Hakuba spent Wednesday looking over the most recent heist note. He'd managed to snatch a copy from the newspaper. Why and how it got leaked to the media was a mystery to him (and own he wouldn't enjoy solving at that.) But, for once, the note was simple enough.

The Forest Song emerald was going on display starting tonight, ending on Saturday, so KID had that time to go through with the heist. Which I can't believe Kuroba is still doing, what with me in my current state and all.

He looked over the note. Most of it was fairly straightforward—Black Tide referred to the Kuroshio current in the Pacific nearest Japan. It flowed from the south to the northeast, so he would be coming in opposite from that direction. He marked a few possible locations on the map, circling tall buildings with a highlighter.

I will come against the greatest black tide

Was it just him, or did it mean more? He shook his head. Only a few would notice any reference to the people who'd attacked him—supposedly the Black Organization that Conan talked about and also the snipers hiding in the darkness surrounding Kaitou KID.

But still.

He pushed all the different possible scenarios out his head long enough to focus on the next line.

And return the Forest Song by home.

His eyes drifted back to the map. This heist note was so simple it was almost boring by KID's standards. Usually there was a hidden reference here, a false meaning there—you had to read between the lines. Here it was just…easy.

Forest…Song…home. Well, it probably referred to the "home" of the Forest Song—so…something related to trees? Forest…woods…wilderness…no, that couldn't be it, there was nothing nearby of the sort. So back to the start. Forest…rainforest…jungle… He looked at the map again. Tropical Land.

Oh, he would definitely be going with Conan to Tropical Land tomorrow. It was almost too good a chance to pass up, even though if he were at his normal age, he could have just gone directly to the heist. But it would just have to do to follow his…not quite friend, but more "ally" or "aquaintance" while said child was being brought along on his guardian's date. Put that way, he sounded like a freeloader of a freeloader. Well…it was better than nothing.

Putting down the note and pens for a bit, he stood up and stretched, glancing at his watch, still in his pocket. Most of the day had passed…good, he'd killed some time in a decently productive manner. The others would be back from school soon.

It was silent. Not quite uncomfortable, as his own home had been fairly similar. But, in the emptiness, his mind started to wander. He took out the pill, a "cure" or the closest there was to one. Fingering the capsule of who-knows-what, he started considering using taking it, at least just to make an excuse for everyone to not try to visit over the summer. Well, he already had plenty of trips to England, so it was easy enough to make a plausible story. No problems there.

He started to get up, selecting some of his clothes bought for his 18-year-old body. Pill still in hand, he took everything to the nearest bathroom—not that there was anyone else in the house at the moment, but it simply seemed more appropriate.

He hesitated a moment, before swallowing the pill.

Conan had come much to the same conclusion, holding the note under his desk and secretly working out the riddle long before class was over. He spent the rest of class thinking.

By now the initial shock of finding Hakuba at his (okay, Mouri's) front door and shrunken. He'd thought the Organization had stopped using APTX as a means of assasination, but apparently it was not so.

Hakuba hadn't even done anything, but the Organization still "killed" him. If things continued, it could get dangerous for numerous people around him.

He couldn't let that happen.

After school, he headed straight to Agasa-hakase's, dialling a number on the way.

"Kudo! What is it? 'm ina bit o' a situation 'ere! Can't really talk right now!"

Conan just ignored the whispering/hissing coming from the speaker. "Hey, Hattori, it's nice talking to you too. You'll never believe what happened…"

Heiji snickered, just barely able to contain all-out falling on the ground from laughter. "So that Hakuba brat got shrunk too! Priceless!"

He could practically see Kudo's annoyed glare across the phone line. Wiping a tear from the corner of his eye, he gagged into the phone, "Sorry, Kudo, can't help m'self. Ya know 'ow much 'e bugs me!" He was still choking down chuckles. Really, why in the world would the Black Organization go after that aho? Hakuba Saguru only went after KID nowadays—how could that be a threat? Unless, somehow, KID was part of the organization, but Kudo trusted the thief, so so did he.

"Hattori, you do realize that this means they've probably targeted you as well? You have known associations with Kudo Shinichi, or at least you appear to, and apparently even someone as distant as Hakuba was a threat. Be careful—"

"Yeah, yeah, 'n all that stuff. But I don' think 'ey're comin' after me. Why would they go t' Hakuba first?"

