Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Detective Saihara,” Kirigiri greeted with a nod when he opened the door to her office.

“Detective Kirigiri,” He greeted back, sitting down in the plush chair in front of her desk. He had been just about to leave when his desk phone rang, Kirigiri on the other line asking him to swing by her office before he left. There must have been a lead on the phantom thief case, one that he didn’t see. That or the Phantom himself decided to stop by and leave a clue to where his next heist was. It wouldn't be the first time he broke into the agency to leave a clue and maybe a glitter bomb, or put an office appliance in Jello.

Shuichi straightened his back and placed his hands in his lap before speaking, “Has there been a break in the Phantom Thief case?”

Kirigiri nodded, her facial expression never changing, “Yes. He left a note in one of the coffee cups,” She leaned down and dug around in her desk drawer before finding a crumbled glittery note. She placed it at the edge of her desk, waiting for him to pick it up.

His heart hammered in anticipation as he leaned forward to pick up the note. He cleared his bangs from his eyes before reading the note, which was scribbled in childish handwriting.

“Hello, Mister Detective!!! I hope you have a pair of dancing shoes because we’re going to dance the night away at a certain museum auction tonight at 10 pm!!! Don’t be late or you’ll make me sad!!!!!!”

He held the note up to the light, making sure there was no hidden message. The Phantom had done that once or twice, but he probably would refuse to ever do it again. He rarely did the same thing twice, saying it was boring and he had to keep him on his toes. When Shuichi placed the note back on Kirigiri’s desk his hand that was holding the note was covered in purple and white glitter. Now that he noticed it, the other detective's floor was shimmering with glitter as well as the bottom of Shuichi’s shoe was also covered in glitter. Just how much glitter did the Phantom actually put in the note?

“We have already thoroughly checked the note for any hidden messages. We may not know him as well as you, but he did not hide anything within the note.” Shuichi felt heat creep up his neck at the mentioned that he knew the Phantom well. Kirigiri carried on, oblivious to his embarrassment, “I had my significant other look around for museum auctions for tonight and there is only one. It is taking place in one of the biggest art museums in Japan. It is a masquerade ball along with an auction for famous paintings.”

The Phantom must be planning to steal and/ or vandalize extremely expensive paintings. He hasn’t vandalized anything since the first museum heist they had, which included Kokichi turning Mona Lisa into a clown and a statue of Alexander the Great into the easter bunny. When he gave that report to Kirigiri he had to convince her that, no, he was not high when he arrived at the museum and he had not been drinking recently. Shuichi still had his suspicions that she didn’t entirely believe him.

“Do you believe he will strike tonight at the museum or is this a diversion so he can pull off another heist someplace else, as our main detective on the case is busy with his fake heist?” Kirigiri was clearly expecting his answer to be the correct one and he would get a verbal lashing from her if he chose wrong. Shuichi thought long and hard, keeping his facial expression neutral. The Phantom hadn’t ever lied about a heist. Sure, he would come up with riddles, some easy and some difficult, but he never lied about a heist location, which was ironic because from what Shuichi could see was that the thief was a big liar.

“No, he’ll be there tonight. He always says that he likes the chase and he wouldn’t do something to avoid it,” He paused and then hastily added, “At least that’s what I think.”

A hint of a smirk made its way onto Kirigiri’s face. “If that is your decision. We did not have any free police officers for tonight anyways, so it worked out well. Although, I suppose you will have to go to the masquerade by yourself. Please, do not worry about catching him tonight, just focus on keeping him distracted. We will inform the masquerade host of what situation tonight, so you won’t have to focus on keeping the paintings safe. All you must do tonight is distract him as much as you can.”

Distract the Phantom thief?

Tonight was going to be a difficult night.

Shuichi picked at his tuxedo's golden vest as he spoke to his monster of a friend, “Are you sure, Kaede? I mean, this is really flashy and not my style at all.”

Kaede shook her head with a smile, “No no! You look amazing! It’s perfect! Plus it matches your mask!” She giggled. Shuichi suspected she liked dressing him up way too much. He was supposed to stay low, at least he assumed that was what Kirigiri wanted. It was extremely difficult to get a read on her. But he rarely had the pleasure to get one of her tongue lashings so he supposed he was doing alright with doing what she wanted.

