"I had nothing to do with Black Blood!" I said in the face of this accusation.

"Then, what happened to his bracelet?" John asked quickly.

"What bracelet?" I asked, cursing myself internally for telling them everything that happened during that kidnapping.

"According to Ro, Black Blood had a bracelet, which was gone when they found the body," John said. "So, what happened?"

I snorted. "You think that I stole and killed Black Blood?"  One true, the other not.

John's look was duh as it was obvious.

I simply smiled serenely at him. "I don't know what you are up to, tantei-kun but you seem to be off in a business with fanciful theories that are not true."

"Don't beat around the bush. Just tell us what you did with that bracelet," John said sternly.

"And what business is it of yours?" I asked in a dreamy state. Considering my situation, I couldn't muster any care for the pint sized detective at the moment.

John looked at me slowly, "Because it is related to a special kidnapping from a secret organisation. You should be lucky that it is I who have caught you, not them."

"Really?" I asked, not feeling lucky in anyway.

"What do you know about them?" John tried a different question.

"This is getting nowhere," I said softly, and suddenly, Pip and Pop buzzed until the chain suddenly was gone.

"Wha-?" John and Suza was shocked.

"Rule one of the phantom thief: Always have a way to escape any situation!" I said with a smug smirk, "Ciao!"

"Wait, whe-" But John couldn't finish the sentence as I left the premises in a swirl of flames.

***

The next morning, as I woke up, I couldn't help but feel sorry for John in a few ways. He was just trying to clear up this mystery that was as murky as I can see.

"Huh?" I said sleepily as the mobile phone rang. Thank you Zelda, that the phone was invented. Much better than letters. May this be the starting point for this medieval world to TV and computers.

"Hello?" I asked dazed after picking up the phone.

"Ro? Sorry to wake you up, but I just wanted to talk to you," the voice was from John.

I sat up straighter when I heard the voice. Like, I know that John can't tie me to Rubin but still... this is just such a coincidence.

"Yeah, what's up?" I asked.

"When you said that I will think of something, I asked Suza's help to capturing that thief for myself, but that didn't work out," he said ruefully.

"Why? What happened?" I asked, as if I didn't know anything.

"I dunno, but he somehow short circuited Suza's drones and managed to escape. Thank God it was temporary the short circuit otherwise Suza will have my head," John said.

"So, what are you going to do now?" I asked.

"Actually, that requires a bit of help. So can you come down and see me at Sherlock and Co. at 10? Say my name and they will let you in."

"Whyever for?" I asked.

"Just for help. This mystery is spiralling out of control and the strings I do have are tangled up but from one or two of them, I know the organisation, whatever they are, are not pleased with the thief and planned to ambush him during his next heist."

"Really?" I asked. Hopefully when I retrieve White, I can put down this organisation. It's becoming a thorn deeper in my side.

"Yes, and according to a source, they also have plans for you. Of what, it can't be told," John said.

I had a vague idea however.

"OK, I will come," I said.

"Great. Hopefully we can get to the bottom of this mess. See ya," He said.

"Bye," then I hung up.

Afterwards, I saw a notification that I have a message. It was from Ain. I couldn't help but groan because the first thing I thought related to Ain was paperwork.

I was glad when the message wasn't about paperwork.

[You free later?] Ain

I answered quickly.

[Dunno. Why?] Me

[Just that after all that
paperwork, u want to like hang
out, just the two of us?] Ain

[What? Like a date?] Me

[Yep. U in?] Ain

[Maybe after 12?] Me

[That shakes out.
Like how 'bout 1?.] Ain

[Works 4 me. Cya.] Me

[Cya 2.] Ain

Then, my phone went dead. I was slightly surprised that Ain wanted to have a date but since we are betrothed, it does make sense.

So, boy would I be busy today...

***

"Hey, you going out?" Clover asked at 9 in the morning after I dressed up and was now eating an apple.

"You too, by the looks," I said. He was also dressed.

"Yeah, John wanted me to come to Sherlock and Co. on some business," Clover said.

"Me too," I said, surprised.

"Shall we take a carriage together?" He seemed less surprised.

"Sure," I said, and off we went together to Sherlock and Co. which was around the Zygarde Kingdom where it had been founded.

We both sat opposite each other and Clover started the convo.

"It's been so long that we last talked," He said that somewhat sadly, "How's the betrothal?"

"Could be worse," I said nonchalantly.

"If Mother never got that letter..." Clover said airily.

