Thanks, as always, to Ellen Brand, Waywren Truesong, Joisbishmyoga, Cherry, and Cloudy for beta work and cheer-reading.
Home
For a further union, a deeper communion
Through the dark cold and the empty desolation,
The wave cry, the wind cry, the vast waters
Of the petrel and the porpoise. In my end is my beginning.
~East Coker, V.35-38. TS Eliot
"Wanna go home?"
Saguru gave Kaito a pointed look that spoke volumes, with emphasis on the fact that Kaito wasn't upright yet, let alone mobile. "Tomorrow, at the absolute earliest, if you manage at least eight hours of sleep tonight and have the energy for a short run in the morning."
"Spoil—" Kaito covered a yawn with his hand— "sport. Fine, tomorrow. I'll have to hide out at home for a while, anyway, until my weight makes sense for a few weeks of high-energy entertaining and not... burning myself out."
"Shocking," Saguru replied in a tone as dry as the surrounding sand. "While I look forward to my own bed again, and have concerns for how long we have been gone, at this point another day will not make a difference in whether or not I've been reported missing."
Kaito's dubious expression was a completely justified response to this news. "You said you covered your being gone by a case excuse."
"You and Yuushi didn't seem to think you would be absent for very long, either, and had we not gotten lost, it would have been perhaps four days total for the entire trip. I was more concerned about your mental state—justifiably, might I add."
Unbidden, Kaito's mind called up the memory of DiZ, and Saguru's grab during the machine explosion in the Nobody castle that had stopped Kaito from potentially turning his brain into mush trying to save another person beyond his reach.
"...Yeah, okay, I won't argue that. And I'll aim for our return to be where no one is worried that you're missing." Especially when Saguru had a past kidnapping to his name. "Sound fair?"
"That would be helpful, if it succeeds," Saguru granted with a deliberate air of graciousness that pushed into the sarcastic. "Now, in the interests of managing it, do you think you can eat something yet?"
"Sounds great." As his stomach growled, Kaito carefully levered upright, and Saguru caught him as he wobbled. The headache wasn't gone, but he could function long enough to eat. If Saguru helped keep him upright.
...He'd be fine.
(In the back of his head, Méraud muttered something about overconfident idiots, but he ignored her.)
Saguru let him lean while Kaito wolfed two sandwiches and they both listened to the other five talking about Lea's past, and what they would do or where they might go based on what they learned from Mickey and Yen Sid. Saguru seemed to be as content as Kaito to stay out of that conversation, which made a sad sort of sense. It was cheerful, excited planning for another Adventure, and Kaito had no stomach for the thought of that sort of traveling again any time soon.
To distract them both, Kaito gently elbowed Saguru in the ribs. "So, if we're going home tomorrow, you know what we need to do?"
"I'm certain you're about to enlighten me. "
Kaito grinned in anticipation. "Souvenir shopping."
After two-point-three seconds, detective standard time, Saguru muttered a heartfelt curse under his breath. "I completely forgot, no matter how long our absence turns out to have been..."
"You're welcome~!"
Saguru sighed, with another pointed look at the fact he was still helping Kaito sit up. "In the morning, then, if I don't have concerns that you'll be liable to fall over from walking the distance to the shopping district from Riku's house."
"Fine," Kaito allowed. He'd managed more exertion than that after doing the impossible before, after all.
Except, unfortunately, Kaito's body had determined that he'd hit an additional exhaustion tripwire by adding Roxas to the load, and he was nearly asleep on his feet by the time they made it back to Riku's house from the island. He let Saguru bully him to bed for a nap while Riku and the others got Roxas and Lea settled at Sora's house, made it through dinner with Riku's parents on autopilot, and then slept nearly the entire night because Saguru was a sneaky bastard and didn't set an alarm to wake him to trade.
He woke up just before dawn feeling like he'd been put through a blender and then poured out onto the mattress. When he rolled over, groaning with the aches of having pushed a limit he had not had sufficiently rebuilt reserves to push, the dim light was just enough to see Saguru sitting against the headboard with his head tilted back and eyes closed. He twitched upright at Kaito's noise, blinking rapidly and checking on Kaito even as he reoriented.
"Whatever happened to shifts?" Kaito groused, but without much ire. His aches had deeper aches with any movement, and he was still cold under the blankets even after he pulled them up like a cocoon.
"You needed the sleep more," Saguru argued, even though his exhaustion was leaking into his voice.
"...Too tired to argue with that," Kaito admitted.
