Fic: Communications: 16/?
Aug. 22nd, 2005 04:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
soc_puppetCommunications
Summary: Shin'ichi calls in a favor and Akako responds
Installment Sixteen: Red Witch
At first, the Hirota Masami case seemed like any other: just a girl searching for her last living relative through the aid of a private detective, nothing special. Soon the case grew, though, and Shin’ichi began recognizing familiar signs suggesting the mysterious organization at work. Tensions mounted and conflicting information came to light, and soon the case was almost beyond control. As a last resort Shin’ichi tagged Masami with a tracking device that Kuroba had been working on.
He was glad for it later when Hirota Kenzo, the girl’s supposed father, was found dead and Masami herself vanished. Unfortunately, the case was up to two murders and a billion yen before Conan and Ran could slip away from Kogoro to find her. They caught up to her in an old shipping yard. Shin’ichi signaled for Ran to slow when he heard voices.
“So, let’s see the money.”
Shin’ichi’s breath caught in his throat and his blood ran cold. He knew that voice. He had been expecting to run into members of the organization sooner or later in this case, but this one... Heart pounding in his ears, he peeked around a stack of crates. There stood Masami, facing off against the same members of the organization that had poisoned Shin’ichi.
“It isn’t here,” Masami said, interrupting Shin’ichi’s train of thought. “I left it someplace safe.”
“What!” Shin’ichi winced; the man sounded furious. Ran shifted beside him to put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
“Before that, I want to know about my sister,” Masami continued. “You made a promise; you said you’d let the two of us out of the organization when this job was over. Bring her here and I’ll tell you where I hid the money.”
The tall man chuckled. “We can’t possibly allow one of our most valuable scientists to leave the organization. Unlike you, she is indispensable.”
The betrayal in Masami’s voice was palpable. “From the beginning, you—!”
“This is your last chance,” the man threatened. “Tell us where the money is.”
“You’re being stupid,” Masami retorted, confidence returning. “You’ll never find it if you kill me.”
“You’re the stupid one,” the tall man told her. “Our guesses are getting closer to the mark.” There was a pause and a horrified gasp. “I warned you, didn’t I? That was your last chance.”
A gunshot split the air. Ran tensed beside Shin’ichi, but he held up a hand to prevent her from running to Masami. “Not until they’re gone,” he hissed. Ran scowled, but stayed put. When the footsteps of the two men faded into the distance, Ran and Shin’ichi rushed forward. Ran cried out when the woman collapsed.
“Masami-san! Don’t worry, we’ll call an ambulance—!”
Masami shook her head. “Don’t bother,” she said weakly. “You’ll never save me.”
Ran shook her head. “Don’t speak, Masami-san; your wound—”
Masami interrupted Ran by coughing viciously and spitting blood onto the pavement. Shin’ichi winced; the bullet had probably pierced her lung—there really wasn’t much hope. Still, there had to be something he could do! “Masami-san,” he said, “could you tell us where the money is?”
Masami blinked at him. “I left it at the front desk of the hotel.”
Shin’ichi nodded firmly. “Good. Ran, call in an anonymous tip about the money. I’m going to see what I can do to help Masami-san.” Ran nodded and they began digging out their cell phones.
“…You’re that kid from the detective agency,” Masami whispered.
Shin’ichi paused, fingers hovering over the keypad. “Yes.”
“How did you find me?”
Shin’ichi’s eyes slid downward to the phone. “I stuck a tracking device on your watch,” he explained. “We followed it to the hotel and tracked you here with it once you left.”
Her eyes widened. “Who… who are you?”
He smiled wryly and finished dialing. “Edogawa Co—” he replied automatically, then corrected himself. “No. Kudo Shin’ichi, detective.”
He was grateful when the phone was answered, saving him from speaking. “Hello—”
“Kuroba, it’s me,” Shin’ichi cut in.
“Kudo?” Kuroba exclaimed. “What—”
Shin’ichi interrupted him again. “Kuroba, I’m calling in a favor.”
There was a heartbeat of tense silence. “Alright. What do you need?”
Relieved, Shin’ichi began to explain.
-----
Akako was stunned speechless when she answered the door to find an out-of-breath Kuroba Kaito. It wasn’t so much that that he was visiting; it was more that Akako openly suspected him of being one of the Kaitou Kid’s civilian identities and was only recently getting over a habit of interfering with heists in hopes of backing him into a corner. What he said when he saw her confused her more. “Koizumi-san, I need your help.”
She frowned. “What do you need my help for?” Considering some of their past encounters, it surprised her that he would be asking her for assistance.
