Summary: In which, Shinichi arrives at the meeting point, and Aoko visits the hospital.

Notes: Sorry it took so long for an update, med-school is pretty busy. But I hope you enjoy the update!

"There's no need to be afraid," Jii says, as they sit in his car, an old beaten up thing, with a speedometer that doesn't register anything past thirty miles an hour, and a clutch that never wants to reach the biting point on the first attempt. "You've not done anything wrong, they won't suspect you."

From the passenger seat, Aoko shudders. She attempts to breath, closes her eyes for a moment and nods her head. She says, "and they won't suspect me even after we do anything wrong, because we won't let them."

She can't see the older man nod, but she can hear the movement. It gives her enough courage to lean down to unbuckle her seatbelt, opening her eyes and staring down the hospital.

"We're not doing anything illegal today anyway," Jii says, offering what can only be a comforting smile. There's a calmness in his voice that shows that he's obviously used to this sort of pressure – obviously he is, if Kaito had trusted him enough for help in the past – and Aoko finds herself wondering if there were ever any signs in the past that he was much more than a bar owner.

There probably isn't, and part of that bewilders her. How good a liar did he have to be to fool everyone, even after the police had investigated Kaito's associates, aiming to catch any accomplices?

"Exactly," Aoko says, nodding, "I'm just worried about my friend. I just want to make sure he's alright before they send him back."

Jii nods his head. He says, "exactly. And if we happen to get the layout of the hospital room, of the guard rotation, that's completely legal as well."

She nods. And then, after a pause, acid rolling in her stomach at the thought of Kaito wounded, – "And the medication he's on. I need to pay close attention to that. Along with any machine's they've got him on…"

It's all too much, and there's no way of writing down notes, but Aoko nods her head anyway. She'll find a way to remember all of this, even if it seems impossible. For Kaito's sake she must.

"Exactly," Jii says. And then, he reaches into his pocket, presses a small black button into her palm. Except, Aoko knows for certain that it's not really a button. "Just be calm and everything will be alright. This is the easy part."

Aoko nods her head. As soon as she's finished pocketing the 'button' into her palm, she pushes open the car door, pulls herself out of the car and focuses on the hospital entrance.

She walks.

"Saguru-kun," Ran says, as he turns, making his way back towards the computer he's no doubt been typing into for days now. "When was the last time you slept?"

He's so pale, and part of her thinks it's because he's entombed himself in the dark of his room. She enters further into the room, makes her way towards the windows and draws open his curtains.

Saguru hums his displeasure. Ran isn't sure if it's because his bedroom is suddenly bright, or whether he simply doesn't want to answer the question, knowing that she'll dislike the answer.

"I haven't slept well recently," Saguru admits, "not since the escape. I've had a lot of… thinking to do."

He leans forwards, squinting at his screen, and lifts a hand up to tap at the monitor. The light flickers for a moment, before settling on the picture it'd been trying to show. Ran takes a step closer.

"It's difficult, yes, but we can't afford to be exhausted for this case."

Another hum, it's low in his throat, and Saguru doesn't respond with words, decides simply to focus on typing out more, trying to learn more.

"Okay then," Ran says, grabbing a foldable chair from the side of his desk and pulling it towards the desk. She sits at the edge, peering onto the screen, "we'll focus on the case instead of you. Ogami Shukuzen, how are we going to learn more about him."

Saguru turns, meets her eye and says, "we steal the any files relating to his current life. Case files, bank statements, bills."

Ran bites her lip. Coming from his mouth, this all seems wrong. Saguru has always been one to play by the rules and hearing him so much as suggesting that they… no.

"We can't steal personal files," Ran hisses, hating how unsettled the idea makes her feel. "What was it you told me when I suggested reading Shinichi's statements? We're doing things by the book, so we can declare the evidence if we can get Shinichi acquitted."

"We're not going to catch Ogami's imposter if we do things by the book." He says. "And seeing as Kudo all but admitted to you there were people trying to kill him… I don't think that there's enough time to go by more conventional methods."

Ran bites her lips, "this isn't like you at all."

"I don't feel much like myself right now," Saguru admits, "so you're probably right."

He runs a hand through his hair, and Ran can see him absentmindedly chewing on the inside of his cheek.

