Chapter 4: Insult to Injury

I sat at my desk after turning off my computer, drumming my fingers on the table. What was that idiot doing? Why hadn't he gotten the cops involved in this and why had he accepted my help instead of theirs?

The disc had indeed filled in the gaps. The three children that Hakuba was currently protecting were from wealthy business families who had decided that 'altering' their children when they were still in the fetus was the best way of making them perfect. I hadn't even known technology like that existed, but clearly the higher ups were willing to pay big bucks for it.

Now, someone was trying to get them back. The parents were afraid to go to the police because it would only put their children more out in the open, if not across national televisions everywhere. How they had found Hakuba would remain a mystery until I had a talk with him again.

The disc had little information about what had been done to the children. Whatever experiments had been run didn't seem relevant. The disc contained the children's names, ages, parents, and physical data. It also contained doctors, hospitals and defects that had been discovered in the children but nothing that warranted their deaths.

Kane apparently couldn't speak even though he was ten now. His sister Kei, has pointed ears and incredibly good hearing. I hadn't noticed this last night, and I only concede my lack of observation to the many distractions around me. Hisa, who seemed to hate me, claimed to see colors that nobody else could see around people. Auras were what they called it on the disc. I didn't know if I believed it yet.

Whoever was after the kids was not associated with the hospitals or the doctors that had done the tests. All of them had been questioned and hounded by the parents and a few other trusted private detectives whose names had been listed along with investigation reports. One of the parents had a close relationship with a police officer and their investigation on them turned up nothing as well.

More questions only came to me. Why would a group of outsiders take interest in just these children? It seemed like the tests had been done on others so why only go after these? And how did they even know about the testing? I hadn't known and, thanks to Jii-chan, I had a great information network. I'd have to tap into it a bit later.

And the most puzzling thing was why they had gone to Hakuba. The teenage detective had made quite a name for himself but not enough so to get wrapped up in this mess of unanswered questions and mysterious arsonists.

I hated questions. I was not a detective. I was a thief. I was good at tricks and baffling achievements but not at this kind of thing. Why were these people trying to kill the kids? It wasn't just that they wanted them like the reports on the disc thought, they wanted them dead. At least now they did. Maybe they didn't before but it was clear that the fires had spread the most near Hisa's and Kane's/Kei's rooms. It had taken a while for Hakuba to reach the ambulance and it was probably because he'd gone looking for Hisa right after, unable to help her in the fire.

It was clear I would have to talk with him again because things just weren't adding up. The detective was clearly in over his head and was crazy if he thought that he could take on this case alone.

I twirled the disc between my fingers, gloves on of course. I still didn't want to leave fingerprints. If Hakuba didn't want to take the case alone he could have gone to Nakamori-san...wait. No he couldn't. The man had a good heart but he wasn't very competent at solving crimes. This was shown in the fact that his accomplishments chasing me were more dominant than his mediocre police work. We were very similar in that fashion, better at seeing tricks then blood trails.

I was sure Hakuba could have gone to someone, maybe even his father. Why had he let me know so much about what he was doing... maybe he wanted my help...or maybe he needed it. I sighed as I thought about the heavy mater. I couldn't let him go at this alone but I wasn't good at solving crimes like Kudo, heck, Hakuba most likely had a bigger streak of success then I had. Why go to me?

Because I had better contacts that didn't need to go through the police for information and help.

The thought occurred to me as fast as I asked the question; like my brain was responding to my inquiries. Ok, so Hakuba may need me for a few under-the-table deals. That made sense.

I was through playing detective. It hadn't gotten me far whenever I tried and I put all the questions on standby to be resolved when I was able to put my theories to the test. I slipped the disc into my jean pockets and removed the gloves, pocketing them as well. It was late and I hadn't realized how long I'd been racking my brain over the situation until I looked at my clocks bright red numbers burning 3:15 into my skull.

I moaned aloud. I hadn't even thought about school. I'd already skipped Tuesday and Aoko was likely to hound me down again if I didn't go tomorrow… wait, today. I rubbed my eyes with the inside of my palms to try and fight back a headache. I still felt like crap on top of everything and now my throat was starting to itch more than it was hurting.

I laid down, spread out, and waited for sleep to come. Everything I had to do the next few days came to me; I had to keep Aoko and mom happy by going to school, I had to help Hakuba get out of whatever mess he'd gotten into, or help myself deeper into it, not only that but I needed to find out who was after the kids and a way to protect them. Stopping whoever was after them wouldn't be easy either and I still needed to repay Kudo. In response to all that was expected of me in so little time my body shut down, knowing that I would need as much sleep as I could get. My last thoughts were of how I was going to manage to get all my homework done juggling all of that.

