Ladies and gentlemen! I humbly welcome you to the eight chapter of this story!
Please enjoy and review!
Kaito felt like crying out in frustration but since he had his monocle and hat on, he had to keep his poker face intact and only allowed himself a heavy sigh when he fell from the roof.
He had not only wasted the opportunity to speak with Saguru and hopefully get some answers but also got Conan involved, and apparently interested. Now the twerp was more than likely to show up during his next heist, which would mean that he would have to avoid Saguru at school for a longer period of time. Which was surely going to be a pain in the butt. He'd have to probably provoke a quarrel with him to avoid Aoko getting suspicious as well.
'Could things get any worse?' was a question he probably shouldn't ask, even in the privacy of his mind…
As he deployed his glider, he heard Conan calling out to Saguru, so he gained amplitude, to hopefully see what was going on there, before he got too far. Seeing both of his detectives rushing towards the rooftop door made Kaito realize that things could indeed get worse and his night was far from over.
Immediately he dipped the nose of his glider to gain some speed. He knew that he had to hurry and get out of sight, so he could safely land, change his clothes and hopefully vanish as another late-night passerby on the streets. But for that to happen, he had to get away from the building, or he would get captured by the police instead, which wouldn't be much better.
Kaito could only curse himself. He was so focused on the heist and his eventual talk with Saguru that he forgot the guy was a dragon. And one that was obviously determined to speak with KID. So what was he most likely going to do when Kaito left by glider without talking to him? Of course he would try to catch up to him in the air! But that was the last thing he wanted to happen!
If Kaito was right, he was likely to transform at the sight of the dragon and possibly lose control over himself yet again. And he couldn't have that, at least not until he had a vague idea of what Saguru wanted with him.
All he could do now was hope that Meitantei could occupy Saguru for long enough for him to run away.
Kaito took a deep breath trying to remember that whatever happened next, this was Saguru he was dealing with. The guy might have been annoying as hell, but unlike Conan, he was never brutal with him. He was only a threat with how perceptive and persistent he was. And it was unlikely this would change, no matter the form he took. There was no need to…
He felt his mind freeze at the sound of flapping wings coming from behind him. It shouldn't be this loud in his ears but somehow the sound caused him such terror that it seemed to dim out any other noises. He didn't want to look back but despite that he did, knowing that ignoring it wouldn't make it go away.
With the distance between them, Kaito had a very good view of the dragon behind him. Just like he recalled, it was covered with golden, glistering scales, with the exception of his ivory claws and teeth, shining through from his slightly open maw. He had spikes protruding from his back along his spine, up to the tip of his long tail. His large wings were beating the air fast.
There was no question about it - at the speed he was approaching, he would reach Kaito in no time at all.
He didn't want to be scared, he tried convincing himself that he really shouldn't be. But at the same time he couldn't stop his heart from beating so hard that it hurt. His instincts were screaming at him to run away and he decided not to fight it anymore. He collapsed his glider to gain speed and hide between the buildings to hopefully buy some time. However, as he gained velocity he felt a strange sensation through his body, like electrifying heat spreading from his heart, painfully gripping his joints and muscles. His skin crawled from within and his body felt like it was stretching but he was too scared and confused to try and comprehend it. There was nothing he could do to fight it either, so he closed his eyes, trying to endure the sensation the best he could. His head was spinning and he was starting to feel faint, so he took a deep breath, trying to relax and next he knew, he felt lighter.
He felt like he was having a lucid dream, barely aware of his surroundings, only along for the ride in his own body, as it moved on its own. He felt himself pressing his limbs closer to his body and his back bending up and down in a smooth swaying motion, making him swim in thin air. The wind caressing his hair and body so felt nice and cool that he was tempted to just let it go and allow his consciousness to drift away. Everything else felt irrelevant and it was so tempting to just…
Suddenly there was a loud noise behind him, akin to a roar and again Kaito became aware of his heart painfully colliding with his ribs. He bit his lip, hard enough to make it bleed and felt himself regaining control over his body. His hands twitched, as he clenched his fists and turned his head to the side to look for a hiding spot. Unexpectedly, his body made a tight turn following the movement of his head. Right into the face of a smiling woman displaced on a bright billboard advertising something. He snapped his head away and into an alley and choked back a scream of pain as his side grind against the commercial when he slipped at full speed into a narrow opening.
He heard an angry roar from above and as he glanced up without moving his head, he saw the golden dragon chasing him while frantically looking around for a way to reach him. Kaito felt his control slipping again due to the sight, so he turned his gaze forwards hastily, just in time to notice a fire escape right in front of him. He slipped underneath it, close enough to graze it with his back and make the metal screech mournfully.
