So… it's been a few years. Real life hit me with a truck and by the time I got back up, I had zero writing momentum and a lot of dread about living up to the story's foreshadowing.
Immense thanks to Kdm13 for their support of this story over the years, and to Cloudy for helping me get past the mental block of working on The Way Home that was present for so long. (And being patient while I wrote enough of the remaining story to hopefully avoid another long hiatus.)
Additional thanks to Ellen, Wren, Snickerer, Cloudy, Kdm13, and Jo for betaing and/or patient listening ears.
Some differences in writing style or code-switching may be noticeable. My writing has changed over time, and if I try to revise nearly 240k words to reflect that first then I'd never get to new content.
Happy 15th anniversary of Promenade's first chapter, dear readers.
Long, Hard Road (Part 3)
In order to arrive at what you do not know
You must go by a way which is the way of ignorance.
In order to possess what you do not possess
You must go by the way of dispossession.
- East Coker (III.39-42)
Despite Saguru's misgivings at leaving Kaito behind for the trip to Kudou's house, it was the only realistic option. Bringing Kudou to the Blue Parrot left Vermouth at the scene of her disappearance long enough to be a risk, even with Kaito impersonating her departure back to the nearest train station. More importantly, it left her in the vicinity of Kuroba and Kaito for far too long—particularly when Kaito had experienced a minor panic attack just at the sight of her. Kuroba being exposed to her in any way, in his fragile state of mind, was a risk not worth considering.
Though Inspector Hakuba had at least taken care to borrow a camera off of Jii to document her arrest, both to show Kuroba later as proof of his freedom from her, and to prove some degree of chain of custody for future legalities.
Under the circumstances, however, the best option was to ferry her to Beika and hope like hell that Kudou did have a connection to American law enforcement so they wouldn't be forced to look for them without a means of introduction. Or worse, be forced to find an entirely different means of keeping Vermouth out of the official legal system until it wouldn't guarantee her early release or quiet death.
Which was why Saguru currently had the dubious pleasure of sitting in the backseat with Kuroba's confiscated gun subtly trained on Vermouth, just in case her apparent paresis was impermanent. Given Kaito's other insane achievements, permanent was more likely, but driving through Tokyo traffic was not the time to find out, even having borrowed the last of Kaito's handcuff lock goo and the bottle of dissolver.
While Vermouth had yet to show any obvious resistance, the difficulty lay in determining whether her silent apparent-cooperation was shock, cunning they would all regret later, or the same odd quiet air of knowing when she was beaten that she had demonstrated the last time Kaito had caught her in a Shadow-trap. Watching Vermouth watch him with her unsettlingly intent concentration gave Saguru a headache he didn't dare try to massage away. The sunglasses were blessedly doing their job for his sanity, but it certainly felt like Vermouth was looking straight through the tinted lenses into all the secrets he had to hide.
Saguru could only hope that the hurried disguise Kaito'd put on him before they'd traveled to Jii's was still holding up, but it wasn't as if there had been anyone else to take his place. The Inspector had to drive Jii's Vanden Plas, and Kuroba needed at least two keepers if the Inspector wasn't around—especially when recovering from surgery, when the doctor had said Kuroba couldn't even take anything stronger than over-the-counter pain medication until he'd regained some of the body mass he'd lost in his downward spiral.
From the front seat, Inspector Hakuba's unceasing litany of muttered curses about the traffic with no siren to create a clear path finally trailed off as they turned into Kudou's neighborhood. A few moments brought them by the front gate to the Kudou family home and Inspector Hakuba cut the engine.
"I'll announce us." Inspector Hakuba didn't wait for a response before heading to the outer gate of the Kudou residence. Saguru kept his attention on Vermouth but heard the requisite pleasantries over the intercom as Hakuba wisely opted against naming himself in public and instead explained his presence as a delivery for Kudou.
"I didn't order anything." Kudou's voice, even through the intercom, held justifiable suspicion.
Inspector Hakuba paused just long enough to have surreptitiously swept the surroundings one last time for passersby before he answered, "The contents, according to the shipping manifest, are a well-preserved Wormwood wine, courtesy of Sharon Vineyard."
There was a long silence, and then the distinctive 'thunk' of a security bar behind the property gate unlocking. "I hope you have an assistant delivery person for transporting something that... potentially volatile."
"I do. If you could meet us at the door and direct us to the best location for its short-term storage, that would be appreciated."
"...Give me a minute." The intercom cut out into a second silence that stretched longer than the first, then finally crackled back to life with, "Come on in."
