It was late when the show ended, and they dropped off Ran at her house before returning the rest of the way, Shinichi under orders to get 'Kai-chan' to bed soon. Kaito had shot a discrete glare at the detective once he agreed, but there wasn't much venom behind it—he knew his housemate would not dare. It wasn't even that late anyway, eleven o clock at night was nothing compared to 3 am or later bedtimes when he used to prepare for a heist. That was on top of school the next day as well.

Kaito was in a good mood after the magic show, a better mood than he'd been in a long time. He'd been correct, the featured magicians weren't overly talented—it was a given considering the tickets were relatively cheap and they hadn't needed to buy them ahead of time—but he'd completely enjoyed himself. A few of the card-tricks and sleight of hand had only needed a careful look-over before he was easily able to replicate them. He'd even shown off a bit for Ran and the surrounding spectators using a deck of cards and a few other props that he always kept on hand. It was partially habit, partially because he sometimes spontaneously decided to put on a show for the Shounen Tantei. While there were many tricks that could be done using whatever items were on hand, it was always better to have a wide variety, and card tricks were always a favorite.

The adults had oohed and aahed, congratulating him for being so talented, so 'young'. Normally such patronizing would spoil his good mood, but it was attention, and attention was nice. Plus, he could see the grin and the admiration on Shinichi's face, and that was worth more than the others combined. Shinichi was pretty sharp when it came to figuring out the simpler, and even the more complicated tricks, but Kaito's attempts to teach had failed miserably. Ah well, he was a detective after all. A critic, not an artist.

Looking back, he realized just how much the detective had planned out ahead of time. From taking the day off from his unofficial job, to collecting Ran (who was always a willing audience), to finding the final magic show—and it had all been for him. It had been out of the blue, completely unexpected. He hadn't even seen Shinichi at all yesterday, and the day before had been nothing different. Well, wherever the idea came from, Kaito was glad of it.

The affair of returning home hadn't really been much. Upon entering the house, and closing the door that kept the outside world away, Shinichi had looked down at him and asked, "Did you like it?"

The answer had been simple. Completely and utterly simple. "Yes." That had launched into an analysis on the contents of the show, an explanation for a select few of the acts—but only the ones Shinichi had managed to figure out mostly—a magician always kept some secrets—and there were even some attempts to teach the detective some of the simpler tricks. But even such lively discussions had to end, and the detective had retired not too long ago—he still planned on going into the station the next morning and a decent night's sleep was very helpful. Kaito was left alone in the large house, but somehow the despair and loneliness didn't descend as it used too, kept at bay by buoyed spirits.

He'd eventually wandered from the sitting room where he'd talked with Shinichi, into his own room on the second floor. He pulled out most of the props he'd pilfered from his house on his last supply run, deciding it was well past time for him to practice, even if it was simply to prove to himself that he still could. Many of the tricks were easy for him, flawless and smooth, as if he'd never stopped practicing. It was much like riding a bike for him, once learned, it would be a simple matter to pick it up again. Juggling balls that multiplied themselves, silk scarves that never ended, floating pencils—the works. He missed his doves, wishing he could add the birds to his little impromptu performance, but they were still at Mom's house. At least they would be well cared for with her.

The window let in a constant, steady stream of moonlight, removing the need for a light source. It added an extra effect to a few of his tricks, creating mystical patterns against the walls when used in conjunction with the crystal juggling stones his mother had given him for his birthday some years back. He watched the stones glide in their dance, the sparkles along the wall following the motions, of all the tricks he could do, juggling was still his favorite.

A chill caught his attention, along with the faint sound of clapping, as if of applause. Kaito twitched a little, catching the stones and stopping their spin, turning toward the window where he'd heard the sound. There wasn't anything there, just the waxing moon through the window pane, which happened to be cracked open a little. Kaito set the stones to the side, rising out of his sitting position and to his feet. He crossed the distance to the window, glancing out into the dark. Nothing there. With a shrug he pulled the window shut, flicking the lock so it wouldn't happen again. It was possible he'd just forgotten to close it all the way; he'd had it open earlier in the morning, before they'd left.

The clapping was probably just his imagination. He'd gotten himself into a performing mindset, and after he was done he'd just imagined the usual reactions to a performance—applause. At any rate, if he was hearing things, it was probably time to go to sleep. Maybe tomorrow he'd track down the Shounen Tantei and show them some of the tricks he'd just learned today.

It didn't take long to clean up, and his props were now hidden in the closet, right above the loose floorboard that marked the hiding spot of his thiefly accessories. Eventually he flopped down onto the bed, pulling his cellphone out of his pocket and quickly checking it. An eyebrow rose, apparently he'd missed a call from Mom earlier. Ah well, he'd call her back tomorrow, it was a little late now, and he didn't think she had work.

