Deceit - The Phantom Thief

Chapter 16: Attention

The friends of a woman missing say they are "extremely concerned about her well-being" and her sudden disappearance is very out of character.

Detective Kyoko Kirigiri, 22, has not been seen since 24 July where she met with a colleague at the Saihara Detective Agency. Her whereabouts now are unknown.

-

Shuichi had only just arrived home from his date and, warm hand pressed firmly to his chest, slid down his front door with a pleased sigh. It may have been his first date, but it was certainly his best for some time to come even if he had no others to compare it to. He didn't know how to describe the beatific feeling dwelling inside of him. He felt... Warm. And his establishment of this foreign feeling only summoned an even greater smile to his lips.

He had fun, to his surprise, which only added to the adoration he held for that day. The day hadn't started off too well, especially with Kokichi getting burnt and the ambush, but the cheery smaller boy had remedied the entire situation and made the day one of the most exuberant he could remember.

Shuichi learned more and more about him every time they spent time together. Today Shuichi had noted how Kokichi displayed prodigious interest in the detective's work. He had showered the taller in questions about what being a detective was like and how it felt to be the one hunting the Phantom Thief. It was a refreshing to feel as if his words held some importance, that someone truly held interest in someone as boring and normal as Shuichi Saihara, but it filled him from the crown to the toe-top full of pride. Kokichi was inquisitive and overflowed with childlike curiosity; he gave Shuichi the opportunity to talk as much as he wanted about everything he enjoyed and found interesting, discussing past cases and ridiculous false alarms. Not once did Kokichi shut down his harmless chatter, that was something Shuichi was immensely grateful for.

He had also learned that Kokichi was incredibly fond of animals and even took in a stray (a grey cat which he named Onyx) when he was younger. Helping people and animals appeared to be something the boy felt quite passionately about; he even said his friends held the same interest as him. Shuichi understood Kokichi's reluctance to let him walk him home now, Kokichi just wanted to help.

The detective's face flushed, Kokichi was a special person.

The jovial boy had held his hand the entire way home, skipping along the sidewalk gleefully. Shuichi bashfully peered down at the hand which had connected him to the other boy. Kokichi held his hand. Shuichi didn't know why he cared so much about the tiny ounce of physical contact he'd received yet his date's enthusiasm for doing something so simple set Shuichi's thumping heart ablaze. An action so small and insignificant shouldn't have caused such a reaction from him - he rarely responded this way after having a good time. Maybe the heat was finally getting to his head.

He pulled himself up off the floor and headed into his bedroom where he put both his firearm and the calling card on his desk before throwing himself onto his bed. Shuichi gave himself up to the carousel of thoughts clouding his mind. The blanket of blackness came over him slowly, then all at once, dragging him into the peaceful oblivion of sleep.

-

"He's in here, Minerva. I really need your help." Gadget implored as he led his girlfriend into the lab. "It's a lot more serious than I first thought and the timing for this is awful so please help us come up with a solution."

The hacker followed the inventor inside with her hands held comfortably behind her back, however she wasn't in as much of a hurry as her boyfriend was. "I'll see what I can do. Have you tried resetting it?"

The blond shook his head. "Yeah, still doesn't work. I think it's completely busted."

"Hm..." Minerva entered the lab and approached Smile who was sitting beside Boomer on top of Gadget's box-like work station. "Boomer, got anything out of him yet?"