Nayru's Note: So, I was intending to mention that this chapter and the next were originally supposed to be one, but that'd be a lie. The whole thing expanded on me and got out of control (why am I even surprised anymore, I never learn) so much that it might actually end in three parts. I'm not even sure yet. Happen what may, I'm just going to roll with it.

But that might have its good sides. I'm using it as an opportunity to think a bit more about a few things and work on re-arranging a couple of crucial scenes that are supposed to take place later on. Those things have a lot to do with what I mentioned in the end note of the previous chapter (more info about that in the note at the end of this one, too.)

Other than that… Happy Valentine's Day, guys? I swear I'm taken off-guard by it every single year, and I honestly didn't plan for it to mash with the update. xD

~4 Idiots In A Closet~
Chapter 08: Sports field shenanigans

During the following ten days, in which Kaito recovered from his shot wound, all four of the boys didn't get to see each other that much.

Hakuba started attending school again after the first three days of watching over Kuroba, and Kuroba also went back to school after a week of being 'sick,' figuring he was well enough to do so after said amount of time. Sitting around in a classroom wasn't exactly straining for one's body (even though it was straining for the mind, as far as boredom went - but that still beat laying in bed and staring at the wall or ceiling by far.)

Saguru still came to check up on Kaito every day, mainly to change his bandages and bring him more chocolate, or to cook something good for him. Aoko also dropped by a few times, as did Jii-chan - to whom Kuroba lied about having an actual cold in order not to make him worry. It was enough of a good reason for putting any possible heist notices on hold.

Kaito talked with his mother through the internet two times, but kept the truth hidden from her, as well. She was still in Las Vegas, and with how much fun she seemed to have, it didn't look like she was intending to come back home anytime soon. One time, Chikage called him while Saguru was there, and of course she needed to jump to conclusions and make it clear how happy she was that her son was making new friends.

If she only knew.

Apparently Hattori came to visit Shinichi for some kind of reason earlier, and the two were left to their own devices, considering Kuroba couldn't go with them (he'd be able to, physically, no matter what Hakuba claimed - but there was the problem of Ran, Kazuha and Kogoro going with them, wherever they were going.)

When he later got a message from his favorite critic about someone getting murdered during their trip, Kid wondered if anyone was even surprised about it anymore.

On the tenth day, Saguru cut and took out the stitches from his wound - since apparently one was supposed to do that before everything healed completely. The day after that, Kaito invited all three of the boys over for coffee (or tea, with milk or not) so that Shinichi and Heiji could tell them all about their earlier adventure. Hakuba was a detective, and obviously, hearing about a murder case was just bound to make his day. Kuroba simply wanted to spend some time with someone, and the whole thing was good enough of an excuse as any. The thee detectives were always a good source of entertainment.

… And maybe he was growing fond of them all for real, just a little bit. Beside Aoko, Kaito didn't exactly have any actual friends (Keiko and Akako didn't really count as 'friends' in his eyes, they were more like people he simply knew… and his relationship with Koizumi was also complicated on a whole other, different level.) It might have had something to do with the fact that others rarely piqued his interest and he somehow never found himself that drawn to much of anyone on a personal level.

Maybe it was all in his magician blood, that he considered people just to be an audience that needed entertaining. Perhaps it was also partly because of the fact that Kaito used to shut himself off from the rest of the world after his father died, and made it somewhat hard for others to approach him in general.

Something definitely changed when he met Conan. He was intrigued with the small detective from the start, and the challenge - both intellectual and physical - he always brought along made Kid constantly look forward to their encounters. Things were never boring with him around. Shinichi had somewhat of a difficult character, but as Kaito later realized, it mostly depended on the amount of trust he gave the other person (and earning it wasn't easy, either.)

The problem with Hakuba was most likely tied with the fact that he was too stubborn for his own good and didn't back down no matter how many times Kuroba had told him to get lost. Not many were persistent enough to constantly ram their heads against that wall, not giving it a rest before finally snaking their way through. Well, pushy people tended to be annoying, but that characteristic of theirs was also good sometimes, especially when insults or pranks didn't scare them away. That was something Saguru and Aoko had in common, at least.

And while Kaito wasn't sure what to make of Hattori, at first…

"Hey, Earth to Kid."

Kuroba blinked, seeing Heiji snapping his fingers before his face.

Well, crap, what did he miss?

"… The piano wire went where?"

"The piano wire was talked about five minutes ago. Yer spacing out on us." The dark-haired detective gave him a suspicious, albeit teasing look. "What'cha thinking so intensely about, hmm?"

