-x-

Shinichi was pretty sure he did this to himself.

His life was a mess, and it was more or less entirely his own fault. What was he thinking, doing that with the thief? This was going far beyond casual sex. This was far deeper than that—far more dangerous.

The thief had followed him, the thief had chased him for a change, and whatever half-hearted resolve Shinichi had gathered dissipated with just one long, concerned look from the mysterious criminal. KID held him so gently, he looked at him with genuine concern, he fucking staged an entire heist just to show Shinichi how much he cared about him. It was so sweet, and it made Shinichi want to cry. And not in the good way. He wanted to curl up and die.

How was he supposed to break things off with the thief when he kept doing things like this?

Ran had made it more than apparent that they were both being fucking idiots and needed to stop this. That probably hadn't been her intention, but it had laid it all plain just the same. It was more than just sex for him, and it was more than just sex for the thief, too. Shinichi couldn't lie to himself; he knew KID liked him. He knew it would hurt the thief if he didn't show up to the heist tonight.

He'd seen it on the news first, catching a glimpse of it off of someone's smartphone on the train home. He didn't want to, but he ended up glancing down at the boy's screen, reading over his shoulder as the letter lighted up on his screen. Something about the Ishtar Egyptian collection, and a whole handful of artifacts with cryptic pasts. Exactly up KID's alleyway, pretty much.

Shinichi sighed loudly.

He didn't attend.

He knew it was for the best. He knew he was doing the right thing for both of them, and yet…

He swallowed thickly, feeling the back of his throat burn. This was awful. He felt awful. He doubted he could even blame it on weird hormonal imbalances because Shiho had said it probably wouldn't work like that for him. No, this was all him. This was just Shinichi and his fucked up feelings and his fucked up life.

"You look healthy." Said Haibara as she ushered him in, a surprised look dancing across her usually impassive features.

He smiled a bit. "I've been sleeping most of my days away." Mainly because he really didn't want to have to face his future.

"And eating, I hope?"

"Yes." He said exasperatedly. "And eating."

She nodded in satisfaction. "So, what brings you here?"

He shifted uneasily a bit, rubbing the back of head sheepishly. "Just… wanted a change of scenery?"

Her skewered gaze made him shrink. "Who are you running away from?"

"No one!" He waved her concerns off, moving into the kitchen where a pot of water and a tray of cookies were on the counter. "Are you cooking?" He changed the subject hastily, grabbing a cookie.

She looked a bit flustered at this. "I just—I didn't want to eat freezer food anymore."

"Alright then." He decided not to press the issue. Haibara could be weird about the strangest things. "So since I'm here, do you think I can ask you more questions?"

"Go ahead." She shuffled around behind the island where Shinichi had propped himself up, grabbing a stool so she was tall enough to reach for the stove.

"How long do you think I'll be like this?"

"Define, 'like this'."

"You know," He edged hastily. "Pregnant. Nine months, right?"

She turned around, skewering him with an unimpressed look. "Didn't I tell you to stop looking things up online?"

"That's common knowledge!" He protested.

"Well no, you most likely won't be." She turned on the stove and the fire snapped to life like a firecracker. "How many times do I have to tell you? You're not a girl. Your body isn't made to carry anything, strange internal mishaps not withstanding." She added, when he opened his mouth to point out that he was certainly carrying something now.

"I mean physically speaking. As I told you earlier; you're not going to get very big, if at all. You probably won't even carry the full term. At the most, I think you'll go around twenty-eight weeks."

He'd been contemplating the surprisingly bright sprinkles on the cookie—had she really put those on there?—when his eyes snapped up in alarm. "But… that's only seven months!"

"Dangerous, I know."

He hesitated, suddenly overwhelmingly concerned for the thing he hardly thought about. "What's the survival rate?"

Ai turned around fully at that, watching his face. She had always supposed that inwardly, somewhere, Shinichi would be secretely relieved with this information. Hell, she would be. There was no fun in getting pregnant when the odds of doing so are a flat zero percent for any other man in the world, and, for all intent purposes, Ai was surprised that Shinichi hadn't flipped out catastrophically when she told him. It's not an everyday occurrence, surely. But right now, his face was the opposite of what she would have expected; a crestfallen, guilt stricken look.

"Seventy to eighty percent." A pause. "A little higher than that, actually."

He bit his lip.

It didn't sound that bad. But he was sure there were complications for such an early birth.

"What's the chance of it being healthy?" He supposed was a better way to word the question.

