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when you hit disaster, the answer will be yours to find

Summary:

Kaito leaps from one rooftop to another, fleeing the scene of the heist. It’s not a hard jump.

He falls.

He can’t feel his legs.

Notes:

CRACKS KNUCKLES unlike gosho, i respect the laws of time so heres some notes:

---the kids were born in 1994, and this fic takes place in 2010 don’t @me about the technology, dcmk already does weird things with the scifi tech. its anime

---akako does NOT show up in this fic, so i dont want yall to get excited expecting her to show up just to be disappointed. she still exists in this universe, but shes for a later fic

---the nightmare arc and sun halo arc have not happened, but everything else (besides akako-centric stories) happened mostly as normal

---yes i drew all the pictures and comic pages myself and the characters look like that because i do what i want

Chapter 1: the accident

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

you will be the chosen master
you will leave with the girl this time
you will be the leading actor
movie of your own design
and when you hit disaster
the answer will be yours to find
you’re the mirror’s master
now forever i’m resigned

mirror master -young the giant

~Sunday, July 18th, 2010

Kaito leaps, cape flapping behind him. It’s not a hard jump. His feet are lined up to land perfectly on the platform jutting out from the other roof. He’ll use it as a stepping stone and run across the roof to the fire escape on the other side, and the task force won’t know where he disappeared to.

But then he touches down, and the platform gives out. Kaito reaches, trying to find purchase with his hands, something to grab—but there’s only air, and he tips backwards.

He falls.

Glider—he opens up his glider, tries to flip over to safely catch the wind—

The fall is shorter than he thought.

Kaito hears the crack more than he feels it as he lands on his back, glider beneath him. The air leaves his lungs all at once, and when he can finally inhale it’s with white hot pain running up his spine and the realization that he doesn’t feel that pain in his legs.

He can’t feel his legs.

No, that can’t be right. This can’t be happening. This is—he’s dreaming, he’s having a nightmare.

He tries to move. Tries, because all that it results in is more pain and a choked noise that he only barely keeps from turning into a scream.

Everything hurts, except his legs.

This is it. This is the nightmare scenario.

But it’s not a nightmare. This is real.

This is happening.

He can’t move.

Someone is going to find him in this dark alley, someone is going to find him lying defenseless in a heap on the concrete and they’re going to unmask him and he’s going to be caught and everything will be over.

He can feel himself hyperventilating, so he slaps a hand over his mouth to slow down his beathing. He can’t panic right now. He needs to figure out a solution. He can make it out of this. He can make it out of anything. Nothing can stop him.

He can’t feel his legs.

Kaito hears footsteps, and jerks his head towards the sound. He can’t get up to see who it is. It’s only one set, but if it’s a cop—even if it’s a civilian—

“Bocchama!”

Jii-chan,” he chokes on the name. It’s hard to hold back the tears when every breath burns and he’s so relieved that no one else found him first. But this is good, he can work with this. He won’t get caught. He can’t get caught.

“I was keeping an eye from the cafe,” Jii kneels next to him, his words frantic. “I saw you fall and you didn’t come back up. Where are you hurt?”

“I can’t... feel my legs.” But he has a plan now, at least.

Jii halts in his tracks. “You—?”

“Take—take my phone.” Kaito speaks through gritted teeth. He can’t be loud, someone could find him. He reaches into his breast pocket, and the motion burns from his shoulder down his spine, but he pulls out the phone and lets it slip from his hands. He can’t get caught. He can’t. “Call yourself, from my phone. K-keep the call going while we... I have to get the costume off. It’s a quickchange suit, but I—” he sucks in a sharp breath and holds it in to prevent a sob. “Have—did you call?”

Jii’s phone ringing and quickly cutting off answers his question.

“Kaito-bocchama—

“You have an alibi for why you’re in the area. Ssstick to it. I tried to call Aoko but hit—hit your number on my speed dial. Now help me get—fuck,” he can’t hold back the tears anymore.

The rest of it is hazy. He knows he’s crying, his whole spine is on fire. He almost screams, when Jii gets the glider out from underneath him. The costume seems easy after that, especially since he's already got his normal clothes on underneath. Jii has no problems cutting the suit away to get it off easier. Kaito tears off the mask and wig himself. It’s a simple matter to get rid of the costume and bent glider in a dumpster just down the alley. They can retrieve it later, but if the task force finds it before then it’s not like they’ll find anything incriminating.