My alarm clock was screaming at me but I ignored it as long as I could. I had made sure to keep it on my desk so that I would have to get up to shut it off. The anger that ensued from having to do that was enough to wake me up most days. Today was not one of them. I felt sleep continue to hang on me as I changed into my school uniform. When I went to brush my teeth, I saw how swollen my tonsils were and the dark shadows that were under my eyes. I would have to get a good night's sleep sometime this millennium, I told myself.

Swinging my school bag over my shoulders almost sent me sprawling backwards and I cursed to myself as I landed badly on my foot. Swaying but controlling my body enough not to not look drunk, I walked to school.

Aoko found me halfway there and started talking to me about how she was happy that I was actually going to be there today. I shooed her off with my hand, and riffled with her hair before I had to bring my hand up to stifle a yawn.

"Were you up late last night? You always seem really tired some mornings. You should get some more sleep." That's because I'm off stealing something, I thought. I stuck my tongue out at her.

"Tricks take practice." OUCH. OUCH. OUCH. I got the words out but my throat burned. Whatever Hakuba had given me the other day seemed to have worn off.

"Kaito you sound awful!" She stopped and turned to me. I blinked and noticed her hand on my forehead. A frown crossed her face but she didn't push it.

"Staying up all night will do that to you." I mumbled, more softly this time. "I've gotten sick like this before."

"Just another reason you should get more sleep!" She hit me hard on the back and I would have yelled at her if I'd had the aptitude for it.

Hakuba had come to school which surprised me. I'd expected him to stay at home and watch the kids. He didn't seem like one who would take to children but Hisa seemed to like him far better then she liked me so he must have been doing something right. He handed me a coffee container.

"You should really drink that." He took he's seat just a few desks away from me.

"Hakuba-kun, are you sick too?" I heard Aoko ask. Hakuba's voice was much better compared mine and it sounded even clearer then it had yesterday afternoon, with just an undertone of soreness.

"No, I seem to have swallowed something wrong but it should clear up in a few days." He responded. I didn't give any sign away that I was aware he wasn't pushing the matter. 'Kuroba-kun, it's funny but I'm aware that Kid has a sore throat as well. Peculiar timing, isn't it?' The accusations never came.

Though Aoko had been yelling at me about getting sleep she seemed determined to not let me have any. After figuring out that Hakuba had put the medicine in the container I drank it and tried to pass out during class. Aoko had hit my desk with her foot and jolted me awake three times before I started doing it back.

"You should sleep when school's over. This isn't kindergarten!" She whispered angrily to me when the teacher had her back turned.

"Well, I'm not going to learn anything with how tired I am. If I get sleep now maybe I'll be awake enough to catch the end of the lesson." I shot back. She gave me a dirty stare and proceeded to keep me awake for the rest of class. I had missed the previous day so none of it would have sunk in even if my brain had been in attendance. My subconscious was on Aoko's side though and had the mathematical formulas and equations figured out before long, even as my eyes tried to close every second.

Aoko couldn't keep me awake during lunch. I hadn't had time to make anything and sleeping in made me skip breakfast as well. My stomach couldn't bother me enough to stop the black from entering my world.

"Kuroba-kun…" My eyes peeked open and I noticed that class was over. Hakuba was standing over me and Aoko was looking mad from the classroom entrance. I put my head back down and tried to go back to sleep but he wouldn't let me.

"Kuroba-kun, if you're that exhausted you should rest at home, I can't imagine the desk is too terribly comfortable." He grabbed one of my elbows and tried to get me up. If I hadn't seen him squint his eyes and clench his teeth together in pain he never would have succeed. I looked down at his hands and noticed he'd put on tan leather gloves that didn't accentuate he's school uniform at all, though his hair color helped them blend a little better.

"Idiot" I pulled my arm gently away and smiled as I noticed it didn't hurt to talk anymore, though I winced too when I straightened out my right arm and pulled the burned skin. He held out a water bottle that was tinted blue with more the darker colored medicine in it.

"This is for tonight." I tried to grab it and he snatched it back. "But maybe I'm too much of an idiot to want to give this to you." My eyes flared open and I tried to grab it from him again but was eluded a second time.

"Fine." I picked up my bag and made my way out of the classroom. I was awake now; those few hours I'd gotten did the trick. Maybe Hakuba had played a part in it as well I admitted only to myself. I stopped at the door and turned back to him. I'd given him so much to use against me and drinking the medicine in class had been stupid, an acknowledgment that I knew what it was, but it wasn't like he could pin any of it on me.

"Are you coming Aoko?" She looked mad but I wasn't going to leave without her. "Hakuba-kun," I added as I turned back and Aoko strode over to me in a mixture of disgust and resignation, "I'll get it later."

That was really stupid. That one statement told more to him then it should have but I was starting to warm up to him. All of what I'd been doing lately was stupid; I should have been calling myself the idiot.

