Mikau: Hello there. Thanks for stopping in to check this out. Since working on Falling in Love Literally, I've been wanting to write a HakuSeraKai fic, so…this is it. I think it's pretty okay, but I hope you enjoy it. It's my entry for Poirot Café's eighteenth themed writing contest. Voting goes today through Saturday December twelfth, so check out the other entries too and vote for your favorite. Anyway, enjoy!

Disclaimer: If I owned it, there would be an Alice in Wonderland episode. Dream sequences are a little overused, so maybe an Alice-themed murder?

…

Sacrifices

"There!" Kaito declared with his trademark "Kekekeke!" as he slapped his palm down on the old oak table.

The uptight university librarian in the messy bun glared over her cat's eyes glasses at Kaito.

The magician either ignored or did not notice the menacing aura zeroed in on him because he continued in an even louder tone of triumph. "I told you I could do it, and you didn't believe me. It's your loss, Haku-chan, so per the terms of our bet, you have to do whatever I say."

Saguru blanched and stuttered, "B-But I never actually agreed to—"

"—Tut, tut. Don't be a sore loser," Kaito gloated with a shark-like grin.

"B-But…" Hakuba turned for assistance to Haibara, sitting a few chairs down and trying to tune out Kaito's nonsense in favor of the scientific journal she was attempting to read. "Haibara-san, could you kindly vouch that I did not—"

"—Accept your defeat like a man, already," the young scientist snapped, fed up with the noise pollution the pair was causing in her sanctuary. "The worst he can do is make you cross-dress and dance in the upcoming talent show."

Saguru stared in horror, jaw dropping and mouth flapping like a fish's. "Don't give him any ideas!"

The librarian sent them another stern look, pressing her cherry red lips together in a "SHHH!" much louder than either Kaito or Hakuba had been.

Saguru sighed, head bowing in defeat as his chin dropped to his chest in resignation.

Kaito's grin widened into a crescent moon sneer. "So…?" he tittered evilly.

Hakuba ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. "Fine…. What do I have to do?" He held his breath and braced himself for the very worst.

Kaito leaned forward, resting his chin in his palm as he smirked like a well-fed feline. "Go confess to Mi-chan."

Saguru gawked at his friend for a good minute, unsure if he had actually heard right. "C-Confess to Masumi-san? B-B-But I—I can't! I—!"

"—Haku-chan," Kaito cooed gently, taking Saguru's hand in both of his own and smiling softly. "Yes you can. Just tell her how you really feel. Tell her that you've been thinking about her like crazy these past few months and you'd really like to take her out for dinner or coffee or some art exhibit or something."

"…What if she says no?" Saguru gulped.

Kaito rolled his eyes with a snort of amusement at the thought. "She won't. Trust me. I know how to read people, and I know Mi-chan. I'm telling you that she's as nuts for you as you are for her. She's been tripping over herself for you for a whole month now. So just confess already," Kaito urged. "I'm sick of seeing my two best friends being all awkward and miserable when they could be happy if they'd just tell the other how they feel."

Saguru took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he rose to his feet, breaking away from Kaito's hold on his hand. "You really think she likes me too? You're sure?"

"Positive," Kaito insisted. "So go. She should be getting off her shift at the coffee house in five minutes. If you hurry you can catch her coming out of work and be a lovey-dovey couple in time to catch dinner together. Go, Haku-chan."

A smile of joy and gratitude spread quickly on Saguru's lips as he gave Kaito a decisive nod. "Right. Okay…. Thanks, Kuroba." He took off at a run (earning a savage reproof from the librarian), and he never glanced back.

The grin slipped from Kaito's face as Saguru faded from view. He sighed as he tried to ignore the tightness in his chest.

"…Was that really wise?" Haibara hummed, looking up from the article she had been trying to read the past twenty minutes. "She's going to say yes, you know, and then there will be no going back for you three."

Kaito shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. "It's for the best. They'll both be happier this way."

"But what about you?" Haibara pressed. "What about your feelings?"

