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The streets of Tokyo: lights of all colors, starkly contrasting the darkness of night; busy, even at the stillest hours. A labyrinth of buildings, shops, and regular hangout spots, all silent and abandoned for the night. Only those who lived on the streets knew them well.
That, and Saihara Shuichi. A detective in training, yet his sharp mind and quick solutions far surpassed even the highest regarded detectives across the country, let alone in his agency; the addition “in training” was really just a formality due to his young age. In any other situation, being a detective rather than on police force would serve as a weighted ball chained to the ankle—a restriction, a set of limits. For his skills and talent Shuichi was rewarded an Ultimate title, meaning he was given free reign to do whatever he pleased: chase down whomever he needed, arrest whoever warranted it. The line between detective and officer blurred for Shuichi, and he took full advantage of that fact. He would use the privilege he was given as a result of his talent to bring every single person he could to justice.
Which brought him to the hardest case he'd ever been given to tackle, that of the notorious Phantom Thief. A highly wanted criminal Shuichi had been chasing after for the past two years, to no avail. The things Shuichi knew about the Phantom Thief were as follows:
The Phantom Thief is a male, estimated to be around Shuichi's age, nineteen. The Phantom Thief is around five feet tall, a guess taken by Shuichi, the only person to have ever been close to capturing him (the Thief’s talent for escapism always set him free). The Phantom Thief steals large sums of money from large, wealthy corporations. The Phantom Thief wears the same white suit with purple and checkered accents, and the same black masquerade-esque mask every heist. The Phantom Thief does not have accomplices. The Phantom Thief seems to enjoy having Shuichi chase him.
And, inexplicably, the Phantom Thief has a small group of supporters, mostly from the lowest class—those in poverty or debt. These supporters cheer on the Phantom Thief during the rare occasions where he's being chased in public and vandalize wanted posters of the Thief until they're unrecognizable.
The things Shuichi did not know about the Phantom Thief were as follows:
The Phantom Thief’s name. What the Phantom Thief does with the money he steals. What the intention is in stealing from such large companies. Any relatives and/or acquaintances of the Phantom Thief. Where the Phantom Thief retreats to after he successfully outruns the authorities. How the Phantom Thief just barely escapes his grasp every single time.
Tonight is a night where Shuichi is called in by his boss, Kirigiri Kyoko (after Shuichi failed at catching the overly-enthusiastic criminal a handful of times, she had taken her turn at trying to capture him. She failed as well, reporting back after every chase that he ran and ran without so much as a giggle—a stark contrast to how he behaved when it was Shuichi after him). The Thief had just made it out of a local jewelry store, an incredibly popular one at that.
Shuichi steps on the gas of his car as he listens to Kyoko describe the heist and where the Thief is.
“I'm with some witnesses now. They're saying he's got—what?—a brown knapsack on him, filled with stolen jewelry. He headed down an alley, down the street from here,” she reported. Shuichi nods and comes to a (somewhat aggressive—he swears he's a safe driver) stop next to an alley entrance, just in time to see a white cape vanish around the corner. His gaze hardens, locked on his target. He hurries out of the vehicle, the worn down pavement of the alley crunching under his feet as he begins yet another chase. Kyoko and his co-workers would be heading home after they confirmed everything with the witnesses and shop owners. Shuichi is the only one who has ever gotten close to catching the Thief, so he was typically left undisturbed to do his job, which he appreciates.
Following the same path, he's met with the familiar sight of the Phantom Thief, already having turned another corner, except this time he's leaning around the corner at him, violet eyes shining with mischief as he gifts Shuichi with that shit-eating grin. Shuichi glares at him, wasting no time standing there. He immediately continues running, and the Thief watches him for a moment before turning and running again.
