Unfaithful

Author: Seth


"Oh sure, she'll listen to the plan. Just don't expect her to stay faithful to it."


The gentle tinkle of running water washed over Shadow as she lazily drifted her feet in the small, pristine creek. Closing her eyes, the blue haired girl lay back and basked her face in the midday sun.

Bliss.

In fact, the only thing that could make it any better was…

“Hey Shadow, wanna banana~?”

Shadow’s eyes immediately snapped open. A banana was hovering right above her face. Quick as the cats her clan was named after, she snatched at the yellow fruit, but the banana jerked out of her reach at the last second.

Tilting her head even farther back, Shadow glared at Kyuusei balefully.

“Gimme the banana, Kyuu.” Shadow ordered in a dangerously even voice.

“Why don’t you come and get it?” The Tamago in question giggled, waving her fishing pole, and the banana attached to it, tantalizingly close to the cyclopic panthryan.

Flinging herself out of the creek with an agility the human race wasn’t really supposed to have, Shadow hurled herself at the silver haired thief. Laughing madly, Kyuusei danced away nimbly, keeping herself just out of the range of Shadow’s grasp.

“Nyah, nyah, you can’t catch me~” Kyuusei sing-songed childishly, twirling around the trunk of an old spruce.

“Come back here and gimme my banana!” Shadow yelled in response, hurtling past the tree, and Kyuusei as well who had been hiding just on the other side of the large evergreen.

“Your banana? Since when was it your banana?” The purple eyed girl teased, running back the way she had come.

The two soldiers continued their boisterous dance for more than an hour, rampaging through the forest, the city, and eventually all the way back to the base, disrupting no fewer than three hedgecats, a boartato, two guards, fifteen shopkeepers, numerous residents of Jericho and one highly amused Bob at the end of their trip.

Laughing and gasping for breath, Kyuusei collapsed in the Jericho parade ground, not five steps from the barracks. Half a second later, Shadow had pounced over her and was savaging the banana.

“Kyuusei, what time is it?”

The female twin opened her eyes in an ironic imitation of Shadow some banana chase before.

“Not a clue.” She grinned happily up at Rai, who was looming over her like a thunderhead.

“It’s three in the afternoon.” The scarred soldier informed her tersely. “When did I ask you to find Shadow for me?”

“Twelvish.” Kyuusei chirped without missing a beat, not a hint of remorse in her voice or on her face.

Raitou palmed his face. He should have known this would happen. Something always happened when you asked Kyuusei to do something, and the less said about her unofficial ‘fees’, the better.

Maybe he didn’t do it on purpose, but Rai liked his forks, dammit.