"Coincidences mean you're on the right path."
- from Love Begins in Winter: Five Stories
, by Simon Van Booy


. : COINCIDENTALLY FORTUNATE EVENTS : .
... "gūzen ni mo kōun no ibento" ...

a big hero 6 x detective conan x magic kaito fanfiction
feat. Conan and Kaito in post-BH6 and the Pandora Effect

Four: Undefined

Disclaimer: I do not own Big Hero 6 nor Detective Conan nor Magic Kaito.


The meaning of Akako's words didn't really register right off the bat, as expected.

Of course, the first thing out of Kaito's mouth in a quippy response, quickly enough to pass off as a reflexive reply, was a chirpy, "Sharing is caring!" A silent pause, as the words actually sunk into Kaito's head properly. Then, "Wait, you mean share, as in - gem, power, give…?"

"Somewhat, and yet somewhat not." Raking her gaze over Conan and Kaito warningly, Akako continued, "Make no mistake, either of you; despite what the word share implies, this power is not yours to wield or yours at all. It obeys only itself and its original master, and will react however it will to situations that demand its presence, without any regard for what you might think or need at that time."

"Then what was the point of even lending that power to us?" Conan asked, exasperated. He looked a little pale, but mostly frustrated at the situation, which was about right for him. Having to deal with the illogical probably put the little detective on the last shreds of his nerves.

"Who says it was willingly lent to you?" Akako shifted, glancing at her hand. The red shine continued to outline her body, gleaming, as she examined it. "Magic is a form of energy, detective. It still prefers to go down the path of least resistance. While bodies have natural conduits through which power flows, to hold power within a dead stone is weak, and difficult for the magic to remain. Thus, it likes to share. To get out, and spread its influence where it is able to thrive. However," she added as Kaito opened his mouth again, cutting him short before he could even start, "all of this is simply speculation. Without being in the presence of the gem itself, or either of your physical bodies, this speculation is all I can do."

A little bit miffed at being cut off, Kaito puffed up his cheeks indignantly and turned his head, but continued to listen. Conan, on the other hand, looked unsure. "Back at the heist, when we were standing on that roof," he said slowly, "I… When I touched the gem, it didn't feel - dead."

Akako blinked in mild surprise. "Is that so?" she mused, considering the little detective's words. "Well, for start with, I didn't mean 'dead' in a literal sense. I'm not surprised that you didn't know, but a dead stone is one without runes or any other form of power impressed onto it to create the channels of energy, so to speak. Still… What part of it doesn't feel dead to you?"

"It felt like touching a heart," Conan said bluntly, to which Kaito started in shock. "That gem - I could've sworn it was even beating when I picked it up, like a heart or something. You didn't feel it?" he asked, addressing Kaito.

The magician shook his head. "Probably because I was wearing gloves, while you had direct contact," he guessed.

"Fairly accurate," Akako said. "Such objects do tend to transfer one thing or another through touch. In any case, my time runs short. Don't expect constant contact, this one conversation is taxing enough as it is." Already, her image wavered and the energy around her began to slow down and thin out.

"Wait, one more thing," Kaito broke in before the witch could slip away. "Are we going to dream this every time we go to sleep? It's... not very restful. At all."

"I'd imagine." Akako looked vaguely amused, though it was hard to tell if that was what she was really feeling. "It's because you're so close to where the portal once was, where the barriers between these two worlds has worn away and has yet to recover. You long for home, so your mind and soul wander in your sleep, stray across the weak point to your home world, and you dream of being there as a result. If it bothers you too much, simply close your eyes elsewhere - either way, though, your body still gets what rest it needs, even if your mind and soul do not."

"That doesn't sound healthy, but okay," Conan remarked sarcastically. A thoughtful look flitted across his face, however, as he digested the information and processed it carefully, not just understanding, but also using. Kaito looked on curiously as Conan added on in a lower tone of voice, half to himself, "In that case, though..."

"The two of you will figure it out, I'm sure. Find your way back soon." And with that, Akako vanished in a flare of power.

"Great." Kaito clapped his hands together like a delighted child, the sound resounding sharply through the emptiness. Pulling up a smile to conceal his mild bafflement at the new information Akako had brought them, he continued, "On that happy note, how are we getting out of here?"


The wakeup was abrupt and messy.

Kaito knew that Akako's magic could only hold her there for so long, since it wasn't meant to be able to communicate across dimensions in the first place. More to do with lust and stuff like that, he guessed. But once she was gone, whatever spell she'd used to drag him and Conan into the dream vanished along with her - and unfortunately, it didn't see fit to push them back into wakefulness like a courteous person would, so the two boys were momentarily stuck.