“Kaede…I look like King Midas felt me up,” Shuichi sighed, exasperated.

Miu snickered, “You look like you want to be felt up by that damn phantom, that's for sure!” Why had he allowed Kaede to bring Miu into his apartment, he did not know.

Kaede hid a laugh with a half hearted cough. She stepped back and admired her handiwork. Kaede smiled, satisfied. “You look wonderful, Shuichi. You will definitely distract the Phantom Thief with your charming looks.”

Shuichi let out another exasperated sigh and eyed himself in the mirror Kaede had insisted on hauling over from her house. The only mirror he owned was the one in the bathroom, which was glued to the wall. He only checked because Kaede had wanted him to take it off the wall and bring it to the living room.

Yeah, he didn’t know why he was friends with her either.

Miu looked over to the clock and loudly proclaimed, “Shitichi, get your ass in the car or you’ll be late to your stupid museum love thing!” Miu swung herself off his white couch while taking one last gulp of her redbull. She practically lived off those things, despite her doctor begging her to lay off from drinking them so much. Miu proceeded to curse her doctor out and now makes a point to bring as many red bulls as she can carry to the doctors office. Her and the Phantom would get along just fine.

Shuichi said his farewell to Kaede and followed Miu down to her beaten down truck. Miu had always loved this truck, saying it had saved her ass more than once and had her bare ass on it more than once.

Truly, he must start choosing his friends better.

“Destroy that pussy tonight, Shitichi!” Miu grinned and flashed him a thumbs up before he awkwardly turned away from her, ignoring the stares of the poor strangers that had to witness Miu.
Shuichi gave a slight nod to the police officers that were posted outside of the building, checking ids. Shuichi was fairly well known around Japan as a detective, which had helped him get into places he wouldn’t have been able to get into without his “fame”.

The museum was bursting with lights, rainbows flecked around the room from the larger than needed chandelier hanging from the ceiling. There was a big window at the top of a staircase in the middle of the room, the moonlight showering the host of the auction, Byakuya Togami, in moonlight. Shadows were casted around his face that made him even more terrifying than he already was.
Shuichi had only met Byakuya Togami once, on a case. Shuichi was digging his nose in Togami’s father business, suspicious that he was running a slave chain. Shuichi had disguised himself and made up a fake resume to send to Mr. Togami, in order to get a job. Once Shuichi got the interview, he had asked Miu to “accidentally” shut down the power in the basement, a place only Mr. Togami himself could get in. While Mr. Togami was busy dealing with that, Shuichi had “accidentally” placed a hard drive in his computer and “accidentally” downloaded everything onto there. It so happened that Shuichi was correct, and he had Mr. Togami arrested for slave chains, along with child abuse. Shuichi had to present his evidence in court. along with the child Mr. Togami supposedly abused. He managed to get ahold of Togami and convinced him to be the witness of this case.

Shuichi slinked over to the corner of the room, taking a glass of champagne while he was at it. Just because he was on the job for who knows how long doesn’t mean he can’t have a glass or two. Plus this was the fine champagne. It’s rich people stuff so it’s always good.

Shuichi sipped on his drink, his eyes scanning every inch of this place. Despite the fact that Shuichi had never met the Phantom behind the mask, he knew that he would be fashionably late and make up some excuse about how he just had to fight a dinosaur that came to life and tried to eat him. He wondered how the Phantom’s friends thought of him. Were they always annoyed with him or did they play along? Did they know about him as the Phantom thief or was that something only reserved for him and his gang?

“Why, Detective! I never knew you were devious enough to drink on the job! Am I really boring you that much?” A voice gasped behind him. Shuichi felt a small smile creep onto his face. He quickly forced his expression into a bored one before he turned around. The Phantom Thief was standing behind him with a smile dancing at his lips. He had discarded his usual clown mask that covered his entire face to a black and deep purple, the colors mixing together in vines. His suit was white with a deep purple, the same purple as his mask. He was wearing his signature checkered scarf, but instead of it being bunched up at his neck, it was smoothened out to resemble a tie, being held together by a gold ring.

