KK: Thank you for all the reviews! Truth was, I don't think that many will review because the whole thief thing was a bit cliché, and since we're talking about cliché-ness, it is the reason why Kai is a Duke not a detective in this story :3 And please bare in mind that my inspiration for this is the manga Gorgeous Carat - that I have never read but want to read, but... oh well. And now, after writing this chapter, I've started thinking of Ijyuin from Clamp School Detectives. -faints-

For Devil Subaru Chan, I've heard of Lupin III before and, I think, watched a few episodes, but I never really did know the real story. :3;; And yeah, I think a lot were surprised with the lipstick thing, but I hope this chapter clears things up. And ahem, to answer your question, Kai will be the dominant one. XD

I apologize if my descriptions are a bit blurry, and... yeah... so please tell me if you understood the vehicles thing and the news report. The news report was the hardest thing I have ever wrote in my life. X3 I hope it's real enough. wahahaha... And I have never used the word party so much before. -ish dead- Thank you again!


Disclaimer: BeyBlade and all of it's character does not and never will belong to me, as BeyBlade belongs to Aoki Takao. And I also can't say that the basic plot belongs to me, since it's a rather famous storyline, so... but SMH does belong to me.


Steal My Heart
- chapter 2 -

"So?" The shadow entered the room, eyes squinting at the sudden bright light. He took off his hat and mask, discarding them carelessly to the side as he plopped down to the nearest couch with a smile, "How did it go?"

The room was mostly white, the walls were white, the floor and the ceiling was white, the doors were white, even the couch was white. The only objects found inside the room was a couch at one side with the wall in front of it covered with computers, computers and computers. In front of those array of gadgets, sat a boy, with light brown hair and large spectacles. Beside him, was a grinning blonde who gave the shadow a thumbs-up.

"Amazing, Ty! Absolutely amazing!" Max laughed, walking across the room and patting his friend across the back.

Tyson laughed with him, that grin of his never leaving his face. "Isn't it? Oh, man! I loved that woman's face when I took her hand! What was her name again? Fruve something, or whatever. But who cares, hell, the look on her face was priceless!"

"As much as I would love to celebrate with you guys," Kenny adjusted his glasses, motioning to one screen at his side, where the whole scene of the 'phoenix crystal' played, it showed Duke Kai Hiwatari following Tyson's every move. It lasted until the time that Tyson winked at him, before Kenny stopped the video. "I think you took more than enough time with Duke Hiwatari."

"Well," Tyson shrugged, "He loved the show, didn't he?" He grinned, a red hue spreading over his cheeks at that.

"Come on, Ty." Max teased, feeling playful as he poked his best friend on the ribs. "Don't tell me you're still not over with your little Kai crush?"

Tyson looked absolutely flabbergasted. "What -- well, no! I mean, yes! I mean, no! Well, what I meant was, I have never had a crush on Duke Kai Hiwatari. Having such a schoolgirl infatuation is so immature, and I, Tyson Granger, am not immature, therefore I conclude that I, Tyson Granger, does not, has never had and never will have a crush on Duke Kai Hiwatari." After that, Max and Kenny just simply looked at him as if he had grown a second head, shook their heads with sighs, and went on with their lives.

"Whatever you say, Tyson."


Kai sat in his chair, staring with a bored expression at the television in front of him, wondering why the hell he was watching the news. He craned his neck the side, and took sight of the remote lying on the floor a few meters away. He thought about picking it up, but decided against it, too lazy to even raise an arm. He simply retorted back to staring blankly at the television screen, not really understanding what the reporter was trying to say.

Then, he finished, and another news flash disappeared. This time, Kai listened with full attention.

On the television, was a perfectly captured video of how the phoenix crystal was stolen just last night. Ruby-red eyes flickered to the image of the black-clad thief, watching as how he hooked the hooks on the statue. The reporter on the television, a girl with elbow-length black hair and dark purple eyes probably in her early twenties, looked familiar to him, but he shrugged it off, too focused on the thief to actually pay attention to anything. He watched as the thief looked directly to the camera and winked, and Kai realized that the direction of where the camera was, was also the direction where he sat at the party. Last night, he didn't see any cameras though. He scowled, feeling irritated that there was actually a camera near him the whole time and he didn't know it.

And it hit him. Last night, when the thief winked. Did he wink at Kai or at the camera?

As the video stopped on the television, and the reporter ended her report, Kai sank back in his chair, pondering on that question. But what confused him more was that why would he care if the thief didn't wink at him? Why did it bother him so much?


Tyson left the room with Max, leaving Kenny to take care of his next mission. The next room that they entered was a huge one, probably could be mistaken for a warehouse if it hadn't been built underground. It was simple, with thin metal walls, and numerous fluorescent lights on the ceiling, as they were no windows. The room was simply a rectangle. In the middle of the room, were different types of vehicles, each with their own special features.

At the far side of the room was the vehicle that they used yesterday, with the strings and the hooks. It looked like a normal garbage truck, where at the compartment was the long, thick metal rod where the strings from yesterday was attached. Covering the rod were garbage bags, stuffed with different sizes of metals just to have the bags full. In a normal garbage truck, the roof of the compartment wasn't lifted up, but the compartment of this specific vehicle could, for the rod to be able to easily lifted when needed.

