, but the isolation continued regardless and I sank into a state of depression.
I did not belong. This thought was engraved upon my mind, impressed upon me so many times throughout my childhood. I never knew, though, that they so thoroughly loathed me, that my existence alone was a constant reminder of something vile and humiliating in the past.
Such ideas caused me to withdraw even further into myself. The misery ate away at me day after day, and I eventually went so far as to be suicidal, finding a blade and slitting my wrists. I remember watching with fascination, seeing blood for the first time, as ice apparitions do not menstruate. It struck me then as amusing how similar it was to the color of my eyes, and how the maroon substance that was my life blood was slowly seeping through the pure white snow: staining the ground around me the same dark color, poisoning it.
I must have blacked out then, because when I awoke I was back in my bed, wrists not even aching as they properly should have after what I had just done. Then again, I realized muzzily, I should not even be awake to feel the nonexistent pain. Something hard and small fell with a muffled thud to the sheets beside me, bringing me abruptly out of my half-drunk state.
Sitting up, I turned to try to find who was crying for me, picking up the Hiruiseki gently and noticing the white scars on each of my wrists, running perfectly along the vein from wrist to inner elbow.
"Kaiya-chan, are you okay?" My sister sat beside me, voice soft and gentle as always. She would always worry about others first, even when I could hear the tired note in her tone, though she strained to hide it from me. Despite myself, I had to sigh, I could not bring myself to be angry that she had saved me when her voice was trembling like that. I gave her a weak smile of thanks for the healing.
"I am fine, truly ane-ue," I pulled her into a hug and felt her breathe a sigh of relief against my chest.
"Why... did you...?" Her voice trailed off as I pushed her away from me, placing a finger against her lips.
"Gomen nasai," I told her. "I will not do it again." She gave me a sweet smile, her lovely ruby eyes still sparkling with unshed tears. I paused. My ane-ue had crimson eyes as well?
Frowning slightly, I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood up, wobbling only slightly as I tried to regain my bearings. "Matte! Where are you going? You're still hurt!" I heard my sister calling behind me. Under normal circumstances, I would at least have stopped to respond, but more important matters were at hand. Puzzle pieces were falling into place, and now there was only one person who could confirm my suspicions and tell me the complete truth.
I found her in a grove of conifers near the edge of the island, staring off at the horizon. Upon hearing my footsteps halt right behind her, she turned slowly, eyes dull and sorrowful as if she were already bracing herself for the question I would ask.
"Okaasan... do I have a brother?"
((Kozuye's POV))
Sometimes I wonder what the reikai is coming to. I mean, first they went and stuck a toddler in charge of ningenkai affairs and now... well, what's the use of a really big wall if there's no reason why someone couldn't just fly over? After this less than exciting development, I have to admit I was pretty disappointed the gate to the Palace hadn't turned out as well- guarded as I would've expected. Soon after, I was thankfully proved wrong, as the Palace itself did not fail to amuse me.
There were and are only two doors that permit entrance to the Palace. The first is the main entrance, which is not only huge, but airtight as well. It proved to be coded only to open for certain people via a ki recognition system which, unlike its foolish human counterparts that test DNA or voice, cannot be fooled as ki cannot be either imitated or replicated. The second entrance is the visitors' door which is much less grand and much more practical for security purposes. A demon has to first pass a group of mind readers who work for the reikai, sensing bad intentions or other thoughts that indicate a person is up to no good. Next, a guest must submit to a search and be given a wristband which they must wear at all times in the building. Said bracelet contains trackers and ki suppressment devices and can only be removed by special personnel. An airtight kekkai barrier concentrated across an inner door ensures none who have not been checked can pass without the bracelets to sufficiently diminish their powers. The security measures they took were very impressive, and I forgot the letdown of the outer wall completely. Such an elaborate system could stump even the best thieves. All those airtight barriers really do create a problem, though.
It really is a pity they forgot to ward the ventilation system...
((Miyuki's POV))
Leaving the island proved much simpler than I would've ever expected. Between the fact that koorime have a tendency to mind their own business and Kaiya's recent attempt at suicide, I was able to slip away undetected. Odds were they would not even notice my disappearance for a few weeks.
