Part Twelve

It had taken her a while to find the house. Ran had said that finding the Toyama residence could sometimes be difficult if one didn't know where to look, and Aoko realized this fact very acutely as she had taken no less than three wrong turns before finally finding the nameplate 'Toyama' on the simple fence surrounding a modest house. She found herself suddenly nervous, and she wasn't sure why. She'd already met Kazuha, and she was always (she thought) good with people. She kept telling herself that she wanted to check on Ran and especially Conan, seeing as he had such an "adventure" the night of the heist, but she found herself mulling over other things. Maybe it was the anxiety surrounding her father. The teen girl remembered eight years ago, when Kaitou Kid disappeared without a trace, not long after Kaito's father died. He had bit his way through three pipes, gnawing and cursing under his breath as time drew on and on and no new note or heist or even a tease. At the time, Aoko couldn't understand why her father was so nervous about it - he had no more reason to keep leaving her alone. Secretly, (very, very secretly) she'd thought he was mad because he enjoyed leaving her to give chase.

When Kaito had found out, he made the most unusual face before grabbing her wrist and dragging her back to her house, right up to her father and, with a puff of smoke, handcuffing them together.

"Now figure out if he hates being with you," he growled before stalking off.

Oh, it was years later, when Aoko was a little older and a little more mature, that she realized how she must have hurt Kaito in making that confession, because his own father could never be reached for again. She'd also learned how wrong she had been; that night, her father and she had had a long talk about what he did and why, and she felt much better for it. She still didn't understand his worry over the disappearance, but chalked it up to an adult thing.

Now, older still, she realized with more clarity why it was such a cause of concern. Another person was out there, hurt, and her father could do nothing to help him (her?). Maybe that was why she was so nervous now; she wanted to do something constructive for the people around her but couldn't, and in proof ran to her new friend Ran for support and direction under the guise of doing so for her. Nodding, Aoko took a deep breath and straightened her shirt before confidently walking up to the front door and politely knocking - before she lost her nerve again.

The child, Conan, opened the door and stared up at her saucer-eyed. His glasses were missing somewhere, and Aoko once again saw the resemblance to Kaito.

She bent down and ruffled his hair to increase the effect. "What's that look for, Conan-kun?" she asked playfully, pleased at how like her (missing) best friend he looked like. "Were you expecting a run-in with Kaitou Kid?"

The resounding "Uwaaaaaaaaah!" that came out of his mouth was totally worth it.

"A-Aoko-nee-chan!" he tried very hard to recover, his voice still a few decibels too loud. "Wh-what brings you here?"

Aoko knelt down and ruffled his hair some more. "I'm here to see Ran-chan, if that's okay," she said brightly. "You really do look like Kaito."

A nervous giggle bubbled up his throat, matching his face, and he took a step back. "I'll go get Ran," he said quickly, dashing back into the house.

"It's Ran-nee-chan!" she called after him. "I know how close you are, but she's much too old for you!" Really, kids these days...

"Ah, Aoko-chan," came a bright reply from where Conan had disappeared. Ran came out, the boy's tiny hand in hers and the other tugging off an apron. "Your timing is perfect, I just finished the dishes. Kazuha-chan!" she called out. "Conan-kun and I are going out!"

Aoko watched the elementary school student jump. "Wait, we?" he asked.

Ran nodded and pulled him up to the genkan to put his sneakers on. To Aoko she said, "Kazuha-chan and Hattori-kun had been having something of a fight for the last three days," she said softly, stepping into her shoes while Conan sat down to do the same. "I think some time alone will do them some good."

"Oh, I see," Aoko replied, running a hand through her hair. "Two tourists looking for somewhere to spend the day. I imagine this will go spectacularly."

"Don't worry," Ran offered. "We've been here enough, so I have a few spots in mind. First stop is this nice little café where we can see the river."

It was a short walk to the station - once Aoko knew where she was going - and a five-block hike to the place Ran was referencing. The view was spectacular, and the coffee was excellent.

"So," Ran said genially, sipping her cup. Conan, to Aoko's curiosity, was also drinking coffee; and savoring every drop of it. She wondered if he knew that it stunted his growth. "How's your Golden Week going?"

