Hello again. I was feeling inspired so I wrote this chapter pretty quick. (I take advantage of writing as much as possible before writer's block kicks in.)
Chapter 6
Kaito hung upside down lazily from the couch and sighed. His mother had gone out shopping with Kudou Yukiko, and Shino had called him and said she was going to her brother's soccer game so she couldn't visit. Why would you rather go to a soccer game than hang out with me? He released another sigh. Aoko was off with some friends of hers shopping as well, so that left Kaito bored and alone in his house. Then the phone rang, and he flipped over onto the floor as he went to answer it. "Kuroba residence," he said as he picked up the phone. A man cleared his throat on the other end, and Kaito frowned at how strained the man's voice sounded as he replied to his greeting.
"Yes...is Kuroba Chikage around? We were told she could tell us where we could find Kudou Yukiko."
"They're out shopping for clothes or something," Kaito answered, wondering why the man was looking for his mother's friend. "I could give them a message for you when they get back."
"Uh...no. That won't be necessary. Just please have Yukiko-san call this number back for me." Kaito furrowed his brow. The man's voice sounded a bit panicky, as if there was something he was trying to hide. Suddenly, Kaito heard two car doors close, and he glanced out the window to find his mother and Yukiko walking toward the house.
"Wait a minute. They just got here," he told the man. "I'll give her the phone." He opened the front door for them. "There's a man on the phone asking for you," he said to Yukiko before she could greet him. The woman looked a little taken aback, but she went into the house and picked up the phone. Chikage closed the door behind her in confusion and shot her son a questioning look. He shrugged in return. Then they both turned to the hallway as Yukiko sunk to her knees with the phone still pressed to her ear.
"Yukiko?" Chikage called in concern, hurrying over with Kaito right on her heels. Yukiko seemed not hear her. She placed her hand over her mouth and made a sound that couldn't be distinguished as a scream or a sob, and she told the man on the phone that she was on her way. Then she hung up and put both her hands over her mouth, stifling her sobs as tears began coursing down her cheeks. Chikage turned to Kaito with a serious expression. "Go upstairs Kaito," she ordered, kneeling beside her distressed friend. Kaito made a move to protest, but his mother fixed him with a glare that had him backing slowly away. He went around the corner of the wall as if headed for the stairs and stayed there, listening in on their conversation.
"That was Inspector Megure...a friend of ours...Y-yusaku's in the hospital with a concussion," Yukiko managed between sobs. "Someone hit him over the head with a pistol." Kaito heard his mother gasp, and he pictured her hand going to her mouth in shock.
"Do the police know-"
"The bastard got him out of the way and took our children," she added, her voice becoming incoherent in her grief. Kaito registered his mother trying to comfort her friend, but her words became nothing but background noise as he found himself sliding down the wall to the floor. His mind was a blur of images: the explosion that had killed his father, Shino holding out the flower to him at his father's funeral, her laughter as he performed a magic show for her during one of her visits.
Then his mind began to conjure up horrific scenarios of her kidnapping. Her icy blue eyes were filled with terror, and he couldn't stop himself from imagining her cries for help going unheard. He forced himself to shake away the pictures and sounds in his imagination. Imagining her being taken won't help her or her brother. For the first time Kaito found himself thinking about the twin brother Shino talked to him about so much. He couldn't imagine how he'd never met the boy before, especially since they were all the same age and Shino had told him so many times how alike they were.
He slowly got to his feet as his mother began calling his name from the hallway. "Kaito! Go pack a few things. I'm calling Aoko's otou-san so you can stay with them tonight." He came around the corner and nodded at her. Then she reached over the still-sobbing Yukiko for the phone. He understood why his mother was going with Yukiko. The woman had been a great comfort to her after his father's untimely death. Kaito wished Chikage would let him go with her to Beika though.
He went into his room and threw his pillow across the room in anger with shaking hands. He was outraged at the prospect of someone daring to lay a hand on his best friend and her family. The thought made him stop moving. He had never considered what Shino was to him. He knew her place in his heart was very different from Aoko's. Aoko was the girl he was able to see himself marrying one day, but Shino was extremely different. In a way, he felt like she was his sister as much as she was Shinichi's, and he satisfied himself with that answer as he stuffed some clothes into a duffel bag. You'd better be OK. If your not, the guys responsible for this better watch their backs.
