Chapter 41

Chapter 41
Didn’t Mean It
*Okay,sorry for the long wait! I've been busy with all kinds of things so I haven't had time to post this online! (not to mention the internet crashed). I've been starting a bunch of other fics. (I know, slap me if you want.) You might have read them, but if you haven't, please do! I posted a new drawing of deviantart (hattori) and the link is iluvshadowclaw. deviantart. com. Thank you!

"Have you found anything about the boy, Viura?" asked Snake, eyes glittering with menace. His voice was deep and scratchy, as if he had a cold. His frightening aura and astounding array of weapons, three handguns and a couple of knives around his waist probably would have scared most people, but Viura found the sight funny. She laughed at him.
"No," she lied smoothly. Why should she pass all the credit to this idiot? It was she who found the Kaitou Kid, and it was going to stay a secret. She would choose the right time, so she could replace Vermouth at the boss's side, and she wasn't afraid to use anybody, even if it involved backstabbing. "I've found a bit of information, but I haven't found the boy. I surveyed the sight of Calvados's little 'accident', I ran a blood test and it's definitely not his blood, so it must be Kuroba Kaito's. The boy's either in a hospital recovering, dying, or he's already dead."
"He better not be dead. I'd like to save that part for myself. That brat better not have died before I have my go at him, but not even the Kaitou Kid can dodge a bullet. I discovered that out for myself a very, very, long time ago. " He lifted one of his pistols out of its holster and caressed the shining barrel gently. "Do you know what makes this gun unique?"
"No sir," Viura said with tempered patience. She didn't need to hear a story that was probably about how Snake killed the previous Kaitou Kid. However, you don't insult your current superior when you're trying to get ahead in the game, so she stood, uncaring, as she waited for his tale.
"This is my special gun; there's none like it in the entire world." The barrel was a little longer than a normal pistol, and it appeared to lack a safety. Snake didn't want to waste time with something like that. "Eight years ago, just a little before you were created, a certain Kuroba Toichi refused to steal Pandora for our Organization. Since he knew about us, he was a threat, and therefore had to be eliminated. Getting into his magic show with a weapon was easy. They didn't even have a security check set up; that man was arrogant to not be afraid for his safety when he knew our secrets. I had one of my comrades lace one of his props with an explosive, nothing dangerous enough to be mistaken for a terrorist act, but just enough for somebody to believe his death to be a stage accident."
Snake paused in his remembrance, eyes sparkling darkly with wicked thoughts as he recalled every foul act he had planned out. Viura felt herself indulgent in those same feelings. "I sat next to a small child; his name was Kuroba Kaito, the son of the magician who I was going to kill. I wanted to hear his tortured crying as he watched his dad die in front of his eyes. The little girl next to him, I knew, would be just as much fun- being a girl and being so young." Snake let out a rough laugh. "In all possibility, she might be that little girlfriend of his. I should have killed both of them, and spared us from our current troubles, but the thought didn't occur to me at the time." He smiled at Viura, a smile more sadistic than even she could muster because it was tinged with madness. She chuckled silently; this man thought he was so great, pulling off a simple murder. She could kill more expertly, more effectively, and was much more talented. She didn't even need a gun.
"Please get on with it." Viura was now tapping her foot impatiently against the ground, red eyes glowing with frustration. She was supposed to meet with the boss, and she was already a couple of minutes late. The intensity of the fire in her gaze took Snake aback, but he continued, too caught up in his current bloodlust to care about someone else's.
"During his final magic trick, while the audience's attention was focused on him, I shot him, and set off the explosive simultaneously. There were a lot of 'oohs' and 'ahhs' until somebody realized that it wasn't just a trick. The little boy beside me screamed, and started running towards the flames. His friend chased after him, but they were both stopped by the security guards. It would have been futile anyways; I never miss, unlike that doofus Calvados. Never should have trusted him with that mission." He sounded like he was going to say more, but one glance at the angry Viura, and he decided to let her go.
"Thank you, Snake." Thanks for a waste of time, dumbass, she thought in her head. The boss truly did come up with a punishment for her. She had been forced to listen to such a stupid man tell such a stupid story. If the day ever came that she could sink her fangs into that man's neck, she would.
There were several people that she would have liked to kill, Vermouth being on top of that list. How dare that woman shove her aside, ignore her when she knew how much Viura missed her? Adored her? She didn't mean to kill Tequila, it was just an accident.
