Like in part one, Kaito is not conscious the whole time, so I'm telling the readers now that half this chapter is in Hakuba's point of view.
I'm not sure if people like that or not but I had to do it.
Chapter 7: Someone in Need
I made it in the twenty minutes I thought it would take to get there and swore to myself when I spotted the building that Hakuba had been talking about. The air around it was billowing with smoke and I had to land sooner than I would have liked and run the rest of the way.
Even on the ground the air left that smell of ash and fire, mixing in with the stranger smells of ink and plastic that should not be burned. The gas that seeped through the streets was starting to make me sick before I reached the building.
The first thing that caught my eye when I made it to the scene was Hattori, who was standing in front of an adjacent store, downwind of the smoke, and appeared to be searching for me.
I panted slightly when I reached him.
"What are you doing here?"
"I came ta talk ta Kudo when I heard Ran-chan was missin' and figured out the whole mess. I can't say I haven't seen Kudo throw up this much trouble before but ya certainly take the cake for doin' it in the shortest amount of time."
"It's not like I mean to." I turned and looked up at the smoke. There was so much of it coming from the lower floors that it would be suicide to try and go in there now. I saw Hattori smirk at me out of the corner of my eye.
"The buildin' across from it caught some of the fire too but the one right behind me's still good. We can get up ta the higher floors. Then I thought ya would've somethin' that would get us across."
"Us?"
Hattori's smirk grew. "Yah, us. I kept Kudo out 'cause he's too small but I've got no reason not ta go along. Maybe I shoulda just gone withoutcha."
"Fine. Have you heard anything from Hakuba?"
"Hakuba-kun? He's in there? Yikes."
I stopped when we were met with crowds of police officers blocking off the building. Or trying to at least. I scanned the area for the large holes in their lines and took Hattori with me. It was easy to squeeze past them, though one of them did try to stop us. He was easy to lose through the glass doors of the other building.
"Yeah, he's been in there for over twenty minutes and he hasn't said anything. You came here later then?"
Hattori nodded and I turned my small headset back on.
"Hakuba?"
I waited for a reply as we both made for the stairs. It was an office with bright blue walls and steaks of color that were now covered in a fine layer of soot that dulled them to nothing more than gray. Even gray though, they kept the levity that was put into them.
"Yes, what is it?" I heard the sound of wood cracking over the speaker.
"Are you alright? Where are you?"
"Twenty eighth floor. The rooms until the twenty first are still cleared but-" Hakuba broke off to start couching. "The smoke is thick. You've got to give me one of those oxygen masks of yours one day."
"I wasn't planning on fire," I swore internally. "I should have. Snake's sadistic."
"Doesn't matter. Besides a few business men on the first few floors, I haven't come across anyone. It's strange. The company that-" He started couching again and I had to wait for him to finish. "They don't seem like someone to be targeted. I haven't looked throughout the floors though, just a precursory glace, so there's a high chance I missed something."
"Than what was the point of going in if you weren't searching?"
"Kuroba-kun the place is on fire. Did you want me to investigate every floor? They're not small and there are rooms upon rooms stuffed together. I'm sorry I can't be more diligent."
"Sorry, sorry." I sighed. "We'll be there. I'm going to enter from the thirtieth floor then, so that we're not jumping into an oven."
"We?"
I laughed at the way the detective's tone held the same uncertainty and distain that mine did. It seemed neither of us liked people in danger, not that he didn't have guess at who was with me.
"Hattori-kun."
"Right," he sighed and started coughing for being such an idiot. "I'll meet you there."
The line was cut again but I left the ear piece in, in case he needed to contact me.
We made it to the right floor. The power had been shut off so we were forced to take the stairs. It didn't bother me and Hattori seemed to be fine as well. I went over to the office window, happy that it slid open at such a height. The windows across were covered with smoke and it was impossible to see more than a few fleeting images of the building's design while the wind blew.
