Ok, sorry about leaving that last chapter hanging like that.
Here's the next one!

Chapter 20: Identity Facade

This woman and Chianti shared some similarities. Like Chianti, I could feel her readiness to shoot me as if it were a tangible thing. Although what truly creeped me out was how the woman's smile was very much like mine. Similar to my Poker face, she didn't let anger or any other emotion change her demeanor.

Hakuba was still behind me, though he tried to move. I grabbed backwards blindly, and found the front of his coat. While I would not be able to hold him in place, I could still force him to move in any direction if I had to.

I was surprised when she didn't shoot.

"Where's the disc? It's not at your house and I'm not in the mood to go searching for it." She eyed Hakuba with a sense of leisure and a hint of warning. I turned my eyes towards him, but he kept watching the woman.

"I truly have no idea." His smile wasn't forced, but it was still a little too wide and his body was tense.

"What'd you do, throw it in a lake or something?" She stepped forward with the gun raised and I backed into the detective instinctively, accidentally stepping on his foot. "If you think that will keep you alive until we have the information, you're wrong."

"I never even thought of that. Honestly, I put it somewhere that I really have no idea where it would end up. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't tell you where it was."

"You wouldn't be that stupid. You'd want to put the disc somewhere that someone would be able to find and not throw it away." She closed her eyes for a second before transforming her smile into a grin. "So where did you put it?"

She couldn't be talking about that stupid disc I'd taken from the detective's house. There was nothing important on there, as far as I knew anyway. Hakuba wouldn't meet my gaze, and it didn't seem like a good time to ask for explanations.

"I gave it away. I don't know what the recipient did with it."

Her smile faded somewhat. "Who'd you give it to? You know you've just sentenced him or her to death with you."

"No, I haven't. You don't know who it is, and I don't feel inclined to tell you."

"What are you two talking about? What disc?" I whispered to him.

Hakuba looked at me dubiously before smiling wearily, still looking confused, "You don't know?"

"Of course I don't know. That's why I'm asking you!"

Hakuba smiled back at the woman, a little less confidently than he had been before, "I truly cannot tell you where it is."

She eyed the both of us. "Well then, I have no use for you."

I made sure Hakuba was still behind me. Rival or not, I was not going to let this woman kill him… or me. I had to think of a way to change the situation or we'd both be dead.

But the woman didn't shoot.

"Boy, get out of the way. I don't know who you are, but you can walk away with your life. I'm only after him."

"No." I couldn't understand why she was hesitating to fire on me. Chianti didn't seem to have that problem and this woman didn't look like she would either. And yet she did.

"So you'll die for me to get to him? There's no way that the young detective can escape, and he's made it perfectly clear that I can't use him. You, however, can still walk away. You don't have anything to do with this."

"No. He may be an idiot, but that doesn't mean you can kill him." I hoped whatever it was that was holding her finger would last until I found a way out of this mess. Hakuba seemed to catch onto her hesitation and moved behind me, if not somewhat reluctantly.

"Do you honestly think I won't kill you? You've stood in my way long enough and I don't want to draw a crowd." Her finger tightened, but she didn't pull the trigger. Hesitation crossed her features once more, but she hid it quickly behind her smile again. "Just move and this will all be over."

"No."

"Then die foolishly like all the good guys do."

"A good guy?" Hakuba said sarcastically, thoroughly distracting both of us to the point where I thought she'd kill me because of a mishap. "Don't make me laugh. If he was a 'good guy,' he would have walked away. What he is, is an idiot." How he found the courage to be condescending towards me at a time like this, I didn't know.

"Detective, I don't think you're helping" I smiled, trying to look back at him while keeping the woman in my sights.

"Well, if she's going to kill us anyways, and you won't move, you could at least admit to it."

"To what?"

"To that fact that your complete idiocy knows no bounds. Get out of here."

