Detective Conan - Hanging By a Thread
This was not normal. Granted, anything having to do with the Kaitou Kid would never be normal, but this was worse than usual. He'd known the heist note was a fake. Everything about it had been spot on. Everything. And yet every single nerve in his entire body had started flashing the DANGER sign the first time he'd read it. This wasn't Kid. He knew it wasn't, but he still had to act like it was. The orders had been given, the Task Force assembled, the usual hoopla with both the brass and the press had been dealt with; and now here he was, hanging upside down from the ceiling - along with the rest of his Task Force and that brat Hakuba -, wondering who the hell Kid had pissed off this time. And ontop - HA HA - of all of that, there'd been zero sightings of the real Kid.
The thief was late. Very late.
He was not worried. Nakamori Ginzo did not worry about that aggravating twit of a criminal. Not ever. So where the hell was he? He always showed up to give hell to anyone who dared to try and steal his limelight. He was an infuriatingly punctual bastard too. What the hell could possibly hold him up? Nothing had managed to impede him before. This was... "This is completely stupid," Nakamori growled out. "We are not going to be able to do anything while we're hanging from the ceiling; and waiting for Kid to show up and get us down is ridiculous. Anyone have any ideas yet?"
"I've got one arm free, sir. I could try bending up and cutting myself loose."
"Don't bother," Hakuba said blandly, "This webbing is military issue. It'll take a lot more than a knife to cut through it."
Military? Nakamori twisted his head to the left and gave the detective a long hard look. Hakuba gravely returned the look for several seconds, then closed his eyes and shook his head. He didn't know what was going on, but it was not looking good to him either. Shit! What the hell had Kid gotten into this time? The thief wasn't fool enough to get involved with the type of people who could get their paws on military grade crap. But that didn't mean he couldn't piss them off, something he was quite good at. They had to get down - now - before something else-
His thoughts stalled out as Nakamori caught the sight of motion out of the corner of his eye. One of the side doors on the bottom floor was slowly being pushed open. Well, finally someone was showing up. Now who could- A familiar shock of messy brown hair cautiously peeked out of the door and suddenly Nakamori didn't know what to think anymore. What was he doing here?! "Kaito-kun!"
The boy craned his head back, surveying all of the trussed up Task Force members with a critical eye before pushing his way into the room. Nakamori sucked in a sharp breath even as Hakuba's shocked voice rang out. "Kuroba! What the hell happened to you?" The kid looked like hell. The clothes on his left side were torn, mangled and charred. His face was half smeared with what looked like blood and ash and he was limping. That was disturbing. Even when he'd managed to break a leg as a little kid he'd somehow managed to walk around as smoothly as anybody else. Hadn't slowed him down any either. What in the world could have happened?
Kaito flashed a grin as he reached down and dug something out of his pants pocket. "Bomb," he explained simply as he flipped his phone open and answered whoever was on the other end. "Hi there. How are you?"
Nakamori stared down at the boy he'd watched grow up with Aoko and felt the world bottom out underneath him. What the hell could Kaito of all people get into that would result in a bombing? The only trouble the brat got into was with his teachers and him for his stupid - but harmless - pranks. The most dangerous thing he'd ever done was flip Aoko's skirt in his presence, and that had been awhile back.
"What am I doing?" Kaito chirped cheerfully, it sounded fake and horrible and Nakamori just wanted to shake the boy for pretending - badly - to be all right. "Well, right now I'm looking up at the Kaitou Kid Task Force who are strung up along the ceiling like Christmas decorations." Who the hell was he talking to?
"There's one at each site?" Wait a minute. He sounded worried now. "Of course there is. Good to know, let's see if I can find it." Kaito shifted, a somber frown on his face as he glanced around. "Can any of you see anything up there? Anything that looks out of place." Nakamori continued to stare down at the boy, his guts twisting up at Kaito's extremely abnormal behavior. What the hell was going on here?