"Okay," Aoko said slowly. Ran gave a measured gaze, and the other girl smiled. "Okay, it kind of sucks. Kaito has disappeared to parts unknown, and he only called once since to complain that he hates it but isn't leaving it, either. That was two days ago, the night after the Kaitou Kid heist. Dad and Hakuba-kun - oh, he's here, too - are so absorbed in the case they don't really have time." She sighed, putting her elbow on the table so her hand could cradle her chin. "It's kind of hard to do the tourist thing on your own, or when everyone you know is worried about whether or not some selfish, good-for-nothing thief is hurt or not."

She found it odd that Conan's gaze tightened slightly, more noticeable without his glasses, and he looked into his mug. Ran threw the child a glance and then looked to Aoko more seriously. "You remember that we were there, right?" she asked.

The girl blinked. "Oh, yes, that's right. Your friend Hattori-kun was invited, and he invited you."

Ran nodded. "Yes, well, Conan-kun ended up getting a very close up look at the action. Do you want to share, Conan-kun?"

The boy looked up, slightly startled at his inclusion, and glanced at both girls before bursting into rhetoric. "It was really cool! Kaitou Kid-nii-chan was all white and cool on the roof, and I tried to show him a magic trick when he grabbed me and jumped up onto the rail!" ...What? "And then he slipped off the rail, and I thought that was weird 'cause I didn't think Kaitou Kid-nii-chan could slip, and then we were all over the place and it was really scary 'cause everything was everywhere and we were falling, but then we stopped and Kaitou Kid-nii-chan... Kaitou Kid-nii-chan..." Aoko watched the child's face furrow, brows falling down in time with his mouth in time with his head as he stared somewhere past his coffee. Aoko realized dimly that her heart was racing as she pictured what the boy was saying. He was right - Kid never did slip, if not she, then her father could acutely attest to the fact, and she was beginning to see where this was going.

"Kaitou Kid-nii-chan, he wouldn't get up at first." And Conan's voice was much deeper, almost older; he sounded more like he was twelve or thirteen, just before puberty. "It was even more scary than slipping..."And then, just like that, his face lit up again, and he was once again the excited child explaining an adventure. "But he did get up, and he pulled out his hang glider with a thought, it just appeared from nowhere and he told me to get on his back and he took off flying! That part was really, really cool! We flew over this giant baseball field, and then he dropped me off and disappeared in a puff of smoke, so it couldn't've been that bad, right?" He looked to Ran. "Right?"

Ran was smiling softly, her gaze incredibly fond. "I'm sure Kid-san is fine," she said gently, her eyes completely on Aoko, "But I'm sure he gave everyone a very big scare."

Aoko blinked suddenly, realizing a tear fell down her face. "Oh, dammit," she cursed, wiping her face. "I wonder if I'm due, I keep crying at the drop of a hat... First when my dad came back, then when Kaito called, now this, dammit..." She wished she hadn't left her calendar at home; she was mortified that she was showing so much emotion in front of her friend - she didn't give a damn about Kaitou Kid, nope, not at all. But she did care about the scare he'd given everyone - even one innocent, little boy. She was mentally tacking on to the thief's list of offenses.

"In the meantime," Ran said, the mood suddenly lighter. "Shinichi's birthday was today."

Conan looked up in abject surprise.

Aoko blinked. "Really? Is he going to visit you?"

Ran's grin was quite nearly blithe, her hands folded together under her chin. "In a manner of speaking," she said lightly; and Aoko knew that it was something she didn't want to talk about. A "secret," as it were, something the other girl had been tutoring Aoko in. "Shinichi's really bad about remembering his birthday."

Aoko balked. "How? It's his birthday!"

Conan turned bright red, looking down in embarrassment, which Aoko didn't understand at all.

