Chapter 40: One Step Closer
Thanks for all the lovely comments and for answering my question Minna-san! As requested (as well as fitting in better time wise), we are sticking to the DC side of the story, meaning our lovely Detective and his pursuers.
It's a good thing I read the latest chapter before I posted this since I had the Vindice completely wrong, hehe. Turns out they are weirder than I suspected them to be. Nor, apparently, do they live in a house but in a cave. But I'm going to change that, so they now live above the prison.
And thanks to RHK for kick starting ideas about the Vindice.
Live in the Vendicare was… quiet and rather cold to be honest. It wasn't all that weird since they kept work and home separate. However, Shinichi kind of missed the fun atmosphere of the Vongola household. No that wasn't right, he missed the atmosphere of Tsuna's household. Everyone was serious all of the time, no laughter filled the halls. It seemed to Shinichi that the Vindice spent a lot of time planning and training when they were not monitoring prisoners. Looking after the prisoners did take a lot of their time up, especially the Scientist Vindice. Shinichi was never privy to these planning meetings and therefore didn't know who they were planning against. Nor was he allowed to watch their training. He participated in general hand to hand combat to improve his own skills, and often to improve his Star Observation skill, but he had never watched them use their Flames, nor fight as a team. Shinichi knew they did training in groups since he heard them talking and watched them disappear in groups.
However Shinichi wasn't shunned due to his differences, nor was he treated badly or ignored. In fact the opposite was true. Once you got past the cloaks and bandages and got used to the sound of rattling chains, everything was rather normal and not too scary. Of course Shinichi had the added bonus of not being a criminal, which in all honesty helped hugely. Shinichi still had no idea about what the Vindice actually looked like under their cloaks, but he hoped that one day he might find out. The Vindice were people too, even if they were cursed with degrading bodies (Shinichi was half expecting something zombie like, no matter how cliché it sounded) so he wasn't surprised to find relatively normal living conditions. Everything was sparse, the bare minimum that could be lived with, with no luxuries like TV's or radios. The Vindice had their own way of watching the world, Shinichi knew from experience. Being a guest though, Bermuda had allowed Shinichi to have what he wanted. Shinichi didn't share their goals, nor their pasts, so Bermuda had no reason to limit Shinichi to what the rest of the Vindice had. Although it seemed to Shinichi that the Vindice had no need for luxuries and were limited by choice rather than by Bermuda's orders.
However Shinichi couldn't help feeling like he was being watched most of the time. There was nearly always at least one Vindice with him, whether that be Bermuda, Jager or one of the lesser subordinates when they were busy. Shinichi knew there were reasons for that; he was a guest in a prison of all places. Of course they weren't going to let him walk around freely- although they did let him go wherever he likes as long as one of them followed him. But the feeling was more than that. Whilst he was free in all sense of the word, he still felt caged. Any suggestions he made to go outside were carefully shot down by distractions or reasons against his wish. If it was anyone other than Shinichi, they might not even notice these disagreements as carefully and skilfully worded as they were. Shinichi though found it slightly suspicious. However, it was the looks that the Vindice gave him that slightly worried him. He felt like a precious child that was to be protected at all costs, and he didn't know the reason for that. He felt like one of the jewels International Phantom Thief 1412 stole.
"Again" comes the order.
Pushing the lollipop around his mouth with his tongue, Shinichi closes his eyes and opens them to a grey sparkling world. Analyse the way he walks, the way he moves, the way he talks. See it and remember it.
The first thing that Shinichi had learnt, was that his Star Flames actually worked at two speeds, normal and slow. Slow (which was a term from his point of view since he technically sped up) seemed to be the default setting and was in general the most useful. However, it wasn't very useful when talking to people since the words became too slow to understand and it just wasted his Flames. So whenever he was talking to a prisoner, he changed hisFflames to work at the normal speed of the world around him. He was still getting the hang of it, hence the repeat order. What he was currently doing was a more in-depth version of profiling. By getting a feel of the people who commit these crimes, he could try and find similar people in the future and keep an eye on them. So with his Flames on, he was analysing their facial expressions, determining lie from truth, taking note of the gleam in their eyes, the way they held themselves, the intonation in their voice, and a hundred other things that Shinichi could use to get a feel for the criminal mind.