"Sorry, at the moment I don't care if you're my enemy or my friend, I'm still not going to move so shut up." She was almost close enough. I had to focus her attention back to advancing on us instead of the nostalgia she seemed absorbed in.

The woman shrugged with the gun pointing away from us for a split second, "So be it then." She leveled it back at us.

Perfect.

I reached out my arm and moved as quickly as I could. To their eyes, it must have looked like I tapped the side away from us. I followed the motion through to really make it look like I was just pushing the gun away.

Her eyes narrowed at me, and Hakuba put a hand on my shoulder.

"What are you doing? Are you trying to get us killed?"

"No one's going to die, at least not right now." I couldn't hide the arrogance in my voice, not that I tried to. I walked up to her and her gun, the silencer lengthening the weapon to twice its normal size. "If you were going to shoot me, you would have done so already."

"You shouldn't be so confident boy." There was a pause, and I could have sworn she looked sad, before she pulled the trigger.

There was a click.

But other than that, nothing happened.

"What?" She eyed her gun, safety still off. She looked back at me and I lifted my hands innocently, with one hand clenching something.

"I didn't do anything…" I turned that one hand behind me so that what I had in it would fall securely out of her reach. There was a jangling noise as I opened my fist and let the bullets from the gun fall to the ground, "…much."

I played the fool for a moment. She was stunned, but not worried so I made her believe I thought I had the upper hand in my posture and in my words. "That means I win right?"

"I like you boy," she reached into her jacket, and my relaxed stance vanished as I grabbed her wrist before she could take it out. I felt her tense under my grip, her foot taking a step to the side instead of to the back. She was prepared to take me on, and I wasn't sure if I could keep a good enough hold on her since I had used my bad arm. The next few motions from either of us would determine who came out on top. "Who are you?"

"Does it really matter?" I blinked a few times as something started to irritate my eyes. It took me a second to realize I still had the brown contacts on and that my hair was still gelled. I prayed it was enough to make me unrecognizable later.

But the other woman, Chianti, had seen me in the same disguise which wasn't far away from my true characteristic as it was. The blond woman wasn't stupid either. If she was half as good in the same areas of expertise as I was, which seem more than likely, then she could see through mine disguise as well.

Damn, at least I hadn't completely given myself away.

I was sure the woman could have gotten away from me, but she relaxed and I had to blink a few more times in pain as one of the contacts in my eyes started to slide out of place.

"You have blue eyes…" Her smile was gone, but her tone was indifferent and not a little bit surprised. What did me having blue eyes have anything to do with the situation was beyond me.

"Had them all my life, why?" She watched me, scrutinizing the sound of my voice, which I hadn't bothered to hide, damn, and looking too closely at my face, which I also hadn't bothered to hide, double damn.

"Fine. You can let go of my arm now." I could feel her muscles tense and release as she put the other gun back into her inner pocket. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"And why should I believe you?"

"You shouldn't." She made her motions slow as she put the empty gun into her outer pocket and placed a finger on her nose. "But I like you, and I don't want to have to kill you. You know I could get the other gun if I wanted to."

"You might be able to," I admitted, "And you might not."

"So you'd rather see which one of us would win instead of just walking away from me now with your little friend?" There was nothing taunting in her smile now and she seemed almost relaxed. She also issued lies and threats faster than a serpent. She couldn't be trusted.

"So you let us go now, only to shoot us in the back when I'm not holding you anymore right?"

"I won't do that, but this truce won't last if you insist on fighting me." Now she let the threat sink in.

"If you're being so helpful, could you tell me how you knew it was Hakuba-kun?" The detective still had dark hair and a different style of clothing than what he would usually wear.

The woman pointed back towards the house. "One of us was there when he came with the Osakan boy to drop off the girl. You'd better watch your backs more carefully."

My eyes remained focused on her and she didn't look away. Admittedly, I had to blink far more often than I would like, and I really wished I could move the contact back at that moment, but I was wary of making any kind of motion in her presence, lest it give her a chance to retaliate.

