[Feb 7th] [Magic Kaitou] Murderer: Criminal [Random Scene]
Title: Murderer: Criminal [Random Scene]
Day/Theme: February 7 - "Virtue is the fount whence honour springs"
Series: Magic Kaitou
Character/Pairing: Kuroba Kaito, Hakuba Saguru, Nakamori Aoko
Rating: PG-13
Saguru stared at the other boy, not quite believing his ears. "Sorry?" he asked in hopes that it was just him misinterpreting something.
The look that Kuroba leveled at him spelled it out enough, however. He had meant what he had said. "Don't try to pass this off as something else just because you want it that way, detective," he said simply, in a firm yet dull fashion that made Saguru's stomach clench in an unpleasant fashion.
This was not how things were supposed to go.
Then again, nothing had been going the way it should. Not since that murder at the heist. Not since Kuroba went into hiding. Not since his mother was killed...
The change within the magician was painfully apparent just looking at him. There was still that fire to him, however; that sort of pent up energy that just made everyone know that he could pull off something that could bring others to ruin if he so chose. Only now... it was almost a dangerous sort of aura.
Kuroba had chosen to bring someone to ruin.
He'd just confessed to that much.
Saguru brought a hand to his face, rubbing at his eyes for a moment before looking back to Kuroba. He bitterly informed his classmate, "Unfortunately, I am not an official part of the police force and, therefore, cannot legally or rightfully read your rights--"
"Then take me to someone who can," broke in Kuroba with a sharp tone that left no room for questioning.
The detective pursed his lips for a moment before leaning forward in his seat, trying to catch hold of the other boy's eyes. They refused to meet with his and, instead, kept darting off to the side whenever they would come close to meeting. Saguru sighed, putting his hands on his tighs as he stood himself up, making Kuroba look to him with almost-suspicion. The blond reassured him by lifting his hands in the air and saying in a light manner, "Well, since you're so determined to make a spectacle of yourself--"
A snort escaped Kuroba. "Spectacle?" he asked with a cynical air. "A bit late for something like that."
Saguru shot him a withering look and then began to tick off on his fingers, "High school student confesses to being Kaitou Kid. Kaitou Kid confesses to killing a man. Kaitou Kid admits to being involved with underground syndicate. Kaitou Kid confesses to more than one murder." He looked over his hand in order to shoot a narrow-eyed look over to the magician who sat before him, staring at his hand to avoid Saguru's eyes once more. "Well? Do tell me to stop. Of course, the tabloids will have little prompting in order to spin all of this into some huge story in which the public may actually turn against you. They can call you a serial killer, discredit everything you have done up until this point, could even claim that your predecessor was the exact same way--"
"He never could be this sort of person," Kuroba said quietly, still looking at his hands, though they clenched tightly into fists. Though it wasn't quite noticeable with them balled up in such a way, Saguru could see the fine tremor running up the other boy's arm. Anger, frustration, sadness? He couldn't tell what it was that Kuroba was truly feeling at that moment. Maybe it was all of the above.
So the detective took another route, softening his voice and informing him gently, "They will not see it like that. You know how people are like, especially in this country. What one generation does, the previous or next generation are to blame as well. It is not simply a matter of one man if we are open about all of this."
Kuroba didn't reply, just sat there, staring at his fists, perhaps trying to keep himself in control. Even Saguru could tell that he was having trouble doing such a thing, with his minute trembling and the firm set of his features, along with that feeling of pent-up energy--such a negative-feeling force at that moment in time, something he'd never sensed from the magician before--waiting to explode. The air was tense and heavy with these unnamed feelings and emotions.
Until the door slid open without warning.
Saguru looked up and over, blinking in surprise. "Aoko-kun?"
He could feel Kuroba tense further at his childhood friend's name.
The girl, seeming not to notice the heavy atmosphere, ignored the blond and looked immediately to the black-haired boy who sat with his back facing the door, facing her. The detective watched as Aoko's eyes filled with tears, relief and concern washing over her as she continued to stare at the magician's back. Before Saguru could advise her against doing so, Aoko began to move toward the seated boy. "Kaito--!"
Impossibly fast, Kuroba was up from the chair, using a foot perhaps to shove it with enough force so that it skidded into Aoko's path, making her come to an abrupt halt. Kuroba himself had quickly put himself to the place furthest from either the detective or the girl and the windows, back against the wall, posture tense and on the defense. Saguru very nearly cursed when he saw the haunted look in those eyes as they quickly scanned to the room to see if there was anything else that would come after him.
