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Summary: In which the heist begins.
They block off the streets.
Kaito hadn't thought exactly that they'd block off an entire street, not when KID heists had been so popular, but he supposes that because there's technically a murder case with his name against suspect, and they want to ensure he doesn't take any hostages.
Not that Kaito would ever be desperate enough to turn to hostage-taking. It's messy, and frankly, he doesn't want to rely on random strangers to help him find Pandora. Or… anyone really, which is why KID is a one-man show.
Shinichi, he's left back with Hattori and Kazuha. The three of them looking over the more important murder scenes, while Kaito tries to divert the attention of those who are trying to set them up.
The blockade is a mixture of police vans and wooden signs. The signs are manned by two security guards. Two, because the police haven't forgotten his track record of knocking people unconscious and stealing their identities.
Not even months in prison can make people forget that.
The blockades are a nuisance, but they're still easy. He's not too arrogant to forgo them completely, but KID is a phantom and if Kaito needs to get into a museum, then he's perfectly capable of doing so.
The sky is black, an absence of stars in the night. The light of the waxing moon is shuttered behind clouds, releasing only the smallest hint of light, the city covered in dull shadows. It's the street lamps, really, that will be a problem when trying to remain unseen.
Okay, Kaito thinks, tugging at the sleeve of his jacket. It's a deep brown, filters into the shadows better than pure black clothing ever could. Let's do this.
Which way to go, though? The sound of police choppers above the museum, scouting out the rooftops for him, means that going above will be a bad idea. Too much lighting, and he can't be arrogant while getting indoors.
They must be expecting him to come from the skies, flying in because of how utterly hopeless it is to come in from the streets. Except… they seem to have forgotten one important key fact.
Magician's perform magic, and tonight, Kaito will disappear and reappear inside the museum. A good comeback for KID, although he's not… entirely pleased with the mechanics of how his trick is going to work.
He's brought a mask, which should help, but he still shudders as he pries open the manhole in the alleyway that's 100m from the police blockades. The sewers wait below, an overpowering stench meeting his nose before he even reaches it.
Kaito winces, double checks that the backpack he's bringing is properly sealed, before climbing down to the sewers below. If his information is correct, then there's a walkway that will lead him the 700m to the manhole just outside the museum's back entrance.
He tightens the mask he's brought with him, pulls the straps tighter until it feels like he's being pinched. Then, he loosens the strap slightly, so that it's comfortable, but still effective in its use.
"Okay," Kaito says, once he drops down onto the walkway. He clicks on a small torch, the light dull enough to see where he's going without creating a bright beam of light, "time to get this show on the road."
Ran paces.
Aoko watches with uncertainty racing in her mind, wondering whether she should comfort Ran by saying it's okay, or stand back and let the girl stay in one piece. Comfort is something she needs, but right now, Aoko needs Ran to stay in one piece.
They are, after all, the backup plan that will ensure Kaito and Kudo will stay alive if guns are aimed on them. And as much as Aoko knows Kaito wants to be free, she will gladly throw him back in a prison cell.
But only if it comes to it. If there's a way to get around it… then she's going to ensure Kaito doesn't get murder added to his sentence. Either way, that requires Ran to be strong and comfort takes away that need.
Aoko hopes Ran won't hate her for that. Instead, she stands from her seat and offers the only comfort she can.
"Ran-chan," Aoko says, and it's quiet, just loud enough to pull the other girl's attention from her own thoughts, "will you help Aoko tighten this?"
Ran turns, glances down as Aoko points at the vest they've been ordered to wear during the heist. The other girl flinches, but moves forwards, hands trembling as she tightens the edges, so that the vest is snug. It's more of a reminder of what's to come next, than a comfort, Aoko supposes.
"You're so calm," Ran says after a second, once she steps away. "I wish I could be, but I'm just so worried."
Aoko glances in through the doors to the room where the diamond is being held. She bites into her cheek, wonders how Kaito expects to get past the guards without getting caught in the crossfire, before realising that this is Kaito, he has always been good at evading capture.
