Hey guys! We're back with chapter 4!

Again, all your responses were lovely! The positive reception of chapter 3 had me giggling like mad; I even saw some posts on Tumblr about it~~! Thanks to every single one of you! I'm so glad so many of you enjoyed the conversation with Ran, and don't worry, there will be plenty more of that fun little incredulous KCB banter in the future as well.

We're nearing the end of the sort of 'opening act' of this story; what I consider to be the first 'arc' will beginning at the end of the next one. Look forward to it, because things will be getting much busier for our wonderful heroes from here on out!


You get separated, somebody's gone,

And I don't know how this is wrong,

Chapter 4: Theatre of the Gone


Much later, they gathered around the bar at the Blue Parakeet, a large whiteboard before them, each armed with a different colored erasable marker.

"Alright," Saguru began, "right now there are two particular possibilities. A: Kudo is alive." He drew a circle and marked it 'alive', "or B: he's dead." A second circle was added on the other side of the board. Kuroba quickly scribbled a little stick figure with exed out eyes and a lolling tongue next to it.

"If he's dead, then Ran-san lied to us," Hakuba wrote that down underneath circle B, and after some serious eyebrow waggling from Kuroba, reluctantly added, "possibly unknowingly," Kuroba nodded sagely, appeased, "or someone is lying to Ran-san." 'Imposter' was written in large, bold letters. Aoko added a bunch of frowny faces around it, incensed by the sheer idea of it.

"On the other side, if he is alive, he may be out of the country, in hiding, or genuinely working so hard on the case he can't even go back to his own home." A series of bubbles and a probably unnecessarily large amount of question marks were added to the board, each as fathomless as the next.

Mentally groaning at the whole lot of nothing they had, he moved to the side and started a list of people they needed to question. Suzuki Sonoko. Teitan High School students. Edogawa Conan. The police Kudo worked closely with. Hattori Heiji.

Looks like an eventual trip to Osaka was going to be in order. Saguru checked his phone again; no missed calls. 'Kudo', though Ran had promised to deliver his number to whoever was on the other end, had not called. Helplessly, he wished he had been bold enough to ask for his number instead. Maybe Suzuki would be willing to provide it.

Unable to go further, again he started a new list: Kudo Appearances. Underneath, his compatriots excitedly started to scribble about sketchy meet-ups in the dark and bizarre reappearances in the homes of politicians and internationally.

He moved away and left them to it, determinately ignoring the increasingly disturbing theories Koizumi was adding to the board in delicately fine writing. He liked to pretend that they could reasonably still consider necromancy out of the question.

Saguru had a something more realistically terrifying in mind anyway. His favored theory was unnerving to think about, but seemed to fit the broad strokes of the case best. Issue being, the simplest, fastest way to get some form of evidence (of which they currently had none, considering their witness testimonies were questionable at best and possibly fabricated at worst) was…unsavory.

Just how far was he willing to go to pursue this case?

Besides a sense of kinship born of similar circumstances, Saguru had no relation to Kudo Shinichi. He had not ever met him, though he would love the opportunity to, allowing that Kudo still lived, and both he and his companions had little emotional investment in the disappearance of the famed detective.

And yet, all of them, in some way or another, were very invested in the case of Kaitou KID, and his sinister assailants, on whom they had no evidence, no information, and no leads, except for a baffling connection to one vanished celebrity. From the start, Saguru knew the case would be dangerous, considering they would be going up against what could only be a distressingly large criminal organization with expansive connections in even the government and police.

But after just a few hours of innocuously questioning a handful of mundane people, someone was already on their trail. Monitoring their progress, most likely.

If he was really going to do this, really investigate without the backup of the police, who either wouldn't take such a sensational case seriously or just up straight couldn't be trusted, he had to commit. Preparation and dedication were key to the successful handling of a stressful case.

Saguru had to be prepared to do what was necessary to find the answers he needed, and dedicated enough to the case to make it through the frustration and confusion that came from its tests and puzzles. But when what was necessary went against his own morals and rules of personal and professional conduct. He found himself tentative to blur the line between what was justified and what was the law; was he making excuses for behavior he would never ever condone from another detective, or was this really the only way?

