Nayru's Note: Before you start reading this chapter, I advise that you spare a moment to go to youtube, and find something called "RE:CHORD - One Ok Rock - The Beginning - SCB-R1." It will give you a better understanding and overall picture of something happening in the story later on. (The Acapella version works, too, but I suggest listening to it after the normal one, if you don't know the song.)

If you for whatever reason don't care enough to do that, then just carry on and use your imagination, instead. That works, too. c:

~4 Idiots In A Closet~
Chapter 06: The beginning with pandora revelations

"Did you also get a message from an unknown number yesterday?"

Those were the words that greeted Shinichi the next morning, when he got into Saguru's car again.

It turned out that Agasa's house was was more or less on the way from Kaito's to Hakuba's, so the blond detective suggested to pick him up on his way there again. It was nice having things being so convenient sometimes.

"Good morning to you, too." Conan spoke with a yawn. "Was it a single question mark?"

"So it was Kuroba." Saguru seemed frustrated with the realization. "After you told us about that whole syndicate, I was starting to consider all kinds of possibilities."

"Ah… Does that mean you ignored it?"

Saguru pressed fingers to his closed eyes, tiredly rubbing against the skin. "I figured it was better to be safe than sorry."

Well, crap… This was already starting to rub them the wrong way. And now that Shinichi thought about it, it made sense for Hakuba to be paranoid about something like this, after he's told them what he did, implying the danger behind everything. Chances always were - however slim - that a Black Organization member found out about what transpired and was the one to send out the messages to them.

Maybe mentioning more details to the two was a better idea at this point, just as Kid insisted, after all… They already knew more than they should. It would have been a lot safer if they knew what to expect, rather than being left in the dark. Exchanging phone numbers for any future case scenarios (like this one, for instance) would probably work in their favor, too.

When Conan took out his cell phone and flipped it open, something else occurred to him all of a sudden, and he had to wonder how he's missed it up till now. Hakuba seemed a little...

"… How much sleep did you get?"

Saguru looked at him tiredly, the bags under his eyes becoming even more apparent. "I didn't."

… Well. No wonder he sounded so grumpy from the start, then. Shinichi would laugh, if it hadn't been partially his fault. He was actually feeling sorry for this.

"Don't tell me… you couldn't sleep because of that message."

"What? No, it's not the organization I was losing sleep over…" Hakuba explained, his grumpy demeanor eventually turning into something more relaxed. "I guess I'm stressing over it a bit too much."

Saguru closed his eyes and slumped back against the seat, a tiny smile appearing on his lips.

"How would you feel if a case that meant a lot to you, and which you've been working on since forever, had a chance to finally be solved?"

Conan blinked, not expecting that kind of admission coming from someone like Hakuba. But putting two and two together was pretty easy, as was understanding the implication behind the words. If Shinichi knew about having a showdown with the Organization's Boss the next day, he doubted he'd get much sleep the day before, either.

"Stupid. Aren't you supposed to give it your all today?" He could still be a hypocrite about it, though. "Kuroba won't be going easy on either of us, you know."

"I'll be fine." Saguru insisted, even if he sounded more tired than fine. "We still have around forty five minutes before we get there... It's enough for a short nap."

That was assuming he'd even be able to fall asleep. Shinichi knew from his own experience, that sometimes, when you passed a certain point of fatigue, you could paradoxically be too tired to actually fall asleep. Not to mention that a car wasn't the most ideal of places for resting.

… Well, maybe Conan could help the London detective with that.

The small boy shook the other awake once they were at their destination. Hakuba seemed even worse for wear after his short (forced) nap, but Shinichi believed it would do him some good after he managed to wake up more properly.

Saguru exchanged a few words with his housekeeper as they exited the vehicle, and soon enough, they were left alone, standing on the street in front of Kuroba's house.

That's when they heard it.

"I whisper into the night~! Telling me it's not my time and don't give up~!"

