Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Theives' Guild ❯ Chapter 4

I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or its characters. I do, however, own everyone else.

Chapter Four

Livoso watched Ayume carefully. Finding out his mother was a Miko had sent him close to a panic. Miko were dangerous, and they usually trained their kids in the same arts. Only having spent the past month with the kid was stopping him from confronting him about it.

It did explain where Ayume had learned to fight the way he did. It didn't come nearly close to explaining his ease around the demons of the group. In fact, Ayume should have been very uncomfortable. Youko and Kuronue had explained to him exactly how they met Ayume, and how they got him to help them find Madain Sarai. Really, his lineage raised more questions than it answered.

Thieves have no history. That idea had been drilled into him since he was a kid. Now it was playing over and over again in his head. Sure Ayume had never really mentioned who his mother was, but he didn't exactly hide it either. Looking back at some of their conversations, he could add up the hints.

Thieves have no history. Don't ask a thief about his past.

But Ayume wasn't really a thief.

He was now.

Damn, but this was not a good way to find out about something of this magnitude. Ayume was the child of demonkinds' most dangerous enemy. Ayume was a friend to demons, and treated Hiei like a little brother. Ayume's mother would hate them. Ayume loved them. Given the chance, Ayume's mother would kill them all. Given the choice, who would Ayume side with?

If Youko and Kuronue hadn't sworn him to secrecy he would tell Kiev and get some help sorting it out. What would Ayume choose? This life or his old one? If he had the answer to that question, Livoso felt he could relax. But how to go about getting it?

Ayume could feel Livoso watching her. She had a guess as to where the sudden mistrust had come from. He'd been heading to see Youko and Kuronue as she'd been leaving. They could easily have been talking about her and he'd overheard something.

But what had he heard? The she was a girl? Probably not. He would confront her about. That she wasn't really, nor had ever been a thief? He probably wouldn't care. In his mind, simply being there made her as much of a thief as the rest of them. He couldn't deny that she wasn't very skillful at anything thievery related and that they'd taught her a lot.

The answer hit her like a brick. Her mother was a Miko. Demons feared Miko. Being the son of one, as Livoso no doubt thought she was, would bring immediate suspicion. Miko hated demons, and raised their children to think the same. Miko killed demons, and raised their children to do the same. The only reason Ayume didn't mind that they were demons was because she'd been forced among them. Granted, she'd started liking them almost immediately, but she never would have if not forced into the situation.

“Ayume-kun?” She heard Hiei ask. She turned to look at the boy. Face angled toward the ground, Hiei kicked at the dirt with his foot in such a childish way that Ayume had to stop herself from either laughing or messing his hair because he was so cute.

“Hiei-chan.” She answered after a long pause, prompting him to speak.

He looked up at her then. “You…do you…” he began, losing his nerve. With an indulgent sigh, she crouched so she could look him in his eyes.

“Hiei-chan, you have to talk for me to understand what you're trying to say. I'm good, but I'm no mind-reader. C'mon. You can talk to me.” He was turning red in embarrassment for being so tongue tied.

Hiei couldn't believe himself. He never had this much trouble talking to Ayume. Granted, he didn't talk much, but when he wanted to he never couldn't. Suddenly he wished he had Ayume's mouth. The guy was never at a loss for words, even at moments that left most others speechless.

“Hiei-chan?” He prompted.

“Do you want…” Damn. Why couldn't he just ask and be done with it? He never had this much trouble talking with people. Of course, he wasn't really close to them either. Fear of rejection. That had to be it.

Ayume sighed. “Hiei-chan, want to play a game?” He asked. “It's moderately simple, but you can't talk. You have to act out each word you want in a sentence and I have to guess it. You get to tell me if I'm wrong though.”

Hiei nodded.

“Since you've already started your sentence, I'll assume you're starting with `Do you want.' You have to act out the next one.” Hiei wasn't sure how this would help when he couldn't even figure out what he wanted to say. Still, the next word would be easy enough. He pointed to himself. “Me?” Hiei nodded. “Do you want me…” Hiei held up two fingers. “To…”

Be. Be. How in the world did one act out be? Be. Be. Bee. He buzzed, drawing a swirly line in the air.

This confused Ayume a bit. “A fly?” Hiei shook his head. He pointed to a yellow flower and repeated the process. “A bee? Oh! Do you want me to be…” Hiei nodded. The next one was simple. He pointed at Ayume. “Ayume?” He thought a bit more. “You?” Hiei gave a half nod. How to get to your from you? He picked the flower and hugged it. “Mine?” Hiei handed the flower to Ayume. “Yours. Your. Do you want me to be your…”

Hiei pinched his finger together as if to say something this small. “Pinch? Small? Little?” Comprehension dawned on Ayume's face. “Do you want me to be your little brother?” He finished.

“You didn't let me act out the last one!” Hiei protested. Ayume smiled knowingly at him. The ground drew his eyes as he waited for Ayume's answer.

Ayume stared at Hiei for a moment. She'd learned from her mother that this was something demons took very seriously. There was actually a way to become blood siblings. She didn't want to do that before he even knew she was a girl.

