Ladies and gentlemen! I humbly welcome you to the twentyth chapter of this story!
I'm terribly sorry that I took so long to post this chapter, unfortunately I was just too busy to write these past few days.
Hopefully you will find this chapter a good enough apology - so without further delay,
Please enjoy and review!
"Kuroba-kun, you need to wake up now. You're not well. I can't help you if you don't transform back! Please, Kuroba!" an insistent, male voice kept on nagging but Kaito couldn't really comprehend the meaning of the words.
The voice sounded familiar but he didn't even care to try and recognize it. An annoyed rumble left his throat and he tried to turn away from the clearly determined figure but he couldn't. Something was holding and shaking his head. This was exasperating… Kaito couldn't fandom what was so important that he couldn't be left alone. He was just so tired! He didn't care about anything..!
Suddenly, he recalled the deafening sound of bright red blood, seemingly brighter than the Sun itself, dripping down his shoulder. Pooling on the ground below. Her blood.
Distressed, he raised his head and tried to speak but all that came out of his mouth was an unintelligible gargle that with a little bit of goodwill could be understood as: "Aoro..?"
His mouth and tongue just didn't feel right and he didn't have it in him to try and work around it. He was more invested in trying to look around but his gaze just couldn't focus enough to make any details out of the blurred mess around him.
The person beside him frowned for just a moment as he mouthed the word after Kaito. "You mean 'Aoko'?" He pulled on Kaito's horn again to get his attention. "She's not here, Kuroba-kun-"
Hearing it Kaito let out a distressed moan and tried to get up, but his hands and feet were slipping over the sleek and surprisingly soft surface underneath him. He had to go see her. Why couldn't he get up? The man beside him grunted as he grabbed Kaito's mane with his other hand and pulled both his hair and his horn to force him to look at him.
"She is fine!" The adamant tone made Kaito pause and try to look at the familiar blonde male, who just sighed and continued with a softer tone: "I promise. A little dazed maybe but nothing else. I had my doctor go to see and examine her, and he confirmed that she is in perfect health. She stayed at home, since her father was returning shortly, but she will come over later. That means you need to turn back into a human, right? Kuroba-kun? Kuroba! Hey! Are you listening, Kuroba? Open your eyes, bloody hell!"
But Kaito wasn't listening anymore. In fact, he stopped as soon as he heard that Aoko was alright. That was all that was important to him. If she was fine, then he could rest easy. He was so tired that he barely managed to make an annoyed groan as the blonde shook his head again.
"Come on, Kuroba…" he pleaded, letting go of Kaito for a moment, only to touch the side of his mouth again, petting his scales there. "If you can't transform back, then at least open your mouth. You need to eat something."
Kaito's only response was quiet, labored breathing, as he slowly started falling back asleep. The blonde let out an irritated huff and grabbed the dragon's jaw, prying it open and then shoving something slimy and disgusting inside. That sobered Kaito up somewhat and he tried to open his mouth to spit it back out but the man kept it closed with his hands firmly wrapped around his snout. Somehow, Kaito managed to shake his head a little and get some leeway to push the gross thing out with his tongue of his mouth. It fell to the ground with a sickening splat. Kaito pried his eyelid open to glance at it and felt his heart stop.
Despite that everything around him was melted into a blurry mess he could clearly see that dead, dead, foggy eye staring back at him. It looked like it was blaming him, judging for what he had no idea about. But it terrified him nonetheless. Both of his eyes were now wide open, as he tried to move away and then he noticed more dead-eyed fish, staring at him all the same on a plate at the blonde's feet, right next to Kaito's face. The man was saying something but it all turned into background mumble. Unable to escape his hold, Kaito felt his heart trying to rip a hole in his chest, until finally the darkness gracefully claimed his consciousness.
Everything that came after were just snippets that could have very well been just a dream. Images and sensations coming and going, seemingly without making much sense. There were eyes flowing in and out of his field of vision, always staring, piercing him with their glares. His body was in pain, as if it was continuously stabbed. He was scared but couldn't escape, as if he was being pressed to the ground with an unbearable weight.
Eventually, it all stopped, as if it melted away and was replaced by a gentle touch and a soothing voice. Finally, he could calm down and just breathe.
The first thing Kaito really noticed was the texture of the material underneath his fingers. It was soft but there was the slight roughness to it which came with the tiny weaves of cotton threads that the sheet was composed of. The area around him was silent, with only unrecognizable whispers of sounds happening on the outside. The air smelled mostly of wood with a subtle aroma of a fabric softener.
