Chapter Seven- One More Time

summary- I thought of Maron and decided, what would she be like if the story was more mature? Not in that way you pervs, but what if she was less magical girl-ish. She still has magical powers, but she's a little older, and she uses her God-given supernatural strength, speed, and agility to fight instead (you know, the one that lets her jump on rooftops and stuff). Oh, and Finn is not evil here. I just can't stand the thought of cute little Finn having to be bad (sob sob sob). So... on with the story and I hope you enjoy. Happy readings!

ratings- T (just in case)

pairings- MaronxChiaki, JeannexSinbad, FinnxAccess

disclaimer- I own neither Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne nor its characters. However, anyone who dares to take this story, word for word, as their own will have to answer to Finn and Access personally. And they have fangs. Just remember- you have been warned.

last note: to change character perspective, I had to put their names, because this site's not letting me just put the dash on its own. Sorry for any inconvience it may cause.

previously in chapter six...

Then, just as she was about to tip the glass to her lips, a flash of something to the side caught her eye, followed by a light sound on her neighbor's balcony.

Curious, Maron leaned slightly out the doors, making sure that she was mostly hidden by the curtains hanging at her sides.

At the sight of Sinbad, she froze and had to resist the urge not to duck back inside, worried that the sudden movement might catch his attention.

Had she underestimated him? Had he managed to follow her after all and track her down to her apartment building?

Cautious, Maron held her breath, willing him to not turn her way. He seemed to be speaking to somebody, but even in the silence of the night, his voice was too low to hear over the slight breeze and the sound of her heart beating in her ears.

She watched as his hand came up to his head, and, as she stared, he pulled off his bandanna, changing him into...

Chiaki.

and now... on with the story!

Finn flew back into the living room, still debating with herself whether or not she should tell Maron about running into Access. Coming across the dark angel wasn't a good sign. And after he had bumped into her, he didn't stick around to explain, but instead had flown away as fast as his wings could carry him. He was up to something. Finn was sure of it.

She stopped at the sight of her partner leaning out the balcony door.

"Maron?"

The girl turned towards her, a strange look on her face. She looked... confused?

"Are you okay?" the angel asked.

"Yeah, Finn, I'm... fine." And as she watched, the girl visible pulled her thoughts back from wherever they had been and focused on her. "I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

Finn hesitated, before deciding that Maron already had enough to worry about without knowing about Access (besides, she should probably find out why he was even here in the first place first before trying to go into the details of who he was), and forced a fake cheery smile to her face.

"I want milk and cookies!"

"Okay." Maron said, accepting the response with a smile at her before walking away to the kitchen to get them, her confused look disappearing as if it had never been there.

Finn watched her retreating back until she disappeared into the other room, before letting her smile turn to a frown and turning her head to stare out of the window. Access was somewhere out there. The question was, why?

-Maron; kitchen-

Maron sighed, putting her hands flat down on the kitchen table so that she could lean her weight on it, her head bowed. She didn't want to hide anything from Finn, but the surprise had been too sudden for her to be more than just that- surprised.

Taking a deep breath, she played the event over in her head.

Chiaki was Sinbad.

Sinbad was Chiaki.

Chiaki was...

They had appeared at about the same time. It made sense.

Sinbad was...

Maron frowned.

But why was he doing it? How did he get the ability to transform? And why did he want her to think of him as a rival? There were too many unanswered questions, and she couldn't find any of them out without giving away the fact that she knew about him- a surprise that she may need to save for later.

She hadn't planned to get involved with him in any way because of her already busy life... but it looked like she was going to have to.

Deciding to sleep on it later, Maron stood up straight, running her hands once through her hair and expelling a breath before going to the fridge for Finn's milk. She still had some homework to do before going to bed. And she had the feeling that she'd have more trouble than usual concentrating on it.

-Chiaki; morning, outside apartment building-

Chiaki felt like an idiot.

He rubbed his hand over his face and yawned, leaning against the building wall outside the apartment complex while he waited for Miyako and Maron to show up. Yesterday had basically been a waste. He had no idea how Jeanne had gotten to the painting so quickly, even given her God-given abilities and her experience with that sort of thing. He was blessed too, and he couldn't move that smoothly. Maybe she had some kind of trick up her sleeve? It didn't seem fair.

A cheerful voice cut through his musings

"Good morning, Chiaki-kun!"

and Chiaki immediately pasted on a friendly smile to greet the intruder.

