Life was hard living on the streets of Sfumata. Kei started living alone at 6 years old, her only retained memory of her family being that of when she and another girl her age were playing in a park one day only to be separated by faunus extremists. Having to fend for herself, she learned early on that people harbored hatred against her kind and that she had to find other ways of surviving on the streets since nobody would take her in. With no home, no family, and no friends, Kei had to stay in alleyways, sleeping in cardboard boxes, and if she was lucky, maybe an abandoned building near the far side of town while living with soot stained clothes and polluted air. One day, when she was near dying of hunger, she saw an unattended fruit stand in a shoping center she frequented to beg from. The owner was busy on the opposite side of the mall talking to someone else leaving it completely exposed to any cunning hands that wanted to swipe things from it. Seeing an opportunity present itself, Kei donned a small rag on her head as a hood and quickly swiped an apple from the vending stand but as she tried getting it a couple more fell out of place, alerting the vendor of the theft and sending her scurrying outside the shopping center and into an alleyway in a state of panic. As she ran through the alleyway in her tattered ash-stained clothes and filthy bare feet, her shirt snagged on a stray nail effectively stopping her getaway and allowing the vendor to catch up. As he grabbed her by the scruff, she dropped the apple she stole and started crying, begging the man to let her go. As the man yelled at her a young monkey-faunus eating a banana nearby found the apple rolling by and decided to take it for himself. Upon seeing the girl struggling in the man’s grip, he threw the apple straight at the man’s face, making him drop the girl and luckily enough slipping on a nearby banana peel allowing the girl to pick up the apple and get away.
After being sure that she lost him, she sighed in relief and relished the joy of having food again. Just as she was about to bite the boy that saved her earlier showed up and smiled at her also motioning at the apple as if to show he was also hungry. Feeling sorry for the boy and also as a way of thanks, she took a large bite from the apple and handed it over to the boy who in turn also took a bite. After they finished the apple, the two started talking and quickly became friends.
The boy’s name was Ali and he lived in an abandoned apartment near the far ends of the city's soot quartet. Also having no friends and apparently also an orphan, the two of them started living together and tried many ways to make a living on the streets. From cleaning people’s shoes to begging, the most effective way of earning money they could think of was theft. Early on it was just simple pick-pocketing from people in the streets but as the years flew by they learned to adapt tricks such as scamming people for money by pretending to be sales people or even sneaking into the homes of a few snobby rich people they ran into on the streets all the whilst taking their valuables as they slept. Though they were thieves, they swore never to steal from people who were struggling and to help those in need as well, mostly because they reminded Kei of herself when she was much younger. Although not formally schooled, the two managed to also steal books to learn new tricks from and, in the process, also learn some basic skills in order to be able to impersonate or scam people more effectively.
As the jobs got more daring, so did their reputation. Though they were never caught and were rarely seen, it wasn't always the case that they’d be able to steal something and get away with it. Sometimes, to get to something valuable, they had to fight their way through some guards; but they never killed. Kei fashioned a yo-yo that she managed to steal from an accomplished entertainer-slash-huntsman, though the ordeal almost got her caught and thrown in jail. Ali, on the other hand, used a scimitar that could split into two.
Due to Sfumatas' rather lax outlook on faunus and the general populace's' rather busy-body attitude, Kei managed to fit in wherever she went. Knowing that the progress she had with Ali was rather limited due to their lack of combat skill she decided to go to find a way to hone their skills. Choosing a combat school was practically impossible due to the fact that they’d be monitored more often so they decided to find other crews that knew how to fight. Eventually they found solace with the White Fang. Since faunus weren't as abused in Sfumata, being the main workforce in many major factories, the White Fang had little to fear and were quite influential early on save for the higher quartets. The two thieves quickly learned how to fight and with the weapons they had and their thieving skills they became quite well known among the ranks. They not only learned how to fight but they still thieved every now and then from abusers of the poor.
As the clashes between faunus and people rose and as the White Fang started becoming more aggressive in their ways Kei started to see that what they were doing was wrong and wanted to run away from it all. Unfortunately Ali was against it thinking that their future in the White Fang would be brighter than it would be if they worked alone or moved elsewhere. The two had a big fight and eventually Kei left. She couldn't stand the fact that her best friend changed so much due to her decisions but she couldn't just stay in Sfumata anymore, she knew that Ali would find her eventually. Before she left, still in the process of packing up her things from their old hideout he managed to catch her saying he was sorry they had to pick different paths. As he drew his sword and raised it against her he flipped it over and handed it over hilt first indicating that he wanted her to have it. Taking the blade for herself she left without even saying goodbye, leaving Ali all alone on the rooftop as a torrent of tears started running down her face.
After getting herself together and forging some documents, Kei made way for Vale at the age of 14, leaving Ali and the White Fang to look for some better things to do with her life. In Vale, she kept her thieving ways but only under her own standards. She didn't steal from those in need and never tried killing especially if they didn’t deserve it but she did have a few close calls with the law. After a year in Vale she couldn't help but think she could do better; so she forged some documents and submitted them as an application to Beacon, hoping that maybe she could find her calling in life.
Present day. Kei continues with her thieving ways but puts her team before them, sometimes getting into some fights every now and then but learning to accept each other for who they were, heck it's not like they were that virtuous either. Passing several semesters and now in their 4th year, Kei aims to perfect her techniques, become the best thief in all of Remnant and also become an accomplished huntsman along with her teammates, using them as support and also helping them along with way.