Shinichi was sitting at the table when Kaito came down the next morning, an unusual occurrence that made the sleepy thief pause to make sure he wasn't just seeing things. The sun from outside was bright, and a glance at the clock reassured him that he hadn't just slept through the day and woken up when Shinichi would usually be home. A steaming cup of coffee sat in front of the detective, although judging by the amount left in the mug he'd been down here for a while; he was also halfway through the morning newspaper, turning the page and looking up at the new arrival.

"Morning." The detective greeted once the sleepy theif recovered from his confusion and, taking it all in stride, moved into the kitchen to prepare his own breakfast. He briefly considered taking some coffee for himself, but decided against it, grabbing some milk and cereal and joining the other at the table.

"G'morning." He responded almost automatically, hopping into the chair opposite the detective, "You aren't going in today?"

It was the only explanation he could come up with that would explain the detective's presence. Unless something important happened that warranted a private investigation, such as what happened last weekend, Shinichi usually left early, to pop over to the police station. The detective might as well live there for all the time he spent in the police department. In response to Kaito's query, Shinichi nodded slowly, "Yeah. I realized that I need to take a break sometimes."

An eyebrow rose in response to that, Kaito not even bothering to hide his disbelief at that statement. As if Shinichi would notice such a thing even if someone tied him into a chair and forced the sentiment on him. The detective was far too work oriented, and often forgot about himself—as he'd observed, and heard from Ran when the girl got overly annoyed with Shinichi—apparently he'd even forgotten his own birthday a few years back, a fact that had amused him and had resulted in merciless teasing of the subject for hours on end. He wondered who'd made Shinichi wake up and realize that he was human, and needed other things besides mysteries, murders, and school.

Shinichi returned his disbelief with a half-hearted glare, and the magician just smiled serenely at him. It was amusing to see the detective's cheeks puff out slightly in annoyance, and then deflate once he realized that it was just teasing. Or maybe Shinichi was just playing along this morning, either way it provided him with early morning entertainment.

"So, what'cha going to do on your rare day off?" The question was asked plainly, without an abundance of wide eyes and cuteness that he usually had to slather on whenever talking to someone his original age. It wasn't often any more that he actually got to converse with Shinichi, so even the customary teasing was pushed aside in favor of actual conversation. The detective seemed to think over the question for a moment, "I was thinking of meeting up with Ran later this afternoon…"

At that statement some hope, that Kaito hadn't realized he had held, died. After realizing that Kudou wasn't going into work, he'd considered that maybe he'd be able to spend some time with the detective. He didn't care really what it would be, a board game, maybe watch some TV, or just talk—hell, he'd even play a game of soccer; as long as he was able to do something with someone who acknowledged him as an adult. Sure, there was the Professor next door…but, while Agasa was a nice guy, he seemed a little uncomfortable whenever Kaito was around. Maybe, as a scientist, he had difficulty accepting and believing that shrinking people was possible. To be honest, Kaito didn't really like spending time with him either, if he had the choice—he either tried to fill the silence with pun-based jokes, or would ramble on about whatever technological doohickey he was currently working on.

"But that's a while later yet. I was wondering if you wanted to go anywhere today."

The words barely registered, before the part of Kaito's mind that was always paying attention managed to knock the rest back on track. He immediately perked up, the possibility of a distraction pushing the earlier thoughts out of his mind. Go. That meant getting out of the house. With Shinichi! With someone who wouldn't try to hold his hand whenever they had to cross the street, with someone who would actually speak to him without it being filtered through some child-safe section in their brains.

"I'd like to!" was the immediate answer, before he slowed down and thought a little more about his options. Obviously it would have to be someplace where a child would be allowed—he had a cover to maintain, after all—which ruled out one of his initial wishes. He'd been hoping that maybe he'd be able to get to a pool hall; while he wasn't particularly good at the game, he rather missed it. What was the old saying? 'You don't know what you have until it's gone?' Something like that. Anyway, a pool hall was out of the picture, the only local one he knew of that catered to anyone under the age of 18 was Jii's, and he was supposed to be avoiding his old life.