"What are we looking for?" Hakuba asked sharply in the charged silence that followed. At least the self-proclaimed detective was keeping it together, because Nakamori sure as hell didn't know how to deal with the neighbor's kid looking and acting like that. What the hell was he doing here? Why wasn't he at the hospital? He certainly needed one if his appearance was anything to go by. Sure, he could've probably whipped up a disguise that looked as realistic as that, but he wasn't enough of a jerk to play a prank like that on anybody. He really needed to see a doctor. Mind instantly made up, Nakamori opened his mouth to yell at the kid to call an ambulance already and get his butt out of there. Unfortunately, Kaito's next words stole the breath out of him.
"Anything that looks like it might blow up."
A bomb. Goddamnit.
"Second floor balcony, there's a brown package next to one of the potted plants," Hakuba said solemnly after doing a quick search of the room from above. "What's going on, Kuroba?"
"Ah, it seems certain people have decided to cut their losses," Kaito replied airily as walked over and then carefully made his way up the stairs. "Nothing to worry about." His voice trailed off as he kneeled down next to the package, nodding after a moment at what he saw.
Hakuba narrowed his eyes. "Wait for the bomb squad, you fool."
"I would if I could," Kaito shook his head, shouldering his phone as he reached down and fiddled with something they couldn't see. "But I'm afraid there's no one else. They're all busy trying to keep Beika from getting wiped off the face of the map. We can't wait for them." Bending his head down further to the phone, he whispered almost inaudibly, "What do I do?"
"What the hell, Kuroba?"
"Like I told you, they're cutting their losses. These type of people, they... arrange accidents... along with other nasty sorts of things. We're just loose ends, really, but they don't want to leave anything to chance." Kaito shrugged as he did sometbing to the package. "Don't worry, I have help. He knows what he's doing. I'm just following along."
Nakamori just hung there, silently watching as the boy worked on saving all of their lives. He'd never been the quiet type - didn't have much use for that sort of thing - but at this very moment he had no idea what to say. Accidents, huh? That made a sick sort of sense. He'd always wondered, but the official investigation had said otherwise. The findings had been conclusive, and he always endeavored to trust in his fellow officers to be honest - it wasn't easy. Still, he'd known something was... off. He'd just never pursued it, never had the time - never made the time. Maybe he should have, because apparently his lack - along with everyone else's - had fallen onto the son's shoulders without him even realizing it. Why hadn't he noticed? Damnit. Kids were supposed to be kids. They weren't supposed to get involved in bullshit that had bombs attached to it.
And where the hell was Kid? He'd rather have that psychotic moron bailing them out and Kaito's ass hauled down to the hospital than this. Anything but this.
The thief was late. Very late.
He was not worried. Nakamori Ginzo did not worry about that aggravating twit of a criminal. Not ever. So where the hell was he? He always showed up to give hell to anyone who dared to try and steal his limelight. He was an infuriatingly punctual bastard too. What the hell could possibly hold him up? Nothing had managed to impede him before. This was... "This is completely stupid," Nakamori growled out. "We are not going to be able to do anything while we're hanging from the ceiling; and waiting for Kid to show up and get us down is ridiculous. Anyone have any ideas yet?"
"I've got one arm free, sir. I could try bending up and cutting myself loose."
"Don't bother," Hakuba said blandly, "This webbing is military issue. It'll take a lot more than a knife to cut through it."
Military? Nakamori twisted his head to the left and gave the detective a long hard look. Hakuba gravely returned the look for several seconds, then closed his eyes and shook his head. He didn't know what was going on, but it was not looking good to him either. Shit! What the hell had Kid gotten into this time? The thief wasn't fool enough to get involved with the type of people who could get their paws on military grade crap. But that didn't mean he couldn't piss them off, something he was quite good at. They had to get down - now - before something else-
His thoughts stalled out as Nakamori caught the sight of motion out of the corner of his eye. One of the side doors on the bottom floor was slowly being pushed open. Well, finally someone was showing up. Now who could- A familiar shock of messy brown hair cautiously peeked out of the door and suddenly Nakamori didn't know what to think anymore. What was he doing here?! "Kaito-kun!"
