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Summary: In which Tokyo is the main objective.
Osaka - 10.15 am
Heiji doesn't stick around.
He leaves Nara behind with a basic plan of how they're going to deal with the days to come, before leaving the small apartment behind, making his way towards his own motorcycle, readying himself for the drive back home. It's about half past nine when he starts up his bike, and he needs to be back home within an hour to greet Kazuha when she comes around.
He hadn't even remembered until six a.m that he'd promised to take her out for okonomiyaki today, and that she'd be over at ten-thirty.
It's almost… unnerving to leave both Kudo and Kuroba behind, even if he's left them with a disposable phone that they can use whenever they need to contact him. Not that he doesn't trust them, it's just - he doesn't like the idea of them both getting caught, and the two of them going to Tokyo doesn't quite install any confidence in him.
He makes it back home with fifteen minutes to spare - usually it takes him half an hour to get back into Osaka when he takes the Daini Hanna toll road, but there's busy traffic today - and even then, his speed is only fast because he weaves in and out of cars, ignoring the loud beeps that echo after him.
(It's not exactly the safest driving, but these drivers haven't seen an angry Toyama Kazuha before, so Heiji forgives them for misunderstanding.)
As soon as he's parked his motorcycle, he races into the house, discards his shoes, and heads straight up to his room to change into clean clothes. The idea of settling down on his bed only serves to make him feel tired, so he forces his way down to the kitchen, pours himself a drink, before settling back against the counter.
He doesn't have to wait long for Kazuha to show up, but during his wait for her to show, he glances through the morning news on his app, trying to make sense of the lack of reports on the prison escape. It's been ten hours, Heiji doubts that the police can keep something this large out of the media for much longer.
"Heiji!"
The detective turns at the sound of Kazuha's shout from his front door - his mother is out with friends, his father is never home, so he doesn't expect her to apologise for her intrusion - and calls back that he's in the kitchen.
As soon as she's swapped her shoes for slippers, Kazuha pops her head around the wall, sending him a small glare. Already, Heiji knows that he's forgotten to do something important - he's too tired to figure out what.
"I phoned ya earlier an' ya didn't pick up, ahou." She says, when she settles into the chair opposite his, leaning over to face him on the corner. "What's the point in havin' a phone if ya won't answer it?"
Heiji glances down at his phone, pulls up his missed calls and realises that she's not lying - there are two missed calls on his phone from her that he'd forgotten to take. His lips tighten when he turns the phone around to face her.
"Why'd ya phone at six a.m, idiot? I coulda been asleep!"
She gives him a look that says that 'you obviously weren't' and Heiji gives her a blank stare back until his phone starts buzzing in his hand.
Kazuha squints at his phone screen and says, "who's Hakuba?"
Heiji frowns, turns the phone around to press answer and says, "not anyone important."
Tokyo - The same time.
It's the mention of getting both Kuroba and Kudo's files from their time in solitary that reminds Saguru that he'd asked Hattori to send him over Kudo's psychiatric files. It's not exactly odd that Hattori hasn't sent them over - he's the type who'll take his time, and make things harder for Saguru at every turn - but it does make him remember that there are parts to their case that they need to catch Aoko up on.
He mentions it to her, and her first response is that they phone again. With both KID and Kudo on the run as criminals, they need whatever information they can get.
"Saguru-kun," Ran says, when he's pulled his phone out from his pocket, having poured over the visiting sheets they'd been given by Inspector Nakamori, "Hattori-kun isn't on Shinichi's list of visitors. I'm the only one on it."
Saguru doesn't want to pause about what that means, about the fact that Kudo's parents had never visited their son, how Hattori had probably never been invited by Kudo to the prison. Instead, he mutters, "Let's just ask Hattori-kun about it."
Aoko leans forward. She says, "Tell him about the escape as well."
"We've been warned not to tell anyone about this escape," Saguru responds, glancing away from his phone to face her. Her eyes are narrowed. While she's been perfectly civil towards him while they'd been catching her up, the glisten to her eyes cannot hide the distrust she has in him.