He should have thought about Kuroba having that sort of reaction.
Before Aoko could say anything, Saguru lifted a hand and cut her off before looking to the skittish self-admitted thief and carefully saying, "Easy. It's only Aoko. She's been worried for you for ages, Kuroba."
Those words seemed to bring about a sort of realization from the magician. Hooded eyes cleared a bit, blinking as they actually saw who was in the room with him, tense muscles forced themselves to relax just as facial features fell into a bewildered, almost frightened look before schooling themselves into a skeptical expression that left a bad taste in Saguru's mouth. Then, hesitantly, came the shaken, almost broken voice, asking, "A-Aoko?"
And it was simply that one thing that made Saguru furious to think of what had been done to Kuroba.
Aoko herself seemed to be hesitant now, not understanding her friend's behavior. "Kaito?" she asked, slowly moving from her spot and beginning to approach the boy.
The moment Saguru saw Kuroba tense again, he grabbed hold of the girl's arm, making her come to a stop once more. "Slowly, Aoko-kun," he said quietly, knowing that if he spoke louder that it could send the wrong message to either one of the two other people in the room. "You must remember that Kuroba's been through quite an ordeal and quite possibly ever since he went missing. Startling him so is not the best of ideas for the time being."
Aoko looked up to him, torn, not seeming to quite understand what was going on while at the same time, understanding too well what it was he was saying. "Hakuba-kun--"
Saguru gave her a comforting smile. "We'll just take it slow with him, shall we?" he said kindly before looking over to Kuroba who seemed to lean against the wall, unable to keep his weight on his own. Unruly hair, unkempt and in the worst condition the detective had ever seen on the boy, blocked any and all expressions from view. In order to gain Kuroba's attention again, Saguru rose his voice again but maintained the soothing tone, attempting to not startle the magician again, "Now, Kuroba. Let's just sit back down again and talk this out. With what you've told me, things are only getting worse from here on in and this will not be solved by--"
"I've told you what I wanted to do, Hakuba," Kuroba interrupted quietly, voice barely there, head still bowed in such a way that Saguru was having even more trouble labeling the tone that was being used.
What was it that Kuroba was trying to hide?
With a frown, Saguru firmly stated once more, "Going to the police and turning yourself in a way that would gain the most attention is not my idea of keeping a low profile. You've told me about these people. You've told me about how their circle runs, or at the very least, how you believe them to run. What do you think were to happen if anyone were to get wind of what is going on?"
"They'd take me out before I could breathe another word."
The blatant truth of the statement made Saguru tense, trying to keep from immediately rejecting the possibility. There was no denying the utmost serious nature of this situation.
Aoko looked between the two for a moment before settling her gaze on Kuroba, pulling at Saguru's sleeve at the same time. "What are you two talking about? Take Kaito out? What's really going on? Hakuba-kun? What have you been keeping from me?"
The detective closed his eyes and readied himself to answer but was beaten to it by soft words coming from Kuroba, "He probably told you all he could at the time. He's just now learned quite a few things for himself... from my confession."
Bewilderment claimed its place upon the girl's face as she looked between her two male friends, not knowing what to believe. "Confession?" she asked, hesitating just the slightest bit.
Saguru made to move between the two before any more could be said, but just as quickly as he leapt from his seat before, Kuroba beat him to the punch, "Of my crimes."
Aoko didn't say anything in return and just continued to stare at him.
