Mikau: Good morning! I'm going skiing today! I'm probably going to fall on my rear a dozen times. Oh well. Just one more thing to check off my bucket list. Before we get started, I really want to thank the reviewers from last chapter: Bunnyz-chan, patternleap, Wieselchen, and ruru. (By the way, ruru, the kanji for kaihaku is ash, as in Haibara, and white, like Hakuba. So technically, going by the name, this could be a collection of Hakuba/Ai fics. Hmm.) I really appreciate your support, guys!

Disclaimer: If I owned, it, I'd put in more tender moments between the characters. Sappy ones where they come to understand each other better. Like this one.

…

Sleeping in the Afternoon

Baaya had to drive his father to the airport, so the young Hakuba heir found himself walking home from school that particular September afternoon.

He was tempted to complain—his uniform was itchy and hot, and his Oxfords were not made for walking such long distances in. Not to mention his school bag was heavy—but he knew that his classmates walked to and from school every day. Hakuba Saguru could suck it up just this once.

At least, that's what he thought until he'd been walking a good ten minutes and his feet were starting to hurt. Luckily there was a little drainage canal nearby where he could sit down and rest on the grassy incline.

Saguru was a little surprised to find a familiar form taking a lazy afternoon nap on that self-same grassy incline.

Kuroba Kaito was fast asleep, basking in the fading, amber light of the sun.

The detective only paused for a moment to consider whether he should move farther downstream before his feet protested and he ended up just sitting down a few feet off from the magician.

Hakuba removed his shoes and stretched out a little, casting his rival a surreptitious glance.

The brunette didn't stir.

Saguru wondered how Kuroba could be comfortable using his own school satchel as a pillow. "Isn't that uncomfortable?" the detective mused softly out loud.

The rustling of a warm breeze in the trees was the only response.

Saguru stole another look at his classmate. "How can you sleep like that here? Like you don't have a care in the world?"

Kuroba lay motionless, breathing evenly.

"There are people out there trying to kill you, you know," Hakuba snorted, indignant at the thief's carefree attitude.

Some children in the distance giggled as they played soccer down by the edge of the water, under the train overpass.

"I wouldn't be able to sleep at night, if I were you, Kuroba," the detective scoffed. "Don't you worry that they'll come for you? Aren't you the slightest bit concerned?"

A train let out a long blast of its horn as it clickety-klacked its way across the bridge over the floodplain.

"No one's going to come for Kuroba Kaito in the middle of the night because no one's trying to kill Kuroba Kaito," mumbled the seemingly unconscious boy. "Besides, I get most of my sleep in class and here after school."

Kuroba hadn't shifted a bit from his relaxed, peaceful sleeping pose. As far as any passerby was concerned, the boy appeared to be dead to the world.

Hakuba bit his lip and considered these facts a minute. "So…I should probably keep quiet about your true identity…. I'm sorry. I've been rather public with my accusations of you thus far, haven't I?" Then and there he swore to keep his mouth shut about Kuroba equaling Kid on national TV.

"Hakuba," Kuroba chuckled, sitting up and stretching against the backdrop of the setting sun. "My true identity is Kuroba Kaito. That's the name I was born with; that's who I really am." The thief turned and smirked at his rival, the sun's light silhouetting him, making him appear to glow like some kind of fairy or demi-god of lore. "Even if I did moonlight as Kid, that would be my secret identity."

Saguru silently absorbed the meaning behind the literal words and found himself nodding slightly in understand.

"So, for the thousandth time, I'm not Kid; I'm Kuroba Kaito." The imp got to his feet with a triumphant little spring in his step.

"So you are," Saguru breathed. And then he frowned. "I'm still going to arrest you for grand larceny and destruction of public and private property, Kuroba Kaito."

Kuroba rolled his eyes as he hissed, "Stubborn detective."

"Stubborn thief," Hakuba countered as he put his shoes back on and got to his feet.

"Magician," the thief muttered as his rival fell into step beside him.

…

Mikau: Aren't they cute? Thanks again for reading guys. I'd love to hear what you think, if you'd take a minute to send in your thoughts. Like I've said before, this is kind of just my really rough stuff, so I already know there's room for improvement, but if there was anything you especially liked about it, I'd be glad to hear it. Take care you guys!