The Adventure of the Alley Abduction

Summary: Kuroko finds himself on a hunt to save a woman who was kidnapped after he stumbles upon the site where she was abducted and notices signs that anyone else would have missed.

Kuroko and Takao walked ahead as Kagami and Midorima hung back, walking slower because of their bickering. And they'd been bickering since they ran into each other in the convenience store, to Takao's amusement.

"I'm so glad that Shin-chan is making friends," said Takao, even though Kuroko had seemed distracted all while they were in the convenience store. He looked at Kuroko when he didn't get a response, and was not surprised to see that Kuroko didn't seem to be paying any attention at all to him. Story of his life.

He was, however, surprised to see Kuroko wandering into the alley that they'd just started to walk past.

"Meh? What're you doing?" asked Takao as Kuroko held his hand near the wall, just short of touching it, his fingers spread apart at fairly wide intervals.

Kuroko gave him a brief glance, but that was the only acknowledgement he gave Takao. His eyes were odd, Takao noted. It was like he was only half there. No. Actually, it was like he was more there than anyone else. Like he was seeing things that no one else could see.

Takao knew how that was. But he didn't know what there was to be seen here. It was just a normal alley.

"Are you okay?" he asked, just to make sure, as Kuroko picked something up off the ground. Then he blinked as he saw what it was. It was a freaking fingernail. Painted a darkish red. Takao hoped to God it was a fake nail, and not a real one, but even then, Kuroko shouldn't just be walking around picking things like that up. "Put that down! It's probably diseased!"

And just how did he get stuck playing the role of the responsible one?

"Kagami-kun."

The voice was unlike any Takao had heard Kuroko use. He didn't raise it from his usual soft tone, but it was chalk full of urgency.

Kagami stopped talking in mid-insult and came sprinting forward, Midorima completely forgotten. But Midorima didn't look too miffed. If anything, he looked a little worried, probably from the combination of that foreign tone Kuroko had used and the way Kagami had dropped out in the middle of their little bitching-fest to run to Kuroko's side.

"What is it? What do you need?" Kagami asked in an urgent tone of his own. Takao didn't miss how alert he'd suddenly gone, or the way his fists clenched, like he was ready for danger. "What the hell is that? Is that a human fingernail?"

"It's fake," said Kuroko, looking up at Kagami with darkened eyes. Then past him to where Takao and Midorima were starting to move toward them. "Please keep those two out of my crime scene, Kagami-kun."

Instantly, Kagami was blocking their path.

Takao took a step back and held up his hands in surrender. He didn't want to try to get past Kagami if there wasn't a referee standing by with a whistle. He had the feeling that without the threat of fouls hanging over his head, Kagami would be cracking open other peoples' heads if they wanted to get past him when he wanted to stop them. Especially if his shadow was the one giving the order to stop them.

"Crime scene?" asked Midorima. "Kuroko, what are you talking about?"

"Something bad happened here," said Kuroko. And now he had a little clutch purse in his hands, that he'd started going through. "A woman was abducted."

"Don't be ridiculous," Midorima said.

"How do you figure that?" Takao asked.

"Shut up and let him work," said Kagami angrily.

"You can't possibly believe what he just said," Midorima said to Kagami. "That's absurd! Even if that did happen, there's no way he could know!"

"That black shoe over by the curb," said Kuroko. "She lost that when she was thrown into a car. She lost one of her fake fingernails when they dragged her out of the alley. There are scratches from her other nails on the wall here. And she dropped her purse when they jumped her. She . . . oh."

"What's wrong?" demanded Kagami.

He looked over his shoulder as Kuroko held up some sort of a police badge.

"This is bad," said Kuroko. "I'm calling Detective Yagami."

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Takao felt a slight thrill rush through him. This was kind of like being in a crime drama. And he'd heard about this – about how Seirin had gotten involved in a couple police cases and ended up solving them. Because people in the basketball circuit talked. Maybe not to the Generation of Miracles, because there were quite a few grudges held against them, so it was no surprise Shin-chan hadn't heard about this yet, but no one had any problems chatting with Takao, so he'd heard things. Seirin had found out who murdered that guy from Seihou, after their match. Seirin had stopped a kidnapper right outside of the Inter High playoffs, and reunited the little girl with her mother. Seirin had a guy who had Sherlock Holmes level skills of deduction on their team.

