章 24: Artifact Heist: Part One
After those events, Kimika was given a "vacation" for an entire week, as Toga called it. During this time, they did not carry out any training or tasks, not even the simplest ones, fearing they might accidentally fall into the line of sight of the heroes who were now actively searching for them.
Every day during their meetings, Toga carefully checked every bruise on Kimika's body, wherever it was located, fearfully looking for hidden injuries or fractures. To her great relief, all the injuries turned out to be just bruises from hits, which grew smaller and smaller each day, and Kimika's condition kept improving.
When all the bruises had finally almost completely disappeared, they started taking on smuggling-level tasks. And to avoid dangerous situations and not fall into the sight of the Eraser Head or heroes who might recognize them, they began using routes that, although longer, were much safer.
This was incredibly important because they knew that a real hunt had begun against them by the detective, as reported in the news story about that ill-fated café. And although their names or footage from the cameras were not revealed, it was obvious how determined the detective was in his pursuit to catch them.
Toga slightly changed her behavior toward Kimika, wanting to give her a kind of "rest" after the incident in the shower. She no longer stayed over at her place overnight, although it wasn't just about giving her friend space, but also because Kimika's mother was at home.
Moreover, Toga had devised an incredibly intriguing but extremely dangerous plan concerning Kimika. It was a scheme where a single mistake could forever destroy their relationship. But if everything went perfectly, at the end of this path, Kimika would be completely hers. Toga was ready to take the risk, as this plan promised to fulfill her long-held dream.
And according to this plan, she hadn't taken blood from Kimika for almost two weeks, which had become an incredibly difficult trial for her. Refusing such delicious and unique blood, always readily available, was as hard as refusing cold water on a hot summer day. But knowing what awaited her at the end, she was ready to hold back, no matter how difficult it was.
At the same time, Kimika couldn't understand the reason why Toga no longer took blood from her. This upset her, as it seemed to her that her friend was distancing herself, even though she continued to help her with tasks, probably only to keep her promise.
She couldn't summon the courage or strength to ask about the reason for this change, which triggered strange feelings and emotions within her — feelings she experienced very rarely, only a few times, and always somehow connected to Toga. Because of this, Kimika couldn't understand their nature, as these feelings felt foreign and vague to her.
When Kimika's body had fully healed, they resumed their training. It almost completely remained the same, but now during their sparring, Toga began to attack Kimika rather than just defend.
Kimika constantly lost in the first few seconds due to Toga's aggressive attacks, in which Toga never held back. She believed that when you fight an opponent who is much stronger than you, you start to grow. This was a belief she firmly held, as it was incredibly important to her that Kimika grew stronger and stronger as quickly as possible.
She didn't know how many months, weeks, or just days they had left before their identities would be revealed by the detectives. And likely, they would have to live constantly hiding — which was not difficult for Toga, as she had grown accustomed to such a life even now. But for her weak and innocent friend, this would likely become a true test, one that would be incredibly hard for her to handle.
Sometimes, Kimika managed to fight back, but no more than a few strikes, after which she lost, suffering minor cuts on her body in the process. This wasn't a problem, as she could accelerate her wound healing with her quirk.
And so today, two weeks after the infamous café incident, Kimika and Toga decided to take on more profitable tasks again. Smuggling brought only a small benefit, and Toga was already tired of wandering aimlessly around the city, even in the company of her friend.
This news pleased Giran quite a bit, as he was not in the best mood, having had to change his meeting spot due to one of his clients, who had caused a mess during a job. Because of this, both of them had been blacklisted, and now Giran could no longer enjoy those delicious pancakes he loved so much.
"Well... it's been a week, and you're finally ready for something more interesting than smuggling. Though still no killings or anything like that... Tokima, it pains me every time you make Toga take part in such tasks. It's your business, of course, but honestly, you should rethink your principles."
It saddened him to see Toga being forced into these pointless jobs. But seeing only silence in Kimika's eyes, he realized that nothing would change.
So, after sharing his thoughts, Giran took a bite of the pancake he had ordered from the waitress. One of his clients had previously called these pancakes quite good, praising their amazing taste. But instantly, his face changed: he slightly furrowed his brow, trying to evaluate the flavor, but immediately felt an unpleasant aftertaste. The pancakes were far from what he was used to eating, and they didn't even come close in taste.
