Author's note: Well, if this isn't a new chapter… Always the same disclaimer of course (Gosho Aoyama is a genius! sniff).

The final arrival of Saguru and Akako Hakuba! I like those too… especially married…

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Of Friendship and its Implications

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Hakuba Saguru and Koizumi Akako were two great friends of Aoko's. Their story was, erm, quite unusual.

Akako was a very beautiful girl who used to want every man in the world to be her slave – and occasionally a witch whose best friend was Lucifer.

Saguru was a very rich, very arrogant and very maniac heir who liked everything to be reasonable – and occasionally one of Kid's greatest rivals, and certainly the one whom he was teasing most.

They had both met in high school, and (after Saguru referred to Aoko as his angel and Akako referred to Kaito as the only man who resisted her) had eventually fallen for each other, got married at twenty – yet nobody knew who was the man with black wings who smelled terrible and refused to enter the church – and gone off on a world tour as a honeymoon.

Well, yeah, quite an unusual story.

In all likelihood they would end up the way Yusaku Kudo and Yukiko Fujimine had: giving birth to a smug kid obsessed with solving murders, and going on said world tour once a year.

Aoko hadn't seen them since they had left Japan two years before, and the last news she had received from them dated back to six months – a very short, about two minutes long, long-distance call from Bolivia, only to say they were alive and they would be back in November.

So they had.

They had caught her off guard the day before by inviting her to one of the city's most famous restaurants.

They had changed a little. Saguru's hair was longer and Akako seemed taller, though not as slender as she used to be. To see them and observe those changes suddenly made Aoko aware of the time that had passed by since she had last been meeting with them. The time that had gone loose, leaving her behind.

"Well, was the world as large and interesting as you imagined it?" she asked after they had ordered.

"Larger," Akako said.

"As for the interesting part…" Saguru began.

"Fascinating," Akako cut in.

They laughed. Obviously this was a sort of a joke between the two of them.

"Tell me everything," Aoko excitedly. "Where did you guys go?"

The major part of the supper was devoted to this. They talked about countries and forests, about seas and oceans, about history and future, about customs and traditions, about superstitions and religions. Aoko listened in earnest. All of this she would have loved to see and hear by herself. Sometimes it felt good to get out of one's reality share.

Only for dessert they stopped and started another subject.

"You haven't talked a lot about yourself, Aoko. How's your job going?"

She shrugged. "Neither good or bad. Kid's always escaping. Sometimes I get to take the jewel back from him… Routine." She turned to Saguru. "Some help would be much appreciated, Hakuba-kun."

"Any time," he said. "You know you're quite well-known in the world out there. Kid's famous in the USA and Europe… and therefore you are, too."

"Oh, yeah, I can imagine the papers," said Aoko. "'KID FOOLS STUPID OFFICER NAKAMORI AGAIN! When will she give up?' Great."

Saguru looked embarrassed. Akako elbowed him gently. Unfortunately this was not quite far from the truth.

"When will be his next heist?" she asked Aoko who was playing nervously with her fork. She shrugged once more.

"Dunno. Could be tomorrow night. Sometimes he only warns us in the morning. But he hasn't moved for the last few days so he probably will before the end of he week. What makes me sick," she burst out suddenly, "is that he always warns us before, when it could be much easier for him to steal jewels without being shot at. I feel he's only having fun with us!"

Saguru nodded lightly. There was a certain amount of things he remembered about Kid, and the mocking bit was the greatest part of that. Yet he couldn't quite imagine Kaito laughing at Aoko's nose like he used to laugh at the late Inspector Nakamori and himself. He tried something else.

"At least he's not lying to you guys," he said. "The police do know…"

"Thank god he doesn't lie anymore," Aoko growled. "He's been lying to me for too long."

Akako's eyes narrowed. Saguru started, but he obviously found nothing to say. Aoko felt her heart break a bit more. She had supposed they knew, but they hadn't even talked about it… about Kaito… she had tried to know and it had succeeded. Now she didn't even know what she had hoped.

Betrayed. Once more.

"Well, I'll suppose I'll have to go," she said, reaching for her purse, "I have to wake up early tomorrow morning in case Kid…" She shrugged and got out two banknotes.

"It's on me," Saguru said–

She slammed the banknotes down, grabbed her bag and coat, and flew, literally, away.

Akako called her back.

"Aoko, Kaito never meant to lie to you."

Aoko slowly turned and looked at them.

"But he did," she said. "And so did you."

