A/N: This turned out pretty long. XDDD I didn't expect it to get this long, but it did. Oops. But, I guess that's for making you wait for the heist and such. XD Again, not much action, but… (Shrugs Helplessly) I hope it's still enjoyable! 8D Anyways, I hope you enjoy and stuff! ^^ Night life of the red-light districts…will the heist make it through okay? XD
Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan or Magic Kaito in any way or form. Ryukaze Erise is owned by Iriss-sama.
Chapter Fifty Two
There had been a hidden box of new clothes in my closet, carefully placed in the darkest spot of the niche with clothes covering most of it from view. Of course, at the sight of something new and foreign in my closet, I naturally panicked a bit before prodding at it carefully, pulling out the clothing as if it was an explosive time-bomb. The lid on the box didn't have any name written on it or any indication of who had gotten me the clothing, but I could guess.
The must larger clothing would never fit on Alice's small frame, so I had to automatically assume it was for when I was, well, taller, despite the fact that no one in this household knew the truth. Or, so I thought.
After putting the clothes back away in an anxious frenzy, I hurried down the stairs, feeling the innate need to confront the woman I knew was responsible. Chikage was cooking in the kitchen, humming happily to herself, as if she didn't do something completely revealing of her knowledge. I relaxed slightly, seeing no ominousness of difference in her behavior and as I walked in, we merely shared two knowing glances before going into the normal routine.
When Kaito got back home a bit later, he didn't notice that anything was different.
And I never did confront Chikage, nor did she confront me.
We had come to a mutual understanding.
ooOOoo
I shuffled nervously, pulling at my clothes to look neater despite knowing that I was already the neatest I would get. Kin was perched on my shoulder, seemingly annoyed at my twitchy behavior. Today, I'd be meeting Erise's mom. Sure, it was really nothing to fuss over, but if her mother was as intimidating as Erise's dad then there would be tension throughout the whole meeting, I knew. I cleared my throat, adjusting my scarf awkwardly, before ringing the buzzer at the front gate.
A voice poured through the speaker automatically, sounding amused and familiar. "Hello, who is it?" The smile was practically tangible and I rolled my eyes briefly, a grin splitting at my lips. "The milk man. I'm here to deliver some dairy products." I joked, hearing the click of the lock on the gate unlocking. With a chuckle, I pushed open the gate, the metal cold against my fingers. It creaked in the cold, some ice breaking as I pushed it from the position it'd been in for a while.
Erise lived in a big house, somewhat like a mansion, but still not as large as the Kudou mansion. The large gate in front of her house was constantly locked and the metal barring only was big enough for a car to fit through before breaking off to solid, concrete, walls to protect the inside of the estate. I closed the gate pensively behind me, for the first time behind the walls of the gates. The only times I'd ever been to Erise's house was to drop her off and I'd always been on the other side of the walls.
A snowy driveway led into a currently-closed garage and the decently sized yard was covered in the crystalized substance of snow, dusting what was obviously a garden hidden beneath the frost. I brushed my cheek absently against Kin's as I headed on the small path way that led up to the front door of the big house. Said house was painted colors of muted orange-beige while other parts were a creamy white; icicles hung low on the porch cover above the door.
The door swung open before I could even knock, revealing a grinning Erise, eyes sparkling in happiness despite the sudden coldness she must've gotten from the backdraft, especially in her meager shorts and thin long-sleeved shirt. I could see goosebumps appear on the exposed skin of her wrists, but her smile never faltered; that's what was so great about Erise – even when she was down or something unfavorable happens, she was always looking on the bright side of things.
"Midori-chan!" She greeted, pulling me inside and promptly shutting the door behind us to stop the flow of cold air streaming into the house. Goosebumps formed on my skin at the sudden change in temperature, but I flashed her a thankful smile for bringing me in from the cold, Kin shaking himself off a bit before making a graceful leap from my shoulder down onto the wooden floors just beyond the genkan. His tail flicked to and fro as his golden eyes took in the new scenery.
I pulled off my coat and scarf, easily stuffing them into my bag, before toeing off my sneakers – which weren't the best for when it snowed, but I didn't have snow boots for this form as of now – and stepping over the slightly large step to get into the actual house. "Pardon the intrusion." I mumbled politely, and stiffly, giving a small bow of greeting to a woman who had just come into the room. Erise's mother, it was obvious.
The woman had light brown hair cut in a short bob-cut, framing her face in a neat display very different from my messy locks jutting out in every random direction possible – suddenly, I felt like smoothing down my hair and my fingers twitched as I resisted the urge. She was aged, but not horridly old-looking, with laugh lines visible since she was smiling; her eyes, a sky-blue the exact shade of Erise's, crinkled into eye-smiles as she gazed at me. She looked nice enough, but if I had learned anything throughout life, it was to never judge a book by its cover.
However, it seemed her appearance was a perfect depiction of herself and I felt myself letting out a silent sigh of relief, much to Kin's obvious amusement as he snaked through my legs in the way cats did when they didn't realize you were supposed to be walking, not tripping over them. However, he seemed to know exactly what he was doing, what with that smug look on his face that just really shouldn't be possible on a cat's face…
"Hello, Koizumi-san. I'm very pleased to finally meet you. Thank you for being one of Erise's friends." Her mother began gently, giving me a small bow of appreciation. Erise let out a soft groan of 'mom…' in embarrassment, but otherwise didn't comment on the display. Feeling a bit uncomfortable at being bowed at by an older woman, I waved my hands around in dismissal. "A-Ah, it's alright! No big deal!" I shot out, "It's my pleasure!"
There was a moment of silence – oh gosh, did I say something wrong? – before she giggled behind her hand, like a true lady would. "Oh, Erise, you were right. She is quite the jumpy one." A bead of sweat ran down my cheek as I recalled Erise's dad saying the same thing about me when he first met me. I wasn't that jumpy…was I?
She gave another motherly smile, offering out a dainty hand. "My name is Ryukaze Amaterasu." Shining heaven, what a fitting name, I thought inwardly, lifting my hand to given her hand a gentle shake. "Koizumi Midori. It's nice to meet you." We exchanged a few more short pleasantries (she also greeting Kin with a pat on the head) before she went back to do what she'd been doing previously. Erise and I ended up in her bedroom, which was indescribably…polka-dotted.
