Chapter Text
Sawamura Daichi was a Police Inspector devoted to his job. Impressed by his leadership skills and his track record of capturing notorious criminals in the Theft division, his seniors had asked him to lead a new unit specialized to capture one of the country’s most wanted – Kuroo Kid, a notorious thief, and mastermind behind many of the country's jewel heists. And thus the Karasuno Unit was formed.
Kuroo Kid was also known by another name – the gentleman thief. His usual attire consisted of a pristine white suit, crisp sapphire blue business shirt, ruby red satin tie, and matte black leather shoes. It wasn’t just his appearance that coined him the nickname, but his personality too – something Sawamura had found irritating. Even though Kuroo Kid had never caused any direct injuries or death, the thief could not be underestimated.
No one had been able come up with an explanation for the thief’s motives. The only probable hypothesis Sawamura had proposed was that Kuroo Kid revelled in leading the police in wild goose chases. This is all just a game to him, Sawamura had thought.
Sawamura had lost count of how many times Kuroo Kid had escaped.
***
The auction for the Empress Marie-Louise diadem was held inside a luxurious twenty-storey-high hotel. The jewellery consisted of 540-carats of seventy-nine Persian turquoise stones, and 1,006 small diamonds set in silver and gold. It had a fascinating history, which attracted buyers and collectors from all over the world. The Karasuno Unit had been deployed to watch over the event after Kuroo Kid had sent the police—specifically addressed to Sawamura—a notice about his intention to steal the prized gemstone.
But the room had been thrown into disarray with smoke bombs, and the diadem had disappeared. The Karasuno Unit immediately split to search for Kuroo Kid. Sawamura and his partner, Azumane, had spotted Kuroo Kid. They had been right on the thief’s tail until they lost him when a crowd of guests passed by. They had split up to cover more grounds, and called for backup. The security cameras had been hacked, and two of his subordinates were working to restore access.
When Sawamura inspected the rooftop, he was greeted by Kuroo Kid, who was standing with a hand in his pocket, a few metres away from the door.
“You came for me,” Kuroo Kid said. He placed his other hand over his chest. “I’m touched.”
Experience had taught Sawamura not to entertain Kuroo Kid’s antics. He took one step forward to decrease the distance between them, watching Kuroo Kid for any reaction. But the thief remained unfazed.
“It’s always flattering to have someone coming for you,” Kuroo Kid said, and sighed dramatically.
Well, Kuroo Kid wasn’t exactly wrong about that. But the Cheshire Cat-like eyes and grin implied something Sawamura would rather not think about.
“Sawamura speaking, I’ve got Kuroo Kid on the rooftop,” the police inspector said through his PTT headset, ignoring Kuroo Kid. He knew his team was efficient enough to come for back-up without him spelling it out.
“I like it better when we’re alone,” Kuroo Kid said, and pouted.
“You can’t always have what you want,” Sawamura said, giving his best you-don’t-want-to-test-my-temper look. Although experience had taught him not to entertain Kuroo Kid’s antics, he had—more often than not—found himself doing exactly just that. Entertaining Kuroo Kid had its advantages like…buying time for reinforcements. That was actually the only reason Sawamura could think of.
Kuroo Kid scanned Sawamura up and down. “That is true,” he said, and the irritating feline smirk returned—much to Sawamura's annoyance.
“That coming from a thief is pretty ironic.”
“But there is ONE thing I’ve yet to steal.”
Sawamura quirked an eyebrow. “Just one? How modest of you. Is there a jewel that valuable?”
“It’s not a jewel.”
"Elaborate."
"No."
Sawamura clenched his fists. The bastard had him playing along, and then dropped it altogether. Reinforcements or not, he needed to stop this game soon or he would need to restock on his Panadol supply.
“I’ll have to make sure to prevent that,” Sawamura said through gritted teeth, bending his knees and leaning forward slightly.
“Then catch me if you—“
Kuroo Kid dashed in the opposite direction when Sawamura sprung from his spot. The distance between them gradually closed—
“Fire emergency stairs!” Sawamura shouted into his headset.