Except for the time he was caught, her mind supplies, rather unhelpfully, forcing a shudder to slither down her spine.
"It's okay," Aoko says, "Aoko's been to heists before, she's used to them now."
Ran's lips tighten, as she wraps her hands around her stomach, hugging herself with an anxiety that makes even Aoko feel nervous. From the way she turns her head, a sudden sharp movement, it's clear to see that this isn't quite what she means.
"I suppose," Ran says finally, biting into her lip, "it's just… they're not usually this dangerous, are they?"
Aoko isn't sure. There have been several heists where KID was left slightly injured, now that she thinks more on it. Especially his last, where shackles had dug into wrists, bruises had littered his skin where he'd fallen.
Still, as far as Aoko knows, there hadn't been any guns.
"Not normally," she agrees, "but they're only a last resort."
Ran pales, "don't the police usually have to use every resort to try and catch KID?"
Aoko hums, turns her back on Ran so that the other girl can't see the worried expression that she's trying to hide. It's Kaito's decision, yes, but it's also a stupid one – mainly because Ran's right. The KID taskforce have had to use every trick up their sleeves to catch Kaito, and if they've got the clearance to add guns, then… then, they will.
She wonders whether her father will shoot.
Aoko wonders whether she'll hate him if he does.
"They've had a hard time catching just Kaito," Aoko says after a second, "with a detective on his side, they'll have more time to plan."
Not just one detective either – two. Both Kudo and Hattori. Aoko's not sure whether Kaito will bring the detective's in on much of his plan, but he would listen to their ideas, coming up with counters to whatever ideas they'd come up with to stop him.
"And anyway," Aoko says, "KID's pretty solitary, I doubt he'd let Kudo-kun show up and put his escape plan at risk."
"Hey," Kudo says, dragging Heiji's attention from the file he's looking at. He's brought as many files as possible from the previous cases, whatever he can manage to convince Megure to take photocopies of, and is now sat catching up on the murders he's looked into before, "look at this."
The Tokyoite has been sat scanning over the crime scene for half an hour now, looking between the official crime scenes, the pictures Heiji's taken himself, and the photographs that have been sent to him.
Heiji glances over, realises he can't see well enough, and begrudgingly pulls himself out of his chair, stepping around the table to look at the pictures over Kudo's shoulder. He asks, "what is it?"
Kudo points his fingers towards the photographs. The two crime scene photos are absent of Numabuchi's corpse, while the sent message has the body still pinned up.
"Doesn't the blood around where his shoulders would have been look a little wetter in the newer pictures?" He asks.
Weird. The Nakamori girl had pointed out the same thing.
"Yeah," Heiji says, "what abou' it?"
"Well," Kudo says, and he leans closer, looking more in depth at the picture that's been sent to him, "it had to be placed there after they strung Numabuchi up, right? To cover something up – that's what I was thinking to begin with."
Heiji nods, "well yeah, th' killer must a wanted t' hide somethin' right?"
"Maybe," Kudo says, "or, they wanted to cover up the fact that they've taken something away."
For a moment, Heiji is silent, and then his gaze flickers towards the final photograph, looking at the area behind Numabuchi's shoulders. There… he needs to squint to see it, but soon he can see what Kudo was talking about.
"There's somethin' there," he says, pointing his finger towards a flash of silver peeking just from above the corpse's collarbone.
"Exactly," Kudo says. He nods his head with a sharp, sudden movement. "It looks almost like a sticker. So I started looking into the other pictures on my phone, and there's always at least a small hint of silver peeking from behind the bodies."
The air is stagnant, tense with what exactly this means.
"They've been playing with you since the beginning," Heiji says, almost regretful. Fire ignites in him as he realises, whatever organisation Kudo's been fighting against has only been toying with him this entire time – God, who exactly are they up against?
"They're playing with us," Kudo says after a moment, turning to him with bright eyes, "but the thing about games is that they can easily be skewed in your favour, if you know the rules."
Heiji runs a hand through his hair, sits in the seat beside Kudo at the table. He says, "we don't know the rules."