I could have hit myself for being so stupid if I was willing to let her go.

The blond man had been there the whole time. He hadn't had the chance to go near Hakuba since Hattori took the girl, but he had gotten a good look at both of them. Since Hattori was easy enough to recognize, it left the other boy with him as Hakuba by default.

"You're right, we've been careless," I admitted, taking a quick glance back at the detective before returning my gaze back at the woman before me, "What do you want so badly? What's worth killing innocent children?"

"Uah, uah, uah. A secret makes a woman, woman" she spoke to me in English, her American accent thick. "I can't tell you anymore."

"Can I at least get your name? I know you won't tell me your real one." I smirked, hinting that I knew more then she thought. It was incredibly stupid on my part, but I didn't like her treating me like some bystander.

"Only if you give me yours," she said suggestively, her smile practically radiating with malevolent thoughts. I debated in my head for a second what to do. Kudo could easily give me the information if I needed it, and I did have a few more questions to ask him after this little run in, but she'd been fair enough towards me and I was an attention grabber to the end. I couldn't help being a performer, it was in my blood.

"Fine, you first."

"Why, don't you trust me?" She asked sarcastically. "Vermouth."

"Thank you. Will your ceasefire still exists after this as well?" I heard Hakuba grumble about something behind me, the only word I could make out was 'idiot'. I smirked.

"It will. A name changes nothing, but I do keep my word." Some part of her was serious and I couldn't help but trust her on that.

"Forgive me for not using my real name as well. To be fair, a nickname for a code name." I bowed gently, releasing her arm but prepared to grab it again if she made any sudden movements. "I'm Kaitou Kid."

Vermouth's smile faltered, and I tensed under the shift in her mood. She sighed and placed a hand on her hip. "I'll share some information then, if you do as well, seeing as I've promised not to shoot you." At least not now, was implied at the end of her sentence, along with a dangerous looking grin. "Deal?"

I was hesitant to trust her again. Even now, I was preparing myself to react to any hostile movements from her. "As long as it's nothing too revealing," I smiled, trying to make my words relaxed despite the tension between us, and my raising heart rate.

"The children are going to be killed," there was no doubt in her voice. "Because one of us was foolish enough to experiment on them out of the range of the acceptable, they are now living proof of our illegal actions and must be taken care of." She smiled. "Now an easy question for you, Kid," she stressed my counterpart's name, "Is that your real hair color?"

I almost laughed at that simple, yet potentially deadly question. I pondered on the ramifications that could come with my answer before replying, "Would you honestly take the word of a thief?"

"You should know how this works. After all, you are taking the word of a murderer. I don't see why what we've done matters. An innocent person can lie just as easily as a guilty one. So are you going to answer my question?"

I swallowed and bit back on my words. She already knew my eye color and approximate age. If I gave her my hair color, she could drastically narrow down the playing field and determine my real identity.

"Would it make you feel better if I told you I wouldn't use it against you? I just want to know to soothe my own curiosity."

This time I couldn't hold in a gruff laugh. "As if you'd do anything…" I stopped.

I exhaled and closed my eyes, seeing what she would do when I wasn't watching her. Every part of my body was tense, but I needed to know something. Vermouth hadn't shot me earlier, but she didn't know who I was then. Her sad expression when she was ready to shoot me confused me.

I kept my eyes closed for a good twenty seconds, waiting for any type of reaction from her. I could hear her soft breathing on the wind and Hakuba's slightly heavier breathing, along with a soft noise as he moved one foot to the side.

Nothing happened.

I looked back up at her and nodded, "It's my real hair color. I wasn't expecting to run into anyone like you."

Vermouth walked up to me, and I backed into the detective again, not having enough space to move as she placed a hand on my hair. Every shred of sanity in my body was telling me to get as far away from her as possible, but the damned detective was still behind me and she still had a gun.

