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There stood a figure on top of one of the city's famous museums. Lively and crowded at day, quiet beneath the moonlight. This night however, was nothing but chaos, for Kokichi Oma, a disreputable leader of a criminal syndicate named D.I.C.E., had struck another one of his usual premeditated robberies.
Display cases laid shattered, priceless jewels vanished without a trace. In their place rested white cards scrawled with mocking messages, the unmistakable signature of the Phantom Thief. Police sirens wailed from the streets below, now packed with officers, reporters, and curious civilians craning their necks toward the museum.
Kokichi's dark cape fluttered in the wind, the satisfied smirk tugging on his lips was covered by the characteristic porcelain clown mask that he always wore during his burglaries. The white glow of the night brushed the edges of it. His attention drifted over the mayhem he had orchestrated before settling on a lone silhouette standing atop a lower rooftop. Not chasing, just... Watching him, his glare piercing.
Shuichi Saihara. The prodigy detective to whom they assigned his case several months prior. It wasn't the first time they met; by now, the thief could recognize him even from impossible distances. The dark coat, the habit of tipping his cap down whenever he was thinking, the unwavering stare... It was as if he could somehow peel away every layer of deception just by looking hard enough.
It should've been irritating. Gross, even. Some detective staring holes through him like he was trying to read his soul. Anyone else trying to unravel his lies would've earned nothing but ridicule. Yet, whenever it was Shuichi, it was entertaining. Exciting. The pounding of his racing heart after every chase felt exhilarating instead of suffocating.
The leader offered a concealed smile, waving one gloved hand through the air, as though greeting an old friend rather than a man trying to bring him to justice. Shuichi's expression didn't shift, but he drew his shoulders back in response to the friendliness, almost imperceptibly.
"You're late." Kokichi finally spoke, his voice nearly getting lost in the wind. He grabbed the edge of his pristine-white hat and tipped it down just slightly, letting his arms drop down to his sides. "I was starting to think you had given up on me... You almost made my precious face get ruined by tears! I even gave you the exact time and everything..." He sobbed, though a wide grin played on his covered face.
The detective cocked an eyebrow, raising a black-gloved hand to search for something in the pocket of his trenchcoat. His index and middle finger took a card out, one that was adorned by two dice and a jester hat in the middle of it. He turned it over to the other side, showing the purple ink on it that formed some crooked letters and numbers. "You mean this? Because it led me to a completely different place." He narrowed his eyes, looking for any sort of physical reaction from the other male.
He at least got a dismissive shrug of shoulders. The purple-haired boy tilted his head in feigned innocence. "Riiight. Totes forgot about that! But I did tell you last time I was gonna go for a museum! Maybe you should start trusting my mouth instead of my love letters." His violet gaze observed as the taller boy slipped the card carefully back into his coat, expecting a clever comeback, or perhaps just frustration.
"...No." The grey-eyed male responded steadily, adjusting his glove. Kokichi blinked once. "You wanted me somewhere else tonight." His eyes remained fixated on the thief. His expression softened somewhere along the way. "Whether your note was true or false doesn't matter. It served its purpose." He tucked his hands into his pockets, lowering his eyebrows. The shorter boy let a beat of silence linger between them before scoffing.
"Oh? Detective, are you finally learning how my brain works?" He grinned despite the mask, though it could be heard in his voice. "I'm so proud! Soon you'll be one of my loyal subordinates!" He mocked. Shuichi merely sighed in response. "That's... Out of the question." He replied, his tone gentle in spite of himself. He stretched his neck slightly, inclining his head to make sure the other boy heard him clearly across the distance. "I don't intend to understand your mind. I only need to predict it."
The lilac-haired thief gasped and placed a hand over his chest dramatically, as if his heart had been broken in a dozen pieces. "Wow... Words can wound, y'know? You really know how to hurt a guy's feelings." He sniffled, somehow sounding like he was genuinely crying. That certainly got the teal-haired boy's attention. His shoulders visibly dropped a bit, the detective-like confidence in his grey gaze faltered for a second.
