I have Sephirotha's permission to post this story up
"Would you hurry up, Luca?" Goh hissed as he scanned the corridor carefully for any security guards "We'll be caught if you don't get a move on."
"Almost got it," Luca said as he continued to decode the safe.
"Take your time, don't rush yourself," Judas whispered and Goh gave him a stern look.
"We're going to get caught if we stay here for five more minutes," he whispered.
"Got it."
Luca stepped back as the safe spun and swung open for the three thieves to see the contents.
"May I present to you the entire pearl fortune of Lord and Lady Wood?" he said as Goh came closer to take a good look.
"Let's get packing," Judas decided and they each got their backpacks off their shoulders and began filling them.
After five minutes, just as Goh predicted, the alarms began ringing and the men bolted out of the safe as fast as they could. Goh went ahead first as police sirens sounded outside, knocking over any security guards that crossed his path. Luca and Judas followed after him, leaving a trail of pearls behind them. They jumped out of the window ahead, landing in a dumpster that was prepared for their landing. They were out as quick as a flash and into the old small blue car that they had stolen the first time they had formed this small burglar group.
"Do you remember the route?" Goh asked as he and Judas crammed themselves into the backseats while Luca took the driver's seat.
"I have an eidetic memory," Luca said calmly as he started the engine "As the brains and only one doing actual work on these raids, I never forget one little detail."
"Especially when you're boasting," Goh rolled his eyes.
"Just drive," Judas said as police vehicles came into view behind them.
Despite its old battered appearance, the little car sped away through the small streets of the city where the big wide police cars couldn't get through, leaving the policemen on motorbikes speeding after them.
"Wait, wait, you missed the last turn!" Goh grunted as Luca turned a corner sharply and he got squashed in between Judas and the passenger door.
"No, I skipped it," Luca said as he turned another sharp corner, sending his friends flying to the other side of the car.
"Why?" Judas asked with a grunt as Goh's weight smacked into him.
"I decided to change the route that you two drew up to save petrol, time and repair work," Luca said as they came around another sharp bend and began heading towards the river.
"You could have consulted with us first," Goh grunted as Judas fell on top of him again and smacked his head against his.
"I decided to be independent for a change," Luca said coolly "Now, please make sure the windows are fully reeled up."
"We're not even near the hideout!" Goh exclaimed as he clung onto the seat for dear life.
"Are those windows reeled up or not?" Luca asked more snappily.
"Yes, they are," Judas said as he clung onto Goh for dear life.
"And here's the part we all dread in every raid," Luca said as he drove onto the kerb.
The car went up when it made impact with the kerb and went sailing into the river. During the time that the car was in mid-flight, Judas and Goh were suspended in the air for a brief moment until the car hit the water. Judas fell on top of Goh with a loud grunt and Goh groaned in pain.
"You've gained weight, Judas," he grumbled as the car continued descending into the river "And you've lost some vital brain cells, Luca."
"Lighten up, I know what I'm doing," Luca said calmly.
The car jolted and Judas looked up to see the car had been caught in a strong current and the car was being swept down the river. He got off Goh who sat up and rubbed his chest tenderly.
"Now, I was considering that we should pause the bank robberies for a while," Luca said as he turned to his colleagues.
"Look where the car's being swept to," Goh said as he pointed to the windscreen.
"It's alright, I know exactly where it's going," Luca said whilst offering a comforting smile "No, I was thinking we could try kidnapping and holding hostages for ransoming."
"I can see a few flaws in that," Judas said as he rubbed his head painfully "Who would we kidnap?"
Luca held out a newspaper to them.
"We only need to go out to the summer mansions on the outskirts of the city," he explained as Judas took it and began reading about the major business deal these three wealthy families had just dealt in "They all only have one son and the fathers will be willing to give any price to get them back if anything ever happened to them."
"Would it be worth to risk getting caught to grab these boys and hold them hostage?" Goh asked as he read over Judas's arm.
"There's no risk," Luca smirked "Despite how much money they have, they have pretty low standard security systems."
"Right, and how do we get them?"
"All at the same time. Goh, you take the Byakko's son, their security system only consists of guard dogs and guards that will be easy to take out. I will take the Suzaku's son because they only rely on technology and complicated locks for their security system."
"And what makes you think that the Genbu's mansion would be suitable for me?" Judas asked as he lowered the paper.
"Wait a moment."
Luca turned to the front and hit the accelerator to direct the car downwards where they entered a small tunnel. He steered the car through the tunnel until they came up into the sewer tunnels where Luca drove through them until he reached a small den. Goh got out first with the pearls and climbed up the ladder which lead to an abandoned warehouse where they lived. Luca did a quick examination of the car before turning to Judas.
"It was a tough decision to choose who you were going to go for," he said whilst leaning on the car's rusted front "Goh would be best fit for the Byakko Mansion because he has incredible strength and he knows how to use it. The Suzaku Mansion has a lot of high tech equipment so someone needs to be nimble and good with technology to infiltrate them. The Genbu Mansion, however has a lot of exterior sensors and alarms, it'll be tricky getting in during night."
