Chapter five
Training
ooOO-OOoo
Again, he asked himself how he had managed to end up in this kind of situation. Right now, Shinichi stood next to a desk in a room full of gadgets, watching how one of the most wanted thieves of their time was bent over some blue-prints with a critical eye. Humming thoughtfully, Kuroba drew a line across the paper that already was covered with notes and numbers. Every now and then he would snap his fingers when a thought struck him and add something here and there. How he could read anything out of this mess, Shinichi had no idea.
It had been almost a week since his first meeting with Nakamori. The Inspector wasn't pleased with their plan, nicely put, but just like Shinichi, he hadn't been able to suggest a better one. The police never had heard of this syndicate, but Nakamori tried to get something out of undercover-agents from other divisions. Very subtle of course. Yes, even Nakamori knew how to act subtle if needed. Given that the whole crime-scene was trying to lay low at the moment, it would take some time if possible at all. They couldn't risk blowing their agents cover. Also he had sent a forensics team to the building the sniper had been in, to see if they could find anything useful. Unsurprisingly, they came back empty handed – Shinichi had expected as much from a trained assassin.
KID's assistant had been able to tell them the time the sniper had left and a vague direction he'd headed to. Because the assistant had been worried about his master, he had waited until KID had safely gotten away instead of trying to follow the shooter.
With these information they had sent officers to the shops and offices next to the Elite Hotel. Nowadays every business had their own surveillance cameras and under the pretext that they searched for hints about KID, they had gotten the tapes quite easily. One record had even shown a person with a long-shaped bag slung over the shoulder exiting the building, but all they could make out of it was that the sniper was most likely male and that the time the assistant had given was correct. The clothes had been nondescript and he had worn a baseball cap, hiding his face. So, that had been a dead end and they were back with KID's (admittedly) risky plan.
Kuroba's mother had given them the exact date and location for the exhibition, and the thief had come up with the blue-prints and whatsoever more astonishingly fast. They still had three weeks until the heist and Shinichi was surprised how much planning and preparation such a coup took. Sure, he'd known that it wouldn't be done in one night, but during their brainstorming sessions, Kuroba had shown him how much there was that had to be taken into account. Starting from simple things like the building's layout, to the hardly predictable weather, to whatever little detail that could go wrong. 'Always be prepared' wasn't just a catchphrase for the thief, it was a mindset. For every plan b, he also had a plan c and d. And seeing the results, it worked pretty well for him.
"Alright," Kuroba said and capped his marker. "Look here, this should solve our little problem with the elevators."
Shinichi leaned in closer, so he could see what the thief was pointing at. The exhibition would take place in a private art-gallery that was situated on one of the top floors of a company building at the outskirts of Shibuya. Normally, KID would have taken out all the elevators so that the task force would be exhausted after running up the stairs, but this time he needed them at full attention. What also meant he had to make sure that no one would be able to use the elevators to escape, because he wanted to seal off the heist area.
At all three elevators, Shinichi could see a rectangular object sketched in on their top, accompanied by some calculations. He might not be that much into engineering as Kuroba was, but he recognized a bomb when he saw one. "You want to blow them up?" he asked in disbelieve.
Kuroba huffed offended. "No, of course not. Look closer."
Shinichi did and with some difficulty, he deciphered Kuroba's scrawling. The amount of explosive material was indeed too small to blow up a whole elevator, but for sure enough to disrupt the electrical supplies.
Kuroba nodded when he saw Shinichi's eyes flash in understanding. "I will place a contact the elevators will connect with when they reach the floor. It will activate the small bombs, which will go off as soon as the contact is broken again. I will give a device to quickly disable them to Nakamori-keibu. After all, we don't want him to be stuck up there if need should be for a fast evacuation or anything else."
It had been interesting to accompany Kuroba while he staked out the heist-site and had shown a rather calculating and pondering side of himself. It was just like he'd promised – a peek behind the curtains of a well-orchestrated show.
