Chapter Text
When Kaito had arrived at the site of the heist about two hours in advance, the only remarkable thing had been tantei-kun’s presence. The teenage detective in a kid’s body usually only showed up at Jirokichi’s challenges, after all.
Besides that, there was the expected hubbub of the task force, Hakuba checking his watch every other minute, and inspector Nakamori’s oh-so pleasant shouting. Their strategy was simple to overcome, though enjoyable to play around with. He’d simply stolen a radio, copied the inspector’s voice, and in short order they’d all been running around like headless chickens.
Tantei-kun had been waiting for him on the rooftop, as was his habit. The deduction show had been fairly short, since there had been no particularly difficult tricks to unravel, and one dodged tranq-dart and soccer ball of doom later, KID had been ready to make his escape.
That was the point where the whole heist had gone to hell. Kaito wasn’t particularly new at dealing with Snake, it wasn’t even the first time the tasteless thug had brought snipers. But he might have gotten a tad distracted, and forgotten that just because Snake never showed up for Jirokichi’s heists didn’t mean Conan’s presence had anything to do with it.
And yes, that did kind of sound like he blamed the tiny detective for this. Which he didn’t. He still took his favourite critic’s subsequent actions as something of an apology.
Conan practically dragged him back into the building, even while Kaito was quickly weakening due to shock and blood loss, and pulled him behind cover in one of the many offices. It was actually kind of touching, how taintei-kun had gone immediately into rescue mode once he saw that the phantom thief was injured.
Kaito himself did his best to keep as much pressure on the wound as he could, both to keep from leaving a trail and to keep from bleeding out. From what he could tell, he succeeded decently at the former, less so at the latter. Which was why, by the time Conan was decently satisfied with their hiding place, Kaito was only barely keeping himself from passing out with his own stubborn will.
And then, to end off this ridiculous day with, tantei-kun had pulled out magic.
Real magic, the kind he’d expect from Akako. With a magic circle drawn on their chests in their own blood, and their names to seal the deal.
Two names each actually, which was a bit surprising. Kaito hadn’t expected that. That meitantei had used his real name was just the kind of thing that magic, or at least the image Kaito had of magic, would require. But his alias? What use was that?
Kaito followed his example anyway, more because he hadn’t really known what else to do than any real belief in Conan’s ability to do magic. And, well, he’d been dying. If his own fear of closing his eyes hadn’t convinced him, the expression on the detective’s face had spelled that out very clearly.
Now, with his wound closed and strength returning to his limbs, not to mention that strange certainty settling in the back of his mind, he couldn’t do anything but let the results speak for themselves.
For a few moments, Kaito just let himself breathe.
He was alive.
He was alive, but if they didn’t move soon that might change very quickly.
“Come on,” he whispered, “let’s get out of here.”
Kaito put his clothes back in order, absently noting that the image Conan had drawn on his chest had vanished. Odd, but useful. The blood on his KID suit wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon, on the other hand, and was still wet.
The phantom thief wrinkled his nose. He needed to get into different clothes as soon as possible. The disguise he had on him was undoubtedly ruined, and it was unlikely he’d be able to get at the one hidden in the janitor’s closet on the second floor. Maybe the one behind the building was still there? He’d intended it to be a distraction for Hakuba.
Hakuba! Was he still in the building? He didn’t usually join the task force’s pursuit once KID left the heist location, but whether he’d already moved on was another matter entirely.
And… Conan was still staring at him. He waved one hand back and forth in front of the child’s face. When his critic didn’t immediately react, he instead moved to check the door. There was no one in the hallway, but he could hear voices in the distance.
It was a small miracle they hadn’t been discovered so far, considering they were only a single floor down from where he’d been shot. Probably, Snake had decided that he’d figured out KID’s strategy and was somewhere else trying to head him off. Yeah, that sounded like Snake. Fortunately, the thug had no idea about Conan, or that the detective operated by entirely different parameters.
That meant that the voices he could hear were goons Snake had left behind to guard the door to the roof? Plausible, not enough to base a strategy off of. Those snipers might still be there as well, so his hang glider was out. Well, there was always the elevator shaft…
Which would drop him right in the lobby, where Snake might be waiting. Urgh. At this point, it might be preferable to hide out somewhere until the thugs left on their own.
“KID?” a soft voice called from behind him.
He carefully closed the door, then moved back to his companion. The seven-year-old still looked a little unsteady, but that determined gleam was mostly back in his eyes.
“You owe me an explanation”, Kaito huffed, “But first, you have any ideas on how to get out of here?”
And that’s basically how they ended up descending from the back wall of the building, draped in dark curtains, from the brat’s extendable suspenders. Neat little gadget. The whole thing was a little demeaning though, considering KID’s usual choice of exit.
Well, Kaito thought sardonically, at least Snake was unlikely to expect this from him.
It honestly felt a little like he was letting them win, leaving silently like this. But it was stupid to think like that. He’d almost died today! He’d get them with a - a glitter bomb or something, next time! But no, that felt too much like something he’d do to his task force. Those annoyances didn’t even deserve that much.
Once on the ground, Kaito quickly unearthed his back-up disguise, changed and then they left the scene.