Mikau: Hey everyone! It's good to be back! Did everyone that celebrates Thanksgiving have a good one? I got up at 4:30 AM to go with my church to a church downtown to serve breakfast to the community there. We fed about 150 people, and there were 100 volunteers there. Needless to say, there really wasn't enough work for all of us, so a good deal of the time I spent talking with some friends. I got to hang out with my crush and his sister. It was fun, but we were all sooo tired. On a different note, thanks so much to Shara Raizel, Sirastar, Minervana1, Athie Lestrade, and Raifuujin for your reviews. On with the story!

Disclaimer: If I owned it, I think I'd do an episode where Mouri has to solve a case on his own. It'd be interesting.

….

A Break in the Case (or: Progression)

"I know it will be a little time consuming since you've had so many cases, but if you wouldn't mind reviewing them for any strange or suspicious ones that could have any link to the organization I've described to you, I'd be eternally grateful," Hakuba groveled tastefully. "Or, if you wouldn't mind me looking through your records, I could always just do it myself."

Kaito had to hand it to the blonde, he would do whatever was necessary to get the information they needed.

Mouri Kogoro snorted, blowing cigarette smoke out his nose.

Saguru tried his very best not to look disgusted. He couldn't figure out for the life of him how the vice-ridden, plebian of a man before him solved so many puzzling cases on a weekly basis.

"Knock yourself out, kid," Mouri laughed. "I'll email the files to you later, but I'm kind of busy at the moment, if you wouldn't mind beating it. Yoko-chan's going to be on a guest panel on a show in ten minutes."

"Dad!" Mouri Ran shrieked in abject horror. "Don't be rude! I'm so sorry about him, Hakuba-kun."

Saguru pretended not to hear the part she whispered to her father about him being the Superintendent's son and having influence.

Mouri made a pathetic apology which Saguru accepted with grace, but he made excuses and politely declined Ran's offer of more tea.

Kaito was getting fidgety, and it was obviously time to go.

They were getting nowhere.

"I had hoped to learn something more from the great Mouri Kogoro," Saguru muttered as they descended the staircase down to the street. "Bloody waste of a trip to Beika. Maybe we should drop by Division One and see if they've got any news for us, just so we have something to show for our trouble."

"We didn't come here to see Old Man Mouri," Kaito chuckled, stepping to the side and leaning against the café below the detective agency. It looked like he was planning on being there a while.

"We didn't?" Saguru had been lost this entire morning.

"Nope. Give him five minutes to make up an excuse to go out," Kaito muttered, shutting his eyes and enjoying the sun's rays on his translucent skin.

"I'm sorry, who?" Saguru had been in the dark all morning, and it had ceased to be fun several hours ago.

"You!" Edogawa Conan squeaked as he came tearing down the steps and around the corner. "You're the Kaitou Kid!"

"Hey, Tantei-kun," Kaito chuckled, adopting his suave, alter ego's mannerisms.

"What are you doing with him?!" the pipsqueak continued to yelp like a Chihuahua as he indicated Hakuba.

"You can see him?!" Now it was Saguru's turn to squawk.

"Of course I can!" the pint-sized detective snorted indignantly. "It's not like he's invisible; he's standing right there!"

"Inside voice, Tantei-kun," Kid purred, and it sounded like velvet.

Little tingles raced up Saguru's spine.

"Is there somewhere we can go to talk…Meitantei-san? I imagine your house is not an option, but don't you have a neighbor that you visit frequently?" Kid smirked.

Conan glowered. "Just how much does he know?" the four-eyed sleuth muttered, indicating Hakuba yet again.

"Only what I've told him." Kid shrugged.

"And that would be?" The shrimp was getting impatient fast.

"Nothing." The thief grinned like a certain insane, fictitious feline.

Saguru opted to keep his mouth shut. Kuroba obviously knew what he was doing, and Saguru supposed he would gain valuable information from this meeting sooner or later.

"Then we'll have to start from the beginning…though…I expect an even trade of my information for yours, Kid." Conan glared, and it kind of looked like he was pouting.

"Kaitou's honor," Kid swore.

Conan rolled his eyes and began to lead the way.

They arrived at Professor Agasa's house after a short walk, and they all settled down on the couch for tea.

The seemingly young boy frowned and opened his mouth to say something when the blonde girl that looked to be the same age only brought two cups.

"I don't drink tea anymore anyway," Kaito hummed sadly. "Care to go first, Kudo-kun, or should I?"

Saguru thanked his lucky stars that he had not been drinking anything at that moment. "K-Kudo-kun?!"

"Mmhm." Kaito nodded.

