Ladies and gentlemen! I humbly welcome you to the next chapter of this story.
The birds need to be unburdened and the kaitou has to rely on his detectives to do it for him. Will they be able to hold back their curiosity and not snoop around too much?
Yay~! The new chapter is finally here – as always corrected by my lovely beta – madelita~!
I know, I know… you guys hate me now and I fully deserve it. I would like to explain myself with a lot of things that have been happening and distracting me from writing, but I don't think I should. All in all, 2016 was a bad year for me and my writing, I really hope this year will be far better, because I really want to continue this story and see where It will take us~
But let's move on and get to the review reply section (where I apologize a bit more xD – I just feel so sorry for making you guys wait so long!):
Dark Calamity of Princess - yeah I know what you mean x) I'm myself both amused with the idea of baffling the poor detectives and unsure how to deal with it at the same time. Aye - Hakuba's character is a bit of a problem. Especially because he does act differently in DC and MK. Honestly speaking I'm pretty sure that my image of him is mostly inspired by other fics, so I'm really glad that you guys don't seem to be annoyed with it x) Initially I didn't want Saguru to make an appearance in this story... But somehow he showed himself in chapter 2 and stayed here... Oh well xD
Strawberry - I'm always glad to get a review from you, but don't worry too much if you forget, or are feeling too tired to give me one ;) Actually, with how rarely I update, I wouldn't be surprised if you guys got really angry with me and decided to not review me anymore *sweat drop*
LadyShadow26 - so many reviews that I finally did give into temptation and replied in PM - oh well... Bad, bad me ;)
Jawq - oh dear me... I've been blushing when I first read this and I am blushing now, as I'm replying to you x) I'm very pleased you hold my little story in such high regard~ I do hope I won't end up disappointing you (aside from rare and infrequent updated that is =.=')
Mists - haha xD Yeah - it would be fun to see birds poop on Hei-chan, but I honestly think Kaito would have done his best to teach his pigeons to NOT drop their load on his pristine suit xD I'm not sure when Saguru will fully connect the dots, but hopefully we will get there as well (not that he will be willing to believe he has a witch of all things in his class) ;)
winxander - omg - I'm so sorry! I really, really am. It's just that with so much that has happened here already I need to be able to sit down for a few hours straight and focus only on writing. And of course life happened - family, work, holidays - everything demanding so much attention that I wasn't able to put my thoughts into logical sentences, making everything I came up with sound simply awkward. Really - if not for the fact that I felt bad about leaving you guys I might have gave up at some point... But fear not! I shall continue this (even if I end up lacking sleep... maan! Why can't I drink coffee..?)
TokusatsuLuv - your wish has finally came true~! Hopefully you will like this chapter as well (although not as many laughs here this time).
So without further delay…
Please enjoy and review! :)
Chapter 35: Where the doves rest
With the suit in Heiji's backpack, the two detectives left the house. But they didn't get far when the Osakan decided to break the comfortable silence between them.
"So? What was it really all about?"
Conan raised an eyebrow at his friend. "And by 'it,' you mean..?"
Hattori shot him a bemused glare, clearly showing that he wasn't buying his act. "I mean you squealing like a kiddy and jumping all over Kuroba."
"Oh... That..." he mumbled, trying to buy some time.
"Yeah, that. So~?" The tanned detective leaned over his friend with a smug expression. "Or would you prefer me to ask Kuroba about the details~?"
Shinichi failed to hide his grimace. He was pretty sure that the magician would hold his end of their silent agreement and avoid telling Hattori what happened back then. The problem was that knowing him, he would make the situation even more awkward than the truth would. The detective didn't even want to start wondering what he could come up with. The boy sighed internally, holding back the urge to rub his temples. Hakuba was right... Kuroba definitely had a power to invoke headaches.
Heiji smirked and raised an eyebrow, showing that he had no intention of backing out. Conan would even risk a bet that he was fully aware of what was going though in his head. Sometimes having detective friends seemed far less appealing than usual. He sighed heavily, coming to the only reasonable solution.
"Jeez, there's not much to say. I decided to follow your twisted logic about distracting him from the whole fishy situation. Somehow it ended up with him squealing with my voice and annoying the hell out of me, so I tried to shut him up." He placed a hand over his heart and continued with a mocking tone: "I solemnly promise to think twice before following your lead again. Happy now?" he added with an annoyed glare.
The Osakan narrowed his eyes and hummed thoughtfully, straightening up, while Shinichi mentally crossed his fingers. "Not buying it. Might be true, but it's not the full story, is it?"
Conan felt his eyebrow twitch, but remained silent. A stray thought crossed his mind, whether he was just as annoying to Ran at times.
"You wouldn't have avoided explaining if that was all to it. Besides!" Heiji added, cutting off Shinichi who was opening his mouth to argue. "You were a bit too desperate to keep him from squealing and it didn't sound like anything humiliating. So my guess is that you knew what was coming. Meaning he was recreating a scene he witnessed~ And you didn't want him to finish it." He grinned at his shrunken friend. "It must have been some kind of a humiliating scene you don't want others, namely me, to know about. And since it was some kind of a kiddy act, my guess is that it had to have been somehow related to Neechan~ I doubt he would make fun if it was related to a case," he added, waving the possibility off.
Kudo could obviously deny that claim, but not only he didn't want to lie, he was also sure that Hattori wouldn't let it go unless he managed to produce something more reasonable. He sighed again, dropping his shoulders. "Yeah, yeah... great deduction," he grumbled, not bothering to hide his displeasure.
"Huh? You're not going to reward me with telling me the story?" Heiji pouted.
Conan gave him a flat glare. "No. Leave it."
"Come on! I promise I won't laugh?" he asked with a huge grin on his face.
Shinichi's stare was as unimpressed as it could get. "Like I would believe you."
Heiji laughed at that and tried poking his friend to get the answer a couple more times, leaving it be only when they finally got on the bus.
To be fully honest, Shinichi didn't think about this before, because too much was happening. But now, when they were already off the bus and walking towards their destination, he got a little worried that KID could have given them a false address, intending to get rid of the two detectives and give Hakuba a slip. It would be a simple task for him, even in his current state. Unfortunately, all he could do was hope that wasn't the case, as he and Hattori were already approaching the apartment building.