After a bit of pondering, they decided to try maybe tapping into whatever power Akako said they had - "How did she even know about that, anyway?" "Some spell? Who knows." - to haul themselves out of the eerily empty and zero-gravity area.

As expected with attempting something that related to real magic, they failed magnificently.

"How in the world would we use that, anyway?" Conan scowled fiercely at his hand, which was innocently as normal and non-magical as possible. "She said we wouldn't be able to control it, after all."

"Maybe if we just panic enough," Kaito suggested, feeling a bit dizzy and lightheaded. It was his own fault, of course, for spinning around in the lack of gravity while he was bored, but he was bored. They weren't making any progress whatsoever, so far as he could tell. "And then it'll feel our emotions and panic with us and then explode!"

An incredulous look from Conan. "…I don't know about you, but I'd rather get out of this in one piece."

"But you're not here!" Kaito cried dramatically, shifting his weight until he was hovering upside down once more, while pivoting in place. Conan raised a brow at him, to which he snickered before shrugging with a helpless smile. "Hey, we're only here in spirit and stuff, aren't we? So you're not here and I'm not here and we won't get blown up! Just the magic thingy will!"

"Tearing our souls apart doesn't seem like such a good plan, either," replied the shrunken detective in a duh sort of tone. "I have no experience in these - these stupidly illogical sorts of things, but I can surmise that pretty easily."

Kaito cackled, tilting sideways before spinning around again. "Are you sure~?" he inquired, dragging out the syllable. "Maybe if we split our souls seven times, since seven is the magic number, we could be immortals!"

Inexplicably, Conan stiffened, eyes flashing. "No," he spat - a single, clipped word, like lightning from his stormy expression.

Reorienting himself to the 'correct' direction, or at least so that he had the same up-down and left-right as the detective, Kaito straightened and let his joking demeanor melt away into relative neutrality. What had tantei-kun been thinking, to give him such a dark face…? "Tantei-kun?"

Silence, and then, "That's what they're after, right? Immortality. Well, what if…" Conan gestured to himself, to his tiny, de-aged body. "What if they succeeded?"

Oh.

Kaito's eyes widened.

Oh. "Ah-"

That, of course, was the exact moment in which some well-meaning kind fellow and his friends discovered the two sleeping bodies in the old, dusty warehouse that had long since fallen into disuse. The group had been exploring it out of curiosity when they stumbled across the unconscious foreigners and took the time to crouch beside them and shake them awake.

Which was enough to snap the feeble remnants of power that held them under, and Kaito suddenly found himself back in reality, blinking at the stranger in his face as his senses slowly trickled back. The man was speaking, Kaito noted, lips moving and all, but the words escaped him and his ringing ears.

After a moment, however, the jumbled mess of incoherent noise settled into some form of a vaguely recognizable language. "- re yu - okay?"

Kaito blinked again, clearing the last of the haze. "You… Say what?"

"Are you okay," the stranger repeated, looking worried. "And what are you and your little brother doing in a place like this, anyway?"

Turning his head, Kaito noticed that Conan was still looking a little dazed, which was probably why he hadn't protested to being called a little brother. "Um. Yeah. Yeah, we're fine." He glanced back at the person and offered a bright smile. "And as for what we're doing, we were poking around, since we're new to the area and all, but Conan-kun's feet started to hurt after a while of walking around everywhere, so we took a break. Seems that we fell asleep, oops. Sorry."

"Oh, alright then," the guy said uncertainly. "We were wondering, is all."

"Thanks for your concern, though," Kaito continued, popping a flower into the stranger's hand. "And for waking us up. We might have gotten into some trouble otherwise." In more than one way.

By now, Conan had shaken himself out of his confusion, and was staring at Kaito expectantly.

The magician internally rolled his eyes as he stood up, brushing some dust off of his clothes. "We should get going, in any case," he declared out loud. "Ne, Conan-kun, are you hungry?"

"Uh-huh." Conan nodded meekly, still sitting on the ground and looking like a vaguely guilty child. He allowed Kaito to come over and pull him to his feet - allowed, because Kaito knew he'd have broken his legs any other time - and kept clinging to the taller boy's sleeve. "Sorry," he mumbled, edging shyly behind Kaito as he peered at the small group of strangers.

"No, no, you're fine," one of the people soothed. "We were just a little worried. You're fine."

