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Summary: In which Saguru and Ran learn about the escape.
Tokyo - 6.12 a.m.
Unlike the streets of Tokyo, which are unusually quiet this morning, the police station is bursting with activity. The moment Ran races in, holding onto Saguru's sleeve to avoid losing him through the crowds of officers, she knows that something has gone extremely wrong.
The way Saguru's lips purse tells Ran that she is not the only one is confused. She'd listened faintly to his side of the phone call - something she knows is rude, but she'd been excited over the concept of it being Hattori - and from the abrupt end to the call, she knows that he's not had anything explained to him.
They weave through the sea of uniformed police. She recognises some faces, but most of the officers are blank slates, not people Ran has met or talked to.
"Come on Ran-san," Saguru says, and he offers her a smile. It's strained, but recently most of the detective's smiles have been awkward. She wonders whether it's because he feels guilty about the case they're working on, for putting it down and walking away, but Ran's not sure. Maybe it's the fact that he knows today is May 4th, Shinichi's birthday, and that, like last year, Shinichi will be spending it away from home.
"But division one isn't this way," Ran protests.
"I have a feeling," Saguru says, rolling his eyes at the sight of a particularly burly officer, shoulders drawn, chest puffed out, "that we'll find them in the same place."
Ran doesn't ask why - it's obvious from how packed the station is that something has happened. It's just a matter of getting that information and helping Saguru in whatever way she can, so they can both focus back on Shinichi.
"Okay," Ran says, and lets out a sigh when they break away from the crowd and into the corridor, "have you got any idea what's going on?"
Saguru turns to her, shakes his head. "Not a clue."
The walk to division two's headquarters isn't that far, it's just a floor beneath homicide, and Ran feels like she's being lazy when they push through the doors and haven't had to climb any staircases.
Saguru straightens out, almost as if he's smoothing out the cracks in his posture rather than the creases of his clothing. It makes him seem more confident, compared to the quiet nervousness she'd seen festering during the taxi ride to the station.
Division two is not quite as busy as reception, but alarm is thick within the room - it's not as lighthearted as the theft division has been joked to be. Instead, it seems dull, lifeless despite all of the frantic movements, people banging their fingers against keyboards with obnoxiously loud taps, other shouting into their phones.
The words seem to blur together as Ran follows Saguru towards Inspector Nakamori's office. Somehow the inspector has kept his job, despite having personal ties to Kaitou KID.
Saguru raps his knuckles against the door. Since he knows they're expected, he doesn't wait to open the door, pushing it open as a wary 'come in' echoes from inside.
They step inside. The office isn't small, but with the amount of people milling inside, standing by the desk, sitting in the chairs, it is claustrophobic.
"Hakuba-kun," Inspector Nakamori says. Despite the tiredness pulling at his eyes, he looks almost relieved to see the detective. "Come in - no, don't bother closing it, people keep coming in and out, we shouldn't bother-"
A girl is sat on his desk, and Ran thinks for a moment that she looks awfully familiar - an awkward laugh bubbles in her throat, when she realises it's because they look alike, the same brown hair, same azure eyes staring out at the world. Saguru has talked about her in the past, a classmate of his, Nakamori Aoko. Her expression is blank, although Ran can see expressions flickering across her face, forming and falling apart.
"You wanted me Inspector?"
Now that she surveys the room, Ran's pretty certain that she recognises the other detectives in the room. Superintendent Matsumoto from Division one is standing beside Inspector Megure, detective Takagi on his phone beside them. Superintendent Chaki of Division is reading over a file, although he looks up at the sound of Saguru's voice.
Ran feels tension coil in her stomach. It feels like a snake, getting ready to strike.
"Yes." Inspector Nakamori says, standing to the side of his desk. He squeezes his daughter's shoulder quickly, before side stepping around her, making his way towards them. "It's about Kaito… It's about KID."
"Kuroba-kun?" Saguru tilts his head slightly - to some, it might come off as arrogance, but Ran knows it's simply confusion. "What about him?"
Inspector Nakamori hesitates, glances away from them. He says, "KID escaped from his cell early this morning. He's out of prison."
The glare that blooms across his daughter's face, does not linger, just a flash, before it disappears again, and Ran recalls what Saguru has told her about the case of Kaitou KID. Nakamori Aoko had quite possibly been the person who KID would have seen as his closest friend - Kuroba Kaito, the thief's real identity - has practically been family to the Nakamori's.
"He's what?" Saguru breathes the words, almost disbelieving. Except, from the way he collects himself within the next second, Ran realises that he's not as alarmed as the police officers. He's surprised, yes, but not overly so. Almost as if he'd been expecting it.
"KID escaped," Nakamori Aoko mumbles, "that thief escaped."
Saguru doesn't have time to respond before Superintendent Chaki steps forward, turning the file around. He says, "we've just had the log of KID's visitors faxed over. You're the only one he's seen."
Oh no, Ran thinks, that doesn't sound good.
"I visited him twice, yes." Saguru says, and he's biting his lip, recalling the visits. It makes Ran recall her own visits to Shinichi, makes her miss him even more. "The visits were never long."
"We need to find him as quickly as possible," Superintendent Chaki says, closing the file, "before he has a chance to completely disappear. Anything KID said during these visits would help us."
