Sleight of Hand, Love and Magic

This story has a warning directed at Saint Tail herself. I'm not sure about the rating for this story, so just stop reading if you feel that it's not for you, though I can't think of one person that would follow that rule, I certainly didn't. Saying it's a mature rating seems to be a bit harsh, but giving it a teen rating seems a little bit light. I'm not sure what to do.

It's just a dream, but still, I'm just going to say Saint Tail is growing up a little.

I don't own Saint Tail, just the idea.

 

 

 

Gently lifting the top half of a glittering glass case, Saint Tail carefully, silently, placed it on the floor and let it lean against the wooden leg of a table about a foot away. A mischievous smile spread on her face as she picked up the small shimmering azure crystal held it up to the light.

Asuka Jr. was hidden in a dark hideaway, watching intently as she raised the crystal and watched it's brilliance shine. He didn't want to capture her this time, he just wanted to observe her theft and see if she was really the petty thief everyone assumed her to be. Right now she sure did seem, even under his close observation, to be a mere thief, like any other, but something had him infatuated with her, and he couldn't bring himself to believe that he was madly in love with someone so bad.

When she fled, he silently followed her. He had researched the building for hours and knew every possible route she could take. Successfully, he managed to follow her outside without her knowing it, and now he wondered where she was going. He followed her as she continued on her obviously very important mission of returning the jewel, and after that... something else she obviously had to do.

This one however, shocked him more than the fact that she didn't keep the jewel for herself. He'd suspected, of course, but to actually see her pull it off, it had him seeing her in a whole new light. That feeling was deepened further when he saw her sneak her way into the Saint Paulia Church.

He followed her and found himself rendered speechless in the doorway, watching as she knelt on the hardwood floor, praying. He'd never seen this side of Saint Tail before, and it proved to him that she was the good girl he'd imagined. He found himself smiling at her, lost so deeply in her prayer. Was it a regular thing? He wondered silently.

She finished, her head bent over her hands, and then got up. She turned slowly and then walked away. He ducked behind a bench to keep hidden from her view as she left and then watched her go, that little angel. As he watched her walk away, he wasn't seeing Saint Tail as before, she had the wings of an angel now and he swore he saw a golden halo above her head as she stared at the stars. Something in that moment had him wanting to kiss her, though he couldn't understand it fully. He knew that he was in love with her, deeply, but it was just that he couldn't imagine it, he couldn't see it in his mind. It was something he simply couldn't see happening.

But he knew all too well, from watching the young illusionist perform her trickery, things you can't see, can still happen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 2

"Magic isn't real!" Asuka Jr. shouted, fighting with Meimi Haneoka.

"How would you know, anything is possible if you just believe in it." She shot back.

"I believe in things I see." Asuka Jr. said, flustered with her, and immediately regretted that sentence.

He knew that, even if he hated to believe in it, Saint Tail had him believing in magic. She had him believing it was real. There was no way he would ever admit it, but Saint Tail had taken her wand, knocked him over the head with it, and now had him under the effect of her own brand of a love potion. She performed her magic on him and now he couldn't escape it. He didn't know that he wanted to either. In some way, somehow, he was quite satisfied being under her control, quite happy to know that she would taunt him with lustful, crazed dreams that had him waking up unable to move. The only problem with this wild, hot, flaming game of love was the fact that he ended up wanting her so much, he had trouble controlling it to stay inside his head, where it belonged.

Occasionally he would be talking with a classmate over something in the park and the conversation always wound itself in a gentle ark that never failed to lead to the young magician. They would talk about her, mostly about chasing her or capturing her, and he would find it nearly impossible to keep secret the dreams he was having about her. At times, something not meant to be spoken would slip out and he'd talk his way out of it, but more and more often, he'd have to get up and make an excuse about something urgent he had to do, and then walk away as if nothing embarrassing had nearly happened.

 

 

They turned from each other, angry from their fight, and walked away to their seats. School went by with silence from them once the teacher intervened, and now Meimi was accepting another mission from Seira Mimori.

"I think we should help him, don't you?"

"Of course, yes. Saint Tail will take care of this."

She delivered the warning note and later that evening made her appearance, as always, and stole the picture without ever being noticed. Now he was once again following her, unable to stop himself as she bounded gracefully along rooftops to her final and, he guessed, most important destination. Once more sneaking into the church, she knelt down on the wooden floor and prayed. He only wished he knew what she was praying about. Was she saying sorry for stealing? He doubted it, she had no reason to be sorry. Was she praying simply because she wanted to? Probably, he thought.

And 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... She walked out the door and strutted to a nearby oak tree. Showing off, the little devil. She knew he was watching, now there was no doubt about it in his mind. She knew what she was doing to him and just playing hard to get. His answer was further confirmed when she let out a naughty giggle and ran off into the night.

 

 

 

 

 

Another night filled with what was bound to be a crazy dream that would leave him sweating the next morning was something Asuka Jr. knew for sure was going to come to him as soon as he fell asleep. Yet anyways, he got himself ready for bed, sort of excited that he would see Saint Tail again, even if it was only a dream.