"Hopefully it's not a heist notice." Conan stared at him in a 'I see what you did there' kind of way.

"That's pretty bold of you, Kuroba." Of course, Hakuba had to join the other two with the teasing. "Getting all devious in front of three detectives. What if one of us was able to see into your mind?"

Kaito just rolled his eyes. "Unless you're Akako, I don't think I have much to worry about there."

The guys blinked at him, confused.

"Never mind. It's an inside joke." Only that he didn't even know if it was a joke. He could laugh all he wanted, but if it turned out that the crazy witch would be able to eat people's minds, he wouldn't even be surprised.

"Well, while you were stuck in Kid Land, we finished talking about the murder trick," Conan informed with dry amusement. "So we were trying to ask you what was the thing you wanted to ask of us."

"Ah, right." It was like a magical change of topic that sobered Kaito up immediately. He sent them a text about his little plan earlier, but didn't explain what it was supposed to be about yet. "There are actually two things. But I'll tell you about the second one once we're done with the first," Kuroba explained with a smile. "I wanted you guys to accompany me somewhere."

"Accompany you?" All three detectives seemed intrigued. "Where to?"

"Might it be Kaitou Kid's secret hideout?" Heiji asked in a teasing tone, suggestively wiggling his eyebrows.

Kuroba wasn't sure whether to laugh or whether to look at him as if he were some kind of idiot.

Well, technically, he kind of did have a secret hideout of sorts…

But nobody needed to know about that.

"Ha, ha, no. You'll see when we get there." Making it easy for them? Never. "Just please, please, please, promise me something…" Kaito's voice turned pleading with him clasping his hands together and raising them for emphasis.

"Yeah?"

"Promise me that nobody will die when I take you there."

Silence fell upon the kitchen. Now both Conan and Heiji stared at Kaito as if he were some kind of idiot, instead.

"You make it sound like we're the ones doing the killing," Shinichi almost sounded offended.

"Not to judge or anything, but the fact is, that wherever you go, usually someone dies!" Kuroba yelled, pointing a finger at them accusingly. "Don't even try to deny it! It's like you have the God of Death following you around or something!"

Saguru sighed, disappointment in his features. "Honestly, Kuroba."

"It's true! Even back on that train, where I was trying to mind my own business, as soon as Tantei-kun showed up, someone got shot!"

"Hey, that wasn't my fault!"

"Train?" Came the question from Heiji, who just looked back and forth between the bickering boys and Hakuba.

"Don't look at me," The blond detective shrugged. He clearly had no idea what the two were talking about, either.

"Do I even need to remind you of Sunset Mansion?" Kaito went on.

"Ah, the detective gathering at Sunset Mansion I was part of, at least," Hakuba threw in his five cents. "To think that Kid sat right next to me so many times, just within my reach, and I wasn't even aware of it… That had to be one of your best disguise choices, Kuroba."

"Well, it was quite entertaining, I'll admit," Kaito smirked, thinking back on it. "Especially when I drove through the forest with Tantei-kun and his girlfriend."

If looks could kill, Shinichi would probably have one phantom thief on his conscience. "Yay for family road trips," he admitted with no amusement whatsoever. "Though that whole case made me realize that you knew how to drive a car. And pretty well, at that. It had me wondering."

"Well, with what I do, I need to be a jack of all trades. You never know what kind of skill might come in handy when it comes to impersonating people."

Heiji gave all of them a puzzled look, so Saguru decided to explain. "He dressed up as Mouri Kogoro and had us fooled throughout the whole case."

"No way..." The dark-skinned was suddenly somewhat in awe. "Now I wish I had seen that in action."

The magician smiled at him before turning back to Conan again. "And if you're wondering about my driving license, should I remind you of the time when you crash-landed a plane?"

"You have a driving license?" Hattori blinked.

"Of course I don't." Kuroba didn't even hesitate with the answer and tried to ignore Hakuba, who looked like he was suddenly itching to arrest him. "… Are we about to play with the handcuffs again?"

Heiji seemed so lost.

"For the record, it was Ran who crash-landed that plane," Shinichi corrected. "And we'd be dead if you didn't teach her how to operate it in the first place. Not to mention…" The small detective trailed off, rubbing his temples as if he had a headache incoming. "God, thinking back on that whole thing still keeps me awake at night sometimes."

"Can't blame you there," Kaito agreed. "It was a close one."

If he didn't happen to be on that plane with them, who knew how that whole ordeal would have ended. Those were also one of the few times when he was thankful for inspector Nakamori being so obsessively set on catching him. The whole plan would have failed without him.