But Kuroo Kid reached the door first. They raced down the stairs in dim light, skipping a few steps. A door appeared a few levels below them, Azumane appeared and hurried up the stairs to corner Kuroo Kid.
Just as Sawamura and Azume were closing on the distance, Kuroo Kid leapt, passing the last flight of stairs and escaped through another door. Sawamura cursed himself, hand signalling for Azumane to inform the rest of the team as they reached the door.
“He’s on level eighteen!” Azumane’s voice came from Sawamura’s earpiece and right behind him.
They raced down the hallway, causing some unfortunate bystanders to stumble or shriek. Kuroo Kid slipped through one of the rooms with a half-opened door. Several high-pitched screams from the room followed shortly after.
“Police, pardon the intrusion,” Sawamura said, slightly breathless. He paused to survey the scene.
Two adults and two children were clutching each other, their eyes wide. The woman pointed towards the door—which had been opened—leading out to the balcony. Sawamura left them to Azumane as he stepped outside.
Kuroo Kid was nowhere to be seen. Sawamura glanced at the balcony from the room on the right to see if there were signs Kuroo Kid had gone there. The door to the room was closed, the curtains unmoving. Sawamura assessed the room to the left.
No signs there either.
Then he noticed two tied knots to the handrail to the far left corner. When he approached closer, it turned out to be a rope ladder.
Where did that come from? Judging by the slight movement of the ladder, Kuroo Kid had used it to escape to the room below.
“Room seventeen G!” Sawamura shouted into his headset as he turned back towards the stairs. There was no time to investigate the ladder. Several voices reported back through the earpiece.
“We can’t find him!”
“He’s not in here either!”
“Is he still on this floor?!”
“We already looked in there dumbass!”
“Everyone calm down,” Sawamura said, trying to keep his voice down. “I’m almost there.”
Sawamura reached level seventeen and spotted four of his subordinates – Ennoshita, Narita, Hinata, and Kageyama.
They approached him while still scanning the hallway, and filled him in on what had happened – which wasn’t much, considering they had failed to find Kuroo Kid. The room Kuroo Kid had supposedly had intruded was empty—but occupied, judging by the personal items on the bedside tables.
“We got it.” Sugawara’s sigh was audible through Sawamura’s earpiece.
Sawamura clutched his earpiece in anticipation. Sugawara and Yachi had been trying to gain access into the hacked security cameras from the hotel’s security room, and it had sounded like they had succeeded. With no new leads, it was their best hope.
“We…“
The grip around Sawamura’s headset tightened as his body readied to sprint at a moment's notice.
"Can’t find him.”
Sawamura slumped. He had faith in Sugawara and Yachi so he didn’t doubt their evaluation. So Kuroo Kid must be somewhere without security cameras in the building, as Sawamura had members guarding the hotel front entrance.
“Sugawara, find out everyone’s whereabouts and send everyone to search for him, except the four guarding the front and back en—”
“Hang on.”
Sawamura tapped his feet in anticipation. Time was crucial but he didn't want to interfere unless necessary.
“One guest from room five B just reported his clothes missing from the room. Shimizu and Kinoshita are on level four and heading there now.”
Heading towards the elevator—as running down twelve flights of stairs would be exhausting—Sawamura asked into his headset, “Those guarding outside, did you see anyone suspicious?”
“No.”
“Same from this end.”
Sawamura went into the elevator alone after instructing Ennoshita, Narita, Kageyama and Hinata to re-inspect levels seventeen and eighteen again. When the elevator passed level twelve, a small static rung in his ears.
“Shimizu speaking, we found a box in one of the drawers addressed to Inspector Sawamura.”
Sawamura frowned and looked at the lit number nine on the screen. Fortunately the elevator had not been stopped so the trip was a lot faster than he had anticipated.
“Leave it,” Sawamura said. “I’ll be there soon.”
“Understood.”