"I talked to Kudo once," Saguru says now, "on the phone about three months before I helped to catch KID. I hadn't visited, because well – I said I wouldn't until I got him free, and I'd started to lose faith in him."

She doesn't know why he's saying this now, when he could have during all the nights they'd spent looking into the case. Maybe he hadn't thought it was important – but Ran knows Shinichi, he always leaves clues to those he thinks are capable. And Shinichi had trusted Saguru to pick up on clues.

"What was it about?"

Saguru says, "he said that he didn't need me to look into the case anymore. That he knew I was too involved to be able to offer a fresh perspective. Someone else was looking over the case with him, and he said I'd never been confident with murder scenes anyway. I excelled with catching thieves."

Ran can only imagine who had taken over the case, looking into it. There's only one name she can think of: Hattori Heiji.

"Part of me wonders whether he wanted me to catch KID," Saguru continues, "so he'd be able to escape. I mean, I used to complain all the time about how I was so close to him. Do you remember?"

Ran nods.

"And if he wanted me to catch KID, and if he wanted to escape," he continues, "then he probably knew that I would be there to catch KID again, and him. That I'd look into the lists and figure out who'd been linked to the various cases."

"Saguru-kun," Ran mutters, "don't you think this is a little far-fetched? I mean, I doubt Shinichi would have thought that far ahead, he's not capable of scheming things like that by himself–"

"I think, if you put someone into solitary confinement as much as they did for Kudo," the detective says. "I don't know how much Kudo did plan, but he created an opening for us to get these lists, and now we have a name. And… I promised him I'd solve this case, so – that's what I'm doing. No matter how much trouble I get into."

Heiji takes a deep breath, tries not to think about everything that has happened up to this point, and finds that it's impossible, because just like the previous events – his own emotions are out of his control.

He should be focusing on his classes – he can't afford to avoid studying now, golden week is over, and his life needs to continue, even if he'd put it on hold temporarily to break Kudo out – but it's too difficult to focus on physics when all he's thinking about is their situation.

What will they do now?

How can he offer help to someone in Kyoto, all the way from Osaka?

His mind is whirring so much he's pretty sure people can hear the sound. Looking up, Heiji sees that his classmates are all looking at him, so they must be able to hear. But no – he's just been asked a question by their teacher and is taking too long to answer.

"I'm sorry," he mutters, asking for the question to be repeated after Kazuha pokes him in the arm, bringing him back to the present.

He gets the question wrong.

Seconds later, when their teacher has gone back to writing on the whiteboard, Kazuha sends him a look that's a mixture of worry and 'get yourself together'. It feels almost warm in his chest, that he's finally sharing this secret with someone else, but there's also discomfort there too.

Probably because part of the secret involves a dead man.

Heiji offers her a smile that tells her he'll try to focus more, but it's weak, worry gnawing on him, locking it's jaws around his stomach and refusing to let go. Heiji feels almost… lost.

Is Kudo alright? Or has Heiji left him to walk into a trap? Is Kyoto really a good idea?

God, Heiji doesn't know, and the uncertainty is killing him. He'll have to phone Kudo later, after class has let out and they're no longer trapped by the weight of their teachers. Until then, he'll have to deal with the temporary freedom their lunch break gives, send off a text to check in.

"Hey Hattori," it's one of his classmates, Ryu from the volleyball team. Heiji turns, slows his gait so the other boy can catch up. They're both walking in the same direction it seems, both ready to buy food from the cafeteria.

"What is it?"

"Well," Ryu says, "that serial killer tha' escape. We've been thinkin' about where he would go, and since yer like, a detective an' all we were wonderin' what you thought about it?"

Heiji takes a moment to feign thought. He can't exactly go around telling lies, not if people are going to talk about said theories. Heiji's just paranoid enough to know he needs to deal in half truths. Not completely spreading falsehoods – he can't ruin his reputation, or make it seem like he's covering for Kudo, but not quite the truth he knows.

They are just entering the cafeteria when he says, "I'm not sure where, but I'd say he's gonna be in plain sight, ya know?"

At the puzzled expression he receives, Heiji continues. "Well, ya know those spot the difference puzzles that ya can get? It's kinda like that – until your told there's any differences there, ya don't really realise any are there. So I reckon Kudo's doing that – no one's expecting him to be out in the open, so they ain't lookin. They're tryin' t' find hiding spots instead."

