I don't own DC.


"Bocchama? Bocchama?" the old lady called as she approached Hakuba, causing him to turn his attention away from the window.

"Yes?"

"Is everything alright? You said someone broke into the house. Would you like me to call the police?" the housekeeper asked, looking concerned.

"No, that won't be necessary," Hakuba said as he knelt back down in front of the window sill. He slid a finger across the surface of the sill, feeling the smooth texture of fresh paint. Someone had definitely entered through the window and the paint was probably to mask whatever trick was used to get in. If Hakuba had to guess, he'd say Kaitou KID used a grappling hook of some sort. The question, though, was why. After nearly a year of animosity between them, why had KID suddenly decided to rob his house? Or perhaps it wasn't robbery at all, given that everything seemed accounted for.

Hakuba stood up and let his eyes wander over to the scenery beyond the window. I could just call Kuroba-kun about the break-in and test his reaction, Hakuba thought, but then shook his head, deciding against it. The thief was surprisingly good at keeping his emotions concealed, putting on a poker face, so to speak. Plus, Kuroba-kun probably knows that I know, Hakuba reasoned. It only followed that the call would come as no surprise to the thief and thus, there was nothing to be gained from calling.

Hakuba sighed, trying to decide what to do next. Maybe I can call Keiko? For some time now, Keiko had acted as Hakuba's source of information about Kaito's activities, the former being friends with Kaito's friend, Aoko. Naturally, it would seem suspicious if Hakuba were constantly asking Aoko with regards to Kaito's activities. But with Keiko, there was two degrees of separation. And sometimes, Keiko would let slip some very interesting information about Kaito. For example, a certain aversion to fish, Hakuba mused, wondering how he could apply the information against the thief.

"Bocchama?" the housekeeper called, breaking Hakuba out of his thoughts.

"Ah, shall we go have some dinner, Baaya?" Hakuba suggested, walking past the housekeeper and towards the stairs.

"Alright. What would you like to eat tonight?"

Hakuba was about to respond when the phone in his pocket suddenly rang. "Hello?" Hakuba asked, putting the phone to his ear.

"Hello. This is Yukiko Nagashi, the coordinator of the Twilight Hotel Riddle Contest. We are having an early-bird reception tonight to celebrate all the people who managed to solve our riddle. Will you be attending?"

Right, Hakuba thought. He had completely forgotten about the Twilight Hotel in his rush to get home. In fact, his luggage was still sitting in the hotel room. "What time is the reception?"

"8PM."

"Okay. I'll be there," Hakuba said, hanging up the phone. Hakuba glanced at his watch; it was almost seven. "Change of plans, Baaya. I need you to bring me back to the Twilight Hotel."


Kaito walked through the door, happy to be home again, but feeling incredibly exhausted. The plan had turned out more exciting than he anticipated, what with him almost being discovered by the Brit on his way out. Still, at least he had gotten something for his troubles.

Kaito reached into his pocket and pulled out the flash drive, a smirk forming across his face. The folder labeled "private data" probably held all kinds of goodies and just thinking about uncovering all of Hakuba's little secrets made Kaito giddy. Of course, there was a snag; the folder was password protected.

"How am I going to get in?" Kaito mumbled, as he headed towards the stairs leading to the second floor. On his way, he passed by the kitchen and grabbed some snacks, stuffing them into his pocket in case he got hungry later.

Once upstairs, Kaito dropped himself in front of the computer and turned it on. He plugged in the flash drive and clicked on the folder once it appeared. The familiar password box emerged, awaiting his input.

"It's not Beeton," Kaito said to no one in particular. "Maybe it's Sherlock?" Kaito typed S-H-E-R-L-O-C-K and pressed enter, but the computer quickly rejected his guess.

"Holmes? London? Britain?" Kaito tried each guess in succession but to little avail. Each time, he was only reward with the buzzing of the computer, indicating that he had entered the wrong password.

This isn't working, Kaito realized, Maybe I need a different approach.