Her eyes softened. "…not very high." She wasn't sure of the exact percentage, but she doubted it was anything he'd want to hear. That was of course to say nothing of the fact this wasn't supposed to happen in the first place, and who knew what sort of complications would occur from that as well.

Rain pattered softly on the windowpanes, the sky behind it gray and the world blemished with darkness. Shinichi felt this was all somehow his fault. The more rational side of him banished the ludicrous thought immediately, but a small part of him latched onto it. If he hadn't been stupid enough to take an untested antidote, if he hadn't been stupid enough to start a relationship with a wanted criminal—none of this would even be happening.

This was not what he wanted from his life.

He thought that he'd be some ace detective like Sherlock Holmes, straight out of one of his father's mystery books, traveling the world to exotic places and solving mysteries that would bring him critical acclaim internationally, name in the newspapers and face on the television. He didn't want the fame, perhaps the recognition, but he didn't care about the fans or what having his name known would do to him. He wanted to have the reputation of one of the best detectives, that way he'd get the most fascinating of cases.

He supposed that he'd end up getting married eventually. It was a vague thought in the back of his mind, an abstract, ambiguous fact that was simply a minor part of the dream. He always saw himself with Ran, perhaps because she was simply the only girl he knew closely—and even then, if he had to compare her to KID, he knew who would understand him more—or perhaps because he had some romantic inclination towards her.

He certainly didn't now.

And this was certainly not what where he had figured he'd be at eighteen.

Yet somehow, even though his imagination steered his future self in another direction entirely, he couldn't bring himself to be upset with where he was now.

It was awful. It was terrifying. It was the worst thing to ever happen to him.

And yet, stupidly, unfathomably, he was starting to want it all the same.

He wanted KID. He wanted the thief in his life, for more than just a night or two every month. He wanted to see his new apartment full of absurd trinkets the thief would bring with him and leave around the house. He wanted to have more than just marks on his body to remember him by the next morning. He wanted to look at that face and be able to put a name to it.

And even worse—he wanted to stare into this little child's eyes and wonder where they got the color from, if it's smile was Shinichi's or Kaito's, if it would take after the detective or the thief.

Water broiled behind the fog of his brain. Ai yelped and hastily moved to turn off the stove, chopped vegetables dropped into the boiling water, his hands shook as his eyes trained sightlessly in front of him breaking the cookie into bits.

He shouldn't find himself thinking like this.

He shouldn't be thinking about how god damn smart this kid was going to be because Kaito was hellishly ingenious and he was famous for his intelligence.

Wondering if it would look like him, or look like the thief—would it smile the same way Shinichi did? Would its eyes be as blue as Kaito's?—would it want to be a detective, sleuthing around the house looking for fake clues? Or would he have to drag them back to the store to put back all the stuff they had stolen when he wasn't looking?

Shinichi choked.

He wanted this, dammit.

He wanted the dream.

And didn't that suck?

-x-

Rain thundered down the windows, washing the world away in sorrow.

That could just be Kaito projecting though. Everything was sad and depressing to him these days.

Not even his elaborate and perfectly executed pranks could cheer him up.

A shadow fell over him, distracting him from his maudlin thoughts.

"What's with the long face, Mister Thief?"

"Don't call me that!" He hissed at her, eyes darting to see if Saguru was lurking about.

He wasn't.

Kaito sighed.

He knew why he was so depressed. Shinichi hadn't shown up at his last heist. He knew he shouldn't be upset; if anything, he should be relieved. It would be better for Shinichi's health if he stayed at home. He was finally—hopefully—taking the thief's advice and looking after himself a little bit more. Or maybe even actually going to see a doctor.

He could tell himself this all he wanted, but the irrational part of his brain remained miserable and disappointed.

That the detective hadn't attended wasn't what had him so twisted in knots; it was the fact that he had been genuinely upset that he had missed it. He knew the feeling, it had happened to him many a time when perfecting his magic, when his latest trick fell apart, when his heist wasn't as interesting and crowd-pleasing as the last.

Disappointment.

He had been disappointed Shinichi wasn't there. Which meant he was becoming more and more attached to him. Which meant that, if the detective didn't attend the next one, or worse, if the detective were to stop this relationship altogether, his heart would be on the line and he had put it there willingly.

Kaito could have tore his hair out in frustration and his own sheer stupidity.

He was in love with a boy who had no idea who he really was!

"Don't cry now, Kaito-kun." Akako teased as she sensed his distressed.

"I'm not going to cry." The thief looked mildly affronted. Of course he wouldn't cry. He may, however, wallow in depression for a significant amount of time.

