Ladies and gentlemen! I humbly welcome you to the next chapter of this story.

This time I present you an action-free chapter, showing a bit of background. Hope you guys will bear with me through it :D I promise a bit more action in the next chapter ;)

Corrected version~

So without further delay

Please enjoy and review! :)

Chapter 2: Colors of the mind

Can you be over-tired? Kaito believed you can, and it was happening to him right now. But seriously. Setting the winch on his top running speed after a session of dodge was simply an idiotic idea. He probably should take a bath before going to sleep, but all he managed was to take off his tuxedo and climb up the hidden stairs to his room. When he saw his bed, he just fell in it with a sigh of relief. Still in his silk blue shirt and red tie he has fallen asleep on spot.

The alarm clock ring wasn't a sound he was happy to hear only after a few hours of sleep. He would really prefer to continue his adventure in lala-land for the whole weekend. He tried to turn off the devilish machine only to discover that he can barely move his left arm. With a wince and a growl he got off his bed and went to the bathroom. All his muscles were sore and he sure wasn't feeling as a happy person. Growling sleepily, he unbuttoned his smelly shirt and took off his tie. He winced again, looking at the mirror. No wonder his arm was hurting so much. That damn Osakan detective must have poked him a few times too many on the same spot. His left arm was covered by an ugly and painful bruise. His right arm had a few slight bruises also but none so serious. Thank heavens for good ol' adrenaline, so he didn't feel any pain during the heist.

Kaito took a shower and placed an ointment on his bruises to help them heal faster. It would work better if he had used it last night, but oh well, nothing he can do about it now, right? He tried to stretch few times his pained arms and decided he should be careful with it for some time to avoid straining it. Absentmindedly he got dressed in fresh clothes, went to feed his doves and returned his room.

He made some light exercise, stretching his sore body while considering how he was going to spend this day. He already returned the necklace last night, so he didn't have to worry about that. He could go to the station, or at the heist scene and see if police can figure how he entered the locked room, and took his prize, but… Nah, no point in that. This time they had all three of his teenage detectives – including one pocket-sized - ha! Never gets old, he chuckled to himself at his silent tease. Anyway, back to the topic… considering those guys, it would be a good opportunity to train his impersonating skills, but… He was aching and tired, and so wasn't in the mood for that. He did a good job at the heist right? Right. So he deserved a day off. And it was long now since he got to spend some time with Aoko. He looked though the window at the nearby building and sighed. It's been also some time now since he started considering letting her go. It's been already two years now and as far as he knew, Pandora might even not exist anyway, so he would be stuck being KID for the rest of his life… It would only be fair to… He clapped his cheeks hard. No dark thoughts and while we're at it – no heist thoughts either. He's going to enjoy this day as a cheerful teenager that he was and he was going to have a blast with his friend. He glanced at the street below. Correction – he's going to enjoy his day after he gets rid of a minor obstacle. And after a slight jog, to cleanse his guilt for skipping training. Yeah – that sounded like a good plan for the day.

Dressed in a track-suit, with an apple in his hand he exited his house and approached a car parked nearby. He then knocked a few times at the window waking up its passenger. He bent down and looked inside with a tired expression on his face.

"Seriously, Hakuba, are you homeless or something?" He turned his gaze at an old lady sitting at the wheel and gave her a warm smile, waving at her as he chirped to her "Good morning, Oba-chan!"

The half-British detective gasped and opened the door, getting out. "Kuroba, you bastard!" The addressed person raised his eyebrow at his classmate. "When did you come back? Do you have any idea how worried I was? I heard on the radio you went running on building wall. You are just making yourself an ideal target this way. You have a death wish or something?" He huffed as he finished his accusations.

Kaito tilted his head with his eyebrow still raised. "Huh? Oh… you're still on that 'you're KID' stuff?" he sighed. "How many times do I have to prove to you that I'm –"

"Oh, just stop acting stupid. If not on a heist, then where were you last night? And how did you come back without passing me, hm?"

