Disclaimer: I don't own DCMK


A Curse Marked Fate

39: Simmer

"Can you tell us what happened?" Inspector Megure asked of the man in the hospital bed. Though the initial call to the police had been to the arson department, a quick evaluation of the facts had had the case handed over to the homicide division. Now the portly police officer and two of his subordinates were seated in Kuroba Toichi's hospital room, faces grim and notebooks at the ready.

Kuroba Chikage was seated by her husband's bedside with one of his hands clasped in both of hers, her face pale but expression stoic. Kaito stood behind her. He had one hand resting on her shoulder in a silent show of support while the other remained clasped firmly around Shinichi's. With them stood Mouri Kogoro, looking every bit as serious as everyone else despite the beer stain on his shirt (Shinichi strongly suspected that the man had been taking the opportunity to guzzle down a less than advisable amount of beer while neither he nor Ran was home to stop him. But Shinichi's call had caught him before he'd actually been able to get drunk, probably saving him from Ran's wrath in addition to sparing his liver for another day. The irony of small blessings, he supposed. In truth, he was touched that the man had come all this way to check on him and the Kurobas. In some ways, Shinichi thought, Kogoro had started to feel more like a father to him than his own father did. The man might grumble and gripe, but he was there when it counted. What was family supposed to be, after all, but the people who were there for you and who you would do what you could to be there for? Ran would have come as well, but Kogoro had told her to stay with Sonoko for the night (which had been the wise thing to do. The lot of them barely fit into the room as it was).

"They were after our research," Toichi said, gaze steady. The archmage's eyes were the same indigo color as his son's and equally sharp despite the concussion the doctors were still watching out for. "More specifically, they were after my research on Curse nullification magic. That is why they targeted the data storage units and rooms with those flames."

"When you say they," the inspector began. "How many do you mean? Do you have a description for us? Maybe a face?"

"Wait, I think I need to start from the beginning." Toichi said, holding up the hand that was not being held by his wife and gesturing for them all to be quiet. "If I talk through the evening one step at a time, I may be able to remember more."

Megure drew in a deep breath then let it out in a expansive sigh. "You're right. Start at the beginning."

Toichi nodded and leaned back against his mound of hospital pillows as his eyes shut. He lay there like that for several long minutes until the police began to fidget. Naturally, that was when he began to speak.

"I was in my office, working late. Aya should have been the only other person in the building. She was at the front desk as usual. Probably working on one of her research proposals on the computer there. She told me she's got a new one just about ready to present. Anyway, I was going over some of the data I'd collected recently when I thought I heard something. I thought perhaps Aya was calling me, so I went to see what she needed. But when I reached the top of the stairs, I saw her lying at the bottom in a strange position. It looked like she'd fallen—maybe hit her head. So I rushed down to check on her. I was checking her pulse when something hit me from behind."

He winced at the memory, and Chikage's lips thinned. Her eyes glittered with a mixture of remembered dread and fury at those who had attacked her family. Toichi merely smiled and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

"I should have been more alert," he told them all, a hint of chagrin creeping into his face. "But alas, I let my guard down. All I was thinking about was getting medical assistance for Aya."

"That's only to be expected," said Takagi-keiji.

Chikage nodded. "You did what any decent person would do."

"And walked into a trap." Toichi let his breath out in a tired sigh. "They hit me pretty hard, but not hard enough it seems because I woke up again pretty quickly. But I pretended that I was still out cold. That's how I know they were looking specifically to burn my recent research on Curse nullification. I considered trying to stop them, but I didn't want to put Aya in any more danger. That, and I wasn't sure I wouldn't keel over if I tried to stand up too fast. It seemed safer to wait."

"I'd say that was wise," Megure grunted, and the other man nodded his ascent.

"There were at least three of them," Toichi continued. "Two men and a woman, though there may have been others who didn't speak. I heard them smashing and tearing things up, and I think they burned some of the loose documents on the spot. I assume they wanted to be thorough with the records they wanted erased. Then they set up these amulets. I guessed that they were explosives. I was right." He winced and raised a hand to his bandaged head then lowered it again, grimacing. "They dragged me and Aya into my workroom before they set their bombs. From the way they were talking about timing and activations, I knew they'd only be able to detonate one at a time. Considering their priorities, I assumed they would start with the data, and they would have to wait at least until they'd cleared the area themselves. I believed—hoped—that it would be enough time. So I got that stasis canister ready and waited until I heard them leaving. I got the stasis up just in time. Or rather I realized I was in time when I saw Kaito."

The two Kuroba men's eyes met, and the pride and gratitude in the elder's eyes brought about what was possibly the first ever instance in Kuroba history that Kuroba Kaito felt embarrassed.

