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“You can’t be serious! Why does this have to happen to me!”He cried aloud when he almost slipped on the wet mud as he round the corner. A normal human could only see a dark shadow passing by if they paid attention. He was dressed in dark brown clothes after all. However, the one who is behind him doesn’t seems to be a normal human. Whenever he thinks that he shook this persistent guy in shiny armor off, he appears out of nowhere with or without his white cremello horse.To think he would be out of breath so soon. He expected his stamina to be better than this, even though he had been running for what feels like hours. His breath came in small spurts, hot and nervous behind his scarf that covered his mouth. At his side, his fingers curled into sweaty fists, swinging back and forth as if that would make him go faster. Behind him, he could hear the hooves stomping on the ground, like it’s echoing the streets. He didn’t even dare to look back. Who knows what horrors he might face. Even when he runs and jump from rooftop to rooftop, he could hear the horse as though he’s haunted by it.What did he do wrong again? What was the mistake that made him get caught red-handed? There’s no way he could talk his way out of it by now. Not that a knight could trust a guy who is dressed suspiciously. - Eight hours ago - “Another rainy day…” Lance sighed behind his stall as he leaned on the wall, looking at the dark clouds in the sky. He usually loves the rain, but when it comes to business, they are the worst. Most people will stay at home during rainy days. It’s not like anyone wants to buy some fruit or vegetables from him. Maybe only some housemaids or housewives. The housemaids are mostly his favorite customers.They are often very young ladies and some are even beauties. Sometimes he will even arrange a deal with them to sell his products for a cheaper price, in exchange for a date. But that only happens when they have not enough money with them. Some ladies just take his offer as a joke and laugh it off…“Ah no good…. I should clean up earlier today. Maybe stealing from a difficult target would cheer me up. I’m up for a challenge after all.”Lance laughed sadly to himself. Another sigh escaped his mouth as he took another look at the sky. Rainy days are often no good days to steal. The streets will be slippery, so that could prevent him from escaping quicker than usual.However, that doesn’t mean he should avoid stealing on those days. Everyone could master anything with practice. He might learn some new tricks if he comes across bad circumstances and learn from it.xxx“Shiro, are you leaving already? Is it not possible for me to join you on your journey to the town?Allura, the princess of kingdom Altea, walked towards Shiro, her loyal knight. Shiro could see that her eyes were practically begging him to bring her along. However, he promised Coran that he would not give in. Allura would soon become queen, so she needs to stay in the castle by all means.“I’m sorry your highness. Please understand this is for your own safety. It’s way too dangerous now-““Now I will become queen. Yes I know Shiro, but I’m not some helpless damsel in distress. I can take care of myself.”Allura was looking quite offended when she crossed her arms and looked straight into Shiro’s eyes. She doesn’t seem to back down so easy, which is part of what Shiro admires about her. He smiled softly and put his hand on her shoulder.“I know. I’m the one who mostly spar with you after all, I know what you’re capable off. Which is why you should stay in the castle. Not only for your own safety, but also for the safety for everyone that lives here. Who knows when an invader comes here when I’m gone. If you were gone as well, Coran might have a quite stressful time.”Allura’s expression softened as she looked at his hand. Her lips curled up into a small smile.“You’re right. I should be here during this critical time… Report anything unusual going on in town. I received some complaints that theft had occurred quite often recently. Some speculate it’s by the same person.”Shiro took note of that already. He planned to lure the thief out by having a bag with gold around his waist. If he received the correct information, then the thief should be quite skilled. The moment he would notice the thief’s attack, that’s when he will strike.“I will take my leave now, princess.”