Aoko ran off in front of me.

"If you think I'm walking home with you you're wrong and go get notes from somebody else. If both of you think you can fall asleep in class without any consequences you've got another thing coming."

I turned to face Hakuba at the inclination and saw him look away. Only now that I was looking for it did I see the dark circles under his eyes as well.

"Well, I'm much easier to wake up then you are." He rubbed an eye and it was clear that whatever sleep he'd gotten hadn't helped much like mine had.

Aoko was long gone and I'd never be able to catch her. Going back to my house and getting my outfit seemed stupid and I'd been too tired that morning to think ahead. I could follow Hakuba right now back to his house with no one the wiser. No one but him and that was something I was on unsure footing with. He knew it was me without a doubt and conspiring with him didn't necessary prove to anyone besides him of my guilt.

But I couldn't say that Hakuba was a hundred percent on his theory and I'd be giving him that little push over. I stood there for a time, debating the pros and cons of going back to my house and then heading over to his. I decided against following him and left.

We walked together down the street for a few blocks before we had to part ways. His usual was to leave school before me and Aoko had a chance to get our things together so it felt a bit awkward walking with him now.

Hakuba didn't share my unease. I saw him start nodding off a few times as we were going and a caught his sleeve before he managed to fall over a hydrant.

"Thanks Kuroba-kun" he murmured and rubbed his eyes, still in a daze.

"You seem to be the one who's tired. Maybe someone should help you with some young family members you may have at your house." I didn't manage to stop myself from voicing my opinion. I had a bad habit of that. "Maybe someone could keep them at their house for a while but I'm not saying it's asking for help."

Hakuba's eyes cleared as he recognized the game.

"Well, maybe I would want some help with something like that. Maybe I have two family members that wouldn't mind spending some time over at someone else house. But that may be too much to ask and I wouldn't be asking for it."

"Maybe someone might come over later today to help in return for some answers. After all, it's not helping, it's trading. And I wouldn't be the one doing it." This game of words wasn't an actual confession so I didn't treat it as such, neither did he.

"Well, maybe if someone wanted to help and were trying, they deserved answers. Maybe the person in need of help would want some answers to."

"Maybe."

I turned the corner to leave him and he tentatively waved over his shoulder when he faced away. I did a double take and froze up for a second before running back over to him.

"Hakuba duck!" I yelled as I pushed him face first into the sidewalk. I felt a sharp pain hit me just inside my right shoulder. I spun back around to see what I could. Hakuba got up slowly, incomprehension on his face.

"Kuroba-kun, just what did you do that for?" I was still turned away from him, looking for the origin of the sniper's scope. I winced and put a hand up to my shoulder. I felt something cold and slightly sticky. A large amount of blood was on my hand when I drew it away.

Hakuba grabbed my arm and spun me around to face him, thankfully he had taken my unburned one that now had blood on the palm. Some part of me still couldn't understand what had happened. I wasn't feeling any pain.

The world went into standstill mode as Hakuba process what I couldn't. When his eyes met mine he snapped his fingers in front of me.

"Your fine, Kuroba-kun." I felt my body start to shake as Hakuba kept his hold on me. I started panting and he got behind me a rubbed my back. "You're going to be fine. Breathe calmly and stay with me."

I closed my eyes, willing myself to calm down. Breathe. Breathe. Ok, I'm breathing. Good. As my thoughts drifted my breathing began to speed up again and the pain hit me like an anvil. I collapsed against the wall and slid down with Hakuba somehow still holding onto my good shoulder.

"Kuroba-kun, I'm going to call an ambulance. The cops may have to get involved if I can't stop it. Is that all right?" That helped me get back to myself. I shook my head.

"No…"

"They won't know anything…" I interrupted him.

"No, not that…" I had to breathe "They're going to look for suspects and probable cause… Can't risk they might stumble across something."

"Well than what can I do?" He punched the wall which must have hurt like hell.

I straightened myself out and saw how much blood I was leaving behind. My shirt was absolutely covered in it and it felt like cold water running down my chest.

"The bullet went all the way through…" I reached out to grab his hand but thought better of it and pushed myself to my feet with the wall. The pain stopped me from finishing my sentence until I quit panting. "If you…If it's washed out with some disinfectant and I get some antibiotics it should heal on its own."

I bent to get my bag off the ground where it had fallen and took a spare shirt I kept in case any of my pranks backfired. I grabbed scissors out one of one of the pockets and cut the shirt in a zigzag pattern. I removed my school shirt, this was easy with the buttons, and threw one end of the shredded shirt over my shoulder. Hakuba grabbed it and wrapped it around the ugly bullet wound.

"You don't have to do anything." He looked at me when he was done. "Go the hospital and get yourself some help; I can handle myself."

