" Welcome to Daifuku ! PT. 2 "

" Dear arrow of fate... hear my wish. Mom means well , but I just can't live a life where nothing exciting happens. I fear that this might be the last time I get to be a kid. Grant my wish tonight. Take me somewhere filled with children's toys , and all the fun I could ever want... "

" I want to smile and laugh... "

" I want to be by Miyako's side... "

It was dark and silent , but Yukina's senses slowly came to with the sound of cars passing by , and her fingers grazing against the wet grass underneath her. It took her some time , but with the help of water tapping against her face , she slowly opened her eyes. Her consciousness faded in and out before getting a somewhat clear glimpse of the cloudy night sky that was pouring down rain.

' It was raining hours ago. Did it rain again ? ' Yukina thought , struggling to move with the aching pain in her back and hips. It felt like she jumped out of a moving car. Despite this tremendous pain and fatigue , she pushed her body hard enough to turn and look at something else other than the night skies. And what she saw was breathtaking.

Her eyes were still blurry from the rain , but could make out buildings and bright colorful lights coming from those buildings. The whole city looked like thousands of stars spread out to paint a beautiful canvas. It was so surreal. She never thought in a million years she would see another place other than Santiwan.

It's a dream come true. A strangely familiar dream...

She tried to sit up but a large wave of pain forced her to lay back down and stare into the sky. The soft touch of rain made her desperately want to drift off to sleep , and for a moment she considered it. She let her eyelids fall and her heartbeat slow down from the cold breeze that blew through. The darkness crept through yet again.

" Well , this isn't something you see every day "

Her eyes shot open , and she lifted her head to look for the source of the voice. " That voice...who's there ? " Yukina called out , only to be met back with silence. Her body demanded rest , but the snaps of someone's fingers forced her to stay awake.

She tried to lift her head and look around , but the pain in her back wasn't going to let her. That is until a hand was offered to her. A gloved hand.

" Take my hand. Unless you wanna sleep in the dirty wet grass then by all means , have fun " the voice chuckled.

Yukina was hesitant , but slowly reached out to them , accidentally gripping their arm instead of their hand due to the sudden dizziness. The first thing she took notice of was the texture of a suit. Spots of darkness dotted about from the sudden jump from sleep.

" Who are you ? " Yukina asked , the owner of the voice chuckling to themselves as Yukina held onto them for support.

" You don't know who I am ? You must be new. Oh well , I'm not complaining. Means less Daifuku Police on my part ! "

Yukina's heart sank.

' Daifuku police ? Are they.... '

All she could remember was the TV turning on , and a blinding white light before it faded into darkness.

The stranger pulled Yukina to her feet but in doing so , allowed her eyes to trail up the white glove to the purple visible suit , and eventually into their eyes.

Her blood went cold. Her body began to tremble , her eyes refusing to close.

She couldn't believe it , she was dreaming.

She was face to face with the Suit of Spade.

She was face to face with the one and only Phantom Thief Miyako.

The thief tipped her purple top hat to Yukina with a confident smirk across her lips , though it was hard to see because of the black bangs swaying to the right of her face. Her deep violet eyes stared into Yukina's with what felt like playful curiosity , though , it could've looked that way because of the purple mask that was pressed against her face.

Screaming , Yukina took off her shoe and threw it at Miyako's head , causing her to quickly retreat and rub her head as the hat came off. Yukina grabbed the hat , and pulled it close to her , her chest quickly rising and falling with her visible breath growing shakier.

" Gah ! Geez , what was that for?! Did you get brain damage or something?! " Miyako quickly snatched the hat away from her , and gently placed it back on her head , huffing in annoyance.