And it looked like that guy was Kuroko. Takao was not surprised. He was glad that he'd been close by when Kuroko stumbled onto this. He looked forward to the chance to see him in action.

Midorima didn't look like he intended to deny Kuroko's deductions. That made sense, since Kuroko had just found a purse with a badge in it. Even if you could explain away or convince yourself to ignore the lost shoe or the broken off fingernail, a purse with a police badge in was another story.

"Detective Yagami? It's me," said Kuroko into his phone. "I'm calling to report the abduction of Misora Naomi. Misora-san is an FBI agent, possibly an undercover agent. She was taken from an alley at . . ."

Takao looked around as Kuroko rattled off the address, trying to see if he could spot some clue that could help solve the case, or find something relevant. Unfortunately, he came up blank.

A minute later, Kuroko was off the phone. "Kagami-kun?"

"Tell me what you need," said Kagami.

"A distraction," said Kuroko.

"Who am I distracting?"

It was kind of amazing, Takao thought. Kagami seemed like the kind of guy who would be demanding an explanation, but here he was, being obedient, like a soldier. He was only asking for the information that he needed to carry out the task, and not the reason why he was doing whatever crazy thing Kuroko wanted him to do.

"The people in the convenience store," said Kuroko. "It's probably not necessary, but you get mad at me when I take unnecessary risks. So please distract them while I go in and steal all their security footage."

"Wait," said Midorima. "What are you talking about? What do you want to do that for, Kuroko?"

"One of their cameras is trained right on the street outside of this alley," said Kuroko. "They'll have it on tape."

"And has it occurred to you to just go and ask for the tape?" demanded Midorima. "Or perhaps to let the police ask for it? Use your head, Kuroko!"

"Please use your own head, Midorima-kun," said Kuroko in his usual deadpan voice. "That convenience store is very obviously a front for laundering drug money. They are not just going to give up their security tapes. So I'm going to take them."

"If they're really laundering drug money, which I believe you about, then what you're planning to do is dangerous," said Kagami, darkly. "What if you get caught?"

"I know you don't like me putting myself in danger, Kagami-kun," said Kuroko. "But there's a woman's life at stake."

Kagami's fist clenched tighter.

"I have to do this," said Kuroko. He stared up into Kagami's eyes earnestly. "I can't not do this, Kagami-kun."

"You better not get caught," Kagami growled.

A small almost-smile crossed Kuroko's face. "I won't."

"And if you do, then you shout for help."

"I will."

"Swear it," demanded Kagami.

"I swear," Kuroko said. "If I get in trouble, I promise I'll shout for you."

"Kuroko," said Midorima irritably, "This is ridiculous and dangerous. You are not –"

"He is," said Kagami. "What kind of distraction do you want me to do, Kuroko? Shit, Kuroko? Where –"

"Over there," said Takao, pointing. "He just slipped back inside the store when that glasses guy walked out."

"Idiot," griped Kagami. "Okay, distraction. I need to make a distraction."

Takao saw the lost, desperate look on his face and took pity. "Don't worry, Kagami! I'll help you cause a distraction!"

"You will do no such thing," Midorima said angrily.

"Come on, Shin-chan? Don't you want to get in on the crimebusting too? It seems like fun!"

"Ignore him," said Kagami to Takao. "How are we going to cause a distraction?"

"Alright, come over here," said Takao, hurrying back to stand right in front of the convenience store's doors. Once they were there, he squared his shoulders and braced himself. "Alright. Now. Punch me in the face."

Kagami stared at him. "What?"

"I said punch me in the face. Didn't you hear me?" asked Takao.

"I usually hear punch me in the face whenever you're talking. And I always hear it when the goddamn Generation of Miracles are talking. But it's usually more in subtext," said Kagami, still staring at him like he was stupid.

"Oh, for God's sake," said Takao impatiently. Then he punched Kagami in the face.

Kagami rocked backwards then recovered and acted on instinct. He came at Takao furiously, and Takao had just enough time before his fists connected to think that perhaps he'd made a mistake.