A woman was singing along to some kind of song, and apparently the thing was set to be so loud that they could hear it out in the street. There must have been a window open somewhere…

Conan noted that the next moment, it was a guy singing, instead. So it was more than one person. Was there a karaoke party going on, somewhere? … At such an early hour?

Confusion only grew when a voice that he swore sounded like Ran's joined into the picture.

Shinichi almost had a heart attack. Why would Ran possibly be here? Did Kuroba tell her something (he was calm, he was calm), and bring her here? And now…

… Wait…

The small detective looked over at Saguru, noticing him staring at one of the open windows in Kaito's house, where a pigeon just flew into. The half-British teen seemed a bit less perplexed than he was, at least.

"They might call me crazy~! For saying I'd fight until there is no more~!"

"Is that… Kuroba?" Conan asked, blinking in disbelief and somewhat… in awe. If it was indeed that guy, jumping from one voice to the other in a matter of milliseconds…

Hakuba smirked, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his pants. "It's him, alright."

They both stood there and listened to the constantly changing voices with intrigue.

Conan was actually kind of jealous. Not only could the thief emit other people's voices without the help of any device, he was also quite a decent singer. … Unlike him. Shinichi couldn't sing for the life of him and just made people's ears bleed whenever he attempted to remind himself of that fact.

Kaito was nice to listen to, at least.

"He's… kind of amazing, isn't he?" The small detective eventually spoke up, a hint of dry amusement in his voice.

"He's definitely something." Hakuba agreed, sounding somewhat fond, too. "No normal person would be able to pull something like this off."

"As the world falls apart around us, all we can do is hold on~!"

"Not like that, no."

Conan pulled on his bow-tie, taking a long look at it, then turned to stare at Saguru. Mischievous and very tempting ideas suddenly swarmed his mind.

Should they?

"Don't worry it's safe right here in my arms~!"

"BAKAAAIIITOOO!"

Aoko's voice echoed throughout the house, and Kuroba jumped in shock, the words he was singing abruptly turning into a startled yell. Flailing, he turned in the direction of his room's entrance, trying to calm his poor heart and hope his face didn't look as terrified as he felt it did.

Conan was on the verge of dying from laughter, with the way he held his sides, and Hakuba just stood there, snickering quietly to himself.

It came to the thief's attention that Saguru had the small detective's bow-tie in his hands.

… He didn't. He bloody didn't! That bastard!

"… How long have you been here?" Kaito asked through gritted teeth, smiling as if the devil had just possessed him. They were back earlier than Saguru told him they'd be.

"Long enough." Hakuba just gave him a smug smile.

"You're singing to your doves." Conan established, sounding too amused. "Really?"

"Hey, it's a better audience than none! These guys are good listeners. And they don't complain, like certain people!" Kuroba complained, as if the two detectives didn't know anything. "Besides, it's the best kind of practice. Kuroba Kaito may be a bit out of the loop right now, but Kaitou Kid needs to stay fit with his skills, thanks!"

The magician huffed, crossing his arms before his chest.

"Just so we're clear: I'm going to kick your asses for this." There was something sinister in his voice all of a sudden, and he was clearly talking about them using Aoko against him in such a deceitful way.

Conan shrugged. "Hey, consider it payback. You did the same for me with Ran's voice, once."

On top of a skyscraper when they were about to have a showdown with one another, at that. It was an effective distraction, but still a foul move on the thief's part. No to mention that he's dressed up as Shinichi without his consent back then—

"What was that…? Oh no, Shinichi~ What are you doing~?!"

Kaito mimicked Ran's voice on the spot, making it sound as obnoxious as he could, as if she were in the middle of something… very, very naughty. He made some exaggerated gesticulations, getting into the part well.

"No, stop~! Not there~! Shi~ni~chi~!"

It probably went without saying that Conan was red as a tomato in two seconds flat, eyes wide and flailing as he tried to find his voice and yell at the thief to stop. Hell, even Hakuba was blushing from witnessing that kind of performance.