There were tells when someone was about to commit a crime, specifically Murder. And since each changed depending on the person and their personality, Shinichi needed to gather as much data as possible to come up with more accurate guesses based on that data. The confident way the target walks, the smug way they smile, the very specific gleam in their eyes could all be signs of a murder about to take place. Certain weapons made very distinctive marks under clothes, no matter how loose and baggy they are. For what people forgot was that clothes moved and strained when they were walking. Admittedly, wearing more layers was the better option, but that made the weapon harder to reach quickly. Even before his Flame, Shinichi knew that there were favoured places for weapons. Guns were often at hip level, either at the hips themselves or at the small of the back. Inner jacket pockets were also common places for guns. Knives often were stored in wrist guards, or inside of boots. What most people wouldn't realises was that having those weapons changed the way the target walked, especially the guns at hip height. Having a gun at the small of the back actually caused the target to straighten up their back, however slumped shoulders showed that the upright posture was unnatural. People with knives strapped to their arms swung them less than natural. People with knives or guns in their boots started to walk on the outside of their feet to angle the boot away from them and provide more space for the weapon to reside. That covered the most common weapons, and Shinichi hadn't yet moved onto learning how to detect the presence of drugs or poisons on a person.
With those signs down and tested on a live audience, Shinichi had moved onto emotional profiling like he was doing now. It wasn't very different to the interrogations he would do sometimes at the police station after the criminal was caught, but this time his Flame took everything in, analysed it and remembered it. Most important was the reason for killing. Shinichi had encountered many of those during his life, both in his real body and as Conan, however now he had to learn it all over again since he was in a new environment. This was the Mafia he was now living in and therefore the reasons for the murders changed. He was dealing with a more dangerous and less stable barrel of fish. These people already had violent tendencies and many were not affected by the thought of ending another's life. Some even found killing pleasurable. Others did it because it was their Boss's orders, others because they had accidentally killed before and now had no excuse to not continue further. Assassinations took place over territory, to enforce obedience, to strike fear into an opposing Family, to show their strength, or because the target was being annoying. The reasons were endless. And they were all new. Sure jealousy over a cheating lover still happened, kills in self-defence happened, revengeful murders still happened, but just not as often as Shinichi used to encounter them.
So person by person he was learning all of the pathetic reasons people killed. And it hurt so much. Shinichi wondered how blind people could be. Killing was the end, the ultimate end that no one deserved. His heart was bleeding over how sorry and pathetic the Human Race had become and it was slowly becoming encased in ice. He had to place his emotions in a box, become emotionless and unattached, focus on the cold hard facts and forget his opinion. He didn't know of any other way to survive.
However under the ice defending his heart, his Flame grew stronger and stronger. His determination to find these people and stop them before the murders occurred grew and grew.
Bermuda couldn't be any more pleased. Shinichi's resolve was quite literally a burning flame fuelling his Star Flames. The base raw power the Flames had increased with every person Shinichi analysed, every stupid reason for killing. It helped Shinichi immensely and increased his Flame's Stamina.
"Enough" he orders after watching Shinichi's eyes briefly flash back to the blue they normally were. Being so different from the colour of the Flames and as a result far more noticeable than brown or black eyes, the blue flash showed Bermuda better than any other physical sign that Shinichi was tiring out or running out of Flames. Shinichi does as he's told and turns his Flames off before crunching the lollipop in his mouth to get a higher concentration of the healing compound Spanner had created.
Another Vindice officer came and took away the prisoner Shinichi had been talking to whilst Shinichi slumped and rested his head on the table.
"Hmm, that time lasted 37 seconds longer than the last time." Comments Bermuda, jumping up onto the table. Shinichi raises his head and focuses tired dull blue eyes on the Arcobaleno.
"That's good then. I think we can move on from those who kill over territory. I've gotten all the information I need to know." Shinichi half whispers, feeling extremely tired. Whilst the headache wasn't as bad as usual, it was still there, thumping in the back of his head.
Bermuda notices this and lowers his aura so it doesn't affect Shinichi as much. He clicks his fingers and another officer comes over with a book of paper. Bermuda looks over the pages, scribbles some things down and then continues to look through the book. After 5 minutes, Bermuda looks back up at Shinichi and shuts the book (which was nearly as big as he was considering his small state) with a loud thump. Shinichi winces at that loud noise since it only made his headache worse.