That was also the day when the beginning of his flirting attempts with Ran started… While Kuroba wasn't serious with those and did all of that mostly both for her and Tantei-kun's amusing reactions (it wasn't his fault those kind of things always put them off-track so much), he really needed to cut out doing that. Things on Jirokichi's airship definitely went a tad too far, and it came to bite him back in the butt in front the the agency already. It was a dangerous game he was playing, and Kaito really didn't want to get on Kudo's bad side because of a girl, especially not now.

"You need to tell me more about that plane adventure of yours sometime," Saguru insisted. "But while we're already on the topic of skills… If you want to remain the master of disguise, you should definitely learn how to smoke cigarettes, Kuroba. I don't think something like that would slip our observation a second time."

"Shut up." Kaito's earlier good mood went even more down the drain. "I tried, believe me… Those things are nasty. I don't get it how anyone would pick them up willingly."

Saguru looked… surprised. Like he didn't expect that kind of comeback. For a moment there, the thief wondered if he said something wrong.

"… You were joking," was the only obvious conclusion.

"Partially… I suppose."

"What, are you going to arrest me for underage smoking, now?" … Was that even something people could get arrested for? Well, it hardly mattered, it was still something he already saw he could tease Hakuba with. "Oh, this is precious… If you even knew about half of the things I needed to—"

"Stop, please." Saguru pressed a hand to his eyes, as if he were attempting to keep the last remains of his poor, innocent mind. "I don't want to know."

Kaito was about to comment about this being way too easy, when he heard the front door of his house opening and closing. Hakuba threw him a questioning look.

"Aoko-kun?"

"I don't think so…" Thoughts chased around in his mind, when it hit Kuroba that he forgot about something. "Ah, crap—"

The teen quickly got to his feet, but before he brought himself to move, Jii-chan appeared in the entrance of the kitchen and went still, turning to look at the four boys sitting by the table. The old man just stared at them, and they stared back, silence filling the air.

It took barely a moment, up until the gray-haired man noticed Edogawa Conan being present in the bunch. Then he just started to panic.

"Y-Young Master!" Jii yelled as if the world was about to fall apart.

"It's okay— It's okay, Jii-chan!" Kaito flailed, trying to calm him down. "It's not what it looks like!"

"I am so sorry! I should have never dragged you into this! All of this is Jii's eternal fault!" The grandpa didn't listen and just fell to his knees, hands pressing to the floor as he bowed his head to the detectives. "If you need to arrest someone, please, take me!"

"Jii-chan!" Kuroba lost his patience and reached down to grip on the old man's suit, just to yank him back to his feet. "Calm down. Nobody's arresting anybody for anything."

"But—" The half-bold man looked back on the boys, confusion not leaving his features.

"They came over for a cup of tea."

Once Kaito finally managed to explain the situation to Jii-chan - and reassure him, that really, really, nobody was about to arrest him - all three of the detectives followed their magician friend and left the house, leaving the old man behind.

"Not exactly what I imagined for your assistant to be." Conan looked at the thief with half-lidded eyes and a teasing smile on his face.

"Ignore that whole ordeal. He doesn't normally act like that," Kuroba murmured, trying to fight down the sudden second-hand embarrassment. "You gave him reasons for heart attacks during heists more times than I can count, so forgive him for freaking out upon seeing you in my house."

Shinichi raised his eyebrows, clearly surprised by that admission.

"Konosuke Jii is the owner of Blue Parrot, isn't he?" Saguru asked. "I've actually been there a few times."

"Really? You don't strike me as the type to be attending billiard parlors," Kaito mused, before it hit him. "Oh, wait… let me guess, you were there to investigate a possible suspect."

"You're learning." Hakuba almost sounded proud. "I heard from Aoko-kun that there was an elderly man who helped with looking after you sometimes. I didn't need to do a lot of research after that."

Aoko, you traitor, Kuroba silently cursed his childhood friend.

"He yer grandpa?"

"No, we're not related." The magician answered Hattori's question. "He's… more like a family friend. He was my father's assistant, when my dad was still alive. And then he appeared in my life, all of a sudden… during some weird circumstances."

Kuroba tried not to give away too much, but he was sure that the detectives would be able to put two and two together and figure out the truth behind the implication, anyway.

"I guess he's sort of like an uncle figure to me now."

The first request and the place Kaito wanted to take them to, as it turned out, involved some fresh air and physical exercise. There was a dojo and a big sports field that Kuroba payed visits to quite frequently, or so he claimed (because hey, doing most of the stunts he was doing and needed training with was bound to get suspicious on school grounds fast,) and now that he was back to proper physical health, he wanted to 'burn down all that chocolate that Hakuba had fed him' for the last two weeks.

