Author's Note: Thanks all who have read my story, and especially thanks to those of you who have reviewed. Since I'm not able to thank you all personally, consider this my thanks to you all!!

- - -

"Lord Hiei, there is someone that wants to see you," a human messenger informed the small demon lounging in front of him.

His eyes, which were a brilliant garnet, were currently closed, and the usual bored expression crossed his face. He was adorned in a plain black shirt with the sleeves torn at the top of the shoulders, and black training pants held up by four slim, white belts. The pant legs were parachuted out by combat boots, and a long, thin sheath holding his weapon of choice was lying next to him.

Lord Hiei's hair was a deep black color, accented by spiky bangs highlighted in white. He covered up a special third eye he had implanted called a Jagan with a bandana just as white as the highlights.

The red-eyed demon opened one eye lazily to peer upon the cowering messenger. The human quivered under his steely gaze. Lord Hiei yawned, and caused the human to bow his head.

"Very well, let them in," he stated lazily, and shut his eyes again.

The messenger bowed, and left the room, only to return with a woman. She had short red hair, and blue eyes, one of which was covered by white cloth, serving as a mask. She was wearing a long-sleeved white shirt under a purple vest with pure gold lining, and straight-legged green pants held up by a red sash. She stood before Hiei, her hands on her waist, tapping her elegantly green-slippered feet. Lord Hiei opened one eye again, and stared at her lazily.

"What do you want?" he asked her tersely.

"Some way to greet your better. You know I could have you killed," she said.

The demon lord laughed loudly, opening both eyes.

"Mukuro, you couldn't kill me if you tried, now tell me what you want, or get out."

"What makes you think I want something? Is it a crime for a Baroness to see her heir?"

The demon glared at her, and flipped over.

"I'm busy. Don't bother me unless there's something I should know. Now, get out!"

Mukuro smirked, and walked away. Angering her little heir was very fun. The human messenger bowed deeply, and followed behind her. Meanwhile, in his room, Lord Hiei moved to a more comfortable position, and fell into a small nap.

- - -

"That man," Youko thought, trying to find a comfortable spot to lie down. "No matter how much I try, I can't forget him... He took so much from me: my freedom, and my site. Why?"

He shuffled around blindly still looking for the one comfortable spot, and started causing a ruckus. The demon driver turned around to face the scrambling fox. He flicked the whip in his hand close to the fox's face, causing him to yelp and stop.

"If I were you, I would learn to be quiet," he scolded, and turned around without a word.

Youko remained in the same position, and lay down; this spot would just have to do. He shuffled around so he was facing the sky, and began to sniffle. The sky, which had started to cloud over when the demon had purchased Youko, now unleashed its heavy burden of precipitation, falling right onto the little wagon.

The demon cursed about not having a covered wagon, and pulled on his hat, while the fox in the back let out a sigh of relief. The cool rain felt good on his face, which was hot and flushed from crying. His wounds received earlier were cleaned by the gentle, soothing rain, and the sand was washed from his eyes.

The driver clicked the reigns, which made the horses run faster, and a castle loomed over the horizon. Youko dozed off in the cool shower, unaware of the new master he was soon to have.

- - -

"GODFREY!!!"

The yell echoed through the hollow halls of the castle as a very pissed hiyoukai awoke to NO wine by his side, NO small snacks to munch on, and NO servant. This did not loom well for the poor fellow. Lord Hiei stormed out of his room and stomped into the baroness's chambers, ready to take the matter up with her.

Meanwhile, at the exact same time, Godfrey, the demon servant who had purchased Youko for his master, was entering the castle with a rudely-awakened-still-sleepy fox behind him. His eyes were now opened, and the kitsune was happily relieved to find that he could see again. However, due to fatigue and his recent nap, his eyes were droopy and barely visible under his long lashes, giving him the appearance that they were indeed a different color than what they truly were.

Godfrey took off his wet hat and overcoat, and handed the soon-to-be rusty chains connected to the fox to a maid, who led him away, knowing what was to be done with him. Youko looked around dazed- this castle was huge! He tried to keep up with all the twists and turns, but deemed it impossible. He felt dazed, so just kept his eyes on the ground, not really caring where he was going anymore- it all led to one thing anyway.

He sighed sadly, and entered a large room with the maid, who quickly handed him off as if he were a rotten piece of food to the next maid. The boy inhaled deeply, trying to prevent himself from going into a violent fit, and caught a whiff of something appealing. The room he was in was a bath chamber. The warm water laced with flowery oils and fresh linens smelled so welcoming.

