Disclaimer: I don't own MK or DC, or any other manga/anime to be exact. I just like to let my imagination run loose :D
Ladies and gentlemen! I humbly welcome you to the next chapter of this story.
This time I'll present you some aftermath – what do we have the detectives for if not for clearing out cases, right? Later we'll go to Ekoda High to fulfill your requests, my dear readers ;) I hope you will be happy with your wish…
Sele-chan – I do have to say you did quite well with unraveling the prophecy :D And yeah – I always thought the self-fulfilling ones are the meanest type of prophecy – but then again… knowing your future has to effect it, right? I'm very happy to know you enjoy my story so much~
Lighted Candle - *bow* your wish is my command ;)
Kameo1 – I'm very please you liked the introspection part – was honestly kind of afraid you guys would find it kinda boring, but I wanted to finally show you why he is so determined to get to Kuroba ;) And don't worry – Hakuba has a goal and he understands that to achieve it fully he does need help (well – actually Kaito does – but he won't admit it anyway xD)
Mists – Don't worry about it :D It was my goal to make you guys over-think it ;) And well – those guys say a lot of things xD Can't expect Lucifer to take it all into account xD Honestly I would love to do more Hei vs Sagu stuff, but I don't want to go too much off-track ;) So sadly we don't get to see our green-eyed friend too often (yet ;) ). I too believe that the thing that makes us humans are our flaws and anybody can make a mistake. Kaito probably gonna need a good shake to wake up like that…
My dear Guest – Aww~! Your words are the music to my ears~ You want him to live that much..? Well… if you ask so nicely, how can I say 'no'? ;)
So without further delay…
Please enjoy and review! :)
Chapter 10: Soul snares
Before the detectives came to the burned crime scene the police found two charred bodies and they were already send for autopsy. Conan and Heiji weren't very happy about it, but they would probably regret not going to the station before meeting with Saguru, since tapes were fragile evidence. They concluded that if they didn't get to see them themselves they could not be sure if those haven't been altered. And it was just as Heiji told Hakuba – it was far less probable to find anything at a scorched crime scene. Fire is a powerful force that usually destroys all evidence from a crime scene. But then again when you have three genius detectives working together, there are bound to be some results.
Searching through the rubble was hard, annoying and depressing. As everything was scattered in chaos it was harder to start looking for clues. Both of them knew that now time was of the essence. There were too many people present at the scene who could, and probably did trample on the clues they needed to find. Heiji and Shinichi decided to work separately, so they could cover more ground faster. Working together on many cases before made them more competitive against each other, but also made them fully acknowledge other's skills. Neither had any doubts that the other could overlook a clue. Conan decided to focus his attention first to the doors leading to the roof, while Hattori went outside and took a closer look at the places where the corpses were found.
It took him a while and only the nagging feeling that something was not right, with what he was looking at made Shinichi investigate it for so long. And then it hit him. The door were forcibly opened and damaged by the blast so it wasn't easy to notice, that before it happened they were locked from the inside. The markings on the metal indicated that somebody secured it with a metal bar or something like that. Knowing that it was easier to find the blockade, laying in a corner of the staircase. Most probably KID got trapped on the roof, so he couldn't escape through the stairs before the blast. Ok, but how did they keep him there? Shaking off the appearing questions he used his bowtie and phone to call Nakamori. He knew that the keibu was keeping some of the video records safe under his protective gaze. Shinichi needed him to search them all for the possible culprit who braced the doors and protect that piece of evidence as well, before the tapes might get altered. He used Hakuba's voice to make himself more reliable, promising himself to apologize to the blonde afterwards. He was sure his fellow detective would understand and would not hold any grudge for that.
Heiji found some strange markings on the ground around where the bodies were found. There were darkened spots around, seemed to be caused by tiny explosions or intensive fires. Having some assumptions on what could have caused it, he started sweeping the floor around the staircase, until he found a small crack with a partly melted metal inside. A bullet hole. So those men were left here to die in the blast, to keep the thief from escaping? Hattori clenched his teeth. How did KID feel now, after he had to leave those to die in order to escape? Did he try to save them, despite they were trying to kill him? He was sure that the thief he knew before wouldn't be able to easily shake off the guilt. Heiji couldn't help KID at the moment, so he returned to the present and made a few photos of the evidence he found. Next he talked with a few officers and learned, that nothing unusual was found on the charred bodies. So there was somebody present who was destroying evidence in order to put the blame on KID… Well Hattori was not going to let him achieve his goal.