But (Thank God!) at the very last second, something flickered in Kagami's eyes, a realization of sorts. He pulled his punch. A little. It still hurt like heck when it connected with Takao's jaw. But it didn't take his head off. Always a plus.

"You idiot!" snarled Kagami, grabbing him by his collar when he would have staggered and fallen.

Takao shoved him off. "Gotta make it look real!"

Then he tried to tackle Kagami.

Tried being the operative word.

As expected, it didn't really work. But he was willing to bet it made for a good show.

Midorima bought it anyway.

"Stop it! What are you doing! Stop!"

"Stay out of this, Shin-chan!" Takao said then huffed as he took a punch from Kagami to the stomach.

They carried on, with Midorima frantically trying to drag them apart. It didn't work too well for him, and he got a little shoved during the fight, but Kagami and Takao took the worst of it. Well, to be honest, Takao got the worst of it, even though he could tell Kagami was deliberately holding back, and hitting him in places that wouldn't hurt as much.

Takao decided something that day.

He never wanted to fight Kagami for real. There were very few people he felt that way about. He was very confident in his ability to fight smart, or to fight dirty if pressed, or to just be fast enough to get away if he had to, and he'd gotten beat up plenty of times so far in his life, so he was no stranger to fights, and had enough pride to stick through most of them. But Kagami fought like he played basketball. With dangerous intensity, and so much raw power, he was like a wildfire.

Between the punches and the headlocks, Takao had just enough time to wonder just what Kuroko had done to get Kagami practically on a leash. Well, maybe that wasn't a fair way of phrasing it. Kuroko didn't seem to treat Kagami like a pet or servant. Not like Midorima liked to treat Takao. But there was something very fierce about Kagami when it came to Kuroko, and the way he'd snapped to attention when Kuroko simply called out to him in that odd voice was nothing short of miraculous. It had been instantly clear right then that Kagami was fully prepared to demolish anything Kuroko so much as pointed at, without even needing a full explanation, simply trusting that if Kuroko said it had to be destroyed, then it had to be destroyed. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say Kagami was like a Pokemon . . .

And if that thought didn't show that Takao had taken a few too many hits to the head, Takao didn't know what would.

Thankfully, Kuroko reappeared quickly and ended it. And Shin-chan was there to catch Takao when he would have fallen.

"I got all the footage. We should leave quickly," he said. Then he added: "You made a very good distraction."

"Yay! I helped with the crimebusting!" said Takao, feeling inexplicably giddy.

Kuroko stared at Takao for a moment then looked at his partner. "Kagami-kun . . . next time please try not to leave Takao-kun so punch drunk."

"There's not going to be a next time!" Midorima snarled at the same time Takao asked: "Next time? Does that mean I'm on the crimebusting team?"

"We should turn that footage over to the police immediately," said Midorima when they reached Kagami's apartment. That had been the closest, and conveniently, there were no parents home to fuss over Kagami and Takao.

It was obvious from just looking at them that they'd been in a fight. With Kagami, less so. Takao had definitely come out worse for wear between the two of them. But now they were able to clean themselves up with a first aid kit as Kuroko booted up Kagami's laptop.

"I'll give it to them soon," said Kuroko. "But I want first look at the footage. I found it, after all."

"You stole it," Midorima reminded him. "You didn't find it."

"Meh, same difference," said Takao, cheerfully.

Midorima often felt like he was surrounded by idiots. Since graduating from Teiko, he hadn't felt that way quite so much, but now that feeling seemed to be back with a vengeance.

"It is not the same difference! You are in the possession of information which might save someone's life! You have a moral obligation to turn it over to the police!"

"If I thought they could work fast enough, I would," said Kuroko. "But they have rules and red tape to go through about acquiring evidence and such. I don't."

"I'm going to say this now," said Kagami, looking up from slapping on a few bandaides. "This is not going to be a repeat of that cab driver case. You are not confronting any murders or kidnappers this time. Do you understand, Kuroko?"

"Yes, Kagami-kun."

"What do you mean this time?" demanded Midorima.

"That's not important right now," said Kuroko. He was fast forwarding through the security footage.

"Go bug Kuroko's ex if you want the full story," said Kagami. He moved to join Kuroko in front of the laptop, watching over his shoulder. "Or read a freaking newspaper."