Youko was so wrapped up in the welcoming smells that he didn't notice the new maid and two others were removing the wet, tight chains from around him. In fact, he didn't notice anything around him until the heavy neck chain dropped from a young girl's hands onto the floor with a giant "Bang!"all the more magnified by his keen demonic fox hearing.

The boy was so frightened that he jumped abruptly, causing the wound on his stomach to throb violently. He clutched it tightly, falling to his knees. Fresh tears he had tried so hard to hold back hit the floor, and sobs wracked his body.

One of the older maids took a notice of this, and bent down to the boy. She felt so sorry for the pretty little fox who was soon to become Lord Hiei's. Boogeyman stories about him and his violent tendencies flooded the castle, and this little boy in front of her was probably to be his next victim. She hugged him tightly, letting him sob into her shoulder.

"Shh, let it out, just let it all out. Things will be fine," she soothed, rubbing circles on his back.

Youko breathed deeply, and stopped crying. This was the first time someone had ever shown him any sort of love, and he didn't know what to do. His instinct was telling him to escape, that she would do something to him, but something else was telling him to stay there. He enjoyed the warmth and wonderful, albeit strange emotion she was showing him, and closed his eyes contentedly.

The woman gave him a soft kiss on the cheek and let go. She stood up, and outstretched her hand to the fox, pulling him up with her.

"T-th-thank you," Youko stuttered, keeping his head shamefully down.

The last thing he wanted to do was to show her his golden eyes. The woman returned the smiled, and the two younger maids began to lead Youko to the large, steamy bath that awaited him. They then began to take off his tattered clothes, causing him to yip and bristle up. He did, after all, still have his dignity and pride.

After a bit of growling, scratching, biting, and reprimanding, the boy was finally undressed and in the water while the maids were bandaging their hands. The water felt absolutely wonderful to the aching fox. Its heat soothed his wounds and erased the memories of the day from him temporarily. He was ready to close his eyes when suddenly a pair of hands reached for him.

Frightened, he backed away from them, but was soon caught by the old woman. She gently petted his ears and made shushing sounds in an effort to calm the terrified fox. He fearfully looked up at her, golden eyes reflecting the dim light of the bath. The woman, however, didn't seem to be taken aback by the color of his eyes, and just soothed the boy more.

The gentle ministrations of her hands on his ears reduced the fox to a mere purring blob. This allowed the now irritated servants of the bath to wash him without mishap. Two took to cleaning his body while another worked on his silver hair, which was a giant mass of tangles and dirt to say the least. Youko winced here and there as the man used his hands to work his way through the tangles, but remained relatively calm under the loving care of the woman's hands.

Soon the fox was clean, and picked up out of the bath. A warm fluffy white towel was wrapped around him, and the same man that was tending his hair earlier took to brushing it. The man cursed sometimes at the state of his hair, but soon was able to rid it of any tangles, and was brushing through it quite easily, making it considerably drier with each stroke.

"Such soft hair," he mused. "It's like liquid silver."

He soon backed away as a demon girl came in with his now washed and mended white outfit. She left it next to him and let the boy dress himself, which he gladly did. He took off the towel, and gave himself a shake, removing the excess water from his hair and fur. He looked around nervously, and then dressed quickly. Being a youko, he was a very vain creature by nature, and being naked in front of strangers he didn't know was cutting into Youko's pride.

After about five minutes, a servant came but with some salve, which he rubbed onto Youko's bruised wrists. The cooling effect felt so wonderful against the burning bruises, and Youko couldn't help but sigh contentedly. The old woman came back in once she was sure that it was alright, and the man left.

"Now that you're cleaned up, let's have a little chat," she said cheerfully. "What's your name, young one?"

Youko looked away sadly. He didn't want to tell the woman the truth.

"Go on," she urged, "or do you want me to tell you mine, first?"

The boy nodded slowly.

"My name is Anna."

"An-na?" Youko asked.

The woman nodded.

"Yes. It probably sounds awkward to you, doesn't it?"

Youko blushed and nodded again.

"That's because my name originates from somewhere else. I was born in a city called Belize on a different continent. I moved here with my husband, who's a spice merchant."

"I don't really have a name," Youko confessed softly. "No one ever gave me one, and those who did talk to me just called me Youko. I guess you could call it my name, if you wanted."

The woman frowned.

"No one wanted anything to do with me," Youko continued, "because of my eyes. My mother abandoned my four siblings and me when we were very young, and our father was never a part of our life. So, we lived on the streets. My brothers and sisters were all taken in, but I wasn't."