None of the detectives would. When Hakuba arrived he learned that other boys were investigating on the roof, so he decided to stay on the ground and look around there first. The hard part was that he wasn't sure what he was looking for and that such a vast area could not be fully preserved from being contaminated. He was going to resign from searching there and move to the building when he noticed that one tree had oddly shaped it's upper branches. Acquiring some help he climbed a car and took a closer look. The branches were broken recently and he found some blood traces, and a few white threads. He swept the blood off the wood and hid the material he used for it. Securing this evidence Hakuba decided to send it to his grandfather's laboratory. He had little doubts who the blood belonged to, but he had to make sure. He knew he was concealing critical evidence, but Kuroba wasn't the culprit here.
Working together later on the three genius detectives searched the building. They managed to pick up and piece together the scraps of information they found. In the end it was clear for them what happened. KID didn't go willingly to the roof, he had no choice. The vents were booby-trapped and traces found on other possible escape routes indicated that there were ambushes there. After talking with a few officers, who were present there at the time, the boys found out another thing. Despite being hunted down and chased around, the kaitou somehow found the time and possibility to keep the police safe. He lured them away from traps, used his tricks to slow them down, or made his hunters use out their bullets, before the police reached them. But despite all that only a few people were arrested at the time.
After that the detectives joined the investigation about KID's involvement with the explosion. They proved, clearing any doubts, that the kaitou wasn't at fault. They pointed out evidence of other party involvement, who were probably targeting somebody present at the heist, refraining themselves from saying out loud, that the target was most likely KID. Thanks to their deductions the thief was cleared of all charges considering the explosion and the case was closed.
Thanks to all the work detectives made and all the evidence they gathered the real culprits were arrested or had pressed charges. It took a few days of deep investigation for the police to discover and root out those who ordered the whole operation. And while it wasn't impossible that the Organization was involved, covering for the group, it didn't seem that it was their doings. Shinichi hesitated, if he should tell his fellow detectives when he found out that, the caught party was related to the men KID saved Conan and Heiji from, not long ago. Most probably their goal was to get rid of the kaitou and make him an example for others, who might want to mess with them. He didn't want his friend to worry more and blame himself for what happened. In the end, the shrunken detective reminded himself the promise he made recently and shared with Hakuba and Hattori the information, despite his doubts.
Much as expected Kuroba was absent from school on Monday. Hakuba chatted a bit with Aoko about the magician's mother and how she tended to do random things. He intended to point out more obviously, that it was indeed a natural possibility for her to suddenly take her son on a trip. They talked about it in places, where their conversation could be easily overheard by anyone. He noticed to his content that these chats eased the girl he was talking to as well.
After school he would go to the station to investigate reports on all of the cases that occurred during the last couple of weeks. Later in the evening he would meet with Shinichi to pass him copies of a couple of cases he didn't see through and to consult with each other on any, even most insignificant things they stumbled on, carefully judging if it could be connected. The thing they were searching for was a hint of a reason for KID's sudden change of behavior. But it was in vain. For the whole week they couldn't find anything that would help them understand what was going on. After Shinichi's discovery they made a grim assumption that the thief might simply be afraid to get pulled into another situation like recently.
Besides what they were looking for, Conan was hoping on finding also some more tips on the Organization's involvement. But as he didn't know what exactly he was looking for it was bound to be an failed attempt. He caught himself hoping that the thief would have some clues for him, or at least give him some leads on what to look for. It made him feel guilty to have an ulterior motive to reach the previously cheerful kaitou. He reminded himself how happy and calm attending the heists in the past made him, he remembered also his talk with Hattori after the 'Moon's Eye' heist. He said back then that the thief was a threat to his sanity, but maybe it was the exact opposite? In the end as things were now, only during these events and the rare moments when he was alone with his Osakan friend, Shinichi could have fun and be carelessly cheerful as himself, instead of Conan. And he didn't want this to end. It made him understand how much beside the obvious he owed to KID. He wouldn't allow him to lose his 'fairy' part, or to die. And for some part, he wanted that desire to be his only motive for what he was doing now with Hakuba.
