-FIRSTS-
Disclaimer: The works of Detective Conan and Magic Kaito belongs to Gosho Aoyama-sensei.
Warning: KaiShin relationship.
A/N: Somehow, this isn't my favourite chapter. But the story needs it so...
First Shock
Kaito spent his free time keeping his detective company. He fretted about the house, mother-henning him and barely allowed his detective do anything more stressful than walking three steps. Kaito had actually carried Shinichi down to breakfast in the morning stating that walking in the detective's condition would only hinder the healing process. Shinichi threatened to kick something when the magician became too overbearing.
"But Love..." Kaito knelt on the floor and rested his head on the armrest of the chair Shinichi was using in the library. He peered though his lashes, giving his detective the puppy dog look that he knew was near irresistible.
"Kaito, I'm not invalid. I had my pain killers and everything is under control. The doctors had even said that I'm healing nicely so please, stop this ridiculousness." He sighed, putting down the book to the side to give his magician-thief his full attention. "I'm sure you have heist planning to do and I promise that I won't leave this room except to use the bathroom."
"I've finished my plan some time ago and all that's left is to set the traps, which Jii-chan should be on it now. So in theory, I'm just waiting for the day to come. But if you want to participate, then you better rest up to recover." Kaito picked his detective up in bridal style again. Shinichi wanted to struggle and protest but he knew it would be a waste of energy. He had given up on any sort of resistance since this was already the third time of the day (even after much debate) and it wasn't even lunch time.
They were half way across the foyer when the doorbell rang and Kaito reluctantly released his detective to let him stand while he went to address the visitor.
"You're Kuroba right? Is Kudo-kun here? There's something I needed to ask him." Sera seemed distress and urgent. Kaito stepped aside to let her in as Shinichi walked over to greet the girl.
"What is it Sera?" He asked coolly.
"I was looking into something lately..." she looked sideways, curious to the aggressive stance she was receiving from Kaito but dutifully ignored it as a quirk. What she wanted to discuss was more important than the magician's whims. "Do you have some time?"
Shinichi glanced over at Kaito, eyes having a silent conversation with his magician. In the end, Kaito sighed in defeat. He could never win an argument with Shinichi, even if it was a silent argument. Somehow, the detective had that much of a hold on him, and it was exciting as it was scary.
"I'll go grab some drinks." Kaito had to relent towards his detective. However, this does not mean he would willingly step away. No, he'll be involving himself especially since his detective was still in recovery and Spider was still not caught.
"We'll be in the library." He led the girl towards their destination. He was grateful that Kaito did not argue with him. The reason why Shinichi invited Sera in was not only to alleviate his boredom, but his gut was telling him it would be something important.
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Shinichi did not start the conversation, letting Sera admire the vastness of the library as they waited for Kaito to return. It also gave the girl some time to arrange the information inside her head as she did seem a bit distracted.
"Hope I haven't kept you guys waiting." Kaito was all smiles when he entered the room but Shinichi knew better than to only read the surface. Behind the geniality, there was a hint of annoyance and exasperation.
"No worries. I'm sure this would concern you as well seeing you are also close to Ran-chan." Sera took out a digital camera from her pockets, the one the Shinichi recognised she often used on cases to take photos of evidence. Reaching out, suspecting there were some pictures she wanted him to look at, he waited for approval. Sera turned the camera on and to scroll through a few photos before handing the one she wanted him to see.
It was a photo of Hondo Eisuke at the Narita airport. He seemed to be looking for someone or something by the way he positioned his body. There was a lack of a date stamp on the photo, which was a strange habit for a detective but then again, this isn't exactly a case but more or personal curiosity.
"I have been digging up information on him ever since he hurt Ran-chan. This was taken last week." She motioned for Shinichi to continue scrolling as she continued her narration. "I couldn't let him get away with hurting Ran-chan like that. I found, through various sources, that he returned to Japan and tailed him. But I got more than I bargained for."
After the initial photo, it was like looking at a timeline. Hondo went from waiting to walking towards the phone rental company to picking up a phone and reading a message. The photos followed him to the train station where he exited at Shinjuku and headed off to a 24-hour restaurant and met with a character that Shinichi could recognise easily. The stocky man with the black fedora, suit, and tie wore dark sunglasses even at night, had greeted Hondo and passed something over to him. As the photo could not capture his expression, it still gave off the feeling that it must be something bad by the Hondo's posture when he opened the envelope to view the contents. Even through the photo, Shinichi could see the tenseness in the boy's shoulders.