"So we create them," Kudo says. He lifts the pictures they've printed from the phone messages, lays them out on the table, leaning forward to grab one of the abandoned notepads they've been writing notes down in.
"First, starting with this," Kudo says, drawing a rectangle onto the page, "we figure out what that sticker looks like."
Heiji nods, "okay."
The moment Kaito pushes the manhole open, he feels a familiar jolt of excitement. It's the same feeling that spreads through his veins every time something dangerous happens, the same rush of euphoria he'd felt when he'd broken into the police station with Shinichi by his side.
Climbing back out into the night, the air crisp against his clothing, he removes his gas mask just long enough to take in a breath of fresh air. Then, he puts it back on, places his hood up and makes his way towards one of the entrances.
He uses the vents often, so he decides that it's going to be on the lists of the task force. And Kaito can hardly climb the walls without being seen, so he decides it's probably better if he goes in through one back entrances.
Or… well, a window would work too, but he doesn't want to risk breaking one or leaving an open route that will lead the task force toward the manhole he's climbed out of. Now, he closes it, leaves it behind as an exit if his other plans fail.
They shouldn't fail, but he really isn't sure. Some detectives have a way of surprising him when he least expects it, and they're… well… he doesn't want arrogance to walk him right back into a prison cell.
He moves forward, the wind guiding him forward, whispering the location of guards in his ear. Every few seconds it nips, sending a rush of cold against his skin, reminding him to stay focused.
It is times like this that Kaito wishes he could wrap himself up in the wind, live beneath moonlight forever. He wonders if his father had felt the same, wonders whether he enjoys this because he's KID, or because he's Kaito.
He isn't sure – now isn't the time to think about it anyway.
"This way," he mutters to himself, cutting through the hedges and dropping down to his feet at the faint sound of footsteps. The hedges scratch against his hands, the feeling reminding him to push his gloves onto his hands.
It's not like he really needs to hide his fingerprints, but at this point it's practically tradition. One of the many things he'd done before heists to make sure everything had gone well. Maybe it's superstitious, but he'll take whatever he can get.
The footsteps get nearer, and Kaito shuffles forward on his arms to get a faint view of the pathway between the hedges and the museum. There's a ventilation shaft across from him – and yes, maybe he doesn't want to rely on them, but if he's remembering the building plans correctly, this one leads down to the basement.
Into a furnace.
A furnace that's been out of commission for almost fifty years, since the museum has been refurnished, changing over to a central heating system. Kaito rakes his thoughts, asks himself if there'd been any particular reason he'd not entered the museum that way, during his last attempted heist.
Oh!
The door had been stiff. When he'd faked maintenance work for his previous heist, it hadn't been favourable, mainly because he'd wanted to hide his entrance, and the layer of dust in the sliding door had made it difficult to be inconspicuous.
After breaking out of prison, and breaking in to a police station, Kaito isn't so worried about a bit of disrupted dust. Instead, he starts thinking about how quickly he can undo the vent and how he's going to navigate the fall without any concrete knowledge of what he'll be falling onto.
It a risk, yes, but it's also one of his best shots.
The footsteps fade away, and in that moment, Kaito scurries forward, towards the vents. It takes time, but after a few minutes, he's undone the vent, and is climbing through. He doesn't want to fall, not unless it's a controlled descent.
"Okay," Kaito says, the sound echoing down the vent, causing him to wince. "Time to do this."
He places the main vent back on, keeps it loose so that he can push it off from the inside when he gets ready to leave, before readying himself for a fall.
Kaito checks his watch, realises that he's still got fifteen minutes until his heist begins, and crawls deeper into the vent. Darkness awaits him, but this time, he doesn't let gravity drag him down. He climbs down, his back arched against one end of the vent, his feet on the other, almost as if he is walking down the metal.
By the time he's out of the vent, Kaito only has ten minutes left.
Ten minutes to get to the other end of the museum.
He's played worse odds than that before.
Kazuha is the one who finally pieces the logo together.
Heiji isn't surprised, she's always been good at remembering brands and logos, spends enough time on social media and her phone to have seen and practically remembered it all. Sometimes, her random phone browsing comes in handy.
