Chapter 6
Lesson one: Never let down your guard. Always be aware of your surroundings; anything could pose a threat.
About a week had passed since the thieves welcomed Tou-Kou into their band. She practiced hiding from them and memorizing the maze-like halls. With each day, she got quieter, faster, and more skilled in the arts of a shy girl. Koronue offered to train her to defend herself, more than once. But the ningen was too slippery for even him to handle.
"Youko, have you seen the ningen around here?"
"Mmm." Youko shrugged, "She may have run away." he joked. Koronue suddenly had a weird feeling someone was watching him. Widening his sensing range, he tried to feel for her reiki, but hers was too small to pinpoint. Plus, he had a hunch the fox was blocking hers with his own. Great.
He blinked; he felt a draft on his head. Reaching up, the black bandit discovered his hat was missing. Not just any of his six identical black hats, his lucky hat. His favorite hat. Reaching for his scythes out of instinct and anger, he found they were gone too. (It was a conspiracy, I tells ya'.) Even his precious pendant was gone. "Where's that ningen?" He was ready to let it slide with his scythes, maybe scold her for his hat, but no one, not even Youko touched his pendant. He would kill her.
"Use her name, she is a person too." Youko busied himself with a vase Koronue had smashed the first night Tou-Kou came to them.
"Her name is Potential Murder Victim."
Youko laughed and called out into the hideout so Tou-Kou could hear, "Go easy on him, girl, we need him to lift heavy things!"
"I'll kill her."
"You'd better not!" a soft growl emitted from Youko. Koronue stomped away angrily. When he was out of earshot, and reiki sensing, he felt a nimble hand on his shoulder. Turning, he found Tou-Kou wearing said hat, and equipped with said scythes and pendant. "Where were you?" he took the pendant and hid it within the folds of his cloak to ensure her life's safety. She gestured to the ceiling above the door, where the frame was wide enough for her to balance on. "Toes hurt?" She nodded. "You'd better hide or give those back, he's ready to kill you." Smiling, she took off down the hall.
Tou-Kou followed Koronue as carefully as she could, placing the stolen objects back on his person when he could not see or hear her. She had replaced his hat when he spun around and grabbed her wrist, she gave a yelp and tried to pull it away; it was the injured wrist. His grip was like steel, and his gaze was even harder.
"Youko has a crush on you, other wise, he would not have spared your life." He said bluntly. Tou-Kou cocked her head, questioningly. "I know because he paid for that out fit instead of stealing it." He gestured to her green tunic. She blushed.
"He swore of having a lover long ago, but something about you has already weakened him, a lot. I advise you not to let him know if you like him back; he has been through so many women that hurt him, and he ended up killing or abandoning them. It would be a shame for so good a protégé to be just another line on his wall. Plus, it's a nuisance for me, he doesn't think straight, or plan anything properly. If either of us have to go through that kind of turmoil again, I'll have to kill you." He said the last part in almost a playful kind of way, ruffling her waves and nudging her away. She couldn't tell if he was serious or not about killing her, but she did not want to find out.
another shortie, sorry. Next one is really long
R&R