Surprisingly, there was barely anyone else there beside them on the field. The gym in a nearby building seemed the most popular spot, and even then, it looked like not many people came over to train at that time of the day.

"So, I heard you were good in physical stuff?" Kuroba asked Heiji with a smile. "Hakuba mentioned you jumping up to a window located a floor above you, and Tantei-kun mentioned you running around some tiled roofs while fighting bad guys."

Heiji blinked at the teen, soon smiling just the same while giving both Conan and Hakuba a teasing look. "I see I have quite da reputation 'round here."

Both boys in question started to act like they didn't know anything.

"Well, it's all true. But I'm good in Kendo, especially."

"Oh, Kendo?" Kaito looked intrigued. "Give me a sec. I'll check if they have any wooden swords around here somewhere."

It took barely a moment for the thief to disappear and come back. He didn't manage to find a wooden sword, however… instead, he brought something else along.

Kuroba threw Hattori a mop.

The dark-haired teen caught it instinctively, but gave it a very, very unbelieving look. "Ya serious?"

"It's… close enough?" Kaito gave the other a nervous smile. "You think you could work with that?"

For a moment more, Heiji just started him as if he were an idiot. But eventually, he decided to let it go and gave the thing an experimental swing. Then another. "Ya think they're gonna miss this thing?"

Both Shinichi and Hakuba watched in mild horror as Heiji pressed one end of the mop to the ground and gave it a kick, swiftly breaking it in two halves with a loud crack.

Giving it another swing with the frilly end gone, satisfaction could be seen in the Osakan boy's eyes. "There we go."

For being a detective… Hattori definitely had some surprises up his sleeve. Kaito clapped his hands for him, grinning like the devil. "I like your attitude."

"If anybody asks, I don't know either of you." Hakuba seemed done, as he turned around and started walking away. There were some seats at the side of the field, and that's apparently where he was intending to head to.

The thief was ready to bet that his poor classmate's mind screamed 'property violation' at him or something. Honestly, Saguru was such a law nut with a stick up his ass sometimes.

"They have soccer balls around here, right?" Conan asked, already making his way towards the building Kuroba went into earlier.

"Of course." Kaito gave Tantei-kun a thumbs up. "Check to your left, right behind the door."

Soon enough, the small detective was back on the field, kicking a ball playfully up in the air, letting it bounce off his head or shoulder on occasion.

"I'll keep Hakuba company. You two have fun."

And with that, Shinichi bounced away from them for the time being.

Apparently the message about having a request from Hattori especially that he's sent Tantei-kun earlier was taken to heart, though he didn't really mean it that way. Oh, well.

"Okay, so what's da plan?" The Osakan detective swung his stick to get a better feeling of it.

"I wanted to ask you to spar with me," that being said, Kaito started to stretch out his limbs in preparation.

One of Heiji's eyebrows rose. "Uh… Won't ya need a weapon of yer own for that?"

"Not necessarily," The thief insisted, sounding sure of himself. "I had a different kind of training in mind. I'd like you to land a blow on me, to be more specific. Let's say… would the shoulder be a good spot?" Kuroba patted himself on the mentioned body part for demonstration's sake.

"… Ha?"

"I'll try to avoid it, of course," Kaito quickly clarified. "You cool with that?"

Hattori didn't seem cool nor convinced with anything. "What if I hurt you?"

That made the thief smirk - very, very widely.

If there was one thing Kaito learned during their few short meetings, it was the fact that Hattori was a horribly competitive person. No doubt, it was a trait all four of them shared, but Heiji's and Saguru's need to prove they were the best in something, whatever it was, was probably the strongest of them all. Their rivalry back at the Detective Koushien, which he heard about, only emphasized his theory.

And right now, Hattori's buttons were just begging to be pushed.

"The question should be… Do you think you can?"

Conan was about to ask Hakuba what was up, when both of their attentions got interrupted by something else.

The soccer ball fell to the ground and was left rolling away, forgotten, as the two watched Kuroba jump in a series of somersaults in the distance, with Hattori chasing after him with his poor excuse of a 'sword.'

Shinichi had an idea that Kid needed to be both agile and flexible - hell, he wouldn't be such an amazing thief, if he wasn't - but that… was way beyond what he ever imagined. It was the first time he's seen the magician make stunts of such caliber.

Heiji was far from slow himself, at that. And that guy had trouble keeping up. Well, at first, at least… once Hattori's initial shock wore off, too, things started to get more evened out. It's like the dark-skinned teen held back at first, but then figured he had no reason to, and started approaching his 'chase' with a lot more fervor.