"Oh, is that the thing I heard about from that Seihou guy?" asked Takao. "How Kuroko got himself abducted by that serial killer who was behind those so-called serial suicides?"

"What?" demanded Midorima.

"Yeah, that's what happened," said Kagami, looking disgusted. "He nearly got himself killed."

"What?" asked Midorima again, unable to believe his ears, or recognize the pounding sensation that had just started hammering in his chest.

"No I didn't," said Kuroko.

"Yes you did."

"No. I keep telling you. The pill I had wasn't the poison."

"And I keep telling you, you don't know that!" Kagami said, very angrily.

"What are you talking about?" Midorima demanded. "What poison?"

"It's a long story, and retelling it constantly pisses me off," said Kagami.

"Here," Kuroko said suddenly, pausing the video. The frame froze on an all black car, where two men were dragging a trendily dressed young woman into it against her will. The license plate was visible, but not readable until Kuroko enlarged the picture. Then he pulled out his cell phone and made a call. "Detective Yagami, it's me again. I'm calling to give an anonymous tip."

"Do you know what anonymous means or not?" Midorima wondered.

"He knows. That's his way of being sarcastic." Kagami glared at him. "You've been his friend for two years. Shouldn't you know that?"

Kuroko finished reading off the license plate to this Detective Yagami person, then promised to anonymously email him the footage that he'd stolen from the convenience store. Five minutes after hanging up, he appeared to have done that. Then he turned off the computer and stood up. "Let's go, Kagami-kun."

"And where are we going?" asked Kagami, looking wary but standing and starting toward the door all the same.

Kuroko looked surprised. "To the docks, of course. We need to hurry if we want to get there before Detective Yagami sends any officers over."

"Wait, back up," said Takao. "What's going on?"

"Kuroko, what do you know?" Midorima demanded.

"The car that was used to abduct Agent Misora had a parking permit for the Shiganisa warehouses over near the docks of Tokyo Bay," explained Kuroko.

"Warehouses are a great place to keep someone tied up," said Takao. "I learned that from various movies."

"It might not be so easy," cautioned Kuroko. "They might not be holding her there. But at the very least, we should be able to find out the kidnapper's name, or who that car is registered to. There will be some sort of record there."

"And we're taking these clowns with us?" asked Kagami, giving Midorima and Takao a dubious look.

"Really? We can come? Really?" Takao looked inexplicably delighted.

"We didn't say you could come!" said Kagami. "I was asking Kuroko!"

Midorima scowled and put his foot down. "We are not going with them!"

"Why did they come with us again?" Kagami grouched. He glanced back over his shoulder at Takao and Midorima, who were trailing behind them, not too far back, only far enough that he could talk to Kuroko privately if he kept his voice low.

"Because Midorima-kun worries about his friends more than he knows how to admit. And because Takao-kun has been a fan of detective stories since second grade," answered Kuroko.

"You know that for a fact, do you?"

"He had a limited edition Detective Trap pin on the jacket he wore when our team played him in middle school," said Kuroko. "You could only get that pin with the purchase of a Detective Trap manga during the month of June, when we were in second grade."

"He could have bought it online or something," Kagami said.

"If he had, he'd have gotten one in good condition, and he wouldn't have put it on a jacket. The one he had was scratched up horribly." Kuroko somehow managed to look disapproving without changing his expression at all. "Those are collector's items now."

"I should learn to stop trying to prove you wrong," muttered Kagami.

"No. You don't have to. I like when you talk to me."

Kagami blushed at Kuroko's blunt and embarrassing way of saying that. Then he sent a backwards glare at Midorima, reminded of just why he hated the Generation of Miracles. He'd known from the beginning that Kuroko hadn't parted from his old teammates on the best of terms. But after hanging around Kuroko so much, the deductive ability was starting to rub off just a little, and Kagami had noticed things and pieced together more than he would have if he and Kuroko weren't running around stopping crimes and playing detective. He didn't have the full story yet, but he was working on it. It was just a matter of time until he figured it out. But it had become obvious that they had done something to really hurt Kuroko and Kagami wasn't going to forgive them for that any time soon.

