Work Text:
An art exhibition is happening in one of the many buildings within Shibuya- and it just so happens that this exhibition is one of the many that the grandiose painter, Shinonome Ena, has built up over the years.
Although something about this particular exhibition is… strange. Although not obvious to the common eye, there are many cards scattered around the place. Even on the artworks she had spent many hours on, even on the most carefully preserved, there seemed to be a card hiding amongst them.
Whether it be a Joker, Two of diamonds, Five of hearts, or just a little card with the letter ‘M’ on it: they seemed to be everywhere for Ena.
She knows what they are, what they mean, and where they came from.
The letter ‘M’ cards say it all. Its specific font or the way the back of the cards are always detailed to the bone, or the ribbon by the card’s corners; these markers let Ena know very well that she would be getting a visitor that night, one that she fully intended to meet upon arrival. Not to catch her, or report her to detectives or police, but for a chat. Similar to the many the two have already experienced.
As Ena ventured through the halls, catching sight of her paintings, watching the visitors admiring her art, compliments are thrown around and said aloud amongst the chatter and various conversations: none of which she took note of extremely, as her awareness drifted towards the subtle effects of a certain thief on the walls.
Ena’s gone through the whole exhibition and she’s sure she noticed every single card. Though right now she can’t take them from their subtle places on her paintings out in the public, she mentally celebrates her success. Aware she won’t be able to meet ‘Her’ until the exhibition is all over, she tries to take it all in: the noise, the liveliness, the sight, and wait until sundown when the halls close. Then, the ghost-like presence of the person behind poker cards will be revealed to her.
Night falls and the exhibition is closed.
Akito- Ena’s younger brother who indulges in detective work- leaves the site early and says he’ll investigate with his team on the last day of the exhibition in regards to the recurring thefts and strange cards.
But Ena knows, and is certain: by then, every trace of the phantom thief will be gone. Once more, like every time in the past, she will remain the singular witness.
After watching her brother leave the building by the balcony, Ena stood unmoving, waiting by the same spot adjacent to the marble railings.
This was their usual spot after all.
-
After a few minutes, familiar, faint footsteps sounded out behind her, alerting Ena of ‘Her’.
Ena turned around and before her was the infamous culprit and wanted criminal being sought after.
Phantom Thief M.
Also known as Amia to a few others, but to Ena? The girl in front of her was none other than Akiyama Mizuki.
“Did I keep you waiting, Enanan?” Mizuki smirked at her, dressed in her full phantom thief get-up, mask on and everything.
“Yeah, you did.” Ena expressed a scowl, but inside her chest was warm. Seeing Mizuki at the end of her exhibitions has become one of the many reasons she looks forward to having them.
“My bad! It’s just that lil’bro took his sweet time today,” she scratched the back of her head, moving herself to take a seat on the railing with her back turned to the view.
“Mhm. How long are you staying tonight?”
Starting off with a simple question she’s asked many times, although she’s never gotten an actual answer in return: how ever so distant this phantom thief was.
“Aww, not even an ‘How are you?’ or ‘Did you enjoy my exhibition?’ You wound me, Enanan!” Mizuki sobbed melodramatically with a hand to her chest, earning an eye roll from Ena.
“I already know your answers.” A permanent scowl seemed to be on Ena’s face but for Mizuki, that just meant she’d need to up the teasing.
“Aren’t you grumpy today? C’mon, give me a smile Enanan!” Mizuki pouted, a little trick of pushing Ena a little bit more to make her smile.
…And it appeared to have worked when Mizuki caught a glimpse of Ena’s lips twitching, but was quickly controlled and stopped and the classic scowl Mizuki grew to adore was back.
“You’re ridiculous.” Eyes rolled and Ena stared up at the night sky. Mizuki is seemingly unbothered by Ena’s gaze shifting, but she wasn’t going to let that comment slide.
“Me? You’re the one who hasn’t reported me yet! Who’s really ridiculous here?”
“Yeah, yeah.”
It seemed that Ena wouldn’t budge, so perhaps it was time to do something different.
“Do you wanna walk around the gallery?”
That quickly got Ena’s attention. Mizuki had never suggested such an idea before.
“Now?”
“Yup! So what’ddya say?”
Ena felt no reason to reject it, especially when 99% of their meetings had been on their little balcony: never once had there been a change in environment.
“Well… I’m not opposed to it.”
“Great! Let’s go in then!” Hopping off the railings, taking her by the hand, Mizuki stole Ena away from the railings to enter the art gallery. At first glance, Ena would seem bothered but she was actually amused and carried a subtle curiosity. This felt different.
Moving through the once brightly lit up gallery- now with only dark corridors faintly lit by crystalline lamps- the two journeyed down slowly, eyes darting towards every hung and framed masterpiece along the velvet walls. Finding it a bit too dark, Ena offered a question: “Shouldn’t we turn on the lights?”
But in response, Mizuki stopped and shook her head, raising an eyebrow. “And risk getting caught? I imagined you’d be smarter than that, Enanan!”