"Oh, okay then." Conan tugged Kaito's sleeve. "Kaito-niichan, can we go and get something to eat now?" he asked plaintively, obviously eager to leave the scary and dusty abandoned building - or so others would think. Kaito was pretty sure that he just didn't want to stick around with the other people, since they were strangers from this world and it was a bad idea to get close to them, and he was right.

"Of course - our parents are probably worried, anyway." In and out of context. Kaito waved at the group of people. "We'll be going now, it's been a short while since we last ate something that was substantial." Actually, he realized, not since before the heist. Whoa. Make that a long while. Sure the hospital had offered food, but Kaito didn't do much more than pick at it, and Conan was probably the same. Poor kid was likely starving by now if all he had were a couple bites of crappy tasting hospital food. "Thanks again for waking us up, by the way."

"No problem. Oh, and in case you didn't know, there's a really good coffee shop and bakery not too far from here, if you'd like to try that out," the lady added. "Just head towards the right once you exit here and keep going along the road."

Kaito nodded. "We'll keep that in mind and look around for it," he promised. "Catch you guys later."

"Hopefully not," Conan muttered, and Kaito pushed down the urge to give the stressed-looking kid a grin as he herded his apparent charge out the door.

Once they were alone - relatively, since a couple people and cars were still bustling here and there - on the street, Kaito glanced around before heading to the right. Conan let go of Kaito's sleeve, but stayed close enough for the two of them to be easily passed off as siblings.

"About the whole immortality thing being a success," Kaito began in a deceptively casual tone, immediately setting Conan visibly on edge. "Are you sure about that?"

"For about a year now," came the solemn response, "I haven't grown a centimeter - unless I take an antidote, of course, in which case I grew several feet." Conan chuckled drily. "My weight hasn't changed, and neither has any sort of detectable chemical in my body. Recently, my parents dropped by, and my mom let slip that I still look more like I'm six than I do a seven year old." As Hiro had mentioned, Kaito recalled. "I mean, I could still be killed" - a sour look crossed Conan's face, a hand straying to his abdomen - "but I guess the Organization eventually did get what they were looking for."

Kaito kept his gaze aimed forward, not at the somber speaker beside him, and his eyes softened. A couple of different responses flitted through his mind before he settled on a simple, "Science and magic, hm?" His lips curved into a small smile. "Well, nice to know that such a thing tends to work before we try it out ourselves."

Conan snorted, but still looked bitter at the thought.

Before either of them could do or say anything else, though, Conan's stomach complained loudly about the lack of nourishment. Conan blinked at the sudden noise, and blushed scarlet as Kaito smirked at him, not bothering to hide his amusement at what Conan probably saw as an unnecessarily childish happening.

"That's probably more likely the reason why you're not growing," Kaito chortled, grinning at the now red-faced miniature detective. "Have you tried drinking more milk? Calcium builds strong bones and other nutrients help you grow!" Actually, considering the size and build of the professor that Conan hung around and got his annoyingly handy gadgets from, such an idea was unlikely… But those were details. Kaito ignored them, instead relishing in the teasing.

"I know that, idiot," Conan snapped back, looking embarrassed. "I eat healthily enough, it just slipped my mind this time because of what's going on with this whole situation."

"I bet this happens when you get your head stuck in a case, too," Kaito mused mischievously. "Does your girlfriend have to shove your meals down your throat when you try to sacrifice time for eating to do work instead?"

"She's not my girlfriend!" Conan hissed, quietly enough that nobody around would be wondering why a child would be insisting on such a thing. Kaito snickered. "Stop laughing, you idiot - I'll get you back for later this with another soccer ball." Conan huffed. "I owe you several kicks, anyway."

"Are you keeping track?" Kaito asked with mildly morbid curiosity.

"Of course I am. It's just a mental tally and not all that hard to keep," Conan responded, as if it were obvious.

"In that case, should I start running?"

"After we get food, then yes, you should."

Kaito pouted. "So cruel, tantei-kun. Shouldn't you not bite the hands that feed you?"

"That sounded hilarious to you, I'm sure." Conan sighed, rather suddenly looking more tired than a seven year old should ever be. "Let's just go." In a lower tone that Kaito could only barely pick up on, he continued to mutter something akin to, 'Seems like I'm saying that a lot around you.'

"You know that you love me," Kaito joked, twining his fingers behind his head. He kept his eyes on their surroundings, scanning the area for anything that resembled a coffee shop or bakery - his stomach might not have voiced its displeasure with a loud growl quite yet, but he knew it would come soon.