"I believe it's time for an assessment." Informs Bermuda. Shinichi looks confused. Not answering straight away, Bermuda flicks his tiny hand in a gesture for Shinichi to stand up. Sighing, Shinichi follows the unspoken order before catching Bermuda who had jumped at him. Normally, with Jager or any of the other Vindice, Bermuda liked to sit on their shoulders to get a good view. However, with Shinichi, Bermuda actually preferred to be held between Shinichi's crossed arms and his chest. Shinichi didn't have a clue why Bermuda preferred this position when it came to him. Bermuda wasn't going to tell Shinichi it was so that he could hear the detective's heartbeat, proving the detective was real and still alive. The Vindice had high hopes for Shinichi and needed to keep him safe.
"An assessment?" asks Shinichi as they walk down the corridor. The Vindice around him move out of their way to let them pass. Shinichi had noticed that they acted differently around him and each other than they did around the prisoners. Around prisoners they were cold and emotionless, being as fearsome as their reputation said. Around each other, they acted more normally, but still stiffly and coldly. Although every now and again there were hushed conversations about 'him' and Shinichi didn't have a clue who this 'him' was. They seemed to get touchy and angry around the subject of 'him' so he wisely left it alone.
"Yes, an assessment to see how far your Flame has improved." Says Bermuda, tapping Shinichi's arm in the direction he wanted Shinichi to go in. Bermuda doesn't provide Shinichi with any more information than that. He jumps out of Shinichi's arms and pushes Shinichi into a room. The baby was deceptively strong and Shinichi had the strangest feeling that this wasn't the baby's full power either. Shinichi tumbles into the room and lands on a bed. His bed to be specific. "Get some rest, you can barely see as it is." Shinichi was ashamed to admit it was true and had been using Bermuda to guide him to wherever the baby had wanted him to go. He was kind of pleased that Bermuda had called him out on the façade since it means he could now close his tired eyes and make the headache stop pounding. Rolling his eyes at the stubborn detective Bermuda shuts the door and leaves Shinichi for the night. Shinichi knew the layout of his room well enough by now to traverse it without opening his eyes.
Bermuda hitches a ride on Jager's shoulder and they walk out into the cold snow. The cold didn't affect any of the Vindice anymore with their broken bodies. Less money wasted on heating bills, although Shinichi had to wear lots of layers just to keep warm. The cold temperatures also helped to keep certain prisoners asleep. Bermuda never minded the cold, it really was a reflection of his heart. If only snow was black. They walk along a well-trodden path, one they walked down every day. Hidden in the mountains behind the Vendicare was a cave where very special meetings took place.
"Still no sightings Bermuda." Says one of the cloaked figures.
"That's fine, just keep an eye out. At the moment, he can take as long as he likes, we need time to train our latest weapon." Replies Bermuda standing in the middle of the circle of people.
"What about the other one, why was he not brought here too? Surely he understands our objectives better?" asks a different voice, this one deep and gruff.
"Yes, he does understand Revenge better, yet he's just not as useful. This one had far more potential as a tool for our Revenge. Plus, we needed time to work on this one before the other arrived"
"Talking of, he's not that far off" this voice is highly muffled, barely audible.
"Fwahahaha, I can't wait to watch his face later on. Too bad I won't be here to watch it in person"
Yet another day in the freezing cold nothingness. And to make it even worse, it was an unproductive day, and Kaito hated those. Life was made for going forwards not for standing still, or in his case, walking around in circles. The only difference was that one wasted your energy, yet both still got you nowhere. All there is to be seen is him, the falling snow, the walls of the pass and the one cave. Kaito walks along the walls, risking freezing his hand off by ungloving it to get a better feel of the wall. He knew something was up, the dyed cross on the cave proved it again and again. Yet the cliff face under his fingertips felt real, it looked real, there was nothing strange about it.
But there had to be!
His mental body clock tells him it's time to stop once again. His stomach agrees. So he has nothing else to do but continue walking forwards until the cave came back into view. To be honest, he could have walked forwards or backwards and still gotten to the cave. He's tried that and it didn't lead to the entrance or the exit, just to the cave.
