Akemi: Princess of Bandits
Chapter 2: A Terrible Trisome
Disclaimer: I own no characters or concepts from King of Bandit Jing, but I do own Akemi. But for the most part, a fanfiction is just that therefore most of the concepts are not mine. Meh.
A/N: I forgot to mention this in the first chapter. (Kiti - Forgetter of many things) The first two chapters are almost exactly made up of the Jing RP me and Djin did. Of course, as to be expected, stuff was added and excluded. More was added than excluded, but yeah. Mostly corrected spelling errors and OOC was excluded. Though, there were parts that I didn't catch that were there that really didn't make sense. So yeah.
The first two chapters were brought to you not just by Yuichi Kumakura (holy shit, I actually know the name off hand!) and me, but also Djin. Praise him while reading this or die. He'll most likely contribute more as well, but not as much as in Shaman King because this time I'm the one who got him obsessed, not the opposite.
Have fun!
x x x x
"It's about a half a year since that day..."
"Oh, quit dwelling, Jing."
"I'm not dwelling, Kir! Shuddup!"
"Whatever..."
"Grab the goods and lets go...I think I hear someone coming!" Jing held a few large bags of gold and jewels over his shoulders and ran for the exit.
Kir held his own bags and followed after him, "Jing! That sounds getting louder! It's footsteps!"
"Yes, I noticed."
The footsteps continued to grow louder and closer until the plum haired girl from half a year ago turned the corner with four heavy bags over her shoulders. She stopped when she spotted the two unusual looking guys ready to defend with surprised expression.
Jing straightened up and smiled. For the past week he'd been having dreams about the princess of bandits, Akemi, and the thought of her came up unexpectedly, like a few moments before. They finally made sense. It was a sign of what was to come. They happened to turn up in the same place again looking for the same thing. She was on her way out with her load silently. Unlike his handy work, she sneaks in and out without killing anyone or breaking anything. People don't notice the valuables were missing until she'd left town. It was only a matter of time before Jing would blow something up, trip an alarm or something to make his presence known.
Jing's smile turned into a smirk when he saw that signature sardonic smile of Akemi's appear closer in front of him, "Well, not bad catch for you, need a hand?" He teased her small stature.
Akemi laughed, "Nah. I think you already have your hands full with your own baggage."
"Well, aren't you a sight for sour eyes! Jing was just talking about you!" Kir was delighted to see her.
She smiled, "That's strange, you guys are usually screaming about me!"
"Well, you grew on us, you could say..." Kir raised his eyebrows.
"Kir, I already told you I don't date outside my species."
"It was worth a shot!" Kir laughed.
"So, where are you headed, princess?" Jing smirked.
"Was thinking I'd head into a tavern for the night. I'm beat and haven't eaten in quite some time."
The three left together talking like old friends and entered the tavern for the night. Jing flipped a few coins in his palm, "You hungry?"
"You buying?" she tilted her head and grinned.
Jing raised his brows and slammed more than enough money onto the table, "I'm buyin'."
They had a big feast due to the loot Jing just gathered up. After a while, Jing was staring at Akemi, a question playing in his eyes and trapped between his lips. Akemi noticed, "There a problem, Jing?"
It took him a while, but he finally came out with it, "So, you wanna go to the City of Fire? I heard they have the Inferno Emerald. That oughtta be a fun catch. Hehehe, whatta ya say?"
"Yeah! But who gets the emerald in the end if we're working together? I say we make it a contest..." she had a daring gleam in her poisonous green eyes.
"Heh, sure! More fun! Personally I thought that we could just share it, but that's good too," he offered a smile.
"Hmm...how would we share it? We're not exactly together all the time, y'know?"
"Yeah, it was just an idea. We'll do whatever...let's get some sleep shall we?"
The three head up to the room they decided to share. Jing kicked off his boots, threw his trench onto the table and jumped onto the bed sighing happily, "Amazing bed...mmm!"
Akemi laughed at the sight and threw one of his boots at his head, "Hey! Don't forget! We have to share unless you wanna pay more money for another room! Turn over!"
Jing rubbed the forming bruise on his head, laughed and turned over. She smiled and removed her hooded jacket and boots before laying down with her back towards him, "We'll discuss the terms of the deal more tomorrow...g'night."
"'Kay...'night," Jing said this just barely awake. She envied his ability to fall asleep quickly.
x x x x
The next morning, she was up before both of them. Akemi smiled at how cute the two looked when they were asleep. Kir was curled into a ball of feathers in Jings coat pocket and Jing was almost hanging off the side of the bed. The next move he made would most likely be the one that woke him up.
