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ninoexchange2012-06-22 09:38 pm
nino-mod.livejournal.com) wrote in ninoexchange2012-06-22 09:38 pm
Entry tags:
fic for ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
gomushroom
For: gomushroom
From:clipsie
Title: The Artistry of Thievery by Team Ariake
Pairing/Focus: Nino, Ninomiya Kazunari/Matsumoto Jun, mentions of Ninomiya Kazunari/Sasaki Nozomi
Rating: PG
Warnings: AU. A lot of really random pairings, I don’t even know how that happened. Crack. I added in almost every single Johnny’s group, and even if they’re not mentioned, they are totally there.
Summary: Nino’s the leader of a small team of master thieves. This is what ends up happening when he gets asked to steal something back for the local museum that Sho works at.
Notes: I kind of went a bit nuts, and took random things from your prompts and came out with this, so I do hope you like it,gomushroom. I would like to thank my beta, who ended up being my cheerleader as well through all the random moments that ended up making this fic take more than it should have.
It’s a Sunday evening when it all begins, and Ninomiya Kazunari, just call me Nino, has closed up shop rather early. Mind, it is Sunday, which makes it full inventory night, and there is no way he’s doing that after dark. Nino had finished about a half hour ago anyway. He’s finished all his cash duties as well, so now all he has left to do is sit back and practice his card tricks for tomorrow night. He’s just made a new, rather great one, and is excited to show it off. He closes early on Mondays as well. No real point in exhausting himself after all.
Sitting at the tables in the dining area, because they have the best light, he restarts the trick. This new run through doesn’t last long, as there is a sudden banging sound on the window. Looking up he sees a boy knocking away, though with all the rattling and shaking that is going on, he can’t tell who it is at all, and waits for it to stop.
When it finally does, it seems the kid needs to catch his breath, and so he takes a better look at his face. Turns out, it’s Ohno’s assistant, Chinen Yuri, and if he’s here, then there must be something up. Ohno doesn’t usually send a very rushed message after all. There was this one time when he sent a letter that he wanted delivered the next day, and it didn’t show up for a week. He’d thought Nino was just busy and didn’t get a chance to come over, saying it was no rush when he finally showed up. Always at a strange pace, that one was, though he seemed to know when things were urgent.
Nino answers the door at a leisurely pace, asking, “What’s up, kid?”
Chinen glances up at him, and quickly straightens from his position of catching his breath. “Ohno-kun and Sakurai-san need your expertise at the museum.”
Oh, Sho’s involved. That would explain why he looks so urgent. Sighing, he looks at the kid. “Can you flag down a cab for me then?”
“A cab? The museum is only about a twenty-minute walk from-“ Chinen attempts to protest before he’s cut off.
“A cab, please. I’m not walking.” Turning to go back inside, he adds, “You’d better have flagged it down by the time I get back with my coat.” With that, he lets the door close behind himself.
Nino walks over to his working table and stares at his cards. He sighs and begins to pack them up. He may need something to do later after all. When that’s done, he finally walks his way to his coat at the back of the room. The advantages of living just above his own restaurant, such as placing his coat wherever he pleases, are rather nice.
Returning to the door, he finds Chinen has in fact flagged down a taxi for him, so he locks up the restaurant and turns to the awaiting car. As he steps in, and just before he shuts the door, hand already on the handle to do so, he looks at the kid. “I’d like you to go and let Aiba know he’ll be looking after the restaurant until I return. Tell him not to burn anything down, and to please,” he sighs and starts again, “please not let Ohkura eat everything in the place again.” With that, he shuts the door and instructs the driver where to go.
When he reaches the museum, he’s greeted with the appearance of a worried Sakurai Sho, with Ohno Satoshi mindlessly rubbing his back. Quickly, he instructs the cab driver to wait for a moment, and moves to open the door. Once out, he climbs the steps and Sho begins to talk.
“About time. So, I have a job for you.” Sho starts off, “It’s a bit of a-“
For the second time that night, Nino cuts off another person. “Oh, Sho-chan, it seems I’ve forgotten my wallet.” He continues as he watches Sho’s face change from instructive to surprise, and gestures at the cab behind him. “Would you be so kind of lend me the money to pay for my transportation?” He’s sing-songing at this point.
Taking a moment, Sho stares at him, and then digs out his wallet. Sighing, he opens it and hands a one thousand yen note to Nino. “Here.” He shakes his head a bit.
Plucking it from his hand with his thumb and pointer finger, Nino grins widely at Sho and says a quick, “Thanks.” He turns around and walks back to the cab.
Nino pays the man quickly and pockets the change himself as he walks back to the two men. He gestures that they should start walking, and looks at Sho pointedly. “So, what is it you need my help with?”
Sho rolls his eyes and grins at his friend. “It might be easier to show you and explain then.” He walks up to the front desk and grabs a single sheet of paper. “We had a break in about a half an hour ago. We do know who did it, thanks to the mud prints they left behind, because those shoe prints,” he gestures the size with his hands, “were rather large, and wide.”
Nino nods along as he listens. Looking at Ohno, who is idly picking his nose, he looks back to Sho, “And how exactly do you know who did it? Are you using some of your old contacts for help?”
Sho shifts a bit, not exactly uncomfortable, but filled with the knowledge that yes, he did distance himself from his past. He distanced himself from being part of KCE for those few years in his early twenties, but dammit, it wasn’t his fault certain contacts were just so personable. “Inocchi was in here to look earlier. It seems that it was TOKIO, or at least that’s who he thinks it was.”
Nino grins at this. “Nagase-sized footprints, I take it?” His statement is confirmed by a nod from Sho. “Man, that guy is seriously an elephant. How did he get into this business again?” Nino pauses at that and smiles to himself even more. “Never mind that, how hasn’t he been caught yet?”
“I have no idea. You’d think with all the mistakes he’s made…” Sho shakes his head with a grin. “Anyway, back on topic. They stole a statue that we got into our collection a little over a year ago.” Passing the photo to Nino, he continues, “It’s called The Hearth of Saturn, and was a donation from one Inoue Mao-san. The depiction of the planet Saturn is the most expensive part of the statue, while the rest is just a rather simple depiction of some children holding onto it.”
Nino studies the photograph some more, trying to get it recorded to memory. “Any idea as to why they stole it?” He shifts his head to look at Sho.
Sho shakes his head. “No. We have no idea. The statue itself really isn’t that expensive, and while the Saturn may collect a bit of a price, I don’t think it’s enough to even be worth it.”
“I see…” Nino gestures at Ohno with a quick jerk of his thumb. “And Ohno is here, why?”
Ohno perks up a small amount at the mention of his name, though doesn’t remove his finger from his nose swiftly at all. He then mumbles, “They have train tickets for tomorrow morning.”
This information causes Nino to giggle a little, and shake his head in amusement. You’d think they’d want to get out of town as quickly as possible. “And why do you know this? Have you guys even gone to the police yet?”
“Well, Inocchi told us,” Ohno mumbles, “and I saw some guys who fit the description at the station earlier today.” Ohno‘s a train engineer after all, and he loves his job, especially when he has to stay in other locations for a bit. He always carries his fishing equipment around because of that.
Sho follows with, “We did think about going to the police, but this way seemed so much easier.” He smiles a bit at that fact.
“Ah, well, if you must insist, I suppose I can steal it back for you.” Nino sings, “I expect that my team and I can get smuggled onto this train then?” Like hell Nino’s going to pay for transportation for a job he’s been asked to do. He’s a master thief after all.
Ohno nods in compliance. He’d expected this, and will make sure he’s driving that train, like he has all the other times he’d driven Nino places. It’s usually fun anyway; Nino’s a good friend after all, and tends to tell Ohno stories of his adventures or show him his latest magic tricks on the way, even though Ohno sometimes forgets to look surprised at the trick.
“Good, good.” Nino turns on his heel to walk out. “I’ll be there bright an early with the troops then. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m sure you two would love to get back to whatever you were up to in this museum. Things I’d much rather be better off knowing, I’d like to think, and I’m going to go talk to Inocchi and see what’s up.” Turning away from them, he waves his arm and leaves the museum.
Sho and Ohno simply stare at him, waving a bit before Sho returns to showing Ohno the collection.
Nino’s glad Inocchi doesn’t live too far from the museum, he realizes as he knocks on the door. Maybe a little exercise isn’t so bad.
Nino hears an exclamation of what seems to be, “Just a moment!” but he isn’t quite sure over the sound of footsteps running around from inside. A few moments later, the door is answered by a man holding a two year old.
Inocchi, as it happens, is the local information broker. It comes with the territory of being a retired thief after getting married and having a son. He just couldn’t quite let it go, and that may be due to the fact his thieving friends are just such fun people to hang out with. His actual job is as a journalist, and one he enjoys greatly, even if most of his articles are human-interest stories. To him, they’re the most enjoyable, interviewing and getting to know people. He’d interviewed Nino once on his restaurant.
Inocchi’s face lights up with a smile that makes his eyes scrunch together. “Ah, Nino! Come in, come in.” He tries to gesture with his hands, but it just ends up looking like he’s not trying to drop the kid.
Nino only nods at this, and steps in, watching Inocchi run back to the living room to deposit his son.
“You know where the kitchen is, right?” Inocchi asks as he pops his head out from the living room. His head doesn’t stay there long, and Nino can hear him talking quietly to the kid.
Nino grins and ponders the fact that all of his visits to Inocchi are always so cheerful. “I do. I’ll meet you there,” he responds as he removes his footwear and heads off to the room at the end of the hall.
A few minutes later Inocchi joins him and sits across from him at the table. Looking serious and with his hands placed palm down on the table, he stares at Nino. “I know why you’re here.” A grin appears. “And Taichi really should have paid me more to keep quiet, but it’s just so hard sometimes.”
Nino laughs a little at this. “So, what can you tell me about this theft then?”
“Well, I can tell you that it was definitely TOKIO who did it. Taichi stopped by here earlier today and told me about it, which was fun to hear about. You know, he mentioned that you never call him anymore.”
Nino shrugs at this information, “Well, the next time you see him, do tell him to learn to answer back. I’ve tried to contact him before, and no return letters. Not like when I call on you.”
“I will, though you know he’s hardly going to listen to that, even if we used to work together.” Inocchi smiles, remembering the days when they were an expert thieving duo called Tainocchi. Not the most creative name, they’ll admit, but they had fun. “Ah, right, back to the theft. I kind of figured you’d be on this job when I got asked to go over there, which was fun. I’ve never been in a museum after dark for almost legal reasons.”
Nino let his amused grin show as he interrupts. “What exactly do you know?”
