This chapter is brought to you all by the recent protests, considering I finished it in between breaks of protesting and classes.
I am devastated by recent events within my country. For the past few weeks I joined my peers to protest and demonstrate across my campus. I watched children and young adults yell, cry, and march for the future of their country: a future that suddenly looks much bleaker for non-white, non-male Americans. I watched friends and classmates breakdown, terrified of hate and discrimination they are to face: hate that has been legitimized and rewarded by this election.
And yet, we must move forward, and not away. The only war we lose is the war we stop fighting, for equality and justice for everyone disenfranchised by this country.
Well.
Dramatics and devastation and political statements aside, thank you, all of you, for your support of this story! I've received so many touching and wonderful reviews, and they are incredibly motivating. In thanks, here's a monstrously long chapter!
Kaishin kind of begins from here on.
Here's chapter 4 of Dominoes!
Chapter 4: Drop to the Floor
He started his mornings early, hours before sunrise. And breakfast. He didn't get to breakfast until thirty minutes before school, which was plenty of time to make some toast and throw a couple of eggs into a pan.
When he finally sat down to eat, he was starving. After his morning exercises, the slight quake in his muscles and the heat rushing under his skin was pleasant and cathartic after nights of cold thoughts and colder dreams.
The TV flickered to life, bringing up the national news: not the channel he had last left it on. He huffed a breath into his toast, spraying a couple crumbs across the countertop.
The subconscious mind was such a frustrating thing.
In bright fluorescent colors, the TV created a frustrating picture: a woman with a round, plump face and deep red lipstick, with intelligent eyes glimmering behind her thick rimmed spectacles. Edogawa Fumiyo, official spokeswoman of the ISHA, aka the Overseers, smiled pleasantly, harmlessly, at a crowd. Against the red and blue of the ISHA paraphernalia, she was standing in stark contrast in the velvet green of her suit behind a polished podium. She spoke in clean, unaccented English with a powerful voice, comforting and bold in the face of millions eyes worldwide.
He didn't hear the words she said, too busy trying to breath steadily around the mounting pressure in his gut and the twist of nausea rising up his throat. The rush of hate in his blood and the cold, anxious feeling of his heart beating in his chest was bitter and familiar, like taking a shot of espresso in the morning. Some people drank coffee; he drank his own hate and fear and terrible helplessness.
Then, the spokeswoman was gone.
On screen, Shimizu of TMS was addressing the audience from behind a white table. Behind her was a backdrop of a city street lined with fluorescent signs decorated with vibrant Chinese characters before a sky of glittering skyscrapers, crowded with bodies and picket signs.
"—in the wake of the attack, authorities called in the Overseers to take control of the situation in Hong Kong."
He swallowed his toast, feeling rough crumbs scrape his throat all the way down. It settled in his gut alongside his simmering rage. The TV screen flashed, changing channels.
Another reporter, this time standing before a familiar propaganda poster of the ISHA, the world's most renown vigilantes lined up before a shining light. "—the protesters were given the order to disperse. When they refused, the Overseers were forced to intervene—"
His eye twitched. He only allowed the movement because he was alone. The channel switched almost instantaneously. "—leaving fifteen dead and thirty injured. The unregistered vigilante responsible has still not been apprehended but authorities assure—"
Anger twisted into disgust.
Not fast enough, a different news channel appeared, just displaying a on-sight reporter standing before a school flying the American flag, speaking in clear, crisp English. A script of subtitles scrolled by on the bottom of the screen. "—a young high-schooler in Minneapolis, Minnesota has been hospitalized. Current witness reports suggest that he was assaulted by a fellow student with possible metahuman abilities—"
The woman disappeared in a burst of white, replaced by two men, displayed in separate boxes on screen, obviously in different locations. They were both glowering at the camera. One was speaking, in a sharp, rushed tone, in unaccented English. "—we can no longer pretend that we don't have a discrimination problem in this country! These metahuman kids are persecuted and bullied until they lash out—"
The other interrupted in a burst of agitation, arguing right back. "Threatening an entire class of middle-schoolers in not just lashing out! This kid is obviously dangerous and unstable—"
Kids shouldn't be dragged into this. The media had no business arguing about the actions of children on international news.
He reached for a glass of water to wash the crumbs out of his mouth. The next channel didn't last even more than second."—Overseers—" A second was already too much.
His hand tightened on the glass.
Metahumans. Always throwing their weight around.
"—crime rates in Tokyo have been increasing exponentially for years now. There's been a significant increase in supernatural incidents over these past three years. Statisticians and social scientists have been baffled by this unprecedented phenomenon, and while theories are being presented, we still have very little idea as to why—"
Government scientists, always looking in the wrong directions. It's like they didn't even want to find a solution. "—thankfully, the Overseers have risen admirably to protect—"
Or maybe they really believed they'd already been handed one. Idiots. "—we can only thank the Overseers for their incredible acts of altruism and bravery—"
They'd get a solution, alright. Whether they wanted one or not.
"—the next generation of heroes—" Heroes, they said.
"—I don't feel threatened. I know the Overseers will protect us—" The Overseers.
"—I mean, you couldn't have the Overseers without metahumans—"Overseers. Overseers. Overseers.
The screen turned black with a static sound. Kaito relaxed his fist, easing the tension out of his fingers. He should know better by now, like his mom, than to watch the news. His mom had wanted to throw the TV out entirely when he moved back in, but he had insisted on keeping it in case any friends came over. He had told her he would be fine, he wouldn't watch it.
His acting skills must have finally caught up to hers, because she believed him.
With a sigh, he booted up his laptop and brought up a web browser, clicking on a site saved in his favorites.
Kudo Shinichi's website had a simple, stylish design and was easy to navigate. Some days, Kaito felt like it was the only reputable news source left in Tokyo.
Or maybe he was biased, because wow, was Shinichi hard on heroes.
On the front-page were the day's links to numerous news articles Shinichi recommended, each one coupled with his own personal commentary. Front and center was Shinichi's own most recent column, a reaction to the same matter the TV had mentioned: the protest that had torn apart Hong Kong in the wake of a metahuman attack.
He scrolled down, noting the familiar headlines of Shinichi's original articles. All of the links were purple.
City Council Meets to Amend Upcoming Insurance Proposition
Disaster Recovery Efforts In Tokyo Begin
Irregulars Confront Threat in Tokyo: Damages Estimated in Millions
Giant Burns Through Downtown Tokyo: Emergency Broadcast
Sakura Loom Responsible for Deaths of Workers in India
Community Mourns Loss of Beloved Baker
Homicide: Baker of Popular Cafe Murdered
KID Announces Heist—
-to be on the same day as police conference.
Kaitou 1412 announced his plans for his next heist last night by hacking into the MPD's website and posting a notice, along with a variety of unflattering pictures of prominent law enforcers. Notably, the declared heist will be held two weeks from now in London, correlating with an upcoming International Police Conference hosted by the European Union. In all likelihood, this is not a coincidence, or rather, this is a challenge to the police. More than that, this may be another attempt by KID to provoke the Overseers. As I have theorized before, KID, since his resurrection, has been challenging the Overseers to confront him directly. As of yet, though, the Overseers have yet to act in response to the revival of Kaitou 1412, beyond a handful of official statements full of coded language and red tape that the average citizen would have difficulty dissecting. Aversion tactics, as if the triumphant return of the world's most famed thief was a unpalatable trend that will eventually blow over. Thankfully, the media has not been so tight lipped.
Before his revival, KID often clashed with the International Superhero Association, particularly the Night Baron. However, after the skirmish and resulting accident of [DATE], Kaitou KID disappeared entirely from the public eye...
Response: Kaitou KID Thrashes Teen Heroes; Steals 400 Million Yen Diamond
Overseers Do Not Respond to KID's Challenge—and instead send in their sidekicks.
He smirked as he reread the blurb. It was nice to know his intentions hadn't flown completely over everyone's heads. Like all mischief-makers, he lived for the reveal, to know that someone had unraveled the riddle and discovered the intention inside. He glanced at the time as he opened the full article, slightly disappointed to see that it was nearing the hour. Time for school.
