Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Price of Kindness ❯ Of Thieves and Baths ( Chapter 6 )

I have heard the plea of my reviewers
And I must comply to their wishes!
Here, from sessha to you...
The Price of Kindness: Chapter 6

A/N: I started writing this story before I watched the 3 Kings Saga and after I watched it my whole idea of Youko and His bad of demons, WITH Kuronue was wrong. I KNOW that in Youko's past that when he was with Yomi and his band, Kuronue was not with them. But for this story, humor me and go with it. Please.

Disclaimer: No matter how long I pray, no matter how many chickens I sacrifice, YuYuHakusho will always belong to Yoshihiro Togashi-san. Such is life, sigh.

Macha followed Youko down the hall, again. They came to a large set of doors and Youko stopped. He turned to her and spoke.

"These men inside this room, kiddo, are my band of thieves." he said simply. "They may look menacing but won't hurt you. I promise. But in turn, you must keep your mouth shut. Next meeting I might let them talk to you. But for now..."

He stopped and thought a moment. Macha cocked her head in confusion. When he couldn't think of anything to say, she smiled and nodded.

"Hai, Youko-sama, I shall do as you wish."

Youko smirked at this then turned and opened the doors. The room was huge, not quite as large as the dining room but still large all the same.

Chairs of various sizes and pillow-like bean bags scattered the room. Adorning most of the chairs were demons. Some with dog ears, some with gills, others short, some tall but all stopped their conversations when Youko walked into the room.

"Hey Youko-san!" most of them called out, raising a hand in greeting. Youko nodded his head in acknowledgment and sat in a high back chair opposite the door.

He glanced and Macha and made a motion to the pillow next to him. Macha understood and sat down on the motioned pillow. A few of the demons looked at each other and grinned wickedly.

"Hey Youko-san, who's this?" one said.

"Another girl?" another called out.

"Does she have a sister?"

"How is she?" one implied. "Is she good?

Youko didn't say anything until this last statement. His golden eyes immediately targeted the last speaker in an icy glare.

The demon strangely had three ears and two horns sprouting from his head. In a split second Youko stood next to him a grass blade at the demon's throat. He had the demon by one of his horns and had pulled back his neck, leaving it exposed. The rest of the group gasped but didn't move, knowing Youko's wrath, some of them first hand.

"Count this as a warning, Yomi." he whispered dangerously. The demon named Yomi nodded slowly and Youko removed the blade from his neck. He walked back to his chair and sat down.

At that moment Kuronue ran in.

"Hey minna!" he called, smiling. Some demons responded, others still kept a wary gaze on Youko. Kuronue plopped himself in a chair next to Macha. He leaned back and put his hands behind his head.

"What's the agenda today, boys?"

Youko, without saying anything, pulled a map out of his tunic. He spread it out on the table in front of them. The demons immediately crowded around the map, examining it.

"Hey," said a snake demon by the looks of his face, "this is the Tou no Oujou."

"Some of the Makai's most precious possessions are there." voiced one that looked like a tiger.

"I hear the Stone of Sages is there..."

"My sources turn up traces of dilythium."

"That rare of a gem?"

"Hai."

"Is there a particular one we are going after?" said a rabbit demon. His ears twitched with excitement and he rubbed his hands together anxiously. Youko smirked.

"Hai, Hikitsuri, there is." Youko pointed to a spot on the map. It was a basement with the looks of it, many corridors and dead ends.

"It's like a maze." Kuronue muttered. He traced a route through the maze with a finger. "There's only one right path."

"Right. And the gem at the end is the prize we are going after." Youko pulled another piece of paper from his clothes and handed it to his crew.

On it, there was a large gem about the size of Youko's hand: fingertip to wrist. The color was a deep crimson red and even on the paper it shimmered. On the sides of the paper something was written. The band gasped one by one as they passed the paper around so each could read it.

"It says it's cursed." said the snake demon again as he passed it to the person next to him.

"Its legend that a spirit haunts the gem and killed the maker," growled a dog demon.

"The maker only had it for a day before he died," a cat demon muttered.

"But how can the person who made an item die from it?" said the demon named Yomi. The others looked at him "I mean, wouldn't the spirit haunting the gem BE the maker? That is, if he died from it."

Youko shrugged. "None of my sources state specifically its cursed nature. Those are only rumors." the fox demon smirked. "The only thing the records kept repeating... was that it's priceless."

The band of thieves looked at each other evilly.

"Imagine how much we could sell that for in the underground..."

"Or how much the pathetic ningens would pay for it."

They all laughed, Kuronue with them and Youko smirked. He turned his head slightly to glance at the kiddo next to him. She was sitting just as she had been for the past few minutes. She hadn't said a word or uttered a sound. Her eyes kept darting to each thief then to Kuronue and Youko occasionally.

"Youko-san, how will we carry this out?" said a demon, breaking Youko's thoughts on Macha.

"I'll explain when we get there." he stood and everyone followed his suit. "Let's go boys!"

The thieves punched the air with their fists and yelled.

"Tosshin!" they screamed together and raced out of the room. Youko and Kuronue followed them, Macha at their heels. When they reached the front door Kuronue turned around and patted Macha on the head.

"You be a good girl while we're gone, ok, Ma-chan?" he said as he walked outside.

Youko stood at the open door and said as he walked out, "We'll be back later tonight. The servants will take care of you."

Macha's face was that of confusion. "But-but Youko-sama, I want to go with you!" she said.

