Hey there !
Hope you're doing well, despite that little cliff I let you in... Did I mention i don't plan to end with the cliffs tonight ? No ? haha...
Well, no way I'd finish this so quickly, right ? ^^
o.O.o
emmahoshi : Haha, yup, I liked that one ; ) I had been too easy with you, it was time to have you all shake on your seats again xD Ah well, we'll discover it sooner or later, if Tanioka is a bad guy, a victim or anything else... ^^ I think Shin is probably pretty happy with heiji finding him excuses not to go to school xD And well, our hot-blooded detective needs him, really, really a lot so... ^^; Ah yea, answer as to who was with Tanioka today ! : D
aerinechan : Hey, félicitations ^^ J'espère que tu l'apprécieras jusqu'à la fin, cette fic, alors ^^ Et non, je suis toujours aussi fan des cliffs... ca donne du relief : )
estelle : Et bien la réponse est... Non ! Mais t'inquiète, il ne manque pas de ressources, notre petit détective ; )
Chapter 8 : Dance studio
Third person PoV
Conan had accomplished his mission quite fast, eager to meet Hattori and Tanioka, feeling that policeman was pretty suspicious and that meant he could be dangerous.
He headed to the first basement, just like the female officer at the entrance told him, now more running than walking, feeling something was not right, it was far too calm...
And when the small detective finally found the door of the Identification Department and tried it to see no one was there, he knew his hunch was right. No way they could have been finished so fast, he spent barely two minutes at the desk !
Taking his phone out, he feverishly dialled his best friend's number.
"- Come on, answer me, Hattori..."
But the Osakan, usually so quick to pick his phone, didn't answer.
The fake boy pocketed back his phone, with a shaking hand, his thoughts running to know where to start his search, trying not to panic. A lot of things could have happened, he couldn't just act as if the worse did. No, he had to focus. If he didn't meet anyone on his way, it meant they left using another way. Now, the question was through which door ?
He found his answer when his eyes finally noticed the green light of an emergency exit. One so close to the ID Department's door it seemed too good to be true.
"- Crap..." He swore as he bent to the floor, to see it was still wet.
Someone had used this door. Someone who was coming from outside. And that meant Hattori probably had to face two opponents, the Superintendent and someone else... The theory of an attack was getting more and more probable.
Conan didn't think twice about it and slammed the door in front of him, to see a staircase behind it. According to the wet steps going up and the noise, the part on his left was leading outside. That could have been a possibility but a door closing on his right helped him chose his destination : the parking lot was just on the second basement and that would be the best place to... do whatever they wanted to do discreetly.
Rushing through the stairs, the bespectacled boy could only helplessly look at the car that was passing him at high speed, only noticing the driver was wearing a dark hood. Hearing another engine starting right on his left, Tanioka's apparently, he recognized the man's silhouette behind the window, he didn't hesitate and quickly opened the trunk to sneak into it and quickly closed it over him as the car left. The detective just had to hope he wasn't mistaken and that it would lead him to his best friend.
o.O.o
The fact that the car stopped after barely fifteen minutes startled a bit the azure-eyed boy. Ok, it was late but that would mean whatever hideout the policeman was heading to, it wasn't really isolated and in the middle of the city.
Hearing Tanioka leaving the car, Conan counted until ten after the noise of his shoes on the gravel of the alley stopped before carefully open the lid of the trunk.
The car was parked on a gravel alley, as he recognized it by the noise, in front of a huge traditional house. Not a noise around. Residential area. Only one car.
All those facts meant he probably wasn't in the right place. But he couldn't just give up yet, the superintendent knew something, he had to find out what.
Still being cautious, in case his reasoning proved to be incorrect, the child sneaked into the house and headed towards the only noises he could hear, the sound of some glass in what looked like a kitchen. Indeed, coming closer, he saw Tanioka was helping himself with a glass of brandy with a shaking hand.
"- Where's your son ? I thought you said you were going to meet him ?" Conan finally asked with a strong voice.
The man jumped, bringing his hand to his chest with the surprise.
"- Conan-kun ?! What are ya doin' here?
- Where's your son ?" The boy insisted, knowing the answer to that question was one of the keys of what was happening tonight. "I saw only one pair of shoes in the entrance, only yours. He's not here, right ?
- He's... By his aunt, in... Hiroshima." The policeman stuttered, his discomfort clearly visible as he gulped.
"- You don't really seem sure of it...
- But I am ! Come on boya, go back home, it's late, yer family will worry.
- I'd like to but Heiji-niichan disappeared..." The detective complained with a childish voice, before getting serious once again and locking his piercing eyes in the man's. "You wouldn't know where he is ?
- Last time I saw him he was at the station... We went ta the ID department, there wasn' anyone so we just left. He's probably waitin' fer ya back there...
- Could you please stop with the lies ?"
Tanioka almost chuckled on the gulp of brandy he just took to bring more strength to his voice.
"- W... What ?! I won' let ya insult me under my roof, boya !
- And I won't let your lot hurt my best friend ! Where is he ?!"
The sudden burst of the child seemed to destabilize the man, who was already not exactly at ease.
"- I...