Kaito forced a weary smile. “I’m going to need to get across town to a shipping yard in a hurry. After that…” He trailed off, uncertainty making his expression waver before resolve hardened it. “I know you have… special talents you can use,” he told her bluntly. “I don’t know how good you are at healing, but there’s someone there who really needs it. If you can save her…” he trailed off and stared imploringly into Akako’s eyes.
Akako’s head swam. Kaito had essentially confirmed her suspicions about his unusual hobbies, because there was no way that anyone but the Kaitou Kid knew that she practiced sorcery. For him to compromise one of the Kid’s identities when she might not even be able to help… this must be an important task indeed. “Wait right here,” she told him, “I’ll get my broom.”
Kaito sagged in relief. “Thank you.”
Akako flashed a small smile at him over her shoulder. “I probably owe it to you anyway,” she replied, then ducked inside.
Less than a minute later they were in the sky.
-----
After about ten minutes Kaito pointed out their destination and they descended. Once they were on the ground Kaito ran to a small boy with large glasses; Akako recognized the child from recent Kid heists, but didn’t allow herself to be distracted. She had a job to do. Looking around, Akako spotted a young woman lying on the ground, bleeding profusely and breathing in gasps. A brown-haired girl about Akako’s age was kneeling over her, holding her hand and murmuring comfortingly. That, Akako realized, must be what she was there for.
Akako strode purposefully to where the wounded woman lay and knelt beside her. She smiled reassuringly at the girl across the woman’s body from her and said, “Don’t worry, I’m here to help.” Akako’s hand shook from anxiety when she placed it over the woman’s heart. Trying to calm herself, she closed her eyes and got to work.
Healing was some of the most difficult magic to perform. It required intense concentration, patience, and for anything more than a minor cut or bruise, familiarity with the human body. Other costs usually depended on the severity of the wound.
Akako was not an expert on healing, but she knew the basics and could patch more serious wounds until some other form of help arrived. She’d made a point to study it when she was younger, but she gave up training in it seriously when she found her talents lay more in the ‘dark’ end of the spectrum. Now she wished she had studied it a bit longer.
A hand clutched at Akako’s sleeve, interrupting her train of thought. Akako had to force herself to keep her eyes closed so she wouldn’t break completely out of her trance. “My sister…” a voice mumbled from near Akako’s elbow, gurgling slightly. “My sister, Shiho… She’s still trapped…”
“Hush, Masami-san,” said another voice, this one closer to Akako’s head. The girl, Akako thought. “Don’t talk, please.”
The woman tried again. “Help her, please.” The woman broke off, coughing, and the girl murmured soothingly to her.
Akako pushed the thoughts from her mind. Now wasn’t the time for distractions. Voices faded into the background as she sank back into her magic.
Akako held back a hiss of sympathy when she found out how badly the woman was injured; feeling her pain wouldn’t get any work done. Instead she blocked out the rest of the world and sank deeper into the magic. Slowly she began to heal.
The first thing she did was put the woman under. Satisfied that her patient would remain unconscious until the process was over, Akako gave her natural painkillers a boost and turned her attention to the woman’s lungs.
There wasn’t much fluid in them but it didn’t take a lot to drown a human. Slapping a temporary patch over the hole, Akako painstakingly drew out the liquid. The woman expelled it with an involuntary cough. Satisfied, Akako began to rebuild the damaged lung tissue.
She didn’t spend long replacing bronchial tubes before she moved on; there wouldn’t be much point in healing the woman if she only bled to death. As soon as she’d gotten a basic plug in place and stimulated growth she moved on to the surrounding area. She skipped over bruised ribs in favor of repairing muscle and growing skin over the openings in the woman’s flesh. When she felt she had done all she could, Akako pulled herself out of the magic and opened her eyes. Kaito, the boy with glasses and the brown-haired girl were watching her silently.
“She’s stable,” Akako told them, wiping sweat from her brow. “I’ve closed her wounds and patched her lung, but the tissue’s still weak. She’s also lost a lot of blood, and her ribs are bruised. She’s going to need a lot of rest before she can get back on her feet, but she’ll live.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry I couldn’t do more.”
“No,” the boy told her, “you’ve been very helpful. Thank you, Koizumi-san.”
Akako was startled by the boy’s usage of adult tones and body language. There was something off about him. For a moment, she saw a worried young man standing in place of the small boy. When she blinked the image vanished, and she blamed it on exhaustion. “Of course,” she answered him automatically.
Kaito carried the woman to his house, Akako and the other two following. Akako leaned heavily on the girl, drained from the heavy use of magic, and the boy with glasses carried her broom. The girl—Ran, she found out—made quiet introductions as they walked and explained the situation a little bit, though she left out quite a few details. Akako listened quietly, piecing the story together in her mind.