"What's brought this on, anyway?" She hummed, looking oddly pleased with herself. "You've effectively turned the classroom into a mess. Isn't this your dream right here?"

"It's not that," he waved her off. "I'm very proud of my work."

"Then why do you look like someone stole all your fun away?"

"Because—" He opened his mouth, before stubbornly closing it, and retuning to gaze out the window. Why would he tell Akako something like this, anyway? The girl gave him the genuine creeps, and it had everything to do with the fact that whenever he attempted to ask her the reason how she knew things, her response was always that the devil himself told her. Which was more then a little fucking bizarre.

"Because of Shinichi?" Akako filled in with a raised brow.

He almost fell out of his chair as he leapt back, floundering and sputtering ineffectually. "How the hell did you—?!"

He didn't finish the sentence. Knowing the answer. Akako and her damned witchcraft.

She smirked. "I saw him a couple days ago."

"Really?" He blinked, before returning to his seat with actual interest. "When? Where?"

"At his apartment." She elaborated before pausing. "Well, it's his apartment but I don't think he really lives there. Yet. Anyway, I suppose that isn't really the point." She batted her eyelashes at him. "That was quite a mark you left there on his pretty little neck."

"Err—" He flushed at the reminder of their last encounter, which involved a lot of those "marks" on various places on the detective's body. Call him fickle, but he liked knowing that Shinichi would see those the next day, even though he wouldn't see KID.

"What's your point?" He looked away in embarrassment, arms crossed. "If you've come here to embarrass me, you can forget it—

"I didn't come here to embarrass you." She rolled her eyes as she crossed her legs, hopping onto her desk in front of him. "Even though it's painfully easy to."

"Hey!"

"Your detective is—" She paused suddenly, as if debating if she really wanted to say what she was about to. "He has a lot to tell you." She ended, deciding that she would leave it at that.

Kaito's brows furrowed. "What does that mean?"

But Akako didn't answer him, swooping down in a brush of plum colored hair to pinch his cheeks and squeal, "You look so cute when you're concerned!"

He pried her off. "Get off of me, you witch!"

"Oh?" She pulled back with a mysterious smile. "So you admit it then? That I have actual magic?"

"What you do isn't magic!" He scoffed. "It's the devil's work!"

"That may be true," She admitted. "But that doesn't mean you should take my words lightly. I'm going to do you a huge favor, one that I expect you will repay me for."

"No thanks." Kaito interrupted. "I don't want to get cursed by any of your Lucifer mumbo jumbo."

Akako only laughed at that, which was surprising, because Kaito assumed that all witches took insults very keenly. "Listen, three days from now, around three o'clock, go to the park in Beika. The one with the penguin slide."

He stared at her blankly. "Why the hell would I do that?"

"Don't question me!" She round kicked him so suddenly he fell to the floor like a floundering fish. He blearily rubbed his jaw where she had gotten a good hit on him, about to retort when she stood over him, looking demonic. "You're lucky I really like you, and this detective boy." She said with fire. "So you're going to do what I said, you got that?"

Kaito really didn't get how she was doing him any favors by threatening him.

"Fine!" He stuck his tongue at her, as she retreated back into the chaos of the room, where students were now attempting to cut the wires with scissors, unaware that by doing so they would trigger his next trap, in which the ceiling boards would come out and unleash a variety of confetti and dinosaur-shaped balloons. Whatever. Akako and her funky demon witchcraft could go to hell, back where they belonged.

All the same, he found himself mulling over her words.

-x-

Kaito didn't know what the hell Akako was up to, or how exactly it would benefit him, but he definitely knew he couldn't wait that long. He was driving himself crazy with worry.

What if Shinichi was getting cold feet? What if he was finally tired of all this—this whatever they were? All the lies and the secrets and the fact that, you know, they could only ever meet at night. Kaito scowled. Why wouldn't he be tired of it? Shinichi probably wanted… wanted a real relationship, with someone who wasn't afraid to reveal their identity, someone who could be there all the time.

Kaito wanted to be that person. Except he couldn't, because he was Kaito KID, infamous, legendary thief.

None of this stopped him from wanting to see the boy anyway. He found himself hesitating to plan another heist for the purpose, though. A part of him could admit that he was scared; what if Shinichi didn't come again? What would that mean?

He could have kicked himself in frustration.

All he wanted to do was see him, and he couldn't even do that.

Or maybe, as luck would have it, he could.

He plodded along sullenly, scowling out into the distance as he rounded the bend out of the school gates, wondering what to do now. He heard someone calling his name, and turned around curiously to see a frazzled looking Aoko chasing after him. Her hair was messier than usual—which was saying something—and she looked haggard, and terribly late.

