Work Text:
"Here, just keep this ice pack on your forehead"
In a narrow alley, two dark figures were fumbling with something. If anyone guessed they were thieves, they’d be half right….
Mim Rattanawadee is a thief.
One who stole at night purely for fun, while still holding a respectable day job.
Most nights she’d wander around banks or museums, picking out her next target. She was confident she’d never get caught. If she didn’t call herself a master thief, no one else would dare to.
She should have been walking away with a Renaissance painting worth billions by now.
But fate shoved her straight into the path of a certain idiot "hero"
Here’s what happened.
_____________
Today, Mim set her eyes on a newly arrived Renaissance painting by a famous old artist. She didn’t know much about art, the only thing she knew was: It's very expensive.
And expensive things meant security.
The harder the challenge, the more she liked it.
It had been a while since anything excited her this much.
She mentally reviewed her plan, double-checked all her gadgets....the only thing she didn’t check was the date.
Thanks to her small frame, Mim slipped easily into the museum's ventilation system. She pulled up the map again to confirm the painting's location. But before she could go further, a loud THUD echoed behind her.
Someone?
Impossible for it to be a guard. Why would they crawl through vents?
Another thief?
If so, today was his unlucky day. With The Great Rattanawadee present, he'd definitely leave empty-handed.
The vents were too narrow for her to turn around, so she simply kept crawling toward the target.
But the longer she listened to the constant thump thump behind her, the more she wanted to turn around just to punch that idiot.
Who the hell breaks into a museum and makes that much noise?
When she reached the room containing the painting, the amateur behind her still hadn't learned how to keep quiet.
Mim sighed and decided to deal with the idiot first.
She wasn't going to kill anyone, she was a thief, not an assassin. A little homemade knockout drug would be more than enough.
Since the noise was still far away, she casually pulled out her phone and played around while waiting.
Which was exactly why Mim almost ended up in the hospital for heart palpitations.
While she was relaxing, a body suddenly landed right on top of her.
She shrieked, trying to twist around to slap the drug-soaked cloth onto the theft’s face. But the person was surprisingly strong.
Mim used all her strength just to turn around, only to find that she was now the one pinned underneath.
…And the “he” was actually a she.
Now that Mim noticed the soft weight on her chest and the sweet scent in the air, she froze. Long hair fell down like a curtain around them, shutting the world out. The girl wore a half-mask similar to Mim’s. Taller, stronger, and currently pressing Mim into the metal vent.
“What… what are you doing?” Mim snapped, embarrassed, she lowered her voice to sound intimidating.
“You! Criminal! Surrender now!” She spoke up, her voice deliberately lowered, giving her words a hint of intimidation.
“You’re… not here to steal?” Mim blinked.
“Hmph! Don’t lump me in with your kind,” the girl declared proudly. “I am the hero this city needs"
Mim rolled her eyes and promptly slapped the drugged cloth over the hero's nose and mouth.
"Hmmmpphh-hhmmm-what-hmm are you-doing?!"
The girl thrashed wildly. Mim held on tighter.
..........
Five minutes later.
"Phew, what is WRONG with you? Were you trying to kill me? I couldn’t breathe!"
Mim shook her numb hand. She’d tested that drug dozens of times. Two minutes was usually the max anyone could endure.
But this girl didn’t look drugged at all.
Fine.
She re-soaked the cloth and slapped it on again.
.........
Another five minutes later.
“You...are...INSANE -huff- you’re not just a thief, you’re a murderer!”
Mim was too stunned by this woman’s ridiculous resilience to notice their physical situation: the hero had both Mim’s wrists pinned above her head, their faces inches apart.
Then Mim heard the guards below.
Of course they’d noticed
Two of them had been noisy enough to wake the dead.
Not her fault.
It was this idiot’s fault!!!!
Mim squirmed to get free.
The hero tightened her hold.
Until-
CRASH!
The vent gave way.
They fell straight onto the floor.
Mim barely had time to cry about her aching back. She rolled the girl off and bolted the opposite direction from the approaching guards.
She heard the guards capture the hero.
Followed by punches, yelling, and her voice echoing:
“I’m not a thief! I’m not a thief!!!”
“What am I doing…” Mim groaned. She knew she’d regret this.
But fine! Consider this charity.
Luckily, she had disabled the cameras beforehand.
Mim put on her gas mask, ran back, threw several smoke bombs, and dragged the 'hero' out before the guards knocked her unconscious for real.
_______________
And that was the whole story.
Now Mim was done bandaging the so-called hero. She pressed the ice pack hard onto the lump on her forehead.
“Ow ow ow! Where'd you even get an ice pack? Aren’t we scared of being found here? I heard places like this rich neighborhood have really strong security”
Mim didn’t answer.
Today had been awful. Not only did she fail to steal the painting, she wasted precious smoke bombs and now had to treat the very person who ruined everything.
Security would be tighter from now on, maybe even shoot-on-sight.
She wasn’t scared, but failure left a bad taste.
All because of....
She turned only to see the girl had already disappeared.
Good!
Better not meet her ever again!
Mim climbed back through the window.
Yes, this is her house.
______________
The next day.
