This wasn't the first time Koenma had tried to get everyone together to discuss a recent issue he'd been having. Last time, everyone had been too busy to help. This time, Kurama was the only person free, much to his own chagrin. Being alone with Koenma was never something he particularly enjoyed. The new king of Spirit World had been doing his best to clean up the mess his father had left behind, but...things seemed to keep going wrong.

"Why doesn't anyone else have time for me anymore?" Koenma pouted, crossing his arms. He was sitting on his desk, his small legs folded beneath him. When on official business, he chose to use his adult form, but when no one else was around, the toddler one suited him.

"We've all very busy lives," Kurama replied, trying to keep the irritation out of his voice. It was entirely possible something serious was actually going wrong here, but they would never get to the crux of the problem if Koenma did not focus on it.

"I know, I know. This was so much easier when you were all still in school."

"Yes," Kurama deadpanned. "Missing school was much better."

Koenma sighed, shaking his head. "Your attitude is not appreciated."

Nor is yours. He held his tongue. "What was it you needed us here for? I can pass any message along to the others."

"Yes, I was just getting to that." Kurama doubted it, but he didn't interrupt this time. "Someone's been stealing priceless artifacts from Spirit World."

"This would not be the first time," Kurama said.

"No, but every other time, we've had evidence of the criminal. This one leaves no trace."

Kurama frowned, reaching a hand in his pocket. He palmed some seeds he'd placed there, thinking. "Do you not have video of the intruder?"

"Well, we do, but…." Koenma sighed, reaching beneath his desk and pushing a button. "You'll have to see for yourself." A TV screen slid down from the ceiling behind him, and he turned to look as a security feed appeared on the screen. "This," Koenma said, "is inside a vault in a high-security zone."

Kurama watched as an ogre walked into the vault, grabbed the box the camera had been focused on, and walked out. Koenma changed it to another feed, and the same thing happened, but this time, it was a different ogre. The next one was one of the ferry women. She walked in as though she was meant to be there, and she walked out, completely unchallenged. No alarms set off, no guards sent running. Everything looked perfectly normal.

"Each of those people are employees of mine," Koenma said. "They all have alibis and witnesses from these times. There were no signs of forced entry, and nothing was out of the ordinary in or around these vaults."

"Is it a shapeshifter?" Kurama asked.

"That's the most likely option, but it doesn't explain how they got in completely undetected. Whatever guards we place outside the vaults don't remember anyone breaking in or anyone coming out. The cameras in the halls corroborate their claims. Whoever or whatever we're dealing with is good at their job."

Kurama frowned, crossing his arms. "Do you expect another robbery?"

"As long as there are priceless items here, there's a chance. So far, the thief has only targeted things of material value. Nothing powerful has been stolen, but I can't discount that possibility. I was hoping that you and the others might be able to investigate."

"I can certainly take a look," Kurama replied, "but it will have to be brief. I have plans with my family this evening."

"Thank you, Kurama. I'm glad I can count on you."

Kurama bowed to Koenma before turning to leave. For the most part, the reason he'd agreed to this was to satisfy his own curiosity. What kind of shapeshifter could get in an out of a place like this completely undetected? To his knowledge, demons who could take on the forms of others couldn't completely disguise or extinguish their presence. There had to have been some kind of sign someone had been there.

An ogre escorted Kurama to one of the vaults that had been stolen from, and Kurama did some digging around, but to no avail. It was entirely possible it had just been too long since the crime had been committed. All traces, if there ever were any, were gone.

…

"Yo, Mei!"

The banging on my door feels like it's inside my head as I sit up. It's dark, and it takes me a second to orient myself. When I do, I leap to my feet, stumbling over my futon as I race to the door. Yanking it open, I immediately bow to the person on the other side.

"Boss wants to see you," Hata says.

I nod, stepping past him and out into the street. Slipping down a few back alleys that even the light of day can't fully brighten, I knock out a slow rhythm on a rusty metal door. A few seconds later, it opens into complete darkness. Stepping inside, the door closes behind me, completely blinding me. This always unnerves me enough to almost want to change into something else, but I can't risk it where others might see.

Walking forward, I hold a hand out, moving slowly and steadily until my fingers bump into another door. I pull it open, ready for the blinding light on the other side. The drop in temperature chills my weak human body, but this is nothing new. Squinting a little, I look up at the small group of people assembled here.

They're all demons of varying sizes and types, some with horns, some with tails, and some with wings. One demon out of the bunch looks as human as I do, not that that's saying an awful lot. At least his body is entirely his own.

I bow as low as I can before standing upright, keeping my eyes down. The stares of the other demons bore into my skin, but none is quite as fierce as Boss.

