-Clichés & Tropes -

Disclaimer: The works of Detective Conan and Magic Kaito belongs to Gosho Aoyama-sensei.

Warning: KaiShin relationship.

A/N: Yay more suggestions!

OK, same request from reader Tobina, but another story altogether.


08 Tobina Request: Dialogue

Whenever the protagonist feels they are safe during an escape, they will surely launch into a conversation, not once did they ever think their enemies would ever catch up.

Shinichi sighed in his seated position. His arms were aching, his back was aching, there was this annoying hum in the background that made his headache worst, the cloth blindfolding him was very itchy and he could feel his legs developing pins-and-needles from extended sitting down on a hard surface.

"Would it kill them to put down a cushion or something?" He muttered, testing his bonds again. The metal cuff clinked and clang on the chair back. He tried lifting his legs but they too were secured to the chair legs. "Why?" He moaned before slumping back into his seat.

The day had started off so well, where Shinichi having been able to savour a nice cup of coffee in that corner coffee shop he loved before the first corpse fell (literally). That particular crime was solved before Division One made appearance (Shinichi managed to capture the murderer red-handed in the middle of trying to prepare for a shaky alibi). He managed to take a relaxing walk to the bookshop to pick up his order, though he had to stop a burglary when he went to the bank to withdraw funds and later a pickpocket in the streets. But overall, it would have been classified as one of his better days seeing as there had been very little in the form of bloodshed. On his worst day he had to deal with a serial killer having taken half a dozen lives from when Shinichi took over the case; a murderer killing off a whole family of six including the parents, a set of twins, a teenage boy, and a baby several months old; and several bomb threats, which had one detonated in a busy street during lunch times and resulted in more than fifty injured and three dead all within the same twenty-four hours. He had considered moving away from Beika where there was a hive of criminal activity but the brief stay in the countryside made him realize it was not the location which brought about the crime, but himself attracting the crime. At which point he moved back to Beika for the sheer convenience and being around a familiar environment.

However, that was the past, the present is more concerning. He was, afterall, kidnapped from the streets. His last memory was turning a corner towards the Kudo mansion then a sting in his neck followed by the rushing wind and pain.

"Ah, good morning lovely." With the lack of visual cues, Shinichi could only rely on his hearing. His ears detected the clicks from the person's heels, he calculated the person's height to be around 160cm, most likely female by the type of sound made by the footware.

"And to whom do I owe the pleasure to may I ask?" It was better to remain cordial in such cases. He had too many enemies to keep track of seeing as he placed too many people behind bars during his short 17 years of life (though to be honest, he only started actual crime solving at age 14 so a mere 3 years). Besides, not all of the agents from the Organisation had been put behind bars so it would not surprise him if a few low ranking agents escaped and thought they could raise the Organisation back to its former glory.

"Are you dying to know?" Her voice was reminiscent of Vermouth but he knew for a fact that she had returned to being a normal actress (having helped out in the takedown, she was only placed on a watch list rather than actual arrest). Though he remembered hearing from the woman that she had, at one point, taken apprentices of sorts. 'Young malleable minds' she calls them, who can follow in her footsteps.

"Are you Rosso?" He remembered one of the few names Vermouth had uttered during the late night conversations, names that were non-official but was no doubt treasured by these apprentices.

The moment of silence spoke louder than words and Shinichi was sure he guessed correctly.

"Are you trying for a revenge Ms Rosso?" Better to stick with the cordial tone, Vermouth had often liked banters between them and Shinichi hoped it carried over. Plus extending their conversation would give more time for Shinichi to figure out how to escape from the bindings on his legs. He had already picked the handcuffs during their initial exchange, a skill he picked up thanks to a certain thief that currently is sharing his home.

"Oh so very smart Boy, I can understand why you were seen as a threat than as someone potentially useful." Shinichi could feel the heat from the woman now that she was standing close and most likely leaning down on him. "Shame you decided to refuse our offer, you're really quite a special one. No wonder She also took an interest in you." Her fingers trailed along his cheeks, to which he tries to repress the shiver. It was difficult not to react to such physical forms of seduction, though it was even more difficult to not feel disgusted at such actions. He was spoken for after all.

"You do know by taking me out of the picture, you're likely to incur Her wrath and bring attention to many others correct?" There was no way any criminal could be that stupid. After his 'resurrection', as a certain thief likes to call it, both the media and the law enforcements (multiple agencies from multiple nations) had been keeping tabs on him. From his usual routes and favoured shops (he tried to vary them but these people are professionals and they do have the resource to tail him) to what he ate for breakfast (he had complained about their stalker-like behaviour only to be countered by "we're only trying to make sure you won't be poisoned" or some such excuse) they probably knew by now he had been kidnapped. If not, then at least the thief does seeing as he had been tracking Shinichi since long before the takedown (Shinichi had still yet to figure out how the thief managed to do this outside of his perception).