The wallpaper of her bedroom was a light blue with different sized and colored circles splayed across randomly, her bed sheets polka-dotted in different shades of pink, and even the floor mat in the middle of her room was white with colored polka-dots. Her room was very colorful compared to my new and old one – my old one had more of myself in the decorations, but it wasn't so…neon. She must've noticed my surprised expression because Erise gave a laugh as she plopped down on one of the beanie bags in her room.
I graciously took a seat on the other, leaning back against the frame of her bed comfortable as kin curled into my lap for another one of his impromptu naps. "I once told my father that I liked polka-dots when I was younger and then he told my mother and they redecorated my room one day. I was really happy about it at the time, and I guess I just never grew out of the habit of getting things with polka-dotted patterns." She chuckled, shifting into a more comfortable position and reaching over to a small bag on her bed.
"Here – for Christmas! This was the first time I'm actually giving something as a present this time of year! It's pretty cool how Americans celebrate Christmas!" She grinned happily, eyes sparkling as she handed me the light bag. I gave her a thankful smile and fished around in the pockets of my jeans, pulling out a small bag that was similar. She took it and we both opened it at the same time, both blinking in surprise once we saw the contents.
We emptied the bags, pouring the few handmade friendship bracelets into our waiting palms. I glanced up at Erise, gauging her reaction – she still seemed surprised, but looked amused and happy at the gift. The six bracelets in her hand were weaved together with pink, purple, blue, orange, white, and yellow string, round due to my inadequacy at doing the flat type of bracelet. She easily tied them onto her right wrist before looking up to me for my reaction.
I offered her a grin, flashing a thumbs-up as I glanced down at the bracelets in my hands. The colors she'd chosen were perfectly the colors I liked – weaved with midnight blue, silver, red, black, yellow, and orange. Hers were flat, unlike mine, and some beads littered throughout the bracelets, adding flavor to them. Hers had definitely turned out a lot better than mine, despite my effort-filled nights trying to figure out how exactly you were supposed to intertwine the strings.
"Thank you, Erise-chan!" I hummed, "I love them!" Easily, I tied all six – and who would've thought we would have the same idea and same number? – onto my left wrist, the bell on my changer bracelet jingling faintly.
"You, too, Midori-chan!" She replied joyously, "They turned out really nice! Sorry for mine, I couldn't get the rounded way to work." She gave a small pout before we laughed, knowing what complete opposites we were just by looking at the bracelets. It was actually really amusing.
ooOOoo
I ran a hand through my hair in a bored manner, looking through a magazine filled with household products. Why was I reading this, you may ask? Well, I was bored. Simple as that, really. I laid on my bed on my stomach, legs raised and kicking absently in the air as I propped my chin on my cheek, flipping pages with my free hand. It was mid-day on Sunday and I had decided yesterday that I wanted to do absolutely nothing today. Perhaps not my best decision, seeing as I was currently being killed by boredom – finally, an unsolvable crime for the Heisei Holmes, I chuckled internally.
Just as my eyes were drooping despite it being too early to fall asleep, a ringtone rang throughout my room, startling both me and Kin out of our drowsy states. At my non-concentration being broken so suddenly, my chin slipped out of my palm and I ended in a face-plant in the magazine I'd been reading, web-gloss crinkling under head. I growled deep in my throat out of irritation, crinkling my nose in distaste as I raised my head to glare at the black device over on my night-table.
Sighing, I rolled my eyes, deciding to just pick it up, if only to get it to shut up. I rolled off to the side of my bed, Kin easily avoiding my log-like path to the edge of the bed, hand reaching up to grab the phone as I threatened to roll right off onto the floor. My sleepy glare perhaps became a bit darker at the name flashing on the outer screen of the phone. This damn…
I snapped open my phone, clearing my throat.
"Hattori Heiji," I droned sarcastically, letting him know my displeasure of him calling at this exact moment, "what a surprise." Sometimes, I feel like Heiji has the worst timing ever. He chuckled on the other side, sounding completely amused at my apparent 'suffering' at his call. "As charming as ever, Midori-han." I raised a quiet brow at his equally sarcastic tone, feeling a grin pull up on my lips despite my previous bad mood.
Giving a dramatic sigh, I flipped the short strands of my hair, despite him not being able to see it – a carry on from when I'd be fooling around with my sister. "Thank you, thank you~! I know, I'm amazing~!" I joked, laughter bubbling in my voice. Heiji once more laughed over the line, a feeling of comfort welling in my stomach. Even if my sister wasn't here, Heiji always gave me that familial feeling I'd missed so very much – the one I'd get from just spending time with my sister or talking over opinions with my mother. Kaito and Chikage were close, very close – and I did consider them family – but they gave a completely different familial feeling. Heiji's was so close to my sister's – warm, caring, joking, and teasing; someone to depend on.
"Alright, Midori-han – enough of your bragging." He joked lightly, a grin tangible in his voice. "So, how've you been?"
"Pretty good, actually. It was a bit strange spending Christmas here, but it was alright. Nothing too bad. And everyone around here probably went through with the whole gift concept, since they knew that I did those types of things." I hummed, fiddling with the ends of my bangs that were hanging low over my forehead, falling over my eyes gently. I'd always thought about getting them cut to just above my eyebrows, but the first time I did that, they'd ended up in a straight cut that looked odd and out of place with the rest of my hair.
To say the least, I'd ended up regretting the decision a lot afterwards, especially since I couldn't exactly hide the odd look behind anything and had been forced into publicly humiliating myself by going out of the safe sanctuary my house provided. Not my…best decision.
"How've you been? Did you go to a party?" I asked curiously, flipping over from my stomach onto my back to stare up at the ceiling. I traced the creases with my eyes, making out random shapes like one did with clouds. He sighed over the phone and I cocked an eyebrow questioningly.
"I've been good – the usual amount of cases despite the holiday, but that was alright. But…," A small smirk quirked onto my lips. Let me guess… "Is it about that 'aho who doesn't know anything about privacy' that you mentioned the other time?" There was a startled silence as Heiji took the time to process my question.
"Midori-han…," His voice wavered – he sounded a bit…disturbed? "Do you have a photographic memory?"
My brows furred together at the odd question before it hit me. He was put-off that I'd remembered his exact words despite being exhausted the time he mentioned that particular subject. A sharp grin spread across my face, all teeth. "Eh, it's selective~!" I hummed, amused at his reaction. Just because I was always joking around and such didn't mean I didn't pay attention – in fact, during my bouts of silence when I wasn't being focused on, no one noticed how much was visible to the ones who perceived from an outsider's view. Observing the world was interesting.
