Chapter 10
"So, what's the game plan?" Kaito asked as he gazed out the tinted windows. The city crawled past them as Shinichi navigated the streets with the grace of a fish on a pier.
"We go in, you attached to my shadow, and I'll get the officer guarding the evidence room to leave his post. You sneak in, grab your things, and leave the heist note. Catch a ride with me when you're done."
"How will you know that I'm on your shadow? You could leave while I'm still working."
"I can feel it through our Blood Bond, but it only works when it's my shadow. If you hear someone coming, shape shift and pretend you're lost."
"Oh?" One quick prickle across his face and body later and Kaito transformed into a busty blonde woman. He laid his head on Shinichi's shoulder, pouting up at the Mage. "Is this better, sweetie?" he asked, mimicking Akako's low, seductive tones.
Shinichi jerked the car, almost crashing into the Buick beside them. The loud car horn and explosion of explicit language shook Shinichi from his shock and he corrected their course. "Don't ever do that again," he scolded. "That was horrifying."
Kaito laughed and shifted back into his human form. "Oh, come on. It was a little bit funny," he said in his own voice.
"Phony horror movies are funny. They comedy channel is funny—"
"No it's not—"
"You, trying to seduce me in my sister's voice? No funny, on so many different levels."
He raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment on the little tidbit Shinichi let slip. Instead, Kaito wanted to know something far more important. "Would you prefer that I try to seduce you as myself?"
Shinichi blushed. "That's not appropriate… Oh, look! We're here," he said in obvious relief.
"You really suck at changing the subject. You know that, right?"
He pretended not to hear Kaito as he parked in front of a low, concrete building with "D.E.A.D." in huge letters across the front. Kaito winced. How…plain. "Looks like you'll have to shadow-meld now. Pity you can't talk while doing it."
Kaito glared. "You really are bad at subtlety, Shin-Shin."
"I wasn't trying to be. Hurry up and shadow-meld before someone starts wondering why I'm just sitting here without getting out."
"Fine, fine." Kaito closed his eyes and focused on the shadow caused by the car's roof. He could feel it, like an almost unnoticeable tug on his consciousness, easily ignorable. He followed the tug and, slowly but surely, felt his body dissolve into the darkness.
The feeling was disorienting. Kaito couldn't see anything—everything was black—but he could still sense what was happening around him. His body only felt cold with no other sensation, like he was submerged in sub-zero water. "You really are good at this," Shinichi muttered and Kaito felt one of the shadows moving away—Shinichi getting out of the car. Kaito followed, hitching a ride on his shadow.
It was hard, staying in one little blurb of shadow when the overcast sky allowed everything to be cast in a shade. However, he kept up with Shinichi, not moving necessarily, but more like he was hooked onto Shinichi's shadow, bobbing along behind him.
Kaito sensed when they left the freezing outside in favor of D.E.A.D.'s Headquarters. He could hear Shinichi's cane clicking away—wooden floor then, or possibly some kind of stone—along with various snippets of conversations.
"Hey, did you hear how Nakamori was—"
"Lupin's gang is still at large—"
"So, do you, like…wanna go out drinking with me this Saturday?"
A door opened and closed, cutting off the conversations as Shinichi continued into a silent, empty area. Shinichi's steps faltered momentarily, but picked up again at a slower pace. "Oh, hello," he said. "You must be the new guard on duty. I was expecting Maguire."
"Maguire retired last week. I'm his temporary replacement." If Kaito currently had eyes, they would have widened at the familiar voice. "I'm Sugaru Hakuba. And you are?"
"I'm Shinichi Kudo," Shinichi said, ether ignoring or unaware of Kaito's growing panic. Nonononononono! If anyone could ruin their plans, it would be this bastard. "I've heard of you. People say you and your partner are some of the best."
"Do they?" Hakuba sounded only slightly interested. "I doubt they say that anymore. Is there anything I can help you with, Kudo?"
"I need to see evidence room 14, case drawer 12, the murder of David Shields." Shinichi took a few steps forward, close enough for his shadow to touch another—a desk. Kaito slid into the desk's shadow, assuming that was what Shinichi wanted him to do. He was still panicking—damn it; this was Hakuba, who somehow knew he was KID without proof! Of course he'd panic!—but he kept it under control. Shinichi wouldn't leave him to deal with Haku-bastard by himself. Right? "I assume the extension enchantment is still in place? If so, this case should be in the back, as it is a fairly old one."
"I'm aware," Hakuba said coldly. "And I assume you remember that I have to go with you and lock the door behind me to make sure that you don't damage or steal anything."
Why in the world would Hakuba think Shinichi would break something? Shinichi seemed to have expected the question though and responded with a smug, "I remember. Shall we go?"
A door opened and Shinichi and Hakuba's steps began to fade away. As the door clicked closed, Kaito shot across the floor and under the crack of it. He hid in a corner in what Kaito thought was a hall until sounds of both footsteps faded completely.
Kaito oozed out of the shadows, solid and able to see once again. He was in fact in a hallway like he'd thought, lined with identical doors that had bronze labels on them. Damn it! How was he supposed to know which one held his suit!?
Wait…hadn't Shinichi said that his old case was in the back? If the old was in the back… On a whim, he read one of the markers near the exit. It read "Room 48" with the current year engraved below it. Bingo.
He was surprised to find the door unlocked, but Shinichi did mention that the nonmagickal evidence room was less guarded. Inside was a variety of steel drawers, some smaller than a lunch box and others like garage doors. Each drawer had a card on it, displaying a number.
Kaito growled in frustration. How was he supposed to know which one was his!? Reluctantly slipping a hand into his knapsack, he pulled out a lock pick. Well, they had taken his entire room, so it had to be one of the big ones.