It pissed Kagami off that something so simple like people talking to him could make Kuroko so happy.

"Kagami-kun."

"W-What?" asked Kagami nervously, trying to convince himself there was no way Kuroko could have known he was thinking about committing armed assault right then.

"If Agent Misora is being held in the warehouse . . ."

"No," said Kagami angrily, eyes flashing. "You're not going in there after her."

"If the police arrive there will be a stand off. Those don't work out as well in real life as they do in movies, Kagami-kun. The hostage usually dies," said Kuroko.

"And what the hell do you think happens to teenagers who sneak into the middle of those situations?" Kagami demanded.

"Nothing, if they're not seen."

"You're not sneaking in there by yourself, Kuroko, damn it!"

"What? What is he thinking of doing?" demanded Midorima, coming forward.

"Nothing. I'm not letting him. You understand me, Kuroko? You are not going to try to infiltrate the God damned warehouse on your own!"

"We'll see," said Kuroko as they kept walking toward the warehouse district.

Kagami and Midorima both proceeded to scream at him how stupid an idea that was and how they would not allow it.

"He just snuck off and into the warehouse on his own, didn't he?"

Kuroko knew that it hadn't been easy for Takao to let him go. And the hawk eyed point guard had seen exactly what he was doing. But Takao had seen the validity of his arguments. If this turned into a standoff with the police then Agent Misora was likely to die. Kuroko had the best chance of getting in there undetected, and getting her out. So, Kuroko was grateful to Takao for distracting Kagami and Midorima long enough for him to slip away. And that this time the distraction hadn't involved bloodshed.

There was a drain pipe at one corner of the building that Kuroko was able to climb to get access to the roof. He sent up a silent thank you for all the climbing drills Coach had put the team through. Before joining Seirin, he'd had no idea how to climb a rope. A drain pipe wasn't that different, and Kuroko was light enough that it could support him. It wasn't exactly easy, but it wasn't impossible like it would have been for him in middle school.

There was a skylight on the roof. That gave Kuroko a chance to check and see what was happening inside the warehouse. He approached the skylight carefully, mindful of his shadow, and made sure that when he peeked over the edge that his shadow wouldn't fall inside the window and onto the floor below, giving him away. That would have been horribly ironic. Kuroko mostly saw what he was expecting to see when he peeked in. A woman tied to a chair. And three men who looked like thugs. They weren't torturing her, thank God. Kuroko had no idea how he'd have dealt with the situation if they were. It looked like they were waiting for someone or something. The three men all had weapons. Handguns, which weren't legal in Japan. This was going to be dangerous. But Kuroko had already known that.

He studied the layout of the room. It looked like he could get in through the vent shaft that came down from the roof, but getting out that way would be impossible. It was a ten foot drop. If Kuroko slid out and hung by his finger tips before dropping, he knew he could avoid injury, but there was no way he could get back up to it. The only other way out was through the warehouse doors.

Kuroko took a moment to formulate a plan, assessing what he could do and what he couldn't do. He could get to Agent Misora without being seen, he was certain. He could even get her freed, thanks to the fact that he'd borrowed a kitchen knife from Kagami-kun's apartment, foreseeing that he might have to cut through duck tape or rope.

He could not get Agent Misora to the warehouse door unseen. Nor could he get the doors open without anyone noticing, since they were huge, doors that were probably noisy to open, and would let in a lot more light. And Agent Misora, slender though she was, didn't look like she could fit through the vent like Kuroko could. So even though he could boost her to it, she wouldn't be able to get out that way. And honestly, Kuroko didn't think she could make it that far without being seen.

So what to do?

Think, he ordered himself. This is a chance to balance out some of the wrong I've done. I can't just sit back and do nothing right now. I have to find a way to help her.

But Kuroko couldn't get Agent Misora out of the warehouse. That much was obvious. Or, he couldn't get her out unseen. But perhaps he didn't need to. Maybe it wasn't necessary for her to get out unseen. Kuroko only had to get her out without the thugs stopping her, by shooting her or overpowering her. The easiest way to ensure that didn't happen would be to take the thugs' guns. And Agent Misora would know how to shoot, wouldn't she? She was an FBI agent. Kuroko had seen plenty of TV shows about FBI agents. They all shot guns like there was no tomorrow.

