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"Kaito this is crazy, there's no way that any DICE members are going to try to steal this statue in the middle of the day." Shuichi complained as Kaito held his wrist and dragged the undercover detective towards the empty exhibit. Maki followed quietly behind while wishing that her boyfriend was not attracting so much attention. The two had their marks first burned into their skin when Kaito was dragging Shuichi into a store to look at a wall full of swords. Kaito managed to trip and fell into Maki Harukawa, and as soon as they made contact they both let out small cries as a small star with two blades behind it burned into their necks. The two instantly knew that they had just been destined to be soul mates, and that's where they first took off.
Shuichi himself still hadn't found his soulmate, and you'd figure that a detective would want to figure out that as soon as possible, but Shuichi was surprisingly content without knowing who he was destined to be with. He never had a preference when it came to dating as he never really gave the subject any thought, he sort of avoided it altogether.
"C'mon Shuichi, you said yourself that security is way too tight for these guys to try and steal the thing during the night. And you know this statue is super expensive, I have a feeling that there are already members of DICE hiding right under our noses."
"Well if the members are here then maybe you should keep your voice down." Maki scolded quietly while glancing around.
"Sorry Maki Roll." Kaito apologized earnestly and slowed the trio down so they stood near the empty exhibit.
"Well Shuichi, do you know the layout of this place?" Maki asked.
"Roughly, yes. I know that there's a skylight above the statue, but other than that this entrance arch is the only way in." Shuichi looked around.
"There's nothing underneath?" Kaito asked whilst wrapping his arms around Maki's shoulders. She glanced away with a blush on her cheeks.
"No, not because we're on the third floor of the building." Shuichi shook his head.
"What are their uniforms like again?" Kaito asked looking around.
Shuichi moved the trio to the statue closest to the exhibit that was chained off with the prized statue inside. "White, they sort of resemble straight jackets, and they always wear checkered scarves and a form of a mask. The leader normally has a cape on. All I know is that the leader's hair is a dark purple and kinda sticks out everywhere." Shuichi sighed as he glanced around trying to recognize anyone in the room. "But they wouldn't be stupid enough to wear those outfits in public like this, they'd stand out too much."
"Kaito, why was it that you wanted to bring us here today? There's no evidence that these people would show up today, so why are we even bothering to check around today?" Maki turned her head up to her boyfriend and he simply smiled and shrugged.
"Nothing more than intuition Maki Roll! But I need to trust my instincts!" He grinned.
"Would Shuichi even be able to act if something did happen?" Maki asked.
"Yeah, he's got his badge and papers or whatever. His clearance to this place got us in for free! He could walk right past those ropes if he wanted to!"
"Yes I could, but I'd like to avoid that unless it's necessary." Shuichi glanced around again and noticed a single figure swiftly walking towards one of the side rooms and he glanced at Maki who also noticed.
"I got him. I'll text you if something happens." Maki squeezed one of Kaito's arms before removing them both.
"Don't get caught." Shuichi nodded to her and she went off.
"Hey Kaito go check out that other side room okay? Text me if anything's off." Shuichi looked us at the purple-haired man.
"Of course, you got it! But remember you're supposed to be my sidekick!"
"I'm the detective..." Shuichi watched him saunter off.
Shuichi looked around again before crossing the entrance arch and moved over to the piece of art on the opposite side of it. He glanced in the empty exhibit as he crossed over and couldn't see anything out of the ordinary by the statue, he did however notice that the large red curtain on the opposite ends of the arch shifted just slightly. Shuichi glanced around the room to see if anyone was watching the arch but no one seemed to. On instinct, Shuichi moved behind one of the large curtains and waited. Something just seemed off about their movement before, as there was nothing that could of moved both curtains other than a person. No sooner than he come to the conclusion of suspicion than the lights in the museum suddenly went out and the curtains simultaneously closed. The only light now on the floor was from the two large skylights, the one behind the curtain, and the one on the other far end of the hall. With one skylight shielded by the curtain, he assumed the goal of turning off the lights was to get everyone to move to the opposite side of the statue, and his assumption was correct when he moved into the skylight room behind the curtain and saw a figure with a black cloak resting over his white costume moving around the statue whilst attaching cords to it.
Shuichi silently inched closer as the figure turned around and still hadn't noticed his presence. He was about five feet away before he pulled out the gun from inside his jacket and pointed it toward the figure. "Freeze! Hands up where I can see them!" He commanded.
