Disclaimer: I don't own MK or DC, or any other manga/anime to be exact. I just like to let my imagination run loose :D

Ladies and gentlemen! I humbly welcome you to the next chapter of this story.

This chapter will push Kaito a bit to the background, so I will be presenting you more about his detectives. It's high time they met more than just briefly, don't you think?

Huh... Sunday turned out definitely too hot for me and you know how it is… I'm just glad I managed to get through with Chapter 6 fast enough before it hit me ;)

Loyal DC Fan – glad I could manage to bring a smile to your face :D Hum… Honestly speaking I don't know what 'interception' you are referring to… But it's probably due to my poor English. Anyway – sorry I couldn't match your tastes – hope I can manage it better in the future :)

Kameo1 – I'm really happy you enjoyed it so much *grinning like KID* And thank you, but I don't think I'll need lots of luck with support like you guys give me – it's really enough to keep me going *bow*

SilverSapphire34523 – haha I love it too x] His reactions are just priceless, can't wait for the moment his phobia will come into light for the detectives (yeah – totally going to do that at some point xD)

So without further delay…

Please enjoy and review! :)


Chapter 7: Sparks and shadows


The night only made Hakuba more uneasy about the whole situation. Everything that happen the other day made him reconsider all that he thought he knew. Until now Hakuba was just happy for his breakthrough with the magician and he didn't wonder about it much, giving a lot of credit to his own actions. But maybe Kuroba's sudden friendliness wasn't a good sign at all? Detective was starting to doubt everything he figured till now. If he was holding so much anger towards Saguru, that suddenly exploded yesterday, could he really be sincere before? He feared that it all might be a sign that KID was finally breaking mentally due to his stress. That or because lately there was going on even more in the background than the detective was aware of. And none of the option was good.

Hakuba preoccupied with his endangered relationship with Kuroba didn't read any of the reports on KID's heist on Saturday. He only managed to see a replay of the show that the thief prepared for his fans outside of the building on television. Hakuba smiled watching the magnificent performance. He couldn't and wouldn't believe somebody capable of inventing and preparing something so beautiful could turn out violent. This thought helped him once again push away his scare the magician gave him and was still making him uneasy. After a breakfast he went for a walk heading to the station, he wanted to check if something unusual and unwelcomed slipped again into the heist notes.


The blond detective was frowning looking at the scattered notes on the desk before him. He couldn't find anything disturbing this time. He wasn't sure if it meant that this time there wasn't any outer party present or if they were able to avoid being discovered in the slightest. He knew that KID was fine enough to visit him after about an hour and a half after making his escape, but then again he couldn't help but to start wondering what kept him from coming faster. He must have been tired after all the running the reports claimed he'd been through. It wouldn't be surprising if after making his escape he would want to get his rest. And despite that something kept him wandering gods-only-knew-where for quite the time. Hakuba cursed under his breath the fact that he couldn't ask the thief directly about the matter.

He was pondering over this when he noticed voices nearing the archives room he was sitting in. As he raised his head the doors opened reveling an officer followed by Hattori-kun and Conan entering the room.

"Oh? You were still here Hakuba-kun?" the officer (Yamada-san as Saguru recalled) asked with a perplexed voice.

"Yes, sorry about that. Wanted to check it out closely. Should I leave? I would hate to intrude and I am roughly finished anyway." He asked with a polite smile eyeing the boys who were looking at him in return.

"Nah, there's no need for you to leave." Heiji answered waving his hand and turned to the officer "Yamada-san, if you could show me the files…"

"Of course." The officer walked in between the rows filled with papers followed by the dark skinned teen.

As they left the blond noticed that Conan crept beside him and was eyeing the papers scattered on his desk.

"Neee… Hakuba-nisan? What are you reading? KID heist report?" the boy chirped with childish curiosity.

Hakuba observed silently the tiny detective with interest for a few moments. He knew it was no mere child. Not only did he have a few occasions to observe his deductions clearly too advance for a person his age, but also reading random reports he stumbled on had a few refers to him. No wonder he was such a fierce enemy for KID. The chirping tone did not suit the picture at all.

