Chapter Text
The drive to the Kuzuryu estate was about as awkward as he had expected. Fuyuhiko drove silently, and any attempt at questioning him was met with a gruff "I'll explain when we arrive.”
Glancing back at his sullen driver, he noticed that Fuyuhiko had aged quite a bit since the two last met; the baby face that always bothered him had been replaced with a clean-cut, tight expression. Scars littered his once-clean hands, and tight performance-built muscles were visible beneath his shirt. It seemed “Baby Gansta” had become a man in the 6 years since they last met.
“You just gonna stare, or do you have something to say?”
“Ah-” he shrank back a bit, it seemed like Fuyhiko was still as scary as always “I just noticed you seem to be in much better shape nowadays.”
“And you look like shit,” was Fuyuhiko's immediate, blunt reply.
He wasn't wrong. Although Shuichi was in decent shape, he always looked worse for wear. His hair was knotted and overgrown, he had permanent eyebags and his fingernails were stained yellow. Honestly, he hadn't slept more than 5-6 hours at once in months.
“It's, uh... Been a rough couple of months”
“Looks like it's been more than a couple months”
Okay, ouch. He was right, but it still didn't feel great to hear.
“We're here”
As his attention was pulled back to his surroundings by Fuyuhiko's voice, he found the car had stopped. They had parked in a small lot in front of a towering building, having left the city at some point. He couldn't see any other buildings for miles as the road curled far and away into the distance. The building in front of him was made mostly of stone and concrete – with little care for aesthetics – and towered at what he estimated as 5 floors. He would have described it as rather nondescript if it weren't for the large wooden doors, which must have been ten feet tall and were weathered with years of use. Before he could speak a word to Fuyuhiko, the door swung open slowly in a creaky, heaving motion. Standing just inside was a tall, intimidating woman; her once long braided hair now cut into a short efficient style. Her suit was clean-cut yet more loose and suited for motion than Fuyuhiko’s.
“Welcome back, young master. It's good to see you as well Saihara,” She said in a cool tone, although the affection hidden beneath was clear to him as a small smile tugged at her lips.
“Pekoyama, I'm glad to see you’re doing well.” He'd always struggled to come to terms with his feelings on Pekoyama. He couldn't ever find it in himself to look past her work, bloody as it was, yet she was still a very kind person. And someone he had always found to be quite pleasant company.
She simply nodded silently and turned to follow Fuyuhiko as he strode inside. Speaking as he did so, “This location isn't well known; mostly just my staff, Peko, and the occasional outside workers have been here. Even then, all those workers are from trusted groups the Kuzuryus have worked with for years. But regardless, it's not too shocking that we were found: we could have been tailed, as unlikely as it is.”
It took Shuichi a moment to catch up to the conversation; the man had been so silent the entire drive, and now he decides to start spilling every detail of the case?
Fuyuhiko's face twisted in a bitter expression “What's really been confusing us is the timing.”
Stepping inside the building and following the pair down winding hallways, Saihara found himself responding curiously “The time? As in the time the heist occurred, how would that be difficult to tell? I assumed the blade would be under constant observation, so you'd have known exactly when it disappeared.”
Fuyuhiko pursed his lips in a scowl “Not exactly… I had it placed in a secure storage room that had only one door, and that was guarded around the clock; no one left or entered.”
He couldn't help but give a noise of confusion at that, “huh? Why not have it be held onto by someone or directly monitored?”
Fuyuhiko shook his head “Course we considered that, but there was a chance any individuals could be targeted for attack. Sides, I always have to consider the possibilities of a traitor, so I just made sure no one came anywhere near the blade at all. Well, that was the plan… But, there was a blackout around 2 pm yesterday… My guys rushed in to check on the blade, but it was still there. It was suspicious, but since nothing really happened, we didn't know what more to do about it. Then, an hour later, when they checked up on it during a shift change, it was gone.”
