Author's Notes: This...ended up a lot longer and more introspective than planned. Shinichi wanted to think to get himself sorted, and I had to let him. So, off he went. Huurgh not entirely happy with it, but well, it let me set up some good groundwork for the future. Also, enjoy plot at the end, yay!

Chapter Ten

Walking The Labyrinth

It was far more grating being in the same room as this strange Ran than Shinichi had thought it would be. He supposed it was the knowledge that she looked, moved, and sounded like Ran, but she wasn't really. At least not the Ran he knew. So he was thankful when Kid – should think of him as Kuroba, shouldn't he? That was alias he'd chosen, right? – took over the conversation and kept not-Ran entertained.

He was just getting used to the situation and "Mouri-san" – If...when he got home, he was going to have so many problems calling Ran by name, he really didn't need this on top of the "neechan" bit – when he received another surprise in this Ran's boyfriend.

Hakuba being that boyfriend, while surprising at first, was understandable. The blond always had been a gentleman and punctual to a fault, both things his own Ran had lectured him endless hours for, and he'd obviously shown interest in Ran in that one case about the Sunset Mansion. Shinichi, still having his crush on Ran at the time, hadn't been impressed, but now that the jealousy was gone, he had to admit that they would make a good match. Hakuba would certainly never leave Ran waiting for hours, and would always remember to call if he couldn't make it, something Shinichi had always been terrible at. He had an excellent sense of time when it came to cases, but was absolutely horrible at remembering it when he was caught up in something.

Personally, Shinichi had always been a little miffed that Ran never seemed to just call and ask him where he was, as it wasn't like he ignored his phone during cases, but would then proceed to chew him out for being late when he finally did show up. But he supposed that was the point of the mystical gentleman thing, not to make the lady call or otherwise take it upon herself to make sure things happened. He'd always been horrible at the gentleman thing, really. Weren't relationships supposed to be equal, after all? How could it be equal when he treated his partner as not a partner but a pet?

Shinichi shook his head slightly, getting rid of the thoughts he was losing himself in. Honestly, Hakuba wasn't a bad guy, and if he made Ran happy, well, that was great. He wondered if back home things would work out this way as well, as aside from that Sunset Mansion thing and the occasional heist Sonoko dragged Ran to, there was little opportunity for the two to meet. Ran being a detective in this world must have greatly increased their contact.

He watched as Ran greeted Hakuba with a sweet smile, even standing on her toes for a brief moment to kiss the taller teen's cheek, thanking him for "being such a dear". It was admittedly pretty funny when the normally-stoic teen got mildly flustered at this, going red and stumbling a bit in his words. He'd never thought he'd see Hakuba lose the composure he wore like armor. It was honestly kind of refreshing.

Of course, also kind of funny was the fact that Kid – Kuroba, Kuroba, he couldn't afford slip-ups – was apparently greatly put out by Hakuba's appearance. Shinichi was the only one to see the fact that the thief made a strange expression somewhat between a pained smile and 'sucking on a lemon' when he first saw Hakuba, although it had managed to smooth away in a few seconds.

Shinichi had wondered why for a moment, but then remembered that unlike his relationship with the thief, Hakuba always seemed to personally annoy Kid on some level. He wasn't quite sure who had started it, but now that he thought about it, he doubted they would ever really get along. Hakuba was a person who thrived in order and justice and painting the world into his neat little lines, and the thief obviously took great pleasure in not only coloring outside the lines, but drawing new ones altogether. It was probably just a basic personality clash.

In that case, it would probably be best if Shinichi handled most of the interaction with Hakuba. While he thought that the blond could certainly loosen up, he never had much of a problem with him, and he was always good for a Holmes talk. Despite his griping about the other teen to Ki-Kuroba in the Kudou manor yesterday, it was actually nice to have someone to talk to about his fictional idol that didn't get supremely irritated with him after about five minutes of it like Ran did.

Besides, this Hakuba was going out with this Ran, and he really didn't want to see the results of Kuroba starting to annoy the blond. He needed the thief relatively unharmed if they were going to get home.

