"Inspector Nakamori, I apologize for my tardiness."
Upon hearing the familiar voice of a certain detective, Kaito tilted his head towards the door. He just came back from rifling through Termite's few belongings inside the headquarters and was taking inventory with Nakamori when Hakuba walked into the inspector's office.
"Hakuba-kun?" Arms crossed, the inspector pivoted on the spot to glance at Hakuba. "I didn't think you'd show up."
"Well, I did plan on coming over to assist however I can." Hakuba shifted his attention towards Kaito. "And you are…Officer Nishitani?"
As he thought, Hakuba did not recognize him because of the mask he made beforehand of Termite. "It's me, Hakuba-san."
The detective's eyebrows shot up. "Kid? So you made it here too, I see. Am I correct to assume that Inspector Nakamori is working with you right now? Strange as it is."
"Correct. A lucky break presented itself, and we found Aoko-san's location." He showed the map overlaid on his phone screen. "The address leads to an auto and electronic appliance repair shop."
"Th-that's good to hear." Hakuba breathed out, his shoulders relaxing a little.
The voice of a child then walked into the office room from behind Hakuba. "We're not out of the woods yet, Hakuba-niichan. We can't rely on anybody outside the task force and our movement is being watched, so our method of approaching the place will be limited."
There was something very amusing about Kudo calling Hakuba by that title despite the blond knowing who the boy really was, but now was no time to tease them about it. They had to stay in character around the inspector and get things done. "So, Detective-kun, did you see anything?"
Having returned from doing a bit of scouting around the TMPD building, Kudo pulled the door closed before continuing. "Nothing, as far as I can tell. I don't spot anybody else that could be working against us."
After the incident with Termite, Kaito had tasked Kudo to observe the rest of Nakamori's subordinates to find other potential spies in the ranks. Since he resembled a child, people might let their guards down around him or ignore him entirely. However, their plan had a hole in it. Not every member of the task force was currently present inside the headquarters according to the inspector himself. There were quite a few of them out on field work or on break.
Pointing at himself, Kaito quickly explained to Hakuba what went down before he arrived. "This face belongs to the man that attacked me yesterday. We managed to catch him when we came over here and he's now in a holding cell until he's deemed fit enough for questioning."
"I still can't believe there are people like that right in plain sight." Nakamori ran a hand down his face. "And we don't have time to find out where the rest of them are right now."
"Actually, we do have a trusted source." Kudo pointed out. "It's you, Hakuba-niichan."
"Me?" Immediately, Hakuba caught on to what Kudo suggested. "Hm. I guess I could request to have a warning issued and then have each department searched for falsified records or any inconsistent personal histories. Though it means that I have to check the head of each branch myself first."
Musing about the convenience of such a powerful familial connection, Kaito chuckled. "I'll leave our mole problem for you to solve then, Hakuba-san."
"Don't mention it." Hakuba habitually checked his pocket watch before flicking it close and putting it away. "And you, Kid? What's your gambit?"
"Ah, well… " Turning his eyes towards Kudo, Kaito retrieved a set of keys from his pockets. "Assuming that we're under surveillance outside, I believe it's best that we go in as a small group first and then call in the cavalry later. Right, Detective-kun?"
"Why do you always insist on bringing me along?" Shinichi sighed as he climbed into the front side of the car and sat at the floor where a passenger's legs would be. His presence had to remain unknown for the plan, and he knew that Kid didn't have many options to work with.
Walking around to the other side, the disguised Kid hopped into the driver's seat. After getting his hands on Termite's belongings, he somehow managed to put on fatigues over his current clothes to complete the look. He smirked at Shinichi once he started the car. "You're demonstrating it right now. Because of your carriable size, I can drag around a capable assistant at maximum space efficiency!"
"Thanks, I feel so great about my physical state right now… " It was impressive how Kid could still quip at a time like this, but it was par for the course from what Shinichi knew of the other guy's personality. One moment the thief could be in distress or facing great danger, and the next he could be acting like nothing happened and skip away laughing. "Just don't get us stopped by a traffic officer on the way there, Kid."