Jii ends the fake phone call. “It’s going to be fine, Kaito-bocchama. It will be fine.”

With shaking hands and a shaking voice, Jii calls an ambulance.

~

Well, the heist is done. Bastard got away again. Ginzou is gonna have a hell of a time writing this one up. He glances over at Aoko, but something is missing... Ah, that’s it. He waves his hand to get her attention from where she’s leaning against a wall, out of the way of the task force who are still looking around for evidence. “Where did Kaito-kun go?”

Aoko perks up and makes her way over to him. “Kaito said he was going to go outside to try and see Kid.”

“That brat,” Ginzou groans. “Is he ever gonna stop it with following that damn thief around?”

Aoko rolls her eyes. “You know how Kaito is, he just likes a good show.”

Well that’s for sure. But before he can think too hard about it, his thoughts are interrupted by sirens outside. Ginzou is already storming for the doors. He’s going to murder the dumbass who accidentally set off their sirens.

Except, there’s an ambulance that’s pulled halfway around the side of the building.

Shit.

He can’t imagine who got hurt. Maybe it’s a coincidence, but Kid did just flee the scene. The building is taped off. Kid’s heists have never had casualties before beyond the odd concussion or chemical headaches he’ll give people from knocking them around, but there’s a first time for everything. If Kid hurt one of his own men, or God forbid a civilian, he doesn’t know what he’ll do.

He’ll sort out who called the ambulance and why they didn’t come to him about it later. Right now, he’s getting on the scene as fast as possible to figure out what happened.

There’s a figure on the ground, and it looks like the paramedics are immobilizing them to get them on a gurney. Coming closer, he—

That’s Kaito.

It’s Kaito.

It’s Kaito.

Ginzou’s feet are rooted to the spot. His mouth goes dry. He’s only snapped out of it by Aoko screaming “KAITO!” beside him, and he becomes aware enough to realize he has to move. Kaito is already being taken into the ambulance, Ginzou needs to be there with him. He’s almost at the doors when a man cuts him off to get in the ambulance after the paramedics.

Is that Jii?

That half second of hesitation is all that it takes for the doors to slam on him and the ambulance to start driving away. He doesn’t let himself hesitate again. “Aoko, get in the car.”

He only gives half a thought to telling one of his men that he has a family emergency, only barely remembers to buckle his seatbelt before he hits the gas and screeches after the ambulance, only vaguely registers the words of comfort he gives to Aoko in the passenger seat, just as much for him as it is for her.

He slams the car door shut and doesn’t stop to double check that he locked it. Aoko grabs at his hand and he holds it tightly as he dashes into the ER, trying not to panic, trying not to make Aoko more worried than she already is. He’s ready to shake down a nurse to find Kaito, but then he spots a familiar face sitting in a chair with his hands over his mouth, staring at the empty space in front of him. “Jii-san!”

Jii startles and looks up. “Nakamori-keibu?”

It’s been a long time since Ginzou has seen Jii, he thinks it was probably before Kaito’s father died. He’s changed, but that’s not important right now. “We saw Kaito-kun go into the ambulance. What happened?”

Jii looks... haunted. He brings a hand up to his mouth briefly before he pulls it away and says, “He fell.” He swallows, and a tremor creeps into his voice. “He was on the roof, and he fell. I—I was in the area, I...”

That’s three stories up. He fell from three stories, he could have died. Did he hit his head? Break his neck? No, he would be dead. He can’t be. He wasn’t.

“Is Kaito okay?” Aoko asks. She’s on the verge of tears, still gripping Ginzou’s hand like it’s life or death. (Maybe it is.)

“He’s... he was awake, he called me on accident instead of Aoko-san, but...” He sounds like Ginzou feels, like everything is in a fog. “Kaito-bocchama said he couldn’t feel his legs.”

Aoko lets out a small, strangled noise.

“He couldn’t...” Did he break...? “What have the doctors said? Is he going to be okay?”

“He’s in surgery. We won’t know anything until he’s out.”

They have to wait.

There’s nothing else they can do.

Ginzou keeps an arm around Aoko, hugging her tightly as she cries, and keeps holding her even as her crying dies off to quiet sniffles. Jii leans against the wall to call Chikage and speaks just quiet enough that Ginzou can’t hear, but he doesn’t think he could pay attention to whatever Jii is saying anyway.

He doesn’t know what time it was when they got here, so he doesn’t know how long it’s been when a doctor comes to speak with them.

