SHADES OF BLUE: ROYAL
Part Two
The first couple of weeks were more of a learning curve than an actual thievery adventure.
Mamoru began with planning his infiltration. He started targeting small sections around the city and carefully studied the buildings mapping the emergency exits, windows, and doors. He took long walks to learn about the local business's active hours, their peak and slow time, including when they got new shipments. From their inventories to the magnitude of their value, the young man ran through it all.
Simple—Mamoru thought. It all boiled down to memorizing routines and planning his raids around them. The ridiculously expensive suit he bought may not be designed to serve such purposes, but he found it extremely useful to blend in and practice his stealth using the thick fabric of his cape. It was an excellent disguise, making it easier to lurk around the empty streets at night.
He grew to like it: the adventure and thrill to go out of the bounds of common sense and the rules of society. Mamoru knew he was breaking the law, but he didn't feel threatened. He found it fascinating to feel the rush of adrenaline from running and jumping through rooftops and empty alleys; a striking contrast to his usual toned-down routine during the day.
He liked to be out when the city was under the spell of the moon. With everyone asleep, he felt his options for searching broaden. He enjoyed being a shadow with the night. He liked to be invisible to anyone's knowledge.
Mamoru would start collecting ads from jewelry stores or department stores that sold jewelry and monitor their exclusive collections. Once he was done with his usual load of classes and extra-curricular activities, he would always head back taking into detail everything in his surroundings.
Mamoru memorized every alley, corner, and building; every cranny he could fit in and use to his advantage to break in. Once home, he would make himself something to eat, study or read until the city went down in slumber, then put on his dashing suit and head out on a hunt for the crystal from his dream.
He started low-key with small local places around Juban—nothing too exorbitant and nothing that could give away that there had been an intruder. He would often break in through a window; he even learned how to sneak inside through the vent pipes. But he would end up finding anything remotely close giving Mamoru not much of an option but to go after bigger, much more upscale places. But in order to do this, he needed to step up the strategy of his thieving game.
The next couple of days he dedicated his afternoons to strolling down the streets and looking for places with higher chances to find something so rich and mysterious. If the girl with the hair of moonbeam called it a legendary crystal then it must be because of either its gleam or size. The word legendary was a solid clue, he was sure of it.
He roamed for hours and finally made a stop outside an art gallery promoting a relic exhibition and something clicked in his mind.
"A Collection of lost treasures—the mystery of Wealth by Casanova Akihito,"
"Casanova," Mamoru stood still, reading. "Lost treasures… Mystery of wealth?" A grin graced his features, "I have to see that."
-O.O.O.O.O-
The day was now close to being over, and Mamoru got ready to attack his next found objective: The Teien Gallery of History.
With his practiced set of stealth skills, it didn't take him much work to find a proper way to break in despite the many security officials coming in and out of the building. Mamoru still had an advantage that made him move through the shadows without being noticed thanks to his dark-colored tuxedo and long heavy cape. This time he decided to even bring the top hat for extra caution.
He jumped from an air duct and quickly hid behind a pillar. His masked eyes studied the first floor and sneaked into the first exhibition quickly and smoothly as a cat in an alley. He paid close attention to the security guards doing rounds and noticed how they tended to stay outside the perimeter granting him more liberty to move inside the rooms unnoticed. The lack of light inside made it even easier for him to stay out of view from the security cameras without much concern.
The crisp sound of his sleek dress shoes clicked on the marble floors as he made his way to a long case protecting some breathtaking relics inside and looked up to read the brief explanation about them.
"Private collection from Japanese historian and semiotic expert and researcher Ushida-Casanova Akihito. In honor of the memory of his late wife— along with a group of specialized researchers from the Museum of Art and History of Italy, Casanova has taken the world by storm with a new investigation on relics and artifacts from an ancient era on Earth that challenge our perception on how humanity has evolved for over more than two millennia.
This collection challenges the spectator's religious beliefs with a mythological mystery surrounding their origins which are still unknown. This is another impeccable, yet, debatable investigation about humanity's history worthy to carry Ushida-Casanova's signature."