“Well, it seems they got hired by some guy named Jun. He and Taichi go to the same bar in the next town over. You know the place, Sakamoto’s joint, and I guess he mentioned it when he was drunk, so Sakamoto introduced them.”
Nino nods and records all this to memory the best that he can. That should be all the information he needs for now. “Hey, Inocchi, are Sakamoto and Okada still dating?”
The face he receives is an over exaggerated “oh” face mixed with an amused grin. “Thinking of moving in on Sakamoto’s man? He wouldn’t like that, you know.”
Nino shakes his head at the ridiculous man before him. “No, no. Just curious.” A pause fills the moment. “Hey, Inocchi, fatherhood looks good on you.”
The only response received was a loud round of laughter and a whack to the head.
The next day sees Nino and his band of grumpy thieves at the train station rather early. No one wanted to get up for the morning, and he’s pretty sure Ryo is trying to melt into the bench he’s lying on, while Erika is sitting on the next one trying her hardest not to fall asleep. Maybe they could have come later, but Ohno shows up early each day. Something about feeling bad for being late once, and if he’s going to be smuggling them, showing up early is probably for the best.
It’s another half hour before Ohno shows up. When he does, he gestures to Nino from the other side of the platform. Nino signs back an okay while he kicks the bench Ryo is on. “Time to get up. You can sleep on the train.”
Ryo suppresses a groan as he moves to sit up. Maybe benches aren’t the best place to sleep. Standing, he grabs his guitar case and bag and follows Nino. Erika is already way ahead of him there, walking beside Nino.
“So, when do our code names kick in this time?” Erika asks Nino.
Nino thinks for a moment, “I’d say whenever we’re around people we don’t know from here on out. What do you think, Taisuke?” He only tilts his head the tiniest bit back toward Ryo, who’s almost caught up.
“Sounds good, Aniki.” Ryo replies with a flat tone.
Nino and Erika only grin at this and speed up a little. Time to get smuggled aboard.
Later, as the train is in motion, Nino stands and gets ready to head out. Why he chose the spot closest to the window in their little cabin, he’ll never know. Erika is curled up on the seat before him, and Ryo is to his side. They had spent the first little while coming up with their cunning plan, and when the train started to be in motion, the two of them had fallen asleep to the relaxing sounds of the steam engine.
Stepping around them cautiously, he exits the cabin. He has a group of thieves to find, and it’s a good thing that today’s conductor is Kame. He doesn’t question Nino just randomly popping up after all, especially after Ohno explained it to him that one time.
Wandering to the regular seats, he sits as soon as he can. At the other end he spots Nagase, though luckily he’s facing the opposite direction. The person beside him is also taller, so he can’t see the two facing him, and with any luck, they can’t see him.
Sighing, he moves a little bit closer, until he spots a small box between the four of them.
“So, why did he want this piece of junk anyway?” he hears Nagase ask.
“I think it has sentimental value or something like that,” Taichi says. “Either way, let’s get this done, and then we can go for a drink. How about it?”
“Are you buying?”
Taichi sounds amused when he responds, “I never said anything about that. Maybe we can convince Leader to come and have a drink as well.”
Nagase also laughs a bit at this thought. “This plan, I like it.”
Nino sticks around a bit longer to wait and see what will happen, but the four of them all start chattering about going for a drink not long after. There’s no way he’d be able to get the box how they are now. Not like last time anyway, when he stole something from right under their noses. Outsmarting them might have to wait this time.
It’s later when Nino finds himself at Sakamoto’s bar. They’re staying at Subaru’s place, and he is not sticking around for Subaru and Ryo’s jam session. Erika isn’t either, and had come to the bar as well. Well, they would have come here eventually to try and scope out this Jun guy, but there’s no real time like jam session time. If Nino had his guitar though, well, clearly he could have beaten the two of them at their own game.
Sitting at the bar, he stares into his drink. Erika is doing the same at one of the tables. One of the first rules of a stake out is to not sit together. He sits like that for a while, taking random sips of his drink, when eventually Okada comes up to him.
“Would you like that topped off, sir?”
Nino’s eyes flick up, though his head doesn’t move.
Okada sighs and leans on the counter. “You know, Inocchi sent word you’d be coming.”
Smirking into his glass, Nino says, “Really now? Did he say why we’d be here?”
“He did.” Okada smiles. “Bambi sent word as well about what you’re doing. I’ll let you know if the guy shows up.” He pats Nino’s arm as he walks away.
Watching him walk away, Nino turns back to his drink, glad he knows the code names that Sho and Okada had used when they were KCE. Now Okada’s an actor when he isn’t working at the bar.
It’s about twenty minutes later when Okada shows up in the space in front of Nino.
“You know, if you want to look like an actual patron, normally you’d have more than one drink by now.” He sets down a glass in front of Nino. “Oh, and on that note, see that guy six seats down?”
Nino glances up, and over. Spotting a taller man with a very distinguishable nose, he nods.
“That’s your guy.”
Switching back to Okada, Nino gives him a bit of a suspicious stare. “Won’t your partner get annoyed at you helping me when he helped him in the first place?”
Okada laughs and shakes his head. “No, he already knows. The thing about him is that, more than anything, he likes to be amused, not to mention that there’s only a few people he’ll properly listen to anyway.”
Okada leaves Nino once again, and he downs his new drink. Nino begins his observations so they can begin the plan tomorrow.
Their first plan is to have Erika flirt with him, try to get him to take her back to his place. Seems simple enough, and it’s nothing they haven’t done before. Nino is sitting in the corner in case anything goes wrong, and Ryo is on standby. Seems there aren’t enough blondes in this town for him or something like that.
They’ve been there for twenty minutes now, and Jun has yet to show up, when Nino decides sitting there just isn’t going to cut it, and he probably looks like some depressed loner nursing his drink in the corner. Looking around, he spots a pretty girl with light brown hair.
Getting up, he walks over to her table. She’s just lightly surveying the room, and barely notices him come up until he says, “Hello, is anyone sitting here?”
She looks at him slightly startled, but that quickly goes away to a more neutral look, which is when she gestures casually to the chair.
Nino quickly sits down and slides the chair a bit closer. He can see a fair bit of the bar this way, so it’s all right. Setting down his drink, he sticks out his hand. “Let’s try this again. Hello, I’m Ariake Koichi.”
Casually she takes his hand and gives it a little shake. “I’m Sasaki Nozomi. Pleased to meet you, Ariake-san.” She slowly lets go of his hand and takes a sip of her drink.
Nino watches her with curious eyes. “Do call me Koichi.” He grips the glass a little and smiles. “So, Sasaki-san, I couldn’t help but notice you’ve been watching the room. Any reason?”
The corners of her mouth twitch into the smallest of smiles as she says, “And I couldn’t help but notice you watching that girl in the pink dress. Any reason?”
“Ah, you got me,” says Nino as he leans back in his chair with a dramatic motion before leaning forward and continuing. “If it’s anything to you though, she’s my sister and I’m worried about her.” He then smiles, amused. “Oh, and it seems you’re avoiding my question.”
She lets out a slight noise, which really sounds something like a tsk, and tries to seem annoyed. “Well, does a girl need a reason to be observing at a bar?” She sits back and crosses her arms.
“About as much reason as a boy needs, so really, no.” He swirls the liquid in the glass before taking a drink.
“Good, good.” She looks pleased without even changing her facial expression from neutral all that far. “So, I’ve never seen you around here. What brings you here?”
It’s that exact moment that Jun decides to walk into the bar, and Nino’s attention goes for a quick second. The game is afoot now. Returning his attention to the lovely woman before him, he smiles. “We’re visiting a friend in town, my siblings and I.”
“Oh, siblings?” She glances at Erika, who is now talking to Jun. “Is that your brother there then?”
Nino turns a bit to look and smiles. “No. My brother decided to stay back and have a guitar session with our friend. I’d probably be there too if I’d brought my guitar.” Looking back at her with an amused grin, he continues, “I have no idea who that is though, but Shizuna’s a big girl. She can handle herself.”
Nozomi’s eyebrow rises at the mention of the guitar, and raising her glass to her lips, she says, “Oh, you play the guitar?” She takes a sip.
“I do, though I have another, even more impressive talent.” He leans in to whisper it and meets her at the middle of the table. “I’m a magician.”
This only inspires some laughter from her side as she leans back in her chair. “Really? Show me a trick then.”
Nino smiles slyly and shakes his head. “No, I couldn’t possibly do that here.” He leans his head into his hands. “I’d end up with the attention of the whole bar, and then where would I be? I wouldn’t be able to keep my attention on a pretty girl such as yourself.”
Her expression goes a bit more toward neutral as she waves it off. “Fine, fine, but before we part?”
“That sounds a bit more like it.” Nino grins.
They continue discussing random things for the next while until Erika walks away from Jun with a feigned huff. Nino just barely catches this in the corner of his eye, trying to keep up with his table partner more than worry about that. The plan was to steal it the next day anyway. Looking back at Nozomi, he says, “So, about that magic trick,” as he winks.
Nozomi nods and says, “I’d very much like to see that.” She stands and leads Nino out of the bar.
The next morning sees Nino trudging back to Subaru’s house, and while it’s closer to noon, he really doesn’t see any problem with that. Walking into the small place with a tune on his lips, he’s greeted by three pairs of eyes looking up at him.
“Aniki, what were you up to last night?” Ryo looks at him appalled. “I hope you weren’t abandoning our dear Shizuna at the bar. Who knows what kind of people could have picked her up?”
This gets him a smack from Erika and a huff of, “I can handle myself fine, thank you very much.”
Subaru just shakes his head and goes to the kitchen. He knows a bit of what they’re up to this time, and he doesn’t want to be involved right now.
“Ryo, she was fine. Besides, Okada and Sakamoto were there.” Nino just shakes his head as he joins them. “And, Erika, how was our little mission?”
She shakes her head. “Unsuccessful. I really don’t think I’m the right person for that job, and he just didn’t seem interested in me in the first place.”
“I see. Who would be best then?” He definitely trusts her judgment on this one.
“Hmm, I don’t know…” She pauses and looks pensive for a moment and then smiles brightly at Nino. “How about you, Aniki?”
There’s a slight yelp of “Aniki?” from Ryo before Nino can even answer.
“Me? Is it because I’m just so charming?” Nino grins at her. “I mean, I already know I’m beautiful.”
A snort from Ryo, followed by Erika smacking him is all the answer he receives.
“Should we start plan two tomorrow?” He taps his fingers on the table lightly.
“I’d say so.” Erika and Ryo agree at the same time.
