On the tenth day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Disclaimer: Works of Meitantei Conan and Magic Kaito belong to Gosho Aoyama-sensei. Lyrics were taken from the 1909 Austin version.
10 Lords a Leaping
As Shinichi stepped out from the shadows on the roof, he cannot help but call out to the white figure before him, and effectively startling said figure.
"Why are you in such a hurry? Three heist in under a fortnight, you'll make a mistake one of these days." Shinichi could practically sense the weary emanating from the white figure. He had the urge to rush over and tug on that cape so that KID would fall into his arms ('where did that stray thought come from?') and so that he could provide the shelter from the cold chilled wind.
"Meitantei, so good to see you again tonight." KID recovered from his shock. No doubt the magician-thief had not been expecting Shinichi here tonight, he might have bugged Shinichi as he seems to know the detective should be busy with something else. The way his mouth twitched to a strained smile was evidence Shinichi's appearance now had derailed his plans.
And it would have been true, that Shinichi should have been preoccupied, as his parents had pulled him outside to have dinner but Shinichi had rushed through the dinner just to be here on time. His father smirked as Shinichi left hurriedly, the same smirk he had given Shinichi that very morning when he saw the heist notice in the papers. Shinichi mentally made a note to ask his father what that was all about.
"I hadn't been expecting your appearance tonight seeing as you weren't inside the display halls." KID shrugged, trying to act nonchalant but Shinichi could read his posture like a book. The magician-thief was secretly glad for Shinichi's appearance and that made Shinichi happy.
"I was running a bit late so I thought I'd meet you up here instead." Shinichi smiled, walking closer towards KID. "So? Are you going to answer my question?"
"Hm…" KID tapped his cheeks with the night's heist, a diamond housed in a medallion surrounded by smaller gems. "Perhaps I just wanted an excuse to see you." The grin was evident underneath the dull moonlight. Shinichi had to force down a blush.
"You'll make a mistake like thinking like that." He whispered softly, ducking his head so the blush would not show or be too evident towards KID. Shinichi knew that if the magician-thief saw it, he would tease Shinichi relentlessly.
"It's never a mistake if I get to see you." KID stalked over, steps silent and steady. Shinichi held his ground, excitedly anticipating for KID's next action.
All of a sudden, there was a dull thud and a groan from KID and he faltered in his step. Shinichi was about to step over to support the wobbling thief but was forcefully pushed backwards.
"Move!" KID shouted before turning back 180 degrees towards the edge of the roof. Another shot went off and hit the monocle, flinging the piece of eyewear onto the concrete. A third shot hit the white top hat, and revealed disheveled brown hair. KID's hand was quick to respond to try and cover half of his face but Shinichi already saw the features.
"Kuroba…?"
KID (Kuroba?) cursed before dashing towards the edge of the roof, not before another shot hit the concrete where KID had been moments earlier. Shinichi held back a gasp of fear as he ducked away from a stray bullet aimed at his head. Before he jumped, there was a groan and Shinichi noticed the deployment of the hang glider was a split second later than usual. KID would have suffered critical injuries if the wind had been less than accommodating tonight. As it stands, the magician-thief only flew at a relatively lower altitude for a longer period of time before rising with the currents. However, KID flew erratically, as though he was lacking in control. Shinichi tested the wind direction, he remembered the weather report saying tonight's wind is not too erratic so it made no sense for KID to be flying as such.
"Unless…" Shinichi's eyes widened before he rushed over to the edge, gripping onto the concrete tightly that the edges began to bite into his flesh. He saw the white hang glider swerve dangerously to the left and had nearly crashed into the building. He held his breath when KID just managed to have the glider underneath his control once more. When Shinichi remembered to breath, the worst happened and the hang glider seemed to have stuttered and began falling towards the ground.
"KID!" He shouted as he watched it fall down down. He was grateful that he was the only one here, the only one who could hear his desperate cries. Shinichi tries to remember the approximate location, then picked up the top hat and monocle from the floor (no need for the police to find these then taking it back as evidence).
Shinichi forwent the usual elevator and instead took to the stairs. He was grateful he had great stamina due to his years of soccer training. He bypassed the display hall, not bothering to help the Task Force or extricate the English Detective from the sticky toffee pudding trap (Shinichi could smell the toffee from the hallway). He used the back entrance as he knew the front would be filled with fans and the media alike and he had no wish to offer his comments to tonight's affairs.
Running out into the chilly air, Shinichi oriented himself towards the general direction where he thought KID fell. On the way, he stopped by a sports store still opened to grab a change of clothing and a bag, knowing there might be a need for KID to change out of his costume should he find said magician-thief, and stopped at the pharmacy next door to grab the basic first aid kit, pain killers, and various things he thought he might need to take care of the magician-thief. He was not about to let KID die on his watch, neither would he allow KID to be caught in such a condition. The detective wanted KID all to himself if possible.
Shinichi's feet took him close to the river's edge and Shinichi strained his eyes for a speck of white. He slowed his pace, eyes scanning both the water and the bushes. Five minutes in and his eyes finally saw something white fluttering in the distance. Shinichi hurried over and saw something that nearly ripped his heart out.
