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Well, at least he succeeded in his mission to get tantei-san to investigate the magician's disappearances, even if it definitely seemed to have been more of the other boy's own idea instead of Kaito nudging him down the path. (Not that Kaito minded that, less work for him.) After all, and Kaito knew this from his rather long, extensive personal experience with the blonde meitantei as Kaitou Kid, there probably weren't too many individuals around who were more dogged, determined or thorough than the meitantei Hakuba Saguru when he began to pursue the truth behind a case or a person.
Kaito was just beginning to fully mull over how nice it would be having the half-Brit working with him instead of against him for once when he tripped over something relatively small. Something that had also been vaguely human-shaped, and that hypothesis seemed confirmed when the object yelled out 'OW!' as Kaito himself very nearly lost his balance while the diagrams of magic tricks he'd been busy sketching at Saguru's request slipped out of his grasp. He was busy righting himself while the sketches went fluttering around all over the floor around him and whoever that he'd tripped over.
"You should be more careful about where you're going." Unusually intelligent cerulean eyes that were framed by black glasses glanced up at Kaito and briefly filled with irritation. They suddenly filled with a puzzled curiosity as the boy turned his attention to the sketches and more carefully studied what Kaito had dropped.
What the hell is tantei-kun doing here? Kaito immediately knew that it would probably be the wisest course of action to act like he had no clue who the other boy was at all. I also don't like the way he's looking at the diagrams I'm drawing that Hakuba asked me for yesterday either. Kudo'd better not be getting any ideas that I'm involved with their kidnappings because I'm not! Well, except for the fact that it pretty much seems like the kidnappers are after me, or rather my alter ego Kaitou Kid, at this point. Kaito had to admit, though, that starting out by trying to puzzle out when and how the magicians had been kidnapped during their routines was probably a good start to figuring out their disappearances and also exactly why the magicians were being taken. He (naturally enough) knew pretty much how their tricks were pulled off, just as Saguru had assumed he would, so Kaito had agreed to draw out the most probable positions of the equipment used and where it would be relative to the stage at the various points of those finale tricks.
"Sorry about that, kid," Kaito offered mildly as he took the proffered papers from the child who wasn't really a child at all, and he chuckled inwardly as he could almost hear tantei-kun methodically chanting 'I am a little kid, I am a little kid' over and over in his head while he merely offered Kaito a rather gritted smile in reply. "Thanks for the help picking my stuff up. Hey, where are your parents at?" OK, he was having way too much fun messing with Kudo; Kaito made a mental note to rein himself in before his ribbing of the other boy got too out of hand and the shrunken meitantei actually got suspicious of him knowing his true identity. Tantei-kun was no certainly slouch in the detection department himself, and in fact had probably come closer than tantei-san had a time or two to catching Kaito during one of his heists.
"The police brought me here from school to answer some questions they had. Friends of mine found one of the missing magicians at our elementary school this morning during recess, and he was brought to this hospital."
Kaito felt his carefully cultivated poker face slip for the briefest of moments thanks to sheer adrenaline, relief and shock before he remembered who he was talking to and his rapidly forcing the mask back into place quickly followed. Then Kaito realized that the other boy had said the sentence so colorlessly that he couldn't tell whether the magician had been brought in dead or alive, but the point was that one of them had finally been found. Now he was going to have to try and weasel as much information as possible from Kudo about the subject without being too horribly obvious about that fact- like what floor and room the magician was staying in if possible. This was not going to be easy. "Oh? Where did exactly you find him at?" They dumped him at an elementary school? That's weird. I hope for the mental health of the kids there that he was alive if that's really the case...
"On our school's playground. Half-buried under some leaves, but alive." Apparently deciding that he'd had enough of the conversation, the other boy turned and began to head the way that he'd been going, leaving a highly relieved but now anxious thief in his wake.
OK...now to figure out where that magician is at in this place so I can ask some questions, like if he was taken by some guys in black outfits...after I get these drawings to Hakuba of course. He rather rapidly went from anxious to annoyed when he went to the lobby Hakuba was supposed to have been waiting at to discover that there was no trace of the blonde to be seen. Bah, where'd he get to? I told him it would only be a few minutes, I was just dropping Mom off a couple things.
"Well that was most thoroughly unproductive and complete waste of time."
"What was? Here's the equipment diagrams that you wanted by the way." Kaito extended his rather full arms that were laden with the diagrams he'd actually stayed up the better part of the night drawing, not that he'd ever let Hakuba or anyone else know that. It was guilt that was driving him, he knew, as well as a sense of urgency that had only increased after he'd heard that they found the first of the magicians still alive. That means that hopefully the other three are out there alive still. Of course if the kidnappers stick to their current pattern it will only be a few more days before yet another magician vanishes...Well, from the group of magicians that's still performing after these disappearances started that is. An ever-growing number of magicians had declined invitations altogether and ceased performing shows since the second kidnapping had happened, fearing for their continued safety amidst the bizarre string of vanishings.
