A/N: Yay! Double digits! I somehow feel accomplished. (Snickers) I had first thought this was late, but I was wrong because my notes say it was due today…well, yesterday, but I haven't gone to sleep yet, so… Also, it's snowing outside! So pretty! (Stares Out The Window) Hope you enjoy this chapter! Yet another character introduction. XD

Today's Quote: "We all live in the protection of certain cowardices which we call our principles." – Mark Twain.

Disclaimer: I do not own Magic Kaito or Detective Conan in any way or form. (or shape, for you dear sister. XD)

Warning(s): OOCness, use of magic, some angst (?), childish behavior, typos, and spells…(Grins)

Chapter Ten

"Dai-kun!" Akemi greeted brightly, pecking the gloomy man on the lips before stepping back again. Spotting the two teens behind him, she swept them up in a short group hug, kissing their foreheads caringly. "Shinichi-kun, Heiji-kun – you've both grown so much!" She giggled lightly as she once again retreated to her sister's side, who was looking on in amusement as Shinichi and Heiji tensed faintly at the familiar gestures. Shinichi gave out a somewhat awkward cough into his hand before his expression changed from impassive to a kind smile.

"Akemi-san, it's been a while." His tone was soft and gentle – a voice he rarely used nowadays and Shiho relaxed at that; having Akemi over seemed like a good idea, after all. Akemi gave him her own sisterly smile, "It has been. It's nice to see you again, even under such circumstances."

"Don't worry, nee-chan! It's just nice to see a friendly face again! All I've been seeing today has been these two glaring bullets at each other." Heiji grinned jovially, waving his hand to reassure the woman who chuckled a bit. Shiho sighed beside her sister, "Seriously, Kudou-kun. You don't get along with anyone other than Hattori-kun. You need friends." She smirked as said boy spluttered in surprise. "Miyano!" He almost whined. Shiho chuckled, shaking her head.

"Why are you being rude to Moroboshi-kun?" She questioned, raising a delicate brow.

Shinichi looked to the side, composing himself once more. "No reason, he's just a disagreeable person, I guess." He shrugged one shoulder, making Dai smirk a bit and Akemi give a small laugh. She had figured that Shinichi wouldn't get along with Dai for several reasons, the most prominent one being that…

"Nah, I think Moroboshi's an alright guy!" Heiji clapped a hand on Dai's shoulder roughly, playfully. "I'm sure it's just Kudou who's the disagreeable one."

The glare he got from his master was worth making the tense atmosphere disappear, he decided. Looking back into the glare though, he couldn't help but wonder if it was.

ooOOoo

Kaito groaned, tightening his grip on the slipping bags as they threatened to fall onto the floor. Aoko would kill him if he allowed them to drop, especially since the things he was currently carrying were hers. He tried to ignore his imagination of revenge that included a…finny thing. He shuddered at the unwanted image.

"Aoko~!" He whined, grabbing the attention of the girl peering through a rack of clothes. "How much clothes do you need to buy? My arms are gonna fall off~!" Because, of course, like the gentleman he was, he was the one stuck carrying the purchases.

"Oh, come on, Kaito! It isn't that bad! I just have to get a few more shirts, and then we can go and get ice cream, okay?" She smiled sweetly at him and resumed shuffling through the clothes. Kaito sighed at the notion of a few more shirts, but agreed. He could never deny ice cream; a weakness of his.

"By the way," Kaito blinked, looking up to see a concerned look on Aoko's face. "Where do you think Saguru went? He was in a hurry." Kaito bit his lip, but kept his emotions under control for the most part. Truthfully, he didn't know as well and was just as worried. The blond teen had been in detective-mode and Kaito knew that always meant no good. Either his friend was on the trail of a dangerous criminal or was about to be; or he was just following up on the case with the magic-stealer, which was just the same as the first one he mentioned.

Sometimes, he really disliked having a detective as a friend. They seemed to completely disregard their own safety because of confidence. Not like he wasn't the same, but…

"I don't know, but I'm sure he'll be fine~!" Kaito grinned cheerfully, moving forward to begin looking through the clothes, too. The bags swayed lightly on his forearms as he reviewed a couple shirts with a critical eye. He absently handed a shirt to Aoko, who blinked before taking the shirt, and putting it in her 'try on' pile.

"After all, there's only so much trouble he can get into. Nothing that bad has happened recently, so I'm sure it's not a case." He assured, handing her another shirt that was a pure white with a nice flowery border for the collar, that was a lace strung together elegantly until it reached the part where her chest would be. Aoko raised a brow before taking it, deciding she didn't want to know why Kaito actually had a good taste in girl clothes. After all, her friend has always been strange in many ways.

"That's not true! Aoko heard from Tou-chan that there have been random attacks lately!" She huffed, finally deciding that she had enough to try on and heading for the changing area, Kaito following close behind, lugging the bags with him.