And even on the off chance that Misora didn't know how to shoot, these men probably didn't know that. Or if they did, they probably still wouldn't risk charging her if she had a gun in each hand. That seemed like a good way to get themselves killed.

So, all Kuroko had to do was sneak into the warehouse through the vent, lift the guns off the three thugs' persons without getting caught, and cut Agent Misora free. That was a surprisingly simple plan when it came down to it. Compared to what he was trying to do on the basketball court, defeating all his former teammates and friends, and turning them back into the kind of people who wouldn't hurt and trample other people on a whim, this was positively cake.

The operation went so smoothly that Kuroko felt a little bit gipped. On TV things never went just the way they were planned. He knew that was to make the plots more interesting, but it was still a little bit of a letdown that all the adrenaline he built up while putting his plan into action only had to be channeled into exactly what it was supposed to.

What happened was this:

Kuroko pried the cover off the ventilation shaft on the roof, then slipped inside. He proceeded slowly to keep from making any unexpected noises, or to make a wrong move that would send him falling twenty feet vertically, or something of the sort. Then he reached the opening into the warehouse, which didn't even have a grating covering it. He waited until all three men were facing a different direction, and one of them started talking. Then he slid most of his body out of the vent, holding on with just one hand. He let his body drop down, still holding on, then released with his finger tips. When his feet hit the floor, he bent his knees to land as softly as possible, going into a crouch.

None of the men even looked his way.

"When's M supposed to get here again?" asked one of the thugs.

"He'll get here when he gets here. He's a busy guy. You know this," was another thug's answer.

Kuroko sent a quick glance at Agent Misora, who was watching the thugs intently, with hate in her eyes. Whoever this M person was, he was certainly not on her Christmas Card list.

The hard part of the plan came next. Pick pocketing the guns. Kuroko didn't have much experience at pick pocketing. He'd read up on it when he first started learning about misdirection. He'd considered that part of his education. But only recently, at Detective Yagami's suggestion, had he actually ever tried practicing it. Not for the purpose of petty theft or anything. Kuroko had no interest in stealing peoples' wallets. But Light had made him see how a skill like that could be useful in their line of work. For instance, if they needed to get a suspect's DNA for testing but didn't have a warrant, it could be very helpful to borrow their watch for the purpose of scraping out some skin cells for a DNA test. Or if they needed to know who their suspect had been calling, that information was conveniently stored in their cell phone.

Technically, that was illegal, but Kuroko had come around to Light's way of thinking where it concerned rules being bent. If he was trying to save someone's life, and there was a rule in his way, he would bend or break it. He didn't need to adhere to some blanket philosophy of something being right or wrong. Kuroko had decided to make decisions like this on a case by case basis. What rules were broken depended on what rules they were and who he was trying to save.

And right now, he didn't think it was wrong to steal illegal guns from some kidnapping thugs and turn them over to a law enforcement agent, in the process of saving that same law enforcement agent's life.

This time it was simple. Kuroko liked simple. He knew that as soon as this little adventure was over, he was going to have a lot of complications to deal with. Kagami was going to be furious, and would shout at him, whack him upside the head, and drag him back to his apartment so he could keep an eye on him. Midorima was going to be angry that Kuroko had done something so dangerous, and confused about why he was so angry. Takao was going to be feeling guilty that he'd let Kuroko go, even if everything did turn out alright, but hiding that guilt with a smile. Coach was going to find out from Kagami what he'd done. She was going to make his life miserable for a week. And Momoi was going to find out from reading the newspapers what Kuroko had done. She was going to be beside herself with worry. And she was going to tell Aomine. And Aomine was going to get that blank eyed stare on his face again, like he'd had when Kuroko and the rest of Seirin had stopped that little girl from being kidnapped, right after Seirin got knocked out of Interhigh. But that stare had come from learning about the other things Kuroko had been up to, not from his team being knocked out of the tournament. Aomine didn't know how to feel about Kuroko running around Tokyo stopping crimes with his new team. He had a mix of complicated emotions that Kuroko couldn't even understand himself. He just knew that Aomine felt them because since crossing paths with that serial killer, it had become a whole lot easier to figure out how other people thought. And how they thought he thought. He could see it all, like a map in his head. The metaphor that the cabbie had used during their battle of wits was a good one, even if it did come from a deranged murderer. It seemed like the man had inadvertently passed his trick on to Kuroko. And Kuroko didn't know how he felt about that. It was ironic in so many ways.

