A/N: Yay, and we're back to Alice's POV, and back to kind of slow and not very exciting chapters! XDD;; And, I couldn't do it. I was planning on focusing on studying for the rest of the week and not writing at all, but I got withdrawal (seriously). I was literally going insane without writing – only for one day! – so I had to write this chapter. But, it's a quick update, so I guess it's A-OK! 8D – shot – (*whispers* short chapter is short… *dies*)

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan or Magic Kaito in any way or form.

Chapter Seventeen

My eyes opened sluggishly, and what met my sight were blurry figures. I was warm, snuggled deeply in what I would guess would be a blanket of some kind. I was lying on a soft surface, though it was strangely sturdy, too. Definitely wasn't the futon I had been sleeping on in Kaito's house. Huh…weird. I blinked, my vision clearing a bit, but for some reason, my eyes weren't cooperating properly. The smell of incense was intoxicating, making me feel blissfully detached from the world.

Wait, incense? Since when did Kaito have incense? The only person I know that has incense is… Akako! My eyes, that had been closing once again, snapped open and I suddenly saw the whole room with painful clarity. The large stone fireplace and the human skull resting atop it, seeming to grin at me; I let out a startled yelp as I flinched back before turning to look at what I hit and seeing the metal snakes seemingly snickering at me. With another yell, I hopped back once more, only to fall off the couch I had been apparently resting on.

My body protested at the lack of warmth, but my mind vigorously buried the feeling as I looked around frantically. I relaxed slightly when I realized no one else was with me in the room, though the door to the first hall was open, pouring sunlight into the otherwise unlit room. A sigh escaped my lips and I deadpanned at my idiocy, looking over to the metal snakes and the skull resting on the hearth. I'm an idiot….

I flinched as Akako's smooth voice suddenly spoke up from behind me. "I see you're awake; come on, breakfast is ready." I turned to look at her, noting that she had on different clothes from yesterday, and followed her out as she turned and began walking to the kitchen. She led us through the first hall once more, all the way to the end where a fork led in three different directions. We went into the middle one and it turned into a confusing place filled with lots of different paths. I stuck close behind Akako, hoping to heaven I didn't get lost.

Finally, after many twists and turns, we had made it to the kitchen, which looked surprisingly normal. It was a westernized kitchen, with a big, spacious table with a light purple table cloth and the smell of pancakes wafting in the air. It would have had a comforting atmosphere, if the one cooking the food wasn't Akako's creepy ass butler. I shrugged it off, though, climbing up a chair and plopping into it with a huff. My small hands rested on the table and I stared at them blankly. I was still tired; that much was obvious since my vision kept shifting and loosing focus for a few seconds and my lids felt like heavy weights just wanting to drop again.

"Did you sleep well?" Akako asked from the other side of the table, where she had decided to sit, looking at me in amusement. I looked up from my mindless pondering, staring at her through my lashes. The red-haired witch looked like she was completely rested. Lucky, I grumbled internally before finally answering her question. "Yeah, I slept well, I guess…," My mind replayed our conversation the day before. My eyes narrowed in a fierce glare and I scowled deeply at her. "Wait! You put me to sleep, didn't you?! I wasn't tired until you began to tap me, you witch!" I obviously couldn't come up with a better insult.

She let out an eerie cackle, looking all too happy at my jibe. "Of course I put you to sleep. You looked like you needed it, either way." She smirked at me and I rolled my eyes; when she puts it that way…

I blinked as a plate with steaming pancakes was placed in front of me and I grinned happily, humming a 'thank you' to the demon-butler before digging in carelessly. Later, I would wonder why the heck I hadn't checked for poison, or something. But, now, I was just glad to get some food in my stomach.

I peered up at Akako curiously, mouth chewing my food, and I asked quite rudely – since I still had food in my mouth, "u'rre not 'unna r'eat?" My chewing made my words come out slightly messed up. She didn't seem fazed by my somewhat disgusting display, though, and shook her head. "No, I ate earlier." I blinked before deciding that it wasn't worth it to ask. Akako would just be Akako, after all.

My attention went back to my food and we fell into a comfortable silence. Akako was the one to break it, only after I had finished my food, though, and I told the butler he was an amazing cook with a Cheshire grin which seemed to make him kind of nervous – again, I put it in the back of my mind for further analyzing later. "Did you know about Kaito's party tonight? I don't think you do, though…, perhaps you do." She raised a brow in questioned and I shook my head, blinking curiously.