Hakuba stepped further inside after greeting Ran, toeing off his shoes and placing the duffel and plastic bag on the ground. "Well, after hearing about the situation, I brought some things I deemed appropriate." He unzipped the duffel, and Shinichi stepped forward to see what Hakuba brought out.

The duffel contained two blankets, two towels, and several changes of clothes, including a pair for each of them that matched Poirot's dress code. Each was folded in Hakuba's usual razor precision, and Shinichi had a feeling that, from the way Kuroba was eying it, the clothes allotted to the thief would soon find themselves in decorative little heaps across the floor.

Shinichi idly wondered just what about Hakuba's neatness annoyed people. Hattori went out of his way to be extra-messy whenever the blond was about, although Hattori and Hakuba clashed worse than Hakuba and Kid ever would. Now there was a case of complete and utter opposites.

The plastic bag contained two toothbrushes and several travel-sized containers of things like soap and shampoo, as well as some plastic utensils. Ran seemed thrilled, and Shinichi would have to admit that he almost felt like hugging Hakuba himself. He'd never expected such consideration, but that was definitely a point in Hakuba's favor. Perhaps being overly-meticulous was a good thing, if it was solving a lot of Shinichi's worries. He hated feeling dirty.

Kuroba, it seemed, was restraining himself, and even enthusiastically thanked Hakuba for the items, reminding Shinichi to voice his own gratitude out loud. Hakuba shrugged it off with surprising modesty, blushing again when Ran beamed at him. Huh. Another point in that relationship's favor, then, the Hakuba he was familiar with would never be so modest. Or was that a base difference between this world and home?

Ran then clapped her hands. "Well, it's almost six. Why don't we eat dinner and then we can leave you to get settled in, Kudou-kun, Kuroba-kun?"

Kuroba, fully recovered from Hakuba's appearance, surged back to his feet with a brilliant grin. "A sensible suggestion, as expected from a lovely lady!" Ran blushed slightly, and oh no, there was the pestering. Sure enough, Hakuba's expression darkened from placid to annoyed at Kuroba's overt flirting. Ugh, they couldn't afford this. Standing, Shinichi reached out and grabbed Kuroba's arm, smiling brightly at Hakuba and Ran. "We'll get the food, if you got arrange the plates...?"

Not waiting for an answer, he dragged the thief into the kitchen with him, at which point he glared flatly at him, hissing. "What do you think you're doing? Do you want to piss them off?"

Kuroba gave him a look so innocent that it might as well have been in some magazine about charities and saints. Shinichi didn't buy it for a moment, and squeezed the thief's arm harder. "No annoying Hakuba. I don't care about whatever pissing contest you two are in back home, none of it here. Or do you want Ran to figure out you're deliberately annoying her boyfriend?"

Putting emphasis on that last word worked, it was almost funny seeing the thief suddenly calculate what that meant and unconsciously grimace. Kuroba huffed, moving towards the fridge, and Shinichi dropped his hold on the thief's arm. "I know, I know, no picking on Tantei-san." Kuroba whined slightly. "But he's so stuffy...are you sure not just a little?"

"None." Shinichi was firm. "I am not dragging your body out of whatever ditch they find it in if you do. Besides, you may even find him tolerable if you weren't so dead-set on making his life hell."

Kuroba mumbled something that sounded like "payback's payback" as he pulled out the to-go boxes from Poirot and opened them. Inside was more sandwiches, what appeared to be a cold pasta salad, and several slices of chocolate cake, enough for the four teens to make a decent dinner. Apparently Ran had planned on staying for dinner. Kuroba's mood whiplashed so fast that Shinichi rather felt like he'd been slapped in the face when an ecstatic grin spread across the thief's face and he practically bounced out of the kitchen. "I like that manager!"

Bemused at what had caused the sudden mood swing, Shinichi followed Kuroba as the other strode over to the waiting Hakuba and Ran, who had knelt in the center of the living room, plates and utensils already divided neatly between the four of them.