"Are you alright?" He asked, perplexed. She looked like someone shot her dog or something.

"Kaito, I need a big favor." She pleaded, giving him big, sad eyes. Dammit, he was not immune.

"What kind of favor?" He asked warily, because he was not a fool.

She shoved a basket of… something, into his arms. "I'm supposed to give this to Ran today," she explained quickly. "But I also promised Mitsuki from home room that I'd go to her choir practice today and I totally forgot about it and I would feel so bad if I ditched Ran but I can't get out of this practice and—can you help me?"

For a moment, he considered telling her off. And then things clicked in his brain; Ran was Aoko's friend. Ran was also Shinichi's friend. His really good friend.

"Sure!" He said brightly, tucking the basket under his arm. "What is this, anyway?"

"It's a new soap collection!" She gushed.

"What?"

"It just came in the other day—they had one of those hot flash sales—so I bought all of them and promised Ran I would share the loot. Anyway we were supposed to meet today; would you mind doing it in my stead?"

He shrugged, sighing dramatically and pretending it was so troublesome. "I suppose, if I must…"

"Thank you so much!" She threw her arms around him. "I owe you for this, promise!"

He grumbled, but inwardly was quite pleased. Who would have thought a perfectly good opportunity like this would fall right into his lap? He might not be able to be Kaito KID… but he could still be Kaito. It wasn't what he really wanted, but it was enough.

Meanwhile Shinichi looked down at his phone, making sure he was in the right place.

Ran had buggered off to help her father—who had sprained his ankle on a case somehow—and had somehow finagled him into running her errands for her. Honestly, that girl… Shinichi supposed it wasn't really her fault; what were the odds of Mouri-san randomly tripping down the stairs? At any rate, he had to; get her dry cleaning, feed her dog (when did they get a dog?); go grocery shopping; pick up her mail—and now he was sitting here, waiting for her friend to show up so he could get a package from her. Whatever that meant.

Shinichi sighed, leaning back against the park bench.

He couldn't exactly say no, either. He almost felt obligated to do it in case she decided to change her mind about keeping his secret. Shinichi knew, intrinsically, that Ran would never do that to him, but he still had this irrational fear that his secret relationship with Kaito KID was going to end up in the news somehow. And anyway, he also felt kind of bad about sort of dumping her for an internationally wanted criminal, and then not telling her he was gay, and all that stuff. He knew it wasn't the breakup so much as it was the secrecy. Ran felt betrayed he hadn't confided in her, that he didn't trust their friendship enough to tell her.

And to be fair, he sort of deserved that. Because he still wasn't coming clean with quite everything, after all.

He turned an impassive eye to the park around him, dyed in beautiful colors, full of irritating children and dogs. It was putting him in a foul mood. They were loud and annoying and obnoxious and making him think about his own future, one that might include a child of his own.

Couldn't they all see what a foul mood he was in? Why couldn't they all be equally as moody? He really ought to stop taking out his annoyances on the rest of the world.

He closed his eyes, tugging his hat further down onto his head, hoping to cover his ears from the wind. He managed that, but also managed to make his hair look more unruly than usual. That couldn't really be helped though, his hair was always ill-kempt. Another gust of wind barreled through the trees, and he fluffed up his jacket like a penguin and tried to bury further into it. At least it was furry.

He checked his phone for the time again, and then again five minutes later. Where was this girl?

Finally he looked up, and caught sight of a vaguely familiar face.

A handsome boy his age was wandering his way over, looking just as confused as Shinichi felt. He searched the familiar features the big bright eyes, the lips that seemed so familiar… he was remarkably good-looking, to the point he could see more than a few passing eyes wandering his way. Shinichi was not oblivious to his own looks, but this boy seemed to radiate an amicable friendliness that somehow made him all the more appealing.

Finally he remembered where he'd seen the other boy before—at the noodle place.

"Wait, don't tell me, she had stuff to do too," he greeted wryly.

The other boy looked stunned to se him. Then he grinned at him. "You too, huh?"

"Ran's father sprained his leg, so she's been stuck helping him do everything." The guy had a sprained ankle, not an amputated leg or anything; he was definitely milking the opportunity.

"Oh. That stinks." Shinichi was surprised to find the boy impossible to read. Friendly, certainly, but other than that the detective couldn't see beneath the veneer. Which was surprising; there were very few people Shinichi couldn't read.

Meanwhile, Kaito was making it a point to be particularly inscrutable, masking his hysteria with a look of amiable pleasantness.