While Kuroba had mostly taken care of the heist-planning-part, Shinichi had pointed out where the police needed to place officers to observe all neighboring buildings, or even snipers to efficiently take out any shooters their colleagues weren't able to reach in time. That they should be taken rather alive than dead went without saying, as it would completely defeat the purpose of the whole operation when they ended up with a dead sniper.
He also had considered asking the FBI for information and help, but they were back in the USA to wrap up the BO case on their end. Their involvement would have been debatable anyway. They already had to declare why they had been acting in Japan without permission, though the outcome had been important and advantageous to such an extent that most probably there wouldn't be any problems.
Kuroba had listed all heists were Snake or another sniper had shown up to see if there were any patterns.
Blue Birthday, Red Tear, Chrystal Mother and lately on every heist he'd held after the BO had been taken out of the picture. The results were disappointing because Snake most of the time just had threatened KID and vanished right afterward. The house KID had followed them to on their first encounter was long since abandoned.
Shinichi watched how Kuroba stretched his back and got up. "I think we'll call it quits for today. Feel like eating something? I'm starving."
"Sounds good," Shinichi answered and followed him out of the hidden room. He remembered how Kuroba had shown him the entrance through the revolving picture in his bedroom. If the thief had aimed for a surprised reaction, Shinichi's saucer-eyed expression must have satisfied him quite a bit. A hidden door in a wall wasn't really something Shinichi never had seen before, but the room behind it surely was.
He still wondered about how exactly the room was embedded in the house, because it looked much larger than it should have been regarding the outer walls. There even was a car aside from loads of technical devices and several of KID's trademark uniforms. Shinichi's question how he would get the car outside, Kuroba had just shrugged off. He preferred the hang-glider as it wasn't as noticeable as the fancy sports car when he came home after a heist. Would be a bit difficult to explain why there was a car leaving and returning if the only occupant in the house didn't own a driver's license. It was more of a memento.
Unlike Shinichi, Kuroba was a decent cook. He didn't even use recipes. He loved to experiment with different ingredients to create surprising flavors. Shinichi could make a thing or two as well, but he preferred dishes that didn't need much effort. Less time in the kitchen, more time to read. During his stay with the Mouris, Ran had taught him some basics and he made quite a good assistant now, but today they both didn't feel like standing in the kitchen for hours, so a short time later they sat down with one steaming bowl of instant ramen each.
Shinichi shoved some of his notes aside that were spread out on the table. He spent so much time at Kuroba's house that he'd decided to bring his homework along, so he could work through it whenever they took a break from their heist-planning. Ran had left for the camp at the beginning of the week, what saved him from cooking up an explanation for his constant absence. His parents knew where he was going, but as far as his mother was concerned, he was just studying with Kuroba. She was happy to see her son was spending time with someone his age. Aside from Ran, he'd never had any close friends, though he'd always been quite popular and Hattori wasn't in town that often. Obviously, his father had yet to tell her about the details of Shinichi's latest case other than that he was a consultant for the Ekoda PD from time to time or she would have locked him up in his room by now.
His father was a different matter. Their conversation had been kind of a confirmation that Kuroba was KID, and to conclude that they were working on more than just math or history wasn't that far of a stretch. For now he seemed to be content with the situation, just for how long that would last was the question.
"How's it going?" Kuroba asked, chewing on some noodles and nodding at the pages covered in Shinichi's neat handwriting.
Shinichi glanced at the notes and grimaced at the thought of the stacks of papers waiting for him at home. "Well enough, I think," he sighed tiredly. "At least I'm still within my schedule, so I should be able to finish everything before school starts again."
Kuroba eyed him up intensely. Shinichi had always been a bit pale, but now he looked almost sickly so. He had seen enough of the detective's daily routine to know that he was slowly but steadily working himself into the ground and he didn't like it.
"You need some change of pace, Tantei-kun," he recommended, balancing some vegetables on his chopsticks. Shinichi looked at him a bit uncomprehendingly, not very fond of the thief's suddenly mischievous expression.
Kuroba winked. "I think I might know just the right thing for you. Your leg is all better, isn't it?"