Heiji, who apparently had no such suspicions, huffed with annoyance when they noticed that the lift inside was out of order. "Jeez… Don't tell me that idiot intended to climb all way using the stairs? It's ten stories high!" he grumbled as they made their way up. "It's obviously been out of order for some time now. 'Not gonna overstrain myself' my ass…" he continued ranting, while his shrunken friend remained silent.
Conan couldn't help but wonder the thief really overlooked this detail, or simply had no idea about it, since he has never been there before. He put his hands in his pockets and his fingers brushed the cell phone inside, as the detective wondered whether he should give Hakuba a call, just in case. With a heavy sigh he retracted his hands, rejecting the idea. Kuroba had more than enough time if he wanted to make his escape and there was a chance that he didn't, and instead managed to convince Saguru to get some rest. Gods only knew how much he needed it. Also… After seeing Kaito's earnest expression when he said that he would repay them for saving his life, Shinichi had a feeling that he wouldn't be lying to them. At least not about serious matters. Obviously he would still play little tricks on them. It would probably mean that the world was ending, if he ever stopped doing that. Conan snorted with amusement and noticed that Hattori was observing him with a raised eyebrow. He shook his head, indicating that it wasn't anything important. The Osakan just shrugged in response and continued climbing the stairs.
"Anyway, why don't you check that monitor Kuroba gave you?" Heiji asked and Shinichi looked at him with surprise. "You know, check if the birds are inside? Don't know about you, but I'm not looking forward to running up and down the stairs just to chase them back, unless we have no other choice."
Shinichi wanted to slap himself on the face. How could he have overlooked that? Apparently Hakuba wasn't the only one lacking sleep. "Right…" he mumbled already reaching for his inner pocket. It was extremely doubtful that the thief would have predicted this outcome beforehand and planted the trackers before getting poisoned in a place he has never been before. Meaning, if the signal did show this place…
He turned it on, as Kaito instructed him and the monitor reviled three red dots near their location. It didn't show altitude of the trackers, but they could easily guess that the birds were most likely inside the apartment they were headed for. Conan smirked at his friend.
"Seems we're in luck. Unless of course your acting skills will turn out to be not enough to fool even bird-brains."
Hattori glared at him with annoyance.
When they finally got to the top floor, they noticed that there were three apartment doors, two of which were blocked with wooden planks. Heiji made his way up the stairs to check door to the roof, while Conan walked towards the only available door.
It looked damaged by time and neglect. The locks looked old as well, nothing indicating frequent usage. Shinichi gave a closer look to the crack between the handle and the lock. Only then he noticed that it might be something more than just a simple chink in the wood. The detective turned around to glance his friend, who in the meantime got back on the floor and was keeping watch at the staircase, to make sure nobody would witness his lock picking attempt. With a heavy sigh, Conan pushed the card into the crack and took out the thief's tools. He convinced himself that it was fine since they were invited, but it still felt odd to use this skill to break into an apartment.
It took Shinichi far longer than he expected to get the lock to open, but finally, after several minutes, it gave out the anticipated click. The detective smiled with satisfaction and internally promised himself to practice a bit more in the future. After all, however prohibited normally, this was a useful skill to have. He pushed the door handle and turned to beckon to Hattori to follow him, but the Osakan was already walking over, so he just stepped inside instead.
Truthfully speaking, they had no idea what to expect from Kaitou KID's hideout. Obviously enough, the interior should have been nondescript, to not give any suspicions to anyone who would stumble on the place by accident. But somehow both of the detectives expected the place to reflect the cheerful nature of its owner. However, the room they entered was grim and shabby. They paused at the genkan, unsure whether to take off their shoes, since the floor didn't seem to have seen a broom in a long time to say the least. There wasn't any shoe-stand or a closet where they could search for slippers. The whole place didn't really look abandoned, but, just like the door, definitely neglected. They looked at each other, feeling a bit lost, and silently agreed to leave their footwear on. Hopefully the hidden part of the apartment would be more inviting.
In this part, there was a short hallway with a single door leading to the right - Hattori took a peek inside and as expected, it was a tiny bathroom. The hall led to a room, furnished only with a bed and a wide closet. The large wardrobe divided the kitchen annex from the sleeping space. The bed was sitting right in front of the entrance and under the only really eye-catching thing - a very spacious window. It was foggy with dirt, not really showing anything outside, or rather, as the detectives deduced, not allowing anyone from the outside to look inside. Shinichi was tempted to check behind the bed, if there was a parachute, glider or at least a rope, making the window into an easy escape path, but decided it could wait for now. Instead, he walked over to the kitchen area. He located the refrigerator and thankfully didn't notice any light, since he didn't feel like closing and opening the front door with the lock picks again. He took a peek inside, just to make sure that there wasn't any electric malfunction that could have caused this. He definitely didn't want for either of them to trigger the safety mechanisms installed by Kuroba, whatever they were. Inside the fridge, he noticed a convenience store plastic bag with take-out food and an apple. He winced involuntarily, easily imagining that this was more or less how the magician's diet looked like for the last month. He closed the fridge and cast a glance at Hattori, who had the same disturbed expression. Without commenting, they proceeded to the broom closet and opened it.
Heiji snorted while reaching into it. "Come to think of it, he overdid it with this."
Shinichi raised an eyebrow at him. "Hm? What do you mean?"
"Just take a look of this place." The Osakan made a wide gesture. "You'd really expect the owner to even bother buying a broom?"
Shinichi snorted. "You know, some people do that hoping it will motivate them, or at least give them an option to try and clean up."
"True." Hattori took out the broom and smirked shoving Conan his hand. "But this thing was recently used as well. Even the brush is not coated with dust the way it should be, if were it to be left alone~"
The boy chuckled. "Well you can tell him how badly he screwed up when we get back~" he offered and stepped into the empty closet, gently pressing its back.
"I just might~" Heiji replied with a smile, watching the back wall pop back, opening a narrow corridor, closed on the other side. "Alright, guess its cosplay time," he added, taking off his backpack.
