Guts the Food Thief - Chapter 3

Compared to other houses in the town, the house on the top of the hill was at least three times bigger. It was also quite a beautiful one: chestnut-colored wooden structure and surrounded by high fences covered densely with white-flowered vines. There was no tree shadowing on where the house was, and from the vast sky above, gently moonlight freely painted onto it with a soothing gleam.

Still, the fact that the house standing alone on the top of the hill where no one visited, and Wissy’s warning about an ominous feeling made the house look extraordinarily eerie. Definitely not a place for faint-hearted and sharp-instinct neko thieves. But there was something else bugging him even more. A lone house on top of a hill and a scary person who could devour big people like nekos. Where had he heard that before?

“That’s our target. If I remember it right, then her name is…”, Wissy whispered, and Guts could felt the hand holding him tremble.

“Youko”, Guts spoke what he thought.

“Yes, her name is Youko… Wait a second, I don’t remember mentioning her name even once”, Wissy looked at Guts with eyes wide-opened

“Youko appears in some bedtime story that human parents tell their children to prevent them doing mischievous things.”

“I’m not from the town, so I don’t know,” Wissy paused for a second, “What is the story about?”

“I don’t really know the details, either. But I used to heard it once when trying to sneak some sweets from a human girl.”

“You don’t even spare kids? That girl must get a nightmare when seeing her candies stolen!”, Wissy giggled softly.

“Certainly a nightmare, but to me. That girl hid so many sweets under her bed that ants made a “lovely” nest there,” Guts shook his head to clear away the thought about himself fighting for his life out an army of red ants. Still, he managed to steal a square of chocolate as his trophy.
                                                                                                                                                     
“But some petty ants could not able to hurt our little hero here, right?”, Wissy poked his cheek . Guts guessed it was her way to clear the nervousness of being near the house.

“Anyway, the story is about a witch who lures bad children into her house on a hill with mysterious magic and eats them whole”, Guts said briefly.

“And?”, Wissy looked excited.

“That’s what I know. If you want more details, go ask someone in the town then”, he shrugged

“Aw”, Wissy shook in disappointment, “We’ve wandered around in the town for a few days already. The town people have started to suspect us for their vanished stuffs. Better to finish this quick”.

“Yeah, I agree on that.”, Guts turned to look at the house, “If the “Youko” you speak of and the “Youko” is the same person, then she may actually be able to eat nekos whole, consider that she can eat human children.”

“Isn’t that good for you? She may not care about some random tomthumb entering her house”, Wissy sternly looked at the house.

“What makes you believe that she does not eat tomthumb? People around here hate food thieves, and there was this guy who did not mind to flatten me with a hammer”

“Um… I guess it’s my neko instinct?”, Wissy made a sheepish smile.

“If your instinct is that good, then you would stay away from this mess already”, Guts snorted.

Wissy went into an awkward silence, and Guts felt a little guilty for that.

“So, what do you want me to steal from that house?”

“Something that Youko always keeps by herself”

“Sound like the job difficulty level has gone up”, Guts scratched his head “What exactly is that “something”?”

“Dunno. The client said we will know when seeing it”, Wissy said, uncertainly

“Are you an idiot!? You don’t even know what you suppose to steal, and you still accept the job!?”, Guts could not stop himself from make a yell.

“Sh, be quiet. What if she wakes up?”, Wissy panickedly plugged her whole finger into Guts’ mouth.

“..et it out… an eath”, Guts made incomprehensible words.

“Oh, sorry”, Wissy removed her finger and wiped it onto her shoulder, leaving Guts choking for a while.

“So, anything else to fill me?”, Guts said, feeling his odd of success risen to an impossible level.

“That’s all of it, my little Gutsy. You should be fast, because we don’t have all night”, Wissy put Guts onto the ground

“Don’t call me “Gutsy”. And you expect me to steal that “something” tonight? Without even trying to study about Youko’s daily movements?”, Guts said, trying to keep his voice down.

“Uh huh, like I have said, the more we tarry around, the more suspicion we raise. And, you study people’s movement before visiting them?”