She took some of the hair on the right side of my head, where most of it was laying after I'd styled it, and placed it on the other side so that my hair was parted in the middle. Her touch was enough to scare the hell out of me.

"Please don't touch me," I managed to get out, not trying to sound rude, but still freaked out at her action.

Vermouth smiled vindictively in response, but let her hand fall back to her side. "Sorry, I had to make sure you weren't lying to me."

We both knew that wasn't the reason she had changed my hair style, but then again I didn't know what the real reason was.

"Anything else you'd like to ask me? I would like a fair trade as compensation though."

"No, you've been quite hospitable given the situation," I bowed gently to her again, taking on my role as Kid now that I had established it, "I think I've had enough of your company though."

She just laughed.

Since Vermouth already knew my true eye color, and it didn't seem like she'd shoot us anytime soon, I took out the left contact that had shifted from its place and placed it in a small box in my pocket. As for the other contact, I'd take it out when we got back. After using those few moments to take care of that, I turned back to Vermouth. She hadn't moved, and was watching us with a smile on her face.

"Why didn't you shoot me?"

"Can you pay the price for my answer?"

She already had the basic information on me so whatever she was going to ask could potentially be dangerous to answer. I was curious though, so I couldn't help but answer, "Sure."

"I didn't shoot you because you look like someone who's… important to me. Your looks saved you today," her smile darkened, "but they might not save you again. My question now: If you are the thief, why would you stand in the way of me killing Hakuba-kun? It would seem like a practical, and simple, solution to both our problems. Your hands wouldn't even get dirty. All you had to do was stand aside."

"Apparently, my reputation does not precede me since you obviously don't know my motto of 'No one gets hurt.' I don't care if he's a detective or not. Killing people, good or bad, is wrong and I don't like to see people die when I can stop it."

"Then what would you do if I did this?" She grabbed the smaller gun out of her pocket and pointed it at her own temple. "Could you watch me die? They'll kill me anyway."

Once I quickly assessed the situation, my reaction was instantaneous. I was at her side in a heartbeat, my feet barely touching the ground. I took a hold of the gun and emptied it as quickly as I had the first one. With Vermouth's attitude so far, I couldn't be sure she wouldn't really shoot herself.

This time, she didn't hide her surprise at my response. She couldn't.

Either she had underestimated my speed, or she really didn't expect me to stop her.

"As if I'd let you off that easy," I smiled darkly back at her.

"Little bird, I have to admit you've surprised me." She shrugged her shoulders and placed the empty gun back in her pocket. I took the bullets and swiped the ones that still littered the sidewalk into my pocket, in case anyone found them.

"That's not the type of surprise I specialize in." I snapped my fingers and when she drew her hand back, she appeared stunned at the sight of the small white flowers in it. Her smile never grew lighthearted, but it definitely lost some of its spite. In fact, her smile and her eyes almost looked…nostalgic, as if she was recalling some far off memory. I was still wary of her, but she seemed to enjoy my magic. The convenient opportunity presented to me after her reaction lightened my mood since I needed one more question answered.

"Your group came here because of Hattori-kun. Is there anyone else in the area besides you at the moment?" I produced a bird on each of my hands and waved them in front of me before seemingly smashing them together to pull out a black rose from the falling feathers. "I can't offer you more for the answer," I said before handing her the flower. I almost never carried black roses on me so it was my only one.

"Little bird, if you keep flying around like that, it makes it easier for the wolves to spot you," she sang in a teasing, but warning voice. "No, I'm the only one in the area right now or you'd be dead, whether I took a liking to you or not." Her smile went a few shades darker as she added, "It would be a shame if your wings were to be clipped."

"I'll be careful, and I appreciate your compliance in the matter. Is it too much to hope that you'll not come after us again in the future?"

"Wistful thinking." Vermouth turned away from me with her hands in her pockets. "You don't have any reason to be afraid of me now that you took all my bullets, so you can stop watching your back."