She fired the gun, aiming for a small target several yards away. She tried to adjust her stance, shift her hands a bit, but the bullet still flew awry, hitting the wall instead of the target. The force from the recoil made her stumble backwards into her mentor, falling onto his feet.
"You stinking little brat! How can you miss that badly?" Tequila's voice was loud and harsh, and he smashed his fist into the top of the little girl's head. She started crying, not knowing what else to do. He did not care about sparing her emotions, he continued to insult her. "Stop crying you weakling! Start practicing again!"
He hit her once more, and she just couldn't stand the harassment. She instinctively bit into his hand as it flew towards her face, and the man fell to the ground, struggling for air. Blood slowly seeped out of his wound as his life faded, his last struggles echoing through the empty room. The girl was frozen, still at the dead man's feet. There was a moment of silence before she realized what had happened.
"Tequila-ojisan? Tequila-ojisan? Please answer me, Tequila-ojisan! I didn't mean to bite you! Please just get up, Tequila-ojisan!" Her wails pierced the air, and in just minutes, Vermouth came to the girl's aid and found Tequila dead on the ground.
"What did you do, Viura?" Her voice was as cold as ice, and her face was set in anger. It scared the little girl, and she backed away.
"Mommy!" She hugged the woman's leg, weeping, the warm tears spilling from her eyes. "Why isn't Tequila-ojisan waking up?" There was guilt and innocence glowing from those fiery red eyes, so different from the woman's, filled with anger, hatred, and was that regret?
"You killed him, you little monster. Get out of my sight." She kicked off the little girl, leaving her alone when a scientist came to put her into a cell and into darkness. The girl cried for a long, long time. She didn't mean to kill Tequila, and she wanted her mother back.
"Mommy…"
Why was she getting so caught up in her past again? Concentrate Viura! You have more important things to do than just remember that woman! She thought, clearing her mind. Now, to continue with my other thoughts. Other people I want to kill, let's think…
In just thirty seconds, she had come up with a full list. Vermouth, Snake, and several other members of the organization were the included, though she had almost no chance of getting permission to kill her coworkers. Only one had no connection to the syndicate. The boy's name was Miyazaki Ryuu, the one who had caused her failure. She couldn't wait for the day she could get her revenge.
Ryuu couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had thought Ai was different, but he never even thought of the idea that she might not be a kid. "This girl here, Haibara Ai, is not what she seems. Her real name is Miyano Shiho, a twenty year old biochemist." It had taken his breath away. He was friends with a twenty year old?
"She was once part of the Black Organization. She created the poison that killed Kudo Shinichi; the name of the poison was APTX4869. She took it so she could commit suicide after her sister was murdered, but it ended up shrinking her. She knows a lot about those guys in the Organization, so she's a lot of help to us."
Ai was a bad guy. But she was a good guy now, right? He wanted to leave and pretend he had never heard anything; however, he couldn't pull himself away from the door. He learned about everything, Kaito's lost memory, Shinichi's existence in Ran's head, their ultimate goal. Destroy the Black Organization.
He heard them stop talking, and then footsteps slowly approaching the door. They were small and light. It had to be Ai. He had no time to get up before she had opened the door, and saw Ryuu beside it in the hallway. Her eyes widened in shock, then suspicion, and then just plain disbelief.
"What is it Haibara? Oy, answer me!" Heiji charged into Ai, not noticing Ryuu standing in front of her.
"How much did you hear, Ryuu-kun?" She sounded defeated; there was no point in hiding the truth. He had heard everything, she could tell from the shock in his emerald eyes that were a window to his emotions, completely mindblown.
Ryuu didn't know what to say, or how to look. 'I'm three years her senpai!' How far off could he be? He was silent for a moment, and then he said, "I heard everything, Shiho-neechan." If she was that much older than him, then she would count as an older sister, right?
"Don't call me that, please, Ryuu-kun. Shiho died when I became Haibara Ai. Just call me Ai-kun, if you still want to be my friend. If you don't, then you can just leave right now. I won't try to stop you." Her eyes burned with sorrow, as if she thought that Ryuu would leave. One of her only friends.
He didn't truly understand the gravity of the situation, all of the troubles behind it. He saw it from a kid's point of view even though he had some experience with the harsher side of reality. He had never really dealt with anything like this. His thoughts on what they were up against was the cartoonish envisioning of a bunch of stupid bad guys, and the smart good guys who could beat them up easily. It was how manga and TV shows went.
