Simple Assignment

Premise: That's how it was, or it was supposed to be. The plan was simple, get the girl, gather the pay, and scamper off before anything else happens. Unfortunately, the thief didn't think he'd get so attached. Loosely based off fairy tales.

Author notes at the bottom.

In the heart of the dark and hazy woods - or at least what felt like the heart - was a blazing fire on top of a pile of fallen branches and circle of rocks that pierced the purple haze. Before it was a boy of white hair, like snow, well, ashen snow due to the tips having a soft silver. His eyes were a rarity, something people would call an anomaly, or a curse to those superstitious. However, in the world he lived, everyone was superstitious and he would be deemed as a witch or warlock or a possible victim who was hex-ed due to talking back to such beings. Fortunately, his bangs were long enough to cover both eyes, though, he typically hide the green one. For reasons why? No one knew and they never bothered him about it.

So, why was a sole boy, who looked not even out of his teen years, possibly around seventeen or so, doing out in the woods at such a gloomy hour?

Simple.

He was holding a piece of parchment in his hands and then...

He let it drop without a word or change of expression. It flitted through the air, slowly falling in latitude and then it was licked by the cinders of the fire. There went another wanted poster's life.

And then it went up in flames.

He let out a silent breath, and watched it burn to a crisp with its body decomposing into ash. Moments passed and he was sure that the rustle he heard earlier was going to gift him with unwanted company. Then he heard a twig snap and he sighed silently once more as a shadow stretched towards the only source of light in the area.

"Wow! You got a bigger fire going tonight than usual!" a girl with long blonde hair called out with a sly grin accompanying her lips. Hands on wide hips, and a swing in her step, she approached the flickering fire and gazed at the ashen pile of parchment growling at her. Her lips curled up even further, and she brought her dandelion colored nails to her red glossed lips. "Oh! You went poster hunting this time!"

Now then, time to explain a certain term: "Poster hunting" was more of a past time than a "job." It was when the members from their little group found wanted posters of him or herself and collected them as to lower everyone's awareness of their existence. However, the pictures used weren't very realistic, or close to their actual appearance. Whoever made the posters used an artist's rendition and interpretation from various witnesses. They didn't need to take them down, however, it was a slow day that morning and he had tons of time to kill.

As stated earlier, it was a past time.

He glanced her, not very amused and not very impressed with the woman's stature. This time around, she donned a blank tank top, a yellow bolero with leather shorts that'd snap back to her thighs if pulled. Strapped onto her calloused feet where a pair of black pumps could be seen. How she's able to walk around in that kind of attire was beyond him, but she's one of the best people in their line of business, so he'll let it slide. Oh, though, she probably wears it to seduce unaware fools into handing her what she wants so maybe... He mentally shrugged, not really interested in following the curious train of thought any longer. His attention span can only hold so much.

"...It was boring today."

She rolled her eyes.

"Lily, give the kid a break," a voice as poisonous as a snake's venom came, and the woman of golden locks turned around with a scowl. There from the shadows walking towards the wake of the fire was another young woman of cherry-red hair and a white dress with a blue vest hanging off her slender shoulders. Long white boots with short heels came up to her knees and long blue gloves with a white trim extended to her elbow. What really brought attention to the young woman was the obnoxious blue boa that hung on her shoulders and coiled around her thin arms.

Lily scoffed, "Hey, I'm bored too, why does he get special attention?"

"I'm not giving him special attention," the newcomer corrected with a slight scowl in her tone. "I just get sick of hearing you talk most of the time."

"Ouch! The Insanity Queen has spoketh, and that must mean that I, the lowly peasant, must heed to her word! Cruel fate, how you hurt me!"

"And you wonder why I get sick of hearing you talk," the so-called 'Insanity Queen' sighed with more exasperation than the world can handle.

"Miki," the boy finally called, adding in his two cents, "If you keep talking to her, you urge her behavior."