"Relics and artifacts," Mamoru looked down at the many crystal cases, obviously intrigued and amazed by the diversity in them. As he slowly gave himself a little tour around the vast exhibition, he stopped every now and then to make sure he wasn't missing anything that could give him a clue about the crystal he was particularly looking for. The collection went from personal items like combs, glass ornaments, sealed letters, feather pens, and clothing items.
By now, Mamoru was starting to feel a little let down for not finding his precious mystical jewel or anything that could connect him when a special gleam coming from on a pedestal caught his attention.
Under a spot of light, Mamoru stared with wonder at the shiny objects settled in a deep purple cushion made of fine velvet: a fine golden six-point star pocket watch that seemed to move accordingly with the moon phases hanging from a thin, delicate chain. Next to it was a golden medallion of a pointed cross settled over a circle and in its center rested a raw blue sapphire stone. The medallion was attached to a deep red silk sash with a gold clasp on its back, clearly meant to prove its hierarchy to whoever wore the outstanding piece around their neck.
Not sure why, but the more Mamoru stared at it the more he felt the itch to claim it. He narrowed his eyes and strip his hand out of his glove to reach out and touch the object, already aware of his lack of judgment on the matter.
As soon as his skin made contact with the precious metal, nostalgia invaded him. The more he stood there with his eyes fixed on the objects, the more he felt a sense of ownership, a clue to his life's puzzle–or not. Whatever the case, he could not leave them behind.
Strangely enough, none of them had a descriptive card that specified to whom those items belonged in the past. It didn't say how old they were either; they were no one's treasures, just like him.
Mamoru made his decision. He got closer to the pedestal and went for the watch first, shaking the guilt rushing through him.
"Find me… Find me… My Love."
Since the objects were secured with a silent alarm, Mamoru did what he thought was faster: He quickly shoved the medal inside his pocket and went to find another vent to climb into until he was free to flee. By now, the security guards were going around searching for the culprit. The damage was already done.
A hot boost of adrenaline bolted like lightening when he heard the hurried steps of more than just one guard running close to the room again and quickly turned to look for a quick exit, "Damn it—I almost beat a record," Mamoru muttered as he ran towards another door and sneaked into another showroom.
"Who are you?!"
"Show yourself!"
"You're surrounded!"
"No matter where you run, thief! You will be found and captured!"
"We have given notice to the authorities! Come out now! It's too late for you!"
Mamoru closed his deep blue eyes for a minute and had a sudden vision of a palace surrounded by greenery and roses playing vividly in his mind. Less of a dream, and more like a memory; a moment in time.
As much as he had wanted to dig deeper into it, Mamoru had to get away now with the guards getting closer to his hiding spot. "A-ha," The air vent he jumped from finally came to view, and used another pedestal to jump just in time before the guards caught sight of his face.
"Goddammit!"
"He's gone!"
"He can't be gone! He must be sneaking in another room—let's divide until the police arrive,"
"The Chief is going to kill us if we don't find the bastard! Search everywhere! Get that rat out of its hole!"
Mamoru watched through the ventilation grille at the security guards marching from one side to the other in a frantic pattern to pin his location, holding his breath so they wouldn't catch him and shoot him down.
"Akashina! Take the East Wing—Tokado! You take the West Wing. Uma will take the entrance and North wing and I'll go South and check the storehouse. We will find that rat son of a bitch!"
"Understood!"
Once clear, Mamoru slowly crawled his way to the end of the ventilation duct and kicked the grille on his way to the rooftop with success. He took a minute to regain composure and let out a heavy sigh of relief. With the walls facing the street, it was safe for him to catch his breath without being noticed by the police. Many sirens surrounded the gallery, which gave him the cue to run and jump to the nearest tree and wait until he was out of any exposure or danger.
Once safe enough, he turned to run away when an unexpected visitor stopped him from moving another inch.
