The Detective and the Thief- Part 3
"It's like watching a fictional drama."
"A reproduction of Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler?"
"A detective and a thief … Certainly. Or perhaps the less likely pair of Holmes and Lupin?"
"You don't seem overly dissatisfied by this."
The man laughed.
"I'm not. Kaito and I are friends. Nothing more. I have no ulterior motive."
The woman nodded in quiet acknowledgement.
"Still … It's a little disturbing how well they fit together."
"I have to agree with that."
The man hummed lightly to himself before turning to face the woman.
"On a different note, I've been meaning to ask."
Shiho lifted an eyebrow, beckoning her coffee partner to speak. The blond man set his tea cup down but the young woman never let go of her black coffee, as if it were a lifeline. On that point, she and Shinichi have a common taste. Ironically, Hakuba finds himself matching Kaito's preference for softer drinks like tea.
"This drug I was asked to help make out the composition and elaborate an antidote for. I've been put in touch with a certain Sherry whom I helped out with analysis and test runs. Would you be this Sherry person?"
Shiho's poker face never even cracked but Saguru was used to far more potent poker faces from a far more competent liar. The one currently across the street from them in the ice cream shop, entertaining a group of kids in the company of another genius teen detective.
It's a fact that Saguru has been helping out Kaito a few times with his less-than-legal job since after the blond had been told the truth (due to compelling circumstances that kind of forced the truth out of Kaito eventually) he had make it a point to make sure his best friend doesn't get himself recklessly killed. No matter how prepared KID may be, Kaito is bound to do something absurd and life-threatening like jumping off a building to catch a falling child detective every now and then. Speaking of which, it's been a while since Conan's return to the States. Kaito was quite friendly with the little sleuth. Is he still in touch with him? Hakuba often wondered what further secrets Kaito withholds from him but he knows to be patient. Perhaps Kaito will never tell him, and that's fine. He is a detective after all, so he'll just figure it out on his own!
Returning to the matter at hand, there is one secret Kaito has been holding back that has gnawed at Hakuba's brain for quite a while now. When Kaitou KID suddenly left him a note with a message and a contact detail for a person called Sherry, along with a USB key holding absurd data on an absurd drug that seems designed to artificially create an eternal youth potion, Hakuba had been more than curious and confused.
He still followed Kaito's silent request.
Kaito doesn't often ask for help so when he does, Hakuba knows not to refuse. Even if that means months of secret communications with Sherry and of chemical and biological analysis. The Sherry person seemed more of a chemist while Hakuba had always specialised more in biology (due to his work as a detective and his inspiration from Holmes - He is after all, the only person who has successfully deduced and proven KID's DNA belonged to second coming of KID and not the same one as over 20 years ago). It seems that while Sherry could manage the analysis of the drug and the making of a theoretical antidote for it, she was needing help with human-testing factors. What are the risks? The side-effects? The likelihood of success on a human being? The impact of the antidote (which is essentially another type of poison in itself! Counter poison through poison!) and so on.
When Saguru had run through all his tests and reduced the risks to the minimum he could possibly reach and confirmed his results with Sherry, the person never contacted him again. From his association with this person, however, Hakuba reasoned a number of things:
- Sherry is a woman.
- She is a highly capable and intelligent person
- A chemist and having experience with such dangerous and experimental drugs
- She is in threatening danger but not a criminal herself, or if she is, she betrayed whatever group she used to be a part of (if she were dishonest, KID wouldn't help her)
- And she either knows someone who was poisoned by this Apotoxin 4869 or she herself was the recipient of the drug.
The reason for this last point is due to the very reason she was looking for an antidot. The drug seemed to have a better chance to kill than to offer eternal youth. Which suggests that whatever effect it did end up having was not the intended one and she is seeking to reverse it.
Now, her age was difficult to establish since she sounded very experienced and cautious a person but her language occasionally sounded young and suggested she may not be as old and mature as she appeared under her anonymity.
Thus, Hakuba has been wondering ever since but he never questioned Kaito. Whatever relation this woman has to the thief, Hakuba is certain that she is not a threat. Not if KID is willing to steal confidential and dangerous data like that and ask for his help in order to assist the woman. Then who could be so important that Kaito would take such risks for?
Aoko. Certainly.
His mother. Of course.
Akako. Most likely.
These summarised the extent of Kaito's female contacts he would risk so much for. Now, if Hakuba pushed the idea of Sherry trying to help someone else who got poisoned … well, the possibilities are endless! Looking at the drug, there are some side-effects Hakuba could predict due to his biological expertise and his extensive knowledge on the human body. One of such theoretical side-effects could have been a regression of cells. Not quite the immortality aimed for but more of a … de-aging process?
And this woman here looks a lot like the little girl that Conan Edogawa hung around with (Yes, Hakuba did his homework on the mini-detective). For that matters, Edogawa resembles Shinichi Kudo quite significantly for simple "cousins". And there's the matter of Kaito suddenly being close to Kudo without any prior suggestion of this. But KID had been friendly with the child detective.
Pieces of a puzzle … only a hypothesis and Hakuba wasn't betting his badge on it but … Miss Shiho Miyano is unusually guarded behind her poker face.
"I don't know what you're talking about. Sherry …? As in the drink?" Shiho asked with fake confusion.
She did not like this detective. She did not like suddenly receiving a mysterious message from an unknown person asking her if "Sherry" needed help with a particular drug. She did not like the fact that this mysterious stranger had refused to reveal how he got hold of the drug's constitution, the unaltered data on the research she once had conducted, and her contact information for Haibara under the name of "Sherry". She never got a name for this man either other than: Falcon.