"I tried to go speak to the magician that they've apparently got staying here. Kobiyashi Akashi, the one that went missing just over a month ago now, was found very much alive if slightly starved and sleep-deprived at an elementary school this morning. It appears that the police have run into a bit of an issue with him, however." Hakuba took the diagrams from Kaito and began tucking them into an empty book bag that he'd brought with him for the purpose of carting them back to his home.
"Huh? What exactly-"
"He won't talk about what happened to him while he was kidnapped or who his kidnappers were. At all, whatsoever." Saguru shook his head lightly, but his tone was full of the disappointment he was clearly feeling. "The only thing he's willing to say is that the other three are still alive, but if he talks too much he's afraid that they won't stay that way. Apparently, certain threats along those lines were made before they released him. Although I confess that I do find it very interesting that they left him at a school on a school night when they freed him. Perhaps his kidnappers wanted him to be found."
"Aww you have go to be kidding," Kaito muttered almost as much to himself as to Saguru even though he well knew that Hakuba almost never kidded or joked at all period, much less about an investigation or case. Well there it all goes right back to square one I suppose because he won't talk. Damn it!
"Oh, what are you doing here Conan?" Kaito realized that Hakuba was looking at something (or rather, speaking to a rather nosy someone) that was over his shoulder and down low to the ground, and once he'd said the name Kaito turned around to see tantei-kun giving them both a highly inquisitive look that was very carefully couched behind a bright, childlike expression. Kaito had to admit that the other boy seemed to have become rather adept at wearing a kid's mask, all the better to hide his true identity with; Kaito probably wouldn't have even noticed that hidden curiosity if he hadn't been looking for it or known what to look for in the first place.
"Hey, I remember you from the Detective Koshien thing, and I've seen you at some of Kaitou Kid's robberies too" began Shinichi brightly. "What are you doing here Saguru-niisan? My classmates were the ones that found the missing magician who's here at the hospital now; he was left at our elementary school kinda buried under a pile of leaves." He pointed to Kaito before adding "Just like I told him a few minutes ago!" with a cheerful smile.
"I see. Well, actually I've been attempting to figure out what's going on regarding the kidnappings myself with the assistance of my classmate Kuroba here."
"Then maybe you can find out what Kobiyashi-ojisan told my friend Genta," replied Shinichi brightly, instantly causing both Saguru and Kaito to look down at him.
What are you talking about, tantei-kun? "So, uhh, Conan, just what do you mean by that?"
"Well, he said something to Genta while we were waiting for the ambulance to show up. But Genta won't tell anyone what it is."
"Aww, I told you to quit bugging me about that Conan! And stop telling everyone about it! It's a secret!" A rather large boy that Kaito would have never thought to be in only the first or second grades stalked up behind the shrunken meitantei with his hands on his hips. "I'm only supposed to tell that detective guy who always goes to Kaitou Kid's heists. The one that has the bird sometimes. But I dunno what he looks like exactly, Kobiyashi-ojisan didn't tell me anything more than that."
"That sounds like he was referring to me," offered Saguru with a slightly puzzled expression after a few moments of silence all around. "I own a hawk named Watson and I help Nakamori-keibu, the head of the kaitou Kid task force at Kid's heists quite often."
"Hmm." Genta gave Saguru a mistrusting look before turning to Shinichi, who nodded his head.
"He's telling the truth, Genta. Now what is it? What did he say?"
"I'm only telling him like Kobiyashi-ojisan said!" Genta replied firmly before indicating with a wave of his hand for Saguru to follow him over to an unoccupied corner, where the other boy squatted down before Genta whispered whatever the secret was into the blonde's ear. After about five seconds of listening, Saguru stood back up with a neutral expression and the comment "I see. Thank you for telling me." Genta then walked away from the meitantei with a happy smile on his face since he'd fulfilled his mission.
"What did he say?" cried Kaito and Shinichi in perfect unison when Saguru reapproached their position. This was followed by the pair looking at each other warily.
"Actually, it was a message that I'm supposed to try and deliver to Kaitou Kid at his next heist," explained Saguru. Of course, I highly suspect that if I tell Kuroba what that child told me, I will be delivering that message to Kid. And he should probably hear it... "I suppose since you two are both clearly so very interested in hearing the message I can tell it to you." He cleared his throat and began reciting the message from the hospitalized magician. "'Kaitou Kid needs to watch out for the men in black at his next heist. They're planning to make a move then. But they can't know that he's been told, because they'll kill the rest of the magicians. And don't let him turn himself in to them, either.'" Saguru rather intently watched Kaito during the delivery of the little speech without being obvious about it, and he could tell by the slight wince during the last sentence that Kaitou Kid surrendering to them as a last-ditch resort to prevent anyone else getting hurt had indeed apparently been somewhere in the back of the other boy's mind. No One Gets Hurt is one of his foremost mottoes, after all...If he really is Kid he has to be feeling a great deal of guilt right now.
"Men...in black?" Kaito blinked as he looked down at tantei-kun, whose eyes were currently completely, totally free of the childlike innocence that he usually tried so hard to affect as he asked the question.