"Well…I'm sure he isn't interested in that case." A drop of sweat ran down Kaito's cheek. She was really close to the truth…

Aoko turned to him, a hesitant look in her eyes. "I know, but… Aoko's worried. Saguru seems to be hiding something." Pokerface slammed into place in an instant, making Kaito appear normal. He should have expected this, considering Aoko was the daughter of an inspector – sure, he was kind of hacky and lame, but he was an inspector, after all. He got there with hard work, dedication, and obviously needed brains to get to that position despite what many thought of him being slow-witted.

"Hiding something? What could he be hiding?" He asked smoothly and watched with no little anxiousness as Aoko's bangs covered her eyes with a shadow as she bowed her head. "Aoko doesn't know, but he definitely is. Aoko can see it when he randomly runs off with an excuse and talks to strange people. Like yesterday. That was weird and then when Aoko asked later, he said it was nothing." Her voice was beginning to crack and Kaito feared she would begin crying.

A helpless laugh as the girl's hand came up to wipe her eyes that were slightly damp. "Look at Aoko, worrying about things like this…," She mumbled, trying to smile and failing miserably.

Kaito brought his hand up, popping up a yellow flower into existence. Aoko blinked before taking the flower and drawing it close, a shaking yet sincere smile coming onto her lips. "Don't worry so much. I'm sure he'll tell you in due time. He probably just doesn't want you to freak out about it, right? He's the type to keep things to himself until he's sure that he'll be excepted. Self-conscious idiot." He patted her head gently.

Aoko looked up at him, remembering something. "That's right. He told you, didn't he? You know, when you guys were…," She seemed kind of uncomfortable to bring up the subject. "…going out." She finished finally.

Kaito laughed awkwardly, hand coming up to scratch his faintly pink cheek. "Yeah, he told me. But, I can't tell you, he'll tell you in due time himself." Aoko nodded, smiling at her friend's awkwardness. "Okay, Aoko trusts Kaito." Because she knew that even though her best friend had dated her current boyfriend before, they wouldn't do anything behind her back. They were only friends now, although it seems that their dating had made their friendship closer than most. She had always wondered why they broke up, but never had the heart to ask, since Kaito was so hesitant and uncomfortable when talking about it.

"Good!" Kaito grinned, steering and pushing her gently into a changing stall. "Now hurry and try those things on, I want to go get my ice cream soon~!" Rolling her eyes, she complied, closing the door and locking it.

Kaito sighed in relief, moving out of the woman's changing room place as he got a glare from an older woman. She was so close. Perhaps he could get Saguru to tell her sooner? It would surely make things a lot easier if she knew.

Sorry Aoko, he thought as he took a seat on a nearby waiting bench. I can't tell you myself.

ooOOoo

"Sorry, Hakuba-kun, did you wait long?" Kazuha apologized as her and Sera arrived in the room that Hakuba was in. It was bare, save for the chairs and table in the center; an interrogation room, though it was brighter and more welcoming than other ones. For people who were willing to give information, obviously.

"No, I didn't. Nice to see you again, Toyama-san." He greeted, flashing a charming smile. "Who's your friend?" He questioned curiously as he eyed Sera. Kazuha giggled, "You, too. It's been about four years, right? And this is Sera Masumi. She started not long after you left." She gestured to the girl beside her, who flashed a toothy grin.

"I see." He nodded and the girl's took their seats on the other side of the table. They got to business soon after the casual meeting. "So, what have you got for us, Hakuba-kun?" Kazuha asked, eyes intense; this was her first case being in charge, after all, and she was determined to get to the bottom of it.

"I actually got quite a bit of information from Mouri Ran, the latest victim." He took his small notebook out of his pocket, flipping to the correct page before sliding it across the table so the other mages could look at it. The two peered down at the long list of notes and small details that Hakuba had deemed important. They looked over them all carefully before Kazuha nodded, taking the notebook and closing it.

"We'll have to take this for further reference." Hakuba nodded with a soundless sigh. He had figured as much, but that notebook was important for his detective work. "That's quite alright. Either way, I should leave. I have to get home soon." Because Aoko and Kaito would probably head over there sooner or later in the day, just to check in with him because of how he rushed off earlier. He reflected back on his mindless actions with another sigh before he got up and left out the door.

Sera looked over to Kazuha with a curious glint in her eyes. "What's wrong, Kazuha-chan?"

"Ah, nothing." Kazuha looked up from the table, bright expression on her face. "It's just…Mouri-san said that the familiar's name was Hattori…," Her brightness dropped as nervousness quelled in her. She tried to crush the feelings, though. She shouldn't care this much about the guy already! Just met, she reminded herself with a frown.

Sera laughed carelessly. "Don't worry – that Hattori familiar we met had no association with a Kudou, remember? His master's name was Miyano Shiho." Kazuha felt a spark of hope at the logical reasoning. "True…Perhaps we should go ask Mouri-san what the familiar looked like? Then, we can clear him." Or incriminate him, but she carefully left out that detail with vigor.

"Yeah! I'm sure he'll be clean. We'll have to wait a week, though. Remember, the doctor's says that we TSAB agents can't talk to her until she's admitted out of the hospital." Sera agreed, grumbling a bit in annoyance at the end of her sentence. Really, it wasn't like they were going to harass the girl or something.

