Thanks for the comments/favs/follows! Please enjoy the update! Just a message - if all goes to plan, this fic should be 52 chapters long.

Summary: In which a murder occurs, and a date is set for KID's return.

The thing about cases, Heiji thinks, is that detectives can't prevent them from happening. They can't fix what's going to happen without knowing about the potential risks, and most cases are impulsive, the cause of spur of the moment decisions.

Perhaps he's not really a detective then… because between him and Kudo, they could have prevented this. They should have known that people would find out about Kudo – that they'd have to keep up the facade of Kudo being a serial killer – but they'd disregarded the fact.

And now there was no way to fix things. Someone was dead.

The case fell into their laps, already broken.

"I didn't-" Kudo heaves out a breath, brings both hands up to his neck and scratches. He digs nails into skin, picking away at steadily fading bruises. Heiji doesn't know how exactly, but in between him seeing the phone and Kudo raising his hands, Kazuha has reached forward, taking Kudo's phone from the other boy.

She passes it to Heiji, and after a brief moment of hesitation, he reopens the text message, seeing the picture that Kudo hadn't turned his phone around for them to see. Beside him, Kazuha cranes her neck to see as well, lets out a small gasp before burying her head into the nook of his shoulders.

"It wasn't me," Kudo breathes, and he moves back until he's curled in on himself on the bench he'd been sat at moments before. "I didn't-"

"I know ya didn't." Heiji says, and maybe his voice wavers a little bit, but it's not fear of Kudo, but rather a fear for him. "We're gonna solve this."

And then, he takes a moment to fully look at the message. Since the first image, three more have been sent, all of the same crime scene but from different angles. All four pictures, however, depict the murder victim – an older man, one that Heiji recognises as Numabuchi Ki'ichiro from the news – suspended to a wall, blood dripping down…

Heiji has to turn away. Holds his mouth to avoid being sick. He's seen plenty of murders in his time, some even more gruesome than this, but they've never been personal before. Not like this.

"They brought that man here yesterday," Kazuha whispers, "so that he could show them to the fourth body he killed…"

Heiji knows – they'd read the back of someone's newspaper on the train from Osaka, read about how a famed serial killer was being brought into police custody from prison to bring the police to one of the victims that had never been retrieved. Apparently they'd be going into the woods…

"He was a serial killer…?" Kudo asks, and drops his hands away from his neck, placing his feet back down onto the floor. He's pale, and he pushes away from the bench with a slight stumble in his step. His gait is one that Heiji's seen before with witnesses to crimes, melancholy jerking their bodies as they try to smother their grief.

"You don't know who he is…?" Kazuha asks, taking Heiji's own phone from his pocket and searching for an internet article. "He was caught a while back, near Osaka, after having killed several people."

She passes the phone to Kudo, and Heiji has to watch as he skims over the article, lips slowly forming a tight line. Kudo brings a hand up to his neck again, digs his nails further into his bruises, and – and his throat is bleeding in a similar manner to how Numabuchi is, in the picture.

He'd always thought the scratching was unconscious – but…

"Shinichi-kun," Kazuha says, and Heiji startles at just how familiar she is, when seconds ago he'd been the person she most despised. She takes a step forward, takes the phone back, and wraps her other hand around the wrist he's using to scratch at his neck. "yer hurtin' yourself."

Kudo glances at her, and Heiji forces himself to move, to offer some sort of help as well. He's not good with emotions, so he hovers instead, helps Kazuha lead Kudo over to some grass where the three of them sit; Heiji with his legs crossed, Kazuha on her knees, holding both of Kudo's wrists away from his neck. And Kudo – staring at nothing, eyes wide and dull.

"It's because I went to the police station." Kudo whispers after a moment. His voice isn't loud, but somehow it echoes, sends a shudder down Heiji's spine. "They found out which city I was in and now they…" He chokes on the words, turns his head so that he's staring away from them.

Kazuha turns to Heiji, swaps his phone for Kudo's. She bites her lip, pockets Kudo's phone and scrunches her nose as she attempts to think. Good, Heiji thinks, at least one of them is thinking. Because he doesn't know what to do. He is not good at being on the other side of crime – breaking Kudo out, seeing bodies before the police do…

Heiji has to suppress a shudder.

"We're gonna figure this out." Kazuha says, and she lets go of Kudo's hands long enough to reach into her bag. She pulls out a small first aid kit, unzips it, and pulls out an antiseptic wipe. "Heiji's gonna go back to th' station, to find a way onto th' case. And Shinichi-kun and I are gonna search through whatever files tha' he has."

