Creator(s): JupiterThunderCrash and Sailor Neptune

Forum: Free Form

Advanced or Relaxed: Advanced

Plot Summary: In an alternate world where only Sailor V exists as a senshi, Minako is an 18 year old crime fighting superhero just out of high school. Saito is a young 20 year old detective working for the Tokyo Police, and a model law abiding citizen. Neither of the two are aware of the other until a strange case of robberies brings them together. 

Ace, the Phantom Thief has broken into a number of jewelry stores unimpeded by the law, and Chief of Police Natsuna Sakurada wants to put an end to his streak. The handsome masked burglar gained his name by the way he robbed places. He silently enters and leaves without a trace, except for the playing cards he always leaves at the scene of the crime. Chief Sakurada calls in a favor with Sailor V and assigns her to work with Saito to try and pick up the criminal's trail, much to their dislike. Minako is too flippant of procedures for his taste, and Saito is too stiff and focused on rules for her own. 

 How will a loose canon senshi and a by the book police officer get past their differences in time to solve the case? And why is Minako finding herself drawn to both Ace and Saito? The Phantom Thief's demeanor and charm reminds her of something from long ago, yet she's also growing more and more interested in Saito as they spend their time together, a feeling that may be mutual with the detective.


Details on any necessary information: Minako has been Sailor V since she was 14 and she was awoken by Artemis, but there was no Dark Kingdom to defeat. The other senshi are powerless, though Minako is still friends with them and they are aware of her identity. Saito is the reborn Kunzite, and has no power at the moment and is unaware of his past. He is friends with the reborn Zoisite, Jadeite, and Nephrite, but they are also oblivious of the Silver Millennium. Ace is still Danburite, the reincarnated traitor from Venus who wants revenge on Minako for not loving him in their past lives.

Restrictions: Only Minako and Kunzite are playable, and any other characters will be NPCs.

Source(s): None

OOC Thread: None

Member to Character List:
Sailor Venus/Minako--> Sailor Neptune
Saito/Kunzite--> JupiterThunderCrash

"He's on the rooftops, don't let him out of your sight!" The police radio crackled, and Saito responded with an affirmative as he jumped on his motorcycle, revving the engine. After someone called the station about a masked man leaving a jewelry store, the dispatcher had sent him and a small squad of officers to investigate.

"I'm tailing him now..." Saito strapped his white and blue helmet on and kept his sirens off, not wanting to be heard coming. He kicked off and raced after the shadowy figure in the darkness of midnight. The streets of Tokyo were busy, but he weaved between cars, glancing up to make sure his target was still there. He wouldn't let the Phantom Thief get away this time...

Saito made a sharp turn, almost tipping his bike over to slide into a wide alleyway, and straightened up again. Where did he go...? Tense, he killed the engine and flipped the kickstand down, dismounting. After glancing around for any shadows, he pulled out his gun and started moving down the alleyway, silent. 

Footsteps echoed around a corner, and Saito pressed his back against a wall. Ace was right on the other side, he was sure of it...

Sailor V jumped from roof to roof, hot on the heels of Phantom Ace. The mysterious burglar and his playing cards had been beguiling and frustrating her for quite a while now. What was his deal with that mask and those calling cards? And even though he wore a mask, she was quite sure he was handsome behind it...

That was totally not why she was chasing him, though.

Okay, partly it. Because she wanted to know who was behind that mask. And she wanted to talk to him. But also he was stealing things, and as a super heroine, she unfortunately had to apprehend him.

Maybe he had a noble reason. Maybe he was like Robin Hood; stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. Maybe he had a girlfriend he desperately wanted to give diamonds to and couldn’t—oh no! He could not have a girlfriend, could he?

Not important right now, V had to remind herself. His shadow was getting further and further away from her.

She thought she saw him dart into a darkened alleyway, and jumped down to another that connected with it. She moved slowly, as quietly as possible, her heart thumping in anticipation when she saw someone’s shadow moving closer and closer toward her. Planting herself against the wall, she moved slowly toward the corner, ready to grab him the moment he came from the other side.

This is it. I’m going to meet him at last… And I will take that mask off of you to see your beautiful eyes…

When the shadow moved into her alley, V didn’t hesitate. She shot forward with her arms outstretched, practically pouncing on the person coming toward her.

Gotcha!

“Surrender now, Ace! I’ve got you at last!”

