Notes: Fixed, Updated and added small minor info, January-9-2017
'S2' is in Ekoda. But in reality (Magic Kaito reality), it doesn't exist, I made it up - _ - as most other places because we know so little about Ekoda.
S2, short for Station 2, is a private 'secret' underground Police hospital, for "disappearing purposes" when the targeted patients/officers/criminals under treatment are taken to, especially if important criminals are after them to kill them. It is also a secret base for some inspectors. More will be explained in the chapter.
The BO here is also called "Shadow Syndicate", "Shadows", "Ravens", "Syndicate", I like them more than "black organization" they do work in the shadows and it fits concerning how they tail the kaitous. So if you find the names, don't get confused. I probably got the first name from a story I read a while back from 2011.
Also, here the Kaitou Corbeau was Chikage in disguise. Bare with me for the sake of the plot! Bcz I might make a reference to Corbeau someday.
I will try to stick to a 4 to 5 thousand words per chapter. Max 7!
Review reply:
Claire Prime of Ultra: Yeah, allies will always come to help KID here, and vice versa :) and totally agree with you there, we need more episodes!
Sonozaki Mion: Thank you for your reviews and PMs, they indeed helped me in improving this story :)
Previously: the Kaitou Kid was 'ridden of' by the syndicate, which was on the move again. Who is the next target and how will the police try to avert any more deaths?
R&R
Enjoy~
Chapter 2: Coma KID
The Task Force investigating KID's crashing site returned to their station shortly after the interview was over. They left tonight's case to fold and to resume it the next morning. It was a tragedy no matter how they looked at it. The main problem was that an important internationally wanted criminal was killed; even the darkness couldn't hide that crucial fact, not when Interpol wanted to catch him badly. Moreover, the killers escaped, which was worse. As for KID's fans, they returned home, gloomy and sad. There were more like them, still unable to forget the tragic news. Most of their questions revolving around the sane human that sniped the kaitou from such hight.
Although Chianti was never sane when it came to killing; as she was the opposite by all means. Her skill and reputation as a sniper indeed proceeded her, which was the reason she was asked to join whenever they needed a sniper's aid. Of course, whenever she assisted, Korn was always her partner in the game. However, she was alone in that mission since Korn was working on something else with Vermouth and Gin in Beika city. Now that she thought about the crash earlier, they escaped the explosion by a hair. Literary.
She returned back to the hideout and wandered about in the parking lot under the building, her rifle fixed on her back, still unable to shake away her anger. She brought her hand into a fist and hit the pillar beside her. "He's getting it!" Snake hadn't responded or said a word since they escaped, and if she hadn't woken up before it, she would have died too. Most likely, he wasn't going to get her out if she remained unconscious. Furthermore, when they left their helicopter to burn, concealing all traces that led to them, he disappeared and she returned to the lair alone. 'Great team!' she muttered, 'I will kill the idiot if he does it again!' the brat that had the guts to shoot a soccer ball in her face was getting it too. Her nose still hurts!
The five cameras screwed to the ceiling_ one at the center of the four walls and one in the middle_ were flashing. He was watching. She didn't care, she had nothing to hide. She knew where she stood, and by all means, it was against the stupid law. Everyone knew that; her thrill to kill wasn't something anyone could mistake for protection, and there was no way she could turn out to be a rat. She hated their guts.
The boss watched her from his screens, she was angry and he could see it as clear as day. Snake always did what he wanted, and rarely listened to anyone or abided by a plan accurately, so Anokata couldn't blame Chianti for being angry now. He was mad at the man too. Scratch that, he was furious. Many plans were ruined because of him, again-scratch that, the most important card he had was killed because of him. How was he going to get the Jewel now?
Yet in the end, he was more than relieved; a troublesome obstacle was out of his way, that still counted as a success. Though it meant that he had to find another card to assure his success after many decades of searching for that special target. KID was finally dealt with; all he had to do now was to take Pandora from the police and kill them if he had to. No need to hold back anymore. Everything he did was done for that very moment; he wasn't going to stay low anymore.
For once, he agreed with Chianti concerning one thing, now was the BIG game. Everything will be under his control. It made him excited to finish everything, without having to worry about the consequences.
