43: River Rescue and Returned Favors
Hakuba woke suddenly, reeling from an onslaught of emotions: fear, surprise, and self-disgruntlement…. Switching to cataloguing physical discomforts automatically took precedence in order to help him order his thoughts; emotions faded into the background.
His eyes stung, his throat burned, and he was soaking wet and wracked by chills.
He recalled stumbling on a theft in progress when walking home from the KID heist that night. No doubt the thief, clearly an amateur, had been hoping to use KID's own theft as a distraction while he broke into a small antiques shop that held several expensive items. Despite how late it was and how tired Saguru had been, his morals would not allow him to stand by while this thief did as he pleased.
The following chase had ended on a bridge with Hakuba tackling the much larger man and nearly succeeding in cuffing him during the scuffle. Unfortunately, the larger man had managed to get a grip of Saguru's lapel and flip him over the safety rail.
He couldn't remember anything after that, so Hakuba assumed he must have hit his head and fallen unconscious before hitting the water of the river below. Had he not, he would have been perfectly capable of swimming to safety. Unconscious, however, drowning would have been the most likely outcome. Someone passing by must have seen fit to rescue him.
Considering all this, the detective was really quite grateful to be alive.
"Oi!" A familiar voice called, "why are you just sitting there?"
Hakuba turned to see one of his least favorite persons, Kuroba Kaito, approaching.
"Honestly," Kaito said, "detectives can be pretty intelligent, but your self-preservation instinct is in the negatives on a scale from one to ten. You're going to get hypothermia if you don't get the blood flowing! Move!"
As the magician came into range, Saguru could discern a bundle of cloth in his arms and the way his hair was oddly subdued, as though it were… wet. The uncomfortable realization that evidence pointed towards Kuroba as being his mystery rescuer set the detective off balance enough that he actually followed the magician's orders; hoisting himself up and stretching.
Kaito watched him for a moment before tossing over the bundle.
Catching it, Saguru recognized it as a wool yukata.
"Ditch your wet clothes before you catch a cold. "Kaito barked, never meeting the detective's eyes as he shuffled awkwardly and smoothed his own yukata. When Saguru also glanced around uncomfortably, Kaito sighed and produced a small square of cloth from nowhere. With some deft wrist flicks, the square unfolded to a large rectangular blanket.
It caused no small amount of discomfort for both of them when Kaito wrapped the length of cloth around Saguru in a makeshift tent. Still, Hakuba was reassured by the privacy and the knowledge that he wouldn't be flashing anyone who walked by that stretch of river as he changed.
"Thank you" Saguru murmured, now dressed in dry clothes with the thin material of the 'tent' cloth wrapped around his shoulders like a scarf.
Kaito kicked at a rock and shrugged, "yeah, well… nobody's supposed to get hurt at a KID heist."
"I wasn't at the heist though." The detective retorted.
"You were leaving it!" Kaito exclaimed loudly, cutting off Hakuba's argument. "And what kind of person would I be if I just let you drown!" His voice lowered to a level at which Hakuba was sure he wasn't supposed to hear, "even with stupid f-f-finny things in the river."
Saguru frowned slightly, watching his companion from the corner of his eye, taking in his shivering and the tenseness of his shoulders. With surprise, he realized that the magician… was terrified.
"You have ichthyophobia." Hakuba observed flatly.
Kaito shuddered, hunching his shoulders slightly, "yes." His hands clenched and his face grew shuttered as if waiting for-
Saguru hesitated mid step… as if waiting for Hakuba to laugh at him. The detective smiled slightly, taking a longer step to compensate for slowing down. Drawing even with the magician he crossed his arms, "I am flattered that you faced your fear in order to save me, Kuroba. I had thought you didn't like me much."
Kaito snorted, but relaxed some. "I don't like you. You're stiff and humorless and act all superior all the time. However… if there's anything I could do to help someone in trouble, even someone I dislike, then I'd do it."
For a moment Hakuba was silent then he spoke softly, "even at your own risk?"
The magician nodded, "even then. Even if I could die, even if I could get hurt so badly I'd never be able to do magic again. It would be worth it because it would be the right thing to do."