Saguru took this brief moment to stand in between the two, looking over to Kuroba quickly before putting his hands on the girl's shoulders and telling her as quietly as possible, "Aoko-kun, I believe it would be best if you could wait outside for a while longer--"
"Why bother hiding the truth, Hakuba?" broke in Kuroba's voice, a steel edge to it that made the detective half-turn to face him, instinctively not wanting to have his back to the thief any longer than necessary. Kuroba's raised eyes immediately locked onto Saguru's own and he found a touch of fear and dread run down his spine as the magician continued, "You probably told her every day that there was a possibility of it all being true, am I right? Why hide her from the truth? That you were right. The whole time, always pointing the finger at the real criminal--"
"It was self-defense and you know that, Kuroba," Saguru snapped with a heated tone that made those words stop before they could truly sink in. Hopefully. "The true criminal is the one who cornered you, put you in a situation in which it was live or die--"
"The true criminal," Kuroba spat back just as vehemently, "is the one who caused all the events to play out as they did. If there was no heist that night, there would have been no murder--"
"And if there hadn't been a Kaitou Kid in the first place, there would be no heists," Saguru finished, grounding out the last words in hopes that they would get through. They obviously did because Kuroba looked away, back down to his hands--what was it that Kuroba saw there to make him continue to look? Continuing before the magician could make any further arguments, Saguru quickly bit out, "If there was no Kaitou Kid who premiered over a decade ago, there would have been no Kaitou Kid who reappeared a year ago. There would have been no heists. There wouldn't have been any blood spilled.
"Do you really want to accuse that person of being a true criminal?" he demanded, watching the other boy as he leaned further against the wall, seeming to pull back away, just as despondent as before. "Do you really want to put all of this on that man's shoulders?"
"No..." Kuroba said quietly, voice cracking just a bit with barely suppressed emotion. "He never... hurt anybody--"
"And neither would you have," responded Saguru softly, "if you'd had the choice. It was live or die, Kuroba. You chose to live. No one would dare hold that against you."
The other boy didn't reply and if the detective wasn't mistaken, the thing that was making his shoulders shake so wasn't laughter at all. Quite the opposite.
Aoko, who'd watched the whole thing, moved out of Saguru's grasp and carefully went over to the seemingly broken boy. When she'd gotten within arms reach and began to lift her hand to attempt to comfort her long-time friend, however, a startlingly strong voice quietly stopped her, "No. Don't. Stop."
The girl froze and slowly lowered her hand back to her side. Saguru couldn't see from the angle he was at, but he could hear the quiver in Aoko's voice that gave away the fact that she was near tears at the rejection. "Why?" she asked quietly, hurt written in the small, simple question.
Kuroba was quiet for a time before he lifted his hands again, looking past them and to the girl standing before him, a pain etched into his visage that made Saguru inhale sharply as he finally understood just why the thief continued to look to those hands, why he didn't want Aoko to touch him.
"Blood," was the answer.
-end of scene-
*CACKLES*
*runs off*
.
Day/Theme: February 7 - "Virtue is the fount whence honour springs"
Series: Magic Kaitou
Character/Pairing: Kuroba Kaito, Hakuba Saguru, Nakamori Aoko
Rating: PG-13
Saguru stared at the other boy, not quite believing his ears. "Sorry?" he asked in hopes that it was just him misinterpreting something.
The look that Kuroba leveled at him spelled it out enough, however. He had meant what he had said. "Don't try to pass this off as something else just because you want it that way, detective," he said simply, in a firm yet dull fashion that made Saguru's stomach clench in an unpleasant fashion.
This was not how things were supposed to go.
Then again, nothing had been going the way it should. Not since that murder at the heist. Not since Kuroba went into hiding. Not since his mother was killed...
The change within the magician was painfully apparent just looking at him. There was still that fire to him, however; that sort of pent up energy that just made everyone know that he could pull off something that could bring others to ruin if he so chose. Only now... it was almost a dangerous sort of aura.
Kuroba had chosen to bring someone to ruin.
He'd just confessed to that much.
Saguru brought a hand to his face, rubbing at his eyes for a moment before looking back to Kuroba. He bitterly informed his classmate, "Unfortunately, I am not an official part of the police force and, therefore, cannot legally or rightfully read your rights--"
"Then take me to someone who can," broke in Kuroba with a sharp tone that left no room for questioning.
The detective pursed his lips for a moment before leaning forward in his seat, trying to catch hold of the other boy's eyes. They refused to meet with his and, instead, kept darting off to the side whenever they would come close to meeting. Saguru sighed, putting his hands on his tighs as he stood himself up, making Kuroba look to him with almost-suspicion. The blond reassured him by lifting his hands in the air and saying in a light manner, "Well, since you're so determined to make a spectacle of yourself--"
A snort escaped Kuroba. "Spectacle?" he asked with a cynical air. "A bit late for something like that."