He would never push his own work ethics for Kudo, oh no, but would he to keep his friends safe? For just a slim shot at the unveiling the murderous shadows that pursued his greatest rival, would he break his own rules?

It was a slippery slope.

The others where finishing up, just about ready to call it a day and head home. He was out of time; and this wasn't a conversation he wanted to have trapped in the back of his throat all week.

"Kuroba," he called, and the magician glanced at him, quick and curious. Did he have any idea of what Saguru was about to ask of him? Probably not, but one never knew; he was intuitive like that, sometimes.

The words didn't come, even as the brunet came to his side, thankfully recognizing that what ever Saguru had to say, he didn't want the girls to hear. But still, he found it difficult to speak. Rules, laws, and social niceties: they all existed for a reason. What right did he to circumvent them in the name of deduction?

Kuroba was getting impatient. "Oi, idiot, what do you want?"

But he could only continue to deliberate, mulishly overturning the same thoughts over and over in his head.

"Fine, I'm leaving."

Saguru forced himself to take a deep breath, and mowed on. Sometimes, for the sake of an investigation, a detective had to put his qualms aside, bend the rules, and use the tools at his disposal. It's what Holmes would do, he knew.

Before his magician friend make good on his word, he caught his arm. "Kuroba, I have a favor to ask of you." He searched for the words to say next as indigo eyes fell on him with exasperated distaste.

"What?" Kuroba huffed.

Before he lost his nerve, Saguru coughed up the question, hoping he looked more stern and confident than he felt. "Can you tap phones?"

Kuroba opened his mouth, shut it with a click, and took a painstakingly long breath in through his nose. "Look, I've told you a million times, I'm not-"

"Not as KID." Saguru cut in, trying to look cool and relaxed. It wasn't working. "I'm not saying you can tap phones because you're KID. I mean, as a teen magician/prankster, can you tap phones?"

A pause, before..."Yeah, that tech isn't that hard to get, though it's expensive. Any 'spy' store will have it." Saguru often saw such things in criminal dramas, but he didn't know how available they were in real life. But he did know how illegal they could be. But he couldn't back down now.

"Then, I want you to tap Ran-san's phone."

Kuroba gaped at him, appalled. "Woah, that's illegal."

"I'm well aware." His eye twitched in rising annoyance. Who was the detective and who was the criminal here? He didn't need Kuroba of all people to point that out. "But this is important. This case is bigger than us, it's only been a day, and someone is already tailing us. We can't dilly dally around." The men they had overheard had been connected to something big and nasty, and Kudo's assailants possibly more so, entrenched in something much darker and more powerful. Already, they were being monitored, and if they indiscreetly cracked the case under the watch of someone who wanted it to remain shut, they could be targeted. And he had his reasons for believing that the phone tap could reveal some seriously case-breaking information. "Please, Kuroba-kun." He implored, unwilling to go deeper into his reasoning so soon. Without knowing if Kuroba was truly on his side for this case or not, he didn't want the other to know quite how much he hoped to learn from just a few calls.

Kuroba was clearly hesitant, indigo eyes measuring his expression and posture with surgical accuracy and judgment. His lips thinned, and it was times like this that Saguru wondered how anyone could ever think the person before him was any sort of class-clown and not a carefully calculating genius on the prowl. After long moments of serious deliberation, Kuroba relented. "...Alright. But I don't usually carry that kind of stuff around, and we'll need another opportunity to get at her phone." Saguru doubted that he didn't have some sort of taps on him, but knew that Kuroba would never admit to it any more than he would admit to one of numerous his crimes.

"I'll get Aoko-kun to arrange something." The girl had seemed eager to befriend Ran, unsurprising, considering the mature girl was pretty, pleasant, and had a good head on her shoulders. Aoko could appreciate that kind of person in juxtaposition with her temperamental and tempestuous family and close friends. "I wanted to pay a visit to Teitan anyway."

"And since you're the one putting me up to this, don't try to twist it into 'Kaito is KID' later, alright?" Kuroba was playing up his typically grousing, but Saguru recognized the hardness in his eyes and understood that the already tenuous trust built between them was hanging on that particular demand.

He didn't mind, because he agreed, completely and earnestly. "I promise."