--

Kaito awoke the next morning earlier than usual, but still long after Shinichi had already left. He wandered around the house, doing random chores to pass the time. It was the least he could do in return for his room and board since actually paying rent was out of the question considering he didn't have any income, and couldn't access his bank account. By the time he was done, it was about noon time, and a beautiful, bright sunny day was just beckoning him outside of the house.

Since he'd already had a trip to the park on his agenda he didn't resist the sun's invite for too long, and soon found himself locking the door behind him and leaving the Kudou mansion behind. The park wasn't too far from home, maybe about a ten minute walk if he didn't get distracted by something or other along the way. It was a nice place, wide open spaces surrounded by a ring of trees and connected by paths that ran between the little clearings. Many different attractions were located within the separate 'zones', including, but not limited to a mini, all purpose sports field, walls where one could practice aiming a tennis ball or a soccer ball, playground equipment, and the occasional bench and fountain set up, which was where he was headed now.

Kaito knew that if the Shounen Tantei would be here today—which they would, barring other engagements or the rare occurrence of them actually getting a case—they would be either at the playground or the fountain. The girl, Ayumi, loved playing with the water, and the two boys that hung out with her weren't willing to deny her anything. The fountain was also Kaito's preferred performance spot, the benches allowing the audience to sit, and the path providing ample space for any number of tricks. Even if that certain group of kids wasn't there today, he was pretty confident he'd be able to find some kind of audience—it was just too nice a day for there to be no one else throughout the entire park.

--

"It's such a lovely day, wouldn't you agree?"

It hadn't even been five seconds after the words passed her lips that she could sense the walls go up, the familiar sense dimming. The boy turned towards her, stopping in the formerly merry stroll down the cobbled path.

"Are you talking to me, Onee-san?" The voice was different then she remembered, but then again, so was the form. But, the face was the same, and so were the eyes, along with the faint aura he was unconsciously trying to hide. She was positive she had found the right person, despite the fact that logic told her that it was impossible. Then again, who needed logic when they had magic?

"Where is your mother, Boya?"

"At home." She watched as a bit of wariness crept into the innocent sound, easily mistaken as a normal reaction to a stranger, but she knew better. Tsk, Kuroba-kun, she couldn't help but think to herself, You've got to do better. Normally a child, when asked such by a stranger, wouldn't stick around, and this boy, hadn't yet moved. A thought came to mind; Did you miss us, Kuroba-kun?

It was time for a test.

"Are you so sure, Kaito-kun?" She purposefully lowered her voice at the name, and the response she received was a faint flickering in the half-hidden aura. Such identification spells were quite useful when searching for someone, because only magic-users even knew they existed, and thus knew how to manipulate and hide an aura correctly. Kuroba's was usually such a lovely, deep purple color, with strands of playful white threading throughout the mass.

"My name is Tousei. Are you looking for this Kaito?"

A smile and a nod. If he wanted to play like that, she'd indulge him. She was here on a serious matter, but it wasn't like they didn't have time. He was going to listen to her, even if she had to kidnap him to make him believe it and drop the pretenses. "I'm looking for a friend of mine. There's some rather important news I need to tell him, and maybe get some help with a puzzle I have."

"Is that so?" The boy 'Tousei' tilted his head, "Is he supposed to be here?"

Really Kaito, you are a bit too curious for your own good. Any cover you might have had was blown by sticking around for so long.

"Mm, yes he is, at least according to my magic." She couldn't help it; she loved the dramatic, adding a flick of her long hair and shifting her posture to exude her usual air of casual omnipotence. It had always freaked Kuroba out before, and if that tiny little twitch was real, it still was now. "Do you like magic, Tousei?"

"Not really…" Liar. "But I do like puzzles! Maybe I could help?"

"I suppose you could." There was a pause, just for show, she'd been planning on telling him anyway, "It's a riddle I received in my crystal ball last night."

"While the dove was away

The fox came

Searching for the comet's tear.

Treasure not found

Away he then took

That which the dove

Most valued."

"…" The face suddenly went blank, all pretenses of childhood dropping. The innocence faded, leaving, without a doubt Kuroba's eyes, that sharp, intelligent stare. She knew it well, even if she didn't see it often because of the goofy Kaito at school. "You had better be joking, Koizumi."

She shook her head, she really wished she was. "No tricks or spells this time, Kuroba-kun. I'm just passing along the message."

Kaito turned away from her sharply, hand diving into his pocket and pulling out a cell phone.

"Can you get away from the station any time soon?"

He waited a moment for the answer. "Meet me at my house whenever you can. Not home, my house, okay?"

At last he closed the phone, craning his neck to look up at Akako, "I really hope it was just a false alarm."

"Unfortunately, it's not." She'd checked the house with a past-seeing spell before coming here. "I'll give you a ride there if you want."