"Of course, Detective-kun." As soon as he backed the car and drove out of the parking building, he swapped into Termite's voice. "By the way, take this with you."
Shinichi reached out an open hand when Kid hovering a closed fist towards him. He grabbed the object with his fingers, activating the night vision on his glasses to counter the dim lighting. In his hand he held an earpiece and receiver, but it looked like nothing Kid would use since it was bulky in design and stood out too much.
"It's linked to Inspector Nakamori. I can't wear it myself, but I will carry a hidden microphone so you can listen in on what's happening on my side." Kid added, tilting the steering wheel with a hand to turn the car towards a highway. "It'll be up to you as to when to call for them to rush in."
"How long do you reckon it'll take for them to arrive?" Shinichi asked while he fit the earpiece snuggly onto his ear and readjusted his glasses so they would both sit comfortably on him. After that, he did a few tests to make sure everything was in order.
"I asked the good inspector to send out a few undercover units pretending to be on assignments around the location. Once you send the go signal, they will be the first to come running while he coordinates a more heavy-duty team." Kid answered, keeping his eyes straight ahead on the road. "So, I'd say it will be a solid ten minutes at most."
During their hasty planning phase, Kid offered to walk in there as Termite and to distract whoever was inside while Shinichi snuck in via an alternate route. With Kid keeping his enemies busy, Shinichi was to locate the inspector's daughter and relay any information he learned back to the police.
"We're here, Detective-kun."
Shinichi felt the lurch from the car slowing down gradually, likely so Kid could give himself time to have a glance over at the place from the outside. From what little he could see in his position, Shinichi saw two run-down building walls which loomed overhead as they approached enclose both sides of the car. After coming to a full stop in an alleyway, Kid pulled out the key from the ignition.
"I see one camera at the entrance, probably motion sensing." Kid brought out an arm sling to add the final detail of Termite having a recently injured arm. He grimaced from having to move his wounded side, cursing his own luck that the man had to be hurt on the right instead of the left like he was.
With the door open on the driver side, Shinichi crawled across the car floor to step out. He couldn't help but be concerned about Kid's injury, but at the same time he couldn't point it out as they had no choice unless they wanted their ruse to fall apart as soon as their enemies noticed something was off about his disguise.
And apparently Shinichi had been staring at Kid for long enough that the other took notice. "It's not the first time I had to do this." Kid winked back, looking as if slowly habituating himself to the discomfort. He sucked in a deep breath to compose himself. "Good luck on your side, Kudo. I…I'm trusting you to see that Aoko is safe for me."
All he could do was nod back with equal determination. Once Kid walked away, Shinichi leapt into action to infiltrate the lion's den.
Thanks to his gadget-enhanced eyesight, Shinichi was able to see just fine despite the lack of any streetlamps nearby to provide some light. A multitude of cracks in the surrounding road along with growing wild vegetation dotted around the small cul-de-sac, hidden and forgotten by the city at large outside. He had a hunch that Kid chose to park in the alley not just because it was out of sight from the camera at the entranceway. After checking the floor, Shinichi turned to look up.
There it was. Shinichi spotted a potential means to enter.
Circling around, he clambered on top of the car's hood and then to the roof. Using the extra boost in height, he jumped and grabbed a hold on the rusted fire escape railing. After a swing of a leg, he made it up. Careful as to not make any creaking noise, Shinichi crept along the pathway and climbed the stairs with slow and steady steps.
Just as he saw ahead, the fire escape led to the building rooftop. When he made it to the highest level on the sixth floor, he kept himself low and surveyed the area in case there was another surveillance system installed up there. Using the intricate maze of vent systems and pipes protruding from the ground as hiding spots, Shinichi moved along and explored as fast as he could.
His head swiveled while his eyes traced to where the vent shafts could go. He paused briefly when he noticed that one of them would lead to the inside of the repair shop. It didn't take long for him to also find the metal grate blocking his entry into the system. And with the use of a simple coin and some elbow grease, the way in was open.