"I've got him cornered..." Saito said into his radio, before turning it off. One second Saito was turning the corner, and the next second he heard a woman's voice telling him to surrender, and he was knocked flat on his back. His gun flew out of his hands and bumped into another wall. If he had taken his motorcycle helmet off he would have cracked his skull on the concrete ground, but instead he was just dazed.

What was going on here? Did Ace have an accomplice? As his head cleared, he regained his strength and flipped his assailant on her back, holding her down as he straddled her with his weight. Just as he was about to demand her to tell him who she was, he took a good look at her. 

"...You're Sailor V..." He glared at the costumed blonde he recognized from the newspapers and TV, but got off her. "What do you think you're doing interfering with a police investigation? I should handcuff you for getting in my way! This isn't a publicity stunt you know, it's a robbery!"

Oops.

The person V was currently straddling was decidedly not Ace. He was handsome, sure… but he had no mask, and his hair was long, not short like the burglar. His eyes were a different color too; piercing silver the kind she had never seen before.

Also, he had a gun. That she’d completely inadvertently thrown away. Oh god, had she apprehended another robber?!

While she was confused and surprised, he flipped her expertly and suddenly he was the one on top of her. Now, this could be romantic, if he didn’t give her that scathing look upon recognizing her. Seriously, the nerve! He’d said her name like it was a curse! Did he not know who Sailor V was?

She scrambled back to her feet when he got off her, and glared back at him. So judging from his words, he was a police officer then?

“Publicity stunt?!” she sputtered. “I am a serious crime fighter, thank you very much! You’re the one interfering with my chase! I was this close to getting Ace, and here you are getting in my way!”

She huffed. “If the police were so competent, I wouldn’t have to keep apprehending all these criminals.”

Saito's expression hardened, and he resisted grinding his teeth in anger. He usually wasn't so quick to upset, but there was just something about her attitude that dug under his skin. How dare she suggest that the police were incompetent!

"Oh of course, you were so close to getting him that you tackled me," he said. "The Phantom Thief is halfway across Tokyo now, no thanks to you..." The radio attached to his belt crackled, and he picked it up. 


"Is he apprehended?" Saito let out a low sigh.

"No, he slipped away again. I was held up by a civilian," he said, shooting daggers at Sailor V. A flashbulb went off, and he had to shield his eyes with an arm to not get blinded. "Hey, this is a crime scene!" he yelled at the reporter who had snapped the photo. 

"This'll make a great headline for tomorrow..." she said, completely ignoring him as she looked at her picture. His eye twitched slightly. 

This can't be happening, he thought to himself, silently stalking past Sailor V to retrieve and holster his gun. He was going to get in so much trouble back at headquarters when that article came out... He might as well just call it a night and go home to sleep while he still could.

“I’m not a civilian!” V declared, offended. “I am a legitimate superheroine!”

When a flashbulb went off, she instinctively made her trademark V pose, so used to people taking pictures of her in action. However, that police guy instead yelled at the journalist. How rude! Did he not know that it wasn’t easy to get this kind of publicity?

She shook her head in disbelief and left when the officer did. Thanks to him, Ace’s trail had gone cold now.

---

The next morning, Minako was still curled up under her blanket when Artemis smacked a newspaper onto her head.

“Hey! What the hell?” she protested, fighting her way out from under the papers.

“You’re on the front page again!” Artemis exclaimed, and Minako didn’t understand why he didn’t sound pleased.

“And this is bad, how?” she grumbled, but then she saw the headline. Sailor V and Police Clash; Phantom Thief Gets Away

“Oh,” Minako said, understanding.

“Yes. Oh. What happened?” Artemis demanded.

“Well, this guy was totally impeding my investigation! I was chasing Ace, then suddenly… BAM! There he was, knocking right into me. I swear, all these police officers are useless. They should just leave the crime fighting to me.”

She sighed in annoyance and got out of bed. It was a Saturday, so thankfully there was no school, but Artemis had woken her up now, so she might as well get on with her day. Maybe she could figure out a way to repair her image after today’s news. Maybe she could give an exclusive interview to the newspaper? Explain that it was that police officer’s fault? She hated looking incompetent like this…

Her cell phone beeped, and Minako glanced at the screen. It was Natsuna Sakurada, the Superintendent General of the Tokyo PD. Huh. She wondered what Natsuna wanted. Was she upset about the news too? Had Minako ruined her image for Natsuna, too? But Natsuna was her biggest fan! She could not deal with losing her biggest fan.

