Chapter Text
i. 東山 (Higashiyama)
Higashiyama is packing. He's always been pragmatic, even with his head-strong tendency of ignoring prevailing winds. Hard work and unforgiving principals have gotten him this far, but they won't carry him any further, at least in this region. With Hattori's reputation, probably not on this island.
There will be no media report, no scandal. Hattori will keep things quiet – he would never have risen so high in the Force without a ringing dedication to it. But the Osakan Police Chief doesn't need a lobby. He doesn't even need to lift a finger. His reputation alone will hammer the nails into Higashiyama's coffin. The Superintendant has assaulted the son of one of the most respected officers in the Force, and no station from Nagano to Hiroshima will have him. Running back to Sapporo with his tail between his legs is inconceivable. The best he can hope for is something in Fukuoka, and that's no certainty.
He's sure Hattori is in the city by now – although Higashiyama's not masochistic enough to wait for him at the hospital, he's not suicidal enough not to have the man contacted, either. And if he's in the city, it's only a matter of time before he makes his visit to Arakawa to demand reparations, with number one being a certainty. The Superintendant doesn't have his letter written yet, but he's not sure he'll have time before Arakawa calls him in for the reckoning.
Higashiyama has no doubt whatsoever as to who set him up. Kid works Nakamori like a puppet, has him dancing right along to his tune; that much is now clear. If it wasn't obvious from the instant he realised that there was no mask on that kid's face, it certainly was when he got back to the office and slammed the CD into his computer only to find it a completely blank disc. He had expected false data, expected a message, expected at least some of Kid's usual mocking.
Higashiyama has the distinct impression that, wherever Kid is, he is laughing.
Nakamori clearly isn't in collaboration with the thief – it's painfully obvious now that Kid is at least as quick as Higashiyama himself, and the Superintendant could never put up with Nakamori's bumbling. The Inspector's just even denser than Higashiyama took him to be.
Almost certainly.
The Superintendant had considered leaving a note for his successor, warning him to keep a sharp eye on the Kaitou Kid Task Force, but he's decided against it. Sooner or later, Nakamori will put a foot wrong and sink his boat all on his own, or Kid will get tired of herding him and sink it for him, and there's no point in gaining a reputation as a well poisoner.
And so tersely, but with a fatalistic calm, Higashiyama packs up his office. He's lost, this time. But Kid, by the nature of his … occupation, is a traveller. Sooner or later, he'll end up wherever Higashiyama is. And the Superintendant will be waiting for him.
ii. 服部 (Hattori)
Hattori Heizou has a terrifying reputation. It's no surprise – given his city – that he's often called the Osakan Tiger to his face. Behind his back they have a less salubrious name for him: the demon of Osaka. But the rumours are both wrong: what they mistake for fury on the Osakan chief's part is in fact just his usual flint-hard determination and interest in justice. Hattori Heizou, demon of Osaka, is not an angry man.
Just at the moment, though, he is furious.
17 years ago in a hospital room, he accepted the fact that a son would be bound to cause trouble at times. Subsequently, he realised an only child growing up with himself and Shizuka for parents would be head-strong as a bulldog. A few years ago, he realised how awkward having a teenage detective for a son could be for a Police Chief. Some months ago, when Heiji lay in a hospital room with a bullet hole in his gut, he realised the boy would by his nature be getting himself into trouble most parents would never even consider.
It has never, until now, occurred to him how incredibly wrenching the combination of all those facts could be.
There will be time later to chew his son out for showing up on a rooftop in downtown Ginza as Kaitou Kid – really, he seriously wonders sometimes if the boy hasn't taken too many shinai blows. But right now as he sits on an uncomfortable plastic chair in his work suit with a briefcase by his side and plane ticket stub still in his pocket, watching his son sweat out the after effects of a tranquiliser serum calculated for a man half again his weight, it is the fact that a cop purposely put his son in this bed that is boiling his blood.
The doctors say it will take another hour at least for the drugs to wear off enough for Heiji to wake, by which time Shizuka will be here and he'll be free to go find Arakawa and ask him what the hell his subordinate means by shooting suspects – suspects, not Heiji – with tranq rifles and mauling them afterwards. Heizou didn't get as far as he did by being unobservant – he's already noticed the bruises on Heiji's wrists and the gauze patch over his heart. The doctors weren't at all pleased about that – neither is Heizou.