Later on, the afternoon sees Nino in a park doing magic tricks. He’d even gained a bit of a crowd at one point, but now they’ve dissipated, probably because it’s getting close to suppertime.
Still practicing his magic, Nino doesn’t notice he’d gained an audience of one until there’s sudden applause. Snapping his eyes up, he’s surprised to find his target standing there.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you actually had magic.” Jun smiles at him.
Nino just smiles back coyly. “If only that were true.” Shuffling his cards, he places them back into the pack. “I’m glad you enjoyed my magic though.”
“Good to know. Hey, I was just heading out for a bite to eat, and I’m wondering, would you like to come along? I don’t think we’ve met, or, well, I’ve never seen anyone practicing magic in the park before.” Jun’s face is one of politeness mixed with keen interest.
“Ah, no.” Nino flips open his pocket watch and glances at it before looking back at Jun. “I’d better not for tonight. I’m having dinner with some friends that I’m visiting.” It’s a terrible excuse, yes, but he isn’t exactly prepared for it.
“So you’re from out of town. Well, I hope I can still get you a drink before you leave,” Jun says.
Nino smiles at this. A little unconventional compared to their usual method, but he can work with it. “I’m free tomorrow night if you’d like.”
Jun grins and holds out his hand. “I suppose introductions are in order then. I’m Matsumoto Jun.”
Nino willing shakes it. “And I’m Ariake Koichi. Pleased to meet you.”
“Likewise.” Jun’s just about to head off and say goodbye before he remembers something and says, “Right, that drink. There’s this bar called Shelter. Would you like to meet me there tomorrow?”
“Shelter. I’ll try to remember it,” Nino says as he nods slightly. Turning on his heel, he glances back at the other man. “Until tomorrow then.”
“Yes, until tomorrow.” Jun gives a little wave. “Goodbye.”
Nino just gives a little wave as he walks off, afraid to turn around and show his smirk.
The next night does in fact see Nino at Shelter, and Jun is there before him, sitting at the bar and chatting with Sakamoto. Sneaking up behind him, he says in a low voice, “I’ll take that drink now.”
Jun turns around and smiles big at him. “So glad you could make it, Ariake-san.”
Nino just shakes his head and chuckles a little. “I think you can call me Koichi. You know what, in fact, I prefer it. Okay, Jun-kun?”
Jun sputters a bit into the glass of the drink he’s sipping. Setting the glass down, he wipes his mouth. “That sounds just fine, Ko-chan.” He grins when he finishes his sentence.
Nino doesn’t really react; he just takes the stool beside Jun and smiles once he’s settled. Looking at Sakamoto, he says, “I’ll take a whiskey with extra ice please.”
“Right away, sir,” Sakamoto replies as he moves off to make it, grinning and shaking his head ever so slightly. Returning relatively quickly, he sets the drink in front of Nino before wandering off to assist his other patrons.
Jun turns in his stool to look across the counter at nothing. “So, visiting friends you say. How are you enjoying our little town?”
Nino sips lightly at his drink and sets it down on the counter, still holding onto it, “It’s nice. Peaceful almost. I’ve been a lot of places before, but this place is nice to visit every so often.”
“So, you’ve been here before?”
“Well, yes, though it’s been a couple of years.” Nino stops to think. “I probably haven’t been here since I started my work in my hometown.”
Jun lets out an appreciative hum as he sips his drink. “What kind of work do you do exactly?”
“Oh, not much. I work at a restaurant.” Nino pauses for a moment. “I guess it keeps me pretty busy.”
“And before that, what made you come here?”
Nino tries to remember the best he can, seeing as it’s been at least four years. “Oh, I was in a band for a short while. It was for a competition, though we lost that year.” Telling the truth within a lie was just so much easier to keep up with.
“I see. I hope you’re enjoying your stay so far then.” Jun continues to stare at the random point on the wall.
Nino smirks as he takes a sip. “I do hope I end up enjoying it to the fullest.” This guy is going to be amusing at least. “Everyone is rather friendly here though, and I never expected to get a drink.”
Jun laughs a bit at this, turning to Nino. “Well, I hope it’s memorable.”
“What are you,” Nino says, peering questioningly at him, “the welcoming committee?”
“No, no,” Jun laughs as he shakes his head. “Nothing of the sort. Think of me as a concerned citizen fascinated by magic.”
The night continues much like this, with random interruptions from Okada and Sakamoto, and somehow they end up staying there until closing. Neither of them really knows why, nor do they care, as they’ve set up dinner for the next day.
For a week afterwards, they continue to get together when their schedules work out, though at one point Nino becomes rather concerned for his restaurant. What if it got burned down from one of Aiba’s experiments or if Ohkura ate the entire inventory? Everyone else helping out during his absence has probably resorted to packing his own lunches after all. In the end, that concern is calmed when during the day of the third date (which is the seventh day after the day at the park), he receives a letter from Murakami. He’s taken over the banking and inventory for the period Nino is gone, which is something he’s glad for, not to mention that he’s glad that Aiba remembered to get Murakami to help in the first place.
It’s the sixth date (which is the thirteenth day after the park) when Nino gets invited over to Jun’s house for dinner. He’s cooked him pasta for supper, which is a killer combination with the wine he also provided with the dinner. It also doesn’t help that over the past few days, he’s found himself liking Jun more with each date, so it’s no surprise when he wakes up in the middle of the night, due to a very specific guitar chord from outside, in Jun’s bed with a bit of a headache. Maybe he overdid it on the wine?
Groaning, Nino climbs out of bed and gets partially dressed. He’s not walking around with no pants on. Walking to the door as silently as possible, he goes out into the hall. Time to find the statue and hope to hell that Jun doesn’t wake up.
After about ten minutes of searching, Nino comes across a room full of art; it seems the man is a collector. He even recognizes a pencil sketch done by Ohno, which is amusing to say the least, with the whole seahorse motif. Eventually he comes across the safe along the north wall, which is blocked by some paintings that haven’t been hung up yet. He curses his luck and turns to go back to the bedroom when he spots the box that TOKIO clearly had on the train. Peering into the box, he happily notices it is still there, and mutters a very silent “Bingo.” He’ll have to come back for it though; he’s not prepared to escape tonight.
Two days later it’s time for the next date night, and so Nino sees the day preparing at Sakamoto’s bar, which doesn’t open until its time for supper anyway. Sitting at the table with his crew and Sakamoto, they decide their escape.
“So, Ryo and Erika will wait outside to give the signal.” Nino looks at them, who give him okay signs in return. “I’ll grab the statue and find the easiest exit to work with. I’d say the window, as the locks weren’t the best, and maybe I can jiggle it shut.”
“After that, you’ll come here and we’ll hide you until we can get you to your train,” Sakamoto continues from Nino’s plan. “Have you gotten your train planned?”
“I did that. Nino let me know as soon as he could, and I informed Ohno,” Ryo says. “Ohno has confirmed that he’ll be in town tonight and will be driving the first train out in the morning.”
“How does this Ohno even do that?” Sakamoto looks at them astonished, “I mean, shouldn’t it be impossible to manage?”
“Nah, Ueda-kun, who manages the train schedule, has a bit of a soft spot for him.” Ryo looks amused at that fact.
Erika just grins and shakes her head. “Not even to mention that Kame, this conductor that helps us, tends to help convince Ueda-kun.”
This information only causes Sakamoto to nod with his mouth agape. They have a very good setup, this group of three. Okada chooses that moment to walk over with the tray of drinks he was preparing. Setting the tray down, he reaches to close Sakamoto’s mouth. Sakamoto doesn’t let him though, and grabs his arm to pull him into his lap with a grin.
Nino grins at this and covers his grin with his hand as he raises his eyebrow. “See, we’re very prepared.”
Okada nods. “Just try not to break him. I think he might actually like you, and it isn’t that it’s rare, but more that he tries not to show it.” He pauses. “He’s a good man, you know.”
Nino only nods solemnly at this. He’d already figured that out, and he might have found someone he likes the most out of anyone for himself.
For this date, Nino had managed to convince Jun to let him take over his kitchen. If it’s going to be the last time they’d see each other, well, he may as well make it good. Standing at the stove, he’s preparing his special curry as Jun watches him from a chair at the nearby table.
“You know,” Jun begins as he waits, “you don’t seem exactly like the cooking type. I thought you just bussed tables or something.”
“Oh, Jun-kun, why do you underestimate me?” Nino turns his head to look at him out of the corner of his eye, amused. “My parents were chefs. It’s in my blood.” He returns to the stove, stirring.
“Mmm, I see.” Jun says as he leans across the table to keep watching. “I’m glad you’re good then. I could do with delicious homemade food more often.”
Nino grins and turns around completely, pointing his spoon at him. “You know, you’re not so bad yourself.”
“Ooo, you got me,” Jun says with an exaggerated look. “It’s different when it’s made for me though.”
Nino giggles a bit into his hand and turns around to check his cooking. “Ah, I believe it’s done.”
They eat the dinner in companionable silence, with Jun making remarks here and there on the dish. When they finish, the settle onto the couch in the next room and just have a chat.
“So, you mentioned the first day that you were here visiting friends.” Jun looks at him neutrally. “Do you know when that ends?”
Nino chooses this moment to stare into his glass and swirl the liquid about. Jun pokes him in the cheek when he doesn’t answer relatively quickly. Looking at Jun then, his only reply is, “I guess that all depends on when I get run out of town.”
“Ahh,” is the only thing Jun says before a brief pause. “Do you think I could convince you to not do anything to get run out of town?”
Okada’s words pass through Nino’s head at that moment. Damn him for being observant in this regard. Smiling softly, he says, “I could be persuaded.”
Their conversation for the night continues to be soft murmurs, and when they go to bed that night, nothing happens but cuddling. Nino just isn’t feeling up for anything, and Jun is perfectly fine with that.
Later on that night, around three in the morning, Nino wakes up to the familiar guitar chord again. It’s working time, and so, untangling himself from Jun, he picks up his things and gets properly dressed. Silently he walks to the art room and finds the box. It had been moved, but the statue’s still in it when he checks. Grabbing it, he walks swiftly to the window and forces it open.
When he lands on the ground, he goes straight to work closing the window, and he’s almost gotten it too, until the dogs come around the corner, barking at him. Fucking dogs, you’d think he’d learned by now, but no, there were always dogs, and Nino dreamt of the days when dogs would be obsolete as a property protection, though maybe then there would be something more annoying than the barking and growling that was coming closer. Less dangerous, he hopes. Forgetting the window, he grabs the box again and runs to the fence, the fear making him climb faster than he usually would.