The makai is a big place for a girl who has never left the island in her life. It's also an incredibly dangerous place for a demon who was never taught any self-defense besides healing. But I was willing to learn. Fast.
((Tsukiko's POV))
In my first couple hundred years of life, I learned a whole lot of especially important lessons. For example: water is not a good solid upon which to take a hike; oars are not for rowing, but flying; and my life would be a heck of a lot easier if I wasn't a trouble magnet.
Maybe I'd better start from the beginning. See, when I was a toddler, I slipped away from my parents and came to the riverbank. Never having been allowed near before, I attempted to walk across the water and ended up tumbling into the River Styx. Rather than having a traumatic time of it, however, I found it incredibly funny, and the Spirit Messenger who fished me out a few miles downstream was bewildered to find me laughing hysterically at the whole predicament. When asked what was so amusing, I told her happily how I fell in the river in the first place, that I had no idea where my parents were, and that the only clue to my past was a dagger.
Not knowing what else to do with me, the poor girl took me to the only other person she knew who was as optimistic as I was: a Spirit Guide by the name of Botan.
((Kaiya's POV))
Once I asked, my mother told me everything; in a way, I believe she was almost relieved I had figured most of it out on my own, rather than her having to explain the entire story to me, a story which no one was permitted to speak of. Apparently, when she was younger, my mother had sex with a hi youkai. This was unprecedented; no koorime had ever mated, much less done so with a being of fire. A normal pregnancy had resulted, however, and it was not until the baby was born that something was found to be wrong. Mother had borne twins: my ane-ue, Yukina and the brother I never knew. The male had inherited nearly all the features of a hi youkai except one. Because of his koorime blood, and because all koorime are female and he was a male, the child was sterile. Yukina, on the other hand, only displayed her fire demon blood through her abnormally colored eyes. Thus the elders deemed her safe, but her twin was not nearly so lucky, as it was felt no good could come from harboring a male.
When he was only a few days old, my infant brother had been exiled, thrown off the edge of the island into the stormy seas below where the elders were sure he would perish without them having to dirty their hands. In this way they felt they would keep the koorime race from being tainted.
What they could not anticipate nor prevent was the lasting effect on my mother. As ice apparitions normally reproduce asexually, something odd must occur when one does decide to have sex. Nothing is certain, but the hi youkai's sperm may have acted much like a virus, infecting certain of my mother's eggs and rooting there rather than lysing the cells or being destroyed themselves. [A/N: Gotta love how 9th grade bio takes your writing to new levels of weirdness...] When my mother was again with child, the results carried over to me, making me part fire demon, just like my siblings. In truth, it was only by virtue of my being female that I was saved from the same fate as my older brother.
My mother was thoroughly convinced that her son was by now dead, but somehow I could not bring myself to agree with her. I could not say why, but I felt that he had lived, and I swore that I would find him.
((Kozuye's POV))
The Palace had rightfully earned its prestige as a treasure trove of danger. Nearly every room had a different security system, a vast majority of which were unique to my experience. As much as tricking these guards entertained me, the rare and powerful items I gained access to delighted me even more. No one suspected a thing, as far as I could tell, leaving me to play with my newfound toys at my leisure. It wasn't too long after I had taken up residence in the Palace that I learned something of interest to me.
It happened one night while I was moving to a new, as-of-yet-unexplored sector of the building. After hours of blind travel through the ventilation system, I grew bored, so it's only to be expected that when my ears picked up bits of a whispered conversation, I got curious and crawled down a branch in the shaft to investigate. Peering down out of the vent, I could see two girls, Spirit Guides I guessed, discussing the latest thefts in the reikai.
"He's been getting bolder lately," a blue-haired girl confided. I recognized her as being Botan, Koenma's favored lackey. "It's got Koenma- sama quite worried."
