You, Y/n, were always the kind of person to keep secrets.
It's not because you've wanted to.
It's because you've had to and still have to. If you make even one mistake, your life could be taken from you by one of the Akademiya's strong assets. From guards to the matra to the sages themselves, though you remain anonymous, you're still a threat all over Sumeru.
Hm? Anonymous? But of course, otherwise you would've been caught smuggling forbidden canned knowledge a long time ago. And by a certain general mahamatra you like to call...
Your boyfriend.
"Hey, here's your cup of well-deserved coffee, my witty albino." You put the cup down onto his desk, and give him a small kiss on the cheek. Surprised, a small pink appears on his face, but you don't mind. You know Cyno isn't used to being cared for mutually.
"Thank you." He says, giving you a quick glance before returning to his screen. Curious, you take a peek at what he's been spending hours looking at.
"It's the Akademiya's online repository." He states, noticing your interest towards his research.
"A website open to everyone?" You ask.
"No. They scan everything, including your akasha and identity. If the two match, and are qualified by the Akademiya's admins, you're able to use this site." He says, taking a sip of his coffee.
"Having made their own, more simpler yet just as secure way of getting information, has certainly given me an easier time. I don't have to deal with academics and the sages at the Akademiya in person anymore." He explains, taking another sip. He looks at the screen, in which your reflection, the image of your confused face, is planted in his view.
Wiping the coffee mustache off his face, he continues, "I'm currently looking at criminal files. The Masked Smuggler can't hide from me forever."
Hearing these words come out of his mouth makes you want to flinch, but your years of hiding emotions seem to have proven useful. Even to the former General Mahamatra, you looked neutral, along with a bit of bias, in response.
"Oh? Looking for that clever criminal, hm? With you on the case, it shouldn't take too long to figure them out." You say, complimenting yourself and the former matra.
He chuckles, pulling you over onto his lap. "So I'm smarter than whoever that criminal is, hence your wording of speech?"
"Correct-o, Cyn-o." You giggle, successfully hiding your inner distress. You meant what you had said. He was intelligent. Just as, or maybe even more intelligent than you.
And you had always known that. And yet you risk being with him because of your selfish, longing heart.
If you could be happy, even for just a small amount of time, without the need to worry about the other, evil side of you, you would risk the world. Even if who you're risking it for is the one you, and every other criminal, fear most.
It doesn't matter what happens in the future between the both of you. In fact, the question of whether or not you'll be lovers, friends, strangers, or even enemies sometime later doesn't matter. Not in the present.
If he were to find out, let's say, tomorrow, you wouldn't ever regret anything you've said or done for him. If he wants to fight you until your very last breath, so be it. If he wants to lay his judgment upon you, then...
So.
Be.
It.
You wouldn't ever regret a single "I love you" you've said to him.
Not a kiss. Not a hug. Nothing.
But you could only hope he'd think the same.
You run as fast as you could, trying to avert the Akademiya's attention. Guards and trained matra soldiers alike chase after you.
You were used to being in such situations, so really, nothing was relevantly new.
You'd run into trouble while smuggling canned knowledge, you'd run away, slow-poke Akademiyans would attempt to capture you under the sages' orders, you'd escape successfully, the other smugglers/other members of your gang would buy from you, and that would be a day in the life of you.
And that's what you did.
Fairly easy stuff if you ask yourself.
Finally, you arrive at Cyno's house in Aaru Village, where he waits for you patiently with a dry towel in his hand.
"There you are, Y/n." He says, wrapping the towel around you. He caresses your face gently, but doesn't give you a kiss.
As unusual as it felt to be welcomed home differently, you shrugged it off. He was probably just tired and forgot. Or he just wasn't feeling all lovey-dovey today. The latter was the most likely.
"Cyno, what's this towel for? It barely rained." You whine, but he shushes you almost immediately.
"Nope, I don't even want to hear it from you. In the warm bath you go." He says, wrapping an arm around your waist, and carrying you upstairs to the bathroom.
Once there, he looks as if he's come to comprehend something. "I'll give you space to...you know. I'll just be downstairs continuing my work." He comments, before leaving the bathroom, and in a hurry.
You smile at his gesture. Even after dating for about a little bit more than a year, he seems to be scared of making you feel awkward, privacy-wise. It was cute, in your opinion. But he probably thinks he's just broken the relationship code.
Before taking off your clothes, you reach for the canned knowledge buried deep in your pockets, knowing it didn't mix well with bath water. As you search your first pocket, you take your hand out with absolutely nothing but a gum wrapper. The same thing occurs with every other pocket, nothing being found but wrappers and pieces of paper.
Soon enough, you're searching frantically in every pocket, even the smaller ones you knew couldn't fit a canned knowledge.
But only now do you realize something.
You were feeling a lot lighter ever since you were in the bathroom, or perhaps even the house.
Where the hell could I have lost canned knowledge?! Dangerous and forbidden knowledge that usually stays put in my pockets! You think to yourself as you let out your stress in the bath.
If you left it at the transaction site, you're just going to have to hope that one of the Sages didn't get their hands on the capsules, or you're in huge trouble. All the evidence of you being the culprit is all over these canned knowledge capsules.
But if you left it on the streets, then the citizens and dirt could have covered up the evidence.
Those are the only two scenarios and places you could have accidentally left the capsules.
You'd have to go back out again and search for them, as the 50/50 chance of the Akademiya figuring you out today would give you sleepless nights, both because you'd have to keep one eye open, and because you would never forgive yourself for being caught like this.
You run down the stairs, putting on your raincoat. You expect to see Cyno somewhere, but when he doesn't appear to be anywhere, you know you'll have to explain your sudden disappearance using some lie later.
Just as you're about to leave, however, you're met with the gaze of a crimson-eyed albino, who stands against a wall that was previously out of your view.
"Where are you going?" He says, with a questioning look.
"I forgot something while I was walking back home." You say, your acting skills on point.
He sighs, "Of course you, my beloved of all people, had to lose something in the middle of a rainstorm."
Something about him doesn't sound right, and he seems to know this fact just as much as you do. He walks in your direction, his eyes focused solely on you.
Unexpectedly, he doesn't stop after getting close to you, only walking past you with a blank expression.
Turning around to face him, you see multiple little green objects laying on his palm. You recognize them instantly.
"You know what you've just lost, Y/n?" His deep voice, the same voice criminals all over Sumeru fear most, is being used on you, and you only feel worse because you know why.
Seeing as you can't even form words, he decides to answer for you,
"Me."
...
"Why did it have to be you I fell so deeply for..."