(A/N: …so many excuses for the long wait but I won't bore you dear readers…..)
It didn't take much to convince Saguru's parents to transfer him to a school in Japan. Of course Suki and Roo had been betting on when Kaito was going to take off but they, well Suki at least, weren't expecting him to leave with Saguru. She almost refused to let him go but Saguru was adamant so she didn't really have much of a choice.
"Someone has to keep him out of prison, mother." Saguru rolled his eyes, nodding toward the magician who was currently doing a few tricks for some kids while their parents looked on, grateful that they didn't have to entertain the noisy children. Just as Suki glanced toward the flamboyant man he made a few of his doves pop out of the kids' clothing making them squeal and giggle. Saguru frowned, trying to figure out how Kaito had gotten the birds past security.
"Just remember to take the time to actually learn something instead of chasing our thief around everywhere." Roo said as she leaned over to hug her grandson.
"Kaito-nii is going to be keeping us up to date on the important things so don't try and hide it if you get a girlfriend." William patted Saguru on the head.
"Father." Saguru flushed a light pink and tried to duck out from under his father's hand. The sound of clapping signaled the end of Kaito's impromptu show. The magician bowed to the children, who now wore an assortment of strangely decorated hats, before jogging over to glomp Saguru.
"We're taking off soon, Sagu-chan!" Kaito held up Saguru's pocket watch, which he had swiped from the teen's pocket, to show the time.
"Stop doing that!" Saguru snatched at the watch before ramming his elbow back, trying to hit his cling-on in the ribs. Kaito laughed as he easily dodged the blow.
"Mean! Mean! Sagu-chan is being mean!" The magician jeered as he ducked under a right handed hook.
"Your boxing coach was so put out when we told him you were transferring." William sighed while admiring his son's perfectly executed feint-jab combo.
"Didn't he try to bribe us into making Sagu-chan stay?" Suki asked, stepping to the left to avoid Kaito as he danced past her while waving Saguru's pocket watch around.
"You can't really blame him." Roo sighed as she watched her grandson jab hard into Kaito's ribs. "He did lose his best fighter."
"We should get going." Saguru cleared his throat as he tucked his watch back into his coat pocket.
"I don't know if Niichan can stand up right now." Suki said skeptically as she watched Roo crouch next to the magician, who had collapsed after Saguru's hit.
"No, no. He's fine." Roo sighed and stood up. "He's laughing."
"Kaito, get up." Saguru grabbed the thief's collar, tugging him up until he was standing. When Kaito only leaned forward to continue laughing the teen groaned and started tugging him toward the ticket check in desk. "Bye Mom. Dad. Grandmother."
"Bye Sagu-chan! Don't forget to call us!" Suki called.
"There is a likely possibility of us dropping in so stay alert!" Roo waved happily.
"Be careful and try to stay out of Kaito-nii's hijinks." William said making Kaito look up.
"Come over any time!" The magician waved his arm in goodbye. Saguru's simply held his hand up and glanced over his shoulder. Kaito grinned when he saw the rather distant farewell. The teen always hated to say 'goodbye' as if he would never see these people again so he never did. It was almost like a silent promise that he would see them later.
"So cute!" Kaito crowed after they had checked in and were heading into the plane. "Sagu-chan is so cute!"
Saguru looked about ready to protest then just sighed. It wasn't as if Kaito was ever going to take it back. As the teen watched the other stuff his carry on into the compartment over the first class seat (he had to admit that the thief never did things half way) a thought struck him.
I'm going to be living with this nut-job alone?! Oh Gods, what have I gotten myself into?
(You're still in familiar territory Sagu-chan.)
Saguru shifted uncomfortably in the plane chair. Around him people snored or mumbled in their sleep, unconsciously changing positions to try and get into the most comfortable arrangement possible. Even Kaito was sleeping; although Saguru failed to see how leaning all of your weight on someone's shoulder while an armrest stabs into side was relaxing. It didn't particularly help that Kaito's weight was cutting off the circulation in his arm.
