… In her haste, Kou had indeed forgotten about disguises. She had no idea how long this would last; and admittedly, she was a bit nervous about the entire endeavor. Kou had always been a rather straight-laced, by the book woman. She’d chosen to commandeer a wagon because it was one of the most illegal things she could think of which didn’t involve innocent bystanders getting harmed.

Kou wasn’t the kind of person who wanted to commit crimes, either, by any sense of the word. But, well, her upbringing had left much to be desired. She wanted to experience all life had to offer! Even if it meant trying less than savory things because it seemed like fun. Besides, who knew how long this de-aging effect would last?

It didn’t take long for Yasei to catch up to her, with their things in tow.

“Oh, good! These will serve as perfect disguises.” Kou clapped her hands together, reaching for the edge of the picnic blanket and tearing off a small corner. “Don’t worry, I can fix this later.” She tied the corner around the bottom half of her face, and reached into her bag to pull out a small, veiled sunhat, which she offered to Yasei. “Here! Wear this to cover your face.”

She grabbed the bowl that Yasei tossed to the ground, hastily cleaning it with her sleeve; until it was clean enough for her to hold upside down and wear on her head. There! The perfect disguise! None would be the wiser!

“I do not!” Kou replied with as much energy and pep as one would who knew exactly what they were doing. She’d never driven a wagon before – ridden in rickshaws, yes, but Tarou was the one who’d bought and operated their wagon. How hard could it be, though? They just had to get behind the reins and tell the horses to go. “But we’ll figure it out as we go! Uppsy-Daisy!”

She pulled herself up into the driver’s seat, patting the space next to her, as if inviting Yasei up. At the same time, one of the picnic-goers finally noticed that someone was snooping around their wagon.

“Wha – hey!”

“That’s our cue to go!” She held out her hand to help Yasei up on instinct; she was not the strongest person in the world but by this age she’d spent her years lifting heavy boxes and doing any kind of menial labor, so she at least had the basic strength to support him. Hopefully he got up in time… because as soon as she heard the sound, she flinched, the snap of the reins in her grip spooking the horses, sending the two off through the street on a stolen wagon out of their control.

---

Veiled Sunhat offered to Yasei

Yasei took the sunhat and shrugged before putting it on. It wasn't his usual style of clothing, but that didn't really matter at the moment. In fact, wearing clothing that was different from what he always wore would probably be better at the moment since they were supposed to be disguised. The hat was little small on him, but the veil still helped cover his face just a bit. His giant puffball of a tail was under the picnic blanket cloak he'd thrown on, making him look like he had a massive hunched back with his staff making a second, pointed hunch to his side.

Yasei chose not to grab Kou's hand to help pull him up. If he did, it would have been a lot more likely that he'd just pull her right off of the wagon instead. He leapt up onto the seat next to Kou which let out a groan of protest. He wasn't nearly as heavy as he was before, but he was still a lot heavier than the average person. He chuckled and gave Kou a low high five with her outstretched hand that she'd offered to help him up with.

"Get back here! That's our wagon! Stop!" The two former wagon owners shouted as they ran behind, but they couldn't keep up. The wagon was speeding away, stolen by two aged down delinquents.

Yasei was laughing loudly. Their theft had been a perfect success. Now they could just have a bit of a joyride before leaving the wagon somewhere those two could get it back. It wasn't like they were going to steal anything from the wagon.

"We did it! Hah, that was exciting. I thought those two might hop on the back or something." Yasei chuckled, looking to Kou. That would have made this a lot more complicated and dangerous.

As Yasei was chuckling, he suddenly felt a tug on his tail. He looked back in surprise and saw a tiny hand gripping some of his fur. Looking more, he saw the hand was attached to a small child who was inside the wagon, looking back at Yasei with fear. Behind him, another child was hiding, this one slightly younger than the first.

"Where's our mom and dad? Who are you?" He asked, his voice defensive as the younger cowered behind him.

Yasei looked at the two kids in horror. Oh shit. This had just gone from a little wagon joyride to accidental kidnapping.

There they were. Two of the world’s worst bandits.

But at least they were disguised as best they could. A small mercy; and if this effect was temporary, then there would be even more plausible deniability that they were ever involved in this ill-begotten crime. Which would likely be helpful, given that they were so utterly bad at this. But what did experience matter when you had enthusiasm in aplomb?

… This, too, was probably the wrong question to ask, when failure would likely mean their own arrest.

These questions had not quite crossed Kou’s mind as she held her hand out to Yasei, who returned her energy with a high-five. This kind of venture was the kind of thing that Kou would never in her life normally consider doing. But she’d spent her entire life doing what others expected of her; part of her vow when she’d left home to take up adventuring was to help people, yes, but it was also to experience all she could in the world so she’d have no regrets at the end. And if now was the one time to experience a harmless little crime while she could and have a little fun… then why not?