"Come on, Kaito!" Aoko urged, still struggling with her outdoor shoes as she dashed towards the school gates. Her friend was a lot less enthusiastic and clumsy, Aoko hadn't even seen him touch his shoe locker, let alone switch.

He rolled his eyes as he followed at a much more leisurely pace. "Do I have to come along for this? Surely even a couple idiots like you and Hakuba can handle talking to some students."

Aoko felt a pout forming, wishing just for one, just once, Kaito could show some interest in what she was trying her best to include him in. Some days, it felt like they had nothing in common anymore.

"We're a team! So we go together!" She said resolutely as they reached the gate, looking around for the other two members of the Brigade. They had agreed to meet up here, but honestly, since they were all in the same class, they really should have just waited there, in hindsight.

Akako was just leaving the school building, pace relaxed and elegant. If it wasn't so like her, Aoko probably would have gotten frustrated with her too, but she couldn't really imagine the other girl hurrying just because someone else said to. Hakuba was a little behind her, frowning at his phone as he jogged in their direction.

"Hakuba-kun?" She said questioningly once he was in hearing distance, having outpaced Akako. He glanced up and gave her a tired smile.

"Sorry, Aoko-kun, but seems Baaya won't be able to drive us to Beika, we'll have to take the train."

"Great." Kaito groaned, "Bet by the time we get there, even the club kids will have packed up and gone home, and we'll have wasted the entire afternoon on nothing."

"It'll be fine, Kaito." She said, instead of nagging him like she wanted to, "It's not that far."

Did he always have to drag his feet? He hadn't always been this stubborn and muleheaded, he used to like spending time with her.

Kaito made a face and started on the way to the station without another word. Akako moved alongside him, unbothered by his grumpy mood, leaving Aoko staring after them, feeling a little helpless.

Were they really growing apart?

No, no, no, they'd do something this week or weekend, something, and Kaito would laugh and joke with her like usual. In fact, Friday night they were going to Tropical Land! Surely, they could have some fun there, even if they were investigating too. Kaito may even be less distracted than he usually was when they went out together, with Hakuba around to keep him on his toes!

Significantly cheered by the thought, she ran to catch up to them. That wasn't all, they were going to Teitan to see Ran again, and that gave her a sort of warm, bubbly feeling. While their last conversation hadn't exactly been very casual or fun, she seemed like a really nice girl; Aoko wanted to get to know her a little. Plus, it seemed rude to not pursue friendlier interaction after the tight, awkward position they put her in last time; treating her just like a fount of information wasn't very good manners.

She just hoped Ran was okay with it; after all, there was no gurantee she'd even like Aoko, but she wanted to at least try, even if it made her feel anxious. It was important to reach out to others, because she would never make friends if she didn't, and then…

She'd be alone, wouldn't she?

Teitan High School was similar to their school in both size and layout, but their uniforms stuck out to a near ridiculous degree. Their gakuran and sailor uniforms seemed childish, straight from middle school or the country, in comparison to the neat and professional blazers and ties of Teitan.

"Maybe we should have changed." Aoko mused, suddenly feeling awkward about storming another school and asking about a celebrity. Thankfully, Hakuba was pretty well known himself, so some of the students may recognize him and they wouldn't look like a bunch of overly bold fans.

"Too late for that now," Akako replied, already moving towards the front gates. Not that she had much to be worried about, guys fell over themselves fawning no matter where she went; she really was just that pretty. Aoko hurried after her, eager to see Ran again despite her insecurities. Hakuba had created an opportunity to get Ran's number after she had regretted leaving the Agency without it the other day; she couldn't pass up this chance!

Students milling around Teitan's yard watched them curiously as they entered the building, but Hakuba didn't seem care. He immediately set about inspecting the shoe lockers, searching for Kudo's.

It wasn't any different from the others. Nothing setting it apart, though Aoko had no idea what he even expected to find. Dust? Signs of disuse?

Hakuba shook his head after a moment's glance, evidently recognizing it as an exercise in futility, and turned to Akako.

It was time for her to shine, after all.


