Chapter 5: Deceptive Appearances

I woke up to a constant stinging pain and a headache that would kill the average man. I opened my eyes to a large room in the back of the pool hall with a dark brown molding surrounding the room's lighter, coffee colored wallpaper.

A child with brown hair, just a shade lighter than Aoko's, popped her head up from the end of the futon I was laid out on. It folded around her face in wild look, sticking up as crazy as mine but had grown in timidly. She smiled at me and poked my leg.

"Hey there Kei-chan" I greeted her, my voice still rough but feeling much better. It was hard to forget that smile, though her other features had been hazy. Her eye widened and she giggled, falling over and crawling as she retreated. I snorted at her and raised my eyebrows which only made her start giggling more as she sprawled out sideways on the floor.

She tried to shush me, resulting in a lot of spit, by putting her finger up to her lips and making a 'tssush' noise. "Sleeping" she said in the cute high voice that children had, and pointed off to her side. Hakuba was sitting in a large chair with padding and armrests that didn't look like it belonged in the room. Jii must have had it set aside for himself. Somehow Hakuba found it possible to sleep in said chair with his head fallen to the side and his hair sticking up where he'd moved against it. He'd been holding something before he'd fallen asleep because his arm lay slack, palm open; It was that or the guy meditated in his sleep which I wouldn't have put past him.

I tried to get up but it hurt and I fell back down. The bullet had missed my collar bone by an inch and sunk into the muscle and tissue needed for normal motion. I use my good side to hoist myself up which hurt just as bad, but not enough to be unbearable. I would have cursed if the girl hadn't been there.

"Where's everyone else?" I asked her. She got up and grabbed onto my pant leg as I got off the bed, pulling me into another room. I looked down and noticed that I was wearing my second and last shirt from my bag, this on dark green with a navy design.

Jii was out in the pool hall monitoring the place with his smile absent. After spending so much time with me and my dad, I was surprised we hadn't rubbed off on him a bit more. After spotting me come out the door he perked up a bit.

"Young master I'm so glad to see you're awake. Are you feeling well?"

"I feel like someone just ran me over with a semi and I told you to stop calling me that." I chided him.

Jii shook his head and reached out for my left hand. "I was so worried when the detective brought you in looking like you were dead and you'd lost so much blood. The young man left right after that and brought these children here, saying that you knew what was going on. He wouldn't tell me anything and he fell asleep about an hour ago, watching all of you like he was afraid that something was going to harm you. Young Master, what is going on?" He pleaded to me.

"I'm sorry Jii-chan but I can't tell you, at least not now." I smiled and had him release my hand. "I can take care of it. It's me after all, don't worry so much."

"It's because it's you that I am worried." He shook his head. "You are too kind for your own good and I don't want to see you get hurt."

"I only have as much kindness as I can afford, so it's a good thing I've got sticky fingers because I might have to borrow from the kindness of others for a while." I left the implication hanging.

He sighed. "I'll watch over the children if that's what you're asking."

"I must talk in riddles too much." I rolled my eyes. "I would appreciate you looking after them but I need to find someone who I could get some information from."

"What kind of information were you looking for?" He picked up a small leather-bound book from under the counter.

I leaned against the door frame, looking at home. "I need someone who'd know about what hidden groups are in the area, just the violent ones." He nodded, already guessing as much. Flipping through the book he came to a name I didn't recognize.

"Here's someone who might know who you're looking for" He wrote the name and contact information down on a sheet of paper and handed it to me. I slipped it in the pocket of my school uniform pants that still had dried blood on the one side that hadn't shown up on the material.

"Thanks Jii-chan, I'll be careful." Kane came over to Jii from somewhere in the pool hall. The boy was unlike his sister in every way possible; Black hair fell into his eyes, thick and layered, buzzed close to his head in the back. Dark eyes matched the hair and he seemed drawn in and nervous.

