Chapter Summary: Hakuba attempts to do something good only it backfired on him, horribly.

I really wish Detective Conan and Magic Kaito belonged to me, sadly they do not.

Chapter 14: Herbs, Wishes, and Rejection

Thankfully he hasn't received any more phone calls from Conan ever since he'd been ignoring them for a few days straight. He felt a tab bad about it since Conan was just trying to contact him but He was annoyed that Ran had given out his phone number without his permission. Something similar has happened to him back in England and that ended with his number being tracked and him almost getting killed. Not that he thought either Conan or Hattori would try to kill him but the event left him feeling unsettled with his number being given out so easily and resulted in his developing of a phobia, something he didn't wish to dwell on.

Deciding he should at least apologize for his rudeness, Hakuba left the hotel early in the morning and took a train to Beika.

Multiple people were giving him odd looks when he stepped off the train, out near the shady part of Beika, Hakuba knew there was a store owned by the aunt of an old client of his nearby and he wanted to go there first. Making his way to the shop lead to Hakuba running into three attempted muggings and two assaults before he found himself standing outside a rundown bookstore with the windows cracked and dust floating in the air as he opened the door.

The bell above the door fell down and just barely missed hitting his head, Hakuba shut the door with a bit more force than necessary, but if he was being honest, the shady part of Beika was more like a ghost town with how many spirits he saw wandering around.

"We're closed!" Someone, a female, yelled from what Hakuba supposed was the back room of the shop.

Clearing his throat, Hakuba called back to her, "I apologize, I was not aware of the shop's hours but Izumi Katsuki recommended should I need help to come here."

"Oh!" A series of banging noises and what Hakuba assumed was thing falling to the ground echoed throughout the tiny shop and suddenly a door Hakuba did not see was flung open. A woman with fiery red hair, a pale complexion, and startling green eyes grinned at him widely. "What's your name dear?"

Hakuba held his hand out towards her, if what Izumi told him was correct then she had married into a Japanese family and was more use to western customs, "My name is Saguru Hakuba, It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Hakuba…?" The woman muttered before her eyes widened in barely contained glee, "Oh! The handsome Detective who brought my nephew back home! Sit down sweetheart, please sit down, I'm Tracie Charles but you can go ahead and call me Trace."

Blushing slightly, Hakuba allowed himself to be guided through the doorway into the backroom, a room that was lit only by candles and was filled with an assortment of books, plants, and a few empty bird cages. There was a chair behind a small desk and two bean bag's off to the side, Hakuba let himself fall back onto the blue on while Ms. Charles took the green one for herself.

"Now. What did you need my help with?"

Hakuba fumbled slightly to pull out a folded list from his back pocket, "Would I be able to purchase a few items from you and borrow your backroom for a moment?"

"Ooh, are you a witch in training?"

"No," Hakuba shook his head, "I know a witch but at the moment she is merely an acquaintance of mine. I'm simply testing out a theory."

"Do you and this witch not get along?" raised a brow as she leaned towards Hakuba, "Or are witches people you are uncomfortable with?"

"I do not have any issues with people who have special abilities or those who practice real magic. She simply...causes me unease at times." Hakuba frowned slightly, "I believe it is because we do not know each other well. That and I realized something about that unsettled me greatly."

Ms. Charles nodded in understanding, "I get what you mean. I'm not a witch, though I have met my fair share of them, I simply gather and sell ingredients or equipment people with abilities like yours need. Perhaps she is just as uneasy around you as you are around her."

Hakuba looked off to the side pondering over what Ms. Charles had said, realizing this she gently took the list from him and set about gathering what he needed.

Five minutes later she set everything down on a clean space on the floor, she quietly wished him good luck and closed the door behind her. Hakuba thanked her as she left and sat himself down by the materials she brought him. Due to past experiences and a bit of research, Hakuba had a theory on how he could allow for another to see ghosts as well as he could.

The theory was to make an ordinary omamori then add some personal bits such as a hair and a drop of blood. The hard part came when he needed to do the last step; adding his spiritual energy to the omamori.

Placing the omamori on the floor right in front of his knees, Hakuba bent so his forehead was nearly touching the charm and softly began speaking under his breath.

"Revelare Veritas Spirituum ostensum est...Revelare...Revelare." Hakuba tensed as a slight tingling sensation spread throughout his body before moving towards pins and needles pricking his skin, "Veritas Spirituum ostensum est...Ne videatur eorum...Revelare!"