What were the odds. Seriously. He'd expected to find Ran, maybe chat her up a bit, and casually get some information on Shinichi. It wouldn't be too hard. He could just brush it off as casual, passing interest. He certainly hadn't expected to see the boy himself, looking as if he'd walked right out of Kaito's dreams. The hat was particularly fetching on the boy, but then Shinichi always managed to look artlessly fashionable.

He looked… perfect. Sitting there like the distance was meaningless, like it wasn't everything to be standing this close to him.

Shinichi looked down, at the parcel in his arms. "Oh? Is that what I'm supposed to pick up?"

"Oh—uh, yeah," there was some fumbling, but he managed to pass the thing over without much complication.

"Thanks," Shinichi said, distracted by the package. "Sorry for making you come out all the way like this."

"It's no trouble at all," Kaito refuted, flustered.

The other boy stood, shaking his head. "Well, thank you either way—it'll mean a lot to her."

How strange, Kaito thought. It only took five seconds in the boy's presence, just a mere glance at him, to soothe all the worries that had been clamoring to the forefront of his mind. Shinichi looked… like was finally taking his advice and looking after his health. He looked good. And somehow, that was all Kaito needed to know.

"It was no problem at all."

The other boy turned to leave, and, stupidly, Kaito found himself calling after him. "Wait!"

Shinichi paused, turning around curiously.

"Um, I was just wondering," he floundered, flushing outrageously as he tried to stop the words coming out of his mouth. To his great mortification, it didn't work. "If you were—uh—doing anything tonight… and would want to get dinner, or something."

Shinichi blinked, mouth opening in surprise.

Kaito wanted to bury himself into the ground and die there.

"N—Not like a date, or anything! Unless you'd want it to be, but I mean, um…—"

Fortunately Shinichi put him out of his misery.

"That's really nice of you," he said, gently, and to Kaito's unending misery, completely composed. How could this boy be so unflappable, all the time? "I would've loved to, you know, you seem really nice, but…"

Kaito watched in absolute shock as Shinichi looked away, a flush rising just beneath his lashes. "I'm kind of… with someone, right now."

"Oh." He found himself saying, suddenly stupidly, irrationally happy.

Shinichi could turn him down a thousand times over and he wouldn't even care. He seemed to genuinely mean it when he said he wouldn't mind going out on a date with him, but he was just as genuine about being in a relationship with someone else. Being invested in someone else. And there was only one person that could be, and it had Kaito splitting into an uncontrollable grin.

"Oh." He said again, shaking his head with a smile. "They must be really lucky, then. You… look like you like them a lot."

Shinichi blinked, before his face twisted up into something funny. He looked like he was both embarrassed and pleased at the same time. "Yeah," he scratched his cheek, flushing even more. "I guess I do."

-x-

Getting flat out rejected by the boy he was sleeping with notwithstanding, the week was actually going by quite well. Seeing Shinichi did wonders for his mood—not to mention inadvertently getting a deeper long into the boy's feelings for him. Shinichi liked him. And he even admitted it to a total stranger! If he was grinning more than usual, no one called him out on it. By the time three days and three o'clock rolled around, the rain had turned into sporadic light drizzles, the clouds lessening in darkness to return to a more placated color.

Kaito found the kiddy park with relative ease, wondering what Akako wanted to show him here.

There wasn't anything spectacular. A swing set and a large penguin slide, as well as a sand box that looked lonely and uninteresting. A fresh dotting of rain coated everything, and he cringed as his new shoes were sufficiently dirtied by the fixture of mud the park had become. He stood there, in his uniform, looking around the deserted park and feeling very much like he'd like to curse Akako to hell and back for making him take the train all the way over here, when he heard the small, tinkling voices of children.

"And then Yaiba is like, 'I won't let you steal the sword, thief-san!' and the thief and him start like, fighting in the dojo and you totally don't expect the sword that the thief is looking for to be the one on Yaiba's back but it is and then he takes it and starts running and everyone is chasing after him and—

"Don't spoil it!" A girl hopped out of the walkway and onto the grass, holding her hands to her ears.

The boy, not the fat one, but the one with a magnitude of freckles stretching over his nose. "I'm not! This was all last chapter, I've got the new one right here!"

"Why don't we talk about something else besides manga, Mitsuhiko?" Another girl, this one with a sever expression and short dirty blonde hair interrupted.

"Okay…" Mitsuhiko deflated visibly.

Kaito cocked his head, wondering if this had anything to with what he was supposed to find, or if they were just a bunch of rowdy, annoying kids.