So it was just good that the plan he was enacting right now was simple. He could do with more simple in his life.

Lifting the guns off the three thugs was very easy. It was almost insulting how he could walk right up to someone and take the gun out of their holster without them ever even realizing he was there. A vindicitive little part of Kuroko was glad that they'd be paying for that insult. And he got a rather nice surprise when he turned his attention to Agent Misora. He saw that she was looking right at him.

She didn't seem to know what to think about him. Understandable. It wasn't every day a kidnap victim saw a pale, ghostlike kid appear in the middle of the warehouse where they were being held, and start stealing weapons from her kidnappers. Kuroko could see her studying him, trying to figure out what he was up to and what his motives were. He put a finger over his lip, hoping that she would realize he was on her side and not give him away, then hurried over to her.

"I'm here to help you get out," he whispered into her ear. "But sneaking out's impossible. You're going to have to threaten these men with these guns to keep them out of our way, so we can get to the door.

Misora gave the slightest of nods. Kuroko then knelt behind her and started cutting through the ropes binding her to the chair. A minute later, she was free. But, displaying an excellent mind for strategy and intelligence, Misora stayed seated until Kuroko put a gun in each of her hands.

"Stay behind me, boy. And stay close," she whispered.

"I will," whispered Kuroko.

"Keep that other gun in your hands. Even if you can't shoot, the sight of it will keep them back and away from you."

"Right," Kuroko agreed. Though personally he felt like it was better just to hide the gun under his shirt. These thugs wouldn't even see him. Not if he wasn't carrying a weapon. He estimated that chances of him being spotted if he wasn't carrying a visible weapon, as he and Misora rushed to the door was only two percent. But, carrying a weapon in the open only raised that figure to 4.5 percent. No, only 3.75 percent, Kuroko adjusted his estimate to take into account how beautiful and badass Agent Misora looked with a gun in each hand. The brighter the light, the darker the shadow. The same principal applied now as did on the court. Next to a beautiful, deadly FBI agent in a leather jacket and mini skirt, Kuroko would be his usual invisible self whether he was carrying a weapon or not.

Then Agent Misora stood up. And deviated from Kuroko's script.

"On your knees! All of you!" she shouted, and fired off a round from the gun in her right hand. The bullet hit right between the ugliest one's feet and made him jump.

The thugs stared at her in shock and tried to go for their guns, only to find their guns weren't there.

"I said on your knees! And put your hands on your heads! Now!"

One of the thugs was dumb enough to run. Misora fired off another round and he fell to the ground, then started screaming and clutching his leg, rolling over.

"Anyone else want to run?" Misora asked in an almost friendly voice.

The two uninjured thugs decided that no, they did not want to run. They got down on the ground, hands behind their heads as Misora instructed.

"You, green shirt. Take your cell phone out of your jacket pocket and put it on the ground. Slowly. You make a sudden movement and I'm making a hole in your chest. Understand?"

"Y-Yes," he said, and did as she instructed.

"Now, slide it to me," Misora said when the phone was on the floor.

The thug slid the phone across the floor to her. It came to a stop right beside her feet.

"You boy, call the police."

"Ah! What the – when did he get here? How did he get here?" demanded one of the thugs.

"The police are already on their way, Agent Misora," said Kuroko, but he retrieved the phone nonetheless. As though on cue, a siren started ringing in the distance. Kuroko was pleased that Detective Yagami had taken exactly as long as he'd predicted to piece the thing about the docks together and get here. "Also, I have some friends waiting outside. Is it alright if I open the door, so that they'll know I'm alright, and so the police don't waste time setting up a perimeter when they get here?"

Misora's eyes narrowed at him speculatively. "That's fine. But . . . who are you?"

"No one important," Kuroko said and walked to the door.

"You saved my life. Forgive me if I'm inclined to disagree," said Misora.

"I'm Kuroko Tetsuya. I hope we get along well."

Misora laughed softly. "I don't think that will be a problem."