With dread, she answered the call. “Hello?”

“Minako-chan! Can you do me a huge favor?”

“Uh… maybe?” Minako answered cautiously.

“Can you come into the station today?”

“Is this about one of your employees? Because I swear, that news isn’t true. I mean, yeah, okay, we were fighting because he got in my way when I was chasing Ace, but it was just a small argument. We weren’t like… really fighting or anything…”

“I know, I know, I’ve talked to him,” Natsuna answered cheerily. “And I think I may have a way to help you both rehabilitate your image and fix this. Come into the station, and make sure you come as Sailor V.”

“Uh… okay then.”

Minako ended the call after saying goodbye, puzzled. Just what was Natsuna planning now?

She followed the instructions and went to the station after transforming, walking inside confidently despite all the glare directed her way. Clearly a lot of them did not like her status as vigilante, but too bad because their boss loved her.

Minako knocked on the door of Natsuna’s office, and when she heard the invitation to come in, she went inside.

And stopped dead when she immediately came face to face with the police officer that she had encountered yesterday.

“What… what are you doing here?”

She hoped he was here getting suspended for messing up her investigation yesterday.

Saito had been called into work the next morning, as he had expected. Despite knowing exactly what was waiting for him at the station, Saito was dutiful enough to show up anyway, lecture or not. On his way out the door, he grabbed the newspaper and scanned it, immediately seeing the headline he had been dreading.

Sailor V and Police Clash; Phantom Thief Gets Away 


Those journalists never pulled the punches, did they? Just how was he supposed to explain himself to General Sakurada now? The entire force knew that she was fond of Sailor V. Would she even believe his side of the story, or was he about to take a hit to his job as punishment? He'd worked hard for his position, so he wouldn't have his rank stripped or be put on probation... right?


The usually calm and collected Saito was rattled as he drove to work and parked his motorcycle. He made sure to keep a straight face as he waked to Natsuna's office though, if only for his dignity's sake. He already heard the whispers around him as he walked down the hall. Everyone knew about last night now, and they were waiting for the fallout. He got a few pats on the back and mumbled condolences along the way form co-workers, which really didn't help him at all. 


"Come in," a woman's voice said, and he pushed the office doors open. Natsuna was sitting at her desk, looking at the morning paper along with a few other documents. She didn't look outwardly upset, so maybe he could take it as a good sign. "Detective Saito, correct?" she asked, looking up. He nodded.


"Yes, ma'am."  


"Saito, do you like your job as a Tokyo Officer? Do you believe this is a respectable department?" He barely hesitated before giving an answer.


"Of course I do, that's why I joined the academy as soon as I was out of High School." She smiled slightly.


"Good. Then you understand that the events of last night had an effect on us as a whole, not just yourself."


"I...I understand..." Here came the punishment...


"But...I think I found a way to fix our publicity problem. That is..if you're willing to do as I say. Otherwise, I really will have to punish you, and I really don't want to do that. You're a very good detective, from what I've seen of your record." There was a knock on the door, and Natsuna's smile grew.  "And there's our solution now." She invited the other person in, and Saito almost let his jaw drop. 


"What am I doing here? I work here," Saito said, glaring at Sailor V. He turned back to the General. "Why is Sailor V in Police Headquarters?" 


"Because the both of you are going to be working together for a while," Natsuna explained. "Just look at it this way: We need to catch the Phantom Thief, and the two of you need to look good in front of the press. If you manage to finally arrest him and the public sees how well you get along, there won't be a problem anymore." She looked at Sailor V. 


"So how about it, V-chan? Detective Saito Nishiyama here has a near flawless streak when it comes to solving cases. I'm sure the two of you can handle this one even faster if you partnered up. Pretty please?" she asked.

Her jaw almost dropped when Natsuna announced that she was going to work together with this police officer. V opened her mouth to argue, but Natsuna did have a good explanation. She did need to rehabilitate her image and not be seen as someone who liked to cause trouble with the police. Plus she really owed Natsuna for making them look bad too…

But why this guy??

She gritted her teeth in frustration, torn between wanting to say no with every fiber of her being and not disappointing Natsuna. She glanced at the detective. Near flawless streak, she said? Well, that was still not perfect. And he did get in her way last night. If this was going to keep happening, their partnership was going to be a disaster. She did ask really nicely, though…

V sighed. “Well… I’m not promising anything. We could give it a trial run. I’m not sure he and I would work well, but just for you, Natsuna-san, I will give it a try.” She narrowed her eyes at Detective Saito. “That is, if he feels like he can keep up with me. I am a superhero, after all.”

