Of Demons and Crafts

Summary: Two opposing thieves are forced to be mated as a result of a bargain for truce between their competing groups. Of course, nothing is as sweet as it seems as both assume false guises in order to catch the other off guard. Under strict orders to eliminate one another, Youko Kurama and Tsubaki Botan begin to endorse a pretend life of a happy couple. Except... falling in love was never part of the plan.

A/N: Okay so I know I have other fics to update but I just couldn't help myself, you know? I've been planning on writing a couple of new stories to be honest. (You can go to my bio for further details) I was torn between doing this or the KB smut collection I was thinking of writing but I settled for this one first lol. I know in my profile page I said that I was about to at least complete Euphoria first but there's only one chapter left... sooooo without further ado, a YB love tale, I guess XD Don't worry though. I won't be abandoning any of the fics I'm currently working on either. I'll get started on the other new fic after Euphoria or/and Love Through Time is finished XD

As most can probably already tell from the summary, this is an AU-fic, revolving around the pairing YoukoxBotan (kinda obvious from the character tags though). So if you came here expecting something else, I implore you to press the return button and look for other stories to read.

Anyway, Botan will be a demon in this fic, simply for the sake of the story. Each and every character that will appear in this story is a demon, including the ones who are humans in the canon storyline. Some will be inspired from Japanese folklore. This story will be rated M in later chapters, though it is T in the first few updates. If you like seduction and power struggle in bed, then please, with all due respect, proceed with your own accord. If that's not your thing, again, look for something else.


Chapter 1

Youko was not having a good day.

Hiei had accidentally rendered his valuable plants into flames during his little spar with Kuronue, and Yomi's son, Shura seemed to make it his sole mission to get on his nerves all the time. Usually, he would disregard the spawn of devil's relentless attempts at provoking him as he often deemed the act of rewarding some kind of reaction to the immature brat a waste of time - but after having over half of the vegetation he had been growing in his chamber reduced into nothing but ashes by none other than his buffoon of a Jagan user friend, he was understandably agitated. He had to hold himself back from snapping Shura in half when the young demon pulled an admittedly ill-humored prank on him that went a little out of line. And corresponding to his habits, he regularly vented his discontent through the means of slicing through unassuming lesser demons and snatching away riches. Under the leadership of Yomi, he would normally impatiently wait around for any news of a fresh crusade, but sometimes he would wander off on his own simply for the sake of looking for a hunt that would serve an outlet for his daily vexations and act as fodder to his greed for wealth. Yomi discerned his activities, he knew, but the demon didn't seem to consider it a relevant issue and habitually left him to his own devices.

However, perhaps the day was not fully devoid of hope. It was getting a little better now that she was here.

"Let go, fox," a feminine yet feral snarl echoed in the darkness surrounding the cavern around him, lit only slightly by the orange glow casted by the lantern in his hands.

His rich aurelians glinted in the shadows as he directed his gaze to the owner of the unfriendly sound, proceeding to ignore the venom dripping heavily in her growl as he took in her appearance. Thanks to the subdued flicker of sunset orange serving as the only light in the cavern, he could see her quite clearly. Although, his keen vision would only deteriorate in a miniscule scale, considering the fact that his sight had adjusted somewhat to the twilight tincture adjacent to them. The lantern did allow him for a better observation though.

The cat girl's pretty face was contorted into a disgusted expression, brows knitted together in barely contained exasperation as she clenched the muscles of her jaws and bared her sharp fangs at him. They flashed dangerously at him as her threatening lavenders narrowed into slits under long, thick eyelashes, her pupils shrinking and sharpening to resemble that of an untamed feline. His eyes only lingered for a moment on the inviting, moderately flushed skin on her neck before they drifted lower still.

She was clad in a short-length kimono, the fabric sleeveless and baring her porcelain shoulders as the hem reached her supple thighs, fitting nicely around the curve of her ass and accentuating each pleasant bounce. Her kimono was gradient in color, black tinted for nearly the entire robe until it reached just a tiny bit of the trim of the outfit where it turned bleached white, sprinkled with camellia-shaped embroideries in various hues. The piece of garment was held together tightly with a scarlet-tinged hanhaba obi, and Youko couldn't help but notice the alluring mounds that were her breasts as her chest was rendered more prominent by the rather compacted knot of her sash.

