I have a deviant art account now and put a pic of what I think Saguru would have looked like up on
my profile page if anyone is interested. ^_^


Chapter 8: Kaleidoscope

The detective sat on the edge of one of the racks, letting the cool metal of the bar touch his bare skin as it brushed the side of his leg. The girls were off somewhere, hopefully far away from him.

He hadn't known just what he was getting into when he proposed the idea of shopping.

Kaito's mother, though soft spoken at home, was a completely different person in the shopping world. She'd tried to get him into so many different outfits that Saguru actually had to hide from her to keep some of his dignity in tact. Crawling on the floor on his hands and knees was better than looking at some of the outfits that woman wanted him to put on. And he'd thought the ones he had been borrowing from Kaito were bad. Of course, Kaito probably liked his mother's style.

Ai wasn't any better. She and Kaito's mother were having fun shopping for her as well. Saguru had offered to buy her some clothes and, as against the idea as the girl was, she was ecstatically looking for something that she and the magician's mother could agree on.

"Boo!"

Saguru jumped when another boy had crept up on him. He couldn't be spotted from above, but below the clothes line was fair game.

The boy laughed at his startled expression, eyeing him as he took in Saguru's appearance.

"Are you foreign?"

Thinking as fast as his could while adrenaline was still running through him, Saguru nodded, "Partly."

The other boy smiled, dark hair parted in the middle and freckles taking up most of his face. "I thought so. You can speak though, can't you?"

Saguru nodded again, almost insulted by the accusation.

"Why are you hiding?" The boy looked around, trying to see what it was the Saguru could be avoiding. "Is you're mom around here or something?"

"Yeah," Saguru lied, leaning back into the clothes more, so that the boy wasn't in his face. "Don't draw attention."

After a minute Saguru saw Kaito's mother and Ai come around the corner and ducked down further.

"Are you hiding from Haibara-san?"

Saguru stared at him, blinking slightly in confusion. "You know Ai-san?"

All the friendliness that the boy had been offering was wiped away in an instant, and he was staring daggers down at him. "How do you know her?"

"She's my cousin." His words were quiet but the lie came out easily, as if it were natural.

"Oh, you're cousin." The boy's expression disappeared and he sighed. "Good."

"What's good?" Saguru was still confused.

"Nothing." The boy ducked back out of the clothes rack, turning back at the last second. "Just so you know though, you can't hide from Haibara-san."

As if on cue, Ai poked her head in less than a minute after the boy walked away.

"What are you doing Hakuba-kun?" She asked, voice having made him jump as Saguru tried to calm himself down.

"Nothing" he said lamely.

"If you want to look for something, you can. Chikage-obasan and I are almost done, so she shouldn't bother you."

Saguru nodded numbly, feeling as if he was being scolded. Looking down at his clothes, he sighed. He really needed to get something decent.

The kid's section didn't have anything he was looking for so he settled on less casual shirts than he normally wore. None of them were even button down. The main thing was that he got himself some boxers of his own. He greatly disliked wearing someone's old underwear.

Saguru took his clothes over to the girls when he was finished, buying seven shirts and an equal amount of shorts, settling on a few pairs of socks as well.

Ai smiled at him. "Thank you. I haven't gone clothes shopping in some time. I never had the money for it."

He shrugged, smiling back. "It's no trouble. You're helping me as well, so I should be the one thanking you. If you need any assistance, I could go to the lab with you as well."

Ai shook her head. "I do my best work alone."

Saguru nodded. He felt the same way. He couldn't handle more than one other person running around while he was working on something, and that one person was only allowed to stay so that Saguru could focus on his work and not have to scamper around for everything he needed.

"They're all so plain Saguru-kun. Couldn't you have picked something more colorful?" Kaito's mother asked when he hefted his clothes onto the counter.

"No thank you. I'm rather set in my ways at this point and don't like when my clothes make me stand out. I have enough trouble as it is with my hair."

"Oh but I love your hair." Kaito's mother bent down and ran her hands through his hair again, brushing a few strands that had falling out of place because of its softer texture. He had faint memories of one of the housemaids who worked for his mother in England doing the same thing, and yet none of his mother.

It felt very comforting.

"Boo!"