"You say this was a week ago. What about now? Do you know where he is?" He was calm, possibilities and speculations were running through his mind and the one that was most probable did not make a nice picture. It shocked Shinichi to consider how far people would go to achieve their goals.
She shook her head. "No unfortunately. The other man somehow felt something was off and started to take notice of the surrounding so I couldn't follow them any longer."
"At least you got away." Shinichi sighed in relief. A wrong move and Sera would have ended up dead.
"I had wanted to bring this up to you earlier but you weren't in school or at home. I figured you must be on another case so I waited. I guess I got lucky today." She looked at Shinichi expectantly as he handed the camera back. "Well?" It sounds as though she wanted to be praised but Shinichi had other things on his mind.
"It would be best if you stopped your investigations here Sera-san." Kaito voiced out in Shinichi's steed, "this is not something to be mingling with even if you are a detective."
"It's not your place to say what I should or should not do Kuroba-kun." Startled, she had forgotten he was sitting in the room with them. Sera gave Kaito a stare down, though it was nothing compared to the startling blue Kaito faces on a regular basis.
"Shinichi?" He looked down from his perch on Shinichi's armrest.
"I have to say Kaito is right. It might not be best to have yourself involved in this case." He held his hand to halt any rebuttal from her as he continued. "Although saying that, I know you'll still be looking into it. So I best give you some basic information in case you do run into trouble. This man Hondo had met up with is a member of a large criminal organisation. They have their teeth everywhere, and their agents are as spread out as there are people on this planet. This man is the least skillful in terms of agents and the easiest to deal with in a one-on-one. But I'm not suggesting you should track him down."
He took a breath and surveyed Sera's emotions before he continued, to guage her response. He sensed hesitation and intention to argue. He knew he had to stress the amount of danger this case posses. It wouldn't do to involve the girl, no matter how much she wishes to pursue this case. Someone would be very displeased if he heard Sera had been involved so directly.
"You were lucky his partner was no where nearby. He is one to thoroughly clean up his surrounding no matter whether his suspicions are correct or not."
Sera gritted her teeth, knowing this isn't a case to jump in without backup or support of any kind. She suspects the Eastern Detective must have both by the way he was talking.
"You do see where I'm coming from right? If they haven't noticed you yet, best leave before they do. But if you do see Hondo, do punch him in the face for me. What he did to Ran was inexcusable. If I were the one to hit him, I'm not sure if I could stop myself before I did permanent damage."
"I'll be sure to sock him hard then." Sera had given up the thought of tracking these people down. The danger level was just too high for someone like herself. She left, asking for Shinichi to keep her in the loop, like what to look out for in terms of danger, and in return she'll tell him if she noticed anything. Especially if she sees Hondo.
"Shinichi?" Kaito asked as he carried a tray of food into the library. The detective had been sitting at the desk with his hand steepled and head just resting on the notch of his thumb and forefinger. He was in deep contemplation. He debated whether to try calling out to him again. The look on his face was showing more guilt than determination. The news from Sera meant Shinichi's speculation has come to pass. But instead of calling, he wrapped his detective into a hug and waited patiently for him to respond.
"I have a really bad feeling about this. If it's the CIA asking him to go undercover, then I know for certain how they can smuggle him in." He leaned sideways into Kaito, gripping onto his forearm tightly. "The question is now should I let him?"
"How disastrous would it be if you let him?" He carted his free hand through Shinichi's hair, giving his scalp a massage in the process. It seemed to soothe Shinichi as his eyes began to droop.
"To us, it would be information. Though we're not getting much of it these days from such channels. Most of my accurate information comes from our Witch. But to Hondo, it will be the world. And it might do a bit of damage to my own moral, though that's kind of expected."
"Hmm..." Kaito felt his detective relaxing in his hold. He carefully guided Shinichi to stand and walk over to the nearby settee so they could sit side-by-side. "How about staging it then? If it's something you know, you should be able to anticipate it and we can fake it. With my skills, I'm sure it will be easy. Though we should make sure Hondo knows how to act first."
"If we are to stage it, we won't be telling him. It would be too dangerous." That and he was sure the boy did not have a single acting bone in him.