It was her trademark attire yet Youko would always find himself staring each time. Sometimes with uninhibited lust, most times out of awe and other times in slight adoration - because really, the bakeneko, Botan, was a beautiful creature to look at. And not to mention, she was powerful as well - a trait he found undeniably irresistible.

It was a shame that she was associated with the enemy clan. He would have liked to pursue her. Although the notion of staking his claim on something he wasn't allowed to touch was a tempting enough challenge, Botan had a knack of making him ask her hand in courtship a lot harder for him. He wasn't one to deny the attraction he harbored towards her, though her perceptions for him differed with a huge gap. She seemed to loathe him with all she was worth, and tended to grit her teeth at him every time they came across each other. It didn't dissuade her from having his fun teasing her whenever he could, though. He very much enjoyed the male pride that came with the success of rendering her into a blushing, flustered mess every time he made his advances on her.

"Stop leering at me," she nearly shrieked in a mixture of timidity and discomfort when his peering became too intense. The tiniest hint of shame quickly diminished though as her irritation shone through when the fox still refused to give in to her earlier demands. "And I said to let go, didn't I?"

Youko fluttered his eyelids open and closed in a slow blink, but didn't bother to offer a weak excuse for the fact that he had obviously been eyeballing her for a little too long. He was undeterred, not loosening his grip even as her own clawed fingers tried to wrench the golden necklace away from him.

"I'm afraid you're going to have to surrender the prize of this quest to me, dear peony," he droned, but didn't remove his gaze from her as a taunting smirk slowly stretched over his auburn-shaded lips. "I was the one who defeated the adversaries protecting this place to begin with, after all. It is only fair for you to give in and hand it to me. If anything, you're the one who should release your clutches from my precious treasure." He paused, the twist at the corners of his mouth enlarging ever so slightly as his irises took on a more menacing approach, though the seductive tones remained latent underneath. "Taking into account the fact that you hid yourself in the shadows, letting me deal with the guards so that you could sink your pretty little claws on what's supposed to mine, I only deem it suitable for you to back off. It is quite unbecoming of you to be such a coward and force me to do all the work in the hopes of getting ahead."

Botan's mouth fell wide open in a gesture of shock as if she hadn't anticipated him noticing her presence. She was more than certain that she had been expertly keeping her demon energy on the down-low so that she wouldn't alert his senses but the fox seemed to be more perceptive than she assumed. Knowing him, he had probably even expected her to take advantage of the situation. Annoyance rolled off of her in restless waves as she gradually clamped her lips shut into a deep scowl. Why does he always know everything? She mentally grumbled in a grudging thought, somewhat infuriated by his abnormal intellect. For all the years they had been acquainted with each other, Botan was incapable of worming through his enigmatic depths, even though he appeared to be able to read through her with an ease that didn't sit very well with her.

"I refuse," came her barked out riposte, a predictable reaction in Youko's perspective but still undoubtedly pleasing.

"Find something else to conquer, little girl," he told her as he pronounced one of the few pet names he would give her that he knew would rile her up. His words left him in a set of well-articulated, composed syllables, but the bewitching tone lingered underneath.

True to his suspicions, his condescending sentence succeeded to bring forth a rush of fury to twist around her in knots. She let out an aggravated grunt before giving the necklace yet another harsh pull, intent on clinching victory over the small, albeit childish battle. Youko, of course, wasn't one to be easily discouraged and simply flicked his wrist, calmly jerking the pendant back. Neither side was willing to relinquish the artifact as both continued to be engaged in their own game of tug of war.

"Give up, Youko," Botan hissed, eyes flashing red as she shot him a heated glare.

Youko, however, was unperturbed by the savage edge of her glower as he was apparently more interested in something else. He briefly noted the strong link of chains adorning the locket, a tinge of awe building in the recesses of his mind as he mulled over the strength of the necklace. He had been convinced that it would have fractured into tiny pieces somewhere in between their childish fight, but it proved to be stronger than he presumed, holding out on its own despite being hauled around back and forth. It took a moment of him surveying the gilded carcanet before he eventually supplied her with a response.

