This is, of course the long awaited prequel to Thief in the Night. As you know if you have read Thief in the Night, this particular story doesn't have a happy ending.
Disclaimer: Inu Yasha is the property of Rumiko Takahashi and Yu Yu Hakusho is the property of Yohihiro Togashi. I own neither, and my story does in anyway not reflect the eventual plot of either story.
Note: Youko's name is in all actuality Kurama, he is a yo-ko, I however insisted on sticking with what many people stay with calling him.
. : Bandit By Day : .
: . By Akikazu . :
"Some day you will grant my wish."
"Never."
"You will. After all I have an eternity to change your mind."
It had been over four hundred years.
Four hundred years since the breaking of the realms. Four hundred years since she had seen the outside of these forsaken walls. Four hundred years since her imprisonment.
Four hundred years since Inu Yasha's final betrayal.
Kagome slid her room open and started her ritual walk through the deserted halls. The large, evenly spaced windows were open to the night breeze but Kagome made no move to use them for escape.
She had long ago given up on escaping.
The night was charged with an unfamiliar energy. The halls nearly hummed with it. The polished walls and floors reflected the sheen of the twin crescent moons.
It was a night for dreams to come true.
But she had long ago since given up on her dreams.
A fine, tingling sensation stirred on the edges of her awareness, surprising her slightly. Kagome focused on the sensation as it steadily got stronger. Looking out through a tall window she spotted a blurring flash on the rim of the forest. Kagome stepped away form the window and back into the shadows.
The window popped open seconds later and a lean body pulled itself through the window. The body was encased by silky white cloth and the hand that grasped the window ceil had long fingers topped with sharp claws.
Finished examining the intruder's body, Kagome moved to his face. Silver hair floated loosely around him, the fine strands catching the moonlight. On top of his, she had concluded that the intruder was in fact a male, two furred canine like ears twitched, moving towards the slightest sounds.
As Inu Yasha's had so long before, the ears called to her, and thusly caused Kagome to shuffle a step forward. This was a big mistake as the ears twitched in her direction and the intruder's body stiffened. Kagome stilled and slowly moved a hand to stop the rustling of her white kimono. She looked up to see if the intruder had spotted her and was surprised to find that he was no longer in her visual range. His youki (demonic energy) remained in the general area however and she knew that he was nearby.
"Well, what do we have here?" The cold smooth voice came from behind her, the breath on which it traveled tickled her neck.
Kagome turned slowly, knowing that any quick movements could be fatal on her part. Arctic gold eyes watched her every move. His coloring put her in the mind of a certain hanyou.
"Who are you, girl?" The intruder asked.
"A prisoner," Kagome answered candidly.
The youkai reached out and put a hand on her throat. The hand squeezed slightly in silent threat. Kagome lifted her hands and laid them softly on his wrist.
"Are you going to kill me?" She asked, her voice contained no negative or positive infliction.
"I may, if you do not tell me the information that I require."
Kagome needed only to look at him to know what it was that he wanted. However, it had been so long since she had been in contact with someone other than Inu Yasha and she allowed the charade to continue further.
"What is it that you desire?"
"I am a bandit, the widely feared Youko Kurama," he paused to see if his name caused any reaction in his temporary captive.
The reaction was not forth coming for in her prison, Kagome had been sheltered from any and all news from the outside world.
Slightly put out the bandit continued.
"I am a collector of rare and desired items and the Shikon no Tama is the treasure that I have next set my sights on. You will tell me where the Inu Yasha keeps the jewel."
"You will have to kill me first."
"You do not believe I will? If you stand in my way I will not hesitate to cut you down, though it would be a waste of one with such beauty to die in such a pointless manner."
A blush broke the paleness of her face. It was much too much to put her faith on a thief but she could not help her reaction to his flattering compliments. She received very few of them.
One of his hands brushed over hers before moving to cup her chin, tilting her face up while his thumb stretched to stroke her cheek. Kagome felt her face burn as her blushed deepened. A low rumbling chuckle rose from his chest.
