BOUNDED | Brothers Online Series | BK #2

Chapter 8: Competiton

Theodore (Cobalt) Aarons

Present time...

"Should we stop them?" I questioned Karim. The younger Min brother looked enraptured by the unfolding events. His mouth hung slightly open and his eyes kept scanning the crowd.

"We should," he said slowly. "But..." Then he trailed off.

"What do you mean by that?" I demanded. "Dude, if they start fighting, we need to break it up!"

"But they're not fighting." Karim glanced over at me with a smirk. "And if they did, they wouldn't have enough room. So either way, it's a waste of breath for both of them."

"Then... what do you think they're doing?"

"Competing."

"You're saying two thieves are going to try and outdo each other?"

"Yep."

"And... we're going to let them? Let them steal everything?" Another person's voice joined into the rising cacophony of surprised people. This was starting to sound more incredulous as I kept talking. Did Karim acquire of case of Thom-ism? Not caring wasn't a defined part of the younger brother.

"Uh..." Something clicked and Karim snapped back to reality. He snapped his jaw shut, rubbed his eyes before moving into the crowd. "On second thought, let's stop them."

I nodded and quickly followed, glad that whatever spell Karim was stuck under had vanished. I bumped my way around, apologizing and nodding in faulty Japanese. I've gotten better since the start, but there was still ways to go. Karim was acting strangely again, triggered as soon as he caught sight of the silver hair. He faltered mid-step and almost got bowled over by a hulking knight.

"Hey! You! You stole my wallet!" The man went to grip Karim by the collar. He was pleasantly surprised when the younger brother knocked his arms outwards with a double forearm block.

"You've got the wrong man," Karim replied calmly. He jerked a thumb to the side. "As do the others."

Turning our eyes, we watched as several other fights erupted to the side.

"Thief! Gimme back my dagger!"

"I didn't steal it! He did!"

"What?! You liar! I was nowhere near you!"

Fingers pointed, voices rose, and Karim neatly shook himself away from his burly captor.

"See? I'm a knight. I couldn't have caused all that mayhem."

"Then who took my cash?" the big guy grunted out, "I had several hundred Col stored in that pouch."

"I recommend not putting too much money outside like that. Keep your cash in your inventory. It's safer that way."

"Much safer," I agreed, although that was only partially true. The Pickpocket skill could still reach into your inventory and take your things. Items already materialized could be taken just like in real life. A higher Pickpocket skill would just make the move harder to detect.

"Oh. Right. That makes sense. Still, now I'm a few hundred short."

"Look. Here. Take it." Karim sent a trade request, input some Col and quickly accepted. "I gotta go. See you around!"

"Wh-why?"

"Compensation!"

I grinned and saluted as I ran after Karim.

A mob of people was forming as well. They had overheard Karim and wanted in on his "compensation."

"Hey! Dude! I lost my dagger!"

"And my bracelet!"

"My wallet's missing!"

Rolling his eyes, Karim turned his brisk walk into a jog. I was right next to him when he sent a friendly punch my way.

"You were kind of right. We should've stopped them."

"You think?" I smirked back.

"Yeah I do. They're going to be in huge trouble when we catch up."

We kept jogging down the street, following the blend of white and black. I hoped that Yumi didn't take anything. That would be bad. The mob continued to grow like some engorged pimple.

"If we catch up."

The two thieves moved like shadows. The silver haired one must've been small in size for she slipped between two people like water through the cracks of a drainage pipe. Shortly after, Yumi followed, keeping pace with her counterpart.

"Oh don't be so negative," Karim chuckled, "We just need to..."

Whatever else he wanted to say faded into the void. Leading the pack, we broke through the end of the main street and into a T-intersection. At its center stood a small black haired girl. Her fists were clenched and her back was rigid. She turned when she heard us and green eyes glared with held back annoyance while cheeks flared pink.

"Uh..." I slowed down and glanced to Karim. The younger brother was looking around and then refocused on Yumi.

"Hey," he said softly, "Are you alright?"

"Fine," she whispered, moving automatically in front of him and hiding behind his frame. "She got away."

"Right." He looked at me and a bro-message passed between us. I waved my hands and with all the Japanese I knew, I shooed the onlookers away.

"Go! Leave! Uh... yeah! Go!"

I need to learn more Japanese.

A few people said something and I nodded as if I understood. Bobbing my head, I turned back to Karim. I didn't know what they said, but Yumi still looked annoyed. She then nodded and turned around, immediately walking to our left.

"So what happened?"

"She says she knows the thief," Karim answered. "Well, not know know but know to the point that you know someone when you first meet them."

"I'm going to pretend that made sense," I replied with raised eyebrows. "Where's she going?"

"To find her."

"And who's her?"

"The Silver Shadow." Karim sighed and shook his head. "Yumi was pretty darn upset just then. She said that she tried to stop her but couldn't. Something about not being fast enough to replace the stolen goods. Worse, this Silver Shadow has a wanted poster too. She's wanted by the Dragon Knights."

"The Dragon Knights? Sounds pretty bad. What are we going to do about it?"

"Yumi wants us to stay put and go get the rest of our things. She said she'll handle the thief."

"Oh. I don't think we should let her do that."

"Me neither," Karim agreed. "But it's better that way. We aren't stealthy people. We'll get in the way."

I nodded and couldn't deny that fact. I was as stealthy as a rhino wearing socks. "Back to it then?"

Karim laughed a little, a short laugh that showed his exasperation.

"Right. Back to it."

And let's just hope the mobstayed away. If not, we were going to lose quite a bit of money.