Hattori on his end was painstakingly searching for hints of an outer involvement with Osaka Police Force. It was a tremendous task driving the detective mad. He literally had to go through every file without any help. Hakuba at least had a starting point, so none of them honestly hoped for much success there. Except maybe for Heiji himself. He hated the idea of losing to the damn Brit.
The teen could channel his competitive desires to kendo training, but there was another thing that kept him directing his steps to police archives. He was angry that he couldn't help his fellow detectives with the investigation they were going through at the moment. He went back and forth through every detail associated with recent 'renovations', that stopped him from attending the last heist, so many times that they were imprinted on the back of his eyelids. Without any doubt he was sure he knew now how the thief achieved it, but it didn't provide them with anything else. When he wasn't focusing his attention to the files, his mind was showing him his best friend's expression each time he was talking about KID and when they were busy with the police unraveling the kaitou's secrets. Heiji knew that the thief was giving Shinichi more than he himself could. And how ironic was that?
His mind often wandered to all that he knew, about the mysterious figure under the top hat. He recalled everything he's read about him, or heard. And of course the few meetings and chats they had before it all went wrong. He smirked deciding that the next time he met him, he would accept 'Shirohato's' invitation to France, just to have fun checking out how KID would pull it through. Heiji chuckled and returned to the task at hand with a smile on his face and a purpose in heart. He was browsing through yet another file in hope, he could find something they could find useful in the future, leaving fixing the present to the other two.
It was a shock for Hakuba to see the magician entering the classroom on the next Monday. He was sure Kuroba would be absent longer. Could his injuries not be so dire and instead of recovering he was doing something else that required his absence? Hakuba's mind was racing through the possibilities, as his eyes were carefully scanning his classmate for any abnormalities he might spot.
It was subtle, but Hakuba had the feeling that there was some wariness in Kuroba's movement. He was as still nimble and springy as ever, but at the same time he seemed less rash. Noticing that made Hakuba see also, that the magician, when he was standing or turning, was clearly favoring his right leg. He wasn't exactly limping, but the detective felt that there should be that too. There was also that small detail when Kuroba laid on his desk. The magician covered his face with his forearms, instead of placing his head on them, like usual. But the most alarming thing he found out during the lesson. Hakuba knew that Kuroba was ambidextrous, but he always seemed to be preferring his right hand. And now he was writing in his notebook with his left. All that made Hakuba certain that the teen before him was severely injured. His final prove was the doctor's recommendation Kuroba passed to their P.E. teacher with which he excused himself from attending the lesson. The teacher was not pleased, as he always liked the skillful magician who motivated other students, but didn't make any difficulties for him. After all this Hakuba had no doubts that Kuroba was remarkably hiding a lot of injuries under his clothing.
Later in classroom when the students were gathering for another lesson Hakuba heard his friend's voice pulling him out of his thoughts.
"Kaito!" said magician turned around hearing his name called out by Aoko "What is going on? Why didn't you attend P.E.? You love it! Are you ill?"
The teen sighed heavily regretting once again that there was no way he could hide the bandages covering his body while changing in the locker-room into training clothes. And even if he managed that, short sleeves and shorts wouldn't hide enough either, so he had no choice.
"Nah…" He waved his hand with an annoyed huff "Alright, I tell you… Mom made me join a crazy stunt at a performance we were watching. The guy didn't take enough precautions and I ended up with a few bruised bones. Nothing big, but better give 'em a rest for a few days." His tone indicated that the event injured not only as much his body, but his pride.
Aoko chuckled "Oh~? So there are things that are impossible for 'the great' Kaito~?" She teased with a mocking tone.
Magician showed an irritated expression and smirked at her "Sure there are… For example I can't stop, but to cry in my heart each time I look at your flat chest." He shrugged, slowly shaking his head and placing his hands in his pockets "It's impossible for me, to have any hope for you…"
"Bakaito!" she roared swinging her backpack at her friend.
Kaito with a mischievous smile stepped out of her reach and felt a jolt of pain run through his leg, as he put too much pressure to it. Before she could strike him again, he grabbed her 'weapon' with his left hand, although the blow was coming from the right. He sighed heavily and shook his head in disbelieve, with a resigned expression on his face.
