Disclaimer: I don't own DCMK
A Curse Marked Fate
45: Dive
"All right," Kaito said quickly, all traces of the good-natured joker gone to be replaced by a hard, focused man who knew he had a job to do and was going to do it right.
"I can cloak us from the type of security cameras they're using. I checked. The lady was right about what they'd be, and they don't seem to have made any upgrades. So as long as we don't bump into anything or anyone, we should be able to move around undetected. But I suggest we avail ourselves of the facilities first. We wouldn't want to have to backtrack to answer the call of nature."
Shinichi snorted at that, but it was a sensible suggestion.
A few minutes later, they'd both donned gloves, and Kaito finished tracing a last rune in the air over Shinichi's head then tapped him on the forehead. Shinichi shivered as, for an instant, he felt as though he was standing in a feather light drizzle. Then the sensation passed, leaving behind it a slight tingle on his skin. Looking down at his hands, he almost expected to find them wet. Instead, he saw nothing at all—or no, there was something. It was the faintest of outlines in the air. The longer he looked at them, the more he began to be able to make out his own hands again. Then he flexed his fingers, and, for the briefest of instances, he could see himself clearly before the clarity faded once again.
When he looked up, it was to find that Kaito's entire person was similarly flickering in and out of sight like an image on a faulty television screen.
"Are you sure no one's going to see us?" he couldn't help but ask.
"Positive," Kaito replied, tone brimming with his usual confidence. "We can see each other because we're wrapped in the same spell. It won't keep people from touching us though—or hearing us for that matter. So we still have to be careful. Are you ready?"
Shinichi took in a deep breath then let it out again and squared his shoulders. "I am."
Taking a few steps off the ground, Kaito fiddled with the bathroom vent cover for a moment before silently removing it, revealing a space barely large enough for Shinichi's diminutive frame. Setting the cover aside, he held a hand down to Shinichi.
"Remember, if anything seems out of place or you don't find the right door, text me right away and come back here, all right?" Kaito caught his gaze and held it, expression deadly serious. "I'll do the same if anything goes pear shaped on my end. If worst comes to worst, just do whatever you can to get out of the building and contact the professor."
"I promise," Shinichi said. "But you have to promise too."
"Deal." Kaito leaned forward almost instinctively, caught himself, and drew back and grinned, and the expression was all feral excitement and the thrill of the hunt. "See you soon then."
The vent cover closed behind Shinichi, taking the light with it. He stayed where he was for a long moment, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the dark and listening to Kaito making enough noise down in the bathroom for two boys finishing up their business.
He knew that Kaito would be sending illusions of himself and Conan out to the lobby soon. He would have to follow and watch to make sure the illusions didn't walk through anyone or anything, but he had endowed the images with just the right distribution of heat signals that they would register as warm bodies to the heat sensors at the front doors. Illusion Kaito could take a moment to study the promotional pamphlets and magazines in the waiting area while his little brother kicked his heels, looking bored. Then, next time someone opened the lobby doors, illusion Kaito would decide it was time for him and his little brother to leave and head over to the park they'd heard such nice things about.
Later, when Agasa came this way, he would already have been told that his sons had gone to the park, and he too would leave in that direction.
And that would be the story of the Edogawa family's first visit to the Choice Foundation.
Back in the air ducts, Shinichi opened his eyes and turned on the tiny flashlight that Agasa had built into his watch for him. The light wasn't bright enough to catch anyone's attention during the day, but he had to be careful not to let it be seen in any dark halls below.
Ai had provided them with a detailed map of both the main and sub buildings' structures. These included their ventilation shafts. Following her directions, Shinichi inched his way through seemingly endless passages and saw numerous other grates leading down into a variety of other spaces, most of which he had little time to study.
His goal was a particular door that, according to Shiho, separated the more public areas of the building from the more private, administrative wing. Of course, that would only be the beginning. Their real goal was the offices of the Foundation's financial department, which was fortunately not considered top secret and therefore had not warranted a space in what Shiho had assured them was an mad-scientist level underground lab.
Shinichi counted branching paths under his breath, following the instructions Shiho had drilled into him to the letter (she had memorized the vent systems in all their buildings when she had been planning her own escape. They would never accommodate even a young teen, but very small children did have certain advantages when it came to getting in and out of places). In the gloom, it was difficult to keep track of the time, and Shinichi caught himself wondering just how long he had been inching his way through these cramped spaces. Had Kaito finished his trick with the illusions? Maybe he'd even already gotten to the dividing door and was wondering why Shinichi wasn't there yet.