"I don't know, but just be on your guard. I'm sure They're making some moves even now."

"Yeah, 'kay."

"Hattori?" What was it Kudo could possible have to say now??

He replied, slightly annoyed, "Yah?"

"…I've…I was sort of pulled into a date with Ran tomorrow—and the thing is, she has to 'babysit' Conan at the same time. I've got plans to make sure both Shinichi and Conan are there…but…" Hattori frowned. Things always ended up a mess when Kudo tried things like this.

"I'm thinking I should just tell her then."

He was about to agree, to encourage his friend when Kudo's voice came again. "Maybe if people knew who I was, I could draw them out somehow."

No-no-no-no-NO! Heiji wanted to scream at Conan. That wouldn't work! If Kaitou KID really was against these guys like Kudo had said he was, then he was sure that this was the strategy the thief himself was using, at every heist, in every show of magic he shoved in their face. And that had gotten him nowhere, so how could Kudo do any better? But words failed him, and cellphones don't send wordless expressions.

The phone beeped. The shrunken detective had hung up. Heiji slammed his phone shut in frustration, then swiveled his chair around. "Kazuha!" he hollered out his door. "'ave we got any plans fer tomorrow?"

"No!" Her reply was also shouted. "You AHOU! Why don't ya just come ov'r 'ere and talk! I c'n barely hear ya!"

He didn't bother to get up, instead continuing to shout. " 'ow about we go to Tokyo fer th' night ta visit Neechan 'n' Ku—Conan-kun?!"

Apparently Kazuha hadn't felt like shouting, instead standing in his doorway looking quite irritated. He chuckled nervously.

The first thing Hakuba could remember as he regained conciousness was the pain. Always the pain. It had been much the same pain as when he'd first shrunk—like fire burning through his entire body and melting everything in its path. And his heart—of course the stress of growing and shrinking 10 years in, he checked his watch, half an hour would be near fatal.

But he was relieved, too. If it hadn't been for the fact that he was no longer in his own home and the pile of clothes to fit a primary schooler, it would all just seem like a bad dream.

He straightened his tie, cleaned himself up a bit, then stepped from the Kudo house, walking away as if merely on a stroll.

He checked his pocket watch again. It was just around the time that Ekoda High got out, so he headed in that direction first.

By the time he arrived, there were already students mulling around on their way home. He quickly picked out Kaito, Aoko, Keiko, and a few of their fellow classmates clustered together. Akako was nowhere to be seen, but she'd probably just wandered home alone.

He waited by the road and joined them as they passed, the the utter shock of Kaito, hidden behind a practiced poker face.

"Yo, Hakuba, where've you been the past week!" he cheerfully greeted. Translation: Hakuba, how the HELL did you get back to normal size?!

Hakuba faked a chuckle. "As if you haven't been stalking me the entire time?" Translation: And you haven't been paying attention to what I was doing? How very unlike you, Kuroba-kun. Note the sarcasm.

"I just came to tell everyone I'll be leaving for England and will in all likeliness will not be coming back for the next school year. My plane leaves tonight so I was simply dropping by to say goodbye." Hm, did that sound a little too rushed and rehearsed? Not exactly a lie, but it was still uncomfortable.

"Well, it's good that you're here, even for a bit." Aoko smiled innocently, completely unaware of the conversation beneath the conversation. Well, she had no need to know. She would be safer that way. Everyone would be.

It still hurt to tell her a lie.

There was a short awkward silence. By now, they were near Aoko's house and Keiko had already left the group as her home was in a different direction. Aoko rushed a quick goodbye to Hakuba and 'see you later!' to Kaito, leaving the two of them alone on the sidewalk.

The high school detective checked his watch. "How about talking over dinner?"

The magician nodded cheerfully as he popped roses and doves in and out of view, still acting like it was just an normal invitation. Hakuba decided, to his own irritation, to play along.

It had taken almost all his years of practicing his Poker Face when Hakuba he'd witnessed his part-time rival part-time friend shrinking. Now, only a few days later, he'd somehow grown ten years all over again. It surprised him so much, his poker face almost crumbled.

