Disclaimer: Detective Conan and Magic Kaito belong to Aoyama Gosho. I own nothing but this fanfic and my OCs. I don't intend to make money from this fic. I purely write this fic to improve my English skill and to entertain myself and readers.

Chapter 1

A Murder

When Saguru entered his classroom that morning, he saw his desk full of boxes wrapped in colourful and beautiful papers and some of them were decorated with ribbons. The blond was speechless. He only stood silent for a moment, staring at those eye-catching boxes in surprise.

"Wow, birthday presents in the morning! What a luck you have!"

Saguru was surprised hearing a sudden voice from his back. He turned his head, seeing one of his classmates standing behind him. The boy grinned teasingly before suddenly a white puff of smoke appeared and covered them, blinding Saguru from everything around him. When he was able to see again, the boxes on his desk had gone and his friend was already walking out of the classroom with a plastic bag full of colourful boxes in his hand.

"Kuroba-kun!" Saguru chased him annoyingly. "Hey, give it back!"

Kuroba Kaito laughed, running away from the detective. For a few minutes they were playing chase along the corridor. Kuroba kept jumping here and there and running around in circles as Saguru kept chasing after him—or rather chasing after the presents. When they finally reached their class again, Kuroba stopped running. With a bright smile he returned the presents to the birthday boy.

"Happy birthday, Hakuba," he grinned widely, "and welcome back. I give you this plastic bag as a present."

"Thank you very much, though my birthday was a few days ago," Saguru replied dryly. He snatched the plastic bag quickly before taking his seat. Just as he put down the plastic bag under his desk, a group of girls approached him, each of them gave him a birthday present. That morning soon became a busy time for the sleuth. His fans kept coming to his class, giving him presents in various sizes. Even Aoko and Akako also gave him their gifts. By the time the class was started, Saguru's birthday gifts had filled a corner of his classroom.

On the free period, another groups of his fans were coming. Gradually Saguru became tired of facing them. As soon as he saw a chance, the blond walked out of his classroom hurriedly. He did not want to deal with them anymore. He could not let his free period be wasted for them. He did not want to skip his launch, so a few minutes later, the half-Brit detective found himself on the rooftop, eating his bento alone peacefully until Kuroba joined him with his mischievous grin.

"You're breaking your fans' heart, Hakuba. They were really disappointed when they couldn't find you," the magician teased him.

"As much as I don't want to upset them, I need to refill my energy," the detective replied nonchalantly. "And what brings you here, I wonder?"

"Eh? Rooftop is one of my favorite places. It's only natural for me to be here." Kuroba took a seat beside the sleuth. He unwrapped his bread from its transparent packaging, then he took a bite of it, munching it slowly. "It's not my first time having a lunch on the rooftop, surely you know that?"

The blond sighed. "Yes, I know. And it's not my first time having a lunch with you, but usually you're always with Aoko-san. Where is she?"

"She's in the class, keeping an eye on your birthday gifts with Akako and Keiko. That was quite funny, seeing them acting like your manager," Kuroba smirked in amusement. "You'd better appreciate them. Your fans are quite jealous of them, you know."

"I'll remember that."

"But you really are popular, huh. Today's just the first day after summer break and you already have so many gifts. I never thought those people will remember your birthday," the magician commented. "What to do, Hakuba? Your presents keep piling up and yet I have no more bags to share."

"You don't have to worry about that. I'll ask Baaya to pick me up with a car," the blond replied.

"Heh, of course. I almost forgot how rich you are," Kuroba quipped. "So, how was your holiday? How was summer in London?" he changed the topic.

"Well, it's enjoyable..."

Saguru spent his free period with Kuroba on the rooftop, talking about their activity during summer break while eating their lunch together. When they had returned to their classroom, they found Saguru's presents had multiplied at the back of the class. Aoko, Keiko, and Akako were sorting them into a few plastic bags they had gotten from the cafeteria. Saguru thanked them and hurriedly lent them his hand. The detective had never encountered such an occasion in England, so he was really surprised and unprepared when he got so many birthday presents from his schoolmates in Japan.

The blond still received a few gifts after school. He put them all in the car when Baaya had came to pick him up. Baaya was surprised too when she found her young master receiving so many gifts on the first day of school. This event made her remember Saguru's valentine day in Japan. That day he also received so many chocolates, so many that it could not fit inside the car. The Hakuba's housekeeper smiled amusedly and teased him, calling him 'popular guy'. Saguru only blushed slightly hearing that nickname, did not give any comment. After all the presents had gotten into the car, they both immediately went home.