"Oh, I wouldn't worry so much. I made sure someone of equal calibur to my skills is making sure no one would notice." Shinichi had to wonder how many of these apprentices escaped arrest. Vermouth had listed out quite a few after all. "And you really should worry more about your own wellbeing."

"I very much doubt you'd want to hurt me-" Before he could finish the sentence, he felt cold metal along his neck. A knife if he were to guess. Not wanting to waste the opportunity of her close proximity, he dropped the pair of handcuffs he had been holding and pushed her back with his hands. With quick movements, he captured her wrist and twisted her so that she would have her back facing him. Using the captured wrist, he maneuvered so he could use the same knife to threaten her instead.

"It seems I've underestimated you." There was amusement in her voice.

"Not really, you just left yourself open to attack." Although he really disliked hurting others, he had no choice. Instead of using his wristwatch tranquilizer, he made do with a forceful tap on the back of the neck, a move he learnt from Ran and later perfected to deliver a numbing blow and render the opponent unconscious.

She slumped down in his grasp and he slowly lowered her down. Pulling off his blindfold, he blinked away the sudden onslaught of light. The room was actually quite normal and clean, unlike what he had guessed (too many of his kidnappings ended up in disused warehouse and offices with layers of dirt and broken windows). The light fixture was missing the protective casing and there was the presence of blackout curtains on the windows, but with the small table to the side and a bed against the wall, it could be mistaken as someone's bedroom instead of a hideaway.

"Though that might be what you had been aiming for right?" Shinichi asked the unconscious body, reaching downwards to untie his legs. Standing up, he stretched and tested out his maneuverability, rotating his shoulders and ankles to resume blood circulation. He had to wince when he turned his head too fast. Gently, he touched his head and winced. He must be sporting a gash on his forehead.

Reaching for the set of handcuffs, he secured the woman to the chair, taking care to remember to bind her legs as well.

Dusting off his hands, he took a look at the door wondering whether there was someone else on the other side. Though it is quite unlikely seeing as the previous commotion had not drawn in a hoard of people into the room. Just when he thought he would be able to exit the room like he owned the place, the knob turned slowly and ominously. Shinichi stood his ground though prepared to spring a high kick when the need calls for it.

The door opened slowly, dramatically, a millimeter at a time, as though wanting to create tension. When the door finally opened, and Shinichi prepared to knock whoever it was on the other side into land of dreams, it revealed nothing. Suddenly, something was thrown into the room, a metallic cylinder around the size of a canned drink. It clanged noisily onto the ground and immediately burst into grey smoke. Shinichi quickly covered his face with his sleeves, hoping to filter out most of the smoke and gas. It smelled faintly sweet, reminiscent of a certain thief's blend of sleeping gas (something that he had finally developed immunity to thanks to overexposure). He took a step back, hoping that whoever emerged would be who he thought it was.

With the disturbance of smoke, a gloved hand reached out towards Shinichi. White cotton gloves with intricate stitches along the ridges. Shinichi grab hold of the hand, intertwining their fingers and pulling towards himself. Following the gloves was a blue sleeves and clover cufflinks, over which was a white two buttons fastening the ends of the cuffs. There was only one person obnoxious enough to wear white in a rescue mission.

"I mean no harm." Shinichi whispered to in the ears as he wrapped an arm around the thin waist.

"Jeez Meitantei. You're going to give me a heart attack one day." The body against him seemed to relax just a fraction. "Also, you're an idiot to be abducted again for the third time this week."

"Not my fault that criminals thought I make easy targets." Shinichi shrugged, letting the thief lead him out the doors. He glanced downwards to the slump figures littering the corridor.

"Don't worry, they're all just asleep." KID pulled Shinichi along, taking the stairs several at a time.

"I do hope that you didn't leave any nasty surprises for when they wake up though." Shinichi spared a moment to look back into the corridor. "Like that time a month back? When that girl took me hostage? You cut her hair short and dyed her hair multicolour? Then stuck a pig snout onto her face before knocking her unconscious and handing her over to the police?"

"She deserved that though. She was a stalker!" KID defended, he stood in center of the corridor free of any littering unconscious bodies. His arms were on his hips in mock anger. "You should appreciate my effort you know."

Shinichi stopped in front of KID, lifted his hands and flicked the thief in the nose for his forehead was covered by the hat's rim. "That was over-the-top and unnecessary."