"Hi Kane-kun," I bid him as he passed me. Kane looked me over appraisingly and waved before going to Jii. He got a glass and filled it up with some soda from the tap. I went to leave and turned back to him.

"Kane-kun?" He stopped drinking the soda and hesitated before coming over to me. "I'm going to need you to watch over everyone with Jii-chan while I'm gone and if any bad people come I need you to go to this address and follow these instructions." I scrawled out the information on a piece of paper, folded it, and handed it to him. "Can you do that?"

He didn't open the paper but watched me. After pocketing it as well, he held out his hand for me to shake. I looked at him, wondering what he wanted. He touched his hand to his heart and used both in a circular motion before holding out the same hand again.

I understood. "I promise to take care of you all as best…I promise to take care of you better than I can. Don't worry; just be careful until I can get back-"

"-We get back."

I was getting annoyed at hearing that voice as of late.

"Hakuba-kun you don't even know where I'm going so how are you so sure you're going with? I've let you deep enough into my life."

"I don't feel like having this argument again. You were the one who convinced me that we both had an equal say in what happens."

"Yes, and this is my area of expertise so you'd be no help."

"I've let you in on all of the detective work. You were the one who couldn't just sit back and help without knowing everything. If you're getting information I'd know best what to look for." His smirk made me so mad.

"I'm not going to get any information from my contact if I'm with a detective."

"I've thought of that and Hisa-chan gave me an idea." He turned to Jii. "There's a sink in the back right?"

"Yes, it's in the small room on the left, next to the closet."

Hakuba disappeared and I waited, not out of courtesy because I would have left him behind in a heartbeat, but because he had intrigued me and I wanted to know what he was up to.

I didn't like what I saw. Hakuba came out with hair almost the same color as my own, parted on the side with longer strands touching the corner of his left eyes. He gelled it so it was wired and unkept, like any of the many juvenile delinquents and outcasts that were sprouting up these days. A light gray hooded jacket was placed loosely over a dark brown t-shirt and dark jeans.

"So…" He blushed and couldn't look at me. "How is this? No one would know it was me and I already have assassins after my life so I had to alter my appearance anyway if I wanted to go outside again."

"This is so stupid" I told him.

"I already feel like an idiot thank you Kuroba-kun, I don't need you to tell me that."

"No, I mean that you have to… nothing. I guess I have nothing to hold against you now so you might as well come." I'd be worrying about him if he didn't tag along anyway.

Clearly uncomfortable in his new look, he made his way to my side and I shook him off.

"I told you I'm going." His eyes were serious and I laughed at him. I don't really know why I did it but seeing him try and fight me when I wasn't planning on leaving him behind was funny at that moment.

"It's not you, Hakuba-kun-"

"Then what is it?" he demanded.

"No, no, no, let me finish. It's me." His puzzled look was enough to make me start laughing again.

"Do you think that you're the only one I've been…" I dropped my smile, realizing I still hadn't told him directly who I 'was'. "Let's just say if I showed up at his place looking like this he'd probably kick me out, or shoot me, I don't know him so I'm not sure which."

"This contact is going to try and kill us?" Hakuba wasn't so quick on the uptake this time.

"No, he'd most likely shoot at two teenage boys who were trying to enter his property for no reason. If it was someone he knew, he might be more… accommodating." He understood now.

"So what am I supposed to do? You're going to want me skirt around you like an idiot and end up making a fool of us both aren't you?" He sighed and leaned against the wall.

I thought about it. There was no doubt in his statement and I knew I wouldn't be fooling a baby at this point. I went through all my interactions with him for the past few days and replayed the ones containing the most affirmations of myself. If Hakuba told anyone and admitted to the sequence of events, it wouldn't prove anything. Seeing me change clothes in front of him would.

"I'm sorry Hakuba-kun. I guess we're going to be looking like idiots."

He looked up and would have rolled his eyes if it wasn't so juvenile. "So what do you want me to do?"