He chuckled, relaxing from what I could tell. "Yeah, it's about that aho." He admitted, sounding exasperated. "Her name's Toyama Kazuha, my childhood friend. That fussy woman dragged me to… every…single… party her friends held. And that's a lot. Kazuha has a lot of friends, so it took up most of my free time." He sighed, but it was fond.
"Ohhh, sounds like love~!" I crooned, "No man follows a woman everywhere unless they love her~!" I turned to the black cat curled into my side and he looked up, proceeding to 'groom' my lips since I'd turned to face him. "Isn't that right, Kin-chan~?" I snickered, granting him a nice scratch behind his ears and under his chin, causing him to stop short of his actions to purr in pleasure.
Heiji spluttered on the other side – some random, illegible, mixture of 'what?! I don't love Kazuha!' and 'crazy cat lover – how can you like that hand-biter?'. His embarrassed horror – and grudge against Kin – was much to my amusement, and he finally switched the subject once he realized I could tease him for the rest of eternity if he didn't.
And, a few hours later, after a long chat, I hung up the phone, content.
ooOOoo
Heiji set his phone down with a small grin, glad he called. He pulled out his desk chair, plopping down in it and grabbing a small notebook that he usually reserved for hard cases. He supposed he could consider this one a case, though, so it was completely fine. He grabbed his mechanical pencil, clicking the eraser down to gather a bit more lead at the bottom before beginning to write down his newest observations of his friend.
He felt a bit wrong writing this behind her back, but his curiosity squashed what little remnants of guilt he had left once he thought of how she was keeping secrets from him either way, so the slightly broken trust between them was mutual. Sure, he trusted her to do the right things – morally – but there was a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that told him 'More! There's more!'.
He wanted to know. Heck, he knew Kudou wanted to know.
But, he was determined to figure out first.
The one page he had on Midori was short and filled mostly with little theories about her that he'd had when they'd first met. He quickly flipped the page, jotting down more information. Today on the phone, she'd sounded different – well-rested for one. And she'd sounded lighter, younger – child-like. It was pretty obvious to him that she'd been in her younger form when talking with him on the phone today; admittedly, he was a bit surprised that she hadn't even bothered to cover it up, since she seemed the type, but maybe she didn't care since he already knew. He wasn't sure – it was hard to tell with her.
The second thing to note was that…she had mentioned that it had been strange to spend Christmas in Japan – and since she mentioned gift-giving, it was likely that she usually spent Christmas somewhere that it was common to give friends and family gifts for that particular holiday, which most certainly wasn't Japan. But, according to her, she'd been born and raised in Osaka before moving to Tokyo due to her American mother. But, Heiji knew it was possible that she'd always went to America to visit relatives during Christmas and, for some reason, hadn't this time, but it seemed a bit farfetched.
A lot of her mannerisms were Americanized, as well. It was hidden quite well, but there were the small indications; how she held her chopsticks, how she spoke with a sort of Americanized flair despite her flawless Japanese, creating some strange intonations, and how she bowed a bit too deeply when greeting someone as if unused to it. Another thing to note was that, despite appearing not to pay particular attention to anyone, she had been well enough – despite her exhaustion – to remember his exact words. Not to mention…
His pencil paused at the thought and he brought it up to tap against his lip in curiosity, feeling a cold feeling sink into his skin. For some odd reason, the realization of this clue, in particular, left him with a disturbed feeling in the pit of his chest.
The Kansai-ben that had always occupied Midori's voice when speaking had completely vanished without a trace (and he knew that wasn't possible for how native her Osaka-ben sounded, bordering on his strength) along with her matured voice, as if they were two different people with the same mind.
He refused to think of the implications behind that.
ooOOoo
"Eh? You're leaving already?" I asked in surprise, watching Chikage roam around the house, gathering belongings and tidying a few things. A purse was slung around her right shoulder and a big luggage waited at the genkan for her departure, filled with different things she'd deemed worthy to bring along on her trip. It was the twenty-eight of December and I had expected her to stay for New Years, seeing as it was the more important holiday for the Japanese; but, it seemed like she was leaving. Kaito stood next to me, looking amused at his mother's whimsical ideas. He didn't find it strange that she was suddenly leaving, which really wasn't as surprising as it should've been.
"Yup! There's still a lot more to do and see in this world and I have to see it all!" Chikage giggled, sweeping on an unnecessarily large faux-fur coat that reminded me of the one Cruella de Vil wore. She turned to us from the front step, all clad in fancy clothing and small black pumps. It looked like she was a famous fashion designer, truthfully, which her red lipstick and poised stance. "Alright, kids, I'll be back soon enough! Take care of the house, don't set anything on fire, or blow anything up, don't stay up too late, do your homework, eat three meals a day–" She sent me a meaningful glance at that one, "–and don't open the door for strangers, okay?"
After the long ramble of 'don'ts', she gave Kaito a loving kiss on the forehead and kissed the crown of my head quickly before she was gone in a flurry of clacking heels, rolling wheels, bags, and faux-fur. That was…rather sudden.
Talk about whiplash, I mused to myself, blinking at the suddenly empty doorway.
I turned to Kaito with a slight smile, "Where's C–okaa-san going this time?" I asked curiously, slowly making my way back into the house with the phantom thief by my side. His violet-hued eyes blinked before looking up to the right, trying to remember. This Saturday, Kaito had already made arrangements for me staying over at Akako's house on Wednesday – the night of the heist – so I was pretty certain he already knew where she was going. "You know, I don't think she ever mentioned…," Or not. He gave the smallest hint of a displeased frown before it disappeared as he shrugged making his way into the kitchen. "Oh well."
O…kay – that was a bit strange. Usually, Kaito always has the answers to where his mother has been and where she'll be going next. I brushed it off, walking into the kitchen after him, seeing he was already beginning to take out familiar ingredients for dinner. I groaned.
"Kaito-niichan...," I whined, "Curry again?"
And just when I'd thought I wouldn't have to have it again for a decent amount of time...
ooOOoo
It wasn't long before it was already New Year's Eve, the day of Jester and KID's first heist together. Kaito, thinking I didn't know his real intentions, had sent me to Akako's house for babysitting, saying it would be best to spend the day and eve with relatives and to not worry about him, since he'd be spending the day with Aoko and her father. So, with a grin, he'd sent me to Akako's house and everything with Alice's alibi was set. No need to worry about it now.