"Yeah, good luck with it~" Shinichi teased with a smirk, earning himself a flat glare. "Call out, if you need help."
"Don't count on it," the Osakan retorted, already taking off his shirt.
"If you say so~" he said while retreating to the 'living' area.
Having nothing better to do in the meantime, the shrunken detective decided to look around a little bit. He was slightly worried that somebody else might have come before them, but he doubted he could notice even if they did. Hopefully KID's safety precautions would have caught any unwanted guests. So instead, he decided to give in to his curiosity a bit, while waiting for Hattori to finish. He wanted to see what he could deduce about Kuroba's recent activities from this place.
After putting the suit on, Heiji was surprised to notice that despite the looks of it, it was rather comfortable to wear. The shoes were very flexible and even the cape didn't get in his way as much as he expected it to. Doing stunts in it would still feel awkward, but it should prove to be possible to do it without ripping the fabric apart.
He turned around, assessing his outfit, before stepping around the wardrobe to show himself to his friend, while staying away from the window light - just in case.
He spread his arms and grinned. "So~? How do I look~?"
Conan turned to him with interest. "You forgot the gloves. But besides that and the dark skin..?" He smirked. "I'd say I'm itching to try and hit you with a ball~"
Heiji twitched while putting on the gloves. "Don't even think about it..." he groaned recalling the last time he got hit and flexed his fingers to fit the hand wear better. Kaito's fingers were apparently longer, so it didn't fit too well. Thankfully the fabric was flexible, so it shouldn't get damaged. "Jeez... a few seconds in the uniform and I feel like I already understand Kuroba's wariness around you better."
Shinichi chuckled and grinned, spreading his arms. "Magic~"
"Yeah~" The Osakan chuckled back, making an energetic turn, so that the cape would swirl elegantly after him and tipped his hat. "I'll be off then~" He had to admit that it was kind of fun.
The shrunken detective rolled his eye on this act. "Just don't get too carried away. I will hit you with the ball, if you'll try to cover me with glitter or do anything else like that," he warned him with amusement.
As much as Heiji would've loved to fool around a bit more, he couldn't really waste too much time and risk the birds taking the flight outside. So instead, he just waved back at his friend, and without further delay, he walked towards the narrow passage.
As he entered the next room, he was surprised to see how high it was. The place wasn't overly spacious, with more or less 40 square meters surface, but it seemed to be 2 stories high. Heiji hummed quietly to himself, noticing the unfinished edges halfway up the wall, showing where the floor of the upper level previously was. He assumed that this place was connected to the outhouse on the roof. The room didn't have much furniture and looked more like some sort of a gym than anything else. As Kaito said, there was a desk, not that far away from where Heiji was, standing by the wall on the right, with a big, probably around 3 gallon water bottle sitting by it. Aside from that, there was some gymnastic equipment – balls in various sizes, weights, handrails, lines and poles hanged far enough from each other that it would be near impossible to jump from one to another. The wall was covered with more and less convenient cracks and handles as well. The detective noticed that in several places the beams supporting the ceiling were slightly damaged and he wondered whether it was because some of the loops broke off, or if they were made by Kaito practicing swinging with his grappling hook.
Heiji noted that the doorway from the corridor was walled up. He looked around where the entrance from the rooftop was, to see if it was similarly secured, when his attention was caught by quiet cooing. Immediately he recalled why he was there, and following the sound, he focused on the few birds that were looking back at him from a window sill. Kuroba was right that it was high up. The apartment part didn't actually have any windows and the only ones were a part of the outhouse. He held back an urge to swallow under the piercing gaze of the birds, who seemed to be judging him. He ridiculed himself for starting to worry whether they wouldn't see through the disguise. He snorted and smirked. Mentally crossing his fingers, he did how Kaito instructed him to, clapping his hands, spreading them and snapping the fingers, in what he hoped to be a fluent move. Heiji barely held back from twitching as several things happened afterwards.
As the birds took flight, suddenly dynamic music started playing from speakers located apparently all around the room. Heiji huffed to calm himself down, figuring that it was most likely the clap that triggered it. Bemused, he only wondered, if it was actually really a part of the signal for the birds, or did Kuroba just want to mess with him. Meanwhile, seven birds were circling around the room, while three more were still sitting on the window sill, observing everything from safe distance. The detective was surprised to notice that neither of them was white, as he expected earlier. It made it difficult to tell which ones were actually Kaito's, but that was most likely the point. Hopefully the right ones would obey and land on his outstretched hands, which he tried to hold as still as possible. He didn't manage to hold back a twitch however when suddenly three of the birds started simultaneously, well… getting rid of their smelly load.
"Talk about nasty…" he grumbled quietly to himself and stilled, as the three started descending towards him.
Instinctively he reached out to the closest one, offering it his hand as a landing spot. The pigeon gracefully took the invitation, while other two helped themselves to his shoulders. A bird on his right one pecked him on the cheek without hesitance and Heiji bit back an urge to wince, recalling how Aya-chan did the same on Kudo and the magician called it a kiss. The pigeon on his left shoulder meanwhile stroked its head over his cheek. Involuntary he smiled softly, acknowledging how much the birds must have missed their master. Carefully he moved his hand with the third pigeon closer to himself and although he expected it, the trio surprised him with how swiftly they moved from their spots and wiggled their way underneath his clothes.
It proved to be difficult to stay still as the birds tickled him, while settling themselves into positions. He sighed with relief when they finally stopped and reached for one of the feathery hitchhikers. The pigeon thankfully didn't try to resist and only cooed with what it sounded like surprise, as he took it out.
"It's alright, I'll just take it off, ok?" he mumbled, before recalling that he wasn't supposed to talk to the pigeons.
Thankfully it didn't seem to mind, as it only cooed back and patiently waited for Heiji to relief it from its burden. After he managed to take the camera off, he looked closer at the bird's leg. It seemed to be a little bruised, but it didn't look serious. The pigeon finally started wiggling a bit, so he loosened his grip to allow it to turn around. After it did, it crawled onto his shoulder and puffed its feathers, seeming content to be there.