"It doesn't seem possible," mused the other girl with short, boyish black hair held back in two poofy pigtails. From her scent I could tell she was a wolf demon, though she didn't show it in any way. As I took stock of this, her luminous golden eyes shifted momentarily to my hiding spot, returning to Botan as she continued to speak. "There's no way he can make off with two different items at opposite ends of the realm in one day."
Botan shook her head gravely. "But that's the problem, you see. We don't what he's capable of," she admitted, her voice dropping even lower as she said the next sentence. "There's even evidence he may have surpassed our security. That he may be inside the Palace right now."
"Is that so?" Again, the wolf's eyes darted to the air vent. "Personally, I don't believe that. At least, not him. Not here."
"That's ridiculous! You mean to tell me you believe someone else may have broken in? If anyone could beat us, it would be him! Think of everything he's done," Before her companion could respond, Botan was listing off crimes and thefts attributed to this bandit. I listened with increasing interest and a bit of irritation as I verified that quite a number of these victories were my own.
Below me, the wolf gave a start, but she covered it well, reciting wearily as I slipped away. "Yes, I know, Botan. We can't underestimate him because he's a legend. The Spirit Fox, Youko Kurama."
((Tsukiko's POV))
Since I came to the Spirit World Palace, I had found out that I possessed a rare set of powers, powers that dealt with the mind rather than the body or spirit. Not many have heard of this branch of energy, and even fewer can actually use it, giving me a huge advantage. No one can pinpoint my ki wavelength to trace me because they aren't looking for the right thing.
No one can protect against me for the same reason. Most demons with anything worth it will shield themselves against an enemy probe, either by suppressing their ki, masking it with illusionary spells, or creating such high level barriers that they cannot be penetrated. But none of that matters because they leave their thoughts unguarded. I can communicate with others, identify people, and attack enemies all with my mind. This, of course, made me infinitely useful to Koenma, who needed little persuasion to allow Botan to keep me once he had witnessed my powers at work.
That was how I became a Spirit Messenger and how I met Kozuye that night. I was talking with Botan about the famous thief, Youko Kurama when I sensed a stray wisp of thought. Odd, because I had shielded myself from penetration and as an act of politeness had blocked off Botan's mind. The only other ideas I should sense would be those within a small range of me, and the person would have to be practically in the room.
Grabbing the thought, I scanned it for identification. Each thought has a trace of its owner on it that I can use to find the person. This particular wisp was from a kitsune youkai, a little girl, in fact. Lowering my barricade a bit, I continued to "listen" for any other thoughts she might have, distractedly answering Botan as I did so.
So the girl had snuck past all our safety measures and had been small enough to maneuver through the vents. I could, of course, have turned her in, but where's the fun in that? I decided I would drop something that would make her wonder, and then I could find her later.
"Is that so?" I allowed my gaze to wander to the girl's hiding spot. "Personally, I don't believe that. At least, not him. Not here."
"That's ridiculous! You mean to tell me you believe someone else may have broken in?" Botan started listing off Youko Kurama's triumphs and the fact of us being unable to predict what he would do next. A lecture I had to have heard at least fifty-six times before. What truly interested me was the reaction of the hidden girl, and I could not help but allow my shock to momentarily allow my calm front to slip.
If what this girl was thinking was true, and you can never lie in mind-to- mind contact, more than a few thefts that had previously been blamed on the Spirit Fox were committed by her, a mere child. I let slide the clue about Youko Kurama, and then it was time for me to wait. I sensed the thorn I had planted pricking her irksomely in the back of her mind; she would seek out his folder to learn more about the legendary thief. This was going to be more interesting than I expected...
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If you liked this, review please. This is one of two stories I'm currently working really hard on (the other being the Tournament of Dreams; please read that too if you haven't already). And if you were wondering: yes, I have male characters, too. In fact, the other three characters are all boys. The four girls mentioned in this chapter just happened to fit best together, seeing as one of my boys' past is still being fit into place, and the other two boys are currently in the ningenkai. Anyhow, please tell me if I'm doing a good job at portraying my characters; I don't write in 1st person very much, but I'm working on it. And yes I know that with a lot of these characters, the odds of their existences are pretty low.