The Phantom Thief of Hearts || Saiouma Phantom Thief AU

5

Shuichi's POV

I stood at the edge of the museum roof, staring down at the ground below me. He was gone, again. I heard the door to the roof fly open, and after turning around I was greeted by my uncle, Kyoko, and several cops.
"H-He escaped again-" I said shamefully.
I was then reassured by everyone that it wasn't my fault, and that I tried my best. But no one knew what had happened between me and the phantom thief on the rooftop. Only me- and of course, he- knew that. I was in shock for the rest of that night, constantly zoning out, and being even more silent than usual. On the train ride home and while eating dinner at my uncle's I hardly spoke a single word. My uncle and Kyoko worried for me, but I assured them I was okay. And I was. I just had a lot on my mind.
Why? Why did he do that? And why did I kiss back?
Did I... like it?
No- that's stupid to think. I've only known of his existence for a couple weeks now- and sure I've grown attached to the idea of catching him, and maybe even him himself-
But being in love with him was out of the question.
...Right?
I laid in bed that night, unable to sleep. I decided that I may as well be productive- and push my feelings aside to work on the next clue that was recovered from the scene for me to analyze.

"Far away like an eagle I'll fly, To the free land of fast food fries. On a skyscraper I'll be, It's the tallest one you'll see. I won't steal anything this time, I'll just wait for you to arrive."

This was an easy one. Eagle? Free land? Fast food?
Was the phantom thief traveling to America...?
But there are so many cities there- and so many skyscrapers- how am I supposed to know which one!?
I felt myself growing anxious. What if I get it wrong, and travel to some American city all for nothing?
Suddenly it clicked in my head. The tallest skyscraper in America! I grabbed my laptop and opened it up to Google.
"tallest skyscraper in america"
I scrolled through a list of the top 10 tallest buildings in America until I reached #1:
"One World Trade Center: Supertall Building in New York City, New York"
I sat back, satisfied with my findings. I was calmer now that he claimed he would just be waiting for me, not stealing. That would be the perfect time to unmask and arrest him!
So why did part of me not want to?
I ignored that part of me and called my uncle to tell him that I had to fly to America with him.
"Hello?" a sleepy voice said.
Crap. I forgot it was super late-
I glanced at the clock,, 4:30 am!?
"Crap- I'm so sorry for calling this early in the morning-" I said.
"Well it must be important then. Find anything?"
"W-Well yes-" I said, and explained him everything.
"Yeah... So it seems we need to go to New York City-"
"Wait Shuichi," he cut me off, "This is a good opportunity for you to do a solo mission, you know what?"
HUH!?
"Y-You're not sending me to America alone- Are you-"
"As a matter of fact I am," he said, "Get some rest Shuichi, and start packing tomorrow morning. I'll book you a flight to New York City for tomorrow."
TOMORROW!? ALL ALONE!?
"S-S-Sounds good-" I said, trying not to cry, "G-Goodnight-"

*Timeskip*

I opened my eyes that morning, my face covered in dried up tears from last night. I was so scared for today- I couldn't help but break down last night- And what's worse? I'm running off three hours of sleep.
And I had a bad headache.
I got up, and decided to make myself some coffee to energize myself- Maybe it would also help my headache-
As I drank it, I couldn't help but remember yesterday's events... with the phantom thief. We kissed- and I liked it-
Damn. Today was gonna be a long day.
As I drank my coffee my phone buzzed- it was my uncle texting me, reminding me to pack. I quickly finished my coffee and got ready for the day, and after that I started packing. I packed a ton of clothes, hygiene products, etc- as well as my work bag- and then loaded everything into my car and set out to bid my uncle farewell and head to the airport.

*Timeskip*

I landed in New York at 1 in the morning. By the time I had eaten a super late dinner and gotten to my hotel room I was ready to pass out- from both exhaustion and fear- fear of being in a foreign country all alone, and fear of encountering the phantom thief tomorrow morning. I wanted to set out before the One World Trade Center opened, since I was granted a special keycard for entrance because of my association with law enforcement. It would be easier to catch the thief without civilians around to get in the way. I unpacked my clothes into the cabinet and then sat at the small desk in the corner of the room, opening Google on my laptop.
"when does the one world trade center open"
"To visit the One World Observatory: It is open between 9 am - 10 pm 7 days a week."
So I'd have to set out around 7 am if I wanted to get to the top of the tower in time- Which would certainly take a while. I decided to go to bed asap, to maximize my time asleep. After all, I needed the energy for tomorrow. I set an alarm for 6 so I'd have time to get ready, and drifted off to sleep. As I fell unconscious I thought about the phantom thief. He wasn't stealing anything this time- so he just wanted to see me...?
Why am I excited?

--Word count: 1020--