He started, another hint of a predatory smirk creeping up his visage. "Now, like I said before, kitten-"

She swiftly cut him short with a growl rumbling through her chest, the sound coupled with the spat out words, "It's Botan-sama to you, Youko."

He promptly brushed her aside. "As I was saying before you rudely intervened, kitten," he continued his earlier charming jibe, a low, amused chuckle erupting from his throat as he sensed her touch of displeasure as the nickname rolled off his tongue in a perfect wave, tension emitting from her aura as it prickled into his skin. Mirth danced in his aurelians, mixing with a hint of mischief as he ogled back at her adorably ire-tinted violets, "this necklace is a reward of some sort for my prior efforts of getting rid of the obnoxious group of demons safeguarding this treasure," he reminded her, not forgetting to add on some good sprinkle of emphasis in his remark, "It's quite wrong of you to assume it's alright to claim what's not yours, especially when you didn't contribute anything."

To her utter horror - and embarrassment, he reached out his free hand to cup her right cheek, his fingers tracing lazy, teasing circles on her skin. He felt brewing warmth sap through the pads of his fingers as blood rushed to her face, coloring her cheeks with an endearing scarlet flush. His palm slid steadily lower from the side of her face to her ivory nape, the contact daunting, beguiling and maddening at the same time as it caused her eyes to slide close on their own accord. He watched the lovable quiver of her lips as he guided his fingers up and down her neck, his nails giving off the feeling of feathers fluttering across her skin as they scraped against her flesh. His thumb softly pressed against her pulse point and her breath quickened before the girl seemed to snap out of his trance, eyelids flying open to reveal an astonished-laced-horrified pair of amethysts.

Good lord, she was letting him sway her again! He was always like this, grabbing at any opportunity to poke fun at her.

"As if you care about what's right and what's wrong," she fizzled as she roughly pulled at her head in an endeavor to pry free from his grasp. The fox's cheeky grin didn't waver, and the bakeneko quelled the odd sensation of disappointment pooling in her gut as his fingers wrenched away from her, leaving a trail of heat on her skin. "And it's not like it was that difficult of a win for you anyway! You basically slaughtered all of them in a matter of five minutes."

Fox ears twitched with piqued interest, fusing pleasantly with the nice touch of merriment in his gold orbs. "Goodness, are you praising me right now? What a rare occurrence indeed," he quipped at her in return.

"In your dreams," came her chagrin-congested retort, followed with arrogant posturing as she tilted her head back and leveled him with a patronizing stare. "I'm conspicuously stronger than you."

Another bout of levity-filled titter left between his grinning lips, and Botan suppressed the prospect of how honey-like it felt as it echoed in her ears that abruptly interrupted her subconscious, mentally slapping herself across the cheek in the process to remind her that this was Youko Kurama, of all people. He was supposed to be her foe - he was Yomi's subordinate, and a member of her opponent pack, for spirits' sake. She considered him her arch-nemesis, even if the rivalry felt one-sided ninety nine percent of the time.

"Well," he purred once his fit of chuckles eventually died down, leaving in its wake only a playful smirk as the slant latched on to his lips, baring a single canine at her, "as much as I'm relishing our time together, the day is getting late and I must return before either Kuronue or Hiei come looking for me in fear of me vanquishing an entire town to the underworld. They don't really mind the bloodbath, but Yomi tends to want to keep our presence unnoticeable, you see. He believes that bandits aren't supposed to stand out." His words were a string of long, drawn out drawls and Botan was blissfully unaware of the vines slithering down on the cavern walls. They crawled towards her quietly, ensuring that not even a moderate hint of a noise resonated as they used the darkness to their advantage to catch the cat girl off guard. "Therefore, I really do apologize beforehand for doing this, little kitten."

Delicate, blue brows furrowed into a baffled frown as the fox's cryptic words reverberated in a repeating echo through the walls. Botan's bewilderment was fueled on even more when Youko threw his head back and expelled a guttural, mischievous set of laughter. Confused, she proceeded to look on as Youko exhibited the bizarre conduct - that was, until something curled around her ankles and promptly lifted her off the ground, causing her to release the clasp she had around the necklace, taken aback as she was hoisted in the air. The world appeared to turn upside down in a swift motion as she finally discerned the vines hooked around her tabi socks-covered feet, blood rushing to her face as she was whirled into an inverted position. She was thankful for the black tights that obstructed her more private parts from view as she felt the hem of her kimono descend to her stomach. Youko seemed a little disappointed though, the implication patent as the excitement in his molten gold slightly dimmed.