They finally settled in a hidden basement in Kaito’s house. Akako sank gratefully into a chair and watched as Kaito laid Masami down on a couch. All around the room were magician’s props and Kaitou Kid gear; this was, she realized, the Kid’s base of operations.
At the same time she thought that this might be it; this might be the only time she would ever see this, the only time she would ever be able to help Kaito instead of challenging him. She found she didn’t want that. She didn’t want to go back to being Kaito’s enemy, to taunting him during heists and making veiled comments about the Kid when she saw him at school. Desperate to change things, Akako caught Kaito’s arm when he walked past her.
“I… What are you going to do now?” she asked. “About me, I mean.”
Kaito’s face was carefully blank. “I don’t know, Koizumi-san,” he said at last, his tone unreadable. “What do you want me to do?”
Akako stared at Masami for a long moment, watched Ran and the boy (Conan?) fuss over her. Finally she looked Kaito in the eye and said, “I want to help.”
Kaito’s eyes softened and he smiled faintly. “That, Koizumi-san, I can arrange.” Then his grin turned downright wicked.
“Welcome to the team, Koizumi-san.”
—Fin—
The title is a pun on Akako’s name (Red/Crimson child) and RPGs, in which Red Mages are the ones that use both white and black magic.
Medical disclaimer: I know essentially nothing about punctured lungs, so please forgive me if I’ve screwed anything up too badly. I do remember hearing once that a human could drown from only a tablespoon of liquid in their lungs, but for all I know, that’s wrong too. In short, take everything here with a grain of salt please, and do correct me if I’m wrong.
Heavily based on files four through seven in book two of Detective Conan. Lots of diologue drawn (and slightly altered) from scanlations. For those of you who have forgotten and are too lazy to look it up, Hirota Masami was the name that Miyano Akemi used to get the Mouri Detective Agency to help her track the taxi driver. See, I kinda felt that Shiho got a bit of a raw deal in the original, and I don't like character death in the best circumstances, so... Anyway, been planning to rescue Ai's older sister since the concept stages ^^; It's how Akako gets dragged in, and we'll need her for later.
C&C always welcome ^_^
x-posted to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
manycases1truth 'm working on the Anniversary Challenge fics, I swear!
Edit: Now with beautiful art by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
yutaya! ♥
Summary: Shin'ichi calls in a favor and Akako responds
Installment Sixteen: Red Witch
At first, the Hirota Masami case seemed like any other: just a girl searching for her last living relative through the aid of a private detective, nothing special. Soon the case grew, though, and Shin’ichi began recognizing familiar signs suggesting the mysterious organization at work. Tensions mounted and conflicting information came to light, and soon the case was almost beyond control. As a last resort Shin’ichi tagged Masami with a tracking device that Kuroba had been working on.
He was glad for it later when Hirota Kenzo, the girl’s supposed father, was found dead and Masami herself vanished. Unfortunately, the case was up to two murders and a billion yen before Conan and Ran could slip away from Kogoro to find her. They caught up to her in an old shipping yard. Shin’ichi signaled for Ran to slow when he heard voices.
“So, let’s see the money.”
Shin’ichi’s breath caught in his throat and his blood ran cold. He knew that voice. He had been expecting to run into members of the organization sooner or later in this case, but this one... Heart pounding in his ears, he peeked around a stack of crates. There stood Masami, facing off against the same members of the organization that had poisoned Shin’ichi.
“It isn’t here,” Masami said, interrupting Shin’ichi’s train of thought. “I left it someplace safe.”
“What!” Shin’ichi winced; the man sounded furious. Ran shifted beside him to put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
“Before that, I want to know about my sister,” Masami continued. “You made a promise; you said you’d let the two of us out of the organization when this job was over. Bring her here and I’ll tell you where I hid the money.”
The tall man chuckled. “We can’t possibly allow one of our most valuable scientists to leave the organization. Unlike you, she is indispensable.”
The betrayal in Masami’s voice was palpable. “From the beginning, you—!”
“This is your last chance,” the man threatened. “Tell us where the money is.”
“You’re being stupid,” Masami retorted, confidence returning. “You’ll never find it if you kill me.”
“You’re the stupid one,” the tall man told her. “Our guesses are getting closer to the mark.” There was a pause and a horrified gasp. “I warned you, didn’t I? That was your last chance.”
A gunshot split the air. Ran tensed beside Shin’ichi, but he held up a hand to prevent her from running to Masami. “Not until they’re gone,” he hissed. Ran scowled, but stayed put. When the footsteps of the two men faded into the distance, Ran and Shin’ichi rushed forward. Ran cried out when the woman collapsed.
