I am a robber

Two black jeeps came where the students were sitting, the roof of G4 was lit bright, giving a false sense of sunlight, the buildings inside were no taller than two stories and the distance between the roof and floor of G4 was no more than 5 stories.

Everyone sat in those jeeps following Aron and Luna and headed towards a building that was labeled, ‘Metro office’. As they entered inside, much like C.S.S.A, a receptionist was present, with whom Aron spoke in code words.

‘’The prices of roasted beef are high.’’ (Aron)

‘’Why not buy trees?’’ (the receptionist)

‘’Tree don’t produce clouds.’’ (Aron)

‘’But they do protect lava.’’ (the receptionist)

‘’Then fireworks won’t be a problem.’’ (Aron)

‘’Follow me,’’ same as C.S.S.A, the receptionist picked up keys, went to an uncrowded area of the building, and opened an elevator door for them.

After all of them were inside, the voice from the elevator came, ‘’hooga booga.’’

‘’Booga hooga booga,’’ the receptionist shouted as if he was a caveman who learned words for the first time. Enjoying the literature to its fullest in the weirdest way possible.

‘’Kivi.’’ (the voice)

‘’Ba… na… na.’’ (the receptionist)

‘’Welcome proud robbers.’’

************

Standing in a horizontal line, the students were in full attention as Aron spoke to them.

‘’You will be living in G4 as if you are working for R.A, you will work how they work, sleep how they sleep, and pass your days how they do, each one of you will be given an instructor to get missions from,’’ Aron stopped and looked to his right, ‘’and fortunately for you, those instructors also happen to be your caretakers.’’

The caretakers entered and stood behind the students in a line parallel to them, all of them wearing robber masks unlike before.

‘’As Mr. Aron said, this will be just like working for R.A, and since R.A doesn’t allow anyone to reveal their true identities, your caretakers will also be wearing masks,’’ Luna advanced and gave each one of them a page and keys, ‘’you will be staying in these locations alone, mingling with citizens outside, and carrying missions in secret, Tuesday and Wednesday will be the only days you can leave G4, and do whatever you like, including the connection task. However, this doesn’t include going back home, the only place you can call home until the end of the program will be either G4 or the places allotted by C.S.S.A.’’

‘’Follow your instructors to their office to receive your monthly paychecks and the location of the training camp which will be held at 3 pm, 5 days a week.’’

************

Kachi stood in front of a blue-colored wooden door with keys in one hand and the paper he received from Luna in the other hand.

‘So this is like my hideout.’

A thought entered his mind as he looked to his right, a few feets away, another student was standing the same way as him, Hera was also allotted an apartment in the same building, having two apartments between her and Kachi.

‘I would have preferred being alone, well beggars can’t be choosers.’

As kachi opened the door, Hera smiled at him and waved as she spoke, ‘’seems like we gonna be neighbors, huh Kachi.’’

‘’Seems so,’’ Kachi vaguely replied and entered the apartment.

Hera on the other hand was full of irritation after Kachi was out of her sight, the smile she had was fake, she was only being gentle, ‘of all the people, why this weirdo?’

The inside of the apartment wasn’t as well maintained as the place Kachi got from C.S.S.A, a sofa, a small dining table with two chairs, a fridge inside a small kitchen, a room with a single bed and an attached bathroom were all it had. It was around 27m square, a normal-sized apartment with normal-sized things.

Kachi took off his coat and threw it on the sofa, he moved towards the bedroom while taking off the black mask he was wearing, he placed the mask on the bed, entered the bathroom to wash, and came out minutes later, since kachi didn’t have a phone, to keep track of his time he needed an alternative. He searched through the apartment to find a clock however he couldn’t find any.

‘Seems like I will need to buy a few things, a clock, soaps, and stuff. I should also check the fridge for groceries, since I’m living alone I will have to do these things myself.’

His assumption was correct, there was nothing to eat in the kitchen, however, kitchen equipment and appliances were present, which meant that all he needed were things to cook.