“Return safely, Shiro.”xxxIt’s always a long trip from the palace to the first town. It’s a good thing that he doesn’t need to go by foot. He shouldn’t waste any time when the princess was patiently waiting for his return.A few drops of rain felt on his face. Shiro squeezed his eyes shut and open again for a few times.“Rain…”Shiro sighed and put the hoodie of his cloak over his head. Not that it was very helpful to keep him dry, but every little help is needed. He doesn’t want to catch a cold during his mission.In the end, Shiro sheltered in an inn against the rain. It is a well-known inn he often visited when he came to the town and needed some rest. It was known throughout the whole kingdom that the innkeeper was also the best chef. Not only does he give amazing drinks, but his food is also delightful. Not to mention that the innkeeper is a very humble man, for example he didn’t rise the prices when his inn earned more money and he even gives food to the poor. Not to mention let them stay the night at the inn inside a special room for them. Saying it’s better to sleep inside than outside. He’s really one of Altea’s pride.“Shiro! Welcome!”A man with a big bright smile behind the counter waved at Shiro enthusiastically. Even though Shiro took a few steps inside the inn, while almost the whole place was full, this man was still able to see him. Well, maybe it did help wearing some shiny armor and being tall, but still.“Hunk, it’s good to see you again. I see it’s busy here as ever.”Hunk laughed wholeheartedly while quickly filling up glasses of beer for his other guests. It’s pretty normal now for him to be busy. However, because he earned quite a lot, he began investing on making the Inn bigger. He even hired the homeless people who wanted to work for him as gratitude.“Master Hunk, I can take it from here. This is your friend right? You can take it easy.”One of his coworkers took the glasses beer and gave them to the guests. Hunk thanked the young man and smiled once again to Shiro.“So what will it be today? The usual?”Shiro nodded with a thankful expression. He didn’t mind waiting for some nice food and drink from Hunk, but boy does it makes his stomach rumble when he knows that food will be coming soon.xxxAs soon as this man in shining armor appeared in this inn, the whole inn got even noisier than before. Most of them were whispering who he was or was asking who he was. Some told others a few stories they heard about this knight. Most knights has short hair, but it seems like he has pretty long hair in a bun. Lance had to admit that it suits him well. And strangely enough he was fixated at this knight’s looks. Not to mention that he was eavesdropping some of the few stories about him. Like how brave this knight is, or that he’s the right hand man of the princess or that he’s from poor background and the princess only took pity on him. So most of the stories are basically gossips.Lance lightly shook his head, as if he wanted to focus on something else. Just at the moment he looked at this man again, he noticed that he was wearing a small bag around his waist. He only noticed because he pushed the cloak away when he sat down in front of the counter. Seems like a bag full of money or something else precious.Lance stood up from his own seat and walked towards the knight. To make sure the bag contains something worth stealing, he will pay attention when the knight pays for what he ordered. Luckily there was a free seat on the left from the knight, so he sat down there.“Oh hey Lance! It’s been pouring down a lot, huh. How was your sale?”Hunk smiled happily as always. Man, he really loves this man. Hunk always buys ingredients from him when he made almost no sale. Of course he can’t do that often, he wants to help other people as well as much as possible. Not to mention that he’s very smart, how else does he remember the name of most people and what they want to order? Like damn, he can only remember the names of hot girls or people he meets often.“Tough because of the rain. Almost no one comes out to the street during such days, unless they are really in need for some vegetables.”Hunk happy expression turned into a concerned look. He shook his head and sighed, while shrugging his shoulders.“That’s really a shame. I will buy your vegetables. It will be a waste to let them turn bad. I’m low on vegetables and fruit now anyways, so that will be a win-win situation.”Hunk smiled happily, while his eyes showed he was still concerned. Not that he was pitying Lance, he was just genuinely worried. Sometimes that makes Lance feel guilty, that he can’t really repay Hunk’s kindness. However, Hunk always knows how to convince Lance to sell the food to him without to feel too guilty about it.