Chapter Text
Reality is the energy that breathes life into a piece of work, it is the fuel for all fiction. Without a great understanding of it, an artist is worth absolutely nothing. In order to write about something, they must first experience it. It was never enough to just research the topic, no. Research was only the first step towards understanding. The artist must be exposed to what they are writing about, to what they are looking to represent in their art. Reading about things was nowhere near the same as going through them. The information you’d obtain from another human would be mediocre and incomplete. Memories retold by other people are most often unauthentic and unreliable. A real artist could not stay locked inside their home without getting acquainted with the real world and all it has to offer.
To Kishibe Rohan, a young mangaka and university student, this was the ultimate truth.
These strong ideals were the reason why he was at a local store late at night, browsing the aisles as he thought.
Rohan had been working on his manga earlier that evening, when a minor bump in the road came up. He had to write a scene about how a character managed to steal some jewels, which were located under heavy protection, but he knew absolutely nothing about how theft worked. Rohan had never felt the need to steal before. Therefore, he didn’t know how it felt to take something from someone else. He had never experienced the overwhelming rush of adrenaline at the possibility of being caught.
There was no way the mangaka could write about all of this without a solid frame of reference. He would never allow himself to be unauthentic in his work. Because of all this, his mission for the night was to steal something, preferably an item of high value. So, of course, he had immediately headed over to the closest store still open at that time.
He greeted the store owner at the door, as to seem casual and not arouse too much suspicion. The mangaka knew he needed to act natural, just like any other customer would.
The store was not the biggest, but it definitely wasn’t small either. There were a few obscured and dimly lit places that seemed ideal for his task, which worked in his favor. Not many other clients browsed the store at this time, though he wasn’t sure whether this was a good thing or not. Less people meant there were less eyes on him, but it also meant there were a smaller amount of distractions inside of the establishment.
The only other three people in the store were an elderly couple and a rather young looking police officer.
He grinned to himself, this was perfect. A cop being around upped the risks, it was sure to make him feel the rush he had heard so much about. After walking around the store a few times, and getting some strange looks from the officer, he decided it was time to get to work.
Rohan picked a pretty set of gold pins, a heart and a peace sign, as his target. They seemed to be among the most expensive items in the whole store. He waited for the young officer to walk towards the checkout counter before making his move.
Rohan glanced around once more, making sure no one was watching. He snatched both pins as fast as he could and hastily stuffed them in his front pockets.
The green haired man pretended to browse the rest of the jewelry for a couple of minutes more before exiting the store. He smiled to himself once he was outside, this had been far too easy.
The artist hadn’t noticed the officer leave the store just moments after him. The cop walked a few steps behind him.
At that moment, Rohan did something very stupid. He knew he should have waited until he got back home, but the rush of adrenaline experienced made him feel invincible for a brief moment.
He took out the pins from his pocket and held them up high, in order to get a better look.
Rohan let out a small laugh as he observed both items. The pins lightly glittered under the moonlight, and he briefly thought about how beautiful such small things could be. His train of thought was interrupted when he heard a voice from right behind him.
“You… didn’t pay for those, did you?”
The mangaka didn’t need to turn around to know who had addressed him. What should he do now? He definitely did not want to get arrested.There were only a few things Rohan could do right now. Would any of them work? He suddenly felt like the protagonist of an RPG as he examined his options.
Rohan could have tried to lie his way out of it, charm the bright eyed police officer and hope to get away with it. There was a very low chance of that working, though, as the officer had stared at those same pins for a long while during his visit to the store.
The second option would have been to play dumb. ‘Why! I hadn’t noticed I slipped these in my pocket, I better return them.’ He internally shook his head, that wouldn’t work either unless the police officer was an idiot.
The third option would be to try and overpower the cop, which would be impossible. Rohan wasn’t necessarily weak, but the other man was quite muscular and looked incredibly strong. He’d be crushed in an instant.
Due to the low chance of any of these working out, Rohan picked the fourth and final option: run away. He ran as fast as he could and, for about two seconds, it looked like he would succeed.
The other man looked at Rohan, seemingly unable to believe what he was doing. “Goddamn it,” he muttered out, putting his bags down in order to chase the mangaka. It didn’t take too long for Rohan to be caught after this, only getting as far as the next block.
This was irritating. He didn’t need his criminal record tarnished this early on, especially not because of some petty theft.
Officer Higashikata, as his name tag read, tackled him lightly. Before Rohan could fall to the floor, though, the officer caught him by his arm.
“Running away was a terrible idea, you know? It didn’t have to come to this,” Higashikata said, sounding more disappointed than anything else. The officer held Rohan down as he handcuffed him.
