Prologue:
Chuo POV
"Chu. Chu!" I feel a strong hand shaking my shoulder.
I groan. "Yes Quichi…?"
"I want to do something."
"You always want to do something. 5 minutes." I growl, rolling over. "I have plans today anyway."
He lies down next to me, and even with my eyes closed, I can tell that he's giving me puppy dog eyes.
I sit up, rubbing my eyes and smoothing my hair back. "What do you want to do?"
He smiles brightly. "I only want to explore."
It was always like this. I'd fall asleep late due to my late-night meetings with the others, and he'd wake me up early because he wanted to go on an adventure. "Where?"
"Anywhere."
I stand up. "Only a VERY short walk."
He claps his hands excitedly. "YAE!"
I sigh. "Quichi. You are freaking 25 years old. Why do you act like you're 2."
"Must you ask?"
I sigh again, putting on a shirt. "You're lucky I like you."
"I know~!" he skips out of the room. "Maybe we can stop by Kitchi's house!"
My eyes widen and I swallow. Why does he have to enjoy her company when her fate is inevitable? "You know she's too sick to actually enjoy your practical jokes."
"The doctor says that she's getting better, and that fresh air will help her."
I want to tell him. I can't. "Then the doctor must be right. Just this once."
"I'm amazed. You're being awfully lenient." He smiles.
"I'm too tired to argue right now." I respond mono-tonally.
He smiles brighter. "Why don't we move Kitchi in with us?"
"She lives next door Quichi."
"But our house is HUGE! It can easily fit 20 people, and only we 2 live in it."
"That is because there is nobody else to live with us. It was YOUR idea not to get a smaller home."
"We're thieves! We make too much money to live in a tiny hut. Plus, I want to live with a HUGE family."
"What are we? A married couple?"
"Might as well be." He laughs prancing around me impatiently.
"We're both men."
"So?"
"You are peculiar." I put my hair back in a ponytail, my cowlick making it so half of my hair slides out. I sigh again.
"I know~!" He grabs onto my arm. "LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Sigh. How many is that in 5 minutes…? I walk after him, down one of the identical curved staircases to the incredibly large welcoming area and living room. We had bought almost a palace. I still wonder why.
We walked leisurely as he could stand it next door, so a somewhat smaller building that looked more like a slightly large cottage. Most of the massive amounts of land they had had pieces of wood attached to ropes to make swings and swinging benches. It had a bunch of multicolored flowers that Quichi planted when Kitchi first got sick. It was a sweet gesture to his previous partner-in-crime.
But it didn't fit her at all.
Once we got halfway down the path, I heard the creak of weight on a branch. I poked Quichi's shoulder to let him know, and walked off the path to a nearby swing.
She had gotten paler. Her maroon hair was in its usual sharp side-ponytail, and only one of her deep brown eyes was visible, the other covered by her eyepatch.
She was dying.
"HEYO BOYS~!" She shouts at us, waving at us.
"Heyo~!" Quichi smiled at her brighter than he ever smiles at me. Once upon a time, I thought they were in love. Perfect for each other. Laughing, reckless, beautiful, always together. They were together when they found a drunken blind, anorexic, boy named Chuo.
Me.
Then I found out that they were siblings, so that just made everything awkward for a while...
I love them, but I cannot stop what I have begun.
"Should you really be doing that…?" I ask as she hand over hand climbs the rope until she reaches the top of the tree.
"Chuo. I may be dying, but until I am either unable to move, or am lying on the ground with no more breath in my lungs, I'm not going to just stop being me." She laughs mirthfully.
"Of course not." I smile sadly.
"My boys want something?" she begins her climb back down.
"We're going for a walk." Quichi raises his eyebrows, as if relaying a secret message to her.
"Oh." She smiles her crooked smile, jumping off of her swing, pain briefly lacing her eyes.
"Careful." I mutter.
She rolls her eyes. "Make me. Let's go." She starts walking purposefully down the pathway.
"You guys aren't telling me something." I say.
"We're going for a walk." Quichi responds. "How about to the river and back?"
"Is this another person hunt?"
Kitchi sighs. "Chu. Not every walk is a person walk."
"Is this one?"
"If we see promise, yes. We don't know when our walks are person walks."
"I see." I sigh. These two.
We walked slowly, our conversation morphing to something that I don't understand.
We arrived at the river.
I started to turn around.
"Wait."
Oh no.
"Chuo, Kitchi, come here really quick."
I turn slowly around.
Quichi was kneeling over a box, a splash of pink peeking out.
We walked over.
