OooO Fourteen OooO
Ran walks up and down the field, searching for Shinichi to tell him how her first round went.
She has already seen that Shinichi is up next, and as she has time, she wants to cheer him on. As she can't find him among the other offensive mages, she goes to find Professor Amuro to ask him if he knows where he is.
She finds the Professor just ending a conversation with a tall man with short blond hair who is vaguely familiar to her.
"Excuse me, Professor, do you have a moment?"
Both turn to her, and the other man takes his leave. "I hope you know how to handle this, Professor," he says cryptically, gives Ran a polite nod, and goes to the spectators' seats.
"Mouri-san, what can I do for you?"
"Oh, yes," she is startled out of the strange feeling the blond man gave her. "Do you happen to know where Shinichi might be, Sir? His match is up next, but I can't find him anywhere."
Amuro sighs as if he has to tell her something bad. "I am sorry, but Kudou-san just informed me that he is withdrawing from the competition. I think he already left the arena. I guess seeing the first match has scared him off. Not the first time that happens, and regarding his background, it is not surprising. I have to say that I expected a bit more from him, though."
Ran stares at him, perplexed. Shinichi has withdrawn and left without a word to her? That can't be true, right? She has a bad feeling about this, and that Professor Amuro is the one giving her the information, who is the one Shinichi has to investigate, doesn't make it any better. Best to retreat for now.
"Oh, really? That is… too bad. I will be returning to my own match then. I hope he doesn't regret this later."
"Me too," is all Amuro says, and the feeling in her stomach turns into an ice block as she suppresses the need to get away from him as fast as possible without seeming suspicious.
Professor Black. She has to find the principal and get him to search for Shinichi. Suddenly, the masses of people are no longer inspiring but pressing down on her. Everything is too loud, too crowded, too much.
She almost stumbles but is caught by a steady pair of hands.
"Ran-san, are you okay?" She looks up and sees Kaito looking down on her concerned, Aoko behind him. "You look kind of pale."
"Black! Have you seen James Black?"
Kaito blinks confused, lifts his gaze, and searches the seats that are reserved for the principals. James Black is not there. "No, sorry - what happened?"
The fear for Shinichi's safety is too much to bear alone, and she feels she can trust Kaito. "Shinichi is missing. His tutor says he has withdrawn, but that can't be true! I think something happened to him!"
Kaito's hands are on her shoulders, grounding her. "Do you know where he was seen last?"
She is so grateful that he doesn't question her fears but takes action immediately.
"I know he wanted to watch the first match for the offensive mages, maybe one of them has seen him."
"Alright, we begin there. Aoko, go and find Agasa Hiroshi. Maybe Shinichi is with him."
She nods and speeds off faster than Ran's eyes can follow. "How will she know where we are to meet up again?" she wonders while Kaito tugs her along in direction to the offensive mages that by now are done with their first level.
"Don't worry, Aoko always finds me. Quite unnerving if you ask me, but advantageous at times."
They ask around, but no one has seen Shinichi. Aoko comes back and can only report that Shinichi is not with Hiroshi and that his uncle knows nothing about him withdrawing, either. To make sure, he is on his way home now to check if Shinichi is there by any chance, or maybe he can catch up to him if he is still on the way.
Ran shakes her head. "I don't think he will find him there. There is no way Shinichi dropped out of the tournament just like that. We have to continue our search here."
"What did ya say," comes a voice from behind them. "Kudou dropped out?"
"Hattori-kun," Ran exclaims and runs the few steps separating them. "Have you seen Shinichi? Or James Black?"
"Black? That's yar principal, right? I think he went with our own principal to talk about some school stuff, don't know where to, though, but I saw Kudou run into the back rooms after the first match. He didn't come back?"
Ran shakes her head. "Let's check there next." Without waiting if the others follow her, she sprints off to the back rooms, only stopping when she crosses the threshold.
"Shinichi?"
No answer comes, and her shoulders sag.
"Let's search the rooms," Kaito says while passing her, and he begins to look into the changing rooms for the boys, while Ran hurries to check the ones for the girls just in case. They meet up again, both shaking their heads.