Heiji couldn't help himself and snorted, scratching its head gently, while smiling at it. The bird seemed pleased with it, as it cooed happily back. Next he wanted to reach for another dove, but something caught his attention. He noticed one of what he assumed was a stray pigeon, sitting on the desk and arranging its feathers. The poor thing had a plastic loop of sorts around its neck, most likely a disposed can holder. The Osakan wasn't sure if it would allow him to help it, but figured it was worth a shot.
"Hey there, little guy," he said softly, while slowly walking towards the desk. It obviously could see him, in the flashy white suit and all, so it was useless to try and sneak up to it anyway. "I'm not gonna hurt you, you know. Just wanna take off that neckl- what ouch! Stop that!" he groaned at the pigeon seated on his shoulder, which picked that moment to peck his earlobe.
Having his attention, the bird cooed angrily, clearly wanting something. Too bad Heiji had no clue what it could be. He clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"Look, I just want to help your friend there, ok?" Hattori looked at the bird on the desk, which tilted its head curiously and got a painful peck on the cheek for his effort. "Oi! Quit it! Oh, no no no…" he mumbled in distress, noticing that the birds still tucked under his clothes were getting restless. He gently patted them through the fabric and otherwise froze, hoping that this would please his assaulter enough to cease the attack and calm down the two remaining pigeons.
His eyebrow twitched. Great. Now he was reduced to pleasing a bird-brain. His only consolation was that there was nobody else to witness this. Thankfully it seemed to work, as the pigeon gave one last coo and puffed its feathers, still stubbornly clinging to Heiji's shoulder. Somehow it looked like it was now pissed. The Osakan eyed the wild bird and decided to try and take care of it later, proceeding instead on taking out next one out of his clothes.
From that point it went rather smoothly. Unsurprisingly, the pigeons were apparently used to this kind of treatment and didn't object to his slightly clumsy attempts. Heiji worried a bit over the leg of the last bird, as it was swollen significantly. However, it didn't seem to be broken and there weren't any visible cuts. More so, the pigeon didn't seem to have any trouble standing on it, so he decided to leave it be. Being done with his primary task, he decided to attempt helping the wild one again. Unfortunately the other two seemed to share the first bird's opinion... whatever it was. Annoyed, he tried to shoo them off of himself, but they clung to him stubbornly, so he had to give up.
Having no other choice, Heiji decided to call for assistance. "Oi, Kudo! Come here, will you?" After all, it didn't matter anymore if those three would get spooked by a newcomer.
"I'm here, what's up?" the boy replied, carefully passing though the closet. "The birds giving you a hard time~?"
The three pigeons cooed with surprise and clenched their tiny claws tighter on Heiji's clothes. The detective scratched head of one of them, to calm it down and it cooed with content. Funny, somehow they didn't seem all that scared, more like uncertain. Seeing its friend getting scratched, another dove pressed its head into Heiji's cheek, as if demanding attention as well. "Already done with that. But these guys don't want to let me help that other one." He pointed with his head towards the desk.
"Maybe they want you to play with, or feed them?" Conan shrugged, looking at the wild pigeon with the plastic loop on its neck.
"Well, I can't feed them, if I don't go over to the desk. And they don't want me to." He took a step towards the said piece of furniture and got a peck on the ear for his effort. "Ouch! See..?" He poked carefully the bird that pecked him on the beak. It got angry and retaliated. "And it's not like I have any idea how to play with them…"
Shinichi snorted with amusement and moved towards the wild pigeon. "Alright, alright, I'll see what I can do. What's with the music anyway?"
Heiji was tending to the needy birds when the offhand question distracted him and he stopped, receiving disappointed coos and pokes in return. "Ah that, I think it's clap triggered. Started when I tried signaling the doves to come." He clapped his hands again, expecting for the tunes to stop.
That didn't happen. Instead he got hit a few times by the pigeons' wings as they hurryingly took flight and headed towards the window sill. Unfortunately their sudden take off spooked other birds, including the one on the desk and caused them to follow to higher ground as well.
Shinichi clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Nice work, Hattori."
"Oi, it's not like I could have known," he grumbled back, staring at the birds above and assessing a path to them.
He probably was able to get there, but he was pretty sure that it would only spook away the wild pigeon.
"Maybe I should try calling those three back? The wild one might fly down again..." he mumbled.
"Or it'll decide to leave, since this place has gotten restless. Better try bringing out the food. With some luck, it's hungry and will come down by itself. I'll go bring the bowl for water," Conan replied after one last curious glance over the interior and turned around towards the passage.
Hattori made an acknowledging sound and walked over to the desk to find the grain and some container for it. While opening a shelf, he wondered how Kuroba used to act with wild pigeons and if that tame trio wasn't stray before. Heiji didn't have much knowledge about birds, but those didn't look very special, like some breeds tended to.
He found the grain bag easily and as soon as he took it out, despite the music he heard the birds restlessly tapping with their tiny claws against the window sill above. He looked up and noticed that the three he helped before were now walking back and forth, seemingly unsure what to do. He wondered if they were expecting some kind of signal from him... Crap. Well, hopefully they would come down without it. He ducked over the desk again searching, but it didn't seem like there was any container for the grain. Kuroba did tell them to just leave the bag open, but there was a lot of food and it wouldn't do any good, if the birds got only access to the upper layer and most likely ended up wasting the rest.
"What are you looking for?" Conan asked, placing a plastic bowl on the desk and assessing the huge (for his size) water bottle. He sighed with annoyance. "Could you fill this up?" There was no way he could pick up and handle something weighting nearly as much as he did.
"Actually, was there another bowl like this?"
"Yeah, why?"
Heiji shrugged. "Just figured it would be a better idea to take the grain out of the bag and give the birds better access to it."
"Good point, but you fetch it. It's on the upper shelf and I'm not struggling second time to get one."
Heiji held back a snort. He was feeling sorry for his friend, even more so since they've learned that it might be permanent, but at the same time he couldn't help feeling amused by some of the situations. Instead, without comment he placed the grain bag on the floor to make filling the bowl with it easier for the shrunken boy. "Yeah sure~" he replied and headed towards the exit.
