seven a.m. lessons for a thief

i'll keep your secret while you keep mine

ticking.

time was a mystery to iguro that he could never solve. how time the speed of time changes depending on the situation. when he was beaten as a child, time seemed to pass to slow, the sound of the ticking clock always so loud, as if reminding him how long he still had to endure the pain; when he was happy, time seemed to pass as fast as he blinked, he could never hear the ticking anymore as he tries to grasp it. the world became black again when the loud sound of ticking cane back again.

but today, time passed smoothly. he couldn't tell if it was passing slowly, or was it out of his grasp. time seemed to flow slow, yet quickly along with the wind.

his eyes never left those pink pigtails that seemed to sway gracefully in the time-carrying wind like a painting. her mouth slowly turning into a small smile as she hooks some of her fringe behind her ear.

it was strange. time felt slow looking at her. looking at mitsuri, obanai was not in pain like he used to be. and for the first time, he enjoyed the slow passing of time.

"iguro-kun?"

he blinked.

he rubbed his eyes. his eyes were dry from the amount of time he was staring at her. he didn't want to lose a single second at the sight of her.

"oh. you finished. let's go." iguro stands up and walks towards the food vendor, juggling the wallet in his pocket a little.

mitsuri quickly ran infront of him with some money. his eyebrows raised at the sight.

"keep it for yourself. you risked your life for that wallet inside."

she turned back and whispered to him quietly.

"i may not look like it, but i'm pretty good at keeping secrets."

"keep my illness a secret in exchange too!" she winked a little at him as the food vendor gives her her change.

iguro's eyes widen.

so she knew.

oh.

oh.

a wash of guilt and a mixture of relief came upon him.

he never expected mitsuri to knew so casually, and not have a surprised reaction. he thought she was going to lecture him about stealing and never talk to him again.

it somehow made his heart clench.

"come on! let's go!"

after the last wave of goodbye at the old food vendor, they walked along the road, not really heading anywhere.

it was evening already, they didn't know how long they had been there. talking about cats, tempura and all sorts of stuff. it was relaxing.

the pink sun shone dimly, painting the sky a clear pink ocean. mitsuri looked in awe as she described some of the clouds to iguro. some shapes like takoyaki, some shaped like dango.

iguro chuckled a little at mitsuri's uncreativeness that resulted in all the clouds turning out to be round-shaped food like dango, fishball and takoyaki.