"I must say, it is quite formidable what you did back there,"
Mamoru stopped mid-track and turned to look over his shoulder at a girl sporting a white sailor shirt with two red stripes on her blue-collar and larger shoulder pads that gave the appearance of armor. She wore gloves with a smooth orange-yellow band around their top edges that reached her mid-arms. She sported a midriff shirt that slightly bared her stomach with a red bow at its center and a short blue skirt with a red border and matching ankle-strapped shoes.
She arched her brow and swept Mamoru up and down with her cold stare, "A new thief has come into town? A clean and fashionable one—I was not expecting this at all,"
"And you are?" Mamoru frowned, still very much confused by the whole thing. It was crazy enough for him to be living this double life to find out there were more like him jumping through rooftops, playing the hero… Or thief. The blonde girl shook her heady, "I asked you first,"
"Well, I don't know. How about that?" Mamoru laughed, and shrugged his shoulders not really caring, "I am what I am—you just called me a thief."
"Well, aren't you one?"
"I have my reasons to do this, don't take it personally,"
"Oh, how convincing. The minute you break the law, I take things personally," she pointed her finger at him and narrowed her cornflower-blue eyes from behind her red mask, "Hand me the loot you stole if you don't want to suffer the consequences,"
"I can't do that. Whatever is that I took, is mine." Mamoru kept his handsome smirk, "Now if you excuse me, I believe this is where we part ways. You do your hero thing while I go look for some—" His words were cut off by a golden blade barely cutting his cheek. He turned to her, "The hell?!"
The shiny blade flew back into Sailor V's hand. "I'm not here to play,"
"Who said I was playing!?"
Sailor V stretched her hand; fighting the feeling of deja vu the more she looked at him. She frowned, "Hand them over! Now!"
"I don't have time for this," Mamoru was about to turn around when he saw the blonde soldier send him a high kick that barely if he had not gotten good reflexes could knock him down easily, "Sailor V kick!"
Mamoru jumped back, evading her second kick "Sailor V chop!"
He pulled back quick enough to dodge the blow and dared himself to throw himself back, trusting his impressive balancing skills and all the yoga he practiced to the test. "Tch. This will hurt tomorrow,"
Sailor V shook her head with amazement at his moves. "Stop moving!"
"If I stop, you'll kick me to the ground!" Mamoru retorted in the same tone as he kept dodging Sailor V's impressive chops.
"What are you after?!"
"I can't say,"
"What do you want?!"
"Something oddly specific,"
"Who are you?!"
"That is not of your concern," Mamoru narrowed his deep blue eyes, "As I said, I have my reasons,"
Sailor V was about to say something in response when a loud crash a few blocks away interrupted their little discussion giving Mamoru the perfect opportunity to disappear into the night the same way he appeared.
"No! Come back here!" Sailor V widened her eyes and tried to go after him but it was too late, the masked man was already gone. He had vanished, right under her watch. Frustrated at her own fault, she frowned as she shook her head in disbelief, "Could that be...?"
-O.O.O.O.O-
The next morning Mamoru was grateful he didn't have to go to school. Just as he predicted, he woke up bruised, sore, and tired; thinking he could lay back a bit and do some research about where his following raid would be.
Despite the discomfort, he forced himself to follow his routine. He woke up early, went for his daily run, showered, and now waited for the coffee machine to stop its brewing process. These things come with the deal of having an alter ego, he guessed.
He tapped his fingers on the counter, waiting for his coffee to be ready. Bored, he decided this was the perfect opportunity to go downstairs and check his mail.
The building was mostly occupied by much older people than him. Maybe that was the reason why Ikio chose that apartment complex for him to live in. It was perfect for him to blend in, and go unnoticed. Plus, no more secret parties to keep him from sleeping.
Mamoru walked past the luxury lounge with a gorgeous view of the forest of the Four Seasons garden where many, both guests and residents, went there to enjoy a good moment of peace while reading the paper and having coffee. He finally made it to the residents-only area and was quick to open his mail compartment bursting with ads and other catalogs; thankfully, they came along with the daily paper.
