Work Text:
It's not just the still of the night that sets a chill in Shinichi's bones. Warning claws its way up his spine, and his nerves buzz with the desire to run back into the hotel. It's dangerous out on the rooftop, out in the open.
"You wouldn't happen to know who these strangers skulking about in the crowd happen to be," Kid says, amused lilt betraying the weight of the question. He stands center on the rooftop, The Queen of the Night held high under the spotlight of the moon. The brooch glitters weakly, like an omen. "Would you, Detective?"
Time slows to a wretched crawl. Shinichi opens his mouth, but whatever words he'd readied are drowned out by a sudden CRACK across the sky. A booming sound like thunder. He sees Kid's head jerk sideways and the rest of his body following. He sees blood and bone scatter across the rooftop.
A sick sensation overtakes Shinichi's insides, he's not even fully aware of his feeble sense of self-preservation rushing him away, his feet slapping harshly against the concrete to throw his small body under the parapet along the roof's edge. The floor underneath his hands and knees is cold. Shinichi struggles to grab hold of the small communication device pinned under his collar with his numb fingers. "The front entrance is facing twelve." His gaze slides over to the body for the briefest moment, the splatter of blood and parts sears itself into his memory as he turns it over in his mind to gauge the direction of the shot. "You're looking for the hotel's five o'clock, Akai-san."
Shinichi releases the device with a dull click and waits.
The sound of his own breathing is simultaneously distant and harsh to his own ears, as he struggles against a wave of useless thoughts. Nakamori's going to be upset. Don't look at it. He should have tried to lure them down a different path. He hopes the media hadn't aired that. The Detective Boys love to watch Kid's heists. Don't look.
Another distant crack rings out against the stillness of the night, and Shinichi can only continue to wait.
"The area's been secured," Akai Shuuichi's voice eventually comes through on the communicator, tinny. "Backup has been informed and is on their way."
Shinichi sags against the parapet, adrenaline abandoning him to nausea and regret. Enough time has passed that he's able to grapple with the reality of having to walk past the body and head bits of someone he knew. Sure, Shinichi couldn't put a real name to the face underneath the white regalia, but... Kid was his rival, his equal. If it came down to it, he could've trusted the man with his life. As often as he had to check over his shoulder in his ordinary day-to-day, that absolutely counted for something. Shinichi looks down at the time displayed on his watch, legs heavy. "Damn it."
Then there's a groan behind him, and Shinichi feels his heart shuck ten more years off his lifespan.
"That was closer than I would have liked," grouses the muffled, but distinct voice of Kid. The body laying at the center of the rooftop lurches upward, much like Shinichi's own stomach. The remains of the head attached to the body lolls backward before snapping off at the neck with an almost comedic pop, revealing a disastrous mop of dark hair just against the collar of the suit.
"You," Shinichi stammers out, incredulous. He's never felt so fucking betrayed in his life. "You're still--!?"
"Sorry you had to see that," Kid says, pushing his real (and unharmed) head free. He ineffectively runs a hand through his hair with one hand, attempting to smooth out the wrinkles in his suit with the other. There's a moment where his gaze catches on the terrible remains of the fake, and then another when it slides just slightly further up onto the mess his signature top hat rests in. Kid's lip curls into a grimace, clearly resigned to its fate. "I know it's more gruesome than my usual repertoire but, well, I heard some unsavory villains were looking to attend the event, so I had some outside input on my act this time."
The realization hits Shinichi immediately. "... the Phantom Lady."
"The Phantom Lady." Kid confirms, with a wide grin. Famous for her gory, horrific illusions that shocked her would-be captors. "They do say mother knows best, after all."