He wondered how the old man was doing; he hadn't seen him since the last heist he'd pulled. He hoped that Jii hadn't taken his disappearance too badly. The thought of the older gentleman believing him dead at the hands of Snake and Co was a thought that haunted Kaito during his first few weeks in this situation. It would have been too much for him to bear, losing both Kaito and Toichi to the same men. Then again, he hadn't heard any news of Kaitou Kid appearing, and Jii would likely don the costume again if he believed Kaito murdered, if only to try and lure out the ones responsible.

Perhaps he could talk Shinichi into that soccer game after all, but Kaito didn't really feel like going to the park. He could do that whenever he wanted to and he kinda wanted to go somewhere people gathered. Movie theater? Nah, there wasn't anything he wanted especially to see—not that he kept up with the newest releases. Besides, the mere suggestion of the idea dragged his mind back to Aoko and their weekly movie nights. He did not need to go there.

"…But I can't really think of anything…"

"Hmm…" Shinichi rested his fingers against his chin—one of his patented thinking poses, although it wasn't the Holmes one—and was quiet for a few moments. At last he looked up, suggesting "What about the arcade? We don't really have any games around the house, so it'd be something new."

Kaito considered it for a moment, resisting the urge to bash his head against the table for not thinking of that option. It was perfect. Plenty of people around, lots of noise so they could talk about almost anything they wanted without being overheard, plus, a teenager taking his younger brother to an arcade wouldn't be out of place at all. Not to mention he enjoyed video games. Sure he would rather be plotting a heist, giving a magic show, or even watching one, but beggars can't be choosers.

"That'd be great." He grinned up at Shinichi, pausing briefly at the satisfied smile that appeared on the detective's face as he closed up the newspaper. The page hadn't changed in the last few minutes, and the detective had seemed unusually interested in whatever was on it. Odd.

"Alright. Let me make some arrangements and then we can go."

"Alright." Kaito mimicked, right down to voice and expression, but only after the detective rose from his seat and placed his mug in the sink—which just so happened to be filling up with dishes rather quickly. The magician followed soon after, placing his by now empty bowl in with the rest of the tableware, making a mental note to transfer them to the dishwasher later that night. He was almost giddy with excitement, even to the point where the uneasy feelings that had been preoccupying his thoughts of late drifted to the background. It was amazing what something to look forward to would do to a person's mood.

I wish Shinichi was around more often. The thought filtered through a whirlwind of other threads of consciousness, ghosting its way to the front of his mind. He didn't give it much attention, more focused on trying to take the stairs two at a time as he made his way up to his room to change.

--

"Haibara! I see you've managed to convince Kazuha to let you come up for a bit."

Hattori Heiji resisted the urge to reach down and ruffle his companion's hair; he knew out of previous experience that it would only earn him a glare and a kick in the shins. She might look like a cute little girl, but she was a wolf's in sheep's clothing as far as personality went.

Those cool blue eyes watched him critically for a moment, before thin shoulders rose and fell in a dismissive shrug. Normally it would irk him to no end to be looked down upon so by a child, but he knew better when it came to this girl. It was so difficult to see normally, but he was well aware of the fact that this 'child' was no more a kid than he was.

"Anyway, remember the kid I told you about? He lives here." Heiji continued, gesturing to the large house beyond the black iron fence. They were a little to the side of the main entrance, the position picked so that they would have a large view of the house, without being seen from the front door, or even the front drive.

"Kudou, huh?" The comment was almost like a thought said aloud, "I remember…I actually considered coming here when it first happened."

"Did ya?" He had to push down a bit of jealousy that flared up at that comment. Well, regardless of her considering Kudou, she had indeed come to him, Hattori Heiji, and not that Detective from the East. That had to count for something right?