"You're late." Boss looks like a Japanese male, with black hair and dark brown eyes. Whether that's a form he chose for himself or how he naturally grew, I'll never know, but it certainly makes fitting in in Japan much easier than it is for his cohorts. He walks toward me, and I stay as I am, not responding. I know better than to speak unless he asks a question.

"You did a good job yesterday. Koenma doesn't suspect a thing, according to my sources." Boss puts a hand on my shoulder, but still I don't move. I'm not afraid of him. I've faced demons far crueler and more inclined toward violence. That doesn't mean he isn't dangerous. He is intelligent and cunning; I can never tell what he's thinking.

"Lay low for a while. I'll contact you when I need you again. Understood?"

"Yes," I reply, taking a step back.

"Mei. Eyes."

The last thing I want to do is comply, but I swallow before looking up, meeting those dark, discerning eyes of his. He holds my gaze, and I can't look away, even as he presses a single finger under my chin, tilting my head to one side.

"A bruise," he says, his voice soft and low. "You need to take better care of yourself."

I take another step back, just enough so that he isn't touching me anymore. "I know."

He regards me for a long moment before turning away. "Dismissed." Waving a careless hand over one shoulder, he sends me off.

He doesn't have to tell me twice. I slide out of the room, making my way back into the relative safety of sunlight. Walking faster than I need to, I step out of the back streets, making my way over to a bench in the heart of town. Putting my head between my knees, I take slow, deep breaths, trying to rid myself of the memory of his eyes staring right through me.

Sometimes, I fear he knows what I really am, that somehow, he knows I'm not a human, but a fox in disguise. If that's the case, he's playing a long game, and I wish I knew what his moves were. As it is, he makes me feel like I'm playing chess blind against a master.

Sighing, I get to my feet, stretching. It would only be fair to have someone toying with me at this point in my life, especially considering I've been doing much of the same for quite some time. In the end, all I have to do is make sure I come out the winner.

It's a perfectly average spring morning, the air warm and inviting, just like the year before and the year before, on back as far as I can remember. The cherry blossom trees have lost their bloom, and the world is an explosion of greenery, fresh and full of life. It's times like this when humans like to be outside, for whatever reason. Personally, I prefer colder weather. It provides more opportunities to be alone.

I've no idea what time it is and have nothing to do until noon, so I sit on that bench, eyes closed, just taking in the world for a while. Even in this human body, I can feel the energy of the passersby, the life force of each tree and animal, even down to the insects, everything going about the messy business of life without a care in the world. No one pays any mind to the woman sitting on the bench.

My stomach rumbles, and I open my eyes, blinking back the yellowish glow of the people around me until my vision returns to normal. I haven't eaten yet today, so I get to my feet, walking down the street and into a bakery. With quick fingers, I steal a few pieces of bread before making my way to the library.

Books don't hold my interest in the same way they used to. There's something about knowledge gleaned from written word that often doesn't line up with what is necessary for survival. It's been a long time since I've read anything for the sake of learning. However, it's interesting to see what others are learning and what concepts they're trying to grasp.

That's my secondary goal. My primary goal is to meet up with my one human friend. Every day, on her lunch break, this is where we spend our time, talking about everything and nothing. She likes to tell me about her world, her two sons and her husband. She also likes to ask me about mine. It makes me wish I had anything I could really tell her. Oh, I robbed the king of Spirit World yesterday. Yes, I do work for a demon crime lord. By the way, I'm also a 999 year old fox demon. Right.

I settle down at our usual table, reading my personal favorite book in the library, A Comprehensive Study of Japanese Mythology. In it lies all sorts of information and misinformation about demons and youkai; my favorite chapters are the ones involving kitsune in all our different forms and alignments. The information, while mostly accurate, is biased towards us, which I find amusing. It speaks very little about the trouble fox demons get into or the trouble we cause.

"Anything new this time?"

I look up from my book, into the smiling face of my friend, Shiori. She's a human woman approaching middle age, although she doesn't really look it. By human standards, she's not unattractive, though the scars along her arms might be a bit off-putting to some. I'd asked her about them once, and she'd told me she got them while protecting her child. They don't bother me. I've seen much worse.

"Same old," I reply to Shiori as she takes the seat across from me. "How are you, today?"

"Doing well," she says, smiling. "And you?"

"I'm all right."

"You're looking a bit skinnier, lately. Are you eating enough?"

This, she's making up, as this form never changes. "Yes, thank you. I really am doing just fine." I barely eat, but not from lack of hunger. The money Boss pays me for what I do is enough, but the idea of using it turns my stomach worse than not eating. I already owe him for saving my life. I don't want to feel any more indebted to him than I am. When I need to eat, I usually steal it, though never in large, missable amounts. People have their own lives they need to support.

