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 I'll present you more of our persistent detectives poking the fox x)

It just occurred to me, that lately I've been neglecting Kaito's inner thoughts for quite a while, now haven't I? So this time, I've decided to redeem myself a bit.

As always I'm grateful for all the nice reviews you give me :D

Kameo1 – Well it's not like Kai knows everything and honestly – he doesn't know a lot about Shinichi's problems. Detectives are not going to give up easily and Kaito, besides being KID, is just a cheerful teenager who wants to have some fun x)

JarayZ – I'm glad you liked it :D Had a bunch of laughs myself writing him flirting with Heiji xD That was nearly cruel xD

Loyal DC Fan – Happy I could bring a smile on your face :D But huh? No, no – feel free to write what you have on your mind :D Sorry if I don't always understand it ^^"

Mists – I feel the rush only on my own account xD I love writing this – and your reviews only power me up x) I'm glad you liked it so much, had to put a bit of thought to the pranks, so it would be at least a bit surprising ;) I was worried also about the heist – I'm so not into magic, so it is troublesome to figure out a good one :D

So without further delay…

Please enjoy and review! :)


Chapter 16: Forming a leash


It was late when KID left them and detectives parted soon also, deciding to talk about this encounter in the morning. Hakuba managed to pass a request for a copy of the heist video to his father and was hoping to receive it in the afternoon. As they agreed he drove for his fellow detectives precisely at 9 AM to pick them up. The girls weren't happy with this and Ran pointed out that Hattori should let Conan spend some more time with friends of his age, but they somehow managed to slip out anyway. They knew it would cause a problem for Shinichi to continue meeting like this in the future and he wasn't looking forward to lying more to the girl. It didn't take them long to get to the main topic and Hakuba asked to confirm his assumptions.

"So you're sure his arm was fine?"

"Yeah. I mean... It's not like you always have skin injury with a cracked bone. So lack of scar wasn't really surprising and advanced healing process can make the swelling go away." The Brit nod at this as it was confirming his own medical knowledge as Hattori continued "I'm also no doctor and it might be impossible to feel a healing crack on the bone, but considering I've used some pressure checking it and then we did buffet with each other some, I'd say it's healed completely."

Saguru frowned not convinced "But he wasn't last week..."

"Can't say that for sure." Heiji pointed out "I'd say you can be positive only about his leg injury was there, but as for his hand..." He shrugged "He could have been overprotective simply and you don't know how easily he falls into habits. His unconscious reactions can stay active for a long time after a serious injury."

"And what about his leg?"

"What about it? If you wanted to check it out then it didn't look like he was going to stop you. Didn't notice any hidden dressing but it doesn't mean anything when it comes to him. But he was wearing high heels so I'd doubt he was in pain. None of his movements indicated any pain or wariness either..." He added with a frown.

"And this doesn't add up..." Conan concluded.

"Yeah..." The Osakan agreed with a grimace.

"Think he could have used some pain killers?" The blonde proposed with doubt.

Hattori rolled his eyes "Did he look like under any drug influence to you?"

Hakuba just sighed in response.

Conan sighed and decided to drop the subject "Well it doesn't look like we can figure it out now and it's not that important, so let's assume for now that he's healed." The Brit didn't look too happy about it, since the problem certainly did bug him, but despite that he gave a nod "I'm a bit more worried with what he said. I'm pretty sure he told us some of what he's doing in the background not to boast, but to scare us. Seems he's getting jumpy. It didn't look he was happy with us for reading between the lines. I'm afraid he might want to distance himself from us now."

"Yeah well, it's not gonna help him. Like I said, I don't intend to back out." Heiji retorted with a grin.

Shinichi rolled his eyes "Not gonna help us, if he decides to avoid us for serious. We've still got two months, till summer break. He could plan a world tour to play the 'international' part of KID's reputation."

The Osakan shrugged at that "Well in worst case scenario then we'll see him afterwards. What's the big deal?"