"I'm still your friend, Ai-kun, even if you are twenty years old. I'm just not your senpai anymore." She smiled, but she understood that Ryuu didn't comprehend what he was agreeing to. How serious this was.
"Ryuu-kun…" She didn't know how to respond to him. She wanted him to leave and never come back because she knew that he shouldn't be part of this. It was too dangerous for him to even know. As a kid, he might underestimate the Black Organization, or worse yet, tell his father, the head of the Japanese Police Force. Then he would be an even greater threat to them, as he had already escaped their grasp once. "Ryuu-kun, you don't understand. This is dangerous, life-threatening even. You're not part of this. Can you try to forget what you heard? Please?"
"I don't think it's possible to forget that. I'll keep it secret though, Ai-kun. But wouldn't it be a good idea to tell my dad? He could help you guys."
"No. We already have the F.B.I. on our side, and even they can't handle it. I'm not going to involve any more people if I can help it. Don't tell anybody." The teenagers stood around them silently, not sure how the conversation was turning out. Ai and Ryuu were whispering softly now, and it was hard to hear.
"If you don't think it'll help, then I'm not going to push it, Ai-kun." He didn't realize that when Ai said they were dangerous, that they could truly kill anybody they wanted and get away with it. He felt like she was talking about a street gang; he was ten, he didn't really know what the F.B.I. was. He just didn't get it.
"Make sure you keep your promise, Ryuu-kun." She turned around, and walked back into the room. "It's probably time for you to go, isn't it?"
He nodded, and started on the path towards the exit.
"Viura, where are you going?" Vermouth stopped the younger woman in the hallway, looking at her suspiciously. "Aren't you supposed to be trying to find the Kaitou Kid?" Her blue-green eyes flashed, matching Viura's in intensity and hatred.
"I couldn't locate him. I'm going to report that to the boss. Do you have a problem with that?" It was hard for her to fight back to urge to kill the woman in front of her, show her how much pain she had caused in her life. Did she even care about her at all? She must have known how much she hurt her.
Vermouth pinned Viura against the wall, ignoring the fact that Viura was much stronger. Passersby stared curiously at them, but looked away quickly once they saw the two that were starting the fight. Nobody in the Organization wanted to mess with Viura, much less Vermouth.
"I know you're lying. You can't fool me," Vermouth whispered, sounding exactly like Viura did. Seductive, deadly, powerful. "Nobody beats me at Poker Face, and nobody is better at detecting a lie than I am. Spit it out."
Viura felt a surge of hatred. She could easily murder Vermouth right now, but she knew better than to do it. The boss would probably end up killing her if she did. "Why should I tell you? What do you care?"
"You're plotting something against me. I can see it in your eyes. If you tell me, I'll let you off without a punishment."
What Viura didn't know was that Vermouth still cared for her in a way. Vermouth didn't want Viura to walk onto the path that the boss had planned, a path covered with death and betrayal. It was why she'd pushed her away as a child, fearing that she would become the weapon the boss was looking for. It had become all too true, so Vermouth wanted to find a way to try and prevent anything more from happening, protecting Viura from the boss's intentions. Viura could have had the ability to great, in an actual sense of the word, but it had been barred from her. Perhaps she still had a chance.
Viura looked away, Vermouth having beaten her in their private staring contest. "I'm going to kidnap the Kaitou Kid, and make him one of us. And then, I'm going to kill you. I promise you that." She spit at the ground, unwilling to look the other in the eye. Vermouth's mouth widened in a grin. It was what she had been expecting to hear; it was what she would have done.
"You truly are my daughter, Viura. I'm proud that you could come up with such a plan. Let's see if you can follow through with it." Vermouth let her go, leaving Viura shell-shocked. Vermouth was proud of her. Could it be she still actually cared?
No, Viura! Don't let yourself get distracted! She's trying to trick you, she thought. But the smaller part of her murmured, But she said she's proud of you! You know you're pleased, so why not just let things be? You don't have to take her down. You know what you really want is for her to accept you.
"Shut up!" she suddenly screamed, causing everybody to turn around and stare. A snake-like glare shifted their attention elsewhere, and she entered the boss's room.
