The woman darted between the crowd, weaving around people and ducking beneath anything in her path. She must’ve been of the streets. If it wasn’t for Mouse’s tenacity, short temper, and stubbornness, she may have lost him.

  Instead, he barrelled after her without restraint. He held no qualms of rushing down the crowded street. He leapt over a half wall, charged through a group of people, swung around a couple kids, and sprinted after her.

  “Mouse! Let it go!” Taiga yelled from somewhere behind him.

  No.

  As if he’d let a thief go after pick-pocketing him. The woman’s coat trailed behind her, flapping like a beacon. He grinned. He couldn’t wait to make her regret stealing from him. Because how dare she.

  People called out around him, dodging out of the way after being whirled around already by the woman. An older woman, upon seeing him in pursuit, purposefully stomped into his way.

  “Leave the lass be.” She wielded her pan as poorly as she did her sense of judgment. He ducked beneath her swing, pivoted his foot around her, and rocketed himself forward.

  He gained on the thief. As she came in reach, he pounded his feet into the cobblestone hard, and propelled himself to her heels. He reached out, snatching the bottom of her coat in his hand, and yanked back on her.

  The woman spun free of the coat, glancing over her shoulder at him with a look of utter regret. He smiled wider. Even she knew she couldn’t outrun him. He let out a laugh, tuning out Taiga’s calls echoing from somewhere behind him.

  “Stealing from me was the stupidest thing you could do today.” Each word rolled off every breath and laugh.

  A man stepped across the path with a donkey, and he whirled around them. The woman was gone.To the left, rapid footsteps. The smile returned to his face. He slammed a boot into the ground, twisted to the left, and raced down a narrow but empty alley.

  With no one blocking his path, Mouse’s boots flew him forward. He made short work of the alley, and she cleared it with him only a pace behind her. Her eyes shifted to the right just past the edge of the alley, and he swung his arm out as her body turned.

  His fingers clasped around her shirt. He slid his feet around her, and spun her into his hold before flinging her to the side of the street. He slowed and hopped to a halt. The woman crashed into a market stall hard enough to crack the wooden countertop. Her leg smashed the support beam holding up the fabric tarp overhead.

  He laughed, walking through the settling dust and debris. “Thanks for the run, I enjoyed it.”

  The woman struggled to her knees and Mouse took joy in seeing her hand tremble. He couldn’t recall the last time someone managed to swipe something from him successfully. And while he’d hoped for a bigger chase, this much pleased him.

  “You psycho,” she coughed, her dark eyes fierce and raging.

  “You called?” His teeth showed in his smile as he kicked a broken piece of wood out of his way and knelt down in front of her. He held out his hand in front of her, “now, if you would?”

  A whoosh of wind rushed behind him, and he ducked as a plank of wood veered past. He spun around. An older woman towered over him, bringing the wooden plank back into hitting position.

  “You scoundrel!” Her voice shook as she brought the wood back over his head.

  The thief scrambled to her hands and knees and crawled away. He grabbed her leg, letting the wooden plank smash over his head. He didn’t shift even as the wood splintered into his hair.

  The older woman flinched when his eyes turned to her. She recoiled, then steeled herself, “look what you did to my stall!”

  He turned back to the thief, his fingers tightening around her ankle. “You hear that? You broke her stall.”

  “Leave that woman alone!” The old woman grabbed another plank, waving it between he and the thief. “Guards! Someone, call the guards!”

  Maybe he should kill both of them. He grabbed the plank with his free hand, ripping it from the old woman. She yelped, jumping back from him before returning to her facade of bravery.

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  “Oh, good.” Mouse eyed the thief as she watched him beneath her furrowed brow. “The guards are coming.”

  She clicked her tongue, failing to rip away from his grasp. She fumbled around, reaching into her pocket. The woman bared her teeth, throwing a handkerchief and its contents at him. It hit him in the face, and he caught it, clutching tight enough to keep the falling pastries within but not crumbled.

  “It wasn’t even worth it.” She spat at him, “who even chases someone and throws them into a wall over cookies?”

  “Me.” Mouse smiled the more she grimaced.

  From above him, a hand slammed down atop his head, fingers tight over his scalp. “Are you out of your mind?”

  He looked up before quickly glancing away from Taiga’s glare. “Ah. So you found me,” he coughed a couple laughs, “that’s, uh, good.”