"Yes, you are quite correct. I'm sure you can recall that, much like I've said before, I haven't been present there myself. That's why I came here today to study and see what happened during my absence."

"And did you find anything interesting?"

Hakuba looked into the deep blue not-child's eyes pondering if it was worth to take the gamble. What would the boy do if he knew what dangers KID was facing? He was a dangerous enemy now, probably one of the few who actually stood a chance in catching Kuroba. Could this knowledge make him more neutral, or even turn into an ally? Saguru sure could use some help… He decided that it was worth to try. In the end it wasn't dangerous for his classmate if he didn't slip in any info of the thief himself.

"Not this time." He stated with a blank expression carefully observing growing curiosity on the child's face.

"This time?" His expression for a brief moment was sharp, no more child-like and the blond didn't miss it.

Hakuba smirked at that and gave him a slight nod, averting his gaze towards the alley were the officer and Hattori went in. When he looked back he could see apprehension in the child's eyes. Saguru stood up and headed to the alley, he's been to many times in now and picked out a few of most recent or significant reports on the heists. Then he went to pick a few more – not related to KID himself, but suspicious enough for the detective.

When he returned he noticed that Hattori and Conan are sitting at another desk studying their own, single file. Hakuba shoot a glance at other alleys and acknowledged that Yamada-san was gone. After that he headed to his own desk and placed the files he picked on its edge. He gathered all the loose papers he didn't need any more into one file. With a corner of his eye he noticed Conan elbowing his friend. They both stood up and moved to his desk, waiting patiently for his explanations. He opened a few files at the interesting notes and slid them towards his fellow detectives to read. Hakuba was carefully watching changes in their expressions, their frowning eyebrows and silent questions shining in their eyes. Holding his hands on a few still closed reports he started without any introduction, as he was sure it wasn't needed and would only lessen the impact of his words. He spoke with a quiet, steady and dead serious voice.

"He's being targeted. I believe it's going on now for more than one and a half year now." He tilled his head pointing at the files in Hattori's hands "Moreover the reports are being messed with or altered. Gunshots, bullet holes, witness statements and such are only sometimes mentioned in single police notes. Here…" he opened and slid towards them the report on the 'dance heist' "This is my report. I've mentioned here, adding picture documentation on bullet holes I've found in the building wall he ran on. As you can see there is nothing like that anymore." To his content he saw shock in their eyes as they were listening to him.

"The shootings are not all that is going on." He opened and slid another file "I've witnessed and read about a few accidents during the heists. I don't have any proof but seeing how neat and detailed he always is I can't imagine him allowing something like that to happen."

"Shocked with it all I have investigated further, checking random files and reports not related with him directly. Of course I haven't covered all of them, but I have found a few particularly interesting." He opened the remaining files and slid them to his fellow detectives "I've noticed they are mentioning an unidentified, external help mentioned in many of them. Naturally I didn't link all of them to him, but a few including those unequivocally seem to be his work. I can hardly imagine that there are many people capable and willing to act this way."

Heiji let out a huff in awe "Seems he really is a busy person…"

"I couldn't agree more." Hakuba gave a nod and sighed "Obviously he himself didn't confirm any of this. He rather tried to distract me and push me of the track. Seems he doesn't want anyone involved, that is to say more than he already involves everybody with his notices."

"This can't be right…" Conan shook his head browsing the reports briefly "It would mean that he is dodging bullets. The sheer idea of doing it is improbable, but also without any warning? That's impossible. And what you say and this…" he pointed at a file "…would indicate he did that last time, while running up a wall. I've seen the video report, he's been facing the roof."

Hakuba nod his head "I know. But I've seen the video as well. I knew what I was looking for so barely, but I did notice him doing a sidestep. At roughly the same spots I've found the bullets. Although it concerns me that I've found three bullets and noticed him move five times. I expect that he probably does get hit from time to time." He sighed and continued "And I don't suspect he was wearing a vest capable of stopping a long-range shot during your match." He moved his gaze to Hattori who gave a slow nod "Ones like that are rather stiff and he wouldn't be able to move the way he did."