Inside, was a child.
Newborn face, I'd say one year old. Thin, as though starving, closed eyes, pink hair, bronze skin.
And kitten ears.
She opens her eyes, staring widely at Quichi.
Golden, like mine.
"Chuo." Quichi looked at me.
I take a deep breath.
"Please."
Let's just say we have a pink haired bundle of crap and tears on our hands now.
We named her Ponnii, due to the fact we found out that she floated down the river from the Sheath tribe up north, so we gave her a traditional name from them.
As much as I hated to admit it, I already was attached to her.
The doorbell rings in the middle of me taking care of her, just a few months after we found her.
"Quichi! Can you get it!?" I shout at him. We'd decorated her room. Little soft trees and pink colors.
What the hell was wrong with me?
"ON IT!" he shouts back, and I heard the sound of his footsteps pounding down the stairs.
I roll my eyes and put Ponnii back on her bed.
"What the…?" I hear Quichi mutter.
I squint my eyes, walking quietly out of the room. "What is it?"
I see a small basket with little blue blankets overflowing out of it, and the faint sound of small breathing.
Quichi leans down and picks up a small bit of paper from the basket, quickly scanning over it. His eyes widen and he looks back at the basket, he holds the paper out towards me.
The piece of paper was stained with circular water marks, and there was a list written on the back.
Re-used paper. Crying woman.
I look down at the basket. A child, younger than Ponnii, but barely, a little boy, was under all of those blankets. I saw wisps of brown hair on his mostly bare skull, and he was sleeping.
I look at Quichi. "Again?"
"Again…"
We now had two.
Both were relentlessly bothersome and regrettably cute.
Chris, as we decided to call him, was in the room next to Ponnii, which me, Quichi, and Kitchi somehow whipped up a little room for him too, and only in a couple of days. A couple months later, we decided that it he was close enough to 1 years old, so we deemed that day his birthday. When he finally woke up, we saw that his eyes were different colors. One blue, one green, and Kitchi was immediately fascinated, and deemed him hers, as though she had actually given birth to him. Yet somehow he was still living with us.
It was 2 years later, and the two kiddos were 3. Ponnii halfway through, Chris having turned a couple weeks before.
We had gotten used to the cries in the middle of the night, and the cute, irresistible ways of the baby, and I finally worked out my irritation with Quichi wanting to show them off on a walk, so that's what we were doing today.
"Kitchi! Time to go!" I yelled down the path to her house, too lazy to go in and fetch her.
Within the same second, I heard her shout back; "DIBS ON HOLDING CHRISY~!"
I shook my head at her, holding out the boy to her as she came to us.
She tripped and stumbled, and I quickly reacted, pulling Chris to my side and catching her with my now-free hand. "You're such a clutz." I helped her back to her feet, handing her the startled child.
She grabbed him excitedly, not acknowledging my passive insult.
"You two are so cute." Quichi laughed, giving Ponnii to me, and placing his hands on our backs, simultaneously pushing us together, and forward.
I rolled my eyes, looking away from him, and at Ponnii. We had put on a hat with holes to keep her ears free, but keep them conspicuous. "I swear, I like this kid more than I like you right now."
"That's 'cause she's 'your' kid. Having your eyes and all."
"Then that leaves you without a 'your' kid." I retorted, not wanting to say anything about his comment.
"Maybe I'll find one today then." Quichi just laughed.
"Lets hope not."
Yet somehow, on our walk, we found another one.
He was older, seeming around the age to speak, possibly 5 or 6 years old. His hair was snow white, his eyes red, and his skin pale. He was sitting in front of an alleyway, petting a kitten in a box.
Quichi immediately perked up.
"Quichi n-" He was already sitting next to the boy, and I heard the faint rumble of his voice as he talked to him. I turned to Kitchi. "He's overwhelming me. How the hell are we suddenly supposed to take care of 3 toddlers at once?"
She giggled, sticking her tongue out at me. "Would it make you feel better if I moved in to help?"
"You honestly just want to for Chris." I teased in mono-tone.
"A little bit for Chrisy." She smiled. "But mostly, I'd do it for you."
I couldn't hold back my smile.
Quichi came back, holding the little boy's hand. "The only word he uttered to me was chase. Otherwise he glared, and moved his head, indicating that he'll live with us."
I looked down at the albino. "Welcome to our family Chase."
He looked hesitant as I said Chase, but nodded.
We had all gone out for a walk again. It had been an entire year without another addition to our 'family'. Chase had his own room in the room next to Chris's, and Kitchi had finally moved in with us, and was in the room between mine and Quichi's.
