Thief of Rhythm

Chapter 6: Onyx of Wrath

The Watanabe Gala was as lively as ever. From every corner of the manor, people seemed to be having the time of their lives. In a group of their own, the 5 members of Pastel Palettes walked around the Gala, waiting for later when they had greet the guests with Watanabe-san. Each one of them wore a dress, that reflected their given colors in their band. Since the event started, Aya has been taking selfies around the various rooms in the manor while Hina is is explore this "boppin'" manor, with Eve got absorbed in Hina's shenanigans. At one point, Maya even attempted to squeeze into one of the many spaces the manor hides, but Chisato was able to convince her not to. Instead of this being a regal event, it felt more like Chisato was taking care of three dogs and a cat.

Elsewhere, Detective Minoru and Kaito were in one of the many rooms the manor boasts. With this, the two men began to talk about the preparations needed for the unwanted guest scheduled to arrive. Kaito was the first person to speak out. "So detective, what is your plan on stopping this little party crasher of ours?" "Do not worry Watanabe-san, this time the Gentleman Thief won't be lucky like last time. We have a special trick up our sleeves this time.", Detective Minoru said with confidence emanating from the smirk he was giving off. Kaito soon questioned, "So what is this 'trick' you are going on about?" The detective soon reached into his pocket, once he grabbed the contents of his side pocket he showed the item to Kaito. Kaito was stunned at the contents of his hands. "Two onyxs!" "Not exactly correct Wataabe-san, one of these is a just a replica of the actual onyx. The fake one contains a hidden tracking device on it, so even if he manages to steal it we will be led right to his hideout. The only problem we have now is trying to figure out where to...", Minoru attempted to explain fully how the plan worked to Watanabe-san, until a certain pink hair idol entered the room. "Watanabe-san it's almost time for us to go greet the guests.", Aya said to him as the rest of Pastel Palettes were behind her prepared to officially welcome the guest. "Okay, thank you again Maruyama-san." Before Kaito left through the door, he quickly grabbed one of the onyxs Minoru had and obtained an empty ring and combined the two together to make a onyx ring. He then gave the newly made ring to Aya and simplify said, "Consider this a good luck charm, hope you don't mix up your words." After this, the group soon followed Kaito as they made their way to greet the guests.

Once the host of the party made his presences know to his guests, they all began to quiet down. "Greetings everyone and welcome to tonight's event. I hope everyone is having a great time and is enjoying the event." He continued with his speech for what seemed to be for another 5 minutes and there no sign of the Gentleman Thief at all. Finally concluding his speech, he gave the floor for Aya to say something to the audience. "Hello...", before Aya could even finish her sentence, from up above the audience a light was shot out. Minoru and his men had to quickly find the origin of the shot. "Men, it's was over there!" Minoru quickly ordered his men and ran to one of the corners of the main entrance, where only a man with black tuxedo stood. "Sir come with us, we need to ask you a few questions.", Minoru asked trying his best to diplomatically ask for his cooperation. The man then spoke in a calm yet uncooperative tone, "Sorry detective, I can't just go with you. I can't miss my own performance." "You're!" Before Detective Minoru could reveal the person's true identity, a smoke pellet casually felled out of the man's hand. With this, the man decided to reveal his true identity to the audience at the Gala.

He zipped upward, thanks to the help of a grappling hook, to the upper floor of the area, that is when he dropped one more smoke pellet. Once the smoke dissipated, it showed the Gentleman Thief with his usual attire. He then spoke to the whole audience, "Greetings ladies and gentlemen! I hope I did not make you all wait too long! Firstly Kaito-san, I was so heartbroken by not recieving an inventation. But do not worry, the parting gift will surely make up for not inviting me." With finishing his speech, the Gentleman Thief gave a quick snap of his fingers and with that the lights suddenly turned off.

A few seconds after the blackout, a faint scream of a girl is heard in the room. The lights suddenly turned back on, with this it also revealed a certain pink hair idol missing. "Where's Aya-san?!" Eve asked, almost frightened by the fact that Aya has disappeared. "Guys, look up there!", Maya said to the group and pointed to what appears to be a distant balcony, with the Gentleman Thief carrying Aya like a groom would do for his bride.

The Gentleman Thief then solely focused on and talked to Aya. "Hello there mademoiselle, I am sorry for giving you such a fright.", he said this as he slowly lowered her down, allowing her to stand up on her own. Aya could not muster the courage to talk to him, but she blushed heavily as the Gentleman Thief spoke to her alone. "It is a pleasure to meet you for the first time." The Gentleman Thief then followed this by bowing towards Aya and by giving her a pink rose that to her, looked as if it materialized from nothing. After giving her the rose, the Gentleman Thief then returned his focus towards the audience, especially towards Kaito and Minoru. "Detective and Kaito-san, it has been a pleasure to entertain everyone here! Once again, I must thank you Kaito-san so much for the parting gift he has provided. Until we meet again Detective!" With this, he ran off the balcony that led outside and excused himself from the rest of the party.

Detective Minoru and the rest of Pastel Palettes made their way to reunite with Aya at the top of the balcony. While Pastel Palettes were happy to see that Aya was safe and even got to meet the Gentleman Thief personally, Minoru's face showed an emotion completely different of that of Pastel Palettes. "How? The onyx is completely gone?" Kaito heard what Minoru said and quickly looked at the second onyx, the one used as the main centerpiece of the event. When he examined the display more closely, he noticed a card underneath the gem, with only 5 simple words.

You could have tried harder.

Detective Minoru soon made his way to the display. "The fake is wet.", Kaito said as he pulled out the fake. Detective Minoru soon rushed over to the gem, observing what the substance was. "It's is a low acidic acid, that's how he knew this was fake." Kaito looked at the Detective puzzlingly, not fully knowing the importance of the acid. "Onyxs are made of quartz, which react when exposed to acid. During the blackout, he must have checked the display quickly with light acid. He also checked Maruyama-san's when he pulled that stunt." Kaito was dumbfounded at how meticulous the Gentleman Thief was before his heist.

Detective Minoru just stood there, contemplating how he knew there were two different gems. He was able to only come up with one possible solution. 'Looks like the Gentleman Thief has a partner. You won this time, but I suspect that this is only the beginning of our little game.'

After the scene caused by Gentleman Thief, the Gala had to end sooner than expected. All the members of Pastel Palettes went their separate ways home. At Aya's house she laid in bed, still grasping the rose that the given to her by the Gentleman Thief. When she tries to recall the events of the Gala, it is completely drowned out by visions of her with Gentleman Thief. As the night continues to go on, their was only one question Aya continously thought of.

'Did I fall in Love with the Gentleman Thief?!'

Author's Notes:
The Gentleman Thief now has 2 of the gems, only 5 left to go. Also, a sudden development of love?!

Just like after the first heist, the next few chapters will be focused on Akira's normal life. And soon we will get introduced to the last 2 bands.

For the next special chapter (whenever that is), it will solely focus on these two bands. The main reason for this is that they were not originally in the first special.

That's it. Later guys!