Ladies and gentlemen! I humbly welcome you to the next chapter of this story.
This chapter I'll provide you a bit of insight into the mystery around the nearest heist and an idea of what might the last disc hold.
Gods... This job is sometimes killing me. Had to take tones of work home and when you add some family business to it I really had no time to write... Honestly speaking I don't have it atm either, but I was desperate for a break. So here you go~ I hope you like it :)
But first my favorite part - reviews reply~
PickleWitch - Oh he surely does need it, but you can't really blame him. He is stuck in it for far too long... Good that at least he isn't alone with this trouble. Hope you'll like this chapter too~
Cerlinfia - Took me a bit long - but here you are~
Lady Paper - I'm glad you think so~ You are most welcome ;)
Kensy Echo - I must confess I'm grinning like an idiot right now~ I'm glad I managed to show how Kaito feels about his nosy detectives ;) Well as time goes on Shinichi does have it harder and harder to keep his head cool when it comes to those guys. Lol xD Yeah - those two make a good team when they get over their issues. How could there not be? I enjoy writing him too much~
I'm so glad you like my riddles :) I am rather shy about them, always feeling that they could and should be better you know? ;) So thank you for your encouragement :) It really does help ^^
Loyal DC Fan - Oh believe me - I know it all too well xD Who said that it will give them a lead~? But hey - can't blame the boys for hoping right? ;)
Oh... Thank you for pointing it out for me. I was actually wondering about it, but just wasn't sure. Just because they don't see anyone with Gin doesn't mean that he was alone~ Ah... that praise was just too much! I was cheerful for the whole day when I read it!Thank you :)
Mists - Common goal usually does help bonding ;) I'm glad you liked the chapter so much~ I didn't go too far in this one, but had to write a couple of things to let them move on ;)
So without further delay…
Please enjoy and review! :)
Chapter 22: A light in the tunnel
They started early on the next day again. Neither of the boys looked rested this time. Although Shinichi went first to sleep, he was tormented with nightmares, Heiji tossed in bed wondering about both cases and worrying when Kazuha will try to dwell on where he is, and Saguru stayed up for a few more hours to check out everything he could about the upcoming heist.
He discovered a very interesting detail, which clearly somebody wanted to conceal. In the suspicious advertisements an interesting person took part. Hakuba pondered about the familiar name that appeared there, so he checked a few post-heist reports. As he recalled, Furuhata Megumi practically owned her carrier to Kaitou KID, which bloomed after he made her shine at the 'Green Dream' heist. Afterwards she openly claimed that her dream man is the kaitou himself. It was highly doubtful she would want to take part in anything that might hurt him or lead to his arrest. On the other hand, thanks to her presence, Kuroba was more likely to get interested in the taunt. In that case either it wasn't a trap at all or Megumi was either tricked or blackmailed into taking part in it. Considering how fast this type of advertisement ended and how details of it were concealed, most likely it was the first case scenario. It would probably mean that they wanted to contact KID and managed to. The question was what made them so desperate? Although it was common to use the kaitou as a means of promotion, it still was risky to actually contact and possibly cooperate with him.
Despite how harmless he was, KID was an internationally wanted criminal. This made Hakuba again realize how lonely this whole masquerade must have been making his classmate and why was he so stubborn to hide his identity. With grim thoughts of what would have to happen in order to make Kuroba drop his guard, the Brit went to uneasy sleep.
They were going through their first records of the day, when suddenly the two teens heard Conan inhale loudly. They turned their attention to the boy, who was watching the record from around the toilets area, only to notice his monitor was full of disturbances. The shrunken detective rewound the damaged part back and forward. It seemed the whole thing had minor disturbances in it. The completely unreadable part was 2 minutes and 35 seconds long. Conan narrowed his eyes and continued watching, only to curse loudly a few minutes later, when he spotted Gin entering the restroom. As Shinichi predicted later on the record there was another major disturbance, meaning somebody's presence there was concealed completely.