"Hakuba said Hattori-kun is a detective, right?" She leans back in her chair, relaxed within the police station. Saguru imagines that she's more adjusted to spending time in a station than at her own time, with the amount of time she spends trying to visit her father. "So he can help track those two down."
Ran says, "I don't know-"
"He thinks that Kudo is innocent, right?" Aoko asks. "Just say it. Aoko doesn't see a reason to hold off on telling him."
Saguru sighs, shakes his head. It's not exactly a bad idea… and if Hattori decides to help, they'll be able to work with someone who's talked to prisoner Kudo Shinichi, and isn't weighing him against the teenager they'd known in the past.
He nods, and presses call. Then, at Ran's request, he puts the phone on speakerphone.
"I said I'd send ya the files in a while," Hattori says when he picks up. There's a voice behind him - female, Toyama-san - asking whether 'Hakuba is that British detective he's complained about in the past', but the Osakan doesn't offer any response.
"I'm not calling about those," Saguru says, and already he wants to hang up. Talking to the hot-headed man always makes him feel irritated, even though he tries to remain calm at all time. "Although, it would be beneficial if you sent them over sooner than later."
Hattori lets out a sigh, "What'dya want then?"
"Early this morning, Kudo-kun and Kaito KID escaped from prison." Saguru doesn't think that sugarcoating it will be effective, not with something like this, so he tells it straight. "The police are currently going crazy over it."
"He what?" There's disbelief there, but Saguru can hear something else mixed in alongside it. He's unsure whether it's relief or confusion, but it's certainly something. It's probably nothing important though, and Saguru files it away so that he can think about it later, when he's dealt with more serious things.
"They escaped." Saguru repeats, ignoring Hattori's response of 'oh shit' as he glances up at the clock. They need the solitary files - if only because it gives a clear idea of how they'd been acting during their imprisonment, detailed reports giving them a pattern of behaviour to look out for.
Saguru doesn't really know how to feel about the fact that both teenagers have found themselves confined in solitary. He's read up on the effects of solitary confinement in the past and… it makes him nervous to think what it must have been like.
"Wait," Hattori says before Saguru can speak again. "Are ya sure you ain't pullin' my leg, it's not in the news of anythin'."
Saguru pinches the bridge of his nose. While he knows that it's not a stupid question - a smart one actually, considering the dislike they share - he doesn't really have the patience to explain fully. Instead, he says, "the police want to hold off on letting the public know. They don't want to cause a panic."
"I see…" Hattori says, and in the background, he can hear muffled movement, "we'll 'ave ta find 'em before the newspapers catch on then."
Saguru glances over at Aoko - the smile she sends him is smug, is clearly a non-verbal version of 'I-told-you-he'd-help'.
"That'd be great, so those files-"
"I'll bring 'em with me," Hattori says. Saguru can hear footsteps against a hollow staircase, echoing through the speaker, but he doesn't comment on them, waits instead for the Osakan to explain what he means. "You gonna be at the station in a few hours still? Or do ya wanna meet somewhere else?"
"Hattori-kun is coming to Tokyo?" Aoko asks, and if Hattori is alarmed by her voice, he doesn't let it show. He's probably heard the static of the speaker phone and realised there were other people with him.
"Yeah," Hattori says, "Kudo's probably gonna try to visit that nee-chan - er, his girlfriend - right? I imagine he wouldn't pass up an opportunity to see her before disappearin' for good, ya know?"
Saguru bites his lip. He hadn't thought of that. He's never thought of Kudo as a very sentimental person, but from the amount of visits he'd had with Ran - it'd be stupid to think he'd be able to throw their bond away without so much as saying goodbye.
"It's certainly a possibility," Saguru says, glancing at over at Ran. She sends him a tight smile; He wonders whether the possibility of Shinichi being caught again will be due to her, and whether Ran herself is worrying about the idea of being his downfall. "We're still waiting on some files from the prison, so we'll probably still be here if you take the train…"
"Good," Hattori says, "text if anythin' changes, 'kay?"