Akemi put her shoes back on and decided to leave her coat this time. She wondered down the stairs into the bar area where people sat drinking and conversing. She ordered up a bloody mari and downed it wisely.
It was a while before the boys ambled down the stairs wide awake and looking for her. When Jing found her just sitting there and staring at him, he paused and sniffed, "Hmm...food?"
She smiled and pushed a plate towards him with cooked fish and chicken, "Sure is."
"Hehe, thanks. You didn't have to pay, y'know. I could've done it."
She waved him off, "Nonsense. What kind of bandit turns down free shit?"
Jing rolled his eyes, "I dunno. So, you ready?" he'd already finished his food.
"I am...doesn't look like your friend is though," she pointed to Kir sleeping on the floor.
"Heh, Kir...I'll just drag him along," he grinned.
"Hah! Nice friendship..."he handed her messenger bag and coat and they were on their way.
"Do you like the heat? Needless to say, it's a blaring inferno in there!"
"I have no preference. I move too much to have one."
"Works for me. Well, here we are, the god forsaken city of fire. In any case, the emerald is located in the center of that tower. Right about the molten lava...the hell fire."
She nodded, "Competition, or Teamwork? You choose this time."
"Hmm...we'll go with your idea this time. Ready?"
Akemi smirked and got into a ready stance Set...
"GO!" They split.
She easily made it into the room where the emerald is. She can see it but it's heavily guarded. From across the room, Jing threw a stone to the other end of the room. The next thing she knew, Jing was running away with it.
"Hn! Jing!" Someone came up from behind her and grabbed her around the waist and mouth before she can react to him, "Mmm!"
Jing fiddled with the inferno emerald a little more as each minute dragged by like mini eternities., "Hmm...she should be on my back by now. Rrrr...they must've got her! Come on Kir!" they ran back quickly in search of her. They arrive slightly too late to prevent damage.
Kir fused with Jing's right arm and blasted them into oblivion, "KIR ROYALE!"
Everything was filled with smoke and Kir flew out with carrying Jing by the coat, Akemi in his arms. There was a large gash on her forehead where they knocked her out.
"Kir, back to the tavern!"
A few hours later, Akemi woke up with a majour headache and bandages wrapped around her forehead. She was confused and had no idea what had happened.
"Good to see you're awake," Jing said cheerfully, "Have a nice dream?"
"No dream. Just pain," she cringed as she said this.
He draped his trench over her shoulders, "There, it can be warm in that thing, but it's freezing here. Here's some medicine to help your head. Picked it up a few hours ago for ya."
She sat up and leaned against the wall with pulling his trench tighter around herself and swallowing up the medicine, "Ehhh..." she held a hand to her forehead.
Jing felt a little guilty about her injuries. They should've stuck together and then he could've prevented this. He caught himself in mid thought. What was he thinking? He never felt bad about anyone or anything before. Because he could fix the things he'd wrecked before. He sighed in frustration, knelt down and put am arm around Akemi's shoulders, "You'll be fine, don't worry about it," he shot her a big bright smile to hopefully make her feel some comfort.
"Heh...I know. I've have worse wound than this. Remember when we first met?" she managed a smirk.
"Yep! That was interesting...fun too. You put up a very good chase."
"Yeah, fun."
There was a mini silence between them all in which Kir had fallen asleep. He'd been well on his way to slumber while the two had be speaking, but now it was official because Jing had to catch him before he fell off the table right onto the floor. They laughed when he still didn't wake up.
"Sooo...you won. What happens from here?"
"We just keep looking for treasures. That's the only way we can live anyway...as bandits." Jing sat down next to her again.
"Yeah, that's a given, but I mean...us. Are you implying that we're going to be partners or should we see where we meet up again?"
"I dunno...do you wanna separate? Personally I...eh, it doesn't matter what I think..."
Akemi smiled and stood up returning his coat to the chair at the table and exchanging it for her own, "I always say, 'Three times is the charm.'" she leaned down to kiss his cheek.
She grabbed her beg and stood on the window sill staring at him. Before diving out the window, she dug into her coat pocket and threw him the diamond with the engravement on it, "If we meet again...then we are destined to be partners..." she left swiftly through the window and out of sight.
Kir had woken up when she'd dropped his coat onto the chair and had been listening, "You think we're actually gonna see her again?"
Jing smirked at Kir, "Something tells me, yeah we are...and I can't wait for that"
"Hmm. And something tells me someone has a thing for the lady bandit!" Kir grinned.
"Huh? HEY! Shuttup! I do not," Jing glared at Kir, but there was a slight blush in his cheeks.
Kir laughed, "Oh my little boy is growing up so quick! Hahaha!"
