Mikau: Hello everyone! Thanks for coming back once again. Thanks this time to Eyeinthesky and kakashikrazy256 who reviewed. Updates might be further apart since I started my internship yesterday. I'm never going to get used to being called 'Kara-sensei.'

Disclaimer: If I owned it, there would be more Kid heists than murders.

….

The First Date

There was a bouquet of seven red roses on Saguru's desk when he finally made it home that evening.

The card sitting next to them said: "Bravo! Well done tonight; now if only you could chase me with that much passion in your eyes every heist. I have to admit, I was scared stiff all night, but if my small sacrifice allows you to stay in Japan, it'll be worth it. Thank you for holding my hand the whole time. I'll see you when I see you, Tantei-mine."

Hakuba took a deep breath and read the card over twice more.

His heart skipped a beat.

No wonder it had been so easy. Kid had purposely let himself be captured for Saguru's sake. He'd risked everything just so that Hakuba could stay. For so trivial a reason, Kaito had gambled with fate—for his sake.

The blonde felt dizzy.

What the bloody hell was wrong with that magician? They weren't even friends; why would he do such a foolish thing?

He read the card again, eyes resting on the phrase 'Tantei-mine.' He knew Kid was just joking around, just teasing him, but it still made Saguru's head spin.

He sighed. He was tired, confused. He needed to lie down and clear his head.

000

Unfortunately, the next morning after he was showered and dressed, the note and the roses still made his heart beat a little faster and brought a blush to his cheeks.

Saguru sighed and went down for breakfast.

"Good morning, Saguru!" his father greeted, folding up the paper and coming to clap his son on the back. "Excellent work last night; I only wish I could have been there to see you in action—the only person to have ever successfully lead the Kid away in handcuffs. If only those lousy transport officers hadn't been so sloppy, ruining your hard work."

"I'll just have to catch him again next time." Saguru shrugged, trying not to beam too brightly at the praise from his father. He felt bad, having not earned it entirely on his own merit, but he saw no sense in wasting this once-in-a-lifetime gift that Kaito had procured for him.

"Right you will!" the large man chortled, finishing up his breakfast and taking the dishes to Baaya in the kitchen.

"Father?" The blonde bit his lip nervously. "I think…I'd like to remain in Japan after I graduate. I want to join the police force here."

"You don't want to go back and try for a place with Scotland Yard?" The larger man raised an eyebrow at his son.

"No. I might change my mind later, but for now, I think I want to study and work here…if that's alright with you, that is." He held his breath.

"Of course!" His father laughed loudly from his gut. "We'll get you into the finest police academy." He clapped his son on the back once more for good measure before heading out.

"Congratulations, Bocchama." Baaya smiled gently, quietly glowing with pride as she set breakfast down in front of her charge—hash browns and eggs with a side of fruit and yogurt.

"There's no need for congratulations, Baaya. Kid let me catch him." Saguru sighed, thanking his surrogate mother for the meal.

"He let you catch him?" the matronly woman repeated in surprise.

"He…he came to visit me the other night when I was feeling really crappy, and I kind of told him about what Father had said. He let me catch him so that I could stay here." The detective teen smiled fondly down into his sunny-side-up eggs.

Baaya nodded slowly. "I see."

"Baaya, can I ask you a question in the strictest confidence?" He looked up at her, pleading with those soulful golden eyes.

"Of course, Saguru-dear. What is it?"

"What does one do when one finds oneself attracted to a member of the same sex?" Saguru sighed, biting his lip and waiting for the disgust and rejection.

It never came. "Well, I would make sure my feelings were genuine before rushing into anything," Baaya replied thoughtfully. "You've been under a lot of mental stress and emotional strain lately. It could just be a passing illusion. I'd give it awhile, especially considering…well, it is that thief, after all, right?"

The blonde nodded. "How can I not have feelings for him when he's gone so far out of his way for me? We're simply rivals and classmates. We don't even like each other, but he risked his freedom—something he prizes over all else—just to help me out. He's brave and extremely kind. He's sweet, and I…I find it confusing."

"Love is like that, Dear," Baaya chuckled, patting her charge on the shoulder. "Just take it slow, and don't jump into things. Establish a friendship with him. That should give your feelings time to work themselves out."

000

Kuroba was leap-frogging over other students, dodging Aoko-kun's mop, when Hakuba arrived.

The detective suddenly found himself being used by the magician as a human shield.

"Kaito, you coward!" the inspector's daughter shrieked in fury. "You!"

"Excuse me, Aoko-kun. Could I borrow Kuroba for a moment?" Saguru cut the magician off before he could get out the needling comment that had been on his lips.

Kuroba let out a little 'eep' as the blonde grabbed his wrist and unceremoniously dragged him from the classroom.

Once they were out in the hall, Saguru bowed deeply from the waist. "I don't know how to thank you for what you did for me last night. I'm extremely grateful. Thank you, Kuroba."

"You're welcome," Kaito chuckled. "I have no idea what you're talking about, but you're welcome."

Hakuba blinked, rising out of his bow. "You…no, of course you don't." The detective sighed. He should have known better. "Of course you'd still insist that you weren't Kid. Kuroba, cut the act; I know it's you. I really wish you'd stop insulting my intelligence. Of course I recognized you. How could I bloody not when I was on top of you, inches from your face?"

