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"Fai!"

He jolted from sleep and blinked at the light and the equally bright face that was inches from his.

"Check. It. Out! This is so cool. Okay, it's not as pretty as the moon and stars and I'm not sensing the same level of power coming from it, but it makes everything look different! It-"

Fai tuned her out for a moment and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Lately, he'd seen a lot of the bitter, angry Mangetsu who was helpful, but scared him. Now, he was face to face with the spastic, excited Mangetsu he'd first met. He loved her no matter what, and the personality changes were disorienting, but they were occasionally welcome.

"Mang-mang, what are you talking about?"

"The sun… That's what it's called, right? I'm just guessing, but I'm pretty sure."

"You're right, that's it. Did it just come up?"

"Uh-huh, sunrise. That means time to go."

"Oh," He sighed, "Right."

Mangetsu would have none of his slightly depressed mood.

"Don't 'Oh, right' me," She imitated his voice surprisingly well, "Let's go!"

She pulled him up by the hand.

"There's a ladder over here."

"Fire-escape,"

He corrected her absent-mindedly.

"Yep, over here. Let's get down, find some food and… figure out something else to do."

Coming from anyone else, the ending of that plan would have made Fai cringe. But coming from Mangetsu, it sounded decidedly well thought out.

"Okay."

Mangetsu went down first and Fai followed, counting ten floors on his way down. For some reason, the height didn't bother him.

Probably from doing…beam.

So that did have some practical use. He dropped to the ground a few feet from Mangetsu. They walked slowly to the end of the alley, peering out at the occupants of the street. Now they saw that food stalls, mostly produce, lined the street. He heard Mangetsu's stomach growl beside him and felt his own stomach churn, empty.

They fidgeted next to each other, eyeing the food. There weren't any soldiers that Fai could see, but when Mangetsu moved to step out of their alley, he stopped her wordlessly. He watched the man managing the produce stand directly across from them; he was older, with a piercing stare he directed everyone, including his customers, insisting they pay for each item as they put it in their basket instead of allowing them to collect everything and pay all at once. He was vigilant, and Fai didn't trust Mangetsu not try anything. He didn't want her getting into any trouble.

"Mangetsu," He turned to her, "Put your hood up to cover your hair."

She did as he asked and made to step out into the street. Fai stopped her again though, this time out of pure fear.

"You're being annoying. We should go out, walk around and listen to what people are saying. See if civilians are looking for us or even know what's going on."

He nodded, surprised at how… at home, she seemed with their situation. Like she knew what she was doing more than she ever had in the palace.

They tentatively stepped out into the street and froze. It wasn't until they were sure that the bustle hadn't stopped, that guards hadn't materialized, that they weren't being watched any more than anyone else, that they moved. Actually, it was when a horse-drawn cart blew past them and Mangetsu grabbed Fai's arm to keep him from being knocked onto his butt. Then, Mangetsu kept her hold on him and pressed forward, never walking in the open, but effectively flitting from group to group of people. As they walked, he asked.

"Hey, how do you kn-"

"Don't," She explained, already knowing what he meant. She answered without taking her eyes off the ground.

"I'm just doing what makes sense."

They kept walking through busy streets, Mangetsu periodically raising her eyes to check their surroundings. When a loud noise caught his attention and Fai lifted his head to look, it was immediately met with the palm of Mangetsu's hand.

"Head down."

He complied and they went on like that for an hour. A clock on a street corner read none before Fai's stomach growled audibly.

"Alright, that's enough." Mangetsu stopped suddenly. "I didn't want to try to get something to eat right away 'cause I knew that would have sent you into a fit, but we barely ate at all yesterday and this is getting stupid. Here,"

She pulled him back up against a building and they watched people stream past, on their way to work, school, the market. Mangetsu whispered steadily in his ear.

"I've been watching kids do it all morning. I think I can do it without getting caught. I'll go first, you watch, then you can try."

Fai knew exactly what she meant, and without giving him a chance to argue she slipped away from the wall and darted across the street. Half way across, she slowed to a meandering stroll, matching the pace of the crowd so that Fai almost lost her. He watched as she drew up along side a fruit stand filled with plums. It was long, and she walked for a few seconds, letting the young women behind it become distracted with a paying customer. Suddenly, her hand flashed out and snatched a shiny purple globe from the pile, tucking it up her wide coat sleeve without breaking stride or even taking her eyes off of the ground. The girl was oblivious as Mangetsu continued past the end of the stand and disappeared in the crowd for a few minutes before making a wide u back to Fai.

They leaned against the wall together; Mangetsu took a bite of the plum before passing it Fai, who bit and passed it back. They finished it in seconds and ended up staring at the pit, lying on the ground between them. Mangetsu turned to Fai.

"Let's go; show me what you can do."

He looked at her, eyes wide, and she rolled hers, nudging him away from the wall.