"Good morning, Miyako-chan. You look as cute as always today."

Miyako giggled predictably, blushing as she hit his arm playfully.

"Oh, you."

"Good morning, Miyako." a girls' voice from behind Miyako spoke up. The girl turned around to face the voice, another, not-so-girlish-but-still-happy smile on her face.

"Morning, Maron!"

"Good morning, Maron." Chiaki greeted, another smile pasted on his face. She had never corrected him on the lack of honorifics, so he figured it was okay to keep using it. Plus, maybe it meant that she liked him a bit. It would certainly make his job a lot easier.

He thought back to Jeanne.

Although if she did like him, she had an odd way of showing it.

Maron looked up at him, their eyes meeting briefly, before her gaze slid away so she could look at Miyako. The politely murmured "hello" that passed through her lips barely reached his ears as she focused all her attention on her friend. He would have been offended if his mind wasn't already preoccupied, and if he wasn't too tired to put in the effort of holding a real conversation. How did she look so awake so early in the morning? She stayed up just as late as he did.

Chiaki stifled another yawn while Miyako and Maron's attention was focused elsewhere. Okay, so maybe she didn't like him. He could tell that chasing after Jeanne was going to stretch him thin. It was going to make putting effort into getting Maron to like him that much harder, too. But he needed to do both to throw her off balance. He had a goal to accomplish.

-Maron; school-

Maron watched Chiaki out of the corner of her eye stifle another yawn. He must be pretty tired. She mentally smirked. Good thing he didn't have her endurance. Of course, she had been at this longer than he had, so she had more experience. It'd take him a while to adjust to the night life. If she wanted to keep him off balance, she had to strike before he figured out the secret of the kaitou transformation.

-Kaitou Sinbad; stand-by-

Sinbad groaned, braced against the tree he was in with his hand, his other hand covering his eyes. He could feel a headache coming on- too little sleep in too long of a time. Why did Jeanne have to pick tonight to pull of a heist? Wasn't last night's job enough for a while?

The clock tower chimed 11:00pm. Access flew by his vision.

"Hey, are you going to be okay?" he asked his partner, the worry on the dark angel's face apparent.

"Yeah... I'm fine."

He took a deep breath and stood up straight.

"I'm ready, Jeanne. It'll take more than a little sleep deprivation to make me give up on my mission." He said with determination. There was no way that he was going to let her beat him.

-Miyako; stand-by-

Miyako checked her watch for what felt like the hundredth time. It was unusual for Jeanne to attempt a heist so soon after her last one. Perhaps the kaitou was beginning to feel overconfident?

Miyako smirked.

Well, if that was the case, then she would just have to bring the female thief down a peg or two. Tonight, she would be in for a special surprise.

Tonight, Jeanne, you will be mine!

-Kaitou Jeanne; stand-by-

11:10pm

Five more minutes left.

Jeanne tugged on her gloves once to make sure they were snug. She had to give Sinbad, no, Chiaki a run for his money tonight. If she wanted him off her back and out of commission for a while, she had to make sure he tired out tonight. Too tired to chase her the next time she sent the police and Miyako a notice. Too tired to try a stunt like kissing her again.

Rubbing her hand subconsciously over her lips, her eyes scouted the window she planned to enter.

It wasn't like the kiss was going to stop her from "stealing". She wasn't sure what he had been hoping to accomplish with it, but if the goal had been to make her fall for him, it had failed. He may have touched her lips with his, but she would be the one to decide when she was kissed. Not him. Not anybody. She was in control of her own fate.

The guard patrolling the room passed by the window again. Jeanne checked the clock tower.

11:15pm exactly. Showtime.

"Finally." she said with a smile, steadying her footing on her tree perch and preparing to leap.

She crouched, waiting for the guard to pass by again. When the uniform entered her sight, she jumped off the branch and into the open.

"Game start!"

-Kaitou Sinbad; breaking in-

The click of a latch sounded loud in the empty room, but Sinbad knew that no one was in it. He had Access scout beforehand. This place had been too far from Jeanne's target for Miyako to care about. She was a very direct girl, and didn't seem to like spreading her resources thin. All her efforts were concentrated on capturing Jeanne on her way to the antique, so that's where she'd be waiting.

Tonight's target was a music box. The owner was a rich older woman. Even so, the job was going to be tough.