When he reaches the top, looking down he sees Erika and throws the box at her. Ryo ends up half breaking his fall by accident, and gathering together, they run. A few moments into the run though, Nino looks back and sees the light come on in the window, accompanied by a now familiar shape.
As it turns out, the shortest distance to the bar is through the park, and so they continue running. Nino’s almost certain they’ll be chased down from here. Maybe by the local police force, or maybe even by a group of thieves like TOKIO, but at this point, he’s not sure which one it’ll be.
Ducking into the bar, Sakamoto locks the door behind them and shuffles them into the back room. “Did you get it?”
Erika holds up the box as she leans against the wall, catching her breath.
“Good. You three lie low in here for now.” He turns to leave before speaking again. “We’ll come and get you when it’s time to go.” With that, he leaves and shuts the door behind him.
“So… What do you guys want to do for the next few hours?” asks Nino.
Erika rolls her eyes and sits down. “Well, I’m not sure there is much to do. I’d rather take a nap.”
“Fine, fine. You do that.”
It’s around an hour later when there’s a polite knock on the front door of the bar, which Nino can barely hear, followed by a pounding knock. Footsteps from above accompany it, until the door can be heard opening.
“What?” Sakamoto’s voice can be heard growling.
A new, timid male voice can be heard. “Ah, Sakamoto-san, terribly sorry to wake you. Have you seen anything suspicious tonight?”
“No, nothing. Why, should I have?”
Another male voice, more assertive than the first one, begins, “Well, there was a robbery, and Go here,” a patting noise and a dog’s whine accompanies that name, “well, he led us here.”
The first voice from that, “Is there a chance we could look around?”
“There are no dogs allowed in here, and there hasn’t been anything.” Sakamoto lets out a bit of a sigh. “Can I please just go back to bed?”
Footsteps from above can be heard again, along with Okada’s voice. “Who’s at the door?”
A creak of floorboards from the shifting of weight. “It’s just Joshima and his two assistants. Go back to sleep.”
“Okay.” Okada’s footsteps are heard a few more times before they disappear.
“Anyway, as I said, there hasn’t been anything. We just closed an hour ago, and I’d really like to get some rest.”
The second voice grumbles an, “All right.” A new male voice chimes in, “If you do find out anything, please let us know. Sorry to take up your time.”
“Thank you anyway,” the first voice adds, and the click of the door shutting, followed by the locks turning, can be heard. The last thing Nino hears before the footsteps disappear is some kind of grumbling about police and their new pets.
It’s perhaps about three hours later, Nino isn’t quite sure, when footsteps are heard again, followed by the opening of the door to the back room. Okada is standing there with a costume.
“What is this?” Nino asks as he holds up the one Okada had thrown to him.
Okada leans against the doorframe, amused. “I think you’d be best to wear it. You’re probably the one that can be identified the quickest anyway.”
“Besides me, of course,” Erika chimes in, “though I used the name of Aoto Junko when I could, so that makes me even harder to place. Imagine that.”
Nino only shakes his head as he started to change. It’s not like it’s anything they’ve never seen before. Missions are tough and the quarters are even closer sometimes, and Nino got over his shyness ages ago. Especially in front of Ryo and Erika. Ah, the woes of being a team of thieves.
“So, are we going then?” Ryo asks.
Nino just smiles at him through his fake moustache. “I believe so. Let’s get on that train.”
It’s an hour later when they finally get on the train and locked in a cabin by Ohno. The train isn’t to leave for another hour, as it’s the first morning train, so it’s a longer wait than anticipated. A note from Sho also accompanies the wait.
”Nino. After you left, we notified the police, and they’re taking it very seriously, especially because the museum owner got involved. Nakai-san can be very persuasive after all. They’ve been monitoring the trains and found out about Nagase’s involvement, so be as careful as you can be.”
Nino only shakes his head at this. If Nagase didn’t have the rest of his group, well, he’d probably have been caught by now. Tucking it into his pocket, he strokes his moustache. Maybe he’ll keep it on for now. It might come in handy later.
Once the train is in motion, Ryo ends up leaving the cabin for a short bit. He’s mostly checking the train for anything that may get them in trouble, but in the end, he comes back with the best news Nino thinks he’s ever heard.
“TOKIO is on the train.” Ryo states, amused, as he sits down in the seat across from Nino. “I have no idea why, but they were grumbling about you. I think they know.”
Nino just laughs and strokes his fake moustache again, a plan already forming in his head. “This,” he laughs a bit more, “this may be the best news. Here’s what we’re going to do.” And, trying not to be overly loud, he murmurs his plan to the two of them.
When the train gets back to his town, Nino sends Ryo and Erika ahead of him. They’re surveillance after all, and Nino hides to watch and follow TOKIO off the train. Keeping behind them, he clutches the box. There’s only one real opportunity to do this, and it is a long shot as to whether it actually works. It’s when he sees Ryo signal thumbs up to him that he starts to move.
Weaving closer and closer to Nagase in the crowd, he steps in front of the massive man, smiles, and says, “Here you go!” He hands him the box, and runs aside.
Nagase stops and stares at the box in front of him along with the other three he’s with, though they’re brought out of it when they hear the shout of, “Oi! Nagase!” and the sound of footsteps coming closer. Nagase still has no idea what’s happening when he’s apprehended and the other three have already scattered.
When he starts to get dragged away, there is a mischievous giggle from his right. Looking over, Nagase roars, “Ninomiya!”
The last Nino sees of Nagase is him being dragged around the corner as Nino waves.
It’s two months later, and Nino’s standing with his back turned, drying a dish, when he hears the door to his restaurant open and a familiar voice say, “I’ll take an order of hayashi rice please.”
Nino grins to himself as he sets down the dish. Walking over, he dishes out the meal as he says, “Right away, sir!”
When he spins around to serve it, he’s greeted with a grin to match his own. “Why thank you, Ko-chan.”
“You’re welcome, Jun-kun.” Nino sings as he sets the plate down in front of his customer. “Oh, and if you’ve found me, well, you can just call me Nino.”
“Ah, Nino it is.” He grabs his spoon to try it. Satisfied, he points at the plate with the spoon. “This is really good. No wonder you run this place.”
“Well, I try my best.” Nino leans on the counter, “So, I take it I’m a bad man now, so I’m curious, how did you find this place?”
Jun just grins and lets the silence stretch out, with the occasional eating noise here and there. When he finishes his plate and cleans his mouth and hands, he talks. “I have my ways, and how bad you are depends, but if you want, you can be a very bad man.”
Nino’s head slips a bit from his hand in a giggle, but he quickly recovers, “So, you aren’t overly angry?”
“Oh, I was, but I’m more along the lines of curious now.”
“I see.” Nino doesn’t move.
“Mmm.” Jun takes a moment to think. “Oh, and good job with Nagase there. Anyway, I’m here on business, and as it turns out, I like an underhanded man such as yourself.”
Nino acts out a surprised face, straightening and placing his hand to his breast. “Does this mean we can return to the way things were?”
Jun’s smile is extremely wide when he responds, “Well, that depends. How willing are you to steal it back for me?”
Nino nods. “I think I could do that, though could we let my friend in on it?” May as well include Sho so he doesn’t have a heart attack.
Jun laughs affirmatively, and they begin chattering away at their plan.
gomushroomFrom:
clipsieTitle: The Artistry of Thievery by Team Ariake
Pairing/Focus: Nino, Ninomiya Kazunari/Matsumoto Jun, mentions of Ninomiya Kazunari/Sasaki Nozomi
Rating: PG
Warnings: AU. A lot of really random pairings, I don’t even know how that happened. Crack. I added in almost every single Johnny’s group, and even if they’re not mentioned, they are totally there.
Summary: Nino’s the leader of a small team of master thieves. This is what ends up happening when he gets asked to steal something back for the local museum that Sho works at.
Notes: I kind of went a bit nuts, and took random things from your prompts and came out with this, so I do hope you like it,
gomushroom. I would like to thank my beta, who ended up being my cheerleader as well through all the random moments that ended up making this fic take more than it should have.It’s a Sunday evening when it all begins, and Ninomiya Kazunari, just call me Nino, has closed up shop rather early. Mind, it is Sunday, which makes it full inventory night, and there is no way he’s doing that after dark. Nino had finished about a half hour ago anyway. He’s finished all his cash duties as well, so now all he has left to do is sit back and practice his card tricks for tomorrow night. He’s just made a new, rather great one, and is excited to show it off. He closes early on Mondays as well. No real point in exhausting himself after all.
Sitting at the tables in the dining area, because they have the best light, he restarts the trick. This new run through doesn’t last long, as there is a sudden banging sound on the window. Looking up he sees a boy knocking away, though with all the rattling and shaking that is going on, he can’t tell who it is at all, and waits for it to stop.
When it finally does, it seems the kid needs to catch his breath, and so he takes a better look at his face. Turns out, it’s Ohno’s assistant, Chinen Yuri, and if he’s here, then there must be something up. Ohno doesn’t usually send a very rushed message after all. There was this one time when he sent a letter that he wanted delivered the next day, and it didn’t show up for a week. He’d thought Nino was just busy and didn’t get a chance to come over, saying it was no rush when he finally showed up. Always at a strange pace, that one was, though he seemed to know when things were urgent.
Nino answers the door at a leisurely pace, asking, “What’s up, kid?”
Chinen glances up at him, and quickly straightens from his position of catching his breath. “Ohno-kun and Sakurai-san need your expertise at the museum.”
Oh, Sho’s involved. That would explain why he looks so urgent. Sighing, he looks at the kid. “Can you flag down a cab for me then?”
“A cab? The museum is only about a twenty-minute walk from-“ Chinen attempts to protest before he’s cut off.
“A cab, please. I’m not walking.” Turning to go back inside, he adds, “You’d better have flagged it down by the time I get back with my coat.” With that, he lets the door close behind himself.
Nino walks over to his working table and stares at his cards. He sighs and begins to pack them up. He may need something to do later after all. When that’s done, he finally walks his way to his coat at the back of the room. The advantages of living just above his own restaurant, such as placing his coat wherever he pleases, are rather nice.
Returning to the door, he finds Chinen has in fact flagged down a taxi for him, so he locks up the restaurant and turns to the awaiting car. As he steps in, and just before he shuts the door, hand already on the handle to do so, he looks at the kid. “I’d like you to go and let Aiba know he’ll be looking after the restaurant until I return. Tell him not to burn anything down, and to please,” he sighs and starts again, “please not let Ohkura eat everything in the place again.” With that, he shuts the door and instructs the driver where to go.