"Shit! We need KID's disc…"
"Calm down Kudo." Hattori advised quietly, with his eyes flickering on the paused record. "It won't help us. That camera is away from this area and the quality is too poor. Unless this person is wearing something really characteristic, it won't help you at all. You'll be lucky if you can distinguish the gender, let alone any other details. And only if they haven't messed with that CD as well."
Conan shook his head, unwilling to accept the explanation. "But there is a chance it's undamaged and that they went closer to the camera, or in the direction to another, so we could…"
"Kudo-kun, I must agree with Hattori-kun." Saguru cut in calmly. "If they managed to disturb this camera, it is very doubtful they would make a mistake like that. Most probably the missing disc is also damaged and I highly doubt that Kuroba-"
"But you don't know it unless you check!" The boy snapped at him. "I can't and I won't let this possibility slip!"
"Alright…" Hakuba agreed easily, slightly confusing the raging boy, and crossed his arms over his chest. "Tell me then, how do you expect to convince Kuroba to give you the disc? I have no doubts that he hid it well. Seeing how paranoid he is, I would be surprised to find anything in his house that could be any proof of him being KID. So unless you manage to find and strip the right safe-house, you won't find it without his cooperation. I also doubt that it is possible to force him to do it, so you would need to verbally convince him."
Shinichi opened his mouth and closed it again, averting his gaze, with his mind racing around the possibilities. He knew the Brit was right, and Kuroba has already proven himself stubborn enough to simply act like he had no idea what they were talking about. The truth was that KID had no reason to cooperate with him in this. In the past, he did it only when lives were at stake. Maybe if Kudo explained him the situation..? But he had no idea how much the thief knew already and still wasn't certain if he wanted him to know everything, before they could fully trust him. He swallowed hard, taking into account what KID could do with such knowledge, only to discover that he had no idea. The only thing he could be certain of was that Kuroba most likely wouldn't do anything to endanger him since, like Hattori said, he wasn't a bad guy. But besides that?
After a few moments of silence, Hattori sighed. "Listen Kudo, I'd like to smack him in the head a few times myself, but that won't help us convince him. Also he made it clear that if we want anything from KID, we need to talk to him when he's playing dress-up. So you not only have to find a way to convince him, but also to reach him on a heist. But after how he acted last time and how suspicious this heist appears to be, I doubt he will come for a chat himself…"
The boy grimaced. "So that's it? You want me to drop this and focus on the heist?"
"And you've got a better idea? Sure, you can go to Kuroba-kun and keep nagging him, hoping he will give up. You'll most likely end up all tied up with duct tape, with your mouth shut. And that damn thing is just impossible to tear…" Heiji added with a grimace.
Hakuba was observing the two detectives quietly, before he spoke. "Kudo-kun, are you considering telling Kuroba your reasons?" Hattori shot the Brit a surprised gaze and moved it to the child, who looked away. Saguru sighed. "Well, you probably would make him sympathize with you this way. Of course, if he doesn't know it already. But I doubt it would make him give you the disc. Most likely it would be only more proof to him that he does need to protect you from them. He might want to help you, but rather by dealing with it himself. Do you want that?"
Shinichi grimaced, knowing he didn't have to answer that. He didn't want the magician anywhere near those guys, unless he would be able to be by his side and make sure KID wouldn't die in the process. Idly he wondered if that would ever be possible, even if they managed to befriend him. But that didn't matter now. He gasped when a sudden thought crossed his mind and hastily he rewound the record to the very beginning.
Hattori raised an eyebrow seeing that. "You got an idea?"
"Yeah." He answered calmly, with eyes focused on the screen. "Whoever tempered with the camera probably got caught on film."
"Alright. But what makes you think they did it on the same day? And I think they wouldn't leave any-"
Shinichi cut in again, but this time with calm voice. "It's worth a shot. In worst case scenario it'll be a waste of time, but there is a chance, right? Besides I doubt they would mess with the camera too early. Most likely it's some kind of jamming device placed somewhere around it, since only specific parts of the record are fully damaged. And the longer it was there, the bigger the chance somebody would notice it. They also had to dispose of it later on… " He mumbled his explanation, not concerned if they listened to it or not.