He supposed that the slow loss of feeling in his arm wouldn't have been that bad if he'd been asleep, but the nervous butterfly feeling in his stomach didn't mx well with his rather animated mind. Thoughts of school, Kaito, and people he hasn't technically met yet whirled through his brain, exciting his stomach butterflies as well as his nerves.
Saguru knew why Kaito was so attached to him. Never before had the magician stuck so close to one particular member of the family, it was practically unheard of for him to spend more than a month with any one family. When Saguru was just a child, around 10-years-old, he had asked Roo about it. Her eyes had looked distant, like when she told him about his grandfather, as she told him about his great-great-grandfather. After that a simple check online had revealed the rest.
Hakuba Saguru had been one of the greatest detectives in history. He was known for the countless KID heists he had attended, taking the place of Nakamori Ginzo-keibu once the Alzheimer's had set in. There wasn't a detective out there who hadn't at least heard about Hakuba. A psychologist, engineer, free-lance detective, and police force inspector; Hakuba had been everywhere with countless degrees and even a few doctorates (a direct quote Saguru had found from the detective spoke about the wonders of online education). Even when he had retired he didn't stop educating himself. He had treasured knowledge above any material good.
And he looked exactly like Saguru.
Or rather Saguru looked exactly like him. It was uncanny. Every single trait that Saguru had he shared with his ancestor. Slightly messy blonde hair, reddish brown eyes, even that freckle on his wrist!
It wasn't just physical characteristics either.
A search through the attic had come up with several of Hakuba's notebooks. The adolescent Saguru had snuck these journals into his room, hiding them from everyone for fear of them being taken away.
The writing style, grammar, vocabulary had been exactly like his; the curve on the 'p's or the staccato lines on the kanji that came readily to him when he wrote were printed perfectly on those pages. He found himself bringing up images of crime scenes just from the dates and times.
(Flashback)
"January 10th, XXXX, 15:32:05,
… main suspect is Minamori Kazu-san, but something strikes me as odd. The maid, Shucho Kokoro, continues to glance at the bathroom…"
Saguru frowned at the intelligible scrawl after that section. Gods, Hakuba's writing had been atrocious. Of course he couldn't blame him. Anyone would have been nervous in this situation.
"Of course it was Shucho. She switched his heart pills with placebos…" Saguru trailed off.
Wait.
How did he know that?!
(End flashback)
At first he'd thought he was crazy. He was ten years old! How could he know anything about these murder cases? His mother hadn't known Hakuba all that well and Roo was never around during cases, he also doubted that either of them would tell him about murders.
The only conclusion he could come to was one that made him dive back into research. Every piece of evidence only served to support his theory.
Saguru Mustang was Hakuba Saguru reincarnated.
The teen sighed as he shifted his arm, trying to get Kaito off.
Now he was headed to Japan to complete high school. Just like his great-great-grandfather. He had a similar reason for leaving as well. Hakuba had left England to chase Kaitou KID in Japan. Saguru was leaving because he wanted to continue his friend/rival/brother relationship with the thief. (Of course if he wanted to be honest with himself he knew he was going to make sure that those bad memories that Kaito still had wouldn't break him.)
He knew, from all of the stories and secrets Saguru had pried out of Kaito, that he would meet many people like him. He might even meet Kudou Shinichi, Kaito's Tantei-kun.
Saguru really couldn't wait to land.
(Sagu-chan knows!~)
Kaito grinned as he led Saguru away from the baggage claim. Behind them people stared, confetti and dove feathers in their now multicolored hair. Saguru had his face in his hands and appeared to be counting backwards from 10; it didn't seem to be working, however, as the mental chant began to sound like a countdown.
"Why," Saguru grumbled once they were outside, "must you make a scene everywhere you go?"
"I just wanted to brighten their day." Kaito smiled as he spoke, hand raised to call a taxi/
"By releasing all of the doves in your suitcase? How did you get them past security anyways?" The teen crossed his arms, refusing to help load the bags into the taxi.
"A magician never reveals his secrets.~" Kaito easily hefted the bags into the car before holding the door open for Saguru.