A few more barbed words were exchanged in relatively decent spirits, time and distance sliding by for a moment, before the duo found their way around towards the aforementioned coffee shop.

"Looks like this is the place," Kaito hummed, coming to a halt in front of one of the windows. He glanced at the building and the people occasionally trickling in or out before peering inside. "Kinda cozy-looking, isn't it?"

"Well, maybe," Conan replied softly, tugging Kaito's sleeve towards the front door, ignoring the magician's quietly chuffing laughter. Strike starving, he must've been ravenous to prefer getting closer to food over retorting to Kaito's comment.

Quite abruptly, ten steps into the aroma of coffee in the shop, Conan stopped. Kaito stumbled as he tried to not trip over the annoying little detective.

"Kaito-niichan, did you bring money?" Conan asked, turning around to sent a sharp look at Kaito.

He winked in response. "Of course I did," he said smoothly, taking the lead over to where he supposed they were to order at. The lady at the counter looked up as Kaito approached. "Hi, can I get a medium coffee and a medium hot chocolate? Black for the coffee."

"Sure thing," she replied, smiling. She probably thought the hot chocolate was for Kaito's little charge - yeah, right. Kaito and coffee didn't mix. For one, sugar made him hyper enough, and for another, coffee was terribly bitter. He didn't show any indication of this, though, as she continued, "Anything else?"

"Two of that, and that'll be all." Kaito returned the smile kindly as he pointed at one of the types of bread on display. It had some seasoning and what looked like ham sandwiched in it.

As she told him the price, Kaito withheld a sigh of relief and took a clump of bills from his jacket's inside pocket. He could feel Conan's glare digging into his back, but couldn't really explain in front of the lady who had quickly gotten the drinks and food together. She handed the items to Kaito, oblivious to Conan's death stare. Kaito tried not to cringe.

"Have a good day," she said as the duo wandered over to a table several paces away.

"You too," Kaito called back.

"Thanks, neechan!" Conan added in a happy chirp, barely waiting until they were seated at the table to continue to Kaito in a muted hiss, "Where and how you get that money?"

Kaito could've just shrugged and infuriated him with a non-answer like magic, but decided to take pity on the stressed detective. And magic was a bit of a sore subject, currently. He pushed the coffee cup towards Conan with one of the ham-bread-sandwich things, warming his hands around his hot chocolate.

"Before you start accusing, it's not stolen," he assured. "People gave it to me. Honest." Some trickery may have been involved, though... Well, all he did was ask the policeman with him if he could have some money for the vending machine, and once that guy left he asked an interviewer the same thing and then the reporter after them and then the nurse and the nurse after that and - yeah, rinse and repeat.

Nothing illegal. Just appreciating the decency of humanity and everything. Besides, the money did end up being used for food, so it wasn't a complete lie. Deception, yeah, but not a full lie. Only a little delayed.

Conan gave him a look that simply oozed skepticism, but eventually took the ham-bread, muttered itadakimasu, and bit into it gratefully. Kaito echoed him, eagerly digging in before his stomach decided to growl away what remained of Kid's dignity. He had a reputation to maintain, after all. Even if it wasn't worth much, considering only Conan knew of it, and he didn't care.

They ate in peace, relatively undisturbed - it was the calm time between late lunch and early dinner, so only a few people were around. The ham-bread was really good, and while Kaito contentedly sipped his warm and wonderfully chocolate-y drink, Conan visibly enjoyed the coffee. He probably hadn't had the drink in a while... Little boys didn't drink coffee, after all, and especially not black. More orange juice.

Kaito stifled his chuckle into the hot chocolate.

Once they were finished with the meal, Kaito stood up and went to toss the trash away. More people were starting to come and go, so it was about time for them to take their leave as well.

Of course, such things are never simple in Kaito's life, especially when Conan was standing right beside him.

Stretching, Kaito was halfway through a comment of how nice of a meal that had been and how he wouldn't be against visiting again for another meal, but then he ran into someone.

As he quickly backpedaled a step, Kaito blinked at the guy he'd run into - and repressed the urge to curse.

Wasabi stared at him. "Aren't you - why aren't you-?"

Kaito turned to Conan. "You're canceling out all of my luck," he wailed, pretending to tear up as he mentally scrambled for an excuse. Conan kicked his shin mercilessly, sending the magician hopping back a couple feet.

The other people, Hiro's entourage in all its glory, entered the cafe and cheerfully greeted the lady at the counter before focusing on Kaito and Conan. Kaito only had a second to register a balloon man thing that had apparently joined the group before one of the women - Gogo? - got in his face.

