aikido_2_dan | Not Quite Right [RL with Kaito (Disguised as Hattori.)]

It was, perhaps, bad timing that found Kid (disguised as the Osakan high school detective Heiji) at the same museum at the exact same time Kazuha was passing by. He had been a rather busy performer the past week or so, with having to steal not on Zuko's crown and the diamond in Franziska's Los Angeles, but the gems in Issei's world as well.

And now, here he was, scoping out a museum in Osaka for yet another performance, this one on his world. There was, of course, no rest for the weary. Nevertheless, Kid enjoyed his performances through and through, and he wouldn't have any other way.

Kazuha might notice the thief standing next to the entrance of the museum, his back toward her, trademark baseball cap positioned on his head. He seemed to be digging through his pocket for something (probably an entrance fee), and hadn't noticed her presence yet.

If he had, he probably would have realized that disguising himself as Heiji had been a very, very bad idea.

Kazuha had been scanning all the signs and banners up and of course that involved the one near the entrance. She caught sight of the familiar SAX baseball cap and after looking for a moment, decided it was Hattori.

"Heiji! Hey!" She called, hurrying up the steps to the entrance.

Kid froze in the process of digging through his pockets for change. Heiji... someone was calling for him.

And he knew that voice. Sure, he hadn't heard it in person in a while, but... the thief's memory was far too good for him to forget something as important as a voice.

He gulped to himself, before mustering up the best poker face he could and spinning around to face her. "O-oi, 'Zhua!" he said, lifting a tanned hand in greeting as he did so, voice laced with a the thick Kansai dialect Hattori usually spoke with. "What're you doin' here?"

Please don't notice that 'm not supposed to be here and lets make this quick so I can get away before you realize I'm not him--!

"I was delivering some food to dad and I passed by," Kazuha said, stopping beside him. She looked over at the entrance. "Were you going inside? Not like you to check out some place like this by yourself. Usually it needs food."

Kid laughed and lifted a hand to scratch the back of his head sheepishly. "I saw th' signs out front and figured I'd take a look!" he answered with a grin, "Dad said somethin' about a possible case, anyway. Might as well check it out!"

Please buy my story, please please...

"A possible case? Really?" Kazuha asked and reached for her wallet. "Tell me about it," she said, pulling out money for a ticket, heading for the ticket booth.

"I wanted to check out the exhibit anyway."

Cue internal flailing.

"O-oi oi oi, 'Zhua, you wouldn't be interested!" Kid said in protest as he hastily followed her toward the ticket booth, "And the exhibit looks pretty borin' anyway!"

He definitely couldn't have her tailing him while he was doing reconnaissance work for his next heist. It would be nearly impossible to gather any information right out from underneath her nose, and he knew it, too.

Kazuha looked at him over her shoulder, raising an eyebrow. "What about your talking about? I'm more interested in this stuff than you. It's rare that I don't have to drag you to one," she said.

Urk. Kid wound up waving his hands defensively at her again. It looked like it'd be tougher than he thought to get rid of her completely... if possible at all.

"Right, right, just teasing!" He said with a grin, before he fell into the ticket line with her. "I wasn't plannin' on stayin' for long."

... so much thinking the Heiji disguise would get him more clearance than normal.

Kazuha frowned. "You're acting weird," she said. "And it's not like we have to stay THAT long."

His sheepish grin brightened, and he quickly placed his hands on Kazuha's shoulders and pushed her forward in the line. "Right, right. Let's just get our tickets and get inside."

Already, his mind was racing for ways to collect information useful for his heist about the exhibit without Kazuha finding out. He didn't want this trip to be a total waste, after all.

Aoko would probably whack him for spending the entire day away and then coming home empty handed.

Kazuha frowned, but then they were next and she paid for her ticket, waiting for Hattori before heading inside. "So, what did you need to check out?"

Kid quickly bought his ticket and hurried after Kazuha, through the glass doors of the entrance and into the museum.

"One of th' new exhibits. I think the jewel is called th' Tiger's Eye, or something!" A pause as he let this name sink in. "Kinda stupid, if you ask me." And that was an honest comment, though he had stolen gems with weirder names.

"It's been targeted by thieves across th' world during it's tour," he continued. More true information, and he was willing to make bets that these 'thieves' were one of Them. "Dad thinks one might try to steal it while it's here."

"That's the one on all of the signs. I guess everyone would want it."

"Really? You're dad's that concerned about a theft?" Kazuha asked, heading where the signs were pointing to the new exhibit.

"Well, he's not, necessarily," Kid pointed out, "He just heard about it from one of th' other divisions. I overheard him talking about it!"

A pause, before he leaned into whisper into Kazuha's ear. "To tell ya the truth, he doesn't even know I'm investigating."

"You were at the police station?" Kazuha asked, looking at him curiously.

She rolled her eyes. "Of course he doesn't," she said in a lowered voice. "When do you ever tell him you're investigating something? Especially when you weren't asked to help."

"Mom wanted me to bring him something," Kid stated glumly.

But that was followed by a grin as the duo weaved their way through the exhibits of the museum and toward the Tiger's Eye. "'Xactly. He might get pretty upset if he found out, anyway."

Edited 2010-05-07 00:02 (UTC)

"Ah. I must have just missed you," Kazuha said.

"Maybe," Kazuha said, sticking close to him as they made their way through the building, glancing at older pieces to see if there was anything she hadn't seen before.

"It's not like he usually deals with just a thief, even for an expensive jewel. Unless they're part of a gang," she said and paused. "Speaking of which...only time I've ever really seen you go for a thief that wasn't a mugger you were chasing down...it was only with Kid, wasn't it?"

So she had been at the police department too? He shrugged it off as no big deal, particularly because she didn't seem to think it was one herself. Best move on to the rest of the conversation instead of instilling more suspicion in her.

"That's right!" he admitted as he tugged her up to the Tiger's Eye exhibit. Security was very tight around the perimeter of the class case that held the jewel, complete with security guards and rope to prevent people from getting closer than ten feet. Simple... Kid thought to himself as he scanned the scene, You think they would have put up something more complex...

"That guy's name was tossed around a few times. Seem to think that since the jewel was targeted so much around th' world and no one's managed to steal it yet, Kid'll want to try his hand at the challenge."

Kazuha looked at the Tiger's Eye, not paying much attention to the security. "Wow! It's so pretty. No wonder people would want it," she said.

She looked at him. "So you're interested because Kid is interested?"

"Kid hasn' sent out a note yet," the thief confirmed, "But if he does, I'll be on the front lines!" He clenched his hand into a fist and nodded firmly at Kazuha. "That guy from overseas can' catch him, so I might as well try my hand at the same thing! First time was a fluke anyway."

He eyed the gem some more. "Second time, he won' be so lucky!"

-- yes. That sounded enough like Hattori's enthusiasm for the thief's taste. Man I am good at this.

Kazuha blinked. She looked around and leaned in close. "But isn't he an ally against those guys? I mean, if he had sent a note, it's one thing, but to be this fired up for just an opportunity..." She whispered so only he could hear.

-- hold on. Back up. If Kid hadn't been so good at keeping his poker face in tact, he might have recoiled in surprised at her words. Was she talking about...

... how did she know?

"Them?"

"Them is them," Kazuha said in a lowered voice. "You said Kid 'helped out' with 'Them' when you explained it."

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... /spams inbox with edits

My inbox hasn't even gotten the first post.

Notifs are being weird

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