He knew it was just an act. A performance. But, apparently, both of them also knew his caring personality. Kokichi seemed to love taking advantage of it. When did he learn that about him? Shuichi smothered the thought and quickly got back into his own façade, straightening his posture and narrowing his eyes. "If I recall... You've stated multiple times that you truly don't care about what anyone says about you, correct?" He inquired, watching as the unruly-haired boy tapped the chin of his clown mask as if thinking.
"Did I now? Did I? Did I? Yup, it definitely sounds like something I'd say! You hold our memories in such an important part of your head. You're gonna make me blush!" He giggled, his hands pressed onto the false face's cheeks like it were gonna turn pink for him. Shuichi hated that he'd begun recognizing the difference between the other's fake laugh and his real one. He opened his mouth to answer, but his voice died in his mouth when someone yelled a loud warning from down the ground. Their heads turned synchronized towards the sound.
A police officer had spotted the thief standing on the roof. Of course. Kokichi clicked his tongue, his expression turned into an annoyed one instead of a panicked one. He glanced back at the wide-eyed boy that was already looking at him. "Welp... That was a quick chit-chat." He smiled, taking an assured step back that looked planned out, just like everything he did. "Hasta la vista, Mr. Detective. See you later... If you're curious enough." He teased, opening and closing his fingers as goodbye before turning his form dramatically, his cape danced with the night breeze.
Then, he took off and jumped from the tall building. The detective's grey eyes widened, his legs moved rapidly until he reached the edge of the rooftop he was on. A quiet sigh of relief escaped his mouth when he picked out the familiar figure sprinting on a completely different roof. He blinked and swallowed through a dry throat he didn't even notice until that moment. "...What's that supposed to mean, Oma...?" He muttered to himself, crossing his arms over the borders of the roof.
Just a few seconds passed before one of his eyebrows lifted, glancing down at his black pocket. One of his hands wandered inside of it, taking the card out delicately and running a thumb on it softly, staring into the location with narrowed eyes. "...Could it be...?" He mumbled under his breath, raising his gaze back up into the silent night-time covering the city.
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The faint sound of footsteps could be heard on the path of small stones leading to a quiet observatory. The city was far below. There were no police in sight, no crowds, no red-blue flashing lights, just stars and the quiet whispers of the wind. Shuichi had already come here two times today, and both times he was expecting a crime scene. The first time, he found nothing at all. The second however, a certain phantom thief stood at the railing with his back to him.
The teal-haired male stared at the smaller figure for a long moment before taking a hesitant step forward, the sound on the tiny rocks was cut off by a sudden voice. "You're late, again." The thief taunted, taking a few moments to actually turn to look at him. "Jeez, detective. How many times are you gonna disappoint me?" He tilted his head playfully, the smug expression of his face radiating even through the mask.
The taller boy scowled vaguely, deciding to ignore the tension to make his way towards Kokichi. He clenched his fists subconsciously, stopping in his tracks when he had to slightly glance down into where he supposed his eyes were. "You didn't tell me what time I had to be here. Your clues are quite misleading. Just like you." He remarked smoothly.
The other male placed an arm over the fence beside him, leaning his body towards it with effortless confidence. "That's true! But hey, you still showed up. Did you want to spend some quality time with me, too? I'm moved!" He beamed before openly staring down at the metal handcuffs hanging from the detective's belt loops, pointing at them with his index finger. "Orrr... Maybe you're here to arrest me." His voice dropped a tone lower.
Shuichi squinted his eyes just a bit, studying the boy in front of him through his long eyelashes. He parted his lips to answer, but once more, a voice interrupted. "Or you've got a bondage kink." His head immediately moved back, his eyebrows lowering as his expression twisted before he could stop it. A soft flush faded into his cheeks. "...Huh?" He mumbled, dumbfounded, watching as the purple-haired male just shrugged. "I don't judge. As long as I can keep up."
The dark-clothed boy groaned silently, running a gloved hand over his face as if that would erase the faint pink off of himself, his eyes fluttering shut. "That's... Not it." He stammered, trying to defend himself even if he knew it was just one of the other's quips. His grey glance drifted back to the masked thief. "If I arrested you tonight..." He paused. "...you'd simply start planning how to escape tomorrow." He mused. Kokichi grinned at his response.
