[fic] The Thief and his Lawyer [2/?]
Title: The Thief and His Lawyer
Pairing: Ryo/Shige
Author: rea_irixyu
Rating: PG-13 for language? XD Future rating undecided
Words: 3,116
Summary: Shige gets kidnapped by thief!Ryo.
Note: Not sure how long this will be, but I’m hoping for three or four parts? It’s been a while since I’ve written something over 1,000 words (again), so I’m pretty nervous to post stuff up again. X_X I hope people enjoy this! n_n Thanks to sidevocalist for beta-ing. I don't even remember when I posted the first part up, actually. So yeah, I'm sorry, but I'm a very slow writer who is as lazy as... um. A sloth? ._.
Previous Chapters: They're All Stupid | [Drunkards Aren't Confidants]
The Thief and His Lawyer
Drunkards Aren't Confidants
Jin is laughing uncontrollably, his chest heaving, and he looks like he is trying very hard not to roll on the floor.
The sight makes Ryo want to punch the living daylights out of his friend, but Pi has a firm grip on his arms. As much as he abuses the two, and despite how good of a fighter he is, Ryo knows that Pi is the stronger one, and therefore really prefers to go without any bruises. It doesn’t help though, that even Pi’s shoulders are slightly shaking, and there is a mischievous smile on his face. “Shut up. Stop making that ugly face,” he says to both of them, but it doesn’t really help.
“I,” Jin starts, with tears in his eyes. “I can’t believe you kidnapped the guy’s nephew instead.”
Ryo feels the blood rushing to his cheeks, but it doesn’t stop him from defending himself. “How should I have known?! I didn’t have time to check if it was the right guy.”
Jin smirks at him, but when their eyes make contact, the swordsman starts sniggering again. “But still- I didn’t think you, of all people, would get your target messed up.”
“Moron. You know I couldn’t have checked when it was fucking black outside, and the Captain of the Watch was there!” Ryo retorts, his eyes twitching slightly when all Jin does is giggle at him. “I’d like to see you even try to kidnap someone, Jin, when someone like Takizawa is standing right outside.”
Jin is still laughing when he speaks again, but he has calmed down considerably. “Well? What are you going to do with him?”
“How am I supposed to know?”
There is a cough from behind Ryo, and Pi looks pensive when the thief twists around to look at him. “But this Kato-kun is studying law at the University, right?”
“Yep!” Jin chirps, ignoring Ryo’s glare.
“Then he could still help you, couldn’t he, Ryo-chan?”
Stock-still silence is the response, and Ryo thinks that his face might freeze with the scandalous expression he is wearing. He desperately hopes not because he just knows that this time, not only Jin would be laughing outrightly at him- so would Pi and his thief friends at the Eito Bar.
Jin looks like he’s going to burst out laughing again, and Ryo thinks maybe Pi’s gotten stupider since they last saw each other (which, by the way, was just this afternoon). “What the fuck, Pi,” he says, just because.
“I’m serious, Ryo-chan! Kato-kun should know his facts. He’s new and in education, but it doesn’t mean he’s useless.”
“But-” the words die on Ryo’s lips as the thief processes the idea. Ryo hates to admit it, but it is starting to make sense in his head; he’s three-fourths convinced of going along with the suggesting. “And how, Pi,” Ryo says leaning in a bit, “is this going to work?”
By the time Pi is done explaining that all Kato needs to do is to help them find evidence and organize an argument when and if they get caught and sent to court, and that the law student would have to actually go as their lawyer (they kidnapped him anyway, so it’d be a waste to just let him go), Ryo changes his mind about Pi getting stupider. He thinks that maybe his friends actually got smarter instead, but then Jin is laughing that obnoxious laugh of his, and Ryo ends up only acknowledging Pi’s intelligence.
*** *** ***
To be honest, Ryo didn’t know what to think when his friends had convinced him to kidnap Kato. In fact, he still doesn’t. They’re idiots by nature, so he is amazed when he realizes that yes, he had indeed kidnapped a lawyer (of course, he later finds out that he had gotten the wrong Kato), and wonder’s if he’s finally gone crazy.