"You are still griping about that? It's over and done, so since I can't do anything about that, I decided to just enjoy whatever I have," I said in a calm tone.

"Like me?" He referred to my last sentence.

I sighed inwardly. He's still a sis con?! This poses some problems for me.

"Of course, you are my big brother after all," I said with a smile. His nose bled a little.

Come on, I'm not that cute, am I?

"Thanks, Ro, but about your betrothal..."

"What?" I asked.

"I don't want to worry you or anything," but I could see that Clover's eyes are going with 'anything', "But I would be careful with that Ain guy if I were you."

"Why?" I asked. I know that sometimes brothers might hate the boys that girls date with, let alone be betrothed, but what's got his hackles raised up?

"I mean, there's this rumour that I heard from a lot of friends and meeting with Ain from time to time, has made me believe it..."

"Get to the point," I butted in.

"Well..." Clover hedged, and then bummed rushed, "Ain has a lot of mysteries, and some of them not great. He's a lot more mature than he should be, and some might say that he was hanging out with the wrong sort to become like that, like a bad boy gang?"

I laughed, "Clover, that's kinda ridiculous and the answer is, no I will not annul the engagement. Mostly because Mother will have a fit otherwise and die of heart attack. I don't know you, but I'm not ready to lose a mother yet, however eccentric she is."

"Only you would call Mother eccentric," Clover snorted.

"With the fashion and etiquette torture, yes," I said.

"Back to point," Clover came round, "I'm not saying that you should break the engagement. I don't want Mother to have a heart attack anyway, but I'm just saying to be careful with Ain. Even if he doesn't join bad boy gangs, he's mysterious, quiet and brooding enough to be from the dark side."

"What?" I drawled, "You think Ain is going to kidnap me and lock me in some tower or something?"

"I was thinking along the lines of losing the complete innocence you have," Clover said as I snorted internally, "But that works too, and you are having a sense of dark humour so I guess I'm right when I said this was Ain's doing?"

"Nope, that's just me," I said, and we continued chatting more about mundane things but I can't help but think about what Clover said.

Mysterious, quiet and brooding... bad boy gang. Sounds like my type. But the 'be careful' part.

What if Clover's right?

***

It was soon that we reached Sherlock and Co. We told the guards that we knew John and they let us in without trouble. They also said to go to the fifth floor, first door right.

Once we reached the destination, I saw that the room was somewhat like a meeting room with a circular table and leather chairs.

Behind the table was some crime board those police use to tack pictures of criminals and evidence and the like.

In front of that was John surrounded by others: Riana, Alex, Milan, Greg, Nate, Star, Fera and Vera.

"Hey, take a seat," John waves around the table. Clover sat next to Riana who saved a seat and later hugged him. I sat between Nate and Alex.

"We are still waiting for Alyssa, Red, Zelda and Sloan," John said.

Then, when they all arrived and sat down their respective seats, John started the meeting.

"Well, thanks for meeting up with me," John addressed the group, "It's just that during the Black Blood incident that we worked so well, so I was wondering if we all could solve out the secret organisation that kidnapped Ro, Milan and Greg."

"I know that we banded together to help out the Black Blood incident but do we really need to go for another take down?" Vera asked. Her sister acquiesced along with Suza. They were not much in the way of adventurers. Edward and Alex weren't as vocal but you can see it on their faces. They just don't want to admit it.

"At least I want your opinions, since you are all friends. But ever since the kidnapping, everyone's been hands on deck to solve it and find the organisation behind it," John simply said.

"What? Why don't you wait for them to kidnap one of us or something and just reveal them by then?" I joked.

"What?" Alex rounded on her, "You just going to jinx yourself like that?"

Clover said at the same time, "You really had a running joke about this kidnapping thing, huh?" But Alex heard anyway.

"What?" Alex said, "Are you trying to attract trouble?"

"What can I say? I just have this dark sense of humor, huh?" I said, spreading my hands.

"Back to the point," John butted in before this could get out of control and looked at me, "No, we cannot wait for them to kidnap us and reveal them like a magic trick out of a hat, which means very unlikely. We need solid proof to pull them under."

"Here are the facts on the ground: the secret organisation is filled with fairies who are masked and devoted to a life of crime, they crashed the party and kidnapped Ro, Milan and Greg who might not be the only targets because they were aiming at the rest of us that night," he gestured to the whole group and they nodded the truth of the words.

