'You know being short finally pays off for once.'
And for a moment—just a moment—he genuinely thought he'd gotten away. The footsteps behind him faded. The shouts grew distant.
But he'd forgotten something very important.
His luck has always been garbage.
Before his brain could process what was happening, the world tilted sideways.
His feet left the ground.
'Wait, what—'
He slammed into the pavement with a heavy thud that rattled his entire skeleton.
Before he could process what had just happened, a figure dropped down and drove their knee straight into his stomach.
The air didn't just leave his body.
It was ripped out—violently, brutally—in one terrible whoosh that left absolutely nothing behind.
His mouth opened. Closed. Opened again.
Nothing.
Just gasping like a fish drowning on dry land.
He'd been caught completely off guard—which, honestly, was embarrassing.
But somehow his vision cleared just as fast as he'd gone down, and he noticed the person looming over him.
A girl.
She had curly blonde hair that caught the sunlight and turned almost golden. Tall—sadly, slightly taller than him, which his ego did not appreciate.
But it was her eyes that made him freeze.
Gray. Like storm clouds right before they destroyed everything in their path.
The way she looked at him was terrifying.
Not angry. Not annoyed.
Just… calculating. Cold. Like she was deciding whether he was worth the effort of punching again.
Other than the whole "might murder me" vibe, though?
She was… pretty.
Which his brain decided was very important information to notice right now, while he was still struggling to breathe.
'Great priorities, brain. Really. Top-notch survival instincts.'
"Got you, thief," the girl hissed.
He felt personally offended by that.
"I'm not a thief, you crazy girl!"
"Then why were you running?" She pressed her rapier closer to his throat. "Aimlessly, I might add."
He carefully pushed the tip away from his neck with one finger.
"Easy there, crazy girl. Don't go waving that thing around—"
She smirked and brought the blade right back against his throat again.
Harder this time.
'Okay. So she's not messing around.'
"Okay, okay!" He raised his hands. "I bumped into this scary-looking guy and thought he was going to kill me, all right?"
He paused, dragging in a lungful of air.
"Also, he looked really stupid. And creepy. Very creepy."
The girl's eyebrow raised. "Stupid and creepy."
"Yeah. Like, aggressively stupid-looking."
"Uh-huh." She didn't lower the rapier. "And this 'scary, stupid, creepy' guy—where is he?"
"No idea. That's why I was running—"
"Who looks stupid and creepy?" a voice said from directly behind him.
His stomach dropped.
He looked up.
Captain Luca. Staring. Not happy.
Shiro did the only logical thing. He scrambled to his feet and dove behind the girl. He pointed at the captain and told the girl, "Him. That's the stupid one."
The girl closed her eyes. "You're joking."
"Nope. See the face? Very stupid."
"That's Captain Luca."
"Yep. Stupid AND a captain. Tragic combination."
The captain's eye twitched so hard Shiro thought it might fall out.
"Kid," Luca said very quietly, "do you know what I do to people who insult me?"
Shiro thought about it.
"…Make them regret their life choices?"
"Correct."
"Cool cool cool." Shiro nodded. "Quick question—how fast can you run in those boots? Asking for a friend. The friend is me."
The man ignored his nonsense entirely and stepped forward.
The girl moved aside.
Before Shiro could process what was happening, Luca grabbed his wrist and started searching—checking his arm, his hands, looking for something.
"Where is it, kid?"
Shiro tilted his head, genuinely confused. "What?"
"Don't play dumb." Luca's grip tightened. "The red bracelet."
He blinked. Once. Twice.
"Are you serious right now?" He yanked his arm back—or tried to. "You think I have a bracelet? I can barely afford food, and you think I'm walking around with jewelry?"
Luca's eyes narrowed. "You were running—"
"Because you're terrifying!"
That was apparently the wrong thing to say.
Luca grabbed him by the collar and lifted him clean off the ground. Shiro's legs dangled uselessly in the air.
"Let go of me, you stupid-faced—"
"Luca, stop!" The girl stepped forward quickly, hands raised. "I already checked him. He doesn't have anything."
Luca didn't let go. His eyes stayed locked on Shiro, searching his face like he was trying to see through a lie.
Luca shook his head a few times, like he was trying to clear it.
Then—surprisingly—he set Shiro down.
"Sorry, kid." He rubbed his temple. "Must still be feeling the poison from last night."
Shiro coughed. "You owe me medical bills, by the way—"
"Shut up."
The girl turned to Luca, and Shiro watched in real time as she transformed into a completely different human being.
Her expression went from "I will end you" to "let me take care of you" in approximately 0.5 seconds.
The scary gray eyes? Suddenly soft and concerned.
The murderous energy? Gone. Replaced by gentle fussing.
And then she smiled.
Like, actually smiled. The kind of smile that belonged in a field of flowers, not a red light district where she'd just threatened to stab someone.
"You should be resting," she said, voice dripping honey.
Shiro's jaw dropped.