"That sounds like it's up your alley," Judas raised an eyebrow.
"Yes but the Suzaku Mansion is much too complicated for you to disarm, grab the son and run out before the police come," Luca said "You're going to have to go to the Genbu Mansion earlier than Goh and I. The security guards are fairly easy to sneak pass with and without the Genbu's son in your arms."
"But he'll be awake then," Judas frowned.
"Well we'll all have some chloroform on us just in case something goes wrong," Luca said with a shrug "You're definitely going to have to use yours because he'll be awake. I took the liberty of visiting the Genbu Mansion and studying the habits of the son. He's very gullible and in the late afternoon, he spends time on his bedroom balcony playing his lyre. All you need to do is ask him to come out and grab him then because he won't leave the Genbu Mansion grounds."
"I don't think anyone over the age of ten years old could be as gullible as that," Judas snorted.
"You'd be surprised," Luca raised an eyebrow "He's very observant though, he found me quite quickly and offered some tea."
"You're just telling lies now," Judas rolled his eyes as he began climbing the ladder.
"I stole the teaspoon for proof," Luca followed him.
"I wouldn't call it proof," Judas smirked down at him when Luca pulled out a small silver teaspoon from his pocket.
"Would you hurry up, Rey?!" Gai shouted as he and Shin went through the woods "We'll starve if you don't hurry up!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Rey sighed as he trailed after them with a picnic hamper.
"Take your time with that," Shin smiled "Don't rush yourself of you could drop it."
"Argh, my stomach is going to growl in like five minutes!" Gai whined and scampered ahead of them.
Rey sighed irritably whilst Shin just smiled softly. They continued walking through the woods until they found a lovely spot by a lake around a large old tree stump. Rey smiled warmly.
"Gentlemen, may I present to you the most wonderful place to have a picnic in the Suzaku grounds?" he said proudly.
"We'd better get the food out before Gai gets cranky," Shin smiled as he helped unpack the hamper.
After five minutes of pulling the picnic blanket out to cover the tree stump and unpacking the tea, food and cutlery, Gai's stomach grumbled loudly as he had predicted earlier.
"Argh! Give me food!" Gai snarled and Rey sighed softly.
"Really," he muttered and handed Gai an apple.
"No, I want chicken!" Gai snapped "Do you have chicken, Rey?"
"Of course not," Rey sniffed "You know I could never cook one of my beloved birds."
"Aw, man," Gai sighed and nibbled the apple gloomily.
Shin smiled as he opened his book to read, taking a cup of tea to sip in between page turning.
"Did you hear about the robbery last night?" Gai asked as he sunk his teeth into a tuna sandwich.
"Yes, poor Tsubasa," Rey commented as he sipped his tea and took the newspaper out for his friends to read "Still, her family still have enough pearls for my father to insist that I marry her."
"Really, you would think that with technology nowadays they would improve security systems in banks," Shin sighed while shaking his head.
"Nah, they should have hired more capable men!" Gai said as he read the article with a disappointed sigh "My family hire the best guards and the most vicious dogs to keep us safe!"
"How barbaric," Rey wrinkled his nose "Alarms and sensors are the best way to go if you want to stay safe."
Shin smiled at both of them and sighed as he traced a finger down the page that he was on at the moment.
"They're both common uses of security," he said with a shrug "I don't mind what my family get, as long as I'm safe."
"You need bodyguards just to go to the convenience store," Gai grinned "You just don't know when danger will come smacking you in the face."
Rey giggled and Shin grimaced.
"I'm not that gullible," he muttered softly.
That late afternoon was filled with gold sunset light with Shin's beautiful music. Shin sat on his balcony with his lyre, his eyes closed in content as he ran his fingers across the delicate strings. He listened to the nature around him with a warm smile and paused when he heard a twig snap. He slowly opened his eyes and peered over the balcony to see a young man with short red hair and beautiful blue eyes. He blinked as the man offered a warm smile up at him.
"Hello there," he greeted.
"How did you get into the grounds?" Shin asked as he placed his lyre down.
"I took a walk and got lost," the man shrugged "Why don't you come down and help me get home?"
"Um…alright," Shin smiled as he rushed downstairs.
Judas blinked in disbelief and smirked.
"Wow, he really is gullible," he commented under his breath as Shin came around the corner to approach him.
Judas reached a hand out and brushed some hair out of Shin's face when he came close enough.
"Are you Genbu no Shin?" he asked and Shin smiled, nodding.
"Yes, I suppose you saw my picture in the newspaper," Shin said with hunched shoulders.
"Well I never expected to see such a beautiful young man instead of the dull old picture that I saw," Judas chuckled and Shin blushed lightly.
Shin looked up at him and Judas leaned in close.
"I'm sorry," he whispered and Shin's eyes widened when his nose and mouth was covered with a cloth.
Shin didn't have a strong enough reaction to throw Judas off him and fell limp in his arms. Judas scooped him up and ran off, not noticing Shin's glasses falling off his face and being left behind in the grass.