Kaito's eyes went wide at this. "Wow, Hakuba. Too much information. God, I hope you're just pulling my leg; otherwise, my image of Kid is totally shot. You don't just go telling people that their hero is sleeping with—"

"—You know what? Just forget it," Saguru seethed, cutting his companion off. "If you insist on mocking me, I'm leaving. I don't know how I got it into my head that we could be friends, but…forget it. I don't understand why you helped me, but I've thanked you, and I'm leaving now." He turned on his heel and started to storm away, his tear ducts beginning to sting.

"Hakuba?" Kaito softly called after his classmate.

"What?" the detective muttered.

"I'm sorry for upsetting you," the brunette replied in earnest. "Would you let me treat you to coffee after school to make up for it?"

Saguru blinked in confusion, slowly turning back around. "Why would you want to do that?"

"Other than to say sorry?" Kaito grinned, chuckling mirthfully. His eyes sparkled. "I want to hang out with you…to see if we could be friends."

And so, after school, Hakuba found himself sitting across from the magician in a little café called "Nancy's" with a scone and a cup of tea.

Kuroba was eating a double chocolate chip cookie to go with his hot chocolate while simultaneously juggling the napkins. He glanced up, meeting a pair of golden eyes, and smirked, looking like some feral creature.

The napkins returned to the tabletop where they belonged.

"Hakuba?"

"Y-yes?" The sudden noise caused the taller boy to jump.

All playfulness faded from the thief. "I'm sorry."

Our hero blinked. "Whatever for?"

"I'm not sure, really." Kaito shrugged, getting out a deck of cards to shuffle. "For whatever I did that made you cry the other day. You usually shrug me off and do that 'keep calm' British thing when I tease you, but the other day… Are you doing okay, Hakuba?"

It was difficult to think straight under the gaze of those violet-blue orbs of Kuroba's. "It's…just stress." It was pointless to deny that anything was wrong, but he couldn't come up with a convincing lie, so he just left it at that. He then bit his lip. "My father…"

"Your father?" Kaito cocked his head to the side. He'd seen the Superintendent briefly once, but he didn't know enough to make any judgments.

"…contributes immensely to my psychological strain. Never mind; I don't want to talk about it." Saguru busied himself with his scone.

The brunette nodded. "Anything I could do to make life suck less?"

This got a chuckle out of the detective. "In the event you were Kid, you could retire. Better yet, you could arrange a meeting with Kid for me. I'd like to thank him properly."

"For what exactly?" Kaito raised an eyebrow at his companion in a manner that suggested he suspected the detective and thief of afterhours trysts.

Hakuba blushed the exact shade of Santa's suit. "N-nothing like that! It's not what you're thinking. It was no—…well, not 'nothing.' It was everything, actually. He allowed me to escort him out in shackles before escaping."

Kaito nodded. "So…nothing funny is going on between you two?"

"N-no." Saguru shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

"Good. Then I still have a chance."

Saguru nearly doused Kuroba in the tea he had been drinking. "With whom?"

"Who do you think?" The magician snickered impishly. "I'm not his biggest fan for nothing."

It was at this moment that the English detective seriously doubted his deduction that Kuroba was Kid. The other teen sounded deathly serious. But, then again, it could just be the man's gigantic ego. Narcissism was not out of the question.

Saguru took a breath before asking. "Are you gay? I thought you were in love with Aoko-kun."

"Do you have a vested interest in my answer?" Kaito eyed his classmate with suspicion.

Hakuba's nose and the left corner of his mouth twitched.

The trickster laughed. "I am in love with Aoko, but nothing will come of it."

"Why is that? She loves you too, doesn't she? Unless I'm utterly mistaken."

"Nothing will come of it because I love her." Kaito gave a bitter-sweet smile. "I love her, so I want what's best for her, and that's not me. What can I give her? An intense, passionate romance like one from the books—adventure and magic—but that's all. I can't give her stability or security."

Kaito bit his lip, looking down into his mug as he continued. "She deserves a nice, loving, boring guy with some nine to five job. She deserves a cute little house, two kids, and a dog—a bright future.

"I can only promise her today. Hakuba, I could be dead tomorrow; how could I start a relationship with her knowing it would only bring her pain?" The thief smirked bitterly.

"You're a noble man, Kuroba…more so than I gave you credit for, anyway." The blonde's eyes narrowed. "Why do you say that you could be dead tomorrow?"

"It's true for any of us, isn't it?" The magician's carefully practiced poker face was back. "More so for me because I regularly engage in dangerous activities."

"Such as jumping off of buildings and running from the police," Saguru muttered under his breath.

"Says you," Kuroba snorted. "I was thinking more along the lines of rock-climbing and running from mop-wielding childhood friends." He glanced down at his watch. "Sorry to cut our meeting short, but I've gotta go. I have another date." And with that, Kaito placed enough money on the table to cover both of their orders, mussed the Brit's coif, and made a stylish exit, giving the detective a two-finger-salute as he walked out the door.

Hakuba sighed.

v(^v^)v

Mikau: It's supposed to be a bird. Slight use of the imagination may be required. So I was watching this movie the other day called Quill about the life and training of a seeing eye dog. Great movie. I could tell it was set in Kansai because of the accent, and this was confirmed by the Kyoto plates on the cars, but there was this one scene where they went to the city hall. In the background there was a big sign that said 'kutsu,' and I thought, "We have the same shoe store by our city hall." Then they showed the city hall building, and I thought, "Dude! That's ten minutes from my house!" It's always interesting to see familiar places in movies or pictures. Thanks so much for reading!