Disclaimer: Characters aren't mine, setting isn't mine, crossover plotbunny is.

Chapter 2: There Are No Words

After the psychedelic corridor, the computer room felt refreshingly normal. The red-robed man with his face covered in bandages was a bit odd, but Kaito had met more strangely dressed people in his currently-on-hold occupation as a phantom thief.

He had listened attentively to the explanations of the bandaged man, DiZ, with added comments from the black-robed man he'd met first. Kaito still wasn't sure of his name. He had introduced himself as Ansem, and DiZ usually called him that, but once the other man had started to say another name, and stopped halfway through saying something like either "Ri-" or "Li-". It was intriguing, but there were more pressing matters at hand.

"So let me get this straight," Kaito began, fingers worrying a conjured rose. "Some very dumb men decided to throw away their light, er, humanity, in favor of pursuing darkness. A year ago someone named Sora-san was chosen by the light to be a champion against the dark, and wields what's called a keyblade. Sora-san fought and defeated the Evil Overlord wannabe—coincidentally also named Ansem—but a hitherto unknown organization with connections to the first guy is now making its move. Members of said organization all wear the same kind of cloaks as this Ansem, but you two are actually trying to help Sora behind the scenes while he tries to stop them."

"I think that sums it up, yes," DiZ affirmed.

Kaito paused, then glanced at Ansem. "Are you a member?"

Ansem smirked darkly. "Only if they can catch me."

"If they saw you, would they think you are?"

"Unlikely. There's few enough of them that they know each other on sight." Given how the material seemed sculpted to Ansem's upper torso, an ability to differentiate via body type made a certain amount of sense. And still failed to explain why this supposedly-different-Ansem was running around wearing one of their outfits. However, that was a comparatively minor concern.

Kaito vanished the now petal-less rose and leveled a carefully blank stare at both men. "There's a lot about this situation that you're not telling me. I want to know why."

Ansem shifted, folding his arms. "Most of it is… complicated." For a moment his voice seemed tinged with a higher timbre. "And personal."

"However, not knowing will not put you in any danger, rest assured," DiZ added.

"I'll stay skeptical on that front," Kaito retorted. "What you don't know can kill you. And if what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, what does kill you leaves you dead."

He paused, and sighed. "But it's not like I can force information from you. I'm grateful you're willing to let me tag along on this. So what do you guys actually do, beyond cryptic messages or hide-and-seek?"

DiZ entered a string of commands on the keyboard, his typing fingers almost a blur. "We go to the places the boy cannot go, to ensure that those worlds remain untouched. Yours was one such place." A few final keystrokes and images appeared on the computer bank's irregularly shaped monitors, screens flipping between hundreds of scenes as if looking for a specific view.

When the first screen settled, Kaito found himself staring at a very familiar face. "Mom!" He started forward, hand extending unconsciously, then collected his wits and settled for staring. A very small part of his mind wondered how he could possible see her like this, but it fell silent in the face of other concerns.

A haunted look marred his mother's usually cheerful face as she sat in his room, on his bed, wrapped in his blankets. Kaito realized with horror that in his hurry, he'd left nothing to tell her where he was, or even if he was alive. He'd always suspected that she knew of his nighttime escapades, but it was easy to feign mutual ignorance when he'd always come home before daybreak. Now pretending was impossible—and Dad had already died doing this…

His stomach clenched.

Another screen stabilized, and he watched Aoko smile politely at a classmate's joke, then dart a glance at his empty seat. A third, and Hakuba appeared beside the Inspector, feverishly examining what looked like Kid's police casefiles. Another, and Conan furrowed his brow at a newspaper headline that decried Kid for having vanished so completely, and without returning the jewel first!

"What—how—" he clamped his mouth shut, glowering at the screens.

"How did I find them? My computers are very specialized, my young friend. I searched for the people connected to Kuroba Kaito and the Kaitou Kid. These people are the ones that I found most closely linked to you."

The matter-of-fact way DiZ described such a disturbingly comprehensive investigation of his relationships unnerved Kaito more than a little. That he'd discovered so much in so little time didn't help, nor did the knowledge that when he wanted, DiZ could apparently monitor anyone on Kaito's… world. Or any other, if he cared to try. Kaito was still adjusting to the concept, but this casual demonstration of a feat that computers as he knew them were simply not capable of made very persuasive evidence. Whole worlds upon worlds of people, separated from each other by a darkness that was apparently more than mere absence of light...

As he watched the screens, Kaito realized that something was off. If his internal clock was right, he still had several hours before he violated Kid's standard practice of returning the stolen property within 24 hours of a heist.

"How long have I been gone?" he demanded.

"Time works differently in the corridors of darkness, I'm afraid. It… bunches, and stretches, somewhat arbitrarily. Though you haven't slept yet, on your world it's been over two days since you disappeared."