- You knew this was going to happen ! As a cop, as a Superintendent, as a father, how the heck have you been able to feed those guys with a teenager in the feeble hope they'd give you your son back ?!
- ... How do ya..."
Tanioka's face was now filled with startle, but it didn't really calm down the bespectacled boy.
"- This was so obvious... He's not here despite the late hour and the fact we're in the middle of a school week, you stutter when someone mentions him, your eyes are shiny when you look at his picture... Even a boy like me could deduce that ! That's pure blackmail, Superintendent General Tanioka, I thought you learned how to deal with it in the Police..."
Conan clenched his fists when he saw the man's facade crumbling in front of him, taking his head in his hands. The man was starting to realize what he did, he couldn't just lash his anger out at him, it was time to calm down a bit to try to have the intel he wanted.
"- I know you're not a bad person... You wanted to avoid me to be involved in all this, right ? That's why you asked me to deliver that envelope at the desk...
- I didn' expect Hattori-kun ta come with someone... An' ya're so young... Those guys wouldn' even have hesitated if ya were in their way, despite yer age...
- Superintendent General Tanioka... Where's my friend ? Who took him ?
- Sajiô..."
The small detective paled at the name. The only thing Saijô wanted was... This was indeed starting to be urgent to find Hattori.
"-... I had ta call him if Hattori-kun came at the Police Station. Because he escaped the first, they asked me ta have a more active role this time... What have I done..."
It was so, so late for the man to have regrets... But the boy knew he had to forget his feelings and try to get as much information out of Tanioka as possible.
"- Do you know where he could be ? In their HQ ?
- Nah, he doesn' even know where it is...
- Where else ?"
The policeman was obviously hesitating. Helping to save the teenager, if he was still alive, would clearly end his career, he was a too embarrassing witness. And that could threaten his son's life. But all those 'would' and 'could' wouldn't apply to the other teen's fate. He was leaving him to die, no doubt about that...
Feeling his hesitation, Conan decided to try to strike a nerve.
"- Superintendent General Tanioka, Hattori is barely the same age than your son... How can you be so desperate to save your own son and ignoring what happens to someone else's ...?"
The officer shook his head, biting his lower lip, before going to the nearby room. The man was opening a map on his desk when the small detective came in.
"- There's a derelict gymnasium in this area..." He said as he pointed a place in the south of Kyoto. "I know that's where they brought Saijô when they helped him ta escape. He'll probably be there. I don' really think he has anywhere else ta hide an' he knows this place is under those men's control... That's all I have, sorry.
- Good enough to me, thank you."
The man let himself fall in his chair, passing a shaking hand in front of his eyes. Even for someone who wasn't a detective, there was no mystery as to why he looked so depressed.
"- I won't tell anyone. " Conan promised him with a serious face."Yet. So won't you. But I'm counting on you when you'll have your son back."
Despite the role the guy had in Hattori's kidnapping, he was still a victim. So was his son. The enemy was the same for all of them, no use in going witch hunting right now, it wouldn't help.
Having what he needed, the boy turned his heels and headed towards the door.
"- Wait ! Ya're not plannin' ta go there alone ?!"
In fact, he was, but the azure-eyed boy just kept a straight face as he turned to him.
Guessing this silent answer meant his fears were right, the man rumbled in a drawer before getting up and giving a piece of paper to the small detective.
"- He doesn' know anythin' about all that... But he knows Saijô like the back o' his hand, he'll be able ta neutralize him. Just explain him what's goin' on, he'll come."
The boy's eyes fell on the card and he had a small smile at the name on it.
With a last nod to the officer, he left.
o.O.o
Heiji PoV
I didn't really like to wake up after being knocked out. Ok, you could tell me, who in the hell would like that ? Yea, I got your point. But that specific way to wake up was really a pain in the ass. Tongue like paper, eyes sensitive to light, headache, disorientation, were among the most common -and unpleasant - symptoms.
Which reminded me... That I had better to open my eyes fast since I was very probably in the middle of a or several bad guys' hideout and that I should be ready to defend myself.
But my eyelids weren't really cooperative so it took me a little while to be able to look at my surroundings, using my arms to sit - without being hindered by any kind of cord, clearly good news.
I was in a huge room, quite dark. The only light was coming from the holes in the roof, letting the lights of the town in, mirrored by the low clouds. That faint light was just like glowing on the walls and it took me a little while to identify the mirrors on them. I was in fact in a kind of dance studio. A deserted one.
My heart raced when I saw the door at the far corner open and I quickly got up, using the wall to support my wobbling legs, still feeling the aftermath of my blackout.
"- Ah, ya're awake ?"
I didn't even need to see that damn face and that wicked smile in the faint light, I knew who was coming at me. Saijô.
"- The hell do ya want ?" I growled, wondering why I was alive when the guy wanted to kill me and sure I wouldn't like the answer.
"- Oh, don' worry, I haven' changed my mind, I'm still out ta kill ya... But I also want my revenge. A fair one."
I stepped aside when he sent something to me, a something that touched the floor in a metallic noise. Removing the cloth that was around it with my feet, I recognized the shape of a katana.