"Nishishishi. Well well well. You caught me." The leader slowly turned around with his hands up at his sides and revealed the mask of a clown staring back at Shuichi.
"How careless. The leader of DICE getting caught with his back against a wall." Shuichi started walking closer with his gun drawn.
"It's actually a statue." The figure quipped behind the mask.
"No matter. You move, I shoot."
"Wish it wasn't the gun." The leader grinned behind his mask. Shuichi felt his face flush slightly before inching even closer towards the masked figure. "You might want to hurry before my team gets here, you don't have much time left Mr. Detective." Shuichi watched the masked figure tilt his head in a teasing manner and took the moment to move forward and grab the man's wrist, but as soon as he made contact the two both cried out in pain and fell to their knees on the ground.
"Boss!?" A voice came from overhead.
"Shit." Shuichi heard the figure next to him rise and when he turned around he saw the figure being raised up through the skylight with a rope.
The statue was still in place and the ropes had been disconnected but DICE still got away. Shuichi sighed and rubbed the back of his neck before noticing the leader's mask lying on the ground. He picked it up and noticed an obnoxious "K.O." written in black pen. Shuichi then realized that his hat had fallen off, but it was nowhere to be found around him. "He probably meant to grab his mask before he left." Soon the curtains behind him opened and he turned while still holding the mask in his hand. Three police officers rushed in but stopped in their tracks when they recognized the detective on the other side. "The statue's safe, but they got away." The police nodded and started conversing with each other, and soon enough Kaito and Maki ran up through the crowd to Shuichi.
"Did you get them?" Kaito asked out of breath.
"Obviously not." Shuichi merely gestured to the mask.
"Well, did you at least see the leader's face?" Maki also gestured to the mask.
"No, but I feel like I might, if this really means anything to him." Shuichi let out a sigh of defeat but soon he remembered something that had happened. "Dammit." Shuichi cursed.
"Woah man, never really hear you curse, what's up?" Kaito asked.
"We need to talk, back at my apartment. 5pm okay?" Shuichi looked at both of them.
"Got it." Kaito asked no questions and simply nodded.
"See you then." Maki turned and grabbed Kaito's hand before pulling him away and towards the exit.
Shuichi stared down at the mask in his hand and thought of the criminal who had just escaped his grasp. He remembered the burning sensation on his neck and realized what it had all meant, and when he thought about the leader he recognized the scent of chocolate clinging around the mask. Shuichi felt butterflies in his stomach before he shook his head and started out of the museum. A million thoughts were going through Shuichi's head, but they all revolved around the leader of DICE-his soulmate. He subconsciously rubbed the back of his neck and felt the slight difference in the texture of his skin where the mark was. Shuichi would have to get Kaito and Maki's help to figure out what the mark even looked like.
"How am I even supposed to go about this. I'm a detective for Pete's sake!" Shuichi mumbled to himself as he got into his black car. "The leader of DICE is my soulmate. I don't even know his name. I barely know what the guy looks like, and the guy's voice..." Shuichi soon found himself daydreaming about the masked figure and shook his head before putting the mask in the passenger's side and starting up his car. "This is ridiculous."
--
The leader of DICE shed his cloak on his bed and held up the black hat in his hand. "Supreme leader Kokichi Ouma. Soulmates with the detective that's been trailing us for months now... How exciting!" He exclaimed before putting the hat on. "But also what a pain. I know this detective isn't someone who gives up easily, so he wouldn't just accept that I'm a common thief and let me get away with it." Kokichi sighed to himself. "But I suppose this explains why I've been so interested in him since I first saw him." Kokichi moved around his piles of things so he could collapse onto his bed and stare at the ceiling covered in papers.
Kokichi had only ever seen one eye of the detective whenever they met. The detective had multiple disguises and multiple uniforms, but no matter what color or style of dress he wore it always came with some sort of cap. Kokichi would always see the detective's same eye from under his cap whenever they met, but this had been the first time Kokichi had been up close and personal with the man.
The leader pulled the hat to his nose and breathed in the scents of coffee and strawberry-scented shampoo. Kokichi allowed himself to blush and enjoy the feelings the scents resonated within himself. He smiled softly before letting the situation come back to him and then sighed loudly. "Dammit!" Kokichi then grabbed darts from his bedside table and hurtled them towards his wall which was already covered with tiny holes. He sighed once again before letting out a small laugh.