When he reaches the museum, he’s greeted with the appearance of a worried Sakurai Sho, with Ohno Satoshi mindlessly rubbing his back. Quickly, he instructs the cab driver to wait for a moment, and moves to open the door. Once out, he climbs the steps and Sho begins to talk.
“About time. So, I have a job for you.” Sho starts off, “It’s a bit of a-“
For the second time that night, Nino cuts off another person. “Oh, Sho-chan, it seems I’ve forgotten my wallet.” He continues as he watches Sho’s face change from instructive to surprise, and gestures at the cab behind him. “Would you be so kind of lend me the money to pay for my transportation?” He’s sing-songing at this point.
Taking a moment, Sho stares at him, and then digs out his wallet. Sighing, he opens it and hands a one thousand yen note to Nino. “Here.” He shakes his head a bit.
Plucking it from his hand with his thumb and pointer finger, Nino grins widely at Sho and says a quick, “Thanks.” He turns around and walks back to the cab.
Nino pays the man quickly and pockets the change himself as he walks back to the two men. He gestures that they should start walking, and looks at Sho pointedly. “So, what is it you need my help with?”
Sho rolls his eyes and grins at his friend. “It might be easier to show you and explain then.” He walks up to the front desk and grabs a single sheet of paper. “We had a break in about a half an hour ago. We do know who did it, thanks to the mud prints they left behind, because those shoe prints,” he gestures the size with his hands, “were rather large, and wide.”
Nino nods along as he listens. Looking at Ohno, who is idly picking his nose, he looks back to Sho, “And how exactly do you know who did it? Are you using some of your old contacts for help?”
Sho shifts a bit, not exactly uncomfortable, but filled with the knowledge that yes, he did distance himself from his past. He distanced himself from being part of KCE for those few years in his early twenties, but dammit, it wasn’t his fault certain contacts were just so personable. “Inocchi was in here to look earlier. It seems that it was TOKIO, or at least that’s who he thinks it was.”
Nino grins at this. “Nagase-sized footprints, I take it?” His statement is confirmed by a nod from Sho. “Man, that guy is seriously an elephant. How did he get into this business again?” Nino pauses at that and smiles to himself even more. “Never mind that, how hasn’t he been caught yet?”
“I have no idea. You’d think with all the mistakes he’s made…” Sho shakes his head with a grin. “Anyway, back on topic. They stole a statue that we got into our collection a little over a year ago.” Passing the photo to Nino, he continues, “It’s called The Hearth of Saturn, and was a donation from one Inoue Mao-san. The depiction of the planet Saturn is the most expensive part of the statue, while the rest is just a rather simple depiction of some children holding onto it.”
Nino studies the photograph some more, trying to get it recorded to memory. “Any idea as to why they stole it?” He shifts his head to look at Sho.
Sho shakes his head. “No. We have no idea. The statue itself really isn’t that expensive, and while the Saturn may collect a bit of a price, I don’t think it’s enough to even be worth it.”
“I see…” Nino gestures at Ohno with a quick jerk of his thumb. “And Ohno is here, why?”
Ohno perks up a small amount at the mention of his name, though doesn’t remove his finger from his nose swiftly at all. He then mumbles, “They have train tickets for tomorrow morning.”
This information causes Nino to giggle a little, and shake his head in amusement. You’d think they’d want to get out of town as quickly as possible. “And why do you know this? Have you guys even gone to the police yet?”
“Well, Inocchi told us,” Ohno mumbles, “and I saw some guys who fit the description at the station earlier today.” Ohno‘s a train engineer after all, and he loves his job, especially when he has to stay in other locations for a bit. He always carries his fishing equipment around because of that.
Sho follows with, “We did think about going to the police, but this way seemed so much easier.” He smiles a bit at that fact.
“Ah, well, if you must insist, I suppose I can steal it back for you.” Nino sings, “I expect that my team and I can get smuggled onto this train then?” Like hell Nino’s going to pay for transportation for a job he’s been asked to do. He’s a master thief after all.
Ohno nods in compliance. He’d expected this, and will make sure he’s driving that train, like he has all the other times he’d driven Nino places. It’s usually fun anyway; Nino’s a good friend after all, and tends to tell Ohno stories of his adventures or show him his latest magic tricks on the way, even though Ohno sometimes forgets to look surprised at the trick.
“Good, good.” Nino turns on his heel to walk out. “I’ll be there bright an early with the troops then. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m sure you two would love to get back to whatever you were up to in this museum. Things I’d much rather be better off knowing, I’d like to think, and I’m going to go talk to Inocchi and see what’s up.” Turning away from them, he waves his arm and leaves the museum.
Sho and Ohno simply stare at him, waving a bit before Sho returns to showing Ohno the collection.
Nino’s glad Inocchi doesn’t live too far from the museum, he realizes as he knocks on the door. Maybe a little exercise isn’t so bad.
Nino hears an exclamation of what seems to be, “Just a moment!” but he isn’t quite sure over the sound of footsteps running around from inside. A few moments later, the door is answered by a man holding a two year old.
Inocchi, as it happens, is the local information broker. It comes with the territory of being a retired thief after getting married and having a son. He just couldn’t quite let it go, and that may be due to the fact his thieving friends are just such fun people to hang out with. His actual job is as a journalist, and one he enjoys greatly, even if most of his articles are human-interest stories. To him, they’re the most enjoyable, interviewing and getting to know people. He’d interviewed Nino once on his restaurant.
Inocchi’s face lights up with a smile that makes his eyes scrunch together. “Ah, Nino! Come in, come in.” He tries to gesture with his hands, but it just ends up looking like he’s not trying to drop the kid.
Nino only nods at this, and steps in, watching Inocchi run back to the living room to deposit his son.
“You know where the kitchen is, right?” Inocchi asks as he pops his head out from the living room. His head doesn’t stay there long, and Nino can hear him talking quietly to the kid.
Nino grins and ponders the fact that all of his visits to Inocchi are always so cheerful. “I do. I’ll meet you there,” he responds as he removes his footwear and heads off to the room at the end of the hall.
A few minutes later Inocchi joins him and sits across from him at the table. Looking serious and with his hands placed palm down on the table, he stares at Nino. “I know why you’re here.” A grin appears. “And Taichi really should have paid me more to keep quiet, but it’s just so hard sometimes.”
Nino laughs a little at this. “So, what can you tell me about this theft then?”
“Well, I can tell you that it was definitely TOKIO who did it. Taichi stopped by here earlier today and told me about it, which was fun to hear about. You know, he mentioned that you never call him anymore.”
Nino shrugs at this information, “Well, the next time you see him, do tell him to learn to answer back. I’ve tried to contact him before, and no return letters. Not like when I call on you.”
“I will, though you know he’s hardly going to listen to that, even if we used to work together.” Inocchi smiles, remembering the days when they were an expert thieving duo called Tainocchi. Not the most creative name, they’ll admit, but they had fun. “Ah, right, back to the theft. I kind of figured you’d be on this job when I got asked to go over there, which was fun. I’ve never been in a museum after dark for almost legal reasons.”
Nino let his amused grin show as he interrupts. “What exactly do you know?”
“Well, it seems they got hired by some guy named Jun. He and Taichi go to the same bar in the next town over. You know the place, Sakamoto’s joint, and I guess he mentioned it when he was drunk, so Sakamoto introduced them.”
Nino nods and records all this to memory the best that he can. That should be all the information he needs for now. “Hey, Inocchi, are Sakamoto and Okada still dating?”
The face he receives is an over exaggerated “oh” face mixed with an amused grin. “Thinking of moving in on Sakamoto’s man? He wouldn’t like that, you know.”
Nino shakes his head at the ridiculous man before him. “No, no. Just curious.” A pause fills the moment. “Hey, Inocchi, fatherhood looks good on you.”
The only response received was a loud round of laughter and a whack to the head.
The next day sees Nino and his band of grumpy thieves at the train station rather early. No one wanted to get up for the morning, and he’s pretty sure Ryo is trying to melt into the bench he’s lying on, while Erika is sitting on the next one trying her hardest not to fall asleep. Maybe they could have come later, but Ohno shows up early each day. Something about feeling bad for being late once, and if he’s going to be smuggling them, showing up early is probably for the best.
It’s another half hour before Ohno shows up. When he does, he gestures to Nino from the other side of the platform. Nino signs back an okay while he kicks the bench Ryo is on. “Time to get up. You can sleep on the train.”
Ryo suppresses a groan as he moves to sit up. Maybe benches aren’t the best place to sleep. Standing, he grabs his guitar case and bag and follows Nino. Erika is already way ahead of him there, walking beside Nino.
“So, when do our code names kick in this time?” Erika asks Nino.
Nino thinks for a moment, “I’d say whenever we’re around people we don’t know from here on out. What do you think, Taisuke?” He only tilts his head the tiniest bit back toward Ryo, who’s almost caught up.
“Sounds good, Aniki.” Ryo replies with a flat tone.
Nino and Erika only grin at this and speed up a little. Time to get smuggled aboard.
Later, as the train is in motion, Nino stands and gets ready to head out. Why he chose the spot closest to the window in their little cabin, he’ll never know. Erika is curled up on the seat before him, and Ryo is to his side. They had spent the first little while coming up with their cunning plan, and when the train started to be in motion, the two of them had fallen asleep to the relaxing sounds of the steam engine.
Stepping around them cautiously, he exits the cabin. He has a group of thieves to find, and it’s a good thing that today’s conductor is Kame. He doesn’t question Nino just randomly popping up after all, especially after Ohno explained it to him that one time.
Wandering to the regular seats, he sits as soon as he can. At the other end he spots Nagase, though luckily he’s facing the opposite direction. The person beside him is also taller, so he can’t see the two facing him, and with any luck, they can’t see him.
Sighing, he moves a little bit closer, until he spots a small box between the four of them.
“So, why did he want this piece of junk anyway?” he hears Nagase ask.
“I think it has sentimental value or something like that,” Taichi says. “Either way, let’s get this done, and then we can go for a drink. How about it?”
“Are you buying?”
Taichi sounds amused when he responds, “I never said anything about that. Maybe we can convince Leader to come and have a drink as well.”
Nagase also laughs a bit at this thought. “This plan, I like it.”
Nino sticks around a bit longer to wait and see what will happen, but the four of them all start chattering about going for a drink not long after. There’s no way he’d be able to get the box how they are now. Not like last time anyway, when he stole something from right under their noses. Outsmarting them might have to wait this time.