Luckily, he had a right to be surprised in the situation any outsiders would have seen.

He followed Hakuba into one of many restaurants, instinctively still hiding everything he knew although there was nobody within earshot but Hakuba himself.

Hakuba checked his watch again.

"I only have until around two pm tomorrow, before…" The detective's voice faded out. Kaito gulped (figuratively speaking—he didn't actually gulp) as he realized what was being implied.

He blinked innocently. "…Before your plane flight?" He couldn't reveal his secret identity with such solid proof now. Not yet, at least.

"Dammit, Kaito, you and I both know that I'm in a bit of a situation!" Hakuba said slowly, voice filled with cold frustration. And at the thief-disguised-as-average-highschooler's continued silence, the Brit seemed to finally have resigned, releasing the glass of water he'd been frantically gripping throughout their 'conversation.' "Could you at least tell the Kaitou KID I'm looking for him at the moment? I'd like a little chat with him. I'm sure he wouldn't mind a little talk with one of his 'critics.' It's just a little important." The sarcasm was overwhelming. It made Kaito smile under his many masks.

"Sure! I'll see if I can do that." He peeked at his watch, acting as if he had somewhere to go. "Well, I must be off. I'll…well, I suppose we won't be seeing eachother anytime soon, will we? Off to England and all, right?" Kaito scooted out of his chair, got up, pushed it back in, and left Hakuba with his mouth hanging. He almost felt sorry for the guy.

Homework finished and Ran out shopping with Sonoko, Conan was left with Kogoro. The detective was in a slumber—mind you, it wasn't nearly of the deductive genius variety. He was merely drunk, as always.

"I'm going out!" Conan yelled to his friend's dad, even though he couldn't hear him. Ran would probably scold Ojisan later for not paying attention to Conan while she was gone.

It was a short walk to his and Agasa-hakase's houses. Finding the Kudo house empty, he continued on next door.

The Brit wasn't here either. "Oi, Haibara-san, have you seen Hakuba anywhere?" At her indifferent shaking of her head, he ran a hand through his hair. "He's not at my house either, where could he be?" Conan almost shouted, frustrated.

Ai shrugged. "Probably out with that temporary antidote I gave him, hopefully not wasting his twenty-four hours on something silly like a random homocide case that just happens to pop up within a hundred meters?"

"Hey, it's not my fault! I'm a detective!"

"And a detective with an inability to not get caught up in a case whenever he walks out the door."

Conan, at this point, gave up, flopping onto the familiar couch.

"What are your thoughts on this situation? The Black Organization and all. Something about Hakuba's appearance makes you uncomfortable." His question was somewhat sudden, after the light.

Ai shifted in her seat, putting down the magazine she'd been perusing and exhaled. "The poison. It's the poison. Either it's not working properly, and way too many people are…receiving this," she gestured at herself and Conan, "particular side effect…or…" She drifted off, the second, more likely option obviously horrid enough to silence her talk.

Conan's expression darkened as he realized what she was saying. "Or they've been using it as a means of assasination all along." His eyes fell to the ground as he leaned forward into his hands. "Of course they wouldn't stop using it, there's no reason not to. And it's a flawless murder weapon when it works." His logic was leading him to some scary conclusions. "And no information would ever even reach us, especially if it's made to look like a heart attack or other natural death."

"Well, tantei-san, a little birdie told me you wanted a talk." The words stopped Hakuba in his tracks as the detective trudged solemnly down the sidewalk, wondering how he should spend the next half day in his normal body. He didn't even turn to look at the white-clad magician, perched atop a street lamp.

"Did you really need to be so secretive that you don't even tell the secret to someone who already knows it?" He shook his head in resign. There really was no common sense to KID.

The phantom thief grinned maniacally; Hakuba couldn't see it, but he could practically feel the cheshire cat breathing down his neck. "I haven't a clue what you're speaking of," replied KID simply. "This is the first time I've seen you since you misplaced a few feet." Hakuba hated it when Kuroba tried running circles around him, trying to prove the detective wrong at every point. And what he hated more was his inability to back up his own accusations. So 'KID' contiued skipping giddy circles.

