Kiss of Death
Part 32
Chapter 33
"Traps"
"We got an FBI agent. Goes by the name Jodie Starling. Might be useful to us. But your grandson, we couldn't get him. He killed himself," Gin reported to the now-Boss.
The Boss was sitting calmly on a chair, looking down at Gin. For someone who had just lost a grandchild, The Boss was rather composed. Even Gin, who was known for his apathy, felt uneasy.
"It's fine-"
"I beg your pardon?" Gin asked, baffled.
"It's fine," The Boss repeated, "if he had destroyed himself, it meant that the very truth of my identity had destroyed him. He's weak. I need someone who hasn't been destroyed. Or maybe, I want to see that person shatter. He's gradually rotting away. I'd like to see how he gets about it."
"I don't quite follow," Gin said spitefully - he despised the new Boss.
"I think you'd comply. Who else would I be talking about? The boy who was known to be a great detective, the man who protected Sherry... rings a bell?" he continued.
"What makes you think so?"
"If we get him, I leave it to you to do whatever means to squeeze information out of Miss Starling and Conan...but do not kill Conan. We need him. And also, you only get to do this if you've agreed to have a short operation. Are you willing to do that?"
"Tsk. Fine-" Gin scoffed, rolling his eyes.
Unfortunately for the silver-haired man, his eye movement missed the apparent small devious smile on the Boss's face - little did he know that the devil was up to something.
"Ran, we should talk," Tomoaki said sternly.
His spouse looked at him worriedly. He continued, a tad harsh on his grip, "you almost got yourself killed. What were you thinking? Didn't I tell you to go somewhere safe?"
"Why, aren't you a little bit of a hypocrite here? You're the one diving onto deep waters!" she screamed, attempting to walk away.
"Don't you turn your back on me," Tomoaki Araide rebutted.
And she did comply, eyes as soft as a sheep's wool. She whispered, shaking, "but I didn't, did I? I looked for you because I didn't want to turn my back on you."
A tear stained her ring finger.
At this, as if by some involuntary reaction, Tomoaki Araide embraced her.
"Sorry," he explained gently, "the headquarters wanted me to examine this drug-induced little girl. Turns out she was a grown woman who had inhaled a chemical drug that shrinks your body to a toddler state and makes you exhibit primal, violent tendencies. They have no limits, Ran. I don't want to drag you down there with me."
"Doesn't matter. As long as you're with me-"
"Aye. The marriage blues," Akai sighed, lighting a cigarette and eyeing at the closed room where Ran and Tomoaki were.
"They took her away, didn't they?" Rei asked.
He puffed out the smoke, "James Black's missing too, probably dead. I was incompetent and Jodie was too sacrificial for her own good."
"We'll get her back. It wasn't entirely your fault," Rei promised, "and... thank you for helping us get Hidemi back. It's unfortunate though... it was because you helped us to retrieve Hidemi that made you arrive late at Jodie's assigned location. Because you weren't there, Jodie ended up being caught by them."
At Rei's comment, Akai dropped his cigarette. Akai was anxious, which perplexed the light blond because this was highly unusual. Akai suddenly gripped the other male by the shoulders, staring at him with fear.
"Whoah dude-!"
Akai shook Rei. "You came here too to help retrieve Hidemi right?" Akai asked, in a frantic tone.
"Yeah..." Rei said, being caught offguard, "why..?"
"Don't you realise? It's their tactic to use Hidemi as a hostage not only to get Tyler and Dr. Araide, but to also lure me out so that they can attack Jodie's location without any concern of agents such as me. I think they were after Shiho Miyano, but they couldn't and settled for Jodie. It's a domino effect! Who were you with before you left to help us get Hidemi?" Akai shook him more intensely this time.
Rei removed his hands on his collar. "Hold on..." Rei was now the one shaking, lavender eyes screaming fear, "so you're saying... this was all planned."
Then it all hit them like a large domino.
"Shit! Shit! Shit!"
"It all make so much sense -oh lord, it all makes sense now," the blond muttered, "from the time we caught Amora Cisson, which led her to confess-"
"Then killing Amora and Phoebe -the pawns of the organisation- all to lure us into the revelation of Moriarty Academy's dark secret in human experimentation of its students-"
"Right!" Rei exclaimed, "then obviously, the law enforcement and agencies will not keep quiet about this. Which then would only be a natural reaction for them to go to the Moriarty Academy in order to investigate-"
"But that was another trap. The officers who went there were fried from bombs they had set up-"
"So it was only fair for the FBI, CIA and National Police Agency big-shots to hold up a meeting-"
"Which was another darn trap. The people in the meeting were drugged, forced to be in some bloody child massacre. I saw Vermouth and another member chase Hidemi and Ran. They took Hidemi and demanded for Tyler and Dr. Araide in exchange-" Akai continued, extremely horrified.
"That's where you and I came in for help..." Rei said, almost inaudible.
"And that's why I arrived late at Jodie's place. Because they knew I couldn't possibly be at two places simultaneously and that they could attempt to get Miss Shiho Miyano, which ended up Jodie getting caught. They probably wanted Miss Miyano because Gin favoured her, but either way Jodie might be a useful tool for them. They attacked their place only after they had confirmed that they were left vulnerable. Because after I had arrived, there were only 3 members and they could have lost if I was there earlier," Akai explained.
"So," he continued, "Rei, since you ended up being here, who did you leave? Where is that detective boy?!"
"Shit!" Rei let out a frustrated punch on the wall, "it's all my fault! Shit! They played as good. They played as real good."
"Where is Conan?" Akai questioned.