"Are you sure you're not just being vindictive?" Kaito suspects Shinichi was still furious on behalf of Ran.
"..."
They devised the act though they first have to locate their leading roles, which was a task up to Shinichi.
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"Ladies And Gentleman. Welcome to tonight's show!" KID announced with fanfare (with accompanying background music he somehow rigged into the speaker system) and smoke on the podium where Vivid Blue had just been carried out. KID thanked the worker (a beautiful young lady with a form fitting black dress and stiletto heels) and took the gem off the cushion, replacing it with a blue rose. "I'll be taking this then." He also held an impromptu show for the sake of it during the time when the police was struggling to catch him on the podium. The burst of confetti earned a round of cheers from the crowd.
KID spied the androgynous man he bumped into, hiding the scowl behind the joyful cheer. There was someone else with him, a person who seemed to turn to face the podium awkwardly.
"KID!" Nakamori shouted from tho audience, startling the thief out of his observations, pushing his was through the auction security staff to reach the podium.
"No-uh Keibu." KID snapped his fingers and a bloom of smoke erupted from the floor, surrounding every person in the room. There were squeals of excitement along with the thunderous roars from Nakamori. When the smoke dissipated, each police officer had been wrapped with feathered boa of various colours. The multicoloured boas were all tied together, knotting and intertwining, and were fixed to the ceiling, wall, and floor nearby. It made for a demented and overly colourful version of a spider's web. Nakamori had the addition of a flowered crown on his head, complete with chirping doves. "My, don't you look pretty."
The head of the task force reached up to wretch away the headpiece only to find it was literally stuck on his head. The doves flew, to avoid being swiped at, and landed back on the thief's shoulders (one had flown over to the hiding detective by the pillar to keep him company).
"KID!" He bellowed, struggling against both the boas tying him down and the security staff, who were slow to let the police go near the stage area.
"Unfortunately, this lot will be withdrawn today." KID tucked the gem into his pockets, taking a bow, and with a swirl of his cloak under the cover of a flock of doves, KID disappeared.
Shinichi, who had been in the room with the crowd but far enough to not be caught in the police's mad scramble, immediately headed towards the nearest doorway to catch up to the thief who was no doubt heading for the roof. He bumped into a man at the door.
"Apologies sir." Shinichi held the door open for the man, who instead of walking out, turned to face him.
"Ah, Kudo-tantei, fancy meeting you here." The man grabbed onto his wrist rather forcefully. "Quite a show you put on for us a few days ago. Hope this KID is as amiable as the last one."
'Shit!' He cursed internally, slightly frantic as he tries to struggle out of the hand. The grip was tight and strong.
"You wouldn't want someone to be accidentally hurt today would you?" Leading the detective out, he motioned for several man to accompany him. "Let's go meet our thief shall we?"
Flanked by two stocky bodyguards and the person whom Shinichi assumes to be the secretary, they made their way towards the roof. Fortunately, KID's traps managed to knock out the bodyguards on the stairwell. The moment they opened the door to the roof, Shinichi attempts his escape by elbowing the man, who released the wrist to avoid getting hit. He quickly dashed towards KID, and tackled the thief to the side to avoid the gun that was pointing at them.
"Very well done. I must applaud you on your fast recovery seeing as our last encounter did not let you leave without some souvenirs and I'm sure my friend had hit her target tonight as well, haven't you Vermouth?"
"Boya, it's no use hiding..." She purposefully avoided to use her normal address reserved for the detective. It was an act for her companion's sake.
Behind a conveniently placed water tank, KID was busy examining the graze on Shinichi's arm. The bullet nicked cleanly and a small trail of red stained the white shirt. To his relief, the bleeding was not severe so there wasn't a need for stitches.
"How did they notice you?" KID produced a handkerchief from his breast pocket and tied up the wound. "I thought you said you'll stay in the control room."
"And miss out on the fun and the Keibu's reaction? You do know I've been bored to bits lately right?" He winced as KID tightened the knot. "Why are they here?"
The footsteps were getting closer and the pair need to find somewhere else to hide quickly.
"Apparently they were here for some shopping..."
"KID, did you know beforehand?"
KID hesitated under the intense blue gaze, turning away when it became too heavy. Shinichi sighed, knowing the reason for not telling him was to stop him from doing anything stupid.
