Ahem. Okay. I lied. Still no action in this chapter either. But there will Definately be some in the next chapter, I promise! I just had to get more background stuff out of the way!
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Botan shouldered her bag and glanced furtively behind her, making sure that no one was following her. It's not that she was worried about being seen, no one knew her in this area, it was just that she couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. It was unnerving.
It was late, and there weren't many people out, it being a weeknight and all. It had, much to Botan's chagrin, began to rain a few hours earlier, the water coming down in thick sheets. Now, under the lighter drizzle, the streets where wet and shiny under the lamps and the summer night air was steamy. Despite the warmth of the night, most of the people on the street were bundled up against the rain.
Botan lifted her face to the sky, letting the cool droplets run down her face, and smiled. She lived for nights like these.
Not rainy nights (though she did love those), but these nights when she did what she did best. She did enjoy her job, after all. Stealing. It was a talent that she discovered she had several years ago, when, one day in first grade she realized she had left her lunch money at home. So she stole a boy's money from his coat pocket. The boy didn't even notice. After that, stealing had become a frequent thing with her. And, for years, she never got caught.
She never got caught.
And that was boring.
So she moved on to bigger things. No more lunch money. The amount one received from that was hardly worth the time it took to steal it. No, she moved on to other people outside of school. Business executives being the victims of choice, they seemed to always carry wads of cash around with them.
So what if it was petty pick pocketing? She was good at it. She enjoyed it. She didn't need prestige, just spending money.
But then she had made a simple mistake. She had gotten distracted while picking a particularly rich looking man's pocket. He had been walking in front of her, she following close behind. Her hand in his pocket, she'd tripped over an askew sewer covering. That's what you get when you become too comfortable with your surroundings. She had done it so many times before; she hadn't even bothered to be aware of her environment. Her first mistake.
It had only been a fraction of a second; she had almost instantly regained her balance. But it had been enough. The man had spun around and caught her hand before she could leap away.
She had expected a phone call to the police. A crying mother. Or at least to be yelled at by this man, after he'd caught her so obviously in the process of ripping him off.
But none of these happened.
He smiled at her, knowingly, and then took her into a nearby coffee shop.
"You're good." He'd told her, after they had sat down and ordered their coffee. She had looked him distrustfully. Which seemed a funny sort of role reversal, since she was the thief and he nearly been her victim.
"Very good. But also painfully inexperienced. Tell me, is this all you've ever done? Pick pocketing, I mean. You've never gone beyond that?" He'd questioned while sipping his coffee, and looking down at her. Botan had fidgeted under his gaze.
"No, I've never done anything besides pick-pocketing… I haven't really needed too, either."
The man grinned. "No, I suppose you made enough off of that street art, as I said you are very good… Well… My very own Artful Dodger… How interesting. And just when I needed it too."
She had stared at him. What did he need? The man leaned forward.
"How would you feel about working for me? I know this sounds sudden, and you weren't expecting it I suppose…" He read the surprised expression on her face.
"Work for you? What do you mean?"
He smiled excitedly at her.
"Well, I would find you jobs you see? And then you would give a percentage off of what you stole in that job. I'd also have to train you, obviously, for you are only experienced in street theft, pick-pocketing. And I need you to perform some slightly more difficult tasks. But you are naturally talented and should find what I have to teach you to be easy to pick up. And there is such an incredibly open field… Now that Youko Kurama is dead… So what do you think?"
She had looked at him incredulously.
"You'd find me jobs? Then I'd pay you a percentage? What are you, some kind of thieves pimp?" The man's smile had taken a slightly more sinister edge, though his laugh had sounded amused enough.
"A thieves pimp? Interesting terminology. Though accurate enough. But I would train you! I would turn you into something more than just a street thief, do you see?"
Botan hadn't been able to believe it. Here she had been trying to rip this guy off, and now he wanted her to work for him? To train her?
"Are you for real?" She had almost whispered it, afraid of his response.
"As real as the sugar you keep dumping into your coffee." Botan had looked down to see she was absent-mindedly dumping the tenth packet of sugar into the untouched liquid.
"But if you need proof, come to this address at nine tonight." He had handed her a piece of paper, and then left.
And she had gone, out of insatiable curiosity. And she found out that he hadn't been just talking. He trained her. He taught her how to pick a lock, how to open a window from the outside without making a noise. He had shown her how to move in the shadows, move without making a sound. How to be inconspicuous so that she could hide in plain sight. When he thought that she was ready, he had given her jobs.
They had been fun at first, exiting. Robbing small stores. Robbing office buildings, taking a little bit from each floor, so that they couldn't really be sure that anything was missing even. She did those kinds of things a lot. And the occasional pick-pocketing.
But even those had gotten old. She was so skilled, and these jobs hardly required any of her talent.