Thankfully for the two, Kuroba was mindful enough to cut it out on his own. Once he was done with his theatrics, he stared at the two with a smug smirk and a composure the two detectives definitely didn't have at the moment.

"Any other complaints?"

Conan stumbled for words, but all he could really do was cover his mouth and nose with his hands, shakily taking a step back out of the room. The poor kid seemed more shaken up than Kuroba thought he'd be, which was kind of amusing. Well, score for him, he supposed.

When Shinichi suddenly ran for the bathroom without a word, Kaito wasn't sure whether to be worried or to laugh.

"… Did he just get a nosebleed?"

Hakuba closed his mouth and swallowed at the question, as if the words made him come back to reality. "… Huh? Oh. I'm not sure..."

"Wow, you guys are so done." Kuroba snickered in slight awe and disbelief. This was just too precious. "I need to try doing this more often."

"… You have no shame."

"It comes with practice."

Building up a good poker face did take him years and years of practice, after all. And as far as Kaito was aware of, none of the detectives had any actual idea how many times he's been freaking out on them because of something going wrong for him, simply because he didn't let it show. His father taught him the basics well.

Beside the perplexity and adorable lack of composure, there was also something else about Hakuba that suddenly caught Kuroba's attention, though.

"Heh. You didn't sleep all night again, did you?" The thief asked with a hint of amusement, finally getting up to approach the other by the door frame. "I should have known this would happen."

It was almost like that time after that one heist, where Kaito was deadbeat and Hakuba was late for class. He looked like a zombie because he ended up pulling an all-nighter in his laboratory, doing research on a hair sample Kid had left behind.

Hakuba just stared at him, not bothering to hide his displease, whoever it was more directed at - the thief or himself alone.

"I'm hoping you were smarter for a change."

Wow. It was rare to see Saguru admitting to a current weakness - and not denying being in the wrong and doing something stupid, at that.

"I slept like a log." Kaito admitted with pride, although with the way he's said it, it should have given Hakuba enough of a hint that it was a lie.

The thief eventually went past the door frame, turning to follow his favorite critic's footsteps with a lazy demeanor.

"Hey, Tantei-kun! You need help in there?"

Conan sat by the table with tissues stuffed into his nose, carrying an expression that threatened to murder people.

"I guess we're settling for coffee today." Wise words were spoken, with Kuroba already getting on the job.

He insisted for Hakuba to just sit down, because he looked like he would stumble over his own feet and pass out any second. Kaito might not have gotten that much sleep himself, but a few hours were still better than none. He was holding up a lot better than his classmate was.

Once the mugs with the currently life-saving liquid were served, Saguru waited for their host to sit down and join them before he took a quick glimpse at his pocket watch and then unceremoniously got to the chase.

"Kaitou Kid. Age: 17; height: 174 centimeters; weight: 58 kilograms; blood type: 'B.' Ambidextrous. Master of disguise; is able to emit other people's voices. Athletic in sports, although he's horrible at ice-skating. Remarkable memorizing skills. Has concentration, but lacks willpower. Inspector Nakamori pointed out that he has a bad personality."

Hakuba recited the words as if he were reading them all out of a book. … One he did not have before him.

Shinichi figured he'd simply lay back and listen what the London detective had to say, and see how this whole thing was bound to develop. He didn't want to turn against Kuroba by helping Saguru with his deductions right now. Two against one would be unfair. He was set on taking a more neutral stance for the time being.

Besides, he had a soaking tissue to worry about. … Which he should be paying the thief back for, actually. Why was he being so considerate? He was really becoming too generous lately.

"His first appearance took place in Paris, 19 years ago. He then disappeared 11 years later, was presumed dead. He's now back after a 8-year of absence and primarily active in Japan. Aliases: 'Kaitou 1412,' 'The Modern Lupin,' 'The Moonlight Magician.' Reason for stealing: unknown."