This alley is longer, allowing Shuichi to actually gauge the distance between them. He's only a few feet behind the Thief now, reaching out an arm in case he gets a chance to grab onto the cape flapping just in front of him. Every time they play this game, this game of Cat and Mouse, Shuichi finds himself distractedly wondering how the Phantom Thief’s white top hat, with a checkered band wrapped around it, managed to stay on. Moreover, how a suit so white manages to stay clean.
“Just a little faster, Detective Saihara-chan~!” he hears the Phantom Thief tease from ahead, sounding barely winded at all. The knapsack strapped across his body bounces roughly, sealed tight enough to not let a single yen slip.
“You won't get away!” Shuichi calls, purely to match the Thief’s tenacity and let him know that he's not intimidated. They make it to the end of the alley, and the Thief takes a sharp turn to the right. Shuichi nearly slams into the wall, but quickly shifts his footing and darts right after the Thief.
This particular part of town is rather run-down. Trash is littered everywhere, the place is poorly lit, and what lighting is around is powered by various wires and extension cords that nobody has bothered to hide or cover, strewn across the alleys between back doors to businesses. This part of town has a high poverty rate, with so many people living on the streets it makes Shuichi's heart ache. It surprises the detective that nobody is out right now, especially because this area is where a lot of the Phantom Thief's supporters are.
Shuichi chases after the Phantom Thief for a while, until his legs burn and exhaustion weighs down the caution he puts into each step.
Resisting the urge to stop and take a break every time he turns a corner is like torture, and his head pounds with the effort. But his hard work is worth it because he's gaining on the Thief; that teasing white cape, always out of reach, brushes his fingertips and makes his heart jump. He reaches out, the cape tickles the palm of his hand, all that's left to do is close his fist and the Phantom Thief is—
Shuichi trips. His foot is yanked out from under him, and he barely has enough time to process that he's going down before he extends his arms and hits the pavement hard with a hissed curse. His ankle throbs and pain pulses up and down his leg, and it takes only an unfocused glance behind him for Shuichi to numbly realize that ankles aren't supposed to bend that way.
Shuichi rolls into a proper sitting position and pulls his injured leg to his chest, hissing a curse under his breath. His ankle really hurt. It was definitely sprained, if not broken. Just what he needed when he was in the middle of chasing the Phantom Thief. And he had been so close. Speaking of the Thief… he drags his foggy mind back to the current situation and looks up to the rest of the alley.
He's met with the peculiar sight of the Phantom Thief, standing still at the end of the alley. He was looking over his shoulder at Shuichi, violet eyes shining brightly from behind the black mask over his face, apprehension written all over his pale, concealed face.
The Thief was going to run, and Shuichi doesn't know if that's a more pressing matter than his ankle. A concerning notion, but he’s a detective, so it's not unwarranted. He starts to shift himself to stand up, and he's almost made it to some semblance of a standing position before stabbing pain shoots from his ankle and he gasps, letting out a curse of pain as he starts to collapse again, bracing himself for the impact on his injury.
Shuichi feels a pair of arms grab his waist, and standing suddenly becomes incredibly easier.
“Ah–” Shuichi tries to reorient himself and get a look at who had helped him. Probably some random citizen walking the alleys, or maybe one of the officers hadn't gone home for the night. He raises his head, blinks away the pain fogging his eyes, and focuses.
A sea of white floods his vision, with bits of purple and black. The first thing he manages to piece together is a pair of bright violet eyes staring back at him.
“For a detective, you're awfully dumb,” the Phantom Thief comments, not a trace of emotion in his tone but matter-of-factness. “You don't stand on twisted ankles.”
Another throb of pain shoots through him and he grimaces. “Yeah” is all he manages to rasp out, desperate for some semblance of relief.
The thief was quiet for what felt like hours. Then he moves, taking a small step forward and beckoning for Shuichi to do the same. He does, slowly limping alongside with the thief back down the alley.
“Why are you… helping me?” he mutters. The Thief decides to ignore him completely, just pushing him along through turn after turn, guiding him along and stopping to let him breathe when he accidentally steps wrong. Eventually they come to the entrance of an abandoned condo, windows broken and graffiti sprayed everywhere possible.
