A/N: All fics posted from this account are authorized reposts from a specific group of writers on AO3. For info on who we are and links to the original AO3 fics, check out our profile! This fic was written by Alana, Crysty, Maddie, Kate, and Melissa.

The biggest part of the heist is the thrill.

It doesn't matter what he steals, it doesn't matter where it's at. If he doesn't feel something—some excitement or adrenaline rush or whatever you want to call it—he didn't do it.

His first break into the criminal world had been Akashi Corp. He had seen an article about their latest exhibit, boasting its top notch security and saying that no one could get in. Kuroko had to test it. He got in easily enough, it was avoiding the cameras and the guards that was the most fun. He didn't particularly need to steal anything, but where was the proof that he'd done it if he didn't? So, he made his way straight into the office of Akashi. He picked up the plaque labeling whose office this was, pocketed that, drew a small happy face on one of the sticky notes, and left.

After that, he hadn't been able to stop. He took bigger and bigger things, to mirror the size of the risks, loving the thrill of not knowing if that night would be the night he was caught.

He scattered the things he took. The first night, he put the plaque in front of the police station.

After that, the things he took were put in random spots. A park bench. A drive-through window. A convenience store shelf.

The papers started calling him things like a ghost or shadow or a phantom because no one ever saw him. Not even on camera. The only indication that someone had been in the buildings were the missing items that he took and then threw away and the happy face sticky notes.

But he liked his reputation—a lot. He was the ghost, the shadow, the phantom, never seen and never heard. He could go anywhere at any time, which left him plenty of room to choose his targets. When you're known for hitting everything, you can do whatever you want—just the way he liked it.

Unfortunately, having a big name, meant people started coming after you. And nothing ruins a day of fun more than a cop crashing the party. There were plenty of people chasing his tail, men and women, cops or just people trying to prove something. There was more to catching "The Phantom" than just putting him away. The one who caught the uncatchable criminal also caught their chance in the limelight. Kuroko understood the desire for chasing thrills.

His next big hit was going to be the police station itself. They'd been making so much noise about him in the news. They seemed more desperate to catch him than some of the people hired to do so for more cash than the police would make in their working lives. It seemed like fun. He'd take their coffee maker or something similar. They'd been raining on his parade so why not find a way to ruin their day? He'd then dump it in front of the house of the chief of the police force.

It had been months and they still had no lead on this ghost or phantom or whatever the hell people were calling him this week. The public was starting to doubt the police force's ability. After all, if they couldn't catch one guy after months of huge break ins, how were they supposed to catch anyone else? Never mind that they did catch plenty of other criminals in that time frame—that didn't matter to the media. The only thing that mattered was the one that couldn't be caught.

The worst part was that they couldn't even figure out a reason for him to be doing this. Nothing stolen was kept, so it wasn't money. They couldn't think of anything until one day, officer Aomine Daiki had burst out laughing in a meeting about why and said, "You mean you haven't figured that out yet? He's doing it for kicks."

Aomine's chief smiled at him, "He must have something in common with you then, considering you have the audacity to laugh at the crumbling reputation of this department."

"I'm not laughing at that. I'm laughing at the fact that I thought you all knew that. Why the hell else would he be doing this if he wasn't keeping anything? It's not for the money, and since he won't show his face it's not for the fame. That just leaves the thrill. He's doing it because he can, and he won't stop until he can't. And he thinks it's hilarious that we can't stop him. That's probably why he keeps leaving those happy face sticky notes behind. He's laughing at us."

"Well, if he is messing with us, where do you suppose he'll strike next?" The chief responded, the eerie smile never leaving his face.

"No clue. I told you, he does it for kicks. So think like a kid? What's the ultimate candy store to run rampant in if you're a criminal?" Aomine grinned, seeing the others slowly catching on. "He's coming here. I don't know when, but he will eventually make this place his stomping grounds and we will catch him."

"I'm so happy that you've volunteered to camp out here, Officer Aomine. I assume the "we" in your brilliant plan includes your wonderful partner. I look forward to meeting this ghost in person." That happy grin had taken on a condescending edge. "As Officer Aomine tests out that theory, are there any other viable suggestions?"