Akako had been a bit surprised to know that I'd be holding a heist tonight, but had rolled her eyes, crossed her arms, and had half-heartedly offered me wishes of success before walking off before I could tell her anymore details. She may have also given me a threatening glare to not get hurt this time around, or she'd be forced to put me under a survival spell that essentially made you immediately turn tail at the slightest sight of danger – which would be unhelpful, since danger included police and I couldn't afford to run from my own heist empty-handed like a coward. So, I'd left with a solemn promise of no injuries this time around.
Hopefully, I could keep it.
I rolled my shoulders carefully, stretching my limbs and legs for the long night ahead. My mouth let out small coughs and odd noises once in a while, getting prepared to speak in Jester's voice all night. My eyes glided across the safe room of The Den and landed on the whiteboard. Walking over, I grabbed a black marker and quickly jotted down 'in progress' across the scribbled plans and layouts. Kaito and I had planned it out for a while. Due to the high number of Yakuza in the area – seems it was the same here and in my world – we had decided to make it quick. No flashy entrances or exits unless necessary and we'd grab the gem and leave just as quickly, to one of our hideouts.
Since I had Kaito's phone number and had the unknown upper-hand, I had told him we'd go to my secret hideout instead of his – mostly because his was inside his house and I felt bad that he had nothing on me. To say he'd been surprised that I was willing to guide him to my secret place was an understatement. He'd sincerely asked me if I had a fever. I mean, jeez! I didn't have so much trust issues to ensure that, did I? Either way, I berated him over the phone before hanging up in a huff – which was a bit rude, but, hey, he'd just insulted me, too, in a way.
After getting all my gear on – boots, gloves, hat, mask, makeup, pouch with tools, card gun tucked in my boot, helpful charm, backup plan paper – and double-checking that everything was well and working, I headed out of The Den to go meet Kaito at Kabukichō at two AM.
ooOOoo
Kai – er, KID – had gotten there before me, leaning up against a wall just outside the red glowing sign that brought you into the heart of the red-light district. He was dressed in, low-and-behold, an outfit that made him look like a rejected motorcyclist, but it fit in with the people milling around the area well enough. I recognized it as the outfit he'd worn during the Purple Nail heist, which would happen in the future.
As for me, I was wearing tight black jeans – courtesy of Chikage; figures she'd get me skinnies, though they had the convenient feature of being zip-ups – over my mismatched leggings, my boots the same mismatched colors that could come off as a failed fashion statement, a dark sweatshirt, my blue scarf, and my fedora (which could also pass as a fashion-fail). Dark sunglasses were perched on the bridge of my nose, hiding my eyes from the fluorescent lights all around. Despite the unholy hour, millions of people were still around, flowing in and out Kabukichō like a sea. The smell of alcohol was faded in the air, but I recognized it well enough to make it out, along with the smell of cigarettes burning.
KID waved me over, hat brim pulled so low over his face that I couldn't even see the edges of his eyes, the millions of lights around only serving to hide his face in shadows even more. Being in the city so late made me wary and I scurried over quickly, latching onto his arm for the security and reassurance of having someone else with me. I wasn't alone this time – I finally had someone to depend on in these types of situations. He didn't comment at the small show of nervousness, though, playing along, looping his arm through mine and beginning to guide us further in.
We passed under the bright red glowing sign and my eyes widened unnoticeably behind my sunglasses and I glanced through the stores, spotting scantily clad woman dancing on poles and people making business deals that looked more than a little shady, briefcases exchanged with paranoid glances. Quickly, I averted my eyes to Kaito, wanting to focus on anything except what was going on around me. If I did, holding a heist here would make me feel like I was just stooping to their levels and the thought made me sick to the stomach.
Thankfully, KID came to my rescue. "I couldn't help but notice that there isn't the slightest sign of police anywhere near here, Noriko-san." He muttered under his breath so that only I could hear his words. Loud crashes sounded from the right, where an open bar was, as a drunken argument erupted. Nobody made a move to stop them. "Why's that?" His voice was calming and I found myself relaxing a bit, despite passing many couples with a woman dressed with too-short shorts and the man with a bad look to his face – too ugly to have scored someone as pretty as the woman with personality (which was probably unpleasant) and looks alone – and several old business men with a creepy expressions on their faces as they entered, what appeared to be, stripper clubs.
This place scared me, truthfully.
"Well," I began nervously before sliding on Jester's usually confident mask, a shark-grin appearing on my lips. "I kind of forgot to tell them we'd be holding a heist. Oops?" I chuckled, unrepentant. KID may have morals against not sending notes, but I found it preplanned suicide to send a note to a place within a red-light district and with Yakuza crawling everywhere. Several of the people just walking around had sleeve-arm tattoos and some piercings, pretty girls with lots of jewelry and makeup hanging off their arms like the leeches they were.
Disgusting.
He glanced down at me with the hint of a frown behind his pokerface. "Noriko, that's bad publicity for me – I never do a heist without sending a note, no matter the area." He hissed somewhat quickly, rolling his eyes at my ensuing innocent grin. "I'm the leader this time – I get to call the shots. Besides, if we do this quick enough and without incident, they won't even know it's you. Promise. If it'll make you feel better, I'll leave a note tacked on the wall, saying it was my handy work. Without a note, the officers can enjoy their holiday, too. Besides, it wouldn't be the first time I'd leave a note in the heist building." I mused, feeling guilt start to well in my chest at the honest displeasure Kaito was displaying at my lack of heist note sending.
"Ah, the note you left besides that Apple of Discord painting?" He asked, tone amused, deciding to dismiss the other topic for now. "The police were completely paranoid you'd actually steal the painting, but you never did." He let out a laugh, "That was a bit cruel of you, since you'd already taken that expensive jewel beforehand and the museum couldn't afford to lose anything else." I shrugged carelessly at his analysis, holding back a grimace as we passed by two smashed fools unconscious in an alley from drinking too much. Again, barely anyone else paid attention to them.
"It's fun to mess with cops." I answered back, snickering into my hand.
There was a brief silence as we continued to walk through the city, lights flashing and changing and coloring everything like one would see in New York's Times Square. The shady people continued passing us without a single glance as we headed to the jewelry shop further in. I straightened as we neared slightly, only to look over to my companion once more as he spoke.
