Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one

Looks at last updated mark and winces

Seriously?

Rematch

"What are you doing here?"

Nonchalantly the young man slid a pair of dark sunglasses down his nose, regarding the other with amused indigo eyes. It never ceased to entertain him how someone so smart could be so oblivious. Here he was, setting on a beach, doing absolutely nothing even remotely suspicious, and the detective could still pick him out of the crowd.

Kaito couldn't see the spirits that hovered around his counterpart. With only a few weeks left until summer break, the barriers between this world and the next one were strongly in place. But that didn't mean he didn't know they were there, which was more than Kudo could say.

Pouting, the phantom thief regarded his rival while discretely checking for any new gadgets (that soccer ball had hurt). "Would you believe I am working on my tan?" he answered the other's question with one of his own.

The serious expression on too young features clearly gave the answer to that. No, he wouldn't. "No games Kid," Conan hissed. He was not even in the mood.

This week had been even worse than usual. To date he had solved three murders, witnessed a suicide, thwarted two kidnappings, and ending up being held hostage when he stopped to get a drink on his way home from school. Not to mention he was still stuck in the body of a child; the chance of there actually being a permanent cure dwindling with each passing day.

Slowly, the smile slid of Kaito's face. "All right," he said quietly, putting away his newspaper and sitting up straight. "The truth." He paused, trying to figure out how to phrase things without coming off as a complete freak. Despite the accusations that were sometimes leveled at him, the magician was not a stalker. He just liked being well informed. Really.

"The truth is," the brunette said at last. "That if I were a teacher, I would never bring my class here. This beach, you see," he continued. "Has a very unsavory reputation." Over the past ten years no less than thirty -five people had vanished without a trace. Most of them had been under sixteen.

"Riptides?" The detective questioned softly.

Kaito could not help but laugh bitterly as his mouth twisted. "If only." A pair of burning red eyes rose from the depth of his memory, along with the siren's scream of thwarted rage. Unfortunately, he couldn't exactly tell the detective the deaths were caused by a bloodthirsty mermaid. Kudo would think he was insane.

Sweeping the sands again, the magician was about to come up with an explanation the tantei would believe when he suddenly lurched to his feet. Frantically, he recounted the children, but no, there was no error. One of them was missing.

Pushing past Conan, Kaito grabbed the teacher by the arm. "Where is Yoshida-chan?" he demanded. As he teacher sputtered he released her, stretching out his otherworldly senses. There was no time to lose.

Indigo eyes flashed with power even through the brown contacts even as the raven hanyou's head snapped around. That way. Kaito broke into a run. Feet barely touching the ground as he pushed his body to speeds no human could match, barely aware of the sound of Conan's solar powered skateboard behind him.

Scrambling over the last dune Kaito finally spotted Ayumi, already up to her waist in seawater. Gathering a bolt of pure power in his hand, he tossed it at the waves, his reward coming in the form of a pained shriek. The magician himself hitting the water a moment later as he bodily picked up the little girl.

Something tried to grab him by the ankle but Kaito hit back with his own magic, making his way quickly towards the shores relative safety. As his feet hit dry land, he shoved Ayumi into the detective's arms before spinning back to face the sea.

"You dare? " The voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once though Aripra herself was nowhere to be seen. "The girl is mine!" The sky darkened as wild waves crashed against the shore.

"I disagree." Kaito's voice was cold, dangerous.

"So brave little half-breed," Aripra sneered. "You should know better than to challenge your betters." The laugh would have been beautiful had it not held such a malicious edge. "Aakesh is not here to protect you now."

Indigo eyes became as hard as the amethysts they sometimes resembled. "I am no longer a child siren," he said coldly. "I no longer need my grandfather's protection." Black-purple flames danced across his hands, his entire stance daring the other to try it.

Aripra hissed. Despite her words she knew the raven was right. Through the grace of the powers the youngest member of the Kuroba line had received a greater portion of his grandfather's blood than should have been granted him. "This isn't over," she whispered softly. The wind calmed, waves settling as she dived deeper into the sea.

Conan's eyes were wide as he grasped the panicking young girl. What had just happened? Not loosening his grip, the detective turned to Kid to demand an explanation, but the other was nowhere to be seen.

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I am not even going to say how long this has been sitting half written on my computer

I completely forgot about it. Hope you enjoyed and please review.

I know I had an idea for another one that I will try to write in the next few weeks.