Grabbing his coat, keys, and mask, Kachi got out of the apartment, while taking out the check he received from his pants pocket. The check was for 2000 dollars, a bit high for a month’s spending in the hands of a teenager but that was his pay.

‘’Going to shop as well?’’

Hera spoke after seeing Kachi in the hallway.

‘’Yes.’’ closing his door, Kachi vaguely replied.

Both Kachi and Hera weren’t wearing masks, Kachi looked the same as he did on day one of school, with one slight difference, he was wearing sunglasses. On the other hand, Hera, who was 15 years of age, having 5’5 height, a great physique, silky long black hair, and blue eyes looked kinda cute.

She was wearing different clothes, shorts, a tank-top, and a necklace.

‘’Can I tag along?’’ (Hera)

‘’I need to visit the bank first,’’ Kachi turned around and started walking, ignoring her invitation.

‘’I’m going the same way, so, I don’t see any issues,’’ Hera spoke as she followed him, ‘’why the glasses?’’

‘’The light outside is too bright,’’ Kachi moved his head back, ‘’do you have your mask?’’

‘’Why? We are going to cash out checks, so I don’t see any need for it.’’ (Hera)

‘’Ah, right! We don’t need masks here.’’ (Kachi)

************

‘’Phew, that line was surely big,’’ Hera took a deep breath, remembering the line inside the bank.

‘’Sure was,’’ Kachi who was walking alongside her on the sidewalk spoke while counting the money he got, ‘’I don’t want to wait in line ever again if possible.’’

‘’Yeah, yeah, Mr. President of weirdos, so where to next? The grocery store or a mall?’’ (Hera)

‘’Gun shop.’’ (Kachi)

‘’We aren’t supposed to carry weapons, it’s in R.A rules, don’t use violence, and avoid killing or being killed.’’ (Hera)

‘’Unless it's in self-defense.’’ (Kachi)

‘’Even so, it's dangerous, nonetheless.’’ (Hera)

‘’I asked my instructor, and she told me that I can carry a gun as long as it's bought within G4, the bullets will be fake so it won’t harm anyone, or as she put it, it will eliminate the risks of any actors being killed by the hands of us, idiot students.’’ (Kachi)

‘I’m pretty sure, she was referring to only you.’ (Hera)

************

‘’You sure you don’t want a gun?’’ Kachi asked Hera as he placed a black gun he just bought in the inner pocket of his coat.

‘’Yeah Nah, I’m not a fan of paying 1.5k just for a gun with fake blood bullets.’’ (Hera)

‘’Everyone has preferences I guess,’’ Kachi pulled the door of a store and entered inside, ‘’though, we might need them in a mission or two.’’

‘’I will see when that time comes,’’ Hera grabbed a basket after Kachi did, ‘’for now I want to figure out this ‘living like an R.A employee’ thing.’’

‘’Mhmm,’’ Kachi grabbed a few things from the shelf and placed them in the basket without checking the ingredients or quality.

‘’I’m curious, what did you do to be noticed by M.C.O,’’ Hera looked at the way Kachi was shopping for things weirdly, ‘’for me, I stole a vintage car from a wealthy old guy.’’

Kachi placed a wall clock in the basket and looked towards Hera, ‘’nothing too flashy.’’

‘’Still, tell me, I’m eager to know,’’ Hera placed a towel in her basket.

‘’I robbed some banks,’’ Kachi picked up a photo frame, ‘’around 10 to be exact.’’

Hearing that, the basket Hera was holding dropped to the ground, ‘’you are joking, right? No way you are the unknown robber who was on the news for the last two months.’’

‘’Unknown? I wrote Kachi on the notes I left,’’ Kachi responded smugly, ready to be praised for the things he has done.

‘’Haha, nice one, for a moment there I almost believed you,’’ Hera laughed while picking up the basket and stuff that came out of it.

‘’But…’’ Kachi was about to respond, but stopped midway when he saw Hera moving to the vegetable section.

************

After shopping their hearts out, they reached the counter to pay for things they had just bought, however, there was a big line between them and the freedom of going back to their apartments.