Conan sighed and his expression looked worried "He doesn't have a loner's nature. That much is obvious. But he can try to force a new habit on himself during the break and if we let himit will be harder to approach him after. If during the summer he'll focus on interacting with violent police and detectives, he'll develop a wariness and won't be carefree around us anymore. As for now he enjoys spending his time with us. If we want to use it we have to bond before he changes that. Best would be to spend together as much time as we can manage, preferably out of Tokyo, so he won't have his 'errands', or the possible tour to run off to. I do think he could use some time away from the 'shadows' anyway"

"So you mean that the four of us should go on a trip..?" Hakuba summed up and looked at Hattori.

"Well… that would be the easiest way…" Shinichi agreed slowly looking at both teens, who grimaced, clearly not looking forward to this, but it didn't last long.

The Brit sighed "Well guess it would be better for me, if he has more targets for his pranks... I wouldn't be hoping he'll let us off if we decide to force him."

Heiji laughed at this "Yeah and I do prefer to have you in case he uses his dyes again. I'm not that good with chemistry. And as long as you tone down being so rigid I can deal with you."

Hakuba snorted at that "Well as long as you stop being so rapid, I guess I could try to be more easy going."

They started teasing each other about their traits, but as it wasn't turning into anything fierce Shinichi decided to let them be. He focused himself more about an excuse to make Kaito spend some time with them before they'll even try to invite him, if he decided to try and avoid them now.


This was getting troublesome. His detectives were really starting to get under his skin. Yesterday Hakuba was this close to breaking his Poker Face, again. He was getting too good with that. And then Shinichi gave him another precise blow... Kaito bit his lip hard enough to provoke pain. He wanted nothing more than to share his burden with somebody and he was sure those guys could understand. There even was a slight chance they could even accept the truth. And he needed it so bad... More so they could help him understand what was really going on. But the thing is they wouldn't let it go if they knew. And Kaito did not want to sacrifice them. He couldn't.

Fortunately summer break was drawing near. He would be able to distance himself from them, reforge his Poker Face and burry the remorse. Then only a few more months of school to endure. He closed his eyes and focused on controlling his breath.

He was sitting in the hidden room, trying to sort out his thoughts and get a grip over himself when he heard the doorbell. He cursed out loud, picking up some things he prepared.


The detectives were surprised to see Chikage open the door for them. She on the other hand looked happy to see them.

"Oh hello boys~ Good timing~ You came to see my Kai-chan, right~?"

"Erm… yes that would be it. Has something happened?" Hakuba still found himself taken aback by this woman's pattern of speech.

"Oh nothing much~ Come in please~" She opened the doors wider and stepped back to let them inside "He's just a bit grumpy about something and I hoped you could cheer him up~"

"Mom… I'm busy and I don't want any guests… Don't just go and let them in like that…" The magician grumbled walking down the stairs, holding his hands in his pockets. He threw an annoyed look at the detectives. He was wearing a long sleeved shirt and long, loose pants.

"No you're not busy at all~ You said it yourself, that you still have two hours before you need to leave~ You should spend more time with your friends instead that cave of yours~" She grinned at him waving off the matter.

"Mom..!" He whined disbelieving what she just said.

She chuckled and beamed to their guests "You boys go and make yourself comfortable in the living room and take this grumpy boy to entertain you~ I'll go and prepare some snacks and something to drink for you~" Afterwards she turned away and went to the kitchen.

"Would it kill you to listen to me once in a while?" Kaito grumbled after her and pulled out his right hand pointing a finger at the startled guests "Leave." He demanded and turned to his mother, to probably complain some more.

Heiji laughed at the view and pulled out a hand to grab Kaito "Oh come on, that's no way to greet your guests since we came here specially for you~" He managed to clench his fingers on the magician's forearm, stopping him from following the woman. He felt there was something hidden under the sleeve, but before he could react the other teen turned back to him and hissed.

"Ugh! Let go!" The hints of pain hidden under anger on his face were visible enough for all of his detectives to recognize and to shock them.

Hattori frowned and replaced his grip on the magician's hand. He pulled up his sleeve. Before Kaito could cover it with his other hand they noticed that his forearm was covered with a bandage, holding a splint.

"What the hell's wrong with you?!" He pulled back once the Osakan let him go with shock on his face.

"Kai-chan? Are you alright?" Chikage looked worried from kitchen entrance.

"Tsk… fine." He mumbled back at her and threw his detectives a wary look "What do you guys want anyway?" He asked with resentful tone, tucking his hands back in his pockets.