He didn't miss the fact that he was creeping around and breaking in like a thief would, but Shinichi shooed the thought away since he was not there to steal anything. Plus, he had to hurry. He had no idea how things were going on Kid's side, apart from the occasional idle questions and sound of moving clothes he heard through the microphone. The voice of a woman rang through his earpiece, but her words were barely intelligible from poor sound quality. It vaguely sounded like boasting or complaining.
Dragging himself through the dust-filled systems, Shinichi inched forward as quietly as possible. He felt grateful that the inside of the ventilation was shielded from the elements, thus preventing it from rusting as badly as the exposed surface he saw on the roof. On a few instances, he had to proceed more carefully since the path sometimes dipped down to reach the lower floors. Lucky for him, there weren't any sheer drops or sharp angles he had to navigate. The only real thing he had to complain about was the amount of old cobwebs and grime lining the sides.
Lungs taking in breaths full of musty air, his arms and knees began to feel sore by the time he spotted the outline of an exit. He went still for a few moments, listening for any sounds that could indicate that someone was waiting beyond there.
...
Nothing. And with a careful peek, it confirmed that this particular room was empty. Quickly, he moved along to find another exit point though they were few in between. Some had a metal grate blocking it. The screws had been installed on the outside, leaving him unable to open them up like he did for the one up on the roof. Busting them open didn't seem like a reasonable option if he wanted to stay covert.
After he slid down another level, he located another opening. This one had nothing obstructing his way. Same as before, he stopped and listened.
Shinichi could only detect the presence of one person this time, who was causing littles noises from shoes scraping against bare wooden floorboards as they fidgeted around.
Cautiously curious, he extended his neck out. His heart jumped when he heard a gasp as soon as his eyes barely passed beyond his hiding spot. Whoever it was must have seen the movement coming from him.
"...What was that?" A girl's raspy voice exclaimed along with some noise from her getting up in a hurry from the floor.
By the sound of it, this could be the hostage they were looking for–Nakamori Aoko. Shinichi trusted his instincts, so he bit the bullet and poked out his entire head to get a proper look.
Staring back from below was a teenage girl. Her eyes were wide in shock at the sight of him. Apart from the hairstyle and eye colour, she greatly resembled Ran.
"I'm here to help." Shinichi whispered to her as he lifted a finger to his mouth.
She stiffly swallowed the disbelief and steeled herself for what could come next. The girl stepped closer, then raised both her arms as a sign that she would catch him.
Trusting her because he saw no indication of any furniture present in the room to soften his fall, Shinichi wiggled his way out of the filthy ventilation hole and dropped down. Fortunately, she caught him with little problem. "Thanks." He breathed deeply as he took in some air less saturated with dust particles at long last.
"Y-you're Conan-kun, right?" She asked in a low voice, setting him down on his feet. "Why- I mean, what's going on?"
"You must be Aoko-san?" Shinichi patted himself, flicking off a few clumps of gathered dust. "Kaitou Kid and I are here to rescue you. Now we just need to wait for the police to come."
"K-Kid…? He's here too?" Great hope and a hint of uncertainty laced her hoarse voice.
"Uh huh." Having confirmed the location and safety of Inspector Nakamori's daughter, Shinichi reached for his earpiece and relayed the information over. "Inspector, I found her. It's time." By his estimations, they were around the third or second floor although the confined space in the air vent tunnels made it difficult to judge the real size of the building. Compared to the outside, the interior looked to be a heavily renovated apartment complex from decades ago.
And now, he crossed his fingers to hope that Kid could hold the girl's captors off for long enough until the police could arrive.
At first, Kaito felt strangely in the groove as if he were simply doing another reconnaissance for a heist. From the short time he had to observe Termite, he got a decent grasp as to how the man would act around his allies–casual and somewhat talkative, with the habit of being too lackadaisical.
Inside the old electronics shop, he found Romulea lounging around. It was during her impatient outbursts that Kaito caught on that the man who had authority over the place was called Uromastyx. Immediately after laying eyes on the workshop area, he also deduced that the man was the technician behind the drones.