To her, the school was just another spot in which humans gathered like flocking flies, quivering, shaking, going through their mating rituals, scrambling to dig whatever they could from the decomposition under their legs and devour it. Oh, their elusive prey's gruesome aura had touched this place as well, but the feelings of hundreds of other stressed, frustrated students had trampled even his touch into a sort of faint, too-sweet scent, like rot.

Honestly, places like these were just hunting grounds to someone like her, filled with easy and near mindless prey. Like that unsuspecting boy over there, who was peeking at her shyly from hallway.

Just another toy.

Akako moved in on him, adding just the slightest sway to her hips. More than a little dumbstruck, the student didn't have the sense to run while he still had the chance.

"Excuse me," she purred one she had closed in, and already his wide eyes were catching on her lips. Foolish. "Could you tell me about Kudo Shinichi?"

He blinked as she wound a slip of her around her finger, showing how soft, and sleek, it was, how nice it felt to run through. When he found the sense to speak, he stuttered. "Kudo?"

"Yes. When was the last time you saw him?" He was looking at her lips again, blushing a little; she had reapplied her lipstick on the train, and now the vibrant red was enticing him closer.

"So-sorry" He apologized, looking silly and regretful in his near desperation to appease her. "Nobody has seen him in months."

"Oh, are you sure?" Those beady eyes of his were starting to move lower, and she pushed out her chest a little. He blushed bright red, clearly embarrassed, and suddenly, his survival instincts seemed to kick in.

"Yes!" He squeaked, before tripping over his own feet at an attempt to both move closer and further away from her. She was pretty sure Kuroba was laughing behind her as their hapless victim fell over himself.

"Thanks anyway." She said, maybe a little haughtily, and moved on to the next little luckless lamb.

However, the consensus seemed generally the same; Kudo could hardly even still be considered a registered student.

"It's a pity, we could have used him in the Soccer League." One less love-struck student huffed. He seemed like a studious, cynical fellow; those one's usually hid their attraction to her better than others.

"Don't the teachers find that strange?" Akako prompted, jutting her hip out to show off the curve of her waist.

Mostly unaffected, the boy shrugged. "Well, he's not the first guy to drop out of high-school, you know? Never seemed to need it much anyway."

"But isn't it strange that he's missing?" She was tempted to up the charm at this point, make this kid squirm a little. He dared to think he could play it cool around a beauty of her stature? Like hell. Akako was tempted to mess with him a little, so she sidled closer, so that he could catch the hint of her perfume on the air.

He didn't seem to care, shrugging again, carelessly. "I heard something about him going to America with his parents again. Maybe he's just going to school there." Then, instead of looking down at the soft curve of her chest, he snuck a glance at Hakuba, who was standing back and letting her run the interrogation.

Well, that was a miscalculation.

"Well, we know he hasn't transferred." Hakuba said, moments later as they moved to another section of the building, still attracting a fair amount of attention from the grazing sheep. "The school would be aware of it if he did, and they would have given his locker to someone else."

"If he's really dead, of course he hasn't been to school." Kuroba pointed out carelessly, clearly bored out of his mind. She wondered, occasionally, what he knew about all this. Of all four of them, varied as they were, he was the one most connected to the criminal underground. She had no doubt he had a better idea of what was really going on than he let on. Kudo was probably not dead, at least not in the ordinary sense. It was possible he had moved on to another state of existence, converting from a human being into something a bit more fitting to his bizarre essence. Possible, but not likely. Which meant that surely there was a rational, 'scientific' explanation for the strange occurrences surrounding him, and that Kuroba surely felt curious enough about to poke around a little.

How well had the Kaitou KID even known Kudo, if at all?

"It's strange though, isn't it?" Nakamori spoke, a crease in her brow, distracting her from her thoughts.

"What?"

The messily haired girl frowned, raising a finger to her cheek. "It seems he was well admired, but no one seems all that close to him." A fair observation. The more students they spoke with, the more abundantly clear that Teitan's resident celebrity was well-liked, and amiable, but for some reason, despite what seemed like good relations, no one knew much about him.

"Apparently, a lot of people found him pretty unapproachable." Hakuba pointed out, and she raised an eyebrow. No one had said that, in fact the opposite had been professed, but the blond detective wasn't usually wrong; in fact, his hunches were usually right on the mark, as one phantom thief could, but wouldn't, attest.

