Messenger

Chapter 1

It's days like these that are the best. The sun was just starting to come up and the streets and squares were still clear from the usual crowds of people, leaving things uncharacteristically calm. Perfect for deliveries, Piko thought. Fewer people meant he could run as fast as he wanted without being a pain and without danger of crashing into a guard. They were already suspicious about his household.

"Are you ready?" Miki asked, clearly still half asleep. She had parcels of freshly stitched clothing over her arm and her reddish hair hanging down to her waist in knots. Piko knew that at five in the morning she wouldn't be anywhere close to being ready for the day.

"Yep. Do you have the delivery list?" Piko peeled himself away from his window perch and proceeded to take the clothing from her. "Better to get started sooner than later."

Miki rolled her eyes. "In your opinion. The list is by the door and please try not to wake up half the town."

"That was one time." Miki laughed as Piko turned an embarrassed red. She was the only one here biologically related to him, so she had that extra right to tease.

"Sure. Just be careful and don't wake me up when you get back."

"'Kay" Piko picked up his list of five or so addresses hanging out of a little basket by the front door. Marching orders as Miki would call them. The words could barely be read in the dim building with most of the windows still being shielded by long sheets of linen at this point in the morning. You'd think these people would melt with too much sunlight, Piko thought to himself.

Well, no time for that. He had a job to do and everyone needed to do their part to get by. If his was running around the inner and outer parts of town with mended pants, then so be it. Someone needed to get these garments back to their owners and mail services was way too expensive. Plus, Fukase did not trust these people with delivering payment back to them.

Not that Piko minded. The wind blowing through him on the streets as he sprinted away was a feeling he could not replace. The sky was painted with vibrant shades of orange and pink with thin clouds fading overhead. The air was just cold enough to be comfortable leaving this as Piko's ideal setting.

Regarding his list, the first stop was the bakery down the road managed by a man that had a terrible track record of burning holes into his aprons and refusing to get a new one. And off he went; through the blunt house up to the rows of shops that were mostly eye candy to the bulk of people. They had prices for nobles that never stopped by despite the royal court being right outside the town's borders. Piko couldn't help but think that the only nobles he's seen were tax collectors and those heading for the Lord's manor and even those were getting rarer.

Piko's mind had a tendency to wander off with a range of not great consequences coming from it. 'Have to stay present or else someone is going to run into a wall. This customer was all too aware of this quirk being a baker and having been awake to see Piko run past and/or into his destination. At least he never gave him too much pain about it.

"Good morning, Kaito." Piko greeted slipping into the shop.

"'Morning," replied the lanky, blue-haired man. "You got here just in time for chocolate hour."

Piko smiled shyly. Oliver loved "chocolate hour" or the time of the morning that Katio coated fruits and other such things in chocolate to freeze for the next day and set up the treats for today's market. The few times that Ollie tagged alone, he always wanted to watch the process due to Kaito being the only baker in miles with chocolate. There were some perks from being sandwiched between one stuffy noble and the palace. "I have your apron."

"Great. I wouldn't be able to stand it if this got dirty." He remarked down at his linen undershirt that was already covered in flour, making Piko a little too aware of the stains on his own clothing. "Seriously, tell your sister thanks."