Rei punched the second time, breathlessly speaking, "I came here. After I got the call to help out because Hidemi was caught. I told Conan, but he said that I could go. You should've seen him. He looked lifeless. He wanted me to go. He didn't want me there with him -hell, I doubt he wanted anyone with him. He wanted to be alone. He told me to get out. So I did... but I guess... I made the wrong decision."
Anxiously, Rei attempted to contact him. Yet, there was no response from the boy. "Shit! He's not answering!" he exclaimed, now furiously typing out a message for Conan.
"Don't be so hard on yourself," Akai reassured him, "we'll try to get him. Currently, it's only the two of us. That'll be tricky. We can't really endanger others. Hidemi, Agasa and Kaito Kid are in the hospital. We can't involve people like Dr. Araide, Miss Ran, agent Eisuke and Miss Shiho any further. One of my hands are injured. You're okay, but there's only two of us. The rest of the agents are either dead or are going to be dead."
"We need to go, hurry, Conan has the silver king piece. Kaito KID passed it on to him," Rei said as he quickly grabbed his belongings.
Ai Haibara was in a white and plain room. She was sitting up in a soft snowy sofa that had an outer pelt. The uncanny cleanliness and pureness of the place made her feel uncomfortable.
Where am I? What the hell am I wearing..?
Or rather, the lack of clothing. She was donned in black leather boots that covered the whole of her shins. She was also in a black corset. In addition, she only had a lacy lower lingerie that had frills - in black colour too. It was as if she was a member of the syndicate again.
Even her nails were painted black.
What the- who the hell put me in this lewd outfit?!
Was she abducted by the syndicate? Oh no!
"You look good-"
Ai looked up. The voice was from Conan, who seemed to appear out of the blue (or white, in this case). He was also clad in a formal black suit, with that scarlet bowtie suffocating his neck. She stammered in humiliation, trying to conceal her skin, "how'd you get in here?"
There were no doors. Only the plain whiteness of walls.
He leaned forward, guiding her to lie on her back on the sofa. His body hovered on top of hers, before closing their distance and gave her a ferocious kiss.
She moaned - the taste of longing for him. She pulled him closer, and he took this as a signal to grab her chest through the corset, while the other trailed along the fabric on her back, slowly unclasping them. He sucked on her neck, leaving a love bite and then moving southwards.
She arched her back and let out another pleasured sound. She loved it, desired him - the yearning to be close to his heat. Yet, this felt so wrong.
This wasn't like Conan at all.
His fingers were now trailing the hem of the lower garment, tugging it slightly, with the intention to pull off.
She halted him from undressing her any further.
"What's wrong? Don't you want this?" he asked, his eyes covering his bangs darkly.
"I don't know..."
"I understand, it's okay if you don't want me anymore," he said.
"That's not true! Just not this way," she replied and a tear slipped down, "but...it was always you." She cupped his cheek.
"How sure are you about that. You don't tell me much. Was it always me, or did you have someone else before? You've kept so much things from me, I don't think I know you anymore. What are we, even? Please, tell me. It's killing me!" he cried, burying his face on her shoulder.
I love you, but why is it so difficult for me to express that?
"But it's stupid... I don't know why... it shouldn't hurt... I shouldn't complain... You were never mine, and I was never yours... but why the fuck are we like this? Everything's messy, I'm so confused, everyone's dying... It's all my fault they died..." he cried even more, drenching her bare shoulder.
"Kudo-kun..."
"You address me as if we're strangers-"
"But I shouldn't complain... I have hurt you so badly..." he continued. She could see the whole of his face - so forlorn and isolated.
"Stop it... I..." - I love you.
She wanted to tell him, yet the words were caught in a trap of her throat. She attempted to mouth the words again, to no avail.
"I..."
Still nothing.
"Haibara...I have to go..." he whispered, standing up and slowly backing away.
The warmth around her disappeared. The room became colder. She stretched out her arm, yet he was unreachable. She croaked, "wait... Kudo-kun..."
"Farewell, Haibara-"
Then he faded, as if his own being had blended into the white wall. In an instant, the room flashed - it was dark all over.
"Shinichi-!"
Ai woke up.
She inspected her surroundings - it was like a normal room.
She observed her own clothes -she was in her usual light-coloured T-shirt and pyjamas. Phew, she was not dressed in a dominatrix minx's attire.
What a strange dream.
It was vivid, yet unreal. There was a strange uneasy contraction in her gut - something wasn't right at all.
A knock distracted her thoughts.
"Come in-"
The door opened, and Ai turned to the person who had entered the room, "Ai-chan, are you alright? You've been knocked out cold for several hours now. You must've been tired." a worn-out Ran said.
"I'm fine, what about you?"
"I'm good," she replied, "I had an argument with my husband, but we'll be okay... Things are shaky right now, but I've grown up where my parents were separated, I don't want my children to suffer the way I did. I want to make this work... I do love my spouse a lot. We hurt each other, but I think... In the end, it will be okay."
"I see-"
"Enough about me," Ran sat on the bed beside Ai, "how should I address you... is it Shiho-san? I heard you're a year older than me so..."
"Ran-san, Ai-chan is fine," she smiled. The cat is out of the bag now -no point in hiding the secret any longer. They had hid the truth for too long.
"Ai-chan..." Ran seemed to appear worried, "I thought you have every right to know. But you have to promise me... you won't do anything rash."
Her eyes shifted. Ai could tell that the woman was anxious.
"What is it...?" Ai questioned, her blood pressure was rising. She clutched Ran's arm, unable to hold herself. It seemed like a dreadful news was going to cascade into her world.
"When Akai and Rei arrived, they were too late," Ran refused to look at her. The woman was restraining herself not to breakdown.
"Ai-chan... Shinichi is-"