After exhausting all the pointless chit chat he could muster with Romulea, Kaito approached Uromastyx. The other man appeared to be the real head of the mission, being the eldest and the most affirmative in his attitude.
"So, how's the stakeout? Spot anything interesting?" Kaito asked as he leaned on the doorframe behind where Uromastyx sat. He resisted the urge to wince from putting pressure on his injury.
"..." The man gave him a side-eye without moving his head away from the screens before looking away again. "Nothing, except that I had to deal with someone that's been taking out my equipment. That annoying sniper..."
"Oh? Who's out there? Did you see them?"
"I'm afraid to say that they're sneaky, but I have numbers on my side. Sending two out at time, and shooting back seems to do the trick of keeping them at bay." He chuckled without any real amusement. "I have manual control over one of my guns, so I'll fire as soon as I see him again..."
Hearing that, Kaito sincerely hoped that the sniper from the FBI kept his head down now that there was no need to disrupt the enemy's surveillance. With the pretense of being bored, Kaito walked closer to take a look at the tools and books neatly arranged on the metal shelves. Meanwhile, the corner of his vision focused on keeping watch over Uromastyx and his ears focused on listening for movement from Romulea out in the workshop's living space.
A high-pitched beep and a blinking light appeared on one of the screen, drawing Uromastyx's bored gaze to it. A few seconds passed as he read the minuscule font before he pushed against the table to stand up. "Alright, enough of this."
"Hm? Enough of what?" Even though his heart had begun racing, Kaito kept himself calm and only gave off an air of mild puzzlement as he angled his head towards the other man.
Ignoring Kaito, the man puffed his chest and yelled loud enough to let his voice to travel far past the surveillance room. "Romulea, go check on your guest and bring her out here."
Kaito involuntarily flinched from the volume of his voice, dread setting into the pit of his stomach. If Romulea found Kudo, wherever he was, it would immediately throw a wrench into their plan.
Scrambling to find a way to delay things, Kaito began walking out of the room just in time to catch a glimpse of the woman hurriedly stomping past him down the lengthy corridor. "Ah, Romulea. There's something I wanted to ask–"
"Kaitou Kid."
His breath felt lodged in his throat as if an unseen hand had taken grasp of him by the neck at the sound of his name being called by Uromastyx. Keeping his movement steady, Kaito looked back behind him.
A small pistol held in his hand, the man's eyes were trained sternly on Kaito. "You will stay right where you are. Or I order Romulea to kill the girl."
Aoko could scarcely believe her eyes and ears when she realized that a child had somehow found his way into the barren room. For a short moment, she almost thought that her brain was playing tricks on her after staying holed up in there for an entire day.
But it wasn't any random child either. The unusually mature air and the big glasses… She quickly recognized him as Edogawa Conan, the boy that was said to be capable of standing up against Kaitou Kid.
More surprising, the boy then said that he was there with Kid to save her before speaking into an earpiece. As she watched Conan murmur information about the building to whoever was on the other side of the line, her thoughts wandered back to Kaito. A part of her calmed down once she understood that he was alive, yet he was here as his criminal self and that also made her uneasy.
What sort of plan was Kaito up to now? Probably something risky, considering what she saw during the last heist and Kaitou Kid's overall penchant for stunts. And to drag a grade schooler into a place with armed criminals, he must be out of his damn mind. Then again, the boy must have been a last resort. Conan's entire body could barely fit through the entrance to the vent system in order to reach her.
Resting inside her skirt pocket was the little dove badge whose presence had become more apparent now that she knew of its existence. It somewhat did its job of keeping her company by reminding her of Kaito's antics. She mused about the coincidence between finding the toy and then Conan showing up within an hour or so. After plenty of hesitation, she had pressed on the button she discovered on the bird. Thankfully, it did nothing resembling the explosion of confetti and streamers she had imagined would happen.
Once Conan was done speaking, he turned to her with steadfast eyes. "Now, we wait for the police to come." He spun his head around to properly take in his surroundings.
"Okay." She wondered how the boy could see anything while Aoko herself could barely make out the silhouette of her supposed little rescuer in the obscurity of the room. An urgent matter suddenly came into mind as she saw him reach out to the doorknob. "Don't! Th-they...the bad guys have guns. It's too dangerous to go out."
