Chapter 16
"Are you ready for this?"
Kinda a stupid question. Of course he wasn't. But… "Ready as I'll ever be."
"At least you won't be the one within shooting range."
That comment managed to elicit a mock glare from Kaito, but it didn't last long, settling back into the sea of anxiety. It wasn't like shots were out of the question, indeed they were completely likely. Shinichi probably noticed the flicker of unease that slipped through his mask, waving it off, "Don't worry about it."
The detective was fiddling with the collar of his shirt when Kaito finally looked away from the window, eyeing the detective that didn't really look like a detective any more. Gone was Shincihi's more formal posturing, tamed hair, and neat clothing. Obviously, since the criminal was after a grown up Kaito this ruse was necessary. It wasn't even strange anymore, to look across the room, car, street, and see himself, even if he had to crane his neck to do so. They'd had plenty of practice during the school year. Still, his mood darkened; there was a big difference between meeting a principal and meeting a possibly trigger-happy kidnapper.
"Hey…" Shinichi looked up at the quiet words, "Thanks…"
"S'the least I can do." There was a knowing look in the detective's eyes as they both fell into a conversation that had happened plenty of times since their meeting. "It was my—"
Kaito cut him off, even though they both knew what Shinichi had been going to say. "I know exactly what caused it. A bit of a hero complex and a 'nobody gets hurt' motto."
"I wish more people would have them." Shinichi chuckled, Kaito following his gaze out the tinted car window, eyes landing on the building just down the street. It looked no different from the ones to the right and left, but to his eyes it was as if it was darker, more sinister. The time was a mere ten minutes away. "The world would be much safer."
With a final adjustment to his collar, Shinichi dropped his hands, one landing on the door handle, "Well, time to start the show."
The voice that rang out of Shinichi's mouth was no longer his own. Changing voices was no big thing for Kaito, but it was new for the detective. His eyes caught on a gleam of silver clipped onto Shinichi's shirt collar, the sight of which had been previously blocked—a voice changer?
"Impressive. It's pretty close." He had to admit it, impressed because Shinichi wouldn't have any examples to go by. It was a little off, but he doubted it would be noticeable by anyone who wasn't used to recognizing and manipulating voiceprints.
"I've a good ear. Completely tone deaf, but a good ear." With a jaunty wave, falling into the role he was playing, Shinichi opened the door and stepped out. He stuffed his hands in his pockets after the door clicked shut, becoming just another teenager on the street. He really was a good actor when he tried. Kaito sighed and leaned back in the seat. Five minutes, then he'd follow.
"Do you still have what I gave you?" Agasa's voice took Kaito's eyes off Shinichi's retreating back. The professor was in the front, driver's seat, half turned and glancing back.
"Yeah." Kaito shrugged, bringing a hand up and showing the watch clipped around his wrist. "I also remember what you said about limited ammo."
Neither of them really wanted to talk right now, and they settled into uncomfortable silence. Kaito watched the clock on the car's radio like a hawk, only relaxing once the five minutes had passed. There. Time to go.
Kaito stretched his arms, working the kinks out of the muscles and glanced up at Agasa again. He received a small nod in return. Good. The professor remembered the contingency plan. Over an hour, call the police.
Kaito slid out of the now open door, making sure the street was empty before slipping into the shadows left over by the setting sun. He soon found the side door Shinichi had mentioned—as he expected, it was locked again. Not by the giant old fashioned lock Shinichi had reported, but a bit of scouting on the thief's part discovered a rather old, but functioning electronic lock. Shinichi hadn't noticed the discrete system, hidden as the control panel was behind a thin metal plate displaying the building number and owner.
Kaito could think of a few reasons behind the sudden activation of the electronic lock. It was meant to cut off the escape route. The padlock the detective had picked was discarded on the ground near the door—the system had been locked after the detective had gone inside.