"Eh, who said that?" Nakamori asked, confused, and Hakuba shook his head.

"They didn't say it." The detective corrected, "Their body language and what they did say suggested so. Many of them claim to have been at least friendly with him, but none of them are even remotely worried about his disappearance. Some even seem relieved that he's gone; I imagine that secretly, he unnerved them or made them feel inferior."

Akako thought back of the behavior of their informants, but nothing struck her as strange. Maybe she should have paid more attention to that, instead of how quickly she could reduce a sixteen year-old boy to a gibbering, incoherent mess on the floor.

"Plus, he sounds haughty. I bet it pissed a fair amount of people off, but no one wants to badmouth a celebrity." Kuroba added casually, and Akako realized he was familiar with that situation. More than a few of their classmates thought Kuroba was a complete showoff and a nuisance, but played nice to his face. There was no way he didn't know that, being the absolute master of putting on airs.

Nakamori probably hadn't recognized the connection, though, and continued on. "Even so, he was popular, right? So why isn't anyone concerned?"

"Maybe they were at first…" But after months, who could be bothered to worry about a cold, genius rich kid when they had their own less advantageous lives to lead?

Hakuba sighed, his own face a little guarded. Just like with Kuroba, he wasn't all that privately well liked either; in fact, he probably recognized the behavior of the Teitan students not just because he was an experienced investigator. He faced the same issue everyday, which was why he was so gracious (bar Kuroba, maybe) to the few genuine friends he had. "It seems the only ones people really connect him to are Mouri Ran and Suzuki Sonoko." He pointed out, but even as the words left his mouth, the detective seemed to pause, realization flickering across his face. They stopped in the center of a busy hall, ignoring the attentive eyes of strangers watching them from all sides. "Wait, a minute. That little girl… she said something strange." He muttered aloud, and Akako stared incredulously. What a change in topic.

Just what was going on in that head of his? Was he referring to that tea-haired girl that lived next door to the Kudo Manor? Why think of her now?

Not bothering to explain, Hakuba jolted back into movement, a slight, expectant smirk on his face. Suddenly, it felt like he was more of a hunter than she.

The next student they caught, their detective bearing down upon him like a lion trapping its prey, was an ordinary looking fellow who was clearly a little uncomfortable. Hakuba took point, pinning the student with sheer intensity rather than any sort of charm, as if watching her work had taught him nothing, sheesh, and he changed the line of questioning drastically.

"Has Kudo-kun been to any of the school events recently? Like a festival?" He demanded, and the hapless student seemed too overwhelmed to not reply.

"Kudo? Uh, I don't think so? Nobody has seen him in ages."

Hakuba didn't seem even remotely satisfied by that answer, looming over the poor fellow. "Did he used to come?" They were attracting way more attention now, a small crowd gathering around them with curious, interested eyes. Nakamori seemed visibly uncomfortable, looking almost as if she wanted to pull Hakuba back herself, like she normally would with Kuroba.

The captured student was talking, though. "That guy was never all that involved in anything besides Soccer Club...well, no, there was that play."

"Play?" That seemed to excite Hakuba further, his usually cool red eyes sharpening with a sort of keen understanding. Like he had sunk his teeth into something good.

The student nodded, a little tentatively, but thankfully, he was also loosening up, looking less like he was being cornered and mugged and more like a willing conversationalist. "A while back, Suzuki-chan directed a play for the school festival. The heroine was Mouri-chan, and the hero wore this costume and mask and was called the 'Dark Knight' or something. Anyways, he was played by Kudo. There was a case he had to solve and everything."

Akako felt her eyebrows rise; this was new, juicy information. Hakuba grinned, quick and victorious, but the student seemed to think it was a friendly expression, relaxing.

"But don't go spreading that on the Internet, Kudo will kill us all." He added quickly, laughing awkwardly, and Hakuba nodded, thousands of thoughts obvious spinning behind his eyes, like the gears of a clock coming to life after desperately needing a rewind.

"Right, thank you. Where could we find Suzuki-san?"


