Just for the Anarchy | OumaSai AU

Secrets

Shuichi's POV

I parked my car in a spot in front of the tiny little coffee shop, I would have walked but I was in no particular mood to walk for twenty minutes when I could just drive for five. I got out, locking the car, and hopped up the two steps of stairs that lead to the patio of the shop. As I reach for the door handle I hear a rather loud voice shout for me.

"Hey, Shuichi! How's it been, buddy?"

Kaito very suddenly appeared at the steps of the patio and jumped up to wrap me in a smothering hug. 

"K-Kaito! You're...choking me..." I managed to gasp out while I attempted to pry myself free.

"Oh, ha, sorry man. Hey, do you remember your old nickname in high school?" Kaito released me, patting me on the back then shoving his hands into the pockets of his space-themed jacket.

"You mean when you would just go around calling me your sidekick? I don't think that counts as a nickname." I spoke as I began chewing my nails, still able to taste the faint hint of nicotine from the cigarettes.

"Nah, of course it does, I mean you were always there ready to help and back me up like a good sidekick would."

"That's called being a good friend."

Kaito laughs and pats me on the shoulder before offering to order coffee on him. I asked him for a simple coffee with a dash of cream and he gives me a cartoonish thumbs up before running inside to order for us. As he left I glanced about the patio for a suitable place to sit, since it was decent weather but the vast majority of guests were inside, meaning I could hear myself think and wouldn't be too concerned with the trouble of too much human interaction. I found a small wrought iron table hidden in the shade of a thin birch tree that grew along the side of the building, deciding that was as isolated a place as any I sat on one side and waited for Kaito's return. In the meantime, I thought I should check my phone and reply to any texts I had previously forgotten.

After a short time of scrolling through social media, Kaito exited the shop with two steaming coffee cups in hand. He slides into the seat across from me and passes me one of the cups with an 'S' scrawled on it in sharpie.

"So, you mentioned you were having a little problem with a case, how can I help?" Kaito blew gently on his cup before hesitantly sipping the strong black coffee he always orders.

I very briefly explain the phantom thief case without delving into classified information and was sure to avoid too much detail about my encounter with the elusive man himself. I finished up by describing the last calling card and its riddle.

"But now, with the most recent card, there doesn't seem to be any clue whatsoever." I slipped the card out from my pocket and handed it over to the aspiring astronaut. He took a moment to read over it a few times, playing with his goatee as he analyzed the small rectangle.

"Have you tried rearranging the letters?"

"Yeah, it's not an anagram, I already ran through a few possibilities in my head, but nothing that makes remotely any sense." I leaned back in my seat and sipped on my cooling drink. I patted myself down until I found my pack in my pocket and pulled it out, in sudden desperate need for nicotine. 

Kaito frowned, he obviously wanted to object to me subjecting my body to the toxins in these things, but he had lectured me day in and day out about the issue in high school. Besides, he understands that it's a healthier coping mechanism that drugs or outright self-harm. Still, I scooted farther back and made sure he stayed upwind of the smoke. Kaito hummed and glanced back down at the card.

"So you know what the numbers mean?" He downed more of his coffee.

"The first portion, yes. At least, based off of previous calling cards, that set of numbers seem to refer to a time period, so 0000 would likely be midnight on the dot. 531 on the other hand, that number set is another tricky part." I ashed over the railing for the patio and took one last gulp of my now lukewarm drink. "Our best guess is that it's either a start to an address or a date."