"Okay."
The phone line goes dead.
When he turns to the others, they are wearing a mixture of emotions. Ran's face is worried, lines spreading across her forehead, fingers rubbing at her ear as she rereads the files they've been given. Aoko's expression however, is still morphed into a smug glee.
"See, Aoko told you that it'd be a good idea to talk to Hattori-kun about the case."
Saguru isn't so sure.
Nara Station - 11.19 a.m
"For the record," Shinichi mutters, "this is a bad idea."
Glancing around the train station, wearing the disguise of a woman in her early twenties, Kaito nods. Hair tickles his neck, from the wig he'd been brought, brown curls bouncing against the dress he's wearing. There was a time when Kaito would have been self-conscious about walking around in women's clothing, but years of being KID has made it seem like second nature.
Beside him, Shinichi is wearing a suit - a man in his late twenties, black hair - looking very put out in the large area they're standing in.
"Yeah," Kaito says, shrugging his shoulders. "But, we'll be fine."
Shinichi sends him an incredulous look, eyebrows raised, face pale. Despite his disguise including a change in skin tone - something Kaito had insisted was necessary if Shinichi wanted to remain dressed as a man - the nervous sheen to his skin makes it seem counterproductive.
"We're three minutes away from a police station," Shinichi hisses as they make their way to the vending machines, lining up to buy tickets. "When I say this is a bad idea, I mean it's really bad."
Kaito turns back to Shinichi, gives him a look that tells him that he should shut up, before stepping forward to buy tickets. Shinichi follows behind him, hovering as Kaito presses the ticket that will take them to Shinagawa station in Tokyo.
"Listen," Kaito says, "you didn't think it was a bad idea when we were talking with Hattori about it. So calm down, and act like we're meant to be here."
"But we're not meant to be here."
Kaito sends him a look. He's lucky that Heiji had thought ahead to withdraw enough for their tickets, because right now they're relying on him for funding. Well - it's not like they're going to be able to take money out of their own accounts without it raising alerts to the police.
He's got fake bank accounts with alias' at some of his safe houses though - if they can get to one that's not been discovered by the police, they'll be given a network for money. Figuring out which safe houses have been found though… it's another task they've given to Hattori.
Kaito almost feels guilty.
Almost.
"We're not meant to be anywhere but our cell." Kaito waves the comment away. "But you said it yourself, we need to get to Tokyo to get your files, right? The train is the quickest way there."
He collects the tickets when they're printed off, and pockets them in his jacket pocket. Then, he pivots on heels, turning to face Shinichi, pulling him along by his hand, sparing him a toothy grin.
"They'll expect us to take the train." Shinichi protests, although his expression morphs to something more confident as they continue walking. It's almost as if he's started to adopt the role of his disguise, the details Kaito had given him being emphasised through relaxed shoulders and a heavy footed walk.
Kaito wags his finger. He says, "no they won't. They'll expect us to try and blend in with all the other cars travelling during Golden week. Hattori told us that they've set a checkpoint on the Tomei expressway checking all the vehicles for us. They're not looking at the trains right now."
Shinichi retaliates with a groan.
Kaito can't help but think that maybe the ex-detective places too much hope on the police force. In Kaito's experience, they're not exactly the… brightest police force he's come across.
"And even if they do look at the trains," Kaito chirps, as they make their way down to the platform. The next train is scheduled to show in fifteen minutes, and Kaito wants to be early, "it's not like they'll be able to pick out the disguises."
"Didn't they check your disguises by pinching at your cheeks?" Shinichi mutters.
Kaito brushes curls from his face, turns to look at the other man. His eyes glisten with something similar to mischief, a playful smile gracing his face, his cheeks dimpled as he snickers.
"Why do you think we've used glue today? There's no pulling these off without a huge tub of vaseline, and a lot of soapy water."
Shinichi laugh is more alarmed than amused. He raises an eyebrow, and shakes his head. "You're an idiot."
"Let's just get on the train."
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