It was a cold October night. However, it didn't stop the celebration that was happening in the grand hall of the Shining Towers. It was Prince Cecil Aijima's birthday. Extravagant presents were being carted and stack one on top of the other in a pile. It almost looked like a mountain. The guest were dressed in extravagant clothes and accessories from watches to tiaras. The guest of honor was standing at the center of attention with his date on his arm. His date was by all means lovely. She had blonde hair that was pinned up, her lips are devil red and her skin's the color of mocha. (Teehee) The prince's date looked distracted so he decided to address it.
"Are you enjoying the party, my princess?" Cecil asked.
"Oh I am..." She didn't sound convincing enough.
"Naomi," He raised an eyebrow pushing her to tell the truth.
"Alright, Alright..." She had a little blush on her cheeks, "I just want some alone time so I can give you my special surprise." She hugged his arm close to her ample chest sending pleasant shivers up the prince's spine. "I'm sure you will like it..." Cecil was fighting the urge to look down golden dress that wrapped around his date's body so well.
"You're not wrong..." he cleared his throat before leaning over to whisper in her ear, "Just wait a few minutes and I'm all yours, my princess."
She giggled softly in response, "Okay." After a few moments she politely excused herself to the bathroom. It's been 20 minutes and Cecil was a becoming weary when he noticed his date wasn't returning. The party became deathly still when there was a loud female scream and gunshots. The doors burst opened and Naomi stumbled in her gold dress was stained in blood and she collapsed onto the ground.
The prince's heart dropped and shattered. He pushed through the crowd and held her, "Naomi! Stay awake...please stay awake."
Her reddish-brown eyes opened slowly and she looked up at Cecil, "I-It hurts..." she said weakly.
"Someone get help please!" Cecil ordered he grew more frantic when he felt Naomi slowly going limp in his arms.
"B-be...happy, my...prince," She took her last breath before going limp in his arms.
"Naomi? Naomi...NAOMI!" He hugged her body close to his not caring about the blood stains his elegant garments. Cecil buried his face into her neck to hide the tears. He was in love with her and now she's gone.
The doors opened again and in came the first responders with a stretcher and a body bag at the ready. It was strange that they had face masks but it was probably because they didn't wish to contaminate anything. It didn't take long for them to take the body away from the prince's embrace. As the body was analyzed, the victim was pronounced dead in the end. Two police officers came in. One had silver hair and mismatched eyes. The other was a tall blonde man in glasses.
"Everyone I'm Officer Todd this is my partner Officer Sino. Please leave the building and prepare for questioning. This is a crime scene." The silver hair officer said everyone was murmuring as they left the building. Cecil was the only one that's silent as he walked out with his guard.
Once the last person was out Officer Sino closed the door and locked it, "All Clear!"
"About time!" A muffled yell was heard before the body bag was unzipped to reveal a young boy with salmon colored hair. "It was getting hot and gross in there."
The "paramedics" took off their mask to reveal a young man with Cyan eyes and another with yellow eyes. "We have 20 minutes till the real police and medics come."
"Good, it gives us some time," The fake Officer Todd said as he removed his police hat, "Get those presents on the truck in the back."
"On it, boss!" Fake officer Sino said with a playful salute before going to the mountain of presents.
"Maya how long do you plan on playing dead?" Todd asked with an amused smirk as he looked down at "Naomi's" body.
"Till you kiss me back to life," The supposedly dead victim chuckled as she slowly sat up, "Did I do a good job, Ran?"
The man smiled and reached his hand out to help her up. "Your best work yet, kitten." This man was the infamous crime boss and con artist Ranmaru Kurosaki. The girl he helped to her feet was Maya Lalita mistress of disguise, a con artist in training, Ranmaru's number one girl.
"I think those last words you said were sappy as hell," The boy with the light pink hair was Nagi Mikado. The cute baby face genius that know how kill a person in 7 different ways in less than 7 minutes.
"Shut up!"She yelled as she took her blonde wig off to reveal her dark brown hair. "I felt bad that he just saw some he liked died in his arms on his birthday." Maya argued as she held move the smaller president into the body bag.
"You two only knew each other for 3 months, he'll get over it," The cyan hair character said as he checked the time. "15 minutes." This was expert hacker and analysis Ai Mikaze. He's brilliant with numbers.