"Such a pretty and responsive girl. Perhaps a seduction is in order? Will you give me the answers then, little one?"
She felt that an explanation was in order. Kagome tightened her hands on the hand on her neck. She pulled it away and held it to her chest, over her heart. She could feel its slow beating echoing in her mind.
"This is the resting place of the Shikon no Tama. It lies at the center of my heart. If it is removed, I will die." She looked deeply into his eyes. "If you want it, you may have it. I would willingly give it to you."
Kagome knew that she had come as close to asking for him to kill her as she could. Still she knew that she could leave the jewel with this demon. Sure he wanted to steal the jewel but after getting it he would stash it away and leave it to seek out something new.
"Will you kill me then?" Kagome asked.
The tingle of more youki burned on her mental radar. The guards would be making a sweep of the area momentarily. Kagome looked up at Youko and saw that he had yet to sense the guards, instead he was staring at her. Her hands dropped from his, he left his hand resting over her heart. She felt as if its heat was burning through the cloth of her kimono.
"The guards are coming," she murmured, her eyes still connected with his. "Will you be leaving now, Youko?"
He broke their eye contact and looked down the hallway with a slightly aggrieved look on his face. Youko moved to the window and swung a leg over the frame. Kagome followed him, waiting to shut the window after he left. It had been a pleasant visit but it was over now and she doubted that Youko would return.
"Will you meet me tomorrow night?" Youko's question took her by surprise.
Really, she was in awe of the youkai's natural perseverance.
Her head cocked to the side, "you will return for the jewel?"
"No," Youko swung his other leg over the window ceil.
"Why then?"
"The Shikon no Tama no longer holds my interest," he announced. "I've found something else I wish to steal. After all a good thief never leaves a worthy prize behind."
Before she had time to question him further, Youko slid off the window and into the night. Kagome looked out in time to spot him disappearing into the forest.
The guards came closer and Kagome shut the window before leaving the cold hallways to the room Inu Yasha had designated to be her cell.
"Little one?"
Kagome looked up as his voice whispered over her. Youko stood in the doorway to the room, his silver hair glittered in the dim light. She didn't know is she was happy to be found or shamed to be found by the handsome youkai bandit in her current state.
"Hello Youko."
He came into her room and walked to her side. Kagome looked up at him, causing the chains that bound her to the wall via her wrist, to rattle. Her arms ached from having to stay up so long and the manacles were a second skin to her wrist.
"I'm surprised that you've returned," Kagome commented.
"As I said, there is something here I wish to bring with me." He touched the top of her limp hand softly. "Why are your lovely hands chained so, little one?"
"Inu Yasha forgot to let me out. He usually does so after the sun had set," she answered softly. "It drains my power so he feels more comfortable about leaving me loose during the nights."
"I see. Let's get these off of you." Youko touched the cuffs that bound her. "Why don't you tell me about yourself, little one? I've never met one such as you before."
She smiled softly. Youko was so kind to her, though they had only met last night.
"My name is Kagome and I'm human, a miko to be exact. I met Inu Yasha on my fifteenth birthday back during the Warlord Era. I unpinned him from a tree where he had slept for fifty years. He saved me from a demon and then promptly turned to attack me. Eventually we became companions."
There was a click and her right wrist fell limply, free from its cuff. Youko moved to her other side and began on her left wrist.
"This is the same Inu Yasha that keeps you chained? What sort of demon is he, or is he human too?"
"Yes, it's the same Inu Yasha. He's a hanyou. The half brother of Sesshomaru-sama."
"Sesshomaru? I vaguely recall the name. Perhaps I have stolen from him once."
Kagome shook her head, "he's not the type of person that you'd forget. He's really handsome, with long silver hair and amber eyes. From what I've seen his personality suck, though."
Youko huffed and let her left hand drop. His tail flipped forward and Kagome reached for it without another thought.