"Aa…Tokyo was too close. Too dangerous." She chuckled, a dark sound, she didn't seem the least bit amused. "Not like anywhere else is much better. They have a presence almost everywhere."

"Is that so?" The answer was almost automatic, "Anyway, you said that there was one other person like you?"

Ai nodded, attention flicking from the house and focusing on him with an intensity that always made his skin crawl with unease. Her intensity was the one thing that kept the idea of her being a normal child as far from his mind as it was, and even though she was able to act the part at times, he just couldn't consolidate the small, brown haired young woman before him with a regular kid. It was just impossible, no matter how much his eyes tried to tell him so.

"Before my…escape, I was aware of a single use of my drug. A high-schooler, located in Tokyo, who'd run afoul Gin and Vodka. The report indicated that the poison was used because of a police presence caused by the actions of one Kudou Shinichi, which ruled out more…traditional methods. No name was reported for the victim." A faint smile began to spread across her face as she saw Heiji notice the connection. "Yes, that is the only reason why I'm actually willing to consider you might have found him."

"Oi, what does that mean? Don't you trust my skills?" Heiji responded, a little indignant when it came to the bruise to his pride. He'd like to think that she had some confidence in him by now, otherwise what was the point of her bringing her situation to his attention all that time ago? She could have gone anywhere, considering she was able to get to Osaka from Tokyo, and he didn't doubt that she could get some other family or another to take her in, so why come to him if she didn't think he could do the job?

"Not particularly." The answer was bland, almost monotone, but something shown in those ice blue eyes that told the detective that she was teasing him.

"Yeah well, in that case you can—" He cut himself off suddenly, drawing back toward the hedges that ran along the fence in some regions of the yard. A faint hint of concern showed in Ai's eyes, before she noticed what had caused him to fall silent. Thankfully, she knew better than to draw attention, so she drew back behind him, letting Heiji take the reigns as he observed the pair making their way up the long drive. It was Kudou, and the kid, which was as expected since there wasn't supposed to be anyone else living in the house. Not that the kid was listed as being in residence, Heiji had found out that little tidbit with a bit of investigative work on his own, along with the fact that there weren't any records of him anywhere. Officially, he didn't seem to exist, a fact that Heiji considered extremely sloppy. Even Ai had some sort of previous records, and they were pretty good forgeries if he had to admit it. He had no idea how she'd gotten them done, and he didn't really want to ask. Not that he expect her to answer.

The duo was almost to the edge of the drive now, and Heiji noticed for the first time, that the kid seemed almost…older than Ai did. His lips thinned, it was a possible that 'Kai' had been tall for his age then, but…it was just not right. He didn't want to admit that he might have been wrong, that this kid was really just a kid and he'd made a mistake.

He shook it off immediately, right or wrong, there was no harm in finding out. Kudou and the boy turned down the street, heading for the nearby bus-stop. Once they were out of earshot, Haibara looked at him curiously, "Are we following?"

"Yeah."

-Couple Hours Later-

"Hah! I win again!"

"Yeah yeah." Shinichi grumbled, eyeing the machine before him with distaste. Now he remembered why he didn't own any video games. Troublesome things they were, always going in the most obvious direction, which played havoc with his mind because he kept wanting to look further than needed in order to find the answer. Also, his hand-eye coordination wasn't the best—Kaito's was scary.

The boy had taken to the shooting games like a duck to water, although the grip on the 'gun's seemed weird to him. It spoke of previous experience, as did the uncanny accuracy. Shinichi considered himself a good shot, but the weird way the games were set up, trying to judge distances when it really was a picture on a flat screen, kept messing him up. Not so for his under-sized companion judging by the 100% listed under accuracy on the game screen.

"You really aren't very good at these, are you?" Kaito teased good-naturedly, replacing the plastic gun in its holder and looking around curiously for the next challenge. The detective just waved it off, muttering something along the lines of "Don't practice much" which got a laugh in return, "Well, neither do I."