Saguru froze, his image of his impassioned classmate trying to reconcile with his image of the selfish thief, KID. He'd always known, even without hard evidence, that Kuroba was KID, but that would make KID Kuroba too.
"Are you okay?" Kaito asked, breaking Hakuba's line of thought.
The detective jerked a nod, watching the magician with an odd intensity.
Kaito rolled his eyes, "come on. I'm freezing from that unexpected dip in the river. I guess you could… my house is closer." He huffed and turned away.
Understanding the veiled invitation, and also cold, Saguru followed.
~o0o~
"The Love of the Sea sapphire!" Jirokichi announced.
Nakamori-keibu eyed the shimmering gem, "this is the item of your latest challenge to KID?"
Jirokichi laughed, "I'm thinking of displaying it in an aquarium to honor its name."
Hakuba jerked from his more distant position. An aquarium? That meant fish. Stumbling slightly in his uncharacteristic haste to move, Hakuba joined the circle of conversation. "I don't believe an aquarium is a good idea." The half-Brit announced.
"Why not?" Jirokichi asked.
Saguru inhaled, quickly thinking of excuses. "For one, aquariums mean a lot of glass, which would be in danger of shattering. I'm sure you've all noticed the snipers that frequent KID's heists. Second, I would not wish KID's brand of crazy distractions on any animal, especially not one that can be scared by people merely tapping on the glass. KID's flash bombs and other tricks are far beyond that. Third-"
He was cut off as the door opened and Aoko skipped through. "Dad! I brought you a bento!" She exclaimed, handing him a small bag.
"Aoko!" Kaito whined coming in after, "I told you to wait. You probably interrupted their planning meeting…."
"Who are these two?" Jirokichi asked.
Nakamori smiled sheepishly, "this is my daughter, Aoko, and her childhood friend, Kuroba Kaito… he is a magician."
"A magician?" Jirokichi asked, interested.
Kaito shrugged, "I'm just an amateur, but one day I want to be the best magician in the world! Even better than KID."
Jirokichi bellowed out a laugh.
Saguru sighed, "Kuroba, seeing as you are here, perhaps you can help me explain why hosting a gem in an aquarium is a bad idea."
Kaito froze, "a-aquarium…" he said slowly, paling slightly.
Saguru nodded, "I have mentioned the over-abundance of glass as well as the safety of the f- creatures therein. Can you think of any other ideas why the exhibit should be elsewhere?"
The magician opened and closed his mouth several times before bemusedly realizing that, for once, Hakuba suspecting he was Kaitou KID was working in his favor. Clearing his throat, he quickly ran through ideas "ah… well… um… in the event of open tanks there is the danger of f-falling in, especially with a chase in mind. Additionally, a-aquariums tend to have curved walls, which could make keeping a sight line difficult. Plus the division would be unused to the building layout, putting them at a disadvantage, as they are used to museums and such."
Jirokichi nodded, "I suppose all these points are true. I guess my back-up idea will do."
"And what's that?" Nakamori asked.
"Put it on a boat!" Jirokichi announced cheerfully, "it will be like the Black Star, but with more defenses against KID and fewer distractions!"
Kaito grimaced, "a boat would be better than an a-aquarium."
Saguru nodded, "indeed, it will likely be a far more interesting battle as well, with both teams at their peak."
Kaito looked at him perplexed, "careful, or it will sound like your routing for KID." He joked thinly.
"Perhaps in some ways I am." Saguru replied to Kaito's bewilderment. "I am after all a gentleman; I believe in fair play."
Kaito frowned slightly, "sure. Just so long as it's not around those finny monsters." He grinned, "a boat is better than an a- finny thing building any day!"
Saguru smiled, "that was the idea. I will catch KID head on, fair and square, by taking his monocle as prize!"
Kaito's face twisted into an amused and determined smirk, "first you've got to catch him."
(More with Hakuba… honestly this is a complete coincidence, these are just the ideas I've actually finished writing…. Also… sometimes I feel like my chapter titles are crappy, but I mostly name them just so I have some way to differentiate them. I think I'm far better at overall-story titles.)