So he kicks Kato a few times and decides to bully Jin some more, just to check. By the time he is done, it feels like everything is all right now.
Except it’s not.
True, he has just confirmed that he should still be pretty much as sane as he can be, but he knows that if he doesn’t find a solution quick, a lot will be at stake, and he may die.
Ryo’s not exactly afraid of death, per se, but he knows now that his friends are involved; if he fell, then the chances that they’d get dragged down too would be very high. He also knows that there are still plenty of things in life he still wants to do.
Telling Jin and Pi this on a drunken night when they had gotten together in the inn to discuss Ryo’s situation (after Ryo is done swearing at then again for suggesting to him to kidnap Kato and for convincing Ryo to use the kid) was definitely a bad idea.
Jin giggles happily, drunk, and whoops, “Maybe Ryo-chan’s just looking for some looooove!” followed by an equally as wasted Pi, who whoops with the swordsman.
Ryo snorts and glares, obviously not as gone as his friends. “I hate you both.”
He tosses the newly empty can at them, and almost laughs when it hits Pi clear in the head, only to have said man throwing himself at him, hugging the thief tight. “Aw, Ryo-chan wants someone to cuddle him up!”
“Shut up,” Ryo says, squirming out of Pi’s bear hug and tries to stop the blood from rushing to his face. “If I wanted someone to warm my bed, I could get anyone I want. I’m Nishikido Ryo, after all.” He scoffs. “I just don’t want you two to complain when I’m getting some and you’re not.”
But Jin’s too far gone, opting to snuggle up to Pi instead. “Don’t worry! I will still have Pi!”
“Like hel- what?!” He drops his new can of beer and stares at the duo, expression bewildered despite how Pi has already started to snore in Jin’s hold.
“So Pi and I will cheer for you!” Jin continues to babble, “Kato-chan will fall for you in no time!”
Pi flips and falls off the cheap blue couch, and Ryo is sure he can hear Pi mumble “no time” into the carpet. What the fuck.
“Oh my god,” Ryo groans. “I’m surrounded by morons.” He decides that he’s had enough and leaves the two in their room to go back to the one he shares with Kato at the moment (and then he stops to tug at his hair when Jin’s “Kato-chan will fall for you in no time!” continues to echo in his head). “I don’t like him, dammit.”
He thinks maybe he should just figure everything out by himself and wonders why he didn’t do that in the first place.
*** *** ***
Ryo finally lets Kato out to freely wander after Pi manages to talk some sense into him. Kato is grateful, Ryo can tell, so he makes the student promise to keep his mouth shut, and leaves him to his own devices.
Ryo has already given up on letting Kato help though, but he doesn’t tell anyone because he just knows what kinds of reactions he’d get. He lets the boy stay anyway, just in case. Meanwhile, he has already talked to Pi and Jin about his current plan in mind, excluding the fact that he’s given up on Kato.
“I think,” he says, “that if we are going to get anything done, we’ll need to scout out some places.”
“Eh? Where?”
“Well, Hi- Uchi’s place, obviously.” The thief winces and kicks himself inwardly, but Pi and Jin don’t say anything about the slip.
“And we can find some clues there to use as a springboard, right?” Pi asks.
“Duh.”
*** *** ***
Ryo shakes Kato roughly, throwing the covers off the student as Pi swiftly packs all their important belongings and Jin stands guard by the door. He thinks about leaving Kato behind if the law student doesn’t wake up quickly.
“Wha?”
“Hurry up, booger face. They’re here,” Ryo hisses immediately, tugging hard at Kato’s shirt. Kato looks confused, but they didn’t really have time to explain, so Ryo continues, “C’mon. Up, now.” With a burst of strength, he manages to pull the boy out of bed, and three minutes later, the four are out the window. Men dressed in navy blue burst into the room, but no one is found, and their cursing is loud enough for the runaways to laugh at without being caught.
If anyone in the streets hears and looks up now, they will see three figures expertly walking along the roofs of the city, and one clumsily lagging behind with the help of the trio.
But no one does.