Shinichi declined the invitation to the next game, which seemed to be a two person racing game, content to just stand back and watch as Kaito dug into his pockets, searching for the correct amount of tokens for this one. A girl stopped him, catching the boy's attention, probably asking if she could play with him. Judging by the smile and nod given, Kaito had agreed, a fact that had Shinichi smiling to himself—this had been a good idea.

In such a lively environment, Kaito seemed to blossom. It was as if a lot of tension had been released all at once, not quite gone, but relieved enough that he could return to his usual excited self. The contact with the other kids probably helped with that—even if it wasn't quite the same as having people his own age, at least the children were a nice substitute because he didn't have to act too much for them.

The game started now, the girl slipping into the second player seat just as Kaito was getting into the first. Once the words 'Race Start!' scrolled across the screen, Shinichi looked away, the detective in him taking note of all the other people in the arcade, their positions, and any other identifying features automatically. Most were middle-schoolers, with a few older teenagers huddled around a couple of the fighting games. There was a gaggle of primary school kids near the front, clustered around a Kamen Yaiba game. All in all, it was just what one would expect from a popular arcade in the more respectable sections of the city.

Shinichi glanced down at the watch secured snugly to his wrist, checking the time against what he'd told Ran earlier over the phone. They had about twenty minutes until he had to pick up his friend, just enough time if they left pretty soon. He pushed away from the wall he'd been leaning against, hands in his pockets as he approached the game. Luckily, it was already ended; it just had, the 'You Lose' was still taking up one of the screens. A quiet laugh escaped as he took in Kaito's surprised expression, eyes glued to the damning message in front of him. "Come on Kai, it's time to go."

If Kaito heard him, he didn't respond. His mouth was moving, quiet 'I lost?'s sounding over and over again. Shinichi grinned; it had to be a blow to the magician's ego to have lost to a child, especially at a driving game, "Let's go."

"It was a good race, Kudou-kun." came the polite consolations from the little girl in the other chair. She was pretty cute, with tea-brown hair that reminded him a little of Ran's friend Sonoko. She seemed polite, reserved, and well mannered if her behavior was any indication.

"But I lost!" was the whined response, getting a laugh out of both detective and girl. Shinichi shook his head, "Come on, we don't want to be late. You don't want Ran mad at me, do you?"

That seemed to snap Kaito out of his stupor, and Shinichi immediately regretted it once the boy turned calculating, gleaming eyes on him. "I don't know…" He drew out the silence, slipping out of the seat, "I think it'd be pretty fun to watch you running for your life."

"Mean kid." If it had been any other, he would have taken a leaf out of Mouri's book and given the boy a well deserved clout on the head. But as it was, he couldn't bring himself to do it, knowing that he was being intentionally baited. "Come on."

And so, with a wave goodbye to the girl—whose name Shinichi failed to catch—they left.

--

"So. What do you think?" The girl turned her head away from the now empty racing game, looking up into green eyes set in a dark skinned face, half-hidden by a baseball cap.

"He's a good actor."

"Should we tell?"

Calculating blue eyes gleamed, "How well do you trust Kudou Shinichi?"

--

"Soo, Kudou, what surprise for Ran have you been keeping from me all day?" Kaito tilted his head to the side, glancing up at the face of the detective that was purposefully turned away. Shinichi had been keeping quiet about the evening's plans all day, no matter how much he'd been pestered about it. Eventually Kaito had given up, and was only now reattacking the matter because they were already on the bus, enroute to the Mouri detective agency to pick up Shinichi's 'date' for the night. He figured he was going to find out sooner or later—it was just he'd rather it be sooner than later just in case it would end up being something boring that he had to try and escape from.

"Stupid." Shinichi muttered, but there wasn't any venom behind the word, only resigned affection. The detective's shoulders rose and fell with a small sigh, "It isn't for Ran."

"Oh? Then what is the big secret for anyway?"