The walk to school felt a little surreal. There was something weird about spending a whole week skipping around the world, saving lives and taking down bad guys, and then having to go back to her ordinary high school like nothing at all interesting happened over break. Her school uniform felt too loose and too vulnerable, completely impractical in comparison to the comfortable costume she had taken to wearing after joining the team.
Hakuba's presence grounded her a bit, and made the transition a bit easier. He did not usually walk to school, but she liked to think the reason he made an exception today was for her own comfort and to help her adjust to the shift. She was grateful for it, because even after a day of rest, her muscles still ached with over-exertion, and her head felt like it had been stuffed with cotton.
But he seemed worried this morning, his usual polite attentiveness overwhelmed by concern, if the creases in his forehead were anything to go by.
"Are you thinking about Saturday?" She asked, once the quiet became too much. They were still a good five minutes away from the school, where they wouldn't be able to have this kind of conversation.
Hakuba granted her an apologetic smile. "Yes. I'm sorry, but something about what Shinichi-kun said is bothering me a bit." Shinichi-kun. She felt strange when she heard Hakuba call their mentor's son by his first name, considering when speaking to the other boy directly, he always said 'Kudo-kun'.
"About the missing kid?"
He nodded. "He seems to think the incidents are related. Why? It seems to just be coincidence."
"Well, it makes a better story, I guess."
"Shinichi-kun is not the type to give in to sensationalism." There Aoko had to agree. Kudo was a brutally honest person, especially for a reporter. He seemed to take a great deal of pride in exposing the truth for all to see, never once chasing after the silly, unconfirmed stories other news people chased like wolves. But at the same time, no story was too small or too cruel for Kudo to publish, or at least as far as she knew. Additionally, he always seemed to jump from a single, untelling observation to a confident conclusion, and then chased the idea to its eventual fruition.
"Yeah, but he's always making strange connections from little details." She had never once heard of him being wrong, but...
"True."
"Though, you do that too." Hakuba wasn't too different from the other sharp-minded boy in that manner.
Hakuba sniffed, offended. "I do not. And it's a detective's job to always be attentive to the smallest details and to make deductions based on observations."
Aoko frowned, because, honestly, she hated how her teammate, and leader, put that particular philosophy into action. "And Kaito must be Kaitou KID because he's smart and can do magic tricks." Just the mere suggestion of her best friend, since she was just a little girl, the boy who gave her a rose on the first day he met her to cheer her up, being a super villain, of all things, was enough to upset her. Kaito was mischievous, but he certainly wasn't evil.
"That's not my reasoning." Hakuba denied, but wisely didn't pursue the issue further, lest Aoko found herself a mop and started swinging (she would never live that one down, would she?).
She knew she had a tendency to get unfairly angry when Hakuba brought it up, but some part of her couldn't help but feel it was justified, considering just how cruel Hakuba's suspicions were. Maybe that was also unfair, because Hakuba didn't know, didn't have any reason to know, why his theory was so disturbing.
So she didn't continue either, carefully setting her jaw shut and ignoring the burning of her eyes. She hadn't even intended to start a fight about it.
So they... just stopped talking.
They were approaching the school gates, anyway, where topics like that were dangerous territory.
In their homeroom, Kaito sat at his desk, reading something on his phone with a bored expression. Briefly, his eyes flickered towards them, a flash of something there, and then back down. And suddenly, she felt guilty. She had been so busy over the spring break that she hadn't managed to fulfill any of the plans they had made. She hadn't even been able to go see the new Gamera with him, like she had promised she would.
But when she sheepishly approached his desk, he set down the phone with a grin and twinkling eyes. Just like that, she couldn't help but feel like she was already forgiven.
"Well, if it isn't the missing lady! Where have you been?" The magician teased, showing off his best mischievous smirk by leaning over the desk towards her.
"Sorry," she grinned right back, "but Kudo-sensei took us to a crime prevention convention all the way in London! It was so cool!"
Well, it wasn't entirely a lie. They had gone, to intervene a 'mass-contamination of law officers with hallucinogenic gas' scheme. After that mess was done, there had even been time for an attempt at capturing KID during his heist the next day. Though, admittedly, that had been a rather embarrassing disaster.
But she would get that damn thief next time.
"Really, you were in London?" Something she didn't like flickered in Kaito's eyes. Suddenly, she regretted mentioning London. "Did you go to the KID heist?" The question was casual, not even a hitch, but lacked some of the usual exuberance she once associated with Kaito's every movement.
For a second, she hesitated to answer. "Yeah. I got to see the Irregulars almost catch him."
"Now I know you didn't go." Kaito clicked his tongue, picking up his phone and showing her the screen. A familiar news site clearly presented an article reading "Kaitou KID Thrashes Teen Heroes; Steals 400 Million Yen Diamond".
Aoko deflated. It was frustrating seeing such reports when they all worked so hard. She wanted to catch the longtime and infamous super villain: for her father, for Kaito, for the taskforce, and for Hakuba too. It was the whole reason she joined the Irregulars in the first place. She wanted to be able to say she was in the hero business just to help people and fight monsters like the other day, but in the end, she still had to go home to a lonely house and hope her father didn't get spend all night uselessly going over the same reports again. If she caught KID, all that would come to an end. They could have time as a family again, and maybe Kaito would finally be able to smile the same way he used to.
But so far she'd proven to be better at taking down monsters than thieves.
"Don't look so down." Kaito's voice brought her back to homeroom. "KID's gone uncaught for over two decades. A bunch of amateurs like the Irregulars didn't stand a chance. They should have just left it to the big shots." Kaito slumped back, lackadaisical and careless. The cold steel in her eyes made her mouth go dry. "But I guess the Overseers are just too busy to care about something like that."
The lazy, uncaring sourness in his voice almost made her flinch. She bit the inside of her lip, drawing into herself, trying to think of a way to disagree without being… inconsiderate.
"The Overseers would be foolish to waste their time with the likes of KID. And, I think what the Irregulars did was admirable." Aoko jolted, turning to find Hakuba a meter away, and flushed. She had been so happy to see Kaito after the long break that she'd forgotten Hakuba was even there. He smiled at her, proud and comforting. She couldn't help but stand taller. "Not to mention what happened Saturday."
"Well, it wouldn't be Tokyo if there wasn't some kind of giant monster wrecking havoc." Kaito muttered sarcastically. He had a point, with the rising number of disasters, natural and not, they'd all been growing desensitized over the past few years. It all had seemed so big and out of her control, and yet so far away before she'd developed powers that Aoko had never paid it much more thought than she would a monsoon or earthquake. Now, though, she could move water with her mind and fought super villains after school. "The Overseers didn't even show up for that either."
Hakuba's lips were drawn in a tight line. "I'm sure they felt there was no need."
Aoko knew exactly where this conversation was going, but couldn't bring herself to stop it.
"Well, they've been wrong before. Didn't you guys watch Kudo's broadcast?" Kaito's handsome features settled into an aggravated sneer. It was an expression she had difficulty getting used, when Kaito first came back to Ekoda. Now, it was familiar and didn't bother her as much. "Not that I think the Overseers themselves could have done much better. Who knows, they might have just wrecked more of the city." Kaito's voice was rising near the end of his accusation, catching attention from their peers. Some of their classmates had been watching already. Shoulders tensed defensively all around the room.
Aoko winced as Keiko came up to her side, frowning and shouldering Hakuba out of the way. "Geez, Kuroba, you're always like this." Almost everybody Aoko knew was an Overseers fan, almost zealously so. So was she, in some ways. Everybody knew somebody who knew somebody who'd life had been saved because a selfless hero had put himself or herself in danger instead. "Shouldn't we all just be grateful that the Overseers risk their lives to protect us?"
Kaito rolled his eyes, exaggerating the movement. "Sorry if I don't buy into the brainwashing our super powered police state tries to spoon-feed us."
Around the room, people bristled, glaring at Kaito with unveiled resentment. Aoko intervened before things could get any worse, keeping her voice light but firm in an effort to disperse some of the tension building in the room. "Nobody's being brainwashed, Kaito. I think it's a good thing people look up to heroes. The world needs more of them."