Their flavor was unusual and not quite pleasant, as if made from cheap ingredients and without any genuine care. With no alternative, he tried to force himself to find something good in them. But in the end, he realized — this was definitely not what he had been expecting. So, he decided that he would probably have to change their meeting place again.
Eventually, Giran took out his notebook and began searching for suitable options, trying to finish the meeting as quickly as possible and go look for pancakes that were better than these. He didn't even try to hide his dissatisfaction.
"These pancakes are soulless and tasteless... Tsk... Let's finish this quickly... So, I have a few options: stealing artifacts from a museum or robbing a jewelry store. Which one do you choose?"
Kimika looked at Toga as if waiting for her to make the choice, as usual. But Toga just smiled and nodded, signaling that this time the decision was hers.
Kimika paused for a moment, considering the options. Robbing the jewelry store was undoubtedly much more complicated — guards, alarms, all of that on a higher level than in a cafe or a museum.
In the end, she chose the second option — stealing artifacts from the museum. Although neither option appealed to her, this one seemed less risky, so she decided to go with it.
"I... we choose the first one," she said, slightly nervous.
"As expected," Giran replied, pulling out a sheet of paper and handing it to Kimika instead of Toga. The paper listed the name of the museum and the artifacts to be stolen. "There are several guards in the museum, and alarms on almost all the exhibits, including the ones you need to take. To disable them, you'll need to get into the guards' office — there you'll figure out what's what quickly. Keep the stolen items carefully; my client wants them for their personal collection. Good luck," he added hastily, trying to deliver all the details clearly and quickly.
Then he abruptly stood up and left, aiming to find another place with better pancakes.
"So, Kimi, for this task, you'll be the leader. You'll come up with the plan, and I'll be like your assistant in carrying it out," she said, playfully saluting the new leader.
"But this is the most difficult task we've ever taken on! And there will be more guards. Wouldn't it be better if you figured everything out?" Kimika protested, feeling panic starting to take over her.
"Oh no-no-no, if it keeps going like this, what will you do if, for example, I'm not around? What if I get caught and your goal becomes saving me? Of course, you don't have to save me, but I know you, my sweet little Kimi — you'd definitely go to rescue me like a prince, or should I say a princess on a white horse!" Toga said, hugging herself with a blush on her face and playfully spinning in place.
Kimika fell silent, letting out a heavy sigh, knowing full well that she wouldn't be able to convince Toga once she set her mind to something — when she wanted something, nothing could stop or persuade her.
"Well, let's go then!" Toga cheered, pulling her friend along with her.
They set off for the museum, one of the most popular in the city, where artifacts from the time of the first heroes were kept: their clothes and weapons they used. There were also items from a later period, from the time when quirks hadn't yet appeared. And they needed to steal a few of these exhibits.
Fortunately for them, the museum had been robbed only a few times, and the security was likely careless, not expecting anyone to actually want to rob it, just like the guard at the cafe.
As they approached the museum, Kimika and Toga noticed that there was a guard at the entrance. So, according to Kimika's plan, they decided to first walk around the museum to gather information and think through their next moves.
After their reconnaissance, they realized that surprisingly there were no cameras outside, and the only other entrance besides the main one was the loading gates for trucks and a door for staff.
And discussing their next steps, with Kimika taking the lead in the conversation, their mini-plan looked like this: they would both go through the back door and quietly observe the museum halls for a while to assess the number of guards and then design their plan of action inside.
This was nothing like the cafe, where most of the rooms could be seen through windows, and they had no information about the number of guards. However, during their survey, they noticed no activity from the security — no patrols, no movement inside. It seemed like the guards were doing nothing at all.
According to their plan, they headed for the back door, which unfortunately was locked. Toga pulled out a hairpin and began slowly picking the lock. Kimika briefly wondered if Toga was just trying to show off, but after a few minutes, Toga smiled and opened the door. "Did you doubt me?"
Kimika, slightly surprised, couldn't help but ask, "Why didn't you do that at the cafe? It could have turned out completely differently."
She only received a slight smile and a short answer.
"Back then, I thought this would be better."
As they entered, they noticed that it was a sort of storage room with many shelves and boxes.
Moving slowly through the storage room between the rows, the girls carefully kept an eye out for cameras. Of course, if they had spotted any, the guard would have likely noticed them as well. But by acting cautiously and staying out of the camera's field of view as much as possible, the guard might have missed them, busy with other tasks.
And that's exactly what happened: they spotted a few cameras and carefully tried to avoid them, making sure not to draw attention.