The two teens looked at each other and just sighed, letting it go. They simply sat back before their computers and returned to reviewing the records.
A few hours have passed and neither of the detectives managed to find anything significant. Heiji was feeling extremely annoyed by it and would rather prefer to look into the heist, but his pangs of guilt kept him from it. He knew it was important for Kudo and frankly speaking, he couldn't do anything more than to give him his support, even if it was a wasted effort. He finished watching the record with a heavy sigh. Obviously, he was first to get done with his task. He started downloading the images of Gin from his record when his phone rang. Surprised, he took it out from his pocket and noticed that it was Kazuha calling him. Holding back a grimace, he exited the room to talk with her.
He picked up with the phone away from his ear and mentally prepared himself to get his eardrums severely damaged. The girl did not disappoint him.
"HEIJI! Where the heck are you, you ahou?!"
"Do you have to shout like that, ahou?!" He snapped back at her. "I got caught up in a case, of course! What else did you think?!"
"What kind of case? Did you forget about school? Where are you anyway? Ran said you already left to Osaka and I know you haven't reached home!"
Heiji grimaced, not really expecting her to have discovered everything so fast. "Got caught up on my way there. I- um... it's important, you know." He spurt briefly, recalling Shinichi's excuses.
The girl turned silent for a moment. "Why didn't you give us a call?" She asked suspiciously.
"Well... I didn't think it would take too long." He replied with a sigh.
"Alright..." She answered quietly, clearly having something worrying her. "Um... Heiji..?" She started, but cut herself off.
As she didn't continue, he decided to encourage her. "Hm? What?"
"Um just... You know..."
Hattori felt a twitch of annoyance. "What?"
"Just come back alright?" She answered with irritated tone, trying to hide the worry in her voice. "Don't go disappearing like Kudo-kun..." She added quietly.
Heiji pursed his lips, reminded about his friend who couldn't say the words he was going to right now. "What are you talking about, you ahou..." He scolded her softly. "I'll be back next week, no worries."
"Promise?" She asked with hope.
"Yeah... I gotta go now, see ya."
"Just remember to keep your promise, see ya."
The Osakan disconnected the call and stayed in the corridor for couple more minutes, with his gaze on the phone. Again he felt the stung of remorse. Soon he would be going back home to reassure his family and friends that he was alright. And Kudo couldn't do more than call those who he cared about, slowly fading into oblivion like that. They had to find the solution to it fast, before Shinichi was no longer waited for. He pocketed his phone and returned to the room, to continue what he was doing before the interruption, wondering how they could convince KID to give them the last disc.
During lunch, Hakuba proposed to return to the mall later on and Hattori reluctantly agreed to it. Kudo honestly didn't want to go anywhere, but since he could watch the records at all thanks to Saguru's courtesy, he didn't want to argue with the Brit too much. So eventually he also agreed to go with the teens. He didn't expect to find there anything, but maybe seeing the scene again or simply taking a step back would make it click? Also probably letting his eyes rest from the monitor wasn't such a bad idea either...
It was already getting late when they reached the mall. It pleased them to confirm that their sketch of the insides and cameras' locations were roughly correct and didn't require a lot of altering. Unfortunately, much as predicted, they didn't notice anything suspicious around the cameras, or anywhere else for that matter. When they were alone, they did try to brainstorm about any ideas they had, but that didn't lead them to anything new either.
Although they didn't spend much time there, it was starting to get dark already when the detectives headed back from the mall. Neither of them spoke. Shinichi expected that they wanted him to let it go, but he couldn't. He still hoped there was something he could get from it. Anything that would give him hope to get at least one step closer to solving this whole mess. They were probably right, saying that even if he did get to see KID's disc, it wouldn't give him anything more either. But until he saw it, he couldn't be sure that this was the case. He bit his lip, wondering if it wouldn't be a good idea to acquire the disc from near the toilet covering the day before that. He didn't see anyone messing with the camera on the morning of the day they saw Gin, so maybe it was done earlier? He wouldn't be able to avoid getting caught on the record from inside the security room, but the quality of that record was also low and if he covered his hair and took off his glasses, he didn't look as recognizable as his fellow detectives.