That's when Kaito's evade attempts occasionally became close calls. Sometimes, the magician was forced to deflect a blow with a foot or the palm of his hand, either to push himself away or to try to make his opponent's grip on his weapon waver, presenting an opening for him to jump away.

The detective from Osaka seemed pissed at every opportunity Kuroba used to slip past behind him and poke him in the shoulder, instead.

Shinichi felt a strange sense of deja vu. It was like back in front of Kaito's house - when they stood and listened to the magician sing - all over again.

"That guy is crazy."

"His 'crazy' is going to be the death of him someday," Hakuba sounded more displeased than impressed this time around, though. "I told him to take things easy since his barely healed wound shouldn't be put under such extensive strain yet. That idiot is out of control. I swear, why do I even bother…"

Wow, Saguru really sounded like he had a bad day today. Or maybe he was just tired. "I take it trying to take care of him was tough."

"Don't even get me started." The London detective shifted in his seat. "Imagine trying to keep Kid with an overdose of gathered up energy in bed. He wouldn't let me sleep..."

Conan couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at that admission, and Hakuba seemed to realize just how what he just said sounded.

"… Not like… I didn't mean it like that." The blond teen tiredly pressed a hand into his face to hide his mortification.

"I didn't say anything." Shinichi held back a snort and tried not to sound too amused.

"You were thinking it."

"Well, I wouldn't be thinking it if you didn't think about it first."

"What kind of logic—" was it? No, that actually made somewhat sense. Hakuba had no actual comeback to that. "Can we just change the topic?"

"Sure." The small detective shrugged. "There's actually something I wanted to talk to you about."

"If you're wondering about sports I like, billiards doesn't exactly fall into the category of things we came to do here." That's probably why he was fine with occupying the bench. "I jog on occasion, but I'm not particularly fond of anything that makes one sweaty in general."

… Hakuba had a weird way of putting things sometimes.

"I see. Well, I was curious about that, too, but…" Shinichi looked at the London detective, wondering how to approach the issue. "I heard from Kuroba that you're also a Sherlock Holmes fan?"

'Sherlock Holmes' was like some kind of magical word that let all floodgates loose between the two mismatched detectives.

Starting from their favorite stories, favorite quotes, even favorite pages in corresponding books, ending on their thoughts on adaptations and the most obscure kind of trivia regarding both Holmes and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the sports field and everything around them was left forgotten.

Shinichi also mentioned his adventurous trip to London and his visit to the museum on Baker Street (which Hakuba's been to too many times himself, obviously) and Saguru went as far to show the little detective a few photos of his 'detective outfit' that he happened to have saved on his phone.

Needless to say, Conan found it totally cool.

"I'm actually surprised you weren't with us at the elite Sherlock Holmes tour last year."

"You mean those group gatherings Kanaya Hiroyuki tended to organize?" Hakuba seemed to be aware of what he was talking about, at least. "I did get an invitation to it, actually, but I was in London back at the time and couldn't come."

"Well, you didn't miss out on much… considering the whole party never reached a conclusion because it was interrupted by two murders."

"I've read about it in the newspapers." The owner was one of the victims, after all, so it only made sense that Saguru knew what happened. "It's been mentioned that Hattori was the one who solved the case." Which made Hakuba smirk. "But now that I know you were also there, I take it he had some help."

Shinichi gave off a weak, slow laugh at that. "Funny thing, actually… That was the second time he and I met, and that was also the case during which Hattori got very suspicious of me. He eventually started to watch my every move, and when we both figured out who the murderer was, Hattori started playing dumb and waited for me to give myself away." He was so annoyed at the whole thing back then, but now, he just couldn't help but smile at the memory.

"That needed to be an entertaining sight."

"I couldn't use Kogoro to solve the case like I usually do, so Hattori ended up being the victim, instead. He was practically asking for it, and I figured it would be safer that way."

"Of course... 'Sleeping Kogoro' makes so much more sense now." Hakuba added with amusement, putting two and two together just now. Conan was sure this voice-changing bow-tie made a lot more sense to the London detective now, too. "So, what went wrong?"

"Hattori woke up somewhere in the middle of my deduction, but pretended to be asleep throughout the whole thing… You can probably guess what happened after that." Shinichi gave the other a half-amused, half-unimpressed look. "I kept denying his accusations, of course, but then he said that he would tell Ran the truth…"

"Mouri Kogoro's daughter, right?" Saguru asked, raising an eyebrow. "You live with her, and she doesn't know who you really are."