"Even now?" Saguru's brow furrowed and he adjusted the eye mask on his head before placing the back of his hand against Kaito's forehead. He hissed through his teeth and said, "You're sick. You are forbidden from going further than the couch downstairs until you're not hot enough to fry an egg on."
Kaito blinked a few times, half processing the declaration and half sheer denial. "I can't be sick, we're supposed to leave today."
"We'd said we might go today if you had recovered," Saguru countered, withdrawing his hand and making Kaito miss the cooler temperature. No, wait, he was too cold, that's why he wanted more blankets to burrow under. "You are not going anywhere but back to sleep. I'll get you some water and ask Yuushi's mother about some congee or soup."
Saguru slid out of bed, and Kaito debated trying to follow to prove that he could out of sheer spite, but it wasn't worth the energy. Between what felt like one blink and the next, Saguru was fully dressed and admonishing Kaito yet again to stay put, then slipped out the door.
Kaito stared at the wall in dull exhaustion, too tired to move but not ready to go back to sleep again, before he remembered he had his phone on the bedside table. He could at least avoid painful degrees of boredom with phone games, even though he grumbled under his breath at how much rolling over yet again made him want to stop moving for a week.
He managed maybe five minutes of foggy-brained mindless activity before his eyelids started to droop, and the next thing he knew the room was brighter. Saguru had returned with Riku, a glass of water with a straw, and the promise of food later.
Riku cast curative magic as soon as the door was closed for privacy. The glowing green energy flowed into Kaito's skin like a cool breeze, bolstering him enough to manage to sit up against a wedge of stacked pillows, but as soon as the magic faded the bone-deep weariness set back in. The water helped similarly, but he was still too hot and too cold at the same time and having two people fussing at him was too damn much.
Riku seemed to notice, because after exchanging glances with Saguru over Kaito's head, he excused himself to go check on the others and start their summer homework. Saguru stayed, because of course Saguru was going to dig in his heels and hover.
The effort of drinking water was exhausting. Being awake was exhausting. Everything was exhausting. And terrible. And made of ow.
"Never again," he mumbled after he'd managed to eat half a bowl of soup at lunchtime, courtesy of a brief appearance by Riku's mother. He settled deeper into the mattress and pillows, trying to find a comfortable position.
"Never what again?" Saguru inquired, setting the bowl aside for later and replacing a cooling cloth on Kaito's forehead. Saguru was being far too reasonable about everything today—he hadn't grumbled once about playing caretaker, despite Kaito being useless and in a foul mood.
It took a minute for Kaito to put his thoughts in coherent order, which was also terrible. "No more impossible stuff a week after I did even worse impossible stuff. Not worth it."
After a pause, Saguru replied, "I believe you saved at least four lives between both 'impossible' ventures. While you terrified me at the time, I don't think you should regret it."
"Hmm." Kaito had no answer that wasn't unbearably sappy, so he closed his eyes instead and tried to sleep himself better, instead.
By evening, Kaito's fever had broken and he had an appetite again, even though he still felt like he'd been put through a rock tumbler. When Riku checked in on him with the obvious excuse of bringing dinner for them both, Kaito convinced him to argue Saguru into getting more sleep than the handful of catnaps the stubborn idiot had managed in the twenty-four hours.
Riku succeeded by promising to stay in Saguru's place and ensure Kaito didn't do anything stupid, which Kaito would be more offended by if it weren't accurate. (The last time he'd been sick with a fever, he'd been possessed by an obsession to redecorate his room and spent ten hours on several paintings that would technically be considered art forgeries if he ever tried to sell them as original work, before his mother had caught him and forced him back to bed.)
At least Riku was good company, regaling Kaito as he ate with stories of the shenanigans Sora and Roxas had gotten up to with Lea egging them on and occasionally joining in, and Kairi and Riku watching and laughing from the sidelines.
Kaito drowsed through the rest of the evening, reminiscing about the amusement park trip in comparison to the others' antics and chatting intermittently with Riku about future plans. His body stole a march on him again despite the full day of resting, however, and he didn't realize he'd fallen asleep until he woke back up again the next morning with Saguru and Riku having traded places yet again.
Kaito made it down to the porch after breakfast to enjoy fresh air while he finished recovering, but Saguru flatly refused to entertain the idea of him going anywhere further, and Kaito had the sense to not argue.
As much as I want to be home, I am not above taking advantage of a chance to procrastinate.