*** *** ***
By the time the quartet has settled down in an extravagantly decorated room, a certain thief is starting to regret that they didn’t abandon Kato somewhere in an alleyway to save themselves some trouble.
The law student’s eyes are wide and he is openly gaping at Pi, who smiles back sheepishly.
Once the servant who had been pouring them tea and laying out pastries (he can hear Jin’s stomach growling already) close the door behind him, Kato is out of his seat and pointing. “You’re Lord Yamashita?!”
Ryo rolls his eyes as Kato gives him a look and then glances back at Pi again. Jin waves too, but ends up spilling his tea when Kato’s eyes widen even more, upon finally realizing who Jin is. “But what? How?”
The law student eyes Jin’s sword warily.
“How what?” Pi blinks.
“You,” Kato says, pointing at the young lord. “And him.” He moves his finger to point at Ryo, but makes sure to move back when all he receives is an unfriendly growl. He turns and points to Jin as well, “And him too.”
“Just because he’s nobility, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t have any friends, prodigy.” A pause, and then Ryo adds, “Outside of the bitches that make up the higher class.”
Pi laughs and Kato sputters at Ryo’s response, who in turn cracks a smile.
“Ryo-chan saved us when we were little, ne,” Pi says, as if that explained everything- which it does, so Pi doesn’t elaborate on it. Ryo is thankful because he is not quite convinced that Kato should know that much personal information about them yet, regardless of how much he already knows.
But Kato starts to glare at them, and he senses trouble coming, “I think,” the law student says, licking his lips nervously (it doesn’t really go with the glare, and Ryo almost calls him on it). “I think that after all this, I really deserve an explanation.”
“What explanation?” Ryo immediately retorts, ready to shoot Kato down.
“You know what I’m talking about, Nishikido. You and your Very Important People.”
“Not really. What important people?”
“Yes, you do. Don’t you think it’s sort of pointless for me to be here if I don’t know anything?”
Yes, I do, Ryo nearly retorts. There is silence after Kato’s comment, and he is still reluctant to say anything, but Kato is smarter this time and turns to his two companions. “Yamashita-san, Jin-san, you guys know the whole story, right?”
Jin nods enthusiastically.
“Either one of you says a word, and I’ll make sure to add your family jewels to my collection.”
Jin actually cries out dramatically, but he’s cracking up the next moment. Pi even snickers along, turning to wink at Kato. “That’s an old threat,” he says, sounding proud. “Ryo-chan never does anything about it.”
“Right…” Kato nods, and then looks expectant.
Ryo sighs and almost gives into the urge to just leave the room and let his friends do whatever they want because he’s sure that this time, he’s going to solve the problem by himself (it’s his problem, first of all), but he sees Jin giving him a look from the side when no one else is looking. He just stays put, comforting himself with the fact that he’s facing the problem like a man should.
“Ryo-chan, if you don’t talk, I’ll tell Shige-chan everything! It’ll be out of your control!” Jin exclaims, like he’s about to expose a huge secret.
Well, he kind of is, but whatever. Ryo is already thinking of ways to get Jin in trouble for letting information out on purpose. When he opens his mouth to retort though, he freezes at the look Jin gives him.
It’s a grin full of mischief, and Ryo thinks Jin is probably rewarding himself for being the “evilest person in the world” when the young swordsman holds up a very familiar box.
Ryo chokes. “Wha… How?”
“Being friends with a thief has its benefits, Ryo-chan!”
He wants to scream, but Kato is already listening to Pi and Jin is joining in.
What the hell, it’s his story to tell, never mind that he doesn’t really want to. This isn’t fair at all, so he does what he can and butts himself into the conversation. He rolls his eyes when Jin and Pi high-five each other after he opens his mouth.
“So anyway, this jackass appeared a few months ago, and decided that he wanted to declare war on me. At first, he just stole whatever I had my eyes on first, but then- Jin stop making those idiotic faces when I’m talking!- he had to go and be a dick and actually steal from my friends,” Ryo says, already fired up by just mentioning his mysterious enemy. “And then you know what he did? He fuckin’ poisoned my friends back at home.”