We were walking along the doc, and showing the now semi-literate Ponnii what there was.
"What the hell!?" I heard a shout a little ways down the dock. "What is a little girl doing in our wine barrel!?"
I exchanged glances with Quichi and Kitchi, before we all booked it, holding the children, towards the source of yelling.
When we got there, there was a large man holding an unconscious 6 year old girl by her mass of green hair.
Quichi was immediately there. "Oh god! There she is! I was so worried!"
The man looked at him. "She's yours?"
"She was playing hide and seek with me, and I looked everywhere for her! I see that she fell asleep here." Quichi bowed. "May I please have her back?"
The man snarled, throwing the girl onto the ground at Quichi's feet.
I, and as I saw, Quichi, had to resist punching him as he walked away.
I handed Ponnii's hand to Kitchi, and picked up the green haired girl gently. "Let's go home."
We did.
The girl finally woke up a week later, groggy and sick. She said her name was Michia, before falling asleep once more. She didn't fully recover until half a year later.
I wasn't going to the pharmacy to get medication for the cold Ponnii had developed. Michia, now fully recovered, was possibly the most lively child, though Chris had recently decided to be up and running too, now at 5 years of age. Chase still hadn't uttered a word to anyone, so I have begun to accept him as mute. Ponnii had become afraid of dogs, and addicted to her hat, so she only ever took it off for bath time.
Kitchi had finally decided that it was time to start teaching the children, so we all taught them different things. Quichi decided to wait to start their theif training until they were 10 years old.
We all agreed.
When I got to the building, the doctor was kicking at a purple and brown mass on the steps. "Useless girl! You can't pay, we can't provide."
I ran to the doctor, stopping him. "What the hell are you doing!?" I shout at him, looking down at the bundle, seeing a half dead girl with crazed pink eyes.
"That brat came, screaming violently and scratching at my newly painted door before opening time, screaming for medicine, but when I finally got out here, she had no money, yet she screamed and begged, scratching at me! She's crazy!" the doctor shouted.
"I'll buy her meds." I state, shrugging, and opening the door. "Cold medication too please."
The doctor ran inside, and wordlessly gave me the tablets. I thanked him, left, san kneeled in front of the girl. "A drug addiction? You look only like you're 7 years old."
She sits up slowly, revealing a girl with purple hair and pink eyes, wearing a large man's brown hat and coat.
I open the container of what she had been begging for, apparently morphine, and handed her one tablet. She guzzled it immediately, her panicked ways cooling into a chill way slowly.
"What's your name?" I ask, standing up.
"Jazmine..." She said, standing, wobbly.
"Well, Jaz, would you like to come live with me and a bunch of other kids your age?" I smile as softly as I can, holding out my hand to the 7 year old girl. God, I was turning into Quichi...
But my regrets disappeared when she smiled brightly and practically attacked my arm in a hug. "Thank you."
I started walking, holding the girl's hand. "Of course." I started to see why Quichi and Kitchi did this.
It had been 3 whole years since I found Jazmine, and we have given up on finding more kids. Ponnii was 9, Chris was 8, Chase was 10, Michia was 9, and Jazmine was 9 as well. Chase had begun training with me and was already making strides. But for some reason I figured that physical fighting wasn't his style. The girls were getting antsy, ready to start training, fascinated when watching me train Chase.
It had been stressful for the first few years, but it all got worked out. Kitchi had gotten more pale, and was stumbling more often, so after me pestering her for weeks on end, she finally got a walking stick to stabilize herself.
I had taken Ponnii and Michia, who had glued themselves to my legs until I agreed to let them go with me, to the market, and it was getting dark. I figured it would be easier to take the alleyway shortcut home today.
We were almost home when Michia strayed from me, gawking, and ran to the side of an alley, where there were two small forms.
"Chu!" She shrieked at me. She had picked up the nickname from the Chi's, and it was kinda cute.
I came to her, Ponnii close behind me. "What?"
She was pointing at the forms. One was shaking uncontrollably, and the other wasn't moving at all, limp. I handed the food to Michia and Ponnii, and sat there. "Are you ok?"
A high voice hiccupped, and eventually spoke. "S-Sage's *hick* d-d-dea-" they didn't, probably couldn't, finish the word, they were crying so hard.
"Dead?" Michia finished. She set the food down and went to the child, hugging them. "It's ok."
The child hugged her back. I saw it was a young boy, with dark brown skin, and eyes so light blue, they were basically white.
"What's your name?" Ponnii asked.
