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Chapter Two

It was a relatively peaceful day at the Headquarters' of the Kaitou Kid Taskforce. The sun was shining. The birds were singing. Groups of officers sitting diligently at their desks, finishing up the paperwork from their latest case.

An outside observer might have found it a bit odd that the group bore the label of a man whom hadn't been seen in nearly eight years. However, bureaucracy being what it was, it wasn't worth the effort to change it. Just think of all the red tape. So, the name remained.

Nice as it was, the peace wasn't to last. The silence of the morning was abruptly broken by the round of expletives that spewed from Inspector Nakamori's office. "&*%%)!&*!" The door slammed open, a dark haired man emerging. His fist was clenched tightly around a single piece of paper.

The veteran members of the taskforce exchanged glances. Their boss cursing was nothing new. Still, he hadn't gone off like that in years. Not since the Kaitou Kid had vanished, and especially not since that friend of his daughter's had died. Could it be? They wondered.

"Just look at this," Nakamori snarled, slapping down the note. It had been added to his morning invoices. Right behind the request for a new set of surveillance equipment. The nerve of this S.O.B.

Smoothing the slightly crumpled note, one of the senior officers started to read it aloud. Taking a moment to admire the elegant handwriting. He wished his penmanship was that good. "To the members of the Kaitou Kid Taskforce, including Nakamori-keibu," the letter began.

"Though we have never officially met, in many ways I feel I know you already. My sensei, the illustrious International Criminal 1412, known to both friend and foe alike as Kid, thought very highly of you. And so, I have taken it upon myself to extend this invitation."

Another cop blinked, feeling slightly bemused. "Extend this invitation," he repeated.

Nakamori scowled, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. Completely ignoring the No Smoking sign. Aoko was going to kill him. He had promised her he would quit. But with the day he was having, he needed a nicotine fix. "Keep going," the Inspector ordered, mentally considering the feasibility of using a patch. Did those things actually work?

"On this Monday, the First of July, at precisely Eleven Thirty p.m. I will be visiting the Tokyo National Museum to relieve it of the Star of Bombay. As this is my debut," the note went on. "I would be honored if you all chose to attend. It would be awfully lonely if it were just me."

It was at this point that Nakamori's teeth began to grind. He could almost see that cursed Cheshire grin, taunting him. He had to wonder if Kid had passed it on to his student, or if it was just a trait of Phantom Thieves everywhere.

The Inspector decided he would have to ask the other members of the Kaitou Support Group at their next meeting. Yes, there was a support group. Ginzo had been a member for almost two decades. Receiving both an invitation and a very nice bottle of wine right after Kid had pulled a particularly memorable heist involving a flock of flamingos. They never had figured out where the magician had gotten them.

Membership was for life. Their eldest brother-in-arms being a nearly senile old man whom had chased Arsene Lupin the First. He did occasionally accuse the rest of them of being phantom thieves in disguise. However, no one ever called the retired officer on it as there had occasionally been kaitou at their meetings.

While all this was going through Nakamori's mind, his subordinate continued to read. "I am certain you all know the rules. But I feel I should repeat them, just for any new additions. No one gets hurt, except of course for their pride. Not the police, or the audience. And hopefully not myself."

The officer moved on to the next paragraph. "Should you manage to catch me," somehow the words managed to convey just how unlikely their author found that. "Then congratulations. If not," he paused to take a breath. "Don't worry about it. You'll have plenty of other chances."

It was signed with a small doodle in the bottom right hand corner. Not one of the Kaitou Kid's grinning caricatures though. This one was of an ornate white mask, the details done in blue ink. The image both compelling and mysterious.

It was the mark that would later become the phantom thief's trademark. Used to sign each and every one of his heist notes. Kaito had thought about, and fully intended to send his notices in riddle form. It was a family tradition after all.

But this was the teenager's first official job. He hadn't exactly gotten credit (blame) for any of the others. It was special. Besides, it wasn't as though the cops would simply stand around while Kaito gave them all a full introduction. It was far simpler to do it this way.

There was a moment of silence as the officers contemplated the full note. Well, that was different. "So what do we do?" one of the group's younger members asked at last.

"Idiot!!!" Nakamori shouted at the top of his lungs, causing the windows to rattle. "We go to the museum and drag this thief out in chains." It was easy to see the fire burning in his eyes.

While most of the taskforce nodded frantically in agreement, a few of the older men struggled to hide their smiles. Oh yeah, the boss was back.

PoaTPoaTPoaT

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