"Oh, you should have seen him when we were kids. Because we have all the holidays around it: Showa Day, Constitutional Memorial Day, Children's Day - ah! That reminds me." Ran reached into her purse and pulled out a small wrapped gift, placing it on the table. Conan of course goggled it, a hand reaching instinctively out for it before propriety set in and he pulled it back, tugging it under the table and practically drooling over the present. "Anyway," Ran said, deliberately oblivious to the boy's plight. "When we were kids, Shinichi would always growl and grumble when I dragged him somewhere, and then would be completely pole axed when he found the surprise party. He knew it was a surprise party, of course, he was too good a detective to not figure it out, but it drove him nuts every year because he couldn't for the life of him figure out why we were throwing him one. It was so funny every year!"

The girls both giggled. Aoko could picture the scenario very clearly.

"Ne, ne," Conan asked, twitching in his seat. "Is that Shinichi-nii-chan's present?"

"No, silly," Ran said, "It's yours. Since tomorrow is Children's Day, I thought I'd give Conan-kun his present early."

He only eyed the present more fervently; Aoko couldn't help but smile at the child's energy.

"Well?"

It was all the prompting he needed, and he stood up on his chair to reach over the table and snatch the gift, plopping back down and the gift disappearing to his lap under the table. An almost comical display of paper randomly flying from the hidden location issued, until at last Conan lifted the lid of the box and stared at the treasure inside. Without his glasses, his wide blue eyes could clearly be seen, and the look of honest surprise on his face that quickly turned to deep-rooted appreciation was plainly visible.

"Ran..." he whispered, and in that one little word conveyed all the emotion he wanted to express.

"Well?" Aoko asked. "Don't leave us in suspense."

The boy looked up, a giant grin on his face as he held up his gift.

Heiji and Kazuha and, er, Kudo sat for lunch, chopsticks in hand and working to empty their bowls. Heiji was throwing a glare at Kid every chance he got; the freeloading international bastard had been there for three days. He watched as the thief reached over the table to snatch something and wince, his ribs still hurting from his injury. If he wanted to think about it, Heiji could understand why the other teen was still in hiding - who wouldn't be after getting shot? He'd seen what the real Kudo did after a scare.

Kazuha reached for him and handed Kid the salt.

"Thanks, Kazuha-san."

But damn if it didn't get his goat whenever he saw Kid-Kuroba-whoever-the-hell-he-was acting just like Kudo. It irritated him to no end, and all he wanted to do was hit him over the head with his bokken and smash some sense into him. That Kid had willingly given his identity to them was So. Not. Helping. Heiji didn't know what to do with it. He'd talked to Kudo about it at length, and the pint-sized detective could finally explain the series of events that led up to the heist and his part in it. Hattori had just about went through the roof when he found out that Kudo used to have evidence to prove that some guy named Kuroba Kaito was Kaitou Kid - and he did go through the roof when he learned that it had been lost in the fall from the Sky Garden. He went nuclear when Kudo said he was glad that he'd lost the evidence, because it relieved him of the weight of responsibility.

"What th' hell?" Heiji had demanded. "Y're obliged ta turn him in!"

"You're right, I am," Kudo had said, padding next to him as the pair walked through downtown Osaka the previous day. "But... there's something I see in him; maybe because I met him outside of his nightlife. He... we're alike, somehow. I don't pretend to understand it." The faux child laughed, full of irony and much too old for his features. "He's a little like you, Hattori, in a way. Boisterous and full of life and bound and determined to help people."

"I don't go stealin' stuff!"

"No, but you lie for me when you can, and you cover for me, and you bend over backwards to protect Kazuha-kun."

Heiji growled as he remembered the conversation. Kazuha glared at him over the table, but sniffed and turned her face, instead deliberately engaging in conversation with Kid.

Not. Helping. At. All.

She'd been like that since his first day here, after their fight: ostentatiously ignoring him and talking to Ran or especially Kid. The fake Kudo played it to the hilt, and Hattori was more than a little freaked out to see someone that was so obviously Kudo and knowing it was someone else. It made a body wonder about other people in life and if they were who they pretended to be. Greh, paranoia was not going to help, and he growled again.

Kazuha snapped her fiery eyes to him. "Alright, that's it," she said, slamming a palm onto the table. "What th' hell's yer problem?"

And damn it all to hell that he couldn't explain it all.

"I'm just pissed," he churned out through clenched teeth, glaring daggers at Kid. It was all his fault anyway.

