Chapter Text
When the magician thief drops down from the skylight, Heizou realizes that he’s once again been transfixed by a criminal.
The thief lands with a light tap from the sole of his shoe, which echoes its way through the empty museum collection.
He dances his way through the exhibits, seeming even more otherworldly than the marble statues, the glass sculptures. His light and dainty frame is bathed in the light of early morning, like a natural spotlight on a natural performer.
Despite having a job to do, Heizou can’t help but be drawn to the thief’s elusive charm.
While Heizou watches, the thief stops in front of one of the collection exhibits, a sparkling purple jewel encased in glass.
The thief leans forward to closely examine the gem.
“Hmm!” The thief’s voice rings loud and clear, as if performing for an audience. He turns his head slightly towards Heizou. “You think you could fool me like this, detective? Why, this gem is barely comparable to even my own eyes!”
Heizou quickly snaps himself out of his daze. He turns his own green irises onto the painted eyes of the thief’s jester mask. Painted black voids.
“Well, phantom thief, how could I have known, when I’ve never even seen those eyes of yours? Maybe you should lift your mask and show me then, what do you say?” He fires back, smiling lightly.
The thief strikes a thinking pose, pretending to ponder Heizou’s suggestion, before shrugging. “No can do, I’m afraid!”
Heizou sighs. “What a shame.” But he really is disappointed. Two encounters in and he still had no information on this guy, not even a name. For the great detective Shikanoin Heizou, it was unheard of.
This phantom thief, or the “magician thief” as he is called, is a crook who likes to go around stealing priceless artifacts from the rich. No one knows what he looks like or who he is, only that he enjoys making a show out of every one of his heists. His crimes have filled every newspaper for the past month, which has made Heizou very, very interested.
He wasn’t expecting him to be this hard to catch, however.
The thief is very sly. Despite only having met Heizou a single time before, he’s already outsmarted him a few times. Even now, with the thief right in front of him, Heizou doesn’t have any openings to apprehend him. So he settles for talking, hoping to weasel some information out.
“Hmm…so it’s an amethyst this time. I heard that it’s prized only because it once belonged to a famous actress. Why do you want to steal it, I wonder?”
The thief snorts, and Heizou thinks that it’s the closest to a genuine laugh that he’s heard so far.
“If you’re trying to dig more into me and my motives for crime, my dear detective, please don’t worry your pretty little head. But if you want to get to know me for more personal reasons-” Heizou can’t see the thief’s face but assumes that he’s raising an eyebrow, “...then I’m happy to work things out. What do you say?”
“Hmm,” Heizou hums, considering. “My only love is my love for justice. Ah, but that can’t be right! Romance cannot be completely dead! For instance…maybe I’ll bring some flowers into your prison cell!”
The thief laughs. It’s a light, clear sound, and Heizou stares, enchanted. And he swears that their eyes meet through the mask.
A beat.
Suddenly, the thief jerks away awkwardly, as if he wasn't supposed to be laughing at all.
"Uh-"
He stumbles backwards into a spin, cape covering his body, and the room fills with smoke and confetti.
After a second, the thief’s loud voice echoes through the room from above.
“Well! Uh- since there’s nothing here for me, I’ll be taking my leave. Thanks for keeping me company, detective!”
“What-”
And the thief leaves as suddenly as he came.
Interesting.
Heizou looks around. Confetti litters the entire floor. But in the corner of his eye, he notices that the content of the display case is different. Instead of the fake amethyst that Heizou had planted earlier, it now holds a polaroid photo of a beautiful, lilac eye.
When Heizou sees it, he almost doubles over in laughter.
He doesn’t remember ever having had this much fun on a case- hell, having had this much fun talking to someone in a really long time.
Man alive, he’s really looking forward to his next run-in with the phantom thief.