"And thieves would be stupid to do so." The blond climbed into the seat, rubbing his temples. "I need to take up meditations."
"I know quite a few meditation techniques." Kaito offered making Saguru pause.
"Or find something to practice hits on." The teen glanced at the cause of his headache as the magician slid into the seat next to him.
"Can't help you there." Kaito grinned at his change before telling the taxi driver the address of their house. Soon Saguru was staring out of the car's window at the groups of people they passed by. He blinked when he recognized the uniform a group of students were wearing.
Saguru had been so glad when he found out Beika High had changed their blue suit jacket uniforms with standard black gakuens, like those at Edoka's high school. He really didn't think Beika's old uniforms would look that good on him. Surprisingly Kaito had agreed, although he may have just been teasing Saguru (it was hard to tell when the thief smiled like that).
The teen broke out of his musings when the taxi parked beside a two-story building that didn't really seem to even try to blend in. Two large bay windows popped out on either side of a frosted glass door. Over the door was a sign that read 'Antiques', the kanji written in a rather extravagant style. Through the windows Saguru could see shelves and furniture, it looked like there was even a piano near the back.
Slowly, Saguru turned to face Kaito.
"Come on Sagu-chan!" The magician laughed as he leapt out of the car, bags in hand, and ran up to the shop. Saguru followed after paying the taxi driver.
"Good luck with that one." The man chuckled at Saguru's defeated expression.
"It'll take more than luck." The teen sighed before waving a hand in an almost depressed goodbye. When he turned to look at the store again Kaito had disappeared and the door hung way open. "Way more."
('Tis true. How can a simple wish of luck compare to the Lady's own son?)
The shop, as it turned out, was only the first floor while on the second was a large, comfortable apartment. There was a set of stairs in the room behind the store's counter that lead up to a family/living room. An adequately sized kitchen connected to the living room via an open door way and bar counter. Both the kitchen and the living room were painted an invitingly warm butter yellow. In the kitchen there was an electric stove a few feet of counter space away from a refrigerator. The sink was on the other side of the stove, in the corner the counter space created as it transferred from one wall to another. In the bank right corner of the kitchen there was a door that opened up into a walk-in pantry. In the middle of the room there was a medium-sized center island that doubled as a table.
The living room itself had room for a coffee table and a wrap-around couch. The wall the couch faced had a small nook large enough for a large flat screen TV to fit in. Against the stair's low wall/railing there was a book shelf with a vase of rose on top of it.
A small hallway broke off from the living room, making the other wall of the kitchen. At the end of the hallway was a door that Saguru assumed led to a bathroom. Along the left side of the hallway there was an open arch that led into the kitchen. Opposite the arch was a door with a crooked sign that read "Here there be Kaito. Enter at your own risk.'
"So?" Saguru jumped, whipping around to face his new roommate. "What do you think?"
"… You're going to run an antique store?" Saguru raised an eyebrow to cover his shock.
"Yep!" Kaito grabbed at Saguru's arm before tugging him toward a door that was behind the couch. "My storage facilities in France, Greece, and Italy were getting a bit full."
Saguru sighed at the casual way Kaito referred to his odd wealth, a mixture of earned and ill-gotten gains. The thief grinned at the teen's expression of defeat and nudged him toward the door.
"What's with the sign?" Saguru asked, pointing to the perfectly level board that said, 'Remember: Sleeping hounds have fangs and claws and don't like to be woken.'
"An allusion to your morning personality." Kaito snickered. Saguru rolled his eyes, just because he could break walls when half-awake didn't mean he deserved a warning label.
When he opened the door Saguru could only blink in surprise. Soft green walls were tinted yellow by the cream colored curtains that covered the large window across from the door. The same speckled carpeting that covered the living room's floor lined this bedroom. A desk sat in the corner next to a large bookcase. Along the opposite wall was a queen sized bed next to a night stand. Next to the doorway was a walk-in closet with a bathroom door beside it.
"Oh…" Saguru blinked. Kaito grinned at the teen's look of awe.
"We share a bathroom but the one by the kitchen has a shower too." Saguru eyed the bathroom nervously, wondering whether or not he should invest in a few locks (with retina scan recognition…).
