28/A Thief in a Tuxedo

A Thief in a Tuxedo
Date of Scene:	28 May 2015
Location:	Uminari City - Juuban Avenue - South
Synopsis:	Waking up in a jewelery store like it says on the tin is occasionally MUCH MORE AWKWARD than personal embarrassment. The Ace of Diamonds discovers Tuxedo Kamen breaking and entering, and...critiques his phantom thief game.
Cast of Characters:	Jun Kaneko, Mamoru Chiba

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Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Late late night. It may, in fact, have been a number of nights that the Ace of Diamonds has sought out the Etsu-rescuing mystery man from the boy band show. There's been no sign of him for good or ill, not even in any fights against youmas or witches or dastardly foes; there's been no sign on rooftops or in the moonlight.

The moon tonight is waxing gibbous, a bright white glowing thing on its way to full, occasionally obscured by spotty clouds in the humid night sky. In fact, for a moment, it vanishes behind a particularly large one, ragged edges backlit but streets below it darkened.

Empty streets, downtown.

When the knowing moon reappears, there's a reflection of light where there shouldn't be one, and a glimpse of fluttering red: the door to a jewelry store closing, and someone disappearing inside.

Jun Kaneko has posed:
    It's a late, late night, and after the first few days of excitement, fighting evil by moonlight, never running from a real fight, not so much the love by daylight, Jun is the one named Sailor Beat.

    Being a hero of justice is a rough life! And so, the Ace of Diamonds sits on the lip of a low rooftop, swinging her legs over the edge and yawning, her catbeanie drooped and her general demeanor... tired.

    After this she'd be curling up in bed for a few hours, then in class and sleepy, and then napping after class, and then out and about in the evening. This life...

    Was rough! But someone had to think of the animals.

    Seeing the jewelry store broken into, though, was different. It could be nothing, but... Something told her it wasn't. It /probably/ wasn't a Totem spirit, but it could always be the secret spirit of the Larceny Raccoon. And then, well, she'd feel really stupid for missing a chance to bust one of the spirits and get their power for use against the forces of Darkness.

    Yawning, Jun drops down off the roof and onto the street below, landing in a crouch before she stuffs her hands into her pockets - and fails, because her Henshin'ed form has no pockets, before sort of wandering towards the jewelry store front, and trying the door. "Hello? Magical Totem creature? I'm here to rescue you from the HUNTERS? Evil Youma beast??? I'm here to... Shoot you with a gun???"

    Jun pauses. Wow, way to sell that one, /Ace/.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
The door's still unlocked; it opens easily. Inside, there's no Larceny Raccoon, and the only animal inside is the human variety.

Presumably. The figure's crouched over a jewelry case, darkness draped over it--

--him. His cape. That's a top hat. He's behind the counter and gloved hands have carefully deactivated alarms and picked locks, and there's a magnificent diamond in one hand. But he looks up, and it's that self-same handsome masked face from the concert, wearing his white tie and tails under the cloak as black as the night sky at sea, and his face is blank behind the luminous mask.

He sets the diamond back down in the case and lifts a finger to his lips, then carefully locks the counter door once more.

Jun Kaneko has posed:
    Jun - the Ace of Diamonds, brings up one of her pistols in a two-handed grip, aiming it at...

    Dapper Lad? Hey, it's dapper lad! Thinks the Ace, which she voices. "Hey, it's Dapper Lad!" She stage-whispers, as she sees him pull his phantom thief routine. Which causes her to lower her weapon, confusedly. "You're a phantom thief? Ugh, that just goes to show. First you get my cute little underclassmen all crushing on you, and /then/ you turn out to be stealing diamonds. Wow, just wait until I tell E-... Spades."

    Jun frowns. "I was looking all over for you, to apologize and also to thank you. Apologize for getting takoyaki all over you, and to thank you for saving Spades. But... Why are you here? Do you need... /money/?" She wonders, her gun lowered but not stowed, as a tense look crosses her features.

    Tuxedo Kamen was human... but was he a good person? Jun didn't have any powers to tell.

    Her catbeanie's green gemlike eyes stared out, owo'ing hard. The ears flooped, though they seemed to twitch organically, like there were real ears under there. Real cat ears, that is.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"No," the masked man-- boy? His face is very young, what can be seen of it, despite his height-- says quietly. "What I need isn't here..."

The voice isn't just quiet, it's soft and slow, almost dreamlike. He trails off, looking down at the case, and abruptly his hands come away from it as if electrically shocked, and he takes a quick step back, almost bumping into the wall behind him. "Shit. Again?!"

There, the voice is louder, sharp and focused, aggravated. Frustrated, disgusted. "Uh. You're welcome? Excuse me, Ace-san."

With that, the gracefully lanky young gentleman vaults over the counter and points at the door. "I'm certain neither of us actually wants to be in here right now. If you move out of the way, I'll re-set the alarm; I can re-lock it once we're outside. Please?"