But he didn't seem to have any intentions of restraining her wrists as well either, apparently confident in his conceptions that it would take some time for her to liberate herself from his vines. They were as tough as spider webs, after all, and even with her enhanced strength, it would be a while before her freedom was given back to her.

The initial shock soon abated though, to give way to increasing irritation - angry at herself for letting her guard down and angrier at the fox spirit for using such a cheap trick in order to restrict her. His chuckles had dwindled, leaving an infuriatingly self-satisfied smirk spread over his handsome face as he studied her with barely contained gaiety. Then again, she was probably also a fool for falling for the elementary-level trap in the first place as well. Nevertheless, Botan wasn't really the type to roll over and admit defeat and she swiftly prepared her own counterattack.

Summoning ample enough demon energy for her retaliation, the girl let slip a slightly cocky grin as the sound of footsteps approaching to their locations echoed in the cavern. Youko arched a well-sculpted eyebrow at her, but the smirk never faltered from his lips as his interest was piqued, his cravings for a challenging fight prompting him to shove the locket into his right pocket. The footsteps didn't sound like it was coming from a single person, instead seemingly gaining in both octave and amount, indicating that his would-be enemies were a large number. He snaked a hand in his hair, still as graceful as ever as he pulled out a rose and manifested it into his trademark whip. The sounds of stomps nearing their whereabouts reverberated for about a few moments before his opponents staggered out of the shadows, his eyes moderately broadening in slight revelation as he realized that they were the corpses of the demons he had defeated beforehand. Gore was still distinguishable from the broken bones and loss of limbs, but the animated army of undead was progressing slowly towards him as his mind reeled, his thought process searching for some kind of newfound information about the weird phenomenon.

Of course. A smirk curved at the left edge of his mouth as the gears in his head spun around before clicking. Botan was a bakeneko, thus explaining her ability to control the dead - she possessed the power of necromancy, after all, like most bakenekos did. Though hers seemed to be on another level, as he noted that never had he heard about a bakeneko succeeding to reanimate multiple corpses at the same time.

"This is quite unfair, peony," he murmured in feigned dismay, even though a contradicting insinuation of delight disrupted his gilded pools. He was a demon, after all, and he loved a challenge.

"Ha! What's so unfair? You used your powers, so I used mine," she scoffed at him, taking the advantage of his diverted attention on her dead soldiers to crook her body into a flexible fold so that she could claw the vines off of her ankles. "If anything, you're the one who started it."

"Touche," he relented with a good-natured smile, giving out a lopsided shrug even as the moving corpses attempted to tackle him the same time. He dodged each of their attacks, his body swerving in a set of refined, effortless side-steps. "I offer you my sincerest apologies," he playfully jested, flicking his wrists as he swished his Rose Whip around to sever the upper and lower parts of the bodies of ten fiends, only to blink in startled dubiety as the muscle and tissue of the torn apart torso reconnected once more. "Well, that's odd."

But he didn't have the time to mull over the possibilities of the power behind Botan's abilities as he was cornered, attacked at each side. Even when he sprouted tall, bamboo trees to puncture through them, they continued their stride and onslaught of assault on him by detaching their body parts and restoring their cells in a matter of seconds to free themselves. Youko grew impatient over time, slicing through them repeatedly with ease as frustration budded in the middle of his chest as they refused to stay down.

A barely audible thud resounded in the cavern, causing Youko to swivel his head to the side just in time to catch the sight of the soles of Botan's geta sandals to touch down on the stony ground. Silver brows creased together to form a slightly offended frown, his confusion doubling as he speculated the chances of her cutting through his vines in such a short duration of time.

