2 days later

Kaito yawned, standing outside his house at around 6 AM on a Saturday morning. It was slightly foggy too, and the air was chilly- leading him to dress in a black turtleneck, navy blue jacket, jeans, and casual sneakers.

The backpack slung over his shoulder contained some emergency supplies (both medical and magical) and extra clothes just in case Hakuba's little comment was correct and he ended up staying there for some reason. And the letter and money, of course. That was the whole reason he was being forced to come along in the first place.

Just moments later, a fancy-looking black car rolled up in front of the gates, and the window rolled down to reveal Hakuba's ever-so-annoying face. "It is now precisely 6 AM. Get in the car, Kuroba."

Rolling his eyes, Kaito opened the other side's door and slid in, shutting it behind him. "You really could've just taken the letter there yourself, you know."

"There wouldn't be any fun in that. Or is the great Kaitou Kid nervous about being around a group of famous detectives?"

"Aho, how many times do I have to tell you I'm not Kid? Besides, the only reason I didn't want to come was because they'll probably recognize my last name and connect me to Kuroba Toichi. Then they'll ask me to perform all kinds of tricks for them... just so they can figure them out... damn detectives. You're all so irritating."

Hakuba chuckled at that, placing his chin in his palm. "Well... it is our job to capture criminals such as yourself."

"...I'm not repeating myself again."

Around 1 hour later

"See you later, Baya. I'll give you a call to let you know when to pick us up," Hakuba said, closing the car door with Kaito behind him, arms crossed. The car drove away, leaving the two at the train station.

Kaito sighed. "First a car ride with you, now a train ride? I don't know how much more I can take."

"Oh quiet, Kuroba. The bullet train to Niigata is this way." Hakuba led the way to the waiting area after buying tickets, where Kaito passed the time by playing multiple pranks on the blond.

"I don't know, I really think purple hair suits you better. Don't you agree?"

"I swear to god Kuroba- one more trick and I'll expose you right here, right now."

Kaito sighed, brushing the confetti off his shoulders. "First of all, I'm not even Kaitou Kid. Second of all, you have no solid evidence. Third of all, no one would believe you." Thank god that DNA scanning machines aren't 100% accurate yet.

"I may not have enough proof yet... but someday, Kuroba, I'll be the one to put you behind bars." Heh, Tantei-kun might just do that before you. Pfft, just kidding. No one will ever be able to catch me anyway. "Oh hey, the bullet train's here," Kaito pointed out, changing the subject. Hakuba sighed, brushing off the confetti as well and fixing up his outfit once more.

One 2 hour train ride later

"Finally, fresh air," Kaito muttered as the two walked through the city of Niigata. "Treasure Gates Castle is located up in a remote mountain. No one knows who the current owner is, but people aren't allowed near it, much less in it, although someone takes care of it and cleans up the place every so often," Hakuba explained, glancing around the buildings. He had a towel hung around his neck, absorbing the moisture of his still-damp hair (from washing out the hair dye in a bathroom).

"We have to walk all the way up there?" Kaito complained, fiddling with a deck of cards. "It's only a half hour walk or so. Or maybe Kaitou Kid can't handle that?"

"Shut up, Hakubaka."

"That's a new one."

10 minutes later

"By the way, this is super sketchy. Some stranger invites a bunch of detectives to gather at an abandoned castle to solve a "case." And you all just accept it and head out to the great unknown?" Kaito asked, taking another step up through the thick forest.

"When a client requests for help, we detectives come and solve it. It's that simple. Besides, I don't take money for my work. I would've come anyway to return it."

"My my, what a gentleman." Not.

Suddenly, the two came to a stop at a fork in the path, where two wooden signs stood. The left one read "Heikoumai Falls" while the right one read "Treasure Gates Castle."

"Geez, what a narrow pathway. This is dangerous," Kaito complained (albeit being able to walk perfectly fine as Hakuba took slow, steady steps behind him). "If even a minor avalanche or earthquake were to occur here, there wouldn't be any survivors," Hakuba noted, frowning. "Gee thanks, Hakuba. That definitely calmed me down," Kaito said sarcastically.

To their right, there was a dense forest around 40 meters below, with only a short, rusty guard rail between it and the two teenagers. The path they were walking on was around 2 feet wide, and Hakuba had definitely walked on more comforting pathways before.

"Hey, isn't that it?" Kaito murmured, staring up ahead. Following his gaze, Hakuba could see the top of some large structure in the distance, buried behind treetops. "It must be. I didn't calculate what the path leading to it would be like, so we have to hurry if we don't want to be late," he said.

Kaito sighed for the 100th time that day. Almost there... just another 10 minutes or so of walking up this mountain... with a certain snobby detective... then I can quickly return the letter and money and get out of there. I'll take the train back and ask Jii-chan to pick me up.

Hakuba checked his oh-so-wonderful watch again, frowning. "At this rate, we'll be the last ones there."

"You mean you'll be the last one there. I won't be sticking around. I still can't believe you made me walk all the way out here," Kaito corrected. "It's all for the sake of proving that you're Kid, Kuroba."

"Yeah yeah, whatever you say."