Kou let out a delighted cackle as the wagon picked up the pace, leaving the couple it belonged to in the dust. They’d return it - honest! But for the moment it was merely fun to live in the moment, feel the wind in her face and the sun on her back, and the solid leather in her grip -

”Where’s mom and dad? Who are you?”

- Evidently, not as victimless a crime as she initially thought.

Kou’s face turned as white as a sheet.

Pardon her salty language, but what the hell?

“Um…” Desperate, she turned to Yasei. “We can fix this, right?” A little bit of fun and rebellion was one thing, but this stunt could put those children in danger! Grip tightening on the reins, Kou turned back to the cobblestone road ahead. “Yes, we can fix this! We just have to stop the wagon, leave it here and book it, and their parents should catch up in no time…”

Except, there was only one problem.

The horses were so spooked that they didn’t stop even as she tried to halt them.

Okay. Upgrade that problem to a catastrophe.

“Ya- erm, masked bandit! I can’t stop the horses!” Kou corrected herself before she could accidentally say his name. Given the situation they were in, it wasn’t the highest priority at the moment, but given that the stakes had just multiplied, so too did the consequences if they were caught. Then again… anyone who tried to apprehend them would have to catch them first.

The wagon was gaining speed, and Kou was unfamiliar with these streets. A smattering of buildings was rapidly approaching them; it was all she could do to tug at the reins and attempt to corral them down a side-road. The horses veered sharply to the right - the wagon tilted on its axis - the children were thrown to the side, and Kou herself was only seconds away from being flung out of her seat.

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh......"

Yasei looked at Kou blankly, completely unsure of what the heck they were supposed to do about this problem. When he agreed to have a little fun stealing someone's wagon, he didn't expect it to turn into a kidnapping. And judging from her reaction, it wasn't exactly on Kou's list of things to do while she was young again either.

Hm. Yeah, um. This was fine. This was totally fine! Yasei nodded along with Kou. Yeah, they could just ditch the wagon and let the parents catch up to get their kids back. No problem at all.

Problem. Kou couldn't stop the horses. Problem. PROBLEM!

With his weight vastly reduced from usual, he wouldn't be able to stop the wagon from tipping over just by leaning to the other side. He had only one choice. Yasei grabbed the two kids beneath one arm and Kou in the other before leaping from the wagon's seat just before the entire thing tipped beyond the point of no return. He kicked off of the seat so hard there was a sound of cracking wood as he flew into the air.

"Woah, woah, WOAH!" Yasei shouted as he soared much farther than expected also thanks to his much lighter than usual form. This young again thing would take more getting used to than he thought.

The group soared all the way up onto the roof of one of the buildings. Yasei braced for the landing, banding his legs as he his feet hit the roof into nearly a full squat to try and make sure Kou and the two children wouldn't take any of the brunt of the impact. Down below, the sound of crashing and horse whinnying could be heard as the wagon fell over completely and got wedged into the alleyway.

He heaved a sigh of relief and let them all down onto the roof around him. It was at least a safe roof to be standing on. It was flat, with several plants in pots around. It looked like this building had some kind of rooftop garden or something. Actually, it was definitely a rooftop garden as someone was standing there staring at the sudden intruders, holding a watering can above a pot of pink and white lilies.

"Uh... Hello." Yasei greeted them with a thick accent and a small wave, still in his makeshift disguise.

"They kidnapped us." One of the two kids said sweetly, pointing up at Yasei.

"OY!"

---

Long Stride

This was fine. This was all fine. Nothing to see here folks, just two not-teenagers committing a litany of crimes in the process of what was supposed to be a little harmless fun!

Let this be a lesson, kids. No crime is victimless.

Kou, who’d never considered the logistics of being a bad person in all eight long and grueling decades of her existence, was currently freaking out. She couldn’t go to jail for life! She’d only just gotten this second (probably temporary) one! Of course, she probably wouldn’t have to worry about it for long, given the fact that they were about to die in a fiery wagon crash.

Thankfully, Yasei saved her - and the kids - before they could go careening into the road. She was weightless as they soared through the air, wildly kicking her feet and thrashing in fear. There was a horrible, terrifying moment where she thought even with Yasei holding her, that they were going to die.

Then they touched down on a nearby rooftop, finding sweet sanctuary. Kou tried to catch her breath while they took stock of their surroundings. Thank Solaria… finally, this nightmare was finally over.

Or perhaps she spoke too soon.

Kou and Yasei stared at the gardener.

The gardener stared back.

”Act natural.” Kou whispered before also waving at the stranger. “Good afternoon!”

… Okay she took it back. Children were not always gods’ blessings to earth.

The gardener’s mouth hung agape, and Kou was all too aware of the commotion below; one single, fatal word would alert the bystanders below to the criminals who’d caused all this.

