Okay, guys, I think this is the chapter that will finally start action...


"Hey guys, I heard Hakuba say he wants to meet us," Kaito cheerily popped into Shinichi's room overlooking his ensnared backyard. The sun slipped through the pale blinds that blanketed the window and painted stripes of Shinichi's back. Cool air gushed in with Kaito as he ope~ er, chopped the door (because he was too lazy to open it and besides, he was testing the new home-made chainsaw...right?)

"Kaito!" Shinichi groaned and turned over so that his ears were muffled by his pillow, having still not seen the splintered door. His cowlick stuck out of his pillow, a trademark, and Kaito used that to his advantage. He grabbed chewed bubble gum that he kept in his sleeve in a plastic box, and, like a rope, coiled it around the bunch of hair.

"Hakuba is meeting us at the train station down south," Kaito repeated, tapping him on his covered shoulder. "I'm going with or without you." To that, Shinichi grumbled an "I'm coming" and scrunched up tighter. Kaito stood there in his bedroom for a good fifteen minutes, tapping his dynamic feet and inspecting every nook and cranny in his room.

Shinichi's brain told him to hustle up, but his body didn't respond. They just lay there, as if they were rocks too heavy to move.

Kaito brightened as an idea popped into his bottomless head that would actually make a huge difference. He wouldn't say an idea that worked, because nearly all his ideas were bound to work.

"Shinichi, try flattening your cowlick," He suggested mischievously. There was a pregnant silence before the sleep-wired Shinichi mumbled,

"There's no use," But still nevertheless groped for it. The moment his hand struck the sticky substance, Shinichi was out of bed and examining the foreign intruder on his hair in the mirror.

"Great, you're up," Kaito grinned and cartwheeled out of his room in jeans and a skin-tight button-up shirt. Shinichi later thought that someone in such tight garments were bound to have split their pants trying to do cartwheels~ yet their wasn't a fray in his raiment.

Then he finally had to deal with the ruined door (not that it would cost him any effort). Kaito secretively crept to one of the many spare rooms, hoping the girls won't catch him, where he had seen a couple of spare doors earlier when he was bored and was exploring the Kudo mansion. He nimbly unscrewed the splintered door hinges and exchanged doors.

Then he zipped downstairs to Hattori's bedroom that he would probably occupy for at least a month. "Remember to come with me to the train station!" He called over his shoulder.

A muffled reply was heard.

x

Kaito pranced to the door and quickly turned the doorknob, slammed the door, and yelled in Hattori's ear,

"HAKUBA IS GOING TO MEET US AT THE TRAIN STATION DOWN SOUTH. ARE YOU COMING?"

Kaito heard Hattori hiss a reply, "Kuroba Kaito, what in tha seven hells are ya sreamin' about when a man needs his sleep?"

"Didn't you hear me?" Kaito innocently queried.

"I don't wanna meet Hakuba," Hattori growled and pointed at the door. He wanted Kaito out. It wasn't like Kaito was going to kill him or something, but he was fed up with all the stress and burdens on his back. And what's better than a nap?

"He might know something about a...hm...what do you call it? Ah, yes, syndicate," Kaito stroked his chin, although in his eyes, fire blazed with fury. This caught Hattori like an unexpected cold bucket of water on your head. Did he mean...them? As in the guys who took Kudo's three years? The ones who forced 'Sherry' into hiding? The one that we're after?

The Black Organization?

"Did you hear me?" Kaito tapped him on the shoulder not unlike the way he did to Shinichi. Kaito mock-glared at him, but it looked like he was going to burst with a trick that was trickling down his sleeve.

"Oh, hm, wha'?"

"I said, Shinichi will be coming. Will you? Hakuba said that he had top-secret information that Shinichi had requested. Another thing is, the girls are calling for breakfast," Kaito pointed in the general direction of the kitchen. Hattori nodded. "Oh, and, don't mind if Shinichi comes in with...a weird hairdo..."

"I'm comin' for Kudo's sake," He grumbled.

"Okay, see you at the table," Kaito sang before closing the door behind him. This left Hattori to his own thoughts.

Kaito certainly was infuriated when he mention 'them'. Maybe something happened? To him? That involved the syndicate?

Wait, hold on.

You don't even know if he's talking about them...

x

The moment the boys were in the kitchen, aromas of pancakes, and all the necessities of an "English Breakfast" wrapped them up in moods of gold, silver, and bronze. The girls worked hardly in the kitchen, scrubbing pans and cooling coffee. Aoko set the table and put food on their destined dishes. Ran continued to stir the coffee beans and get them grinded. Kazuha bustled around doing the dishes, putting one empty pan here and a dish there. The boys just sat down and watched as steaming hot plates were thrown onto the table.

