Work Text:
An was reviewing paperwork and responding to case assignments. They were all so absurd, bland, and boring: a woman accusing her husband of cheating with the housekeeper, a theft at a cheesecake factory, a lost dog.
An was starting to find her job absolutely boring; she didn't feel the passion she'd had during her student years... everything was so meh. She remembered those days when, even though she was trying not to repeat the semester, she had her most loyal friend, Akiyama Mizuki. Since she wasn't in the same major, they didn't see each other much, but when they did, they were inseparable.
An felt happy remembering all those moments, wondering where Mizuki was at that moment. Then Akito burst in, kicking the door.
"Akito, what the hell is wrong with you?! Why did you come in without knocking, you idiot!" An yelled, already annoyed by the orange-haired boy's presence. She'd been glancing through some documents and had been distracted.
"An, listen—" Akito began before being interrupted.
"If it's another case of a lost dog, tell Minori that Kohane might have Samo," she replied, rolling her eyes.
"It's important, An!"
"Oh, and if it's about the girlfriends, tell them Haruka is going to talk to them," An added.
"AN, JUST LISTEN TO ME!" Akito shouted, snatching the documents from An's hands.
"..."
"We have a case of robbery at the finest jewelry store..." Akito said.
"The finest jewelry store in the ci- ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT THE HINOMORIS JEWELRY STORE?!" An was shocked and stood up. That jewelry store had never been robbed before; it had excellent security and everything necessary to prevent a robbery.
"Here are the documents Miss Shizuku gave me. She's worried..." Akito said, handing An an envelope with detailed information.
"Have you notified Kamishiro and Tenma yet? What did they say?" An asked.
"Yes, I notified them. They said the case belongs to you. You're the best detective they know..." Akito rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.
An's expression was unreadable. She hadn't thought a robbery would bring her happiness.
-
An went to the Hinomori jewelry store and was greeted by Shiho. At that moment, Shizuku couldn't speak to her because she was attending some customers.
"So... what happened?" An asked Shiho.
"Uh..." Shiho took a breath and looked An in the eyes. "A set of rings and three necklaces were stolen. This is what they left in the display cases." Shiho took pastel-colored ribbons out of a box; they were all pink.
"Hmm, I see..." An carefully examined the ribbons, looking for any clues, but there was nothing there.
It seemed she would have to make a decision that would ruin her sleep...
"Does anyone watch the place at night?" An asked.
"No..." Shiho replied, embarrassed.
"Do you have security cameras here?" An asked again.
"We do have one, but the camera wasn't working the day of the robbery..."
"Oh... I have a proposal," An replied.
"And what is that?" Shiho asked.
"I'm going to watch over this place at night, so there won't be any more robberies!" An smiled, closing her eyes slightly.
"Okay... just so you know, we're not going to pay you to watch over it... okay?" Shiho replied.
"Of course! Wait... WHAT?!" An shouted, and Shizuku and the customers turned to look. Shiho's face showed she didn't care, but she was dying of embarrassment inside.
"Well... you start tomorrow," Shiho said, handing her some papers with information about the store.
Bye-bye to her sweet rest...
-
The first two weeks were fine; there was nothing suspicious and no one came near the shop. The third week was exhausting for An, but still nothing.
-
It was Wednesday at 2 a.m. An was sipping her coffee with lots of sugar, sitting and gazing out the large skylight. She watched the stars, so distant and beautiful.
An had always been seen as a sun, a star, and of course, she accepted it. But inwardly, she felt she was the smallest and least bright of them all. While all the other stars moved and grew brighter with time, she remained the same, feeling like she would be left behind for not keeping pace with the others. Then she heard the sound of a window being opened. She became alert and grabbed her flashlight and her self-defense knife.
"Is anyone there?" An asked the empty air.
"..."
"It could have been a kitten or a bug." She was about to turn around and go back to her seat when she felt a touch on her shoulder.
"Wow! Look at that hair! What shampoo do you use?"
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" An screamed, her flashlight falling to the floor. "WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME??"
"Friend, I just want to know what shampoo you use! Oh—those are—LITTLE STARS IN YOUR HAIR? I NEED THAT!!" the "thief" replied.
In the darkness surrounding them, she could see someone wearing a pink and black masquerade mask. It had glitter (clearly pink), and a few strands of hair were sticking out of the mask. It was pink and looked like cotton candy...
An was stunned but alert. She took the dagger and pointed it at the "thief."
"What are you looking for here?!" An said, trying to make a threatening face, but failing miserably.