The boy craned his head back, surveying all of the trussed up Task Force members with a critical eye before pushing his way into the room. Nakamori sucked in a sharp breath even as Hakuba's shocked voice rang out. "Kuroba! What the hell happened to you?" The kid looked like hell. The clothes on his left side were torn, mangled and charred. His face was half smeared with what looked like blood and ash and he was limping. That was disturbing. Even when he'd managed to break a leg as a little kid he'd somehow managed to walk around as smoothly as anybody else. Hadn't slowed him down any either. What in the world could have happened?
Kaito flashed a grin as he reached down and dug something out of his pants pocket. "Bomb," he explained simply as he flipped his phone open and answered whoever was on the other end. "Hi there. How are you?"
Nakamori stared down at the boy he'd watched grow up with Aoko and felt the world bottom out underneath him. What the hell could Kaito of all people get into that would result in a bombing? The only trouble the brat got into was with his teachers and him for his stupid - but harmless - pranks. The most dangerous thing he'd ever done was flip Aoko's skirt in his presence, and that had been awhile back.
"What am I doing?" Kaito chirped cheerfully, it sounded fake and horrible and Nakamori just wanted to shake the boy for pretending - badly - to be all right. "Well, right now I'm looking up at the Kaitou Kid Task Force who are strung up along the ceiling like Christmas decorations." Who the hell was he talking to?
"There's one at each site?" Wait a minute. He sounded worried now. "Of course there is. Good to know, let's see if I can find it." Kaito shifted, a somber frown on his face as he glanced around. "Can any of you see anything up there? Anything that looks out of place." Nakamori continued to stare down at the boy, his guts twisting up at Kaito's extremely abnormal behavior. What the hell was going on here?
"What are we looking for?" Hakuba asked sharply in the charged silence that followed. At least the self-proclaimed detective was keeping it together, because Nakamori sure as hell didn't know how to deal with the neighbor's kid looking and acting like that. What the hell was he doing here? Why wasn't he at the hospital? He certainly needed one if his appearance was anything to go by. Sure, he could've probably whipped up a disguise that looked as realistic as that, but he wasn't enough of a jerk to play a prank like that on anybody. He really needed to see a doctor. Mind instantly made up, Nakamori opened his mouth to yell at the kid to call an ambulance already and get his butt out of there. Unfortunately, Kaito's next words stole the breath out of him.
"Anything that looks like it might blow up."
A bomb. Goddamnit.
"Second floor balcony, there's a brown package next to one of the potted plants," Hakuba said solemnly after doing a quick search of the room from above. "What's going on, Kuroba?"
"Ah, it seems certain people have decided to cut their losses," Kaito replied airily as walked over and then carefully made his way up the stairs. "Nothing to worry about." His voice trailed off as he kneeled down next to the package, nodding after a moment at what he saw.
Hakuba narrowed his eyes. "Wait for the bomb squad, you fool."
"I would if I could," Kaito shook his head, shouldering his phone as he reached down and fiddled with something they couldn't see. "But I'm afraid there's no one else. They're all busy trying to keep Beika from getting wiped off the face of the map. We can't wait for them." Bending his head down further to the phone, he whispered almost inaudibly, "What do I do?"
"What the hell, Kuroba?"
"Like I told you, they're cutting their losses. These type of people, they... arrange accidents... along with other nasty sorts of things. We're just loose ends, really, but they don't want to leave anything to chance." Kaito shrugged as he did sometbing to the package. "Don't worry, I have help. He knows what he's doing. I'm just following along."
Nakamori just hung there, silently watching as the boy worked on saving all of their lives. He'd never been the quiet type - didn't have much use for that sort of thing - but at this very moment he had no idea what to say. Accidents, huh? That made a sick sort of sense. He'd always wondered, but the official investigation had said otherwise. The findings had been conclusive, and he always endeavored to trust in his fellow officers to be honest - it wasn't easy. Still, he'd known something was... off. He'd just never pursued it, never had the time - never made the time. Maybe he should have, because apparently his lack - along with everyone else's - had fallen onto the son's shoulders without him even realizing it. Why hadn't he noticed? Damnit. Kids were supposed to be kids. They weren't supposed to get involved in bullshit that had bombs attached to it.
And where the hell was Kid? He'd rather have that psychotic moron bailing them out and Kaito's ass hauled down to the hospital than this. Anything but this.