Mamoru loved reading the paper, feeling no urge to go on the adventure of buying a television. He had plenty of books to catch on and keep him entertained and since he spent most of his day at school and breaking into stores at night, and now private properties, he didn't have the feel to be a couch potato just yet.
"おはようございます、Chiba-san, isn't it?"
A male voice distracted Mamoru from his curious moment while looking at the market's food deals and turned to look at the man he recognized as the building manager, "Ah, yes, good morning, Takahina-さん.おはようございます、"
Takahina Seuchi, was a man around his early forties. He was recently promoted to the building manager and the one who talked to Ikio when he started the negotiations for Mamoru's condo. He had seen him several times since he started living in the building, but since he is always either out the door very early or very late at night, he hasn't had much chance to talk to the man who seemed to be very friendly and approachable.
The manager gave the youngster a smile and turned to check his office's mailbox, "No sleeping in today?"
"Excuse me?"
"It's Saturday. I ask because I have noticed you go out very early every morning, every day. Many kids your age tend to spend all day sleeping,"
Mamoru chuckled and looked down at the papers in his hands, "Ah," he chuckled. "I can't stay in bed for too long if there's no good reason for me to be,"
Takahina smiled and noticed the rolled paper in Mamoru's hand, "There is some big news going around today. It's on TV as well,"
"Big news?" Mamoru frowned a little confused, "What do you mean?" He saw Takahina pointing to the paper, "Apparently, there was some big robbery at an important gallery—a few antiques of great value were taken by a mysterious thief,"
Mamoru widened his ocean-blue eyes, he blinked startled, and tried to act casual, "A mysterious thief, you say?"
"Yeah, there has been some great commotion around this person and after last night, he's officially on the map. Apparently, this thief has been seen around prominent department stores lately but seemed harmless. This time he went big and stole some very valuable pieces of jewelry or something like that; the authorities are after him,"
"Ah," Mamoru licked his lips. He glanced down, sorting the ads he had in his hands, "And… How do people know this person is a he?"
"Because he has been caught on a surveillance tape."
Mamoru froze, still keeping his eyes off the man next to him.
"But nothing is too clear to tell who this guy is. It's in the paper too, it's an interesting scoop," Takahina nodded with interest, "He is building up a reputation. If he got to face the famous Sailor V and get away with it, then it's because this guy's good at his job."
"Sailor V?" Mamoru frowned, "A-Ah... Yeah... I think I heard something about her. A heroine, yes?"
"She is a very popular girl. Also a mystery. She rounds the streets of Tokyo at night and oftentimes works closely with the police when cases get too messy for them to understand. Ever since this thief appeared a couple of months ago; it appears he caught her attention and is now personally on the hunt for him. This guy is a serious deal."
"Well," Mamoru smiled, "I guess we will have to see how this situation unfolds. I haven't heard of him,"
"You haven't? Really?" Takahina chuckled, "Well, I was told you are one busy young man."
Mamoru chuckled. Takahina took a step closer, taken by surprise by his attractive features. "Please pardon my curiosity, Chiba-san. Are you from around here?"
"Yes. Born and raised,"
"Oh! How interesting. But you haven't been living here for too long, right?"
"Not in this area, no." Mamoru smiled, "I used to live in the Shinjuku District,"
"Equally busy area to live in," Takahina smiled, "How are you finding your stay in the building, so far?"
"It's comfortable without a doubt," Mamoru chuckled, "It's very nice and peaceful. I lived in a much smaller place compared to my current one,"
"I see," Takahina frowned ever so slightly in wonder, "You're one young man, aren't you?"
"Sixteen—I'll be turning seventeen soon," Mamoru smiled, "I suspect Shimuta-san talked to you about my situation if you are the person who made deals with him."
"Correct,"
"So, you were probably informed of the conditions of my stay in this building."
"I do know, yes," Takahina nodded, "It was required for the lease contract. We have a very strict form of submission; eventually, your story came to the surface, but, don't worry Chiba-san, all information concerning our residents is strictly classified—no one will ever know."