"Hush, Piko, your words might have an upsetting effect on the queen!" Lily joked with a snicker as she turned and pulled her hands behind her head. The woman stuck out her tongue, showing off the piece of metal pierced through it, and grinned when she discovered the heated expression on the other girl's face. Oh my, she really did get upset! "Pff," she stifled, "That's a face unbecoming of the queen!"

"Lily, shut the hell up," Miki fumed, with her hands on her hips and her body leaning towards the woman who stumbled about around the fire. "You're making a lot of noise in the woods, y'know." Then she directed her attention to the sole male in their current trio. "Also, Piko, what kind of hellish outfit is that?"

The said boy gazed down without a change of expression and picked at his collar. It was a leather black vest over a thick, puffed up white dress shirt with long sleeves and tight cuffs. He also wore some graying pair of slacks over black boots with the laces undone and spilling over the shoes. "...Is there something wrong?"

"I don't see anything bad abo..." Lily fell into silence after realizing what Miki was referring to when she saw the boy's outfit closely, and narrowed her eyes. Around his waist was a long black sash and it fell behind him, almost as though it was a tail. "Er...hey, wouldn't that be troublesome?" she questioned while pointing at the unnecessary sash that trailed behind him. "Like, it'd make it easier for people to catch you and reel you in."

"Yeah, exactly what the idiot said," Miki interjected with a deadpanned toned, bringing in feelings of annoyance from the said woman. While Lily was barking at the redhead, Miki calmly argued back without a shift in tone at all. In the mean time, Piko was staring at the sash, and shrugged.

"Someone gave it to me," he answered with indifference, causing the others to stop their petty arguing.

"Ah?" the two women chorused back, turning away from the other and watching the boy take a seat on a log he dragged to sit before the flames. Its orange glow warmed up his vision in the chilled night. He should probably head to his tent soon since the weather was gradually changing its fronts. Hmm, maybe after he's done dealing with his companions. Speaking of which, where was Kiyoteru? The bespectacled man was usually so punctual - being the first one here, or at least before the blue-boa wearing girl who always liked being on time - so, it's a curious case. Hmm, maybe he should just leave since the girls were mumbling among themselves.

He quickly averted his gaze to the fire, when they spoke to him,

"Well, I've never seen it until now," Lily noted with arms crossed and curious eyes present.

"Same," Miki affirmed, hands on hips.

And there went a sigh.

"It didn't match with my former uniform," Piko explained without their demand. "So I decided not to wear it."

"Didn't know you were so into fashion." Lily and Piko shrugged at one another, while Miki fumed at the blond's lackadaisical attitude to the subject.

The redhead intervened, "That doesn't answer the question! Who gave it to you? Piko, you do remember that we're supposed to live under the guise of heard by not seen, right?"

Piko didn't bat an eye lash and instead rubbed the back of his neck. "This is from pre-thief life," he sighed, then he averted his eyes from the warming flame to the girls. The blonde silenced herself, disliking the dead look in the boy's heterochromatic eyes, while Miki endured. "Don't worry, no one back home knows how I even look like anymore, so this won't be a problem." As he said this, he tugged at his long bangs, let go, and then blew them upward to display his dual-colored gaze. "Even if they did, they'd have a hard time recognizing me."

The white and blue schemed girl contemplated and allowed a sigh of relief to pass her glossy lips. "Okay, that makes me feel a bit better." Then she approached him and took a seat on the log. He scooted aside to make room for her while Lily sauntered towards a stump across from the two, she leaned over and rested her elbows against her knees.

Miki remained quiet afterwards and it was the kind of quiet that meant that she was ruminating the subject at hand. Piko and Lily mentally sighed in unison at the sight of their companion. Despite the fact that she told him that she was feeling a tad bit better, it really meant she wasn't all that all right about the deal. What was the big deal? It was just a sash, not like it's uncommon.

Really, he wondered why Miki was so uppity about this sort of stuff. If Kiyoteru was here, Piko was sure she'd relax, probably dispel the conversation until she and Piko were alone. Alas, the man was nowhere to be found and the white-haired male was starting to get a little wary.