"My claws are sharper than razors, mind you," she elaborated, as if sensing the muted questions plaguing his mind. Her voice was a haughty, demeaning timbre as she shot an accusing finger in his direction, a victorious grin already spreading on her face as it revealed her row of pearly white teeth. "And my animated puppets will keep regenerating until I forgo my control over them. So good luck with that," she snorted at him, giving out a dismissive wave of her hand as she turned her nose up in the air in a conceited manner, somewhat pleased that she had managed to outwit him.

Her arm outstretched as her hand extended to accept some sort of gift. This further intensified Youko's already perplexed subconscious, until he finally understood when one of her undead soldiers wobbled towards her, body unstable but steps frantic as it handed her a suspiciously familiar golden necklace. His eyes broadened into saucers once more, surprised only for a moment before his puzzled mine implored him to check the insides of his pockets where he had safely placed the pendant in. His fingers clenched around nothing, affirming that it had indeed been robbed from him without him noticing anything. A thin, angry line of displeasure tugged at his mouth - it was okay when he was the one who stole, but he wasn't exactly enjoying the unrealistic yet absolutely possible idea that he might have been pickpocketed by a mindless puppet in his scuffle with Botan's army of corpses.

Although, a part of savoring was definitely reveling in the strength he could feel radiating off of the cat girl in front of him as she threatened to snatch the victory of the fight this time around. How many wins had he acquired? Twenty-three. Hers were nineteen. Yet in their little sparrings - which she usually initiated, by the way - he had never had the pleasure of experiencing being at the receiving end of her full power. Granted, he didn't use all of his strength in their fun, tiny matches, but he hadn't anticipated her to be this hefty. He had detected a few times prior to now that she had been holding back a little, but he didn't expect it to go to such an extreme scale.

"I've known you for five years." The sentence rolled off his tongue in drawn out syllables, though a purr echoed from the back of his throat at the end of his words, the sound heavily laced with exhilaration as his tail swayed furiously in excitement behind him. "And yet, you've been keeping secrets from me. How disobedient." He faked distress, jutting his lips forward in an admittedly adorable pout before he

"I'm not your pet, Youko," she responded drily as she pushed the necklace down into her obi before sending him a deadpan look. "And you and I both know that it's not like you've revealed all of your cards either. Never disclose too much detail about your powers, you said it yourself."

His answer came in the form of a lopsided shrug. "Well, five years is a long time," he insisted anyway, despite her altercation ringing true.

"And I still don't know much about you," came her mumbled counter, but Youko was unresponsive. A few moments of silence passed between them before she spared only a fleeting glance at him, chills racking down her spine at the roguish grin inclined at the corners of his lips. She briskly averted her gaze as she spun on her heels, feeling as if she had already wasted too much on time on him.

But she only managed to take a couple of steps forward, only to halt dead in her tracks as Youko's captivating voice called out to her. "Leaving already? And here I reckoned you'd be nice enough to keep me company. I'm sure I can think of some way to relieve our boredom and pass the time after I'm done with your little dolls."

The suggestive nuances in his timbre, coupled with the lustful growl that he let out as he was finished, made a weird, bothersome puddle of heat to build in her loins. Curse him and everything fun about him. She was getting angry again.

"Have fun," she chortled sarcastically over her shoulder as she continued her march to the exit, not even bothering to turn to look at him as she waved a hand at him.

Youko's aurelian gaze fixated on her, hunger and appreciation both evident in his molten gold as he eyed the enticing sway of her hips as she left for the only entrance, her footsteps echoing loudly before diminishing in the air. Her animated puppets resumed their efforts of striking at him, the sudden recommencing of the previously suspended battle further affirming his suspicions.

Well, at least he had the brains to figure out more. She might or might not be more powerful than him, but he was certain that the girl was too reckless for her own good - and that bestowed upon him the merit of outsmarting her. His wits were sharper than hers, and it hadn't taken him long to notice a certain weakness of hers.