Finagling Vermouth out of the car was slightly less difficult than getting her into it, with Inspector Hakuba at the ready in case she tried to escape or lost her balance due to the apparent muscle weakness. When they reached the front door, he knocked, and the door opened to reveal Kudou in dark jeans and a blue T-shirt, with the same dark glasses and cane Saguru remembered from the glimpse of Kaito's nightmares.
"Been a while, Cool Guy," Vermouth greeted smoothly before Kudou could say anything, and Kudou's expression twitched in a way that suggested a wealth of complicated, conflicting feelings.
Rather than respond directly, Kudou stepped back to give them room to enter. "There's an armchair with zip ties in the den to your right."
Saguru shifted his sunglasses up as they stepped inside and wordlessly assisted in removing Vermouth's shoes and then securing her to the offered chair. When they finished, the still-present tension in the room made his hand rise automatically, before he remembered that running a hand through his hair would dislodge the sunglasses and doing that around Vermouth didn't bear thinking about. He diverted the motion to adjusting his gloves instead while Inspector Hakuba straightened with a sigh.
"Thank you. I apologize for imposing on you without notice, but I hope the visiting gift is sufficient recompense. Before I reintroduce myself, how good is your anti-surveillance equipment?"
Kudou's brows rose before he shrugged. "Bug sweep every morning." He walked unerringly around the furniture to a cabinet at one end of the room and reached inside. There was a click and then a faint hum, just at the edge of audibility. "The privacy equipment is proprietary, designed by a friend. It should be safe enough for us to talk… Hakuba-san, isn't it? They've been playing old interviews about your promotion and solved cases lately—only I've met a few good vocal impersonators, Vineyard-san included, and those interviews are on the news because you're missing, presumed dead."
"I'm sure it's a fascinating tale, seeing as it involved successfully tricking my favorite little protégé," Vermouth said, unwisely.
Kudou's face twitched again and Inspector Hakuba responded by swiftly removing his tie and gagging her with it. "I refuse to have this conversation with your input, madam." He turned back to Kudou and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'll remove my tie later if you have reason to question her, but if it helps, I'm well aware of my circumstances."
Kudou's expression lightened from his grim focus, though Saguru would hesitate to call it relaxed, and he gestured to the couches. "Fine. Have a seat and give me reason to believe you're you, introduce me to your silent assistant, and then explain how you're alive and have Vineyard-san in your custody."
Once they'd settled, Inspector Hakuba took a steadying breath. "The first and only time we've spoken before today, I was an Assistant Inspector and the first to arrive at the scene of a fraud crime you'd called in. Hattori Heiji-san was with you and joked in poor taste that at least you had finally stumbled upon something other than murder."
Kudou chuffed in amusement. "Depends on if it's poor taste when it's true. How did you respond?"
"That I was aware of your mutual reputations, but more impressed by your recognizing a con man from a limited interaction in the course of a single afternoon." After a moment, Inspector Hakuba added, "And finagling the proof without making the evidence inadmissible in court."
The tension in Kudou's shoulders relaxed. "All right, I believe you're Hakuba-san. Damn glad you survived after all. So what the hell happened?"
Inspector Hakuba glanced at Saguru. They'd agreed at Jii's that the less Saguru spoke, the better, because Saguru's speech and vocal patterns were close enough to the Inspector's that Kudou would likely notice and want details better left unsaid. Not to mention Vermouth still listening, with surely an even better ear for voices than Kudou.
"My associate, Steven-san, is part of the group who ensured I am missing and not deceased. Their timely intervention meant I had sufficient warning and protection to survive the situation when I confronted the man Vineyard-san kidnapped as a child and raised as her pet project. I understand you encountered him at Tropical Land several years ago."
Despite Inspector Hakuba's deliberately bland delivery, Kudou tensed like a hound about to hunt. "Him? —Kidnapped? What," Kudou enunciated carefully, "the. Hell."
"Accurate on all counts, if my observations are to be believed," Inspector Hakuba responded with an impressively even tone. "His… assistance… was key to my arrest of Vineyard-san, and he has voluntarily entered my custody for the remainder of my investigation into her colleagues, at which point his fate will be determined in a court of law."
He sighed. "However, as I cannot risk being publicly alive when a group of that lethality believes I should be dead, and I've been informed that you and I have the same targets... I hope we can work together on a common cause. I'm willing to give Vineyard-san to you and your allies if I can leverage arresting her boss as justification for my extended disappearance."