"You have?" Kudo says, glancing up. His eyebrows are furrowed, worried at the concept of narrowing down on the sticker so quickly. Suspicious, as if it shouldn't be this easy. Heiji thinks that the other detective just hasn't accepted that his organisation wants him to figure out the logo on this sticker.
Something meant for only Kudo's eyes… Heiji's curious himself, about what it could be.
"I think so," Kazuha says, and her voice wavers, uncertain. "From th' bits we've been able to draw ou' from th' picture messages, there's only so many tha' it could be. And most o' 'em don't seem suspicious, except for this one."
She places her phone in between the two boys, stealing their attention without even batting an eye. Heiji tears his eyes to the logo and barely manages not to flinch. Kudo however, reels back as if he's been burned.
"I don't know for certain yet–"
"It's them," Kudo says, steel in his voice. He leans forward, lips pressed in a tight line, finger nails reaching up to his throat, scratching against skin. Heiji contemplates stopping him, but the other boy doesn't look like he's digging too deeply into skin, and Heiji doesn't want to take away one of the coping strategies Kudo has developed. "Of course, it's them, they're trying to be funny."
Heiji glances down at the logo again.
A sign broadcasting a chain of liqueur stores across Japan. With the knowledge of what Kudo already knows about the members of the organisation… their codenames being that of various alcohols, it just seems like taunt, a reminder of how much he doesn't know.
"Those bastards," Heiji hisses, poison spitting from his voice. "They're just messing around with you–"
"Maybe it seems that way," Kudo says, an eerie calm settling into his bones, "but this is worth more than they think. Kazuha, can you search the chain online?"
Kazuha nods.
Heiji has to resist the temptation to pull out his own phone, clicking onto news related to the current KID heist, just to check in on how Kuroba's fairing. However, as far as he knows, the media have been denied any access to the scene, leaving the news reports lacking, due to the absence of reliable sources.
"Okay," Kazuha says after a moment, pausing only to ensure both boys are looking at her. "there's a lot o' information about th' business an' its history. There's th' main site, but tha' doesn't seem like it'll help much… hey, no wait."
Heiji waits.
Kudo continues to scratch at his neck.
"There's a news article dated from this mornin'." Kazuha says – there's a pause as she clicks on the link, opening it up. "Wait… this can't be a coincidence, listen t' this, 'company offers group of security guards in response to announced Kaitou KID heist.'"
Kudo freezes. Beside him, Heiji shudders, holding his hand out for Kazuha to pass him her phone, so he can read the rest of the article. She passes it over without a word, leaving Heiji to scroll up and read for himself.
The recent police announcement that Kaitou KID (Revealed last year to be school student Kuroba Kaito) is on the run, having announced another heist, has brought anxiety to the streets of Tokyo.
In light of this anxiety, and the knowledge of recent cuts to policing, chain store Yamaya Dogenzaka, has offered a small group of volunteers from the branch's main team of security officers.
There's more, but Heiji pushes the phone away before he can read any more. The timing of these seems wrong, like there's some ulterior motive in giving resources to the police. It all seems… wrong. Like a corruption that runs deeper than they'd originally thought.
"Shit…" Kudo mutters once he's read through it himself, "it's a ploy. They want access to the heist."
Heiji runs a hand through his hair, tugs at the ends as he stands up. He moans, "Oh God."
"…What?" Kazuha says, pocketing her phone. She's paled, although it's more from the atmosphere and from clarity. "What am I missin'?"
Heiji glances at her, feels his intestines wrap around his stomach, twisting, churning his stomach acid. A feeling of sickness wraps around him, tearing him apart.
Kudo is the one who answers. There's a calm to him that Heiji's not seen in a while, back before he'd allowed himself to show vulnerability, during their many meetings within the prison. A defence, to keep himself from breaking apart.
"The police have signed off on the use of weapons," the boy whispers, "and the organisation is going to take advantage of that. They're going to kill…"
Heiji pushes away from the table, bites into the side of his mouth with enough force that he tastes blood. He swallows, tongue tasting only the copper tang of blood, before saying, "I need to warn him."