"I think I can handle your guns-blazing approach just fine..." Saito said to her, barely keeping the sarcasm out of his voice. Sailor V's dismissive attitude of him was bordering on infuriating, but he had to resist doing anything insulting in front of the chief, or his head would be on a platter. This could be his last chance to sort this mess out.

"Oh, thank you so much!" Natsuna said, before recomposing herself. "I've arranged to have all the information about the case so far sent to your office, Detective, and given you both access to any other police resource that you might need."

"Yes, Ma'am." Taking that as a dismissal, Saito turned to leave the office, barely looking at the senshi next to him. "Follow me..." he said, before navigating his way back through the building to the general office area. To his annoyance, the other officers and interns were watching them as they passed by, and he could already tell there were going to be even more rumors now. 

The door to his personal cubicle was labeled with a bronze plate bearing his name, and he pulled out a set of keys and unlocked it to step in. The door closed behind them with a click.

The office wasn't very large, with only enough room for a decent sized desk with an older computer on it, two chairs, and a metal filing cabinet next to a hat and coat rack. It was spartan in appearance, with only work related items scattered around. Even the calendar and clock on the wall were unremarkable. 

The only exception was a wooden picture frame on the edge of his work space, containing an image of five high school boys. One of them was white haired and silver eyed, and looked much more relaxed than Saito did. 

A thick manila folder was already sitting on top of his usual paperwork, and after hanging up his trench coat, he sat down in the chair behind it to inspect it. The only chair left over was directly across from him.

“I don’t use guns, silly,” V scoffed, even if she knew he was not being literal about it.

She perked up at the idea of getting access to more information, though how much more could the police have on Ace, really? Probably not much more than she had. She probably had more. That was the whole point she was here—because she kept beating the police to the punch with solving crimes.

V looked one last time at Natsuna, who gave her the pleading expression complete with clasped hands and puppy eyes, sighed, and followed Saito to his office.

It was barely an office, actually. It was just a lone cubicle that for some reason needed its own door and walls. Seeing that most of the other officers had to work together side by side in the main room, Saito must have gone up in ranks quite a bit to get his own office, small as it was. Well, she should hope he wouldn’t be too incompetent. She looked around the room critically, trying to discern what kind of person he was from his décor.

How unsurprising that there was barely anything personal here? Clearly he had no personality. Boring. But then her gaze fell on the picture frame. Without waiting for permission whatsoever, she picked it up and examined it. To her surprise, rather than containing a picture of a girl—haha, why would he have a girlfriend?—or his family, it was a picture of five young boys. It took her a second to realize one of them was himself, mostly because unlike his present day self, he was smiling in the picture. She had to admit he looked pretty good when he was younger, but his friends were equally good-looking.

“Your friends?” she asked casually, still holding the frame. “Can you introduce me to them? They’re gorgeous. I bet some of them are even my fans,” she grinned confidently, quite certain she was annoying him.

That was the entire reason she was doing it, after all.

Saito was flipping through the multiple reports the file contained when he saw Sailor V grab the picture frame out of he corner of his eye. Could she refrain from not touching something for five seconds?

"Yes, they're my friends," he said, grabbing the picture from her with a less than amused expression. He set it back down on the table. "And we're not here to help you get a boyfriend, remember? This is a serious investigation." Like he'd actually introduce her of all people to them... 2 years later, and they were all still close friends, though he didn't get to see them as often because of his work. They were like his surrogate brothers in a way, and Saito had no intention of dragging them into this mess too.

"Here, look at these." Saito slid a short pile of pictures over to her. Each one was of a playing card. "This was what was left at every crime scene after he vanished with his stolen prize. And he isn't consistent with exactly what he steals, other than it being made of gold. He only steals jewels if they're attached to a gold band or necklace." He slid another file over to her. "And after about a week, the jewelry he steals end up in other criminals hands. He's either dumping them off or selling them, but no one we've arrested has claimed to see his face either."

“I’m always looking for a boyfriend,” V giggled and sat down on the seat before him, crossing her legs as if she was in a modelling photoshoot.