"Ahoko, you brute… I just told you I'm injured and have to take it easy, and despite that you attack me like that? How much of an un-cute tomboy can you be?" He let go of her and turned his back on her "Neither woman at body nor with heart, eh?" He gave her a glance over his shoulder with a smirk to make sure, he didn't over-do it.
"Bakaito! It's your own fault for saying thing like that to Aoko!"
"You started it yourself Ahoko. Instead of teasing me, a girl should be worried, feel sorry for me and nurse me back to health. But I guess you can't expect it from a tomboy like yourself." He scolded her, smirking at her.
"Why you..!" her grip tightened on her backpack, but seeing his mocking smile she just huffed with annoyance and walked away to air her woes to Keiko.
Kaito smiled at her back with warmth and apologized to her in his mind. He would love nothing more than to have a cheerful mop-fight with her, but right now it would only aggravate his injuries and he couldn't have that. With a hint of sorrow he reminded himself to always place what he needed before what he wanted. Being a kaitou was never this dis-appealing for him than lately.
He noticed movement with the corner of his eye, as a person who was carefully watching him this whole time decided to approach him. Great… another interaction with the witch… He could only hope that this time it wouldn't turn out to be an another assault on his free will or another prophecy. Honestly speaking he didn't know which was worse. Kaito stretched to catch a glimpse of the detective. Still watching him like a hawk, but at least the blonde didn't seem to be trying to make contact.
"Kuroba-kun."
That female demanding voice as usual gave him the creeps. Without showing any of his actual emotions Kaito turned his gaze on the witch. She was watching him intently.
"What is it Akako..?" He spoke tiredly "Not really in the mood –"
"Come with me, I want to talk to you." She cut in and started walking towards the door.
Kaito huffed with annoyance and sat on his chair "Don't wanna…" He mumbled burring his face under his forearms on his desk.
Was it about another prophecy? Magician could hardly care. He tried hard to stop the last one and wasn't sure if he didn't make it worse, than it would be if he didn't do anything unusual. For sure it only made him jumpy and make stupid mistakes. Sure, it helped him realize that he should avoid letting people get too close to him, especially those nosy detectives, but the outcome wasn't worth this lesson. Kaito definitely decided, that he preferred to believe in Lady Luck's guidance and his own plans. Nothing was better than a dozen of backup plans and maybe a couple more, just to be safe. Probably listening to all this mumbo-jumbo only took vengeance of him, because of all that magician and sorcery natural enemy crap.
Akako turned at him with a shocked expression "Kuroba, I have asked you to come and listen to what I want to say."
"And I'm not interested. Wanna sleep…" he mumbled sleepily and turned his head slightly so he could see her with a corner of his eye.
He didn't like to enrage her, because it was simply dangerous. But at the moment he knew, he was more vulnerable than usual and it would be easier for her to try something. Not like his physical skills were of much of help against her, but they were useful. All he could really relay on was his own wits, Lady Luck's favor and the immunity to some of the witch's magic, she claimed he possessed. Kaito was only sorry he wasn't fully resistant to all of her maho…
She grimaced annoyed and approached him again, leaning so close he could feel her breath on his skin "You're hurt and I want to help you." She whispered quietly.
"Nah, thanks I'm fine." Could magic help him heal faster? Maybe. Was he going to willingly let a witch cast a spell on him? No way in hell. He still remembered an incident a few months ago, proving she was still after him, when she tried to slip something in his cup. Or the one before that, when she stung him with a strange needle and he ended up having an itchy rash for a few weeks.
She huffed annoyed and placed her hand gently on his right shoulder, causing the magician to slightly narrow his eye "I worry about you. You don't have to be wary of me. I have no ill will against you."
"Mmm~… Nice to know. Still - I don't need it." He straightened up sitting on the chair and averted his gaze to her red eyes "So thanks for the trouble, but I'll pass."
She narrowed her eyes knowing that he won't listen to her proposition "Why are you being so stubborn? Do you like to suffer so much?"
"Right back at you, Ojou-san." He smirked at her "I just want now to get some of my beauty sleep."
