The Phantom Thief of Hearts || Saiouma Phantom Thief AU

11

3rd Person POV

Shuichi arrived at the Sogi Power Station at precisely 2 pm, not a minute later. This was surprising for the boy, since he was known for being late to almost every social event. But this, to Shuichi, was especially important- and especially worth coming to. He had taken a bus to the outskirts of Tokyo, and walked the rest of the way (through a pretty dense forest) to reach the clearing on which the factory ruins were situated on. In the detective's opinion, it was worth the bit of travel if he got to see his sworn enemy whom he'd fallen for. Maybe he'd even confess to the boy there-
So there Shuichi was, walking through a field of tall, untamed grass, putting a hand over his eyes and squinting to see the ruins ahead of him through the bright sun. He quickened his steps as he began to near (what he assumed was) the entrance.
Stepping into the abandoned building, the boy immediately set his eyes upon a figure wearing his signature hat, cape, and mask- the phantom thief.
But his real name was- supposedly- Kokichi Ouma.
The shorter boy pulled his mask up onto his forehead to make direct eye contact with the detective. They were both blushing slightly, Shuichi more-so.
"Y-You wanted to see me?-" Shuichi inquired.
"That I did," the thief smiled, "I wanted to talk about a certain something- so come, sit-" he gestured to the window ledge he was already seated on.
Shuichi moved to sit beside him. The thief- Kokichi- turned to face the detective. Shuichi looked at him quizzically.
Then Kokichi did something that surprised him. He leaned slightly forward and kissed Shuichi on the cheek. Shuichi blushed- and tried covering his face with his hat, but Kokichi snickered and tore it away from him. He put it on- putting his own hat onto Shuichi's head- so that they'd swapped hats. But then, the little thief ruined the moment by getting up and sprinting up the stairs to the roof of the building.
"Hey!" Shuichi yelled, "G-Give back my hat!-"
"Catch me first~" he called.
Shuichi ran up onto the roof and grabbed hold of Kokichi's cape, successfully catching him.
"Aww man," Kokichi said, before turning around and beginning to get closer to Shuichi.
"W-What're you-" Shuichi's back hit the railing.
The phantom thief kept getting closer and closer to the detective.
"You've always wanted to know my intent, what I'm truly after," he said, "But what I'm after, is something more precious than all the treasures of the world combined. Any idea what it is?"
"What-" Shuichi began, but was cut off by the thief kissing him, and he instinctively kissed back. When the boys pulled away, Kokichi said something that confused the detective.
"And I successfully stole it," he paused, "I thought I might have, but the past few days have confirmed it for sure...
...Your heart, my darling detective."
"I-I love you," Shuichi confessed without thinking, blushing madly.
"Well now I know for sure that you do, and I love you too," Kokichi replied, without hesitation, "Mission complete; Steal the heart of the cute detective chasing me."
Shuichi blushed even harder.
"And that's what I wanted to talk to you about, Saihara chan. All of the things we've been through in the past couple of weeks- it's been a thrilling chase, huh? For the both of us?"
Shuichi nodded, "Never did I ever think I'd fall for you, I'm still in shock-"
The thief smirked.
"Oh so you did fall for me?" Then his voice quieted a bit, "So that 'I love you' actually meant something?"
"Y-Yeah-"
"I fell for you too. And I fell hard."
"Ouma kun," Shuichi began, "Can I ask you a question?- Maybe even a couple- J-Just be honest-"
"Sure."
Shuichi took a deep breath, "Pretty sure I asked you this before but- Ouma kun... Why do you steal?"
"..."
"Y-You actually don't even have to answer-"
"No, this time I'll answer," he said, "Saihara chan, I'm an orphan. Me and my little group of friends? We all are. We steal to survive. We never take from the poor, we only take from the rich. We don't support them living in luxury while people like me starve on the streets. And we share all the money with others, even outside our group. Why? Because we aren't evil. We just have our own beliefs and values that happen to not line up with the law..."
"...But I stole more than usual ever since I met you. You interested me from the beginning-"
Shuichi exhaled lightly. He didn't actually expect a truthful answer, however he still hoped for one. He gave Kokichi a small smile.
"Thanks for being honest about it... I feel like I understand you better now."
The phantom thief stayed quiet, slowly nodding his head, clearly thinking.
"You said you might have more than one question," he said, "C'mon, shoot."
"W-Well-" Shuichi said nervously, "Why'd you fall in love with me...?-"
"At first I fell in love with the thrill of being pursued by an enemy- but soon I felt myself falling for the very enemy leading the pursuit... If that makes sense," Kokichi replied.
Shuichi nodded.
"To me it does," he said to the thief.
"Oh but Saihara chan~" Kokichi cooed, "Last night you-"
"SHH!-" Shuichi shushed him, "I-"
"You asked and you received," the phantom thief said with a wink.
"I still hate you," Shuichi said, and shoved him lightly.
"No you don'ttt- You looovve meee~"
Shuichi looked away shyly.
"I can't believe I'm in love with my sworn enemy."
"I can't believe you're in love with the phantom thief. I guess you really could call me the phantom thief of hearts~" Kokichi said with another wink, that made Shuichi blush.
The detective felt the thief's hands quietly take hold of his, and without a word, the thief pressed his head up against the detective's chest.
The moment was ruined by sounds of sirens nearing the location of the boys. They quickly stepped apart and froze in place, making nervous eye contact. Their love was completely forbidden- by literal law- so being caught like this would not be good for either of them- especially Kokichi- who quickly pulled his mask down over his face.
Without another word Kokichi ran up to Shuichi, handed him what seemed to be a piece of paper, and in one swift motion jumped off of the roof.
Shuichi, in shock, stuffed the paper into his pocket, and rushed down the stairs and out of the abandoned building, and was greeted by police.
"Hey wait," one of the officers pointed at Shuichi's head,
"Why is Detective Saihara wearing the hat of the phantom thief?"

--Word count: 1140--