“Uh………”

And she panicked.

“Pigeons, attack!”

She waved her arm out, a swarm of warm and friendly magic rippling through the air. The effect was anything but, however, as a swarm of pigeons from a nearby roof swooped down and immediately swarmed the gardener in a swarm of feathers and talons.^[1]

“What the- ARGH!” He stumbled, losing his balance as he attempted to shield his face from the vengeful pecking beaks and talons. But the swarm was overpowering him. It was overpowering him enough to force him backwards, wobbling dangerously at the edge of his rooftop, before falling off the side to the ground below with a sickening CRUNCH and a scream of pain.

_{“… Oh dear.”} Kou’s voice was small.

He was fine. He could live from that height, right? Right. Right? He was just resting. Kou couldn’t bring herself to look. She turned to one of the children, with a sweet smile on her face. “Now, dearies, no need to fret. Let’s get you back to your parents.”

Except there was no way in hell those kids would trust the bandits that had taken them. The child Kou had spoken to took a step back and screamed, ”HELP! THE MEAN LADY KILLED SOMEONE WITH BIRDS!”

“He’s not dead, he’s just resting! See?” Below, a distant pained groan cemented her point. But it was too late.

”STRANGER DANGER!” The second child shouted, attempting to kick at Yasei’s kneecaps.

“I CHANGE MY MIND… THIS IS TOO MUCH ADVENTURE!” Kou panicked, grabbing her broom from her bag and hopping on top of it, waving towards Yasei as if… well, probably beckoning him to follow since she doubted he’d fit on the back with her.^[2] It was time for them to beat feet.

---

1. Raven Storm
2. Flying Broom

Oooooooh...

Yasei looked over the side of the roof at the crumpled mess that seconds ago was just some guy watering his rooftop garden and grimaced. That looked bad. But, uhhhh, hey. He was still twitching, and there were already guards and stuff all around him to help, so...

"Yeah, yeah, he looks fine! Just taking a nap!" Yasei agreed with Kou, nodding vigorously.

Of course, that wasn't enough to stop kids from being menaces, and Yasei grit his teeth as his shins suddenly came under attack from the two trying to kick him repeatedly. He reached down and grabbed them both by the backs of their shirts and held them up at arm's length.

"Help, he's kidnapping us again!" One of them shouted as they swung their arms around and kicked their legs wildly.

"No, I'm not. I'm giving you back now." Yasei said as he looked around, to the kids' confusion.

"Kids are durable. I'm sure you'll both be fine." He said with a smile as he spotted what he was looking for.

"Wha-" One kid started to ask, but their question turned into a scream as Yasei chucked them off the roof to land in the back of a cart filled with hay. The other kid followed closely after.

"Later!" Yasei called to them as he turned tail and booked it after Kou, the Koma-Inu keeping pace with the flying broom by leaping from rooftop to rooftop. The guards down on the street couldn't hope to keep up.

---

Long Stride

Kou wanted desperately to go heal that poor man, but if she left the sanctity of this rooftop, she was liable to be arrested! She’s never been a criminal before. Ooh… she really didn’t want to experience what this felt like from the other side of the law. The old-turned-young woman began to hyperventilate as she hopped onto her broom while Yasei sent the kids off the side of the roof. Of course, she couldn’t see the relatively safe hay cart at the bottom, and for a very brief moment, she wondered if she was about to add child murder to this horrible rap sheet. THAT WAS NOT A GOOD THING. SHE COULD NOT STRESS HOW MUCH THAT WAS NOT A GOOD THING.

But then she heard one of them cry from below - not one of pain, but one of surprise - and that lessened her ever-present overwhelming anxiety somewhat. Of course, there was still the fact that she’d accidentally committed an entire litany of crimes in the process of trying to commit one small, little harmless crime. And the fact that guards were chasing the both of them underfoot. And the fact that she’d crashed a cart and accidentally committed a kidnapping, and if she got caught, would face a rap sheet twice as long as she’d already lived.

Being a teenager was hard!

Eventually, she heard a sound behind her. Yasei, following along in the air as they made their getaway. In the distance, growing smaller, she could hear the angry sounds of guards chasing after two of the most heinous perpetrators in upper-town Sol City in recent history. But they wouldn’t catch up. Yasei was fast, and Kou was an experienced flier given how often she flew to maintain nobility even with her brittle bones.

They were out of the fire… for now.

But Kou was far from calm.

“OH MY GODS, YASEI, THIS WAS SO MUCH MORE HORRIBLE THAN I THOUGHT.” She screeched over the roaring wind in her ears - unsure of where she was going, just that it was away from here. “I DON’T EVER WANT TO DO THIS AGAIN, I CAN’T BE A CRIMINAL! I’VE GOT A GRANDSON AT HOME TO TAKE CARE OF!”

It seemed she wasn’t exempt from teenage hormones.