The Phantom Thief of Hearts || Saiouma Phantom Thief AU

7

Shuichi's POV

I looked at the thief's hat- which I clutched in my hands- and immediately decided I'd keep it. Why? I didn't know. I quickly made my way back into the building, and made my descent down the tower via elevator, thinking about our encounter. I shouldn't have talked about unmasking him- that probably scared him away- But my thoughts were cut short by a ding from the elevator, signaling it was time for me to step out and leave the building. I sighed and did just that. As I stepped out of the elevator however, a small piece of paper fell out of the thief's hat. A clue?

"This one's easy, can't you see? It's a total free-bee: On a building I will wait, it's a symbol of the Empire State."

He's right- this one is easy. It's gotta be the Empire State Building itself. I picked up the clue and stuffed it into my bag. Outside it started pouring rain, so holding the thief's hat, I exited the building and tried to flag down a taxi.

*Timeskip*

I stood outside my hotel room carrying my dinner in one hand, while fumbling with my room key trying to get the door open with the other. Upon succeeding I stepped into the room- and saw something I did not expect to see. The phantom thief was rummaging through my hotel room drawers! He looked up at me- probably realizing that he was caught red handed- but decided to play it off.
"Well hey there," he said to me, "I see we meet again. Sooner than expected, even still."
"W-What?" I said, still registering that he had broken into my hotel room.
"You heard me pretty boy," he said, walking up to me and booping my nose, which flustered me greatly.
I shook it off. "Well there has to be a reason you'd show yourself here, what is it that you want?"
"My hat, dumbfuck," he said flatly, "I know you kept it-"
"Y-Yeah I did-" I said, setting my food down and pointing to the cabinet the hat was in, "S-Sorry-"
He opened the drawer, pulled out the hat, and put it on his head.
"Well," he began, "Since you've caught me here now... Let the next chase begin."
And with that he jumped onto the window ledge, and disappeared out the window. I rushed over.
"WAIT WAIT!-" I yelled out the window- But he was already gone.
I bolted out of my room, down the hall, and ran in the direction of the elevator- on the spot I decided the elevator would be too slow- so I took off down the stairs instead. I ran out of the building as fast as my feet could carry me when it hit me. He probably meant that since I caught him early, he was going to go to the Empire State Building now instead of tomorrow. The Empire State Building was only a few blocks away from here, so I decided to run there, pushing my way past tourists as I hurried up the road.

*Timeskip*

I arrived at the top of the building, panting and out of breath. I caught a break riding the elevator up, but the sprint down the hall to the roof door a lot out of me yet again. I was exhausted. I stepped out of the doorway and onto the roof, shivering from the cold wind and clutching my hat so it didn't blow away.
And I saw him, standing slightly to the side of me- also holding his hat- leaning again the railing, probably admiring the view. He looked so... peaceful. So I decided to join him, slowly moving closer to him and standing at his side. He turned his head and jumped slightly when he saw me- but I grabbed his arm.
"I won't do anything-" I said quietly, "You can stay..."
He nodded and went back to admiring the view of the city. It was dark, and the skyscrapers were lit up. The lights looked like twinkling stars.
"Wanna play a game?" he said. I could practically hear him smirking. He was calm- however only for a second.
"S-Sure," I said. What could possibly go wrong? Everything. I feared for my life around this boy.
"You can ask me any question you want," he said, "And I have to answer it truthfully."
This confused me. Then what was he getting out of it?
I decided to just go with whatever nonsense he was saying, and use it to my advantage.
"Why do you steal?"
"..."
"You said you'd answer-"
"My answer is that I plead the fifth."
I looked at him- and suddenly he looked serious. That must've been a really personal question... I felt a bit bad for asking it.
I turned away from him when suddenly he spoke again.
"I'll let you unmask me... As long as you don't tell anyone you saw my face."
He knows I'm intrigued by him- He knows I want to meet the person behind the mask-
I nodded, and gently pulled his mask up onto his forehead. His violet eyes made eye contact with me, which I broke to scan his features.
He was beautiful, I had to admit. He has a small nose, a pale face (with a few small scars on it,) lips that looked soft, bangs,-
I stopped when I realized that the gap between us was closing. I closed my eyes as I felt our lips connect.
It felt gentle and romantic. I felt all my fear of the phantom thief melt away as his tongue found its way into my mouth. The familiar feeling of my face burning and our lips stroking each other came back to me. I realized that I really did love it, and that I missed it-
We broke away for air, both of our faces flushed.
"Well then," he said, turning away from me to pull his mask back down, "I'll see you again soon- sooner than you think-"
"W-Wait-" I said without thinking. "T-Tell me when and where- please-"
"Time will tell."
And with that, he disappeared into the building.

--Word count: 1037--