"I didn't know you had a tail," she murmured petting the soft fur. "What type of a demon are you Youko-san?"
"I'm a yo-ko, a spirit fox."
She smiled and released his tail.
"What are we going to do now Youko?"
He smirked and one of his fangs peeked out from between his lips.
"You can ask me to take you to bed. Or better yet, my bed."
"I can't leave the castle, Inu Yasha would know and I would be punished."
"Very well, as much as I wish to have your lovely hands on my body we can talk instead," Youko offered.
"Alright."
Kagome smiled and Youko led her to the only seat in the room. The bed.
They had been seeing each other for at least a couple of months now. Every night Youko would sneak into her bedroom. Sometimes they talked, there discussion topics ranges from their pasts to the stars. Other nights Kagome would show Youko around the manor, keeping sure to stay clear of Inu Yasha's chambers.
With every night spent together they grew closer. And just as he was leaving Youko would always ask her to come away with him and every night her answer remained a no.
This time however it was a little different.
They stood in front of the window, holding each other tight. The separation was increasingly hard on both of them.
"I wish I could come with you," she murmured.
"I know."
They stood in silence for a moment longer then Youko moved back. His hand cupped her chin and he stared at her tear marked face as if he could engrave her image into his mind.
"One day I'll take you away, koi."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
And he kissed her softly before disappearing in a rustle of cloth.
Kagome smile slightly, and touched her lips reverently.
"I love you Youko."
As usual, when Kagome awoke the next afternoon she had been manacled to the wall. However she received an unexpected and unwelcome surprise when she spotted Inu Yasha lounging on her bed.
"Inu Yasha," she whispered.
"Good afternoon Kagome."
"What bring you to my cell?"
"I just stopped by to introduce you to your new best friend," Inu Yasha gestured to the door where a big, hulking guard stood. "He's your new guard. No more midnight rendezvous, dear." He stood. "Now, I have other business to attend to. Never fear I'll return soon and with a present too."
And in a flurry of red, he was gone. Kagome wondered what Inu Yasha had been talking about and looked at the guard with a hint of worry. She hoped that the guard would leave at night so Youko wouldn't have too much trouble when he came to visit.
With nothing to do as was normal for her, Kagome began to think about Youko and her thought drew her away from reality and deeper into the lands of dreams.
Youko grinned as he sped through the forest on his way to see Kagome. Never in a million years had he thought that he would feel such intense emotions for a woman, none the less a human miko had capture his thoughts to the point where he thought of little else.
He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he was barely able to dodge the attack that was sent hurtling in his direction. Youko's eyes narrowed and collided with slightly deranged amber eyes. Seeing the white hair and dog ears, Youko concluded that this was Inu Yasha. He was far from being alone with an army of youkai at his back.
"You took her from me," Inu Yasha's voice was wild.
"What are you talking about hanyou?" Youko demanded.
"She sits there in my home all day but she not there. She thinks about you and nothing I do can bring her back to me because you visit her every night. You've stolen her heart from me haven't you?"
"And if I have?" Youko asked coolly.
"You can't have her! She's mine!" Inu Yasha howled.
Inu Yasha's army surged forward attacking Youko in such a way that he could not avoid all the blows. The hanyou's army was so massive that Youko knew that he would not survive. Each wave of attack drew on his strength as he played his rosewhip through the air, he might die but he would not go without a fight. The attacks on his person came in endless roves, each cut drawing his death closer.
In a final effort he pushed his energy out into the ground. Vines and various plants of all sorts sprouted from the ground taking down demons around him by the mass. Finally the ground was clear and only Inu Yasha and Youko remained alive. His energy was too low to deal with even the lowly hanyou who had imprisoned his love.
There was no doubt in his mind.
He was going to die.
As he fell to the ground, his energy spent, he couldn't help but think of Kagome. She was all alone in her room. Would Inu Yasha let Kagome think that Youko was alive and had stopped visiting her because he had never truly loved her? Or if he did tell her that he was dead would she blame herself? He could bear the though of Kagome killing herself in guilt over his death.
