Lonely Thieves

Act I, Part IX

Norah's Side (April 8, 12:00 am)

Norah pounded down another energy drink and slammed the can down on her desk. She was back in her office in the Sunset district now, and the lights were off except for the lamp illuminating the room she was in. She had spent the time since returning home working on trying to find the girl Kolya had seen steal the emerald necklace. She had already called all of her usual informants, and now she was searching unlisted sites for information about a female thief. A few rumors here and there emboldened her search efforts, but she couldn't help but feel like she was on a wild goose chase.

Still, it wouldn't do to let go of the emerald necklace so easily. How often were you going to come across a ten billion redal job, after all? Still, Norah was running out of options and all these sites were turning out to be dead ends. Just as she thought this, her phone suddenly rang. It was Edgar. Before she split up with him, she had asked Edgar to also help with her search for the thief. If he was calling, then he most definitely had something to give her.

"I found her," he declared as soon as Norah picked up the phone, without even bothering with a greeting. "Well, word of her anyway."

"You did? That was pretty quick."

"Yeah, it looks like she's well known as a thief for hire around these parts, and she's known for being pretty good at it too. It looked like she was taking jobs as a thief long before she became a Night Hunter."

"Hmm, so she's pretty experienced at this sort of thing. I guess that explains why she was able to steal the necklace from under that old assassin's nose."

"Seems like it. Apparently the underground refers to her as Blessing. If you ask around the Dusk district, you might be able to get some more information about her. I'd be careful about it, though."

"Of course. I'm not an amateur."

Norah hung up the phone and glanced at the clock. A few minutes past twelve o'clock. Rather late, but not for any seedy ne'er-do-wells, nor even your usual bar-hopping clubbers. Norah looked down at the clothes she was wearing. She had taken off the rented party dress and was wearing the oversized T-shirt she often wore to bed. She pulled it off and quickly put on a blouse and some slacks. It did not really fit a late night bar-hopper, but it would do for now.

Norah grabbed her bag as she stepped out of her office and hailed a cab with an app. The cab came pretty quickly, and within half an hour she was in the business area of the Dusk district, where the bars and clubs were generally located. Norah hopped out of the car and took a look at the row of bars before her. As expected, every single building was booming with life and loud music. Getting information was going to take some time.

Not discouraged, Norah began her search by entering the closest bar and asking the local patrons what they thought about the word 'Blessing'. The responses were varied; many thought she was asking them what they considered blessings, while some others thought she was trying to sell them something. In some of the seedier bars, some respondents even thought she was asking about a prostitute.

An hour had passed, yet Norah had not managed to find any information on the thief who had stolen the necklace. Worse yet, she still had possibly ten or more places to visit before she could say she had truly exhausted her leads. A part of her wanted to just go home and take a break, but she knew that the longer she took, the more likely that the thief would end up selling off the necklace before Norah could get to her.

Norah sighed as she stood outside of the latest bar she had visited, having once again come up with no leads. She glanced at the remaining bars on the street, dreading the next time a drunk bar patron took her questions to be an obtuse come-on. She shook her head as she tried to drum up some motivation before noticing someone walking up to her.

She turned to see a young man who was definitely not yet old enough to be going bar-hopping, though the wait would certainly not be long for him. He had medium-length hair tied into a short ponytail, and his features told Norah that he was of Asian descent, though she couldn't discern his exact ancestry.

The young man glanced at Norah with a cautious expression. "Are you the one asking about Blessing?"

"Yes," Norah replied apprehensively. "Could it be that you know something about her?"

"Depends on what you're looking for. Though judging by what you've said, it seems like you already know more than you should."

Norah felt herself gripping her bag's strap anxiously. "I know that she can steal anything in the city. I just want to meet with her for a job. That's all."

The young man looked her over once again with a perceptive glare. "Fine," he finally declared. "Follow me."

Norah nodded and walked behind the young man as he walked off wordlessly. They crossed the street to another part of the Dusk district's downtown area, which was covered in residential buildings.

"Say, what's your name?" Norah asked innocently as she followed him through the towering apartment complexes.

"Do you need to know?"

"Well, I need to call you something, don't I?"

"...Hikaru."

