KAITO
Kaito hummed the opening tune of a popular anime as the copier whirred. Getting out of the house was a good idea. The gloomy weather was keeping the whole city inside, so he'd been stuck indoors either in school or at home for weeks. He was going a little stir-crazy, and it was a disaster waiting to happen.
Around him the police station bustled with movement. He was currently in disguise as a fictitious junior officer, someone who was expected to fetch coffee and do the copying and keep his head down. If he looked like he was busy most people wouldn't question his presence even if they'd never seen him before.
The copier spit out another old arrest warrant for "Phantom Thief 1412" and Kaito grinned. It would have been easier just to hack the police's computer files and print the digital records from home, but handling the original paper documents and personally making copies at the station was much more satisfying. He was going to frame them, all of them, and hang them in the Kid room. Division Two had accumulated a binder full of arrest warrants from several dozen countries during his father's time as Kid, and Kaito himself had a half-dozen of his own for property damage, breaking-and-entering, grand larceny, identity theft, impersonating an officer of the law, setting off fireworks illegally, etc., etc. in different prefectures.
"Did someone come in to fix the copier? I was having trouble with it earlier."
Kaito's eyebrows jumped up and he spun around a little faster than could be considered casual. He recognized that voice. "Ah, Hakuba-kun." What was he doing here now? "Good morning."
"Good morning." Hakuba gestured to the machine. "I tried an hour ago and it started beeping ominously. Saiki-keiji opened it up and tried to fix the problem, but with no avail. He filed a request to have it repaired, but I see you've fixed it."
Kaito smiled, overly cheerful. "Oh, nothing big. I just applied some percussive maintenance and it was fine." Truthfully, he'd jerry-rigged it with the tools from his kit. "Maybe leave Saiki-san's request in until we can figure out if it will stay fixed."
"That's reasonable, ah –" Hakuba frowned. "I don't believe we've met before."
"Don't worry about it. I've only been here a couple months. I'm Murayama Shou, pleased to meet you."
Hakuba blinked. "Likewise. I thought I'd met everyone in Division Two by now."
"Oh, I've been around, probably just on different tasks than you."
"I see." Hakuba didn't sound quite convinced.
Kaito changed the subject. "What brings you to the station this early on a Saturday? Has there been a new Kid note?"
"No, nothing. In fact, it's been a suspiciously long time since his last heist. I'm worried that he's working on something big."
Wouldn't you like to know? Kaito thought. "We'll get him this time for sure!"
"I hope so."
"So if not a heist note, are you here on another case?"
"Yes. It's officially closed, but it's of personal interest to me." Hakuba's eyes drifted to the copier as another Kid warrant slid out. "I wanted to look over the details myself."
"Sounds interesting. Is that what you needed the copier for?"
"Yes."
"What's the case?"
"Oh, it's nothing big," Hakuba assured him. "Just a detail that didn't make sense."
That evasion set off alarm bells in Kaito's head. "Do you want a hand? I'm not implying that you need help, but if you want it…" What was he saying? Murayama Shou didn't even exist, and if Hakuba cited him as being helpful after the case was wrapped up, someone would figure out that there was no officer by that name and suspicion would be cast on Murayama's efforts to help.
"I'd like to keep this quiet in case I'm wrong."
"I can be discreet."
Hakuba let out a breath. "You remember the Vermillion Bird and Azure Dragon heist?"
"How could I forget it? The brat waltzed through like it was a two-for-one sale." Kaito made the appropriate huffing sounds that a task force officer should, and privately grinned.
"There was a rumor of a second Kid running around, but the officers ultimately determined that it was another rabid fan."
"Is that what happened?" he asked. "Didn't see it myself, since I was stationed at the other building."
"I noticed on the way out the door that there was ink on the person's hands. Today I want to look at the statement given – since I wasn't around when the officers found the suspect – and maybe get a name."
"You think Kid did it on purpose, all those things? That might mean the person isn't a fan."
Hakuba frowned. "Yes, that was my line of thinking, but how did you get there?"