"Party? For what?" I asked, leaning closer over the table in interest. "It's a farewell party; our good classmate, and detective, Hakuba Saguru is leaving to England to study criminology." My face lit up. Hakuba Saguru! He hadn't left yet?! That was wonderful~! I smiled giddily, trying not to cheer out loud. He was one of my favorite characters! Though, with his watch of doom, my slight chronophobia would probably act up a bit. But, this was Saguru we were talking about. He was worth it, even if it was only to meet him once. After all, once he left, he'd be gone for a long while until he finally shows up again.

Ah, wait… "Kaito! Oh my gosh! I forgot to call him!" I shouted, making Akako start in surprise. I began to search my pockets, hurriedly taking out the black cell I had put in my pocket. I was just about to call speed dial #2 – Kaito – but Akako stopped me with one of her hair-raising laughs.

"Don't worry, dear." The way she put the endearment made a shiver go down my spine. "I called Kuroba-kun the night before and told him you would be spending the night, since you fell asleep." She chuckled. "He said it was okay and to have you back by noon – we have plenty of time; it's only nine." Nine? I had gotten up so early. I could have slept longer. Bloody hell...

I blinked as a hot chocolate was placed in front of me, mini marshmallows floating on the top. Well, I thought with a twinkling sparkle in my eyes, I suppose it wasn't that bad. I began downing the painfully hot liquid without a problem, Akako watching me with another amused look.

ooOOoo

"Here's a change of clothes; we're going out." Akako said with an 'end of the conversation' tone. I nodded, brows furrowing in irritation before I looked down at the clothes. They were big and obviously hers. She wanted me to use the charm she gave me? My eyes flickered to the bell on my wrist and I looked up at her, but she was already gone, leaving me in the bedroom – well, what I assumed was a bedroom. I shrugged and changed back, making sure to take a shower after I had changed back into my bigger body and then getting dressed. She had given me a nice, blood red turtle neck shirt and a red and black plaid skirt, with black leggings. Overall, it was a nice outfit, if not a bit dark in color.

She met me at the front door to her house, offering me some black boots before we got going. I wanted to ask where we were going, but decided against it, since the – kinda – friendly witch looked annoyed with something and deep in thought. We walked through the woods quietly, the boots barely making a sound despite them being kind of heavy and adorned with chains. Goodness, I probably looked kind of strange, since I didn't bother to brush my unruly, short hair, either. I had caught a passing glimpse of myself in one of Akako's tiny mirrors when on our way out, and I noticed with great amusement that my hair was curling, both outward and inward, much like Kaito's hair, but kind of longer and somewhat – but not much – more girlish.

I ran a hand through my hair self-consciously before realizing we had made it out of the forest and were now heading to the small town I had gone to with Chikage when we had gone grocery shopping before her trip. I finally gained the courage to open my mouth, "Erm, Akako, where are we…going?" My voice was quiet and was almost unheard as we got to the road, a few cars passing by.

Akako shot me a short glance with her red eyes before turning away. "We're going to walk around town a bit; maybe buy a few things or something." I had to keep myself from stopping short at the strange information. A normal day out with Akako, shopping and walking around? That's…interesting…

However, I didn't protest as I skipped to catch up with her as she began to cross the street. Might as well have some fun before the party tonight, right?

Review Replies:

To: Kudo Shinichi Tanteisan – Yup, that's why she's been kind of animalistic. XD (Though, I do have that, too, but I decided to play around with the idea a bit. Lol) And yay! Congrats on finished your exams~! 8D And it's alright, E-chan; I understand. ^^ (Grins as snowflakes fall and eats cyber cookie) Thank you~! X3

To: MagicMilkBone – Well, since I started so early into the series, it may take a short wait until I finally get to Ai, but I'll see if I can somehow speed things up a bit to get to her appearance. ^^ Thanks for your review. =3

To: Iriss-sama – Thank you. XD And here's the update, though it doesn't have much information. XDDD Thank you again. ^^

-Haha, you have no idea how amused I was since I threw everyone for a loop about Alice not being human. XDDD And its official; I'm a bad student. –dies of laughter–

-Edit: All fixed~!