It was a short but fairly comfortable dinner. The food was good, thankfully not needing to be reheated as the place didn't have a microwave yet, and Kuroba's improved mood seemed to be contagious as he quickly got Ran laughing and even Hakuba smiling a bit. Obviously the blond was still hyper-alert to any flirting on Kuroba's part, but the thief did none of it beyond what could be construed as perfectly friendly and, indeed, focused his attention over the group equally. Glad that he wasn't going to have to maim the thief himself for endangering him, Shinichi settled back and enjoyed the meal.

The reason for Kuroba's sudden cheer became apparent when dessert rolled around and he set upon his slice of chocolate cake with gusto. Shinichi was vaguely amused as he took a few bites out of his own – he'd never been much for sweet things like chocolate. Who knew that an internationally-wanted criminal apparently had a huge sweet tooth?

As the chatter wound down after the cake, Ran stood, giving Shinichi and his new housemate a warm smile. "Well, we'd better get going. Remember Masutaka-san said ten tomorrow morning! I'll try to be over tomorrow with my mother and bring some other things. I'm pretty sure we have a few spare futons and the like, I wouldn't want you to sleep on the floor. And the manager will probably complain that it will affect your work performance if we don't take care of you!"

Laughing softly at her own joke, Ran glanced at Hakuba, who rose as well, brushing off his pants and giving a polite bow. "It has been nice meeting you, Kudou-san, Kuroba-san. I will probably see you tomorrow as I help Ran-san."

Shinichi stood and bowed back lightly himself. "Thank you for all of your help, you really saved us."

"Just work hard and we'll consider it even!" Ran replied, and then seemed to hesitate and give Shinichi the oddest look, like she wanted to say something delicate, but apparently decided better of it as she shook her head and took Hakuba's arm, leading them towards the door. "We'll be going now, then. Have a good night!"

"Good night!" Kuroba chirped, waving merrily at the two as they closed the door behind themselves. Shinichi felt himself slump in relief slightly. It had been a bit easier to interact with her the more he was with her, but it was still hard. He had to watch every sentence out of his mouth to make sure he didn't slip and say something he shouldn't. It was tiring.

He turned to see Kuroba picking up the remains of the dinner with swift movements, moving the leftovers into one box for easy keeping. The convenience bag Hakuba had brought was turned into an impromptu trash bag for what couldn't be re-used, and the rest went back into the fridge.

Shinichi moved to shut the window. Most of the dust had now migrated outside anyways, and it was getting cold now that the sun was down. He stared out the window at the darkened city, lights twinkling from the windows. He'd honestly never thought he'd be appreciating this scenery again as a tenant rather than a house guest. Even before he'd become Conan, he'd never thought he'd ever live here. He'd always sort of assumed Ran would move in with him back then rather than the other way around, and as Conan he'd always known he'd go back to his house once he returned. There was no reason for him to ever live here in his life.

But here he was, examining the scenery that had become too familiar for comfort during those long years as Conan, and it was mildly depressing to realize that there was a very real chance he would once again be forced to stare out this window instead of from his home once again for a very long time. He had nothing against the apartment, really, but...it always did seem to be where Shinichi ended up when he couldn't be in his normal life anymore. He wondered if that had been the starting point in his changing feelings for Ran, the mental association of living with her, living in this place, as a cage separating him from his real life. He supposed he was thinking about her a lot today, but it couldn't be helped. Seeing this world's Ran, so close to what he knew but so different, just sort of reminded him of all the things he'd been through. He'd lost his future plans, his love, but he'd gained a sister out of it. Almost two, really, since Haibara came along. But he'd still lost what to do with the emotional plans of his life. Those weren't back on track yet, and Shinichi didn't know if they ever would be. After all, his first love had been the girl he'd known all his life. He didn't have any other options, now. Ran dating Hakuba here was a reminder of that fact. She would have no problems moving on with her love life, he was sure, but he didn't even know where to start.