The magician smirked. "You know… just because I don't open my door, doesn't mean I'm not inside. I can always choose to ignore you. And I have. I've been busy lately, as you surely know, and wanted to rest peacefully without you watching me like a hawk – it's disturbing, you know. Your stalking me is getting really tiring ... You seriously should do something with that obsession of yours. And like I said – I have proved to you several times now that I can't be KID." He sighed, shrugging his arms.

Hakuba opened his mouth and closed it again. There was no point in arguing with the magician without any proof in hand. In the end, he settled for an annoyed sigh "Very well then. Could you at least tell me if anything did NOT happen at last nights heist?"

Kaito blinked a few times before answering with a sigh. "Congratulations Hakuba… you're making less sense than before –" The detective cut him off with an annoyed huff.

"I'm asking whether anybody was shooting at y… KID." He corrected himself quickly. "And if he got hurt in the process. You should know by now that it has been long now since I have lost my interest in arresting him, in favor of understanding what is going on around him. I never wanted him dead and as I see more, it started bothering me to know that there are those who do." He explained himself yet again with forcibly calm tone.

An amused smirk bloomed on Kaito's lips. "And yet you are a regular at his heists. Interesting, isn't it?"

"It's because y… he doesn't want to talk to me if I don't approach him that way." He continued with his calm voice and snapped. "Argh… Seriously Kuroba, do you have a split personality problem so we have to play like this?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Kaito said bluntly, adding with a smirk "Anyway, too bad for you then, that you didn't go yesterday in favor to stalk me." The magician grinned widely for a moment and sighed. "But seriously, you should go back home and catch some sleep. Or if your obsession is so tough on you, you could always try and talk with somebody who actually was there last night instead of bugging me." Was there any point of stopping Hakuba from sniffing around the last heist area? Kaito doubted it. And maybe he could get a stalker-free day if this blonde took the bait "Anyway, it's been nice chatting with you." And being a curious creature himself, he tapped the detective on the shoulder, slipping a bug under his collar. "But now I'm going for a jog and would appreciate if you weren't here when I get back. See ya at school on Monday." He waved and jogged away, not waiting for a response.

Hakuba furrowed his eyebrows, absentmindedly checking his pockets and jacket for bugs, considering what Kaito told him. The magician seemed fine enough, so probably he wasn't badly hurt and wouldn't tell him anything of what happened last night. He winced, not knowing what he was hoping for before. Probably taking magician's advice now was the only logical thing he could do at the moment. Not finding anything on himself, he sighed and got back in the car. He asked Baaya to drive him to the heist location.

The Osakan detective sighed, walking beside his friend "But I tell you, this guys is beyond strange…"

Conan smirked. "Well… Can't say I didn't warn you." He reminded him, amused.

"But that's not what I mean…" Heiji mumbled, annoyed, shooting a glance at the boy and huffed, shifting his gaze back at the sky. "If I hadn't grazed him a few times, I could have sworn I was fighting a real phantom or something… I could only see him, you know…"

Shinichi glanced at his friend and asked carefully. "What do you mean?"

Heiji grimaced. "It's hard to explain, but it was like… I didn't hear him, or feel… I don't mean when he was talking you know. Or when we started, but later I was only following my eyes, you know. God it was so annoying… Don't know, maybe there was something in that smoke?"

"Or maybe you just imagined it…" He teased with a smirk and sighed. "Hattori, you were giving all you had and you were wearing a mask that limited your breathing. I wouldn't be surprised if some of your senses had been limited. And this guy can move really quietly. Personally I'm more interested in how he managed to take that necklace of your neck. One pull should not be enough…"

Heiji mumbled, clearly not pleased with the explanation, but dropped that subject, focusing on the other. "Yeah... and that chain was probably thick enough to leave me hanging if he tried holding me by it like he did..." He felt a shiver run down his spine as he realized the danger he was in.

Conan smiled at him reassuringly, following his train of thought. "Don't think like that. I told you, that guy doesn't hurt anybody. He seems fanatic with his 'no one gets hurt policy'."

"Yeah. Although it doesn't seem to include him from what I've read." Heiji laughed, remembering all he knew about the thief.

The boy huffed. "He is probably too cocky to even consider he might get hurt. Just babbling how you can't hurt a phantom... sheesh... Just plain crazy..." He shook his head, getting annoyed just by thinking about it.