“Um- Well, I don’t mean to question your men’s loyalty but-”
Fuyuhiko let out an exasperated sigh “No way they were involved, not only have those guys worked under me for years, but I also had a personal 'interview’” with them. They're both telling the truth”
Shuichi stumbled a bit at that. If he had correctly understood the implications- had he seriously tortured his own men?!
He felt a slight, sudden impact and glanced up to see he had bumped into someone while walking past, a bright-eyed man with wild dark purple hair who offered him a glowing smile and a “You should watch where you're going!” before continuing past them
Kuzuryu didn't seem to notice the interaction and continued speaking “The only relevant info they had was that the blackout lasted about ten minutes and that they quote 'heard a weird creaking sound’ not sure what that means though. They didn't see jack shit basically… There is one other weird detail: a couple of hours after the blade disappeared, we had another short blackout. I'm not sure how, but based on everything else, it has to be related somehow. Besides that, we aint get much info. There are cameras everywhere in the building, but we've reviewed them a hundred times and seen nothing.”
“Um.. So what do you want me to do..?”
“Solve it, obviously. I'm bringing you to the scene, and I've made sure to keep it completely undisturbed.”
Shuichi paused for a moment, mulling over his words before speaking “Kuzuryu… Why are you so confident I'll solve this? From what you've described, it seems like an impossible case…”
“You’ll solve it because I told you to, got that asshole?!” He bit back, his tone sharp
Although Shuichi stuttered at his words, Peko slowed down a bit and gave him a small smile whispering “What the young master means is that he holds quite a bit of faith in you.”
He returned her smile, but he still felt a writhing knot of worry in his gut. What would happen to him if he couldn't fulfill Kuzuryu's expectations? Well... maybe he shouldn’t be thinking about that…
Finally, the trio rounded a corner to a short hallway, a simple door at the end of it. As they approached, Fuyuhiko began again "I've kept the room off limits to everyone up since the theft and locked it from the outside, so don't worry about the scene being disturbed.”
Noticing his hesitation, Fuyuhiko raised his voice “Well? get in there!”
Shuichi lurched forward into the room, wooden floorboards creaking beneath him as he took in the entire scene. Inside was a small, simple room. The walls were bare, and the only things in the room were a small table, two couches, and a few cabinets lining the walls.
Fuyuhiko followed him inside, “After the blade disappeared,” he started, “We searched the entire building top to bottom, as well as the room itself, nothing.”
“What can you tell me about the room?”
“Not much, it's an old break room we never got much use out of, it was used as a storage closet for a while. That's why it's so dusty. But then again, it's not well ventilated and has no other exits, so it seemed like the perfect choice. Or at least that's what he said.”
“Who?” Shuichi asked, a bit puzzled. He'd never known Fuyuhiko to take the advice of others. Not to say he didn't listen, but the man had always trusted his own voice above all others. Especially in important matters like this.
“Not important, he's trustworthy”
Wandering around the room, Shuichi dragged his hands across the table, cutting a sharp trail in the dust. “Where exactly was the blade?”
Fuyuhiko gestured to the cabinet on the right, “It was stored there.”
Opening the small cabinet, nothing remained inside. The space was clear of dust and looked much cleaner than anywhere else in the room, but besides that was entirely nondescript. “I assume there weren't any cameras in here..?”
“No. This part of the building is older, and even wiring the ones in the hallway took a while. We didn't have time to install any here before the date in the letter.”
“Ah- Fuyuhiko, do you still have that letter-” with a noise of acknowledgement, Fuyuhiko reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper, it looked old and worn; a message was pasted sloppily on the sheet using magazine scraps that read:
"Good Morning Mr. Kuzuryu!!! I'm sending you this to let you know that I'll be taking your prized family Blade or whatever! Get Ready! I'm sure you'll be floored by our skill!!” It concluded with an absurd number of smiley faces
He stared at it for a long moment. “Huh”
“Yeah.”
“It seems rather… Childish. May I ask, why did you take it so seriously?”
Fuyuhiko frowned, his expression a mix of grave seriousness and burning rage. “Because it was found sitting on my pillow.”