"About those gems you took – the Ruspoli Sapphire Crystal and the DeLong Star Ruby – do you…ever plan to return them?" Ah, so that also made him uncomfortable. The fact that I kept the gems while he gave them back was hindering him into completely cooperating with me. But, I had plans for those gems – a plan that would be fun to see the reaction of. I grinned at him, removing my arm from his hold and giving him a firm pat on the back, the bell around me wrist jingling briefly.
"Don't worry! Once I find the gem I'm looking for, I'll give them all back. For now, they're my babies, alright?" I joked, giving him the most reassuring expression I could manage. He stared for a moment, looking deep in my eyes to gauge my sincerity before nodding, deciding to take my word. "Alright, I believe you." He smiled, looking amused. We were so close to the shop now, and our conversation was steadily coming to a close as we both tensed a bit. It wasn't like either of us to just waltz in the front door…
"Your babies, huh?"
"Yup! My precious babies that I feed, change, carry, clean…," I murmured, slowly getting quieter as we neared before stopping completely as we came to a stop in front of the door. The shop was a small hole-in-the-wall and didn't have any glowing lights despite the flashing green and blue 'OPEN' sign on the glass door. Despite having glass as the main wall between the shop and the streets, it was tinted so darkly that you couldn't see inside of the building. On the edge of the 'OPEN' sign, there was an unreadable, faded kanji hid just beneath it. What did it…
Just as I was about to lean closer to get a better look, KID opened the door with a signaling jingle and pulled me in by the hand, looking completely at ease as we entered. The door closed behind us silently and I mourned the loss of the fluorescent lights as we entered the dim building, small display lights on the jewelry all around in display cases the only source of light, making the room seem smaller than it was; some jewelry was outside of cases, deemed unimportant for protection unlike the others. An old man stood behind the register, a large beard and untamed mustache on his face along with bushy brows and small spectacles.
We walked towards him and I calmed my beating heart, remembering that this store didn't have any security cameras according to KID. I trusted this information, I trusted KID, I trusted that we wouldn't get caught. We wouldn't get caught, we wouldn't get caught, we wouldn't get caught…
KID squeezed my hand, as if sensing my anxiety, which wasn't actually too farfetched. I was horrible at hiding it and even the old man had looked over to me with a narrow-eyed look that froze me deep into my bones. Not because I was scared I'd been spotted, but because his eyes reminded me oddly of Gin's – cold and unforgiving and hollow, like they'd look into your soul and rip it to shreds at the slightest touch. Suddenly, I found it hard to breath, my throat clogging up.
I wanted to go home.
"My, my…," The old man mused and he quirked a snide smirk behind his mustache and beard, making the greying hairs move upwards. "It seems two black sheep have entered the shop."
We both stiffened and my hold on Kaito's hand was so tight, I could feel his bones shifting underneath his muscle and skin, but he honorably didn't say a word about it or express any type of pain. If I didn't admire him so much at the moment, I'd smack his head for not telling me it hurt. KID gave a pleasant smile, "I don't know what you're–"
He was cut off by the old man once more. "Come now, children – you don't think I can tell what you're about to do? It's obvious in your girlfriend's nervous demeanor, son. There's no need to pretend, there's no one else here but us." I was hyperventilating by now (did he just call me Kaito's girlfriend?! Yuck!) and the old man moved from behind the counter and began to head our way and KID's free hand was inching towards his pocket, where he had flash and smoke bombs hidden, and my legs felt like they'd give out – a contemplative idea of shoving KID forward and making a mad dash for it by myself flickered briefly in my mind before I shoved it aside – and the old man…
…walked past us, to the door.
Eh?
We both turned our head around to watch him behind us over our shoulders as the old man flicked a small switch near the door, causing the 'OPEN' sign to shut off. The old man then proceeded to lock the door, dead bolting into place. So much for making a mad dash for it, huh? Then, he turned to us and he had such a cruel smile that his image blurred briefly to flashing teeth in darkness, the metal of a gun held by a man in sunglasses, and long silver hair disappearing around the corner of an alley.
My heart jumped into my throat and I shuffled closer to KID, glad to have a warm reassurance pressed against my shoulder tightly as he took the initiative to wrap his other arm around my torso to make a quick escape, if needed. He'd been the one to look for the layout of the building , after all, and he probably knew of an escape route by heart while I'd have to look down to my blueprints. Ah, the downfall of not being able to memorize blueprints by heart…
I swallowed thickly, but quickly compensated for my hazardous bad-acting from before. "A-Ah, ya got us." I gave a giggle – ugh…someone kill me – and batted my lashes at him behind my sunglasses, knowing he'd be able to see a bit of the motion and pressed myself against Kaito's chest in what may have appeared to be a tantalizing way. Shuddering off the utterly disgusting feeling of pressing up against, what may as well have been, my brother and the suddenly darkened look in the old man's eyes, I offered a cat's smile.
Almost immediately, the man nodded with a greasy grin and gave us a 'one moment' gesture before heading into a backdoor, shutting it behind him to get whatever the hell he thought we were here for. As soon as he was out of sight, I slumped, putting some space between KID's body and mine, my forehead pressed against his shoulder. "KID, this has gone downhill fast. Whatever crack that guys on is powerful, since he has yet to call the cops on us and thinks he knows what we're here for." I whispered, shakily breathing in the scent of roses, musk, and chocolate that always lingered on my companion and keeping up the act as 'couple'. Guh…
Muscle moved beneath my forehead as he shifted slightly, "I don't like this, either. But, we'll just have to play along until we get the chance to snag the gem." We couldn't do it now, since we had no idea when the man would be back, since we didn't know what he was getting. "Then, we'll leave out the back door. It's through the door he just went in, the storeroom, and leads into a back alley. We'll run to the train station and mix in with the crowd." He affirmed, patting my back gently to comfort me and I nodded, biting my lip in worry before I removed myself from his general vicinity, readying for whatever would come back along with the man.
It was more than a little frustrating to be able to see our target – the Pari Passu – sitting happily in its case just to the right of us. So close, yet so far.
It was only a few short, tense, moments later when the old man came back, holding a small bag with a clutch opening. He heaved it on top of the desk and we walked forward as he beckoned us with an aged hand. We moved forward in a lean to see what was in the back as he opened it slowly before revealing the contents with pride. Several of black, semi-automatic, guns were piled high in the bag, looking new and shiny despite the dim lighting. There was a small plastic container inside, sitting at the top of the pile, filled to the brim with seven millimeter bullets. KID tensed as my mouth begged to gape.
