Deceit - The Phantom Thief

Chapter 11: A Stolen Spotlight

The soft murmur of the vehicle moving rumbled underneath her as the bus approached yet another stop. Kaede sat, eyes closed, with her head resting against the warm glass. The afternoon sun glared through the window at her as her hair attempted to shield her view from the piercing light. 

Today was the day she would finally be able to impress Shuichi. She was going to help her best friend with the case and Shuichi would appreciate her until the end of time! She was on her way to the detective's apartment building. To save him the effort of traveling to her, she decided to meet him at his own place: another kind deed for the boy who deserved the world.

On her lap was her phone where she had been talking to Shuichi about her whereabouts and plans that day. When her phone began to vibrate her head perked up and a sweet smile began to form. Her beam only grew brighter as she anticipated reading the message Shuichi sent her. So, with a brilliant grin and wide pink eyes, she unlocked her phone to see a message from... 'Unsaved number'? Again? She frowned. She debated whether she should read the message or not for a moment, but decided she'd be a lot less anxious and paranoid if she knew what they wanted with her this time.

She opened the text and upon mumbling the words displayed before her widened eyes, she could've sworn that she felt her heart stop. "Hello, Kaede. We know where you're going tonight. We have eyes everywhere - we'll be watching your every move. Be careful." 

Just what had she gotten herself tangled up into?

Kaede didn't reply to the message. Instead, like many times before, she deleted it. Interactions like this were pointless. Interacting with Shuichi on the other hand? That wasn't pointless at all. Kaede exited the chat and opened Powwow before tapping on Shuichi's contact. She decided to update him on her whereabouts to distract herself.

KeyboardCat: I should be over in a little bit!! Maybe 10ish minutes

ShuichiSaihara: Ah, thanks. Tell me when you're outside.
ShuichiSaihara: What's the plan for the day? You're the one who knows where we're going.

KeyboardCat: Soooo when I get there we're gonna walk down to the train station and take the train right to the place
KeyboardCat: Outside the venue there's gonna be a suuuper long queue because people all want the books with limited edition covers, we're allowed to jump it and go straight in
KeyboardCat: Then we'll find Toko and keep an eye on her until the event is over and ensure she and whatever the thief wants are safe!!

ShuichiSaihara: Sounds good. I'll be waiting for you in the lobby.

KeyboardCat: I can't come in?

Kaede screwed her face up in confusion. Why wasn't Shuichi inviting her in for a minute? He always let her come in. What could he be hiding? He didn't have a secret girlfriend, did he? Not that she would care. Her only concern would be if whoever she was would ever try to hurt her best friend. Kaede never intended to be intrusive. In fact, she would give Shuichi all the space in the world if he needed it, and she would never in a million years pressure him to say or do anything he didn't want to. But Shuichi never waited in the lobby. 

ShuichiSaihara: Not today. Maybe another time. It's nothing personal, I promise. I just have work stuff everywhere and my apartment currently isn't fit for visitors.

Oh. That made sense, she thought. It was just work, nothing to be concerned about. Shuichi was alright. That was good. Really, really good. Kaede shrugged off the matter and replied quickly. The bus was pulling over to her stop so she urged herself to hurry.

KeyboardCat: I'm almost there
KeyboardCat: Meet me outside :)

Hopping off of the bus, Kaede tucked her phone into the waistband of her skirt. She was undeniably happy that she was able to spend the whole day with her best friend, and the whole night too! It reminded her of when she was younger. She and Shuichi would spend every minute possible in each other's company, something she dearly missed.