A shiver rolled down Shuichi’s spine. A feeling he had always associated with fear. Yet, in this moment, it was like a cascading fall exploding from a dam. He felt a surge of adrenaline and giddiness. It was terrifying to be sure, but this all… It was like a detective novel he had read as a child. A phantom thief who could steal whatever they wanted, yet instead set out challenges for their targets to further prove their skill. It was a terrifying excitement.
“Floored..? I wonder…” He mumbled to himself as his gaze fell to the floor beneath him.
Ignoring Fuyuhiko's confused looks, Shuichi walked back and forth across the room, giving each floorboard a solid press with his foot. Finally, when he reached the board in front of the door, he paused and knelt.
“Huh…”
“You gonna tell me what the hell you're doing now??”
“Oh yes, sorry.” He murmured, standing up, gaze still locked on the floor “Something about the use of ‘floored’ in that letter bothered me, it just felt… too intentional. It was a hint. And then I remembered your men heard a creaking sound, so I thought I'd take a look at the floorboards.”
“And?”
“Well… It appears this floorboard is missing the nails holding it in place, meaning it warped much more and creaks loudly when stepped on.” It was a small detail that he wouldn't have noticed without the hint. A hint, the famous phantom thief had left a hint. It was childish, reckless, idiotic, and the most exciting thing he had ever seen. They wanted to be chased, they wanted to be caught. This wasn't just some crook; they were playing the role of a phantom perfectly.
Fuyuhiko massaged his temple “and does this have ANYTHING to do with the case??”
Shuichi nodded, barely noticing his frustration “It does, bear with me, but can I ask you a couple more questions?”
Fuyuhiko sighed but nodded in resignation
“So, from what I understand, there are cameras in most of this building, correct? Are there any blind spots? And how closely were the records from yesterday scrutinized? Do you know where everyone was the entire time?”
Fuyuhiko paused for a second before answering slowly “Almost all of the building, yeah… I had them installed when I took over here a couple of years back. The only blind spots would be bathrooms, this room, and any broom closets. All hallways have enough coverage so that you can see anyone in the hall. As for the recordings from yesterday…”
As he trailed off, Peko stepped forward from her position next to him, “The young master assigned me to review the recordings before you arrived. I did not notice anything too unusual. I could not see any individuals who looked out of place or who disappeared around the time of the blackout. It's not impossible I missed something, though, as the building was quite busy.”
Fuyuhiko filled in where she left off. “We didn't want to draw attention to this location or overreact, so we left operations close to usual. Only with a few more patrols around the building and no guests.”
Mulling over the statements, Shuichi found himself left with one last question: “Pekoyama… Do you believe you missed anything..?”
“No. I do not.”
“So? You got something, you’re looking more confident now at least”
Shuichi nodded “It's only a theory for now, but I think I have an idea…”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
“I’ll walk you through how they stole the sword first” Shuichi began “To start, I believe they were already in the building by the time the power went out-”
“How the hell do you know that?!” Fuyuhiko cut in
“I'll explain that later, for now, just take it as my professional opinion… Anyways As I was saying, he was already inside, and when the power went out, he simply walked to this room and entered. Your men likely left the door open when the power went out as they panicked and went to protect the sword”
Fuyuhiko nodded slowly. “Yeah… they rushed inside and surrounded the cabinet, but when the lights came on, no one was in there besides them.”
Shuichi nodded “Well no one could see. Pekoyama, could you try lifting the floorboard by the door?”
She gave him a quizzical look but compiled lifting it with one hand. Underneath was a surprisingly clean crawl space. “How did you know..?”
“It was mostly just a guess, but the missing nails suggested it was removed for a reason, and the fact that your men didn't know where the creaking came from bothered me. I noticed it the moment I walked in, yet in all the years they had used this building, they never noticed the boards in this room creak? Also, the fact that this building is older meant it was more than likely that there was a built-in crawl space for maintenance.”
“So the thief hid under there and then grabbed the blade once my men left the room again.”
“Exactly.”
“So then how'd they get out? Does the crawl space lead out of the building?”
“I’m not sure, and that is a possibility… but I doubt it.”
