Wow, I'm surprised by the response this story has recently gotten! So delightfully surprised that I decided to finally dust off and finish the second chapter! I hope you guys enjoy.
Chapter 2: The Hit and Run
Saguru was happy to have a break. This week was a vacation week in Japan and that meant he had more time to spend with his little girl. Annie was squealing happily as she played on the playground equipment at a local park with her friends, Yagami Hikari and Ishida Takeru. Hikari's older brother Taichi was at the park as well playing soccer in the field with his friends Takenouchi Sora, and Ishida Yamato, Takeru's older brother. Mrs. Yagami had been busy cleaning her house up for a her sister's visit, so Saguru had volunteered to take her two children out to the park to play so that they wouldn't be in her way (or making their room messy again). He was enjoying watching the two groups of children play from his position on a park bench where he could keep an eye on all of them. He'd thought about bringing a case file along to look through, but it was such a nice relaxing day he decided not to.
After a while, Annie, Hikari, and Takeru joined the older kids and played some soccer as well. Taichi, Hikari and Annie made up one team and Sora, Yamato and Takeru made up the other. Saguru enjoyed watching the older kids trying to coach the younger ones. Then Saguru noticed the new comers to the park. Kudo's Shounen Tantei were kicking a soccer ball around too, talking excitedly while Kudo and Hattori followed them with their girlfriends Mouri Ran and Toyama Kazuha in tow. Saguru was sure that the world was beginning to conspire against him when Kuroba and Aoko appeared, jogging to catch up with the group.
Taking his eyes off his classmates, fellow detectives, and their girlfriends, Saguru saw the four kids – Yoshida Ayumi, Tsuburaya Mitsuhiko, Kojima Genta, and their not-child friend Haibara Ai – ask Annie, the Yagamis and their friends for a soccer game. He wasn't surprised to see Kudo get caught up in the game and soon all of the six teenagers were playing as well; Kudo, Mouri, Hattori, Genta and Ayumi joined Annie's team, and Toyama, Aoko, Kaito, Mitsuhiko and Ai joined the other team. It was a fun game to watch, especially the moments when Kudo and Kuroba went head to head.
When the game was over, Yamato, Sora, and Takeru left, and Taichi, Hikari and Annie looked around before spotting Saguru as he got up from his bench and made his way over.
"Saguru-niisan!" Taichi called, waving.
Kudo, Kuroba and the others startled in surprise. They obviously had not recognized him in his casual wear – a Doctor Who T-shirt that Annie had gotten him for Christmas last year and a pair of white-wash jeans.
"Did you watch the game?!" Annie cried excitedly, racing forward to cling to his arm.
"I did," Saguru smiled. "I saw you score. It's not easy to get past Kuroba-kun."
His little girl beamed.
"Did you see me score too, Saguru-niisan?" Taichi asked, bouncing the soccer ball on his knees.
"I saw it," Saguru nodded. "I thought you were going to take poor Toyama-chan's head off that last time. You've got a strong kick."
Taichi fumbled with his ball, laughing nervously. Hikari and Annie snickered.
"Can we get something to eat, Saguru-niichan?" Hikari asked. "I'm hungry."
"Me too!" Annie cried, bouncing on her toes. "Can we get Yakisoba?"
"I want ice cream," Taichi piped up.
"That's a dessert, Tai," Hikari pointed out.
"So?" Taichi pouted, sticking his tongue out at his little sister.
"We'll see," Saguru smiled, amused, before turning to his fellow teens. "Fancy meeting you all here."
"Same," Mouri said with a bright smile. "I take it you know these children, Hakuba-kun?"
"Yes." Saguru nodded. "I'm looking after Taichi-kun and Hikari-chan for their mother this afternoon."
"And this little Ojou-chan?" Kuroba asked, magic-ing a yellow rose out of "thin air" and presenting it to Annie.
"Wah! Nii-chan, Kaito-niichan can do magic!" she cried happily. "Just like Kaitou Kid-san!"
"Oh?" Kuroba grinned. "Do you like the Kaitou Kid too?"