" You kidnapped me ! I don't know if you're dressing up as them or if I'm hallucinating , but if you don't take me back home right now , I'm reporting you to the police ! " Yukina spat out , gripping harder on her chest since she no longer had the hat to hold. Miyako sighed to herself and raised an eyebrow with an unimpressed frown , crossing her arms , and eyeing her as to take insult from that accusation. " Kidnapped.... really ? Trust me , if I wanted to kidnap you , I would've done it in style. On top of that , you have nothing I want. No treasure , no candy , no valuables. "

Miyako walked closer to her , Yukina backing away from the masked thief. " Let me ask you this. If I did supposedly kidnap you , then why would I leave you in the public for everyone to see ? On top of that , why would I let you sleep outside where you could escape ? "

Yukina bit her bottom lip. ' She has a point... but even so , why should I trust this stranger?! They could try to sell me , or worse ! ' Yukina thought. She silently walked away from her with the shoe in hand , sighing to herself in frustration with Miyako taking notice.

" Hey ! Where are you going?! " she called out. Yukina rolled her eyes and continued to walk off , hoping she wouldn't hear her voice ever again. " Home ! And if I can't find a way back home , I'll find someone who isn't a nut job to help me out ! Then , I'm reporting you to the police ! " Yukina yelled back. Miyako's eyes widened and she ran as fast as she could to catch up to her , blocking her path.

" Listen here , you don't have to trust me or like me or whatever , frankly I couldn't care less , but if you're gonna involve that detective then we've got a problem. "

" Detective ? What is this a game ? " Yukina barked. She was fired up to say more but the sudden red and blue lights told her otherwise.

" Shoot , I took too long ! " Miyako whispered , grabbing Yukina's hand , and running across the street to a dark building. They hid behind a wall and stayed quiet , Miyako poking her head from the edge to get a look at the situation. The sirens grew louder , and eventually cars pulled up to the scene.

The word " Daifuku Police Force " was on each side of the cars.

Miyako scoffed to herself before hiding her head from their sight. " Police. Lots of them. I was stalling for so long that they caught up to me. " she poked her head one more time to see one of the cars doors opening to reveal a woman in navy police uniform. She was a olive skinned brunette with a messy low ponytail , and short bangs in front of her face. She was twirling silver handcuffs across her fingers while scanning the place , looking for someone to arrest. This amused Miyako and distracted her from her worries.

" Oh what do you know. Looks like Detective Keiko took my bluff after all. Too bad it didn't work out for me because of this girl " Miyako chuckled to herself , and poked her head out one more time to see what happening. Yukina poked her head out as well , only for Miyako's head to be pushed upwards and pressed against the wall as Yukina's head popped out from the wall to look at the police.

" Hey ! Mind moving your dumpling head?! I can't see them ! " Miyako whispered yelled , Yukina huffing and pushing Miyako's body away from hers. " First off , I don't have a dumpling head ; and second off of all , you're one to talk ! You don't need to walk around the streets in a big hat and suit. You look like a walking grape ! " Miyako's eye twitched , her hands securing themselves onto her hat." My hat isn't even that big compared to your face , dumpling head ! "

The two of them continued to argue until Detective Keiko turned her head to the wall Miyako and Yukina were , Miyako yanking Yukina's arm and pulling her away from the edge of the wall.

" Miyako's tracks lead here , but they came to a stop... why is that ? " Detective Keiko mumbled. She pondered the streets until two more muffled voices came from the car , one of the car doors opening up for two people to walk in.

The first person to walk out was a girl with blonde wavy hair split into two buns , and green eyes. She wore a clear jacket , a pink sweater , jean overall shorts , and light blue leggings with white bunny designed sneakers.

The second person to walk out was a boy with brunette hair , but it wasn't as dark as the detective's. He wore a yellow striped long sleeve shirt , a dark red sweater tied around their neck , jeans , and a pair of brown rain boots. If they weren't wearing golden police badges , you would think they were kids because of how young they are.

" Maybe they used one of their tools to cover up the rest of their trail ! Or they became invisible , like that one time in the Netherlands when they stole the Almond Blossoms painting , or the time in China where they stole the— " the girl explained , before the boy elbowed her to stop talking.

" Getting back on track , we need to find her and arrest her once and for all. She has stolen more then we have recovered for 3 years. I won't let her best me again. " the detective clutched her gloved hand with a determined look in her eyes , terrifying Yukina.