Although the limit of her army of corpses reviving themselves were still an unknown bit of information, he surmised that they were immobile unless she issued out commands. Ordering and controlling things - especially creatures, whether alive or not, demanded the complete composure of the user. Not only did it drain a lot of demon energy - even if Botan made it look like it didn't affect her, it either probably did or it really didn't, but there were other flaws to her ability. No power was faultless after all. But other than that, it also depended on her state of mind. She had lowered her guard, relaxing when she had liberated herself from the clutches of his vines and that was about around the same time when her soldiers stopped trying to pounce him. He perceived their lack of motions and discerned that her thoughts correlated with how well and how often they would attack. Besides, even though she had explained that the puppets would never cease moving unless she were to terminate the dominance she had over them, he was certain that there must be an endgame somewhere. Still, it would take some time for him to fully get rid of them - but he was going to make sure he would catch up to her and seize back his treasure. He was about twice as fast as her, after all.

I'm not letting you get that twentieth win, my little kitten. He chuckled as the competitive line of thought crossed his mind, his whip flicking at his side before he pushed the musings of her to the back of his mind. He focused on the task at hand. So how many times do I have to kill them before they stop moving?


Ha! Serves that perverted fox right, Botan mused loftily as a smirk tilted at the corners of her lips. God, the look of utter confusion on his face had been priceless!

A happy hum rumbled from the back of her throat, a spring in her steps as she dashed through the woods, landing on branches before leaping to another. This joy, however, was short-lived as the tree branch under her feet suddenly convulsed, almost as if it was trying to shake her off. Her arms flailed around from the abrupt, violent shaking movement, the girl momentarily losing her balance as the smile on her lips fell to give way for parted lips open wide in surprise. She caught her feet once the quaking came to a stop, heaving a sigh of relief for a fraction of a second - only to let out a loud shriek, face flushing bright ruby as red as a tomato as a vine unceremoniously tugged at her obi, yanking it undone and causing her kimono to fall open. She nearly fell off the tree branch as she quickly clasped her arms to her chest to stop her robes from peeling off of her.

An amused bout of leather-like laughter drummed through the thick forest, and she scowled when she immediately recognized the sound. Angry, embarrassed tears stung at the back of her eyes as she shot a vehement glare at the source of the sound.

She was instantly met with triumphant gold, slanted lips expressing cockiness as his success as his pristine tunic was stained with the vermillion color of ichor. He dangled the necklace in front of her, the pendant swaying lazily around his forefinger.

"Youko!" she roared, fuming and in shame, feeling as if her tattered pride had been stepped on before being fed to one of his carnivorous plants as she slumped down in defeat on the branch. "I can't believe you would go as far as stripping my clothes off!"

"No worries, peony, it's not as if I was harboring ulterior motives," he responded, though the sultry touch in his timbre begged to differ. His vibrant aurelians darkened into dimmed yellows as his gaze lingered on her exposed cleavage for only a brief moment before he directed his orbs back to her pretty visage. Pink tinted her cheeks in a lovable blush, the cute tears peeking from the corner of her eyelids screaming out cute as he stared. The smirk that spread on his lips was as coquettish as the raunchy whisper of his voice. "Though, I must say, the view is very pleasing."

She gawked in horror at the added sentence, seduction dripping heavily in his words. But before she could utter anything out to reprimand him for his improper behavior, he was gone. Disappeared into a black blur, leaving only the sounds of his chiming chortle as he sped away from her before she decided to strike at him. Then again, with her kimono hanging loosely around her, he doubted she could.

"Ugh! I hate you, you know?" she cried out to him, knowing he would hear despite the increasing distance as she eyed his silhouette becoming smaller. "I hope I never have to see you again!" she hollered, furious and humiliated at the same time. But her body reacted differently, as confirmed by the sensation of a familiar knot of arousal building up in the pits of her stomach. Stop being stupid, hormones! She was now mad at herself, before she regained her composure as she heaved out calming intakes and expelled puffs of breath. Great, now how do I get back home when I'm looking like this?

True to her suspicions, Youko had caught on to her outraged outbursts quite clearly. His ears twitched at the top of his head as another smirk teased at his lips.

On the contrary, he was looking forward to their next meeting. Though it was not uncommon for them to cross paths, something told him he would be seeing more of her.


A/N: Well, lol… This was longer than I expected it to be. Got too excited even though it's just the first chapter lmao. Hope you guys liked it anyway!

saillovelypines- I hope that you're reading this and I want you to know that I'm looking forward to more updates! No pressure though. Take as much time as you need. I hope this story helps you get through the hectic day. Have a nice one and I hope you enjoyed!