Koushiro! Part 2
Koushiro was relieved. After seven days of running, he had finally reached the city of Tokyo. Exhausted, he sat down and noticed a boy about two years younger than him. He was dressed rather oddly. He had on a top hat and a coat that was a few sizes two big. Under his coat, he was wearing a white button-up shirt and a tweed waistcoat. The boy walked over to Koushiro and sat down beside him.
"Hello my covey. Is something the matter?" The boy greeted cheerfully.
"I've been running for seven days straight." Koushiro explained.
"Have you now? Running away from home, eh?" The boy said, elbowing Koushiro playfully.
"It wasn't a very pleasant home." Koushiro sighed.
"Oh. Got any lodgings yet?" The boy asked.
"No." Koushiro answered.
"Any parents to look after you?" The boy asked.
"No." Koushiro answered.
"Relatives of any kind?" The boy asked.
"Not one." Koushiro sighed, resting his head on his hands.
"You're a regular orphan then! Say, got any….. money?" The boy asked curiously.
"Not a penny." Koushiro responded.
"Then it's a right good thing I came across you when I did! The name's Takeru Takaishi but my intimate acquaintances call me TK." TK said.
"Please to meet you Mr. TK. I'm Koushiro." Koushiro introduced.
"Anyway, I know a respectable gentleman who'll give you a room and board for nothing!" TK said.
"He must be a very kind gentleman." Koushiro said. There was a brief silence until TK broke it.
"Oh yeah. Very kind. Come along then. Grab your things. We're off!" TK said. The two walked through a narrow walkway and emerged at some stairs with a pipe beside them.
"Open up! It's TK!" TK shouted into the pipe. The two walked up the stairs and emerged in a room. It was filled with young boys and girls all dressed in odds and ends. In the middle of the room there was a table. Seated at it were four people. One was tall and had a wild bush of hair. The second was shorter and had spiked blond hair. The third was a delicate woman dressed very gaudily. The final one was a young girl dressed similar to the woman.
"Ah, Yamato, a brilliant haul you've brought in. You may look my dears but don't touch!" The one with the bush said.
"It was hard enough to come by Taichi. See that you take care of it, or I'll take care of you." The blond, who was obviously Yamato snarled.
"Ah yes. Wouldn't Sora look like a queen wearing this?" Taichi said holding up a diamond locket.
"I have hardly any clothes to go with it." The woman, Sora, said with a laugh.
"Ah yes, Sora my dear. And wouldn't young Kari make a fine woman with this on her wrist?" Taichi said holding up a sparkling gold bracelet.
"A bit gaudy Taichi. And it don't match my eyes." The little girl, Kari, said. The other children in the room laughed.
"Hey Taichi! I brought a new boy! On probation of course." TK said, showing Taichi Koushiro.
"Ah, my dear. It's a pleasure to meet you. Would you like some sausage?" Taichi asked, holding a steaming plate of sausage towards him. Koushiro politely refused.
"Let me introduce you to the family." Taichi said.
"You have a very large family, Mr. Taichi." Koushiro said.
"Ah, yes. These children are like, my grandchildren." Taichi said which, to Koushiro's surprise, caused the children to burst into laughter. Taichi led Koushiro over to the table.
"This, my dear, is my partner in business, Mr. Yamato Ishida." Taichi said. Yamato scowled down at Koushiro, who cowered in fear.
"This is Sora, Yamato's girlfriend." Taichi said, showing Koushiro to Sora. Koushiro politely bowed.
"Well look at that! He's got manners!" Sora said and curtsied.
"This is my younger sister, Hikari. We call her Kari for short." Taichi said, showing Koushiro to Kari.
"A pleasure, I'm sure." Kari said and curtsied. The boys made faces and mock-curtsied.
"Gather round children! We're going to show Koushiro how to play the game! Koushiro, I'm going to pretend to be an old gentleman browsing the windows of a bookstore. The children are going to stuff my pockets with handkerchiefs and will attempt to remove them without my noticing." Taichi explained as the children stuffed his pockets. A young boy wearing goggles sneaked up to Taichi, lifted up the back of his coat, and removed the handkerchief. Next was a young girl with purple hair and glasses. She bumped into Taichi, knocked him over, stuck her hand into his waistcoat pocket, removed a handkerchief, and helped him up. Next was the youngest child. He lifted up the back of Taichi's coat, sneaked underneath it, walked with Taichi, giving him the appearance of an odd caterpillar, and removed a handkerchief. Next, TK did the same approach as the girl.
"Are they gone? My dear, make TK your role model. Do you see the handkerchief hanging out of my pocket?" Taichi asked.
"Yes sir." Koushiro responded.
"See if you can get it without my noticing." Taichi said. Koushiro pulled the handkerchief and walked back but the handkerchief kept on growing. Finally, it snapped and Koushiro was sent flying backwards.
"Is it gone?" Taichi asked.
"Yes sir. I have it right here." Koushiro responded, holding up the handkerchief.
"Clever boy! Now you're ready to go on the job with TK and Kari." Taichi said.
Out on the streets near a bookstore, TK, Kari, and Koushiro were loitering. They noticed a very respectable-looking old gentleman browsing the windows.
"He'll be our first customer." TK said.
"A prime target." Kari added. TK sneaked up, reached into the gentleman's back pocket, and removed his wallet. He passed it off to Kari and the two walked arm-in-arm into the park.
"What? It-it isn't a game at all! You're thieves!" Koushiro realized and began to run away. The gentleman realized that his wallet was missing and saw Koushiro running away.
"Stop! Thief!" The man yelled. A policeman caught poor Koushiro and dragged him back to the gentleman.
"You say this young vagabond stole your wallet?" The policeman queried.
"Yes sir, at least, I think it was him." The gentleman said. At this point, a young woman was watching. She had a deep scar on her neck, blood red in color.
"But I-" Koushiro got out before being cut off by the policeman.
"Keep quiet! I sentence you to two months hard labor!" The policeman yelled.