He did hear urgent coos from the window sill, so he cast the birds a glance and waved at them, before turning back towards the passage. He was about to step into the closet, when he heard the wings beating and felt the tiny claws scrapping his clothes. He barely managed to stop as the three birds swooped to hide underneath the suit.
"Oi, oi, what the..?"
"Maybe they thought you were beckoning to them, when you waved?" Conan wondered out loud as he stepped closer his friend, watching the pigeons disappear with interest.
"Yeah, well, great," Heiji grumbled, turning back to the room and picking out first of the doves. He poked its beak gently. "Don't follow me, get it?" The bird tried to peck his finger back.
Hattori sighed and threw the pigeon into the air to make it fly off, before reaching for another. The bird however apparently had a different idea, as it turned around and landed on the Osakan's shoulder, cooing with what sounded like grudge.
Shinichi snorted with amusement. "Alright, I'll go get the bowl, you figure this out~"
"Thanks... Jeez, what is it that you want? You have your food there!" he asked the pigeons, as he took out the third one, wondering what he was expected to do.
Conan poked his head out of the passage for a moment. "Oh, but don't clap again, will you? The wild one might leave if you do." He smirked, hearing Heiji groan at that.
Hattori had to admit he was tempted to shoo them away by clapping, especially as one of them started pecking him on the cheek again, apparently urging him to do... something. Annoyed, he snatched the persistent bird off his shoulder.
"Jeez! What do you want?" The pigeon cooed back as if trying to answer him. Heiji glared at it, not understanding a thing. "Alright, enough is enough..." He let go of the bird and took off the hat and monocle. "I'm not your master, see?" he said to the dove on his palm and cast glances on the other two on his shoulders.
The pigeon on his palm cooed questioningly, glanced at his face, then into the hat and back on his face again. Heiji was hoping that it was beginning to understand, when the bird jumped off his hand and onto the brim of the hat, looked back at him and jumped into the hat, cooing again, as if asking whether that was what he wanted. The detective wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh or groan, so instead he turned to face the wall and pressed his forehead to it.
"Maybe they want you to cuddle them?" He heard Shinichi offer from behind his back.
Hattori shifted a little to glare at his friend, in case he was mocking him again. Not that he could blame him if he did. Normally he would have found it funny himself, at least if it wasn't so ridiculous and annoying.
However Conan wasn't laughing and just shrugged. "I mean, Kuroba usually does seem to be close with his birds and it is obvious that they are precious to him. I have no idea how affectionate pigeons can get, but Aya-chan did show some attachment. It is possible that they were also worried about their master, since he broke the routine and didn't tend to them after the heist."
Heiji had to admit that it did make sense, especially with how jealous the birds acted when he wanted to take care of the wild one and how demanding they felt when he did pet them absently. He wasn't quite sure how to do it, to make it comfortable for the pigeons, so he had to improvise. He took the pigeon out of the hat and loosely curled his arms around it. The other two reacted to this and moved to his forearms, cuddling back to him. Apparently this was more or less what they wanted. Although it did make Heiji feel rather awkward, forcing a small blush out of him, thankfully hidden under his lowered bangs.
"I'm gonna give an earful to Kuroba for not mentioning this..." he grumbled softly to not startle the birds.
Shinichi was busy filling one bowl with the grain and just snorted at the comment. He tried not staring at his friend as to not make him feel more awkward, but just a glance was enough to give him a heartwarming feeling. It also made him wonder how much Kaito missed this. Instead of commenting however, he decided to take a look around, leaving the filled bowl alone to encourage the wild pigeons to come down and eat. The place seemed too small for Kuroba to conduct a full rehearsal before a heist, or really break a sweat through training. He imagined that this was probably where the magician could barely practice skills he wouldn't want others to see him doing, or just, well... literally hang around.
Earlier, as he surveyed the 'living' part of the apartment, he was surprised to notice that the bed didn't seem to be used lately. Unlike the window, which he was sure was frequently opened. As expected, he also found a rope strapped to the bed and neatly hidden behind it. But he did wonder where Kaito had slept for the past month.
Looking around the place his attention was drawn to a foam mat and a folded blanket next to it. Surely it could be treated as a makeshift bed, but the detective wasn't sure why wouldn't the thief use an actual one instead. Pushing the thought away for later, he continued with his superficial survey.
As expected, all of the equipment seemed well maintained and frequently used. The detective found himself getting curious to see how exactly the magician used all of it in his training, especially having a vague idea of what KID was capable of.
After a little while, he turned around to see whether the wild pigeons took the bait and he wasn't disappointed. He noticed also that somewhere in between Heiji decided to sit down on the floor and was still tending to the three birds. It was actually a cute sight. He moved his gaze back to the wild doves and started slowly approaching them, after noticing the one with junk around his neck. As he stepped closer, a few birds turned to glance at him, but didn't seem worried about his proximity. Appeased by it, he closed in on the one he intended to grab. The pigeon seemed a bit uneasy about it and inched away, but thankfully was more interested in the food than the human, so after a few moments of waiting for it to calm down Conan was able to put his hand on the bird and press it to the desk. It clearly didn't like it and tried to break free, flapping its wings and wiggling away, making it hard to grab the piece of plastic. But somehow he did manage that, just a moment before the pigeon slipped from under the detective's grasp and flew away. As it sat on the window sill, it puffed its feathers and started vigorously arranging and cleaning them. Shinichi snorted with amusement seeing it.
"Nice job~"
Conan turned around just in time to see one of the tamed pigeon land next to the grain bowl and start eating. Heiji already got up and with another bird on his head was making his way towards his friend.
"Thanks~ So you're finished as well?"
"More or less, I think." He shrugged. "Seems that they are a bit less needy now, so hopefully they won't freak out again when I'll try to leave. I'm just unsure what to do with the music…"
Conan winced at that. "Yeah, well I didn't notice any controls around here and it would be better, if you didn't try agitating the birds anymore with snapping your fingers again. Maybe it will turn off by itself when we close the room?"