Kaito's dark, brilliant eyes turned back to her, gleaming. "Oh, would you join the Overseers if you had a chance, Ahoko?"
She felt her face turn red and her shoulders rose. "Of—of course!" she stuttered, looking around the room for help. "Who wouldn't?"
Her classmates all agreed heartily, nodding with grin. In an instant, the room for flooded by conversation, everyone excitedly chattering in each other's ears.
"Man, what I'd give to be an Overseer!"
"And to have super powers!"
"I've dreamed about that ever since I was a little kid!"
In the mounting chaos of laughter and teenage fancy, Kaito stood from his desk and began to saunter towards the door, face pulled in a scowl. "Kaito!" She called after him, following.
He gave her a bemused look, pinching his brows together. "I'm just going to the bathroom before class starts."
She didn't believe that. "Okay," she said anyway. The next words she said with no small amount of trepidation, biting the inside of her lip in between breathes. "But...you know what happened to your dad wasn't the Overseers fault, right? It was that awful thief's fault." Kaito's eyes met hers, saturated and dark, and his face gave nothing away. She struggled to find what she wanted to say, around the burning in her chest. "The Overseers work hard to stop stuff like that. To...make sure nobody else has to grow up without a father." The words seemed to choke her on the way up. "Or a mother."
For a moment there was silence. Kaito studied her face, as if measuring how much she really believed that. His eyebrows went up, a soft, questioning expression. "Then why don't they catch him, Aoko?"
His voice, prompting, hurt. "They're trying!" The burning in her eyes was just from the bad air quality, she told herself as she tried to reign her emotions back in. "I'm...sure they're trying."
Kaito pierced her with a look, dark and pitying, like she was a stupid kid who didn't understand the realities of the world. "Whatever." He muttered, turning away, but she didn't need to see his face to recognize the disdain in his voice. "They're all nothing but cowards and freaks." She watched his back as he moved down the hall, something hot and heavy rising in her throat.
"You're not the only one who's lost somebody, Kaito!" The words burst out before she could swallow them back down, and they rang through the empty hall.
Her next breath tasted like ash in her mouth.
Just the stupid air pollution.
Settling back down at her desk felt like admitting defeat, and she distracted herself with messing with her backpack so she wouldn't have to meet anyone's eyes. Somewhere in front of her, Hakuba was looming and gesticulating quietly. "You can't say it's not suspicious!"
"Oh, come on, Hakuba-kun." Her words came out with only half the brevity she meant them to have. "He just says all that to be contrary and rile everyone up." Kaito was that kind of infuriating guy. "It's like when he supports the rival baseball team, or makes fun of new trends. Or... when he plays Devil's advocate for the antimetas. He just likes to get on people's nerves. Kaito doesn't mean half the stuff he says." And if he was cruel about how he went about it… that was practically expected. Because Kaito was angry and lashing out at a world that couldn't seem to find a place for him.
Hakuba snorted ungracefully, disdain coloring his tone. "We're in agreement there, Aoko-kun, but I think we have very different ideas of which half."
Aoko bit her lip and busied herself with pulling out her notebook and pencil case.
Shinichi knew the Tokyo MPD main headquarters probably too well for a second year high-school student. He'd been here a least one a month for as long as he could remember, usually to follow up on witness reports or provide the police with evidence from one of his investigations, but sometimes for questioning.
Today, it was somewhere between the first and last.
Fine, so maybe Shinichi had been illegally trespassing.
But Hattori had apparently kept his mouth shut about the whole lock picking business, so things didn't look too bad.
Takagi tapped his pen on his police notebook nervously, eyes shifting from the page to Shinichi's eyes with slight trepidation. Behind him, slouching in a chair in the back of the room, a larger, rougher man was fiddling with a toothpick, worrying it between his teeth.
Takagi made a sound, drawing Shinichi's attention back to himself. "Ah, Kudo-kun, what makes you say these, uh, birdmen are kidnapping children again?"
Shinichi felt his mouth twitch in disdain at the officer's summary. As if such a complicated situation could be summed up so simply. But if there was one thing Shinichi knew, it was how to use his words, and how to use them with such certainty that skeptics wasted so much time searching for his doubts that they forgot about their own. "I told you, runaway kids have been disappearing for months now. That warehouse was one of the sights some of them were last seen, and it was rigged up as a trap."
Takagi chuckled. It was a weak sound. "Come on, Kudo-kun, you know something like that is hard to believe…" The officer's almost jocular voice faded underneath Shinichi's smothering glare.
Takagi's partner leaned back in his chair, posture casual, but his eyes were sharp, meeting Shinichi's gaze head-on even when Takagi backed down. Date Wataru was the image of a good cop, reliable and tough and just rough enough around the edges to be intimidating. He was the sandpaper on Takagi's flipside. And when he spoke, it was with a hard, firm voice. "The kids could just have moved elsewhere in the city, because of all the recent fires. Some of them went home. Nobody has actually seen anyone getting kidnapped."
"No," Shinichi had to acquiesce that. There were no witnesses, or if there had been, they'd disappeared in the ashes of each blaze. "But they definitely were kidnapped."
Date didn't look impressed. "What makes you so sure?" Not for the first time, Shinichi wished Date wasn't in the room. Manipulating Takagi was much easier when his more keen partner wasn't hanging around being skeptical.
He had felt it. But he couldn't tell them that. Metaphysical psychic visions and invasions weren't considered viable evidence in court, because of the difficult matters of mental illness, freedom of thought, and the right to privacy. "Look, I have pictures of one of the other warehouses." Shinichi had learnt from an early age that photographic or recorded evidence was the only kind that would make it in both the public eye and the courtroom. He fished his fresh prints out of his pocket, pushing the glossy photos over the table for Takagi to see. The officer glanced over them, uncomprehending.
"This just looks like a soon to be condemned building to me, Kudo-kun..."
"Pay attention to the footsteps in the dust and the graffiti. None of these match the styles of gangs in the city—"
Takagi interrupted, shaking his head. "Looks right to me...sorry." Shinichi could feel the heavy weight of Date's no bullshit stare and bit the inside of his lip. Takagi was usually very open and credulous to his thoughts and theories, but today it almost seemed like the officers in the station were resolved to discourage and dismiss him.
Resisting the urge to express his frustration, Shinichi switched tactics. "Tequila said they were there to pick something up, that they had a quota to meet. They were talking about city kids." A quota for children: the concept itself was inherently terrifying, and just got worse the more he thought about it.
Takagi hesitated uncertainly, briefly glancing back at this partner. Date, taking his cue, stood up and came to the table. He leaned over the edge, first glimpsing at the photos, then meeting Shinichi's glare with steady, certain eyes. "They could have been talking about anything. Probably drugs."
Drugs.
Tequila hadn't been talking about drugs. But the word did catch Shinichi's attention. Drugs, pharmaceuticals, experiments...
Unaware of the new turn Shinichi's thoughts had taken, the two officers exchanged a quick series of glances and motions, obviously communicating in a way only longtime teams managed to. Regaining confidence, Takagi straightened with a tight, uncomfortable smile. "Look, Kudo-kun, you had a stressful day yesterday, and you've been working a lot recently. You're tired and stressed, and it's making you come to wild conclusions. I'm sure if you take a break and relax, you'll come to realize that there's no evidence of these incidents being related."
Shinichi kept careful control over his expression, forcing all the anger and aggravation out of his face. He didn't need platitudes. He didn't need a break. He needed someone to help him find over two-dozen kidnapped children and bring the monsters that hurt and terrorized them to justice. With his mouth set in a firm line, he refused to show just how desperate he was. "I'm not being irrational, Detective Takagi."
The officer's gaze was earnestly concerned, but Shinichi couldn't stand how it reminded him of Ran's worried glances and secretive eyes. Takagi's voice was just as fretful. "You fell out of a helicopter on Saturday, didn't you? Are you sure you're alright?"
He had forgotten about the helicopter, actually. How come he was the only one who could see what was important in this damn city? "Just a hazard of my work. I'm not traumatized, Detective."
