Chapter Eight:

Of Sharks and Devils

KID POV

Sharks: Man eating Monstrosities, Devil creatures, and Mistakes of existence…just barely something worse than fish. They are like…demon fish in plus size and by far the very bane of Kurobas existence.

Most people don't like sharks, but for Kuroba, his idea of dislike, was more like…abhor. If he had it his way, the finny things, big and small, would be destroyed, eradicated, decimated, and annihilated.

That was why he was having a literal show down with one of the carnivorous creatures that was watching them yearningly from under the surface of the water, its sharp fin slicing through the waves as it followed the small raft of delectable meat…

Or at least this was the way Kaito was describing the sharks thought process too Hakuba who was staring at him rather…admonishingly.

"Seriously, you have to give us the play by play of how your brain works?" Hakuba huffed in annoyance, "last thing I want is to be thinking about being the delight of a shark's appetite."

"But see…you admit you are", Kaito commented, barely dodging the annoyed swat that Aoko through his way.

"Shinara, put a lid on your fiancé before I throw him overboard."

Kaito paled and Shinara laughed as Aoko smirked triumphantly.

"Kaito, love, come sit down okay."

Kaito nodded and sent a final warning glare at the shark before joining his sweetheart in her corner of the raft where Asami was sitting, looking at the pictures of a book Hakuba provided of Puerto Rico landmarks. He scooped her into his arms as he sat her down in his lap and began looking at the book with her. Anything to get his mind off the f-f-f-finny thing following them.

Hakuba just shook his head as he turned to glance at the shark. Honestly sharks bothered him quite a bit too, but he wasn't about to tell Kaito that. Last thing the thief needed was something else to tease him about.

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"Hey Asami", Kaiot whispered to the young girl in his arms a bit later that day, "Can you tell me about your family?"

The little girl looked up at Kaito and nodded.

"I have mommy and G-san", she replied with a smile.

"G-san?" asked Kuroba, curious at the nickname, a small smile on his face when he saw how much the title made the little girl smile.

"Yeah, G-san is Mommy's boyfriend. His real name is Genjiro"

"I see. What about your daddy?"

The child shook her head.

"Did he die?" he asked in a whisper as he tightened his hold on her. The small girl nodded.

"Where was your mama on the plane?"

"She and G-san were in the cot pit area. They were night-night."

"Ah, they were near the cockpit and were sleeping?"

The girl nodded.

"I had to go to the potty but I didn't…I didn't want to wake 'em" the girl began to cry.

"It's okay sweetie, it's alright", he whispered comfortingly to her as he cradled her affectionately in his arms. Her head laid against his shoulder as tears slid down onto his skin, "It's okay."

Those who had heard her story lowered their heads. They knew for a fact that the front compartments had been crushed in. There was no way they could have survived.

"Do you have any more family? Grandparents or aunts and uncles?" he asked her.

The little girl shook her head.

"Mama's parents died long ago and daddy was an orphan. Mommy said they had no sisters or brothers. Mommy said she was like me when she was little."

"I see", Kaito replied as he thought over what he had just been told. The girl was now an orphan like her father had been. What was going to happen to her?

"C-can…Can I stay with you, K-san?" she whispered.

"K-san…" he repeated and smiled when he saw her tear streaked little face staring up at him with bright brown eyes.

"Of course sweetie", he smiled, "Shinara too."

The little girl looked at Shinara who smiled encouragingly at the little child.

"You are most welcome with us", she said softly.

Asami smiled up at the teen and leaned into Kaito more than she had been.

"Will you be my daddy?" she whispered.

Kaito knew no one else had heard her question because even Shinara had turned away to answer a question asked of her by one of the strangers aboard the raft.

"I will make you a deal", he whispered to the child, "Let's get back to land and when we do, we will check into your family. If there is no one else of your family to take you, I will definitely steal you away. Sound good?"

The small headed nodded into his shirt and he smiled as he embraced. He refused to let anything happen to this small life he had come to care about so dearly.

"Oi!" yelled Hakuba all at once as he stood up in the raft, "I see something!"

Everyone raised their heads as they looked across the horizon. Sure enough, not too far away was what looked to be an island.

"According to the map, that has to be Puerto Rico. We had only been about a hundred miles out when our plane had crashed. It makes sense that the raft would be pushed that way, what with the incoming tide and all."