"Well maybe if ya decided ta be honest with me in th' first place this wouldn'ta happened," she hissed, leaning forward.

This again. "I told ya, there was a damn good reason I didn'-"

"Would ya ever have told me?" she demanded, her face intense.

To the side there was a polite cough. "Oh, I guess I just remembered this very important call I'd better make to this contact I have." Kid-as-Kudo stood up and took his plate with him. "I'll just disappear to my room and make that call; it may take a while so feel free to have this conversation outside of my earshot." Kid turned around and started to leave the kitchen before stopping at the doorframe, looking over his shoulder. "Try to listen, Kazuha-san. A lot of this he didn't have a choice in the matter. And most of that is my fault."

"Damn straight ya-" Heiji called after him, but Kid had already disappeared, and Kazuha was still there, and so the epitaph of thief related curses remained locked in his throat.

"Would ya ever have told me...?" Kazuha asked in a much smaller voice. Hattori turned and she was staring down at her plate, hands fisted under the table, her ponytail dandling over a shoulder, ribbon on the other.

Everything softened, and Heiji took a deep sigh as the anger seeped out of him. "I don't know," he answered honestly.

Kazuha snapped to attention. "Ya don't-"

But Heiji was still talking. "Look, th' thing with Kudo... he's had more run-ins with Them than me, but... Ya heard the San Francisco story." And damn if Kid didn't do a good job delivering that. "They're pretentious bastards, evil ta th' core, but they're thorough. If They ever thought ya knew somethin', you'd be dead, an' I didn't want ta put ya in that position. An' I didn't want ya ta find out like this either." Through subterfuge, through half-truths, through someone else.

"Maybe... Maybe if we knew th' Organization was down fer th' count; that we'd put Them away, all of'm; so it was safe fer Kudo ta come out. Then I mighta said something." He rubbed his forehead. "But now we'll never know."

Kazuha was looking at him, her face tight, leaning forward. "Heiji?"

"Damn him," he answered, slamming his fist on the table. "Damn him. Damn him fer taking th' choice away from me." Damn Kaitou Kid, damn, damn, damn, damn him! Bastard! Heiji growled for the third time that day.

He looked up and saw the tightness release on Kazuha's face, surprise giving way to something that looked like understanding. To Heiji's surprise, she reached forward and took his fist into her thin hand. "I'm sorry," she mumbled.

... What?

"... What?"

"I'm sorry," she said again, a little louder. "I've been so mad at ya, ignorin' ya an' bitin' at ya. But you've had yer own worries ta go through. This thing, it's hurt you just as much as it's hurt me, an' I refused ta see it. I'm sorry."

The sentiment was decidedly uncomfortable for Heiji; he was never completely sure how to react to it. His instinct was to apologize back, though he wasn't entirely sure why. And she looked really pretty right now, the light was hitting her face just right... The two of them were leaning forward...

And his phone rang.

Heiji admitted defeat. "This'd better be pretty damn good," he shouted into the phone.

"Eh? Hattori-kun," the voice of Yamano came into his ear. "I thought you wanted to be called-"

"Oh! Ya got th' profile?" he asked, standing immediately. He missed Kazuha's put out look. "What'd ya come up with?"

"Well, Yukimura-han did what ya asked, an' he went back ten years instead of five like ya asked. There's been only three or four cases here in Japan, but Interpol pulled up another dozen across Europe an' America. It's a varied portfolio, which made us think this guy's a freelancer. Y'were right, th' guy uses mostly radio 'n' digital radio interference; makes someone think he's on th' right channel, then makes'm do whatever needs ta be done. He taps into th' radio frequency and uses a prerecorded check in to make the bosses think all's well. That click's th' only thing that even gave'm away, an' even then it wasn't until ya made th' call that anyone even put it all together. Psych is still makin' a profile, but the info is sketchy at best."

"Good," Heiji said, walking down out of the kitchen to the front door. "I'll come join ya as soon as I can." He flipped his phone closed and stepped into his first sneaker before realizing the problem he had: Kudo wasn't here to keep an eye on Kid. He turned to glare at the offending hallway to see Kazuha had snuck up behind him.

