Hello sweeties~ Guess who's back :)

I finally finished my summer job~ Now I have a bit less than a month before uni starts, but until then, I'll try to be a bit more active.

Please enjoy~


If Shinichi ever craved attention before, now he was certain he was sick of people. They were all just worried about him, bless their hearts, but being constantly monitored was tiring. There was Ran's worried chirping, the cold, calculating gaze of Haibara, always from the corner, always in complete silence. And then there was Hattori, giving him that slightly confused look, but being surprisingly quiet. The children were loud, but at least they were easy. They settled with simple questions, like how he was feeling, and they were easy to distract. The others, well… not so much.

And just when he wanted to think, when he absolutely needed to! The bouquet of blue roses was still sitting on the bedside table, serving as a reminder. The card was hidden under Shinichi's pillow though – it would've brought up more questions, and he already had enough to answer.

"What happened to you, Conan-kun?" Ran's voice was worried, frantic, with just a touch of hysteria in it when she asked him for the first time.

"I…" Maybe it was luck that the throbbing in his head just got stronger in that exact moment, and with a wince, he raised a hand to touch the spot where he hit it. This way he could act like his memories were hazy and in an unstable swirl, so that the individual little snippets of it were unreachable for him. The doctor, who came in with the others, started explaining it all: blow on the head, possible memory loss, confusion… Ran gave up for a while, but not forever. He knew that.

The children left first, wishing him the best, all with that cheerful worry only they could have. They didn't understand, they couldn't possibly imagine what was happening. It was better like this. Because the others, the ones who knew and didn't leave, like the professor, Haibara, and Hattori, they were all waiting for answers. It was as if a bomb was about to explode in there, and their curious, wary gazes were the countdown. And they were only waiting for Ran to leave, since they knew that he wouldn't speak while she was there.

So there he sat, in his bed, helplessly. He tried to pretend that he was asleep, though his mind kept reminding him how much of a coward he was for that. He ignored it. He just let himself doze off – it was easier that way.

And the he heard as the door clicked shut, and the little white chair by his side was empty. Ran left. It didn't matter why, or for how long, because he felt those gazes on himself again, like they were ready to burn holes into his body.

"We know you're awake." Haibara's voice, quiet and cold, seemed to echo in the little hospital room. Shinichi let the tiniest smile spread on his face at how creepy it would've normally sounded, and then reluctantly opened his eyes. "You're not as discrete as you think, with opening your eyes in every minute to check what's happening…" Now that got a definite growl out of him, as he definitely wasn't doing that in every minute, just… every two minutes. Maybe.

He sat up, slowly and carefully, and then looked at the other three. They still stood near the wall, as if they didn't dare to approach him, not even Hattori. It was odd.

"What happened to you, Kudou?" The Osakan boy asked, and finally dared to take a step towards him. A small one, but still, at least he didn't look like he thought that Shinichi was some wild animal. "Just when I thought that we haven't seen each other in ages, and that we should catch up, I see your face in the newspaper… What have you been doing for two weeks? Was it really the antidote? Because you don't look different to me at all. Not a teenager, and definitely not… that small either. And who's this "Yamada" you told me about?" Shinichi had to wince at that – it was actually Yamada who told Hattori about himself, and in fact, he wasn't even Yamada. Just a dumb magician who decided to-

"Sorry that I'm late!" Someone said as they entered the room. A man in his late 20s with sand-coloured hair that was neatly divided in the middle, and piercing black eyes that showed only disappointment at the whole world, even from behind his grey rimmed glasses that sat on his long, but thin nose… Yamada. Kaito.

"Who are you?" Hattori asked, as he turned around to cast an uneasy glance at the stranger.

"I am Yamada Shuuzo" he said as he bowed slightly. "I took care of this boy while he was unconscious, after I found him in an alley." Bold, clear, and deadly cold, just like he was before. It wasn't really a surprise that Hattori still looked wary of him after bowing absentmindedly in return. Yamada didn't seem to mind either, then again, his face looked like it was carved out of stone all the time – Shinichi wondered if Kaito would ever let any emotion slip through this disguise.

The question of "How much did this stranger know?" hung in the air, and it was something Shinichi didn't dare to answer. Yamada, or rather, Kaito could've, and also had the courage he lacked, since he returned and everything… But there was something about Yamada that Shinichi didn't like, and there was something about the whole situation too. Because as he looked at him, standing next to the door, calmly watching the room and everyone in it without a hint of real emotion, and appearing as if he wasn't part of their world at all, he was just as much as Kaitou Kid as Yamada Shuuzo and Kuroba Kaito, and he was ready to flee right in that moment.