"Oh yeah? And suddenly I feel like bird stew!"
"AHHH! Jing! I'm just playing!" Kir flew through the window away from Jing who followed him dropping down into the city and on.
x x x x
Akemi gracefully moved through the crowd undetected. She was becoming a larger target for bounty hunters now that there was news that she and Jing had teamed up. She couldn't believe how a week with the king of bandits had heightened her "popularity" among the locals of several cities.
The funnier part of it all was that their teaming up happened over a year ago!
On her way to the big loot, she casually pocketed a few wallets, jewelry and even books she'd had her eye on. Treasures weren't her only targets, she was quite fond of literature as well as music. She liked to refer to herself as a "Renaissance woman". In other words, a woman of many interests and talents.
The city of Akron was a fairly large one with a fairly large treasure deep within the bowels of the underground, or so it was rumoured. Akemi found herself thinking back to Jing and Kir. They always went for the larges loot, like she did. She wondered how much they'd changed within the year, if they changed at all.
"Hay! Haven't seen you in a while...look out!" Jing just pushed her out of the way of daggers.
"Whoa! That was close..." she stood up, can't helping the smile on her face, and dusted herself off, "Thanks again..."
"Yep, now...there's two gems. Here take this one!" He grinned and handed her a deep green gem bigger than her hand.
So this was the famed royal gem of Akron. Supposedly, it would light your way through darkness when needed. She didn't doubt it's abilities, she just didn't think it was all that great. It obviously reacted to the lack of light and would glow in poor light as well as no light. Akemi had a certain knowledge of things that most people didn't these days. All the reading she did helps a lot.
The thing about the two gems, aside from their "amazing abilities", was that she had had both of them in her bag. She smiled and shook her head, "Someday you won't be able to take shit from me, you know that right?"
"Heh, yep! C'mon though, we have to get going. To the nearby tavern then?" he grinned happily pointing in the direction.
Akemi's smile brightened, 'No, of course he hasn't changed. He's still the funny, insane guy I know...' she thought to herself.
"Ehhh...helloooo? Anyone home?" Kir landed on her head and knocked. Apparently, she'd zoned out in her musing.
"Oh! Yeah, lets go!" She ran out with them feeling a certain bliss she hadn't felt for a quite a while.
"So the next treasure...is at the "Country of a Thousand Kings," Jing declared fro his seat across the table in the room they'd decided to "borrow" for a few hours.
"That's nice, wonder how many kings there must be...heh," Akemi said sarcastically wearing her sardonic smile.
Jing knew it so well for only spending a short time with her. It made him happy everytime he saw it, "Mhmm...well, for what it's worth, there's said to be a treasure fit for a thousand kings. Hence the name, I guess!"
Kir glared at the spiky headed king of bandits, "And why didn't you tell me about this before?"
Jing shrugged, "Well, would it really make a difference?"
Kir didn't answer but still glared. Akemi laughed at them. Two little boys arguing over pointless things. Like brothers.
"And how would just two young bandits and a crow take every last piece of gold out of that place without being caught?"
"Hehe! Let's just say...there's three big gold pieces..."
Akemi raised an eyebrow at him, "How big?"
"Ehhh...big enough for us to carry I guess! We'll worry abut that when we get there. It takes two days so let's get going! There's usually a boat out by the sea north of here. We can take that," Jing hurried them along.
"Alright. Sounds like a plan then," she played along even though she had her suspicions.
They boarded the ship soon after and once they get there, found an inn to plan out what they're going to do about getting the gold.
"Well, there's three pieces and three of us. Each of us will just have to take one piece each," Jing stated.
"That works. So, where exactly are they located?" Akemi added all this up to see how they'd handle the job. Jing was still acting sort of odd, so she expected there to be something he was leaving out. She had to be prepared of anything right now. One wrong move could mean execution for them all. Though, Jing wasn't the only strange thing around this town.
"In the tallest tower over there. That makes for a pretty good escape."
"Yeah...it does...almost seems suspicious how that works out..." Akemi stared out the window at the building Jing had told her.
"Yeah, but the surprise makes it all the better!" Jing grinned.
"Heh...I guess..."She continued to stare at the landscape with an uneasily feeling in her gut. In all honesty, she didn't like surprises at all, unless they benefited her. Something told her the surprise they would encounter wouldn't be good for any bandit doing this job. She sighed slightly, "So...teamwork I'm assuming?"
"Maybe. Why, you wanna compete again? Something you have against teamwork?" Kir said.
She shook her head, "No...I'm fine with it...especially with someone who's worthy of my time. It's just...this place...it seems off..."
"Yeah, you're right, but I'm sure whatever comes our way we can handle!"