"I see. So, that means it's not wise to move from our current location." He then muttered about wishing to know what Kaitou Kid was up to.
The fact that Kaito and Conan were working together, and yet they didn't have a means to communicate worried her greatly. It was unusual for Kaito to be unprepared, but there was also the chance that the plan had been hurried along. The result must have been due to them acting fast before whoever those people are could use her as a hostage.
A deep shiver ran down her back at that thought. Actually, she still had no idea what they had against Kaitou Kid. The vague explanation that Harukawa gave left her with so many questions. But she would rather not get the answers she wanted from that despicable woman.
Gently lowering himself, Conan pressed the side of his head against the door even after being told that the people on the other side were dangerous. Seeing the boy act so calm despite being locked in a dark room, the tension in her chest slowly began to dissipate.
Just then however, his expression turned dark. He had a hand pressed against his other ear, straining to listen for something.
"...Conan-kun?"
The boy hissed under his breath and quickly got up to step back without warning. From somewhere, he materialized a soccer ball and a strange mechanical whirring sound showed up after he reached down to adjust a dial on his shoes. She couldn't quite understand what was going on before light flooded in as the door flew open a few seconds later.
Before Aoko could even tell that Harukawa had entered with a gun drawn, she saw a flash coming from Conan as he swung his leg. The ball shot forward at lightning speed, smashing brutally on the woman's hand. The weapon flew out and bounced against a wall before clattering onto the floor, sliding away as Harukawa stumbled.
The woman swore from the unexpected attack. But instead of backing down, she immediately lunged at Conan as her face was twisted with fury. Unable to back away in time, the boy was lifted up by the front of his shirt and roughly tossed against the nearest wall with a loud thud.
It all happened so fast that Aoko barely noticed that the handgun had landed far from the woman's reach. The gun spun and came to stop near her own feet. Aoko reflexively recoiled and moving away from the object, having the notion that it was dangerous. But when she heard the choked cry of pain from the boy, she fought back against the screaming instincts in her head telling her to run towards the open doorway or stand frozen on the spot hoping that danger would ignore her.
With her eyes scoped in on the gun, she dived at it. Nearly stumbling from getting on her feet so abruptly, Aoko somehow managed to pick it up. The pistol felt a lot heavier than it looked. As she raised it with hands, her mind dug up fading memories of shooting lessons her father had given to her back before Kid's return.
But the woman was faster than Aoko anticipated. Even with one of her hands broken and bent out of shape from Conan's surprise attack, Harukawa reached behind her back to retrieve something that she had been carrying on her back. It unfolded into a crossbow, which she used her wrist to pull back the mechanism on the side to ready the bolt.
By the time Aoko had the gun pointed and ready to fire, the woman had her own crossbow raised and supported by a forearm. Aiming vaguely around the chest area and keeping her eyes pried open on her target, she squeezed the trigger and felt the gun punch back in her grip.
"Aagh...!"
Then, a sharp sting ripped through her.
The unexpected pain bit into the side of her waist, and she felt her knees hit the floor. Letting go of the firearm by one hand, Aoko grasped at her side as she bent over, fearing the worst.
With a quaking hand and her entire body tensing up in dread, she felt the wetness of her own blood in her fingers. But still, she had to look.
Although her vision was blurred from the panic, she could see that it wasn't as bad as what her irrational thoughts showed her. The deep red certainly stood out against her white uniform shirt, but the wound was simply a nasty gash in comparison to...
Aoko looked slightly upwards to see that an arrow-like projectile was embedded deeply inside the wall besides her. She felt nauseated from the close call. It could have pierced into her abdomen, and that would surely have caused her to bleed to death on the spot. In her good fortune, she was only left with a deep cut from the exchange.
Her head whipped back towards the collapsed figure of Harukawa. In her fright, she had nearly forgotten the pistol inside her other hand. She winced as she slowly stood back up, being careful to keep a hand pressed on her bleeding side.
A soft groan escaped the boy's lips, drawing her attention to him.