“That would be very nice of you, Hunk. Thanks a lot, like always. I will bring the boxes then.”Hunk laughed wholeheartedly and waved his hand as if he wanted to say it’s no big deal.“No problem man. You can use the backdoor to put them in the storage room as usual. I will be in the kitchen if you need me.”Hunk said as he walked away towards the kitchen. He can’t let guests wait and let their stomach keep rumbling after all.“Shall I help you carry those boxes? I’m waiting for my dinner anyways.”The knight offered with a kind smile. Seems like he’s the type who wants to help people too. Well, he’s a royal knight, of course he wants to help out. Knights protect and help their people, right? It might be bad to steal from him then. He made an oath to himself to never steal from good people. However, this is just such a nice opportunity to test out his skills. What would be the worst case if he fails? Maybe he will just barely escape with a scratch. He’s pretty confident about his skills now after all.“That would be awesome! Thanks… uhm…”Shoot what was his name again? He was sure Hunk shouted it pretty clearly before. Somehow he forgot about it.“Shiro. Takashi Shirogane, but you can call me Shiro.”Shiro held out his right hand for Lance to shake. They both shook their hand and smiled at each other.“The name is Lance.”xxxAfter Shiro lent Lance a hand, they decided to eat together. Without asking, Hunk made a dish for Lance as well. Even though Hunk said it was on the house, Lance insisted to pay for it. Hunk bought a whole lot of his stock after all.It was actually pretty difficult to keep distance with Shiro at this rate. While eating they were chatting with each other as well. Shiro sharing his adventures as a knight, while Lance shared some of his adventures with the ladies. Though he was more interested listening to Shiro’s stories than telling his own at the moment. “Don’t get too close to him. Or else you can’t steal from him.” Lance kept reminding himself, but it was easier said than done. Before it was too late, he decided to leave the inn when he was done with his food. He started to like Shiro, like they get pretty along with each other. Which was very bad. He should just leave before they might even end up as more than acquaintances. They should’ve stayed as strangers.As luck would have it, Lance was able to think of an excuse to leave quickly, but still be casual about it so Shiro won’t be suspicious. He was also able to find out that the small bag around Shiro’s waist contains more money than he thought.Lance hid in an alleyway to change his clothes quickly. The sun was setting down, it will be his showtime soon. He noticed Shiro leaving the inn when the sun was replaced by the moon. Maybe he was talking with Hunk, which explains why it took longer for him to go outside.He felt slightly guilty about stealing from such a kind knight, but many said he was the best knight ever. So he wants to see how good he really is in action. He could still feel like something is stuck in his throat because of the guilt, but he decided to swallow it away. He will push his personal feelings aside and focus on his target like a tiger lurking his prey.The sky was almost clear. Here and there were some clouds that will often float in front of the moon, which will cause a slight darkness on the streets when that happens. Those are the perfect moments to steal and run. Though Lance made a slight miscalculation. He thought Shiro was by foot, not with a horse. He once stole from someone on a horse successfully, but that doesn’t mean it will happen again. But then again, if the horse doesn’t notice anything, he could run off with the moneybag pretty easily from him without being noticed.With silent speed, Lance followed Shiro till there was absolutely no one on the street. He awaited for the right moment when the cloud hides the moon from the world. In that instant he sneaked rapidly behind the horse, then to the side so he could grab the bag. At least, that was the plan. But instead, when he placed his hand on the bag, he felt someone grabbing by his pulse. Lance looked up and saw fierce eyes looking down at him. The kind eyes he saw before in the inn totally disappeared.“How about you let go of that?” “Quiznak.”
- Present time -