There would be points where Ena would get so caught up in the moment and forget completely that Mizuki was indeed a literal felon and not a random friend coming for a casual meet-up and this was one of them.
“Right... my bad.”
But even with that in mind, Ena was still anxious within the eerie setting. Mizuki glanced over, taking note of her unconscious paranoia and nudged her a bit.
“Don’t tell me you’re scared? If you are, you can keep holding my hand!”
Ena paused, and suddenly her hand was flying far up and away from Mizuki’s.
“Of course not! I just prefer being able to see… that’s all.” A lie. Ena wasn’t the best with the dark, but it would be in her best interest if she kept that a secret to prevent Mizuki from getting more ammo to tease her with.
“If you say so!” Mizuki cheered, turning around to look up at the image of flowers spread on the canvas hung before her. The teasing hint in her voice didn’t go unnoticed and was certainly not appreciated: it only made Ena want to suck it up and just try to brave through the darkness herself.
“Can we just get moving?” Slightly ticked off and seeing as the conversation wouldn’t be getting her anywhere, Ena tried to divert the attention away from her and focus back on the gallery.
“We haven’t even taken a look at the paintings in front of us! Have a little patience Enanan.”
Ironically, Ena herself had barely been paying attention to the artwork amongst their banter. Finally looking up, even through the darkness she could see that there was a piece she had spent several months on: one of her first few pieces that kept her going. It wasn’t years old, but it definitely felt nostalgic to see it hung up in a gallery. Beside her, Mizuki could notice how special this painting was, from the strokes, the tiny cover ups, her colors, and most importantly the look on Ena’s face as she gazed at the painting in full bloom. Gentle, light pink peonies that contrasted a dull green and shone at the centre. Mizuki wanted to know, desperately so, what was going through Ena’s mind in the past as she made the painting, and in the present as they stood before it now. There was so much she wanted to find out about Ena: she wanted to talk with her more. Yet, the two weren’t close enough for that, was what Mizuki thought. The uncertainty was a tad too overwhelming, so she pushed her questions away.
Ena scanned the painting one more time before her eye caught the card placed within the piece.
“How many cards did you put around this time?”
“A few hundred or so.” Ena wasn’t too convinced. There would be little time for Mizuki to clear up so much after their little rendezvous.
Mizuki grinned at Ena’s slightly absurd expression. “Don’t worry~! I’ll collect them all by the end of the exhibition, I won’t get caught Enanan, I’m no amateur.”
A scoff from Ena widened Mizuki’s smirk. “I know that, idiot.”
Mizuki stifled a laugh, instead maintaining her present grin and holding out her hand for Ena once more.
“Shall we continue then?”
Ena stared. Sighing gently, she took the offer and placed her palm atop of the other’s, enclosing their distance as they both continued their strides forward. Quiet conversations proceeded as they stopped between each painting, their light banter sounding through the halls. Not too loud, not too quiet but all in all comfortable and ‘just right’.
They stop by one of the last few paintings: a recent one, based on the phantom thief herself (a painting that had brought around some questions and astonishment from visitors at the presentation of the renowned thief). When Mizuki first saw it, she was in awe. Now, whenever Mizuki sees it again, her expression has never wavered with the emotions going through her mind and heart.
Pure adoration.
With Mizuki’s mask always on, Ena could hardly tell, but she could see that gentle look. The way Mizuki looked at the painting as if it were one of the most precious things to her. Today, for some reason, Ena had an urge to see her face more clearly. To see the expression she was making, the reaction to something she made for her once more. Without thinking clearly, Ena’s mouth opened and spoke on its own.
“I… have a request.”
A wondering turn and mere hum was the response she received, with Mizuki’s eyes now darted towards her.
“Can you…” Ena hesitated. Was this overstepping? Maybe too soon? But she was on a roll.
“Can you take your mask off?”
A minute passed. They stared at each other in a silence that felt deafening. Mizuki’s eyes didn’t tell Ena anything, they never did. Ena was beginning to regret and eat back her own words, before she was finally given a reply.
“Tonight is sure of surprises, isn’t it?”
There was a certain tone within Mizuki’s voice, Ena couldn’t tell what it was. Mizuki… was always full of secrets: the mask was just one of them, and with every unveiled truth Ena would get a melancholic, yet relieved feeling. But for Mizuki, she could never tell.
“Sure! I’ll take it off, just for you, Enanan.” Playfulness replaced the old tone in her voice, and soon enough the mask was taken off. Almost too soon, because the moment the prop was ripped away Ena fell still.
It was weird, seeing the phantom thief with a fully exposed identity, but Ena felt warm. This was Mizuki Akiyama, the girl she knew and the girl she could now see fully.
“You’re staring.”
Ena was fixed in a trance and had barely noticed. She saw Mizuki’s fidgeting hands, nervous and unsure.
‘Is she embarrassed?’
“So… any reason you wanted me to take off the mask today?” Her voice was more stable than she was acting as she moved her gaze back towards Ena.