I smiled kindly as she walked away, even though my nerves were more frayed then they'd been in ages and I was still miles away of understanding most of her words and actions.

As soon as she was out of my sight, I turned around to push the detective back towards Kudo and the others. Even if she did say she was the only one around now, there could more people like her that were coming to follow or watch us and the last thing I wanted to do was lead them to my mom and Jii.

"Kuroba-kun, what do you think you're doing?" Hakuba yelled quietly, so that there was no chance of Vermouth hearing our conversation, as he grabbed onto the front of my jacket. "You couldn't have told her any more about yourself if you tried!"

"I needed the information," I dropped all the formality I'd been using with Vermouth. I was standing on the tips of my feet so that he didn't stretch my jacket. It irritated me that I was shorter than him. "If you saw another way out of that situation, why didn't you speak up?"

"We were out of that situation long before you started spewing out every fact about your life to her. You weren't this forthcoming about yourself when I figured out who you were."

"Because detective," I purred, "You weren't holding the well-being of some of my closest friends as recompense if I failed to answer you truthfully."

"Hakuba," he muttered darkly at me. I didn't see what he was getting at, so I shot him a confused look. The detective took one hand and pointed to himself. "Hakuba."

"Yes, I know your name genius. What about it?"

"It is indeed my name, and you've taken to not using it recently. You call me 'detective' more often than not, and I don't think you're seeing me as me anymore. Just because I've paired up with Kid doesn't mean I want to be treated like a stranger by you."

"And if someone happened to overhear me say your name? Your name is not exactly a common one. It's rather well known, and quite recognizable."

"We weren't around anyone besides Conan-kun and Hattori-kun. There wasn't anyone around to overhear you."

"Well I'm sorry de-… I'm sorry Hakuba-kun, but it's not like I'm doing it on purpose."

"No," he shook his head, "I'm quite aware that it's on a subconscious level, but I don't want you drawing a line between us. Right now, we're partners, not a detective chasing a thief. Do you want me to start calling you thief, or perhaps Kid?"

"No, that would be rather awkward." Even I could hear Kid's language in every word I spoke. Kuroba Kaito would have never phrased his sentence like that. I was getting my personas mixed up and couldn't seem to sort through them. "If you can't take me and Kid, then we're going to have problems."

"Kuroba-kun, I don't mind that you're Kid. I've told you that. What's bothering me is your lack of accounting me into the equations. You don't refer to Hattori-kun that way, and you've even stopped addressing Conan-kun similarly. Why you would subconsciously single me out as 'the detective' is beyond me."

"I apologize then detec-…" I had no idea why I was being that way with Hakuba. Even as Kid, I'd never addressed him that way before, at least not this strongly. Before, it had been a nickname, something to tease Hakuba with during heists. But now, it seemed like all I could think of him as was as a detective. I shook my head, but couldn't find a reason for the change. I went back over the last few days to try and figure out when it had started.

We were having that fight in the car, before Kudo told us everything. What were we fighting about?

"Come on Kuroba-kun, forget I said anything." He sighed, "I just wish you would stop putting yourself in the way of bullets that were meant for me."

Ah, that's what we'd been fighting about.

I looked down at his hands that were still partially holding onto my jacket. "Because detective," my tone was lower than I had intended, but I couldn't control the pitch of my voice any longer, "Kid is your partner." I looked up at him to meet his blue eyes, just a few shades lighter than my own. "Me, Kaito… I'm not. Through this entire thing, we've never been partners..."

Eye contact seemed to help get the message through and he let me go slowly. "So you don't consider me your partner if you were to act like yourself."

"No. I'd consider you many things, but never my partner." I could see he was misunderstanding me as his facial expression grew more withdrawn. "Hakuba-kun, you're different to me when I'm myself, as Kuroba Kaito, than me as Kaitou Kid. I'm trying to find even ground, so if you'll give me time to get used to the idea-"

"Kuroba-kun, if you feel that acting more like Kid will help get the children and me out of this predicament than I won't bring up the subject again."