"Where are the others?" Ran asks, looking for Aoko, Heiji, and Kazuha.
"Aoko has her own match right now, and the other two got dragged away by a teacher from Osaka. They promised to keep their eyes open."
"Oh." Of course, the tournament is continuing. If Professor Amuro told the officials about Shinichi's supposed withdrawal as well, they have no reason to stop. Students got cold feet all the time, no reason to be concerned. But shouldn't at least Professor Black question this? The one student he sent out to snoop around drops out and doesn't even bother to give Black a short notice about that? All alarm bells should be ringing in his head.
Maybe he hasn't heard of it yet. Heiji said he was off with the other principals, but surely they have to be back soon. They would not leave during the tournament for a more extended period of time.
Instead of letting her falter, it only strengthens her resolve. If she is the only one looking for Shinichi, then she has to double her efforts. She draws a deep breath, squares her shoulders, and begins to search the rest of the rooms with new determination. At least she is not entirely alone as Kaito says he still has time before his next match.
Row after row, she passes the lines of lockers from the front to the back, without any results. With her hands clenched into fists, she sits down on one of the benches.
"Why do you think it is impossible for Kudou-kun to simply have changed his mind?"
Ran looks at Kaito, where he leans against a locker with his arms crossed before his chest and bites her lips. Should she tell him? The other schools don't seem to be involved with whatever Professor Black thinks is going on, so informing him shouldn't be a problem.
"First of all, he is not that kind of person. And then… he is not participating to win, but to find out if there is any foul play going on. I'm scared that maybe he found something and got into trouble."
Kaito's eyebrows rise in surprise. "Foul play? Like targets that have been tinkered with?"
She shakes her head. "We don't know what they are doing, but our principal finds it suspicious that our school won so easily in the last five years. He got Shinichi to train under the teacher he suspects to be responsible, but he didn't find anything concrete."
"Quite risky a job for a student, don't you think? Why didn't he inform the police or the officials of the tournament?"
"I don't believe he thought that it would be dangerous for Shinichi. He was just supposed to report back after all, not take any action. But knowing Shinichi, he might have managed to get in over his head anyway," she huffs. "Informing the authorities else might have been the plan should Shinichi come up with some proof. For sure, the school would have been dismissed from the tournament until the end of the investigations. Even if it would have turned out to be nothing, the school's reputation would be greatly damaged," she muses, her eyes on the floor.
"True, but still… Hey, what are you doing?" he asks when suddenly she drops to the floor on hands and knees and begins to crawl under the bench next to him.
"Ha!" she exclaims and gets back up with something small and shiny between her fingers. Kaito looks from the tiny item to the reverse of her blazer, and his eyes widen. He has seen some of those during the day already. "Is that-"
"Yes! That is one of the badges I made for our school. Shinichi must have dropped it here."
"And how do you know it is his? It looks exactly like your own. Aren't they all the same?"
"Well, yes, they are, but I didn't get to make one for every student, so it can only belong to one of those training under Professor Amuro. Also, the clasp is made so it wouldn't fall off during the matches. You have to use a little spell to open it. This badge was left here deliberately."
"Okay, let's assume the badge belongs to Kudou-kun. That only means that he really was here, but we still don't know where he is now."
Ran visibly deflates. "I know, and that he left this badge behind as a hint only makes me worry more. Did he go by himself? Was he forced? What if he is hurt?"
"Ran-san, calm down. We will find him, I promise." Kaito thinks about what might have happened here, then gives Ran a thoughtful look. "You are a healer, right? And a good one at that."
"Well, yes, I guess."
"Not much time can have passed since Kudou-kun has been here. Try to determine if any spells have been cast recently. Maybe you even can recognize the magic."
Ran doesn't look convinced. Sure, her awareness is good, but it is not her special ability. She tries it anyway and concentrates on the air around her. Magic particles linger for a while before they are gone completely. The stronger the spell, the longer they can be found.
"There is magic, and it is still strong. That was no student. I can't tell what spells have been used, but I don't like the vibe I get from the residues," she shudders.