Shinichi wasn't sure if it was Hakuba's intention to be suggestive with anything there, or if he was simply asking that for confirmation, but it made him feel somewhat… awkward.

"Yeah… If she ever finds out - and believe me, she's suspected something more times than I can count by now - I'm probably a dead man."

"Hey, look at da two… I think someone just found a common language." Hattori commented with slight amusement while gesturing to the side, before wiping his cheek with the back of his hand.

It probably wasn't much of a surprise that the loud and excited rambling about Shinichi's and Saguru's favorite fictional character even got Kaito's and Heiji's attention at some point. They stopped with their little training spree, only to look in the direction of their friends with curiosity and intrigue.

Kuroba let out a snort. Truth to be told, he's never seen Hakuba acting so enthusiastic about anything before. That nerd. It was almost like watching two little kids who just got the toy of their lives. Quite an amusing sight.

"I bet their mutual Sherlock Holmes obsession finally came to light."

The dark-skinned detective turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow. "Is Hakuba a Holmes nut, too?"

His question was answered with a grin. "Oh, dude, don't even get me started on that. He's used to appear in the most embarrassing outfit during the first few heists he's attended to. He practically cosplay'ed him."

"Wow, am I da only sane detective around here?"

"Does that mean you don't have a Sherlock worship altar back at your house?"

"Hell, no. I never understood what Kudo sees in da guy."

Now that made Kaito laugh. "You guys are awesome."

Yeah. While Kaito wasn't sure what to make of Hattori, at first, getting to actually know him personally definitely left a positive impression. The Detective from the West was the ideal picture of 'act first, think later,' unlike their other two friends, and he might have been the most easy-going out of them all. His sense of humor was great, and resorting to teasing people around him wasn't foreign to him, either. He also had a short temper, though, and tended to explode whenever annoyed, which made him the perfect target for all kinds of pranks.

If Kuroba had to describe it, he'd say that Heiji was simply fun to be with. He was actually surprised by how well they seemed to get along. Kuroba always thought that Hattori wasn't the 'easily trusting' type, either, but apparently his association with Kudo had a big influence on that part and left him with some kind of shortcut ticke—holy crap!

A ball suddenly came flying, and Kaito barely managed to dodge it. While he might have been set on being wary of Hattori and his stick all this time, he forgot to watch his back for that split moment.

That split moment of being off-guard was enough to fall into Hakuba's trap. Before the magician knew it, his wrists were handcuffed together behind his back. Clearly, the two detectives caught on the fact that they were gossiped about and used the distraction to make their move. And then Kaito got careless by getting lost in his own, stupid thoughts.

Before the thief could even react, Saguru had a grip on him, which he couldn't really fight with his hands restrained, and with a hook of a leg, he was sent flying to the ground. A pained sound escaped him as his breath was knocked out of him with the impact.

Kaito grit his teeth as one of his hands was being yanked on in a painful hold, and a knee dug into his back, along with a big portion of Hakuba's weight.

Okay, so he wasn't prepared for something like this. Which was, all things considered, somewhat humiliating right now.

"This so does not count! You guys were cheating!" The magician yelled, trying to shift so that his cheek wouldn't press against the grass underneath him so much. A few green strands managed to get into his mouth and he had o blow them out with distaste.

That's also when he noticed Tantei-kun, who happened to be standing right next to them. Seeing the kid smile at him, he gave him an annoyed look.

"And so, Kaitou Kid has been caught," Saguru announced, sounding all smug. "For anyone who makes fun of Sherlock Holmes, justice will be always served."

"Yeah, well, your sense of justice is pretty screwed up, anyway," Kaito murmured, hardly impressed with his classmate's ramblings. "Sorry I offended your noble lord and savior. Now let me go; this hurts."

Hakuba's smile faltered at that, though he didn't budge. "… Wait, you mean I actually managed to catch you off-guard and restrain you for real?"

Kuroba wanted to ask what the hell was that supposed to mean, but he already knew the answer to that question. Normally, in his Kid costume and with all of his usual stuff on him, he'd be able to get out of something like this, with a bit of effort. He's done it a lot of times before, be it with Inspector Nakamori or anyone else from the task force. It shouldn't have been surprising that Hakuba didn't expect him to actually be helpless this time around, especially when he got out of his earlier 'challenges' back in the kitchen with ease.

Well, there was a trick to everything, and right now, he simply wasn't prepared. Not that he'd admit it.

"… Unless you want me to put you to sleep, which I'm trying hard to avoid…" The thief warned with an irritated grunt.

That was enough to make Hakuba let go and move away from his classmate, at least.