"I'm a detective too, Hakuba-kun," Kaito admonished. "You think Kid wanted the fan's prints for something. The logical jump from there is that he needs that person's fingerprints for a heist in the future – which we can check by seeing if they work someplace that has access to expensive rocks – or that he wants to look up the fan's information for a more personal reason. If it's the latter, then the likelihood is that we caught a copy kaitou and let them go."
"It would be unfortunate if anyone outside the police got wind of that theory, which is why I wanted to look into it quietly."
Nice. Running the copy kaitou's prints would be fairly straight-forward for Kaito, but reading the official interview from the heist, which had all her identification info, would be easier and much less traceable. Kaito followed the detective to one of the record rooms, slipping part six of the files on Kaitou Kid back into its place.
"Right, then, Hakuba-kun. Does this potential lady kaitou have a name?"
Drawer open, Hakuba paused. It stretched from a short silence and moved into the territory of uncomfortable. Kaito remembered to fidget like his character would. "Murayama-keiji, you said you didn't know about what happened at the Fujimoto-Nakano, but I don't remember mentioning that the second Kid was a woman."
Kaito's heartbeat jumped and he internally cursed. "Yes you did. Right at the beginning. You said that the suspect turned out to be another rabid fangirl."
"Did I?" No gender had been specified, actually, but Kaito liked the Murayama Shou disguise and wanted to use it again.
"Yes, I'm sure of it." He projected confidence into his voice and reached over to take the appropriate folder, peeking in at her name. Mikami Nariko. Cute.
He looked up from the file to see Hakuba looking at him strangely. Ah. Time to go, then.
Days later, Kaito still wondered what Hakuba thought about Murayama's excuse to escape the records room, but he wasn't going to ask tonight - not because he was trying to preserve the fiction of Murayama Shou, Division Two detective, but because he happened to be distracted by other things at the moment. Kaito would've gotten his mouth washed out with soap if his mother knew what he was thinking. The last time Snake's assassins had appeared at a heist, they caught the tail end of it – probably due to some confusion surrounding the time in his heist note – but this time they were already in position when Kaito set up for the evening. The dark organization was definitely interested in this one. They'd been mysteriously absent for months, and Kaito had let his vigilance slip, but they were back with guns blazing.
Literally speaking.
As Kaito veered to avoid another perfectly selected assassination spot set up right along one of his escape routes, he realized that they might have hired someone who knew magicians, and if that was the case, the person was good. Interesting. It meant that Kid had moved higher up on the "pest" rung. That was both good and bad for obvious reasons: on one hand, he might be getting close if his intelligence on gems was lining up with theirs, but then there was the obvious drawback of being an even bigger target. It was really only a matter of time before one of them got in a good shot.
No, his palms weren't sweating on the bars of the glider. Nope.
His heart skipped as another crack echoed above the sound of the chaotic police scene below. There was a chilling riiip as the bullet passed through the canvas of the glider. Not good, but not being dead was a plus. Kaito made a snap decision: if the assassins were positioned to shoot at a target in the air, then they were probably high up and may not have considered possible obstructions between their scopes and the ground. Who thought about the positions of telephone poles and trees when the target was jumping off an even taller building? Kaito jerked the glider mechanism to a dangerous angle and dropped like, well, anything falling from thirty stories high. The wind whipped across his face in a frenzy and Kaito thanked Lady Luck for the thousandth time that he wasn't afraid of heights.
If he landed somewhere that was mostly concealed and then snuck away, the sniper might think they got him. He replayed the last minute in his head: yes, his reaction had been fast enough to be believable. The snipers in earshot would have heard the bullet and then witnessed his immediate nose dive. It wouldn't keep him off the radar for long, just until the next heist was announced, but he could slip away from them tonight. The maybe-magician that Snake's people potentially had could pose additional problems – as heists continued they could tailor their predictions according to each new site and Kid's past behavior...
No. Kaito shook his head. The police had been chasing Kid for over a decade. Kid was a publically known figure and no magicians had come forward claiming to be able to predict him with accuracy. The only one who'd any sort of success on that front was –
Hakuba.
Kaito's heart dropped again, but not for himself this time. If the organization had a good magician leading the snipers, he or she would know some of Kaito's tricks to divert attention. Kaito used those tricks to get away and to make sure no one was following him on his way home or, more recently, to his post-heist meetings with Hakuba.
