Disclaimer: Don't own Magic Kaito

Here's the end. Not entirely pleased with it, I feel like it could be better if I rearranged it, but I want to keep to the same pattern so I didn't. And since I wanted to keep to the same pattern the last section exists, even though I'm not sure it should. Anyway, been fun. Enjoy!


Kaito said his final words and then leaned back in the chair, weaving his fingers together. Inspector Nakamori finally knew the truth. It was up to him what he did with it.

Nakamori took a deep breath. He looked to Rodier, who had stayed put near the door the entire time. "Officer of the SPVM. What say you?"

Officer Rodier was startled. His opinion was being asked when he clearly had nothing to do with all of this? "Honestly Inspector, I don't know. Your orders and wishes hold no sway with me, and I am dutifully obligated to turn criminals in. However, I think I understand that there is a sliding scale in place here. If Mr. Hakuba and Mr. Kuroba break no more laws, then I am perfectly content to let them be. However, I will follow your lead Inspector Nakamori."

"Is this other than illegal immigration?" Kaito quipped dryly. Saguru shushed him.

"In that case," Ginzo said as he turned back to Kaito and Saguru. "I will keep this information in the back of my mind. I will not pursue it outright, but if something is blatant and I believe I can get away with it, I will attempt to arrest your father's murderer, Kaito-kun. And if such a thing happens I will get in touch with you through Officer Rodier if that's all right with you?" he asked. Rodier nodded his consent. Inspector Nakamori stood. "In which case I take my leave of you."

"Wait. You're not going to arrest us?" Saguru asked.

"Hakuba-kun," Ginzo said softly, smiling. "Why would I arrest a detective with a sense of justice so firmly ingrained as yours?"

Saguru returned the smile. "Thank you Inspector."

Inspector Nakamori suddenly pointed a finger at him. "Now don't you make me regret it," he joked. "Officer Rodier, you are to let me know if either of these punks step out of line again!"

"Sir!" Rodier saluted with a grin. He then turned to Saguru. "If anyone asks when I get back to the precinct, you had to go home early with a stomach bug."

"I'll keep that in mind," Saguru replied. "So we're free to stay here, as long as nobody else puts together the pieces?"

"I won't arrest you either, if that's what you're worried about," Rodier said back. "You're a good detective, Mr. Hakuba. The world could use a few more people like you."

Both police officers turned to leave. "Wait," Kaito said suddenly, startling everyone. "Inspector, one more thing."

Inspector Nakamori turned back. "Yes Kaito-kun?"

Kaito was silent at first. "Tell... Tell Aoko I'm sorry. Just tell her again, because I don't think it got through the first time."

Ginzo smiled. "Oh I think she knows that all too well, and just wasn't willing to accept it. I'll remind her though." Then he winked.

"Thank you," Kaito replied, conveying all the depth he needed with his voice.


The phone rang. This was very odd, for the usually only rang when the police wanted to talk to Saguru, but Saguru was already with the police. Therefore it was not the police wanting to talk to Saguru, therefore it was odd. Hesitantly Kaito reached over and picked it up. "Bonjour, c'est Kirk," he answered.

"I am going to kill him," came back in Japanese.

Kaito very nearly dropped the phone. "Temper temper my good woman?" he chided questioningly, wondering if he was unknowingly pressing any buttons.

"Someone wants to talk to you, he said. Here's the number, call once I've left, he said. More to the point, how did he even get this number in the first place? You're a fugitive, he's chasing you, why does he have your phone number?"

Kaito bit his lip. "He and I... have reached an agreement."

"Oh? And what kind of agreement would that be?"

"Don't worry, I've got a nanny to keep me in line," Kaito joked.

"And how often do you escape this nanny of yours?"

"You wound me," Kaito replied over-dramatically. "Escaping is for criminals, and I'm not a criminal."

"You could've fooled me." Kaito sighed. This was not going well at all. To be fair he hadn't exactly been expecting it, but still. Aoko spoke up again. "So... is Hakuba-kun with you?"

"Yes. Not here at moment, he's at work right now, but we do share an apartment."

"And where is here?"

Kaito paused. "Why do you want to know?"

"Oh not to turn you over or anything. Dad has your number and isn't doing anything about it, so I assume that I'm being kept in the dark about something. Again."

Her barb did not go unnoticed. "Montreal," Kaito finally answered. "Is that good enough for you?"