"Un!" Annie grinned before hugging Saguru's leg. "Nii-chan is going to catch Kid-san someday so that I can meet him, right, Nii-chan?"
"Sure, Annie," Saguru said, smiling fondly down at her as he patted his little girl's head.
Kuroba looked amused.
It used to hurt, hearing her call him Nii-chan instead of Dad or Daddy, but it was for the best. The reason they had moved to Japan was to avoid the media and attention that they got whenever Saguru had gone somewhere public with his daughter in London. Even years after the fact, Saguru's rape and the circumstances surrounding the birth of his daughter were still a hot topic in England. His father may not acknowledge Annie as a legitimate heir and granddaughter, and had all but disowned Saguru as his son, but he'd provided Saguru with the means to support her – the townhouse unit and a monthly living allowance – and kept their relationship out of the public eye…with conditions of course. Annie was to act as Saguru's half sister, not daughter, and they were to address each other as such in public. The only ones who were aware of Saguru and Annie's true relationship in Japan were his father, Baaya, Mr. and Mrs. Yagami, and select individuals on staff at both Saguru's and Annie's schools, like Annie's teacher, both schools' counselors, nurses, secretaries, and principles.
Saguru was a little nervous to see Kudo and Hattori wearing their deduction expressions. The resemblance between Saguru and Annie was obvious. Maybe too obvious for siblings since Annie had Saguru's eyes and cheekbone structure. But Annie was almost five and Saguru himself had only just turned eighteen. Surely because of their ages no one would jump to the conclusion that they were father and daughter so readily.
"She's adorable, Hakuba-kun," Aoko grinned before pouting. "Why didn't you tell us that you had a little sister?"
"It didn't come up, I suppose," Saguru said shrugging. "Anyways, I'd better get the little beasties something to eat before they start in on the local wildlife."
"Hey! We're not beasts," Taichi huffed indignantly while Annie and Hikari giggled, each grabbing one of Saguru's arms chanting "Beasties! Beasties! Rawr!" and started tugging him towards the park exit.
Saguru chuckled at the girl's antics, shrugging his shoulders helplessly at the bewildered looking teens before allowing himself to be dragged out of the park, Taichi jogging ahead a bit dribbling his soccer ball.
"Hey wait!" Kuroba cried, racing to walk alongside Saguru with the others trailing behind. "We'll come with you. The kids look like they're a handful."
Saguru snorted, leveling a deadpan stare at Kuroba. More like they weren't going to let him get away with not telling them about Annie.
The group settled on getting fries at a nearby McDonalds with an outdoor playground a couple blocks over. After practically inhaling their food, the children hurried off to play while the teenagers finished eating and chatted. Saguru watched his charges carefully as Hikari and Annie hurried through the tube sections while Taichi chased them.
"She's adorable," Mouri said, catching his attention.
Saguru took his eyes off the children, satisfied that they would be alright for now since they were in the ball pit with the Shounen Tantei.
"She looks a lot like you," Kudo added.
Saguru couldn't be sure if his colleague was fishing for information or not.
"Well, I do take after my mother more than my father," Saguru shrugged. "Annie's inherited a lot of the same traits. She looks like my mother did when she was a child, or so I've observed from old family photos."
"Why's she here?" Hattori asked. Toyama elbowed him roughly. "What? I'm just askin'. It's no secret that Hakuba is here because he's after Kid, but why bring 'is half-sister along? Yer parents are divorced, right, Hakuba?"
Hattori got another elbow jab from Toyama and Kudo even smacked him upside the head.
"Ya don't have ta answer that, Hakuba-kun," Toyama said, glaring at her boyfriend. "Ignore this insensitive Aho."
"It's alright, Toyama-chan," Saguru said, gaze returning to Annie as she played with the other children. "I don't mind answering. Annie is here with me because my mother is a busy woman and doesn't have the time to look after her. Here, we have Baaya to look after us, and we have the Yagamis as well. Hikari and Annie go to Youchien together."
"You two seem to be very close," Aoko said with a smile.
"We are," Saguru nodded before checking the time. "I'm afraid that I must take Taichi-kun and Hikari-chan home now."