Mamoru tightened his lips and answered with a nod, feeling shy about the truth about him. The manager noticed and tried to lighten the mood to make him feel more at ease. "I must admit, Chiba-san; I am quite impressed to see you are nothing of who I had in mind—for your young age, that is."
Mamoru chuckled, "Really? Why?"
"Well, to start off, you are very well-mannered and act like a proper adult. I have not gotten any complaints on your floor. Most kids with your age and status do it all the time,"
"I am not really into any of that, Takahina-san. You won't get complaints of the sort from me," Mamoru gave the man a sided smile, "I am the boring kind,"
The comment sure made the older man crack a laugh, "Oh? That is someone you don't get to meet every day, kids these days are a little complicated,"
"You don't have to worry, Takahina-san," Mamoru chuckled, "I won't be giving you any problems, I promise."
"Now that I have the opportunity to talk o you, Chiba-san, I would like to ask if you have any people you want to add to your visitor list. You know, so you wouldn't get bothered every time someone comes to visit you.," Tahakina gave Mamoru a sly smile, "A girlfriend maybe?"
Mamoru felt his stomach as lead at the mention of a girlfriend, making him think about Chieko right away. It still hurt—eight months later, it still hurt. "No. No girlfriend,"
"Eh? Really!?" Takahina blinked, "That's surprising! You are a very good-looking young man. O-Oh! I am sorry for my intromission, I didn't—"
"It's alright, Takahina-san. I told you, I am the boring kind," Mamoru smiled, "I don't have anyone to add to my visitor list—just Shimuta Ikio. Aside from him, I would like to be notified in case someone else comes by. I want to keep my privacy as much as possible."
"I understand, Chiba-san. Trust me on that." Takahina smiled and nodded his head with respect, "I feel like I have taken too much of your valuable time; I should get back to sorting the correspondence. It is always a little hectic at this time of the month,"
"Thank you, Takahina-san," Mamoru nodded, "And please. By all means, you don't steal my time. I believe it has been the other way around,"
"Not at all, Chiba-san, not at all. It was very nice to finally get to talk to you and know you," Takahina waved his hand, "Whatever you need, please don't hesitate to contact me. I will be more than glad to help,"
"I appreciate it, Takahina-san." Mamoru bowed his head "Likewise, if there is anything I can help you with, please let me know,"
"Thank you, Chiba-san, have a nice day,"
"You too, Takahina-san,"
-O-
Mamoru walked back into his apartment and quickly unfolded the newspaper over his coffee table, not really caring for his coffee anymore. His deep blue eyes widened when in fact, what Takahina had said about the mysterious thief was right. He had made it on the front page of the newspaper and now everybody apparently, knew of his existence.
"A new dashing robber in town!
"Last night at the Tein Gallery of History around 1:00 a.m. a mysterious thief, who for the time being is being cataloged by the authorities as to the Mysterious 2098 Face; broke in and took with him some pieces of extreme value from the historian and semiotics expert, Ushida-Casanova Akihito from his collection of rare and ancient catalog.
The value of missing pieces is worth millions of dollars, and while their source of origin is still a mystery, they are considered valuable treasures of history gathering global attention.
The authorities are investigating the motives for Mysterious 2098 Face's motives to steal these pieces. Sailor V was known to be at the scene, and after many attempts to try to locate her and give a statement, there are many facts still unknown.
This isn't the first time this well-dressed and mysterious robber has made an appearance. In the past three months, he made his first appearance in Shibuya when he took a valuable loot of antiques. Police are now considering him a threat. Commissioner Sukichi is still investigating the scene and will hold a press conference to address this situation later this week."
Mamoru leaned his back on the sofa and let out a soft sigh; he ran a hand through his dark hair and bit his lips for a second before giving a quick read at the rest of the article. "Mysterious 2098 Face..." he frowned, "What a complicated name,"
His eyes quickly landed on the picture of the heroine he met the night before and narrowed his eyes as he thought about the brief conversation they had before she started to attack him, "Sailor V..." He mumbled with wonder, "Why do I have the feeling that I have heard that name before?"
A/N: I do not own SM. Just this plot and vision of characters.