"Thank God!" the people moaned, "Real food and water!"

Finally, thought Kuroba with relief, they had arrived.

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When the raft landed, they were immediately greeted by the islanders who helped them onto the beach. Everyone's skin was red from the long periods of sun exposure, but for the most part, everyone was pretty okay all in all. Of course, they rushed the survivors all to the hospital to be looked over after our plane crash and they paid special attention to Kaito who had a minor concussion and a fractured rib. Overall though, they had come out of the accident rather lucky.

"Are you the survivors of airline 1412?" asked a man who they all assumed was a police inspector.

"That's right", Shinara said standing up from her position near the examining table that Kaito was on, "there are twelve of us altogether."

"You aren't the first to wash ashore. There were two more rafts that appeared yesterday. We were actually about to go out searching right about the time your raft was spotted coming in on the tide. You are quite lucky it didn't shop you out further into the ocean."

"Yeah, you don't have to tell us how lucky we are", commented Hakuba, "I think we know."

The inspector nodded.

"Well anyways, I got your names and conditions from the doc. Three of you are detectives from Japan?"

"Yeah, I am Shinara Kudo. This is Saguru Hakuba and Harley Hattori."

"Pleasure", the inspector said with a nod to each of the people listed before his eyes settled on Kaito suspiciously. Everyone cocked an eyebrow at the man's look.

"You are Kaito Kuroba?" asked the inspector.

"Err…yeah?" Kaito answered, a bit confused at his tone of voice.

"I am afraid we need to take you down to the station for some questions."

Kuroba sat up, stunned. The others stood up, not a bit happy at what the man was implying.

"Excuse me", Shinara said, her voice taking a defensive tone, "Why does he have to go with you and we don't?"

"One of the passengers who survived has shared concerns that Mr. Kuroba may have something to do with the plane crash. We are expected to investigate. That is all I can tell you."

The man reached out to handcuff Kuroba, but Shinara, Hakuba, and Hattori all stepped in front of him, the looks on their faces anything but accepting.

"First off", started Hakuba, "He is traveling with us, as our companion. I doubt he would do anything that might cost us our lives, considering Kudo here is his fiancé. Secondly, Kuroba was knocked unconscious saving the life of a little girl that we brought here to the hospital with us. You can ask her and the doctors if you don't believe what we are saying. Third, if the suspicious person you were talking about is Naoki Osumi, you can tell him to stuff it. He has had it out for Kuroba since we met the guy on the raft and until you have any hard evidence or someone else who can negate what we have told you, I suggest you walk away. We ARE detectives and we know both Japanese and foreign dignitary law. We have our rights."

The inspector froze and then sighed huffing in frustration and resignation as he walked away, knowing he had lost that battle rather effortlessly.

Kaito breathed a sigh of relief as he flopped back against his pillow, his head spinning a bit.

"Thanks guys", he whispered.

"You got nothing to thank us for", said Hattori, "That guy knew what we told him was true, but he still tried his hand at it."

"Idiot thought we were clueless to foreign law or something", Hakuba muttered heatedly. He hated people like that who looked down on them just for being Japanese. Just for being a foreigner.

"We know you had nothing to do with it love", whispered Shinara as she gently caressed his face, "Rest now. We will go straighten this all out."

Kaito only mumbled an acknowledgment as he drifted to sleep. His head was aching horribly and he felt drained. It didn't take much for sleep to sweep him away into oblivion.

Shinara looked at him sleeping peacefully before turning a 450 degree glare towards the door.

"I am going to go have a word…with Mr. Osumi", she stated as she walked out and closed the door softly behind her.

"Are we going to have to take her in for murder charges?" whispered Hattori to Hakuba.

"I think it might be more like…there will be no evidence left by the time she finishes with him", Hakuba quietly refuted back.

"Remind me never to get on her bad side" he added, still staring at the door.

"Oh trust me…it can get worse…" Hattori stated with a choked laugh.

Hakuba turned to look at Hattori wide eyed. "Worse than that?"

"Just wait until you see her confront a child killer. Now that…that is scary."

Hakuba and Hattori shivered at the thought as they wondered what hell Naoki Osumi was now experiencing. The thought was almost more than they cared to think about.