Kaito rested a cheek on his hand, quietly listening to the half-British detective. He would most likely give off the impression of being bored, if it wasn't for the serious look he was giving the other teen.

"Kid mainly targets jewels with some kind of history, and after a successful heist, he returns them - either to the owner, or the police. Usually, he returns the items on the following day, or if the heist doesn't take place during a full moon - which it usually does - he returns them right after the following one. The full moon might be of some significance, or it might be simply symbolic, to upkeep the 'Moonlight Magician' title. Like I already mentioned before, I have a theory that you're looking for something in particular, but you need to have it in your possession in order to be able to tell whether it's the right thing or not. You also have an assistant that helps you out with your tricks sometimes—"

"I'm officially disturbed." Kuroba finally interrupted in an unusually serious voice. "You really are obsessed with all of this, aren't you?"

Saguru's brow twitched the slightest bit, but decided to ignore that remark and went on.

"Considering I already know about your father, I assume he he was the original Kid. The thief's disappearance overlaps with Kuroba Toichi's time of death. Inspector Nakamori said that he's been chasing after Kid since he was in his twenties, and it couldn't have been you all those years back; you were too young back then. So you took up the job after him once you came of age and were ready to do so."

"Bzzt, wrong."

Kaito interrupted again, and Hakuba went silent, staring at the magician. Kuroba let the silence stretch, but he eventually continued with an explanation, even if he didn't sound pleased to be doing it.

"My father never wanted me to find out that he was the original Kid. According to Jii-chan, anyway. Well, I do have some evidence pointing against that. But he never told me anything on his own."

Saguru blinked, the puzzle pieces he had clearly not fitting in together on the board. "… So you didn't know?"

"Remember how Kid made his first re-appearance after being gone for those 8 years? That wasn't me. Nor was I aware of it having anything to do with with me." Kaito explained, figuring it would be better to just admit it. "I found out that my father was Kaitou Kid on the same day that other Kid made his re-appearance. So I put on the attire I stumbled upon and went out to meet them, hoping I could find some answers by doing so. It's when I found out that my father's death wasn't an accident."

Kuroba paused, giving the two detectives a moment to process the information.

"I continued picking up Kid's attire because I thought it would lead me to the people that killed him. And what do you know, I was right."

"So you're… doing it for revenge?" Hakuba asked.

That actually made the magician think. "… Partially, I guess." Kaito concluded. "But that's not the main reason."

With that, he turned in Shinichi's direction.

"Remember how I told you about opening Pandora's Box, Tantei-kun?"

Conan blinked, not really expecting to be brought into the conversation all of a sudden. "Back at Kichiemon's Mansion?"

How could he forget that? He's let the thief off the hook then, for helping Genta and the rest of his friends.

"Mm." He knew he could count on his favorite critic to remember. "I'm on the search for something the bad guys want to get their hands on very, very much. It's something akin to a Pandora's Box." Kid explained. "I want to find it and destroy it, so that they can't open it."

"You want to destroy it?" Saguru asked. "… And what might this whole 'Pandora Box' be?"

"That's the part that a detective like you might not believe or understand." Kaito sounded certain. "Being a magician, I always knew every trick had a logical explanation, and actual magic never existed for me, either. But then I came into contact with people that proved me otherwise."

Like Akako, who was an actual witch. That girl could do crazy things that defied any kind of logic. Then there was Shinichi and one of his female friends he's dressed up as back inside of the train…

"Well, Tantei-kun might, I suppose. Considering he's also seen some things that 'a logical mind' can't explain. But believe me when I say that if Pandora ever fell into the bad guys' hands, they would use it for wrong reasons and the world would become a very scary place."

"You're stealing gems, hoping to find the right one… so that the 'bad guys' don't get their hands on it." Hakuba raised an eyebrow, his voice anything but skeptic.

"Yup."

"So, what is this Pandora supposed to do?"