It became clear that Falcon was acting on demand of someone else. A favour of sorts. He didn't appear involved in the Organisation nor in any dealings with criminals. And yet, how else could he have gotten his hands of this sensitive information?
And now …
This is Falcon.
Should have known he was a detective! And involved with Kaitou KID! Obviously! Does the thief really only befriend law enforcers? Does he not see the obvious danger to his own survival?
Great.
Now she's worried about the reckless magician! Blame Tsukiko's charms for getting her fond of the Moonlight Magician.
Although right now, the said magician is busy with the kids and Kudo, thus leaving her to deal with this far-too-sharp-for-his-own-good detective. Hakuba Saguru was it? If he really is Falcon, then this explains how he got involved. KID must have stolen the data and enlisted Falcon's help.
Despite her feign ignorance, the detective only smirked as if he had already confirmed his suspicions. Shiho is certain she didn't let anything across her face … then again … This man is friends with Kaitou KID. He must be used to liars.
Rather than further pressure Sherry, or it's Miyano Shiho now, isn't it? Hakuba glanced out the window, sipping his tea again, and watching Kaito perform a trick for the kids. Kudo also looks invested in the magician, most likely trying to figure out the trick.
"My mistake then, Miss Miyano. Perhaps you can answer my next enquiry more easily."
He turned his brown eyes back on the woman.
"What is Kudo-san's play with Kaito?"
Shiho frowned at the suddenly biting tone of the man. Even as he remained polite, it's clear that Hakuba was not pleased with Kudo's involvement with his friend. Shiho couldn't really blame him for looking out for his friend but she found it rather misplaced of him to judge Kudo without giving him a chance. Certainly, Kudo isn't very good at deciphering his own feelings but it's rather obvious even to him now that he's severely in love with the magician thief.
"You seem to be under the impression that Kudo-kun is using Tsukiko-san for his own gain."
"Is he not? The very existence of Tsukiko was to provide Kudo-san with a backup girlfriend."
"Arguably … no." Shiho smirked, causing Hakuba to raise an eyebrow at her.
"I don't deny that Kudo-kun himself believed so. He definitely requested help with the matter of his relationship, or lack thereof. But I don't think he picked Kuroba-kun for this reason."
Hakuba nodded slowly before sighing.
"I understand what you mean, Miyano-san. It isn't hard to see when one simply looks at them."
They both turned back to look at the thief and the detective.
"Nevertheless … Kaito is my best friend. I do not wish for him to get hurt." Saguru strongly emphasised his point with his tone.
"I like Kuroba-kun. He's good for Shinichi. I don't wish for either of them to suffer from this relationship."
"And yet they will." Hakuba softly spoke.
"For a time, they likely will." Shiho nodded.
The man and the woman both sighed heavily while across the street, their respective best friends remain oblivious to one another's feelings.
"Miyano-san, what is your honest opinion of Kudo-san?"
Miyano took a moment to consider the question but eventually she shrugged.
"I'm uncertain about many things, Hakuba-san. The only certainty I have is that Kudo-kun is a detective through and through."
Hakuba frowned at that, looking pensive and worried.
"But I don't believe he will arrest Kuroba." Shiho amended her answer and a reassuring smile.
"I don't think he would … unless circumstances compelled him to." Hakuba grudgingly declared.
"Circumstances?"
"Kaito is a thief. Kudo-san is a detective. Should someone find out about this and their relationship, it would be easy to damage them both. And Kaito is afraid of that. He's afraid of dragging Kudo-san into such risks. This is the very reason why Kaito never revealed his secret to Aoko, another friend of ours, despite her being his closest friend since childhood. He waited until the Organisation was dealt with before even considering revealing the truth. Even then … he never reveals the full truth. Kaito is a very guarded person because he cares too much about other people's safety and happiness."
"And your concern is whether Shinichi is worth the risk?"
"My concern is that Kaito is already in love with Kudo-san but purposefully sets up a distance between them. Both for Kudo-san's safety and for his own heart."
"The fear of external threats and the fear of rejection."
"Not rejection." Hakuba shakes his head. "Kaito can deal with rejection. What he can't deal is another loss."
Shiho stared quietly at the detective and slowly put her coffee cup down on the small table between them.
"What exactly caused Kuroba to become Kaitou KID? I've wondered about this a lot. What purpose would such a thief have to exist?"
Hakuba half-laughed and half-shrugged.
"Ironically, it's the same answer as for what makes your friend a detective."
Shiho frowned and Hakuba elaborated with only one word.
"Murder."
Preview:
How dare Hakuba leave him alone with Kudo and the kids to go chat up Shiho-chan at some café?! Kaito is now mulling over the best colour set to paint Hakuba's hair the moment the Brit walks out of that café! Maybe purple with orange spots! Oh! No! Better: Entirely white with a black Kid-doodle! Harder to do produce but so much more satisfying once he sees Hakuba's face! And he might as well make it strong enough such that the Brit won't be getting rid of his new hair-do for a whole week!
"Kaito-ni-san? Why are you grinning like an evil mastermind?"
Kaito looked down at the innocent Ayumi watching him with her big curious eyes. Further away, Shinichi was also looking at him with mild concern while keeping an eye on Mitsuhiko and Genta who were debating which ice-cream flavour was best.
Kaito plastered an easy warm grin on his face and ran gentle finger through Ayumi's hair.
"Because I'm plotting revenge against a very naughty detective! Ayumi-chan? What is your favourite colour?"
"Pink!" the girl squealed happily.
"Oh! I do like pink a lot!" Kaito praised her with a smile while picking her up in his arms and walking towards the ice-cream choices.
Pink sounds like a great colour for Haku-chan! Pink with Kid-Doodles! Lovely!