A bit filler-ish, but perhaps providing some insight.

Chapter 36

Two weeks later, Kaito was given a clean bill of health, after a thorough round of antivenin therapy and an annoying set of physical therapy regiments that left the physical therapists baffled. Which, to be fair, wasn't exactly surprising, considering some of the stunts Kaito was capable of pulling off.

Though, Shinichi did suppose it was rather more startling for someone who had recently been paralyzed to the point of heart and lungs not working to be able to manage said stunts. Which were professional gymnast level if one was being modest, but that was somewhat the point.

Shinichi's parents had hung around, staying at the mansion in Beika, and had been interested in Hakuba to the point of a certain mother drawing an (increasingly alarmed) British detective into some of her terror schemes.

At least they hadn't been confined to the hospital for the entire two weeks. Shinichi was pretty sure that would have driven Kaito (and, by extension, everyone else in the vicinity) completely insane.

"So. What did Akako have to say?" Kaito broke into Shinichi's musings, bouncing on his toes twice before settling. He'd told Shinichi to go see the witch while he went to his last appointment/checkup after Shinichi had admitted his reluctant suspicions.

"… that Death doesn't like being thwarted," Shinichi sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. "Apparently Fate is mutable enough that it doesn't care so much, but when it involves immediate death, things get… locked, sort of. As long as someone dies, it doesn't matter so much who. It's just that apparently the magic shrouding us makes us a little separate from what Is, sort of, so if you or I are the ones stepping into the victim's place, it's possible to survive."

Kaito grimaced, fingers flicking through something that wasn't—quite—a curse.

"Yeah."

"Well, I guess we'll just have to plan better," Kaito decided.

Shinichi thought that over. "… We need to be careful. I don't want…"

"Aa. I don't want that, either."

xxxx

Hakuba sighed, only mostly irritated. Kuroba was fine, and while that was a good thing, it meant the magician-thief was also back to his usual antics, which appeared to involve extra pranking to make up for lost time.

Kudo wasn't stopping it, either, which implied that either he was pleased to see Kuroba in high spirits or was giving him a bit of time to get it out of his system. Or both, Hakuba supposed.

It took him longer than it should have to realize the number of pranks directed at Kudo that were then redirected back at Kuroba (and occasionally redirected a second time to some innocent classmate) was significantly higher than usual. He frowned.

This wasn't the same sort of reaction Kuroba had shown towards his husband when Kudo had been showered in a dead man's blood, but the subtle hints of worry around his eyes was similar. But nothing unusual had happened lately, except…

Right. Careless, even stupid of him to have overlooked the possible ramifications of Kudo having known beforehand what was intended to happen and telling Kuroba. If he hadn't, Kuroba would not have been poisoned, would not have almost died.

If not having saved a stranger had shaken him so badly…

So. Kuroba wasn't blaming Kudo, but Kudo was probably blaming himself, or at least his lack of reliable foresight—which might amount to the same thing. There wasn't really much Hakuba could do about that.

At least the hotheaded Osakan was gone. He only had to worry about Kudo and Kuroba instead of another high-school detective—which might not have been an actual problem, but he doubted Kudo or Kuroba would want anyone else looking into their affairs. If too much attention was drawn their way, there was a possibility that whatever syndicate they were currently not on the radar of would start noticing them.

That would be a problem.

A small piece of crumpled paper hit him in the forehead and he blinked, startled.

Kuroba glowered at him from atop his own desk, "Stop thinking so hard, Hakuba! You're giving me a headache!"

Kudo smirked, shaking his head in obvious amusement.

Then again, Kuroba might have Kudo handled just fine on his own.

xxxx

"Think we should drop in on Hattori?"

Shinichi blinked at the random question, "I don't have a problem with it, but is there a reason?"

Kaito grinned, "You said he figured you out in two meetings last time. I want to see if he can hold the record!"

Shinichi snorted. Of course. "Ridiculous. If that were the point, we could just wait until that Holmes convention…"

"Where there were… what? Three murders?"

"Two and one attempted," Shinichi winced, "Right. Okay. That… it might be better if we just found a way to get the entire thing canceled."

"Mm. Well, it's all on that first edition printing of… which was it? A Study In Scarlet?"

"Yeah. I was pretty excited at the thought, then, but now…"

"Seems pointless?"

"Mm."

Kaito gave a half-shrug. "Yeah, there are a lot of things I've looked at lately and thought just… didn't mean anything real."

Shinichi smiled, a little nostalgic, "Pointless, but… there was an innocence there. Fifteen years against Them tends to crush that kind of thing."

"Yeah… and keeping the innocents from getting caught up in that kind of thing might make it worth just… I don't know, stealing the book?"

"Would we return it later?"

"Eh. That would draw a lot of attention to it… maybe get some security brought in, if the owner is as proud of it as you said he seemed to be. Maybe turn it into a full heist?"

"Plan. Plan. I don't…"

"Planning," Kaito agreed. "Actually, let's start now. Forget Osaka—Hattori would be a help if he shows up again."

"You realize we have time, right? We could still go to Osaka. The contest for invitations won't even be for another two months."

"… isn't that when we let your mom make arrangements for our little honeymoon vacation?"

"Um. Ah, I'd… forgotten about that. Let's check the times: the thing at Mycroft was only supposed to be three days, after all."

"What if they overlap?"

Shinichi bowed his head, grimacing. "Pandora is more important. We steal the book and hope for the best, and if he cancels the gathering, great. If not… well, they won't have the book to fight over."

"'Hope for the best', huh?" Kaito smiled a bit, shaking his head. "I don't like choosing like that, but it's already been made clear that what we remember isn't what will be, not really. After all, the future isn't set in stone."

"No," Shinichi agreed. "And if we can destroy that crystal…"

"It will save a lot more, in the end."

xxxx