Norah noted the name quietly as they turned into an alleyway. The pathway was dark, as it was blocked off from the lights that illuminated the streets. As Norah tried to get her bearings as she entered the dark passage, she felt a cold sensation against her neck. It was the feeling of sharp metal. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she realized that Hikaru was holding a knife to her neck. The glare he gave her sent chills down her spine.

"Who are you? And why are you asking about 'Blessing'?"

"What do you mean? I told you, I'm here to ask her about a job-"

"You can't fool me. I know a cop when I see one. It's all in the walk, you know."

Norah held her breath for a moment to hide her surprise. "I'm not a cop. That's the truth."

"Then you're a snoop. Either way, I want to know why you're looking around."

Norah stayed silent. Even if she was honest, it wouldn't convince him to tell her the girl's location. As her mind raced trying to find another excuse, she felt him put pressure on the knife.

"You... could it be that you know about Matsuoka?"

Norah was confused. Matsuoka? She had never heard the name before in her life, but she could tell at the very least that it was Japanese. No, if she thought about it a little more, she realized that she had heard of Matsuoka. But where?

Norah's confusion must have been visible on her face, as Hikaru eventually removed the knife from her throat. "Never mind," he muttered darkly. "You seem to be unrelated. Nevertheless, I won't let you see her."

"Why not?" Norah asked indignantly. "I swear, I'm not trying to harm her."

"We're people that live on the dark side of Twilight. We're not so foolish as to just blindly meet with people we don't know." Hikaru began backing away into the darkness. "If you really want to request a job with us, next time don't do something as obvious as running around town asking questions."

Norah tried to go after him, but he dashed into a corner. When she turned to follow him, he had completely disappeared, as if he had vanished into the darkness. Norah sighed. Her best lead, and he got away just like that. She turned around and walked back out into the main streets. She glanced at her phone. It was a little after two o'clock, making it quite late indeed. Norah hailed a cab once again and shivered as a chilly breeze passed through her. She was unwilling to give up, but with no leads, what else could she do?

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Morning came with the shrill call of Norah's phone alarm. She squinted at the screen with tired eyes. 8:30am. She had forgotten to adjust her alarm for the late night she'd had. Well, she was up now, so she might as well get started.

She got up and realized that she had fallen asleep at her desk yet again. She quickly washed her face and brushed her teeth before calling up Edgar on her phone. She needed to hear if he had any news for her.

No response. Was he still asleep? Norah sighed as she quickly put on some clothes and walked out of the office. She had told him to stay in the Sunset district in case she needed him, and he had sent her the address of the hotel he was staying at. It was a pain, but she needed to speak to him as quickly as possible.

She walked past the business district her office was situated in and into the downtown area. There, she caught sight of her favorite coffee place, already bustling with customers. Norah was reminded of the fact that she had left the office without eating breakfast, and her stomach grumbled irritably in response. Shrugging to nobody in particular, Norah took a spot in line, hoping to get a quick pick-me-up before meeting with Edgar.

As she waited in line, Norah watched the crowds of people rush to and fro as they headed off to work. The Sunset district was the most populated district in the city of Twilight, and anyone watching this early morning scenery could see why.

Out of the corner of her eye, Norah caught sight of a peculiar young girl. She stood out from the crowds of walking businesspeople and white-collar workers due to her strange outfit, which looked similar to the staff uniform that the waiters were wearing at the Hayasakas. No, could it actually be the staff uniform they were wearing? Some parts of the uniform were missing, but that could easily be explained.

Norah quickly reassessed the girl herself. She was definitely Asian, and her body type seemed ideal for agile work like thievery. She also seemed to be accompanied by a rather clumsy-looking man, who must be the accomplice Kolya had mentioned. She seemed almost certain to be the thief he had seen, but could she really take that gamble?

Norah stepped out of the line and walked after the duo. She had no guarantees that was the girl she was looking for, but a hunch told her that she was on the right path. As she ran after the girl, she suddenly got a call on her phone. She took a quick look expecting it to be Edgar answering her call, but was surprised to see that it was from Kolya instead. She answered the phone and held it up to her ear.

"We've got a problem," Kolya said simply.