Kaito wondered if he could brute force the password; his mind began running the calculations. "Well, most people typically use eight letter passwords or less, and if we were to assume the password is alphanumeric, and a guessing rate of one guess per second, that would give-" Kaito paused as the gears in his mind churned. "-About 90,000 years to go through all the possible combinations. Hm," Kaito said, rubbing his chin, "I don't know if I can wait that long." Kaito sighed, leaning his head on his hand as he tried to think of a better plan.

"If I were Hakuba, what would I use as a password?" Kaito said mindlessly as he stared at the screen. "Wait, that's it!" he realized, eyes widening slightly. To figure out the password, he'd first have to figure out Hakuba; Kaito searched his mind for the right words.

"Well, he's meddlesome and annoying," Kaito pointed out, but then shook his head. "Be objective," he told himself; Hakuba wouldn't seem himself as meddlesome and annoying, probably.

"Well, he's-" Kaito began, but then paused, realizing the task was much harder than he had thought it would be. A sudden mental block gripped him; he felt like one of those fanfiction writers who couldn't quite keep characters IC, not for lack of trying, but simply due to a sudden inability to characterize.

Why couldn't he think of the words? He had been in the same class as the detective for what seemed like forever. And in his mind, the detective was so clear to him, so blatantly obvious. But as soon as he tried to vocalize it, the words escaped him. And it was rare for Kaito to be at a loss for words.

"Well, he's-" Kaito tried again, racking his brain for all the possible qualities a person could possess. "-persistent," Kaito finally said. That was one way to put it, and it was certainly more objective than meddlesome. "Let's see, he's also," Kaito continued, "confident." In fact, all the detectives he'd met- Hakuba, Heiji, Conan- had the distinctive quality of being confident, bordering over-confident: confident in the clues, confident in the deductions, confident in themselves.

"Matte," Kaito muttered, deep in thought. Confidence. Self-confidence. If Kaito was reasoning correctly, then perhaps the password to the folder was much simpler than he thought. After all, Hakuba would be confident that no one would be able to gain access to his computer in the first place, let alone the files inside.

"So then, this should work," Kaito said as he began typing.

S-A-G-U-R-U-H-A-K-U-B-A

"But Hakuba's also annoyingly cautious. Would it really be so easy?" Kaito said as his finger lingered over the enter key. But then with a shrug, figuring he had nothing to lose, Kaito pressed down. The computer took a moment to process his request. Then Kaito was greeted with ding as the password was accepted and the folder opened.

"Maji?" Kaito said in disbelief as he blinked a few times to make sure his eyes weren't fooling him. When his success finally hit him, Kaito leaped out of the chair and threw a fist into to air, "Yosha! Now, let's see what Hakuba's been hiding."

The folder "private data" contained several other folders, each labeled with generic names like "001", "002", "003", etc. It was impossible to tell what was inside each folder without clicking, so Kaito did just that. Kaito moved the mouse over the first folder, "001", and double clicked, causing a new window to open. Inside was a list of images, numbering well into the thousand.

"Oh, embarrassing pictures of Hakuba?" Kaito smirked as he moved to click the first one in the list. An image appeared on his screen, causing Kaito's eyes to open a little wider in surprise. "This is-!"


"Tadaima!" Conan called as he stepped through the door to the agency. Immediately, he noticed Kogoro passed out on the couch, drunk. Oi, oi, Conan thought. He'd only been out for, what, an hour? How had Kogoro managed to get himself drunk so quickly? Conan sighed as he walked past the hopeless detective, the latter mumbling something about Yoko-chan in his sleep, and moved to the kitchen, where he found Ran, busy reading a book.

"Tadaima, Ran-neechan," Conan said.

"Okaeri, Conan-kun," Ran said, looking up from her book, "Did Agasa-hakase agree to take care of Watson and Holmes for the weekend?"

"Un," Conan nodded, "By the way, Ran-neechan, what are you reading?"

"It's a cook book. I'm trying out a new recipe. Would you like to help?" Ran asked, giving Conan a smile.

Him, help with dinner? Well, I can try, Conan thought as he gave Ran a nod.

"Make sure you wash your hands first," Ran instructed, "And then you can help cut the carrots."

"Hai!" Conan said, moving to the sink to wash his hands.