I looked over at the desk. The room we had run into was an office for one the grunts. It was small, cluttered, and had just what I needed.
I unwound a thin fishing line from my pocket.
"What are ya doing?"
"My card gun is tough, but up this high the windows will be reinforced glass and I won't be able to break them with it." I bent down and took my own screwdriver out to remove some of the screws in the counter. "At least not with my ammo."
"Yer gun can shoot other things?"
I held it up so that Hattori could see the design. There were several cambers in it. The firing spring also worked faster and better than gunpowder, though it needed to be kept up more often and the kick was harder. I could shoot anything that fit in the chamber.
I took the screws, loaded them, and aimed at the window. I couldn't shatter with such small missiles, but I could weaken it enough so that when I shot off my hook, it would break.
Window filling with holes as the screws passed through and hook fired, finishing it off and locking onto the inside of the building, and I was set. The wire I used with a thicker, made up of several intertwining ones leading back to the window I was at. I took out and disengaged a hand held repeller I had made. The way Hattori looked at it made me think he'd seen it before now. I handed it to him and tied another line onto it so that it could be drawn back to the building we were in.
"You first."
"Will this little line hold me up? I don't feel like dyin' today."
"It will be fine. Anything over two hundred pounds I would worry."
Hattori nodded and I watch him lean out the window and over the side of the building until he had his hands firmly gasped onto it and let go, kicking off the side of the wall.
I couldn't see his face but I knew that for those, unlike me and with a fear of heights, it was terror.
Hattori reached the other end a tad too forcibly and I saw him scrap his arm before scrambling into the window. He looked back out at me.
I waved and started retracting it when some small movement from below caught my attention. The lower windows had several of them open and smoke poured out thickly. I thought that it may have just been the tendrils of ash that had caught my attention but, as I made it to the other side of the building, I couldn't ignore a very annoying and persistent feeling that I was missing something.
I looked up into the window and met Hattori's eyes before strapping a separate hook onto the ledge. "I'll be right back."
"Hey, wait!"
I was already down and there was nothing he could do to stop me. I withdrew the wire quickly and passed up several floors, the smoke flying into my face and forcing me to look away. I heard no noise except the angry engulfment of the fire devouring what was left for it to eat.
A gust forced me to look away again and I caught a glimpse of something small and pale before it was quickly hidden again. It was a hand.
My heart was racing and the window that it had come from was further off to my left. I tied the rope around my waist, giving myself a few meters of slack so that I'd be able to move freely. Holding onto the window frames with gloves was hard and Hakuba's coat now made perfect burning material, so I took it off, left with only my blue shirt and white pants.
Cursing myself again for being stupid I put on the hat and monocle. If Snake was watching I'd just given him a clear view of what I looked like.
"Hello?" I called into the open window where I'd seen the limb. No one answered so I crouched on the still, covering my face with the hat as much as I could so that my eyes wouldn't dry out.
I heard a scuffling sound near the floor and Aoko's head popped up out of the gas, eyes widening as she saw me. She was on the floor in an attempt to breath and I pushed my hand towards her. I couldn't help that the only thing running through my head was 'thank the gods she's safe', and simultaneously thinking, 'Oh gods, she's in danger.'
"Grab my hand!"
Aoko wasn't listening to me. She looked up through the choking smoke that was quickly darkening both of our clothes but kept herself low to the ground and out of my reach.
"Nakamori-san!" I pleaded with her. "Just let me get you out of here!"
Flashbacks of Hisa ran through my mind and I was tempted to win Aoko over with a rose as I had her, but that would be too close to myself and Aoko might noticed the similarities.
"Kid!"
I could hear Hakuba calling me from outside instead of in my ear. I must of have been somewhere near the twentieth floor but I hadn't really been counting while I went down. He only sounded one to two stories above me. I frowned but the gusts of escaping smoke sent me into a fit of coughs when I tried to reply.