Too bad the 'card' was gone, he had many plans for it. It wasn't going to live after he got what he wanted, so it didn't matter now that he lost it one step ahead.
It was on Friday 25, 7:30 at night when the elusive KID was murdered, after all the efforts the officers made to keep him from dying. They knew his death would cause an uproar, but nothing could have been done there. They couldn't even find the killer since the only thing they left behind them was a burning helicopter. So much for evidence! At least they knew two people were involved, if they excluded the pilot, there was a man with a horseshoe-shaped mustache and a scary looking woman with short hair. The child, Edogawa Conan, looked like he knew the woman, but the man didn't seem familiar much, aside from knowing he was the jewel thief, Jackal. Whereas for Hakuba Saguru, he said that Jackal was present at many heists before, whenever the theft target was large.
If they wanted more information, they had to get them from whoever was involved with KID, and since the first was out of their reach, they had to find his partner. An old man or a woman, the info wasn't much to begin a search with, but it was everything they had from the old reports from three years back. The partners never left a trace since, not even an eyewitness of trick preparations or escape routes, much like the multiple 'number 7 helicopters' during the Blue Wonder heist. That was a smart move. Indeed, the Kaitou became more experienced than the first time he appeared. Nakamori had a strong feeling that the partner would surface on his own, so there was no need to go look for him. It was a stupid plan_ sort of_ but the partner would definitely want the body back, wouldn't he? Nakamori found it a perfect plan to wait for the said partner, only to ambush him and pull some information on the way too. He couldn't be as skilled as KID, could he? He hoped he wouldn't be.
Superintendent Chaki Shintaro sustained the idea and had everything under control, he assigned five officers to guard the corpse in the morgue, and twelve officers stationed in front of the hospital's doors. The police knew the killers would come, not only to make sure KID was truly dead but also to get rid of the evidence he might have on him leading to them. In addition, the backup was needed to apprehend the partner, if he was going to come when they were prepared for him.
At 8:00, a black van was crossing the forest, heading back to its company. The outside of the car had the logo of a shipping company, and six people were inside it.
"Great, no one seems to be following us," the person said, looking from the backdoors of the van from a small gap he made by having it slightly open, "we're clear"
"But do you think they really fell for it, Nakamori-Keibu?" said another man wearing a police uniform, his brown eyes stared at the inspector and his black hair blew with the wind once the man shut the door.
"For now, it seems so, Hakuba-kun." he looked at his watch and shoved it back into his pocket, "we have an hour to reach S2" he bid as he observed the white figure lying amid them.
Hakuba tore off his mask, sat crossed-legged facing his classmate, and began taking off the dirty suit. Conan helped him in removing it slowly, without causing any pain to the kaitou. Hakuba took off the blue shirt while Conan untied the red tie. From their perspective, the situation was drastic.
"S2? What is that?" Conan posed; his face wasn't showing any innocent childish expressions anymore. "Where are we taking him? You know we can't take him to public places, right?" he added with a raised eyebrow. He took out a bottle from the Kit to clean the wounds and wiped the dripping blood. Once he finished, Hakuba unsealed some chest seals and pressed them carefully on Kuroba's chest where the bullet holes were. He did not neglect the back where the sniper bullets had penetrated KID's body. He stuck two seals on them after cleaning and purifying the wound.
Nakamori wavered to answer; then reconsidered what Hakuba told him earlier after they announced the news of KID's death to the TV channels. The nearly nine-year-old child, Edogawa Conan, was the missing high school detective Kudo Shinichi, shrunken by a poison made by the syndicate for killing people. It was hard to believe, but seeing how smart the brat was, he had to give in, eventually. After all, he was surprised when Conan whispered to him the 'idea' that perfectly staged tonight's rescue. The surprise withered away when he learned the truth behind the mysterious boy, so it would be okay to put some trust in him now since he allowed him to know the dangerous secret.
Trust should be mutual, right? He did put him on KID's case.