I reached for the paper in my pocket and read it over several times so I knew I had the information down. I raised an eyebrow when I read and reread the ending but didn't say anything. Why had Jii put that in there? Oh well. I handed the paper to Hakuba.

"Go to the address on your own. I'm sure someone will be there shortly after you." The word game didn't feel like a safety net anymore, it just made me feel foolish.

"Right." Hakuba didn't seem to mind any of this as he grabbed the paper. I was more than a little surprised that he was willing to act like an idiot along with me.

I looked Hakuba over more thoroughly when his back was turned. He didn't look like himself which was a good thing but there was just something that I didn't like about it. Hakuba was too dark. His golden hair was lurid and dull now in that mono-color you get with hair dye and his thrown together clothing was so different from his overpriced fashioned outfits that it would have been impossible to picture him in it if he wasn't standing right in front of me.

I shook my head and went back into the pool hall to look for my duffel bag.

Getting across rooftops wasn't hard for me. I practiced so often that most of the difficult maneuvers came to me easily. It might have been hard in the beginning when I was first trying but that was long ago and my body has since adjusted.

Heights had never bothered me either. I never knew why but I had taken to the glider the minute I had seen it and figured out how to work it. I never had any doubts about my abilities and that gave me confidence that I shouldn't have had, and I would have corrected my indifference to danger and falling if my instincts weren't so prepared to handle any consequences.

So I followed Hakuba's path with a few differences. I wasn't in my costume but I had put on a black shirt and pants so that I wouldn't be that noticeable. The roof tops were safer because I was able to look around for any unwanted visitors.

My right side was next to useless and hindered me greatly. I made little distance but I wanted to make sure that we weren't followed.

Hakuba hadn't mentioned it when we were at Jii's but if the shooter had been watching him and the children, they would have followed us both from school and to the pool hall.

I didn't see anyone on my way. I got lost…no, let's say I went out of my way to check around some more, before I succeed in making it to the address.

The building was dark and surrounded by a rusted metal fence. The gate was locked with a thick chain that bolt cutters would have run away from. Hakuba was leaning against it with his head down but I saw him looking around from under his hair. His hands were in his pockets and tense under the long sleeves of his jacket.

Before getting off of the building adjacent to the address, I changed into my outfit. I say adjacent but there was a large gap in-between the buildings on both sides where a dead lawn that had not been cared for in some time separated it inside the fence at a generous distance.

I went slowly down the fire escape, making sure not to be seen through any of the windows. It took a few minutes before I made my way down and I saw Hakuba starting to get restless. A quick check with my head told me that he'd been standing there a little more than fifteen minutes, waiting for me.

I'd have to get better soon or get lots of pain killers because I couldn't afford to be slow in my life.

"Hakuba-san" I greeted him warmly. "Sorry to keep you waiting, it seems we weren't followed" I paused before I continued "that I know of at least."

He nodded to me and visibly relaxed something he had never done when I was Kid. He turned his head to the fence. "So how do we get in?"

I looked up at it. The fence wasn't that high and chain link was easy to climb. If it weren't for my arm I would have suggested jumping it. "I'm not sure."

I took in the rest of the yard. There was a good fifteen foot gap surrounding everything from the house, including the plant life. The building itself was three stories and rectangle-shaped with obvious vines growing along the side. The only thing that indicated that it was not your normal run-of-the-mill abandoned building was that there wasn't a single broken window. In fact, the windows were perfectly clean and easy to see through if the building had any lights on. The vines were not sturdy enough to climb and the roof was flat, making it hard to enter through if there wasn't a balcony entrance. I liked this house.

Hakuba must have caught me smiling. "I take that to mean it's either really easy to get in or really hard. I hope it's the former for our sake" he shrugged he shoulders "but with the kind of luck I've been attracting it most likely the latter."