He was aware of the general numbness and soreness his body was overwhelmed by. Of the dryness of his throat that felt as if it was bruised from the inside. Of the stinging smell of disinfectant covering his skin and the rasps of his breath disturbing the silence. But those were internal sensations, so for now he was ignoring them. Years ago, his father had taught him to focus on his surroundings, especially the subtle sensations from his environment. Which is why the first thing he noticed was that he was alone in a clean room, with new furniture and his body was covered with cotton fabric.
He slowly opened his eyes, adding to the information that it was daytime. He was feeling dizzy and the light hurt his eyes, so he closed them again and raised a hand to rub his face. Realizing that he felt just skin touching skin, he opened his eyes again and sighed with relief after seeing a normal human hand, with no scales in sight. There was something strange though, he realized and turned his hand around. It was kind of unnerving to notice a cannula attached to the back of his palm with medical tape but decided against taking it off. There was no point for now after all. Whatever was meant to be put inside of his body through it already was fed to him probably.
Kaito tore his gaze away from his hand to take in his surroundings. He noticed that he was dressed in what looked like a hospital gown and was laying on a medical stretcher bed - with metal railings on the sides and all. Thankfully he wasn't tied to it in any way. There was also a monitor with cables attached to his chest that apparently was silently displaying his heart activity. Most likely the feed was being transmitted to another room, from which he was being supervised, hence why he could have been left to wake up alone. He wasn't exactly happy about this but well, he did appreciate at least some privacy.
Despite all that, it didn't seem like he was in a hospital, as nothing else reminded him of one. First of all, it was just too quiet and second, there was no medical equipment aside from the bed he was on. It seemed as if it was rolled into regular living quarters, albeit with the ceiling nearly twice as high as he was used to seeing. Behind the windows, despite the blinds he could see a well kept garden, which meant that surprisingly as it was, he was on the base floor.
The room itself was a strange mix of styles that didn't quite fit with each other. The doors and windows, as well as larger furniture like a couch and a few closets, were of western style but most of the decor was definitely put together with traditional Japanese style in mind.
The floors were covered with tatami mats, instead of carpets and the windows, as well as double patio doors, were shaded with bamboo blinds. To highlight the theme, the walls were adorned by traditional Japanese paintings and scrolls covered with masterful calligraphy of philosophical quotes. As a finishing touch, there were a few small tables with either ikebana styled bouquets or various small statues.
It all would probably work together fine enough for a Japanese enthusiast if not for two more pieces of furniture. One being the bed Kaito was currently laying on and the other - the centerpiece of the room - another bed, although a highly unusual one. It was round and huge. At least 4 meters in diameter, covered with many silk or satin, blue and red pillows and pristine white sheets. It would fit more in Arabic or maybe hindu fables than a Japanese themed space. Or… as he thought with cold realization, it would most likely make for a comfortable bedding for a serpentine dragon…
The room was prepared with him in mind, wasn't it? The colors of the bed did fit KID's attire.
Kaito remembered seeing this room before when he reviewed the footage his doves supplied him with from their survey of Hakuba's manor. He remembered being confused by it back then, as it did not fit the decor in the rest of the building that was clearly western styled. But now it made sense. For whatever reason Saguru hunted him and if he really didn't want Kaito killed, he needed a place to keep him in. Did that mean that this would be his prison..?
Fat chance.
He was the great Kaitou KID and he was determined to prove that there was no cage that could hold him. His pride and freedom aside, he had to get out of there and make sure Aoko was fine. He did dream of someone telling him that she was fine and her coming to soothe him but he couldn't be sure any of that was real. And with various other snippets which he could remember, he kind of wished that it was all just a strange nightmare.
Kaito covered his mouth as he felt bile going up his throat at a very particular and slimy memory and tried to focus on his current predicament. He never would have thought that getting captured could be considered a welcomed distraction.
He took in a slow breath to remain calm. He still didn't know whether there were hidden cameras spying on him but even if there were, he couldn't do anything about that. What he could do was to make sure that the heart monitor wouldn't alert anyone more than it already had.
Kaito made one more quick swipe of the room to look for potential exits but he couldn't spot any ventilation shafts. Next he turned to the door but from where he was, he could only see a handle on it, without any lock visible, but that only meant that there wasn't any easy access to the potential locking mechanism. A glance at the windows didn't reveal much, as neither the handles or the glass were clearly visible behind the thin bamboo twigs of the blinds. He turned to the metal railings of the bed he was currently on and rattled it carefully. It seemed to be locked in place. He could try to find the locking mechanism (could it be booby trapped?) or he could simply slide off the bed to the bottom and get off it there but the cables of the heart monitor were too short for that. Then again, if he wanted to check out the room he would need to somehow carry it with him, so he decided to first figure out if he could do that.