Hah. They were going up against the Kaitou Kid. They should have known better. Kaito felt himself falling into that self-assured confidence of his Kid persona, producing a small toolkit and set to work on removing the outside covering of the small control panel. He wasn't a professional thief for nothing, and with a few seconds of tinkering, Kaito was able to disable the alarm system and hear the door unlatch with a small click.
The steel door slid back easily after that, and wary eyes began to roam the vicinity immediately within. Shinichi hadn't been exaggerating. It was very dark and cluttered. An assassin's wonderland. Then again, it was also a thief's playground.
Kaito eased the door shut behind him. With the near-dead light from the outside cut off, Kaito could see a faintly lit area some ways to the right, nearer to the front of the warehouse. A portable lamp or an open window probably. It just barely reached above the crates, and was very limited in intensity. It also had a slightly red color—he'd bet on the window. The detective was probably over there. And wherever the detective was, the culprit was likely as well. He could hear sounds from that direction as well, even if he couldn't make out the words.
He raised a hand to his ear, tapping the small, slim contraption he'd slipped on just before leaving the car. It crackled quietly for a moment as he adjusted the volume so it wouldn't carry any father than his ear. For a moment the feed was quiet, only the rustle of fabric letting him know the receiving end was working. He'd stuck the small, sticky microphone into Shinichi's jacket, so the interference was expected.
"How long are you going to keep me waiting?"
The quiet noise corresponded with a renewed sound from the lit area of the warehouse, reaffirming Kaito's belief in Shinchi's whereabouts. The boxes and the low ceiling muffled the sound, so Kaito just tuned it out, paying attention to the earpiece as he began picking his way through the maze of crates. Shinichi would take care of distracting the guy, and Kaito was going to find his mother. Logic dictated that the criminal element would keep her out of sight, but near at hand, especially if they wanted to try and threaten her safety to ensure cooperation.
--
"Patience." Fox eyed Kuroba; he didn't seem much like a professional pain-in-the-ass thief from up close. Appearances aside, he was certain this was the Kid. He knew it. This was the kid who'd managed to send him on that merry little goose chase, and left him lost in the middle of the Ekoda district after disappearing all together. He suppressed a growl at the memory, such a wasted afternoon. Wolf had seemed oddly pleased at the news, and he was certain she'd been laughing behind her pretty little hand after that phone call.
The kid was standing in front of him, on the other side of the space between the building's inventory and the wall. The brat didn't seem at all nervous, a little detail that mildly annoyed him. The dying sun streaming from the window painted the teen in bright red, just as it cast Fox in shadows. His lips curled at the thought, fitting. And it wouldn't be long until the sun disappeared and with it, the kid's usefulness.
"I need to be sure you're telling me the truth about that pretty little rock." Fox eyed the pendant dangling from the thief's hand, it fit the little details he'd been given—a large, semi-opaque jewel, with a special flag attached to emeralds, rubies, and sapphires—but he couldn't remember seeing it among the files he'd been given that listed the Kid's targets. It was unlikely the kid would have brought it if it was a fake though, not with his mother's life on the line, and his 'nobody gets hurt' motto. It was a really stupid code for a criminal to follow, but it made his job so much easier.
The kid didn't respond to the statement, so Fox decided to press on. He had a bit longer until the moon reached the required height. "For all I know you coulda just nabbed any old jewel, hoping to pull one over on me. Did you know? Your father tried the very same thing to Snake." That one got a flinch. Fox was glad he'd thought to read up on the former thief for his mission, "It was then they decided he'd outlived his usefulness. Until then they'd been happy to let him find the jewel for them. It was just a little bit of motivation, but he decided to go and lie to them."
He gave the son of Kuroba Toicihi an appraising look, although he doubted the boy could see it in the darkness that had finally settled in the warehouse. Not much longer. Kuroba was giving him a confused glare, although the boy hadn't said a word.
"Let's just hope you didn't make the same mistake, Thief. How does it go? Like father like son?"
The resulting jerk was well worth it.
