Dammit! She was quick, but she wasn't quick enough it sounded like.
You know that instinct you get, that buzzing in the back of your mind when someone is yelling at you and you just know it's you they're yelling to? Yeah, she got that, right now.
She heard his voice over the crowd, and threw a quick glance over her shoulder, spotting him after a moment of searching--he was on the rooftops, too. She smirked.
Ah, so he wasn't exactly an innocent man, either, if he could climb up there so quickly and with such little hesitation.
But it wasn't like she hadn't done this kind of thing before, either. She grinned at him, the pearly whites of her teeth visible beneath her hood as she gave him a little wave and darted into the crowd, ducking low and weaving expertly in between the shopgoers, inserting herself quite neatly into a shop. Like a mouse into a hole, she disappeared from his sights yet again, where she quickly exited out the back, into the alley, and then went through the backdoor of the building next door, entering quickly and pausing a moment once inside, pressing herself into a nook somewhat hidden from view as she waited to see if he'd track her in here--chances were, probably not.
"Everything okay, miss?" A young barmaid asked, for she had ended up in a tavern it seemed. Atashi stared at the girl for a moment before letting out a sigh, feigned panic. "I'm hiding from my ex-boyfriend, he's crazy, he thinks I stole his book or something." The girl's eyes shot up, she glanced around quickly and leaned in, "Follow me!"
She led Atashi into the back where the workers could disappear, closed off from the public. "What's he look like?" Atashi described the man whom she had just stolen the book from and the girl nodded. "If I see him I'll tell him you went back out the front--in the meantime, go down this trap door," She tapped a heavy wooden door with her foot, which Atashi hadn't even noticed, "And follow the cellar, it leads out on the other side of the street, by the owner's house."
Atashi's face lit up brightly, she gave the girl a hug, thanked her, and did exactly what she was told. She didn't really like lying like that, but hey this was the situation that had been given to her. So, she was good, and made sure to keep her sticky fingers in her pockets as she hopped into the cellar and ran, coming out on the other side, checking that the coast was clear, and then hopping out onto the street.
A quick look around and she smirked, closing the door after herself. She was quite a ways away from where she'd last seen Idiot McStupidface, and in a completely different direction from where he'd seen her heading. Perfect.
She sidled up into a back alley and found herself in a nice little nook, underneath an archway set into an alley where the sunlight couldn't shine, keeping it nice and dark and cozy for her to remain undetected in her dark cloak as she took a look at her findings.
"... Drawrings?" She sputtered when she finally got to Idiot's pain-in-the-ass book. She rolled her eyes, letting it thump against her lap with disgust. "You've got to be kidding me." He sure as hell didn't look like an artist--then again, he didn't look like a mage either. Or a poet. Either way... Well, maybe it wasn't entirely a waste of time.
She looked at the book in her hands, chewing on her lip thoughtfully.
She might be able to convince someone it was the sketchbook of Leonardo Da Pinci, that famous artist she'd heard about. She tilted her head, looking at some of the drawings, nodding approvingly of this idea. Yes.
She was a great conman, she could do that no problem. She knew some nobles around here liked art.