As Kaito reached towards the machine, he was suddenly startled by a soft knock on the door. Swiftly he laid back down and made sure to look simply exhausted, hoping to catch whoever would come in by surprise. Internally, he braced himself to make a run for it if he found an opening and to his surprise noticed that his previously injured leg wasn't hurting anymore as much as it did before.
"C-come in…" With how dry and bruised his throat felt he found it hard to speak as it was, so he didn't really need to try to make his voice sound weary.
He half expected it to be Saguru and it turned out that he was right. What he was surprised by, however, was that he couldn't hear any locking mechanism coming undone when the door opened. Interestingly enough, after toeing off his slippers and entering, the blonde only pushed the door lightly to obstruct the view of the carpeted corridor outside, doing nothing to actually secure the exit. Kaito had to admit that it was tempting to just bolt out but decided to leave it for later and see what was going to happen.
He turned his attention to Saguru, who was observing him back with those hawk-like piercing eyes of his, while slowly making his way towards Kaito. He was dressed in a semi casual attire - gray pants with a brown and white striped shirt and kept one hand in his pants pocket casually, while in the other he carried a glass filled with some transparent liquid.
"Pardon the intrusion," Saguru mumbled quietly and Kaito couldn't help but smirk.
"Can it really be called an intrusion when you're entering a room in your own house?" he croaked out mockingly, not really caring how it would be taken. He was a ball of stress at this point and needed to do something to take off the edge of it.
Saguru just raised an eyebrow at him and simply raised the glass, offering it. "I have brought you something to soothe your throat. Or do you want me to drink it first?"
Kaito held back an urge to glare at him. Spoil sport… he thought in the privacy of his mind, while outwardly he just snorted and reached for the offered drink. "No, that won't be necessary~ Thank you."
It's not like he wanted to take anything Saguru offered him but on the other hand there was no harm in it. They could have dosed him with anything they liked while he was out after all. Plus his throat was killing him and didn't want to lose his ability to speak, even if only temporarily.
The liquid turned out to be cool, thick and somewhat sweet but it did seem to soothe his throat, coating it as he swallowed carefully. While he couldn't say that he liked the taste it wasn't at least gross.
While Kaito drank, Saguru casually reached to the heart monitor and flipped a switch - effectively turning it off and surprising the magician. That done, he approached the large, round bed to sit on it and then turned back to Kaito with a smirk.
"As for your inquiry, whether me entering this room should be considered an intrusion, I believe that it should. You are my guest after all and as such should be allowed privacy."
Kaito smacked his lips, the answer leaving a sour taste in his mouth. Still, he kept his amused demeanor. "Ah~! But am I really a guest when I have neither received nor accepted an invitation~?" His voice was still scratchy but at least speaking didn't hurt as much anymore. He didn't feel the need to mention that the fact Saguru walked in soon after Kaito woke up meant that he had little privacy to speak of.
That effectively wiped the smile from Saguru's lips, replacing it with a frown. "Given the state you were in I figured that it was more important to provide you with medical care than to worry about the lack of your consent." He sighed, entwining his fingers together as he asked softly. "In that regard, how are you feeling now?"
Helpless. Vulnerable. Tired. Trapped. Maybe even scared. Those were the adjectives that described how Kaito was feeling most accurately. But there was no way he would admit it. He hummed softly and looked at the glass, or rather his hand holding the glass. His human hand.
"Better." And surprisingly, it wasn't a lie either. He turned his head to look Saguru in the eyes. "But more importantly, how is Aoko?"
Saguru raised an eyebrow at him. "So you don't remember? I guess it's not surprising." He sighed and explained. "You asked about it before and I've told you that thanks to your healing she is perfectly fine. Actually, she was here after you regained consciousness again and helped you to calm down and regain your human form."
So the dream Kaito had wasn't just a dream after all? But that meant that… He glared at Saguru abandoning all pretense of politeness. "So I didn't just imagine you trying to force feed me, did I..?"
Saguru at least had the decency to look sheepish. "Ah, yes... I can't even express how terribly sorry I am because of it. I had no idea about your phobia and was under the impression that loong dragons, as semi-aquatic beings, are at least in part piscivores-"
"Stop, just… stop talking, will you?" Kaito grumbled, cutting him off while rubbing his eyelids. He felt sick to his stomach just thinking about it, so he would very much rather not do that. "Of all the things you could have tried to shove into my mouth…" he grumbled quietly.