"Of course," Saguru says, and he tells them. Ran listens in silence as he tells them about how his first visit had been a plea for KID to tell him about the danger he'd encountered during his heists, and how KID had been unwilling to give him any facts.
"And the second visit?" Inspector Nakamori asks. He wears a frown, his eyes narrowed with focus - if there's a part of him that feels dismayed by KID's escape, he's buried it deep inside him, has decided that his work takes priority.
"What can you tell me about that one?"
Saguru rubs at his chin, hesitates. He's seems slightly pale, almost as if it pains him to remember his most recent interaction with the thief. He says, "he seemed… different."
"Different?" Nakamori Aoko echoes.
Nodding, Saguru crosses his arms around his chest. "He asked for me to visit, but when I arrived he seemed… subdued." The looks he gains urges him to continue. "Quite honestly, he seemed depressed, like he was weighed down by something. I couldn't ask though, he was taken from the room before we could talk in depth."
Ran flinches at the memory - the screaming on Shinichi's behalf is still painful, like a wound that has been unable to heal.
"Kaito was removed from the visiting room?" Inspector Nakamori asks. Behind him, his daughter's stare is unwavering, only broken by random blinking.
"He was…" Ran knows that Saguru is looking for a polite way to say having a mental breakdown. "…Upset."
Out of all of the… Well, Ran doesn't think she'd be able to word it in a better way either. All she'd be able to say is that there had been an outburst, and then screaming, until Ran's ears had been ringing with the fact that Shinichi is going to die.
"Any idea why?" Superintendent Chaki asks.
"He asked me to look into the Kudo serial killing case," Saguru's quiet now, and there's certainly guilt in his voice. "I refused, seeing as I'd already…"
He trails off and no one comments on what Saguru was going to say. They all remember the first month after the conviction, how Saguru had thrown himself into the case, unwilling to accept the verdict Shinichi had received. Ran remembers how he'd told her he didn't want to visit Shinichi until he'd solved the case, how he didn't want to visit until he could tell his friend he was free.
He'd never visited - Shinichi remained trapped.
"KID talked about Kudo Shinichi's case?" Saguru nods, and Superintendent Chaki turns to the detectives from Division one, eyes narrowed. "There you have it, there's the link."
"I'm sorry," Ran steps forward, stands beside Saguru, "what has this got to do with Shinichi's case?"
"I'm afraid I don't understand either," the Englishman adds. "Why is division one concerned with an escaped thief?"
Inspector Megure glances at his fellow detectives, and after silence has enveloped the room, the adults all seem to come to a consensus. He lets out a sigh, long and suffering, rubbing at his mustache.
"We're not concerned with Kaitou KID's escape," Inspector Megure says, "we're concerned with the serial killer he brought along with him."
Ran lets out a gasp, the sound is low and almost goes unnoticed in the silence of the room - she's never known a room to be so loud despite no vibrations meeting her ear drums.
"You don't mean-"
"Yes. KID helped Kudo Shinichi escape from prison."
Nara - 8.32 a.m
Kaito wakes and realises that he'd much rather fall straight back to sleep.
His bones ache, his heart is quick in his chest, palpitations making it feel like he's been running despite only having just woken up, his mind blurry. He feels the pain in his hands now, where he hadn't felt it before, and it keeps him from falling straight back to sleep.
"Yer awake then." It's Hattori. He's sat back against the wall, cradling a water bottle in his hands, one eye open, watching him. "Kaitou KID."
Kaito lets out a sigh, realises that he can't find it in himself to be formal with the detective who's helped aid their escape and says, "call me Kaito."
"If that's what ya want," Hattori says, throwing the water across to him. It lands in front of Kaito on the futon, falling with a sloshing sound that reminds him of the ocean. "Kudo's still asleep, so we're gonna have to stay 'ere for a while."
They're moving again? So soon? Kaito thinks that now is the best time to stay low, while people are expecting them to be moving back and forth, from place to place.
"We're going somewhere?" The thief asks, rubbing at his eyes. He picks the water bottle up, uncaps it and gulps down water. He doesn't realise how hungry he is until he feels water slithering down into his stomach, settling and churning. His throat, at least, is no longer parched.
"Kudo din't tell ya?" Hattori asks, and his expression shutters from open to closed off within seconds. He waits, before shaking his head, letting out a small laugh, "I can't believe 'im. I mean, I can, he's always like this, keepin' th' details to 'imself."
Kaito caps the water bottle, placing it down opposite him. "Everything's on a need to know basis with the guy… but… he said he'd tell me."
Hattori offers him a smile, pushes himself up. He said, "I bought instant ramen, if yer hungry. I kno' it's not much, bu' it was all I really though' of when I was at th' shops."
Kaito feels his heart leap. "Don't apologise - I… Ramen's great seriously. We haven't had anything other than rice inside… Ramen's fine."
"I'll make it then," Hattori says, standing up. "Wake up Kudo, an' he'll explain everythin' to you over food."
"Do you have coffee?" Kaito asks, "I'm pretty sure Kudo will kill me if I wake him without coffee."
"I'll make some." Hattori laughs.
Oh thank God.
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