Kuroko Tetsuya stepped into the police station, looking around uncertainly. "Um, is there someone I can speak to about a robbery?" he asked to the room at large, making sure he looked uncomfortable when all eyes turned on him at the sound of his voice, the officers not having noticed him beforehand.

After getting over the initial shock of noticing the shorter man, Aomine managed to recompose himself enough to answer him, "Uhh, yea how can I help you? You said there was a robbery was it?"

"Um, yes." Kuroko walked over to the tan officer. "It was actually taken from my boss, but he sent me here since he had a meeting," he said. "I work at the elementary school down the street, and the principal's desk was taken. But they left everything that was in or on the desk there on the floor, it's just the desk that's gone, and I'm very concerned about the kids if someone is breaking into the school so easily." Kuroko told him.

Aomine cleared his throat in surprise. "A desk you said?"

Kuroko nodded. "Yes, a desk. And I'm not really sure how they did that since it's a rather large desk." Kuroko said with a small frown.

Aomine tried to hide his surprise. That damn phantom had really made the whole damn city his playground. "I'd like to ask you a few questions if you'd please follow me. They're just questions concerning things such as who discovered the robbery and staff schedules."

"I don't really think I will know much about that. Like I said, it was my boss' desk, so I would assume he found it, but as for schedules..." Kuroko gave a small laugh. "Well, teachers don't get paid overtime, but they certainly do stay enough that they should. A schedule all just depends on how much they got done during their planning period and how much they're willing to put off until later. You can leave the same time as the kids one day and stay until six the next." Kuroko told him.

Aomine paused in thought. That was actually quite convenient as it gave him an excuse to check the phantom's latest crime scene under the guise of interviews. Just as he was about to inform the teacher that he would make a personal appearance at the school, a call came in at a desk near him.

"Chief, we've got a disassembled desk blocking the entrance to Akashi Corp., happy face and all. The bastard's done it again."

Kuroko let his eyes widen in surprise at that. "Wait . . .does that mean it was that phantom guy that's been all over the news? Why would he break into a school?" Kuroko asked, feigning concern.

Speak of the devil. Aomine briefly weighed the value of the drop site and crime scene, opting for the interviews anyway. "All that call said was a desk. If we feel there is something that might endanger the kids, we will be sure to inform you right away. As of yet, there is no definitive knowledge of anything linked to this case and certainly no danger I can speak of at this moment. I will come down to the school, personally, and conduct interviews to ensure we cover all our bases." Turning to call over his shoulder, Aomine informed a colleague, "Tell the chief I'm out conducting interviews. I'll send along the case notes as I go."

"What do you mean there's no danger?" Kuroko asked, letting a bit of anger at the lack of answers seep into his voice. "Someone broke into our school. There are children there. What if they come back and hurt one of them? They clearly have no problem getting in, so why not? After all, they're already breaking one law, what's stopping them from escalating?"

"What you've reported is a robbery. No one was hurt and only one thing was taken. In this type of situation, the perpetrator normally either moves on to a new scene and a new thrill or brings the thing that was stolen back. In either case, this a thrill seeker and he bears no danger to the welfare of you or your kids. I promise you we will come down and investigate, but I believe there is no great danger. Now I'd like to ask you a few questions about the break in on the way to the school. Did you happen to drive here?" Aomine had dealt with too many panicking victims before. Damage control was practically a reflex at this point.

"No, I took a bus." Kuroko replied. "I don't know how much I can answer, but I'll try my best to do whatever I can to help keep the students safe."

"Perfect. We can take my cruiser."

Kuroko nodded and followed the officer out to his car. "So, what would you like to know?" he asked as he slid into the passenger seat.

Aomine started the car and pulled out onto the street. "When did you leave the school last night?"

Kuroko tilted his head up to look at the ceiling of the car as he thought about that for a moment. "Lets see . . . I had dinner with Kagami-kun around six, I think that was about two hours after I got home . . . so four. I left around four." Kuroko decided, looking back at the officer and smiling.

"And do you know who else was still on campus at the time you left?"

"Um . . . no. The fourth grade teacher usually stays late, so probably her. And the principal is almost always there the latest," he replied.

"Alright, I'll need you to point out which teacher you mean. Can you also tell me when you arrived at school this morning and when the principal informed you of the robbery?"

