Afterlife
Disclaimer: Um…um.. Do I have to? Sees police officers waiting with handcuffs Okay, Okay! I don't own anything! mumbling 'That's what I want them to think anyways.'
Chapter 5 - Revelations
Shinichi looked at the group in his living room. Yes, it's going to be difficult to get them to work together. He thought sullenly to himself. If we are to survive, each must trust the other. I know that now.
"Kudo, what's going to happen now?" Heiji asked, interrupting Shinichi's thoughts. "Since we're all here, we might as well discuss what we're going to do."
Shinichi nodded. "Agreed. Any ideas about how to proceed?" Every one shook their head. Shinichi sighed. "That's no help." His statement was met with silence.
"Kudo-kun, I think what we need to do is to setup a headquarters. It should be somewhere that no one else would know about, and safe." Kaito spoke up at last.
"Any suggestions as to where?" Shinichi asked.
"Not at any of our houses. They're probably watched. We should do it somewhere no one could find." Kaito said. "Somewhere away from the main city, but not far enough to not bring a group of travelers around."
"Like it make a difference." Heiji commented. "We don't have the money to setup a place like that."
"Who says we need money?" Akako asks. "I happen to know of a place we can use. It's one of my smaller homes, one that I don't use often."
"Why would we want to go there?" Hakuba interjected, being dense as usual. "If we do, you'll do something to us that we'll not like."
"There, there, Hakuba-kun. You implying that I'd do something to you in the face of danger?" Akako stated sweetly while looking innocent, something she was very good at.
"Implying my hawk. I know you would." he retorted.
Akako just smiled. "You know, people would almost think that you're afraid of me."
Hakuba sweatdropped. "Afraid of you? If there's anyone who isn't at least wary of her then I'll eat my hat!"
Heiji laughed, startling Hakuba. "You'd better start chewing. Kudo and I aren't afraid of her."
"Speak for yourself." Shinichi mumbled. "I may not be afraid, but at least I know when to be on the cautious side of things, unlike you."
"This fighting is getting us no where!" Aoko shouted, surprising everyone. "We need to come up with a plan and a hide out. Right now, Koizumi-chan's house is the best that anyone's come up with. I say we go with it, unless anyone has other ideas." She looked sternly around the room, as if daring someone to speak.
"I know of a place that we can go. It's not used very much, but my dad made sure it was safe." Kaito piped up, surprising Aoko. She'd thought that he'd stay silent when he'd seen her face.
"Alright, any objections to Kaito's place?" Everyone except Akako shook their heads. "Fine, let's split up for the night. If you need to call anyone, use cell phones. They're harder to tap into."
The group split up and headed out of the house. Aoko, Kaito, Hakuba and Akako all headed back to their part of Tokyo while Shinichi, Ran, Heiji and Kazuha went back to the Agency. The two couples sat around the living room, looking at one another. They all jumped when the front door opened.
"RAN! Where's my dinner?" Kogoro shouted, walking into the room. "I'm dying of hunger and…" his voice trailed off as he looked at the teenagers.
"YOU! BOY! ARGH!" Kogoro managed to spit out, charging for Shinichi. Shinichi managed to move out of the way, and so Kogoro ran full tilt into the couch and flipped over the back. As he lay on the floor, his head spinning, he heard laughter coming from Ran. If that Kudo boy's managed to get Ran happier, than I guess I can survive for a while with him. Kogoro thought in amazement.
"Mouri-san," Shinichi said, holding a hand out to help him. "Let me help you up off the floor." Kogoro gave him a surprised look, for Shinichi hadn't ever done something like this before. "What? Can't a guy help out a friend?"
"A friend?" Kogoro said, sarcastically. "More like just to keep me happy so you can date my daughter!"
"Same thing, ain't it?" Heiji spoke up, sending everyone, including Kogoro, into laughter.
"Dad! Shinichi just got back, and you're bugging him again!" Ran complained when the laughter died down. "I'm just happy that he's back." Especially since I thought that he'd never come back. She commented to herself.