"Oh, a pretty face shouldn't make such ugly faces... you should always smile, you'd look beautiful~" The thief moved quickly and stood behind An, grabbing her shoulders.
"Hey!" An's cheeks flushed slightly. "Let go of me! Don't touch me!" An shouted.
"Don't be mad, beautiful, I just want to admire beauty up close!~"
"What exactly are you looking for?" An asked.
"I'm looking for a beautiful lady to make the love of my life!" An looked at her, puzzled. "Just kidding! I want these jewels for myself! Isn't it obvious? Haha!!" the thief replied.
The thief took advantage of the situation and grabbed one of the stars from An's hair. "Oops!! Now it's mine! Hehe." She ran out, and An tried to follow, but it was too late; she was already at the window frame. "It was a pleasure meeting such a beautiful lady. Shall we share another evening together? Who knows!" she said before throwing herself backward.
An looked down and around, surprised to see nothing.
She already knew she would go crazy with this case.
-
"Shiraishi? How's the jewelry case going?" asked Rui, head of the defense and security artifacts office.
"I can't take it anymore, Kamishiro—I'm going crazy!" An cried out in despair.
"An, don't exaggerate," said Akito, who was checking a promotion for a coffee and pancake combo; he needed to save that for later.
"Akito, shut up! Focus on your work instead of thinking about how to pamper your boyfriend or something—" An retorted. At that moment, she didn't realize that Akito had given her a stack of forms to fill out and review. Karma?
An just groaned and threw her head down onto the pile of papers.
-
Every three days on duty at the jewelry store, the thief would appear and "flirt" with An. Although An didn't notice or pay any attention.
She was also making a plan to catch the jewelry thief from Mori's Jewels.
Taking advantage of an upcoming jewelry exhibition, she would try to catch her there. All the detectives would be there that day: Kamishiro, Tenma, Akito, Haruka, and maybe Ichika.
It was the perfect plan; the thief would fall for it easily.
-
September 30th, 7:44 PM.
Everyone was supposed to dress elegantly. An wore her favorite dress, a red and slightly puffy one. The curious thing was that the dress had originally been designed by Mizuki. She made a sketch and showed it to An, who fell in love with it. Mizuki then gave her the sketch, promising to make it herself.
But after that day, Mizuki was never seen again.
An spent four years searching for her and never found her. She was losing hope and fearing the worst.
She looked in the mirror and, seeing her face, thought:
"I wish you were here, Mizuki. You would help me and make me feel better..." She sighed and calmed down a little.
-
Already at the Grand Event.
Many people showed up at the event: Miss Emu and her girlfriends, Saki, Minori, and Kohane, who were holding hands; the older Shinonome; a strange girl with purple hair accompanying an albino girl; and many more, but she paid no attention.
An was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't notice Akito calling her.
"An, An! ANNNNNNN, SHIRAISHI!! YOU IDIOT! ANSWER ME!"
"WHAT DO YOU WANT, AKITO?!"
"A girl with pink hair is calling you. She said she wants to talk to you." Akito pointed to the terrace.
An went to the terrace and found the thief...
"Salut ma chère!, comment ca va?" asked the pink-haired girl.
"I don't know French..."
"Oh, right! Hehe." She took An's hand and kissed it.
"You've never told me your name, jewel thief." An said,
"Call me Amia, my queen..." "Amia" replied.
"A unique name, wow!"
Amia started laughing and lowered her guard. An took advantage of the moment, grabbed her mask, and retreated.
"Hey! What are you do-" The mask and her outfit fell off. An's face was indescribable.
An's eyes began to cascade, and tears welled up.
"Mizuki? Is it really you?" An couldn't stop staring at her and sobbing inwardly.
"An! This isn't what I planned-"
"Mizu- explain this to me and tell me why?" An's eyes wouldn't stop watering. "I thought you had disappeared! Why?"
"An, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you!" Mizuki also began to cry.
Meanwhile, very close to the terrace, Tsukasa and Rui were grabbing some sweets from the table when they noticed the presence of the wanted criminal, "Amia." Rui and Tsukasa went straight for her and startled An and Mizuki.
"Mizuki!! You were the criminal!" Tsukasa shouted from behind. Mizuki stood on the terrace railing and, before jumping, said,
"An, catch me if you can! Haha!!" She vanished like dust, leaving Tsukasa and Rui confused. They retreated, leaving An alone. She was smiling... Mizuki had given her a small piece of paper with her home address and phone number, plus a note that read: "I love you and catch me, my cute detective! Kisses, Mizuki." For Mizuki, she would play cat and mouse for the rest of her life.
Fin.