"You really think about me that much, huh? Am I becoming your favorite case to study?" He took a step forward, cocking his head slightly. The other's feet wavered, but ended up staying in their place. "...You're getting kinda scary, Saihara." He added, his voice quieter. The grey-eyed male stared at him with a puzzled look. "...Scary?" He repeated, blinking twice before moving towards the railing and crossing his arms over it, his head turned to the other boy. "Why did you want me here, then? What was your plan?" He inquired softly.
The thief imitated the boy's posture, turning his form and placing an elbow on the fence, leaning his jaw into the palm of his hand. "I was bored. And what's more fun than playing with my favorite detective on the whole planet?" For a moment, the other male simply looked at him. Most people would've believed the innocent sound of that voice. A few months ago, he probably would've believed it, too. "...That's a lie. That doesn't fit." His voice came out almost disappointingly gentle. "You wouldn't risk getting caught just because you're bored."
The lilac-haired boy narrowed his eyes, keeping silent for a moment that felt way too prolonged for someone who spoke so much. "Are you making theories about me now?" He finally replied, letting out a huff of laughter as he looked at the city beneath him. "Everyone's busy looking at the museum. Coming up here won't cross people's minds tonight." He hinted, side-glancing the male who already seemed to have realized what he was saying.
"So, the robbery was just a distraction." He started hesitantly, mumbling almost to himself, his eyebrows knit together. "You wanted to speak without interruption... But why me?" He asked, like he was meticulously picking out the exact words he wanted to use. The shorter male leaned farther into the railing, glancing back at Shuichi. "Cuz I love you, Saihara." He answered. The other boy lowered his eyebrows in response, and a heartbeat passed before the edges of his lips curled into a grin.
"What's with that look? Haha! Fine. I know what you said back there was a lie. 'I don't intend to understand you.' Who exactly were you trying to fool with that one, detective?" He chuckled, the sound more teasing rather than truly mocking. "So, if you're gonna keep trying to figure me out, I get to decode you, too. Or maybe I just called you here to steal your hat. Who knows? You're the one theorizing here!" He made a mental note of the way Shuichi's gloved fingers held onto the brim of his cap instinctively. A smirk formed on his face at the sight.
The taller male glanced away softly, letting go of his dark cap reluctantly before brushing his hand on the nape of his neck. "...That sounds like a threat, Oma." He answered, though no kind of fear could be heard in his voice. A snicker responded to his words, one that he was coming to warm up to way more than he'd want to. "Take it that way, then." The thief teased, his gaze drifting once more to the shadowed horizon.
The detective's didn't.
Another heavy silence settled between them, thicker than the night air. He watched the way the moonlight caught the edges of the other's mask, the way the wind toyed with purple strands of hair, and the way the shadows danced across the boy's frame. Every rustle of his cape and every distant echo from the city felt like an intrusion on something precious and fragile. A moment suspended in time, waiting for either of them to shatter it.
Kokichi was the first one to do so. "Aren't you curious?" He questioned, his gaze didn't waver from where he looked. Shuichi blinked away from his trance, looking at him for a long second as the breeze brushed through the observatory. The question was rather ambiguous, everything was when it came to him. At some point, he came to understand this secret language of his. "...Do you want me to be?" He asked back, his voice quiet, but steady.
One more beat passed, interrupted by the sound of the liar's fingers tapping idly against the railing. He turned his head towards the male who was still staring at him. "Kinda." He answered, quieter than just moments before. The teal-haired boy's lips parted, almost subconsciously before letting out a deep exhale and glancing into the night. "It doesn't have to be a mystery if you don't want it to be." He offered gently.
The other male stared for a moment before a laugh escaped him. It was almost too convincing. "Trying to make me feel special? That's dangerous, y'know. I might start getting the wrong idea.” He taunted. Shuichi heard a mild click in his sentence, causing his grey eyes to shift towards the sound automatically. He didn't answer. He simply just blinked.