Saguru pursed his lips in annoyance. "Like I was trying to say, I wouldn't have attempted to force anything down your throat if not for the state you were in."
Kaito glared at him again and growled out, not bothering to hide his boiling anger. "And who's fault was that I ended up in that state, huh?"
Saguru challenged his glare with his own. "I'm hardly the one to be blamed, as you never told me just how much my true self affected you. That being said, I did feel partially responsible for what happened, which is why I don't want you to feel like you owe me anything for my help. "
"So much for your deductive prowess, I guess," Kaito scoffed and smirked mockingly. Like he had much reason to be grateful. "I'm not really sure if I can believe you, given how you used the opportunity to lock me up." The moment those words left his lips Kaito couldn't help but wonder whether or not it was a good idea but he refused to regret it.
Saguru's eyes went wide with shock. "Wh- Do you think that you are a prisoner here, Kuroba-kun? Heavens, no!" He all but threw his hand towards the exit. "The doors, or windows if you prefer, are open for you to leave anytime you wish. Don't get me wrong - I do hope that you will stay at least long enough to let me at least try to clear any other misunderstandings you might have as well as allow for my doctor to make sure that you are fine. But that does not mean that you cannot just get up and leave, if you so desire." He sighed and closing his eyes pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to relieve some tension. "Just how on Earth did I manage to make such a bad impression on you?" he mumbled quietly.
Kaito turned to look at the door again, wondering if what Saguru said could have been the truth and he just misunderstood the whole situation? He snorted, hearing the desperate mumble. "Where should I start? Guess being a prick in general shouldn't count, right?" He couldn't really help the dry amusement that bubbled in his chest and looked back at Saguru, as he looked up at him again. "You know, that KID-themed, dragon-sized bed in the middle of a hastily decorated room did not help in making it not look like a sprung trap," he said with a wry smile on his lips.
Saguru looked down at the round bed he was sitting on and winced slightly. "I... guess I can understand your point." He sighed and looked back at Kaito with a small smile of his own. "In my defense, I had it prepared only after I managed to fool myself that you aren't KID. I was determined to speak with him and figured that it wouldn't hurt to prepare a room for him in case he would agree to pay me a visit. But since I thought that I knew next to nothing about him…" He shrugged helplessly and gestured towards the bed. "I figured that a little flattery by copying his style a little wouldn't hurt."
Kaito snorted. "Yeah? Well, let me tell you that you failed in that regard miserably. But now I'm kind of surprised that you didn't go all out and covered the pillows in gems~"
Saguru chuckled and shook his head. "I do admit that the thought did cross my mind but I figured that it would be pointless since you always seem to return the gems which you steal. Besides... Anything worth less than a tiny fortune never seems to peak your interest either and I don't think that a large stone would make for a comfy pillow."
"Oh~?" That reminded Kaito of something in the legends he read. "So you mean to tell me that you don't actually sleep on a pile of gold?"
Saguru barked a laugh. "Sorry to disappoint but I find regular bedding far more comfortable~"
"Does that mean you tried?" Kaito asked, wiggling his eyebrows.
Saguru shook his head with amusement. "No. And I can't say that I'm tempted to try anytime soon."
"Pity~" Kaito chuckled and then sighed. He would have preferred to let the matter drop and just continue laughing but he knew that that wouldn't do. After all, this guy was dangerous and he couldn't trust him, could he? "Besides that, there's the thing about how you hunted me. What was up with that, eh?" Because while the bed could have been a misunderstanding, this was serious.
Saguru frowned, looking quizzically at him. "Hunting..? You mean how I chased you after your heist last week?"
With how Saguru put it, it didn't sound as threatening as Kaito remembered it, which he found kind of annoying. "You were doing your best to corner me," he argued, trying to defend his point.
Saguru raised an eyebrow looking slightly offended. "Hardly. I was merely trying to get close enough to speak with you. I can assure you that I would have caught you if I wanted to. Especially that, if I was really hunting, I wouldn't care about property damage or potentially hurting you."
Kaito held back a wince and gave Saguru a flat glare. "If that's your idea of sounding reassuringly then I have to tell you that you suck at this."
Saguru blinked at him, as if the thought hadn't occurred to him. "I... ah…"
Kaito just shook his head, not really caring for another apology and asked. "What is it that you want from me anyway?" Saguru did mention before that he came to Japan specifically to find someone like him but he never clarified why and Kaito was done with making any assumptions at this point.