Yusaku heard Yukiko crying before he had even fully regained consciousness. Her hand was squeezing his like a lifeline, and guilt enveloped him because he knew he had failed to protect their children. He bit his lip as he felt tears trickle down his cheeks for the first time in years. It took a lot to shake him, and the given situation was crushing him to the point where he could barely breathe. "They were screaming," he whispered to his wife, who gasped for a moment in surprise as he opened his teary eyes. He punished himself by fixing his eyes on her tear-stained face, letting the guilt draw more tears from his eyes. "I heard them," he continued, his voice barely audible. "I tried to move...to call out to them...I was too dizzy. I lost them Yukiko..." His wife reached over and cupped his face, silently telling him it wasn't his fault. He wanted to believe her, but the sound of his son's cry of pain that had briefly awakened him refused to leave his mind. Shino's terrified screams had been the last thing he heard both times he had passed out, and he clenched his jaw as he soaked in the sound in his memories.
"They'll be OK," Yukiko suddenly mumbled as if trying to convince herself. "They're smart...They'll be OK." Yusaku nodded to her and pulled her into his arms. His head ached and his eyes wanted to close; to release him from the pain that being awake had brought him. He forced himself to stay awake with his wife though, not allowing her to be alone in her fear and grief.
Vermouth gazed out at the night sky as she drove, glancing periodically at the boy asleep in the seat beside her. She knew she should bring him to the hospital for his clearly dislocated shoulder, but she had been instructed to leave him somewhere and give the police only an anonymous tip to find him. She turned right onto the street that led to the entrance to Beika Park. She would leave him close to the entrance so he could be found quicker. The boss had not set out a specific location for her so she had a bit of freedom in that regard.
She slowed to a stop on the side of the street and pulled her keys from the ignition, letting her eyes roam over the ten-year old beside her. Kudou Shinichi...did I make the right choice? She sighed quietly. The original choice was much more violent than she had wanted. Both children were brought to her by Gin and Vodka, and the boss had told her to choose which would live and be trained by her in the organization, and which she would have to shoot in the head.
Bile rose up in her throat as it had at that moment, but she had been thinking about her way out of killing either child while she had been waiting, and she quickly used her acting skills to her advantage. "If I were to choose to keep the boy alive and train him, he would never listen if we couldn't prove his sister was alive. I'm sure the same would go for her, so-"
"This is bullshit!" Gin interrupted, whirling around to face the boss. "She just doesn't want to kill a kid. We should-" The boss held up his hand to silence Gin, and the assassin obeyed bitterly, glaring back at Vermouth.
"Go on," the boss prompted. Vermouth took a few steps forward and knelt between the two children on the floor.
"The one I do not train can be used to control the other," she said simply, her eyes traveling back and forth between their two unconscious faces. "We can implant a tracking device into one and make sure the other knows that if there are any screw-ups their sibling will die." Gin scoffed.
"That's ludicrous! Why would we waste our time-"
"That's enough Gin," the boss snapped, his calm cool voice making the room seem colder than it actually was. "Vermouth. If you are willing to set all of this up, I will permit it for the simple reason that it seems the most logical course of action...However," The man paused as he stood up and approached her, lighting a cigarette and taking a puff. "If I suspect that this is some ploy of yours, then we will make you watch both children die and we will be forced to kill you as well. Is that clear?"
Vermouth felt a chill run down her spine at the memory of his menacing voice. She was not afraid of him because he had often told her how much he favored her, but the involuntary reaction was enough to convince her that she would have to be careful in whatever she did. She got out the car and went around to the other side, unbuckling Shinichi and carefully lifting him into her arms. She carried him into the park and set him down in a grassy spot in the middle of some trees, brushing her fingers over his injured shoulder with a touch as light as a feather.
"I hope you'll be able to forgive me for this," she murmured. Then she ran her fingers through his hair and was just brushing her hand across his cheek when his hand shot up and grabbed her wrist. She met his sharp eyes, which were barely open and looked on her with confusion and exhaustion. He had been drugged twice, so she stared at him in amazement for the moment their eyes were locked. Soon his grip loosened and his hand fell to the ground as his eyes slipped closed again, and Vermouth released a breath she hadn't known she had been holding. She slowly stood, looking him up and down once more before she headed off to find a pay phone. Perhaps I did make the right choice...perhaps he's the answer I've been searching for. "Sleep well...my Silver Bullet."
So there it is. I hope it makes sense. I played with the points of view a little bit here. I liked the way this chapter turned out. What do you think? Anyway, thanks for reading. See you soon.