She put on her serious face when he handed her Ace’s cards, picked up from his crime scenes. V had seen those in the news before, and sometimes in the actual crime scenes. She’d picked one up and brought it home to investigate, though it didn’t lead anywhere. It was the Ace of Hearts. She wondered if she should tell Saito she was keeping one. Probably not; he’d just yell at her again.

“So he likes gold,” she muttered, and a strange feeling overcame her as she said the words. Something felt familiar… like puzzle pieces were about to click, but then moved away again before she could put them firmly in place. She frowned. What was that about?

She thought about it for a moment. “Well, maybe we can set up a trap. Come up with a piece of irresistible jewelry with some kind of rare gold in it, put on an event, make a show of unveiling it for the first time. Then we set up police all around the place… and put a tracker in the jewel itself. That way even if he does manage to slip past all of us, we’d still know where he’s going.”

"That's....actually not a bad idea," Saito said. It would be far easier to catch Ace if they knew where he was going to show up, instead of having to chase him around after he's already committed the crime.

"But... I'm not sure we'll be able to find someone willing to volunteer their valuable gold at the risk of losing it. And with the Phantom Thief's reputation, I wouldn't blame them." And if the police failed again, it would even further ruin their reputation. "It might be better to purposely let him steal something, and then track him down to wherever his base is. Using a valueless decoy, of course." Then they could catch him off guard when they finally go after him, or at least discover where his safe-house is.

"And I think I know someone who can help us set the trap up."

V tried not to appear too smug when Saito admitted her idea was good. Of course it was.

“Well, I was thinking more like we use a fake. A very convincing fake. Preferably one he can’t tell is a fake on sight.”

And then as he continued to speak, she realized that they had the same idea. She would never have thought she’d be in the same wavelength as a police officer in a million years. That was weird, to say the least.

“You do?” she blinked, honestly surprised. Did this excellent police officer know some… unsavory characters? Forgers and the like? She would have never guessed. Maybe he would surprise her yet.

“Well, I sure can’t wait to meet them,” she said with a grin.

"Don't get too excited..." Saito said, shaking his head. Honestly, she acted like he was about to bring her to see a Yakuza clan member. He collected the papers and reorganized them in their file before tucking the envelope under his arm. "Come on, if we start organizing this trap now, we can get it cleared with the chief and set up by tomorrow night." Saito grabbed his coat from the rack and pulled it on as he walked to the door. 

He led Sailor V out to the back parking lot, where his plain looking police cycle was waiting where he had parked it that morning. He opened up the seat compartment and hid the file away, and then pulled out a spare helmet and tossed it to her. 

"Wear this, I don't feel like getting pulled over on the way there," he said, before throwing his leg over the motorcycle. It was both to protect her head in case of an accident, and would serve as a way to cover her face so they attracted less attention. A second helmet was hanging off the handle bar for himself, and he grabbed it to strap it on.

V followed the detective outside to his motorcycle. She had to admit she appreciated a man who preferred a bike to a regular old boring police car. Also, this provided the opportunity for her to—nope. Why did her mind go there? She was not going to start flirting with a lame detective. No matter how good looking he might look.

She caught the helmet deftly, mourning the fact that it would surely ruin her hair, wishing she could let her beautiful blonde mane roam free in the wind like in the movies instead. But she knew better than to argue with someone from the police department about the law.

She gingerly placed it on her head, muttering a mental apology to her squished ribbon. “You’re more… adventurous than I expected,” she commented. “So… before we get into each other’s personal bubble here, you don’t mind if I hold on to you, right? Also, while riding sidesaddle might be more graceful, I’m going to opt out on that. This skirt is longer than it looks, after all.” She winked behind her mask.

"Adventurous? Hmph, it's just easier to move quickly than if I used a car." Saito did have practicality in mind, but he also did enjoy the short lived thrill of riding his bike after a criminal at high speed. Not that he'd admit that. 

He paused at her next question, and he was glad that his motorcycle helmet covered the look of shock on his face as he realized what she'd have to do. Saito hadn't even thought about their positioning on his motorcycle.... Well, this was strictly business, so what did it matter if she had to hold his waist to not fall off? It was a normal position for riding. Having justified it, Saito relaxed.

"Holding on is usually how two people ride a motorcycle," he answered, shrugging. "Just don't distract me when I'm driving." 

________________________________

After a 15 minute drive through the Juuban-District, Saito entered a much more upscale neighborhood, filled with larger houses and condominiums. He slowed as they neared a certain complex, and then turned into one of the parking spots labeled for visitors.