Ginzo sighed after he placed the suit, shirt, and tie in another plastic bag for evidence. He handed the 'child' a pressure bandage roll, Conan took it and wrapped the injured limbs without hesitating. It amazed Ginzo how the shrunken teen knew how to apply it in the first place. "Station 2 is our secret private police hospital, at the end of Ekoda. The first one is in Beika, but it's too far from us. No one will suspect him to be there because only some inspectors know about it; meaning, Migori, Hatorri and me. The doctors there can treat him and he can rest for as long as he needs" he observed the teen lying at the center of the van. "We have precisely an hour to reach them. We were lucky to reach him."
"Yes, but he is still in a bad shape_" before Hakuba could continue, he was interrupted by the tiny detective.
"Of course he is!" Conan blathered almost too serious, "He crashed from five hundred meters, not to forget all the trees he bumped into and the ground he fell head first into!" he ripped a piece of the white pants where the bullets were logged, he made the gap wide enough to clean the wound, then dressed it carefully. He was really grateful that there were pressure bandages in the Kit Aid, it made everything less horrifying than having to deal with regular bandages. Those would turn red in seconds and would never stand a chance against the heavy bleeding.
"I knew that K-Conan-kun..." they had to keep the secret, so Hakuba decided to settle with Conan instead of Kudo as long as they weren't alone. They could make some exceptions though, only when they were a 100% sure they were talking to the real person (not a fake like a KID partner or a BO member). Frustrating. He will stick to Conan then. "I meant that we can't wait an hour to reach the hospital, he'll die here" Hakuba was worried despite his calm face, Conan knew he shouldn't push any further.
"He's right, we can't wait long, Conan-kun." At least Ginzo was smart enough to understand the plan. "That's why a trustworthy doctor was contacted, by Kudo Yusaku himself" Conan was shocked at that. How did his father know about this and why? "But, it'll take us ten more minutes to reach them. They're waiting ahead" Conan raised an eyebrow at him, clearly demanding an explanation. Ginzo sighed, "After they met us at the crashing site when Yukiko was done making a quick mask for Hakuba-kun, Yusaku-kun said that he knew someone who could help us until we reach the station"
'Of course! Involve Kāsan, and Tōsan will involve himself too!' Conan narrowed his eyes, mumbling a few things to himself. "And to think that I asked her to keep the entire matter from reaching him. Humph"
Ginzo shrugged at the face Conan gave, Hakuba decided to cut in before the shrunken boy lost a nerve or two. "I hope we reach them before KID dies" with that said, the boy forgot the revenge he was planning on both his parents. The two watched the unconscious thief, lying there like a corpse. He didn't make a single move since they brought him inside the van. His white suit wasn't white, long before they entered it, with barely a slight bit spared while the rest was crimson red. His face was exposed, though the darkness could not reveal much of it, it didn't matter anymore. Saguru, Ginzo, and all the police officers saw his face earlier. It would be useless to keep his identity a secret from the TV channels in further inspections or in case KID died for real this time. Furthermore, the syndicate was aware that the thief's identity was exposed. Moreover, revealing it now to the public would endanger anyone close to him, like Aoko for example.
Conan stared at the thief with an annoyed glare on his face, and it wasn't long before he gasped in frustration. "So, mind telling me who is he now? He's young, just as I expected, " he said, watching the pale face, there was a thin stream of dry blood on his lips all the way down to his neck. Ginzo proceeded to wipe it, along with the other scratches on the magician's face.
Hakuba nodded and relaxed for a moment, driving his hand to his fringe and brushing it away from his eyes. They had most of the wounds secured now. It would be okay to relax for a minute. "Everyone said so, expect Nakamori-Keibu. He kept insisting that KID was old, in his forties, if not more." Ginzo snorted and crossed his hands with annoyance written on his face. "But it was always evident that KID was young from his face and acts, at least I was sure of that after I ran an analysis on a hair that I found during one of his heists a while back" he then decided to expose the secret, deciding to put stalling on the side for now. "His name is Kuroba Kaito, he's eighteen, almost. He's my classmate, and as Aoko-kun is, she is his childhood friend. You met her earlier" there came a nod from the faux child. "Of course, KID kept his civil life away from his night job, so she has no idea about his connection to KID and it would be best to keep things that way"
Conan nodded as Saguru was done giving the small information, he hummed when the teen didn't want to share anything more. "His name is Kaito... And no one noticed…?" his confused eyes said, before giving himself a face-palm to their stupidity. "The clover on his monocle is pronounced like his surname too. Let me guess, he's a magician too?" he said with half eyes and dry expression, Ginzo gave him a cold flat glare. Conan mentally swallowed. Creepy.