Suddenly Hattori's voice interrupted his musings.
"Huh? Is that..?"
Conan gasped as he turned his gaze to where his friend was looking, and recognized the messy haired teen jugging under a street lamp on the park alley. It didn't seem he noticed them, at least he wasn't acting like he had. The boy felt his heartbeat fasten. In an instant, he forgot the talks he had with his fellow detectives, as they convinced him to leave the thief and his disc alone for now.
"Kuroba!" He roared after the jogging teen, who kept ignoring them. And that made Shinichi angry.
Hakuba apparently wanted to say something, but before any words left his lips, Conan leaned to his shoe, powering it up and released a soccer ball from his belt. With his usual battle cry, he kicked the ball in the direction of the unaware magician's head. Kaito fell over as it reached him and flatly bounced off him.
Hattori grimaced and closed an eye at the sight. "Ouch…" He commented, feeling slightly sorry for the other teen. But recalling everything he went through on Sunday eased it.
Hakuba gasped, shocked with what just happened. The other two did mention that Kudo had some gadgets to protect himself, but he never felt the need to pry into it and they didn't elaborate on the topic. And now it did seem that the ball flew a lot faster than it should. It probably had something to do with the sparks coming from the boy's shoe. Saguru looked back at his classmate, who wasn't moving and that made him worry. Shinichi and Heiji were already on their way there, so he joined them.
"Is he alright..?" He asked with worry.
"It didn't even hit him right. He's probably just fooling around…" The small boy muttered with a grimace, but inwardly he was glad his target didn't decide to run away.
Saguru raised his eyebrows and looked back at Kaito. It occurred to him that the angle the ball bounced off was odd. Still it was worrisome that the teen wasn't getting up.
As they approached him, Conan lightly nudged the teen's leg with his shoe. "Enough with the act, get up. We know you didn't get hit." He stated with an annoyed tone.
"I did…" Kaito grumbled back, and with a groan he raised his head at them "That settles it… You're hell's spawns sent here to torment poor, innocent me…" He moaned, laying his head back.
Heiji snorted. "Who would have though you're so delicate."
Kaito cracked his eyes open again and made a face at the Osakan. "You ever got hit with one of those? Don't laugh before you do… It shouldn't be legal…" He added, muttering to himself.
Conan rolled his eyes. "Oh come on. I didn't fully power it up and you did deflect it somehow. Stop making a scene. I thought you didn't like it when people are sorry for you?" He added with a smirk.
"Are you alright, Kuroba?" Hakuba asked with slight worry, ignoring the other two.
"Tsk… fine…"
The magician sat on the grass with a growl, rubbing his head. They noticed one earphone hanging loose from his collar, which most likely fell out after the hit and another, still in his ear. It might have been possible he honestly didn't hear them, if they were turned on before.
"So, what have you been up to here anyway?" Hattori asked curiously, eyeing the sitting teen.
Kaito shot him an annoyed look and got up, dusting off his pants. After a few pats, he spread his arms to make his tracksuit more visible.
"Make a wild guess "oh Great Detective of the West."" He mocked, clearly feeling better and added questioningly. "What could I have been doing, running around a park dressed in a tracksuit… What marvelous mystery!"
Heiji shot him a deadpan look, not amused with his mock in the slightest. "I didn't ask for your cover. I mean what you were really up to here."
Kuroba sighed and rolled his eyes. "Would you give it up with your theories about me? I doubt I could convince you, but this stalker probably can confirm that it is my habit to jog at least twice a day, if I can manage." He said with an annoyed tone, pointing at the Brit, who sighed.
