Non-Challenge: Two For the Show
For: 30_deathfics
Title: Two For the Show
Author: jeva_chan
Theme: #21 - Cold
Characters: Kuroba Kaito, Konosuke Jii, Snake/Jackal, Vermouth, Kudo Shinichi/Edogawa Conan
Size: 4,357 words
Rating: R?
Warnings: I feel like being redundant so: Character Death
Disclaimer: All things Detective Conan/Magic Kaitou belong to one, Aoyama Gosho. I don't claim to have created any of these characters...just the tormenting situations I put them in. :D
Summary: You've got one chance in five--
They're the odds you must beat
If you want to survive,
So be fast on your feet.
Life is hard here...
It's the Devil's Backyard...
-"Façade [Reprise 2]" from the Jekyll and Hyde soundtrack
Notes: As will most of my fics that I first finish and post here on LJ--YOU GET NO REAL SUMMARY. >DDD But! I will let you in on a little secret >.>;;; I totally was going for a random small-plot kill-Kaito-off-or-something and then...and then...IT SPAWNED! *falls over* SAAAAAAAAAAVE MEEEEEEEEEE.
P.S. - Yes. Yes, I DO know there are a lot of typos in this. Shurrup. I was half-awake when I wrote this. *editing as we speak*
The cold steel rested firmly at the base of a skull.
A wry laugh came from the one kneeled down, waiting for the gun to go off and end everything. "So much for that rule, isn't it?" he asked the one holding the weapon, eyes looking to the left to meet the other's in the reflection of shards of glass still in the broken window. "Figures. You were always a hypocr--"
A thumb was all that was needed to cock the gun, sliding a bullet into the chamber.
The older man grinned at him through the reflection. "So pull it already! You know my organization well enough to know the best don't care about death--"
"You care so little for it, you make the biggest mistakes with it," was the quick retort. "Before I do anything, however--kill you, stun you and leave you for the cops--at this point, I'm not too picky but, well..." The sharp eyes in the glass narrowed further, amethyst gaze showing everything while his monotonous voice gave nothing away. "Unlike you, I always have believed my father's rule of No One Gets Hurt is worth following."
Dark eyes widened for a moment in unguarded surprise before the man could school his face into a sneering mask. "'Kill the children so they won't come for revenge,'" he muttered to himself before cursing under his breath when he then saw a flash of white teeth in the shape of a grin. "Son of a bitch--"
The muzzle of the gun nudged closer to his scalp. "Watch it," warned the grinning gunman. "What do you know about my mother, anyway? I wouldn't bet that you know anything, really. But like I said--you made a mistake. What did you think Toichi's son would do if he found out the real reason his father died before his tenth birthday? And using his performance as the scapegoat--"
"Heh," the assassin laughed shortly. "If it was my choice, I would have. To be honest, you would have been dead, too, if I didn't have my orders." Eyes sharpened with suspicion in the glass. He continued, seemingly amused, "What? You think you and your whore of a mother were left alone because you were magically protected? Listen, Kid, I may have ben told to lay off after I got rid of your old man, but that doesn't mean we didn't always have a spy around, watching."
"Watching?" Now the features in the glass were becoming slightly distorted as the night grew heavy with a slow, steady drizzle. "For what?"
"What?" the man asked, sneering at the figure of white behind him as puddles began to form on the floor, leaking in from the broken window. "Just because I was a bit put off to learn who you are doesn't mean others didn't know. I left Toichi's family be because I was ordered. Figured they'd be killed. And if you weren't killed, that means someone wanted to test an experiment."
"Experiment? What--" The question was cut off as the man kneeling on the floor suddenly jerked harshly forward. Kaitou Kid watched, stunned, as his father's killer's eyes went dull with death as his brains splattered forward, following the path the bullet had taken. The body landed face-fist on the wet pile of fragmented glass.
Kid continued to stare at the glass--covered in a layer of red--feeling his once-steady hand shake as he loosened his hold on the weapon. Someone else had fired the bullet. He had bluffed and had kept his index finger safely outside the trigger guard. He hadn't though for an instant of murdering the other man.
Someone else had pulled the trigger.
"So sorry," a voice came from behind him, making the phantom thief stiffen, instinct screaming danger while his mind strained to process what was going on. "I had merely meant to graze his head. Ah, but I suppose age has finally caught up with me."
There was no saving face now. Dressed in white, knowing he should maintain his composure as the Kaitou Kid, Kuroba Kaito slowly looked over his shoulder. His violet eyes were already wide with shock and disbelief, but as he began to fully face the person who had managed to sneak up on him, Kaito's expression warred between calm composure and outright grief. He knew who the killer was.
"Jii-chan..." he said quietly, unable to believe it.
Konosuke Jii had his pistol aimed at Kaito's heart.
"Jii-chan...you couldn't have..." His voice trailed off when he found that there was no way that he could deny what he had just seen. The old man's blank expression only made that realization hit home. He had. He had just killed someone and didn't seem to care... "Why? I already had control of the situation. There wasn't a way he could have done anything--!"
"If you forgive me for my bluntness, young master," Jii said in a frank matter that stopped Kaito's words faster than any other method he could think of, "but you can't know what these people could have done even when in this situation. You may think that they are less of a danger when at the end of the line, but truly, they are more vicious and cunning at that point, lulling you into a false sense of security before striking."
Now the old man's brow furrowed into a frown as his eyes softened and his lips smiled. "I know understand you're apalled by all of this, as it goes against your father's protocol, but...that is half of the reason why he was killed in the first place...if you understand my meaning."
