Chapter 35

Chapter 35
Struggle
*This chapter's been done since like last Sunday, but I haven't had a chance to finish editing it until now. Good news is that it's out a day before I expected it to, so that's great. Don't expect chapter 36 until at least Monday, because I haven't even started. Thank you to all who favorited my story, you know who you are! Please review this chapter, I spent a bunch of time trying to make it good. It ends with a cliffhanger, kind of like the last chapter. I'm going to draw my OC (Ryuu Miyazaki) and post it on deviantart soon if I can, so everybody can get a visualization. Wish me luck! And I would like everybody to give a round of applause to my beta-reader LostintheDreams who has been doing an amazing job editing my story. It actually makes sense now. Onto chapter 35!*
Calvados couldn't believe he had been assigned to such a simple job. He, one of the greatest snipers in the Organization just behind Chianti and Korn, was told to shoot a high school girl. It wasn't even like she was a dangerous threat. Not even troublesome to bother hunting down and catch. She'd be sitting in her classroom, just like the normal student she was. Her only fault was being unfortunate enough to be friends with the Kaitou Kid. He almost felt bad about this-Killing a girl or at least this type of target went against his policies. Not that he hadn't done it before, it just made what was left of his humanity feel uneasy.
He was hidden in a tree, a good tall one, at least a hundred yards away from the classroom. Using the scope of the gun, he zoomed in on his target. Nakamori Aoko, seventeen years old this year. She had long dark brown hair, however the rest of her details were obscured by the distance. Snake had ordered him to do this, and when he had asked why…
"Don't question my orders, Calvados!" he had screamed, putting his hand towards his gun. That was why Calvados had always hated Snake, no matter how you approached him he always acted so aggressive.
"I just want to know why I'm doing this. Is this person a danger to the Organization or something?" I asked out of pure curiosity.
"No, I just want to rile up that thief." He smiled evilly like the absolute sadist he was.
"Thief?" I said, guarding my emotions. He must be talking about Kaitou Kid. I'd seen something about him the other day in the newspaper, but I hadn't bothered reading.
"Kuroba Kaito, better known as Kid. Kaitou Kid." He took out a photo of a teenage boy with messy hair. However, it was not a very good photo, as most of his face was covered by a top hat and monocle. "His father was the previous Kaitou Kid, so I had suspected him at times, but the discovery of his identity in the actual news was a huge timesaver. I did some research on him and found out that his best friend, and love interest, is Nakamori Aoko- Your target." He drew another photo out of his pocket, and this time the features were distinct. She had the same shade of dark brown hair, and it was also rather messy. Her bright, beautiful blue eyes stood out on her otherwise nondescript face. "We have no leads on the whereabouts of the Kid at the moment, so in order to lure him out, we'll kill her. He's the true danger to this Organization."
"Understood Snake."
He focused his gun until he was sure it would hit his target. He could see the tiny red dot shining on her chocolate-colored hair, and he knew it would be impossible to miss. The bullet would go straight into the side of her head and stop her life forever. He could feel the pleasure in killing now, the fact that he was above others, that he was like a god of death. His expression didn't show any of his thoughts, as he had learned to hide any emotion a long, long, time ago. He took a couple of deep breathes, and pulled the trigger.
"Ryuu-kun, wake up. Ryuu-kun." A girl's voice led him back into consciousness. "Ryuu-kun, are you alright?" He looked up and saw that the girl was Haibara Ai, the one he had just met that day, or was it the day before that? He had lost track of time, and he couldn't see the window behind him. However, by the lack of light, he suspected it was nighttime. Her blue eyes were filled with concern as she stared into his emerald ones, and her face covered in scratches and bruises.
He was lying on his back, with no memory of how he ended up like that. He felt the metal of handcuffs on his wrists, and tightly knotted ropes around his feet. As he tried to sit up, his abdomen protested in pain, and he fell back down groaning. "It hurts, Ai-kun." As a joke, he had decided to use the 'kun' honorific earlier and she had not complained, so it became his nickname for her. "I don't remember anything. What time is it? What's going on?"
"I don't know the exact time, but I believe it's morning. It's raining outside." He strained his ears and he could hear the pitter-pattering of the tiny droplets hitting the earthen ground. "We're being held hostage, but I think we've technically been kidnapped. It was that camp counselor and the forest ranger. All of us were captured, however it seems that you were their main target because your father is the Chief of Police. I overheard the counselor talking on the phone, demanding a ransom for you. One hundred million yen, as well as a promise to not interfere in their business again." Her voice trembled as she said their business and Ryuu suspected she wasn't telling him everything she knew.