Suddenly, it all made sense. The faded kanji just behind the 'OPEN' sign – 銃. Jū. Gun.
This place was a freakin' illegal firearms shop!
My eyes flashed to KID's in rage and we had a silent conversation as the man waited for a reaction. "What the hell?! KID?! How did you not figure this out beforehand?!" and "How the hell was I supposed to know?! I thought you were the one doing the background checks for this place!" along with several choice curses of panic from us both. However, all of this was well-hidden behind our respect pokerfaces and it looked like mere thinking to the old man.
"Well, what do you think?" The man finally questioned in his gravelly voice and we both snapped to attention. "Will these do for you two?"
I cleared my throat, now knowing what I should say and do to get him out of the room for a while. "Well, you see…," My voice was copying that annoying tone that I heard from one of the snobby girls at my school. Lots of boys seemed to like her despite the annoying voice, so I assumed it would work on this old man better than Jester's deeper voice. "We're looking more for…sniper rifles and the such." I added in a hushed, conspiratorial voice. My lashes fluttered once more as I leaned against the desk, feeling vomit well in the back of my throat.
"As much as you have – take your time and I might give you…something special." I gave him a forced smile, my breathing clogged up in disgust. He gave another greasy smile and ew, ew, ew, ew! This was disgusting! I can't believe I'm flirting quite indecently with someone waaayyy older than me just because stupid KID and stupid me didn't check this place properly and this is just! Ugh! Gross!
With the shut of the door, he disappeared once again. This time, he'd probably take a while, since I'd said to 'take your time' and to get as much as he had. I gave an exaggerated fake gag to KID, who gave me a disconcerted half-smile. "Jester…," I paused on the way to the right side of the store to steal the Pari Passu at his voice, "Please…don't ever do that again. I think you scarred me for life." His face had gone unusually pale and his lips were pulled down into a disturbed frown.
I scoffed. "Scarred you for life? You weren't the one flirting with him!" I hissed out, grimacing in remembrance. My first flirting experience ever ruined because of a creepy old man. How wonderful. Bet nobody else could say that, at least, I mused with some ironic humor. "Now let's just grab the jewel and get the heck out of here. I'd rather not have another experience like that, thanks." I muttered, pushing him to the case and watching and pulling out a quick note paper from my pocket as he pulled a white silk glove from his pocket and pulled it on expertly.
I grabbed a pen from my sweater pocket and clicked it before hastily writing Jester's signature in her special handwriting and drawing the caricature quickly. That done, I left the note on the desk and turned to KID just as he was about to pick the lock on the case. "Ah, let me." I hurried over to his side, pulling out the 1st Pentacle of the Moon and raising it above the display case. Automatically, all the locks in its vicinity gave way with a small click. Truthfully, I'd just wanted to show off. Plus, we didn't know if these were rigged with some type of alarm system. The blueprints had been so vague for this place…
KID blinked in surprise, "How did–?" I felt accomplished to make the magician-thief so awestruck. It felt nice.
I held the charm up by my face, light glinting off the silver surface as I gave a Cheshire grin. "Witchcraft~!"
An unreadable look passed his face or a moment before he recovered gracefully and opened the lid of the display case carefully, being quiet, and his hand reached inside, plucking up the Brazilianite easily. The tear-drop cut of the mineral was somewhat roughly done and there were some chips in the material, but it was still very beautiful, the lime green facets shining dimly. The color of the gem stood stark against his white glove and he gave a triumphant smirk, a shadow of both KID and Kaito together.
Then, we suddenly weren't alone anymore.
"Yo, the boss told me ta' check up on ya'–" A young man with sleeve-tattoo's on one arm walked into the room carelessly, dyed orange hair spiked up and piercings covering his ears and lips. KID and I froze for a split second, along with the unfamiliar young man. And then noise erupted and chaos broke as he spotted the note on the table and the gem carefully held in KID's gloved hand. He bared his teeth in an angry scowl as his face twisted in disbelief. "Thieves!"
No duh, Sherlock, my mind taunted him despite the seriousness of the situation. Both KID and I dove for the front door now that our other escape route was currently blocked, gem now tucked safely in his inner jacket pocket, but at the same moment, before we could even reached the door, bullets were flying. The loud bang that echoed throughout the tiny store made my ears hurts and I flinched to a stop as the glass beside the door shattered loudly, spraying everywhere.
Panicked yells filtered into the building from the bullet-induced hole as another loud shot rang out and I scrambled to move out of the way, KID heading in the opposite direction. This had gotten out of hand quickly – one of us could die here! I wasn't ready to die, I had things to do – people to get back to, people to forgive, and to yell at, and to hug, and to say goodbye to! I didn't want to die! Call me a coward all you'd like, but it was normal human emotion to hope for survival.
Go left.
Ah, there was that voice again – the voice that was me yet not; the instinctual voice. I skidded to the left, stumbling over large glass pieces and debris from where the floor had gotten damaged, narrowly dodging a bullet aimed in my direction. I crashed into the display cases set in my path, the non-covered jewelry sprawling all over the ground – rings and small diamonds and earrings clattering almost noiselessly. My gaze flickered momentarily to KID, who had jumped acrobatically onto a display case to avoid yet another shot and had just flipped off haphazardly. He met my gaze for a split second as he landed easily, glass crunching underfoot.
Another shot rang out, shot number four or five, I couldn't remember. Shot four – pay attention or be killed, the voice hissed deep in the back of my mind and I snapped to attention, eyes wide and breath ragged. Right, that was more important. Survival. KID would be able to take care of himself, surely. My eyes glanced over to the gun in the orange-haired felons hands and I recognized it.
A Smith & Wesson Model 1006, a stainless steel body capable of nine rounds. Another shot – five – sent me scurrying to hide behind something – anything! However, there was nothing in sight and there was nowhere to escape in this type of situation because if we paused for one split second, it'd be over. Despite looking like a stupid young ruffian, the Orange had quite a good aim and wasn't hesitating at all despite sirens starting to leak through the broken glass. Someone had called the cops. Thank goodness.