When was the last time he had helped Ran with dinner? Probably eleven, twelve years ago, back when he was, well, an actual child. We had been making…Conan thought, getting lost in the memory.

Beef stew?

That's right, Shinichi-kun. Ran will be making stir fry. And you will be helping me with the beef stew. Does that sound good?

Hai, Obasan.

What was that Shinichi-kun?

Er, I mean, Kisaki-ojousan.

Oh good, that's what I thought you said.

"Ha. Ha," Conan laughed silently as the memory ended. His mother and Eri were surprisingly similar, despite one being an actress and the other a lawyer. Well, at least when it came to being called an "obasan".

Conan turned and looked over at Ran, the latter busy cutting some chicken. For a moment, Conan was mesmerized by the skillful cuts, the way that the knife just seemed to flow in Ran's hands, and the effortless expression on Ran's face. She's definitely changed, Conan thought, realizing how much Ran's cooking had improved since when they were children. Well, he was still a child, but that was beside the point.

The first time Ran had made stir fry, it was…quite terrifying to eat. Ran had added too much salt and there was the hint of some mysterious ingredient present…bubble gum possibly? Needless to say, the dish was inedible, and he had told her as much, much to the latter's disappointment. Now though, Ran's cooking was superb. Still staring at Ran, Conan could feel a faint smile form on his face.

"Conan-kun," Ran said, looking up from what she was doing.

"Nani?"

"You're not cutting them properly," Ran said, walking over and picking up a carrot piece Conan had cut. The piece was far from being any recognizable shape though and it wasn't even clear how Conan had managed to achieve such a cut with a knife. It looked more like Conan had simply smashed the carrot against the counter top and hoped for the best.

"Here, I'll show you," Ran said, taking Conan's small hands in her own as she began going through the motions. Conan could feel himself blush from the physical contact; he looked up from the cutting board and into Ran's face. Ran looked relaxed, a faint smile lingering at the edge of her lips. Conan couldn't help but feel himself smile in response. But then her expression changed when she noticed Conan staring.

"W-what?" Ran stuttered, also starting to blush.

"A-ah, nothing," Conan quickly said, looking away. He looked down, though, when he felt a small prick in his finger. "Itai," Conan said, noticing that Ran had accidentally cut his finger when she was distracted. A small droplet of blood oozed out from the cut.

"Ah! Gomen, Conan-kun!" Ran said hurriedly as she put down the knife, "I'll go get the first aid kit."

It wasn't long before Ran returned, Band-Aid in hand. "There," Ran said as she wrapped it around Conan's finger.

"Arigato, Ran-neechan," Conan said, giving Ran a smile.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Ran asked, looking unnecessarily worried.

"I'm fine," Conan reassured, "It's just a small cut. Nothing big."

"You've always been like this," Ran mumbled under her breath, a solemn look across her face.

"What's that, Ran-neechan?" Conan asked, wondering what was up with Ran all of a sudden.

"Ah, nothing, Conan-kun," Ran said, changing her expression to a smile, "Just promise me something, okay?" Conan's look told her to continue. "Please be careful."

"Ran-neechan," Conan said softly, looking into Ran's eyes, trying to figure out what she was thinking.

But before he got a chance to, Ran said, "Now, shall we get back to making dinner, Conan-kun? I'm sure Otousan will be starving when he wakes up." Ran let out a small laugh and moved back to the counter. Conan couldn't help but look on as Ran walked away, feeling the weight of the heavy air. Be careful? Conan repeated in his head. Needless to say, Ran was probably not referring to their cooking exercise.

"Ran," Conan repeated.


"Here's the deal, you two," Haibara said, looking at the two pups. "Number one. There will be three meals a day." Haibara held up three fingers just to emphasize the point. "That means no junk food. Number two. No peeing inside the house. Number three. No sleeping on my bed. Understood?"

Watson and Holmes looked up at Haibara curiously, the former giving a bark and wagging its tail. Haibara just sighed and sat down on the ground. Instantly, the two pups rushed over and started covering her in licks.