"Where are the other kids?" As a police officer's son, he'd been trained to be brave and to look after others first. He wasn't worried about himself at all.
"They're safe, though they're in a different room. We tried to fight them off-we failed of course- so we ended up in here. You were knocked unconscious, so you wouldn't remember much of that." He couldn't recall the fighting, only the result. His broken nose ached, and his stomach was still hurting. He wished he could wipe the sweat off of his sticky forehead, but his hands were tied behind his back. His jet black hair fell into his eyes, irritating him. "There isn't a way to escape if that's what you're planning." She didn't sound like a first grader to him at all, no matter what her looks and words said. Even in a situation like this, instead of crying like he'd expect her to, her talk was calm and mature, like an adult's. He could feel that she had much more knowledge than him, but she tried to keep it hidden. Why? Footsteps from outside distracted his thoughts, and the door was unbolted. The faux camp counselor walked through the door, a smile on her face.
Violently, she walked over to Ryuu and suddenly picked him up by his shirt collar. He yelped in shock and pain. "Guess what dragon boy?" He struggled in her grasp, but she would not let go. "Your father wants you back pretty badly. He's going to drop off the money tomorrow at the Beika Port. Unfortunately for him, it'll be the last thing he'll ever manage to do. A bomb should be just the thing, don't you think?" Ryuu's eyes widened in horror as he realized what she was saying.
"Don't you dare hurt my father you bitch!" The boy found it hard to breathe in his position, but he still managed to find the breath to cuss. "He won't fall for that bullshit! I swear!" he screamed. He started choking from a lack of air, face looking tortured. Viura threw him back onto the ground pitilessly, with a disgusted look on her face.
"A frog's son is still a frog as they say." She daintily wiped her hand where she had picked up Ryuu. She flipped her light brown hair off of her face, and they could see her strange, red eyes. Ai shivered, who was this person? "It won't be all bad though, I'm sending you two and all the other children to hell with him." She quickly set up a simple bomb mechanism to the door, and poured gasoline around them. They started coughing from the acidic fumes. "If anybody tries to open this door after I close this, the cabin will go up in flames, killing you. Send my regards to the devil!" she cackled deviously, and then skipped out of the room, carefully closing the door behind her. The sound of a car starting crackled through the air, and then it was gone.
"This is not good," murmured Ai.
Heiji whirled his head to the window- and then to the door, torn between what he should do. Kaito was running towards a dangerous member of the syndicate. With his hot-blooded impulsive attitude, there was almost no chance that he wouldn't get himself killed. Especially because it was his best friend on the line.
And Haibara, she'd already been captured by the Black Organization, even if they didn't realize they had Sherry in their hands. Her chances of surviving were next to nothing as well. Damn it! Which one? He thought.
"I've already called in a substitute for the rest of the day, Hattori-kun," informed Jodie-sensei, laying her hand on his shoulder. "All three of you are coming with me. I've got my comrades waiting with a ride outside the door already." As they turned to leave, Ran was stopped by Sonoko, who had noticed the fishy conversation.
"Where are you going Ran?" She grabbed Ran's arm as she asked, worry in her eyes.
Ran hesitated before she answered, not wanting to lie to her best friend. "We have something important to do. We'll be okay, Sonoko." Sonoko frowned as she let go of Ran's arm, with one last worried glance at her friend as they walked out of the classroom.
There was a large black van waiting outside as said, and beside it were two men. One was at least fifty years old, told by the fact that his hair had already turned white. He wore glasses with dark rims and a stern expression on his face. The other seemed like a trained killer, his menacing cat-like eye piercing through each of them, making them shiver in fear.
"This is Hattori Heiji, Tooyama Kazuha, and Mouri Ran." Jodie pointed to each of them in order. "They'll be helping us, for today at least."
"Is it really okay to bring teenagers along?" questioned the cat-eyed man, his pupils narrowing into slits.
"It'll be fine Shuu, these kids know much more than you think. Didn't I tell you to get two cars?" she scolded angrily. "We have two missions right now!"
"Calm down, I already sent Camel to get those kids back," he reassured her casually as if nothing were happening, taking out a cigarette. He lit it, and took a long drag.
"What are you waiting for then?" She smacked the cigarette out of his hand. "Get the car started!"
"Yes, Jodie." He hopped into the front seat, inserting the key and starting the engine. "You want shotgun?" She reluctantly took the seat and showed her disdain by arrogantly sticking her nose up into the air with a big hmmph. The teenagers got into the back seats with the other man, who greeted them welcomely.