His entire body jerked as all his energy seemed to sap out of him, leaving him to collapse to the floor as blood rushed to his head and it started pounding. His eyes stung and his throat felt dry as he tried to swallow. Shivers racked through his body as it began convulsing. The door flung open and Ms. Charles raced into the room just was Hakuba's eyes rolled back.

.

..

…

Groaning Hakuba lifted his hand to rub at his temple as a headache greeted him upon waking up. It felt as though his entire body was filled with lead.

"I see what Izumi meant when he said you had a habit of giving people heart attacks." The dry tone which Ms. Charles spoke with caused Hakuba to wince.

"I apologize."

"Just don't do it again," Ms. Charles waved the apology off, "Did you at least managed to finish what you needed to?"

Hakuba smiled tiredly, "I did."

Ms. Charles smiled back at him before slowly helping him sit up. "Careful now." She warned as he leaned heavily to the side, only staying upright due to her holding him.

"Ms. Char-I mean, Trace-san, Thank everything."

"Anytime kiddo, and I mean that." Ms. Charles lightly ruffled Hakuba's hair, "Try to take it easy alright? I know you plan on heading out regardless of what I say but be careful and if you need any help my numbers written on the paper in your breast pocket."

"Thank you." Hakuba murmured gratefully.

.

..

...

Remembering the way back to Amuro's apartment building, Hakuba hailed a taxi once he was out of the worst part of Beika's more violent area and gave the man directions to Amuro's place. He held the Japanese charm omamori tightly in his fist, with the extra ingredients and spirit energy he added to it he hoped it would work.

Fifth-teen minutes later, Hakuba was paying the taxi driver who no doubt thought he was one of the teenage delinquents considering where Hakuba was being picked up from and headed into

Maison Mokuba. He was glad he could remember the way to Amuro's apartment despite only having been there once.

It wasn't until he was standing outside Amuro's door with his fist raised, in preparation to knock, that he realized Amuro might not have been home. Deciding to see if he was home instead of jumping to conclusions, Hakuba gently knocked on the door.

24.08 seconds later the door opened and Amuro looked surprised to see him but also pleased.

"Hakuba!" Amuro opened the door all the way, revealing his four friends hovering around him, "What're you doing here? Are you feeling any better?"

"Hello Amuro-san," Hakuba greeted before he entered the apartment and slipped off his shoes, "I needed to speak with you about a certain matter, and I am feeling better now, thank you for your hospitality and for watching over me when I...lose consciousness." Hakuba rushed out the last bit as his cheeks heated up.

Amuro smiled politely at him before leading the way to the kitchen, offering to make some tea for the both of them. The moment Amuro was out of earshot Jinpei-san and Date-san both make their way over towards him while Scotch watched Amuro from the doorway and Hagiwara-san entered the kitchen.

"So...What're you doing back here?" Jinpei-san asked grinning.

Hakuba sighed, "As much as I oppose letting others know the truth...you four...I have a feeling it would be best if Amuro-san knew the truth and soon."

"A feeling? What type of feeling?" Date-san got an intense look on his face as he stared at Hakuba.

Hakuba stayed silent, he didn't want to admit that he'd been having nightmares more frequently since he met the five of them and in each dream, Amuro never had a happy ending.

"Hakuba?"

Hakuba snapped himself out of it and smiled at Amuro in thanks as he set the tea down in front of him. "Thank you Amuro-san."

They both sat there in silence for a few minutes, Hakuba idly noted how the ghost all appeared to be annoyed with the quiet and attempted to fill it themselves. Eventually, Amuro started them on a few common small talk conversations before finally asking Hakuba why he'd come over to see him.

Realizing he could no longer put this conversation off, Hakuba set down his tea and stared at Amuro solemnly. "I told you how I needed to speak with you, this conversation may seem unorthodox but please take me seriously."

Amuro seemed amused but understood Hakuba was being serious as he nodded at him to continue.

It took nine minutes, 32.08 seconds of storytelling on Hakuba's part of ghosts, and of things, Hakuba shouldn't know about Amuro for that amusement to vanish and be replaced by a fury so great Hakuba flinched. What sealed the deal was Hakuba describing in detail who Jinpei-san, Date-san, Scotch, and Hagiwara-san were, their jobs and what they looked like.

"...This isn't funny." Amuro said coldly, hunched over as he stared down at the table, his hand twitching slightly.