"I didn't expect him to be KID, because... Well, let's face it… when KID first showed up, Kaito-kun wasn't even born yet. I saw KID's face times and times before, that darn monocle made his face hard to recognize. Can you believe that even my daughter didn't recognize him?"
"Weird though... this Kuroba guy looks exactly like me, and Ran noticed with that monocle in place and confused him for me. It makes me doubt how much your daughter knew him"
Ginzo gave him another dry glare before clearing his throat, "In any case, when I met his family a while back, his mother said that she named him after KID because she was a huge fan of his. Toichi-kun said the boy was a kaitou by nature, stealing their hearts as any child would steal his parents' love. Sounded funny when they said it though, but it sounded cute too" Conan chuckled, "Besides, Kaito-kun and KID were present at the same heist over two years ago, if I am not mistaken, it was when KID flew on a broomstick..." he allowed his thoughts to stray, "which could have been an accomplice covering for him…" he covered his eyes, then exhaled deeply. "I should have known!"
"We didn't know he had a partner at that time, Nakamori-keibu. I guess Kuroba-kun found one after that, or he never needed him to cover for him before. I had him in a sticky situation and if he escaped, he would have proven himself to be KID. That's why his partner showed up to cover for him and lead us in the wrong direction." Hakuba leaned down next to Kaito to check his pulse. No matter how many times he tried to convince himself that Kuroba was tough, he knew his condition was still bad. He didn't even need to check the pulse since he could see him breathing_ panting, actually. He knew a mere teenager couldn't endure such pain, not with the crash's pain added to it. KID can claim to be an 'unreachable phantom' all he wants, but Hakuba knows that he is only a human. The crash proved that even the great escape artist can have ups and downs, and this was the worst 'downfall' by far.
Subsequently, Conan used his tranquilizer watch to drug the thief_ though he was out cold_ because he was hoping it would reduce his pain even if it was a slight bit. Hakuba wondered how many more gadgets the boy_ teen, he corrected himself_ had on him. Nothing in the Aid Kit was useful anymore, as the bandages and anesthetics were nearly done. His head was bleeding the most and the bandages Saguru wrapped around it will turn red soon. 'Soon' came five minutes afterward. Conan removed the sheet and used the scissors to cut a long piece and wrapped it tightly around the thief's head. He threw the blood-soaked bandage in the plastic bag they had beside them, containing the others.
He sighed, could the situation get any worse than that? He prayed it wouldn't. "The drug won't last more than minutes because of the bleeding" his voice went serious, hinting how drastic and terrible the situation was getting. "We'll have to act and now would be the best time... We need something to stop the bleeding, these bandages aren't helping!" he stared at his watch for a few seconds, "Unfortunately, my tranquilizing watch can only one needle at a time" their faces were worried, "So we're out of painkillers" Conan looked like he was cursing in his mind, Ginzo probably was doing the same, drifting in his musings, without being deaf to their conversation.
Ginzo clutched at his clothes, feeling entirely useless to his friend's son. 'Curse it' he didn't want to voice it, not in front of the high school kids. He had to somehow control the situation, although he knew the two detectives understood well what Kaito was going through. With all honesty, he was glad that he brought them along. They handled the situation better than any cop did (himself included).
Now that he thought about what happened earlier, a lot of KID's acts didn't make sense until that helicopter arrived and spilled the secret he was cracking his mind with since the original thief first showed up. Did it have to be tonight in this remote area?
"We'll have to keep him alive as much as we can, there is nothing we can do aside tying the wounds to stop the bleeding. It's not going to save him; he bled a lot already." now Conan could pick some worries in the inspector's voice, who then crossed his arms and sighed. "I don't want him to die too," He focused his gaze on the three remaining rolls, their stock would run out soon run. They only managed to get a small kit from the paramedics without anyone noticing. That wasn't enough.