"I already apologized for-"
The Osakan cut him off, still focused on the magician. "Oh yeah? And it's just a coincidence that it is so close to the mall?"
"It's Ekoda park and I happen to live in Ekoda! I don't know how far your conspiracy theories go, but I did not build the mall next to it! It's more puzzling what you are doing here. Shouldn't you be back at your village or something?"
Barely holding back his anger, Hattori hissed at him. "What did you just say?! I'm from Osaka, not some village!"
Unfazed, Kaito made a surprised face. "Oh really~? Sorry…. Your tick, rustic accent had me fooled there…"
Conan did try to get in between them and stop the fight, but he didn't manage before Heiji tackled the other. Hakuba just sighed, resigned, making a mental note not to mention anything bad about Hattori's accent or his hometown in the future.
Shinichi knew all too well why did Kuroba anger the Osakan, but he was not letting him distract them. Taking into account the small distance, he powered the shoe only slightly and released another ball. Saguru gasped noticing it, but the sphere was sent flying, before he could do anything else. The moment the boy's boot touched the ball, Kuroba grabbed Hattori's arms and tried to trip them both to the ground, but didn't manage as there wasn't enough time. In the end, the back of Osakan's head took the whole impact of the projectile this time. Kaito winced as he heard the ball bounce off.
Heiji's vision went dark for a few moments and he would have fallen over, if the magician wasn't holding him up. He yelled in pain and grabbed the back of his head.
"What the hell?!"
"Who's the delicate one now~?" Kuroba mocked, letting his arm go, when he made sure the other didn't need his support anymore.
"Kudo you-!" He growled, looking back with watery eyes at the boy.
Conan sighed and growled back. "I'm not in the mood to be dealing with that, Hattori!"
"Ouch... Somebody got with the wrong foot from his bed..." The magician commented with a snort.
"You should know well why I'm like this, so let's cut the crap and give me the last disc. I need it."
Kaito sighed. "You really have a funny way asking for favors, you know that? Anyway I have no-"
"Stop." Shinichi interrupted him harshly and huffed tiredly, trying to calm down. "Please, I'm really not in the mood for that."
"Alright, I have to admit, I'm getting bored with it myself." Hakuba raised an eyebrow, surprised with those words, but sighed after hearing the rest. "So let me do it real quick, ok~?" The magician added with a sly smirk and cleared his throat. "'I told you already that I'm not KID.' 'Do we really have to go through with this every single time?'" He asked with Conan's voice and shifted to Hakuba's. "'Kuroba... Would you please just stop this already?' 'Why don't you guys let it go and stop calling me a thief then?' 'Oi... give it a rest. It's old and boring already...'" He whined with Hattori's voice and accent while pointing at the surprised Osakan. "Oh yeah? It's rather you who's old~'"
There was a puff of smoke around the still dazed detective, followed by a groan of pain and shock that left his lips. He shouted at the magician the exact same words as he did nearly at the same time.
"Why me again, you ahou?!"
The clearing smoke uncovered the now grey-haired Osakan, with a crooked, half glued and also grey beard. The teen was holding down the chuckling magician by his hand.
Conan just facepalmed, he really was unwilling to deal with all this. "Are you done?"
Heiji reluctantly let Kuroba go, aware that his friend had one more projectile in his belt. Once freed, Kaito rubbed his wrist and shot the boy a glance.
He hummed, thinking about it. "Well... I guess so." He snickered, seeing Hattori struggle with the fake beard to tear it off completely.
Shinichi sighed in relief. "Good. Now please. I really need that disc. You can deliver it later if that would make you feel better, I don't care. Just please give it to me." He grimaced, seeing the teen roll his eyes, so he continued without letting him reply anything. "Please. You can ask me anything to do in return." He added, wondering how bad idea it was.
Kuroba raised an eyebrow, surprised with the outcome. He didn't expect the disc to contain something such valuable. "Anything?" He asked, letting some interest slip into his tone.
"Just name your price..."