  “And do you have a reasonable explanation for the absolute lunacy that is this situation?” Taiga’s tone left little to the imagination of how annoyed he was.

  “Ah. Well, no. Not one you’ll approve of.”

  Taiga let out a sigh, letting his anger trickle away. Or at least, Mouse hoped that’s what he was doing. The thief wriggled in Mouse’s grasp.

  “Let go of me already. You already got your stuff back.” She flipped around them, looking down the street and around people gathered and looking at them in interest.

  “Despite how small your gains were,” Taiga walked next to Mouse, his eyes iced in his glare at her, “I’m not in the habit of letting go of thieves.”

  Taiga turned to the older woman, still clutching her piece of wood, “if you hit my partner with that again, you will regret it. Understood?” He left no room for questions. The tone reminded Mouse of when Taiga headed squads at the western border. It was one of which allowed no rebuttal.

  “That being said,” Taiga turned his attention back to Mouse, who flashed him a shy smile. Taiga let out a laugh, “please tell me you aren’t the one who broke this woman’s vegetable stall?”

  “Would you prefer the truth or—”

  “So you are.”

  “Technically, it was the thief.”

  “Who you threw into the stall?”

  “Yeah.” Mouse nodded.

  Taiga rubbed the bridge of his nose. The people around them began dispersing when nothing exciting happened further. The thief made another tug at her leg, but Mouse kept hold.

  “We’ll turn the thief into the guards.” Taiga scratched his head, looking over the damage before turning to the old woman. “Would you prefer payment for the stall or…”

  The old woman, realizing Taiga gave her a choice in his trailed off comment, puffed up her chest and frowned. “Money won’t fix this! I’m turning him into the guards.”

  A smile spread over Taiga’s face, the kind Mouse recognized. It meant he was annoyed. “What will the guards do? The woman stole from us. He pursued, and in an unfortunate turn of events, your stall was accidentally damaged.”

  “I know it wasn’t an accident!”

  “Can you prove it?” Taiga asked cooly. “Because if you can’t, the guards won’t be likely to believe anything you say afterwards. And, well, I’m trying to help you here. At least if you work with me, we’re willing to find some sort of compensation. If you don’t, and start trying to tell lies to the guards—”

  “They’re not lies.” The old woman blinked at Taiga.

  “Well, I say they are. And that’s what I’ll tell the guards. Like I said, do you have proof my partner broke your stall through malicious intent?” He took a step towards her, his head rocking to one side, “wasn’t it, in fact, an accident? And it was the thief who did the damage, was it not?”

  The old woman looked away from Taiga, to her stall, the damaged vegetables sprawled about, the people mingling about but unwilling to step in for her, and finally, to Mouse.

  “Not only that,” Taiga picked a piece of splintered wood from Mouse’s hair, “you attacked my friend unprovoked. I’m sure calling the guards, really, will only hurt you in the end. Don’t you think?”

  “Well that…” the woman fumbled her words, “I didn’t…” She stammered, her eyebrows wrinkling together.

  “So,” Taiga continued after waiting for his imposed situation to set in, “did you want payment for your stall? After all, I do feel bad about the whole situation.”

  Mouse smiled, leaning against Taiga’s leg. The thief’s mouth slacked, glancing between Taiga and the old woman. He took the moment to stuff a cookie into his mouth before pocketing the remainder.

  “B-but money isn’t going to fix my stall. I… I need help fixing it.” The old woman lowered her tone, much more submissive this time. Mouse let out a laugh. As if that was their problem.

  “Well,” Taiga glanced down at him, his shoulders softened, “we can take the salvageable pieces of your stall back to your home, replace what’s damaged, and fix it up there. Would that help?”

  What?

  “Wait, wait, wait. Why?” Mouse tugged on Taiga’s pant leg.

  “Because. We’re nice, good people.” Taiga leaned down by his ear, “and because you could have handled her without breaking the stall.”

  The old woman took a few long breaths, studying Taiga and her stall. “I get it already. No guards. Instead, all of you will help me. I think that’s fair.”

  Mouse’s eyes fell to the thief. All of them? “Hey, don’t push—”

  Taiga slammed a hand over his mouth, “of course. And if you need help with anything else, let me know.”

  The old woman hesitated, mumbling an unsure “mm-hmm.”

  “This turned out well,” Taiga turned to the thief, who’s mouth twisted in annoyance at him, “you help out, and no guards. Awfully lenient of us, don’t you think?”