Fuyuhiko cocked a brow at him; his expression was now clear. Lacking any anger or excitement, but simply… Approval? No, that's not quite right. Something close to satisfaction, maybe. “Why are you so sure of that?”
“Well, to be honest, I'm not. The rest of what I'm about to say is just my own theory, but… Based on everything I've heard and seen of this thief, I don't think that's their style. The thief didn't need to send you that note, the thief didn't need to leave a hint, the thief didn't need to even rob you; that blade is barely worth anything outside of the yakuza. They’re not taking this seriously; it's a game.”
Fuyuhiko growled in frustration but didn't disagree, “So?”
“They would take the hard way out. I think they walked right in the front door and left the same way.”
“But the cameras-”
“You were looking for the unusual, something out of place. I’d bet they walked right in, no trouble”
Fuyuhiko turned around without another word and proceeded out of the room “Come on, let’s take a look.”
—
After about an hour of scrutinizing the recordings, they found them. About twenty minutes before the first blackout, a man (?) entered the building. He was momentarily paused by the guards, but said something, and soon they were laughing and waving him in. He walked through the building with a purpose before entering a bathroom. Then, the lights went out, and they didn't see him again.
“Were sure it was him?”
Peko nodded "I've seen the tapes from the rest of the day. No one left that bathroom, he likely escaped during the second blackout.”
“GOD DAMMIT!” Fuyuhiko's roar echoed through the room causing Shuichi to involuntarily flinch “HE WAS RIGHT UNDER OUR FUCKING NOSE!”
“Well, at least you know what he looks like now..?”
“No. We don't." Peko quietly added
“What..? How-”
“That asshole knew where the cameras were.” Fuyuhiko hissed “Just look, his face is never once facing them, and the suit obscures any identifiable traits. The fucker got us good.”
“Uh- I-” Shuichi stuttered, unsure of what to do as Fuyuhiko fumed. He didn't need to say anything, though, as Fuyuhiko spoke again
“Peko. Escort Sahara to a car. I'll call you if we need you again.” Peko nodded and stepped out. Shuichi didn't have any other real choice but to follow, shooting one last glance at Fuyuhiko.
Peko didn't say anything as the two exited the building. He took glances at her, trying to gauge her expression, but as usual, her face remained stony as she opened the door and led him outside.
“You may take that car over there back to your home. Don't worry about bringing it back, we will fetch it in a day's time.”
“Oh, alright.. Um, I'm sorry I couldn't be more helpful.”
She shook her head gently “You did everything asked of you and more. Now it is up to us to catch this thief. But… I have a feeling the young master may call upon you again soon.”
“I hope not. I mean- ah-’
She chuckled, “It's alright, master Saihara. Before you leave, however, I believe master Fuyuhiko had intended to give you this earlier.” She reached out, presenting a small red playing card to him “It was the only thing left in the room” and with that, she proceeded back inside without another word.
He found himself standing there for a long moment. He had done it, he had figured out all the details of the case, every trick and trap. Yet… It was an unsatisfying victory. The thief had gotten away, and he had only solved it with a hint from them. He was so close… But it wasn't like the feeling he was used to, that knot of boredom and guilt. He was frustrated. But it was over now. The Kuzuryus would track down the phantom thief as best they could. His role was over. He took one glance at the card in his hand, just a plain king of hearts, before tucking it into his pocket.
He climbed into the sleek black car Peko had motioned to and started the drive home through the twisting countryside. His attention was on the road when it happened. The drive had dulled his worries to muddled thoughts bouncing around in the back of his head when a sudden voice cut through.
“So where are we heading!”
He jerked the wheel as his head spun backwards to the figure casually sitting in the back of the car causing the entire vehicle to lurch across the road in a screeching motion. As he gained control again he slung it off the road pulling to a stop on the side of the street.
“Whoops! Didn't mean to scare ya! Nishishi!”
“Who are you and how did you get in my car?!” Shuichi demanded.
“What are you saying!? This is MY car!”
