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Tora Tora Moeru
Ch. 4: What the Hammer, What the Chain?
The thing was, if it were anyone else -- anyone but Kaito or Aoko -- Saguru might leave well enough alone. For a given value of ‘leave alone’ which meant ‘kick it up to Interpol and pull strings to keep informed’, of course.
However.
This woman, this assassin, was involved with Kaito. And Saguru couldn’t leave it at that.
So the next afternoon, Saguru's ears flicked rapidly, uncontrollably, around the earbuds tucked into them as he sat in the observation deck of a random high-rise downtown. Every twitch pulled at his healing cuts, which made his tail lash over the chair's seat, which ruffled his fur the wrong way, and he was generally just not a happy tiger at all.
This was not helped by the soft noise of a crowd echoing through the earbuds. One more time, he murmured, "Are you absolutely certain of this?"
"Yes," Edogawa replied, the same low murmur tinny and hollow through the earbuds. "Just stay put."
"I could--"
"No."
Which, on the one hand, was good, because Saguru really didn't have any idea what he could do. Not without completely discarding their goal and getting himself kicked out of the loop, at which point Edogawa would go out and do this on his own.
The crowd noises changed ever-so-slightly, and then Edogawa called out brightly, breathlessly, "Vinyard-sensei!!!"
Saguru could far too easily picture the starry-eyed, adorable-little-kid look that Edogawa was turning up at the woman right now. Brr.
"Vinyard-sensei! Can I have your autograph? Pleeeeease?"
"Aw, aren't you cute." Chris Vinyard -- Auntie Chris, yike -- sounded almost exactly as she had at Kaito's house. Perhaps a little more condescending, which suited Edogawa's apparent age, but otherwise exactly the same. Whoever was impersonating the actress had to have vocal skills to outperform even Kaito's. "Just this once, all right?"
"Thank you!"
Saguru continued to listen, fingers tightly interlaced together and claws prickling at the backs of his hands, but as the exchange continued without a hint of a threat --
"The front page? Aw, sweetie, am I your very first?"
"Uh huh!"
"I haven't been anyone's first for a long time! I'm honored!"
-- okay, no, that was just disturbing. She couldn't do anything untoward in public, though, right?
"Thank you! Bye bye, Vinyard-sensei!"
Saguru waited, teeth clenched, until the noises of the street faded away, and he could hear Edogawa's steps echoing in the way peculiar to parking garages. Then he couldn't help himself. "How long until she arrives?"
"As long as it takes," Edogawa replied. "Stay off the channel."
Well, what did he expect? He'd given Saguru a fully functional mike with the headset. If he'd wanted radio silence, he need not have supplied the means. So there.
For lack of anything better to do, Saguru got up and ordered tea from a nervous cashier at a nearby cafe stand, and took it back to his seat. It was hot, and cleansingly bitter, but otherwise cheap and unremarkable. But it gave him something to do with his hands other than claw things, and kept him off the radio band as requested, and hopefully made his agitation a bit less noticeable to observers.
High heels tapped over the earbuds, and Saguru set his styrofoam cup down before he crushed it.
"I was thinking," Edogawa said, back to his normal, eeriely mature cadence. "Isn't it funny." Chris Vinyard chuffed in very feline amusement, and Edogawa continued, "There was someone shooting at the Kaitou Kid the other night."
Vinyard fell silent.
"That's not what was funny. Because Hakuba Saguru rescued him, and got injured rescuing him -- you can't fake that sort of bleeding or motion with prosthetics -- and then what happens?" A pause. "The official inquiry vanished in less than twenty-four hours. That's barely enough time to even put together all the paperwork to start an investigation, much less finish it." Another pause. "And then you turn out to be in town."
Edogawa really was inferring from pure air about this, wasn't he.
"If you'd put out the hit on Kid, he'd be dead," Edogawa said flatly, and Saguru damn near shot out of his seat. He choked on his growl, killing it in his throat, as Edogawa went on, "A lot less publicly, too. But your interest is in keeping him alive, isn't it." No answer. "And it's a strong enough interest to protect someone who saves him."
Silence.
“You’re not keeping him as a decoy for Kudou Shinichi, are you.”
What?!
“Mm. Why do I keep my angel alive?” Vinyard murmured.
A pause. “... Kid saved your life?” Edogawa asked.
“No.”
“But you owe him a debt.”
“Does it matter?”
“Well, I do like to know which types of alcohol might be trying to shoot me.”
“... Heh. Why not. It’ll make the game more interesting.” Saguru’s claws bit into his palms as Vinyard continued, “Wines, flowers and animals.”
“One more question, then. Are you even with Hakuba Saguru, or are you going to toy with him some more?”
Even? Even?! Saguru’s ears went completely flat. There was no even, there could be no even as long as she hadn’t turned in the people trying to kill Kaito.
He barely noticed that Vinyard never answered the question. A squeal of tires, some high-pitched coughing, a huff of annoyance before the sounds of the street flooded back in… those, he did notice.
So.
She’d gotten away.
“Wines, flowers and animals,” Saguru hissed behind steepled hands, as he waited for Edogawa to reach his location. “Rosé comes to mind.”
“So does snake wine,” Edogawa answered after a moment.
Nothing else came to mind off the top of Saguru’s head. So. Roses and snakes. Now he could call on his contacts in Interpol with, if not a clean conscience, at least a less guilty one.