"Penny for your thoughts, Tantei-kun?"

Kid's voice, Kuroba's voice, brought him out of his thoughts, and he blinked over his shoulder at the thief. "Eh?"

Kuroba snorted at him. "Despite that intelligent response, I doubt you were staring out the window because the glass is a particularly interesting color. It might help to talk, you know. You don't talk enough."

Shinichi arched an eyebrow, because Kuroba really wasn't qualified on how much or little one person should talk, but sighed. Who knew, maybe he'd provide some insight. And he'd be living with the guy for who knew how long. Kid wasn't the sort of person to go blabbing about personal conversations, anyways. Who would he tell about Shinichi's love life? Inspector Nakamori? Yeah right.

And it might feel nice to talk to someone about it. Ran was always saying he needed to talk about his feelings more.

Shrugging, Shinichi looked back out the window. "...Just seeing Ran dating someone reminded me of how things used to be, you know? I used to think I had it all figured out...one day I'd screw up my courage, ask her out, and then I'd be a famous detective, marry her, and...you know, standard family plan. But now..."

The thief stepped closer, leaning on the windowsill. "...Why did that change? If you don't mind me asking. I realized that you two had moved on, but I was always curious as to why. From what I saw, I thought nothing would come between you two."

Neither Kuroba's tone nor face held any hints of mocking, just interest, so Shinichi relaxed a bit. Maybe it was okay to tell him. "Being Conan just...it changed us. It's really hard to think about dating a girl who was essentially your big sister for two years. I sorta realized it when Hattori made some stupid joke about kissing her and my first reaction was disgust, like he'd told me to make out with my mom. She's always been by my side, so...I guess it was just that little push that turned her into a sister instead."

Sighing, Shinichi slouched, propping his chin up on one arm. "...To be honest, it scared me, and kinda depressed me, that day. Returning to Ran had been one of my goals, you know? One of the things I was always striving for when I was shrunk. It was like I'd lost a piece of myself. But...I just couldn't, anymore. I couldn't love her like that. Lost quite a few nights of sleep, especially since at that time Ran hadn't moved on yet. But...she did, thankfully. We managed to move past it and I'm glad I still have her, my friend and sister, all in one. But now...where do I go? I'm not the sort to casually date anyone, I want to know them first, be friends. But, well, I've always been terrible at making friends, so I don't have any options, so I just don't see anything happening for me. I know Ran will find someone easily, she always had boys lining up after her on the off chance we'd never work out, but me...?"

Shinichi trailed off. He'd said rather more than he wanted, but he blamed that on Kuroba's open, encouraging face. He hadn't interrupted Shinichi, which he was rather thankful for. He'd probably become defensive if he had, or pressed for more information, or something.

But it felt nice to just tell someone. He couldn't tell Ran, because she'd feel guilty, and at the same time would make it her mission to find someone for him, and he just didn't want that. She would mean well, but Shinichi preferred to make his own decisions about this. The only other people he could tell would either laugh at him (Haibara), be even worse at romance than he was (Hattori), or just have no real input on the matter (Agasa). And that right there ended his rather short list of acquaintances he truly trusted. And only one of those passed the "naked Internet photo test", and that was Agasa, which was just sad.

Kuroba hummed softly, before suddenly turning around and leaning against the wall, looking up at the ceiling. "...Would you believe me if I told you I'm rather in the same boat?"

Shinichi looked over at the thief in surprise. "...You? Kaitou Kid? The man who possesses too much charisma for his own good?"

Kuroba snickered. "Pleased to hear you are aware of my charms, Tantei-kun, but yes." Here Kuroba's smile turned wistful. "...I used to like a girl. Always together, just like you and Mouri-chan, although I must admit, your Mouri-chan is more of a catch. But...well. This happened."