"Not actually, no. See, and I can't believe I thinking this myself, but I'm finding myself contemplating a visit for some reason. Probably to break your nose, since I didn't get to before."

"You wouldn't hurt an invalid," Kaito exclaimed, faking scathing tone.

"You're not invalid, you're insane."

"I'm sorry. Do you forgive me?" Kaito asked, making a beeline for dangerous territory.

"Apology accepted, but I don't forgive you. I'm not going to beat you up, but I'm not going to be all hugs and kisses either. I'm going to give you a black eye, then you and Hakuba-kun are going to take me to the finest restaurant in Montreal, and then you two are going to tell me just what the hell is going on."

"Then what?"

"I don't know. We'll see where it goes from there."

And somehow after that they started talking about completely nonsensical things. How Aoko was doing, what she was studying in university, an asshole she'd dumped a couple weeks before, politics. Kaito talked about some of the cases Saguru had solved recently, recommended a few good books, and did his best to make Aoko's mouth water for not-quite-French food. What seemed like hours later they finally hung up, Kaito with the admonishment to not hurt her father too much, Aoko with the promise that she'll call again when she has plane tickets. And Kaito thought that maybe, just maybe, he hadn't lost everything entirely.


"Sir, can I ask you a hypothetical question?"

Chief Inspector Grayson looked up to see the promising young Officer Rodier poking his head in his office. He smiled widely. "Of course, Officer. Fire away."

"Oh good," Rodier answered, stepping inside the office and shutting the door. "It's just something that had occurred to me, sort of like self-defense and what sort of situations where it becomes more than self defense."

"Go on," Grayson said, having the feeling that this was going to be interesting.

"So let's say that there's this serial killer running around. He's killed a whole bunch of people already and the police are stumped. A relative of one of the victims has something that could be a clue, but it's too vague or questionable for the police to consider it. So this relative decides to follow it himself. He follows it and it turns out to be a very good clue, but in the process of following it he's had to break a few laws himself. Should he be prosecuted for those crimes he committed while trying to bring down the serial killer?"

"Well first off the officer who dismissed the clue should be demoted on the spot," Grayson joked. He paused for a moment to think. "I think," he finally stated, "That it depends entirely on how good a clue it is and what crimes were committed. If this man killed someone to pursue his clue then he is no better than the person he is pursuing and should be punished accordingly. However, if it was just a little bit of breaking and entering, possibly a robbery or two of more potential evidence, then it should depend on how close he got to actually catching the killer. If this man really broke the law with only the best intent, then a simple rap on the knuckles and a stern look really should do it."

"It's one of those gray areas, isn't it?" Rodier agreed. "Well thank you sir for your opinion." He turned to go.

"Rodier," Grayson said as the other was exiting. Rodier turned back. "You're a fine officer. I have no doubt that whatever comes your way, you'll make the right decision."

"Yes sir," Rodier agreed again before he left.


It had been harrowing, hellish, horrendous, and a whole bunch of other words that started with h. At this point Saguru was wondering if things could possibly get any worse. When coming up with this insane plan he and Kaito had been too focused on the potential death-by-sniper result to even think of the potential graveyard-called-prison result.

Kaito's mother had come to visit almost immediately, and she and Kaito had had a tearful 'What the hell were you thinking?' conversation. The only thing Saguru heard from his father for a week was a 'He's very disappointed in you' from Nakamori, something which he later found out to be one of those understatements. His father then showed up and reamed into Saguru for a full fifteen minutes barely even stopping to breathe (Saguru got the feeling that he'd written it out ahead of time), used it as some fuel to insult his ex-wife for another five, and then finally asked Saguru if he had anything to say for himself. He didn't give him a chance to answer though before he told him that he never wanted to see Saguru's face again, that he was a disgrace to the Hakuba name, and, just to make sure his bases were well and truly covered, that it was probably all that stuck-up English bitch's fault. Baaya later popped her head in to inform him that his parents were running up the telephone bill shouting blame at each other.

But, instinctively, Saguru and Kaito knew that the worst was yet to come. And they knew, instinctively, that it was going to come in the form of the Inspector's daughter.

"Aoko-san's coming," Saguru one day informed his cell mate.

"Fuck," was all that Kaito said. Saguru had to agree with the sentiment.

And then she was there. There were huge bags under her eyes, and her hair was messier than usual. Her clothes were slapdash, and the general appearance was of someone who was very, very miserable with their lot in life. "You assholes," she said, all fire, no warmth.