There was plenty to procrastinate with: Riku's books, the journals Kaito was still slowly working through, chatting periodically with the others as they came and went, letting Méraud be her usual big-sister-ly self now that he had enough energy to hear her again, watching more of the heist show and introducing Roxas and Lea to other media…
But even the extra delay had to come to an end eventually. After a day and a half of rest with nothing more strenuous than eating absurd amounts of food, Kaito finally felt back to normal.
By the morning after, Saguru also agreed that Kaito looked sufficiently healthy for a shopping trip and their inevitable departure.
They wandered through the small shopping district under the afternoon sun, splitting up for various eye-catching possibilities and then meeting to compare the spoils.
Kaito found an undersea-themed snow globe with dolphins and swirling glitter for his mom and a cuddly blue plush octopus for Aoko, while Saguru had chocolate-covered macadamia nuts for Baaya and his parents, a mermaid figurine for Aoko, and a large cowrie shell carved with the image of a shark for Aidan.
"How do you explain a giant shell for having been on a case?" Kaito asked, honestly curious.
"Aidan's eight, he won't care beyond sharks being 'cool.'" Saguru brushed the carving with his thumb. "I'll tell my mum I tried to follow a witness down to the coast, or similar, and this caught my eye. Seaside towns are all of a type, when it comes to souvenirs."
"True."
"Why an octopus for Aoko-kun?"
"What, you don't recognize her?" Kaito held up the stuffed toy proudly. "This is Aok'topus!"
Kaito's cackling drowned out Saguru's groan.
When they returned to Riku's house with a more formal gift for Riku's parents as thanks for their hospitality, it turned out the younger trio had made plans of their own, with three small wrapped boxes on the front porch's table. Lea and Roxas had spent most of the past two days off on their own other than for meals, simply adjusting to being real people again, so Kaito wasn't surprised that they weren't there as well.
"Hey now, what's this?" Kaito set his shopping bag down in a free chair while Saguru did the same.
"You've done a lot for all of us," Riku answered. "And since you're going home and it's more complicated for us to travel between worlds now, we figured we'd give you reminders to come visit once in a while."
After the requisite demurrals, Kaito opened the box Riku indicated to find a high-quality phone charm of a flying white bird. He pulled it out to show Saguru, who responded by displaying his own gifted phone charm of a seahorse.
"And this one is for your friend," Kairi declared, lifting the unsealed lid to reveal a charm of the native star-shaped paopu fruit. "Riku said she deserved something for putting up with all of you during his visit, and paopu fruit is said to keep your futures together if you share it with someone."
"She does deserve multiple apology gifts," Saguru admitted with a wry smile. "I think she'll enjoy the charm—it looks a bit like a fruit from our world, so it won't stand out as odd."
"Good!" Sora beamed in his way that Kaito still found incredible for its sheer genuine care. "Did you get traveling gifts for other people, too? Can you show us?"
The souvenirs were duly displayed and admired, Riku's parents duly gifted, and then it was a matter of packing things up for one last trip, and saying their goodbyes.
Kaito promised to visit by the next summer break, if not sooner, and to bring Saguru and Aoko along for the adventure.
"You'd better," Riku replied, "or we might track you down ourselves."
"Promise."
Then, finally, after a hug from Sora, a smile from Kairi, and a fistbump from Riku, Kaito and Saguru retreated back to the guest bedroom, and Kaito settled on the bed to concentrate.
They were ready.
He could do this.
No different from reaching for Riku had been.
:You should make it home,: Méraud's voice echoed in the back of his brain. :Dark Sage, Lupin, and I all agree there's nothing left that should interfere. Perhaps it might help to recall how it went the first time you tried?:
Thanks, he thought in acknowledgment. It couldn't hurt to try.
The first time… he hadn't even aimed for a person, just his own room, but that place was an expression of everything that uniquely made up himself-as-Kaito, so maybe it was close enough. And his own room meant no chance of Aoko seeing him around the house before he was ready to talk.
He closed his eyes and -reached- for the place that was -Home-SafestTiming-NoOneWorried-Mine-REAL-.
The rift opened without a sound, revealing Kaito's bed, desk, and bedroom window with afternoon sun shining through. Kaito's breath rushed out like he'd been punched in the gut—the Kid doll from Tropical Land was perched on the corner of the desk where he'd left it what felt like ages ago.
A moment later, his phone chimed in harmony with Saguru's with a text alert. And another. And another. Kaito met Saguru's eyes and dissolved into helpless, relieved laughter as the text alert sounds kept stacking up, and then when Saguru's phone continued for almost a solid minute longer than Kaito's.