"You're breaking your own promise..." He said shaking his head, easily forgiving his magician-thief. "What's done is done, best make use of the situation then. Do you think we can catch the man?"
"Bit difficult I'd say." KID used the shadows and climbed up the water tank. He offered his hand to help pull Shinichi up so that they would be sitting on one of the struts and hidden behind the shadows. As an added precaution, KID set up some mirrors and reflective surfaces to make it as though there was nothing in the area. "It might be easier to wait for the Task Force to storm up to the roof. Though we can try to see if we can make them leave something behind."
KID took out his card gun, aiming at the man's right side of the face.
"Give me that." Shinichi requested for the card gun. His position allows him better vantage point to fire off a shot. KID steadied the detective as he re-aimed the gun. "Is it set to fire your normal cards or is it the booby-trapped kind?"
"Flick the small lever up, it'll shoot a smoke bomb. Flick down is the sleeping capsule. Flicked in succession, it'll load the required ammo into the chamber, just be careful of the dosage though."
"Right, wouldn't want to accidentally cause permanent damage." Shinichi flicked the switch down then up then put at neutral to shoot card stock. He pulled the trigger in quick successions and the capsules hit the floor beside the man, letting out a billow of smoke of two different shades of blue and pink.
The man reflexively jumped backwards, but was still caught in the smoke. A card, Joker, sliced through the air and left a small , thin line of red on the right cheeks. Fingers moved to the cut, literally being a paper cut, and he let out a laugh.
"I concede. You may have won this round Kudo-tantei. You've earned a small respite from me. Until we clash again." He motioned for his companion to leave the hunt. "But I wouldn't be too comfortable if I were you. After all, I've already made my move and it's creeping up on you and your partner as we speak. And maybe we'll be the lucky one next time."
The thief and detective waited for a full ten minutes in absolute silence and stillness. They made sure there was no one on the roof, via handy dove-cams, before leaving their hiding spot.
"See why I didn't want to do the heist in the first place?" KID had his hands at his hips as he admonished the detective. "Risky. Excessively so."
"But it was interesting though." Shinichi sauntered towards KID, wrapping him into a hug. "Thanks."
"For what? You were hurt."
"For going along with my whims." He gave a small peck on KID's cheeks in appreciation for his efforts.
KID let out a huff of air as he watched Shinichi leave. Really, how can someone not want to spoil the detective when he so lovingly looks back at you? KID quickly gathered his thoughts and proceeded to escape, hoping to bump into Shinichi on the way back as Kaito and maybe go out for a spot of supper at a nice restaurant. Making sure he had the gem safely in his pockets, he ran to the edge and jumped off into the night.
-TBC-
A/N: The omake started out as part of the story but I realised it might have been better on its own. Enjoy~
-OMAKE: Colour coding-
"Kaito, I've been meaning to ask..." Shinichi asked on their way strolling back from their supper after the heist. Kaito looked sideways inquisitively at his detective, urging him to continue. "Why pink?"
"You mean the sleeping gas?" Kaito placed a finger on his chin as though in contemplation of a sophisticated answer. Shinichi nodded as he anticipated for a somewhat meaningful and logical response. "It's more entertaining that way!"
"Why did I even think there's a logical reason..." Shinichi sighed as Kaito's laughter rang through the silent streets. But there was another question niggling at the back of his mind, though he knew it would be another nonsensical answer. Still, his curiosity nudged him to ask. "And the blue?"
"Because the other colours clash horribly." Kaito stuck out his tongue in disgust as he delivered the sentence as though it made all the sense in the world. "I've tried yellow but the results didn't match my expectations.
"Results? You mean because the yellow was too light or something?" Shinichi knew about Kaito's mastery over chemicals, he had to if he were to create his own gas combinations.
"No, Nakamori-keibu's reaction. Pink seems to set him off and the baby blue mellows him out before he realised what the gas does plus the blue won't ruin the police uniform but still able to dye the Keibu's suit to a nice colour." Kaito grinned. "And Hakuba always wear that inverse coat of his, yellow doesn't stand out in brown but blue does. I was going to go for lime green but it didn't match with the pink."
Shinichi wondered if Kaito had given this much thought to colour coding, why couldn't he do something constructive with it. Maybe he should encourage his magician to paint or something to do with colours next time Kaito was bored and bouncing off the library walls.
-OMAKE END-
