"You did WHAT to that costume?!"

The blond boy in front of me has a rather intense scowl on his face, his furious expression showing me just how much I've messed up.

"I, uhh, threw it into the ocean." I sigh. "Look, Jason, I'm really sorry-"

"SORRY? Do you have ANY idea how long it took me to make that thing?" Jason isn't usually the type to yell out loud, but when it comes to his creations...Well, sometimes I get the feeling that he loves his costumes more than his older sister. "And you just threw it into the ocean?!"

"Hey! I didn't expect to get found out, you know?" I retort. "If I kept that outfit around, I could've been caught for real."

"Tch...It's all your fault for wanting to pull off some ridiculous, flashy heist all of a sudden." Jason sighs. "Making that phantom thief costume and the quick change dress on such short notice wasn't easy, you know? And all we have to show for it are newspaper headlines mocking you for being caught by a teenage girl."

"I'll have you know that that teenage girl is much more competent than any of the guards on the ship." I grin. "Besides, she's your senior in school, so treat her with more respect, will you?"

"That's that, and this is this." He frowns. "Also, "Phantom Thief Chloe"? Are you sure-"

"Jason." I cut him off. "I...It's fine. I can't think of a better stage name to give myself."

"...As long as you're okay with it, I guess." Jason sighs before changing the subject. "Sorry, Meds. I don't mean to lecture you or anything, but..."

"I know. Don't worry about it." I smile. "Phantom Thief Chloe won't be caught so easily."

"I sure hope not." Jason rolls his eyes before walking towards our shared wardrobe. "Well, enough talk. It's about time we prepare to head out to school. I'll remake your costume afterward."

"Thanks, Jason. You're the best." I grin as I grab my school uniform after Jason. "Lunch is on me today."

---

Sitting in class just like any other student is rather relaxing if you ask me. It lets me unwind for a moment and just forget that I'm a wanted criminal, and the legendary Phantom Thief. Yup, right now, I'm just Medea, a normal highschooler like everyone els-

"Medea! Check out the news!" Christie, a friend of mine, bounces into view and slams today's newspaper on my desk. The headline? 'Phantom Thief Chloe caught by genius teenage detective!'. "Isn't that so cool?"

Wonderful.

"Huh, did she get arrested or something?" I play dumb as I look at the newspaper. Looks like it's written by Verity Drake, the reporter Sherry and I encountered on the cruise. Most of the pictures seem to be from during the incident. "I don't really follow the news much."

"No, but there's this detective who caught her and forced her to hand over the diamond she stole!" Christie says excitedly. She's always been a big fan of detective stories. "The detective cornered the thief with her deductions and the thief had to jump into the ocean to escape!"

"Ah...that's what's written, isn't it?" I cringe internally. "Wow, that detective must be pretty impressive."

"Yeah, says here that her name is...Sherry Sterling." Christie says as she reads the article. "She refused to be interviewed, though. What a shame."

"Why not just ask any questions you have for her yourself?" I snicker.

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

Although Sherry has accrued some fame for being a talented detective despite her age, she never really made a big deal of it in school. Besides, she usually keeps to herself, so you really have to go out of your way to find out that she even exists, much less that she's an accomplished detective.

"You do know that Sherry Sterling is in our grade, right?" I grin.

"Wait, what??" Christie's eyes light up with excitement as she slams her hand on her desk. "You're kidding!"

"I don't have any classes with her, but I do hang out with her from time to time." I say nonchalantly. "Short black hair, dark green eyes, wears a pair of round glasses. Maybe you share a class or two with her?"

"Wait...I think I know who you're talking about!" Christie exclaims. "I can't believe that I'm in the same school as a real detective! I'm gonna go try talking to her!"

"She's a bit shy, so don't give up easily." I wink. "She'll open up to you eventually."

Heh. That's what you get for refusing interviews and letting the news reporters write whatever they want about me, Sherry. As your punishment, I'm forcing you to make more friends, you loner.

"Well, I promised my little brother that I'll have lunch with him, so I'm gonna head out now." I say as I leave my seat. "Good luck making friends with Sherry."

"Making friends with who now?" I nearly jump out of my skin when I hear Sherry's voice right behind me. Between her complete lack of presence, lockpicking skills, and intelligence, she'd probably be a much better thief than I am.

"Sherry!" I turn around to face her. "How long have you been here?"

"I just arrived." She tilts her head, as if that was supposed to be obvious. "You dropped your purse in dad's car, so I'm here to return it."

"Oh, thanks!" I smile as I reach out to take my purse back from her hands, only for her to quickly swing it out of my reach.

"I'll give it back to you if you explain why you dropped it there on purpose." She frowns. "There's an indent in one of its pockets, which means you usually have something in that pocket, most likely an ID card. If you took it out before dropping it, that implies that you left it behind on purpose, and took your ID out just in case you needed it before I return the purse to you."

"Wow, snooping around in someone's purse is seriously bad manners, dummy." I chuckle. I just can't win against her, can I? "Alright, fine, you caught me. It's just that...I'm always the one to initiate our conversations, you know? I wanted to see if I can get you to be the one to approach me for a change."

"...That's such a stupid reason." She rolls her eyes before tossing me my purse. Then, in a much quieter tone, she adds. "You could've just said so..."