"Hi?" Kaito offered meekly - she looked dangerous, like Mouri Ran kind of dangerous - but she backed off after a moment of simple glaring as Hiro came to the front, still watching him carefully, and Kaito decided in the meantime that he didn't really want to know whether or not that lady knew karate.

"I thought you guys were at the hospital!" Hiro exclaimed, entirely and reasonably confused. "How'd - why are you out so quickly? Shouldn't you be with the police or something and trying to get home?"

"Uh…" With no idea what else to do, Kaito waved his hand in a vaguely mystical motion, which may or may not have been inspired by some sort of series that he may or may not have stumbled upon while boredly exploring various sites along the internet. "These are not the people you are looking for," he rumbled in a low tone, deepening his voice to something more like Nakamori's, albeit less audibly smoke-gruff. It wouldn't do to imply that he was smoking, after all. That probably didn't even occur to the listeners, however.

Crickets chirped, and some brows lifted incredulously.

"...Tantei-kun, why isn't it working?" Kaito whined, whirling around to face the said boy.

"You're an idiot," Conan enunciated clearly in reply.

"Tantei-kun!" Kaito put a hand to his heart, pretending to be offended and saddened. "My dear young child, how could you say such a terrible thing to a person who's only ever helped you?"

When he received a pointed glare in return, however, Kaito quickly zipped his mouth up innocently, miming locking it up and throwing a key away, too, just to top it off. Conan didn't buy the act at all, of course, but it was the thought that counted. Or the action, in this case.

"Anyway, aren't you guys supposed to be catching a plane out of here already?" Hiro cut in before they could pick up another topic and continue bantering. "I mean - there aren't any complications or anything, right?"

Kaito snorted. Complications? That was probably listed as the definition of his entire life. Yeah, sure, of course there were no complications with hopping between dimensions, none at all... Except for the tiny, itsy bitsy issue of them losing the stupid rock that might've been the only thing able to get them back home. Very tiny issue.

Conan's face showed that he readily agreed to Kaito's thoughts, even if the miniature detective wasn't aware of those said thoughts. He'd probably smack himself over the head if he knew that they were, in fact, apparently thinking on the same wavelength. A delightful image, had Kaito not been in need of those brain cells that Conan would likely kill with the impact of his forehead and palm.

Kaito's odd train of thought must've been showing - or at least hinted at - on his face, if Conan's wary glance was anything to go by. Just to be on the safe side, he shuttered everything down with an airtight poker face.

"No, no complications," Kaito replied to Hiro instead, somehow managing to keep the sarcasm tucked safely from his tone. Thank you, poker face. "We just decided to linger a bit. Might as well enjoy the city while we're here, right?" he beamed at Hiro, a carefree expression painted on his face.

"Well, I guess so." Hiro seemed a tad uncomfortable and more than just a little bit guilty, though. Kaito decided the young boy must have a complex like Conan likely did; blaming themselves for things that tended not to be in their power.

(And Conan called him an idiot.)

"Hey, by the way, who's the balloon robot man?" Kaito spoke up again, switching the subject. "Didn't see him around before." He waved at the said thing, which appeared to blink at him, tilting its head curiously, before waving back.

Perking up again, Hiro grinned and eagerly launched into an introduction of the said 'balloon robot man'. Whose name was Baymax. And who was originally made by Tadashi - that name was coming up rather frequently, actually. And saved Hiro in the portal but left most of his body there except for the one handy chip that contained his entire programming plus an arm, which explained the arm that Hiro had been holding when they first met. And who Hiro had spent the entire night working with his friends to rebuild.

And who had handy little scanners that could apparently not detect aliens, because when Hiro mentioned the said scanners, Baymax very politely stated, "I'm afraid I cannot get a solid reading on you or the child beside you. Why do you only have a heat signature and heartbeat and detectable physical features, but no other internal readings?"

Conan opened his mouth and then closed it again. Kaito quite felt like mirroring him, but not even a slip of such a thought escaped his poker face, thankfully.

"We're foreign and weird, let's leave it at that," Kaito replied drily, keeping all of his vague alarm at Baymax's observation under wraps. "Please don't scan us again. It'll probably corrupt your data or something, somehow." He sighed. "Honestly, we have the worst luck, all the time," he lied. Conan was the one with the bad luck, and it mostly only applied to when it came to running across murders.