Hakuba, who hadn't signed up for this kind of danger. Hakuba, whose safety was important to both Kid and Kaito. Hakuba, who currently had no reason to be in Snake's scopes. Kaito's blood ran cold as he recalled a worry from the two-gem heist: if the dark organization uncovered his meetings with the detective, they might jump to the conclusion that Kid was secretly working with the police.
No. That wouldn't happen. Kaito wouldn't let it happen.
Kaito finally focused on the ground and oh shit, a lamppost. It was still ten stories down, but it was right in his current trajectory. Move a little bit… Right, okay, if the snipers were along the obvious escape routes, then he'd just have to default to something further down his list.
Still trying to look unsteady, Kaito tugged the damaged glider sharply and aimed for the roof of a one-story convenience store. The buildings on either side of it were tall enough that it was unlikely that his landing would be spotted. At the last moment he pulled up and felt his shoes skim the roof before snapping the glider closed.
He looked up to scan the dark windows of the corporate offices next to the convenience store. There was a flutter of movement in one of the windows and Kaito bolted, hastily changing into something dark after he hit the ground. He ran for two blocks and changed his disguise again in the restrooms of a small cinema, applying stage makeup and straightening a nondescript lady's wig.
Kaito left from a different exit and let out a shaky breath. It was possible that this malevolent magician was all in his mind and Snake was just really on point tonight, but it was still an unsettling idea. His hands twitched for a deck of cards to shuffle.
Maybe he shouldn't meet with Hakuba tonight.
The thought swept through his mind like a breeze and latched on, forcing him to consider the pros and cons. On one hand, it would interrupt their regular routine, which was annoying both because he looked forward to the challenges and because it would probably cause Hakuba to look deeper into the situation. That was not a desirable outcome. On the other hand, though, the potential for assassination attempts was much higher than it had been during the other nights that they'd met.
There was no real guarantee that Kaito was being followed. But there was also no assurance that he wasn't. If he went to their meeting he would, in some sense, be betraying Hakuba's trust – their agreement was for a safe environment where they could exchange challenges. However, standing him up could also hurt the trust developing between them.
Shit, why was he even thinking about this? The only correct answer was obvious: they'd have to wait until next heist to meet. Kaito could make up a reasonable excuse for Hakuba.
He didn't want to leave Hakuba out there without some kind of explanation, though. One, it would only take one glimpse of a sniper to get Hakuba's detective senses tingling, and two, Kid never reneged on his appointments without notice. Kaito couldn't exactly text Hakuba from his own phone, but calling from a payphone would work. He roamed the streets with purpose for a few blocks until he spotted one and enclosed himself in the booth.
As the phone clicked, he cleared his throat and spoke with Kid's voice. "What a lively evening it is, my Mad Hatter." There was a sharp breath from Hakuba's end. "Wouldn't you agree?"
"What's going on?"
"Oh nothing much," Kaito lied lightly, eyes still scanning the area for potential surveillance by Snake's organization. "It's just a slight annoyance that will prevent me from keeping our appointment this evening. I figured it would be only reasonable to let you know so you didn't wait up."
There was a pause. "I appreciate the consideration." Kaito heard sirens in the background and loud chatter, so Hakuba was probably still at the heist site.
"Well, my benevolence knows no bounds."
Hakuba snorted. "Oh, please."
"Goodnight, Tantei-san. Until next time." Kaito hung up.
SAGURU
In spite of his unease and concern after the most recent Kid heist, Saguru couldn't help but look on in amusement as Kuroba chased Akako and little Kyou around a local neighborhood playground. It had been a while since any of them had visited the little girl from Ueno, but today had been a half-day at school. Kuroba had announced that he was making the trip when they were packing up their schoolbooks and asked Saguru if he wanted to tag along. Saguru had been surprised by the invitation, especially when Akako was also (reluctantly) asked to come. They accepted. Kyou had probably asked Kuroba if all three could visit, and Saguru figured that this trip would be a good opportunity to keep an eye on Kuroba, who had been a little… twitchy since Kid's heist that weekend. Besides, the three of them hadn't visited Kyou together since that first time back in October.
