Disclaimer: I'd say it's Gosho's, but he'd probably disown this…

Entr'acte: Black Phantom

Kaito scrutinized the massive ruby critically. The Boss had said it showed promise of being the gem they sought, but he said that every time. If the Boss didn't think there was a high chance of successfully obtaining Pandora, the job would never have been commissioned in the first place.

A muffled sound caught his attention, and he glanced around. One of the security guards had slipped down the wall to the ground, leaving red streaks behind. He'd had the bad luck of being in the wrong place at the wrong time: namely, being on duty the night of a heist and patrolling a bit too thoroughly. The Organization left no witnesses.

Turning back to the ruby, he lovingly rescued it from behind the joke of a security system, letting a black-gloved finger trace it's facets. No one would be coming, so he could give it the attention it deserved, regardless of whether it held Pandora or not. There was so little to appreciate these days.

Suddenly, alarms blared, and he heard feet pounding through the corridors. Surprised for the first time in years, Kaito quickly sprang into action. Judging by the echoes the way to the stairs was blocked, but the elevators were close by. Some enterprising use of leverage gained entry to the elevator shaft, and he slipped inside. The cars would have frozen at the alarm, but shafts possessed ladders. He climbed three flights, then slipped out onto the top floor. The roof could only be reached by stairwell, which the police wouldn't check until last. After all, people couldn't fly, even phantoms…

"So, even invisible thieves can follow a pattern."

Quicker than thought, Kaito's silenced gun reached the ideal angle for hitting the speaker at the top landing of the stairs. Only once the figure stood clearly in his sights did he recognize the man who had just signed his own death warrant. The man's blond-brown hair, coupled with his trench coat and an outstretched gun, left no doubt to his identity.

"Hakuba Saguru," he said without surprise.

He'd half-expected something like this from the man, but not so soon. It was a shame, really, that he'd been so interested in finding the thief who had crippled old Nakamori. Only Hakuba and his obsession for research, combined with a genius-level talent for data evaluation, could possibly have collected the last five years' traces of jewel thefts and whispered rumors of a phantom thief into a coherent framework from which to set a trap for this heist.

"Son of Police Superintendent Hakuba. Youngest officer of the force to reach the rank of Inspector when at age 22 he succeeded Nakamori Ginzo. Engaged to his daughter, Aoko. You had a life waiting for you, Inspector."

Kaito shook his head in disappointment. He hadn't seen Aoko for almost fifteen years, but he still had a few fond memories of the headstrong girl she had been. They were some of the only fond memories he had left.

"You shouldn't have thrown it away."

Hakuba was looking at him strangely, brow furrowed. His gaze raked across Kaito's bare face, which was upturned to ensure good aim at such an elevated target. Kaito had never bothered with masks or eye-coverings. They itched or impeded his vision, and none of the very few people who'd ever seen his face had lived to tell about it. Even if they had… he no longer existed in the real world. You couldn't catch a ghost.

"Your face is familiar," Hakuba murmured. Kaito was silent, watching him. Another moment, and recognition blossomed in the Inspector's expression. "Kuroba? Kuroba Kaito? Aoko, she still keeps pictures of you on the walls at the house, talks about how you disappeared when your father died. She thinks of Mizuki-san like her own mother, prays at your memorial every year. You…" He trailed off. "What happened to you?"

Kaito didn't know why he was answering. Possibly because it was the first time anyone had ever asked him that question… and Hakuba sounded like he actually cared.

"When idealism killed a man, his son gave up that path and sought to never die."

It wasn't the entire truth—he vaguely recalled being a boy who hated his foster mother, before Vermouth convinced him that stubbornness was futile. It had taken her a long time, though, to break him… and some buried instinct still despised her. Especially the triumphant little smirk she'd sported the first time he'd promised to behave, and learn. The first time she'd given him a gun.

"I'm sorry to hurt Aoko, but we are invisible."

"We? Kuroba, whoever took you, whatever happened, it shouldn't have. Come back with me. We can help you." Hakuba lowered his gun a fraction, reaching out with his off-hand towards Kaito, face a mixture of pleading and concern.

Something roused in the back of Kaito's mind. He watched, mesmerized, as Hakuba took a tentative step forward to the edge of the stairs, hand still outstretched. Then, footsteps echoed on the stairs below—

and whatever possibilities there might have been—

shattered.

Kaito fired, rushing up the last few steps to catch the Inspector before the man's gun could clatter on metal and give away his position. The silencer had been drowned out by the hurrying steps of the policemen several flights below. With unexpected gentleness, Kaito laid Hakuba's larger frame on the ground, blood already staining the area around the blond's heart.

"I'm sorry," he whispered again, as he saw the spark begin to fade from Hakuba's blue eyes. "You should have stayed home. Tell my father I haven't forgotten him?"

Kaito stood and moved to the roof access, running a gloved hand through his unruly hair. A glider black as crow-wings waited for him, ready to ride the updrafts. Halfway through the door, an unfamiliar impulse seized him and he looked over his shoulder.

Hakuba had managed to turn his head to the side before his heart gave out, keeping Kaito in sight just long enough to be facing him with an unfocused, accusing stare.

Why yes, I am evil.

7/07