"Yep"

"I thought so." Hakuba grabbed onto the fence "Then I'll just have to go in alon…" I pulled him back down and he lost his balance and fell on his butt, skinning his elbow.

"Why did you do that?!" He asked angrily. "If you can do things on your own I think I could safely walk up the door by myself."

"It's not that, Hakuba-san." I pointed to the scarce bushes, low to the ground and feral, surrounding the property. "You'll trip the wires and I don't know what's hidden in the bushes but I don't think it's friendly."

I smiled and tapped him gently on the back at his surprised expression. "You're still an amateur and I'm looking out for you so don't worry. If you were able to see the thin strands I'd be afraid you'd see through me one of these days."

"As if I haven't already."

"Ouch, you wound me." I laughed at him and crouched down on the tips on my feet. I procured a few instruments out of my pockets and set to work dismantling the hinges of the fence.

"It's not easy to do this kind of thing" I muttered loudly at Hakuba "especially when someone won't stop pacing around me."

Hakuba stopped trying to wear out the ground around where I was still kneeling. "I thought this kind of thing would be simplicity in itself for you." He asked as if he was questioning it.

"Tch, picking a lock is easy, opening a window is easy, damn… even climbing a wall is easy. This is hard. Try bending steel with your bare hands and a few tools when your dominate arm is useless."

"Sorry." He stooped over me and saw that I'd gotten it nearly off. "You still did it though, didn't you?" There was a grating sound as the gate slid inward.

"Of course I did." I smirked at him.

"You're such an extrovert."

"I'll take that as a compliment." I let the gate fall softly to the ground on our side of the fence, hurting my left fingers from bearing all the weight.

"I intended it as such" Hakuba grabbed the other end before it could slam into the pavement "thought it poses problems every now and then."

I shrugged my shoulders and winced.

"You're quite the showman yourself, Hakuba-san. I have fond memories of you when we first met."

"Yes, but I left my costume in the past. You still gallivant around in yours."

I put my hands up in surrender. "You win, Hakuba-san. Now let's go see what we can find out." I grabbed his arm again as he tried to pass. He was always trying to get ahead of me even when we weren't on opposing sides. "Don't go against me in there and don't do anything unless I tell you."

"Yes, mother. I promise to be a good boy now can we go?" Hakuba using humor... ok, it time to go.

"Nope!" I reached him just before he tripped a wire that was attached to the inside of where that gate had stood. "Follow my steps and if you're unsure ask me where the wires are."

He nodded and we made our way across. Hakuba only had to stop one time when the wires were close together and he couldn't tell how far apart they were. We made it to the door in two minutes.

I knocked loudly "Hello is anyone home?"

"Who you looking for?" came a harsh voice from next to my ear. I drew back quickly to find a small speaker that camouflaged well with the wood.

"Yanami Masato" I stated clearly.

"And who's lookin for him?" the speaker growled.

"The Kaitou Kid and my companion."

There were a few seconds of silence while the voice behind the speaker moved around; most likely having some equipment that he was checking to make sure it was true.

"So you say" there was a screeching as a chair was moved "And how do I fix my problem?"

I raised my eyebrow. Fix his problem?

"Um… I'm not sure-"

Hakuba tugged me on the sleeve and I moved back.

"With this exercise video you can thin your thighs in just two weeks." He spoke to the door.

I smacked myself lightly on the head. Of course there was a password and Jii had even put it on the card. I was glad Hakuba had caught on but I still felt stupid. What kind of secret code was that anyway?

"Fine." We waited as multiple locks and other catches were undone.

"Thank you." I whispered to him.

He smiled, way to full of himself. "Of course."

The man who stood in the doorway was in his early forties and lived it well. His skin was dark and there were splotches on his face that looked like they may have been acid burns. His hair was shoulder-length and black with a trimmed mustache and beard. Deep set eyes of hazel stared back into my blue ones.

"So you the Kaitou Kid? You sure got young." He looked shiftily around "Come in but I got some questions for ya before you go start askin' me for help."