"That's not it Hakuba-kun!" Ah, I could have shaken him if that act wouldn't immensely hurt my bad arm afterward. I resorted to throwing my hands stubbornly to my sides. "With Kid, you're a partner. With me, Hakuba-kun, you're a friend."

At my statement, his growing detachment switched to sudden confusion.

"Hakuba-kun, if I treat you like I do every day, not as Kid but as myself, then you'd be my friend. If we ran into danger, and I thought of you as a friend instead of as an accomplice," I winced at my word choice, but he didn't seem to have taken it the wrong way so I continued, "I wouldn't be focused on my own safety anymore. I'd be more worried about you. Do you understand why I've been treating you differently? I haven't had to face Hattori and Conan-kun everyday for the last few months, so they're both already partners to me in both mind sets. Geez, I sound like a nutcase." I scratched my head absently, hoping he'd understand what I was trying to get across.

"Boundaries," his voice was so quiet I almost couldn't hear him, "You do it to keep some distance between yourself and others so that your attachment to others will not affect your thoughts in a dangerous situation. If you can make yourself believe there's a distance then it's easier to concentrate."

"I think you kind of get what I mean. However, I don't keep people at a distance though."

"Not intentionally," Replied Hakuba before pausing in thought. After pondering for a few minutes, his face glowed with some sort of understanding that I couldn't follow. "I see. That's why. That's another reason you purposely change your personality too, isn't it? Not just to hide from others, but to hide from yourself. Kuroba- kun -"

He looked at me with an expression he never had before. Most of his glances were outright annoyance or, more recently, strained tolerance. This one faintly resembled acceptance, and it felt weird. "It's because I was so angry at you, wasn't it? I'm the reason you're doing this because I told you not to endanger yourself. You're specifically keeping me at arm's length because I told you to."

"Sure. Let's go with that." I rose an eyebrow, still not completely following his logic. "But you couldn't tell me to do anything unless I wanted to."

"No, never mind." He brushed me off. "I understand now."

"Good because you've just confused me."

"Kuroba-kun, I don't think I'd mind it anymore. If you asked me last week, I would have said you were out of your mind, but I'm putting pieces together that I'm sure you'd rather I not. Unfortunately, it's making me respect you more than I ever did before."

"What are you talking about? I haven't done anything. In fact, you were just yelling at me two seconds ago about what I was doing."

"Yes, because I didn't understand. Now I do. I don't think I'd mind being your friend." Hakuba put his hand out. "I think I need a friend right now, just as much as I need a partner."

"You can't have both. We've been fighting every time I've tried that."

"You're a mess of contradictions as it is." His smile wasn't overly mischievous, but it was getting there. "I'm sure you can pull it off."

"I can pull anything off." I shook his hand, still unsure of what he'd been saying. "Well Hakuba, let's get back before anything else happens."

"Why are we going back? Aren't we going to go to the hospital?"

"Vermouth may be the only one around, but that doesn't mean she won't follow us. I'm not going to lead these maniacs to my mom and Jii." I sighed and rolled my shoulders to get rid of some of the tension in them. "Unfortunately, if Vermouth is here, others might come too because Hattori-kun visits so often. Mouri's, Hattori's, and Hakase's homes aren't safe any longer. I'll need to make room for a few more house guests."

"Are we taking the children back too? Your house is safe enough, but it's not like you live far from me. If they're spotted…"

"We'll have to risk it. Conan-kun can stay here if he wants, but Hattori-kun has to come back with us."

"I know that." Hakuba sighed at the idea of Hattori staying over at my house with him.

"Why do you mind if it's Hattori-kun and not me? I thought you'd have more of a problem being with a thief than a detective."

