The Head Lord and the Rat Thief {Kamisato Ayato FanFiction}

Chapter 28 ~ The Little Mouse and the Thief's Power

Chapter 28 ~ The Little Mouse and the Thief's Power

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       Caiome was awakened by some knocks on the door. Groggily, she half-rose from the bed, feeling her bones rubbing against each other, and a pain in her neck hit her instantly, as if she had slept awkwardly for two nights in a row. She groaned once more, hearing the insistent knocks on the door and cursing whoever was on the other side. It certainly couldn't be Thoma, because he would have barged directly into the room, Ayaka didn't come around here, Mizuki probably had things to do, and anyone else had no business with her.

       She got out of bed and opened the door, but no one was there. She closed the door again, then turned back to the bed, thinking of sleeping a little more, but she stubbed her toe on the cabinet next to it, and a clink caught her attention. On the nightstand was a plate of the usual cookies, but they smelled slightly different, a bit bitter.

       Caiome took one, smelled it, and then took a bite. It was still sweet, but there was also a hint of bitterness, but it wasn't bad. She ate the whole cookie, then realized that her benefactor was the one who knocked on the door and then ran off.

       She suddenly realized that she had fallen asleep, so she quickly opened the window. Good. It was still noon, which meant she hadn't been late to return to Ayato's office. Then she stopped and thought. If the cookie bearer had only wanted to bring her the cookies to eat when she woke up, they wouldn't have knocked on the door, which probably meant they wanted to wake her up. So she made a plan.

       She stood quietly by the door for several minutes, ten, fifteen, until twenty minutes passed. She surely had time before Ayato called her back, if he didn't send anyone after her. Then the knocks on the door were heard again.

       Caiome quickly opened the door, only for the little blond girl to be scared, turn around, and run off. Caiome quickly grabbed her by the collar, gently pulling her back.

       "So you're the little mouse," said Caiome, holding her by the clothes, by the short pink shirt, cinched at the waist with a belt embroidered with flowers, under which she had pants. "Where do you think you're running off to so fast?"

       "P-please let me go," said the girl.

       Caiome did let her go, only to trip her, and the girl fell to the floor, hitting her chin on the ground. Caiome crouched in front of her, while the girl got up on her knees, looking down, hiding her brown eyes.

       "You've been following me for a while now," Caiome began. "And I suspect the cookies are also from you, right?"

       The girl didn't respond, and Caiome sighed, relaxing her facial expression, as it seemed that this was what made everyone misunderstand her. She sat on the floor, scratching herself. "I won't do anything to you," she finally said. "I just want to know why you keep following me without speaking to me and bringing me cookies."

       The girl began to twiddle her fingers and squirm. She didn't even intend to check her red chin or even sniffle from the fall, which wasn't an easy one, but otherwise Caiome had no way to calm her down.

       "Let's start over," said Caiome, then reached out to her. "My name is Caiome. What's yours?"

       "Himawari," she mumbled.

       "We're off to a good start," said Caiome. "What are you doing here?"

       Himawari squirmed again. "You have a two-hour break, right? I thought you would get scolded by Lord Kamisato, so I wanted to wake you up."