Kudo nods, almost half heartedly.

"I thought ya were mad at 'im," Heiji says after a while, "why are ya bein' so…."

Kazuha rips open the antiseptic wipe, uses one hand to lift Kudo's chin up while wiping his blood away. There are crescent marks where his nails have dug into skin, but luckily it isn't too deep.

"Kind?" Kazuha asks after she's finished wiping Kudo's neck, moving down to brush off any flecks of blood on his hands. "I'm not like you, Heiji, I have the capability of feelin' more than two or three emotions at a time. I'm still mad, but there are more important things."

Heiji bites his cheek, nods.

"I'll head back to th' station then." He says, "and find a way onto th' case. If there are two versions of the case, I'll send pictures. That'll help, righ'?"

Kudo nods, looks back at them both with focused eyes. The expression he wears… It's determined, and somehow, Heiji knows that Kudo will solve the case he's been trapped with, even if it kills him.

"It'll help a lot."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Saguru turns at the voice. It's not that he likes worrying people, but he almost can't bring himself to respond. Instead, he glances across at Ran, bites into the inside of his cheek and nods his head. He'd been late – which, well, Saguru doesn't do late – and maybe he'd had a bit of a panic attack inside the car, relying on Baaya to calm him down, but he's certainly fine now.

"I'm fine," he says when Ran's frown remains on her face. It's a stupid question though, Saguru thinks. No one asks if someone's okay, without knowing they're not. Without having at least a slight inkling that someone might need some reassurance. Without needing to have the question asked in response… "And you? Are you alright?"

Ran shakes her head, and for an almost heart-stuttering moment, Saguru wonders what's happened. Then, he reads the creases beneath her eyelids, takes a second to notice that she's slightly pale – such a distinct reaction. It can only be-

"What's happened with Kudo-kun?" Saguru asks, moving forwards. He leans forward, hesitates from where he's gone to put a reassuring hand to her shoulder, letting his hand drop. If something's happened with Kudo, then she's not going to want comfort. She's going to want to act.

"He was here." Ran says.

Saguru stiffens. "Here, as in Tokyo?"

"No." Ran shakes her head. "Here, as in the station."

The inside of his stomach flips, acid churning against his stomach. Of course, on a day that he's late because of car problems, he'd miss out on something so important. It's not like it's a big deal or anything. He steps forward, glances at the police officers that are swarming the department, and decides that this must be the reason for the buzzing in the station today.

"Tell me everything," Saguru says, and she does. She talks about how she and Aoko had found themselves chasing after the escaped convicts after two detectives had been found tied up in a cupboard by a traffic officer on a search for traffic cones. Says how together with Hattori they'd tracked them down to the second floor, to a seemingly dead end, where both Kuroba and Kudo had jumped from the window.

"Something doesn't feel right…" Saguru mutters when she's finished telling the story. Beside him, Ran tugs at her ponytail and glances across at him, a dip between her skin where she's frowning. "I… need to see videos from earlier."

He needs to see the chase from the security tapes because something just doesn't add up.

"Let's go ask Inspector Megure for access," Ran says, and grabs his wrist. "He'll let us in, if it'll help…"

The inspector is shrugging on his jacket when they knock on his office door, opening to face him. He's unnaturally pale, almost the same colour of Kuroba when he's playing the part of phantom, and Megure turns to face them without so much as a greeting.

Instead, he asks, "You're trying to prove Kudo-kun innocent?"

They both nod. Somehow, words stick to Saguru's throat, making him unable to form any response. He bites at his cheek until he tastes blood, nervousness oozing from every pore.

Inspector Megure nods his head, glances away from them. His fingers clench as he looks towards the exit, where Detective's Sato and Takagi sit outside, answering questions by their fellow detectives. He sighs, a long suffering sound, echoing regret and frustration.

"You'll probably want to try and solve this murder then," the Inspector says.

Murder?

"Let's go then," Megure says, and he pushes himself forwards, weighed down by the stress Kudo's escape has brought to him. It's only been days, but somehow, the case has aged him several years. "Before the reporters catch wind of everything."

Another murder?

Saguru doesn't know what to think. It's like a punch to the gut. Just looking at Ran shows him that she's got the same feeling settling in her stomach as well, and he reaches forward to grab her hand, squeezes it with some form of reassurance. Ran offers him a small smile.