"He can be insufferable sometimes." He sighed in exasperation. "And when he proves me wrong, I take it as more of an insult than if you would. Being corrected by someone in the same profession makes you more self-conscious. What if I was a thief and constantly pointing out all the things you do wrong?"

"I'd probably hit you and tell you to mind your own business."

"That's why we don't get along. Conan-kun is a lot more subtle in his corrections." He spared me a sideways look. "Though I still don't understand why you take his opinions so seriously."

"Why don't you ask him? If he answers you, great. If he doesn't, you're out of luck because I'm not telling." I winked at him to show him I wasn't being spiteful. We were back at the professor's quickly enough, and Hakuba spent the rest of the walk back there in his thoughts and I in mine. Things were becoming more dangerous, and we were running out of safe places to hide. It was like trying to make a safety net out of glass.

"What are you doing back here?" Kudo asked when we walked into the house. I looked at the clock and noticed it was eleven. I couldn't figure how long we'd been gone since my timing earlier must have been off.

"We've run into some trouble." After I said that, I immediately recalled something from earlier. My eyes widened at that realization as I turned to Hakuba to exclaim, "Wait a minute! You never told me what was going on!"

"We'll talk about that later. I think we'd better get out of here, like you were planning, before anything else happens."

"Right," I huffed, "But I'm not letting this go. You're going to tell me what it is she was asking you for."

"I thought you knew." He put his hands up. "Later, I promise."

"Where's Hattori-kun?" I asked after I looked around the room several times and noticed that he wasn't around.

"He went back to Osaka. Kazuha-san called him up after you left and it seemed easier for him to go back until tomorrow."

"That's not good." I put a hand to my head and slouched down on the couch. "What an idiot!"

"Kuroba-kun, it's not like we figured it out either." Hakuba turned to Kudo. "Is he flying back, or taking the bullet train?"

"He's flying, and he's probably on the plane by now. He left right after you did." Kudo was putting the pieces together, and I knew he'd figure out what the problem was given a few minutes. Meanwhile, I took out the phone again and scrolled through it.

"Damn, he probably had a return ticket too. We'd have to go through customs and the only one who could do that would be me. Seeing either of your names on the plane list there and back would allow them to track our location."

"I'm not staying at your house while you go off on your own," stated Hakuba adamantly, his tone slightly bitter.

"I know that Hakuba, that's why I'm trying to find an alternative." I hit the call button and put the phone to my ear, holding up my finger so that the other two wouldn't talk while I was on the phone.

"Hello?" said a woman's voice, one that I could recognize. The number was one of the few I knew in Jii's phone and I'd gotten hold of it myself.

"Hi," there was no mask to my voice and I didn't even bother to put in Kid's playfulness. "I was wondering if you could help me with something."

"Kuroba Kaito. It's been a while. I didn't expect to hear from you again after we parted ways."

"I didn't either, but with all the plane rides you must have taken, it would have looked suspicious if your name was on those tickets. Do you think you can pull some strings for me?"

"I do owe you, but I've given up that lifestyle." I could hear the laughter in her voice. "What do you need?"

"Thanks, I need two tickets…wait, you know what, make that three. I don't feel like traveling as myself if I don't have to. It's for two teens and a child. I'll pay you the money later."

"Where are you coming from and where are you going? I can get you the next flight or a later one."

"The earliest if you can. I know you're in France right now. Did I wake you?"

"Yes, you did. It's a little after four in the morning here." I could hear how tired she was, but the authority in her voice hid it well. "My contacts in Tokyo should still be up though, so time won't be a problem."

"You're helping me a lot more than I thought you would."

"Well Kuroba-kun, no Kid-san, you did help me when I was the one who so blatantly challenged you. I can't say I would have returned the favor if our roles were reversed."

"Well thank you Neko-san," I chuckled. "I also didn't know you were privy to my name. I guess you saw me before the lights went out."

"Perhaps," I could hear the smugness in Chat Noir's voice. "Now about those tickets…"