Chapter 3: Where our Friends Reside

Shinichi talked with Haibara the next day and got the answers he was looking for. It would be dangerous, and most likely end in his death, but that was going to happen anyways.

Hattori had been calling him for a few days and, with some hopeful prospects in view, Shinichi decided to pick up.

"Hello Hattori."

"Hey Kudo."

The line was silent for a while.

"You're the one who called me so you better start talking or I'm going to hang up."

"Geez ya can be really heartless sometimes. I was callin' to check up on ya."

"I already have a mother."

"Kudo don't blow this off like some – I don't know, like something that doesn't matter. Ya know I'm worried aboucha."

"I don't need your worry."

"That's not what I meant. I'm not tryin' ta worry about you but when ya don't answer my calls, I can't say that I'm trilled."

"Is that all you wanted to talk about?" Shinichi asked in a despondent voice.

"No, I know I can't cheer ya up. Ran-chan's there with ya so I know you're gonna be fine but I thought ya'd be interested in somethin'."

…

There was a Kaitou Kid heist.

Hattori had talked him into some normalcy and chasing the Kid had always been fun. Shinichi would feed all his information to the cops so physically running after the moonlit thief wasn't necessary.

He couldn't help grinning at the fun and distracting power that Kid possessed over him.

The heist was that night and Hattori had been trying to tell him about it for a week now. Shinichi was happy that he'd picked up the call.

The police force around the mansion wasn't as massive as it normally was. He was getting used to going up against Kid when uncle Jirokichi asked for assistance so it shouldn't have been a shock that whoever owned the mansion didn't want it flooded with officers. In all honesty, the fewer the better when Kid was involved.

Shinichi had already found Nakamori-keibu and would relay any information to him. The jewel that the thief was after was a large red ruby set in a bracelet that the mansion owner's wife owned. The bracelet in question was taken from her to be placed in a large safe in the center of the room. There was a video camera inside the safe that was recording so that police would be able to see anything that happened to it if the thief got past them.

While the police were busy running around Shinichi leaned against the wall and waited for the show. The Kid would have a hard time getting the bracelet out of the safe. It would be easy for him to sneak up as an officer though, even with how few of them were there, so Shinichi kept his eyes open.

It was a shock when the thief didn't follow the path Shinichi thought he would.

There was a poof of smoke in the middle of the room where the thief seemingly appeared out of nowhere. He hadn't been disguised as an officer but he used to smoke to make it seem like he'd been there the whole time. The smile on his face widened when he met Shinichi's eyes.

"Hello everyone!" He tipped his hat and Shinichi knew that he hadn't taken his eyes off of the detective. It made him smirk in return that the thief thought of him as the one person in the room that he had to keep his eye on. Shinichi had no doubt that the thief would be able to get away tonight if he somehow got through the safe, since he wasn't able to play an active role in stopping him this time.

There was another flash, this one of light instead of smoke and the thief was gone. Everyone looked around with bland confusion as to what the thief was up to.

A figure in the corner of the room caught their attention as he waved a hand with the ruby bracelet hanging off of it. "I'm sorry but you're going to have to do better than that."

Shinichi's eyes shot towards the safe but saw nothing wrong with it. His mind worked at a manic pace as he tried to figure out what had happened.

The only way that the thief had gotten the bracelet was if he removed it before it was put in the safe. The wife herself had done that when the camera was… – of course, Kid had disguised himself as the wife and had messed with the video feed for one of his own. It was a simple explanation and Shinichi knew he was right.

You certainly love to dress up as women don't you?

The police chased him out of the room and Shinichi was close behind. The thief appeared just outside the mansion as if taunting the law enforcement. He'd seen him do that before so he wasn't shocked but it did confuse him as to why the Kid had stayed around so long after he had the jewel. It was as if he was leading them.

"No wait!" Conan tried to stop the officers from running off in the wrong direction but they wouldn't listen to him. He huffed out a breath and peered at the ally before taking off after the thief on his own. He knew he'd gone that way.

If he wanted to, he still had his watch. Catching the phantom before he died seemed like a nice accomplishment but his heart wasn't really into it. The thrill of the chase, of catching up to the bad guy and telling them what they did wrong was satisfying enough, where Kid was involved. As far as Shinichi knew, the other boy had done nothing terrible enough to warrant being arrested.