"Let's go." Ran whispers after a moment, "we need to prove him wrong."

They need to – and yet, they've been failing at proving people wrong for months.

"You came here for a reason," Aoko says, after they've spent an hour lying back against the bed, laid beside one another, trying to catch up. "Didn't you?"

So far, Aoko has told him about entrance exams and the new book series Keiko has forced her into loving, and Kaito, in return has told her about how they'd gotten out of prison – excluding all mention of Hattori and Shinichi's prison guard contact – and about how he'd originally been thrown into solitary confinement.

"Yes," Kaito says, and his shoulders tense as he senses the oncoming questions. Why? What for?

"Related to the heist you're going to hold soon?" Aoko asks after a moment, and it's still odd that she's acting so seriously, but Kaito thinks he can adjust to it, if only for now – Maybe she's not childish like she used to be. Kaito isn't sure whether it's current circumstances that have changed her speech patterns, or whether Aoko's simply… matured since they've last spoken.

"I thought you didn't like hearing about KID," Kaito asks, pushes himself up on his elbows to look Aoko in the eye. His lack of an answer is confirmation though, and instead of staring back at him, Aoko's gaze flitters across the room as she tries to figure out what exactly is out of place.

Kaito would have to be a fool to think that they hadn't searched the house shortly after his capture, but he's certain that they've not found the secret room – he'd only ever found it out of pure luck. From the lack of police tape over his fathers painting, it's obvious that he's still lucky in one regard.

"I don't," Aoko says at last, facing him when her search comes up empty. "But you've announced a heist at a very bad time."

Raising an eyebrow, Kaito shrugs, pushes up completely from his bed. He crosses the space to his dresser, picks up one of the photo frames that rest there – an old one, from back when his father was alive.

"Did I?" He asks, as he unlatches the photo frame, folding the photo up and tucking it into his jacket pocket. He moves on to another photo, one with him an Aoko, which he also pockets. "I think it's a good time."

Aoko pushes up from his bed, frowns. "The police think you're working with Kudo Shinichi. They'll be more pressed to catch you at the heist if it leads them to him. People put more effort into catching killers than thieves."

Kaito turns. "But I am working with Shinichi."

It takes a moment for Kaito to process the fact that Aoko flinches away from the fact. It's almost like she's been burnt, and he wants to reassure her of the truth, but she's the daughter of an inspector and without proof she won't believe in a person's innocence – or their guilt.

How else had he been able to keep the facade of not being KID for so long? She'd had her suspicions several times, yet he'd only been able to keep her unknowing because she wasn't the type to believe without seeing.

It's probably the reason she'd always loved magic tricks. She'd seen the trick, and believed in magic because it had been there, before her very eyes…

And yet… Aoko forces a calmer expression onto her face and says, "you think he's innocent too?"

"He is innocent," Kaito says. Then, after a pause. "What do you mean too. Who else thinks he's innocent?"

Aoko scrunches her nose, crosses her arms. She nods her head absent-mindedly as she speaks. "Kudo-kun's girlfriend, Hakuba-kun, and Hattori-kun. They're working to try and prove his innocence."

Hakuba…? To think that after refusing him… So Kaito really did get through to him. Somehow, it leaves him feeling slightly less riled than before. Had Hakuba just said no to get a reaction, or more information from him? Or had he really not intended to…

"You're working with them too?" Aoko dips her head yes. "What are your thoughts on Shinichi?"

Aoko leans back, brushes her hair behind her ear. Her shoulders tense, not much, but enough to say that she doesn't think he's innocent. Not by a long shot.

"I don't know," Aoko says after a moment. "All I do know, is that working with him puts you in more danger than working without him."

She has a look in her eyes that makes Kaito want to turn away. It's hot, more fiery than the usual chilling worry he's seen her wear in the past – almost as if she's angry that he's consciously putting himself in danger. Maybe she knows that he'd much rather crash and burn than force himself to do something boring.

Aoko knows him, knows him well enough to know that to him, life is a performance, and the more risks… Well, the more risks he takes, the larger the applause he'll receive when the curtain falls.

"I'm in danger either way," Kaito says. "At least with Shinichi, I have someone in a similar position to me."

There is a nod, almost as if Aoko had known, almost as if she's expected to hear such a thing. Kaito expects that one day he'll explain, maybe when they've got time, when he can fully explain without putting Aoko in danger herself.

