Part 8

Akako found herself searching high and low for Kaito, swishing around on her broomstick. Normally she wouldn't do this in front of a crowd, but if Kaito were caught, then...

"Where is he?" she muttered to herself. She knew who the person who framed Kaito was...

---

"KAITO!"

Kaito turned, hearing Aoko calling him again. This time, she was heading towards his direction. Oh no, I can't go now! Hey, wait...a disguise! he thought triumphantly, pleased with himself for thinking that up. He ran behind a tree, and in a second appeared again looking like a boy with blonde hair and thin face. He had a black jacket over his shirt and black shoes instead of his sneakers. He grinned as Aoko did not even glance at him as she passed. I stumped her! Now to find that girl.

He searched in the crowd for ten minutes until he finally spotted the girl (it wasn't hard to find someone in white at night, after all). She had entered the forest again. What is she doing there? Going back for the cloth?

He followed the girl into the deep forest. She looked as if she was searching for something. Kaito took a step and heard a soft crunch. He started, but luckily, the girl did not notice. He lifted his foot and saw a locket. He picked it up and opened it. His eyes widened.

Suddenly, the girl burst into tears when she was at the edge of the forest. "I-I'm sorry, Yota! I've gotten revenge for you and framed Kid for it, but I've lost the treasure! I-I didn't mean to! If they find out that I-I'm a murderer..."

"So, you ARE the murderer."

The girl turned in shock and saw Kid standing perfectly balanced on the street lamp. "K-Kid!" she blurted as he jumped off and landed on the path. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't want to frame you, but I had no choice! I-I chose today because people will be focused on you and not me, but I-I didn't think of framing you until I had to destroy the evidence, and I saw you so I just pushed the knife to you! I'm really, really sorry! Please don't tell the police!" she pleaded, tears rushing down her cheeks.

Kid felt sympathetic, but he knew he had to do the right thing. "I'm sorry, but you have to turn yourself in," he said softly. "Come on." He walked towards her, a hand reached out.

The girl bit her lip. With a wild cry, she pulled out a bloody knife from her purse and swung it at Kid. He retreated, but was not quick enough. The knife slashed his left arm, and blood started to flow. He cringed, grasping it. "Wait, don't---" He tried to say, but it was hard to talk when he had to avoid the girl's knife.

Suddenly, he tripped and fell. The girl started to head for him. He whipped out his gun and fired. A card knocked the knife out of her hand---just when they heard the police's shouts. The girl turned and ran off. Kid tried to get up, but his arm hurt too much and he was getting slightly dizzy.

Christie, thinking that it was best not to be around when they finally took care of the problem, had retreated through the woods, ready to go home. But she was surprised to hear her darling Kid's voice. She heard every word of it.

She ran towards the sound and got to where they were in time to see the girl running in her direction. Like a batter at the plate, she once again swung her sign, this time at the killer. "NO ONE FRAMES MY KID!"

The girl stopped short when she came face to face with Christie, surprised. "Wh-who are you? Get out of my way!"

---

Sonoko paused. Odd...she heard something beyond the commotion, almost like a popping sound. It sounded familiar. She looked around, hoping that it was not just her imagination. "Ran-chan? Renee-san?" Sonoko nudged an elbow at Ran. "Did you two hear that?"

Renee lifted an eyebrow, staring at the blonde teen in confusion. Ran put her hand to her chin, thinking. "I...think I did."

Sonoko pointed off the street, where a bundle of trees started. "From over there---right? We should probably check it out."

---

At the second murder scene, the victim's girlfriend looked thoughtful for a second before pointing into the forest in surprise. "Hey, it looks like that girl!"

Heiji turned, and saw two girls, one holding a sign and shouting something. At the other side, he heard shouts of police. "Looks like something's happening," he muttered. "Go!"

He bolted into the forest. Conan dashed after Heiji. He had seen her as well. White clothing...how could he have missed it?

---

The detective in his Holmes outfit raced through the woods, having picked up a certain trail. He knew where the thief was headed; but followed at a more sedate pace, for the sake of keeping his presence low.

Then he saw it. Crossing his arms and leaning again a tree a bit more in the open, Hakuba gave the injured Kid a miffed look. "I see that your attempt to clear your name didn't go too well." Handcuffs rang idly in the teenage detective's pocket, but he made no move to take them out. Nor did he close in---he gave the Kaitou a wide berth.

Kid managed to drag his injured arm up, grimacing in deep pain. He turned, seeing Hakuba. He laughed coldly. "Apparently it didn't." He tried to think of a way to escape, but he could not do much with an injured arm. Darn it, is this the end of Kid? He looked at Hakuba calmly. "Well, aren't you going to arrest me or something?" he muttered.

Hakuba leaned back a bit more, as though he were there for simply hours. The handcuffs rattled slightly as he took something else out from his pocket. Click, click, click... "You have exactly 15 seconds," the detective stated as-a-matter-of-factly, "to get out of my sight."

Kid stared at him. What was he playing at? Well, it he was going to let him go, he would go. Kid started to drag himself---he swayed slightly, and tripped. He swallowed a yell as he fell partly on his arm. Can't...move. Gritting his teeth to stop his tears from rolling out, he got up again, resisting the pain. He put his foot down, trying to stop himself from swaying.

"Time's up." Kid started as Hakuba walked over, his handcuffs rattling as he took them out. He took Kid's right hand and cuffed him on the wrist.

---

Akako was too late. As she hovered over the forest and finally spotted Kid, she saw him handcuffed with a sneering Hakuba nearby. The little boy and Osaka detective had disappeared from view, so Akako decided to take this chance to free Kid.

She remembered the first spell she had cast on Kid in an attempt to make him her slave. That was it. She would lure Hakuba away from Kid so Kid could escape. After all, all the men in the world were her slaves---except Kid anyway.

A message only Hakuba could hear echoed in the distant sky.

Dearest Saguru, please help me! Someone has murdered my friend!

Hakuba looked up suddenly. "Whose...sweet voice...was that?" he muttered.

Kid looked at him with a raised eyebrow. What voice? Wait! He looked up too, and thought he saw something in the distance, almost like a bird. He hid a smile. Hakuba absentmindedly let go of Kid and started to walk off, not realizing that Kid had knocked over his key that was hanging out of his pocket. Kid unlocked the handcuffs, and just as he dropped them, he winced, grasping his arm. Ugh, I need to see a doctor. Arigatou gozaimasu, Akako.

"There! It's Kid!" Kid turned to see Inspector Nakamori leading a herd of police towards him. Kid dropped another smoke bomb, and disappeared into the forest while the police were in disarray. In a flash, he had become his old self, but he couldn't hide his wound. As he ran with a hand clutching his wound, he saw the killer ahead with Christie. On the other side, Heiji and Conan were racing towards them. Good!

He whipped out his card gun once more and fired. It struck the girl's purse. It dropped and everything tumbled out, including a couple of photos of the two victims that had red furious crosses on them.

My job here is done! It's up to you now, meitantei, Kaito thought with satisfaction. Time to go home. Oh yeah, I better drop Aoko a note too. With that, the thief disappeared for the night.

Author's Note: It's not the end yet! ;) There's still at least another couple of parts that are not really completed, so be patient! :D