12: Blackmail Material
Haibara Ai was more serious than ever as she walked towards the Kudo Mansion Library. She had no doubt that the combined genius of the three teenage detectives: Kudo Shinichi, Hakuba Saguru, and Hattori Heiji, would significantly narrow the gap between them and the Black Organization, but… did they really have to allow that… that criminal to join them too. She didn't trust him and when she had said so, he'd smirked cockily and said it was hypocritical for her to judge him like that when he had never killed anyone. Still, that magician thief was too relaxed. It wasn't natural for one to toy with danger so flippantly. Maybe they all just didn't understand the true seriousness of the situation.
The door opened without a sound as Ai entered the library. The sight before her made her grin evilly. They were all asleep.
The blond half-British detective, sat slumped over the table with his head resting on his arms and a slight furrow to his brow. He had joined the team soon after Kaitou KID at the thief's request. He was straight-laced and ordered in his thinking, but that obsessive compulsive drive for perfection had lead to several breakthroughs that the others might have otherwise missed.
The Osakan detective, or meitantei of the west, slept slouched in an armchair with one leg draped over the armrest. He was hugging a large book to his chest and had a bokken at his feet, which he allegedly uses to keep KID in line. His hat had fallen off at some point and a slight smile turned up the corners of his mouth.
The image that really had Ai smirking in glee was the positions of the last two members of their group. Holding back a maniacal laugh, Ai pulled out her phone to snap some pictures.
The moonlight magician and modern Arsène Lupin was sitting slightly slouched, but still upright, on one end of the couch. He could have been mistaken for being awake, if not for how low his head hung. Instead of his iconic white suit, KID wore jeans and a grey t-shirt with a black jacket and a black baseball cap that was surprisingly affective at shadowing his face and hiding his identity. Ai found it strange that even in his sleep his face stubbornly held on to his signature grin; it was less pronounced, but it was there.
The great blackmail part of this was that Shinichi's shrunken counterpart, Conan, was sleeping with his head resting comfortably on KID's chest and had the magician's arm draped over his shoulders, both keeping him warm and holding him in place.
Snickering, the miniature scientist raised her phone and approached. Click! The camera sounded softly.
The innocent sound was enough; KID's eyes shot open. Before either of them could comprehend what was happening, KID had unceremoniously shoved Conan away and lunged at her, simultaneously dropping a smoke bomb. The chibi-tantei woke with a startled yelp.
The other detectives jerked awake at the ruckus and in seconds were frozen again when the last wisps of light pink stage smoke dissipated.
With eyes blazing, KID had Ai pinned to the carpeted floor. One of his hands restrained her dominant hand, the one holding the phone; the other held his card gun pointed at her forehead. His knee on her sternum held the bewildered scientist so that she was completely helpless. Ai's eyes were as wide as the detectives'.
KID, sensing no further movement, blinked and yawned to rouse himself from his half-awake, half-asleep state. "Ara?" He muttered, looking around in puzzlement at the tense detectives. Waking up further he noticed his own position and looked down at Ai. Seeing his gun against her head he jerked away, "sorry, sorry!" He exclaimed, helping her up. "I wasn't really awake, but… the air currents changed, so I knew someone had opened the door and … and well, I'm a light sleeper for the sake of security, but…. You should know better than to startle a hunted man! Especially when he is sleeping!" KID looked utterly horrified, "if you had moved even the tiniest bit I- I might have shot you!"
To his, and everyone else's surprise, Ai began laughing. "Finally, someone who understands the danger we're in!" Her eyes darkened, "our foe would not hesitate to kill anyone associated with us if we're found out! We must maintain CONSTANT VIGILANCE! Take note of this occurrence and emulate Kaitou 1412!" She left the room with a frightening expression, leaving silence in her wake.
"Are you sure she's not insane?" Asked KID, the one person whom everyone had at one point thought was crazy. "She's a scientific genius and extremely paranoid", Shinichi said slowly, "but I'll admit that her sanity is debatable." The moonlight magician did not look reassured in the slightest, "and... is she going to continue insisting on calling me 'Kaitou 1412', because it's really... weird... to be referred too by a number all the time."
As she walked down the shadowed halls of the Kudo Mansion, Ai smiled. Maybe the thief wasn't so bad. He certainly provided a great blackmail picture against Kudo.