He struggled to avoid colliding with anything, unfamiliar with the way he had to move his body to keep himself flying and the speed he was passing the obstacles. Not fully in control or even knowing the full shape of his body it was nearly impossible not to hit, scrape or at least swipe objects or walls on his path, especially when he was forced to turn into another alley.
This made two things painfully clear to him. One was that moving his head directed the path he flew, though he could move his eyes as he wanted without changing directions, which didn't make navigating easy. And two was that he could remain in control as long as he didn't see the dragon. So he needed to lose him. But it didn't look like Saguru was willing to let him go. He tried yelling at him but it came out as a strange hissing growl type of sound. His mouth and tongue felt somehow wrong. He might have been able to formulate words with some effort but as a master of voice modulation he knew without even trying that it wouldn't sound right.
Instead, he started desperately looking around as he raced through the alleys with blood still dripping from his lip, dripping every now and then into his eye. His vision blurred further with the bright lights adoring the buildings and billboards around him, making it hard to make out his surroundings. Even when he managed to avoid any collisions, his ears were filled with the sounds of flying trash - cans and bottles colliding with each other as the wind he caused by passing pushed them aside, and the metal screeches of advertising signs swinging on their hinges.
With so many distractions and the panic clouding his mind he couldn't find anywhere he could hide in. And with the dragon looming above him he didn't dare to try and slow down. But he couldn't hope to keep avoiding him just by flying like this. He wouldn't be able to escape like this and on top of that, he risked getting noticed by other people with all the racket he was causing.
Suddenly, he saw the golden beast landing right before him with a heavy thud, as he neared a widening intersection. Kaito pretty much flipped his head over his back and pushing off a wall with his hand he managed to violently change direction. There was another scream from the other dragon but for a split second he saw the sky. It was clouded, with the moon just barely shining through small clearings. And just then, when the disappointed roar behind him died down, he thought he heard something else from high above.
With how exhausted he was getting, Kaito immediately realized that this was possibly his only chance.
Without wasting any time, he raised his head to the sky again. His body shot towards the moon, as he flew above the buildings. Immediately, he heard the sound of wings flapping behind him, closing in, as the noise of trash clattering and cars passing in the streets died down, left behind on the ground.
Just as he thought, the dragon behind him seemed to be faster than him and would catch up to him soon. Kaito felt his panic rising again, making him feel faint. He was risking losing control again but it was the best he could think of.
He chewed on his injured lip, hoping to stay aware for long enough and suddenly turned around, facing his pursuer and stopping his body from moving by coiling it behind him. In that same moment, he saw light seeping through from behind him, as the moon emerged from behind the clouds, illuminating his body in eerie light. As he expected, freezing his body made him stop mid air and for a moment he was just hovering there, staring down at his foe.
It took all of his self control to stay still and not cover or wail in fear. Thankfully, he didn't need to last long.
Kaito could barely hear anything over the sound of his own heartbeat as he saw the golden dragon approaching him, staring at him with wide eyes.
He was close. But right before he was able to reach him, Kaito turned his head to the side and violently whipped his back in the swimming motion. As he hoped, this made his body jolt to the side, right out of the way from a plane that was hidden behind him, flying through right where he was a moment ago. With a frightened squawk the golden dragon scrambled to avoid the collision. The moment the large machine separated them, Kaito flew into the thick clouds. He froze his body, covering his mouth with his hands, desperate to be as quiet as possible.
Because of the vapor around him, he couldn't see anything and all he could hear was the roar of the plane engines and his own heartbeat. With the panic still clawing at his throat and mind it wasn't easy to stay still, so he wanted to distract himself with something. Anything.
Usually, he would start doing some tricks, or at least play with something in his hands but now… Was he even able to anymore? He looked down at his palms, as he moved them away from his mouth and focused on how different they looked. It ancored him and helped calming down. He still had long, slender fingers but he could barely see them now, as they were covered with tiny scales, whiter than the cloud he was currently hiding in. And at the tip of each finger there was a short but sharp looking claw. The scales felt smooth to the touch and surprisingly soft. Just what in the world-?
His thoughts were cut short by what sounded like an angry roar, resonating from worryingly close by. It sounded like words, but their meaning was swallowed by the sound of Kaito's heart trashing once again in his ribcage. He couldn't see the dragon due to the clouds, but from the sound of it, it seemed that Saguru had lost sight of him as well.
Swallowing thickly, Kaito slowly took a tight turn while still keeping his whole body hidden and slipped away carefully maneuvering in the thick cloud before he was found.
Hope to see you next chapter *bows*
