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For years he has tailed this thief, a masked thief who liked to scurry and hide in the shadows to avoid being spotted. Their methods, their motives, the mysterious aura that clung to them - he was supposed to hate them. And yet, as a detective with a cliche sense of justice…
Why does Shuichi sense a slight feeling of affection for them?
Such a foolish desire. There’s no way he’s growing feelings, let alone romantic ones, for the criminal he’s been pursuing across many cities and towns within Japan. They’re sworn and natural enemies, told time and time again, that any kind of alliance can only be temporary and never fulfilling.
His head whipped in the direction of footsteps walking on nearby cobblestone. The sounds soon faded. Not waiting any longer, Shuichi rushed over towards the source. Nobody was there. The only item left behind was a piece of laminated paper resting on the floor. It was plain black with white text in fancy-yet-legible handwriting.
Hello Detective~ , the text read.
Gross.
Shuichi grimaced.This purely had to be intentional and be part of a trap. Why else would they leave their signature card behind for the detective to so clearly see it? He bent down and picked it up; thank goodness he is wearing gloves - he’d feel nasty for directly touching something he knew belonged to that scummy thief. In the upper right-hand corner was smaller text not noticed previously.
Flip over.
“What are you up to?” grumbled Shuichi as he complied and read what was on the other side.
I know you like meeee~
He tossed the paper away from him as if fire suddenly engulfed it and he wanted to avoid singing his fingers. Not too far off, someone jumped down from the high rooftops and kept their distance.
Those purple eyes can only belong to only one person.
“Quite a reaction it got from you,” the thief commented.
“Is this some sort of game to you?” Shuichi barked.
Small smirk. “Always have, always will be,” answered Kokichi. “Your responses are always so fun to witness.”
Shuichi exhaled through his nose. “You are unbelievable. One of these days, your heists are going to land you behind bars for good.”
“And put an end to our fun? Not a chance.”
Hand trembling, Shuichi reached back and wrapped his fingers around the pistol in the hidden holster. One moment later-
BANG!
Bullet sliced the tense air as it followed its designated path. Even though he did this motion many times, the detective has to close his eyes and turn his head away from his target. After all of this training to use a gun on fake people, he still can’t force himself to physically eye an actual human being when they are about to be hurt by him.
Including Kokichi.
A handful of moments later, Shuichi finally opened his eyes to witness the damage. Instead, he was greeted with Kokichi unharmed. Yet, there was that typical sly smile. He was now standing off to the side, no more than a few inches away from the bullet’s trajectory, and his head tilted.
“Come on, we barely even started! Are you that desperate to see me injured? At least take me out to dinner first.”
“You little-!”
Without warning, a mechanical robot arm gripped Kokichi and yanked him up. The boy, along with the arm, disappeared out of sight as they settled on top of a rooftop. “GET BACK HERE!!” hollered the detective as he ran in their general direction.
Kicking his jetpack into max speed, Kiibou zoomed along the rooftops as he tightened his grip on the thief that’s been reduced to a giggly mess. “Will you please at least take this a little seriously until we lose him?” He mumbled through his mask. Grumbling back, Kokichi responded, “Yeah, yeah, alright. Don’t want my head to be knocked against anything.”