Somehow, Kaito could pick up something within those words. A riddle almost. One that left a cold dread running down his spine. He quickly struggled to push it all from his mind, to focus on the important things--not thinking of the dead body behind him. Poker Face.
Then it clicked, and his hand clenched the gun that he had somehow managed to keep in his grasp. "And the other half..." he said slowly, keeping his eyes trained on Jii's without wavering, hardening with resolve. "The spy."
"The spy, yes," the old man responded without a pause, and Kaito became even more aware of the gun he held as he continued, voice filling with a sort of regret that was more than a bit...twisted, "Which is why I tried to keep him from speaking. But I suppose it's for the best. The Order would have done much worse to him if he had continued telling secrets like that. There was a reason he was a simple assassin, after all."
Kaito closed his eyes then, a strained smile on his face, "A simple assassin...so I've been chasing the underdogs of this whole organization the whole time while you...made sure I didn't go too deep and find out." A small laugh escaped him. "What's the matter, Jii-chan? Why protect the person who you were assigned to watch over, assigned to kill if he ever got to the point where he is now? I guess you're better at the art of disguise than I thought--pretenting to be Toichi's attendent--"
"That was no lie, I assure you."
Kaito opened his eyes and cocked his head in mock-curiosity. "You were his attendent just to kill him, weren't you?"
The old man didn't reply, but instead, his finger tightened on the trigger. "I have tried to protect you these past years, young master, but I'm afraid I can't protect you from this."
The thought quickly ran through his mind. Before he knew what he was doing or what he was going to do, the world-reknown thief aimed his weapon at a second man that evening. "I highly doubt," Kid said stonily, his expression a blank as though he were detatched from the entire situation when, in fact, he could feel his heart thumping wildly in his throat in a dreadful panic, "that you have been only trying to protect me this whole time."
The old man closed his eyes in a false visage of a smile. "Care to make a gentlemen's wager then?"
A suspicion was forming in the back of the youth's mind, but what it was, he still couldn't rightly say... "But what shall we bet with?" he asked almost mockingly.
The old man just continued to smile. "I would bet that one of us is bluffing," he said instead, not seeming to really care for naming the victor's prize.
A bead of sweat was making its way from Kid's white top hat down his temple and then cheek as he considered this statement, trying to understand what it was that this man who had always been there for him, even if it was all a lie, was trying to say. "Am I supposed to guess which one of us you think is bluffing?" he asked, cautiously tilting his head again, trying to get a better look at the other's face.
The smile that was still present on the weathered and worn face, however, revealed nothing. A Poker Face of his own, Konosuke Jii replied, "That's quite all right. Let us just find out which one of us is bluffing--if one of us is, indeed bluffing."
His finger suddenly began to tighten as Kaito's eyes went wide with alarm--
BANG!
Crash!
...thud.
A long period of silence came after the sound of a body falling, accompanied by the clatter of a gun falling from limp hand. During that time, he remained standing, visibly shaking as the scene played back over and over in his mind, as he tried to rationalize what had just happened.
But all he could see was the blood and those eyes finally opening to show the truth behind the whole matter...
Without even realizing it, he slowly walked over to the fallen gunman and knelt beside him, dropping his own gun with a thunk. His eyes quickly ran over the bleeding for laying before him, trying to find a solution, a way to fix this, but as soon as he began to reach out to put pressure on the bullet wound itself, a hand grabbed his, effectively stopping him short.
He then spoke quietly, hoarsely, "Jii-chan...you--you were bluffing--"
The old man smiled up at him, dark eyes bright with an emotion that Kaito was hesitant to describe as the now even more feebled hand squeezed his own gloved one. "F-forgive me, young master...but I had to..."
"Had to?" Kaito murmured with a dull sense of confusion. "Had to because it was an order from those people? Because I--"
He stopped when he saw the old man slowly shake his head.
"I--have not answered to those people...for a very long time..." Those dark eyes closed as they began to cloud with unfallen tears. A shaken sigh racked the old man's small, injured form while Kaito brought his other hand up to clutch at the other's that still held his own. "I-it was just as you said...I--was the spy...who gave away Kuroba Toichi's secrets--who gave them the knowledge...they needed to destroy him. And I have regretted it...
"The master...he was the one who taught me t-to believe in that sort of ideal...the one that he would use when he moonlighted as Kaitou Kid. But they were much too strong--and I did him a dishonor...leading the Jackel-Snake to him--and his weakness..."
Kaito watched the old man he had thought he'd known with wide eyes, hearing the words and knowing what they meant...but still not believing them--not even after being faced with killed or be killed, not even now as he witnessed the regret and grief that poured from the old man through his tears, through his blood. "Dad's weakness..." he then echoed quietly, slowly, as a dull and final sense of understanding made him close his eyes and hang his head.
"Yes..." Jii continued, voice grwing weaker and weaker as what time he had left in this world was spent. "Your father--the master was a very kind man...with a life-loving soul. He could never bear the thought of violence...of murder--it was why he established Kaitou Kid...as being the non-violent sort--of criminal. Heists...were his performances--not some paultry means...to get within the range of his prize...which is how you have conducted your heists, young master. Stunningly similar...
"But when those men...came after him--your father continued to refuse to back down...and continued to refuse protection that...I myself offered him--a watchful eye...and a deadly weapon that couldn't be seen. He...continued to claim...that they were the ones--who should be brought to justice...even if it meant...endangering himself to make others realize..." The old man's body shook then, and Kaito felt alarm rise up within him again, thinking that he would be left with only half of the story told.