It seemed to take no time in getting to their destination. She barely remembered the run through the city with Jing and Kir.
Once there, she inspected the room they were in quickly. Suddenly, it became clear to her! "I've got it! I know why this place seems off! We're being watched! And I don't just mean here...we've had eyes on us since the moment we stepped into town! Lookit the walls...they're thick...and that right there..." she pointed to the room next to a stair case with its door wide open, "That wall ends too soon, there must be something in a hidden room..."
Jing was surprised at her outbreak at first but was struck with clarity as well, "Oh wow...which means we only need to do one thing then...hay, Akemi, see those knives and blades over there?" He began to pick some up, "Start throwing them!"
"Got it!" Kir and Akemi launched many at several places in the walls.
Jing moved next to Akemi and whispered quickly, "Trust me, it's like a confusion spell. Find the odd eye, the "sacred" one and push that to open the damn door!"
As they continued their plan, they were amazed to find that nobody had come to arrest them yet, "Seems they're having a tough enough time trying to find the us since they're still not here yet...hehe..."
"Figures...the only people who seem to have no problem finding us is each other..." she smirked.
"Got that right! Ah-hah!" He pushed the button in, "Here it is and treasure is ours!"
They took one look at the treasure and froze in their places. The three coins were well over seven and a half feet tall!
"Carrying size, eh?" she glared at Jing. So this was the detail Jing was leaving out.
"I guess...they're pretty damn big, huh?" he offered an uneasy smile and sweat dropped, "Well, as for our way out...KIR ROYALE!" he used Kir to blast a hole in the wall, "Take a coin and lets go!"
"Ugh. Messy way out..."
"Well...it's something..."
"Boys are so messy..." Akemi shook her head, "Don't know how I'm going to "take a coin" though. I'm less than half its size!"
"Well, they're somewhat light, see? You should be able to take one..." he began rolling one to the hole in the wall. There was now an annoyingly loud alarm buzzing throughout the city.
Akemi gave Jing a blunt look, "Y'think they can hear it? Or perhaps they mean to annoy us into the guillotines?"
Jing laughed, "Hah! No idea, but it's a long drop. We won't make it by jumping unless we want a mess like we almost had last time..." he gave Akemi a look who returned it innocently. Jing looked to his bird companion, "Kir, do it up..." Kir began to glow and then grew into a phoenix like form.
Akemi gaped in shock, "I didn't know he could do that..."
Kir yelled, "Hurry up, I hate doing this...gives me a damn headache..."
Jing politely helped her with her coin, jumped onto Kir's back and held a hand out to her, "C'mon lets go..."
In that moment he looked almost like some sort of fallen angel in his ripped rags and the setting sun behind him making his features glow. Akemi felt so insignificant...or maybe it was just her desire to read her new book that was making her delusional.
Kir flapped a little to get her attention, "Hey, girl! Wake up!"
She snapped out of her moment, "Alright alright, I'm hurrying..."
They began to fly away on Kir's back in victory, but they weren't free yet. Harpoons began firing out at them.
"Ahh damnit all!" Akemi took out her gun and fired at the harpoons to deflect them away from Kir.
"Kir, faster!" Jing yelled dodging harpoons himself.
"I'm going as fast as I can!"
"If it helps, I did see some pretty hot girls farther that way...no lie!" Jing winked at Kir and smirked.
Kir gasped and fired off at warp speed, "REALLY?"
"AHHH!" This caused Akemi to quickly cling to Jing from behind, "Too...fast!"
Kir slowed down as they got out of reach of the harpoons. He glared up at Jing, "Where are the hot girls, Jing!"
He sweat dropped, "Ehhehehe...I had to say something to save our asses...didn't I?"
Kir growled, "If there aren't any women where we're going, I will drop you off!"
Jing laughed, "Okay, okay...head west. I guarantee there will be some there in Lakeshore."
They arrived at Lakeshore bar and hurried to a room. Akemi was still recovering from the whip lash while Kir hovered over her and Jing stared out the window. They had to go hide the coins somewhere else because of their size. There was no way they were getting anywhere with them without being forced to run to another town.
Jing turned to them, "Looks like we scored big time, eh?"
"Yeah..." she managed to grin, "Even if it wasn't my style."
"Your style? And that would be?"
"In and out. Quick, silent and easy. NOT messy..." Akemi glared at him playfully.
"Sorry! I needed to improvise and it was the quickest way...so I took it. Besides, I got excited!" He laughed and crossed the room to give her a kiss on the cheek. She blushed and stared at him in shock.
Jing grinned, "That was returning the favour...and also a thank you."
Her shock disappeared and she smiled knowingly.
"You're welcome."