"Aidan is why I set my phone to Do Not Disturb anytime I'm not idle at home," Saguru explained through his own chuckles. "He has a tendency to toss anything he thinks interesting, amusing, or might interest me into our direct messages. Which, given his ravenous reading speed and tendency to be on the computer as much as Mum allows..." He turned his phone for Kaito to see the '112 unread messages' banner on the screen.
"I have got to meet this kid."
"I expect he'd like you as well—a video call around studying for entrance exams, perhaps."
"Deal, and no take backs."
Before Saguru could respond, Kaito heard footsteps on the stairs and Mizuki's voice call, "Kaito, is that you? Are you back home already?"
"Mom!" His bedroom door opened, and Kaito flung himself through the portal to hug her tightly, burying his face in her shoulder. She stiffened in surprise, but hugged him back and ran his hand through the unruly mess of his hair.
"Welcome home, Kai-kun—and hello again, Saguru-san."
He'd definitely worried her. Or was worrying her. Right now he didn't care enough to pull away.
"Yes, please forgive the intrusion, Kuroba-san." Saguru's voice moved with him as he apparently stepped into the room, adding, "I ended up traveling with Kuroba and Yuushi, and we're returning from Yuushi's home here. May I confirm how long we've been gone? My phone appears to have updated the date, but after recent events I would prefer to be certain."
"Oh, of course. It's May twenty-third," Mizuki answered.
Kaito picked his head up from her shoulder, incredulity outweighing how much he wanted to curl up and not move for a while. "Only the twenty-third?"
They'd been… dealing with the universe with Connery for a second time then. They'd lost at least a few days in the shuffle of travel, but not that many. He'd been aiming for Saguru's family to not worry about him, but close to a month of travel collapsing to four days of absence was disconcerting.
:Which is why you won't be doing it again, yes? I can't object to your reasons this one last time, but I hope you remember the discussion we had about aging out of sync with your loved ones,: Méraud noted pointedly.
No deliberate time shenanigans from here on out, I swear. He was repeating himself, but it bore repeating.
Saguru's voice interrupted Kaito's thoughts. "Shouldn't that be, 'the twenty-third, again?', Kuroba? Though I admit that our returning within my original time estimate of being gone is beneficial."
"Again?" Mizuki asked.
"Um."
"Under the right circumstances, Kuroba can violate the laws of physics in myriad and disturbing ways."
Mizuki laughed, and Kaito relaxed back into her arms. "Yes, that sounds about right. ...Are you both all right? Don't think I can't see the makeup on your faces."
"Mooooom," Kaito groaned.
"You've lost at least five pounds, Kaito." She was kind enough to not mention he was acting like a limpet, or bringing home unexpected company.
"It's been a… difficult few weeks, from our perspective," Saguru answered. "I'll allow Kuroba to explain in his own time. I don't wish to impose, either..."
"No imposition at all. If you're in a hurry to reach home, don't let us delay you, but I was just about to check on the flock. They'll be excited to see Kaito but they love any visitors."
"Well, I…"
Kaito finally pulled away from Mizuki to set his bags on his bed, waving the portal from Riku's house closed. It vanished with a finality that may have deserved more gravitas, but Kaito was beyond caring.
They were home.
"Come say 'Hi' at least, Hato Lamar and Harry Hatodini will have missed you since I didn't bring them to class for exams." He'd had so many other things on his mind, birdcare had been barely a blip during that entire week, and it wasn't worth smuggling them into school if he didn't have a plan involving them as a possibility. "You can text you're on your way home now, and still make it back for dinner."
"Very well," Saguru allowed with a small smile. He sent off a quick text, then pocketed his phone. "Lead on."
The dovecote was in the back of the house, sheltered from the worst of the weather by the custom-built overhanging roof, and with mesh around a larger open area with perches and toys and feeders. As the last one in, Kaito had just enough time to close the door behind him before he was mobbed in a whirlwind of feathers by all eight of his birds—one per shoulder, two in his hair, and the other four on arms he raised instinctively as they headed his way.
Their coos, welcoming and reproachful both, were enough to make his eyes prickle in too many emotions to name. He quickly blinked the feelings away to deal with later and greeted each bird by name, petting what he could reach while Mizuki quietly checked the feeders.
After a first round of greetings and making much of everyone like they deserved, Kaito turned to Saguru, presenting Hato Lamarr with the hand she had perched on. "You still remember Hakuba, don't you? I think his hair needs preening."