"Worth a shot, I guess…" Hattori replied and raised his hand.
He offered it to the bird on his head and after it jumped on his palm, he moved it towards the desk. Obediently, it hopped off and joined its friend at the meal. The third one seemed to have dozed off on Heiji's shoulder. He gently stroked its feathers to wake it up, but it didn't seem to want to move towards the offered hand. The Osakan clicked his tongue and poked it carefully, urging to move. Reluctantly, it finally did and moved on to the desk, but instead of eating, it just puffed its feathers and continued dozing. Hattori snorted and filled the other bowl with water.
"They are kind of cute, when they don't try to act like little terrorists~" he admitted, seeing one of them start drinking the offered water. The dove looked back at him and cooed questioningly, so he scratched its head gently.
Shinichi snorted. "You want to adopt them~?"
Heiji chuckled back. "Nah~ But I do get why Kuroba is so fond of them~" he replied, already walking towards the passage with his friend.
"Yeah~ By the way... It might be better if you didn't complain about it to him when we get back." The Osakan raised an eyebrow at him as they walked out of the cupboard and closed its back. "I mean about him not telling you to caress the birds. He obviously felt bad about forgetting about them altogether, so I imagine it could have simply slipped his mind to mention this. Or he could have felt too awkward to say anything about it. You did make fun of his phobia beforehand after all..."
"Oi, give me a break. I already apologized for it..." Hattori complained while detaching the cape from his shoulders.
"I know, and I'm pretty sure he forgave you already, but the damage's been done. It wouldn't be strange if he wanted to be more careful about what he slips around you. Especially now, when he is vulnerable like this."
The Osakan sighed, changing the shirt. "Yeah, guess you have a point there."
Thankfully the music seemed to stop, as Conan predicted, when they closed the back of the closet, so they didn't have to worry about leaving it playing.
Before leaving, Hattori went to the toilet, leaving Shinichi to his musings about what he found in the apartment. As expected he didn't get too much information, especially since he didn't know how the place usually looked like. Mostly he only managed to confirm what he suspected before they even came in. Recently the place was used, but only for short amounts of time at once. There were signs of frequent rush of the owner, which he doubted was planted there intentionally. He didn't really hope to find any clues to what exactly kept the magician occupied and unfortunately he didn't. Too bad. He didn't really want to question Kaito too much about it, but it didn't seem as if there was any other way. However, because of the fish incident, he decided to leave the talk for another day. Hattori would be in Tokyo until Thursday, which left them enough time to meet again and hopefully then Kuroba wouldn't be struggling anymore with the anxiety-invoking side effects of the poison mixture.
He was thinking about everything they deduced already about Kaito and his past, when he heard Heiji speak up with perplexed tone. "Oi, Kudo? You might want to come here..."
"What is it-?" he cut himself off, opening the door and gapped at the sight before him. "What did you do, Hattori..?" he groaned with annoyance, pointing at the back of the shower, which was apparently a hidden doorway – now cracked open, showing a dark space behind it...
"Nothing! I just saw that the shower knob seemed to be lowered, so I wanted to check if it wasn't getting loose..." he trailed off seeing the glare Shinichi was giving him. "Oh come on! It's his own fault for leaving it like this! But I do wonder what is inside..." he added, looking into the darkness.
"Oi, oi, Hattori! He warned us not to snoop around too much, or else we might set something off!"
"Yeah, I know that. And I don't intend to rummage the place, you know. But the security is off, right? It won't hurt if we just take a look around. Don't tell me you're not curious," he added with a sly smirk.
Conan clicked his tongue. There was no arguing there. He was extremely curious, especially that this seemed like a place where Kuroba might be keeping his more interesting things. And who knew? They might end up finding the Crimson Dagger. He definitely would feel better, if they could give it back already. Sighing in defeat, he turned on his watch-flashlight and glared at his friend.
"Alright, but don't touch anything in there. If we set anything off, I will blame you for it!" he warned Heiji, but smirked at the grin his friend responded with.
The thing they noticed first was how thick the walls of this room were. Even the floor was a bit higher than in the other parts. It didn't seem that there were any windows here either. Just as Shinichi was slowly looking around with his light beam, the lights turned on.
"Hattori!" he hissed with annoyance, looking back and noticing his friend with his hand on the light switch. "Do I have to spell it out to you? Don't touch anything!"
"Relax, we only have to look out not to mess with any equipment... And it seems there is a lot to watch out for here..." he mumbled in awe, taking in the sight before him.
Conan turned around to take a look at what Heiji meant. The place definitely looked far less friendly than the previous two rooms. It was about the same size as the one with the pigeons, although it was regular height. There were a few closets there and desk with a computer. But most of the area looked a bit like a shooting range. However, instead of the target it was the guns that were attached to contraptions on rails, allowing them to move around the room, both vertically and horizontally. All of them were pointing at one place with a semicircle painted on the floor. The wall behind it was chipped a lot, clearly damaged by the projectiles. Heiji whistled through his teeth.
"No wonder the room is soundproofed... Look, even the door is thickened," he said, while grabbing onto the door handle and taking a closer look at it. "Well, I guess it was only to be expected that he does have to train this as well..." he added grimly, clearly not liking the evidence of Kuroba facing life threatening situations on his heists.
"Yeah..." Shinichi mumbled, walking over to one of the guns to take a closer look at the contraption it was hooked on.
There were a total of ten of them, plus what looked like a sniper's rifle under the ceiling on the other side of the room. Additionally, there were what seemed boards behind each of the guns. Shinichi was pretty sure to see shooting targets painted on them, allowing the magician to practice dodging and shooting back at the same time, but it didn't seem to be the case. The detective froze noticing a life-sized picture of a man in a dark hat and fedora coat looking back at him. He didn't know the man, but the outfit did remind him of Gin and Vodka. He swallowed and checked the other boards, taking care not to walk before any gun barrel, or step behind the line of the shooting range, since he was unsure whether this wouldn't trigger it. Each board had a different person, but in the same getup.
"Oi, oi... You think these are the guys after Kuroba?" Hattori asked, as he walked over and noticed the pictures. "How did he get such pictures, anyway?"