A scowl, and the thief takes a deep breath and whispers darkly to himself. “But worse of all, he just had to go after him.”
Kato blinks. “Him? You mean Lord Uchi?”
Ryo stills, and then nods rigidly.
“And being a ‘master thief,’ you still don’t know who this guy is?” Kato asks with a skeptical look on his face. (“Wow, Pi, if Ryo-chan really can’t find out who he is, this guy must be an even better thief than Ryo-chan!” Jin whispers to Pi, but it’s too loud anyway and he earns a slap from Ryo as Pi tries to cover up his grin).
“Look, I thought I already told you that you wouldn’t be here if I knew who the fuck was behind all this shit.” And then, “Don’t insult my profession.”
The boy snorts. “I’m sorry, I can’t help it if I actually prefer honest work rather than sneaking around just to earn some money.” Kato furrows his eyebrows next. “And now? What are you going to do?” He doesn’t say it aloud, but the rest could all understand that Kato also wanted to ask, “What do you want me to do?” as well.
Pi winks. “We’re going to be scouting some places these next few days.”
“Uh… scout… where, exactly?”
“Uchi’s place, obviously, along with some other powerful households." Ryo smirks. “Especially the Duke’s, of course.”
“W-what?!”
*** *** ***
“I’m going to rip their intestines out to make stew when I get out,” Ryo says, ignoring the slightly horrified look Kato has on his face.
The two are locked in a library- a private library to be exact, since it belongs to the Yamashitas. For whatever reason, Pi and Jin had pestered him until he agreed to bring Kato along with him on this trip.
Ryo thinks the morons are trying to set something up, but then, this was something that the two would never do to him. At least, he doesn’t think so, since Jin has once said that he never, ever wanted to suffer “Ryo-chan’s wrath when he looks like an ugly bull-dog gone mad.”
The thief glances around the room, and growls lowly when he sees books lying everywhere in disorder (and he can just see the wide-eyed innocent look Jin would give him when he confronts him), the former alphabetically lined system now ruined.
Kato is slowly picking up books though. He has a few in his arms, but he looks like he is searching for something. “What,” Ryo starts, “do you think you are doing?”
“Picking up books?”
“I know that, nerd.” He steals a look at the ones the student is carrying and raises a brow. “Why are you only looking at books on gems and jewelry? Wait- is that the book on the treasures of this very city? How the fuck did you find it this fast anyway?!”
“You’re not the only one working, you know,” Kato says back, and sinks into one of the plush chairs available, gently setting the other books aside. Ryo glances at the extra space next to the boy and bites his lips. It looks quite tempting, but the thief snaps out of it when Kato adds, “And you might as well find something to do until someone comes and unlock the doors.”
Ryo slaps his forehead when he realizes what Kato is talking about. “Damn rubies,” he mutters, making his way to the back of the library.
He stops in the middle of one of the aisles though, suddenly blinking when a thought hits him. “Fuck, I could have picked the locks!”
*** *** ***
A day later, when it is Ryo’s turn to go out and scout the Duke’s estate, he catches a cold from falling asleep in the back of the library (the room is very chilly in the evening). The thief insists that he’s fine, and that he’s manly enough to take on a mere cold, but later that day the cold develops into a fever right before his mission.
“I can go,” Ryo protests, jumping off the bed only to sway dangerously. Jin pushes him not so gently back; Ryo’s body gives away easily.
“No, Ryo-chan. We all know never to go out for jobs like this when not in our top condition,” Jin scolds, frowning as Ryo tries to sit up and glare at him. It doesn’t work very well. “You are going to rest, and Kato-kun will look after you!”
“But-“
“Nu-uh, Ryo-chan. You’re the one who taught us this anyway.”
Who do you think I am, Ryo wants to say, but he’s already starting to lose consciousness, though he's still alert enough to hear Jin get ready and leave the room with Kato seeing him out by the door.
“I’ll make sure he stays put,” he hears the law student say.
Opening his mouth, Ryo tries to throw out a random insult at Kato, but he only hears himself mutter, “Stupid…” before passing out cold.
He doesn’t see the worried look Kato sends in his direction.