Shot after shot echoed out – six, seven, eight… – and on his last available shot, a small sound filtered through the chaos. A small grunt of pain. My head whipped over to look at KID, who was slightly curled into himself, clutching at his left. Red poured down his sleeve, dripping down to the floor at an alarming rate and creating a puddle of blood. The orange-haired idiot let out a small 'tch' as he realized he had to reload the gun to shoot more, but I barely registered it.
The world had come to a horrific halt. My eyes were shaky and things were getting blurry as rage entered the haze of my frightened mind, slowly consuming it. Red, red, and more red – a bloody visual as it stained down his leather jacket, soaking through the shirt underneath it, no doubt.
The next few moments were just a haze of blurry red – my head was pounding and image flashed in my mind, unclear and not remembered at all. It felt like something horrible knocking forcibly at my mind and clawing at the small door holding it in – it burned.
"Jester!"
I blinked at KID's voice and the first thing I noticed was that Orange had somehow managed to knock himself unconscious, blood pooling around his head as he laid sprawled just beneath me. He was still breathing, though, so that was good; his gun laid useless by his head, the butt of the gun smeared with, most likely, his blood. My brows rose incredulously – how the hell–? "Jester!" I quickly looked over to KID, hurrying over once I realized he was still bleeding. "Oh my gosh! Are you okay?" I worried, hands hesitating to touch him in fear that I'd just end up hurting him more.
He stared for a moment before nodding, "I'm good! But we need to go now. Like, right now." He grabbed my wrist firmly with his good hand and arm, pulling me over Orange to get to the storage room, since the police were currently at the front door, waiting to see if they'd hear another shot, and we were in no condition to go toe-to-toe with them. We burst through the storage room door and I was amazed at how many guns were in the room, ranging from Walther PPKs to army rifles to hunting rifles to sniper rifles to revolvers and many, many, more. Disconcerting. That was the only word to describe that chill that went through me.
The room was hot, or maybe I was just sweating because I was wearing so much layers and had just experienced a near-death experience. Cold sweat ran down my cheeks, dripping down my chin to the ground below as we hurried through the slightly maze-like place, but KID knew exactly where to go. Thank you, great KID-sama~!
KID made sure to not leave behind a blood trail and we burst out the backdoor, not once having met with the creepy old man again, thank goodness. The geezer had probably fled when he realized that someone would call the police. The cold air felt nice again my face and I continued to follow KID down the alley and into another that intersected with it. We paused at the mouth of the alley and KID leaned against the wall with a sigh and breathless laugh.
"T-That was a close one." He muttered with a weary grin and I gave him a helpless grin and shrug. "But, we got out of it, right?" I carefully extracted the gem from his inner pocket. "And with the gem, intact. Not bad, if I do say so myself." I hesitated before adding on with humor, "And what better way to learn to trust one another than to have a gun waving in your face, right?"
There was a long moment of silence as we caught our breath, the only sounds the far-off bustling of people and the calming coo of the wind. A chuckle bubbled in my throat and before I knew it, I was once again laughing. Laughing so hard it felt like my lungs would burst. I leaned against the same wall KID was, pounding my fist gently on the brick as I continued laughing from my high of near-death experience. It was funny when you thought about it – there really was no better way to learn to trust each other and we had specified that this would be our trust-building heist, assuming it would be smooth-sailing. It was–it was just funny, in an ironic way!
KID let out a small chuckle and I looked up, small tears hanging on my bottom lashes from laughing too hard, and he had this fondly exasperated grin on his face. "You always seem to laugh after a near-death experience, it seems." He sounded incredibly amused by this and the pain that had been on his face for the one horrible moment was gone, replaced with amusement. I gave a small, huffy, laugh that sounded a bit manic.
"Guess it's to get over the fear that just encased my body." I snickered before I straightened, "Anyways, is your arm okay?" I asked, gently lifting his arm to see the damage done. He allowed me to pull off the one sleeve of his leather jacket and roll up the sleeve of the shirt underneath. I blinked. It had already stopped bleeding, the small cut visible. Small cut. He hadn't been hurt that much – it had just bled a lot for a bit since it had sliced his skin decently. A little pressure and it was all right…
I sighed in relief, giving him a small glare for worrying me and he pulled down his shirt with an apologetic smile playing on his lips. I rolled my eyes and muttered a few choice words under my breath before tugging at his good arm. "Come on, we should get to The Den and patch that up." I told him, feeling my body temperature lower to normal as the worry washed away quickly.
He followed, trusting me completely. "The Den?" He questioned, raising an inquisitive brow.
"My 'lair' of sorts. My secret hide-out." I clarified, "Ya know, my thieving base."
"…You named it?"
"Why wouldn't I?" My tone sounded like the thought alone was scandalous.
"…"
"From now on, I'm calling your secret place the Kaitou KID lair or 'The Lair', 'kay? Even though I haven't been there–" Lies. "–I think it'd still fit."
"…Whatever you say."
"Yay~!"
ooOOoo
"So, this is your place, huh?" Kaito mused, sitting on the floor of the main room of The Den, his shadowed eyes flitting to and fro in the room, lingering a second longer on the boxes labeled 'EXPLOSIVES' in uneasiness. I understood that well enough – after all, I still didn't know what was in the boxes, too afraid it would explode on me if I tried to open them. "Don't ask about those." I chuckled, pulling back from bandaging his arm. The small cut had only run about four inches on his forearm, thankfully, and wasn't deep at all. The idiot had worried me for absolutely nothing more than a scrape you could easily get on a playground.
He gave a grin, nodding briefly. "It's nice. A bit messy, but…," He trailed as I gave him a pout for the small criticism. So I wasn't the cleanest person in the world, sue me.
"I never expected it to be Ekoda, though. It's kind of a coincidence." He laughed and I gave him a 'confused' blink but didn't comment, deciding to let it slide without acting like a know-it-all like I usually did. I was feeling merciful.
"Yup – a friend of mine lives in these woods. She said I could use this place – it's enchanted to keep out people who don't know about it." I commented absently, twirling the acquired gem of the night in my gloved hand, admiring the way the light reflected off of it. I'd gotten rid of my useless layers, now only in my original Jester outfit which was, admittedly, a lot more comfortable. KID had also shed his biker-esque outfit to his Kaitou KID outfit, looking more comfortable as well.