"Here," she said softly. "Th' rest of yer lunch so ya don't starve. Go ahead, I c'n take care of Kudo."

"But..."

"Heiji, ya didn't want it, but I'm in it now. Lemme do this much fer ya."

And in that moment he was so proud of her he broke out into a smile - the first one since the heist. "Knowin' him, he may try ta sneak out, so make sure he stays put."

Kazuha nodded, flexing an arm. "I'll guard the door if I have ta."

He could kiss her.

He wouldn't. He wanted to live, thank you.

But he could kiss her.

Kaito, unbeknownst to the two Osakan lovebirds, had been listening as soon as he heard the phone ring. Grinning, the thief pulled out the disposable phone Hattori had given him and dialed a number.

"Hello?"

"Yo, Jii-chan," Kaito said in soft tones.

"Young Master! You're alright!" The older man's voice cried out. Kaito padded down the hall and took the well-practiced route to the roof. He's already made the mock up of his sleeping self in his room. Part of being a magician was invisibility, after all.

"Yeah, sorry about not calling you sooner," he said, letting a small portion of his guilt show through. "I'm laying low - obviously - and I didn't want to say anything until I figured out who ordered the hit. I don't have a name, but I have a technique. Are you connected enough for that kind of thing?"

"That would depend on the technique, of course, but if it's what I think it is, it shouldn't be a problem. You seem to forget I'm quite skilled in electronic communication and surveillance."

Kaito grinned into his phone. "Well, let's just say I had to use some of your skills just now to listen in on the conversation I needed." In quick succession Kaito rolled off the information he'd overheard when he tapped Hattori's phone. "So? Is it enough?"

"I already know three people who could fit that profile, and while I sincerely doubt they would do something like that, they will lead me to other names."

"Good. I'd like it sooner rather than later. All the work and the stupid thing was a fake, and I haven't even started researching where the real one is. I want it done before break is over."

"I understand, Young Master."

Kaito hung up the phone and filtered through the menus, erasing all calls from the phone's memory before opening it up and pulling out the memory chip. One never could be too careful, after all. "Well," he said to the afternoon sky. "I think it's time I pulled out of here."

He snuck back into his room with ease, gently tugging out of his clothes and putting on a fresh set: black slacks and charcoal collared shirt with a blue blazer. Kudo at his finest. He left the repaired (and enhanced) glasses on the freshly made bed for tantei-kun on top of a note for Ran. He wondered in the back of his mind if the detective knew he could forge handwriting as well... anyway, he grabbed his top hat, pulling out the monocle that belonged to his father and placed it in his breast pocket. It had been killing him that he couldn't keep it on his person, and now that he had it he felt much more relaxed. Deep breath, think Kudo, and he pulled out the fake jewel, hid his hat under his arm and overcoat, and confidently strode out of the room and into Kazuha's dubious gaze.

"I see you're my guard today," he said smoothly, still playing Kudo's character.

"Ya ain't even gonna say goodbye to Ran? Y're gonna leave her hangin' again? An' what about the kid? Conan adores you!"

Kudo snorted. "I don't think adore is the right word."

"Y're missin' th' point."

"Maybe I'm just avoiding the point," Kudo said, a wry, slightly sad smile on his face. "The longer I stay here, the more I put everyone in danger. That's the last thing I want, especially for Ran."

The girl took a martial stance. "So help me, Kudo, I'll bruise yer other ribs if ya take a step out of this hallway."

Still smiling, Kudo reached into a pocket with his good hand. "Could you do me a favor?" he asked lightly. "Make sure Hattori gets this? It should help in his investigation." With a flick of the wrist, he tossed the object to Kazuha, making her break her concentration on him to catch it before it was planted in her forehead. It was the only misdirection Kaitou Kid needed.

Kazuha looked at the fist-sized stone, honey colored with a reddish center, and frowned. A sticker was attached with the word "FAKE" in big capital letters, an angry face scrawled onto it. "Kudo, what-"

She looked up and he was gone.

It was pushing on suppertime when Heiji came back, an adequate sized folder in his hands that he wanted to share with Kudo. Quick stop off to check on Kid and he could "conveniently" forget to head home in time for supper and "conveniently" piss his father off more.