"Just be patient." Which just so happened to be the same answer he'd gotten to all his other inquiries throughout the day. He let out an annoyed huff; he hated secrets that he didn't know. Keeping his own were just fine and dandy, but if there was even a whiff of the unknown around someone else he just had to find it out. It was probably a side-effect of being of a not-so-law-abiding citizen—when playing a game for both freedom and life; it was very inconvenient to have to factor unexpected surprises into contingency plans. Even though he'd only been a thief for maybe a year at most, and had not been active for almost half of that, the habits were almost impossible to break.

Since his snooping wasn't getting him anywhere, Kaito settled into his seat to sulk while taking care to make it obvious he was refusing to look over at the detective. Shinichi, who was probably pretty damn good at keeping his thoughts to himself even if he was a terrible liar, didn't seem to take any notice of his companion's purposeful snub. He old moved from the disinterested stare when the bus rolled to a stop, doors opening to admit the one passenger at this station. Kaito also looked up upon hearing the familiar voice thanking the bus-driver, moving to vacate the seat to allow Ran to sit next to Shinichi. However, before he could move, a strong hand grabbed his arm. "Don't. It would look weird for a kid to sit by himself when with his guardian. It's either this, or …"

…the detective had a point, unfortunately; if he did try to move Kudou would probably kidnap him and make him sit on his lap again. It hadn't happened in a long time, but he easily remembered the embarrassment and had no wish to go through it again. Even though he was annoyed with the other for being so stubborn with such an unimportant secret—it wasn't like it was life-threatening or anything—it wasn't worth being treated like a five year old just so Shinichi could sit by his 'girlfriend'.

"Shinichi! Kai!" Ran's enthusiastic greeting came soon enough, and the black-haired high school girl slid into the chair in front of the duo, half turned in her seat so she could talk to the two behind her. She didn't seem at all upset that Kai hadn't moved, indeed she was quite pleasant, chatting and asking about the past few weeks.

"Really, I hadn't seen you in so long, and Shinichi hasn't mentioned you, that I actually thought you'd gone home."

Home? Oh right. They'd told Ran that 'Kudou Kai' was staying with Shinichi until his parents could find a stable job and home. Truthfully, Kaito had harbored some hope that this whole situation would just be temporary, short-lived, and that he'd return to normal size once the drug had been processed completely. Even if that hadn't happened, he'd been rather optimistic about Shinichi's chances of finding more about the guys who shrank him in the first place. It wasn't as if the detective was slacking, it's just that there weren't many clues left for him to follow. He'd apparently found quite a few cases that could possibly be linked to the same people, but, there was no proof. No evidence. None. Nada. Zip.

"Kai-kun…?"

Wha? Oh, right. Little kid. "Sorry Ran-neechan, I was just thinking. Mom and Dad haven't settled down yet, and they said it was better to stay with Shinichi-niichan until they do."

"Ooh. What about school then?"

"Shinichi-niichan is tutoring me. He said I'm doing really good!" Add a bit of preening, puff out the chest a bit like so, and bingo, instant proud little boy. As Ran started quizzing him about what he was supposedly 'learning', with Kaito answering automatically without much thought—although he still kept up the proud façade—he was starting to wish Shinichi hadn't picked up Ran. She was a nice girl, but…the day had been going so well.

The end of the ride couldn't come too soon, and it was with great gusto that Kaito hopped off the bus, moving ahead of the two teenagers, but not far enough to make Ran call him back. He glanced around, curious as to where they'd come. It was down-town, in what was considered the theatre district due to the plays and shows to be seen live on stage. His interest was piqued—were they going to a play? It wasn't quite what he wanted to do, but it seemed interesting as long as it wasn't something lovey dovey. He drew the line at Romance movies, so it only made sense to include plays under that rule. He glanced back at Shinichi, who was rooting around in his pocket before pulling out a folded piece of paper—probably directions, "Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

And see he did. Ten minutes later had Kaito gaping at the sign out front of the theatre they'd ended up at. He spun around, looking up at Shinichi with wide, disbelieving eyes, "Are you serious?!"