Kaito tensed, trying not to let his own pain show. He knew there was no point. It wouldn't do any good. "They only see me as a friend. They love each other, and I'm only a third wheel, so it doesn't matter that I have feelings for them." He looked up and sent her a heart-rending smile. "Isn't it my job as their friend to support them?"

"At the cost of your own happiness?" Haibara challenged with a frown.

Kaito shrugged once more with a strangled chuckle. The tears were coming. He could feel it. "Sure." He did his best to look her in the eye and smile at her.

…Only her cold, sharp eyes pierced right through him. Try as he might to hide it, Haibara Ai could read him just as easily as she read those complicated chemical equations of hers because she too harbored unrequited love. She too sacrificed and pushed her own feelings aside so that the people she loved could be happy.

Kaito dropped the act. He ran both hands through his hair and sighed before he met her gaze once more. "Look. You know as well as I do that sometimes loving someone means that you have to sit back and watch over them from afar, guarding their happiness at the expense of your own…. Saguru and Masumi will be happy together, and that's all that matters. They don't have to know about my feelings; it'd only complicate things and jeopardize their happiness, and I don't want that. I don't want them keeping their feelings in check and moderating themselves around me out of consideration for my feelings."

"Because it would put a strain on your friendship that you think would eventually break you away from them," Haibara concluded softly. "You don't want your feelings for them to kill your bond as friends…. Do you honestly think that that bond is so weak?"

Kaito's gaze dropped to the grooves in the dark oak of the table. "I think I'm the weak one. If they knew that I'm in love with them, it would only make it harder for the two of them to show affection for each other. They'd feel guilty, and…I'd slip away, just like I did with Aoko."

Kaito bit his lip and sent Haibara a pleading look. "I don't want that to happen again. I'm sick of losing friends like that…. So it's better if they don't know. I just want them to be happy, even if I can't be a part of that happiness. So don't say anything, okay?"

Haibara shook her head and let out a sigh of frustration. Sometimes she just wanted to smack the idiots in her life. "I think you're making a mistake. It's one thing for me to stay by Kudo-kun's side despite my feelings for him. We're not best friends. I see him regularly, but not just the two of us. I don't have to watch him make out with his girlfriend and grin and bear it. It's another thing entirely for you to hang out like you always do with Hakuba-kun and Sera-san, watching them interacting and being a couple without you while you attempt to keep your pain and your sufferings a secret. It will destroy you from the inside out, Kaito-kun. You know it will."

"So be it," Kaito sighed, pulling a psychology text from his satchel. "It's none of your concern, Ai-chan. I'm a big boy, and I can make my own decisions. I'll endure it so long as the people I love are happy. So long as I can stay by their side and protect that happiness…"

Haibara grumbled under her breath as she turned back to her own book. "Fine. Keep lying to yourself. I won't say 'I told you so' when you end up a heartbroken mess, but I will reiterate that you are making a mistake. Do as you like and come crawling to me later when it blows up in your face, Kaito."

Kaito smiled softly, knowing that she really would be there for him when it all went to hell. "Thanks," he whispered, unable to express how much he appreciated her friendship.

She snorted lightly, but he knew what she really meant: "I care about you, you idiot."

Kaito opened up the textbook and tried to concentrate on the words. When that failed, he tried the pictures and charts and figures, but the tears that he wouldn't let fall were clouding his vision.

…

It was about half an hour later that Hakuba Saguru came back wearing a serious expression to rival the librarian's.

He placed his bag down in the chair opposite Kaito and leaned forward, placing his palms on the table so that he could loom, looking down at the magician.

Kaito, now composed…or at least appearing to be with the aid of his poker face, looked up expectantly. "Hey. Congratulations to the happy couple. You taking Mi-chan out to dinner? I won't wait up for you, then."

"She didn't say yes," Saguru whispered, giving his friend a gauging look.

Kaito blinked. "What? Why the hell not? She's crazy about you. I know she's crazy about you. She's told me."

"I'm not the only one she's crazy about," Saguru replied coolly.

Kaito blinked again, shaking his head incredulously. "No. That's impossible. What exactly did she say?"