The big one with a hole in his hair (that was a little weird…) and the little brunette with the headband jumped almost immediately onto swings, entering an argument as to who could swing faster and then jump farther. The only problem with this competition happened to be the fact the young girl couldn't seem to reach the ground with her feet, and didn't have the strength to push herself with only her arms. The other two, the blond with the contrary face and the boy with freckles joined them, and the little girl started to flounder.

"Not fair guys!" She protested as they started to gain more air.

As if by some stroke of luck, she caught him out of the corner of her eye. "Oh, mister! Do you think you could give me a push?"

"No fair Ayumi!" Mitsuhiko yelped. "You can't get help!"

"I can do what I want!" She retorted childishly, and beckoned him to come. He did so reluctantly, scorning Akako to hell and back as he did so.

He gave her a light push, her legs dangling and flitting back and forth in excitement. "Is this good?" He asked.

She shook her head. "Higher!"

He did so, until she was up there flying with the rest of her friends, giggling uncontrollably, as she raised her hands into the sky, as if waiting to catch a cloud or two.

"Hey—hold on!" He squawked when he realized what she was doing. "You don't want to fall now, do you?"

"I won't fall!" She sang into the blue sky, although really, she looked like she'd slip right out of the seat. "Faster mister!"

Eventually, she and her friends grew tired of the swings, and he carefully lowered the speed until her little legs dangled a couple inches off of the ground and she was able to hoist herself out and jump off. She immediately regretted it when she spied the two boys leaping into the air at top speed, tumbling into the grass with laughter. The other girl didn't appear to have swung at all.

"No fair." She sniffed. "I wanted to jump too!"

He didn't say anything to that, only sighing. Why was he here, again?

"Hey guys!" Said Mitsuhiko after he jogged back up to the swing set. "Why don't we play team tag?"

The big guy—Genta—protested. "But we'd only have to two teams, Mistuhiko!"

"So?" The freckled boy looked mildly affronted. "That doesn't matter."

"But we always play with three teams!" Ayumi retorted, arms folded.

"Well, we can't anymore!" Said Mitsuhiko with anger. "So deal with it!"

She stuck her tongue out. "No!"

"This is a juvenile debate." The quiet blonde interrupted severely. "The point is, we have even numbers now. Two and two, for equal teams. If you don't like that, then why don't we just play normal tag without teams?"

Kaito blinked. That's was… incredibly refreshing and rational. Why couldn't all kids be like her?

Reluctantly, the other children followed her.

"It's not fair." Ayumi was saying. "If Conan-kun was here, we'd be able to play team tag…"

"But that wasn't fair to him." Genta commented. "Because he was always by himself."

"It hardly mattered." Mitsuhiko snorted, hands clasped behind his head as he frowned mutinously. "He could outrun all of us anyway."

"Hold on," Kaito interrupted, and the four of them stilled at the sound of his voice. He felt his hurt lurch at his chest at the foreign name. What were the chances…? "Conan? Who's that?"

Ayumi puffed her cheeks, which were flushed. "Conan Edogawa! He's the leader of the Shounen Tantei!"

"Yeah," Mitsuhiko pointed to the four of them. "We're the Shounen Tantei!"

"Were." The blonde corrected.

Ayumi sniffled. "Don't say that Ai-chan! Conan will come back!"

Somehow, somehow he had found the missing piece to the puzzle. Some stroke of luck (or Akako's friend Lucifer) had lead him straight to the answer he had always been seeking. What had happened to Conan, his Tantei-kun, his rival? It was a question that festered in the back of his mind, the answer seemed to come to fruition in this moment.

"Where did he go?" He asked hastily.

Ayumi shook her head. "We don't… we don't know. He called one day and said he was going…" Her bottom lip trembled and her eyes watered. "That he was going home!" Her hands flew to her eyes, covering her face as she sniffled.

Kaito felt horrible for bringing the subject which was obviously fresh and painful to them, but he had to know.

"Conan-kun… was he smart?"

Mistuhiko nodded. "The smartest guy ever! He could solve any mystery in the world!"

"Yeah, and he was really good at math!" Genta added. "He always did my homework."

Kaito frowned thoughtfully.

These kids obviously knew Conan, and while they knew that he went 'home' were no more aware of where the young and ferociously smart detective went then he was—which is to say, a nonexistent understanding. He had utterly no idea what happened to his Tantei-kun. Apparently, neither did they.

He sighed, again, Tantei-kun had outsmarted him…

"Did he ever talk about KID?"

