Oh no, only one real chapter left after this before the Omake!How will I live once this story is done? Haha!
Ohh, I also got a "silver key" in the writing competition I entered! So, YAY! I guess that means I was in the top 10-15% of my region.
I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Time Line:
Sat: Kidnapping
Sun: Everyone searching, questions the men in jail, Mind games and hunger starts
Mon: DB go back to school, Question the man who tells them of first kitten, Takagi stabbed
Tues: Hattori arrives, Conan actually accepts food.
Wed: Hattori stops guy from stealing from police, The two meet Kinkalow/Vermouth
Thurs: Abyssinian dies, Satou worries, contacted by murderer
Fri: Date Takagi is scheduled to die, Conan confesses, DB find them
Sat: Date Takagi is supposed to be found dead
The company stood stock still. Haibara was hoping that she could give Hattori a sigh to play it off, pretend he didn't know them. She could tell from the look in his eyes that he knew that she had the transmitter, his eyes widened in realization as he, ever the detective, realized what this meant. He began to speak, his face holding the frantic, idiotic expression it always held when he was planning to lie, when he was stopped short by three innocent, high, first grade voices.
"Heiji-nisan!" The three child detective boys cried out, confusion in their eyes.
"What are you doing here?" Ayumi asked innocently. Haibara could have killed her. She was going to cur in with some asddition to the lie when she saw a tightening of the kidnapper's face. He knew that Hattori was a detective, he was famous after all, and all of the cases in Tokyo were with him and Conan. The man would know that Hattori was looking for Conan; any lies would only make them seem more suspicious. Maybe he could fight the man and- she cut her thoughts off as the man shifted and she saw the slight bulge of a well concealed weapon. That wouldn't work either.
She saw him begin to speak, still showing the guilty expression that heralded a falsehood. She shook her head slightly, hoping that the Osakan would get the message. Normally he may not have seen the slight, almost imperceptible, shake. However, at the moment his senses were hyperaware with the desire to find his friend, and he saw it right away.
He quickly changed his half-baked lie to the truth, or at least a half truth.
"I was just wandering around, looking for K- Conan-kun. I don't exactly know where to look, so mostly I was just walking around to get rid of some nervous energy." He laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head. "What about you guys? I thought you were investigating some haunted house."
Ah-" Ayumi began to answer but Haibara cut her off.
"We did. Turns out it wasn't haunted. They live here." She said, jabbing a finger at the two cats. Her eyes were as hard as steel. Hattori nodded in understanding, his heart swelling. Kudo was in there.
"Well, I'll be going on my way then, have fun and stay out of trouble." He began walking away, pulling out his cell phone discretely, only to be stopped as Tabby called out to him.
"No, why don't you join us? I was just taking the kids to a café to apologize for scaring them."
"Oh, I don't know. I kind of have to-"
"I insist." Tabby said, his voice a tiny bit harder. There was no way he was going to let this detective so close to Kitten. He may not be the smartest cat in the litter box, but he wasn't stupid.
Hattori shrugged, at a loss of what to do. If he refused anymore, the man may get suspicions, and that would only endanger them all, including Takagi and Kudo. "Sure," He said lamely. "Why not?"
Kinkalow was looking at Hattori interestedly. This teen didn't feel like the children, or even Takagi. He was more like Puupy, on a higher level than the rest. He smiled softly, confident that even if all else failed this dog- this wolf- would find Puppy.
Meanwhile, Tabby continued to lead the worried group to the café, his eyes constantly vigilant for any wrong move the group may make. Hattori kept his hand in his pocket, playing with his phone and waiting for the moment that he would get the chance to use it. He never did. Only a few moments later they arrived at the café, Tabby's eyes still locked onto them as the cat led them to a large booth in the back.
"You can order anything that you would like," Tabby said absently, flipping out his cell phone and sending a quick message to Lion, explaining the situation and asking what to do.
The children, as afraid as they were, were not ones to pass up free food or drinks as began babbling happily and glancing through the small menu. Haibara conversed quietly with Kinkalow, trying to get as much information as possible while being careful not to discuss anything that would make Tabby suspicions. Hattori simply held up the menu in attempt to hide his panicked face, wishing that Tabby hadn't chosen to sit next to him. There was no way he could text the police with him right next to him.