When they reached a door labeled "Main Room," the girls stood for a moment, listening for any sounds from behind the door. Hearing nothing suspicious, they quietly opened it, trying to avoid making any noise.
As they entered, they found themselves in a hall with statues of prominent heroes, and luckily, there was no guard in sight. Moving slowly, they passed several cameras, and to their surprise, there was no response from the security.
Toga speculated that the guards might be busy with their own duties, so they began to move more confidently, room by room.
As the girls moved through the museum's rooms, they encountered a variety of themed exhibits. In one room, there were statues of animals and plants, while in another, weapons from different eras, such as muskets, halberds, and many others, were displayed.
Although they were on a mission, Kimika and Toga couldn't resist the temptation to examine the exhibits and read about them. It might have been a mistake on their part, but they couldn't ignore the curiosity.
In the process, they noticed several artifacts they needed to take, but they were aware that alarms were placed on them. As they moved into the next room, they suddenly came across one of the guards, who was inspecting the artifacts but thankfully didn't notice them.
"Hey, Ren, stop staring at the exhibits! Come here, it's time to get back to the card game. Or are you afraid of losing again?" a woman's voice rang out loudly, one they couldn't see. Kimika, peeking out slightly, realized that it was the same guard from the cafe.
"I'm coming, I'm coming! Just curious, I haven't been here as long as you..."
"Well, that's understandable. We all looked at the exhibits when we first got here. But not when we were called to continue the game!" said another male guard, who was also out of their line of sight.
"I'm coming! By the way, does anyone need to be on camera duty?"
"Why bother? Hardly anyone comes in during the day, and at night, there definitely won't be anyone. Besides, there's nothing important here except for the artifacts. The alarm system is only on them! We're just here as backup — so if anything goes wrong, there's someone to blame."
"Ah... But I thought the same thing at my old job! Until those two barged in... And now here I am, with a cast and bandages... Damn them..." the guard muttered as he approached his colleagues.
After that, the guards started playing cards, and Kimika and Toga, who had slowly approached the room near the guards, noticed that there were only three of them: one woman and two men.
The woman was tall with long hair. One of the men was of average height but had a muscular build, and the third guard they already knew, Ren, was shorter and lean, with bandages around his body and a cast on his right arm.
The worst part wasn't that there were three of them, but that the room they needed to get into was behind the guards. So, in order to get in, they'd have to do something about them.
Toga, grabbing Kimika by her hoodie, pulled her into another room and began speaking:
"So, as you can see, we need to get around those guards, and it's impossible to do that without a fight. So what's your plan, leader?" Toga said, smiling and emphasizing the word "leader."
Kimika paused to think. She knew that a fight was inevitable, though she was firmly against injuring or, even worse, killing the guards. But she understood that Toga was right: the chance of all three guards leaving at the same time to give them the opportunity to get into the room and disable the alarm was extremely small. Still, she wanted to find a way to do it while causing as little harm as possible to the guards.
She started considering different options. Maybe they could create a distraction? Or perhaps use the surroundings to their advantage? She turned these ideas over in her mind, trying to find the best solution that would allow them to avoid unnecessary conflict with the guards.
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Again, a lot of chapters for one mission, but don't worry. Probably after this time, I'll take a break from such missions.
Also, it's likely that some of you were curious why Kimika couldn't heal bruises with her quirk and was waiting for them to heal naturally. Actually, there were two reasons for this that I forgot to mention and couldn't find a place for them: 1 - as I know, if there were a real fracture, accelerating the regeneration could lead to improper healing; 2 - Toga wanted to give her friend some time to rest from missions.
Next, I want to try to bring the world outside the heroes to life a bit, like detectives and their investigations, the hero academy so they also feel alive. But don't worry, even though these will be my first attempts, I'll try my best. This is important for both improving the fanfic and for future works where I'll need to develop the world beyond the heroes... (The Cat in the Mask enjoyed writing and receiving comments so much that they decided to write their own story and already have a few ideas, but it won't be coming anytime soon...)
I also want to inform you that two chapters come out every day on my Patreon! Here, only one is released, but on my Patreon — there are two a day, hee-hee-hee. Come by so you don't miss new chapters and can read them faster than anyone else! patreon.com/Zoi4erom
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クリエイターの想い 
Zoi4erom
Zoi4erom The Cat in the Mask started bringing the world outside of the heroes to life, like Giran's love for pancakes. I wonder if the real Giran really loves them?
週次パワーステータス
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ランキング 
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