" They're catching onto us. We have to get out of here before they realize we're he...er ? Dumpling head ? " Miyako looked down to see Yukina shivering.

Miyako's right arm was wrapped against Yukina's waist , and the other was pressed against her mouth to keep her quiet , her back against the wall with Yukina's back against her. Yukina bit her gloved hand as hard as she could , and stepped on her foot to get Miyako to move away. She then took her elbows and pushed her chest further into the wall , turning around and grabbing her collared shirt , forcing her to look down at Yukina's eyes.

With a surprised but angry glare , she pushed herself away from Yukina and bit down on her tightly gripped cape with tears threatening to come out , trying to suppress the pain in her hand and foot. " You're gonna pay for that ! "

The sound of footsteps grew louder and Yukina began to panic as the police were walking to their direction , quieting her voice. " What are we going to do?! Mom's going to freak ! "

Miyako without saying a word , dropped onto the concrete ground in search for something. When she came back up , she revealed a crushed up silver tin can. Gripping it in her hand , she moved towards the edge of the wall. Her hand was cocked back , ready to throw it until something yanked at her cape. Yukina , not wanting to draw attention to them , tried to pull Miyako back from the wall's edge.

" What are you doing!? Let me go ! " Miyako whispered as she tried pushing back , eventually the fight getting so bad to the point that Yukina tripped on her cape , and moved completely from the wall , revealing Yukina to the three police officers.

" What are you doing!? Get out of there ! Dumpling head ! " Miyako whispered. Yukina gripped on both of her arms , blinding light obscuring her sight of the police.

" Ms , can we help you ? " Keiko asked , raising a eyebrow and turning off her flashlight. Yukina gripped even tighter on her skirt , forcing herself to smile and act like everything's fine. From the sight of the benches to the large fields of grass , she could quickly assume that she fell into a park. " Uuuuh , I'm new to this city ! Just moved in last month , and I came out here to jog ! "

Although Yukina couldn't see it completely , she was able to catch a glimpse of Miyako with a look of awe in her eyes. She was staring at her , and held onto something , but was covered by her cape. It gave her slight butterflies in her stomach that her childhood hero was watching her , confident in her poorly written lie.

" Where are your parents ? I'm sure they would want you to return home safe and sound , especially with this thief on the loose. Speaking of , you wouldn't have happened to see them...have you ? " Keiko asked , Yukina's eyes widening and trying her best to stare at her in fear of darting another direction. One , because her mother raised her to be respectful to an adult and two , she always looks to the side when she's lying. " No ma'am , I have not. I appreciate your offer , but I'd rather stay a little longer. My parents allowed me to stay in the park so there's reeeally no reason to take me home , right ? " she slowly laughed to herself , praying that Keiko would believe in her lie , unaware that she was stuck in a fictional world that doesn't really rely on logic all too much.

" This late at night ? Strange "

" W-Well...I... " Yukina couldn't find a way to explain it. The detective looked even more skeptical then before , and only time would tell if Yukina could keep making excuses. Better yet , the fact she was making excuses for someone she clearly threatened to expose made her even more nervous.

Why was she lying for Miyako's sake ?

Miyako , annoyed at the long stalling , took it as a opportunity and gripped on the sides of her belt , looking for something to distract the police. " She's gonna get herself arrested...time for plan B ! " she muttered to herself , her gloved fingers stopping at a gadget and pulling it out of her belt , revealing a black orb with a purple spade logo on it. With a determined smirk , she threw it as far as she could and it cracked open upon impact , thick purple smoke covering the area before Keiko and the others could react.

Yukina stumbled for a bit , defeating whether or not to call out for Miyako now that it's been made clear that she was there , but before she could , a hand was wrapped around hers , guiding her into a clearing where a purple and black car was waiting.