As soon as he was free, Kaito rolled onto his side and swiftly looped his restrained hands around his bent legs, bringing his upper limbs before himself. Once that was done, he rolled onto his back with a sigh, and decided to just lay there.

"Are you alright?" For someone being on the offensive just a few seconds ago, Saguru sure did sound concerned.

"Yeah, yeah." The magician waved it off. "Laying in bed for two weeks made me a little rusty, is all. So annoying."

Hattori laughed at that. "If yer able to pull stunts like these while being rusty, I don't wanna know how yer doin' at yer best."

"The mischief intensifies, obviously." Shinichi added with dry amusement.

"Hey, a little mischief never hurt anyone." Sort of... He could stick to that logic, right? "But honestly, Hakuba…" The thief went on, his voice turning somewhat bored. "I'm starting to wonder if you have some kind of handcuff fetish. You carry them around with you everywhere."

Both Conan and Heiji turned to look at the London detective with a quizzical stare. Saguru's eyebrow twitched, his lips pressed into a thin line, and it was clear that he was trying hard not to let himself get provoked. They tried not to laugh.

Shinichi saw it as an opportunity to join in on the fun and make things worse.

"Does that mean he sleeps with those on him, too?"

"Oh~?" Kuroba threw his classmate a sly kind of look, looking entertained beyond redemption. "Have you been telling Tantei-kun about our nighttime adventures, Saguru~?"

If Hakuba could die at that moment - from something lethal, not stupid, stupid embarrassment - he would choose to die. He wanted to die.

Scratch that, he could just murder someone who was responsible for everything going wrong with his life lately. That would solve the problem all the same.

"Give me that stick— I'm going to kill him—!"

"Whoa, man, calm down…"

Heiji blinked, looking somewhat worried, but didn't struggle with the suddenly possessed teen and let him yank the broken piece of mop out of his hand. Then he silently approached Kudo as the other two jumped to their throats and tried (to avoid) killing one another.

"… Am I missing something?"

"I don't think so."

If there really was something going on, Kaito wouldn't joke about it in such a way… or at least that's the impression Shinichi was getting. He was just teasing Hakuba in the worst possible ways. …Probably because the reactions he was getting were too precious.

"Behold the biggest troll in existence. I think he'd bring my mother to shame with his mischief sometimes, not to even mention Haibara…"

"—Okay, okay, time, time! I get it! I get it! I'm sorry! Goddammit, Hakuba, that hurts—!"

"—It better!"

"… We should probably stop 'em."

"You think?"

Once all was said and done, and the piece of evidence in the form of a broken mop was thrown somewhere behind the fence (it might have landed in the nearby river, actually), Hakuba sat down on the grass with his hands crossed in front of his chest, looking like some kind of grumpy cat. Kaito, giving home to a couple of new, fresh bruises, decided to remain where he was, just laying on the grassy ground himself.

Conan and Heiji exchanged amused looks, unsure what to think of their friends' quarrel.

"So, about that second thing… I guess now is good time as any to bring it up." Kuroba was the first to speak up, his voice taking up a eerie kind of tone. "Dear detectives, don't be shy and come closer. Have a sit."

All three turned to observe Kaito for a moment. Eventually, Kudo and Hattori decided to go along with the request and take a seat next to their resting thief. Saguru didn't bother, since he wasn't sitting that much further away and could hear them just fine.

The magician smiled at them, dropping the whole mysterious act.

"I wanted to invite you guys over for a birthday party."

It wasn't what they expected to hear - if their surprised faces were anything to go by - so, point for him.

"Yours?"

"Yup!" Kuroba nodded. "It's on the twenty first. That's Sunday, but I thought I'd throw the party on Saturday, so that we don't have school right the day after," he explained. "You guys are free to stay over for the night, too."

Hakuba looked thoughtful. "I take it Aoko-kun will also be there?"

"Yeah. You two will finally get a chance to meet her."

If anything, Conan seemed intrigued by that name. He's surely heard it being mentioned before, but didn't catch on who they were talking about yet. Oh, he had a surprise coming, and her being Nakamori's daughter was only one half of it.

"I was planning to go back to Osaka tomorrow…" Heiji suddenly admitted, turning thoughtful. "But considering that's next week, I think I could come up with another excuse to come visit Kudo again, without Kazuha getting suspicious."

"I don't mind covering for you, as always." Shinichi agreed.

"Awesome." Kid was definitely pleased to hear that. "Hakuba, you feeling better yet? I could invite Akako as well, especially for you."

