The Phantom Thief of Hearts || Saiouma Phantom Thief AU

4

3rd Person POV

Shuichi rushed out of the cat café and got into his car, speeding to the agency in hopes of not getting a speeding ticket. He only had until midnight to stop the thief- and it was already noon. Although it seemed like he had a lot of time, he still had to write his findings down, notify his uncle, Jin, and Kyoko of everything, eat lunch, and then get on his way to the marked location- and just getting there would take hours on its own. Then he had to get local authorities to stake out the area as they awaited the phantom thief's arrival, which could be at any point between then and midnight.
Shuichi drove up to the agency, got out of his car, and speed walked into the building, throwing the door open which scared the secretary. After apologizing for scaring her, he asked where he could find his uncle- who was apparently upstairs in the conference room.
He ran up the stairs and down the hall, slamming the door as he entered. This startled his uncle, Jin, and Kyoko who were all seated at the table. Shuichi's face flushed from embarrassment, and from being out of breath.
"T-The thief-" he stammered, "W-We have until midnight to get to the A-Asakura Museum of Sculpture- It's all the way in Taito-"
His uncle stood up.
"Then we have to leave immediately," he said, "Shuichi get the paperwork together- and everyone pack your stuff. We're catching the next train to Taito. We can get food on the way."
Shuichi nodded and rushed to the conference table, scrambling to write everything down quickly. He quickly summarized everything to the others, before shoving everything back into his bag, and following the other three out of the building.

*Timeskip*

On the train, Shuichi stared out the window in thought. As per usual, he was terrified of his next encounter with the thief- but after some introspection he found that part of him was slightly excited. What was wrong with him? He spent those few hours analyzing himself, trying to figure out where those feelings came from, but he got nowhere. It's been weeks since he took on the case- of course- he was probably just attached. Pretty soon, it was their turn to get off the train, which has arrived at Taito. They exited the train and decided to take a taxi to the museum. Upon their arrival, they were greeted by local policemen and detectives, who Shuichi had never met before. The anxiety in the pit of Shuichi's stomach grew, and he stood behind his uncle silently as his uncle shook hands with the officers. The police began escorting visitors out of the museum to shut it down- that way civilians wouldn't be endangered- and Shuichi and Kyoko were instructed to help. Shuichi hated social situations, especially with strangers, so he dreaded being asked this- but did as he was told anyway. He ended up almost crying at the rude attitudes that some of the visitors showed him- but a reassuring pat on the back from his uncle helped him hold back his tears. By the time the building was free of visitors, it had already gotten dark out, and Shuichi estimated the time to be a few hours before midnight.
Suddenly, a familiar figure appeared on the roof of the museum. The phantom thief wore a long, flowy cape, and also appeared to be wearing a more fancy mask, along with a white top-hat, and a more formal outfit than before. What an advancement.
The police immediately rushed into the building, but Shuichi found his feet carrying him much faster than all of the policemen. Why was he so eager? He didn't know. He rushed far ahead of everyone, and up the stairwell he ran. He slammed the door to the roof open, and there he saw the thief, who turned around to meet his gaze.
"Well well well," he said, "If it isn't Shuichi Saihara. The world renown detective who's been on my tail for weeks now, huh?"
Shuichi swallowed nervously as the thief neared him. He tried to tackle the thief- who dodged and moved behind Shuichi- locking the door to the roof.
"Just the two of us now~" he sang, "No dummy police officers to ruin our time together."
Shuichi turned towards the door, the thief stepped aside to let him. He fumbled with the doorknob nervously, but was unable to get it to unlock. He turned around- only to see the thief inches away from his face.
Shuichi backed up against the wall in fear, but the phantom thief only got closer and closer to him. Shuichi's face flushed red as he froze in place.
"Listen to me," the thief's voice grew serious, "And do what I say."
Shuichi nodded quickly.
"Close your eyes."
Shuichi did as he was told and shut his eyes as tightly as possible. Who knew what the phantom thief was capable of?
His thoughts were cut off when he felt lips on his own. His face burned- and he instinctively kissed back. In that moment he couldn't think. His heart raced. However when it ended- the realization hit him. He couldn't process what he had done, or why he had done it-
"You can open them now."
Shuichi opened his eyes and saw the thief, who had put his mask back on. Shuichi just knew he was smiling behind that mask- his own face however... he didn't know what expression it held. Shock, most likely. Both boys were jumped as they heard pounding against the door, and yelling.
"Well- It appears our time together is up," he told Shuichi, "Until next time, Detective."
And with that, he took a backwards fall off the roof. Shuichi ran to the edge- he didn't know why but he wanted to catch a final glimpse of the thief- but he had already vanished from Shuichi's sight.

--Word count: 1001--