“This is your car??? Pekoyama told me- Im sorry- I-”
The man in the back seat burst into another spurt of that horse-like laughter as Shuichi pulled back into the road “Buuuuut… that was a lie!”
“Huh??”
“I actually fell asleep here on my break!”
Taking quick fervent looks in the mirror he slowly pulled back onto the road. He kept a close eye on the stranger obsessively checking what he was doing every couple seconds.The man was in a tight suit similar to the rest of Fuyuhiko's men, but Shuichi somehow doubts he's a yakuza… Or at least he's never seen a yakuza like this. “Oh..”
“But that was another lie! Or was it?”
Whatever this man was, he was quickly getting on Shuichi's nerves as he giggled in the back seat. “I’ll drive you back then”
The man sighed in the back seat, his expression shattering to boredom in a second “Nooo thanks, I just got fired anyway..”
“What? Whatever, where should I drop you off then?” he sighed, feeling the beginnings of a headache coming on
“Not even going to console me?? You're so rude, Mr. Detective!” the stranger whined, tears welling in his soft lilac eyes. Although for some reason the color reminded him more of nightshade…
“Oh please dont cry im sorry- wait. How did you know I was a-” he sputtered
The stranger laughed that strange whining chuckle again "Don't worry about that! Lucky guess! But you never answered my question!”
“I- Uh- What?”
The man was grinning from ear to ear now, but it wasn't a friendly smile; it was more like a predator baring his teeth, ready to devour Shuichi at any moment. “Where are we headed, Mr. Saihara?”
Shuichi felt his stomach curl at the voice so full of joy yet lacking something entirely human. “I- Im not bringing you wherever I'm going.”
The man's expression fell again into a childlike pout as he stared daggers into the back of Shuichi's head. This interaction had somehow gone from extremely uncomfortable to even more uncomfortable “um.. Well, could you at least tell me your name..? I'm Shuichi Saihara. It's a pleasure..?”
The man was silent for another long second, seemingly sizing him up before responding, “hmmm.. You can call me Kokichi Ouma, and that just might be my real name!”
“Oh, well, it's nice to meet you, Kokichi…”
“I bet it is!” was his cheery reply
A long silence extended after that as he occasionally glanced back at Kokichi, unsure of what to say or do. The other seemed preoccupied with his phone for the time being, completely relaxed as if Shuichi was his Uber driver or something. In his panic, he hadn't gotten a good look at the man, but now he had time to fully take in his features. He looked young, maybe a few years younger than Shuichi himself, yet unburdened by age. His hair was dark with stained purple tips from what looked like years of dyeing. His nose was crooked like it had been broken too many times to heal properly. He seemed to be wearing subtle makeup as well- “So you gonna keep eye-fucking me or say something..?”
Shuichi tried to apologize, but all that came out was a sputtering cough. It was humiliating, although Kokichi seemed to find it plenty funny, clutching his chest in wheezing laughter as Shuichi tried to find his voice again.
“I never said I minded” Kokichi cooed, wiggling his eyebrows at Shuichi
“I didn’t- I mean-! Sorry.”
Kokichi was still laughing when he pointed at a street corner ahead of them “stop there.”
‘Um, I mean… I can bring you to a more-”
He waved Shuichi’s concerns away with one hand “Unfortunately, I live in a secret base with my evil organization, so I’d have to kill you if you knew where it was!!”
“You live far..?”
“Now you're getting it!” He brightly exclaimed, hopping out before the car had even come to a full stop “Well then, buh-bye, Mr. Detective seen you soon~”
Before he could articulate a response, he heard the horn of the car behind him, and Shuichi was forced to pull away from the curb, watching the small figure wave to him in the distance.
—
The drive to his apartment was short, but by the time he arrived, he felt more drained than he had been in years. His arms and legs were heavy, and he felt a raging headache forming. He took some painkillers before collapsing into bed and falling asleep without even changing out of his work clothes.
When he woke up the next morning, it was nearly eight P.M.; he must have only slept a few hours. Picking up his phone, he felt his throat dry at seeing the 9 missed calls and 13 missed texts from Maki, the last of which simply said “We're coming over, if you're gone I'm calling the police.”
