Normal Perspectives
By Shyro Foxfeather
Normalcy, Hakuba mused, depended upon your perspective.
If it was normal for the people around you to be bouncing around the classroom like Mexican jumping beans, then by all means, leave them as they are.
"Hey, Ao-chan, you couldn't hit the broad side of a barn if it was right next to you!" Taunted the Magician, Kaito, as he flipped over a student—who took little notice, as it was normal—and jumped just out of reach of Aoko's Swifer mop. He landed elegantly on an empty desk.
"I could so, baka!" Roared the hissing feline of a schoolgirl as she raced forward swinging with a good percentage of her strength.
"I'm surprised she hasn't knocked some sense into you already with that weapon of hers." Hakuba commented lightly, more focused on his novel.
Kaito looked over to his left where the Detective was sitting. "Why Hakuba, I didn't know you care," Kaito's comment was abruptly halted by the pain of a bull's eye hit with the handle of the white mop that Aoko had swung at him in his moment of distraction.
Kaito, who had been standing on a desk, was propelled sideways and crashed painfully into the desk beside it.
Aoko looked on shock and guilt washing over her features. She quickly rushed over to help up her fallen best friend.
Hakuba dropped his book and went to check on Kuroba. If you saw his expression you'd be surprised by the amount of concern that he freely displayed on his features.
Hakuba never was that good at the Poker Face.
"Argh… Stupid symbols. Quiet…" He whined pathetically as he leaned on the now upright desk.
Hakuba strode over and placed a hand on his shoulder ready to make a sarcastic comment and once again label himself as a rude foreigner in the magic user's eyes.
Kaito, to his great surprise, jumped and looked over frantically before calming at the sight of Hakuba.
Hakuba noted this as one of those things to look into in the near future.
Aoko stood near Kaito. "Hey, you're okay aren't you?" She asked as she searched him over for any sign of damage. Kaito nodded ruefully.
Meanwhile, the rest of the class watched intently or warily, as the current events weren't normal in the least bit.
Hakuba carefully watched the Kuroba for the rest of the class day. Normalcy resumed and things were once more chaotic. Kaito flipped Aoko's skirt, he changed his peers' hair color, he let loose a flock of doves from his jacket's pocket and so on and so forth.
But still… Something seemed off. Something Hakuba had failed to notice before because he took in Kaito at face value and hadn't thought to question things like that.
If it was true, it was truly well hidden, Hakuba mused.
And if it was hidden it was obviously a secret…
…But why?
The Heist…
Everything had gone normal for a Kid heist, normalcy once again the reining power over mortal life.
However, the clues were beginning to line up in Hakuba's mind. He hardly ever forgot anything and certainly never forgot things having to do with Kuroba or the Kid.
Which was why it was puzzling as to how he never noticed it before.
It was strange that Kuroba looked normal. Hakuba realized before that he wasn't and that there was much more behind the identity of the blue eyes and unruly hair. However, he didn't realize that this went beyond what he had figured out.
Now, he could honestly say he knew at least one reason for why Kid wore the monocle.
And this night was proof as normalcy's grip on life was shattered.
The Kaitou Kid, 1412, was standing proudly atop a 20-foot statue that lay in front of the museum he had just pilfered a sparkly gem from. Today's heist was a private challenge, more or less meaning not a single screaming fan knew to come so the level of noise originated solely from the police force and angry museum workers.
As the Kaitou readied his glider and began soaring off into the night sky, a gunshot broke through the air. On the right of the statue a newly appointed officer fired his gun—where he got it no one knew—at the airborne thief.
In the shock of the moment, half of the police tackled the man while the other half—Hakuba and Ginzo Nakamori included—watched in detached horror as the Kid jerked, spiraled, and crashed out of sight.
Nakamori was left to deal with the rouge gun bunny as Hakuba raced off after the—most probably injured—Kaitou.
A Dark Alleyway…
Hakuba found the Kaitou clutching his arm where he lay in an alley that sat between a vegetable shop and a drugstore. The light from the street not being able to bend into the corners of the dark crevice.
Hakuba noted, with a sour taste in his mouth, that the Kid's hang glider was laying crumpled not to far from the bandit.
The blonde detective strode up to the injured Kaitou Kid and watched in dismay as he shrunk back like a wounded animal. Which he kind of was at the moment.
He pulled some bandages from the bag that hung from his shoulder and pointedly looked at the Kid in a manner that said one thing:
Strip.
With a raised eyebrow and a grimace the phantom peeled the silky bloodstained jacket from his shoulder and the blue dress shirt followed suit.
The blonde then began cleaning the wound and wrapping the bandage around his arm noting with concern that the bullet had gone right through his arm but had narrowly missed the bone. This gave the semi-lucky thief the chance to escape from a very hard to explain hospital operation.
"Why?" The Kid asked exhausted from the night's events and tired from the blood loss.
"Why what?" Hakuba asked in return a very small smirk on his face as he finished bandaging his arm and placed a clip there to hold it into place.
"Why aren't you trying to catch me right now?"
Hakuba paused. "That would be unfair and would lack the challenge I normally expect from you."
The Kid was silent for a few minutes as Hakuba cleaned up the supplies he had used on him.
"You know who I am, don't you?"
Hakuba whipped his head around, startled by the question. If he had any doubt that Kuroba was in fact the Kid, they were gone now.
"Yes, yes I do." He stated confusedly, his accent clear in his words despite it all.
"So you know I'm Kaito Kuroba…" He trailed off not looking at Hakuba.
"…Hai…" Hakuba felt something in him shatter. As much as he chased the phantom, he never imagined the thief would outright admit it. Perhaps he lost more blood than Hakuba thought. So he voiced his opinion. "You just had to go take the fun out of it, didn't you?"
The Kaitou—no—Kaito chuckled, relived at his reaction.
Hakuba paused once he had his bag on his shoulder again and sat down next to Kuroba. "You're…" Hakuba trailed off.
Kaito looked at him a moment. "What?"
"You're… You're blind in your right eye, aren't you?"
There was a long tense silence between the two before Kaito answered with a resigned sigh.
"…Hai."
Owari
Disclaimer: Chaos, Logic, and myself lay no claim upon Detective Conan and are thus sadly disappointed in our Evil Genius tactics.
Well, I bet you didn't expect that now did you?
I've just realized in all my stories Kaito gets hit with a mop handle twice and crashes his hang glider twice. And screams a lot… I need to stop using those.
This is my theory on why the Kid wears his monocle besides the fact that it was his fathers. I'd like to assume that's why the original Kaitou wore his too. However, since I currently lack internet I can't go research it to make sure my facts are straight. Sorry.
Also… This can be either a Kaito/Hakuba ficlet or they just become better friends depending on your perspective. I like the Kaito/Hakuba pairing best.
This is all Chaos's fault. One day he's all, 'What if Kaito was blind in his right eye?' and it never left me alone. (PS: Chaos and Logic are the voices in my head so this idea is mine! Mwahahahahaha!)
Behind the scenes:
Me-Typing- A Dark Alleyway…
Pause.
Me-Types- (Dun Dun Duuun…)
Pause
Me-Shakes head- That'll ruin everything. -Deletes it-
End behind the scenes.
I suppose I'll write a sequel if you guys want it. If no one asks then I'm leaving this as a one shot.
Hope you enjoyed the show!
(PS – I said normal in this thing approximately eight times. That was unintetional. ;)