"I was only looking out for your well-being…" Like a scolded child, KID fidgeted and squirmed. "I only wanted you safe."

"I am safe, even without having you pull all those obnoxious stunts."

"But I thought you liked my stunts." With watery eyes. Shinichi suddenly felt guilty, as though he just drowned a bucket full of puppies. "Are you saying you're already bored with my tricks? That I'm no good anymore?" There were even traces of tears bordering on the eyes and Shinichi had to applaud at the thief for calling up tears on demand (the only other people he knew who had that ability was his mother and one Satan-incarnate in the form of a seven year old).

Although Shinichi knew KID was playing him like a fiddle, he knew he was falling for a ruse, but those wide indigo eyes tugged at his heartstrings and left him with an aching twang. Sighing, Shinichi took a few steps forward and wrapped KID in a warming hug.

"Stop your tears." He whispered softly into KID's ear. "You're a great magician and I like your tricks even though you could do with fewer hair dyes and change of clothes…"

"Meitantei...does that mean you find my tricks...repetitive?" There was still that sad, teary, quality to his voice that made Shinichi panic.

"No, no, no." Shinichi pulls away slight, though still holding KID in a loose hold around the waist. "You're tricks are fun, they're interesting."

Shinichi sweat in the momentary silence between them, the air around was rather tense to the point that Shinichi thought there might be a bomb needing to be disarmed somewhere in the building (not the first time he encountered something like this during an escape). That only lasted until KID broke into a wide grin.

"You faked it." Shinichi stated plainly, pulling further away. But KID took grip of the wrist around his waist. "I hate you."

"No you don't." KID looked too cheerful all of a sudden. He pulled Shinichi back, possibly trying to trap Shinichi into an inescapable hold (though if Shinichi was being honest, he really did not feel like escaping much from the warm touch). "After all, if you were, you'd have kicked me already."

It was a truth that Shinichi did not want to admit just yet, even if the thief had stated as plain as day. Just when Shinichi was about to reply with a smart remark, the pair heard the rapid staccato of footfalls behind them, along with shouts for "After them!"

Shinichi swore softly as he twisted back to see how far away their pursuers were though KID seems to have other ideas as he pulled Shinichi along the relatively empty corridor and towards a set of steps.

"We're going up?" Shinichi asked, even though he knew KID's preferred route of escape is through the roof.

"No, you're going up." KID circled behind Shinichi and gave him a push up the steps. "I've hidden a long distance grappling hook in the shadows of the service entrance. Use that and aim for the building on the east. Secure the end of the line and sail across it. I've parked a car in the garage, you'll recognise it when you're there." Shinichi felt KID dropped something in his pockets even as he resisted KID's urge to move.

"Wait KI-" Shinichi was forced to take several steps upwards to avoid the sudden blast of smoke. Although he knew KID would not hurt him at this point in time, who knows what strange concoction he had mixed inside of the smoke (it was in an eerie green). Covering his mouth, he paused for a second more before heading up the indicated steps.

Just like KID indicated, all the equipment were hidden behind the shadows. During his flight upwards, Shinichi kept hearing sounds of gunfire and he prayed the thief had a bulletproof vest. At each round of staccato, Shinichi held his breath and paused in his run, dreading to hear the sound of triumph from their pursuers. He had to wonder who built this building as sound travelled unnaturally well up the stairwell.

Glancing back at the closed service entrance, he waited patiently for KID to appear. The firing mechanism for the grappling hook was held in a death grip in his hands and he had already scouted the best anchor for the device. All he needed was for the stupid thief to appear.

"Where are you…" He muttered into the wind. The sound from the stairwell grew louder. Shinichi strained to hear the sounds and identified it to belong to several pairs of feet instead of the singular tread pattern. Not wanting to waste time, Shinichi aimed and fired at the location, then secured the line from his end onto the metallic hook on his side of the building. He prepared the rest of the gear, hooking up the pulley system and testing the strength with the intention of distracting himself from thinking how the thief could have been ambushed.

"Come on. Hurry…" Shinichi prayed to the winds now that all the preparations were done. He stood by the line, one hand on the pulley system waiting to take him across. His eyes were glued towards the heavy doors to the roof, looking for the sign of the thief.

When the door slammed open, he was sorely disappointed for the shadow it cast on the rooftop was not one with a top hat. Fortunately, Shinichi was quite well hidden and took off on the line the moment he saw the person who appeared was not the one he waited for. He was not about to risk being captured again.

With the night being one of a new moon, Shinichi was fortunate to have the cover of darkness when he sailed through the skies. The wind whistled past his ears until he stumbled onto the roof of the next building. Automatically, he snapped the line using the handy mechanism on the pulley system. The line lost tension and fell.

