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"Well now, Kuroba, you don't seem very happy to see me here in class. Sorry if I've dissapointed you by coming back from my trip to England early."
This was stated by Hakuba Saguru in a neutral, calm tone as he continued to pore over the research on the Cromarty family statues that he had brought with him from the time yesterday at the library. He didn't even even bother to lift his eyes from the Xerox of the old paper he was currently studying while making the statement to his prankster classmate. Saguru had to admit to himself, however, that he was actually trying to suppress a snicker (of all things) at the moment, and had been doing so ever since he had seen the shocked, horrified look on Kaito's face when Saguru had entered the room and taken his usual seat. I probably could have knocked Kuroba over with one of Watson's feathers after he saw me walk in...
"But you were supposed to be gone to England for this coming week!" Kaito cried in reply before quickly realizing what he was doing and how bizarre his insistence must be appearing to everyone. He quickly reigned himself in while mentally chiding himself, fervently hoping that he hadn't already raised Hakuba's suspicions. This was Hakuba, though, so Kaito knew that he was most likely totally out of luck already on that count. There was also no doubt in Kaito's mind that just the paniced look he'd let slip through his poker face briefly upon seeing the half-Brit enter thier classroom had probably been more than sufficient to set Hakuba Saguru's mental bloodhounds off and running after the scent.
"Yes, I was. Plans changed suddenly and I decided to come back early, that's all." Saguru followed this by shooting Kaito a look that he hoped would very clearly get across the fact that he did not want to discuss the topic of his being here in Japan instead of England any further. Saguru really and truly didn't want to dwell on what sort of punishment would be exacted once he checked out of the hotel and returned to his father's house. Just then, he heard his name paged over the P.A. system to come to the front office, so Saguru got up and headed in that direction, figuring it was probably something to do with his attendance and the fact that he wasn't supposed to be here but was.
Kaito was managing to maintain his well-practiced poker face through sheer discipline and desperation but internally, he was feeling like his guts had been placed on a high-speed rollercoaster that would never slow down or end. The very unwanted ride had begun after that smug detective had walked in like nothing was wrong. Damn it, I already have enough problems without Hakuba being here and nosing around like he always does! Someone's framed me for a murder and not one but TWO detectives now know that I'm also Kaitou Kid! His facial expression changed very slightly as he thought that over. Although at least for the moment they're helping me instead of turning me in. I guess I just have to trust them both right now, no choice really. And if we don't figure out what's going on pretty quick, more people will probably be hurt or even killed by whoever's after those stupid Buddha statues.
Wait a minute...what was this that Hakuba had been studying before he was called out? That picture on his desk he'd been looking at had what looked an awful lot like one of those Buddha statues that were causing so much havoc in it. Kaito grabbed a few of the papers off of the top of the stack sitting on the right of other boy's desk and started walking over to his own seat with them in hand so he chould look at them more closely. Or at least, that had been his initial plan of action until a bookbag whacked him soundly on the back of the head in mid-return trip to his desk, causing him to drop the papers before they scattered about the floor with a large fluttering 'whoosh' accompanying thier escape from his hands.
"Leave Hakuba-kun's papers alone! They're not yours, you thief!"
"Aoko, c'mon! It's not like he would have ever missed them or even realized that I had taken them if you hadn't of made me drop them all over the floor, so now I won't have time to look at them before he comies back," he growled in irritated reply to his friend before he went to hastily pick up the first of the scattered pieces of paper and found that it contained the name of the tiny bespectacled detective who was currently assisting him. Edogawa Conan- Is that his real name? Is there a birth cerfiticate? Check when we're done. was written in handwriting so neat and precise that it practically screamed Hakuba's name from the paper it was jotted down on.
Kaito nearly fell to the floor from shock as the implications of that last sentence fully hit him and processed. Wait a minute...When WE'RE done?
We're working with someone who found a case a lot like this one that happened in England last year.
Why oh WHY hadn't his stupid, slow self made the connection to Hakuba immediately after Heiji had informed him of them working with someone else during thier conversation yesterday?
