Chapter 4
Megumi's plan had worked well. The pink haired boy put him in the cart with the other barrels and ran off again. After sitting in the dark for maybe a few hours the other people in the cart went off to get food leaving him alone.
Pushing the top off the barrel Megumi hopped out. Any supplies entering or exiting the kingdom would be inspected before leaving the city so Megumi would have to leave the city inside this cart while hiding in open space.
Observing his surroundings Megumi spots a small mattress pushed on the top of several shelves overflowing with different kinds of rocks. He recognizes a few from watching Nanako make potions but he doesn't know much about their uses.
Deciding it's as good of a place as any, Megumi hops up on the counter nearby and pulls himself up to the mattress.
Exhaustion hits him as heavily as a bag of bricks. This space is in a corner, obscured from sight from the door or any areas that seem to be in common use. The bed itself seems like something that was meant to be sold but ended up being pushed into a corner.
All that means this is a safe enough spot to take a light nap. Megumi passes out as soon as his head hits the pillow.
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A loud noise shakes Megumi out of his sleep. Heavy steps resonate around the cart. Fuck, someone was already back, they probably wouldn't come back here and it was safer than trying to move so Megumi pressed himself against a corner and tried to breathe quietly.
The footsteps stopped and Megumi allowed himself a moment to hope the issue had passed by, then a hand grabbed the edge of the cabinet the mattress was placed on.
Huh? Megumi hadn't even heard them start to climb up, did they just jump? Shit shit shitshitshit there's nowhere to hide what should he do? Fuckfuckfuck
"Who're you?" Megumi looks down at the pink haired boy from earlier who had half pulled himself onto the mattress and was staring into Megumi's eyes.
"….I needed to leave the city…?" Megumi tried, it came out more as a question than anything.
"Huh? Really… that's all? You're just chilling in our cart to catch a ride?" The boy blinks at him owlishly
"Yeah." Megumi feels a bit of his confidence returning and tries to show it
"Why hide in here, you could just walk out?" Pinky asks
"Uhhh, I'm a thief! I need medicine for my sister but I got caught stealing it and put in jail. I need to bring it to her!" Suguru always taught Megumi a half truth is the best kind of lie so Megumi tries to draw from his emotions about Tsumiki and prays that the pink hair boy believes him.
"OOOH! You're a good guy then urchin hair!! I thought you were just some scum here to steal our stuff." Pink hair smiles at him
"Wait what!? Urchin hair? Are you seriously just going to roll with this? I broke into your cart house thing." Megumi stresses
"Yep. You're a good guy, I can tell. Besides, I understand doing what you have to do for family. Bad luck though, the guards are already on lookout for you. I saw them searching carts earlier so we can't stay here." Yuji says with complete confidence
"Shit! I thought I'd have more time before anyone noticed. Wait…WE?" Megumi inquires
"Yes We! You have to help your sister right. I'll get you out of the city no problem." Pinky smiles
"You really want nothing in return?" Megumi asks
"Well, have you ever heard of a woman with surgical stitches on her forehead or a boy who looks exactly like me?" Yuji counters
"No. Sorry." Megumi responds
"Well there, that's all I ask in return for helping you. If you don't know anything there's no helping that."
Just then a loud bang on the door interrupts Megumi's and pinky's conversation
"City Guard! Please comply with this mandatory search!" A loud voice yells
"Fucking damnit, of all people it's the fucking gaurd." Megumi hisses
"It's okay, there's an emergency exit we can slip out through, follow me." Pink hair whispers
Motioning for Megumi to follow him, the boy jumps down from the loft and lands softly and tip toes over to a large cabinet which he opens and moves several piles out of the way to reveal a small door with a latch.
Opening it the kid motions Megumi after him and they both slip down onto the cold cobble roads underneath the cart. Looking over Megumi can see one of the guards knock down the door and a stern looking blond man run over to the guards.
"God Nanami is gonna kill me for this." Pink hair mutters to himself
The two of them crawl over to the edge of the cart and slip into an alley next to the cart. Letting out a breath, Megumi leans against the wall. Looking over Pink Hair gives him a thumbs up and a smile which makes his heart skip a beat.
Focus Megumi.
"Come on urchin hair, we need to keep moving." Pink hair says at the same time he hears "Freeze criminal, put your hands up and step away from the wall."