--
Kaito froze in mid-movement, devoting all his attention to the faint words coming out of his earpiece. Damn it. Don't figure it out Shinichi…Don't freak out…
He'd known very well that this entire situation had a very high possibility of blowing up in his face, even if they both managed to get out alive and unscathed. He could only hope Shinichi would take everything the guy—who just admitted he was working with Snake, sometimes he hated being right—said with a grain of salt, and managed to keep from jumping to conclusions. Even if they are the right conclusions.
Gah, figure out what to do about it later. Kaito told himself, returning to his mission. Quick fingers began anew their assault against the metal cuffs, the lock pick making quick work of the bindings. They were tougher to crack than the standard issue police handcuffs, but it didn't take the thief long to get them to snap open. The captive twitched, and Kaito whispered a quiet "Shh." Before moving on to the rope that was knotted tightly right below where the cuffs used to be. This guy hadn't taken any chances. It made sense, the wife of a thief might know a thing or two about getting out of ropes, or even handcuffs, but both at the same time was another story.
Kaito knew she was awake. She had been since he'd first stumbled across the dark shape lying on the floor, hidden behind a stack of crates just outside the slowly contracting ring of light. He'd been right; the kidnapper had wanted to keep his captive nearby, but out of sight. Logical, but predictable.
The ropes finally fell away, and his mother rose quickly and quietly. Kaito quickly nabbed one of her hands and tugged her back the way he'd come, towards where he'd left the door unlocked. He couldn't see much in the dark, and neither could she—although he was certain she'd noticed the size of his silhouette right now. He was just lucky she was aware enough of the voices to their right to know to leave off the questions and answer sections. For now.
Nothing else came over his earpiece, and the silence both relieved him and left him with a faint sense of unease. On one hand, he really hoped Shinichi didn't think too much on the kidnapper's earlier words, but on the other hand, the criminal wasn't saying anything either. He glanced back, time seemed to be dragging so slowly…and he wondered why the kidnapper had called them there so soon before moon-rise. It was dark when he finally pushed the door open, a single yellow light glowing right above the doorframe. He let go of his mother's hand, turning around to watch her emerge from the building.
She looked extremely pale, and the shadows of bruises littered her skin. Luckily they didn't look too bad, and aside from the irritated, red skin where the cuffs had pinched and the rope burned, she looked to be without injury. Looking at her now, free and somewhat unharmed, all the worry that had been building up over the past few days came tumbling down in a flood of mixed feelings and pure relief. Without a word he threw his arms around his mom, ignored the fact that he didn't even come up to her chest, ignored the fact that she stiffened momentarily before returning the embrace awkwardly.
Unfortunately he couldn't stay away from reality for very long. The memory that Shinichi was still inside the building, doing his diversion thing, caused him to pull away reluctantly. He didn't have time right now. The silver watch Agasa gave him was cold against his wrist.
"There's a car waiting—down the road and to the right, and then a left. It's a yellow beetle sitting in the parking lot."
"Kaito—"
He shook his head, pulling away when she took a step forward, "I'm not going to ask how you figured it out. But I can't explain anything. Not right now. Shinichi is—"
Kaito cut off, tilting his head and listening as the connection came alive in his ear, a faint bit of static happening before the kidnapper's voice came over the line. "Place the stone on the floor, in the moonlight."
Crap. He thought he'd had more time. If the click right after the order wasn't a gun safety being taken off, then he'd eat his hat. Not that he had one on right now, but that wasn't the point. "Where's my Mom?" Shinichi asked back. Kaito froze, he knew Shinichi was trying to buy time, but the detective didn't know he'd already gotten her out of there. If the kidnapper bowed to the request…
"You'll see her. After you put the damn jewel down, and then put your hands up where I can see them."
Well, that was a bit of a relief. But he had to go.
"Go!" He hissed to his mom before ducking back inside the warehouse.
--
Shinichi grit his teeth, it was quite difficult to stay calm when the cold barrel of a gun was being pointed at him from less than five meters away. It took every bit of concentration he had to keep himself from showing his unease. He didn't need to give this man anything else to hold over him, not with the way he'd already reacted to his earlier taunts.