"Eyes on the ground love."

So he crossed, trying in vain to drift from group to group like Mangetsu had done earlier. He wasn't nearly as good at it though, and he heard her shrieking at him in his head every time he found himself stranded in a patch of unoccupied road. He made it across and walked along the stalls. He didn't want to steal; it wasn't doable in his head. But Mangetsu was waiting so he started looking.

He glanced up and accidentally caught the eye of the woman Mangetsu had stolen from minutes earlier. She smiled warmly and Fai returned it seamlessly, not letting on to the instantly paralyzing guilt that had flared in his stomach. He continued well past her, periodically checking over his shoulder to keep Mangetsu in sight.

Ahead of him was a stall selling baked goods. Not cookies and cakes, but bread and buns. His eyes raked over the food and eventually settled on to the rows of meat buns; soft baked rolls stuffed with ground meats and vegetables, displayed at perfect grabbing level. The man selling the food had his back to Fai and, with an almost undetectable increase in speed he hurried up to the stall. Carefully, making sure none of the crowed was paying him any extra attention, he managed to grab two and turned calmly, walking back the way he'd come.

As soon as he was more than a few feet away, he stood strait, confident that no one had seen him. He joined Mangetsu at the wall and handed her the steaming food with a grin. She took it happily, looking almost impressed.

"How in the hell did you pull this off?"

"No idea, I just did it."

"Huh…"

They ate in satisfied silence and when they finished, Mangetsu sighed.

"So… shall we see what else we can get our grubby, urchin hands on?"

Mangetsu had turned stealing into a game and Fai had quickly forgotten his qualms in favor of winning. He'd come to the realization that Mangetsu could make anything fun do to her lack of conscious and he ignored Damien's advice as they wandered through affluent sections of the city, playing as they went.

The way it worked was Fai or Mangetsu would name a difficult target and watch as the other retrieved it before eating. They were still careful, but they were much more reckless than they had been, watching for guards, but sneaking past them hidden amongst scores of people instead of avoiding them completely. They passed the day like that and eventually, at dusk, Mangetsu had come up with a final challenge.

"One carton of strawberries from him."

"Him?"

Fai glanced at the vender to whom she'd gestured. He was middle-aged, solid, and had a knife hooked in his belt. He watched his goods carefully and never devoted all of his attention to one customer. He wasn't distracted in the least.

"Mang-mang, I don't think I can…"

"Not on your own, you can't. But with my expertise assistance you won't have a problem. In fact, it'll probably be easier than trying to buy something from him with his attitude."

"What do want to do?"

She narrowed her eyes, a cat's grin spreading across her face.

"I watched a couple girls do it today. You just go up and flirt with a guy and slip something into your pocket while they're distracted. Or, you have someone else take something…"

"Oh Mangetsu…"

He gave her what he hoped was a disapproving look, but she shrugged it off.

"Don't look at me like that; it's not a big deal. Besides, I'm the perfect age; not too young, not too old. It'll be quick and simple and we'll get strawberries out of it."

"I don't-"

"You don't have to do anything. I'll just start talking and you grab a basket. No problem."

He hesitated, but she did make it sound easy… what could it hurt?"

"Okay, but be fast."

"Of course, sweets."

They made their way over, Fai lagging slightly behind while Mangetsu sauntered up to the merchant.

"Hello!"

"Hello."

He looked at her, offered a brief nod of acknowledgment and continued to arrange the tiny baskets of fruit. Fai had moved to the side of the stand so he could see both of their faces. He almost laughed at Mangetsu's expression; she was both confused and annoyed and the combination was hysterical. She was used to having men follow her around, like the guards and menservants at the palace. Being ignored, even once, was quickly taking its toll. She worked her jaw and reset her sultry smile.

"I saw your berries from across the street and I had to come and look. The color is beautiful, did you grow them yourself?"

"No."

He continued arranging berries.

"Oh… are you related to the person who did?"

"No."

Fai actually saw Mangetsu's patience snap, just before her hand shot out and grabbed the man by the back of the head, forcing eye contact.

"Look at me darling."

As she spoke, her hood slid down and glaringly bright white hair slipped over her shoulders. Her pupils shrank until her eyes were entirely silver-blue and the man's eyes shifted until they matched. Fai watched in amazement; he'd never seen someone perform a charm with such ease and without any preparation. She just needed eye-contact to initiate it. Fai was positive that if the man hadn't been so introverted she wouldn't have had to grab him at all.

"That's better," She purred, "Isn't this better?"

Without a word, the man slowly nodded.

"Good," The purr seemed almost natural, "I need you to give me all of your attention, can you do that?"

Another nod.

"Good."

Fai saw his chance and grabbed a basket of berries. That was when the guard rounded the corner onto their street.

Thanks for reading, Please review^^

ありがとう

ShingetsuXMangetsu