"- I propose ta ya a round 2."
Unlike what I thought, I was starting to like that answer and grinned to retrieve the weapon at my feet. That damn guy had killed Oyaji : kicking his ass with a katana was one of the revenges I thought about myself. I beat him once, it was just about scoring a second time.
I grabbed the weapon's handle with a cold satisfaction and removed its scabbard.
"- I'm yer man.
- I knew ya'd say that."
I didn't know what had been the signal but we threw ourselves at each other at the same time. The sound of our blades was echoing in the room, flashing when we hit metal against metal in some kind of crazy dance of life and death. After a few blows, I felt this wasn't going to be that easy. My ears were still a bit ringing and those sudden moves weren't helping. And what was worse was my twisted elbow. The left hand wasn't essential for kendo but it really helped. Above all when your opponent hit like a truck.
And that damn guy had noticed it. And now all his blows were on my left side...
Yea, "fair" he said...
A few more minutes and Taiga was now smirking.
"- Are ya tired already ? Would have expected more o' ya... How will ya avenge yer father if ya're so weak ?
- Shut up...
- Ya should have seen yer face when ya noticed the arrow in his chest, so pitiful. An' ya didn' even come after me. Coward."
The guy was provoking me, I knew it but it was just... Flashes of my father's death were passing in front of my eyes, and I could so much imagine him laughing in a corner...
With a yell of rage, I ran at him, blade first. That charge wasn't really efficient, my moves being too wide, and the man avoided it quite easily.
I suddenly felt a twitch on my side and, bringing my hand to it, saw it was bloody. It was nothing deep but how come ? I knew I avoided his blade!
Having a terrible doubt, I turned to him to see... What I expected to see. The same kind of kodachi he used last time in his left hand.
"- Bastard..." I hissed, knowing what it probably meant : I had been poisoned.
"- Maa..." Saijô smiled as he patted his chest pocket. "The antidote is here. I think we'll have enough time ta finish our fight before ya feel it too much so ya know what ya need ta do, boya..."
Yea, I knew... I had to win and take that damn antidote before it was too late...
With a renewed energy, I rushed at him, cautious to avoid his kodachi, not in the fear of the poison anymore, it was too late for that, but because it was almost as dangerous as his katana, with its sharp blade.
"- Haha, I prefer that, I was goin' ta get bored, else..." Taiga smirked as he parried my blows.
I faked a huge upper blow, knowing he'd use his arm's protection and took advantage of them to let my blade slid on them and cut his face.
I saw with a certain satisfaction his smirk had disappeared and it was with a dark stare at me he rubbed the blood of his cheek.
"- Ya're goin' ta pay fer that..."
This time, it was Saijô who was leading a fierce attack on me, slamming again and again his katana over my head. My left elbow was hurting and something else, the poison probably, was starting to give me nauseas. I knew I had to end that fight fast or it would be too late.
Knowing he'd seize the opportunity, I voluntarily left my left side slightly open, ready for the attack to come. And indeed, just like last time, he rushed at me, a smile of victory on the face and... His stomach pretty much open. Turning my blade at the last moment and stepping aside, I welcomed his strike with a huge blow in the stomach, using his own force against him.
Saijô rolled on the floor, letting his weapons go, his chest going quickly up and down when I pointed my blade at his neck to immobilize him.
"- Antidote..." I asked in a whisper, now starting to fully feel the effects of his poison.
The man slowly approached his hand of his chest pocket, to show me a vial. An empty one.
"- Haha, I lied..." The man chuckled, looking with amusement at my expression. "So..." He asked as he started to get up, pushing my blade towards his throat until a drop of blood rolled along his neck. "Are ya goin' ta have the balls ta kill me or are ya goin' ta die as a coward ?
- Shut up..."
My voice and my legs were trembling. Because of that guy, I had lost Oyaji. I hated him, hated from the bottom of my heart. If I could, I'd just... Nothing was holding my hand...
I raised my weapon and lowered it with all my strength towards the man's head. To stuck it on the floor just at his side. Before quickly kick his face with my foot and hearing a satisfying cracking sound when it hit.
Nothing was holding my hand, yea. But I wouldn't betray the last thing my father told me.
"I'm proud o' ya".
No way I was going to do something he wouldn't be proud of. Killing someone, turning myself as a murderer, would be against all I was. And all he was.
I looked at the unconscious guy at my feet, but that was when my vision swam, reminding me that...
I feverishly opened his vest, hoping what he said about the antidote not being there was just a bad joke but the only things I could find were some cash and car keys... Useless, as promised.
Once again my look lost its focus, informing me I probably wouldn't be conscious for much longer so I got up, my eyes now on the door.
Yea, last thing I had to do was to look for some help. To at least arrest Saijô and put him back behind bars, where he belonged. And if, by whatever miracle, that person could help me too, I'd be pretty grateful...
Sweating, using the wall as a support for my shaking legs, I headed as I could towards the door, to see it suddenly open.
"- Ya ...!"
Was the last thing I managed to say before a spasm stronger than the other knocked my wind out. Bringing my hand to my chest, I fell forwards, my legs unable to hold me anymore, passing out before even touching the floor.