Hey, surviving a poisoning attempt that nobody else had been able to survive seemed pretty lucky to Kaito. Even if the resulting situation ended up being really anything but.

… Unluckily lucky, maybe? Hm. That seemed to fit better. Rather nicely, actually.

Probably not the time to be reflecting on that, however. Kaito refocused on the current situation. "Don't worry, though," he continued, attempting to reassure Hiro. "We'll be heading back home soon anyway, so you won't have to worry about a thing." Hopefully. Frankly, they had enough to worry about by themselves, without worrying about this world on top of that.

"Oh, but do you have someplace to sleep in the meantime?" Honey asked worriedly. "You two did get sucked here out of the blue, yes? So you have nothing but the clothes on your back."

Which, in both Kaito's and Conan's cases, was actually a lot more than she probably thought. Still, touched by the thoughtfulness, Kaito graciously shook his head. "No worries, we'll manage."

"Hey, we've got some spare rooms or something back at Institute, I'm sure," Wasabi mentioned.

"Or even a room here," Hiro offered. "Since I'm going to be at the university most of the time, and Tadashi…" Sadness flickered across his face. Kaito eyed him carefully, wondering if it was what he lovingly referred to as 'bird time'. "Well, he…" Hiro faltered again, unwilling to think of his dead brother and bring back depressing memories.

Yeah. Bird time.

It wasn't bad, though. Hiro had all the excuse in the world to be sad. Kaito was only all too familiar with the pain of losing a close family member, and he knew that no matter how much one could 'get over it', the thought of the missing person would ache until the end of time - or until you joined them. A morbid thought, and Kaito quickly banished it from mind. It did nothing to think back on such events, after all. Things happened whether you liked it or not, and the best you could do was learn to live with the ever-painful emptiness in your heart.

Or avenge it, in hopes of somehow filling up the gap or coping with it. Like Kaito was, now. And for Hiro, hopefully never.

With a soft click of his tongue and a rustle up his sleeve, Mayu-chan slipped free and fluttered in front of Hiro's face, momentarily startling the boy before he smiled and held up a wrist, allowing the cooing dove to settle. Landing, she folded her wings looked around, curious to her new surroundings as Hiro tentatively touched her feathers.

"While we appreciate the offer," Conan said from the side - on that thought, Kaito sent Shiro-chan over with a puff of smoke to annoy him, and the dove nestled in Conan's lap calmly - as he turned his gaze away from Hiro and towards Kaito, "I think we have suitable shelter."

"Yup, there's no need to go through all that trouble for us," Kaito assured, having a decent idea of what Conan was thinking. "We're not exactly sure when the schedule for the flight is, since all the officers and stuff and still working on that, but it would be best to stick to that general area so it doesn't take long to get there."

Who knew when the portal might open up, after all. Conan would be right in being cautious and staying around the area.

Besides, even though the dreams were annoying as heck, they did offer the two stranded people a little taste of home and a possibility of making contact.

It wouldn't do to give the group of six too much information, though. Having them come even close to figuring things out was not a very tempting thought. It was unlikely they'd come to the idea of aliens from another dimension, but anything that fell short could easily turn into an ugly situation; not something that anyone wanted to deal with.

So, Kaito just smiled at their acquaintances before bidding them goodbye and slipping out the door, Conan and doves in tow, before they could stop them.


When Conan expressed a need to just think, for a moment, Kaito was only too happy to allow him some alone time.

Not too alone, of course. Shiro-chan and Ami-chan, two of his loyal doves, were keeping a bird's eye (or two) on him in case he got lost and couldn't find his way back, or something - even if that possibility was highly unlikely. Conan hated being watched over, and could usually take pretty good care of himself.

'Usually' being the operative word, of course. And the exceptions tended to end up in something rather nasty. And somehow involve explosives or bullets, in one way or another. How delightful.

Well, in the meantime, Kaito wandered around until he located a park. Pigeons had gathered in a particular corner, where some kids had their parents purchase bird food from a nearby vendor to throw at the fat, feathered creatures. Unwilling to get tangled in such an event, considering the multitude of avians he already had concealed all over himself, Kaito instead sat on a bench and took a metaphorical page out of Conan's book, pondering deeply for several minutes.

If Callaghan's words were to be trusted, and they probably were, then just opening even one side of the portal would put the entire block in danger of being sucked in. So if Kaito and Conan managed to get the thing up and running in the first place, they'd have to find some way of closing the opening.