In fact, Saguru hadn't seen little Kyou since Valentine's Day, which had been almost a month ago. He'd brought a plateful of baked goods to share with his class and when Kuroba found out that he was bringing another plateful of extras over to the Yamaguchis' apartment after school, he'd tagged along. Kyou had greeted the two of them with goodies of her own that she'd made with help from her aunt, Yamaguchi Mikasa.
Saguru had been glad to see that Kyou's father, Yamaguchi Ryouichi, had been up and about at home rather than in a hospital bed. Whatever Akako had done with the herbs and roots and other supplies, it had worked. Mr. Yamaguchi's recovery hadn't been a speedy one, but it had been a constantly progressive one, allowing him to come home just in time for Christmas. Now the father, daughter, and aunt all lived together in a three-bedroom apartment situated above Miss Yamaguchi's apothecary in traditional downtown Ueno. When Akako had learned of the store, she'd taken to visiting it regularly for supplies and even volunteered herself (and occasionally Saguru) to help out from time to time.
It was while helping mind the store that Saguru learned that Miss Yamaguchi had been a childhood friend of Kyou's mother – Yamaguchi-Kimura Momoru – and that they had opened the shop together after graduating from high school with help from the Kimura family. According to Akako, the Kimuras were a powerful and well-respected witching family in the Wiccan arts circles. Akako's family practiced the darker Scarlet Arts, which was why she hadn't recognized Kyou's connection to the witching community at first. The Kimura family practiced nature and healing magics, hence the apothecary shop Miss Yamaguchi now ran by herself after the late Yamaguchi-Kimura Momoru had died in an accident.
Today, Mr. Yamaguchi had been away at work and Miss Yamaguchi was minding her store with her niece when Saguru and his companions arrived and volunteered to take Kyou to play at the park. Kyou had been quiet and seemed melancholy on their way to the park, but quickly brightened when Kuroba tapped her on the shoulder and started a game of tag. Thinking fast, Kyou tagged Akako yelling "no tag backs!" With a shrug Akako joined in on the chase, determined to get Kuroba. The imp dodged neatly away, scrambling up the jungle gym, over the monkey bars and weaved through the swings to avoid the persistent witch. It took a team effort to catch him. Saguru allowed himself to be tagged by Akako when Kyou was stumbling up a slide and had Kuroba distracted. Akako continued to chase Kuroba towards Saguru, only to halt suddenly and change direction, causing Kuroba to slow in confusion. While his back was turned Saguru tagged him saying a quick "you're it!" before darting quickly away in case of retaliation.
Kyou and Akako had laughed at Kuroba's stunned expression and Saguru had been both amused and a little worried to see a small touch of fear in Kuroba's eyes when he realized what had just happened. It wasn't an obvious reaction, but Saguru could see that Kuroba was rattled. He was too still. It wasn't normal Kuroba behavior and that made Saguru worry. He may be putting up a good front playing with Kyou, but something had definitely been bothering the teen magician since the last Kid heist a few nights ago.
"No tag backs, Kuroba," Saguru said mildly, jolting Kuroba out of his momentary stupor. Kuroba glared at him, but chased after the girls, both of them squealing in laughter and terror as they ran away.
Saguru chuckled uneasily, shaking his head before plopping down onto a nearby bench and massaged his left shoulder. He'd wrenched it at the Kid heist. It was still bothering him even a few days later. He still wasn't sure what had happened, but some people said that there had been a gunman present trying to shoot Kid out of the sky. In the ensuing chaos Saguru had run afoul of a few… overzealous fans that thought that it was the police that were shooting at Kid. One had tackled Saguru and he'd had to wrestle him to the ground so that the officers near him could arrest the offending citizen.
"Are you okay?" Kyou asked as she ran up to him, a small pout creasing her brow. Kuroba and Akako were not far behind her.
Saguru smiled reassuringly. "It's nothing, Kyou."
"Your shoulder still bothering you?" Kuroba asked frowning.
"It twinges every now and then."
Kuroba rolled his eyes and tossed something at his head. Saguru caught it and, after glaring at the other boy, saw that it was a tube of muscle rub. Saguru looked back up at Kaito, eyebrow raised. "Works for me," he explained, shrugging.
"Do you always carry this kind of thing around with you?" Saguru asked.