"You can't," Kudo says, and it's aggravating, watching him remain cool when there's such a risk, such weight weighing down on them – they're already responsible for one death, due to their misguided actions, but they can at least offer help to Kuroba…
"We've got to!" Kazuha says, jumping to his aid. They're a good team, Heiji thinks, have always been good at backing one another up. "If he's at risk of dying we need to make sure he doesn't–"
"You two can't go," Kudo says. There a harsh edge to his voice, a sternness that shows that this won't be debated. "I'll go."
"They'll kill you too!"
"Maybe," Kudo says, pushing away from the table himself, "but suppose you do go and warn him. Firstly, you'd be announcing that you're working with KID and helped us, which will ruin your life and effect the careers of both of your father's. Secondly, you'd be announcing to the organisation that you know."
Heiji freezes. He's always been the irrational sort, but faced with the logic almost makes him sit back down. There's too much risk, yes, but the loss of another life… adding an additional risk by putting Kudo's own life on the line…
"Kudo… they'll sooner shoot you than him." Heiji says, a tremor to his voice. Usually, he's calmer but this… this isn't right, it shouldn't… they shouldn't have to worry about things like this.
"I know," Kudo says, grabbing his jacket from one of the abandoned chairs and slipping both arms into it. After he's buttoned it, he throws on a cap, covering his face as he pulls it down. "But someone's got to warn him."
"Shinichi-kun," Kazuha says, "don't–"
"It's okay," Kudo says, "I'm going to solve this case, even if it kills me."
There are lists – so many lists that Saguru feels himself drowning in a sea of names, searching for a common link between Kudo's case files and people who'd immediately been informed about the prison break.
The list is exhaustive. Police officers who'd worked the case alongside Saguru and Kudo last year, the police commissioners who'd overlooked it. It's not even central to just the Tokyo branches, seeing as the prison had been forced to inform other cities and ensure everyone was on the lookout.
Compared to finding any suspicious names, Ran's task of finding Kudo and Kuroba themselves seems easy. At least she's got an announced location, something to work with. All Saguru has is a list of names.
Wait…
He turns on his laptop, waits for it to load.
How efficient are his hacking skills again…? Saguru doesn't use them for cases, because it's a blatant insult to professionalism, and solving things in the correctmanner, but he does know the mechanics. He's always been interested in codes, in numbers, in binary and the way different variations of ones and zeroes melt together to create something more.
And yet… Can he really figure out this case with the same professionalism and law-abiding as he usually does?
Saguru doesn't think so.
Not if he's suspecting the people who appear on both lists. If they can't trust the people there, if Kudo is being framed, then he can't let anyone know he's investigating them. He can't ask for the third list he wants.
Instead, he'll need to get it himself.
It'll take time – hacking always does, and he briefly considers requesting Baaya to bring a cup of coffee upstairs. He decides not to, she'll ask questions, and Saguru doesn't want to implicate her.
"Is this what Kudo was feeling…?" Saguru mutters to himself, "the last time we spoke…?"
He isn't sure. Maybe one day he'll ask him, for now, he just needs to find the third list. Needs to find the people who'd been briefed about the trip to retrieve the hidden bodies Numabuchi had promised the locations of.
Saguru takes a deep breath, winces.
And proceeds to hack into confidential police files.
Kaito is halfway down the hall, sticking to the shadows, when something catches his eye. Aoko.
She'd said she'd see him at the heist, and yet she's nowhere near the jewel room, has wandered off on her own. Her hair is pulled back in a ponytail, something that seems almost foreign on her face, not that Kaito can judge her for it.
She turns, looks up and down the corridor, before continuing.
Kaito glances at his watch – there's still seven minutes until the heist begins – and steps forward, grabbing her wrist and pulling her back into the shadows with him. She lets out a small squeak, eyes wide as she looks up at him.
"Kaito," Aoko says, and there's a seriousness in her voice, a worry that Kaito doesn't like hearing from her mouth, "I've been looking for you."