*** *** ***
TBC
Comments and edits would be lovely, thanks! n_n
Pairing: Ryo/Shige
Author: rea_irixyu
Rating: PG-13 for language? XD Future rating undecided
Words: 3,116
Summary: Shige gets kidnapped by thief!Ryo.
Note: Not sure how long this will be, but I’m hoping for three or four parts? It’s been a while since I’ve written something over 1,000 words (again), so I’m pretty nervous to post stuff up again. X_X I hope people enjoy this! n_n Thanks to sidevocalist for beta-ing. I don't even remember when I posted the first part up, actually. So yeah, I'm sorry, but I'm a very slow writer who is as lazy as... um. A sloth? ._.
Previous Chapters: They're All Stupid | [Drunkards Aren't Confidants]
The Thief and His Lawyer
Drunkards Aren't Confidants
Jin is laughing uncontrollably, his chest heaving, and he looks like he is trying very hard not to roll on the floor.
The sight makes Ryo want to punch the living daylights out of his friend, but Pi has a firm grip on his arms. As much as he abuses the two, and despite how good of a fighter he is, Ryo knows that Pi is the stronger one, and therefore really prefers to go without any bruises. It doesn’t help though, that even Pi’s shoulders are slightly shaking, and there is a mischievous smile on his face. “Shut up. Stop making that ugly face,” he says to both of them, but it doesn’t really help.
“I,” Jin starts, with tears in his eyes. “I can’t believe you kidnapped the guy’s nephew instead.”
Ryo feels the blood rushing to his cheeks, but it doesn’t stop him from defending himself. “How should I have known?! I didn’t have time to check if it was the right guy.”
Jin smirks at him, but when their eyes make contact, the swordsman starts sniggering again. “But still- I didn’t think you, of all people, would get your target messed up.”
“Moron. You know I couldn’t have checked when it was fucking black outside, and the Captain of the Watch was there!” Ryo retorts, his eyes twitching slightly when all Jin does is giggle at him. “I’d like to see you even try to kidnap someone, Jin, when someone like Takizawa is standing right outside.”
Jin is still laughing when he speaks again, but he has calmed down considerably. “Well? What are you going to do with him?”
“How am I supposed to know?”
There is a cough from behind Ryo, and Pi looks pensive when the thief twists around to look at him. “But this Kato-kun is studying law at the University, right?”
“Yep!” Jin chirps, ignoring Ryo’s glare.
“Then he could still help you, couldn’t he, Ryo-chan?”
Stock-still silence is the response, and Ryo thinks that his face might freeze with the scandalous expression he is wearing. He desperately hopes not because he just knows that this time, not only Jin would be laughing outrightly at him- so would Pi and his thief friends at the Eito Bar.
Jin looks like he’s going to burst out laughing again, and Ryo thinks maybe Pi’s gotten stupider since they last saw each other (which, by the way, was just this afternoon). “What the fuck, Pi,” he says, just because.
“I’m serious, Ryo-chan! Kato-kun should know his facts. He’s new and in education, but it doesn’t mean he’s useless.”
“But-” the words die on Ryo’s lips as the thief processes the idea. Ryo hates to admit it, but it is starting to make sense in his head; he’s three-fourths convinced of going along with the suggesting. “And how, Pi,” Ryo says leaning in a bit, “is this going to work?”
By the time Pi is done explaining that all Kato needs to do is to help them find evidence and organize an argument when and if they get caught and sent to court, and that the law student would have to actually go as their lawyer (they kidnapped him anyway, so it’d be a waste to just let him go), Ryo changes his mind about Pi getting stupider. He thinks that maybe his friends actually got smarter instead, but then Jin is laughing that obnoxious laugh of his, and Ryo ends up only acknowledging Pi’s intelligence.
*** *** ***
To be honest, Ryo didn’t know what to think when his friends had convinced him to kidnap Kato. In fact, he still doesn’t. They’re idiots by nature, so he is amazed when he realizes that yes, he had indeed kidnapped a lawyer (of course, he later finds out that he had gotten the wrong Kato), and wonder’s if he’s finally gone crazy.