"Riko-san. If I remember her class correctly from when I taught them, I think I stayed after a lot too. I wouldn't call them bad per say . . . they just . . . they have a lot of energy." Kuroko settled on. "As for this morning, I got there at seven thirty, and he informed me of the robbery just before I came to the station to let me know that he needed me to do that. I'm currently on my lunch break, and his just ended, so I'm guessing he came back and it was gone."

"You noticed no suspicious characters on campus today?" Aomine, finished, pulling into a space in front of the school.

"I work with children, Officer Aomine. Believe me, if I thought that someone was there who shouldn't be, your station would have gotten a call." Kuroko replied, stepping out of the car when it had been parked.

"Fair enough," he said, stepping out of the car. "Can you show me the way to the scene of the crime?"

Kuroko flashed him a bright smile. "Sure. The principal probably isn't back yet, but you can look around and see if you can find anything. Right this way," he said, leading the way to the principal's office.

Aomine wasn't really sure what he was expecting. It was a missing desk. That's all that was missing. The thief even had the decency to dump everything on and inside the desk onto the floor before taking it. The damn thing hadn't left any drag marks so the guy had probably disassembled it and heaved it away in pieces. He sighed. If this was really the phantom then there'd be no real evidence anyway. His best bet was probably to question the principal and any teachers who might've seen anything. "Can I see this principal?"

"If he's out of his meeting, sure. I'll text him to come to his office if he's done." Kuroko said, pulling out his phone.

He was interrupted from texting by a group of passing kids noticing the police man in the office, and then noticing their teacher.

One of them ran out of line to go and hug Kuroko, wrapping her arms around his legs since she barely reached his knees. "Kuroko-sensei, Kuroko-sensei! Why is there a police man? Are you in trouble? I don't want you to leave!" She said loudly. And of course, once she mentioned that Kuroko might be in trouble and leaving all the other kids ran over and tried to hug him, making their own exclamations about how they didn't want him to leave.

One walked up to Aomine, and tugged at his pants leg to get his attention. "Why are you taking our teacher away? Kuroko-sensei is a good person," he said, looking tearily at Aomine.

Aomine was never really good with kids. One looking up at him in tears was not something he'd ever been trained to deal with. So like the professional he was. He stood stalk still, frozen for fear of making him cry more. "Uhh….."

When the officer didn't say that he wasn't taking their teacher away a few more kids burst into tears, and quite frankly this was Aomine's nightmare. He could deal with criminals, but crying children...well that was something else entirely.

"He's not taking me away, guys." Kuroko said, kneeling down to be at eye level with them. "This nice man here is just making sure that everything is safe for you guys, and I was showing him around. I'll be back in the classroom in no time, but for now please listen to Izuki-senpai, okay?" He smiled at them and they all started to calm down.

As soon as Kuroko gave an indication that they could leave, he tried to walk away as fast as possible. It had to be kids that he was dealing with.

"Aomine-san, the principal should be here soon." Kuroko didn't even look away from the kids to say to him when he noticed the officer trying to sneak off.

"Uhh, yea. Right. We're meeting here? I thought we were going to meet him somewhere else."

Kuroko shook his head, standing back up. "Nope. He's coming here," he turned his attention back to the children. "Now, don't keep Izuki-sensei waiting in the hall. Go back to class," he ordered, and amazingly enough they all listened.

Aomine whispered a small "thank you" at the sight of the kids leaving. He'd never understand how teachers did their jobs. "Once the principal is here, you're free to leave. Also could you send over that teacher you mentioned earlier? Riko-sensei, was it?"

"Yes, of course." Kuroko said with a smile, just as Hyuuga arrived. "If you need anything else from me, I'm Kuroko Tetsuya," he told the police officer. He waved at Hyuuga before walking out of the office.

The principal looked angry enough to kill. This was going to be a long day.

He'd moved the desk during the principal's lunch break, but it was also recess for his kids, which made it easy enough to slip away unnoticed. He used that to get inside the police station, and now he knew the layout.

After that he continued as normal, stealing and returning for the next few weeks before suddenly, he stopped. Not the stealing, but he was keeping the objects. He continued to leave his sticky notes though, just to let them know it was still him.

He was up to his neck in missing items reports. The thief had suddenly stopped returning his stolen goods a few months ago. What was this guy thinking? Did he finally get bored of his regular game? Was he trying to mess with them? What was his aim?