" This is our ticket out of here , dumpling head. Let's go ! " the two hopped in , and Miyako started up the car , a smirk on her face. " A-Are you even old enough to drive ? " Yukina nervously asked. Playfully rolling her eyes , Miyako gripped on the wheel , and adjusted her hat , eyes glued onto the road.

" With a devilishly handsome girl like myself ? A driver without the license is the least of your concerns "

Stepping on the peddle , they immediately drove off onto the road , the wind in their hair , and Yukina falling backwards onto her seat from how fast they were going.

" It's Miyako ! Nozomi ! Haruto ! Start up the cars ! " Keiko commanded as the smoke began to clear , revealing Yukina's face looking back at them. " That girl....no , no she's getting herself into danger ! Miyako's gone too far ! " Keiko ran into her police car and drove off with the sirens blaring for the whole city to hear.

The chase was on.

Loud sirens startled them. Miyako snickered to herself as the sirens came closer and closer. " What did you even steal!? " Yukina asked. Her voice was filled with panic. Miyako stayed silent. She simply shrugged her shoulders with a cocky grin. " Nothing too serious , just a painting of Prince Shōtoku " Yukina slapped herself across the face then to her hair covering her face. " Of all the things you could even— you're gonna be imprisoned for life ! You know that , right?! "

Miyako snickered yet again. " They'll have to catch me first ! " she pushed the petal hard. The car brought distance between them and the police. Miyako turned to the car's side mirror. They were gaining speed. She gripped on the wheel with a heavy sigh.

" They're hot on our tail. Guess its time to use the big guns. Take the wheel , dumpling head ! " Miyako ordered.

" Take the what now?! " Yukina exclaimed. Her breath began to quicken from adrenaline.

Miyako jumped out of the diver's seat , and onto the trunk's surface with her hand on the car to keep herself steady. She stood up with ease. It was like something you'd see in a superhero movie. Yukina tried her hardest to grab the wheel. The car couldn't keep steady , and it started to swerve left and right. The loud screeching filled her ears. It was becoming too much for Yukina.

She immediately jumped into the driver's seat and tried grabbing ahold of the wheel , almost crashing into a utility pole. Falling off , Miyako quickly gripped onto the car before shakily climbing back onto the car.

" Arrow of fate , watch over me , because if this girl damages my car I swear I'll be crossed ! " Miyako mumbled to herself. She reached for her belt. A familiar gadget to Yukina caught her eye. She turned around and her eyes lit up in awe.

" That weapon...it's "

A dark purple yo-yo with a lavender symbol of a spade was thrown into the air. The neon lights of the city illuminated its plastic cover. In the mist of everything she didn't watch where she was going. She quickly turned around and swerved her car to the right. She was driving through the city streets. The car hit a curb when turning , and the yo-yo hit Miyako's head.

" Watch where you're driving , dumpling head ! " she barked.

Yukina gripped on the wheel for dear life. Miyako's words fell on deaf ears. All Yukina could hear was her shaky breathing , and the sound of the car. The tire of the car began to shake. Miyako's head turned in its direction , and wounded back the yo-yo. With all her might , she threw the yo-yo underneath the car and wrapped it around the wheel. Luckily for the both of them , it worked. The wheel was back to normal.

The street was leading to a dimly lit part of town. No one was around with only the colors of red and blue reflecting the grays and blacks of the buildings. Miyako and Yukina had managed to lose the police for the time being , but this part of the city was very familiar to them.

" There heading to Kurēnrēn. We can catch them at a dead end ! " Haruto cheered. Nozomi was in the driver's seat with Detective Keiko's car in front of theirs.

Miyako groaned in frustration and wrapping the yo-yo tight around her hand. " Listen to me carefully. At the end of this street is what looks like a dead end. I need you to keep driving at full speed. "

" Drive into a dead end?! Are you insane?! " Yukina shrieked. Her grip on the wheel tightened yet again. Her heartbeat fastened.

" Insane is better than caught right now Dumpling. Just trust me ! "

Thump. Thump. Thump.