"Nobody's saying you are." Takagi's voice was placating and well practiced. Obviously, it was something he learned comforting kids and anxious parents. "But these kinds of near death experiences can have serious affects, Kudo-kun. If you need to talk with someone—"
His carefully controlled temper snapped free, and suddenly Shinichi was standing. The chair behind him clattered, almost tipping over to the floor. The next words came out too loud, too vicious. "I need to talk with someone, alright. I need to talk to you, the police, about this kidnapping ring!"
Date's hand slammed down on the table, and both he and Takagi flinched away from it. There was a finger in his face suddenly, Date towering over him even from the other side of the table, Date's rugged features twisted into something commanding and fierce. "There is no kidnapping ring, kid! Just you, working yourself up over some strung together conspiracy theory!"
Conspiracy?
Conspiracy?
If there was a conspiracy, it wasn't about the machinations of the birdmen!
Shinichi took a breath, and recognized defeat. Continuing to fight this would just hurt his own case. From the start, there was nothing he could do to convince these men. They had decided he was wrong from the beginning—no, someone had told them he was wrong. Or at least told them to make sure he thought they thought he was wrong.
Ugh, he was so going to write a nasty column about this.
Shinichi retook his seat, forcing a casual posture. Both Date and Takagi stared at him, caught off guard by his apparent nonchalance. And, no doubt, they were suddenly feeling awkward for losing their cool.
They weren't the only ones that could play mind games. And they certainly didn't get to be the ones who walked out of the room feeling mature.
He let the silence reign for a moment, giving both officers a chance to collect themselves. Then, he prompted, "so what's going to happen to the case of the birdmen?"
Takagi notably relaxed, looking relieved. While the detective could handle himself in high-tension situations, he'd always been weak to social confrontation: he took the reprieve Shinichi offered almost gladly. "The Overseers have requested jurisdiction over it. It'll be handed over to them, probably."
He hid how that rankled him. If the Overseers were going to be handling the case, then even if it was properly investigated, Shinichi would never know the full details. He'd get the same watered-down version they fed the rest of the public.
Not that the regular police were likely to throw him a bone this time around either. Shinichi slumped back in his seat with an aggravated sigh. It was hopeless, without evidence, nobody would listen to him.
"You're lucky Heliopause got there when he did, Kudo-kun. We're all glad you're alright."
Evidence. His camera was in evidence. "What about my camcorder?"
"What?"
"Is my camcorder all right?"
Takagi blinked, furrowing his brows in confusions. "No—no, it's in pieces. Melty pieces. It's, uh, probably unfixable."
Shinichi had figured as much, but… "And the memory card?"
"Also ruined."
Of course. "Everything on it's completely irretrievable?"
Takagi checked the notes on his clipboard, then shook his head. "Sorry. We couldn't get anything off it."
The police couldn't, but Shinichi had connections they didn't. Maybe Professor Agasa could get something off the card, and if not, Shinichi had other resources. "When can I expect to get it back?"
Takagi stared at him, mouth hanging open. "You want it back?"
"Yes."
"Well, uh, we weren't expecting you—" Both officer's phones buzzed in unison. They looked at each other, then Date checked his while Takagi turned back to Shinichi. "I mean, it's evidence. And the ISHA investigators will probably want it. They might be able get more from it than we will."
Great. "And then?" Date frowned at his phone, expression grave. With a headshake to the door, a clear message of we have to get going to Takagi, he was out of the room.
Takagi watched him go, obviously wary of whatever news they'd received. Distracted, he answered, "We'll get it back for you. Promise." If the Overseers were taking his camera too, it'd be months before Shinichi saw it again. Takagi stood from his chair and gathered his clipboard. "Listen, I have got to get going. No—no more breaking into ware—anywhere. No more of that. And try, try to stay out of trouble. Please. I don't think Inspector Megure's blood pressure can take much more of this."
Megure's blood pressure. Ha. It would take a lot more than high blood pressure to take down Megure.
But Shinichi recognized a dismissal when he was given one. He gave Takagi a quick noncommittal nod, and watched the officer hurry back into the hall. Outside, the station had gotten considerably more busy, officers and office workers hurrying around with tense faces and lots of urgent commanding voices.
Something was going on.
Good. He needed to get his camera back, and he needed a new scent to chase.
Thankfully, he knew exactly where to find the evidence locker. And where better to accidently overhear bad news than the MPD Headquarters?
Three minutes later, his thoughts were rushing as he listened in on a furious conversation: "There's been a break in. A security guard called in, saying that a large group of men with guns and armor were busting in—"
A break in at a military research lab.
Shinichi paused. Two other research labs had been robbed months ago, in quick succession. One private pharmaceutical company, the other a Chemical Engineering building affiliated with Touou University. By the time the police had arrived at one, the other was already being cracked open.
Now, a high-security facility under the protection of the Japanese military was being hit. The timing was strange, since the sun had just set, and the night was only barely setting in. It was still early.
Shinichi grabbed his phone, pulling up the military base's address, and put in a quick search.
They had stayed together as school let out: Aoko followed Kaito out of Ekoda High and into the denser streets of the city. Some part of Aoko felt the need to make up for the morning, and the rest of her just wanted to spend more time with Kaito.
Now, hours later and their homework done, the tension of the morning seemed to have slipped out of him entirely, his trademark easy going slouch falling over his shoulders easily, and the harsh edges of his face seemed to soften in the hazy evening sun. She liked this Kaito best: elfish and relaxed, slotting into his environment like the world was made just for him.
He caught her looking, deep indigo eyes finding hers. A little flustered, Aoko scrambled for something to say. "What did you do over break, while I was gone?" It was a fair question. She still felt badly about leaving him alone for the entire break, since he rarely ever went out with anyone else.
Kaito shrugged carelessly, inspecting the store windows they walked by. Whether he noticed her embarrassment or just didn't care wasn't clear. He had a way of seeming disconnected from everything, even when melding perfectly into a crowd. "Worked on some new tricks, mostly, and visited my mom."
Aoko blinked. She hadn't realized that she wasn't the only one to leave the country. "Is she still planning to stay in Las Vegas?" Kaito's mother, Chikage, was a distant, vague figure in Aoko's mind. While she'd seen the woman often when she was a child, it had been years since then. But Aoko would always remember how easily Kaito's mother could get her laughing until her sides ached. Sadly, that jolly woman wasn't the one trapped in her memory these past few years: instead, Aoko's clearest memory was of the tall, black figure of a widow standing before a grave.
Kaito hummed. "I don't think she ever intends to come back."
"Oh…" Aoko tried not to sound too disappointed. When Kaito had suddenly moved back into his old house two years before, Aoko had been expecting his mother to not be far behind. "Why did you? Come back, I mean." Losing was parent was hard enough, but leaving the other at such a young age? She couldn't even imagine leaving her dad to live on her own, and her dad wasn't even the most present father around.
Kaito smiled, just a little, and gave the city street a fond look over, his eyes lingering on the tall, dark figure of the clock tower on the horizon. "I like Japan more than America, I guess. I never really thought over there as home, you know?" But as he looked away from the tower, back towards east, the corners of Kaito's lips turned down, just slightly. "And, I...I didn't want to run from it anymore. I want to face it head on." His eyes focused on the shadows of Tokyo is the distance, all towering skyscrapers and sharp steel edges.
Aoko took a step closer to him, bumping his shoulder with her own. "I'm glad you came home. I missed you, you know." She'd said the words before, and she'd probably say them again, but it always felt important to say them.
Kaito turned back to her with a laugh, eyes twinkling in the sunlight. "Don't be so cheesy, Aoko!"
He nudged her right back playfully, fingers prodding towards her hips to tickle her with a mischievous grin. Giggling, she pushed him away, trying to control her breath enough to pretend to huff.
These were the moments that made it all seem worth it: that made the rest of the world and all its ensuing responsibilities and fears fade away.
Her phone vibrated in her pocket, sharp and urgent. Instantly, she sobered, and Kaito pulled away.
A message from Hakuba, sent to the entire team: there had been another lab robbery, and the detective was sure the culprits were going to strike again.
