Disclaimer: I don't own DCMK
A Curse Marked Fate
38: Crackle and Ash
Kaito could honestly say that this was the most nerve-wracking day he had ever had in his entire life. Nerves weren't something he typically had much trouble with. Aoko would say this was because he was too full of himself. Her new beau would probably say it was because he had a screw loose. But personally, Kaito would say that it was simply that he didn't believe in being nervous. It was counterproductive and a waste of energy better spent on pursuing success.
Of course, that wasn't to say he was immune to being nervous. He was human after all. But he was better than most at not letting such trifles slow him down.
If pressed, Kaito could really only think of two instances in his life when he had been truly, honest to goodness nervous. The first would be earlier that day when he had told Shinichi how he felt. The second would be now.
Here he stood just outside the broken window to his father's workroom, wrapped in multiple layers of protective magic, with a team of firefighting mages and giving them directions on what sorts of spells had to be cast now and which they would have to cast later when he gave the word. They were the specialists, but he knew what they were dealing with here slightly better than they did, and so here he was in charge of an operation that, if executed incorrectly, could mean his father's death. This could be the last time he saw his father alive—but no, he wouldn't allow himself to think like that. Uncertainty led to hesitation, and hesitation here would mean failure.
Failure was not an option.
It was all going to be in the timing.
The fire everywhere else in the building had been put out. Even so, no one argued when he asked them to raise a dampening field around the entire building even though doing so took three times as long as if they had kept the field around the workroom. They had all seen how tenacious these explosive flames were, and none of them expected to be able to keep them completely contained once the stasis spell came down. The dampening field would, however, begin leaching energy from the flames the moment the stasis ended as well, thus reducing their strength.
"Well, we're ready," the lead firefighter announced, stepping up beside Kaito. "Are you?"
Kaito closed his eyes for a moment, emptying his mind of all distractions. When he opened them again, they were hard, sharp and clear. "I'm ready."
Kaito accepted the communication charm that the man handed to him and clipped it to the collar of his shirt.
"Right then. Everyone, start your spells but don't release them until Kuroba-kun gives the word."
A chorus of affirmatives came from the charm. Each voice, though different, was equally steady and alert, and Kaito felt a strange calm settling over him. He wrapped it around himself like a cloak. And it was as though the very world had come into focus.
He reached out and placed a hand on the invisible wall that marked the perimeter of the stasis field. He could feel the places where the Sky magic melded into another force he could sense but not 'see' or 'touch' the way he could the Sky magic, and he knew those were the pieces of the spell that had been woven by an Earth mage. He couldn't actually do anything with the Earth magic, but he could unravel the parts of the stasis that had been woven from Sky magic, and, once he did that, the whole thing would come apart in seconds.
"On the count of three," he told his team.
No one questioned him. They simply waited, shoulders tense, magic spinning between their hands.
"One," he said, and peeled away the first layer of his father's work. "Two," he said, and broke the nodes where the two types of magic were linked, and "Three".
It was, everyone who was there would later agree, a truly spectacular sight.
From being frozen in mid moment like an instant out of time, Kuroba Toichi's workroom started like a slow motion action sequence revving up to full speed. The flames moved slowly at first, but then they blew.
In a blinding instant of blue white radiance, a torrent of fire roared out from whatever device had served as its heart by the door and hurled itself towards its human prey.
But the five heavy duty shields the firefighters raised between the archmage and Aya were all already in place, and they too were steady and strong, bolstered by the strength of those who had made a career out of saving lives and the strength of a son who refused to let this be goodbye.
Three of the five shields shattered, but the last two remained, and by then the bulk of the torrent had splashed out and gone cascading in other directions down long hallways and into empty rooms.
What flames were left in the workroom were small but manageable.
And there, lying in the middle of the room in a soot-covered suit with blood trickling down his forehead was one Kuroba Toichi. He was curled protectively over the much smaller body of Aya, the girl who often manned the institute's reception desk, who's leg was clearly broken.
Toichi looked up just as Kaito started forward, and their eyes locked. The younger mage experienced a momentary shock as part of him had been thinking of his father as unconscious. Although, if he had thought of it, he should have known Toichi had to have been conscious to activate the stasis field. After that, he would literally have had no time to fall unconscious no matter how severe his injuries were.
There was a flicker of confusion in his father's eyes, but it cleared just as quickly as it came, and the man managed a smile.
"Well done," he rasped.