Several garage doors later, Kaito caught sight of a familiar white suit. He smirked. He began tossing in whatever looked useful—the suit, hang glider, monocle, collapsible top hat, several fireworks, and even the gun he'd had that unfaithful night. Kaito didn't even know how it all fit until he noticed how whenever he put something new in, the rest would shift farther down. An expansion enchantment.
Finally he was finished. Swinging the bag over his shoulder, Kaito left the room exactly as he found it only to encounter a problem while leaving. He couldn't. The knob of the door he entered through wouldn't budge. Kaito frowned. He hadn't heard Hakuba lock it even though the bastard said he would. Of course, this wasn't a real problem; he could just go under the door again. Still, what a bother…wait, were those runes?
He looked closer. Yes, they were, Norse by the look of them. One for locking and surveillance. Shit! Did Hakuba already know he was here? Norse surveillance runes were shit that would only tell the carver if someone touched them, but…
No, wait. Hakuba worked with Fire Evocation, not Enchantment. Everyone knew that a Mage who focused on one type of magick was weak in others. Plus, these looked old, far older than Hakuba could have been on desk duty, even if he'd been here for the last month. So, they most likely belonged to the retired guy. He'd probably given Hakuba a charm to bypass the locking rune.
Kaito smirked. D.E.A.D. always underestimated normals, even when it was just their shit. Of course they'd have shitty runes protecting them.
Paranoia forgotten, Kaito shadow-melded under the door to see Hakuba's untidy desk. He frowned again. That was odd behavior for the anal-retentive detective. In fact, this entire thing was odd. Why the hell was Hakuba on desk duty in the first place!? He unfortunately was a competent detective. And what was with all the Styrofoam cups!? From what Kaito remembered, Hakuba preferred tea, not—Kaito sniffed the contents of one of the cups—generic instant coffee.
While returning the cup to its place, Kaito noticed a small framed photo and picked it up. He was expecting a picture of Hakuba's parents, maybe one of Hakuba and Aoko in high school. He wasn't expecting a picture of him.
Well, not just him. Hakuba and Aoko were there too. They were about 6, on what appeared to be a playground. They were hugging and smiling. Hakuba actually looked happy and Kaito wasn't trying to get away from the Mage.
He…remembered this. Not this exact moment, but being friends with Hakuba. They had met in preschool, all because of Aoko. She was being bullied by some bratty kids and Kaito chased them off while Sugaru comforted her. They'd all been good friends, until… Kaito smiled bitterly.
Well. Hakuba's magick revealed itself when they were 9 and Kaito was a spiteful little brat.
With slight hesitance, Kaito stole the picture and replaced it with his heist notice. Well, that was obvious as shit. And it would be suspicious if the notice appeared while Hakuba was being distracted by Shinichi. So, with lack of any other idea, he shoved the picture frame—still containing the heist note—into a pile of files. There, hidden. Once Hakuba notices the missing picture, he'll have to look for it and then—
The file on the top of the pile fell to the ground with a faint splat. Sighing, Kaito bent to retrieve it. Honestly, he should be a shadow again, before anyone shows—was that his case file?
He looked closer. The label definitely said "Kaitou KID." Should he look? His fingers idly thumbed it. He could never get another chance like this. D.E.A.D. could have information on the Black Organization, stuff not even Shinichi had. He nodded determinedly. His decision was made.
Flipping the file open, the first thing he saw was a picture of his alter ego, posed majestically on the edge of a roof. Kaito preened a bit to himself. It was a very sexy picture. The next one—his body, in a coma, covered in bruises and cuts—wiped the smugness off his face.
He flicked through the papers inside. There were a few more pictures of him as both KID and Kuroba, photocopies of Hattori's case reports, and hand written reports of that night, courtesy of Aoko and Hakuba. Kaito tsked. There was nothing he didn't already know, except for the fact that D.E.A.D. had finally opened an investigation into his shooting due to Hakuba's constant prodding. He supposed he had to thank the bastard for that.
Kaito finally found a small slip of paper nestled in the back of the file. His eyes widened as he read it. This…this was impossible. It had to be. There was no way this could be real, Shinichi and Akako had told him so—
The day Akako appeared in his hospital room, Hakuba had requested that Mage healers be sent to fix him!?
And Nakamori had granted it!?
Kaito put his file away, his movements robotic with shock. He slid into the desk's shadow and allowed the darkness to numb him. No. no, Shinichi wouldn't lie to him like that, he wouldn't make Akako tell him that he wouldn't be saved on the very day that they were going to heal him, right?
Right?
Shinichi and Hakuba returned shortly and Kaito clung to Shinichi's shadow like a child to their mother's skirt. He ignored the two's goodbyes and the feeling of Shinichi's concern through their Blood Bond.
What if…what if Shinichi did do that? His entire being tried to reject the idea. After all, Shinichi was always so kind to him. He had never forced Kaito to do something through their Bond like Mages did with non-sentient Demons. Why would Shinichi do such a thing?
Shinichi had walked them out of the building and they were now safe in the car, so Kaito pulled away from him. Despite the Mage's attempts to talk to him, Kaito only offered one word responses. Finally, Shinichi's patience snapped. "What's wrong? Tell me what happened!"
He angrily bit the inside of this mouth. "I'll tell you when we get back," he ground out.
Shinichi accepted his answer. "Alright."
How much did he even know about Shinichi anyway? All he knew was the man's relationship to Akako and his need for vengeance against the Black Organization, but was that really enough. How could Kaito trust him?
His decision was made. After Shinichi pulled into the mansion's garage, Kaito left the car and waited until Shinichi was in the house to follow. The door slammed behind him. "Shinichi. We need to talk. Now."