"Kuroba," Saguru began in tones of long-suffering, but he held still as Hato Lamarr fluttered onto his shoulder and chirped welcome, then smiled as she rubbed her head along his jaw and nibbled affectionately at the hair curling behind his ear. Harry Hatodini took Saguru's body language at Hato Lamarr as an invitation, and fluttered to his other shoulder to demand attention.
Kaito grinned as Saguru relaxed under the chance to pet both doves. With how travel quarantines worked, Watson the goshawk was probably back in England, unless Saguru'd found a place for hunting bird care in Japan and she'd stayed since the murder mansion debacle. Which would mean he'd been missing her for months until he'd transferred back at the start of third year.
The rest of the flock—elderly birds Majikku, Mochi, Dulce, and Shiro, as well as Stephen Hatoing and Hato Trick—stayed with Kaito, crowding for all the attention they could get. Mizuki and Saguru failed to hide their amusement at Kaito's deadpan "Ow, fine," as several birds stole hair off his scalp for new nesting material, then returned to try grooming the rest to utterly no effect.
"They missed you even more when you left again last weekend," Mizuki said as she refilled one of the feeders, "even though Aoko-chan came over yesterday for a while."
"She did? Why?" Aoko's house was only a minute walk down the street, but she didn't typically visit the birds on her own these days. Kaito's fault, again.
"She said she needed feather therapy after losing Kenta-kun."
"Wait, losing? What happened?" Kaito demanded, adrenaline spiking unpleasantly. At least Saguru looked equally concerned, though maybe that was over all the birds reacting to Kaito's sudden stiffening by flapping wings to retain balance.
"Oh, losing custody," Mizuki amended. "It turned out there were distant relatives of his deceased mother in Okinawa, which were only discovered due to Connery-san's will. Kenta-kun was released to their care yesterday. Poor Aoko-chan was distraught, she'd been so determined. But she did at least get a new friend out of it, she told me about meeting the young woman and ward that Saguru-san spoke of—Mouri-san, I think it was."
Well, at least that surprise visit to the miniature detective hadn't been a waste. Although now that it had happened, Aoko and Mouri Ran teaming up for… anything… in the future was more than a little terrifying.
"That's… good, then. I'll ask her about it when I see her, I guess… I owe her a long talk about a lot of things."
Mizuki raised an eyebrow. "Do you, now? Are you finally asking her out on a real date?"
Kaito felt the blush burning across his cheeks immediately, and focused on Majikku rather than meet her eyes.
"Uh. Maybe. If she doesn't maim me first. While we were gone I figured out that she probably has known I'm Kid since a few months after I started, and I'm just making everything worse by still being Kid and not telling her why."
Mizuki's eyebrows rose, but she didn't demand the details right away at least. Or maybe she'd already had an idea of how much Aoko knew and had been letting Kaito make his own mistakes. She did that.
Kaito sighed, scritching feathers. "And I figure if I'm going to come clean about that much, I might as well tell her what the magic roadshow story was cover for, because I'm not sure that she believed it, either."
And if the anthropomorphic animals show up later to yell at me about it, I'll hand her a mop and sic her on them.
"She's definitely humoring you, dear," Mizuki said, nodding. "She was too careful asking me about your absence yesterday."
"I suppose that answers that, then," Saguru noted with definite amusement.
"Yeah. I can still hide out here for a while first, until I get my usual look back so she doesn't freak out about it…"
"Given your choice of subject, she'll be more sympathetic to you when you appear this terrible," Mizuki pointed out reasonably. "You'll be far more believable talking about supposedly impossible things when you're walking proof of the impossibility."
"...Why didn't I think of that?" Kaito asked Majikku.
Mizuki navigated the perching birds to check his forehead, and nodded decisively. "You're not actively feverish, but at a guess you're suffering from long-term exhaustion and insufficient caloric intake, darling. That affects your cognition no matter how clever you are."
…Right. Don't argue with a nurse about health stuff.
"He also had a fever three days ago, though he recovered quickly," Saguru volunteered, then added to Kaito, "And as I offered before, if you'd like my input for the conversation, I'll gladly be present as well."
"Are you kidding? You're not getting out of that, I might need you to hide behind." If she was actually upset enough to swat at him, Kaito might just hold still, but framing it this way was funnier to say.
"Of course." Rather than call him on it, Saguru turned back to the birds at Harry Hatodini's imperious coo for more attention.
