-FIRSTS-
Disclaimer: The works of Detective Conan and Magic Kaito belongs to Gosho Aoyama-sensei.
Warning: KaiShin relationship.
A/N: Short-ish chapter
First Guilt
The silence of the hall and the tenseness of the atmosphere reminded Kaito of the time when he lost his Love, way back just when they started their relationship and was threatened by an unfriendly eight-legged arthropod. Emotional pain might be duller in this occasion as his target may not rank as high on Kaito's level of importance, she was still a treasured friend (even though she had not approved of him in the beginning, although with how Kaito managed to coax his detective to a healthier lifestyle, she finally relented and had accepted him). Kaito was unsure how many white washed and antiseptic filled rooms he searched having lost count by the sheer blandness and copy-and-paste style of decor throughout every room, but one thing he was sure was that this facility was used to develop a drug which was being tested on human subjects. He had found traces of torn clothing in one of the rooms, another had links of chains bolted to the floors and wall. All of the rooms, he noted, were quite well sound insulated, reminiscent of a mental ward. Kaito held back a shudder as his mind conjured up image after image of inhumane experiment that must have gone on within these walls.
However, his priority was not to examine these rooms for illicit experimentation but to locate a certain small scientist who does not seem to have ever stepped foot on this secret floor. Having no other choice, Kaito quickly glanced at the time on his phone. Half the time has passed and Kaito was sure his detective is already there at their secondary escape, conveniently down the small canal running alongside the factory. It was a rather loud escape (they have managed to procure a speedboat for the night) and it does not provide them with adequate cover, hence it was a secondary escape rather than their primary. But with the primary having been compromised, they are willing to risk it.
"Though first, the Ojou." Kaito approached the end of the corridor, finding another set of heavy doors barring him from the next section of the factory. He repeated the same action of short circuiting the electronic lock and picking at the physical lock. The door opened onto another dark stairwell, this one with metallic stairs, that led to another office-like room with upturned furniture. Nothing was of note in this particular room, only the usual chair, table, and cabinet display, though it was a welcome from the overly bright white lights. Thankfully, there were no cameras in this particular room and Kaito rested for barely a minute before continuing on his trek. While the labs were in the hidden floor, this particular room and its connecting corridors seems to be part of the legal facade. There were newspaper clippings inside broken and dangling frames on the wall, strewn A4 paper and stationery all over the place, and even table decor such as dead potted plants and little figurines. Kaito had to wonder what became of this factory. But before his thoughts could wander off too far, his legs took him to the final room on this floor. There was a moment of hesitance in Kaito, both in anticipation and fear. Anticipation in the fact that the little scientist was likely to be within this particular room (unless there were also staircases leading to another hidden floor) and fear at the possibility that it was a trap all along. Knowing there was very little time left and that the door would not open by itself. Kaito picked the keyhole with dexterous fingers until a soft 'click' was heard. Slowly, he turned the knob and eased the door opened. The room was a printer room, several generic printers stood side by side with a singular one having fell on the floor.
"Strangeā¦" Generally speaking, moving office entails moving every bit of equipment. However his detective had said this factory was abandoned more than having rooted the company to relocate. "Still, printers and photocopiers are expensive pieces of equipment. Surely, no company would throw these away."
Acting on a hunch, Kaito pulled out the specially modified glasses, though instead of using the tracking function, he turned the other arm of the pair of glasses to reveal night vision. A recent upgrade had made it possible for infra-red vision, even though the EM waves are of relatively low power. He hoped that it would shed some light on the current situation.
Slowly, Kaito surveyed the dim surroundings, taking careful note of each change in colour tone on the singular lens. The blue-ish hue continued coherently as his eyes peered into every nook and cranny of the room, barely any noticeable difference on the cool walls. No cracks or sudden changes in temperature along the surface for Kaito to investigate. Looking up onto the ceiling, just in case, there were no discernible difference either. Just the usual ducts, pipes and electrical wiring made more evident due to the air and electrical current flow that changed the object's temperature. Sighing, and not really having much hope for any further evidence inside the room, Kaito looked to the floor. Again, nothing of note up until he was about to leave and his eyes skimmed over the locations of the photocopiers and printers once more. There was a strangely uniform line evident through his lens. Straining his ears, Kaito could barely make out soft thumps of sound, which he had initially thought to be a by-product from the air-conditioning. The more he paid attention, the more unnatural the sound. The volume of the thumps varies ever so slightly, becoming softer and softer until at random where it suddenly became loud once more. The sound was also slightly muffled and sometimes accompanied with other strange sounds that was similar to a groan.