"Yes," Shinichi answered warily. He was glad that he didn't need the cane anymore; it had been annoying. "What are you getting at?"
There it was again. KID's famous ear-to-ear grin. "You've been sitting on your butt for much too long. Your body needs activity and especially your leg needs to be exercised if you want to regain your full fitness. So, starting tomorrow, you will work out with me."
Shinichi opened his mouth to object, but Kuroba wouldn't have it. "Ah ah ah!" He wiggled his index finger. "No backtalk, Tantei-kun. You're in pathetic condition – not very surprising after your time as a midget and your injury, but if you want to attend the upcoming heist, you have to do something about it. Not that three weeks will be enough to fix you, but at least you should be able to run a set of stairs without almost keeling over afterwards."
"It's not that bad," Shinichi protested mumbling, what only got him a mocking 'really?'-look.
"Fine," he muttered. He knew himself that he had been in better shape; he'd just kicked it down the road, justifying it with the mountain of schoolwork he had to do. And just maybe he was a bit anxious that his regrown body couldn't handle the strain - not that he would admit that to anyone.
"Great," Kuroba exclaimed, already in full-blown trainer mode. "We'll work on your stamina, muscle building and I think some stretching wouldn't hurt either," he ticked off with his fingers.
Shinichi groaned inwardly. His soccer work-outs had left him with sore muscles often enough and he knew after tomorrow he wouldn't be able to do as much as lift his pinky.
ooOO-OOoo
"Just one more little lap and you are done for today – keep it up!"
Shinichi would have snorted, has he had the air to spare. Passing Kuroba, who was lazily perched on a bench, he gathered his remaining strength and tried to hold up a steady pace on his last round through the park. He concentrated on his breathing and the sandy ground beneath his sneakers. His sweaty dark blue tracksuit pants and shirt were clinging to his body, but he ignored the uncomfortable sensation.
The first few training sessions had left him as an aching, panting mess with the desperate need for an oxygen tent. After he'd overcome his unfounded fear (as Haibara had assured him) of his body failing him, he'd developed an eagerness bordering on obsession, and Kuroba had to step in after Shinichi had managed to collapse while running.
So after that, Kuroba had kept a sharp eye on his training and insisted on taking breaks whenever Shinichi seemed to overdo it again, but that had only been during the first two weeks. Now that Shinichi's stamina was better, he'd upped the tempo and demanded always one round more, one sit-up more and one pull-up more than Shinichi would have done by himself. And he had started to drag Shinichi out of bed every morning at an (how the detective complained) unholy hour for a run in the park. It just had taken him one visit in Shinichi's bedroom at five o' clock to convince him to be ready and at the door punctual. The humiliation of his parents' questioning and amused looks when he'd crossed the kitchen with Kuroba trailing after him, wearing a suggestive expression, had done the trick.
In the end it had been worth the effort and being able to run ten laps in a row was clearly a progress. He already felt much less sluggish and had more energy. Though it was nothing compared to Kuroba. The thief definitely was athletic and could go on all day without tiring the least. Being KID seemed to include a strict work-out and it sure paid off.
When the bench came in sight again, he was surprised to see that Kuroba wasn't alone anymore.
'Oh no, not again,' he groaned inwardly, recognizing the dirty-blond hair. He considered running another lap just to avoid a conversation with the Brit, but his body told him that was no option. Winded, he came to a stop before the pair and bent over, trying to catch his breath, hands on his knees.
"Kudou-san," Hakuba greeted him with a calm nod that Shinichi answered with an exhausted wave of his right hand. "Associating with KID again, I take it?"
Kuroba bristled. "How often do I have to tell you that I. Am. Not. KID!?"
Hakuba shot him just a sidelong glance, obviously used to his reaction. "Whatever Kuroba, I know what I know." He turned his attention back to Shinichi and almost towered over him with crossed arms. "You do realize that helping a wanted thief makes you his partner in crime?"
Shinichi took one last deep breath and straightened up to meet Hakuba's accusing gaze. "I have no idea what you are talking about, Hakuba-san. Like I've told you the last three times: Our parents are old acquaintances, we help each other with our homework and we train together. Nothing more and nothing less."