And probably that's what made him call out to him, chirping with an overly childish voice even when he had no reason to because everyone in that room knew who he was. This fake name, "Yamada-san", felt wrong on his tongue, and tasted like bile. Still, he wanted to endure it, because there was a card under his pillow, and it told him that he had Kid's, and even more importantly, Kaito's trust.

"Yes?" His voice was too deep, too strict, too dry. But as he turned towards him fully, his eyes shone just a little brighter.

"Did you bring me here?" Shinichi asked, his voice still unnecessarily childish. He wasn't sure what to say after he called out to the other boy, so he went with the first question that came to his mind.

"Of course." Yamada chuckled softly, and walked closer to him. He ignored the wary looks of Hattori, just took nonchalant, calm steps until he was by the edge of the bed. "I just had to check up on my little sister, so I had to leave. I got stuck in a traffic jam too, that's why it took me so long to come back." Lies, all lies. Conan threw an accusing glare at him, but he ignored, wearing the usual, empty expression.

"Yamada-san, what exactly happened to Shinichi?" The professor asked. His tone showed nothing but worry – it was different from Haibara's ice cold look, and Hattori's wariness, and he was, if only just a tiny bit, grateful for it.

"The failed antidote he was given wore off. I was about to call you to tell you the good news when he fell and hit his head." Yamada said seemingly calmly. Shinichi could still hear the slightest tremors in it though, as he continued. "It was entirely my fault, I shouldn't have been so careless. I apologize – to all of you." He bowed deeply, and gripped the fabric of his pants so tightly that his knuckles went white. It seemed to baffle everyone in the room, and as he straightened up, Yamada looked just the tiniest bit self-conscious.

"It's not your fault." Shinichi said, and he reached out to grab the other boy's sleeve. That earned him a shocked look and a small, but pained smile.

"But it was…" Yamada whispered, and for a moment Shinichi could've sworn he saw Kaito behind the mask, before his expression became cold and lifeless again. The sleeve was torn out of his grip, and Yamada bowed again to everyone in the room. "I need to leave now, I just wanted to make sure that the little boy is alright. Well then… Goodbye." And with that he left the room.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Hattori roared and hurried after him. Shinichi only shook his head at that – Kaito wouldn't be caught unless he wanted to be.


It was past midnight when Shinichi still busied himself with inspecting the ceiling. He probably didn't do a good job at it though, because a) it was dark and he couldn't see anything, and b) his thoughts kept wandering back to a certain magician despite his struggles. With an annoyed huff we sat up to adjust his pillow, when he felt a shiver run down his spine. Guided by purely instinct, he turned around, and by the opened window stood Kid, watching him with a wide grin.

"Hey."

"H-hey."

"How are you feeling?" He asked, and his grin softened back into a small smile.

"My head still hurts a little…" Kaito winced a little, so he added in a hurry: "But I'm better now! A lot better!"

"I'm glad then…"

"So what's with the fancy suit? Did you dress up for me?" He asked, wanting to break the awkward atmosphere between them before it would suffocate him. Kid laughed, actually laughed at that. It seemed that it worked.

"I might have. I wanted to talk to you alone, you see."

"Oh? Am I that special?" He was desperate to keep his tone easy and calm, to delay what was obviously coming. If the thief saw through him, it didn't matter, as long as he could stop him from saying that one thing.

"You were always special, Tantei-kun." Kid shook his head then, and glanced outside for a moment. "Well, I just wanted to wish you luck."

"With catching you?" Keep your act up, keep your act up, keep your act up…

"Haha, that would make things harder for me…" He glanced outside again, then looked back at Shinichi. "Get well soon." With that, he turned around, and stepped on the window sill.

"W-wait!" When Kid turned back to look at him again, he gulped uneasily. He wasn't sure what he could say to make the other stay… What could be enough to…?

"I-I…"

"Hm?"

"I… trust you."

A moment of deafening silence came. They held their breath, just staring at each other with something like fear in their eyes, and the world seemed to stop around them. Finally, Kid's lips twisted into a bitter smile, as he whispered:

"Thank you." He jumped.

Shinichi fell back on his pillow with a soft thump. He squeezed his eyes shut – missing the white shadow flying under the Moon.