"I won't tell you that." Kuroba sounded set on that. "Didn't I say it before? Knowing what's inside of the box before opening it wouldn't be fun at all!" He repeated the words he already said in front of his favorite critic once. He was sure Shinichi remembered them well, too. "Besides, with your logical, critical minds, you wouldn't believe me, even if I told you."

Saguru didn't seem too happy by that claim. "Do you even have proof that it exists?"

"Would a criminal organization be after it, threatening to kill me if I didn't stop getting in their way, if it wasn't real?"

"… They've been threatening you?"

"… Kind of."

"You were out there, knowing these guys had guns and could bring in snipers, and you weren't carrying a vest." Hakuba sounded like he couldn't believe his ears. "I thought you were smart, but how much of an idiot are you?"

"Bite me." They've already talked about this. Would Hakuba ever give it a rest? "They were pretty surprised to see Kid being back, though, so I assume they were involved with the original one's death." Kuroba continued. "I… don't know what my father's actual reasons for stealing were yet." Kaito was pretty sure that both Jii-chan and his mother knew something. But they didn't want to tell him, for some reason. "But I'm sure I'll find all the answers, eventually, if I continue doing what I'm doing."

Saguru frowned, looking somewhat… defeated. As if he was expecting to hear something else from Kid.

"Disappointed?" Kaito raised an eyebrow, giving his classmate a flat kind of look. "I did ask, what if my reasons for stealing weren't good enough for you?"

Hakuba was silent for a moment, but eventually spoke up. "It's… something personal for you. But you're not doing it for bad reasons. There were times when you went out of your way to help people, various times. You're also careful, so that nobody gets hurt during your heists. You're breaking the law, but you mean no harm to anyone."

"Well, why would I want to harm others?" Kuroba almost sounded offended. "I'm a magician, first and foremost. Magicians want the audience to have fun, experience something wonderful, witness a performance they'll never forget." He pointed out with fervor. "Magicians want to show people that dreams do come true."

"You're such a romantic." Conan couldn't help but comment, clearly amused by the whole admission.

Kuroba tried not to pout. He failed. "And you detectives obviously can't dream."

Hakuba closed his eyes with a sigh, muttering something to himself. "Good grief..."

The next moment, the London detective reached into one of his shirt pockets. He got out what looked like a piece of white fabric and placed it on the table before them.

It was undoubtedly one of Kaitou Kid's gloves.

"Here… I'm returning it to you." The blond teen announced. "I retrieved it after it got snatched away as evidence from the crime scene, so that the police wouldn't get your fingerprints or DNA from it."

Kuroba gave Saguru a surprised look. He had a good idea where that glove was from, but...

"But this happened a while back…" Way before they talked about any of this, and when they still barely knew one another. His assisted heist with Nightmare… Hakuba had his suspicions, but had no real proof of him being Kid back then. "… Why?"

"It wouldn't get into the possession of the police unless you weren't trying to save a person's life." Hakuba explained, filling Conan in on the matter. "I didn't find it fair."

For once, Kaito didn't know what to say. He reached out to take the glove into his hands and stared at it thoughtfully.

"While we're already at it, I also have something I wanted to return." The smaller detective interrupted the two, fumbling for something in his pants' pockets as well.

Soon enough, a broken monocle joined the pile. The one Kid lost after being presumably shot in the right eye by Scorpion.

"… No way." Kuroba spoke with a hint of fondness and slight amusement in his voice. "You held onto it all this time?"

"Well, you already payed me back for it. Way too many times."

The thief inspected the broken item, smiling to himself with a fondness neither Conan nor Hakuba ever remembered him showing. Time seemed to go still for a few good seconds.

"Silly detectives, what is this humble thief going to do with you?"

Conan smirked at that. "I might have an idea." Content to see that Kid was all ears, he took one last sip out of his mug before handing it to the magician. "You could make us more coffee."

Kaito chuckled, clearly not expecting such a trivial request. "Sounds fair enough."

Just like with the tea yesterday, Shinichi drank his coffee with milk and a single spoon of sugar, Hakuba preferred it completely black, while the thief helped himself to both a ton of milk and a handful of the sweet stuff mixed into it.