"I need to make a call," she said as she moved away at a run, aiming for the less populated alleyway down the street. Thankfully, Kaito didn't follow, and instead pulled out his own phone.
A relief, because she had no idea how to explain the conversation she was about to have.
She activated the comms hidden in her earrings, swinging them up into her ears and was immediately met with a flurry of conversation.
"Got any ideas where they're hittin' next?" Kazuha's voice was sharp, urgent, but still had a unnerving echo that was somehow worse over comms. Times like this, it made Aoko queasy.
Hakuba hummed. He sounded less concerned than Kazuha, managing a tone that sat perfectly between relaxed and serious, like he had everything under control. "Too many possibilities to say for sure. Every lab in Tokyo is a target. But I think I've narrowed the list down to the most likely hits."
"How many you got?" Hattori was on the line as well, and Aoko would bet Ran was listening in too. She'd probably been the last to enter the conversation.
"Four." That was still too many.
"And there's five of us. How should we split up?"
Hakuba paused, just for a moment, before he answered. "Ran and Aoko will pair up—"
"What?" Aoko yelped into the mic before she could stop herself, aggravation prickling her nerves all over again. "Hakuba-kun, Ran should go with you!" She didn't need a babysitter! Especially if Kazuha was being allowed to go alone, despite having been on the team for a couple months longer than Aoko herself.
Hakuba's voice turned stern, "Aoko-kun, you're not supposed to be going solo—" Not supposed to do this, not supposed to do that. She hated being underestimated.
"I can handle myself! I've got superpowers! A bunch of thieves will be no problem." Probably. She'd been doing really well, the past couple of weeks! And had practically saved the day on Saturday, even if her performance hadn't been perfect. And Hattori had been the one to screw up yesterday, and he still got to act solo.
Hakuba made a frustrated sound, like a teacher faced with a disobedient student. But before he could speak, and maybe yell at her, Ran's calm voice cut in, soft and reasonable. "How about you two team up, then?"
It was a better suggestion, she had to admit: Aoko had the superpowers, and Hakuba had the combat skill and training.
It was good enough for Hakuba, at least, but maybe he just didn't want to waste anymore time arguing about it. "Fine. Aoko and I will take Nanyo University. The rest of you, split up the other three locations. Aoko, I'll meet you there." There was no room for any more protests. Aoko frowned, knowing no one could see it, and tried to ignore the sulky feeling in her gut. But it was quickly fading anyway, with the buzz of adrenaline and nerves of a mission.
"Got it." She affirmed and cut the comm connection, turning back out of the alleyway to find Kaito on the other side of the street, leaning against a storefront window, still playing with his phone. She hurried across to him, picking up her pace into a run, already planning the fastest way to the university. "Sorry, Kaito, but I have to go!"
He looked up as she rushed right past him. "Wha—hey! Aoko!"
She felt a little guilty, ditching him half way through their day together, but this? This was important. She was doing something important. Something that mattered.
And that made it worth it.
Except, apparently Kaito wasn't, uh, getting the message. He appeared by her side, matching her pace easily, as if they were just on a jog. "Hey, hold up! What's the problem, where you headed?"
She barely glanced at him, instead focusing on finding the subway station. "I have get to Nanyo University right now!"
There! The stairs down under the road came into sight on the next corner, and she took the steps four at a time, dodging in between less-than-pleased commuters.
"Watch it!" Someone snarled as she barreled her way to the ticket machines, Kaito still hot on her heels. Hell, he was outpacing her, slitting through obstacles like it was easy.
Even as she struggled with the ticket dispersal, he was already through the turntables, calling back to her. "What for?"
Shit. Why would she be going to a university all of a sudden? What was it Hattori always said? When in doubt, blame Kudo-sensei. Right. "Uhh, a seminar!" The machine finally spat out her ticket. She ripped it free and all but jammed into the turntables. "I completely forgot that Kudo-sensei wanted us to attend a seminar there today. If I go now, I should still make it!"
She tried to hurry right past Kaito again, but he popped right back into view. "I'll come with you!"
"What? No!" Her answer came too sharply, trying to figure out which line she wanted. Kaito caught her arm and dragged her over to a train waiting on the left. The doors were about to close, but they seemed to pause just long enough for them to slip through."
She glared at Kaito as the train lurched into motion, but he just grinned back, completely unrepentant.
"Why not? I've been meaning to check the place out anyway. And I'm not sure you'll actually get there without me." She would have figured it out eventually! Just, maybe not in time to make the right train. Not knowing how to argue, she looked elsewhere, out the windows into the darkness, at the other passengers, at Kaito's fingers tangled in one of the canvas handles hanging from the roof. He had such strong hands, a little rough, a little too defined. A workman's hands.
He filled the silence for her, unquestioning. That, at least, she was grateful for. "We're lucky it's so close by."
Something told her she wasn't getting rid of him anytime soon. Hakuba was going to kill her. "Ye—yeah..."
Kaito got them to the university in record time, that is, until they reached the front gates, which were very obviously locked. From within the guard booth, a man in a cap and badge glared at them as Kaito argued with him uselessly. "Look, you can't come in." The guard grumbled, obviously tired.
Aoko tapped her foot impatiently, and bit her lip. She tried to give the guard her best innocent look, widening her eyes in the way that always worked for Kazuha. "But there's this seminar I really have to be at and-"
The guard wasn't having any of it. "That's just too bad. It's getting late, classes are ending, and the campus is on level 1 lockdown. Only students and faculty with ID are allowed on campus right now." Great, she was going to have to break in. Though, this was a convenient chance to leave Kaito behind and change into costume.
Just as she was contemplating the best thing to say, a new voice called out from behind the gate. "Ah, is that you, Aoko-san?" Another guard was hurrying towards them, badge glinting in the low light of the falling twilight.
The guard in the booth frowned at his fellow. "You know this kid, Miwa-san?"
Miwa! She remembered him as one of the many officers she met over the years. He had worked with her father for a while, and had always been nice to her, even letting her dress-up in gear or teaching her the ropes.
"Yes. She's Inspector Nakamori's daughter. I met her back when I worked on the KID taskforce a year ago." Miwa smiled at her, nodding. "What are you doing here, Aoko-san?"
This was really a stroke of good luck. "There's a seminar I need to get into today for my job."
"Really? Well, what's the harm? Let's let them in, Nishiki-san."
Finally, a stroke of luck. Aoko could hardly believe it. Miwa led them through campus at a jaunty pace, but Aoko had no idea where exactly they were being led. "Hey, Miwa-san, what's going on? Why's the campus of lockdown all of a sudden?"
Miwa made a face. "We got a tip saying that we are gonna be targeted by those guys robbing research labs. We don't think the tip is real, but considering what's going on at the military base, we figured better safe than sorry."
Kaito perked up immediately. "Who was the source?"
"You two won't believe this, but they claimed to be Kudo Shinichi on the phone."
"Kudo Shinichi?" Aoko squeaked, embarrassingly. Thankfully, Kaito did too. "Really?"
"The boss is a big fan of his blog, so I think that's the only reason we're giving it any credit at all." A beeping interrupted, calling Miwa's attention to his radio. He gave them an apologetic smile. "Sorry, kids. Gotta get back to work." They watched him hurry away, unashamedly listening. "Miwa, here...What? The Overseers called?"
Kaito's shoulders tightened. For a moment, she felt dread drip down her back. But Kaito relaxed and turned back to her with an easy smile. "Guess we'd better get to that seminar, huh?"
Aoko tried to hide her relief, and led them inside the first building she landed eyes on. She had no idea what department this building hosted. "Ye-yeah. Actually, Kaito, why don't you go on ahead and get us seats? I need to run to the bathroom."
"Sure. What room is it?"
"Uh…" This was a terrible idea. Oh god, she was going to have some serious explaining to do once this was over. "Room 4067!" Please, let this place have that many rooms. "On, uh, the fifth floor? I'll catch up to you there!"
Kaito gave her a look. "Fifth floor? Hey, Aoko, hold on! This building has only got four floors!"
But Aoko was already gone.