Shinichi shrugged, taking out his phone to make photos of the faces. "They're too detailed to be from surveillance cameras, I think. My guess is that it's all Kuroba in different disguises, but I wouldn't put it past him, if those were the actual members of the Organization after him."
"Are these the same guys who got you in this state?"
"Not sure, could be. I don't recognize any of the faces here, but Haibara might... I could also try and look through the police files with Hakuba later on, to see if we can find any of these guys there."
Hattori made a confirming noise. "He probably uses these to get himself motivated to train, huh?" he mumbled and narrowed his eyes at what seemed like another board stuffed behind a closet.
"That, or he just wants to get used to seeing them, so he won't get overwhelmed by any emotions, in case they pop out before him. These pictures are quite detailed and different, meaning he either had a closer look at them already, or just played with his skills." Shinichi reasoned and grimaced. "But I don't know... somehow it doesn't feel like it was just him having fun in his free time."
Meanwhile Heiji approached the closet carefully and after confirming that the board didn't seem to be attached to anything, he took it out slowly.
"Oi, Kudo, take a look at this..." he said grimly.
"What do you have there-?" Conan paused noticing that the picture in Heiji's hands was crossed out.
"What do you think this means?"
Shinichi took a picture of the man with horseshoe mustache. "If I had to guess, I'd say that the guy got eliminated... One way or another."
"Oi, oi... you don't mean to say that Kuroba would-" Hattori spoke with shock, apparently ready to defend the magician, but Conan cut him off, shaking his head.
"I didn't mean him. I've already witnessed the Organization getting rid of their own, or at least attempt to. Kuroba could have gotten him caught by the police without knowing it, or this guy's higher ups could have gotten pissed with him." He shrugged, already going through a few possible scenarios and narrowed his eyes at the face. "But he does seem familiar. I think I saw his photo somewhere before..."
Heiji hummed, taking one last glance over the face on the picture, before putting it away. His gaze lingered on a small white tube, knocked over on a shelf next to a closet door. He walked over and took a peek inside, noticing bandages, ointments and some pill containers inside. He moved his gaze towards the shooting range, figuring that the magician could get hurt easily during training like this. He didn't like the thought however.
Shinichi walked over to the other side of the room. As he passed the closets arranged on the sides, he wondered what they held inside, but didn't dare to open either of them. While it was very probable that the Crimson Dagger was hidden somewhere there, it was most likely that this was the place where KID held his more hazardous equipment. He stopped at the back, near the computer, noticing that the monitor turned to face a green painted wall. He smirked noticing a small camera over the monitor, pointing at the chair and the wall.
"Think I found the hotel room in Vegas~" he said, glancing towards Hattori, who walked over and smirked as well.
"So it was actually a recoded background instead of a prepared one?"
"I guess it is less troublesome, if he knows how to do it. I'm actually surprised that he never recorded a heist notice with this."
"Who knows? Maybe he's planning on making one~"
Conan snorted at that. "Yeah, maybe. Anyway, let's get going. I don't think it's safe to search this place anyway."
"Yeah, don't think so either." Heiji grimaced. "Also, this place gives me the creeps..."
The shrunken sleuth made a confirming noise. "I know what you mean..."
It's not like they regretted finding the second hidden room. On the contrary, it gave them something specific to investigate and something which could help Shinichi figure out, whether he and KID were against the same group. And the detectives somehow doubted Kuroba would be willing to show it to them, at least not very soon. But on the other hand, it always made them grim to see so clearly that the magician was not only risking his life each time he went on a heist. He was also fully aware of it and did it anyway, for over two and a half years now.
They secured the hidden entrance, making sure that it didn't look off anymore and left the apartment with grim moods, locking it up. However they weren't allowed to keep on musing about their findings, since soon after they left the building, they heard a familiar scream and rushed to help, already expecting to see yet another corpse.
Kaito woke up, suddenly aware of presence in the room he was sleeping in. If he were honest, it was getting somewhat annoying, especially since he wasn't used to being disturbed like that while sleeping (excluding Aoko shouting her lungs out occasionally of course, but he didn't feel like it counted). At least this time he wasn't as confused and knew where he was right away. This is why he didn't bother to act asleep and slowly opened his eyes, focusing his gaze on the curtains, slowly swaying in the wind. The light seeping through the window had a reddish, warm tint to it, so he figured that it was already evening. He stretched a bit and turned his head, only to be surprised seeing the shrunken scientist instead of one of his detectives, as he expected.
He cleared his throat quietly. "Good evening Ojou-san~" he greeted her with a charming smile.
She glanced at him, apparently annoyed for some reason. "Good evening, KID-san. Sorry for waking you up, but I need to take a blood sample from you."
He made a confirming noise at the back of his throat. He didn't really feel comfortable with having his samples taken from him (his inner-kaitou screaming 'evidence!'), but he ignored it. It's not like it mattered anymore anyway. So instead he pulled himself up, forcing himself not to wince from pain and turned his arm towards her, while Haibara focused on her equipment she was busy laying on the side of the bed.
"I'm sorry for making you feel uncomfortable at your own house," he said gently, causing her to look up at him finally.
"What do you mean by that?" She frowned before looking down at his arm, putting a rubber band above the elbow.
"It appears to me, that you don't like me very much, Ojou-san." He held back a wince as she pulled the band a little too tight.
"You're just annoying me with the way you're calling me, KID-san," she replied with a glare and turned back to his elbow, before she patted the vein to make it stand out before she could take the sample.
"Oh, alright. How would you like me to call you then? By the way, feel free to use my name as well, when I'm out of the uniform. I'm quite sure the detectives managed to already slip it more than once~" He smirked at her and grunted as she pricked the needle in a bit too hard.
"You can drop this act as well. And call me whatever you want. I just don't like being treated condescendingly."
Kaito had to admit that she was getting on his nerves. He smiled sweetly at her and chirped. "Alright, Ai-chan~"
She glared at him again and he responded with an innocent grin. Haibara rolled her eyes and took the needle out, pressing a cotton ball in its place to prevent the bleeding. She was about to say something when a rose came into her view. Surprised, she raised her gaze at him.