"Okay, we'll do that." Kazuha smiled and they both left, getting back to work. She couldn't help but feel somewhat hesitant of checking, though. She had a feeling she wouldn't like the results…

ooOOoo

"Hattori, you eat too much." Shinichi grouched, stealing a piece of chicken from his familiar's plate as Heiji's own chopsticks reached for it. "Hey!" Heiji complained, watching as Shinichi teasingly placed the food in his mouth and chew with a smirk. Apparently, Shinichi's thought of revenge included messing with Heiji's food intake.

Dai chuckled deeply, earning a suspicious glare from the chewing, blue-eyed teen and making Heiji pout. His food…

"Now, Shinichi-kun, don't be mean to Heiji-kun. He was only stating the truth earlier." Akemi soothed, though she had a twinkling sparkle in her eyes that gave her away. "See, Kudou, she agrees." Heiji flashed the shorter male a smug grin only to regret it a second later when two pieces of meat disappeared from his plate with amazing speed and ending up in someone else's mouth. Namely one Kudou Shinichi's.

"Oi!"

Heiji's chopsticks dived towards Shinichi's plate, hoping to take what the other had taken from his plate, before they were stopped by another pair of chopsticks pinching his hand, making his yelp. Another pained yelp indicated that Shinichi's hand had also been pinched. Both looked up to see Shiho, looking relatively calm but her eyebrow was twitching in irritation.

"If you two are done acting like children…," She ignored both protests. "Can we continue eating, please?" She smiled, pleased, as she got two mumbled affirmatives.

Akemi giggled a bit and Shiho felt a tiny smile twitch on her own lips. It almost felt like they were a family again, even though there was one more addition this time. She glanced at Dai, who was calmly eating his food, and analyzed him for moment before nodding to herself. She supposed he was okay, as long as he protected her sister. She would have to confront him about that later, actually.

Sure enough, after dinner found Shiho and Dai standing outside. Akemi had left a moment ago, and Shinichi and Heiji were inside, getting ready for bed. They were alone. She crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes sharply at the man before her.

"Look, I don't like you, but I will put up with you for my sister."

"Well, how kind of you." Dai replied, making her frown deeply. She didn't like the way that sounded.

"I want you to promise me something. No matter what, protect my sister, okay?" She eyed him as he paused for a moment, coming up with a reply. Finally, he turned away, long air swishing with the movement, before he turned his head and gave her a smile.

"Don't worry. I'll protect her with my life."

With that said, he walked away towards his truck, leaving Shiho on the porch, uncertain of whether or not to believe him.

ooOOoo

"O the Realm of Hell…Ye who dominate in tenebrosity…Bring me power." The voice lilted off the concrete walls, shadowy light covering the figure in the black cloak.

"Bring me power." The voice repeated, growing a bit louder.

"The satanic adversary of darkness," A piece of paper with symbols drawn on it were flourished. "The lord of fiery purgatory who defied heaven – I call upon thee, Lucifer!" The paper was dropped into the faintly glowing, purple water only for it to turn a vivid sky blue.

"Reveal at once thy egregious figure and answer to my inquiries!" The girl's face was revealed by the glowing, a devastatingly beautiful face with an intimidating smirk. "Rise, Lucifer!" The girl drew back, raising her arms into the air, "Come forth unto me!" The liquid rose and turned into a hot, fire-like substance that caused the light to bounce off the walls and come back in an eerie way. The blue flames formed something resembling a figure.

"Who would dare call upon me? Which foolish mortal is it?" The figure called out, voice deep and dark, resounding off the walls. The girl ignored the question, brushing a piece of her long reddish hair behind her ear calmly. "Tell me, Lucifer, is something interesting about to take place?"

Despite his grumbling from before, the figure answered obediently. "In the place where the black crows surround the blue-eyed raven, betrayal will come forth and bestow upon wretched grey hearts and the ash-like sky will become a bloody red. The faithful one will stray and a meeting between fates will be tied with sadness while the mourning one will continue to be protected with pain and unmoral ways."

The girl smirked, this would be interesting. She ripped up a piece of paper, making the figure disappear, as he began to rage again about being called out again and she began to start decoding the cryptic message.

Review Replies:

To: SakuraKoi – Thanks! ^^

To: Shara Raizel – Dai's up to a lot of things~! (Grins) Here's some Kaito and Hakuba again, along with Aoko. ^^

To: Mokuren No Ken – Yup, update~! Haha, I'm glad you love his appearance, as well as hate it. XD I'm glad he's an enigma – just as I had hoped. (Laughs) Haha, yup, fake name – hope you didn't ponder too much. XDD Here's the update~! 8D And I'm glad – I was hesitating for a while, wondering if I should add them, but decided against it. XD

To: MagicMilkbone – Haha, I'm glad you do~! And yup, he doesn't. XD And, yeah, I think I'd be the same, if I was in his situation, lol. Here's the update~!