"I like to be prepared."
"And you call me a boy scout." Kuroba didn't respond.
Kyou giggled, climbing up onto the bench to sit beside Saguru with her little legs dangling.
"So, Kyou," Kuroba began, to get the little girl's attention. "What are you up to these days?"
"Not much," she sighed, kicking her feet idly. "I help Mika-ba-chan with the store most of the time. Oh! But this weekend Akako-nee-chan and I are going shopping."
Kuroba's smile faltered a bit but not enough to be noticed by the girl. "Is that so? Looking to buy anything in particular?"
"White Day gifts of course!" Kyou said beaming.
"Oh? Why's that?"
Saguru was confused as well. As he understood it, in Japan it was tradition for girls to give chocolates and gifts to boys on Valentine's day, February 14, and on White Day, March 14, boys returned the favor, buying return gifts for the girls. It was considered bad form if a boy didn't return a gift to a girl he'd accepted a gift from even if he didn't reciprocate her feelings.
"For Saguru-nii-chan," Kyou said, beaming up at the blond.
Saguru blinked in surprise. "You don't have to," he said. "I brought over cupcakes, not chocolates."
"We do too!" Kyou protested, sticking her nose up into the air stubbornly, much like Akako did sometimes. "It's tradition to return Valentine gifts. It would be bad luck not to." Saguru wasn't sure what to say to that, so he just shrugged. "And Kaito-nii-chan is getting one for Saguru-nii-chan too, right?" Kyou suddenly asked.
"I beg your pardon?" Saguru said at the same time Kuroba went, "Wuh?"
"Kaito-nii-chan had some of Saguru-nii-chan's Valentine cakes too," Kyou stated, "so he needs to get a White Day gift for Saguru-nii-chan. Do you want to go shopping with us, Kaito-nii-chan?"
"Ahh…" Kaito blanched, eyes darting over to Akako. "Thanks, Kyou, but… I'm afraid I have plans for this weekend already. Sorry. Maybe some other time."
Kyou shrugged before bouncing off the bench, grabbed Akako's hand, and headed towards the swings. Kuroba sighed, taking Kyou's spot next to Saguru on the bench.
"You don't have to get me a White Day gift, Kuroba," Saguru chuckled, watching the two girls swing. "In England, both boys and girls give each other Valentines, mostly because they want to, not because they expect anything in return. It's true that it's nice if confessions and feelings of love are reciprocated, but it's mostly a day to let people know that someone cares about them. It's not a big deal. Mostly my Mum and I just bake cakes and cookies and give them to friends and family. That's our tradition. I didn't do it expecting anything in return."
Kuroba didn't say anything for a while. After a few minutes he said, "Are you going to use that cream or what? It's not good to leave injuries like that alone. Could end up with muscle damage." Then he got up and joined the girls.
Saguru stared after the other boy and watched them play for a few minutes. He was worried about Kuroba. Especially since he believed - knew - that Kuroba was Kid. It hadn't been documented on any of the official police reports - because after a thorough investigation it was found that none of the officers at the heist had drawn or discharged their firearms - but someone had taken a shot at Kid at the thief's latest heist. Something had spooked the kaitou so bad that he had called Hakuba from a payphone (he'd looked into it as soon as he'd gotten home that night) and canceled their usual post-heist meeting. And to top it off, Kuroba had been a little off these last few days at school. Sure, he put on a good front for everyone, but having known and interacted with both Kuroba and Kid for months now, Saguru was able to see the fissures and cracks in that damn poker face. Kuroba's hands were always in motion; flexing around his pencil as he wrote, shuffling cards, or playing with various other magic paraphernalia. There was also the unnerving sense that Kuroba was watching him every time he wasn't watching Kuroba. For some reason, Kuroba was keeping tabs on him. Even now, Saguru could swear that Kuroba was watching him out of the corner of his eye. Yes, something had the magician spooked all right.
This most recent heist wasn't the first time there'd been reported suspicions and off-the-record whispers of a gunman on site at a heist (excluding an incident with Delon, Europe's famous trigger happy cop during the Beaucoup de Soleil à Paris heist, and the fiasco with the assassin Scorpion at the start of the Faberge Egg case of course). If Kuroba was Kid, as Saguru suspected, then the magician was likely used to being shot at on occasion - and didn't that leave a bad taste in the half-Brit's mouth? But if that was the case, what was it about this most recent incident that the thief still remained uneasy several days after the fact?