He came to a final option as Inu Yasha lifted his sword in order to take his life. He couldn't leave Kagome a take the chance that his reincarnation would find her several hundred years from now.
Using energy he never knew he had he channel the power of the plant life around him through his body. He could hear Inu Yasha's sword slicing through the air and he gave a push and a tug, ripping his soul from his body. The transaction took only a second but it was the most torturous second he had ever had to suffer through. But then he was out and he watched as Inu Yasha took the head from his body. Interesting enough the hanyou cut a lock of his bloodied hair and ripped of his tunic. Inu Yasha also searched his body and added his rose to the pile. The hanyou then turned away, whistling.
Youko turned away then, knowing that there wasn't much time to find a host. He passed through to the Ningenkai and searched till he found a woman that was less than a week pregnant. The soul of her infant was beginning to gather in the jumble of cells that would soon become a fetus. Youko curled his soul into a ball of energy and sank it into the woman belly.
He would not be able to wake for a while but he knew that when the time came he would be able to join his beloved again when his not so human avatar came of age. Thoughts of his beloved filled his mind again and he felt himself fading.
Her sorrowful smile was the last thing he saw before his consciousness faded.
Youko didn't come.
She waited all night but the guard had remained and there had been no sign of her beloved kitsune. The door opened and Inu Yasha stepped in. On his face was a deranged smile and in his hands was a red and white bundle. Her guard unlocked her manacles and Kagome slumped to the floor, watching Inu Yasha even as she leaned on the wall for support.
"This is what happens when you disobey me," Inu Yasha said, without infliction.
His well placed toss landed the red and white bundle in her lap. Shaking in her weakened state, her hands rose to touch the bundle.
It was wet.
Carefully she unwrapped it, her mind a dazed puzzle of confusion. She lifted a neatly tied lock of hair and looked at it. It was silver, mostly the rest was stained and dripping wet. She set it back in the cloth and opened the bundle further. Something fell out and hit the floor with a soft thump. She peered over her lap curiously and saw a rose.
Her hand shaking even worse she lifted it and brought it took her face. Her hand was stained with the red liquid that dripped from the whole bundle and suddenly she could smell it.
It was blood.
Quickly she lifted the lock of bloodied hair again and saw it was far from the white of Inu Yasha's. It was silky and silver. Setting both the lock of hair and rose on her lap she lifted the cloth and shook it out. There was no doubt in her mind about what she would see. Still know what it was had far less of an impact than seeing it. A strangled cry rose in her throat and she looked at the tunic through her tears.
It was Youko's.
She felt as if someone had ripped out her beating heart.
Kagome brought the tunic to her chest and her knees rose, as her body curled itself in self defense to her mental agony. She hugged the ripped and bloodied tunic tightly to her, uncaring that her white kimono was becoming stained red.
Tear fell from her eyes, dripping from her face even as blood from the bundle fell to the ground.
He was dead.
Her scream was heard throughout the castle, filling the empty hallways with the agony of her breaking heart, the echoes of pain for her lost love.
"Youko!"
. : End Story : .
: . Author's Note . :
Wah! I hated killing Youko, I really, really hated it! My only satisfaction is that it does have an, eventual happy ending in Thief in the Night.
Anyways this is a Valentine's present actually… hehe… Tragedies aren't really good for Valentine's Day presents are they? Also this is for everyone that wanted to know how they met, before Thief in the Night, since it was rather vague.
Actually I'm going to edit TITN right after I post this. Then I have to work on MM for my slave driver Acree. I hope to have chapter twenty four of MM up tomorrow and another Valentine's fic up before the fourteenth.
On a different note I NEED HELP! I have lost track of one of my favorite stories and can't find it. It's complete and a Sesshomaru/Kagome pairing and rated M. If you've read it you'll know it immediately because in the first chapter or so Jaken poisons Rin. If you know the title or author please tell me, thanks.
Have a happy Valentine's Day.