"All right, all right." Shiori smiles at me, and I sigh. She's such a mother, through and through. Any stereotypes you could apply to a good mother would go to this woman. She even mothers other people's children. A tiny part of me wishes I could admit to myself that I really don't mind. My own mother never treated me this kindly.

"How is your family?

Her eyes absolutely light up as I ask this, and I find myself smiling. The easiest way to make Shiori happy is to talk or ask about her husband or her children.

"Shuichi's always telling me I work too hard. We all had dinner together last night, and he scolded me for how tired I looked."

Her older son, Shuichi, was the child of a previous marriage. His father had died when he was young, but apparently he'd taken to Shiori's current husband very well. He even called him his father and referred to his step-brother as his brother.

"That sounds par for the course," I reply. "When is he not telling you that?"

She smiles in return, saying, "Never. He's always worried I'm going to overwork myself, no matter how much I assure him I'm fine."

"He seems to mother you," I tell her. "I don't think that will ever change."

"I'm sure you're right," she says. "It's nice to know he cares, but he's stealing my thunder."

I chuckle. "Perhaps you should tell him that."

"Oh, never. I would hate for him to think I didn't appreciate it."

The rest of our conversation goes back and forth like this for a while, with me steering it very much in her direction. I'm not in the mood for talking about myself today...or most days. When her lunch break is over, we part ways, her back to work and me anywhere but here. I spend the rest of the day wandering around town, aimless.

When it starts getting dark, I figure it's safe to go home. The odds of anyone waiting around for me get slimmer and slimmer as the night begins to progress. For some reason, my one-room apartment attracts other demons under Boss' employ. At least if I'm not home, they can't try to barge in.

"Hey, girl." A hand falls on my shoulder, gripping tightly. I stop walking, taking a slow, deep breath. Turning slowly, I raise my eyes to find a large human leering down at me. "Where you going, huh?" There's another human with him, a slightly smaller one, though his expression is no less disgusting.

"Home," I reply, my heart beginning to beat a little faster.

"Why don't you get some food with us?" the smaller human says. "We'll treat ya."

"No, thank you." I try to shake off the grip of the large man, but it's tight.

"Aw, don't be that way," he says. "We just want to treat a lovely lady."

"I've got somewhere else to be," I say, reaching my hand up to his and pinching and twisting the skin of his finger as hard as possible. He yelps, releasing me just enough that I can slip from his grip and run.

"Hey! Get back here!" They start to chase me, but as I round a corner, I shift into a teenage human girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, leaning against the wall of the nearest shop. The two men run past me, looking angry. Once they're out of sight, I let out a breath, running a hand over my face. Why can't people just leave me alone?

"That's an interesting trick."

I jump, whipping my head to my right to see a man standing there, a curious expression on his face. His green eyes are clear and full of thoughts I can't begin to comprehend at a glance. It takes me a moment to tear my own eyes from his, a shiver tripping down my spine. I hate meeting people's eyes. It brings nothing but trouble.

"I'm sure it fools a lot of people," he adds, the curious expression turning to an easy smile. At least, that's likely how he wants it to look. I still don't speak, and he says, "Demons are more common in Living World now, but you still ought to be more careful who you shapeshift in front of. It's dangerous to telegraph and ability like that so clearly."

"Yes," I say at last. Normally, I am much more careful. There had been no presence when I'd first turned the corner, so where he came from, and why at the exact worse moment, I do not know. What I do know is that I want to be anywhere but here. This man's eyes remind me of Boss'. They're inscrutable and very clearly staring through me.

"Have a good night," he says, nodding his head at me before walking past. I stand there, watching him go with an uneasy feeling. Observant people are far too dangerous for their own good or the good of anyone they involve themselves with. I know this personally.

Once he's out of sight, I take a good look around before changing back into my normal human guise, heading home. Nothing that man had said was incorrect. It had been nearly seven years since the barrier between Living and Demon World had been brought down, and a somewhat steady flow of demons had begun making their way into Living World. Demons were more common now than they'd ever been before, but the didn't mean people trusted or wanted to be around them. Especially not a shapeshifter who could just as easily look like their brother one moment and their lover the next.

When I get to my place, I open the door, hoping to slip quietly inside, but a foot sticks itself between the door and the frame as I try to close it.

"Mei-tan!"

I flinch, taking a step back as the door is forced open, revealing four demons on the other side. One of them is Hata from this morning. The others are Daisuke, Ono, and Kenta. Kenta is the one who spoke and who is sporting a huge smile.

"Yo," Hata says. "We're here to crash your place."

"You don't mind, do you Mei-tan?" Kenta asks, reaching for my hand, his eyes as puppy dog as he can manage.

I move my hands out of his reach, taking a step away. "You have nowhere else you can do this?"