This naturally irritated Kachi, as he waited in line twice before, once in the bank and the other time in the gun shop, it seemed like long lines were slowly becoming an enemy of Kachi.

Frustrated by this, Kachi got out of the line, much to Hera’s surprise, he moved towards the counter where a female was present, attending to the shoppers in front of her. On his way there, Kachi took out the mask he had inside the left pocket of his pants.

Wearing the mask, he moved his hand inside his coat, grabbing the gun and hiding it behind his back with his left hand, while holding the basket in his right.

People seemed to notice him but didn’t do anything. Hera on the other hand moved away from the line, going back to the grocery section again, trying to avoid being seen with him in any way.

Kachi reached the counter, the female wasn’t paying attention to him and instead kept doing her work.

‘’Excuse me kind miss!’’ Kachi spoke, still hiding the gun.

‘’Hmm?’’ The female looked at him with questioning eyes.

As her attention turned towards him, he pointed the gun towards her, with eyes so serious that it would kill anyone who would even peek at them Kachi spoke in a heavy voice, ‘’I am a robber.’’

This scared the shit out of the female, her face was visibly showing signs of someone about to die from fear, ‘’robber, it’s… it’s a robber.’’

The people who were standing in line, ran to the nearest wall of that store, away from Kachi and his eyes, people who couldn’t see what was going on, heard the female screaming the word ‘robber’ without wasting any time, they either lay down on the ground in fear or hid behind other people who were curiously searching for Kachi’s location.

‘’Please… please don’t hurt me… tell me what you want,’’ naturally, the female was worried about her life so she offered him anything he wanted in exchange for letting her go alive.

‘’I’m glad you asked,’’ smiling most creepily, Kachi moved the gun away and placed the basket on the counter. The basket appeared as a dark bed to that lady who was in a shock beyond explanation.

After placing the basket, Kachi slammed on the counter desk with his fist, startling the female, who was already in terror.

‘’The bill please, I don’t want to wait in line,’’ Kachi smiled yet again, however, this time in a pleasant way, so pleasant that you would see glimpses of rose petals falling from the sky.

‘’I think it's a real gun!’’ (shopper #1)

‘’It’s not an act, be careful.’’ (shopper #2)

‘’What a bad person, scaring a helpless girl.’’ (shopper #3)

‘’Why don’t you go and help her?’’ (shopper #4)

‘’I can’t, I have an ulcer.’’ (Shopper #3)

‘’He almost killed me for a minute there, what a weirdo,’’ the female glared at Kachi with tears in her eyes.

A minute later, she packed all his stuff and told him his bill, ‘’umm… your bill is 134.66 dollars.’’

Kachi gave her 140 dollars and smiled the creepiest way again, ‘’here, keep the change.’’

(R.A RULE ACCORDING TO KACHI #1: use force to avoid the line and pay the bill.)

After Kachi left, everyone took a breath of relief, people saw him leave while ducking behind anything they could find. Most importantly Hera was confused about what just happened, but she was also relieved to know that there wasn’t any involvement by her.

************

Whistling, and in a happy mood, Kachi entered his apartment, placed the things he bought on the kitchen shelf, and sorted them out while playing with words and the items.

‘’Cereals go in the cabin.’’

‘’Milk, in the fridge.’’

‘’Dish cleaning soap near the sink.’’

‘’And eggs…’’

Kachi’s heart stopped as he looked inside the bags, he was so shocked that he tried to enter inside the bags to search for the love of his life.

‘’Where… are the eggs?’’

While he was struggling, he heard police sirens coming from outside through the window of the kitchen, this made his eyes go wide. He slowly dropped to his knees and looked up, ‘’Goddammit…’’’

Tears came out of his eyes as he slammed his hands on the floor, ‘’I messed up big time.’’

Grabbing his hair with his hands, he looked up again and screamed. ‘’I forgot to buy the damn eggs.’’

His scream was heard by Hera who just entered the hallway, however, instead of checking on him she went towards her apartment with a single thought, ‘I better avoid that idiot from now on.’