"Because you're a Kogane," Anna presumed.

"Aa."

"Poor dear. It's silly how people can believe that you're cursed by having beautiful eyes."

Youko smiled; he felt very content at this moment. To him, Anna was as close as a mother as he had ever had, and he didn't want to lose her. He was starting to believe that life here wouldn't be so bad, especially if everyone here was like Anna.

All too soon though, just as he was getting comfortable, a guard came in for Youko. He roughly pulled him up and out of the room, not even giving him a chance to say goodbye to the woman who had been so nice to him.

Youko whimpered; he suddenly felt alone again. The guard led him through a different way then he had been before, and he was beginning to feel extremely sick. He didn't know what was coming next, but his intuition was telling him that he wouldn't like it, whatever it was. A sudden wave of nausea caught him off guard, and he stopped behind the guard, crouched down, and vomited on the polished marble floors.

The guard stopped when he heard the rather unpleasant sound of vomit hitting clean floors, and snorted in disgust.

"Hurry up, fox! I don't have all day to waste on something like you. And be ready to clean that up, later," he sneered.

Youko looked at him with big, sad eyes, and stood up shakily. He wiped his mouth on his hand, and followed the guard at a much slower pace than before, in fear of losing the last of the fish in his system.

The guard led him up many flights of steps until they reached a grand door. It was made of the finest cherry wood in the land, and had pure gold and jewel encrusted doors. On the paneling of the door were carvings of various creatures battling with dragons of all shapes and sizes, most of them with fangs bared and claws extended. The guard knocked loudly, waiting for the door to his master to be opened.

- - -

Inside those very doors, Lord Hiei was having a small meeting with Godfrey. So far, Godfrey's future didn't look too promising, and he could smell a lynching approaching. The hiyoukai was not happy at all with him, no matter what excuses he gave him.

"There are a few things I don't tolerate in this world, Godfrey. One of them happens to be servants who don't do what they are supposed to."

Godfrey, who was already shaking violently, bowed low to the ground, and began to shake even more than before, if that was even possible.

"I'm s-sorry M-milord, b-b-but I-I have so-so-something f-for y-y-you. Please f-forgive me," he stammered quickly, now fully on the ground.

Oh yes, there was definently a lynching in his future

Just then, a knock from outside was heard, and Godfrey thanked every god he knew for it silently. Lord Hiei smirked.

"Very well, Godfrey. Let's hope I like it, or there will be a lynching in your future. Now, get the door; I want to see my gift."

- - -

The same golden eyes that watched before continued to gaze down on the scene below. The owner of them smiled; things were progressing quicker than he planned. Just as the door was being opened in the world below, a golden youko entered his chambers, bowing lowly to the ground.

Said youko was a priest, and wore lavish golden robes decorated with images of grain, multitudes of fruit, and foxes. He stood up from his bow, but kept his head down to the other being.

"Inari-sama, Amaterasu-sama wishes to speak with you," he said.

Inari sighed.

"Let her in."

The youko bowed, and the goddess of the sun entered. She was a lovely goddess, with black almond shaped eyes, and beautiful black hair pulled into a tight bun. She wore a kimono that seemed to be made of the sun.

Its cloth looked like liquid as it glided across the pure white floors of the temple in the heavens the god of the harvest resided in. Elegant patterns of phoenixes, flowers, and the sun itself were sewn into the kimono, and the whole thing radiated a great light.

"Were you watching him again, Inari?" she asked, taking a seat on a rich cushion.

"And if I was?" Inari snapped.

"I was just wondering, dear Inari-san. After all, it would bother me so if you kept obsessing over the poor child and didn't attend any of our festivities or banquets."

Inari snorted.

"Save your sympathies for someone who cares. I'd rather stay in here and watch what's going on in the world of the living than celebrate some pointless ritual with gods."

"Very well, Inari, but I really am worried about this obsession with that boy. Don't let your grief consume you; you're much too important," the goddess warned, and excused herself.

Inari skulked in his large jeweled throne.

"The child is important, too, dear Amaterasu-sama. You know that as much as I do."

- - -

For those not too familiar with the Shinto deities, let me give some background. Amaterasu is the goddess of the sun, and is said to be the founder of the islands of Japan. She is the supreme deity of the religion, and therefore, has the respect of all the gods.

Inari is the god of rice and the harvest. He uses the fox as his messenger and symbol. Because of this, many have adapted the idea of Inari as the god of foxes and of the demonic fox race. I myself am one of those, and so have portrayed him in such a way.