Conan shifted his eyes back to Nakamori, the man seemed more than familiar with the current Kaitou. Perhaps a little distraction could help, "Ne, Nakamori-Keibu, you knew his father well, didn't you?" and Ginzo sustained, saying they became friends since his daughter and Kaito started hanging out together after they met under the clock tower. That most of those 'playdates' were done at Kaito's home until they became door-to-door neighbors.
"Chikage-san looked after them when Toichi and I were busy working. They used to live two buildings away before that. Then they moved next door and they stuck around for a year before going to Paris for Toichi's performances" he silenced himself for a brief moment, "We often watched his shows and watched movies together. Sometimes, one of us would accompany the kids to the amusement park." he raised a small weak smile to the pleasant memories. Too bad they ended too soon. "But he never told me either… and I never suspected him to be KID, although he was a worldwide famous magician. Just as I failed to notice Kaito-kun was one too. To be honest, I never doubted either of them. And I thought he was the same KID that disappeared ten years ago. It would have been absurd for me to believe Kaito-kun was the reason behind those heists..." He sifted his gaze to the ground, having some regret in his heart. "But come to think of it, since Princess Anne came to Japan, Kaito-kun was helping me to figure out some tricks that magicians use, and it was thanks to him that I figured KID's antics and remained on the case. I don't know why he helped me expose his tricks, but I'm sure he gave me the jewel while making everyone think I retrieved it" The detectives were silent, allowing him to speak freely. "He even showed me some tricks whenever he came over... I always thought it was a coincidence that KID used the same ones at the heists the next day"
"He must have done it on purpose" Conan chuckled, then added a soft smile "He likes to leave hints sometimes for fun." his gaze went back to the panting Kaitou, 'And I am sure he didn't want you off his case'
"But I nearly caught him because of that! I don't know what he was thinking!" his eyes were confused, unable to process such behaviors.
"You…needed…support"
They realized it was the trademark voice of the Kaitou KID. "Kai—" Nakamori said shocked, watching the boy speak with much pain carved on his face. 'No no, he shouldn't have woken up now...' he was starting to assume the worse, most being KID dying and the rest being KID escaping. 'This is bad...' there was no doubt that he could not support the pain in his current state.
'Cursed poker face' Kuroba tried to control his breathing, continuing before the inspector tells him to stay still. "Besides… I didn't... want… to have you... off... my case" He could barely manage those words, but they didn't try to stop him. It was important to keep him conscious now that he opened his eyes. "At least… now you understand... that… I never intended... to make a fool... out of you… Nakamori-Keibu" Ginzo's eyes sparkled with respect and sadness, "I had... to make it... look real… to fool the syndicate… otherwise… Oyaji would never... forgive me... if I got you killed" he tried to stop himself from panting, to gain as much control over his body as possible. 'Why does it hurt so much!' he closed his eyes for a brief moment, unable to think of anything aside from his pain. The most places that pained him were his head and shoulders. 'Damn sniper...' Snake's bullets didn't hurt as much as those did. 'Crazy sniper...'
Hakuba put a gentle hand on his shoulder, trying to keep him from moving or aggravating his wounds. His eyes pleaded the kaitou to stay down and rest, to only think of staying alive. Both him and Conan kept him down, gently holding his hands without using force, just to stop possible seizures from worsening the situation.
Nakamori would almost cry... no, he cried all right. "Kaito-kun… you should have told me… you and Toichi-kun!" The small tears at the edges of his eyes didn't miss the Kaitou's gaze. He felt a dash of pain in the man's voice, and careful eyes around him. He always felt assured around his favorite critics, but now was a little scary. It was just too risky. No matter how hard he tried to think of escaping, he knew nothing in him was responding enough to make a slight small move. He still had to get away from them before they end up dead too.
Kaito was panting fast, his right hand was holding tight on his ribs while his left wasn't moving at all, only lying cold on the ground. He knew Conan and Hakuba were gently holding them, making sure that he remained still. He understood their motive and appreciated the thoughtful help (Even if he wasn't going to admit it to them in their faces). He had more broken bones than he could count, that and he felt like the crash made him hit the ground so hard that his body nearly became flat. 'So much pain' he wasn't seeing anything from the first place, he could just hear the faint voices enough to understand what they were saying. "No way!... I couldn't… neither of us could…" his pain forced him to cease his words, unable to endure it any longer as he was on the edge of fainting.