"Oh Shinichi, I hope you're doing alright" says Kaito, talking to himself to fill the silence. Whoever had said silence was deafening knew what they were talking about.
"Of course he's going to be alright." Sighs KID, adjusting the hat on his head. "They don't seem to want to hurt him"
"I know that, but it's Shin-chan hurting himself that I'm more worried about" Sighs Kaito as he drops his backpack.
"Hn, my Partner will be fine. This training will be good for him. He'll be even more useful to Boss now. You know that it's better to sustain injury during training rather than on assignment. Wounds and mistakes made now will teach him not to make them during critical times" assures Hunter, cleaning the KID Card Gun.
"Yes, I suppose you are right. But Shinichi's known to take things to extremes. I don't trust the Vindice as far as I can throw them, how do I know that they'll look after him correctly? They might not heal his injuries, or they might not keep him warm enough, or maybe they'll starve him. Just because they want him and want to keep him alive doesn't mean they'll do a good job of it" worries Kaito, hands unpacking the campfire for the night.
"Then we pull off the magic trick of our lives and get out of here with a BANG! Famous Magician Kuroba Kaito escapes inescapable maze! Let's give the Vindice the show of their lives!" bounces the Magician, juggling black and white balls.
"You're right. If only I knew how this magic trick was done I could stop it." Replies Kaito determinedly.
"Oh for heaven's sake" says three voices, equal in exasperation.
Kaito feels the tug so hard on their connection that his eyes snap shut on their own accord.
"Oi, what was that for?" he asks, rubbing his backside from his harsh landing.
"My My Kaito, what happened to your common sense? Did one of us steal it, for you surely haven't been using it." Chides KID, bending down to get face to face with the man on the floor. They were currently in the Main Room, the column of White Flames burning next to him, with the two pictures at either end.
"Not taking enough notice of the things around you could get you killed you know" remarks Hunter, stowing the Card Gun away.
"Okay, so I'm missing something, can you blame me? Now if you wouldn't mind sharing then maybe we can get out of the cold"
"Haahaa, you just need to look at the pretty colours silly" sings the Magician, now juggling a rainbow set of balls.
"Colours?" asks Kaito.
"Maybe a huge visual is in order since you seem to be ignoring the smaller example" says KID mockingly. He walks over to the spinning door that controls their Flame type. As per normal, it was currently a crescent moon on a blank black background. "Now keep your eyes on the Flame Kaito"
"Alright, I'm being an idiot, I get it. Now stop with the condescending tone!" huffs Kaito, crossing his arms and glaring childishly at KID. KID merely smirks, before shaking his head. He turns his back on Kaito before pushing the right side of the spinning door.
"Sky, Sun, Storm, Rain, Lightening, Cloud and Mist. Take a good look Kaito and tell Sensei which is the odd one out." Orders KID, ignoring Kaito's previous statement. Maybe they did notice this because they had a larger gauge to watch, it was hard to miss the column of Flame in the middle of the room.
"Kufufu~" Kaito spins around, still on the floor, to look up at a Magician turned Mukuro. Magician had left the Red contact out to ensure Kaito it was him and not the other man "I believe the answer is obvious"
"Kufufu~, I believe the answer is obvious" laughs Mukuro, turning to face Ken. The Cheetah tilts his head since it's not all too clear what the correct answer is. Of course Mukuro-sama would know.
"Yeah… and that is?" asks Ken, casually bouncing in place to keep warm.
Mukuro ignores him in favour of turning to the other two in their group. The answer would present itself in a way clearer than words soon anyway, so why waste words trying to make him explain? Although it would actually only take one word to explain the situation sufficiently. "Oya Oya, Flan, this is not the time to be making Snow Angels"
Flan was still sprawled out, face down in the snow from where Chikusa had pushed him earlier.
"Mukuro-sama" starts Chikusa, about to confirm his suspicions. However Mukuro turns around and materialises his trident. That alone tells Chikusa that Mukuro has come to the same conclusion.
"Heel Ken, we're going walkies" Says Mukuro, his tone laughing, smirking and sarcastic as usual.