Dammit all Megumi thinks as he looks out of the corner of his eye and sees the guards pointing arrows at them. Slowly raising his hands Megumi's head is spinning for a solution.
He couldn't activate any familiars before the arrows could hit pink hair and there's no way they could dodge them, especially the civilian next to him. What could he do think think thin-
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Yuji was panaking. In a moment of intensity Yuji had agreed to help the Urchin Haired kid get out of the city. Even if Yuji couldn't tell if the boy's story was a lie or not he could hear the emotion when he talked about his sister and that's all Yuji needed.
Now they were cornered in an alley with guards aiming crossbows at them. He could see the panic and desperation in the boy's eyes.
Yuji had said he would help him and that's not a promise he takes lightly.
He squared his stance and lets his arms shift subtlety
Just as urchin hair boy puts his hands up Yuji springs into action. He grabs the boy and throws him over his shoulder and bolts.
Cries of shock and anger come from the guards and he hears them letting arrows loose. Thanks to his superhuman speed Yuji jumps as high as he can manage and grabs onto a window sill of the building next to them.
Using one arm Yuji pulls himself onto the ledge and runs down it. Trying to stay straight so as to not jostle the boy on his back.
Jumping onto the roof of the building next to him Yuji looks down only for an arrow to fly past his head, barely missing him.
"SHIT! Ok hold on urchin hair, I'm gonna make a run for the wall." Yuji informs him
"You're actually crazy." He deadpans
Taking that as a sign to go ahead, Yuji runs along the buildings jumping across roads and dodging arrows.
Looking down Yuji spots a row of guards blocking his route.
"Shit! Thief, you got any idea what to do?" Yuji yells
"Go right! Then ditch the roofs and go north!" He yells back
Nodding Yuji makes a sharp left and jumps from the roof, bracing himself with his knees Yuji lands on the sidewalk causing civilians to scramble away in all directions.
Not wasting time Yuji breaks into a sprint going north running down alleys and roads based on urchin kids directions.
"Here, there should be a small exit tunnel here we can take. It's normally guarded but this should have taken all the attention away from there." The thief tells him
Yuji is about to put urchin boy down when a large man with cascading black hair stops in front of the gate, he stands about ten feet away from them. A large bird sits on his arm but it has two heads and looks like a science experiment gone wrong. Yuji recognizes him as the man from the market earlier.
His soul is a stunning obsidian black. It pulses with power and fury. Yuji is reminded of a snake coiled to strike. Bits of the corners fray and lash out, a tell tale sign of a fatigued emotional state.
"Yuji, put me down and run away, trust me." Urchin hair tells him
"No. I said I'd help you" Yuji replies
Before they can keep arguing, the man suddenly charges Yuji.
"Criminal, surrender now and face punishment, or die and find punishment in that." Says the guard
Not giving Yuji time to respond, the man's bird flies off the man's hand and dives at Yuji. Yuji ducks under the man's sword, it slashes the tips of his hair. The bird is diving at him aiming for his eyes when the thief slips him a small disk out of his bag.
"Tap the center" the boy whispers to him
Tapping it the disk suddenly expands into a large shield, Yuji brings it up and backhands the bird away. Before he can catch his breath the man kicks him in the stomach and Yuji stumbles back.
Suddenly the bird is in his face. It must have recovered faster than Yuji thought it could. Its massive beak opens up to reveal teeth like a wolf. It would tear Yuji's face off in a second.
Yuji was going to die. The realization sent a burning through Yuji, his arms itching like they were on fire.
Little brother. push the energy out of your fingers.
Ryomen?
Yuji listened, he imagined the pulsing feeling flying from his fingers and it did. Fire exploded from his hand like Ryomen's hand did that day.
The bird was blown back by the fire eating through its body. Yuji was frozen.
"Pink hair, go through the gate. Move it!"
Shaking himself out of his state Yuji sent a wave of flames at the ground by the man and ran to the gate.
Through the flames Yuji heard the man yell "FUSHIGURO!"
Fire covering the gate caused the supports to give out and Yuji threw himself and urchin boy through the door as it collapsed.
Setting the thief down, Yuji stared in shock.
"How-?" Yuji stutters out
"No time to wonder, we need to get off the road, please follow me." The boy commands
"Yeah, yeah alright. By the way, what's your name?" Yuji asks
"Megumi." He says
"Cool, I'm Yuji." He replies
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