Conan growled softly. "There's not much to tell. I saw something I shouldn't have, they saw me, and they force-fed me poison to try to shut me up. It shrunk me instead of killing me; that's all there is to it. I've been using the Old Man to investigate the Men in Black ever since, and I'm proud to say I actually have a pretty good deal to show for my work."

"Hmm," Kaito mused softly. "I always wondered how you got so small, but…poison, huh? I wasn't so lucky when they used it on me."

Conan's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

Kaito smiled sadly. "I believe a proper introduction is in order. I'm Kuroba Kaito, recently deceased; you may have read my obituary in the paper. This is Hakuba Saguru; he's working on my case. Nice to meet you."

The tiny tantei's mouth opened and closed several times before he finally managed a sentence: "That boy they found in the bay the same night as the last Kid heist…"

Kaito nodded. "Me. Hakuba identified the body himself…. I'd been nipping at the heels of a branch of the Organization for a year or two as Kid, but they finally put me down. Hakuba refused to keep his nose where it belongs, so now he's involved."

"They don't know about him, do they?" Conan's eyes widen in fear.

"Nah. Not yet. I've been spending my afterlife keeping him from getting in trouble, but…we may have gotten the police involved. We've got enough proof to put Snake and the other two we showed you guys pictures of—"

"—Gin and Vodka," Conan supplied.

"Gin and Vodka…away for at least my murder. We've got video evidence of Gin and Vodka supplying the poison and of Snake using it on me, so now we're going to work on rounding them up one by one and getting them to squeal on each other. It may take a while, but it's what we can do. What can you tell us about these…Men in Black? Do you have any information on other operatives?"

Conan nodded. "I'll put together some info and get it to you by the end of the day tomorrow. You can hand it over to the police yourselves, but if they ask where you got your information, keep your mouths shut. They have inside men, and I don't want my name floating around, since I'm supposed to be dead."

"Right," Kaito whispered, nodding in understanding. "Thank you, Meitantei. Anything you can give us will help, since we're kinda flying by the seats of our pants here."

"I'll give you the information of some of my FBI contacts too. There's a branch of them that are after the Organization as well, and I think it'd be better to let the police and the FBI know that they're working on the same project. You know, just so that they can avoid stepping on each other's feet."

"We appreciate it, Kudo-kun," Saguru finally spoke up. "We'll keep you updated on our progress, so please keep in touch."

"I will," Conan assured with a small smile. "It's good to know that there are others working to shut these guys down, just…be careful, Hakuba-kun."

"I will," Saguru promised, and they traded numbers as well as some of the basic information Kudo had gathered so far as Conan.

000

On the way home, the detective and his ghost dropped by the police station and shared what they had learned with Inspector Megure. They were going to call upon Nakamori-keibu as well while they were making their rounds, but the Taskforce as well as the team working on Kaito's case were out of the office, conducting a raid of the Kuroba household.

"Do you happen to know where your mother is?" Saguru asked softly.

Kaito shrugged. "She's long gone. She's got friends all over the world she can go and stay with until things calm down, so she'll be just fine. I mean, she's out of town a lot anyway. It was just pure coincidence that she was even home when I was killed; usually she's out and about, darting around the world three out of every four weeks of the month. You don't have to worry about her, but thanks anyway, Hakuba."

"…Actually, I was more worried about you worrying about her," the detective sheepishly admitted.

Kaito stopped mid-step.

A smile slowly started to form on his face, and he began to walk again, this time with a little spring in his step.

"Thanks, Hakuba. That's sweet."

"It's nothing," Saguru muttered as he looked away to hide his blush and broad grin.

"Nah. It's everything," Kaito laughed as he skipped up the steps onto the porch. "Just being considerate can make all the difference sometimes."

"Saguru? Kuroba-kun?" Baaya called out to them as soon as she heard the door open. "Thank goodness you're home. You ought to see the news!"

"What is it?" Saguru asked for the both of them, slipping off his shoes and dashing into the parlor where Baaya had the television on.

"Wow," Kaito breathed as he recognized the house on screen as his own.

It was surrounded with police cars and cordoned off, but out in the street, kept out by the police barricade, was an enormous crowd of people. They were shouting and crying, waving banners and signs that showed their support and grief. All of Kid's fans had turned out to mourn their loss together. Many had brought flowers, and others had candles. Still others were holding up their mobile phones and swaying back and forth. It was turning into a Kaitou Kid memorial service.

"Wow," Kaito reiterated.

"Don't just stand there in awe, Kuroba. The police are turning your house upside down!" Saguru squeaked.