I felt my hands shaking on the widow frame. I had noticed a new apprehension to fire since the one in the hotel that day, but Aoko was here, now, and I needed to get her out. The fear could have at me later when her life wasn't at stake.
"Please Nakamori-san!" I reached into the room again but the smoke blinded me and I had to close my eyes with the heat of it. Aoko would be able to see me but that wouldn't do any good if she wasn't willing to accept my help – or Kid's help at least.
"Aoko-kun?"
Hakuba was shouting down to me again but I couldn't tell if he was asking me if Aoko was there or if he was addressing her himself. Either way it didn't matter because neither of us could answer him.
"Aoko-kun, if you're down there the whole lower floors of the building are on fire and you have to get out now!"
I felt something brush against my hand but it moved away. It took a few seconds for me to feel her fingers in mine. She must have been just as blind as I was.
"Nakamori-san, I need you to hold on." My last words were whisper quiet and I wasn't sure if she heard me. I had the sudden and irrational urge to fall asleep. I tried to shake it off but it only made me sway more.
Aoko was at the window now and holding onto me tightly, arms wrapped around the back of my neck. Her upset face was all it took for me to get myself together and I started climbing up the rope.
Hattori was waiting for on a lower floor that had yet to catch on fire so that I didn't have to climb all the way back up. I reached the top and I looked around for Hakuba.
"He's up stairs," the Osakan informed me, helping Aoko in the window as she coughed, looking confused to see him with me.
"Get her out. I'll deal with the detective."
"Gotcha. I think Hakuba-kun went to check the rest of the buildin'. The fire will be here by then. How are ya gonna get out?"
"We'll fly." I checked myself out to see that my equipment was still working. It was. Even though I'd discarded the jacket, I had kept the cape. It was now strapped to my shoulders and billowing behind me, a bright flash of white against the blue. I hadn't even had time to remove the tie. I laughed to myself. Without the overwhelming white of my coat to give my appearance some harmonization, I really did look funny.
"Okay, but ya better be out in ten or I'm commin' back in to get the botha ya."
"I'll do it in five," I smirked. Hattori grinned back before leading Aoko out of the room.
Damn it, Snake really knew how to get me mad. I was up a flight of stairs that were apparently connected to a small restaurant that was absolutely filled with smoke, as the suffocating air made its way up the building. I looked further up the stairs and had to wonder where Hakuba had gone.
"Hey, Kuroba!"
I spun around to see Hattori come back too quickly.
"What?" I asked through clenched teeth.
"I got her across, kinda, but we've got to-"
Whatever he was about to say next never reached my ears. In fact, it never made it passed his lips. There was sudden rush of noise and debris as something exploded, followed by an equally foreign rush of silence that left me on the ground and looking up through a haze of uneven images.
I blinked.
It seemed like only minutes later that I heard Hattori's voice loud in my ear, when before I was simply watching the wisps of smoke above me, catching sight of flames that were already spreading across the floor.
"Hey, come on!"
He sounded far away. Whatever the explosion had done to me, messing with my hearing was one of them.
I felt him throw my arm over his shoulder to lift me up. I grunted as pain ran through that side of my body but I couldn't get the words out to tell him to put me down. Everything hurt and the swimming images in front of my eyes were starting to make me sick. I couldn't seem to remember where I was or what I was doing.
"Kuroba-kun!"
Oh yeah, I'd been looking for Hakuba.
I couldn't hear anything anymore and the world was fading quickly around me again. Consciousness was no longer a matter of willpower. Everything went black.
… SWITCHES TO HAKUBA'S FIRST PERSON POINT OF VEIW …
"Damn it, why do you always have to do this?" I looked down at Kuroba with undisguised anger.
"Wake up!" Putting a hand on his shoulder, I felt the unnatural movements as it slipped in and out of place. The blood running down his left side told of a larger wound and I could see the back of Kid's shirt slowly staining red with his cape.
