Ruby

Once again, I was on a running spree with the mafia king’s goons catching behind my tail. Or to be precise, behind me and this unknown guy’s tail. I still don’t know his reasons as to why he was being chased around by these people, so in the next hiding time, the two of us were hiding amongst the crowds in lunch hour, while also buying a lunch of a chicken sandwich in a bustling restaurant. After that, the two of us took a seat inside the restaurant while occasionally eyeing for the goons.

“I gotta be honest.” The guy is slurring his words as he gobbled down the chicken sandwich. “I like your egg sandwich the most in the entire world.”

I stopped chewing on my chicken sandwich and gave him a grimaced look. Is this guy for real? Does he like that greasy fried egg squeezed with two slices of ordinary bread and some chilli sauce and mayonaise more than this grandiose crunchy and delicious fried chicken topped with premium salad and tomates and paired with two slices of premium bread?

I scoffed. “Are you sure you are right in the mind?”

The guy nodded enthusiastically. “No doubt about it. But I guess if you were starved for a week and have to scrape for food in the trashcan, even a simple ball of rice can taste heavenly.”

My brows creased in an empathic look. I reached out my arm across the table and patted his shoulders.

“Eat some more. It’s my treat.”

The guy nodded happily before continuing his munching.

I was about to continue eating, when I stopped to ask him about this recurring curiosity I have in mind.

“You,” My single word managed to gain his attention.

“Call me Mark. We have been together for a few hours already yet we still didn’t know each other’s name.” He giggled and wiped his mouth with the sleeves of his cargo long coat.

I snickered as a response. “Mark. Call me Ruby.”

The male called Mark nodded. “Ruby. Nice to meet you.”

He grinned again.

“So what are you taking about?” He leaned down his head to bite into the chicken sandwich. I was grateful that he brought back the topic, his smile almost made me forget about the question I was about to ask.

“Why do those people chased after you?”

“Oh, straight to the point, eh?” Mark subtly chuckled. “The reason is actually pretty simple.” He paused for a bit and slipped one of his hands into his pocket.

A few seconds after that, he took out a shiny silver lighter with a golden dragon and a shiny ruby embedded as it’s eyes. My eyes widened slightly in awe.

“I stole this from the head of the Mafia group about three days ago. Since then I’m on a run.”

My widened eyes turned into a scrutinizing look. “Why would you steal from someone that scary?”

“Look, I don’t have a choice okay? I was kicked out from my house about a week ago and I need food. Those people just coincidentally appeared when I was at my limit and somehow I successfully stole this from them.”

I was about to mouth something when I closed my mouth, falling in a deep ponder.

“But wait, why would they chase after you just because of a lighter?”

Mark snapped his fingers while giving me the I-told-you expression. “Strange, right? This lighter didn’t even worth that much in my opinion, yet these people were chasing me until the ends of the world.”

I put down the sandwich and pondered. Why would these people chase after him for a lighter? Not too long after that did my rationality gave me the answer.

“I think I know why they’re like that.” I heaved a sigh and snorted. “That thing, is probably a present given by someone important. That explain why they are mad.”

Mark’s jaw dropped. He then hovered the lighter in front of me and his view as he repeated himself again. “This thing?”

I nodded. “Yeah. If not, why would the mafia king bothered to send people to capture you?”

I shrugged. Now that I’ve known the realistic answer, everything makes more sense now.

“Wait.” Mark shot me a strange look. “Why would you call him a Mafia King?”

He was beginning to ask a straying question different from the main topic, but it was fun to answer nonetheless.

And also, I’ve probably forgotten that we are being chased down, because before I could answer his question, a shouting erupted from the charttering people inside the restaurant.

“There they are!”