Kaito froze, mind rebelling.

"However," DiZ continued, "after you explained your presence here with us I took a few liberties, which should be taking effect..."

As Kaito watched, his mother lifted her head and hurried to the door; a couriered letter smoothed the hints of panic from her face, and she almost smiled. Another person entered his classroom, and after the teacher relayed the message Aoko shook her head in fond exasperation. His personal terriers each received envelopes of their own: Nakamori's eyes bugged dangerously, Hakuba pinched the bridge of his nose in a frustrated resignation, and Conan smirked in his insufferably knowing way.

"What did you do?"

"Arranged for several messages, as you can see. Your mother has learned that you are safe but circumstances necessitate your absence, which I'm sure she understands. Your school believes you have been invited to perform magic on a tour of unknown duration with several others of your craft. The leave of absence has your mother's approval, of course. As for your pursuers, they received notices expressing your appreciation for good craftsmanship and a desire to admire your stone for a while before returning to business as usual."

"That's—" Kaito bit down on the word "absurd", and considered for a thoughtful moment. "Rather impressive, actually."

"And, in essence, true. Once this crisis is over, of course, you must return to your world permanently."

He couldn't prevent a hint of sarcasm from creeping into his voice. "Oh, good. If I ask how, will I be told?"

Poker Face, Poker Face; No matter how far out of your depth you get…

DiZ appeared oblivious. "One of us or the boy Sora will provide you with a path."

"We're wasting time," Ansem interrupted with an impatient gesture. "Sora only reaches a handful of worlds, the ones the Organization are openly acting in. It's our job to made sure there are no more covert operations on the side." Under his breath, almost too quiet for Kaito to hear, he added, "Like that friggin' puppet."

Interesting, Kaito thought as his mental notes expanded. The man's voice had gained an underlying growl, but his vocal patterns kept shifting too — not the cracking pitch of an adolescent, but like a man with two "normal" voices to choose between and unable to settle on which to use.

Worse than Conan-kun with his bowtie. At least I have conscious control over my vocal range.

"Very well," DiZ acquiesced, entering several commands. The computer bank emitted several worrying noises, and a moment later the screens changed to display an unfamiliar group of people. Kaito instinctively searched for sources of natural authority among the faces, and found two candidates: An innocently smiling boy with multicolored spikes that probably required several bottles of glue to maintain their shape, and a brown-haired young man with a blue glare which looked capable of demolishing stone.

"Great events have been happening around this group. Darkness is attracted to power, regardless of whether it lies in light, shadows, or more darkness. Anything we would be concerned about on this world would almost certainly involve these people in some fashion."

Kaito scrutinized the images, memorizing faces and stances. If nothing else, he would get some new disguise ideas out of this. After a moment, a question occurred to him. "How will we find them? I would assume these worlds can be as large as my own."

DiZ opened his mouth to begin another explanation, but Ansem cut him off. "There aren't very many people on a world who have power like that. I'll be able to sense them."

Kaito stopped cold. "Like you were able to sense me?" He demanded, eyes narrowing.

DiZ chuckled. "Oh, yes. Do forgive me, but I thought you had already realized. You wrap yourself in shadows like other people wear a cloak. Shadows are the place of concealment and disguise, but do not worry," he added. "Though I only determined the distinction recently, shadows are of a different nature than darkness. In fact, it seems as though they cannot exist unless light is already there."

Power and shadows. Oh, no.

"You came looking to see if they had found me, back in my world," he murmured unevenly at Ansem.

"Yes. Among others. Power is very distinctive."

"Ah."

Kaito could think of nothing to else to say. In the silence, Ansem raised his hand and formed another smoking portal.

"…Do I want to know why you can open a very black door into what, if I recall correctly, DiZ-san previously identified as a corridor of darkness?"

There was a very brief, weighty pause.

"No."

Ansem turned and vanished through the doorway.

"I believe it's best to leave private matters like that for when you know him rather better," DiZ offered, not unkindly. "Think of him as a person of the shadows like you; it's accurate enough. And I would hurry, you never know how much time is passing for him…"

Kaito gave the man an acknowledging nod and entered the corridor, falling in step beside Ansem without saying a word. Given how much his new allies had been forced to reveal about themselves, unless things changed between the two of them, whatever privacy Ansem could safely keep was likely to be jealously preserved.

And while he couldn't quite say why, though this Sora person probably figured into it, Kaito was pretty certain that Ansem would react poorly to the term "friend".

Obviously, the plotbunnies decided they wanted to continue this. As has been hinted at above, Kaito will be discovering a lot of the storyline and spoilers to Kingdom Hearts as he goes along and learns more about what he's gotten himself into. As it is, he has minimal explanations and a lot of suspicions. Poor guy.

6/06