While the boss struggled with muffled grunts, Jiangxia flapped the puppet's wings, fanning a puff of anesthetic powder straight at Aoko Nakamori.
Making her pass out was the easiest way for Kid to avoid being exposed later. This way, his identity would stay hidden from the police, and he could continue being a stable, energy-core-generating thief.
Meanwhile, Jiangxia didn't forget to keep punching the boss in the dark.
If the boss had been knocked out purely by anesthetic and lost consciousness, then unless he had a dream about dropping his butcher's knife and becoming a Buddha on the spot, his killing intent wouldn't completely go away. You could maybe peel a thin layer off the top, but the core would stay put.
The only way to fully uproot it was to make the boss consciously realize that "killing" wasn't an option—and then use fear or harsh reality to squelch the intent for good.
Time was tight, but Jiangxia was an expert at beating people up. He knew exactly where it hurt most. Plus, now he had an extra pair of powerful wings in addition to his fists.
And this pampered boss had the pain tolerance of a boiled shrimp.
So under Jiangxia's triple-speed combo beatdown, pain quickly took over any other thoughts in the boss's mind. After realizing—belatedly—that all his subordinates had been knocked flat, he let out a helpless roar. The killing intent finally detached from him like a rotted tooth popping loose.
…
After releasing the anesthetic, Kid opened a window in the dark.
Moonlight and city neon spilled in, making the room much brighter.
His black-clad minions lay scattered on the floor like trash. As expected.
What wasn't expected was that the boss hadn't passed out from the anesthetic—this wily guy must've used some method to detect and dodge the effect.
Fortunately, that wasn't a big problem: the very next second, Kid saw the Tengu flap its wings. The boss spun like a top smacked by a god, then collapsed, actually unconscious this time.
…Thanks, Tengu, for handling the cleanup. Kid muttered to himself.
He reached for the gem-encrusted cue stick and looked at Tsuujirou, who was standing far from the black-clad crew, miraculously still upright—the cue stick's nominal owner.
"As the Notice stated," Kid adjusted his hat brim by the window, "I'm taking this legendary cue stick."
The white-haired Tsuujirou had been staring at the Tengu lurking in the shadows, trying to figure out what the heck it was.
Then Kid spoke, and he snapped to attention. "Wait! Your Notice said you'd take the cue stick from me. But in reality, the cue stick already changed hands!"
Tsuujirou gestured toward where his opponent had stood during the match. "Only the champion deserves this cue stick. I've held onto it for twenty years, but now—I sincerely want to give it to that young man."
Kid paused, unexpectedly moved.
Based on his observations, Tsuujirou was indeed a proper, billiard-loving old man. During the game, the boss had proposed a rule Kid didn't know, and Renra patiently explained it… And now, hearing him talk like this, Kid felt a tiny twinge of guilt.
After all, he knew full well that his win hadn't come from masterful billiards skills—it was sleight of hand all the way.
Kid looked at the dignified old man, sighed, and dropped back into the room from the window. He was planning to leave the cue stick behind.
"I see," he said. "As you said, doing something outside the Notice tarnishes the name of a phantom thief—"
He abruptly stopped.
He'd just noticed that beside him, the Tengu's fangs had silently re-extended, now reflecting a cold and terrifying light.
Sensing his gaze, the Tengu turned its head and stared eerily at Aoko Nakamori, who was fast asleep on the floor.
Through his night vision lenses, Kid could clearly see its mouth slightly open, fangs slowly lengthening like some hungry shikigami preparing for dinner.
Kid: "…"
The hand holding the cue stick froze midair.
A second later, under Tsuujirou's confused stare, Kid coolly spun around, tapping the cue stick against his hat brim like a gentleman's cane.
With this casual gesture, he smoothly retracted the cue stick: "...Doing something outside the Notice is a disgrace to a phantom thief. But if people start playing hot potato with the item before I get to it, that's also a problem. In short: no exploiting loopholes. My apologies."
…All just excuses, of course.
The real reason was simple: if the Tengu didn't get enough gems, it would go after people instead. Human lives mattered more than phantom thief aesthetics—and right now, the Tengu was very clearly eyeing Aoko.
Of course it picked the tender one in the room. Bypassed all the big beefy bodyguards and locked onto her like a vampire at a salad bar.
But wait… Aoko had been pretty far from the anesthetic powder. How did she pass out?
Kid frowned.
Now was not the time to investigate. The Tengu's fangs still hadn't retracted, and the police were about to arrive. Per the plan he'd discussed with Jii earlier, Jii had already called them in.
(TLN: Changing Terai back to OG name Jii)
Time to leave.
Kid gave a farewell nod, flipped back out the window, and prepared to vanish.
Tsuujirou took an instinctive step forward and called after him, "I heard you always return what you steal! When that happens, give the cue stick straight to that young man!"
Kid mentally gave him another Good Person card and nodded. "As you wish."
He swept his cape dramatically and disappeared into the night.
By now, the area outside was swarming with police cars.
As he leapt down, Kid had already obediently changed out of the iconic white thief outfit and into Kaito Kuroba's casual black clothes.
—Originally, the plan had been to have Jii put on the Kid costume and do the dramatic escape, while Kaito stayed behind at the club to blend into the crowd.
But then the Tengu showed up. And whoever walked out with the gem-encrusted cue stick would have to face that man-eating monster head-on. No way was he handing that off to a balding old man with a weak heart.
Kid remembered how Jii had clutched his chest earlier and sighed. Guess I'm doing this one myself.
As for the club… he'd just say the vibes felt off and he slipped away early. A bit embarrassing, sure—but thankfully, hardly anyone here knew what Kaito Kuroba looked like.
Kid glanced at the officers swarming the club, gripped the cue stick, and slipped into a nearby alley, melting into the shadows.
He wasn't worried about the Tengu getting caught—so long as the gem-encrusted cue stick was in his hands, the Tengu would follow him.
Just as he was thinking that, a shadow passed overhead, and the air stirred with the sound of flapping wings.
The Tengu swooped down and landed in front of him—its glowing eyes locked firmly on the cue stick.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 28/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:2/10*