Kudou drummed his fingers on the head of his cane, jaw working, for a few moments. "Let's have it on record that I'm not happy about it, but fine. We can revisit the topic of him down the road." Saguru didn't think he was imagining that Kudou's voice held the unspoken promise of 'extensively'. "As well as just how your mysterious allies have so much information about this situation, since you sure as hell didn't get it all from that—guy. So are you giving Vineyard-san over because you want to, or because you don't have anywhere safe to keep her?"
"Both. I'm going to have my hands full with one cooperating witness, as I fully subscribe to 'verify' over 'trust'... and as it is, I'm going to need different living arrangements in the near future."
Saguru suppressed a wince. They'd discussed their options on that front during Kaito's exhaustion nap, and Jii had offered the Blue Parrot's back office and his apartment as temporary shelter, but having the Inspector and Kurou crammed in that small of a space for an indefinite length of time was unlikely to end well. Worse, Inspector Hakuba was a known patron of the Blue Parrot, and that created even more issues if they tried to stay there.
Undaunted, Inspector Hakuba continued, "Even if I had the resources for her custody, my sources tell me you have equal or greater reason to want Vineyard-san caught than I. I would prefer to find justice for as many people as possible, than to posture for accolades."
"Heh. I always figured I'd like you, if we ever got thrown together on a case. Never thought it'd be this one, but I won't complain."
"And on my part, at least, your reputation precedes you… I hope our mutual connections and cooperation can achieve as quick a resolution as possible."
Kudou grinned, as bright and dangerous as quicksilver. "It's a damn sight closer now than it was yesterday. Let me make a couple of calls; my parents own more real estate in Tokyo than just this house. They never spend more than a couple days at a time in the city because all of Dad's editors live here and it's too easy to track him down for his overdue deadlines, so it'll be fine. And law enforcement custody for Vineyard-san now is going to matter for managing a legitimate trial as opposed to lawyers making kidnapping counter-accusations…"
Saguru released the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. It was going to work—had to work, because there was no conceivable way he and Kaito could afford to stay to see this reality's investigation through to the end. Personal time passing aside, for the sake of Kaito's psyche they needed to not be present for the inevitably cyclical nature of Kuroba's future rehabilitation.
Inspector Hakuba smiled back at Kudou, full of relief and anticipation. "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
The remainder of the visit passed quickly. Though they waited for Kudou's FBI contacts to arrive rather than leave Kudou alone with Vermouth, the Americans were prompt. They were also more than happy to collaborate with Inspector Hakuba once they got past the part where reports of his death had been greatly exaggerated.
Inspector Hakuba provided them the number of the Blue Parrot's back office phone line as a way to get in touch with him for the time being, since his cell phone was currently as useful as electronic slag. In turn, Kudou and Jodie Santemillion traded business cards with their contact information, and Kudou offered to acquire a phone for Inspector Hakuba if he was having trouble getting a new one.
Inspector Hakuba glanced at Saguru just for a moment, dry humor quirking the corners of his mouth. "I appreciate the offer, but I should have better resources on that front soon. Until now there was minimal time to do anything but recover from the shock of being alive, and corral my witness."
Saguru simply offered a shrug in response, grateful Inspector Hakuba at least had a firm grasp of how terrible a can of worms it would be to reveal their shadow-travel across time in front of Vermouth. And Jii did seem determined to spend whatever was necessary in order to support the potential protection and rehabilitation of Kuroba.
"All right. If that changes, reach back out and we'll see what we can do." Kudou sighed. "Now, I hate to kick people out, but Ran is out shopping with friends and due back soon. I really don't want to have to explain to her why a famous actress and friend of my mother's is currently in handcuffs in our den."
"A sensible concern," Inspector Hakuba allowed. "...Keep the tie, if you like. At this point I think I'd only burn it."
"Thanks, we will," Santemillion replied with more than a hint of glee. "It's a great accessory. Really brings out her eyes."
Saguru took the fact that Kudou could still snicker in the current circumstances as a positive sign. Watching the agents escort Vermouth out of Kudou's house, towards the first step of getting justice for Kuroba's decade and a half of hell and Kaito's repeated brushes with mental breakdown, was an even better one.
Maybe now they could all finally get some bloody decent sleep.
Endnote:
Vermouth comes from the German wurmut, for the wormwood used as an ingredient through history.
I currently have enough chapter buffer that I should be able to update monthly—aiming for the first Sunday of the month barring real life complications—until the story is complete. For those still reading on fanfiction dot net, updates will always go up at Archive of Our Own, where I am also Ocianne. I can't guarantee to manage, but I will try to cross-post here as well.
Whether you're an old or new reader, thanks for coming along for the ride, and please leave a review if you enjoyed. Everything from this chapter and beyond only exists because of comments.