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Tsukasa lets his head slam onto the desk as he groans in frustration.
A sigh could be heard from across the room, "you know you could always take a break, yes? Even the best of the best need breaks sometimes," his partner suggests, taking a sip of his coffee.
Tsukasa, who is still face first into the desk, turns his head to shoot a glare at the other, "like you're one to talk, drinking coffee at 11pm in order to work on his inventions until the ungodly hours of the morning!"
"At least it's not affecting me that badly, just look at you!" Rui says as he sets his cup down on the desk to help Tsukasa lean back against the chair.
"One night without sleep and you look like you're on the verge of death!" Rui exclaimed.
Tsukasa groans again, "I suppose you are right…"
"I'm always right~" the other replies with his usual shit-eating cat-like smile.
Tsukasa was thinking about following Rui's words and falling prey to sleep but unfortunately, Rui's phone started to ring.
The detective watches as his partner picks up the phone.
"Hello?" Rui asks.
"Ah yes, Nene! Anything new?" Rui cheers with a bright smile on his face. The inventor always had a liking towards their subordinate, Nene Kusanagi.
"Put it on speaker as always?" Rui asks. "Mh, alright."
Rui removed his phone from his ear and taps the 'speaker' option.
"I gathered the intel you asked for with the information you gave me," a soft voice comes from the phone, "the suspect's next job will be at Phoenix Museum in another thirty. You better be quick if you wish to catch him," Nene states in a monotone voice.
Tsukasa didn't blame Rui for having a bias towards Nene though, she was VERY efficient in what she does.
"Thank you Nene! As always, you're a life saviour," Rui chimed.
"You can thank me by not roping me into your inventing shenanigans next time," Nene says and you can feel her eye roll from all the way over there.
Rui hangs up the phone and looks at Tsukasa concerned eyes, "shall we lead the squad like always? Or do we let them handle this one for once and let you rest…?"
"Is that even a question?" Tsukasa says as he gets up with a new sense of adrenaline rushing through him, "Of course we're going. We might actually catch him this time around!"
Tsukasa's tiredness from before seems to have disappeared with the appearance of new intel, if his more flamboyant actions are any indication.
Rui frowns as he watches the blonde swiftly grab his coat from the hanger and disappear behind the door, already knowing this will not go well.
"Chop, chop, my dear Kamishiro! Time waits for no man!" Tsukasa shouts.
"Coming!" Rui shouts back as he follows the other.
***
Tsukasa and Rui arrive at the museum. Right off the bat, Tsukasa spots about fifteen or more policemen hiding in plain sight, ready to strike when there's any sign of suspicious activity.
Tsukasa and Rui hide as well with their guns out.
Tsukasa pushes up his sleeve to look at his watch, the needle indicating that there are exactly ten more seconds until the thirty minute timeframe they were given is up.
Ten…
Nine…
Eight…
Seven…
Six…
Five…
Four…
Three…
Two…
One.
Alarms start blaring from within the museum and the policemen immediately move in. Some heading inside the museum and others staying outside the watch the perimeter.
Tsukasa turns towards his partner behind him, "is everything where it's supposed to be?" the detective asks.
Rui swipes at the small tablet that he was holding a few times and looks up at Tsukasa.
"All exits are on lockdown and we have sensors placed down as well," Rui replies.
"Good! We can't let him get away this time," Tsukasa says with a pleased smile on his face.
A little while later, the alarms deactivated. Tsukasa was a bit worried, because during past attempts, this meant that someone from the police team was going to come up to him soon and give the report.
And usually, the report wasn't good news at all.
Soon enough, a short woman with pink hair in a police uniform ran up to them and practically threw herself at the detective.
"Tsukasa-kun!" The woman shouted with glee.
Tsukasa coughed loudly, "Emu-! We talked about this before…"
"Oh, right!" Emu straightened herself up and put on the most professional expression she could muster.
"Unfortunately, we couldn't find the suspect anywhere and the Phoenix pin seems to have gone missing as well. We think that the pin was what our thief was after," the young officer reported.
The detective sighed in defeat, "anything else?" He asked.
Emu laughed awkwardly, "well, you see…the rooftop—"
The girl was cut off as Rui shoved his tablet in front of Tsukasa.
"My sincere apologies for interrupting, but we seem to have a problem," Rui stated.
"What's wrong, Rui?" Tsukasa asked.
"The door to the rooftop is open, and the sensor that was placed there had been shut down," the other replied.
"But…the security measures that we took couldn't have simply failed to work!" Tsukasa exclaimed, his hands flailing about.
"Exactly, that's what I don't get…I even made sure that the inventions I made for this case couldn't be tinkered with from inside the building. Quite a mystery on our hands, yes?"