The Phantom Thief helps Shuichi inside, something which the latter is heavily skeptical about but follows along nonetheless. What other choice does he have?
The interior of the building looks only slightly better than the exterior; marginally less graffiti, an old couch, and various trinkets scattered across the floor along with some knitted sweaters and loose-fitting, comfortable looking shorts. He's led to the aforementioned couch and sits down on it with a weary sigh.
While Shuichi is busy sitting and grappling with attempting to find a comfortable position for his ankle, the Phantom Thief turns the corner to somewhere Shuichi can't see. After a few minutes, the Thief returns with couch pillows and a bottle of water, along with seemingly other things Shuichi can't discern.
The Thief sets the items down on the floor and leaves again, leaving Shuichi to look and conclude that there are couch pillows, a water bottle, a pill bottle, and small boxes of some kind of packets. The Thief returns again with a cheap-looking stool. Without a word, the white-suited felon puts the stool in front of the couch and puts one of the couch pillows on top of it, working diligently with a concentrated look on what little of his face is visible. He looks at Shuichi expectantly once this is done.
Shuichi stares back, his brain struggling to wrap around this… entire situation.
The Thief points to the stool. “Put your foot up there. Or can't you move anymore?”
Sputtering like a damn fool, Shuichi gingerly sets his leg down on the cushioned prop, wincing as he does so. Once his leg is settled, he looks up at the Thief suspiciously. “You didn't answer my question. Why are you helping me?”
“Oh, my bad, I'll drag your sorry ass back to the alley and leave you there,” the Thief sneers, and Shuichi pinches the bridge of his nose.
“I've been trying to catch you for two years.” You're supposed to be an unforgivable criminal, a thought which goes unsaid. “You’re taking a huge risk by helping me.”
The Thief grins, but it's clearly strained and uncomfortable. “You really want me to throw you out.”
“That's not it,” Shuichi insists with a stern face. He glances around the room, confirming the conclusion he'd come to, then pulls his eyes back to the Thief. “You live here, don't you?”
This time it's the Thief’s turn to sputter, his masked eyes widening as he looks around the room as if wondering if anything inside made it obvious. “What? Is the pain impairing you that bad, Detective-chan~?
“There's everyday necessities in here, ones that would be old and covered in dust by now. That water bottle you brought has condensation running down it, this couch doesn't have any dust on it, and neither do these clothes,” he gestures to said clothes for emphasis.
“It's someone else's place, I'm just stealing it for tonight!”
“That’s a lie, too!”
“My godddd,” the Thief is busy groaning into his hands. “Can you just– not be a detective and mind your business for two seconds?” His voice sounds more desperate than rude, which catches Shuichi considerably off-guard. There's something he was catching onto that the Phantom Thief definitely doesn't want him to know.
“...Wait…”
The Thief wheezes out a nervous exhale, pacing back and forth in distress as Shuichi audibly pieces together his façade.
“Why are you living here? You steal so much, shouldn't you be living in something more… luxurious?”
“Judging my living preferences?” the Thief bites back, but it's anxious.
Shuichi sighs. “You know I'll figure it out eventually. Just tell me what's going on.”
The Thief pauses, then averts his eyes, glancing to the side, bitterness in his expression along with… something softer. “You'll just arrest me anyways, so what's the point? You don't see me as a person, you see me as a dirty criminal for you to do your job with. You'll put me in the slammer and you'll celebrate with all your buddies because you don't know me, you don't know what I do!”
Shuichi is stunned into silence. He wasn't expecting an outburst like this, so he doesn't really know what to say. Until less than an hour ago, that was all exactly the case.
“What if a man stole food and clothes for his wife and baby? You don't see a father trying to provide for his struggling family, you see a thief, a man who deserves to be put in prison for the rest of his life. All of you do, it makes me sick to my stomach how quickly you all dehumanize people!”