“Sure it didn’t… had I done anything else you-” Rohan started, but the officer cut him off.
“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law, Mr… ?” The officer looked at him, waiting for an answer.
Rohan glared at him but said nothing.
“What’s your name?” he asked again, searching the shorter man to check if he had taken anything else.
“You just told me I had the right to remain silent,” Rohan pointed out, a frown on his face. Higashikata did not look amused.
“This is just great, a smartass thief,” he muttered with an eyeroll. Once he made sure nothing else was out of order, the officer stepped back with both pins in his hand.
“Follow me back to the store, we’re returning what you stole,” Higashikata said, pulling on his arm lightly. Rohan frowned and pulled his arm back roughly.
“I know the way, officer” he muttered out angrily as he walked.
The officer raised his eyebrow at this, but said nothing as he followed close behind. Rohan wished he could punch Higashikata’s pretty, idiotic face. The officer had barely interacted with him, but already Rohan could not stand him.
“Josuke! Back so soon? Did you forget something, son?” the store owner called out when the officer showed up again. His expression shifted when he noticed Rohan was there too.
“Ah, not exactly,” he paused, glancing at the handcuffed man, “I caught this man shoplifting, just wanted to return the goods before heading over to the station.”
The store owner looked over at Rohan with a shocked expression.
“Is that so?” he asked. Rohan glared at the officer next to him, before turning to the other man with a pout.
“I am terribly sorry, it seems I took something from your store by accident. I noticed as I walked outside and got quite nervous when the officer confronted me.”
Josuke looked over at the mangaka with a light frown on his face, he could obviously see through all of his bullshit, He wasn’t the one Rohan had been trying to convince any way.
The owner of the store, on the other hand, seemed to have eaten it all up. He nodded solemnly.
“It’s quite alright son, I am sure you never meant to take it,” he looked over at the taller man, “Oh, Josuke, uncuff the poor child. He looks terrified.”
Josuke hesitated, looking between both of them.
“Sir… he committed a crime, I can’t just let him off the hook,” he said, his voice surprisingly calm. The old man waved his hand dismissively.
“It’s fine, it’s fine! It’s me he took something from, right? He didn’t mean any harm.”
Rohan looked between them, resisting the urge to smirk. Officer Higashikata nodded, apparently giving up the fight.
“Alright. I won’t take him to the station, here,” he said, handing back the pins. He smiled at the owner and said his goodbyes before dragging Rohan back outside. His lips were pursed and his eyes focused on the shorter man as he took the handcuffs off. The mangaka finally allowed himself to smirk. He had won in the end, at least.
“Why did you do it?” he asked. Rohan looked up at him innocently.
“Do what?” he asked, the smirk still on his lips. Josuke shook his head.
“Why did you steal them? I know you did it intentionally, don’t try that bullshit with me,” he asked, annoyed.
Rohan hummed.“I did no such thing,” he said, biting back a few choice words that would definitely get him in trouble again. The officer seemed irritated, which pleased the mangaka more than it should. He had made Rohan’s night much more difficult than it should have been. He wasn’t supposed to have been caught stealing. “Now, if that’s all… I have to get home, Josuke,” he teased, fully knowing he was being disrespectful, a smug smile still plastered on his face.
The use of his first name made the other man frown.
“It’s officer Higashikata, and I would appreciate it if you stopped disrespecting me,” he said, his tone serious. When Rohan didn’t answer, he sighed once more. “Look, I just want to help. I’m not asking in order to incriminate you or anything, you’re already off the hook. If you’re not doing well economically there are a few programs that could help you… and if it’s an obsession thing then there are various public counselors that have aided in many people’s recovery.”
Rohan pursed his lips, what the hell was up with this guy? He was frustratingly unpredictable.
“I am an artist and was simply looking for experiences to help my craft,” he said, if only to clarify that he had a valid reason for doing what he did. He didn’t need any of the officer’s pity or help.
Josuke looked at him suspiciously, not quite buying his story.
“Alright… either way, you’re lucky the owner took pity on you. Think carefully before doing things like these. Your actions have consequences, and if you break the law, we have to interfere. It will not go this smoothly if it happens again.”
Rohan turned from the officer, taking that as his cue to leave. He couldn’t stand this guy. Who did he think he was, lecturing the great Kishibe Rohan?
After taking a step forward, he felt a strong hand on his shoulder. “Before you go… what’s your name?” he asked, for the third time this night.
Why did he even care? There was no harm in telling him now, he guessed. It’s not like they would run into each other again any time soon.
“Kishibe Rohan.”
The hand of his shoulder was removed when he answered. With that, Rohan turned once more and walked away from the terrible Higashikata Josuke.