"Oooii~ Mukuro-sama! If you call me a dog then I get to call you a pineapple head"
Chikusa face palms over Ken's stupidity and expected the yelp that followed. Mukuro had stabbed Ken with the trident in punishment for the pineapple comment. "Ungrateful mutt" Mukuro growls before walking onwards, dragging his trident along the ground. Chikusa found this weird, but didn't follow. He had asked for Ken specifically, so he must be coming back soon. The two kept on walking, quickly becoming shadows and then fading into the whiteness.
"Ken, I need you to tell me exactly when you smell Chikusa and Flan in front of us" orders Mukuro as they walk along. Ken looks back and realises he can't see the pair any more. He sniffs the air and can't smell them either.
"Hai Mukuro-sama" announces Ken before digging around in his pocket. Pulling out a new pair of fangs, he takes the cheetah ones out. His skin returns to it's normal shade, and the claws and fangs disappear. Doing a full body shake, he waits a moment for the full effects to leave his body before placing in the new pair. "Wolf Channel!" he shouts. The image on his cheek changes to a wolf, and brown fur goes from his scar up to his hair. The fangs and claws return. But it's the intensified sense of smell he's most interested in.
They keep on walking, Ken sniffing the air constantly. So much in fact that his nose becomes dry and cold and he sneezes. After a few warm breaths to get his nose back into working order, they continue onwards.
"Ah, there they are, byon!" shouts Ken, jumping up and down and pointing a claw out in front of them.
"Good work." Says Mukuro before turning on his heels, lifting his trident off of the ground and walking back the way they had come. Confused, Ken follows Mukuro. Mukuro looks over his shoulder and makes a shoo-ing motion "Go and get that worthless student of mine, and Chikusa too."
"Sure, byon" barks Ken before running on all fours back to where the others are. He is surprised when he finds them infront of him. They had only walked straight forwards, so they should still be behind him. "ooii, Mukuro-sama wants you. Get up before I eat your carrot nose" growls Ken bounding up to Flan.
"Be quiet yapping puppy" Says Flan finally turning over and sitting up. With a wave of his hand a carrot appears "I'm quite capable of doing it myself" he takes a bite of the carrot. "Let's go before I turn you into a dogsicle"
Flan stands up and walks back the way Ken had come, snow falling off of him with every movement he made. Chikusa takes a look at the two Flan sized dents in the snow, the first from where Ken pushed him in, and one along slightly where He had just pushed Flan in to confirm his suspicions. Them walking backwards confirmed his theory that they were going in circles.
They eventually catch up to Mukuro who is standing with arms crossed waiting for them.
"Oii~ Master, are we done walking in circles yet? Circles are boring we should at least walk in a more interesting shape, like a square, or maybe even a pineapple." Next comes the predictable trident stab "Ow, Master, that's not very nice."
"Oya, I thought that maybe your brain could do with some fresh air. Maybe then it'd work better." Mukuro remarks before pulling the trident out of the snowman hat. "Anyway, hurry up and start working"
"Mukuro-sama, what are we even supposed to be looking at, byon?" asks Ken, taking a look around them. There was nothing special about this spot, except it being near where he had first smelt the others.
"Kufufu~ That's simple Ken. This is the start of the circle" announces Mukuro, smug with his answer.
"I'm sorry to tell you this Master but circles don't have starts, nor ends. They wouldn't be circles otherwise. Unless you are denying this one it's existence." Inputs Flan, drawing a circle in the snow with his foot.
"I should deny you your existence" says Mukuro. "This is where the loop starts." Mukuro points to a line on the floor that just randomly starts. Looking up at the path, there is nothing different about it to what they had been walking in recently. "I had been drawing a line the whole time, yet this one just mysteriously starts here, away from where I had begun. Therefore being the starting point. Off you go Ken, start running"
Ken jumps and runs in the direction he is facing, which is the opposite way they had been walking. Surely he'd just end back up at the bottom of the mountain. However he's shocked when he returns to Mukuro and the others. "It really is a loop, byon!"
"So now we know where it begins, Flan and I can start to break it apart. So be quiet and let us concentrate." Ken and Chikusa nod and go to stand a few steps away from them.