"What was that?" I grin, pretending not to hear her.

"Nothing!" Sherry growls. Oops, she definitely knows that I heard her.

"Oh. My. Gosh." Suddenly, I'm reminded of Christie's existence as she slowly starts to speak. "It has to be her, isn't it? Is she the one?"

"Oh. Right." I gesture to Sherry. "This is Sherry Sterling."

"I knew it! Oh my gosh, I can't believe it!" Christie exclaims with a star-struck expression on her face. She quickly pulls out a notebook from her bag. "Um, uh, h-hi Miss Sterling! I'm Christie, and I'm a huge fan! Can I have your signature?"

Sherry slowly starts to back away from Christie and hides behind me, as if she instinctively believes that hiding behind me will fool Christie into thinking that she's no longer here. My, my. She is such a cutie.

"Don't be shy, Sherry." I nudge her forward like a mom trying to get her daughter to meet new friends. Internally though, I'm cackling like some kind of evil mastermind. "Try talking to her~"

"...Hi." With no other options, Sherry reluctantly steps forward and greets Christie with an awkward wave.

"Oh, I'm so sorry if I came forward too strong. I'm just so excited!" Christie tries, and fails, to contain her glee. "I've never met a real detective before!"

"They're not rare." Sherry replies. Sometimes I wonder if she's actually a robot. Or maybe she's doing this on purpose. That can't possibly be the best response her brilliant mind came up with.

"Umm...y-yeah, I guess." Even the ever-excitable Christie seems to lose a bit of steam from that response. Wow, she really met her match this time. I can't wait to watch an interaction between these two unfold. Where's the popcorn when you need it?

Wait, no, this is all wrong. I'm supposed to help them be friends with each other. Luckily, I know exactly how to make Sherry start talking.

"So, Christie, why don't you ask Sherry something?" I suggest. "You want to see her detective skills in action, right?"

"Right!" Christie regains her vigor as she faces Sherry. "Let's see...what can you deduce about me?"

"You help out at a veterinary clinic of sorts before coming to school, which is most likely owned by a man, and your right arm is injured." Sherry says with almost no hesitation.

"Oh, wow." Christie seems stunned as she rolls back her right sleeve, revealing a bandage over her right shoulder. "How did you know all of that?"

"It's not that difficult. When you tried to give me that notebook earlier, you used your left hand, but when you retrieved it from your bag, you were using your right hand to lead the action, which led me to believe that you have a dominant right hand, but don't want to exert it." Sherry explains. "Your uniform has traces of fur in it, with varying colors as well. I can tell that you tried to get rid of it, but there's still some remaining. Anyway, it's unlikely that they come from the same animal, and while that could simply mean that you own multiple pets, there's also a slight scent of medicine on you, covered by men's cologne, which is why I guessed that you helped out a vet earlier and that that veterinarian is likely a man."

"Wow...spot on!" Christie exclaims. "It's my big brother's clinic. He always lets me get rid of the smell with his cologne. Wait, I don't smell bad, do I?"

"Don't worry, Sherry just has the nose of a dog." I chuckle. "No one else will notice the smell."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Sherry mutters.

"But wow, you're even better than I thought you'd be!" Christie grins in excitement. "That was so cool! It's like, I bet that no one can hide anything from you!"

"Yeah, you must be real stupid if you try to hide something from her, huh?" Suddenly, I hear a familiar voice behind me for the second time today. It's Jason, looking a bit ticked off. "Hey, Medea. I was wondering what was holding you up."

"Oh, sorry Jason." Whoops, I almost forgot about my promise to him. "Umm, this must be your first time meeting, huh? Sherry, this is Jason, my younger brother. Jason, Sherry."

"Yeah, I figured." Jason nods at Sherry. "Thanks for taking care of my stupid sister."

"O-Oh, I haven't done much." Sherry shakes her head. "Umm, should we leave you two alone, or...?"

"Yeah, I promised to treat Jason to lunch for a favor." I grin. "I'll see you after school, Sherry!"

Sherry nods and leaves, with Christie continuing to bug her from behind. Sherry's a tough one to crack, but I have faith that Christie will annoy her into being her friend eventually.

"So, she's the one, huh?" Jason says as the two of them move out of earshot. "I still don't get it. Why are you hanging around with her?"

"I told you, didn't I? There's no point fooling an average gaggle of guards!" I grin. "If I really want to create an unsolvable puzzle, it needs to be evaluated by the best of the best!"

"That's not what I meant." He shakes his head. "I understand why you want to challenge her as Phantom Thief...Chloe, but what I don't understand is why you keep hanging out with her as Medea. If she's really as good as you claim, wouldn't being close to her make it easier for her to eventually figure out your identity?"

"Well..."

An image of Sherry flashes through my mind. Her rough, unkempt black hair, her sharp green eyes, and the adorable way her lips curl into a small, satisfied smirk when she figures out a particularly challenging mystery.

"Well, it's only natural for a predator to want to taunt her prey, right?" I grin.

"Is that really it?" Jason asks, clearly unconvinced.

"Of course! There's nothing else to it." I smile as I turn around and head towards the cafeteria, making it clear that the conversation is over. "Nothing at all."