"I'm not jokin-" Hakuba shut his mouth, cutting himself off as Amuro leaped to his feet with the chair falling to the ground behind him, the noise causing Hakuba to wince slightly.

Hakuba pressed his lips together in a thin line as Amuro glared at him. Scotch was standing next to Amuro and yelling at him to calm down but Hakuba thought it was pointless when Amuro couldn't even see him let alone hear him. What happened next was too fast for Hakuba to process it fully before he found himself laying on his back on the cold floor with Amuro straddling his waist, and a familiar pounding in his head.

Amuro grabbed ahold of his shirt collar and pulled Hakuba up towards him as he hissed, "What the hell are you playing at?!"

"Oh fuck," Date-san was kneeling by Hakuba's head and asking him if he was alright but Hakuba couldn't focus on him.

Making that charm for Amuro took a lot out of him, not to mention his head still hurt from when he hit it at Aoko's house. Planting his feet flat on the floor, Hakuba bucked his hips up causing Amuro to fall off of him, Hakuba quickly rolled over so he was the one sitting on top of Amuro.

Leaning down towards Amuro's face Hakuba spat out, "Telling people like you...it never turns out well. They said to trust you, that you would believe me, but I frankly don't care if you do or not. The charms only good when you're alone unless it's me with you. I only made it powerful enough to support your energy, not anyone else's." Lowering his voice, Hakuba quietly added, "I did my part...whether you choose to believe me or not is up to you. However, I won't stand around and wait to hear it."

Getting to his feet, Hakuba left Amuro on the floor and ignored Date-san and Jinpei-san as they both lunged towards him, spouting apologies and asking him if he was okay, and telling him to wait a moment. Scotch and Hagiwara-san were both standing around Amuro seemingly frozen in shock from what just took place. His annoyance with the situation was to the point where he wanted to honestly bash his head in a wall to avoid slugging Amuro, however, Hakuba realized that it was beginning to get late and he had yet to go visit Conan. He still needed to settle things with Conan and possibly Hattori before things got worse and they tried dragging Kaito into it, or they started showing up at his house instead.

Leaving behind Amuro and the four ghosts left a bad taste in his mouth and a heavy feeling in his chest, weighing him down but Hakuba knew if he didn't leave then he might say something he'd come to regret. Walking in a brisk pace, Hakuba ignored the curious glances people threw his way and focused on making it to the Detective Agency without any started walking up the stairs to the agency the same moment the two detectives he was looking for walked out.

The both of them froze at the top of the stairwell, clearly surprised to see him, and Hakuba wished they would've come down to him as his head was killing him. The moment he was standing in front of the both of them, both were standing in defensive positions and Hattori looked angry to see him, Hakuba opened his mouth to speak but found he couldn't summon the strength to do so.

Hattori's mouth was moving, clearly speaking to him but Hakuba couldn't hear a single word. It was due to Hattori being the only one capable of holding him that Hakuba knew who caught him as he suddenly found himself listing sideways. Apparently, he was affected by making the omamori more than he originally thought.

"Oi?! What's wrong wit' ya?" Hattori staggered under Hakuba's larger frame and Hakuba could do nothing more than blink tiredly down at Conan.

"Hakuba-niisan?" Conan reached out towards his hand that was hanging down, Hakuba thought it was somewhat odd how easily a child could find a pulse. Conan's eyes widened,"Oi Hattori his pulse is way too slow."

"The heck did ya get yerself into?" Hattori muttered before gently lowering Hakuba to the ground and situating himself next to him. "Call an ambulance K-Conan-kun."

Conan quickly took out his cellphone and rushed into the house calling for "Ran-neechan" to talk to the 119 operators, he came back out moments later without his cell. "Hattori, how is he?"

"Same I guess? I don' even know what's wrong wit' him!"

"M'fine...no am'ulance…" Hakuba could barely move his mouth but he needed to get his point across, "Only ho'pital if...seizure…"

It had only happened twice in his life after using his own self as a median for ghosts; the first time when he was younger just learning about bonds and the second time had been earlier at Ms. Charles shop.

"This has happened before?" Conan demanded, both his and Hattori's demeanor changing.

Hattori shook Hakuba's shoulder, "Idiot! Stay awake!"

Hakuba hummed slightly as his eyes began drifting shut, with how heavy they felt he couldn't keep them open any longer.

So! Sun Poisoning hurts a lot but that's my fault for being outside for nine hours without sunscreen. This chapters a tad longer to make up for the update taking so long.