Saguru was going to follow Kaito's lead in this unless she specifically talked to him. After all they had known each other a lot longer, and he had no delusions as to whether or not Aoko would bother if it were just him. Kaito was silent at first, seemingly waiting for Aoko to go on. When she didn't he cleared his throat. "It's nice to see you too," he said, the general awkwardness of everything causing the irony to be lost.

"I hate you."

"I'm sorry?" Kaito tried.

"You're despicable and unforgivable."

Kaito stood up and slowly made his way towards where he could hear Aoko's voice, stopping when he reached the bars. Aoko likewise backed up. "Aoko Aoko Aoko," he repeated. "I am so, so sorry.

Aoko took a deep, shuddering breath, clearly trying not to cry. "Why the hell would you do something so immoral and illegal?"

"If I told you that we had a really good reason, would you forgive us?"

"No."

"Well we did," Kaito replied. "We did and I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry. And I can't stand the idea that you'll hate me for the rest of your life so please just forgive me even though I have no right to ask for such a thing."

Aoko suddenly strolled forward and shoved hard on Kaito's chest through the bars. "Don't you get it?" she finally screamed, snapping. "I trusted you! Trusted you! And who do you think it was that told Dad to be there? Whose idea do you think it was? I wanted proof that it wasn't you damn it! I wanted proof that it wasn't you and everything really was okay and damn it Kaito but you never fall down the stairs! Never! I wanted it to be just coincidence but there's no such thing as coincidence is there? You broke the law and you lost something, a whole bunch of somethings! And look at you! Look at you now! You're twisted! Your mind is twisted and you've twisted Hakuba-kun's and this is all your fault! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!"

"Aoko, I'm sorry," Kaito said quietly.

"I don't care! If you were really sorry you wouldn't have done any of this in the first place! Who are you? I don't know this man, this person, this thing! I don't know you!"

And Aoko honestly looked like she was about to leap at the bars on the attack, but the guard came over and put a hand on her arm and suggested that maybe she should go. And with one last scathing look at Kaito, she did.

"I've really screwed up this time, haven't I?" Kaito said quietly once she had gone.

"Yeah," Saguru agreed. "Yeah, you really have."


It was the dead of night. Nothing moved in the quiet prison. All was silent.

Then why was Saguru awake?

Slowly he sat up on the cot, looking around. Something was not right. The hairs on the back of his neck were prickling with an instinctual warning: get out. Despite it being the middle of summer, Saguru suddenly felt very cold. What if...?

Quietly he picked Kaito out in the dark. "Kuroba," he hissed quietly. "Kuroba."

Kaito was awake almost instantly. "What is it?"

"The people that killed... that you were after," Saguru said, changing mid-sentence. "Could they possibly have connections within the police?"

"Stupid, that was one of the main reasons I didn't go to the Inspector with this," Kaito replied dully. There was a pause as comprehension dawned. "You think we need to get out?"

"Every instinct I have is telling me to run," Saguru confirmed.

And in the morning the cell was empty. Kuroba Kaito and Hakuba Saguru were gone, just a whisper on the wind. And no one thought they'd ever see them alive again.


They had always stayed out of each other's lives, at least as much as they could. That way they could always pull the plausible deniability card if they really had to. Fortunately that situation had never come into play, though far worse had.

They hadn't been perfect of course – no married couple was – but they did a pretty good job of it altogether. Besides, the police already suspected a connection, so it was okay to poke at each other as long as they were under the mask. And when the worst happened she had kept quiet about as much as she had put together, because that had been their vow.

But then worse came to worse, and she started contemplating coming out of retirement. Who were they to destroy her family? Her inner trickster suddenly became serious, demanding not to take this lying down. She was loathe to turn it down, but Kaito needed her now, needed her to be his mother more than ever before.

But then it came to even worse. Kaito was gone. Just gone. She had no one left. They had truly destroyed her family. And she was not going to take this lying down because damn it but they were hers. And thieves were notoriously territorial.

"Phantom Lady returns," she muttered to herself as she dusted off the tools of her trade. She grinned wickedly. She liked the sound of that. It had just the air she was going for. A phantom ghost, out for vengeance.


There you have it. The end. I hope you've enjoyed my experiment and don't think I'm just nuts. Reviews, as always, are highly appreciated.