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Kirigaya Touko wouldn’t call herself a thief, not yet at least. Thieves were criminals that did heists — expensive paintings, jewelry, cars, sometimes even money through frauding a will. Touko, though? The most expensive thing she had ever stolen was an engagement ring.
It belonged to a distant cousin, a girl with fiery red hair and beautiful periwinkle eyes. Touko wouldn’t call herself jealous or envious, she was pretty too and she knew it. Still… Seeing her relative’s smile as she showed off the sparkling rose quartz on her ring finger made the blonde pissed. Wasn’t her cousin just amazing? She was going to marry a man who had given her such a beautiful engagement ring, and they were also highschool sweethearts! The perfect love story.
Touko, meanwhile, had never had a boyfriend, and if not for her girly disposition surely her parents would have already become suspicious of her sexual orientation. It was just… Even if she managed to find someone who would give her a ring just as — if not more — pretty as that one, her family would have no interest in it. You don’t really care for your disowned child, do you?
So Mafuyu was showing off her engagement ring, Touko was seething in the corner, and soon the family gathering ended and people started saying their goodbyes. It was easier than it should’ve been, mainly because her cousin’s fiance bought the wrong ring size. With it being a bit too loose, it was easy to hold Mafuyu’s hand as she pulled her in for a kiss on the cheek. Even easier to slip the jewelry off her finger and inside her back pocket. Her cousin didn’t notice straight away, and by the time she was making a ruckus for the lost ornament, Touko was already inside the car going back home.
Of course no one suspected her.
But stealing from family didn’t give her the same thrill as hitting up stores. Sure, Mafuyu’s distress was exhilarating, but nothing would ever beat the adrenaline of evading security in a shopping mall. If she got caught by a family member then there would be moral consequences, but an establishment could actually take her to court, make her a real criminal. Not that she would let Sephora makeup and cute but expensive stationary land her in juvie. At least, she didn’t want to go to juvie over something so mundane as a cropped with the words “Whatever!” written on it.
“So,,, Are you just too cold that you needed an extra layer or is this your first time shoplifting?” The cashier’s words were quiet, almost whispered. Touko wasn’t sure why she wasn’t making a scene but she was glad.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about”. The other blonde rolled her eyes.
“Not only is your shirt bulkier, I can see the strap of the cropped we sell here peeking through. I’d bet my job you didn’t pay for it.”
“Well, then prepare to be jobless. I didn’t steal anything!”
“Only because you have yet to leave the store.” It was Touko’s turn to roll her eyes.
“If I was going to steal something, why even bother paying for all this other stuff?” She asked as she gestured to her purchases: perfume and a pair of gloves.
The cashier shrugged. “Don’t know and don’t care, but I know a lifter when I see one.”
“So what? You’re going to call security and ruin my life over a shitty piece of clothing?”
“Don’t be so dramatic, also, snitches get stitches.”
“What-”
“Let’s just say you’re lucky you’re pretty enough to get away with this, ‘cause stitches don’t scare me.” That made Touko laugh.
“I’ll remember your kindness.”
“Even better: repay it. There’s a bonsai tree I’ve been eyeing at the gardening store in the third floor.”
“And how would I accomplish that?”
“How would I know? You’re the shoplifter between the two of us.”
“And yet, you seem to know a lot.” Arisa only smiled in response, a gesture as mysterious as her intentions.
“Think about what I said. Also, would you like to pay with debit or credit?”
It was only a week later, while emptying her pockets, that she found the receipt for that specific purchase/lifting session. Scribbled in an elegant font, was a phone number, the name Ichigaya Arisa, and a little note: Let’s make it a date ;)”