Since Hakuba had ran into them in the park a week ago, he constantly bugged them with questions about their relationship and how they became friends so fast. Shinichi wasn't sure how much of this he could take before he would simply snap. At first he had laughed at Kuroba's hints about Hakuba's persistence, but that had changed radically after their second, not to mention their third encounter with the Brit. He acted almost like some kind of stalker and Shinichi hated to be shadowed for obvious reasons. Now, he understood how Heiji felt when he had to deal with him.
Hakuba took his explanation with thin lips. "You sure are spending a lot of time together."
"And I am sure you can tell how much to the exact last millisecond," Kuroba grumbled, but Hakuba ignored him, concentrating on Shinichi. "I have also seen you in the Ekoda PD a few times, so excuse me, but I was just wondering – isn't Beika your usual base of operations?"
"What – afraid that I might take your spotlight?" Shinichi scoffed. He normally didn't get irritated that easily, but Hakuba had a talent to push his buttons. "Don't worry, I don't intend to intrude."
"I have a hard time believing that, considering that it has been Nakamori-keibu's office you've left, and as we all know – the only case he is assigned to is the international thief 1412, Kaitou KID." Hakuba's eyes narrowed and his glance shot over to Kuroba before focusing on Shinichi again. "And as it happens, you suddenly are very close to my number one suspect for being KID. This can't be a coincidence and I want to know what is going on."
Shinichi suppressed the urge to look skywards. That was exactly what they didn't need – Hakuba poking around and getting in their way. Somehow he could even understand his fellow detective. He wouldn't have let up either if it were the other way round and KID was Hakuba's pet case after all. But Kuroba had made it clear: No involving of civilians. That Hakuba had seen him after his meetings with Nakamori was unfortunate, but nothing he couldn't explain.
The meetings themselves had gone better than expected and much to Shinichi's relief had been just between Nakamori and himself. The Inspector wanted to keep the circle of informed people as small as possible, so nothing would leak out. He'd been furious when Shinichi implied that maybe the task force has been infiltrated, but in the end (and after much shouting and swearing) he had accepted the possibility. Right now, he was about to select the most trustworthy task force members for the heist.
He returned to the situation at hand and noticed that Kuroba was facing away as if all of this didn't concern him at all; probably deliberately, but Shinichi knew that he was following every word of the conversation.
"Hakuba-san, I have no idea what you are so worked up about," Shinichi said, straightening his back and burying his hands deep into the pockets of his tracking pants. "As I'm sure you've heard, KID invited me to his last heist and the Inspector seems to think that if he questions me over and over again, he will get the answers he searches for and that's all there is to it." The right corner of his lips lifted a bit. "Satisfied?"
He could see Hakuba's discontent with his answer, but shrugged it off. He wasn't willing to give him anything more and if Hakuba decided to get pissy about it, it wasn't his problem.
The blond teen gave a short huff. "I've expected more from you than covering for a thief, Kudou-san. I hope you come to your senses soon." With that he turned to leave. "Don't let your judgment get messed up by his smooth tongue," he advised over his shoulder with a glance in Kuroba's direction.
They both watched Hukuba's retreating back in silence until he disappeared behind the next turn.
"Huh," Kuroba let out in a dismissive manner.
"'Huh?' That is all you have to say?"
"Huh,… I told you he's a nosy prick?" the part-time thief offered.
"That's remarkably unhelpful, Kuroba," Shinichi scowled. "We need to keep him out of our hair or he will get tangled up in all the nasty stuff you wanted to protect him from."
Kuroba looked positively indignant. "What makes you say I want to protect this plague? He's breathing down my neck all day, accusing me of being KID and trying to make my life a living hell."
"Firstly, he is right about you being KID, so that's hardly his fault and secondly, you consider him one of your detectives don't you? It certainly seems that you can get quite possessive and protective of what you consider yours." Shinichi listed in his 'matter-of-fact'-voice.