Saguru shot him a withering look and then began to tick off on his fingers, "High school student confesses to being Kaitou Kid. Kaitou Kid confesses to killing a man. Kaitou Kid admits to being involved with underground syndicate. Kaitou Kid confesses to more than one murder." He looked over his hand in order to shoot a narrow-eyed look over to the magician who sat before him, staring at his hand to avoid Saguru's eyes once more. "Well? Do tell me to stop. Of course, the tabloids will have little prompting in order to spin all of this into some huge story in which the public may actually turn against you. They can call you a serial killer, discredit everything you have done up until this point, could even claim that your predecessor was the exact same way--"
"He never could be this sort of person," Kuroba said quietly, still looking at his hands, though they clenched tightly into fists. Though it wasn't quite noticeable with them balled up in such a way, Saguru could see the fine tremor running up the other boy's arm. Anger, frustration, sadness? He couldn't tell what it was that Kuroba was truly feeling at that moment. Maybe it was all of the above.
So the detective took another route, softening his voice and informing him gently, "They will not see it like that. You know how people are like, especially in this country. What one generation does, the previous or next generation are to blame as well. It is not simply a matter of one man if we are open about all of this."
Kuroba didn't reply, just sat there, staring at his fists, perhaps trying to keep himself in control. Even Saguru could tell that he was having trouble doing such a thing, with his minute trembling and the firm set of his features, along with that feeling of pent-up energy--such a negative-feeling force at that moment in time, something he'd never sensed from the magician before--waiting to explode. The air was tense and heavy with these unnamed feelings and emotions.
Until the door slid open without warning.
Saguru looked up and over, blinking in surprise. "Aoko-kun?"
He could feel Kuroba tense further at his childhood friend's name.
The girl, seeming not to notice the heavy atmosphere, ignored the blond and looked immediately to the black-haired boy who sat with his back facing the door, facing her. The detective watched as Aoko's eyes filled with tears, relief and concern washing over her as she continued to stare at the magician's back. Before Saguru could advise her against doing so, Aoko began to move toward the seated boy. "Kaito--!"
Impossibly fast, Kuroba was up from the chair, using a foot perhaps to shove it with enough force so that it skidded into Aoko's path, making her come to an abrupt halt. Kuroba himself had quickly put himself to the place furthest from either the detective or the girl and the windows, back against the wall, posture tense and on the defense. Saguru very nearly cursed when he saw the haunted look in those eyes as they quickly scanned to the room to see if there was anything else that would come after him.
He should have thought about Kuroba having that sort of reaction.
Before Aoko could say anything, Saguru lifted a hand and cut her off before looking to the skittish self-admitted thief and carefully saying, "Easy. It's only Aoko. She's been worried for you for ages, Kuroba."
Those words seemed to bring about a sort of realization from the magician. Hooded eyes cleared a bit, blinking as they actually saw who was in the room with him, tense muscles forced themselves to relax just as facial features fell into a bewildered, almost frightened look before schooling themselves into a skeptical expression that left a bad taste in Saguru's mouth. Then, hesitantly, came the shaken, almost broken voice, asking, "A-Aoko?"
And it was simply that one thing that made Saguru furious to think of what had been done to Kuroba.
Aoko herself seemed to be hesitant now, not understanding her friend's behavior. "Kaito?" she asked, slowly moving from her spot and beginning to approach the boy.
The moment Saguru saw Kuroba tense again, he grabbed hold of the girl's arm, making her come to a stop once more. "Slowly, Aoko-kun," he said quietly, knowing that if he spoke louder that it could send the wrong message to either one of the two other people in the room. "You must remember that Kuroba's been through quite an ordeal and quite possibly ever since he went missing. Startling him so is not the best of ideas for the time being."
Aoko looked up to him, torn, not seeming to quite understand what was going on while at the same time, understanding too well what it was he was saying. "Hakuba-kun--"
Saguru gave her a comforting smile. "We'll just take it slow with him, shall we?" he said kindly before looking over to Kuroba who seemed to lean against the wall, unable to keep his weight on his own. Unruly hair, unkempt and in the worst condition the detective had ever seen on the boy, blocked any and all expressions from view. In order to gain Kuroba's attention again, Saguru rose his voice again but maintained the soothing tone, attempting to not startle the magician again, "Now, Kuroba. Let's just sit back down again and talk this out. With what you've told me, things are only getting worse from here on in and this will not be solved by--"
"I've told you what I wanted to do, Hakuba," Kuroba interrupted quietly, voice barely there, head still bowed in such a way that Saguru was having even more trouble labeling the tone that was being used.