They dug in.

"Mm, this is definitely the best coffee," Shinichi sipped the coffee that had just come out of the brewer. The steam lifting off its hot surface wafted in Shinichi's face as the scalding liquid slipped down his parched throat. At least there was still Heaven when there was Hell. (AN: To those who are Christians, I don't mean any offense to your religion.)

"And the best toast," Kaito, the 'hell', mumbled, crumbs spilling from his full mouth as he forked another slice into his mouth. He dipped the toast on his fork into his milk, then poked it into his mouth.

"Seriously, who drinks milk in the morning?" Aoko eyed Kaito.

"I do!" Kaito jabbed a thumb at himself. Aoko sighed in frustration.

"The best eggs, too," Hattori pointed at the sunnyside eggs with his fork while his mouth furiously chewed it so he could put more in. "Oh, and Kudo, 'sup with the hair?" His mouth was so full at the time Shinichi almost could've been positive that he said "Gogando shup sheer?"

Hattori earned a death glare.

"Morons," Kazuha muttered, eyeing the dirty table that the boys had created. Ran and Aoko nodded in agreement. When you have boys in the house, you yell at them. It's what you do.

"Well, guys, have you got any plans?" Ran set down a new batch at the table and settled down, too. She sighed with content and relief as warmth flooded her body. She passed the coffee she had made for Shinichi down the middle to him. He gladly accepted it and set it down gently near the table edge, cradling the cup for warmth. It was very cold outside, and Shinichi knew the train station was going to be very windy.

"Uh, well, we are going to pick up Hakuba-san," Shinichi explained. "Then he'll probably be living here for a few weeks." The second part was added tentatively because Shinichi wasn't sure if Ran would welcome a stranger who she had met once in a lifetime borrowing a room for about a month or so.

"Mou, Shinichi, always doing this stuff," Ran sighed tiredly. "At least tell him to bring a girl so it won't be so hard on us..."

Aoko giggled.

"Nani?" Ran quizzically asked, flustered.

"I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing at the words 'bring a girl'. I know Saguru-kun from school, he's a detective -" to this, Ran murmured, "I know that..." "- And he...definitely would not have a girlfriend..."

"Well, I guess we'll just have ta go with tha flow!" Kazuha cheerily exclaimed.

"Hai," The girls agreed.

"Well, we better get going," Shinichi spoke and rose. He downed the last of the cooling coffee and headed to put his cap on that he had bought from London. "We're supposed to be there by eight, I believe." The boys uttered agreement and stood up, too.

"But you haven't even eaten much!" Ran protested, pointing at the still half-filled plate. Shinichi shrugged.

"I was used to eating one cup of udon, flavorless, for the whole day, when I was younger, when I was in a place where the provisions were running low because of no snow. I'm not that used to having so much anymore," Shinichi explained, careful not to mention the vast feasts he had when he was under Ran's care.

"Oh. I remember that," Ran put a finger to her chin, searching for the memories of when they were young. She zoomed past Shinichi with his high fever, Shinichi disappearing at the amusement park, Shinichi injuring his hand during a soccer game, Shinichi with a cold because of the rain...ah, there. She found the memory stashed deep. She remembered when Shinichi told her about a place where they had been on a case and then when he was staying overnight, the provisions ran low and he had to live on a cup of udon noodles.

"Well, we better go now..." Shinichi raced out the door, cap pressed firmly on his head.

"I wonder why he wears that cap whenever he goes out..."

He's leaving me. Again...

x

They came just in time to see Hakuba stepping off the train station, startled at the swarm off people waving pens and papers. Kaito sniggered at the scene and plopped down on a nearby bench, viewing the scene as a comedy.

"Oi Hakuba! Ova' here!" Hattori swiveled his arms at him from behind a corner. Hakuba, with his keen senses, excused himself as fast as possible and streamed into the little shadow, with little attention as possible.

They walked together toward to the exit, not recognizing the black figures in the background.

BLAM!

Shinichi crumpled down.

"Oi, Kudo?" Hattori peered down.

"I guess I'm fine..." Shinichi croaked. He let his hand hang loose from where it clenched his side.

Red spots were blossoming like a wildfire.


Well, Happy Thanksgiving!

So, from now on, I'll try to write at least two hundred words a day, and try to get my words per chapter to three thousand. The next few chapters might be a bit late because of the upcoming holidays, but I'll try my best.

Oh, and, the reason I take at least two weeks to update once is because I have another story going on, too, and I'm trying to get the words up, too. So, yeah, a little mercy on me, please.

R & R!