Kogoro seemed to calm down. "Fine, but if he leaves you again like before, he'd better run fast. I'll kill him if he breaks your heart again."
"DAD!" Ran started, but Shinichi cut her off. "You have my word, Mouri-san, that I don't plan on leaving for a long time."
"Fine, but you'd better keep your word."
Soon, Ran, with the help of Kazuha, had dinner ready. Everyone sat down at the table and ate. When they were done, Heiji and Kazuha, noticing the time, decided to head back to their hotel. Things became a lot quieter when they left. Shinichi decided that it would be best if he left too, so he said goodnight to all of them and headed out the door.
The next day…
Kaito looked around the room his father had build to house all of the Kaito Kid stuff that had been collected. He'd planned on a heist that night, and decided to go ahead with it. After all, Kaito thought while laughing quietly, I couldn't disappoint Nakamori-keibu. He's such a great audience.
He pulled out the white tuxedo, complete with a cape, hat and monocle. He stuffed it all into a bag that he was going to be carrying while in his disguise as an old grandma. Oh, boy. If only Nakamori knew how he's been getting into the heist areas. He'd probably burst a vane. After all, who'd suspect a poor, old, decrypted grandma?
Kaito laughed as he put some of his other 'tools' into the bag as well. Sometimes, I'm surprised that I don't get caught with the way I'm jumping off walls before hand. He finished packing by adding some clothes and other things on top, to make it look like he'd just come from a store. He then set off for that night's entertainment show.
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"KID! GET YOUR $&&$# DOWN HERE NOW!" Inspector Nakamori shouted at the thief.
"My, my Nakamori-keibu. You do have a foul mouth. Do you use it around your daughter often?" Kaitou Kid said, prodding the inspector into even more cussing. Kid laughed as he jumped down, landing next to Nakamori. "You know, I think you need your mouth washed out with soap. After all, that's what everyone's mother does, right?" He threw a handkerchief at the inspector, counted to three and pulled it off again revealing a surprised policeman with soap bubbles coming out of his mouth. Everyone on the Kaitou Kid Taskforce laughed as the Inspector turned beet red from anger.
"MRRPH! KDD!" He shouted through the foam. Surprisingly, though, it didn't taste like soap. Instead, it tasted more like cotton candy, which the inspector was fond of. BLASTED KID! His mind roared. Trust him to come up with something like this. He was literally foaming at the mouth with anger.
The Kaitou Kid laughed again at the enraged Inspector Nakamori. Just before he turned to leave, he felt hands grab him around his stomach. DAMN! Kaito silently swore as he looked over his should into the eyes of a detective, I forgot about Hakuba!
"I wouldn't try to escape if I were you." The British softly told him. He wasn't looking at Kid, but at the Inspector. A loud Click told Kaito to look back at Nakamori. Kaito shifted his eyes back to the policeman. He noticed that there was a gun pointed right at his heart. CRAP! Kaito silently swore again. NOW how do I get out of this. As if an answer to his question, shots rang out, injuring several of the policemen.
"OH SHOOT! It's them." Kaito shouted, realizing who was doing the firing. Hakuba looked at the thief like he was crazy.
Kaito said nothing, instead he disappeared in a cloud of smoke, and Hakuba felt someone dragging him down by the back of his shirt. He hit the floor with a bang, injuring his arm slightly. After the initial pain wore off, Hakuba looked around. Lying on the ground next to him was Inspector Nakamori, who looked mad, worried, and surprised at the same time.
"Stay down," Hakuba heard Kid's voice come from behind him. "Unless you want to become Swiss cheese." Hakuba silently agreed as more shots rang out.
Nakamori-keibu wasn't happy. Grumbling, he sat up. "KID! WHERE THE &($&($ ARE YOU?" the inspector swore loudly.
Hakuba also swore as the shots turned and started to come at them. "Are you an idiot?" He whispered to the inspector. "Shouting drew their fire to us!"
"I know." Nakamori-keibu was surprisingly calm. "That way, they'd stop shooting my men. Hopefully, some of them took my lead and are trying to find out where the assassins are at."