Suddenly inspiration struck the teen. " Oh no, I completely forgot! I was supposed to meet my friends somewhere! One second, I should go and call them and tell them I can't meet them." He stood, ready to go out and call the police when a familiar, extremely loud voice sounded behind him.
"Heiji! If you're here already why didn't you get us a table?"
"Kazuha! What are you doing here?"
"Aho! We're meeting here, remember?"
"That was here?"
"Of course it was!"
"Wait, Hattori-kun, why are you here if you forgot that we were coming here?" Ran asked, cutting into the argument before it could go on any longer. The tan boy seemed to deflate, his dark skin paling slightly.
"Oh yeah. Um, I was looking for Conan-kun and I ran into these guys." He jerked his head in the direction of the children, who were by now staring at the four teens interestedly. The detective boys quickly called out a greeting, but Tabby, Kinkalow, and Haibara only sat in a nervous silence. Haibara and Kinkalow shared a glance. This was a lot of people to protect, a lot of lies to cover.
The ex-cat turned to the ex-Black Organization member. "You guys know them?" He whispered cautiously. Ai nodded. The boy glanced at them once more. "Do coincidences like this happen a lot?"
"More than you would think." She sighed, rolling her eyes.
Tabby was glancing down at his still silent phone, hoping that Lion wouldn't tell him he had to get rid of the possible witnesses. The possible body count just kept rising, and he wasn't one of the better assassins.
The Cat forced a false smile onto his face. "Why don't you children join us," He called to the group of girls. "There is plenty of room."
The three girls, who of course knew nothing about the real events, squeezed into the large booth, ordering some cutesy deserts. However, the mood was far from happy or comfortable. Instead the group sat in a somber silence, Ran never taking a bite from her food.
Even Tabby could sense the tension at the table and he constantly checked the silent phone in his pocket, hoping that Lion would soon respond. Heiji kept his hands underneath the table, discretely typing on his phone as he attempted light conversation with Kazuha. The girl seemed to sense that something was wrong. Perhaps it was the way he was avoiding talking with his hands, perhaps it was how he tried not to start and argument, and perhaps it was simply the tightness of his eyes. Something was off, but by some instinct she knew better than to ask.
Hattori was finding the situation hard. He wasn't one used to secrecy and discrete hints and clues. That was Kudo. Heiji was bold and in your face, he wanted to question the man outright. Only the threat that it would put Kudo in danger kept him from leaping up and dragging the man straight to the police station. However, he had to do things differently this time. Finally he finished typing the message and sent passed the phone to Kazuha. The girl flinched slightly at the touch and looked down to read the message. Make an excuse to leave and call the police. We found Conan. Under that was an address. The girl stood, pocketing the phone and claiming that she had to go to the restroom. Like most teenage girls, Sonoko and Ran offered to accompany her. Kazuha was shaking as she left the table, luckily Tabby was paying no attention. Lion had finally replied.
You are certain that they saw nothing?
Tabby sent a message back, Kinkalow said that they didn't. He said he was there the whole time.
Lion took a while to reply. He sat in his office in the scratching post, having arrived back only moments after Tabby and the children had left. The man's gaze altered between the phone and his computer monitor, watching the security feed from the cell. He smiled with his grim humor as Conan tripped against the bed and rubbed against the officers wound. The man chuckled slightly.
He and Ocelot had just finished talking, and he'd finally had time to answer Tabby's text. Normally he wouldn't hesitate to trust his Cat, if Kinkalow said that the children hadn't seen anything, then they hadn't. However, he couldn't get the image of his head of Kinkalow after meeting Kitten for the first time. The child had had a look of awe and adoration. It bothered him, if Kitten could get into the child's head then… no. He had trained his cats too well. Kinkalow would not betray him. If Kinkalow said that they saw nothing, do not worry about it.The man sent the text, but doubt still permeated his mind. He picked his gun up off of the floor and called Tiger, calling for him to meet him in the room in twenty minutes. It was time to get rid of an annoying officer.
Tabby sighed in relief. He closed his phone and looked at the children. The tan teen was staring nervously back to where his girlfriend had run off to go to the rest room, the light haired girl staring at him intently. Kinkalow was chatting with the freckled boy with the fat kid cutting in every once in a while. The boy was actually talking and smiling with the children and Tabby felt a pang of anger and disgust that the young cat was speaking so easily with normal children. Kinkalow was a Cat, he shouldn't be associating with the children, the mice. Especially not these children.