"He's hurt pretty bad," Hattori agreed when our eyes met. "We gotta get him outta here. Now."
"It's not only a matter of that. He needs medical care and we can't bring him to a hospital again, with what unexplained injuries must previously be in his records."
I examined Hattori as well. I'd only been on the floor above when, whatever on earth determined that now was the best time to make my life get more difficult, went off. There were bruises on Hattori's dark skin, across the side of his face. It looked like he had an injury near his abdomen too but I couldn't tell how grave it was because his shirt was dark.
"Kudo's usually got the answers when I'm lookin' for 'em, so I can call him when we get out. Survivin' comes first."
I nodded. I should have known better than to let Kuroba run around by himself. Following Hattori on my return trip to the thirtieth floor, I couldn't help but ask. "What happened?" I had met him only minutes earlier, when he'd passed off Aoko to me and told me how to get out of the building. I'd gotten her there, but I wasn't going to leave without them, and had gone searching for their location when everything went wrong.
"There were bombs. I didn't know 'till I started lookin' around on the way up. I found 'em on the twenty-fifth floor, that one we were on. I think there may be some on the other floors too. I didn't get much of a good look. I think that's how they started the fire."
I nodded. "That's understandable. Where were they?"
"I only found 'em cause I fell. Some of the floor boards were loose and I caught my pants on it. I thought it looked kinda funny and found them underneath."
"Are you okay?"
Hattori gazed at me with a fixed smile I'd come to attribute with the magician; a mixture of determination, humor, and pain. "I'm fine."
I nodded. I had to trust him for the present. There wasn't time. The building was already filling with more smoke than we could handle and - if there was anyone on the higher floors - there wasn't any time to save them.
The climb was difficult. Running through smoke, let alone the fact that Hattori had the burden of the magician's weight as well, made it slow.
I reached the window first and my mind continued unproductively trying to figure out a solution to a dilemma I had come to recognize while we were on our way up.
Hattori looked back at me.
"We can't get across with 'im."
"I know." I went back and hastily scanned over Kuroba's injuries. There was one on the back of his head which was steadily bleeding. It wasn't deep but it was most likely what made him pass out. On the left side of his chest to somewhere near the middle of his waist, was a large gash that would have to be taken care of immediately if he hoped to survive. His other arm seemed fine.
I shook him.
"Please Kuroba-kun, wake up. Just for a minute or so. You need to wake up."
The magician raised his head slightly but his eyes were clouded. There wasn't any way he could get across like this.
"I'll try it." Hattori looked out the window. "If he can hang on it'd be easier."
The Osakan shook him, hurting Kuroba enough to snap him somewhere close to conscious.
"Can ya hang on to me?"
Though weaving and clearly not seeing all that was in front of him, Kuroba took his other hand and wrapped it around the back of the Osakan's neck to catch hold his own shirt in a makeshift hug, hanging onto Hattori like a necklace.
"Ya've got to keep yer grip. Don't let go no matter what."
Kuroba nodded.
"I'll go first and help you when we get across." I got off the side of the window took the stupid little thing in my grip before going across. I had to stop wearing dress shoes when I went anywhere with that idiot. They had almost no traction against the bricks. I had helped Aoko get across and found that, if you didn't grab onto the other building with the momentum you picked up, you would end up being drawn back and stuck in the middle.
I made my way over in a few seconds but it took Hattori a while to get out of the burning building. I could see Kuroba trying to be of as much use as he could, but it wasn't sufficient and it took Hattori more than five minutes, leaving him panting and clinging to the wall.
I'd already had the pulley near them by drawing the connecting string up and letting gravity do the work. Hattori grabbed onto it and he closed his eyes before pushing off the building, either waiting for Kuroba to fall now that he had to use both arms to hold on, or waiting for their weight to break the line.
Neither happened.
I bent over and grabbed onto Kuroba's shirt sleeve, keeping them pinned to building.