"Oi, what's with the dressings? Did something happen later?"

Kaito huffed and rolled his eyes "That's nothing. If that is all you can -"

"Kuroba." The Brit cut in with a serious tone "Is this a new injury?"

Hattori cut in snapping at Hakuba "Oi… what are you implying here? I've checked him yesterday and it was fine."

"Oh have you? Isn't that interesting…" Kaito smirked and crooked his head a bit.

"Come on… enough with the 'I'm not KID' act." Conan murmured with annoyance "You met us after the heist and you were fine then. What is it about now?"

Kaito grimaced and growled irritably, turning to the living room. The detectives followed him and saw him tuck up his sleeve and start unwrapping his bandage. There was a band-aid underneath which he tore off with a soft hiss. They saw neat stitches covering his forearm, holding together a nearly healed, but slightly irritated from Heiji's grab wound. It surely didn't look like a new injury. He pulled down the sleeve and threw them an annoyed stare.

"Happy now?"

Heiji blinked a couple of times "But how..? I checked and you were fine…" He mumbled in shock.

The magician snorted unamused, absently rubbing his injured forearm "Well, my guess would be that you didn't check me."

"So… who did we meet with..?" Conan asked in awe staring into space before him, mind racing through the whole encounter with the girl they were sure was KID. Her act was perfect to the last detail and it did seem she was fully informed about most of their encounters with the thief.

Kaito felt his annoyance build up again as he watched three detectives acting like wax figures in his living room. After he wrapped the bandage into a neat roll and hid it with the splint in his pocket, he cleared his throat to pull their attention, smirking "Really guys? You have nowhere else to pull your standing-still contest?"

That certainly did the trick, although the magician wasn't sure, if that was what he wanted…

"Kuroba, what is the meaning of this?" As the addressed teen raised his eyebrow Hakuba huffed and rephrased his question "Who did we meet after the heist?"

He winced and shrugged "Why are you asking me this? It's not like I was there…"

"Kuroba-kun… is there anyone who knows everything about our encounters with KID?" Conan asked patiently carefully watching the magician, who simply smirked mockingly.

"My best guess would be… KID?"

Heiji grimaced annoyed "Oi, that's not funny. Tell us what's going on. What were you doing after the heist?"

The mocking smirk didn't leave magician's lips "Hm… let me think… Oh right. I was watching a movie with my mom. After the heist report on TV has ended of course. Mom likes to watch it just as much as I do. But I guess mine nor her word will be enough for you?" He sighed with regret.

"You're trying to just deepen the trick from yesterday. This injury is just a disguise. You've been probably only acting wounded this whole time." Conan concluded and turned his gaze to his fellow detectives "KID didn't have a scar and Hattori confirmed that there wasn't any disguise on his arm."

Kaito rolled his eyes and spoke with a mocking tone "Yeah, you're right. I foresaw weeks ago that this guy would barge into my house and pull up my sleeve. You got me – after school I act as a fortune-teller." He sighed "Too bad I still suck in lottery games. I could make a fortune…"

"Kuroba, do you mind if we see this injury of yours up close?" Hakuba asked still wondering about the whole situation. He also didn't feel anything off with last night's encounter. Although it was strange for KID to tell them so much…

"Go to a petting ZOO, if you want to touch something." Kaito retorted and backed out slightly, clearly ready to make a run for it, if they decided to try and catch him "I don't keep this hidden, for you to have fun uncovering it."

Hattori frowned "Why did you hide it in the first place anyway?" He backed a bit himself to show he had no intention to attack.

The magician looked away and sighed "I just… It's none of your business."

Hakuba exhaled slowly "You never show any of your injury, because you don't want anyone to sympathize with you?" The annoyed glare and grimace from Kaito was good enough for an answer for him "Just let me see it, so I can believe in what you said just now."

The magician eyed annoyed his detectives, it didn't seem like he could convince them "Tsk… Alright, but not a word to Aoko about it and no poking, deal?"

"Deal." Hakuba agreed with slight relief, as he saw tension fall from the other teens shoulders.

Reluctantly Kuroba pulled up his sleeve and grimaced slightly as Saguru grabbed his forearm to be able to examine the stitches. The detective didn't miss it.