Sawamura had some time left to collect his thoughts. There were a few things that had aroused his suspicion earlier that night. First was the rope ladder. How did that get there? Sawamura doubted Kuroo Kid had tied it there in the little time between his entry into the room and Sawamura’s arrival. It was likely that the rope ladder had been there already. How convenient for Kuroo Kid. It was too good of a coincidence to believe, and he certainly didn't.
When Sawamura entered the room, Shimizu and Kinoshita immediately stepped aside to let him access the box. He gloved his hands and carefully untied the red bow, and slowly lifted the lid. Inside was a small pot with a cactus – it was easy to identify even for Sawamura whose knowledge of plants was rather scarce. A flower looked like it had grown from the main body – it had fuschia pink petals and a yellow centre.
“Looks like a cactus flower,” Kinoshita said, peeking over Sawamura’s shoulder.
“There’s a paper underneath,” Sawamura said. He lifted the pot – careful not to touch the spikes – and handed it to Shimizu. Then he grabbed the small piece of paper and flipped it, revealing a smaller package below. Sawamura read the typed note first:
Turquoise is the birthstone for December, so I'll let you have this one.
Happy birthday and Happy New Year Eve ♡
Yours truly,
Kuroo Kid.
Resisting the urge to tear the paper, Sawamura cautiously removed and unwrapped the package to find the Empress Marie-Louise diadem. The main attractions of said diadem were the turquoise. It hit him.
Sawamura could hear the muffled laughter behind him. Of all his years as a law-abiding citizen and policeman, it was the first time Sawamura had contemplated murdering someone. But first, how did this box get in here—
“Sugawara, what is the name of the guest in room five B?”
“Let me check…wow.”
“What is it?”
“The name was Sawamura Daichi.”
The team had checked the guest list – including those who attended the auction – which totalled around a thousand names. Admittedly, they had been focused on names with the initial K.K.
Kuroo Kid had slipped under their nose. What a bold move.
According to legend—as told by Sugawara—if you messed with Sawamura's temper, you could see the gate to hell. The gate to hell had been opened. Sawamura could visualize the bastard’s smirk, infuriating him even more.
He will pay. Oh he will pay all right.
***
It had taken a few hours to search the hotel and surrounding areas, and interview the hotel guests and staff. A few hours after finding the “birthday present”, one of the staff—Sawamura personally verified it himself—reported that his uniform was missing.
Three hours before midnight, no new clues had resurfaced for an hour, Sugawara and Yachi postulated that Kuroo Kid had escaped in disguise. Their suspicions were confirmed when security footages revealed a man matching Kuroo Kid’s description, wearing a beanie in janitor uniform, walking out of the hotel amidst the commotion shortly after they had regained access to the hotel’s security cameras. Sawamura sighed and dismissed the team. Everyone was exhausted.
The operation to capture Kuroo Kid was unsuccessful—again.
***
Sawamura was typing the reports for the failed mission when Sugawara placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Daichi, this is not how one should celebrate this day.”
“You know I don’t celebrate my birthday, Suga,” Sawamura said, continuing to type. He quickly glanced at the clock on his desk. “And the day’s almost over.”
Sugawara huffed. “You’re such an old man.”
“Well I turned one year older today,” Sawamura said flatly, eyes still on the monitor.
Sugawara raised his eyebrows. “Looks like someone had an effect on your sass level,” he said, smirking and patting Sawamura on the back.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sawamura asked, frowning as he turned his attention to his friend.
Sugawara waved his hand dismissively. He stopped when he spotted the flower in the plastic evidence bag in the corner of Sawamura’s desk.
The specimen had been examined and no information had been obtained apart from the fact that the flower had been well maintained. He thought it would be a waste to throw the flowers from Kuroo Kid away, so he had been taking them home to care for them, despite his lack of gardening skills. Of course, Sugawara had snickered at this.
“You know what it symbolizes?” Sugawara asked, his lips gradually curving into a smile.