“That can change,” Shuichi insists. “I can change. I admit that that is how I was. That's how I perceived you. But I know there's more to you.”
“You're just trying to get information out of me. I've been through plenty of interrogations, okay? I know the whole ‘play the nice guy so I tell you everything' bit.” The thief stares at him, scrutinizing Saihara Shuichi, his morals, his drive, the core of his soul.
“I promise you I'm not. I want to change. I consider myself a stand-up, good person, and if there's something I'm doing that doesn't align with that then I want to change it. And if you'll let me, I want to start with understanding you.”
The Thief sighs deeply. He unbuttons and shrugs off his outermost jacket, the white overcoat with the cape attached, leaving him in a black vest with a purple undershirt beneath it. He takes off his hat, leaving a mess of dark curly hair, unkempt from all the running they had done. He leaves the two items on the floor to join the other clothes, and that serves as silent confirmation for Shuichi that the Thief does live here.
“Okay, fine. You noticed recently how poverty rates have been going down? Slowly, I admit, but it is going down.”
Shuichi blinks, a little confused. “Uh– yeah, I guess so. Crime rates have been doing the same thing. Besides, um, you.”
“Yeah, you're welcome.”
…Okay. Whatever that means. The confusion must be visible, because the Thief sighs and leans down to grab the bottle of pills and water bottle sitting on the floor. He hands them both to Shuichi. “I think the pain is actually getting to you,” he regards as Shuichi takes a couple of the pills, which he had identified as over-the-counter painkillers.
“Okay, I'm gonna explain this to you nice and simple.”
“Stop that,” Shuichi demands, knowing full well he wouldn't be listened to but wanting the thief to at least know he doesn't appreciate being talked to like a child.
“Big, rich money-makers bad, Shuichi. They and their businesses are thieves. You know who they steal from, Shuichi? People in poverty who have absolutely no way to even begin to get their lives back in shape. So guess what? I take what little gift I have and use it to try and fix that.”
“You…” Shuichi's mind was reeling.
The Thief chuckles and takes a step back as though to let Shuichi analyze him. “Steal from the rich and give to the poor? Good job piecing it together! Except not, because I did it all for you! I should really be called Robin Hood instead, huh?”
The Thief he'd been chasing all these years, the one he'd been wanting to put behind bars for so long, was living himself in poverty for the sake of helping others out of the same problem. If someone like this is who Shuichi had been chasing after this whole time, what did that say about his job? His livelihood? Himself as a person? Could he even pursue this career and still be a good person at the same time?
“You look a little pale! Do you need a nap~?”
What would he do about this? He couldn't just keep chasing the Phantom Thief after this, not when he was doing so much good for people. But if he stopped, he was knowingly allowing theft to come to those large businesses, and didn't that legally make him an accomplice?
“Okay, you actually look like you need to lay down…”
Blinking back into focus, Shuichi sees the Phantom Thief carefully guiding his leg to the arm of the couch, turning him so that he could lie down across the couch. He props pillows up on the other arm for his head.
“All these random items I have laying around are gifts from the people I help. Most of them try to get by selling things, so I have all kinds of knick knacks and stuff they gave me,” he rambles as he's doing all this. “I can put a face to every item. These pillows here were made by a grandmother with her grandchildren who stayed a couple alleys down from here. She told me she likes to give every pillow a personality so you don't have to sleep lonely!"
The Thief points to his white top hat, specifically the checkered ribbon around it. “That ribbon was made for me by a little kid down the street. They want to be a designer when they grow up, so they're starting with sewing and tying ribbons! I think that's pretty neat. Apparently they'd been really wanting to meet me, and what do ya know? That family still doesn't have enough to lay down any groundwork, even with my contribution, so I was planning on getting more for them next week.”