Akako mentioned that the barrier between words was weaker there, too, thanks to the portal's opening. Maybe then it wouldn't take as much energy to activate, and once it got running, it would eventually collapse on itself anyway from not enough power? Surely it wouldn't take long to step into it. But if it didn't collapse, and the lack of sufficient energy destabilized the portal further, though, then maybe the hole would just tear itself open wider.

Which would likely not be a good thing.

Well, they'd burn that bridge when they got to it, Kaito supposed. It was better to keep flexible in case of other options, anyway. Right now, all he needed was a boat and a map.

Boats shouldn't be too hard to find; there was a huge bridge spanning a great expanse of water, and he was sure that tourists and such would want to see the sight. Wasn't that bridge - or Kaito's world's equivalent of it - a major mark of San Francisco or something? So people would want to see the big thing in San Fransokyo up close. And if it was set over water, then there should be boats. Maybe.

Perhaps it was a touch of a long shot, but oh well. He didn't have much of a choice.

"Let's see…" Kaito tapped his chin thoughtfully. "I can't really be bothered to go looking for a hard copy, and most phones these days probably have a GPS installed, anyway. So they're more than likely to have them in this place, since it's more technologically advanced than back home."

So. Solution?

Steal a phone. Shouldn't be too hard, considering it would be probably entirely unexpected. Besides, he'd return the thing afterwards, so no harm would be done.

Kaito was proved right about five minutes later, a slim smartphone sitting in his palm without anyone else being the wiser. The person he'd pickpocketed it from probably hadn't even noticed the device's absence yet, which was fine by him. Looking the mobile phone over, Kaito wasn't too sure if the brands and companies were the same, but it looked pretty similar to the smartphones of his home dimension.

Still, the familiar four-digit numerical lock that lit up the screen was currently glaring at him, daring him to try getting past its security and get locked out instead. Rather smug for what he knew to be a pretty weak gatekeeper.

Ha. Kaito's fingers moved swiftly, and he pressed in one of the more common passcodes.

Unfortunately, 0000 gave him nothing but a briefly vibrating phone. 1234 gave him the same.

5555? Nope. Hm. So this person certainly wasn't entirely stupid.

Still, that would amount to nothing in the face of Kaitou Kid. Nothing could keep him out of anything for long.

Kaito smirked and - movements tinged with a touch of Kid's (quite reasonable, mind you) smug air - went straight down the numerical keypad; 2580.

He was rewarded with an unlocked screen, to which a happy smile curved his lips. Murmuring a soft thanks to Lady Luck, Kaito scanned the screen for half a moment before selecting the icon with a map image on it.

The GPS pinged pleasantly and chirped a quick series of notes as it started up, going straight to displaying a reasonable map of what Kaito guessed was this part of the city. After zooming out a couple times, Kaito studied the map with a critical eye, scrolling through the areas and committing them all to memory.

So there was an unused island nearby. Used to be some research place, it seemed - which made sense, and also made Tantei-kun right once again.

Hm. Well, there didn't seem to be a boat renting place or anything of that sort around the area within a reasonable radius, but when Kaito tapped on the coastline, an information box popped up and mentioned something about fishing and docks and harbors. Along with some other miscellaneous information, which Kaito briefly skimmed before disregarding.

So there were - or probably would be - boats. If not for general public and tourist use, but probably various fishing ships or luxury cruise ships and the like. And it would be easy to blend in a lesser-used boat with any other privately owned little fishing boats, of course. Callaghan had to have a way to cross water at some point, and a small dock tucked in the shadows of a more popular harbor would be a pretty decent place to hide a somewhat-used boat.

If Callaghan was smart, then he'd try to limit his visits as much as he could, after all. As well as conceal the boat in some manner. And the man who Kaito had observed in the jail cell was not an idiot; perhaps broken, perhaps despairing as he struggled to pick up the pieces of his shattered life, but definitely not stupid.

One more glance-over through the map, and Kaito nodded confidently and locked the phone.

Which didn't make him any less jumpy when it suddenly vibrated in his hand, ringing a single note. Curiosity took over and he opened up the screen again. A new text, it seemed. Or - he thought wryly as the phone dinged again, and again, and again - more accurately, a series of texts.

Hey, have you seen the news? on the site, they posted it just a couple hours ago!
They said the exhibition's gonna be extended until the day after tomorrow or maybe longer
You're free tomorrow, right? so now we can go!
I know you really wanted to see that one gem, whatever its name was… amethyst smth or another?