'What. What is happening? Who IS this person?!'
The girl who'd nearly murdered him thirty seconds ago was now practically glowing.
'Oh. OH.'
"I heard you dealt with that intruder."
"Yeah." A ghost of a smile crossed Luca's face. "Corroding Chains went right through him. By now, the poison's dissolved most of his internal organs."
The girl chuckled darkly. "Remind me never to get on your bad side."
Shiro stood very still.
Part of him—a large, idiotic part—wanted to jump up and down on their lifeless bodies, screaming, "HA! You thought you killed me, but I'M STILL ALIVE! STILL KICKING! IN YOUR FACE!"
And then rub his survival in Luca's smug face.
Repeatedly.
With enthusiasm.
But that would be—and he couldn't stress this enough—
Incredibly dumb.
Like, "suicide by stupidity" levels of dumb.
So instead, he did the smart thing.
He swallowed his pride.
He forced his expression to stay completely neutral.
'Just you wait, bastards.'
'I'll get my revenge. And you won't even see it coming.'
He watched the girl fidget.
She was acting… weird.
Not the "I'm going to stab you" kind of weird.
More like the "I want to say something but my brain won't cooperate" kind of weird.
She kept looking at Luca. Then away. Then back again.
Her hands twisted together nervously.
'Oh.'
'OH.'
Shiro's brain connected the dots.
'OHHHHH.'
He bit the inside of his cheek. Hard.
'Do not laugh. Do not laugh. Do NOT—'
This was going to be a disaster. A beautiful, tragic disaster. And he had front-row seats.
"Luca…"
Her voice came out softer than before. Almost shy.
She took a deep breath, gathering all her courage.
"I—I need to tell you something."
Luca turned. Slightly. Half his attention on her.
The other half on the two redheads hanging off his arms.
"What's up?"
He wasn't even looking at her.
His eyes kept drifting back to the women. To their smiles. To their—
'Oh man. He has NO idea.'
Shiro's eyes widened. The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife. The entire street had gone quiet without realizing it.
Everyone was waiting.
Waiting for the magic words to drop.
'Come on. Say it. Get it over with.'
'This is painful to watch.'
But also—
'I can't look away.'
She opened her mouth—
Before she could finish, the two women from earlier appeared out of nowhere and latched onto Luca's arms.
"Captain~," one purred, practically draping herself over him. "You promised us drinks, remember?"
The moment shattered.
Just like that.
And worse, Luca barely noticed.
He just patted the girl on the head—like she was a puppy—and walked away.
"Thanks for the concern, Nora. Get home safe."
And he was gone.
He watched and couldn't help but feel sorry for her, but a part of him couldn't help it.
A laugh bubbled up in his throat. He couldn't hold it back anymore.
He really did try to stop.
But it broke through anyway—quiet at first, then louder, until he was actually laughing at her failed confession.
She turned around slowly. Her eyes went back to that terrifying storm-cloud expression. The soft smile vanished, replaced by pure irritation.
"Why," she said very quietly, "are you laughing?"
Shiro tried to stop. He really did.
But the image of her getting head-patted and dismissed was too much.
"You're so lame," he wheezed between laughs.
Her eye twitched.
"What?"
The word came out as a growl.
"I don't think he sees you like that," Shiro said, unable to stop himself.
Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well…" he scratched the back of his head. "You can see it, right? He has a type."
"A type."
"Yeah. And you're, uh…" He gestured vaguely at her chest. "Lacking two big personalities."
The words left his mouth.
His brain caught up approximately three seconds too late.
'Oh no.'
And he instantly regretted those words.
'Me and my big mouth.'
Her face had gone completely red.
Not embarrassment red. Not "oh you said something awkward" red.
It was pure, concentrated rage red. Like a volcano about to erupt.
She looked down at her chest. Then back at him. Then at her chest again.
"You're not just a thief," she said, voice deadly calm. "You're a pervert too."
A rapier materialized in her hand.
'Okay, that's not good.'
"Wait—" Shiro reached out desperately. "You're still young! They'll—they'll grow bigger—"
'STOP TALKING.'
'STOP. TALKING.'
But his mouth kept going.
"—and then you'll have, like, plenty of—"
With it, a smile tugged at her lips, definitely not a happy smile.
Not a "oh you're so funny" smile.
The devilish kind.
"I CAN EXPLAIN—"
"No," she said sweetly. "You really can't."
The blade gleamed in the light.
Beautiful. Deadly.
So he did the next best thing. The only thing that made sense.
He ran.
"GET BACK HERE!"
Her footsteps pounded behind him, faster than he expected.
'Why is she so FAST?!'
His heart hammered against his ribs as he tore through the streets, dodging startled pedestrians and overturned carts.
'Damn it, that was too close.'
"STOP RUNNING, YOU COWARD!"
"NOT IF YOU KEEP CHASING ME WITH THAT POINTY THING!" Shiro shouted back over his shoulder.