"The thief?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

Ayumi paused, and 'Ai-chan' looked at him sharply. "Sometimes." She admitted. "They were like rivals, right?"

"No, that Kudo Shinichi guy is Kaito KID's rival." Genta pointed out.

Kaito flushed.

"It's all over the news." Mitsuhiko added.

Ayumi shook her head. "That's not true! Conan used to run into him all the time! He told us, remember? Conan is a thousand times smarter than that stupid Kudo Shinichi! If anyone could catch Kaito KID, it would be Conan!"

Kaito found this entirely true, but didn't say it aloud. Except for Shinichi being stupid. That was comically untrue.

"So he's gone, huh?"

Mitsuhiko nodded sullenly. "One day he just… up and left. It was like… four months ago. He didn't go to school, and we all went over to Ran-neechan's house—

"Ran-neechan?" Kaito echoed.

"Yeah." Mitsuhiko nodded. "That's where he lived. With Ran-neechan and her dad who sleeps a lot and smokes a lot. He lived there cause his parents live in America. We went there but Ran-neechan said he hadn't been home, either. We thought he got kidnapped or something! But then he called us and said he went back home with his parents." At the end of his story, the freckled boy looked terribly crestfallen.

"That's okay though!" Genta smiled. "Conan should be with his parents."

Mitsuhiko nodded. "Yeah, and I'm sure he'll visit us some!"

"Is that so?" He scratched his head. "Ah, well, thanks for helping me out."

Ayumi furrowed her brows. "But we didn't do anything…"

Kaito didn't notice the quietest of the bunch, the small girl with short, wild dirty blonde hair and wide, scrutinizing eyes watching him the entire time. Her gaze, while a couple heads shorter then his, was no less petrifying and demanding. This boy asked very curious questions, mainly pertaining to his immediate interest in Conan and, not only that, but of his and KID's relationship (something which no one but Conan and the people he's told would know about). It was even more perplexing that he'd know Conan in general. He obviously did, judging from his reaction. What she didn't understand, however, is why he'd ask about KID and Conan. The fact that he would ask Conan's friends meant that—

Haibara gasped in surprise.

The sudden loud intake of breath drew her the attention of the entire party.

"I forgot my sweater!" She yelped in surprise.

Genta cocked his head. "But you didn't have a—

"I must have left it back at the park bench near the ice cream parlor!" She immediately turned to Kaito. "Mister, would you bring me back there?"

"Eh?" Kaito frowned. "Why me?"

"Because I could get kidnapped or something if I went by myself!" Ai looked insulted that he'd even think of letting her walk alone.

Kaito sighed. "Alright fine, squirt. Where is it?"

She grabbed his hand with her small ones, the epitome of cherubic and adorable, guiding him down the path, farther from the watching Detective Boys. "We'll be back really soon!" She called to them, tugging him with more force then necessary.

"Hey—slow down!" Kaito protested as she near dragged him along, even though she was many feet shorter than him.

They rounded a bend of trees, and she dropped his hand to walk some paces in front of him. Kaito was a bit surprised by the girl's sudden interest in him—she looked like she wanted nothing to do with him before—and rubbed his arm gingerly. Damn, that girl had muscle!

The trees burned orange and claret red, yellowed in some places as they bent around them like a tunnel of autumn colors. He scuffed a pile as he walked past, the leaves taking flight in the chilly air, dancing into the watery sky above them; he loved autumn. It was his favorite season. As the girl walked, or skipped really, in front of him, he wondered what Akako wanted him to gain from meeting them. Closure with Conan? It seemed like it. She said he'd thank her, though, and quite honestly, that was nothing to thank her about. He'd have moved on eventually. While he liked and admired the young boy, and his disappearance was both disappointing and upsetting, he'd have to get over it at some point.

"So, you know Conan?"

He was pulled out of his musings by the question that sounded a lot more like a statement.

Kaito was immediately surprised, but schooled his features accordingly. "What—ah, no, I've never met him. I'm sorry about the whole thing, though. It seems like you guys really miss him. He must've been a really good kid."

"Don't bullshit me, boy." She turned around, stopping abruptly to level him with a cold stare.

He was taken aback, gaping at her openly.

"You do know Conan." Her eyes narrowed and her lips turned into a sneer. "You're Kaito KID."

Not a question, this time, but a cold, hard fact.

He was immediately on guard. "How did you know?"