Saguru jumped and he watched Ai spin around, looking ready to fight whoever was behind them. Kaito smirked, looking like a five year old who'd just been given a slice of cake. "Did I scare you?"

"I've had enough people do that to me today, thank you." Saguru put a hand to his forehead, feeling it shake. He didn't like being snuck up on. Ai relaxed quicker, the predator look leaving her eyes to be filled with a softer kindness.

"Hello Kaito-kun. I hope you enjoyed that because I certainly didn't."

Kaito grinned back at her. "Of course I did. What fun would it have been if I'd have told you I was there? None at all. Might have even made me seem normal and I wouldn't like that."

"So you have to act abnormal all the time?"

Kaito's eyes were too watchful and Saguru felt as if the magician was seeing more of him than he wanted him to. A hand on his shoulder made him twitch back.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you that badly."

"You didn't." He brushed the magician's hand off, feeling how his body still wasn't under his control. It wasn't as if he could help being scared, what with someone having almost killed him less than two days ago. Saguru was still having a problem with not jumping at shadows.

"Right, my bad, I took the fact that your shaking to mean I scared you. I guess you're just cold," Kaito snapped, eyes on him but half closed.

Saguru ignored him, folding his arms over his chest and turning away, eyes focused on the counter. "Kuroba-kun, there is a difference between being scared and being startled. Though you fancy yourself a bad guy, I am not frightened by you or your little tricks. Startling me, you are good at. Scaring me? Impossible."

Kaito grinned, letting a breathed out laugh escape him. "If you can talk back to me like that, I guess your fine. For the record though, the dictionary would disagree with your reasoning."

"Kaito, what exactly is it that you're doing here besides-" Kaito's mother paused, "surprising these two. I told you in the note that we'd be back soon. I haven't even started lunch."

"Yeah, but I was in the area," Kaito shrugged, "and I've got nothing to do at home." The magician went over to the check out desk and placed a small laser pen on the counter, taking out a few bills.

"What do you need a laser pen for? I hope you don't intend to bring it to class."

"Why do you care? It's not like you're going to be there."

Saguru clenched his fist. Kaito saw it and sighed. "Sorry. No, it's not for class. The one for my radio broke so I need to get a new one."

"Radio?"

Ai smiled next to him, looking up at the magician. "You're making your own radio? It's rather complicated."

"No," Kaito looked away, contemplating. "It's not just a radio exactly. It can be, but I'm using it as a transmitter. I-" Kaito looked down at him. "I need it for something. The voltage was too high the first time and I blew the circuits."

"Then you'll have to rewire it."

"I know that." Kaito glared at her. "I just need a new pen. I already took care of the rest."

"If you diverted too much power-"

"Hakuba-kun, I don't need your input either. I've got it."

He hadn't even realized he's spoken. There was no need to help Kaito when he was evidently up to something that would be either really bothersome in class, or a good distraction for the police.

"My mistake." He leaned against the counter as Kaito took the small plastic bag, as well as Saguru's two that held his new clothes in them. Picturing a transmitter that used a laser pen, Saguru couldn't help as the schematics of the thing entered his mind. Kaito winked at him as they started out of the store.

"Feeling better?"

Saguru froze where he was, looking up at the magician. Kaito stopped as well a few steps ahead of him and the magician's mother and Ai waited further ahead.

"What?" Kaito asked, seeing that he didn't plan on moving.

"Is that why you told me about it? So that I would get my mind on something else?"

Kaito shrugged, the bags rustling. "I guess."

"You didn't have to do that. What if I messed with your little gadget before you went to use it? It would be easy."

"Well, I'd probably get really mad at you, and maybe hang you out my bedroom window until you apologized." Kaito turned his head up, thinking about it. "Maybe something that wouldn't scare you as much. Why?"

"It's nothing." The magician shouldn't be doing him any more favors. He didn't expect them. It was nice, but Saguru wasn't used to compassion aimed at him, not only from Kaito but from anyone. He started walking again, tipping his head to the side. "Come to the washroom with me."

"Why?" This time Kaito was really confused.

"I swear, if you thought something dirty you are one sick person. I would like to change my clothes, now that I have them. I feel very uncomfortable in yours."