Kaito was by his side in an instant, helping him to shift aside and sit down as the paramedics descended on him and Aya. The young woman was unconscious, which was a blessing as none of them needed medical degrees to see that her injuries were bad.
"You need to go to the hospital," one of the paramedics informed Toichi in a tone that forbad argument. "No, don't move," he added sharply when the archmage made to rise. "We'll have a stretcher up here in a few minutes. We'll have to levitate you out the window though since they're still working on the fire in the hall."
"I really don't think—" Toichi started, but the paramedic cut him off with an impatient gesture.
"You have a concussion. You're not walking. And you, young man, I understand you're concern, but you're in the way. Please go outside and expand those Sky platforms of yours so we'll all have better footing."
Catching the amused gleam in his father's eyes, Kaito scowled but did as he was told.
He found Shinichi seated on one of the benches that stood at regular intervals around the Institute's parking lot and watching the firefighters resume their battle with the rejuvenated flames. He had apparently been told by everyone to stay out of the way. Since, to these people, he was merely a child who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, he complied. No point making their lives more complicated by reminding them that this was no ordinary case of arson. More had happened here than they had yet had time to discuss, but discuss it they would once everyone had been treated and made safe.
Lives came first. Life always came first.
"How is Toichi-san?" Shinichi asked, studying his friend with concern. He had never seen Kaito so visibly worn. It made something inside him ache. He wished he could do something to help.
Kaito cracked a weary smile and dropped onto the bench beside him. "Well, he's apparently feeling well enough to try and argue with the paramedics."
Shinichi looked dubious. "I…guess that's good…"
Kaito laughed. "I'd say so. Anyway, they're getting a stretcher up there for him now. Apparently he has a concussion. But they don't seem to think he's in any real danger."
"And Aya-san?"
The Sky Mage winced. "I'm not sure. They didn't say anything to me, but their expressions were all pretty grim, and they hustled her out of there super fast."
The two boys fell into a contemplative silence, their eyes fixed on firelight dancing in the Institute windows and the hovering mage lights that had been conjured all around the building and the parking lot to ensure that the firefighters and paramedics alike had clear visibility. By now, the police were on the scene too, but they paid the boys no more heed than anyone else.
Shinichi's small hand found its way to Kaito's much larger one in a silent offer of solidarity. Kaito turned his hand over and closed his fingers over the little detective's, a tired but genuine smile making its way onto his face. Noting that the hand in his was just a little chilly, he called up a small warming spell and wrapped it around the both of them. His energy reserves were running a bit low after combating those tenacious flames and dismantling the stasis field all while maintaining his numerous Sky platforms for the team, but he could spare a little more to help make this waiting just a little more bearable for them both.
It was the arrival of a paramedic that finally broke the silence. The woman came walking up to them with a clipboard under one arm and a sympathetic expression.
"Kuroba Kaito, correct?" she asked the older boy.
He nodded. "That's me."
"Right. Well, you can release your Sky platform spells now. They were a real help, and we all appreciated them. But we shouldn't need them anymore moving forward. And you seriously need to get some rest. From the looks of you, I'd say a magic booster wouldn't go amiss either."
"I was going to go to the hospital with my father," he said. "I could ask for one there, right?"
She smiled. "Yes you can. And you should. Kuroba-san's ambulance will be leaving in a few minutes. You can ride with it if you'd like if you stay quiet and out of the way."
"Can Conan come with me?" he asked, gesturing to Shinichi. "I can't leave him alone here."
"Oh. Of course," the woman said, probably assuming that they were brothers. "Just try not to get in anyone's way, all right?"
"I won't," Shinichi promised.
"In that case, you should get over to the ambulance now. It looks like they're about done loading him in."
Five minutes later, Kaito and Shinichi were sitting in an out of the way corner in the back of the ambulance with the detective on Kaito's lap as they watched the paramedics monitor their patient and murmur amongst themselves in words neither boy really understood.
"I need to call Mom," Kaito muttered, pulling his phone from somewhere. "She'll want to meet us at the hospital."
"And I should call Uncle and Ran," Shinichi said, noting the late hour on his watch. "Would you mind if I tell them what happened?"
"Go ahead. It'll be all over the news soon anyway. When they hear I was here, they'll know you were too. Better that they hear it from you."
TBC
A.N: I'm feeling better, though it's been a pretty stressful week for a variety of reasons. Anyway... Thank you for reading, and have a good week!