Hattori was panting hard and I couldn't get either of them in the window without their assistance, so we remained there for a moment, both of them panting and me taking in deeper breaths as I let myself acknowledge fact that most of the danger had passed.
"Okay. Take him first." Hattori put his arm under Kuroba's and tried to lift him up while I pulled. The minute I got him in the window I let him fall, seeing as the injury on his side was being aggravated while he was standing.
Hattori clawed in and collapsed on the floor with shaking arms. I smiled.
"Not as strong as you thought?"
"Hey," he frowned. "Ya don't have to do any of that in Kendo."
"Hakuba-kun?"
I turned and saw Aoko in the vicinity of the entrance to the small room we were residing in, breathing unevenly with her legs sprawled out beneath her. Contrary to what I'd come to expect from him, Hattori thought fast and took his hat off before putting it over Kuroba's obvious messy hairstyle. I noticed that he had a small cut under his right eye in the shape of a crescent moon where his monocle should have been. The head wound explained where the hat had gone.
Hattori was crouched near the magician's head and I was standing over both of them so Aoko established a good view of him with Hattori's cap, once the Osakan brought him to her attention.
Aoko presently looked at the three of us and didn't say anything.
"Aoko-kun what are you still doing here? I thought I told you to leave?"
"Yeah but you didn't come with me. You're okay, right?"
"I'm perfectly fine," I told her. Except for some smoke damage to my clothes I was. I didn't have it buttoned, but I realized I still wore Kuroba's white coat. It had kept out the heat and necessity won out over my own tastes.
Kuroba started coughing and the sound of it drew my attention completely away from Aoko. The wound in his side must have been deep because his coughs held traces of blood. I bent down and took off the coat to try and stifle the bleeding.
"We need ta get him help."
"You don't need to tell me that Hattori-kun, I'm well aware."
We had no place to go. The hospital could take him but his clothing was revealing and Aoko had already seen him today. At the very least I wouldn't be able to persuade her that she'd been seeing things. I'd be saving his life only to ruin it, and I was beginning to realize how much he required something stable and safe.
When I turned to advise Aoko to leave again, the venom in her glare at Kuroba made the breath catch in my throat. I hadn't seen someone looked so murderous.
Aoko saw my surprised appearance and turned her anger a few shades down before meeting my eyes. "I don't like him." She said flatly. "You should leave him or you'll get in trouble. Call my dad. He'll take care of everything."
Her words only made mine crawl deeper into my body where they constricted around my heart. I couldn't let her know. I had never seen it outside of the classroom but she really despised Kuroba's other half.
"I can't do that. Leave." I tried to breathe correctly so that my words weren't coming out so strained.
Aoko swept her eyes between Hattori and I as her gaze grew wide.
"Kaito's not here is he?"
I was tempted to drop all pretenses but the fear in her eyes and the choke in her voice gave me the incentive to lie.
"No. I know how much Kuroba-kun likes the Kid, so I made sure he was nowhere near here."
Aoko visibly relaxed, as if I'd taken the world off her shoulders. The anger that she suddenly refocused on Kid startled me and I found myself unconsciously clenching my fist. It wasn't her fault that she couldn't see. It was better that way.
"I'm not leaving Hakuba-kun. You're my friend and I need to make sure you're okay."
"Fine then, but don't hinder me. I'm not in the mood." I took my belt off and fastened the jacket to Kuroba's side. Hattori helped me get him onto my back so that his head wouldn't move and show Aoko his features. The cap stayed in place and I shifted him until I was able to walk comfortably.
"So what are we gonna do?"
"K- Kid's got a friend we can take him to. We'll get him the help he needs and then I'll find someone to get you to a hospital."
"I'm fine," Hattori said resolutely, but his body language told that his wound was bordering serious as well.
"Then we'll see if he can't look at you as well."
Hattori had nothing to say to that so he shrugged his shoulders, catching eyes with Aoko.
