Murder Broods

Murder Broods

Chapter 13

Kaito Kuroba fiddled with his flash bombs, checking and rechecking them for functionality, his thoughts less on the mechanics of the useful gadgets and more on recent events.

The bombings reported in the News -- he’d first dismissed them as something for the police to investigate, nothing more than some terrorist plot. However, as the culprit targeted bigger places, especially those where large numbers of people usually gathered, he’d kept a keen eye on the News, his gut telling him not to ignore these incidents.

‘He readied his hang-glider-cape for flight, his current prize safe in his white suit while the police safely followed a false trail. The heavy clouds above obscured the moon and darkened everything by swallowing the starlight. Only the street lamps lining the roads down below served to illuminate the shadowy atmosphere.

He heard the click of a gun behind him a split-second before he felt the bullet graze his shoulder -- he dodged the next shot by taking to the air. Maneuvering with his hang-glider to see as Snake readied another shot, he immediately swerved in the air, distributing his weight to the side. This second shot struck his left upper arm, burning as though it tore a chunk from his flesh.

‘Damn.’ He ignored the pain and focused on staying airborne, glancing back only once more; his face paled as he noticed another shooter targeting him with a sniper rifle -- the wind current barring a quick escape and the sniper’s forefinger a split-second from fully pressing the trigger.

His heart jumped in his chest as he swerved again to dodge, the silent night air broken by the rifle blast aimed at his head. He still didn’t know who fired the second shot simultaneous with the sniper’s. All he knew was two shots were fired, the unknown one hitting the first in midair, causing a ricochet that scattered both safely away from him.

Deciding not to tempt fate any longer, he hurried away, waiting until he was out of range of the sniper rifle before landing.’

“I wonder who helped my escape that night…and why….” Kaito glanced at his window and then the table he’d placed his flash-bombs on; beside his Kid attire and tools lay a single sheet of paper with black type -- the letter that had prompted the Kid notice he’d sent out yesterday. He picked it up, his eyes searching once more for any clue to who sent it before rereading it.

-Elpis Jewel, Corvintine family. To you who seeks the all-giving gem that burdens men’s wit and courts disaster your desire shall find its breath.-

Kaito kept his poker-face up as he read the words once more, his pulse quickening as he locked on the phase ‘the all giving gem.’ The first time he read it his heart had jumped, the idea gnawing in his thoughts until he researched to be sure.

His hunch was right. Pandora in Greek meant ‘bearer of all’ or ‘all-giving’-- and connected with gem or rather the synonym jewel….

“But why did someone send this, who would….” He leaned forward and shook his head, the next moment standing after briefly glancing at the open window. A light breeze fluttered the curtain as he watched it, his eyes widening slightly the next moment as something winged and white landed on the sill.