"I'll give you some privacy for it, but I'll make sure there are sweets to help the conversation go more easily," Mizuki promised. "If she walks away to process, remember to not follow her, no matter how much you want to explain further."
Kaito winced. She knew him too well, but that was what moms did, right? At least she wasn't teasing him about it.
"Aoko-chan said she would be busy tonight and tomorrow, but wanted to come back on Friday to visit the flock again. I can call for her to come by on some other pretext, but a natural visit might still be best, and I doubt you'll have fully recovered by then…" Mizuki mused, dealing with the last of the feeders.
"That should work—I should have worked out everything I need to say, by then." Hopefully. Being at home without distractions other than the doves would help.
He turned to Saguru. "So… see you Friday? You, me, Aoko, and the doves, for a long talk." And maybe the tour of the Kid room, depending on how the conversation ended.
Saguru smiled. "I look forward to it."
Epilogue:
Friday
Telling Aoko was every iota as excruciating as Kaito had anticipated, especially when Aoko's reaction was to sit in uncharacteristic quiet, a muscle in her jaw moving occasionally and on at least one point a tell-tale sheen in her eyes. Her only movement was the slow pass of her hand along Mochi's feathers, while the rest of the flock spread out between them for perches, preening, and petting.
Kaito responded by talking faster, because the worst possible thing would be calling attention to Aoko's tears before she was ready to acknowledge them. Saguru added to a few points, when appealed to, but otherwise left Kaito to carry the weight of the conversation.
Kaito couldn't blame him for it, either. He'd dug this pit on his own.
When he finally ran out of explanations to go with his apologies, he trailed off into silence, and waited.
"You... idiot!" The doves took to the air in a flurry of feathers at Aoko's outburst, and she marched across the room to Kaito's seat, standing above him with arms akimbo.
Kaito didn't end up vanishing from his chair to hide behind Saguru, but it was a near thing. In his peripheral vision he could see that the flock did, to a bird, settling Saguru's chair back and shoulders and head, but Kaito focused more on not looking away from Aoko.
The tears were sliding down her cheeks now, and she punched his shoulder just hard enough for him to feel it, not an actual injury, before she hauled him up into a tight hug.
When she spoke, her voice was muffled against his chest. "I'm still so mad at you for lying—but I loved Touichi-ojisan too."
Kaito brought his arms up to hug her just as tightly, voice tight with emotion. "I'll apologize as many times and ways as you want me to, just don't—don't give up on me."
Or rat me out to your dad, but you never speaking to me again would almost be worse than facing down your dad from a holding cell.
Aoko squeezed him again and stepped back, finding her handkerchief to dry her face. "I won't shut you out like you did to me, but I'm going to need time. I was so sure so many times, but I didn't want to be right!"
Kaito's heart sank. "That's… fair. I guess… when you're ready, I'm not going anywhere." His voice was more questioning than he wanted to be, but it had been a terrible few hours of talking already.
"You'd better not!" Aoko demanded, poking Kaito directly in the sternum with a finger. "Or I will track you down and drag you home by the ear, and Saguru-kun will help me!"
Still covered in doves, Saguru chuckled. Traitor.
Kaito raised his hands placatingly. "Staying in Tokyo, and like I said earlier, staying home until I recover from the last month of doing too much. But if you want to come for the doves and me to leave you alone for a while… that's okay, too."
Aoko smiled wetly. "I'll take you up on that. And maybe talking to your mom a little. And when I work through it enough to forgive you, you can take me to the Sky Tree Tower for a day. I still haven't been to the Aquarium there."
He deserved that.
And he could live with waiting, if she was so sure about forgiving him eventually.
He smiled back, bittersweet. "Just tell me when you're ready, and I'll buy the tickets."
Aoko nodded, smile a shade more cheerful. "Okay. I'm going to go home for now, but you have Saguru-kun to look out for you, and eventually... It's a promise."
Later:
Reality parted, and Kudou's head jerked up from his light novel as he caught the motion from the corner of his eyes. The book hit the couch as his jaw dropped, and he stared wordlessly at Kaito and Saguru standing on the other side of the rip. Kaito was definitely standing; the elbow planted on Saguru's shoulder was for casual factor and not because he'd forgotten how hellishly more taxing a shadowrip was with the weaker shadows at home and was being careful to not sway.