They chatted a bit more, heading towards the station. They did call the police last night to return the found necklace right after finding it, but they wanted to help and unravel tricks KID used at his heist. Truth to be told, Hattori wasn't so eager to go and meet officers who might mock him for his failure after he was so sure about his victory before. But when he noticed how much Kudo was looking forward to unraveling his favorite puzzle, he decided not to go against it. Especially knowing that he couldn't go alone. It was kinda sad that The Great Detective of the East couldn't move freely around without a guardian…

He was a bit surprised when they finally reached the station. He honestly thought it would be worse for him. There were only a few who snickered at him and even they didn't mock him for his failure. They seemed more amused that 'their' thief taught another newbie a lesson. Most just sympathized with him, probably still remembering their own lessons of humility KID gave them. Seriously though… Heiji chuckled mentally. Just who were these guys cheering for last night, he wondered. They didn't seem to hate KID. While he was sure they earnestly wanted to catch him, they seemed to like him and simply enjoy the chase. He wondered how they would react if they ever actually caught him. They probably would be disappointed and lost, he figured. Not that he couldn't understand it. On daily basis, these guys were chasing actual criminals who didn't care for others and were sometimes deadly serious with what they did. It wasn't as bad as what Division 1 had to deal with, but... In comparison, KID was like a fresh breeze. His heists were just carefree fun and games without actual consequences. Eventually even when he got away with his target he would always return it after all... Heiji smiled softly. Crazy and weird was an understatement when describing that guy. He was acting like he snuck away from a fairy tale in order to bring some joy to the world. In the end it wasn't even accurate to call him a thief and they probably called him that only because they lacked a better word for his actions.

Lost in his thoughts, Heiji didn't even notice when they entered Nakamori-keibus office until he was shocked back to reality by Conan jabbing him with his elbow to turn his attention to the old mans growls.

"And what do you kids want here?" Nakamori mumbled with a displeased look from above a sheet of papers he was filling in.

"Um… we were supposed to help with investigation on last nights heist…" Hattori explained rubbing his neck with a troubled look.

"Oh yeah? I understand you know how to write a report? So first of all do that. Then you can watch video report and see if you can spot anything in it." Keibu smirked at the unpleased detective boy.

"Um… Oji-san?" Conan chirped with a sweet voice "Could I go watch the video in the meantime, please? I promise not to disturb anyone at work."

Nakamori leaned from his desk to throw an evaluating gaze at the small boy and waved his hand at him. "Yeah whatever, just don't annoy anyone while at it…"

"Thank you, Oji-san!" Conan chirped again and grinned at his friend, who was picking up papers to fill.

It didn't take long for Heiji to finish his report. In the end, he didn't have much to write in it. Nonetheless he was most unpleased to write about his failure. He sighed heavily, signing it. After he handed it in, he was free to join Kudo in the video room. As he entered he noticed an officer and his friend highly focused on a slow mode action showing on the screen. Wincing, he shifted his attention to the video and raised his eyebrows. The film caught KID as he was reaching his arm towards Heijis neck just a moment before he managed to struck the thief. The movie was stopped when tape showed a flash of light reflecting on something in his hand.

"What the…" Hattori mumbled, narrowing his eyes to focus better on the glimmer.

Shinichi smirked. "Well… it seems KID didn't just 'dance' with you." He turned his gaze at his friend. "Each time you managed to hit him was when he reached to you and probably then he cut off necklace bindings. This guy is impossible…" He mumbled slowly, shaking his head.

The Osakan detective opened his mouth, focusing his gaze again on the video and recalling his fight. He blinked a couple of times and whispered in awe. "It's true… He did reach to me a few times during the fight. But I thought he was just mocking me… I didn't even notice… Damn… Is this guy for real?"

The officer present with them smiled an all-knowing smile and nodded his head. "That's our KID for ya… Him and his amazing lightning-fast hands." He laughed with sparkling eyes. The detectives smirked at each other, figuring this officer was another of the thief's fans.

Heiji cleared his throat. "Could you please zoom in on the flash?" Pointing his finger at KIDs hand.