The blonde sighed heavily and focused his gaze on the files "Seeing as the things are I don't know who to trust with the information I've found. I've been trying to identify who is manipulating the reports, but it was in vain. I believe it must be a group of people capable of covering their tracks. But I can't rule out the possibility that it's his or his allies doing. There are also very few files that I could never link with him, concerning an outer force. But rather mischievous it's more… sinister." He slowly shook his head exhaling heavily "Something big is going on and as long as I don't see the full picture I'm afraid my actions might disturb the delicate mechanism and cause irreversible damage of an unknown magnitude."

He moved his gaze back at the detectives and stared at them with sincerity "Honestly speaking I wouldn't be telling you all this either but…" He visually hesitated for a moment recalling his last meeting with KID, the revelations of the previous day and Kuroba's friendly behavior he's shown for the last few weeks "Lately I've noticed that he has started to act differently. I don't know the cause of this. But I'm afraid that either something big is going to happen soon or he is reaching his limit. Each possibility, concerning his possible involvements, might end up as something dangerous. I figured it would be best if you were at least aware of it…"

"And you hope for our help, right?" Hattori stated straightforward smiling sheepishly "Come on, the guy has saved our lives. For him…" he tilled his head at Conan "…it's been already a couple of times. We ain't gonna leave him hanging knowing he's in trouble. No matter what he says."

Hakuba thought about it for a moment slightly shocked by the open confession. But eventually he sighed shaking his head in neglect "I honestly could use some help, that is true. But I don't know if I can truly trust you in this matter. I did take a gamble sharing what I already have. I know that there is more than meets the eye about you." He threw a gaze at Conan who bit his lip at it. "And as long as I don't know what it is I can't take any more risks."

A heavy silence has fallen between them until the boy finally let out a deafened sigh and looked up meeting Hakuba's bronze eyes.

"Yes, you are right. I need you to understand that I hold this secret to keep those around me safe. It's dangerous to even know it and I didn't want to get you entangled in it Hakuba-kun. But after what you told us I can't help but wonder if the thing you've discovered KID is involved in isn't related to my… problem. If so, I guess you are already involved. And we probably could use the knowledge you have as well as help, if you will be willing to offer. So I'd like to know more. I can assure you, just like Hattori just said, that neither of us has any intentions of putting him behind bars."

Hakuba averted his gaze towards the single door in the room. After considering he turned his look back at his fellow detectives "Perhaps we should continue this conversation then elsewhere. I'd like to invite both of you to my home. I keep copies of everything important I've stumbled on during my research there. Or do you have something you have to do here still?" He threw a glance at a desk at which the two detectives were reading their own files before.

Hattori shook his head "Nah, we're done with that." And after considering he added "Although you might find it interesting yourself. It's most likely not related to the big picture, but it is to the person in it."

Hakuba gave a nod "Thank you for pointing it for me then. But I'd rather not split my focus if it's not related. I would be content if you could brief it for me thou."

They gathered all the files and placed them back to their spots. After they finished clearing they left the archive and went together to Hakuba's mansion. Heiji and Conan turned off their phones wondering wryly how much will they regret it later.


The building was an impressive western-style structure. After they entered Hakuba led them to his room and left them alone to get tea and some snacks, letting them have a private chat. After Hattori checked if nobody was on the other side of the door he spoke quietly to his friend.

"So Kudo? You're going to tell him?"

Conan sighed heavily sitting on a chair "Seems that's the best option. My personal problem is less of an issue here then the whole Organization. And if his research really did lead him on their track then I believe it would be best to show him the wider picture since I don't think he would just drop it. And digging blindly around it would eventually put him in danger. Also we could use any new information on them as well as some help. So it should be worth it. The problem is that if his assumptions are correct then we're going to need KID and his side of story as well…" the not-child frowned.

"Yeah…" Heiji turned his gaze at the door "I wonder what he meant saying that the guy has been acting differently. He's been missing lots of heists lately so where did he get that info… You think he can be in contact with him?" he averted his gaze at his friend.