"Haha, okay, I get it," Haibara said, "I'll let you have some snacks." To that, Watson and Holmes both let out a bark. "Still no sleeping on my bed though," Haibara said as she picked up the chewed up doll. Instantly, the two pups began jumping around in excitement. "You want to play fetch?" Haibara asked, noticing the pups' wagging tails. "Here!" Haibara said, throwing the doll as far as she could manage. The two pups dashed after it, in a race to see which one could get it first. "Fetch, huh?" Haibara said as she thought about the doll, her expression growing serious. Which hound is going to come fetch me? Haibara thought sardonically.


"This is," Kaito began, a bemused smirk crossing his face, "So this is what Hakuba thinks about at night. Well, at least he has good taste in something," Kaito said, looking at the image of a blonde on the screen, "Wow, she's pretty cute." The mouse went to click on the next image, and then the next one. It wasn't what Kaito was expecting but it was entertaining nonetheless. So Hakuba has thousands of these, eh? Kaito snickered to himself. Kaito made sure to make a mental note of Hakuba's "type", in case the information came in handy later. You never know, Kaito thought to himself.

A sudden noise from the door pulled Kaito's attention away from the screen. "Kaito? Are you in there?" a voice called.

Aoko? What's she doing here? Kaito wondered as he quickly closed the images. He managed to finish just as Aoko walked through his bedroom door.

"Kaito? Why is it so dark in here?" Aoko asked, noticing Kaito.

"Baka, I was watching a movie," Kaito replied, walking towards Aoko to draw attention away from his computer.

"Oh, what movie?"

"Nothing interesting," Kaito said, pushing Aoko out the door and closing it behind him. It'd be troublesome if she found out what he was actually doing.

"And what's with that bulge in your pants?" Aoko said, looking down. Bulge? Kaito thought, following Aoko's line of sight.

"Oh! It's just some snacks. You want some?" Kaito said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out some food.

"Uh, no thanks," Aoko said, shaking her head. Kaito shrugged and put the food back in his pocket.

"So, what are you doing here?" Kaito asked. Aoko gave him a strange look before answering.

"You promised to do the calculus homework with me, remember?" she said.

"Oh, right," Kaito said. He had completely forgotten, what with breaking into Hakuba's house and all. Kaito glanced back at his room, wishing that he could continuing going through the files.

"What's up, Kaito?" Aoko asked, noticing his hesitation.

"Ah, nothing, let's go downstairs," Kaito suggested, dragging Aoko down the stairs. They set up their stuff in the family room and got to work on the homework. The teacher had been feeling particularly cruel lately, assigning a hundred calculus problems to do over the weekend. The two worked quietly for a while before Aoko broke the silence.

"Ne, Kaito," Aoko began, clearly something on her mind.

"Yeah?" Kaito replied, not looking up from the textbook.

"You've been going to Tokyo a lot recently, haven't you?" Aoko asked. At that, Kaito looked up.

"I guess," Kaito said, wondering why Aoko was suddenly bringing it up.

"What have you been doing there?"

Observing Tantei-kun. "Oh you know, this and that," Kaito said, shooting Aoko a mischievous grin.

"You haven't been doing lewd and perverted things there, have you?" Aoko said angrily, her face forming a pout.

Kaito burst into laughter. "Nothing of the sort. I was just helping out an acquaintance of mine," Kaito said. Well, it's kind of the truth.

"Helping out with what?" Aoko pressed.

"Uh, well," Kaito paused, scratching his head as he tried to buy some time to make up a lie. It wasn't like he could tell Aoko what he was actually doing. "I was helping him learn some magic."

"Magic?"

"Yeah, he's really interested in magic," Kaito said. Interested in solving the trick, at any rate. "So he asked me to teach him."

"That's awfully nice of you."

"What can I say, I'm an awfully nice guy," Kaito retorted.

"Uh huh," Aoko said, giving Kaito a dubious look.

"What? You don't believe me?" Kaito said in mock anger.

"No, no, I believe you," Aoko said, laughing. Kaito burst into laughter too. "I'm glad Kaito is still Kaito," Aoko said abruptly as the laughter died down.

"What's that?" Kaito asked, noticing that the serious expression had returned to Aoko's face.

Aoko just shook her head. "It's nothing. Just-" she paused, "You've seemed kind of distracted lately, like a person obsessed with something. I thought something might have happened in Tokyo, but maybe I just over-thinking things."

