The Undesired Second Chance

Chapter 13: From the Shadows

"How do you talk me into these things?!" he gasped, running at top-speed after the older boy as they weaved through familiar alleys to make their escape.

Kaito just laughed, bright and happy, the sack of stolen rice heavy in his arms. "We all gotta eat, Toto!" he yelled back. "Makes for a convincing argument!"

Gasping for breath, the four-year-old was unable to provide his usual annoyed reprimand about the nickname and had to settle with a sharp glance. Which, since it distracted him from running, made him nearly trip over his own feet.

Honestly, Kaito was the one to choose the name in the first place; it made no sense for him to butcher it and cut it down to nearly nothing. It's his own fault he chose a long, cumbersome name like 'Yamamoto' and he should have to deal with the consequences.

The pair ducked down an alley, then squeezed through a gap in the wall much too narrow for their adult pursuers: there were very few perks to being small, but this was definitely one of them. From where they were crouched—somebody's thoroughly neglected garden—they quieted to listen for any sounds from the other side of the wall. Shouts and footsteps swept past their hiding spot. After waiting for a long moment to make sure the coast was clear, the two finally wriggled back through the gap.

"Home free," Kaito said, still cautiously quiet but undeniably triumphant. Shifting the stolen rice to check his grip, he then trotted to the opening of the alley. Carefully sticking his head out, he glanced around for any sign of their pursuers.

"No," the younger child corrected. "Not before we actually get home."

"A good point, Toto."

"It's not—" He sighed, already sensing the futility of his protest. "If you wanted to cut the name down, why couldn't you choose something cooler? like 'Yama' or... or 'Yamato'? I like that one. Can't we use that one instead?"

Dramatically, Kaito put on an expression of abject shock and shook his head. "How could you say such a thing, Toto? 'Toto' is a perfectly good name, Toto."

"It sounds like a dog's name," the kid grumbled.

To himself, however—and he wouldn't admit this for all the rice in the world—he did kind of like it. Barely a year ago he didn't even have a name, after all, and he couldn't remember anything but being cold and hungry. Then everything changed. All because Kaito had found him huddled at the base of the Hokage Monument mountain, and named him accordingly.

Though, logically, the whole 'finding him' had more of an impact than 'naming him'. He just liked to be dramatic sometimes. And, yes, it's true that they were still cold and hungry more days than not. The physical situation might have actually gotten worse, with two mouths to feed rather than just one.

But it was still better, because now they had each other.

Plus, in just the past few weeks, their life had had yet another positive twist: a shabby-but-amazing old house in the abandoned district. Right now, with stolen goods in hand, they needed to get back to base.

Seeing the coast was clear, Kaito waved his little brother forward and they ventured together through the streets of their village. Though they were still careful to avoid anyone that might know to resume the earlier chase.

It was much easier to do that, once they passed into the abandoned district. People might skirt through the edges occasionally, taking shortcuts on once well-traveled streets, but hardly anybody still wandered more than one block in.

Which suited the young rice thieves perfectly.

Kaito picked up the pace, having caught sight of the run-down building they called home. It was missing the front door, it having been forcibly removed at some point, but that didn't matter to them. The walls might be cracked and the floor might have water-damage, there might be more broken windows than whole ones, but this was their home: they loved it all the same.