"I'm sorry…" He loosened his grip over it "It still hurts? You were wearing a splint…"

Kaito half shrugged with his other arm "Just a precautions. Bone is a bit sore, nothing big."

Hakuba hummed and focused on the injury He narrowed his eyes noticing a small detail "A clean cut and it seems… It has been re-sewn?" He threw a puzzled look at his classmate who rolled his eyes and huffed.

"Attrition wounds leave awful scars and I didn't want that."

The blonde blinked at him a few times, shocked by that statement, letting go of his hand "So you've had somebody cutting up your arm and sewing it back again?"

"Nah… why would you think that? I just put it under a sewing machine…" He answered with a mocking smirk and pulled down his sleeve "Happy now?"

"And what about your leg..?"

Kuroba backed out with a dramatically scared stare "You pervert… I'm not going to undress for you..."

Hakuba responded with a flat glare "That's not what I had in mind -"

Kaito cut in with a firm voice, dropping the amusement "Good, because I'm done talking about my injuries."

The Brit just sighed accepting his decision "So, do you have any idea who carried out last night's heist?"

The magician smirked at that "From what I've seen, I'd say it was KID-sama."

Hattori growled annoyed "Could you quit it? We know you're KID and apparently you weren't there last night!"

"Well, I'd gladly present you my alibis for a few more heists, but it seems that even if I'm in the same room as KID-sama it isn't enough for some people." He retorted shooting a glare at his classmate.

"So there are two people acting as KID?" Conan asked slightly confused and disbelieving.

Kaito shot him an annoyed glare, but shrugged "I'd doubt that, unless they have the same set of skills, but hey! Stranger things happen, right Chibi?" He said eyeing the shrunken detective, with an all-knowing smirk.

The boy shot a glare back at him, wondering what he was playing at. On one hand he was giving they the perfect alibi and on the other he was slamming in their faces hints "What is your deal?"

"Maybe I just like screwing with those, who try to screw with me..."

Heiji sighed "Alright, you say you're his biggest fan. Do you think it was a copy-cat yesterday?"

"I don't think so. Not many would be able to dodge officers like him and conjure so many flowers, without anyone noticing how."

The Osakan smirked "Oh? And how do you know what he did inside the building, I wonder?"

Kaito blinked at him surprised "From the inside video of course. You guys don't know about it?" The detectives looked confused at one and other "Huh... And here I thought you guys tried to investigate KID." He murmured and smirked amused with their irked reactions "It's nothing new. When the KID-fan club was growing more and more people wanted to know how he performs on the inside, so there appeared a guy who started selling police records with it. A while later on KID's most active forum's inside videos appeared a few hours after each heist."

Conan frowned at this "Were they also police videos?"

"Those are not signed, so I couldn't tell. It's not like I have an access to police archives."

Hakuba hummed wondering about it "Could you maybe show us these videos?"

The magician rolled his eyes "Can't you investigate it yourself. You know... not in my house? And I still don't know why you guys are even here." He huffed shooting a glare at them.

Heiji threw him a sheepish smile, scratching his chin "Oh, right we didn't tell you yet, huh?"

"No. You just barged inside, nearly attacking the poor, innocent me."

Hattori threw him a flat glare "... I know I probably should apologize for that, but I kinda don't feel like it when you put it that way..."

Kaito just grinned at that, clearly amused with the reaction "Well... that only proves that you're just a violent brute. But hey, I knew that one already..." He added reassuringly.

"Oi… At least I'm not a freaking monkey jumping around and breaking his limbs, like a certain somebody."

"Yeah, guess you'd break your neck, if you'd try that even a little. Too big and hot head for that I guess."

As they kept going Chikage came by, bringing the promised snacks and refreshments and beamed to the other two detectives "Do you boys need anything else~?"

"No, thank you Kuroba-san." Hakuba smiled softly to the weird woman, when a thought occurred to him "But maybe you could tell us, if your son has any plans for this weekend? We did intend to spend some time with him, but he likes to excuse himself saying he's busy."