The detective sighed and looked down at his hands, "You probably won't believe me but to put it short: I just want to be your friend."
"... What?" In Kaito's mind that made no sense at all. "Couldn't you have found anyone in England to befriend, or like - anywhere other than on the other side of the globe?"
Saguru chuckled humorlessly, "I told you that you wouldn't believe me~" He sighed heavily and took his watch out of his pants pocket. "I believe that there is much more that I need to tell you in order to explain properly, but I am getting a little peckish. How about we continue this over lunch?"
Kaito glared at him. "Do you really think that I want to risk eating with you..?"
Saguru smacked his lips with annoyance. "I believe that I have already apologized for the fish." Kaito did not shudder hearing the word. Definitely not. "And rest assured, I have asked Aoko-kun about your preferences to avoid any further mishaps."
While it wasn't surprising, Kaito wasn't happy to hear that Saguru talked with Aoko behind his back. Who knew what else he asked her. "I don't really have time for this, you know," because now that he thought about it, he really should wrap it up sooner rather than later.
He still had to contact Jii and assure him that he wasn't dead and on top of that, he had to visit Conan to retrieve his things before the little twerp decided to return the gem. Kaito held back a heavy sigh. Being a phantom thief was hard work for sure.
Saguru made a thoughtful hum at the back of his throat and took out a phone from his back pocket, offering it to Kaito, who only raised an eyebrow at it.
"I'm assuming that you want to contact your assistant?" He asked casually, unknowingly putting Kaito back on edge. "You probably didn't have the opportunity to speak with him after the heist. He must be worried sick, given the shooting and that it's already Sunday. I would have notified Konosuke-san myself about your state but I figured that I would only scare him by showing that I know his secret."
Kaito's face was the pure image of confusion along with a raised eyebrow, hiding the panic that was swelling within him. It was one thing for him to face his own secrets being exposed but he did not want to endanger Jii.
"What are you talking about?" he asked while trying to buy time as he scrambled to find a way to deter Saguru from his deduction.
Saguru rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. I have known that you are KID for quite a while, you know. And it is common knowledge after the second Purple Nail heist 1) that you have an assistant. Did you really expect me not to find out who it is? Especially after you had brought us to Blue Parrot yourself."
So there was no point in denying that he knew Jii or that he had an assistant at all, huh? "... It was Aoko's idea…" he grumbled with annoyance and recalled how the girl nagged him about it, until he had no choice but to cave in.
Saguru snorted with amusement. "Regardless, it wasn't hard to find out that you renewed your acquaintance with Konosuke-san, who was an assistant of your father, around the time KID returned. All I really had to do was take a closer look at the man to confirm my suspicions," he explained because apparently detectives just couldn't resist the temptation to lay out everything, could they?
Kaito figured that they just liked to rub it in like that.
Meanwhile, oblivious to Kaito's annoyance, Saguru continued. "But don't worry, I'm not going to do anything with this information. Like I have already said - I'm not a threat neither to you, nor the people who you hold dear. So just do me a favor, give your assistant a call, allow Elliot-hakase to examine you and have lunch with me," he said with a tone of finality and just placed the phone on the sheets next to Kaito's hand.
There was probably nothing he could say to that, was there? "... Fine. But I'm leaving as soon as we're done," Kaito grumbled and took the damned phone.
Saguru smirked victoriously as he replied. "That's quite alright, although I do hope that you're not planning to do too much. By all means, you should still be resting."
Kaito was tempted to say that he was planning to run a marathon just to spite him but decided against it and just shrugged. "I'm not planning on collapsing any time soon again if that's what you mean."
"I'm glad to hear that," Saguru assured him and got up from the bed. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go ask Baaya to heat up our lunch and ask Elliot-hakase to come in. Please try not to be too difficult with him, would you?"
That actually evoked an impish smirk on Kaito's lips. "We'll see~"
Saguru smiled back and shook his head as he turned and started walking towards the door. "I'll be waiting for you in the dining room, as I believe you will be able to find your way there after you're done here?" he asked, stopping at the door with a hand on the handle.
"I think that I can manage that," he replied with a shrug. He wondered whether Saguru knew that Kaito's doves had surveyed his manor but figured that it didn't matter.
Saguru nodded, apparently satisfied with the answer. "Alright, see you then." And with that he left, closing the door behind him.
1) Purple Nail heist - Kaitou Kid's Teleportation Magic; Detective Conan manga - Volume 61: Files 1-4 (631-634) and anime Episode 515
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