"Kuroba, is it true that you're in love with me?" Saguru stared Kaito down, gaze unwavering.

Kaito's lips parted and closed, parted and closed several times as his brain scrambled to catch up. He grasped at the straws of his poker face as he laughed it off. "What? Where'd you get that idea? That's…That's… But what did Mi-chan say to you, Haku-chan? What reason did she give for rejecting your confession?"

"Is it true that you're in love with Masumi-san?" Saguru's onslaught continued even as the blonde's expression remained impassive.

Kaito's own face flushed. He looked away and gulped. "What…What does this have to do with anything? Mi-chan and I are friends. We're all just friends…. So what did she say to you?"

"Ku—Kaito," Saguru reached out across the table and took Kaito by the wrist. "Masumi-san told me that she couldn't go out with me out of consideration for your feelings. She said that you're…" Here Saguru's cheeks reddened a little. "…you're in love with the two of us…. Is this true?"

A look of distress flitted across Kaito's face before he got it under control, laughing and denying his feelings. "No. Of course not. We're just—"

"—He's lying," Haibara piped up helpfully, not bothering to look up from her periodical. "Just so you know."

"Ai-chan!" Kaito shrieked, incensing the librarian once more and getting the two young men kicked out of the library.

Sera was waiting on one of the benches just outside, and she rose with an expression of anxious concern when she saw them coming. "Hey. How did it go?" She glanced at Saguru. "Did you…?"

Saguru shook his head, steering Kaito over to the bench Masumi had just vacated. "We were interrupted." Saguru trained his gaze on Kaito, and the magician looked away.

"Ai-chan's wrong. I don't have feelings for either of you two, so you should just go out with each other already," Kaito grumbled sullenly, embarrassed and upset that his plan was not going as he had intended.

"Kai-chan," Sera sighed, coming to sit beside him. She frowned at him as she took his hand.

Kaito frowned right back, admonishing, "You should go out with him. He's good for you. What were you thinking saying no?"

"Kaito," she sighed again, face coloring as she got up the nerve to admit, "I love you too, and I'm pretty sure how you feel about me. Back in high school it used to be sisterly affection between us, but…after things didn't work out with Aoko-san or Kudo-kun…I noticed that your feelings for me started to change…and my feelings for you changed too. I know you like me, and I know how you feel about Saguru-kun. You like him as much as I do. I know. In fact, the only person whose feelings I was unsure of before today was Saguru-kun, so now…I can't just go out with Saguru-kun and leave you in the dust."

Kaito smiled at his beloved softly, reaching out and stroking her hair. He pressed a chaste kiss to her temple and chuckled, "Mi-chan, you can't have us both, and I personally think Haku-chan's a better pick, so—"

"—No," Masumi retorted authoritatively. "I can't. I can't just cut you out, Kai-chan. The three of us have been the best of friends for the longest time…and now…now, I think it's time for us to take our relationship to the next level—all three of us."

Kaito stared at Sera in disbelief. "But…he…" Kaito glanced briefly at Saguru. "He doesn't…"

"I talked with Saguru about it," Masumi informed. "I told him about your feelings, and I told him that if we can't all three be in a relationship together, then I'd rather we just stay friends, the way we have been. I don't want things to change between us, and I don't want things to get difficult or awkward, so…"

"And I said 'Okay'," Saguru took up the explanation, sitting down on the other side of Kaito as he did so.

Kaito stared incredulously at Saguru as the blonde blushed and fidgeted. "But…Haku-chan…you don't like me like that."

Saguru's right shoulder rose and dropped in a shrug of embarrassment. "I think you underestimate how fond I am of you…how much you mean to me," he confessed in a low voice. "I'm not very good at expressing my feelings, Kaito. I do like you. It's not love, but…"

"It's a start," Masumi jumped in. "Isn't it? So…? What do you say? Can the three of us go out and try to make things work, or do you just want to stay friends?"