It'd been surprising to learn that Kaito's father had been a thief. A thief who'd been used by this…gang…to search for the Pandora. He couldn't help but wonder if that was the big secret Kaito had been so unwilling to tell him. It fit with the other facts he'd learned. Kuroba Toichi could have found the jewel, hidden it, and tried to throw the group off the scent with a fake. Then he was killed, and the group didn't know where the jewel was. That was as far as his conclusions took him. He didn't know why they suddenly thought Kaito had it—
"Like father like son, eh Thief?"
--unless they'd tried using Kaito to find it, and assumed that he had when he'd gone missing because of the damned drug induced shrinking…
He abruptly stopped that train of thought, filing it away for later. Making conclusions without all the evidence was something he knew better than doing. It had been pounded into his head every time he read a Sherlock Holmes case.
That black metal pistol shined darkly under the faint moonlight that was now trickling into the window, painting the floor a pale white color that stopped a few inches from where he stood. Shinichi took his eyes off the weapon and took in the enemy, not able to see much of the expression hidden behind the shadows cast by the black fedora and having his back to the only light source.
"Put the jewel down in the light." The man in black growled again, gesturing to the faintly glowing square cast by the window between them. Something was telling Shinichi that it wouldn't be wise to try and stall much longer, not with the way he noticed the tightening of the trigger finger.
Keeping an eye on the man's movement, the detective in disguise slowly knelt down, placing the blue stone near the edge of the indicated area and backed up. He glanced quickly at the surrounding area—he didn't see anything he could use as a projectile if the man decided he'd outlived his usefulness. He had the thing the professor gave him, but he didn't know if it was going to work—
"Is it a dud, Thief-san?" The man seemed almost gleeful. "I thought I'd warned you what would happen if it was—"
There, at their feet, a flicker of red was building in deep blue depths, growing stronger with every second longer it was exposed to the moonlight. The kidnapper sucked in a breath, and Shinichi couldn't help the disbelief he'd felt creeping into his mind. It'd worked.
Kaito had somehow figured out how to rig a gemstone to glow scarlet, from the inside. There was no way it was possible otherwise.
Like shrinking people, isn't?
Ignoring that. The kidnapper stepped forward, gun lowering a little unconsciously as the man seemed to be sufficiently distracted with the jewel on the ground. The detective took advantage of that, reaching for the thin, circular contraption he'd clipped to his belt, ready to press the trigger once he found a sufficient opening. As soon as the man bent over to pick it up—Now!
The professor's invention had his black and white inflatable weapon bouncing at his feet, the sound drawing the attention of the kidnapper. The gun rose in a trained response, the finger tightening just as Shinichi sent the soccer ball flying with all the power he could muster.
Bang!
The sound of the gun discharging occurred just as he threw himself out of the way. He wasn't fast enough, the bullet biting into his trailing side just as the ball hit the man's arm with a sickening crunch.
It felt as if a steel knife sliced through his body, the passage of the projectile severing nerve ends and sending them alight with what felt like electricity. He stumbled.
"You've upgraded from cards to balls?" The kidnapper growled, transferring the gun to his left hand. Cards?
Another clash of thunder, and the world exploded into pain.
He could hear a strangled cry from somewhere behind him that sounded vaguely like his name before he crumpled to the ground.
Then it went black.
--
The next thing Shinichi was aware of was that he hurt. His shoulder and side throbbed like they'd been run through with a red-hot iron. He was confused at first, thinking processes hindered by both his previous unconscious state and the current haze of his pain-numbed mind.
Right. He'd been shot. Twice. He was able to recall that much after much searching, even if the actual event was just one big blur of color and noise and yelling and mind-debilitating pain and then more yelling before he finally managed to black out. His wounds were still there, a burning and twisting feeling in his limbs, but he tried to ignore it, tried to remember. There was something he was forgetting, something important—did he just hear voices?