Ch. 4: What the Hammer, What the Chain?
The thing was, if it were anyone else -- anyone but Kaito or Aoko -- Saguru might leave well enough alone. For a given value of ‘leave alone’ which meant ‘kick it up to Interpol and pull strings to keep informed’, of course.
However.
This woman, this assassin, was involved with Kaito. And Saguru couldn’t leave it at that.
So the next afternoon, Saguru's ears flicked rapidly, uncontrollably, around the earbuds tucked into them as he sat in the observation deck of a random high-rise downtown. Every twitch pulled at his healing cuts, which made his tail lash over the chair's seat, which ruffled his fur the wrong way, and he was generally just not a happy tiger at all.
This was not helped by the soft noise of a crowd echoing through the earbuds. One more time, he murmured, "Are you absolutely certain of this?"
"Yes," Edogawa replied, the same low murmur tinny and hollow through the earbuds. "Just stay put."
"I could--"
"No."
Which, on the one hand, was good, because Saguru really didn't have any idea what he could do. Not without completely discarding their goal and getting himself kicked out of the loop, at which point Edogawa would go out and do this on his own.
The crowd noises changed ever-so-slightly, and then Edogawa called out brightly, breathlessly, "Vinyard-sensei!!!"
Saguru could far too easily picture the starry-eyed, adorable-little-kid look that Edogawa was turning up at the woman right now. Brr.
"Vinyard-sensei! Can I have your autograph? Pleeeeease?"
"Aw, aren't you cute." Chris Vinyard -- Auntie Chris, yike -- sounded almost exactly as she had at Kaito's house. Perhaps a little more condescending, which suited Edogawa's apparent age, but otherwise exactly the same. Whoever was impersonating the actress had to have vocal skills to outperform even Kaito's. "Just this once, all right?"
"Thank you!"
Saguru continued to listen, fingers tightly interlaced together and claws prickling at the backs of his hands, but as the exchange continued without a hint of a threat --
"The front page? Aw, sweetie, am I your very first?"
"Uh huh!"
"I haven't been anyone's first for a long time! I'm honored!"
-- okay, no, that was just disturbing. She couldn't do anything untoward in public, though, right?
"Thank you! Bye bye, Vinyard-sensei!"
Saguru waited, teeth clenched, until the noises of the street faded away, and he could hear Edogawa's steps echoing in the way peculiar to parking garages. Then he couldn't help himself. "How long until she arrives?"
"As long as it takes," Edogawa replied. "Stay off the channel."
Well, what did he expect? He'd given Saguru a fully functional mike with the headset. If he'd wanted radio silence, he need not have supplied the means. So there.
For lack of anything better to do, Saguru got up and ordered tea from a nervous cashier at a nearby cafe stand, and took it back to his seat. It was hot, and cleansingly bitter, but otherwise cheap and unremarkable. But it gave him something to do with his hands other than claw things, and kept him off the radio band as requested, and hopefully made his agitation a bit less noticeable to observers.
High heels tapped over the earbuds, and Saguru set his styrofoam cup down before he crushed it.
"I was thinking," Edogawa said, back to his normal, eeriely mature cadence. "Isn't it funny." Chris Vinyard chuffed in very feline amusement, and Edogawa continued, "There was someone shooting at the Kaitou Kid the other night."
Vinyard fell silent.
"That's not what was funny. Because Hakuba Saguru rescued him, and got injured rescuing him -- you can't fake that sort of bleeding or motion with prosthetics -- and then what happens?" A pause. "The official inquiry vanished in less than twenty-four hours. That's barely enough time to even put together all the paperwork to start an investigation, much less finish it." Another pause. "And then you turn out to be in town."
Edogawa really was inferring from pure air about this, wasn't he.
"If you'd put out the hit on Kid, he'd be dead," Edogawa said flatly, and Saguru damn near shot out of his seat. He choked on his growl, killing it in his throat, as Edogawa went on, "A lot less publicly, too. But your interest is in keeping him alive, isn't it." No answer. "And it's a strong enough interest to protect someone who saves him."
Silence.
“You’re not keeping him as a decoy for Kudou Shinichi, are you.”
What?!
“Mm. Why do I keep my angel alive?” Vinyard murmured.
A pause. “... Kid saved your life?” Edogawa asked.
“No.”
“But you owe him a debt.”
“Does it matter?”
“Well, I do like to know which types of alcohol might be trying to shoot me.”
“... Heh. Why not. It’ll make the game more interesting.” Saguru’s claws bit into his palms as Vinyard continued, “Wines, flowers and animals.”
“One more question, then. Are you even with Hakuba Saguru, or are you going to toy with him some more?”
Even? Even?! Saguru’s ears went completely flat. There was no even, there could be no even as long as she hadn’t turned in the people trying to kill Kaito.
He barely noticed that Vinyard never answered the question. A squeal of tires, some high-pitched coughing, a huff of annoyance before the sounds of the street flooded back in… those, he did notice.
So.
She’d gotten away.
“Wines, flowers and animals,” Saguru hissed behind steepled hands, as he waited for Edogawa to reach his location. “Rosé comes to mind.”
“So does snake wine,” Edogawa answered after a moment.
Nothing else came to mind off the top of Saguru’s head. So. Roses and snakes. Now he could call on his contacts in Interpol with, if not a clean conscience, at least a less guilty one.