It was only when Jii continued that he realized that it was actually guilt-ridden sobs that had made him shake so. "But they were cruel...and were much too hidden...and knew exactly where to strike. They--took what I could offer them...and made me vow to--continue service with them...I had not truly known...what they could--d-do with that knowledge...to attack the master...when he was a civillian--and leave his family...for those vultures...
"But I had...sworn to myself--sworn on the...the master's grave. That I would--protect his wife...and the young master...for as long as I could."
Kaito closed his eyes tighter, screwing them shut as he clenched his teeth as he knew and understood. "...they're more dangerous when they're at the end of their rope," he whispered, remembering the first man who had died that night and the eyes that looked at him through the broken glass which seemed to vow a painful death even though he was trapped--especially then. "Dad...came close to cornering them, didn't he? Not just one of them...but the whole thing--because of Pandora--"
His eyes shot open and his mouth slowly opened as he tried to speak, as he looked to Jii in disbelief again. Jii merely smiled back at him, though the palor of his skin showed that he dying...and more quickly than he had thought. "Jii-chan," he said, leaning forward earnestly. "You know where Pandora is, don't you? You know the real reason why they want it, don't you?"
The brittle, tear-stained smile widened at those questions. "Yes...I know...where it is..."
The young thief clenched the frail hand between his own. "Jii-chan, you have to tell me! If they get to Pandora before I can--!"
"They won't."
Kaito froze, feeling the cold metal of a gun barrel at the back of his head.
He stared down at Jii, trying to ask without asking if he had set this up as well, if this was a deja vu of his former betrayal. One look at the old man's horror-filled eyes let him know. This was not something he'd been expecting. This was not something that he had wanted to happen.
So Kaito closed his eyes and willed himself to be calm, no matter how much he could feel his hands shaking even as Jii attempted to squeeze the one he still had a hold. Then, he said in as firm a voice as he could manage, "And to what do I owe the honor...of having you at my friend's last moments?"
He was sickened to hear a smile in that woman's voice. "Friend, you say, Kaitou Kid? And here I thought I just heard that he had betrayed your father...and even you by revealing your true identity. Kuroba Kaito."
Kaito began to turn his head to...to at the very least face her when he retorted, but the gun was immediately pressed against his temple as he tried and so he resigned himself to following her lead. For the time being. "Aa...but I bet you already knew that information...what with your people chasing after a supposedly still-alive meitantei who you seem to want to protect."
"Oh ho!" the woman known as Vermouth said with a grin still in her voice. "And here I thought that being a magician thief didn't require a reasonable intelligence rating."
Kaito gritted his teeth but said nothing in return to the baiting. Instead he reiterated, "To what do I owe the honor?"
"Oh, but the honor isn't yours," Vermouth said quite peaceably before directing her voice to the only other (almost) living person in the room. "Konsuke Jii. And here I had thought that they would have killed you off by now. You must have learned some valuable lessons from the illustrious Kuroba Toichi as well--at least by watching and assisting rather than being an actual pupil."
Jii looked from Kaito with a pained look in his eye to the dangerous woman, stating as clearly and firmly as he could, "The master...always did appreciate--a curious audience--"
"Yes, well, that's half the reason he was killed, isn't it?" Kaito closed his eyes again, refusing to give rise to the obvious slap-to-the-face she had delivered Jii. She continued while he struggled to keep calm, "Now, Konosuke-san. I did say that they wouldn't get Pandora, didn't I? If you tell me where Pandora is, I will make sure they never lay their hands on it."
There was a long pause, and Kaito was almost afraid to open his eyes to find Jii had passed away in the middle of the woman's demand.
The sound of a bullet sliding into the gun's chamber, however, made him stiffen. "Quickly, Konosuke-san. Before you have to say farewell to your precious bocchama before you follow him," Vermouth said lightly.
When Jii still didn't reply, she began to count.
"One."
The gun pressed firmly against his scalp.
"Tw--"
"Stop!" the old man weakly cried out, making Kaito open his eyes in shock. "Please...no--"
The gun fell back. "I'm glad you see it my way, Konosuke-san. Now. Where is--"
"Don't tell her!"
The shout had come out more of a command than anything, but at that moment, Kaito couldn't care less. Jii seemed to automatically obey the order, weakly looking between the two people looming over him, fear and uncertainty in his dimming eyes. "Y-young...master--"
Kaito shouted down his beginning of an objection, "Konosuke Jii, you always call my father and myself your masters--if you really and truly believe that and want forgiveness for your sins, you will not speak another word about Pandora--"
Pain lanced through his mind as he was suddenly slammed to the left, his hands releasing Jii's as he stuggled to find his balance and his air. He landed hard on the ground, white gloved hands not able to catch him, instead slipping in a pool of blood. As he lay there, trying to push the pain away--anything involving thought hurt more than it should have. There was a high-pitched whine in his ears, and it took him another minute to realize that whine was the after-effect of having a bullet fired at and grazing his skull.
Dazedly struggling to push himself up again, he put a bloodied hand to the wound and immediately felt like retching. He swallowed back any vomit that threatened to snake up his throat, however, attempting to focus his senses on the happenings of the room. His sight was the first to return, going from a blinding white to dim and dull colors and blurry shapes. His top hat, he saw, was laying on the ground where he had been, seemingly still in pristine condition...except for the blood under it's brim.