"I hope this is worth dying for." Hakuba said, trying to steel himself for the pain of bullets ripping through his body.
"No one is going to die from this." Kid said, surprising both of them. They had forgotten about him in the mist of the life or death situation. "I'll stop them, right after I call for backup."
"Backup?" Nakamori asked, surprised. Since when did the Kaito Kid have backup?
"HQ? This is Kat one requesting backup. They're here." Kid spoke into a small microphone on his tux. If Hakuba hadn't seen him touch it, then he'd never known it was there.
"Roger. Sending backup." The voice came over a speaker in the Kid's ear. Nakamori could barely hear it, but he knew whose voice that was.
"KUDO SHINICHI?" What was the teenage detective doing in league with the Kaitou Kid? From everything he knew and had seen, Shinichi wanted nothing more than to stop Kid. So why was he helping him? "What on earth is he doing working with you?" he shouted angrily.
"Nakamori-keibu, please calm down. We'll explain everything later, after we get out of this alive." Hakuba told the inspector.
HAKUBA'S ALSO PART OF THIS! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON? Nakamori thought angrily, as he tried to process the information.
Kid looked seriously at the policeman, something that never happened before. "Inspector Nakamori, I promise that if we get out of here, I'll tell you my secret. We'll need your help."
The inspector nodded. After all, he could see that without them, he'd never survive to see Aoko again. The thought of Aoko burned his heart. In all of the years he'd chased the Kid, Aoko wasn't very happy. He'd not been able to be with her as much as he should have. Something that, after today, will be corrected, he decided.
"Kat, we've got Ichi and Tori coming to help." This time a female's voice came over the speaker on Kid's tux. It couldn't be…could it? What was she doing in all of this?
The inspector grabbed Kid and talked into his microphone. "Aoko?"
"Dad? What are you going with Kaito?" She sounded surprised too.
"Uh, Aoko. I'm not with Kaito. I'm with Kid."
"Kid? Dad, what are you talking about?" She sounded very confused.
"Oh crap." Kid said, as he hung his head. "They're going to find out."
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Aoko overheard Kaito's remark. Wait…If Kaito's with Dad, and Dad's with Kid, then that must mean …The realization hit her like a sledgehammer. "NO! YOU CAN'T BE! KAITO, YOU CAN'T BE KID!"
She heard Kaito's laugh coming from the other end of the speaker. "I can't, can I? I'm sorry for deceiving you, Aoko. I truly am."
She didn't hear anything more. Her own anger clouded all of her other senses. "KAITO, HOW COULD YOU? HOW COULD YOU BE SO…SO…" she couldn't think of a curse good enough for what Kaito had done. "WHY, KAITO? WHY?" She felt something trickle down the side of her face, but her brain didn't register that she was crying.
"Aoko, when we met up again, I'll explain everything. I've been hiding it too long." His calm voice soothed her aching heart. "I promise."
Aoko nodded, not that Kaito could see her. "All right, but when you get back …" She let the threat just hang.
Kaito laughed. "That's the Aoko I know."
Aoko smiled. Blame Kaito to make her happy again. "Be careful. Ichi and Tori should be there soon, Kat."
"I'm glad that you've become stable again. I'll see you soon. Be careful too." Kaito's voice was unusually concerned. That almost never happened.
"WOULD SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THE $(#$&ING IS GOING ON?" Aoko heard her dad roar though the intercom. Poor Kaito, now he gets to deal with Dad. She thought, concerned. Then she did a reality check. It's not like he doesn't deserve it.
"Bzzzzzzzz" The intercom made a fuzzy noise as Kaito shut his end off.
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Kaito looked back at the dumb-founded Inspector and the cocky detective. "You guys ready?"
"I knew it was you. All the time, I knew it was you." Hakuba gleefully told the thief. "You can deny it all you want, but I have the information to put you behind bars now."