With his free arm, he waved a hand, well aware that his gel-flattened hair and choice of clothing identified him as Kudou Shin'ichi to everyone but Kudou himself—even Baaya had been fooled not half an hour earlier, when Kaito'd arrived at Saguru's house. This was a compromise between the identifiability of the Kid suit and the vulnerability of being Kuroba Kaito from the start of the conversation. The exasperation warring with disbelief in Kudou's expression was a secondary bonus.
"I hate you so much."
Kaito grinned. "For my good looks? My style? My charm?"
Voice rising in pitch, Kudou hissed, "Stop defying the laws of physics!"
"Oh, that." Kaito dragged Saguru through the portal into Professor Agasa's living room and waved to close the rip. At least their house slippers were appropriate. "Better?"
"No," was the aggrieved response. "How the hell did you do that? Also, how long has Hakuba been on your side? He's the one who gave Inspector Nakamori's daughter the idea to meet Ran two weeks ago."
It was still bizarre that so much less time had passed here than they'd lived themselves, but admitting to that was one of the few facts off the docket for today.
"Magic," Kaito responded blithely, far too amused by how Kudou's expression pinched further even though he shouldn't be antagonizing the detective right now. "No, really, I am breaking the laws of physics, it's been a weird three months even for me. It's how I freaked you out to warn you about Kenta-kun last time..." He turned toward Saguru. "Speaking of, you want to field the that one?"
Sighing, Saguru pushed his bronze 'reading' glasses further up his nosebridge. "I've been on Kid's side against snipers since I became aware of them. I've been on his side for justice over the law since we were accidentally friends as civilians and I thought he'd been killed for painting a target on his cape, and then he tried to salvage a child's love of his dead father at great cost to himself."
Kudou's eyes narrowed behind his own false glasses and Kaito could nearly see the deductions flashing through his brain. "Civilians, huh."
"Yeah, funny story, Aoko's been my best friend since we were kids and I met her outside a clocktower downtown."
Kudou's eyes went wide and then he laughed despite his annoyance. "You jammy bastard, that was you?"
Kaito blinked, offended. "You shot at me! I nearly broke an ankle! You didn't know it was one of my heists?"
Finally relaxing back on the couch and waving for them to also sit, Kudou rolled his eyes. "I never chased thieves before my life turned upside down. The clocktower was because Inspector Megure grabbed me at the station and shoved me into a police helicopter with a laptop and a puzzle to solve, so I did."
He crossed his arms, young face turning more serious, and added, "Now go back to how the hell you've done something way more impossible than your old teleportation trick, and why you're admitting a connection to your civilian identity I could confirm in two minutes flat."
"Well…" Kaito took a deep breath. Kudou was always 'weirdly honorable rival' even when they butted heads; Kaito wasn't going to regret sharing the civvie identity by the end of this. Hopefully. "It's a long story, but it starts with a visiting gift."
He glanced at Saguru, who pulled the tin out of his pocket, because Kaito still didn't want to touch the damn thing if he didn't have to. Saguru opened it to reveal the single dose of apotoxin, and Kudou immediately shot back to full attention, spine stiff and cheeks draining of color.
"Where did you get that?" Kudou's voice was hushed, torn between revulsion and hope.
Kaito got comfortable against the couch cushions as he answered, "Part of the impossibilities. So I guess it's less of a long story and more of one you won't like."
"I lived it," Saguru added mildly, reaching across Kaito to offer Kudou the tin, "and I spent a significant amount of time wishing I could be in denial."
"That's not comforting, Hakuba-san." Kudou accepted and scrutinized the dose before clicking the tin closed. "I'll trust you that this is real. Where did it come from?"
"Before you call me crazy, remember that you just watched us walk from Hakuba's house to here." He was going to eat a triple-serving of beefbowl later, but reaching Kudou in a way no one could observe was more important—and proof about the impossibilities they were going to talk about helped. "That... came from an alternate version of you."
"Bull," Kudou snapped, as much by apparent reflex as anything else.
"Kaitou's honor, and Hakuba as my witness, that dose came from a version of you who never made it home from New York when you saw Vermouth's play."
If Kaito'd thought Kudou was pale before, that declaration somehow made it worse. "You know about that trip? About her? How are you not dead?—and don't say magic."
"My not saying it won't make it less true," Kaito replied. "Plus a lot of trickery, luck, and Hakuba's help catching her, and then delivering her to your FBI friends."
"You know about—?" Kudou took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, which was oddly amusing even knowing Kudou wasn't actually six and imitating an adult. "The last time I had a headache this bad, I had a concussion from a lead pipe."
