“Halt thief! After them!”
“Hey! Watch where you’re going!”
“Please, don’t block our way!”
“Ma’am, I understand you need help with your cat, but please let me pass first.”
As Miku weaved through the bustling crowds, the sound of guards shouting blending with the loud and busy atmosphere of the marketplace in a chaotic symphony, she couldn’t help but crack a smile.
Provoking the market guards had become something of a habit for her, specifically on the afternoon of every fifth day of the week.
Why? Well—
At that moment, a young knight who was passing by, an apple in her hand, rounded the corner, her eyes widening as she realized who was rushing over to her.
–it usually led Miku to her.
In a blink, the knight’s hand was empty.
Miku then nimbly climbed up a nearby building, using the surrounding wooden supports by the structure as leverage to get up, until she was high enough to get a bird's-eye view of the market below.
She then scanned the crowd below to find the target of her attention, her eyes immediately locking onto that familiar short-cut black hair.
“Oh knight~” She teased as she took a seat on the edge of the building. “Looking for something?”
Grey eyes followed the sound of Miku’s voice and locked its gaze with blue.
Miku couldn’t help the wry smile forming on her lips.
That moment of eye contact sent a wonderful shiver down her spine.
This was why she did this.
This knight only showed up in the market at this time, on this day, and troubling the guards meant troubling her.
And that naturally meant getting the knight’s attention on her for however long she wanted.
That was a good thing, because she just couldn’t get enough of it.
The way she remained steadfast, so put-together, even after having something stolen from her was so alluring to the thief.
Despite that allure, Miku desperately wanted to see that charm crumble in front of her eyes. She wanted to toy with her, whittle away at her defenses until all that was left was her innermost self, all for Miku to play with to her heart’s content.
She had spent nights dreaming of the day that would happen, many nights spent wondering what kind of girl lay beneath the surface.
Was she a tad bit obsessed?
Most would think so. She’d probably agree.
It took a certain level of obsession to risk being arrested by the guards on a weekly basis just for the attention of one person.
To her though, those guards were just necessary tools to slowly pick the lock of this girl’s fortitude.
Though her efforts haven’t borne fruit yet, she’s confident she’ll get something out of her one day!
Then she heard the clunk of armored footsteps approaching.
‘Speak of the devil.’ Miku tore her gaze away from the knight. ‘Looks like they caught up.’
And most of them were trying to catch their breath.
Miku laughed. “What’s the matter boys?” She mocked as she juggled the apple in her hand. “Your armor weighing you down?”
“Shut it thief!” One of the guards shouted back. “You won’t be so smug once we have you in chains!”
They then turned to the knight beside them, and saluted respectfully.
“Lieutenant Hoshino, my sincerest apologies, but could we trouble you to help us catch that thief?”
Miku’s smile dropped.
‘Seriously?’ She thought. ‘Crying for help already? Jeez, at least try this time.’
Not that she wouldn’t welcome more time with her favorite knight, but she expected the guards to put up some fight, like they usually did.
Regardless, Miku patiently watched the situation below to see what the knight would do.
The knight turned their gaze towards the guard beside her, a cold look in her eyes.
From her vantage point, Miku saw the guards quaking in fear.
‘Oh? She normally doesn’t act like that towards them.’
The knight opened her mouth to speak, her tone stern. “While I would normally bring a complaint to your superiors for your inability to catch a thief…”
Then fixed her gaze back onto the rogue who had stolen her apple. “Given how many times I’ve run into them, it seems that I have no choice but to handle this myself.”
‘Well, well, well,’ Miku’s lips slowly curved up, ‘perhaps I’m not the only one who wants to play~’
Before she could process it, the Knight had already scaled the building and was standing a few feet away from her.
“So fast!” exclaimed one of the guards below.
Seeing her target finally on her level, Miku’s upturned lips morphed into a grin as she stood up and walked back a few paces.
She needed to keep some distance with how fast the girl opposite her was. If things escalated, she’d need every second of breathing room.
“I see someone’s excited to see me~” She goaded the knight.
“This is starting to become a terrifyingly common occurrence, thief.” The knight responded, as cold as ever.
“I’ve told you already, just call me Miku~”
“I will not fraternize with a criminal.” The knight said as she reached her hand out.
“Now, return my apple, surrender peacefully, and maybe I’ll put in a good word to have your sentence reduced.”
“Trying to negotiate with me now, are we?” Miku chuckled. “How about… No?”
“I urge you to reconsider.” The knight replied. “Lest I resort to more, forceful methods.”
“Is that a threat?”
“Make of it what you will.”
The two were locked in a standstill, their eyes not leaving the other, ready to react to any sudden movements.
“Well…”, Miku tossed around the apple in her hand, seeing the knight’s eyes follow its arc, “.…here’s my final answer for you~”
Miku caught the apple in mid-air and took a bite.
“Mm! Scrumptious~” She turned to the knight. “ I wonder where you–”
In a blink, the knight appeared in front of her, their leg already in motion for a low kick.
Miku barely managed to evade the knight’s attempt to sweep her legs from under her. “Awe, you’re no fun Hoshishi~”
She barely blocked the retaliatory kick that sent her sliding back a few feet, almost falling over the edge, a small plume of dust kicked up around where she stopped.
“Whoa! What’s going on up there?” Remarked a passing voice from the crowd below.
“Looks like a fight of some sorts? I wonder which poor soul is losing?” Another passerby wondered.
“I think I saw a knight from the Illuminated Courtyard climb up there!”
“Oh, then I pity the poor soul who has to go against them, hahaha!”