And she did make money. But the money wasn't really that important to her anymore. The theft itself is what mattered. The art of it. The rush of it. The forbideness of it. The excitement of it.
That's what she craved. And she wanted more difficult things. Things to test her true ability. So she had approached her sensei. He had never told her his real name. Even after all this time. He insisted she call him 'Oliver', because he found the irony of it amusing.
"You, Artful Dodger, the apprentice, and I Oliver, the teacher. It's funny isn't it?" He never asked her real name either, but always called her Artful Dodger, as he done the day they met.
She had asked him for more difficult work. Almost begged him really. And after he had looked at her for a while, in deep contemplation, he leaned forward to speak to her.
"I knew when I caught you with your hand in my pocket that this day would come. I knew it instinctively, which is why I chose to teach you. You had it in you, do you understand? I saw the heart of a thief in you.
There are so few true thieves left… Youko Kurama was one of the greatest, and also one of the last… But there are still some out there. You are one. I was one…" His eyes had glazed over, and she could tell he was remembering days long ago. He shook his head and looked back at her, face and tone serious.
"What I am about to tell you… show you… They are things that not many humans are privy too. I will expect you to keep them to yourself, under the strictest code of confidence. Promise me that you will not tell anyone what I am going to relate to you."
She had nodded, wondering what he was going to say, what she was going to see.
And then he told her. About the three realms. About their history. About Youko Kurama, the greatest thief of all time.
"But, they were never able to completely seal the three worlds off from each other. Of course, a regular human, demon, or spirit would never notice what I'm about to show you. Only a thief, who highly aware of their surroundings, would ever notice it." He took her to a park, to small grove in the little forest that occupied the park. He had turned to face her, eyes closed.
"Do you feel it?" He remained silent. Botan had shut her eyes, in imitation of Oliver, and concentrated.
She could hear the wind blowing through the leaves. Feel the cool air on her face. Taste the bitterness of autumn. Smell the – wait. She felt it. Something wasn't right. Something that wasn't right to this world. Something small and open. Open to something else. She opened her eyes.
"There's something… Not right… here." Oliver had beamed at her.
"A plus! And on your first try too! You're absolutely right, something is not right here." He walked over to some bushes and pushed some branches aside.
"Something like this."
He revealed an opening. Small, and close to the ground. An opening big enough for a person to crawl through.
An opening hanging in midair. Nope, something was definately not right there.
"This," Said Oliver, gesturing to the weird hole at his feet, "is what I meant when I said that the three worlds where not fully sealed off from each other. This is a hole, obviously. A hole in the dimension that separates Ningenkai from Maikai. So far, my Artful Dodger, you have been steeling in Ningenkai, and doing a wonderful job. You say that you are ready to move on. Ready for a challenge. Here your challenge lies. If you want to be a thief, a true thief, you must learn to be able to steal here."
Then Oliver had taken her back to the apartment and taught her more things. Like how to control her spirit energy. Like how to tell what kind of demon you were dealing with from certain attributes. Like how to survive in Maikai.
When he felt she was ready, he took her into Maikai for a "field trip" , as he called it. And so she learned to be a thief in there as well.
For the last two years she staid with Oliver, as his pupil and as his friend. She stole for him, true, but their relationship became close.
And then, one day, when she went to his home to see him, Oliver had been entertaining a guest. And interesting guest. An interested guest. Interested in her, that is.
She had walked in to see the two dark haired men sitting at Oliver's kitchen table, nursing teacups. Both had looked up at her when she had picked the lock and entered the room. Oliver had looked to be in deep contemplation when she walked in, but smiled immediately after seeing her. A small, and rather sad smile.
The other man had grinned unrestrainedly at her, immediately making her feel somewhat uncomfortable.
"So…" He had started. "So. This is the girl you have told me about? Your 'Artful Dodger'? Aren't you a little old to be playing Oliver Twist?" His tone was slightly nasty, as he turned to Oliver, who stiffened, but kept his cool.
"You are never too old to play games, Karasu, as one like you should know. And yes, she is the girl I told you of."
Karasu had regarded Botan again, his eyes slowly traveling up and down her form.
"She's a a little young, isn't she? Is she really as good as you say?" Oliver sighed and rested his head upon his hand.
Botan had become tired of being talked of like she couldn't hear what was being said.
"Excuse me," She had started, "Who are you?" Oliver had immediately jumped up.
"Oh, my, excuse my manners, please, both of you! Dodger, this is Karasu, a… business associate of mine. Karasu, this is my Artful Dodger." Oliver had turned to Botan, "Karasu has come because he's heard of your success as of late. I believe he wishes to make you an offer."
Karasu had nodded enthusiastically.
"Why, yes, that is why I have come! If you are as talented as I have heard, then I simply couldn't pass up an opportunity to see you for myself. And hire you if you would be so kind as to accept my offer?"