Hakuba approached and tried to make slight slaps on his face, desperately trying to keep him from closing his eyes. "Kuroba-kun…Kuroba-kun…hold on…" the voice was calm, typical Hakuba, behaving without showing worry to not make the situation so dier. Kaito wanted to slam his head into the wall, he wasn't panicking, Hakuba didn't need to act ...how can he explain it?...like he was talking to a frightened lost toddler?
Yeah, that probably fits the bill.
"Kuroba-kun, you can't pass out, fight it!" that sounded like Metantei, always the serious must act person.
'So he was around too, huh?' And here he was hoping it was just his hallucination. So much for dying alone in peace. As if he could anyway. He had way too much to finish than to die now of all times. He had to pull it together, there were far too many people on that cursed list that Snake kept in his mind.
Maybe he was hallucinating all along, maybe he was still in the forest? Cold and alone, with no one around to witness him like that. They couldn't have found him so soon, could they? What if it was all JUST a nightmare...
A stronger wave of pain hit his body, rising to a level that he could no longer ignore. Then his vision decided to torture him and show him blurry figures on both sides, one that was probably Hakuba and the other was Ginzo, probably yelling (he couldn't hear a word of it). Then there was that mini figure beside the inspector.
No, no, he wasn't hallucinating, everything felt so real. 'Oh Kami'. He tightened his hand under his lungs again. He felt like flames were eating him, with deep aches consuming his head.
More blood ran down his mouth as they could see him swinging between both worlds, unable to take a single breath. Then he chocked with it, coughing some more on the way. The amount he coughed was large enough to petrify them. Hakuba helped him straighten up, perhaps it would help him breathe.
Conan was sure that the drug lost its effect, and he couldn't use anything to help the thief in any way. He cursed, looking around for something useful in the Kit. 'Curse it!' the bandages on KID's shoulder's became crimson wet. The pressure on Kuroba's lungs was making everything worse for the wounds there, in addition to the ribs. Breathing was becoming much more than stressful and impossible on the kaitou.
"It's no good, we need to calm him down!" he cursed again, watching the fatigue consuming the pale weary face. "KID, don't give up!" it alarmed him how cold the hands were, then again, it wasn't surprising with all the blood loss...
"Card...gun..." The thief managed to mumble before he passed out from shallow breath, leaving them worried and helpless. Conan quickly brought the tool (remembering KID had them soaked in anesthetics), held the gun in both hands and shot a card at one of Kuroba's arm. The card made a slight surface wound.
Hakuba stared at him, then understood what he was trying to do. The substance should take its effect in few seconds and they needed to buy him that time. Kuroba's heart rate began to decrease and settle into something somewhat assuring after all the panting that exhausted him. Finally, he managed to take a deep breath. Conan and Hakuba practically slummed down with relief. That was close, too close. Hakuba felt the tremble in his own hands right after the sheer thought of losing the magician kicked in.
They just had to keep him alive until his pain drops.
Easier said than done.
"He's calm now" Ginzo stated the obvious, maybe because he wanted to assure himself the boy didn't die yet. There was still hope left.
The van stopped suddenly and they dropped to the ground with a loud thud. Hakuba quickly got up and checked Kuroba's condition if he was hurt from the bump; thankfully none of them fell on him. Then the rear doors opened. An old man stepped up_ his face concealed with the help of a black cap_ entered the van, and closed the door behind him. Immediately the van continued its way. The three watched him with confusion, before turning their sight back on the kaitou struggling for control.
'Seizure!' before any of them could react, the old man approached and infused a shot directly into KID's right arm. The three were about to stop him, then realized Kuroba's pained expressions lessened and he became still. That issue explained, he raised a soft smile, proceeding to speak calmly. "I am the doctor for patient 1412." he removed the cap, allowing them to see his face.
They observed him for a moment and sustained to his aid, "As you already know, I came to treat some of KID's wounds until we arrive" the inspector recognized him and looked away as the old man placed down a black case from his hands. Their eyes traveled between him and Kuroba. The moment he removed the cap, Hakuba recognized him with ease. Aoko invited him and Akako to the old man's parlor a while back when she proposed to make a group to catch KID (she never opened the subject again since Kaito disapproved and called her an 'idiot' for thinking that they stood a chance against the phantom thief)
While the doctor was rampaging through his tools, Conan lowered his voice, deciding not to hinder his concentration. He turned his attention to the detective beside him, deciding to ask with a somewhat lower voice. "So, did you know, Hakuba...oniisan?" he added some innocence to his voice, and a confused expression on his face, "About..." he turned his sight to the thief, "and his motives?"