"Hum~… Well Kai-chan did mention he's going to be out today, so I guess it might be true. But I don't think he has many plans for tomorrow~"

"Mom, stop." Kaito grimaced annoyed hanging upside-down from the ceiling lamp, outside Hattori's reach and turned his attention to Hakuba and Conan "I'm not gonna squeeze you guys into my schedule, so forget about it. Hey!"

Irked about being ignored Heiji jumped up and grabbed the magician pulling him down, making him fall on the Osakan. Chikage chuckled at the site, not concerned even in the slightest with it and left the room. Much to Hakuba's worry the two of them started rolling on the floor, until Kaito ended up on the bottom and hissed with pain.

"Ugh… Get off me, you idiot!" Recalling the magician was injured Heiji let him go and wanted to apologize, but Kaito just huffed holding his arm "Seriously… You're more of a brute than Ahoko."

"Kuroba, are you alright?" Saguru stepped closer watching his held arm and stretched leg with worry.

He just rolled his eyes and snorted "Yes mommy, I'm fine." Despite that he took Heiji's arm to get up and didn't hesitate to support himself a bit on it.

Hakuba shook his head and sighed at that reaction, promising himself to worry less about the idiot, especially seeing the Osakan's smirk. Conan chuckled and sat on the couch, seeing Kaito sitting himself on the armchair. He didn't miss that it seemed his leg was bothering him after the wrestle.

"So how about you show us the video? Would gladly hear your comment on KID's performance last night." He asked eyeing the magician.

Kuroba glared at him, clearly not happy with the idea of getting up at the moment and snorted "Sorry, ain't got a lap and my phone is charging. And I have no intention letting you into my room."

"Don't see a problem here…" Heiji grinned passing him his own smartphone, munching on a cracker.

Kaito took the phone shooting his detectives a flat stare "But you guys know, I have no intention helping you figure out or catch KID?"

Conan grinned "Since we're not trying to catch him either, I don't see a problem here."

The magician snorted and shook his head. It didn't really matter, if he showed them the forum and it could be entertaining to hear their deductions, so he turned on the site and opened the video.

They connected the phone to the TV, to be able to watch it on a bigger screen. The film was composed from a few points of view. It surprised the detectives to see that a couple of times it must have been recorded from KID's perspective. The quality was high and they could clearly see every detail. The thief did use some tricks to make it easier for him to dodge the tackling officers, making them bump with one and other and form gaps between, but still it seemed that he didn't have any problems moving around. Undoubly the person on the video wasn't carrying any injuries. Shinichi eyed the amused magician, who was munching on chips. It was possible he was faking his pain, but could he make such a detailed injury disguise that would fool Hakuba's inspection? That wasn't very likely… But he couldn't believe there were two KIDs and after the few chats he had with Kuroba he was fairly sure that the magician was the thief.

They didn't get to watch it for too long when Kaito told them he had to leave soon. There was no point in arguing about it too much, so the detectives got up getting ready to leave as well.

"So, see you tomorrow Kuroba-kun." Heiji grinned at him.

Kaito shot him a flat look "Huh? And who said I'm going to meet you again?"

Conan chuckled "Now don't start acting like that. It's more than obvious that you like spending your time with us."

The magician grinned at him "Oh sorry, but I don't enjoy babysitting creepy kids, Chibi."

"Not a problem then." Hakuba cut in "Conan-kun won't be coming tomorrow, so you won't feel like babysitting. We can give a tour for Hattori-kun. We'll pick you up at 2 PM." He promised.

"Oi… I did say I have no intention to -"

"Yeah, yeah, but you're still going." Hattori waved the matter off and pointed at Saguru "You're more fun than this rigid Brit, so you're going to make sure I don't die from boredom." The mentioned teen glared at him.

Kaito opened his mouth and close it again. This was clearly going out of hand and worst was that he did want to go with them. And he actually could, if he could slip away after a few hours.

Heiji grinned again seeing that the magician was hesitating and pulled his fellow detectives out of the house "Great, then see ya tomorrow." And he closed the door behind them, before Kuroba could gather himself enough to protest.

Watching the closed door Kaito wanted to drive his face into it. He didn't. He slammed it into the wall instead.


Seems Kai-chan is slowly losing his grip over the situation x) And what's worse Heiji and Saguru are tolerating each other more x) And his mother is such a traitor xD

See you next chapter *bow and giggle*