Conan silently thought to himself that he was in the presence of two guys who were opposites in a lot of ways. No wonder they bickered with one another so much. Then again, didn't opposites also attract? He vaguely wondered what Hattori's preferences regarding his drinks were. They ate a lot of times together, but he couldn't recall whether he's used sugar with anything or not.

"Pandora… is a gem inside of a gem. One which you can see under the light of a full moon only."

Kid finally admitted, figuring that keeping that one fact secret wouldn't make much of a difference at this point. Happen what may, he was prepared for the detectives to laugh at him.

"There's a silly legend behind it - one which I'm going to spare you the details of - but generally… if you know what to do with it, it's said to grant immortality."

"… Immortality?" Hakuba asked, making a weird, perplexed face. Which was only to be expected.

Although, to the thief's surprise, his favorite critic didn't look like he was about to laugh anytime soon. His expression was that of shock, as if he just received a very crucial puzzle piece - that, sadly, didn't mean anything good - instead.

"… What are the chances of someone else already having found it, without the organization's knowledge?"

"Whoa, hold on…" Shinichi was taking this with grave seriousness. Was there something he wasn't aware of? "What makes you say that?"

"I know a person from the Black Organization… that doesn't seem to age." Conan admitted, something dark in his voice. "She's been the same for the past twenty years, and I have proof she wasn't wearing any kind of disguise the last time I came into contact with her."

Kaito blinked, wondering who Tantei-kun could have been talking about.

"… Are you sure that person doesn't have something to do with the poison they've given you, though?" The magician asked, then mused out loud. "Unless… Pandora itself is also tied in with those drugs, somehow."

The small detective fell silent, frowning, clearly contemplating it. "We certainly can't rule out the possibility…"

"That would mean that the syndicates can't be connected, right? They'd know about it otherwise."

Well, they still didn't have any actual proof to confirm that theory. For all Shinichi knew, Vermouth could have been plotting something bigger behind the Organization's back, without their knowledge. She'd be able to pull off a lot of things. Who knew what that woman's actual goals were.

Conan turned to look at the other two boys, resigning himself to something he was wondering about for the past dozen of hours. Kaito practically spilled his heart out before them, so it would be only fair to repay his resolve by doing the same.

He told them everything he knew, as briefly as he could. Well, almost everything.

He mentioned every detail he could think of that might have been relevant in regards to the Black Organization, somehow. All the trails he stumbled upon, and all the encounters he had with them. He told them what he knew regarding Gin, Vodka, Chianti, Korn… Tequila and Pisco, as well. He mentioned Vermouth knowing his secret, but not selling him out, for reasons yet unknown to him. He also told them that she was the earlier-mentioned person that didn't seem to age.

Shinichi also mentioned the FBI's involvement, but not too many details about them. He also brought up Bourbon and his confusion regarding him.

He left Haibara out of the picture, of course. As he did Akai Shuichi. And Kir. There were some things that were still better left off as secrets - or mysteries, as Kid liked to call it. Especially when people's lives might have been at stake.

Kaito found it funny that they were clearly involved with a messed up liquor store and a zoo.

After exchanging a few more words and finishing his second coffee, Conan excused himself, claiming that he still had something to take care of and needed to leave early. Whether their whole talk had anything to do with it was a mystery to the two, but the fact remained that Kaito and Hakuba were being left alone to their thoughts.

"What a crazy day." Kuroba remarked in a tired tone. "I think I'm getting a headache from all the information and brainstorming."

"Are you certain your lack of sleep isn't at fault there?"

"Weren't you the one who stayed up all night?" The thief threw his classmate an unimpressed look. "I bet you were working on getting your whole speech ready."

"Speech?" That clearly wasn't the case. "I was ready to point all of that out yesterday."

"Right. I almost forgot about the 'obsession' part."

