Chapter Summary: Confronted Hakuba does the only thing he can think of when he needs to get all the facts first, he flees.
I really wish Detective Conan and Magic Kaito belonged to me, sadly they do not.
Chapter 12: Unlisted
Conan wouldn't stop calling him and Hakuba had no doubt Hattori told him about the sniper and how he was acting the night of the party, Hakuba had to admit he was acting a tad strange, however, he always had a flair for theater. it's already been three days since then and despite his annoyance at Ran giving his number to Conan and Hattori, he was more annoyed when he walked out of school and saw the both of them waiting by the gates.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Hakuba sighed loudly and made his way towards the two of them. He barely walked an inch in that direction before Kaito appeared in front of him and stopped him.
"Where are you going?" Kaito grinned, "We have a group project remember?"
"I remember," Hakuba began dryly, "That we are meeting at Aoko-san's house at 5 pm."
Kaito shrugged, "Yeah but nothing wrong with starting early."
Hakuba glanced over Kaito's shoulder and saw both Hattori and Conan staring at him. "Perhaps. Sadly I have two stalkers to deal with."
"What?" Kaito whipped around and followed Hakuba's gaze.
Hakuba couldn't help but chuckle at how Kaito paled seeing the two detectives. "Oh? Worried about having three detectives in one place?"
Kaito looked back at him and scowled, "I'm not Kid."
Hakuba hummed, "I didn't say you were." Hakuba began walking towards the school gates and after a few seconds, Kaito jogged after him.
"...You sound like you don't want to go with them." Kaito casually commented.
Hakuba tilted his head towards him, "This is because I don't. Edogawa-kun I am alright with most days but that...pardon me, Hattori-kun and I do not get along well."
Kaito nodded, "Got it."
Hakuba was about to ask Kaito what he got, but before he could say a word, Kaito took off jogging towards Hattori and Conan. Startled, Hakuba followed after Kaito and the moment he made it over to the three of them, Kaito was offering Conan a white rose.
"So, Hakuba and I are supposed to be working on a group project today," Kaito clapped his hands together, "I know you Detectives probably need to talk and all but I'm not willing to risk failing. Sorry."
Hakuba shot Kaito a look, he knew as well as Kaito did that he wouldn't fail even if Hakuba didn't help out, it took him a few moments to realize Kaito was trying to help him get out of talking with the other two.
"Ya wouldn't mind if we came along would ya?"
Hakuba looked over at Hattori, raising a brow in his direction, "Why, pray tell, would you two need to listen in on a school outing when you two aren't even attending the same school?"
"They really want to speak with you about what happened with Chianti."
Hakuba's eyes drifted over Hattori's shoulder to stare at Akemi-san who was standing a few feet behind him.
"Sorry," Akemi-san smiled, "I haven't really been around much these past few weeks. I've been following these two, they're pretty cautious of you now. I...I think we should talk before you talk to them."
"What're ya staring at?!" Hakuba's eyes snapped towards Hattori the moment he yelled but Hattori and Conan were turned away from him, trying to see what he was looking at. Hakuba glanced to the side and saw Kaito staring at him oddly.
Seeing how Akemi-san seemed to be impatient, Hakuba coughed lightly to bring the other's attention back to him, once he had it he told them, "Pardon me, but I seemed to have forgotten I have an appointment after school today," Turning his head towards Kaito, Hakuba added, "I'll see you at Aoko-san's house to work on the project, I'll try my best to be on time. If not I will call ahead."
"Hakuba-niisan!" Conan chirped, "What appointment do you have?"
"With a client," Hakuba said calmly, "Nothing for you to worry about, now if you'll excuse me." Hakuba nodded at each of them before walking past the school gates and down the block, he waited until he turned the corner before he took off running.
He didn't need to be a Detective to know Hattori and Conan would try to follow him. He made sure he stuck to large groups of people and when there weren't any he stuck to the shadows and eventually a few alleyways until he made it far enough from the school to reach one of the nearby hotels.
Walking up to the reception desk, Hakuba was slightly out of breath from running but was able to smile and greet the man behind the desk.
The man looked him up and down with an unimpressed look on his face before asking, "How many nights...Sir and your name please."
"..." Hakuba quickly pulled out his wallet, "I'm not sure how many nights but could I add on at a later date?"
"...Yes?"
Hakuba grimaced slightly, "My name is Hakuba Saguru but….could you mark me as unlisted in the book please?"
And just like that the clerk's demeanor did a 180, concerned the clerk lowered his voice, "I can set you up in room B124, do you need any medical attention?"
Feeling his face heat up Hakuba told the man, "No...no thank you. I'm not hurt it's just I need somewhere to hide out just for a little while…."
The clerk nodded in understanding, "Don't worry, no one here will let anyone except for you into that room, and if you find you need to prolong your stay simply call down and let us know alright?"
Paying for just the night until tomorrow evening, and getting his room card, Hakuba made his way to the elevator, the doors closing just was he saw Kaito walking past the hotel entrance. Hakuba was shocked to see Kaito there when he knew the magician didn't leave nearby, realizing that he must've been following him as well caused his stomach to twist unpleasantly but Hakuba ignored it for the most part. He felt bad about concerning the hotel staff, usually, those checking in and asking to be unlisted were those suffering some form of abuse and needed a getaway, but if Hakuba was being honest even if he wasn't hurt, things at home had been tense between him and his father.
The moment he was in the room, Hakuba locked the door and sat down on the floor at the foot of the bed.
"Akemi-san?" Hakuba called softly.
"I'm here." Akemi-san settled down across from him and smiled apologetically.
"What did you need to talk about?"
"Hattori-kun came to Beika as soon as he could after that party the two of you attended," Akemi-san began, "He waited until Ran-san and Mouri-san were gone before telling Conan-kun everything that happened."
Hakuba frowned, "I suspected as much only...why is a child involved in all this?"
His question seemed to unsettle Akemi-san because she sat there quietly for two minutes 23.04 seconds before she answered him.
"Conan-kun...he's more than just a smart child, I'm afraid I can't tell you more because it's not my secret to tell."
Hakuba nodded in understanding, "I understand, there are some things people keep secret not because they want to but because they have too and because they do not have the right to tell."
Akemi-san shot him a grateful look before she continued speaking, "All I know is that they both want to speak with you and try to get information out of you without having to tell you anything in return."
Sighing, Hakuba let his head fall back to thump on the mattress, "...Somehow I had a feeling they would do that. I suppose I need to let them know that I am on their side but I am not willing to just go giving out information based on a whim."
"...I'm sorry."
Hakuba lifted his head and tilted it at Akemi-san, "What're you sorry about? None of this is your fault you know."
"But I dragged you into this!"
Hakuba shook his head, "I was already investigating part of the organization so I would've learned about your part sooner or later Akemi-san."
Akemi-san didn't say another word, instead, she sat there on the floor looking for all the world like a lost child and Hakuba wanted nothing more than to hunt down each and every one of the members of the organization and make them pay for ruining his friends' lives.
Okay! So I learned that if you ask to be marked as unlisted when checking into a hotel, the staff will make sure that no one knows you are there so you're safe.