"Oh. And what do you mean 'if I thought something dirty'? I was just wondering why the hell you would need help going to the bathroom!"

"Of course that was your first thought," he said sarcastically.

"It was!" Kaito growled.

Saguru grinned back at Kaito. That was better. He liked it when they were fighting. It was normal, natural. A little support here and there for either of them was acceptable, but it wasn't how cats and dogs acted. Of course, Saguru thought of himself as the dog. It was too bad that the cat could always climb the trees out of his reach.

Kaito frowned when he noticed that his attitude changed, getting angry. "You know, you're like a damn kaleidoscope. It's really annoying."

"At least I'm not like a chameleon. Better there be a different version of me inside, then a completely different person both inside and out."

"I'm not like a lizard," Kaito grumbled, pushing open the door when Saguru had trouble with it. It really was heavy.

Saguru went into the end stall, larger than the others with more room for him to change. He didn't want to be stepping in whatever happened to be on the floor. He took the bags from Kaito, watching the magician slouch against the wall and close his eyes.

"Are you feeling okay," Saguru asked on reflex. Last night the magician hadn't been at his best and, now that they weren't near his mother, Kaito looked downright sick.

"Yeah, I'm fine, why?" Kaito tipped his head, eyes bright and shielding so that he couldn't read passed them.

"No reason." Saguru closed the door, knowing that Kaito's guard would be up after his comment. He should have waited and seen how the magician acted when he didn't know that anyone was watching him.

Digging into the first bag with the shirts, Saguru took out a striped top; the lines were think and golden, mixing with white. The collar was also yellow and had a few buttons near the neck that really were pointless, more for aesthetic appeal than anything else.

There were beige shorts that went nicely with the top and some plain white boxes that he was much happier to be wearing.

Saguru left the stall and, as he thought, Kaito looked composed again.

The magician smiled, letting out a soft laugh that wasn't insulting.

"What's with the bright colors? I'm so used to seeing you in black, it almost looks funny."

"I don't want to wear darker colors right now." Saguru unconsciously gripped his left arm with his fist.

Kaito's smile disappeared, only to reappear a second later. "Sorry. I didn't think about that when I gave you those clothes the other day."

"It's nothing," he shook his head. "They were yours and well worn, so I didn't get- It didn't bother me." And it was the truth. Even wearing black and having the blood stain paint on it, knowing that it was Kaito's old clothes had it hold a lighter significance.

"Well Canary-kun, let's get out of here before mom thinks you fell in the toilet."

Saguru nodded, feeling better in new clothes, but for some reason he missed the feel of Kaito's. They were softer, made of cotton where his were polyester and itched from time to time. Most formal clothes came with a compromise, and he almost missed not caring about that. Letting himself wear whatever he wanted. It wasn't as if anyone was watching him now.

They found the girls waiting for them around the corner, eating.

"Mom I thought you said you were going to make lunch?"

"This is so much easier Kaito. And besides, I'm hungry now."

"I was hungry as well. Fast food won't kill you, if you eat it in moderation."

Saguru laughed. "What do you have against food that could kill you?" He looked up, expected some mocking retort. What he saw scared him.

Kaito had his hand on his forehead and his eyes closed again, swaying slightly where he stood.

"Kuroba-kun-"

"I'll be fine," Kaito said, putting a hand out and catching the table to steady himself. "It's nothing. I'm just a little dizzy. It's my own fault for not eating yesterday."

"Kuroba-kun, you ate this morning," he said quietly, suddenly filling up with uncontested worry. If the magician was showing him that he was ill, then he must have been too sick to hide it. "You shouldn't be feeling like this."

"Kaito…" Kaito's mother's worried tone echoed his.

The magician couldn't seem to find his balance and the arm Kaito was holding onto the table with shook slightly. Saguru put a hand up to catch the magician's shirt.

"Sit down."

Kaito smiled softly. "Can't."

The magician fell to his knees, Saguru's hold on his shirt the only reason he didn't fall over and collapse onto the floor.

"Kuroba-kun!"

But Kaito was in no condition to answer him - wasn't in any condition to even stay upright on his knees. Saguru had to put his arm around him to keep the magician straight as Kaito drifted somewhere between inattentive and unconscious.