Jun Kaneko has posed:
    "You have /alarm/ sense, too? You /are/ a phantom thief!" the Ace of Diamonds exclaims, but she holsters her pistol, which disappears upon holstering in a small sworl of orange light, before she shrugs and steps aside, allowing Tuxudo Kamen free reign to escape. "You wouldn't leave me here, with the alarm tripped, anyway. If you're a real phantom thief. You wouldn't let a cute girl hold the bag for your crimes! If, well, you were a real phantom thief."

    Jun grins, and her beanie floops forward.

    She starts counting off on her fingers. "You've got a domino mask, piles of class, save the damsel, are searching for the perfect score, have super lock-touch hands, make girls crush on you just from proximity, and have a /dreamy/ voice. So yeah, I think that's at least all the major hallmarks. Have you read much literature? You're, like, a /walking/ trope. Like the Duke of Shadows!"

    She looks wistfully off into the distance as she droops. "Man, I wish I was home asleep. This whole magical protector gig is rough. It's not money you're after, is it?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"I'm not a thief!" the apparent phantom thief bites out in frustration as Jun goes on, hastily glossing over everything else the Ace of Diamonds just said in order to fixate on wait did she just say he was a walking trope omg. His eyes are wide behind the reflective mask as he pauses in front of the alarm. "What? No, no time for that, this is ridiculous."

He bends down slightly to squint at the keypad, sees where the numbers are worn, thinks for a moment, then punches in a series of digits. Then he opens the door and holds it for the girl. "After you. And you should go home and straight to bed. It wouldn't do to fall asleep in class, would it?"

Meanwhile in the back of his head he's basically like 'what the hell, why does this crap happen to me, I thought this would stop once I started looking in the daytime, I have class tomorrow too, god damn it'.

He conveniently doesn't actually answer her questions or correct any misapprehensions aside from the first protest.

Jun Kaneko has posed:
    "Okay, so, breaking and entering, picking a jewelry case lock, getting handsy with a diamond, and then putting it back? That's, again, breaking and entering at least. And since you're searching for the perfect score, I'm still gonna stick with 'thief' for now." Jun reasons, following behind him slowly as she watches him punch in the code. "... Did you just guess? Wow, you're either /really/ good or /really/ lucky." She notes, smiling at the CHIVALROUS DOOR GESTURE.

    "Chivalrous too? You've got Phantom Thief down to a science, Dapper Lad!" Jun notes appreciatevely, as she steps out of the store and turns, waiting for the Tuxedo Kamen to likewise step out.

    "I've got a system. The secret is napping! I've got a pretty strong nap game. And you? Are you going to go to your next debonair score?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Tuxedo Kamen," the tall boy in the white tie and tails corrects automatically after Jun calls him 'Dapper Lad'. He's in the process of locking the shop door. "I'm not looking for the perfect score. If I end up finding what I need like this, I'll pay for it."

He straightens up and looks down at the Ace of Diamonds, and he looks, for a moment, like he can't decide whether to laugh or sigh. Instead, he shakes his head. "I didn't guess." She keeps calling out everything he does. She's keeping a checklist, isn't she? She's got to be keeping a checklist. His mouth thins a little, but then he looks thoughtful.

She means well. She's fighting dark things at night to keep people safe. But there's nothing really... princess-like about her, really, is there? At least-- she could be one, but probably not his. This is running through Tuxedo Mask's head as he studies Jun briefly.

Another question he doesn't answer. "Shine as brightly as the diamonds in your name," he tells her after a second, tone gentler, maybe a little affectionate. "Sleep well."

And just like that, he crouches quickly and pushes off, leaping into the air in a flutter of black and red silk like the whipping of a flag in a stiff breeze. Tuxedo Kamen sails up, up into the night sky at astonishing speed, and then as the moon vanishes behind another cloud, so does he.

Jun Kaneko has posed:
    Jun nods. "Tuxedo Kamen, then." Jun nods. "And I'm the Ace of Diamonds." She replies, looking up and down the road. "You know, for a thief, you're kind of bad. Especially not a /phantom/ thief." Jun gives the dapper guy a warm smile. She draws herself up, letting her droopy eyes remain droopy, as she brings her left hand before her, drawn officiously before her stomach. Her right reaches up, gripping the brim of her catbeanie, and sweeps it off as she bows, totally getting into the whole act. It's quite over the top, in her sweeping bow.

    It reveals that her bright neon-pink hair is either magical or natural, as the color goes all the way to the roots!

    It also reveals two little furry cat-ears on her head, which flick lightly, like they're totally real.

    She raises, plops her beanie back on her head and tugs it down with both hands, her ears hidden under owohat once more.

    As he tells her to sleep well, Jun raises a hand, placing it on Tuxedo Kamen's shoulder. "Hey. Next time you see Spades, you tell her you're just a dashing rogue, and not /actually/ into her, or something? Let her down easy. And I'll... forget the whole diamond afficiando thing, alright?"

    She steps back, and gives another tired little smile, and Tuxedo Kamen is AWAYYYYY.

    "Dang. Wish I could fly like that." She mumbles, before heading down the street towards Infinity Academy - and her house.