It was then that smell and taste came, and Kaito realized that he was, in fact, covered in blood--Jii's blood...Snake's blood...his own.
It was enough to kick the gag reflex into gear, and without warning, he began to hurl, heaving up whatever was in his stomach. He hadn't noticed how horrible that place was, how close death was, how much blood there was--not until he began to regain control of himself, panting and sweating. Just as he closed his eyes against the images, a heeled foot was placed on his back and then shoved him back down into the gory mess.
He bit back a cry of pain as the heel then dug into his back, hands clenching to get a hold so he could get away.
This woman was really going to kill him. And there wasn't going to be anymore interruptions.
"You always were a brat, weren't you?" he heard her say in calm manner belied by her violence. She was angry, and he was pretty sure he knew why. "Even if you are his son, right now, I hardly see the value in you now that Konosuke-san's dead. You don't know where Pandora is and I have a better chance at finding it before they do than you."
Kaito clenched his teeth, feeling her heel dig deeper, feeling his body protest against the pressure, shrieking with pain along with the head wound he had which pulsed angrily as he tried to think of a way to get out this situation...to survive.
Dimly, he recalled. He had been at a heist before all of this had happened, hadn't he? And that meant...
A flash bomb fell free of its hidden placement up his sleeve--sleeves may have been for beginners, but they certainly were useful--and went off the second Kaito shut his eyes. Predictably, Vermouth backed down, but only long enough so that he could roll away from her, get to his feet, and start making a clumsy run toward the broken window.
BANG!
Pain raced up his right leg, but he ignored it, seeing freedom and life just a mere 5 meters away--
BANG!
This time, he stumbled, right hand flying to his left side in an automatic movement to isolate the pain and then dispell it from his thoughts.
If he hadn't been so literally running for his life, he might have heard Vermouth humming to herself as she fired the next four rounds:
"One for the money.
Two for the show.
Three to make ready.
And four to--"
Kaito launched himself toward and out the window, just as Vermouth finished with a simple, "Go."
BANG!
It had been one of those times when he'd felt especially homesick. So he'd told Ran that he'd stay over with Agasa-hakase for the night. In actuality, he was taking the free time to wander his old house and do some decidedly "Shinichi" things. It was a burden having to continuously pretend to be 10 years younger than he was, so having some time to recharge and remind himself of who he was every once in a while was a relief.
There hadn't been any way of knowing what the night would bring or the consequences that would follow. It was just how the world worked, he knew.
Still, he couldn't say he wasn't surprised.
He had just been going through his bedroom closet when he'd heard the sound. A thump from downstairs. At first, he shrugged it off, thinking it to be a stray cat or even one of those lousy kids who thought his home was a haunted house. Not surprising, really, considering all the rumors that were flying around about his disappearance and all.
But then a crash and a muffled sound of pain came, and Shinichi knew it was time to investigate, eyes narrowing suspiciously as he opened the door and cautiously went down the hall. He got to the top of the stairs but stayed up against the wall, out of immediate sight of whoever was below. He strained his ears for any other sounds.
All was silent.
The possibility that it could be the men in black did not escape his mind. In fact, it was forefront and he silently cursed himself for leaving his shoes at the door. He still had his dart watch but that only had one dart to use against who knew how many...
When no other sounds came, Shinichi slowly looked around the corner down into the sitting room area.
Nothing. Nothing except for a horrible mess that looked only too familiar.
Shinichi stared in horror as his eyes followed the trail of blood until they came to rest on--
He jumped to the top of the handrail to get a better look, shock and dismay written on his face as he recognized the huddled and obviously pained figure covered in white...and red. "Kaitou Kid!" he shouted, mostly out of habit but partially to let the thief know that he was there.
Kid didn't move.
Shinichi dropped back to the floor and sped down the stairs as fast as his little legs could carry him. He jumped the last five steps and rushed over to the collapsed form--
He skidded to a stop as the smell came at him strongly.
The smell of a crime scene--of a murder to be more precise.
And it was only then that he truly understood what Kaitou Kid was covered with.
Not quite knowing what to do or say, Shinichi cautiously approached Kid. For some reason, the image of Kid laying on the ground in that way, curled in on himself, keeping his extremities close to himself, shielding his abdomen, reminded Shinichi of a wounded animal. And as with any wounded animal, it was best to--
He froze as he suddenly came face-to-face with Kid's card gun, not knowing then that he had been the third person that night to be held at gunpoint by the normally pacifistic phantom thief.
He did realize one crucial detail that made this action even more alarming than it appeared.
Kaitou Kid was unconscious.
-fin... for now?-
I DO NOT CLAIM THAT THIS FIC MAKES SENSE AND YES, I TOTALLY BLAME KAITO FOR THIS.
Oh, and Vermouth? Wasn't srsly going to kill Kaito. ... no, rly. She knows what Shinichi is capable of, but now she wants to see what Kaito is capable of. I mean... the son of the master of disguise that taught her everything? Yeah, she's more than a bit curious. But you know, she can't just let him in on the fact that this is all a test. Test meaning that yes, Jii is really dead and so is Snake and Kaito really did kill Jii and oooooooooooh. Fun~
... plus I wanted to traumatize Kaito some. Nyaaa~
Anyway, hope you all liked~ If not, oh well. I was sleep-deprived when I wrote this. I don't even think I rightly know what all this story says anymore. O_o;;;
... *falls over* Haaaaaaaaate you, Kaito. Why make it multi-part? Haaaaaaaaaate.