"he better be home..." Saito muttered, turning off his engine and putting the kickstand down. The entire ride was a little more awkward than usual, as he didn't ride with other people very often and was aware of someone touching him the entire time. This trip better be worth it...

It was so cute that he seemed surprised, then tried to brush it off. During the ride, V got to experience the feeling of that strong, muscled chest of his, solid under her touch. He felt… reassuring. Like she could depend on him. A strange feeling indeed to feel toward a lawman since he wasn’t her type at all, and she had never had much confidence in the police, being a much more efficient agent of justice herself.

Their ride felt much too short, and soon they arrived in a more lavish neighborhood. V’s curiosity peaked as they entered one of the complexes. So his… informant(?) was rich? Well, she supposed if he made fake jewelries for a living… But then again if he was making money selling fake things, why was Saito working with him instead of putting him behind bars?

Curioser and curioser.

She got off the bike and eyed the apartment complex. “You definitely need to tell me about this guy’s story.”

"He's one of my friends from high school," Saito said as they walked into the building's lobby. Zakari Kitakame was often considered by others as a Renaissance man, a jack of academic and artistic trades.  

The half-Japanese son of a rich businessman, he spent his days after school pursuing his own research and projects. Saito considered him to be someone who's attention span was too short to focus on one thing for too long, resulting in a resume far longer than it should be for a young adult. He did have to admit that he was a genius though, if a  bit... eccentric

"He works with computer programs and robotics in his spare time, so I thought he'd be able to find a small enough tracking device to use." It was possible that Zakari could even find-or simply donate- a piece of gold to go with it. Saito nodded tot he man keeping watch in the lobby, and stepped into the elevator, hitting the button for the third floor. 

"I'll warn you now that he's a bit sensitive though, so don't offend him or he may not help us at all." When the elevator opened up again, the faint sounds of a piano could be heard from down the hallway.

“Ooh, is he one of the boys from the picture? Which one is he? The one with the impressive brown mane? Or maybe the short-haired one?” V bounced behind Saito as they walked into the building, bursting with excitement.

She deflated a bit when she heard that he was, well… the scientific genius type. So not a forger then. Not someone secretly running an illegal operation. Oh well. Maybe he’d prove to be more interesting than just the typical smart guy. Minako didn’t exactly mesh well with those genius types.

And a sensitive one, too? She scrunched up her nose. “I shall try to be on my best behavior.”

Some people in the lobby gave her strange looks, some seemed to recognize her and began whispering, forcing her to walk quickly and purposefully so that they knew she didn’t have time to have a spontaneous meet-and-greet. She started wondering if maybe staying in this form was a good idea. She didn’t want to show her real self to Saito just yet… but was there another disguise she could use?

Ohhh. Of course.

As they stepped out of the elevator, V put one hand on Saito’s arm to stop him.

“Will he appreciate me as… this?” she indicated herself. “Because if not I can totally be something else. I can be anyone else I need to be. Except my real self, that is, because it has to be secret. But literally anything else. Besides, I’m really attracting people’s attention like this.”

Saito stopped at V's question. Wait... she could have been disguised as someone else the entire trip over? 

"So you're saying that you didn't have to walk through the lobby as Sailor V?" he asked, making sure to not let the irritation color his voice. They had to work together if they wanted to fix the mess they were in, so there was no point in losing his patience with her. 

"I don't think he'd care in particular, but for the sake of not attracting more attention than we have to, could you possibly become an officer?" If someone unsavory was watching, two members of the police would cause less of a scene. "And while we're here, is there anything else you can do that I don't know about?" 

This was why he didn't like the idea of magical vigilantes. Almost everything about Sailor V was unpredictable, and being unable to guess what someone is about to do drove Saito crazy.

“Maybe?” V grinned in obvious guilt yet in a you-can’t-be-mad-at-me-because-I’m-too-cute way. “Sorry, I completely forgot.”

She nodded vigorously at his next question. “For sure! A gorgeous yet no-nonsense female officer coming right up!” She giggled. “And here I thought impersonating a police officer is a crime. I’m liking your rebellious streak more and more, detective.” She looked back and forth in the hallway. The elevator area had a small alcove to the side, which seemed like it’d provide decent cover. She walked into it, waving back at Saito. “And nope, that’s about it. Besides, I can’t be telling you all my secrets just yet,” she glanced back and winked before disappearing into the alcove.