What was it that Kuroba was trying to hide?
With a frown, Saguru firmly stated once more, "Going to the police and turning yourself in a way that would gain the most attention is not my idea of keeping a low profile. You've told me about these people. You've told me about how their circle runs, or at the very least, how you believe them to run. What do you think were to happen if anyone were to get wind of what is going on?"
"They'd take me out before I could breathe another word."
The blatant truth of the statement made Saguru tense, trying to keep from immediately rejecting the possibility. There was no denying the utmost serious nature of this situation.
Aoko looked between the two for a moment before settling her gaze on Kuroba, pulling at Saguru's sleeve at the same time. "What are you two talking about? Take Kaito out? What's really going on? Hakuba-kun? What have you been keeping from me?"
The detective closed his eyes and readied himself to answer but was beaten to it by soft words coming from Kuroba, "He probably told you all he could at the time. He's just now learned quite a few things for himself... from my confession."
Bewilderment claimed its place upon the girl's face as she looked between her two male friends, not knowing what to believe. "Confession?" she asked, hesitating just the slightest bit.
Saguru made to move between the two before any more could be said, but just as quickly as he leapt from his seat before, Kuroba beat him to the punch, "Of my crimes."
Aoko didn't say anything in return and just continued to stare at him.
Saguru took this brief moment to stand in between the two, looking over to Kuroba quickly before putting his hands on the girl's shoulders and telling her as quietly as possible, "Aoko-kun, I believe it would be best if you could wait outside for a while longer--"
"Why bother hiding the truth, Hakuba?" broke in Kuroba's voice, a steel edge to it that made the detective half-turn to face him, instinctively not wanting to have his back to the thief any longer than necessary. Kuroba's raised eyes immediately locked onto Saguru's own and he found a touch of fear and dread run down his spine as the magician continued, "You probably told her every day that there was a possibility of it all being true, am I right? Why hide her from the truth? That you were right. The whole time, always pointing the finger at the real criminal--"
"It was self-defense and you know that, Kuroba," Saguru snapped with a heated tone that made those words stop before they could truly sink in. Hopefully. "The true criminal is the one who cornered you, put you in a situation in which it was live or die--"
"The true criminal," Kuroba spat back just as vehemently, "is the one who caused all the events to play out as they did. If there was no heist that night, there would have been no murder--"
"And if there hadn't been a Kaitou Kid in the first place, there would be no heists," Saguru finished, grounding out the last words in hopes that they would get through. They obviously did because Kuroba looked away, back down to his hands--what was it that Kuroba saw there to make him continue to look? Continuing before the magician could make any further arguments, Saguru quickly bit out, "If there was no Kaitou Kid who premiered over a decade ago, there would have been no Kaitou Kid who reappeared a year ago. There would have been no heists. There wouldn't have been any blood spilled.
"Do you really want to accuse that person of being a true criminal?" he demanded, watching the other boy as he leaned further against the wall, seeming to pull back away, just as despondent as before. "Do you really want to put all of this on that man's shoulders?"
"No..." Kuroba said quietly, voice cracking just a bit with barely suppressed emotion. "He never... hurt anybody--"
"And neither would you have," responded Saguru softly, "if you'd had the choice. It was live or die, Kuroba. You chose to live. No one would dare hold that against you."
The other boy didn't reply and if the detective wasn't mistaken, the thing that was making his shoulders shake so wasn't laughter at all. Quite the opposite.
Aoko, who'd watched the whole thing, moved out of Saguru's grasp and carefully went over to the seemingly broken boy. When she'd gotten within arms reach and began to lift her hand to attempt to comfort her long-time friend, however, a startlingly strong voice quietly stopped her, "No. Don't. Stop."
The girl froze and slowly lowered her hand back to her side. Saguru couldn't see from the angle he was at, but he could hear the quiver in Aoko's voice that gave away the fact that she was near tears at the rejection. "Why?" she asked quietly, hurt written in the small, simple question.
Kuroba was quiet for a time before he lifted his hands again, looking past them and to the girl standing before him, a pain etched into his visage that made Saguru inhale sharply as he finally understood just why the thief continued to look to those hands, why he didn't want Aoko to touch him.
"Blood," was the answer.
-end of scene-
*CACKLES*
*runs off*
.