Kaito pushed himself off the locker he was still leaning against with a thoughtful frown. "If you have to hide a nosy student here in the arena, where would you bring him? You have a decent amount of magic at your disposal, so keeping him defiant and cloaked is not a problem. Probably, you still don't want to go too great a distance in case someone notices you are up to no good. Help me out here, Ran-san, you know the arena better than me."
"The underground storage," comes the straight answer.
"Wow, good - you really do know the place."
"No, I mean there, on the plan," she says and walks over to a ground plan of the whole arena that hangs on the wall. There is one in every locker room to help with orientation on events like this. One part is marked with a red circle. Kaito comes over to have a look as well.
"O-kay, does this usually look like this?"
Ran shakes her head. "I don't think so, but I can't say I paid much attention to it before. That storage would be a great place to hide someone, as it is not used very frequently. They built a new storage room that is closer to the field, so equipment doesn't have to be hauled all the way up from the basement."
"Then that is our best bet at the moment. Come on, lead the way."
"Wait! Shouldn't we go get a teacher?"
"And tell them what? Excuse me, I think the student that you believe has dropped out actually is held in an underground storage room; please come with me?" Some cheers drift over from the field. "They are all occupied with the matches right now, so getting one to listen to us will only cost time, or do you know who we can trust with this one? What if more than one of your teachers is involved?"
Ran pales. She had thought about going to Professor Akai, as having an offensive mage at their side could be helpful, but what if Kaito is right? She bites her lip. "But we might need a key to get in there."
Kaito just gives her a smirk and wriggles his brows. "Who needs keys when they have a magician?"
OooO
When Shinichi comes to, he is confused. He opens his eyes, but it doesn't make a difference; it is still dark around him, and he lies on the cold floor for a moment. What happened, and where is he? He tries to feel around him but finds that he can't move his arms or his feet, and now that his eyes had time to adjust, he also sees that the darkness is not absolute. A faint white shimmer comes from strips of magic that coil around his ankles and upper arms as well as his wrists. A binding spell. He wriggles a bit to test if he can get out of it, but it holds fast.
He remembers now. How he followed Hideaki, the conversation in the back rooms, finding out that Kumoshiro did something to let his son win, and being hit with a strike and a sleep spell.
Okay, so he has been brought… somewhere, but he probably still is in the arena. The only pain he feels is his busted nose, so at least he is not additionally hurt, but that doesn't change that he needs to get out of the spell. Maybe he can just use a counter to get rid of it. Thinking quickly, he comes up with something that could work even with his limited movement, but nothing comes out of his mouth when he wants to cast the spell. He tries again, strains his vocal cords, but there is only a rush of air; his voice remains silent.
Damn, they even thought about muting him, so he can't undo their spells. He won't be able to make it back to the field on his own. He needs help.
Over time the spells will weaken by themselves. They are not designed to bind someone over a longer time as keeping them intact drains a small amount of magic from the mage constantly, but assuming it was Kumoshiro, they will at least last longer than the tournament.
He doesn't have the time to wait it out. Will someone notice his absence? Of course, there will be questions when he doesn't turn up for his match, but if Professor Amuro indeed is involved, he can cover that up, no problem.
The light doesn't illuminate enough of his surroundings to see much. Frustrated, he rolls sideways to see if he can find out where he is or maybe find anything useful. After a few turns to the right, he is stopped by a wall, so he changes directions and rolls again until he bumps against some boxes hard enough to make something small fall down on him. Many small things actually, and he twists until he gets one of the objects into his hands. It is cold, solid and round, glass maybe. He ponders what it could be when a memory of a past tournament hits him.
The small orbs had been used to measure the power of a spell. The more orbs turned red, the better. Kind of a previous model to what his uncle invented. They didn't work correctly, though, and also it wasn't as entertaining for the crowds as bursting targets, so the orbs were discarded and… stored away. A storage room, of course. Probably not one of those new ones next to the field, so that leaves the one in the basement.
Wonderful, he thinks, rolling his eyes. If no one comes here specifically to search for him, he will have to wait until the spells wear off or Kumoshiro releases him.