--

What. The. Hell? How could he have not known? And to find out this way? Kaito had stewed over those questions during the ride from the park to his Mom's house. Akako's magic, of all things, had been the one to deliver the news, even if it had been in the form of an annoyingly simple poem that any half-wit could write. He knew better than to discount it, he remembered all too well the last few predictions she'd made. One had heralded the interference of one Kudou Shinichi at the Clock Tower heist, and the other had prophesized his capture at the hands of Hakuba, which had been averted because of Akako's own interference.

Upon arriving at the house he'd almost completely forgotten about his witchy company, taking care of the lock on the door (the back one) with frightening efficiency and commencing a search of the house. Everything looked normal, except for the details. The lights in some of the rooms were still on, and his mother was not here. She would never leave the lights on like that while she was out, nor would she leave the front door unlocked—a quick inspection of the doorknob had uncovered that little fact. Even if she didn't know that Dad was a thief, he'd probably drilled the behavior into her as a precaution. Just because a thief could pick the lock didn't mean you had to make it easy for them by leaving it unlocked.

It was in the inner rooms that Kaito really discovered some evidence supporting Akako's poem, there were signs of a struggle in the sitting room. The coffee table had been pushed out of place, at an obvious angle to the couch, a splotch of red-brown sitting innocently on the corner of the wooden furniture. The sight, he was almost certain it was blood, created a seething anger behind his blank expression, anger, and a good amount of fear.

He'd immediately tried to call her cell-phone, only to hear it ringing from under the couch, where her purse had been kicked or placed. More evidence to support his theory, and it set the time of the incident some time before 10 at night, because she always turned her phone off at 10, and then placed it and her purse into the closet with the shoes.

"Kuroba-kun?"

Right, he'd almost forgotten Akako was still here. The girl was exiting a side room, a white silk handkerchief in hand, using the cloth as a shield between her fingertips and what seemed to be a small, white note, "I found this in that room, pinned on the painting."

The rec room? By painting she likely meant the large portrait of his father, which just so happened to be the door to Kid's version of the Bat Cave. He took the note, handkerchief and all (Shinichi would probably go ballistic if he got fingerprints on anything that could be considered evidence) and used the cloth to spread apart the folded paper. His blood ran cold as he read the black lettering on the snow white sheet, hurriedly placing it down on the coffee table and whipping out his phone again, "Shinichi? Whatever you do, don't come in the front."

Silence.

"Why? I just found a damned ransom note. Since they left the note, they expected me to come home and find it, which means they are probably watching the front, if not all of the house."

Another few moments as he listened to the Detective.

"Yes I still want you to come over and take a look, but be careful okay? There's a little used path that runs parallel to the main road behind the house, take it, the gate and the back door are unlocked."

A sigh. "Yeah, I'm managing somehow. See you when you get here."

Click. Once again, Kaito hung up the phone, slipping it into his pocket.

Akako stepped forward, "For what it's worth, I apologize Kaito-kun."

"For what? You didn't do anything." Kaito resisted the urge to crumple the small unassuming piece of paper sitting on the table, or possibly even tear it to shreds. How was he supposed to find Pandora—which the culprit was under the assumption that he had—use it to bargain and/or trap the men responsible, and then save his mom? All before the next full moon, which just so happened to be in three days. "If anything I should be thanking you. I wouldn't have noticed for another day or so."

His voice was bitter as he said that last bit, unable to be hidden well because he knew it was true. He wouldn't have noticed. He would have lost one of the few precious days he had to figure out a plan of action.

"Kuroba-kun, I've been thinking…The 'comet's tear' and the moon, plus the image in the crystal was red… Does it have any anything to do with immortality or healing?"

The look on his face, surprised to the point of maskless, must have been answer enough because Akako drew herself away from the table where she had been standing, back straight and shoulders set with that confidence that had been missing ever since they'd dropped the act in the park. She'd been unusually subdued and helpful during the time since, but now it seemed as if something had clicked. The smile that always creeped the thief out, that all-knowing, unnerving smile, just happened to appear again. "Don't fret about the 'tear'."

Okay, now he remembered why he didn't really like spending time with Akako. She was just scarily perceptive, annoyingly mysterious, and had magic. Sleight of hand he understood, illusions he understood, tricking the senses he understood; but her type of magic, the power to manipulate others, to see the future, and who knows what else…he didn't like it. It was too far out of his league, he didn't know what to expect from it—from her. That was another thing, she'd tried to kill him before, she'd tried to turn him into her love-slave before, and yet sometimes she suddenly would decided to be helpful, like now. Or the time when she dressed up as Kid to keep Kaito from falling into Hakuba's trap. He just didn't understand her, and as someone who liked being in control of a situation, the unknowns really unnerved him.