Not the children who could be taken by Lion at any time in order to keep Kitten under control. These children may someday become Kitten's controls. They didn't need Kinkalow getting attached to them. He forced the thoughts out of his mind. After all, they were just children. Why not give Kinkalow his moment to be normal. It would be over soon enough. The man stood. "Well, it was… interesting, but I gotta get back."
Kinkalow looked up to the elder Cat then back to his newfound friends. Sure, they were a few years younger than him, but considering that he'd been around the much older cats for his entire life it was refreshing being around younger children. And Kitten did say to go to the dogs when the time was right, didn't he? "Can I stay with these guys? Papa (their code word for Persian) said I could do what I wanted today."
One of Tabby's eyebrows raised, surprised, but if Persian said that he could do whatever, then who was he to stop the boy? "Fine." He knelt down and whispered into the boy's ears. "Just don't get too connected. These are Kitten's friends, and you can see how good he is about being obedient."
Kinkalow nodded and Tabby looked back once more to the children before leaving, going straight to the house. As he was leaving the café he saw the three girls from earlier running down the street. He watched them in interest before walking calmly to the house he was staying at, only to stop dead as a cop car sped roaring past him. His heart beat loudly in his chest as he stood frozen to the spot. Both the girls and the car had been heading straight for… oh crap.
"So, what is the plan?"
"Sorry Takagi-keiji, if I told you then it wouldn't work as well."
"Last time you said something like that, you fell onto my wound."
Conan smiled apologetically and then frowned. "The plan should work, but I'll have to convince Lion to do something first. I don't think it will be hard, but if it doesn't work, or if the police don't come on time… it could be bad."
Takagi nodded. "So you really won't tell me?"
Conan shook his head and smiled slightly. "No, I've seen you attempt too many stakeouts to trust your life to your acting skills."
Takagi sputtered indigantly but stopped abruptly as the door opened, two imposing figures walking down the steps.
"They're earlier than I thought." Conan hissed as both of the prisoners pressed against the wall. As Tiger stepped into the light a memory flashed through Conan's mind. In his mind's eye he saw Abyssinian die right in front of him, except this time it was not the death that stood out in his mind, but something that happened afterwards. The child had to fight to keep the smile off of his face.
Lion and Tiger walked calmly down the steps. The second ranked man had been closer than expected, so they were ready to start a little early. Both men walked slowly down the steps, malicious grins on their faces as they anticipated what they were going to do. Lion held his trusty gun and something that resembled a fire poker, except that Takagi's badge was attached to the front of it. Tiger was holding a small box of glowing orange embers. Lion smirked as he Tiger set the box on the ground and he placed the badge into the dark coals.
"Well Kitten, have you decided yet?"
Conan looked to the ground, refusing to meet the criminal's eyes. Tiger smirked and leaned against the wall, knowing the kid would crack.
"Well?" Lion asked, his own smirk changing into a sneer. "Speak quickly child. If you take too long, then I will decide." Conan looked up to meet the man with a hard gaze, and Lion felt his breath catch as he saw the extremely intense eyes that for the first time were not covered by glass.
Conan spoke calmly and clearly, speaking with confidence that showed that he was choosing his decision, that Lion was not forcing him into it. "I choose to accept the deal that you have offered. However, once the time period is up, know that I will be no more your Kitten than I am now."
Lion grinned a feral grin, showing his teeth. "We'll see about that." He dropped the poker and stepped closer to the cell. Tiger meanwhile smiled broadly at the child's words. This Kitten was interesting. He may actually pose a challenge to crack. This could be fun.
Lion gestured him over and the leader crouched at the cages entrance. The man looked to Conan. "Come here." He commanded. Conan hesitated and looked nervously between the gun and Takagi. Lion growled at the hesitation and tiger picked up the poker. "Are you breaking the deal already? I said come here." Lion asked. A look of anger crossed Conan's face, but he did as he was told and came up to where he normally stood when speaking with Lion. However, the criminal wasn't happy with just that.
"Closer. Come up to the bars."