That made his classmate blink in surprise, then frown - and hey, was that a hint of a blush appearing on his face all of a sudden? "It's your birthday. Don't invite anyone you don't want to invite."

… Talk about a bad case of denial. Well, that kind of behavior only reminded Kaito that he had something he wanted to ask the witch about, so to hell with it. He might as well use it as an excuse and approach her during the party. Besides, Aoko would probably feel better with another female friend around, considering she'd be alone with four guys instead.

"Well then, with that settled…" Kuroba was suddenly back on his feet, rubbing his hands together to get the dirt off of himself. "I should be back in the game in no time~"

Realization dawned upon the detectives: the handcuffs, which were still restraining the thief barely a minute ago, weren't where they were supposed to be anymore. Hakuba quickly looked to the side, already fearing the worst.

It didn't take long for him to notice that one of the metallic rings was indeed stuck around his wrist.

"Not again… Kuroba—"

"Wah! The hell—?!"

They found out, the painful way, that Saguru's hand got cuffed to… Conan's leg. When Hakuba tried to move and immediately chase after the thief before he even got up to make a run for it, the movement made Shinichi fall to the ground with an ungraceful yelp and dragged him a few feet along.

Unless the London detective picked up the smaller boy and carried him around, they probably wouldn't be able to get far and capture anyone, no matter how hard they tried.

Kaito just stood there and snickered at the idea, amused.

"Consider it payback."

"You were thinking about heist notices back at the house, weren't you?" Tantei-kun pushed himself up on his elbows, not even bothering to struggle with his confinement. "I take it we should expect one to go up any day now…"

"Who knows~" The thief teased, observing Saguru's poor attempts at trying to get the handcuffs to open. The key to those was already long stolen, too, of course. "You'll still attend, right?"

"I see no reason why we shouldn't. I hope you weren't expecting us to start going easy on you, now that we're…" Conan trailed off, as if carefully looking for the right word. "Acquainted."

(Kaito resisted the urge to tease him and end that thought for him with a different word.)

"That's what I wanted to hear." A smile and thumbs up were given. "Things are always way more exciting with you guys around."

"Aren't you worried? If Hakuba and I start working together, who knows what might happen."

"I'm going to embrace the challenge," Kaito's voice turned more Kid-like, with him gracefully bowing before them. "What about you, Hattori?"

"Ya know… I never really cared about catching Kid that much. Whenever I was in for the chase, it was because of Kudo," the teen from Osaka explained, a smile appearing on his lips. "But looking at it now… how could I miss out on the fun?"

The magician returned Heiji's smile with just as much enthusiasm.

That's when Shinichi sneezed.

In the distance, someone screamed.

Kaito prayed to all that was holly that it wasn't because of a dead body that's been suddenly discovered in some kind of dusty, old closet.

It turned out that his prayers were left unheard.

Conan only pressed a hand to his face, not sure if he should feel sorry or just miserable at that point. "Please tell me the closet wasn't locked from the inside."

—t.b.c.

Nayru's Note: So… remember when I said that I was still trying to decide whether the 'shippy stuff' will go anywhere more serious or just be something to laugh at? In the meantime, I happened to get a couple of impacting reviews that made me think hard on it. These two, for instance:

lumutness: "About hints of pairing... please, no. at least not in this fic. The atmosphere of friendship would be badly altered if you do that. Well, and we will have three brokenhearted girls at least, which could make this story uncomfortable. Pretty please? with cherry on top?"

Maylene: "As for the hints of a pairing... I know it's your decision but I like the "just friendship - but epic friendship" concept more. Plus one - or even two - of the girls would end up being sad, as far as I can imagine. So it's your decision of course, but I'd like to see them as friends, they're like the best team ever this way. :D To me, at least. :)"

I figured, hell, they have a very good point (to the people who wrote this, thank you - the downside of getting notes from guest accounts is that I can never reply to them, even if I want to.)

My main goal for this story is to make it a 'feel-good' one and possibly make people laugh while at it, so I decided I'll try to stick to the latter and keep everything platonic between the guys, after all. It's true that I could ruin the whole concept otherwise. While I might add some angsty and plot-heavy stuff every now and then (because hey, plot is always good,) breaking hearts and complicating things in a 'this isn't fun anymore' kind of way as far as couple drama goes is not exactly my goal.

TL;DR EPIC BROMANCE SHALL PREVAIL!

That doesn't mean there won't be any crack pairings, though. Because hey, if we can joke and laugh at Kaito and Saguru for having a thing going on, so can Shinichi and Heiji. 8D;

Thank you for all the heart-warming reviews, guys! I'm really surprised by all the positive feedback you give me!