Hakuba smiled, he didn't look like he would torment Conan for the act. He added softly as his eyes scanned Kuroba's current situation. "Sort of, but he always denied it. The jewel he was looking for was the syndicate's target, that explained why he only targeted big jewels in the heist. It seems that he found it this time." he went silent for a brief moment while watching Jii take out his tools to help the thief. "Enough of his motives, we heard enough to understand what was going on. We must treat his wounds." He turned his gaze to the doctor preparing to remove the bullets, "Two of the wounds are caused by a rifle, while the rest are by a normal gun," he took a quick pause, untying one of the dressed wounds. "They are deep, Doctor"
The man didn't seem troubled by that information, not that it made a difference if he did. "So it seems, but no need to worry much about them. I can handle them with ease, Hakuba-kun." quickly he leaned down, pulled the bullet skillfully, and cleaned the wound. Hakuba proceeded in dressing it so the doctor could turn to the other bullet.
Nakamori went to the front of the van and sat beside the driver while watching out for anyone following them. The van was small, so he decided to leave them some space to work. Since Hakuba was assisting and Conan was lighting the van, there was no need for him to stay with them or hinder their work. 'Hold on, Kaito-kun!'
After some time, the doctor was having some trouble. The bullets were deeper than they thought and controlling the bleeding was quite difficult once they unwrapped the wounds. Then again, there were the wounds in the shoulder, the ones that penetrated him. That wasn't going to be easy to close. The doctor decided to not touch them, as they needed more precision and he preferred to have it done with better equipment.
So far, he managed only to pull out one bullet from the rib, and as far as he could see, things were becoming out of hand. Everytime little pressure was placed on the rib, Kaito experience pain and couldn't breathe much. He quickly injected another substance to slow down the bleeding, and closed the wound without forgetting the pressure on the boy.
Nevertheless, it wasn't over yet, the Kaitou took more than five bullets and only two were removed. Time was ticking.
Conan cursed, 'it's like we're going abroad!' it was strange how distances always felt large when no one had time to waste.
Furthermore, Hakuba was having trouble too. They wondered where he learned to operate, he didn't, he was just sewing. Well, operating is sewing the wound eventually, and Hakuba seemed good at it.
"How many have you taken out, Tantei-kun?" the old man asked, keeping his eyes on his work.
Saguru placed the bullet in the small tray, pressing his arm to his fringe to keep the hair from getting in the way. "I only pulled two from his left arm," he moved from it, allowing Conan to patch it up. He observed the right arm with some worry painted on his face. Conan knew it was very bad since it was evident on the blond's face. 'This is going to be troublesome' Hakuba never showed weary unless it was truly too hard for him to mask his concern. Now fit the describing well. "This one in his right, I can't reach it. It's struck in the main vein" he bit his lip, 'and if I mess up, he'll lose all of his blood...'
Conan's face was beyond petrified. The old man approached, less worried about the critical situation. "Let me check," and he did. "Oh, and it damaged the vein completely!" the bullet was literally nearly out of the said vein, that indeed explained why Kuroba was bleeding so much. He pulled a small operating scissor and cut a small part of the vein. Disgusting…? Yeah, maybe that was an understatement.
It was the best option he had. Naturally, he restricted the blood flow from both sides so he could connect them together without having any trouble. That done, Hakuba relaxed. It wasn't over yet. It was very practical, very small, and required a lot of concentration. "Good thing I brought my magnifying glasses," he said with a smile appearing on his face. Soon, he was done and allowed the detective to peruse his work. They continued to the others.
Conan_ despite only being able to light the van and wrap the wounds_ bewailed being unable to help with closing the wounds. The thief's condition was critical, moreover, he was going to die if they were late on the doctor.