He's perfectly aware of Higashiyama's reputation as unrelentingly stubborn, unwilling or unable to give up a task once he's taken it on. As a compulsive, hard-nosed man whose driving need to come out on top has not won him many friends, least of all in a position he has not held long enough to wear the polish off his seat cover. Heizou has known Higashiyama's type before, and he's known them to go two ways: isolated officers who despite the space they're given still manage to make exemplary careers and win respect if not friendship, and officers who can't draw the line between hard and too hard and end up overshooting it, usually by several kilometres. Right now, it's not hard to see which Higashiyama's tending towards. That may be an unfair assessment, but just at this instant he's in no position to care.
Heizou doubts it will be needed, but the demon of Osaka – who is perfectly aware of his reputation – is ready to throw all his considerable weight in to produce a reckoning. He almost, almost hopes Arakawa tries to fight him on it – his teeth are aching for a good no-holds-barred fight and as Chief of Police of the most important prefecture in the country there are damn few people he can take on without automatically having to pull punches. It's unlikely, but a man can dream.
In a few hours he will pick up his briefcase again, and the Police Chief of Osaka will leave to do his job. Just for the moment, though, Heizou sits quietly by his son's bedside, with one heavy hand resting on Heiji's arm.
iii. 荒川 ( Arakawa)
Any man holding the post of Superintendant General of Tokyo becomes used to extreme problems very quickly. But it's been a while since Arakawa was presented with an internal one quite so extreme.
It had been apparent from the beginning that Higashiyama would put plenty of backs up, but he hadn't expected the man to go raising a riot with Hattori Heizou.
"I can give you two weeks," is all he says, looking up from the paperwork at his desk without raising his chin when Higashiyama marches in to face the firing squad. "You'll have your letter tomorrow."
"Yes, sir." Higashiyama is gruff as ever, but there is nothing underneath it; it is simply the closest the man ever comes to neutrality. Arakawa is relieved to see no protest in him, although not particularly surprised. The Superintendant General saves his energy for fights which have an undetermined outcome, and is not interested in wasting any here. He suspects Higashiyama's view is much the same. There is no point in trying to make a rock float.
"Due to the circumstances you will not be entitled to the usual benefits," points out Arakawa, watching to see that the message has taken: you are out on your ass, not just removed from your position. As of now, he has effectively been pruned out of the system, and more than just losing the superfluous favours like a small retinue of staff to take with him to his next posting, his pension and benefits will suffer from the break in employment. Assuming he chooses to reapply for a position in the Force in some other branch. Not that that's much of a gamble.
"I understand, sir."
"Very well. Anything you want to say?"
"Will you be following up any inquiries into this afternoon's incident?" It's a credit to him that Higashiyama keeps the word "incident" carefully segregated from any emphasis. But it still raises flags, and the irritated urge to cross it out and write in disaster in its place.
"There will be detailed investigations into the origins of that tranquiliser rifle, as well as its permits and handler," says Arakawa, feeling by the Inspector's question that he has perhaps not stepped on fingers hard enough.
"It was all done under my orders, sir."
"Yes, I believe that has been made abundantly clear." Arakawa gives the man a withering stare for a second or two longer than necessary, and then backs off. "However, apart from that, yes, you may be assured that there will be inquiries made into the circumstances behind the … incident." He gives the word its pause, but makes no other move to highlight it.
"Then no, sir. There's nothing else."
Arakawa nods. "Fine. I'll expect a written apology to Hattori Heizou on my desk tomorrow morning. And a follow-up report of the incident."
"Yes, sir."
"Dismissed."
Higashiyama salutes and walks out straight-backed, pretentious to the last. Arakawa feels a qualm of regret for not making the man write an apology to Hattori Heiji as well, but there's no point in alienating him further by forcing him to apologize to a minor who he had cause to arrest, if not in the fashion he chose. He's not Higashiyama's superior any more – the Inspector will give no more orders except to control report-collecting and the preparation of briefs for his successor. It will be up to his next boss to rein him in as necessary.
The situation, for all that it will rile the men up and put Tokyo and Osaka on precarious footing for a while, is under control and really was only flapping loose for a very few seconds. Hardly anything in the way of action was required from him; everything was decided from the instant the trap was set in place. Higashiyama slit his own throat, and he'll be lucky to make a comeback in years, if at all. He'll probably slink off to Fukuoka, if he's lucky – there might be an assistant position open for him somewhere in a lower level department – and he'll have to work his way back up from there. Arakawa won't speak for him, but he won't speak against him, either. The man made some bad choices with good goals in mind, but only one of them should be held against him, and rumour will take care of that at least as effectively as he could.