Along their way to home, Saguru accidentally saw some people he knew: two police officers who were walking on the sidewalk. They were members of KID task force. Saguru wanted to greet them, so he asked Baaya to stop the car for a while. The officers greeted him back warmly. They chatted briefly about KID heist during summer break before they started to talk about Saguru's birthday presents. After a few minutes, they parted toward their own destination, but before that Saguru gave them some of his birthday presents, the ones that were foods because they only asked for the consumable ones. He allowed them to unwrap his presents to find the ones that they liked. The blond was sure he would not be able to eat all his presents alone, so he thought he might as well share it with those officers.

Saguru unwrapped his presents as soon as he got home. He received so many things from his fans. Candies, cookies, chocolates, stationeries, clothes, et cetera. He decided to share the consumable ones with Baaya and the servants in his house. He also wanted to share it with his father who was still in his office. He planned to donate some clothes he did not like or did not fit his size. That night, the teen had been busy sorting out his presents when Baaya told him that he got a call from the police. Saguru was a bit confused. Usually the police would contact him through his cellphone, not his home phone. If there was any call from the police through his home phone, usually it was for his father, the superintendent general of TMPD. Why did they call him through the home phone this time? But Saguru did not linger in his confusion for too long. He immediately walked toward the phone and put it to his ear.

"This is Hakuba Saguru."

"Hakuba-kun, this is Inspector Megure from TMPD Division 1."

Saguru lifted his eyebrows in surprise. Division 1? Homicide? He rarely had anything to do with homicide in Japan. What was going on?

"Ah, Inspector Megure. How may I be of assistance?" the blond asked.

"We need you to come to TMPD office. There is a murder case and we need your cooperation."

"Cooperation?" Saguru frowned. That was odd. Usually the police would ask his assistance, not cooperation, since he was a detective. If the inspector used the word cooperation, then did it mean that somehow he was involved in this murder case? "What exactly has happened, Inspector?"

"The victim is a police officer, member of KID task force," Megure answered. "He died almost instantly after swallowing a chocolate. His friend told us that he got this chocolate from you."

Saguru's eyes suddenly widened in terror. The victim was a police officer? A member of KID task force? Died after swallowing a chocolate from him? Then... then the victim was...

"Oh God." Saguru rubbed his forehead in shock. Someone died because of his birthday gift. He was shocked and sad when he remembered that the victim was his acquaintance, but he got more shocked when he realized that he could be the one who died if he did not give the present to that officer. If he did not die, then maybe Baaya did. Or his other servants. Or his father. That was truly frightening. "I-I understand, Inspector. I'll be there as soon as I can."

As soon as he ended the call, Saguru asked Baaya to drive him to TMPD building. He told her about his conversation with Megure. He ordered the servants not to touch his presents. After that he called his father, telling the superintendent about the murder case he was involved in and also warned him not to touch his presents. He put all of his presents inside his room and locked the door. The blond was afraid that some of the presents were also poisoned. He did not want to endanger anyone's life. One victim was more than enough.

After finishing his preparation, Saguru jumped into the car. Baaya started the engine and a moment later, they were already on their way to the TMPD office.

"Bocchama, do you think they might suspect you as the killer?" Baaya asked along the way.

"It doesn't matter," Saguru answered. "I don't kill him and if they don't believe me, I'll just have to prove it to them."

"Does that mean you know how to prove your innocence?"

"Of course, Baaya. I'm a detective." Saguru turned his gaze to the street. He sighed anxiously. The blond was not worried about his status in this case. He did not really care if the police suspected him. He perfectly knew how to defend himself from accusation. What worried him was the reality that someone died after consuming his birthday present. That present was supposed to be eaten by him. By Saguru. Someone clearly wanted to kill him. Why would a person want to kill him? Who was that person? Saguru was nervous. This might not be the only time the culprit wanted to harm him. He might encounter another danger in the future. He had to be cautious.

TBC

The main character of this fic is Saguru, so the story will often be told from his POV. I guess Kaito is the second main character, but I won't use his POV much in this fic. Shinichi/Conan will act as a supporting character. I think he already has more than enough experience as a main character. Haha...

English isn't my mother tongue, so please forgive me and tell me if I made some mistakes. Constructive criticisms and suggestions are very appreciated, so please review! Thanks for reading!