So he kicks Kato a few times and decides to bully Jin some more, just to check. By the time he is done, it feels like everything is all right now.
Except it’s not.
True, he has just confirmed that he should still be pretty much as sane as he can be, but he knows that if he doesn’t find a solution quick, a lot will be at stake, and he may die.
Ryo’s not exactly afraid of death, per se, but he knows now that his friends are involved; if he fell, then the chances that they’d get dragged down too would be very high. He also knows that there are still plenty of things in life he still wants to do.
Telling Jin and Pi this on a drunken night when they had gotten together in the inn to discuss Ryo’s situation (after Ryo is done swearing at then again for suggesting to him to kidnap Kato and for convincing Ryo to use the kid) was definitely a bad idea.
Jin giggles happily, drunk, and whoops, “Maybe Ryo-chan’s just looking for some looooove!” followed by an equally as wasted Pi, who whoops with the swordsman.
Ryo snorts and glares, obviously not as gone as his friends. “I hate you both.”
He tosses the newly empty can at them, and almost laughs when it hits Pi clear in the head, only to have said man throwing himself at him, hugging the thief tight. “Aw, Ryo-chan wants someone to cuddle him up!”
“Shut up,” Ryo says, squirming out of Pi’s bear hug and tries to stop the blood from rushing to his face. “If I wanted someone to warm my bed, I could get anyone I want. I’m Nishikido Ryo, after all.” He scoffs. “I just don’t want you two to complain when I’m getting some and you’re not.”
But Jin’s too far gone, opting to snuggle up to Pi instead. “Don’t worry! I will still have Pi!”
“Like hel- what?!” He drops his new can of beer and stares at the duo, expression bewildered despite how Pi has already started to snore in Jin’s hold.
“So Pi and I will cheer for you!” Jin continues to babble, “Kato-chan will fall for you in no time!”
Pi flips and falls off the cheap blue couch, and Ryo is sure he can hear Pi mumble “no time” into the carpet. What the fuck.
“Oh my god,” Ryo groans. “I’m surrounded by morons.” He decides that he’s had enough and leaves the two in their room to go back to the one he shares with Kato at the moment (and then he stops to tug at his hair when Jin’s “Kato-chan will fall for you in no time!” continues to echo in his head). “I don’t like him, dammit.”
He thinks maybe he should just figure everything out by himself and wonders why he didn’t do that in the first place.
*** *** ***
Ryo finally lets Kato out to freely wander after Pi manages to talk some sense into him. Kato is grateful, Ryo can tell, so he makes the student promise to keep his mouth shut, and leaves him to his own devices.
Ryo has already given up on letting Kato help though, but he doesn’t tell anyone because he just knows what kinds of reactions he’d get. He lets the boy stay anyway, just in case. Meanwhile, he has already talked to Pi and Jin about his current plan in mind, excluding the fact that he’s given up on Kato.
“I think,” he says, “that if we are going to get anything done, we’ll need to scout out some places.”
“Eh? Where?”
“Well, Hi- Uchi’s place, obviously.” The thief winces and kicks himself inwardly, but Pi and Jin don’t say anything about the slip.
“And we can find some clues there to use as a springboard, right?” Pi asks.
“Duh.”
*** *** ***
Ryo shakes Kato roughly, throwing the covers off the student as Pi swiftly packs all their important belongings and Jin stands guard by the door. He thinks about leaving Kato behind if the law student doesn’t wake up quickly.
“Wha?”
“Hurry up, booger face. They’re here,” Ryo hisses immediately, tugging hard at Kato’s shirt. Kato looks confused, but they didn’t really have time to explain, so Ryo continues, “C’mon. Up, now.” With a burst of strength, he manages to pull the boy out of bed, and three minutes later, the four are out the window. Men dressed in navy blue burst into the room, but no one is found, and their cursing is loud enough for the runaways to laugh at without being caught.
If anyone in the streets hears and looks up now, they will see three figures expertly walking along the roofs of the city, and one clumsily lagging behind with the help of the trio.
But no one does.
*** *** ***
By the time the quartet has settled down in an extravagantly decorated room, a certain thief is starting to regret that they didn’t abandon Kato somewhere in an alleyway to save themselves some trouble.