The others nodded and said their goodbyes as he left the table and went over to the ball pit to gather up his little group. They awed and pouted, but eventually left the ball pit. They exited the McDonalds play area and waited for the crosswalk light to turn green before crossing.
When they were halfway across the street, however, a car ran the light, nearly crashing into to other vehicles entering the intersection as it barreled straight through. It was heading right for them, so Saguru pushed the children ahead of him, but was clipped by the car as it swerved to avoid hitting the line of cars behind him waiting for their light to turn green, and continued speeding away. Saguru cried out as the momentum of the hit threw him back and into the car behind him.
The intersection was in chaos. The cars that had braked hard and swerved to avoid hitting the rogue car were cutting off traffic in several lanes and a couple had a wheel or two up on the sidewalks, where thankfully they hadn't hit anyone. Annie and Hikari were in tears as they raced to Saguru's side, each with one of their hands held tight in Taichi's grasp. The man whose car Saguru had hit was getting out of his car, screaming at his wife to call 119 as he rounded the front of his car to check on Saguru. Kaito, Aoko and the others came running out of the McDonalds to see what had happened as well. They were alarmed when they saw Saguru sprawled out on the crosswalk.
Saguru gasped, clutching his left side by his hip where the car had hit him. He couldn't really feel his left leg, but something didn't feel natural about it's angle.
"Man, what is with people trying to turn Hakuba into road pizza?" Kuroba asked as he and the others approached.
"Shit, that doesn't look good," Hattori hissed in sympathy when they saw his condition.
"Shut it, you ahou, and call for an ambulance!" Toyama growled before she and the other girls pushed forward to hold back Annie and the Yagamis who were all sobbing and crying now. The Shounen Tantei tried their best to comfort their new friends, but Annie was nearly inconsolable.
Saguru's leg was bent at an awkward angle and looked broken in a couple places. He looked dazed and appeared to have trouble focusing on the man talking to him. It also looked like he was having some difficulty breathing.
The police and an ambulance arrived a few minutes later. Saguru was loaded up in the ambulance and a few police cars escorted the teenagers and the children to the nearest hospital. Mr. and Mrs. Yagami showed up with Mrs. Yagami's sister at the hospital's ER a half hour later looking worried. Hikari, Taichi and Annie were a little scratched up from when they hit the pavement after Saguru had pushed them forward, but otherwise they were alright.
The Yagamis elected to stay until they heard from Saguru's doctor, who finally came to them with a report after two and a half hours. By then Hakuba Akira had arrived with Inspectors Megure and Nakamori, and Detective Mouri Kogoro. Ran and Aoko were relieved to see their dads and went to them immediately. Superintendent Hakuba Akira went to see the Yagamis who were gathered around poor Annie, who was clinging to Hikari and Mrs. Yagami.
"Well?" Superintendent Hakuba barked. "How is Saguru?"
The doctor looked around at the large group assembled before speaking. "Perhaps we should speak in pri-"
"No," Akira snapped. "You might as well say it. Everyone here will find out eventually. Someone purposefully tried to run over my son, meaning that this is an ongoing investigation."
"I'm not sure that I should say such sensitive things in front of the children-" The doctor tried to say, eyeing the tearful Yagami children, Annie, and the Shounen Tantei.
"Just spit it out man!"
"…Yes, sir," the doctor sighed. "The car impacted Hakuba Saguru-kun on his left side, fracturing his hip and pelvic bone. Several of his ribs are cracked in multiple places along the left side, and a couple were nearly became displaced fractures in the ribs under the impact sight. He's extremely lucky none of the resulting rib fragments punctured his lung. We've screwed together the most severe fractures, removed the fragments, lightly wrapped a compression pad along the entire left side of his ribcage and temporarily placed him on oxygen because he is having some difficulty breathing due to all the bruising. His left leg, however, was another matter altogether. It was broken in five places; two times along the femur, once in the fibula and twice in the tibia. We had to insert a rod and screws to immobilize the femur, and a plate and screws to keep the fibula and tibia together. We encased the entire leg from the thigh down in a full leg cast and have the leg up in traction. Hakuba-kun is also suffering from a concussion and some mild whiplash from his impact with the second car he hit due to the momentum of the impact of the first car. We've put a brace on his neck to prevent any involuntary movement that could irritate those injuries."