“Of course, and the house structure and pets too. I don’t want to fight a cat mistaking me for its toy.”

“Then you should learn another way to steal thing. My brother calls it: “Venture into the unknown”. No plan, no timing, just rush in and take things,” Wissy grinned

“How long have you two been thieves?”

“Hmm. The boss took us in when we were ten, so I guess about twenty years”

“Without even being caught once?”

“We nearly got caught a few times, but we somehow got out all of them”, Wissy grinned with a hint of pride.

“It must be a miracle for you two to survive that long,”, Guts shook and walked toward the house. It was meaningless to try convincing her about his way of thief that would take him weeks before action.

“I will wait here until the sunrise. If you do not return by that time, I will consider you missing-in-action.”

“I hate to jinx myself, but what if I do not return? What will happen to my sister?”, Guts turned back to look at Wissy after walking far enough.

“If you return, then both of you will be spared. That’s our deal”

“It’s not what I ask for. What will happen to my sister if I fail?” Guts stood crossing his arms.

“Uh… I never think of that. But you won’t fail, right?”, Wissy grinned.

“You know that you’re asking me doing something that may the last thing I do in my life”, Guts sat down on the ground.

“Why are you sitting there!? We don’t have all night to argue about petty thing” Wissy hissed and looked up to the sky.

“My sister’s life is not a petty thing!”, Guts sat still, “After all, I agree to do this job because you two hold her as hostage.”

Wissy’s eyes glared dangerously. She wanted to rush out to teach the stubborn tomthumb a lesson, but the thought of being near the dreadful house scared her.

“Feel cold-feet, little kitten?” Guts smirked at the frustrated neko. He was right when choosing to sit in between the house and Wissy, who would not dare to make a ruckus even if he angered her. He did not feel the same dread though, either he lacked of a neko-instinct or Youko did not expect to be visited by a tiny thief.

“Have I advised you to mock people who hold your weakness? Don’t forget about your little sister.”

“No, I take that advice very serious. That why now is the perfect moment for me to bargain.”

“Bargain? What do you want to bargain?”

“I want my sister being released, even if my job ends up a failure. If you don’t promise it, I will cause a ruckus right here and wake Youko up”

“Y-you’re crazy! If she comes out, every of us are done for! Even your sister!”, Wissy trembled behind the tree.

“If she’s going to be eaten by either of you when I fail the job, then it would be better that all of us get eaten right here and right now. I only want to ensure that she survives no matter what.” said firmly Guts.

Wissy felt into silence. She never knew that Guts would dare to take advantages on everything for his sister to survive. Still, though being angry for being taken as a fool, a part of Wissy could not help to admire such a gutsy tomthumb.

“Okay, I promise. But I have my condition too”, Wissy sighed in defeat.

“What condition?”

“Never tell anything or anyone about us or the trip tonight”

“Sound fair enough”, Guts nodded, “I promise to not tell anything about you two, even when being caught and tortured”

“I promise to release your sister no matter the outcome is”, Wissy said in turn.

“Wish me luck, then”, Guts walked toward the house, waving his hand to Wissy behind.

+++

They approached the house from its rear, so it did not take Guts too long to walk along the fences and made a turn at the corner away from the neko’s observing eyes. The idea of being monitored by a neko when doing a theft job made him cringe, so he was glad that he was out of her sight now.

Observing the vine-covered fences from the ground level, Guts discovered that the fences were just for decoration. They was made from many crossing thin planks of wood, leaving large meshes for the climbing vines, of which the gap were big enough for a tomthumb like him to enter. Carefully treading through a mesh into the “forest” of vines, he hoped that there would not be any hostile insect or animal lurking. At times like this, he missed his needle sword which had saved his life countless times from such threats. But those blasted nekos must have thrown it away already.

The trip through the forest took him longer than he thought, because there were times he had to made a detour around vines that grew too densely. But at least, it was an uneventful trip, until he managed to see the moonlight shining again on the ground. From behind a vine, he could saw a garden with a small fish pond with a some kind of big rock in the middle. There were many large flat stones lined up neatly into a road around the pond and toward the house.