"Nishishishi. Well If I want anything interesting to happen, I better make sure he doesn't think that I stole his hat." Kokichi smiled and jumped out of bed then maneuvered his way to his wardrobe. "I suppose going out in all white simply won't work for my purposes. Something more subtle will have to do." Kokichi reached into his closet and pulled out a pair of ripped black jeans, a white shirt, a dark purple jacket, and his checkered scarf. "We can't abandon everything right?" He turned around to look at the small mark on his neck in his mirror before placing the scarf around his neck. He smiled to himself before placing Shuichi's hat on his head. "Well, I have a detective to find." Kokichi moved through the scattered things in his room and opened the window before escaping into the evening air.
--
"Wait, what!?!" Kaito exclaimed.
"Yes. Check for yourself." Shuichi sighed.
Shuichi, Kaito, and Maki all sat around in Shuichi's circle of couches in Shuichi's house. Shuichi had just explained what happened to him at the museum previously that day and explained how his neck had burned when he had grabbed the leader of DICE's wrist. Maki and Kaito were now lifting the back of Shuichi's hair to get a better look at the symbol on his neck.
"Well, what does it look like?" Shuichi asked the two.
"Here." Maki took out her phone and quickly took a photo before showing it to Shuichi.
The symbol that was now embedded into his skin was the shape of a magnifying glass within a square checkerboard border. The whole symbol was black and white but slightly faded as the distance between soulmates affects how dark the mark appears. Shuichi just sat on the couch staring at the symbol in awe for a while before he felt Kaito nudge his arm.
"Yo, Shuichi. You okay? How do you feel?" Kaito asked.
"This whole thing just seems to be a mess. I found out that the leader of DICE, the organization I've been tracking for months, is my soulmate! I don't even know his name! I haven't even seen his face! He's the only member of DICE who's never been caught, but that group is so tight-lipped that no one has ever given anyone in that organization away. The group's like family and we barely even know any of the member's names because of it." Shuichi sighed and moved away from them to allow himself to pace. "And that's not even all that important considering the situation. I'm a detective, and my soulmate is a petty thief-those two things don't exactly positively connect with each other. Sure he's mysterious, and his purple hair looks amazing in the sunlight, his voice sounds like-"
"Okay Shuichi we get it. You're in love with the guy." Kaito let out an uncomfortable laugh.
"So he really is your soulmate then." Maki commented.
"Yeah, I've never heard Shuichi go on about anyone like this, not even the cases he's super involved in." Kaito teased.
"Alright, alright. I get you're point, I'm into him. But how am I even supposed to find the guy?"
"Well, you know a decent amount of information on them. I mean, you've been keeping up with them for months. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if their leader has done the same thing with you, he's probably at least noticed places you often go to. I know that I used to keep track of anyone who I was interested in during my job." Maki shrugged slightly.
"Uh, Maki Roll, your job kinda required that..." Kaito smiled weakly at her.
"Yeah." Maki blushed and played with her hair. "But still, it's worth a shot." She looked up. "Just go to any of your normal 'spots' and wait. He'll come to you."
"How can you be sure?" Shuichi asked.
"If I had just met my soulmate, but had to leave before I could talk to them, there's no way I'd not want to meet them." Kaito tilted his head.
"Especially with you two being connected already through work." Maki added. Shuichi simply sighed apprehensively before standing up and moving over and into Shuichi's room. There was a small shuffling noise and a small thunk before Maki walked back out with a simple black leather jacket, black jeans, and a white t-shirt. "Here." She dumped the pile of clothes onto his lap. "Go to the park to clear your head. You know that's where you go when you need to think and cool off." Maki also glanced back at the leader's mask. "Go ahead and bring that along too, it might help."
Shuichi looked down at the clothes before looking back at Maki and giving her a small smile. "Thanks. I think I'll do that." He stood and Kaito followed suit. Shuichi once again thanked his friends and they said their goodbyes. Then Shuichi moved into his room to change into his clothes before grabbing his wallet and a spare hat and leaving his house in the direction of the park.
Shuichi crossed the street and took the main park pathway before turning left down a smaller hard-to-see pathway through the trees and continued down until the paths divided again. He then went right and soon enough walked into a clearing with a small pond and a single bench by the water. The space was lit by a single streetlamp above the bench and it cast small rays of light across the water. It was normal for Shuichi to come here by himself at night whenever he needed to clear his head, both Kaito and Maki knew he came to the park, but even they didn't know specifically where he went. It was because of this that seeing a figure sitting on his usually empty bench surprised him. The figure wore a cap that hid his eyes and hair, so he couldn't make out any features, all he could see was the figure's ripped jeans, white shirt, purple jacket, and checkered scarf.