"You gave yourself away asking so many useless questions." She scoffed, folding her arms. Around them, the wind picked up and leaves scattered across their unmoving feet. He hadn't realized this had turned into a standstill until that moment, the girl leveling him with her unnaturally piercing gaze—how old was she again, like ten? Girl's this young shouldn't have terrifying eyes like that—arms folded, and somehow she was looking over her nose at him even though she was half his size, head tilted back as if analyzing him with disdain. "Asking about where Conan went, and, the real kicker, his relationship with KID. Or you, technically."

She was smart. Smart and fucking intimidating.

Great.

"Who are you, really?" She narrowed her eyes.

"You said it yourself," He shrugged with a sigh. "I'm KID."

"I meant your name."

Kaito blinked cautiously. Should he? "My name's Kaito."

"Really." She deadpanned. "Like I couldn't have guessed that. What's your full name?"

"Kuroba Kaito."

"Like the magician?" She tilted her head.

He nodded. "Yup."

"What are your intentions with Shinichi?"

"Wha—

"You guys have a relationship, don't you?"

How did this little girl know so much?!

"How do you know about that?" He blurted out before he could stop himself. It was one thing for her to know that he knew Conan. He could admit privately to himself that he wasn't being very sneaky about that. But hey, he was in the presence of little kids who really should have brains the size of peanuts. He hadn't expected the crack-fire whip and mental opposition she was giving him (much like Conan, now that he thought about it). But Shinichi was a whole other story. His relationship with the boy was so secretive even he didn't know what was going on half the time.

She looked as if he was a slow, dimwitted child, and she was trying to teach him patiently to no avail. It was an odd look, considering she was the actual child here.

"It's simple." She began, somewhat impatiently. "He told me."

(That wasn't very simple.)

"And how do you know Shinichi?" He asked with more then a little confusion.

She sighed. "I've known him for a long time." She glanced at him, scrutinizing him deeply with an undecipherable expression. "When he was Conan."

Kaito's eyes widened.

"…What do you mean by that?" His voice was deceptively calm and deliberate, despite the maelstrom of emotions taking him by storm.

"Kudo Shinichi is Conan Edogawa." She elaborated, her eyes softening at his expression, as if in genuine regret. "Shinichi was unknowingly caught up in an organization I think you're well aware of—Black Organization. They were using a prototype then called the APTX 4869, a drug which can cause apoptosis, which deconstructs cells to leave an untraceable murder. However, in very rare cases, the poison only contracts to non-neural cells which results in an apparent decrease in age." She took a breath, watching him reel in silence. "As a result, he was turned into Conan. Obviously, he found the antidote, and was reverted back into Shinichi," And with a wicked smirk, she added. "Who I'm sure you're very well acquainted with."

Eventually, the young high school student was able to gather his wits against the sheer vertigo and connection of relative events, the last stroke of a painting which encompassed the entire scene, the missing piece—what he had been searching for. It was closure, and it was a beginning.

He really would have to thank Akako.

"So when Conan disappeared, he really turned back into Shinichi." He realized in surprise. Which would certainly explain the coincidental dates of Conan's disappearance to the arrival of the detective.

Ai nodded.

He turned to the young girl. "And how do you know all of this?"

"My name is Shiho Miyano." She paused. "Or at least it was." The blonde amended bitterly.

"I was the original creator of the APTX 4869. When the Organization began to use my drug for murder, I opposed it openly. They imprisoned me, intending to kill me as well, and I took the drug as a suicide method."

She pointed to herself wryly. "It obviously didn't work."

"So turning smaller is a… side effect?" The thief tilted his head.

Ai nodded. "It's a very, very rare symptom. Shinichi was infinitely lucky that he was part of the .01 percent rate. He should be thankful it was only a prototype."

Kaito was infinitely thankful, too.

"But I don't understand," He started, after a moment of silence. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you're important to him," She said drily, as if was the most useless fact in the world.

And Kaito would be lying if that wasn't the best thing he'd heard all day.

But he could clearly remember the raw hurt from that silent night, hands on the railing, eyes in the sky, dreaming of Shinichi and worry in his throat. "I wouldn't be so sure." He sighed. He could remember the look of desperation in their last moments. Kaito thought it had been the trick of the light, but there was genuine distress in those blue eyes, aguish and concern, and an undeniable fear. And yet, beneath that all lay a tender look of hope—hope directed at him.

Haibara's eye flickered towards him. "Shinichi has had… a lot on his mind lately." She walked over to him, grabbing his hand with one of her frail, small ones. "Give him time. He cares deeply for you, I can tell."

As she lead him along the path, Kaito was thinking that he could get to like this little girl, even though she scared the shit out of him.

"For the life of me, I don't understand why though."

Maybe not.