"Why do you care, anyway?" He was wary of her now, no longer blinded by curiosity and later distracted by the issue of his mother's disappearance. Akako never did anything unless there was something in it for her.

She shot him an annoyed look, "Do I need a reason? I was given a warning, and too was too late to act on it. It's a matter of professional pride."

He knew better than to take her words at face value, as hollow sounding and forced as they were then. Akako was good at the mysterious act, but her acting was only above average.

"Anyway." She flicked her black hair behind her, "If you don't find the 'tear' before the meeting, stop by my home. I assume you remember where it is."

Oh he remembered. It was kind of hard to forget when he had what felt like magic-induced knives jabbing through random parts of his body. Then again, the pain had been the only thing keeping him awake at the time…

She didn't wait for a response, apparently having discovered all she could about the predicament and deciding it was time to make her exit. "Remember, Kuroba." were her last words before she left out the back door, there and then gone. Kaito let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, she was actually being cooperative and helpful this time, but she played tap-dance with his nerves.

--

Sometime later, Shinichi arrived on scene. It had taken him a while to get away from the crime he was working on because first, he had to solve the mystery in his head, then drop some clues for the Inspector to lead him to the correct answer, and after had to come up with a believable excuse to get away without having to deal with the messy paperwork that usually occurred whenever a civilian consultant was involved in a case. It wasn't like he could just say he had to go solve a possible kidnapping because that would prompt the police to get involved, which would not be a wise outcome at all if they wanted to keep everything low-key.

He'd even come prepared, stopping by Agasa's to nab a bit of luminol after Kaito had reported the possibility of blood. The test was the first thing he tried upon reaching the Kuroba residence. A dab of the chemical on the affected spot, a quick flick of the light switch, and the corner of the desk was glowing an eerie blue color.

"Well," Shinichi began at last, "There's blood at least, I don't know if it's your mother's without further tests."

"It's alright." Kaito responded, but his voice held a resigned tone to it, "I think I already know what happened."

The boy pulled out a folded square of paper, which Shinichi then took, not bothering with the handkerchief since he'd slipped his gloves on as soon as he'd entered the home. The words on the paper were typed, so a handwriting match was impossible, and there were no other identifying marks on the crisp, spotless piece of paper, "I found a couple of copies hidden around the house." The message read as followed:

Kuroba,

Hand over Pandora or we will be keeping our guest. You must have proof.

"Does it mean anything to you?" He said after a moment, not entirely sure what to make of the details of the message. The main point was clear, 'hand it over, or she dies', but while there was an address underneath the above message, there was no mention of the time of the proposed meeting, or who the author was. The only reason that would be was if they were either planning on making contact again at a later date (unlikely since they had to use such roundabout methods to get Kaito's attention in the first place) or the information was considered common knowledge between both parties.

"Yes. Remember I told you about Snake?" They'd convened in the kitchen, where there was less chance of destroying some type of evidence by accident, and Kaito had stolen one of the chairs at the table, "Well, he thinks I have this Pandora, which is a gemstone that has this weird myth attached to it. It glows red in the moonlight, and during a certain time will cry 'tears of blood' that would make the drinker immortal. I don't know if it's complete nonsense or not, but he wants it and now he took my mom and—"

Shinichi laid his hand on Kaito's shoulder, stopping the ever increasing speed of his words. It had to be hard, talking as if nothing was wrong, knowing that a ruthless, cruel, murderous criminal (he'd read his father's files on the guy) had in his possession a loved one. "Breath and slow down a little. It'll do no good if you start panicking now."

"Right…" Shaky breaths, slowly becoming more stable. Kaito seemed to compose himself right before Shinichi's eyes, the walls and masks going up in order to keep his emotions in check. "Anyway, the proof part refers to the glowing under the moonlight, so between now and Wednesday I need to find a jewel that glows red under the moonlight—"

"Wait a second," Shinichi interrupted again, partially to give Kaito another couple seconds to catch his breath and partially because he wanted to clarify some information. He'd been taking notes throughout the discussion, "How do you know it's Wednesday?"

Quiet.

"It's the Full Moon."

He wouldn't explain any more after that.

--

A/N: Gah, I am starting to get annoyed with this story. It's being so persistent. For the record, this chapter was finished Mon Dec 1, which is only what, 2-3 days after the last chapter was posted? Aiya, it's probably because I've finally gotten into the main continuous plot part and it's all connected and…yeah. Ah well. Not quite as long as the last chapter, but it'll do. As you can see, the story is starting to speed up.

Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter. I'll try and update next week sometime (the next chapter is already in progress…). I'm torn between hoping this motivation streak continues and wishing it wouldn't, so I can do something else.

Please review and let me know what you think! Oh! Any comments on the new summary?