The thief soon appeared before him. The Kid was holding the gem up to the moonlight and looking at it with an unusual intensity. Shinichi frowned but his footsteps had alerted the thief to his presence.

"Hello there Tantei-kun. It's nice to see you again."

"It is," Shinichi agreed. "Do you like to dress up as women or is that just how things seem to work out?"

"It's unintentional. I'm not that kind of thief Tantei-kun." Kid threw the gem into the air for a moment before catching it and running off down the ally.

"Damn it!" Shinichi swore. He wasn't done talking to him and he needed to get the jewel back.

The Kid ran into a building with glass doors. Shinichi didn't pause in his pursuit but he let his mind wonder where it was they had run into. The hallway was dark and tile floor under his feet almost made him slip. It was funny but Shinichi could have sworn that the Kid had slipped by the sound of something hitting the floor ahead of him.

It looked like an office building and Shinichi chased the Kid as he ran up a set of stairs in the back. The elevators were obviously not working since the building seemed to have no power. It was only a few flights before they reached the roof and Shinichi was gasping for breath.

Out on the roof the moon lit everything up in a brilliant glow. It made Shinichi's vision sway as he tried to look around.

Shinichi grabbed his chest in sudden pain, feeling the toxin start to eat away at him again. Not now, he thought desperately, tasting blood in his mouth as he was forced to stop running. Both boys were still within close proximately to one another and Shinichi felt around blindingly for the raised edge of the building.

Kid stopped his hurried footsteps when he heard none pursuing him. The thief saw Conan stumbling around, looking for something to steady himself with.

He does know that this building is still under construction, right?

Shinichi was faintly aware when one of his footsteps was no longer met with concrete. He felt the world suddenly rush by him and heard a distant shout on the wind.

This isn't such a bad way to die. Shinichi smiled as the readied abandonment he felt surrounded him. At least it will be quick.

…

Shinichi's first bouts of awareness came when he heard the hissed in breath of someone in pain. He tried to right himself but the world around him was dizzying.

"Please stop moving so much Tantei-kun. Its kind of hurts."

Shinichi couldn't see at that moment but he would never mistake Kid's voice. What he'd taken for whiteness in his vision was actually the thief's coat where most of his upper body was resting on.

Shinichi blinked at the dark ally they were in before focusing on the thief. The unmistakable sight of blood caught his attention as it ran down the side of Kid's face. The thief smiled.

"I seem to have hit my head when we fell."

Shinichi continued to take in the sight of the smashed glider underneath them and the hard cement floor the thief must have landed on in order to save him.

"You stupid idiot. You should have let me fall. We could have both died!"

The Kid shook his head but Shinichi could see him wince and he tried to hide it. "You should never give up so easily on life Tantei-kun, and I could never have let you fall."

Kid got himself up from underneath Shinichi and the detective could tell he'd broken more than a few bones. The sound of the policemen's pursuit reached them and Kid tipped his hat in Shinichi's direction with a smile on his face as if nothing were wrong.

Where both good at hiding our pain, Shinichi thought, showing off a bitter smile in return.

Before the Kid took off, Shinichi waved to him.

"This is goodbye and thank you."

The thief stopped in his tracks, even as the sound of the police drew in closer.

"This is not goodbye Tantei-kun." His tone was hard and dead-set. Now that Shinichi was doing it himself, he knew the tone was used to hide emotions that wee too strong to control and was shocked that the thief felt so vehemently about him. "I don't do goodbyes. I'll be seeing you again."

Shinichi watched him, puzzled, before wiping away some blood that was running out of his mouth. With how good the Kid was at fooling people, he must have been equally as good at seeing through them, meaning he understood Shinichi's implications.

"Until next time then" Shinichi amended, knowing full well what little chance they had of running into each other again before he died. The thief seemed to need the closure and Shinichi wouldn't deny him it, especially since he could have sworn the Kid's hands were trembling.

He found the bracelet in his pocket after the police arrived.

...

...

Hehehehe... not to ruin the mood but I made Kaito slip :)
If he can't ice skate and he running around in dress shoes, it seemed funny to put in!