Shuichi was hardly able to sit up and gather his thoughts before he heard a banging on the door
“Coming!” he shouted, scrambling out of bed and running to the door. Upon yanking it open, he was greeted by the sight of both Kaito and Maki standing outside. Both looked worried but as soon as he caught their gaze, Kaito grinned “Hey, sidekick! There you are! We were worried, bro, where were you?”
“It's- Ah, sorry I had something come up” He stumbled out, unsure of what to tell them
“Well, next time let me know. I came by the office, and it was unlocked and empty, and why didn't you pick up my calls?” Maki asked as she walked in right past him, with Kaito following suit
“Sorry about that… I got caught up in everything the fell asleep as soon as I got home” He explained as he closed the door
The two had been unwrapping something, it looked like takeout, but Kaito paused to shoot him a grin “Hey that's great, man! Glad you're sleeping better!”
“Oh yeah…”
“You don't sound so sure.” Maki observed, handing him a container from their usual takeout place, Hanamura Diner.
“Yeah.. I don't think this will be a regular thing. I was just exhausted” He replied simply
“Huh, well, where were you anyway? It's not like you to blow off work easily.” Kaito prodded
“An old friend asked me a favor and well… I guess I owed him one.” Noticing their waiting looks, he shook his head “You don't know him.”
“Then you should introduce us sometime! I'd like to meet the guy!” Kaito boomed
Shuichi found himself squirming a bit, his fork twisting and spinning in his hand as an uncomfortably dry chuckle escaped his lips “He was only in town for the day. Maybe another time”
“Ah, too bad!” he bemoaned, Maki simply nodded, giving Shuichi a look that by now he knew what meant “I know that was a lie, but I’m going to be nice and not push it right now”
“Oh, Kaito, I meant to ask how's your new class..?” He finally asked, hoping to direct the conversation away from his lie.
At the question, Kaito lit up his face, glowing with pride and excitement, and Shuichi was sure his ploy had worked, maybe a bit too well.
—
By the time Kokichi arrived home, it was pushing dusk, the sky painted a magnificent orange.
He hummed to himself as he slid out of Jack's truck, which slowed to a halt in the overgrown lot. Jack quickly followed as they both proceeded inside. The lobby was in chaos as usual. Spades and Ace typically left the area littered with old gear and tools. As well as a rack of old clothes Ace had stolen from some bastard shop owner years ago. Kokichi deftly navigated through a path worn in the carpet from the snaking pattern through the chaos they all followed. Eventually, he arrived in the living room. Almost everyone was home by now, from the looks of it.
Ace was rocking back and forth in a chair, attention pulled into their phone. Spades stood by an open window, enjoying the light breeze with a drink. Diamond lay on the couch playing some game on her Xbox. Queen spotted Kokichi from the kitchen with a smile.
“Welcome back, King. How was the heist?” She yelled, hands still full with the soup she was making. At that, everyone in the room seemed to finally notice the two walking in. Ace jumped up with a squeal of excitement, Spade downed the rest of his drink, and Diamond simply looked up and waved with a smile.
“So King! How'd it go?! You gotta tell me! They freakin’ out? Panickin’? Did anyone cry?!” Ace pestered. Kokichi took his time responding, tapping his chin in mock thought.
“Huhh… what heist are you talking about again?”
“You know exactly what I'm talking about!”
Spade groaned “Just get on with it.” While Diamond and Ace sat in giddy anticipation “Come on, what is it!!”
Jack smiled at the group while making his way into the kitchen. Kokichi could hear him exchanging greetings with Queen and asking how he could help with dinner.
Finally, though, he decided to sate the duo's curiosity “They caught us. The police are on their way” His voice quivered as he spoke, shoulders shaking with the beginnings of mock tears.
“Oh, come on, King, that's an obvious lie even for you! Come on, what is it really??”