She rolled her eyes annoyed and left him. After a moment of consideration, Kaito stood up from his desk and went to the bathroom to check his uniform. Better safe than sorry. Kaito would have preferred to shove her away, before she even managed to touch him, but he wasn't as nimble as usual and didn't want to end up being brutal with her. He checked his hair when wardrobe inspection didn't reveal anything. And nothing. Before getting dressed again he checked his injuries hidden under far too many bandages. All seemed fine enough, so he put the clothes back on, hoping that the witch didn't steal a hair from him, or whatever she might need to try and cast a spell on him against his will.
Walking out of the toilet cabin he noticed Hakuba was in the washroom, washing his hands. Kaito mentally rolled his eyes and turned on the water for another tap, ignoring the Brit in silence. Why didn't the guy get bored with all this, was beyond the magician. Was it too much to ask to be left alone? It sure did seem so… Good thing Kaito knew how to be patient. At most he'd have to bear with it for another few months till the final exams were over. After that he wouldn't have to deal with any of them anymore. Walking back to the classroom he wondered what was he going to do after he finished high school… Attend the university or remind the world why Kaitou KID was called an international criminal? He opened the classroom and his gaze traveled to Aoko, who was still sulking a bit. He smiled gently. Yeah, maybe he'll stick around, for just a bit more in Japan. In the end there were now a lot of people who gladly supplied him with the jewels he needed to check, so there was no need to travel. Right? And it would be a bother to cover up that he traveled to the same places as KID. It was more convenient that way. And he would stick with this explanation.
On Thursday, like every other morning at school, after a nap Kaito was absent-mindedly browsing a newspaper. A grimace bloomed on his face when his gaze slid through an unpleasant title:
*Kaitou KID went down with a blast! Could this be his end?*
He felt Aoko lean over his shoulder to take a peek, at what he was reading.
"Oh? They are still talking about KID? Aoko thinks it's high time he disappeared! I hope we will never see his ugly face again! But he just had to do it with such a dangerous way! Urgh! Aoko's dad got even hit on his head with a falling debris. He still has a bruise…" she huffed annoyed.
"Did he? I'm sorry, it must have been painful…" Kaito worried not letting any of his own pain to be visible on his expression.
Absent-mindedly he placed a hand on a splint , hidden under his clothes, immobilizing his cracked forehand bone. He got distracted arguing with the loudly yelling keibu, ordering him and his men to run. Some goon crept on him and nearly cracked his head with a baton, so he had to deflect the hit with his arm.
Struggling not to breath too deeply, due to his cracked ribs, he added hopefully "But I hope he's alright."
"Yeah, he'll be… you know how tick-headed he is. But Aoko sure hopes KID died for this." She said with an vengeful voice and added cheerfully "At least dad won't have to chase him anymore!"
"Oh? You talking about KID?" another classmate approached them curiously, Kaito recognized it was Togashi, who used to be quite excited after every heist "They say he died, because was too cocky with his last trick? Well… for some time now he wasn't anything big anyway. Probably burned out, heh. Now he'll probably be for a bit on first pages? Such a bother…"
"Aoko thinks so too! They shouldn't be talking so much about a slop who can't even handle his own trick, rig-"
"Aoko! What are you –" Hakuba cut in with a shocked voice, mortifyingly watching Kuroba's stiffening expression.
The detective was absent for most of the conversation and just came back to the classroom in time to hear what she said.
"Don't worry. It's alright." Kaito's quiet voice bleached out off emotions made everybody turn to him, he smiled with an artificial smile, he's never shown before "Magicians sometimes tend to go with a blast…"
Aoko's eyes widened when it occurred to her what she just said, she covered her mouth with her hands and mumbled.
"Kaito, I'm…" but before she finished there was an explosion of colorful confetti and the magician was gone.
*sigh* And that's what you get for trying to live normally… poor magician…
For those who, just like Aoko forgot, a little tip – there was another magician, who went with a blast during his trick and his death was a powerful strike for Kaito.
And as for Hakuba – well all of The Gosho Boys have eidetic memory, so I guess it would be only natural for him to instantly recall such a thing, especially seeing Kaito's expression…
Hm… seems I do have a thing for cliffies xD But honestly after writing this I was sorrowful for a few hours myself xD
See you next chapter *bow* ;)