Hakuba took a pause, looking for anything helpful. "K_ Conan-kun, can you hold down his right arm?" Shinichi's eye twitched, the guy was no better than Hattori! "I can't have him moving involuntarily while I am pulling the bullet out."
The boy nodded and gently kept his grip on the shivering hand, "I just hope we won't have to worry about traumas..." he bid with some fear slipping through his words while scanning Kuroba's face thoroughly. He scanned him for a moment before deciding to ask the doctor without sounding too suspicious. "Ne, which hospital are you from?" his wide innocent blue eyes were locked in Jii's.
The old man smiled warmly at the face, "I am a retired doctor, little one" Conan flashed back a fake shocked response. "I only came here because Kudo-kun asked me. Our friend's son was hurt" that certainly sounded true. Conan internally grimaced. Either the man was gullible and sweet, or he was a partner and skilled with his poker face.
"Your friend's son?" he couldn't hide the shock on his face, "Y-You know both KIDs?" he must have recognized the thief's face by now. Kuroba was always at Blue Parrot, there was no way he wouldn't know from the first glance. "How did you know them?" he wasn't planning on intruding, but he was curious.
"I was Kuroba Toichi's assistant back in the days. And as you know, now I run a billiard store"
Conan lowered his sight; he wasn't satisfied with only that answer. There was more and he was sure of it. "Awesome!" he chirped, Hakuba mentally grinned to the act. "And this KID, did he know you too?" maybe he could pull the answers little by little. They still had some time, and he needed to know anything useful even if it wasn't going to help them. "It must have been fun watching you practice!"
Konosuke smiled warmly and nodded, "He always watched us practice when he was little. But he quit using tricks because he always remembered his father's death. No one would have thought that the accident was planned." he looked away, 'we didn't let anymore know.' Then he looked back at the classmate. Changing topics was easy, they wouldn't know anyway. "Anyhow, I am nearly done here, need any help, Hakuba-kun?"
"No, I am dealing with the situation well here, thank you, " he silenced himself for a short moment before mumbling to himself. "I pulled four bullets!"
"That makes six until now. There are more," he moved to Kaito's leg. "It looks like two are here as well. This is bad…" he said, examining the wounds under the trouser's holes as he folded it up to continue his work.
"Tell me about it!" Hakuba gave a shaky smile. The smile vanished almost immediately and a serious expression replaced it. "From the looks of it, Konosuke-san, does it look like he will make it?" he seemed concerned, delaying the question wasn't going to stop anyone from thinking about it. As much as he tried to hide it, it was clear that he was vexed about what happened, they all were. 'If only we managed to stop them without you getting hurt, Kuroba-kun'. Nevertheless, words couldn't change anything, neither then nor now...
The doctor attached a breathing mask on Kaito's face, connected to a small oxygen tank. The latter's condition was difficult, he was completely out-cold, and no wonder!
"He's in a coma" Konosuke didn't feel eased; he was worried and anxious. To make matters worse, he didn't want to hide all of his worries even. His son's friend was dying in front of his eyes, and he couldn't help properly. Time was flying; they felt helpless.
Once Conan informed the inspector that they finished stitching the wounds, Nakamori took over and increased the speed to 140km/HR. Of course, the bumps were countless, but he had no other choice. He had to save him.
'Toichi died, but you won't, Kaito-kun. Just hold on' countless thoughts flew in his head. Losing Kaito was a nightmare that he feared.
Meanwhile, in the secret police station in Ekoda…
"See what's taking them to get here!" said the doctor to the man facing him.
"Nakamori-Keibu... Why haven't you arrived yet…" bid the worried Migori through the phone, "How is KID?" he put the call on speaker. "Did he..."
"No, God no! He's still alive, but he's... He's in a coma. We're trying to handle things here. We need some time, half an hour or so. I don't know..." the inspector sounded like he was truly cursing his luck. "Prepare everything, we are coming soon" and he hung up, leaving the doctors worried.
N/A: The ending was a little rushed, sorry ._.
I removed all chapters that are to be replaced. That way no one can read it before its done and ready. besides, it will be trilling more for new readers!
PS: by "removed" I meant that I replaced the content, I kept the chapters to answer the reviews on them and I still need the order in how they are published when I divide chapters to not get in walls.
Thank you for your support. :)