"You better be safe." He took one final glance in the direction that he came from before picking the lock to the service entrance. Shinichi was thankful the thief had slipped in a set of lockpicks into his pockets alongside a shiny car key on a clover keychain.

Although his skills is nothing like KID's, Shinichi still managed to have the door open within 3 minutes. In front of him, the elevator was opened as though waiting for him to enter. Shinichi was suspicious but he figured it must have been KID's work to have all this arranged.

He could imagine the jibes coming from the thief, "Probably would comment how unlawfully I'm behaving, then he would take a stab at my profession and maybe try and recruit me…" He muttered to himself as he exited the elevator that took him directly down to the garage.

"Actually I'd say only the latter is correct." A soft voice whispered in his ear. Shinichi jumped back into a defensive position. "I do appreciate how you tried to learn my craft."

"KID!" Shinichi exclaimed with a hand over his heart, hoping that he could calm it down somehow.

"Did you miss me?"

"Of course not idiot!" Shinichi threw a punch towards KID's chest. There was not much power behind his action but KID still acted as though the punch hurt. Gloved hands continually rubbed over the area that Shinichi's fist had touched and he had to wonder if the thief was truly injured. "Um...are you...injured?"

"See, you do care." KID smiled blindingly. "But to answer your question. I'm fine. Though if I were you, I'd worry about Miss Kidnapper you know."

"I'm afraid to ask." Shinichi strode past the thief. For a moment he felt stupid for worrying unnecessarily.

"You're no fun at all Meitantei." KID's relaxed pose and soft steps helped Shinichi to release the tension he had been building up.

Shinichi walked purposefully towards a seemingly random area of the garage. If he knew KID like the thief knew Shinichi, then the thief would surely know all his habits and quirks and have predicted he would come in this direction. Sure enough, a white car stood in a dark corner of the myriad of parking spaces. On the windshield was a single stem of clover.

"Bit much isn't it?" Shinichi picked up the bit of fauna and twirled it around, admiring the leaf structure under the artificial light.

"See? I knew you'd immediately know which car was mine." KID plucked the clover from his hands and enclosed it within his own fist. He waved his other hand over the top and bottom before turning his fist over and opened in front of Shinichi. Resting in the palm of his hands was a singular silver key. Shinichi had to wonder when the thief had the chance to lift the key from his pockets.

"Show off." He muttered, snatching the key from the thief's palm.

"You know since I'm the owner of the car…" Shinichi's eyes twitched at the strangely gleeful look on KID's face. He could not, for the life of him, deduce what was going on in that twisted mind. "I think it would only be fair to request some form of compensation for this great gift."

"Gift?" Shinichi stared incredulously. "You're not actually giving me the car you know." Shinichi slipped into the driver's seat, securing the seatbelt over his torso. He insert the key and was in the process of turning it, without regards to whether the thief had seated himself.

"Of course it is a gift. After all, it's not everyday KID brings out the old rust bucket from the depths of his cave you know."

"Don't insult this beauty." The purr of the engine was like music to his ears and Shinichi could not fathom this beautiful car had been left inside a dusty-damp cave for an insurmountable amount of time. "Also, it's a sin to leave her by her lonesome."

"Oh, I see how it is now." KID answered with a particularly sad face, eyes near watering and a slight pout to his lips. "You're just looking for the aesthetics. The minute you laid eyes on this, you fell for it, forgetting little ol' me…" He ran a gloved hand over the leather dashboard, trailing his fingers along the surface and drawing small circles.

Shinichi's brows twitched again. He could not believe the thief was pulling the pity card. Narrowing his eyes, and wanting to put an end to this guilt-tripping act, he pulled KID by the necktie and crushed his lips onto the thief's, immediately stopping whatever rant the thief had in mind. He mashed their lips together, tongue forcibly entering the moist cavern and flicking through the various tastes still left inside the mouth after a rather tasty meal. Shinichi could feel rather than hear KID's response, the tremble of a moan and the desperation of the thief's grip on his lapels. Deciding not to indulge himself further, Shinichi pulled away without acknowledging how KID's tongue had tried to drag him back in, as though inviting Shinichi for one last taste.

"There's your payment, now let me drive." Shinichi ignored the way his own cheeks burn or the lingering sweetness on his lips. He ignored how indigo eyes tried to bore holes through his skin as though wanting to pierce into his soul.

"You're mean." KID poked at him with a playful voice after they turned out of the garage. "You shouldn't play people like that."

"Who said I was playing." Shinichi glanced over to see the widened (and slightly glazed over) eyes as the thief's pink tongue licked over the lips in anticipation.

"I'll hold your word for it and take that as a deposit."