"HAKUBA! WILL YOU DROP THAT?" Kaito angrily told the blond. He was getting tired of his constant pestering. Plan. Got to come up with a plan. His mind did 360's trying to find something to keep them alive until the backup showed up. Then the idea hit him. It hit him HARD! Nakamori had just slugged him, but he didn't care.
"Nakamori-keibu, I need your help. Yours too, Hakuba."
"What's the plan?" Inspector Nakamori asked. After all, he hadn't slugged Kaitou Kid for nothing.
"When I say now, I need the two of you to get in a fight. Draw attention to yourselves. Make them forget that I'm here for a few moments."
"Why? So that you could escape?" Hakuba demanded, very suspicious.
"If you're worried that I won't stay around, I can assure you that I will be here when this fight's over. I just need a distraction. Thief's honor."
Hakuba looked at Nakamori, who looked back. Silently, they both agreed.
"Good. Now, on the count of three. One…Two…THREE!" Kaito shouted to the world, trying to draw attention.
"HAKUBA YOU GET YOUR #&$(#&$ING (#( BACK HERE! THE KID'S BOUND TO BE BACK. HE DIDN'T TAKE THE GEM THIS TIME, SO HE'LL BE BACK!" Nakamori yelled for the whole world.
Hakuba was stunned for a few minutes, but then regained his voice. "NAKAMORI-KEIBU! NOW SEE HERE. IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOU AND YOUR MEN, I'D HAVE GOTTEN THAT THIEF A LONG TIME AGO!"
Nakamori turned red. "YOU (&($NG DETECTIVE. YOU NEVER COULD GET THE KID. I'LL BE THE FIRST TO CAPTURE HIM."
Kid smiled; they were certainly drawing attention to themselves. He silently saluted the two and turned around, vanishing from the sight of the two 'arguing' policemen. As they continued their charade, they heard some shouts, yells, cries of pain, and bombs exploding. What the HELL is happening? They both thought at the same time, as the turned toward the source of the distraction.
They saw men in black, wearing sunglasses, moving around while being taunted by the Kaitou Kid. He'd do backflips off of one while another was trying to punch him, and ending up hitting his comrade. Kid just laughed and occasionally throwing a gas bomb or two, knocking out more of the intruders. Hakuba heard a click and quickly turned around. Behind him, Nakamori readied his gun.
"Nakamori-keibu, don't shoot. You might hit Kid." Hakuba hissed at the inspector.
"I'm not going to shoot. This is just incase something happens that we didn't expect." The inspector hissed back.
"Like what?" A new voice sounded from behind them. Thinking the worst, they both turned around, guns pointed at heart level. Behind them were Kudo Shinichi and Hattori Heiji.
"Hey, don't point that thing. Someone might get hurt." Heiji said with a smile.
"Yeah, like you?" Shinichi replied, shooting Heiji an annoyed look. Heiji just shrugged. Shinichi turned back to Hakuba and Nakamori. "What's happening? Where's Kid?"
"Kuroba is over there distracting those men in black." Hakuba said, gesturing to where Kid was just finishing a round of 'dogpile the bandit' with the enemy. Like usual, all that happened was that the men were all on top of one another and Kid as standing to the side, laughing.
"Wait, you said 'Kuroba'. Why didn't you say 'Kaitou' or 'Kid'?" Shinichi asked, not for sure why they knew Kaito was Kid.
"Because we figured it out and Kuroba finally stopped denying that he was Kid." Hakuba said, this time with a smirk on his face.
Oh. That makes sense. "Well, let's go now that he's stopped playing with the enemy." Heiji stated. Kaito had indeed stopped playing, for all the men in black were on the ground groaning in pain or unconscious. They must have been playing for keeps to make Kaito actually hurt them. He hates causing people pain. Shinichi thought as they all headed over to him.
"Hello, Kaito. You have a fun time?" Heiji asked, his humor not quite lost because of the situation.
"Yeah, but I had to hurry up at the end. They seemed that they liked to hurt themselves more than me." Kid replied back with a smirk.
"Well, what can you expect from a bunch of no-brainers?"
"Let's see what information they have." Shinichi inputted, motioning back to the operatives.
