Disclaimer: I know it. You know it. I don't own it.
In the Heat of the Moment
Jyushimatsu thinks about a few things. Meanwhile, Osomatsu and Tougou arrive at their next steal.
It was late into the night.
Jyushimatsu sat at the kitchen table working on his paper. He had a look of focus as he wrote down copious notes from his textbooks and laptop. However, his mind seemed to be found in other places.
Earlier, he had eaten his dinner by himself. After Choromatsu reheated the food their mother made, he told the younger brother he was going back upstairs to bid on a supposed new game that came out today. Despite the enthusiastic look Choromatsu gave him, that probably wasn't the case.
Nevertheless, Jyushimatsu continued on smiling and told his brother good luck. The younger often felt uncomfortable with being babied by his older brother so he didn't mind Choromatsu not eating along with him.
'Besides,' Jyushimatsu thought. 'Choromatsu Nii-san's probably still hung up after his fight with Todomatsu. I'm sure I don't want to get myself in awkward small talk if he stayed.'
Whenever Choromatsu was upset, he often went upstairs into the guest room to be alone for a while. Sometimes he would stay in there for hours and then come out seemingly back to normal. Completely fine and fanboying over whatever idol or anime he was obsessed with.
After Choromatsu left upstairs, Jyushimatsu finished his dinner quietly, washed the dishes, said goodbye to Karamastu when he went off to work, and was now finishing up his homework.
As he made the final touches on his work, he placed his pen onto the table and frowned.
He told himself that it was best not to get involved in whatever his siblings were dealing with. Of course, he felt bad for Karamatsu and Choromastu's situation. He also didn't like how Todomatsu always came home just to starts fights.
However, it wasn't his problem.
He remembered Ichimatsu telling him that 'getting himself involved in other people's business would just cause more problems for himself and for others.'
'Don't add any fuel to the flame,' the older brother said to him back in high school. 'It's only best that you don't get involved and keep your mouth shut. Just let those idiots crash and burn on their own.'
So he listened to his older brother's advice. He kept out of trouble and made sure that when trouble did arise, he stayed out of it. Evidently, trouble seemed to occur more at home, leaving the 2nd youngest to find himself elsewhere.
However, it wasn't all that bad. He excelled in school, made a lot of friends, and became one of the top players in his baseball team. He was also the sibling that caused the least worry for his aging mother.
So he figured it had all turned out alright.
'You don't need to bother or be bothered by it,' he often thought. 'Just tell them everything's ok, and hopefully that'll be enough to get you out of the situation as soon as possible.'
Jyushimatsu glanced over at the clock and saw that it was already past midnight. He yawned, stretching his arms in exhaustion. He shook his head.
"Choromatsu Nii-san will be fine in the morning and Todomatsu can do whatever he wants," he said. "All you need to do is focus on school and play baseball."
Yet… at times like this, he couldn't help but have a feeling of shame linger in his mind.
Before heading to sleep, he opened his cellphone and went over to the contacts list.
'I should probably text some friends and ask if they want to hang out after classes,' he thought with a sad grin on his face.
'I don't feel like staying home tomorrow.'
The property around the large estate was quiet with no one around except for the two security guards roaming around.
Osomatsu and Tougou moved quickly through the shadows.
After checking to see if the coast was clear, the two thieves swiftly climbed up a tree next to a part of the side wall that was heavily shadowed. They hid among the bushes and waited.
"Alright," Tougou whispered. "The guards are going to start making their rounds on the other side of the manor so we got to make this snappy."
He pulls out a crowbar from his bag and hands it to Osomatsu.
"Man" Osomatsu whistles as he stares at the building. "Can't believe there's a nice place like this around here. Are you sure we're in Japan?"
"Hey Brat!" Tougou whispered harshly. "Will you focus here?"
"Oh sorry," Osomatsu placed his bandana around his mouth and peeks through the bushes to double check that there's no one around. Quickly, he sneaks his way to the windows and works his way prying one of them open while his partner kept watch.
After a couple of minutes, Osomatsu manages to get one opened enough for him to slip his body through. Once he was fully inside the building, he placed his crowbar inside his backpack, and gestures Tougou to follow.
The interior of the building was very elegant with an array of European and Western paintings adorning the long spacious hallways.
Tougou took the lead as Osomatsu followed closely behind; making sure to keep clear from the moonlit windows.
"Hey Tougou-sama, you didn't really fill me in on the whole details earlier but… what exactly are we doing here? I thought you told me museums weren't your thing."
"They aren't," the other man said without looking back. "Surprisingly, this place isn't really a museum."
"Really? So the family's just rich as fuck. How come I never heard of them before?"
