Chapter next one!
Yaaaaaaaaaay! It's time for the heist! . EXCITINGGGG! I NEED TO START UPDATING SO BAD SORRY I JUST STARTED COLLEGE AHHH
Inhale, exhale...
This was the mantra that Shinichi repeated in his head that night as he prepared for the Kid heist. He straightened his shirt again, then glanced at his watch. He had been ready for two hours but it wasn't yet time to leave.
He had done his research on the Kid heist—what he was stealing, where it would take place, what the police had in store. All he really needed, however, was the courage to actually look at Kaito and talk to him. He planned to chase him as far as he could and if they were ever alone he'd ask him the questions that he had prepared. He needed to know the truth.
He exhaled again shakily; it was finally time to go.
"Oh, it's Kudou-kun!" Nakamori called when Shinichi arrived. "You haven't been in touch with us; I thought you wouldn't be coming to this heist!"
"Oh, well...I just thought I'd make it a surprise," Shinichi said with a shrug. He looked around the building, scanning the defenses and the layout.
"So what do you think his strategy is tonight?" Nakamori asked quietly. Apparently, he had no clue what was going on.
Distractedly, Shinichi answered, "He'll undoubtedly come straight in the front door and leave through the roof. Look, you've got backup lights if he turns them all off, but your backup lights are still hooked onto a generator that he could sabotage so that's useless. Your flashlights may be battery-powered but they aren't very bright..it didn't work too well last time. And...it's almost time, so get ready."
Nakamori's face reddened and he twitched with anger. Cheeky brat, telling him everything he was doing wrong. But right on cue, the lights turned out. The backup lights didn't work, and the flashlights illuminated little other than the direct vicinity of their respective policemen. The taskforce bustled about and shouted at each other, searching for Kid. But Shinichi did nothing of this sort. He simply walked toward the stairs, trying to avoid others in the ruckus. He breathed evenly, trying to assuage his tingling nerves. He knew Kaito would eventually end up on the rooftop, so that was where he headed.
–
Kaito practiced his poker face once more. After Shinichi had left, Kaito almost had to start over completely. He could barely smile, let alone stay strong enough not to break down. The pain was overwhelming, but he knew it was his own fault. He was the liar.
This was it: the first heist since the disastrous one. Maybe he could do it, maybe he couldn't. But he sure as hell was going to try. He didn't expect Shinichi to be there since he seemed to want nothing to do with Kaito anymore—Kaito had a flashback of Shinichi clutching that other guy's arm, running away...
Sure, this wouldn't be as fun without Tantei-kun, but it would be bearable. And it helped him revert back to normalcy. So he put his poker face on, kept it there the best he could, and then it started.
After the lights blacked out, Kaito draped a black tarp on himself and shuffled quietly through the front door of the building. Past all the mayhem of guards and policemen with their straying flashlights, he slipped inside. Once he was in the correct room, his heart racing, he positioned himself in the very middle and looked at his glowing watch in the gloom. Three...two...one!
He flung his tarp off of his head just as the lights turned back on. Smiling around at the gaping taskforce he said, "Hello everyone! Thank you all for coming here tonight! I'd just like to say that—" He stopped as something caught his eye. Near the stairs to the roof stood a wide-eyed detective with a frenzied expression. It was the first time in a long while that Kaito had seen this person.
"Shinichi," he breathed. Could it really be him? He had really come to the heist? Perhaps he didn't want nothing to do with him...Perhaps he was better now...Regardless of what was happening, the rest of the officers were looking quizzical and Shinichi had finally broken out of his shock and begun to run up the stairs. So Kaito remembered that he had to finish the act.
"There's no time for games anymore, gentlemen," Kaito said with a smirk and set off a bomb—not his original plan, but there was a more pressing issue to attend to. He quickly picked the lock of the box in which the gem was hidden, took it, and followed his tantei-kun up the stairs.
–
Shinichi sat down on the rooftop; if he had stayed standing he knew his legs would give out and he'd fall on his face. Kaito had looked straight at him and said his name. This sent both butterflies and tremors of fright through his body. He didn't know whether to smile or cry. All he could do was wait.
He looked around the bare roof: no police. It just figured that Kid would have dealt with these guards ahead of time, some way or another. Probably used his natural voice-changing talent to instruct them, as Nakamori, to go somewhere else. In the midst of thought, Shinichi heard fast-approaching footsteps. He didn't turn around to the open door of the rooftop to see who it was, even when they didn't slow down.
Finally Kaito was directly behind him. "Shinichi," was all he said—was probably all he could say. But Shinichi couldn't respond. He had so much to say but he didn't know how. He stood up and faced Kaito with sad eyes.
"Take me somewhere," he demanded emotionlessly.
Kaito raised his eyebrows and then obliged, securing Shinichi to him and getting ready to glide away.
The boys didn't speak while they flew over the city. They simply watched the scenery as they traveled. After a while, Kaito slowed and angled the glider down. He touched down on the ground and released Shinichi. They found themselves in the park where their friends had set them up on their first date. The fountain wasn't bubbling as it usually would; it must have been turned off for the night. The stagnant water inside of the fountain reflected the bright moon above.
Shinichi sat down on the fountain's edge and sighed, looking up at Kaito in the dim. Kaito stared straight back at him, his face hopeful.
"Don't get the wrong idea. I have a few questions I want to ask you."
Kaito swallowed and walked over to sit next to Shinichi. "Oh. Okay...I'm ready."
Shinichi's nerves shot up again at both the prospect of asking Kaito his questions and because the thief had decided to sit very close to him. Where to begin?
He turned to Kaito's expectant face. "What is Pandora?" Kaito's eyes widened.
"What? You know about Pandora?"
Shinichi was surprised at this reaction. He wondered even further what this was about... "No. I don't. That's why I'm asking. What is it?"
"It's the gem I'm looking for," Kaito answered in a whisper, eyes not leaving Shinichi's for a moment. He wove a tale of his father and the gem and the evil men pursuing him. Shinichi was shocked at all this new information; he nodded, listening intently, almost forgetting that Kaito was indeed a criminal.
Kaito took a deep breath at the end and nodded. "Well, that's Pandora. Other questions?"
Shinichi thought for a few moments. "No, you actually answered them in that..."
"Oh," Kaito smiled slightly. "Does that mean it's...better?"
"What?" Shinichi stood quickly. He had allowed himself to relax and become reattached to the criminal. He couldn't do that anymore. "No. Look, you just...you aren't who I thought you were. You still lied and nothing will change that."
"Shinichi!" Kaito said, standing up as well and drawing closer to him. Shinichi backed up, shaking his head.
"No. This doesn't make things different between us. I just needed to know the truth. As a detective, that's my job. Curiosity overcomes pretty much anything. I can't stay here any longer with you...Good-bye."
Shinichi turned to leave, trying hard to ignore the pained face of Kaito. Trying hard to ignore the impulse to run back and grab Kaito, kiss him hard and stay. So he walked faster and faster until he was almost out of the park...
And then he heard a gunshot.
I know it's a crazy cliffhanger. Ha! I love doing this to people. I'm an awful person.