He squints his eyes, and tries to use the dim light to see more of the room, and finds the door not far away from him. Struggling and rolling, he makes his way over and brings his feet in position, slamming them against the metal. The dull thudding vibrates through his body with every impact, and hopefully, it resounds through the halls beyond the door wide enough to alert someone about his predicament.
He is not sure how long he did this before he hears steps outside the door, but his legs are already beginning to tire, so it must have been quite some time. Voices speak, but the door is too thick to discern them. Not knowing how they will open the door and who will enter, he scoots away from it. All he can see is a little sparkling inside the keyhole, before the door bangs open, and someone rushes in.
"Shinichi?"
Ran! He wants to respond but is reminded that he can't speak at the moment. She makes a swift gesture, and a sphere lightens up above her head. It is bright enough that Shinichi squeezes his eyes closed.
"Oh my God, Shinichi! Are you alright? You are bleeding!"
He feels her hands on his shoulders, and when he can open his eyes without being blinded, he sees that she is kneeling next to him, inspecting the spells and already beginning to cast a counter to undo them. Another spell reduces the pain in his nose to a weak throbbing that is still uncomfortable but no longer hurting.
"Wait, Ran-san, dismantling the spells would notify the mage who cast them as he would notice that there is no more energy flowing into them."
Only now does Shinichi realize that she did not come alone. Kuroba Kaito is standing behind her, bending down to get a better look.
"But we can't leave him like this," she replies.
"We won't. It just takes a moment longer. I think I can cast an illusion that will fool the spell. How do you feel about gaining some weight, Kudou-kun?" he grins. Not expecting an answer, Kaito begins to weave strands of shimmering silver-white together, until they are roughly Shinichi's size. It tingles a bit on his skin when the shape covers him from head to toe, then it begins to expand bit by bit until he can slip out of the bonds without disrupting them.
The spells now circle around Kaito's illusion, looking like the white smoke they are colored after.
"Thank you," Shinichi says, and it feels great to be able to use his voice again.
"No problem, those spells are not meant to hurt their captive, so when they register that they are too tight, they adjust to the right size. I couldn't do the same for the mute spell, but as the larger size for the bindings needs a bit more magic power, I don't think the mage will notice the difference."
"Are you okay?" Ran asks again, looking Shinichi up and down.
"I am fine, they didn't hurt me," he reassures her with a smile.
"Who did this to you? What is going on?"
"Well, I was right about Hideaki and his sudden jump in power - it is not normal, though I still don't know how they are doing it. What I know is that his father, Kumoshiro Katsuro, gave him something to make him stronger, but Hideaki can't control it perfectly yet. We have to pull him out of the tournament before he hurts himself or others!"
Kaito glances at his watch. "Then we should hurry. It took some time to find you and get here. I think they have already begun with the finals."
They run up the stairs, through the halls, and out of the back rooms to the field where the finals are already in full swing. Shinichi frantically searches for Hideaki and finds him ready for the next round. His opponent is none other than Heiji; what doesn't surprise him the least. Not far away are the finals for the other abilities, and he sees James Black sitting on his appointed place on the balcony on the far end of the arena with the other principals.
They have no idea what will happen if Hideaki's power goes rampant, but they have to prepare for the worst. Shinichi remembers what happened to the girl that lost control during practice and is sure that she lost her handle on whatever amplified her powers. Add to that that Hideaki is much stronger, and the outcome could be disastrous. There are barriers in place around the participants to keep stray spells from hurting anyone, but he is unsure how much magic they can hold back. His eyes fly over the crowd of people who came to enjoy the tournament and to cheer for their kids or friends. They all could be in danger, but there is no way for him to cast a defense for all of them on his own.
"Ran, go to Professor Starling and assemble the healers. We might need them. Kaito, alert the teachers and Professor Black. If you can find Professor Akai, tell him too. Professor Black trusts him."
They both nod. "And you?" asks Ran.
"I will try to get Hideaki to stop."
AN: Sorry for the delay. Yesterday was a bit turbulent ^_^**
To the guest who requested a story revolving around the Akai family:
I'm sorry, but I have so little time to write that I need it completely for my own stuff.
I hope you'll find someone who can write your idea for you.