"Wouldn't rule it out. Although I doubt he'll tell us right away if he does. Would be too dangerous for them both. Best not press him yet and see what he's willing to give. I would like you to let me talk and don't mention the FBI or Haibara… yet." He sighed heavily averting his gaze to the ceiling "Gods… There is so much I'm not sure what to start with myself…" The Osakan smiled sheepishly at him and nod his head to that.

They both went silent waiting for their host to return.


It was a bit awkward when Hakuba returned and poured tea as none of them knew how to start. Seeing that the blond did already share a lot on his own behalf Conan sighed heavily and decided to start with introducing himself. Needless to say it did surprise the Brit, it could have made sense but was just impossible. As Hattori confirmed that the boy continued his story telling the startled detective about the poison, the existence of the Organization, their codenames and links the teens confirmed and suspected. Hakuba swallowed hard noticing the similarities and stating them forward. The showed them the odds he has found in his gathered files that indicated a presence of an unknown, sinister power. He told them about his silent investigation about people surrounding his father. He couldn't find much as he had to be careful but… to his dread he did notice some hard to explain details. Hakuba confessed that till now he was hoping it was just KID's doing.


Later he let them browse through all the information the Brit gathered so far. Seeing it through was both disturbing but somewhat reassuring. As things were it seemed that the Organization, or another force they were dealing with here, had indeed the power to manipulate what was going on inside or silence the gunners the thief helped to catch but they didn't seem to do more than covering their own tracks. The hope was that they weren't able to. Hattori promised to take a closer look how things looked in the Osakan police force.

After they finished with that they agreed that the future meetings shouldn't be in such obvious places, because they could never be sure when and if KID decided to look into either of them. They didn't want to alarm him that they started cooperating with each other. It was clear that they needed his trust and considering Hakuba's claim about the thief's recent change in behavior this news would probably put him more at bay than he already was. It was clear that they had to proceed with caution about him. And think of a way to approach him.

Although Hattori wasn't sure if he could manage to come on next weekend, Hakuba and Kudo decided they would meet then. They would all stay in constant phone contact if anything came up.

After they left the two friends shared their observations on their new ally. It was clear to them that the blond did put much faith in the thief for some reason. They could only wonder how much he knew about KID and if it was something they could use. They agreed grimly that all of the Brit's findings were valuable although not all was news to them. Shinichi decided he would not involve Haibara just yet and wouldn't tell her about their new ally. He was wondering whether tell Hakuba about the FBI, but decided it was not important at the moment.


Next day at school Kaito, much to Hakuba's surprise, didn't prank him at all. Instead he was now fully ignoring the Brit. When Saguru tried speaking to him he just acted like he didn't hear him at all. When he tried to touch him the magician just slipped out of his reach, untouchable much like a ghost or his phantom-self. And when Aoko tried to but-in to make him notice Hakuba he just pranked her really hard to distract her and after school he literally disappeared neglecting their routine of walking her home, as if he was punishing her.

This repeated each day and Hakuba was getting irritated. On Thursday he actually tried to suddenly hit the magician. Kaito just grabbed his fist with his lightning reflex and held it in an iron grip. Hakuba didn't expect him to be this strong. And then Kuroba turned at him looking him strait in his eyes. The detective felt an icy chill run down his spine as the brown eyes met the gleaming violet. It wasn't as strong of sensation as it was on Saturday but the warning was clear. And swallowing hard Hakuba decided to obey and backed out.

He thought that maybe if he didn't bug the thief at all for a while then maybe, just maybe the magician would calm down and things would calm down between them. The Friday was quiet on that field as none of them tried to approach the other and it made Aoko worried more than before.


On the weekend Hakuba went to meet with Kudo. Hattori wasn't there as he stayed in Osaka in case KID would decide to make a heist there. But he didn't, although there was a target he should be interested in. Shinichi wondered about that, maybe the thief was just feeling tired after last week? It wasn't often for him to hold heists week after week but none the less, if something interesting showed up, he usually did. They knew from experience that he was capable of doing them day after day if he decided to.