"Don't worry so much I'm not…"

"Hurt that bad? Going to get yourself killed? Those are lies Kuroba-kun and you shouldn't do that, not now and not with me." The hard look in his eyes stopped me from fighting back. Neither of us was going to give any ground and he looked away first. "And this is all my fault."

"Now just a minute," I rounded on him. "You have done nothing wrong and I haven't either. What happened just now was their fault. Whoever the hell tried to shoot you just now was wrong. You weren't."

"But you shouldn't have to do this. I'm the one who got you involved so the fault lies with me and the temporary weakness that overcame me. The fire had scared me but it wasn't bad enough to endanger you."

"But you shouldn't have to do this either!" How could he fight an argument like this without seeing it was two-sided? "Were the same age, it's not like anything I'm doing is any less dangerous then what you're doing!"

"But I'm a detective! Danger comes with the job."

"And I'm a…!" I stuttered to a stop, biting back my words. I was not going to say it out loud but it didn't make my argument any less true. "You know damn well what I do. Danger follows me around more than it does you and being around it, more or less, doesn't make you immune to it!"

It was silent for a while. Hakuba took in the full meaning of my words, the ones I had and the ones I had almost said. I looked away first this time. I was far from giving up but my body wasn't on my side and I slouched against the wall. It hurt. I'd never been as seriously injured as I was now and I usually had an uncanny subconscious reaction to avoiding bullets. It seemed as if that didn't translate to me helping someone else avoid one.

I slipped my shirt back on now that I had the time. I couldn't focus on multitasking at the moment even if I tired. It was difficult to avoid hurting my still freshly burnt and non-bulletproof right side.

"I'm sorry…"

"Stop apologizing to me!" I shouted at him, getting ready to start the argument back up.

"I'm not doing that again anymore or I think you'll fall over." I hadn't been aware to how much I'd been swaying until he pointed it out. "I'm apologizing for fighting with you right now. I did say I wouldn't play underhandedly." He smirked and I returned it.

"I'll also pretend," he continued. "That I never heard anyone, especially not the person with me now, tells me anything to revealing. I'll also pretend I don't hear anything in the near future, but I'm not helping. And I'm serious…." He held my good arm in his grasp as we started walking towards wherever he decided to take us. "…Pretending I'm not going to realize anything is not what I call help so don't feel like I'm doing you any favors."

"Yeah, Yeah." I waved him off as if it were nothing. It certainly didn't feel like nothing but I'd have to process it later when I had more time and awareness.

I started passing out on him for the second time in such a few days. He didn't push anything even though he could have gotten whatever he wanted out of me with the state of mind I was in. We barely made it my house before my legs gave out

"Why'd you take us here? You do know my mom's home don't you?" I asked him, kneeling on the ground as my vision swayed.

"Well, I couldn't get to my house with you like this on the train or cab. I didn't know where else to go."

"Keep going." I tried to get to my feet but I couldn't do it. "There's a friend's house down further that we can go to, but…" My brain was still trying to work and I saw the dangers of leading him to Jii's place.

"But it wouldn't be a good thing for me to be there as well." He concluded.

"Kind of, but it's not dangerous to you it's…"

"Dangerous to you and whoever is there." That's a detective for you. Hakuba being quick on the uptake made it easier then explaining. When I nodded he thought to himself.

"Well, maybe I won't see anything or know where I am for a while, that is, if anyone were to ask me." I watched his eyes while he said this. It hurt, emotionally and physically. Hakuba had put enough of himself aside to accept my help but now he was going to have proof of the identity of my assistant, who I'd only managed to keep from him by focusing his attention on me, and he wouldn't be able to pursue his leads.

Hakuba had me hands down as Kid and he'd have Jii the minute we walked in the door but he was willing to ignore all of it so both of us could get the help we needed. I wondered how much Hakuba was doing out of guilt and how much was necessity.

My head fell down and I could feel the tingle of sleep in my hands and feet. I wasn't going to face mom like this and I had no choice but to sacrifice more of the detective's integrity.

"It two streets down and then you turn right. Keep going until you get to the light then it will be on the left side of the street, halfway down. It's a pool hall. Go ask for Jii-chan to help…" I was cut off as Hakuba bent in front of me and lifted me awkwardly onto his back.

"I'm taking you with me so whatever you want me to tell him you can ask yourself." Since I wasn't able to use my arms he had to put all my weight that his back wasn't carrying, on his hands.

"But you're hurt."

"Kuroba-kun, you should really worry about yourself more often or I'll think you have a sadistic streak." Hmpht. My shoulder hurt with every step he took but I couldn't stay awake. Thank Ekoda High for having black blazers. They successfully hid the blood on both of us so we didn't look like a crazy-ax-murderer going down the street. I couldn't say we didn't look strange. My indignation at being carried like a child only lasted until we made it down to the corner and my consciousness left me.