Her fingers, gently working, making her gasp because of the sensation. She was sitting on the peak of a roof, and she was about to come. "Ah, okay... okay..." She was whispering the words, but they hardly made any sense, she was already that far gone, lost within desire as she felt everything clench. Her mouth open, she closed her eyes and let out a deep, ragged breath. She was so close.

 Her bangs were soaking wet, rain dripping from her fiery hair down and onto her black stockings, disappearing like an illusion into the silk like material. Her ponytail as well, a wet, but burning trail of fire down her back and into a messy pile lying on the roof next to her.

Suddenly she screamed, throwing her head back and clutching the rooftop with her hands as the fire burned through her.

He woke with a startled gasp, still hearing her lustful scream ringing in his ears, and groaned when he discovered himself in the same situation as he had been for the past two weeks. And again she was on his mind, fogging up his thoughts of reality, making him desire her and in turn torture himself. It was, in a way, an endless cycle. She controlled it, even if she didn't know it, and the only way to shatter it, would be to tell her. That required confidence, and a whole lot of courage that he didn't have, but in the end, it all came down to three words he had to say to her... I love you.

 

 

 

 

 

'She has to hear it, she has to know the truth.' He thought as he fed the doves outside the school at recess. Two weeks had passed, and his dreams had gone from hot and sweet to flaming and syrupy. Now he found himself thinking about her 24/7, seeing visions of her wherever he looked, and not getting peace from his feelings anymore. What answer did he have for all this? He was smitten with Saint Tail, there was no other conclusion, no other possibility. And he knew simply telling her how he felt wouldn't be enough to convince her. She wouldn't believe it. To make her believe it, he would have to kiss her. This thrilled him immensely, but had him thinking it through in every way, because getting Saint Tail close enough for a mouth to mouth kiss was a whole other problem in itself. Later on, when her warning exploded in his face out of his math book, he suddenly knew exactly what he had to do to get Saint Tail to see the truth.

Browsing through the flower shop, he picked out the most beautiful twelve pink roses he could find. Price was no option, Saint Tail would get, and deserved, only the best quality. Getting the flowers tied with glittering pink, red, and white bows, he left with the gift and headed off to capture Saint Tail. Walking through the north end of town, he saw absolutely no sign of life in the area, and had to wonder how Saint Tail discovered a stolen ancient moonstone jewel in a place like this.

No lights anywhere, no sounds of any kind, only the occasional run in with something smelly he didn't want to know anything more about. This district was also known to be a sort of ghost community, and therefore was home to a lot of gangs and criminals. Saint Tail was a modern day Robin Hood, taking the law into her own hands, but she definitely didn't belong here.

And then he heard a loud crash coming from a nearby factory and then a gun being fired. Without thinking he ran towards it, only to find Saint Tail holding a tiny silver oval shaped crystal and intently watching a fat man pointing a gun at her.

"Hand it over sweetheart, before something bad happens."

Last time, a dog had helped her, but now there was no such help around, except for a certain head over heels in love detective. Acting on impulse, he stepped in front of her to protect her and act as a shield. She was shocked and for a moment speechless when he suddenly showed up in front of her.

"Asuka..."

"It's okay." He responded, looking at the man in front of them. "Let me speak to her. I promise you will get your jewel back."

"One minute." The man said after some consideration and stepped back, allowing them a little privacy but keeping the gun on them.

He turned to her, winked, and mouthed the words 'help me' to her. She caught on immediately, and smiled, not hiding a thing from him. 'Drop it.' he instructed her and she did, making it look accidental, then bent down to pick it up, he did with her but while she picked up the stone, he quickly picked up a bullet lying beside his shoe. They both stood and faced each other again. He pressed her palm to his and she understood immediately, using her sleight of hand to switch the items. Dropping their hands he leaned forward and whispered into her ear.

"I love you baby. Hand him the bullet, it's gonna work."

"Times up. Where's my crystal?"

They parted, and after a few seconds she turned and walked slowly over to him, acting nervous. Faking the shake of her hand, she reached out and handed it to him. As predicted he took it and ran immediately, not bothering to look back.

Smiling, she turned and walked back to the young detective. He smiled at her when she stopped beside him, and then chuckled.

"What's so funny?" She asked.

"I never thought I'd get myself into such a paradox."

"A paradox?"

"I'm madly in love with you, but I can never have you." He admitted.

"Why?"

"Because I'm a detective and you're a thief. That doesn't work."

They were silent for a minute, thinking. But soon Saint Tail found herself getting annoyed with the fact that he didn't realize her feelings. How was it possible for him to be an a grade student but not notice the way her cheeks flushed when he was near, the way she instantly found it hard to breathe when he called out her name, the way she always wanted to turn and run back into his arms.

"Daiki?" She whispered, taking control, and asking the question she needed an answer for.

"Yes?"

"Are you going to kiss me or not?!"