“Hello, Thief,” Shuichi greeted, setting his glass down on a passing waiter's tray and looking the shorter man up and down. “Fashionably late, as usual.”

“Whaaaat? Me late? I think the alcohol might be going to your head, Detective!” The Phantom giggled, bouncing from one foot to another. It seemed that the Phantom was always acting as if he was high on sugar. Which he probably was.

“Mm, yes how stupid of me to suggest such a thing,” Shuichi made a show of looking around the room. “Where are your subordinates? I figured they’d be jumping around, distracting the host of this auction while you steal/ vandalize something.”

The Phantom pouted, crossing his arms as if he was a child being told he couldn’t buy a new toy, “How mean! Mr. Detective I can’t be doing something you would expect me to do! No no no no! This is unacceptable! How dare you accuse me of such boring repetitive things!”

Ah there it is, Shuichi’s headache whenever he talks to the Phantom. It was a pleasant pain though, because it was from the Phantom. It wasn’t a pounding pain like when he stayed up all night, working on a case, surviving solely on coffee.

“Perhaps you should tell me while you’re here then if you’re not here to turn the statue of the Togami family into Santa Claus and his elves,” Shuichi suggested. If he got the Phantom to talk about himself, he rarely stopped until he was forced to stop.

The Phantom's eyes lit up. He pulled out a note card and a purple glitter pen from his pocket and aggressively started writing. He quickly folded it up and placed it in his pocket before throwing the pen at one of the most accurate recreations of Van Gogh's starry night. It left glittery purple ink on the moon.

Shuichi raised one eyebrow, unimpressed with the Phantom’s vandalism. “And here I thought you didn’t come here for vandalism.”

The Phantom shrugged with a giggle, “Just because it wasn’t my main purpose for coming here, doesn’t mean I can’t do it along with my main task.”

“What is your main task then, Thief?” Shuichi questioned, trying to analyze the shorter man’s expression. Unfortunately, nothing was revealed through his perfectly crafted mask of lies and deceit.

The Phantom’s eyes sparked, his playful grin turning into a smile, “Why, to dance of course!”

Shuichi narrowed his eyes at the Phantom. That couldn’t be his only task for the night was it?

The Phantom giggled, placing a finger under his lower lip, “I can see the gears turning in your head, Detective. I assure you there is no other motive for me being here, other than to see you.” He paused and his smile turned mischievous, “Or is that a lie? I suppose we will never know!”

A dance sure would be a good way to distract him. Although, looking at the couples currently on the dance floor, it looked extremely intimate. There were two guys, one with white hair and one with a green and red eye, slow dancing, utterly wrapped in each other. It was extremely sweet to look at. Although, a tiny blonde girl was comically gagging every time they passed her.

“Awww, is my sweet Detective nervous? Are you afraid to dance with me because you’re scared you’ll fall in love with me? Well don’t worry! Because I will make it impossible for you to begin to get feelings!”

Shuichi let out an exasperated sigh, “Alright then. Let’s dance, Thief.”

The Phantom actually seemed surprised at his answer, but he quickly changed it into another one of his playful smiles. He bowed at the waist and held out his hand, “Well then, will you take my hand, Detective?”

Shuichi fought off a blush as he raised his hand to the Phantom’s and grabbed it. His hand was warm, calloused, and soft. He wasn’t wearing his gloves like he normally did, Shuichi had only just noticed.

“Wow, Detective! Your hands are suuuuuper cold and sweaty! Buuut that’s a lie. Nishishi,” He giggled, pulling Shuichi with an impressive amount of strength to the dance floor.

When it became evident that Shuichi had no clue what the hell he was doing, the Phantom took the lead. He beamed up at Shuichi as he guided one of his hands to the Phantom’s shoulder. The Phantom took the other and held it in the air with his own and started to sway.

“So, Detective, tell me, how did you figure out how my heist wasn’t going to be elsewhere? For all you knew, that could’ve been a distraction for you to be somewhere else and I can rob another bank in peace and quiet.”

Shuichi replied easily, “Because, you would never miss a chance to meet your quote on quote “true love”. Besides, you never lied about where your heist location was, why would you start now?”

The Phantom giggled, “Wow! You seem to know me well, Detective! It’s almost as if you’re in love with me or something!”