He hadn't opened his eyes yet, and now that he was paying attention he could hear a quiet murmuring from somewhere to his side. It'd been covered up before by a consistent hum of machinery—a motor? It sounded familiar. Like…
Kaito! It didn't all come back then, but the situation came drifting to the surface. Kuroba-san, was she alright? What happened to that man? He tried to move, to sit up—something—but all that it resulted in was a fresh bout of knives stabbing into his wounds, releasing a fresh wave of agony and forcing him back into the car seat.
"Shinichi!"The relief in the voice, and the sudden increase in volume, managed to break through the veil, answering at least one of his questions at least, not that he was really thinking about it at the moment. "Don't move too much—we're headed home."
"Did we get him?" Was what he tried to say, managing to open on eye and stare up at the blurry face hovering over him, but all it sounded like to his ears were unintelligible syllables. It looked like Kaito, sounded like Kaito, and apparently he managed to get his point across because the next answer was a timid, but solid, "Yeah, I managed to tranq him as soon as you went down, then called the police before we left."
That was good news. His eyes drifted shut and he let himself fall back into the blackness, away from the pain.
When the detective finally stopped twitching, settling into sleep, Kaito turned his attention back to the front of the car. Both his mother and Professor Agasa were looking back in concern, although the good professor was at least trying to keep some of his attention on the mostly empty road. The elderly man was looking a bit more relieved and less tense now that Shinichi had managed to wake up, no matter how briefly. It was a good sign. Still, first and foremost they needed to get those bullets out.
"Mom?"
"Yes?"
"Can you call Jii-chan? Give him directions to Shinichi's house and tell him to bring the works. He'll know what I mean."
"Kaito…Jii doesn't know—"
He cut her off, "I know. But he's patched me up more than a few times when I needed it." He didn't need to tell her what for, that much was obvious, "A couple of those times involved bullets. He has more experience in it than the rest of us. Besides, it's about time."
Her face lost any color it might have regained when he mentioned the bullets, which managed to highlight the bruises and bit of dried blood littering her skin, luckily that was all she received during the four night stay with that man—it could have been much worse. Eventually she nodded slowly, accepting the cellphone Kaito passed up to her, flicking it open and pressing the necessary keys with an ease that spoke of long familiarity.
For his part, Kaito returned to the injured detective beside him, discovering for the first time that one of his hands had been caught up in Shinichi's unconscious grip sometime between now and when he'd fallen asleep. The gesture warmed him a little, but he couldn't dwell on why right now. He had to make sure Shinichi's earlier stunt—his failed attempt at moving—hadn't loosened or disturbed any of the makeshift bandages that were currently the only things keeping him from bleeding out.
A quick check revealed no change. That was a plus at least. With the prospect of death by blood loss held at bay for the moment, the tension on his nerves eased a little, letting him lean back against the chair and returned to his vigil.
"You'd better be okay." He told the unconscious teen, grabbing the hand that held his own captive and squeezing it. Shinichi's grip was tight, his hands warm, all reassuring him that the detective was still there. It scared him to know how close he'd come to having Shinichi leave for good—just like his father. The difference would have been Kaito would have been witness, and he was sure the guilt would kill him. He'd tried to look into a future in which the detective wasn't there, and he couldn't believe how much the thought managed to terrify him.
Nobody gets hurt.
Damn it.
You better be okay.
--
A blue jewel lay forgotten, glowing softly in the moonlight until she knelt down and picked it up. Wolf gave it an approving eye. Kuroba-kun was a resourceful boy. It was a really convincing fake. She knew better though. Pandora was not in a sapphire.
She slipped the jewel into one of her suit pockets and looked down at the crumpled body of Fox. Really, it was pathetic. Beaten by a teenager and a child. Although, that child bore an uncanny resemblance to her teacher's son at that age, and the teenager was definitely using a voice changer. Curious. Oh so curious. She'd stuck a tracker on that old yellow beetle when the kid called the old man to help get the wounded teenager into the back—she'd get to work on that mystery as soon as she cleaned this mess up.