Kaito broke his spine.

It’s an injury low on his spine, the doctor says. It will only affect his legs, but they won’t know until the swelling goes down if he’ll lose his ability to walk completely. He’ll be asleep until morning, most likely.

“Aoko is going to stay here,” she says before the doctor even finishes talking. Her voice is commanding and determined, even with her red rimmed eyes and shaking hands. “She needs to be there when Kaito wakes up.”

“I’m afraid we can only let immediate family into the room overnight. And speaking of, I need to ask you about his—”

“We are family!” Ginzou shouts.

“We can’t stop you from staying in the waiting room, but we just can’t let you into the patient room.”

That’s the best deal he’s going to get, isn’t it? He wants to yell, argue with the doctor, but it’s probably not going to get him anywhere. He doesn’t have the energy to shout anymore right now. It’s late. This has been... exhausting.

Aoko, however, apparently still has the energy to argue. “Aoko needs to be there when he wakes up!” she shouts again, tears brimming. “Please, she has to. She can’t leave while Kaito is here.”

The doctor sighs, looking the three of them over. “We can’t let non family members—”

“Aoko isn’t leaving!” she yells.

Ginzou feels odd about being the one who has to reign Aoko in for once, but he puts a hand on her shoulder. “Aoko, we shouldn’t argue with this.”

She immediately shakes him off. “Aoko has to be with Kaito! No one else will be!”

Ginzou opens his mouth, about to argue with her, but he can’t do that right now. This isn’t just a petty thing they can argue about for the sake of arguing like they do on a day-to-day basis, this is... fuck. But Aoko is right. He looks at the doctor again. “Listen, Kaito-kun’s mother is in America. She’s not gonna be here for a while even if she catches a plane right now. We really are the only family he’s got here at the moment. You can’t call her for every single fucking thing that happens, I’ll just get permission from her to make decisions in her stead, whatever,” he says bitterly. This is going to be a nightmare to sort out. “But in the meantime, can you just let her into the damn room, at least? They grew up together. She’s just gonna sneak in if you don’t let her in anyway.”

Aoko glares up at him with tear-filled eyes.

The doctor has an unsure look, glancing between the two of them. She finally looks defeated. “...Alright, miss. I’ll take you to his room. You come along as well, sir, and we’ll discuss what to do next about all of this.”

Ginzou sighs in relief. Aoko probably would have started a brawl in the waiting room over this. “I’ll be back in a minute. We should exchange numbers.” Jii nods. Ginzou puts his hand back on her shoulder as they go forward.

It is a nightmare to get things sorted out. It feels like a blur that he doesn’t want to think about when everything is done with.

He feels numb, same as he’s felt all night, as he finally steps into the room Kaito is in. Aoko is sitting in a chair that’s been moved as close as it can get to the hospital bed, and she’s got both her trembling hands over one of Kaito’s own. She doesn’t even look up when he steps in and closes the door behind him.

Kaito doesn’t actually look that bad. Pale, hooked up to a heart monitor and an IV, but seemingly just asleep. No injuries on his face or anywhere else he can immediately see. Ginzou’s eyes wander to Kaito’s legs, hidden under a thin sheet. No thick cast on his legs to signify something broken. The doctor said his spinal cord snapped, and his back and shoulders have been badly bruised, and of course he must have stitches up his back from surgery where they tried to fix what they could, but he can’t see any of those things right now.

He can’t see any damage, and he didn’t actually see Kaito fall, which is probably why all of this feels so unreal. But regardless of what he can see right now, the fact remains that Kaito might never walk again.

“Hey,” he says softly, pulling up the other chair so he can sit next to Aoko and rub her back. “How are you holding up?”

She lets out a muffled whimper and her lip wobbles, something Ginzou knows well to mean that if she tries to speak, she’ll burst into tears. Again.

“It’ll be okay,” he reassures her. “He’ll wake up in the morning.”

She nods and squeezes Kaito’s hand.

“C’mere.” He pulls her close again. There’s not much else he can say, he can only hold her for a while.

They turn off the light eventually. Ginzou is tired, but he doesn’t know if he’ll actually get any sleep tonight. Aoko dozes off curled up in a chair, and he waits in the dark hospital room, listening to Aoko and Kaito’s steady breathing.

He has to wait.

There’s nothing else he can do.

Notes:

the fic is completely finished, and i'll be updating every tuesday and friday (roughly) :D welcome to the au hell ive been in for the last year!