"I suppose we should start unpacking then-!" Saguru yelped when Kaito hooked his arm around his neck and began dragging him back out of his room.
"Nope!~ First we're gonna get some food!" Kaito didn't let go until they were out on the street. As Saguru gasped for air he noticed Kaito glancing around like an excited puppy.
I suppose unpacking could wait a bit. The teen's eyes softened.
(… uh…, hi?)
"You just had to get us thrown out, didn't you?" Saguru grumbled to Kaito as he walked back toward the store. "Two hours here and we've already been banned from a restaurant!"
"You were the one who ordered th-that f-f-f-finny thing!" Kaito shuddered at the memory of the fish Saguru had chosen to eat.
"That fear is just ridiculous." The blond scoffed.
"Oh yeah? Like it's any worse than your reaction to snakes!" The Magician prodded the other's side.
"That is different. Snakes are terrifying." Saguru paled slightly. "Fish on the other hand have been domesticated. We eat them, we see them as dumb, and some people keep them as pets!"
"Those are all crazy people." Kaito said with a smile.
"Says the one whose sanity has been the topic of many familial debates."
"Fine, I'm crazy. But," the magician winked at the younger man, "that doesn't mean that I'm wrong.~"
"…" Saguru's eyebrow twitched as he pinned a disbelieving look on Kaito.
"Accept the insanity, Sagu-chan!" Kaito snickered, reaching over to hook an arm around the blond's neck. Saguru quickly ducked under the limb and took off in the other direction. The magician blinked in surprise before a sharp grin spread across his face.
"Saguchaaaaan!~" Kaito sang as he walked after the boy. "You won't get far you know!"
Saguru internally cursed as he ran. Why in the world had he thought it was a good idea to run away from Kaitou KID?!
A quick turn down an alley and he was panting as he leaned against a wall, head turned to peek out at the passerby. Soon enough his breathing slowed enough to eavesdrop on a group of people nearby.
"Honestly, Mio-chan!" A large dark haired man was saying. "Don't worry so much. We said we'd a;; meet at one and it isn't even 12:45 yet."
Saguru checked his pocket watch and shook his head. 12:55
"But Daisuke, is always, always, early, Shiro-kun!" Mio bit her thumb nail as her eyes darted around, searching the crowds.
Saguru frowned and shifted to get to a better view of the friends.
The man, Shiro, looked to be in his early twenties. His clothing, a ruffled dress shirt under a blazer and jeans, suggested that he could be a college student. Possible office job. The way he leaned toward the girl betrayed his attraction, though his overall stature reminded Saguru of Kaito's rich-boy act.
The girl, Mio, was around the age of nineteen. From the small food stains on her sleeves, highly diluted but still there, Saguru deduced that she worked as a waitress and was clumsy, also shown by the bandages on her fingers. She didn't notice his attraction as she continued to scan faces.
"Saguru!" Something grabbed the teen's arm, pulling him out of the alley just in time to avoid some heavy thing hitting the ground. Just before the first scream, a faint clinking echoed in Saguru's ears. The boy ripped himself out of Kaito's grip to see what had almost killed him.
"… Kaito, no one leaves this area." The corpse was stiff, too stiff for this to have been recent. Saguru turned to look at Mio. "Miss?"
"…" Mio didn't respond; her eyes were wide with horror and her face white.
"Miss." Saguru clasped a hand on her shoulder. The shocked girl's gaze flicked up to him in alarm. "Do you have a cellphone?"
"I do." Shiro looked quite steady, although his face had taken on a shaken expression.
"Call the police." Saguru ordered as he led Mio toward a bus stop bench to sit down before she fainted. "Madam, are you alright?'
"… Daisuke." Tears started rolling down her cheeks.
"Did you know the victim?"
"They're coming." Shiro saved the girl from answering.
"Good." Saguru turned back to look at the girl. "The police are going to want to question you, alright?"
He received a small nod before he started back toward the crime scene.