“A…fox?”, Guts stared at a white-furred creature which was sleeping peacefully on a last stone.

Guts used see a few foxes entering human town and scavenging food here and there before being chased out by people. Compared to town dogs, wild foxes seemed faster and more cunning. But the foxes he saw had red and brown fur, not all white like this one.

“Better to clear away my smell first”, Guts took wet dirt from the ground and smeared it onto his body. The dirt was cold, but it would help to lessen his smell against sharp-nosed creatures. Normally, it would be better to avoid approaching the fox, but he had no time to spare now. The fastest way into the house would be through where the fox was sleeping

“I should avoid the pond too”, Guts heard the croaking sound from the pond covered with water lilies. He did not believe stories about tomthumb-eating frogs considering there was not much difference between their sizes, but it was better safe than sorry.

From the vine, he ran toward the first padding stone, hid himself behind it and snuck a peak on the sleeping fox. When feeling it safe, he moved to the second stone. He repeated that many times until he was at the second-last stone next to where the fox was. From here, he could hear its peaceful breathing and noticed that it had a red cloth collar. There was no sign of it being waken up even he was this close, thought its ears did twitch several times. The dirt must do the trick, or the fox’s nose was not really that sharp.

Now for a big detour around the fox. Guts tipped toes, trying to keep a good distance from it. Because the fox was here hindering his view before, he could not see what lied behind it. Now he finally had a better view. Unlike other houses in the town, this house had its wooden floor built higher than the ground level. He did not know for what purpose, but the floor was too high for a tomthumb to jump up and grab the edge.

He looked around, and saw nothing that would lead him to the higher ground. Then looking at the vast sky above, he could see a well-shaped crescent moon. How much time it had passed since he entered the house? Thirty minutes? One hour? Two hour? The longer he tarried around, the shorter time he had. The only relief was that he managed to force the neko to promise on releasing his sister, but it was just a safety measure. He hoped, in spite of his distrust for neko, that she would keep her promise, if he ever failed here. But, he would not give up keeping his own life until the bitter end.

Shaking his head to clear away the wandering thought, Guts’ mind was back to think about a way to higher ground. His eyes stopped to a big smooth rock next to the pond. It looked tall enough to give him a higher foothold toward the floor. He approached ran toward the rock and climbed on it. The impossible height of the floor edge became possible with a jump. Mustering all of his strength toward his legs, he made a high jump. Both his hands managed to grab the edge. He was successful!

Or so he thought. There was nothing for him to step or lean on between the floor edge and the ground, so his body was dangling in air. He was not sure if he could bring himself up there just with his two arms, but he had to try. Clenching his teeth, he gathered all of the strength again to pull himself up high. Both of his arms were aching because all of the weight they had to support.

“Just a little further”, he encouraged himself, and his eyes could now see the floor level. Quickly, he put one arm onto the floor and then another. However, the floor surface was so smooth that he found himself being dragged back by his own body weight, leaving him into the dangling state again.

“One… more time”, he repeated the same progress again, depressedly trying even harder to get a good hold on the floor. This time, he succeeded, and slowly drag his lower body upward. It would be a lot faster if he had a something to step on now.

Suddenly, his dangling legs found a foothold. For some reason, this foothold seemed soft and wet, but it did not matter. He gladly stepped on it and hurled his whole body upward. Now being on higher floor, Guts looked back to the garden, intending to enjoy a brief moment of pride for his achievements. Immediately, he wished that he had not done that.

The red-collared white fox was now staring at him with its black curious eyes. Looking at its black nose, Guts believed the foothold before was actually its nose.

Both of them exchanged stared for a while without moving. It did not look angry for him using its nose as a foothold just a moment before. Was it hungry? Not look like it, because it would jump on him if that was the case. Should he run now? Sound like a bad idea, because he knew dogs and cats would have fun chasing after a running prey. Maybe foxes were different, but then again, they might be the same. He had to somehow fool it that he was not an easy prey.