"N-Namu..." He sobbed.
I carefully peeled him away from Michia, before she suffocated. "Well, Namu, would you like to come with us?"
He half nodded, looking at the girl who's name I could only assume was Sage.
"She'll be ok." I reassured.
He started crying again, and Michia reached for his hand, took it, and they walked home like this.
Kitchi and Quichi had harassed me half to death with bringing back one more then I left with. I ignored it, telling them how we found him, and they shut up.
2 years passed, and everyone had started their training, and the others were pumped and ready, saying how great they would be, they started mock-battles and quests around the mansion, and the place had definitely lost its big and empty feeling. I have grown used to a child or two running past in every hall, and loud dinners of tales of great woe.
One night, the night of Quichi and Kitchi's (twins, shoker) birthday, we put the kids to bed, made sure they were asleep, and ran off to a bar to grab a drink. We were laughing and swigging pints and complaining about having 6, 6!, kids, when we saw a pretty blue haired girl of about 12 being groped by a bunch of pedophile drunkards. Quichi was still laughing and talking to the bartender and Kitchi looked about how I felt. The three of us had developed insane maternal and paternal instincts, and they were kicking in.
"Hey beautiful, you look young and ripe, mind if I taste?" one man asked, grabbing at her butt, and the girl swatted his hand away. Quichi looked over and joined the halfway to snarling fest Kitchi and I had started.
But what really surprised us was when she spoke. "I cannot believe that just a little influence of alcohol, and you can't even tell that I'm not a girl!", when it finally registered what was said, the three of us had to resist shouting our confusion. Even the voice was kinda girly.
"What...?" The drunk man slurred. "Stop pulling my leg girl. It's not as cute when you resist me." the man stood up, pulling her- sorry- him to him, and tilting his chin, looking ready to kiss the poor kid, when suddenly Kitchi was there, smacking the assaulter.
"What the hell are you doing to him!?" she shouted, furious, I don't care if you're drunk blind, no means no, and just because you're male means you can assault whoever you want!" she punched his gut, but was weakening without her walking stick to stabilize her. I grabbed the stick, standing up quickly.
The man grabbed Kitchi, angry. "Oh? Watch me!" he pulled her close to him, grabbing her ass and leaned down quickly. Before his fitly lips could touch her perfect ones, there was an impact from the end of the walking stick that I had chucked at his face, knocking him over.
This resulted in a big fight, where I kicked Mr. Asshole's ass, grabbed the walking stick and Kitchi, who grabbed the boy, and Quichi followed confused between smiling or giving the drunkard another round of whoopass, and got out of there.
The boy looked me and Kitchi like we were gods. "Wow!" he smiled brightly, "You guys were so cool!" then, as though remembering something, he bowed to us. "Thank you! Ever since I started working there as an indentured servant, I've been mistaken for a girl and groped constantly, particularly by that frequent customer you just beat. Thank you sooooooooooooooooo much!"
Kitchi smiled at me, then Quichi, then the boy. "What's your name?"
"Kiku, Miss!" he stood up straight again, quickly.
"Where are your parents?" she asks.
He slouches. "They disappeared. A year ago."
"How would you like to come live with us. We have about 6 other kids your age living with us, and we're training them too." Kitchi finally had to grab her stick from me.
Kiku smiled even brighter than before. "Really!?"
"Really."
"Yes!" Kiku shouted, dancing happily.
"Then let's go." Quichi suggested.
And we left.
A year later, on a hot summer's day, Kitchi, Quichi, Chris, and I were sitting on benches in the shade of the massive tree in our front yard, and watching the 6 others train. Chris had injured his wrist in the last session and we were letting it heal.
"4 punches, alternating hands, and a kick of choice. 25 each person!" I shouted.
Without skipping a beat, the children moved to it, quickly working.
"When can I do this?" Chris whined.
"A couple of weeks." Kitchi said, petting his head.
"That's so loooong!" he said, falling back andd closing his dual colored eyes.
"I know baby, but it's necessary."
"I know..."
"Get her!" there was a faint sound of yelling, and a girl is running toward us, a beautiful dress in tatters, well groomed hair falling apart, and a least 10 men chasing behind her, came into view.
Chase, ever silent, watches carefully, abandoning his partner, Kiku, to casually open the front gate, before walking back and resuming training.
The girl, seeing the open gate, and the men closing in, turns into the yard, climbbs into a tree, and hides.
The men shout to split up and look for her, and one came into our yard. Quichi went to talk to him, we left Kitchi to supervise, and I quietly climbed the tree up to the girl. I tried not to think about how this sort of thing had become a routine.