"Your place is the best!" he cheers. Kenta grins as he and the others settle around the low table, the only piece of furniture aside from my futon in this place.

I wish I had the strength to kick them all out at this very moment. However, I couldn't afford to make enemies of the closest things to friends I had for coworkers. Don't rock the boat. Don't make a mess. Keep your head down, and you'll stay alive. An old acquaintance of mine had first told me that, shortly before he was killed. It's the rule I've tried my best to live by ever since. If only the universe would stop trying to get me involved in things far over my head.

"Do as you wish," I mumble, pushing my futon as close to the wall, as far away from them as I can manage.

"You ought to play a few games with us some time," Ono says, pushing his glasses up on his nose.

"I'd rather not," I reply. "I'm incapable of not cheating."

"Something something future-seeing," Daisuke says, shaking his head. "Right?"

"Close enough."

"If that's the case, why do you still lose?" Ono asks.

"Mei-tan's too nice," Kenta pouts. "She doesn't want to rob us blind, so she loses on purpose."

"For real?" Hata asks me.

"I have no idea what he's talking about," I say, picking up the same book I'd been reading at the library and flipping to a page I have dogeared.

"Why the hell do you read that thing?" Ono gripes. "It's trash."

"You're just mad because it calls you an imp demon," Daisuke jokes, making Ono shoot him a death glare.

"Now, now," Kenta says. "There's nothing wrong with being an imp demon."

"I'm not an imp!" Ono growls. "I'm a terrifying monster."

"With cute little wings, and a pointy tail," Daisuke adds.

"I swear, I will murder you in your sl-"

"There is nothing wrong with being an imp," Kenta interrupts, his voice loud, his tone dangerous. Kenta is an imp demon himself, little wings and all, and he's proud of it.

"Sorry, Kenta," Daisuke says. "There's nothing wrong with the kind of demon you guys are."

Ono doesn't say anything at first, but after everyone stares at him for a solid minute, he grumbles, "I'm sorry."

"Good, now let's play!" And just like that, Kenta's back to being the far-too-happy demon he's been ever since the first day I met him. I can still remember, as clearly as though it was yesterday how strange a figure he cut, standing beside Boss, introducing himself and calling me Mei-tan. That was also the first time I'd heard Boss laugh. I never blamed him. What kind of grown man calls someone else "-tan"?

The guys play late into the night, and eventually, they start falling asleep. When everyone is asleep save for Kenta and myself, he starts picking up the cards they'd been using, a small smile on his face. As much as his brightness puts me off, he's a very kind, caring sort of demon. He reminds me of Shiori in that way.

"You can just leave them here," I say to him when he goes to rouse the others. "As long as they don't stay in the morning, it doesn't bother me."

Kenta smiles warmly at me. "Do you know, as cold as you come across sometimes, you're really very sweet."

"I try not to be very anything," I reply.

"Yes, yes, I know," he says. "You do your best to never stir the pot. However, one of these days, you may not have a choice about that."

"Been there, done that," I mumble, setting my book aside and pulling my legs up to my chest. "I'd like to just be able to relax for a little while."

"Your skills are far too valuable for that," he says. "Boss told me he thinks you're the best thief we've ever had."

"I wish I wasn't." I press my face into my knees, willing my mind to blank. Instead, I see a pair of dark brown eyes, making me sit up, a shiver racing down my spine.

"There's nothing wrong with being good at something," Kenta says. "I don't understand where this attitude of yours comes from, but I wish you would really look at yourself sometimes. You're much stronger and cleverer than you give yourself credit for. You've managed to entirely charm Boss, you know."

"Don't joke like that," I grunt, shaking my head. "If that's the case, I've done a miserable job of flying under the radar."

"It's hard to do that when you're so talented. Boss recognizes that in people, and he respects them for it."

"Remind me not to try as hard anymore," I say.

"Only if you want to get killed," Kenta adds. "You should know well enough now that people who don't deliver consistently and well don't last long with us."

"Yes," I say, sighing. "I am aware."

"You're a good kid," he says to me, and I have to suppress the urge to huff. I'm older than him by a half century, but because he's higher in the chain of command, he feels the need to treat me like a child. Not that he knows how old I am. "You just need to let yourself shine."

I don't respond, and he sighs. "Or not. It's entirely up to you. Have a good night." With that, he leaves. Now, it's just me and the guys who're sleeping. I pick up my book again, but I can't focus on the words. They swim in front of my eyes for a while before I just set it down, curling up under my blanket.

It takes a very long time before I can fall asleep, and when I do, I dream of piercing green and deep brown eyes.

A/N: Well, this is a new adventure, that's for certain. I'm not 100% sure where this is going to go, but I'm hoping it's going to be much shorter than the other long-going fic I'm writing. Anyway, that's all I have for the start. Thanks for reading!