Carefree

Author: Seth


“You do know you’re supposed to eat that with, well, actual food, right?”

Nyo reached into his pouch of katsuobushi, grabbed a few more of the dried fish shavings and tossed them into his mouth.

“So?” The silver haired thief asked. “They taste good enough on their own as far as I’m concerned.”

“Yeah, but they never fill you up.” Ryuu groused. “I don’t mind stopping once or twice to pick up a snack or two, but we’ve already stopped at seven different fishing stalls today.” The brunette looked about furtively, reassuring himself that none of the proprietors of the aforementioned stalls had somehow caught on and were now hunting them down. “I really don’t feel like having to run away from another six-foot-tall beast of a man wielding a cleaver today, thank you very much.”

“Once!” Niyou gulped down his fish shavings indignantly. “I got caught once, by fluke! And how was I supposed to know that lummox had a licence to use knives?”

“Maybe the fact that he was in the middle of preparing the fugu you stole might have tipped you off?” Ryuu replied dryly. “Really, what possessed you to steal the fish while he was cutting it up?”

“I took two slices! Who notices when two slices go missing!?” Nyo’s hand scrabbled at the bottom of his pouch and he tossed the last of his katsuobushi into his mouth grumpily.

“Says the person who noticed when I traded one of your gold coins for a painted lead fake.” Ryuu raised a thin eyebrow.

“I shower my babies with love each day; of course I noticed!” Nyo huffed. “Are you accusing me of being a poor caretaker, is that it?”

“I rest my case.” Ryuu chuckled. Almost by instinct the young boy’s hand shot out and grabbed Nyo’s sleeve. “Oh no you don’t,” Ryuu muttered as he saw Nyo’s gaze hovering over another fish stall. “You’ve had enough, you stupid addict.”

“Oh c’mon…” Nyo whined. “He’s barely even paying attention. Look!” The silver headed boy gestured pleadingly. “It’d be easier than taking candy from a baby; what could go wrong!?”

“Oh you did not just say that...” Ryuu groaned as he palmed his face.

Unfortunately for the purple eyed boy, habit dictated that he palm his face with his right hand, which also happened to be the hand he was using to grab Nyo’s sleeve. The moment Ryuuto let go of the kurohyou member, Nyo zipped off towards the stall, somehow managing to melt into the crowd despite his haste.

Resigned to his fate, Ryuu followed at a far more sedate pace, keeping a decent distance away from the stall to afford himself a head start if things turned pear shaped. He loved his friend like a brother, but sometimes he wished that the young assassin would take their mutual light-fingered escapades a little more seriously.

If they weren’t careful they really would get caught one of these days.