Saguru had started digging, reviewing every Kid case file (both old and new) for hints of any presence of one or more unauthorized gunmen on site. There had been more cases than Saguru initially imagined, but what was most troubling was the fact that a majority of these reports of suspected gunmen weren't documented in the official case files, but in the attached memos, notes, and individual officer statements in the physical paper copies. These were often overlooked because the details hadn't made it into the official report and, therefore, weren't in the electronic case files.
Saguru couldn't help but think back to the "hypothetical" question Kid had asked him about a crime ring with contacts working inside the police. That question had been almost too specific, in spite of Kid's rather casual delivery. Saguru wasn't sure what Kid was involved in or why there were gunmen at Kid heists to begin with, but someone was covering something up. The problem was that Saguru couldn't be sure if it was Kid himself or someone within the police in league with an outside party - namely the gunmen taking pot shots at his thief. Maybe it was both. Whatever the situation, Saguru knew he had to be wary in how he proceeded. If there were dirty cops at the station altering official police reports then he couldn't afford to tip them off, but by the same turn, he couldn't tip Kid off as to what he was investigating either.
Kid may trust him more than he had half a year ago, but it was a fragile trust. The moment Kid thought that Saguru was getting too close to something pertaining to his civilian identity or to anything dangerous he may or may not be involved in, he'd cut him off. The post-heist meetings with Kid would stop and Kuroba Kaito would do his best to keep his distance. Saguru could continue opposing him at heists and play his games so long as he didn't break the status quo. If Saguru dug deeper with his investigation into these mysterious gunmen showing up at heists, he could break that rule and ruin everything he'd invested in these meetings and the companionship (he wouldn't dare call it friendship) that they'd developed over time.
At the moment Saguru was stuck. This was why he both loved and hated being a detective. The high that came with a challenge of making sense of the clues was addictive, but he didn't get to be as good as he was or live as long as he had by openly chasing after every lead. He was cautious and methodical and could become very paranoid (especially when Kid was involved). It was one of the setbacks of being a private detective. As much as he respected cops like Inspector Nakamori and his father, he'd known and dealt with a lot of bad ones and knew that not everyone could be trusted.
In the end, he could continue digging and investigate the gunmen sightings, but that might alert whoever was editing the unknown gunmen out of the official Kid heist reports, whether that was Kid himself or another party. On the other hand, he could let the investigation sit for a while and continue as he was, meeting with Kid after heists until he learned more about the situation, though he wasn't holding his breath that Kid would reveal much. If anyone was more methodical, cautious, and paranoid than he was, it was Kid. Option number two seemed to be the better choice as things currently stood. He wasn't even sure what he should be investigating in regards to these mysterious gunmen. All he knew was that they'd been been shadowing Kid for years, back to the time before Kaitou Kid's mysterious eight-year disappearance. He needed more variables and information before he dug any deeper. At the moment, all he could do was keep an eye on Kuroba and Kid and wait for something to come to light.
Saguru, Kuroba, and Akako played with Kyou at the park until the sun began to set, at which point they walked her back to her aunt's shop and continued on to the train station. When they got back to Ekoda they went their separate ways, but the entire way home, Saguru felt as if he were being watched.
xxxxxxXXXxxxxxx
SR: Oh wow, has it really been 4 months?! How did that happen? Sorry for the super long wait you guys. Hope you enjoyed this latest chapter. We'll do our best to get our next chapter out without such a long wait again. You probably already noticed, but due to the fact that it HAS been a long time since we last updated and we're now halfway through the new year, we won't been syncing our story with real time anymore like we did at the beginning. Fic wise, we're in March and our next chapter will pick up on or around White Day.
MG: We're looking forward to some lighter shenanigans in the next chapter, which should be exciting! After the last couple of chapters, some fun and romantic encounters are definitely in order :D
SR: Agreed! Thanks for reading again, you guys, and we hope you enjoyed this most recent chapter and are looking forward to the next one and please don't forget to leave a review!