Great plan, right?

This was all torn to shreds, however, when Kazuha opened the door with a frantic look in her eyes. "He's gone, Heiji!"

Heiji's mind went blank.

"... What?"

"He's gone! Kudo's gone! I don't know how he did it! I was tryin' ta get him back in his room an' then he tossed this stupid thing at me an' when I looked up he was just gone! He just disappeared!"

Heiji frowned, not quite believing what he was hearing. Stumbling, he pulled himself out of his sneakers and pushed past the akido master, dashing down the hallway to the Kid's room. Nothing was there, just Kudo's glasses and a letter addressed to Ran, everything had been cleaned out. He spun around, unsure what to think, to see Kazuha right behind him.

He interrogated her quickly, absorbing the details slowly, until he finally asked to see what the thief had tossed at her.

"This..." he started, staring, "this is th' Birth of Spring, th' jewel from that heist th' other night." With a bright sticker labeling it as a fake. Peeling off the sticker, he saw on the back the word, "Truth."

"Huh?" Kazuha asked. "I don't get it. How'd Kudo come across th' jewel Kaitou Kid stole...? Unless..." Her eyes widened in realization, as did Heiji's when he realized what Kid had just done for them as a parting gift. He'd given them the truth.

"That rat bastard!" he shouted to the top of his lungs, stomping a foot.

This distracted Kazuha from the face-splitting grin on his face. Because also on the back of the sticker were the words,

"See you at the next heist."

It didn't take long for Kaito to settle in his hotel room. He dropped off the sparse things he'd brought with him and had already placed an order for a new white suit before he'd arrived. There would still be an untold amount of customization, adding pockets and seems for all his little do-dads. A full makeover took about a week (being a magician required many and various skills, but his sewing skills needed time for it to look invisible, thank you), but could ad hock enough for his rematch with the owner of the Birth of Spring. His first impulse was to leap right into making a new, more straightforward note and dive into preparing for the heist, but first he'd have to know where the real jewel was.

And so, after settling the basics into his hotel room, he changed into a dearly missed pair of jeans and a loose fitting T-shirt. That was actually surprising; with Ran's cooking, he was beginning to think he'd never be thin again. He wondered when Aoko would pick up her skills. Not that she was a poor cook. Not at all, but nobody seemed to match Ran's cooking.

Oh, speaking of which, Kaito popped down to the street and walked three blocks down and into the lobby of Aoko's hotel. Lo and behold, there was the person he was looking for - and the added bonus of Hakuba.

Life, Kaito decided, was good.

With a puff of smoke, he made a bouquet of flowers appear: specifically yellow and pink roses, mixed with some bells of Ireland, and purple carnations. Smiling, he slid up behind the pair (strike that, behind the lovely lady and the hapless sidekick) and draped himself over Aoko's shoulders, putting the bouquet in her line of sight.

"Yo!" he said lightly, as if he hadn't been gone for four days.

"! Kaito!"

The smile on Aoko's face was completely worth it.

So was the scowl on Hakuba's, but that was beside the point.

"The relatives finally gave me time off for good behavior," Kaito said by way of explanation. He looked conspiratorially over his shoulder. "At least, I think they did. I didn't see a straightjacket when I left."

Aoko's eyes were narrow, as were Hakuba's. Kaito turned to the blond. "That's right, you don't know. Okay, so I came to Osaka to meet some darling relatives of mine. They discovered I was a magician, so they just sort of assumed that I was also an escape artist, and so out came the handcuffs and the straightjacket. After that little misunderstanding was taken care of, I did some simple magic for them, but when I pulled out the red roses they smacked me over the head and decided to spend the next three days teaching me the language of flowers, all with their four guard dogs glaring at me. Did I mention the small one was the worst? Had the most annoying yip you'd ever hear-"

"Kuroba-kun, what are you babbling about?" Hakuba demanded.

"I'm telling Aoko what's been going on in my life for the last four days. Actually, I'm curious why you're here; I figured you'd still be attached to Kaitou Kid's cape as he ran around Osaka."

Hakuba twitched.

