Princess of Wits~
No one had ever dared steal the Great Thieves of China's food, especially when guns have been developed and swords no longer useful. And yet, this girl wearing imported American goods, has just stolen their food. In response to their shock, she gives them an enormous guffaw that would keep replaying after that day...
Which was probably why this new female thief even bothered opening her mouth, to make sure her annoying voice was rerun in Bankotsu and Jakotsu's minds forever until they kneeled before her. Holding her stomach with her red sleeved arms, she laughed and laughed, until the citizens below looked up at the girl on the roof.
"Oh heck no," Bankotsu mumbled. He walked up to the building, knocked over an old lady's cat, almost broke some flower pots, and made his way up next to her. He seized her collar, halting her laugh, and gave her the evil eyes.
The girl continued to laugh, though it was now reduced to a giggle. She turned her head away, her shoulders shaking from amusement. Bankotsu on the other hand, attempted to retrieve his steamed buns, which the girl held on tighter than he had expected. She was holding it so tight; it was a mystery of how the sweat didn't soak the bag.
Then, the girl said, "Don't bother. My Daddy said I always had a firm grip on EVERYTHING." She winked at him and shoved him away. "Especially guys. They forgive you if you hug 'em or something. You'll forgive me. I just know it. Now good-bye," she said, leaping off the roof.
Bankotsu tore at his hairs in frustration. He tried to follow the girl by jumping exactly where she had jumped, but by the time his feet touched the floor, the girl was gone around the corner. Jakotsu hurried to his side, huffing and puffing. He was still holding his half-eaten steamed bun.
"Hey, dude, don't worry," Jakotsu said. He pulled out another bag and smiled. The steamed buns were all in there. "It was burning against my chest though."
Bankotsu smirked. "I knew I could count on you, buddy. But how did you fool her?"
"The steamed bun bags always come with two. One on the outside and the one inside is thinner. And you know the papers under the buns? I was into collecting them. Today I just decided to get rid of them so I used the first bag as a trash container. The thinner bag, I kept to myself."
The braided boy snatched another steamed bun from Jakotsu's grip. "Give me that," he said playfully. I can't wait till that girl comes back and finds Jakotsu outsmarted her. Ha, he thought, smiling with satisfaction.
~O~O~O~O~O~
Once upon a time, the Emperor of China met the ambassador of Japan. However, this ambassador was a youkai. Frightened, the Emperor sought to all extents to avoid meeting this youkai, but in the end, it turned out that the youkai was not the type to eat humans. It seemed that youkai in Japan were somewhat different from the ones in China. After a while of time together, the Emperor became good friends with the ambassador.
As the royal lineage went from generation to generation, this ambassador would always visit when the new Emperor reached the year 10. He never aged, the few individuals that got to see him would say. These people, including the Emperors, described this friendly youkai as handsome, tall, and stronger than five mountains combined.
This year, there was not a single son to become the Emperor of China. Instead of a man, it was a woman. The preceding Emperor had borne only daughter. Eventually, she became the Empress of China and her name was "Yun Yue Gong" or "round-moon", meaning "full moon". The Japanese nation called her "Izayoi".
One day, the ambassador flew down on a white cloud, expecting a young man, but instead was greeted by servants instead. They spoke with him politely, explaining that their Excellency did not wish to see him. Of course, the ambassador was shaken. He thought of this action quite rude and walked right through the blockage of servants. They let him pass reluctantly, for fear that amidst his anger, he would kill them.
The ambassador made his way across the hall, through several doors, making turns this way and that way. He was utterly lost, but then he thought to use his nose. Why had that not come to him earlier? Ah, all was well. He took a deep whiff and smelled the perfume of a youthful woman. This scent was of expensive perfume, only to be bought by noble woman. Immediately, he began to think of possibilities. Was the Emperor a woman?
Hurriedly, he rushed back where he was started from and slowly paced through the same hall way, only making different turns according to the source of the scent. Soon, he was before a pair of gates. He pushed against them, and walked into a spacious room.
The floor was decorated with a straw mat. Windows were close by golden curtains, while tables without any silverware were set up on each side, fifteen tables. He looked directly in front of him and saw a long canopy hiding the thrones. With a firm expression, he ran up to the canopy and brushed aside the gossamer fabric.
Sitting there, plucking a guzheng, which was a zither, a type of harp that was horizontal instead of vertical, was a woman. She was very attractive, with a thin nose, small pink lips, and lustrous black hair that lay across all over the floor. Her bangs were parted in the center of her forehead, while some longer bangs that curled to touch her cheeks. Her eyes, which were of a beautiful and innocent brown, had light purple eye shadow that continued to draw out her beauty.
Needless to say, the ambassador of Japan had never seen such a woman before. Standing there in surprise, he watched as the beautiful woman glanced up at him. She frowned slightly.
"Is there something I may help you with, ambassador? I remember ordering my subjects to specifically not allow you in my throne room," she said. The ambassador shook his head and knelt, holding his hand over his chin. Was he blushing? Was he, the great Inu no Taishou blushing? Almighty lord, I've fallen for her, he thought.
"Ahem," she said. She waved her fingers at him but they were caught by his.
"MARRY ME!"
The Empress opened her mouth for a "ah". "Excuse me?" she cried, jumping up from her seat and backing up against the wall. The Inu no Taishou only moved toward her, his eyes bursting with renewed knowledge of women.
"My lovely bird; angel of the flowers, please accept my proposal. I, Inu no Taishou—"
"SECURITY!" she yelled, stroking her fingers as if there were snot on them. Instantly, the soldiers of the residence dragged the ambassador away. But he still persisted, calling out the Empress's name as he left the door.
"I'LL BE BACK, LOVELY IZAYOI! BY THE END OF THE WEEK, YOU SHALL BE MINE!"
The Empress rubbed her forehead. "Yes, yes, go ahead and cheat on your wife."
The ambassador stopped speaking as he remembered his wife. "Ah, yes, about that—"
"Hurry up and take him away," Izayoi said. Nodding, the soldiers shut the door behind them.
~O~O~O~O~O~
Papers. That was it. The only things inside the bag were papers. As her stomach grumbled, the female thief ripped up the bag and bit the insides of her lips. "…I… HOW COULD I HAVE BEEN OUTWITTED?"
A little girl wearing identical clothing and had short bob-cut black hair jumped beside her. "That's because Ga-Jie is too dumb! But I still love you." She hugged her.
The female thief stuffed the papers into her mouth, chewing ferociously. "My charms… will not be ignored! I'll get them, if that's the last thing I'll do!"
Behind her, a few women materialized. All of them were wearing noble clothes, of silks and fabric that cost your life to buy. They were all decorated according to times' fashions with the best colors and pictures. They all were pretty and very beautiful. Enough to snag a man's attention by glancing at them.
"You better, Mika. Or we'll disown you."
The thief stood up stroking her hair. She turned around, letting in her sisters take a good study of her. Her golden eyes were aimed at each of them. "Of course. The "Princess of Wits" will charm that thief. And when he's mine…"
All the sisters, including the tiny one, laughed at the same time. Aiming their looks at the horizon, they leaped off the roof and disappeared into the night.
Somewhere in the city, Bankotsu got a feeling that he would be seeing the thief pretty soon.