Ryu gives a small nod. "So since they're expectin' him to go into hidin', they're not going to search in the open?"

Heiji nods. And then, as they're about to join the queue, stomachs rumbling for food, he pauses. Hiding things out in the open…

He has an idea. A way to find some more evidence.

Kudo needs to hear this… No, Kudo has too much to worry about in Kyoto, and this lead isn't necessarily going to be as successful as he suspects it will be. Heiji needs to talk to Kazuha instead, and together, they'll be able to figure things out.

Heiji starts to count the hours down before they'll be freed from class, ready to plan things through.

It's a little difficult for Aoko to gain entry onto the floor Kaito's being kept on.

The police guarding the corridor Kaito's staying in are sceptical when they see her, uncertain of whether they should let her in or not. On one hand, she's the daughter of their inspector, the man who'd put the handcuffs on KID's wrists, not once, but twice now, a girl with an outright hatred for Kaitou KID. On the other hand, she's KID's childhood best friend, and the bullet proof vest she should have been wearing during the heist, had been found around KID instead.

Aoko crosses her arms at their indecision, shakes her head and says, "KID saved my life. All I want to do is thank him before you send him to prison."

It only seems to intensify their worry.

"Oh please," Aoko continues, "I'm not asking to go in there for a private conversation. Kaito's dangerous, I know that. I just want to say thanks so I can forget all about it."

Now, they seem more sympathetic. A young friend wanting to say thank you for being saved, wanting to get the words out so she never has to see someone suspecting of being an accomplice to murder again…

"Okay." They relent. "But make it quick."

And now, for the final push. Aoko doesn't want to seem to eager, so she hesitates, just long enough that one of the police inspectors – what was her name? Sato? – asks if she's alright.

"…I don't…" Aoko shakes her head, crosses her arms around her waist. She says, "I don't want to be alone with him. Will you..?"

The detective's eyes soften. Good – Jii had suggested trying to get some sympathy from her, an easy feat, if turning things against Kaito. After all, she's one of the police officers who Kaito had knocked unconscious during his break in to the police station.

"Of course," Sato says.

Aoko nods her head. She whispers, 'thank you'.

Shinichi reaches Kyoto at midday.

He's not meant to meet Miyano until four, so he spends his time searching for a cheap place to stay. Somewhere without cameras, but big enough that people won't remember his face when he tries to stay.

And even then… no… Kaito wouldn't risk staying in a hotel, would he? Did he ever mention having a safehouse in Kyoto?

Shinichi can't remember. But that's alright, he knows how to pick basic locks, so he'll just find a house that's currently on the market with no residents and stow himself away there. He'll have to do that later then, it's not exactly something he can do properly during the day.

He finds himself walking through neighbourhoods anyway, eyes flittering from 'to let' signs outside houses. Some of them, he notices have CCTV cameras above them, and he resists the urge to pull his hat down lower, knowing that it'll only draw more suspicion to him if people were to start looking.

Others have alarms that Shinichi isn't trained well enough to turn off. If Kaito were here, then he's certain they'd have a place to stay without so much as a second thought, but…

But he's not.

Shinichi doesn't want to overthink it. So he doesn't, and instead, he turns his attention back to more houses, overlooking their security and how busy the surrounding roads seem.

Not wanting to overthink, and not overthinking are two different things though. He can't stop thinking about how Kaito's been caught – he's alive, yes, but being mobile and conscious is different to being unconscious and injured. And for him to have just… left Kaito behind.

It leaves a sour taste in his mouth.

Maybe… Maybe before he returns to Osaka, he can find a way to break Kaito out of the prison again? True, Kaito has committed crimes, and Shinichi doesn't necessarily agree with some of his methods, but Kaito hadn't just been an accomplice to the prison break. Against his original efforts, he'd let Kaito in – and now, well, now they're friends.

And Shinichi knows how lonely it is to be imprisoned without any friends there to watch his back.

"Okay," he mutters to himself, forcing himself out of the moment. He taps his fingers against his leg, tries to avoid scratching into skin as he glances at more houses. "That one seems alright?"