"I hate to use this but…" mutters Mukuro before pulling out his mist ring and an indigo box. Lighting it, he summons the Snow Mist Owl that Chrome had kindly named Mukurowl. "Mukurowl, Cambio Forma" There is a bright flash of light before a monocle is resting over Mukuro's left eye "Daemon Spade's Devil Lens." With the lens now resting over his eye, he could see through the illusion surrounding them. Whilst both box and ring normally resided with Chrome, he had taken them from the girl before leaving. He wasn't going to fight the Vindice empty handed. She wouldn't need them whilst he was gone. And even if they were attacked, he suspected that Tsunayoshi would save her anyway with some silly line about protecting family. She still had her own illusions though and had been growing into a stronger soldier as time went on.
Now being able to see through the illusion, Mukuro starts working on diffusing it. He looks around himself and spots a dark shadow in the woods. "Kufufu~ I've got you now" All three wonder who on earth that statement is addressed at, unless Mukuro was joining Bel in his new obsession of talking to trees. Flan wondered why he stayed with these weirdoes. However all three blink at the scream that echoes around the empty forest, positive that none of them were the source. Mukuro twirls his trident and slams in onto the ground. Soon after a stranger runs out of the trees and into their sight, being chased by a dog that looked a lot like Cerberus. Flan joins in and illusions up a rope to trip the man up. It works and the man trips, rolling to a stop infront of Wolf Ken.
Ken growls dangerously low, his lips peeling back to reveal his fangs. "So you were the one stopping us getting to Shini-chan. You'll pay for that." Claws scratch across the man's torso, cutting through the many layers the man was wearing. Another swipe leaves Ken's claws dyed red.
"The Vindice told me to!" screams the man. Chikusa grabs his Yoyo and flicks it out, sending poisoned needles into the man's face, leaving Ken clear.
"Gyaaa! It's the abdominal Snowman! Don't eat me!" scream the illusionist, looking behind Ken and Chikusa. With fear powered strength he pushs Ken off and runs down the hill, away from the four of them, screaming about killer snowmen. Ken and Chikusa look behind them, only to see Flan, with specks of blood on his hat.
"What?" He asks, tilting his head. Shrugging his shoulders when he receives no reply, he turns to face forwards, stands straight and says "Forward March" before walking off like a soldier on parade. All three shake their heads at the childishness of their youngest member- who really is still a child. They all follow the boy who is singing some sort of song to himself, which sounded like a messed up version of 'We're off to see the Wizard'. Now there shouldn't be anything in their way.
Kaito, finally clued in on what he had missed (seems there was a reason for the mist Flame being larger then the rest), stands in the centre of the cave, his arm stretched out infront of him, a white Flame burning on his ring. Slowly he turns around in a circle, watching the ring intently. At one point, the flame changes to a vivid flaring indigo.
"I know you are there! Show yourself" he orders. Someone else was in here, an illusionist judging by the flame colour. When no one is forthcoming, Kaito brings out the Card Gun and aims it in the same direction his ring is pointing in. Still no person. Kaito brings the gun back to him and within a second had changed the ammo inside the card gun. "Storm Card!" The card zooms out of the gun and explodes releasing its light. Kaito briefly sees a shadow on the wall. When the light disappears, Kaito can see a few small drops of blood floating in the air, moving off to his right. Swapping ammo, he places in a new card and aims for the spot of blood he can se. "Rain Card!" the card hits the invisible target and the blue smoke is released. A few seconds later a body falls to his feel, fast asleep. With a click of his fingers the man is tied up.
Hoping that that was enough, Kaito packs up his stuff and starts walking back into the snow. On and on he keeps walking, nothing seemingly different from before. Just as he's going to give up and turn back to deal with the illusionist further, the walls separate and the snow stops falling. He walks through a small grove of trees and eventually comes out into a clearing. He looks to his right and sees burning black Flames and massive wooden doors. Somehow he knew he had found it: Vendicare
Hearing voices and the shuffling of trees, Kaito looks up, his gun ready to attack whoever was going to stop him from seeing Shinichi.
"Oh, it's you"
Hopefully you liked that small insight into Shinichi's life so far, not that there was alot of it, but he's coming back next chapter possibly, if not then the one after that. It depends on how much I write next chapter.
See you all next time!
Phantom Hitman 1412
First Published: 04 July 2012