It’s later when Nino finds himself at Sakamoto’s bar. They’re staying at Subaru’s place, and he is not sticking around for Subaru and Ryo’s jam session. Erika isn’t either, and had come to the bar as well. Well, they would have come here eventually to try and scope out this Jun guy, but there’s no real time like jam session time. If Nino had his guitar though, well, clearly he could have beaten the two of them at their own game.
Sitting at the bar, he stares into his drink. Erika is doing the same at one of the tables. One of the first rules of a stake out is to not sit together. He sits like that for a while, taking random sips of his drink, when eventually Okada comes up to him.
“Would you like that topped off, sir?”
Nino’s eyes flick up, though his head doesn’t move.
Okada sighs and leans on the counter. “You know, Inocchi sent word you’d be coming.”
Smirking into his glass, Nino says, “Really now? Did he say why we’d be here?”
“He did.” Okada smiles. “Bambi sent word as well about what you’re doing. I’ll let you know if the guy shows up.” He pats Nino’s arm as he walks away.
Watching him walk away, Nino turns back to his drink, glad he knows the code names that Sho and Okada had used when they were KCE. Now Okada’s an actor when he isn’t working at the bar.
It’s about twenty minutes later when Okada shows up in the space in front of Nino.
“You know, if you want to look like an actual patron, normally you’d have more than one drink by now.” He sets down a glass in front of Nino. “Oh, and on that note, see that guy six seats down?”
Nino glances up, and over. Spotting a taller man with a very distinguishable nose, he nods.
“That’s your guy.”
Switching back to Okada, Nino gives him a bit of a suspicious stare. “Won’t your partner get annoyed at you helping me when he helped him in the first place?”
Okada laughs and shakes his head. “No, he already knows. The thing about him is that, more than anything, he likes to be amused, not to mention that there’s only a few people he’ll properly listen to anyway.”
Okada leaves Nino once again, and he downs his new drink. Nino begins his observations so they can begin the plan tomorrow.
Their first plan is to have Erika flirt with him, try to get him to take her back to his place. Seems simple enough, and it’s nothing they haven’t done before. Nino is sitting in the corner in case anything goes wrong, and Ryo is on standby. Seems there aren’t enough blondes in this town for him or something like that.
They’ve been there for twenty minutes now, and Jun has yet to show up, when Nino decides sitting there just isn’t going to cut it, and he probably looks like some depressed loner nursing his drink in the corner. Looking around, he spots a pretty girl with light brown hair.
Getting up, he walks over to her table. She’s just lightly surveying the room, and barely notices him come up until he says, “Hello, is anyone sitting here?”
She looks at him slightly startled, but that quickly goes away to a more neutral look, which is when she gestures casually to the chair.
Nino quickly sits down and slides the chair a bit closer. He can see a fair bit of the bar this way, so it’s all right. Setting down his drink, he sticks out his hand. “Let’s try this again. Hello, I’m Ariake Koichi.”
Casually she takes his hand and gives it a little shake. “I’m Sasaki Nozomi. Pleased to meet you, Ariake-san.” She slowly lets go of his hand and takes a sip of her drink.
Nino watches her with curious eyes. “Do call me Koichi.” He grips the glass a little and smiles. “So, Sasaki-san, I couldn’t help but notice you’ve been watching the room. Any reason?”
The corners of her mouth twitch into the smallest of smiles as she says, “And I couldn’t help but notice you watching that girl in the pink dress. Any reason?”
“Ah, you got me,” says Nino as he leans back in his chair with a dramatic motion before leaning forward and continuing. “If it’s anything to you though, she’s my sister and I’m worried about her.” He then smiles, amused. “Oh, and it seems you’re avoiding my question.”
She lets out a slight noise, which really sounds something like a tsk, and tries to seem annoyed. “Well, does a girl need a reason to be observing at a bar?” She sits back and crosses her arms.
“About as much reason as a boy needs, so really, no.” He swirls the liquid in the glass before taking a drink.
“Good, good.” She looks pleased without even changing her facial expression from neutral all that far. “So, I’ve never seen you around here. What brings you here?”
It’s that exact moment that Jun decides to walk into the bar, and Nino’s attention goes for a quick second. The game is afoot now. Returning his attention to the lovely woman before him, he smiles. “We’re visiting a friend in town, my siblings and I.”
“Oh, siblings?” She glances at Erika, who is now talking to Jun. “Is that your brother there then?”
Nino turns a bit to look and smiles. “No. My brother decided to stay back and have a guitar session with our friend. I’d probably be there too if I’d brought my guitar.” Looking back at her with an amused grin, he continues, “I have no idea who that is though, but Shizuna’s a big girl. She can handle herself.”
Nozomi’s eyebrow rises at the mention of the guitar, and raising her glass to her lips, she says, “Oh, you play the guitar?” She takes a sip.
“I do, though I have another, even more impressive talent.” He leans in to whisper it and meets her at the middle of the table. “I’m a magician.”
This only inspires some laughter from her side as she leans back in her chair. “Really? Show me a trick then.”
Nino smiles slyly and shakes his head. “No, I couldn’t possibly do that here.” He leans his head into his hands. “I’d end up with the attention of the whole bar, and then where would I be? I wouldn’t be able to keep my attention on a pretty girl such as yourself.”
Her expression goes a bit more toward neutral as she waves it off. “Fine, fine, but before we part?”
“That sounds a bit more like it.” Nino grins.
They continue discussing random things for the next while until Erika walks away from Jun with a feigned huff. Nino just barely catches this in the corner of his eye, trying to keep up with his table partner more than worry about that. The plan was to steal it the next day anyway. Looking back at Nozomi, he says, “So, about that magic trick,” as he winks.
Nozomi nods and says, “I’d very much like to see that.” She stands and leads Nino out of the bar.
The next morning sees Nino trudging back to Subaru’s house, and while it’s closer to noon, he really doesn’t see any problem with that. Walking into the small place with a tune on his lips, he’s greeted by three pairs of eyes looking up at him.
“Aniki, what were you up to last night?” Ryo looks at him appalled. “I hope you weren’t abandoning our dear Shizuna at the bar. Who knows what kind of people could have picked her up?”
This gets him a smack from Erika and a huff of, “I can handle myself fine, thank you very much.”
Subaru just shakes his head and goes to the kitchen. He knows a bit of what they’re up to this time, and he doesn’t want to be involved right now.
“Ryo, she was fine. Besides, Okada and Sakamoto were there.” Nino just shakes his head as he joins them. “And, Erika, how was our little mission?”
She shakes her head. “Unsuccessful. I really don’t think I’m the right person for that job, and he just didn’t seem interested in me in the first place.”
“I see. Who would be best then?” He definitely trusts her judgment on this one.
“Hmm, I don’t know…” She pauses and looks pensive for a moment and then smiles brightly at Nino. “How about you, Aniki?”
There’s a slight yelp of “Aniki?” from Ryo before Nino can even answer.
“Me? Is it because I’m just so charming?” Nino grins at her. “I mean, I already know I’m beautiful.”
A snort from Ryo, followed by Erika smacking him is all the answer he receives.
“Should we start plan two tomorrow?” He taps his fingers on the table lightly.
“I’d say so.” Erika and Ryo agree at the same time.
Later on, the afternoon sees Nino in a park doing magic tricks. He’d even gained a bit of a crowd at one point, but now they’ve dissipated, probably because it’s getting close to suppertime.
Still practicing his magic, Nino doesn’t notice he’d gained an audience of one until there’s sudden applause. Snapping his eyes up, he’s surprised to find his target standing there.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you actually had magic.” Jun smiles at him.
Nino just smiles back coyly. “If only that were true.” Shuffling his cards, he places them back into the pack. “I’m glad you enjoyed my magic though.”
“Good to know. Hey, I was just heading out for a bite to eat, and I’m wondering, would you like to come along? I don’t think we’ve met, or, well, I’ve never seen anyone practicing magic in the park before.” Jun’s face is one of politeness mixed with keen interest.
“Ah, no.” Nino flips open his pocket watch and glances at it before looking back at Jun. “I’d better not for tonight. I’m having dinner with some friends that I’m visiting.” It’s a terrible excuse, yes, but he isn’t exactly prepared for it.
“So you’re from out of town. Well, I hope I can still get you a drink before you leave,” Jun says.
Nino smiles at this. A little unconventional compared to their usual method, but he can work with it. “I’m free tomorrow night if you’d like.”
Jun grins and holds out his hand. “I suppose introductions are in order then. I’m Matsumoto Jun.”
Nino willing shakes it. “And I’m Ariake Koichi. Pleased to meet you.”
“Likewise.” Jun’s just about to head off and say goodbye before he remembers something and says, “Right, that drink. There’s this bar called Shelter. Would you like to meet me there tomorrow?”
“Shelter. I’ll try to remember it,” Nino says as he nods slightly. Turning on his heel, he glances back at the other man. “Until tomorrow then.”
“Yes, until tomorrow.” Jun gives a little wave. “Goodbye.”
Nino just gives a little wave as he walks off, afraid to turn around and show his smirk.
The next night does in fact see Nino at Shelter, and Jun is there before him, sitting at the bar and chatting with Sakamoto. Sneaking up behind him, he says in a low voice, “I’ll take that drink now.”
Jun turns around and smiles big at him. “So glad you could make it, Ariake-san.”
Nino just shakes his head and chuckles a little. “I think you can call me Koichi. You know what, in fact, I prefer it. Okay, Jun-kun?”
Jun sputters a bit into the glass of the drink he’s sipping. Setting the glass down, he wipes his mouth. “That sounds just fine, Ko-chan.” He grins when he finishes his sentence.
Nino doesn’t really react; he just takes the stool beside Jun and smiles once he’s settled. Looking at Sakamoto, he says, “I’ll take a whiskey with extra ice please.”
“Right away, sir,” Sakamoto replies as he moves off to make it, grinning and shaking his head ever so slightly. Returning relatively quickly, he sets the drink in front of Nino before wandering off to assist his other patrons.
Jun turns in his stool to look across the counter at nothing. “So, visiting friends you say. How are you enjoying our little town?”
Nino sips lightly at his drink and sets it down on the counter, still holding onto it, “It’s nice. Peaceful almost. I’ve been a lot of places before, but this place is nice to visit every so often.”
“So, you’ve been here before?”
“Well, yes, though it’s been a couple of years.” Nino stops to think. “I probably haven’t been here since I started my work in my hometown.”
Jun lets out an appreciative hum as he sips his drink. “What kind of work do you do exactly?”
“Oh, not much. I work at a restaurant.” Nino pauses for a moment. “I guess it keeps me pretty busy.”