Somehow, that made things worse. The boy was a puzzle of missing pieces. He could recognize that head tilt, the sheer smugness he radiated, the way he waited for his reaction... But, suddenly, a fragment was finally offered to him. There was no mask to be seen; instead, his gaze rested over an unknown face that, in a way, felt oddly familiar. Kokichi had spent so long hiding behind that mask that Shuichi almost expected the person beneath it to be someone else entirely. He wasn't. Not at all.
A scoff of forced laughter escaped those foreign lips. The detective couldn't help but stare carefully. "Well? Say something! Were you expecting a massive scar? An evil mustache? Eyepatch? Don't leave me hanging!" He taunted, trying to ignore the way his fingers clenched subconsciously on the porcelain. The other's grey eyes stared down at it for a brief second before looking directly into those violet eyes for the first time.
"...No, I think..." He began, pausing to think of his words. "I didn't think you'd ever choose to stop hiding." He managed, noting how the other's grin faltered now that it wasn't hidden away. The thief noticed the fixated stare, his lips softened into a small smile. "So no giant scar? I expected to hear something much more exciting... That's a shame. You need more imagination to entertain me." He insisted.
The other male stared at him for another moment, searching. Not for a lie. Not for a trick. For once, he wasn't looking for what he was hiding. "...Are you disappointed?" He inquired after a moment, observing how the shorter boy raised an eyebrow. "That I didn't react the way you wanted." He finally offered a faint smile.
Kokichi merely gazed at him with a hint of amusement in his purple eyes. "Disappointed?" He hummed, then let out a snort. "Nope, cuz this face is fake, too. You'd think a detective would know that." His words came out almost too self-assured, hiding his hands behind his back and taking a short step towards the taller boy who purely lifted his eyebrows. "I'm pretty sure I know how a real face looks like." His hand reached up, as though to touch him, to prove what he was seeing was really true, but he quickly realized what he was doing and withdrew it.
He could feel a heat run up his face, anyway. Some fingers wrapped around his wrists and pulled it back up, feeling how his gloved palm pressed against a cheek that he noticed was turning rosy. He didn't comment on it, though. "Do you not know how one feels? That's sad. You're lucky the phantom thief is generous enough to let you touch him." He smiled, it faltered almost unnoticeably. "Well? Can you tell it's fake?"
At some point, Shuichi's eyes had widened before he knew it. He opened his mouth, but instead of words, a low squeak escaped his throat. "I... Um..." He stuttered, then cleared his voice. "...I'm not quite convinced." He managed out, taking in a sharp inhale. The other male retorted with a taunting laugh. "That's because you've never touched a fake face, either." He smirked, leaning into the touch before taking it away himself and reluctantly letting go of the wrist he held.
The detective lowered his hand. Unsure of what to respond, he just kept quiet and swallowed. The wind faded into the background beneath the quick pounding of his heart. He observed as the thief leaned back against the railing again, following along and standing shoulder to shoulder. Their eyes fixated onto the starry sky, a gloved index finger pointed and traced over an imaginary figure. "Look, that's the caged spider! It represents captivity, but I don't really care cuz spiders are gross, anyway."
His mouth twisted, the other cocked an eyebrow, looking at the constellation he mentioned attentively. "...Isn't that Pegasus? It represents freedom." He corrected softly. Kokichi's purple gaze shifted towards him, crossing his arms on the fence and leaning his head onto them. "I like the fake ones better. They can mean anything I want them to." He grinned. The grey-eyed boy glanced at him, letting out a small huff of soft laughter.
"Of course you do." He muttered, then gazed up into the nightscape once more. The lilac-haired boy kept his own stare fixed on the boy's eyes, where he could see the silver sparks of the night reflected clearly either way. He blinked, observing how those silky teal locks of hair were ruffled delicately by the wind.
If a shooting star passed by, he would almost consider wishing he were one of those embers so that those grey eyes would be on him in that moment. "What would you do if I stole the stars someday? Would you arrest me, then?" He asked, his voice nearly getting lost in the breeze.
Shuichi closed his subtly parted lips, a discreet smile tugged at the corners of them after a prolonged moment. "...I don't think so." He finally answered gently. "I'd just ask to see them together one last time."
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