Of course, there was a very simple way to fix that. She wound her fingers under his chin, tilting his head up, and kissed him on the forehead. “Yes.” Hiei was startled. Ruffling his hair, she stood. “Let's take a walk Hiei-chan. We need to talk.”

Youko was about to pull his hair out. Nobody, absolutely no one, had seen Ayume or Hiei leave camp. Kuronue and Judoka, a moth demon, were searching from the sky, but, with all the trees and misshapen rocks they could accidently be hiding behind, he didn't really know how much help that would be. It bothered him. Ayume rarely left the group unless it was to go to the bathroom or bathe, as she so often liked to do.

Neither of which warranted her being gone for two hours, nor explained why Hiei was missing too. The only thing he could think of that would keep them gone was them getting into trouble, but there wasn't much in these parts Ayume couldn't handle.

Unless she fell off a cliff or something.

Why the hell was she gone? Why was Hiei gone? Were they together? And why did he care so much? She was just another of his band, right? He'd never freaked out this badly when one of them had decided to take the scenic route and go missing for a couple of hours.

It wasn't because they were pressed for time. The band moved mostly at night, and it was still hours from sundown. Perhaps it was because she would have the best idea of where to look for Madain Sarai? Youko settled on this answer even though it didn't seem quite right to him.

Sensing his partner close by, he looked up. Kuronue came in for a running landing. “She's fine. They're fine. They didn't realize it would send us into a panic if they decided to take a walk and relax while we did the planning.” A weight lifted off Youko's chest. He sighed.

“She didn't think to tell anyone?”

“I think she's got the idea of family still stuck in her head. If she would have told her brothers or sisters or parents where she was going every time she decided to go on an excursion, she'd never get any peace.” Kuronue paused. “She…really gets to you, doesn't she?”

“Perhaps.” Youko answered noncommittally. “I'm not entirely sure whether to be pleased she thinks of us as family, or if I should be upset she assumes we are the same as her blood kin.”

“Blood or not, family is family.” Ayume offered, sneaking up on him. Youko jumped, rose whip drawn, and twirled to face her. Her eyes danced with laughter as Youko calmed down. “Ha.” She boasted. “I can sneak up on you, oh great King of Thieves.”

“Nice one Ayume-kun.” Hiei stated stoically from beside her.

“I'm no king. Where did you even come up with a crazy title like that? `King of Thieves?'” Ayume just threw her head back and laughed. Youko growled. Laughing was not an answer.

It didn't take her long to calm down. “Don't worry. You will be.” She informed him vaguely before walking off, cackling to herself.

Hiei looked up at him. “Ayume's weird.” He said bluntly. Without explaining, he took off after her. The little demon was faster than Youko had ever given him credit for. He walked with her as she went to duck inside her little tent.

Kuronue let out a loud whistle, gaining everyone's attention. “Alright Men! We know where we're going! There's a good chance Madain Sarai is there, but also a chance it's not! We want to get there as soon as we can to find out!” He let them digest this information as his eyes flickered to Ayume. Obviously she'd already told Hiei about Kava, and he really didn't care what they decided to do beyond that. What could he say? Hiei was a kid. “After much argument, Youko and I decided we could either gun it and rest there, or go slowly and preserve energy in case we need to look somewhere else. So men, the choice is yours. What shall we do?”

The roar of “Gun it!” could probably be heard for miles. In response, Kuronue raised his tankard, rousing another roar of enthusiasm from the men.

Kuronue watched Ayume refuse drink after drink. He barked a laugh when she smacked Kiev upside the head for offering Hiei one. He was watching her so intensely, in fact, Youko actually managed to startle him.

“You did that well. You didn't even let on that we had already decided.” Kuronue took the praise with a smile. His eyes, however, did not falter from their position on Ayume. A great kid, a wonderful girl, and a beautiful woman. It hadn't been hard for her to win his heart. Nor was it difficult to win Youko's, though Youko didn't know it yet.

He wouldn't begrudge him this. Ayume was great, but Youko deserved her more. Kuronue also did not want to have her for such a short time. It would hurt her heart too much if he did that.

Youko noted his partners gaze with an emotion foreign to him. He felt ashamed about it. Jealousy was beneath him. It wasn't until he saw her get up and leave the party that a thought struck him. They had simply assumed she would come with them, but by their own word she was free to go home now. She was obligated only to find them the first clue.

Kuronue cast him a sideways worried glance. “Youko? What's wrong?”

“It's…nothing. I have to go.” He excused himself vaguely. He could feel Kuronue's gaze on him as he followed Ayume.

She was waiting for him. “Youko-sama.” She greeted. He was speechless. She seemed to take his silence offensively. “Can't even say hello?”

“Ayume-kun.” It felt odd to refer to her as a boy. Even to say her name. He hadn't done it many times before, only once talking to her. Never had he used a title with it. “You realize you don't have to come?”

Ayume blinked at him. “I realize. I will anyways though. Or are you trying to get rid of me?” She teased. He shook his head. “Look, I know it probably doesn't make much sense to you, especially considering who I am. I don't want to leave. My family, they can do without me. I want to find out what living is really like.”

She brushed past him, not unkindly. Ayume was right. He didn't understand what she meant.