The officer nodded and did as he was asked. They played the tape again in slow motion until they found a semi-visual shape. The detectives crooked their heads.

"Is it… a small blade?" Conan asked and Heiji nodded his head.

"Seems so… So did he actually cut each thread with it?"

Kudo shook his head. "Nah… every second or third would be enough. If he would cut each one it could fall on its own when you were pulled to the ceiling… He probably didn't want it to be damaged by falling on the ground."

They played the whole fight once again in slow motion. Heiji silently counted and recorded in his mind each struck he did on the thief. Conan stopped the tape when the Osakan was caught by the rope and pulled up, noticing KID stretching his arm towards the back of the detective's neck. The child smirked.

"And this must be when he undid the clasp."

Heiji nodded and added. "And did you notice how he shielded himself with his left arm during the whole time? And each time he made that fast swirl, he must have did it to look around his surroundings. A few times after this, he somehow made me change our direction…" He slowly shook his head in disbelief. "I was so sure I was leading him where I wanted and it seems now he was guiding me somehow to strike towards the officers to make 'em move away…"

Kudo nodded his head "He figured how you react to his movement in first few seconds… Repay please." After the officer fulfilled his request, the boy pointed his finger. "Here, see? Slow down and repeat. He's moving a bit random, like he is testing you. And now you are guiding him where it is the best for him…" Shinichi chuckled and grinned. "Don't think you had a chance to notice it back then how he was manipulating you."

Heiji crossed his arms and sighed, gazing at the video, narrowing his eyes "I wonder if I would be able to prevent his plan if I knew what he was doing."

"Probably not, with that mask limiting your vision. Seems he didn't let you see that you were closing in on another person before it was too late. Makes me wonder how good he is with chess." The child grinned again and Osakan chuckled quietly. The idea of having a friendly game of chess with KID amused him.

"Well, we already knew he is fast. Not much surprise there. Did you find out how he got in the room in the first place?" Nakamori with his stern voice asked from behind them.

The detectives turned to him not noticing when he came in. They spotted a few more people in the room focusing their attention at the monitor. The one to respond was the officer who was watching the video with Conan from the beginning.

"I'm afraid that the smoke obstructed vision from all the cameras. But we are pretty sure that he must have used some kind of trap-door to enter from either above or below."

Nakamori nodded his head, clearly agreeing with that conclusion. Then he asked about all that they discovered. All three told him how the thief used Hattori's limited vision to guide him though the room where he needed him to be, how he loosened and eventually seized the necklace and how he managed to cover all his actions by moving accordingly to the music. Nakamori clucked in distaste to all those revelations. After that, all who gathered in the room discussed every slight mistake KID has made during his heist, how he probably ended up with his left arm immobilized by pain and how, and if they could have used it in their favor.

To his satisfaction, Heiji noticed that nobody seemed to care during their discussion about his friend's apparent age and all listened to his reasoning with full attention. He smiled at his thoughts, seeing how far KIDs magic seemed to reach, allowing Shinichi to show his full potential without shocking other people. They were probably too preoccupied with the thief to even notice that they were talking with a child. No wonder Kudo enjoyed those heists so much.

During the discussion, they all ate their lunch. After that two officers and both detectives offered to watch the video showing KID's escape, although nobody expected any revelations from it. Probably the most shocking thing about his escape was that it was such a simple trick.

Sadly that video's quality was very poor and they couldn't find anything interesting in it. They had to admit that though the trick was simple it made quite the show for his audience, so they concluded that this must have been his goal with it. In the end, the last few heists were held inside buildings and he probably wanted to show off for his fans.

By the time they were finished, it was already dinner time, so the detectives excused themselves and went back to Mouri's agency. They weren't interested in finding the trap door at the heist building, figuring that police would eventually find it themselves.

While on their way back, the two boys chatted a bit more about all what they concluded. They agreed that KID probably taunted the Osakan at the beginning with his speech to make him attack more aggressively, so he wouldn't notice too many details. But in the end they agreed that the detective did a far better job than flustered officers locked with him inside. By the end of the day Heiji was a bit less irritated with all the humiliation the thief put him through.