The lack of any illeism is haunting as well, Kaito has to resist a shudder.
"It's a good thing I found you first," Kaito says, glancing at her, "because else you wouldn't have found me at all."
Aoko frowns. Then, she reaches down to her jacket, tugs at the zip until she's shrugging it off. Kaito's response is a half-hearted laugh.
"Oh, Aoko, we really don't have the time."
"Don't be stupid," Aoko says, "they've got guns in there, okay? And I doubt you've got a vest that'll make sure you don't die. So… Take mine."
Kaito pauses. He'd gathered there'd be guns, it's customary with police officers, they're issued them, but to hear that they've got orders to… to shoot. The thought fills him with dread – he needs that vest.
But… Aoko needs it too.
It must shine through the mask he's wearing, that he doesn't want to steal away the safety net she's been given, that he doesn't want to be the one to put her in harm's way, because Aoko puts a hand on his and squeezes.
"They'll be shooting at you," Aoko says, dropping her hand to fiddle with the clips by her side, "not at me. So take it."
Kaito doesn't move.
"Aoko wants you to," she says finally, when he meets her eyes, offering him the brightest smile she can. It's faked, of course it is, Kaito can read her better than he can read himself, but there's a determination there too.
"…You're sure?" Aoko nods, "…okay then."
She lifts it from her body, passes it over to Kaito, who changes within seconds. He has to tug a few straps loose, tightening other before he clips it back up. Then, he throws his shirt back on over it, and the jacket he'd been wearing. Too many layers should leave him overheating, and yet, all Kaito can feel is the cold.
"It's still not too late to back out of this," Aoko says. The terrible thing is that she means it. She's willing to ensure he isn't killed if he wants to carry his plan out, but she's also dreading his decision.
Kaito feels guilty for worrying her. He almost wishes it were months ago, back when she'd cheered on the police catching KID, before she knew it was him. Now, she's urging him not to show up.
"I'm going to get the gemstone," Kaito says, and he places both hands on her shoulders, presses his lips against her forehead, "and then I'm going to figure this whole mess out. Wait for me?"
Aoko looks at him. She shakes her head.
"You think I'm going to wait?" Aoko says, brushing his hands from her shoulders and turning to put her jacket back on. "No, I'm going to be in there with you."
"Aoko–"
"I'm involved now," Aoko says, "I have been since the day I found out you were KID…" Another fake smile. "Don't worry though, Aoko's going to make sure Kaito doesn't get himself caught again."
Kaito bites his lip, nods. Then, he turns, looking towards the corridor where the Cullinan diamond awaits him. Aoko walks past him without another glance.
"Thanks," Kaito whispers.
The only sign that she hears him, is the faintest twitch of her fingers.
Aoko has to force herself to keep looking forwards.
She can feel Kaito's presence behind her, for all of thirty seconds, where he deviates, making his way towards his own entrance. It's almost scary how vulnerable she feels once he's gone, a feeling of loss overpowering her as she keeps pacing towards the exhibit room where the gemstone is on display.
No… it's not a feeling of loss… it's terror.
Aoko isn't doesn't like the absence because it means she can't keep Kaito out of trouble. Yes, he might have gotten this far by himself, but she remembers new scars getting added to an ever-growing list, remembers uncertainty weighing down on her shoulders when she'd been unable to help him.
Now, she has to return to a room filled with suspicious police officers, with her father, and attempt to keep Kaito alive while ensuring they don't catch on. Is it even possible?
Well, even if it's not, how hard will it be to create her own miracle?
Kaito's done it time and time before – if he can do it, Aoko can too.
"Where's Ran-chan?" Aoko asks, after she lets her father pinch her cheeks, double-checking that her identity is her own. "I can't see her anywhere."
Her father glances around the room, hardly seems to hear her question. Aoko asks again, breathes out a sigh as she realises this is their usual routine.
"Oh, the Mouri girl?" He answers after a pause, "she went out to find you, after you left a little while ago. Isn't she back yet… Where did you go anyway?"
Aoko lets nervousness creep into her voice, just a tiny amount. She said, "I went to the bathroom?"