Botan had looked uncertainly at Oliver out of the corner her eyes, and he had nodded minutely from his seat.
"What kind of offer?"
Karasu had grinned at her.
"Ah. Well. Let's see here. How about payments in advance? And I can offer you a larger portal for our… uses… I understand that the portal you are using now is very small, hardly adequate for large quantities of loot to be transported through."
Botans eyes had widened. Wow. But… She didn't want to leave Oliver. She looked over to him, concern in her eyes. But Oliver had just smiled serenely at her.
"You should consider it, Dodger. He's really offering to help you stretch your abilities. I know Karasu, and I know he'd give you some very difficult jobs. Something you'd enjoy. Not to mention the perks he's offering you… I… I think you should go."
And so, taking her Sensei's advice, as well as following her own urges, she agreed to work for Karasu. Which is why she was here now. In this new city. In this new environment.
It had been difficult to leave Oliver by himself, but he had truly wanted her to go, because he knew that she would learn more things if she worked for Karasu. And she had too. In the two missions he had sent her on, she had had to use really use her skills. And she had enjoyed it immensely. She still missed Oliver, and thought about him often, but so far, she was happy with her new position. It was the man in charge of her who she worried about.
Karasu was not a bad boss, and he didn't treat her badly, but he did make her somewhat nervous. She didn't trust him, and he looked at her funny.
Botan knocked on the door of Karasu's apartment.
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Kurama's smile was frozen in place.
Koenma cleared his throat.
"Yes. This thief has already made quite a name for themselves. What is this thief called again Riku?"
Riku coughed, and looked at the paper.
"The Artful Dodger. Interesting name, really."
Kurama started. Why was that name familiar? He had heard it before… Riku was talking again.
"Right. And this Artful Dodger person has stolen quite a few very valuable items. The latest being the book of Entishi. A very ancient spell book belonging to an older youkai lord in the southern quadrant of Maikai."
Koenma sighed.
"So, you want the Reikai to help you search for this thief?" Riku nodded.
"It's best to get it out of the way now, so we don't have another Youko Kurama on our hands." Kurama glared at Riku, who didn't seem to notice.
Koenma hesitated.
"I can't… I can't promise you anything, Riku. But I will try to help you." Riku sighed and nodded.
"I understand, Lord Koenma. Thank you for your time." Riku stood and left.
Kurama grinned.
"Ah, now I see why you used my human name!" Koenma smiled tiredly at him.
"Yes, they really aren't very fond of you in the demon realm, though you are still revered." He looked at Kurama sharply.
"You don't know who this thief is do you?" Kurama's smiled softened.
"No. But I wish I did. If he's managed to make a name for himself in such a short time as you say, then he must be good. I have yet to meet a thief, however, who could compare to me." He ended cockily.
Koenma rolled his eyes.
"Go home, Kurama. But don't get to comfortable. I will be asking you to help me catch this thief, I think."
Kurama got up and walked out, a contemplative look on his face.
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Yay, chapter four is done! Chapter five in the works! Did you like it? It wasn't to boring was it? Sorry if it was.
Thankies to these people who reviewed chapter three:
Tellia: Yeah, I thought it would be cute for little Shuichi to have a girlfriend. And yep! You got it, Botan is the thief! You win candy! And that's exactly what I was thinking when I wrote Riku. Heh, it's like we're of one mind, you and I… Except, Karasu reminds you of your band teacher? Do I even want to know…?
KitsuneGirl: What? You are terrified of Xelloss or Karasu? Not Xelloss, I hope, I really love him! Karasu maybe? Eh… I'm confused. But you have to admit, Karasu was definately acting a bit like Xelloss last chapter. Thank you for reviewing my fic, and I'm glad you liked it!
MaraJade2990: Why, I'm so glad that you like it! ::Blushes:: Awesome? My stuff? Nah…
Xiao Xing: Hmmmm. We'll see won't we? Okay! Here's and update! Happy?
Alien9999: Well, um. So far it's true. I don't know if that'll change in later chapters though… We'll see won't we?
Sarah: Well… I don't know if bad guy is the right term… Eh, maybe it is. I'm glad you like the plot twist, I'm surprised no one has used it yet! It seemed like a kind of obvious one to me… You are welcome for (make believe) candy! Isn't it yummy? (mmm, air candy!). I hope this update was soon enough for you!
DeityofRoses: Well… This isn't entirely a high school fic, though that is important to the plot. A lot of this story will take place outside of the school. Okay, okay! I updated! Geez you people! I think I update fairly frequently compared to some people!
Yume: Aw! I can't wait to see it on paper, baby! You rock my world!
Xen003: You're adding me to your favorites lists? ::feels special:: Speaking of updates… When are you going to update your superb Kurama/Botan fics? Hm?
Don't forget to review you guys! I love you all!