Its feathers were as white as his doves, but its beak and head bore the unmistakable features of a crow -- the menacing look of an intelligent predator. He half smiled as he approached the corvine, his poker-face intact as he noticed the band attached to its leg.
"You're back again, have another message for me?" Kaito held his hand out slightly intrigued by how trained and tamed the crow was as it flew to him. Its clawed feet barely dug into his skin when it perched on his wrist, the band on its leg peeling almost indiscernibly.
Kaito picked at the peeled edge and stripped the thin paper from the metal. The band around the crow's leg now had a metallic glint, and the crow left his arm to fly away through the window. He waited until the crow vanished behind the neighboring buildings and then shut the window, the strip of paper held tightly in his palm.
'I wonder if this person is friend or foe. And how does he know I seek the Pandora Jewel?' Kaito glanced over the writing on the strip, the content unsurprising even though he'd never expected to be warned.
--They'll be there. Tread wisely. --
"No need to ask who 'they' are. Snake and his group. " Kaito read over the rest, this one signed in response to a question he'd written back about the sender's identity. The signature read -- the Second Shot, S.S. "It's you then, from my last heist."
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Bright auburn hair fell over blue eyes, the wavy strands covered both ears until a fair manicured hand pulled one side's strands behind an ear. Julia Corvintine gave an appraising look at the young detective in front of her, her eyes roamed over his dark hair and tan face before she smiled.
"Who are your friends, Hattori-kun?" She nodded behind him at Ran and Kogoro, prompting the teen detective to introduce them.
"This is Ran Mouri-san and her father the detective Kogoro Mouri-san."
"The Detective Mouri-san? The one rumored to have death follow him wherever he goes?" Julia paled but held out her hand which Kogoro shook while mumbling something about not liking that part of the rumors circulating about him. "Oh, it's not wholly a bad thing coming across all those murders. Why, if you had the luck to come across every murder right after it's committed and solve it no one would think about murdering ever again. Wouldn't that be a blessing?"
"Haha, you have a point there. " Kogoro replied, becoming his usual goofy self while flirting with the gorgeous woman. He failed to notice Ran give him an evil look or Hattori sighing.
The Osaka detective asked briefly about the Elpis Jewel, to which Julia replied by motioning to its case on the exhibit floor. She paid little attention to Hattori as she laughed with Kogoro, flirting with the famous detective.
'Geez, looks like I'm out of the picture now that detective Mouri is here. Not that he'd be much help without Kudo around.' Hattori glanced around the floor before deciding to check the target of Kid's noticed first and then the entrances and exits. 'Kudo....'
- "Hattori, I need you to investigate Kid's heist without me, and....keep an eye on Ran and her father."
"Kudo, is something wrong? Are you in trouble?"
"There's....someone with connections to them who knows my identity. I need to lay low while I investigate....I might not be able to return to Ran even after I revert back to Conan. "
"Kudo...." --
Hattori pulled his focus back on the current investigation, studying the characteristics of the Elpis Jewel and the layout of the exhibit; he noted the adequate number of officers preparing for Kid -- while a large number it wasn’t as large as usual. The recent episodes of bombings outweighed the Kaito Kid’s latest notice since the thief was nonviolent, while the bomber could turn deadly.

‘I should be helping Kudo right now….’ Hattori turned onto a corridor that led to a back exit, hands in his pockets as he passed a tall man admiring the paintings of the exhibit.

The man was dressed in a black suit and had neck length platinum blond hair, his dark grey, almost black eyes focused on the painting in front of him. None of which made him more suspicious than the other visitors of the exhibit, but there was something about his smile as he looked at the painting that triggered Hattori’s suspicions.

‘What’s so interesting ‘bout that painting?’ Hattori glanced at the painting after he finished checking the exit and turned back down the hall. The painting showed a young woman holding an overlarge clay jar amid a thicket as the full moon shined overhead. The teen detective quickly read the exhibit label beneath the painting and frowned. ‘It’s not even made by a famous artist, but by a member of the exhibitor’s family.’

Reminding himself of his reason for attending the exhibit, Hattori continued past the man and stared forward down the corridor, noticing Julia as she approached him. He parted his lips to ask a question when the woman’s eyes locked on something behind him, her face livid. The next moment Hattori heard the man approach, the footsteps heavy on the waxed floor.

“Julia, dear, I’ve been looking forward to seeing you.” The man purred and reached for the woman’s hand to kiss it, instead receiving a slap as Julia screamed at him.

“What are you doing here?! I demand you to leave, go at once!” Julia’s voice drew some of the close-by officers into the hall while the man backtracked.

“Julia-sweet, I merely came to see what you’ve done with my paintings, if you have no need of them….”

“As you can see they’re part of the exhibit.” Julia gestured to the paintings lining the corridor’s walls, which Hattori now noticed all bore the same artist name. “Satisfied?”

‘Guess that’s why he was focused on that painting, it was one of his.’ Hattori sidestepped out of the man’s way as he hastened to the main hall, leaving Julia fuming among the paintings. ‘And if what’s just happened is any indication, that man and Julia-san probably….’