"Sorry I missed the heist," Kaito said, spinning back to Aoko, "I would have kept you company if I wasn't trying to find out if I was double jointed. You wouldn't believe how many muscles I pulled trying to get the straightjacket off. I finally did, though, and once I thought about it, it was kind of cool; I think I might try it again."

"Sometime soon?" Hakuba asked under his breath.

"Kaitoooooo," Aoko groaned. "Would you stop kidding around...?"

Kaito took a moment to think about it. "Okay," he said brightly. "Last night I had the craziest dream. You were in it, but you were in this string bikini that was totally not hiding anything, and two Hakuba's were there - one an angel and one a demon - and they were both cheering that you'd take it off and-"

"KAITO!"

"Then you don't want to know why the ankle biter was there covered in whipped cream and strawberries?"

"NO!"

Hakuba was bright red at the imagery Kaito had just created, before coughing it off and glaring at the thief. "I fear any psychologist that would ever try to interpret your dreams," he said evenly.

Kaito grinned. "What? That you're a pervert and I was hungry and Aoko was sweltering and hot? It was ninety degrees in that straightjacket, let me tell you."

"And you obviously didn't spend enough time in it!" Aoko cried out, angry. She swung at him.

Ah, he missed this.

"Then do you want to hear about the brainwashing? All that language of flower stuff was overwhelming." That he'd learned it to begin with when he wanted to see if anything other than cherry blossoms represented spring had nothing to do with it. Nope, not at all. The twin glares he was getting indicated that he was perhaps pushing it too far, and so he gave a theatrical sigh of the defeated and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Fine, fine," he said. "How're things for you guys?" He turned to Aoko. "Have you been spending time with your girlfriends? I know you can get lonely when your father's off chasing the bad guys; and I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you."

To both young men's surprise, Aoko's eyes welled up with tears.

"Thank you," she said in a watery voice. Then she rubbed furiously at her eyes. "God! I've been doing this all week!"

"That time of month?" Kaito asked. His answer was a sluggish swat at his head. "Must be, you're only that slow when you feel like one giant cramp."

"You have the sensitivity of concrete," Hakuba growled, before stepping forward. "Would you like to sit down?" he told the girl.

She swatted at him. "I'm fine," she growled, her face pink - from tears or embarrassment, one could only guess.

Kaito changed topics again: "How'd the heist go? I heard something about Kid getting shot, is that true?"

Aoko's ire softened slightly, and Hakuba gave the dry answer. "We can't be certain, but blood was found on the scene."

"I hope he wasn't hurt," Aoko said softly, a hand coming to her cheek.

This peeked Kaito's curiosity, but decided he'd press later - when Aoko was less menstrual and Hakuba was in a different time zone. He was about to ask about the ankle-biter - Kudo - and how the public was viewing his "little" adventure, and then somehow conveniently segue to Hakuba and his disastrous visit to the Toyama residence to tease him mercilessly, when the next best thing happened.

"Oh, Kaito-kun! You've appeared."

The three teens turned around to see Nakamori himself coming into the lobby. A new pipe was in his mouth, meaning he'd bitten through his last one.

"This is great!" Kaito said, clapping his hands together. "I'll take you all out to dinner. That'll keep me away from my darling relatives and you guys can catch me up."

"So long as you're buying, that's great!" Nakamori said.

Author's Notes: Kaito is ridiculously fun to write. :P We've said this repeatedly, but he just has this great sense of humor. He's also - in spite of Hakuba's references - very sensitive to the people around him; and his "gift" of truth to Hattori and Kazuha rather proves that. It's just ambiguous enough for Kazuha to not be completely sure that it wasn't Kid instead of Kudo, and the perfect amount of reward to Hattori for his (im)patience in aiding and abetting a fugitive.

If your curious, the, er, "message" Kaito gave Aoko in her bouquet (at least what I was aiming for) was Kaito's friendship with Aoko changing to something more significant with a little luck. At least, that's what wikipedia tells me. I did try.

Also, no clue on what Ran's gift to Conan was. Neither of them would tell us.

More investigation stuff in this chapter; there hasn't really been much, it's a weakness of this fic, but we hope we're making up for it with all the character bits that you're reading.

Next chapter: the hunt for the culprit and the second heist.