Everyone followed, but when they arrived, the scene wasn't what they expected. Instead of finding people lying around, knocked out, they found a bunch of corpses.
"KID? What did you do?" Heiji snapped at Kaito.
Kaito, for once, looked very confused. "I didn't do anything. When I left them, they were all asleep or unconscious. How do I know how they died?" He didn't like admitting it, but if the Black Operatives were dead, that meant that there were still more operatives very much alive.
"Spread out and search the premises." Nakamori barked.
"That'll do no good. They've probably already left, after removing evidence." Shinichi replied.
Nakamori looked confused as to the detective's reasoning. "Why do you say that?" he asked gruffly.
"Because I know the organization. When their plan goes wrong, they leave, removing all evidence that can point back to them. This includes the unlucky operatives." His face wasn't one of hurt, instead one of anger and rage.
"We'll learn nothing more here, let's go back to HQ." Kaito stated, once they had finished inspecting the remains. Everyone agreed, and so they led Inspector Nakamori back to their headquarters.
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Aoko sat down in the chair by the communications board. They had spent the last day setting up their hideout, trying to make it inconspicuous as possible. She and the other girls were the only ones there now, since Shinichi, Heiji, Kaito and Hakuba were all at the heist.
She felt tears start to form in her eyes as her thoughts turned back to Kaito and the heist. How dare he not tell me! Her mind screamed in rage. I thought that I meant something to him! I thought that we were friends! She sobbed even harder. Instead, He leaves me in the dark! He's taken my dad away from me, having him spend all of his time at those stupid heists! She put her hands over her eyes, as her tears became a raging torrent. He's just a selfish brat who likes to steal gems and embarrass dad!
She felt doubt start to grow as a part of her retaliated to her thoughts. What if he didn't tell you so to save you from the pain. If he'd told you, it would make you have to choose between him and your dad. Which one would you have chosen? Aoko shook her head. She didn't like this new voice. Why my dad, of course. She could've sworn that she'd heard it laugh. Are you for sure? Yes, I'm for sure. Why wouldn't I be? Why would I choose Kaito?…
Her thoughts drifted off as the thought of Kaito brought up new emotions. Anger and pain she could deal with, but this…this was new. It was the kind of feeling she had when he gave her flowers, or did something that made her happy. This was the kind of feeling that she would try to hide by chasing him around the room with a mop.
Are you sure that you wouldn't have chosen Kaito? The damn voice was back. I know your true feelings, and you know them too. Aoko shook her head again. I don't care about that BAKA anymore. I NEVER cared about him. Even as she thought this, she knew it not to be true. You know that you do. You always have, and you always will.
Aoko knew now that the voice belonged to her true self. The part of her that wasn't covered by hate or anger; the part that loved Kaito, not because he was Kid, but because he was different. All the other boys seemed dull when compared to Kaito. It wasn't because he would do something at the drop of a hat. Instead, it was because she saw a fire burning in his eyes. A fire that seemed to make the rest of the world disappear when she looked in them. It was this fire that she loved. And so, she loved the man that came with it. Every last part of her wanted for him to hold her and not let go, something that he'd rarely done.
Be true to your feelings and you will be true to him. The voice was back again, but this time she didn't care. It spoke the truth. She knew that no matter what, she would always love Kaito. She just hoped that he felt the same way about her.
She wiped away the remains of her tears as she straighten her back. She took a look around, noticing finally that the place was too quiet. That's odd. She thought. Ran-chan, Kazuha-chan and Koizumi-chan should be here. They usually aren't this quiet, especially Koizumi-chan.
Aoko got out of her chair and headed to the door. Opening it, she was greeted to a scene that she hadn't expected. Instead of being all nice and clean, the living room had been torn apart. Papers were thrown everywhere, wastebaskets were toppled over. Lying on the ground unmoving in the middle of the mess were Toyama Kazuha and Koizumi Nakamori. Her voice was caught as fear filled her being.