Once she was hidden, she pulled out her Crescent Moon Compact and raised it to the air.

“Crescent Power, Transform! Change me into a cute detective!”

A flash of light later, she stood in a completely new attire. A sleek grey pantsuit with white blouse and heels, complete with a police badge. Her long hair was pulled up in a bun. She stared at her new look in the compact and grinned. She pocketed it and stepped back out into view as if strutting down the runway.

“What do you think?”

Saito blinked in surprise at her quick change, not expecting it to be so thorough. He was almost struggling to remember who she actually was. Whatever strange magic she used was pretty strong. She almost looked like a respectable law officer like that... After looking at her from head to toe, he nodded. 

"That's good enough." As they walked down the hall, the muted piano notes grew louder, and Saito stopped at a door at the end of the row. He banged the knocker, but the piano continued to play and no one responded. Undeterred, he knocked louder. Still no answer. He gave a grunt of irritation and looked directly at the door's peephole.

"Zakari, get up and open the door. I know you can see me..." he said to it. The hole blinked, and the piano stopped. A minute later, they could hear someone walking around on the other side of the door, and then it unlocked and opened with no assistance.

"Honestly Saito, you could have just called ahead." A young man a good few inches shorter than Saito, but still taller than Sailor V greeted them. His hair was strawberry blonde and pulled back into a short ponytail. His face had a feminine shape to his, and his eyes were a sharp green. He wore a simple collared button up shirt and long pants, but the apartment behind him was well decorated and expensive looking. 

The man glanced at Sailor V and his expression changed from chastising of Saito to interest. "Oh, did you finally get a partner? And to think I could have made tea..." Saito rolled his eyes. 

"This isn't a pleasure visit, unfortunately." Saito said. "We're working on a case. Do you mind letting us in?" 

"Oh fine, but I better get some kind of details if you're going to ask for any favors..." Zakari said, before stepping aside to allow them through. The apartment was mostly shades of white, with accents of greens and blues in the furniture and wallpaper. The decor was highly modern, giving it a sleek look instead of a vintage, aristocratic feel. The walls had original paintings and a few photograph hanging, and in a start contrast, the electronics and appliances were state of the art. Tiny orb shaped cameras were place in strategic locations, and once the door was closed, the custom machine built into the back of it to remotely lock and unlock it was visible. 

Saito navigated the condominium easily, betraying his familiarity, and sat down cross legged at a low table in the living room, the only traditional piece of furniture in sight. Three more places were available around it.

Was that an appreciative look she saw?

Of course, his actual words would barely pass as a compliment, but she’d take it. She followed him to the door at the end, curiously wondering what kind of eccentric man she might encounter. Judging from the sound of the piano, maybe one of those sensitive musician types? Artists and scientific geniuses usually don’t go together… it was the whole logic versus art thing that were usually at odds with each other.

She blinked in surprise when Saito said the man inside—Zakari, was it? Unusual name—could see them. Did he have cameras out here? She looked around but did not immediately find one. And did that peephole just blink?

The door opened on its own, and Minako finally heard the mysterious man spoke. Soon she saw his figure, as well. Not a lot of guys could pull off a ponytail, so she was impressed that it looked effortlessly good on him. In the few moments Minako laid eyes on him, she made a quick assessment. More feminine rather than masculine—that fit the sensitive trait Saito mentioned. Rich, obviously, probably had good taste, too considering his choice of décor. Talented in the arts and apparently also a genius.

So why wasn’t he more famous?

She let Saito do all the talking, mentally shelving the information that he was obviously the solo detective type judging from what Zakari said—why? Trust issues? Arrogance? Something else?

As they were let in, Minako looked around, noticing all the high tech equipment and appliances. Did Zakari make all these—and those paintings—himself? She did not recognize any of them, though she was far from an art expert herself.

Saito seemed like he’d been here a lot, and Minako followed him into the living room, but did not sit just yet since she had not been asked to yet. For a moment she was annoyed that Saito didn’t introduce her, until she remembered she was undercover and they didn’t exactly agree on a name yet.

Then again, he hadn’t introduced his friend to her either, so maybe he was just that rude.

“Apologies for interrupting your afternoon,” she told their host. “I am Akemi Hoshino, Detective Saito’s new partner. He told me you might be able to help us with our case.”