Okay, maybe he overestimated his skills. However, he didn’t thought he would get caught right away. Like how was Shiro able to notice him? He was even quieter than the wind and moved like a snake to his property.“You can’t escape from me! Just give up!”Shiro shouted loudly, enough to wake up the whole neighborhood. Which was a very scary shout, kind of sounds like a roar to him. Seems like the roles were switched. Lance was no tiger, he was a deer. And Shiro? He was the freaking king of the jungle, waiting for his prey like that. So him walking to a street where nobody was around was just his trap. He must have expected him, how else could that happen?“Turn yourself in! Then I won’t hurt you!”Shiro shouted again, this time the voice sounded closer. Way too close for Lance’s comfort. Maybe he should indeed turn himself in, if he does that, he might have time to explain himself. Oh boy, but that also means he has to reveal himself. He was not looking forward to that. However, he doesn’t really have a choice. It will be turning himself in, without getting hurt and maybe able to come up with an excuse to prevent getting thrown into the dungeons. Or he will hide somewhere to catch his breath, but also risk a high chance to get caught. And who knows what Shiro would do than.
“Fine, I will turn myself in.”
Lance thought with disgust and jumped down the rooftop, in front of Shiro. Which was actually a dumb move, because they almost crashed into each other. And Lance didn’t want to be under a horse after swallowing his pride.“Are you crazy!”Shiro shouted angrily after he pulled the bridles strongly for the horse the stop right away. Shiro stroke the head of the horse to calm him down and apologize for the hard pull. Then he jumped off the horse and grabbed Lance’s by the collar.“Were you trying to die? I asked you to turn yourself in, not to jump in front of me!”Lance felt like shrinking to the ground. He knew that was his stupid mistake, but to expect such a furious Shiro wasn’t really what he expected.“I’m sorry…”Lance mumbled out behind his scarf. He didn’t know what else to say at the moment, but apologizing feels like the right thing to do.Shiro let go of Lance’s collar and sighed loudly. He closed his eyes to pinch between his eyebrows, as if he was having a big headache. After another sigh, he looked at Lance again. This time more calmly and as if he was inspecting him with his eyes. After a while, Shiro has this confused expression on his face. He was frowning and piercing his eyes as if he wasn’t sure what or who he was seeing.“Hold on… you look very familiar.”Lance avoided eye-contact right away. He should’ve put a mask on, the only thing that hid half of his face was the scarf. If Shiro pulls that away, he got nothing to hide anymore. Should he run for it again? No… he was too tired for that. No way he could still shake Shiro off.Shiro slowly reached his hand towards the scarf. As a reflex, Lance grabbed Shiro by his wrist to prevent him from going any further. Lance expression tensed. His eyes were unable to focus on Shiro, as the feeling of guilt was overwhelming him.Shiro was taken by surprise at first, however he did not let this stop him. With his free hand, he pulled the scarf off and saw a familiar face. It wasn’t long ago since he parted ways with this fella. Heck, it has only been a couple hours ago. He knows that not all strangers can be trusted, but this was really a slap in the face.“Lance…?”He sort of asked baffled, as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. This was the first time in a long time since he misjudged someone very badly. Just like how he judged prince Lotor as a very bad guy, but he ended up being a great guy despite him being from the Galra Empire. He knows he’s from the enemy empire, but somehow he and Allura hit it off together. They are now having this secret relationship like… some other similar story a playwright wrote. However, that story didn’t end well and he hopes the relationship between Lotor and Allura will get a better ending. Of course, he would still keep his eyes on Lotor, just to be more certain.“-iro. Shiro? Look. I know you must be shocked, but I… Well…”Lance exhaled loudly as a sign of surrender. The corners of his mouth lifted into a brittle smile. He couldn’t really explain it without making a fool out of himself. What should he even say? There’s no excuse for what he did. A crime is still a crime, no matter what reason he would give.Shiro somehow spaced out for a little bit. It might be weird for him to be in a shock because of a stranger. Sure he knew Lance for a few hours, but he’s no little kid anymore. He shouldn’t trust people that easily, even if they look and act kind. At first.