Max called, nearing the vehicle, and grabbing a screwdriver on the floor in the process. "Is the GT okay?" The original name for the vehicle was only garbage truck, for they were all too lazy to think up of flashy names, and since it was too long, they used acronyms, as well as for the other vehicles in the room, like GT for garbage truck.

A voice called back, muffled and irritated. "Obviously not. I don't know what you did, but this is some abuse GT took."

"Hey!" Tyson huffed, pouting with crossed arms. "We did nothing!"

"Then why, pray tell," The voice called back again, "am I still under this humongous truck after hours and hours of working on it?"

Tyson blinked before scratching his head with a nervous laugh. "Because... you work slow?"

That earned him an annoyed, shrill, and high-pitched scream. Tyson shrugged in Max's direction, who just grinned amusedly back in return.

"Come on, stop complaining." Max laughed, nearing the vehicle, and kneeling to look under the truck. "I'll take over for now."

"No way." The voice huffed, "I started this and I will finish it. Okay? Okay. Now shoo."

Max shrugged, before standing up again and gesturing to the desk nearby. Tyson neared the desk, grabbing four piece of papers that was neatly piled up, sized like a ordinary calling cards. On the papers were different notes with different recipients, but all of them have the same signature, the same winking smiley, and the same kiss mark.

The navy-blue haired boy raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms, "Don't tell me Chief already has missions lined up for me."

"Okay..." Max replied slowly, "I won't tell you."

Just then, the voice called out again, "Tyson, I demand a week off."

The reply was immediate. "No."

"What? Why? I'm out of lipstick because of you!"

"So? It's only three papers."

"And I'm the one kissing the freaking inanimate objects. It should be your lips there, not mine. You are the famous Dragoon."

"Oh, don't worry. I pay you enough, don't I?" Tyson grinned, leaving the papers back on the desk and hauling Max away from the room. Another annoyed, shrill, and high-pitched scream resounded in the room, but the two boys were already out.


It was two days already, ever since the phoenix statue incident happened. Again, Kai was just sitting in his chair, staring blankly at the television screen, watching the news yet again. The weather forecast ended, and again, another news flash appeared. It was the same reporter as yesterday, a girl with black hair and purple eyes, delivering the report, and as she tightened her hold on the mic, she spoke,

'Ever since the appearance of Dragoon two nights ago in Madame Feruvie's party to steal the renowned Red Phoenix Crystal, owners of the remaining Crystal's are tightening their defenses. Owner of the Black Turtle Crystal, Monsieur Leon LeFleur, have been adding new features for defense, while owner of the White Tiger Crystal, Master Rei Kon, have been multiplying his security.'

Kai snorted at that.

'But the owner of the Blue Dragon Crystal, Master Tyson Granger, says that no thief will scare him. Well, let's hope for the best, Master Tyson!'

A picture of Tyson Granger appeared on the screen, wearing a tuxedo with a big grin, and Kai stared at the navy-blue hair and the navy-blue eyes for a long time, before he shook his head and decided that it was just a coincidence.

'For those who still does not know of the thief Dragoon, the Phoenix Crystal is not the first thing he has stolen. Various gems and precious heirlooms have been reported missing, and in the end, everything has been linked to him. Witnesses report that he wears all black, with a mask, a hat and a cape. Another thing is that at every scene, he leaves a gracious note. Also, while rethinking about the incidents, police investigators have stated that Dragoon only steals whenever there is a party held at the victim's place. Recently, Dragoon has been sporting a new trend. Past victims have reported that they first received messages from Dragoon himself before the real crime, that at the night of their parties, he will come and steal. The hosts did strengthen security at party night, but Dragoon still managed to go past all of that. Police have been trying to catch the thief, but have been frustratingly failing. When will this Dragoon madness stop?'

Kai rolled his eyes at the cheesy sentence.

'The latest appearance of Dragoon was at Madame Feruvie's party, and Madame Feruvie admitted that she did not believe the warning that was sent to her before the party, and thus did not tighten house security. That resulted in the easy robbery of the Red Phoenix Crystal. And here's an interesting fact: just a few hours ago, we received a call from Monsieur Leon LeFleur, saying that he received a note from Dragoon, saying that he will appear in the monsieur's party at the twenty-seventh. We'll be covering the after-party, so please stay tuned. Now, back to you, Chris."

Kai thought of the thief, and if he was watching television right now, and wondered also if police would be waiting at the venue of the party. If he held his own party, he was sure that he wouldn't let police go in disguise and party with him. Then, he focused his mind on something else; he thought if maybe he would be able to attend the gathering held by Leon. After all, he did meet the monsieur once, and Kai was sure that he had stroked the fancy of the man.

"Kai."

The duke heaved himself out of his chair, and faced his grandfather, turning the television off in the process with the remote. Voltaire held out an arm, where an envelope was tightly clutched by his fingers. Kai took the envelope, but before he opened it, his grandfather left without a word, so he knew that whatever the envelope held, he wasn't getting out of it. With a sigh, he tore the envelope and took out the letter, eyes scanning each letter, each word silently but surely, and with each paragraph, he found himself smirking more and more.

Well... He thought, stuffing the letter back in the envelope. I'm going to the party after all.