"Hello." I say, and she glares at me.
I raise an eyebrow. "Within my hospitality I say you speak to me please.."
She scoffs, but obliges. "Last week, the Duke and Duchess adopted me for my beauty, and they already arranged my entire life for me. I hate being controlled. I hate it. So I ran." she shrugs.
"What's your name?" I ask, looking down at the falling-apart conversation below.
I feel her glare again. "Viana."
"Understood." I jumped from the branch, hearing a quick gasp from Viana, before landing in front of the bodyguard. I look at him. "It seems that this Viana you were talking about accidentally I impaled herself on a branch in our tree. I apologize."
Quichi gives me a look, before, seeing my expression, nods. "Its sadly easy to do for a climber. It would be a huge hassle to remove her body, and would probably take up too much of your time."
"This is grim news indeed. I shall go report." the man left without a blink.
"1 week torture adoption." I explain briefly, and Quichi nods, going to sit down.
Viana got down from the tree. "Thanks. Who are you guys?"
"Thieves." I say. "We started taking in children 11 years ago, and haven't stopped. I'm thinking we'll settle at 8. I like that number."
She looks at our children, mentally counting. "That leaves one more."
"Yup." I answered simply, turning back to the benches, and taking a Step.
"Can I be 8?" She says, grabbing my sleeve.
I turn and look at her. "Go join Jaz and Michia for your first day. Now."
And our family was completed.
Kitchi's strength started to sap so much that she had begun to find it hard to hold her stick, and I carried her up and down the stairs when needed.
Chase was 16, Kiku close behind, Jaz, Viana and Namu were 15, Michia and Ponnii and were 14, and Chris was 14 as well, but just barely. Chris, Kiku, Quichi and I took it hardest when we finally excepted the inevitable. I less so, because I saw it coming. We called the doctor, and he told us that her body was preparing to die, that he couldn't help, and glared at Jazmine as he left. I officially disliked this man. Kitchi, being her, just laughed, cuddling the children who were clinging to her.
"It was inevitable. It was only a matter of time, right?" A month later he looked like less than a ghost, her dark hair and eyes a stark contrast to her greenish-pale skin. Her lips were cracked, and she was shivering. I wanted to hug her, but I didn't want to hurt her.
So a month later, I was sitting at the side of her bed as her breath became more labored and her heartbeat slower.
"Chuo..." she whispered.
"I'm here." I say, putting my hand next to hers on the bed.
She shifts her hand so only our pinkies were touching. "I know weirdo." she smirked. "I'm not blind."
"Then why would you say my name?"
Her smirk softens into a smile. "I know what you're feeling guilty about. It's not your fault."
My eyes widened.
"People, rich ones, wanted us to do something, that would ruin Thosk, and because we refused, they tried to kill us, right?"
"How did you-?'
"So they tried to poison you, first. You could tell there was poison in your food, so you pushed it away, and before you could say anything, I grabbed it and ate it, starving."
"Sto-!" I tried sanding up. An unfamiliar itchiness scratched at the back of my eyes.
She grabs my hand, keeping me from moving too much. "And they threatened Quichi too, saying that if you said anything, or stopped stealing for them, they would hurt Quichi too."
Her grip was weak, and I could get out easily, but I somehow lost my will to want to. "And that's why I'm dying. Why I'm gonna die before I get to see my babies grow up."
I couldn't even tease her for calling the children her babies. Tears formed in my eyes and I fell to the ground next to her bed, placing her hand on my forehead. "I'm so sorry."
I hear the bed rustling as she sits up.
"You aren't in good enough health to do that." I say, looking up at her.
"I told you right? I'll stop only when I can't anymore."
I stand up and sit back down at the edge of the bed. "Yeah, I know…"
She gently placed her hands on my cheeks, using her thumbs to wipe under my eyes. "Chu, you're crying."
"I know." I smiled.
"I don't like it."
"Your fault."
"I know."
We stayed silent like for almost too long, when I noticed that her face was much closer than it had been when the silence started. I didn't move, I would be elated if she kissed me.
I could feel her breath, millimeters away, before the distance grew, and she was limp.
"Kitchi?" I asked, startled. I picked her up. "If this is a joke Kitchi it is far from funny." I put my hand on her chest, her back now against my legs.
Nothing.
And that's how it happened.
I still didn't tell Quichi of course. I couldn't say that she died because of me. And I decided to brave the threats of the men, and quit being their theif. And it was another 4 years before I even heard of them again.