Suzuki Sonoko was a busy girl; despite what most thought. Sure, she was admittedly not the best student, or the most dedicated, but in her after school hours she was a member of both the tennis and theatre clubs, and between the two, she was quite occupied. It helped burn time that would be otherwise be spent wasting away in front of the TV with chips, waiting for Makoto to text back. Such was her life, considering her only two close friends, besides Sera (who was often MIA) and Eisuke (who was back in America, the loser) weren't often available. Ran had her hands absolutely full being captain of the Karate club and all, and Kudo had disappeared off the face of the Earth and was off solving murder cases in space—or something. As if Sonoko cared, so long as he still called often enough to keep Ran happy.

Today, however, there was something more interesting afoot in the after-hours of Teitan High.

And she, as the resident gossip queen, simply had to be on top of it.

She had been rummaging through the props closet, trying to find the donkey mask they had for Midsummer's Night Dream, and failing—seriously, they still had every other costume they had ever used, so why was this particular piece missing? —when she overheard something interesting taking place outside.

"Did you see them?" Two guys she vaguely recognized were walking by, and were engrossed in her kind of conversation.

"The students from another school wandering around? Yeah."

"Wonder what they're here for."

"I heard them talking to Keisuke. They were asking about Kudo, I think."

"Huh, that's weird. Did you see that totally smokin' girl, though?"

"The one with the reddish hair? Hell yeah, she's a ten out of ten."

"Wish I could get her number. Think I can ask for a picture?"

The conversation faded out as the two moved further along the hallway, continuing whatever they were doing in the first place. But Sonoko was intrigued, and it's not like struggling her way through boxes full of props was all that interesting.

And so, deciding they didn't really need the donkey head right now, Deduction Queen Sonoko headed out to investigate.

The rumored visitors weren't hard to find, considering how much attention they had grabbed. Curious Teitan students milled by the doors of the classrooms, peeking into the southern hall, where four teenagers dressed in gakuran uniforms were chatting with an assortment of juniors. There were two guys and two girls, and all four were decently good looking. Score.

One of the boys was a tall blond, only half-Japanese by the looks of it, and the other made her double take. Was that Kudo?

No, Kudo would die before he let his hair get that messy, but the stranger was practically a doppelgänger; however, on closer inspection, and a lifetime of growing up alongside Kudo, a number of differences were apparent. The color of the eyes, the curve of the nose, and the slant of the brows were wrong, and their body types were different. Still, he was no less of a hottie for it, and had the bonus of not pissing Sonoko off on sight.

The first girl looked a bit like Ran, if Ran was a flat-chested middle schooler who had never picked up a comb in her life. Still, she had a pretty face.
The other girl, was, well, wow, model much? Slender, elegant, with black hair that shimmered strikingly red in the light, and makeup so perfect Sonoko was tempted to go beg for beauty tips.

Well, she was going to go talk to them anyway, so...

Sonoko subtly moved in closer, integrating herself into the students surrounding the group. Maehara, a boy from class 2B that she recognized, was talking to the blond, but spotted her among the others.

"Ah, here's Suzuki-chan now." He told the stranger, motioning towards her. As all four of the visiting students turned towards her, she pointed at herself and raised a questioning eyebrow in Maehara's direction. He just shrugged.

"Excuse me, are you Suzuki Sonoko?" The blond asked, red-brown eyes on her now, and man, he was handsome. Had some prince from another district fallen for her again? Oh, too good to be true!

"Yes," she responded, feeling her cheeks heat up, just a bit. The half-foreign student smiled charmingly.

"Excellent. I am Hakuba Saguru, from Ekoda High. These are my classmates, Aoko-kun, Koizumi-san, and Kuroba-kun."

Hakuba, oh man, did she know that name. Immediately, all approval his looks earned him flew right out the violently opened window. "Hakuba as in the detective who is always trying to interfere with KID-sama's heists?" She accused, settling her hands on her hips. It didn't matter how taken he was with her, her heart belonged to KID—well, first and foremost, to Makoto, but KID came in close second!

The blonde's face fell a little, eyes wide at her hostility, before coughing into his hand to recompose himself. That's right, squirm underneath her gaze, nuisance. "Er, yes. I'm a teenage detective, like Kudo Shinichi, who I hear is a friend of yours?"