She reached into her suit, withdrawing a small, dainty handgun. The police would be here shortly, and there was no way little ol' her was going to be able to lug that much deadweight out of here.
--
Kaito kept glancing toward the living room, where they'd deposited the still unconscious Shinichi onto the couch. It'd been difficult getting him inside as it was, and with only a woman's and an old-man's strength, trying to get him up the stairs to a proper bed would've been impossible. Agasa was in there now, probably trying to contact Shinichi's parents. Kaito groaned and let his head fall onto the table, making sure to push his half empty coffee mug out of the way first, and just let it sit there, the cool wood attempting to calm his headache.
"Kaito…Are you alright?" His mother sat across from him, having decided that since Agasa was watching Shinichi she had 'Kaito duty.' He appreciated it, really he did, it was wonderful to be able to see her and not be worrying his head off because she'd been abducted by the people who killed his father. But right now… "Just peachy." He muttered, not lifting his head, "Is Jii-chan here yet?"
As soon as he said that, the door bell rang, and he shot straight out of his chair. He started for the door, but his mother stopped him, "Wait. If you go out now you'll have to explain."
Seeing her point he nodded and sat back down. He'd told the whole story to her on the drive back here, leaving out the more…sensitive (ie: Kid related) reasons behind the entire kidnapping fiasco. He was watching as she left the kitchen and went out into the hall, listening as the door opened and as greetings were given, and he heard Jii's familiar and long missed voice exclaiming over her bruises.
"It's nothing." She waved him off, their voices starting moving down the hall now, "There's someone else I need you to look over."
"Is the young master here?" The concern was obvious in the elder man's voice, and Kaito couldn't help a soft smile, he'd been trying to get Jii-chan to stop calling him that, but at least it was familiar. But familiarity brought with it pain, because he knew he'd have to choose sooner or later.
"Yes, Kaito is here, but he's not the one hurt. It's the young man who lives here, Kudou Shinichi."
"Kudou? You mean—"
Kaito couldn't hear the rest of the statement, the door from the living room to the hall way shutting and blocking out the sounds. A few minutes later both Agasa and his mother emerged from the door connecting the living room and the kitchen, closing it behind them. The old professor took his mother's vacated seat, while she stood off to the side looking a bit bemused, "That is the boy you've been living with?"
Kaito nodded, confused as to why she suddenly asked.
A faint smile pulled at her tired face, "It had to have been fate, for you to have run into Kudou's boy."
"Wait…you know the Kudous?"
Even Agasa looked interested, "I don't remember any Kuroba…"
"It was just light contact. My husband trained Yukiko-chan in her acting. I think he even took you with him once, Kaito."
Kaito leaned back into his chair; arms crossed, and tried to think back. He'd known his father had trained a few pupils, even though they hadn't been in the magic arts. One of those people had been Shinichi's mother? He couldn't remember; it was so long ago.
"So your husband was her 'mysterious magician' teacher? She never did tell us who it was." Agasa was talking now; Kaito figured anything was a good distraction for the old man. He'd known Shinichi since he was a tiny little thing; the detective's condition was probably bothering the professor most of all.
"Of course. Toichi always liked to be mysterious like that. I hear he actually came close to meeting her husband once, but it didn't work out."
The two adults talked for a while, the topic staying on his father for a while before straying to other matters. They talked about anything and everything; anything to keep from worrying over what Jii-chan would say when he came through the door. Kaito tried to pay attention for a while, but inevitably his eyes kept wandering to the door.
It was some time later when the news finally came. There was a faint click, and then the knob slowly turned. It took a good amount of will power not to jump to his feet and tear the door open, will power that the dear professor seemed to lack, because he was crossing the kitchen already when the door finally opened, revealing a tired looking Jii, cleaning his hands with a slightly bloodied rag. "How is he?"