Kaito…
Thinking of the magician recently always made Shinichi's stomach flutter in a most disconcerting way. He could remember all too well the feel of Kaito's calloused hands holding his and the warmth that had shone in his eyes that day what felt now like eons ago at Beika Park. It was a moment that Shinichi knew he would never forget—a moment he would treasure for the rest of his life.
Looking back, he realized that some part of him had known that his feelings for Kaito weren't entirely platonic for quite some time now, but he'd never allowed himself to see it—hadn't dared let himself see it. In truth, some part of him still felt that it would be irresponsible of him to even consider getting involved with anyone. At the same time, he couldn't help but wish…
But now was not the time for such thoughts, he reminded himself hastily. They had work to do—work that would require all their attention if they didn't want to get caught. And he very much did not want to get caught. He was already less than comfortable with the idea that they would be breaking in to steal the Foundation's financial records. It helped a little that nonprofit records were supposed to be public, but they were still going rather a lot beyond what was legal, which was going to complicate how they communicated anything they found to the police. It was making him jumpy, and jumpy people made mistakes.
Pausing for a moment where he was, he closed his eyes and inhaled then exhaled, forcing himself to calm. When he felt fully composed, he peered down through the vent that should be situated at the back of a small room of refreshments just inside the dividing doors.
Seeing no one in the room, Shinichi removed the vent cover and lowered himself down until his feet touched the counter by the sink. Then he tugged the vent cover back into place and hopped to the floor as silently as he could.
Peering out into the hall, he saw no one in any direction. "Only rows of closed doors and an empty seating area that appeared to have been placed there for its aesthetic appeal as opposed to its use.
Assured that he was, for now, alone, Shinichi tiptoed to the door and eased it slowly open just a crack.
This door required both a key code and a hand scan to open from the outside, but, for reasons such as fire safety, neither were necessary to open it from the inside. Which, naturally, had been the reason for his air vent adventure. Now he held the door open and peered out into the corridor beyond, searching for signs of Kaito.
He saw nothing, but Kaito's voice spoke up from just above his head.
"I'm here," the Sky Mage told him. "And the professor's gone home. Everything's going according to plan."
Despite the numerous tests they had run with assorted cameras and Kaito's cloaking spell back at the professor's, making their way through the Foundation's inner sanctum was nerve-wracking in the extreme. Every time they heard voices or footsteps, they would flatten themselves against the nearest wall and hold perfectly still until they were sure that the coast was clear. The Foundation owners' taste for luxury was certainly a good thing in that regard as their spacious halls left plenty of room for everyone traversing their grounds. It was also quite fortunate that the number of people working in these halls at present was apparently quite small. The boys passed only a dozen on their way to the finance department's offices.
Granted, every encounter was an ordeal all its own that left Shinichi's heart racing. He had to remind himself to breathe slowly and quietly and not to try holding his breath until his head started spinning from lack of oxygen.
Every last man and woman they passed walked right by them without a second glance.
By the fourth, Kaito was grinning like a maniac. He even stuck his tongue out at the next person to cross their paths, and it was all Shinichi could do not to smack himself in the forehead. Seriously, some people…!
But then, with an abruptness that was almost a physical shock, the door was there.
It had "Yamaguchi" embossed on the plaque beside it. According to Ai, this man was the head of the Foundation's financial department, and this was his office.
She had also assured them that the man was never in his office on weekends because he enjoyed golfing and fishing to working on weekends. His door would be locked, of course, but Shiho had known the spells he used, and Kaito had known the counter spells to those spells.
He applied them now, and the door swung open on silent, well-oiled hinges.
The two boys glanced quickly up and down the hall to make sure no one would see the door opening and closing on its own then ducked inside the office and shut the door behind them.
It was only then that they allowed themselves a moment of relief.
Shinichi waited by the door, eyes closed and catching his breath as he listened hard for any suspicious sounds that might indicate that someone was coming. Hearing nothing, he opened his eyes to watch as Kaito cast some kind of obfuscation charm on the room's one security camera so that it would continue to show an unchanging space then followed it with a silencing spell cast on the entire room. That done, he added a third spell that would keep any light they turned on from being seen outside. That way, they wouldn't draw the attention of any passersby who might wonder why there was a light in the office of the man who was never here on weekends.
Finally, with all their precaution measures in place, Kaito allowed himself a grin.
"Oh yeah, I rock!" he declared, rubbing his hands together and grinning gleefully. "Say hello to Kuroba Kaito, Master Phantom Thief!"
"You can praise yourself after we finish what we came to do and get out of here," Shinichi said dryly, though the corners of his lips twitched.
Carefully, he extracted the miniature drive that Ai had hidden inside the buckle of his belt and moved towards the computer.