Sonoko was tempted to point out that Shinichi didn't really have friends, besides his future wife; he had teammates, classmates, and friendly acquaintances. Just in the privacy of her own head, she counted him as a friend, considering they had known each other since they were both ankle biters driving their teacher's up both metaphorical and physical walls. He was one of the few people who never envied or tried to take advantage of her family's wealth; mostly because the Kudos were pretty damn loaded themselves. As kids of influential big shots, they often had teamed up to cause trouble at boring, fancy events; even so, she couldn't imagine him admitting she was a friend. He was way too cold for something as human as that.

"More or less," She summed up, crossing her arms. "You want him for something?"

"Yes, actually." Hakuba admitted. "We heard that he was in a play you directed some time ago."

"Yeah," She agreed, wishing someone would get to the point already, "He showed up last minute to play the Black Knight. Why?"

"Actually", the other guy, Kuroba, suddenly cut in with a bashful smile, "he's a buddy of ours, and we're playing a prank on him. Do you happen to have any pictures of him in costume?" His words were a little weird, Kudo didn't have buddies any more than he had friends, but he was cute, and she could appreciate the thought of embarrassing Kudo.
"I think we have some in the storage closet." She replied, marveling a little at the pretty indigo gleam of his eyes and his roguish smile. Ah, life was good when filled with so much lovely scenery.

"Great! Can you show us?" He came up on her side, pointing back the direction from which she came. Eyes still tracing across the broad, strong line of his shoulders, she nodded carelessly. Why not? A guy this hot couldn't be up to no good; and even if he was, Kudo probably deserved it.

All right, maybe she was a little weak to hunky, athletic guys. Though Kuroba was no Makoto, who was hotter than hell and muscular enough to be positively drool-worthy, he wasn't skinny. She could tell he had some serious lithe muscle underneath his uniform jacket. And that made her very, very agreeable.

As they moved back towards the closet she had abandoned, he kept grinning that really, really nice grin, and striking up conversation. "So, Suzuki-chan, I hear you are a KID fan?"

"Oh, my god, yes." Her mouth ran all by itself immediately, and she barely stopped her hand from slapping over her lips and making an even bigger fool of herself.

"Me too!" Kuroba laughed, "Did you go to the most recent heist?"

"Nah, I didn't make it, but I did watch it on TV." She hadn't been able to go, but it hadn't seemed like there was much to see. KID hadn't even appeared before the crowd, unfortunately. In fact, he hardly ever did, not counting the occasional glimpses of his glider, when a certain crime magnet wasn't on the prowl. "Did you?"

"All four of us did!" The brunet shot a look at two of his companions, the detective and the girl, Aoko. "Though, these two are total downers and were trying to help the police the whole time."

She felt her own scowl forming at the mere thought of it. Of all the audacity! "Well, KID-sama still easily got away with the jewel, again!" Hakuba and Aoko both looked annoyed and a little embarrassed. Ha, non-believers. Suffer.

Kuroba agreed wholeheartedly, a sly look in his eyes as he noticed his friend's reactions. "Right? The police don't stand a chance!" Aoko looked particularly furious at that remark, shaking a fist in Kuroba's direction. With that threatening manner, she looked much more like Ran than before.

"Even the glasses brat has a better chance than them." She pointed out, only realizing that they might not know whom she was talking about after the words had left her mouth. Hoping they wouldn't comment, god knew she didn't want to have to explain him, she presented them their destination. "Here we are."

She reopened the closet door and guided them in, careful of the mess of boxes spread across the floor from when she had pulled them off the shelves to fight her way through the heaps of cloth, feathers, and various knick knacks that had once served some purpose or another.

The four visitors looked around curiously as she found the box full of pictures from past plays. Finding Kudo's pictures wasn't difficult, considering how often they were requested by the yearbook club and his various fans within Teitan; they were right near the top. Plus, they had multiple copies of each, because Kudo had never actually claimed the ones they printed for him.

She handed them over, and the four gathered around to scrutinize them curiously. One was of him still masked, the dark helmet obscuring his features, and within it he cut an alluringly mysterious figure, cloaked in darkness. The other was taken after the whole mess, with him surrounded by classmates, the helmet finally tucked under his arm.
"Wow, these are great!" The messy haired girl said, blushing a little. Sonoko couldn't blame her that much; Kudo looked good in them. If only his pretty face and long legs could make up for his shitty personality.