His chair was facing towards the back wall as usual, hiding his face and figure from everybody. As far as Viura knew, he just about never left the room, but there were rumors that there were passages leading from this chamber to every location in the headquarters of the Organization.
"Viura, darling. How is your mission with Snake doing?" he asked, his voice as smooth as velvet. The boss was a very mysterious person; she hadn't seen him up close for several years, the last time was when she was a little girl. She could remember his dark black hair, and deep turquoise eyes. He was a tall, strong man with extremely high intelligence, worthy of being the head of such a large and powerful syndicate.
"It's going well. But I feel that Snake is a bumbling idiot." She knew the Boss usually wouldn't reprimand her for scolding agents; he knew that she was on a much higher level. "That man is hopeless, why is he ranked so high?"
"He used to be one of our political assassins, but he was the one who volunteered to find the gem, Pandora. Since he was in charge of that assignment, I had to bump him up. Little did I know his jewel-hunting would turn into a thief-catching bonanza. He was more interested in killing the Kaitou Kid than finding the diamond. After eight years, he still hasn't been able to complete the mission. I think it's high time to replace him with somebody else, don't you?" Viura knew what he was hinting at.
"And what would you do with Snake?" She licked her lips, knowing that if the Boss followed his usual routine, it would involve an execution. She hoped that it would involve her.
"Kill him. He's an absolute failure. You know what your job is now, don't you?" She nodded, heading towards the door. This was going to be fun. "And also, you have more than just him to kill. I want you to kill that boy, Miyazaki Ryuu and the girl that was with him. From your report, they might become a threat to our Organization. Especially the boy, since his father may get involved."
"With pleasure."
Ryuu shivered as he walked down the street. Not only was it cold outside, he felt like somebody was watching him. His head was still full of the images that he had conjured up while listening. A shrinking girl, evil men in black, a Phantom Thief that lost his memory, these problems made so much easier to solve in his mind than in reality.
He looked up at the sky, which was growing darker by the minute. The weatherman had promised a snowstorm after all. He looked forward to the white fluff covering the ground, and the days after where he could play in the snow and have fun. Maybe Ai would be able to join him, along with the three kids that were with her. When he had met up with them at Ai's house, they had told him their group was called the 'Detective Boys'.
Mitsuhiko had explained that they had just been watching a detective movie at his house, and they wanted to be just like the hero, Sherlock Holmes. They were going to ask Ai to join them even though they knew she would say yes, and surprisingly even invited him to join.
He had accepted happily, glad to have more friends. In his grade, not many were interested in what he liked, the realm of police and crime. Most boys were entertained by the thoughts of war, robots, and guns, basically what you'd find in videogames. Therefore, his friends were few, and he didn't mind making some among his kohai.
He wondered if his mother had prepared dinner yet, if he would have to face her scolding him when he finally arrived home. It had taken him two hours to force an opening in the constant hugging, crying, and his mom repeating 'I was so worried about you! I'm so glad you made it back safe.'
It wasn't that he didn't like being hugged by his mom and dad; but had wanted to see Ai again. The girl thoroughly interested him, and he was actually able to carry a conversation with her. She was pretty, smart, and brave too. He had already developed a small crush on the twenty-year-old turned six-year-old woman.
He liked how her blue eyes twinkled, and how they had a certain icy quality with their fire. He liked the sound of her voice; it was like a song, beautiful and changing, switching from all different emotions. While it was more like puppy love on his part, he really did like her.
When he was turning the corner towards his house, he noticed the sound of an ambulance, fire trucks, and police cars. They rushed by him, blowing his black hair across his face, leaving him wide-eyed in surprise. The ringing bells didn't disappear as he went closer and he realized that something terrible was happening.
He ran back home, noticing the smoke spiraling into the air, and the hungry flames devouring the building, turning the wood to ash. The firefighters were starting to put out the blaze, but it was obvious that it was beyond their control.
"N-" he started to yell, but somebody had put a cloth over his mouth. The world started to mist black, and everything faded as he fell into unconsciousness.
*Please, please, please review! It makes me wanna write a lot faster! Note: I'm going to post a preview of the story I will be focusing on once MSK is over, for a hint, the title's 'Revenge'. While you're waiting for the next chapter, please read my new fic 'The Leap' (it's a finished two-shot) and 'The Magician's Daughter' (somebody's request for me to write their story for them. It's a pregnancy fic, and I don't know anything about that topic. However, I would appreciate help of any kind!) Review them too!*