The Kid part of him sat up and took notice at the word 'gem', and was wagging its tail eagerly by 'amethyst'. Suffice it to say that despite how much of an upstanding citizen Kuroba Kaito was (no, Hakuba, not Kid. Just plain old regular Kuroba Kaito, or however close to regular Kaito ever was.), he had a hard time suppressing his urge to play just a couple of pranks on the local police. Just a few. Just to test their metal, to see how well they matched up in comparison to the Task Force.

It was such a pity that nobody in this dimension knew the amazingness that was Kaitou Kid, after all. He ought to correct that as soon as possible.

Well, Tantei-kun would likely kill him, but hey. Kaito grinned, quickly unlocking the phone and going to an internet browsing app. Can't be stuck in a moping cloud of depression if you're too busy chasing an idiot alien thief around, no?

Unfortunately, Kaito only got so far through his plotting of the heist before Ami-chan dive-bombed him from the air out of nowhere, fluttering frantically as she trilled to get his attention.

Holding up an arm for the dove to rest on, Kaito clucked his tongue at her. She perched lightly on the offered forearm, trills dying down to a more contented series of cooes. "What's wrong, Ami-chan?" he asked, changing his tone to mimic that of a parent to a toddler. "Did the mean little Tantei-kun chase you away?" The other dove seemed to still be with Conan, so…

Ami-chan chirped, and Kaito smiled at her. Then with a whispered request, he released her into the sky.

And as she soared towards her fellow dove, Kaito followed her shadow from below.

Well, he did have to take a detour to the police station in order to drop off the 'missing' phone. After he cleaned off any traces of fingerprints, of course.

But as he weaved deftly through the growing evening crowd, keeping a careful eye on the dove flapping several yards overhead, Kaito had a distinct feeling that something was - off. Wrong. The tiniest sliver of dread trickling through his stomach, the kind of feeling that too often preceded a solemn quiet.

It didn't help that he was seeing people speaking in more hushed whispers than regular soft voices. Hopefully, hopefully he was just being paranoid (to be fair, he was rightfully so), but the way different pedestrians were clumping together and each group was edging carefully around the others in the rare occasion that they crossed paths…

Of course, every single shred of hope that Kaito had managed to dredge up against the possibility of the worst case scenario was quickly dashed by a single phrase, caught by sharp ears off the mouths of a passerby's careless hiss.

"Hey, it was damn creepy," the guy murmured to his friends as the group shifted along past an innocent-looking Kaito, who marginally quickened his pace to keep within earshot. "The poor dude's eyes were still open and everything - just staring out at nothin', you know? Probably is doing that, actually, wherever he is… Heh, d'you think he went up or down?"

"Don't say things like that!" a lady scolded softly. "Show some respect."

"Sorry, sorry - just, seeing that dead body on the ground totally freaked me out…"

"I know what you mean; why are we headed towards it, anyway?" the other girl murmured, but by that point Kaito had dropped back, pure habit and an internal chant of Poker Face keeping his feet moving along. Dead.

Dead body. Kaito pressed his face into his hands. Oh, no. Please no. I knew I should've stuck next to him…

Just when things were starting to look up, too. And - as hope fluttered away, paper on a hurricane's gale - Kaito lifted his eyes to the sky, where Ami-chan did not waver from her path - towards the said body.

In other words… Dammit, tantei-kun.


Author's Note:

Why did Hiro's group run into Kaito and Conan, and why'd they go to the cafe in anyway? Because it's just another coincidentally fortunate event, of course! /brick'd

Puns aside... Hey, all! Sorry for the brief delay past the unestablished deadline (I try to get out one chapter a month, if you haven't caught on to the rhythm yet), but I couldn't help myself with the April Fool's thing. Forgive me? /puppydog eyes/

Well, it does mean a shorter wait until the next chapter, anyway. Speaking of which, this chapter is much shorter than the prior - just barely passing my minimum of 7k words a chapter - but if I was going to include anymore stuff, then it would've entirely ballooned in length, so I cut this one here. Additionally, if you want to have a sneak peek to the next chapter before it's officially published here, check the Coincidentally Fortunate Events thread in the Fanfic Library board of Poirot Cafe! ( for the lazy: poirotcafe (dot com, of course) thread/182/coincidentally-fortunate-events )

In any case, thank you so much to all of my reviewers, especially those who have done so more than once. Cookies for you all! As well as all you quiet readers - I appreciate every one of you. And, of course, many endless thanks to the Poirot Cafe community and my beta, InsanityOwl, for nudging me along until I finally reached the end of the chapter.

Thank you for reading, and please review so my plunnies have something to munch on besides me!