Ran had gone ahead to stand in the ticket line, allowing them to speak freely. Shinichi only smiled and nodded, "I figured you might be interested when I saw the ad this morning."

A last glance between sign and detective and Kaito sprang forward, arms wrapped tightly around Shinichi in a grateful hug, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"I told you the surprise wasn't for Ran."

He almost couldn't believe it. Shinichi had found a magic show. A MAGIC SHOW! Sure, he could probably explain and repeat most of the tricks shown during it, but that wasn't the point. He hadn't seen any magic, or even preformed much magic except for his occasional shows in the park. Magic tricks, illusions, and sleight of hand were his passions, and while he couldn't have an audience of his own, it was just as nice a feeling to be someone else's audience every once in a while. Plus, every show was a learning experience.

He couldn't help a wide, genuine grin even as he released his death grip on the detective. Just in time too, because Ran returned with the tickets. She was surprised at the sudden increase of enthusiasm, but Kaito's cheer was infectious.

And once again, Shinichi congratulated himself on a job well done.

--

"Ma'am, the crystal ball is acting strange." A little hunched over man stood in the open parlor door, dressed in the usual attire of a butler or servant. Grey eyes flickered in his direction, pencil pausing. The sole occupant of the room, a young lady, looked up at the words, a slender hand pushing back stray strands of hair, "Oh?"

"It has activated on its own, Mistress, and the images within are whirling about too fast to be made out."

"Hmm…" She rose gracefully from her chair, leaving behind the history essay she'd been working on, intrigued and a little worried at the crystal's actions. Koizumi Akako, the sole black magic user in Ekoda, made her way through the lower passages of her home. While most people might find the dark, almost gloomy atmosphere uneasy, Akako was rather fond of it. Indeed, much of the lower levels of the mansion were styled after olden castles, the stone walls and torches giving the corridors an eerie and mysterious aura.

The secret door into the inner sanctum—where most of her magical items were kept—opened at a word and a touch, the wall section sliding back to reveal a set of cold, stone stairs, leading down, down into the underground sublevel of her home. The chamber containing her divination equipment was just off to the side of the main atrium, and in she stepped, closing the door behind her and locking it for good measure.

In the center of the room was a stone pedestal, upon which sat a stand made up of four metal snakes. The shining bodies seemed to come alive under the frantic multicolored lights thrown off by the floating sphere above it, the bottom of the globe barely a few centimeters from the snakes' open mouths. She approached it slowly, cautiously—rogue magic was always something to be wary of, even for a witch of Akako's prowess—and placed her hand gently on the top of the smooth glass. She reached with her own magic into the wild power, bringing it to order, "Why have you called me here?"

"Mistress…" The usually strong voice was cracked and uncertain. Akako bade it continue, watching the pictures within its foggy depths, listening as the crystal tried to convey its news.

--

The phone rang.

"Fox here."

Silence.

"Understood."

Click.

A/N: Oi…longest chapter to date for this story. Probably one of the quickest too. I'm not sure what caused me to write it, and finish it so soon. Thanksgiving break maybe? I was thinking of holding onto it for another week or so, in hopes for a few more reviews on the last chapter, but it's impossible for me to have a finished chapter and not post it…

See? Ai and Akako! And Heiji…Last chapter was kinda filler-ish, yes, but it was a build up for this chapter, where some plot appears every now and then.

Not much of a response, but it is Thanksgiving, so I figure people were just busy. Big thank yous for those who did review and for the few recs I got. Unfortunately…I've read them all. Ah well, that just means I need to go reread the manga or something.

Question. I have two different options for the epilogue for this story, and I can't decide on which one I like better…would it be okay to post both as 'alternate' endings or do I have to make a choice? I'm leaning toward the alternate endings, but I'm not sure if that would be too confusing.