"How long will he have to stay here in the hospital?" Superintendent Hakuba asked.
"At least a week, maybe two, to clear up the concussion and to make sure his ribs are healing well enough to take him off the oxygen," the doctor said. "And even then he will need to use a wheelchair to get around so that we don't put any undue stress on his ribs, which will be tender for at least a month."
The doctor told them where Saguru's room was in the ICU, saying that at the moment only a couple of people should be allowed in at a time. After he left, the Yagamis took Annie home with them, and Ran and her father took the Shounen Tantei home. The Nakamoris, Kaito, Shinichi, Heiji, Kazuha, and Megure stayed behind to discuss the case with Saguru's father and Officers Sato and Takagi who had arrived while the doctor was speaking with their findings from the accident at the intersection.
The car that had hit Saguru had been found, but, like the car that had almost hit him a few days earlier, it had been reported stolen and had been found abandoned and wiped clean. Superintendent Hakuba ordered Inspectors Meguru and Nakamori to organize a police guard for Saguru's room. Someone clearly had it in for the young Detective.
Saguru didn't wake up in his hospital room until several hours later when it was late at night. It was a little hard for him to breath and he couldn't really feel his left leg, though he could see it hanging up in traction. He felt stiff and couldn't move much. He could tell that he was on some really good drugs, however, because he was seeing a lot of shiny colors and shapes, even though the room was really dark.
"He's awake," someone to his right said.
Saguru tried to move his head, but his neck was in a brace, so he had to settle with looking out of the corner of his eye.
"K'roba?" Saguru slurred.
"Man, you must be high as a kite," the other teen giggled as he came into view.
"'ave t' be," Saguru mumbled. "Why else…wud Kid be pink?" To him Kid was dressed in a bright pink paisley print suit.
Kid laughed delightedly. "I should so be recording this." The detective looked so out of it, it was almost adorable.
"Where's Annie?" Saguru asked.
The Kaitou Kid's smile dimmed a bit. "She's with the Yagami family."
"Good," Saguru sighed. "Yuko-san will take care of her."
"I'm sure she will," Kid said, softly. "But why did she go home with them and not your father?"
"Why wud she…go wi' 'im? 'E…'ates 'er," Saguru said drowsily. Man these were some really potent drugs. He could feel himself slipping back to sleep.
Kid stiffened. "Why would he hate her? She's such a sweet girl."
"But notta Hakuba," Saguru mumbled. "Not a proper one…ev'n thou 's…mine. My poor…Wise G'rl."
Kid stared in amazement at what Hakuba had just said. He wanted to ask more questions – even though he felt slightly guilty prying information out of Hakuba that the other teen genius wouldn't normally share if he were in his right mind – but the blond was out light a light again.
Kid frowned, eyes sad as he took in the neck brace, heavily wrapped torso, and the leg up in traction. Someone had done this to his longstanding rival who'd recently become a good friend, and he was going to make them pay. But first, he had some people to see, and some information to dig up.
So that was chapter 2! In some ways it's a little darker, and yet at the same time not as dark as I originally wanted this chapter to go. Saguru got shot by a poison laced bullet in the original draft, and I thought that that might be too traumatizing for Annie... so I changed it to him getting hit by a car... and made it even more traumatizing. That poor kid. And Saguru. Why do I hurt him so? To have an excuse to make him high enough to make that little slip to Kid at the end, that's why. :P My original concept for this story was a slow reveal for the gang about Annie's parentage (which it still kinda will be), but I just wasn't getting into it. Now Kid is gonna go cause some mischief, and things tend to move faster when Kid's on a mission.
I do not know much about doctors and how they treat injuries, but I watch a lot of crime dramas, so... hopefully Hakuba's diagnosis is feasible. If not...sorry. :(
So did you like this chapter? Dislike? Let me know in a review. Thanks so much you guys for your encouraging comments and reviews. They give me motivation to continue writing this story! :)