She rises from the bed, crosses her way over to him, resting her hands on his arms. For a moment, Aoko simply looks up, almost as if she's trying to memorise his true face, as if she won't see it again. Then, she tears her gaze away, staring down at the carpet.

"Call off the heist then." She whispers, "wait until everything's calmed down."

Kaito shakes his head, lifts a hand up to trace her name against her skin, hoping she'll remember the trust she'd had in him once, to survive against the odds. He smiles, sadly, a melancholic mixture of stuttered heartbeats and forced happiness. A mask, despite the fact that he just wants to be himself around Aoko. "No."

"Why…?"

There are too many reasons and Kaito can't just pick one.

He thinks about how he needs to find Pandora, thinks about how his father would have found the gemstone already if he were alive. He wants to say that the heist is a smokescreen to more dangerous things, something to keep people's eyes from the real reason they visited the station. He wants to say that he enjoys heists, that they're too interesting to just put off.

Instead, he asks, "if I give you a proper heist notice, with the date I have planned, will you give it to your father?"

Aoko blinks away tears. "You're going to get yourself hurt. Or caught. I'm not sure which is worse."

"No," Kaito says, "I'm not."

It doesn't offer any reassurance to either of them, but it does lead to Aoko saying she'll hand a note in, if only because she can't destroy evidence that the police might need in catching him. They're quiet, as Kaito reaches into his desk, scrawls kanji onto a blank card, offering a time and date for his heist.

In two days, he decides. Another quick move – impulsive, maybe, but also effective in stealing police attention – and he knows that Aoko has to keep the surprise from her face as she realises he's not even going to take weeks to prepare, just days.

"It's a bad idea." She says again, when he passes the card over.

"Will you deliver it for me now?" He asks, "So that you won't lose it?"

The way Aoko's lips purse together, tightening, brings a sickening feeling to his stomach. Skin pinches around her eyes as she frowns, but ultimately, Aoko nods, accepts that she's got to leave soon anyway. He doesn't want her to go, but Kaito knows that he needs to focus on the heist now, not Aoko and that there will be time…

He'll find time – it's not like he has a fully functioning life that's going to demand something of him any more. Just a life on the run, wasting time until he can fulfil the goals he's set for himself.

"You'll be gone though," Aoko says, "if I come back."

Another smile. From the way it falters after seconds, it's not exactly a mask, and Kaito feels vulnerable in a way he's not exactly used to. He shakes his head, "you'll look for me at the heist though, I'm sure."

"I won't just look," Aoko says, and she places her hands on her shoulder, stands on tiptoes so that she can plant a kiss on his cheek, "I'll find you."

She retrieves her phone, places the battery back inside, and slips it into her pocket. And then, with one final look, Aoko leaves his room behind, taking with her the heist note declaring KID's return in full detail.

Kaito watches her from his bedroom window, takes the risk of peeking out of curtains, before setting off into the room his father had hidden, closing the door behind him.

The safe house that Kudo's – or should she refer to him as Shinichi now? After breaking the law and not turning him in immediately, Kazuha feels almost like they have a certain degree of intimacy, as if referring to one another by surnames isn't right – is larger than expected.

Kazuha doesn't know what she'd been expecting, maybe a single room, maybe something more hidden, but the safe house is strangely large, empty, but not lacking in space. There's a small table in one of the corners, and Shinichi pulls up a chair as he removes the case files he'd received from the police station. Begrudgingly, Kazuha copies him.

"I…" Shinichi doesn't talk much, keeps breaking off whenever he wants to say something, but frankly, Kazuha doesn't blame him. She wouldn't be capable of saying much if her actions had just resulted in the death of a man. Despite the fact that the victim had been sentenced to death as well… Kazuha knows that it's not going to offer any comfort. "I can't…"

She doesn't say that it's going to be okay, because such words would be empty promises. Instead, she waits until Shinichi opens the folder, says that they'll work on the case until they find a breakthrough.

"I don't know where to start," Shinichi sighs, shaking his head. For a moment, he flicks through pages of information, skin pinched together into a frown, but then, he lifts his hand to scratch at skin again. Kazuha pulls on his wrist, tries to stop him before he can reopen the cuts that have dried on their way back.

"Start at th' beginnin'." Kazuha says, "and explain it t' me. You'll familiarise yerself with th' case, while we wait for Heiji to send us updates on th latest murder."

Shinichi leans forward, plucks up the paper and after skimming over each, he compiles an ordered list. Offering a small smile, he says, "Let's get started then."

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