"Piko, I think-"

"-Ah, all of you are still up?" another called from the dark depths of the woods. Lily turned while the other two looked upward. Piko could've sworn that if it were anyone else, Miki wouldn't have allowed herself to get immediately dismissed like that. Lo and behold, emerging from the shadows was Kiyoteru, of his brunet locks and spectacles sitting before his eyes. With a charming smile that could calm a wild beast and a flick of the wrist that'd bring attention to himself, the brunet made his presence known. Oh did he make it known.

Piko could only guess how he's able to silence their female companions who could probably out talk the sun's lifespan if given the opportunity. Although, he had to count his blessings; if the other male of their quartet hadn't arrived, then the white-haired male would've been pulled into a strict interrogation without any help. Honestly, with the way that Lily merely stared at the two from behind the fire, that meant that she wasn't going to involve herself in the matter.

That's how it was with her. If she didn't want to trouble herself with something or someone, she'll walk away, and sit further from them. "If you keep a good enough distance where you're allowed to just watch instead of talk, then you're away from the misery," she told him once before without him even asking. It wasn't a logical option, but he supposed that she might just possess a sort of attitude to make it work. If it were Piko, he would've failed immediately when trying to get away from trouble.

To be honest, he has a firm belief it follows him closely.

"I heard of a nice rumor today while in the town near-by." Ah, so that's why he was taking so long to get back to camp. The thing with Kiyoteru was that he may look composed and professional, but he had an ear for gossip. If there was an interesting piece of conversation he chanced upon, he'd investigate it thoroughly. Now, he was a charismatic man, so he could talk it up with strangers of any kind and get informative interviews with them – what they knew, what they've heard, what they've seen. Even from tight-lipped ones that'd commit suicide before spilling secrets.

It was a mysterious gift that the other three never needed to question, because, despite how much of a gossip-lover the man is, he was as secretive as people came. Not that any of them minded. Secrets were important and meant to be treasured and thus, they usually never pried. Miki was an exception, unfortunately, but the exception to the rule was that if the secret compromised their little group of criminals, then the person had to confess. If they didn't do it willingly, then they'll suffer the consequences.

So far, none of them had nothing to hide.

Well, Piko had little to hide other than the story behind the sash, but honestly? It wasn't important. He decided to keep it because he had a small number of personal possessions and well, it had some sentimental value. What, you ask? He barely remembered, but he never had the heart to burn or throw it away. So he kept it close.

"What's up?" Lily called out, pushing herself up and dusting the back of her shorts. "Is it a duke having an affair or some crown jewel stolen or...?"

"Better, more...mystical."

"Oh hell no, Teru," Miki barked, jumping from her seat on the log, giving Piko room to breathe. "We're not going anywhere near that sort of stuff! Remember what happened to-" she paused and clenched her fist, before cutting off that statement. "Anyway, we're not doing anything like that!"

The brunet sighed with a knowing breath, but smiled regardless. "My mistake, I guess romantic would be a better word to use."

Piko's ears perked up. The tone that Kiyoteru used was definitely more sly than genuine. He was using his weird gift to sway and persuade Miki's latent curiosity. Though, this isn't to say that the boy wasn't interested in what the man had in store for the rest of them.

"Yeah? Yeah?" Lily chattered, excited. If she were a dog, her tail would've been wagging at this time, the heterochromatic boy mused as he watched her swing her hips left to right with anticipation. Meanwhile, Miki had a knowing scowl that seemed almost permanent on her features and one hand on her left hip.

The man developed an expression of enjoyment, almost as though he was a famed story teller enchanting his audience with his words – and only his – alone. "It's about a 'princess' locked in a tower..."

"...Teru..." Miki growled, impatient.

Piko watched as the man's lips widened into a smirk.

"...And the bounty on her head."

Author's Notes time!

The main pairing is Piko/Miku, by the way.

As for the others, I'm not quite sure.

Yes, this was awkward. Everything is awkward. It's been a while since I tried writing anything serious but I really wanted to try writing a multi-chapter Piko/Miku fic because these two need some love. Sorry LenKu, but Piko/Miku became my new Vocaloid main ship. Aha...forgive me.