Sinbad blinked his eyes a few times to adjust to the darkness and to keep himself from yawning. He needed to finish quick tonight and get to bed earlier than yesterday so he could stay awake in class tomorrow. He had noticed that Maron had been as awake as always, so she must be more used to this than he was. He couldn't let his body betray him and give his identity away. Which meant that he had to get used to this routine soon. Otherwise, Jeanne wouldn't take him seriously when the time came for him to tell her the truth. If there was one thing that he had learned about Maron, it was that she was serious about her work, whether is was at school or sealing demons. If he was anything less than dedicated, he didn't think that she'd ever open up to him. After all, her closest friend was Miyako, who was dedicated more than anything to capturing Jeanne. Ironic how it was her best friend that she was really after. But he'd contemplate that situation some other time, when he wasn't focused on not getting caught.

Sinbad cautiously opened the door leading to the hallway, checking for guards. He was right. Not a soul in sight. Miyako was predictable, but it made his job that much easier, so he couldn't complain.

He ran down the hall, careful to listen for voices, as he made his way down to the room where the music box was held. The plan was to follow behind Jeanne, and when she was distracted by Miyako and the police, make a run for the target. Sneaky, he knew, but at the moment, he didn't have the energy required to come up with a better plan. And he certainly couldn't confront Jeanne face-to-face in this state.

-Kaitou Sinbad; hiding-

He watched Jeanne dodge the guards effortlessly, and he couldn't help but admire her grace and skill. No matter how often he saw this, he didn't think that he'd ever be less amazed.

Then, just as he saw an opening to run, Jeanne twisted and flashed a smile his way. Stunned, Sinbad watched her as she leapt onto a windowsill out of reach and point at him.

"Hey, isn't that Sinbad?" she said, her voice projecting.

He watched in incredulity as the guards all looked at him and, deciding he was an easier target, began to chase after him. Sinbad turned around and ran for the nearest exit.

"Hey! Get back here you guys! Jeanne is still in this room!" he heard Maron call, chasing after them, no doubt, to yell at them. But they kept running his way.

Smart, he thought, as he ran in the opposite direction from the room and his target. Jeanne knew just the way to throw everyone off her tracks and make it impossible for him to reach his goal. And she even got Miyako to leave. He guessed that there were some benefits to knowing the person in charge of your capture. Even he wouldn't have guessed that Miyako would chase after the guards that were chasing him.

The footsteps behind him picked up the pace, and Sinbad decided that it was time to make his exit before he got caught. He really didn't have the energy to elude the police tonight. And Jeanne, judging by the smile on her face, had known that the minute she laid eyes on him.

-Kaitou Jeanne; stealing-

She smirked, pleased that her plan had worked. From her position, it had been easy to see the whole room, and Sinbad didn't hide as well as he thought he did. At least, not to her eyes.

The move had gotten both the police and Miyako off her back, and was guaranteed to tire Sinbad out by morning. It was a good thing that he had tried to hide, otherwise it may not have gone so smoothly.

Shaking her head in amusement, Jeanne tossed her pin at the music box from her position on the window sill. No use coming down until the demon was sealed, since she didn't know how long it'd take Sinbad to escape and Miyako and the others to return.

The pin hit the music box, directly on its center, and Jeanne smiled her victory as the box disappeared and a chess piece took its place.

Then, just as she shifted her footing to jump down and retrieve the piece, out of the corner of her vision, Jeanne saw something shift.

Surprised that someone would be back so soon, and concerned that she hadn't heard their footsteps, the kaitou turned back to stare down at the room, only to see something unexpected-

the chess piece had changed back into a music box.

Frowning, she leapt down from her perch, intent on studying the phenomenon. Her gloved hand swept over the cover, eyes studying the piece carefully. It was a fake. A good fake, to be sure, but a fake all the same. She didn't feel any evil emanating from the box. That meant that the real music box, her real target, had to be somewhere else.

Suddenly, a spotlight fell on her, temporarily blinding her, and Jeanne quickly raised her arm to hide her face.

"I've got you this time, Kaitou Jeanne!" she heard Miyako's voice yell triumphantly. "There's no place for you to escape!"

-end chapter seven.

end chapter notations: I'm sorry it took so long to update this story. Honestly, I never thought it would take this long. How did you like my chapter? Be honest. It's been quite a while since I've added to this story. And I think I'm going to start picking up the pace a bit, soon. Okay, well read and review! And hopefully, see you all again soon (I'll try to update a lot faster this time). Also, sorry if this chapter's a bit long. I didn't want you guys to feel like I made you wait all that time and then barely have anything to show for it. :P