It's a semi-detached house, not far from the train, and just on the edge of the road, overlooking the crossroads. No CCTV cameras overlooking the door, yet Shinichi eyes a contractor making his way indoors, taking out the alarms, as if getting ready to swap them over.

A bust then.

He hesitates, waits a moment. The contractor peeks inside the door, fiddles with the wires in the wall and seals them away – Shinichi assumes he'll come back to fix it.

Waiting a few more minutes, he observes as the contractor drives off.

Maybe he could…? Shinichi picks a leaf up from the floor, pushes it through the side of the door, using it as a temporary wedge. He'll have to come back later, and if it's still there… then he'll pick this house to stay in.

Glancing around to ensure no one's seen his quick movement, Shinichi shudders. Paranoia is eating away at him, and without Kaito to assure him it's alright, he feels his throat tightening, panic making it difficult to breathe.

All Shinichi needs to do now, is find his way to the café Miyano's directed him to, looking out for her again.

God, he hopes this isn't a trap.

Kaito is awake when Aoko closes the door behind her.

She bites on her lip subconsciously, listens to the faint click of heels as Sato follows her inside. The detective sits at the end of the room, opens up her notebook and seems to pretend that she's not going to be listening to everything they say.

Even now, Aoko knows that the detective is watching her from the corner of her eyes. She takes a deep breath, focusing on each movement of her muscles, the lack of control over her lungs as she exhales.

"Kaito." She says, after a moment.

He's been watching her since she came in.

"Aoko," he says, offering the same nervous tone that she'd said his name in. "You came."

Aoko glances away. As if she can't stand to look at him.

Kaito frowns. But there's also a glimmer of understanding in his eyes, and his gaze flickers across to Sato. He lets out a sigh, and continues: "but you don't want to be here."

"Aoko just came to say thank you." She says, glancing anywhere but at Kaito. She wants to look at him, to study every inch of him and make sure he's alright, but she can't. Right now, she needs to understand the layout of the room, remember where the exits are, which machines he's currently attached to. It's not a lot – a heart monitor just as a precaution, and a drip with pain medication.

Aoko takes a moment to focus on the drip – it's not dripping. It's been turned off.

Kaito must be thinking through his own escape.

"Is that supposed to be doing that?" She says, before he can respond. She glances back to Sato, who stands, wandering nearer to his drip. She squints, shakes her head.

"There doesn't seem to be anything dripping," Sato says. "He's turned it off."

Aoko forces her eyes to widen, hopes that she wears horrified as convincingly as she wants to be. She says, "he's going to escape…"

"There's enough staff here that we're always watching him," Sato says. And after a second of contemplating her next move, she nods her head: "I'm just going to get a nurse. I think we might need some sort of… sedative."

The moment Sato is gone, Kaito glares. He says, "thanks a lot."

Aoko takes a step forward, grabs hold of his good hand and lifts it to her lips. Instead of explaining anything, she kisses his hand, and asks, "if you were to hide in this room, where would it be?"

His glare drops replaced only with confusion. He says, "There's no point in hiding. They'd know."

"But if you were to hide, where would it be."

Kaito shrugs. He says, "there's a medicine cabinet where they keep some of the equipment. I'd move the equipment and hide inside that, I guess."

Aoko nods. For improvisation, it sounds like it could work. She'll have to tell Jii about it.

"And how about your injury. Are you alright?"

Another shrug, although this time, Kaito winces slightly. He lets go of Aoko's hand, and taking the message, Aoko steps back. He says, "it only grazed me really. The wounds deep, and I needed stitches, and a transfusion, but nothing ricocheted into bone."

She hadn't realised that she'd been holding a breath, but now Aoko breathes out, a steady calm flooding through her veins.

"Honestly," Kaito says, "they're only keeping me here for a little longer because they were worried it'd get infected if I went straight back to…"

He doesn't say it, but the words linger. Prison. Aoko's certain Kaito thinks she's resigned to let him go back, that she won't put up a fight when the police decide to resentence him, placing him back in an even trickier cage to escape from.

But Aoko is not cruel – she will not trap a dove inside it's cage when it's still strong enough to beat its wings. Maybe before she'd been willing to, but everything is… everything is different now.