The phantom thief just shrugged. "The house doesn't matter; everything of importance is either locked up nice and safe or already out. Hakuba, just look at all of those people."

"They're your fans," the detective muttered flatly. "Why do I have the feeling that you're going to end up being immortalized just like Elvis?"

"That's just it. They're my fans. I have fans, Hakuba!" the magician proclaimed with pride. "Don't you see? Those people loved me. They loved me enough to gather together and bring flowers and cry over me. I entertained them, brought joy to their lives."

"I'm terribly sorry for being a little peeved, Kuroba, when your house is being searched by the police and your true identity is being revealed to the world, but, kindly, what is your point?" Saguru sighed, mind racing as he thought of all of the people finding out Kaito's secret—worst case scenario: their enemies—right at that moment.

"Sorry, Hakuba, but…maybe I got to fulfill my dream after all. Not in the way I had hoped, but…I was a world-class magician, wasn't I?" Kaito looked hopefully at his friend with big, sparkling purple eyes.

Saguru blinked as it clicked. "Yes, Kuroba. Yes you were—the finest."

"Nah, that was my dad, but…I'll settle for second best." The magician beamed. "I guess my life wasn't a total waste after all."

"No. Not a waste at all," Saguru assured, meeting those violet eyes with his own. "Even your death is going to be used to topple a horrendously evil syndicate and save countless lives…. And while you were alive, you made a difference to everyone you came in contact with from the children you helped back up when they'd fallen, or the older people you reminded of their dreams. You inspired the youth of Japan, and you took the minds of the tired workforce off of their troubles whenever you put on a show. And…in more ways than I can count, you've made my life better…Kaito." He tensed as he let the word leave his mouth, but he didn't look away until he saw for sure if he would be rejected or not.

Kuroba smiled, chuckling softly as he patted his friend on the cheek. "You make it hard to stay straight when you wax poetic about me, Saguru. Wanna go watch a movie or something, or did you have something else to do?"

"A movie sounds wonderful," Saguru breathed, absolutely giddy at hearing his given name pass those heavenly lips.

000

They were about half-way through the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie when Baaya called out for them frantically a second time. Well, actually she just called for Saguru, but both boys raced down the hall and down the staircase as fast as their legs could carry them.

"In the living room," the elderly woman sighed as Saguru jumped the last three steps. "You've got a visitor, Sweetheart."

The young master of the house gave his caretaker a puzzled look, wondering why she'd made him think some crazed fiend had broken in and set the place ablaze if it were just a visitor.

"It's Nakamori Aoko-chan, and she looks in a bad way," Baaya whispered.

Kaito's face lost all color, but Saguru only nodded solemnly in understanding.

The boys slowly rounded the corner and came upon the inspector's daughter—face a blotchy mess of red and white with tear tracks well worn down her cheeks.

Her hair was a twisted bird's nest, and her clothes were rumpled.

"Aoko-kun," Saguru breathed.

With that, the poor girl exploded in a fit of tears, stifling her wails by biting down on her handkerchief.

Saguru went to sit beside her on the sofa and got out his own handkerchief to dab at her eyes gently. "It's okay, Aoko-kun. Go ahead and cry; you have every right, and I'm not going to judge you."

She let out a muffled sob as she pressed herself against his side.

Saguru was a little bit at a loss as to what to do.

"Put your arm around her," Kaito urged from where he stood in the doorway, just looking on at his heart-broken darling and letting his own heart shatter as well—his punishment for hurting her.

Saguru did as bid, slowly sliding his arm around his classmate.

She was a lot smaller huddled up in a little ball in his arms than when she skillfully brandished a mop in the classroom.

"I take it you saw the news," he talked to her quietly as she cried, trying to fill the awkward void of quasi-silence.

She hiccupped something that sounded like a question, but Saguru couldn't hear through the handkerchief in her mouth.

"I'm terribly sorry, Aoko-kun. What was that?" he sheepishly asked, listening carefully so that she would not have to repeat it a third time.

"Is it true?" she gasped. "Kaito's Kid?"

"Tell her the truth," Kaito instructed weakly, his own voice cracking.

"It's true," Saguru whispered, gently stroking her hair.

"This whole time?" Aoko choked. "After Aoko de-defended him?"

"I'm sorry, Aoko-kun." The gentleman gave her hand a supportive squeeze as the sobs receded and the angry tirade began.

"Aoko…I defended him, and this whole time he was laughing at all of us behind our backs! At me, at Dad, even at you, Hakuba-kun! How could he?! How could he be…be so cruel?!"