Conan obeyed, though by his expression it was clear that he wanted nothing less. Lion reached his hands through the links of the cage, Conan tense as his muscles called for him to run when he was unable to. Lion moved slowly, obviously relishing the fact that the child wouldn't dare move away. He grabbed the shoulders of the boy's shirt, lifting him from the ground as the boy glared at him.
Takagi felt bile rise in his throat at the scene. He hated how much Lion was enjoying this, but he knew that the safest thing for him was to stay out of their reach for as long as possible. Tiger stepped up from behind and undid the locks, Lion never losing his grip on Conan as he moved back to accommodate the opening door. Takagi pressed himself against the wall, but there was nowhere to go. Tiger was smirking as he advanced, holding up the small staff he'd hidden in his pocket. Takagi attempted to elude the man, but with a flash of movement and a burst of pain, Takagi found himself lying in a still daze as the man drug and bound him to the very same wall that had bound the killed Cat earlier. Before the officer could get his wits about him, it was too late. Lion dropped Conan to the floor and pressed his gun against Takagi's skull. Conan scrambled to the fence as the officer could only stuggle vainly as he saw his death approach. Whatever your plan is Kudo-kun, please do it quickly.
"If you go through with this, then they will catch you." The false-child said suddenly. Tiger went to grab the poker again, but Lion held up one hand to stop him, deciding instead to humor his newest member.
"And why is that?"
"With us disappearing they'll look into the cases more, both the one we were investigating when we disappeared and when they find Takagi-keiji. They'll notice that they're both copies and they'll catch on. We have friends, both of us do, friends that won't give up until you are in jail. This will just give them a lead."
"Oh, they already know about us."
"You shou- wait… what?" Conan stopped, looking at the villain with wide eyes.
"Seems like your little friend here knew about us before now. His little notebook was filled with theories and ideas and now that he's gone everyone else saw it and decided to take it seriously. You should see the police station. Everyone is all in a tizzy because it is their last day to save him." He gave a barking laugh. "Too bad they're too late. Your poor girlfriend is so distraught, poor girl. Oh well, perhaps my Ocelot can console her later, after all it seems like she is involved in a lot of major cases. It would be nice to have an in like that."
Takagi growled and struggled against the chains. "She wouldn't fall for something like that."
Lion just laughed. "She will if she isn't guarding against it. After all, there is a major flaw in all large organization theories, in all serial killer plots. If there is one, and only one, discrepancy then the whole theory crumbles. If a serial killer has an alibi for just one of his many kills, he is no longer suspected. If an unknown organization goes against its M.O., well then people doubt that it exists."
He moved the gun from the officer's head to his chest, resting over the man's heart. "In this case a body found dumped in the park, no badge branded, no handcuffs, and shot through the heart with a gun not his own, well that doesn't sound like the officer murders, does it?"
BANG! With no more talking, no more threatening, and no more bragging, he pulled the trigger.
Takagi's eyes widened, his breath catching his throat and his gaze staring blankly ahead as the shot's echo bounced around the room. A huff of pained air left his mouth as a fire burned over his heart. Wait… hurt… pain? If it hurt then that meant… he was alive? The officer groaned and coughed as the pain tore through his heart, sagging in his chains in relief. His ribs hurt horribly, they were surely cracked, if not broken, but what did that matter? He was alive.
Tiger and Lion stared in shock at his breathing form, there wasn't even any blood. The only evidence that there was a shot at all was a hole in the man's shirt and the scent of smoke in the air. Lion slowly reached into the shaking officer's pocket and pulled out a pair of large glasses, the bullet embedded in one of the bulletproof lenses.
The man turned slowly to see a devilish grin on the face of the child in the cage, the boy's eyes intelligent and intense, for now there was no glasses glare to hide his gaze.
I really wanted to end right after the bang, but I figured I'd given you guys enough really bad cliff hangers.. so anyone who wants to complain about the cliff hanger I did leave you with, just think: it could be worse.
Also, I know Kinkalow is centered on Haibara a lot, and no he does not in any way have a crush on her or anything. I just thought they would be okay friends, after all they both deserted the criminal organizations they practically grew up with... yeah, just wanted to clear that up! Thanks for reading and please review! Next chapter will be out as soon as possible.
Oh, one more thing. I don't know if the bullet proof glass would work at such close range. I tried to do research but none of the articles I read mentioned the distance. I do know that to work, it had to be laminated, but I assume Agasa would use only the best.