He sighed. "Okay, fine, have it your way. I'll simply ignore everything I said this afternoon to you, and start over at the beginning again." He now turned to face the thief, gesturing with his arms all the way.

"I'll only be like this until around two p.m. tomorrow, before I shrink again." They were lucky that the street was empty. Kaitou KID was difficult not to notice, and the subject matter was between the two of them: confidential. (except, Hakuba reminded himself, Conan, Ai, and the Profesor)

KID must have noticed him glancing around the street as he talked; his next words seeped with superior foresight. "I checked the buildings all around. No spies, cameras or whatnot to interrupt our little conversation. You didn't think I'd just spot you and flutter down to talk, did you? Tsk tsk, Tantei-san, you're losing your touch." He waggled a finger mockingly.

Hakuba looked up reproachfully at the thief, who, in response, enveloped himself in a cloud of smoke to appear at his eye level, grinning all the while. "Yeeees?" He leaned forward in an intrusive manner.

The detective instinctively leaned away before slapping his face for getting distracted. He finally managed to force himself to stay on subject. Hopefully KID would oblige. "Do you have any leads on the people who did this," he gestured, then continued, "to me? Cause your 'tantei-kun' definitely had nothing."

The phantom thief sighed sadly and spread his empty hands wide. "Unfortunately, I haven't much in the way of information either. That's generally your department. It's the whole point of the decent KID chase really, to try and get their attention. But then again, I should have known tantei-kun didn't have anything from the way he jumped whenever the words 'men' and 'black' were used in the same sentence." He looked back , disappointed, at Hakuba. "I was hoping if I tossed two and two together I'd get four."

"Well, you must have some sort of lead—if your heists are any hint."

The magician looked pensive for a moment, then answered, "Yes. Yes I do, in fact. But it's only a name and a motive in my direction."

"Please do tell." The Brit rolled his eyes. At this point, even a shoe size might help.

"His codename is Snake, he's the guy in charge of…well, killing me. And the one who murdered my…predecessor," he started angrily before the poker face slipped down once more. Was that sorrow and longing Hakuba detected? "And they're after a certain jewel—Pandora, said to cry tears of immortality when a certain comet passes Earth every ten thousand years." He scoffed incredulously. Apparently KID hardly believed it any more than he did. Sure, a drug that killed ten years (or at least made it feel like that much DIED) but a stone that gave immortal life? It was a stretch.

"Are you sure they're the same people? Ours seemed like stealthy, ruthless murderers who just happened to make a poison that shrank people from what I could gain from my end. Yours just…doesn't. It'd illogical, imprecise. Like they have not a clue what they're doing."

KID thought hard for a moment. "I can't see either existing in the presence of another, unless each was so deeply undercover that they'd evade eachother's notice." He frowned and continued, "Plus, the uniform seems to match—black hats and trenchcoats from what I could tell. And lastly," he gestured showily with his hand, "mistake or not, losing years is in the direction of immortality. It wouldn't be strange to think that they were researching both an untraceable poison as a device of murder at the same time as an elixir of life. Perhaps they stumbled upon the poison while looking for the elixir?" He shrugged and leaned against the lamp he'd stood upon earlier. "It makes sense, logically, as you critics love to put it."

But before Hakuba could say any more, KID spotted something in the distance and tipped his hat farewell. "Sayonara, tantei-san. I will see you," he bowed with a flourish, "at the heist." Smoke billowed from nowhere in particular, and KID vanished into thin air, still grinning like an idiot.

Hakuba looked around and sighed. "The baro. Trying to convince everyone he thinks it's just a game. He knows it isn't."

He had one job, and one job only. He wasn't even important enough to name to the superiors. But it was a job, he got money for it. Goodness knew he needed it.

He sat monitoring the surveillance cameras on the streets. He was supposed to look at the videos, watch people who'd never know that there was a stalker they would never see nor expect. He was supposed to memorize faces, people, actions, and in which videos they occurred in.

And, take it as chance, he'd been one of a few people stuck in a van watching a troublesome highschooler in pain as he died, before the video had suddenly halted.

Today, he was stuck in a similar situation, but he had about half a dozen average street-quality security cameras to monitor. It was probably going to kill his eyes one of these days.

But, take it as chance, he'd seen someone he remembered. Someone he remembered quite clearly.