Rigor mortis has set in. Estimated time is eight hours. Body is wrapped in a rope. Saguru scanned the scene through narrow eyes. Made to look like a suicide. Amateurish. Evidence of burning on the end of the rope.
"Kaito." The blond turned to look at his friend. "Can you go up and see if there is anything on the roof?"
"Right." There was not race of humor in the other's expression now.
The sound of police sirens filled the air as Kaito disappeared into the building. Saguru stared after the magician for a brief moment before turning to face the officers climbing out of the cruisers.
"Jeez. Can't go a day without someone dyin' in this town!" A tall dark skinned man growled to himself as he stalked toward the alley. "If Fujimine is here I'm callin' an exorcist."
"Don't be so harsh, Keisotsu-keibu." The man following him tried to placate. Saguru sighed before moving to meet the inspector.
"Good afternoon, Keibu-san, Keiji-san." The blond greeted the men politely, trying to ignore the odd irritation that bubbled up at the sight of the inspector.
"Good afternoon." The detective bowed slightly in greeting. The inspector only studied him for a moment before snorting.
"Another one? What is it wit' teenagers 'nd crime?" Saguru scowled and the man's rude tone. "Well? Who are you then?"
"Mustang Saguru," The blond growled; then, for no real reason, added on, "tantei-san."
"You'll have to forgive him, Mustang-kun." The other man sighed as the inspector glared. "Keisotsu-keibu had another fight with his wife and it put him in a mood. My name is Yamato Takagi. This is Keisotsu Heiji-keibu."
"Nice to meet you, Yamato-keiji." Saguru smiled his charming smile that often made girls blush (taught to him by Kaito, of course) before he turned serious again.
"A body fell from the roof of a building. I've sent a friend up to look at the scene but if you could send someone up?" Saguru raised an eyebrow. Heiji twitched before nodding to Takagi cueing the detective to start for the building.
"Rigor mortis has stiffened the body. Estimated eight hours since death. Burn marks found on clothing. Two of his friends were near the scene." Saguru motioned toward Mio and Shiro.
"What were they doin'?" Heiji glanced around the alleyway. Forensic officers were crowded around the corpse doing what they were paid to do.
"Waiting for the victim to join them. It seemed to be a friend's day out." Saguru followed the inspector as he made his way toward the couple on the bench.
Mio looked a bit calmer though she still clung to Shiro's hand as he watched the cops around him with narrow eyes. Saguru sped up a bit to reach them before Heiji.
"Excuse me." The blond caught their attention easily. "This is Keisotsu Heiji-keibu. He will be asking you a few questions."
"A-alright." Mio whispered. Shiro only nodded, his expression drawn and his skin pale.
"Your names please." Heiji shifted his stance into a more comfortable pose, though Saguru noted that he was inadvertently showing them his lack of a firearm or handcuffs.
"My name is Himura Mio. This is Shiro Rokumaru-kun." Mio's voice was soft but it held no sign of weakness.
"Occupation?"
"Students." Shiro said flatly.
"Although I do work at Poirot Café down the street." Mo added.
"How did ya' know tha' victim?" The girl winced.
"Please stop calling him that! His name was Hamasaki Daisuke." Heiji caught a nearby officer's eye and twitched his head, the officer nodded before moving toward the police cars.
"How did you know Hamasaki-san, then?" Saguru gave the girl a somber smile.
"H-he was my boyfriend." Mio's eyes shown with tears as her voice went thick. Shiro wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders. "We had been going out for three years."
"He didn't have any problems financially?" Heiji took over again after sending Saguru a small glare.
"Not that I know of." Mio shook her head. "He wasn't involved in anything like drugs either. He hated things like that."
"Daisuke-kun was very smart with his money Keibu-san. He knew what to do to achieve success." Shiro murmured.
"You knew Hamasaki-san closely as well." Heiji looked at the man.
"We were roommates freshman year. I was the one to introduce Mio to Daisuke-kun." Shiro shrugged as if he was trying to shake off his emotions.
"Did Hamasaki-san have any enemies?" Heiji asked.
"No." Shiro didn't hesitate. "Daisuke-kun could make friends with anyone."