Tsukasa looked deep in thought, from what was gathered by this phantom thief, they definitely are not a tech wizard based on previous attempts.
Hell, Tsukasa almost caught them last time just because the thief didn't know how to work the security panel.
That only leaves one possibility.
"Do you think that someone may have been working with our thief this time around?" Tsukasa asked.
"I'm not sure, I'll have to consult Nene about that," the inventor responds.
The blonde turned to Emu, "How about you?"
"Well — from what I know of…yes, it is entirely possible. The gate locking the rooftop door seemed to have been lifted from some interference from the outside. After that, it was only a matter of pick-locking the door to escape. Which would be all too hard for just one person to achieve within the time given," the girl responds.
Tsukasa groans at the new information, "Guess I'll have my work cut out for me…"
"I don't think it's that bad! Even so, the museum this time around was…"
Tsukasa had stopped listening to Emu at that point, as something from his peripheral vision caught his attention.
A shiny glint of emerald. The Phoenix pin was made from emerald. Therefore…
Tsukasa turned to look at the street across from where he was at and saw the very same thief that he was trying to catch waving around the priceless object as if he was purposely trying to get his attention.
Before the detective knew it, he was already on his feet running across the street. Tsukasa could barely register the shouts of Rui and Emu from behind him as he gave chase.
Tsukasa swears he could feel the smug smile of the thief behind that black mask as they disappeared into one of the buildings' fire exits.
Tsukasa followed the thief inside the building with his sights still on them. This detective won't let them escape. Not again.
Thus up the stairs he goes, being mindful of his step at the same time. When he sees the man in black go through a red door, he follows in pursuit.
Tsukasa's heart raced as he chased the nimble thief through the cluttered office. Leaping over cubicle walls and dodging chairs, he navigated the office while chasing the thief with precision, so as to not disrupt the workspace.
Tsukasa was too focused on chasing the thief until he didn't realize when he ended up on the rooftop of the office building. It only registered to him when he felt a strong gust of wind fly past his face.
He looked down at his feet to see the rooftop flooring, then back up in time to see the thief jump over to the next building's rooftop. The hooded figure stood there on the other side, waiting for him, as if they were calling out to Tsukasa mockingly. And they did.
"What? Afraid of a little gap between buildings?" The other shouted.
"Hah! As if! I was just wondering if I should let you have a head start before I catch up!" Tsukasa replies with confidence.
With those words being said, Tsukasa winded himself up and broke out into a sprint, the back of his coat fluttering behind him in the midnight breeze as he approached the edge.
The detective propelled himself off the ledge at high speed. For a split second, he could see the alley that was below him as he crossed the gap between buildings.
Out of the blue, a strong pulsing sensation crashed over his head and his vision blurred for a split second. It didn't take long until his view slowly filled up with the sight of grey concrete walls.
Oh.
He was falling.
Tsukasa wondered if this was going to be it for him. He doesn't want to die. He still has so much to live for.
Then, a hand reached out to grab tightly onto his wrist.
The detective looked up, only to lock eyes with ones full of worry and panic.
Tsukasa was shocked to see that kind of expression splayed on the hooded figure.
There was silence between the two. Nothing else sounded besides the wind of the cold air and the distant blaring of sirens from afar.
After what seemed like forever, the thief shook their head and there appeared a smug smile though the mask tugging at their lips. With that an unexpected offer slipped from the thief.
"Need a hand, detective?" the thief asked, a smirk playing on their lips. "I can pull you up, but only if you agree to give up on catching me for today."
Ah. Tsukasa should've expected that. Why would a criminal like them ever help up their pursuer without something in return?
His mind raced with conflicting thoughts. The desire to catch the thief and bring them to justice battled with his own survival instincts.
But Tsukasa was a man of integrity, and he always kept his promises.
With a deep breath, Tsukasa nodded, his voice sounding reluctant as ever. "Deal. Help me up."
With a firm grasp on Tsukasa's wrist, the thief effortlessly hoisting him back onto solid ground.
As Tsukasa dusted himself off, he couldn't help but feel a mixture of admiration and frustration towards the enigmatic figure before him.
"I'll be waiting," the thief said cryptically, their voice carrying a hint of intrigue. And with that, they swiftly turned and jumped off the edge, disappearing into the night.
Tsukasa catches his breath and watches as the thief vanishes, feeling solemn that he wasn't able to catch the mysterious figure this time around. Even when he was so close.
His eyes then fell upon his hand, and to his surprise, he found the Phoenix Pin and small slip of paper clenched between his fingers.
Putting the emerald piece in his pocket, Tsukasa unfolded the small piece of paper and discovered a neatly handwritten phone number accompanied by a short message:
'Call me.'