It was the broken hang glider with its metallic struts deformed and at a strange angle. Pulling the contraption out, Shinichi saw several telltale holes in the white fabric. He felt his voice stuck at his throat as he hurriedly scanned the waters. It could be that KID discarded the damaged hang glider and escaped by the waters, or even he might have an assistant somewhere waiting nearby to pick him up. At least the injury shouldn't be too sever seeing the fabric still remained white, however the darkness of the night prevented Shinichi from actually looking at the ground and he thought he felt something wet when he brushed by the low foliage. Clenching the torn hang glider, he desperately searched the area hoping for signs. He soon became crushed when nothing came up.
"How stupid am I not to have realise sooner." Shinichi berated himself when he came up to another empty bush, before digging out his phone and searched for his home number.
"Hello…"
"'Kaa-san!" Shinichi nearly shouted into the phone. "Where do the Kurobas live?"
"Shin-chan? Is something wrong?" The concerned voice echoed in Shinichi's ears.
"Now is not the time 'kaa-san." Shinichi was impatient and irritated as he ran back towards the main road to catch a taxi.
"I'll need to look for it, I'll send you the address. But they live in Ekoda."
Shinichi did manage to catch a taxi and had asked the driver to start the journey towards Ekoda. On the way, his mother finally texted him the address which he quickly showed the driver. It was a tense 5 minute drive but when they arrived, Shinichi did not bother to get the change off the driver.
He probably rang the doorbell with a bit too much force and the rushed footsteps from behind the doorway was unnerving Shinichi.
"Sorry, we're not interested..." A woman's voice was muffled as the door began to open.
"Wait, Chikage-san." Shinichi managed to jam his foot in the small gap, he knew he might regret it in the morning when the bruise starts to hurt. "Is Kuro-, Kaito-kun in?"
"Shinichi-kun." She glanced behind her then back at Shinichi. "Kaito he's out…"
Just then, there was a thump from upstairs and Shinichi pushed his way in, ignoring how impolite he was being (at least he kicked off his shoes at the entryway instead of wearing it indoors). Shinichi used his instincts and opened a nearby door. The sight behind it was disturbing.
Kaito was lying on his bed, his pant legs stained with bright red, with one leg having cut open to reveal the extent of the injury. An elderly man stood close by with rags stained with similar colour draped across the rim of a bowl of steaming warm water. His shirt was untouched but there were burn marks near the heart area. The room smelled of the familiar smell of iron which Shinichi had to wrinkle his nose.
"Shinichi-kun…" Chikage was close behind him and was tugging at his jacket helm to catch his attention. But Shinichi's eyes were glued on the prone form on the bed.
"How is he?" Shinichi inched closer and the magician finally managed to open his eyes. Shinichi reached out to brush away the sweat drenched bangs. He could feel the heat from the forehead, and he suspect the wound might have been infected (best case scenario, unless the bullets were laced with something then Shinichi would be more concerned).
"Kudo?" He blinked lazily, breaths coming out in puffs and voice barely above a whisper.
"Don't worry, save your breath." Shinichi patted the magician before turning back to the two adults. "Shouldn't we call an ambulance?"
"Shinichi-kun, you of all people know we can't approach the hospital with Kaito looking like that." Chikage sounded pained. "Jii knows enough to help."
"I'm not sure how much help I'll be this time Chikage-sama. The bullets are still inside, my hands aren't the most stable to extract it." The elder man showed his slightly shaking hands. Not sure if it was due to old age or nervousness, it was clear the elder man would not be able to handle anything delicate for the time being.
"I'll do it." Shinichi offered his service, he was already rolling up his sleeves. "Where's the bathroom?" He knew he had to sanitize first before attempting anything. No point in risking an infection and opening someone up, even if it were just on extremities, in a bedroom of all places was risky enough.
Chikage hesitantly nodded before directing him towards another door in the corridor. It seems she was running out of ideas as well. Shinichi thought she would be the one handling such a scenario but who would want to operate on their own kin, let alone their own son.
And indeed true the the elderly man's words, there were bullets, plural, more than one. Shinichi, under the guidance of Jii, extracted three bullets from the upper thigh and lower legs combined. One had lodged dangerously close to the artery and another nearly embedded itself into the bone. No wonder there was so much blood. It was a miracle that Shinichi had not felt nauseated at the sight, though him being a homicide detective and being exposed to the most gruesome scene almost on a daily basis did help curb such reactions.
Several hours of intense, and amateurish, surgery (which had Shinichi itching to call Haibara for some odd reason even knowing the girl was a chemist and not a surgeon but he figured she would have more knowledge than everyone present combined), the three finally managed to clean up all of Kaito's injuries and correctly bandage and stitched the wounds. Chikage had offered Shinichi the guest room but Shinichi wanted to stay close by in case there were changes.
When the pair of adults retired and had left Shinichi alone to take care of the feverish magician, albeit reluctantly as neither had trusted the detective to not expose the injured magician, Shinichi still felt he couldn't sleep. Not with the magician uttering the words "Danger" and "Run Meitantei" every few minutes. He felt he did not want to leave the magician in such a state, neither did he want to expose the secrets. He can empathise with the situation, the need to keep something this big as a secret, and he knows there must be an important reason behind this. He was willing to listen and understand the magician, and hopefully do something to help with the situation as well.