Agasa was quick to ask, drawing Jii's attention immediately. Kaito slid out of his chair as his mother pushed away from the cabinet she'd been leaning against. He hung behind her a little as she moved to stand near the two men.
"I cleaned and bandaged the wound on his side—it was a straight through shot, the bullet exiting out his back, luckily missing his ribs and organs. It's the shoulder that worries me. I can't remove it without knowing exactly where the shell is. Because of the placement and angle, there seems to be a very good chance of his shoulder blade being hit. If that's the case…" The elder man shrugged helplessly.
"So, in other words, we should get him to the hospital." Kaito murmured thoughtfully. It should be all right, Kudou Shinichi wasn't the target tonight. To be honest, they probably should have taken him to the hospital right away. He wasn't used to having that option open given what he was usually doing when he required medical assistance.
"Yes, that would be the best course of ac—" Jii turned to face him, not recognizing his voice. But he froze and cut off the sentence when they made eye contact. Apparently the old man was able to remember the scattered number of times that he'd seen Kaito as a younger kid; it wasn't much, especially since Jii-chan hadn't been a big factor in his life until after he'd decided to pick up his father's mantel. "Y—Young Master?"
"Yeah, Jii-chan. It's me." Kaito managed a tired smile for his partner and part-time uncle, "It's a pretty long story."
The elder man didn't seem to quite believe it at first, but he glanced at Kaito's mother for confirmation. Upon receiving it he sighed. Kaito smiled. Good ol' Jii-chan. "I suppose it is quite the story, Young Master, but there are more important things to do at the moment."
Yeah, there were. Agasa had been quiet during the entire exchange, but now he spoke up, "I couldn't get a hold of Shinichi-kun's parents, but I still have the power to make medical decisions since they are oversees often. I can take him to the hospital."
Kaito nodded, "I'll go with you." Then turning his attention to his mom, "About what we talked about earlier…?"
"I'll draw up a list."
Mom pulled a napkin out of the dispenser and snatched a pen from the small holder on the windowsill and set to writing. Agasa headed up to the library, probably in search of whatever paperwork and identification that would be needed. Kaito snagged Jii-chan before he could go offer his assistance, "Jii-chan…I was wondering if you could do us a favor."
"What is it, Young Master?"
Kaito glanced back to where his mother was scribbling on the napkin, before taking a breath and continuing, "After what happened…I really don't want to Mom to go home by herself, but she doesn't have anything here. Would you be willing to take her home to pick up some things while we go to the hospital?"
"Of course." The response was automatic, but Kaito really hadn't expected any other answer. "Can I expect an explanation when we return?"
"Yeah. You just might have to suspend your disbelief though."
Jii chuckled at that, but nothing else was said. He continued on his way, helping Agasa carry Shinichi back to the car.
A few minutes later Agasa stuck his head inside, "Coming, Kaito-kun?"
"Yeah!"
He gave his mother a quick goodbye hug before following Agasa out the door.
--
When the police pulled up in answer to a panicked call about gunshots in the industrial complex, they arrived to find that the case wasn't in their hands any longer. The indicated warehouse was engulfed in rising dancing flames, painting everything with shades of reds and oranges…
--
A/N: Gaaah. I really did not mean to take this long. Still, s'not quite as long as my other stories. …I really should update them soon. This was HARD. I still don't like it. But I can't hold onto it for much longer. It took so long to write the actual meeting scene… I'm just not finding myself very motivated unless it's during a time when I don't have access to computer/pencil and paper or should be doing something else. coughStudyingcough. Anyhow, hope you like. Next chapter should go back and revisit what happened to Nakamori. I probably should put it in this chapter but…it just doesn't really fit.
I so wanted to stop this chapter with Wolf's scene D: but I figured I owed ya'll a bit more for the wait.
Anyway, review pleaaase~ Reviews make the world go 'round.
Also! I am looking for new manga to read :D Anyone got any recommendations that involve people with alter egos? IE: DNAngel and Samurai Deeper Kyo? Not those, I read them, but ones with similar concepts?