Shuichi didn’t have a response to such an accusation. He only just stared into the Phantom’s purple eyes, which he had only now realized that they were more of a light violet instead of a dark purple. Granted, this was one of the few times Shuichi had seen his eyes. They were always covered by that stupid clown mask or that one time when his mask fell off. Even then, the shadows masked his face, so it was difficult to see the details of his face.

The Phantom sighed at the lack of response, so he opted to step closer to Shuichi, his head resting on Shuichi’s chest. Exactly on his heart. He could feel his heartbeat pick up at the intimacy of the action. Shuichi suspected the Phantom knew exactly why his heart was beating so long, but he didn’t say anything other than a soft whisper of, “I can hear your heart, Detective.”

Shuichi only hummed in response. He continued to sway along with the soft classical music, staring ahead. Eventually their original stance changed and Shuichi just had his arms wrapped around the Phantom’s waist and the Phantom’s arms around Shuichi’s torso. He felt himself smile and he couldn’t be bothered to stop it.

They danced for so long that Shuichi’s feet started to hurt, but he didn’t mind. He got to spend the entire night with his Phantom. The most he ever saw of him in one night, was usually around an hour. Even then, it’s split up into minutes because they are always running across the rooftops, Shuichi trying to catch up with the Phantom’s speedy legs.

Once the fifth song they danced to ended, the Phantom stopped swaying and looked up at Shuichi. He couldn’t help but be amused at how he had to strain his neck to just look up at him.

“Y’know, Detective, it was really mean to distract me like that,” He pouted. He looked like a grumpy kitten, if Shuichi was being honest.

Shuichi let out an amused huff, “My apologies, Thief. But then again, you let yourself get distracted.”

Phantom sighed, his shoulders drooping, “I suppose..But you’re just so pretty I couldn’t help myself! It’s all your fault, Detective! You can’t just look so unbearably pretty all the time! I’m weak when it comes to pretty detectives y’know!”

Shuichi let himself laugh quietly, “I’m sorry, Thief. I didn’t realize I make you weak in the knees. Would you prefer me to wear that silly clown mask of yours instead?”

The Phantom gasped, clearly offended by his words. “How dare you insult my beautiful mask! And here I thought you actually liked it!” The Phantom paused, going into deep thought. His face lit up with delight when he found an answer to his question, “I know! You’re insulting my mask because you don’t want me to wear it! And do you know why you don’t want me to wear it? It’s because you just want to see my beautiful face! Well you know what? You can’t see it you big..meanie!”

Shuichi snickered, “Yes, my Thief, I don’t want you to wear that silly clown mask because I can’t stand the thought of not seeing your face.” Sarcasm was practically dripping from his voice, but the Phantom decided to take it literally.

There was a mischievous and playful tone in his voice, “Well then, you’ll have to catch me to see it!” The Phantom giggled and tore himself away from Shuichi. He started racing through the crowd, the rich people he pushed aside gaping and whining at their now champagne soaked dresses and suits.

Shuichi shot after him, muttering apologies to everyone he pushed out of his way.

It was easy to follow the Phantom, all he had to do was follow the trail of chaos and rich people shouting in alarm. The Phantom raced up the stairs, shooting Togami a peace sign as he passed him.

When Shuichi got up to the top he heard Togami demand that Shuichi catch that damn plebeian for wrecking his auction. Shuichi nodded despite the fact that Togami couldn’t see him. Shuichi sprinted towards the balcony, which to get to was another flight of stairs to go up. He was thankful for Kaito’s excessive training for once.

He didn’t have to open the balcony doors, luckily the Phantom, in his haste, didn’t close them behind him. Shuichi paused in the middle of the balcony, breathing heavily. He looked around the balcony. It was empty except for a black and purple mask sitting on the stone railing, along with a purple rose with a card tied to it. He walked over and picked up the rose, reading the card. The handwriting this time was neat and looked like an actual adult wrote it, instead of a two year old. Although, it was still written in sparkly purple glitter. Shuichi felt himself smiling softly as he read the note.

You will have to try harder than that, Detective! Perhaps next time we meet, you will get to see my face. Keep an eye out for your next hint, Detective! -The Phantom Thief