"… What about you Himura-san?" Saguru narrowed his eyes in thought.
"Huh?" Mio blinked.
"Do you have someone who dislikes you?"
"Umm…" Mio frowned.
"Oshino Yuumi-san." Shiro said making Mio look at him as if in shock.
"Oshino Yuumi-san?" Saguru prompted.
"Daisuke-kun was nice to everyone and sometimes people read a bit too much into his kindness. Oshino-san was in his chemistry class. After a while he began to notice how… enamored she was getting with him. He let her down gently and she accepted that he was just her friend. Oshino-san was one of the first people to express misgivings about Daisuke-kun and Mio-chan's relationship."
"… And that isn't all." Mio spoke up. Saguru pinned his gaze on her, his mouth opening to ask a question.
"What do ya' mean?" Heiji beat him to the punch, asking the nervous girl the question in a tone that held no room to back out.
"Ever since Daisuke and I had made our relationship known Oshino-san has been sending me threatening letters."
"What?!" Shiro leapt out of his seat to scan his friend for any injuries.
"They stopped about a year and a half ago so I didn't bring it up. I didn't want to burden anybody." Mio looked down at her lap.
"She must have been planning something worse. Much worse." Shiro scowled.
"We don't know that yet." Heiji sighed.
"All we know is that she should make a statement." Saguru nodded. As the inspector left to get Oshino Yuumi to the scene Saguru turned in time to see Kaito returning with Takagi close behind.
"Anything?" Saguru asked once the magician was close enough to hear.
"Traces of burn marks on the roof's railing and the remains of the rope that held the body up." Kaito shrugged. "Oh! And a used cigarette lighter."
"Used?"
"Tapped out. There was no way that could have been used to burn through the rope."
Saguru frowned, subconsciously gripping his pocket watch.
Useless lighter. Rope that was burned. Remaining rope left behind… the blond's brow furrowed.
"Saguru!"
A loud thud followed by a small clack.
Saguru took off into the alley, dodging officers as he went. Behind him he could hear Kaito running after him.
"Did you figure out something, Sagu-chan?" Kaito asked, though the blond ignored him.
"There's the body…" The teen murmured as he glanced around. A small flash caught his eye making him smirk. Saguru sauntered over before crouching to pick up the small blue cigarette lighter with his handkerchief. The name 'Yuumi' was written down the side and a clear fingerprint was visible on the lighter's switch.
"Sagu-chan?" Kaito tipped his head to the side when he caught sight of Saguru's victorious smirk. The teen looked over at him as he held up the lighter.
"Got it."
(Sorry if the case makes no sense…)
Soft rock music filled the living room, quiet enough to make the lyrics intelligible. Saguru sighed, his head resting on the couch's arm, as his mind whirred with the case details.
It turns out that Oshino Yuumi had killed Hamasaki Daisuke.
"I just couldn't stand it!" She had confessed to him. How could he prefer her over me? What did she have that I didn't? Why couldn't he love me/ I loved him but he felt nothing for me so what did I have to live for/ I was going to kill myself you know. I'd decided that long before, but I couldn't leave him to her!"
Saguru sighed again as he covered his eyes with his arm.
He couldn't understand what could drive someone to kill the person they loved.
But that wasn't what was truly bothering him.
Today he had seen his first dead body. Most people would have freaked out. Most people would have panicked. But he had calmly commanded the situation as if he did this every day. He found out who the murderer was before she could end her life and had felt nothing but smug satisfaction when Heiji had glared at him for commandeering the case.
"You ok, Sagu-chan?" Saguru peeked out from under his arm to see Kaito gazing at him with worry.
"Um…" The blond stared. "I'm fine… What is all of that?"
Kaito blinked and glanced down at the tangled mess of wires in his arms. The magician looked back up with a grin. "I'm setting up our home computer system!"
"Home computers don't use that many wires." Saguru eyed the pile suspiciously. "At least not the normal ones…"
Kaito's responding grin made the detective trail off. The toothy smile made images of Cheshire cats and thieves in white dance in his head as he shivered.