"Where did you get that? You weren't supposed to leave this room, or move around, you know!" she warned him angrily.
"And I didn't. Honest!" He added seeing her heavy glare and sighed, placing a hand over his heart. "Thief's honor~" he offered with a smirk.
"Like that could convince me..."
He pouted. "That's rude you know," he pointed out. "I tend to keep my word."
She looked away, abashed by his scolding. He turned the flower between his fingers, realizing that she apparently had yet to figure out how to act around him. He held back a smirk. Well hopefully he could help her with that.
"Sorry, I guess. But where did you get the flower then?" she demanded, looking suspiciously at the said plant.
Kaito grinned at her. "What can I say~? Flowers tend to sprout out, when there's a woman in need of one~ I am but a humble messenger~"
She glared at him, clearly unimpressed. "I think I've told you that I don't want any special treatment. And I don't need a flower."
"Nonsense~! Every woman needs a flower, even if she doesn't want to admit it~ And this is how I tend to treat every woman. I would be giving you special treatment if I acted differently~" he added with a wink and presented her the rose again, with a brilliant smile.
It wasn't quite true, since he treated his female classmates differently, especially Aoko, but he supposed that didn't count here really.
She looked away, hiding a slight blush and took the flower. "Whatever. Thanks, I guess."
"You're welcome~"
She sighed gathering her things. "Oh, by the way. You might want to know that Kudo-kun and the other won't be coming today anymore. Apparently they stumbled on a case on their way back."
Kaito didn't bother to hold back a groan, as he sunk into the pillows. "These guys are impossible... Please just tell me they didn't end up dropping a corpse in my hideout..?"
Ai snorted with amusement, sharing his view. "Can't argue with that~ But don't worry, apparently they managed to leave the building, before tripping over a corpse."
He rubbed his eyes and grumbled. "This has to be some kind of a curse. I just wonder what god they pissed off and how..."
"For the sake of my sanity, I'd rather not know." She picked up the small tray. "I'll leave you then-"
"Haibara?" he cut her off, with suddenly sincere tone and held back a snort. With all the laughing he had with Hakuba, he was still unable to call her 'Haibara-san' after all. And that distraction was enough to make him change his mind. He smiled softly at her instead of asking what he wanted. "Just don't forget to put the flower in the water, alright~?"
The girl paused, regarding him. She opened her mouth, only to change her mind and close it again. "'Ai' is fine, Kuroba. And don't worry about the flower. Rest well," she added, already stepping out.
"You too," he called after her and covered his face with his palms with a heavy sigh.
He wondered what came over him. For a brief moment there, he felt the urge to open up a little to the former criminal, so she could advise him what he was supposed to do with the detectives. But the truth was that he didn't have the right to ask her about her personal affairs and reasons.
Besides, their situations were different. He looked at his hand and, to his annoyance, noticed that it still wasn't as steady as he wished it to be. Kaito didn't study Sherry's past too much, but since she was in the same state as Tantei-kun, she clearly got herself driven to a corner. She turned into a child and was on the run, with nowhere to go. Like it or not, she had to rely on others, no matter what predicament it put them in. Kaito had the whole world to run off to, if such a need came. As long as there was a crowd to blend in, he was fully self-sufficient. Right..? But somehow, deep down he yearned to just be selfish this time and take the easy way out, allowing the detectives to help him. He forced the thought away and leaned into the pillows, covering his face with his still shivering hand. Right now he was uncomfortably feeling vulnerable and dependent on others. He clenched his jaw, hating the feeling and doing his best to suck it up.
After a few moments, when he was pretty sure he was truly alone and he managed to chase the demons away, he licked his lips and let out a series of whistles. He heard wings flapping and tiny claws scraping the window sill. A small, white head soon poked out from between the curtains and the dove cooed at him. He smiled back at it and held out his hand. The bird took the invitation and flew to him, softly landing on his fingers. He pulled it near and cuddled gently, kissing its head.
"Thanks for the delivery, Haru-chan~ It actually turned out to be useful, you know~ But now you should go back home. It's getting late."
He gently poked her beak and she poked his finger back, before cuddling to his neck again. He chuckled at this. He missed her as well and her presence was soothing for him. It was pure coincidence she found him earlier that day and he was grateful for it. Kaito figured that she was feeling bored and headed out to seek Hakuba out, as he sometimes had her do and instead found him, sleeping in this room. She started rumbling over the closed window, until she woke him up and he opened it for her. Although he was very groggy, he was happy to see her. Would have probably been happier, if she obeyed after the meeting and let him sleep, instead of fetching things, he sometimes had her bring him. It took him a while to explain her that he needed rest. Now he had to somehow convince her to leave him and go home. After all, it wasn't safe for such a small dove to stay out of the aviary at night.
He let her cuddle a little more, before picking her up on his finger, so she would face him. "Haru-chan. Go to the nest. Sleep until morning, alright?" The dove cooed something quietly and turned away, so he made her face him again. "Haru-chan. Home. Go."
He tossed her gently to the air to make a point, giving out a short whistle and was glad to see her obey and fly towards the window. She poked her head again, as if to make sure he meant it, so he repeated the order. She disappeared behind the curtain for the last time.
Kaito closed his eyes, feeling a little dizzy and started counting to twenty, before starting a series calling whistles again. This time there was no response and Haru-chan didn't return. He smirked with self-satisfaction, pretty sure that she would visit him again, but for the night she was safe at least. He reached to the nightstand and carefully took the glass with water to drink some before trying to catch some more sleep, before Hakuba came over. Properly distracted and relieved from his mental burden, he smirked to himself and wondered how should he make the Brit regret not sleeping through the night~
And with this, the overly long Sunday is finally over! I swear - initially I intended to have the last three chapters written as one, but somehow each of them extended so much that I had to divide them xD
Well anyway - next time, expect the detectives have a serious chat with Kaito... But until that comes - poor Hakuba will have to somehow keep Kuroba in bed, despite him feeling a whole lot better. Care to guess how it will end for him? ;)
See you next chapter *grins*