"You detectives just have to make a deduction-show out of everything, don't you?" Kuroba complained almost pouting. He hated to be analyzed – it made him feel predictable and predictable wasn't an adjective he wanted to be attributed with. That was why he put so much work into his performances – to fascinate and surprise people. Detectives just seemed to be immune to his attempts. Maybe if they would stop trying to pick everything apart, they would be able to let themselves be captured by his magic and escape the grey reality for a short while.
"Kuroba," Shinichi called, snapping his fingers before the magicians face to get him back to attention. "Come on – we're done here and I want to take a shower before I head over to the Police Department."
"Right, can't have you being all smelly when you're talking to our beloved Keibu," Kuroba grinned and easily side-stepped the whack Shinichi aimed for his head.
ooOO-OOoo
Across town, in an office somewhere in Shinjuku, a man in his mid-fifties clicked and scrolled through the data on his computer. Windows popped up and were shut down again with practiced ease. The blinds were down, shutting out the morning sun. On a shelf behind him, books where bathed in the bluish monitor light. 'Jewels of the Century', 'Legends and Myths' and 'Gems – The Encyclopedia' where just a few of the titles imprinted on their spines.
A file with names opened and rolled down the screen; each connected with a photo of a jewel. Many of them were crossed out and a few were highlighted. The list stopped at 'Zodiacal Quartet' and with a single keystroke the entry was added to the failure-list.
The man leaned back with a sigh. Another gem that he had to remove from the list, another failed attempt on KID's life. The whole night had been a total waste of time - fortunately not his own. He remembered days when that had been different; back when he'd started to gather thieves around him to help him find the one jewel that dominated his whole being, haunted his dreams.
Pandora.
He'd learned about it in a book of ancient legends back in university and had been fascinated immediately. A gem that granted immortality, that would let him live forever. He knew he deserved it – he was brilliant, a mastermind beyond compare. All his fellow students who'd scoffed at him and his obsession with Pandora, would be forced to admit that they'd wronged him.
He'd studied stellar constellations and comets for decades now and the one indicated for Pandora's tears, Volley, was about to pass the earth tomorrow night. He hadn't much time left and he wasn't the only one who was after the gem. Many had tried to interfere with his plans and all of them had been cut down to size. Assassins had taken care of the ones who resisted and his sphere of influence had grown.
Unfortunately, it hadn't grown enough to keep up with another Tokyo entity. The Black Organization. They made the rules everyone who tried to take part in the underground games had to obey. Go against them and it was just a matter of time until your complete and utter elimination was sealed. He hated them, he despised them and he had laughed at their downfall – celebrated it with one of his best bottles of sake.
Now his time had come. He had to make his move now, as long as the underground was in uproar. He would find Pandora, drink her tears and become the new highest criminal in Tokyo. If he just knew which gem was Pandora. His hand raked through his salt-and-pepper hair in aggravation. There were not that much stones left that possibly could be the legendary gem and most of them were already in his hands, but none of them had shown the red glow in the full moon. He had to find it – he had to!
He changed the monitor back to the start screen and pressed the call-button on the intercom on his desk. His secretary answered promptly. "Yes, Takamoto-sama?"
"Bring me a fresh cup of tea and the newspaper."
"At once, Takamoto-sama."
Another click and the feed of a number of surveillance cameras filled some screens, mounted to the wall. It showed the hustle and bustle in a casino. Blinking lights, maids who served drinks to the customers and had he turned on the sound, he'd heard the typical noises of the slot machines, dealers and rolling ivory balls.
He loved his casinos and they brought in the needed capital for the planetarium he owned and the payment for his… employees. The human mind was so simple. Let them win a few times and they emptied their wallets to the last coin for you. It was that much easier than stealing and what was even better – it was legal. Legal money, used to pay his assassins.
A soft knock announced the arrival of his secretary. A young woman with classical Asian features crossed the thick carpet, a tray in her hands. She wore a traditional kimono and served his tea in the elegant way Geishas were taught to. His gaze roamed over her figure approvingly. He had a knack for traditional and pretty things. She placed the neatly folded newspaper on his desk, bowed deeply and left the room as silent as she had entered.