“That man, thinking he can just show up after 20 years and just….” Julia clenched a fist, before relaxing and tossing back her head, making her hair bounce. She gave a snooty laugh before turning her back on the paintings in the corridor and stormed past Hattori into the main hall.
'....yep, must be her ex....I'll just hope there's no plot for revenge brewing, the last thing I need is someone to wind up murdered. '
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The sounds surrounding her blurred in Hakami’s ears as she stared up at the skyscraper, the completely computerized structure mentioned in that blog entry a few days before. Her silver hair spiked, black liner applied heavily under her eyes, she smirked and entered the building. Her hacking skill allowed her to bypass the security, overriding the Authorized Personnel Only warning on the entrance keypad. The white trench coat she wore swayed behind her as she entered, her footsteps sure and deliberate on the checkered floor.

“Main control room….um….” She read the floor directory posted between the elevators and stairs, her lips twitching as her green eyes alighted on what she sought. Quietly she bypassed the elevators, the stairs becoming her path towards the destination. “Three days to go, then Death will embrace its final victims.”

The darken corridor deepened the effect of her black makeup, and dimmed the green hue of her eyes, her trench coat and the off-white pants beneath appearing grey as she continued on. Before she reached the control room door her modified-phone vibrated in her pocket; she took out the contraption and paused to glance at the display screen.

Her lips moved silently as she read the email message topic and the name of the sender; her thumb quivered over the open key, a half-centimeter above before she pocketed the device.

“No, I can’t stop now…not even for him who saved me three years ago.” Her right hand twitched before she bit her inner cheek and continued to the control room, her expression obscured by shadow as she opened the door.

0
The brilliant lights overhead lent their warm glow to the room, their glint reflected on the glass cases housing a variety of jewels. Julia glanced behind her as she loitered, gazing disinterestedly at the displays. Her auburn hair pulled into a quick half-bun that left a few choice strands lying seductively against her cheek.
"What do you mean by doing this? Julia!" The man from earlier approached, his arm outstretched to grab her shoulder before he let it fall to his side. He glanced at the display case before he moved his hand into his pocket, his face darkened by his hair.
"Shinji, don't tell me you haven't made plans of your own." Julia trailed a finger over one of the display cases, lips curved and eyes focused on the man beside her. "You didn't show up here just to look at your paintings. I know you better than that Shinji."
"And I know you, Julia. This is madness....what do you hope to gain by revealing to them...." Shinji paused when Julia placed her forefinger over his lips, the touch familiar and nostalgic. His gray-black eyes softened, Julia's blue ones gazing into his glistened under the florescent lights. He sighed as he watched those blue eyes harden, and the doll-lips narrow to near invisibility. "Julia...."
"Don't you want to avenge her death? Shinji, if you cared about our daughter at all you won't stop me."
"I never said I would. I set you free when I signed the divorce papers, if anything goes wrong I can't protect you." Shinji turned away, barely taking five steps from the woman before she grabbed his sleeve.
"There's just one thing, was your family name really Shirogawa?"
"Does it matter? It changed to Corvintine when I married you, like your family wanted. And I'll always think of myself as the white crow who escaped Apollo's anger." Shinji freed his sleeve and continued walking while Julia stared perplexed behind him.

A/N: Please review….

Anyway, my muse really is taking this fic in a different direction than I’d originally planned though some things will remain the same as I planned or at least only be slightly changed. (That makes it difficult since I have to reread my earlier chapters to make sure I don’t make incompatible changes between past and future chapters)

I hope I wrote the scene with Kaito Kuroba all right, I’ve only read some of the manga and the only times I’ve watched Kid in an anime were when he made appearances in Detective Conan. Writing the next few chapters will probably be difficult since I have to read up more on Kaito through the manga and not just Wikipedia, something that might be time consuming depending on my muse and motivation.