“And before that, what made you come here?”
Nino tries to remember the best he can, seeing as it’s been at least four years. “Oh, I was in a band for a short while. It was for a competition, though we lost that year.” Telling the truth within a lie was just so much easier to keep up with.
“I see. I hope you’re enjoying your stay so far then.” Jun continues to stare at the random point on the wall.
Nino smirks as he takes a sip. “I do hope I end up enjoying it to the fullest.” This guy is going to be amusing at least. “Everyone is rather friendly here though, and I never expected to get a drink.”
Jun laughs a bit at this, turning to Nino. “Well, I hope it’s memorable.”
“What are you,” Nino says, peering questioningly at him, “the welcoming committee?”
“No, no,” Jun laughs as he shakes his head. “Nothing of the sort. Think of me as a concerned citizen fascinated by magic.”
The night continues much like this, with random interruptions from Okada and Sakamoto, and somehow they end up staying there until closing. Neither of them really knows why, nor do they care, as they’ve set up dinner for the next day.
For a week afterwards, they continue to get together when their schedules work out, though at one point Nino becomes rather concerned for his restaurant. What if it got burned down from one of Aiba’s experiments or if Ohkura ate the entire inventory? Everyone else helping out during his absence has probably resorted to packing his own lunches after all. In the end, that concern is calmed when during the day of the third date (which is the seventh day after the day at the park), he receives a letter from Murakami. He’s taken over the banking and inventory for the period Nino is gone, which is something he’s glad for, not to mention that he’s glad that Aiba remembered to get Murakami to help in the first place.
It’s the sixth date (which is the thirteenth day after the park) when Nino gets invited over to Jun’s house for dinner. He’s cooked him pasta for supper, which is a killer combination with the wine he also provided with the dinner. It also doesn’t help that over the past few days, he’s found himself liking Jun more with each date, so it’s no surprise when he wakes up in the middle of the night, due to a very specific guitar chord from outside, in Jun’s bed with a bit of a headache. Maybe he overdid it on the wine?
Groaning, Nino climbs out of bed and gets partially dressed. He’s not walking around with no pants on. Walking to the door as silently as possible, he goes out into the hall. Time to find the statue and hope to hell that Jun doesn’t wake up.
After about ten minutes of searching, Nino comes across a room full of art; it seems the man is a collector. He even recognizes a pencil sketch done by Ohno, which is amusing to say the least, with the whole seahorse motif. Eventually he comes across the safe along the north wall, which is blocked by some paintings that haven’t been hung up yet. He curses his luck and turns to go back to the bedroom when he spots the box that TOKIO clearly had on the train. Peering into the box, he happily notices it is still there, and mutters a very silent “Bingo.” He’ll have to come back for it though; he’s not prepared to escape tonight.
Two days later it’s time for the next date night, and so Nino sees the day preparing at Sakamoto’s bar, which doesn’t open until its time for supper anyway. Sitting at the table with his crew and Sakamoto, they decide their escape.
“So, Ryo and Erika will wait outside to give the signal.” Nino looks at them, who give him okay signs in return. “I’ll grab the statue and find the easiest exit to work with. I’d say the window, as the locks weren’t the best, and maybe I can jiggle it shut.”
“After that, you’ll come here and we’ll hide you until we can get you to your train,” Sakamoto continues from Nino’s plan. “Have you gotten your train planned?”
“I did that. Nino let me know as soon as he could, and I informed Ohno,” Ryo says. “Ohno has confirmed that he’ll be in town tonight and will be driving the first train out in the morning.”
“How does this Ohno even do that?” Sakamoto looks at them astonished, “I mean, shouldn’t it be impossible to manage?”
“Nah, Ueda-kun, who manages the train schedule, has a bit of a soft spot for him.” Ryo looks amused at that fact.
Erika just grins and shakes her head. “Not even to mention that Kame, this conductor that helps us, tends to help convince Ueda-kun.”
This information only causes Sakamoto to nod with his mouth agape. They have a very good setup, this group of three. Okada chooses that moment to walk over with the tray of drinks he was preparing. Setting the tray down, he reaches to close Sakamoto’s mouth. Sakamoto doesn’t let him though, and grabs his arm to pull him into his lap with a grin.
Nino grins at this and covers his grin with his hand as he raises his eyebrow. “See, we’re very prepared.”
Okada nods. “Just try not to break him. I think he might actually like you, and it isn’t that it’s rare, but more that he tries not to show it.” He pauses. “He’s a good man, you know.”
Nino only nods solemnly at this. He’d already figured that out, and he might have found someone he likes the most out of anyone for himself.
For this date, Nino had managed to convince Jun to let him take over his kitchen. If it’s going to be the last time they’d see each other, well, he may as well make it good. Standing at the stove, he’s preparing his special curry as Jun watches him from a chair at the nearby table.
“You know,” Jun begins as he waits, “you don’t seem exactly like the cooking type. I thought you just bussed tables or something.”
“Oh, Jun-kun, why do you underestimate me?” Nino turns his head to look at him out of the corner of his eye, amused. “My parents were chefs. It’s in my blood.” He returns to the stove, stirring.
“Mmm, I see.” Jun says as he leans across the table to keep watching. “I’m glad you’re good then. I could do with delicious homemade food more often.”
Nino grins and turns around completely, pointing his spoon at him. “You know, you’re not so bad yourself.”
“Ooo, you got me,” Jun says with an exaggerated look. “It’s different when it’s made for me though.”
Nino giggles a bit into his hand and turns around to check his cooking. “Ah, I believe it’s done.”
They eat the dinner in companionable silence, with Jun making remarks here and there on the dish. When they finish, the settle onto the couch in the next room and just have a chat.
“So, you mentioned the first day that you were here visiting friends.” Jun looks at him neutrally. “Do you know when that ends?”
Nino chooses this moment to stare into his glass and swirl the liquid about. Jun pokes him in the cheek when he doesn’t answer relatively quickly. Looking at Jun then, his only reply is, “I guess that all depends on when I get run out of town.”
“Ahh,” is the only thing Jun says before a brief pause. “Do you think I could convince you to not do anything to get run out of town?”
Okada’s words pass through Nino’s head at that moment. Damn him for being observant in this regard. Smiling softly, he says, “I could be persuaded.”
Their conversation for the night continues to be soft murmurs, and when they go to bed that night, nothing happens but cuddling. Nino just isn’t feeling up for anything, and Jun is perfectly fine with that.
Later on that night, around three in the morning, Nino wakes up to the familiar guitar chord again. It’s working time, and so, untangling himself from Jun, he picks up his things and gets properly dressed. Silently he walks to the art room and finds the box. It had been moved, but the statue’s still in it when he checks. Grabbing it, he walks swiftly to the window and forces it open.
When he lands on the ground, he goes straight to work closing the window, and he’s almost gotten it too, until the dogs come around the corner, barking at him. Fucking dogs, you’d think he’d learned by now, but no, there were always dogs, and Nino dreamt of the days when dogs would be obsolete as a property protection, though maybe then there would be something more annoying than the barking and growling that was coming closer. Less dangerous, he hopes. Forgetting the window, he grabs the box again and runs to the fence, the fear making him climb faster than he usually would.
When he reaches the top, looking down he sees Erika and throws the box at her. Ryo ends up half breaking his fall by accident, and gathering together, they run. A few moments into the run though, Nino looks back and sees the light come on in the window, accompanied by a now familiar shape.
As it turns out, the shortest distance to the bar is through the park, and so they continue running. Nino’s almost certain they’ll be chased down from here. Maybe by the local police force, or maybe even by a group of thieves like TOKIO, but at this point, he’s not sure which one it’ll be.
Ducking into the bar, Sakamoto locks the door behind them and shuffles them into the back room. “Did you get it?”
Erika holds up the box as she leans against the wall, catching her breath.
“Good. You three lie low in here for now.” He turns to leave before speaking again. “We’ll come and get you when it’s time to go.” With that, he leaves and shuts the door behind him.
“So… What do you guys want to do for the next few hours?” asks Nino.
Erika rolls her eyes and sits down. “Well, I’m not sure there is much to do. I’d rather take a nap.”
“Fine, fine. You do that.”
It’s around an hour later when there’s a polite knock on the front door of the bar, which Nino can barely hear, followed by a pounding knock. Footsteps from above accompany it, until the door can be heard opening.
“What?” Sakamoto’s voice can be heard growling.
A new, timid male voice can be heard. “Ah, Sakamoto-san, terribly sorry to wake you. Have you seen anything suspicious tonight?”
“No, nothing. Why, should I have?”
Another male voice, more assertive than the first one, begins, “Well, there was a robbery, and Go here,” a patting noise and a dog’s whine accompanies that name, “well, he led us here.”
The first voice from that, “Is there a chance we could look around?”
“There are no dogs allowed in here, and there hasn’t been anything.” Sakamoto lets out a bit of a sigh. “Can I please just go back to bed?”
Footsteps from above can be heard again, along with Okada’s voice. “Who’s at the door?”
A creak of floorboards from the shifting of weight. “It’s just Joshima and his two assistants. Go back to sleep.”
“Okay.” Okada’s footsteps are heard a few more times before they disappear.
“Anyway, as I said, there hasn’t been anything. We just closed an hour ago, and I’d really like to get some rest.”
The second voice grumbles an, “All right.” A new male voice chimes in, “If you do find out anything, please let us know. Sorry to take up your time.”
“Thank you anyway,” the first voice adds, and the click of the door shutting, followed by the locks turning, can be heard. The last thing Nino hears before the footsteps disappear is some kind of grumbling about police and their new pets.
It’s perhaps about three hours later, Nino isn’t quite sure, when footsteps are heard again, followed by the opening of the door to the back room. Okada is standing there with a costume.
“What is this?” Nino asks as he holds up the one Okada had thrown to him.
Okada leans against the doorframe, amused. “I think you’d be best to wear it. You’re probably the one that can be identified the quickest anyway.”
“Besides me, of course,” Erika chimes in, “though I used the name of Aoto Junko when I could, so that makes me even harder to place. Imagine that.”
Nino only shakes his head as he started to change. It’s not like it’s anything they’ve never seen before. Missions are tough and the quarters are even closer sometimes, and Nino got over his shyness ages ago. Especially in front of Ryo and Erika. Ah, the woes of being a team of thieves.
“So, are we going then?” Ryo asks.
Nino just smiles at him through his fake moustache. “I believe so. Let’s get on that train.”
It’s an hour later when they finally get on the train and locked in a cabin by Ohno. The train isn’t to leave for another hour, as it’s the first morning train, so it’s a longer wait than anticipated. A note from Sho also accompanies the wait.