“Don’t you have a cat to feed at home?” Sawamura asked flatly, returning to the monitor to avoid eye contact. He knew it was a poor attempt to avoid the topic but he had a feeling this conversation would lead to nowhere good – like all the conversations in the past around gifts from Kuroo Kid.
“I know what it means,” Sugawara said in a singsong voice, waggling his eyebrows.
Had it been that damn hard to at least put the flower somewhere out of plain sight?
“Endurance,” Sawamura said. He regretted opening his mouth the second the word slipped. He froze and side-glanced at Sugawara.
“In Western cultures yeah...” Sugawara said, then he paused.
Sawamura could pinpoint the moment it clicked in Sugawara's head when his lips stretched into another smile. People who didn’t know Sugawara would be enchanted by the "angelic" smile. Even other members of the Karasuno Unit had been fooled. But Sawamura knew better. And he swore he had seen a glint in Sugawara’s eyes.
“Have you been reading about the language and symbolisms of flowers?”
“No,” Sawamura said a little too quickly. It was an obvious lie. Sugawara would never let it go if he found out that Sawamura had been researching some common flowers and their meanings after Kuroo Kid had given him a few flowers. Although he wasn’t sure what Sugawara meant about “language”. Running away now would make matters worse. Sawamura bargained with whatever god, any god; he would clean his apartment tonight, cut back on meat, and even wear that hideous sweater his mum had sent him for his birthday…anything. Anything to have this topic gone and forgotten.
“In Japan they symbolize—”
“Idon’twanttoknow.”
“—lust and sex.”
The sound of Sawamura groaning was drowned by Sugawara’s hysterical laughter.
***
A week later, the Karasuno Unit members gathered for a meeting after Sugawara and Yachi had asked everyone to meet in the conference room.
"There is a Gemstones Exhibition this weekend,” Yachi announced when the majority had settled in their seats. She started handing out papers. "Here are the museum floor plans and event details."
No one batted an eyelid.
"As expected of Kuroo Kid," Tanaka said, as he glossed over the catalogue of the jewels to be on display at the event. "Look at all these beauties.” He whistled, but stopped when Sawamura glared at him.
“No notice from Kuroo Kid?” Sawamura asked after flipping through the papers.
“There hasn’t been one, but some of the jewels are among the rarest in the world,” Sugawara said, closing the door. “I don’t think he’d miss this one.”
"Maybe he hasn’t found out about the event yet," Tsukishima said, shrugging and adjusting his glasses.
"I doubt that,” Yamaguchi said. He had a point. To their knowledge, there hadn’t been a jewel on public display that Kuroo Kid wasn’t aware of.
Sawamura cleared his throat. "It is rather strange that we have so little details this time,” he said, studying the layout of the three-storey building. “For now, we’ll make sure to cover all areas and allocate at least one pair on each level and around the building.”
Nishinoya waved an arm. "Tanaka and I can patrol outside the museum with our bikes!" he shouted.
“All right,” Sawamura said, writing down the details on the floor plans. “Nishinoya and Tanaka will guard the front entrance with their motorbikes.”
The enthusiastic duo jumped up from their seats to high-five each other.
“Kageyama and Hinata can guard the back entrance with their car.”
“Yes sir!” they yelled in unison. Tsukishima—who was unfortunately sitting next to the duo—covered his ears a little too late.
“Shimizu and Kinoshita, ground floor.”
“Understood,” they said quietly.
“Tsukishima and Yamaguchi, first floor.”
“Yes sir,” they said—but although Tsukishima’s lips had moved, only Yamaguchi’s voice could be heard.
“Azumane and myself will be inside the minerals room on second floor where the jewels will be. Ennoshita and Narita can take care of the rest of the second floor.”
“Got it.” They nodded at each other.
“Sugawara and Yachi—“
“We know what to do,” Sugawara said, pointing a thumb at himself. “We will overlook the operation from our van,” he said. Yachi sat beside him, beaming.
“Business as usual,” Sawamura mumbled to himself. He rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming.