The one time she succeeded

Thinking back on it, he should have known that this would happen.
He should have seen the signs for it, her strange behaviour the last days, the bad feeling in his gut. All of this. He shouldn't have ignored this.

But he did.

He had put it in the case of Akako-acting-the-strange-way-she-is.
He hadn't thought about a possibility of her going this far for her goals. Had never in his dreams imagined her taking these steps to get him to listen to her.

But she did.

And this time was different. It was not the piercing pain in his head and chest keeping him awake from the sleeping gas. It was not the burning agony of the fire surrounding him in the magic circle that would later be turned out from the falling snow. The magic of mother nature. Yeah. Right.
This time her magic worked without flaws. And truth be told, he would take all the pain she could give him, would take every fire in the world around him, he would take being her 'slave' for all eternity over this. Because this time it was so much worse.

This time he was killing Tantei-kun.

Well one has to say he was more like Meitantei-san now. Being all grown up again with no Organization on his feet. No need to hide any more and back in the world he belongs. He was back to face the wrath of a not-so-amused-Karate-Champion. And boy he did!
Kaito still remembered when Naru-chan came back from Meitantei-duty (No he was not stalking thank you very much. It was just his way of checking for the right time to introduce himself to the detective as Kuroba Kaito) and he watched in the video as Mori cracked the concrete wall surrounding the Kudo House.
And he felt with the Detective when the same hand landed in his shoulder, and Mori gave him this sickeningly sweet smile before she walked of.
He still remembered those lively blue eyes widening a fraction in respect and a small bit of fear.
But it was only seconds after she was gone when he ran after her, onto the way to school. Back than he was smiling happily. Practically enjoying the way he could walk next to her without needing to make two steps where she took one.
And Kaito could see through the video the he really loved her.
Admired her beauty in body and mind.

But now there was no love, or affection or even happiness in those blue orbs.
No there was only panic and a whole lot of a big Why?
And Kaito couldn't blame him when those eyes stared at him accusingly.
Because it were his hands closing around the others throat.
The hands of a skilled magician becoming the hands of a murderer.
And he wanted to cry. Because that was not what he wanted to do!
He did not want to be the reason the detective lost his life! He didn't want to be the one to steal him from his family, his friends, Ran.
He didn't want to stand there pressing all of his body weigh against that throat. Cutting of that witty smile and laughter, stealing every breath the other tried to take so desperately,while his feet were weakly stashing out, hitting Kaito against the knee, but not hurting.
He didn't want to be the one receiving the scratch marks on his arms,because Kudo was trying with every ounce of energy he had left to make him let go!

But he did.

He was the one causing the light to fade in the blue eyes.

He was the one hearing the last croaked words: "Don't...do...thi-...s"
He was the one seeing the hands falling to the side, weakly.
He was the one holding him against the rows of books, feet hanging centimetres above the ground.
He was the one seeing his hands twitching for the last times.
He was the one receiving the look from his dead eyes.

Eyes that asked just one question.

"Why did you do this?"

And as he let go the body crumpled to the ground. Lifeless.
And suddenly he could cry.
Suddenly there was no force holding him back. Leaving him free with his guilt and the tears streaming down his face seemingly unstoppable.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!"
And it was like a mantra. Said over and over until there was a hand on his shoulder and another taking his wrists behind his back. Not harsh but demanding.
He hadn't realised there were people, not to mention the police. He didn't know where they came from.
It didn't matter.
And as they put a blanket over the stilled form of the greatest Detective of the east he was lead out. Past the crying girl whose boyfriend he just stole.
But that was all right. It was what he deserved.
He needed to be punished.
And just as he thought that, there was nothing.
Confused he looked up from the ground between his shoes when there were no Hands on his arms leading him towards the police car.
Where were the police officers?
He looked around himself, but there was no one there.
What happened?
As he turned around, he couldn't help but to start trembling.
There on the floor was she.
Lying there like an angel with wings of blood pooling around her.
A big bloody red wound in her stomach.
"N-no...Aoko..."
His voice was wavering but he couldn't care less as he stumbled towards her.
Until he noticed the knife in his hands.
The bloody knife in is hands.
He screamed.

Hakuba had been worried.
When he had seen Kuroba in school after the last heist, he couldn't help but worry over the obvious signs of a completely sleepless night.
He would have to lie if he said that he couldn't understand how the magician must be feeling.
After the death of Connery, Hakuba himself had difficulties to find a good night of relaxing sleep although he was kind of used to seeing death. At least he got a few hours every night and it got better.
Nonetheless it was never a pleasant sight. No matter what the cause of death was.
But than again, it was Kuroba who had tried to save the INTERPOL Agent.
And maybe he should offer a sleepover to Kuroba?
The possibility of Kuroba denying that offer and outright laughing at him stood at approximately 97%.
He sighed silently and scribbled down the next equation from the board as his mind wandered around a possibility to help the class clown.
It was three days ago now and Kuroba didn't seem to get much sleep.
Hakuba was worried.

So right on time to the next break he decided to visit Kuroba this night, no matter what the other said to that.
Thinking over his plans a little more he started a list in his head, with all the things he needed for a spontaneous sleepover at Kuroba.
Just as he started to write e few things down he noticed Koizumi standing in front of his desk. She just smiled at him and said "Sweet dreams you two." before she turned to leave the classroom.
And when he stood in front of Kurobas door this evening it was to be greeted by one greatly annoyed, aforementioned magician.
What exactly do you want Hakuba?"
There was a shrug which lifted his bag a little bit.
"We had a little water problem at our house today and I need a place to sleep for one night."
He would never let him in if the detective told him his true intentions.
To say the least Kuroba didn't seem to believe him either way judging from the look he gave the Half-Brit. But he didn't say anything and instead opened the door a bit further to let the other inside.
As they settled in his room Hakuba couldn't help but notice the few pictures on the walls and in the bookshelf.
Some he could see from his place at the door, but some stood at an angle that wasn't helpful for his eyes.
"Wait a moment. I'll get a Futon. You want something to drink?"
A little bit surprised by the neutral yet friendly question Hakuba needed two seconds to gather himself.
"If you have tea, that would be appreciated. And I can help you with the Futon."
Kuroba just shook his head and walked of to another room.
Well. One could not say he didn't offer his help.
And if you flip the coin, he was now free for a few minutes to look at the pictures he couldn't see before.
There was only one Pictures with Kuroba himself, as a Child and, what he assumed were his parents. Two other pictures with Kuroba and his mother. In both Pictures Kuroba looked to be around 14 or 15 years old. Maybe it was his last year at middle school?
There were five, no six pictures of Kuroba and Nakamori-san in varying ages. The last seemed to be just a few weeks old from an amusement park with both members grinning at the camera.
And than there was one picture that really was a puzzle to him. There were two little toddlers outside in the sun. Lying on the grass while there was part of a young man that resembled Kurobas father from the other picture, but looked a bit different with glasses sitting on his nose, was smiling down on them. The little boys were looking at each other and the one with the slightly messier hair – it could be Kuroba – was grinning while he held onto a stuffed white dove, while the other was staring at him with wide and tear filled eyes.
Hakuba couldn't help but crack a small smile at this picture. The interesting part came with the next picture. Nearly identical to the one before. But this time the dove was in the hands of the other and Kuroba had one hand on his head seemingly soothing him from crying.
Right next to that was a picture of no one else but Conan Edogawa. The young boy was surrounded by four other Children that were, as Hakuba had learned through the papers, the so called Detective Boys. Three of them looked excited while Edogawa was laughing and the girl with the reddish hair was smiling.
Hakuba had to wonder sometimes how those two seemed so mature in comparison to other Kids their age.
The last Picture on this shelf was a young boy maybe twelve years old who resembled both, the long missing Kudo Shinichi and Conan Edogawa a little older without glasses.

Frankly Hakuba didn't know what to make of these pictures.
The others were explainable to him, but those four?
No.
He was torn out of his thoughts when Kuroba spoke up from the doorway.
"Having fun?"
He spun around a bit guiltily and smiled slightly.
I was just wondering why you have a picture of Kudo Shinichi in your room."
There was no answer. Instead Kuroba gave him his Beddings and Hakuba could do nothing else but find a place in the room to spread them.
They actually got to talk a bit about the books Kuroba has read and discussed over Lupin and Holmes when they waited for the Pizza to arrive.
It wasn't long after dinner when they settled in their beds and both were succumbed back to sleep.

It was only a few hours later when Hakuba woke up because Kuroba was emscreaming.
He jumped up to the magicians Bed and took in his trembling form while he gently but firmly placed his hands on the smaller boys shoulders.
"Kuroba. Breath. Deep breath."
There was no response and no change in his erratic breathing and Hakuba got nervous.
Kuroba listen to me! You have to take a deep breath!"
When he started to talk it wasn't what Hakuba had expected. No the magician started to mumble something and got a bit louder over time until Hakuba understood what it was.
"Wasn't me. I didn't do it. 'm sorry. It wasn't me. Didn't do it. I'm sorry."
He couldn't help but stare incredulously at the magician for a few seconds before he decided on something else.
He slung his arm around the others body and dragged him out of the bed.
Maybe it was because Kuroba realised that he wasn't alone or that he wasn't sitting any more, but he stumbled with the Detective to the bathroom, not once stopping in his mantra, where he slid down next to the bathtub.
Hakuba searched a bit before he found a little washing towel and put it in cold water for a moment. Without a second thought he put the towel on Kurobas head so that half of it hit him in the face and he twitched violently.
At least he stopped his little mantra.
Hakuba eyed him cautiously and was glad when Kuroba lifted his left hand to tug at the towel until it fell into his lap.
He looked around for a second when his eyes fell on Hakuba still standing at the sink and watching him silently.
"Are you feeling ok?" Because All right was not the fitting word here.
Kuroba shook his head silently and let his eyes slide down on his hands. Which were shaking. Badly.
"I...Hakuba, I did...I- Oh Gods"
He slapped his hands together in front of his mouth, his breathing getting erratic again.
"I did...I just...I don't know why. And I couldn't control myself. It just happened."
Hakuba couldn't contain a little sigh when Kuroba started rambling, and got down on his knees in front of the magician.
"Kuroba look at me."
He stopped talking and did look at him, panic in his eyes and tears shimmering, just waiting to be allowed to fall.
"It was just a dream Kuroba. Just a really bad dream. Can you say it?"
There was a moment of silence in which Kuroba let his trembling hands sink down and Hakuba put his hand on the small shoulder in front of him.
"I-it was...It was just..."
He stared at his hands again.
"I killed him."
His words were whispered. But nonetheless they seemed eerily loud in the bathroom.
Kuroba stared at him in horror and barely got out the next words through trembling lips.
"I killed him. Gods Hakuba I Killed-"
He was cut short as he slapped a Hand over his mouth again and shot to the toilet where he threw up, what must have been the pizza slices from before.
Hakuba sighed silently and took the towel that had fallen to the ground in Kurobas rush.
Not sure about what to do, he settled next to the heaving magician and rubbed soothing circles on his back, towel ready in the other hand if needed.
It was a few minutes later that Kuroba needed to empty his stomach as he sunk down against the wall and gladly took the towel Hakuba held out to him.
The Detective pressed the flush and stayed at his position.
The following silence didn't last long and was broken by Kurobas silent "Thank you".
He just nodded and lastly noticed the tear tracks on his cheeks.
It was still a few moments later before he dared to ask.
"What was it about?"
There was no need to elaborate because they both knew what he meant.
"Kudo-kun."
I killed him.
Hakuba swallowed.
Damn it.
So seeing the death of Jack Connery got his over creative mind to kill other people in his sleep.
Oh joy.
Hakuba couldn't help but notice how often he sighed within the last hours of spending time with Kuroba.
"Can we, maybe..."
Hakuba looked up at Kurobas question. What did he want?
The magician took a deep breath obviously gathering himself a bit.
"Can we check on Coanan tomorrow?"
"Edogawa-kun?"
He gave a tiny nod.
Hakuba couldn't quite point out why he wanted to see Edogawa-kun when he dreamed of killing Kudo-kun but if I twould help Kuroba there should be no problem to it.
Well maybe it was because the tiny Detective looked so eerily similar to his older counterpart.
Either way it didn't matter.
After Kuroba drank a glass of water they settled back in their respective beds, but instead of trying to sleep they talked a bit. About their last school assignment, the crazy ideas of their classmates concerning the "Week out of expectations" ("Hearing you call the Mermaid idea crazy is really something." "Shut up Hakuba it is crazy."), and at some point they actually got into planning a bit for their graduation party.
It wasn't until three in the morning when Kuroba got back into a little slumber and didn't wake until eight a clock when the sun started to shine in their faces through the window.
They made themselves a little breakfast and afterwards took the next bus to Beika.
And it wasn't until Kuroba introduced himself to Conan Edogawa "Hi my name's Kaito Kuroba! Magician extraordinare." And Edogawa suddenly had a look of recognition in his eyes "Nice to meet you Kaito-niisan!" that Kuroba really and truly smiled again.
And Hakuba had to smile a bit himself. They could get through this.

It wasn't until a few months later, that Kuroba knocked on his balcony doors in full KID attire, shacking on his feet and rumbling something about Kaito Courbou and not knowing if his father truly is dead or just fooling around. It was another five nights until he slept without having weird dreams and practically being occupied with the 'Kaito KID Capture Brigade' it was no wonder that Hakuba found himself at the end of the first half of the year and thought of Kuroba of his best friend/kind of like a little brother.

Omake

"So You're saying that you already met Shinichi Kudo as a toddler?"

"Yep! That's exactly what I said."

"Shinichi-niisan told me about it a while ago. That's why I recognised Kaito-niisan when you two approached us the other day!"

"I see..."

"Oi. Hakuba you're not thinking that we just mess with your head are you? Because I can tell you, little Conan and me would never think about something like that!"

"...right."

Hello Dear readers,
I humbly welcome you to my first english written fanfiction.
First I have to say that english is not my first language, so if you find any spell or grammar mistakes let me know.
Furthermore I want to thank you for reading this and hope you enjoyed it a little bit.
I'd like to hear what you think about it, so if you want to leave a review I would be really grateful.
Greetings
LittleFan