“Alright, alright! Well… The Kuzuryus were pretty disappointing, honestly. They didn't even get close, really, all they did was run around and yell! Seriously, what a brainless bunch!” He shook his head in an exaggerated display of admonishment.
“That's it?” Ace asked, their face falling a bit
“Well, I thought it was! I was jussssttt about to leave when I saw the big man himself and Mrs. Samurai walking through – all official like – with some guy who didn't look very Yakuza at all. So…” With a dramatic flourish, Kokichi reaches into his pocket and produces a small brown leather wallet.
Diamond sputters “Is that the guy's wallet?!”
“Yep! He was nice enough to lend it to me when I ‘accidentally’ bumped into him! Anyways, I decide to take a glance before I left, and color me surprised to see this” He draws out a business card and reads it aloud for the group “Private investigator Shuichi Saihara of Saihara Agency. Works for himself! Good for him!”
“Hold on, I've heard of that guy” Spade says, suddenly interested in the conversation “Where was it…”
Ace makes a cough that sounds suspiciously like a laugh while Queen openly chuckles in the kitchen “I think it was around 5 years back? The young detective who went rogue and helped put a corrupt politician behind bars. Does that sound right?”
Ace snorted “yeah, wonder why that sounds so familiar?”
“It was a real media shitstorm. The poor guy couldn't catch a break!” Kokichi groaned while shooting glares at Ace and Queen. Stupid family, always picking on him. “I didn't even recognize him, though! But hey, maybe things will be more fun now that he's involved!”
“Well, on the topic” Jack interjected, “Was he the reason you changed the pickup location?”
Jack's soft voice helped him regain a bit of composure, shaking off the annoying comments from Ace “Yeppp! I wanted to see how far he got! And surprise, surprise, I spotted a little card in his pocket when he was leaving!”
“Huh… The Kuzurys are usually pretty distrustful, especially of ex-police” Jack mused
“Yeah… No idea why he has it, but hey, maybe he'll finally figure it out!”
“Well damn I guess you weren't joking when you said this would be more fun.” Spades finally added “Well have to up the ante. Well, if he can solve our riddle.”
“Well!” Kokichi exclaimed “He can't do worse than the cops!”
—
Shuichi rolled out of bed at around 7 the next morning with a pulsing headache and spinning nausea. Dinner had turned to drinks, and before he knew it, he had a couple too many, and Maki had to help him to bed before driving Kaito home. Hopefully, he hadn't made too much of a fool of himself; they'd told him before he was a rather belligerent drunk.
After a cold shower, some water, and painkillers, he was feeling quite a bit better. After stepping into some more comfortable clothes, he started at the pile of discarded clothing. He had slept in his work clothes last night, somehow, and now he'd probably need to get them dry-cleaned. Great. As he picked up his coat, though, he watched as something slipped out and slowly drifted to the ground. It was the playing card. The one given to him by Peko as he left. Picking it up, he rolled it between his fingers. It seemed perfectly normal, just a playing card you could buy at the store, a king of hearts to be exact. Yet, he couldn't push the thief's hint out of his mind. If they had been willing to leave a hint for Fuyuhiko on the declaration of their intent… Well, maybe this wasn't just a calling card.
As those thoughts bounced around his head, he made his way out onto the apartment’s small overlook and idly smoked away the morning while watching the swaying crowds below. It was relaxing; the nicotine and sharp smell of the cigarette helped him feel detached, simply a body far above the tumultuous sea of tourists and locals out for breakfast. After finishing his cigarette, he slipped back inside the warm building. He felt himself grimace as he entered the kitchen, finding it still smelling of cheap alcohol and fried food. And besides that, he could see with a glance that he needed groceries. Ugh, he was still exhausted from yesterday… but if he put it off any longer, he would forget to do it and just keep skipping meals. Well, at least the store would be quiet since it was so early, he supposed, slipping on his coat and heading out.
The walk to the grocery store was nice; the morning air carried a light chill and that sharp scent of the coming winter. Luckily, the store was only a couple of minutes from his apartment, and he quickly went and grabbed everything he needed, mostly just prepackaged noodles and the occasional veggie to stay semi-healthy.