Arakawa spends his time waiting for his next meeting reading up on the "situation," and wondering why on earth Kid was so anxious to get Higashiyama off his back.
And then Hattori Heizou storms into the room, and Arakawa's attention is commanded entirely by the demon of Osaka.
Heizou is, of course, furious. Steaming, fuming, boiling mad, in fact, more so than Arakawa can ever remember him being, although the man has it controlled under a particle-thin layer of ice.
But once he's sure steps will be taken he – reluctantly – lets the matter drop. Arakawa expected no less – the man has always been a real professional, and one of the best officers the Force has. It will be harder to quash the anger in the Osakan Force, where Heizou's son is nearly as popular as he is. Arakawa has no choice but to trust the Chief to look after that, and he does.
"The real matter," says Heizou, taking a seat at Arakawa's direction across from the Superintendant General at the office's small conference table, "is what the hell is all this business about Kid?"
"Something requiring careful observation. Clearly Kid wanted Higashiyama out of the way, although I can't speak to his motives." The only thing that is clear is that the thief considered Higashiyama, but not Nakamori, an enemy, and that is worrying enough.
"The man wasn't threat?"
"To Kid? He might be more harsh than Nakamori, but he's not much less predictable."
"Sure as hell took me by surprise," growls Heizou.
"I believe," says Arakawa slowly, folding his hands carefully on the table, "it may have something to do with other recent cases." He doesn't want to spread this across jurisdictions, and until the case is closed he won't bring more attention to it than necessary. Years of police work have taught him that while more eyes are always helpful, there is a saturation point and beyond that the weight of all the extra attention can be crippling. Besides which, Chief though he may be, Hattori is not from Tokyo and there is always an intrinsic shrink from outside attention, outside fingers prying into home turf.
"Any of them take place in Osaka?"
"Not that I am aware of."
"Then how d'you suppose Heiji got dragged in? Unless – was Kudou involved?"
"Kudou?" A dusty bell rings, old newspapers, cops from Beika gossiping in the canteen… "That kid detective?"
"He's been dragging Heiji into all kinds of trouble lately. Well," amends Heizou with dark eyes and a gruff tone, "it probably runs both ways."
"I haven't heard him mentioned recently," is all Arakawa can say to that. He doesn't keep tabs on all the kids who run after the uniforms, but although he can remember Kudou's being something of a regular topic in the halls a while ago, as a phase he seems to have died out. Not that he hears all the minor gossip up here. "I'll check into it."
Heizou doesn't exactly nod, but the shrug carries the same value. "I'll see what Heiji's story is, but the boy's already grown a stubborn streak the size of Osaka Harbour."
Arakawa pointedly does not mention the family resemblance. "Any information he has about Kaitou Kid is, of course, extremely valuable." It's a concession not to demand the boy be interviewed by a Tokyo officer, but now is not the time to force undesirable options on the Hattori family. Besides, Heizou knows just as well as he does what he would demand if he felt the situation were up to it. And he knows how not to strain it.
"I'll have him write you a report. He's gotten good at that, at least."
"Thank you. I will of course see that he receives a letter of apology –" from the Tokyo Force signed by him, because it means nothing to him to apologize to a child, but to Higashiyama it would be an affront. Something the man might want to consider, but Arakawa knows he never will, at least not if someone else doesn't force the thought on him.
"That isn't necessary," protests Heizou out of politeness, but Arakawa waves it away.
"And, of course, the hospital bills and so on will be taken care of."
Heizou shrugs again, this time out of indifference, or rather due to the introduction of a subject he hasn't considered. Stands, to tower over Arakawa momentarily. A good build for a senior officer. Arakawa stands himself, and returns Heizou's curt bow.
"If you need anything Heiji forgets in his report, you know my number." The Osakan, Arakawa notices, underlines his own rather than giving his son's. Any investigation will go through me, first. Arakawa wonders whether he should even bother to note that down for the investigation team; he doubts there are five people in Tokyo Force who would call Hattori Heizou to talk to him about this.
A fact of which Heizou is, of course, perfectly aware.
"Thank you," says Arakawa blandly, appreciating a worthless gift. Or rather, a razor-edged one. Heizou nods, and lets himself out.
An hour later, all hell breaks loose, for the second time that day.