Mim was furious.
Burning with the need for vengeance.
Tonight, she would succeed.
Because of last night’s fiasco, the mayor had ordered thermal cameras, laser grids, more guards armed with guns and gas masks,....
Still, Mim was confident.
More difficult didn’t mean impossible.
But before that, she needed to make sure that idiotic 'hero' wasn’t around to ruin things again.
At exactly midnight, Mim circled the museum, checking escape routes and also scanning for the fool she now considered her natural enemy.
And, of course, she found her.
Her voice echoed from a nearby alley, just 50 meters away.
“You two! Stop! Let that girl go!”
Two men were cornering a girl.
Mim wasn’t sure if meeting the fake hero was this girl’s luck or misfortune.
Mim perched on the rooftop, deciding she’d just watch.
Though her hand had already moved to the knife at her waist.
“You wanna join her?” One man jeered.
They laughed.
One approached the hero.
Despite everything, the girl stood firm. Mim hated to admit it, but...she was a little worried. From last night, she could tell the hero was strong, but had zero martial arts skill. Could she protect herself?
Mim assured herself her worry was purely because she wasn’t the type to watch someone get beaten.
She calculated the distance then dropped right between them.
“AAAHHH!” Mim screamed, she fell to her knees, pain shooting through her.
“You okay?!” the hero panicked, frantically helped Mim up, not understanding why someone appeared right in front of her, at the right moment...she used a taser.
Everything turned chaotic.
The girl who was being bullied ran away.
The two men focused on Mim and the hero instead.
Mim pulled out two smoke bombs, threw them, and felt the world tilt.
“422 X Street...” She murmured to the hero before passing out.
Hopefully she’d understand.
____________
Mim woke up in her own bed again. Remembering what happened, she immediately checked, her mask and clothes were untouched.
She sighed in relief.
The idiot didn’t remove her mask.
Was she stupid or just unbelievably kind?
Speaking of her, was she still here?
Mim dragged her sore body to the living room.
Empty.
The girl was gone.
But on the table sat a note.
"Hello! This is the Super Bunny Hero!
Thank you so much for helping me last night.
To return the favor, I helped give back all the items you...found.
I hope one day we can meet again without anyone getting hurt"
Mim froze.
Items she "found"?
Oh no.
OH NO!
Mim sprinted to her bedroom.
Her shelves - once filled with trophies from past heists - were empty.
Not "stolen"
Confiscated.
This was a declaration of WAR.
______________
Her grudge toward the 'Super Bunny Hero' only grew deeper.
She waited patiently from 10 PM onward, sitting on the museum roof. Tonight, she would take that hero down first.
She brainstormed revenge:
Break her teeth? Slash her face? Cut a finger?
....No. Too bloody. She wasn’t that kind of person.
Well, first Mim have to find a way to knock her out.
She sat there calculating methods.
By the time her legs were sore, it was already morning.
Weird?
Had the hero chickened out and quit?
Mim stretched. It was 5 AM
She had wasted an entire night waiting for someone who didn’t even show.
______________
Mim decided to take a day off work today, she needed to eat and sleep to regain strength for a successful heist tonight.
The house was dark, she didn’t bother turning on the lights.
She walked straight into her bedroom, stripped, and collapsed onto the bed.
Rolling to the side, she frowned. Since when did she have such a weird pillow?
A pillow with an arm wrapped around her???
!!!!!
“AAAAAAA!!!” Mim shrieked.
“AAAAAAA!!!”
The 'Super Bunny Hero' shrieked too...
.
.
.
.
From her bed!?
_____________
“Why are you in my house?” Mim demanded.
Somehow, she managed to get fully dressed and seated calmly across from the hero who had caused her days of suffering.
The hero raised her head.
And Mim’s brain exploded into
Rainbows!
Fireworks!
Sparkles!
They both stared until Mim choked on her own breath.
Absolutely humiliating.
“N-now talk! Why are you here?” Mim slammed the table.
“I’m out of money…” The hero whispered.
“And what does that have to do with me? That’s not a reason to break into my home and sleep in my bed!”
"I got kicked out because I couldn’t pay rent. I....don’t have anywhere to go..."
"That’s not my problem. Please leave" Mim pointed to the door.
The hero dragged herself toward it, each step accompanied by a pitiful line
“It’s so hard to find work here....”
“You’re the only person I know....”
“If I leave, there’ll be no one to protect the city....”
"Who knows when we’ll meet again...."
“Stop"
Mim already regretted it.
“You’re letting me stay?” The hero’s face lit up like a puppy seeing its owner.
No!
Mim absolutely did NOT think she was cute.
“I’m not letting you stay”
The hero’s face fell instantly.
“But…” Mim smirked “I’ll let you stay temporarily, until you find a job.”
“Really?? Thank you!!”
The hero threw her arms around Mim.
“But you’re not allowed to stop me from stealing!” Mim groaned in her tight embrace.
“No promises” the hero said seriously.
....And honestly, Mim didn’t think she’d mind that much.
“I still don’t know your name” The Super Bunny Hero said.
“Mim Rattanawadee”
“View Benyapa”
“Nice to meet you, fake hero”
End.