"I see sirens." The black hair male by the window was Kira Sumeragi. He was a trained look out and if necessary an assassin.
"Natsuki hurry up with that last load!" Nagi yelled.
"Oh, coming Nagi-kun!" Natsuki said as he carried 5 large boxes as if they were lightly as stuff animals. Natsuki Shinomiya and he was obviously the muscle but behind the sweet eyes was a sadistic psychopath. "That's everything Maru-chan!"
"How many times have I told you not to call me that?" Ranmaru grumbled. "Alright Ai...Kira take the "body" to the ambulance truck. You know what to do from there." He said as he walked out of the ballroom with his arm wrapped around his girl. Ai and Kira nodded their heads before taking the body bag full of goods and putting it on the stretcher. They adjusted their face mask and out the door the went. They easily ignored the crowd waiting for the police to come question them and loaded their vehicle. Then they put on the siren before driving away. Of course after a few blocks the shut it off and drove to an old warehouse near the docks. Kira carried the bag while Ai got gallons of lighter fluid and poured it over the truck inside and out. He backed away and tossed a lit match in there before leaving with Kira.
"I'm so glad this is done with," Maya said softly as she got in the limo with Ranmaru. She looked out the window to see the boat that held their stolen goods sail away to get examined then sold to the highest bidder. Once they get their money, they clean it then lay low for a bit till their next job arrives. It's been that way for nearly 4 years.
"We took enough gifts so we should be able to take a break," Ranmaru said as he tossed her a spare change of clothes. Then he rolled up the divider to give the two some privacy.
"Hey Ran...I've been thinking about us..." She said as she took off her bloodied dress. "I wanted to know when this is going to end?"
"Hm? When what is going to end?" He raised an eyebrow at her.
"Me selling myself to make your dumb scams work," She said as she threw her dress at him. Maya hated her role of being the girlfriend or the mistress that has to sleep with rich guys to get access for Ranmaru.
"Dumb? As if you can do any better," Ranmaru said and lightly pinched her cheek. "You have a cute face, nice body, and thanks to me you are decent in bed. I'll be an idiot not to use it for everyone's advantage. " He chuckled when she smacked his hand away from her.
"I'm serious. I want to do other things," She said as she picked up her shirt; however, Ranmaru placed his hands over hers to stop her.
"We'll talk about it later," Ranmaru looked into her eyes before kissing her deeply.
'No we won't...' she thought as she kissed him back. She felt him get a bit aggressive when he pressed her onto her back. This is what he always does to get out of conversations he didn't like to have with her and Maya always let him get away with it.
This was the power couple of the underworld. They have never been caught because no one ever gets a good look at Maya in her natural state and Ranmaru always has evidence destroyed and alibis at the ready. Who could possibly be clever enough to finally catch these criminals?
"So..."Reiji said as he conducted a questioning with Prince Cecil, "How was your birthday?"
Cecil stared at him with such dead green eyes, "I just saw the love of my life die in my arms and someone stole my birthday presents...How do you think it went?"
"Sounds like a night to remember..." Reiji rubbed the back of his neck and let out a nervous chuckle.
"Quit playing with the witness! We're here to find out who was behind this," Syo said before examining the crime scene. "What happened to the body?" He said when he saw the blood stain on the floor.
"A couple of people from the ambulance came and..." Cecil tried not to cry again as he further explained, "Once they pronounce her dead they moved the body."
Syo looked a bit confused, "They're not supposed to move a murder victim without an officer's okay."
"Two officers did come and they moved the whole party out because it was a crime scene," Cecil thought that was usually how the process worked around here.
"Do you remember their names, your highness?" Reiji asked nicely. He knew something was wrong as soon as other officers were mentioned. When they arrived on the scene, they were the first. They didn't see a single police car till a few moments after them. As for the ambulance, they were there but they said they didn't have the victim with them.
"Todd and Sino...I believe that's what they said," Cecil answered.
Reiji's eyes widen and he froze for a moment when he recognized those fake names. Then his face turned into something serious, "Ranmaru..."
Syo turned his head when he heard the name, "You think the underground crime lord would scam a prince?"
"I don't think...I know." Reiji said firmly.
Author's Note: Happy Halloween everyone and Happy Birthday to Cecil.