"Conan-kun! Please be alright..." Aoko hobbled towards the boy who still struggled to get back up. She circled around the woman to reach him, keeping a fair distance away and a wary eye.
"Damn it… " He winced, raising a hand to his head. A slight crack had appeared on his glasses from the impact while his earpiece had fallen off and hung from a wire tucked to the inside of his pockets.
Conan was speaking and conscious, so that was good. But the force he was thrown at caused her great concern on what other injuries the child could have sustained.
On her approach, he blinked at the object held within her hand and the woman who now laid on the floor motionless.
Seeing the boy silently stare back at her and the other person lying there made her increasingly more nervous. Harukawa was dead, wasn't she? The weight of her actions were beginning to set in, quickening her breaths. Trying to keep herself from feeling sick, she squeezed her eyes shut. "I-I don't know. When I saw her, I just- I didn't mean to-" Her hatred for the woman was great, but not to the point of murder.
"I-it's...okay. She could have killed you and me. It was self-defense."
After hearing a metallic clatter sound, she felt a small hand touch her own as she forced herself to nod at the boy's attempt at reassuring words. It was so strange to feel that a child like Conan was the more logical one between the two of them. Trying to keep her breathing calm, she did her best to keep it in. Not only was she supposed to be the elder here, but breathing too deeply also made the pain on her side worse.
When she reopened her eyes, the boy had the watch's cover flipped open on his wrist as peaked out into the corridor beyond the open door. He suddenly widened his eyes from hearing a small static sound. Quickly, he turned around and picked up the fallen earpiece to raise it up to his ear. After a few moments, he glanced back at Aoko with a smile. "Help has arrived it seems."
Feeling huge relief at long last, Aoko laughed airily before coughing from her throat being dry. But then, she remembered something important. "W-what about Kid? Where is he?"
The boy realized something too, a creeping fear showing itself on his face. "Crap, if she came in here then that means–"
Both of them jumped from the sound of commotion from the floor below. The loud banging grew louder and had a rhythm to it, and eventually ceased. It was probably from law enforcement breaking their way in–or at least she hoped that was the reason behind such a noise.
After shaking off another dizzying spell, Conan regained a steady footing. While staring at him, Aoko's gaze then drifted to the ground. She then saw that the handgun had been dropped when she loosened her grip too much a moment ago. But once she made an attempt at bending her waist, a harsh stabbing pain kept her from doing so. Keeping a curse from flying out of her mouth, she awkwardly reached down while trying to keep her injured side unmoved.
Right as her fingertips were about to brush against the gun resting at her feet however, Conan swooped in and snagged it. She blinked, witnessing the boy somehow knowing how to check the magazine inside it. "Um, Conan-kun, that's dangerous. P-please give it to me instead."
He briefly mumbled about his vision being wobbly before looking at her with an expression of certainty. "I can handle it. Follow me."
"O-okay." She didn't have the strength to argue anymore, his bizarrely confident demeanor winning her over again. But mostly, she felt uncertain about holding that thing again soon after what happened.
Before she stepped out of the room, she glanced back at Harukawa. A bit of red seeped out from underneath the woman. A naïve part of her hoped to see a slight twitch from the body, but it remained motionless.
Not wishing to stare at a bleeding body for any longer, Aoko followed after Conan outside. From where she and Conan stood, the muted sound of a scuffle and a voice rang out faintly from down the corridor. The boy suddenly halted, motioning for Aoko to do the same too. Stilling their breaths, they clung to the side of a wall, ready to retreat if they were seen by an unfriendly party. She could barely remember the layout of the place after she was forcefully shoved and pulled around almost as soon as she arrived.
All of the sudden, the sound of footsteps alerted them to people coming up from wooden stairs. It came from somewhere behind them. Aoko looked at Conan who cupped a hand over his ear to listen to something said over the earpiece.
"I-is it the police?" She asked in a low voice, unsure if she could handle being out there in the halls any longer.
Nodding, Conan then relayed where they were as quietly as possible. There could be more people aside from Harukawa, and Aoko knew for sure that the other man she saw could still be inside the building.