"Oi Kudo... What are you-?"
"How about you three leaving me alone?" Kaito cut Heiji off with eyes still focused on the boy, who grimaced, considering the request.
Hakuba gasped. "You can't be serious-"
The magician sighed, surprised with the reaction he got from the boy, indicating he was considering the request. "Well, I have to admit that it is very tempting. Too bad I don't have what you're looking for."
"You don't?" Kudo gasped in shock. "But I was sure you took it..." Kaito just shrugged in response and the boy frowned. It was possible that the thief was simply lying to him. "How can I be sure you're saying the truth?"
Kuroba shot him an annoyed look and shrugged again. "I guess you can't. But what would I gain from lying?"
Conan narrowed his eyes, weighing the magician's possible motives. And it didn't make much sense. He could just want them to leave the topic alone, but he could also gain it by simply giving them the disc. If he wanted to hinder their investigation, he would have done something with the CDs they had, or not let them get those in the first place. Unless he knew beforehand that they wouldn't be able to proceed without his record. The question then was how much he knew before they stole the discs and if it was possible that he took the last one before they even reached the security room... Scratch that last one. KID was a master of disguise. He could have gone there anytime, dressed as anyone and take the valuable record. It wouldn't be too surprising if he was the one who messed with the disc Shinichi was working with this whole day.
He rubbed his temples, shoving away that last idea. That was too unlikely, unless KID was working for the Organization and it was long now since he ruled that out. More so, if he went into the security room to take the last record, there would be no point in messing with the other. He would either mess with or take both of them.
So that left Shinichi with the question of how much the teen before him knew about the Organization's business there. The detectives determined that it was most likely some type of a deal - probably very much like the one Kudo stumbled on that fateful night when he first encountered them. Considering the safety measures taken by them, the other side of the dealing party was most likely also somebody from the underground, but officially somebody clean, so the deal had to be made in an easily and commonly accessible area. The detectives didn't even consider it before, but Shinichi dismissed now the idea that KID could have known and be covering for the other party. So what was his goal and source of knowledge?
Eventually Kaito sighed, interrupting his train of thought. "Anyway, if that is all, I'll be on my way. And I hope nobody will try to shoot me with anything anymore." He added with a smirk.
"What? You're off to prepare for the opera?" Heiji asked with a grin, helpfully buying his friend some more time to think and hoping to learn something about the heist.
Unfazed, with only mild interest in his voice, the magician asked. "What opera?"
Hattori chuckled. "Oh don't give me that. We solved your- Oh sorry… I mean 'KID's' riddle."
"Did you now? And what did it say?" The magician asked with curiosity, not showing how interested he was in knowing how much they understood.
"Why don't you tell us first what his biggest fan understood from it~?" The Osakan proposed, deciding to play his game.
Kaito chuckled in return and displaying abashment, scratched the back of his head "Sorry, didn't really have the time to ponder over it~"
Hakuba sighed heavily, already tired with their beating around the bush. He was sure his classmate wouldn't tell them anything anyway on his own record. But he could try and provoke him to slip something. "Kuroba, you are aware this heist is a trap, right?" He asked with a serious voice.
The magician snorted, rolling his eyes. "Hate to break it to you, but every heist is a trap. KID-sama probably even intends to have them this way, since he's the one telling the police about each, allowing them to prepare."
Unfazed with his words, the Brit continued with his stoic voice. "I'm not talking about the police and you know it. A few months ago the opera management seemed desperate to get KID's attention. And it seems they reached their goal, since they stopped with their specific advertisements."
"Oh? So you're saying somebody had commercials directed at KID? Too bad I don't really have much time for television. Might have been amusing to watch. It must have been interesting if it fazes you that much."
Those words didn't convince Saguru at all. "So you say you didn't know? Interesting. Why do you suppose they stopped then?"
Kaito shrugged, with his face uninterested. "How would I know? Maybe they were just looking for more publicity and got it, or came to their senses and decided not to annoy KID-sama anymore, or just got bored with it. The possibilities are endless. Shouldn't you figure it out, rather than asking me?"