"Aoko-kun, he wasn't," Saguru rushed to speak on his beloved's behalf. "This wasn't just some game to him, Aoko-kun. I didn't understand at first, but he wasn't laughing at us. Sure, I think he enjoyed the rush he got from it along with the mental and physical challenge, but he didn't become Kid just for kicks. Think about it; Kid first made his debut before any of us were born, and he disappeared while we were still little. Kaito could not have been Kid all of those years ago, so who was? You've got what it takes to be a police detective, Aoko-kun; put together the clues."

Aoko blinked away her tears, and a stunned look took the place of anger on her face. "It was Uncle Toichi, wasn't it? …Kaito worshiped his father."

Saguru nodded. "His father was murdered, and I believe Kuroba wanted to track down the killers and know why. He didn't become Kid on a whim, Aoko-kun. He had his reasons."

"And you expect me to just forgive him?" Aoko snorted. "Even if he had a good reason, what he did is still wrong. Think of all of the people he's hurt!"

Saguru sighed, trying his best not to see the wounded look on Kaito's face. "No, Aoko-kun. I don't expect anything. I only wish for you to understand; it is up to you to make your own decisions. I understand, and I've forgiven him…for the most part. Sometimes that dye was a little difficult to get out of my hair."

This got a weak laugh out of both Kaito and Aoko.

"I won't forgive him," the head-strong girl finally muttered. "I don't care why he did it; he betrayed me…completely and utterly betrayed me. I can't forgive that…not right now."

"I don't think he would want you to," Saguru mused. "He can't forgive himself for hurting you, and he can't punish himself enough. He's a bit of a masochist, you know. I think he feels that he deserves your hatred, and I think it makes him feel better."

Aoko blinked. "It sounds as if you know him really well, Hakuba-kun."

"Yes, well, I was quite obsessed with him; I used to research him all the time," Saguru replied with a sheepish blush.

"You used the past tense," Aoko observed. "Are you not obsessed with him anymore?"

Saguru's blush deepened to the shade of a mauve sweater one of his aunts had once given him. "Yes, well…since his death, Kuroba has become a bit less of a god and more of a human to me. My unhealthy fixation has faded into a mere fascination. I've learned a lot about him through my investigation."

"How is that going by the way?" Aoko inquired offhandedly, trying to hide her interest.

Saguru bit his lip before finally responding. "Well. It's going very well. It will take a while, but I imagine you'll hear about it in the news when everything is all wrapped up. I'm afraid I can't say any more at the moment."

Aoko nodded, sighing as she sunk back into the sofa. "Thank you, Hakuba-kun, and…I'm really sorry. It's not fair of me to come crying to you like that, but…I'm sorry; I don't have anyone else I can break down in front of. Thank you so much for being so supportive."

"Don't worry about it, Aoko-kun. You've nothing to apologize for. I'm here for you whenever you need me," Saguru assured. After all, he was fond of the mousy brunette, and Kuroba would probably let him have it later if he didn't act supportively.

"Thank you. I…I don't know what to say," she stuttered, a cute blush spreading from her cheeks to her ears.

"Say that you'll stay for dinner," Saguru replied without missing a beat. "It should be ready in a little less than an hour, and we'd love to have you."

"I couldn't impo—"

"—Nonsense," he quickly cut her off. "Aoko-kun, you're always welcome here. Besides, just listen to Baaya whistling in the kitchen. Could you really deny her a guest to pamper? I will bet she is especially excited because you are the first friend I've had over. She's probably over the moon due to the fact that you're female."

Aoko blinked. "But…you don't like…"

"Women?" Saguru chuckled, giving Aoko's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "While it's true that I vastly prefer men, I haven't ruled out the fairer sex completely. Who knows? You might be the one to make me change my mind."

Aoko's entire face changed to a bright crimson in two seconds flat.

"I'm terribly sorry, Aoko-kun. Am I making you uncomfortable?" Saguru rushed to remove his arm from around her shoulders.

"N-No," she stuttered, looking down and away as her blush worsened. "I was just thinking that…that's really sweet, Hakuba-kun. I was just…just thinking that maybe I should do what you said and not let my feelings for Kaito in the past hold me back from moving on and being happy in the future."

"Oh." Saguru blinked. "G-Good."

000

Kaito was noticeably absent at dinner that night, and as Aoko came over more often to hang out, the ghost found other places that he needed to be, most often the Mouri Detective Agency, Hakuba suspected.

The teen detective began to worry that his best friend was angry with him and holding a grudge of some kind. He gathered together his courage one night and finally asked Kaito about it.

"It's fine, Saguru. I'm not mad at you," the apparition assured. "I want you two to end up together, it's just…it's hard watching you guys be happy without me."