.
Title: Two For the Show
Author: jeva_chan
Theme: #21 - Cold
Characters: Kuroba Kaito, Konosuke Jii, Snake/Jackal, Vermouth, Kudo Shinichi/Edogawa Conan
Size: 4,357 words
Rating: R?
Warnings: I feel like being redundant so: Character Death
Disclaimer: All things Detective Conan/Magic Kaitou belong to one, Aoyama Gosho. I don't claim to have created any of these characters...just the tormenting situations I put them in. :D
Summary: You've got one chance in five--
They're the odds you must beat
If you want to survive,
So be fast on your feet.
Life is hard here...
It's the Devil's Backyard...
-"Façade [Reprise 2]" from the Jekyll and Hyde soundtrack
Notes: As will most of my fics that I first finish and post here on LJ--YOU GET NO REAL SUMMARY. >DDD But! I will let you in on a little secret >.>;;; I totally was going for a random small-plot kill-Kaito-off-or-something and then...and then...IT SPAWNED! *falls over* SAAAAAAAAAAVE MEEEEEEEEEE.
P.S. - Yes. Yes, I DO know there are a lot of typos in this. Shurrup. I was half-awake when I wrote this. *editing as we speak*
The cold steel rested firmly at the base of a skull.
A wry laugh came from the one kneeled down, waiting for the gun to go off and end everything. "So much for that rule, isn't it?" he asked the one holding the weapon, eyes looking to the left to meet the other's in the reflection of shards of glass still in the broken window. "Figures. You were always a hypocr--"
A thumb was all that was needed to cock the gun, sliding a bullet into the chamber.
The older man grinned at him through the reflection. "So pull it already! You know my organization well enough to know the best don't care about death--"
"You care so little for it, you make the biggest mistakes with it," was the quick retort. "Before I do anything, however--kill you, stun you and leave you for the cops--at this point, I'm not too picky but, well..." The sharp eyes in the glass narrowed further, amethyst gaze showing everything while his monotonous voice gave nothing away. "Unlike you, I always have believed my father's rule of No One Gets Hurt is worth following."
Dark eyes widened for a moment in unguarded surprise before the man could school his face into a sneering mask. "'Kill the children so they won't come for revenge,'" he muttered to himself before cursing under his breath when he then saw a flash of white teeth in the shape of a grin. "Son of a bitch--"
The muzzle of the gun nudged closer to his scalp. "Watch it," warned the grinning gunman. "What do you know about my mother, anyway? I wouldn't bet that you know anything, really. But like I said--you made a mistake. What did you think Toichi's son would do if he found out the real reason his father died before his tenth birthday? And using his performance as the scapegoat--"
"Heh," the assassin laughed shortly. "If it was my choice, I would have. To be honest, you would have been dead, too, if I didn't have my orders." Eyes sharpened with suspicion in the glass. He continued, seemingly amused, "What? You think you and your whore of a mother were left alone because you were magically protected? Listen, Kid, I may have ben told to lay off after I got rid of your old man, but that doesn't mean we didn't always have a spy around, watching."
"Watching?" Now the features in the glass were becoming slightly distorted as the night grew heavy with a slow, steady drizzle. "For what?"
"What?" the man asked, sneering at the figure of white behind him as puddles began to form on the floor, leaking in from the broken window. "Just because I was a bit put off to learn who you are doesn't mean others didn't know. I left Toichi's family be because I was ordered. Figured they'd be killed. And if you weren't killed, that means someone wanted to test an experiment."
"Experiment? What--" The question was cut off as the man kneeling on the floor suddenly jerked harshly forward. Kaitou Kid watched, stunned, as his father's killer's eyes went dull with death as his brains splattered forward, following the path the bullet had taken. The body landed face-fist on the wet pile of fragmented glass.
Kid continued to stare at the glass--covered in a layer of red--feeling his once-steady hand shake as he loosened his hold on the weapon. Someone else had fired the bullet. He had bluffed and had kept his index finger safely outside the trigger guard. He hadn't though for an instant of murdering the other man.
Someone else had pulled the trigger.
"So sorry," a voice came from behind him, making the phantom thief stiffen, instinct screaming danger while his mind strained to process what was going on. "I had merely meant to graze his head. Ah, but I suppose age has finally caught up with me."
There was no saving face now. Dressed in white, knowing he should maintain his composure as the Kaitou Kid, Kuroba Kaito slowly looked over his shoulder. His violet eyes were already wide with shock and disbelief, but as he began to fully face the person who had managed to sneak up on him, Kaito's expression warred between calm composure and outright grief. He knew who the killer was.
"Jii-chan..." he said quietly, unable to believe it.
Konosuke Jii had his pistol aimed at Kaito's heart.
"Jii-chan...you couldn't have..." His voice trailed off when he found that there was no way that he could deny what he had just seen. The old man's blank expression only made that realization hit home. He had. He had just killed someone and didn't seem to care... "Why? I already had control of the situation. There wasn't a way he could have done anything--!"
"If you forgive me for my bluntness, young master," Jii said in a frank matter that stopped Kaito's words faster than any other method he could think of, "but you can't know what these people could have done even when in this situation. You may think that they are less of a danger when at the end of the line, but truly, they are more vicious and cunning at that point, lulling you into a false sense of security before striking."
Now the old man's brow furrowed into a frown as his eyes softened and his lips smiled. "I know understand you're apalled by all of this, as it goes against your father's protocol, but...that is half of the reason why he was killed in the first place...if you understand my meaning."