The steam of the tea evaporated in soft whirling clouds. He opened the newspaper, smoothed out the page - and paused.
Over two sides a headline announced a new KID heist, and next to a picture of the thief, flying against the moonlight with his glider, the diamond-shaped heist-note was printed.
ooOO-OOoo
The full moon still lingers,
time that runs through our fingers.
Soon it will be mine for always and forever,
more precious than anything human kind could gather.
On short notice the leading part showed up,
blue as the sea before the weather gets rough.
Before the days are switching place,
I'll sweep you off in my embrace
(grinning KID-doodle)
ooOO-OOoo
Takamoto felt his adrenalin running high. That was it – it had to be Pandora. This bastard found the jewel and rubbed it in with malicious joy. This son of a bitch was like a rusty nail in his side. For years he'd thought he had been taken care of, but two years ago, he suddenly was back like a fucking cockroach.
It was almost impossible that it was the same man as back then. He had personally been on site to witness the magicians death, had watched how the hungry flames had devoured everything. But as someone who aimed for immortality himself, he wouldn't put it past the elusive thief to survive even an inferno like this.
Again, he'd assigned Snake for the hit, but KID had proven that he hadn't forgotten any of his tricks and kept on slipping through their net. It was no use – he had to know for sure who was hiding behind the monocle to get rid of him once and for all.
Getting an update on the Kurobas wasn't hard, as he'd kept tabs on them over the years – just to be sure. Everything he wanted to know was just a few clicks on his computer away. As far as he could tell, they lived a pretty normal life. The son attended school on regular basis and had taken a liking to magic tricks, what wasn't surprising regarding who his father had been. Also he was close friends with Nakamori Aoko, the daughter of Nakamori Ginzo, who was in charge of the KID task force.
The wife wasn't home much since her son had been fourteen years old, jetting through the whole world. He was pretty sure that KID had an assistant, but hadn't been able to pinpoint his identity so far. Nothing indicated that they were in contact with the should-be-dead Kuroba Toichi.
Now that the target of the next heist would be Pandora with almost certainty, it wasn't enough to send Snake out - the previous heists had proven as much. He needed to put KID in a situation where his hands were bound and he would think twice about denying them the jewel.
A sly smirk appeared on his face.
Assuming that this Kaitou KID was the original one, he surly wouldn't want his son to get hurt. Kuroba Kaito was the perfect leverage to put pressure on the phantom. And even if it was a different man behind the mask – KID was known for his 'no-one gets hurt' policy and he wouldn't let an innocent boy die on his account.
Takamoto wasn't sure if the boy knew about his father's night-job, but Kaito was a huge KID-fan and he had suspected him of being the thief for a while. The investigations had shown that the boy had alibies for a couple of heists and so Takamoto had let it go. His nerves tingled with excitement and impatience. Pandora was so close.
He pressed the call-button again. "Natsuki, send Snake up to me."
A/N: Uhg… did I mention that heist notes are difficult to write? Oh well…
We know close to nothing about the boss of the syndicate in MK, so I took some liberties with his character. He is very full of himself (bordering on mental disorder) and everyone has to bend to his will – all but him are worthless tools. Though he might be not as clever as he thinks he is or he would have a plan b if he doesn't find Pandora. But he is so sure he won't fail that he is absolutely fixated on this idea.
If there are any people out there with medical knowledge who are throwing their hands up in horror about Shinichi already training again – I'm sorry. Just think about him as someone who heals up really fast.
In Hakuba's defense: He doesn't know about the snipers and following the original MK manga, he'd only appeared in a few chapters and hasn't become Kuroba's friend contrary to how it's often said in fanfictions. But he knows what KID did for Nightmare's son, and I think that gained KID a bit of his respect. Aside from that, Hakuba had two appearances in DC where Conan and Hattori got to know him too (Chapter 299-302 / 562-566). Because they are not that close and he holds up his pride as a detective, well, that's why he acts a bit cold.