Slowly and cautiously, Guts made a step backward and stood still, checking the fox’s reaction. It was still just standing over there, staring intensively at him. He made a few more steps. Still no sign of it going after him. Another step, and Guts found his back touching something hard. For a brief moment, he looked behind and saw the wall behind him. When he turned back, the fox had already climbed on the floor and was now in front of him, casting its shadow over him. How could such a big thing move so fast and silently?

At the close distance, the white fox looked more intimidating and towering on the tiny tomthumb. Guts gulped when it brought its wet nose toward him and sniffing. In a dog’s term, sniffing was a way to identify something or someone. Maybe it was wondering whether he was food or a toy to chew.

“Uh… nice weather, don’t you think?”, Guts spoke to lift the stern atmosphere, and immediately regretted it. Was he an idiot or something? Was there event a point to talk with an animal?

Surprisingly, the fox stopped sniffing and its ears twitched once. Could that be the fox understand people’s speech?

“My name is Guts. Nice to meet you”, Guts said again.

The fox tilted its head a little. Was it a fox’s way to say hi? Or it was wondering which kind of noises he was making?

“Well… I’m here because… uh… I feel hungry, so I think I can get some food from the kitchen”, Guts said with a smile, and just wanted to punch himself right at the face. He just identified himself as a food thief. If the fox was here to safeguard the house and it could really understand his speech, then he was done for.

The fox showed no sign of anger. It just stood there, observing him quietly.

“I-if you don’t want me to be here, I will go away then”, Guts nodded, pretending to be apologetic and walked away.

He should have not turned his back to it, because the moment he did, the fox bit his pants at the waist. With him dangling below its mouth, it walked leisurely toward an unknown direction.

+++

“Hey, where are you taking me to?”, Guts asked, feeling the hot breath from its nose

The fox did not answer. Its walking was very quiet even on wooden floor. No wonder it could sneak up behind him like before.

“Okay, I’m sorry that I try to steal food from your house. Just put me down and I promise I will never come back here”, Guts said, hoping to get some reaction out of it.

The fox still walked slowly, seeming ignoring his sayings. Where was it going to? It would be a very bad thing to Guts if the fox’s destination was its favourite bowl in the kitchen. He knew some dogs were picky enough to not eat anything aside from the food put in their bowl.  Or maybe foxes loved buried things like dogs, and this fox was trying to get him to where it hid its treasure? Being eaten or being buried alive, Guts wanted neither.

Taking a breath to keep his composure, Guts took a look around, seeking a way to escape. What the fox was getting a hold on was his pants, so if he moved around a lot, he would be able to slip out of its grip. In that case, he would end up with only his boxer on, but he had no time for modesty, not when his life was under the whim of an animal. However, he must find a way to hide from this fox if it decided pursue him after that.

When the fox made a turn at a corner, he discovered a door. There was a gap between the door and door frame that looked like he could squeeze himself into. Time to act!

Guts thrashed around his arms and legs a lot, but the fox did not mind at all. It worked for his favor, because when he managed to get out of his pants, he fell directly underneath the fox’s stomach and dashed away the moment he regained his balance. By the time it turned around, he was on his way toward the corner.

Making a turn, Guts did not continue his running but pressed himself on the wall and stopped doing anything, including breathing. From where he was, he saw the white fox ran past him without even noticing him here. It was a psychological trick which he used to escape from big people by making them believe that he continued his running after turning at a corner. He never tried it on animals though. Glad that it worked the same.

When the fox ran past him, he quickly returned to where he saw the door, slipped himself in the gap and immediately hid behind the door. For a brief moment, he saw the fox’s white figure dashing past the door. It must have discovered his trick, and was now seeking for him. Luckily, it seemed not seeing him entering the door, or it would be a big trouble. The door looked could be easily opened if the fox slipped its paw into the gap.

Anyway, he escaped yet another danger. Guts let out a sign of relieved and took a glance around the room he just entered.

Suddenly, the idea of being chased around by that fox sounded safer than what he was going to face now.