We both nodded and made out way inside and were met with the smell of pine. The interior of the building was made entirely of wood. Candles lit most of the rooms in a warm, calming glow and the only that that bothered me was that the place was almost too clean. We were lead to another room with a soft couch and matching wooden table. The sofa sank beneath us as we sat down and I was tempted for forget everything and just lay there.

It wasn't until this point that I noticed how tired I was. I didn't have a good night sleep after the fire, and then I spent all the next night looking at the disc and had only gotten a few hours. Passing out from shock and blood loss hadn't helped and the pillows encompassed my body comfortably.

I snapped myself out of it and faced Masato.

"So you claim to be the Kid but I met him and you aren't him. Explain."

"I'm afraid that the previous Kid can't pursue he's ventures any longer." I calmly answered.

"He dead?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"I don't feel like answering that." I put my elbows on my knees and held my head up with my hands, fingers interlocked. "Anything else?"

"Toichi was Kid. I heard he had a son. That you?"

I was taken aback and had to try really hard not to react. I was tempted to avert my eyes but I kept facing the man. Until I knew I could trust him, I wasn't giving away any information. "Who knows?" I answered with just a little play in the words; if I'd answered seriously it would give me away just as quickly as reacting would.

His eyes drifted to Hakuba and I felt the tension rising. If this man knew who I was, he could possibly use it against me. "And you boy? Who are you?"

Hakuba didn't even pause, he put his hand out. "Kuroba Kaito, I think you were just talking about my father."

This time I couldn't help reacting. I raised my eyebrows and my eyes widened. What the hell did the detective think he was doing?

Masato looked surprised as well so he didn't notice me. "Really? You're the magician's son?"

"Yes, but I'm afraid he didn't get to teach me much magic before he died." Hakuba put slight surprise into his own features "I didn't know he was the Kaitou Kid."

"Yeah well…" Masato kept looking at Hakuba for a while before turning back to me. "What are you two doing together an what you want from me?" That helped me out of my stupor.

"I'm interested in groups in the area that might be acting on confidential information dealing with children. These groups I'm interested in will be violent and skilled." The older man took some time to consider the information.

"I owe the Kid so I might as well give ya the info" He scratched his dark hair "but you shouldn't go lookin for this kinda trouble. There are several in the area from over a year ago ta resent, want 'em all?" The man didn't have an accent but he didn't pronounce his words completely. I nodded.

"Fine. Ya got some pussy gang coming through here few months back. They call 'emselves the Black Jacks. They got pretty guns and some top guys but most of 'em are nubies. They deal with inside info all the time but lots'a their guys get caught. Sound right?" I thought about it for a second and shook my head.

"Maybe. I'm aware that one of the guys is a good sniper, maybe a one-thousand yard plus shooter." He whistled.

"Not 'em. They ain't that good yet. Ok, ya also got the group, smaller than usual, maybe five or six members, and they do all inside info. There's not a bunch'a info on them but rumors say all the guys are good marksmen. Wouldn't put it passed 'em" I nodded in agreement.

"Not much go in the way children but they got the market on shady deals an they don't use any name or mark like most gangs. I think they're pros." He looked up to think.

"We don't got much cause most of 'em ain't had much success here for a few years. Had some good law enforcement to thank for that." He smiled. "Bless them or we'd be o'run with bunch of half-ass crocks. Not like you 'n me. We know what we want and we don't go hurtin' no innocents." His smile was real and I found myself liking the man more then I had when we'd first arrived.

"There's some badies out there that come out the door recently, but it looks like they been 'round other places. They ain't got a name neither. Lots of them look like some Mafia guys outta the movies. They got shiny guns too an I don't got much info on them neither. All I know is they always wear black and go fixin' lots of under the radar stuff." I nodded, clarification hitting me hard.