"My name is James Black, since she didn't introduce us properly." He spoke in a calm, grandfather-like manner. "That man there is Akai Shuuichi. We're all members of the F.B.I. How much do you know about our target?"
"More than you would care to know," said Heiji. "Our informant's currently in danger though." He didn't mention Ai by name, not knowing if he should truly trust the man.
"What about the kids?" asked Ran, still thinking about Ai and her friends. She didn't give anybody time to answer when she continued her questions. "We're heading for Ekoda High School right now, aren't we? Aren't we going a bit too fast?" She fidgeted in her seat as the needle in the speedometer edged past eighty.
"We have another agent heading there already. We believe that the suspects have probably already left the children alone, so we only sent one person." He looked at his watch. "As for where we're going, it's already been fifteen minutes since that girl was shot, but we don't have much information. To be honest with you, we've been getting a lot of different stories. All we know for sure is that they were after Nakamori Aoko and that there was a gun fired."
"How long until we get to Ekoda?" asked Kazuha, who was in just about the same state as Ran. Heiji hugged her close, calming her down a little bit.
"About ten minutes, maybe five if we can continue this speed." The needle headed towards ninety. "I'd put on those seat belts," he advised. "It won't be fun if Akai suddenly has to brake."
Kaito had already arrived at Ekoda High School, his premonition, quick route, and amazingly fast speed had put him there before the F.B.I. He had been fueled by his adrenaline and the feeling of unavoidable dread. He knew before he reached the entrance that something had happened- he could hear the school lock-down alarm, one that had never had to ring before.
As he started towards the school entrance, a man from a nearby tree hopped down. He had a large gun strapped to his back, and Kaito immediately recognized it as a sniping gun. This had to be the man that caused all the trouble. The one that might have killed Aoko.
The man didn't notice him until Kaito pounced and threw the man to the ground. A thin cloud of red covered his entire vision as a need for revenge surged through his body.
The man beneath him struggled, and pulled out a handgun. Damn! How could he have forgotten that the man might have extra weapons He wrestled fiercely for the gun, knowing that if he lost, he would lose his life with it. As he grappled for the trigger, he heard three shots fire, and pain wrenched his shoulder as a crimson flower blossomed from his torn shirt. Blood seeped out, and he started to feel a little bit dizzy.
"Aoko!" Hakuba raced to her side after the bullet had shattered the window. She was unconscious, and there was a small stream of blood running down the back of her head where it landed in small drips on the floor. Checking her wounds, he realized that the bullet had only skimmed her. He let out the breath he had been holding. Thank god.
The shot had ended up hitting the circuit board, turning the whole room black, and the class was in total chaos. It was hard to relax in such panic, but he was good at keeping his cool. Leaving Aoko for a second, he glanced out the window, wondering, Who was the shooter?
Calvados knew he was now fighting for his life. The boy had as much of a grip on the gun as he did, and was fighting fiercely even though he had been shot. Where did this boy come from? How did he know who he was? Something seemed familiar about that unruly dark brown hair, and it came back to him. This was the Kaitou Kid. He'd come to avenge his friend, just like Snake had predicted.
He pulled the trigger, and he watched in satisfaction as the bullet flew towards the window. The girl simultaneously slid forward, falling onto her desk. The bullet barely brushed by the back of her head as it raced by. He had missed.
Shit! He thought, setting up another bullet. However, the room suddenly went dark, and students were running around crazily. The bullet must have blacked out the room. There was no longer a guaranteed way to hit his target without hurting others and Calvados hadn't brought any large scale explosives to take care of his blunder.
He hopped down from the tree in disappointment, only to run into a boy who liked he was ready to kill him.
Calvados somehow managed to get his finger on the trigger again. He pulled down and counted the remaining shots as they left the barrel.
5,
4,
3…
Each of them made contact somewhere on the boy, and his screams wrenched the air with each shot. He fell back, panting for air, face bloodied, and clutching his stomach, his blue shirt now stained with an ugly red. Calvados stood up, cocking the gun one last time as he stared into the teenager's face, laughing at the kid's stupidity in challenging him to a fight. "Say your prayers, boy."
The teenager closed his eyes, and waited for the kill.
*Author's Note: So, what did you think? Will Kaito die? What is with Viura, and exactly who is she? Can Ai and Ryuu escape? I can probably only hit two of those in the next chapter, and Shinichi will have a say! (hopefully.) Please review! They mean so much to me! just take two seconds, thanks in advance! P.S. If you have any theories about this story you would like confirmed, just send me a PM and I'll answer. But it's not my fault if it ruins the rest of the story for you.* ~Aeyra