Only Hakuba would manage to somehow have this combination of resourcefulness, stubborness, intelligence (hey, Kaito had to give credit where it was due, however reluctantly) and luck. Not only had he somehow found out about current, local crime news in Japan while being in another country, but Hakuba had stumbled onto another strangely similar case in England as well. It was also a great explaination for why he'd returned from England early; Kaito knew from the far-too-many experiences he'd had with narrowly avoiding capture as Kaitou Kid that no one was more annoyingly, incredibly persistent than Hakuba when he made up his mind to go after someone or something.
"Find my research interesting, Kuroba?" asked Hakuba mildly from behind Kaito's right shoulder. Knowing that even trying to come up with an excuse would do him no good, Kaito just let out a deep, disgruntled sigh and continued picking up the papers before practically shoving them back at the highly irritating tantei. "My, my, aren't we irritable this morning- did something happen to you while I was gone?" he asked politely, only getting an angry glare from Kaito in return before the latter stalked back to his desk and sat down with a loud thud.
If he really is Kaitou Kid like I suspect, then this weekend was probably not one of the better ones he's ever had. Hakuba mulled this over amusedly before refocusing himself as he sat back down and began thumbing through the two stacks of papers that held his research material. One stack was much thicker than the other, partially due to Kuroba's attempted burglary and partially due to the fact that the second stack held what he had been able to find so far on Edogawa Conan. It was a suspiciously trim stack of information that raised all kinds of questions in Hakuba's mind, especially when you coupled the disparity of available information with how eerily mature the child seemed at times.
Hakuba had gotten the quite distinct impression, both back during the events of that stupid Koshien and while he was working with him currently, that Edogawa Conan's innocent, childlike behavior was a carefully constructed façade that he was deliberately presenting to the world. A mask he almost constantly wore that had cracked momentarily yesterday when Conan had stepped in to end the argument between himself and Hattori. Those cerulean eyes had not been filled with innocence at the time, but anger, and they had seemed nothing like the eyes of a six or seven year old child when he had spoken. In fact, it had felt an awful lot like it was someone either his or Hattori's ages sitting with them at the table at the time...
Then there was the matter of Hattori becoming so completely shut in and almost openly hostile after Saguru had decided to state his suspicions openly. 'Sorry. I have no idea what you're talking about'? Yeah right, Hattori. Granted, the two of them certainly didn't have anything beyond a barely cordial acquaintanceship, but Saguru didn't think that he'd said or done anything to warrant such anger and, yes, panic (he hadn't missed the fear in Hattori's body language mingled in with that obvious anger, or the absolute, complete terror that had filled Conan's eyes for a moment before his child's mask had slipped back on) other than inquring about the boy.
"Leave him alone," came a firm-sounding voice from far to his left suddenl. This snapped Saguru out of his intent perusal of what little he'd been able to scrape together once the rest of the class had gone on thier break an hour later. Then the voice connected with its owner in Saguru's mind and he looked over at Kuroba Kaito, who was leveling a glare at him from his own desk while holding up the piece of paper he recalled scribbled some notes on various things he'd wanted to look into regarding Edogawa. "Everyone has a right to thier secrets," the other boy stated flatly before turning away and quickly terminating the conversation since other students were beginning to filter back into the class.
Mmm. Maybe. But I'll find out what's going on with him, and then decide where to go from there with the information. The same with you, magician, once I can finally prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that you're also Kaitou Kid... "Give that paper back, thank you," Saguru asked, Kaito responding to the request by sticking it into his desk and smirking. If thier sensei hadn't just chosen that moment to return to class Saguru would have walked over and become more insistent on it, but as it was all he could do was return Kuroba's glare with one of his own before greeting thier sensei and taking his seat.
Five minutes later, Saguru was somehow not surprised to have a paper airplane smack him soundly in the side of the head in mid-lecture, not even needing to look over and see Kuroba's barely suppressed smirk to know that he had been the messenger who had delivered it. With a sigh, he picked up the airplane that was now laying with its nose crumpled on the ground and unfolded it. It was, indeed, the paper he had scribbled his notes on regarding further research into that strangely adult-seeming child, but there was an addition at the bottom in what was most definitely not his handwriting.
Don't exhaust yourself. And leave him alone.