Focusing on the sound, Kaito managed to pinpoint it to have originated from the same unnatural straight line he identified earlier. Not wasting a moment, he tugged at the heavy equipment, hoping to move it even an inch to examine the spot. Even as Kaito was aware of time passing during his heavy lifting, he hoped he could make it to the rendezvous point. What felt like an extremely long time of muscle work was in actuality ten minutes and finally Kaito managed to maneuver the printer to a more manageable position. The single unnatural line on the lens turned out to be a small square on the ground. Kaito felt around the edges and managed to locate a small indentation. Reaching in, he found a handle. He was weary it might be booby-trapped but he had very little time to lose. Instead, he braved the unknown and pulled the handle upwards.
Inside the small dark space was the prize he was looking for. The small scientist cramped into the tiny space with her hands and legs tied tightly with a combination of duct tape and wire fasteners. Her mouth was gagged with additional cloth and duct tape. She seemed to have been blindfolded at one point but the small piece of material had been dislodged to rest on her neck instead. She was saying something to Kaito, possibly to urge him to do something. Quickly and efficiently, Kaito reached to release the duct tape and cloth.
"Hurry!" She struggled against her restraints. "You don't have time! LEAVE!"
"Not leaving without you Ojou. Otherwise Shinichi would have my head." Kaito let out a tooth revealing grin.
"NO TIME! You just triggered a count down!" She nodded her head to where the trap door was. Sure enough, there was a counter attached on the door that Kaito had not noticed before. It read less than ten minutes left before disaster.
With no time to free her from the rest of the restraints, Kaito heaved her up onto her shoulders like a sack of potato and began his mad dash to put as much distance as possible between him and the danger.
"Any idea what it could be?" He skidded around the corner, going up instead of down, earning him a rather painful kick from the scientist in his hold.
"Bomb perhaps?" She managed to stay rather balanced on his shoulder. "Though I doubt it would be a normal bomb. I've heard Rum likes to experiment."
Kaito swore softly when he entered a seemingly random room. This was a room he identified through Shinichi's map to be most accessible to their secondary escape. Unfortunately, the windows were barred shut with iron structures stretching across the window pane. Fortunately, the gap between the bars meant it would be just enough for the young scientist to squeeze through, just barely, and escape.
"Here's where I leave you." Kaito pulled out his multi-purpose knife and began the arduous task of slicing through plastic and tape. Once freed, she rubbed at her wrists as Kaito attaches a harness and rope ensemble to her. "You should fit through the gap. Use this and abseil down. Shinichi should be waiting somewhere below in a speed boat. Tell him...I'll meet up soon back home. And not to wait up."
"What do you mean?" Kaito pushed the little scientist towards the windows, helping her up onto the ledge even as she tries to turn back to face him. His deft hands made quick work of the window's lock and he opened them fully into the evening air.
"I wouldn't fit through these so I'm taking another route." He gave a small shove to which she managed to brace herself on the iron bars to prevent her from actually falling down. "Come on, don't resist."
"Kudo-kun would never forgive you, you know." She stared directly into his eyes, boring into his soul as her words made a mark on his mind. "He would probably never forgive me either for living if that were the case."
"Shinichi's not like that." He allowed a small smile to play on his lips. "He's the type to treasure each life saved."
"Not mine. After all, I'm quite expandable." She turned back towards the windows. When she turned her head back just slightly to eye Kaito, he felt a sudden sense of guilt coursing through him.
"Go on, I'll catch up later." He waved her out, turning to walk towards the room's threshold. They came to a standstill as two pairs of eyes dared the other to make a move first. "I'm not leaving here until I see you're safely out the window and going down the rope. Otherwise I'm sure you'll find your way back up here. And the longer you take, the less time I have at an escape." He hoped to guilt trip the little scientist into moving.
"Don't hurt Kudo-kun then." She stated before climbing out, hand over hand she disappeared from Kaito's voice.
"I don't plan to." Kaito waited for another minute before rushing out of the room. There were two other escape routes in the building, though only one would be less guarded (at least he hoped). "Well, let's test my luck than shall we?" He spoke to nothing in particular, voice coming out more amused than before as adrenaline rushed through his blood. In a sense, this was more intense from a chase in KID's heist, perhaps it was because of the higher stakes or perhaps he was in actual enemy territory. Either way, the thrill was indescribable.
-TBC-