"Apologies," Saguru said, a quirk to his lips that meant he was fighting a smile, "I promise that we suffered our own discomforts at the time. I was the one working with Kid-san and Haibara-san, among other differences."
Kaito continued, "And while there were some other differences in terms of history, it doesn't seem likely that a chemical compound is going to be so different that you can't use it for your own situation. So, in the interests of making Tokyo safer for all of us, I'm willing to pool resources and promise to retire once your goons and my snipers are gone. The odds are in our favor that the lack of visible turf wars means it's all one group."
Kudou's sharp gaze pinned Kaito in place, searching for evidence that he could believe them. Whatever he saw, it must have been enough, because he resettled his glasses with an air of finality.
"I have more important things to do than arrest a thief who barely has any charges that would stick and is doing me a favor," Kudou acknowledged. "I'll take all the allies I can get, and Haibara and the professor will keep your secret once they figure you out—assuming you don't plan on using more elaborate disguises in the future?"
Kaito shrugged. "I could do it, but I could spend those time and resources better elsewhere. If we're trusting each other, I'll trust your vouching." Knowing that it had worked for other versions of them was an extra layer of reassurance that he wasn't going to end up an international fugitive in short order. Kudou wasn't wrong that most charges shouldn't stick, but the conviction rate for criminals in Japan was too high for Kaito to trust he'd be acquitted even if there weren't Syndicate members actively looking to lock him away. Or simply kill him before the trial.
But this was Kudou. If Kaito couldn't trust him, after everything they'd been through, these past weeks, who else could he trust?
"I've had reasons to let you go before." Kudou held up the tin. "Whether or not this is the real thing, this trumps all of the others by a mile. I'm also not a hundred percent sure I believe you, but you believe yourselves… and if we can get Vermouth, we might be able to get the Head. Is your new party trick up to that?"
Kaito grinned sharp and unpleasant. "Yes." Then he added, "But Hakuba has veto rights on any plan we put together for her, because he has receipts of all the dumb stunts I pulled before where she was involved."
"They are extensive," Saguru promised with dark amusement, "and I have it on good authority that you are equally as bloody-single-minded regarding her."
Kudou snickered and didn't deny the point. "You and Haibara will get along way too well."
Saguru shrugged, unruffled. "You two both need someone sensible to grab you by the shirt collar when you inevitably trip over the knife's edge of your risk-taking."
"Oi." Kaito kept his obligatory protest deadpan, and was rewarded with a tiny smirk from Saguru.
Kudou set his book aside and stood. "In that case, how long do you have today? We can start by introducing you to Haibara properly, and then start planning."
"Sure." Kaito took another deep breath as they stood. "For the record, I'm Kuroba Kaito. Nice to meet you properly."
Kudou's answering grin was blinding.
Endnote: Thanks to all readers, old and new, for coming along for the adventure. I may write small vignettes in this universe in the future—but those are a different story. I have no plans for a direct sequel, because writing the actual end of the Syndicate doesn't appeal to me.
The Syndicate will burn, likely before Bourbon ever shows up. Vermouth in particular will be caught with a minimum of fuss and a maximum of security measures, and Kaito will sleep better for it.
Kaito will plot the acquisition of the Hope Diamond with Saguru and Jii, without a Kid notice at all to avoid tipping off the Syndicate before it burns. (Is it Pandora? The odds are very, very good.) Kid won't retire until Pandora is gone and the Syndicate is dealt with, so the Task Force will still be going a while longer.
Saguru's injuries will heal slowly, but he's very private about where his senses settle and how critical his external aids are for his sanity. (It fluctuates.) He got a tour of the Kid room in the time while Aoko was still working through her feelings. Aoko will get the tour after the Aquarium date.
Aoko also managed to get Kenta's contact information with his relatives, and she and Shi'nichi will both write letters as Kenta grows. Aidan will also come for a visit with Elizabeth once the Syndicate is gone, and the amount of mischief Kaito will pull to make him laugh will be truly epic.
Sora, Riku and Kairi will go adventuring again, with Lea and Roxas in tow, and eventually Naminé also. Will they have adventures similar to DDD and KH3? Probably. Exactly the same? No. The universe is different, now.
Kaito, Saguru, Shin'ichi, and Heiji will figure out how to get along eventually. In part because Aoko, Akako, Keiko, Ran, Kazuha, and Sonoko will become best friends and the world will tremble before them.
As it should.
Thanks again for reading!
Ocianne (11/2021)