"Yanami-san, you wouldn't happen to know any group with a hit-man named Snake would you?" Hakuba turned to me and Masato's eyes watched me intently.

"Snake? Can't say I haven't heard'a 'im. Best'a my knowledge, 'e likes doing killings subtle but he's none too good at the subtle part. Don't know what group 'e is with. Sorry." I waved him off.

"It's fine. I just thought I might inquire on the matter."

"Well, sides the two unnamed groups, I only know one other. They 'ave insides with a bunch 'o large companies an they do mostly insider stuff. I ain't sure if they got any hitters but you may wanna check. They call 'emselve the Baku."

"Hah, dream eaters."

"Yeah."

"Thank you Yanami-san, you've been very helpful." I got up and held out my hand with a kind smile. Masato was a nice guy if you looked passed the faulty way of speaking and gruff demeanor. He shook my hand and looked me in the eye. "Ya gotta be careful. I'd feel bad if ya went and got yourself killed cause I gave ya that info."

"I'll use the utmost caution." I assured him.

"And Kuroba-kun," I almost turned to face his again. Hakuba looked at him and offered his hand "your dad was a great guy and this boy ain't bad neither. Ya got some good friends."

"I know I do." Hakuba smiled at him more warmly then I had.

"Whatever ya got yourselves mix up in, I wish ya the best." The man told us as we reached the door. I saw lots of bronze set in the frame where large bolts had been set up. "Thank you for your kindness Yanami-san. I hope to repay you in the future."

He waved us out the door, shaking his head. "Get outa here you brats."

After we'd left the house I turned the opposite direction of Jii's.

"Where are you going?" Hakuba asked, before starting after me. I held a hand up.

"I'll be back in a second to chew you out. I'm not going down the streets like this." I waved a hand down my clothing.

"Of course, I'm sorry. I'll see… someone soon then?"

"Yes."

Hakuba started walking away and I ducked into the alley where I had left my bag. A minute and I was back in my dark clothing and taking a few shortcuts to catch up to Hakuba.

He was just coming around the corner when I jumped off of tree stump on the other side of a fence and almost collided with him.

"You have some endurance, Kuroba-kun. Try not to waste it all before we get back." He commented as he caught me before I tripped over him. The gloves pulled at his burns and he hissed under his breath.

"Hey it's me, since when have I ever run out of energy?"

"Point taken. Now I believe you were going to chew me out."

"Yes! Why did you do that back there? Why did you say you were me?"

Hakuba raised his eyebrows. "You didn't want me too? I mean, I couldn't very well say I was me. You did make it a point of mentioning that being a detective in that house would have been dangerous. I also had the distinct impression that you didn't want that man to know who you were. Such as it was, I figured taking on your name had the best possible outcomes."

Of course it did. Hakuba wasn't an idiot, he'd thought about it while I was busy keeping own mind full of absolutely no helpful prospects.

"Do you think it's one of those groups?"

"No. I think the possibility is fifty-fifty between two of them." I glanced over at him.

"Which ones?"

"If it was the first unnamed group you would have been killed Kuroba-kun. Professionals are one of two kinds. You have the guys out there you keep at it until your dead or the ones that fail the first time and don't try again, those are your professionals and they don't leave more evidence than necessary. We're obviously dealing with the latter. That being said, a small group would want to cover their tracks and would have killed you first because they don't have anyone big to hide behind." Hakuba made sure I understood before continuing.

"Now we know it's someone with connections, which means it's either the Baku, who have dealings with the large corporations, or the unnamed group in black. With no information on either of them, I can't narrow it down any further. We also have to weigh in the possibility that some other group has slipped under Yanami-san information net."

"So the rest is leg work." I stretched out my good arm. "That sounds more up my alley. I find the information we're missing, with you" I pointed out to him before he could interrupt "and you fill in the blanks."

We turned the corner and whatever Hakuba was going to say was cut off.

I looked forward and my heart sank.

Jii's place was on fire.