“I’m sure you got some reason for doing this. However, targeting me was a big mistake. You will come with me.”Shiro grabbed a rope out of his coin bag, not the best place to put it in, but he didn’t really had anything else to store the rope. He turned Lance around and grabbed both of his hands, holding them with his left hand against his back. With his right hand, he wrapped the rope around Lance’s wrists and tied them together. “Ow, not so rough. You know, I won’t run away. You don’t have to tie me up.”Lance complained as he looked behind, so he could look or at least try to look Shiro in the eye. He quickly averted his eyes when he met with Shiro’s glare. The silent respond didn’t help either.It didn’t occur Lance where exactly they were walking to, until they passed some familiar buildings. Lance got a feeling where they would be headed, but he begged in his mind this would be the place they were going to. Unfortunately, Lance didn’t have any luck at this very moment either. Lance halted his footstep, standing frozen in front of the door.“Shiro… Okay, I know this sounds stupid and all, but can you untie me? Like, I don’t want to be seen tied up going inside if we are really going here. I promise I won’t run away and you can tie me up all you want later, but if we’re going inside here… Well, I don’t want Hunk to see me like this… At least not yet.”Shiro was pretty hesitant about it at first. What if this was a trick to escape? However, from what he knew about Lance during their conversation...before the chasing. He knew Lance was good friends with Hunk. He didn’t want to startle Hunk either, so he did what Lance asked. He untied the rope and put it back into his bag. Though, Lance was not allowed to walk with freedom, so Shiro took him by the hand. He tightly held Lance’s hand, almost hurting him.Lance was startled by this action. He couldn’t help but stare at their hands. A light flush appeared on his face, but luckily Shiro wasn’t able to see that.xxx“So, why were you trying to steal from me?”Shiro was standing in front of Lance, who was sitting on the bed with his hands tied up behind him. Shiro didn’t try to look intimidating, he was honestly curious. It honestly isn’t a smart move to steal from a knight, mostly from a knight who is the princess’ bodyguard.Lance was quite hesitant how he should answer that question, so he remained quiet. For some reason he wanted to show he would not be intimidated by Shiro. So he only stared at Shiro with an annoyed expression, though that became quite awkward. Not that he was showing that. No way. Then again, his cover was slightly blown when he sneezed and shivered a bit. That was quite embarrassing. Not that it was his fault for having it cold. His clothes are pretty wet, so that didn’t help.Shiro sighed lightly and turned around. He headed towards the fireplace and put some extra wood inside. The flame became bigger and the room temperature raised.He noticed Lance was still staring at him at the corner of his eye, so he turned his head to face him and smiled. Which to his surprise caught Lance off guard and made him blush. “I was totally not staring at him. Nononono, nope.” Lance thought to himself, trying to compose himself. He was not checking him out, like what he would do to girls. Sure, he is hot, but still, no.“-hot?”Lance face started to burn as if a volcano awoken. His eyes started to dart everywhere aside from Shiro’s direction. His hands started to sweat. Not in his whole life has he felt this kind of panic and embarrassment at the same time. Was he just that obvious?“I wasn’t really thinking of that! Sure you are hot, but I was more like admiring you. I bet you’re pretty popular with the ladies. How about you introduce me to some?”He laughed weakly at the end and tried to look at Shiro, which failed yet again. There was yet another long silence. After minutes passed, Lance could hear a chuckle. Was Shiro making fun of him?“Sorry, I was asking if the room wasn’t too hot. But thanks.”He chuckled once more. He was honestly flattered, till Lance said something about the girls. Though Lance’s reaction was too funny and cute, that he just brushed it away. From the looks of it, Lance isn’t a truly bad person. Maybe there are some reasons behind his stealing. Even though he has to be pushed really far to get into criminal activity.“So, what’s your story? Why are you doing this?”Shiro sat down at the edge of the bed, in front of Lance. If Lance was truly a bad person, he could kick Shiro in the face. If the kick is hard enough, it could knock him down. However, Lance only looked quite conflicted at the question and sighed.