The blond detective looked up at one of the shelves, and motioned at a familiar box. "Is that the costume he's wearing?"

"Yeah." She pulled it down and showed them the helmet, which she was still quite proud of. It was well made. "It was a bit big on him, since we made it larger for Doctor Ariade. Still, he pulled it off."

"Doctor Ariade?" Hakuba questioned after taking the helmet from her hands for closer inspection. Maybe he was admiring the excellent handiwork?

"The occasional school nurse," she told them, thinking of the handsome and friendly doctor that she and Ran both liked, "he's not around often though. Stopped volunteering here as much around the time Jodie-sensei quit." It had been so disappointing to (mostly) lose such great, fun members of the staff at the same time. The other teachers were so boring compared to Jodie.

"That's weird." Aoko said, and Sonoko nodded rigorously. The rumors had been rampant, but she more or less knew the story about Jodie, thanks to Ran. The red-haired girl, thus far thoroughly uninterested, took the helmet from Hakuba. Sonoko wondered if she was ever going to talk, or just stand there. She had only been glancing around, so maybe it was a miracle she had in the very least shown some interest in the helmet.

"It was. Turns out Jodie-sensei was FBI or something. It was totally weird." She elaborated, for the fun of it. It was a sensational little remark, shocking, perfect for enticing curiosity. And she did so love to make people curious, she thought, grinning as she took the helmet back from the creepy, but totally smoking, like wow, girl when she offered it, and returning it to its proper place. Unlike that stupid donkey head, it was easy to find.

"What was a FBI agent doing here?" Hakuba seemed surprised, blond eyebrows going right up.

"She was on vacation, or something. Decided to teach English to make some money while on leave. Actually, I'm pretty sure she's still in Japan, but I don't think anyone's seen her recently." She shrugged at the last part, missing the days when Jodie would visit restaurants with them. It had always been fun, and her English had improved by leaps and bounds because of the casual, friendly conversation.

"And the doctor?" Kuroba asked, and she could only shrug.

"I dunno. He's still around every once and a while, but he helps out a lot less. Maybe he's been working more at his dad's old practice…" Nobody knew what went on with Ariade.
The so far silent girl hummed, scarlet eyes gleaming. They were an unusual color, but she made it look pretty. "Sounds like a bit like Kudo-kun."

Sonoko was surprised by that input, but found herself agreeing after a moment's thought. "Right? That guy is never around when you need him, I swear." That was a personal frustration, though, and with a shake of her head, she ended that line of conversation, waving them out of closet so she could lock it up. And with the turn of the key, barring the dark closet of masks, stories, and fictitious people from the world, she tried to imagine she left her own melancholy behind among the photos of friends long out of reach. Friends came and went; but those who held you truly precious would surely return, Ran would insist.

Sonoko didn't know it that was true, but sometimes, just a little, she wanted to believe that someday they could all be together, just like those photos, all jumbled up and mixed but full of smiles anyway.

Of course, she had no idea that her few attention-catching sentences, spoken in whimsy but reflecting her own unconscious troubles, had worked far, far too well, as Hakuba Saguru absorbed every lackadaisically provided detail with interest.

And just a few steps away, the Kaitou KID clenched a fist, carefully controlled frustration broiling under his skin.


I'm so frustrated, falling behind,

You were a friend of mine.


Did you think this chapter was long? Did you think it cut off at a sort of weird spot? You have no idea. I had to cut down this behemoth twice. After the first cut, it was still 8,000 words long, after I had pulled everything to do with Tropical Land.

So I sort of just chopped it off at around 6,000 words, haha. Sonoko is an interesting character to write from the perspective of, because she sees so much more of the story and is more deeply connected to the plot-related elements than most of the secondary characters of DC, without being all that relevant to the story herself... She's also way more loose-lipped than Ran.

Next Chapter: Amusement Parks, museums, and crime scenes; these things should be more mutually exclusive than they are. Thankfully, one spunky teen sleuth is all set to take the scene!