Shuichi had been moving in autopilot as he shopped, so he was almost jolted awake when he went to pay and found his wallet missing. He desperately searched his coat pockets, but that was impossible. Where did it go? There were no holes, and he rarely took his wallet or keys out of the coat pockets! He felt himself turning increasingly red as he could almost feel the stares of the cashier and other customers. Just as he was about to apologize and leave, a short beep sounded, and his gaze shot up to see that the cashier had reached over and inserted a credit card.
He stumbled over his words in confusion “I- Thank you, but- um… It’s really okay-” Then, realization struck: “IS THAT MY CARD???”
The unmistakable hoarse, rasping laugh that came from the cashier is what finally made him really look at the man. Kokichi Ouma looked quite different in the store uniform. His hair was tied back in a short ponytail, and he didn't appear to be wearing any makeup. Honestly, it was a nice look for him, although Shuichi was unsure why he was thinking about that.
“You- Why do you have my credit card???”
Kokichi continued to giggle as he slid the card from the card reader and tossed it over to Shuichi “Well, I obviously broke into your apartment last night and stole it!”
“How-”
“But I'm lying of course! I pickpocketed you yesterday! Or is that the lie? I can't quite remember.”
A million thoughts were flashing through his mind, but somehow what came out of his mouth was “I thought you worked for the Kuzuryus..?”
Kokichi started haphazardly bagging items, tossing soft veggies in the same bag as hard bottles. “Wellll, I did… But I got fired!”
“Oh… Right, right. I'm sorry?”
“Don’t worry, this job is much more fun! I can snoop on all the weird foods people are buying! Like you! You could really use some more nutrition in your diet!”
Has he really gotten his wallet stolen by a stranger who is now lecturing him on his diet? What in the world was going on?? “Um, okay..?”
Kokichi finished bagging the items, and just as Shuichi went to grab them, spoke up again “Oh yeah, just so you know, I poisoned one of the things in that bag!”
“What.”
“Or maybe I didn't! I guess you'll have to find out!”
This conversation had barely lasted five minutes, and he was more confused than he'd been in the rest of his life.
“Have a nice day, Shuichi!” Kokichi waved excitedly to him as he left, ignoring the growing line at his checkout lane.
As he walked home, he briefly considered calling the police, but nothing had been taken from the wallet, and well, as annoying as it was, Kokichi Ouma was quite an interesting character. It was like talking to a living bouncy ball. The man flung himself between topics and moods, never quite settling on anything; it was a bit unsettling, honestly. He also briefly considered if he was being stalked by the man, as their encounters seemed a little too coincidental, but that store had only recently opened, so it was unlikely someone would predict he would start shopping there. Well, perhaps he was simply making excuses; really, he was just curious what would happen next.
—
After finally unpacking all the groceries (and double checking all the seals) he sat down at his computer and within a few minutes he had found the manufacturer of the playing card left at the scene, it was almost certainly a card from the same maker but it appeared to have been modified in some was further confirming his suspicion that there was something hidden there. There was only one difference, though, the border of the original card was an even black line, while with this card, the border was formed of uneven dashes, some longer or shorter than others.
He doodled the pattern of each side on a piece of paper and stared at the result. It was a puzzle, it was a puzzle just for him. He could feel the thrill in his chest, a strumming vibration of excitement.
Top of card .. / .- -- / .- / -- ..- .-. -.. . .-. . .-. / --. .-. . .- - . .-. / - .... .- -. / .- -. -.--
Side 1 / --- - .... . .-. / -.-- . - / -- .- -. -.-- / ... . . / -- . / .- ... / .- / ... .- ...- .. --- .-. .-.-.- / ..
Side 2 / .- -- / - .... . / --. .-. . .- - . ... - / - .... .. . ..-. / -.-- . - / .--. . --- .--. .-.. . / .... .- -. -.. / -- .
Bottom / - .... . .. .-. / .-.. .. ...- . ... .-.-.- / .-- .... .- - / .- -- / .. ..--..