Little by little, the sound of footfalls grew louder until Aoko spotted something peeking around a corner.
The flat surface of a ballistic shield moved slowly as it turned.
A pair of eyes behind the viewing port met with her own. "Sir, I see them! The path looks clear from here too!" The man exclaimed to the rest of the officers hidden behind him before quickening his pace towards them.
Seeing the proof that help had indeed arrived, Aoko leaned against the nearest solid surface to keep herself from losing balance. Even the boy next to her seemed to visibly relax, pushing the safety on the gun.
That brief moment of reassurance was cut short.
From the other end of the hallways where the officers came from, an unfamiliar man roughly fell out from one of the rooms. Not even a second later, another man whom Aoko recognized ran out and made a mad dash away from the police.
"Kid!" Conan yelled out at the sight. He urgently spun around to face the approaching officers while he pointed ahead. "We need to keep that guy from escaping!"
Aoko watched in confusion at the blur of motion going on around her while one officer who remained behind escorted her and the boy outside. While walking away, her eyes remained fixated on Kid until her neck could no longer turn any further.
It felt almost surreal that Kaito was right over there. She saw him get back up on his feet slowly, letting the newly arrived reinforcement flow by him. So Conan was speaking the truth after all... Kid was indeed cooperating with the police effort even if it sounded unbelievable. She had so much to say to him, and he certainly also had lots to tell her. But after being kidnapped and spending all day trapped worried out of her mind inside a solitary room, only to then nearly get killed, it had left her feeling extremely lightheaded and in no mood to talk inside that place.
Some time before...
"You will stay right where you are. Or I order Romulea to kill the girl."
Kaito remembered that the man had killed innocent bystanders before, so he shouldn't take the threat lightly. Attempting to keep a confident front, he asked a question. "How did you know I wasn't Termite?" Meanwhile in the back of his mind, he prayed that Kudo wasn't found out by Romulea or was prepared with his gadgets.
"It's quite simple, Kid." Uromastyx's dull eyes stayed glued on Kaito, a finger curled around the trigger. "Termite suspected that you were at the headquarters, so I ordered him through a phone call to stay and observe you."
This was one of his main concerns coming true. If Kaito could have accessed Termite's phone beforehand, then he might have guessed that Uromastyx had called the agent to warn him. Kaito had gambled with the chances, and he had lost.
Since his cover was thoroughly ruined, he undid the arm sling holding his good arm. The painkiller he took back at the old inventor's house had begun to wear off, and using his injured side while disguised as Termite hadn't helped with stopping pain gnawing into him.
A rather crooked smirk lifted a corner of Uromastyx's mouth. "You know, Kid, I understand your feelings for revenge. Really, I do. It truly becomes part of you with enough time."
Associating with the man was the last thing he wanted right now, so Kaito frowned at the man's words. "I don't just desire that. This is about stopping a bunch of crazy people from-"
A hollow thump came from outside in the general direction where Romulea went. And then...
The distinctive sound of a gunshot made the center of his chest squeeze and drop at the same time. Forcing his breathing to keep itself even, he tried his hardest not to envision Aoko or Kudo injured, or worse dead, because of his own miscalculations. The urge to dash towards where Aoko was supposedly held tensed his muscles, but he stayed put on the spot. All the while, a silent rage also began flowing in him.
"..." The armed man's gaze drifted to the side, seemingly considering something. It returned to Kaito soon enough.
From behind Uromastyx, a multitude of screens displayed live surveillance footage from many places. Some of them showed aerial views of Beika and Ekoda, while others had more up-close scenes. But of all of them, one caught Kaito's attention. A group of people in riot gear entered within view amidst the drab backdrop of the alleyways surrounding this very building.
"Are they here?" Uromastyx had taken notice that Kaito's eyes looked elsewhere for a moment, but he didn't seem to be bothered. "I know that the police are coming to free the girl. It's the logical step for you, no?"
"Heh, are you angry that Romulea technically brought them to your doorsteps?" Kaito smirked back in an attempt to stall for more time.