Hakuba was a bit annoyed that the magician didn't want to talk with him this time again. He had no idea how to approach him properly and was getting frustrated with his attempts. The detective sighed. He didn't attend the heist, so he wouldn't have to team up with the other two detectives that were supposed to attend it, figuring the thief wouldn't appreciate that. But clearly it failed. He would gladly exchange his observations with the brilliant boy and even the Osakan hot-head, but he was afraid that they might catch a cue about Kuroba and corner him. And now, after all he learned about KID, he wasn't so sure he wanted to see him behind bars.

After the Nightmare incident, he had spend a lot of sleepless night reading every note attached to each heist report and learned a lot of surprising details that were neglected in the final reports. There were records of KID's influence in a few arrests as well as a few civilian and officer rescues the thief carried out. But most alarming were sightings of bullet holes or heard gunshots at heists – that disturbingly also didn't end in the final report. He couldn't understand why all this information was neglected and who was pulling the strings. He investigated even further, reading random reports not connected to KID and was shocked even further. In a few, he found unclear circumstances pointing out an outer and unidentified help. He had a feeling that at least some of this was Kuroba's doing. But of course his classmate would refuse to shed any light on this, claiming he didn't know anything. It was driving the detective mad. He clearly saw there was something going on behind the scenes, probably something big, but couldn't put his finger on it.

Hakuba tried hard to befriend Kuroba, but the magician seemed to have very little time for any personal life at the moment. The detective tried of course to tail the elusive boy to discover what was occupying him so much, but it seemed to be a failed cause and he feared that it might only enrage the thief, so eventually he resigned from doing it. Eventually he turned his attention to Aoko. He knew how precious she was to the boy and he wanted to assist Kuroba by calming her down when she was mad at him for neglecting their friendship. Hakuba could only hope his efforts were noticed and appreciated by the magician.

Hakuba sighed, when his car stopped distracting him from his thoughts. He got out of the vehicle and approached two chatting officers who were apparently having a break. He asked them for details of last night's events. When they finished talking, the detective excused himself and turned his gaze on the building wall, wondering how he could get a closer look at it. He was hoping at the same time that he wouldn't and that he would find any bullets in it. If he did, he had a chance to deduce where from shots were made, but it would also confirm the dangers his classmate was up against, ending his hopes that it wasn't the case.

He made a mental note to ask for a copy of the videos made last night to watch it later. He was wondering how different or how similar KID's moves while dodging Hattori were to Kuroba's dodging Aoko's mop. 'Just how many secrets can you hold..?' he wondered with a smile. Hakuba didn't put too much thought to the police biggest question on how KID entered the locked room. He wasn't even sure whether he was supposed to help them unravel this mystery, fearing it could only push his classmate's trust further away.

His attention turned back to present as he noticed movement on the building side. On another wall there was a window cleaning lift. He grinned and returned to the policemen to acquire their help with overtaking temporary control over the vehicle. It only took him 5 minutes and 31.4 seconds to convince the building owner to cooperate with his investigation. It took another 15 minutes and 45.7 seconds to move the lift to the right wall. He used that time to investigate the rooftop and even managed to find another KID smoke trap, which he pointed out to the officers assisting him so they could get someone to disarm it. He was sure Kuroba wouldn't hold it against him, as he seemed to abandon his contraption and would probably feel bad if anybody accidentally triggered it later.

Afterwards he took his time (2 hours 56 minutes and 14.07 seconds) to ride the wall up and down. In the end he found 3 bullets that were most probably shot from the same spot on an adjacent building. He sent them for further investigation to the lab and proceeded with his search for clues about the sniper. Hakuba cursed his lack of sleep that clouded his mind, so he couldn't find any leads that could help him get any information on the shooter. Eventually he had to give it up for the day and hand the investigation fully to the police as he retreated back home to finally eat a proper meal and retire for well-earned sleep.

So… yay – Hakuba has joined the story :D

I haven't apologized for it before – as you noticed I decided to give up on using Hattori's dialect. Honestly I'm afraid I would do poorly by trying it. I hope you understand and don't hold it against me :)

See you next chapter *bow* ;)