"What are you planning?"
"Nothing.~"
"… They won't be able to trace anything back here, right?" Saguru didn't really want to know who 'they' were, even if he had a pretty good idea.
"Do you trust me so little?" Kaito actually pouted as if he was really hurt.
"My mother once told me, 'Never trust a thief'." Never mind that she had said it during a game of Monopoly when Kaito had been the banker.
"Wise words." Kaito hummed as he started for the stairs.
"…Indeed." Saguru shook his head before getting up. I'm going to bed…
(Guess the POV!)
Officers bustled around the police station with a dimmed sort of energy that almost fell to a trance-like state which was understandable considering the time. Tired blue eyes scanned the many faces that stared at computers screens or gazed blankly at file notes. His mouth curved upward slightly when he recognized Takagi's head as it rested on his crossed arms. Thoughts of whether or not he had the energy to get up and say 'hi' were scattered when the door he sat beside opened.
A pretty blonde shuffled out of the room; glazed, teal green eyes stared forward blankly, fuzzy with sleep. She paused and glanced to the side to glare weakly at him.
"I know, I know." He groaned as he forced himself to stand.
"Kazuha-shishou's uncle is a priest, maybe you should meet him." The girl's voice was bleary but stern, its natural roughness making her sound distant although he knew her well enough to see the teasing glint in her eyes.
"I'm not cursed." He protested. He balked under her disbelieving look and added, "I just have really bad luck…"
"Uh huh." The blonde raised an eyebrow before catching sight of his school uniform. She groaned before looking down at her own clothing. "You are explaining this," she gestured between them, "to Ojii-chan."
"I know." He sighed, bending down to grab her bag as well as his own.
"Only you could run into a kidnapper in a deserted park."
"It was a 'in the wrong place at the wrong time' thing!"
"Shinichi, at some point you're going to have to see that that phrase can only apply so many times." The girl sighed.
"Humor me, Shiho." Shinichi rolled his eyes as he led them toward the doors.
Just as he touched the door there was a chorus of different ringtones that made everyone who wasn't sleeping jump. They all fumbled to pull out their cell phones, ignoring the email notifications on the computer screens.
Shinichi opened the message, letting Shiho peer over his shoulder to read the note.
'During the time when our famed confectioner
Aids Anesidora's disciples as she mourns her babe's farewell,
This flighty revenant shall intrude upon one sanguine consort
In an alluring beryl dress and steal her away into the night.
The feat shall be simple no matter the velvet barricades.
~Kaitou KID *doodle*
P.S.-I have returned, dear critics. Catch me if you can!~'
"…" Shiho glanced at her friend through narrow eyes. She could already see the teen's brain whirling as he tried to find the solution.
She sighed.
Why do I get the feeling things are going to be much more difficult from now on?
(Now why would you think that, Shiho-chan?)
Don't hurt me! Please! I know it has been a long time since I've updated but college is already kicking my butt, if you readers joined in it would just be like beating a dead horse.
Yes. Keisotsu-keibu is indeed Hattori, who came out a bit older than Shin-chan (around 25). Shinichi and Shiho only got bit parts but they'll be the main focus in the next chapter.
Thank God I'm not a real killer or anything, because I'd be way too easy to catch. At first I planned on Shiro being the killer but it ended up as Yuumi. You may see Mio and Shiro again but only as plot catalysts.
How does Shinichi know Takagi? Why does Shiho call Kazuha 'shishou' (= teacher)?
All in good time, my dears….
SilentShimizzles: Thanks for the review! Shiho is one of my favorite characters so she will appear quite a bit (almost as much as Shin-chan and Kaito and Sagu-chan). I hope you like my Shiho anyway…
anon74: *winces* Sorry, I missed the deadline but you did give me the kick in the pants I needed to focus on Forever again. My brain hates to stay on one plot for so long (the reason I like writing my drabbles so much) but it likes pleasing people so when someone asks I try very hard to deliver…
The reviews motivate me! If you think I'm taking too long to update shoot me a review/PM and I'll refocus. (Don't be mean though, I cry easily….)