Figuring out which lab was the next target had been the easy part. There had been four likely targets, all relatively low security university labs, with three kilometers of the military lab. Three he disregarded due to the heavy traffic, highways, and city hubs that laid between them and the thieves' original position, which left two. The routes to reach those labs would take too much time: time the culprits couldn't afford. One was placed too closely to a police station, which would decrease response time by up to fifteen minutes.
All that had been left was Nanyo University's Biochemistry and Human Genetics Building.
After writing a quick note on his blog, vague and moderately coded, but still specific enough that someone with a bit of effort could figure out where he went, lest something happened to him tonight, he called up the campus police.
Three rerouted calls later, the university had been warned. Getting on campus itself hadn't been difficult.
But now that he was at the Genetics Building, locked down and surrounded by campus police, he wasn't sure what to do. The thieves, whoever they were, were professional. Would they hesitate before a thin line of soft campus officers, or would they call the whole job off with the threat of a quick police response? Or, would they simply force their way through?
And most importantly, where should Shinichi best position himself to catch them in the act?
A minute passed, his mind running with too many ideas, before the line of police broke temporarily, responding to some commotion on the other side of the building.
Recognizing a chance for what it was, Shinichi draw the hood of his sweater lower over his face and sprinted for one of the building's door. It was protected by a old fashioned keypad.
What luck.
Shinichi took a steadying breath and tentatively dragged his fingers over the keys. When he closed his eyes, memories came to him, and he moved his fingers along with the muscle memory that came rushing in.
Six. Seven. Two. Four. Nine.
There was the soft, dull click of door unlocking. Shinichi slipped in, as quick as a viper, as voices started coming back, sharp and urgent. The police line was reforming.
He found himself in a concrete stairwell, another door leading into the beige halls of the Genetics building. It was a typical lecture hall, as far as he could tell, long hallways lined with identical wooden doors marked by number and nameplates. Checking the map showed that the building was level and levels of lab rooms and the occasional lecture hall, topped by offices and administration.
Not the kind of place one usually expected to be hit by a militant group of thieves. What was the MO? Not quick cash, that was for sure.
"Good evening!" A voice called to his left, with an unforgettable lilt. Shinichi turned to find a man in all white sauntering up to his side, with a broad smile of shiny ivory teeth.
Shinichi stared. "Kaitou KID! What are you doing here?" Of all places for KID to show up, this wasn't one Shinichi would have ever predicted. The first ridiculous conclusion that came to mind was that KID was part of the lab thieves.
Yeah, right.
There was nothing glamorous about robbing a university: and something told Shinichi that the Dean of Chemistry wasn't hoarding the Crown Jewels in his office.
Recognizing his incredulous look, KID shrugged. "Heard somebody else was robbing the place, figured I'd drop by and research their techniques and maybe seize some spoils for myself." Oh, man. Kaitou KID really did read his blog. Or maybe he was a university student. Maybe a university student that read his blog. "What are you doing here, stringer?"
Shinichi paused. He had only encountered the internationally infamous thief a couple of times before. The first meeting could only be called that generously, when Shinichi was covering a story by popular demand of his readers. KID had announced that he was going to steal away a local landmark, sparking a ruckus throughout Tokyo. Shinichi had successfully deduced that KID's intentions weren't quite hat everyone assumed right from the start, and ran interference, but in the end, he and KID had only caught glimpses of each other.
The next time, Shinichi had hunted the thief down for an interview, trying to catch a scoop on the enigmatic man's identity and motive.
The interview, if it could even be called that, hadn't gone quite as he expected, aka really out of hand aka batshit insane, but they had maintained an simple acquaintanceship since. He had discovered many other things about KID: namely, that the thief was an excellent conversationalist, when he wasn't being an absolute nuisance, and that talking with him was a lot easier than it should have been.
"Getting a story, duh. Somebody needs to figure who these guys are and what they want." It was easy to say that kind of thing to KID. The thief's cocky confidence had a tendency to make Shinichi's own bold certainty, the burning fire that kept him going, the sure knowledge that he was the only one for the job, rear its head and resent itself proudly. And KID could hardly judge him for his lack of faith in the more official avenues.
KID laughed. "Can't think of anyone better...but, ah, how did you even get in here?"
"Are you, of all people, seriously asking me that question?" Shinichi muttered incredulously. "I've got a freelance press pass, you know."
"Right. I should get myself one of those."
Shinichi doubted KID didn't already have tens of them. But there were more important things to discuss. "KID, what are you really here for?"
"Maybe I want to help."
Not comforting. Shinichi himself had written articles on what Kaitou KID seemed to consider helping. "Help stop the culprits, or abet them?"
"Haven't decided yet. Feel free to convince me, stringer." That wasn't an answer, but Shinichi didn't have a chance to push the issue. There was suddenly a great deal more noise filtering in from outside, and he and KID exchanged quick looks. Coming to a mutual agreement immediately, they made their way towards the source, carefully darting around corners and between doorways. Soon, they found themselves on a landing, peering down into a more open room that broke into separate halls. A group of men, dressed in dark body armor and armed to the teeth were in the process of splitting up into pairs. In less than a second, Shinichi had his camera out, snapping a quick picture. By his side, KID let out a low whistle, almost indistinguishable from his breath, and pulled out...binoculars. "Well, look who we have here."
Shinichi ignored him, focusing on the picture as the military-grade strike team dispersed below them. Their uniforms didn't seem to have any identifying characteristics, except for what looked like a red smudge on one of their left shoulders. He zoomed in on the scrap of red, and as the picture refocused, it revealed a badge, a lean, feline figure on deep scarlet. He stared at the mark for a moment. It was familiar, somehow, and he struggled to realign the image to a distant recollection.
Red Cat. Red Cats. Something was missing—"The Red Siamese Cats?"
KID glanced Shinichi's way briefly, quickly catching on. In the shadow of his hat, he made a face. "That's such a mouthful." It certainly wasn't very catchy. But Shinichi supposed these particular bioterrorists had given up on good publicity ages ago. "Who are they?" KID asked, and Shinichi looked at him, surprised.
Because, seriously? An ageless master thief deeply embroiled in the criminal underworld and a renowned super villain didn't know about the Red Siamese Cats?
Typical KID. Too busy boosting his ego, and being all around mad, to pay attention to the important happenings of the world.
"An eco terrorist group from ages ago." Shinichi explained, moderately annoyed and recalling what he knew of them. He'd been just a kid when the Cats had been last notably active. "Their leader is supposed to still be in jail."
"Guess they found a new one."
He took a better look at the group, using the zoom on his new camcorder. One of the armored men was definitely taking point, but was probably just a field team leader rather than the actual brains behind whatever this operation was attempting to achieve. "What could they possibly want from here, though?"
"Who cares?" KID grumbled, the binoculars disappearing from his hands. "The Irregulars are already here. They'll take care of it."
Shinichi froze. The Irregulars were here already? "Are all of them here?"
KID shrugged, turning away from the troop of terrorists below to examine the halls for other points of entry and exit. "I have no idea. I just saw the blue young lady." Tsuyu. That was bad. Something about his expression must have given his concern away, because KID was suddenly focused on him, expression tight. "Why, is she in trouble? Do these guys have dangerous powers or something?"
Shinichi shook his head, taking KID's concern in stride. "No, they won't have metahumans with them." Or at least, it would be completely irrational if they did.
KID was obviously suspicious about his answer. "What makes you say that?"
"The Red Siamese Cats are a bio terrorist organization that started as a metahuman hate group. They blame metahuman activity for the decline of climate stability and increase of environmental disasters." It was not an entirely unpopular opinion, just one that most supporters didn't like to speak aloud.
Nor was it entirely unfounded.
"Oh, great. Angry purists with guns and explosives." KID muttered sarcastically. "The only thing that could make this better is if they were racist. Oh boy, are they racists? I hope they're racists." Shinichi glared at him, as if that could make the wacky thief take this seriously. KID put up his hands in a placating gesture. "Ok, ok, if they aren't metahumans, what's the problem? The Irregulars should be able to handle this easily."