The law student’s eyes are wide and he is openly gaping at Pi, who smiles back sheepishly.
Once the servant who had been pouring them tea and laying out pastries (he can hear Jin’s stomach growling already) close the door behind him, Kato is out of his seat and pointing. “You’re Lord Yamashita?!”
Ryo rolls his eyes as Kato gives him a look and then glances back at Pi again. Jin waves too, but ends up spilling his tea when Kato’s eyes widen even more, upon finally realizing who Jin is. “But what? How?”
The law student eyes Jin’s sword warily.
“How what?” Pi blinks.
“You,” Kato says, pointing at the young lord. “And him.” He moves his finger to point at Ryo, but makes sure to move back when all he receives is an unfriendly growl. He turns and points to Jin as well, “And him too.”
“Just because he’s nobility, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t have any friends, prodigy.” A pause, and then Ryo adds, “Outside of the bitches that make up the higher class.”
Pi laughs and Kato sputters at Ryo’s response, who in turn cracks a smile.
“Ryo-chan saved us when we were little, ne,” Pi says, as if that explained everything- which it does, so Pi doesn’t elaborate on it. Ryo is thankful because he is not quite convinced that Kato should know that much personal information about them yet, regardless of how much he already knows.
But Kato starts to glare at them, and he senses trouble coming, “I think,” the law student says, licking his lips nervously (it doesn’t really go with the glare, and Ryo almost calls him on it). “I think that after all this, I really deserve an explanation.”
“What explanation?” Ryo immediately retorts, ready to shoot Kato down.
“You know what I’m talking about, Nishikido. You and your Very Important People.”
“Not really. What important people?”
“Yes, you do. Don’t you think it’s sort of pointless for me to be here if I don’t know anything?”
Yes, I do, Ryo nearly retorts. There is silence after Kato’s comment, and he is still reluctant to say anything, but Kato is smarter this time and turns to his two companions. “Yamashita-san, Jin-san, you guys know the whole story, right?”
Jin nods enthusiastically.
“Either one of you says a word, and I’ll make sure to add your family jewels to my collection.”
Jin actually cries out dramatically, but he’s cracking up the next moment. Pi even snickers along, turning to wink at Kato. “That’s an old threat,” he says, sounding proud. “Ryo-chan never does anything about it.”
“Right…” Kato nods, and then looks expectant.
Ryo sighs and almost gives into the urge to just leave the room and let his friends do whatever they want because he’s sure that this time, he’s going to solve the problem by himself (it’s his problem, first of all), but he sees Jin giving him a look from the side when no one else is looking. He just stays put, comforting himself with the fact that he’s facing the problem like a man should.
“Ryo-chan, if you don’t talk, I’ll tell Shige-chan everything! It’ll be out of your control!” Jin exclaims, like he’s about to expose a huge secret.
Well, he kind of is, but whatever. Ryo is already thinking of ways to get Jin in trouble for letting information out on purpose. When he opens his mouth to retort though, he freezes at the look Jin gives him.
It’s a grin full of mischief, and Ryo thinks Jin is probably rewarding himself for being the “evilest person in the world” when the young swordsman holds up a very familiar box.
Ryo chokes. “Wha… How?”
“Being friends with a thief has its benefits, Ryo-chan!”
He wants to scream, but Kato is already listening to Pi and Jin is joining in.
What the hell, it’s his story to tell, never mind that he doesn’t really want to. This isn’t fair at all, so he does what he can and butts himself into the conversation. He rolls his eyes when Jin and Pi high-five each other after he opens his mouth.
“So anyway, this jackass appeared a few months ago, and decided that he wanted to declare war on me. At first, he just stole whatever I had my eyes on first, but then- Jin stop making those idiotic faces when I’m talking!- he had to go and be a dick and actually steal from my friends,” Ryo says, already fired up by just mentioning his mysterious enemy. “And then you know what he did? He fuckin’ poisoned my friends back at home.”
A scowl, and the thief takes a deep breath and whispers darkly to himself. “But worse of all, he just had to go after him.”