"I don't think so either," said Kuroko, and he gave her a small smile, because this was a victory. The kidnapped woman was free and safe. The bad guys were in custody. One of them was bleeding, but not dangerously. No one had died. Yes, this was definitely a win.

"You're too young to be a police officer. So what are you doing here? And how did you find me?" asked Misora.

"I found your purse in the alley where they took you. I went from there," said Kuroko, knowing that the full story would have to be told soon, but deciding it could wait. The police were getting closer. And Kagami, Midorima, and Takao were probably all worried out of their minds because of those gunshots. Kuroko quickly walked over to the door and pulled it open, making himself visible to the people outside, so that he could relieve their worry.

"Amazing," said Agent Misora as Kuroko finished fully recounting the events that took place in the alley, where he'd realized Agent Misora had been kidnapped. "Detective Yagami, you've found an amazing protégé."

"He came to me this amazing," said Light, setting down a cup of black coffee in front of Misora, and a cup of coffee completely loaded with sweetened vanilla creamer in front of Kuroko. "I can't take credit for his deductive skills."

They were in a conference room back at the police station, debriefing. Kagami, Midorima, and Takao were waiting for him outside, even though Kuroko had suggested they return home. He'd warned them that it was likely to be a full hour or more before he was finished here. They hadn't cared. Kuroko knew perfectly well that even if this took until 6:00 am the next morning, and he'd still walk out and find them waiting for him. Them and most of the rest of Seirin. Kagami would have called Riko by now. She in turn would have called all the others. And anyone who didn't have some family obligation keeping them away would be there. That thought warmed Kuroko, even though he felt a bad about inconveniencing and worrying them. He thought this might be what it was like to have a family that cared about him out there waiting.

"Detective Yagami is being modest," said Kuroko. "He has taught me many things since we first met."

Light laughed. And he didn't say it because they were on record and their conversation was being recorded, but his expression clearly said: You mean like how to pick pockets and bend rules?

"He also listens to me," added Kuroko. "And believes me, even if I come to him with something that sounds bizarre."

He remembered clearly what it was like not to be listened to, or to be shut down when he said something that went against the flow. It was nice now to have found people who would listen to what he had to say and not just write his words off as insignificant. And it was even nicer to see the results of what came of speaking up. Lives saved. Bad guys jailed. Children back with their parents.

This was victory, plain and simple.

"For my part of this debriefing, I'll have to backtrack a bit," said Agent Misora, sipping her coffee. "I'll try to be brief. I don't want to keep Kuroko-kun here too late."

"Please don't worry about that," said Kuroko. Even though he felt a little bad about the people waiting for him, he wanted, no needed to understand the full story. "It's not a school night. And I often stay up late."

Misora gave him a nod that was a little bit indulgent, but somehow not condescending. "I came to Japan as part of a taskforce, tracking the operations of an international criminal, believed by many just to be a myth. We, however, believe that he exists, or at least that someone has begun using his alias for their own operations."

"And this man's name is . . . ?" prompted Light.

"He just goes by one name. One letter, actually. He calls himself M."

"M you say?" Light mused.

"Yes. They say he's young. Ruthless. A genius. And completely psychotic, though I don't buy that last one. Sociopathic, perhaps. Even a little mad. More than a little, I suppose. But there's a method to his madness."

Kuroko wasn't the sort of person who believed in premonitions. Instinct, yes. Intuition even. Both were cousins to his own deductive abilities, using information gathered from the environment or precedent to predict the future. But he didn't believe in psychic abilities, or any sort of supernatural way of predicting the future.

All the same, a chill swept down his spine as he heard the description of the man who called himself M. And even though he had no evidence to back it up, no information gleaned from any source reputable or otherwise, Kuroko just knew that his path was going to cross with M's. And that he was going to be in trouble.

I think I broke my brain writing this. I have no idea how TV show writers for crime shows manage to crank out mystery plotlines so fast. I've literally never had a harder time writing something than this, lol. Hopefully writing mysteries will get easier, because there's alot I want to do with this AU. There are some fun times ahead for Kuroko and Kagami. But there are also going to be some heartbreaking times too. Because Kuroko's premonition about M is right.

Please review!