Someone, who, the last time he'd seen, had been writhing in pain as he died.

Hakuba Saguru, highschool detective, supposedly dead and missing, had simply walked into one of his cameras.

Take it as chance.

~CHAPTER END~

AN://

Hello again! It's been a while, I've been on vacation and back, and now school is starting. Updates will be coming more slowly, but it'll keep going.

So concludes Wednesday, and nothing unusual. Not in Conan's world at least.

…Can you tell I'm submitting these pretty much the moment I finish them? I thought I'd be writing at least a chapter ahead for this one, but I couldn't wait. ^^;; Oh, and does anyone know why on 8/21 the hits jumped from like 12 to 35? I can't figure it out, but I think I got like three reviews that day too.

REVIEW REPLY TIME!!!!

A Bibliophile—Hm…I think of lot of that was just answered in this chapter! XD Well, it's not them acting rashly so much as not wanting to draw attention, really. Okay, so I'll admit there were a TON of errors in the beginning of the story, but at that point I was mostly trying to get to 'Hakuba is shrunken and is clueless about Conan' and…well, you can see how that came along from there. It's embarassing, really, to realize all the mistakes. XD I'm just hoping people don't pay TOO much attention to those chapter…tough luck for me cause that's (hopefully) the first thing they read. And about discreetly calling…well, I think Hakuba feels too honest and 'polite' to pull something like that. Or I'm probably just making excuses. ^^;; Well, everything's better in person, right? Right?

therandomthinker—Hm, I suppose he will find out soon, unless he suddenly gets chucked off track. MUAHAHAHA..haha..ha…ha. Thanks!

bobbyneko—Thank you for encouragement!

helen the 2nd—Well, he sorta is friends with Kaito, and the accusations tend to be subtle suggestions. Plus, he doesn't actually know about Kudo Shinichi and exact details, so he doesn't have the KUDO DISAPPEARED THE SAME TIME YOU APPEARED argument and all that. It's a lot less evidence than a strand of hair pointing at a fifteen to seventeen-year old of 174 cm, 58 kg, 20-20 vision, and Japanese of blood type B, who is also a magician. And a magician who fits all those criteria just happens to be in his class. It kinda gives quite a bit of proof that just isn't quite solid enough.

And yes, you should never, ever stick your finger in a bird's cage. XD

Tricksters Imagination--*u* I is innocent!

xxBakaAkki—YES I shall try to remember that. And yes that one was rushed because I had like, an hour before we left for a three-week long road trip and I wanted to get the chapter up before that. And I thought I had a lot less to write. XD And, believe it or not, yeah, that's one of my problems. And I will find SOMEPLACE to use the phrase 'epic ficing'…somewhere.

Marie Ravenclaw—Shinichi is so very much fun to torture. As much as I love him (and I WANTS HIM) it's just so FUN to watch him (and people trying to figure him out) run around in endless circles of DOOOM.

Pretztailfan95—Hm…Heiji would just gtf away from me, aho! 'n mind your own business! XP at Hakuba and Hakuba would gladly mind his own business just to prove Heiji wrong. Wait, does this even make sense? XD Well, Yugi may just be Conan, but it gets quite chaotic when you have only a few Yugi-Oh characters…and like a dozen DC/MK characters. Who each fit eachother in different ways. –headache- And Aiko means love child. 8D YAY FOR GOOGLE even though I should have figured it out as a DC fan…Aoko, Akako, Ai…and actually having already known what they meant…

Mangaluva—Thanks, but stop complimenting me! You should be busy uploading the next WPBIO chapter a couple hours early! I'd much prefer that! –puppyeyes- XD

Mel7200—What're ya thanking me for?! You're the one I should be thanking for complimenting it…whut? I confuzzle myself. Too often. I think I've done it like three times in this one chapter…

Is that a full page of just review replies? o.0 I should update more often. Or at least not write such long-winded reviews.

Well, there's a bit of a longer chap for ya. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Obviously, if I owned DC/MK, I'd be some sort of literary/deductive/criminal/magic genius of some sort, which I'm obviously not. Can't you tell by the repetitive redundancy in this one disclaimer? And the plot that looks like a slice of swiss cheese?