Saito raised a brow at how polite she was being. Just how good of an actor was she to come up with a fake name that smoothly? Maybe he really had underestimated her skill... He'd follow her lead on this one then.

"Officer Hoshino, this is Zakari Kitakame," Saito said. Zakari smiled at her. 

"A pleasure to meet the person who has to put up with Saito's attitude on a daily basis," he said, earning a stern look from his friend. "If you recognize my last name, my father owns a big business enterprise in jewelry. I like to keep things a little more low key though. Please, sit down..." He waited for her to pick a spot, and Zakari took one of the last two for himself.

"Now what's this police business about?"

“It hasn’t been that long, honestly,” Minako replied cheerfully.

Ah, so he was famous, but he seemed like the more reclusive type. So… let’s see, a science genius, an artist, and someone with the family business of jewelries. This was one very connected man. And now that Minako saw him up close, she recognized that he was indeed one of the boys from Saito’s picture. If this was where two of them ended up, she wondered what happened to the other two.

Minako sat down beside Saito, waited for him to speak, and when he didn’t, she wondered why he was leaving this up to her when he was the one who knew Zakari personally. Well, if he didn’t want to take the lead…

“We’re trying to catch a particularly slippery jewel thief. You might’ve heard of him; the Phantom Thief, Ace? We figured we could try to lay a trap for him with a fake jewel. One with a tracking device on it that he won’t notice.”

"And I assume Saito thought that I'd have something useful..." Zakari said. "I knew it was you in the paper this morning! I guess this Phantom really is causing issues. Well I could certainly try to assist you. Hold this..." Zakari dug into his pants pocket and pulled out a gold pocket watch with a few small diamonds embedded in the lid. He opened it and took a small photo out, and tossed his empty jewelry to Saito. 

He caught it with one hand, and turned it around between his fingers.

"Are you sure you're willing to let us borrow this locket?" Saito asked. He knew it was an heirloom piece, not something that could be bought again with ease. 

"I'm trusting that you'll value it enough to make sure I get it back," Zakari said. "And the tracking device can fit inside of it. Speaking of that..." He stood up and walked out of the room, returning a few minutes later with what looked like a microchip and an old cellphone. He sat back down and placed them on the table. "Set this chip anywhere, and there's a program on the phone that can follow it with GPS. It only works for a certain distance, so don't let the thief get all the way to Kyoto with my locket, alright? It's got a ten mile range."

Minako blinked in surprise when Zakari handed over a golden pocket watch that obviously looked not only expensive, but also held some sort of personal value to him. She briefly wondered what was in the picture that he took out. A girlfriend? A parent? An old friend?

“We’re going to take good care of it,” Minako promised. The thought of Ace getting his hand on something so personal unsettled her, but she was determined not to let it fall through her grasp.

They thanked Zakari and left his apartment without much more conversation, and it wasn’t until they’d closed the door behind them and headed back to the elevator that she noted, “He must trust you very much to hand that over so easily.” She supposed it really showed the bond they had had over the years. It must be nice. Being Sailor V, she was mostly unable to keep friends herself… except for the select few who had come to know her identity like Natsuna. And she hated to admit it, but sometimes she only brought people into her inner circle because they were useful to her in some way. The people she decided to trust went through a really difficult consideration process, and usually if they held no value to her as Sailor V, she would not bother revealing her identity to them. Part of it was to protect them, too, or at least that was what she told herself.

“So… now what? We ask some jewelry store or museum to unveil it and make a big show of it?” she asked, rubbing her hands together.

“I so can’t wait to have Ace in my grasp at last.”

"We...went through a lot of things together as children," Saito said. There had always been a strong bond between himself and his friends, even before they really knew each other. They couldn't explain, but they all had an innate trust in one another. "I can find a place willing to display it for us, we just need to make sure that the news spreads fast so that Ace is attracted to the bait."

__________________________________________________________

The next night, at one of Tokyo's history and art museums, a large gala was being held for the showing of a new exhibit, a collection of rare jewelry from the 1920s. The night's centerpiece would be a solid gold pocket watch in near mint condition, studded with diamond bits and designed with a seal that looked like a tortoise. Police were hanging around the museum itself, but inside there were just the average guards. 

Undercover, Saito wore a more formal white suit as he walked around the event. His badge and equipment were tucked into his jacket, but he kept a vigilant eye out for any strange activity. Sailor V had said she'd meet him at the Gala, but considering her ability to change her appearance, she could be anyone...