#NOOOOO im banned from the askbox (i'm not but i am but i'm not) but what about this-

[dnangelic]

@cherriedrage // here.

makochi wasn't azumano . no elegant clock-tower bell announces the time of his heist in solemn tolls as he descends , and no searching spotlights would form a halo around him the instant his lithe silhouette left the round glow of the moon . furin high , with its crumbling cement and impressive , drawn-out shadow , looked even more an intimidating and impenetrable castle tonight --- populated by its myriad knights scattering about to further try to protect it .

( that piece of shit ! everyone , let's teach him a lesson --- ! )

the pointed rush and shout of inflamed students might have been the only thing that felt familiar , sharing in little difference from the clueless , overzealous enthusiasms of what police force the great phantom thief was used to .

( --- but something like this is kinda awesome , isn't it ?! even if he's a criminal , it's still a total celebrity appearance ! here ! in makochi ! i'm gonna be sooooo jealous of anybody who gets to touch him ... ! )

bofurin might have been well organized , and yet their preventive measures were still full of fatal holes and embarrassing amateur mistakes , faults of unfamiliarity in dealing with an enemy that they'd first have to somehow get their hands on , no doubt . his methodology was simple : he wouldn't be landing on top of and entering from the roof , where a crowd of students would no doubt be searching and waiting to turn him into a sandbag , scouring both above and below in every frantic effort to spot him before he might somehow sneak in . instead , he'd capitalize on the element of surprise and his usual distractions .

wiz would draw everyone's attentions away , ( and it's a crowd like this , he thinks , that wouldn't be able to help themselves and would inevitably end up moving as a single , single-minded body , ) while he fluttered and crept into the west wing window . it was almost too easy , but when wasn't it without someone like hiwatari to lay out traps and play their usual games ? no matter how close anyone believed they were getting to him , the great phantom thief always vanished just as their fingers were about to touch --- no doubt the frenzied crowd outside was going through their first bewildering , frustrating experience as wiz sprinted away , inwards towards town ...

... which left no one else , save for himself and sakura in the hallway . ( sakura-san ... )

' --- yo . '

a hand lifts in a loose wave from his own deep pockets , his expression as wry as ever . the high , light hum in his voice is as chipper as anyone else greeting a good friend under different circumstances , his long legs carrying him forwards as he steps out of the shadows and towards his target . there , beneath the struggling , orange-red fluorescent lights of the school , lay the silent piece of four ghouls that he was after , sakura standing between them and himself by just the length of an arm's reach . she sizes him up in silence , and he returns the favor ; feels the intensity of daisuke's own stare and thick , gulping fear from someplace within him , as if somehow saying a single word or transmitting any sort of thought would have immediately exposed him despite being nothing more than a ghost .

' is it really just you ? ' his head tilts a little as he speaks , his devil's lyrechord soft and slow . and then he laughs , the shameless chuckle of it bouncing his shoulders . ' even after i asked for all of bofurin's cutest students ... that's pretty arrogant . '

wasn't it too to call what artwork he had set his sights upon as nothing more than its base material ? there wasn't a single priceless portrait that wasn't "just paint ." even the most lifelike , breathtaking sculptures were nothing more than heaps of stone desecrated and smoothed into so-called beautiful shapes . what gave an artwork its value was its feelings , either imbued into or derived from the face of it , and despite its age and fading , or the scratches and scuffs that gave it an even more grisly , if not flimsy quality , the graffiti-mural of the four heavenly kings was still surely a worthy target .

( our souvenir from makochi . since it's not laying a hand on the four kings themselves , it's perfectly fine . moreover , the students that made this piece are probably only just about to graduate , meaning they'd have to leave it behind until it completely faded away anyways . it's a good work of art ... that's what you felt before , right , daisuke ? )

( ah ... forget that for a minute . what are we going to do ? we can't fight sakura-san ... and her face looks --- )

' --- if it hurts , you don't have to do anything , you know . ' the gap is bridged between them , both effortlessly and without any fear . he stands no less closely than he always had , his hands not yet set onto his decided treasure , knowing that even now , after daisuke had sabotaged the artwork during daylight and painstakingly separated it from the rest of the building , that making off with even a thin layer of stone this tall would be troublesome were there to be any sort of pursuit --- no less than if he were to steal the famous screens of fujin and raijin .

and so : the simplest solution , making off with it while sakura retreated to glumly announce to the rest that the great phantom thief , as he had promised , had gloriously stolen his mark and gotten away . even in the face of her , his cold palm meets the art in a gentle , greeting caress . ' a face like that doesn't suit such a nice night like this . it's perfect for stealing ... so why don't you close your eyes and enjoy the breeze for a little while ? '