Kuroba flicked his wrist, making Kid's monocle appear. He balanced it on a finger, still looking up thoughtfully. "She hates Kid, you know. That girl's sense of right and wrong is even more black and white than Tantei-san's, and that is saying something. Even if I explained myself and she understood, she would never forgive me for the lies and the pain I've caused her and her father. She wouldn't really understand why it had to be this way, you know? So I forced myself to give up. A little different than you, but, well...I knew it wouldn't go anywhere after a certain incident. But now, there's no option left for me, either, and I'm unlikely to make one. It is a little hard to pursue real romance when one is an internationally-wanted criminal."

Shinichi blinked in surprise at how forthright Kuroba was being. Filing away the information – Her father? Hated Kid? He was unaware of any teen girls that truly hated the thief, all of them seemed to be in some orgasmic thrall about his mystery like Sonoko, or at least mildly interested like Ran – Shinichi tilted his head as he considered what to say. He decided on a question, somewhat rhetorical for both of them. "...How do you move on, really? I don't even know where to start looking."

Kuroba flashed him a grin, flicking his wrist again to send the monocle spinning in the hair. When it fell back down a hand flashed out and it was gone before Shinichi could quite see he'd grabbed it. "I'll tell you when I find the answer, Tantei-kun. But I doubt the world will stop spinning if we don't get girlfriends in a month. Besides, it hardly matters here, does it?"

Right, the other depressing topic of the day. Shinichi sighed. "...No it doesn't, although it might start mattering if we can't get home."

The other tsked, waggling a finger at him. "Now, now Tantei-kun, if I'm not allowing myself to indulge in self-pity and despair about our current situation, neither can you. As you correctly surmised right before we went on this little trip, I am looking for something, and compared to that little snipe hunt, this is easy. Why, I even know the name, legend, and properties of the gem I'm looking for! I find that a vast improvement over my normal situation."

That peaked Shinichi's curiosity. "What are you looking for, anyways? The best I can make of it is a large gem with some sort of unusual legend, probably one that's worth interest to unsavory beings considering the interest the Organization had in it."

"Now now, you've already gotten your free confirmation out of me, Tantei-kun. You're a detective, find out the rest." Kuroba winked at him, turning to head back to the kitchen. "Do you want the rest of your cake slice? I saved it for you."

It was telling that he could, somehow, read the question in the thief's words. He was getting too used to him, really, and they'd only been together two days. He hoped this wasn't turning permanent. He waved a hand at the other. "Eat it. I don't really care for chocolate. Who knew you had a weakness for the stuff, next chase maybe I'll just lace a pie with some sedatives."

"Ah ah, but now you've warned me and I will be extra-cautious about all sweets obtained from you in manners relating to heists. Although you are perfectly welcome to give me uncontaminated sweets anytime, I might even give you free passes from my tricks if they're exceptionally nice." Snickering, Kuroba still headed for the kitchen.

"Because you target me with your tricks so often." Shinichi muttered dryly, which was answered with more snickers. Shinichi turned to look back through the window. Speaking of home... "...Do you think time is passing, there...?"

"Well, honestly you are rather boring to hit, you just glare and get really stiff and cold. And Tantei-san is always such a tempting target." Kuroba bounced back into the living room, the remains of Shinichi's cake slice already half-shoved into his mouth. He looked at Shinichi in apparent confusion for a moment, before looking back out of the window, looking thoughtful. "...I can't say. It might be going the same speed, or slower or faster. It might even just put us right back at the time we left when we go, which is honestly what I'm going to hope for. It will be so troublesome to explain away disappearing if it's too long."

Shinichi groaned. "Says you. Oh god, if time is really passing, I have no idea how I'm going to convince the school to let me graduate on time. Again. It was hard enough the first time around..."

"I'm sure you'll do it somehow, Tantei-kun." Kuroba chirped, ever the optimist it seemed, as he polished off the cake at a speed which, quite frankly, horrified Shinichi. "Now then, as we do need to get up reasonably early tonight, we'd best turn in It is getting rather late, after all."

Shinichi stared at Kuroba, then pointedly looked at his hands, one of which still had a bit of chocolate icing on it. Kuroba glanced down and licked it off absent-mindedly. "...Are you even going to be able to sleep?"