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Saguru and Akako Hakuba were worried. Alarmed. Grieving. For their friends, which was rare.

They had always known one day Aoko would know about Kaito being Kid. But such an unsolvable situation they had hoped never to see. They didn't know how she had uncovered it – whether he had told her himself, which sounded quite like him – but she obviously suffered a lot, whatever faces she could make up.

They wished they could do something for them. Anything. When it came to feelings and sadness neither Lucifer nor a great fortune could do anything. But–

Quick footsteps echoed behind them and Kaito's unmistakable, laughing voice came up, fresh water pouring from a fountain.

"Hey, so you guys finally came back home?"

They turned to him but didn't answer. They just gazed. He frowned.

"Okay, what's with the dark faces?"

The Hakuba couple looked at one another.

"We just dined with Aoko," Saguru said.

Poker Face instantly came up, drawing his amusement and irony back in the shadows.

"Oh, really?" Kaito said calmly, lightly. "And how is Nakamori-keibu going?"

"She isn't well, Kaito," Saguru growled with anger.

Akako's still, profound voice then echoed in the night dividing them.

"She was smiling, but her smile was that of someone who's been wanting to die for nights. She tried to stay impassive, but she was holding back her tears. Her voice was interested but also broken, as though her mind was really wandering somewhere off, somewhere where she couldn't choose to go to or back."

Kaito's face remained impassive.

"Kuroba…" Saguru began, taking back the name he usually gave him in high school.

"The two of you won't stand this much longer," Akako cut in, her eyes burning with anger and concern – or was it just an illusion? "Now the question is about who will give up first. And if neither does you'll probably end up dying of exhaustion."

"Shut up," Kaito said in a low voice.

"She looked tired. Not only physically but mentally. And so do you. I mean it, you'll kill each other with your own hands."

"I SAID SHUT THE HELL UP!"

His face was still and calm but his eyes were fiery. Akako sighed and shook her head, leaning against her husband's shoulder. Saguru caressed her hair absentmindedly – and this simple, familiar gesture, which seemed so natural for the two of them, made Kaito want to cry.

"Right," Akako said, "I won't insist. There is only one thing I think you might want to know. You probably never noticed it, but back in high school I had sort of a crush on you. And Saguru fancied Aoko quite a lot – but that, you did notice."

Kaito snorted. He wouldn't say a word about those days. He'd been happy back then, happy every day by Aoko's side. They looked like a dream, grievingly fresh and vivid in his mind.

"But we both gave up. Because the two of you were in love with each other, and we didn't have such a role to play in both your lives. We'd only get to interfere. We should thank you for this, anyway, for that's the way we found each other."

She smiled at her husband. He smiled back.

"What Akako's trying to say is that if you're still in love with her – which I can see you are, you should tell her. Tell her now, before the two of you are more badly hurt."

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Aoko turned the corner. She was feeling guilty she had spoken so harshly to her old friends. Of course they couldn't tell her. It wasn't their secret. More, they knew it would hurt her beyond possible if they did – they had tried to protect him and her at the same time.

She was walking fast in hope she would catch up with them. She would apologize, and then they would maybe end up the evening in a bar. Around a cup of coffee, she would tell them about Kaito and their meetings during the heists… it would be relieving to talk about it, to get to be listened to and understood.

She suddenly saw them, facing her. They were talking with a man whose face she couldn't see – yet, watching his back, she instantly recognised.

There was no such messy hair but his.

There was no such smug bearing but his.

She stood, watching him more than them, wondering why her heart hadn't yet shattered to pieces when she'd heard his voice.

They were arguing, obviously – Saguru sounded angry. But the argument ended sharply when Akako noticed her above Kaito's shoulder, a pale, motionless figure standing in the night.

"Aoko…" the name swept in the cold air like a wave on still water. She saw Kaito's body stiffen. But she instantly knew he wouldn't turn around, he wouldn't see her. He wouldn't know her as a former friend, a recent foe; he wouldn't even look at her. And she could only watch his back, hoping for time to – what, backtrack? It was way too late, for both of them. It was – she realized that like a shock in the chest – hopeless.

Saguru advanced hesitantly – a step of two towards her. "Aoko…"

"I just wanted to apologize," she said to him and Akako, hurry to get on with it for fear she would burst into tears," for my being rude to you tonight. And… welcome home."

She then turned and went away.

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This turned a little more angsty than I thought… I liked the Hakubas' interaction. I guess I'll find a way to talk more about them in the future.

Got any ideas? Review and comment, please!