"No. That's the problem. These guys are specially equipped to take down metahumans, with a vengeance. The Irregulars are in serious trouble." Shinichi had seen what some antimeta technology was capable of, and it wasn't pretty. And that was just the stuff he police and government used to control rogues and villains. Who knew what the Cats were packing, and how willing they'd be to use it on a hero still so wet behind the ears. "Especially Tsuyu: she's inexperienced, and terrible at hand to hand combat." It was obvious from the way Tsuyu moved that she wasn't well accustomed to the battlefield. Maybe later in her career, with the proper teaching and instruction, she could have the same fluid, trained movements of the other Irregulars, but right now she'd be mincemeat to professionals like the Cats.
Heart beating fast, Shinichi started to pull himself to his feet, half a plan forming in his head already. KID caught his arm and dragged him back down before he could get far.
"Whoa there, where do you think you're going?" KID hissed, and Shinichi glared at the white-gloved hand gripping his forearm.
"I have to warn her!" He snapped right back, trying to jerk free. He hated being manhandled. But KID held fast.
"You'll just get in the way, stringer. I'll go warn her. You—"
Shinichi felt a familiar rush of outrage. "I'm not just sitting here—"
KID's lips thinned into a severe line. "Then figure out what these guys are after. And stay out of sight."
The anger faded as quickly as it came. Shinichi considered the proposition. "We should switch then, because I'm not half as sneaky as you, and will Tsuyu even listen to you?" As far as Shinichi could tell, all the Irregulars hated KID with a passion. He, at least, was a familiar and trustworthy, if troublesome, presence to them.
"She will." KID said with a grave certainty that stopped Shinichi cold. The sudden seriousness of the thief's manner was unnerving, but he could respect this cold assurance more than the thief's usual antics. It made KID seem almost reliable.
But Shinichi knew better. KID wasn't exactly much of a fighter himself. "Be careful."
The cold facade shattered as KID grinned, broad and full of shining white teeth. "No need."
Shinichi huffed, but allowed the break in tension. "I'm serious. Watch your back."
"Come on, you saying you wouldn't love to write an article on my death? I'd bet you could put together one hell of an obituary."
"I can see it now. Idiot Thief Antagonizes Armed Terrorist into Shooting Him Dead. Hurry up and get in there."
"Heh, see you later, stringer."
Aoko could feel water flowing through the lab, moving through the pipes and winding in the walls and floor. She used the distant, tickling pull of it to ground herself. There was something calming about the flow of water, always present in the back of her mind.
Didn't stop her rapid-fire heartbeat, though. She was glad that the armored man she was creeping behind couldn't hear it, and doubly glad Hakuba hadn't arrived yet. Hakuba's super hearing powers were kinda freaky sometimes.
The thief was moving smoothly down the hall, on the lookout for something, but Aoko didn't have the first clue as to what. Hakuba might have been able to make some guesses, but her comm helpfully told her he was still three kilometers away.
She was on her own, just like she wanted. Except, of course, for the sharp voice in her ear. "I'm only minutes away, Tsuyu. Do not make a move before I get there, understood?"
Aoko bit the inside of her lip. She could hold back and wait for Hakuba, or she could strike now, capture one of the intruders, maybe get some information out of him, or at least steal his radio or something.
And there were still seven or eight other intruders spread throughout the building, doing who knows what. Could she really afford to waste time waiting?
No.
Aoko took a deep breath, in through, the nose, and then released it as she called the water waiting in her pack out. Two gallons would be enough for an ambush.
"I don't that was a good idea." Aoko froze, her blood like ice in her veins, but as a voice whispered from behind her, smooth and too familiar, the chill was lost in a rush of fury. The intruder disappeared down the hall. "It's not a good idea to take on an opponent head on when you don't even know what they're capable of."
KID.
She swung around, a tendril of water whipping out like a viper. KID sidestepped out of the strike smoothly, that same infuriating smirk on his lips.
Aoko wanted to smack it right off.
"You're apart of this too?" She snarled, snapping the water back and around in an instant. Kid ducked, allowing the water to pass over the top of his hat by a hair's width.
"No. The opposite, actually." He said, in that velvety, amused voice she was coming to despise. Suddenly, though, he was close. Really close. "These guys are bad news, miss. You have to be careful."
Aoko scrambled back, her water whip striking at the thief's feet to keep him from following. "Right. That's why they're robbing a university." Aoko didn't know what this place had that KID wanted, but she sure as hell wasn't going to be fooled by his tricks. "I don't care what you're doing here." Aoko took a deep breath, calling out to the water all around her, and felt the answering tug of the water in the walls, building pressure. "I'm taking you in!" All at once, the water burst out, coming through the sprinklers above their heads and the water fountain down the hall, pouring in from all sides. KID's patronizing smile faltered as he tried to dodge out of the way of the torrential spray.
His hands were up, suddenly, like he was surrendering, but still he danced in between the streams of water she had shooting from all over the hall. "I really shouldn't be your priority here, miss." Yeah, right. Aoko wasn't going to buy that bull. In fact, she wasn't going to listen to a word this trickster said. She tried to catch him off guard, bringing the water up behind him, but just as she had it crashing down over him, he was rolling out of the way. "These guys are specialists in taking down metas."
"Hold still, you bastard." Aoko growled, getting frustrated. Why couldn't she hit him? Water was gushing in from all around them, gathering into long, shimmering tendrils that had all the speed and power of pressurized hoses, but KID was as agile as he was quick, and his movement patterns were practically nonsensical. One moment he'd be back flipping backwards, then he'd catch himself on one hand, twist like a snake, and somersault underneath her next strike.
What was this guy, a professional gymnast?
"I see this isn't working." KID said, not even out of breath, as he flipped gracefully through the air. The white cape flapping behind him didn't seem to hamper his movements at all. "For either of us."
"You think?" Aoko wanted to scream. The bastard was right there, and she couldn't get a hit on him at all. Already, she could feel a ache building behind her eyes, the concentration of controlling so many streams of water so precisely taking its toll.
This wasn't working.
"So how about we just take a breath and talk this out, okay?" KID gave her a little friendly grin, and Aoko took a sharp breath, something she didn't understand twisting in her gut. She stilled the water throughout the room, forcing herself to take another breath, in through the nose and out through the mouth. KID eased, settling back into his relaxed stance with a widening mi. "Great. I'm on your side this time, miss."
Slowly. Patiently. Hakuba was always telling her to slow down. Aoko forced her shoulders to relax, and tried to find her voice. "Okay." The word came out soft and ragged, breaking in the middle. She swallowed, and tried again, stronger this time. "Okay."
KID looked pleased.
Aoko hit him with a water jet so strong it blasted him down the hall, right into the wall. He hit it with a solid thunk, the wall shuddering with the force of the impact. "Like hell you can fool me, asshole!" She yelled as he crumpled to the ground, limp.
"Tsuyu? Tsuyu!" A sharp voice was crackling through her comm. Heart beating impossibly fast in her chest and something giddy bursting up her throat, she answered swiftly.
"I got him, Hawk!"
"What? Got who—I told you to wait for me."
"Kaitou KID!" She declared, triumphantly, something like a laugh bubbling out as she watched KID struggling to get back on his feet, only to collapse back to the flooded floor. One of his arms wrapped around his torso, shaking.
His hat was knocked slightly askew, and for the first time she caught a glimpse of his eyes. His face was twisted in pain, but his gaze was still focused and bright and furious. But it was a strange flavor of fury, not what she was expecting.
If she didn't know better, Aoko would think KID looked betrayed.
"KID? What—why—No. Tsuyu, tell me everything, right now!" Hakuba's voice refocused her, and as KID tried to get back to his feet, one hand bracing the wall, Aoko called the water back to her command.
"KID's here. He tried to trick me with some stupid warning." A new jet formed, crashing into KID with just enough force to elicit a breathless shout and pin him to the wall.
"A warning?" Hawk's voice was weirdly desperate. Like he was worried by that, or something.
"He said that the thieves are, uh, antimeta specialists. Or something like that." Aoko watched KID struggle against the water, annoyed by how stubbornly his hat and monocle stayed on. "But don't worry, I didn't fall for it. I got him good too. He's not going anywhere."