"Dai-chan, we have another missing item reported." Momoi sighed after hanging up her phone. "It's from the hospital. One of their stretchers is missing. Midorin is upset."

"Tell the frog I'm working on it," he groaned. He was getting tired of this. They still couldn't find any trace of the robber.

"I did. He told me to tell you that you couldn't catch the original, he hopes you have better luck with the copy cat." She rolled her eyes. "You don't really believe that there's another person doing this, do you?"

"Nah, no one else would steal useless crap like that. It's still the same guy, I'm not sure what he's planning though, if he's planning anything at all. He's still probably just messing with us."

"But why change his game? What's the point? He was messing with us just fine before since we were still at a loss on how to catch him." She pointed out.

"He got bored? I don't know. If I could get into this guy's head we wouldn't be having this problem right now." The case was really starting to get on his nerves.

"You seem to be getting into his head better than anyone else. You were the first to figure out that he was doing it just for fun." Momoi told him.

Before he could answer though, the phones in the office started ringing. Almost all of them, one after another, with missing items being reported found all over the city.

"What the hell is he doing?" Momoi muttered as she got up to go to her and Aomine's shared car. "Come on Dai-chan. We've got a long night ahead of us."

Kuroko watched from the shadows as officers left the station. As more calls came in fewer left in pairs to cover more ground. He waited until there were only two left, and made his move. With a few more strokes of his keyboard he had the cameras under his control. They wouldn't see him.

He went in through the back, careful not to trip any alarms, and stayed out of sight of the two remaining officers. Probably new to the job if they were left behind to play guard dogs. They were so busy gossipping together about what was happening that he probably could have walked right through the front door without them noticing him.

He made his way to the heart of the station, quietly opened up his paint can and put his signature happy face on the wall, grabbed the coffee maker, and left with his prize, grinning to himself as he walked down the street to where his car was parked. Once he put down the coffee maker and paint supplies he got out his computer and turned off the loop feed that he'd been transmitting to the cameras, letting them run like nothing had happened.

The night had been hellish and Aomine had gotten no sleep at all. He'd spent the night driving all

over the city retrieving all the stolen items for evidence. As he drove to the station after retrieving the damned doctor goblin's stretcher from in front of the Tokyo tower, he was desperately in need of some morning coffee.

Everyone at the station was freaking out more than he would have imagined considering the tiring night. That was until he noticed the large white smiley face painted on the wall and the coffee maker missing from its designated spot. "Son of a bitch," he was all but ready to kill this guy, taking the coffee maker was just being an asshole.

"Well Dai-chan, it looks like you were right about him coming here eventually." Momoi said. "I just really wish he had taken something besides the coffee after keeping us out all night. I'm going on a starbucks run, I think we're gonna be here for a while."

The police chief wasn't supposed to be home, so it should have been safe to drop the coffee maker there.

Which is what he'd been doing when he heard a car pull up just as he set down the coffee machine. He glanced over his shoulder and as soon as he saw the police cruiser he took off running.

Aomine had gone to his chief's house to drop off some paper work that he'd finished filling out. He hadn't expected to be chasing the damned thief he'd been searching for, for the past few months. The asshole had unfortunately picked the wrong time to drop off the coffee machine. There was no way in hell this guy was getting away.

Kuroko weaved between houses until he made it out of the neighborhood and onto the streets. He pulled his hood up to hide his face running between buildings and into crowded streets to try and lose the police officer chasing him.

The thief was surprisingly hard to keep track of, it was almost as if he was disappearing and reappearing. He chased him into an alleyway with a dead end.

Kuroko looked around for a means of escape, but his mistake became apparent very quickly when he saw a wall on one side and a police officer, the same one he'd talked to before, on the other. He doubted it would work, but he'd be damned if he wasn't going down without a fight, so he tried to make a break for it by trying to run past the officer.

Aomine cornered the thief before he could swivel past him and trapped him against the wall. Finally getting a good look at his face, he recognized him as the kindergarten teacher he'd met all those months ago about the missing desk. Well damn.

"Aomine-san. It's nice to meet you again." Kuroko forced a smile despite the position he was in of being pinned up against a wall by a police officer, in a very incriminating situation.