Kaito swallowed hard and tried to find his voice as tears of joy streamed down his cheeks. "I…don't want to ruin your guys' happiness by cutting in, but…"

"Kaito, you're not," Saguru assured, resting a strong, supportive hand on Kaito's knee. "Trust me. You're not."

Kaito looked up through his tears at his friend and crush. "But you'd be happier if it were just the two of you, wouldn't you, Haku-chan?"

Saguru pursed his lips, brows knitting together. "Kaito, I wouldn't be able to be happy, just the two of us, knowing what I know now. You're my precious friend, and you have no idea how much I treasure you as such. I wouldn't be able to live happily ever after with Masumi-san at your expense, so…even though I don't necessarily want to share her affections…for you who has saved me, mentally and physically many times over as I struggled with depression and self-esteem and international crime syndicates…for you, I can happily make an exception."

"Thank you," Kaito managed to whisper through tears as he rested his head on Hakuba's shoulder and nuzzled the blonde's neck.

"O-Of course," Saguru stuttered in embarrassment as he tentatively wrapped an arm around the former thief.

Masumi chuckled at the adorable scene. "Then it's official!" she crowed. "We're dating! And before long Saguru's going to be head over heels for you too, Kai-chan. Just you wait. I mean, earlier he confided to me that you've taken his breath away lots of times when you cross-dress, so it's not like he's completely immune to your charms."

"Oh really?" Kaito snickered, raising his head to leer at Saguru.

"Masumi," Saguru whined. "I told you that in confidence. He's going to get an overinflated ego and start pulling crazy stunts like meeting me at our dorm room door in women's lingerie or something!"

Kaito smirked. "That's a funny example to pull off the top of your head. Are you sure you haven't been fantasizing about me trying to seduce you in women's lingerie, Saguru?"

Masumi completely failed to stifle a giggle fit.

Saguru blushed and grumbled, "Oh, quiet you. You're going to be absolutely unbearable now that we're dating, aren't you?"

"I thought you considered me unbearable even before we declared our undying love for each other." Kaito leaned in and stole a quick smooch.

"This is going to be fun!" Masumi chortled as Saguru's complexion went from strawberry to fuchsia.

"Undoubtedly," Saguru muttered, pressing a kiss to each of his significant others' foreheads in turn. "So…I'd like to buy the two of you dinner."

"Our first date?" Kaito asked hopefully.

Saguru nodded, cheeks still flushed.

"Oh! Then we've got to go mini-golfing or bowling or do karaoke together afterwards!" Masumi suggested.

"And stop for gelato on the way home?" Kaito added, still in a hopeful tone.

"It's a good thing I'm wealthy," Saguru sighed. "Two girlfriends is a little more than I bargained for."

"Consider yourself doubly blessed," Masumi advised, ruffling Kaito's hair as she got up and stretched.

"Duly noted," Saguru chuckled with a smile, getting to his feet and offering Kaito a hand up (which the magician gladly took, almost deliriously happy).

"Shall we?" Saguru offered an arm to each of his partners with a debonair grin.

"Saguru, you're gonna look like such a stud with two hotties flanking you like this," Kaito laughed and linked his arm with Saguru as Masumi did the same on the other side.

Saguru blushed once more but looked secretly pleased.

"I get to walk in the middle next time," Sera announced. "I want to look like a stud."

"You always look like a stud, Mi-chan," Kaito assured.

"Oh. Good." Appeased, Sera smiled, tilting her fedora rakishly to the side as she fell into step beside the other two. "I'd still like to be in the middle sometimes, though."

"While, we're speaking about positions, later on in the relationship, who's going to be the girl?" Kaito segued as only he could.

Saguru nearly tripped. "Lord have mercy. Kuroba Kaito!"

"What?" Kaito smiled up at his boyfriend innocently. "Because I was going to volunteer."

Saguru shook his head, knowing by now that it was pointless to try to change him.

"…This is going to be…fun," Masumi reiterated, her own face as red as a raspberry.

The

End

…

Mikau: Well, I hope you enjoyed reading this. I kind of want to do a longer fic where I develop the characters and relationships more, but…this is good for now, I think. Please let me know what you thought! Thanks again for reading!