Somehow, Kaito could pick up something within those words. A riddle almost. One that left a cold dread running down his spine. He quickly struggled to push it all from his mind, to focus on the important things--not thinking of the dead body behind him. Poker Face.
Then it clicked, and his hand clenched the gun that he had somehow managed to keep in his grasp. "And the other half..." he said slowly, keeping his eyes trained on Jii's without wavering, hardening with resolve. "The spy."
"The spy, yes," the old man responded without a pause, and Kaito became even more aware of the gun he held as he continued, voice filling with a sort of regret that was more than a bit...twisted, "Which is why I tried to keep him from speaking. But I suppose it's for the best. The Order would have done much worse to him if he had continued telling secrets like that. There was a reason he was a simple assassin, after all."
Kaito closed his eyes then, a strained smile on his face, "A simple assassin...so I've been chasing the underdogs of this whole organization the whole time while you...made sure I didn't go too deep and find out." A small laugh escaped him. "What's the matter, Jii-chan? Why protect the person who you were assigned to watch over, assigned to kill if he ever got to the point where he is now? I guess you're better at the art of disguise than I thought--pretenting to be Toichi's attendent--"
"That was no lie, I assure you."
Kaito opened his eyes and cocked his head in mock-curiosity. "You were his attendent just to kill him, weren't you?"
The old man didn't reply, but instead, his finger tightened on the trigger. "I have tried to protect you these past years, young master, but I'm afraid I can't protect you from this."
The thought quickly ran through his mind. Before he knew what he was doing or what he was going to do, the world-reknown thief aimed his weapon at a second man that evening. "I highly doubt," Kid said stonily, his expression a blank as though he were detatched from the entire situation when, in fact, he could feel his heart thumping wildly in his throat in a dreadful panic, "that you have been only trying to protect me this whole time."
The old man closed his eyes in a false visage of a smile. "Care to make a gentlemen's wager then?"
A suspicion was forming in the back of the youth's mind, but what it was, he still couldn't rightly say... "But what shall we bet with?" he asked almost mockingly.
The old man just continued to smile. "I would bet that one of us is bluffing," he said instead, not seeming to really care for naming the victor's prize.
A bead of sweat was making its way from Kid's white top hat down his temple and then cheek as he considered this statement, trying to understand what it was that this man who had always been there for him, even if it was all a lie, was trying to say. "Am I supposed to guess which one of us you think is bluffing?" he asked, cautiously tilting his head again, trying to get a better look at the other's face.
The smile that was still present on the weathered and worn face, however, revealed nothing. A Poker Face of his own, Konosuke Jii replied, "That's quite all right. Let us just find out which one of us is bluffing--if one of us is, indeed bluffing."
His finger suddenly began to tighten as Kaito's eyes went wide with alarm--
BANG!
Crash!
...thud.
A long period of silence came after the sound of a body falling, accompanied by the clatter of a gun falling from limp hand. During that time, he remained standing, visibly shaking as the scene played back over and over in his mind, as he tried to rationalize what had just happened.
But all he could see was the blood and those eyes finally opening to show the truth behind the whole matter...
Without even realizing it, he slowly walked over to the fallen gunman and knelt beside him, dropping his own gun with a thunk. His eyes quickly ran over the bleeding for laying before him, trying to find a solution, a way to fix this, but as soon as he began to reach out to put pressure on the bullet wound itself, a hand grabbed his, effectively stopping him short.
He then spoke quietly, hoarsely, "Jii-chan...you--you were bluffing--"
The old man smiled up at him, dark eyes bright with an emotion that Kaito was hesitant to describe as the now even more feebled hand squeezed his own gloved one. "F-forgive me, young master...but I had to..."
"Had to?" Kaito murmured with a dull sense of confusion. "Had to because it was an order from those people? Because I--"
He stopped when he saw the old man slowly shake his head.
"I--have not answered to those people...for a very long time..." Those dark eyes closed as they began to cloud with unfallen tears. A shaken sigh racked the old man's small, injured form while Kaito brought his other hand up to clutch at the other's that still held his own. "I-it was just as you said...I--was the spy...who gave away Kuroba Toichi's secrets--who gave them the knowledge...they needed to destroy him. And I have regretted it...
"The master...he was the one who taught me t-to believe in that sort of ideal...the one that he would use when he moonlighted as Kaitou Kid. But they were much too strong--and I did him a dishonor...leading the Jackel-Snake to him--and his weakness..."
Kaito watched the old man he had thought he'd known with wide eyes, hearing the words and knowing what they meant...but still not believing them--not even after being faced with killed or be killed, not even now as he witnessed the regret and grief that poured from the old man through his tears, through his blood. "Dad's weakness..." he then echoed quietly, slowly, as a dull and final sense of understanding made him close his eyes and hang his head.
"Yes..." Jii continued, voice grwing weaker and weaker as what time he had left in this world was spent. "Your father--the master was a very kind man...with a life-loving soul. He could never bear the thought of violence...of murder--it was why he established Kaitou Kid...as being the non-violent sort--of criminal. Heists...were his performances--not some paultry means...to get within the range of his prize...which is how you have conducted your heists, young master. Stunningly similar...
"But when those men...came after him--your father continued to refuse to back down...and continued to refuse protection that...I myself offered him--a watchful eye...and a deadly weapon that couldn't be seen. He...continued to claim...that they were the ones--who should be brought to justice...even if it meant...endangering himself to make others realize..." The old man's body shook then, and Kaito felt alarm rise up within him again, thinking that he would be left with only half of the story told.