He then points to a white bowl and spoon sitting next to a book. “There was an older guy who lived around here who made me a bunch of bowls and silverware as a gift, which was really nice because I didn't really have any before that. Now I can eat cereal! Little luxuries, huh? Luckily what I managed to get was enough for him to rent out a little place downtown and get a fresh start! Oh, and the book is just borrowed from the library.”
Shuichi stares at all the items the thief points to. He thinks about a lot of things: the thief sitting right there in that spot, casually eating cereal with one hand and a book in the other, accepting all kinds of gifts with a grateful smile, getting ready every morning, a bright star in this dump of a condo. He's violently reminded that the thief is around his same age, young, and in no position to have this much pressure on his shoulders, whether he enjoyed doing it or not. And with that thought comes the realization that he knows virtually nothing about the man in front of him outside of case file information.
“What's… your name?” he finds himself asking, rather than so many other things he could have and maybe should have said.
The Thief blinks, understandably surprised at that reaction. “Uh… Ouma Kokichi.”
“What's your favorite color?”
A snort comes from the— Kokichi. “This is a really shitty way of getting to know me.”
“Ah, s-sorry, I'll just go to bed then…”
“It’s purple.”
Shuichi can't help but smile.
For the next couple hours Shuichi lays on the couch, Kokichi takes a seat on the floor, and they exchange facts about themselves. Shuichi likes soft, gentle music, bitter, rich sweets, and has a very strong love of coffee. Kokichi on the other hand likes loud, upbeat music, loves sugary and sour sweets, and prefers soda over any kind of water. They both have very strong morals, most of which align with one another, and they both enjoy seafood. Kokichi points out several more of the gifts he's been given over the years and how he uses them while Shuichi nods along and listens.
It doesn't take long for the both of them to wear out, tired from all the chasing and fleeing they'd done that night. Kokichi says he has a "place to sleep in the other room", which Shuichi assumes means he doesn't have a proper bed. But before the smaller boy can turn the corner, Shuichi grabs onto the hem of his vest.
“W-Wait–” he blurts nervously. Violet eyes look back at him and he lets go, averting his gaze. “I… I think I have a plan for how we go forward.”
“What do you… mean?” Kokichi asks, interrupted by a yawn mid-sentence.
“I mean… if I suddenly drop your case, someone else will end up chasing you. I… don't want that. I want to help you somehow. I want you to have all the things you're providing for others.”
There's silence for a moment. “...You mean that?”
Shuichi nods immediately. “Yes. I'll keep your case. You keep doing what you're doing, and I can help you from the inside. I can draw them away from you this time, until one day maybe you won't have to do this anymore.”
More silence. After a while Shuichi thinks maybe Kokichi had stealthily left for the other room. But when he shifts himself and looks up, his golden eyes meet glistening violet ones. Kokichi stares down at him, his eyes glassy with tears, biting on his lip in an attempt not to cry. As soon as he renders that Shuichi is looking at him, he shoves his face into his sleeve, wiping his tears away with fervor. He looks back up and observes the room for a moment, gaze catching on the discarded jacket on the ground. He quickly picks it up and half-assedly drapes it over Shuichi.
“Go to sleep, and make sure you don't move your ankle too much,” he says, and Shuichi nods. As he leaves, Shuichi thinks he hears a mumbled “thank you”, but he's drifted off too far to properly hear it.
The next morning, Shuichi wakes up to two things: dull throbbing in his ankle, and impaired vision. The culprit of the latter was a pastel purple sticky note stuck to his forehead, which reads in scratchy handwriting, “went out to get food. take the stuff on the table and go sleep in a proper bed. yours truly <3, ouma Kokichi”. He looks over at the table beside the couch with a nutrition bar, his water bottle, and more painkillers on it, and he can't help but smile.
Keeping as much weight off his ankle as he can, he moves a couple houses down and calls Kyoko. He tells her he slept in the alley the night before, and that the Phantom Thief had gotten away.