Using her extensive knowledge of the Foundation's systems, Shiho had built and programmed the device to automatically access and copy as much data as possible from whichever Foundation computer they plugged it into. She'd named it the Vampire (Shinichi hadn't been able to tell when she had introduced the device whether she meant the name to be funny or not). All they had to do was insert the device and turn on the power. Her device was supposed to do the rest.
Or at least that was the idea if everything went according to plan. They would know once they started the machines running.
"And so now we go right back to waiting," Kaito murmured under his breath as he watched the computer screen blink on and lines of code immediately begin scrolling by faster than the eye could track. When no alarms went off, and the machine didn't freeze up, they both let out breaths of relief. It was working. "I was kind of expecting this to be harder."
"Don't jinx it," Shinichi shot back. "It's not over until we get back home safe."
"I didn't think you'd be the sort who believed in jinxes," Kaito remarked, flashing him a grin.
Shinichi only rolled his eyes. "With my life, I can't afford not to."
Kaito's grin faded. "Yeah, I guess you have a point." Leaning back in the office's extremely comfy desk chair, Kaito folded his arms behind his head and gazed contemplatively up at the ceiling. "So what do you think?"
Shinichi's brows furrowed in confusion. "About what?"
"All of this," Kaito replied, unfolding one arm to wave at the room at large. "You had that funny look on your face earlier. We couldn't talk then, but we can now. So what's up?"
Shinichi sighed, letting his head fall back against the office door and closing his eyes. "I was just…lamenting, I guess. I mean, everything they told us that they do here—their programs, the philosophy… It just seems… I don't know, like, if only they'd meant it, you know?"
Kaito's expression grew somber, and he nodded slowly. "It was quite the sales pitch."
Shinichi snorted. "I couldn't help but wonder what I'd have thought if my parents had brought me here when I was little—or even if I'd decided to visit them before I learned what their real goals are. I…think I might have been tempted to try working with them."
"That's understandable," the Sky Mage said softly. "What would there have been to lose, right? I'm sure that's what a lot of people would think. And I'd say they'd even be right. They were clearly a godsend for Miss Suki and her Touya."
"She really believes in them and their mission," the little detective murmured, gaze distant. "It's all just so…"
"A crying shame?" Kaito suggested.
Shinichi grimaced. "Yeah."
Swiveling the desk chair around to face Shinichi, Kaito leaned forward to prop his elbows on his knees. He caught the younger boy's gaze, his own eyes soft with understanding. "You know, just because there are some people up top around here who have ulterior motives and nasty agendas doesn't mean that the whole organization is rotten. Whether they care or not, they've actually done some good, and I'd say that that good is here to stay. And it's here to spread. Just look at Suki-san. I agree with you. She really believes in their mission. For her, that is the mission, and I think she—and people like her—are going to continue working towards that mission even if we reveal that some of the Founders weren't being honest about whose best interests they were serving. You don't have to worry that we'll be taking these opportunities away from other Marked children by dragging these people out into the open. We'll just be taking out the trash. Then, with a little change in management, I'll bet this place could be even better than it is now."
"Better how?" Shinichi asked, intrigued and also quietly relieved that Kaito had understood the fear he hadn't wished to voice lest it invite disaster.
"Well, I feel like they ought to start an outreach program. The reason there's still so much unease and so many misconceptions about Curse Marks is because no one who actually knows something likes to talk about them, and everyone who does want to talk spends their time spreading baseless urban myths and things they heard from a friend of a friend who knew someone. Classic rumor mill—all sensation and no facts, and certainly no consideration for the actual people. They could offer a class at local schools that go over what Curse Marks are and that sort of thing."
Shinichi blinked. "That…might not be a bad idea."
Kaito preened. "You see? My point is, there are passionate people here who believe in the mission. So we just do our job and make sure they don't have backstabbing, power-hungry vultures undermining their work."
And on that rousing declaration, the computer beeped.
Both boys turned towards the screen, which now showed a green progress bar and a one hundred percent mark.
"Perfect." Grinning, Kaito waited as per Ai's instructions until the machine's screen linked off and its internal whirring stopped. Then he unplugged Shiho's data vampire and helped Shinichi click it back into its hiding spot inside his belt buckle.
They were retracing their steps towards the public sector of the building when they finally hit their first real snag (and yes, Shinichi had sort of been expecting their luck to run out sooner or later, but that didn't mean it wasn't still an unpleasant shock).
It started with the sound of voices and two pairs of feet.
The two boys immediately moved to the side of the hall as they had grown accustomed to doing at signs of approaching people. An instant later, a man and a woman rounded the far corner of the hall. The woman kept walking as everyone else they had encountered thus far had done, still talking about some kind of upcoming board meeting, but the man with her stopped in his tracks, eyes narrowing and shoulders going stiff.
"You two! Who are you and how did you get in here?"
TBC