"We know from Ro that the organisation seeks out the Pisces Bracelets for some secret ultimate power along with a treasure of Black Blood's which is certain to be the bracelet he wore that disappeared the day he died," John continued, "It was confirmed when we heard with our own words of the supposed leader who wanted the Pisces Bracelets and something of Black's. So do those come off?" He asked suddenly, directing to me about my Bracelets.

"Impossible," I said. "They just won't come off, ever. It was slightly uncomfortable sleeping with it at first, but then..." I shrugged.

"Ah well, word of advice: Take care of yourself," John said. I'm touched, like I have never thought of that. "We also saw the freakish powers of the boss' power with that bracelet he wore that turned into the mythical fox. And that power's related to light, right?" he looked askance at Milan, who nodded.

"Well, that's all the facts I know, but theory spinning: The organisation said 'getting rid of evil' and he kinda looked at Alex disdainfully with hate, so I'm guessing the organisation has a vendetta against demons. No offense," John said to a grimacing Alex who now shrugged, like no big deal.

"How 'bout we call them IHD from now on?" I asked, and when no one get it, I continued, "It stands for 'I Hate Demons'. Sounds a plausible name for the organisation if they are demon-hating fairies." All of them laughed while Alex gave a begrudging smile.

"Thank you for making fun of the situation," Alex said sarcastically.

I spread my arms, "That's what I'm here for, right?"

"No, you are here to have a serious conversation," John kicked in. He never had much of a sense of humor anyway. Just sarcasm to talk to criminals.

"Anyway, the boss' bracelet, with what could be all powerful, could be related to the Pisces Bracelets and Black Blood's bracelet that should probably hold dark powers. Probably the IHD," John noticed Alex's slightly sullen look, "It's a catchy name, but anyway, they might use whatever powers to 'rid of evil' but I just don't know what?"

Everyone tried to process the knowledge given. Then, Fera piped up, "Wow, you have really given this some serious thought. You could be right with the IHD," she looked askance at Alex's look, "The name's sticking," She said dismissively and faced John again, "that they are demon haters who are trying to get some unknown power from the bracelets to do so. I might also know who is the mastermind and their bracelet."

"How?" John spluttered.

"Well, you said about the bracelet that glowed and turned him into the Fox, right?" Fera asked. John nodded.

"Well, look at this!" Fera declared, taking out the phone and showing a video. I realized it was the one that I posted yesterday and when I saw the views...

"100K views after just a day?!" I asked, astonished.

"Yes, this is very popular because of the smug phantom thief. A friend recommended to me saying it was LOL, but while watching and it indeed was LOL, I noticed something. I always wondered if it was a glitch, but now..."

The video was when the Duke was surrounded by his robots after fending off Goombas and Kappas but as Fera pointed out, the bracelet of Duke Silverhart's started shining and he suddenly started turning into the Fox. We all rubbed our eyes to see whether they are tricking us, but no doubt...

Unfortunately, he didn't finish his transformation because of the sudden appearance of Boos that scared him back to human and fainted. LOL!

"So, it was Duke Silverhart?!" Zelda asked, astonished. Milan looked thoughtful.

"Well, if it was to get rid of demons... the Duke always held such a strong prejudice over the demon population although Lana doesn't feel the same. He even officiated a fairy cult against demon kind, and a lot of fairies have joined..."

"Don't tell me that's the organisation and right under our noses," I groaned. If we knew all along, this would have been settled right away.

"Again," John said, "It's not that easy, the jury won't take it. It's not concrete enough proof. So..."

"What are you going to do?" I asked him.

"What else?" John said with a grim smile, "That is, if you can help me..."

It's been so long after the last adventure that most of us nodded eagerly, the rest (Edward, Alex, Suza, Fera and Vera) all just shrugged as if 'why not?'

John smiled, and he told all of us his plan. We all nodded later.

"It could work..." Riana said thoughtfully.

"This will be fun," Zelda clapped.

"Does anybody know when Kaitou Rubin will hand in the treasure back?" Edward asked.

It was a blank, because without them knowing my alter ego, how could they possibly know?

"And we need Kaitou Rubin to show himself when he gives back the treasure. And he doesn't do that..." Alyssa gave another valid point.

"Don't worry," John smiled thinly, "I have contacts..." I shuddered, I have no idea what he's up to...

"Well," Edward was looking at his watch, "Meeting over?"

John laughed, and then promptly dismissed them. Thus, meeting ended.

***

Meanwhile, the Avenger snickered to themselves.

'Fools,' they merely thought. They heard the whole thing.

They then switched for their communicator and when they heard a voice responding, they replied, "I have some information you would like to hear..."