A few weeks passed, and little progress was made on the investigation; Saguru and Aoko, however, were getting along swimmingly. They were now sitting next to each other at school after "The Ghost of Kuroba Kaito" had terrorized anyone and everyone besides Saguru who had tried to take the magician's old seat.

"You're being childish, Kaito," Saguru scolded, but his friend had merely shrugged and laughed.

After a month with no breakthroughs, both boys decided that something must be done.

"We have to force their hand," Saguru muttered as he scanned the papers laid out all over his bed.

"How do we do that?" Kaito scoffed as he practiced picking up objects and holding them as long as he could.

"I'm not sure," the detective hummed.

Saguru's phone pinged.

"Text from Aoko," the more immature of the two snickered. "Your girlfriend wants to go on a date."

"She's not my girlfriend, and we're focusing on you right now," Saguru replied curtly without looking up.

"Why isn't she your girlfriend?" Kaito pouted putting down the phone and picking up an eraser. "You two make a cute couple."

"I'm not ready for that kind of relationship," Saguru calmly responded. "Focus, Kaito."

"Why not? What's holding you back?" the ghost demanded.

Two pleading golden eyes finally met Kaito's violets. Those eyes sheepishly begged him to understand.

Kaito blinked. "You…still love me?"

"I can't help it," Saguru sighed, setting down his notebook and pen. "I'm trying, Kaito. I just can't get you out of my head."

Kaito nodded, having nothing else to say. He finally decided upon: "I guess it'll just take some time."

"Let's work on the case?" Saguru proposed.

Kaito nodded again, setting down the eraser and picking up a pencil. "How do we force their hand? What do you mean by that?"

"Well, the way I see it, they may be keeping it on the down-low since your death because of all of the media coverage. We have to force them to come out of hiding so that we can catch one or two operatives and start chipping away at them. I just don't know what we could do to draw them out."

Kaito blinked as a light bulb came on over his head. "We'll do it the way I did it the first time: bring Kid back from the dead. We'll have a heist!"

"That's brilliant, Kaito!" Saguru exclaimed. "Snake's bound to come out to play if a man he thinks he's killed twice already sends out a challenge!"

"This is gonna be great! I'll send out a note through the newspaper saying that I've found what they're looking for, and they'll come for sure on the night of the heist! All I have to do is steal the jewel and lead them into a trap set up by the police. You can bring the idea up to the Black Organization's Taskforce and mine, can't you?" Kaito sounded beyond excited.

"There's only one problem, Kaito. We can't guarantee that anyone will see you."

The magician's face fell when he realized his companion had a point. "Then…what are we going to do?"

"Well, someone else will just have to put the suit on." Saguru shrugged.

"No," Kaito hissed. "I'm not lettin' somebody else go out there and risk their neck, pretendin' to be me, Saguru. It's not happening. Sure, I may have gotten killed in the end, but I knew what I was doing. There's no way I'm gonna let someone without any training go and gamble with their life. There's no guarantee that Snake's not gonna get tired of me and my nine lives and go for the headshot. It's too dangerous."

Saguru nodded, considering their options as Kaito set down the pencil and picked up a small notebook.

It was quiet for a moment, and then Saguru had a brilliant idea. "But, Kaito, aren't there people trained to stand in for you? I know you couldn't have pulled all of those heists off by yourself. You had help, so couldn't one of your assistants play stunt double for you again? There must be at least one or two that you trust enough to do this. Isn't there anyone that you think is up to the task?"

Kaito's face lit up. "There are a couple people that could probably do it, but there's this one that I know we can count on. She goes by 'Chrysanthemum', but I call her 'Kiku-chan'. I think she's some kind of secret agent that worked with my dad or something, but she's got this mysterious streak going. One thing's for certain, she's got the moves, and she's too stubborn to die. I'd feel more comfortable sending her than Jii-chan, my mom, or any of the others."

"Excellent. We'll have to get into contact with her and then set it all up with the police, but I honestly think this is going to work, Kaito. We're so close," the Brit tried his hardest not to sound giddy.

"I know," Kaito laughed, trying too to contain his excitement.

His smile faded when he set down the notebook, picked up a newspaper, and happened to glimpse an article about a comet coming at the end of the month. "Saguru? We should probably hurry."

…

Y

Mikau: Yeah, I know it's the letter 'y', but doesn't it kind of look like a martini glass. Then again, I don't have much experience with martini glasses, so how would I know? Anyway, thanks for dropping in guys. One chapter and the epilogue left. Hopefully I'll get them up before the end of the year. See you next time!