“Masami-san! Don’t worry, we’ll call an ambulance—!”
Masami shook her head. “Don’t bother,” she said weakly. “You’ll never save me.”
Ran shook her head. “Don’t speak, Masami-san; your wound—”
Masami interrupted Ran by coughing viciously and spitting blood onto the pavement. Shin’ichi winced; the bullet had probably pierced her lung—there really wasn’t much hope. Still, there had to be something he could do! “Masami-san,” he said, “could you tell us where the money is?”
Masami blinked at him. “I left it at the front desk of the hotel.”
Shin’ichi nodded firmly. “Good. Ran, call in an anonymous tip about the money. I’m going to see what I can do to help Masami-san.” Ran nodded and they began digging out their cell phones.
“…You’re that kid from the detective agency,” Masami whispered.
Shin’ichi paused, fingers hovering over the keypad. “Yes.”
“How did you find me?”
Shin’ichi’s eyes slid downward to the phone. “I stuck a tracking device on your watch,” he explained. “We followed it to the hotel and tracked you here with it once you left.”
Her eyes widened. “Who… who are you?”
He smiled wryly and finished dialing. “Edogawa Co—” he replied automatically, then corrected himself. “No. Kudo Shin’ichi, detective.”
He was grateful when the phone was answered, saving him from speaking. “Hello—”
“Kuroba, it’s me,” Shin’ichi cut in.
“Kudo?” Kuroba exclaimed. “What—”
Shin’ichi interrupted him again. “Kuroba, I’m calling in a favor.”
There was a heartbeat of tense silence. “Alright. What do you need?”
Relieved, Shin’ichi began to explain.
-----
Akako was stunned speechless when she answered the door to find an out-of-breath Kuroba Kaito. It wasn’t so much that that he was visiting; it was more that Akako openly suspected him of being one of the Kaitou Kid’s civilian identities and was only recently getting over a habit of interfering with heists in hopes of backing him into a corner. What he said when he saw her confused her more. “Koizumi-san, I need your help.”
She frowned. “What do you need my help for?” Considering some of their past encounters, it surprised her that he would be asking her for assistance.
Kaito forced a weary smile. “I’m going to need to get across town to a shipping yard in a hurry. After that…” He trailed off, uncertainty making his expression waver before resolve hardened it. “I know you have… special talents you can use,” he told her bluntly. “I don’t know how good you are at healing, but there’s someone there who really needs it. If you can save her…” he trailed off and stared imploringly into Akako’s eyes.
Akako’s head swam. Kaito had essentially confirmed her suspicions about his unusual hobbies, because there was no way that anyone but the Kaitou Kid knew that she practiced sorcery. For him to compromise one of the Kid’s identities when she might not even be able to help… this must be an important task indeed. “Wait right here,” she told him, “I’ll get my broom.”
Kaito sagged in relief. “Thank you.”
Akako flashed a small smile at him over her shoulder. “I probably owe it to you anyway,” she replied, then ducked inside.
Less than a minute later they were in the sky.
-----
After about ten minutes Kaito pointed out their destination and they descended. Once they were on the ground Kaito ran to a small boy with large glasses; Akako recognized the child from recent Kid heists, but didn’t allow herself to be distracted. She had a job to do. Looking around, Akako spotted a young woman lying on the ground, bleeding profusely and breathing in gasps. A brown-haired girl about Akako’s age was kneeling over her, holding her hand and murmuring comfortingly. That, Akako realized, must be what she was there for.
Akako strode purposefully to where the wounded woman lay and knelt beside her. She smiled reassuringly at the girl across the woman’s body from her and said, “Don’t worry, I’m here to help.” Akako’s hand shook from anxiety when she placed it over the woman’s heart. Trying to calm herself, she closed her eyes and got to work.
Healing was some of the most difficult magic to perform. It required intense concentration, patience, and for anything more than a minor cut or bruise, familiarity with the human body. Other costs usually depended on the severity of the wound.
Akako was not an expert on healing, but she knew the basics and could patch more serious wounds until some other form of help arrived. She’d made a point to study it when she was younger, but she gave up training in it seriously when she found her talents lay more in the ‘dark’ end of the spectrum. Now she wished she had studied it a bit longer.
A hand clutched at Akako’s sleeve, interrupting her train of thought. Akako had to force herself to keep her eyes closed so she wouldn’t break completely out of her trance. “My sister…” a voice mumbled from near Akako’s elbow, gurgling slightly. “My sister, Shiho… She’s still trapped…”
“Hush, Masami-san,” said another voice, this one closer to Akako’s head. The girl, Akako thought. “Don’t talk, please.”