”Nino. After you left, we notified the police, and they’re taking it very seriously, especially because the museum owner got involved. Nakai-san can be very persuasive after all. They’ve been monitoring the trains and found out about Nagase’s involvement, so be as careful as you can be.”
Nino only shakes his head at this. If Nagase didn’t have the rest of his group, well, he’d probably have been caught by now. Tucking it into his pocket, he strokes his moustache. Maybe he’ll keep it on for now. It might come in handy later.
Once the train is in motion, Ryo ends up leaving the cabin for a short bit. He’s mostly checking the train for anything that may get them in trouble, but in the end, he comes back with the best news Nino thinks he’s ever heard.
“TOKIO is on the train.” Ryo states, amused, as he sits down in the seat across from Nino. “I have no idea why, but they were grumbling about you. I think they know.”
Nino just laughs and strokes his fake moustache again, a plan already forming in his head. “This,” he laughs a bit more, “this may be the best news. Here’s what we’re going to do.” And, trying not to be overly loud, he murmurs his plan to the two of them.
When the train gets back to his town, Nino sends Ryo and Erika ahead of him. They’re surveillance after all, and Nino hides to watch and follow TOKIO off the train. Keeping behind them, he clutches the box. There’s only one real opportunity to do this, and it is a long shot as to whether it actually works. It’s when he sees Ryo signal thumbs up to him that he starts to move.
Weaving closer and closer to Nagase in the crowd, he steps in front of the massive man, smiles, and says, “Here you go!” He hands him the box, and runs aside.
Nagase stops and stares at the box in front of him along with the other three he’s with, though they’re brought out of it when they hear the shout of, “Oi! Nagase!” and the sound of footsteps coming closer. Nagase still has no idea what’s happening when he’s apprehended and the other three have already scattered.
When he starts to get dragged away, there is a mischievous giggle from his right. Looking over, Nagase roars, “Ninomiya!”
The last Nino sees of Nagase is him being dragged around the corner as Nino waves.
It’s two months later, and Nino’s standing with his back turned, drying a dish, when he hears the door to his restaurant open and a familiar voice say, “I’ll take an order of hayashi rice please.”
Nino grins to himself as he sets down the dish. Walking over, he dishes out the meal as he says, “Right away, sir!”
When he spins around to serve it, he’s greeted with a grin to match his own. “Why thank you, Ko-chan.”
“You’re welcome, Jun-kun.” Nino sings as he sets the plate down in front of his customer. “Oh, and if you’ve found me, well, you can just call me Nino.”
“Ah, Nino it is.” He grabs his spoon to try it. Satisfied, he points at the plate with the spoon. “This is really good. No wonder you run this place.”
“Well, I try my best.” Nino leans on the counter, “So, I take it I’m a bad man now, so I’m curious, how did you find this place?”
Jun just grins and lets the silence stretch out, with the occasional eating noise here and there. When he finishes his plate and cleans his mouth and hands, he talks. “I have my ways, and how bad you are depends, but if you want, you can be a very bad man.”
Nino’s head slips a bit from his hand in a giggle, but he quickly recovers, “So, you aren’t overly angry?”
“Oh, I was, but I’m more along the lines of curious now.”
“I see.” Nino doesn’t move.
“Mmm.” Jun takes a moment to think. “Oh, and good job with Nagase there. Anyway, I’m here on business, and as it turns out, I like an underhanded man such as yourself.”
Nino acts out a surprised face, straightening and placing his hand to his breast. “Does this mean we can return to the way things were?”
Jun’s smile is extremely wide when he responds, “Well, that depends. How willing are you to steal it back for me?”
Nino nods. “I think I could do that, though could we let my friend in on it?” May as well include Sho so he doesn’t have a heart attack.
Jun laughs affirmatively, and they begin chattering away at their plan.
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“Oh, Sho-chan, it seems I’ve forgotten my wallet.” He continues as he watches Sho’s face change from instructive to surprise, and gestures at the cab behind him. “Would you be so kind of lend me the money to pay for my transportation?”
Nino's love for Sho is deep and precious XD!
He distanced himself from being part of KCE for those few years in his early twenties, but dammit, it wasn’t his fault certain contacts were just so personable.
BAMBIIIIIIIIIII <3! ASLKDJSALKDJASLKJDLASKDJ. THANK YOU FOR INCLUDING MY FIRST AND FOREVER LOVE!
“It’s called The Hearth of Saturn, and was a donation from one Inoue Mao-san."
OH HANADANNNNNNNNNNN! ILU, MAN! How I managed to survive reading this and NOT making embarrassing noise at work was beyond me now that I think about it!
Inocchi with his baby! nggggggghhhhh. <3! And Tainocchi. An expert-thieving duo! JEEZ, NOW I CANNOT UNSEE THAT!
“Well, it seems they got hired by some guy named Jun. He and Taichi go to the same bar in the next town over. You know the place, Sakamoto’s joint, and I guess he mentioned it when he was drunk, so Sakamoto introduced them.”
Nino nods and records all this to memory the best that he can. That should be all the information he needs for now. “Hey, Inocchi, are Sakamoto and Okada still dating?”
Ugh, you weren't kidding when you say everyone's mentioned, were you? Oh hi my favourite people! YESSSSSSSSS!
What do you think, Taisuke?” He only tilts his head the tiniest bit back toward Ryo, who’s almost caught up.
“Sounds good, Aniki.” Ryo replies with a flat tone.
Nino and Erika only grin at this and speed up a little. Time to get smuggled aboard.
TEAM ARIAKE ON THE MOVE ♥!
I may have squealed embarrassingly when I reached to this part you don’t even: They’re staying at Subaru’s place, and he is not sticking around for Subaru and Ryo’s jam session. YOU DID GIVE ME SUBARU. AND RYO. AND SESSION. OHHHHH, I AM IN LOVEEEEE! YOU PUT SUCH A WONDERFUL IMAGE IN MY HEAD, ANON!
“Bambi sent word as well about what you’re doing. I’ll let you know if the guy shows up.” He pats Nino’s arm as he walks away.
Of course, Okada will always call Sho Bambi, of courseeeeeeeeee <3!
I love how the intermezzo of Nino and Nozomi (seems like intermezzo within their grand schemes of things, but it was light and nice to read) fits the story; I also see you charming the lady there, Nino. XDDD And Erika trying to flirt with Jun and failed. Ahahahahaha.
"Okay, Jun-kun?”
Jun sputters a bit into the glass of the drink he’s sipping. Setting the glass down, he wipes his mouth. “That sounds just fine, Ko-chan.” He grins when he finishes his sentence.
Ko-chan! *gigglessssssss*
at one point Nino becomes rather concerned for his restaurant. What if it got burned down from one of Aiba’s experiments or if Ohkura ate the entire inventory?
LMAOOO! THOSE TWO! But, but Hina to the rescue so it's all good, right? XDDD
A few moments into the run though, Nino looks back and sees the light come on in the window, accompanied by a now familiar shape.
AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
“It’s just Joshima and his two assistants. Go back to sleep.”
Just when I think everyone's mentioned already: LEADER! And two assistants? Mhmmm. :))
Looking over, Nagase roars, “Ninomiya!” XDD I like how it all wrapped up—circling back to the early premise with TOKIO as the actual thieves. ALSO. Two months later? OHHHHH, AND IT WAS ALSO A JOB OFFER? NICE ♥!
Oh. This is sooooooooooo much much more than I could have even imagined out of my ridiculous prompts. THANK YOU for this awesome story, anon. THANK YOU ♥!
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Ahaha, yes, Leader and his two assistants. I'm not sure if anyone actually caught on to who they were though. For the sake of all, I shall note it is a direct reference to the 2008.07.06 episode of Tetsuwan DASH. :Db Yoko and Yasu~
But yes, so glad you liked it! Ugh, unfortunately though, I ended up making back stories for everyone, so there is a chance I'm going to write more, just with different focuses. A very good chance. XD
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AND BAMBI! DID I TELL YOU ALREADY HOW I LOVE YOU FOR INCLUDING KIZARASU REFERENCE? Oh, I did. Well, once more won't hurt <3!
And DASH reference? Ahhhhhhhh, I totally know what you're talking about; I watched that long ago. No wonder I was thinking, that since Hina was mentioned, where's Yoko? That was a nice link. XDD
Ohhhhh, back stories! I would love to read any of them. Different focuses? Bring it on! This was a great story, so thank you again <3! I guess I'll see you around. XDD
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I'm glad you loved the Kisarazu, because that drama is so great~
:Db :Db :Db
You are very welcome, and I'm still ridiculously glad you loved it! I'm also glad you approve of more. :Db ♥
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Amazing job!
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KCE. Bambi
Ariake 3
Sho follows with, “We did think about going to the police, but this way seemed so much easier.” He smiles a bit at that fact
Of course, Sho's first instinct is to call another thief to deal with a robbery XD
Inocchi smiles, remembering the days when they were an expert thieving duo called Tainocchi.
Inocchi and Taichi. I would also like to find out what shenanigans these two were up to when they were these thieving duo.
Okada laughs and shakes his head. “No, he already knows. The thing about him is that, more than anything, he likes to be amused, not to mention that there’s only a few people he’ll properly listen to anyway.”
I'm amused at Sakamoto being amused by all the thieving and counter-thieving.
What if it got burned down from one of Aiba’s experiments or if Ohkura ate the entire inventory?
This is a legitimate concern, Nino. Yay for Hina coming in to supervise.
Nino nods. “I think I could do that, though could we let my friend in on it?” May as well include Sho so he doesn’t have a heart attack.
This is how Nino displays affection for Sho - with letting Sho pay for his taxi and including him in his latest plans of thievery.
I love all these intertextual references on this fic and how they seamlessly fit in this universe. I also enjoyed the pairings that you've put into it and all the named and unnamed cameos (I'm still trying to figure out who Leader's two assistants are)
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Did you figure out who they are yet? :D? If not, it's a direct reference to the 2008.07.06 episode of Tetsuwan DASH. Yoko and Yasu~ What a pair.
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Not only for the Matsumiya but also for the "Ariake siblings"! Ryusei no Kizuna is a favorite of mine!
I love all the other Johnny's appearances as well! :)
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i like how jun like nino~and a lot of matsumiya's dates.
tnx for d fic!!! i love it~
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It was a Johnny's Matsuri! Love their characters in the story :D
and the Matsumiya part is like the cherry on he cake
So funny and fresh, congrats in a job well done XD
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Thank you for enjoying it and reading it. :D I'm so glad you like it.