His eyes narrowed and I watched in interest as the monocle over his right eyes didn't even budge. There was a calculative look in his eyes and he probably easily connected the dots since I'd mentioned witchcraft and he clearly knew that Akako lived in the Ekoda Forest. There were too many coincidences, it seemed. Oh well. I was trusting him with these tidbits of information – he should feel honored.
I shifted, only to wince as something hard moved in my belt. I quickly dug my hand into my left boot, grasping the small nuisance and pulling it out, my mouth dropping open when I saw what it was. Oops. A ring with a pretty silver band encrusted in millions of tiny diamonds, with a bigger black diamond as the center, was held between my forefinger and thumb. It must've fallen into my boot when I hit the display cases, I mused, feeling a bit guilty, yet more humored by the extra loot.
Before KID could notice – since he'd taken a drink from his water bottle I'd given him, tilting his head up – I quickly hid the gem in a small handkerchief and got up, walking into the safe room, eyes following me. I made a show of writing something on the whiteboard – 'FINISHED' – before carefully placing the hidden diamond ring on my mahogany desk for later evaluation. Then, I went back to his side and took a drink from my own water bottle.
"So, I'm curious Jester," KID began, "We're looking for a gem of immortality, but you went after a gem with a different dimension myth. Why is that? Are you looking for something with a different dimension?" He asked curiously. I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, flashing my teeth in a feral grin.
"Well, you see, I'm actually from another dimension, stuck inside this dimension, looking for a way out. Everyone here is an anime character and I come from a world where there's no such thing as phantom thieves and mysterious men in black. Unless you're talking about the FBI – my mother was once interrogated by two of them due to something about a place she used to work at and they dressed like people from the movie Men in Black, literally. They even wore sunglasses, but that's a different story. Truth is, I only became a thief to free myself from this world and go back home and meet all my loved ones." I answered nonchalantly, pausing to take another drink of my water.
I held up the gem, "So if this Pari Passu actually works, I can go home…probably."
He stared at me for a moment before laughing, shaking his head helplessly, surprising me. "Right, pathological liar I'm talking to." He murmured to himself, a smirk on his lips as he watched me blink at him in confusion. Did he seriously just brush me off? He was the first person I literally told about the dimensional crap and he doesn't believe me? This had to be some sort of cosmic joke.
"Oi, I'm telling the–!"
My sentence was cut off as I gave a yelp, dropping the gem quickly as it gave me a low-level electrical shock, my hand tingling as it dropped on the floor – except, it never reached the floor while I could still see it. The lime green gem disappeared in a bright white and my eyes scrunched shut to save myself from the brightness and it burned the back of my eyelids, burning everything with its light. Kaito's figure disappeared quickly and, soon, I couldn't even see the room anymore. In my mind's eye, I could see a clock strike three AM.
Everything was dyed in blinding white, a tingling sensation deep in my bones and nudging at my brain, and then…
Review Replies:
To: kittyfinatic515 – Thank you! 8D I thought it'd be fun to add in. XD
To: MiniMiao – Whoo~! Thank you~! (Eats Cyber Whipped Cream Cake) Yup, here's the heist! 8D Hope it wasn't disappointing. XD And yup, Conan-kun~! 8DDD Ahhh, crap. Yup, my bad. That was a pretty bad mistake, lol. XD I'll have to fix that. Sorry about that. XD That's what I was going to have her give him at first, but then I was like, "Nah, let's do something else." XD I'm glad you liked what I had her give him! 8D And Heiji appearance (sort-of) complete! Sorry that it wasn't in person, but there's only so much loops I can throw into this that would make him randomly come to Tokyo. XDDD But, he will be making an appearance soon, since a case with him is coming up. XD (Laughs) That sounds really, really, tempting, actually. XD But, I have to stick to my storyline. XD Hopefully, it's not too disappointing, lol. And sure! I'll try to incorporate some ShinRan, HeiKazu, and KaiAo fluffy stuff. XD It'll be difficult, but for you, I'll try! (Dramatic Pose) And awesome~! 8DDDDD I can't wait to see it! (Excited) And thank you! I'm all better now~!
To: Dumti – Christmas in Japan isn't really celebrated as it is here in America – it's not for Christians, really, since there are barely any, but it's more a time to spread happiness. They adopted some American ways and give some gifts and maybe some cards and children/teens do hold small parties with dancing and games, so it's not too horribly far off. And, despite it being slightly off, well, it's just a story, lol. (Shrugs Helplessly) But, I'm glad you still liked the chapter despite that! 8D Here's the next chapter~! 8DDD
To: Iriss-sama – Ahh, my sister read the chapter and she said she liked Greed, not Pride. My bad… (Sheepish Laughter) XDDD (The names all sound the same to me. XDD) Yeah, it's been going on pretty long, huh? (Fond Smile) But, it's alright! 8D Chapter sixteen is still pretty early to join in since this story currently has fifty two chapters and on-going. XDD (Laughs) Yeah, I really wanted someone to think that she likes him that way! XDDDD And, well, you might not be far off! XD She does like him in a way because, despite her teasing him and not admitting that she likes him, she still wants to impress him and make him speechless. XDDDD She's looking for his approval without her being conscious of it! XD And yeah – it'll come in handy~! 8D Thank you! I'm all better now~! ^^ And here's more~! Mass murder movies? (Shudders) That sounds creepy. And I've never watched that movie, but now I'm curious. XDDD Lol, I don't think I've even heard of it. XD I've just been to sucked into watch Shingeki no Kyojin lately, lol. XD I'm glad I saved you from nightmares! 8D Nightmares really suck. Thank you, Ri-chan~! (Returns Luck Hug)
To: DDmasters – (Laughs) This was probably my favorite review, just because it made me laugh and grin. XDDDD Thanks for the review – made my day! ^^
To: HitsuSesshyFan – I'm glad you like it! 8DD And I'm glad you like Alice/Midori/Jester/Noriko (dang, she's gotta lotta names…)! She's very fun to write. XD Thank you~! 8DD Here's more~! (Munches on Cyber Cookies) Yummy~
-Continuation of this particular event will be next chapter. XD And I'm finally better! Whoo! 8D Thank you for all the 'get well' wishes! 8D Next chapter will probably be mostly all in third-person…sorta. Maybe. XD Anyways, see you next time! 8DDD Oh, also, I have absolutely no idea what Kabukichō is actually like, so this is just a big fat imaginative Kabukichō. XD Revolver's Kabukichō. (Nods)
And since it's near Halloween, you should all expect…. (Grins)