The detective grimaced slightly, but he guessed he could play that game, if there wasn't any other way. "Because you tend to have an interesting point of view on some cases. Especially considering the situation around KID." He sighed and added more to himself. "I surely do hope you are right about this and that Furuhata Megumi is not in any danger. But I guess we will have to look into her, just to be sure."
There was a brief pause and stillness on Kaito's side. It wouldn't mean much with anybody else, but Hakuba was sure that for KID it meant that he managed to surprise him and make him feel at least uncomfortable. So it was clear that he didn't want them to know about that actress's involvement.
"Well, you probably should. Better safe than sorry, right?" The magician replied lightly, with his Poker Face back in place. "Anyway, if that's all, I'll be on my way. Unlike some people, I have to get up in the morning to go to school tomorrow."
Rubbing his irritated skin after finally tearing the beard from his chin, Hattori grimaced, hearing this comment "First school and then your 'errands' huh?" He teased.
"Yeah, got a problem with that?"
Heiji smirked at that. "Nah, why would I?" He crossed his arms over his chest, deciding to continue his tease. "So? What are you so busy with everyday anyway that you don't even have time to figure out riddles from your idol?"
"Who knows... Maybe I'm a new addition to a secretive and murderous criminal organization?" He offered, wondering.
Conan shot him a shocked stare and Hattori just narrowed his eyes. "That's not funny dude..."
"Who said that it was supposed to be?" He asked with a wry grin.
Hakuba grimaced. "Could you be serious, Kuroba?"
Kaito let out an ominous chuckle. "Who said I'm not? See ya~" He added and started jogging away.
The detectives heard sounds of energetic music coming from his misplaced headphone, before he put it back into his ear. They stood there for a few moments, slightly disturbed by his words.
It was all wrong. Shinichi rubbed his nose bridge and looked after the teen jogging away. He figured that the lack of sleep and stress nagged too strongly on his paranoia. It wasn't just any guy. It was KID. The one who always jumps after him whenever he is falling and who tends to tag along, risking getting caught just to make sure others are safe. The boy smiled gently. Hakuba was right. That idiot is probably doing the same thing now - just trying hard to protect them while acting as the bad guy so they would finally leave him alone. Shinichi started to wonder why he was so desperate to shake the detectives off his tail. He kept giving them hints about his identity and didn't act like he was scared that they would turn him to the police. But if Shinichi would add to the equation what he just reminded himself of, it was possible that KID was in deep trouble and refused to drag the detectives down with him. That surely did sound like him...
"Hakuba-kun... so what did you discover about the heist?" He asked curiously, turning to his fellow detectives.
Did Tantei-kun really think he was working for guys like that? Kaito wondered, switching the music in his headphones back to the opera he's been listening to before, when he was sure the detectives were far enough. He didn't mean to say that honestly. He was just annoyed with the little imp's doubt and inquisitiveness, so he just let his mouth spurt out some nonsense. He never expected any of his detectives to actually consider it true, so the reaction of his favorite critic hurt him much more than he expected. It could also turn out to be troublesome now. The little guy could start investigating him even more, eager to find the non-existent connection. But he probably just had to deal with it when and if it came. He couldn't be bothered about it now, since he still had a lot to prepare for the upcoming heist. And everything had to be perfect.
He wondered if he should warn Megumi-chan that they might start asking her their precise questions, but decided against it. It would make her more nervous than she already was and unless the detectives brought it to the police, it was fine anyway. It wouldn't be such a problem if they figured that part out, and at least it would keep them occupied.
Aren't the misunderstandings just a lovely thing~? But at least now Kudo can somewhat try and move on. And it's a good thing because next chapter we're going to have a heist~ I'm looking forward to it~
I would love to promise you that I'll update next week, but seeing as things were lately... I'd rather not xD I can only say that I do intend to try - especially that I really do want to write this heist~!
See you next chapter *grins*