"Quite so. It wasn't part our mission plan." He answered in a monotone, walking closer towards Kaito in the meantime. "But I can't do anything about that anymore. Now, I have my own orders to follow."
"Orders?" Hesitantly taking a step back, Kaito was met with a sense of intrigue by the remark. Yet he had no time to think about it since the man suddenly swung at him with a fist, narrowly hitting him in the jaw. He only managed to avoid the attack by turning his head away.
"...!" Immediately afterwards, a piercing pain exploded on his left side as Uromastyx swiftly slammed the end grip of the gun directly on his wound. Dazed, Kaito then felt himself being forcefully grabbed by the collar and thrown to the floor outside in an instant.
The next thing he knew after shaking off the graininess enveloping his vision, he heard Kudo's voice and a group of armored officers rushed past him. Seeing that the police had arrived at last, Kaito took some time to catch a small break before standing up. He hoped that the stitching around the wound hadn't torn open but the intense throbbing made it hard to judge.
Eventually a worried man from the task force hurried toward him. "Kid-san? Do you need any assistance?"
Kaito smiled weakly. "Thank you for your consideration, but I assure you that I'm fine." Although thankful that someone would show some concern for him, he wasn't about to let Kaitou Kid be helped doing something as simple as standing on his own two feet.
Staggering down the narrow wooden stairs and out of the place, a myriad of lights nearly blinded him once outside. Kaito lifted a hand to his face to block them out. Looking back behind him, he saw that the garage door had been forced open and investigators got busy taking in any potential evidence from inside the old shop. After getting a basic layout of the building during his time there, Kaito knew that Uromastyx likely escaped via a hidden route that led to an adjacent building or to the rooftop. The outside was deceptive, hiding how spacious the inside was.
Amongst the number of people buzzing around, only the officers part of Nakamori's team recognized him. Still none approached him, only giving odd stares of curiosity mixed with unease at the way he sluggishly moved. But Kaito ignored them as all of his attention was focused on a parked ambulance a distance far away across the block.
The first thing his eyes set upon was Aoko, who sat on the sidewalk huddled inside a thin blanket with an open water bottle in her hands. Strong white lights from the inside of an ambulance beamed down from an angle on her like a spotlight. Sitting inside the vehicle was Kudo, who had a paramedic shining a light into his eyes and asking something to him at the same time.
Before Kaito could get closer however, the screeching of a car stopping sounded out. A slam of a car door soon followed. Coming out into view from behind the other vehicles, Nakamori ran to where his daughter sat. She looked up and saw him running towards her, hurriedly putting aside the thing in her hands to receive a long overdue embrace. Instantly, the heavy gloomed expression on her face was dispelled and replaced with tearful joy.
And for a solid while, they held each other as Kaito quietly looked on standing from afar. He was unable to discern what Aoko and her father said to each other, but he was relieved to see her talk.
It was when Nakamori pulled away that Kaito decided to head in their direction. Since the brightness close by probably made it difficult to see beyond, the crouched inspector only recognized him when he stood over them.
"K-Kid!" He acknowledged Kaito's presence with surprise, looking thoroughly drained from the stress over the past day. "I don't know what to say except thank you. I would never have imagined that I would say that to you one day."
From a fair distance, Kudo watched the scene unfold without interrupting.
Kaito summoned a smile, even if he was feeling rather feeble himself. "Anytime, Inspector."
Try as he might, Kaito's eyes naturally wandered towards Aoko again. The way she looked at him was filled with relief, worry, and confusion. Staying in character, he simply stared back. After a bit, he nodded with an understanding that now was not the right time to talk. They had to wait for someplace more private.
The inspector jumped up to his feet, alerted by a reoccurring thought. "Ah, shit!" His head moved around frantically, trying to look for something. "Kaito-kun! Where's he at!? Was he in there too, Aoko?"
Taken aback, Aoko and Kaito passed a glance between each other with widened eyes and lips pressed into thin lines.
"Ah, him." Laughing wryly, Kaito did his best to give the man a reassuring grin. "He's...alive and safe, Inspector. Trust me."