"It's called 'good memory.'" Saguru wasn't letting himself get provoked by this again. A change of topic would have been nice. "… How's your wound?"

"Alright, I think." The magician murmured. "Nothing opened up. That doctor's stitches hold everything together like they should."

Right, Araide stitched the wound up yesterday. He needed to give Kuroba some kind of anesthetic when he worked on it, didn't he? How was the thief still cheerfully on his feet after that was honestly beyond him.

"Well, I should still change the bandages for you."

Keeping the wound clean was still something they should be paying a lot of attention to. Even if it didn't bleed anymore, an infection could always happen.

Kaito had the most unimpressed expression on his face when Hakuba turned to look at him.

"Also… I wanted to apologize."

Well, that triggered a reaction. Kuroba lifted his head from his hand and straightened up, evidently wondering what the hell was happening all of a sudden. "Apologize?"

"… For bringing up Aoko during our conversation the day before."

Oh. Well, the detective needed to know that had upset him quite a deal. Aoko hating the Kid was a touchy subject for him. But it's not like that was against the rules, or anything. Hakuba knew one of his weaknesses and simply decided to use it against him. 'All was fair in love and war,' wasn't it?

"Don't worry about it." Kaito shrugged it off, as if it was no big deal. He was basically asking for it, anyway. "I was being rude to you, as well."

With the whole handcuff thing… even if Saguru was the one to start it.

"Hey, Hakuba…"

It was Kaito who spoke up again, his voice surprisingly hesitant. If the detective didn't know better, he'd go as far to call it shy.

"Could you make me that tea of yours again? I tried doing it myself, but… it wasn't nearly as good."

Saguru blinked at the other teen, clearly not expecting such a request. But it wasn't long before he smirked, somewhat entertained by the idea.

"What kind of tea did you do it with?"

Kuroba looked like he didn't follow. "Um… the normal kind?"

"By normal, you mean green tea?" Hakuba assumed. "It works best with black. Or some other strong kind."

"… I see."

"Four teaspoons of sugar again?"

Kaito grinned back at his classmate.

No other answer was needed, was there?

When Hakuba opened the fridge to get the milk out, he was a little confused to find all of the chocolate he's left there the day before to be missing.

What in the bloody hell…

"Did you eat all of it?"

"… Wasn't I supposed to? You told me it was good for me." Kaito blinked, not understanding where the problem was.

"There were four bars in there... They were supposed to last you a while."

The disbelief in Saguru's voice was bordering with intrigue. How did Kuroba manage to eat all of that without puking? Did he stay up all night just to stuff his face with the bloody chocolate?

"You're going to get fat."

For a brief moment, the magician's expression turned into a terrified one.

Then he just pouted.

"Am not!"

Kaito let Hakuba stay over at his place that night. The stupid detective almost passed out on him from lack of sleep, so he figured it would be cruel to just kick him out. Especially when he would return to him the next day for a bandage check, anyway. And it's not like he didn't have space for more people staying over.

A phantom thief and a detective that dedicated his time and energy to catching him were sleeping under the same roof and the world wasn't ending yet. What a crazy, crazy day, indeed.

[I'll have a favor to ask of you,
once you're well again.]

That was the message Kuroba got during the evening, when Saguru was already soundly out on his bed, probably dreaming of things detectives usually dreamed of. Like murders.

Kaito was about to reply with a yawn, when another message came, beating him to it.

[In secret.
Don't tell Hakuba.]

… Interesting. If Shinichi asked him to keep it a secret from their London friend, then that could mean only one thing. It was something Saguru would never approve of.

Now, if that didn't scream of breaking the law, he didn't know what else it could be.

[Are we robbing a bank?]

—t.b.c.

Nayru's Note: God, this chapter took me way too many sleepless nights to write. But it's finally out.

Hosio drew us something for this chapter again - like last time, you can find it either on my profile page or on AO3. She also said it might become a series of doodles. We need to motivate her, guys!

Also, guess what~ Next chapter, Heiji is finally going to appear!