Help in Need [SaguKai]

In The Blink Of An Eye

It was five past midnight. The clouds hanging low above Tokyo. With his fob watch tucked away safely inside his vest Saguru hurried out of the museum. He took off in the opposite direction the officers of the task force were running. He'd seen enough. A priceless jewel, a proud though worried owner, an impenetrable security and a nonetheless successful theft. As always the script was laid out from the beginning and despite his many experiences at the heists, he decided to act against his detective's instincts.

Saguru left the crime scene, heading full speed out of the perimeter and into the crowd. He pressed and shoved desperately to get through and after a few seconds, he was able to breath again and resume a slow jog. It had started to drizzle by then.
He'd seen enough - and he meant that literally. When Kaito Kid showed up exactly five minutes ago they were all baffled. They expected it - truth be told - but then they didn't anticipate him to be that swift. No mocking, no showing off. Just good old jewel theft. Kid had the diamond in his grasp as soon as he appeared on top of the displaying glass case. Nakamori started yelling, the officers threw themselves into the high security area where the floor was sizzling with electricity. And that's were everything went wrong.

Nakamori, Kid, the more experienced officers and himself had their hands full with keeping the, to be fair, few overenthusiastic newby-task force members from getting themselves hurt. It was quite a mess and Police Headquarters would surely be glad if nothing of this evening were to come to light. Or to the newspapers.
In the end they managed without causing casualties, Kid vanished in a white cloud, but not until he'd thrown a witty remark directed at the head of the task force. And then he was gone.
Saguru noticed immediately, though he wasn't sure anybody else did. It was a hitch in his voice, a slightly different posture compared to his usually relaxed and arrogant attitude. And the way he didn't postpone his farewell to tease them. He would have to recap the chain of events but he was with a probability of 99% sure of what he saw.
Kid got hurt and, if he could rely on his instincts, pretty badly at that.

Saguru left the last of the spectators behind, heading down the street straight to a deserted alley that was barely lit. By now his strands were plastered to his head. Saguru wasn't happy at all, for there could be mice and other vermin lurking in the dark. Not that he was afraid of them but he knew what diseases they could pass on.
The bitter taste of disgust was drowned out by a rush of relief as he skidded to a sudden halt. There he was, holding himself upright at the closest wall. Kaito Kid was facing away from him though Saguru couldn't really say he saw that much in the dim light and the rain sure wasn't helping. He wasn't in full regalia, wearing his inconspicuous black sweater and cap. To be honest, no one would recognise him as Kid. If it weren't for the messy hair...

Saguru fixed his gaze on the nearly hidden silhouette - what a well-chosen place to change into something less noticeable - and took in every detail he could make out.
Left hand hidden, holding his stomach? Supporting a sprained rib? Weight slightly on his left foot - favoring his non-injured side. Breathing uneven, forced... rasping? Injury to the lunge? Punctuation maybe? Damn,that was worse than he thought...
He had to readjust his goals.
Saguru braced himself and stepped deliberately forward, the sole of his shoes crunching the pebble beneath, echoing from the walls. His opponent flinched visibly. He shot a look over his shoulder to identify the newcomer. When he recognised him, a smile spread on his face.

"Why... if it isn't one of my..."

His words were teasing at first but he stopped mid-sentence. Realising he wasn't wearing the costume any more? Giving in to the pain inside his chest?
It felt safe - and reasonable - to use his real name.

"What? One of your critics? Kuroba... you're hurt."

And sloppy to say the least. But then pain could do this to anybody. At this Kaito turned fully to him, lowering his hand and trying to gain something of a strong posture. To no avail, because the discomfort was written all over his face, though he smiled and his eyes were shadowed by the cap.

"Always one for the obvious, eh?"

Saguru nearly jumped out of his skin. Kaito Kuroba giving in to one of his deductions? Why, if it wasn't Christmas...

"I wanted to say classmates. And yeah. Since you're asking... Remember the last physical lesson?"

As a matter of fact Saguru did. They were exercising at the high bars, swinging back and forth, doing more or less elegant backflips and somersaults. Kaito was pretty good at it, no surprise there, for he had plenty of practice with avoiding Nakamori's traps. But one unexpected shout from the other side of the gym - he flinched, his left hand loosing its grip, leaving his right arm to suddenly support his whole body on its own and carrying not only his full weight but the centrifugal force, too. Kaito was sent flying, unfortunately crashing to the ground in a painful looking, uncomfortable heap. He didn't stand a chance.
Wait, so that was...? That couldn't be his excuse now, could it?
Clever, he had to admit. But Saguru didn't dare back down now.

"So this is your confession to why Kaito Kid was moving so clumsy and ineffective?"

Kaito seemed unfazed by this accusation. He merely blinked but didn't react otherwise.

"I bruised my ribs pretty badly back then and still can't stand up straight without difficulty. As you clearly can see. So how on earth could I be Kid? I can barely walk properly."

It sounded honest but there was this smug expression on Kaito's face, Saguru wanted to punch him for trying such an open lie on him. But was it? He could've been hurt beforehand, only worsened by the action at the heist. And he obviously was being impaired by his fall back at school. The physical symptoms were all too discernable for Saguru and he could tell it was no show. Kaito was in pain.

"You probably shouldn't even be out here then. Home, lying on the couch, resting."

There was a look of sympathy ghosting over Kaito's face. It was gone before long and Saguru wasn't even sure if he interpreted it correctly. The rain had gotten stronger and water was dripping down his face, blurring the vision of his eyes. 

Kaito opened his mouth to say something. His smile dropped, his gaze became dull and he faltered - Saguru realized in a second he was about to collapse. Too much sports, too much evading traps and saving officers. Kaito overdid it.

Saguru rushed forward, extending his hands instinctively and made it in time to catch Kaito in his arms. He was heavier than he looked but then he was unconscious. From experience he knew that unconscious people always felt like their weight doubled. He sighed uncomfortable as he adjusted his grip. He couldn't lower him to the ground because of the rain and he couldn't call for help via his smartphone while holding him. 

Saguru sighed again. What an evening...

That's it for today. What do you think of my two-shot? It's a story that was originally written in English, not translated. Any suggestion for the next chapter? I'd be happy to hear them. And thank you all for reading it!!!! ;-D