She thinks I'm obsessed with Tantei-kun? Kaito shook his head. Entertained was more like it. "I'm fine. And besides, aren't you the one acting strangely?" Kaito smirked.

"I'm serious, Kaito. We haven't fought in class; you don't go around playing tricks on people; you don't even try to see my panties anymore," Aoko said.

Kaito just shrugged at the remark. "That's because I already know the pattern. Pink on Monday, white on Tuesday-"

Kaito didn't get to finish before Aoko jumped up angrily. "Bakaito!" she yelled.

"Ah, there's the Aoko I know," Kaito said, his grin getting bigger.

"Ha? What's that?" Aoko said angrily, a mop coming out of nowhere.

"Hey, let's calm down and talk about the like civilized people," Kaito said, also getting up and moving slowly away from the angry girl with the mop.

"Are you calling me uncivilized?" Aoko raged, swinging the mop at Kaito. Kaito leaped out of the way and started running. "Come back here, Bakaito!" Aoko yelled. The chase went on for a few minutes before both parties dropped to the ground, exhausted.

"Ne, let's go watch a movie or something," Kaito said between pants.

"What? What about the calculus homework?" Aoko asked, equally tired.

"Later, later. It's Friday night. There's plenty of time left to do the homework," Kaito said, getting up. He offered a hand to Aoko. "Shall we go?" Aoko blushed and stood up by herself, brushing Kaito's hand away.

"Hmph, Bakaito," Aoko said, though Kaito could detect the hint of a smile on her face.

"Ahoko," Kaito said, following Aoko out the door.


Three Hours Later


"So what'd you think of the movie?" Aoko asked as they stepped out of the theatre.

"Eh, it was okay," Kaito replied. Frankly, he almost fell asleep. The movie had been one of those slice-of-life romantic comedies, minus the part about it being funny. But Aoko had seemed to enjoy it, so that was good enough. The two of them headed back to Kaito's house so Aoko could pick up her things. Then Kaito walked Aoko back to her house.

"You didn't have to follow me, you know," Aoko said, evidently still angry from before. Kaito just shrugged and watched as Aoko was about to go inside. She paused at the door, however, and turned around.

"See you Monday, Kaito," she said.

"Ja ne," Kaito replied, starting to walk away. He didn't get far before he felt a tug on the back of his shirt.

"Wait," Aoko said, pulling him back.

"Ahoko!" Kaito managed before he lost his footing, falling backwards against Aoko. Aoko ended up back to the wall of the house, with Kaito on top of her. Instantly the two of them blushed at their predicament, each staring into the eyes of the other.

"Ne, Kaito," Aoko finally said, breaking the awkward silence. "Do you-"

Kaito's eyes opened wide. I-is this...is this a confession?! Kaito felt his face draw closer, their noses almost touching.

"Do you-" Aoko began again.

Do I-? Kaito repeated mentally.

"Do you think you're ready for next month's magic show? You're performing right?" she hastily finished.

"Hai?" Kaito asked in surprise. He took a step back and burst into laughter.

"W-what?" Aoko asked, turning red.

"It's nothing," Kaito said, shaking his head, "Anyways, a magician is always ready." Kaito flicked his wrists, pulling out a rose from thin air. He gave it over to Aoko and turned to leave. "Goodnight, Aoko," Kaito said.

"Goodnight, Bakaito," Aoko whispered, holding the rose in her hand. She couldn't help but smile.


Post Story Notes

Hey guys, sorry 'bout the long delay. Been feeling rather unmotivated with the story lately and I think it's affecting the quality. Maybe I'll take a break for a while and do something else, clear my head a bit. Ah but don't worry, I'll finish the story, probably.

Anyways, I wanted to ask you guys a simple question and I'd really appreciate it if you could answer either in the reviews or by sending me a PM. So my question is this.

Do you think the plot is progressing 1) Too slowly 2) Just right 3) Too quickly 4) If you can think of another possible response to this question, feel free use it.

Personally, I think it's a little slow going, but then, this is the character development portion of the story. Anyways, I'd like to hear what you have to say. Thanks in advance!