“Well… the reason is pretty simple. Money issue.”Lance could see that Shiro wasn’t really pleased with that answer. Maybe he should sound very pitiable. Maybe that way, Shiro could turn a blind eye and let him go. It’s time for Lance’s acting to shine. He lowered his head and lowered his voice to sound more serious and sad.“You see...my family is big, very big. We all live in the farmhouse, taking care of each other. Being in this farm business doesn’t really make you rich. My grandma has been… extremely ill for the past couple of months… Her condition is… only getting worse and worse. The medicine is way too expensive here and magic is totally out of option. We just can’t afford that. It’s...difficult. I try to come by with we have. I tried all kinds of jobs! Hunk even buy what I couldn’t sell from time to time and I’m really thankful to him, but I can’t take advantage of him. I don’t want to burden the kids, so I need to…”Even though this had to be an act, there was some truth mixed. It actually makes him more emotional than he thought, which is only in his favor of course. He could even feel his eyes watering, so this was a great chance to look up and face Shiro.“I… had to do this. This is the only way to get money fast. It’s the only way… to keep my family alive.”Lance didn’t just sound desperate, at this moment, he was really desperate. Real tears were rolling down from Lance’s face. He moved his arms so he could rub the tears away, but he was reminded again that he was tied up. It only made the situation worse and Lance couldn’t help but feel more frustrated. This was all supposed to be an act, but he caught up to his real feelings. If money wasn’t an issue, he and his family might have a better live. They didn’t need to live in worry.Shiro noticed Lance’s frustration. He leaned forward, holding his hand on Lance’s cheek, wiping the tears gently away with his thumb. He could see the pain Lance has gone through in his eyes. He must’ve really suffered for the wellbeing for their family.“I’m sorry to hear all that, Lance.”Their faces were close, way too close for Lance’s heart. He could feel Shiro’s breath on his face. He looked at him with such kind eyes, that was just not fair. He could hear his heart beating as if it’s screaming in his ears. He couldn’t help but look at Shiro with widen eyes, his cheeks slowly glowing more of a reddish shade. His body was totally frozen, even his tears.“I bet… you kept this a secret from your family? How about I bring you home tomorrow. I want to see the situation for myself.”Shiro was really full of surprises. Or more likely, he’s very good at playing with Lance’s heart. Just a moment ago it was beating crazy, now it felt like it stopped. He felt all his blood rushing away from his face. Only the worst scenario appeared in Lance’s mind.Shiro backed away and tilted his head to the side. He was confused by Lance’s reaction. It was as if he was scared? As if Shiro was telling Lance he will put his whole family into the dungeon as punishment for his crimes.“It’s okay, I won’t tell your family anything about this. I just... want to help. So let’s go to your farm tomorrow, okay?”Lance couldn’t believe his ears. This was getting very skeptical. If Shiro was only acting so he could find the home of a master thief, he succeeded. If he wasn’t acting at all and this was all out of kindness, it made Lance feel slightly guilty. So he chose the first reason behind his offer to ‘help’. Like, what could Shiro possibly do? If he wants to give them money, there is no need for that at the moment. Lance had stolen enough till now, that they could live peacefully and without being suspicious for a whole year. However, he didn’t really have a choice in this matter. He could only agree for Shiro to let him go.“...Fine.”xxx“I can’t believe you actually lied to me.”Shiro looked baffled and betrayed again at Lance. Though, this time he was only acting and fooling around. He saw that Lance has indeed a big family to feed. Despite the fact that they saw Lance’s extremely ill grandma walking around the house like she was a horse. She got a lot of energy for someone who should lay in bed. Even though Lance sounded sincere, he’s still a thief. So Shiro was secretly preparing himself for lies. Then again, most of what Lance said seemed to be true, so won’t arrest him.“Well, you will still come to the palace with me. I will let princess Allura decide your punishment for your crime. It won’t be a harsh one, so don’t worry. However, the journey could be quite long. So you won’t be coming back home soon.”“I will go… say goodbye then.”