It was only when Jii continued that he realized that it was actually guilt-ridden sobs that had made him shake so. "But they were cruel...and were much too hidden...and knew exactly where to strike. They--took what I could offer them...and made me vow to--continue service with them...I had not truly known...what they could--d-do with that knowledge...to attack the master...when he was a civillian--and leave his family...for those vultures...
"But I had...sworn to myself--sworn on the...the master's grave. That I would--protect his wife...and the young master...for as long as I could."
Kaito closed his eyes tighter, screwing them shut as he clenched his teeth as he knew and understood. "...they're more dangerous when they're at the end of their rope," he whispered, remembering the first man who had died that night and the eyes that looked at him through the broken glass which seemed to vow a painful death even though he was trapped--especially then. "Dad...came close to cornering them, didn't he? Not just one of them...but the whole thing--because of Pandora--"
His eyes shot open and his mouth slowly opened as he tried to speak, as he looked to Jii in disbelief again. Jii merely smiled back at him, though the palor of his skin showed that he dying...and more quickly than he had thought. "Jii-chan," he said, leaning forward earnestly. "You know where Pandora is, don't you? You know the real reason why they want it, don't you?"
The brittle, tear-stained smile widened at those questions. "Yes...I know...where it is..."
The young thief clenched the frail hand between his own. "Jii-chan, you have to tell me! If they get to Pandora before I can--!"
"They won't."
Kaito froze, feeling the cold metal of a gun barrel at the back of his head.
He stared down at Jii, trying to ask without asking if he had set this up as well, if this was a deja vu of his former betrayal. One look at the old man's horror-filled eyes let him know. This was not something he'd been expecting. This was not something that he had wanted to happen.
So Kaito closed his eyes and willed himself to be calm, no matter how much he could feel his hands shaking even as Jii attempted to squeeze the one he still had a hold. Then, he said in as firm a voice as he could manage, "And to what do I owe the honor...of having you at my friend's last moments?"
He was sickened to hear a smile in that woman's voice. "Friend, you say, Kaitou Kid? And here I thought I just heard that he had betrayed your father...and even you by revealing your true identity. Kuroba Kaito."
Kaito began to turn his head to...to at the very least face her when he retorted, but the gun was immediately pressed against his temple as he tried and so he resigned himself to following her lead. For the time being. "Aa...but I bet you already knew that information...what with your people chasing after a supposedly still-alive meitantei who you seem to want to protect."
"Oh ho!" the woman known as Vermouth said with a grin still in her voice. "And here I thought that being a magician thief didn't require a reasonable intelligence rating."
Kaito gritted his teeth but said nothing in return to the baiting. Instead he reiterated, "To what do I owe the honor?"
"Oh, but the honor isn't yours," Vermouth said quite peaceably before directing her voice to the only other (almost) living person in the room. "Konsuke Jii. And here I had thought that they would have killed you off by now. You must have learned some valuable lessons from the illustrious Kuroba Toichi as well--at least by watching and assisting rather than being an actual pupil."
Jii looked from Kaito with a pained look in his eye to the dangerous woman, stating as clearly and firmly as he could, "The master...always did appreciate--a curious audience--"
"Yes, well, that's half the reason he was killed, isn't it?" Kaito closed his eyes again, refusing to give rise to the obvious slap-to-the-face she had delivered Jii. She continued while he struggled to keep calm, "Now, Konosuke-san. I did say that they wouldn't get Pandora, didn't I? If you tell me where Pandora is, I will make sure they never lay their hands on it."
There was a long pause, and Kaito was almost afraid to open his eyes to find Jii had passed away in the middle of the woman's demand.
The sound of a bullet sliding into the gun's chamber, however, made him stiffen. "Quickly, Konosuke-san. Before you have to say farewell to your precious bocchama before you follow him," Vermouth said lightly.
When Jii still didn't reply, she began to count.
"One."
The gun pressed firmly against his scalp.
"Tw--"
"Stop!" the old man weakly cried out, making Kaito open his eyes in shock. "Please...no--"
The gun fell back. "I'm glad you see it my way, Konosuke-san. Now. Where is--"
"Don't tell her!"
The shout had come out more of a command than anything, but at that moment, Kaito couldn't care less. Jii seemed to automatically obey the order, weakly looking between the two people looming over him, fear and uncertainty in his dimming eyes. "Y-young...master--"
Kaito shouted down his beginning of an objection, "Konosuke Jii, you always call my father and myself your masters--if you really and truly believe that and want forgiveness for your sins, you will not speak another word about Pandora--"
Pain lanced through his mind as he was suddenly slammed to the left, his hands releasing Jii's as he stuggled to find his balance and his air. He landed hard on the ground, white gloved hands not able to catch him, instead slipping in a pool of blood. As he lay there, trying to push the pain away--anything involving thought hurt more than it should have. There was a high-pitched whine in his ears, and it took him another minute to realize that whine was the after-effect of having a bullet fired at and grazing his skull.
Dazedly struggling to push himself up again, he put a bloodied hand to the wound and immediately felt like retching. He swallowed back any vomit that threatened to snake up his throat, however, attempting to focus his senses on the happenings of the room. His sight was the first to return, going from a blinding white to dim and dull colors and blurry shapes. His top hat, he saw, was laying on the ground where he had been, seemingly still in pristine condition...except for the blood under it's brim.