In the end Hakuba decided to tell Kudo that he was in contact with KID's civilian persona. He was grateful that the other detective didn't try to ask more questions about it and just settled with listening. So the Brit was free to tell him only the bare bones of what was necessary for the shrunken teen to understand the situation between them. He told him about the denial about his alter-ego the mentioned person was holding and about the fact that they had a common friend who didn't know about his night life, but was very precious to the thief. He saw a spark of interest about that fact in the child's eye, but again he didn't state any questions about it.

After that he told him how secure civil-KID was acting around him and how they reached a breakthrough not long ago. And how it went bad lately. He described with details his unexpected meeting with KID and received back the information what took him so long to get there then. He hoped that the Genius of the East could help him unravel what went wrong back there, but he couldn't understand it either. They only managed to reach the conclusion that it was probably related to KID's ignoring the Osakan jewel in order to avoid Hattori. It wasn't good if the thief decided to back out form any interactions with either detective and it worried them.

Then Hakuba described the fierce sensation he received from the thief for the first time. And that made Kudo worry even more. It wasn't common for KID to lose to his emotions or show then in any violent way.

He told him how the thief was giving him a cold shoulder this whole week, ignoring his presence at all. He knew he was slipping in the information that they met on daily basis and were forced to spend in this way a lot of time. But Hakuba hoped that Kudo would stay true to his word and wouldn't use it against Kuroba.

Ending the topic the blond informed the boy that, despite their need to rush the progress, he wanted to try and give KID the space he desired. And approach him at the end of the week. Shinichi agreed to that easily respecting Hakuba's larger experience in dealing with the thief on daily basis.

As the tension between them was still high and neither of them was able to break it, they dug themselves into a few reports they wanted to check out. Kudo absent- mindedly wished that Hattori was with them, as the Osakan had more talent in lightening the mood than he did. Hakuba wished for the presence of Kuroba and worried if the magician would ever spend some casual time with all three detectives. Later on as the topic was still hanging between them Shinichi described his own experiences with the thief. They finally had some laughs about it and the tension broke.


Next week didn't bring any revelations. Kuroba's expression didn't tip anything about his feelings to Hakuba, as his poker face was more solid than ever. Brit asked Aoko to leave the matters go, explaining that he wanted to give her friend some space to let the tension between them drop before he would be taking any actions again to smooth things back. She wasn't happy about it but agreed to it. Unfortunately at the end of the week when the detective tried to approach Kuroba nothing has changed and the teen remained unattainable for the blond.


After school was finished for the day Hakuba was slowly heading home on foot. After a while, when he was sure that nobody tailed him he changed his direction slightly. He entered a café, he agreed with Kudo to meet in at last time. He sat in the back beside the child who was sipping his drink. Hakuba sighed heavily and spoke with a tired voice rubbing his face with his hand.

"It's no use. I can't seem to approach him anymore. He's started pushing away everybody now when I try." He exhaled hard "I don't know whether it is my fault or his sole decision. It's too hard to read him anymore."

Conan sighed and gave a nod „I think that at this point you have no other choice and should give him even more space. Leave him completely for the time being. Maybe he'll calm down then?"

Hakuba frowned and grimaced averting his gaze. He didn't want to admit it, but Kudo did have a point. He looked back at the boy.

"Alright, I guess I can go visit my mother for a few weeks. What are you planning to do in the mean time, if you don't mind me asking?"

Conan shrugged "Hopefully he'll hold some heists. Hattori found out that a few galleries here acquired some nice jewels to lure KID. I'll try to approach him and see how it goes. We did have a few nice casual chats before. Hattori will come whenever he's available. KID did seem to like him last time they met. After all he did even promise to consider holding a heist in Osaka to meet him. Worth a try." He smirked and shook his head "Anyway – funny how those galleries seem to treat him like some kind of attraction and free publicity, huh?"

Hakuba smiled sadly and lowered his gaze "Seems so, but I doubt it bothers him at all. Whatever he needs those gems for this does make his job easier. At least he doesn't have to travel the whole world like the previous KID. Yet..."


Seems things those guys are quite determined to 'enclose' on the 'white shadow', don't they?

And while the detectives are busy talking the clock is ticking… *tick, tock, tick, tock* How much time could be left?

See you next chapter *bow* ;)