"I'll have you know that two little cake slices are nowhere near enough to get me wired, Tantei-kun." He replied, moving to the pile of things Hakuba had left and grabbing the blankets, flicking one out onto the floor. "Now, sleeping or not?"

Rolling his eyes, Shinichi moved to take the other blanket from Kuroba, laying it out on the floor a little ways away. As they got ready to sleep in their little makeshift beds – Shinichi personally couldn't wait for Ran to bring something over tomorrow to sleep on – Shinichi contemplated the rather enlightening conversation they just had.

Kuroba had been...surprisingly understanding. And very easy to talk to. He supposed it was the magnetic charm that seemed to cling to him – he wouldn't be surprised if the other was one of the most popular people in his school, which Shinichi believed he still attended – but at the same time, it had seemed...different. Less like charisma and more like...closeness? Understanding? Because Kuroba, Kid, had really understood? He hadn't even meant to say all he had, but somehow it just came out, with none of the embarrassment that talking about such close things usually brought about. And Kuroba had even responded, giving him a surprisingly delicate piece of information. Why...?

Staring at the ceiling, giving an absent-minded reply as Kuroba wished him good night and flicked off the lights, Shinichi contemplated exactly what that meant.

It had felt, honestly, a lot like friendship. And not just the casual kind that most of his classmates hung around him for, that falseness brought about by his fame, but more real. Like Hattori, and Haibara, and Ran.

It really seemed like he was becoming friends with Kaitou Kid. And wasn't that a thought.

Letting his thoughts chase themselves, Shinichi continued staring up into the darkness until sleep finally overcame him.

Holding a cup of coffee, bathed in the illuminate of his computer screen, a man leaned back in his chair, frowning in contemplation as he considered this newest development.

Someone had been in his house.

Whoever it had been was extremely skilled – almost every track was covered, no fingerprints, no hair or such left behind. Would have been covered if he hadn't spent long years becoming very attuned to any signs of unauthorized entry. It was the tiniest signs – the book he had been reading in his study was one millimeter to the left than from where he had left it, he was missing two slices of bread, a bottle in the bathroom was turned a degree to the right – that let him know that not only had someone been in his house, they had been in it for at least long enough to break into his laptop. The trail was a bit messy and obviously a hackjob, but he couldn't learn what they were doing as that was amazingly covered up, so it had been someone with skill.

And this was very bad. He knew of only two reasons someone would be in his house, looking into his computer, and one of those reasons would have left an obvious sign that it was him, so he wouldn't have worried. The other...

The other was a very bad reason, indeed.

Thankfully this laptop was strictly for work, and nothing but his writings was on it. They wouldn't have found any information they were after. But the fact that they were looking was telling. Where had he gone wrong? They'd both been so careful to not let any sign of his involvement be seen...

There was only one way to handle this. The intruder had to be waylaid before any slightest hint could be passed on. And, hopefully, an answer could be pried about why he was being looked into.

He flipped out his cellphone. It was an unholy hour, but knowing who he was calling, it wouldn't really matter. He dialed the number by memory, as keeping the number in his address book would be too telling if anyone got a hold of his phone.

He pressed dial and held it up to his ear, waiting. On the third ring, like always, the line connected, and a voice answered.

"It's three in the morning. This had better be important." Despite the words, it was fairly good-natured-sounding, but it still caused his hand to clench, because it could sound so much more brighter. It had, until that day ten years ago. And it just brought his resolve to continue their work to the forefront again. If, even just once, to hear that cheer in the other's voice again. He was of the opinion that the world had lost some true magic that day.

"Someone was here." He spoke without preamble. "I need your help casing all new arrivals in Beika."

There was a silence, then the line clicked off. He simply snapped his phone shut. After all, the shorter the calls, the less chance of something leaking. Besides, the other knew what to do from that alone.

Sighing, Kudou Yuusaku slouched back into the armchair, staring out of the window at the darkness beyond. The shadows were moving, it seemed. He just had to stay one step ahead.

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