Kato blinks. “Him? You mean Lord Uchi?”
Ryo stills, and then nods rigidly.
“And being a ‘master thief,’ you still don’t know who this guy is?” Kato asks with a skeptical look on his face. (“Wow, Pi, if Ryo-chan really can’t find out who he is, this guy must be an even better thief than Ryo-chan!” Jin whispers to Pi, but it’s too loud anyway and he earns a slap from Ryo as Pi tries to cover up his grin).
“Look, I thought I already told you that you wouldn’t be here if I knew who the fuck was behind all this shit.” And then, “Don’t insult my profession.”
The boy snorts. “I’m sorry, I can’t help it if I actually prefer honest work rather than sneaking around just to earn some money.” Kato furrows his eyebrows next. “And now? What are you going to do?” He doesn’t say it aloud, but the rest could all understand that Kato also wanted to ask, “What do you want me to do?” as well.
Pi winks. “We’re going to be scouting some places these next few days.”
“Uh… scout… where, exactly?”
“Uchi’s place, obviously, along with some other powerful households." Ryo smirks. “Especially the Duke’s, of course.”
“W-what?!”
*** *** ***
“I’m going to rip their intestines out to make stew when I get out,” Ryo says, ignoring the slightly horrified look Kato has on his face.
The two are locked in a library- a private library to be exact, since it belongs to the Yamashitas. For whatever reason, Pi and Jin had pestered him until he agreed to bring Kato along with him on this trip.
Ryo thinks the morons are trying to set something up, but then, this was something that the two would never do to him. At least, he doesn’t think so, since Jin has once said that he never, ever wanted to suffer “Ryo-chan’s wrath when he looks like an ugly bull-dog gone mad.”
The thief glances around the room, and growls lowly when he sees books lying everywhere in disorder (and he can just see the wide-eyed innocent look Jin would give him when he confronts him), the former alphabetically lined system now ruined.
Kato is slowly picking up books though. He has a few in his arms, but he looks like he is searching for something. “What,” Ryo starts, “do you think you are doing?”
“Picking up books?”
“I know that, nerd.” He steals a look at the ones the student is carrying and raises a brow. “Why are you only looking at books on gems and jewelry? Wait- is that the book on the treasures of this very city? How the fuck did you find it this fast anyway?!”
“You’re not the only one working, you know,” Kato says back, and sinks into one of the plush chairs available, gently setting the other books aside. Ryo glances at the extra space next to the boy and bites his lips. It looks quite tempting, but the thief snaps out of it when Kato adds, “And you might as well find something to do until someone comes and unlock the doors.”
Ryo slaps his forehead when he realizes what Kato is talking about. “Damn rubies,” he mutters, making his way to the back of the library.
He stops in the middle of one of the aisles though, suddenly blinking when a thought hits him. “Fuck, I could have picked the locks!”
*** *** ***
A day later, when it is Ryo’s turn to go out and scout the Duke’s estate, he catches a cold from falling asleep in the back of the library (the room is very chilly in the evening). The thief insists that he’s fine, and that he’s manly enough to take on a mere cold, but later that day the cold develops into a fever right before his mission.
“I can go,” Ryo protests, jumping off the bed only to sway dangerously. Jin pushes him not so gently back; Ryo’s body gives away easily.
“No, Ryo-chan. We all know never to go out for jobs like this when not in our top condition,” Jin scolds, frowning as Ryo tries to sit up and glare at him. It doesn’t work very well. “You are going to rest, and Kato-kun will look after you!”
“But-“
“Nu-uh, Ryo-chan. You’re the one who taught us this anyway.”
Who do you think I am, Ryo wants to say, but he’s already starting to lose consciousness, though he's still alert enough to hear Jin get ready and leave the room with Kato seeing him out by the door.
“I’ll make sure he stays put,” he hears the law student say.
Opening his mouth, Ryo tries to throw out a random insult at Kato, but he only hears himself mutter, “Stupid…” before passing out cold.
He doesn’t see the worried look Kato sends in his direction.
*** *** ***
TBC
Comments and edits would be lovely, thanks! n_n