"Right." Aoko says. She hears the patter of footsteps, Sato making her way back down the corridor alongside a nurse. "Well… yeah, I wanted to say thank you… you didn't have to risk your…"

Kaito offers a lopsided smile.

"Yeah," he says, "I did."

Aoko blinks. She hopes it erases any signs of the giddiness she feels hearing his words. She says, "you're not going to like what happens next."

His smile wilts. The temporary brightness in his eyes dulls, looking much more sardonic. "No? But I've got to go back, right?"

Aoko scratches the back of her hand. She says, "what you gave to me… I'm giving it away."

Kaito's expression goes blank. He shows nothing, but she knows he's hurt. Even if he has no idea at all.

"You can have it," Aoko continues, "I don't want it."

"What is it?" Kaito whispers.

Aoko shakes her head. She says, "tomorrow, will you hide in that cabinet? At around eleven a.m? Will you do that for me?"

Kaito nods. She can see it in his eyes, that he doesn't want to, but he does anyway.

By the time Sato returns with the nurse, Aoko is gone.

As school ends, Heiji grabs her arm and drags Kazuha down the hall.

"What is it?" she asks, voice low in a whisper. She knows it's probably about their little secret, but she can't honestly see how things can have risen in their intensity just yet, when Shinichi's probably only just going into his meeting now.

"Where did ya put the phone?"

She doesn't need to ask which phone. Heiji's got no interest in her own phone, so he's probably talking about the phone Kudo had received his photographed messages on, the one with all the dead bodies captured in it's memory storage.

Kazuha has kept it in her bedroom drawer since they'd returned from Tokyo. Heiji's too linked to Shinichi for them to risk him keeping it with him. She tells him where, and waits for Heiji to answer the silent question in her gaze. Why?

"I was just thinkin'," Heiji says, "how we've been thinkin' entirely too complicated about all this. We've been lookin' for a completely secret organisation, yeah?"

Kazuha bites her lip, nods. "What of it?"

"What if…" Heiji tugs at his sleeve. "What if that organisation isn't as secret as we're thinkin' it is? What if it's just hidin' in plain sight?"

Shinichi feels almost like he's drowning as he steps into the café.

It's not too near the centre of Kyoto that there'd be cameras stalking the streets, but near enough that there's a steady flow of customers. He will not stand out for being the only new face, something which leaves him with a state of calm.

Although, the calm doesn't last that long. Not when he remembers why he's here. His situation is too dire for him to simply forget.

Shinichi picks up a water, pays at the counter, before heading to one of the tables at the back. The entire time, he resists the urge to pull down on his cap.

"Huh," he mutters to himself, "I don't see her anywhere."

And he can't. Even though he'd only spent a moment talking to Miyano Akemi, he's memorised the face, knows he can recognise her if he saw her. And yet, as he scours the café, he can't see her at all.

"Kudo-kun?"

The name catches him off guard, and Shinichi glances around, his eyes settling on a woman – around the same age as him – standing by his table. Her hair is short compared to Miyano's, but their eyes are the same. Are they…?

"You must have the wrong person," Shinichi mutters, deciding not to risk it. He stands from the table, decides to call it a bust and just leave, when a hand shoots out, wrapping around his wrist and trapping him beside her.

"Unless there's another alleged serial killer in this café," the girl says, "then I'm pretty sure you're the exact person I'm after. Akemi sent me to make sure you didn't bring any friends."

Shinichi narrows his eyes. "I was told Miyano would meet me here. Not someone else."

The girl rolls her eyes, shakes her head. She says, "I'd have thought as a detective you'd have known the second you saw me. Perhaps I put too much faith in you. You've been met by a Miyano, just not Akemi. I'm her younger sister. Shiho."

Shinichi crosses his arms. Something about this feels wrong. Two sisters asking for his help? But… well, there's nothing really for him to do other than accept it.

"And is your sister around?"

Shiho nods. "Not in this café, but somewhere a little more private."

She doesn't wait for his response. Instead, Shiho pivots, leaving behind the café before Shinichi can ask where. For a moment, he indecision seizes hold of him – does he follow?

And then, his muscles push him forwards, as curiosity bears down on him.

"This way," Shiho says, and Shinichi, without another word, follows the younger Miyano sister.

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