Miku groaned. This knight definitely was from the Illuminated Courtyard. That kick was so strong, it left her arm feeling numb.
“Don’t call me that, thief.” The knight spoke.
Miku played with the apple still in her hand and let out a dry chuckle. “But it’s such a cute nickname I came up for you, you know?”
“You of all people have the least right to give me a nickname.”
“Boohoo, get over it.” Miku mocked as she took another bite from the apple in her hand.
She didn’t miss the way the girl flinched at the action.
‘Oh? Is the apple that important?’ She mused to herself. ‘I wonder how far I can push her.’
“You know~”, She took another bite, “I’m really curious about where you got this apple.”
She barely saw the knight move before she felt a strong grip wrap around her arm holding the apple.
Then a strong pull and twist.
She bit back a scream.
Her arm felt like it would be ripped off if she moved the wrong way.
This was not part of the plan!
Miku felt a bead of sweat slide down her face, a strange mix of pain, fear, and excitement bubbling from within her.
Call her crazy, but she kind of wanted more of whatever this was.
Despite the pain shooting through her arm, she quite enjoyed having the knight’s face this close to her own.
Then the knight closed what distance remained between them and whispered into Miku’s ear, her words sending a shiver down Miku’s spine. “When this is over, I’ll be taking that apple back, and turning you in for judgement.”
“Oooo, so scary.” She weakly snarked back, her free hand reaching for her belt. “I’d love to see you try~”
As much as she wanted to savor how close they were, she would much rather do so without risking the dislocation of her arm.
Then her hand swiped for the knight, the girl quickly taking notice and hurriedly distancing herself from the thief.
The knight was immediately on guard against the thief, her eyes calm despite that near-miss.
Miku’s grip on her knife was tight as she held it in front of her.
“Your training must be something else.” Miku remarked. “Even castle guards still fall for that one.”
The knight remained unresponsive as she glared at Miku.
“So, now you’re giving me the silent treatment, Hoshishi?”
“Hmph.” The knight grunted.
Miku tried to move her arm. It was sore, but it should hold on enough for her to climb around.
She trained her gaze on the Knight. “Well, as much as I’d love to stick around and play–”
Miku ran and jumped to another rooftop.
“–I know when to run from an impossible fight!”
Seeing the girl run off, Ichika followed suit in pursuit of the girl.
‘Tch. Gotta shake her off.’ Miku thought as she caught a glimpse of the knight joining her in her rooftop escapade. ‘Let’s see…’
Okay, most of the rooftops were pretty flat. It’d be pretty obvious if she tried hiding.
‘Oh, but I could lose her in the crowds below…’
Up ahead was the shape of a raised flag jutting out the side of a building. ‘And there’s my ticket there.’
She turned back to the knight giving chase. “I see you’ve gotten better at this too~” Miku remarked as she grabbed onto a random pole and swung across a gap with its help.
“...”
“Sheesh, at least humor a girl!” She shouted as she pulled out her knife and bit down on the apple to free her other hand.
Then she reached out to the flag as it grew closer, grabbed onto it and the other ropes holding it aloft, and slid down.
Once she neared the ground, she cut the rope with her knife to (hopefully) deter her pursuer and pulled her hood over her head. She then turned into the busiest street she could find and disappeared into the crowd as she took another bite out of the apple.
‘Shame I had to cut our play time short,’ Miku lamented as she briefly turned her gaze back to where the knight was, ‘I’ll be sure to trouble you for longer next time.’
The knight, on the other hand, stopped at the edge of the rooftop, having noticed how slack the rope for the flag had become.
A quick scan of the streets below showed no sign of the girl she was chasing after.
She sighed.
She lost the thief, again.
“And that marks the tenth week in a row.” She lamented.
On the bright side, she’d probably get another shot next week.
“Hoshino.”
The knight stiffened at her name being called suddenly. She turned to the source of the voice and relaxed when she saw familiar short-cut white hair and blue eyes.
“Ah, Marshal Yoisaki. You scared me.” Ichika scratched the back of her head. “Wait, why are you here? Won’t your condition–”
“It’s fine Hoshino. My body can still handle this much exertion.” Her fellow knight assured. “I was just curious about why the Illuminated Courtyard’s Lieutenant would be hopping across market rooftops.”
Ichika coughed into her hand, a sense of embarrassment coming over her. “My apologies Marshal. I was chasing after a thief, you see.”
The Marshal slowly approached Ichika and gently patted her on the shoulder. “That’s the tenth time you’ve given that excuse, Hoshino.”
“Ah…” Ichika didn’t know how to respond..
“You know we have guards trained to handle these issues. You shouldn’t have to worry yourself over this”
“Well, I was stolen from this time.” Ichika defended.
“And I’m sure Miss Mochizuki will still have a few apples for sale.”
“Wha–”, Ichika turned to her superior in surprise, “–how did you…?”
The Marshal put a finger to her lips in a shushing motion. “You’re not the only one who goes to her for fruits.”
She then turned around. “Regardless, I think we should head back.”
Ichika nodded. “Perhaps we should.”
As the Marshal walked away, she then remarked: “Oh, by the way, I know you could easily catch and restrain that thief Hoshino.”
Ichika paused in her step.
“But you insist on playing this game of cat and mouse with her.” Yoisaki wondered.
She turned back to Ichika, a knowing look in her eyes.
“I can’t help but wonder if she’s stolen more than just an apple from you.”
If Miku were still there, she would have seen her favorite knight’s face erupt into a beautiful shade of scarlet.