"They're originally from France or something like that. However, they just recently moved to Japan and decided to bring some of their expensive items along. The owner's been showcasing some of his things that he won in auctions to the press."
Osomatsu rolled his eyes.
"Pfft, rich bastards showing off their money. So what? Are we planning on stealing some of the auction pieces?"
Tougou looked at the boy as if he had just heard the most stupidest thing ever.
"Don't be ridiculous. They would be too heavy to carry anyway. No, from what it said on the newspaper, they're using their home for a limited time as a sort of tourist place for the public to see their shit as some charity cause. I heard they rake up about 500,000 yen each night."
"Woah!" Osomatsu looked up at the man in amazement. "That's seriously fucking crazy!"
"Shh! Keep your voice down…. And yeah, apparently the owners keep a hold of all that money they receive in their home for the night. Afterwards, they have the charity organization pick it up in the morning."
"And where is the family now?"
"They're attending another charity event in the next city over."
"...Wow, what utter idiots."
"Why do you think I chose this to be our next target." Tougou smirked under his bandana. "Just because they chose a safe area to live in, doesn't mean they're safe from people like me."
"Hehe you got that right Tougou-sama. And their security is pretty shit at their jobs~"
"Come on," Tougou turned the corner. "I believe the main lobby is this way."
The lobby was empty with the exception of a few pieces on display. The two spotted the main desk but Tougou noticed a few security cameras hanging from the wall. He looked over to the younger man. Osomatsu nodded and grabbed some black duct tape from his backpack.
With great ease, the boy moved quickly undetected. He jumped and ducked behind the security cameras; covering the lens with the tape.
After years of practice, Osomatsu learned to be agile and skilled at climbing if he wanted to make it in the thieving business and be an efficient partner for Tougou.
The boy grinned at his handiwork and ran behind the main desk.
Tougou was already there working on the small vault, pressing his ear against the door and his gloved hand moving the dial around.
"All set Tougou-sama," Osomatsu whispered. "We probably have 10 minutes before the guards notice the cameras and find something's up."
"Just keep watch," the later replied. "I think I almost got it. Good thing this vault doesn't have a number pad like that one time..."
As Tougou's words trailed off, Osomatsu gave a long sigh as he watched the man do his work.
'Man,' he thought. 'It's been 4 years since we've done a big heist like this.'
He glanced back at the older man before leaving the lobby and entering hallway. He threw his black hood over his head and placed a hand in his pocket. With a look of boredom, he walked over the windows and peered outside. To his relief, there was no sign of guards in the area.
The whole estate seemed to lay still and quiet.
A few leaves were falling from the trees as the cold winter air blew through the property. Osomatsu placed his gloved hand on the window's glass and shivered slightly at the coolness. Looking up, he saw the full moon was in clear view tonight with the exception of a few clouds slowly making it's way across the sky. There was still too much light to be safe to do a robbery, especially at a richy place like this with guards around that he almost found it pretty funny.
"I guess I'm gonna have to just trust Tougou-sama on this if he's serious about stealing from this place," he smiled nonchalantly.
He gave another long sigh.
'Still...I wonder WHY we're robbing from a rich collector in the first place? I mean I know he said that with this money it could last us for a long time, but why does he need THAT much now? Was stealing from individual people every week just too much of a hassle? I could've handled it easy peasy. I hope he's not in any trouble...'
The boy crossed his arms, pondering..
'He's gotten more peeved since a month ago and he's always yelling at me over stupid ass things. Even last night, he totally went off the handle! If I recall, he's hasn't been doing any stealing lately. All he's been doing is staying at the apartment just smoking and reading the paper. How ungrateful!'
With a huff, he kick the wall in frustration.
'I'm a fucking amazing thief. I know what I'm doing. Sure... I can be a bit carried away BUT even if I was arrested I would never rat him out! He's so damn paranoid-'
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!"
'Oh shit!'
Osomatsu snapped out of his thoughts. He turned around to see a man in a uniform at the end of the hallway shining his flashlight at him,
In urgence, he side-stepped away from the shine of the light. 'What the- A janitor?!'
The man could see Osomatsu's covered face and quickly realized what was going on. He pulled a walkie-talkie from his back pocket.
"HELP! A ROBBER! Someone come quick! There's a robber in the left wing! Can you hear me? There's a robber in th-"
Before the man could say any more, Osomatsu was already at his side. He kicked the walkie from the man's hand and pulled out the knife that was hidden in his pocket.
"Big mistake," the boy glared.
He shoved his hand over the janitor's mouth. The man began to panic as he struggled to break free from the harsh grip.
In one quick motion, Osomatsu thrusted the knife forward.