"What about her?"
"I don't have time to be dealing with her. Aoko-kun is stubborn and he needs medical attention."
I walked out of the room. I wasn't used to physical labor but Kuroba was lighter than I thought he would have been.
I was on my phone and calling a number before I could think of the repercussions.
"Sato-keiji? I know you're busy but I need a ride right now. I need you to keep it secret."
She caught on and agreed. With her driving I knew that it would only take her fifteen minutes or so to reach us. She was stationed in Tokyo after all and cop cars could move fast.
The building had its electricity cut so we needed to walk down the stairs. This was done as swiftly as possible, and I couldn't help coughing out a few breathes when we reached the bottom, air tainted with the toxins from the building next door.
We waited on the walkway in silence and I could feel Aoko's eyes on me, burning with questions, most of them having to do with why I was with the thief and not turning him over to the police. I tried to ignore her glares but they were damn distracting.
I was relieved when I saw Sato pull up and got out of the car. "What?"
"I need a ride. You shouldn't know where we're going and you were never there if anyone asks."
She saw Kuroba on my back and had to figure out what was going on. It was now that I was unsure that calling her was the right option. She didn't seem to like Kid too much and she was an officer. This would be the perfect opportunity to trade him for Ran's safety.
"Get in the back."
I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. Hattori went in the back with me so that Aoko could have the front seat. Hattori and I situated Kuroba as best we could across our laps. Aoko looked amid all of us through the open window with her hands folded in front of her as she tried to rationalize what was going on. In the end Sato started the car and she had no choice but to jump in or be left behind.
"What happened?" The officer asked once she had the directions to where we were going.
"She was kidnapped," I said, inclining my head in the back mirror so that Sato could see I was talking about Aoko. "We found her. It was the same people."
I didn't add anything and Sato didn't ask me to, catching on fast that Aoko wasn't to be part of our illegal ventures.
As we drew closer to where I knew Kuroba's assistant lived, Aoko took to looking out the window.
"We're right near my house," she said in a whisper. I nodded but she didn't notice.
We came to the intersection I was waiting for and left Sato in the car. Kuroba was still unconscious and he was sweating, looking really pale.
"Thank you. I'll call you later."
She smiled at me and studied Kuroba almost longingly at with an expression I'd never seen from her before. "It's fine. I was never here, right?" Sato winked and took off at a speed unsafe on any road.
I'd wonder about that later.
The signs displaying the businesses were above us and you would have to go out onto the street to read the names if they weren't printed on the doors or windows. I knew what Jii's door looked like with its plain wood finish and lack of sign. There were windows higher up that were hidden by the same alcove that kept the larger signs hidden and I hoped that my knocking would be heard, since it looked like the place was closed and there was no doorbell.
The door was new. In fact, everything was new. The fire had destroyed almost the whole building. I'd been over a few times to check on the man. It was my fault that it had happened and I'd paid for the damages. The old man remade it so that the inside appeared the way it had before, and I'd seen it when they were finished. He had told me it was because he liked the comfort of it.
So I knocked and waited
It didn't take long for someone to come and peak out the door that was only opened wide enough to see out while keeping what must have been a chain lock in place.
"Hi, it's me. I need your help." I jostled Kuroba slightly so he could see him
Kuroba's assistant refused to let us in.
"What's the matter?"
I could hear the shift in his voice before he spoke.
"The girl knows me."
I looked over at Aoko and figured out what he meant. Kuroba had shown up with Aoko before - as himself.
"Then don't speak." I took the magician off my shoulders and onto my left, further from Aoko. I kept one arm around his side, unsteadily trying to keep him on his feet, while I reached into Kuroba's pockets and found a colored cloth. Every magician had them.
I turned to Aoko "I need to blindfold you or you have to leave."
"Hey I don't know who ya are either!" Hattori spoke to the door, confused. I occurred to that there was no way he knew who I was meeting.