The woman tried again. “Help her, please.” The woman broke off, coughing, and the girl murmured soothingly to her.
Akako pushed the thoughts from her mind. Now wasn’t the time for distractions. Voices faded into the background as she sank back into her magic.
Akako held back a hiss of sympathy when she found out how badly the woman was injured; feeling her pain wouldn’t get any work done. Instead she blocked out the rest of the world and sank deeper into the magic. Slowly she began to heal.
The first thing she did was put the woman under. Satisfied that her patient would remain unconscious until the process was over, Akako gave her natural painkillers a boost and turned her attention to the woman’s lungs.
There wasn’t much fluid in them but it didn’t take a lot to drown a human. Slapping a temporary patch over the hole, Akako painstakingly drew out the liquid. The woman expelled it with an involuntary cough. Satisfied, Akako began to rebuild the damaged lung tissue.
She didn’t spend long replacing bronchial tubes before she moved on; there wouldn’t be much point in healing the woman if she only bled to death. As soon as she’d gotten a basic plug in place and stimulated growth she moved on to the surrounding area. She skipped over bruised ribs in favor of repairing muscle and growing skin over the openings in the woman’s flesh. When she felt she had done all she could, Akako pulled herself out of the magic and opened her eyes. Kaito, the boy with glasses and the brown-haired girl were watching her silently.
“She’s stable,” Akako told them, wiping sweat from her brow. “I’ve closed her wounds and patched her lung, but the tissue’s still weak. She’s also lost a lot of blood, and her ribs are bruised. She’s going to need a lot of rest before she can get back on her feet, but she’ll live.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry I couldn’t do more.”
“No,” the boy told her, “you’ve been very helpful. Thank you, Koizumi-san.”
Akako was startled by the boy’s usage of adult tones and body language. There was something off about him. For a moment, she saw a worried young man standing in place of the small boy. When she blinked the image vanished, and she blamed it on exhaustion. “Of course,” she answered him automatically.
Kaito carried the woman to his house, Akako and the other two following. Akako leaned heavily on the girl, drained from the heavy use of magic, and the boy with glasses carried her broom. The girl—Ran, she found out—made quiet introductions as they walked and explained the situation a little bit, though she left out quite a few details. Akako listened quietly, piecing the story together in her mind.
They finally settled in a hidden basement in Kaito’s house. Akako sank gratefully into a chair and watched as Kaito laid Masami down on a couch. All around the room were magician’s props and Kaitou Kid gear; this was, she realized, the Kid’s base of operations.
At the same time she thought that this might be it; this might be the only time she would ever see this, the only time she would ever be able to help Kaito instead of challenging him. She found she didn’t want that. She didn’t want to go back to being Kaito’s enemy, to taunting him during heists and making veiled comments about the Kid when she saw him at school. Desperate to change things, Akako caught Kaito’s arm when he walked past her.
“I… What are you going to do now?” she asked. “About me, I mean.”
Kaito’s face was carefully blank. “I don’t know, Koizumi-san,” he said at last, his tone unreadable. “What do you want me to do?”
Akako stared at Masami for a long moment, watched Ran and the boy (Conan?) fuss over her. Finally she looked Kaito in the eye and said, “I want to help.”
Kaito’s eyes softened and he smiled faintly. “That, Koizumi-san, I can arrange.” Then his grin turned downright wicked.
“Welcome to the team, Koizumi-san.”
—Fin—
The title is a pun on Akako’s name (Red/Crimson child) and RPGs, in which Red Mages are the ones that use both white and black magic.
Medical disclaimer: I know essentially nothing about punctured lungs, so please forgive me if I’ve screwed anything up too badly. I do remember hearing once that a human could drown from only a tablespoon of liquid in their lungs, but for all I know, that’s wrong too. In short, take everything here with a grain of salt please, and do correct me if I’m wrong.
Heavily based on files four through seven in book two of Detective Conan. Lots of diologue drawn (and slightly altered) from scanlations. For those of you who have forgotten and are too lazy to look it up, Hirota Masami was the name that Miyano Akemi used to get the Mouri Detective Agency to help her track the taxi driver. See, I kinda felt that Shiho got a bit of a raw deal in the original, and I don't like character death in the best circumstances, so... Anyway, been planning to rescue Ai's older sister since the concept stages ^^; It's how Akako gets dragged in, and we'll need her for later.
C&C always welcome ^_^
x-posted to
manycases1truth 'm working on the Anniversary Challenge fics, I swear!Edit: Now with beautiful art by
yutaya! ♥