"Next time," her father continues, "take someone with you. You can't go anywhere by yourself at KID heists."
"Kaito's hardly going to take Aoko's identity while she's using the bathroom," Aoko says, crossing her arms. "He's not that perverted."
Her father sighs, rubs at the bridge of his nose, "I don't know what he's capable of anymore… Aoko… Things aren't looking good for him right now."
Aoko knows.
She glances down at her watch, waits for the second hand to reach 12.
"Yeah," she says, "Aoko thinks that a lot of things aren't going the way he'd hoped they would."
Seconds tick, until finally she lets her hand drop. The clock reaches 11pm.
"Look at that," Aoko mutters, "it's showtime."
At this rate, they're both going to miss the heist.
Ran doesn't know what way she's searching, or if she's already looked down this corridor, but she keeps going anyway. She needs to find Aoko, so that she can have the other girl help her track down KID.
A quick glance at her phone shows that the heist has already begun.
What should she do – Ran needs Aoko's help… but she needs to talk to KID and Shinichi more. Aoko knows what way she needs to go to get back, surely, it's fine to wait nearby the gem.
Yes, she should. That's the best plan of action she can take right now. After all, she's got people relying on her, and Ran can't let them down. She needs to prove Shinichi's innocence, somehow, and she needs to find a way to help Saguru solve the strain of murders.
She's not much of a detective, but she can do this.
Ran pivots, hurries back up the corridor she's just walked down, turns around the corner with such speed that she doesn't exactly look where she's going. And she bumps straight into one of the police officers.
"I'm sorry," she says, not quite looking as she continues.
Then, she pauses – because that wasn't a police officer. She knows that small breathless tone, has heard it every time she's accidentally bumped into it growing up.
Ran turns and stares.
Shinichi stares back.
"No," Ran says, although she's delighted to see him. Paranoia and panic crash into her, both tsunami's that she can't protect herself against. It feels almost as if she can't breathe – a panic attack, possibly, except… Ran hasn't had one of those in years. "You're not supposed to be here."
"Ran," Shinichi says. And despite the fact that he's not supposed to be here, despite the fact that being in a place like this is practically going to end in his own recapture, Ran races forwards and wraps her arms around him.
"You're not supposed to be here," Ran mutters into his shoulder, before pulling back, "you could die."
"I know," Shinichi says, and his hands grip around her wrists, a movement Ran mimics almost unconsciously. "But Kaito – uh… KID – doesn't know that, and I need to warn him."
"The police want you more than they want him," Ran whispers, and she stares up at him, a tremor to her lips as she attempts not to cry. She's always been emotional, it shouldn't be a surprise that every feeling running through her is overpowering, each feeling tearing into her with such ferocity that she doesn't know how to feel.
"It's not the police shooting that I'm worried about," Shinichi says, and then, pauses, offering her one of his awkward smiles. He doesn't comment on it any further, and Ran knows that unless she prompts him, he'll leave it as it is.
"The people who framed you," Ran says, "is it them?"
His lack of an answer is enough.
"I'll find a way to tell him then," Ran says, "just. Please, leave before you get into trouble… or… or stay here, and I'll come back. We can figure this all out together, okay? You don't need to put yourself in danger to help save someone else."
Shinichi winces.
"I'm already in danger," he says, "I can't put you in danger too, Ran. I…"
She understands. It doesn't mean she's got to approve of his decision.
"Okay," Ran says, "but… come back okay. Because – because I owe you an apology okay? And I want to give it to you properly."
Shinichi gives her a look, a mixture of confusion and sadness. He probably thinks that he's the one who needs to apologise. What an idiot.
"Because I lied to you," Ran says, and she grabs onto his hands, pulls him closer so she's peering up at him, "I lied. Because I'll never be able to give up on you. Do you understand?"
Shinichi shudders, glances in the direction of the doorway.
Then, he turns back to Ran, his lips set, eyes narrowed with a plan forming in his mind. He hesitates, waits until Ran offers him a nod and asks,
"Will you help me?"
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