Shuichi decided to interact with the stranger as he'd never seen the man there before. "I'm sorry if I'm interrupting." The figure's head tilted up just slightly at the sound of Shuichi's voice. "I don't normally see anyone here whenever I come. May I sit?" Shuichi asked politely and the figure simply nodded. "I like your hat and scarf, they remind me of the hat I have myself and the scarf of a friend." He smiled.
"So we're friends now are we?" Kokichi looked up and met Shuichi's gaze.
"What-?" Shuichi recognized the voice instantly, and suddenly he felt his neck aching.
"It is your hat." Kokichi grinned and took if off his head, releasing his unruly purple hair.
"You're the leader of DICE." Shuichi stood up and took a step back. Shuichi's movement seemed to catch Kokichi off guard and he frowned, hurt. Shuichi noticed instantly and then planted himself where he stood. "I'm sorry. It's instinct." He gave Kokichi a sad look before reaching into his jacket and pulling out Kokichi's mask. "I believe this belongs to you." He gave the shorter man a small smile.
Kokichi grinned and took his mask back before offering Shuichi's hat back to him. "And this belongs to you." He smiled when Shuichi reached to grab it but then he pulled it back with a grin. "Not so fast, I want to know your name."
"I'm surprised. You knew to come here but didn't even know my name." Shuichi commented.
"I imagined you'd slip up or I'd find it out eventually as events unfolded. And unfolded they have. Your name?" Kokichi grinned.
"Saihara. Shuichi Saihara."
"Shuichi. Ha. Funny." Kokichi smiled and offered the hat back out to Shuichi. "Kokichi Ouma."
"Wow. What an interesting pair." Shuichi took the hat and let out a small chuckle.
The purple-haired man smiled. "Nishishishi. A pair you say?" Kokichi teased and leaned towards Shuichi, causing a blush to form on the taller man's cheeks. "What kind of pair Shuichi?" Kokichi let each syllable roll off his tongue as he turned them so he could back Shuichi back into the bench. "I mean, I can only assume one, given that we're soulmates now." Shuichi's knees hit the bench and he fell backward with Kokichi now leaning over him with one leg on either side. "How do you feel about that, Shuichi?" Kokichi asked flirtatiously, but in his heart, he hoped for a legitimate answer to his question. Shuichi took a moment to process everything that was going on, but even though he heard Kokichi's question, all he could focus on were Kokichi's violet eyes that were staring back at him. His lack of response allowed a sorrowed expression cross on Kokichi's face before he pulled back and it was replaced with a grin. "It's alright if you don't plan on getting involved. We are in quite a predicament after all. I'm sure this whole soul mate thing was a mistake. I'll just head out-"Kokichi was cut off when Shuichi grabbed his arm and pulled him so that Kokichi was now hovering over Shuichi who was pressed back against the bench.
"I'm sorry. I was staring at your eyes. I was distracted." Shuichi blushed and avoided his gaze. Kokichi felt a blush spread across his face but he quickly noticed and tried to get his emotions back under control when Shuichi leaned forward and stopped just an inch before their lips met, as if he was asking for permission to kiss him. "I don't mind this at all." Shuichi breathed out and those words triggered Kokichi to close the distance between them and press his lips into Shuichi's.
The connection was instant and a full wave of passion and euphoria washed over the two as their lips met. Both of their necks burned as they continued to kiss and eventually settled into a slight warmth as they became used to the wave of emotions. Kokichi found himself moving his hands under Shuichi's shirt when he stopped and forced himself away from the detective. Kokichi and Shuichi both panted while looking at each other and took in their individual forms. Kokichi noted Shuichi's flushed face and how his hat had fallen off and allowed him to see both of his piercing grey eyes. Shuichi stared in awe at Kokichi's swollen lips and his silhouette from the light cascading from behind him.
"Are you okay?" Shuichi's voice was so full of concern that Kokichi's heart swelled. Kokichi let himself smile back at the man.
"I'm okay. but we should really take this somewhere else-at the rate that this is going." Kokichi grinned and he received a blush from Shuichi.
"You're right. My place is about a block from here." Shuichi offered and Kokichi felt his cheeks warm just slightly.
"Perfect."