"It's the injured man," I informed him as Aoko let me tie the cloth around her eyes, pouting, while Hattori took Kuroba's limp form from me so he wouldn't fall.
"You– you know– You've been working with him?" The way she implied Kuroba's persona made me want to shake her. Even an idiot could see Kuroba was trying to help people as the Kid. I knew her father had to see it.
"I've been working with him to save lives since a few months ago. It may be hard to believe but he saved my life then."
Aoko was silent.
"Didn't seem like he did much for Kaito."
"Kuroba's injuries were his own fault."
Aoko didn't seem to believe me and I couldn't say anything without revealing the thief's secrets.
Once Aoko was safely blinded I took her hand and led her in as Jii opened the door.
Hattori laid Kuroba gently onto the rug into the back room. The same cream colors decorated the walls and floor, and it smelled of new paint and coffee.
The older gentleman took away the coat but the evidence of the blood had already stained most of Kuroba's leg. The wound itself was a deep cut from something thin and sharp, larger than any laceration I had ever seen that didn't kill a person.
I was close enough that we were able whisper to each other but the silence around us was too distinct a contrast and our voices carried, though our words remained indistinguishable.
"He's got some internal injuries. I can fix those, but they're life threatening and will take some time. I'll clean the area and close the wound, but if there are any fragments inside of it…"
"It should be fine. The cut's clean." I looked over Kuroba's features once more. He wasn't sweating any longer but his face was pale and cold when I touched it. He was also breathing too quickly and shallowly, though even unconscious Kuroba seemed to be trying to hide it.
The man had a case of supplies out and seemed to be taking the magician's blood pressure before anything else. The way the old man shook his head was disconcerting.
"What?"
"His blood pressure is too low and his heart rate too high. If I don't lower it soon the young master could have a heart attack."
While I knew the basic medical procedures, I was very unfamiliar with ones that would require a trip to the hospital due to the fact that I always figured they couldn't be done without a doctor. The older man seemed to know what he was doing as he took out one of at least fifteen syringes that were kept in separate packages. I saw an 'A' but I couldn't catch the name of what he was administrating.
"It seems the young master went into shock as well."
I looked down at Kuroba who was still breathing quickly but he didn't show any outwards symptoms.
Jii caught my attention by shaking his head. "Not mental shock. This is really bad. He's suffering from gross blood loss."
"What can I do?" Any indifference and calm I'd taken into myself by getting there and knowing Kuroba was in good hands disappeared as I started to take in how seriously he was hurt. I'd seen him take bullets without flinching but I knew this was different, and it only took me seconds to realize that I'd once again bought into strength I knew he didn't possess.
The old man whispered to me. "The blood loss is too much. I have the equipment but I don't share his blood type."
"I don't have 'B' type either."
"I've got 'O' so don't worry," Hattori spoke up. I looked him over and knew that he'd already lost a good amount of blood himself. His stomach wound was still bleeding steadily and the amount of blood needed for a transfusion would be too much for him.
"Kaito has 'B' blood." Aoko's words were hushed and I knew that now would not be the best time for her to find out, since Kuroba couldn't do anything to explain himself. She's said it on instinct with curiosity mingled in along with the fact that her friend and the thief shared the same blood.
"Yes, but Kuroba-kun isn't here."
I saw something strange in Aoko's twitch when she turned away and couldn't help prying.
"You have 'B' blood as well, don't you?"
Though blindfolded, Aoko turned away from my voice. I had seated her on the ground near us, on my left side where the older man was across from me. I couldn't see her eyebrows so I had to guess she was frowning under the blindfold. This was going to be hard.
"Aoko-kun, will you help?"
"No." Definite and unwavering. Her words would mean Kuroba's death unless I could talk her into this and, seeing how much I witnessed towards her displeasure at Kid's very existence, it was going to be a hard argument. I'd have to make it quick as well.
Kuroba did not have the time.