She rushed to their side, hoping that they weren't dead. She put her fingers on their necks, checking for their pulse. Both were beating very strongly. They, apparently, were unconscious. Thank god they're alright. She thought as the fear melted away. She tried to shake them awake but they refused to come back to the world.
Aoko noticed a piece of paper stuck to Kazuha's jacket. It looked like it had been placed there purposely. She opened it and read the simple words that struck terror into her heart. We have angel. If you want to see her again, meet me at the abandoned warehouse, Cool Guy. Vermouth.
Aoko felt tears come down her check as she clutched the small sheet of paper. She knew who had Ran now. She heard the door open again, but she didn't bother to turn around.
"Aoko? What are you doing in here?" It was Kaito.
"Aoko?" Kaito asked again. His breath was caught in his throat when he noticed what happened to the room. It was totally ransacked, and papers were everywhere. Right in the middle, lying next to Aoko, were Kazuha and Akako, neither moving. A red liquid nearby made the girls look like they were dead. Heiji started to panic, but Hakuba noticed that it was just mostly thawed Fruit Juice.
"KAZUHA!" Heiji shouted as he ran to her side. He knelt down and shook her.
After a few intense seconds, she opened her eyes and stared at him. "Heiji?" She asked, her voice weak.
Heiji smiled. "Kazuha," He suddenly hugged her, surprising everyone including Kazuha. "I thought that I'd lost you." He felt his face redden, but he didn't care. Apparently, Kazuha also didn't care for she put her arms around Heiji. When they let go, Heiji noticed that Hakuba was at Akako's side.
"Koizumi-chan, Koizumi-chan. Wake up." Hakuba said, shaking her. Akako's eyes fluttered open and she looked at the detective.
"Hakuba?" She asked.
"Koizumi-chan, what happened?" He questioned her, trying to piece together what happened.
"Don't really remember. Kazuha and I were talking in the living room when Kazuha suddenly fell down, unconscious. I stood up to look at her and I was quacked from behind. That's the last thing I remember."
Shinichi walked into the room, having waited outside while talking with Inspector Nakamori and so missed what had happened.
"Ran? Where's Ran?" he said, looking around the room.
Silently Aoko gave him the note she'd found. As he scanned the message, his face changed from surprise to fear to anger before the poker face slid into place. "They've got Ran," he said, crumpling the note in this hand.
"Kudo, We'll get her back. I can promise that," Heiji told his friend, putting a hand on the detective's shoulder.
"Yeah, and they'll pay if they've harmed her." A fire burned in Shinichi's eyes that made even Heiji and Kaito a little worried. This was nothing like the Kudo Shinichi they knew. The Shinichi they knew was cool headed and long to worry or get angry. In front of them, instead, was a Shinichi that was burning with barely controlled rage. This wasn't good at all.
"Kudo-kun, what do we do now?" Hakuba asked, getting off of the floor and helping Akako up as well.
"We're going to get them," was all they got out of the famous detective before he headed out of the door.
Heiji looked at Kaito and Hakuba. They both nodded, and all three of them headed after them, after saying good-bye to their respective girls. Aoko, Kazuha, Akako, and Inspector Nakamori watched the retreating forms of the four boys.
"I hope they'll be alright," Inspector Nakamori stated, looking at his daughter.
Aoko nodded. She motioned to the other 2 girls to follow the boys. They both nodded and started to chase after the boys. Aoko stayed behind.
"Touchan, I need you to stay here. We have a communication system that'll keep you in touch with us. That way, you can bring backup if we need it," Aoko told her father.
"But…" her father started to protest.
"No, Touchan, you must stay here. Have the policemen be ready just in case. This battle is between the eight of us and the organization that took Ran-chan. Kudo-kun won't be satisfied until we bring them down, and he wants to do it himself, especially now that they've got Ran-chan."
Her father nodded, understanding finally. "You go, but keep in touch. I'll be waiting for your word."
Aoko smiled, kissed her dad lightly on the cheek, and ran off to catch up with the others. They, luckily, hadn't gotten very far.
The Black Organization better watch out. Seven teenagers on a rampage are coming. This time, to take them out for good. No one was going to stop them.