Mikau: Hi guys! Thanks so much for your reviews last time: MeridianGrimm, patternleap, Bunnyz-chan, and MeitanteiRose! And thanks to everyone for your continued support! Just a note on this one; it's really…different. Maybe you'll like it, maybe you won't. I don't know where it came from, but if it's too strange for you, that's okay. It's a little strange for me as well. Regardless, I hope you like it anyway. Drop me a line afterwards and let me know what your thoughts were. Thanks a bunch!
Disclaimer: If I owned it, I swear to you things would never get this weird in the manga/show.
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A Powder Modelled Beautifully
It was everywhere. Gunpowder. At least he thought it was. It should be. He couldn't see it, but with the amount of rounds he'd gotten off…surely it had to be all over him, covering his clothing, his face…his hands.
He'd never killed anyone before, but now… How many of those trench-coats had he taken out? Some of them had merely been wounded, taken out of commission, but at least two or three of them were dead.
But he wasn't. No. Saguru had left "Snake" alive on purpose because he'd hurt Kaito. Death would be too easy, too quick. No. Snake was going to jail for the rest of his miserable life. He was going to pay for all the pain and suffering he'd caused that father-worshipping magician.
"You wear it well, Tantei-san," Snake had laughed as they'd carried him away.
Saguru knew that Snake had meant the blood, but he just couldn't stop thinking about the gunpowder. Blood could be washed away. He'd be able to tell when it was all gone, but the gunpowder… Maybe it was gone already and he was just imagining it? How would he know? He couldn't see it.
Three. He had at least gotten three. There had been a little less than a dozen on that rooftop, standing over what Saguru had thought at the time to be Kaito's corpse. All he could see was the blood staining the normally pristine tuxedo, so he had assumed the worst.
Saguru hadn't really aimed so much as just pulled the trigger again and again and again until the clip was emptied. Somehow he'd hit them all. Some bullets hit more vital places than others, but he'd hit all of them at least once, and had run through the line of writhing bodies to Kaito's side.
He'd been overjoyed, relieved, and oh so thankful to find his beloved a little beat up but still breathing. And then one of the goons had propped himself up and taken aim at Kaito. Saguru had grabbed one of the henchmen's pistols from where it lay fallen on the roof and reacted faster than should have been humanly possible. That one he had killed.
And then Kaito had looked up at him in horror. "Hakuba, what have you done?"
And now he was at the station giving his testimony. It was a little disjointed, and he really didn't have all the facts, but what he did know was enough to get Snake locked up and himself sent to a counselor. He'd lied in places to protect a certain someone, but in the end it all worked out. He was "grounded" for a year, put into therapy, and generally avoided by all the Division One officers that had seen him covered in blood and gunpowder that night.
A month after the incident he went back to school, and the first thing he did was walk up to Kuroba Kaito and smile, asking, "Do you have minute? I wish to talk to you."
Kaito nodded, cautiously following Saguru up to the roof and making sure that he could escape should the need arise.
"Welcome back, Hakuba," Kaito greeted awkwardly.
"Thank you. You know why I've been gone?" That creepy half-smile stayed stuck on Saguru's face.
"I have some idea." Kaito shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "There have been all these crazy rumors flying around, but a little bird told me about what happened."
Saguru nodded. "A few months ago when I first started investigating those trench-coats that shoot at you, you told me I was liable to get killed in a rather nasty way if I kept it up. You asked me how far I was willing to go. You should have your answer by now."
Kaito frowned, looking guiltily down at the ground. "I'd wanted you to stay out of it."
"Well, I'm involved now," Hakuba chuckled, taking a few steps closer.
"Tell me about it," Kaito grumbled under his breath. "No further, Hakuba. I'm not letting you go any further than this."
"But, Kaito, how much further could I go?" Hakuba reached out and cupped the startled magician's cheek. "I'd kill for you. I've already done it, and I will again, if necessary."
Kaito looked into those wild goldenrod eyes like a small animal about to be hit by a car. "I don't want you to. Stop it."
Hakuba's thumb ghosted over Kaito's lips. "Shh. It doesn't matter what you want. I'll protect you by any means necessary."
Kaito shivered, trying to pull away. "Hakuba, something's not right about you. Honestly, you're kind of freaking me out, dude."
Saguru was about to force Kaito to the ground and make him return his feelings when he realized that he couldn't. He didn't want the gunpowder to get on Kaito. Reluctantly, he let go and looked sadly at his beloved. "Forgive me, Kaito. I love you."
Kaito's eyes went wide, and he swallowed hard. "T-Thank you…. And thank you for saving me." With a quick bow, Kaito took off running to the door and down the stairs.
Saguru sighed, looking down at his hands. He wondered if it'd ever wear off or if the powder would remain forever. And then he laughed, realizing he'd gone mad.