Youko shook his head, "It's too dangerous, kiddo."

"But I can't repay my debt if I am not with you." she argued. "I must repay it!"

"I don't want you to get hurt kiddo."

"I don't care it if I get hurt, as long as I repay what I owe."

"You will only be in the way!"

Youko felt guilty as soon as the words left his mouth. The look on her face pained him as she shut her mouth. Silence passed for a moment as Macha hung her head. It seemed as if she was going to cry. Before Youko could speak, she raised her eyes to Youko. She smiled and no trace of tears was on her face.

"I wish you luck on your heist, Youko-sama." she said, "please return safe."

Youko opened his mouth to say something, when he felt a tug at his sleeve. He turned to see Kuronue standing there pulling him.

"Come on Youko," he muttered, "we don't have all night, the band is waiting. And don't worry; Mina will take care of her."

Youko let himself be pulled along and watched guiltily as Mina came up behind Macha and shut the door. He turned back to his crew and they ran off into the night.

Macha watched the door shut in front of her eyes and she blinked away the tears that almost fell. She felt a hand on her shoulder spin her around and she was eye to eye with the head servant.

The girl was tall, about Kuronue's height. She had long light blue wavy hair divided into two braids that ran to her waist. She wore a black blouse with a white tie. Her black skirt was short and she had on white tights and black moccasins. Her smile was soft as she looked at Macha and her lavender eyes shimmered with kindness.

Mina smiled sadly and patted Macha's head.

"It's a pain to get left behind, ne?" she whispered.

"Hai, Misu."

Mina grinned. "Don't worry, I know the feeling." she grabbed Macha's hand and pulled her along. "All we get to do is wait for them to return."

She opened yet another door that was down a long hallway. The room was white tiled and a large pool of some sort stood in the middle of it. Mina clapped her hands and turned to examine Macha.

Macha saw, over Mina's shoulder, about 5 servants come from other doors around the room. Each bearing jars with what Macha guessed was a special type of liquid.

Each one was a female cat demon and mewled in delight when they saw Macha. Their tails swished in excitement and their ears twitched.

"Meow! She's so adorable!"

"Who is she?"

"She's so cute!"

"Mina-san, where'd she come from?

"Kawaii!"

They all crowded around her and began touching her hair and pinching her cheeks. Macha's eyes widened in fear.

"Ladies!" Mina shouted.

The cats immediately stopped and stepped away from Macha. Her eyes still wide, Macha shivered in fear, staring at the girls. Mina slipped an arm around her.

"Ladies, this is Macha-san." she said. "She is Youko-dono's guest."

The cats began to whisper amongst themselves. Macha caught some of it.

"I wonder how long this one will last..."

"She looks so young, how did Youko-dono meet her?"

"She looks scared, poor thing..."

"She will be staying here until she repays a debt she owes to our lord." Mina continued. "No foul things are to be said of her or to her... our job today is to give her a bath and clean her up."

The girls squealed in delight. Two cat girls ran up to her and brought her closer to the pool. Before Macha could blink, the girls stripped her of her clothes and pushed her in the pool, which was actually a bath.

"Eek!" Macha immediately covered herself and the cat girls giggled a little. Mina knelt next to the bath to talk to Macha.

"Is it too cold?"

"No... No, it's not that..." Macha blushed and sunk deeper under the water. It was only about waist height but Macha crouched down. Mina looked confused for a moment then realization dawned.

"Oh, I get it Macha-san." Mina said. "Its ok, this is their job. They give baths to all visitors. Don't feel weird. Just let them do their work."

Three cat demons entered the water with sponges. Two took her arms and began to scrub them and the other scrubbed her back. Macha protested.

"I- I'm capable of doing this myself, please don't worry yourselves over me..."

"Don't worry," said the girl on her left.

"Just relax," said the on her right.

"Let us take care of you," said the one at her back. Macha loosened slightly and let them clean her. The scrub brushes wash her and then she let them massage her head gently as they cleaned her hair. They put sweet smelling oils in her hair and she giggled when she realized they smelled of roses.

It's the same smell as Youko-sama, she thought.

When they finished they toweled her off and put her in a long white t-shirt and purple pants.

"My clothes? And my kodachi?" Macha asked, worried. Mina came up to her and began to brush her hair.

"Your clothes are to be repaired and cleaned." she said calmly, "and your kodachi has been placed in your room."

Mina finished brushing her hair and gave the brush to a girl next to her.

"Come, Macha-san," Mina said, "it is very late and I must get you to bed."

Mina brought her to the door. Before they exited, Macha stopped and bowed to the cat girls.

"Domo arigato."

The girls giggled and smiled in response.

"Your welcome, meow!"

Mina led Macha to her room and opened the door. Macha then bowed to Mina.

"Arigato to you as well, Mina-san." she said simply. Mina smiled and closed the bedroom door.

"Good night, Macha-san."

Tou no Oujou Tower of Death

Hikitsuri Twitch (don't know WHY I did this... but the character is extremely twitchy... he is a bunny... so I called him twitch -.-;;; he's random so don't pay too much attention to him)

Tosshin! CHARGE! (Kind of like their battle cry... -.-;; another insane thing from me...)

Misu miss (ya know, like Miss So-and-So... I was just wanted to try out something else besides Mina-san)

Kawaii cute!

 

As always...
I like helpful criticism.
Reviews gratefully appreciated; flames, not.