Thinking about the question, Ena didn’t really have a reason. Not one that sounded reasonable enough, something beyond ‘I just really wanted to see your face’. Instead, she quickly conjured up an awkward sounding excuse.
“Well… we were doing something we haven’t done before so I thought I’d ask for something new…” she stammered, a bit flustered. “That’s… all, yeah.”
Mizuki didn’t miss a beat. “So you wanted to see my face?”
“What part of what I said did you get that from!?” Heat rising onto her cheeks, Ena now wanted to change the course of the conversation desperately.
A laugh came out of Mizuki uncontrolled and raw compared to her usual giggles; this was much more hearty, bright, and genuine. It felt like a blessing to Ena’s ears. Fondness and appreciation for being able to see this side of Mizuki filled Ena’s mind, and she silently thanked fate. Even after Mizuki returned to her usual shit-eating grin, Ena couldn’t help but feel grateful.
“Whatever.” A meaningless sigh escaped out, unable to cover up Ena’s soft happiness.
A few minutes passed and Ena’s gaze moved towards Mizuki, whose expression wasn’t visible, even without the mask on. Ena wonders once more, before Mizuki coughs into her fist.
“Shall we end tonight’s meeting?” Ena blinked and before she knew it, Mizuki’s mask was back on.
Everything felt different: the air around them was shifting. Ena couldn’t tell if it was the events of the night or Mizuki in general. Mizuki never really asked Ena if she wanted the night to end and instead often, she’d rather just announce that she needed to go and escape immediately. Tonight, Mizuki gave Ena a choice.
As much as Ena wanted Mizuki to stay, to spend a little bit more time together, she didn’t have a reason as to why she’d want to other than being in Mizuki’s presence for longer. Would Mizuki take that as a valid reason? Would Mizuki stay with Ena and talk with her until it felt reasonable? Ena thought she would. Mizuki probably would, but she still thought about the changes that had just happened between them.
Her gut was telling her to ask Mizuki if they could stay a little longer together, chat a bit more, stare out into the night sky back at the balcony but instead, with exhaustion taking over, she nodded and with a vague expression on her face responded. “Alright. I should head home soon anyways.”
A smile made its way onto Mizuki’s lips but not all the way. Subtle disappointment, maybe a forced expression.
“Let’s go back to the balcony then! You’ll see me off there, won’t you?” An offer, a little more time together.
“Of course.”
That being said, barely any words were present on their walk back, and it was weird. Normally, Mizuki would be talking Ena’s ear off but this time, she was quiet. It bothered Ena, but she chalked it up to her being way too fatigued to the point Mizuki noticed and wanted to be nice.
They reached the doorway of the balcony just as Mizuki spoke up in a quiet voice: “Hey Ena, don’t you think it’d be interesting?”
“Huh?” Ena wasn’t sure if Mizuki continued her sentence but quieter or if she didn’t say anything at all.
“If people found out about us, our little meetings. We’d be all over the news!” Mizuki walked forward to the railings. Ena wasn’t sure what expression she could be wearing, but the tone felt… off.
“‘Phantom Thief M, and the renowned artist, Shinonome Ena’; don’t you think it’d be interesting?” Mizuki continued in an almost foreboding manner.
Ena thought about the hypothetical situation, walking over to the railing to stand beside Mizuki as she stared at the city view.
“Hmm… it is interesting, but I wouldn’t want you getting caught y’know.”
Mizuki blinked at Ena, like she was missing an important piece to a puzzle. Not just that, but the bigger picture entirely.
“What about you? Your career would… kind of be on the line at that point.” Ah, right.
“That would definitely be a shame but…” It’d be a lot more than a shame, for something Ena got looked down on and worked hard for to just crumble down. It would definitely be a lot more than a shame, but there’s also something else that would bother her, that would be just as important.
“I wouldn’t hold it against you. After all, it’s my own choice to meet up with you.”
Mizuki goes silent after that and Ena looks over to her; her eyes seem glossy. If Ena didn’t know better she’d assume Mizuki was on the verge of tearing up.
“Well enough of that, it won’t ever happen! Knowing you, at least.”
“You’re right about that, ‘was just curious y’know!” Mizuki seemed to have returned to her ‘usual’ self with her light playfulness in every word she spoke. Ena too, was out of the hypothetical nightmare that had come from the strange question.
Ena let out yawn. “Yeah, yeah. I’m getting really tired, so let’s part ways here.”
“Okay! Stay safe on the streets, Enanan,” Mizuki chirped, energetic as ever in comparison.
A softer gentle smile made its way onto Ena’s lips. “Mhm. You too, stay safe out there.”
Keeping the grin on her face, Mizuki did a little wave as she leaned her back on the railing.
“Well then, goodnight Enanan!”
And immediately afterwards, she had leapt off the balcony and had disappeared into the alleyways of the night. Ena just shook her head affectionately, huffing as she looked over the railings with a smile.
“Goodnight, Mizuki.”
Some things were still unclear and uncertain: about them both, about herself, but Ena knew they had time. They would have time to figure it out, surely.