"You two are a veeeery interesting duo." The person grinned with a hand on his chin. "Perfect for what I'm planning." He flicked off his hood in an exaggerated manner, revealing the young boy beneath it.
"Nice to meet ya."
"Huh?" Gazi stood on guard as Tanaka merely looked at the raggedly clothed stranger in confusion.
"Hey! What are you doing out here!"
The three snapped their heads toward the voice. A Yera Shiri patrol guard was charging at them at a fast pace.
"Oh, I forgot about them. Quick, follow me!"
The boy ran past Gazi and Tanaka, away from the soldiers. Tanaka paused, looking at him and then back at Gazi.
"We are not seriously going to follow who knows who to who knows where in the middle of the night, are we?"
The guards were getting closer and closer while they just stood there.
"Well, unless you want to deal with a diplomatic incident and explain why you beat up royal guards, I do not think we have a choice. Come on." Gazi followed after the cloaked figure.
"I hate this place," Tanaka sighed.
"Hey! Stop right there!!!" The guards ran after them, gaining ground. "Whoa—" Tanaka's eyes widened, and he soon panickedly ran after Gazi.
"Hey! Wait for me!"
Koku crouched down and launched himself into the night sky, his raggy-clothed silhouette displayed in front of the full moon. "WOOOOOOOOOO! YEAHHH!"
Gazi followed after him, using his hands to climb the roofs, with Tanaka following soon after. The guards in pursuit came to a stop beneath the buildings.
"Circle around!"
The crew jumped across the thatched roofs. The cloaked boy sent his right foot forward, soared through the air, landed onto a balcony, and rolled through its open door.
Gazi narrowed his brows as he looked at him.
Who is this kid? he thought.
He reached the jump point—the edge of a thatched roof about three meters above the ground. Tanaka followed soon after him. They looked at each other and nodded before jumping into the room the boy had entered. The wood creaked as they rolled through the dark, moonlit room.
"And yoink!" The boy said as he pulled the sack-cloth door shut.
"Where did they go?" the guards below shouted.
"Look over there!" one of them instructed, causing them to scatter into the different alleyways.
The boy kept his eyes on them through a hole in the cloth door. "Hehe. Suckers."
He turned around to see Gazi and Tanaka staring at him.
Gazi stood with his feet close together and his arms crossed over his chest. Tanaka crouched with one knee bent and his fists raised, both staring at the stranger with glowing orange eyes. The boy chuckled, rubbing his large head of uncombed hair.
"Hey, hey, calm down. There's no need for that, friends."
"You have ten seconds to explain," Tanaka said as the moonlight outlined the stranger's sharp facial features and narrow fox eyes.
"Explain what? How I just saved your life?"
"Saved us?" Gazi asked.
"Yeah. Saved." He ran over and jumped onto a sack filled with feathers. "Those guys were not just after me, you know."
"What are you talking about?"
"You were out after curfew hours outside the Veina Tavern. Duhhh!" He rolled his eyes.
He placed his hand beneath his seat. "You want food?" He threw a plastic packet at Tanaka.
Tanaka easily caught it. "Boiled potato cubes?"
"Curfew hours?" Gazi asked.
"Oh yeah, I forgot. You two are new here, eh? It's a long story. I'm Koku, by the way." He crossed his legs and waved with a smile. "Hie. Wait, did I already tell you that? I can't remember."
"Are we just going to ignore that you were following us?" Tanaka threw the packet back at Koku.
Koku caught it with a single hand. He leaned his head on his shoulder with a confused look.
"Hehe. Also a long story."
"Then shorten it," Gazi demanded.
"Well, there have been attacks at night recently. The pish-posh royals don't know who's doing them, so like always, they blame the poor, aaaaand tadaaaa!" He threw jazz hands at them. "Curfew!"
"This guy's so weird," Tanaka whispered.
"And why were you following us?" Gazi asked.
"Oh, I was in the underground, you know, for legal purposes, of course." He looked side to side before placing his palm discreetly to cover his mouth. "It was actually for illegal purposes… ssshhh," he whispered. "Then I heard of this guy who beat up Brux."
Tanaka looked at Gazi.
"The people were saying all kinds of things. Some said you were a mercenary, and others said you were a devil." He giggled. "Hah. Stupid. Anyway, all I got from that conversation…" He sat up straight, his voice dropping low—almost chillingly low.
"…Is that you could be useful."
Tanaka rolled his eyes. "And what makes you think we would want to be useful to you?"
"Because apparently we are after the same thing. Haha." He glared at them. "The royal vault." He smirked.
"Huh?"
"I heard you two trying to get Aldo to help with some blueprints." He extended his hand in a warning manner. "Dumb decision, by the way. That guy's dangerous. He's got connections with some real powerful people. So when he just rolled over to your demands, I knew I should take note of you."
He relaxed. "See, I know how to get inside the royal vault."
He paused a bit, lying on his belly and swinging his feet in the air with his hands placed under his chin. "And you have the strength to make sure I can get out alive."
"So what you are basically saying is you will help us get into the vault if we become your bodyguards."
"Yep. Like I said, I know how to get in. We both get what we want, and you make sure we can leave in one piece and not teeny-weeny bloody chunky pieces. Okay?"
He ripped the packet open, grabbed a potato cube, and tossed it into his mouth. He closed his eyes as if savoring each bite. "Hmm, hmmm. Now that is disgusting," he smiled.
Koku looked at Gazi and Tanaka. "Honestly, it seems like a fair deal to me."
"Oh yeah? Where are the blueprints, then?" Tanaka inquired.
"Right here." Koku poked his head, bouncing his scruffy afro hair.
"Huh? Are you crazy or something?"
"Maybe. A little bit. I'm not too sure, really. But probably." He giggled. "Though I'm not joking about knowing how to get in. My father works there as a guard."
If the boy has that type of access to the royal vault, it would make sense he knows how to get in. But still… I don't trust him, Gazi thought.
"We… we will think about it," Gazi replied.
"Sure. I'll give you time to think about it. Don't take too long, though. Finding muscle is waaaaaaay easier than finding brains. And who knows how long my offer will stay on the table."
He shrugged. "You can sleep here if you want. Unless you'd rather play cops and robbers with the guards down there. Haha… Goodnight." He backrolled and walked past the cloth dividing the room they were in from the next.
"What do you think we should do?"
"We'll see tomorrow," Gazi said.
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