With a small nod she could see the wall in view. Thump thump thump. She couldn't bring herself to close her eyes no matter how much she wanted to. Her hands fidgeted against the black leather.

The wall finally came to them.

Yukina was ready to scream , but a gloved hand covered their mouth. Her eyes were shut but couldn't feel any glass or metal. She trailed up the hand to Miyako. The police cars soon followed and Keiko's eyes widened at the sight of the wall. No one was there. No car. No phantom thieves. She stepped on the breaks and the other police cars stopped after. Twisting her black tie in frustration , Keiko. " Mark my works Phantom Spade , I will catch you ! The next heist you make will be your last ! "

Miyako laughed merrily to herself with a pat to Yukina's back. Poor Yukina wasn't faring well. Her hands were red from how tight the grip on the wheel was. Her breathing slowed down but was still rapid enough to be heard. Tittering came from her breathing from time to time. A few minutes of time passed. Yukina's breathing was stable again and she quickly moved out of the driver's seat so that Miyako could drive again.

Miyako placed her feet on the dashboard with a audible crack from her neck and knuckles. " What a night ! That was fun ! Just when we thought it was all over , wham ! I went through the fake wall , and left them in the dust ! Guess I proved that I'm the real deal , right— er...dumpling head ? " her eyes shifted to Yukina. She sat there with her head hung low.

" You know you're going to get yourself caught if you keep hesitating like that , right ? " Miyako grumbled. Yukina said nothing to her. With a long sigh , Miyako looked back at the road with a frown on her face. She was fighting herself on whether or not to comfort her , but chose to just keep her eyes on the road. The ride was slow , and they were no longer in the shadows of Kurēnrēn and back into the bright lights of Daifuku.

" I'm not good at these things , but if it'll make you feel better , we can do some icebreakers. I'll go first. Where are you from ? " Miyako asked. Yukina lifted her head to look at her.
" ... " silence. Miyako took another small sigh. " Forget I asked... "

" Santiwan "

" Sandy wan ? " Miyako tilted her head with her frown quickly replaced with a cat like grin.

" Santiwan— Ugh , why am I even telling you this ? It's not like you care. You just steal things , and act like you own the world. " Yukina mumbled , turning her body to the windowsill. She could catch a glimpse of all the bright lights from buildings that passed by , but it all felt so superficial to her. It was painful to say , but she felt it was well deserved after tonight's car chase.

" That's not entirely true. I'd like to get to know the person I'm helping. Consider it a professional courtesy " Yukina turned her head to their direction. " Professional courtesy ? " Yukina moved a strand of her sandy blonde hair from her face. Miyako snickered to herself. " Interested now huh ? Well for starters , you have shown some promise in becoming a phantom thief. You made some mistakes , but I genuinely think you've got the guts to be apart of the team. "

Yukina could feel the saliva in her mouth go down her throat and her chest swell with pain. Pressing her hand to her chest , she looked back at Miyako with disbelief. " Me?! Join your team?! Why would you– "

" Granted , you've been a thorn in my side all night , but it's not something I haven't handled before. With some polishing up , we can really get some heists going. " Yukina looked back at her , and saw Miyako with what felt like a smile. It was bittersweet. Yukina knew it all too well.

" It's like my old man taught me. "

" Anyone can be a Phantom Thief , no matter where they come from or why. As long as you've got heart , that's all it takes. "

She turned to Yukina and flashed her a wink. " Even someone as clumsy as you , dumpling head. " Miyako chuckled. " Hey ! I'm not that clumsy ! " Yukina hissed. Miyako's smile widened , and she bursted into laughter. It slowly fizzled out into a sigh of satisfaction. " If you say so , dumpling head. "

" ...Yukina. "

" Huh ? "

Yukina held a firm stare. " My name isn't dumpling head , it's Yukina."

Almost bewildered , her smile widened and she adjusted her hat. She turned back to the wheel. A large building was in sight. " Well Miss Yukina , your new life has just begun ! The world is your stage , Yukina ! So let's play ! " she cheered , laughing as the two drove off into the night.