It was then that smell and taste came, and Kaito realized that he was, in fact, covered in blood--Jii's blood...Snake's blood...his own.
It was enough to kick the gag reflex into gear, and without warning, he began to hurl, heaving up whatever was in his stomach. He hadn't noticed how horrible that place was, how close death was, how much blood there was--not until he began to regain control of himself, panting and sweating. Just as he closed his eyes against the images, a heeled foot was placed on his back and then shoved him back down into the gory mess.
He bit back a cry of pain as the heel then dug into his back, hands clenching to get a hold so he could get away.
This woman was really going to kill him. And there wasn't going to be anymore interruptions.
"You always were a brat, weren't you?" he heard her say in calm manner belied by her violence. She was angry, and he was pretty sure he knew why. "Even if you are his son, right now, I hardly see the value in you now that Konosuke-san's dead. You don't know where Pandora is and I have a better chance at finding it before they do than you."
Kaito clenched his teeth, feeling her heel dig deeper, feeling his body protest against the pressure, shrieking with pain along with the head wound he had which pulsed angrily as he tried to think of a way to get out this situation...to survive.
Dimly, he recalled. He had been at a heist before all of this had happened, hadn't he? And that meant...
A flash bomb fell free of its hidden placement up his sleeve--sleeves may have been for beginners, but they certainly were useful--and went off the second Kaito shut his eyes. Predictably, Vermouth backed down, but only long enough so that he could roll away from her, get to his feet, and start making a clumsy run toward the broken window.
BANG!
Pain raced up his right leg, but he ignored it, seeing freedom and life just a mere 5 meters away--
BANG!
This time, he stumbled, right hand flying to his left side in an automatic movement to isolate the pain and then dispell it from his thoughts.
If he hadn't been so literally running for his life, he might have heard Vermouth humming to herself as she fired the next four rounds:
"One for the money.
Two for the show.
Three to make ready.
And four to--"
Kaito launched himself toward and out the window, just as Vermouth finished with a simple, "Go."
BANG!
It had been one of those times when he'd felt especially homesick. So he'd told Ran that he'd stay over with Agasa-hakase for the night. In actuality, he was taking the free time to wander his old house and do some decidedly "Shinichi" things. It was a burden having to continuously pretend to be 10 years younger than he was, so having some time to recharge and remind himself of who he was every once in a while was a relief.
There hadn't been any way of knowing what the night would bring or the consequences that would follow. It was just how the world worked, he knew.
Still, he couldn't say he wasn't surprised.
He had just been going through his bedroom closet when he'd heard the sound. A thump from downstairs. At first, he shrugged it off, thinking it to be a stray cat or even one of those lousy kids who thought his home was a haunted house. Not surprising, really, considering all the rumors that were flying around about his disappearance and all.
But then a crash and a muffled sound of pain came, and Shinichi knew it was time to investigate, eyes narrowing suspiciously as he opened the door and cautiously went down the hall. He got to the top of the stairs but stayed up against the wall, out of immediate sight of whoever was below. He strained his ears for any other sounds.
All was silent.
The possibility that it could be the men in black did not escape his mind. In fact, it was forefront and he silently cursed himself for leaving his shoes at the door. He still had his dart watch but that only had one dart to use against who knew how many...
When no other sounds came, Shinichi slowly looked around the corner down into the sitting room area.
Nothing. Nothing except for a horrible mess that looked only too familiar.
Shinichi stared in horror as his eyes followed the trail of blood until they came to rest on--
He jumped to the top of the handrail to get a better look, shock and dismay written on his face as he recognized the huddled and obviously pained figure covered in white...and red. "Kaitou Kid!" he shouted, mostly out of habit but partially to let the thief know that he was there.
Kid didn't move.
Shinichi dropped back to the floor and sped down the stairs as fast as his little legs could carry him. He jumped the last five steps and rushed over to the collapsed form--
He skidded to a stop as the smell came at him strongly.
The smell of a crime scene--of a murder to be more precise.
And it was only then that he truly understood what Kaitou Kid was covered with.
Not quite knowing what to do or say, Shinichi cautiously approached Kid. For some reason, the image of Kid laying on the ground in that way, curled in on himself, keeping his extremities close to himself, shielding his abdomen, reminded Shinichi of a wounded animal. And as with any wounded animal, it was best to--
He froze as he suddenly came face-to-face with Kid's card gun, not knowing then that he had been the third person that night to be held at gunpoint by the normally pacifistic phantom thief.
He did realize one crucial detail that made this action even more alarming than it appeared.
Kaitou Kid was unconscious.
-fin... for now?-
I DO NOT CLAIM THAT THIS FIC MAKES SENSE AND YES, I TOTALLY BLAME KAITO FOR THIS.
Oh, and Vermouth? Wasn't srsly going to kill Kaito. ... no, rly. She knows what Shinichi is capable of, but now she wants to see what Kaito is capable of. I mean... the son of the master of disguise that taught her everything? Yeah, she's more than a bit curious. But you know, she can't just let him in on the fact that this is all a test. Test meaning that yes, Jii is really dead and so is Snake and Kaito really did kill Jii and oooooooooooh. Fun~
... plus I wanted to traumatize Kaito some. Nyaaa~
Anyway, hope you all liked~ If not, oh well. I was sleep-deprived when I wrote this. I don't even think I rightly know what all this story says anymore. O_o;;;
... *falls over* Haaaaaaaaate you, Kaito. Why make it multi-part? Haaaaaaaaaate.
.