"Thank you, Kaito," Toichi said, firm and full of warm sincerity and the pride of a father who had seen that his son was no longer a child.

"The firefighters were a big help," Kaito replied, but he was grinning as he said it.

The moment was broken by Satou-keiji as she cleared her throat and asked, "Toichi-san, we would like your permission to look through the Institute's security footage and examine the security systems. We can get a warrant if you would prefer, but that might take some time. It would be easier all around if you gave us permission. Maybe worked with us to see what went wrong."

Toichi sighed. "You have my permission. If the hospital will let me go, I'd be more than happy to show you everything myself. Trust me when I say that I want to know how they got in without triggering any of our alarms every bit as much as you do."

X

Eons later, Kogoro, Shinichi and Kaito traipsed through the doors to the Mouri Detective Agency in a weary yet pensive silence. Kuroba Chikage had been given permission to stay with her husband at the hospital, but the room had been too small to fit yet another cot for Kaito. And even if it hadn't been, Kaito very much did not want to spend the rest of the night listening to his parents being all sappy together. He didn't feel the need to hover over them now that he knew for certain that his father would be all right. His parents, however, had voiced concerns that whoever had attacked the Institute might also make an attempt on Toichi's home office. The existence of said office was not widely known, but there was no point in taking unnecessary risks. So they had asked Kogoro if Kaito could stay with the Mouris for now, and Kogoro had agreed.

So the two detectives and Kaito had swung by the Kuroba residence so that Kaito could pack an overnight bag, feed and water his and his father's sizeable flock of pet doves, and make sure that their home security was fully engaged. Shinichi suspected that Kaito had also left several nasty booby-traps for any potential intruders, but he decided not to comment. Now they were home, and it felt like it had been years since they'd left that warm and tranquil morning.

How fast things could change.

Though Ran wasn't home, it was generally agreed that it wouldn't be entirely appropriate for Kaito to sleep in her room, especially without asking (and it was too late to call and ask). So Kogoro unearthed a spare futon from the closet, and they unrolled it on the floor of Shinichi's room as they took turns showering. The hot water went a long way in washing away both the smell of smoke and the sense of unreality that had been clinging to them since that first explosion. Afterward, warmed by the shower and dressed in clean pajamas, Kaito and Shinichi lay on their respective beds and stared at the shadows on the ceiling.

The numbers on Shinichi's bedside clock blinked silently from one to the next, counting up the seconds and minutes.

"Shinichi?" Kaito whispered into the dark.

The small figure on the bed stirred and turned over. Then there was a pair of blue eyes, brilliant even in this gloom, looking over the edge of the bed and down at him where he had his arms folded behind his head on the futon.

"Can't sleep?" Shinichi asked softly.

"I keep seeing that fire when I close my eyes," Kaito admitted. He sat up then, indigo eyes aglow in the dark as he gazed at some distant point only he could see. "I imagine how it would have been different if Dad hadn't acted as fast as he had. If he hadn't had the right tools on hand…"

"There's no point in what ifs," Shinichi said quietly, sharing a truth that he too had struggled to learn. "What's done is done. And Toichi-san and Aya-san are both alive and projected to have full recoveries."

"That's true." Kaito's lips curled into a smile then, but Shinichi couldn't help but notice that the smile didn't reach his eyes.

Predator's eyes.

"Kai," he said, hands twisting anxiously into the sheets under his blanket as he looked at that almost feral light in his best friend's eyes. "What are you thinking?"

It was a long moment before Kaito answered. In the silence, Shinichi felt his heart rate picking up as a chill he couldn't explain raced up his spine. Then those piercing, indigo eyes locked onto his, and his breath caught in his throat. He couldn't move. It was as though the very intensity of that stare was a spell holding him captive.

"I'm going to find them," the Sky Mage said, and there was only certainty in his voice. It wasn't a decision. It was a vow. "And I'm going to make them pay."

Concern growing, Shinichi sat up and moved to sit on the edge of his bed facing the mage.

"Kai," he started then stopped, not sure how to proceed. There were a hundred things he wanted to say, but none of them seemed quite right. It wasn't like he couldn't understand where Kaito was coming from. But some paths were dangerous. Vengeance in particular was a slippery slope that rarely led anywhere worth going.

Indigo eyes met his, and he thought—hoped—that perhaps they saw some of what he was thinking because they softened, and a bit of the ice melted out of them.

"I won't do anything stupid," Kaito promised, lips quirking into a wry smile. "But I can't sit on my hands."

"I know," Shinichi said. And truly, it was a feeling he knew all too well himself. "I'll help."

Kaito's eyes softened. This time when he smiled, it was genuine. "Thanks." He drew in a deep breath then let it out slowly before lying back down. "We better get some sleep. We have a lot to do tomorrow."


TBC