"Antimetas? Shit, Aoko!" Aoko blinked. Hakuba never approved of using their real names while in the field, even over their private comms. He sounded too panicked to care, though. "You've got to get out of there now!" Aoko huffed a breath. She didn't know what Hakuba was freaking out about. Whatever theses anitmeta specialists were, they couldn't be that bad, even if they were actually here. Which they definitely weren't.
But KID wasn't giving up. In fact, he was fighting against the water pressure harder, one hand forcing itself up in the face of the water jet. Huh, almost looked like he was trying to point at something. "I'm just outside—"
Something struck Aoko, hard, and suddenly her whole body was burning. She screamed, pain spiking through her every nerve, and her concentration broke entirely, all the water in the room raining down as she collapsed to the floor. The whole world blurred, but she could just barely make out KID hitting the ground next, shuddering down like a broken doll.
Her whole body was quivering, limbs spasming out of her control. Had she—had she been electrocuted?
"First rule of battle, bitch. Always watch your back." A gruff voice said as she heard heavy footsteps approaching. A pair of military boots stopped in front of her. "Holy shit, is that Kaitou KID?"
Aoko forced herself back up, finding herself facing the intruder from before. He was burly and tall, his face hidden behind gasmask and helmet, and in his hands he gripped a metallic bo. "The boss is gonna love that." He muttered as he turned, watching her sway unsteadily on her feet. Even without seeing his eyes, she knew he was eying her disdainfully. "You're out of your league, freak."
The intruder spun the staff in his hands, movements smooth and practiced with expert precision. Aoko watched carefully, waiting for him to lurch forward and strike, focusing on the water beneath their feet, ready to slip him up.
Instead, he slammed the staff down on the floor.
Less than a second later, it crackled with electricity, and she felt her whole body convulse, as the electricity coursed through her.
"Tsuyu!" Somewhere, Hakuba was yelling. In her comm? No, sounded—
Arms caught her as her legs gave out beneath her, and the hall filled with smoke. "Tsuyu, are you alright?" Hawk's mask was before her eyes; hazy from both her spotty vision and the cover Hakuba must have created to distract the intruder.
"Hold on," She said, uncertainly, as she felt herself being dragged away, "KID...he's gonna get away…"
"He already did. Disappeared just as I dropped the smoke pellet."
Goddamn it. Her eyes were burning again. Must be the stupid smoke.
Suddenly, Hakuba jolted to a stop. Aoko could already hear the electricity crackling.
She should have just stayed with Kaito.
Shinichi didn't know why the Cats had broken into this particular office.
But he was going to find out.
It was a standard office, for a professor. On one side of the room, there was an overflowing bookcase. The rest of the walls were lined with framed photos from over the professor's career, in particular a graduation photo and numerous shots of different lab teams from over the years. Most were of the same people, all middle-aged and Japanese, with different sets of smooth faced interns. He even recognized most of the photo locations, except for the ones that had been obviously taken in the lab, with starch white walls and counters lined in glassware and sand baths.
One stuck out. It was a picture of a more diverse group, all still wearing bold white lab coats, standing together before a Greco-Roman style lecture hall, the United Kingdom's flag drifting lazily in the wind behind them.
The group varied in skin tone and age more than any of the others shown, from elderly white guys to the Professor, to a tall Indian woman, to a teenage girl with strawberry blond hair. The girl couldn't have been older than sixteen, but she held herself with the confidence and poise of an experienced scientist. Maybe it was the severity of her regal face: she wasn't exactly smiling at the camera.
Curious, he carefully lifted the picture off the wall. The girl couldn't have been a daughter of one of the scientists. Everyone in the picture stood like equals.
Shinichi tugged the photo free from its frame, finding that it's back was marked in scrawl.
August 23. Three years ago. Oxford Summer Research Team.
A series of English names. At the very end of the list, the writing read: and the prodigy, Miyano Shiho.
Nothing else had been written. Shinichi took a picture of the photo, front and back, and then set the frame back in its place on the wall.
He moved on, further into the office, carefully snapping photos of anything that seemed out of place. Eventually he made it to the desk, where stacks of papers had been overturned and scattered across the wood surface. Someone had impatiently tried to reorder them, but the disturbance was still clear.
Some of the books on the shelf had been knocked over.
A distraction. Whatever the thief had been looking for, he hadn't found it in either of those places.
Shinichi took another glance around the room, this time focusing on what wasn't immediately in sight, and discovered a small filing cabinet was tucked under the desk, dark grey and rusting on the edges.
He traced his fingers over the handle of each drawer, slowly probing each. The first was worn white, the silver paint chipped away by continuous and frequent use. When he tugged it open, he found the bottom and the rails were dented from being left open and crashed into repeatedly. The drawer was marked by a single, continuous presence: stressed, weary, but not unpleasantly so. A tired mind that still had a fondness for its work.
Shinichi slid the drawer shut and moved on to the next. This one had seen less use, and his skin prickled as he gingerly dragged his fingers along the cool metal.
He took a deep breath, and gripped the handle more surely, imagining his fingers being covered in gloves, imagining jerking the drawer open, searching.
The memory hit him hard, it was so fresh. His hands were clothed in black, and his body felt heavy, armor weighing him down. The drawer didn't open smoothly, creaking with disuse, and he jerked it more forcefully.
It was only partially filled with files, folders all a professional manila, labeled with names and titles in printed black kanji. In his mind, though, he only focused on one, zeroing in on his target.
A name, a title. He needed something precise.
The memory sharpened, focusing in on a single label.
Miyano: Notes on Probable Chemical Pathways of Metahuman Abilities. In an instant, Shinichi let the memory slip away, only to find that the target was missing: the file was nowhere to be seen.
Damn. Better than nothing though.
Abandoning the thief's tracks, Shinichi slid into the computer chair and booted up the old desktop, only to be immediately blocked by a login screen.
"Great, just great." He muttered to himself.
"Hit a dead-end?" A voice asked.
Shinichi jolted, half scrambling out of the chair before he could stop himself. And that embarrassing squawk? Absolutely did not come from him. "KID!"
The phantom thief blinked innocently, ignoring Shinichi's moderate conniption completely. He looked less put together than when Shinichi last saw him, particularly because he was dripping wet. KID even seemed to be holding himself tentatively, like he was injured. Obviously, the conversation with Tsuyu hadn't gone so well.
Ignoring Shinichi's questioning look, KID pointed at the computer. "What are you doing?"
Shinichi took a steadying breath, in through his nose, and refocused. "Looking into something the professor was working on. I think it is what the Cats were after." KID's sudden appearance was convenient. "Can you get me into this computer?"
"Easily." KID snapped his fingers, and immediately the infuriating login screen disappeared, revealing the typical loading screen as the system started up.
Shinichi stared, not quite believing it. KID hadn't even touched the computer. "How did you—No, it doesn't matter."
The background and icons appeared on screen. Shinichi hurried to access the professor's files, finding a mess of documents, slideshows, and barely organized subfolders.
Clicking his tongue, he went straight for the search bar, typing in Miyano.
Various documents popped up, including one named Miyano Dissertation: Metahuman Abilities and the Probable Causes. There were several others, hundreds of pages long theses going by the sheer size of each document: Metahuman Abilities and the Theoretical Limits..., Mutated Growth Hormone and DNA Degeneration Behin..., Effects of Gene Therapy on Me...
Transcription Factors and Gene Promot..., Beta-Metas—
He stared at all the different files, uncertain how to go on. He didn't know which was the right one. Or if there even was a right one.
KID whistled in his ear. Shinichi had no idea when he had gotten that close. He ignored the sound, and how tense his shoulders had gotten, and instead pulled a flash drive off his keys and inserted it into the computer's port.
He'd just download them all and look through them later.
"Nice work, stringer." KID said, and Shinichi froze when a white-gloved hand settled on his shoulder. Carefully, he turned to look at KID, who was grinning at him.
He shouldn't have shown this to KID. He should've been smarter than that, he realized as KID snapped his fingers and a burst of pink smoke hit Shinichi right in the face.
Those thoughts came too late. The world faded into black with nothing more than short laugh.
That's a wrap~ Please leave a review on the way out!